FailCraft

Why does modern children's media prioritize fast-paced, digital stimulation over the patience and character-building required to actually navigate the real world? Linda Harkey is an award-winning author with 13 published children's books and over 22 years of experience as an educator and museum docent. After spending decades watching how children interact with history, art, and storytellin...

What happens when you spend 20 years climbing the corporate ladder, only to reach the top and realize you hate the view? Therese (Terri) Nicklas is a Certified Financial Planner and the creator of True Wealth Coaching. For years, she obsessed over the bottom line and helped high-achieving executive women build financial security. But when the isolation of the pandemic hit, it completely stripped a...

What do you do when your life completely unravels, and the doctors tell you that a cure is impossible? Kathleen Johnson, known as "Scripture Girl," was a woman reeling from a painful divorce and deep betrayal when she received a crushing medical prognosis. Staring at an impossible situation, Kathleen hit a wall where her usual self-reliance completely stopped working. Instead of acceptin...

What happens when the adults who were supposed to protect you become the reason your nervous system is trapped in survival mode? Vandana grew up in a highly toxic environment with emotionally unavailable parents, experiencing the ultimate failure of the childhood safety net. For years, her adult decisions and relationships were subconsciously driven by the fears of her inner child. Instead of rema...

What if the biggest threat to your financial security isn't the stock market, but the everyday contracts you click "Accept" on without ever reading the fine print? Danny Karon, known online as "Your Lovable Lawyer," is a 30-year class-action attorney who has secured massive settlements (including a $2 billion case) against major tech corporations. But his true mission is pr...

Why do we exercise to prevent heart attacks, but wait until a total crisis to take care of our mental health? Cory Chadwick is the Founder and CEO of Lyceum, a live-online mental gym built specifically for leaders and high-performers. After tragically losing his mother to mental illness 25 years ago, Cory realized that crossing his fingers and simply hoping to survive the stress of modern life was...

Why do so many high-performing men let their health slowly decline until they no longer recognize the person staring back at them in the mirror? Coach Brian Parana has spent over 20 years working with highly successful executives, business owners, and driven dads who have massive bank accounts but failing bodies. As the host of the Driven For Health Podcast and creator of The Call To Rise program,...

Why are 57% of cardiology patients taking heart health supplements, and how many of those products are actually doing more harm than good? Dr. Bilal Ahmed is an interventional cardiologist and the co-founder of Lylah Health. After watching his patients turn to an unregulated "Wild West" of a supplement industry out of frustration with traditional medicine, Bilal decided to disrupt the ma...

What happens when an impatient leader moving a million miles an hour suddenly hits a wall? John Makarewicz is a seasoned executive and real estate investor who helped scale a company to nearly $4 billion in annual sales. But scaling at that magnitude doesn't happen without a few massive, painful mistakes. Today, John is the Managing Partner at Faris Capital Partners, and he joins the show to o...

Have you exhausted yourself trying to fit into a mold that wasn't built for you? Diagnosed with dyslexia in the first grade, Willie Blake spent the majority of his life believing he was broken. After years of struggling to mask his differences, battling crippling self-doubt, and hiding behind the safety of "perfectionism," Willie decided that if he was going to live with his neurodiv...

What do you do when the very thing that defines your identity is suddenly stripped away from you? Heather Ann Ferri spent the first part of her life defining her success by how fast her feet could move. As a Broadway performer and a Guinness World Record holder in tap dance, she knew how to hustle and perform. But then her body completely failed her. Heather lost the ability to walk for two years....

What happens when you spend $80,000 fighting for custody of your child, only to realize that society's definition of a "good father" is completely broken? Odeani McBean is a fatherhood coach, host of The Mindful Dad Podcast, and creator of the 365 Dad Journal. After surviving a grueling three-year custody battle, he realized that measuring a father’s worth purely by his financial pro...

What do you do when the calling you dedicated your life to completely rejects you—four separate times? Eric Nitzberg spent a decade in ministry, only to be repeatedly denied formal ordination. Eventually, his body physically broke down under the stress of fighting a closed door. He realized that waiting for an institution to validate his worth was a massive trap. He pivoted his career, becoming an...

What do you do when you lose your marriage, your business, and your father all in the span of three months? Ray Martin was an award-winning CEO in London who, by society's standards, had it all. But when his life completely collapsed in 2005, he realized he had been trapped in a "gilded cage," living a life built entirely on other people's expectations. He packed a bag for a six-...

Why does it feel like traditional parenting advice completely fails when dealing with today's kids? Dr. David Marcus, a clinical psychologist with 40 years of experience treating families under stress, joins the show to expose the broken methods we use to raise our children. As the author of *Parent RX*, Dr. Marcus reveals why simply telling a screaming child to "use your words" is a...

In 1984, Dr. John McMahon was lying in a psychiatric hospital, battling severe alcoholism and drug addiction. The doctors gave him just six months to live and wrote him off as a complete failure. Instead of dying, he got sober, completely rebuilt his life, earned a PhD in psychology, and went on to teach the largest master’s course on addiction in the UK. This episode dives into the FailCraft them...

Have you sent out 50 resumes this month only to receive nothing but automated rejection emails—or worse, total silence? Dan Waskow spent over 20 years as a corporate recruiter for massive companies like Dell, PwC, and Accenture. He was the gatekeeper deciding who got the interview and who got rejected. But after realizing his job forced him to keep great candidates in the dark, he switched sides....

What happens when a strategic planner whose job was to predict disasters at the Pentagon turns his sights on the current trajectory of society? Christopher "Coyote" Choate is a retired Air Force officer who flew the F-4 Phantom and F-15E Strike Eagle. After a decorated military career, he transitioned into a sci-fi author, writing the dystopian space opera trilogy, *Apollo Wept*. Inspire...

What do you do when the life you've spent decades building disappears almost overnight? Debra Bowers spent years as a successful corporate leader before stepping back to raise five children and care for her ailing mother. But in her 50s, she hit a devastating wall: her kids left the nest, her 20-year marriage ended, and her mother passed away—all in a very short span of time. Suddenly alone, D...

Is the traditional 30-year fixed mortgage actually the safest financial choice—or is it a cleverly disguised wealth trap keeping you in debt? Michael Newmann, Branch Manager and Senior Loan Officer at CMG Home Loans, joins the show to expose the harsh reality of traditional lending. With over 20 years of experience and a degree in psychology, Michael understands that most of our financial decision...

What do you do when the medical system you trust to save your life completely gaslights you instead? Tim Randall was a professional artist and tattooist for 20 years until a devastating car accident left him with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and brain shearing. Suffering from up to 10 grand mal seizures a day, he was repeatedly misdiagnosed by doctors who watched videos of his seizures and dismi...

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...