One Fear Per Year

War-torn Vietnam. A refugee child. Penniless. Barely spoke English.   That was the starting line for Jackie Wu. She didn’t give a polished version. She gave the real one. The night her father was taken away. Their home and property confiscated in less than 24 hours. A childhood shaped by the belief that everything coulddisappear at any moment.  And then… America.   No English. Penniless. People ye...

I didn’t expect this episode to go where it did. On paper, Sam Penny looks fearless. TEDx speaker. Business exits. Ice miles. But halfway through our conversation, he said something that made me think. Cold water. Dark morning. No one had ever done this before. Swimming the English Channel IN WINTER! A few hours in he decided he needed to stop and go back to shore. Not because he was weak. But bec...

You don’t usually hear this part of leadership.  The part where fear shows up in your body…before your brain ever catches up.  The part where success doesn’t make it go away. Where titles don’t quiet the inner critic. Where confidence on the outside can still mean paddling fastunderneath.  On this episode, I sat down with the remarkable Julie Menden. She is an executive coach, keynote speaker, For...

Most high performers do not need more discipline. They need a better recovery plan. (And no, a once a year vacation does not count.) On the episode, I sat down with Eric Recker, a dentist and “chaos reduction” coach for medical practice owners. Eric has lived the thing so many leaders hide. He ran an 18 person dental practice into the ground, burnout, panic attacks, the whole spiral, then rebuilt...

This week on the One Fear Per Year podcast, I sat down with someone who understands the weight of “doing it all”… because she lived it.  Carol Williams isn’t just a productivity coach. She’s a certified coach, speaker, and thelongtime Dream Director at the Beacon of Light Center --> thewoman executives and business owners call when their life feels scattered and they’re burning out quietly behi...

I met Vlad a few years ago at an event in Detroit. I had no idea who he was. He had no idea who I was. But he watched me walk on stage, freeze, fall to my knees,and then speaking straight from my heart - no script, just me.   Instead of judging me, he saw something else. Something human. Something real.   Vlad is the Founder and CEO of Company Folders and has spent more than 20 years building one...

I just sat down with an amazing woman who explained scientifically what happens when we feel fear and how to navigate that pattern of behavior. Her name is Dr. Mohita Shrivastava. Neuroscientist. Neuropsychologist. Founder of The Cognitome Program. PhD from AIIMS New Delhi. Research trained at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Published author. International editorial board member.15+ years...

This week I sat down with someone who has spent over 20 years helping people break fear at the deepest level: Dr. Albert Bramante. Talent Agent. Psychology Professor. Hypnosis & NLP Expert. Author of Rise Above the Script. And a coach who has helped actors land roles on major networks, mentored thousands of students, and taught people how to rewire fear at the subconscious level. (Yes, he’s th...

When I first talked to Michael Bryant, I thought I was interviewing a coach. Turns out, I was sitting across from someone pushing boundaries (and helping others do the same).   At 74 years old, Michael crossed the Ironman finish line HIS SEVENTH TIME at 16 hours, 59 minutes, and 15 seconds. (One minute before the cut-off.) But here’s what struck me most: For him, it wasn’t about the medal. It was...

When I sat down with Dan MacQueen, I was reminded of what true resilience looks like.  At 28, Dan was living the dream. Working in tech, traveling Europe, laughing with friends, full of life. Until one day, taking the tube home on a London subway… everything went black.  He woke up unable to walk, talk, or even smile. The doctors said this was his new reality. But Dan had other plans. Step by step...

You don’t have to shine like everyone else. (Your messiness looks different and that’s a good thing)   When I sat down with Kelly Swanson on this week's Podcast, I thought we’d be talking about courage. We ended up talking about permission.   Permission to show up messy. To laugh at yourself. To walk off the stage (literally)… and still own the room.   Kelly is a National Speakers Hall ofFame...

You know that voice in your head that says, “What if I fail? ”“What if I’m not good enough?” “What if I embarrass myself?” Jonathan Graham calls that voice a liar. He spent years at Netflix and Apple, helping shape products used by hundreds of millions of people. But when he looked closer, he realized something bigger: The greatest limits weren’t in technology. They were in fear. Now he’s on a mis...

In this week’s episode of One Fear Per Year ,  I sat down with comedian and storyteller Holly James.  We talk about what happens when you stop living for approval and start livingfor truth. Holly shares how walking through fear meant losing parts of her old life… and finding something even deeper on the other side. We talked about: ✨ Choosing the thing you’d regret not trying ✨ The courage to be...

You ever meet someone and instantly feel like they see you? That was my first conversation with Kris Kelso. We met at the National Speakers Association conference, and I overheard him say two words that stopped me in my tracks: “Humble confidence.” Those two words felt like truth. Because for so many of us chasing purpose, leading teams, or trying something new… we swing between I’ve got this and...

You can win a Tony Award… stand on stage at Radio City Music Hall… and still feel completely empty inside.   That’s exactly what happened to Nick Demos.   From the outside, he had it all— Tony and Olivier Award–winning producer. Award-winning filmmaker. Eight-figure business coach & leader. A life most people only dream about.   But behind the scenes? Nick was running. Chasing achievements to...

You don’t have to have it all figured out. Especially when lifefeels like quicksand and moving a million miles per minute.  When I sat down with Jennifer Fondrevay I knew the conversation would hit deep because she's not just another consultant. She’s the   M&A Whisperer!  A global speaker and best selling author of  Now What? A Survivor’s Guide for Thriving Through Mergers & Acquisiti...

You don’t often hear a Marine, a PhD in psychology, and a corporate executive talk about… love being the opposite word of fear.  But that’s exactly what happened when I satdown with Matt Poepsel on the One Fear Per Year podcast.  Matt’s journey is incredible From serving in the U.S. Marine Corps as anArabic Linguist… To earning his PhD in Psychology and MBA fromBoston University… To becoming the “...

✨ What does it really take to leave behind the safety of a paycheck and step boldly into entrepreneurship? On this week’s One Fear Per Year podcast, I sat down with a lovely human I've known for over a decade, Katrina Sawa. Katrina is known as The Jumpstart Your Biz Coach. She is a 14-time international best-selling author, speaker, and the CEO of Jumpstart Publishing, where she has helped co...

What if your biggest fear…became your greatest purpose? On this week’s One Fear Per Year podcast, I had the honor of sitting down with Jose Angel Pereira—a man whose story left me both shaken and deeply inspired. Jose was at the pinnacle of his career as CEO of CITGO Petroleum. An immigrant who had worked tirelessly for decades, he was ready to retire… when everything changed. Instead of stepping...

You know what the opposite of fear is?   For Kathy Guest, it’s laughter. (Healthy laughter… the kind that frees you)   Kathy spent 20+ years in the tech world by day…and on comedy stages by night.   At first, she kept those worlds separate. Professional Kathy. Funny Kathy.  But that fragmentation wasn’t sustainable.  So she did the brave thing and merged them.  Now she teaches teams how to break o...

Julian Pistone left his 10-year career at Google. Moved continents. Walked through chronic pain. And committed his life to one mission:  💡 To study, capture, and live courage.  Not in theory. But in practice.  In the Amazon, he sat with women fighting cartels. In Colombia, he filmed a story of forgiveness between a brother andhis sibling’s murderer. And in the middle of it all, he found one surpr...

You know that fear that makes your heart race… …the one that makes you want to hand the phone to someone else andrun? Marjie Haddad knows it well.  At 12 years old, she was terrified to pick up the phoneand call a local councilman for a school assignment. Tears. Drama. Full meltdown. (And a mom who refused to make the call for her.)  That single moment changed her forever. It built the courage mus...

Fear. Anxiety. Depression. They can sneak into our lives quietly…or slam into us full force—like what happened to Dr. Michael Amster during his medical school exams. (Full-blown panic attack. Heart racing. Mind blank.) That fear led him to a discovery that would change his life and now, the lives of thousands of others. He calls it microdosing awe. Just 15 seconds. Three deep breaths. A moment of...

Rachel Griffith had a breakthrough and wrote a letter to her fear: You my shadowed companion have lingered long within my breath, echoing doubts in chambers of my heart. Drawing maps of limitations where dreams might have dwelled. I see you now, not as my captor, but as the guardian of doors untried. You whispered warnings, not to wound me, yet your trembling voice cannot silence my fire. I thank...

You don’t have to have it all figured out. (Presence is what unlocks the path forward.)   This week on the  One Fear Per Year Podcast , I sat downwith  Mike Lee —a former NBA skills coach who’sworked with legends like  Steph Curry and Joel Embiid ,and now a  leadership consultant, keynote speaker, and #1best-selling author .   But Mike’s story isn’t just about basketball or business. It’s about ho...