100: Marcy Axelrod in the hot seat

102: Chris Smith in the hot seat

In this emotional and powerful episode of Listen Bitch Presents: Tell Me Why You’re Special, I sit down with Chris Smith, a man who survived being shot in the head, spent 49 days in a coma, and fought his way back from partial paralysis after a traumatic attempted murder. Chris shares the unbelievable true story of surviving a violent shooting during what was supposed to be a first date, waking up in the hospital after nearly dying, and beginning the long road of physical, emotional, and spiritual recovery. We discuss near-death experiences, miracles, faith in God, recovery from brain injury, overcoming trauma, resilience, survival, healing, purpose after tragedy, and rebuilding life after catastrophic loss. Chris talks openly about learning to walk again, regaining function after paralysis, dealing with emotional pain, reconnecting with faith, and discovering a mission to inspire others through his story, music, speaking, and memoir. This conversation also dives into divine purpose, perseverance, trauma recovery, hope, personal transformation, overcoming fear, surviving violence, spiritual experiences, and finding meaning after suffering. If you’ve ever felt broken, hopeless, defeated, or wondered whether purpose can still exist after devastation, this episode will hit hard. This is a story about survival, miracles, resilience, faith, and refusing to give up. November 24th, 2021, Christopher Smith was shot in the head and left for dead. For 13 hours his lifeless body lay on his kitchen floor bleeding out, with only his dog, Tiki by his side. Leslie, the woman he had his first date with, was found dead, execution style, behind his Christmas tree. Both were shot by her ex- boyfriend. For 49 days Chris was in a coma and had gone through countless surgeries…but he woke up! To this day, Christopher Smith, not only walks around and describes his Near-Death-Experience on the other side, but is also able to joke, garden, and SING in a ROCK BAND! All of this has brought him to his mission…a mission to help others from his tragedy, and to spread the message of hope, faith, and healing throughout the world. A testament to the human capacity to persevere against seemingly insurmountable odds, this is a story that will leave you amazed and motivated to never give up. As Chris would be the first one to tell you—he’s no angel but it’s his down-to-earth humor that makes him unique. He’s been a sinner many times over, but the Lord looked down and saved him, and he knows how lucky he is. A great read.” — Paul La Rosa, author and television producer for the CBS News true crime broadcast “48 Hours” . CONTACT: Christopher Smith: C: 636 679 0047 E: christopherjsmith2373@gmail.co

101: Dale Montgomery in the hot seat

In this episode of Listen Bitch Presents: Tell Me Why You’re Special, I sit down with Dale Montgomery, Director of Advanced Planning for a virtual family office, to talk about the hidden side of entrepreneurship, business growth, leadership, stress, delegation, tax strategy, nervous system regulation, and what success actually costs people behind the scenes. Dale breaks down the concept of virtual family offices and explains why many entrepreneurs making $1M+ still feel overwhelmed, overworked, emotionally exhausted, and trapped inside businesses that depend entirely on them. We discuss scaling challenges, delegation, limiting beliefs, burnout, mental clarity, decision fatigue, work-life balance, ego in entrepreneurship, and why focusing on “who, not how” changes everything for growing companies. This conversation also dives into nervous system health, brain-heart coherence, stress management, breathwork, personal growth, leadership development, tax planning, liquidity, business independence, and the emotional realities many high performers quietly struggle with. Dale explains how stress impacts creativity, relationships, problem-solving, and long-term business value — and why entrepreneurs need sustainable systems instead of nonstop hustle culture. If you’re a business owner, entrepreneur, founder, coach, creator, or high achiever trying to scale without losing your mind, this episode is packed with practical insight and real conversations most people avoid having. Dale is the Director of Advanced Planning at TRS Family Office and the author of The Virtual Family Office Advantage. His work is built around a simple reality: the more successful a business owner becomes, the more complex their financial life gets, and complexity without coordination creates blind spots. Dale helps business owners eliminate fragmented advice and move from siloed decision-making to a fully coordinated strategy. Through a Virtual Family Office and Team-Based Model, he serves as the strategic quarterback, bringing together elite specialists across five core areas, Tax Mitigation, Risk Management, Legal Services, Business Advisory, and Wealth and Legacy planning. The result is proactive, integrated planning designed to uncover opportunities, reduce inefficiencies, and protect long-term wealth. He also works closely with CPAs across the country who want to evolve beyond the traditional referral model. Instead of sending advanced planning opportunities out the door, Dale helps CPAs expand their advisory impact, increase revenue per client, and deliver higher-level strategies to their A and B clients, all without adding staff or overhead. By integrating coordinated advanced planning into the CPA relationship, he helps firms deepen client loyalty, elevate their role from tax preparer to strategic advisor, and build a more scalable, value-based practice https://TRSFamilyOffice.com [https://trsfamilyoffice.com/] Download the audio version of my book, The Virtual Family Office Advantage. The book explains what coordinated planning looks like and how a Virtual Family Office model brings the right experts together across five key areas: tax planning, risk mitigation, wealth management, legal services, and business advisory. Listeners who feel like their situation is getting more complex will walk away with a clearer way to think about their decisions, and a better understanding of what “coordinated planning” actually means. Schedule a 15-minute introduction call (optional). If a listener wants help applying the ideas to their own situation, they can schedule a short call. The goal is not to sell anything on the call. It’s simply to learn what they’re trying to solve, answer a few questions, and see whether it makes sense to take the next step.

100: Marcy Axelrod in the hot seat

In this episode of Listen Bitch Presents: Tell Me Why You’re Special, I sit down with Marcy Axelrod for a deep conversation about fear, presence, emotional disconnection, parenting, authenticity, and how people truly “show up” in life. Marcy shares her personal story of developing a stutter as a child after a major life transition and how that experience led her to study human behavior, emotional presence, and the ripple effect our energy has on other people. She breaks down her powerful framework of the three levels of showing up — from barely surviving to being fully present and connected. We dive into nervous system overwhelm, anxiety, shame, parenting mistakes, emotional awareness, fear-based living, and how so many people are physically present but emotionally unavailable in their relationships and everyday life. This conversation also explores authenticity, self-awareness, human connection, stress, emotional regulation, and the practical ways we can stop living reactive lives and start intentionally showing up for ourselves and the people we love. Marcy also shares insights from her book How We Choose to Show Up and discusses why true presence changes not only your own life — but every room you walk into. If you’ve been emotionally checked out, overwhelmed, disconnected, anxious, exhausted, or stuck in survival mode… this episode is going to make you think hard about how you’re showing up in your own life. , she  is a bestselling and award-winning author, TV Contributor, 2X TEDx speaker and visual artist. Her latest book, How We Choose to Show Up, is a #1 Bestseller, was recently awarded the Hayakawa Book Prize and has a cover endorsement by none other than Mel Robbins!.  Marcy has been interviewed in Forbes, Psychology Today, and The Marketing Journal, among others. Her approaches have been tested and proven through projects with some of the world’s largest high-tech companies (e.g., HP, SAP, Cisco). With a background on Wall Street (Lehman Brothers) and in Silicon Valley, Marcy’s work has been highly praised by professors at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, and Cornell. Based on 20+ years of research, Marcy’s latest book, How We Choose to Show Up, presents in 3-D nature’s model of how humans are designed to Show Up to thrive. The resulting model is helping thousands of people connect more deeply with themselves, others and their experiences, adding meaning to their lives, and helping companies around the world to innovate and grow.  Showing Up integrates neuroscience, psychology, behavioral economics and evolutionary biology with top consulting strategies and leading business practices, to help people, companies and societies succeed. https://choosetoshowup.com/ [https://choosetoshowup.com/]

99: Jayna K. Palmer in the hot seat

In this episode of Listen Bitch Presents: Tell Me Why You’re Special, I sit down with Jayna K. Palmer for a brutally honest conversation about trauma, self-sabotage, healing, accountability, and learning how to stop living trapped by the voices in your own head. Jayna shares the life-changing moment where she woke up physically paralyzed and realized she had to confront the destructive mindset patterns that were keeping her stuck. We talk about negative self-perception, survival mode, personal ownership, emotional healing, and how faith and self-awareness can completely change the direction of your life. This conversation dives deep into victim mentality, internal battles, unhealthy coping patterns, and the hard truth that healing starts when you stop blaming everyone else and finally face yourself honestly. Jayna also shares her upcoming book Out of the Cave and discusses why vulnerability, transparency, and telling the truth about your story can help other people escape their own darkness too. If you’ve ever felt trapped in fear, shame, depression, trauma, or self-destruction, this episode will challenge you to stop hiding and start rebuilding. Jayna is not here to motivate you—she’s here to disrupt you. An international speaker, author, and unapologetic truth-teller, she walks into rooms like a mirror people didn’t ask for but desperately need. If there’s a gap between the life you’re living and the life you keep talking about… she’s already standing in it, calling you out and calling you forward at the same time. She didn’t build her message from theory. She built it from surviving what should’ve broken her—and then having the audacity to outgrow it. Trauma tried to write her story. She grabbed the pen, rewrote the ending, and now teaches women how to do the same—without excuses, without coddling, and definitely without staying comfortable. Her work sits at the intersection of identity, truth, and ownership. She doesn’t just ask, “What happened to you?” She asks, “Whose voice are you still listening to… and how much is it costing you?” Founder of movements that don’t play small and creator of frameworks that hit where it hurts (and heals), Jayna is known for one thing above all: She will say the thing you’ve been avoiding— and somehow make you feel powerful enough to finally face it. “If you don’t like the truth… Change.” https://www.facebook.com/ByFaithJaynaKpalmer [https://www.facebook.com/ByFaithJaynaKpalmer] https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayna-k-p-908117101?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayna-k-p-908117101?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app]

98: Becky Farrar in the hot seat

In this episode of Listen Bitch Presents: Tell Me Why You’re Special, I sit down with Becky Farrar to talk about fear, perfectionism, identity, and what it actually takes to move forward when your nervous system wants safety more than growth. Becky shares the moment she dropped out of dance college at 18 because of self-doubt, and how years later she found herself facing fear all over again while expanding beyond the dance studio she built. We talk about the difference between staying safe and truly living, why people overthink themselves into paralysis, and how fear often shows up right before expansion. This conversation dives into Becky’s framework for moving through fear, the power of “future self” identity, and why small consistent actions matter more than giant emotional leaps. If you’ve been stuck waiting to feel “ready,” this episode is your sign that ready is a decision—not a feeling. Becky Farrar a personal development speaker and is the creator of The FEAR Theory™ known for changing the way people understand fear.  After 21 years building an award-winning dance academy focused on developing confidence from the inside out, she now speaks and works with individuals, schools, and organisations on how to respond to fear as identity evolves. Her work centres on a simple but powerful shift: fear isn’t a stop sign - it’s a doorway to expansion. Through her approach to self-leadership, Becky helps people move through self-doubt, overthinking, perfectionism and pressure, so they can make decisions that actually reflect who they’re becoming. She’s known for her real, relatable way of speaking - translating internal experiences into clear, usable insight and for helping people trust themselves before the evidence exists. Her core message: you don’t need to get rid of fear to move forward - you just need to learn how to lead yourself in its presence. Instagram @beckyfarrar1 Website www.beckyfarrar.com [http://www.beckyfarrar.com] (currently under construction). I also have a link for journal prompts, meditations and affirmations if I could share those too. These help people implement the things I talk about?