This week I’m unpacking the tension between craving connection and avoiding the work it actually takes to build it. I’ve been thinking about how often we say we want community, but still cancel plans, skip the hard conversations, and choose comfort over effort. I’ve caught myself doing it too. It’s not about blame, but it is worth asking: if we want community, are we really doing what it takes to create it for ourselves?

This week, we get to sit down with Jake Brown (for the second time… oops): my boss, mentor, and now podcast guest. In this episode, we get into his story—addiction, recovery, coaching wins and losses, parenting, and what it takes to rebuild your life when it’s gone off the rails. He also shares a preview of his upcoming book Rise Higher, which dives deeper into all of it. It’s real, it’s unfiltered, and no, I didn’t get fired for asking some of these questions. Stay tuned to hear more from Jake— the finance bro that won’t mansplain crypto to you.

This week I got to sit down with one of the most impactful people from my college years: my former professor (and forever bonus dad), THE Jerry Rackley. Jerry defines his “why” in what he does, and expands on how preparing students for the real world goes way beyond lectures and grades. We talk about his love for building personal connections, work-life balance, how AI is changing the game in marketing (and teaching), WWJD (J as in Jerry) if he were combatting the Coldplay CEO scandal as head of PR and marketing for Astronomer. A legend. A professor. A man with jumper cables— IYKYK.