Episode — The Real Story Beneath Your Relationships

with Lisa De Nicola

What if the relationships you’re struggling with aren’t the problem, but the old patterns running beneath them?

In this episode of The Underlayer, leadership and executive coach Lisa De Nicola takes us below the surface to uncover how childhood strategies shape the way we speak up at work, choose partners, maintain friendships, and set boundaries, and how rewriting those strategies starts with small, honest shifts.

What begins as a conversation about relationships becomes a blueprint for reclaiming your voice, your energy, and the parts of yourself you’ve hidden to stay safe.

You’ll hear:

• The moment two mentors reflected a buried childhood wound back to Lisa, and how that realization reshaped every relationship in her life

• How trauma-informed therapy and spiritual guidance accelerated her healing and restored emotional expression as a leadership superpower

• Why “success” in relationships has nothing to do with years together, and everything to do with authenticity, growth, and energy

• How curiosity can resuscitate long-term relationships that have fallen into assumptions and stale stories

• Practical tools to navigate conflict in real time: ask for the hour you need to regulate, name your emotions clearly, and stop expecting people to read your mind

• How small, honest steps prevent the quiet resentments that erode teams, partnerships, and friendships alike

By the end, you’ll understand why healing happens both alone and in partnership, why your patterns are not your identity, and how changing tiny relational habits can transform your confidence at work and at home.

🎧 The Underlayer — Where the Real Story Lives.

If this resonated, subscribe, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help more people start their own underlayer work.

Lisa's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisadenicola25/

Lisa's Website: https://lisadenicola.com/

The Underlayer YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/@the_under_layer

The Underlayer Podcast Website: https://www.theunderlayerpodcast.com/

David's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-young-mba-indy/

Episode 6: Learning That Actually Sticks — Why Your Brain Loves the Easy Stuff (and Why It Fails You)
with Sheila B. Robinson

What if the way you think you learn is the very thing keeping you from learning at all?

In this episode of The Underlayer, I sit down with teaching and learning expert Sheila B. Robinson to unravel one of the biggest lies we tell ourselves: that feeling fluent equals knowing.

It doesn’t. That warm glow from rereading and highlighting?
It’s a fluency illusion, and it’s costing you mastery.

We go beneath the surface of real learning to break down why the strategies that feel hardest are the ones that actually make knowledge stick.

You’ll hear:

• Why rereading feels productive but produces almost zero retention
• How retrieval practice, spacing, and blank-page testing train your brain to remember
• The power of simple language and teaching concepts back to yourself
• Why learning styles are a myth, but preferences still shape how you engage
• How mnemonics, meaningful imagery, and the Feynman Technique boost memory
• The surprising science behind “desirable difficulties” and productive friction
• What Sheila learned from writing a book, and why struggle is the secret ingredient
• How to use AI for quizzes, prompts, and feedback without outsourcing the thinking

By the end, you’ll know exactly how to turn information into skill: retrieve it, space it, & apply it until it sticks.

🎧 The Underlayer — Where the Real Story Lives.

If this episode helps you learn better, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s studying or teaching, and leave a quick review to tell us which strategy you’ll try first.

Sheila's LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheilabrobinson/

Sheila's Website:

https://www.sheilabrobinson.com/

The Underlayer YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/@the_under_layer

The Underlayer Podcast Website: https://www.theunderlayerpodcast.com/

David's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-young-mba-indy/

Bonus Episode — The Comedy Hidden Inside Everyday Life

with David Young

What if the funniest set you’ve ever heard was hiding inside ordinary life?

In this special bonus episode of The Underlayer, I took on a dare to create 30 minutes of standup from nothing but real stories. TV dinners, botched Jeopardy guesses, stubborn tech, parenting misfires, and a dog whose tail might be issuing warnings instead of wagging.

What started as a challenge turned into a map of everyday misunderstandings: the comedy that shows up when confidence outruns context, and how the smallest misfires reveal the most about us.

You’ll hear:

• A family dinner ritual that migrated to the couch, and why Jeopardy contestants can name obscure rivers but miss rock’s most iconic front man

• Kobe the Wheaten Terrier, his new behavioral meds, and a vet-approved revelation: wagging isn’t always joy

• Parenting moments featuring C–minus chores, a mysteriously “vanished” recycling bin, and a permit drive that ends with a garage door incident

• Contractor contradictions about rollers and springs plus a smart garage system that’s easy until the app demands a router extender

• Travel mishaps in Toronto, including a refused drink, a rogue latte lid, and a stranger who parked a personal trash can beside the hidden shop bin

• Parents with modern phones who still can’t follow Maps, a detour to the wrong city, and why Bluetooth always gets blamed

By the end, you’ll see why the funniest stories are the true ones, and how everyday chaos becomes comedy when you zoom out just enough to notice it.

🎧 The Underlayer — Where the Real Story Lives.

YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/@the_under_layer

The Underlayer Podcast Website: https://www.theunderlayerpodcast.com/

David's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-young-mba-indy/

Episode 3: Human Design, Frequency, and the Decisions Your Body Already Knows

with Lauren Ammon

What if your best decisions aren’t made in your head?

In this episode of The Underlayer, I sit down with Human Design coach and practitioner Lauren Ammon to explore a simple, liberating shift: your body already knows the truth, your mind is just louder.

We go beneath the surface of Human Design to break down how your energy is meant to move through the world, where friction begins, and why most people spend years overriding the signals that would make life feel easier, lighter, and more aligned.

You’ll hear:

• The 4 Human Design types—Generators, Manifesting Generators, Projectors, and Manifestors, and what each is built to do
• Why authority matters more than mindset, and how your body gives you a clean yes/no
• How the 5/1 profile carries projection and pressure to “fix” everything
• The truth about conditioning: career paths, marriage expectations, success scripts, and where they drain your energy
• How to spot the difference between a true response and a mind-made plan
• Practical ways to decondition without blowing up your entire life

By the end, you’ll understand how to trust your design, follow your authority, and make decisions that feel aligned, not forced.

🎧 The Underlayer — Where the Real Story Lives.

Lauren's website: https://www.performancereimagined.com/

Lauren's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenammon/

YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/@the_under_layer

The Underlayer Podcast Website: https://www.theunderlayerpodcast.com/

David's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-young-mba-indy/

Episode 2 — How Authentic Swag Builds Real Relationships And Standout Brands

What if your branded merch could actually mean something?

In this episode of The Underlayer, I sit down with Amanda Hoffman, CEO and co-founder of Go To Market, to uncover how authenticity and choice are reshaping the world of branded merchandise.

We go beneath the surface of traditional marketing to explore why cheap giveaways often miss the mark—and how thoughtful, well-designed merch can become a powerful relationship-building tool that reflects your brand’s true identity.

You’ll hear:

• Why it’s better to do nothing than produce low-quality swag
• How choice creates deeper engagement and customer satisfaction
• Real examples of brands turning merch into meaningful conversations
• The rise of digital storefronts for solopreneurs and small businesses
• How nostalgia, loyalty, and design connect at an emotional level
• Amanda’s perspective on balancing business growth with personal fulfillment

By the end, you’ll see that the most impactful branding isn’t about more logos, it’s about more meaning.

🎧 The Underlayer — Where the Real Story Lives.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandagoldfinehofman/

https://gotomarket.studio/

The Underlayer YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/@the_under_layer

The Underlayer Podcast Website: https://www.theunderlayerpodcast.com/

David's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-young-mba-indy/

Episode 1 – When Your Decisions Don’t Match Your Dreams

Ever follow the “smart” path and end up miles from what you actually want?

In this debut episode of The Underlayer, I unpack the real story behind my zigzag career. From dreaming of broadcasting to majoring in biology, selling pharmaceuticals, and climbing corporate ladders that never felt right.

It’s about what happens when your goals look good on paper but don’t fit your life, and how to start making decisions that actually align with who you are.

You’ll hear:

• The blunt career coach who told me to quit sales on the spot
• How sunk costs and “shoulds” quietly drive bad decisions
• Why thinking doesn’t create change (action does)
• A simple method to get unstuck

If you’ve been reading, listening, and planning your way toward change but still feel stalled, this episode will help you test, move, and rebuild momentum, one small experiment at a time.

🎧 The Underlayer — Where the Real Story Lives.

www.youtube.com/@the_under_layer

https://www.theunderlayerpodcast.com/

Join me, your host, David Young, as I outline the vision for this new Podcast, The Underlayer.

www.youtube.com/@the_under_layer

https://www.theunderlayerpodcast.com/