FailCraft

What is it really liketo be the guy responsible for keeping a massive, multi-million dollar Hollywoodblockbuster on track when chaos strikes and egos collide? Michael Mandaville is a legendary film producer, line producer,and Director's Guild of America unit production manager. With 25 years ofexperience in the trenches of major cinematic milestones, Michael has managedthe logistics, timelines...

What do you do whenthe identity you spent your entire life building is permanently stripped awayby an incurable diagnosis? Liam Wakefield spent 11 years as a soldier in the BritishArmy, serving in Afghanistan and building his life around the tough, unyieldingstructure of military culture. Just before his 30th birthday, a diagnosis of arare, incurable genetic condition forced a sudden medical disch...

What is it really liketo step into a corporate leadership position at just 23 years old and be forcedto manage a boardroom full of people who are twice your age? Dom Brightmon is a certified Maxwell Leadership trainer,bestselling author, and the host of the Going North podcast. After jumping into the deep end as one of the youngest Toastmasters AreaDirectors in the organization's history, Dom...

What if thecomforting, romanticized fairy tale society tells about adoption is actuallypreventing families from healing? Jean Kelly Widner is an award-winning author, researcher, andadvocate who is tearing down the "Hallmark movie" veneer surroundingprivate infant adoption. Adopted as an infant in 1965, Jean grew up in a homethat looked perfect on the outside but was privately fractured...

What happens whenasking the simple question "Why?" becomes an act of rebellion in yourown country? Tony El is an author, historian, and the creator ofthe Project Third-Eye Opened podcast. He believes thatsociety is suffering from a massive failure of knowledge and a loss of criticalthinking. Refusing to accept the mainstream narrative, Tony argues that thetrue history of America—and spec...

What do you do whenyou have a mortgage, a new baby, and the secure corporate job you relied onvanishes overnight? Nandita Brahmbhatt spent 12 years thriving in pharmaceuticalsales until a sudden company-wide redundancy pulled the rug out from under her. Terrified by the loss of control, she vowed never to let a boss hold herfinancial future hostage again. She leaped into entrepreneurship, only tod...

What do you do whenthe wild, unregulated industry that gave you your identity suddenly goescorporate? You pick up a camera and start completely over. Jeremy Norrie has lived multiple lifetimes. From working inthe trenches of the early MMA scene as a journalist to growing award-winningproducts in the "Wild West" era of the cannabis industry, Jeremylived a fast-paced, high-risk lifestyle....

What happens when thesystem designed to protect a nation becomes a toxic, pressure-cookerenvironment that breaks the very sailors operating it? Mr. Whiskey is a U.S. Navy veteran, speaker, and thefounder of Couple O' Nukes . Trained to operate nuclear reactors onan aircraft carrier, he found himself trapped in a command climate thateventually made national headlines for record-setting suicide...

What happens when youcheck every single box of traditional success—the six-figure career, thefamily, the community accolades—but privately, you are drowning in alcoholismand a brutal inner critic? Paul Flood is a transformational guide and the founderof The Optimistic Heart . He spent decades matching hisdegree in Organizational Behavior with high-profile corporate sales andmarketing roles. But be...

What happens when you spend 40 years mastering a craft, only to start entirely from scratch in a completely different field? Kirk Voclain spent four decades as a master photographer in South Louisiana, capturing high school seniors, real estate, and commercial work. After surviving the death of film and building a highly successful business, Kirk decided to become a rookie again. He recently debut...

What happens when you spend 20 years building a digital agency, only for an expert valuer to tell you your business is practically worthless because AI is taking over your entire industry? Wes Towers is the founder of Uplift 360, a digital agency that helps builders and tradespeople dominate online. After facing a brutal, eye-opening business valuation that flagged AI as an existential threat to h...

What do you do when your marriage is falling apart, but your spouse absolutely refuses to go to therapy? Veronica Nabizadeh is a divorce attorney, mediator, and the author of Don’t Throw in the Towel Yet! Known as "The Battle-Weary Wife Whisperer," Veronica has seen exactly how ugly and expensive the legal end of a marriage gets. But her greatest lesson didn't come from a courtroom—i...

What do you do when your resume looks like a random series of accidents, career gaps, and failed pivots instead of a strategic plan? Siena Dean is a talent development expert who specializes in the exact problem we've all faced: the resume that just doesn't make sense. As the Senior Engagement Manager at Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT), Siena has helped over 500 diverse profession...

What happens when you spend your entire life mistaking compliance for kindness and silence for respect? Amy Lou Jenkins is an award-winning author, nurse, and educator who spent decades contained by the cultural scripts in her head. Raised in a volatile household where silence was a survival mechanism, she eventually realized that staying quiet wasn't protecting her—it was erasing her. At age...

What do you do when you are handed a billion-dollar responsibility that you are entirely unqualified for, simply because no one else in the room wants to do it? Larry O'Nan is a non-profit consultant and author who has helped organizations raise over $150 million globally. But his staggering career wasn't built on having all the answers. In 1977, Larry was sitting in a high-stakes meeting...

What do you do when the corporate identity you spent 15 years building is stripped away in a single meeting? Andre W. Thornton was a high-flying engineering director at Lockheed Martin, overseeing 2,000 people and capturing billions in business. But a sudden corporate reorganization left him without a title, a team, or a trajectory. Plunged into a massive identity crisis, Andre had to learn how to...

What happens when your absolute certainty as a leader becomes the exact thing that destroys your business? Tyler Chisholm is the CEO of clearmotive, a national marketing agency, and the author of *Curious as Hell*. But before he was running a thriving firm and hosting over 600 podcast episodes, he was surviving on $1,200 in Los Angeles, literally washing his dishes in a bathtub. Years later, he ne...

What do you do when the corporate ladder you've been climbing is the exact thing making you terminally ill? Simon Luthi spent years chasing the standard definition of success, climbing to the top as a C-suite executive. But his body began pulling the emergency brake—resulting in three near-death experiences, a paralyzing autoimmune disease, and a devastating cancer diagnosis. Simon realized th...

What do you do when you discover that your quiet, dignified father spent his childhood trapped in a Polish brothel? Shirley Novack was told by a teacher at age nine that she would be a great writer. But growing up in a highly negative household where her parents told her college was "a waste of time and money for a girl," Shirley buried that dream. She spent decades pursuing other paths—...

What do you do when the drive that built your multi-million dollar company is actively destroying your health? Craig Cooke started his digital agency in 1996 with just $1,300 and an Apple computer. Over a 26-year marathon as CEO, he grew the company into an Inc. 5000 powerhouse. But behind closed doors, the grueling schedule and relentless pressure led to extreme burnout and a full-on diabetes dia...

What do you do when you’ve climbed the ladder in a high-profile broadcast television career, only to realize you are completely running on empty? Michael Klassen spent years as a veteran broadcast producer, chasing the next big story in the fast-paced, high-stress world of news and sports. But despite the external accolades, he felt a deep hunger for truth and spiritual filling that a corporate ne...

What do you do when you are days away from moving back home, drowning in debt, and sharing a two-bedroom apartment with 20 other people? You fake a resume and bluff your way into the television industry. Gary DeFranco is an Emmy-nominated television executive producer who has spent two decades running hit reality shows like *The Ultimate Fighter* and Street Outlaws. But before he was navigating th...

What do you do when the career you’ve dedicated 30 years of your life to fires you in the exact same week you are diagnosed with breast cancer? Kay A. Oliver spent three decades as a screenwriter and producer in Hollywood, only to be repeatedly told by studio executives that her highly intelligent, female-driven stories were "unmarketable." When a devastating cancer diagnosis cost her bo...

What happens when you spend 30 years sacrificing your own happiness to take care of everyone else, only to wake up at age 50 and realize you have absolutely no hopes or dreams of your own? Debbie Weiss is a best-selling author, speaker, and entrepreneur who spent decades trapped in a profound victim mentality. Overwhelmed by family caregiving, weight struggles, and unimaginable grief, Debbie’s int...

What happens when you keep your head down, work harder than everyone else, and wait patiently for a promotion—only for your boss to tell you they completely "forgot" about you? Kendall Berg, known online as "That Career Coach," spent five years stuck in "corporate purgatory." She was a high-performer doing the work of a director with the title of a manager, but she ke...