Succeeding in a troubled world

What does it take to arrive in a new country barely speaking the language, climb the corporate ladder, leave it all behind to become an entrepreneur, face bankruptcy, and rebuild to run three thriving businesses?

Max Emma—Certified Franchise Executive, CEO of BooXkeeping, and franchise consultant—joins us for a candid conversation about franchising, resilience, reinvention, and the power of betting on yourself.

Max arrived in the U.S. from the former Soviet Union over 32 years ago. Through his own creative "know-how," he mastered the language, graduated with honors, and climbed the ranks of corporate America—only to leave it all behind 23 years ago to follow his entrepreneurial calling. His path hasn't always been smooth. After facing significant challenges, including bankruptcy, he rebuilt and now leads three thriving businesses, all rooted in franchising and entrepreneurship.

Today, through BooXkeeping, he has provided bookkeeping services to over 100 franchise brands across the U.S. Whether he's guiding businesses to franchise their concepts or helping individuals find the right franchise to invest in, Max loves sharing his expertise and passion for entrepreneurship.

In this episode, we explore:

• Real-world advice on navigating the franchise industry

• Lessons on overcoming entrepreneurial setbacks and achieving success

• Insights on immigrant resilience and the American Dream

• The inside scoop on what it takes to franchise a business

• How to navigate the franchise world and build a thriving business

• Strategies for overcoming setbacks and staying motivated

• Max's personal journey from the former Soviet Union to CEO

• Why franchising is an amazing path to entrepreneurship

Connect with Max Emma:

🌐 Website: FranchiseWithMax.com

💼 LinkedIn: Max Emma

Learn More & Find Your Franchise:

Whether you're looking to inspire budding entrepreneurs or get practical advice on franchising, connect with Max to explore entrepreneurship, franchising, and the lessons learned along the way.

🔗 https://www.FranchiseWithMax.com

What does living with a disability actually look like in the modern world—and why is it often a full-time job?

Hollis Peirce—a physically disabled man in his late 30s, advocate, and host of the Twenty-First Century Disability podcast—joins us for a candid conversation about defying expectations, reinvigorating society's perspective on disability, and navigating life with dry, dark humor.

Diagnosed with Congenital Muscular Dystrophy at six months old, Hollis defied low expectations and pursued ambitious goals. He earned a bachelor's in History in 2015 and a master's in History with a specialization in Digital Humanities in 2019. He founded the Ottawa Power Wheelchair Hockey League in 2009 and volunteered at local music festivals throughout his youth. His efforts earned him the Governor General of Canada's Meritorious Service Medal in 2024.

In this episode, we explore:

• Disability in the modern world

• The positives and negatives of the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP)

• The differences between the medical and social model perspectives of disability

• The advantages of parasports in the community

• How living life with a disability feels like a full-time job

• How the modern world has helped those with disabilities—and where it still falls short

• The driving force behind Hollis's career in disability advocacy

• What or who inspired him to start podcasting

• Championing the fabulous work that has been done to date while pushing for a better future

Connect with Hollis Peirce:

🌐 Website & Podcast: https://www.21stcenturydisability.com/

📘 Facebook: Hollis Peirce

📸 Instagram: Hollis Peirce

💼 LinkedIn: Hollis Peirce

🎵 TikTok: Hollis Peirce

🧵 Threads: Hollis Peirce

Listen to His Podcast:

Twenty-First Century Disability

🔗 https://www.21stcenturydisability.com/

What if there is no checklist for grief?

Warwick Dunnett—author, father, and former Boeing 747 captain—joins us for a deeply personal conversation about loss, discovery, love, resilience, and healing.

During his career as an airline captain, every emergency had a procedure. But in 2016, when he lost his 20-year-old son, Harrison, he found there was no checklist for what comes next.

After the sudden loss, Warwick spent ten years searching the world's religions, spiritual traditions, and scientific theories for answers about death, consciousness, and what—if anything—comes next. That journey became Dance with Angels, an honest record of what grief does and the work of building a life on the other side of it.

Warwick brings these subjects to podcasts not as a theologian or grief expert, but as a father and seeker. His conversations range from what actually helps after devastating loss to near-death experiences, reincarnation, consciousness, the possibility of an afterlife, and ultimately, what death can teach us about living a meaningful life.

In this episode, we explore:

• What actually helps after loss?

• What happens after we die?

• The meaning of death, and a life well lived

• Finding a new direction when life changes irrevocably

• The cave you fear to enter

• Near-death experiences, reincarnation, and consciousness

• The possibility of an afterlife

• What death can teach us about living

Speaker Series & Discussions:

• "From Cockpit to Hope"

• Discussions from the book: Dance with Angels

Connect with Warwick Dunnett:

🌐 Media Page: lighthouselanebooks.com/pages/media

Continue the Conversation:

Visit Warwick Dunnett's Media Page to explore 'From Cockpit to Hope', hear an audiobook extract, discover discussion topics from Dance with Angels, and learn more about Warwick's story.

We would be happy to send you the eBook or the audiobook upon request.

📧 Email: [email protected]

🔗 https://lighthouselanebooks.com/pages/media

What if the abuse you're experiencing has no bruises, no visible scars, and looks like love to everyone on the outside?

Eva Levina—author of the memoir series Death Is No Reason to Stop Living—joins us for a powerful, eye-opening conversation about surviving years of covert emotional abuse, recognizing manipulation hidden in plain sight, and rebuilding a life from the ground up.

For 25 years, Eva believed she was in a loving marriage. There were no black eyes and no obvious signs. Instead, the abuse came through criticism disguised as concern, control disguised as love, isolation disguised as protection, and gaslighting that slowly eroded her confidence and sense of reality. Like many survivors, she didn't realize what was happening until years later. After leaving via a brutal discard, she began the long process of understanding what had happened—and writing became part of that healing journey.

Her memoirs were written not only to tell her own story, but to help others recognize the warning signs before they lose themselves. She is also currently writing her first novel, Fault Lines Beneath Her, a work of fiction inspired by true events that explores love, manipulation, trauma, and healing.

Eva believes that while trauma may change a person, it does not define them. Her message is one of hope: healing is possible, rebuilding is possible, and life after emotional abuse can become richer and more meaningful than ever imagined.

In this episode, we explore:

• How covert emotional abuse differs from physical abuse

• Why intelligent, capable people stay in abusive relationships

• Gaslighting and psychological manipulation

• Narcissistic and controlling relationship dynamics

• Trauma recovery and rebuilding self-worth

• The psychology of hope and resilience

• Turning painful life experiences into meaningful work

• The process of writing and publishing deeply personal memoirs as an independent author

• Why leaving is often far more complicated than people imagine

• Practical hope that healing and rebuilding are possible

Connect with Eva Levina:

🌐 Website: evalevinabooks.com

Get Her Books:

Death Is No Reason to Stop Living memoir series — available now on Amazon

📚 evalevinabooks.com

Learn More:

Visit Eva's website to learn more about her memoir series, read about her story, explore both books, and find links to purchase them and connect on social media.

🔗 https://www.evalevinabooks.com/

What if success isn't about how much we can carry, but about creating a life and way of working that can actually sustain us?

Kassandra Hamilton—best-selling author, speaker, and Human Sustainability and Self-Leadership expert—joins us for a conversation about redefining success, reclaiming your energy, and building a life that feels as good on the inside as it looks on the outside.

After nearly a decade working at the intersection of people, health, and systems, Kassandra experienced firsthand what can happen when achievement comes at the expense of our own wellbeing. She found herself navigating anxiety, grief, burnout, and a profound sense that the life she had worked so hard to create no longer fit her. What followed wasn't simply a career change—it was a process of coming back to herself.

Today, through her company Ready Set Realign, Kassandra works with individuals, leaders, and organizations to explore self-leadership, alignment, energy and capacity, and sustainable success. She is the author of The Magic of Realigning from the Inside Out and the visionary behind The Rise of the Self-Led Woman book series.

About Kassandra Hamilton:

I spent years doing what so many high-achieving people are taught to do: work hard, be capable, keep going, and build a life that looked successful from the outside. Until my body and life forced me to stop.

I now explore the human side of success: What happens when the person holding everything together is depleted? Why do capable people override themselves for so long? How do we rebuild self-trust after years of looking outside ourselves for the answers? And how do we create careers, organizations, relationships, and lives that don't require us to abandon ourselves in order to sustain them?

I bring both lived experience and nearly a decade of experience working at the intersection of people, health, leadership, and systems. My conversations bridge the personal and the systemic—because burnout, disconnection, and misalignment aren't only individual problems, and sustainable success requires us to look at both.

My philosophy can be summed up in one sentence: You are load-bearing too.

In this episode, we explore:

• What happens when the person holding everything together is depleted

• Why capable people override themselves for so long

• How to rebuild self-trust after years of looking outside yourself for answers

• Burnout, disconnection, and misalignment as both personal and systemic issues

• How to create careers, organizations, and lives that don't require you to abandon yourself to sustain them

• The messy, interesting questions around ambition, identity, boundaries, energy, and community

• Why sustainable success requires looking at both the individual and the system

• What it really means to build a life that feels as good on the inside as it looks on the outside

• How to redefine success from the inside out

Connect with Kassandra Hamilton:

🌐 Website: readysetrealign.ca

📘 Facebook: [Please provide handle]

📸 Instagram: [Please provide handle]

💼 LinkedIn: [Please provide handle]

Continue the Conversation:

Kassandra invites listeners to continue the conversation at Ready Set Realign, where they can explore resources, programs, workshops, and opportunities designed to help them reconnect with themselves, reclaim their energy, and create success that is sustainable from the inside out.

🔗 https://www.readysetrealign.ca

What if the thing people judged you for became the very thing that gave you your voice?

Rebecca Moore—award-winning author, advocate, speaker, and author of the memoirs Angel on a Bridge and Massillon Against The World—joins us for a powerful conversation about judgment, resilience, faith, healing, and finding the courage to speak.

Rebecca knows what it feels like to be judged by others—and to wonder whether the words people say about you might become the story you believe about yourself. Instead, she chose to turn those experiences into a story of resilience, faith, healing, and finding the courage to speak.

She almost walked away from publishing her memoir. But after years of writing and tears, she decided that if her story could help even one person, it was worth putting into the world. Today, she reminds us that we don't always get the closure we want, we can't control what other people say about us, and sometimes the hardest chapters of our lives can become the ones that give someone else hope.

About Becca Moore:

My story begins with something many people know all too well: being judged by someone who never took the time to know the woman underneath the assumptions.

For years, I experienced moments and words that hurt, shaped me, and made me question myself. There were things I carried quietly because talking about them meant being vulnerable—and vulnerability can be frightening when you don't know how your story will be received.

Eventually, I realized I had a choice. I could continue allowing the difficult chapters of my life to define me, or I could use them to help someone else. That decision became Angel on a Bridge, my award-winning memoir.

I almost didn't publish it. After years of writing, tears, and wondering whether anyone needed to hear my story, I finally came to one simple belief: if my experiences could help even one person feel less alone, then telling the story was worth it.

Today, I love having honest conversations about the things we don't always talk about—judgment, women's relationships, resilience, healing, faith, finding your voice, learning to move forward without always getting the closure you want, and turning painful experiences into purpose.

In this episode, we explore:

• What it feels like to be judged by someone who never took the time to know you

• The moment Rebecca almost walked away from publishing her memoir—and what made her decide to share it

• How to turn painful experiences into purpose

• Why we can't control what other people say about us—and how to stop believing their story

• Finding your voice when vulnerability feels frightening

• Moving forward without always getting the closure you want

• How faith, resilience, and healing intersect

• The hardest chapters of our lives becoming the ones that give someone else hope

• Why our hardest chapters don't have to be the end of our story

Connect with Rebecca Moore:

🌐 Author Page: authorbeccamoore.com

📘 Facebook: [Please provide handle]

📸 Instagram: [Please provide handle]

💼 LinkedIn: [Please provide handle]

Get Her Books:

Angel on a Bridge — award-winning memoir

Massillon Against The World — available now

📚 authorbeccamoore.com

Learn More:

Visit Rebecca's author page to learn more about Angel on a Bridge, discover more about her journey, and continue exploring her message of resilience, healing, faith, and finding your voice. If you're going through a difficult chapter of your own, her story may remind you that you are not alone—and that your hardest chapter doesn't have to be your final one.

🔗 https://authorbeccamoore.com/

What happens when life looks nothing like the plan you started with—and what is still possible from here?

Fleur Bryant—Amazon #1 bestselling author of Never the Plan, founder of The Make Way Foundation, and para endurance athlete—joins us for a powerful, deeply human conversation about grief, resilience, and building a life you genuinely love when circumstances are incredibly difficult.

Fleur started struggling to walk at age five, was misdiagnosed with cerebral palsy at nine, and spent decades believing that was the explanation. Today, she is a full-time wheelchair user and recently discovered the diagnosis was actually Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia. But the biggest challenge came when her middle child, Toby, was diagnosed with ALD—a rare and devastating brain disease—at seven years old. He died 18 months later, aged nine.

Losing Toby changed everything. But one of the things he taught her was how much life there can still be, even when circumstances are incredibly difficult. Since then, Fleur founded The Make Way Foundation, which has provided more than 100 wheelchairs to disabled children, wrote her memoir Never the Plan, and in September 2026 completed UltraSwim 33.3 in Greece—swimming 33.3km over four days using only her arms.

She's not interested in pretending difficult things are actually blessings, or telling people that a positive mindset fixes everything. She's much more interested in what we do next.

In this episode, we explore:

• ​ Your book is called Never the Plan. What happened to the life you thought you were going to have?
• ​ Toby was diagnosed with ALD at seven and died 18 months later. What did he teach you about living while he was still here?
• ​ You've said that moving forward doesn't have to mean moving on. What does that look like for you?
• ​ You struggled physically from age five and lived for decades with the wrong diagnosis. How did finally discovering what was actually happening change the way you saw yourself?
• ​ You're now a full-time wheelchair user. How have you learned to set ambitious goals while also accepting that you have very real physical constraints?
• ​ Why did you decide to swim 33.3km at UltraSwim using only your arms—and what did you learn about yourself while doing it?
• ​ You talk about not comparing your starting point with somebody else's. How has that changed the way you think about high performance?
• ​ How can someone start wanting things for themselves again after grief, trauma, or a major life change?
• ​ Why did you create The Make Way Foundation, and what have the children you support taught you about what is possible?
• ​ If someone listening feels that their life has gone completely off-plan, what is the first question you would encourage them to ask themselves?

Connect with Fleur Bryant:

🌐 Website: fleurbryant.com

📘 Facebook: [Please provide handle]

📸 Instagram: [Please provide handle]

💼 LinkedIn: [Please provide handle]

Learn More & Get Her Book:

Find out more about Fleur's story, Never the Plan, The Make Way Foundation, and what she's doing next as she continues to explore what might be possible when life doesn't go to plan.

🔗 https://www.fleurbryant.com

What does it take to empower individuals, families, businesses, and communities to succeed—especially in a troubled world?

Michael T. Brown, LPC—Licensed Professional Counselor, Principal of Browns' Leadership Consulting, and author of Born to Achieve and A Beautiful Challenge—joins us for a powerful conversation about resilience, leadership, mental health, relationships, and community mobilization.

With great purpose and passion, Michael has been empowering others for over 25 years. He provides counseling support to individuals and families and consulting services to organizations and businesses. He also served as a national trainer for Why Try, LLC—one of the nation's leading resilience education programs specializing in student achievement—and has partnered with the DC Office of the Attorney General as a trainer for their Violence Interrupter program since 2020.

In 2013, Michael hosted The Brown Bag with Michael T. Brown on Blog Talk Radio, interviewing key community difference makers and shining a spotlight on the pertinent issues facing our society. He is committed to empowering others and communities through education, inspiration, and mobilization.

In this episode, we explore:

• ​What are some important keys to success?
• ​How do we build healthy relationships?
• ​The importance of self-care
• ​What makes an effective leader?
• ​How can we better mobilize communities for action?
• ​How do we better inspire the next generation of leaders?
• ​How do we strengthen our school systems?
• ​How do businesses grow and thrive?
• ​How can we make the workplace a healthy environment for success?
• ​How should someone go about starting a business and monetizing what they do?
• ​Mental health issues and their impact on individuals and communities
• ​Leadership, relationships, and personal development
• ​Business development and growth strategies

Connect with Michael T. Brown:

🌐 Website: brownsleadership.com

🐦 Twitter/X: [Please provide handle]

💼 LinkedIn: [Please provide handle]

Get His Books:

Born to Achieve (2012) and A Beautiful Challenge (2017)

📚 brownsleadership.com

Explore His Services:

Visit his website for counseling support, consulting services, and materials.

🔗 https://brownsleadership.com/

Interested in Being a Guest?

If you're a leader, entrepreneur, or executive with insights to share about leadership, business, and entrepreneurship in an AI world, I'd love to connect. Submit your information here to be considered for a future episode:

🔗 https://www.podmatch.com/member/succeedinginatroubledworld

What happens when life knocks at your door again and again—with disability, divorce, and death—and you still find a way to not just survive, but thrive?

Michaela S. Cox—speaker, multi-published author, and creator of the Finding Grace Through Grief book series and course—joins us for a deeply moving and empowering conversation about navigating loss, rediscovering direction, and living in abundance after unimaginable challenges.

Michaela's message is deeply rooted in her own life experience—a journey she calls her 38DDD: living with a lifelong disability through legal blindness, experiencing divorce at age 26 in 2005, and enduring the death of her beloved husband at age 38 in 2017. His death made her a military widow and a solo mother, reshaping nearly every part of her life and ultimately deepening her calling to help others navigate seasons they never expected to face.

At the heart of Finding Grace Through Grief are five transformational keys that help people gain their grounding, rediscover direction, develop an abundant mindset, choose care and clarity in the midst of chaos, and become equipped to move forward with greater strength, hope, and purpose—so they don't just survive but thrive in life.

Michaela does not speak about grief from theory alone. She speaks as someone who continues to walk the road herself—learning how to rebuild, redefine life after loss, and embrace grace in the middle of an ongoing journey. Her message is ultimately one of hope: grief may change the landscape of a person's life, but it does not have to end their story.

In this episode, we explore:

• What "38DDD" means and the journey behind it

• Living with a lifelong disability of legal blindness

• Navigating divorce at 26 and the death of a beloved husband

• Becoming a military widow and solo mother

• The five keys of Finding Grace Through Grief

• How to gain your grounding in life through faith

• Daring to redefine, redirect, and redesign your course in life

• Learning to live in abundance—and why mindset is the game changer

• Choosing clarity and care over chaos and confusion

• How to become equipped with tools and resources for thriving

• The ripple effect of sharing your voice, story, and message

• How to navigate the knocks at your life's door and thrive

Connect with Michaela S. Cox:

🌐 Website: myheartfeltmeditations.com

📘 Facebook: [Please provide handle]

▶️ YouTube: [Please provide handle]

📸 Instagram: [Please provide handle]

💼 LinkedIn: [Please provide handle]

Watch Her TEDx Talk:

Sharing her story of answering the knocks at life's door and navigating through 38DDD—a lifelong disability, divorce at 26, and the death of her beloved husband in 2017.

🔗 https://youtu.be/Lib2zOIPh8U

Get Her Books:

Finding Grace Through Grief book series and course

📚 myheartfeltmeditations.com

Interested in Being a Guest?

If you're a leader, entrepreneur, or executive with insights to share about leadership, business, and entrepreneurship in an AI world, I'd love to connect. Submit your information here to be considered for a future episode:

🔗 https://www.podmatch.com/member/succeedinginatroubledworld

What does success mean when life doesn’t go according to plan? In this first episode, Darlington introduces Succeeding in a Troubled World—a podcast about resilience, grief, trauma, disability, illness, adversity, ambition, and the people who keep moving forward despite difficult circumstances. He also shares the long-term vision behind the podcast: building a nonprofit movement in Africa that helps people living with disabilities and other significant challenges access financial support, care, opportunity, and community.