Jay Laughrey built a thriving pool business, but the road there started with losing his brother and mentor, Jeff, to suicide in 2009. In this episode, Jay talks about grief, men's mental health, and what it actually takes to rebuild after the unthinkable.

I didn't build the habits because I'm disciplined. I built them because I had no other option. In 2018, a manic episode turned into psychosis, and when I came back to work three months later, I had to rebuild everything. Here's what that rebuild looks like — and what it still looks like when life breaks the routine.

Gabe Howard thought about suicide every day for years — and genuinely believed that was just how everyone felt. The mental health speaker and author of Mental Illness Is an Asshole and Other Observations joins Success, Rewritten to talk about what bipolar disorder actually feels like from the inside, why "beating" it is the wrong goal, and what it means to ask about suicide directly.

Mignon Francois started The Cupcake Collection on her last $5. She bought supplies for cupcakes instead of dinner for her family. Eighteen years later, the business has sold over five million cupcakes and crossed $10 million in revenue. On Episode 14 of Success, Rewritten, she talks about what failure actually taught her, why she fires employees who play it safe, and why the favor was in her house all along.

Amy Morin lost her husband at 26. She got three days of bereavement leave. Then she wrote a letter to herself — a list of what not to do — that 50 million people ended up needing. On this episode of Success, Rewritten, she talks about grief, mental strength, and why the two are not the same thing.

On April 2nd, 2025, Alex P. Taylor sent his cookbook proposal to ten publishers. He heard back in a week. On this week's episode of Success, Rewritten, the Nacho King of Connecticut talks mandatory pivoting, the deal with Quarto Books US, and why success and struggle are always neighbors.

Ramon Ray was fired from the United Nations because he refused to give up the side hustles he'd been running with permission. He had no backup plan. He had a strong network, and with it he’s built five companies and most recently authored The Celebrity CEO. He’s sold three of his comanies, and teaches small business owners how to build personal brands, scale their businesses, and market effectively.

When Jay Baer was 30, his best friend called to say he had brain cancer. The next day, Jay quit his job and started the career that made him one of the most recognizable names in customer experience. Now, 28 years and seven books later, he's walking away again. This time from speaking.

Marketing strategist Zanade Mann has spent her career refusing to be anyone's stereotype. In EP. 9 of Success, Rewritten, she gets honest about the cost of that grind, the wellness reset that gave her back her nervous system, and the corporate influencer ecosystem she is building now for the senior leaders the creator economy keeps overlooking.

By every external measure, Dr. Ricardo Anderson was winning. Principal of the Year. Six figures. PhD on the way. At 32, he walked away from all of it to address the trauma he'd been stuffing down for 22 years.

Xerxes Nabong has been a wealth advisor since 2005. Then his dad died at 58, and the why behind the work changed. In this episode of Success, Rewritten, he talks about what it means to plan for the life, not just the retirement, and how that shift reshaped the way he runs his firm and his family.

When Jenny Dempsey lost her dad, then her job, then got rejected by 400 employers, she didn't find her way forward on a trend feed or a job board. She found it in a friend's basement, in the shape of a junky table. This episode is a conversation about grief, layoffs, and how redefining success sometimes starts in the most unexpected places.

Grief coach Shelby Forsythia says the second biggest loss after any major life event isn't the death or the divorce -- it's the friendships. In Episode 5 of Success, Rewritten, she breaks down why words matter more than flowers, and shares the three phrases from her new book that actually help grievers feel less alone.

Cate Luzio left a 20-year banking career to found Luminary and spent the first two months questioning everything. Seven years later, she still has those days. In this episode of Success, Rewritten, she's honest about the loneliness of entrepreneurship, two health crises, a shifting political climate, and the prioritization system that keeps her moving.

Former news anchor Lynn Smith spoke to millions for a living and was terrified of public speaking the entire time. In this episode, she breaks down the Brain Bully, why your communication challenges have nothing to do with communication, and how reframing fear is the only fix that actually works.

Jami Stigliano built DivaDance from a one-woman side hustle to a national franchise brand with over 50 locations. In Episode 2 of Success, Rewritten, she gets real about bounced checks, COVID pivots, and why not paying yourself is not the badge of honor you think it is.

Before I start interviewing other people about the moments that changed everything, you should know mine. This is the story behind Success, Rewritten — and the manic episode, the layoff, and the decade in between that made it necessary.

Most of us grew up with a clean version of success: work hard, move up, don't stop. Then something happens that doesn't fit the line. This show is about those moments.

In 2018, my treatment team told me my job wasn't compatible with my bipolar disorder diagnosis. I stayed anyway. What happened next changed how I think about work, ambition, and what it actually means to succeed.