Drink O'Clock

What does it take to write fifty books and bring them to life in your own voice? This week the conversation runs from a second-grade writing assignment that lit the spark, to the business mindset that turns a hobby into a career, to a candid look at where AI is dragging the voiceover world.

We get deep into the creative process, the difference between a pantser and a planner, narrating your own audiobooks, and why consent is becomin...

What if the conversation you weren't supposed to have was the only one worth having?

David Deighton, artist and founder of Triptych Dialogue, walks into national parks and asks strangers three political questions. Sometimes they cry. Sometimes they say the worst things he's ever heard.

He listens, then asks for one word that ties it all together, and takes that word to someone else: what does freedom taste like? What ...

What if every great idea you've ever had was whispered to you from somewhere just outside our dimension?

This week's guest is a systems engineer with more than 20 patents, a medical device designer behind dozens of commercialized products, and the man who built an IV fluid factory in 18 months, finishing one month before Hurricane Helene knocked out 60% of the U.S. supply. He's also a near-death experience survivor who spent 20 year...

A guy walks into a hospital gift shop at 2 a.m. while his wife is in labor, reaches for an energy drink, and realizes every option on the shelf was made for a teenager. That moment sparked Mocean Energy.

This week I sit down with Tony Vieira, a brewmaster who spent 36 years at Anheuser-Busch, Coors, and Mark Anthony Brewing, where he helped develop White Claw. Tony breaks down the science of hangovers, what it was like building mill...

What if one spontaneous act of kindness at a hotel pool could spark a global movement? That's exactly what happened to Nicholas Adkins, founder of Pink Socks Life Inc. and author of Pink Socks: How a Pair of Socks Became a Symbol of Love and Connection.

Nick went from suit-and-tie healthcare CEO to Portland hippie after one week at Burning Man, and that pivot led him to a simple but powerful truth: real human connection is the antid...

What if the secret to building a state championship team wasn't drills or plays, but teaching kids to drop their mental garbage at the fence before practice? This week I sit down with Janet Dickey, head field hockey coach at Westbrook High in Connecticut, certified mindset coach, and founder of Victory Mindsets. Janet is entering her 36th season coaching the same small-town program she played for as a kid, and she's built one of th...

At 22 years old, Renae Ninneman flew halfway around the world to teach English in South Korea. It was 2004, cell phones weren't really a thing yet, and she couldn't even confirm with her parents that she'd landed safely until days later. That leap kicked off a lifelong obsession with decoding cultural differences, and today she's the founder of Beyond Tourism, a community radio DJ on KZUM 89.3 FM, and a doctoral student studying ho...

You found a contractor with great reviews, everyone's on their best behavior, and you're about to hand over your life savings to someone you met two weeks ago. What could go wrong?

In this episode, I sit down with Garrett Hardy, author of Through Reno Mess: Contractor Proof Your Home and Budget. Garrett has spent decades on high-end residential projects, appeared on HGTV Canada's Kitchen Equipped, and has seen every way a re...

What does it actually take to explain AI and cloud strategy to a room full of executives who've been doing things the same way for 30 years? In this episode, I sit down with Shweta Keshavanarayana, a Customer Solutions Manager at Amazon Web Services, to talk about everything from growing up in Bangalore to architecting the 2012 London Olympics streaming platform at just 22 years old.

Shweta breaks down generative AI and cloud adopti...

What if putting was just math? In this episode, I sit down with Bob Labbe, author of Putting by the Numbers: A Quantitative Method of Lag Putting, to break down why lag putting is the most overlooked skill in golf and how a simple physics-based method can shave strokes off your game.

Bob shares his journey from starting golf at 52 years old to shooting par at 82, how he built and sold three air pollution control companies before tur...

Spiffy Sean Styles is a professional wrestler, musician, entrepreneur, and self-proclaimed modern day Renaissance man.

We talk about turning passion into profit, building multiple income streams, navigating ADHD in creative careers, and what it really takes to succeed in professional wrestling and live music. From beach bars to wrestling rings, Sean shares how he designed a life outside the traditional 9 to 5.

If you are into pro wre...

Burt and Burger are back on the Drink O’Clock Podcast three years after their first appearance, and a lot has changed.

In this episode, we break down how they accidentally built a viral TikTok brand with their “comment your county” livestream strategy, turned engagement into real revenue, and grew their podcast without missing a week for six years. We also talk Survivor guests including Coach and winner Todd Herzog...

John Cuturilo is the host of the Your Listener Podcast and the founder of Your Listener Counseling in Melbourne, Australia, where he works as a counselor focused on mental health, critical thinking, and human behavior. 

I sit down with John to talk about mental illness, therapy, and how personal experience shapes the way we understand the mind. We explore what works and what fails in traditional mental health systems, the limit...

Country artist Levi Coovert joins me to talk about releasing music independently, writing authentic country songs, and launching a self-funded tour across all 48 U.S. states and Canada.

Levi shares the inspiration behind his feel-good single “Let the Good Times Flow,” how live performances are helping him build a fan base, and why storytelling and positivity still matter in modern music.

If you enjoy country music, indepe...

Gabriel Morrow is an American expat living in Canada. We talk about how a missing IRS refund turned into a multi-year legal and tax battle. What began as an unpaid $1,800 tax refund escalated into identity theft flags, lost tax returns, and an unprecedented case involving a U.S. university-based low income tax clinic.

We dive into the realities of navigating the IRS from abroad, why Americans overseas often feel ignored by the U.S. ...

Scott Martin is a former collegiate soccer coach whose life was permanently changed after a rare illness led to the amputation of both hands and parts of his feet.

In this episode, we talk about trauma, depression, discrimination, and how Scott rebuilt his identity through coaching, mentorship, and belief in others. We also discuss his upcoming book, Play From Your Heart, and the philosophy that carried him forward when everything h...

Lawson Nuland is an actor, comedian, and host of the Super Wall Jump podcast. We chat about video games, gaming culture, and why the industry needs to embrace being weird again.

We dive into growing up as gamers, the rise and fall of gaming journalism, Baldur’s Gate 3, Call of Duty fatigue, competitive shooters, RPGs, and what actually makes a game memorable. We also get into AI in games, live service burnout, and why original...

Comic book writer, podcaster, and lifelong nerd Cory De La Guardia joins me for a wide-ranging conversation about creativity, confidence, and carving your own lane. Cory takes us through his journey from growing up unapologetically nerdy in a time when it wasn’t cool, to walking away from a full-ride aerospace engineering path to chase storytelling instead. We talk about how comic books shaped his childhood, how podcasting op...

Bernard “Chalky” White is an internationally known ski instructor, bestselling author, and incredible storyteller. Chalky takes us through his journey from a difficult childhood in London to joining the Kent Police at 16, saving a newborn baby, and witnessing a horrific crime that pushed him to change his path. We talk about how his famous nickname stuck, how he failed multiple ski exams before finally breaking through ...