Another Million Miles Podcast

You can survive something and still carry it with you for years.

In this deeply honest episode of Another Million Miles Podcast, Danielle sits down with Jimmy Lee Armel, former U.S. Army Ranger, combat veteran, speaker, and founder of the Knot Lucky Foundation, for a conversation about PTSD, trauma, addiction, mental health, healing, identity, and finding purpose after survival mode.

After multiple combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, Jimmy returned home carrying wounds that couldn’t always be seen. He opens up about PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, addiction, depression, suicidal thoughts, and what happened when the military identity that had given his life structure and purpose was suddenly taken away.

For Jimmy, surviving was only the beginning.

This conversation explores what it looks like to stop simply pushing through pain and begin facing what you’ve been carrying. Jimmy shares his journey through some of his darkest moments, the role faith has played in his life, his experiences seeking healing, and how he began rebuilding an identity and purpose beyond combat.

Today, that purpose has become service.

Through the Knot Lucky Foundation, Jimmy creates opportunities for veterans and active-duty service members to experience connection, camaraderie, and time on the water through offshore fishing. What began as part of Jimmy’s own journey has grown into a mission to help others know they don’t have to navigate theirs alone.

Because surviving something isn’t the same as healing from it.

And while your story may look nothing like Jimmy’s, there’s a question in this conversation for all of us:

What are you still carrying from something you already survived?

If you’ve been living in survival mode, struggling with your identity after a major life change, or trying to find purpose after a difficult chapter, this episode is an honest reminder that healing and personal growth don’t require you to become who you used to be. Sometimes they ask you to discover who you are now.

In this episode: PTSD and trauma recovery, veteran mental health, addiction and recovery, traumatic brain injury, identity loss, finding purpose, faith, resilience, healing, personal growth, and rebuilding your life after trauma.

Learn more about Knot Lucky Foundation and its mission to support veterans through fishing, connection, and community:

Knot Lucky Foundation Official Website : https://knotlucky.org/

Jimmy Armel on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jimmy.armel/

Knot Lucky Fishing on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/knotluckyfishing/

What if the decision keeping you stuck isn’t really about timing, money, security, or whether you’re ready?

What if it’s fear?

Nick Schlekeway is an entrepreneur, author, leadership and high-performance coach, real estate executive, and founder of Amherst Madison. An expert in leadership, high performance, entrepreneurship, business growth, real estate, team building, and decision-making under pressure, Nick has spent his career learning what separates people who remain average from those who become essential.

His expertise was earned in environments where performance has consequences.

Before building Amherst Madison, Nick served as a Boise firefighter. Before that, he was a Division I football player at Boise State and part of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl championship team. He later earned a Master’s in Real Estate from Georgetown University while continuing to build and scale his company.

Today, Nick leads Amherst Madison, the real estate brokerage he built without outside capital into a firm of more than 170 agents with more than $6 billion in closed sales. He now translates those decades of experience into coaching, writing, keynote speaking, and leadership development for agents, entrepreneurs, and business leaders.

And his philosophy is one I love:

Average is invisible. Essential is irreplaceable.

In this episode of Another Million Miles, Nick and I go beyond the success story to talk about something almost every high performer eventually faces: What do you do when you know you’re ready for more, but fear keeps making a case for staying exactly where you are?

Nick lived that decision.

When he considered leaving the security of the fire department to pursue real estate and eventually build his own brokerage, almost everyone around him told him not to do it. His parents, friends, and fellow firefighters tried to convince him to stay. Some colleagues even called and begged him to reconsider.

So Nick put the decision on a whiteboard.

On one side were the reasons to make the leap. On the other were the reasons not to.

Then he noticed something that changed everything:

Every reason not to do it was rooted in fear.

That left him with one defining question:

Are you going to let fear guide your life? Are you going to let fear guide your decisions?

We talk about overcoming fear, making difficult decisions, career transitions, entrepreneurship, high-performance leadership, discipline, resilience, business growth, and what it really means to go all in.

Nick also breaks down the reality behind success that we don’t see on social media—the years of invisible work, the pivots that can feel more like failure, the discipline required when results aren’t immediate, and why trying to keep one foot in the safe world while building your next one can prevent you from fully moving forward.

Because sometimes the hardest part of your next chapter isn’t figuring out what you want.

It’s deciding whether fear gets a vote.

For the high-performing woman considering a career change, business transition, entrepreneurial leap, leadership opportunity, or personal reinvention, this conversation is an invitation to look differently at the decisions you’ve been postponing.

If fear were removed from the equation, what would you choose?

Listen to this episode of Another Million Miles Podcast for a powerful conversation about overcoming fear, high performance, leadership, entrepreneurship, career change, decision-making, personal growth, resilience, discipline, business mindset, and becoming essential.

Click the link in bio to listen to Another Million Miles Podcast and share this episode with someone who is ready to stop letting fear make the decision.

Connect with Nick Schlekeway:

What if you could stop guessing about what your body needs and start using your own data to age better?

In this episode of Another Million Miles, Danielle Keasling sits down with Tony Medrano, founder of LongevityPlan.ai, to explore the future of personalized longevity and how AI, peptides, genetics, biomarkers, and wearable technology could change the way we approach our health.

Tony brings together expertise in technology, artificial intelligence, medical diagnostics, health optimization, and endurance athletics. He explains the concept of a personal "digital twin," which can bring together information from your wearables, bloodwork, genetics, lifestyle, and individual protocols to create a more personalized picture of your health.

Danielle and Tony dive into:

• Peptides and the growing longevity movement

This conversation isn't simply about living longer. It's about having the energy, strength, health, and clarity to enjoy those additional years.

If you're interested in longevity, peptides, biohacking, healthy aging, wearable technology, or understanding what may work best for your individual body, this episode is for you.

Learn more about Tony Medrano and personalized longevity at Longevityplan.ai

Follow Another Million Miles for more conversations on longevity, wellness, health optimization, entrepreneurship, and creating a life you don't want to escape from.

What if the productivity habits that are supposed to make us successful are actually exhausting us?

In this solo episode of Another Million Miles, I’m breaking down 5 productivity myths I’ve had to rethink throughout my own career.

From the pressure to wake up at 5 AM and constantly stay busy, to multitasking, hustle culture, and feeling guilty for taking a break, I’m challenging the idea that success has to come at the expense of our energy or sanity.

I’ve spent years working in fast-paced, high-pressure environments where long days, travel, leadership, creativity, and business often collide.

And one thing I’ve learned is this: being busy is not the same as moving forward.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why waking up earlier doesn’t automatically make you more successful

• The difference between being busy and being productive

• Why multitasking may actually be hurting your performance

• Why rest is part of high performance, not a reward for exhaustion

• How to build a productivity routine around your own energy and life Because the goal isn’t to earn rest by collapsing.

It’s to build a rhythm that supports both your ambition and your humanity. If you’re a high achiever, entrepreneur, leader, creative, or simply someone who feels like you’re constantly doing everything but still wondering if there’s a better way, this episode is for you.

Subscribe to Another Million Miles, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who needs permission to stop measuring success by how exhausted they are.

We’re not trying to win one perfectly optimized day.

We’re building a life, and we still have Another Million Miles to go.

Subscribe to Another Million Miles for more conversations on mindset, wellness, success, leadership, and building a life you actually want to live.

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Listen to Another Million Miles Podcast:

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What happens when workplace bullying is not obvious?

In this episode of Another Million Miles, Danielle sits down with Alicia Laszewski to uncover workplace mobbing, a subtle but damaging form of group bullying that can leave someone isolated, excluded, undermined and questioning their own reality.

After experiencing mobbing herself, Alicia spent more than a year researching the behavior, interviewing others and exploring why toxic workplace cultures allow it to continue. She reveals how mobbing can show up through being left out of meetings and group chats, having your credibility quietly eroded, losing support from colleagues and experiencing social isolation without ever being told why.

Danielle and Alicia explore workplace bullying, toxic leadership, social isolation, difficult conversations, workplace culture, resilience and personal growth. They also discuss why people sometimes participate in toxic behavior without realizing it and what leaders can do to recognize these patterns before they damage individuals, teams and organizations.

Alicia also shares the personal experiences that changed the direction of her life, including undergoing a proactive double mastectomy, leaving corporate life and ultimately turning difficult chapters into a mission to create meaningful change.

If you have ever wondered, “Why am I being excluded?” “Is my workplace toxic?” or “Am I imagining this?” this conversation may give you a completely different way to understand what is happening.

Connect with Alicia Laszewski

Website: Kind Ethos

Subscribe to Another Million Miles for conversations about healthier lives, stronger leadership, resilience, personal growth and creating greater impact.

What if the hardest chapter of your life could become the beginning of your greatest purpose?

In this episode of Another Million Miles Podcast, Danielle sits down with award-winning multidisciplinary artist and cancer survivor Brett Ashby for a powerful conversation about creativity, resilience, intuition, and what it really means to reinvent yourself when life forces you to change.

Brett is internationally known for his extraordinary approach to art—creating portraits while riding a skateboard and using movement, sound, energy, and complete presence to enter what he describes as a **flow state**. But behind his work is an even more remarkable story.

After building a successful international career as an artist, Brett received a devastating cancer diagnosis that completely changed the way he viewed success, health, relationships, and time. His journey back became an exercise in learning to listen to his body, trust his intuition, rebuild his strength, and let go of the life he thought he was supposed to be living.

In this conversation, you'll discover how to:

* Recognize when adversity may be asking you to change direction

Brett's story is a reminder that reinvention doesn't always begin with a plan. Sometimes it begins when everything you thought mattered gets stripped awa and you're given the opportunity to decide what matters now.

Guest: Brett Ashby

If this conversation speaks to you, subscribe to Another Million Miles, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who may be navigating their own season of change.

Your next chapter might be closer than you think.

Why do so many women still feel overwhelmed even after therapy, meditation, and all the right wellness habits?

In this episode of Another Million Miles, Danielle Keasling sits down with Liz Chelak, licensed therapist, founder of Evolve Therapy & Counseling, and creator of the Sovereign Body Method™. Liz shares why lasting healing begins with your nervous system and explains how helping your body feel safe can transform the way you respond to stress.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

Why your nervous system may be keeping you stuck

How chronic stress affects your mind and body

The connection between people pleasing and childhood conditioning

Simple ways to regulate your nervous system every day

Why healing starts with your body, not just your thoughts

If you're ready to feel calmer, more resilient, and more in control of your emotions, this episode is a must listen.

What if your greatest advantage wasn't working harder—but understanding when to act?

In this episode of Another Million Miles, Danielle Keasling sits down with William Henderson, founder of Lunar Life, an AI-powered Personal Timing Intelligence platform that's redefining how we think about productivity, performance, and decision-making.

Drawing from chronobiology, environmental science, artificial intelligence, and years of research, William explores how our energy, focus, creativity, and even decision-making may be influenced by natural rhythms such as lunar cycles, solar activity, and our own unique biological patterns.

Together, Danielle and William discuss the fascinating intersection of AI, intuition, science, and self-awareness, challenging the traditional belief that success is simply about working harder. Instead, they explore how understanding your personal timing may help you make better decisions, reduce burnout, and live with greater intention.

In this episode, you'll learn:

Whether you're an entrepreneur, creative, executive, wellness enthusiast, or simply curious about the future of AI and human potential, this conversation offers a fresh perspective on how we work, live, and make decisions.

About William Henderson

William Henderson is the founder of Lunar Life, an AI-powered Personal Timing Intelligence platform that helps individuals better understand their unique rhythms using chronobiology, environmental data, and artificial intelligence. His work bridges science, technology, and human behavior to help people optimize their performance, productivity, and overall well-being through personalized insights rather than prediction.

That glass of wine you can't wait to pour. The inbox you check before your feet hit the floor. The scroll that eats an hour you swore you didn't have. What if the thing you keep reaching for is actually trying to tell you something?

In this episode of Another Million Miles, Danielle Keasling sits down with Heather Simco, life and business transformation coach, founder of Complete Concierge Solutions, and creator of the Sober Boss Babe Movement. With 12 years of sobriety and more than 26 years as an entrepreneur, Heather shares the raw story of building an empire, losing herself inside it, and the middle-of-the-night surrender that changed everything.

But this conversation goes far beyond alcohol. Heather and Danielle unpack why you don't have to be an addict to be addicted — and how high-achieving women in particular swap one "hit" for another: work, extreme diets, social media, even productivity itself.

In this episode:

Whether you're sober, sober-curious, or simply wondering why you can't stop reaching for that one thing — this conversation will help you trade the quick hit for real clarity, alignment, and self-trust.

Connect with Heather: heathersimco.com — find her community, coaching, and the waitlist for the Sober Boss Babe Retreat in Naples, Florida this October. Follow her on all socials @heathersimco.

Here's the full description:

She had the C-suite title. The 30-year career. The credentials. And then at almost 56 years old, on one ordinary day, it was all gone.

In this episode of Another Million Miles, host Danielle Keasling sits down with Dr. Cynthia Benson Mercer — board-certified executive coach, human capital strategist, bestselling author, and creator of the Stop Drifting framework — for one of the most honest and practical conversations about why high-achieving women silently lose themselves long before they ever hit rock bottom.

Here's the truth nobody is saying out loud: you didn't burn out overnight. You drifted.

And there's a difference.

What you'll hear in this episode:

If you've ever felt like you're moving fast but going nowhere, this episode is your wake-up call.

🌐 Connect with Dr. Cynthia: dr-cynthia.com