We Take the Stairs Podcast

Episode Summary Many men today aren't lacking ambition. They're lacking guidance. In this episode of We Take the Stairs , Ben shares his deeply personal journey through military service, devastating loss, depression, and ultimately discovering purpose through faith. After losing his sister to suicide and carrying the weight of guilt for years, Ben opens up about how those experiences shaped his un...

Episode Description Most men aren't struggling because they lack talent, ambition, or opportunity. They're struggling because they're living without wisdom. According to Mark, that missing foundation quietly fuels broken relationships, addiction, poor decisions, and lives filled with regret. In this episode of We Take the Stairs, Mark shares how decades of addiction, pain, and personal transformat...

Episode Summary Most men aren't burned out, checked out, or broken — they're purposeless. And according to Lance, a licensed therapist, pastor, and addiction counselor who has sat across from thousands of men in crisis, that one missing thing is the root of nearly every problem men are facing today. What makes this episode unlike anything We Take the Stairs has recorded is the lens Lance brings. H...

We ask one question to every man who sits down with us: What is the biggest problem men are facing in society based on your experience and perspective? For Joshua — former Marine, 14-year firefighter, and founder of Journey to Jericho — the answer came without hesitation: identity crisis. Not knowing who we are when God calls us sons. Living like orphans instead of children who are fully adopted,...

James and Madison never expected a single call to change their family's future. After their son received a rare diagnosis, they faced uncertainty, fear, and challenges no parent wants to endure. But this conversation is less about the diagnosis and more about the resilience, faith, and strength they developed through it. In this episode of We Take The Stairs, Rachel and Jackson sit down with James...

What if the thing you thought made you strong — your self-reliance — is actually what's costing you your relationships, your peace, and your purpose? Jackson sits down with his own father for one of the most honest conversations on this show. FULL SUMMARY: This episode is different. Jackson brings his father David — a 37-year corporate veteran who retired as VP and General Manager of Valvoline's U...

Kyle didn't know he was a king who forgot his kingdom. Depression at 14. Near-suicide. Years of rejection, numbness, and false identity. In this conversation, he unpacks the root problem men won't admit they have. FULL SUMMARY: What is the main problem men are facing today? For Kyle, the answer cuts deeper than surface-level symptoms. It's not just the passivity. Not just the fear. It's an identit...

Episode Summary We ask one question to every man who sits down with us: What is the biggest problem men are facing today? For Chris — young adults pastor, filmmaker, and man of faith — the answer was precise: Commitment paralysis. Too many options. Not enough formation. And a generation of men who were shaped by culture, media, and social media into believing that the next option is always better...

We ask one question to every man who sits across from us: What is the most challenging thing men are facing in society today? For Sebastian — life coach, entrepreneur, husband, and new father — the answer was sharp and immediate: Men are afraid of conflict. Not conflict in the explosive sense. Conflict in the daily sense. The conversation they won't have. The boundary they won't set. The truth the...

We ask one question to every man who sits across from us: What is the main problem men are facing in society based on your experience and perspective? For Joe — fitness trainer, founder of the Dead Ego Club, and a man who once had his entire identity built on a music career and other people's applause — the answer was immediate: Identity. Men have become human doers instead of human beings. They h...

Episode Summary We ask one question to every man who sits across from us: What is the main problem men are facing in society based on your experience and perspective? For Parker — inventor, pirate, author, and man who once stood at the edge of ending his life — the answer was immediate: Apathy. And the antidote isn't motivation, discipline, or a better morning routine. It's curiosity. A fire in a...

Episode Summary We ask one question to every man who sits across from us: What is the main problem men are facing in society based on your experience and perspective? For Gio — A man of faith and someone who has walked through the fire of identity confusion, addiction, broken homes, and performance-based living — the answer came immediately: Men don't understand their value and their identity. Wha...

Episode Summary We're asking one question to as many men as we can: What is the main problem men are facing in society based on your experience? Season three opens with a conversation that's been building since the very first episode. Rachael, mom of two teenage boys and host of We Take the Stairs, sits down with Jackson and guest Kenny — a man of faith, combat sports enthusiast, and someone who h...

Episode Summary We're asking one question to as many men as we can: What is the main problem men are facing in society based on your experience? In our first episode, hosts Jackson and Rachael sit down with Jeremy — South Florida filmmaker, entrepreneur, and man of faith — and his answer cuts straight to the bone: pride, procrastination, and lust. What follows is one of the most honest conversatio...

Episode Description What do you feel in the moment someone shoots you? For Pablo, it wasn't fear or rage — it was love and understanding. In this raw, unfiltered episode of Let's Break Bread, Rachel and Jackson sit down with Pablo, a young man whose life was shattered — and rebuilt — in ways he never could have planned. Paralyzed from the chest down at 22 after being shot by someone he was trying...

In this episode of We Take the Stairs, the conversation gets real about something almost everyone has experienced — but few know how to fix: The breakdown of communication between men and women. Why is it that when things get hard… men tend to go quiet — and women feel like they have to get louder just to be heard? This episode unpacks the emotional and psychological patterns behind that disconnec...

In this episode of We Take the Stairs, Rachel, Dusty, and Jackson dive into a challenging and often avoided conversation: Why are more men returning to the church — while many women are stepping away? Starting with a controversial passage from 1 Timothy 2:11–15, the conversation explores how scripture is often misunderstood, taken out of context, and used in ways that push people — especially wome...

In this episode of We Take the Stairs , Rachael, Dusty, and Jackson explore a topic that’s becoming increasingly visible in modern faith communities: men returning to church in large numbers while many women are stepping away . The conversation begins with a challenging scripture from 1 Timothy 2:11–15 , which instructs women to learn quietly and not assume authority over men. For many modern wome...

What happens when trauma meets love? In this episode of We Take the Stairs , we unpack one of the most controversial relationship topics of this generation: body count, modesty, shame, and double standards — and how Jesus reframes all of it. Special guest Jackson shares his powerful transformation story — from sleeping around and cultural normalization to repentance, purity, and preparing for cove...

In this second episode of Season 2, we continue exploring communication — but not just between men and women. We start somewhere deeper. After a chaotic week of moving (and rescuing an injured kitten in the middle of traffic), Rachel shares an unexpected realization: communication doesn’t begin with your partner — it begins with how you speak to yourself. From internal negative self-talk to relati...

Welcome to Season 2 of We Take the Stairs . After wrapping Season 1 and exploring deeper conversations through Let’s Break Bread , Rachel returns with a new focus: revisiting last season’s themes — but this time through a female perspective . In this premiere episode, Rachel is joined by co-hosts Dusty Ramirez and Brianna Garcia for an honest conversation about what it means to be a modern woman b...

We Take the Stairs Podcast – Let’s Break Bread We are more connected than ever, yet we’ve never felt more alone. We’ve traded community for confirmation bias, creating a “table for one” that leaves no room for difference. In this special “Side Quest” episode recorded in New York City, Rachel and Junior sit down with Trey and Haley—two new friends from different corners of the world—to discuss the...

What does it actually mean to be a present father in a world where communication is collapsing and technology is raising our kids? In this powerful episode of We Take the Stairs: Let’s Break Bread, we speak with an anonymous guest whose life in security keeps him unseen — but whose approach to fatherhood is anything but absent. From raising a daughter largely on his own, to enforcing boundaries, c...

In this episode of We Take the Stairs: Let’s Break Bread , we slow down and dig deeper into a question that surfaced powerfully in Season One: How do men truly view marriage, and why does it matter? Joined by two respected mentors and longtime husbands, Tony Robinson and Dr. Gordon Johnson, this conversation explores marriage as covenant, not convenience . We unpack what makes relationships last,...

In this episode of We Take the Stairs , we sit down for an honest and necessary conversation about fatherhood, masculinity, and the growing fatherless generation . Through biblical truth, personal stories, and lived experience, we explore how the absence of fathers — physically, emotionally, and spiritually — has shaped families, men, and culture. This conversation dives into the biblical role of...