Space to Create.

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...

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 ) three ti...

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 this solo episode of Ashes to Architects, Brian gets brutally honest about a chapter of his life that shaped everything that came after: being “the fat kid,” becoming “the fat guy,” and finally deciding to change.

At his heaviest, Brian was around 320 pounds with a 46-inch waist, smoking a pack a day, eating like trash, and avoiding the gym out of pure embarrassment. But the turning point wasn’t a miracle plan or some perfect mot...

Hypnosis isn’t mind control — it’s a practical way to change patterns your willpower can’t reach.

In this episode of Ashes to Architects, I sit down with Hugh Sadlier, an 83-year-old hypnotist with 30+ years in practice and thousands of clients. Hugh recently released The Healing Power of Hypnosis, and we go beyond “quit smoking” to talk about what hypnosis actually is, how it works, and how real change happens when you work with th...

Most people don’t get stuck because they lack discipline — they get stuck because they’re trying to choose the perfect path before they take a single step.

In this solo episode, I talk about why it’s not only okay to change your mind — it’s a sign you’re actually paying attention. As you gain more information, you should be allowed to move in a new direction. The hard part isn’t “setting intentions.” The hard part is getting honest ...

When immigration enforcement dominates the headlines, it’s easy to forget the human math underneath it.

In bonus clip, Deo tells the true story of what happened after his father—part of the government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo—was assassinated. What followed was a long stretch of fear, impossible decisions, and a mother doing the unthinkable to protect her four children.

As ICE, detention, deportations, and enforcement ...

Brian talks with Deo Mwano, a speaker, creator & entrepreneur whose life began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was shaped by survival, migration, and rebuilding from scratch in the U.S. after his father was killed. Deo shares how his mother’s courage built deep self-worth, why trauma sometimes hits after stability, and the moment a forgiveness breakthrough freed him from years of internal anger.

They get practical on...

In Austin for the week, drops a raw solo episode on why Ashes to Architects exists—and why you should stop waiting for the “right time” to start.

This is the origin story behind the show: growing up in a town of 400 with two physically disabled parents, surviving instead of thriving, getting bullied hard enough to battle depression before age 10, dropping out of high school, becoming a young father, and learning (the hard way) that ...

In this episode, I sit down with Chris Sheehan (aka Christopher Talken), a core member of Still Gold—one of the most original, hard-to-categorize music collectives to come out of Boston.

Chris opens up about losing his father at 16 after a long battle with cancer, the “perfect storm” of grief + rebellion that followed, and the self-destructive years where escaping became a lifestyle. Then comes the plot twist: a move to Hawaii, year...

In this episode of Ashes to Architects, host Brian Cartier sits down with Jens Reyes for a raw, wide-ranging conversation about what it really means to be an artist—especially when life, money, stress, and other people’s expectations start creeping into the work.

They unpack the difference between “artist” and “content creator,” why calling your craft a “hobby” can feel insulting, and how creators slowly drift into work they never w...

In this solo episode of Ashes to Architects, Brian Cartier dismantles one of the most damaging labels people carry: “average.”

“Average” isn’t a fact—it’s a lazy summary. And when you accept it, you stop trying, stop investing in yourself, and build a safe identity that protects you from failure… while quietly blocking everything you’re capable of. Brian breaks down how self-talk becomes an abusive relationship, why fear of embarras...

Ashes to Architects is a podcast about mental health, creativity, and rebuilding your life when the odds aren’t in your favor.

In this short trailer, host Brian Cartier lays out the mission: if you’ve grown up surrounded by limitations—environment, trauma, setbacks, or simply being underestimated—your future isn’t decided by your past unless you accept that story as fact. This show is built for underdogs: real conversations, real ex...