Most people wait for the “right time” to tell their story.

In this episode, Eric Koester sits down with Roy Choi, acclaimed chef, television personality and the author of L.A. Son, to talk about what actually makes a personal story work, and why forcing meaning onto your past almost always backfires.

Roy shares how his darkest periods didn’t become useful material until he stopped trying to make them inspiring and started telling the truth without performance. The result wasn’t just a better book, it was clarity about who the story was really for.

This conversation is for anyone who feels called to write but is stuck between oversharing and self-protection, or polishing a story that no longer feels honest.

In this episode, we cover:

Writing your story isn’t about exposure.

Most people don’t fail because they aren’t talented.

In this episode, Eric Koester talks with Matt Thomas, world champion in chessboxing and founder of Brawl for a Cause, about what actually creates commitment when the work gets uncomfortable.

Matt has taken hundreds of everyday people through a 90-day fight program built on the hero’s journey. He’s seen the same pattern over and over: when the goal is status, people quit. When the goal is purpose, people get gritty.

They also dig into a wild personal story, Matt goes from losing to an eight-year-old at speed chess to winning a world championship in India, by mastering the one skill most people ignore: the transition between intensity and focus.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

This one’s for anyone building something that scares them, a book, a business, or a new identity.

Most people don’t fail at big projects because they lack talent.

In this episode, Eric Koester sits down with Cal Newport, Georgetown professor and author of Deep Work and Digital Minimalism, to unpack what it actually takes to finish meaningful, career-defining work in a distracted world.

Cal breaks down why passion is overrated, why constraints are a hidden advantage, and why two to three hours of real focus beats twelve hours of scattered effort. They also explore why most people misunderstand productivity, and how attention has quietly become the most valuable asset of modern knowledge work.

This conversation is especially relevant if you’re working on a book, a podcast, or any long-term project that keeps getting pushed aside by “busyness.”

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why attention is more valuable than time

How to use constraints to force focus

Why professional writers don’t write all day

How to build a deep work rhythm that fits real life

Why “follow your passion” is bad advice for serious projects

Big projects don’t get finished by motivation.

Tyler Hayes built and sold startups, then went all-in on building a mission-driven company in public. In this conversation, we break down the real “cheat codes” behind productivity and creative output, not hustle fluff. We talk about why focus beats more hours, how constraints create speed, and why audience and distribution matter as much as the work itself.

If you’re writing a book, launching a podcast, or building a platform, this episode is a blueprint for moving faster without burning out.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why “motion beats direction” when you’re stuck

How the 20% check-in prevents wasted months

The “1 hour / 1 day / 1 week” method for speed

Why building in public attracts capital, partners, and talent

The real formula: content is useless without distribution

Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) explains what actually makes writing land. Not fancy research, not Wikipedia knowledge, and not trying to “fix the world.” He argues the new authority is emotional, saying the thing everyone knows but nobody has dared to state.

We talk about how he became a writer without studying creative writing, why workshops matter, and how Fight Club was built like a song, rules as a storytelling device, sharp scene cuts, and zero filler. If you’re writing a book and you want it to hit harder, this episode gives you a real standard to aim for.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why “emotional Wikipedia” beats traditional research

How Fight Club started as a short story written in one afternoon

Why writing in scenes beats writing linearly

The fastest way to improve your work, read it out loud to real humans

A better goal than “fixing the world,” model a new possibility

We’re taught the same job-search script: polish your resume, apply online, wait. It’s also the script that keeps smart people stuck.

In this episode, career specialist and recruiter Kate Johnson breaks down what actually moves careers now: portfolio proof, real relationships, and the ability to market yourself without sounding desperate.

You’ll learn:

Why “applying online” rarely works, and what to do instead

How to use a book (or any project) as a credibility engine

The difference between transactional outreach and relationship-building

How to explain job moves without looking flaky

A simple way to turn conversations into introductions

If you’re trying to switch industries, level up, or stop feeling invisible in the job market, this is the playbook.

What does it feel like to be invisible as a writer, and what actually gets you noticed?

Riley Sager went from three books that barely sold to writing Final Girls, a breakout thriller that changed everything, including a pen name strategy that reset his career overnight. In this conversation, we dig into the creative side (character, outlining, twists) and the part most writers avoid (publishing as a business).

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How Riley went from obscurity to bestseller, and what triggered the shift

Why he outlines heavily (and when he doesn’t)

How to design plot twists with emotional resonance, not cheap shock

The real revision cycle behind a published thriller

What he wishes he’d known about publishing, marketing, and asking questions

How to keep writing through imposter syndrome and perfectionism

If you’re early in your author journey and trying to build momentum, this is the behind-the-scenes blueprint.

Graduating into a recession will mess with your head. Charlie Hoehn lived it.

In 2008, he did everything “right,” then got ignored by 100+ job applications and ended up spiraling on his parents’ bathroom floor. That breakdown turned into a turning point. Charlie stopped asking for permission, started creating value, and used a simple strategy to open doors to people like Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin, and Ramit Sethi.

We talk organization, discipline, rejection, and the mindset shift that separates conventional careers from unconventional ones.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why job applications fail, and what works instead

The “gift of value” method for creating your own opportunities

How Charlie used a 60-day deadline to force focus and execution

How to build credibility with proof of work (even with zero experience)

How to handle family pressure when your path looks “crazy”

How high performers make work feel like play, without losing results

If you’re stuck, overlooked, or tired of playing the resume game, this episode gives you a real plan.

Vishen Lakhiani didn’t “find his purpose” in a clean, inspirational way. He got wrecked first.

After the dot-com crash, he was broke, depressed, and getting told to “fuck off” on cold calls all day. Then he took a meditation class that taught him to access an altered state, and it changed everything. It doubled his sales, rewired his decision-making, and became the seed of what turned into Mindvalley.

In this conversation, Vishen goes behind the scenes on two things most authors never learn:

how to write with intuition and flow, and

how to design a book people actually finish.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How Vishen uses an “altered state trigger” to switch on creativity

What “perceptual diversity” is, and why great creators rely on it

A simple 10-chapter, 50-part outline method that makes writing feel doable

How to build “stickiness” so readers keep going (open loops, tension, completion bias)

Why great books must create love and hate, not apathy

How Vishen approached research, interviews, and rewriting to earn credibility

If you want your book to get read, finished, and talked about, this is a masterclass.

Success is not always easy to achieve, so how do you fulfill YOUR progress towards success? How will you use criticism to fuel your progress? How will you embrace the gateless method of success? We are lucky to have Terri Trespicio with us to guide us on cultivating our passion towards success.

• • Cultivating your passion through your progress