The Inciting Incident

This week, Tim sits down with scholar, spiritual detective, and author, Dr. Joanna Kujawa. She breaks down why UFO encounters, Marian apparitions, psychedelic visions, and ancient goddess traditions might actually be expressions of the same phenomenon arriving through different doorways of consciousness. Together they explore her book Alien Goddess, the dark side of AI, the rise of the feminine, a...

This week, Tim sits down with transformational teacher and intuitive channel Christy Whitman for a conversation that moves from corporate burnout to quantum flow to the moment she realized she could literally channel higher consciousness. Christy unpacks the inciting incidents that cracked her open: the emptiness beneath early career success, a cross-country move that dismantled her life, and the...

This week, Tim sits down with cognitive neuropsychologist and author Chris Niebauer, PhD, for a mind-bending conversation about consciousness, the illusion of the self, and why so many of us are trapped inside the stories our minds keep telling. Drawing from Chris's work at the intersection of neuroscience, Eastern philosophy, and the mechanics of thought itself, Tim and Chris explore the left vs....

This week, Tim sits down with Dr. Victoria Shaw, Princeton- and Columbia-trained cognitive psychologist turned intuitive counselor and spiritual guide. Dr. Shaw shares the moment her intellect met her intuition, how parenting cracked her open, and why the most meaningful transformations don't come from control, but surrender.   We explore intuition as a muscle, the difference between surrender and...

When two women from opposite worlds — a police officer turned "Brain Trainer" and a corporate executive turned "Friendly Toxin Slayer" — crossed paths, something ancient was reborn. Together, Billy Aadmi and Melissa Deally founded Amplify Impact Academy, a school for mastering the mind, body, and spirit through Timeline Therapy, NLP, and quantum transformation. In this conversation, Tim Shields ex...

When the systems he helped build no longer made sense, Forrest Wilson walked away from money, success, and certainty straight into awakening.  In this episode, Tim and Forrest trace his journey from the ache of success without purpose to a full-body awakening in the jungles of Thailand, and ultimately to the creation of Luminous Labs, where consciousness meets business, leadership, and collective...

This week, Tim sits down with Sebastian Schelper, CEO and founder of bq. Capital and former BMW strategist, to explore what it really means to lead and live with consciousness. From losing his father at age twelve to leading global innovation at BMW, Sebastian's journey reveals how tragedy, drive, and awakening can coexist in one life. Together, they explore how consciousness can become a competit...

Every once in a while, life cracks open in a way that makes you question everything. What's real, what matters, and who you actually are beneath the story you've been telling yourself. For Garrett Stevens, President of Hemi-Sync, that crack came at the height of his success on Wall Street, and it led him somewhere he never expected: into the frontier of consciousness itself.   In this episode, Tim...

What if UFOs, consciousness, and creativity are all connected? In this mind-expanding conversation, Alan Steinfeld—author of Making Contact and host of the long-running series New Realities—shares his decades of exploration into human potential, spirituality, and the mysteries of extraterrestrial contact.   Alan recounts the pivotal "inciting incidents" that shifted his life: a mystical awakening...

From the chaos of the late '90s nu metal scene to the quiet clarity of meditation in Joshua Tree, Wes Geer has lived through extremes most of us only read about. As a founding member of Hed PE and later guitarist for Korn, Wes was immersed in the excess of rock stardom. But his real story begins when it all fell apart.   In this episode, Wes opens up about the breaking point that pushed him into r...

What does it mean to live a life led by creativity? In this episode of The Inciting Incident, I sit down with Sam Bennett, author, teacher, actor, and lifelong artist, to explore the pathless path of art, trust, and surrender. From her early years producing kindergarten plays to performing improv alongside future comedy greats, Sam has lived at the intersection of discipline and discovery.  This i...

Katie Mares grew up fast, navigating challenges at home that most teenagers never face. Later, she found herself repeating cycles she swore she'd escape…until a single moment forced her to choose a different path. In this episode, Katie shares the pivotal lessons that carried her from survival to self-discovery, and how faith, awareness, and daily practices of gratitude helped her rebuild. Today,...

What happens when the pursuit of success costs you your health, identity, and soul? In this episode, I sit down with Erin Coupe, a former Goldman Sachs and CBRE executive who walked away from the high-stakes corporate grind after a breaking point of stress, illness, and inner turmoil. Erin shares her journey from chasing the "safe path" to experiencing a profound awakening that rerouted her life t...

What if the foods you eat could reprogram your body, mind, and future? 🌱 In this episode of Unlocking Our Higher Consciousness, host Tim Shields sits down with international thought leader and wellness pioneer Teri Cochrane. As the creator of The Cochrane Method and founder of the Global Sustainable Health Institute, Teri has guided world-class performers, changemakers, and everyday people to unl...

At 17, Jenna Phillips Ballard lay awake at night wishing she could watch her own funeral. A year later, she fell 14 feet through a hayloft, landed on concrete, and slipped into a coma. What should have been the end became the beginning, a second lease on life, a discovery of resilience, and eventually a mission to awaken greatness in others. From training Ben Stiller and Katy Perry, to working in...

When life throws curveballs, do you let circumstances dictate your story, or do you write your own outcome? Michele Phillips, aka "The Light Lady," has spent 25 years coaching Fortune 500 leaders and teams to rewire their habits, elevate their mindset, and lead from the heart. Her approach blends neuroscience, positive psychology, and a healthy dose of lived wisdom.    In this episode, Michele sha...

One split-second accident could have ended his career. Instead, Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen transformed unimaginable loss into a life of music, art, and service. In this powerful conversation, Rick opens up about his journey from teenage rock prodigy to surviving a devastating car crash that claimed his left arm — and the rebirth that followed. He shares how resilience, creativity, and communit...

Lauren Monroe's journey began in a Queens, New York, Catholic household filled with folk songs, transcendental meditation, and whispered wisdom from the unseen. By age six, she was channeling mystical experiences into song and hands-on healing long before she had words for what she was doing. In this conversation, Lauren and I travel through the sacred and the human: the heartbreak of childhood is...

When Dr. Greg Eckel followed the Grateful Dead at 17, he didn't know the trail would lead him through psychedelic awakenings, preschool classrooms, devastating personal loss, and regenerative medicine. In this episode, we get into it all. Dr. Greg and I dive into bioenergetics, whales and soul contracts, protein misfolding, and the radical idea that your brain can regenerate even after trauma. If...

What happens when the human body breaks, but the soul breaks open?   In this soul-stretching episode, I sit down with Kimberly Meredith, a medical intuitive and trance channeler whose life changed after two near-death experiences. From hospital trauma to healing with her hands, Kimberly's journey is a story of divine interruption, spiritual downloads, and surrender to a path she never saw coming....

Today, I am joined by Dr. Daniel Branco, author on consciousness and spirituality, neuroscientist, astrophotographer, and biotech executive. Daniel's book, Spiriduality, presents the case that consciousness may be more real than the brain and gives readers the tools to build a better life and a better world based on that new understanding. Tune in to dive into subjective and objective reality, vie...

What happens when an Air Force intelligence briefer turns into a mystic explorer and discovers his soul's assignment? This week on The Inciting Incident, I get to sit down with Josiah Brandt, founder of the School of Imagination and modern-day steward of Neville Goddard's teachings. What begins as a story of ambition and military precision soon becomes a tale of mystical initiation, near-death rev...

When William Trubridge dives into the ocean's depths, he leaves more than the surface behind—he lets go of time, thoughts, even the sensation of having a body. In this episode, I got to sit down with William to learn how freediving became a gateway not just to world records, but to profound states of consciousness, stillness, and surrender. He opens up about the spiritual experience of falling int...

Warning: This episode may upend everything you thought you knew about sex, intimacy, and grief.   This week, Dr. Laura Berman - Oprah's go-to sex therapist, bestselling author, and spiritual explorer - joins me for an unfiltered, soul-baring conversation that swings from the ecstatic to the excruciating.   From the electrifying energy of sex magic to the gut-wrenching transformation of grief, Dr....

This week on The Inciting Incident, I sat down with renowned futurist John Petersen for a mind-bending journey through time, consciousness, and the unseen forces shaping our world. From out-of-body experiences and remote viewing to the role of extraterrestrials, artificial intelligence, and quantum consciousness, we explore the most urgent questions of our time.   Tune in for a deep dive into the...