Choose Your Perspective

What do you do when the thing you need doesn't exist? You build it.

Lisa Crites spent years as a health and medical journalist and TV anchor, telling other people's stories. Then breast cancer became her own. After losing her mother and going through a double mastectomy, she was frustrated that she couldn't shower safely with surgical drains. So she designed a fix from her hospital room.

That idea became the Shower Shirt, a patented garment the FDA classifies as a Class I medical device. It has helped patients recover with more dignity, won the national InnovateHER Challenge, and was shown at the London Science Museum. Lisa has now shared the full story in her memoir, "Beautifully Unbroken: A Life-Changing Invention: Born of Loss, Cancer, Courage, and Faith."

In this episode, we talk about:

- How a career in medical journalism prepared her for her own diagnosis

- Emotional eating and the psychology behind how we cope

- The choices and trauma that come after breast cancer

- What it really takes to patent a medical device

- Why she put patient care ahead of profit

- How sharing your story can change someone else's life

Chapters:

00:00 Meet Lisa Crites: Journalist, Inventor, Author

03:20 From Passion to Profession: A Medical Journalism Career

07:01 Exploring the Diverse World of Medical Journalism

09:59 Understanding Emotional Eating and Human Psychology

14:46 How Journalism Enhances Curiosity and Connection

17:22 Navigating Trauma and Choices After Breast Cancer

21:21 From Frustration to Invention: The Shower Shirt Story

26:38 The Journey to Patenting a Medical Device

32:32 Patient Care Over Numbers: The Shower Shirt's True Impact

41:30 Making a Difference: The Power of Individual Impact

49:16 Philanthropy and Healing: Why Lisa Wrote Her Book

55:33 Finding Strength and Purpose Through Life's Challenges

1:02:41 The Profound Impact of Sharing Your Story

Connect with Lisa:

Website: https://www.showershirtinventor.com

LinkedIn: [Lisa F. Crites LinkedIn URL]

Facebook (Beautifully Unbroken): [FB page URL]

Facebook (personal): [Lisa F Crites FB URL]

#ChooseYourPerspective #BreastCancerAwareness #Inventor #MedicalDevice #BeautifullyUnbroken

Jamie Clements: Jamie's Journey's

John Ondrasik, known professionally as Five For Fighting, is a Grammy®-nominated, platinum-selling singer-songwriter whose music has become part of the American soundtrack. Best known for chart-topping songs including “Superman (It’s Not Easy),” “100 Years,” “The Riddle,” “Chances,” “World,” and “Easy Tonight,” Ondrasik has earned more than one billion streams and was a Top 10 Hot Adult Contemporary artist of the 2000s. He has released six studio albums, including the platinum-certified America Town and The Battle for Everything, as well as the Top 10 album Two Lights. His music has been featured in more than 350 films, television shows, and commercials, including The Blind Side, The Sopranos, Hawaii Five-O, and Code Black. He continues to tour with his acclaimed Five For Fighting String Quartet, performing alongside leading Broadway musicians.

Beyond music, Ondrasik has devoted significant time to humanitarian causes and using his songwriting as a platform for freedom, resilience, and human connection. He has written and performed songs inspired by major world events, including “Can One Man Save the World?” in support of Ukraine and “OK (We Are Not Ok)” following the October 7 attacks in Israel. His recent performances have included appearances in Ukraine and Israel, as well as a powerful performance of “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” alongside freed Israeli hostage Alon Ohel. Ondrasik also co-founded Let Music Fill My World, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to high-quality music education for students regardless of ZIP code. Outside of music and philanthropy, he serves as Vice President of his family business, Precision Wire Products, where he works alongside his father and son.

Daniel hosts Constantin Kogan, founder of Holistic Capital (a multi-strategy, multi-asset investment firm) and host of the "Holistic Investments" podcast. Constantin grew up in Kyiv, was active in the 2013–14 Maidan Revolution (he describes witnessing a sniper shoot students near him), and left Ukraine for the US shortly before the war escalated, landing in the New York/Jersey City area with his young family and no work authorization.

He built his career from scratch — first in Ukrainian grain trading, then early-stage tech investing where he lost significant savings, before founding Holistic Capital, an algorithmic/quant trading firm. The throughline of the conversation is his "holistic" philosophy: that exceptional decision-making (in markets and in life) requires pairing quantitative rigor with self-awareness, humility, and controlling ego — drawing on his years studying Kabbalah and meditation. He talks candidly about turning down wealthy investors whose values don't align with his, why most day traders lose to institutional algos, and how gratitude (rooted in watching his home city get bombed while he's safe in the US) shapes his approach to money and risk.

The episode closes on reflections on meaning, purpose, and podcasting itself — Constantin shares that his own podcast has grown to 650K+ followers and 100+ guests (including an upcoming episode with Edward Zuckerberg), and both hosts riff on doing the work for love of the process rather than the outcome.

Benjamin Freedland has an unusual background that spans organized drug trafficking, federal cooperation, entrepreneurship, and law enforcement training.

Freedland says he became involved in the East Coast drug trade as a mid-level trafficker, moving significant quantities of narcotics and operating within organized criminal networks. Unlike cartel leaders or kingpins, he describes himself as someone responsible for coordinating logistics, suppliers, transportation, and distribution rather than street-level sales. (Amazon Music)

He has spoken about:

• How drug organizations are structured.

• Money laundering and operational security.

• How traffickers avoid detection.

• The culture of trust, fear, and reputation inside criminal organizations.

• Why many people enter the drug trade despite the risks. (Amazon Music)

Eventually, federal investigators built a case against him. According to Freedland, he pleaded guilty to federal drug offenses and was sentenced to 77 months in federal prison. (Amazon Music)

Rather than ending his involvement with law enforcement after sentencing, Freedland says he became a federally embedded confidential informant.

He worked with agencies including:

• FBI

• U.S. Postal Inspection Service

• U.S. Attorney's Office (Amazon Music)

His intelligence helped investigators:

• Identify members of drug trafficking organizations.

• Understand trafficking routes and criminal methods.

• Build cases that resulted in multiple federal indictments. (Amazon Music)

His talks and interviews generally focus on:

• The realities of drug trafficking versus Hollywood portrayals.

• How informants are recruited and managed.

• Mistakes law enforcement agencies make when handling confidential sources.

• The importance of human intelligence alongside modern surveillance technologies.

• Personal accountability and rebuilding life after prison. (Amazon Music)

Freedland presents his story as one of redemption rather than victimhood. He openly acknowledges his criminal past while arguing that his firsthand experience gives him credibility when training investigators. His message is that understanding how criminals think—and how confidential sources operate—can help law enforcement conduct safer and more effective investigations. (Amazon Music)

Because much of the detailed narrative comes from Freedland himself in interviews and podcasts, it's worth distinguishing between publicly verifiable facts (such as his prison sentence, businesses, and public roles) and personal accounts (such as the specific scope of intelligence he provided or the number of investigations his cooperation influenced), which are not fully documented in public records.

In this episode of Choose Your Perspective, I sit down with Jake to discuss his journey from a passionate sports fan to becoming a TEDx speaker and entrepreneur while navigating life with Cerebral Palsy. We explore how adversity shaped his outlook, why conserving energy and focusing on what matters most became essential, and how choosing gratitude over self-pity transformed his life.
Our conversation dives into the importance of mental health, overcoming loneliness, building meaningful relationships, and discovering self-worth beyond appearance or circumstances. We also discuss faith, grief, taking action despite fear, and why the perspective we choose each day ultimately shapes the lives we lead.
Whether you’re facing your own challenges or simply looking for inspiration to live with greater purpose, this episode is a reminder that while we can’t always control what happens to us, we can always choose how we respond.

Motti Attia: The Power Of Letting Go

In this episode of the Choose Your Perspective podcast, we sit down with financial advisor, philanthropist, and advocate David Hirsch for a deeply honest conversation about success, fatherhood, disability advocacy, and what truly matters in life.

David shares lessons from his 40+ year career advising high-net-worth families, including the simple financial principle his grandfather taught him that changed his life: save first, spend second. But the conversation goes far beyond money.

From launching the Illinois Fatherhood Initiative to building the Special Fathers Network, David opens up about the importance of emotional presence, supporting families raising children with disabilities, and redefining success beyond career titles and wealth.

Daniel also shares his own experience growing up with a visual impairment and ADHD, leading to a powerful discussion on parenting, resilience, and perspective.

This episode is about more than finance or fatherhood — it’s about learning how to show up for the people who matter most.

Today we meet Michael brenner author of Learn to See the Invisible and and How to Do a Gemba Walk: Coaching Gemba Walkers

What We Discuss:

• Tech, Skydiving, and Coaching Leaders
• How Jumping Out of a Plane Changes Your Worldview
• Using Visualization and Emotion to Master High-Stakes Environments
• Finding Fulfillment in the Process, Beyond the Achievement
• The Power of Curiosity and Trust in Leadership and Life
• Cultivating Self-Trust and Inner Peace Through Visualization