Control or Be Controlled

What happens when life takes everything you thought you could control—and forces you to rebuild from the ground up? Today’s guest is Buddy Clay, a father, entrepreneur, author, and founder of New Hope Healthcare Institute in Knoxville, Tennessee. At just 36 years old, Buddy was married, raising two young daughters, expecting a third child, and building his life when he received a devastating stage...

Today’s guest is Ashley Gaffney, a mindset speaker who transformed her experiences with toxic environments, survival mode, and unhealthy patterns into a powerful message about personal growth and intentional living. Ashley speaks openly about how unhealed patterns, emotional triggers, habits, and survival-based thinking can influence our relationships, decisions, and everyday lives. After recogniz...

What if the habits you build in your personal life are directly shaping the success of your business? In this episode, Darlington sits down with Reid Zeising, Founder and CEO of GAIN, a health-tech company operating at the intersection of insurance, healthcare, and complex injury claims. Reid shares how he scaled GAIN from the ground up to more than 120 employees and a $150M+ run-rate—and why he b...

Carolyn Sophia Skowron shares a powerful story of overcoming mental health struggles, adversity, and self-doubt to discover resilience, purpose, and hope. After a life-threatening car accident and learning she had Nonverbal Learning Disability (NVLD), Carolyn began a transformative journey through therapy, mindfulness, and self-reflection. Today, she is an author and public speaker passionate abou...

In this powerful episode of CONTROL OR BE CONTROLLED, Darlington sits down with psychotherapist Ward Lassoe to explore the extraordinary life of Diane—a woman whose childhood was marked by abandonment, abuse, homelessness, and unimaginable hardship, yet who refused to let her past determine the person she would become. What began as a simple fifteen-minute classroom assignment during Ward’s gradua...

What happens when a 30-year Hollywood veteran looks at the entertainment industry and decides it doesn’t need to be saved—it needs to be reinvented? Today, I’m joined by Scott Hadley Morgan , an award-winning writer, producer, and director who has spent decades working across Hollywood, technology, finance, and emerging media. Mentored by industry legends and having written for and worked with maj...

What happens when you’re excellent at earning money—but haven’t given the same attention to what happens to it next? In this episode of CONTROL OR BE CONTROLLED , Darlington sits down with Paul Carroll , CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and founder and CEO of Avion Wealth , to explore the financial decisions that can determine whether a successful career ultimately translates into lasting financial se...

What if the biggest thing standing between you and the life you want isn’t your circumstances—but the way you think about them? Today’s guest is David Taylor-Klaus , a serial entrepreneur, master coach, and bestselling author who has spent more than three decades helping entrepreneurs, executives, and leaders perform at a higher level without losing sight of what matters most. David is the author...

What if the thing holding you back isn’t a lack of clarity—but hesitation? In this episode of Control or Be Controlled , Karen Theimer shares how divorce, cancer, and personal reinvention led her to discover a deeper truth about transformation: sometimes we know exactly what we want, but our nervous system keeps pulling us toward what feels familiar. Karen is a Freedom Coach, Breathwork Facilitato...

What happens when a doctor chooses to stand with patients the healthcare system has failed? Today’s guest is Dr. Helen Webberley , a physician, transgender healthcare advocate, and founder of GenderGP. After spending decades in medicine, Helen began caring for transgender patients who were facing years-long waiting lists and limited access to care. Her decision to provide evidence-based treatment...

What if the biggest health issues in our communities have less to do with doctors and hospitals—and more to do with wages, housing, food, policing, climate, and political power? Today, I’m joined by Nicholas Freudenberg , Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Public Health at the City University of New York and one of the most influential voices in urban public health over the past half century. For...

What if the part of you that you thought you lost isn’t actually gone? For many women, singing was once a huge part of their lives—choir, school musicals, college performances, or simply singing for the joy of it. Then life got busy. Careers, children, relationships, and responsibilities took over, and somewhere along the way, the singing stopped. Twenty or thirty years later, they want it back—bu...

What happens when life takes everything you thought you could control—and forces you to rebuild from the ground up? Today’s guest is Buddy Clay, a father, entrepreneur, author, and founder of New Hope Healthcare Institute in Knoxville, Tennessee. At just 36 years old, Buddy was married, raising two young daughters, expecting a third child, and building his life when he received a devastating stage...

What happens when life takes everything you thought you could control—and forces you to rebuild from the ground up? Today’s guest is Buddy Clay, a father, entrepreneur, author, and founder of New Hope Healthcare Institute in Knoxville, Tennessee. At just 36 years old, Buddy was married, raising two young daughters, expecting a third child, and building his life when he received a devastating stage...

What happens when a 30-year Hollywood veteran looks at the entertainment industry and decides it doesn’t need to be saved—it needs to be reinvented? Today, I’m joined by Scott Hadley Morgan , an award-winning writer, producer, and director who has spent decades working across Hollywood, technology, finance, and emerging media. Mentored by industry legends and having written for and worked with maj...

What if the part of you that you thought you lost isn’t actually gone? For many women, singing was once a huge part of their lives—choir, school musicals, college performances, or simply singing for the joy of it. Then life got busy. Careers, children, relationships, and responsibilities took over, and somewhere along the way, the singing stopped. Twenty or thirty years later, they want it back—bu...

What happens when life takes everything you thought you could control—and forces you to rebuild from the ground up? Today’s guest is Buddy Clay, a father, entrepreneur, author, and founder of New Hope Healthcare Institute in Knoxville, Tennessee. At just 36 years old, Buddy was married, raising two young daughters, expecting a third child, and building his life when he received a devastating stage...

In this powerful episode of CONTROL OR BE CONTROLLED, Darlington sits down with psychotherapist Ward Lassoe to explore the extraordinary life of Diane—a woman whose childhood was marked by abandonment, abuse, homelessness, and unimaginable hardship, yet who refused to let her past determine the person she would become. What began as a simple fifteen-minute classroom assignment during Ward’s gradua...

In this powerful episode of CONTROL OR BE CONTROLLED, Darlington sits down with psychotherapist Ward Lassoe to explore the extraordinary life of Diane—a woman whose childhood was marked by abandonment, abuse, homelessness, and unimaginable hardship, yet who refused to let her past determine the person she would become. What began as a simple fifteen-minute classroom assignment during Ward’s gradua...

What happens when you’re excellent at earning money—but haven’t given the same attention to what happens to it next? In this episode of CONTROL OR BE CONTROLLED , Darlington sits down with Paul Carroll , CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and founder and CEO of Avion Wealth , to explore the financial decisions that can determine whether a successful career ultimately translates into lasting financial se...

What if some of the answers you’ve been searching for aren’t outside of you at all—but have been waiting to be discovered within? In this episode of Control or Be Controlled , Darlington sits down with Brandt Morgan , a writer, teacher, mentor, and certified firewalking instructor who has spent decades helping people reconnect with their deeper sense of purpose, authenticity, and possibility. Bran...

In this powerful episode of CONTROL OR BE CONTROLLED, Darlington sits down with psychotherapist Ward Lassoe to explore the extraordinary life of Diane—a woman whose childhood was marked by abandonment, abuse, homelessness, and unimaginable hardship, yet who refused to let her past determine the person she would become. What began as a simple fifteen-minute classroom assignment during Ward’s gradua...

Today’s guest is Kelsey L. Green, a strategist, speaker, digital minimalist, and community builder helping people reclaim their focus, creativity, and meaningful connections. Kelsey is the creator of Summit in Six, a high-accountability mastermind helping women entrepreneurs and creators turn one bold idea into reality, and How to Build Your Circle, a course focused on cultivating deeper, more mea...

What happens when life takes everything you thought you could control—and forces you to rebuild from the ground up? Today’s guest is Buddy Clay, a father, entrepreneur, author, and founder of New Hope Healthcare Institute in Knoxville, Tennessee. At just 36 years old, Buddy was married, raising two young daughters, expecting a third child, and building his life when he received a devastating stage...

What if some of the patterns controlling your life today were formed long before you were old enough to understand them? In this powerful conversation, Dr. Christopher Barker , clinical psychologist, speaker, author, and host of the Holding Space podcast, joins CONTROL OR BE CONTROLLED to explore how childhood experiences, complex trauma, and attachment wounds can continue influencing the way we t...