The Personal Freedom Podcast with Mac Dohm

What does it really mean to experience personal freedom through faith in God?

Is freedom simply the ability to do whatever we want, or is there something much deeper waiting for us when we learn to surrender our fears, heal our wounds, and trust God with the direction of our lives?

In Episode 18 of The Personal Freedom Podcast, Mac Dohm welcomes counselor, registered dietitian, and founder of The Restoration Center, Jeanie Hosken, for a powerful conversation about Christian faith, emotional healing, spiritual growth, relationships, and the freedom found in following Jesus Christ.

With nearly 40 years of experience in nutrition and decades of counseling experience, Jeanie brings a unique perspective to healing the whole person: body, soul, and spirit.

But this conversation isn’t just about her professional work. It’s about her own personal freedom story.

From living overseas in London and India to selling her home and spending three and a half years traveling in an Airstream with her husband, Jeanie shares how following God’s direction led her into unexpected adventures, difficult seasons of growth, and a deeper understanding of who she was created to be.

She also opens up about childhood wounds, people-pleasing, overworking, marriage, learning to recognize God’s voice, and discovering that true freedom sometimes requires letting go of the very things we’ve used to feel safe.

In This Episode, We Explore:

* What personal freedom means from a Christian perspective

* How faith in God can help us overcome fear and uncertainty

* Jeanie’s journey from nutrition and fitness into counseling and Christian ministry

* Selling everything and spending three and a half years traveling in an Airstream

* How childhood wounds can create patterns of people-pleasing and overworking

* Why emotional intelligence and vulnerability are essential for healthy relationships

* The importance of healing the body, soul, and spirit

* Learning to recognize God’s voice through prayer, patience, and obedience

* Why God sometimes calls us into uncomfortable seasons of waiting

* How Jeanie found the courage to move to India and work with survivors of sex trafficking

* Why we don’t need to have our entire future figured out today

* The freedom found in becoming who God created us to be

About Jeanie Hosken

Jeanie Hosken is a counselor, registered dietitian, Christian ministry leader, and founder of The Restoration Center.

Her professional journey began in nutrition and fitness before expanding into counseling, theology, and spiritual healing. Through decades of working with individuals and couples, Jeanie developed an approach that considers the interconnected nature of physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual well-being.

Alongside her husband, Jeff, a retired military fighter pilot, she helps individuals and couples navigate emotional wounds, relationship challenges, unhealthy coping mechanisms, and the pursuit of lasting personal healing.

Jeanie also writes through her Substack publication, Restoration Center Encouragement, where she shares reflections on faith, healing, relationships, and living the life God created us to live.

Her own journey has taken her around the world, through seasons of uncertainty, and into a deeper understanding of what it means to trust God one day at a time.

Connect With Jeanie Hosken

The Restoration Center

Explore Jeanie and Jeff’s work in counseling, emotional healing, faith-based support, and relationship coaching.

Visit The Restoration Center

Book a Free Consultation: Visit The Restoration Center website to schedule a free introductory call with Jeanie or Jeff.

Restoration Center Encouragement

Read Jeanie’s reflections on Christian faith, emotional healing, relationships, and personal growth on Substack.

Find Jeanie on Substack

Join the Conversation

Jeanie shares a powerful reminder throughout this episode: We don’t need to know everything God has planned for tomorrow to trust Him with today.

What’s one area of your life where you feel God is asking you to let go of control and trust Him with the next step?

Share your thoughts in the comments. I’d love to hear your perspective.

About The Personal Freedom Podcast

The Personal Freedom Podcast shares the stories of people who chose a different path—overcoming adversity, rebuilding their lives, pursuing purpose, and defining freedom on their own terms.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who may be looking for their own way out of the wilderness.

RV Life_Digital Nomad _Fisherman that is trying to be a better Hunter_Lover of poems and songs_An enjoyable drinker, eater, and breather_A man who is rebuilding something greaterThere are rainbows in the storms.

Signing Off,The Personal Freedom Podcast, Mac Dohm

Want to Share Your Personal Freedom Story?

Almost everyone has a personal freedom story.

Maybe yours involved rebuilding after heartbreak.

Maybe it meant leaving behind a toxic environment.

Maybe it involved taking a risk, changing direction, rediscovering your faith, starting over, pursuing a dream, or simply waking up to the realization that you were meant for something more.

If you have a story you feel called to share, I’d love to hear it.

You can apply to be a guest on The Personal Freedom Podcast by booking a 1-on-1 Personal Freedom Story Pitch conversation with me.

This podcast is about real people, real crossroads moments, and real stories of growth, resilience, and freedom.

How You Can Support the Show

Starlink

I’ve been using Starlink for nearly four years while living and traveling in my RV, and it’s been an absolute game changer!

Whether I’m working remotely, recording podcasts, publishing content, or exploring somewhere off the beaten path, Starlink has helped make my nomadic lifestyle possible.

If you’re considering Starlink for your RV, van life adventures, remote work, or home internet, you can support The Personal Freedom Podcast by signing up through my referral link!

Here’s how it works:

* You receive a FREE month of Starlink service with an eligible referral.

* I receive a referral reward that helps support the continued growth of The Personal Freedom Podcast.

* We both get to enjoy a little more freedom!

🚐 Get Starlink & Support the Show!

Thank you for helping me keep the wheels turning, the conversations flowing, and the pursuit of personal freedom alive!

Art Gallery:

Check out my nomadic art gallery for pictures, posters and prints showcasing my life on the road! Use the Code FREEDOM for 20% off.

https://macnomadicfineartfromtheroad.pic-time.com/

Ritual Organics

Sun Tallow – Whipped Beef Tallow Face Cream with Non-Nano Zinc

Product Description from Ritual Organics’ website:

Grass-fed tallow meets mineral zinc in one whipped, do-it-all balm. Six ingredients. Zero white cast. Zero nonsense.

Why people are obsessed:

One step. Done. Moisturize, nourish, and shield from UV in a single swipe.

Clear Zinc Tech: real UV defense, no chalky ghost face.

6 ingredients. Grass-fed whipped tallow, organic jojoba, non-nano zinc, vitamin E, organic rosehip, organic lavender. The end.

Non-greasy, non-comedogenic, all skin types, including the dramatic ones.

Skinimalist & non-toxic: no fragrances, parabens, preservatives, or mystery chemicals.

90 days to fall in love. if you don’t, email or DM us for a full refund. No returns. No questions.

Ever Accountable

If you’re trying to build a more intentional life and create healthier digital habits, I’ll leave a link to a tool I personally use called Ever Accountable.

Freedom isn’t just about where you go. It’s also about who’s driving the wheel. Tools like Ever Accountable help create honesty, intentionality, and accountability in a world designed to distract and consume you.

This is a great tool also if you are a parent and want better protection for your kids online.

* Try this link for a limited 14 day free trial and 20% off after that 14 day trial expires.

Want to promote your business?

Email [email protected] and/or book some time to chat.

Subscribe to The Personal Freedom Podcast

New episodes every week featuring conversations about:

* Purpose

* Adventure

* Creativity

* Faith

* Relationships

* Recovery

* Rebuilding

* Mindset

* And the ongoing pursuit of personal freedom

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who may need the reminder to keep pursuing freedom in their own life.

Where to Find PFP

Watch on YouTube

Watch & Listen on Substack

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

Eric Foreman: Personal Freedom, Libertarianism & Why He’s Running for Congress

What makes an ordinary person decide to run for Congress?

On this episode of The Personal Freedom Podcast with Mac Dohm, I sit down with Eric Foreman, a Libertarian candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, for a wide-ranging conversation about politics, personal freedom, government, and what pushed Eric to enter the political arena.

But this conversation goes beyond a political campaign.

Eric shares his personal story — from growing up in Nebraska and becoming an entrepreneur to experiencing difficult setbacks, rebuilding his life, becoming a husband and father, and eventually developing the convictions that led him toward libertarian politics.

Eric and I also dig into our shared interest in the ideas surrounding Ron Paul, Thomas Massie, individual liberty, constitutional government, free speech, limited government, and political independence.

Throughout the conversation, they discuss frustration with the two-party system, government spending and national debt, healthcare and affordability, foreign policy and military intervention, political censorship and free speech, Second Amendment rights, personal responsibility, and what freedom actually means at the individual level.

Eric explains why he chose to run outside the traditional Republican-Democrat structure, what he believes is broken in Washington, and what he hopes to accomplish through his campaign.

Whether you agree with Eric’s politics or not, this episode is ultimately a conversation about a question at the heart of The Personal Freedom Podcast:

What does it look like to stop waiting for somebody else to change something and decide to take action yourself?

In this episode:

* Eric Foreman’s personal story and road to politics

* Why he decided to run for Congress

* Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District

* Libertarianism and individual liberty

* Ron Paul and Thomas Massie

* The Republican and Democratic parties

* Government spending and the national debt

* Healthcare and affordability

* Foreign policy and military intervention

* Free speech and political censorship

* Second Amendment rights and personal responsibility

* The challenges facing third-party candidates

* What personal freedom means to Eric

* Why political frustration pushed him toward action

The Personal Freedom Podcast with Mac Dohm features conversations with people who have taken unconventional paths, rebuilt their lives, challenged assumptions, pursued meaningful work, and discovered what freedom means to them.

Break Free. Stay Free. Be Free.

About Eric Foreman

Eric Foreman isn’t a career politician. He’s a lifelong Nebraskan, husband, father, and working-class guy who has spent much of his life doing what millions of Americans do every day—working, raising a family, paying the bills, and trying to build a good life.

Raised in Lincoln and now living in Omaha, Eric’s path has taken him from kitchens and construction to property management and maintenance. His Christian faith, experiences with hardship, and working-class background have helped shape his views on personal responsibility, individual liberty, community, and government.

Now he’s taking those convictions somewhere he never expected, a run for Congress as a Libertarian in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District.

That’s what made me interested in sitting down with Eric—not just the politics, but the person behind the candidacy and what makes someone decide it’s time to get off the sidelines and do something.

Connect with Eric Foreman

Want to learn more about Eric, his campaign, or the ideas we discussed in this episode? You can find him here:

Campaign Website: Foreman for U.S. Congress

Substack: Eric Foreman

X: @The1Knocking

Campaign Donation Page: Eric Foreman Campaign Donation Page

Whether you agree, disagree, or land somewhere in between, I hope this conversation encourages you to think about what personal freedom means in your own life and where it might be time to get off the sidelines.

The Personal Freedom Podcast shares the stories of people who chose a different path—overcoming adversity, rebuilding their lives, pursuing purpose, and defining freedom on their own terms.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who may be looking for their own way out of the wilderness.

RV Life_Digital Nomad _Fisherman that is trying to be a better Hunter_Lover of poems and songs_An enjoyable drinker, eater, and breather_A man who is rebuilding something greaterThere are rainbows in the storms.

Signing Off,The Personal Freedom Podcast, Mac Dohm

Want to Share Your Personal Freedom Story?

Almost everyone has a personal freedom story.

Maybe yours involved rebuilding after heartbreak.

Maybe it meant leaving behind a toxic environment.

Maybe it involved taking a risk, changing direction, rediscovering your faith, starting over, pursuing a dream, or simply waking up to the realization that you were meant for something more.

If you have a story you feel called to share, I’d love to hear it.

You can apply to be a guest on The Personal Freedom Podcast by booking a 1-on-1 Personal Freedom Story Pitch conversation with me.

This podcast is about real people, real crossroads moments, and real stories of growth, resilience, and freedom.

How You Can Support the Show

Check out my nomadic art gallery for pictures, posters and prints showcasing my life on the road! Use the Code FREEDOM for 20% off.

Art Gallery:

https://macnomadicfineartfromtheroad.pic-time.com/

Ritual Organics

Sun Tallow – Whipped Beef Tallow Face Cream with Non-Nano Zinc

Product Description from Ritual Organics’ website:

Grass-fed tallow meets mineral zinc in one whipped, do-it-all balm. Six ingredients. Zero white cast. Zero nonsense.

Why people are obsessed:

One step. Done. Moisturize, nourish, and shield from UV in a single swipe.

Clear Zinc Tech: real UV defense, no chalky ghost face.

6 ingredients. Grass-fed whipped tallow, organic jojoba, non-nano zinc, vitamin E, organic rosehip, organic lavender. The end.

Non-greasy, non-comedogenic, all skin types, including the dramatic ones.

Skinimalist & non-toxic: no fragrances, parabens, preservatives, or mystery chemicals.

90 days to fall in love. if you don’t, email or DM us for a full refund. No returns. No questions.

Ever Accountable

If you’re trying to build a more intentional life and create healthier digital habits, I’ll leave a link to a tool I personally use called Ever Accountable.

Freedom isn’t just about where you go. It’s also about who’s driving the wheel. Tools like Ever Accountable help create honesty, intentionality, and accountability in a world designed to distract and consume you.

This is a great tool also if you are a parent and want better protection for your kids online.

* Try this link for a limited 14 day free trial and 20% off after that 14 day trial expires.

Want to promote your business?

Email [email protected] and/or book some time to chat.

Subscribe to The Personal Freedom Podcast

New episodes every week featuring conversations about:

* Purpose

* Adventure

* Creativity

* Faith

* Relationships

* Recovery

* Rebuilding

* Mindset

* And the ongoing pursuit of personal freedom

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who may need the reminder to keep pursuing freedom in their own life.

Where to Find PFP

Watch on YouTube

Watch & Listen on Substack

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

Most people hear the word Tantra and immediately think about sex.

But what if Tantra is about something much bigger?

In Episode 16 of The Personal Freedom Podcast, I sit down with Kieran Dowling, creator of the Rose & Sword Substack and author of TARA: Inside Out: 15 Years with the Black Sheep of Yoga,for an open conversation about Tantra, sexuality, healthy masculinity, relationships, spirituality, desire, and what it actually means to become free.

Kieran originally discovered Tantra in his twenties while searching for answers to struggles in his sex life. What began as a desire to become a better lover gradually became a much deeper journey. Over the years, his practice changed his relationship with alcohol and drugs, spirituality, intimacy, relationships, masculine sexuality, and ultimately himself.

Kieran breaks down some of the biggest misconceptions about Tantra, including the idea that Tantra is simply about sex or requires polyamory. He explains the differences between left-hand and right-hand Tantra, the relationship between Tantra and yoga, and why he views Tantra as a practical philosophy for engaging consciously with life.

The conversation also gets candid about sexual shame, pornography, masturbation, male sexuality, intimacy, desire, orgasm, relationships, and why so many men grow up without ever learning how to develop a healthy relationship with their sexual energy.

While I approach the conversation from my own Christian worldview, Kieran comes from a different spiritual framework. We don’t agree on everything and that’s part of the conversation.

Despite the differences, we found significant common ground around the importance of learning to understand our desires, channel them intentionally, build healthier relationships, and refuse to let our impulses control our lives.

Perhaps Kieran’s most powerful idea comes back to the central question of the podcast: What is personal freedom?

For Kieran, freedom isn’t simply being able to do whatever you want. It’s becoming free from attachments and conditioning while developing greater control over your desires and fears.

As he puts it, you can be free in prison or caged while living in society. The challenge is recognizing the bars of your own cage.

This is a candid, curious conversation about Tantra, healthy masculinity, sexuality, spiritual growth, relationships, recovery, personal development, and the pursuit of personal freedom.

In this episode:

* What Tantra actually is and what it isn’t

* Left-hand vs. right-hand Tantra

* Tantra’s relationship to yoga and spirituality

* Kieran’s Catholic upbringing and spiritual evolution

* His journey away from drinking and drugs

* Sexual energy, desire, discipline, and self-control

* Why relationships can act as mirrors for personal growth

* Tantra, monogamy, and misconceptions about polyamory

* Sexual shame and the way many men learn about sexuality

* Pornography, masturbation, and conditioning

* Developing healthier intimacy between men and women

* Why talking openly about sexuality matters

* How Kieran defines personal freedom

* Finding common ground across different spiritual worldviews

About Kieran & Where to Find Him

Kieran writes about two separate but interconnected things: Identity and Masculinity. Using 15 years of assiduous Tantric practice to break ancient wisdom into actionable transformation.

“A man who can control his own sexual energy when his beloved is lost in the throws of intense orgasm, is a man who need not fear any situation life throws at him. Having reached that point myself, I want you to get there too. That is why I started Rose and Sword.”

Kieran’s Substack: Rose & Sword

Kieran’s Book: TARA: Inside Out: 15 Years with the Black Sheep of Yoga

Follow The Personal Freedom Podcast

The Personal Freedom Podcast shares the stories of people who chose a different path—overcoming adversity, rebuilding their lives, pursuing purpose, and defining freedom on their own terms.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who may be looking for their own way out of the wilderness.

RV Life_Digital Nomad _Fisherman that is trying to be a better Hunter_Lover of poems and songs_An enjoyable drinker, eater, and breather_A man who is rebuilding something greaterThere are rainbows in the storms.

Signing Off,The Personal Freedom Podcast, Mac Dohm

Want to Share Your Personal Freedom Story?

Almost everyone has a personal freedom story.

Maybe yours involved rebuilding after heartbreak.

Maybe it meant leaving behind a toxic environment.

Maybe it involved taking a risk, changing direction, rediscovering your faith, starting over, pursuing a dream, or simply waking up to the realization that you were meant for something more.

If you have a story you feel called to share, I’d love to hear it.

You can apply to be a guest on The Personal Freedom Podcast by booking a 1-on-1 Personal Freedom Story Pitch conversation with me.

This podcast is about real people, real crossroads moments, and real stories of growth, resilience, and freedom.

How You Can Support the Show

Check out my nomadic art gallery for pictures, posters and prints showcasing my life on the road! Use the Code FREEDOM for 20% off.

Art Gallery:

https://macnomadicfineartfromtheroad.pic-time.com/

Ritual Organics

Sun Tallow – Whipped Beef Tallow Face Cream with Non-Nano Zinc

Product Description from Ritual Organics’ website:

Grass-fed tallow meets mineral zinc in one whipped, do-it-all balm. Six ingredients. Zero white cast. Zero nonsense.

Why people are obsessed:

One step. Done. Moisturize, nourish, and shield from UV in a single swipe.

Clear Zinc Tech: real UV defense, no chalky ghost face.

6 ingredients. Grass-fed whipped tallow, organic jojoba, non-nano zinc, vitamin E, organic rosehip, organic lavender. The end.

Non-greasy, non-comedogenic, all skin types, including the dramatic ones.

Skinimalist & non-toxic: no fragrances, parabens, preservatives, or mystery chemicals.

90 days to fall in love. if you don’t, email or DM us for a full refund. No returns. No questions.

Ever Accountable

If you’re trying to build a more intentional life and create healthier digital habits, I’ll leave a link to a tool I personally use called Ever Accountable.

Freedom isn’t just about where you go. It’s also about who’s driving the wheel. Tools like Ever Accountable help create honesty, intentionality, and accountability in a world designed to distract and consume you.

This is a great tool also if you are a parent and want better protection for your kids online.

* Try this link for a limited 14 day free trial and 20% off after that 14 day trial expires.

Want to promote your business?

Email [email protected] and/or book some time to chat.

Subscribe to The Personal Freedom Podcast

New episodes every week featuring conversations about:

* Purpose

* Adventure

* Creativity

* Faith

* Relationships

* Recovery

* Rebuilding

* Mindset

* And the ongoing pursuit of personal freedom

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who may need the reminder to keep pursuing freedom in their own life.

Where to Find PFP

Watch on YouTube

Watch & Listen on Substack

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

What if sports are about far more than fitness, competition, and physical health?

What if athletics can help us develop the discipline, courage, resilience, confidence, and self-mastery necessary to live a freer life?

In Episode 15 of The Personal Freedom Podcast with Mac Dohm, I sit down with Jordan B. Goldstein — The Athletic Philosopher — for a fascinating conversation about the deeper meaning of sports and their connection to personal freedom, philosophy, personal development, and the pursuit of a meaningful life.

Jordan is a former university professor of sport history and philosophy who also taught sports psychology and sociology. Today, he brings those ideas into fitness and life coaching through what he calls the athletic lifestyle.

To read Jordan’s published PHD Paper from the University of Toronto Press, click here: Canada’s Holy Grail: Lord Stanley’s Political Motivation to Donate the Stanley Cup by Jordan B. Goldstein

In This Episode

We explore:

* Why Jordan defines personal freedom through responsibility and courage

* How athletics develop mental toughness, resilience, and self-belief

* Why sports are about much more than physical fitness

* The connection between sports, philosophy, and personal growth

* How trail running helped Jordan develop courage outside of athletics

* Why your greatest athletic opponent may actually be yourself

* How training creates opportunities for self-knowledge and self-mastery

* The ancient Greek understanding of athletics and moral virtue

* Why competition can reveal the truth about ourselves

* Discipline vs. motivation and why sustainable discipline should come from love

* Why adults need more play, movement, and competition

* How finding a sport you genuinely love can improve your fitness, nutrition, sleep, habits, and overall life

* Why endurance challenges can teach you what you’re truly capable of

* How sports can become a pathway toward greater personal freedom

One of Jordan’s central ideas is simple:

“The truth is in the training.”

Athletics give us a place to voluntarily encounter difficulty. You discover what happens when you’re tired, uncomfortable, losing, afraid, or tempted to quit.

And every time you confront those moments, you learn something about yourself.

Jordan and I also explore why finding a physical activity you love can be more powerful than forcing yourself through exercise you hate. When you love the game, the trail, the competition, or the challenge, healthier choices can begin flowing downstream into the rest of your life.

Whether you’re interested in sports psychology, fitness, mental toughness, self-improvement, personal development, discipline, philosophy, endurance sports, strength training, healthy habits, or personal freedom, this conversation offers a different way of thinking about what it means to be athletic.

Jordan leaves us with a challenge:

“Move your body in beautiful ways.”

Play. Compete. Challenge yourself. Find something you love doing with your body.

Because sport isn’t just training for your body. It’s training for your life.

Connect With Dr. Jordan B. Goldstein

The Athletic Philosopher Podcast:

Husband | Aspiring Stay at Home Dad | Trail runner | Fitness & Life Coaching | Tribal Professor | Former Uni Prof | Teach Sport’s Beauty | CREATE & DREAM BIG

Substack Publication:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.jordanb.goldstein7977

Coaching:

Follow The Personal Freedom Podcast

The Personal Freedom Podcast shares the stories of people who chose a different path—overcoming adversity, rebuilding their lives, pursuing purpose, and defining freedom on their own terms.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who may be looking for their own way out of the wilderness.

RV Life_Digital Nomad _Fisherman that is trying to be a better Hunter_Lover of poems and songs_An enjoyable drinker, eater, and breather_A man who is rebuilding something greaterThere are rainbows in the storms.

Signing Off,The Personal Freedom Podcast, Mac Dohm

Want to Share Your Personal Freedom Story?

Almost everyone has a personal freedom story.

Maybe yours involved rebuilding after heartbreak.

Maybe it meant leaving behind a toxic environment.

Maybe it involved taking a risk, changing direction, rediscovering your faith, starting over, pursuing a dream, or simply waking up to the realization that you were meant for something more.

If you have a story you feel called to share, I’d love to hear it.

You can apply to be a guest on The Personal Freedom Podcast by booking a 1-on-1 Personal Freedom Story Pitch conversation with me.

This podcast is about real people, real crossroads moments, and real stories of growth, resilience, and freedom.

How You Can Support the Show

Check out my nomadic art gallery for pictures, posters and prints showcasing my life on the road! Use the Code FREEDOM for 20% off.

Art Gallery:

https://macnomadicfineartfromtheroad.pic-time.com/

Ritual Organics

Sun Tallow – Whipped Beef Tallow Face Cream with Non-Nano Zinc

Product Description from Ritual Organics’ website:

Grass-fed tallow meets mineral zinc in one whipped, do-it-all balm. Six ingredients. Zero white cast. Zero nonsense.

Why people are obsessed:

One step. Done. Moisturize, nourish, and shield from UV in a single swipe.

Clear Zinc Tech: real UV defense, no chalky ghost face.

6 ingredients. Grass-fed whipped tallow, organic jojoba, non-nano zinc, vitamin E, organic rosehip, organic lavender. The end.

Non-greasy, non-comedogenic, all skin types, including the dramatic ones.

Skinimalist & non-toxic: no fragrances, parabens, preservatives, or mystery chemicals.

90 days to fall in love. if you don’t, email or DM us for a full refund. No returns. No questions.

Ever Accountable

If you’re trying to build a more intentional life and create healthier digital habits, I’ll leave a link to a tool I personally use called Ever Accountable.

Freedom isn’t just about where you go. It’s also about who’s driving the wheel. Tools like Ever Accountable help create honesty, intentionality, and accountability in a world designed to distract and consume you.

This is a great tool also if you are a parent and want better protection for your kids online.

* Try this link for a limited 14 day free trial and 20% off after that 14 day trial expires.

Want to promote your business?

Email [email protected] and/or book some time to chat.

Subscribe to The Personal Freedom Podcast

New episodes every week featuring conversations about:

* Purpose

* Adventure

* Creativity

* Faith

* Relationships

* Recovery

* Rebuilding

* Mindset

* And the ongoing pursuit of personal freedom

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who may need the reminder to keep pursuing freedom in their own life.

Where to Find PFP

Watch on YouTube

Watch & Listen on Substack

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

What happens when you stop automatically accepting the stories, assumptions, and narratives placed in front of you—and start asking questions?

On this episode of The Personal Freedom Podcast, I sit down with The New Unhinged (Mariah Faith Continelli), writer of The New Unhinged: Not Here to Influence, Here to Interrupt, for a wide-ranging conversation about pattern recognition, critical thinking, intuition, personal freedom, culture, technology, van life, and learning to think for yourself.

Mariah has spent the past several months living on the road with her German Shepherd, Myra, while writing and exploring the ideas that have captured her curiosity. Her work on The New Unhinged isn’t built around telling people what to think. It’s about interrupting assumptions and encouraging people to look closer.

A major theme of the conversation is pattern recognition.

Mariah explains how difficult experiences in her own life led her toward constantly asking why—why people behave the way they do, why certain stories repeat themselves, and what connections might exist beneath the surface.

But questioning things also means being willing to question yourself.

As Mariah says at the beginning of the episode, her opinions have changed many times throughout her life—and that’s okay. The goal isn’t to stubbornly defend what you believed yesterday. It’s to remain curious enough to keep learning.

In this episode, we discuss:

* How Mariah developed her fascination with pattern recognition

* Why she created The New Unhinged

* Questioning narratives instead of automatically accepting them

* The relationship between intuition and critical thinking

* Why changing your mind can be a sign of growth

* Independent thinking in an increasingly polarized culture

* How personal experiences shape the way we interpret the world

* Technology, modern society, and where our culture may be heading

* Curiosity, rabbit holes, and the danger of believing you already have all the answers

* Mariah’s experience living van life with her German Shepherd, Myra

* What it means to stay open-minded while still trusting your instincts

* Why noticing the world around you may be an important part of personal freedom

Mariah’s central challenge is simple:

Pay attention. Notice patterns. Ask questions. And don’t be afraid to change your mind.

She describes pattern recognition as one of the biggest reasons her perspective on life has become more open-minded, and closes the conversation encouraging people to “keep asking questions.”

This isn’t a conversation about having all the answers.

It’s about having the freedom—and curiosity—to keep searching for better ones.

About Mariah Faith Continelli

Mariah Faith Continelli is the writer behind The New Unhinged, a Substack publication with the tagline:

“Not Here to Influence, Here to Interrupt.”

Her writing explores pattern recognition, culture, human behavior, personal experience, and the questions that emerge when you begin looking more closely at the world around you.

At the time of this conversation, Mariah had also spent roughly seven months traveling and living on the road with her German Shepherd, Myra.

Series Mentioned While Recording in July:

* Wildfire Investigation Series: Part I

* Wildfire Investigation Series: Part II

* Wildfire Investigation Series: Part III

The Personal Freedom Podcast shares the stories of people who chose a different path—overcoming adversity, rebuilding their lives, pursuing purpose, and defining freedom on their own terms.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who may be looking for their own way out of the wilderness.

RV Life_Digital Nomad _Fisherman that is trying to be a better Hunter_Lover of poems and songs_An enjoyable drinker, eater, and breather_A man who is rebuilding something greaterThere are rainbows in the storms.

Signing Off,The Personal Freedom Podcast, Mac Dohm

Want to Share Your Personal Freedom Story?

Almost everyone has a personal freedom story.

Maybe yours involved rebuilding after heartbreak.

Maybe it meant leaving behind a toxic environment.

Maybe it involved taking a risk, changing direction, rediscovering your faith, starting over, pursuing a dream, or simply waking up to the realization that you were meant for something more.

If you have a story you feel called to share, I’d love to hear it.

You can apply to be a guest on The Personal Freedom Podcast by booking a 1-on-1 Personal Freedom Story Pitch conversation with me.

This podcast is about real people, real crossroads moments, and real stories of growth, resilience, and freedom.

How You Can Support the Show

Check out my nomadic art gallery for pictures, posters and prints showcasing my life on the road! Use the Code FREEDOM for 20% off.

Art Gallery:

https://macnomadicfineartfromtheroad.pic-time.com/

Ritual Organics

Sun Tallow – Whipped Beef Tallow Face Cream with Non-Nano Zinc

Product Description from Ritual Organics’ website:

Grass-fed tallow meets mineral zinc in one whipped, do-it-all balm. Six ingredients. Zero white cast. Zero nonsense.

Why people are obsessed:

One step. Done. Moisturize, nourish, and shield from UV in a single swipe.

Clear Zinc Tech: real UV defense, no chalky ghost face.

6 ingredients. Grass-fed whipped tallow, organic jojoba, non-nano zinc, vitamin E, organic rosehip, organic lavender. The end.

Non-greasy, non-comedogenic, all skin types, including the dramatic ones.

Skinimalist & non-toxic: no fragrances, parabens, preservatives, or mystery chemicals.

90 days to fall in love. if you don’t, email or DM us for a full refund. No returns. No questions.

Ever Accountable

If you’re trying to build a more intentional life and create healthier digital habits, I’ll leave a link to a tool I personally use called Ever Accountable.

Freedom isn’t just about where you go. It’s also about who’s driving the wheel. Tools like Ever Accountable help create honesty, intentionality, and accountability in a world designed to distract and consume you.

This is a great tool also if you are a parent and want better protection for your kids online.

* Try this link for a limited 14 day free trial and 20% off after that 14 day trial expires.

Want to promote your business?

Email [email protected] and/or book some time to chat.

Subscribe to The Personal Freedom Podcast

New episodes every week featuring conversations about:

* Purpose

* Adventure

* Creativity

* Faith

* Relationships

* Recovery

* Rebuilding

* Mindset

* And the ongoing pursuit of personal freedom

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who may need the reminder to keep pursuing freedom in their own life.

Where to Find PFP

Watch on YouTube

Watch & Listen on Substack

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

Zach Homol knows how to do hard things.

He’s been a powerlifting world record holder, Kentucky and New York Strongest Man, an Ironman competitor and ultramarathoner. He’s built businesses, opened a gym, coached others, spoken on stages, and created the Do Hard Things community.

But one of the hardest things Zach ever did required almost no physical strength at all.

He spent a week in a cave in total darkness.

No phone. No social media. No sunlight. No endless stream of information competing for his attention.

And in the silence, Zach began confronting something deeper about himself.

Despite everything he had accomplished, he was rarely content.

There was always another goal. Another challenge. Another thing on the horizon.

Subscribe to Zach’s Substack

ZACH HOMOL & HIS DEFINITION OF PERSONAL FREEDOM

In this episode of The Personal Freedom Podcast, Zach and I explore what happens when ambition, even healthy ambition, becomes an inability to simply be where you are.

We talk about his experience in the cave, his years in powerlifting and Strongman, transitioning into ultramarathons and endurance sports, faith, fatherhood, entrepreneurship, social media, smartphones, discipline, identity, and learning to protect your peace in a culture that never seems to slow down.

Zach also shares his journey from working as a coal miner to building his own gym and businesses, and how his definition of success has changed as he’s gotten older.

Today, his definition of personal freedom is surprisingly simple:

Contentment.

Not abandoning ambition.

Not becoming passive.

But learning to stop living entirely for the next achievement and recognizing the life that’s already happening in front of you.

We get into:

• One week alone in a cave in total darkness• Ambition vs. contentment• Powerlifting, Strongman and world records• Training for 100-mile ultramarathons• Why doing hard things prepares you for life• Faith and identity beyond achievement• Fatherhood and changing priorities• From coal miner to entrepreneur• Building the Do Hard Things community• Protecting your peace• Smartphones, social media and distraction• Why modern life feels so fast• Learning to slow down• Finding freedom in the present moment

This is a conversation about strength — but probably not the kind of strength you’d expect from a former world-record powerlifter.

It’s about developing the strength to finally say:

What I have is enough.

ABOUT ZACH HOMOL

Zach Homol is an entrepreneur, gym owner, keynote speaker, personal development coach, health and fitness coach, and founder of the Do Hard Things community.

A former powerlifting world record holder, Zach was also the 2018 Kentucky Strongest Man and 2020 New York Strongest Man before shifting his focus toward endurance challenges, including Ironman events and ultramarathons.

Today, much of Zach’s work centers around helping men challenge themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually through coaching, community, conferences, and the Do Hard Things Men’s Retreat.

For more about Zach’s upbringing and experience coal mining and opening a gym/the Do Hard Things Community, check out this discussion with friend of the show, Kyle Shepard - Do Hard Things with Zach Homol.

FOLLOW ZACH

X: @zachhomol_Substack: Zach’s Substack - Do Hard ThingsCommunity: Do Hard ThingsInstagram: Zach Homol

Follow Zach for his writing and conversations on faith, fitness, fatherhood, personal development, entrepreneurship, discipline, and what it means to Do Hard Things.

The Personal Freedom Podcast shares the stories of people who chose a different path—overcoming adversity, rebuilding their lives, pursuing purpose, and defining freedom on their own terms.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who may be looking for their own way out of the wilderness.

RV Life_Digital Nomad _Fisherman that is trying to be a better Hunter_Lover of poems and songs_An enjoyable drinker, eater, and breather_A man who is rebuilding something greaterThere are rainbows in the storms.

Signing Off,The Personal Freedom Podcast, Mac Dohm

Want to Share Your Personal Freedom Story?

Almost everyone has a personal freedom story.

Maybe yours involved rebuilding after heartbreak.

Maybe it meant leaving behind a toxic environment.

Maybe it involved taking a risk, changing direction, rediscovering your faith, starting over, pursuing a dream, or simply waking up to the realization that you were meant for something more.

If you have a story you feel called to share, I’d love to hear it.

You can apply to be a guest on The Personal Freedom Podcast by booking a 1-on-1 Personal Freedom Story Pitch conversation with me.

This podcast is about real people, real crossroads moments, and real stories of growth, resilience, and freedom.

How You Can Support the Show

Check out my nomadic art gallery for pictures, posters and prints showcasing my life on the road! Use the Code FREEDOM for 20% off.

Art Gallery:

https://macnomadicfineartfromtheroad.pic-time.com/

Ritual Organics

Sun Tallow – Whipped Beef Tallow Face Cream with Non-Nano Zinc

Product Description from Ritual Organics’ website:

Grass-fed tallow meets mineral zinc in one whipped, do-it-all balm. Six ingredients. Zero white cast. Zero nonsense.

Why people are obsessed:

One step. Done. Moisturize, nourish, and shield from UV in a single swipe.

Clear Zinc Tech: real UV defense, no chalky ghost face.

6 ingredients. Grass-fed whipped tallow, organic jojoba, non-nano zinc, vitamin E, organic rosehip, organic lavender. The end.

Non-greasy, non-comedogenic, all skin types, including the dramatic ones.

Skinimalist & non-toxic: no fragrances, parabens, preservatives, or mystery chemicals.

90 days to fall in love. if you don’t, email or DM us for a full refund. No returns. No questions.

Ever Accountable

If you’re trying to build a more intentional life and create healthier digital habits, I’ll leave a link to a tool I personally use called Ever Accountable.

Freedom isn’t just about where you go. It’s also about who’s driving the wheel. Tools like Ever Accountable help create honesty, intentionality, and accountability in a world designed to distract and consume you.

This is a great tool also if you are a parent and want better protection for your kids online.

* Try this link for a limited 14 day free trial and 20% off after that 14 day trial expires.

Want to promote your business?

Email [email protected] and/or book some time to chat.

Subscribe to The Personal Freedom Podcast

New episodes every week featuring conversations about:

* Purpose

* Adventure

* Creativity

* Faith

* Relationships

* Recovery

* Rebuilding

* Mindset

* And the ongoing pursuit of personal freedom

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who may need the reminder to keep pursuing freedom in their own life.

Where to Find PFP

Watch on YouTube

Watch & Listen on Substack

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

What if the thing keeping you from freedom isn’t your circumstances, but your fear of what other people think?

Bob Lewis spent decades building what looked from the outside like a successful life. He became a highly accomplished trial attorney, rarely lost in court, and built a reputation as one of the busiest attorneys around.

But internally, Bob was fighting a very different battle.

Behind the success were imposter syndrome, perfectionism, workaholism, alcoholism, anxiety, and a constant fear that people would eventually discover he was a fraud.

In this episode of The Personal Freedom Podcast, Bob joins Mac to tell the story of what he describes as his “nine lives”—a journey through professional success, addiction, burnout, multiple reinventions, prison, recovery, faith, entrepreneurship, disability, and ultimately a new sense of purpose.

One of Bob’s greatest turning points came from one of the darkest chapters of his life, receiving a second DUI and spending four months in an Arizona state prison.

What Bob once feared would destroy his life became, in his words, “the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Inside, he found a recovery community, developed a deeper spiritual life, and began confronting the fear that had quietly controlled him for decades.

He came out with something he hadn’t been able to find through professional success:

Peace.

Today, at 68, Bob is a retired attorney and certified mediator, the writer behind Better Decisions, Better Lives, and someone focused on using his experience to help others navigate conflict, relationships, fear, and major life transitions.

Subscribe to Bob’s Substack — Better Decisions, Better Lives

In This Episode

Mac and Bob discuss:

* What personal freedom actually means

* Why fear of other people’s opinions can quietly control your life

* Bob’s battle with imposter syndrome despite tremendous professional success

* Why over preparation and perfectionism became both strengths and weaknesses

* Becoming a workaholic and alcoholic while building a legal career

* How addiction creates a hidden life and erodes your identity

* Why trying to get sober alone didn’t work

* The second DUI that ultimately sent Bob to prison

* Why prison became an unexpected turning point in his life

* Recovery, community, faith, and developing a relationship with a higher power

* Learning to stop catastrophizing every mistake

* Leaving trial law and taking risks on new opportunities

* Building a digital billboard business during the North Dakota oil boom

* How mediation taught Bob the importance of listening before reacting

* Why pride can make conflict dramatically worse

* The power of taking an honest “personal inventory”

* Comparison, social media, and the pressure to prove yourself

* Why accomplishments need to be acknowledged rather than explained away

* Gratitude as a practical tool for changing perspective

* Setting small, achievable goals to rebuild confidence

* Finding purpose in retirement through writing, teaching, and helping others

What Does Personal Freedom Mean to Bob?

For Bob, personal freedom is learning not to let fear make your decisions for you.

It means becoming willing to take risks, refusing to define yourself through other people’s opinions, and accepting that mistakes are part of living.

As Bob puts it:

“You can’t be concerned about what other people think of you in defining yourself.”

That lesson took decades to learn.

But once he stopped allowing fear, insecurity, and the imagined judgment of others to dictate his choices, Bob says he finally experienced freedom and peace.

From Imposter Syndrome to Confidence

One of the most striking parts of Bob’s story is the disconnect between his external success and internal perception.

He went roughly 12 years before losing his first trial. He was respected, heavily sought after by clients, and once had a judge describe him as the busiest attorney he had ever seen.

Yet Bob would drive to work believing:

“Today, people are going to find out what a fraud I am.”

Success didn’t automatically cure his insecurity.

In some ways, it intensified it.

Bob explains how imposter syndrome fueled his perfectionism, overpreparation, workaholism, anxiety, and eventually his dependence on alcohol for “liquid courage.”

His story is a reminder that achievement and confidence are not the same thing.

When Rock Bottom Becomes a Turning Point

After years of struggling with alcohol, Bob received his second DUI in Arizona and spent four months incarcerated.

It was something he had feared for years.

Yet when it finally happened, something unexpected occurred.

Instead of ending his life, it helped begin another one.

Bob connected with other men in recovery and befriended the son of a pastor who helped him develop a deeper spiritual perspective.

He began putting his life, mistakes, fears, and identity into a different perspective.

Bob eventually returned to practicing law, entered the billboard business, continued his recovery, and discovered that he could make decisions without constantly wondering how they would appear to everyone else.

He had lost a great deal—but came out of that season more at peace with himself than he had ever been before.

Bob’s Advice for Anyone at a Crossroads

If you’re struggling with fear or imposter syndrome, Bob recommends beginning with an honest personal inventory.

Talk to someone you trust who will tell you the truth.

Write down what you’ve accomplished.

Stop immediately explaining those accomplishments away as luck.

Practice gratitude.

Set achievable goals and break larger ambitions into smaller steps.

And most importantly:

Don’t allow fear of other people’s opinions to make your decisions for you.

Every small promise kept and every achievable goal completed becomes evidence that you are capable of taking the next step.

Because the greater risk may not be failing.

It may be reaching the end of your life wondering what would have happened if you had tried.

About Bob Lewis

Bob Lewis is a retired trial attorney and certified mediator based in Rapid City, South Dakota. After decades in law, mediation, business, and recovery, Bob now writes Better Decisions, Better Lives, sharing lessons drawn from his experiences with relationships, conflict resolution, personal growth, recovery, and decision-making.

His next chapter is focused on helping others through writing, workshops, courses, webinars, coaching, and potentially online mediation.

Connect with Bob:Better Decisions, Better Lives on Substack

The Personal Freedom Podcast

The Personal Freedom Podcast shares the stories of people who chose a different path—overcoming adversity, rebuilding their lives, pursuing purpose, and defining freedom on their own terms.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who may be looking for their own way out of the wilderness.

RV Life_Digital Nomad _Fisherman that is trying to be a better Hunter_Lover of poems and songs_An enjoyable drinker, eater, and breather_A man who is rebuilding something greaterThere are rainbows in the storms.

Signing Off,The Personal Freedom Podcast, Mac Dohm

Want to Share Your Personal Freedom Story?

Almost everyone has a personal freedom story.

Maybe yours involved rebuilding after heartbreak.

Maybe it meant leaving behind a toxic environment.

Maybe it involved taking a risk, changing direction, rediscovering your faith, starting over, pursuing a dream, or simply waking up to the realization that you were meant for something more.

If you have a story you feel called to share, I’d love to hear it.

You can apply to be a guest on The Personal Freedom Podcast by booking a 1-on-1 Personal Freedom Story Pitch conversation with me.

This podcast is about real people, real crossroads moments, and real stories of growth, resilience, and freedom.

How You Can Support the Show

Check out my nomadic art gallery for pictures, posters and prints showcasing my life on the road! Use the Code FREEDOM for 20% off.

Art Gallery:

https://macnomadicfineartfromtheroad.pic-time.com/

Ritual Organics

Sun Tallow – Whipped Beef Tallow Face Cream with Non-Nano Zinc

Product Description from Ritual Organics’ website:

Grass-fed tallow meets mineral zinc in one whipped, do-it-all balm. Six ingredients. Zero white cast. Zero nonsense.

Why people are obsessed:

One step. Done. Moisturize, nourish, and shield from UV in a single swipe.

Clear Zinc Tech: real UV defense, no chalky ghost face.

6 ingredients. Grass-fed whipped tallow, organic jojoba, non-nano zinc, vitamin E, organic rosehip, organic lavender. The end.

Non-greasy, non-comedogenic, all skin types, including the dramatic ones.

Skinimalist & non-toxic: no fragrances, parabens, preservatives, or mystery chemicals.

90 days to fall in love. if you don’t, email or DM us for a full refund. No returns. No questions.

Ever Accountable

If you’re trying to build a more intentional life and create healthier digital habits, I’ll leave a link to a tool I personally use called Ever Accountable.

Freedom isn’t just about where you go. It’s also about who’s driving the wheel. Tools like Ever Accountable help create honesty, intentionality, and accountability in a world designed to distract and consume you.

This is a great tool also if you are a parent and want better protection for your kids online.

* Try this link for a limited 14 day free trial and 20% off after that 14 day trial expires.

Want to promote your business?

Email [email protected] and/or book some time to chat.

Subscribe to The Personal Freedom Podcast

New episodes every week featuring conversations about:

* Purpose

* Adventure

* Creativity

* Faith

* Relationships

* Recovery

* Rebuilding

* Mindset

* And the ongoing pursuit of personal freedom

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who may need the reminder to keep pursuing freedom in their own life.

Where to Find PFP

Watch on YouTube

Watch & Listen on Substack

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

What if the life you’re meant to live is waiting on the other side of one curious decision?

In this episode of The Personal Freedom Podcast, Mac Dohm sits down with Peter Mukherjee—author of A Few Wise Words, internationally acclaimed photographer, entrepreneur, and founder of the upcoming Soft Skills Academy—to explore what it truly means to live a life of purpose.

Peter shares his remarkable story of nearly becoming a doctor against his will, losing a successful business during the 2008 financial crisis, rebuilding his life through photography, and discovering that personal freedom isn’t about having more money—it’s about creating more choices.

Together, Mac and Peter discuss:

* Why curiosity is the foundation of success

* How passion fuels extraordinary work

* Why today’s young people need soft skills more than ever

* The hidden cost of social media and constant distraction

* Building a life around family instead of work

* Why saying “yes” can completely change your future

* Lessons from interviewing Olympic champions, entrepreneurs, religious leaders, and world-renowned thinkers

* How nature, travel, and photography reconnect us with what matters most

* Why the greatest investment you can make is in becoming the best version of yourself

Peter also shares unforgettable stories from photographing around the world, rediscovering his passion after business failure, traveling America’s national parks, and the philosophy behind his bestselling book, A Few Wise Words.

If you’re standing at a crossroads, searching for purpose, or wondering what freedom really looks like, this conversation will encourage you to keep exploring.

Because sometimes...

One curious decision changes everything.

Photos from Peter’s adventures visiting The Wheeler Geologic Area in Colorado and the Grand Teton view over the Snake River where he heard the wolves, and then the grizzly bear family that he bumped into!

Wheeler Geologic Area - Colorado

Grand Tetons Trip

Connect with Peter Mukherjee

If this conversation resonated with you, be sure to connect with Peter Mukherjee and explore his work.

📖 Book: A Few Wise Words: Stories of Success and Inspiration from 22 Extraordinary People

✍️ Subscribe to Peter’s Substack: A Few Wise WordsFollow Peter for thoughtful essays on purpose, curiosity, leadership, photography, personal growth, and the wisdom he’s gathered from interviewing some of the world’s most accomplished leaders.

🌐 Connect with Peter:If you’d like to learn more about Peter’s photography, writing, speaking, or upcoming Soft Skills Academy, visit his website and follow his work online.

The Personal Freedom Podcast

The Personal Freedom Podcast shares the stories of people who chose a different path—overcoming adversity, rebuilding their lives, pursuing purpose, and defining freedom on their own terms.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who may be looking for their own way out of the wilderness.

RV Life_Digital Nomad _Fisherman that is trying to be a better Hunter_Lover of poems and songs_An enjoyable drinker, eater, and breather_A man who is rebuilding something greaterThere are rainbows in the storms.

Signing Off,The Personal Freedom Podcast, Mac Dohm

Want to Share Your Personal Freedom Story?

Almost everyone has a personal freedom story.

Maybe yours involved rebuilding after heartbreak.

Maybe it meant leaving behind a toxic environment.

Maybe it involved taking a risk, changing direction, rediscovering your faith, starting over, pursuing a dream, or simply waking up to the realization that you were meant for something more.

If you have a story you feel called to share, I’d love to hear it.

You can apply to be a guest on The Personal Freedom Podcast by booking a 1-on-1 Personal Freedom Story Pitch conversation with me.

This podcast is about real people, real crossroads moments, and real stories of growth, resilience, and freedom.

How You Can Support the Show

Check out my nomadic art gallery for pictures, posters and prints showcasing my life on the road! Use the Code FREEDOM for 20% off.

Art Gallery:

https://macnomadicfineartfromtheroad.pic-time.com/

Ritual Organics

Sun Tallow – Whipped Beef Tallow Face Cream with Non-Nano Zinc

Product Description from Ritual Organics’ website:

Grass-fed tallow meets mineral zinc in one whipped, do-it-all balm. Six ingredients. Zero white cast. Zero nonsense.

Why people are obsessed:

One step. Done. Moisturize, nourish, and shield from UV in a single swipe.

Clear Zinc Tech: real UV defense, no chalky ghost face.

6 ingredients. Grass-fed whipped tallow, organic jojoba, non-nano zinc, vitamin E, organic rosehip, organic lavender. The end.

Non-greasy, non-comedogenic, all skin types, including the dramatic ones.

Skinimalist & non-toxic: no fragrances, parabens, preservatives, or mystery chemicals.

90 days to fall in love. if you don’t, email or DM us for a full refund. No returns. No questions.

Ever Accountable

If you’re trying to build a more intentional life and create healthier digital habits, I’ll leave a link to a tool I personally use called Ever Accountable.

Freedom isn’t just about where you go. It’s also about who’s driving the wheel. Tools like Ever Accountable help create honesty, intentionality, and accountability in a world designed to distract and consume you.

This is a great tool also if you are a parent and want better protection for your kids online.

* Try this link for a limited 14 day free trial and 20% off after that 14 day trial expires.

Want to promote your business?

Email [email protected] and/or book some time to chat.

Subscribe to The Personal Freedom Podcast

New episodes every week featuring conversations about:

* Purpose

* Adventure

* Creativity

* Faith

* Relationships

* Recovery

* Rebuilding

* Mindset

* And the ongoing pursuit of personal freedom

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who may need the reminder to keep pursuing freedom in their own life.

Where to Find PFP

Watch on YouTube

Watch & Listen on Substack

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

What does it actually mean to be free?

For Dr. Gregory Borse , it begins long before success, titles, or achievement. It begins with the habits you practice, the virtues you cultivate, and whether you’ll keep your promises when life becomes difficult.

In Episode 10 of The Personal Freedom Podcast, I sit down with English and Philosophy professor Dr. Gregory Borse for a conversation that spans Aristotle, courage, education, AI, literature, travel, and the unexpected adventures that shaped Dr. Borse’s remarkable life.

From traveling the world with almost no money, sleeping in airports, navigating impossible situations through sheer boldness, and eventually earning a Ph.D., Dr. Borse shares how seemingly small decisions, and a willingness to move when others remain comfortable, opened doors he never could have planned.

The discussion also explores the future of education in the age of artificial intelligence, why universities are facing enormous challenges, and why character will matter more than ever in a rapidly changing world.

If you’ve ever wondered how to build a life of purpose rather than comfort, this conversation is for you.

In This Episode

* What Aristotle meant by the “Golden Mean”

* Why courage exists between cowardice and recklessness

* Building habits that create lasting character

* The importance of keeping promises to yourself

* Why integrity matters most when life becomes difficult

* Dr. Borse’s unlikely journey to becoming a professor

* Traveling with almost no money and why it changed his life

* The role of boldness in creating opportunity

* Lessons from sleeping in airports, missed flights, and trusting strangers

* Why moving toward opportunity changes your life

* AI’s impact on education and higher learning

* Why face-to-face learning still matters

* Literature, philosophy, and storytelling as tools for understanding life

Memorable Quotes

“What are the virtues that I want developed? What are the habits that are going to develop those virtues?”

“Do I possess the kind of personal integrity that will cause me to follow them even in situations that are not good?”

“A deficit of courage is cowardice. An excess of courage is rashness.”

“Don’t panic. There’s a way to figure out how to fix whatever this little thing is.”

“My willingness to get up and go... constitutes a certain kind of boldness.”

About Dr. Gregory Borse

Dr. Gregory Borse is an English and Philosophy professor at the University of Arkansas at Monticello and earned his Ph.D. in English from LSU. Throughout the conversation he reflects on decades of teaching, his passion for literature and philosophy, and how an unconventional path—filled with risk, persistence, and curiosity—ultimately led him into academia.

You can find him on Substack and X.

Why This Conversation Matters

In a culture obsessed with shortcuts, instant gratification, and external success, Dr. Borse argues that lasting freedom comes from something much deeper:

* Character before comfort.

* Habits before outcomes.

* Integrity before achievement.

Whether you’re rebuilding after hardship, pursuing a new career, or simply trying to become a better person, this episode is a reminder that the strongest foundations are built one decision at a time.

Books, Thinkers & Topics Mentioned

* Aristotle

* The Golden Mean

* Virtue Ethics

* Plato

* Shakespeare

* Literary Theory

* Artificial Intelligence

* Higher Education

* Philosophy

* Classical Literature

* Personal Responsibility

The Personal Freedom Podcast

The Personal Freedom Podcast shares the stories of people who chose a different path—overcoming adversity, rebuilding their lives, pursuing purpose, and defining freedom on their own terms.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who may be looking for their own way out of the wilderness.

RV Life_Digital Nomad _Fisherman that is trying to be a better Hunter_Lover of poems and songs_An enjoyable drinker, eater, and breather_A man who is rebuilding something greaterThere are rainbows in the storms.

Signing Off,The Personal Freedom Podcast, Mac Dohm

Want to Share Your Personal Freedom Story?

Almost everyone has a personal freedom story.

Maybe yours involved rebuilding after heartbreak.

Maybe it meant leaving behind a toxic environment.

Maybe it involved taking a risk, changing direction, rediscovering your faith, starting over, pursuing a dream, or simply waking up to the realization that you were meant for something more.

If you have a story you feel called to share, I’d love to hear it.

You can apply to be a guest on The Personal Freedom Podcast by booking a 1-on-1 Personal Freedom Story Pitch conversation with me.

This podcast is about real people, real crossroads moments, and real stories of growth, resilience, and freedom.

How You Can Support the Show

Check out my nomadic art gallery for pictures, posters and prints showcasing my life on the road! Use the Code FREEDOM for 20% off.

Art Gallery:

https://macnomadicfineartfromtheroad.pic-time.com/

Ritual Organics

Sun Tallow – Whipped Beef Tallow Face Cream with Non-Nano Zinc

Product Description from Ritual Organics’ website:

Grass-fed tallow meets mineral zinc in one whipped, do-it-all balm. Six ingredients. Zero white cast. Zero nonsense.

Why people are obsessed:

One step. Done. Moisturize, nourish, and shield from UV in a single swipe.

Clear Zinc Tech: real UV defense, no chalky ghost face.

6 ingredients. Grass-fed whipped tallow, organic jojoba, non-nano zinc, vitamin E, organic rosehip, organic lavender. The end.

Non-greasy, non-comedogenic, all skin types, including the dramatic ones.

Skinimalist & non-toxic: no fragrances, parabens, preservatives, or mystery chemicals.

90 days to fall in love. if you don’t, email or DM us for a full refund. No returns. No questions.

Ever Accountable

If you’re trying to build a more intentional life and create healthier digital habits, I’ll leave a link to a tool I personally use called Ever Accountable.

Freedom isn’t just about where you go. It’s also about who’s driving the wheel. Tools like Ever Accountable help create honesty, intentionality, and accountability in a world designed to distract and consume you.

This is a great tool also if you are a parent and want better protection for your kids online.

* Try this link for a limited 14 day free trial and 20% off after that 14 day trial expires.

Want to promote your business?

Email [email protected] and/or book some time to chat.

Subscribe to The Personal Freedom Podcast

New episodes every week featuring conversations about:

* Purpose

* Adventure

* Creativity

* Faith

* Relationships

* Recovery

* Rebuilding

* Mindset

* And the ongoing pursuit of personal freedom

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who may need the reminder to keep pursuing freedom in their own life.

Where to Find PFP

Watch on YouTube

Watch & Listen on Substack

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify

What if personal freedom isn’t about changing your circumstances—but changing your relationship with yourself?

In this episode of The Personal Freedom Podcast, Mac sits down with Josh Woll, filmmaker, sobriety coach, and creator of The Sober Creative, for one of the most thoughtful conversations yet about addiction, recovery, mindfulness, and what it truly means to live with an open heart.

Josh shares how alcohol slowly became woven into everyday life—not through dramatic rock-bottom moments, but through culture, stress, and emotional avoidance. After years of trying to quit, failing, and trying again, he publicly committed to one year of sobriety in 2020. Today, more than five years later, he helps others change their relationship with alcohol while building a life they no longer want to escape from.

Together, Mac and Josh explore why cravings aren’t the enemy, how meditation helped Josh survive panic attacks and depression, why so many of us struggle to sit with uncomfortable emotions, and how technology is quietly stealing our attention—and our peace.

If you’ve ever felt trapped in a cycle of addiction, anxiety, distraction, or simply wondered what real freedom feels like, this conversation is for you.

The Personal Freedom Podcast with Mac Dohm is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

In This Episode

* Why Josh believes personal freedom begins with feeling at home inside your own body

* How alcohol quietly became normalized in everyday life

* The emotional roots of addiction and why recovery is about far more than quitting a substance

* Why meditation became one of Josh’s greatest recovery tools

* Building the ability to sit with cravings instead of running from them

* The difference between reacting to emotions and observing them

* The connection between nervous system regulation and lasting freedom

* Why technology, algorithms, and constant stimulation are making stillness harder than ever

* Creating a life you don’t need to escape from

* Josh’s vision for The Sober Creative documentary series

* Lessons learned hiking to Machu Picchu while sober (see the full video here)

Memorable Quotes

“Personal freedom is being anywhere in the world with your heart open.”

“How do we create a life we don’t want to escape from?”

“You don’t have to feed every craving.”

“The more you sit with discomfort, the stronger you become.”

“Real freedom is learning to be present with yourself.”

Books & Resources Mentioned

* This Naked Mind by Annie Grace

* Headspace

* Insight Timer

* Transcendental Meditation

* SMART Recovery

* Recovery Dharma

* Wim Hof Breathing Method

* Athletic Brewing Company

* Capsule Adventures

* Alpaca Expeditions

* Ryan Leveck’s upcoming book Return to Real

Connect with Josh Wall

The Sober Creative

* Sobriety Coaching Assessment

* The Collective Community

* Work with Josh

The Personal Freedom Podcast

The Personal Freedom Podcast shares the stories of people who chose a different path—overcoming adversity, rebuilding their lives, pursuing purpose, and defining freedom on their own terms.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who may be looking for their own way out of the wilderness.

RV Life_Digital Nomad _Fisherman that is trying to be a better Hunter_Lover of poems and songs_An enjoyable drinker, eater, and breather_A man who is rebuilding something greaterThere are rainbows in the storms.

Signing Off,The Personal Freedom Podcast, Mac Dohm

Want to Share Your Personal Freedom Story?

Almost everyone has a personal freedom story.

Maybe yours involved rebuilding after heartbreak.

Maybe it meant leaving behind a toxic environment.

Maybe it involved taking a risk, changing direction, rediscovering your faith, starting over, pursuing a dream, or simply waking up to the realization that you were meant for something more.

If you have a story you feel called to share, I’d love to hear it.

You can apply to be a guest on The Personal Freedom Podcast by booking a 1-on-1 Personal Freedom Story Pitch conversation with me.

This podcast is about real people, real crossroads moments, and real stories of growth, resilience, and freedom.

How You Can Support the Show

Check out my nomadic art gallery for pictures, posters and prints showcasing my life on the road! Use the Code FREEDOM for 20% off.

Art Gallery:

https://macnomadicfineartfromtheroad.pic-time.com/

Ritual Organics

Sun Tallow – Whipped Beef Tallow Face Cream with Non-Nano Zinc

Product Description from Ritual Organics’ website:

Grass-fed tallow meets mineral zinc in one whipped, do-it-all balm. Six ingredients. Zero white cast. Zero nonsense.

Why people are obsessed:

One step. Done. Moisturize, nourish, and shield from UV in a single swipe.

Clear Zinc Tech: real UV defense, no chalky ghost face.

6 ingredients. Grass-fed whipped tallow, organic jojoba, non-nano zinc, vitamin E, organic rosehip, organic lavender. The end.

Non-greasy, non-comedogenic, all skin types, including the dramatic ones.

Skinimalist & non-toxic: no fragrances, parabens, preservatives, or mystery chemicals.

90 days to fall in love. if you don’t, email or DM us for a full refund. No returns. No questions.

Ever Accountable

If you’re trying to build a more intentional life and create healthier digital habits, I’ll leave a link to a tool I personally use called Ever Accountable.

Freedom isn’t just about where you go. It’s also about who’s driving the wheel. Tools like Ever Accountable help create honesty, intentionality, and accountability in a world designed to distract and consume you.

This is a great tool also if you are a parent and want better protection for your kids online.

* Try this link for a limited 14 day free trial and 20% off after that 14 day trial expires.

Want to promote your business?

Email [email protected] and/or book some time to chat.

Subscribe to The Personal Freedom Podcast

New episodes every week featuring conversations about:

* Purpose

* Adventure

* Creativity

* Faith

* Relationships

* Recovery

* Rebuilding

* Mindset

* And the ongoing pursuit of personal freedom

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who may need the reminder to keep pursuing freedom in their own life.

Where to Find PFP

Watch on YouTube

Watch & Listen on Substack

Listen on Apple

Listen on Spotify