Author Gary Sernovitz

Author Gary Sernovitz

Author: Paul Ollinger December 5, 2023 Duration: 59:08
Gary Sernovitz is one of the funniest financial writers working today. His hilarious new novel The Counting House tells the story of a university’s Chief Investment Officer who is suffering a mid-life crisis. If you possess either an interest in finance or a robust / dark sense of humor, The Counting House will make you laugh and, at times, cry in empathy with the protagonist. Gary has spent the last 25 years observing how money works from inside Goldman Sachs and the private equity business, bringing a keen writer’s eye to the money business through two previous novels, a non-fiction account of the oil and gas industrial, and a bunch of essays in The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Wall Street Journal. A Milwaukee native and longtime resident of New York, Gary now lives in New Orleans with his wife and daughter. See more about Gary and The Counting House here.

In this conversation, Gary and I discuss:

Investing with the constraints of a modern university stakeholders

Whether your performance is your identity

The state and cost of college 

Writing as a side hustle while working full-time in finance


See Paul live in comedy mode:

Austin, Jan 11 - Buy Tickets Here


San Francisco, Feb 22 -  Buy Tickets Here


Nashville, Feb 28 - Buy Tickets Here 


🔥Learn and laugh by reading Paul’s Substack here. 🔥
🚀 Follow Paul on Instagram here. 🚀

Get full access to Reasonably Happy at words.paulollinger.com/subscribe

Paul Ollinger has worn a few different hats-stand-up comedian, tech executive, and now, the curious host of Reasonably Happy with Paul Ollinger. This isn't a lecture series or a dry self-help guide. Instead, it feels more like pulling up a chair for a series of genuinely engaging talks that wander into the places where our daily lives, careers, and inner worlds collide. The conversations, which feature authors, thinkers, and various creatives, are refreshingly candid. They dig into the practical and philosophical questions about what it actually means to build a life that feels both successful and satisfying. You'll find that each episode of this podcast approaches big themes-money, purpose, and the pursuit of contentment-with a blend of wit and thoughtful depth. The underlying idea isn't about finding a perfect, Instagram-ready version of happiness, but something more grounded and attainable. It's for anyone who's ever wondered if there's a smarter, more meaningful way to navigate the pressures of business and culture without losing sight of what matters. Tuning in, you get the sense that Paul is figuring it out alongside his guests, making the insights feel earned and relatable. The result is a consistently interesting exploration of how we can all aim for a life that feels reasonably, and authentically, well-lived.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 321

Reasonably Happy with Paul Ollinger
Podcast Episodes
Year 1 in Review of Crazy Money - Ep 50 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:44
We are one year and 50 episodes into Crazy Money!!! This week, Paul and producer/editor extraordinaire, Mike Carano, discuss their favorite episodes, themes and guests they’ve had on the show. Those guests include rockst…
Giving away half of your house with Kevin Salwen - Ep 49 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:25
Kevin Salwen is a former reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal and co-author of two very different, yet equally compelling books.The Power of Half: One Family’s Decision to Stop Taking and Start Giving Back, is…
Buddhism and money with Dominic Houlder - Ep 48 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:20
Dominic Houlder is the co-author of Mindfulness and Money and What Philosophy Can Teach You About Being a Better Leader. An Adjunct Professor at London Business School and former manager at Boston Consulting Group, Domin…
Why Happiness plummets in middle age with Jonathan Rauch - Ep 47 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:25
Jonathan Rauch is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and contributing editor of The Atlantic. In The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50, he discusses the decline in happiness that most people experi…
Mike Norton, Harvard Business School - Ep 46 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:36
The way you spend your money can actually make you happier! So prove Mike Norton and co-author, Elizabeth Dunn, in the book, Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending. Michael I. Norton is the Harold M. Brierley Profe…
Creator of Stacking Benjamins podcast Joe Saul-Sehy - Ep 44 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:04
Joe Saul-Sehy is the host of the Stacking Benjamins podcast, which uses humor to inspire people to think more seriously about money and financial well-being. Kiplinger named Stacking Benjamins"Best Finance Podcast” of th…
Leap: Leaving a Job with No Plan B with Tess Vigeland - Ep 43 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:13
Tess Vigeland is the author of Leap: Leaving a Job with No Plan B to Find the Career and Life You Really Want. Tess spent twenty years in public radio, several of which she spent as an anchor of the national business sho…
"The Moral Obligations of Money" with Princeton's Peter Singer - Ep 42 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:57
Peter Singer is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University whom The New Yorker called “the world’s most influential living philosopher.” The founder of The Life You Can Save, an organization named a…
The Anxious Achiever Podcast with host Morra Aarons-Mele - Ep 41 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:05
Morra Aarons-Mele is the founder of award-winning social impact agency Women Online and its database of women influencers, The Mission List. An extremely anxious introvert herself, Morra hosts The Anxious Achiever podcas…