When Change Doesn’t Mean Conflict

This episode isn’t about business details. It’s about maturity.

For the first time publicly, Tyler and I sit down and talk about my exit from the gym and Trademark, not to explain timelines or unpack private conversations, but to model something rare in today’s culture: unity after transition.

The internet loves collapse stories. It wants fallout, betrayal arcs, sides to choose, and villains to blame. Real life is quieter than that. More nuanced. Often healthier than social media can tolerate.

This conversation is about friendship that outlives structure. About hard conversations that happen privately. About growth that doesn’t require spectacle. And about what it looks like for two men to move in different directions without fracturing respect.

We also talk about fatherhood, the recent renovation at the gym, Tyler’s renewed focus on bodybuilding, and how seasons of life reorder priorities without erasing identity.

This is not a drama episode.
 It’s a leadership episode.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why not every transition needs a public explanation
• Friendship that isn’t dependent on proximity or business alignment
• The difference between transparency and oversharing
• How fatherhood reshapes ambition and risk
• Protecting peace in a culture that thrives on reaction
• Renovation as recommitment to culture and community
• Training seasons and recalibrating identity
• Why restraint is sometimes the strongest statement

Core takeaway:
Not everything that ends is broken.
Sometimes change is simply growth in different directions.

If you’ve ever navigated a business shift, partnership transition, or friendship evolution…
If you’ve felt pressure to perform conflict for the internet…
If you value maturity over narrative…

This episode shows what unity actually looks like when no one is trying to win.

Peace doesn’t need applause.

This episode is one of the most personal and confrontational conversations on Why Not Us to date, not aimed outward, but inward.

Rather than offering motivation or encouragement, this episode is about refinement. About allowing blind spots to be named without turning them into shame. About understanding how past wounds, gifting, ambition, and success can quietly distort calling if they aren’t continually surrendered.

This conversation explores the tension between obedience and control, anointing and intensity, leadership and ego. It addresses the subtle ways shame disguises itself as motivation, how discernment can harden into suspicion, and why legacy can become an idol if it isn’t anchored in lordship.

This is not an episode about self-improvement.
 It’s about self-examination.

In this episode, we unpack:

• Why obedience can still hide a need for control
• How intensity is often mistaken for anointing
• The danger of using ministry, success, or productivity to self-soothe shame
• When compassion turns into a savior complex
• Discernment versus fear-based suspicion
• The difference between legacy and lordship
• Money as emotional security rather than stewardship
• How spiritual growth can quietly produce pride
• Why slowness is required for real shepherding
• The responsibility to only teach what you’re actively obeying

Core theme:
Growth isn’t about becoming louder, faster, or more impressive.
It’s about becoming cleaner, humbler, and more obedient.

This episode is for anyone who feels called, gifted, or driven, but knows that calling without refinement eventually becomes dangerous. It’s an invitation to let God sharpen what He’s already entrusted to you, not to shame you, but to prepare you.

Sometimes the most loving thing God does isn’t encouragement.
It’s exposure, followed by grace.

In this episode of Why Not Us, I sit down with Cody Gonek for a grounded, honest conversation about what it actually means to build something real. Not just a business, but a life that carries weight, responsibility, and long-term vision.

Cody is in the middle of opening a new gym, raising a family, and stepping deeper into leadership. This conversation explores the internal shift that happens when people begin depending on you, when decisions affect more than just yourself, and when discipline alone isn’t enough to answer the deeper questions.

We talk about fatherhood as a mirror that reshapes identity and redefines success. We explore the role of fitness as integrity rather than aesthetics, and why physical discipline often becomes an anchor during seasons of pressure. We also touch on faith and meaning gently and honestly, without forcing conclusions, but naming the questions that surface when responsibility increases.

This is a conversation about stewardship, not hype. About leadership without bravado. And about building spaces, families, and communities that last longer than motivation.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The internal weight that comes with ownership and leadership
• How fatherhood changes the way men define success
• Fitness as discipline, grounding, and personal integrity
• Asking deeper questions when momentum fades
• Modern masculinity and the confusion many men are carrying
• Why gyms and community spaces matter beyond money
• Leadership as stewardship, not status

Core theme:
Building something real always costs more than you expect, but it shapes you into someone worth becoming.

If you’re carrying responsibility quietly…
If you’re building while still figuring yourself out…
If you’re trying to lead without hardening or burning out…

This episode is for you.

Why Not Us is about asking better questions while you build, not waiting until life forces them on you.

Rae returns to Why Not Us for a very different conversation.

In her first episode, we discussed the moment her life split into a before and an after, encountering God in the midst of trauma, surrendering in the dark, and finding peace that didn’t make sense. This episode picks up where most stories end: the long middle.

This conversation examines what happens after the miracle fades and real life resumes. The emotional highs don’t stay high. The guilt of not always “feeling” God. The quiet work of learning how to walk with Him through recovery, pain, and uncertainty.

This isn’t a sequel. It’s maturation.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The emotional rollercoaster that follows powerful spiritual encounters
• Faith, when the intensity wears off, and life becomes demanding
• Returning to church after trauma and the vulnerability of being seen
• Long-term hospital life and what it reveals about purpose and calling
• Pain management, medication, and advocating for your own body
• Moving from adrenaline-driven faith to daily obedience
• Preparing mentally and spiritually for life after the hospital
• Why healing was never meant to be done alone

Key theme:
Faith is not constant intensity; it’s a covenant. The miracle isn’t just surviving. The miracle is learning how to live afterward.

Scripture referenced:

• Psalm 34:18
• Isaiah 43:2
• Philippians 1:6
• 2 Corinthians 12:9

If you’ve ever felt confused after a spiritual high. If you’ve wondered why faith feels quieter after the miracle. If you’re walking through the long middle and trying to stay grounded.

This episode is for you.

Sometimes God meets us in the dark
Sometimes, He teaches us in the quiet that follows

This episode is a different kind of conversation.

Dillon sits down with Sean Chai, the producer who’s been behind the camera since the early days of Why Not Us. Not to spotlight him as a creator, but to acknowledge the role of those who quietly watch, build, and discern before stepping forward.

Together, they talk honestly about vision, craft, fitness, discipline, fear, timing, and what it actually means to build something meaningful in a culture obsessed with speed and short-term validation. The conversation explores the tension many people feel in their late 20s and 30s: knowing there’s more inside of them, but hesitating to choose a direction too early or attach themselves to the wrong thing.

This episode isn’t about announcements or hype. It’s about alignment. About the difference between content and craft. About waiting for gravity instead of rushing for attention. And about what happens when two visions begin to overlap, not in competition, but in complement.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What you learn about people by spending years behind the lens
• Fitness as discipline, stewardship, and mental clarity
• The question “What would you do if you couldn’t fail?” and why it matters
• Vision without structure vs. vision with weight
• Fear, timing, and the cost of staying safe for too long
• Choosing long-term craft over fast, disposable content
• Building something that lasts instead of staying busy

Key reflection:

Sometimes the people behind the camera are the ones carrying the future of the vision.

If you’ve ever felt stuck between preparation and action, or unsure when it’s time to step forward, this episode will resonate deeply.

This episode marks a turning point.

In a rare solo conversation, Dillon walks listeners through a full year of refinement, obedience, and spiritual realignment. Two prophetic words spoken over his life, one years ago and one a year prior, are revisited and weighed against the evidence of the last twelve months: the cost, the pruning, the clarity, and the fruit.

This is not a testimony episode meant to inspire emotion. It’s a public act of stewardship.

Dillon reflects on identity, sonship, discouragement, fatherhood, and the danger of settling just as momentum begins to build. He speaks candidly about the temptation to leave Canada in search of bigger platforms, and why the calling to stay rooted became unmistakable. The episode also outlines a clear pivot for the podcast, expanding into culture, health, leadership, masculinity, and real life without losing spiritual authority or conviction.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• The difference between calling as fantasy and calling as responsibility
• Why sonship must come before stewardship
• How discouragement often disguises itself as wisdom or realism
• The cost of the last year, and the fruit it produced
• Why rootedness matters more than reach
• The internal and external shifts shaping the future of the podcast
• Ten hard-earned lessons from 2025 that now function as doctrine, not theory

Key truth from the episode:

Calling isn’t proven by ambition. It’s proven by obedience under pressure. This is a year-in-review episode, a public pivot, and a line drawn in the sand.
Not about performance. About alignment.

This episode is different from our usual format.

Today, Pastor Jamie leads a comprehensive teaching on The Lord’s Prayer, breaking down the prayer Jesus gave to His disciples and showing us how it serves as a model for every believer to build a genuine prayer life.

Off-the-cuff and straight from Jamie’s heart, this message walks through each line of the Lord’s Prayer and reveals what it means for your daily walk: how to approach God as Father, how to align your will with His, how to ask for provision, how to fight temptation, and how to stay anchored in forgiveness.

More than a sermon, this is a practical framework, a way to pray when you don’t know what to say, a structure for strengthening your spiritual life, and a reminder that prayer is not performance… It’s a relationship.

In this episode:

• Why Jesus gave us a model, not just words to repeat
• How to begin prayer with identity and honour
• What it means to pray “Your will be done”
• Understanding spiritual dependency and daily provision
• The link between forgiveness, freedom, and answered prayer
• How prayer strengthens your spirit in moments of temptation
• Building a consistent, healthy prayer life

Quote to remember:

“Prayer is not about trying to get God’s attention; it’s about returning your heart to where it belongs.”

If you’ve been struggling to pray or are unsure where to start, this episode will provide you with the clarity and confidence to develop a prayer life that truly sustains you.

“Rae: The Day Everything Changed, and the God Who Met Her There”

This episode is different. It’s not a story about an accident, it’s a story about a God who shows up in the moments we can’t remember but somehow still know.

Rae sits down with Dillon to share what happened on October 29, the day she lost both of her legs… and found a presence that changed everything. She talks about the blackout she doesn’t remember but could feel, the calm that made no logical sense, and the moment on November 1 when she surrendered her life to Jesus without ever having been raised in faith.

This is the first time Rae has ever told her story publicly. It’s raw, emotional, honest, and holy. Not a survival story, a rebirth story.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How God was drawing Rae long before the accident
• What it felt like to “sense Jesus” in the blackout
• The moment she realized her legs were gone, and why peace was her first reaction
• The surrender moment that changed her identity forever
• How she’s rebuilding her future with purpose, gratitude, and fire

Quote to remember:

“I don’t remember the accident. But I remember the presence.”

If you’ve ever questioned where God is in suffering, this conversation will show you what it looks like when He’s closer than breath, even when memory fails.

This one feels like closure and calling at the same time.

After a long season of refining, Dillon and Pastor Jamie sit down to talk about what real forgiveness does to the human heart, how it lifts shame, breaks control, and clears the noise so God’s will can finally be heard.

Dillon shares the story of hearing the words “I forgive you” from his ex-wife and realizing it was the final chain God was waiting to cut. That moment opened the door to forgiving himself, to hearing God’s will louder than his own, and to living far less offended by a world that’s constantly angry.

Jamie brings thirty years of pastoral wisdom on obedience, surrender, and what it means to walk unoffended in a culture addicted to outrage. Together they unpack the difference between our will and His, and why forgiveness is the real evidence of spiritual maturity.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• How forgiveness lifts the cloak of shame and makes peace tangible
• What it feels like when God’s will finally outweighs your own
• The danger of defending the old character God already buried
• Why living unoffended might be the last great spiritual discipline
• How grace, not performance, proves you’re being rebuilt

Scriptures Referenced:
Proverbs 19 : 11 | Romans 12 : 19 | John 3 : 16 | Ephesians 4 : 31–32

If you’ve been carrying resentment, confusion, or the weight of your own will, this episode will show you what it looks like when grace finally takes over.

This one cuts deeper than testimony; it’s a transformation in real time.

After months of refining, Dillon and Pastor Jamie sit down to talk about what it actually means to let God love every part of you, even the ones you still want to hide.

They unpack the war between the flesh and the Spirit, the fear of being truly seen, and the freedom that comes when you stop performing for acceptance and start living from a place of sonship.

Dillon opens up about deliverance, divorce mediation, and the quiet moments where the Holy Spirit met him in surrender. Jamie brings thirty years of wisdom on refinement, pruning, and fatherhood that never flinches at failure.

This episode embodies raw repentance, masculine maturity, and spiritual integration, as shadow meets Spirit under the light of grace.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why exposure is the beginning of transformation, not the end of reputation
• The difference between pruning and punishment
• What freedom feels like when the Holy Spirit actually moves in
• How real fatherhood heals the orphan spirit in men
• Why performance is the modern idol, and peace is the proof of surrender

Quote to remember:

“We don’t get away with anything, but we also don’t get disqualified.
God’s still rebuilding the ones who stopped hiding.”