Author: Aidan Leonard

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Podcast

Why Clarity Changes Everything: James Whittaker on Winning the Day

Guest: James Whittaker
WHY.os: Make Sense – Clarify – Trust

James Whittaker has built a career helping high performers cut through noise and get clear on what actually matters. From managing a $2 billion financial planning team to building the Win the Day movement, his work focuses on solving one core problem: people are overwhelmed, stuck, and unsure what to do next.

This episode matters because James lives the WHY of Make Sense. He takes complex problems like burnout, anxiety, and high performance pressure, and turns them into simple, actionable systems. If you’ve ever felt stuck or unsure of your next step, this conversation shows how clarity becomes your biggest advantage.

You’ll learn:

  • How lack of clarity leads to stress, burnout, and bad decisions
  • A simple daily system to create momentum (even when life feels overwhelming)
  • Why the Make Sense WHY helps people get unstuck and move forward

Listen now:

If you want a practical way to stop overthinking and start moving forward, this episode is worth your time.

Get in touch with James:

Watch the Full Episode Here!

Timestamps:

00:00 – What it means to “Make Sense” of life
02:40 – Growing up and early anxiety struggles
07:54 – Feeling lost and comparing yourself to others
12:01 – Why clarity is so hard to find
18:00 – Lessons from travel and perspective
20:17 – Starting over in LA with no plan
23:30 – The origin of “Win the Day”
26:01 – Why simple systems work better
30:00 – Solving burnout and overwhelm
34:38 – The power of daily action

Listen to the Episode Here!

Why Clarity Changes Everything: James Whittaker on Winning the Day

Most people don’t fail because they lack effort. They fail because they lack clarity. That’s the core idea behind this episode with James Whittaker.

On Beyond Your WHY with Dr. Gary Sanchez, James shares how his life shifted from anxiety and confusion to clarity and momentum. His story isn’t about overnight success. It’s about learning how to make sense of your life when nothing feels clear.

Your WHY is your core motivation, the reason you do what you do. Your WHY.os adds HOW you naturally operate and WHAT you bring, giving you a practical way to make decisions and communicate clearly in real life.

James’s WHY is Make Sense. That means he is driven to solve complex problems and create simple, actionable solutions. You can see it in every part of his story.

When You Don’t Know Who You Are, Everything Feels Hard

James didn’t always have clarity. In fact, for years, he felt completely lost.

“I was a malfunctioned human destined for the scrap heap,” he said.

That feeling came from something many people experience but rarely talk about. He didn’t know who he was or where he was going. And when that happens, even simple decisions become overwhelming.

He struggled with anxiety, poor habits, and comparison. Watching his father succeed and his brother perform well academically only made it worse. Instead of feeling motivated, he felt behind.

Looking back, it makes sense. When your WHY is Make Sense, confusion doesn’t just feel uncomfortable. It feels unbearable.

Clarity Is the Turning Point

Everything changed when James started asking better questions.

“They’re not clear on who they are and they’re not clear on where they want to go.”

That insight became the foundation of his work. He realized that most people aren’t stuck because they lack ability. They’re stuck because they lack clarity.

Once he began focusing on understanding himself, everything started to shift. He explored different paths, moved across the world, and exposed himself to new environments.

That process wasn’t linear. It took years. But eventually, clarity replaced confusion.

And once clarity showed up, momentum followed.

Winning the Day: A Simple System That Works

Instead of creating a complicated framework, James did something that aligns perfectly with his WHY.os. He simplified everything.

“If you do not make the decision to win, you’ve automatically made the decision to lose.”

That idea became “Win the Day.” It’s not about long-term planning or complex strategies. It’s about focusing on one day at a time.

The system is simple:

  • Set a clear intention for the day
  • Do something challenging
  • Identify three wins

That’s it.

For someone with a Make Sense WHY and Clarify HOW, this approach is natural. Take something complex like life, break it down, and make it actionable.

And the result? Less overwhelm. More progress.

Why Simplicity Beats Complexity

One of the biggest mistakes people make is overcomplicating success.

James sees this constantly in high performers. They already have too much on their plate. Adding more systems doesn’t help. It makes things worse.

“That starts with creating capacity,” he explained.

Instead of adding more, he helps people remove friction. Simplify routines. Set boundaries. Focus on what actually matters.

This is where his WHAT of Trust shows up. His systems don’t just sound good. They work. People can rely on them.

The Real Goal: Help People Get Unstuck

At its core, James’s work is about helping people move forward.

His story proves that clarity is not something you’re born with. It’s something you build through experience, reflection, and action.

And when you finally make sense of your life, everything changes.

Final Thought

If you feel stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure what to do next, this episode is worth your time.

Sometimes the answer isn’t doing more. It’s getting clear.

Listen to the full episode to hear how James breaks it down and how you can start winning your day.

Meet the Guest

James Whittaker is a three-time bestselling author, award-winning entrepreneur, and host of the Win the Day podcast (100M+ views). Before founding Win the Day, James led a financial-planning team with $2 billion under management, an experience that revealed how even top performers can burn out without the right system.

Today, James has taught his Win the Day® framework to some of the world’s leading organizations, and coached billion-dollar CEOs, Olympic gold medallists, and special forces operators. His superpower is helping ambitious but frustrated people gain immediate clarity on what they want and giving them a bulletproof plan to achieve it.

James is an author with The Napoleon Hill Foundation, a speaker with SUCCESS Magazine, and Executive Producer of the multimillion-dollar Think and Grow Rich film.

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Podcast

From Intelligence Work to Clear Thinking: Don Weber’s Story

Guest: Don Weber
WHY.os: Make Sense – Simplify – Contribute

Don Weber has lived a life most people only see in movies. From working across 90+ countries in intelligence and security to coaching executives today, his path has been anything but typical. His story is full of high-stakes decisions, constant uncertainty, and moments where survival depended on reading people fast and getting it right.

At the core of it all is his WHY: to Make Sense. Don is wired to take complex, chaotic situations and turn them into something clear and actionable. For people new to this idea, your WHY is your core driver, the reason you do what you do. Your WHY.os adds HOW you naturally operate and WHAT you bring, which explains how you actually make decisions and show up in the real world.

You’ll learn:

  • How Don used communication and psychology to survive high-risk environments
  • Why making things simple is the key to solving complex problems
  • How the WHY of Make Sense helps leaders get people aligned and moving forward

Listen in to hear how Don turned a life of chaos into a system for clarity and leadership.

Get in touch with Don:

Watch the Full Episode Here!

00:00 – Intro to the WHY of Make Sense
02:30 – Don’s childhood and early challenges
05:30 – College and early career path
09:00 – Entering the diamond and intelligence world
15:30 – Inside global intelligence work
20:30 – Near-death experiences and leaving that life
22:30 – Transition into teaching and coaching
27:00 – Communication, persuasion, and human behavior
30:00 – Who Don helps today
31:00 – Advice on how to live and treat others

Listen to the Episode Here!

Don Weber: From High-Stakes Intelligence to Helping Leaders Make Sense of It All

Don Weber has lived a life most people would never expect. He has worked across more than 90 countries, operated in high-risk environments, and built relationships in places most people never go. But what stands out is not just what he has done. It is how he thinks.

Early on, Don realized he had to figure things out quickly just to get by. He shared, “I had to grow up very quickly for survival.” That experience shaped how he sees the world today. He became someone who observes, processes, and simplifies.

Your WHY is your core motivation, the reason you do what you do. Your WHY.os adds HOW you operate and WHAT you deliver, which explains how you actually solve problems and interact with others. In Don’s case, his WHY.os is Make Sense – Simplify – Contribute. That shows up in everything he does.

Making Sense Under Pressure

Don’s early career took him into the intelligence world, where things were rarely clear or safe. He had to read people quickly and understand situations with limited information. Every decision mattered.

He described what that felt like: “Every day I’d leave… I wonder if I’ll be back tonight.” That level of pressure forces you to get good at filtering out noise and focusing on what matters.

This is what the WHY of Make Sense looks like in action. It is not just about thinking clearly. It is about finding patterns, organizing chaos, and turning it into something useful.

Simplifying What Others Overcomplicate

After leaving that world, Don moved into teaching and coaching. What carried over was his ability to simplify.

He explained that real influence is not about telling people what to do. It is about helping them see it for themselves. Instead of giving answers, he asks questions that guide people to clarity.

He put it simply: “It’s much better if Gary comes up and that’s my idea.”

This is where his HOW of Simplify shows up. He takes complex human behavior and breaks it down into something leaders can actually use.

Helping Leaders Work Through People Problems

Today, Don works mostly with senior leaders who are stuck. Not because they lack skill, but because people are messy.

He focuses on helping leaders understand what motivates others. When you know what someone really wants, you can align with it instead of fighting against it.

He learned this lesson in a very different environment. “I want to know what their motivators were,” he said when describing his past work.

Now, instead of using that skill in intelligence work, he uses it to help leaders create alignment, reduce conflict, and move forward.

The Power of Making It Make Sense

What makes Don’s story stand out is not just where he has been. It is how consistent his thinking has been through all of it.

Whether he was navigating high-risk environments or coaching executives, the pattern is the same. Take something complex. Break it down. Make it clear.

That is the power of the WHY of Make Sense. It helps people move from stuck to action.

If you have ever felt overwhelmed or unsure what to do next, this episode will hit home. Listen in to hear how Don applies this way of thinking in real life.

Meet the Guest!

Don Weber is a Global Communication Strategist, former HUMINT operative, and executive communication coach with over 15 years of experience working across 90+ countries. After leaving intelligence work, Don began helping leaders and high performers uncover the deeper motivations that drive their behavior, decisions, and sense of purpose. His work bridges human intelligence, self awareness, and personal growth, guiding people to understand their WHY, communicate with clarity, and lead in alignment with who they truly are.

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Podcast Uncategorized

When Everything Falls Apart: How to Make Sense of Your Life and Start Again

Guest: Dr. Dave Jones
WHY.os: Make Sense – Better Way – Mastery

Dr. Dave Jones didn’t follow a straight path to success. He went from chasing a professional hockey career overseas to standing in a locker room at 26, realizing it was over. No plan. No direction. No idea what came next.

That moment could have broken him. Instead, it forced him to do what he naturally does best: make sense of the chaos. His WHY is Make Sense, which means he’s driven to take complex, overwhelming situations and turn them into something clear and usable. This episode shows what happens when that ability is used on your own life.

You’ll learn:

  • How to move forward when your original plan falls apart
  • Why clarity, not motivation, is what actually gets you unstuck
  • How a WHY of Make Sense helps you turn confusion into direction

Want to learn your WHY? It is now 50% off for all Beyond Your WHY listeners! [Click here!]

Get in touch with Dave:

Watch the Full Episode Here!

00:00 – Introduction to WHY: Make Sense
03:50 – Growing up and chasing hockey
08:20 – Getting humbled in juniors
11:25 – The moment everything changed
13:30 – Feeling lost and starting over
15:20 – Building a business from nothing
17:10 – Why purpose isn’t handed to you
20:30 – Why most people feel stuck at work
23:00 – Looking forward vs looking back
31:30 – The R7 process explained

Listen to the Episode Here!

When Everything Falls Apart: How to Make Sense of Your Life and Start Again

Most people think success comes from having a plan. Dr. Dave Jones learned the opposite. His biggest turning point came when his plan completely fell apart.

In this episode of Beyond Your WHY, Dr. Dave shares what it feels like to lose direction and how he rebuilt from nothing. His story is a clear example of the WHY of Make Sense. That means he is driven to take complex situations and turn them into something clear and actionable. WHY.os adds another layer by showing how someone does that and what they naturally bring to others, making it practical in real life.

When the Plan Stops Working

Dave’s early life was focused on hockey. He built his identity around it and pushed everything else aside. School didn’t matter. The goal was simple: go pro.

But reality hit fast. After getting humbled in juniors and bouncing around teams, he realized something wasn’t adding up. By the time he was playing in Germany, the gap between where he was and where he thought he should be became impossible to ignore.

He described the moment clearly:
“I can see myself in the locker room… I had the epiphany. Like, what are you doing, dude? It’s time to move on.”

That moment forced a decision most people avoid. Let go of the identity you built.

The Space Between Who You Were and Who You’ll Become

What came next wasn’t clarity. It was confusion.

Dave found himself in a new country, without hockey, without direction, and without a strong sense of who he was. He didn’t just feel lost. He questioned whether he even liked himself.

“I had the view of the world that if I can put enough people down, I will get ahead… I didn’t like myself.”

This is where his WHY of Make Sense shows up in a different way. Instead of solving external problems, he had to solve himself.

People with this WHY often step into chaos and create clarity for others. But when life turns inward, they have to apply that same skill to their own identity.

Turning Chaos Into a Direction

Dave didn’t suddenly find a perfect answer. He started with a question.

“What do I do now?”

That question led him to start a marketing agency. Not because it was a perfect plan, but because it was the next step that made sense at the time.

The early years were rough. He expected quick success, but reality looked different.

“I think we invoiced that year $15,000… it was a rough year. It was bad.”

But this is where his WHY.os comes into play.

  • His WHY (Make Sense): turn confusion into clarity
  • His HOW (Better Way): look for improved approaches
  • His WHAT (Mastery): go deep and build expertise

That combination meant he didn’t quit. He kept refining, learning, and improving until things started working.

Why Most People Stay Stuck

One of the most honest parts of the episode is Dave’s perspective on work and fulfillment.

He shared a stat that hit hard:
“88% of the US economy is disengaged at work.”

His takeaway is simple. Most people build their life around skills instead of purpose.

“You have to be fulfilled to your passion and your purpose and your why.”

This ties directly back to the WHY of Make Sense. Without clarity, people default to what they’re told to do. With clarity, they can choose a direction that actually fits them.

Moving Forward Instead of Looking Back

Dave also challenges a common idea in personal growth. Yes, your past matters. But staying stuck in it doesn’t help.

“At some point… you have to look forward.”

That perspective reflects how someone with Make Sense operates. They don’t ignore problems. They solve them and move forward.

Clarity isn’t about understanding everything perfectly. It’s about understanding enough to take the next step.

Final Thoughts

Dr. Dave’s story isn’t about having everything figured out. It’s about learning how to think when nothing is clear.

He didn’t avoid confusion. He worked through it.

And that’s the real takeaway. You don’t need a perfect plan. You need the ability to make sense of what’s in front of you.

If you’re feeling stuck or unsure what’s next, this episode will give you a new way to look at it.

Listen to the full episode to hear how Dave turned confusion into clarity and built a life that actually fits him.

Meet the Guest

Dave Jones brings a rare combination of professional athlete experience, military service, and psychological expertise to his work as founder of one of the world’s largest Christian marketing agencies. After competing professionally in hockey across Europe, Dave founded M is Good in 2001, developing the innovative R7 process that helps leaders effectively communicate vision.

With a doctorate in Sport and Performance Psychology, he coaches elite athletes from the NHL, NFL, and other sports through his Mental Toughness Training system. As a four-year U.S. Air Force veteran, Dave now lives in Raleigh, NC with his family while running three successful companies that blend his Christian brand development expertise with performance coaching.

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Personal WHY.os

The Power of Going Deep: How Michael Walsh Turns Complexity Into Clear Business Growth

Guest: Michael Walsh
WHY.os: Mastery – Make Sense – Clarify

Michael Walsh has spent over three decades helping business owners unlock growth they didn’t think was possible. As the founder of Walsh Business Growth Institute, he works with established companies to help them move past plateaus and achieve the three freedoms every owner wants: freedom in their business, freedom from their business, and freedom because of their business.

This episode highlights Michael’s WHY of Mastery. People with this WHY are driven to understand things deeply, not just on the surface. Michael’s story shows what happens when someone takes complex business challenges, studies them at a deep level, and then translates them into a clear path forward that others can actually follow.

You’ll learn:

  • Why business growth problems are often simpler than they appear once someone understands the deeper patterns.
  • How Michael’s WHY of Mastery drives him to dig deeper than most people when solving problems.
  • Why turning insight into clear, actionable steps is what makes expertise truly valuable.

Listen to this episode to hear how Michael built a career helping leaders cut through complexity and move forward with clarity.

Get in touch with Michael!

www.walshbusinessgrowth.com

Watch the Full Episode Here!


00:00 Understanding Mastery and Problem Solving
02:51 The Journey of Michael Walsh
05:33 Growing Up and Early Influences
11:07 Transitioning to University and Career Beginnings
16:27 Lessons from Financial Services
21:55 Building Businesses and Ecosystems
27:44 The Importance of People in Business
33:28 Questions that Drive Growth
37:11 Advice and Resources for Business Growth

Listen to the Episode Here!

The Power of Going Deep: How Michael Walsh Turns Complexity Into Clear Business Growth

Many leaders believe the key to growth is speed. Move faster. Launch more. Do more.

Michael Walsh has spent 30 years proving the opposite.

On this episode of Beyond Your WHY with Dr. Gary Sanchez, Michael shares how his WHY of Mastery has shaped the way he approaches business challenges. Rather than rushing to answers, he goes deeper than most people are willing to go. That process often leads to solutions that are simpler, clearer, and far more effective.

For those unfamiliar with the WHY concept, a person’s WHY is the core motivation that drives their decisions and behavior. It explains why they naturally approach problems the way they do. The WHY.os adds two more layers: HOW they naturally operate and WHAT they deliver when they are at their best.

Michael’s WHY.os is Mastery – Make Sense – Clarify, and his career is a perfect example of that pattern in action.

Why Mastery Means Going Deeper Than Most People

People with the WHY of Mastery are driven by one thing: understanding something completely. Not the headline version. The real depth behind it.

Dr. Gary describes it this way early in the conversation:
“You have an insatiable thirst for knowledge, but not at a superficial level.”

That description fits Michael’s work perfectly. When business owners bring him a problem, he doesn’t just look at the surface symptoms. He studies the deeper systems behind it.

Michael explains that knowledge alone isn’t enough.

“If you can’t turn it into actionable items, then it’s not very useful.”

That mindset has shaped the way he advises companies. He doesn’t just deliver insights. He helps leaders turn those insights into a clear plan they can actually execute.

Why Complexity Often Hides Simple Truths

One of the most interesting moments in the episode comes when Michael talks about growing up in Newfoundland.

He jokes about what he calls the “six-year-old test.” If something is so complicated that a child couldn’t understand it, it might be unnecessarily complex.

That philosophy still guides his work today.

“There’s a lot of complexity in the world. But the truth is that people do things to feel good about who they are, what they do, and who they do it with.”

Even though his WHY pushes him to dig deeply into problems, Michael has learned that the real skill is translating that depth into simplicity.

Because most leaders don’t need more data.

They need clarity.

From Feeling Misunderstood to Finding His Strength

Michael also shares what it was like growing up as someone who naturally thought differently.

As a teenager, he often felt misunderstood. Teachers treated him as the “smart kid,” which sometimes created tension with other students.

“I always led with my brain,” he says.

That ability to analyze situations deeply became both a strength and a challenge. Sometimes the ideas in his head were clear to him but difficult to explain in a way others could understand.

Over time, he learned that sharing knowledge the right way matters just as much as having it.

Instead of trying to prove he was right, he started focusing on helping others succeed.

That shift made all the difference.

Turning Insight Into Action

Today, Michael works with business owners around the world through Walsh Business Growth Institute. His mission is to help leaders achieve what he calls the three freedoms of business:

  • Freedom in their business
  • Freedom from their business
  • Freedom because of their business

Those freedoms don’t come from working harder.

They come from understanding the real drivers behind growth.

Michael’s WHY.os allows him to break complex problems into something leaders can act on. His HOW of Make Sense helps him connect the dots. His WHAT of Clarify helps him deliver a clear path forward.

As Dr. Gary explains during the conversation, Michael’s natural pattern is simple: study the problem deeply, make sense of it, and then show people exactly what to do next.

The Real Power of Mastery

The lesson from this episode is simple but powerful.

Depth matters.

In a world full of quick answers and surface-level advice, people with the WHY of Mastery bring something rare. They take the time to truly understand what is happening before offering a solution.

And when they do, those solutions tend to last.

If you’ve ever felt stuck trying to grow your business, this conversation offers a refreshing reminder: sometimes the fastest way forward is to slow down, understand the real problem, and then move with clarity.

Listen to the full episode to hear how Michael Walsh applies this mindset to help leaders achieve lasting growth.

Meet the Guest

Michael Walsh is a visionary leader, speaker, and author known for igniting passion in the business owners and senior leaders he works with by helping them to drive their established businesses to growth levels beyond their expectations.

Michael has quietly served the owners and leaders of small to medium-sized businesses for 30 years using 21st-century strategies that work. He has supported hundreds of company owners in their quest for business growth and three core freedoms: freedom in their business, from their business, and because of their business.

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Podcast

Why Adam Bensman Walked Away at the Top

Guest: Adam Bensman
WHY.os: Challenge – Make Sense – Better Way

Adam Bensman is known as The Roof Strategist, but his story has very little to do with roofing and everything to do with refusing to accept systems that don’t make sense. From a non-traditional education path to door-to-door sales, to becoming COO of a multi-state company, Adam has repeatedly questioned the “normal” way things are done and chosen a harder but more honest path.

In this episode of Beyond Your WHY, Adam’s WHY of Challenge shows up in how he builds businesses, sets boundaries, and walks away from success when it no longer fits. His story is a clear example of what happens when someone is driven to challenge the status quo, make sense of broken systems, and create a better way forward for others.

  • Why high performers with the WHY of Challenge often struggle in school but thrive in real-world environments
  • How Adam’s WHY.os shaped his decision to leave burnout behind and rebuild his business from scratch
  • What it looks like to challenge an industry without becoming cynical or reckless

If you’ve ever felt boxed in by a system that “works” but doesn’t feel right, this episode will hit home. Listen to hear how Adam turned discomfort into clarity.

Get in touch with Adam:

Watch the Full Episode Here!

00:00 – Why the WHY of Challenge rejects the normal path
04:30 – Feeling out of place in traditional systems
09:40 – Choosing an unconventional education
16:30 – The first roofing sale and betting on himself
22:45 – Rising to COO and seeing broken systems clearly
28:05 – Burnout, health scares, and walking away
33:20 – Building The Roof Strategist by solving real problems
36:45 – Creating ethical boundaries in business
42:20 – Fear, risk, and self-trust
49:15 – The difference between struggling and successful leaders

Listen to the Episode Here!

Why Adam Bensman Challenges an Entire Industry to Do Business Differently

Adam Bensman’s story doesn’t follow a clean, predictable arc. It zigzags through unconventional schools, financial stress, intense burnout, and bold decisions most people only think about making. What ties it all together is his WHY of Challenge, a core drive to question systems that don’t make sense and refuse paths that feel misaligned.

The Beyond Your WHY podcast exists to show how people live their WHY in the real world. A WHY explains what drives someone at their core. A WHY.os goes further by adding HOW they naturally operate and WHAT they bring into the world. Adam’s WHY.os of Challenge – Make Sense – Better Way explains not just what he’s built, but why he’s repeatedly torn things down and rebuilt them differently.

When the System Doesn’t Fit

From an early age, Adam felt friction with traditional education. He didn’t struggle because he lacked ability. He struggled because the structure itself felt limiting. As he put it, “You can’t put me in a box.” That resistance wasn’t rebellion for attention. It was an early signal of his WHY pushing back against rigid systems.

Rather than forcing himself to comply, Adam found environments that allowed him to think differently. That pattern would repeat throughout his life. Each time a system stopped making sense, he questioned it. Each time it felt wrong, he looked for another way.

Betting on Himself Without a Safety Net

Adam’s entry into roofing wasn’t planned. It came from financial pressure and a willingness to try something uncomfortable. Door-to-door sales were brutal, but they rewarded effort and problem-solving more than credentials. That mattered to someone wired to challenge norms.

“I went from making $20,000 a year to six figures in eight months,” Adam shared. That jump wasn’t luck. It was the result of applying logic, questioning inefficiencies, and refusing to accept “that’s just how it works” as an answer.

Success, Burnout, and Walking Away

Rising to COO of a multi-state company looked like success from the outside. Inside, Adam was exhausted. Long drives, constant travel, and mounting pressure took a toll on his health. He eventually landed in the ICU before age 30. That moment forced a reckoning.

Sitting on his honeymoon, Adam realized the life he built didn’t match the life he wanted. He left without a perfect plan, trusting his ability to figure things out. “I had zero tolerance, and I left,” he said. That decision reflected the truest expression of his WHY.

Creating a Better Way Forward

What Adam built next wasn’t just a business. It was a response to what he saw going wrong in his industry. Training systems were being misused. People were being taken advantage of. Instead of turning away, Adam drew a line.

He rebuilt his company around ethics, accountability, and community. Membership became selective. Bad actors were removed. Growth was tied to values. This wasn’t about scaling faster. It was about doing it right.

The Power of Diagnosing the Right Problem

One of Adam’s clearest insights is that most people work hard on the wrong problems. “The difference between successful leaders and struggling ones is the ability to diagnose problems accurately,” he explained. Fixing low-impact issues feels productive but leads nowhere.

Leaders driven by Challenge don’t just work harder. They question whether the work matters at all. That mindset changes everything.

Adam Bensman’s story is proof that challenging the status quo isn’t reckless when it’s guided by clarity. His WHY.os shows how questioning broken systems, making sense of chaos, and building better solutions can create impact without burning everything down.

If you’ve ever felt like success came at the cost of yourself, this episode offers a different lens. Listen to hear how Adam redefined what “winning” looks like.

Meet Adam!

Adam Bensman, known as The Roof Strategist, is a roofing sales expert, best-selling author, and industry advocate. He hosts the #1 YouTube Channel and Podcast for sales and business development in the roofing industry. Adam is the author of The Roofing Sales Survival Guide: Beat the Odds, Overcome Yourself, and Win Big and the founder of the Roofing & Solar Reform Alliance (RSRA). His work focuses on helping leaders build profitable, future-proof companies the right way.

Categories
Podcast

The True Summit: Sean Swarner on Finding a Better Way When Life Says “No”

Guest: Sean Swarner
WHY.os: Better Way – Make Sense – Contribute

Sean Swarner is the kind of person who hears “this is impossible” and immediately starts building a plan. In this episode, he talks with Dr. Gary Sanchez about surviving two cancers as a teen, living through a year of brutal treatments, and still choosing goals that would scare most healthy people. The tension is real: how do you keep going when you have every reason to quit, and when even “success” can leave you feeling empty?

Through the lens of Better Way, Sean’s story is not just about endurance. Better Way is the drive to improve what exists, ask “what if there’s a smarter path,” and keep pushing until the approach matches the outcome. Sean uses that mindset to rethink limitations, build systems for progress, and turn personal pain into something that helps other people.

You’ll learn

  • How Sean used a simple mantra to stay steady when Everest felt bigger than his body could handle.
  • What “false summits” are, and why hitting a big goal can still feel empty if your values are not in it.
  • How Better Way thinking helps you find options when everyone else says “there aren’t any.”

If you’ve been chasing goals but still feel stuck, this one will hit. Listen for practical ways to build momentum when life is heavy.

Get in touch with Sean

Watch the Full Episode Here!

Timestamp chapters (top 10)

03:17 – Why “Better Way” and what it looks like in real life
06:20 – High school: cancer, fear, and a different kind of “normal”
09:18 – Two diagnoses: Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Askin’s sarcoma
15:55 – “One lung” and what radiation changed
16:59 – A year of treatments and the hospital memories that still hit
21:19 – The mirror moment: helping himself before helping others
23:25 – Why Everest: “the highest platform in the world to scream hope”
25:15 – Nine months to Everest and the Better Way sponsorship move
27:39 – Everest strategy, chemo parallels, and “The higher I go…”
42:25 – False summits vs true summits, and what he’s building now

Listen to the Episode Here!

The True Summit: Sean Swarner on Finding a Better Way When Life Says “No”

Sean Swarner is not a motivational quote on a poster. He is a real person who lived through the kind of pain most people can’t picture. In this episode of Beyond Your WHY, he sits down with Dr. Gary Sanchez to explain what it was like to face two cancers as a teenager, lose his sense of the future, and still choose a life that requires daily courage. The conversation lands in a surprising place: sometimes the hardest part is not surviving. It is figuring out what to do after you survive.

This episode is framed through Sean’s WHY.os: Better Way – Make Sense – Contribute. A “WHY” is the main reason someone does what they do. A WHY.os adds the HOW (their natural process) and the WHAT (what they bring to others), so you can predict how they decide, lead, and respond under pressure.

When high school is about survival

Most people remember high school for social drama and awkward moments. Sean remembers it as a fight to make it to tomorrow. He describes being on the shower floor while his hair fell out, and realizing he was not only fighting for himself, but for the future his family would have to live with if he died. That kind of pain changes what “problems” even mean. It also builds a different kind of focus, the kind that stops you from wasting your life on stuff that does not matter.

He talks about the raw details without trying to make them sound pretty. He had Hodgkin’s lymphoma, then Askin’s sarcoma, a rare diagnosis with almost no odds of survival. Treatments were extreme, and he explains that certain hospital smells can still pull him back into those memories. It is not a neat story. It is a real one, and that honesty matters because it shows what Better Way thinking is actually for: it is for the moments when you do not have the luxury of pretending.

Better Way in action: building a system for hope

After cancer, Sean hit a common problem that people do not talk about enough. When you spend years just trying to live, it is hard to imagine a future that is bigger than the next day. He describes pulling over during a drive to Florida and basically asking himself what he was doing with his life. That moment matters because it shows the Make Sense part of his WHY.os. He needed a logical framework for his life, not just momentum.

Then he chose a goal that made no sense on paper: Mount Everest. He says it plainly: “I wanted to use the top of Everest as the highest platform in the world to scream hope.” That line is Better Way in one sentence. It is not just “do something hard.” It is “use the hardest thing as a platform that helps other people.”

Sean also explains Everest in a way that sounds like project management, not hype. You shuttle gear up and down to acclimate. You build capacity, recover, then build again. He compares it to chemo, where your body takes a hit, then has to rebuild. And when he needed something simple to keep his mind steady, he repeated one line with every step: “The higher I go, the stronger I get.”

False summits and the true summit

Here’s where the conversation gets even more interesting. Sean admits that even after major wins, he felt hollow. He calls these moments “false summits,” the kind of goal that looks like it should satisfy you, but doesn’t. In real life, false summits sound like: “Once I get this title, then I’ll feel successful,” or “Once I buy that thing, then I’ll feel okay.” He’s not anti-goals. He’s anti-goals without values.

Sean defines a true summit as having “goals, values, and heart all pulling in the same direction.” That’s the Better Way lens again: not just bigger goals, but better alignment. It is also his Contribute showing up, because he keeps bringing it back to impact beyond himself. He wants people to stop chasing the thing that impresses others and start building a life that actually feels right when nobody is watching.

By the end of the episode, Sean is not trying to convince anyone to climb a mountain. He’s trying to help people stop letting fear, old stories, and other people’s limits pick their future. If you’ve been working hard but still feel like something’s off, this conversation gives you a cleaner way to think about progress: build capacity, align your values, and make your wins mean something. Listen to the full episode and pay attention to the places where you’ve been chasing a “false summit” without realizing it.

Meet Sean!

Sean Swarner’s journey is nothing short of extraordinary, and it’s not just about the mountains he’s climbed or the races he’s finished. He’s the only person in history to summit Everest, complete the Explorer’s Grand Slam, finish the Hawaii Ironman World Championship, and run 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days, all after surviving two terminal cancers, being given just 14 days to live, and living through a year-long coma with only one lung.

He’s been named one of the top 10 most inspirational people in history, alongside Winston Churchill, Bruce Lee, and Muhammad Ali, and has shared stages with Presidents, Nobel Peace Prize winners like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, UN leaders, and entrepreneurs such as Sir Richard Branson.

What makes Sean’s story truly powerful isn’t the feats themselves. It’s the lessons he can share about turning impossible odds into action, overcoming obstacles, and building breakthroughs in life.

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Podcast WHY WHY.os

Turn Down the Trauma Loop: How the Mind Replays Pain and How to Change It

Guest: Dr. Don Wood
WHY.os: Contribute – Challenge – Better Way

Dr. Don Wood is a neuroscientist, author, speaker, and Founder & CEO of Inspired Performance Institute. His work focuses on how trauma and disturbing events can keep running in the background and shape how someone thinks, feels, and performs.

In this episode, Dr. WHY talks with Don through the lens of Don’s WHY, Contribute. Don’s drive is to help people feel less stuck in their own mind so they can show up for life again. His HOW, Challenge, pushes against the idea that you have to live with intense emotional loops forever. His WHAT, Better Way, is his practical method for helping people reduce the intensity of the memories that keep pulling them back.

You’ll learn:

  • Why the mind can treat an old painful memory like it is happening right now.
  • A simple way Don describes reducing the “intensity” of a memory without pretending it never happened.
  • How Don’s Contribute WHY shows up as a clear goal: help people stop fighting the past so they can live forward.

Listen to this episode if you want a clearer understanding of why grief and trauma can hit so hard, and what it can look like to lower the emotional volume.

Get in touch with Don:

Watch the Full Episode Here!

00:01 – Why Don’s work matters right now
00:42 – The mind replays a painful moment like it is “now”
01:12 – “An emotion is a call for an action”
01:35 – High definition vs low definition memories
01:57 – How do you actually turn it down?
02:02 – The two-minute recall and process work
02:23 – When the mind stops reacting like it is happening now
02:35 – Moving from “last moments” to the full relationship
03:12 – “There’s nothing wrong with you. It’s just a glitch.”
03:33 – Sadness can stay; the urgent panic can stop

Listen to the Episode Here!

Turn Down the Trauma Loop: How the Mind Replays Pain and How to Change It

Some episodes land different because they start with something real, not theory. Dr. Gary Sanchez opens this one by talking with his wife, Julie, about losing her mother and what it feels like after being there at the end. It is that specific kind of grief where your brain keeps replaying the hardest moment, even when you want it to stop.

That is where Dr. Don Wood steps in. Don is a neuroscientist, author, speaker, and the Founder & CEO of Inspired Performance Institute. His work focuses on how trauma and disturbing events can keep running in the background and shape how someone thinks, feels, and performs.

To make the conversation easier to follow, it helps to know one quick idea from WHY Institute. A person’s WHY is the deeper driver behind what they do. A WHY.os adds HOW they naturally do it and WHAT they tend to bring to others, which is why two people can care about the same goal but go after it in totally different ways.

Don’s WHY.os is Contribute – Challenge – Better Way. Through Contribute, his focus is service: he wants people to suffer less so they can show up for life again. Through Challenge, he pushes back on the idea that intense emotional loops are permanent. Through Better Way, he brings a method and a process, not just motivation.

When the mind treats “then” like “now”

Don explains something that makes a lot of people feel seen immediately. He says the subconscious operates in the present, so when someone replays a memory, part of the mind reacts as if the event is happening again. In Julie’s case, Don points to how the brain can keep returning to the moment of her mother’s death because it was stored with a lot of detail.

He puts it in plain language: “Your subconscious operates in the present. It thinks everything is now.” That is a pretty big reframe for anyone who has ever thought, “Why can’t I just move on?” The problem is not weakness. The problem is the brain doing what it thinks it is supposed to do.

Why emotions feel so intense

Don shares a second idea that explains the intensity. “Anytime you have an emotion, an emotion is a call for an action.” If the mind believes the painful moment is still happening, then the emotion can feel like an urgent demand to fix it, stop it, reverse it.

He even describes the mind’s internal message when the memory comes up: it is like the brain is trying to prevent what already happened. That is where people can spiral, and why grief can start to look like depression or shutdown over time, especially when the mind keeps fighting an outcome it cannot change.

A Better Way: lower the “definition,” lower the pull

Dr. Gary asks the practical question: how do you take a memory from “high definition” to “low definition”? Don’s answer is process-focused. He talks about recalling a short memory and using a series of steps to reduce the intensity, so the mind stops reacting like it is happening right now.

He also makes a point that matters to anyone worried this means “erasing” or “denying” the person they lost. That is not the goal. The goal is that sadness can remain, but the urgent panic can stop. After the intensity drops, people can think about the full relationship again, not just the hardest moment.

And he adds something that fits his Contribute WHY perfectly: “There’s nothing wrong with you… it’s just a glitch.” That is the tone of someone who is trying to help, not judge. If someone is dealing with trauma, anxiety, depression, or addiction, it is still wise to seek professional support. This episode is education and perspective, not a replacement for medical or mental health care.

In the end, Don’s work comes through as a clear act of contribution: helping people stop wrestling with the past so they can show up for their life today. If you have ever felt like your brain is stuck on repeat, this conversation gives language for what is happening, and a grounded direction for what to do next.

Meet Dr. Don Wood!

Dr. Don Wood, PhD, author, speaker, Founder & CEO of the Inspired Performance Institute, and creator of the patented TIPP method focused on helping people resolve their trauma and get their lives to a place of high performance.

He has helped 1000’s of people live a better life and overcome the effects of stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and addiction with his neuroscience-backed program, TIPP.

TIPP program is designed to clear away the effects of disturbing or traumatic events, repurpose old thinking patterns and set the individual’s mind up for peak performance.

Dr. Wood is also author of two books, Emotional Concussions and You Must Be Out of your Mind and is releasing his newest book Don’t Mess With My DNA in near future.

Categories
Podcast

Discipline Equals Freedom: The Proven System Behind Lifelong Success

Guest: Barry Garapedian
WHY.os: Right Way – Better Way – Contribute

Barry Garapedian spent nearly 40 years at Morgan Stanley before launching MAG7 Consulting, where he now mentors teens and young adults on habits that build confidence, discipline, and success. He’s proof that hard work and structure still win in a world chasing shortcuts. In this episode, Barry and Dr. Gary Sanchez talk about what it really takes to do things the right way—and why so few people actually do.

You’ll learn:

  • The truth about discipline: how structure, routines, and small daily wins create real freedom.
  • Why grit beats talent every time: and the mindset that keeps you consistent when others quit.
  • How to build systems that work: the same process Barry used to rise to the top on Wall Street and now teaches to young high performers.

Listen to this episode to see how doing things the right way—every day—can lead to success that actually lasts.

Get in touch with Barry!

LinkedIn
Instagram

MAG7 Consulting

Watch the Full Episode Here!

00:00 – Introduction & The WHY of Right Way
01:00 – Meet Barry Garapedian: From Wall Street to Mentorship
03:00 – Early Discipline: Magic, Music, and Martial Arts
05:30 – Lessons from Entrepreneurial Parents
08:00 – Work Ethic, Grit, and Outworking Talent
12:00 – Cold Calling Mastery & Building Systems for Success
17:30 – Gamifying Goals and Tracking High-Leverage Activities
22:00 – Professionalism, Presentation, and Personal Standards
30:00 – Creating MAG7 Consulting & The Power of the WHY.os
38:30 – Teaching High Performance & Impacting the Next Generation

Listen to the Episode Here!

Discipline Equals Freedom: How Barry Garapedian Built a Life of Success by Doing Things the Right Way

If you’ve ever wondered what separates the people who actually do the work from those who just talk about it, this week’s episode of the Beyond Your WHY podcast is a masterclass. Dr. Gary Sanchez sat down with Barry Garapedian—a former Managing Director at Morgan Stanley turned mentor to the next generation—to talk about how structure, discipline, and doing things “the right way” built his decades-long success.

Barry isn’t just another motivational voice preaching hard work. He’s someone who lived it. From building a career at the top of Wall Street to now running MAG7 Consulting, where he teaches teens and young adults the habits that lead to real confidence and achievement, Barry’s message is simple but powerful: Discipline creates freedom. And in a world obsessed with shortcuts, his story is a reminder that consistency is still the ultimate advantage.

The Structure Behind Success

Barry grew up in a home that valued structure, discipline, and curiosity. His parents—both educators—taught him early on that learning skills and mastering the basics mattered. He practiced piano for seven years, took magic lessons, earned multiple black belts, and even turned those lessons in precision and practice into lifelong habits. “Discipline equals freedom,” he told Dr. Gary. “The structure I built for myself wasn’t confining—it gave me control over my life.”

That philosophy carried him through a 39-year career at Morgan Stanley, where he climbed to the top by doing what few others were willing to do: outworking everyone. While others focused on short-term wins, Barry obsessed over systems. He tracked his calls, measured his results, and treated progress like a science. It wasn’t glamorous, but it worked.

Grit Over Genius

When Barry talks about success, he doesn’t credit luck or intelligence—he credits grit. He shared that many of the smartest people he knew didn’t make it as far because they weren’t willing to do the hard, repetitive work that mastery requires. “I wasn’t the sharpest in the room,” he said, “but I could outwork anyone. Grit will always beat genius.”

That mindset shaped the way he approached everything—from cold calling hundreds of prospects a week in the early ‘80s to writing personal notes by hand. Yes, actual handwritten notes, sealed with wax and customized stamps. It sounds old-school, but it’s one of Barry’s secret weapons. “Handwritten notes are rare today,” he said. “They take time, they stand out, and they show respect.” It’s that attention to detail that set him apart in an industry where everyone was chasing shortcuts.

From Wall Street to the Next Generation

When Barry retired from finance, he could’ve stopped working altogether. Instead, he launched MAG7 Consulting, a coaching company built to teach high-performance habits to young people. His “Magnificent Seven” framework focuses on the skills schools don’t teach: discipline, confidence, communication, and goal setting. Through weekly sessions, Barry helps students turn self-doubt into structure and fear into focus. “Nothing happens until after you commit,” he said—and he’s right.

What makes Barry’s approach different is how personal it is. He doesn’t just coach from theory; he brings decades of experience, relentless structure, and genuine care to every student. He even integrates Dr. Gary’s WHY.os Discovery to help his students understand their purpose, process, and contribution—so they can not only succeed but know why they’re succeeding.

Barry Garapedian’s story is proof that greatness doesn’t come from genius or luck—it comes from daily decisions done the right way. His mix of old-school discipline and modern awareness reminds us that success is still built one habit, one note, and one act of consistency at a time.

If you’re ready to learn how to build systems that work, strengthen your mindset, and live life the right way, tune into this episode of Beyond Your WHY with Dr. Gary Sanchez and Barry Garapedian.

Categories
Podcast

How to Find the Compass Within: Build a Life Aligned with Your Core Values

Guest: Robert Glazer
WHY.os: Better Way – Make Sense – Contribute

Robert Glazer is a bestselling author, leadership expert, and founder of a $35 million global company recognized by Inc. and Fortune as one of the best places to work. Known for his books Elevate and Friday Forward, Robert joins Dr. Gary Sanchez to talk about his newest book, The Compass Within—and how knowing your core values can guide better decisions in work and life.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How to identify your “core values” and use them to make choices that actually fit who you are.
  • Why high achievers lose direction when they ignore their values—and how to get back on track.
  • How to lead effectively when your WHY is “Better Way,” without overwhelming yourself or your team.

Listen to this episode of Beyond Your WHY with Dr. Gary Sanchez to learn how to stop chasing what’s next and start building a life that actually feels right.

Get in touch with Robert!

Facebook
LinkedIn
robertglazer.com

Watch Full Episode Here!

00:00 Introduction to the Better Way Why
02:14 The Dual Nature of Better Way
04:11 Balancing Innovation and Team Dynamics
08:46 Understanding Core Values
10:02 The Compass Within: A New Approach to Values
13:24 The Story of Jamie: Core Values in Action
18:10 The Impact of Core Values on Decision Making
19:50 Navigating Challenges with Core Values
24:00 The Importance of Awareness in Leadership
27:46 Getting Back on Track with Core Values
31:42 Writing the Compass Within
36:35 Conclusion and Call to Action

Listen to Full Episode Here!

The Compass Within: How Robert Glazer Finds a Better Way to Lead, Live, and Stay True to What Matters

When “Better” Becomes Too Much

Robert Glazer knows a thing or two about success. He’s the founder of a $35 million global company, a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author, and a recognized voice in leadership and performance. His work has been featured in Forbes, Inc., and Entrepreneur — and he’s even appeared on The Dr. Oz Show. But what makes Robert stand out isn’t just his business track record — it’s how he connects success to self-awareness and values. In his conversation with Dr. Gary Sanchez on the Beyond Your WHY podcast, Robert opens up about his WHY — “Better Way” — and how it’s shaped everything from his leadership style to his latest book, The Compass Within.

The “Better Way” personality is all about improvement — never satisfied, always tinkering, constantly asking, “What if we did this differently?” But Robert’s learned that constantly chasing “better” can also be a trap. “If I try to make everything better,” he says, “I won’t actually make things better.” It’s the paradox that so many high achievers face — progress at the cost of peace. And in this episode, Robert breaks down how he’s learned to balance the two through one simple but powerful idea: knowing and living by your core values.

Core Values Aren’t Fluff — They’re Your Filter

At the heart of Robert’s message is this: your core values aren’t lofty ideals or motivational poster quotes. They’re your non-negotiables — the principles that quietly guide every decision you make. “A great core value helps you make better decisions,” he explains. “It’s the instruction manual you didn’t get.”

Robert’s process for finding those values isn’t about picking words like integrity or family off a list. It’s about reflection — looking at what’s mattered most in your life, when you’ve felt proud, and when you’ve felt completely out of alignment. He says your values usually form early, often in childhood, and stick with you even if you don’t realize it. And when you go against them? You feel it. “You might get out of the tunnel,” Robert says, “but your car will be pretty beat up.”

His new book, The Compass Within, takes that idea and turns it into a story — literally. Instead of writing another how-to guide, he wrote a parable about a man named Jamie, a rising professional who’s stuck in all the wrong places — his job, his relationship, his environment. Through a mentor, Jamie learns to identify what truly matters to him and starts making changes that bring him back to himself. It’s storytelling with a purpose — simple, relatable, and painfully real for anyone who’s ever hit success but still felt off.

The Three Decisions That Shape Everything

Robert says every major turning point in life comes down to what he calls “the Big Three”: your partner, your vocation, and your community. These are the areas where values alignment (or misalignment) shows up the loudest. If any one of them is out of sync, the dissonance creeps in — in your mood, your motivation, even your physical health. He jokes that you can’t live in a place like Newcastle, where people go to the bar at 4 p.m. every day, if your top value is health. You’ll either give in or feel like an outsider.

That’s the power of knowing your internal compass — it keeps you from drifting toward a life that doesn’t fit. “You don’t always get credit when your values line up with the current,” Robert says. “The real test is when your boat is going upstream.” Whether it’s choosing the right team to work with or the kind of person you marry, those “Big Three” choices shape every part of who you become.

Leading from Values, Not from Vibes

As a CEO, Robert learned that leadership without self-awareness creates chaos. His advice? Don’t copy other leaders. Lead from your own values. “You either lead from your values with awareness or without it — and there’s a massive difference,” he says.

He also encourages leaders to teach their teams how to “manage them.” If your value is trust, tell your team exactly what earns it and what breaks it. If you’re a “Better Way” type who constantly has new ideas, give people permission to push back. That clarity doesn’t just make you easier to work with — it makes you more authentic. And when people understand what drives you, they can actually follow you.

The Real Takeaway

Robert Glazer’s message is simple but profound: success without alignment eventually cracks. When you know your values, every decision — personal or professional — gets easier. You stop chasing what looks good and start choosing what feels right.

As Robert puts it, “It’s hard to make good decisions without self-awareness… and it’s hard to make bad ones with it.”

If you’ve ever felt stuck, burnt out, or unsure whether your “better way” is still serving you, this episode is worth a listen.

👉 Listen to the full conversation with Dr. Gary Sanchez and Robert Glazer on the Beyond Your WHY Podcast — and find your own compass within.

Get to Know Robert!

Robert Glazer is the founder and chairman of the board of Acceleration Partners, a global leader in partnership marketing. He also cofounded and chaired BrandCycle, which was acquired by Stack Commerce/TPG in 2021. A serial entrepreneur and award-winning executive, Robert is passionate about helping individuals and organizations elevate their performance.
Under his leadership, Acceleration Partners garnered numerous accolades, including Glassdoor’s Employees’ Choice Awards, Entrepreneur’s Top Company Culture, Inc.’s Best Place to Work, and Fortune’s Best Small & Medium Workplaces. Robert himself was twice named to Glassdoor’s list of Top CEOs for Small and Medium Companies in the U.S., ranking #2.

Robert shares his insights through Friday Forward, a weekly inspirational newsletter reaching over two hundred thousand readers in more than one hundred countries. He is also the #1 Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and international bestselling author of seven books, including Elevate, Friday Forward, Elevate Your Team, and How to Thrive In The Virtual Workplace. Additionally, Robert hosts the Elevate Podcast, a top 1 percent show on business, performance, and leadership with over three million downloads globally.

His work has been featured in outlets such as Harvard Business Review, The Today Show, Business Insider, Fast Company, Inc., Forbes, and Entrepreneur. Robert speaks to audiences around the world on topics of leadership, culture, and personal and professional development and has also spoken on the TEDx stage.
Outside work, Robert enjoys skiing, cycling, reading, traveling, spending quality time with his family, and overseeing home renovation projects.

To learn more about his writing, speaking, or partnerships opportunities, please visit robertglazer.com.