He Had a Stroke at 27. Then He Chose Joy. | Rowyn Stoltz — Episode 9
Thank you for tuning into The Spirit of Alchemy, a podcast sharing entrepreneurs' life stories of turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Rowyn Stoltz is a mechanic, a grease monkey by his own description, who runs Black Unicorn Auto, an independent workshop at WorkPods in Midrand. He was diagnosed dyslexic, left school in Grade 9, had a stroke at 27, lost his wife a month later, and came back to work on some of the world's most expensive cars with new physical limitations and the same quiet insistence on showing up fully.
This is not a conversation about how to survive hardship. It is a conversation with someone who never quite registered it as hardship to begin with.
✨ In This Episode
Opening a padlock at age 7 with homemade tools, and asking: what else have I been told I can't do?
Growing up with a brilliant, alcoholic father and a mother Rowyn describes as the angel who saved them
Being diagnosed dyslexic and building an entire intellectual framework through observation instead of books
Having two strokes at 27, relearning to walk and talk, and going back to work voluntarily clocking extra hours
Why Rowyn never uses words like "tough" or "challenging" to describe his own life
The four pillars he lives by, kindness, humour, curiosity, and gratitude, and why they are not rituals but just who he is
Using the bicycle in his workshop as a backup plan for the days his body needs it
What a stoic, neurodivergent, self-taught mechanic can teach the rest of us about presence
🌟 Why This Story Matters
Most conversations about resilience are about what people did after things went wrong. Rowyn's story is different because nothing about his framing suggests things went wrong. He did not rebuild. He just kept going, with curiosity, with humour, with a bike in the workshop for the hard days. That is not a coping strategy. That is a way of being. And in a world that sells transformation as a destination, Rowyn is a quiet reminder that it was never about arriving anywhere.
Get in Touch with Rowyn Stoltz:
Email: rowynstoltz@yahoo.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rowynstoltz/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rowyn.stoltz
Black Unicorn Auto:
Email: blackunicornauto3@yahoo.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Black-Unicorn-Auto-100092543966152/
The Spirit of Alchemy
A space of transformation and truth-telling, The Spirit of Alchemy invites you into the stories behind the makers, where wisdom, courage, and creativity come together to form something new, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Hosted by Bobby Forssman and Rehema Isa.
Stay Connected to the Journey ✨
The Spirit of Alchemy
Instagram: @thespiritofalchemy_
TikTok: @thespiritofalchemy
YouTube: The Spirit of Alchemy Podcast
Website: www.thespiritofalchemy.com [http://www.thespiritofalchemy.com]
Bobby Forssman
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbyforssman/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbyforssman/]
Rehema Isa
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rehema-isa-6372681 [http://www.linkedin.com/in/rehema-isa-6372681]
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rehema.world [https://www.tiktok.com/@rehema.world]
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rehema.isa [https://www.instagram.com/rehema.isa]
X: https://x.com/RehemaIsa [https://x.com/RehemaIsa]
For all enquiries: tanna@workpods.co.za [tanna@thespiritofalchemy.co.za]
Remember: you don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.
