Hold This Thought

Filmmaking | Producing | Risk-Taking | Entrepreneurship | Family | Creativity What does it actually take to turn a creative idea into something real? In Episode 049 of Hold This Thought, filmmaker and producer Ivory Nemorin joins Christian for a conversation about creativity, entrepreneurship, and the courage to start before you have everything figured out. From producing documentaries and televis...

Unconventional | Intellectual | Philosophical | Faith vs. Atheism | Search for Truth | Honest | A.I. Kenneth Parraro has spent years chasing adventure, from the Appalachian Trail to roughly 30,000 miles on a bicycle. But what began as a pursuit of distance and accomplishment eventually became something much deeper: an examination of why we run, what we are actually searching for, and whether adven...

Faith | Relationships | Compatibility | Chemistry | Attraction | Obedience What if the patterns hurting your relationships are coming from you? In this episode of Hold This Thought, Christian sits down with Dr. Wendy Douglas to talk about faith, relationships, healing, self-awareness, and the patterns that shape how we move through life. Dr. Wendy shares lessons from her books Dating and Waiting w...

Cults | Magic | Faith | The Constitution | Pickleball | Women's Sports Hunter Hensley returns for Blind Draw, and the conversation goes everywhere. We unpack Hunter's experience in a controversial Christian community that he now describes as a cult, including prophetic claims, questionable interpretations of Scripture, and a 20% Donation expectation that made him start questioning the enti...

Unscripted | Unpredictable | You Will Laugh | Roasts | RidiculousBlind DrawWhat happens when two friends put completely unexpected questions into a coffee mug and have to answer whatever they pull? In this episode of Hold This Thought, Blind Draw takes the conversation everywhere from childhood memories and dream careers to pizza, board games, travel, faith, weird habits, acting, piano, browser hi...

Food Discipline | Drug Addiction | Good vs. Bad Fruit | Reconciliation | Stewardship | Pastor Aaron Snow joins the conversation to unpack the connection between identity, discipline, faith, and the fruit our lives produce. His story moves through personal transformation, addiction, leadership, fatherhood, and the difficult process of becoming the person you know you are called to be. The conversat...

Catan | Boardgames | NICU Journey | Theme Parks | Immersion What starts as a conversation about Catan quickly turns into something much bigger. Ben Austin joins us for an unusually nerdy and surprisingly deep conversation about why The Settlers of Catan became such a phenomenon, the negotiation and diplomacy hidden inside the game, and how the game's balance of strategy and luck mirrors real l...

Drip Table | Creativity | Craftsmanship | Woodworking | Artificial Intelligence Chandler Mitchell joins Hold This Thought for a conversation about craftsmanship, creativity, faith, simplicity, fatherhood, AI, and the things that make a life meaningful. Chandler is the creator of Drip Table Co., a custom furniture company built around an unusual idea: taking a single slab of wood and allowing the t...

Terrorism | Evangelism | Persecution | Miracles | Pakistan | What does it actually look like to preach the Gospel in some of the most dangerous places on Earth? In this episode, David Ursin shares the remarkable journey that took him from working at a gas station to preaching before crowds of more than 100,000 people across Pakistan, India, Africa, and beyond. Along the way, he was personally trai...

Blind Draw is a NEW recurring Hold This Thought series where the host and guest secretly write questions for one another before the show. Those questions are mixed together and drawn at random on camera. Neither person knows what's coming next. No scripts or preparation. Just genuine conversation. In this Episode: Is there a situation in which you would kill someone? A place you want to go......

Small Business Ownership | Grief | Is Prophecy Real? | Church Leadership Accountability In this episode, I sit down with Andrew Bullard for one of our most personal conversations yet. We discuss the unexpected journey from employee to business owner after the sudden loss of his mentor, the realities of entrepreneurship, leadership, succession planning, and why legacy matters far more than most peo...

Sports Trivia | Math Minds | Beach Vs. Mountains | Creative Writing | Tolkien A simple conversation about sports unexpectedly unfolds into a discussion about creativity, storytelling, and the ideas that shape how we see the world. Christian and Travis discuss writing fiction, building memorable characters, high fantasy, fatherhood, worldbuilding, travel, geography, mathematics, and why some storie...

Acting Career | U.S. Marine | Domestic Abuse | Alcoholism | Renovation Business | Faith In this powerful conversation, actor, U.S. Marine Corps veteran, carpenter, and content creator Stephen Zampieri shares the story behind the success people see today. From an abusive childhood and years of emotional pain to military service, addiction, family struggles, and ultimately finding purpose through fa...

Pickleball | Coaching | Door-to-Door | Sales | Fantasy Novels Professional pickleball coach Ross Cottrell shares the story behind one of America's fastest-growing sports, from taping pickleball lines onto tennis courts to helping build premier indoor facilities. Along the way, we explore coaching philosophy, entrepreneurship, business strategy, sales, and what separates thriving pickleball com...

Gaming | RuneScape | Meal Prep Industry | Near-Death Experience Sean Parker is a entrepreneur with a passion for food, technology, and building meaningful experiences. As the founder of Purefect Meals, he combines bold flavors, practical innovation, and a customer-first mindset to create healthy, high-quality meals that people genuinely enjoy. Beyond his entrepreneurial pursuits, Sean enjoys gamin...

Knife Making | George Floyd Riots | Craftsmanship | Depression | Faith In this episode of Hold This Thought, I sit down with Levi Herrick, a custom knife maker and entrepreneur whose journey took him from rural Wisconsin to building a handmade knife business in Georgia. What begins with a debate about ostriches, wolves, and snakes evolves into a conversation about craftsmanship, social media addic...

Vaccines | Medical Trauma | Public Trust | Fatherlessness | Forgiveness Taylor Hayes is a physician assistant, educator, researcher, author, wife, mother, and deep thinker. In this conversation we explore everything from social media algorithms, public trust, and healthcare to grief, trauma, parenting, faith, creativity, and forgiveness. Taylor shares what it was like growing up without her father...

On Set w/ Chadwick Boseman | Professional Baseball | Coaching | Grass (yep, grass) | Parenting | Failure Former pro athlete, actor, and coach Danny Sawyer joins Hold This Thought for a wide-ranging conversation on sports, life on a movie set, fatherhood, discipline, resilience, and the long-term impact adults have on young athletes. Drawing from years of experience on the field, in performance, an...

In the first ever 3-person episode of Hold This Thought, I sit down with my two brothers for a wide-ranging conversation about AI, cyber security, history, sports, family, and the memories that shape us. One brother works in education. One works in cyber security and AI. I approach the world from the creative side. That mix led to a conversation that moved from childhood stories and sports to rogu...

Bible Translation | Faith | Theology | Leadership | Missions | Loneliness | Legacy Dr. Don Allen joins Hold This Thought for a conversation about faith, leadership, purpose, legacy, and the realities of building something that lasts. From planting a church with just six people to leading ministries that now reach more than 218 countries, Dr. Allen shares the story behind Church At War Hill, Victor...

No Father| Pain | Responsibility | Growth | Purpose | Legacy What happens when you grow up without a father? In this episode, we explore a story that challenges the assumption that a broken home leads to a broken future. From never seeing his dad at a single game to being surrounded by coaches and men who stepped in, this conversation uncovers how influence, consistency, and perspective can shape...

Foster Care Story | Adoption | Creative Entrepreneurship | Audio Engineering | Music Production | Advertising Career In this episode of Hold This Thought, Christian sits down with Chris Borelli for a deeply honest conversation about music, trauma, creativity, and perspective. What starts as a discussion about audio engineering and podcast production slowly unfolds into a powerful story about foste...

Character | Worship | Near-Death Experience | Grilling Meats | Homosexuality In this deeply personal episode of Hold This Thought, Christian sits down with worship leader and longtime mentor Jenahl Alexander for a wide-ranging conversation about faith, suffering, worship, excellence, doubt, leadership, and the moments that shape who we become. What begins as a conversation about in-ear monitors an...

Comedy Conversations | Trivia | Personal Stories | Friendship Energy | Curiosity We started with a “simple” trivia game… and somewhere along the way it turned into whatever this is. No real structure, no clean agenda, just two people committing a little too hard to the moment. Questions get missed, answers get overconfident, bits start forming out of nowhere… and somehow it all works. Underneath t...

App Trail Thru-Hike | Adventure | Solitude | Resilience | Nature | Presence This episode of Hold This Thought dives deep into what happens when you remove yourself from modern life and finally confront your own mind. Miller Hollstein shares the story of leaving everything behind to live in the woods for five months to thru-hike the ENTIRE Appalachian Trail (2200 miles), searching for clarity, purp...