My guest is world-traveler & personal coach Sheila Brown. Sheila Brown is a powerhouse World Traveler, Business Consultant & Internet marketing coach. She helps aspiring entrepreneurs build more income streams to enjoy lives of Freedom.

First, we discuss hot topics in America right now—race & politics. And since my audience is mostly male, I ask how a young black man should handle an encounter with police (even if he believes he’s done nothing wrong). Also, I ask Sheila what she thinks about Candace Owens, Kamala Harris and whether she thinks Dave Chappelle is a better comedian than Richard Pryor & Chris Rock. Her answers may surprise you.

Prior to dedicating herself full-time to coaching and teaching her students, Sheila Brown worked as a top executive for Fortune 500 companies like Pepsi Cola, Gateway Computers & The Walt Disney Company.

This week is a solo episode—no guest joining me.

I turned 40 years old on June 19, 2020. The night before, Lady O suggested I do a Top 40 list to mark the occasion.

That night I stayed up till 2:30am writing 40 Pieces of Life Advice for 20-Year Old Me. The piece is likely to be the most helpful article I’ve written to date. At least judging by the number of readers in the first week and positive feedback I’ve received.

Many readers sent messages asking me to expound on the advice, which I’ve done here in this week’s episode.

My guest is Nicole Rodrigues. She founded two companies, NRPR Group and the Young Dreamers Foundation. She also hosts the YouTube show, Beverly Hills Boss, and Author of Beverly Hills Boss the book. And she does all of this while being a great mom.

This episode is an exercise in candor and "realness." I open with behind the scenes action on the day we recorded. Then I share thoughts on Hollywood celebrities' empathy displayed in viral selfie videos.

Nicole & I discuss riots happening near her Beverly Hills home, where Drew Brees went wrong in his recent interview, and how the dating landscape has changed since the advent of social media.

Nicole is part of the Oakland Raiders family. She started as a Raiderette, then parlayed that gig into a Public Relations position. In fact, they still come to her today for advice—she helped with the messaging of their move to Las Vegas.

This episode also had my favorite "Overrated / Underrated" questions. Nicole answers whether she believes Jon Gruden, Lori Greiner, Arnold Schwarzenneger & Gavin Newsome are overrated or overrated.

I also ask Nicole if she's ever been dumped and whether she'd want to be the first of her 8 siblings to go to heaven. This was a wildly fun & insightful chat. Hope you enjoy!

Imagine if your boss wanted you to start selling insurance on your product to make more money. But you knew the whole thing was a scam.

As a person of integrity, you'd stand up to your boss—tell him or her what they wanted you to do isn't right.

Now imagine your boss is Pablo Escobar. And taking a moral stand against him could get you killed.

This scenario isn't made up. It's the predicament my guest found himself in once he got out of prison (the first time).

Dr. Jorge Valdes is the author of Coming Clean: The True Story of a Cocaine Drug Lord and His Unexpected Encounter with God. His more recent books are Narco Mindset & Narco Mindset Journal, which helps the reader achieve the "Ultimate Mindset in 12-Weeks."

Dr. Valdes grew up under communist rule in Cuba. At age 10, his family escaped religious persecution to settle in Miami, Florida.

Age 19, he had a bright future. He became the youngest employee at the Federal Reserve Bank while pursuing a degree at University of Miami. Then his life took a dramatic turn.

He accepted an accounting position at a small grocery store in Little Havana (Miami) to help with Spanish-speaking clients. Days into his new job, he noticed a bag with $135,000 cash in the office.

The next time he saw a big bag of cash he called the boss to ask what was going on. His boss told him, "We're not grocers. We're drug dealers."

Jorge Valdes soon became the biggest cocaine dealer in the United States. His prominent position put him in direct contact with presidents of foreign countries and other recognizable names.

In this episode, he mentions dealing with "Somoza" (President of Nicaragua 1974-1979), "Noriega" (Military Leader of Panama 1983-1989) & "Pablo" (Escobar, Dr. Valdes' Columbian boss).

Dr. Valdes lived a lavish lifestyle for many years. His income from importing and selling cocaine amounted to $1 million a month. He had mansions around the country and owned $1 million worth of cars. He says money laundering laws in the US were created because of his organization.

Now in his 60s, Dr. Valdes is on a mission to change lives. He's earned a PhD and has been invited to the White House to advise the United States government on drug policy.

My guest is Roman Prokopchuk aka "The Digital Savage." Roman was born in Ukraine. As a young boy, he lived under communist rule in the Soviet Union. He remembers waiting in bread lines and KGB agents waiting to see who was attending church services.

Roman's family moved to the United States in 1990. He earned a Bachelor's Degree from Rutgers University during the Great Recession. Since job openings were scarce, he became a self-made digital marketer. His 10 years of experience helped him to land several Fortune 500 clients.

In this episode, we talk about living behind the "The Iron Curtain," a day in the life of a digital marketer and Roman's determination to live the American dream.

My guest is Man O Podcast veteran Joseph Wells. Joseph is a writer & podcaster focused on self-improvement, systems, and societal issues. He's also fast-becoming the McMahon to my Carson. Or more like the Kimmel to my Carolla.

Joseph recently interviewed Peter Boghossian, who is best known for his involvement in the Grievance studies affair. Boghossian and co-authors, James Linsdsay & Helen Pluckrose, attempted to demonstrate the lack of scholarship in much of academia by publishing a bogus study. But their plan backfired.

Since the study's authors claimed to have inspected 10,000 dog genitals to show the prevalence of doggy-rape in dog parks, Boghossian was ultimately fired for "fabricating data." Joseph & I discuss Boghossian's grievances and new book: How to Have Impossible Conversations.

Joseph also tests my intellectual humility. We share thoughts on liberals vs. conservatives, how to change someone's mind, and get into Jonathan Haidt's book: The Coddling of the American Mind.

As a thought exercise, I recommend reading Joseph Wells' recent essay on Compulsory National Service, then decide whether you agree/disagree. Let me know your conclusion and I'll send you a postcard.

Clint Joffrion is born and raised on the bayou in South Louisiana. He’s the youngest of two boys and a Certified Nuclear Medicine Technologist with 9 years of clinical experience.

“Joff” & I met at Nicholls State University, where we were college teammates & roommates. He’s one of the few guys I’ve met in my life that I knew the instant I met him we were going to be lifelong friends.

“Fado Baby” (he’s got a few nicknames) was a #1 Rep selling Radiotherapeutics, but is currently furloughed due to COVID-19.

In this episode, we reminisce on our time living together, discuss how much technology has changed the way we communicate, and laugh more than any other episode.

My guest is Jonathan from Joney Talks! He's a Belgian personal finance blogger & podcaster with a unique approach to life & investing. He believes we're all weird in our own way, so we might as well embrace it.

Jonathan pulls from a breadth of life experience—he's lived in Norway, Luxembourg, France & Belgium—to tell stories and educate people about money matters. I found him to be insightful and open-minded.

We discuss Joney's successful parking-spot investments. He's also invested in cryptocurrency & individual stocks he says were heavily discounted.

You'll enjoy this episode if you ever felt apprehensive about taking financial risks.

Nick Luft is Co-Founder & CEO of Idle, a startup app company. He’s also a musician, record producer, artist, rabid Avett Brothers fan, and occasionally, an amateur stand-up comedian.

You'll enjoy this episode if you prefer deeper conversations about life, death & meaning. Nick & I discuss valuable lessons that aren't taught in grade school or in university classrooms. They're lessons learned only when we encounter people of different cultures, beliefs & ideas.

I've known Nick since first grade, but this podcast episode is by far the most we've talked. Since we hadn't seen each other in almost 30 years, we made up for lost time. In almost 90 minutes, we cover life & meaning, religion & beliefs and dealing with death and loss.

Nick shares how losing his best friend, Cuyler Duncan, greatly impacted his life. His best bud was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in his 30s. Nick says the experience of losing Cuyler taught him the power of the human spirit and the value of positivity in our day-to-day lives.

Conversations keep getting better on the podcast.

The best part of having my own podcast? Spotlighting lifelong friends doing BIG THINGS.

Brian Roundtree is a loving husband, father of three, successful dentist (Roundtree Family Dentistry) & cancer survivor. I'm proud to call him a friend for over 30 years.

When we were kids, Brian was an All-Star athlete. He was one of the "floor generals" on our 12-Year Old World Championship basketball team led by Coach Tom Abadie & Assistant Coach Gwain Roundtree (Brian's dad).

In this conversation, we discuss lessons learned from Coach Tom that benefited us later in life. We compare our youth sports experience to kids playing today, especially "travel ballers."

Brian later describes the moment his life would forever change. In the mirror one night he noticed a small lump, which turned out to be Hodgkin lymphoma. He talks about his battle with cancer, the importance of a great support system, and how his relationship with God changed after his diagnosis.

You'll also hear Brian's story of shattered dreams—his medical school application was denied in favor of a lesser-qualified minority candidate. Feeling dejected, he moved in with his parents to work manual labor jobs. Then one afternoon sitting on the back porch with his 90-year old grandfather, "Checkerboard" said something that altered the trajectory of Brian's life.

He applied to dental school, then faced more adversity in the form of Hurricane Katrina. (Brian's storytelling abilities are on par with previous guest, Vincent McGarry).