Lost in the Groove

I sat down with Jonathan Schuessler, and what stood out right away is how he sees things most people walk past. We talk about photography not as gear or settings, but as awareness. Slowing down, noticing detail, and learning how to frame moments. That don’t ask for attention but deserve it anyway. Jonathan breaks down how perspective shapes everything. Not just the image, but the story behind it....

I sat down with Aaron Machbitz to talk about discipline, masculinity, and entrepreneurship. What it actually takes to build a life most people only talk about. Aaron doesn’t deal in motivational fluff. He lives in the trenches of fitness, fatherhood, and leadership. We unpack what that looks like when the camera is off. From mental resilience to building physical strength. As a foundation for char...

I sat down with Bria Rose, dark romance author and fairy-tale rewriter. To talk about why Disney was never meant just for kids, and why the stories we grew up with deserve to grow up too. We dig into adult fairy-tale retellings. Retake of Beauty and the Beast as an 18+ narrative. Why sanitizing myth, folklore, and European fairy tales. Strips them of their cultural spine. This conversation isn’t n...

I sat down with Dave Keeshan. An engineer, science comedian, and sharp cultural observer. Who’s lived and worked across Ireland, Australia, the U.S., and beyond. What starts as a conversation about microchips and engineering turns into something bigger. How fragile modern systems really are. Why supply chains are a house of cards, and how much they effect us. Even in our daily life technology runs...

Talking with Kay A. Oliver felt like stepping behind the curtain of an industry. That seriously loves control more than creativity. Kay shares her path from Hollywood expectations to independent authorship. Seeing why walking away from traditional gatekeeping. Was the only way to write honestly, and freely. We get into what it really means to own your stories, your voice, and your pace. Within a b...

I sat down with Dr. Rhonda Lawson for a conversation that cuts through the noise. Even around writing, success, and so called shortcuts. We get honest about why trying to do everything alone burns people out. How real collaboration actually works, and why asking for help is not weakness. Dr. Lawson speaks from lived experience, and not theory. Sharing what it took to stop micromanaging, build trus...

Sitting down with Candace Campbell felt less like an interview. More like opening a long, well worn journal. Candy walks me through a life that zigzagged on purpose. From childhood humor and early writing to acting. All the way to radio, debate, academia, aviation, nursing, and finally circling back to art. Nothing here followed a straight line, and that is exactly the point. We talk about being u...

I sat down with Lesle Lane to talk about what happens after the spotlight fades and you decide not to disappear. Lesle opens up about reinvention, and a creative identity. Finding the long road of staying true to your voice in an industry that constantly asks not to. Become something else you never wanted to be. We get into the discipline it takes to keep creating when the rules change. How the co...

Dale Walsh shows up grounded, honest, and allergic to shortcuts. We talk about discipline not as hustle jargon, but as a daily practice that shapes identity over time. Dale breaks down what it means to commit to your craft when nobody’s watching. How consistency builds confidence. Why most people quit right before things start to click. The conversation moves through music, self-belief, creative d...

I dropped into this conversation with Andy Dietrich expecting a talk about his book. We ended up wandering through one of the most honest, unfiltered hours I’ve had on the show. We go from busted childhood cartoons to the slow death of TV shows. That really overstayed their welcome, debating Simpsons writers like they’re ancient philosophers. Andy’s got this knack for dropping regular-guy wisdom r...

We break down what’s gone wrong in Hollywood, of course the clutter, the soullessness, and obsession with trends. Why indie creators have become the new heartbeat. Jake opens up about filmmaking as a team sport. The danger of chasing comfort, and the pressure of working in a world. That expects instant perfection. The conversation swings from Wes Anderson to The Matrix sequels. From South Park’s c...

Elias Martin lives at the crossroads of politics, tech, and human behavior. The stuff everyone argues about, but almost nobody understands. As the creator of Political High Tech, Elias breaks down the systems running our world. Without the doom-scroll panic or influencer theatrics. In our conversation, we get into the machinery behind policy, big tech overreach. The ways regular people get swept u...

Cody Johnston, better known as "The Weird Canadian", doesn’t just talk tech; he lives it. From quitting a cushy government job to building custom AI-driven business tools. Cody’s mission is clear: take technology out of the corporations’ hands and give it back to creators. We go deep into the truth behind AI, censorship, and the digital future no one’s ready for. Where small creators, not big medi...

Allen Halas is the kind of creator who doesn’t wait for permission. As the founder of Breaking and Entering Milwaukee and host of Hustling Sideways. He’s been documenting the local music scene while building a platform. That lifts new artists out of the noise. We talk about the Midwest’s overlooked creative heartbeat. From Milwaukee’s DIY grind to the quiet evolution happening in hip hop, punk, an...

Jood Lanette isn’t just an author, there a survivor of reinvention. Raised in a world that demanded conformity, Jood walked away from religion. Rediscovered there identity as a queer creative, and learned to live by there own rhythm. There writing, including The Timeless Pendant, carries the echoes of that journey. A fusion of pain, hope, and self-acceptance. We get into the messiness of life, fam...

Sasha Mereu has lived more lives than most artists dream of. Broadway performer, magician, visual artist, and guitarist for the punk band United Defiance. From working FedEx night shifts to conjuring illusions on stage. Sasha’s story is about the balance between creative drive, and real-world grind. We get into everything: the collapse of ticket prices and concert culture. The difference between E...

J.F. Monroe writes fantasy that cuts through the noise,sharp dialogue, tight pacing. When characters that actually feel human; even when they’re not. We talked about The Legendary Guardians, her fast-moving fantasy series. Built on character depth over endless world-building. She opens up about writing from New York grit, balancing motherhood and authorship. Learning how to publish on her own term...

Chancellor Jackson’s story starts with a dream and takes a hard left turn. A former athlete who found himself locked up in China after a random drug test. Chancellor turned one of the darkest moments of his life into a global bestseller, 14 Days in Beijing. What began as survival became storytelling, and what began as trauma became therapy. We talk about redefining identity after sports, writing a...

New York grit meets artistic flow. Ama Agyemang opens up about leaving behind civil engineering. Finding tattooing through sheer persistence. What it really takes to survive as an artist in Brooklyn. From drawing at a Blink Fitness front desk to tattooing on fake skin. Even their own body, Ama built a portfolio the hard way and that grit is what got them through the door. We dive deep into hustle...

Danielle Orsino didn’t set out to become a fantasy author it started in a hospital room. Telling stories to distract a patient during IV therapy. Those small tales grew into The Birth of the Fae. A series that now has her dubbed the “New Fabio of Fantasy,” gracing her own covers in full cosplay. Danielle is one of the few authors to embody her characters not just on the page. But in real life, bri...

Hecojeni doesn’t dress their music up for the algorithm. No polish, no autotune just raw takes, jagged edges. The kind of lyrics that hit harder because they’re unfiltered. In our conversation, we dive into the making of The Human Race. A song that channels frustration, burnout. Seeing resilience into something both fragile and fierce. We talk about writing songs that feel like postcards from hear...

What if you could build a global audience of over a million people. Without spending a dime on ads, SEO, or boosting posts? That’s exactly what Dan Shinder did with Drum Talk TV. Since 2013, he’s reached more than 100 million people a year across 130 countries. Dan's done it with nothing more than content. Community, and a refusal to play by conventional marketing rules. In this conversation, Dan...

Shane Lang doesn’t believe in fixing people he believes in redesigning how we see them. As the coach behind Divergent by Design. Shane works with kids, teens, parents, and adults navigating learning disabilities and autism. Helping them lean into who they are instead of fighting to fit a mold. We get into the cracks of the education system, the stigma baked into labels. The ways creativity can bec...

This week, we’re joined by Cathelina Duvert—teacher, blogger, and author of The Box. A novel rooted in her own journey through depression and healing. We dive into the emotional truths behind her fiction, how writing became her therapy. Why her blog Cathy’s Cross offers more than just hope, it’s a strategy for survival. Whether you’re navigating your own mental health or want to understand it bett...

In this episode, I sit down with David Mysliwiec, the founder and CEO of The Upstate Sound. A Grammy-winning label, publisher, and artist collective based in Nashville. From bootstrapping beats in Western Mass to building a full-stack music company. With its own Codex, David shares the raw story behind launching a brand that’s more than a label it’s a mission. We talked music ownership, turning in...