With Hat and Cattle

You don’t have to feel confident before you try something hard. In my running journey, confidence has often come from doing the work and seeing myself follow through.

For this solo episode of With Hat and Cattle, I’m taking you to the Whaleathon in Salt Lake City, Utah: a marathon of about 630 laps around a whale monument. Yes, really. I signed up for the plot. I finished in 4:38:33 and came home with more than a finisher mug.

I’m sharing the training behind the funny story, including exhaustion while juggling my master’s capstone, work, and podcast; the last long run I skipped; and why one missed day didn’t cancel the preparation I’d already done.

Then there’s the race itself: cold hands, run walk intervals, GI issues, a memorable Coke bottle, and Bryan’s whale songs. Through it all, I kept coming back to why I run and the younger version of myself I want to honor.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

·       Why choosing a challenge for the fun of it can be reason enough to begin

·       How I learned to give myself credit for the days I showed up

·       What the Whaleathon taught me about staying with a goal

·       Why confidence and a hard season can exist at the same time

·       A practical first step toward a challenge of your own

Your challenge doesn’t have to involve running. It just has to be something you’re willing to prepare for.

Listen, then choose one thing you’re curious enough to try.

CHAPTERS

00:00 A Marathon Around a Whale

01:55 Why I Signed Up for the Whaleathon

04:15 Training When Life Is Already Full

05:55 Giving Yourself Credit for Showing Up

06:55 The Tiny Course and the Cold

07:50 My Run Walk Interval Plan

08:30 This Is Dumb and This Is Awesome

09:15 Changing Direction Every 30 Minutes

10:30 Coke Bottles and Bryan’s Whale Songs

11:55 GI Issues and Getting to the Finish

14:10 Running to Honor Teenage Dani

16:00 Being Proud During a Hard Season

17:15 Find Your Own Challenge

19:05 Choose Your First Step

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
 Whaleathon: https://whaleathon.com/
 With Hat and Cattle: https://withhatandcattle.com/
 Unicorns Eat Pancakes: https://www.instagram.com/unicorns.eat.pancakes/

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at [email protected]. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

Have you ever looked at your life and wondered what you could possibly have to share? Dean didn’t begin with a big idea or a polished online persona. He picked up a LEGO Stormtrooper, started building tiny scenes, and kept going. Six years and about 650 photographs later, his Instagram project, @in.a.galaxy.not.so.far.away, has become a window into the things he loves.

We talk about the people behind the helmets we walk past, the creativity hiding in everyday rituals, and why Dean posts at a pace that lets him enjoy the process. He also explains why AI-generated imagery frustrates him, what it means to write from the heart, and how strangers have become friends by sharing what they actually feel.

Then the conversation takes a very important turn, and we ask the following: Why are we saving the life we want for “someday” when we could be living parts of it now?

IN THIS EPISODE

·       Why a Stormtrooper can help us see the person behind the helmet.

·       How to create steadily without turning a hobby into another obligation.

·       Why your imperfect, ordinary experiences can connect with people.

·       The difference between posting for followers and finding your people.

·       What changes when you stop saying, “I’ll do it next year.”

FIND DEAN

Instagram: @in.a.galaxy.not.so.far.away

ABOUT THE SHOW

With Hat and Cattle shares stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening. Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou. Produced by The House of Chou and filmed at Purposefull Productions in Plano, Texas.

NEXT EPISODE TEASE

Thursday: My Whaleathon reflections, including what running 26.2 miles around a whale taught me about choosing experiences over “someday.”

CHAPTERS

00:00 Stop Waiting for Someday

00:15 Is Your Life Interesting Enough to Share?

01:00 The Person Behind the Stormtrooper

02:50 When a Photograph Makes Someone Smile

04:20 Six Years, 650 Photos, and Just Beginning

06:15 Building Stories from Everyday Moments

08:35 Giving Someone the Stars

10:40 AI, Authenticity, and Finding Your Voice

13:40 A Little Calm with Casa Chou Poms

14:15 Sharing What You Think Is Silly

16:25 Dani’s Open-Water Swim and Vulnerability

18:50 Knowing When to Put the Phone Down

20:30 Why Dean Stopped Saying “Next Year”

21:15 Find Your People, Not Just Followers

23:10 The Story Behind the Account Name

24:20 Next Up: Whaleathon Reflections

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at [email protected]. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

 What does it take to build relationships that survive distance, differences, and life's hardest moments? Eric Christianson shares what an extraordinary friendship during the Civil Rights movement and 44 years of marriage taught him about love, trust, and showing up for others. 

In 1959, a letter began a friendship between the Davids, a white family in Minnesota, and the Sims, a Black family in Indiana. Their letters led to visits and a friendship that drew public scrutiny. It did not erase the discrimination the Sims faced, but it shows what trust can require.

For Eric Christianson, the story became personal in another way. His wife Joyce had lived part of it as a child. Before she died, she asked Eric to finish the book she had begun. He joins Dani Raschel Chou to discuss their 44-year marriage, the promise he made, a listener's thoughtful question about the letter that moved him, and what the families' legacy asks of us now.

Learn about the book, South Bend to Spring Valley: The Davids-Sims Story: https://www.southbendtospringvalley.com/

Chapters:
00:00 Her Final Wish
00:20 The 1959 Friendship That Began with a Letter
05:25 Trusting Someone You've Never Met
08:00 Eleven People, a Dog, and a Journey to Minnesota
12:20 How Letters Became a Real Friendship
14:45 David Sims and the Civil Rights Movement
15:25 Facing Hate Mail and Public Scrutiny
19:20 What Kindness Could and Couldn't Change
21:45 Eric and Joyce: Married in 84 Days
24:50 Learning to Love Over 44 Years
27:15 Joyce's Dream to Tell the Story
29:25 The Promise Eric Made to Joyce
30:50 A Listener's Question About Responsibility
33:00 Working Through Grief and Finding Purpose
36:40 Bringing the Families Together Again
40:35 What Eric Would Tell Joyce Today
43:20 Why You Shouldn't Wait to Reconnect
45:50 Final Thoughts and What's Next

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at [email protected]. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

You can know your work inside and out and still have trouble explaining why someone should pay for it.

David Cohen founded Superposition to help Data and AI consultancies sell, deliver and grow more effectively. In this conversation, he and host Dani Raschel Chou talk about why technical experts lose people in the details, how to explain complicated work in plain English, and why trust matters as much as expertise.

They also tackle the uncomfortable question of pricing. What happens when a client says your proposal is too expensive? If AI helps you deliver in less time, should the client pay less? And how much of undercharging comes down to confidence? David does not offer a magic formula. He explains the practical limits of value-based pricing and why understanding the client and the work matters.

Later, David shares why he does not believe experts need to guard every piece of knowledge, why marketing competes for attention beyond your industry, and how an outside perspective helps founders find the one real problem hiding in a list of fifteen.

For anyone building a business, advising clients, or trying to make their work easier to understand, this is a conversation about clarity, trust and getting out of your own way.

GUEST
 David Cohen, founder of Superposition
 Website: https://www.superpositionstrat.com/
 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davcohen06/
 Newsletter: https://superpositionstrat.beehiiv.com/

FOLLOW THE SHOW
 https://withhatandcattle.com/

With Hat and Cattle. Stories from people who walk the walk, and leave you better off for listening.

CHAPTERS
 00:00 Why clients hire experts
 00:17 The problem with being good at your work
 00:51 How experts lose the room
 01:50 Why David advises other consultants
 03:13 Stop talking like aliens
 05:50 The buzzwords clients do not understand
 07:55 How to price your expertise
 10:27 Confidence and undercharging
 11:48 When a client says your price is too high
 12:57 AI and the value-based pricing debate
 15:10 Should experts share what they know?
 16:22 Sharing knowledge versus giving away work
 18:15 A quick break: Casa Chou Poms
 18:45 Your competition is the entire internet
 20:58 Authentic branding that feels like you
 22:00 Can AI create an authentic personal brand?
 23:50 Getting through the hard days alone
 24:55 Explain your services without the jargon
 28:16 Why founders need outside perspective
 31:32 Finding the one problem that really matters
 34:20 You control the process, not the outcome
 35:00 The one thing to do tomorrow
 36:17 Launch before you feel ready
 37:55 Where to find David
 38:45 Coming up: Eric Christianson

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at [email protected]. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

What makes a networking event worth coming back to? And how do you turn a room full of strangers into a community that lasts?

Sanjay Kalluvilayil of The AI Space Podcast joins Tim Mata and Tori Begg of Mind and Machine DFW for a conversation about building community with intention.

Together, they share how they got people into their first events, what makes a room welcoming, why community building doesn't end when everyone goes home, and how to stay focused on the people you're serving.

But there's another side to this conversation. These three talk openly about entrepreneurship, friendship, trust, and supporting one another rather than competing for attention.

You'll also hear a personal story about host Dani Raschel Chou's first experience walking into Mind and Machine without knowing anybody, and how those initial connections grew into relationships that brought everyone to this conversation.

Whether you're starting a networking group, bringing professionals together, or finding your purpose in creating something new, this episode offers practical lessons and a reminder of why the work matters.

EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00 | Why networking should be about more than selling

00:49 | Finding a need worth building a community around

03:35 | Sanjay's approach to bringing AI founders together

05:45 | Getting people to attend your first event

07:00 | Creating an inviting room and culture

10:10 | Starting with no audience or budget

11:30 | Knowing your audience and growing through relationships

13:10 | Building a community beyond event day

15:35 | Helping newcomers feel they belong

17:25 | Solving problems that actually matter

19:00 | Why engagement matters more than crowd size

21:26 | A quick visit with Casa Chou Poms

21:52 | Collaboration, entrepreneurship, and community support

23:30 | Navigating AI skepticism and responsibility

27:00 | Your mission matters more than a perfect launch

30:30 | Leading with purpose as your community grows

34:25 | Building trust through genuine relationships

37:35 | Understanding who your audience really is

39:30 | Dani's closing reflection: It's about the people

CONNECT WITH OUR GUESTS

Sanjay Kalluvilayil | The AI Space Podcast

Tori Begg | LinkedIn

Tim Mata | LinkedIn

Mind and Machine DFW

With Hat and Cattle: Stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at [email protected]. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

You can grow a business and an audience, but how do you make sure you still recognize yourself along the way?

Adam Aguirre, owner of California Pool Man and known online as Adam the Pool Builder, joins host Dani Raschel Chou to talk about entrepreneurship, building trust, and showing up authentically when more people are watching.

At 18, Adam was servicing pools for about $80 a month. By 27, he was taking on a $400,000 pool project. But behind those milestones were long workweeks, difficult decisions, failures, and lessons he couldn't have learned from a textbook.

Adam shares why he refused to talk himself out of his first major pool build, how he handles difficult client relationships, and why something as simple as answering the phone can set a business apart.

They also explore what happens when your business becomes part of your personal brand. Adam explains why he chose to put himself in front of the camera, how his acting background influenced his content creation, and what happened when he publicly acknowledged a mistake in one of his videos.

In this conversation, they cover:

• Building confidence before you feel completely ready
• Why professionalism and customer service still matter
• How authenticity can strengthen customer trust
• Finding your niche without limiting who you are
• Why a viral video isn't the same as a loyal audience
• What business owners should post when they're afraid nobody wants to hear from them
• Staying connected to the people who supported you along the way

Adam's advice to anyone struggling to create content? Start with your story. Share where you came from, how you got started, and what you've learned. You can figure out the rest along the way.

About the guest: Adam Aguirre is the owner of California Pool Man, the creator behind Adam the Pool Builder, and a member of PoolPro's 2025 30 Under 40.

With Hat and Cattle is produced by The House of Chou and filmed at Purposefull Productions in Plano, Texas.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at [email protected]. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

A man got fired on a Friday for bad lettering. On Monday, Beau Dromiack sat down at his desk. He was a high school junior on his first architecture job, finding out his teacher had been right.

He has spent the forty years since arguing something his own profession doesn't love hearing: Achitects didn't lose ground to fees or software. Their craft slipped, somebody else filled the gap, and whoever absorbs the risk ends up holding the authority.

Then AI showed up.

Beau is a practicing architect, a professor at Arizona State University, and the author of The Craft Advantage and Super-Architect. He calls himself a delusional optimist, uses AI hard for quality control, and can name the exact thing he will never let it touch. In this conversation he maps three inflection points for the profession, explains why an AI-generated drawing set graded 95% matters to a bank long before it matters to a designer, and makes the case that paralegals — and architects — don't vanish so much as move.

Host Dani Raschel Chou opens with the question that frames the whole hour: AI makes everybody sound competent, and in his field a confident wrong answer becomes a building. So how do you spot somebody borrowing knowledge they haven't earned?

You don't need to know anything about architecture for this one. If you've ever wondered which parts of your own work are safe to automate and which parts are the whole reason anyone pays you, this is that conversation.

Part of the With Hat and Cattle AI Literacy Series.

 In this episode:

• Why the builder who fills the gap gets the authority that comes with it

• The three AI inflection points, and the one already underway

• What he refuses to hand to AI, and what he handed over without a second thought

• Why knowledge is what makes AI useful, and why its absence is what makes it dangerous

• Observation as a trainable skill: the framed napkin and the puddle in the parking lot

• Invisible handcuffs, delusional optimism, and what the eight-year-old still has

• Contracts are emotional, and your client is the one carrying the debt

• The one question to ask your engineer or contractor this week

• Five years of 2% raises, then five offers, and the confidence that comes from knowing you can leave

• His advice to his younger self: pause three seconds, and listen

Where You Can Find Beau

Beau's books: The Craft Advantage and Super-Architect: The Future of Architecture

Beau online: https://dromiackinvention.com

Produced by The House of Chou, filmed at Purposefull Productions in Plano, Texas.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at [email protected]. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

You leave a networking event with a few business cards and a good conversation. Now what?

Wes Hoblit, land use consultant, joins host Dani Raschel Chou to talk about all the networking tips, like how to follow up after a networking event, build professional relationships, and ask for introductions without rushing the relationship.

His approach is practical: Remember something specific, send a short email the next day, and keep showing up. Sometimes a conversation leads to work quickly. Sometimes, as Wes recalls, an email gets a reply about four years later.

We cover networking tips for business development, career growth, and job searching, including:

·       Starting conversations when you walk into a room alone

·       Writing follow-up emails that reflect the conversation you actually had

·       Deciding when to ask for a meeting or referral

·       Building relationships with people beyond their current job titles

·       Handling a conversation that is not going anywhere

·       Reaching out to people you know when you need your next role

And yes, there is a little banter about my introduction to EBITDA.

Your homework: Send one follow-up message today. Mention something you discussed, ask how it is going, and offer useful help if you can. If you are looking for work, name the kind of role you want so people know how to help.

Follow With Hat and Cattle for more conversations with people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Produced by The House of Chou and filmed at Purposefull Productions in Plano, Texas.

Chapters

0:00 Why every relationship counts
02:00 Networking when the room feels awkward
04:00 How to join a conversation
06:00 The email reply that took four years
08:00 Curiosity and seeing the same people again
10:00 How to follow up after a networking event
12:00 Building relationships beyond job titles
15:00 When to ask for coffee or a meeting
16:00 The first fifteen minutes at an event
18:00 Listening when you do not know the topic
20:00 LinkedIn and networking follow-up
22:00 Introductions referrals and graceful exits
24:00 Networking when you are looking for a job
26:00 Showing up after a difficult day
29:00 Where to start when you need your next role
31:00 Measuring the value of a networking event
33:00 How long a strong network takes to build
34:00 Your takeaway and follow-up homework

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at [email protected]. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

Can grief affect your body? Why do we numb difficult emotions instead of feeling them? What does it actually mean to process grief? And can practices like somatic or energy healing help someone reconnect with themselves after loss?

Guest Emma Guenther’s answer begins with a loss that divided her life into before and after.

In 2023, Emma’s daughter Magnolia was stillborn. Emma went home postpartum without her baby and had to navigate profound grief while protecting the recovery she had worked years to build.

Today, Emma is an evidential psychic and somatic medium who describes her work as helping people “get their color back.”

Before the word psychic makes you skip this one, stay with us.

This conversation isn’t asking you to adopt Emma’s spiritual beliefs. It’s about a much more universal problem: what happens when grief, anger, disappointment or old wounds go unaddressed because life keeps moving and we learn to keep moving with it.

Emma and host Dani Raschel Chou explore questions including:

• Can grief affect the body? Grief isn't only emotional. Emma shares how she understands the physical experience of grief through her somatic practice and personal experience.

• Why do people numb grief? Emma talks openly about her history with alcohol, food and other ways she once avoided difficult feelings—and what helped her choose differently after Magnolia died.

• What does it mean to process grief instead of suppressing it? For Emma, it begins with acknowledging what is there instead of immediately trying to make it disappear.

• Is grief only about death? Emma distinguishes between traditional grief and what she calls non-traditional grief: unmet needs, childhood wounds, lost relationships, missed experiences and the life you thought you would have.

• What can grief look like in men? They discuss the exhaustion, disconnection, anger, drinking, scrolling and other behaviors that may accompany loss even when someone would never describe themselves as grieving.

• What are somatic healing and energy healing? Emma explains how these practices fit into her spiritual work and how she uses her intuition and mediumship with clients.

• What is an evidential psychic medium? Emma explains what the term means in her practice and addresses some of the assumptions people make about psychic work.

And underneath all of it is one question worth taking with you:

What are you still carrying because you learned how to function while carrying it?

You don’t have to believe in mediumship to take something from this conversation. As Dani says at the end: maybe your guide is a psychic. Maybe it’s a therapist, counselor or trusted friend.

The point is to stop standing in the backed-up water and call somebody.

Content note: This episode includes discussion of stillbirth, grief, addiction and recovery. Emma discusses her personal experience with energy healing and spiritual practices; those experiences are not presented as medical treatment or medical advice.

Find Emma on Instagram at @magnolias.way.mediumship and on Facebook here.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at [email protected]. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

What if the right way to prepare for AI isn’t to trust it more, but to get better at thinking for yourself?

Chris Trevino is Vice President of Technology at The Judge Group, but some of the most useful lessons he brings to this conversation came long before AI. He spent five years serving aboard a nuclear submarine, where preparation mattered because when something went wrong, there wasn’t time to pull up a manual.

In this installment of the With Hat and Cattle AI Literacy Series, Chris joins host Dani Raschel Chou for a practical conversation about using AI without surrendering your judgment to it.

They talk about why fear keeps people from experimenting with AI, why critical thinking becomes more important as these tools improve, and how AI can give ordinary people the ability to build things that once required years of specialized training.

Chris also gives you something you can actually do today: A simple exercise for discovering how AI could make you more effective in your own work and life.

But using AI well also means knowing when not to use it. The conversation turns to digital privacy, personal information, confidential business data and the growing problem of employees using unauthorized AI tools without realizing the risk they may be creating.

You don’t need to become an AI expert after this episode.

You do need to keep learning.

Because the advantage isn’t letting AI think for you. It’s learning how to use better tools while becoming a better thinker.

Using ChatGPT at work? Want to learn more about AI privacy or shadow AI? As mentioned, this episode is part of our AI literacy series. Be sure to find the playlist on YouTube for more.

CHAPTERS

00:00 — When “this isn’t a drill” became real
00:01 — Using AI to prepare for meetings
00:05 — Why you should never outsource your thinking
00:07 — Building a life around preparation
00:11 — Leadership when you don’t like your teammates
00:17 — An emergency aboard a nuclear submarine
00:21 — Why training matters when pressure hits
00:25 — Leaving the Navy and starting over
00:29 — AI as a watershed technology
00:32 — Doing more without years of technical training
00:34 — What Dani learned from trying to vibe code
00:38 — The advantage of not being an expert
00:40 — Why failure makes you better
00:42 — Dani fact-checks the conversation
00:43 — Never used AI? Start here.
00:47 — What AI can find out about you
00:50 — Your digital footprint and personal privacy
00:54 — What not to put into an AI tool
00:56 — Shadow AI and the risk to businesses
00:58 — Your 10-minute challenge

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at [email protected]. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!