THE MAKING OF ME

What does it really take to start over in a new city, rebuild your career, and still find a sense of belonging? In this inspiring episode of The Making of Me , Carlee Wolfe — leadership strategist, executive coach, and organizational transformation expert — shares her journey of navigating major career pivots while relocating and rebuilding her life from scratch. Drawing from her experience leadin...

What happens when you finally understand your entire life through a completely new lens—after decades of not knowing why things felt harder than they should? In this powerful episode of The Making of Me , Ruth Danoff — ADHD advocate, founder of Not Ruthless , and late-diagnosed neurodivergent coach — shares her journey of receiving an ADHD diagnosis at 50. After years of emotional overwhelm, self-...

What if rejection wasn’t the end of your story—but the beginning of your purpose? In this inspiring episode of The Making of Me , Sharon C. Jenkins — bestselling author, publishing expert, entrepreneur, and widely known as The Literary Midwife — shares how she transformed personal and professional rejection into a powerful mission of helping others tell their stories. From early setbacks in the pu...

What happens when you spend years searching for answers—only to be dismissed by the very system meant to help you? In this powerful episode of The Making of Me , Jacqui Tillwick — founder of Totally Hysterical, oncology social worker, and PMDD advocate — shares her deeply personal journey living with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). After years of medical gaslighting, misdiagnosis, and emot...

What makes certain stories so addictive that they shape entire generations of storytelling? In this fascinating episode of The Making of Me , Laura Van Wormer — bestselling novelist, former publishing editor, and creative force behind The Class of ’74 podcast — explores how classic 1970s and 80s soap operas like Dallas and Dynasty revolutionized serialized storytelling. Drawing from her experience...

Why do we keep repeating the same emotional patterns—even when we know they’re not good for us? In this powerful episode of The Making of Me , Dr. Tony Iezzi — clinical psychologist and co-author of Reenactments: Break the Behavior Patterns That Keep You Stuck in Trauma, Stress, and Everyday Life — explores why people unconsciously repeat painful life patterns and how those cycles are formed in th...

What really happens to a child emotionally when they grow up in a home filled with conflict, tension, or separation? In this insightful episode of The Making of Me , Dr. David Marcus — clinical psychologist with over 40 years of experience and founder of ParentRx — explains how high-conflict parenting environments, including divorce and ongoing parental tension, shape a child’s emotional developme...

What happens when you wake up and nothing about your mind, memory, or body feels familiar anymore? In this powerful episode of The Making of Me , Jennifer White — retired registered nurse, brain tumor survivor, and medical thriller author — shares her extraordinary journey of survival and reinvention after a life-changing medical crisis that left her needing to relearn how to walk, think, and rebu...

What does it really take to keep showing up when life tests you beyond your limits? In this powerful episode of The Making of Me , Fitz Koehler — fitness expert, race announcer, author, and breast cancer survivor — shares her extraordinary journey from building a global fitness brand to facing one of the hardest battles of her life: breast cancer. Even through chemotherapy, radiation, and surgerie...

Why do more options sometimes make us feel more stuck instead of more free? In this insightful episode of The Making of Me , Julia Collier — leadership and personal development voice — explores how indecision and the “paradox of choice” can quietly hold people back from growth, success, and clarity. She breaks down why having too many options can overwhelm the brain, lead to overthinking, and crea...

What happens when a single moment of trauma changes the entire direction of your life? In this deeply moving episode of The Making of Me , Dr. Alan Stephen Weisser — psychologist and chronic pain expert — shares how a diving accident at age 12 broke his neck and completely transformed the way he understood pain, healing, and human identity. What began as a devastating physical injury became the fo...

Why do intelligent, capable people still procrastinate—even when they know exactly what needs to be done? In this thought-provoking episode of The Making of Me , Adam Tilove — executive coach, educator, and founder of NeuroDiscipline™ — breaks down the tiny mental moment between deciding to act and actually following through. Drawing from his work coaching high-performing adults and the ideas behi...

What if losing your job was actually the moment that set you free? In this powerful episode of The Making of Me , Joanna Murray, MBA — Franchise Advisor and Business Consultant — shares how 25 years in corporate life ended unexpectedly when she was fired for not being “happy,” and how that moment became the turning point that led her into franchise ownership and a completely new way of building su...

What does it truly take to build workplaces where people feel valued, supported, and able to thrive—even in a rapidly changing world shaped by AI? In this insightful episode of The Making of Me , Matinah Drew — Founder & CEO of Noble Hearts HR Consulting & Staffing — shares how her 20+ years in HR and workforce development have shaped her approach to leadership, organizational culture, and...

Why do so many high achievers look successful on the outside, yet feel stuck in the same emotional patterns on the inside? In this powerful episode, executive coach and transformation specialist Ingeborg Mooiweer shares her deeply personal story of growing up with a narcissistic mother and how early survival strategies—like people-pleasing, overachievement, and difficulty with boundaries—followed...

What happens when the very strategies that once drove your success—discipline, endurance, and pushing through pain—start working against your body and your life? In this powerful episode, former Silicon Valley CEO, writer, and author Nancy Deyo shares her extraordinary journey from high-performance leadership to a life-altering spinal injury sustained while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. What followe...

What if the darkest chapters of your life could become the foundation of your purpose? In this powerful episode, veteran, storyteller, and advocate Mr. Whiskey shares his deeply personal journey through a turbulent childhood marked by instability, domestic violence, addiction, and religious weaponization, and how those early experiences shaped his path into military service—where he also had to co...

What happens when fear becomes more exhausting than the diagnosis itself? In this deeply empowering episode, transformation coach and hypnotherapist Shelli Galvan shares her personal journey from receiving a lupus misdiagnosis to helping women with autoimmune conditions reconnect with safety, calm, and trust within their own bodies. In this healing-focused episode of The Making of Me , Shelli Galv...

What if the real secret behind high achievement isn’t talent—but the ability to keep going after failure? In this inspiring episode, entrepreneur, performance coach, and business strategist Jairek Robbins shares why resilience, adaptability, and learning through setbacks are the true foundations of long-term success. From million-dollar mistakes to coaching elite founders and building global busin...

What if the hardest seasons of your life were actually shaping the strongest version of you? In this powerful episode, CPA, business strategist, and founder of The Profit Lab Marie Torossian shares her remarkable journey from growing up during wartime in Lebanon to becoming a successful CPA, entrepreneur, and award-winning business coach helping service-based businesses scale with clarity and conf...

What if life’s most overwhelming moments are not meant to break you—but to reshape you? In this powerful episode, change strategist, speaker, and author Dr. Khutso Madubanya shares her remarkable journey of living across eight countries, navigating major career reinventions, and surviving a deeply challenging four-year “tsunami” period that transformed her life and identity. In this insightful epi...

What if your biggest achievement is also the thing quietly draining your confidence and peace? In this powerful episode, performance coach, educator, and founder of The House of Rise Dr. Carla Caturia shares how high-achieving teens and families can break free from perfectionism, emotional pressure, and burnout to build real, lasting confidence from within. In this insightful episode of The Making...

What if your beginning in a small village could become the foundation for global storytelling success? In this inspiring episode, filmmaker, director, and producer Joseph Mbah shares how his early life in rural Nigeria shaped his creative voice—and how he went on to create films that reached global audiences on platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. In this powerful episode of The Making of Me ,...

What if burnout isn’t just about doing too much—but about how your brain and body respond under pressure? In this powerful episode, international leadership coach Hanna Curman shares how a major personal setback reshaped her understanding of leadership, success, and well-being. In this transformative episode of The Making of Me , Hanna Curman — leadership coach, speaker, and neuroscience-based tra...

What if the most damaging abuse is the one no one else can see—or even believes is happening? In this powerful and deeply emotional episode, writer, mother of six, trauma survivor, and nonprofit founder Julie Barth shares her raw journey through hidden emotional and financial abuse, and how she found the courage to reclaim her life and protect her children. In this impactful episode of The Making...