Sol Meets Heart

Scarlett Feltrin — holistic coach, trauma coach, and breathwork facilitator behind Scarlett Coaching in Lake Cowichan, BC — joins Hugo to talk about the hospital hallway moment that got her sober on October 5, 2019, why she spent decades not feeling "safe to feel," and what really happens in a breathwork trauma-release session. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/s...

Rick Hoppe spent 33 years in Army infantry, counterintelligence, and the Defense Intelligence Agency — including a stint on General Petraeus's staff during the Iraq surge — before turning that same pattern-reading eye inward as a memoirist, novelist, and creator of the “Eight Stages” framework for how revolutions form. In this episode, Rick and Hugo talk prediction, PTSD, veteran suicide and the “...

Sam Mitchell was diagnosed with autism at four and turned a junior high media class assignment into Autism Rocks and Rolls — a 200+ episode nonprofit podcast that's hosted Dr. Temple Grandin, Mick Foley, and a dozen pro wrestlers. In this episode, Sam and Hugo talk stigma, structure, AI's double-edged role in the autism community, media representation, and why he says he's “not broken” and doesn't...

Dr. Amber Murphy — biomechanist, CEO of CompuSport, and former Florida Gator hurdler — breaks down the science behind elite speed: the hurdling technique she says is flat-out wrong, the one mechanical flaw even pros can't fix, and why nourishing your body matters more than any stopwatch. She also shares what it's like being one of the only women in a male-dominated field, and leaves us with a mess...

Heidi Dunstan is a certified grief educator, four-time bestselling co-author, and international speaker who's brought her work on grief and legacy to Harvard and Oxford — all after losing her husband Mike suddenly and performing CPR on him herself. She joins Hugo to talk about why "I'm sorry for your loss" doesn't work, what to say instead, and how grief and love end up being the same thing. Becom...

On 9/11, jazz pianist Rick Delarada watched the towers fall from his rooftop and wrote a poem that became Jazz for Peace — 25 years and over 850 concerts later, it's funded hundreds of nonprofits worldwide. Rick joins Hugo to talk about turning grief into mission, performing in conflict zones from Rwanda to Pakistan, recording with the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road, and what it really ta...

Daniel Sterling — former top-ten U.S. ski racer, ex-TV news reporter, and author of the memoir Hungry — joins Hugo to talk about the night he nearly went to prison for cocaine possession, the job he didn't get that changed his entire life, and the mentor who taught him that the best example is a bad example. Daniel now runs a monthly men's group in Denver and writes the newsletter Shared Space. Be...

Belle Gayer — married 54 years and the writer behind over 27,000 answered relationship questions on Quora — joins Hugo to break down what actually makes love last: communication, focus, devotion, and flexibility, and why she says true love is a myth but enduring love is real. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sol-meets-heart--3691166/support .

Natalie — part of the Kink Collective and a professional dominatrix — joins Hugo for an honest conversation about trust, boundaries, and communication in relationships, and how her path led to healing childhood trauma and reconnecting with her own body. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sol-meets-heart--3691166/support .

Indra Rinsler — Vedic astrologer, Enneagram teacher since 1999, and author of the new book Indra's Net — joins Hugo to talk about 20 years raising kids in an ashram, why "it's through me, not by me," and the one spiritual practice he'd hand down after 50 years of study: love yourself. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sol-meets-heart--3691166/support .

Nina Thiara, personal growth coach and founder of the Becoming You community, spent 18 years healing from chronic over-functioning — anxiety, insomnia, and self-abandonment that looked like strength from the outside. She and Hugo talk boundaries as self-love, nervous system healing, and why she believes healing is remembering who you were, not becoming someone new. Become a supporter of this podca...

Elias Curtis, co-founder of Transform Design (started with his wife in 2009, incorporated in 2015), joins Hugo to talk building a subscription-based creative agency, running a business with your spouse, and why he's now designing for AI search — GEO — instead of just Google. They also get into creative perfectionism, faith, and letting go of control. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www...

 Sol Meets Heart welcomes Beth Lynch — a spiritual medium, meditation teacher, and author with nearly 30 years of experience bridging the seen and unseen. Beth opens up about the night she heard her mother's voice at the exact moment of a fatal train accident, and how that experience launched a lifelong path into mediumship. We talk about: Hearing her mother's voice again during her son's birth Go...

Some people find their calling. Others are forged by it. Karen Rudolf — nurse, licensed spiritual healer, nine-time international best-selling author, and founder of Tranquil SOULutions — joins Hugs on Sol Meets Heart for an unforgettable conversation about silence, survival, and spiraling up. She opens up about the classroom moment at age five that stole her voice for decades, leaving a medical c...

Most coaches talk about mindset. Debbie Longo starts somewhere else entirely — with behavior. And the distinction, she'll tell you, changes everything. In this episode, Hugs sits down with Debbie Longo, founder of Life in Bloom NY, executive behavioral coach with over 20 years of experience, and host of both the Behavioral Profit Show and the Internal Shift Show. After 19 years of coaching clients...

Alan Lazaros lost his father in a car accident before he could even remember him. He went on to do everything right — top engineering school, MBA, corporate career, elite global earner. And then at 26, he was in a near-fatal car accident of his own. Same way his dad died. And that's when everything cracked open. In this episode, Hugs sits down with Alan — host of one of the world's top 100 persona...

Regina Calderone didn't follow a blueprint. She followed her passion and it led her somewhere she never expected. In this episode, Hugs sits down with his friend Regina, founder of RCP Team, a full-service high-volume youth sports and school photography company based in Fairfield County, Connecticut. In just three years, Regina grew her business by over 300% and then grew it another 75% after that...

What happens when you put desire, healing, and spirituality in the same room? You get a conversation like this one. Cat Orme is a counselor, educator, and co-founder of the Kink Collective — a community built on one foundational belief: people before kink. In this episode, Cat joins Hugs for one of the most honest, layered, and boundary-expanding conversations Sol Meets Heart has had yet. Cat open...

This week on Sol Meets Heart, Hugs reconnects with his former Philadelphia neighbor JG (Justin Geller) — sound designer, light architect, music producer, and one of those rare people who just makes the world feel more alive. JG's career is built on saying yes before he knows how, learning fast, and translating the invisible into something you can walk through and feel. They cover his journey from...

Hugo reconnects with an old friend — Josh "CBJ" McKenzie, master barber and owner of The Craft Salon Suite in Grand Prairie, Texas. They hadn't seen each other in over a decade, but some conversations pick right back up like no time passed at all. Josh traces his journey from a kid secretly practicing fades on his little brother with a pair of broken clippers from his grandmother's closet, to beco...

Hugo sits down with Jad El Reda — sports editor at LA Times en Español, son of Lebanese immigrants, born in Colombia, raised between cultures, and now rooted in Los Angeles. Three worlds. One man. And a story that doesn't fit neatly into any box. Jad opens up about what it means to carry multiple identities at once — feeling the weight of what's happening in Lebanon and Colombia simultaneously, gr...

Hugo sits down with Amanda Dollinger — meditation teacher, spiritual guide, branding creative, and someone he's admired from afar for years. This one goes deep. Amanda opens up about resisting her calling for as long as she possibly could, the "innumerable ego deaths" it took to finally accept who she is, and what happens when you spend years trying to fit a gift into a mold that was never made fo...

Hugo sits down with Alex Withmory — a fellow Peruvian, a wildly talented drummer, and someone Hugo has been rooting for since they crossed paths on a music video set seven years ago. In this one, they get into what it was like coming to LA barely knowing English, finding your footing in a music scene where Peruvians are few and far between, and how stubbornness can be your greatest strength and yo...

Hugo sits down with longtime friend and digital artist Rey Paez for a raw, real conversation about what it means to keep creating when the world feels like it's working against you. Rey opens up about a tough year — slow commissions, quiet events, and the economic pressure that makes every artist ask "is this still worth it?" — and why he keeps picking up the pencil anyway. They go deep on AI: Rey...

What happens when a sports journalist, a community radio kid, and a whole lot of heart walk into a podcast? This. In this episode of Sol Meets Heart, Hugo sits down with Sacramento-area sports journalist Jeremiah Salmonson — beat writer for the Kings and A's, co-host of the Section 105 podcast, and one of the most authentically hardworking people in the game. Jeremiah opens up about what it really...