Born without a choice

What happens when a childhood UFO encounter turns into a lifelong search for answers?

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, I’m joined by David Brandon, author of Rings of Saturn: Enemy Within, a science-fiction novel exploring UFOs, UAPs, the alleged Secret Space Program, and humanity’s place in a much larger cosmic story.

As a commercial pilot, flight instructor, and former flight-school owner, David brings a practical aviation perspective to some extraordinary questions—and invites us to stay curious without losing our critical thinking.

📞 David Brandon — Contact Details

Website: Rings of Saturn: Enemy Within⁠

Book: Rings of Saturn: Enemy Within

Listeners can visit his website to learn more about the book and access bookstore links to purchase it.

What if genuine spiritual experience doesn’t require you to hold tightly to every belief you’ve been given?

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, I’m joined by Joshua Pritikin, PhD, an Internal Family Systems Certified Practitioner, therapist, author of Religion Unburdened by Belief, and former Wall Street financial-software professional.

Joshua brings a fascinating perspective to the intersection of psychology, spirituality, trauma, healing, religion, psychedelics, meditation, and human development.

We explore how trauma and dissociation can influence spiritual experiences, why people can feel drawn toward spirituality without traditional religious certainty, and how different practices may serve different stages of personal growth.

We also get into Joshua’s perspective on AI, psychology, and why humans can instinctively treat artificial intelligence as though it were a “someone.”

This is a conversation about questioning assumptions, understanding ourselves more deeply, and exploring what genuine growth and spiritual experience can look like beyond rigid definitions.

📞 Joshua Pritikin — Contact Details

Website: Unburdened.biz⁠

Book: Religion Unburdened by Belief

Joshua’s website is the best place to learn more about his work, counseling, writing, and approach to psychology and spirituality.

What happens when we stop blaming circumstances and start taking responsibility for the choices we make?

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, I’m joined by Branch Isole, an author, poet, storyteller, and podcast host whose work explores choice and consequence, personal responsibility, accountability, relationships, spirituality, and the power of truth.

Branch has written 22 books, along with numerous essays, articles, and creative works. His contemporary stories explore emotions and experiences that many people encounter but don’t always have the words—or courage—to express.

We talk about personal responsibility, the consequences of our choices, identity, relationships, spirituality, and the importance of confronting difficult truths rather than avoiding them.

Branch also shares insights from his work on Omega Way, where he explores questions surrounding prophecy, the End Times, and the Last Days, as well as Spiritual Christianity, where he focuses on relationships, spiritual growth, and personal development.

This is a conversation about the choices we make, the consequences that follow, and the power we have to take ownership of our lives.

📞 Branch Isole — Contact Details

Website: BranchIsole.com⁠

Weekly Podcast: Branch Isole on YouTube⁠

Omega Way — Prophecy: Real, Myth or Conspiracy: Omega Way⁠

Spiritual Christianity: Spiritual Christianity with Branch Isole⁠

Amazon: Branch Isole on Amazon⁠

What happens when the person who knows the healthcare system from the inside suddenly has to navigate it as a caregiver for someone she loves?

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, I’m joined by Tiffany Auvil, a registered nurse, functional medicine health coach, caregiver coach, and author of The No BS Guide for Caregivers: How to Survive the Healthcare Maze.

Tiffany spent more than 20 years working inside the U.S. healthcare system, eventually becoming a System Director of Outpatient Clinics for a three-hospital health system. But when her husband, Dave, was diagnosed with cancer, she experienced the healthcare system from an entirely different perspective.

We talk about the realities caregivers face when a loved one becomes seriously ill, the overwhelming medical decisions that families suddenly have to make, insurance and healthcare-system challenges, caregiver burnout, and why knowing how to advocate for yourself can make such a difference.

Tiffany brings a rare perspective because she understands both sides of the healthcare experience—the clinical side and the deeply personal side of being a caregiver.

This is an honest conversation about caregiving, resilience, navigating the healthcare maze, and the practical things families need to know when someone they love becomes sick.

📞 Tiffany Auvil — Contact Details

Website: TiffanyAuvil.com⁠

Listeners can visit her website to access a free resource and learn more about Tiffany’s caregiver coaching practice.

Book: The No BS Guide for Caregivers: How to Survive the Healthcare Maze

What if sales didn’t have to feel pushy, manipulative, or uncomfortable?

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, I’m joined by Marc Von Musser, a Navy veteran, Heart Leader™, sales expert, coach, and former Director of Coaching & Sales Training for Tony Robbins.

Marc has spent more than 35 years helping businesses, coaches, consultants, and entrepreneurs dramatically increase their sales while eliminating the pressure-based tactics that give selling a bad name.

We talk about what it really takes to become effective at sales without sacrificing integrity, how to recognize whether someone is actually the right client for you, and why the best sales conversations are built around understanding and serving people—not convincing or manipulating them.

Marc also shares lessons from making hundreds of thousands of sales calls and helping clients generate more than $1 billion in revenue using his methods.

If you’ve ever struggled with sales, hated the idea of “selling,” or wondered how to grow a business while staying authentic, this conversation offers a very different perspective.

📞 Marc Von Musser — Contact Details

Website: marcvonmusser.com⁠

Free Breakthrough Call: Book a breakthrough call with Marc⁠

The call is designed to look at what’s working, what’s not, and identify strategies to improve sales results and increase profits.

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, I’m joined by Canadian author Angel Willard, author of Fighting to Come Home.

Angel shares her deeply personal journey through trauma, survival, motherhood, chronic pain, incarceration, loss, accountability, and the long process of rebuilding her life.

We talk about what it means to face the hardest parts of your story instead of running from them, how painful cycles can be broken, and how motherhood can become a powerful source of strength and motivation.

Angel also opens up about what it really means to “come home”—not simply to a place, but to yourself.

This is a conversation about resilience, accountability, healing, and the courage to begin again.

Because sometimes…

coming home isn’t about finding your way back to where you started.

It’s about finally discovering
who you were meant to become.”

📣 Angel Willard — Contact / Book Details

📖 Author: Angel Willard
📚 Memoir: Fighting to Come Home
🛒 Author Page: Angel Willard on Amazon⁠

Listeners can visit her author page to learn more about Angel and her book, Fighting to Come Home.

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, I’m joined by R.L. Carpentier (Rodney Carpentier), an 18-year law enforcement professional turned mystery and crime-fiction author. His professional experience in patrol, fraud and computer-crime investigations, and supervision gives his fiction an unusual level of authenticity.

We talk about his journey from law enforcement to writing, how real people and experiences inspire his characters, and why the small towns of New York’s Catskill Mountains provide the perfect setting for his stories.

Rodney also takes us inside his debut novel, Our Lady of the Overlook, the first book in his Overlook Trilogy—a story involving a rookie police officer, a cold case, family history, and a murder investigation that reaches across generations.

This is a conversation about storytelling, law enforcement, mountains, creativity, and what happens when a dream you’ve carried for years finally demands to be written.

Because sometimes…

the story you’ve been carrying…

is the story you were meant to tell.”

📣 Sponsor / Guest Details

R.L. Carpentier, III
🌐 Website: rlcarpentierwriter.com⁠
📖 Book: Our Lady of the Overlook — first novel in the Overlook Trilogy.

Listeners can visit Rodney’s website to learn more about his books, writing, and upcoming projects.

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, I’m joined by Dr. Jerry Fu, a conflict resolution coach who helps Asian-American and cross-cultural leaders navigate conflict at work, within their families, and within themselves.

Before becoming a coach, Jerry worked as a pharmacist and facilitated leadership workshops. Today, he helps leaders become more confident, communicate more effectively, and approach difficult conversations with greater clarity and empathy.

We talk about conflict, culture, self-advocacy, leadership, communication, and why difficult conversations don’t have to destroy relationships.

Jerry also shares how his own experiences shaped his approach to conflict—and why learning to speak up can be one of the most important steps toward becoming the person you want to be.

Because sometimes…

the conversation we’re most afraid to have…

is the conversation that can change everything.”

📣 Jerry Fu — Contact Details

🌐 Website: Adapting Leaders⁠
💼 LinkedIn: Jerry Fu⁠

Jerry also offers a free guide for navigating difficult conversations through his website.

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, I’m joined by Veronique Ory, an intuitive movement and mindful awareness guide, international retreat leader, and author of Shine On & Off the Mat.

Veronique shares how her journey from theatre and the intensity of New York City to yoga and mindful movement helped her rethink what it means to truly feel present and connected.

We talk about anxiety, high achievement, self-worth, breath, movement, mindfulness, and the ways we can become disconnected from ourselves while constantly trying to keep up with life.

Veronique also shares how discovering yoga during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy became a turning point that eventually gave her the courage to close her theatre company and dedicate herself to guiding others.

This is a conversation about slowing down, listening inward, and discovering that transformation doesn’t require perfect circumstances.

Sometimes…

you simply have to stop running long enough to hear yourself breathe.”

📣 Veronique Ory — Contact Details

🌐 Website: Yoga with Veronique⁠

📱 Instagram: @veroniqueory⁠

📖 Book: Shine On & Off the Mat

🎁 Listener offer: Join Veronique’s Shine membership through her website, which offers mindful movement, reflection, and self-inquiry; the current membership includes a 7-day free trial.

In this episode of Born Without a Choice, I’m joined by Dr. Bilal Ahmed, an interventional and structural cardiologist and co-founder and CSO of Lylah Health.

Dr. Ahmed takes us beyond the usual conversation about heart health and supplements as we explore the growing connection between the gut microbiome and cardiovascular health.

We talk about why he believes supplements can sometimes become “woo woo science,” why evidence and data matter, and why there needs to be a better bridge between traditional medicine and the supplement industry.

We also explore his journey from doctor to entrepreneur, the principles behind Lylah Health, and his philosophy of “no bullshit, ever.”

If you’ve ever wondered whether supplements are actually worth taking, what the gut has to do with the heart, or how to separate meaningful science from marketing hype, this conversation is for you.

Because when it comes to your health…

show me the data.”

📣 Dr. Bilal Ahmed — Contact Details

🌐 Lylah Health: lylahhealth.com⁠

Listeners can visit the Lylah Health website to learn more about Dr. Ahmed’s work and the company’s approach to gut microbiome health.