and then I did this

After two layoffs and more than 20 years in corporate HR, Melissa Grabiner stopped waiting for someone else to decide her future. She bet on herself. In this episode of And Then I Did This, LuRae Lumpkin sits down with Melissa, an entrepreneur, job search coach, business advisor, two-time LinkedIn Top Voice, and yoga instructor, to talk about what really happens on the hiring side of the table and...

If the life you worked hard to build no longer feels like your own, this conversation is a reminder that you are allowed to choose again. Intuitive energetic healer, spiritual teacher, retreat leader, and author Julie Mullins joins LuRae Lumpkin from Bali to share how travel, healing, and the courage to start over helped her move beyond an acting career that had stopped feeling fulfilling. Julie e...

He was supposed to become a doctor. Instead, six-time founder Cory Blumenfeld walked away from medicine to build companies in industries he knew nothing about — eventually creating a life by the beach in Mexico while helping business owners reclaim their time. In this episode, Cory joins LuRae Lumpkin to unpack why execution matters more than having the perfect idea, how to validate a real problem...

What happens when the life that looks successful no longer feels like your own? Award-winning speaker, author, leadership coach, and mental health advocate Erica Gifford Mills joins LuRae Lumpkin to talk about the courage it takes to stop performing, listen to the purpose that keeps calling, and build a life rooted in who you truly are. Erica shares how personal loss clarified her mission, why she...

Mark Young knows what it feels like to lose touch with who you are. After childhood trauma and years of trying to think and talk his way back to himself, he hit a wall that no amount of reasoning could get him past. That search led him to create the Somatic Plasticity™ 78 Day Reset, a process designed to help people reconnect with their bodies and feel at home within themselves again. In this epis...

Edith Vincent spent years as a police officer before anxiety, health struggles, and a nervous system stuck in survival mode forced a reckoning. Today she's a hypnotherapist, yoga and meditation teacher, and sound healing practitioner. In this conversation, Edith and LuRae explore the difference between fear and misalignment, why changing your scenery doesn't change your patterns, and why calm brin...

Nat Berman spent seven years in a career that never quite fit, recruiting for Wall Street firms while quietly working on his own projects after hours. Then a friend's email about a blogging platform gave him the opening he had been waiting for, and within nine months he walked away from the safe path for good. In this episode, LuRae and Nat trace the whole journey: the fear of cold calling strange...

What happens when the life you worked hard to build no longer feels like it fits? Dave Crane has reinvented himself more than once, from a young entertainer in Scotland to a BBC journalist, radio leader, international host, speaker, and mentor. In this candid conversation, he shares what it took to move through rejection, career pivots, pandemic stress, and the pressure to keep proving himself. Da...

Mona Loring built one of the most recognized entertainment PR agencies in the world, repping clients at the Academy Awards level. By every measure, she had made it. And she was completely miserable. In this episode, Mona joins host LuRae Lumpkin to talk honestly about what it felt like to be successful on paper while quietly falling out of alignment with herself. She walks through how she stumbled...

Justin Michael returns to And Then I Did This for a powerful second conversation about reinvention, surrender, and the courage to let go of the identity you've spent years building. After climbing the corporate ladder in SaaS sales — working at Salesforce, LinkedIn, and 13 startups — Justin was offered his dream role as a Chief Revenue Officer at 40. But when the deal came with strings attached, h...

LuRae sits down with JD Tremblay, an ultra-endurance athlete and former military member who's completed feats only three people in the world have achieved—including the Epic Deca (10 Ironmans in 10 days across Hawaii). JD opens up about the terrifying transition from a highly structured military life to entrepreneurship, the financial devastation of divorce, and the moment he realized his entire i...

In this episode, Jonathan Maharaj shares his journey from growing up in the political instability of Fiji to building a thriving international financial and business advisory practice. Jonathan is a CFO strategist and financial advisor who believes the best business decisions start with clarity, not spreadsheets. With two decades of experience guiding startups to global brands through make-or-brea...

Quintina Sonnie shares her remarkable journey from trafficking survivor to Somatic Alchemist, guiding ambitious women to reclaim their power. She helps them reconnect to the wisdom of their bodies. After experiencing a tumultuous childhood, false accusations that led to 43 days in jail, and being trafficked at 19, Quintina discovered that traditional mindset work and therapy weren't enough to tran...

Sami Akkawi shares his unconventional journey from consulting for private equity firms to co-founding Petra Labs, an AI-powered brand visibility marketing startup. After conducting nearly 1,000 interviews with senior marketing professionals at companies such as Nike and Pepsi, Sammi identified a critical gap: brands have no visibility into how AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity describe them to...

Before becoming a strategic advisor, she was an architect — designing structures built to stand the test of time. That same thinking shapes everything she does today. The women she works with have already built something remarkable. But when the stakes get higher, clarity doesn't always come easy. Most high-achieving women are navigating their biggest decisions alone. That's where everything chang...

LuRae sits down with Justin Michael, bestselling author of 10 books and former sales leader at Salesforce and LinkedIn. Justin shares his journey from telemarketing boiler rooms to training teams at global companies like HubSpot, and reveals the secret behind helping over 250 startups and 1,000 individuals double or even 5X their income. He breaks down why traditional sales methods fail in today's...

What does it really take to make a bold life change? In this heartfelt conversation, host LuRae Lumpkin sits down with Sipra Halteman to explore the courage required to transform your life, even when the path is unclear. Sipra shares her journey from the Midwest to Silicon Valley's Twitter headquarters, and ultimately to founding Shift Society. She opens up life events, navigating burnout, and dis...

In this episode, LuRae sits down with 25-year-old Milena Dujakovich, the powerhouse behind Laguna Beach’s Wild Strawberry Café. After graduating with a finance degree and working in a corporate role, Milena made the life-empowering decision to leave the illusion of a steady paycheck to pursue a more intentional and heart-centered life. She shares how her early exposure to entrepreneurship shaped h...

See how you can transform your life with the 4,000 Mondays mindset. "From Corporate Stapler to 4,000 Mondays: How Death Became Her Life Coach" Jodi Wellman spent 17 years climbing the corporate ladder until a simple stapler changed everything. After promising herself twice that she'd leave before running out of staples (and breaking that promise both times), she realized she was living in a "self-...

LuRae sits down with Iain Morrison, co-founder of The Imagination Collaborative, to walk through his remarkable entrepreneurial journey from concert stages to cutting-edge tech. With over 35 years in global event production, Iain shares how the pandemic influenced a career transition that became his catalyst for reinvention. He opens up about walking away from financial security to chase scalable...

LuRae speaks with transformational Mindset Coach Ruta Stasiunaite, founder of Redefining Success. She provides mentorship and guidance for high-achievers seeking deep fulfillment and those who want to live authentically. Ruta shares her powerful journey from corporate project manager to traveling the world as a soul-centered coach. She helps others escape societal “shoulds” and discover a purpose-...

LuRae sits down with Charley Johnson, former business mogul turned Chief Consciousness Officer. They explore how the collapse of traditional systems is creating space for radical clarity, neutrality, and purpose in both work and life. Charley shares his profound personal transformation, shaped by spiritual mentorship and corporate breakdowns. He makes a powerful case for integrating consciousness...

LuRae sits down with Marc Longwith, founder of Evolved Entrepreneur , to unpack what it really takes to shift from autopilot to authenticity. Marc shares how growing up in Las Vegas, working in nightlife, and becoming a professional MMA fighter shaped his path toward personal development and business mentoring. From dismantling subconscious programming to defining success on your own terms, this c...

Ever feel like you’re trapped in a life that no longer serves you? In this episode, Alana Light shares her journey from corporate burnout to a life of deep fulfillment.  After years of saying yes to things that drained her, Alana faced a health crisis that forced her to reconsider everything.  She discovered the power of positive psychology, self-inquiry, and radical alignment—and now he...

Leaving a stable corporate job can feel terrifying, but what if it was the best decision you ever made? In this episode, Casey Hald shares his journey from being a senior product designer at NASDAQ and Experian to becoming the founder of Birdstreet.co. He reveals how an unexpected layoff pushed him to take control of his career, the challenges of freelancing, and why the fear of instability is oft...