Singer and Songwriter, Susan Werner (“The Person You Want to Be” – Ep. 38)

Susan Werner “in the moment”

Her initial big dream of becoming a professional opera singer did not pan out.

Lucky for us, though, because instead she became (in this podcast host’s humble opinion) one of her generation’s best singer/songwriters.

In this interview for The Person You Want to Be, Susan Werner candidly shares the highs and lows of her path toward authentic creative self-expression. We hear how pivotal life experiences informed some of her most impactful songs, and how “not being famous” has allowed her the freedom to follow her creative impulses wherever they take her.

Susan describes her chosen art form as follows:

“You’re just holding up a mirror…and if you made a good mirror, everyone sees their own face in it. That’s what makes a song powerful, is the ability to help people look at their own lives.”

You can listen to my interview with Susan Werner here, or watch it on YouTube here.

You can also subscribe to the podcast on any of the major platforms you listen on (including Apple Podcasts and Spotify) and/or my YouTube channel.

If you enjoy this program, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or a rating on Spotify would be much appreciated! “Likes” and comments on YouTube are also helpful for the show gaining traction.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this episode in the Comments section below.

And for up-to-date info about Susan’s creative projects, including her touring schedule and her soon-to-be-released newest album Halfway to Houston, please visit her website.

Thank you, and enjoy!

“The Person You Want to Be” Podcast – Season Two Finale (Ep. 37)

CLICK HERE for the Audio version of “The Person You Want to Be” Season Two Finale

CLICK HERE for the Video version of “The Person You Want to Be” Season Two Finale

For this final episode of Season Two, I have pulled clips from each of the interviews I did this year (just as I did for the Season One Finale), and arranged them into five categories that highlight key aspects of becoming The Person You Want to Be.

Here is the outline of the episode:

• Introducing the Season Two finale

Category #1: Listening to your life for clues

• Cory Muscara on his quarter-life crisis
• Mitch Davidowitz on pivotal moments that led him to his calling

Category #2: Reading books / taking in good quality inputs

• Kevin Kelly on the book that sparked his wanderlust
• Derek Sivers on the book that helped him determine his next right path after a period of feeling lost
• Anne Metz on how a book “changed her mind”

Category #3: Eliciting or accepting help from others

• Gordon Marino on receiving help and paying it forward
• Aleksandra Vančevska on the support that led to realizing her podcasting dream
• Clementine Moss on key people that helped her claim her artistic ambition

(All of the above categories):

• Kent Weishaus on switching careers in his fifties

Category #4: Using difficulties, challenges, or setbacks to propel you forward

• David Hale Sylvester on how a huge personal loss led him to living a bolder life
• Mark Hentemann on responding to the loss of a dream job
• Pat Wetzel on springboarding from hardship and becoming fully alive

Category #5: Random other things!

• Ahava Shira on finding freedom and self-expression within her limitations
• Alex Sanfilippo on transitioning from full-time employee to full-time entrepreneur
• Robert Greenberg on the key to great musical composition and great teaching
• Kelly Carlin on freeing ourselves from the vicious cycle of victimhood
• Charlotte Angeles on choosing a career she enjoys
• Danny Miranda on attaining “a knowing” about his life path

• Cory Muscara on his deepest learning from all he has studied
• Closing remarks

You can check out, or revisit, the full interviews with those guests whose clips here were of interest to you. All episodes are available on my YouTube channel. Audio-only versions can be found here (or on your favorite podcast platform).

If you have appreciated this podcast, here are some ways in which you can support it:

1. Please let others know about it: share links to the show, or to any specific episode, with friends.
2. If you listen to the show on Apple Podcasts, you can leave a rating and/or review there.
3. If you listen to the show on Spotify, you can leave a rating there.
4. If you watch the show on YouTube, you can subscribe to my channel, and give a “thumbs up” and/or leave a comment underneath any individual episode.
5. If you wish to make a donation, you can do so here.

Thank you for your support!!! 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Associate Producer for TV Turned Social Worker and Author, Kent Weishaus (“The Person You Want to Be” – Ep. 36)

A career reinvention in your 50s is possible – Kent Weishaus is living proof!

In my interview with him for The Person You Want to Be, Kent Weishaus discusses his early influences and interests, the arc of his career in television, and his growing desire in midlife for work that would be of greater social value and provide him with a greater sense of meaning and fulfillment.

We also discuss his recently published book, Stop Breaking Down: The Secret to Avoiding Overwhelm and Crack-Up.

One of the big takeaways for me from this conversation, and from Kent’s book, is the importance of “the stories we tell ourselves” – as it is these stories that determine so much of both who we become and how we experience our lives.

You can listen to my interview with Kent Weishaus here, or watch it on YouTube here.

You can also subscribe to the podcast on any of the major platforms you listen on (including Apple Podcasts and Spotify) and/or my YouTube channel.

If you enjoy this program, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or a rating on Spotify would be much appreciated! “Likes” and comments on YouTube are also helpful for the show gaining traction.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this episode in the Comments section below.

Thank you, and enjoy!

Podcasting Phenom, Danny Miranda (“The Person You Want to Be” – Ep. 35)

414 episodes in, and still smiling!

In September 2020, at the age of 25, Danny published Episode 1 of a long-form interview podcast called simply: The Danny Miranda Podcast.

34 months later, The Danny Miranda Podcast reached the milestone of one million plays (including downloads and YouTube views).

It is in the top 1% of all podcasts in the world in terms of its reach, and as of our recording date he has released a staggering 414 episodes.

Danny interviews some of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs and thinkers on his show, and he has recently released a course entitled Art of Interviewing for those who wish to learn from his experience about how to attract guests, do research, and conduct the highest-quality interviews possible.

In my conversation with him for The Person You Want to Be, we uncover the significant milestones of Danny’s life leading up to the publishing of Episode 1, as well as the amazing ride he has been on since.

You can listen to my interview with Danny Miranda here, or watch it on YouTube here.

You can also subscribe to the podcast on any of the major platforms you listen on (including Apple Podcasts and Spotify) and/or my YouTube channel.

If you enjoy this program, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or a rating on Spotify would be much appreciated! “Likes” and comments on YouTube are also helpful for the show gaining traction.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this episode in the Comments section below.

Thank you, and enjoy!

Medium Day Talks Now Available on YouTube!

Medium – for those not aware – is a website that showcases high-quality writing on a wide variety of subjects. They use a subscription model for access to it, so there are no ads, which makes for a pleasant reading experience.

To celebrate their 11th anniversary, they hosted a live virtual conference called “Medium Day” back in August, with 200+ sessions, delivered by Medium staff or contributors, on all kinds of subjects.

Medium recorded these sessions, and has graciously made most (or all?) of them available for public consumption on its YouTube channel.

Yours truly was invited to give four separate talks(!) for this event.

You can access video recordings of each of them below:

UPDATE: I was unable to embed the videos into this blog post (they are not on my own YouTube channel, so I cannot select for the embedding option).

However, if you go to Medium’s You Tube page – https://www.youtube.com/@medium – and click on “Medium Day 2023” – you will find my talks as follows (in the order I gave them):

7 Habits for Highly Unemployed People (& Others!) is Session #217 on the playlist.

(The article on which the above talk was based can be found here.)

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Laziness is Not the Issue: How to Unlock Your Motivation is Session #218 on the playlist.

(The article on which the above talk was based can be found here.)

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How to Find the Love of Your Life is Session #216 on the playlist.

(The article on which the above talk was based can be found here.)

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How to Become the Person You Want to Be is Session #215 on the playlist.

(This session was not based on a previously written article.)

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Medium used to allow you to read 3 articles for free (per month, I think) without a subscription. However, they have changed that policy and if you want to read any of the above articles I linked to on their site, it requires a subscription (currently: $5/month or $50/annually).

A subscription gives you access to everything on the site and, in my opinion, is more than worth it – there is a ton of great content to be discovered on the platform from many great writers on just about any topic you can think of (plus fiction and poetry, as well).

Psychotherapist, Grief Educator, Nature Photographer, and Writer, Mitch Davidowitz (“The Person You Want to Be” – Ep. 34)

Mitch Davidowitz

We all have experiences in our lives that shape us, some that are even capable of putting us on an entirely new trajectory.

Such experiences might include encountering a certain person at a certain time, being introduced to some new idea or possibility, experiencing a trauma or tragedy, or some seemingly random bit of circumstance that interrupts life as we knew it.

In my conversation with grief therapist and educator Mitch Davidowitz about his life for The Person You Want to Be, he shares a number of examples of fortuitous experiences that, for him, proved to be catalysts for personal transformation. They each were pivotal to his becoming the person he was to become, many aspects of which were completely unplanned.

For me, it raises a lot of questions. Are we being nudged by life to move in a particular direction? Is who we ultimately become inevitable, or flexible? How much say do we have in the matter? How much of who we become is luck vs. happenstance vs. a result of decisions freely made (aka, free will)? How much does our own openness, willingness, stubbornness, or inborn nature play a part in our unfolding?

Check out my discussion with this fascinating and beautiful human being, where we explore some of these questions while covering Mitch’s path toward becoming a therapist, avid student of meditative practices, and inspirational writer, with plenty of twists and turns along the way.

You can listen to my interview with Mitch Davidowitz here, or watch it on YouTube here.

You can also subscribe to the podcast on any of the major platforms you listen on (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, and more) and/or my YouTube channel.

If you enjoy this program, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts would be much appreciated! “Likes” and comments on YouTube are also helpful for the show gaining traction.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this episode in the Comments section below.

Thank you, and enjoy!

Adventure Traveler, Pilot, and Creator of “Bump in the Road” Podcast & Book, Pat Wetzel (“The Person You Want to Be” – Ep. 33)

Pat Wetzel with Whiskey Oscar (WO), her trusty sailplane

A rare neurological disease. Divorce. Cancer. Business catastrophes.

Pat Wetzel has had her share of “bumps in the road.”

Yet, her adventurous spirit, perseverance, and curiosity have allowed her to reinvent herself time and again and tap into previously unimagined possibilities for meaning and fulfillment.

Out of a strong desire to learn how others have managed to overcome massive challenges in their own lives and come out the other end with renewed purpose and passion for life, Pat created a podcast called Bump in the Road.

The podcast led to a book she has recently authored and just released, called A Bump in the Road: 15 Stories of Courage, Hope and Resilience, in which she shares the inspiring stories of some of her most memorable podcast guests, as well as pieces of her own story, in an effort to spread messages of hope to others.

You can listen to my interview with Pat Wetzel here, or watch it on YouTube here.

You can also subscribe to the podcast on any of the major platforms you listen on (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, and more) and/or my YouTube channel.

If you enjoy this program, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts would be much appreciated! “Likes” and comments on YouTube are also helpful for the show gaining traction.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this episode in the Comments section below.

Thank you, and enjoy!

Hard Rock Drummer, Spiritual Counselor, and Author, Clementine Moss (“The Person You Want to Be” – Ep. 32)

Clementine Moss, in the moment…

27 was a pivotal age for Clementine Moss. That was the year she decided to take up learning to play the drums, and that she attended her first ten-day Vipassana meditation retreat.

Little did she know the lasting impact each of these decisions would have on her life, nor the ways in which these parallel disciplines would complement each other and liberate her creative spirit.

Clem is the founder and drummer of Zepparella, an all-female-member Led Zeppelin tribute band that has been rocking North America since 2004.

She is also a spiritual counselor, who assists her clients using a range of healing modalities.

In my interview with her for The Person You Want to Be, we discuss her life’s journey and her wonderful new memoir, From Bonham to Buddha and Back: The Slow Enlightenment of the Hard Rock Drummer.

You can listen to my interview with Clementine Moss here, or watch it on YouTube here.

You can also subscribe to the podcast on any of the major platforms you listen on (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, and more) and/or my YouTube channel.

If you enjoy this program, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts would be much appreciated! “Likes” and comments on YouTube are also helpful for the show gaining traction.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this episode in the Comments section below.

Thank you, and enjoy!

Biomedical Researcher, Gestalt Therapist-in-Training, and Podcaster, Aleksandra Vančevska (“The Person You Want to Be” – Ep. 31)

Don’t put her in a box! Aleks Vancevska contains multitudes…

“I want to be everything that’s within my current limits,” Aleksandra Vančevska told me in my interview with her for The Person You Want to Be, and she seems to be living that proclamation.

Born and raised in Serbia, Aleks today lives in London, where she is a biomedical researcher at the Francis Crick Institute and a Gestalt therapist-in-training at the Metanoia Institute.

She also paints, dances, practices and teaches yoga, hosts a podcast called “Being and Doing” and serves as an interviewer on another podcast, “Humans of Gestalt”!

In this wide-ranging conversation, Aleks shares insights on her development as both a scientist and an artist, being multilingual, becoming interested in psychotherapy, and a whole lot more.

You can listen to my interview with Aleksandra Vančevska here, or watch it on YouTube here.

You can also subscribe to the podcast on any of the major platforms you listen on (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, and more) and/or my YouTube channel.

If you enjoy this program, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts would be much appreciated! “Likes” and comments on YouTube are also helpful for the show gaining traction.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this episode in the Comments section below.

Thank you, and enjoy!

Come See Me This Saturday, August 12th, on Medium Day – a FREE Online Event!

Medium Day is a free virtual conference “at the cutting edge of tech, business, culture, and creativity.”

I will be giving four different talks at this event, three of which are based on articles I have written and had published on the website Medium.

(Note: A number of articles that originally appeared on this blog have been republished, or refashioned, there. Feel free to follow me on the platform so as not to miss any!)

Each session is 30 minutes long, and time will be allotted for Q&A in each one.

The topics, and starting times, of my talks are as follows:

7 Habits for Highly Unemployed People (& Others!): 2:30 pm PDT / 5:30 pm EDT

Laziness is Not the Issue: How to Unlock Your Motivation: 3:30 pm PDT / 6:30 pm EDT

How to Find the Love of Your Life: 4:30 pm PDT / 7:30 pm EDT

How to Become the Person You Want to Be: 5:30 pm PDT / 8:30 pm EDT

For more details, and to register for free, click here.

(The entire schedule of events is posted at the above link, and should appear in the time zone from which you are viewing it.)

Hope to see you there on Saturday!

Eric