The Pursuit of Happiness

Co-Founder of Holstee and co-creator of the Holstee Manifesto, David Radparvar, joins me on this episode to discuss the inspiration and the story behind the writing that has inspired millions all over the world.

David talks about why he and his brother wrote the Holstee Manifesto, the process and where these specific words came from. We also discuss how he felt and how his life changed when this manifesto became a viral sensation a few years afterwards, when this was shared all over the internet and was being printed and hung in random places around the globe.

We talk about the evolution of Holstee as a business and how it transformed from a sustainable t-shirt company into a business that gives people tools and platforms to transform their life through gratitude, positivity and journaling.

Franklin Swann, podcast host and entrepreneur, joins me on this episode to discuss his long road to finding happiness from the depths of depression, severe anxiety and self-hatred.

Franklin talks about the pressures and expectations he put on himself that led him down the path of severe depression. So severe, he was even physical with himself at times.

We discuss his long journey into finding help with coaches and changing his mindset and perspective that has actually allowed him to be happy and for his life with his family and career to flourish.

Scho and Jo (Jen and Elliot) rejoin my podcast to reflect on their life on the boat completing Americas great loop. We look back upon some of their best memories, moments of defeat and lessons learned. 

Jen and Elliot also spill the beans on their next chapter in life! 

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Top Leadership Coach, TEDx Speaker and Podcast Host, Rob Kalwarosky joins me on this episode to discuss his journey with depression and suicidal thoughts and how ketamine therapy ultimately saved his life.

Rob is a super high achiever and elite athlete that tied his identity into production and results. After joining the workforce, he found himself in a new world that didn't applaud him for his work ethic, but more so shamed him into depression.

Find out more about Rob, his struggles and his experience with Ketamine on this episode.

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Katre Kitchen, survivor of narcissistic abuse, community leader, joins me on this episode to share her journey, experience and knowledge of narcissism.

She discusses her past relationships and patterns with narcissistic partners, including one that reached a level of abuse so bad that she had no choice but not to get out immediately. Warning: there is some conversation of mental and physical abuse that she endured. We talk about what narcissism is, as well as gaslighting and other signals that you may be missing if you're dealing with a narcissistic person in your life. We discuss possible solutions or ways to deal with people like this that are around you, whether it's a relationship, family or coworkers.

Life Coach, Greg Singleton, joins me on this incredibly honest and vulnerable episode. He discuses how his life completely fell apart after a shocking divorce that left him absolutely devastated. He put is happiness in others and lost his identity and desire to live. Panic attacks soon followed as well as uncertainty of his future.

Greg contemplated suicide as he had trouble even getting out of bed while he battled depression.

Psychotherapist, Emily Sanders, joins me on this episode to discuss the emotions and family dynamics of shame and guilt, what they look like, and how to properly cope with them. We look into childhood environments, communication with family members and how to properly set boundaries and stick to them. We even discuss different types of discipline and how they affect us as we get older.

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Sunny Strasburg, LMFT and I discuss the benefits that Ketamine and other psychedelics have provided and continue to provide people who struggle with depression, anxiety, PTSD and more. We talk about how and why this works scientifically as well as go through the entire process of what patients can expect.

Sunny Strasburg, LMFT is certified in Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy by the California Institute of Integral Studies. She has been trained in psilocybin therapy by Compass Pathways and Synthesis. She is also a trainer for the Theradelic Approach, and hosts KAP retreats. Mrs Strasburg serves as a consultant for licensed practitioners.

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Psychic medium and artist, Cindy Kaza joins me on this fascinating episode to discuss her ability on connecting with the spirit world. We talk about her journey since she was a child, her first experience with a spirit, and her evolution on communicating with the afterlife.

We also talks about her travels around the world and how other cultures perceive mediums, psychic abilities and what death means to them.

Cindy is also an amazing artist who channels spirit guides and creates super unique drawings using charcoal, soft pastels and acrylic.

Ultra-endurance athlete, podcast host and business coach, RJ Singh, joins me on this episode for his one-of-a-kind story and journey through life that has reached the lowest of lows to a comeback for the ages.

RJ spent years with the wrong crowd making some bad decisions and battling addictions with some powerful drugs which actually led to incarceration. His life seemed to get worse as soon as he hit rock bottom, but with a mindset switch and sticking to discipline and great habits, he was able to pull a complete 180.

He's now an ultra-endurance athlete, challenging himself to some of the hardest races in the world as well as having his eyes on breaking the 24 hour burpee record. RJ is a podcast host of Ultra Habits and has been coaching individuals for over 10 years — establishing The Ultrahabits Way; a personalised habits-based transformation program focused on strengthening individuals through optimizing their core habits.

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Author, coach and motivational speaker, Tommy Breedlove, joins me on this unforgettable episode. Tommy goes into detail about his struggles through life, including his childhood and his experience spending two years in jail. He seemingly straightened out his life afterwards becoming a high achiever making more money than he could spend, but soon realized that he was extremely unhappy and found himself waking up in a ditch on the side of the road. His happiness was nowhere to be found until this moment that changed everything. His story is one of resilience and one that you have to hear for yourself. You’ll never forget it.

Dawn Dahlby is a certified financial planner, wealth wellness expert and author of "Live WELLthy™: Own Your Worth, Grow Your Wealth." She is the country’s first behavioral financial advisor, a certification that focuses on both the emotional and practical aspects of managing money. We discuss tips and advice about finances and our relationship with money in a very easy to understand and digestible way.

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CEO and Co-founder of Pepper the App, Jake Aronskind, joins me on this episode to discuss his journey into the world of blending food and community. Jake talks about the road he traveled into creating an app for everyone to share their favorite recipes and how it brings people and cultures together from around the world. We even discuss his appearance on Gordon Ramsay’s Food Star show and go behind the scenes. 

Soultrepreneur Lexi Godlewski joins me on this very honest and vulnerable episode. She discusses her bout with depression, anxiety and being absolutely miserable at her job, which many of us can relate to. Everyday she hated her routine and where she was in life, until one day a coworker committed suicide and her entire perspective changed. She knew she had to find a way out and a way to become happier and live life the way it should be lived. She up and moved to Hawaii for a fresh beginning and started her own business built helping others achieve success and happiness doing the same.

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Chris Boettcher (Physical Therapist, 10x Ironman and Performance Coach) joins me on this episode to discuss everything mindset, health and the truth about nutrition. Chris has a degree in Exercise Physiology and a Doctorate of Physical Therapy with 10 years of experience. He realized the health system isn't really set up to actually make people healthier, so he started his own business, with his brother, aimed towards helping and arming men with real information, facts and results.

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The incredible Jesi Stracham rejoins my podcast one year later to dive even deeper into her story of being declared dead twice, left paralyzed to thriving in life and business. We discuss her afterlife experience and how that completely changed her mindset and beliefs from that day on. We talk about her daily struggles but she also shares how she's been able to overcome every obstacle thrown her way.

I love that we also talk about changes the world has made and needs to make for wheelchair users and Jesi is helping leading the charge. She's a woman on a mission and nothing is getting in her way!

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I welcome Brian Ondrako, Jackie Sanders and Jourie Palumbo to this episode to discuss the landscape of online dating in today's world. This was such a fun and extremely insightful conversation from all different perspectives. After many years of frustrations with online dating, I found my wife online. Brian is currently online dating being a divorced dad of one. Jackie has been on and off online dating as well as Jourie who identifies as queer/bi-sexual.

We've all learned a lot from our collective years online dating and have some great stories to share along the way. Whether you're currently dating, going to be or are done with the dating, this is a great listen. I love the wisdom we brought on this one.

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Brian Ondrako

Top 5 Travel Blogger, Jacob Fu, joins me on this episode to discuss he and his wife’s journey of not only starting a travel blog, but becoming one of America’s best. Jacob and his wife started their travel blogging business, The Local Adventurer, a decade ago with the idea of exploring locations both near and far and encouraging others to do the same. Their business started to boom, so I wanted to go behind the scenes of what it actually takes to become a successful travel blogger. Everything from choosing the locations, creating content, editing photos and videos, social media and increasing SEO. Travel blogging looks like it’s all fun and games, and a lot of it is, but there is so much work that goes on that we don’t see. 

Of course I had to ask Jacob some of his favorite locations, national parks, food towns and more! 

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Singer, songwriter, musician and viral sensation, Ekaterina Shelehova, rejoins me on my podcast for a fascinating conversation on her journey through the world of music over the last year. Meeting Ekaterina last June (Ep. 81) was a blast as we got to know her story on how she became an overnight sensation thanks to her unforgettable performance on Italia’s Got Talent. This time we go behind the scenes with Ekaterina as we discuss her music more intimately, her lyrics, inspiration and the process of getting her music from the studio onto streaming platforms. She talks about what it’s like to tour all of the world, how she prepares for her performances and how even one of the most gifted singers on the planet can battle imposter syndrome. 

It’s not everyday you get to talk to a world class musician and I love how honest and candid Ekaterina is. She already has millions of streams and views and her future is only getting brighter. 

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I break down each of the four travel credits I have in my wallet that I've been using to travel the world, the benefits, how to take advantage of the perks and which one I'm going to get rid of.

I absolutely love to travel and these credits cards have given me a major boost in being able to travel all over the world for some of my favorite adventures and I'd love to give you some insight on which ones I use, why and how I use them. If you're looking to travel more and just get started, getting one of these cards could be a major step in the right direction to help you save on future travel.

While these cards offer major perks and benefits, I do discuss some of the frustrations and talk about which card will soon be leaving my wallet.

My cards in the wallet:

Elevated Oats co-founders and veterans, Megan Militello and Lacey Ernandes join me again to discuss their journey the past year and what led to their decision to shut down the company. When starting a new business, not all stories, even with a great product, is all sunshine and rainbows, but they are certainly learning experiences. I really appreciate them being honest and candid about the costs of business, all of the marketing involved and mistakes they made and what they would do different. We get a real look behind the scenes of creating a start up. They also spill the tea on some of the disappointing and frustrating facts that many of us don’t know when it comes to dealing with the FDA and the rules and guides when it comes to labels and packaging and how ingredients. Brace yourself for what they share. 

But Megan and Lacey have some new amazing ventures on the horizon with a cookbook coming soon as well as a joint podcast on everything they learned about starting a business, helping other entrepreneurs along their own path. 

My wife, Kristen, and I discuss and recap the first leg of our honeymoon adventures in Iceland (April 4-11). We chased waterfalls, looped the golden circle, braved the waves in Vik, discovered glacier caves, relaxed at the Blue Lagoon and everything in between. Not only do we talk about our day by day explorations, but we also give you some great travel advice when visiting Iceland.

Itinerary:

Day 1:

Boston Marathon bombing survivor, motivational speaker and bad-ass woman Adrianne Haslet joins me on this episode to discuss her truly remarkable life journey full of ups and downs and a lot of resilience. I genuinely appreciated her vulnerability and candidness about her experience on April 15, 2013 as a spectator, being just inches away from one of the bombs at the Boston Marathon that ended up taking one of her legs. Having recently just passed the 10-year anniversary of this horrific event, we discuss not only that day, but the years that have passed since and another accident of being hit by a car that left her upper body shattered. She talks about her mental health, the hard times and picking herself up again and again and how she continues to move forward and not just survive, but thrive. Adrianne shows that she's human, but it's clear to see she's among the best of us. She made a promise just days after the bombing she would not only run the Boston Marathon, but she would finish it. A feat she has accomplished multiple times since. An incredible story of perseverance that has just begun.

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I wanted to share a true story of how my biggest dream and goal in life was looked down upon and called laughable. How I went from being rejected to overcoming obstacles, achieving my goal and even surpassing my expectations decades later. I'm not sure who needs to hear this story, but it might be you. Don't let anyone dictate your goals or put you down. Get back up and keep at it!

Financial author, instructor, content creator and millionaire, Cori Arnold, joins me on this episode to discuss her incredible financial journey. By her early 30's she was buried in over a quarter million dollars worth of debt, thanks to her student loans, home purchase and credit card spending. After her breaking point, she had a really long look in the mirror and decided her lifestyle needed to change if she was ever going to get out of it. Not only did she grind to get herself out of debt, she found out how invest properly in the market, index funds and real estate which has led her to becoming a millionaire less than 10 years later. What an incredible story and she gives out all of the details so we can do it too.

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The amazing Dr. Nicole Cain joins my podcast once again to drop some incredible knowledge about anxiety, the eight varieties and how we can manage them. Dr. Cain does a great job of explaining what anxiety actually is and how each of us intakes and expresses it differently. She discusses each type of anxiety, symptoms of each and how to identify which one(s) you may have. Being able to pinpoint which category of anxiety you have will identify exactly how you can manage and cope with it. To cap it off, we also discuss how to interact and support those around us going through anxiety and panic attacks. This is a conversation that is truly beneficial to everyone. 

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Environmental toxic expert and educator, Lara Adler, joins me on this episode to discuss the toxins and chemicals that we interact with on a daily basis that are harming our health and vitality. We talk big picture about major companies and their policies around toxins, chemicals and ingredients before shifting the conversation to things we use and eat on every single day that is harming our health. Lara does an amazing job with tips and advice on simple solutions and new products that will make a huge impact on our health for years to come.

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Chief Happiness Officer at Happy Brain Science, Scott Crabtree, joins me on this episode to discuss the science behind happiness, especially in the work place. Scott has worked with clients such as DreamWorks, Nike, Kaiser-Permanente, Boeing, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Activision, Blizzard Entertainment, and NBC. He talks about the impact of a positive attitude and what doors it can open for you. We also dive into what factors really move the needle when it comes to happiness at work such as management, coworkers, compensation, work/life balance and more. You may be surprised on the data! This is a conversation that is relatable to everyone.

New York Times Best Selling Author for the Find Momo series, Andrew Knapp, joins me on this episode for an incredibly honest, raw, vulnerable and fun conversation. Undoubtedly we dive into his incredible time and memories with Momo, the books that we all love, their travel adventures and how he has been handling life without his best friend. He is truly grateful for all of the support from all the fans of him and Momo. This beautiful conversation is a roller coaster of emotions about life, family, self awareness and figuring out what the future entails for himself and his sidekicks Boo and Yaya. 

Hint: Boo and Yaya are soon to have their own book! As well as Andrew will continuing the legacy of Momo for all us to enjoy and learn from.

After nearly three years, I finally sit down and give you a backstage pass on how and why The Pursuit of Happiness Podcast came to be. I get honest and vulnerable, talking about my parents divorce, my dog Koda, going into lockdown and much more. This is the unfiltered truth.

Iceland Guide, Photographer and Adventurer, Kyana Sue Powers joins me on this episode to discuss her suspenseful journey to being one of the most influential guides in the country. She recalls leaving America to chase her happiness without much of a game plan other than to make Iceland her new home, which brought her hours away from from deportation. Since then, she’s become a major figure in the travel industry for the nation, which led us to talk about some of the best advice and travel tips when visiting the country of fire and ice.

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My wife and Kristen and I talk about our wedding day (9.3.22) in Sedona, Arizona and how it all went down. We give you a look behind the scenes not just that day but of the planning process, our unique touches and give recommendations and tips that we learned along the way. The wedding was an absolute blast and a day that we will never forget! Join us in our walk down memory lane. 

Special Thank you to:

Rachel Scheer BS, FM joins me on this podcast to discuss everything gut health, including her unbelievable, traumatic and inspiring story of her own journey with gut health. Rachel is a Certified Functional Medicine Nutritionist, CEO of Rachel Scheer Nutrition, fitness model, business coach and podcast host of Scheer Madness. We dive deep into the definition of gut health, how it affects everything and ways to improve the way you feel. We discuss everything from vitamins, supplements, food, sleep, fitness and much more. This podcast is a life changer.

Mo Thompson of Mo Mountain Mutts joins me on this episode to discuss her becoming an overnight sensation around the world for her video of picking up dogs with her bus in Skagway Alaska. We talk all about the video and going viral and how her life has changed (and how it hasn't). We not only go behind the scenes on how the dog bus started but dive into her history of dog training and discuss her future goals now that she's an overnight celebrity. Its amazing how grounded and humble she is and she makes it clear... these dogs will always be priority number one.