Beyond the Draft

What if most people are settling for the back row in life, when there's a front parking spot waiting for them?

Jennifer Bosma is a Christian children's book author and host of the Front Parking Spot Podcast, ranked among the top 100 Christian family podcasts. Married for 36 years and a former elementary school teacher known as "Mrs. Bosma" to over 500 students, she's the author of three award-winning children's books, including God is Three in One and I Know the Plans.

In this episode, Jennifer shares the story behind her "Front Parking Spot" life motto, born from a simple decision to skip the long line at a kids' theme park, and how it connects to living out Ephesians 3:20. She also opens up about praying with young children throughout the day, growing a marriage rooted in faith, and how she brings scripture to life for kids through her books.

What We Talked About:

1. The theme park story behind her "Front Parking Spot" motto
2. Living out Ephesians 3:20 instead of settling
3. Ways to pray with young children throughout the day
4. Five tips for a marriage anchored in faith
5. Bringing scripture to life through children's books

Connect with Jennifer Bosma:

Website: frontparkingspot.com

Podcast: Front Parking Spot Podcast

Facebook, Twitter/X, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn & Threads: linked on her profile

What does it take to film in Iraq, Cuba, the Congo, Burma, and over 100 other countries, covering everything from voodoo rituals to sex trafficking to divine miracles?

Craig D. Forrest is an award-winning TV director and documentary filmmaker who has traveled to 160 countries across 6 continents, producing content for CBS, ABC, Discovery Channel, HBO, and dozens of other major networks. He was part of the production team for The Amazing Race, which won a Primetime EMMY, and he's the author of the memoir Night Train to Cairo, with an upcoming historical novel, Through the Wire, based on his grandfather's experience fighting in the trenches of WWI at the Battle of the Somme.

In this episode, Craig shares stories from over 250 overseas assignments in some of the world's most dangerous and remote places, how covering subjects like terrorism, cults, and the occult ultimately deepened his own faith, and what he's learned about bridging the secular and spiritual through storytelling. He also breaks down how digital media, mobile phones, and AI have transformed visual storytelling, and why he believes the world needs more redemptive stories today.

What We Talked About:

- Filming in war zones and 250+ overseas assignments

- How covering voodoo, cults, and terrorism deepened his faith

- Bridging the secular and spiritual through storytelling

- The shift from traditional filmmaking to DSLR, mobile, and AI

- Why redemptive storytelling matters in today's broken world

- The story behind his memoir, Night Train to Cairo

Connect with Craig D. Forrest:

Website: linked on his profile

Facebook, Twitter/X, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Threads & Substack: linked on his profile

What if the chapter you thought was the end of your story was actually the beginning of something beautiful?

In this episode of Beyond the Draft, I sit down with author, storyteller, podcaster, and adventurer Teri M. Brown to talk about starting over, discovering your worth, and having the courage to pursue a dream later in life.

Teri shares her journey through an emotionally abusive marriage, rebuilding her life, riding more than 3,000 miles across the United States on a tandem bicycle, and finally pursuing her lifelong dream of becoming a fiction writer.

We explore why people often underestimate their own stories, how to find courage during major life transitions, and why it's never too late to create a new chapter.

If you've ever felt too old, too late, or too far behind to start again, this conversation is for you.

Connect with Teri:

🌐 [terimbrown.com](http://www.terimbrown.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

Listen, follow, and share this episode with someone who needs the reminder: your story isn't finished yet.

What happens when the world isn't built for you, and instead of waiting for it to change, you teach yourself how to build it differently?

Maxwell Ivey, known around the world as The Blind Blogger, lost his sight at age 12 due to retinitis pigmentosa. Rather than let it define the limits of his life, he taught himself HTML to build an online business brokering used carnival and amusement park rides, back when accessibility online was nearly nonexistent. Since then, he's become a life goals coach, published author of four books, host of the podcast The Accessibility Advantage, and the accessibility advisor to PodMatch.

In this episode, Maxwell takes us back to the moment his world changed at 12 years old, and how other people's assumptions about him often became a bigger barrier than blindness itself. He shares how growing up in the carnival world shaped his relationship with risk and opportunity, what it was like building an online business with tools that weren't designed for him, and why he eventually embraced the name "The Blind Blogger" instead of resisting it. He also breaks down what most people misunderstand about accessibility, practical fixes small business owners can make today, and whether AI represents an opportunity or a new risk for the disability community.

WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT:

1. - Losing his sight at 12 and rethinking his entire future
2. - Growing up around carnival rides and how it shaped his view of risk
3. - Teaching himself HTML to build an inaccessible internet around him
4. - Becoming "The Blind Blogger" and normalizing disability online
5. - What accessibility actually means, and common mistakes businesses make
6. - AI, technology, and the future of accessibility
7. - Interdependence, self-determination, and determined positivity as life tools

CONNECT WITH MAXWELL IVEY:

Website: theaccessibilityadvantage.com

Podcast: The Accessibility Advantage

Facebook, Twitter/X, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram & LinkedIn: linked on his profile

What happens when the mental toughness built for one race unknowingly prepares you for the fight of your life?

Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds is an Ironman triathlete, two-time cancer survivor, and nonprofit executive from Long Island, NY. When cancer struck twice in two years, prostate cancer followed by Stage 3B colorectal cancer, he discovered that every early morning swim, every grueling bike ride, and every mile run had quietly prepared him for 27 rounds of radiation and 35 rounds of chemo. His Amazon bestseller, Every Mile Matters: Turning Triathlon Training Into Cancer Triumph, tells that story.

In this episode, Jeffrey shares the moment he found out about his first diagnosis while stopped at a traffic light, how his athletic mental training actually showed up during chemo and radiation, and what it took to find the strength to fight again after a second diagnosis, like being told "just 12 more miles" after crossing what he thought was the finish line. He also opens up about how cancer changed his relationship with vulnerability, and what he learned about caregiving through his wife, Jillian.

What We Talked About:

1. - Finding out about his diagnosis at a traffic light
2. - How athletic mental training carried him through chemo and radiation
3. - Facing a second cancer diagnosis after already surviving the first
4. - How cancer reshaped his relationship with vulnerability and strength
5. - Advice for caregivers supporting a partner through illness
6. - Finding meaning in smaller victories, not just finish lines

Connect with Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds:

Website: everymilematters.com/every-mile-matters/

Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn: linked on his profile

Can AI make a logo in four seconds? Sure. So what exactly are you paying an agency for?

Cat How is the founder and Executive Creative Director of How&How, a B-Corp certified global branding agency with studios in London and Los Angeles. A former award-winning journalist and design critic, she later studied Communication Design at Central Saint Martins before launching the agency in 2020. She's also the founder of the pro-bono climate initiative GetSet and the female leadership mentorship program GetEven, and serves as an Ambassador for UN Women and Clean Creatives.

In this episode, Cat breaks down why most brands are telling their story wrong, what it actually means for a brand to "live in the product" rather than in a slide deck, and why she gives naming and verbal identity equal weight to visual design when most studios treat words as an afterthought. She also makes the honest business case for spending six figures on branding instead of growth marketing, and shares why she publishes everyone's salary at her own agency.

What We Talked About:

- Why most brands get their story wrong

- What it means for a brand to live in the product, not the deck

- Why words deserve equal weight to visual identity

- The real business case for investing in branding over growth marketing

- Why she publishes everyone's salary at How&How

- Repositioning legacy companies without alienating existing customers

Connect with Cat How:

Website: how.studio

Instagram: instagram.com/how___studio/

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/howandhow/

Can you really buid a real business in just two hours a week?

Ken Chester is a nationally syndicated automotive journalist, tech communicator, and CEO of TechMobility Productions, with a media career spanning over three decades. In 2026, he published Two-Hour Entrepreneur: Build a Real Business in Two Hours a Week, a step-by-step system drawn from 35 years of building companies from scratch, most of them while holding down a full-time job.

In this episode, Ken breaks down why millions of Americans want to start a business but never do, why "finding time" is actually the wrong problem to solve, and what someone can realistically accomplish in their first month using his two-hour approach. He also shares insight from his career at the intersection of mobility, AI, and climate impact as founder of the Black Automotive Media Group.

WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT:

1. Why most people never start the business they dream about
2. Why "finding time" is the wrong problem to solve
3. The biggest myth about launching a business
4. What's achievable in your first month, two hours a week
5. His three-decade career in automotive and tech media

CONNECT WITH KENNETH CHESTER:

Website: kennethjchester.com/two-hour-entrepreneur

Podcast: The TechMobility Podcast

Facebook, Twitter/X, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok & Substack: linked on his profile

What does holding a paratrooper unit together under pressure have to do with holding a marriage together?

Eric Williams spent five years as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne, serving through 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, before earning his master's in Marriage and Family Therapy. He's the creator of Origin Code and DCIA, Done Carrying It Alone, a coaching framework built to identify the root cause of relational disconnection rather than just managing surface symptoms. He's also the author of Marriage Communication Guide for New Couples: From "Me" to "We."

In this episode, Eric breaks down the difference between "building" a healthy relationship and "restoring" one, the biggest myth about communication that's quietly sabotaging couples, and what it's actually like parenting as both an "autism dad" and a "girl dad." He also shares what a healthy fight looks like versus one doing long-term damage.

WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT:

1. What the Army taught him about holding relationships together
2. Building vs. restoring a relationship
3. The biggest communication myth sabotaging couples
4. Parenting as an "autism dad" and "girl dad"
5. What a healthy fight actually looks like
6. One thing to do this week to improve your relationship

CONNECT WITH ERIC WILLIAMS:

Free quiz: whywefight.coastalfamilymedia.com/quiz

Website: linked on his profile

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

What's really stopping most fiction writers from finishing their novel, and is it actually the story itself?

Elyse Seal is a fiction book coach trained by Author Accelerator who helps sci-fi and fantasy authors get unstuck and finish their novels without spending years rewriting the same draft. She helps writers build solid story foundations before they write, and coaches authors through revision in layers, big-picture problems first, then scenes, then language.

In this episode, Elyse explains the most common mistakes she sees in fiction manuscripts, what "procrastilearning" is and how it quietly stalls the writing process, and why an outline is actually a writer's greatest tool rather than a creative limitation. She also breaks down how knowing your personal "why" and your story's point can be the key to finally getting unstuck.

WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT:

1. The most common mistakes in fiction manuscripts
2. What "procrastilearning" is and how it stalls writers
3. Why outlines are a writer's greatest tool, not a limitation
4. Knowing your "why" to get unstuck and finish your book
5. Identifying your target reader before you start writing
6. Common patterns that keep authors from finishing

CONNECT WITH ELYSE SEAL:

Website: linked on her profile

Free resource: dashing-avocado-34366.myflodesk.com/rahnxgef8c

Facebook & Instagram: linked on her profile

What actually separates a book that builds real authority from one that just sits on a shelf collecting dust?

Kristin Clark is the founder of Elite Content Creation and its publishing imprint, Cheval Press, and the best-selling author of [Your Book] Written, Published, and Sold: A Complete Guide to Bringing Your Big Idea to Life. Her ghostwriting has appeared in Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Rolling Stone, and she's guided dozens of founders and executives from a good idea to a published book that actually builds authority.

In this episode, Kristin breaks down the biggest myth people believe about working with a ghostwriter, how she helps someone find their authentic voice even without much writing experience, and why she believes AI can never be a substitute for a book's real voice or champion. She also shares the clear signs that separate someone who's actually ready to write a book from someone who just likes the idea of having written one.

What We Talked About:

1. - The biggest myth about working with a ghostwriter
2. - Finding your authentic voice, even as a first-time writer
3. - Why AI-written books struggle to build real authority
4. - Choosing between self-published, traditional, or hybrid publishing
5. - Knowing if you're ready to write, or just like the idea of it
6. - What actually changes for founders after they publish

Connect with Kristin Clark:

Website: elitecontentcreation.net

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kristin-clark-content/