The Living Question

Your business can be working while you quietly wonder whether you're still doing the work you care about. Musician and entrepreneur David Muntner knows that feeling. After losing a major client and spending time protecting what he'd built, he found himself in what he calls sustaining mode: keeping things running, but playing not to lose. Meanwhile, AI was raising an uncomfortable question about the music he'd spent decades learning to make. If a machine could create it too, what was his contribution worth? In this conversation with Jason Lee, David talks about the birthday studio session that helped him want to create again, the competitive drive that can both move him forward and wear him down, and his emerging plan to give himself six months of fuller commitment. They explore what going all in could look like without treating exhaustion as proof of ambition, why recovery belongs inside the plan, and how family, love, and real limits shape what success can mean. For founders and leaders weighing their next chapter, this is a conversation about choosing what deserves your energy, even before you know how it will turn out.

• Chapter times are approximate, based on the transcript's minute markers.
• (00:00:00) When AI Challenges Your Creative Identity
• (00:03:00) Going All In: The Tins and the Battle of the Bands
• (00:10:00) AI, Creative Block, and Finding a Reason to Make Music Again
• (00:16:00) Fear of Failure and Following Your Bliss
• (00:22:00) Surviving, Sustaining, and Thriving After a Business Setback
• (00:26:00) Clear Intention, Full Commitment, and Letting Go of Expectations
• (00:30:00) High Performance Without Burnout: Discipline and Recovery
• (00:34:00) Leadership, Parenthood, and Working Within Real Limits
• (00:39:00) Love, Self Trust, and Alignment Between Your Inner and Outer Worlds
• (00:44:00) Choosing an Experiment and Connecting With David

• Website: https://globalhopesummit.com/team/
• David Muntner on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-muntner/

Hayden Lee lives by one question: at the end of my life, will I regret not trying this? In this conversation, Jason sits down with his first ever coach, an executive and leadership coach who has worked with leaders at companies like Google and Meta and has been named a top 20 LA coach eight times. Hayden explains why the most useful definition of faith for him is unshakable self belief, how years of rejection as a professional actor trained him to collect nos without flinching, and why he treats self belief as a skill you practice rather than a trait you are born with. He walks through the origin of his annual coaching retreat in France, the real cost of chasing it (time, not money), and the two filters he runs every big idea through: the no regrets test and a head, heart, and gut check that keeps a bias for action from turning into blind ambition. The conversation then slows down into presence, why Hayden resists the word surrender in favor of letting go, and what a quiet Saturday spent vacuuming dog hair out of his car taught him about rushing. Along the way, Jason and Hayden get honest about what deeper work actually costs: fewer external scoreboards, saying no to transactional clients, and a shorter list of people who want to have a real conversation. If you are a founder or leader weighing a decision that strategy alone cannot answer, this episode is a grounded look at how to choose a path you can actually live with.

• (00:00:00) Will I regret not trying? Meet leadership coach Hayden Lee
• (00:06:35) Faith as unshakable self belief and the professional rejectee
• (00:12:48) Enneagram 3s, the achievement drive, and doing the reps
• (00:19:36) Same purpose, different medium, and the real cost of the France retreat
• (00:25:48) The no regrets value, the full body hell yes, and the head, heart, gut filter
• (00:32:40) Thinking, feeling, and action: knowing how you are wired
• (00:39:35) Surrender vs letting go, and the car vacuuming moment
• (00:46:30) Nervous systems on overdrive: slow is smooth, smooth is fast
• (00:53:25) Redefining success: external wins and internal fulfillment
• (01:00:15) Saying no to transactional work, and trusting another wave will come

• Website: https://www.haydenlee.com/
• Hayden Lee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haydenleemcc/

When the life you built starts draining you, how do you know whether to push harder or finally let it change? Dr. Erin Burgoon joins Jason Lee to explore why slowing down can feel genuinely unsafe for founders, executives, and high achievers whose identity has been shaped by achievement. Erin shares how burnout forced her to question the coaching business she had built, what happened when she gave herself a time bound experiment in rest, and why the greatest cost was not lost income but the loss of a familiar professional identity. Together, Erin and Jason discuss nervous system regulation, Internal Family Systems, the difference between excitement and durable joy, and the courage required to stop performing certainty long enough to hear what is true. This conversation offers a grounded way to recognize when grit has become avoidance, redefine what it means to provide, and make choices rooted in joy, self trust, and a deeper sense of purpose.

• (00:00:00) Why slowing down can feel permanent
• (00:05:38) How to tell discipline from avoidance
• (00:11:06) The nervous system fear beneath constant action
• (00:16:24) Creating a time bound experiment with rest
• (00:22:32) The identity cost of stepping away from work
• (00:29:06) Redefining provision, care, and a meaningful day
• (00:35:42) Treating the body with love instead of criticism
• (00:42:36) Why joy begins with nervous system safety
• (00:49:18) Joy as a spiritual center and source of clarity
• (00:56:12) Small practices that make joy more accessible

• Website: https://drerinb.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drerinb/

Jason Lee sits down with Chris Gray — marketer, co-founder of Red Palm, and Front Row Dad — to unpack the decision logic couldn't make, and the alignment work that made his gut trustworthy in the first place. Chris shares how he moves from head to body before reacting, why joy is the most vulnerable emotion, how he built AI "spiritual guides" shaped by the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible, Eckhart Tolle, and Richard Rohr — and the moment one of those agents showed him that turning surrender into a framework was just his ego grabbing the wheel. They dig into faith moves versus good moves, why the peace that goes beyond understanding requires forfeiting your right to understand, why clients are ultimately buying confidence, and how the state you decide in determines the quality of the action. Chris closes with his current living question: what does it actually look like to feel your feelings, when you've spent a lifetime equating feeling with weakness?

• (00:00:00) - Welcome to The Living Question
• (00:00:47) - The decision logic couldn't make
• (00:07:00) - Keeping someone the numbers said to cut
• (00:08:10) - Why joy is the most vulnerable emotion
• (00:12:30) - Catching unconscious reactions at home
• (00:17:45) - AI as a spiritual guide
• (00:20:17) - When surrender becomes another framework
• (00:26:50) - Selling confidence while Google rewrites the rules
• (00:33:27) - How leading from the head once protected him
• (00:38:33) - Chris's living question: learning to feel

• Connect with Chris Gray @yochrisgray — Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn
• Red Palm, Chris's marketing company for home service businesses: https://redpalm.us
• The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer: https://www.amazon.com/Surrender-Experiment-Journey-Lifes-Perfection/dp/080414110X
• Front Row Dads: https://frontrowdads.com

Taylor Frame built a thriving 7-figure business and a deeply rooted life in Santa Cruz — then felt called to walk away from all of it. In this episode of The Living Question, Taylor sits down with Jason Lee to unpack the high-stakes decision to uproot his family with no logical case for the move, the painful eight-to-nine-month "valley" in Dana Point when the call looked like a mistake, and the second move to San Clemente where everything finally clicked. He opens up about leading his wife and kids through the uncertainty, the self-care systems — sauna, cold plunge, sunsets at the ocean, and a brotherhood of fellow founders — that kept him steady, and how he separates real intuition from survivorship bias. Taylor distills it into a framework any leader can use at a crossroads: the FOO Method — Faith, Ownership, and Optimism — and shows how the same three principles are guiding the way his 35-person agency adopts AI without laying anyone off. For founders and CEOs weighing a decision that strategy alone can't answer, this is a grounded conversation about clarity, conviction, and choosing a path you can actually live with.

• (00:00:00) When Logic Runs Out: Meet Taylor Frame
• (00:03:50) Leaving a Perfect Life in Santa Cruz
• (00:09:01) The Signals That Said "It's Time to Move"
• (00:13:20) The Dana Point Detour: When the Call Looks Wrong
• (00:20:00) Leading a Family Through the Valley
• (00:23:40) Sauna, Ocean & Brotherhood: Filling the Cup
• (00:30:30) Faith vs. Survivorship Bias
• (00:36:00) Where Logic Meets Intuition
• (00:41:39) The 4 Dials of a Good Life
• (00:47:48) The FOO Method Meets AI in Business

• Website: https://bestpracticemedia.com/
• Taylor Frame on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-frame/
• Kelly Greenheart on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yeskelly/
• Living Podcast Website: https://livingquestionpodcast.com/

Kelly Greenheart found out at 37 — with two small children and a 16-year business — that she carries the BRCA1 gene mutation, giving her an 80% chance of developing breast cancer and a 40% chance of ovarian cancer. What followed wasn't a clean decision. It was a years-long reckoning with Western medicine, alternative healing, ancestral guilt, community, intuition, and her own body fighting back. In this episode, Kelly shares what it looked like to cancel her surgery while already on the operating table, read the signs that finally gave her permission to proceed, survive a year of debilitating migraines, POTS, and 19 health professionals, and find unexpected clarity — and healing — in 10 days of complete silence. Her story is not about performing courage. It is about what it looks like to trust yourself when the stakes are that high, and the cost of choosing a path you can actually live with.

• (00:00:00) - Introduction: Someone is carrying a decision they haven't said out loud yet
• (00:01:45) - Meet Kelly Greenheart: mother, circus founder, film producer — and a BRCA1 diagnosis at 37
• (00:03:25) - The surgical recommendation: double mastectomy, total ovariectomy, and the alternative medicine conflict
• (00:07:05) - The morning of surgery: laryngitis, the mirror, and one question in the pre-op room
• (00:09:05) - Surgery canceled, six months postponed, and the clarity that followed
• (00:11:05) - Ancestral guilt, cycle breaking, and turning the diagnosis into a gift
• (00:16:05) - Calling in signs: the healing avatar, a painting from Ireland, and the Toolootatas celebration
• (00:19:10) - DIEP flap recovery: 2 months in a La-Z-Boy and why recovery became a high point
• (00:24:05) - Learning to receive: the Devi Master painting and releasing the giver identity
• (00:26:35) - The hysterectomy: hernias, finances, ovarian cancer's silent danger, and the "Over It" party
• (00:33:05) - When the body fights back: estrogen overload, POTS, heart palpitations, and a year-long migraine
• (00:36:05) - Vipassana: 10 days of silence and the migraine that broke on day 3
• (00:42:30) - Day 4, the cycle broke — and what living with the condition looks like now

• Website: https://www.circuspicnic.com/team
• Kelly Greenheart on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yeskelly/
• Living Podcast Website: https://livingquestionpodcast.com/

Eric Farewell retired at 35 after building a portfolio of companies generating hundreds of thousands per month, realizing that another $100 million was not going to make him happier — and that he was losing his wife and children in the process. In this episode of The Living Question, Jason sits with Eric to unpack how 2025 became simultaneously the hardest and happiest year of his life. From his father-in-law's suicide to losing military contracts, tariff impacts, mass layoffs, and a literal fire that destroyed company equipment — Eric reveals how somatic work and nervous system regulation gave him the tools to stop being the hero, delegate instead of reverting to old patterns, and stay aligned with the man he has become. He also breaks down the three things every entrepreneur needs to start doing the real work: a mentor, a coach, and a community.

• (00:00:00) - Meet Eric Farewell: From $100M to Retirement at 35
• (00:02:48) - Letting Go of the Performative Identity
• (00:03:58) - 2025: The Year Everything Fell Apart
• (00:07:55) - The Moment He Almost Went Back to Old Patterns
• (00:10:02) - Building a Relationship With Your Nervous System
• (00:13:48) - Community Is Currency: Making Withdrawals in Relationships
• (00:20:55) - The Real Cost of Choosing Alignment Over Ego
• (00:22:48) - How Self-Control Changed Everything
• (00:30:00) - The Hardest Identity to Let Go Of: The Servant
• (00:36:05) - Three Things Every Entrepreneur Needs

• Website: https://ericfarewell.com/
• Eric Farewell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-farewell-0386683/
• Living Podcast Website: https://livingquestionpodcast.com/

Jon Vroman is the founder of Front Row Dads, a community for high-achieving men who refuse to let ambition quietly consume what matters most. In this episode, Jon sits down with Jason Lee for an unhurried conversation about what happens when logic isn't enough to make the decisions that define your life—marrying his wife Tatiana, learning to trust his body over his brain, and discovering that the patience he prided himself on was sometimes the very thing causing the most damage. Jon shares the story of how a single question on a morning run launched a charity, a speaking career, and eventually a brotherhood of fathers, and why he intentionally designed Front Row Dads so it would outlive him. He unpacks the "dark side of devotion"—staying too long in something unhealthy because you've built your identity around loyalty—and introduces his current living question: how to choose what is hard and healthy instead of hard and destructive. This is a conversation for any leader, founder, or entrepreneur who suspects the scoreboard they've been using to measure success may be missing the metrics that matter most.

Chapters:

• (00:00:00) - Welcome to The Living Question with Jon Vroman
• (00:01:30) - Why questions became Jon's identity and life catalyst
• (00:04:00) - From Front Row Foundation to Front Row Dads
• (00:06:00) - Marrying Tatiana: when logic wasn't enough
• (00:09:30) - Learning to feel decisions in your body
• (00:14:00) - The shift from head-led to body-led decision making
• (00:17:00) - Teaching emotional regulation to his sons
• (00:20:00) - The watch story: catching anger before it costs you
• (00:28:30) - Building intentional local and extended community
• (00:40:00) - Why Jon refused to be the guru of Front Row Dads
• (00:48:00) - Jon's living question: choosing hard-healthy over hard-unhealthy

Links and Resources

• Website: https://frontrowdads.com/
• Jon Vroman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonvroman/
• The Living Question Podcast: https://livingquestionpodcast.com

What do you do when the spreadsheet is done, the advice has been heard, and something still isn't clear? Preston Smiles — author, embodiment teacher, and speaker — sits down to unpack the moment when logic hits a ceiling and something deeper has to take over. He calls it "first thought": the cleanest signal you get before fear, programming, and social conditioning pile on.

In this episode, Preston shares the real story of trusting an overwhelming inner "yes" that led him to meet his future partner. From there, the conversation goes deep into what embodiment actually means in practice: widening your window of tolerance so you can stay grounded when life gets chaotic — not just when everything is easy.

He also tackles one of the most common blocks for high-achievers: the belief that money and spirituality can't coexist. His reframe — that wealth is just neutral material that amplifies whoever is holding it — is one of the most practical takes on abundance you'll hear.

If you've ever made the "right" decision on paper and still felt wrong in your body, this conversation was made for you.

• (00:00:00) Why surrender beats strategy every time
• (00:01:24) Can you be spiritual and wealthy? Preston's take
• (00:05:39) The moment logic isn't enough to make a decision
• (00:06:10) "You'll meet your partner today" — trusting intuition in real time
• (00:12:33) First thought vs. overthinking: how programming hijacks your decisions
• (00:20:10) Money and spirituality — why most people split them (and how to stop)
• (00:28:30) The only two games in life: outside-in vs. inside-out happiness
• (00:34:10) What embodiment actually means (beyond the buzzword)
• (00:46:30) How to tell if you're embodied or just informed — watch what happens when things break
• (00:49:20) Parenting, nervous system regulation, and expanding your window of tolerance

• Preston Smiles: https://prestonsmiles.com
• The Living Question Podcast: https://livingquestionpodcast.com

The Living Question is a long-form podcast exploring the moments when logic hits a ceiling. We dive into the part of the story that rarely makes the headlines: the inner foundation that actually makes outer results sustainable. Beneath every significant decision is an inner orientation—intuition, conscience, faith, or lived truth—that quietly pulls you off course or serves as your deepest anchor.

This is not a show about theology, dogma, or forced inspiration. Instead, expect unhurried, private-feeling conversations with people who have built something real—a company, a career, a body of work—and hit a fork in the road where the "right move" on paper felt wrong in their body. We unpack the mechanics of applied alignment: walking away from "smart" opportunities, trusting convictions you can't yet justify, and navigating the friction of choosing integrity.

There are no packaged lessons, no extracted takeaways, and no premature clarity. Just the actual texture of how people move through the hard ones.

If you've ever needed to find your center of gravity when the obvious answers weren't enough, start here. Stay as long as you need. New episodes every week.