In this episode, I'm joined by Alisa Kriegel, a Manhattan psychologist with a thriving private practice and the author of From Sexless Marriage to Sex Goddess. Together, we unpack what researchers actually mean by “sexless marriage," why shame and lack of communication keep couples stuck, and how complicated the real causes can be. Alisa shares personal, unfiltered insights on sexual pain, birth control effects, learning your own body later in life, and the difference between frie...

Jessica Danel built a thriving preschool business, scaling from a home daycare to a 140-student facility. But when the 2008 recession hit at the same time her newborn faced serious medical challenges, she was forced to make difficult decisions that changed her life and business. In this episode, Jessica shares the lessons she learned from growing, selling, and rebuilding—and how those experiences inspired her memoir, Bucket List from a Redneck Girl. We discuss her writing process, self-editin...

Quitting a stable job to write full-time sounds bold, until you hear what it actually takes. Author Carla Vergot, a former special education teacher and the voice behind the Lily Barlow series, joins us to talk about the moment a planned sabbatical became a life pivot, including her husband's cancer diagnosis, which arrived just as she left teaching. She shares how writing became both an escape and a survival tool, and why that pressure pushed her stories to be lighter, funnier, and mor...

In this episode I sit down with author and speaker Douglas Schmidt to discuss his upcoming book, The Power of Self-Leadership: The Path to Unleash Your Talents, Strengths, and Superpowers. We talk about the connection between learning and leadership, why habits matter more than motivation, and how small daily decisions can shape your future. Douglas shares insights from books like Atomic Habits and Learning How to Learn, explains the neuroscience behind procrastination, and reveals why h...

A head-on crash took author Laura Van Wormer out of the writing life she knew and forced her to rebuild from scratch, including her voice. What she did, though, was that she didn’t just return to storytelling; she invented a new lane for herself through a serialized fiction podcast. Laura, a best-selling novelist and former Doubleday editor, joined me to explain how The Class of 74 became a narrative “soap opera” told week by week, complete with cliffhangers, research, and a liste...

Thirty-one children's books. Written in a creative sprint. Published within months. When Kelly Anne Manuel tells that story, the most surprising part isn't the speed; it's the clarity of purpose behind it. Her mission is to give kids a steady stream of comfort, confidence, and language that feels fun to live in. In this episode, I sit down with Kelly Anne Manuel, a children's book author whose modern nursery rhymes often arrive uninvited. She "hears" them while walking the dog, dr...

He started writing at 16 during lockdown, finishing a massive first draft he’ll never publish, but instead of stopping there, he kept going. That persistence turned into real momentum for Harrison Stockland, a rising crime-thriller author known for his “twisted originality” and willingness to embrace the gritty choices that traditional gatekeepers often want softened. His debut novel, Watch It Burn, sets the tone for the kind of dark, character-driven stories he’s building his career on...

You've probably been told to "just let it go." Dr. Angela Longo says that's the wrong instruction and offers an alternative: replace it. I'm joined by Dr. Longo, a UC Berkeley–trained biochemist with decades of experience spanning stress biochemistry, acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, and holistic healing — and the author of Relationshifting: Tools for Living Quantum Resplendence. We dig into what she means by quantum waves and why she treats them as information you can update ...

He calls himself Virus the Poet, and the name is the point: take something with a negative meaning and flip it into art that spreads in a better way. I sat down with Viral Gore to talk about what it looks like to build a modern poetry career that lives both online and on real stages, with real people, and real stakes. We got into why poetry became his most natural channel for expression, how spoken word connects to music and rap lyrics, and why he keeps most poems short to match today’...

Crankiness might be the most honest creative fuel we all share, and Stephen Joseph has built an entire writing life around it. I sat down with Stephen, a first-generation American, practicing attorney, seasoned negotiator, and 53-time marathon finisher, to talk about how irritation can become humor, clarity, and surprisingly practical life lessons for writers and readers. We trace his “cranky” origin story from a travel mishap in Rome to a children’s book idea that snowballs into blogs and m...