Failure Guy

The most important person in my life is finally on my podcast! To celebrate March as MS Awareness Month (just a hair late), I've finally edited what has been 6 different phone calls with my Nana into one podcast episode that really shows off just how much life you can pack into 90 years. I call her every Sunday, but honestly, these calls where she had to tell her own life stories were so illuminating for me that I feel like I've been given a gift I didn't know was already there. Listen to her recount her life-long battle with MS. In addition, we also tackle semi-random topics like the transition from radio to black & white TV, my grandfather's rejection of Alexander Graham Bell, and even how the Boston Strangler made it harder for my Nana to collect donations for the MS organization she founded with her friend. I hope you enjoy her as much as I do (which, let's be honest, isn't possible). Thanks, Nana!

Have you ever been so inspired by someone that you walked away feeling like you owed them something? I feel that way every time I chat with Tom Langan, owner & founder of Talex Media. He's logged over 40,000 hours professionally behind the camera lens, and you'd do well to listen to the whole episode if you want to learn all the great insights he has to share. Special thanks to Dominick Domaski (episode 32) for the introduction!

Troy Holt, Chief Encouragement Officer of Troy Holt Consulting LLC shares intimate stories about working to spread financial literacy, and also lets us in on fabulous insights regarding failure: "Failure is an event, but if you get in a spirit of defeat, you'll give up, and you quit. Failure doesn't mean that a person is a failure, it just means that something didn't work out, they didn't have success, but they can get up and move forward." He shares a lesson I had to learn the hard way as well, but it's a lesson that is incredibly important: "You learn more in the valleys than on the mountaintops. When you're on the mountaintops, everybody wants you, and they're your friends, but when you're in the valleys, your low places, in the failures, that's when you have your true friends. They'll be with you when you're up or when you're down, and so just remember those that stick with you... don't forget those people when you get to the top!"

Emmy-winning Casting, Brand & Talent Development legend Vinnie Potestivo shares just how difficult show business can be. He discusses many hilarious and insightful stories about his career including his time at MTV Networks where, as producer, he helped to launch shows like Punk'd and The Osbournes. In addition, he also helped cast for shows like TRL, The Tom Green Show, Pimp My Ride and many more! I love his outlook on failure: "When you prepare for failure, it sets you up to win epically or fail collectively. If you're failing really really big, and you're the only person who's failing, you did it wrong. But if you're failing with a group of people, that's learning! That's relationship building and pioneering."

Author Bobby Shanks sheds light on the dating dilemma facing many singles today. His book 'Undateable' details why singles struggle with dating and what they can do about it! For this Valentine's Day episode, I figured I'd show the single people some love, and let Bobby help you graduate to the next level and rid yourself of any undateable tendencies you think you might have! He reminds us that "reciprocation is something that all human beings desire", and how important it is for any healthy relationship.

The Burgh Blonde April Marie gives a delightfully funny look into her hilariously awful date stories that she compiled for her recently released book 'Burgh Blonde: A Yinzer's Guide to Sex & Dating in the Steel City'. As she explains in the episode, she's actually learned some pretty important insights... "Things changed once I started forgiving people and trying to look on the bright side of things. You can't go around with bitterness in your heart. The sh***y things that happen in your life, it's to teach you something. Once you see that, you can grow from it and learn from your failures." - April Marie

Sexual empowerment coach Erica Wiederlight shines her not-so-wee light on the podcast as she courageously shares her story of evolving from a teenager riddled with anxiety to an adult sex & life coach likely still riddled with anxiety haha. Kicking off the Valentine's month of some love-related guests, Erica makes me laugh more than usual and shows just how fun & easy-going our own sexual and relationship journey can be.

The host of the Causing the Effect podcast, Scott Gazzoli, is definitely on my failure wavelength. He dives deep and shares readily with not only his more troubling times as he found his career path but also what he's learned to help better ground yourself during tough times. As he says in the episode, "be ready for the failures to get thrown in your face, because that is where your growth lies..." We also get into meandering discussions of addiction, past mistakes, and even discuss the greatest pro wrestler there ever wasn't: The Great Scott!

Doug Crowe is certainly a friend of failure and walks us through his most difficult moments on his path to success. His story includes losing a multi-million dollar business, nearly committing suicide, and reinventing himself with the help of an old 'friend'. We also meander through subjects including the future of AI and how he uses his motivational techniques to be a sort of "Author Whisperer" helping those with a story extract it and bring the best version of it to the world!

The one and only Carole Baskin joins me to talk about the latest updates on her ongoing effort to save Big Cats! She shares her insights on why it's so important to act now if we want to make sure Tigers are still here in the near future. She also sheds some light on the difficulties and disappointment related to how Tiger King ended up compared to how it was pitched. And we even get into what's next for her including NFTs, crypto and other ways in which we can utilize technology to help save the tigers!