🎙️ 33 CONVERSATIONS PODCAST

In this episode of 33 Conversations, Michael Abney sits down with filmmaker and editor Maris Lidaka, founder of the Blended Future Project, to explore the changing landscape of storytelling.

Maris shares how growing up between cultures shaped his perspective on representation, identity, and the stories that rarely get told in mainstream media. The conversation explores how the traditional Hollywood model is shifting, how algorithms have become the new gatekeepers, and why independent creators must build their own systems to survive.

Key themes discussed include:

• Authentic storytelling in the age of algorithms
• The difference between making art and chasing attention
• Why specificity creates powerful storytelling
• Building systems that support creativity and sustainability
• The future of independent media and creator communities

This episode is for filmmakers, founders, creators, and storytellers navigating the noise of modern content platforms while trying to preserve meaning in their work.

If you're building something meaningful in the world — and wondering how to sustain it — this conversation offers perspective, strategy, and inspiration.

Many artists struggle with a quiet but powerful fear: being seen.

In this episode of 33 Conversations, Michael Abney speaks with artist and Art Flow Alliance founder Dominique Sahms about the personal journey of stepping into creative identity and building a supportive community for artists navigating the modern art world.

Dominique shares how she transitioned from hiding her work to publicly claiming her identity as an artist. Along the way, she encountered gatekeeping, scams, exhibition barriers, and the emotional challenges that many creators face when entering the art industry.

Key themes include:

• Overcoming fear of visibility as an artist
• The mindset shift behind saying “I am an artist”
• Challenges emerging artists face in exhibitions and online
• Building authentic artist communities
• Separating personal worth from financial success

This episode is for artists, creators, and entrepreneurs who feel called to share their work but struggle with self-doubt or fear of stepping forward.

If you're navigating the intersection of creativity, identity, and visibility, this conversation offers insight into what it takes to keep going.

Entrepreneurship is often portrayed as a strategic journey — but the deeper battle many founders face is internal.

In this conversation, Maggie Segrich shares the personal experiences that shaped her approach to leadership and community building. From childhood environments that created a powerful inner critic, to illness, business upheaval, and even a house fire, Maggie’s journey reveals how adversity can become a catalyst for deeper self-awareness.

Together, we explore the power of chosen family, the importance of emotional regulation, and why community may be the most important resource for founders navigating uncertainty.

This episode discusses:

• Founder self-doubt and inner narratives
• The emotional reality of entrepreneurship
• The power of community and chosen family
• Meditation and self-awareness for leaders
• Breaking generational patterns

This conversation is for founders, creators, and leaders who are navigating pressure, identity shifts, and the search for meaningful connection while building something that matters.

Many founders feel pressure to simplify themselves.

Pick one industry.
One identity.
One story that makes sense.

But real entrepreneurship rarely works that way.

In this episode, Jessica Adanich shares how she built a design agency serving the firearms and tactical industry while simultaneously launching an art-driven shark conservation movement.

The conversation explores what happens when founders stop trying to fit inside a single identity and instead build businesses around who they actually are.

Key themes include:

• Founder identity and authenticity
• The illusion of financial security
• Entrepreneurship and personal evolution
• Building mission-driven businesses
• The emotional reality of starting something new

This episode is for founders, creators, and builders who feel pulled in multiple directions and wonder if something is wrong with them.

It isn’t.

Sometimes the most powerful path is the one that doesn’t make sense to anyone else.

In this episode of 33 Conversations, Michael sits down with Diana Rain, founder of Your Brand Studio, to explore what rebuilding a business really looks like when done with clarity and structure.

They unpack the difference between branding and marketing, why small businesses often skip brand strategy, and the costly consequences of guesswork. Diana shares how starting over reshaped her approach to business, and why clarity is the most powerful tool a founder can have.

Key themes discussed:

• Brand strategy vs. marketing execution
• Founder positioning and differentiation
• The psychology of rebuilding
• Why clarity reduces overwhelm
• How to build a three-year brand roadmap

This episode is for mission-driven founders, entrepreneurs rebuilding quietly, and small business owners struggling with visibility or messaging.

If you’re navigating startup identity, founder reinvention, or marketing confusion, this conversation will give you a grounded place to begin.

In this episode, Sanyu shares her journey from working at major corporate brands to building her own creative agency rooted in meaning and truth.

After navigating layoffs, identity shifts, and being labeled “too much,” she chose alignment over prestige.

Key Themes

• Corporate identity attachment
• Founder awakening
• Perfectionism and fear
• High-performer dynamics
• Starting a purpose-driven business

Who This Is For

Founders leaving corporate
High achievers questioning identity
Entrepreneurs building something mission-driven
Anyone navigating career reinvention

Why It’s Worth Listening To

This conversation goes beyond business tactics. It explores the psychological and emotional layers of stepping into alignment — and what it really costs to choose yourself.

In this episode of 33 Conversations, Michael Abney and Coach Ambereen explore what happens when leaders lose connection with themselves during growth and expansion.

They unpack founder burnout, energy protection, spiritual discipline, and the subtle identity shifts that occur when community builders scale their impact.

Key themes discussed:

• Absorbing collective anxiety as a leader
• The ritual of alignment
• Giving vs receiving
• Community as mirror
• Leadership beyond ego

This episode is for mission-driven founders, early-stage entrepreneurs, and deep thinkers navigating pressure, identity, and reinvention.

If you’re building something meaningful and feeling stretched internally, this conversation will offer grounding clarity.

What happens when your identity collapses?

When the career that defined you ends.
When the marriage falls apart.
When the gym closes.
When anger, burnout, or depression start running the show.

In this episode of 33 Conversations, I sit down with Coach Rob Wheeler — former Navy, former federal police officer, strength and conditioning coach, and host of the Battle Harder Podcast — for a raw conversation about rebuilding when everything falls apart.

Rob shares how years of stacked trauma from military service, law enforcement, divorce, and professional collapse forced him to confront his mental health head-on. PTSD. Depression. Anger. Emotional shutdown. The kind of things men are trained not to talk about.

We explore:

• Why high performers burn out
• How fitness impacts emotional regulation
• The link between discipline and mental health
• Why many men wait until everything breaks before asking for help
• Breaking generational patterns around strength and vulnerability
• How overwork disconnects us from the people we love
• Simple, practical first steps if you feel lost

This isn’t surface-level motivation.
It’s about resilience that’s earned.

Rob makes a strong case that fitness is more than aesthetics — it’s a foundation for mental clarity, emotional stability, and long-term resilience. We talk about why movement becomes non-negotiable, how overconsumption numbs deeper issues, and how auditing your life can create space to rebuild with intention.

If you’re a founder, leader, or high performer who feels overwhelmed, disconnected, or quietly burned out, this conversation will meet you where you are.

Strength isn’t the absence of emotion.
It’s the ability to face it.

Listen in. Then take inventory.

In this episode of 33 Conversations, Michael sits down with Jeffrey Marr, founder of Practical Philosophy — a global movement now active in 56 cities across 25 countries.

What began as a small group of friends reading quotes and asking meaningful questions has grown into a worldwide network of in-person gatherings focused on:

• Deep conversation
• Critical thinking
• Genuine human connection
• Community as a response to modern loneliness

Jeffrey shares how the movement spread organically, why people are hungry for spaces like this, and how anyone can start a Practical Philosophy group in their own city.

If you’ve been feeling disconnected, this conversation is a reminder: the world changes when people sit down and truly talk.

Founders don’t talk about this enough:

The moment you want something too badly… you enter need mode.

That emotional state of urgency, fear, and pressure can quietly push success further away.

In this conversation, I sit down with Steve Linton, author of The Frequency of Success, to explore how need mode forms, how it affects founders, and what it takes to shift into a grounded frequency of creation.

We talk about fear, subconscious programming, and the simple daily practices that help you stop operating from survival energy.

If you’ve been feeling stuck, overthinking, or pushing too hard…

This episode is a reset.