ENTREPRENEUR — February 20, 2019
When Howard P. Schultz, founder and CEO of Lighthearted Entertainment, unexpectedly passed away, the people at his company were left in a state of shock. “Everything completely changed for us literally in an instant,” says Rob LaPlante, who was EVP at the time. LaPlante and VP Jeff Spangler (pictured right to left in the photo above) suddenly found themselves in charge of the production company which created hit reality shows like Extreme Makeover and Bye Felicia. “Howard was an unquestionably strong presence and we worked together on everything,” LaPlante told Entrepreneur. “But when he passed, Jeff and I were forced to become leaders that shared every piece of responsibility.”