Harley Malarkey Podcast: Old Dog New Tricks

Welcome to our mini restaurant series, where we take you behind the scenes of the key ingredients that go into opening a restaurant.

In Part 1, we discuss how Brian approaches building a team for a new restaurant. He shares the hiring mistakes he’s made throughout his career, what he looks for in an employee, which restaurant roles he thinks are the most underrated, and what aspiring restaurateurs should consider before opening their own place.

Tune in next week as we dive into how he builds a menu.

After Harley has one of those weeks with a GI bug relapse, head-to-toe bug bites, and the dreaded red light at airport customs, Brian declares it's officially her unlucky week.

That simple comment sparks a conversation about luck, mindset, and the stories we tell ourselves when life doesn't go according to plan. We talk about why Harley has never considered herself an unlucky person, David R. Hawkins' Map of Consciousness and why blame isn't always the worst first reaction, and what goes through Brian's mind when he loses a cooking competition.

This week’s episode starts with a conversation about how to have more meaningful interactions with strangers… and then goes a little deeper.

We recap our Costa Rica trip and why we love the Pura Vida life so much. We also talk about discovering Danielle’s bossy inner child “Rosie” on this trip and how Brian’s near death experience still impacts our relationship today.

We’re 10 months into trying to conceive and still very much in it. This episode is about that in-between phase where nothing is technically wrong, but nothing is happening either.

We talk through what this has looked like for us so far, how it’s felt day to day, and Brian shares what it’s like going through this in his 50s and thinking about having young kids again.

We’re engaged!

This isn’t a polished, fairy-tale recap. We get into the week leading up to the proposal, the hard conversations, and the moment Brian almost backed out of marriage entirely. We also talk through the pros and cons of marriage for each of us.

Then we end with the full proposal story and how it all came together. Sweet, funny, and perfect.

Before modern society, sensitivity wasn’t a weakness — it was survival.

We needed to read the weather, sense danger in the forest, feel shifts in our tribe, and attune to one another for safety. The most sensitive people were often the most perceptive, intuitive, and protective.

Somewhere along the way, “you’re too sensitive” became an insult.

In today’s episode, we explore how sensitivity is actually a superpower — and how many of the most reactive, hardened, or even destructive people among us may have once been deeply sensitive children whose tenderness was shamed, abused, or exploited.

This week we’re diving into the biggest wellness trends of 2026 and giving our honest yes or no. From GLP-1s and peptides to fiber, protein, and personalized medicine, we discuss what actually works and what might be overcomplicating health. We also share the five wellness habits that have genuinely changed our lives, and why consistency beats trends every time.

This week, we’re choosing a perspective shift. When life gets heavy, it’s easy to fixate on what’s not working, and once you do, the negativity compounds fast.

In this episode, we talk about why appreciating the little things matters more than we realize. The people who love you. The listeners who do show up. Your health. The small wins that quietly hold your life together.

Gratitude isn’t about ignoring reality. It’s about changing your focus. And when you do that, you can change everything.

Our phones are taking more from us than we realize.

In this episode, we get real about how Instagram nearly ended our relationship, the quiet ways our attention has been hijacked, and what it’s like to be a teenager who has never known life without a screen.

We talk honestly about how social media fuels comparison and conflict, why teens’ mental health is suffering more than ever, and our own struggles with phone addiction. We also share what we’re changing in our lives and how we’re experimenting with healthier boundaries, including the idea of a Sunday phone sabbatical.

This isn’t about deleting technology or living off the grid. It’s about reclaiming our attention, our relationships, and the parts of life that matter most.

You may have seen the news on social media, but Brian has made the difficult decision to shut down Chefs Life.

In this episode, we cover it all: how Chefs Life started in Brian’s kitchen during Covid, why the brand meant so much to him, and what ultimately made it unsustainable in today’s marketplace. We talk honestly about razor-thin margins, rising costs, and how hard it is to build and maintain a product with real integrity.

We also explore what it takes for a brand to succeed right now, the compromises many companies make, and why so many products look good on the outside but lack substance.

If you’re interested in entrepreneurship and building with values, this is an episode for you.