Chatter that Matters

I fear retirement. Work is where I find my passion, purpose and pursuit. Much of who I am is tied to what I do. Not easy to write, but the truth.
And here is my reality and yours: many of us could spend as many years after our careers as we spent building them. Think about that.
My guest, Mehbs Remtulla, achieved financial freedom and stepped away from work at 50. What his success hadn't prepared him for was the loss of identity, connection, inspiration and a reason to get out of bed.
Mehbs turned that struggle into What's neXT50, a global community that helps people use their experience and wisdom to create a meaningful next chapter.
I then chat with Tammy Vigue, who explains why financial readiness is only half the journey. We must plan not only for what we're leaving, but for the life waiting on the other side.
This conversation is not only for people contemplating retirement, but for a world where AI and Robotics will take away many jobs, leaving many to navigate change, search for purpose, or ask: Who am I, and what am I here to do next?

Jonathan Todd Schwartz was once entrusted with the fortunes and futures of some of the biggest names in entertainment, including Beyoncé, Linkin Park, and Alanis Morissette.
Behind the image of the disciplined CPA and trusted Hollywood business manager, however, Jonathan was living a secret life. Childhood trauma, cocaine use, and an out-of-control gambling addiction consumed him. He lost millions gambling and, as his addictions spiralled, embezzled over $7 million from the clients who trusted him most.
What began in his mind as money he would "borrow" and quickly repay became an elaborate betrayal built on falsified records, concealed withdrawals, and years of deception. When the truth finally surfaced, Jonathan lost his career, reputation, marriage, relationship with his sons, and his freedom. He was sentenced to six years in federal prison.
In this raw and unflinching conversation, Jonathan confronts the damage he caused without seeking sympathy or forgiveness. He opens up about suicidal thoughts, the moment his double life collapsed, facing his wife and children, the brutal reality of prison, and the slow work of accepting responsibility for harm that can never be undone.
More than a decade into sobriety, Jonathan now works as a therapist, helping people confront addiction, trauma, and the secret lives that keep them trapped.
"I make very little money, but I'm the happiest I've ever been."

A heart-moving episode about the unimaginable courage it takes to live after loss. When Pamela Shainhouse's daughter, Alli, died at 26 after seven years of fighting Hodgkin lymphoma, Pamela felt that the person she had been died with her. In the silence that followed came a life-altering question: Who would she become now?
 
In this deeply personal conversation, Pamela shares how Alli taught her to live fully, to refuse the limits others place on us, and to understand the profound difference between moving on and moving forward.
 
Pamela also speaks candidly about growing up with a disability, enduring bullying, becoming a caregiver, and navigating a grief that reshaped every part of her life. She reflects on the 16-year journey of writing her memoir, Daughter Dies, Mother Lives On—a testament to the daughter she lost and the woman she fought to become.
 
This is a powerful conversation about a mother's enduring love, the struggle to rebuild an identity after unimaginable loss, and the possibility of finding purpose, not beyond grief, but within the love that remains.
 
To learn more about what Pamela does: https://www.theshainhousegroup.com

Every so often, a guest comes along who challenges us to think differently. Not necessarily to agree, but to wonder. What if intuition is more than instinct? What if the coincidences that shape our lives aren't coincidences at all? What if the moments we dismiss are actually messages, gently nudging us toward the life we were meant to live? What if there are Earth Angels? 
Leslie Lee Sanders believes we're all born with an inner knowing, that signs, synchronicities, intuition, and even spiritual guidance are available to us if we're willing to slow down and listen. Whether you embrace those ideas, question them, or reject them entirely, they invite us to think about life from a very different perspective.
She also brings an extraordinary life story to that conversation. Born into poverty as one of eight children, becoming a teenage mother at fifteen, and overcoming extraordinary adversity, she went on to become an award-winning author of more than thirty books. Writing under the names Leslie Lee Sanders, L.L. Sanders, Leslie Lee, and Lee L. Sanders, she has captivated readers with psychological thrillers, horror, romance, and fiction.
Now, for the first time, she's telling her own story. In her memoir, Ready to Listen, Leslie steps out from behind the characters to explore the experiences that shaped her beliefs, her resilience, and her understanding of what it means to trust the voice within.
Whether you're deeply spiritual, deeply skeptical, or simply curious, this conversation isn't about convincing you what to believe. It's about exploring the possibility that the greatest answers may come when we stop talking... and start listening to here and beyond.
 
To purchase her memoir 'Ready to Listen' - 
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G2GP3Q29

Some conversations stay with you long after they are over. This is one of them.
Kim Mason is someone I deeply admire for her intelligence, her humanity and the way she makes everyone in her presence feel heard and seen. She dreamed of becoming an anthropologist and journalist, but a summer job at RBC changed everything. Almost four decades later, she holds one of Canada's most senior banking positions.
But our conversation isn't really about her career. It's about the paths we walk in life—some we choose and others that seem to choose us.
Kim opens up about saying yes to the unexpected, balancing work and family, and how the people closest to her encouraged her to embrace a career-defining move. We explore why empathy can't be performed, what listening reveals that numbers can't, and how thoughtful advice can change lives.
I close with the advice I give anyone seeking direction in their career: how to find your passion and pursue it. It begins with the four rewards we seek from our work—and why some matter more than others.