The Moral of the Story

Host Chad McLain interviews longtime friend and mentor Ted Sherwood about the psychological weight of plaintiff personal injury work and how lawyers manage repeated exposure to loss. 

Sherwood recounts leaving Tulsa real estate to attend law school, clerking and later practicing with renowned plaintiff lawyer Ed Abel, whose client-centric approach and “David vs. Goliath” cases against powerful defendants shaped Sher...

Host Chad McLain interviews Tulsa businessman Mitch Myers about resilience after the sudden loss of Mitch’s first wife, Holly. 

Mitch recounts April 2010, when Holly developed severe abdominal pain over Easter weekend, was initially misdiagnosed, flat-lined after Ativan at a small hospital, and was transferred to St. John in Tulsa, where surgery revealed a sigmoid volvulus and she later developed ARDS. After 17 da...

Host Chad McLain interviews financial advisor Josh Herlin, founder of Future You Financial, about why many people—even six-figure earners—live paycheck to paycheck and how financial freedom comes more from habits than income. Herlin, who previously worked at Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley and has a quantitative finance master’s, says young professionals’ biggest mistake is FOMO-driven spending and delaying...

Host Chad McLain welcomes Tony Rittenberry to discuss how adult relationships often end quietly through slower replies and less effort, and how definitions of healthy relationships change with age. 

They emphasize mutual respect, care, reciprocity, and having a healthy relationship with oneself, noting that adults have less patience for “nonsense” and are more willing to move on. They talk about modern commu...

Host Chad McLain interviews veteran Oklahoma trial lawyer Joseph Farris, who has spent 50 years practicing law—primarily defending insured businesses and individuals in high-stakes personal injury, trucking, and legal malpractice matters—while emphasizing that the lawyer’s duty of loyalty is to the insured, not the insurance company, especially when coverage conflicts arise. 

They discuss the psycholog...

Host Chad McLain interviews his friend Rob Higdon, a health insurance businessperson and ORU alumnus, on whether true selfless giving exists and how expectations shape relationships.

They argue life is often transactional, yet selfless giving may be possible though rare because human nature is selfish; even anonymous gifts can carry internal returns like feeling good. Rob frames giving through biblical principles, citing tit...

Host Chad McLain interviews Ricky Bolton Jr.  on The Moral of the Story about physical and mental health and the pressure to be “on” all the time, asking whether people are being themselves or performing. 

Bolden, a former college athlete and coach with graduate degrees in sports management and counseling psychology, describes how athletic identity, constant expectations, and job instability can create numbness...

Chad McLain records an early episode of his podcast, The Moral of the Story, with longtime friend and businessman Chris Blount, focusing on examining one’s relationship with alcohol. They discuss moving beyond a binary “no problem vs. problem” view to asking whether drinking contributes positively, neutrally, or negatively to the life someone wants, and emphasize common sense, self-awareness, habits, and control.&...

Every decision we make has consequences — and no one sees that more clearly than a lawyer.

On The Moral of the Story, veteran attorney Chad McLain draws from his experience in the legal world to explore the experiences and choices that shape our lives. Each episode looks beyond the surface of real situations to examine everyday moral crossroads — uncovering deeper lessons about responsibility, character, and what it ...