One Fear Per Year

You don’t have to speak perfectly. (You just have to speak truthfully.) When Jen Oliver talks about fear—she doesn’t just talk about the stage. She talks about dating. Divorce. Difficult conversations. Telling someone the truth…even when it hurts.💥 Because that’s the real fear, isn’t it? Not the microphone necessarily but the moment where your voice shakes because your truth matters.(And you don’...

You are worth the awkward. (Kara said that—and I haven’t stopped thinking about it.)   When Kara Haug walked onto the  One Fear Per Year  podcast,she didn’t tiptoe around the hard stuff. She walked straight into it—with grace, humor, and truth.   She talked about growing up in a house shaped by fear. (“We’d go out on a sunny day bike ride and hear,  ‘Someonegot stabbed there once!’ ”) She gets it....

I met Brianna Greenspan just hours before this interview…And within minutes, I admired her.💥 She shared something she’d never said publicly before. Not in this way and not this raw. For 17 years, she’s lived with a complex chronic illness. And for most of that time, she stayed quiet about it because the fear of being truly SEEN was louder than her courage to speak. But that’s changed. She told me...

You don’t always have to beat fear. (But you can learn to dance with it.) I sat down with Chris Dyer—author, keynote speaker, leadership expert—to talk about one of life’s most uncomfortable teachers: Fear. Here's what he said:💭 “Fear can be a driver. A protector. A boundary.” When his wife almost died… (yes—almost died) it wasn’t the fear that broke him. It was the fear that moved him. To as...

You’re not too young. You’re not too late. You’re just scared. (And that’s okay.) When I asked Genesis Pirolo about fear, she said: 🫣 “I still shake in my heels before I go on stage.” But then she said something IMPORTANT. 💥 “My passion is bigger than my fear.” Genesis was 18 when she gave her first speech—in front of her high school. And she almost didn’t do it. She was terrified. But she took...

💭 “I thought I was a failure,” Sid McNairy told me.  Not because he hadn’t done enough…  But because even after receiving the  World Peace Award —he still didn’t feel like it was enough.  Not until his wife asked:  “What’s your greatestaccomplishment?”  And Sid answered: “Me. I am.” After a long mental journey to get there.  His accomplishments are vast: He’s coached college football. Taught yoga...

“That thumping in your chest? It’s not your heart. It’s your dreams.” When Ray told me this story, I got chills. He was the shyest kid in class. (Hid in a bucket in 3rd grade so he didn’t have to talk to anyone… literally.) He had one friend for years. He didn’t speak up. Didn’t shine. Just… disappeared into the background. But then—Mr. Huber showed up. His 5th grade teacher. The kind of teacher w...

“Every day is a fear fest.”Meet Louis Katz—former IT business owner turned keynote speaker, courage coach, and Chief Courage Catalyst at The Courage Inside. After 22 years running a successful tech company, Louis did the unthinkable:He sold it all… to pursue his real calling—helping others lead with courage, live with resilience, and step out of their comfort zones (with a laugh along the way).In...

“You don’t have to walk through fear… if you catch the thought early enough, maybe you don’t even have to feel it.” This episode is for the high achievers, the performers, the ones who seem “fearless” on stage. Scott Bloom has hosted events for Pfizer, FedEx, Verizon, IBM—you name it. He’s not just a comedic keynote speaker and emcee with 30+ years of experience… he’s the go-to guy for Fortune 500...

💬 I sat down with Carla Johnson for this episode—and wow. She inspired me with her stories of facing fear head on. ✨We dove right in:I asked her, “What’s been your relationship with fear?”Carla shared how a defining moment came when her father battled cancer. Before he passed, he told her:“Don’t live with regrets.”That simple advice shifted everything. Instead of letting fear drive her life, she...

Have you ever meet someone on Zoom…and then seen them in real life and think—Wait… you’re real?!That was Pasha Marlowe for me. A face I’d seen through the screen,a voice that challenged me to do something outrageous:🎤 Stand-up comedy…One of the fears I've faced that I get asked about the most! And Pasha? She didn’t just help me get through it—she helped me look at my emotional pain in a different...

I recently sat down with yoga teacher and radiant soul, Cara Tracy, and she said something that’s still echoing in my head: “The opposite of fear isn’t calm. It’s action.” Cara shared how fear has followed her for most of her life—from the little things (podcasts, public speaking) to the deeper fears of saying the wrong thing or not being good enough. But here’s what makes her story so powerful:...

You don’t always need confidence.(Sometimes you just need five minutes of courage.)When Dr. Carolyn told me this, I felt it in my bones. She created a simple yet life-changing method called B.F.F.—Breathe. Focus. Fierce action. It was born out of survival. She stood in line at the Salvation Army, terrified. Not knowing what was next. Knowing only one thing: She couldn’t go back. So she looked at t...

Ryan Estis—entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and someone who knows a thing or two about turning fear into fuel--dives deep in this episode. Get ready to take notes, because we covered: ➜ Fear of Failure (and how it keeps us stuck in the “safe zone”) ➜ Limiting Beliefs (a.k.a. the false stories we tell ourselves when we’re scared) ➜ The reality that change can be terrifying—but still worth every step....

You don’t have to have it all figured out.(Clarity comes from movement, not waiting.)⚡Amazing Soul survived 20 years of chronic pain—then flipped the script with one powerful mantra:FEAR = Feel Everything And Relax. We explore:➜ Letting fear be a teacher instead of a stop sign.➜ Dropping the victim mindset and owning your story.➜ Slowing down enough to hear what your body’s been trying to tell yo...

😨 FEAR:  Will I have enough? Am I enough?   Frankie Russo has built and sold companies. 📈 60X growth. 🏆 Inc. 500 — 8 years in a row. 📚 2 bestselling books. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 A family man with six kids.   But that kind of success doesn’t silence fear. It  amplifies  it.   In this raw episode of  One Fear Per Year , Frankie opens up about a moment that would break most people… “I lost my whole busines...

In this soul-nourishing conversation, Megan Walrod opens up about her journey of walking through fear — a journey that led her all the way to Bali. She talks about shedding her possessions, embracing the unknown, and facing the deep fear of ending up alone or destitute. Instead of running from fear, she leaned into trust — trust in herself and in the guidance of something greater. We talked about...

Fear has never stopped me from doing something… except when it has....walked up to the edge of an Olympic diving board and not jumped. Matt and I have both had moments where fear won. And yet, every time I’ve actually pushed through—whether it was stepping on stage, making a life-changing decision, or just doing something that made me uncomfortable—I’ve never regretted it. Fear might feel like a s...

Nobody warns you about  this  part of chasing big goals. Not the productivity gurus. Not the motivational speakers. Not even your well-meaning friends. It’s the gut-punch fear that shows up  right before  you take action. • That moment before you hit “publish” on a bold idea. • The silence before you walk onto a stage. • The terrifying realization that people might not just  dislike  your work—the...

I sat down with Kevin Joyce for a conversation that took a turn I wasn’t expecting. We started with fear. How it creeps in. How it shapes our decisions. How it convinces us we’re not good enough. But what Kevin said next hit me right in the gut:“The opposite of fear isn’t courage. It’s flourishing.”Definitely a unique answer I wasn’t expecting…Not pushing through. Not fighting harder. Not just “ge...

Meet Tanisha! A powerhouse of talent and expertise. As a teenage mom, she worked hard to becomes a successful business owner and she still has BIG plans and dreams. She has years of experience as an HR Consultant shaping people, strategies and business solutions. As a Keynote Speaker, she brings energy, insight, and inspiration to audiences around the world. A passionate Global Traveler, Tanisha i...

I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with "Hover to Fly" Chris Wilson! We talk about his fear of the ocean, and sharks in particular, and how he eventually faced his fear and truly looked it right in the eyeballs! After leading a successful 14-year career in aviation as a Commercial Helicopter Pilot and Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, Chris flew into business to impact the next generation...

"Show my your greatest fear, and I'll show you what your next task is." I loved this quote that Micah used during his interview! He took it seriously too. After his divorce, he decided to sit with the pain of having an anxious attachment style and his reliance of getting validation from others. He traveled around the U.S. in his van for one year and then went to East Asia for another...

Kim dives into the fear of not belonging and the fear of not being good enough and tells us what she did to walk through those fears. I loved having Kim on the show since she has navigated a multilayered career as a thought leader, SPEAKER, lawyer, professor, AUTHOR, and competitive Latin dancer. She gets unruly — in a strategic, effective way — and has learned how to challenge the system in a man...

Jeff shares what helped him deal with fear as a top performing athlete. It's simpler than you might think.. Jeff Salzenstein is a professional speaker, performance coach, world class athlete, and seasoned entrepreneur. As a top 100 tennis player, he's no stranger to the impacts of pressure and stress — and he's done deep inner work on himself to better understand how high achievers sabotage their...