Beyond the Draft

What does it mean to come home when the place you're trying to return to isn't a physical place, but yourself?

In this deeply honest episode of Beyond the Draft, Imma sits down with author Angel Willard to explore trauma, motherhood, chronic pain, incarceration, accountability, resilience, and the long road toward healing.

Angel opens up about the experiences that changed her life, the pain of being separated from her children, the difficult process of taking accountability, and the courage it took to stop allowing the hardest chapters of her life to define her entire identity.

Her memoir, Fighting to Come Home, is more than a story about survival. It is a story about breaking cycles, reclaiming a voice, rebuilding after devastation, and discovering that sometimes coming home means finding your way back to yourself.

In this episode, we explore:

- Surviving trauma and rebuilding after devastating experiences

- Motherhood, separation, and fighting to rebuild family

- Accountability and the courage to face the past

- Living with chronic pain and life-changing challenges

- Breaking painful and generational cycles

- The impact of judgment and being misunderstood

- Finding a voice through writing and storytelling

- What it really means to come home to yourself

Learn more about Angel and her books:

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/willardangel

When her husband lost his job, Ann Pells experienced firsthand the fear and uncertainty that financial instability can bring. Trapped in the same cycle so many families know, 30-year mortgages, mounting interest, wondering if they'd ever truly get ahead, she began asking one life-changing question: "How can I?" That question became the foundation for LifeGiver Legacy, and eventually, a TEDx talk.

Ann Pells is a TEDx speaker, author, and founder of LifeGiver Legacy, teaching families her Three Steps to Financial Freedom. In this episode, Ann shares the fear that first pushed her to find a better way, how families can pay off their home in 5 to 7 years without changing their income or lifestyle, and why she believes wealth should create freedom and peace of mind, not more pressure. She also breaks down what her one-hour-a-week system actually looks like in practice.

What We Talked About:

- The fear that sparked her question, "How can I?"

- Paying off a home in 5–7 years without changing income

- Building passive income without quitting your job

- Why wealth should reduce pressure, not add to it

- What one hour a week toward financial freedom actually looks like

Connect with Ann Pells:

Free call: AnnsPlan.com

Website: annpells.com

Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn & TikTok: linked on her profile

What if the problem isn’t that we don’t know what to eat—but that we don’t understand why we eat the way we do?

In this episode of Beyond the Draft, Imma sits down with men’s health coach, Harvard teaching fellow, and author Jeffrey Siegel to explore the hidden psychology behind eating habits, self-control, and lasting change.

Jeff challenges the idea that willpower is the answer, revealing how stress, exhaustion, pleasure, social connection, identity, and the need for control can all influence our food choices. Drawing from his book Eating 2.0, he introduces the four “Inner Eaters”—Survival, Pleasure, Social, and Strategic—and explains why understanding these competing needs can create a healthier and more sustainable relationship with food.

In This Episode, We Explore

- Why smart, disciplined men can still struggle with food

- The real reason people fall off the wagon

- Why knowing what to eat doesn’t always lead to lasting change

- The hidden motivations behind our food choices

- How stress, emotions, identity, and social pressure influence eating

- Why rigid dieting and “anything goes” eating can become part of the same cycle

- The four Inner Eaters and what each one is trying to achieve

- Moving from self-control and shame toward self-trust and understanding

- How men can pursue better health without turning life into a constant self-improvement project

Connect With Jeffrey Siegel

Website: "Jeffrey Siegel Wellness" https://jeffsiegelwellness.com

Instagram: "@jeffsiegelwellness" https://www.instagram.com/jeffsiegelwellness

Facebook: "Jeff Siegel Wellness" https://facebook.com/jeffSiegelWellness

LinkedIn: "Jeffrey Siegel" https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreyericsiegel

Guest: Jeffrey Siegel

Author: Eating 2.0: How to Eat Confidently in an Ultra-Processed World

Host: Imma | Beyond the Draft

What happens to leadership when technology can move faster than people—but still can’t replace trust, communication, and human connection?

In this episode of Beyond the Draft, Imma sits down with leadership and team-performance expert David Lengyel, who has spent more than 40 years helping organizations understand why some teams thrive while others struggle. Through Venture Up, David has worked with more than 500,000 participants and thousands of teams across industries and countries.

David shares practical lessons from decades of watching leadership and teamwork unfold in real time—from building trust and improving communication to navigating change, workplace culture, employee engagement, and the growing impact of AI.

In this episode, we explore:

- Why talented people can still struggle to function as a team

- The communication mistakes that quietly damage leadership

- How trust is built—and how it can be lost

- Why communication must ultimately drive action

- What makes employees resist change

- The human skills AI cannot easily replace

- How leaders can create stronger, more aligned teams

- Lessons David has learned from 40+ years of working with teams

- What the future of leadership and teamwork may look like

Guest: David Lengyel

Founder: Venture Up

Host: Imma | Beyond the Draft

What if happiness isn’t just something happening inside your mind?

In this episode of Beyond the Draft, Imma sits down with sociologist and Villanova University professor Brian Jones to explore the social world behind happiness. Drawing on research and national survey data, Brian examines how relationships, marriage, friendships, work, money, and communities can shape our sense of well-being.

Rather than treating happiness as simply a personal or psychological experience, this conversation looks at the larger structure surrounding our lives—and asks what the people and relationships around us may have to do with how happy we actually are.

In this episode, we explore:

- Why happiness may be more social than we realize

- The role of relationships and friendships in well-being

- Whether marriage is connected to happiness

- How money and work relate to personal well-being

- What communities contribute to a happy life

- What Americans' happiness data can actually tell us

- How major events like COVID-19 can affect social well-being

- Why understanding happiness requires looking beyond ourselves

Guest: Brian Jones

Author: The Pursuit of Happiness in America

Host: Imma | Beyond the Draft

What happens when life changes in a single moment—and then challenges you again before you’ve even had time to recover?

Shannon Michelle’s story is one of survival, resilience, and profound transformation. After a horrific motorcycle accident left her in a coma and struggling with memory loss, she faced another life-changing battle: a breast cancer diagnosis. Yet through these experiences, Shannon discovered the power of mindset, gratitude, healing, and taking small steps toward rebuilding a meaningful life.

In this episode of Beyond the Draft, Shannon opens up about trauma, recovery, purpose, and the process of becoming stronger without pretending the hardest moments never happened.

In this episode, we explore:

- Rebuilding life after trauma and memory loss

- Finding strength after unexpected setbacks

- The connection between mindset, healing, and resilience

- Discovering purpose in the hardest seasons of life

- Learning to appreciate the present moment

- Turning painful experiences into a story that can inspire others

- Practical ways to begin reclaiming life after trauma

Guest: Shannon Michelle

Book: From Broken to Brilliant: How Shannon Michelle Turned Trauma into Triumph

What happens when the life you imagined disappears—and you have to learn how to build a new one?

In this deeply personal episode of Beyond the Draft, Imma sits down with Michaela S. Cox, a speaker, author, mother, and creator of Finding Grace Through Grief, for an honest conversation about disability, divorce, death, faith, motherhood, and rebuilding.

Michaela shares what grief taught her that no inspirational quote could, how motherhood shaped her experience of loss, what it means to find grace while still carrying unanswered questions, and how she discovered that thriving doesn't mean getting your old life back.

Her story is a powerful reminder that life may change the chapter—but it doesn't have to write the ending.

In this episode, we explore:

- Rebuilding after profound loss

- Grief, faith, and unanswered questions

- Motherhood and resilience

- Identity after life-changing experiences

- The difference between surviving and thriving

- Finding purpose after adversity

- Building a meaningful life when the original plan changes

A deeply human conversation about loss, hope, resilience, and finding the courage to take the next step.

Why do so many men who "know what to do" still can't seem to lose the weight, fix their energy, or improve their blood work?

Brian Parana is a men's health coach with over 20 years of experience helping busy, high-performing men over 40 lose fat, improve their labs, and get their energy back without turning fitness into a second job. He's coached thousands of clients, including Olympians and CrossFit Games champions, but his real focus is regular guys, executives, business owners, and dads, who feel disconnected from the version of themselves they still see in their head.

In this episode, Brian breaks down the biggest mistake busy men make when trying to lose fat, the first three habits he'd fix for a man with low energy and weight gain, and what "protein-first" actually means in real life. He also explains how to build consistency when your schedule is chaotic or you travel constantly, and why health should be treated as a leadership strategy, not just a personal goal.

What We Talked About:

1. The biggest mistake busy men make trying to lose fat
2. The first three habits to fix for low energy and weight gain
3. What "protein-first" nutrition actually looks like
4. Building consistency with a chaotic or travel-heavy schedule
5. Improving A1c, blood pressure, and triglycerides without extreme dieting
6. Why health is a leadership strategy at home and at work

Connect with Brian Parana:

Website: thecalltorise.com

Podcast: Driven For Health

Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Threads & Substack: linked on his profile

"They took my tongue, but I can't talk about it!" After surviving tongue cancer twice, and receiving tissue from both a cadaver and his own arm to rebuild his tongue, Dr. Gerald Robison, affectionately known as "Dr G," brings humor to some of Christianity's hardest questions.

Having pastored churches on three continents and trained Bible teachers in over 25 countries, Dr G is the author of roughly 20 books, including 30-Seconds That Can Change Your Life and The Final Curtain: How Do You Want to Die? In this episode, he shares what it was like anticipating his own death, why he believes the question "Why?" is often an accusation aimed at God rather than a genuine question, and how he helps Christians move past knowing what they "ought" to do toward actually wanting to do it. He also opens up about writing extensively on the strange and unusual animals God created, and what that reveals about His character.

What We Talked About:

1. Surviving tongue cancer twice and rebuilding his voice
2. Facing his own mortality and what it taught him
3. Why "Why?" is often an accusation, not a genuine question
4. Finding real joy instead of just avoiding bad things
5. The strange and wonderful animals God created
6. Helping believers move from "ought to" to genuinely "want to"

Connect with Dr. Gerald Robison:

Website: geraldrobison.com

Facebook & LinkedIn: linked on his p

"Maybe it's a you problem." That single sentence from his wife cracked something open for Leo Dulay, after 22 years at AT&T ended in a layoff right before COVID, followed by a year and a half of feeling stuck even after finding new work.

Leo Dulay is a transformational coach, hypnotherapist, NLP practitioner, and author of You Are Not Your Past. In this episode, he shares how losing his decades-long career became the catalyst for reinventing his entire identity, what "The Release Exercise" is and why it creates such fast emotional breakthroughs, and the difference between changing your circumstances and actually changing your identity. He also breaks down what it means to treat identity like a design project instead of a fixed destiny.

What We Talked About:

1. Losing a 22-year career and the identity crisis that followed
2. The sentence from his wife that changed everything
3. Changing your identity versus just changing your circumstances
4. What "The Release Exercise" actually is
5. Rewriting the internal story you've been living in for years
6. Treating identity as a design project, not a destiny

Connect with Leo Dulay:

Website: leodulay.com

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn & TikTok: linked on his profile