I Used to be Somebody

If you're into pop culture, great stories and some outstanding (un)retirement advice, you will love this episode!

Mitch got his start as a producer for The Larry King show. He also shares a hilarious on air experience with Howard Stern. There's also his experience as a contestant on a new show (at the time) called Love Connection and his work on the Love Boat. 

When Mitch hit his 30's his dad suggested that he may want to get a "re...

Hang onto your hat this month because Carl interviewed former ad wiz Tom Marks. We go on a wild retirement story. Tom's first couple of years in retirement he summed up in in one word "horrible". He moved into a 50+ community that he hated. He made a rigid list of activities that he "thought" he should be doing in retirement. He felt like he was on a hamster wheel and didn't know how to get off.

It wasn't until he figured out that ...

Take a mini-retirement during your career? Take a retirement during your retirement? What? These are crazy ideas. But are they?

Author Jillian Johnsrud explains this concept and why it's so good for you. Host Carl is a believer and has personally taken 3 long breaks during his career. It helps you avoid burnout and gives you time and space to really think about what you want to do next in your career and life.

Jillian has personall...

Carl gets to talk about "magic" for the first time ever on the show. Kevin Blake made a 180-degree change in his working life. He moved from a promising career in digital marketing, working with big time clients (JanSport Backpacks, Lagunitas Brewing Company, Duraflame, Intel and more), to working as a professional Illusionist / Entertainer.

He always had a passion for performing magic and took the big leap, turning his fun side gi...

This month we tackle a topic we haven't talked much about...Forced Retirements. Anthony Napolitano had a very successful career in the high-tech world. Then he was laid off not once, but twice by two big corporations right around when he was 50 years old. That was two years ago, and since then he has plunged into the world of early retirement with great enthusiasm, (which is an understatement.) His friends joke that he doesn't have...

It takes a long time to hit 100 episodes when you're a monthly podcast. So we're pretty excited. Carl wanted to get the perfect guest. He chose Fritz Gilbert the OG, who is the top voice in the modern retirement movement. Fritz is a retirement expert/book author/speaker/do-gooder and the author of award winning "The Retirement Manifesto". He's written 400+ articles and 1 million words about retirement and how to live your very best...

Who doesn't like to go out to eat? Carin Stutz gives you a behind the scenes look into the restaurant business. She is a true icon in the industry spending 40+ years as a C-level Exec. She started as a manager trainee at Wendy's International and she worked her way up to Division Vice President. 

She shares stories of working with the celebrity Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy's, as well as her brush with fame by meeting movie sta...

It's BONUS day in the Landau Tiki Bar this week. We're featuring The Best of "Pickleball Chronicles with Traver".
Even if you're not a pickleball enthusiast, you'll really enjoy this episode. Six fun-filled and heartfelt stories.

Traver West joined me on the show about 2 years ago. He works at Pickleball Central, the world's largest pickleball company in the world. We have fun every month just talking about the sport we both love.....

Carl finally got a chance to interview one of the leaders of the modern day pickleball industry -- David Johnson. What a wild ride! He takes us from the early days of computer programming, website design to even the first online funeral business site. But it's the launch of Pickleball Central in 2006 that gets everyone's attention. 

David and his wife Anna started by literally talking to one new pickleball player / customer at a ti...

We've got a special "two for the price of one" today! This is our annual "Ask the Experts" episode. It's an interesting pairing. The first expert is Joe Casey who is considered the GOAT of retirement podcasters. He's been the host of Retirement Wisdom for 10 years and has produced over 350 episodes. He's a true pioneer in the Retirement Industry. He was one of the first Executive Coaches and Retirement Coaches before it was actuall...

Carl visited one of his favorite cities in the world -- New Orleans and had the privilege to interview the amazing Nick Mueller, co-founder of the World War II Museum. You do not need to be a history buff to love this episode.

Nick was contemplating his first (un)retirement in 1990, when he and Stephen Ambrose (best-selling author and celebrity historian) met over a bottle of sherry and discussed the idea of starting a World War II...

Probably anyone who loves to travel has thought at one point about what it would be like to travel the entire world. Everyone has that thought but who would actually do it? 

This month's guest Wayne Schmidt and his wife Sally quit their jobs in Australia -- sold their house, cars and all their worldly possessions and started their journey in 2017 and have never stopped. Yes, 92 countries later they are living the (un)retirement dre...

What a great way to kick off the baseball season with a super fun episode about a guy who's whole career was inside the world of sports. Gary Saunders had an exciting career in management and marketing/sales working the minor league baseball circuit. He traveled around the country working for about a dozen different organizations and capped it all with a big time sports exec job at University of Mississippi.

You don't need to a spo...

Mitch Dunn is the poster child for what (Un)Retirement is all about. He had an amazing career for 30+ years in the ad agency business, starting at the legendary Leo Burnett agency and eventually worked his way up to Senior VP at Empower. One fateful day his boss "uninvited" him to stay at the agency. This happens to so many talented people that are 50+, as companies want to drop a high salary. But Mitch was prepared!

He had started...

How can you not be drawn in by that title? What the heck? "Join or Die" is a hit documentary playing on Netflix right now. Carl watched the movie and was such a fan of the movie and it's message. It brought back to him some wonderful memories when he was part of a club that he loved -- the Odd Fellows. He was very fortunate and was able to connect with the movie's co-creator, Rebecca Davis.

Rebecca was inspired by the work of polit...

Carl talked to big-time entrepreneur Paul Giobbi about what it's like to build a company into a high tech power house, sell the business interest and then face a midlife retirement. It sounds easy but it's not. Paul has been on an amazing journey for the past 4 years and we take you with us on the ride.

It all started when Paul was 11 years old and he went to work in the family publishing and events business. Instead of participati...

It took Carl 89 episodes but he finally found a former doctor who has created an amazing second act. Not just any doctor, "Doc G" has a super popular podcast (Earn & Invest) and is a best-selling author. His story is a dramatic one. After 15 years of being an internal medicine doc he found himself totally burnt out and had some sort of breakdown.

He found his passion and voice in becoming a podcast star, talking about investing and...

How does a Tax Preparer from Minnesota end up moving his family to a little village in the French Countryside end up becoming an award-winning food writer and publishing his memoir about the experience with a big-time book publisher?   

Today's guest Steve Hoffman's story is so unlikely. Back in 2012, Steve dreamed of living in France with images of swimming in the ocean on the coast and then sipping with a wonderful glass of Rosé....

We've gone CAT crazy this month on the podcast. They say cats have 9 lives. Our guest Suna Kneisley is probably on life #5. Her story starts in Korea where she was born. She was raised in a small town in the Midwest where she was the only Asian kid in town. At 12 years old, she helped run her family's 24-hour donut shop.

In her 20's, Suna lands in Silicon Valley as a marketing exec at Intuit and Oracle. Eventually, she launched her...