Success is Subjective: Real People. Raw Stories. Embracing a Non-Linear Life!
Interviews of people who took a break from life at one point or another to get help, grow up, or just to reassess their life direction. Some guests struggled with depression, anxiety, substance abuse, a death in the family, or just decided college was not the place for them. These stories are all-to-real, and yet we don't talk enough about how common it is for those who took a gap year to defer college, went to college and took a break, or those who struggled launching into the workforce post-college graduation. This goes out to all the young adults and parents of young adults who are struggling and contemplating what will happen if they walk away right now.
Episodes
345 episodes
Episode 346: Running on Empty - Burnout, Boundaries, and a More Sustainable Way Forward with Dana Skaggs
In this episode, Dana Skaggs—a psychotherapist, keynote speaker, and podcast host known as the “Queen of Boundaries”—joins Joanna to explore burnout, boundaries, and sustainable success. With over 17 years of clinical experience, Dana shares ho...
Episode 345: Chasing Money, Finding Meaning: A Different Kind of Return with Rebecca Guez
Rebecca Guez’s journey challenges the traditional definition of success, moving far beyond the high-pressure expectations she grew up with on the Upper East Side of New York City. Raised in an environment that prioritized elite education, finan...
Episode 344: Running, Numbing, Rebuilding: The Life I Didn’t Plan with Clay Cross
Clay Cross grew up in a high-achieving environment that looked stable on the outside, but behind the scenes was shaped by addiction, secrecy, and a lack of emotional safety. From an early age, he learned to suppress anything beyond success or a...
Episode 343: 30 Years in Death Care: What Grief Taught Me About Living and Listening with Dr. Chris Putnam
Dr. Chris Putnam spent 30 years as a funeral director, building a career rooted in grief, service, and showing up for people in their hardest moments. With no clear direction after high school, he found his own path—one that eventually led him ...
Episode 342: Beyond Motivation - Why Regulation Is the Key to Lasting Change with Jennifer Loehding
Jennifer Loehding built a successful career in leadership before a rare nerve condition disrupted everything, forcing her into a prolonged state of pain and survival. What followed was a deeper process of unpacking the patterns, beliefs, and be...
Episode 341: Delayed Independence - Understanding the Patterns That Keep Young Adults Stuck with Dr. Eric Beaudoin
Dr. Eric Beaudoin’s story challenges everything we assume about motivation, intelligence, and what it really means to “apply yourself.” Growing up labeled as lazy and underperforming, Eric internalized the belief that something was fundamentall...
Episode 340: Tough Love in Recovery - The Boundary That Changed Everything with Neill Timmons
In this episode, Joanna sits down with Neill Timmons, CEO and founder of Arch to Freedom, an extended care recovery program supporting individuals with substance use and mental health disorders. But Neill’s path to leading a program that helps ...
Episode 339: From the Field to the Front Lines - Turning Personal Adversity Into Purpose with Brian McDonald
Brian McDonald grew up in Southern California as a self-described “beach bum at heart,” with sports—especially football—shaping much of his identity. After earning the opportunity to play running back at BYU, a season-ending injury forced him t...
Episode 338: Felony to Faculty - How Tom Bannard Built Recovery Support on a College Campus
What happens when a student in recovery returns to a campus built around drinking culture?In this episode, Tom Bannard shares his own path from addiction, legal consequences, and a felony conviction to leading one of the largest collegia...
Episode 337: The Value of Connection: From Memphis to Mountain Bikes to Mental Health with Dr. Jack Hinman
Dr. Jack Hinman didn’t graduate high school with a plan. In fact, he barely graduated at all. What he did have was a deep instinct for connection — and that instinct would quietly shape everything that followed. In this episode, Jack shares how...
Episode 336: My ADHD: Condemned, Praised, and the Life I Built Anyway with Allan Capp
What happens when the traditional path never quite fits — and life forces you to grow up faster than your peers? In this episode of Success is Subjective, Allan Capp shares how struggling in school, losing his father as a teenager, and...
Episode 335: Learning to Accept Myself, Uncertainty, and the Winding Journey To and Through Recovery with Samantha Meyer
Watching a young adult struggle can be confusing—especially when they’ve grown up surrounded by resources, knowledge, and support. In this episode, Joanna sits down with Samantha Meyer to unpack what happens when insight alone isn’t enough—and ...
Episode 334: Beyond Achievement: What Actually Creates a Meaningful Life with Daniel Barrasso
In this episode, Daniel Barrasso shares how growing up with ADHD and never quite fitting into traditional academic boxes shaped his nonlinear path into mental health work. From redefining success beyond money and status to finding purpose throu...
Episode 333: Rethinking Success as Life and Priorities Change with Rick & Clancy Denton
In this episode, Rick and Clancy Denton reflect on how their definition of success has evolved over time. Through career changes, shifting expectations, and long-term partnership, they explore how values and relationships often become more mean...
Episode 332: Martin Naffziger on Choosing the Next Step Based on Values, Not Timelines
In this episode of Success Is Subjective, Joanna sits down with Martin Joseph Naffziger, an educator and college counselor who has spent decades helping young people step off default paths and define success on their own terms. Martin ...
Episode 331: Wraparound Support - The Missing Link in Long-Term Recovery with Dave Herz
In this episode of Success Is Subjective, Joanna talks with Dave Herz, founder of Wonder, about why recovery doesn’t end when treatment does — and why in-home, real-world support often makes the biggest difference. Dave shares his path...
Episode 330: Out with the Old, In with the New - The Identity Crisis That Led Me to Myself w/ Dr. Max Doshay
In this episode of Success is Subjective, Joanna sits down with psychologist and mental health leader Dr. Max Doshay to explore the identity shift that reshaped both his life and career. Max reflects on how losing a version of himself ...
Episode 329: From the Slopes to Sobriety - Arch Wright’s Journey of Healing
In this episode of Success is Subjective, Joanna sits down with Arch Wright — former professional athlete, trauma therapist, and co-founder of One Elm at Horton Bay — for an honest and deeply human conversation about healing, identity,...
Former Program Participant Series - Episode 328: When One More Try Changed Everything - Jaysa’s Journey
On this episode of Success is Subjective, Joanna brings you another story from our special former participant series where she extends the opportunity for former participants to share their journey with others. Today’s former participa...
Episode 327: Playing the Hand You’re Dealt - Brian Sacks on Survival, Stewardship, and Success
In this conversation, Brian Sacks shares what it was like to grow up as the only child of parents who had him late in life—parents he would eventually care for emotionally, physically, and financially while still trying to become an adult himse...
Episode 326: Parenting from Fear to Understanding - A Conversation with Ann Coleman
In this week’s episode, Joanna sits down with Ann Coleman—attorney turned parent-educator and the host of Speaking of Teens. After years of struggling through her son’s anxiety, ADHD, and eventual placement in treatment, Ann realized t...
Episode 325: Searching for Slippers - Stacy Ross’s Hard-Won Wisdom on Parenting a Child with Mental Illness
In this episode of Success is Subjective, Joanna sits down with author, advocate, and mother Stacy Ross, whose 28-year journey parenting a child with serious mental illness reshaped everything she thought she knew about success, family...
Former Program Participant Series - Episode 324: Jail at Seventeen, Recovery at Twenty-Nine: Chris Kelley’s Journey to Himself
On this episode of Success is Subjective, Joanna brings you another story from our special former participant series where she extends the opportunity for former participants to share their journey with others. Today’s former participa...
Former Program Participant Series - Episode 323: Chicago Expectations, LA Redemption with Conor Gallagher
On this episode of Success is Subjective, Joanna brings you another story from our special former participant series where she extends the opportunity for former participants to share their journey with others. Today’s former participa...
Episode 322: Learning to Say Yes - Kathy Nauta on Finding Her Path
Today’s Success is Subjective guest is Kathy Nauta. Kathy’s path to becoming a therapeutic and educational consultant looks nothing like the straight line she once imagined for herself. Growing up in a family where work was pure...