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Ep. 73: 50 lessons from 50 incredible guests (seasons 1 & 2) · Adventures in Adversity: an inspirational podcast

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Welcome to episode 73 of the Adventures in Adversity podcast.
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We are taking a look back on seasons 1 and 250 lessons from
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my first 50 guests. Thank you so much.
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If you are a guest and you are listening, you have no idea how
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grateful I am that you actually believed in me and decided to
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come on the show. Because of you, I am now
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unstoppable. So thank you, appreciate you,
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every single one of you. And in your honor, you all 50 of
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you are going to be the topic of today's episode.
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I'm going to go through and really just look at each guest
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and whatever comes to mind as the lesson that I take away,
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like what I think of or what I associate with each guest.
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That's what I'm going to do to kind of give a synopsis of
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hopefully what is a quick, efficient and inspiring 50
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lessons from my incredible 50 guests on the podcast.
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All right, we're diving right in guys.
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So we are going to episode, I'm going to say the name, no, the
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title one more time. I am going to say the episode
1:13
number, the title of the episode, and I'm going to say
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the first thing that comes to mind and the lesson I learned.
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And if that sounds interesting to you, that lesson, then you
1:23
can be like, hey, might consider watching that episode you
1:28
choose. Just let me know.
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I'm just giving you dangling the carrot of what the potential
1:32
inspiration you might get. All right, so the first time I
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actually did 9 episodes without guests and you'll hear in the
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1st 9 episodes I like, I'm like, one day I'll have guests
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unstoppable. Thank you very much.
1:50
Don't give up because I used to have no guests.
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If you e-mail enough people and you ask enough times, if you
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build it, they will come. All right.
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Episode 10, Gratitude through the storm, Margo Wickersham
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shares her victory over cancer. First thing that comes to mind,
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the gratitude game. Margo talks about how she was
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fighting bladder cancer during COVID, went through grief, had
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her bladder removed, lost people, was dealing with a lot,
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wrote a book called Gratitude in the Storm when not dying is
2:23
enough to keep fighting. And she said that she used to
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play the gratitude game in her hospital bed to think of
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anything that she was grateful for, grateful that she can move
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her pinky. I'm grateful for the fact that I
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can feel the sheets on the bed that got her through her darkest
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moments, which involved a lot of really dark mental health
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moments as well as physical. So play the gratitude game
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Episode 10, Episode 11, CMO and mom of two Anita Tulsiani on
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building her career, starting a marketing agency and beating
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breast cancer. So Anita was a is a friend of my
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dad's. He mentored her and they worked
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together back at Dell back in the day.
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And the big lesson from her among she talks about building
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her career as a woman, being a chief marketing officer, all of
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the obstacles that came there and beating breast cancer.
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She said she was in disbelief when she was diagnosed.
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And then just how she got through it.
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She remembers, she says she has what she calls a board of
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directors for her life where whenever she makes big decisions
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or is going through a hard time, she consults different people on
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that board of directors to get that real honest feedback and
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advice. So my lesson was get a built,
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build a board of directors in your own life.
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If you want the truth from people who you trust and and get
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feedback from them when you're making decisions.
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OK, Episode 12, going inward, navigating grief, health scares
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and life's curveballs with my friend Omira.
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My friend Omira. The lesson I think of here is if
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you stuff the feelings down, they will come back eventually.
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She talked about how she lost her dad at age 16.
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Suddenly she's the youngest, youngest in a big family and how
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she didn't deal with that grief. And then she ended up couple
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years later, she had a big tumor in her chest that she had
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removed. They didn't know if it was
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cancer, but she ended up really stuffing those feelings down.
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And she talks about how diet, lifestyle, and really just like
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confronting your emotions can really affect your physical
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health and mental health. So really great episode.
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She's very honest. And she's one of my besties too.
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All right, another one of my besties, maybe my maybe my
5:00
bestie. Episode 13 my #1 bestie, my
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hubby Ryan, we talked about this was back June 7th, 2024, about
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how he had just gotten laid off a few days before.
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Yeah, that was tough. And unfortunately he is still
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looking for a job. It's a tough market out there.
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We're in the Bay Area and tech and lots of people looking for
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jobs for a small amount of jobs, right.
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So his, my lesson from him every day and from this episode is he
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doesn't play the victim. He is very logical and he
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doesn't stop what he's going through from, you know, making
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sure he's working out, being present with the kids, helping
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me, supporting me while I'm working, while he's looking.
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So I think the lesson there is just he doesn't complain.
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He's you just got to deal with it, right?
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And and we're A-Team and we've made it work.
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So I will have him back to celebrate his new fantastic job.
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It is coming in 2026. Just going through some
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adversity right now. All right, the next guest I had
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episode 17. We had a Part 1 and Part 2 with
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this is called K Floors founder Brian Ketting on transforming
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poverty, doubt and a broken back into personal and professional
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success. In Part 2, he talks about how he
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learned to walk again after he broke his back, how he delivered
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his daughter at home, a surprise home birth and the power of self
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love. So Brian, gosh, I feel like I'm
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not doing any of these stories justice.
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But again, one episode trying to summarize 50 here, he talked
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about how he grew up in poverty. I think he talks about how he
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slept in a tent outside his mom's trailer at one point and
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now he owns a floors business and worked through just all of
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that, you know, trauma as a kid and then started his floors
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business. But before that, when he was a
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painter, he actually fell down off scaffolding and he tells the
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story and he broke his back. So he had to go to a rehab
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center, learn to walk and just talks about that and how what
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that was like and how just the whole journey of his life been
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through some hard stuff. And I think the lesson there
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that I, when I think about Brian, he talked about Stoicism
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and I didn't know what that was at the time.
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And it was, you know, Marcus Aurelius, ancient Greek, ancient
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Roman, all of that history about Stoicism and how to deal with
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life. And that kind of got me reading
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about it, which is really interesting.
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There's another episode about stoicism later.
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But I think the lesson there is he's just he's tough, tough, but
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you know, really in touch with his emotions and you can tell
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he's done a lot of healing work. So great. two-part episode,
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episode 17. All right, episode 18 Mariah
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Melendez LMHCA, her journey to becoming a licensed therapist
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and nurturing self compassion. So I met Mariah.
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She was, let's see, she was in my cohort when I did this
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business mastermind a year ago to try to learn how to start a
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podcast. She was learning how to like
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scale her private practice. And I luckily got placed in a
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group with a cohort group where it was like all therapists
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building their businesses and me, which I am not a therapist,
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but I got to meet and learn from and kind of like get mentored by
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people who were building their own therapy practices.
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And, you know, therapists are amazing.
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So we talked about her journey towards becoming a therapist and
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how I was actually shocked that like, she dealt with so much
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anxiety and like OCD. And I was like, whoa, yeah,
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therapists are people too. And, and I think a lot of times
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they maybe unlock some secrets or not really secrets, but some
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tools and how to make themselves better.
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And then they want to coach others.
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So really cool. Mariah is one of a few
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therapists I've had on to episode 18 episode.
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Then we have a couple episodes where I'm just talking episode
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19 and 20. Episode 21, it was super cool
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that this is Mariah. So episode 18 was Mariah
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Melendez and then 21 was her husband, Parker Melendez.
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How firefighter EMT, an Emergency Management specialist,
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Parker Melendez uses stoicism to handle adversity.
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So super cool here, right? He why did I say that?
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I just got distracted. It is super cool.
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I just lost my train of thought. He's her husband.
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So that's super cool that I interviewed him and he was an
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EMT and he talks about the trauma of seeing what EMT see of
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having to to kind of be calm in situations where your body just
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isn't naturally calm, you know, coming into your life and death
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situations. And now he actually does
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Emergency Management special. Like I think when with fires,
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it's more of like a administrative position now, but
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he knows how to kind of like deploy resources in emergency
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situations up in the Pacific Northwest.
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So he's a really calm energy. Talks about how he's used
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Stoicism and the teachings of Marcus Aurelius.
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There's a book called The Meditations and just all the
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Stoicism philosophy of like bettering yourself and you know,
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self-reliance and working on yourself everyday and how he's
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used that in his life to handle adversity.
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It's a really cool conversation with him.
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Really calm, self assured guy. Episode 22, Ankal Arora on the
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healing power of poetry in her book The Efflorescence.
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So I interviewed her. She actually lives in India.
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I think she was one of my first international guests back in
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episode 2222. This was September 5th of 2024
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and she wrote a book called The Efflorescence and it's a poetry
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book. She talks about her mom, about
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love, about healing, and she's like really gentle and like
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just, I admire how she just literally opened her heart and
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puts her poetry out there and what published it.
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I think she's got her PhD in something with poetry, but
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basically how she just took that pain and is very raw and
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vulnerable in the poetry and took that adversity and turned
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it into art. And her book is available on
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Amazon as well, her book of poetry.
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So definitely check that out. If you are a poet or just a
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person that needs to heal, that works too.
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OK, what are we at here? How am I doing?
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How am I doing on the synopsis? I don't know because I can't
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hear myself, but Julian, how am I doing?
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Hopefully you're laughing and nodding, saying good as you're
12:54
editing this. 13 minutes. How am I doing?
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OK, Episode 23 Redefining disability insights from Jay, a
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27 year old fitness trainer living with cerebral ataxia.
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Oh, I have. I don't even know where to start
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with Jay. He's so incredible.
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Jay is a guy I met via Instagram via one of his very, very
13:22
inspirational reels. He has cerebral ataxia, so parts
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of he can't move parts of his body and it's very difficult for
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him to walk and do certain things.
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So he is just dedicated to building up his strength.
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He's trying to raise money for the special wheelchair that will
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allow him to go explore the cities.
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He lives in London and he's just a beautiful human being who you
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know you can you can see that everyday things that are a
13:56
struggle, but he doesn't. He talks about his gratitude and
14:01
just his faith in God and just how he gets through his life
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living with this, that he was diagnosed when he was 15.
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And just how he talks about how mental health is so important,
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whether you're someone with different abilities or not, that
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we all need to check on each other and stay connected because
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it's hard out there. It's a very inspiring episode.
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Episode 27 and can't say enough amazing things about Jay and
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like his mental and physical fortitude in the face of big
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time adversity. OK, episode 25, this is a
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different take on adversity with my amazing friend Josh finding
14:54
humor in adversity. How my friend, comedy writer
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Josh Lebowitz laughs through life.
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Now, Josh and I, we worked at ServiceNow together for a year
15:06
or two, and the big lesson that I can get from Josh is that
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laughter is incredible medicine. He's the funniest person I've
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ever met. He was a comedy writer for
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Comedy Central. He worked with Jon Stewart in
15:23
New York. He's hilarious.
15:25
He does voice over work. He was the voice of HBO family
15:30
for a while, the voice over. He was runner up for voice of
15:34
Tony the Tiger for Frosted Flakes.
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For all the people that are older, that are my age and
15:40
older, back in the day, you remember Tony the Tiger.
15:44
He almost was that voice. But his voice is incredible.
15:47
He's hilarious, just full of life and full of energy and just
15:54
talks about parenting and work and being yourself.
15:57
And he actually got his first voice over job and got the HBO
16:02
family job when the network was just starting by just jumping in
16:05
the booth and going for it. And it wasn't even an audition.
16:08
So my lesson there, go for it. Who cares?
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Life is short. Laugh.
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Seriously hilarious episode. I'm dying throughout it.
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If you want a good laugh, episode 25.
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All right, then I do a couple episodes with just me and then
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here we go, episode 28. Knowledge is power.
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Michelle's journey through a Bracha 1 gene mutation diagnosis
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and a double mastectomy. I think that you can tell that
16:43
that episode is is no joke. Michelle took preventative
16:50
measures. She's a local mom here and a
16:53
friend. We were room moms together when
16:55
our kids were in kindergarten. She her her grandma had ovarian
17:04
cancer and she with her ethnicity was 80% Ashkenazi due
17:15
80% likely to develop breast cancer with this gene.
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She had this mutation. So a few years ago she had a
17:26
elective surgery, double mastectomy to remove both
17:30
breasts. And she talks about the
17:33
importance of knowing your medical history, discussing your
17:36
options and then the journey of what that was like physically,
17:40
mentally as a woman, having your breasts removed.
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Obviously a huge, huge change and huge identities, just a lot
17:49
of things after, you know, feeding your children and just
17:52
she talks about the whole journey.
17:53
So Michelle, incredible woman, tough as nails and really,
18:00
really powerful episode Oh, episode 29.
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Oh man, my number one episode, my most popular episode on all
18:12
platforms. Yeah, episode 29, my interview
18:17
with Professor Sam Bachman. Why narcissists must abuse you.
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That was kicking off That was January 9th of last year.
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An hour and a half interview with the guy, the professor who
18:33
coined the term narcissistic abuse in the 70s or 80s.
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He says he wrote a 10, he said 10 or 12 editions of a handbook
18:46
on narcissism, like the malignant narcissist.
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And like basically that's used in a lot of collegiate
18:53
psychology classes as like the Bible of narcissism.
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He is a self aware diagnosed narcissist.
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There is a Vice News documentary on him called I Psychopath.
19:07
And probably this hour and a half changed my life.
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Not probably. It changed everything for me.
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It helped me make sense of my experience with narcissistic
19:19
abuse, which is why I started the podcast.
19:22
And I could talk for hours about this episode.
19:24
But he talks about the psyche of a narcissist and why they do
19:29
what they do to you. I'll just say that very, very
19:35
powerful episode. OK, Episode 30, from gloves to
19:40
pen, boxing, writing and life lessons with author Mark Connor.
19:47
Now we are at 20 minutes. Yay, I'm doing well.
19:49
Almost there. Maybe about halfway there.
19:51
I think he it lives in Minnesota.
19:57
He talks about his journey and his book.
19:59
He wrote a book actually. And let me the name here is the
20:07
book he wrote is called I have it here.
20:12
It's about time millions of copies sold for dad and it's a
20:17
mix of poetry and his story. He started boxing at the age of
20:23
10. He talks about like the mental
20:26
and physical preparation. He's in the Minnesota boxers
20:30
Hall of Fame amazing. And now he trains boxers and is
20:34
a writer and talks about his belief in God.
20:39
He he talks about the rigorous training he went through just
20:45
boxing in general, which is super interesting and like the
20:48
physical and mental stamina you have to have to kind of to be in
20:52
that sport. It's pretty incredible.
20:55
So episode 30 you just real, honest, authentic salt of the
21:02
earth Minnesota guy. Obviously there's a lot going on
21:05
in Minnesota right now. Don't even get me started on the
21:08
fraud different podcast. But love Mark, love his book and
21:15
have it here on my shelf. And he's just a really old
21:20
school guy and just talks about the world of boxing, which is
21:23
super cool. I love boxing.
21:24
I love boxing movies. So that's episode 30.
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Episode 32. Are you still with me guys?
21:32
Push pause if you need to, but come on back.
21:35
Episode 32. From soccer fields to robo
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taxis. A conversation with my friend
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Raj on life, love, loss and technology.
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This is a cool episode. Raj is a neighborhood dad.
21:49
We were coaches, our kids play together, soccer coaches
21:53
together. His wife Ashida gave me the
21:57
original microphone and told me I had to start a podcast.
22:01
So love this family they're amazing.
22:04
Thank you, Ashida Raj talks about how when he was younger,
22:10
losing his dad at a very young age, around age 9 to a sudden
22:15
heart attack, how he dealt with that, moving from Canada to the
22:22
US. He's Canadian and taking a
22:26
chance on a job with this company called Tesla when it was
22:30
early on. He talks about working directly
22:33
for he reported directly to Elon Musk.
22:36
Super interesting interview and he's such a humble guy.
22:40
Raj is just he's brilliant. He's now leading a team of
22:46
people at Zoox, which is a self driving taxi company.
22:51
So he was in early at Tesla and helped design the UX of like the
22:56
panel. Super humble guy.
22:59
We sit down for a couple hours and just talk about everything,
23:02
grief, raising a family, career, working for Elon, specific
23:07
stories he shares about what happened and how that was what
23:10
that was like. That's episode 32.
23:14
Very, very interesting. Love Raj.
23:17
OK, episode 34. It's her birthday today.
23:22
My bestie, Brianna, love you shoot in the breeze with my
23:26
bestie and me. AKA comedic reflections on
23:30
handling life's challenges. Brianna is my bestie of 20
23:36
years. I met her when we were teachers
23:39
in Spain a year after college. I was a teacher intern and so
23:43
was she at the American School of Madrid and she is the sister
23:47
I've never had. I love her.
23:49
She kicks my ass when she needs to and is always there for me
23:54
through all of my ups and downs. I love her and we basically just
23:59
make fun of each other for most of the episode.
24:01
Seriously, it's it's funny and talk about raising kids our 20s
24:08
being stupid and dumb, stupid and dumb.
24:14
She's raising two boys. She's got a master's in early
24:17
childhood education, so she talks about being a kindergarten
24:20
teacher going on 15 plus years now and just raising kids with
24:24
screens, discipline, what she sees at school, blah, blah,
24:27
blah. And again, most importantly, she
24:30
makes fun of me. Episode 34.
24:34
Whoa, look at this little synopsis.
24:36
All right, what time are we at now?
24:38
24 minutes, Killing it again, Hopefully this just gives you a
24:42
little bit of a peek into each episode.
24:45
So then you can be like, I want to listen to all of them or that
24:48
specific 1 might be able to help you.
24:51
So that's episode 34. Happy birthday, Brianna.
24:55
It's her actual birthday today. Episode 35, chaos comedy and
25:01
keeping it real. Meg's and Nick's survival guide
25:04
for life. So this was my first in person
25:07
interview with Megan and Nick and I actually had never met
25:12
Nick before that day, which was super cool.
25:14
And Megan is my OG friend. She and I played adult soccer on
25:21
Wednesday nights for a couple of years together.
25:23
So she and I, she's just hilarious.
25:28
So I basically go over to her house and we talk about the ups
25:31
and downs of life through parenting, marriage, job loss,
25:35
all sorts of things. On a more serious note, she I
25:39
believe has had, I think she talks about 3 miscarriages she's
25:43
had and just how she's dealt with that and she's got 2
25:48
healthy beautiful girls now. But for anyone going through
25:52
that or have a friend or family member going through that, she's
25:56
just really honest about it. So and there's a lot of there's
26:00
a lot of laughs in there as well because we talk about how comedy
26:04
and Nick's actually trying to be a stand up comedian.
26:08
So was able to see him go do a set and just talks about how you
26:12
got to go for things in life, stand up comedy with anything.
26:16
So he's an accountant. He's just talks about hobbies
26:22
and painting and all the things that the shenanigans that the
26:25
three of us were getting into that day.
26:27
It's pretty funny. So enjoy episode 35.
26:31
OK, Episode 36, episode 36 and 37 back-to-back.
26:37
Both had the same topic. Sorry, I just bumped into my
26:42
microphone about vision loss. Totally unplanned, but episode
26:49
36, Vision Beyond Sight, Kiwan Amy's journey of resilience,
26:55
faith and purpose. So I interviewed Kiwan.
26:58
He's an Air Force veteran author, an incredible human who
27:03
wrote a book about his experience.
27:06
It's called Wine. It's called Don't, Don't Say
27:10
Wine. Wait, hold on.
27:10
Let me look. It is called his book Don't
27:15
Focus on Why Me, From motorcycle accident to Miracle.
27:20
So when he was 25, I think about five years ago, he had a
27:27
motorcycle accident and was not his fault.
27:31
Someone turned and he got in a really life threatening accident
27:37
and he lost his sight. And so that did not keep him
27:41
down. Trust me, you'll hear in this
27:44
episode basically about his whole experience of leading up
27:50
to the accident. He what happened, the recovery,
27:55
his relationship with God. He was in the Air Force before
28:00
he lost his sight and was a in flight refueler, a boom
28:04
operator. So he talks about his role doing
28:08
that military service and just his incredible comeback and how
28:13
he wrote the book and he is blind.
28:18
And it's wild to me how resilient and incredible he is.
28:23
He's ripped. He works out, he posts his video
28:26
workouts. He does like you know different
28:31
competitions with with you know he's just again one of those
28:35
people like never a victim and just his life and I admire him
28:42
so much. Don't know what to say.
28:46
Episode 37 and mock seeing strength overcoming adversity
28:52
and keeping her purpose in view. So she is an author and
28:58
advocate, storyteller and she has degenerative retinoid
29:06
pigmentosa or some. Let me see what she says here.
29:10
I want to make sure I get it right here.
29:12
She was diagnosed with sorry cone rod dystrophy and lost her
29:17
vision. She actually lives with a
29:19
chronic condition known as new daily persistent headache NDPH
29:24
and she battled debilitating pain and depression, losing her
29:29
mom, raising kids, having to quit her job because she
29:33
couldn't see. She has can see shadows she
29:37
talks about but just the whole process of losing her vision and
29:45
I learned a lot in that episode about vision loss and how it is
29:49
actually a spectrum. So it's blindness is a spectrum
29:53
where some people you're not you the varying degrees to which you
29:58
see it really depends on your condition in the person.
30:01
So just giving a voice to to vision loss.
30:06
She's an incredible person. Oh man, OK, I hope I'm not
30:13
skipping these over too quickly. But again, 50 lessons, 50
30:17
guests, so we got to keep moving.
30:19
Episode 38. This is a 2 parter with my
30:23
amazing friend Meryl Alizada. She's a kindness advocate and
30:27
founder of results of Kindness, and she works with companies to
30:33
try to basically explain the misconception of kindness.
30:40
People think it's sort of this weak thing and it's this like
30:42
pushover, you know, the nice thing.
30:46
But she I'm a quote from the show notes.
30:48
Here we explore the profound impact of kindness on human
30:52
relationships and societal structures, how kindness is a
30:56
fundamental aspect of human survival and development, and
31:00
specifically how she's trying to bring kindness into the
31:04
workplace and kind of show the ROI of kindness.
31:08
How it's good for business and empathetic leaders and empathy,
31:15
meaning caring for people in the right way, not just kind of
31:21
letting the bullies at work overtake the quieter people.
31:26
So we talk a lot about kindness and her her company that she
31:31
started on episode 38. OK, Episode 39, I'm like just
31:36
transitioning to the next one and the next one.
31:38
I don't know how to like smoothly do that, but you know,
31:41
got to keep going. Episode 39, Yogita's Light, a
31:45
father, father's journey through darkness and discovery through
31:49
the lens of myopia. So I talked to a man named Mohan
31:54
Rao about his multiple books he's written.
31:58
He wrote a book. I was just looking at my
32:00
bookshelf over there. He wrote a book about his
32:03
journey through the Himalayas. And then he wrote another book
32:07
about his daughter. She passed away from cancer when
32:11
she was young. And about his daughter, she was
32:14
born without the ability to see and actually had her eyes
32:21
removed as well. So it was just a very tough
32:32
story to hear and it was just having a kid.
32:42
It was really emotional to think about what you would do when a
32:52
kid is born unable to see. And it's just like how he
33:00
navigated that. And again, tough topic, but he
33:07
is a very spiritual person and wrote his book about how he
33:13
dealt with that grief, illness, all the things in his life.
33:20
So really, really strong, strong person to be able to get through
33:24
that. OK, the next episode here, let
33:29
me just lost my place there. The next episode or the next
33:34
guest I talked to, that would be Jackie.
33:42
Episode 40 Tapping into healing with Jackie Dernan, founder of
33:47
Hinterland Health Retreat, the emotional freedom technique and
33:50
trauma recovery. This I recorded during mental
33:54
health awareness month. Jackie founded Hinterland Health
33:59
Retreat in Australia. So this is like a beautiful
34:02
place you go to heal from trauma.
34:05
And she talks about how her own childhood trauma, there was some
34:09
sexual abuse, how she learned this emotional freedom
34:16
technique, the tapping and how powerful that is.
34:19
And basically her center that she started, it's a residential
34:25
treatment center where you can go and have your brain studied,
34:29
have, you know, learn where trauma lives in your body, have
34:32
intensive therapy and just how she's learned how much trauma
34:38
lives in your body. So really, really interesting
34:42
take on healing from both somebody who is like educated
34:46
and owns a treatment center as well as somebody who has been
34:51
through it herself. So that's episode 40.
34:55
Episode 41, how Sylvie alchemizes pain into power,
34:59
healing from domestic violence and narcissistic abuse.
35:04
So this episode, and we're just checking, we're at 35 minutes
35:08
and let's keep going. Episode 41 she talks about she
35:13
is my dear friend. She talks about the quiet
35:17
confusing world of emotional abuse and how she escaped that
35:23
relationship with a narcissist partner.
35:27
She does Co parent with that with that person now, but she's
35:31
very honest about what she went through, how she was able to
35:35
recognize that it was abuse, how she got therapy, ended up
35:39
becoming a healer herself and an advocate for domestic abuse
35:44
victims. She volunteered at a local
35:47
shelter here called Shepherd's Gate.
35:49
And basically we're just really honest and we laugh and we get
35:54
emotional and just kind of talk about what she's been through
36:01
and how to handle and deal with narcissists.
36:05
It's really straight up no bullshit episode 41 and I love
36:09
her to death and she's the best. Episode 42 from coma to
36:14
comeback. Nick Prefontaine on overcoming
36:17
trauma using his step method. So Nick is a speaker, author and
36:23
real estate investor. He is somebody who survived a
36:27
life threatening snowboarding accident in his 20s.
36:29
No, no, no sorry. He was 14.
36:32
Actually, he was in a snowboarding accident that left
36:35
him in a coma. And he talks about the comeback
36:39
and how in life when you're overcoming anything, you all you
36:43
need to do is figure out the next step.
36:46
And he even signs his emails. I think it's like just the next
36:52
step or one step at a time. And that's his whole philosophy.
36:55
And he actually has a coaching program based on his experience
37:00
coming out of a coma and recovering on how to get through
37:05
that, how to get through anything in life using his
37:08
method. Really humble guy, really cool,
37:12
takes you through what it was like during that recovery and
37:17
just how he helps his clients kind of come back from what
37:22
they're going through in their life.
37:24
One step at a time. Episode 43 Fix your reflection.
37:31
First, Rhonda Fair's journey through breast cancer, prison
37:36
and purpose. So in this episode, Rhonda is
37:40
actually she was a former psychotherapist.
37:42
She's now a female empowerment coach.
37:45
She talks about how she didn't do her due diligence with some
37:52
investments business and was implicated in some fraud and
37:59
spent some time in prison. And she talks all about it,
38:04
about her time in prison, about what happened, about things she
38:08
did wrong, about things she learned.
38:11
And she's just really honest and blunt about what she went
38:19
through. And she talks about fixing your
38:22
reflection first and how, like everything healing is all about
38:27
looking at yourself, really looking at yourself in the
38:30
mirror and like owning, taking accountability.
38:36
And it was just really, really interesting to hear her take on,
38:39
you know, what she did in prison and just what people were going
38:42
through. So that's episode 44, episode
38:49
45, carrying Sam's light brotherhood, healing through
38:53
shame, and breaking the silence on mental health with Jake and
38:57
Joe Sharp. All right, so in this episode,
39:01
this was a tough one. I adore Jake and Joe.
39:05
It was a tough one because the topic was suicide and how they
39:12
lost their younger brother Sam to suicide about five years ago.
39:18
And he was like the light in everyone's life.
39:21
And they're from a big close family and they talk about how
39:26
hard that was and how they're now advocates for mental health.
39:32
They post very openly about suicide prevention and just how
39:40
you know, really it's, it's a tribute to Sam's memory.
39:42
And like how important it is to, we talk a lot about shame and
39:48
dark times and like, it's just a really open and honest
39:51
conversation because a lot of people, especially young people,
39:55
but older people too, are suffering and feel like they
39:59
don't have a place to go or they feel shame and suicide.
40:05
We talked about how suicide is is never that answer.
40:08
And so they're just incredible, incredible people, love their
40:13
family. So episode 45 it's all about
40:16
carrying Sam's light and his legacy.
40:20
Episode 46 with the imperfect level up real talk on healing,
40:25
self love and why becoming is messy with coach speaker and
40:30
podcaster Megan Dawson. So in this episode Megan is
40:35
real. She has her own podcast check it
40:37
out called becoming is messy. I think she just wrote a book.
40:42
I just saw a post on that. She talks about her journey
40:46
through trauma, chronic pain and low self esteem and how she was
40:50
always looking for love sort of in all the wrong places.
40:54
She talks about marriage. She talks about taking wrong
40:57
turns and just looking outside for validation.
41:02
And we talk about how the whole journey of becoming is messy,
41:07
right? Becoming who you are and how
41:08
it's not this like linear thing that looks all perfect, like a
41:12
highlight reel. So she's she's as real as they
41:15
come. And we just kind of have an
41:16
honest conversation about, you know, wrong turns we both took
41:22
and how it's kind of messy. But here we are.
41:24
So episode 47, narcissists at work, the hidden cost of
41:31
charisma. This is the Results of Kindness
41:33
podcast launch. So my friend Meryl, she was on a
41:37
previous episode as well, talking about results of
41:40
kindness, her own company. And then she actually on episode
41:44
47, we posted this here and on her podcast as her debut
41:49
episode. And we talk about the hidden
41:52
cost of charisma, narcissists at work, like how these people get
41:57
promoted, how they get into positions of leadership and how
42:01
the hell we deal with it. Signs to look for tools to cope
42:06
with narcissists at work. And basically how her company
42:10
results of kindness is basically the opposite of, you know,
42:13
trying to develop leaders and people who are not narcissists.
42:17
And narcissists are devoid of empathy and incapable of self
42:20
reflection. So you don't want those at work,
42:23
but you got them at work. And how do you deal with them?
42:26
So she and I have both had experience with narcissists and
42:29
we ain't playing around on that episode.
42:31
So thank you very much. All right, moving along, episode
42:39
48 young children, big life lessons, Nisha Batra, an early
42:43
childhood education disability and belonging.
42:46
I'm going to take a sip of coffee.
42:51
This was super cool. Nisha is amazing.
42:55
She is a early childhood educator and fierce advocate for
43:00
people with different abilities. So she has a non verbal learning
43:04
disability and she just talks openly and wants to represent
43:09
the importance of like not only including people with different
43:13
abilities, but just being kind and like understanding what
43:18
they're going through, but also not limiting yourself.
43:22
Like should we talk about how she's doing a lot of amazing
43:27
things and she has a partner and she's just like she was saying,
43:32
creating space for the stories of people who have visible and
43:38
non visible different abilities because sometimes you can't see
43:41
it and sometimes you obviously can.
43:43
But she talks about storytelling and how by telling our stories,
43:49
our stories meaning from the community, the different people
43:54
have different abilities than having the ability to tell their
43:57
stories, How that in itself is a form of advocacy and giving them
44:02
a voice. So I'm like super proud to be a
44:03
podcast that really is. I have a special place in my
44:07
heart for anyone with any kind of different ability.
44:11
So please take a listen to episode 48.
44:17
She's just brilliant and amazing.
44:20
All right, the next guest I had after episode 48 was episode 49,
44:28
Raheel Siddiqui on losing 200 lbs, becoming a wall breaker and
44:34
finding self love and more. Raheel is a badass.
44:38
He lost 200 lbs many years ago before all the GLP drugs.
44:44
I'm not hating on him, I just, I think they're not healthy.
44:47
But he lost it the good old fashioned way and he has a
44:51
relentless spirit. He talks about being morbidly
44:56
obese and being told by the doctor that he's going to be
44:59
he's like, doesn't matter. You're going to be dead by the
45:01
time you're 40 and this. And how like that shocked him.
45:05
And he thought that he he says he remembers being in the car
45:09
and his dad pulled over after that appointment and was crying
45:13
and just was like, you got to promise me that you're going to
45:14
change your life and lose the weight.
45:17
And he said he kept that promise to his dad.
45:20
And now he goes around all these.
45:22
He's been a Ted Talk speaker He goes around podcasts.
45:26
He has his own podcast where he just tells his story, talks
45:31
about how people used to make fun of him.
45:33
He tells us stories and how like those still echo and those.
45:36
He's turned that into motivation and I just love him so much.
45:41
He's my homie. He's got so much energy.
45:43
We're actually going to have him back I think this month to talk.
45:47
I was just messaging him, but breaking down walls.
45:50
He talks about you got to lower your shoulder.
45:53
Any wall in your life, lower it and bust through it.
45:57
Great episode, episode 50 Building brighter futures for
46:02
foster kids with Fostering Wishes founder Sabine Lemo.
46:06
So this is a friend of mine I met locally here in the last
46:10
year. She founded a nonprofit here in
46:14
the Bay Area called Fostering Wishes.
46:17
She fostered, I believe about 24 foster kids in her own home and
46:21
then ended up adopting her daughter Valerie when she was
46:26
little. And now she basically her
46:31
organization tries to supplement the gaps between the state
46:34
funding and what the foster kids actually need.
46:38
So we talk about how, for example, when foster kids are
46:42
moving from home to home, they told her that trash bags are not
46:45
really don't make them feel good, that they make them feel
46:49
like trash. So she has a duffel bag program
46:53
where we we meeting, I've helped with with one event, so not we
46:59
her, where she and fostering wishes gather duffel bags for
47:06
kids. They developed trade school
47:10
scholarships, just, you know, Christmas gift drives, all kinds
47:15
of things to supplement what you know, the state can't provide.
47:19
And just like a reminder that foster kids are everywhere and
47:23
you just don't know it. So you just never know, like
47:26
what kinds of things people are going home to.
47:31
Episode 51, Sacred story counseling, helping women heal
47:36
with licensed professional counselor Hannah Sinkovitz.
47:41
All right, so this one doing another time.
47:44
Check 47 minutes if you're still with me.
47:48
Thank you episode. Go ahead, go ahead.
47:52
Episode 51, Helping women heal. Hannah, like Mariah was actually
47:58
in my cohort for like a business mastermind for like baby
48:04
entrepreneurs like me a year ago.
48:06
And she started her own private practice in Michigan and she's
48:12
helps women kind of overcome the perfectionism, anxiety, all
48:17
kinds of things. And she does therapy intensive.
48:21
She's just a bad ass. I love her.
48:23
She's super real. She is a mom, she played
48:26
collegiate soccer, she was raised Christian, but she like
48:32
talks about how parts of that were a little bit repressive,
48:34
but she's still Christian. But I love how she's just like
48:37
real about the good and bad parts of everything.
48:40
And she's a very compassionate, amazing counselor.
48:46
We're each other's hype people. We hype each other up because we
48:48
basically started this at the same time, like building our
48:51
online presence. So she has a special place in my
48:53
heart. She's actually going to come
48:55
back and talk about the mental load of motherhood this year, so
49:00
I love Hannah. It's like a free counseling
49:03
session there. Episode 51 Another free
49:07
counseling session. Episode 52 life review the
49:11
Hospice musical with Benjamin Kentish from a chaplain's heart
49:15
to center stage. So he is a chaplain.
49:19
He is Jewish and hilarious guy who just heart of gold basically
49:27
created. He was a a hospital chaplain who
49:31
would counsel people, you know, as they were dying and counsel
49:34
their family members and talks about that whole experience, how
49:40
to comfort people, what he learned from his faith as well
49:44
as his training as a chaplain. And then he created a musical
49:49
called Life Review, the Hospice musical.
49:53
And he talks about musical theater and how he has a dream
49:58
to turn this into a Broadway show.
50:00
And he does in person live in virtual performances of the
50:05
musical. You got to look into it, but
50:07
it's basically like, you know, celebrates life, love, loss and
50:11
like how to deal with all of that.
50:13
And I think it's he's so funny that it's really cool to get
50:17
like somebody's who's hilarious, who's also, you know, counseled
50:21
people in their darkest hours. Really cool, really cool guy.
50:27
OK, I hope I'm doing not doing disservice by going this
50:32
quickly, but this is an overview episode.
50:34
I keep talking about it. OK, episode 53 faith and
50:38
adversity Wake up Jesus people author Jason Heinrichs on
50:42
powerful sacred starts. So Jason wrote a book called
50:47
wake up Jesus people. He really successful businessman
50:53
and he also just started a church with him and his wife.
50:57
Him and his wife and family started a church couple days
51:00
after they filmed this episode. They moved to Seattle and they
51:07
started a church. And he talks about his book and
51:09
how it's a guide for people to like he talks about how you got
51:15
to put Jesus first, then then your family, then your job.
51:21
And like literally his book is like a guide.
51:26
He has like a 40 forge Forge 4040 days like a group where you
51:33
can join and it's a challenge to get up and everyday spend like
51:36
half an hour with the Bible and then 1/2 an hour of movement.
51:39
And he calls that a sacred start.
51:42
And he's just a really successful, awesome guy, super
51:47
confident and like real and like talks about how he just didn't
51:52
used to be happy, but he had all his success.
51:54
And then just a very practical episode that you can like, apply
51:59
to your life and if you're looking for that faith as well.
52:05
So that's episode 53. All right.
52:07
I'm a stretch. Oh, my gosh, a lot of cracking.
52:09
Cracking at my back. OK, OK.
52:14
Episode 54, Jim Serrano's courageous journey through
52:18
adoption, abuse and redemption, his healing path.
52:23
I love Jim. So he was adopted when he was
52:26
six months old. He talks about what that has
52:29
been like, just the search for his parents, how he found them,
52:35
what it was like, how it's not really like a Hallmark movie.
52:41
A lot of the times when you reunite with your birth family,
52:44
sometimes it is, sometimes it's not.
52:46
And he talks about how he's writing a book and how him
52:51
sharing his story about like feelings of suicide and and
52:56
mental health problems. He's doing great now he's in his
52:59
60s. But just how sharing his story,
53:03
he actually had a kid come up to him when he was at a Muay Thai
53:07
tournament because he's he does Muay Thai.
53:09
And he said that the kid said, hey, I heard you on a podcast
53:12
the other day. This was like a different
53:14
podcast, not mine. He's like, oh, cool.
53:17
Like thanks for listening. And he's like, yeah, I he said
53:21
that the kid told him he he planned on taking his life and
53:25
decided not to because he heard his episode.
53:30
He said he cried like a baby all the way home.
53:32
And that was just a reminder to me.
53:34
Like, you just never know who you're going to impact by being
53:39
honest. So great, great adoption story
53:44
and just, he's just a great human being.
53:47
So he he does talk about some heavy stuff too, about abuse.
53:51
And he's just really open about it.
53:54
So episode 55, is it menopause, perimenopause, or just me?
54:02
Real talk with menopause founder and certified coach Raquel
54:06
Riggle. I'm going to stand up because
54:08
I've been sitting for 4054 minutes.
54:14
If you're still with me, you rock.
54:16
Because you know what? You're getting some good wisdom
54:18
here from my guests, not from me.
54:20
I'm just the messenger. I'm just the pot.
54:23
Don't. I'm just the messenger.
54:24
I'm just the podcaster. Feels good to stand up.
54:27
OK OK so episode 55 I laughed a lot with Raquel.
54:35
I should have stood up earlier. I don't know if you'll cut this
54:38
out, but if you don't stand up and stretch with me, unless
54:41
you're in the car, don't stand up.
54:43
Episode 55 Raquel is amazing. She talks about what a lot of us
54:49
old ladies and 44 are going through paramenopause and
54:53
menopause and just the over 55 symptoms, not just hot flashes,
54:59
guys, We talk about the many, many symptoms that come along
55:02
with menopause and perimenopause.
55:05
And perimenopause is actually the period you're in.
55:09
Period, no pun intended. The time period, Oh my gosh, the
55:13
time span where you go into menopause.
55:18
Technically I'm explaining this so well.
55:21
You go into menopause the day that you hit 12 months since
55:25
your last period up until that time you're in paramenopause.
55:30
So again, listen to it episode 55.
55:33
I'm not the expert, but I am going through paramenopause and
55:37
I do sweat profusely at night. Too much information, never.
55:42
Anyway, she founded a company called Menopause where you can
55:46
have a subscription, get support online, they recommend
55:49
supplements, estrogen therapy. She talks all about it.
55:52
So if you or your wife or your sister or someone's going
55:57
through paramenopause or menopause and you want some tips
56:00
on how to deal with it or help them, episode 55 is just for
56:04
you. OK, different topic.
56:09
Episode 56, I had the honor and privilege of sitting down with
56:13
retired Marine canine handler Alfred Brenner on Surviving with
56:17
Grief, his book on war service and healing.
56:22
So in this episode, of course, I want to thank him for his
56:25
service. Thank Kiwan as well.
56:27
All of our veterans are amazing. I sat down with him.
56:31
He wrote a book about it's called Surviving with Grief, and
56:36
he was deployed in Afghanistan and lost his dog.
56:41
He was a canine handler and the Marines, he and his canine were,
56:50
they blew up in a roadside bomb and it was stuck in a wall.
56:55
And he tells the story about what happened, how he dealt with
56:59
that is dealing with that was about 15 years ago.
57:03
He did have some pretty bad injuries, part of his hand arm,
57:07
and he wrote a book about it and it's incredible and just talks
57:12
about in great detail what it was like being deployed and how
57:17
he has just survived with grief since then.
57:23
So a beautiful tribute to our servicemen and women who are, I
57:29
don't even know what couldn't can't say enough about them.
57:33
All right, Episode 57, 19 year old Wilson Munsterman on
57:38
resilience, identity and his book Marked by Adoption.
57:43
So in this episode, 19 year old, my second youngest guest, Amir,
57:47
17. Talk about him in a few minutes.
57:50
Wilson is 19. He wrote a book called Marked by
57:54
Adoption and he's incredible. He's in college and he's a
57:59
sophomore. He tells a story about how he
58:02
was left on a doorstep in China when he was a few months old and
58:07
how he was eventually adopted by American family and how that was
58:12
just such an unlikely story because of China's one child
58:16
policy and the fact that he was got to America with an amazing
58:22
family. He says that had to have been
58:24
God and talks about his journey and just what it was like, what
58:28
it is like being adopted and why he wrote this book and how it
58:32
has changed his life, adoption in good ways and hard ways.
58:39
And he's just really honest. He's a great, great kid.
58:43
And he's an adult now, 19, but he's so young.
58:46
Talks about how he loves Elvis and Johnny Cash and just a
58:50
really, really resilient, awesome person.
58:52
He's got a wonderful energy. So that's episode 57.
58:55
And we are at 59 minutes. OK, the last leg of this
59:02
episode, episode 59, radically rooted adoptee coach Julie
59:08
Brumley on adoption trauma and coming home to self.
59:13
So another incredible adoptee we have Wilson, Jim, and now Julie
59:22
all adopted. She was adopted and talks all
59:25
about her experience and she's now an adoptee coach who helps
59:29
other adoptees reclaim their own identity and find themselves.
59:34
She talks about, she actually just started a podcast too
59:37
called The Resilience Project and she is hilarious, genuine
59:44
and talks about how just the journey of finding her parents
59:49
and then sort of how how adoption within itself.
59:54
She says a lot of people get mad at her when she says this, but
59:56
even if you're adopted into a good family, which she was, how
1:00:00
any adoption is trauma because you're not, it's traumatic for
1:00:05
your nervous system. And so she's just really real
1:00:09
about her experience. And again, we laugh a lot.
1:00:11
She's got so much energy and I adore her.
1:00:16
Another person I adore. Episode 60 remembering Sam Pam
1:00:21
Sharp on family, faith, grief and suicide prevention.
1:00:26
I was so grateful to have Pam who she is Jake and Joe's mother
1:00:34
on episode 60 and she talked about her perspective of losing
1:00:38
her son Sam to suicide. She has seven kids and is just
1:00:46
very honest. She has a podcast called Fight
1:00:49
Hard Love Much that she started after his suicide, and I believe
1:00:55
it was in 2020. He took his own life.
1:00:56
He was a teenager. And she's just really honest
1:00:59
about how hard it's been and how she just wants people to know
1:01:05
that like she's a safe place for anyone to come to and just like
1:01:10
things that she learned from that experience.
1:01:15
Parenting tips on like things that she remembers from that
1:01:19
time. And she's just really honest
1:01:22
about her family, their faith, the grief that they're going
1:01:26
through and what we can do to prevent suicide.
1:01:30
She's an incredible woman. Episode 61.
1:01:36
Now this is talking about my editor, who will be the first
1:01:40
one to hear these words. Episode 61 from I just hit my
1:01:44
head, face, chin. I can't talk episode 61.
1:01:49
From 7th grade dreamer to music industry producer.
1:01:53
He is unstoppable. My reunion with Julian.
1:01:57
He is known as Jack Ephron as well.
1:01:59
He is the podcast producer and editor of this podcast and we
1:02:05
just take a walk down memory lane and talk about how I was
1:02:08
his 7th grade math teacher. Pretty hilarious.
1:02:12
When I was 25, he was 12 or 13 and I taught math and science.
1:02:18
And then we we've stayed connected on Facebook and we
1:02:20
just talk about what how I had no idea what I was doing, but I
1:02:24
tried my best. And we just talked about that
1:02:28
school and our experience in Arizona and what a special place
1:02:32
it was. And then how we reconnected or
1:02:34
we've stayed connected on Facebook for 20 years and then
1:02:38
just started chatting and how we both have been through like a
1:02:41
narcissistic abuse experience. And here we are working together
1:02:45
20 years later. Who knew?
1:02:47
Who knew? So really cool.
1:02:50
Walk down memory lane with my homie Julio Iglesias.
1:02:54
Episode 61, Episode 62. We are coming up close here.
1:03:01
Adversity, DMT and self acceptance.
1:03:04
Adam Butler's journey through addiction, healing and
1:03:08
psychedelic insight. This one is amazing.
1:03:12
He calls himself a psychonaut. Adam Butler.
1:03:15
He wrote a book on DMT. It's called DM Butler's DMT
1:03:21
Field Guide. A brief history, step by step
1:03:23
recipes, and personal experiences from ADMT saturated
1:03:27
consciousness. Holy moly.
1:03:30
We talk psychedelics. We talk about DMT, the spiritual
1:03:35
spirit molecule, and how he just is really honest about how he
1:03:40
used to be an alcoholic. He's now five years sober on New
1:03:44
Year's Day. He he posted about that the
1:03:46
other day. Congratulations.
1:03:48
He talks about how he kind of lost everything and how DMT and
1:03:54
psychedelics changed his life. And he's honest about like wrong
1:03:59
turns he made, how he was just not the greatest version of
1:04:05
himself and how he has changed. Talks a lot about mental health
1:04:11
and just the power of DMT and psychedelics to help with mental
1:04:15
health. Really, really interesting guy
1:04:18
and great energy as well. So that was episode 62, Episode
1:04:24
63, Sylvia's back. She was on episode 41 this time.
1:04:29
This was in person in an Oakland podcast studio.
1:04:33
Coach Sylvie on healing the root, turning pain into
1:04:36
empowered living. She talks specifically from the
1:04:40
perspective as she's a like a healing coach now.
1:04:44
And she talks about how all pain stems from a root and how like
1:04:51
just we walk through trauma and how you have to heal that root.
1:04:55
And we just laugh and talk about how to get recover from abuse
1:05:01
from her perspective. So she's amazing.
1:05:05
Episode 64 Adversity to Advocacy Carolyn Dreyer's story escaping
1:05:11
domestic abuse and promoting mental health recovery.
1:05:16
Carolyn She has been through a lot.
1:05:19
She is the 4th adoptee. She was adopted as well and has
1:05:26
been through sexual assault, mental health issues.
1:05:32
She talks a story about how she packed up in the middle of the
1:05:35
night to escape her abusive husband with the help of Co
1:05:39
workers, sounds like a movie. And how she's raising her son
1:05:45
just a lot. She was mixed race Korean and
1:05:50
African American and the the challenges that came with that.
1:05:54
And she now just writes about her mental health recovery.
1:05:58
And so she's a very strong woman and super grateful to have had
1:06:02
her story on the podcast again, just very real about what she
1:06:06
went through. Episode 65, Life beyond law
1:06:13
Enforcement with retired officer and gang detective Manny Angulo,
1:06:18
PTSD recovery. This is my producer Jack's dad,
1:06:23
Manny Badass. He was an undercover gang
1:06:27
detective in Arizona, and he now has a nonprofit dedicated to
1:06:32
helping first responders recover from PTSD.
1:06:38
Seriously, that's pretty damn cool.
1:06:41
And we talked about his journey, the things he saw as a police
1:06:46
officer and detective, the trauma that they see.
1:06:51
He talks about specific experience that he still
1:06:55
struggles with and it just gives a a voice and a face to like
1:07:01
what our first responders go through.
1:07:05
Particularly close to my heart because I'm like one of those
1:07:07
people who back the blue. And I know our police officers
1:07:10
have gotten some hate in recent years and I'm just not not here
1:07:14
for it. So talks about what it was like
1:07:17
being an undercover detective and just incredible, incredible
1:07:24
story because until I think you've been that in that
1:07:28
situation, I can't imagine what that must have been like.
1:07:30
But great stories. And he talks about just like
1:07:35
what he's doing in his community in Phoenix to help officers,
1:07:41
current and retired who are struggling.
1:07:45
All right. Episode 66, The weight of our
1:07:48
emotional backpacks. Steve unpacks trauma to inspire
1:07:51
hope beyond drinking. Love Steve.
1:07:55
He has a podcast called No alcohol Needed.
1:07:58
He is a great guy. Canadian, hilarious Canadian
1:08:03
people are always hilarious. He talks about how he was, he
1:08:11
just was drinking all the time and how he finally came clean
1:08:19
that he had a problem. He talks about unpacking your
1:08:22
trauma. It's like your emotional
1:08:24
backpack and each thing that you, we all have one and it's
1:08:27
like, how much are you actually carrying in your emotional
1:08:30
backpack? So if you're carrying a lot and
1:08:33
then you start to unpack it and like how you deal with your
1:08:36
emotions and just all sorts of stuff.
1:08:39
I think he's like an alcohol recovery coach and really cool
1:08:45
conversation about again, no holding back about the dangers
1:08:50
of alcohol and like recovery and how recovery, how he now like
1:08:56
doesn't struggle with it. He just doesn't.
1:08:58
Alcohol isn't a part of his life and he believes everyone can get
1:09:01
there. Episode 67 Doctor Joy Kong, stem
1:09:07
cell doctor of the decade, her journey from Beijing to
1:09:10
breakthroughs. She is an incredible woman, grew
1:09:17
up in communist China, fought her way to America, endured
1:09:23
narcissistic abuse, became stem cell doctor of the decade, wrote
1:09:28
a book about. Her book is super cool title
1:09:35
when I read it here. Her book is called Tiger of
1:09:38
Beijing, The inspirational memoir of a fierce regenerative
1:09:41
medicine physician. We talk about medicine, we talk
1:09:46
about Wellness, we talk about abuse recovery, we talk about
1:09:50
mental health, career tenacity. And she is just such a badass.
1:09:57
I'm telling you, really, really interesting conversation.
1:10:03
And I think of her a lot because she just has like a strength
1:10:07
that you can tell when you listen to the episode, like,
1:10:10
nobody's going to stop her and nobody has stopped her and
1:10:13
nobody will. So kick ass.
1:10:17
All right, we are down to our last four, last four summaries.
1:10:22
And then you get to say goodbye to me.
1:10:25
Episode 69, Finding God Music and Fresh starts with singer,
1:10:30
performer and creator Miranda Young.
1:10:33
Super cool. Julian Jack Efron, my producer,
1:10:38
introduced me to Miranda and we did a remote episode.
1:10:41
And I'm actually sponsored by the company she works for,
1:10:45
Davini, a honey based kombucha tea.
1:10:48
This is actually sponsored every episode sponsored by them.
1:10:51
So you can use Brienne 10 at checkout for a discount
1:10:55
sparkling honey kombucha. All right, back to Miranda.
1:10:59
Miranda talked about her career as a singer.
1:11:05
She talks about mental health and like dealing with her dad
1:11:11
going through bladder cancer and how they were praying and she
1:11:15
sort of like felt the Holy Spirit come over her and how
1:11:18
since then she and the founders of divinity have actually been
1:11:24
learning more about God and like going to church and like her
1:11:27
life changes and just we just talk about life and faith.
1:11:32
And we're both kind of on this journey where we're, we were
1:11:35
raised Catholic, but we're like rediscovering the personal
1:11:39
relationship with Jesus and spirituality.
1:11:41
So love her. And she's a really talented
1:11:46
singer and you can find her stuff on Spotify.
1:11:49
Miranda Young OK episode 70, escaping abuse.
1:11:54
Roseanne Mayer's story, Bones Beneath the Prairie, a memoir of
1:11:59
survival. She is this was cool because she
1:12:04
turned 70 and she's episode 70 and we didn't even plan that and
1:12:09
how she found me was through Sylvie's story about
1:12:12
narcissistic abuse. And then now she Sylvie and I
1:12:16
are going to do a panel episode this year because they get along
1:12:19
great and they're like little online besties now Actually gave
1:12:22
the book to Sylvie too. Any who this, this is a very
1:12:29
serious real conversation about the abuse, physical, mental,
1:12:35
spiritual she endured behind closed doors for 12 years and
1:12:38
then finally escaped and wrote a book about it.
1:12:42
She talks about how her husband beat her with a bedpost, how
1:12:47
that was the the the the end point for her, but many, many
1:12:51
bruises and many years leading up to that.
1:12:54
So just a real honest, raw talk about abuse and survival and
1:13:00
faith and secrets and telling secrets and unmasking things
1:13:06
that need to be said. So there you go.
1:13:10
She's incredible. And she read a book about it.
1:13:14
OK. Episode 71 from managing Alanis
1:13:18
Beyoncé and Mariah's millions to addiction and recovery.
1:13:22
Jonathan's story. He was the business manager for
1:13:26
Alanis Morissette, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Matthew
1:13:30
McConaughey, Linkin Park, all these people.
1:13:35
And he talks about how he got caught for embezzling, I think
1:13:41
it was 7 million from his clients and he spent time in
1:13:45
prison. He talks about his gambling and
1:13:48
cocaine addiction, how he overcame that and how he has
1:13:55
rebuilt his life as an addiction counselor at a private treatment
1:13:58
center in Encino, CA. He's real big on accountability.
1:14:04
I admire his ability to own his mistakes and, you know, not
1:14:11
worry about being judged and takes a lot to admit where you
1:14:16
went wrong and, and try to do better.
1:14:19
So that's episode 71 with Jonathan.
1:14:21
Really, really cool guy, really real, and he's clearly changed a
1:14:25
lot and learned a lot. And last but not least, episode
1:14:31
72, Raised in Philly, rooted in faith, 17 year old Amir on
1:14:35
mental health, purpose and politics.
1:14:40
This was my most recent episode with my youngest guest to date,
1:14:44
Amir. He talks about being raised in
1:14:47
Philadelphia, about how he's found God.
1:14:51
He spent some time time in a mental health treatment center
1:14:54
in April. And he what was amazing is he
1:14:58
saw one of my reels when he was there.
1:15:01
And I think that is incredible. And that's how we connected and
1:15:05
just started following each other.
1:15:06
And then I asked him to be on the podcast.
1:15:09
He's incredible. 17. He's got a real strong point of
1:15:12
view on politics, on being conservative, on, you know,
1:15:19
being a young black male. He's very honest about that and
1:15:22
his take on that and racism and culture and victimhood and the
1:15:29
left versus the right and all those things.
1:15:31
So incredible kid, 17 years old, and really, really inspiring to
1:15:39
see him mature like this at such a young age.
1:15:42
I certainly did not. It's not that mature.
1:15:46
So really, really cool conversation.
1:15:50
And I'm episode 73. If you're still here an hour and
1:15:54
16 minutes later, Hallelujah. If you're not, then you won't be
1:15:57
hearing this. But no, I hope that maybe you
1:16:03
didn't know about one of those episodes and hearing something
1:16:06
in my little synopsis might prompt you to give give one of
1:16:11
their stories a chance for a few minutes and see if it if it
1:16:14
helps you feel less alone or helps you come up with a way to
1:16:18
tackle maybe similar adversity in your life that some of my
1:16:21
guests have been through. So with that, I'm gonna sign off
1:16:25
episode 73. Thank you so much to every
1:16:29
single guest who took a chance on a little podcaster like me
1:16:36
begging for guests. And now I'm really grateful to
1:16:40
be able to have guests that that want to come on and, and share
1:16:44
their stories. And it makes me feel less alone.
1:16:47
It makes people in 59 countries feel less alone.
1:16:51
And I hope that the sound of my voice in any of their lessons
1:16:56
that I've been able to pass on from them helps you get through
1:17:01
a hard time. Because I know when I was
1:17:04
struggling 2 1/2 years ago, podcasts were a light at the end
1:17:07
of the tunnel. So God bless you and hang in
1:17:11
there. Do not give up.
1:17:13
You can do this.