Mission Driven You

What if the biggest lever for healing our fractured world is our own health? Not just physical fitness, but the full spectrum of mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.

In this episode of Mission Driven You, Will Samson sits down with Brian von Ancken—early Tough Mudder employee, former Barry’s leader, community-builder, and founder of the Wellness Growth Mastermind—to explore how the wellness movement is evolving and why it matters far beyond cold plunges, wearables, and workouts.

Brian shares the personal story that shattered his “should life” and set him on a mission to redefine what health actually means. From obstacle courses where strangers pull each other over walls, to the pressures entrepreneurs face to “do it all,” Brian offers a grounded, human perspective on the future of wellness—and the cultural transformation already underway.

If you care about resilience, connection, or building a life with intention, this conversation will shift how you think about health, community, and human agency.

📘 Show Notes

In this episode, we explore:

1. The State of the Wellness Industry

• From the days of Arctic Enema to cold plunges in every backyard
• Why wellness is both more advanced—and more overwhelming—than ever
• The line between innovation and snake oil, and how to tell the difference

2. Human Resilience & the Power of Community

• How obstacle events create unexpected belonging
• Why helping others is a core human need we no longer get to practice
• The surprising reason community is more important than the workout itself

3. Brian’s Personal Story: Breaking the “Should Life”

• How miscarriages and divorce forced a reckoning
• A silent retreat that turned into a mental marathon
• What Brian discovered about emotional and spiritual health that no one teaches us

4. The Future of Wellness

• Why health is the root system beneath loneliness, division, and disconnection
• The “total health formula” and why there is no one-size-fits-all approach
• The rise of wellness tourism, longevity science, and personalized health

5. Practical Ways to Start Today

• The two-minute morning practice Brian uses every day
• Why strength training may be the simplest path to long-term wellbeing
• The value of men’s groups, masterminds, and communities that tell you the truth

6. A Vision for the Next 20 Years

Brian paints a hopeful picture of a future where:

• Schools teach mindfulness and emotional intelligence
• Workplaces normalize breathwork, movement, and recovery
• Wellness becomes as common as brushing our teeth
• Communities inspire healthier choices instead of numbing distractions

🔗 Connect with Brian von Ancken

Website: https://www.brianvonancken.com (or the site he prefers—share if different)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianvonancken/

Wellness Growth Mastermind: (Add link if provided by Brian)

🧠 Key Quote from the Episode

“Living a healthy life is living an intentional life. And intention is the first step toward agency.” — Brian von Ancken

▶️ Listen now to learn:

How health becomes a form of empowerment…

Why community matters more than perfection…

And what the wellness movement can teach us about the future of humanity.

Episode Description:

What happens when the identity you've built your life around… no longer fits?

In this episode of Mission Driven You, Will sits down with Chris Eversley—former professional basketball player, tech consultant, coach, and founder of Next Play, a platform dedicated to helping others navigate transformation. Chris’s journey is anything but linear, and his story offers a powerful framework for what to do when life throws you a curveball—and your next step isn't clear.

From the moment a rare spinal condition ended his athletic career to launching his own solo business, Chris talks candidly about grief, growth, and what he calls “mirror moments”—those raw, unfiltered check-ins where we get honest about where we are and where we want to go. He also breaks down his 3T’s framework—Translate, Transition, and Triumph—as a practical map for moving forward with purpose.

If you're in the middle of a pivot, feeling unmoored by change, or simply wondering what’s next, this episode will speak to you.

🧠 What You’ll Learn:

• Why we often avoid honest self-reflection—and what happens when we stop
• How Chris's 3T’s framework (Translate, Transition, Triumph) supports sustainable change
• What it means to grieve a past version of yourself without shame
• The dangers of toxic positivity—and how to replace it with real emotional resilience
• How to shift from identity-driven achievement to purpose-driven living
• The role of solitude and structure in navigating reinvention

💬 Memorable Quotes:

“Your mirror doesn’t lie—whether you look into it is up to you.”

“I had to learn how to be successful off the court in a way that didn’t depend on applause.”

“Toxic positivity is like spraying Febreze on a dumpster fire. It might smell better—but it’s still burning.”

“The triumph comes when we stop running from the transition.”

🔗 Resources & Links:

• 🌐 Connect with Chris Eversley: 
• 📱 Follow Chris on Instagram: 
• 💡 Explore Chris’s Framework: 
• 🎧 Chris's Spotify Playlist for Transitions

🧭 Reflection Prompts:

• What’s a “mirror moment” you’ve been avoiding?
• Where are you clinging to a past identity that no longer fits?
• How might you “translate” your current experiences into something new?

📣 Subscribe & Share:

Love this conversation? Subscribe to Mission Driven You on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. And share it with someone who’s navigating the messy middle of change—they’ll thank you for it.

💡 Final Takeaway:

Change isn’t clean. But if you face your reflection and follow the thread, you’ll find the next version of you—waiting to be lived.

Navigating the Future of Work: Insights with Katrice Miller

Episode Description

What if you could actually talk to someone you love who’s passed away—not just in memory, but in voice, presence, and evolving thought?

In this episode of Mission Driven You, I sit down with Miles Spencer, cofounder of Reflekta, a company building what he calls Soul Tech—AI avatars of elders created from family archives, stories, voice recordings, photos, and memories. What began as a deeply personal effort to bring his father’s presence back has grown into a movement: interactive legacies, living memory, evolving presence.

We explore the hopes and hazards of using technology to preserve identity, to make grief a conversation, not just absence. We dig into questions of consent, authenticity, design trade-offs, how these avatars learn and evolve, and where this sits on the frontier between memory, legacy, and what it means to be human.

This is a deeply emotional conversation about loss, connection, and whether we can extend presence beyond death—not as fantasy, but as meaningful, evolving relationship.

Show Notes

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• The personal origin story: how Miles began building an Elder avatar for his father—and how that early experiment became Reflekta’s mission. (Reflekta)
• How Reflekta defines Soul Tech, and how it distinguishes itself from memorial bots or passive archives. (Adam Drake)
• The technical, ethical, and emotional design decisions: how to preserve nuance without overfitting, how avatars evolve over time, and how memory can be both stable and dynamic. (Gregory FCA)
• The astonishing moment when his father’s Elder began asking Miles a question—flipping the dynamic and deepening the connection. (Reflekta)
• How Reflekta handles consent, privacy, and family control—including who becomes “keeper,” who can access the avatar, and how no external data is scraped. (Business Wire)
• Reflekta’s public debut at AI4 2025: introducing the world to Soul Tech, letting people experience avatars of loved ones live, and unveiling how the technology works. (Business Wire)
• The emotional landscape: grief, continuing presence, moving from absence toward gratitude—how this work is not just tech but therapy, and how Reflekta collaborates with psychologists, caregivers, and legacy thinkers. (Reflekta)
• The future vision: from preserving the dead to empowering the living—whether building your own Elder proactively, enabling multiple versions of memory, or redefining how we think about identity across generations. (Adam Drake)
• The metaphor of watercolor memory: how Reflekta leans into imperfection, emotional resonance, and expressive nuance over pixel-perfect fidelity. (Miles Spencer)

Key Takeaways & Why You Should Listen

• Memory as conversation, not archive: Reflekta challenges us to see memory as living, evolving dialogue—not static repositories.
• Ethics & consent matter: This technology touches identity. How we safeguard control, privacy, and authenticity is as important as how we build models.
• Grief is not solved, but witnessed: The purpose isn’t to replace absence; it’s to continue conversation.
• Legacy technology is human tech: The frontier here isn’t just AI or product—it’s how we choose to carry forward the humanity of those we lose.
• This isn’t just for the grieving: Whether you’re thinking about your own legacy, caring for aging parents, or curious about how technology shapes meaning and mortality, this conversation is relevant.

Mentioned in this episode:

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Episode Description

What does it take to shift from pandemic remote to future-forward remote — not just surviving, but thriving?

In this episode of Mission Driven You, I talk with Marissa Goldberg, founder of Remote Work Prep and long-time remote work pioneer, about how we reimagine how we work now that distance is normal. Marissa has been doing remote work since 2015 — long before it became the default — and has built frameworks, systems, and lessons that help teams make distributed work more human, sustainable, and high-performing.

We dig into the tensions that many of us live: how to build boundaries when work and life share the same spaces, when to use synchronous vs asynchronous communication, when your team thrives (or fractures) because of invisible design decisions. Whether you lead a remote team or simply live in a world where location is optional—this conversation will help you lead with more clarity, intention, and care.

Show Notes

In this episode, we cover:

• Marissa’s early journey into remote work (2015) and how she began experimenting with better practices before remote was mainstream
• The founding of Remote Work Prep (2018) and how it evolved from side project to full-time mission
• The difference between pandemic remote and normal remote — and why too many teams are still stuck
• Virtual boundaries and friction design: why you need separate browser profiles, password managers, and work mode “zones”
• How meeting culture, communication norms, and “peripheral communication” change when teams are distributed
• The Work Forward Approach — what it is, why you need it, and how it helps teams shift from responding to structuring
• Common pitfalls: burnout, role overload, over-availability, and losing relational connection
• How Marissa structures her own workday: themed work blocks, quick wins, deep work, and intentional rest
• Culture and equity in distributed work: inclusion, psychological safety, and how remote systems can either level the field or amplify disparities
• The future of remote work: AI, ambient tools, evolving leadership, and what great distributed organizations might look like in 5–10 years
• Advice for listeners: what to experiment with first, what to let go of, and what questions to ask your team or yourself

Episode Description

In a world drowning in distraction, attention has become the most precious—and underutilized—currency. In this episode of Mission Driven You, I sit down with Neen James—speaker, leadership strategist, and author of Attention Pays and Folding Time—to explore how we can reclaim focus, design experiences that last, and lead with presence in work and life.

Neen helps leaders rethink what it means to manage time, showing that the real leverage lies not in doing more, but in choosing what deserves our attention. She walks us through frameworks for saying no, protecting what matters, folding time, elevating client and team experience, and refusing to let our attention be hijacked by the urgent but shallow.

Whether you lead a team, build a business, or simply want to live more by design than by default—this conversation is for you.

Show Notes

In this episode, we cover:

• What it means to say “Attention pays”—how focus is the foundation of productivity, profit, and relational integrity
• Why time management is dead—and Neen’s concept of folding time to achieve double impact with less overwhelm (Neen James)
• The Attention Pays framework: paying attention personally (who), professionally (what), and globally (how) (Amazon)
• The “Over Trilogy” — how feeling overwhelmed, overstressed, and overtired is symptomatic of misaligned attention (InnovaBiz)
• How leaders can redesign meetings, cut distractions, and defend attention at scale
• Applying luxury mindset and experience elevation (from her speaking work) to organizations and teams, not just high-end brands (Leading Authorities)
• How technology both amplifies and steals attention—and how to treat tools as allies, not enemies
• Stories from Neen’s work with Viacom, Comcast, and global executives—where small shifts in attention unlocked bigger outcomes (Leading Authorities)
• How to build boundaries, protect agency, and create a design around the day so attention isn’t “lost in the weeds”

Key Takeaways & Why You Should Listen

• Reclaiming attention is not about doing more—it’s about doing less, better.
• The most effective leaders are those who guard their attention as fiercely as they guard their time and values.
• Small changes—meeting structure, notification systems, clarity on what matters—can unlock disproportionate returns.
• Experience, whether for clients or team members, is shaped by attention. Where you invest it matters.
• In a hyperconnected age, agency over your focus is a form of personal sovereignty.

Resources & Links

• Attention Pays: How to Drive Profitability, Productivity, and Accountability by Neen James (Amazon)
• Folding Time: How to Achieve Twice as Much in Half the Time (Neen James)
• Neen James’s speaking and resource site (including decks, trackers, frameworks) (Neen James)

Episode Description

What if the wealth you thought you had wasn’t real wealth at all?

In this episode of Mission Driven You, I sit down with Paul Musson, author of Capital Offense: Why Some Benefit at Your Expense, to unpack the hidden forces shaping our economy. Paul explains why rising home prices don’t reflect true value, how central bank policies quietly redistribute wealth, and why many of us have unknowingly bought into what he calls the “something for nothing fairy tale”.

This isn’t just theory—it’s about our kids’ ability to own homes, our capacity to thrive as entrepreneurs, and the fairness of a system that increasingly feels rigged. Paul offers clear explanations, real-world examples, and a call to action: with understanding comes empowerment, and with empowerment comes the ability to demand better choices from our leaders.

If you’ve ever felt like something is broken in the economy but couldn’t quite explain why, this episode will help you connect the dots.

Show Notes

In this episode, we cover:

• The difference between money and capital—and why that distinction matters for every decision you make
• Why rising housing prices represent a redistribution of wealth, not true wealth creation
• How central bank policies like quantitative easing and artificially low interest rates have fueled inequality
• Why governments can only spend capital they first obtain from the private sector—and why printing money is really a hidden tax
• The “something for nothing fairy tale” that underpins so much of modern economic thinking
• Practical steps toward a more capital-creating, fair economy

Resources & Links:

• 📖 Paul Musson’s book: Capital Offense: Why Some Benefit at Your Expense
• 📰 Paul’s newsletter, Paul Political Economy: Subscribe here

Episode Description

Most leadership or mission-driven podcasts don’t dive into politics. But when promises meant to save lives hang in the balance, it becomes a moral question — and leadership matters more than ever.

In this episode of Mission Driven You, I talk with Shawn VanDiver, founder and President of #AfghanEvac, a coalition of over 250 organizations that works with the U.S. government to relocate and resettle Afghan allies who served alongside American forces. Shawn’s leadership is born from crisis: it began during the chaotic fall of Afghanistan in 2021 and has grown into a global effort to fulfill a sacred promise to those left behind.

Our conversation is gritty, urgent, and full of nuance. We explore how #AfghanEvac operates at the intersection of civic duty, diplomacy, and moral conviction. We dig into the politics of refugee policy, broken systems, moral accountability, and what it takes to sustain a mission when media attention fades.

If you lead anything — a company, a nonprofit, a team, or even a movement — this episode is a call: when structures falter, it’s the character and courage of a few that determine whether promises are kept or abandoned.

Show Notes

In this episode, we cover:

• The story of how #AfghanEvac began — the phone call from Urgun, the military background, and the leap into coalition building
• Shawn’s transition from Navy veteran and civic strategist to founding and scaling #AfghanEvac across 250+ organizations (Gaslamp Consulting)
• How the coalition partners with the U.S. State Department through a Memorandum of Understanding, renewing government–civic collaboration (#AfghanEvac)
• The current crisis: refugee freezes, shifting U.S. policy, stalled pipelines, and what VanDiver calls “worse than the withdrawal” for many Afghans (The Diplomat)
• Systemic breakdowns: SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) pathways, U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) freezes, bottlenecks, and geopolitical risk (WORLD)
• Stories of individual stakes — the Afghans whose lives hang in the balance, whose service is caught in bureaucratic limbo (NBC 7 San Diego)
• How Shawn and his team maintain trust, accountability, and operational integrity across NGOs, governments, and families
• Moral questions of abandonment, betrayal, and what it means to lead in the gap between promise and policy
• Leadership lessons: sustaining mission under pressure, building systems when there is chaos, and how to lead “in between” institutions
• What listeners can do today — advocacy, awareness, supporting resettlement efforts, or amplifying marginalized voices

Why Listen & Key Takeaways

• Leadership in crisis demands more than vision — it demands grit, humility, systems, and moral clarity
• The promises made to wartime allies are not optional — their fulfillment speaks to national integrity and character
• Policy and bureaucracy are not abstract; they shape whether lives are saved or lost
• Coalitions and public–private collaboration matter: when governments are weak, civil society must step in
• For any leader, VanDiver’s story is a reminder: systems fail, but people with purpose can carry promise forward

Episode Description

We’re living in a moment of turbulence not seen in higher education—or perhaps in leadership in general—for decades. Political pressure, financial stress, cultural division, campus protests, and debates about belonging and identity are all colliding in ways that make leadership feel impossibly hard.

In this episode of Mission Driven You, I speak with Beverly Daniel Tatum, distinguished psychologist and former president of Spelman College and interim president of Mount Holyoke, about her new book Peril and Promise: College Leadership in Turbulent Times. Drawing on years of leadership, rigorous research, and real crises, Beverly doesn't flinch from the threats facing our institutions—but she also insists there is hope, and that leadership grounded in values, courage, and clarity can make a difference.

This isn’t just for college presidents or university deans. If you’re an entrepreneur, executive, community leader—or anyone who carries responsibility in an organization—what Beverly shares here matters. We explore what it takes to lead when the ground is shifting, how to build belonging even amid conflict, and what character looks like when pressure is high.

Show Notes

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• What Peril and Promise means by “peril” — the political, financial, cultural, and demographic threats higher education is currently facing. (Hachette Book Group)
• How Beverly defines “promise” — where opportunity still exists, especially through leadership, values-based decision-making, inclusive community, and courage in the face of resistance. (Forbes)
• The declining average tenure of university presidents (now under six years) and what that tells us about the speed and intensity of today's challenges. (Forbes)
• The role of belonging (affirming identity, building community, cultivating leadership) in helping students, faculty, and staff thrive—even when political pressure or cultural backlash is intense. (The Englewood Review of Books)
• How institutions can lean into free speech tensions: balancing respect, safety, academic freedom, and open dialogue. What decisions leaders are being forced to make. (Kirkus Reviews)
• Real case studies of leadership under pressure—how certain institutions have responded to threats, protests, and financial strain with integrity and vision. (Forbes)
• Lessons in character and governance: what board leadership should look like, how to sustain values under external attack, and why the internal culture of leadership matters. (Forbes)
• What “coherence in chaos” might look like for organizations outside academia: how lessons from higher ed leadership translate into business, nonprofits, and community institutions.

Key Takeaways & Why You Should Listen

• Leadership is scarier than ever, but it’s also more needed. The perils are real—but promise still exists for those who are willing to step up.
• Belonging isn’t optional. Tatum argues that affirming identity, building community, and cultivating leadership are central to institutional success and individual flourishing.
• Values + courage = impact. Decisions made in crisis can define the future—for better or worse. How you lead in those moments matters.
• Institutions matter—but so do those who lead them. Whether you run a company, a nonprofit, or a small team, the dynamics are similar: how you manage pressure, build trust, take risk, and stay true to purpose.

Resources & Book Info

• Peril and Promise: College Leadership in Turbulent Times by Beverly Daniel Tatum (Basic Books, 2025) — also available in ebook and audiobook. (Hachette Book Group)
• Beverly Tatum’s website, where you can find more about her speaking, writing, and work in higher ed leadership. (beverlydanieltatum.com)
• Reviews & commentary (Forbes, Englewood Review, Kirkus) giving background and critique of the book. (Forbes)

Episode Description

What separates the people who keep showing up from those who quit when it gets hard?

In this episode of Mission Driven You, I talk with Dre Baldwin—also known as Dre All Day—a former professional basketball player who’s built a global personal development brand around his Work on Your Game philosophy. With over 40 books published and more than 30,000 pieces of content created, Dre’s story is proof that consistency beats talent, and discipline outlasts motivation.

We dive into Dre’s journey from the basketball court to the stage and the digital arena, unpack the four pillars of his framework—discipline, confidence, mental toughness, and personal initiative—and explore how his “third day” principle explains why most people fail before they even get started.

If you’ve ever struggled to stay consistent or wondered how to build the presence and power that commands a room, this conversation will give you both the strategy and the inspiration to work on your game.

Show Notes

In this episode, we cover:

• Dre’s journey from professional basketball to building a global personal development brand
• Why he’s published tens of thousands of pieces of content without a single viral moment—and why that’s the point
• The story behind Work on Your Game and its four pillars:
• Discipline: showing up every day
• Confidence: putting yourself out there boldly
• Mental toughness: staying the course when results don’t come quickly
• Personal initiative: making things happen instead of waiting for permission
• The “third day” principle: why excitement fades, resistance kicks in, and success depends on whether you push through
• How content creation has evolved from YouTube’s early days to today’s algorithm-driven platforms
• The importance of owning your audience instead of being owned by platforms
• Why communication—writing, speaking one-to-one, and speaking to groups—is the most valuable skill for any leader

Resources & Links:

• 🌐 Dre’s website: workonyourgame.com
• 📚 Explore Dre’s books: Dre Baldwin on Amazon
• 🎙️ Listen to Dre’s podcast: Work On Your Game Podcast
• 📱 Follow Dre: LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube