We're Only Human

Late at night on the worst day of his life, Shane Snow found himself with nowhere to sleep. He was homeless.

He had just gotten divorced, things were shaky financially, and he hadn’t asked anybody for help yet. He was still pretending that everything was fine.

Everything changed after Shane finally asked his friends for help. He learned that he didn’t have to pretend anymore and there was no weakness in asking for help.

Shane Snow is the author of multiple books, including Dream Teams: Working Together Without Falling Apart. In this episode, Shane and I discuss:

What he learned about himself on the worst day of his life

His New Years resolution for getting better at sitting through discomfort

How growing up with a lot of siblings affected his view of teamwork

What changed in his life that made him more comfortable asking for help

How we can give others the gift of helping by asking for their help

The enormous impact one memorable high school teacher had on Shane’s life

Why he chooses impact over power or money

Why he kept a journal chronicling the lies he found himself telling

In 2017, Amie Heeter and her family embarked on a year long journey that she calls a radical sabbatical. They sold their house, quit their jobs, took their kids out of school, and hit the road in a camper trailer.

They wanted to relieve burnout, evaluate if they wanted to move to the family farm, and reconnect with nature. Amie paused her life in a seemingly extreme way, but she reminds us that even the smallest intentional pause can help us feel more alive.

In this episode, Amie Heeter and I chat about:

The 3 main reasons she and her family took a radical sabbatical

The lessons she learned in her time working at Isle Royale National Park

Showing her children the importance of being immersed in nature and connected to this planet

Reorienting her relationship with time

Intentionally leaning into discomfort

The various ways she has come alive in her life

How becoming a mother affected her

What hanging out with people older than her has taught her

The importance of fresh air baths

Meg McKeen got married, bought the house, and secured the well paying job. She felt like she was living life the way she was supposed to.

But when she turned 40, she took a deep breath and hit pause on her prescribed life. She quit her job and embarked on a journey to learn what the next chapter of her life should look like.

The one thing she knew for sure is that she wanted to just be. Be in the moment, be in the present, be in this time we have together.

It was time to be okay with uncertainty and the unknown.

In this episode, Meg McKeen and I discuss:

The ways Meg felt like she was living a prescribed life

Why she’s more comfortable building a business than a relationship

How taking a year off was a massive investment in her life

Why the next chapter of her life is uncertain but she's totally ok with that

How we often diminish our greatness because of who we think we’re supposed to be

Her work on recognizing the control she has over certain things and letting go of what she doesn’t

Caity Rose and her husband were ready to purchase their first home in 2020. But when COVID-19 hit, she realized there was now an opportunity to be more intentional about how they lived the next chapter of their lives.

One Sunday, her husband suggested they forgo buying a house and instead buy an Airstream trailer to travel the country in. Four days later, they signed the paperwork and were the proud new owners of an Airstream trailer.

Caity and her husband packed their lives into the trailer, bought a truck to pull it, and hit the road two months later.

In the time since, Caity has gained newfound perspectives on what really matters to her and how to truly be intentional about how she lives her life.

In this episode, Caity Rose and I chat about:

The inspiration for her and her husband buying an Airstream and traveling the country

Why she felt it was time to be more intentional with choices in life

How this journey is going to change the direction of her life in the future

The biggest obstacles she’s run into on this journey so far

How her perspective on sunrises and sunsets has changed

What boondocking is and why Caity wants to do more of it

How being a problem solver makes this lifestyle suit Caity and her husband well

Emily Drake left her career in public relations without a plan. She hit her bottom emotionally and professionally in the years that followed. Despite getting paid well to do work that exercised her strengths, she felt she was climbing a ladder she never meant to climb.

She was working, but not doing her work. And she wondered…who am I?

Emily embarked on a journey to answer that question, a journey that brought answers she wasn’t expecting.

Today Emily is a licensed therapist and the owner/CEO of The Collective Academy.

In this episode, Emily Drake and I discuss:

Why Emily is a recovering perfectionist

How her family jumped in to support Emily when they saw how her job was negatively affecting her life

The inspiration her mom has been

Why she has a huge care team surrounding her, sponsor, therapist, coach

How she views life as a spiral staircase

Dealing with imposter syndrome

How what we know to be true might not always be what others know to be true

Her positive experience with divorce

Srini Rao hit a major rough patch after the success of his bestseller book. His relationship came to an end, he had to cancel the conference he was organizing, and financial troubles arose.

But he didn't want to publicly share any of these failures with the world. He was too well known to do that.

Besides, did the world really want to know about his failures?

In this episode, Srini Rao and I chat about:

Why Srini believes being 100% authentic is inappropriate

How there’s a fine line between vulnerability and being a complete train wreck

How being in the public eye affects one’s ability to be authentic and vulnerable

The ways we are using vulnerability as a marketing tactic

The perspective his younger sister’s wedding gave him

What he learned from living with his parents for 8 years during his 30s

Why he doesn't like listening to podcasts

Why he made a documentary about the women in his family

The dangers of using outliers as examples and inspiration for people

Pek Pongpaet didn't take the agency he was building seriously in the early days. The CEO felt the judging eyes of other entrepreneurs in the Bay Area. "Oh that's cute! But what are you really working on?" There was something bigger he was supposed to be chasing after. Something more real. But his agency was attracting more clients and getting more work. It WAS bigger. It WAS real. Why couldn't he just be happy with that? In this episode, Impekable CEO Pek Pongpaet and I discuss: Why Pek felt like his business wasn’t serious compared to what other people were working on Why he’s always chasing the next shiny thing The importance of providing stability for his tribe His techniques to do fewer things better How he got into the martial art Wushu and performing for the Mortal Kombat video games Why he relates to the Regret Minimization Framework from Jeff Bezos How he thinks about work life integration

Before Dr. Deborah Gilboa (aka, Dr. G) became a doctor, she was a performer and stage manager at world-renowned comedy institution Second City. But one day, she felt like she wasn’t earning her oxygen. She yearned to make a bigger contribution to solving the problems of the world. She thought she wanted to fix people. Today Dr. G is a practicing physician and sought after expert on resilience. Her journey is living proof of her belief that resilience isn’t about bouncing back: resilience is about incorporating the change you experience and using it to become the person you want to be. In this episode, Dr. G and I chat about: Why she didn’t feel like she was making a big contribution to solving the problems of the world Her unconventional path to becoming a doctor What she learned about herself from going to summer camp How her parents inspired her to study resilience The dangers of labeling people as sensitive Why it takes 72 small disappointments build resilience Why she is less impressed with herself today

Mari Luangrath-Ullrick was a beacon of hope for me as I went through my divorce. She got divorced, remarried, and successfully blended two families together into a new family. With 50% of marriages ending in divorce, Mari's situation isn't uncommon. But that doesn't make it any easier to live through. Mari is the founder of Blend Rebels, a community that helps families around the world make blending families easier with less work, fewer tears, and less contention. In this episode, Mari Luangrath-Ullrick and I chat about: The moment she realized she wasn’t alone in getting a divorce and there were others out there going through the same thing How becoming a parent completely defied her expectations for having a child The ways her wildly successful cupcake business affected her marriage Where her desire to create businesses comes from How she felt the night of her first Thanksgiving post divorce Why we need more inclusion for blended families and divorced partners What she learned from a childhood of playing violin

John Ondrasik has experienced all sorts of ups and downs along his journey as a 20+ year overnight success. He's the singer and songwriter known as Five For Fighting who has written hit songs like "Superman" and "100 Years". He often felt like he was one album away from having to get a real job. When his record label of 10 years dropped him, he asked himself: Is this it? Have I already had my time? Throughout it all, he's found that sometimes the big things are actually little things and the little things are actually the big things. In this episode, John Ondrasik and I discuss: Why he's still afraid to play a new song for his wife The role the desperation of a young artist has played in his life How hard it to accept the realization that you've had your time already His children and the role they've played in his songwriting over their lifetimes His family business that manufactures the shopping carts you've probably used at the store How the family business has grounded him during the height of his musical career Why he ran a marathon after getting dropped from his record label What he believes his legacy will be