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 behaviors that had been driving her long before her diagnosis. In this episode, Jennifer shares how cycles of overachievement and “crash and burn” began showing up across her health, relationships, and overall well-being. Through her healing journey, she dev...
Mar 31, 2026•26 min•Season 4Ep. 342
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 fundamentally wrong with him—despite clear signs of potential. What no one recognized at the time was the deeper issue driving it all: disconnection, loneliness, and a lack of meaningful support. In this episode, Eric shares the unfiltered reality of his nonlinear pat...
Mar 24, 2026•27 min•Season 4Ep. 341
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 others rebuild their lives was anything but straightforward. After being asked to leave multiple schools, struggling with addiction during college, and eventually facing felony drug charges, Neill found himself at a turning point that would ultimately lead...
Mar 17, 2026•23 min•Season 4Ep. 340
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 to confront who he was beyond the game and reconsider the path he thought his life would take. What followed was a journey through faith, service, and unexpected career pivots that ultimately led him to working with adolescents and families navigating menta...
Mar 10, 2026•27 min•Season 4Ep. 339
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 collegiate recovery programs in Virginia. Now the Assistant Director for Substance Use and Recovery Support at VCU, Tom explains why most college campuses are not designed for students navigating addiction — and what it actually takes to change that. Joanna and Tom disc...
Mar 03, 2026•31 min•Season 4Ep. 338
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 friendships, attachment, and one professor who “saw something” in him changed the trajectory of his life. From wilderness therapy to launching his own young adult transition program, he reflects on what actually moves young adults forward — and why progre...
Feb 24, 2026•24 min•Season 4Ep. 337
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 rejecting the “college equals success” narrative led him down a very different road. From working construction and managing restaurants to living out of a backpack in the wilderness and eventually co-owning a therapeutic gap program in Costa Rica, Allan’s journey...
Feb 17, 2026•30 min•Season 4Ep. 336
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 how recovery, maturity, and purpose often arrive on a nonlinear timeline. Samantha grew up immersed in the treatment world, yet still found herself battling substance use, anxiety, and depression from a young age. After years of navigating college, interna...
Feb 10, 2026•24 min•Season 4Ep. 335
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 through passion, structure, and relationships, Daniel reflects on what truly matters—both as a therapist working with young men and as a father of three. This conversation challenges conventional ideas of success and offers reassurance to young adults and paren...
Feb 03, 2026•27 min•Season 4Ep. 334
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 meaningful than titles or traditional milestones. Their conversation highlights how desires change across different seasons of life — and why redefining success is not a failure, but a natural part of growth. Drawing from both individual and shared experiences...
Jan 27, 2026•50 min•Season 4Ep. 333
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 shares how early international experiences reshaped his understanding of education, why success should be viewed as a moving target, and what happens when young people are given space to reflect on their values instead of being rushed into traditional milestones. ...
Jan 20, 2026•26 min•Season 4Ep. 332
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 into community-based wraparound support and explains how coaching, mentorship, and family-systems work to help teens and young adults build confidence and stability outside of traditional programs. Together, they break down what wraparound support actually is, wh...
Jan 13, 2026•24 min•Season 4Ep. 331
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 he once deeply identified with forced him to confront who he was beneath the roles, titles, and expectations he carried. What followed wasn’t a straight path, but a series of pivots that led him toward leadership, purpose, and deeper self-awareness. Together, they...
Jan 06, 2026•30 min•Season 4Ep. 230
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, and what it truly means to live a successful life. Arch shares his journey through addiction, recovery, and emotional healing, reflecting on how success can mask unresolved trauma and how true fulfillment comes from learning to feel safe within ourselves and our ...
Dec 30, 2025•32 min•Season 4Ep. 239
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 participant is Jaysa Brown. In this episode, Jaysa reflects on entering the mental health system at a young age, navigating multiple treatment settings that didn’t always help, and the deep resistance she felt toward trying yet another program. She shares how relocating to...
Dec 23, 2025•32 min•Season 4Ep. 238
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 himself. Brian opens up about the pressure of stepping into adulthood far too early, running his father’s business as a teenager, and learning to navigate life without the safety net most young people rely on. Brian also reflects on how those early hardships sh...
Dec 16, 2025•24 min•Season 4Ep. 237
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 that her own fear, misunderstanding, and emotional reactivity were driving the conflict at home. What happened next changed everything. Ann shares how she dove into adolescent neuropsychology, rewired her entire approach to parenting, and ultimately built a framewo...
Dec 09, 2025•27 min•Season 4Ep. 236
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, and resilience. Stacy opens up about infertility, adoption, raising three children, navigating years of misdiagnoses, and ultimately learning how to parent through chaos, crisis, and transition. She shares how writing became her lifeline during the early days of...
Dec 02, 2025•24 min•Season 4Ep. 325
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 participant is Chris Kelley. Chris shares his honest journey from growing up in Cape Cod’s party culture, to court-ordered detox and time in county jail as a teenager, to finally entering long-term recovery at 29. Now 15 years sober and the Executive Director of Berkshire ...
Nov 25, 2025•35 min•Season 4Ep. 324
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 participant is Conor Gallagher Gray. Conor grew up on Chicago’s North Shore with every advantage and a clear path laid out for him—until addiction, stigma, and a collapsing sense of identity sent his life on a drastically different trajectory. After multiple treatment stay...
Nov 25, 2025•27 min•Season 4Ep. 323
Today’s S uccess 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 purely about survival, Kathy pursued accounting solely for the promise of financial security—despite feeling out of place every step of the way. After years in corporate finance, multiple relocations, raising three kids, and supporting a child with higher needs, she slowly f...
Nov 18, 2025•24 min•Season 4Ep. 322
Growing up in Milwaukee, expectations were clear for Bix Firer: go straight to college and stay on a traditional path. He tried — and quickly learned it wasn’t his path at all. After dropping out, Bix spent several years exploring unconventional jobs, traveling, and learning through lived experience rather than a classroom. Those detours became the foundation for discovering who he was and what he valued. In this episode of Success is Subjective , Bix shares how listening to his intuition — even...
Nov 11, 2025•24 min•Season 4Ep. 321
This week’s Success is Subjective guest, Chrissy Nichols, spent more than two decades teaching before discovering her true calling—helping learners of all ages understand how their brains actually work. As an executive function coach, Chrissy specializes in guiding young adults (often returning from therapeutic or wilderness programs) to find balance, accountability, and self-trust through what she calls “love-hammer coaching”—a blend of compassion and tough honesty that empowers lasting change....
Nov 04, 2025•28 min•Season 4Ep. 320
On this episode of Success is Subjective , Joanna brings listeners another powerful and heartfelt message from special guest, Gretchen Schoser. After 45 years in corporate HR tech, Gretchen Schoser’s world came crashing down in 2022 when burnout, grief, and loss collided — leading to a suicide attempt on Christmas Day. With the help of her wife and the 988 Lifeline, Gretchen chose to live — and she’s been transforming that decision into purpose ever since. Now the founder of Schoser Talent and W...
Oct 28, 2025•29 min•Season 4Ep. 319
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, Joanna sits down with Nolan Wright. When Nolan left home to chase success, it didn’t unfold the way anyone expected. What began as ambition quickly collided with addiction, loss, and a desperate search for direction. But somewhere between chaos and clarity, Nolan found a way to reb...
Oct 21, 2025•27 min•Season 4Ep. 318
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. Growing up in a small Arizona town, Alex Carey “had good grades and a ton of friends,” but by her mid-teens the party culture and a move to the Phoenix Valley accelerated risky choices that culminated in an adolescent placement at a residential treatment program—an experience she describ...
Oct 21, 2025•31 min•Season 4Ep. 317
In this episode of the Success is Subjective podcast, Joanna Lilley sits down with Matt Sullivan, Director of Education at AIM House in Boulder, Colorado. From nearly dropping out of college with nothing but a box of Cheez-Its and a handful of kindness from strangers to leading one of Boulder’s most respected young adult programs, Matt’s story is a masterclass in grit, humility, and self-discovery. Growing up in Marin County, California—where success was measured in Ivy League sweatshirts—Matt f...
Oct 14, 2025•33 min•Season 4Ep. 316
In this week’s episode of Success is Subjective , Joanna sits down with author, mental health advocate, and suicide loss survivor Lisa Sugarman. Lisa’s journey is one of resilience, grief, and transformation—from losing her father at a young age, to later discovering the truth about his death, and ultimately turning her pain into purpose. She reflects on the nonlinear twists of her career, from journalism to parenting columns, and how her lived experiences reshaped her work and calling. Today, L...
Oct 07, 2025•26 min•Season 4Ep. 315
In this episode of Success is Subjective , Joanna speaks with Kim Muench, a certified conscious parenting coach and the founder of Real Life Parent Guide. Kim shares her journey of becoming a mom at 18, navigating challenges with her oldest son’s addiction, and eventually discovering her calling in supporting parents of emerging adults. She highlights the common struggles young adults face today—lack of motivation, gaming, substance use, and mental health concerns—while also addressing how COVID...
Sep 30, 2025•27 min•Season 4Ep. 314
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. In this episode Joanna welcomes Dan Gilmer, who has been sober for more than ten years and now works in clinical outreach supporting families and young adults. Growing up in Baton Rouge, Dan often felt like the odd one out, a feeling that fueled his search for attention and eventually le...
Sep 23, 2025•29 min•Season 4Ep. 313
