Don't Be A Man About It

"For every success, there are 10 failures. And that's what people need to understand."

Lee Ryan is a five-time Guinness World Record holder,  the first known person to run from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, an endurance athlete, and Adidas Runners Community Lead in MENA. He is also a father to two gorgeous girls and has been in the UAE for over 15 years. 

Lee has shared with me his very touching story of where everything began. From grieving the loss of his son and mom, to learning and practicing self-compassion, to leading the Adidas Runners Community in MENA to taking mindful running as a tool to alleviate stress and tough days, and by his example of "one step at a time" —  In Lee's family, they say ‘Team Ryan’ never gives up." And we hope that listening to Lee's story inspires you to do the same.

Dedicating this episode to Lee's son, Michael. ♡  

What is the most challenging part about parenting two daughters? And how can a balance between work and family be achieved?

For Father's Day special, my amazing guest, Ramzi Ghurani, opens his heart and takes us through his journey as a dad to two beautiful daughters and explains how much responsibility falls on the shoulders of a father to ensure growth, stability, and peace at home. Thank you Ramzi for being the guiding light for your daughters.

Happy Father's Day ♡

Please show your love and support and share this episode with your friends and family.

"Be BulletProof."

Today's guest, Sami Khoury, is a mindset coach and mindfulness teacher, and he helps people overcome their stress, anxiety, and self-doubt so they can learn to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations, developmental tranquility, and live as their authentic selves. 

Over the last 13 years, he's worked in the startup, corporate, agency, and nonprofit worlds. He founded a social enterprise, conducted and facilitated countless entrepreneurial and personal development workshops, and mentored young professionals in navigating their careers and lifestyles. He's fascinated with mindfulness, philosophy, and neuroscience, and wishes to share this knowledge with the aim of helping others attain inner balance and peace of mind. Sami holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and an MSc in Marketing Management. He is a certified Health & Well-being coach and pretty much obsessed with helping people become their best selves.

In this episode, Sami shares his 2 cents on overcoming anxiety and how men can become bulletproof without holding on to the mask of "being a man".

"𝐈𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦."  

My guest, Matthew Arkin, is an actor, author, and educator. Among his extensive television credits are Criminal Minds, NCIS, Aquarius, and Law and Order. He teaches acting in Los Angeles and is Director of the Acting Intensive Program at South Coast Repertory and an adjunct professor at Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University. He is also the author of the suspense novel In the Country of the Blind.  

In this episode, Matthew and I talked had a cozy discussion starting with how the Entertainment Industry can affect artists' mental health to how his journey with therapy after his divorce was like for him.

"It's not a weakness to talk."  

The fact that this message keeps repeating itself on my show, shows how important talking about our emotions is. And how many people are still not willing to do it.  

Had a great time recording this episode! One because I got to meet another side of Gianmarco, a side that made me feel that I wanted to stop at some point and just give Gianmarco a huge hug! And two because of the wonderful and humorous conversation we had from talking about men in therapy to listening to Gianmarco's stories.  

Gianmarco talked about his experience with therapy and coming from a divorced family, and he also shared with me his fears from being in a relationship.  

Gianmarco’s stand up has been featured on Netflix’s Bonding, PBS’ Stories from the Stage, SeeSo’s New York’s Funniest, Real Housewives of New York, NY1, New York LIVE, Vanity Fair, George Takei presents and he was the winner of Amazon’s Comics Watching Comics Season 8. 1st Place at the Laughing Devil Comedy Festival, Devil’s Cup Comedy Festival, Empire State Comedy Festival, and Last Comix Standing at Mohegan Sun, he regularly headlines clubs, colleges and sordid basements around the country.  You can hear even more of Gianmarco yammering on his weekly podcast The Downside, where he interviews more successful friends in a space where complaining is encouraged, silver linings are debunked, and downsides are discovered in the most uplifting of stories.

Helping others, making an impact, and being part of the community are fundamental elements of my guest's happiness.

Justin Krugerr, the Founder and CEO of Project Helping, a Denver-based mental wellness organization, grew up in a ridiculously small town in Iowa that did not believe in mental health support, let alone men's mental health. His personal struggle with mental wellness led him to leave the golf business behind to start Project Helping, his first entrepreneurial venture and providing purpose, connection, and mental wellness through service and improving mental wellness through volunteerism, and practicing kindfulness.

In this episode, Justin shares his story of depression and attempting suicide, and how only his first date with his current partner has changed his life and whole life's purpose. 

"I wish I'd known about the power of talking and sharing."

CJ, a screenwriter, and movie producer within the indie film scene who likes to write female-led pulpy content, and is part of an exciting team of ultra-efficient filmmakers. He has also built and run the large free screenplay hosting website Script Revolution, shaking up the break-in industry by offering people access they didn't have before.

In this episode, CJ was very open about his own mental health struggles and shared how he fought his way out of depression. We also had a talk about the movie industry and its impact on our mental health. 

"'I am Alive and I can do it!'. Tell your problems that and they will be solved automatically."  

Max Fardan knows all about keeping a healthy lifestyle and mindset: not only is he a fitness enthusiast and supermodel living in Dubai, but he has also survived t.  Fardan was 24 and working as a sales manager in his home country of Uzbekistan when he found out he had breast cancer.   

In this emotional episode, Max shares his story for the recovery journey, the lessons he took away from it, and how his cancer awareness campaigns are removing the stigma and fear around men's breast cancer and also helping them make healthier lifestyle choices.  

Max, you are living proof that nothing ever is impossible!

𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬. 𝐀 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐀 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐀𝐧 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬?  

Scott Armstrong, the editor in chief at Arabian Business, with more than 30 years of experience as a journalist, editor, and strategic communications consultant. And like so many men, he spent most of his life ignoring his insecurities and finding his worth in job titles he carried all of his life.  

In this episode, Scott shared a bit about his journey to discovering his true self after a long time of hiding behind unhealthy habits and behavior, how what happened to Christian Eriksen should be a wake up to all of us to set our priorities straight, and then highlighted important points on corporate mental health and resilience.  

I am extremely grateful for this heartful and authentic conversation with Scott and I really hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed recording it.

When it comes to men dealing with a divorce, it can be stressful because it makes them lose their sense of identity and because they are still stigmatized by our society with the cliché of "Man Up".

9 years ago, my guest's life took an unexpected turn after hearing the words "I want out" from his ex-wife leaving him with emotional turmoil and 2 kids. He shares his story and experience with divorce and how he overcame it with its emotional turmoil and started a brand new life with his second wife and now 4 kids aka his "Bowl of Joy" by trading his past with his future. In this episode, Ramez also shares lots of insightful stories and helpful tips on how can men move on and thrive after a divorce.

Ramez Helou is the CEO and Founder of The Academy for Sales Excellence, with more than 30+ years of experience in sales and building sales capability for 100,000+ sales professionals in over 38+ countries. He is also a professor of Sales & Leadership at Hult International Business School.

If you are a man getting divorced or want to help a man out going through a divorce, we hope this episode help get you on the right track.

"I had in my pocket just enough for either one meal or one book. I chose the book and it absolutely changed my life."  

They say that being a parent is one of the toughest yet most rewarding jobs in the world; it’s almost like having to confront a daily struggle for the rest of your life. But it’s even more challenging for single parents who basically need to put on their superheroes' capes all the time to be able to do it all on their own!  

My guest is a courageous father who found himself solely responsible for the upbringing of his two kids after a sudden and unexpected divorce came their way. He was not prepared to be a single dad or for the major life adjustments he had to make to save his and his kids' futures, and yet, he succeeded to create a remarkable life and a successful business through it all.  

Muneer Samnani, the founder of Oxygen Mastermind Group and the Co-author of the Book ‘Mastering Time’, came to my show & shared his story, experience, and his learnings of being a single dad. He has spent almost a decade exploring and developing his passion for motivating people and organizations in transforming their perceptions about creating change and achieving success. For Muneer, anything you learn should be as fun and entertaining as it is relevant and important, and this episode is good proof of that.   

In honor of Men's Health Month and Father's Day (that is just around the corner), this episode and the ones to follow this month are dedicated to all the dads out there who would do just about anything to care for their little ones.  

Here is to all the super dads  

Here is to my big fox   

"I’m a writer who writes to his son every day about parenthood from a dad’s point of view."

My guest, Tom Kreffer, does this for many reasons: to encourage himself to reflect deeply about his role as a parent; to create a gift for his son when he’s older (imagine your parents giving you their journals about you on your 21st birthday); to improve his writing ability, and to give readers a unique perspective on parenthood that they won’t find in other books.

In this episode, Tom shares his story and experience of becoming a dad, the power of journaling, and how after nearly two years, when doctors told him and his wife that the chances of making a baby naturally were slim to none and how then she fell pregnant.

Buckle up new parents, this will hit an emotional nerve.

"Do you think an apathetic person can become empathetic?"

Tune in to see what my guest had to say about that and how he believes that we all can do a world of good by practicing empathy.

Cole Egger, the Co-Founder, and CEO of Listeners On Call, leads the company’s vision to provide on-call empathy, privacy, and support for millions of people who need to feel heard. Cole is an experienced entrepreneur whose personal passion has always been creating innovative solutions that benefit and support the well-being of others. Cole believes that authentic empathy-driven connections will reshape the stigma that holds so many back from talking through trying circumstances.

In this episode, Cole shares his story with mental health and grief, and then how his life transformed right after he made a conscious decision to ask for help. 

"Wrestlers are no strangers to feeling alone in their struggles."  

My guest discovered wrestling at the age of 13, and it dramatically changed his life and taught him many valuable life lessons that he has drawn upon since then.   Donald G. “Skip” Mondragon II, MD, has practiced Internal Medicine for over thirty years. 

He is a 26-year Army veteran, National Veterans Wrestling Champion, speaker, and self-proclaimed amateur wrestling aficionado. Skip is the author of "Wrestling Depression Is Not For Wimps" book.  

Throughout his wrestling career, which spanned over five decades, Dr. Skip lost and won against many worthy opponents, but the fiercest was depression. He was physically and emotionally drained, and exhaustion set in on all fronts, that each day became a struggle to make it to the end of the day.  

In this episode, Dr. Skip shared how he faced, grappled with, and triumphed over this relentless foe, and how wrestlers like him can do so too. This one is merely to give hope, help, and encouragement to men wrestling with depression.   

Skip won, and so can you!

TW // Trauma, Addiction

"I could relate to them, and they opened up to me with their stories of survival. I decided then that this was my calling. I would make films chronicling recovery from trauma beginning with a documentary about the fire that had wiped the slate clean for me. I wrote and directed Faces in the Fire and won my first Emmy. Then the National Institute for Mental Health began using it to debrief survivors of natural disasters. My film was helping people! I had found a purpose. That’s a huge gift."

It’s been 29 years since my guest lost all of his worldly possessions in the Painted Cave fire. To be exact, it was June 27, 1990. He calls it his “ground zero.”

The fire had destroyed 450 homes and human life in its wake. Seemingly a disaster that he would never recover from, the fire turned out to be one of the greatest gifts he could ever receive. At the time, however, my guest wasn’t quite feeling so blessed. He turned to drugs and alcohol to bury his sorrows and mask his pain. Finally, he sought help, and through divine and human intervention, he became clean and sober.

Eric Christiansen, a filmmaker, and a Seven-time Southwestern Region Emmy Award recipient, also received an International Monitor Award for Best Director and Silver and a Gold Award from the Houston International Film Festival. Eric rose from the ashes of his own trauma to make a career chronicling survivors of devastating life events with a focus on their resilience in the face of adversity and their ability to find hope again to heal.

In this episode, Eric shared his story and how his movies are helping people with their traumas. 

"𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞."

What's the distinction between both? And how can we choose the things that make us feel purposeful and that speak to our essence?

If you keep thinking or feeling that you're “too sensitive” or “too emotional” or “too intense" or that you’re “not good enough” or “successful enough” or “smart enough.”, then most likely you're mistaking the container for the essence, and you'll keep thinking that something is wrong with you.

But it's not true. You are just an essence in the wrong container. And that is what my guest has explained in this episode!

Mike Iamele, the founder of Sacred Branding® system shared how he discovered his own purpose when he gave up on everything after infinite failures and offered free branding sessions that made him realize that our entire lived experiences are around the same themes over and over again.

From running a huge PR agency to celebrating his failures to now helping hundreds of people to connect the dots between their lived experiences to find the common threads that explain their subconscious motivations, unique genius, and life purpose, and what is the key to our greatest path to success and fulfillment

We just need a map to know-how, and in this episode, you'll get it!

𝑩𝒐𝒏𝒖𝒔: 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝑴𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒑 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔!

"Givers sleep better at night."

What does that mean? and who do you think is a better leader; the one who is self-focused or the one who is others-focused, or maybe it's the one who preserves an equal balance of giving and taking?

That's what you'll learn from my exponential guest today!

Bijay Shah, is the National Director for Business Network International (BNI) in the UAE & Qatar and the Co-National Director for BNI Kenya & Uganda, who has won numerous BNI CEO awards for outstanding performance and business excellence, and who has recently co-authored the book – ‘The World’s Best Known Marketing Secret’ which is an international bestseller.

In this episode, Bijay highlights the difference between empathy and sympathy, the types of givers, and reveals how we can adapt the mindset for greater success. He also shares his story and how it influenced hundreds of entrepreneurs to grow their businesses through compassion and a structured system of referrals. 

Between our satisfaction with giving and our comfort with taking lies a balance. Tune in with an open mind and heart to know more about it.

"Good luck and one day it will be over". This is what most of us say to parents raising teenagers!

Can parents really do better than just survive the teenage years though? My guest believes that they can when they see the greatness in their teenagers and learn and apply positive parenting strategies for the teenage years that can impact their whole family.

Amando shared some invaluable parenting tips in this episode, and also his story & how he went from a police officer to a therapeutic educational expert working with children and teenagers. And openly spoke about the time when he couldn't carry and hold his 18 months old son and why was that moment life-changing for him as a father and as a man.

Amando is the executive director of BESTution, a bespoke, holistic therapeutic education business that aims to support children and parents to inspire confidence and ensure sustained improvements outside the classroom.

Parents listening to this, I'd love to hear your comments about this episode, and maybe you could add your own teenage parenting tips down in the comments.

"I don't know what to say but I'm here." 

My guest believes that if we all learn to apply those magical words when talking to someone with a mental health crisis, we could be changing their lives forever. 

Using dynamism and authenticity, Archie Messersmith-Bunting, aka The Feelings Guy, champions mental health awareness worldwide at corporations and universities. He challenges people to rethink complicated and emotional topics like depression, suicide, alcohol, and drug addiction. Through his company ArchieCares, LLC, Messersmith-Bunting aims to reframe the narrative surrounding mental illness and addiction by facilitating honest and vulnerable conversations.

In this episode, Archie shares his experience with drug addiction and depression and he speaks of the importance of men showing up in their true authentic selves without having to be scared of getting shamed and judged for the way they feel. 

"𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐩 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐲."  

Bullied children and teens are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, and sometimes long-term damage to self-esteem. Without the proper attention and treatment, this can continue into adulthood, when they are more likely to abuse and bully others at the workplace and at home.  

My guest today, Phil Bedford aka The Rebel Networker, having lived in the Middle East since 1998, now leverages his extensive business acumen, Masters Degree, and over a decade of experience in sales training, business development, and consulting to expand the Asentiv franchise across this region. He runs regular networking events and workshops in Dubai. Considered a leading expert in referral marketing, Phil is passionate about helping business owners to grow an amazing business and lead a spectacular life.  

But being the successful man he is today came with a high price at a very young age.   Phil shared his story with me on how he was bullied at school and how when he decided one time to tell his teacher about it, the teacher instead of supporting him, told him to wait in class until his bullies went home, so he could leave.   

I hope we all learn from this episode that we all have a role in the prevention of school bullying, and the first step after listening to this episode is taking the right action.

Is it ego or fear that holds men back from asking for help?  

It's no secret anymore that men tend to not engage in help-seeking behavior and downplay their physical and mental health symptoms.  

In this episode, my guest shares his story and experience with Mental Health and how if it wasn't for the support of his 2 close friends, he wouldn't have been the healthy man he is today.  Dr. Rayan is a Saudí American Health Coach and Sports Consultant with 8 years of experience in Coaching, Sports, and Physical and Mental Wellness. He has an Arabic podcast on Mental Health called Dimpagh Podcast. And his struggles with Mental Health as an Arab Man and what came after it just prove that men asking for help is never a sign of weakness. If anything, it's full-on strength.   

If you are one of those men who is struggling with your emotions, this episode is perfect for you. Never think of yourself as alone.

What advice would you give your younger self?  

Whatever answer you have come up for yourself, I'm pretty sure it's not as blunt & true as Dave's answer!  

This is episode is aimed to encourage you to own and honor your true self without shame or guilt, with the understanding that emotions are also part of your being, which are meant to be expressed and shared as part of who you are.  

Dave Crane is a motivational speaker, certified hypnotherapist, stage hypnotist, life coach, and NLP Master practitioner. One motivational session in Greece led to one Global company recording a 49% growth in sales within their next 12 months period and they attributed much of it to his work!  

Throughout his career, he’s worked with some of the giants of entertainment such as Bruce Willis, James Brown, Sylvester Stallone, Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Robert Plant, Enrique Iglesias, Sting, Jean Alesi, Jim Courier, Stefan Edberg, and Kanye West.  

With so much honor and excitement, I share with you my conversation with Dave that has opened my eyes to so many things like the misconception of the law of attraction, the keys to a happy mindset, and the dark secrets of the business world that we live in and its effect on our Well-being & personal growth.   

Thank you so much Dave for bringing your authentic presence and integrity with tremendous energy, excitement, and humor to my show. I continue to be one of your most passionate advocates, and I'm sure many listeners will feel the same.  

The first time I met Spencer, I knew that behind his sarcastic and straightforward comments, was a man with a heart of gold.   

I won't hide that I was nervous recording this episode. It was emotionally hard for me to interview my mentor and at the same time my good friend. But I was happy that I got to know a side of Spencer that not everyone gets to meet.   

I had a few "Oh my heart..." moments out of our conversation--and when you feel that much from interviewing a show guest ... you know it's been an insightful experience.   

In this episode, Spencer shares bits and pieces of his experience from being bullied at school to coping with his parents' divorce as a kid and surviving the roller coaster of his feelings of loneliness and suicidal thoughts.   He has, to date, supported mental health by raising awareness on his podcast and donated close to a million pounds to charity over the last 14 years helping children in Africa born with HIV and aids.  We often underestimate how someone's journey inspires, encourages, lights up, and gives hope to others.

Thank you Spencer for being the light this world needs.

New York Minute Magazine profiled my guest as a "Bad Ass Man"  

How could he not be when his mission in life is to 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐧, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐈𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞?  

Bryan Reeves a former captain in the US Air Force, shares how somewhere along his journey from a military soldier to a spiritual warrior, through heartbreak and despair, he slowly rediscovered the thrill of being alive and the courage to fully live this wondrous life he was born for.  

There are so many invaluable takeaways from today’s episode that will forever change your understanding of relationships and partnerships, but for me, it was how Bryan went from a man completely disconnected from his emotions to a man deeply connected and alive with them; that was exactly what I needed to hear and exactly when I needed to hear it.  

Bryan, thank you for sharing the space and energy with me on the show, thank you for showing up as your authentic self, and thank you for widening my perspective on how a true partner should be in a healthy relationship, be it for themselves or their romantic partners.

"I am the most positive suicidal person you'll ever meet."

Frank King, a five Time TEDx Talker, TEDx and Speaker Coach, and Former writer for The Tonight Show for 20 years, has fought a lifetime battle with depression, and countless thoughts of suicide, turning that long dark journey of the soul into 5 TEDx Talks and sharing his insights on Suicide Prevention and Postvention with corporations, associations, and college audiences.

Frank uses his life lessons to start the conversation giving people permission to voice out their feelings and experiences surrounding depression and suicide. And doing it with humor as he believes that where there is humor there is hope and where there is laughter there is life, and that nobody dies laughing.

In this episode, Frank openly speaks about his lifetime battle with depression, suicide running through his family, and how his journey inspired him for his first TED Talk, “A Matter of Laugh or Death”. You'll also learn how to start a conversation on suicide, what to say & not to say when stepping in to help a suicidal person.

You’ll laugh, learn, and leave loving life.

Stories help us become who we want to become

A huge insight to take away from my guest during this episode.

When my guest was a kid, nothing was as glamorous to him as a record store. Other 10-year-olds would drag their moms to the video arcade; he would take his mom to Bleecker Bob’s in Greenwich Village.

And it was at that age... songwriting arrived in search of him. He also discovered that he was a pretty good storyteller and that he could move people by harnessing imagination and the principles of a well-told tale.

Anthony Vlahos, a chief storyteller and the head of brand and partnerships at ExecuNet shares his experience of working with senior-level executives and speaks of the benefits of Mindfulness on our mental health, especially for men, and how music connects people to one another. 

From those who feel a little skeptical about therapy, to those who don't have the time for it, this episode is for you.

Robert Grigore AKA The Celebrity Saviour has been making a name for himself by eliminating anxiety, depression, addiction, and more in as little as a single weekend! 

He is a Certified EMDR Therapist, Approved EMDR Consultant, speaker, and the author of the book, You NEED Therapy. EMDR: Real People With Real Problems Getting Real Help. Robert's exclusive practice caters to the authentic needs of the entire psychological legacy of his creative influencers. He is on a mission to redefine how the world views therapy because he believes the time is our most valuable resource, and far too many people are spending years - even decades suffering needlessly.

In this episode, Robert shares how his method in EMDR therapy helped many people and celebrities with their depression and saved their lives. He also sends a powerful message that gives people a reason to connect, reach out, and feel the return of hope.

Choose Your Struggle 

That's the only mantra that my guest lives by. 

For much of Jay Shifman's early life, he was told that he was living with a debilitating issue of Mental Health. As his condition worsened, he was prescribed more drugs at higher doses until, in his early 20s, he was taking on a daily basis more than the estimated lethal dosage of one drug and abusing many others while living with a full-blown Substance Misuse Disorder thanks to prescription pills. 

At 23, after two suicide attempts, an overdose, and time spent in an inpatient hospital and a rehab facility, Jay decided enough was enough and pledged himself to withdraw from all of his prescriptions. His symptoms disappeared almost immediately.

After entering recovery and rebuilding his life, Jay pledged himself to one mission: choosing his struggle. In a world where many don’t get a first chance, he realized just how lucky he was to get his second. So he decided to dedicate his life to making a difference around the topics of Mental Health and Substance Misuse & Recovery. 

In this episode, Jay shares his experience & an unbelievable story with substance misuse.

Hamad Al Saad aka The Nourisher, the founder of The Nourishers, holistic health, and food psychologist talks about his breaking points & the importance of having a strong support system in his life and then how he managed to channel his difficulties and rock bottoms into opportunities and a life-changing business. 

This episode is not to be missed. 

From my heart to yours,  Thank you for listening.

Marcus Smith is an entrepreneur, motivational speaker, extreme athlete, and coach.

With a competitive sporting background, fitness has always played a role in Marcus’ life. He played professional rugby from the age of 18, before retiring after the 2009 Rugby Sevens World Cup. He then spent 10 years working in the sporting goods industry, with over five years as a Sales Director at Adidas. While building a career in the corporate world, he discovered a passion for “making people better at life.”

This passion fuelled the establishment of international health and performance company, InnerFight, which he founded to help people develop their mental strength and physical fitness through functional strength & conditioning classes and endurance coaching. 

Not one to sit still, Marcus turned his focus to extreme challenges and has fast become one of the UAE’s most respected extreme athletes. Often competing in CrossFit events and the world’s most difficult running and cycling challenges, Marcus leans on his experiences to coach some of the most promising endurance athletes in the region. Some of his most notable achievements to date include:

· Running 30 marathons in 30 days, just 9 months after being hit by a truck;

· Completed a 50km cycle, 50km run, and 50km cycle in 48-degree heat! in Dubai, in 8 hours;

· Running around a track for 24 hours straight, racking up 206.9km;

· Completing a triple ascent of Mont Ventoux, the Tour De France’s hardest climb;

· Running Marathon Des Sables, a 250km self-supported run across the Sahara Desert, which is widely regarded as the world’s toughest footrace.

In this episode, Marcs speaks about his passion to make people better at life, shares the secret for building a stronger mindset, and answers many questions on Mental Health.

From my heart to yours, 

Thank you for listening