The Currency of Happiness

The Currency of Happiness

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The Currency of Happiness episodes

  • Your First Deal Won't Make You Feel Like an Investor. It'll Make You Feel Like a Fraud.

    Most people wait for a moment of confidence that never actually arrives. What if you started before it did?

    When Andrew and Emily bought their first rental property, Andrew didn't feel ready. He didn't feel experienced, and he definitely didn't feel like an investor. What he felt was excited and quietly terrified at the same time. They had just come out of a heavy financial season, paid off debt, and created some breathing room for the first time. But even with the numbers in better shape, his mindset hadn't caught up. He still felt behind, like everyone else had gotten a head start he somehow missed.

    In this episode, Andrew walks through what actually changed things: the honest, unemotional conversation with Emily that finally pushed them past years of research and spreadsheets, the standard they used to pick a boring, stable first property instead of chasing something flashy, and the sleepless night before their offer was accepted. He gets specific about the unglamorous reality of owning that first place, from tenant issues to feeling like an impostor with a mortgage, and why competence showed up slowly through solving problems rather than through some moment of finally feeling qualified.

    🔹 THE RESEARCH TRAP - Why learning had quietly turned into a sophisticated form of procrastination
    🔹 THE CONVERSATION - The simple, honest talk with Emily that ended years of waiting
    🔹 THE STANDARD - Why they chose boring and stable over flashy for their first property
    🔹 THE FIRST MONTHS - What owning a rental actually felt like, and why it wasn't glamorous
    🔹 THE SHIFT - Why the change wasn't about money, but about who they became

    This isn't a real estate strategy episode. It's a case for starting before you feel ready, because that feeling almost never shows up on its own.

    ⏱️ What's Inside:
    0:00 – The moment everyone waits for that never comes
    0:26 – Buying the first rental without feeling ready
    1:19 – What he noticed in people who had already started
    1:53 – When learning becomes procrastination
    2:12 – The honest conversation with Emily
    3:21 – The offer is accepted, and reality sets in
    3:44 – Owning a property means owning other people's problems
    4:33 – Where real confidence actually comes from
    5:52 – The question worth sitting with
    6:10 – Free goal setting guide at thecurrencyofhappiness.com

    Money isn't the main currency of a good life. This podcast gives you the tools to build a life of meaning and fulfillment.

    Free Ultimate Goal Setting Framework → thecurrencyofhappiness.com

    Subscribe on YouTube → youtube.com/@thecurrencyofhappiness

    Instagram → instagram.com/thecurrencyofhappiness

    Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts → Search "The Currency of Happiness"

    If this episode hit home, share it with one person. Every share helps build what comes next.

    #RealEstateInvesting #RentalProperty #FinancialFreedom #PersonalGrowth #Mindset #Confidence #FirstTimeInvestor #Entrepreneurship #FaithAndFamily #ChristianPodcast #TheCurrencyOfHappiness #Podcast

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    7 min
  • Leading When There Are No Perfect Options with Chad Krahn

    What does it actually take to love a city enough to change it?

    Chad Krahn moved to Red Deer at 27 to plant a church. That church never came together the way he pictured it. What did come together, over the next decade, was a life he never planned on: eight years of foster parenting, the adoption of two of those foster children, a byelection win after the sudden death of a beloved city councillor, and a men's devotional book, Welcome to Monday, built from years of text messages he sent to a small group of friends.

    In this episode, Chad walks through the tension between vision and reality that defines local government: why he believes Red Deer is a genuinely great city that most of its own residents don't fully believe in yet, why he once said the two things a pastor could never do were politics and foster care, and why he ended up doing both anyway. He breaks down the difference between influence and control on a nine-person council, what it was like knocking on doors to tell people a beloved councillor had died while asking for their vote in the same breath, and how he and his wife decided, after fostering six children over eight years, to adopt two of them permanently.

    Chad also gets into the harder parts most people never see: voting against a 10 percent tax increase he still couldn't fully stop, the toll public criticism takes on his family, and why he believes loving a place, the way his GK Chesterton quote puts it, arbitrarily, because it is yours, is what actually makes a city great.

    🔹 THE QUOTE ON HIS WALL — The GK Chesterton line that shaped his entire run for council
    🔹 THE BYELECTION — Knocking on doors to deliver grief and ask for a vote in the same conversation
    🔹 INFLUENCE, NOT CONTROL — What one vote on a nine-person council can and can't do
    🔹 THE FOSTER CARE JOURNEY — Eight years, six kids, and the two they adopted for good
    🔹 CHOOSE JOY — The final devotional from his book, read in full

    ⏱️ What's Inside:
    00:00 – Why local government actually matters
    — The move to Red Deer and the church plant that didn't work
    — Growing up in a political family while wanting to be a pastor
    — Running in, and winning, Red Deer's first ever byelection
    — Influence versus control inside city council
    — The 10 percent tax increase he voted against anyway
    — Eight years of fostering and the decision to adopt
    — Reading the final devotional from Welcome to Monday

    Connect with Chad Krahn:
    Website → chadkrahn.ca
    Facebook → facebook.com/ChadKrahnRedDeer
    Book, Welcome to Monday → available on Amazon

    If this episode gave you something to think about, subscribe so you don't miss what's next.

    Money isn't the main currency of a good life. This podcast gives you the tools to build a life of meaning and fulfillment.

    Free Ultimate Goal Setting Framework → thecurrencyofhappiness.com 

    Subscribe on YouTube → youtube.com/@thecurrencyofhappiness 

    Instagram → instagram.com/thecurrencyofhappiness 

    Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts → Search "The Currency of Happiness"

    If this episode hit home, share it with one person. Every share helps build what comes next.

    #LocalGovernment #CityCouncil #Leadership #FosterCare #Adoption #FaithAndPolitics #CommunityBuilding #RedDeer #ChristianPodcast #TheCurrencyOfHappiness

    Support the show

    37 min
  • The 5 Places Every Dollar Goes (And Only One Makes You Happy)

    Have you ever wondered why some people with far less money seem to sleep better at night than people who have more than they ever imagined?

    After years of sitting across from thousands of people, and living through it in his own life, the host has noticed a pattern: almost every dollar we earn goes toward one of five things. Most people default to the same one without ever choosing it on purpose, and it rarely makes them happier. This episode breaks down what those five categories actually are and why shifting even one of them can change how money feels in your life.

    In this episode, we walk through the five places money can go and what each one actually builds:

    🔹 STUFF — Great for convenience, terrible at creating lasting contentment
    🔹 EXPERIENCES — Why moments with people you love pay emotional dividends for decades
    🔹 TIME — Buying back time isn't lazy, it's strategic
    🔹 GIVING — Why generosity flips the relationship you have with your money
    🔹 SAVING AND INVESTING — The quiet, unsexy category that builds peace

    We also get into a simple question worth sitting with: where is most of your money actually going right now, and is it building the kind of life you want?

    ⏱️ What's Inside:
    00:00 – Why money can feel like a trap
    0:29 – The real question: what is your money for?
    1:29 – #1 Buy stuff
    2:29 – #2 Buy experiences with people you love
    3:19 – #3 Buy time
    4:11 – #4 Give money away
    4:54 – #5 Save and invest
    5:37 – Can money actually buy happiness?
    6:04 – The question to sit with
    6:17 – Free goal setting framework

    Money isn't the main currency of a good life. This podcast gives you the tools to build a life of meaning and fulfillment.

    Free Ultimate Goal Setting Framework → thecurrencyofhappiness.com

    Subscribe on YouTube → youtube.com/@thecurrencyofhappiness

    Instagram → instagram.com/thecurrencyofhappiness

    Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts → Search "The Currency of Happiness"

    If this episode hit home, share it with one person. Every share helps build what comes next.

    #TheCurrencyOfHappiness #MoneyMindset #FinancialFreedom #PersonalFinance #MoneyAndHappiness #FinancialPeace #IntentionalLiving #WealthMindset #GoalSetting #LifeOfMeaning

    Support the show

    7 min
  • Leadership Has a Cost: Responsibility, Stewardship & Legacy (Mike Bolton)

    Can you lead other people if you can't lead yourself first?

    Dr. Mike Bolton has spent over 25 years in ministry as a pastor and college instructor, and today works as a leadership coach, executive advisor, and board member for organizations around the world. In this conversation, he breaks down what actually separates a real leader from someone who just wants the title, starting with a question most people never ask themselves before chasing a promotion.

    Mike walks through the litmus test he uses for leadership: not how many people you manage, but whether you can lead your own life first, your faith, your health, your relationships, your finances. He shares the story of a real turning point in his 42 year marriage, a moment he describes as a directive from God to stop holding his wife Debbie back from who she was created to be. He also gets honest about a night early in his parenting when he broke a chair and put a hole in the wall, the three question process he now uses to get underneath his own anger, and why he had to forgive his father, an active alcoholic throughout Mike's childhood, before he could lead his own family well.

    We also get into what Mike learned watching his longtime mentor John Maxwell up close for over 25 years, the difference between servant leadership and control, why most men have never actually seen real leadership modeled at home, and how to have a difficult conversation with someone and still walk away with them liking you.

    🔹 THE LITMUS TEST — Why leading yourself always comes before leading anyone else
    🔹 THE MARRIAGE SHIFT — The moment 15 years into his marriage that changed everything
    🔹 THE THREE QUESTIONS — Mike's process for figuring out what's really underneath his anger
    🔹 THE MENTOR — What 25 years of watching John Maxwell up close actually taught him
    🔹 THE FOUR PILLARS — Faith, family, friendships, and meaningful work, the checklist Mike still uses today

    This isn't a leadership theory episode. It's a case for dealing with your own baggage first, because the people watching you, at work and at home, will follow what you actually do long before they follow what you say.

    ⏱️ What's Inside:
    0:00 – Why leadership looks appealing from a distance
    1:00 – Introducing Dr. Mike Bolton
    2:02 – Why does leadership look so sexy?
    3:05 – What true servant leadership looks like
    4:34 – The litmus test: can you lead yourself first?
    6:35 – Mike's early struggle with being a people pleaser
    9:14 – How to have a difficult conversation and still be liked
    16:24 – The marriage shift 15 years in
    19:02 – Why most men never see real leadership modeled
    21:53 – Evaluating who you let mentor you
    33:04 – Arthur Brooks' four pillars of happiness
    44:18 – Mike's three question process for anger
    51:44 – Book recommendations for growing as a leader
    52:48 – The upcoming Live2Lead event in Red Deer and Sylvan Lake
    53:26 – What happiness looks like to Mike today

    ## Connect with Dr. Mike Bolton

    Website → liferekindled.com
    Instagram → instagram.com/life_rekindled
    Books → Search "Mike Bolton" on Amazon, including Ignite Your Mission

    Money isn't the main currency of a good life. This podcast gives you the tools to build a life of meaning and fulfillment.

    Free Ultimate Goal Setting Framework → thecurrencyofhappiness.com

    Subscribe on YouTube → youtube.com/@thecurrencyofhappiness

    Instagram → instagram.com/thecurrencyofhappiness

    Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts → Search "The Currency of Happiness"

    If this episode hit home, share it with one person. Every share helps build what comes next.

    #Leadership #ServantLeadership #Marriage #ChristianPodcast #FaithAndFamily #Mentorship #PersonalGrowth #JohnMaxwell #ExecutiveCoaching #TheCurrencyOfHappiness

    Support the show

    56 min
  • We Had $5 Left Over After Bills. Here's What We Did Next.

    What happens the month you finally do the math and realize you have five dollars left over?

    Early in their marriage, Andrew and Emily were living in a basement suite that was too big for them, paying bills every month that seemed to multiply on their own. One night they sat down and went through their budget line by line. Rent, insurance, debt payments, groceries, gas. When it was all accounted for, they had five dollars left. Not five hundred. Five. They were already cutting everything they could, down to replacing meat with chickpeas because it was the only protein they could afford night after night.

    In this episode, Andrew walks through what that season actually taught them: why trying harder was never going to fix a financial system built to guarantee stress, the moment they realized nothing would change until they changed the structure underneath it, and the shift from asking "how do we survive this month" to asking "what are we actually building." He breaks down the exact system they built afterward, from tracking every dollar without judgment to picking one debt payoff strategy and sticking with it, to automating everything so their worst moods could never derail their progress.

    🔹 THE FIVE DOLLARS — The night the budget finally told the truth
    🔹 THE CHICKPEA SEASON — What real financial sacrifice actually looks like, without the poetry
    🔹 THE SYSTEM SHIFT — Why proving where the money goes matters more than judging it
    🔹 THE REAL QUESTION — Where is your money currently leading you, and is that where you want to go?

    This isn't really an episode about debt. Debt is a symptom, a season, a chapter. This is about whether your money reflects your values, or whether your life is just being maintained by default.

    #PersonalFinance #DebtFreeJourney #MoneyMindset #FinancialFreedom #BudgetingTips #TheCurrencyOfHappiness #MeaningfulLife #MoneyAndMarriage #FinancialClarity #DebtPayoff

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    8 min
  • He Flipped a House at 14. Now He Owns 34 Doors With None of His Own Money. - Bryce Kander

    What if the first six months of your career made you no money on purpose?

    Bryce Kander got his real estate license at 18, already owning three houses, trained by his mother Penny, a realtor for 47 years who never spent a dollar on advertising. His first months in the business, he sat with homeowners who were losing their houses and helped them restructure their mortgages instead of selling, work that made him nothing at the time but built a client base that keeps referring him years later. By 14, he had already flipped his first property, one he co-owned through a joint venture agreement with his mother after inheriting $30,000 from a family friend. Today he owns 34 doors, just closed on a 27-unit apartment building bought at roughly half its after-repair value, and founded the Central Alberta Real Estate Investor Network, now one of the largest investor groups in the province.

    In this episode, Bryce walks through the full arc: growing up doing joint ventures before he could drive, the season of doubt and drifting that a 30-day Bible reading challenge interrupted, and the philosophy of "give to get to give again" that shaped how he does business. He breaks down the BRRRR method in plain terms, using a real example from one of his own investors, and explains how he analyzes deals, works with appraisers, and structures creative financing like seller carrybacks and private RRSP loans. We also get into the $100, $10,000, and $100,000 challenge, where Bryce walks through exactly what he would do with each amount starting from scratch, and the conversation closes on what he actually wants his legacy to look like.

    🔹 THE FIRST SIX MONTHS - Why he sat across from homeowners and talked them out of selling
    🔹 THE $30,000 INHERITANCE - How a stranger's gift turned into a joint venture at 13 and a flip at 14
    🔹 THE TURNING POINT - The 30-day Bible challenge that changed the direction of his life
    🔹 THE BRRRR BREAKDOWN - A real deal, dollar for dollar, from purchase to refinance
    🔹 THE CREATIVE FINANCING - Seller carrybacks, private RRSP loans, and buying a house for $5,000 down
    🔹 THE BRIEFCASE GAME - What he'd do with $100, $10,000, and $100,000 starting from zero

    ⏱️ What's Inside:
    00:00 - The kid who owned three houses before he could get licensed
    - The first six months making no money, and why that built his business
    - Growing up in real estate: a $30,000 inheritance and a house flip at 14
    - Navigating the perception of being young in the business
    - The 30-day Bible challenge that changed everything
    - Building the Central Alberta Real Estate Investor Network from 25 people to a province-wide voice
    - The BRRRR method broken down through a real investor's numbers
    - Seller financing, private RRSP lending, and buying a house for $5,000
    - Debt, risk, and why he says he needs more of it to retire
    - The $100, $10,000, and $100,000 challenge
    - Buying a 27-unit apartment building at 49% off
    - Legacy, rapid fire questions, and the books and people that shaped him

    Connect with Bryce Kander:
    🌐 Website → whatsmyreddeerhomeworth.com
    🔗 Linktree → linktr.ee/BryceKander
    📸 Instagram → instagram.com/brycekander
    👥 Facebook → facebook.com/bryce.kander
    🏢 Central Alberta Real Estate Investor Network → search "Central Alberta Real Estate Investor Network" on Facebook

    Money isn't the main currency of a good life. This podcast gives you the tools to build a life of meaning and fulfillment.

    Free Ultimate Goal Setting Framework → thecurrencyofhappiness.com

    Subscribe on YouTube → youtube.com/@thecurrencyofhappiness

    Instagram → instagram.com/thecurrencyofhappiness

    Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts → Search "The Currency of Happiness"

    If this episode hit home, share it with one person. Every share helps build what comes next.

    #RealEstateInvesting #BRRRRMethod #RealEstateAgent #PassiveIncome #WealthBuilding #CentralAlberta #RedDeerRealEstate #FinancialFreedom #TheCurrencyOfHappiness

    Support the show

    35 min
  • He Was Dying at 33 With Everything He Wanted. Then He Asked One Question.

    If your self-worth collapses the moment you stop achieving, you don't have a performance problem. You have an identity problem.

    Before John D. Rockefeller became one of the richest men in history, he was driven, ambitious, and afraid to fall behind, chasing achievement like it was oxygen. Every deal was another brick in the identity he was building around one belief: if he achieved enough, he'd finally feel like enough. By age 33, he was a corporate giant and a personal disaster, losing weight, sleep, hair, and peace. Doctors told him he was dying. The man who had everything had no capacity to enjoy any of it.

    That collapse became a forced reset. Rockefeller had to ask the question most people spend their whole lives avoiding: what's the point of succeeding at things that don't make me whole? He shifted from what can I get to what can I give, and that's when his real influence began.

    In this episode, we break down the four ways performance quietly becomes identity, and the simple framework for catching it before it costs you your health the way it nearly cost Rockefeller his.

    🔹 ACHIEVEMENT AS VALIDATION — Why needing a constant win to feel okay is dependence, not ambition, and the shift from validation to stewardship
    🔹 COMPARISON AS DIRECTION — How measuring yourself against everyone else destroys clarity and points you toward a life you don't even want
    🔹 PRODUCTIVITY AS IDENTITY — Why believing "I am what I produce" keeps your brain running and your body guilty for resting
    🔹 IMAGE AS PROTECTION — What happens the moment you start managing perception instead of building character
    🔹 STOP, SEE, SHIFT, STEWARD — The four-step system for interrupting the autopilot before performance takes over again

    Achievement may create opportunities, but only character sustains them. Performance may build a reputation, but only alignment builds an identity.

    ⏱️ What's Inside:
    00:00 – Most people think they have a performance problem
    0:23 – Rockefeller's rise, and the body that broke before the business did
    1:36 – The forced reset and the question that changed everything
    3:28 – Pillar one: achievement as validation
    4:15 – Pillar two: comparison as direction
    5:00 – Pillar three: productivity as identity
    5:44 – Pillar four: image as protection
    6:30 – The Stop, See, Shift, Steward framework
    8:13 – Where in your life are you performing instead of becoming?

    Money isn't the main currency of a good life. This podcast gives you the tools to build a life of meaning and fulfillment.

    Free Ultimate Goal Setting Framework → thecurrencyofhappiness.com 

    Subscribe on YouTube → youtube.com/@thecurrencyofhappiness 

    Instagram → instagram.com/thecurrencyofhappiness 

    Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts → Search "The Currency of Happiness"

    If this episode hit home, share it with one person. Every share helps build what comes next.

    #PerformanceIdentity #PersonalGrowth #SelfWorth #Burnout #Mindset #Purpose #Leadership #Rockefeller #TheCurrencyOfHappiness #Podcast

    Support the show

    9 min
  • The Artistic Director of The Chosen on Why Nothing With God Is Wasted - Steven Schwartz

    How do you know when you're actually called to something?

    Steven Schwarz is a biblical teacher at Home Church and the artistic director for The Chosen, the most watched show about the life of Jesus ever made. Before any of that, he was leading a young adults ministry in Red Deer that grew into one of the largest in Canada, running a wedding photography business with his wife Stephanie on the side (over 100 weddings shot across Alberta and BC), and figuring out, piece by piece, what it actually means to be called to something rather than just good at it.

    In this conversation, Steven walks through the full arc of that calling: the "still small voice" and the practical signs that pointed him toward ministry as a kid who wasn't cut out for the traditional classroom, the moment he felt God tell him a season was ending before he knew what came next, and the entrepreneurial itch that has moved him through three major transitions in his career. He gets honest about the years spent shooting weddings every Saturday while also serving at church on Sunday, the realization that he only had 10 summers left with his oldest child, and the "sacred things" he and Stephanie built into their week to reclaim that time.

    We also get into the deeper stuff: why Disneyland works as a metaphor for real happiness (and where that metaphor breaks down), the thin line between mourning and joy after losing someone close, what it's like to help shepherd a project as weighty as The Chosen, and why he believes nothing with God, not the failures, not the random branding gigs, not the hundred weddings, is ever wasted.

    🔹 CALLING — The mystical and practical signs that pointed Steven toward ministry
    🔹 ENTREPRENEURSHIP — Why he gets a "five year itch" to build something new
    🔹 FAMILY — The 10 summers realization and the sacred rhythms that followed
    🔹 SUFFERING — What a year spent on the crucifixion story taught him about grief and joy
    🔹 CALLING, PART TWO — How every past season, good or bad, prepared him for The Chosen

    Connect with Steven Schwarz:
    Home Church → myhomechurch.ca
    The Chosen → thechosen.tv

    ⏱️ What's Inside:
    00:00 - What does a season of life look like for you?
    02:00 - The current dichotomy: quiet homeschool mornings and flying around the world
    05:00 - How did you know you were actually called to ministry?
    08:00 - The switch that made him dig into scripture academically
    11:00 - Building one of the largest young adult ministries in Canada
    13:00 - The entrepreneurial itch and the move into a creative pastor role
    21:00 - Running a 100+ wedding photography business with his wife
    27:00 - "You only have 10 summers left": reclaiming family time
    30:00 - Why Disneyland works as a metaphor for happiness
    38:00 - Grief, joy, and the thin line between them
    39:00 - Joining The Chosen and the phrase "nothing with God is wasted"
    44:00 - Preparing for the crucifixion season
    46:00 - What does happiness look like to you?

    Money isn't the main currency of a good life. This podcast gives you the tools to build a life of meaning and fulfillment.

    Free Ultimate Goal Setting Framework → thecurrencyofhappiness.com

    Subscribe on YouTube → youtube.com/@thecurrencyofhappiness

    Instagram → instagram.com/thecurrencyofhappiness

    Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts → Search "The Currency of Happiness"

    If this episode hit home, share it with one person. Every share helps build what comes next.

    #TheChosen #Calling #ChristianPodcast #BiblicalTeaching #Faith #ChristianLiving #Ministry #Disneyland #FaithAndFamily #TheCurrencyOfHappiness

    Support the show

    49 min
  • My Wife Stopped Talking to Me for a Week. It Was the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Us.

    What happens when the life you're building on the outside stops matching who you're becoming on the inside?

    Early in his marriage, Andrew found out the company he worked for was on the verge of collapse. No one knew if paychecks were coming. So he took the first job available: a warehouse position that came with a $5 pair of thrift store steel toe boots, a full size too small. Every day his toes went numb within fifteen minutes. He hated almost every minute of that season. But the boots weren't the real problem. He was carrying ego into a life that couldn't hold it, obsessed with how he looked to other people instead of who he actually was at home. Emily paid the price for it. Then one day she gave him an honest wake up call, and stopped speaking to him for an entire week.

    In this episode, Andrew breaks down what that week taught him about the difference between reputation and character, and the three questions that pulled his marriage, his finances, and his identity back into alignment: what am I actually chasing, who am I becoming while I chase it, and are my systems supporting the life I want. He also walks through how he and Emily rebuilt their communication, brought in accountability, and paid off over $60,000 of debt in under seven months once they finally got on the same team.

    🔹 THE BOOTS — Why a $5 pair of thrift store boots became a symptom of a much bigger problem
    🔹 THE WEEK OF SILENCE — What happened when Emily finally stopped letting it slide
    🔹 CHARACTER VS. REPUTATION — Why one impresses people and the other impacts them
    🔹 THE THREE QUESTIONS — A practical framework for figuring out what you're really chasing
    🔹 THE DEPOSIT — Why happiness is built the same way money is: through small, consistent investments

    This isn't a story about a job. It's a case for checking whether the life you're building matches the person you're becoming, before someone you love has to be the one who tells you.

    #Happiness #Marriage #PersonalGrowth #Mindset #SelfImprovement #Character #FinancialFreedom #DebtFreeJourney #Purpose #ThePodcast

    Support the show

    9 min
  • They Both Lost Everything, Then Built a Family Neither of Them Planned For - Garth & Melanie Mitchell-Epp

    What does it take to rebuild a life twice, once alone and once together?

    Garth and Melanie Epp both walked through seasons that broke them completely. Melanie lost custody of her two-year-old son after a two-year court battle. Garth found himself separated, then homeless, working a solo night shift in a sawmill while raising his kids every other weekend with no place of his own to put them to bed. Neither of them expected to end up where they are now: married over 11 years, running a coaching business together, and raising a blended family that looks nothing like the life either of them came from.

    In this episode, Garth and Melanie walk through the full arc of their individual healing before they ever met. Melanie shares how a stranger naming her "victim mentality" at a workshop changed the direction of her life, and Garth explains the mindset shift that got him out of survival mode and into a season of real growth. They also open up about their first date, where they laid out every hard fact about their lives before ever asking for a second one, and how that honesty let them move fast without the baggage most people carry into a new relationship.

    We also get into the reality of blending two families: the years it took to build trust with Garth's kids, the Christmas they threw out every tradition and replaced it with a Mexican fiesta, and the advice they'd give anyone trying to merge two households into one that actually works.

    ⏱️ What's Inside:
    00:00 – A two-year custody battle and losing everything
    05:00 – Melanie's path to faith and confronting a victim mentality
    11:00 – Garth's separation, homelessness, and rebuilding from a sawmill night shift
    21:00 – Choosing who to surround yourself with in a season of despair
    31:00 – Their first date and the radical honesty that made it work
    36:00 – Blending two families and the Mexican fiesta Christmas
    45:00 – Building Your Limits Lifted together
    52:00 – What happiness actually looks like for both of them

    Connect with Garth and Melanie:
    🔗 Website → yourlimitslifted.com
    📘 Facebook → facebook.com/yourlimitslifted
    📖 Book → I Don't Think So by Melanie Mitchell-Epp, available at yourlimitslifted.com/book-bootcamp

    Money isn't the main currency of a good life. This podcast gives you the tools to build a life of meaning and fulfillment.

    Free Ultimate Goal Setting Framework → thecurrencyofhappiness.com

    Subscribe on YouTube → youtube.com/@thecurrencyofhappiness

    Instagram → instagram.com/thecurrencyofhappiness

    Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts → Search "The Currency of Happiness"

    If this episode hit home, share it with one person. Every share helps build what comes next.

    #BlendedFamily #Resilience #FaithJourney #Divorce #Custody #Coaching #PersonalGrowth #Mindset #Marriage #Healing #RedDeerAlberta #TheCurrencyOfHappiness

    Support the show

    58 min

About The Currency of Happiness

From the publisher's feed

The Currency of Happiness is a podcast for people who want to win with money without losing themselves in the process.


If you’re balancing career, leadership, family…