Most coaches talk about mindset. Debbie Longo starts somewhere else entirely — with behavior. And the distinction, she'll tell you, changes everything.

In this episode, Hugs sits down with Debbie Longo, founder of Life in Bloom NY, executive behavioral coach with over 20 years of experience, and host of both the Behavioral Profit Show and the Internal Shift Show. After 19 years of coaching clients alongside her spiritual teacher and mentor, Debbie launched her own practice in 2021 — just as the world was still finding its footing after the pandemic — and hasn't looked back since.

Debbie breaks down why behavior has to come before mindset (you can't plant the plant without planting the seed first), how toxic work environments almost always start at the top, and why the number one thing she notices across every single client — no matter the industry or the crisis — is negativity. Not the kind people talk about. The kind people don't even realize they're carrying.

They also dig into why Debbie refuses to do cookie-cutter coaching packages, what her Internal Shift Show is really trying to do for the person too scared to take the first step, and the one truth she wishes her younger self had heard before hitting rock bottom: pay attention to the warning signs before they become walls.

This is a grounded, real, and quietly powerful conversation about what it actually takes to change. 

🌐 Find Debbie: lifeinbloomny.com | debbelongo.com | LinkedIn 
💛 Don't lose Faith, lose Fear. Peace — and let your heart be Light.

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Alan Lazaros lost his father in a car accident before he could even remember him. He went on to do everything right — top engineering school, MBA, corporate career, elite global earner. And then at 26, he was in a near-fatal car accident of his own. Same way his dad died. And that's when everything cracked open.

In this episode, Hugs sits down with Alan — host of one of the world's top 100 personal development podcasts, Next Level University, with over 2,300 episodes, listeners in 180+ countries, and more than 7,200 one-on-one coaching sessions under his belt — for one of the most intellectually rich and emotionally honest conversations Sol Meets Heart has had.

They go deep on the four parts of your nature (mental, physical, emotional, spiritual) and which one is secretly driving your life. Alan breaks down the three fears that box people in — fear of failure, fear of success, and fear of judgment — and why most people don't even know which one is running them.

They talk about productive avoidance, why personal development can become an escape from actual healing, and what it really means to build self-worth versus self-belief. Alan also opens up about co-founding the Next Level Hope Foundation with his business partner Kevin — turning Father's Day, a painful holiday for both of them, into a day of celebration for kids without fathers.

This one hits differently.

🎙️ Next Level University: nextleveluniverse.com | Podcast on Spotify & YouTube
💛 Don't lose Faith, lose Fear. Peace — and let your heart be Light.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sol-meets-heart--3691166/support.

Regina Calderone didn't follow a blueprint. She followed her passion and it led her somewhere she never expected.

In this episode, Hugs sits down with his friend Regina, founder of RCP Team, a full-service high-volume youth sports and school photography company based in Fairfield County, Connecticut. In just three years, Regina grew her business by over 300% and then grew it another 75% after that.

But the numbers aren't what makes this story remarkable. It's everything she was carrying while building it. Regina opens up about leaving a marriage where she felt invisible, rediscovering herself at her very first photography conference, and how it took 18 months of hard inner work to become strong enough to walk away and start over — with two kids and a brand new business in tow.

She also shares how she went from never having run a mile in her life to completing a half Iron Man in September 2024.

This episode is for the women building quietly. For anyone who's been called selfish for putting themselves first. For every person who's said "I'm not ready yet" when really, the only thing left to do is show up.

📸 Find Regina: Instagram @theRCPteam | Fairfield County, CT
💛 Don't lose Faith, lose Fear. Peace — and let your heart be Light.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sol-meets-heart--3691166/support.

What happens when you put desire, healing, and spirituality in the same room? You get a conversation like this one.

Cat Orme is a counselor, educator, and co-founder of the Kink Collective — a community built on one foundational belief: people before kink.

In this episode, Cat joins Hugs for one of the most honest, layered, and boundary-expanding conversations Sol Meets Heart has had yet. Cat opens up about losing her mother to cancer at age 11, how that grief became the bedrock of her life's work, and what it took to finally name her CPTSD decades later. She breaks down the real meaning of BDSM and kink, why trauma and desire are often misunderstood as connected, and how consent culture has evolved over 30+ years in these communities. But this episode goes far beyond any one topic.

Cat and Hugs dig into why most of us were never taught to communicate, what a real safe space actually looks and feels like, and the MISS framework — a four-step approach to building trust and authentic connection in any relationship.

Whether you're curious about alternative lifestyles, navigating your own grief, or just trying to show up more honestly in your relationships — this one's for you.

🌐 Find Cat: kinkcollective.net | Conscious Kinky Podcast on Spotify & YouTube
💛 Don't lose Faith, lose Fear. Peace...and let your heart be Light.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sol-meets-heart--3691166/support.

This week on Sol Meets Heart, Hugs reconnects with his former Philadelphia neighbor JG (Justin Geller) — sound designer, light architect, music producer, and one of those rare people who just makes the world feel more alive. JG's career is built on saying yes before he knows how, learning fast, and translating the invisible into something you can walk through and feel. They cover his journey from electronic music obsession to designing immersive installations for places like Longwood Gardens and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, what it means to be creatively fulfilled by helping others realize their visions, and the 15-minute habit that reignited his own music after five years of silence. JG also previews his first new Remote Places track in nearly seven years. If you've ever wondered how to plant small seeds that grow into the life you actually want — this one's for you.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sol-meets-heart--3691166/support.

Hugo reconnects with an old friend — Josh "CBJ" McKenzie, master barber and owner of The Craft Salon Suite in Grand Prairie, Texas. They hadn't seen each other in over a decade, but some conversations pick right back up like no time passed at all.

Josh traces his journey from a kid secretly practicing fades on his little brother with a pair of broken clippers from his grandmother's closet, to becoming a barber who's cut the hair of professional athletes and built a space where other creative barbers can thrive. He talks about what it means to see art in a haircut, how drawing black-and-white portraits as a child taught him everything he needed to know about a fade, and why the barbershop has always been more than just a place to get a cut — it's a community.

But the heart of this episode is what Josh kept quiet for a long time: his battle with kidney disease, the months he spent on dialysis while still running his business, and the moment God told him don't worry about it — and he chose to listen. His kidney transplant didn't just give him his health back. It gave him a new perspective, a louder purpose, and the courage to finally share his story so someone else could be inspired by it.

This one's about faith, resilience, and what happens when you stop trying to figure it all out and just trust the process.

Don't lose faith. Lose fear.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sol-meets-heart--3691166/support.

Hugo sits down with Jad El Reda — sports editor at LA Times en Español, son of Lebanese immigrants, born in Colombia, raised between cultures, and now rooted in Los Angeles. Three worlds. One man. And a story that doesn't fit neatly into any box.

Jad opens up about what it means to carry multiple identities at once — feeling the weight of what's happening in Lebanon and Colombia simultaneously, growing up in a Colombian-Arabic school where two languages and two worlds collided, and eventually finding his footing in the US through the universal language of sports. They talk about using journalism as a platform to shine light on stories and people who deserve to be seen, coaching youth soccer as an act of love, and why Jad refuses to believe he's "made it" — because the moment you stop growing, you stop living.

And then, toward the end, Jad delivers what might be the most honest message of the entire episode: we have forgotten to be human. No religion required. No ideology. Just the simple, radical act of caring for one another before the game is over.

Don't lose faith. Lose fear.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sol-meets-heart--3691166/support.

Hugo sits down with Amanda Dollinger — meditation teacher, spiritual guide, branding creative, and someone he's admired from afar for years. This one goes deep. Amanda opens up about resisting her calling for as long as she possibly could, the "innumerable ego deaths" it took to finally accept who she is, and what happens when you spend years trying to fit a gift into a mold that was never made for you.

They get into the mental health crisis and its connection to self-acceptance, the danger of tying your identity to your career, and why the future belongs to the most authentic version of you — not the most productive one. Amanda also takes on one of the worst pieces of advice in her industry (hint: it involves the algorithm and a whole lot of junk food content), and shares what spirituality has truly taught her about worth, worthiness, and what it means to just be.

This episode is a mirror. It's for anyone who's ever felt like they don't fit the archetype — and needed someone to remind them that the archetype was never the point.

Don't lose faith. Lose fear.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sol-meets-heart--3691166/support.

Hugo sits down with Alex Withmory — a fellow Peruvian, a wildly talented drummer, and someone Hugo has been rooting for since they crossed paths on a music video set seven years ago. In this one, they get into what it was like coming to LA barely knowing English, finding your footing in a music scene where Peruvians are few and far between, and how stubbornness can be your greatest strength and your biggest obstacle at the same time.

Alex opens up about what it means to build your identity around your craft — and what happens when you start to question whether that's enough. They also touch on the role of AI in the music industry, why live music might be the last thing technology can truly replace, and the beauty of just saying yes to gigs and seeing where they take you. 

Don't lose faith. Lose fear.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sol-meets-heart--3691166/support.

Hugo sits down with longtime friend and digital artist Rey Paez for a raw, real conversation about what it means to keep creating when the world feels like it's working against you.

Rey opens up about a tough year — slow commissions, quiet events, and the economic pressure that makes every artist ask "is this still worth it?" — and why he keeps picking up the pencil anyway.

They go deep on AI: Rey's honest fears about a future where creativity gets replaced, and Hugo's perspective as someone who uses AI as a tool to move faster without losing his voice. Together, they explore what makes human art irreplaceable, the value of personality-driven branding, and why the next chapter for creatives might be less about the work itself and more about who you are.

This one's for every creative who's ever felt defeated and came back anyway.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sol-meets-heart--3691166/support.