Freston talks about leaving Viacom and says that he’s happy to have moved on. He says sometimes you need to be “kicked on” in order to make the decisions that are right for yourself.

Tom Freston: I feel good. I mean look, I was on a very fast-paced job. Not only MTV and MTV Networks, but __________ Chief Operating Officer, Chief Executive Officer of Viacom, running a public company. A very big responsibility, and a lot of things about that life that are enjoyable. But at the same time, I do find that after 26 years it’s like, you know, that was a long time to do anything – a quarter of a century. So . . . And I had a life before. I had a career and life before I even started in that business. So I’ve always been a fan . . . I’ve always said you should do several different things in your life. Have a bunch of different chapters or parts. And sometimes you just need to be kicked into the next part; or you know just for sake of comfort or repetition you end up doing the same thing maybe longer than you should. So I’m exhilarated now. It’s been a bit of an adjustment period, but I . . . but I feel every day when I get up, I’m gonna do things that I’m really passionate about or care about. And there’s a portfolio of things that I . . . that isn’t so much __________ well you have this job, so this is a bunch of problems you have to deal with. I’m not so much in that defensive mode at the moment, which is the case for most people who . . . Say if you’re a CEO of a public company, a lot of it you’re playing defense. You’re dealing with problems or crises. At the moment in the smaller life I have for myself I’ve got a lot less of that, which is a good thing. Recorded On: 7/6/07