So, you think you have it all.

A great career, a nice apartment, an 800 credit score. You're officially a grown-up with the adult job. The world looks at you and says, "wow, everything's going your way". It seems like everything's fine. What else could you ask for?

But it's not fine. You look around and know something's missing. Maybe you mutter some four-letter words - "fine" is a 4-letter word, after all.

Something's telling you there's a lot more out there. Maybe your grown-up life is stopping you from actually growing into the person you were always meant to be.

For Heather Wyatt, it was a realization that perhaps she was never meant to fill the role written for her by society.

Though she didn't realize it immediately, her role was written during her childhood as the daughter of a single mother who moved around a lot for financial reasons. Like many kids who move around a lot, Heather admired friends who stayed in one place, living in houses with two parents where everything was "normal" and "fine".

When she tried out the "normal grown-up" thing for herself, she realized the idea of being an adult in the same town she grew up in, sending her kids to the same school she went to, having her previous classmates be her kids' teachers, was the makings of a living nightmare. Actually, Heather got bored at the prospect of staying in the same place for too long.

Along the way, she discovered that bartending, supposedly not an "adult" job, not only paid a lot more, but helped her develop communication and selling skills far beyond anything she could find working in an office. Then COVID came along and she went into health coaching. Quickly, she discovered that health coaching was a dead end, at least for her, but she didn't want to be a business coach either.

So, blending her bartending skills and her knowledge of health coaching led her to where she is today, organizing wellness parties and retreats under the Goddess Getawaves brand.

In a moment, when you meet Heather, you'll learn from her the power of adaptability, perspective in understanding different realities, and the courage required to embrace change. It's a fascinating journey of self-discovery that could be the ride you need to hitch if you're looking around muttering four-letter words to yourself about how "fine" your current reality is.

Heather’s hype song is "Castle" by Halsey.

Resources:

• Heather Wyatt’s website: https://goddessgetawaves.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-wyatt%F0%9F%A7%9C%E2%80%8D%E2%99%80%EF%B8%8F-64285124b/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069429799210
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_heatherwyatt/
• Also, check out our episode with Gabe Lullo, called “Do Hard Things”.

Invitation from Lori:

This episode is sponsored by Zen Rabbit.

Smart business leaders know trust is the foundation of every great workplace. And in today’s hybrid and fast-moving work culture, trust isn’t built in quarterly town halls or the occasional Slack message. It’s built through consistent, clear, and HUMAN communication.

Companies and leaders TALK about the importance of connection...

Have you ever found yourself spending a crazy amount of time and energy trying to figure out why things happen in life? Wondering what you did to attract it? Desperately seeking answers right now, and coming up frustrated when you can't make sense of it.

But what if the whole plan is like a puzzle that doesn't form a picture until you've been given most of the pieces and taken the time to make them fit? You'll look back one day and see how it all comes together.

You could say Flip Brown has gone through life being, in some ways, both a product of his times and a traveler through a different time than everybody else was living in.

Growing up, he had a father who was ahead of his time in terms of fighting racism and homophobia, but a man of his time in emotional intelligence. His mother was a teacher who had to give it up when she became pregnant with Flip. She was doting and kind and taught Flip how to read early so he was ahead of his classmates. And when Flip was eight years old, she joined a cult religion.

Consistent with his times, Flip did hallucinogens, which affected his state of mind for decades to come. In contrast with his times, he changed careers many times in an era where you picked one thing and stuck with it until retirement.

He’s worked as a psychologist, nonprofit executive, international product manager, mobile crisis team clinician, retail salesperson, and wilderness workshop leader. He’s also been a hardwood furniture craftsman, windsurfing instructor, gigging musician, cross-country ski instructor, a cappella singer, and gardener. Wow!

Intuition served him along the way, when he abruptly quit a job with no plan, only to be immediately offered a much better one right out of the blue.

A lot of this might not have been "fine" by society, but Flip thought it was fine, partially because he didn’t realize how experiencing sexual abuse, as well as his father’s workaholism, patterned him. But as we all know, Fine is a 4-Letter Word.

In a moment, when you meet Flip, you'll be mindblown by one of the inflection points that helped Flip see it all come together – therapy using the plant-based medicine psilocybin. You'll be washed away by his experience with alcohol and his unique personal journey away from it, triggered in part by losing his brother-in-law on the Pan Am Lockerbie flight.

He relates how his experience on the mobile crisis team at a community mental health center dealing with acutely psychotic and suicidal people prepared him for his current work in executive coaching, team facilitation, and interactive skillbuilding.

Flip’s hype song is "Come Together" by The Beatles.

Resources:

• Flip Brown’s website: https://businesscultureconsultants.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/flipbrown/

Invitation from Lori:

This episode is sponsored by Zen Rabbit. Smart business leaders know trust is the foundation of every great workplace. And in today’s hybrid and fast-moving work culture, trust isn’t built in quarterly town halls or the occasional Slack message. It’s built through consistent, clear, and HUMAN communication.

Companies and leaders TALK about the importance of connection and community. And it’s easy to believe your organization is doing a great job of maintaining an awesome corporate culture. Because you’ve got annual all-hands and open door policies, and “fun" team-building events.

But let's be real. Leaders who are serious about building real trust are finding better ways to strengthen culture, create connection, and foster...

We’ve been conditioned to believe that rest is optional—like guacamole on your burrito.

You can have it, but you’ll have to pay extra.

Let’s zoom out for a second and look at where this belief came from.

The hustle mindset didn’t just show up one day because Gary Vee started yelling about it. It’s deeply rooted in industrial-age values—when your productivity on the factory line was literally tied to your worth and your wages. The more you produced, the more valuable you were. Full stop.

Then came the Protestant work ethic, remember the Puritans from history class? They believed hard work was not just good, but godly. Resting? That was for the weak or the wicked. You’re either grinding or backsliding. There was no in-between.

If you’ve been listening to my show for more than 2 episodes, you know that when they’re answering that “what were the values and beliefs you were raised with” question, most of my guests say hard work. We’ve all been ingrained with this belief and accepted it without question.

Fast forward to the 1980s and '90s - Wall Street, power suits, "I'll sleep when I'm dead" culture. Burnout was a badge of honor. In fact, Bon Jovi released a song in 1992 called “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead.”

Actually, as I was outlining this episode, I looked up when that phrase originated and found Benjamin Franklin supposedly said, “There will be plenty of time to sleep when you're dead.” Clearly it’s been around for a while.

We celebrate busy. We glorify “the grind.” We worship the to-do list like it’s some kind of sacred scroll.

And now the whole country humblebrags about how little they sleep or how slammed they are, as if being overworked makes you more important. (It doesn’t. It just makes you more tired and cranky.)

So when someone does stop and rest, or take a day off without needing a “valid” excuse, it feels rebellious. Almost irresponsible. But that reaction? That guilt? It’s not truth - it’s just programming.

And it’s overdue for a rewrite.

Tune in now and discover for yourself:

✅ My personal story of zooming to burnout at 200 miles an hour, when I went beyond being “fucking cranky” to “totally wiped out”

✅ How to redefine and reframe “rest” and make it not only part of, but a catalyst, for your ability to achieve more

✅ Practical tools that you can use to create a “permission slip practice” that breaks the hustle-and-grind circle for you

✅ And much, much more!

Resources:

• My Website: https://ZenRabbit.com/
• LinkedIn: https://zenrabbit.com/linkedin/
• Facebook: https://zenrabbit.com/facebook/
• Instagram: https://zenrabbit.com/instagram/
• Visit the “FINE is a 4-Letter Word” store at https://zenrabbit.printful.me

Invitation from Lori:

This episode is sponsored by Zen Rabbit.

Smart business leaders know trust is the foundation of every great workplace. And in today’s hybrid and fast-moving work culture, trust isn’t built in quarterly town halls or the occasional Slack message. It’s built through consistent, clear, and HUMAN communication.

Companies and leaders TALK about the importance of connection and community. And it’s easy to believe your organization is doing a great job of maintaining an awesome corporate culture. Because you’ve got annual all-hands and open door policies, and “fun" team-building events.

But let's be real....

In his 2023 report "Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation", the US Surgeon General at the time, Dr. Vivek Murthy, declared loneliness and social isolation a public health epidemic.

Aside from feelings of ennui and lacking support structure, loneliness can trigger or increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and even premature death!

So, while he doesn’t quite come out and say it, and he might not have been thinking exactly along those terms when I spoke with him, Steve Fales might have had a brush with death.

Steve grew up in a single-parent home. Although he had a brother, his brother was 11 years older and serving in Vietnam while Steve and his mom were living in what he repeatedly describes as “a dead end street in a quiet town with lots of kids and dogs around and playing all the time and other stuff kids do”.

He started out working on the floor in a grocery store before he applied for a job in their advertising department – and got it. His experience eventually drove him to start his own advertising agency, where he carved out a niche in the air conditioning industry. Things were going fine… until his growing firm was selected as a provider of choice for a major manufacturing firm.

But Fine is a 4-Letter Word… and what some might call Steve’s ship coming in gave him panic attacks. For months he started his days by wretching and dry-heaving into the toilet. Outwardly, he was the envy of his peers and the idol of his friends… but he carried this dark secret.

Does this sound familiar, by the way?

Join Steve and me on a deep dive into the impacts of loneliness on our society. There’s a reason it’s an epidemic. With surveys showing one in 4 people reporting they eat alone every day, and everybody wandering down the sidewalk with their eyes on their phone… we’re surrounded by people yet frighteningly disconnected.

Not to reveal the takeaways before you even hear the episode, but the solution to your loneliness and disconnection comes not from being around other people, as much as it comes from within you.

Steve lays it all out for you.

Steve’s hype song is "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" by The Moody Blues.

Resources:

• Steve Fales’ website: https://www.stevefales.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenfales/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steve.fales.18
• Claim your copy of Steve Fales’ book, “Loving Your Neighbor: A Practical Guide” (plus the group discussion and journal prompts), at https://www.stevefales.com/books/loving-your-neighbor/

Invitation from Lori:

This episode is sponsored by Zen Rabbit.

Smart business leaders know trust is the foundation of every great workplace. And in today’s hybrid and fast-moving work culture, trust isn’t built in quarterly town halls or the occasional Slack message. It’s built through consistent, clear, and HUMAN communication.

Companies and leaders TALK about the importance of connection and community. And it’s easy to believe your organization is doing a great job of maintaining an awesome corporate culture. Because you’ve got annual all-hands and open door policies, and “fun" team-building events.

But let's be real. Leaders who are serious about building real trust are finding better ways to strengthen culture, create connection,...

Perfectionism is something that gets beat into a lot of us.

Sometimes literally, as you’ll find out from my guest.

Imposter syndrome goes hand-in-hand with perfectionism. You see, when you’re programmed to hold yourself to extremely high standards, nothing you do seems like it’s good enough. You’re not enough. And what if someone finds out?

Now imagine you got ripped off by not one – but two – business partners, and lost all your savings more than once. On top of that, you never graduated college, yet held down job after job that required a college degree, in part because others who believed in you more than you believed in yourself went to bat for you.

What a wild ride – and that’s Gary Frey’s story.

He’s been a perfectionist since he was a little boy, the older of two children. Education was important in his family. His dad almost got his Ph.D. but didn’t finish his dissertation, and his mom was a nurse. As a grade-schooler, he spent a lot of time with his strict, stern German grandmother, who would feed him German food he hated and spank him if he didn’t eat it.

When Gary was eight, his grandmother died of a stroke. For two years, he thought he somehow killed her, until he finally asked his parents.

In school, he was the smart kid who couldn’t play any sport involving moving balls or athletic coordination, but he eventually found his niche in swimming. He went to college on a prestigious scholarship, finding himself in a fraternity known for academic and athletic excellence, but feeling “less than” the rich kids in his house. Then he didn’t finish college – becoming the first in his family NOT to graduate college. After that, it was off to his career…

As you’ll discover when you hear from Gary, he got ripped off by two business partners. He repeatedly lost everything he had, got used by an employer who needed him to hook a major deal then fired him the day it closed, and had to move to different states to start over.

Perfectionist Gary found himself getting recruited out of the blue by companies who heard about him and wanted his expertise for roles that required college degrees and viewed him as a success. What was he going to do, tell them he had two corrupt business partners and lost millions of dollars?

He said it was fine… and Fine is a 4-Letter Word.

You’re about to discover how Gary emerged from the trap of perfectionism, learned to believe in himself, and the tools he used to achieve it.

Gary’s hype song is “Warrior” by Matthew Ward.

Resources:

• Gary Frey’s website: https://garydfrey.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garydfrey
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garydfrey
• Claim your copy of Gary’s book, “Silence the Imposter: 7 Weapons to Silence Imposter Syndrome” at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJLLLV61

Invitation from Lori:

This episode is sponsored by Zen Rabbit.

Smart business leaders know trust is the foundation of every great workplace. And in today’s hybrid and fast-moving work culture, trust isn’t built in quarterly town halls or the occasional Slack message. It’s built through consistent, clear, and HUMAN communication.

Companies and leaders TALK about the importance of connection and community. And it’s easy to believe your organization is doing a great job of maintaining an awesome corporate culture. Because...

Do you sometimes feel like you’re mailing it in?

Sure, you’re achieving your goals, hitting your numbers, and getting boxes checked on your to-do list. On paper, you’re a success.

But it still feels empty, like something’s missing and you’re not really succeeding.

How do you know for sure? Who’s there to help you figure it out? And what example are you setting for those who see you as a role model, even if you don’t know they look up to you?

These are questions Suresh Bhagchandani found himself grappling with one day while going over his sales numbers with his boss.

Suresh was born in raised in India, with three older sisters and his mother. His father died when he was young and his family had limited financial resources but an abundance of strong values. Among the values and beliefs he gained was that if you’re a good human and do the right things, good things will come along.

When he was 21, he and his mother moved to the United States where he enrolled in community college and then UNC Chapel Hill. Being an immigrant and landing in a small town in North Carolina, he searched for how to fit in in this unfamiliar territory.

For one thing, he was stunned by how people here brew and drink coffee!

Suresh began to find his purpose, and his friends, when he got involved in organizations and activities that placed him in social situations.

This gave him a fine appreciation of the power of networking, which catalyzed his life that day when his bosses told him he was doing a “fine” job – but Fine is a 4-Letter Word.

This is a conversation about what it means to adapt, push past limitations, and create opportunities.

And I love that we get into not only the importance, but the power, of properly identifying your friends, acquaintances, and the various roles different people play in your life.

Like, do you have a “board of directors” who guide you in your decisions? And if you’ve decided that 100% is just mailing it in, how do you get to 120%? What will your kids think?

Hang on because first…

Suresh’s hype song is "Started From The Bottom" by Drake.

Resources:

• Suresh Bhagchandani’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sureshlb
• Also, be sure to listen to our recent episode, Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It, for an important lesson in the practice of gratitude.

Invitation from Lori:

This episode is sponsored by Zen Rabbit.

Smart business leaders know trust is the foundation of every great workplace. And in today’s hybrid and fast-moving work culture, trust isn’t built in quarterly town halls or the occasional Slack message. It’s built through consistent, clear, and HUMAN communication.

Companies and leaders TALK about the importance of connection and community. And it’s easy to believe your organization is doing a great job of maintaining an awesome corporate culture. Because you’ve got annual all-hands and open door policies, and “fun" team-building events.

But let's be real. Leaders who are serious about building real trust are finding better ways to strengthen culture, create connection, and foster community.

That's where I come in. Forward thinking companies are hiring me to produce internal/private podcasts. To bring leadership and employees together through authentic stories, real conversations, and meaningful connections. Think of it as your old-school printed company newsletter - reinvented for the modern workforce. I KNOW, what a cool idea, right?!...

Battered Woman Syndrome is a commonly misunderstood condition that results from domestic or intimate partner violence.

Maybe you’ve known someone in such a situation. Or you’ve at least heard stories about it. And you’ve probably thought, Why do you stay there and take it? Why don’t you leave? There are support networks and shelters who can take you in, why not just go?

And wondered, What drives you to try to “fix” the situation and have understanding for your abuser? Why do you act like you owe them a f**king thing?

Judy Henderson, like many battered women, found herself in a situation that most of us couldn’t possibly imagine. I should pause quickly and put in a trigger warning, because this story actually gets worse.

See, Judy was the oldest child of eight in a Pentecostal family, raised by a father who abused her and a mother who kept trying to hold it together. The rule of the day was, don’t air your dirty laundry in public, conform to public norms, and put a positive face on it.

A positive face? Judy ended up in not one, but two, abusive relationships because that’s what she’d been conditioned to. The final straw in her 12-year marriage was when her husband threw her through a glass door window while her young daughter watched before running down the street screaming. Police were called but told her there was nothing they could do.

Her next relationship was with a con man who was fond of reading books about manipulation. He told her what she wanted to hear. One day, he announced he was moving in because she needed him to “care” for her and her children. That they could be a family. And as someone who only craved to be loved, this was.. well… a dream come true.

The nightmare got worse when he ended up murdering someone in a robbery gone too far and Judy found herself as a co-defendant. She was sentenced to life in prison without parole for 50 years, for this murder she did not commit. He walked away a free man. And yeah, there’s more…

Yet… through her time in prison, Judy finally found not only her freedom from a horrible life, but also an ability to forgive and the love she always wanted.

It’s an unbelievably incredible story, and Judy is telling it here on Fine is a 4-Letter Word in a way she’s never shared before.

In a moment, when you meet her, you’ll come away with a revised view on domestic violence, the criminal justice system, and how someone can find hope in tragedy.

Judy’s hype song is "It’s My Turn" by Diana Ross.

Resources:

• Judy Henderson’s website: https://judyannhenderson.com/
• Pre-order your copy of Judy’s book, “When The Light Finds Us” - https://www.amazon.com/When-Light-Finds-Us-Transformed-ebook/dp/B0CR93DD34

Invitation from Lori:

This episode is sponsored by Zen Rabbit.

Smart business leaders know trust is the foundation of every great workplace. And in today’s hybrid and fast-moving work culture, trust isn’t built in quarterly town halls or the occasional Slack message.

It’s built through consistent, clear, and HUMAN communication.

Companies and leaders TALK about the importance of connection and community. And it’s easy to believe your organization is doing a great job of maintaining an awesome corporate culture because you’ve got annual all-hands meetings and open door policies, and “fun" team-building events.

But let's be real. Leaders who are serious about building real trust are finding better ways to strengthen culture, create connection, and foster community.

That's...

Does it sometimes feel like no good deed goes unpunished?

What if I told you that no scandal, setback, or stumbling block goes unrewarded, if you’re willing to take the time to solve the puzzle?

As a puzzle-solver programmed to challenge the status quo, ask questions, and lean into her natural curiosity, Kristy Busija (BYOO-SEE-YA) learned both of these lessons when she got fired for doing the right thing.

Growing up, Kristy’s parents instilled classic values – have a good work ethic, act with integrity, abide by the Golden Rule, and catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

These same values created conflict in her work when she conducted an employee assessment where participants were told their responses would be kept confidential, but her bosses demanded she give them the data anyway. They fired her for – get this – not living the “values” of the company!

If that’s supposed to be fine, there’s a reason why Fine is a 4-Letter Word!

In a moment, when you meet Kristy, you’ll discover how this set off a journey of learning and self-actualization where she found out, as she says, it’s hell in the hallway.

All these doors – what rooms do they lead to? What did others see in Kristy through the peepholes in those doors that she couldn’t see in herself?

How does she solve this puzzle? What’s the next conversation?

Now hold that thought for just a second as I share a special invitation with you.

Kristy’s hype song is "Do It Again" by Steven Curtis Chapman.

Resources:

• Kristy Busija’s website: https://nextconversationconsulting.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristybusija/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nextconversationconsulting
• Claim your copy of “The 2nd Wind”, the anthology that contains Kristy’s chapter called “It’s Hell In The Hallway”, by visiting https://buy.stripe.com/3cs6rtcga1kIaGcdR7.

Invitation from Lori:

This episode is sponsored by Zen Rabbit.

Smart business leaders know trust is the foundation of every great workplace. And in today’s hybrid and fast-moving work culture, trust isn’t built in quarterly town halls or the occasional Slack message. It’s built through consistent, clear, and HUMAN communication.

Companies and leaders TALK about the importance of connection and community. And it’s easy to believe your organization is doing a great job of maintaining an awesome corporate culture. Because there are…

• Annual all-hands meetings where once a year you hear a well-rehearsed speech, employees clap politely, and everyone leaves with the same unanswered questions they came in with.
• "Open door policies" that no one ever uses because people are uncomfortable walking in to talk with someone they don’t feel like they know very well.
• "Fun" team-building events like escape rooms, trust falls, and awkward, out of fashion happy hours
• Generic "we appreciate everything you do" emails with zero personalization or sincerity.
• Company values posted on a wall with no substance behind them.

But let's be real. Leaders who are serious about building real trust are finding better ways to...

• Strengthen culture by sharing authentic stories from leadership and employees.
• Create connection so that remote and in-office teams know and understand each...