FailCraft

If you expect an international trip to be a flawless, relaxing vacation, you are setting yourself up for a massive failure. Ann Craig-Cinnamon and John Cinnamon have traveled to over 120 countries and all seven continents during their 30-year marriage. As the authors of *Travel is No Vacation: A Love Story*, they have traded pristine beaches for the gritty, unpredictable, and sometimes terrifying...

Are you suffering from "Superhero Syndrome"? Many founders look incredibly successful on the outside but are secretly drowning in their own operations because they refuse to let go of control. Renee Hastings, President and CEO of Executive Help Now, joins the show to share her incredible journey from being a 16-year-old single mother on food stamps to building a career supporting the C-s...

Why do most corporate innovation projects crash and burn, even when the technology is flawless? Bruno Pešec is a master at fixing broken innovation. He has advised some of the biggest companies in the world, helping senior leaders unlock €1 billion in new revenue. But Bruno isn't just a boardroom strategist—he's a martial artist with 30 years of training who runs his own dojo. In this epis...

What do you do when the very people who are supposed to understand you—your own family and community—make you feel completely unseen? Tiffany Smith, a multi-creative professional based in New York City, grew up feeling like a total outsider in her own ecosystem. Instead of shrinking to fit in or pretending to blend, she realized early on that biology is not destiny, and you are under no obligation...

Did your high school guidance counselor ever make you feel like working with your hands was just a "Plan B"? Michael Cappa, founder of Altona Painting, is here to completely dismantle the outdated stigma surrounding skilled labor. After running a $90,000 student painting business at just 18 years old, Michael realized that the real world rewards execution, not just degrees. However, his...

What happens when a highly successful entrepreneur takes off the armor and admits that they didn't just build companies—they broke them? Chris Shurian has lived nine business lives in one. He has built a $15 million construction company, developed resorts, and founded restaurants. But in this episode, Chris strips away the highlight reel to talk about his battle scars. He opens up about the de...

What goes through your mind when you finish writing a memoir about your own addiction, just minutes before walking out of a prison dayroom for the last time? Andrew Drasen, author of A Vision of Hope, survived years of heroin addiction, overdoses, and incarceration. But surviving isn't the same as living. In this episode, Andrew explains why simply "healing" or "getting sober&qu...

Are you falling for the toxic myth of the "overnight viral sensation"? John Voelz, a full-time musician, former pastor, and author of Becoming an Idea Mentalist, joins the show to dismantle the illusions of the modern creative industry. He exposes the reality that building a sustainable life as an artist isn't about waiting for a random stroke of luck—it's about treating your cre...

Why does it feel like no matter how hard you work, you are constantly falling behind financially? Paul Musson, a veteran investment professional who managed over $10 billion in assets, joins the show to explain exactly how the economic system is quietly draining your wealth. As the author of *Capital Offence*, Paul breaks down the dangerous difference between "money" and "capital,&q...

Do you have a dream you’ve been sitting on for years, but you secretly feel like you’ve "aged out" or it’s simply too late to start? Buddy Howard spent decades as a high-stakes Mergers & Acquisitions executive and financial expert witness. But at age 67, he decided to completely start over as a novice and publish his debut legal thriller, The Burden of Evidence. This episode dives in...

Why do so many expensive corporate leadership programs end up collecting dust in a drawer? Maren Perry, Founder & CEO of Arden Coaching, has spent nearly two decades navigating the messy, human side of leadership. She joins the show to reveal why traditional leadership training fails (hint: it's not a lack of data) and how to break through the egos and excuses of highly resistant executive...

Do you feel like you are just drifting through life—going through the motions, lacking pride, and secretly knowing you aren't living up to your potential? Maxim Shapiro, a Men’s Action Life Coach, knows that feeling intimately. For 40 years, he lived a "rudderless" life, trapped in a cycle of high-functioning depression and self-deception. It took a brutal wake-up call and the fierce...

Dianna Deeney is a product development expert with over 25 years of experience spanning the manufacturing floor to leading design teams. She specializes in the "fuzzy front end" of creation, helping engineering teams transform early-stage ideas into clear, user-focused designs. Dianna is the founder of Quality During Design, the author of "Pierce the Design Fog," and the creato...

What happens when the financial expert who supposedly "has it all figured out" loses everything and ends up on food stamps? Chris Miles, founder of Money Ripples and the "Anti-Financial Advisor," achieved the ultimate dream of retiring at age 28. But when the Great Recession hit, his real estate portfolio crumbled, leaving him over $1,000,000 in debt. Facing foreclosure, repo m...

What do you do when your life spirals into complete chaos—navigating an unexpected divorce, two kids at home, and the sudden, terrifying birth of micro-preemie twins weighing less than two pounds each? Tami Gaines, founder of Sage Enterprises and author of Preemie Parents, shares the raw, emotional story of living inside the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Instead of crumbling under the relen...

Are you pushing your teenager onto a "conveyor belt" toward a 4-year college just because it's what you are supposed to do? Prasant Nukalapati, an admissions expert and founder of What Comes Next Ed Consulting, has spent 27 years watching the traditional high-school-to-college pipeline leave too many students feeling anxious, lost, and directionless. In this episode, he exposes the m...

Do you feel like you are stuck in an endless scroll, mindlessly consuming content, or burning out on dating apps that never lead to real connection? Tobias Mark Jensen, a legal technology expert and author of Death to Algorithms, joins the show to expose the invisible forces shaping our daily lives. He breaks down how the algorithms we trust for entertainment, romance, and information are fundamen...

What do you do when the only life plan you ever had—being a stay-at-home mom—suddenly ends in divorce after 21 years? Lorie Kleiner Eckert found herself facing this exact crisis at age 42. Instead of freezing, she decided to turn her hobby of quilting into a professional speaking career—inventing a "quilt lecture circuit" that didn't even exist! Fast forward 30 years, and Lorie is no...

How do you keep living when the banks take your properties, your personal belongings, and lock you out of your own home while slapping you with a $5,000,000 debt? Roy Coughlan, a serial entrepreneur who has founded over 20 companies across 5 countries, shares the harrowing reality of losing everything during the 2008 financial crash. He opens up about the devastating emotional toll of watching his...

Why do smart leaders make terrible decisions under pressure? And why does giving feedback often backfire and ruin team morale? Yosi Kossowsky, an executive coach and former Chief Technology Officer, joins the show to explain the fascinating neuroscience behind leadership failures. He breaks down how our brains literally shut off access to our executive thinking function (the prefrontal cortex) whe...

What do you do when you've dedicated nearly 30 years to the corporate IT world, only to have your position eliminated right before your 60th birthday? Jim Hauck, founder of JP Hauck Adventures and co-host of the *Life in the Baggage Claim* podcast, shares the reality of facing a forced career pivot later in life. Instead of desperately searching for another corporate job, Jim decided to walk a...

How do you go from flipping burgers as an immigrant kid in Dallas to being named the "Oracle of Austin" by Forbes and managing a multi-billion-dollar real estate empire? You fail. A lot. Ari Rastegar, Private Equity CEO and author of the *New York Times* bestseller *The Gift of Failure*, sits down to share the unfiltered truth about what it really takes to scale to the top. He opens up a...

Andrea LeDew was trained as a lawyer to fight with briefs and contracts, but when the systems around her began to fail, she found a different weapon: creative writing and poetry. In this episode, Andrea shares her journey of stepping away from a legal career to raise a child with autism and intellectual disabilities. She opens up about the heartbreaking moment her son internalized the cruelty of s...

What happens when a West Point graduate and combat veteran takes his hypervigilance to Wall Street, only to realize the "tough it out" mentality is slowly killing him? Omar Ritter, a former Army officer and CFO, shares his incredible journey of surviving war, corporate burnout, and an 18-hour brain surgery. He opens up about the devastating string of suicides among his friends that serve...

What happens when your picture-perfect life is shattered overnight, and the dream you were building suddenly disappears? Chanoa Inez, author of *Dream On* and creator of MAGNETIZE YOUR PERSONAL BRAND™, shares the devastating story of losing her boyfriend suddenly while on a trip to Montenegro. She opens up about the dark years that followed, how the trauma manifested as physical health issues, and...