Are you feeling overwhelmed by AI… or wondering if it’s coming for your job?

In this episode of the Be Free & Clear Podcast, I sit down with AI expert Sarah Montana to break through the noise and give you a completely different way to think about artificial intelligence.

Here’s the truth:
AI isn’t here to replace you.
But it will amplify whatever you’re already doing.

And that’s where most people are getting it wrong.

Sarah shares how she went all-in on AI early, logging over 8,000 hours of experience, and how she’s now helping business owners and professionals use it as a leverage tool, not a crutch.

This isn’t about becoming an AI expert.
It’s about learning how to use it to think better, move faster, and create more opportunity in your life and business.

🧠 What You’ll Learn:
Why AI is NOT a replacement for your thinking, but a multiplier of it
The biggest mistake people make when using tools like ChatGPT
How to use AI as a thought partner instead of just a search engine
Practical ways to use AI in your job or business starting today
How AI can help with budgeting, saving for a home, and financial clarity
The power of personalization at scale (and why it’s a game changer)
How to train AI to sound like YOU, not a robot
Why your “foundation” matters more than prompts

🚀 Key Takeaway:

If AI sounds robotic… it’s not the tool.
It’s how you’re using it.

When trained correctly, AI can think with you, challenge you, and even help you make better financial and business decisions.

🔗 Connect with Sarah Montana
👉 Visit: sarahmontana.ai
(Explore her AI Foundations Workshop and Intensive programs)

🎙 About Be Free & Clear:

This podcast is about more than money.

It’s about aligning your home, finances, and mindset so you can create a life with more clarity, confidence, and freedom.

If you’re tired of doing everything “right” but still feeling stuck… you’re in the right place.

⚠️ Final Thought:
The real risk isn’t AI replacing your job.

It’s someone else learning how to use it… before you do.

For decades, we were told the formula was simple:
Go to school. Get a stable job. Work hard. Buy a home. Build wealth.

But what happens when someone does everything right… and still can’t afford the average house in their own hometown?

In this episode, I unpack why so many hardworking people feel frustrated, stuck, and confused in today’s housing market, and why the issue may not be that the American Dream is dead… but that the rules of the game have changed.

Inside this episode, we cover:

• Why a stable income no longer guarantees home affordability in many markets
• How past economic shifts, from the agricultural age to the industrial and information ages, reveal that today’s challenges may be structural, not personal
• Why understanding the bigger picture can help you stop internalizing the problem and start thinking strategically
• The rise of House Hacks 2.0 and creative modern solutions buyers are using in this new economy
• The two competing paths to financial progress: Financial Restraint vs Financial Expansion
• How to determine which strategy aligns best with your goals, personality, and season of life
• A real-world example of how one person used financial expansion to increase income, gain freedom, and create a more fulfilling life

If you’ve ever wondered whether homeownership is still worth pursuing, or whether the system is broken, this episode will challenge the conventional narrative and help you rethink what’s possible.

Listen now and discover how to create your own path to homeownership and financial freedom, even in a changing economy.

In this episode of Be Free & Clear, Jon sits down with Karen Hernandez and Chris Anderson to unpack what it really looks like to start from nothing, push through setbacks, and build a business and life that finally feels aligned.

• From broke and overwhelmed to building momentum: the early years, the pressure, and what kept them moving.
• “Don’t ask how, just start”: Karen’s leap into business during COVID, and why it unexpectedly became her best year.
• The hidden mistake that cost them 2,000 hours: why Chris built a program that sold zero, and the lesson that changed everything.

Stay to the end for their two-part mic drop: why “being stuck” is often a belief, not a reality, and the simple shift that helps you stop getting in your own way, especially when fear and uncertainty feel louder than your goals.

In this episode of Be Free & Clear, Jon sits down with Dr. Kim Deng to unpack why starting over in a job or career feels so heavy and how people can move through fear, self-doubt, and uncertainty without forcing confidence or blowing up their life. 

• Confidence is not bravado, it’s relaxation: Dr. Kim explains why tension signals fear and how real confidence shows up as calm presence, even in uncomfortable transitions. 
• Identity shifting vs self-fixing: Instead of endlessly improving the old version of yourself, she teaches how real change happens by shifting identity at the core. 
• Why holding steady beats feeling ready: Career change gets messy before it gets clear, and the people who succeed are the ones who stay the course through uncertainty. 

If you are questioning whether it’s too late, too risky, or too disruptive to start over in your career, stay to the end. Dr. Kim shares a powerful story about “holding steady” that reframes fear and makes the next step feel grounded instead of overwhelming.

In this episode Jon talks with Brian Johnson, owner of thrivewithmoney.com. Brian shares how he built a personal financial system that creates real momentum, including the unexpected moment that forced him to go all-in on his purpose.

What you’ll learn:

• How to find your Financial North Star so your money stops drifting
• Why most people stay trapped on the financial hamster wheel, even when they “do everything right”
• Simple frameworks you can use immediately: Plan, Track, Pivot and Disrupt, Question, Decide (DQD)

Watch until the end…Because Brian breaks down a real example where one small disruption (literally changing how a credit card is stored) helped a client move from pay-advance survival mode to finally feeling like, “I didn’t realize how much money I have.”

Why do people finally get the money, relationship, or success they wanted… then somehow sabotage it? In this Be Free & Clear episode, Jon sits down with high-performance coach and entrepreneur Matt Stafford to unpack how your unconscious “set point” quietly governs what you believe you deserve and what you’ll allow yourself to keep.

You’ll hear a simple thermostat analogy that explains why you keep returning to the same level in life, plus a practical path to raising that floor through personal integrity, emotional release, and upgrading the story your brain is running in the background.

• Your unconscious set point controls your outcomes: like a thermostat, when life improves beyond your identity’s “set temperature,” your subconscious pulls you back down through self-sabotage.
• Trauma is about loss of control, not just severity: “micro” and “major” traumas can create similar internal patterns because the brain stores the meaning of the event and the loss of control.
• Healing is not endlessly talking about it: real change comes from safely feeling what you could not feel then, so your body releases it and your brain can rewrite the story from your adult perspective.

If you’ve ever hit a new level then mysteriously backslid, listen to the end. Matt shares the clearest framework I’ve heard for why it happens and one powerful “concrete wall” insight that will make you question which beliefs in your life are real… and which are just stories you have not tested yet.

Most people jump into real estate chasing strategies, tools, or the next “hot” tactic. What they miss is the system underneath that actually creates consistent deal flow and long-term wealth. In this Be Free & Clear episode, Jon sits down with Eric Howell, founder of Deal Boss, to unpack the simple 4-step framework most investors never see, and why skipping it keeps people stuck doing one deal at a time.

This conversation reframes real estate investing as a real business, not a side hustle built on guesswork, guru hopping, or endless setup work that never turns into income.

• Most investors stall in “foundations” instead of revenue: logos, websites, LLCs, and CRMs feel productive, but they don’t create deals or cash flow.
• Real wealth comes from consistent deal flow, not one-off wins: Eric explains the “Monopoly board” model, where deals stack instead of restarting from zero every time.
• You’re always spending time or money, whether you realize it or not: the real risk is spending years figuring things out alone instead of compressing the learning curve with the right system. 

If you’re interested in turning Real Estate Investing into a REAL business, listen all the way through. Eric breaks down why most investors never escape that cycle, and what actually changes when you build the right system first.

Feeling stuck in your finances, career, or life can feel like reality, but it is often your brain’s filtering system and old identity beliefs running the show. In this episode, Jon sits down with Darren Lichfield (certified master practitioner in NLP, hypnotherapy, and timeline therapy) to break down how subconscious patterns shape your emotions, decisions, and results.

You’ll learn a simple way to notice the “story” your mind is defaulting to, challenge it, and shift into a more resourceful state so you can see options that were invisible before.

• Your brain filters reality based on focus (Reticular Activating System): like seeing your car model everywhere after you buy it, your mind highlights evidence that matches what it believes is “true.”
• Limiting beliefs often lock into identity early (imprint period 0 to 7): a childhood moment can turn into “I’m not good enough” or “I’m not a public speaker,” and the brain keeps protecting you by reinforcing it.
• You can change your emotional state by changing meaning: the “cut off in traffic” example shows how a new interpretation can flip you from anger to compassion instantly, and that same skill applies to money stress and risk decisions.

If you’ve ever said, “this always happens to me” or “I don’t have a choice,” this conversation will challenge that assumption. Stay to the end because Darren gives a simple real-time method to spot the story your brain is running, flip the meaning, and get back into a calm, clear, problem-solving state fast so that you can live Free & Clear. 

Most people think wealth comes from cutting back. Matt Mishler proves it comes from thinking bigger.

In this episode of Free & Clear, host Jon Mykala sits down with Matt Mishler, founder of Lion Rock Financial, who went from food stamps and welfare to building a $9.2 million business — without playing small or saving every penny.
Matt shares how leaving his $200K corporate job was the best financial move of his life, why the “scrimp and save” mentality keeps most people stuck, and how authenticity and action create real freedom — not social media hype.

🎧 In this episode, you’ll discover:
• The mindset shift that built $9.2M from nothing
• How to replace fear with clarity when leaving a safe job
• Why saving more isn’t the path to freedom
• And how to build wealth your way — with integrity and purpose

👉 Listen now to learn the truth about money, mindset, and the real path to being Free & Clear.

You’ve been told to max out your 401(k), diversify, and hope the market cooperates. But what if there were a faster, safer, and more tangible way to build your retirement — one that creates real cash flow today and long-term security for tomorrow?

In this episode of Free & Clear, Jon Mykala sits down with Kate Stoermer, who walked away from a high-paying corporate career and built herfinancial safety net through short-term rentals. Together, they unpack the strategy behind replacing income, generating cash flow, and creating financial runway using properties you can control — not just stocks you can’t.

You’ll learn:
• How short-term rentals can accelerate retirement savings
• The “runway” formula Kate used before leaving her job
• Why freedom doesn’t come from saving — it comes from cash flow

If you’ve ever wondered how to turn properties into a personal pension plan, this episode is your roadmap.

 Listen now and learn how to buy back your time — one rental at a time.