Don't Change the Menu, Just the Ingredients. (Crush Foster)

Five Things Every Creative Needs to Hear & What to Expect, Moving Forward.

Brian covers key challenges faced by creatives, including learning to say no, asking more for their work, showing their work, dealing with creative blocks, and risking more. Each chapter delves into these themes, providing valuable insights and advice for creatives at different stages of their careers. Takeaways * Learning to say no * Asking more for your work * Showing your work * Dealing with creative blocks * Risking more Chapters * 00:00 Space to Create

Don't Change the Menu, Just the Ingredients. (Crush Foster)

What does it actually look like to rebuild your health, your career, and your sense of purpose from the ground up — twice? Carl "Crush" Foster is a chef, author, and co-founder of A Healthy Crush and the Alkaline Eclectic Society. Originally from Dorchester, Boston, he was a corporate auditor in California when a layoff and a pre-diabetes diagnosis pushed him to overhaul his diet. A few weeks of juicing and lentils later, his barber asked for some of those juices to sell to Cedric the Entertainer — and Juice Hugger was born inside a popped-out Red Bull mini fridge in an LA barbershop. A cross-country move later, Crush and his wife Kelly opened A Healthy Crush Café in Crown Heights, Brooklyn — six employees, seven days a week, three years straight. A customer's odd request to remove carrots and peas from her soup introduced him to Dr. Sebi's nutritional guide. When Kelly developed leaky gut, the seven-day protocol Crush built around that guide brought her back. He documented everything and turned it into his first cookbook. We get into all of it — the DIY hustle, the music career he walked away from, why alkaline water machines may do more harm than good, the easy ingredient swaps anyone can start this week, his concerns about GLP-1 drugs, and why turning your health around isn't a U-turn in a two-seater — it's a U-turn in an 18-wheeler. A few moments that stopped me: "It's more important what you remove than what you add." "Find out where the Mexicans in your community shop, and shop there." "For every six pounds you lose on GLP-1, you lose four pounds of lean muscle." "Me and you — we'd be locked under the jail by now." "You don't have to change the menu. Just change the ingredients." CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open 01:00 From Dorchester to California: Crush the auditor 04:00 The layoff, pre-diabetes, and the juicer 07:00 Juice Hugger is born in a Red Bull mini fridge 10:00 Walking away from a music career 14:00 Moving to New York / the Fung Wah bus juice runs 17:00 Opening A Healthy Crush Café in Brooklyn 22:00 The carrots-and-peas phone call 25:00 Who Dr. Sebi was 27:00 Healing Kelly's leaky gut in 7 days 30:00 Alkaline water machines 34:00 Oxide vs. plant-based minerals 36:00 Easy swaps: sweet potato → cabacha squash 40:00 Where to actually find these foods 44:00 The Easy Alkaline Kitchen System + Hot Logic 47:00 Removing things vs. adding things 53:00 Where to start if you're overwhelmed 58:00 Creativity and not losing the artist in you 1:09:00 GLP-1 drugs 1:13:00 "Don't change the menu, just change the ingredients" 🔗 ahealthycrush.com [http://ahealthycrush.com] | alkalineeclecticherbs.com [http://alkalineeclecticherbs.com] | pensight.com/x/crushfoster [http://pensight.com/x/crushfoster] | @crushfoster on IG 📖 The Alkaline Eclectic — amazon.com/dp/B0DP1DLQ6V [http://amazon.com/dp/B0DP1DLQ6V]

Evan Hennessy on Resilience, Vulnerability and Being Honest with Yourself.

Chef Evan Hennessy joins me for a deep conversation on resilience, vulnerability, leadership and about how he stumbled into the culinary world unexpectedly, as a dishwasher after failing out of Art School. Evan is the Chef behind Stages in Dover, New Hampshire, a restaurant he opened in 2012, that has been named among the top 100 restaurants in the country several years in a row. Evan has also won Chopped ( ⁨@FoodNetwork⁩  [https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UC8Y-jrV8oR3s2Ix4viDkZtA]) three times. He was also named a 2026 James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: Northeast.  In this episode, we get into: • why the phrase “the customer is always right” often breaks down in real life • how Evan went from studying fine art to building a career in food • the difference between hard work, resilience, and stubbornness • why vulnerability matters in kitchens, leadership, and creative work • how toxic kitchen culture develops and what healthy culture actually looks like • why great food is about history, memory, land, and human connection • how simplicity can be more powerful than complexity • the mindset behind Stages and Evan’s newer travel concept, Finding Thyme This was one of my favorite conversations because it’s really not just about food. It’s about craft, standards, community, and the courage to keep refining your work without letting the world flatten it into something generic. Explore Evan’s work: Stages https://www.stages-dining.com/ [https://www.stages-dining.com/] Finding Thyme https://www.findingthyme.org/ [https://www.findingthyme.org/] * Subscribe on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1873180499 [https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1873180499] * Subscribe on Spotify Podcasts  https://open.spotify.com/show/2TJRjwzTOBiuUiO0v0CfV8 [https://open.spotify.com/show/2TJRjwzTOBiuUiO0v0CfV8] * Subscribe on iHeart Radio  https://www.iheart.com/podcast/320135177/ [https://www.iheart.com/podcast/320135177/] * Subscribe on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_gqqrhRBmU343j3rtuOE3Q [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_gqqrhRBmU343j3rtuOE3Q] * Follow Ashes to Architects on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ashes2architects?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== [https://www.instagram.com/ashes2architects?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==]

How to Speak Confidently When You’re Nervous. (Aimee Blesing, Vocal Coach)

In this episode of Ashes to Architects, Brian sits down with Aimee Blesing (actor trainer, voice/body/speech coach, dialect & accent coach, and longtime university instructor) for a wide-ranging conversation on what actually makes people freeze when they have to speak—whether it’s a keynote, a classroom, a Zoom meeting, an audition, or a hard conversation at home. They get into why smart, capable people can still feel paralyzed in front of an audience, and how “confidence” often isn’t a personality trait—it’s attention, preparation, and the ability to regulate your nervous system in real time. Aimee breaks down what’s happening in the body when self-consciousness kicks in, why most people were never taught the execution side of communication, and how voice and presence are trainable skills—not traits you’re born with. You’ll hear practical tools you can use immediately, including: * Why your body can create anxiety even when nothing is “wrong” * A simple 60-second reset before speaking: face, shoulders, breath * The “smell breath” trick (shockingly effective) * Why “box breathing” doesn’t work for everyone—and what might * How to pause before you speak (especially in emotional moments) * Why rehearsing delivery matters as much as writing content * The difference between performing and being present—and why “trying to look cool” backfires * How actor training concepts like giving & receiving apply to marriage, parenting, and leadership Aimee also shares a personal turning point: childbirth and losing the voice/body connection she’d always relied on—an experience that reshaped her teaching into something more human-centered and compassionate, and helped her bridge coaching from performers into the professional world. The episode closes on a powerful anchor: “To thine own self be true.” Not as a slogan—but as a real framework for communication, confidence, and identity. If you’ve ever felt frozen, overly self-aware, or stuck in your head when it’s time to speak, this one will land. Subscribe, share, and leave a rating if you want more conversations like this. * Subscribe on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1873180499]  * Subscribe on Spotify Podcasts  [https://open.spotify.com/show/2TJRjwzTOBiuUiO0v0CfV8] * Subscribe on iHeart Radio  [https://www.iheart.com/podcast/320135177/] * Subscribe on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_gqqrhRBmU343j3rtuOE3Q]  • • Follow Ashes to Architects on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ashes2architects?igsh=djR4cGQ1bnBydGxo&utm_source=qr]

How To Define Success.

Too many of us are working way too hard toward a life we didn't sign up for, in this episode, Brian gives you a practical way to determine if your trajectory aligns with what actually makes you happy. * Subscribe on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1873180499] * Subscribe on Spotify Podcasts  [https://open.spotify.com/show/2TJRjwzTOBiuUiO0v0CfV8] * Subscribe on iHeart Radio  [https://www.iheart.com/podcast/320135177/] * Subscribe on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_gqqrhRBmU343j3rtuOE3Q] * Follow Ashes to Architects on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ashes2architects?igsh=djR4cGQ1bnBydGxo&utm_source=qr]