I Used to be Somebody

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...

Carl interviews "Stacking Benjamins" host Joe Saul-Sehy. Joe is a former financial advisor and has represented American Express and Ameriprise in media. He left his financial advisor career at age 40 and reinvented himself into what he truly wanted to do. He was the "Money Man" on WXYZ-TV in Detroit and has appeared in countless newspapers and magazines, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Detroit News and more.  An...

THREE for the price of one! What a deal. Yes, we're shaking things up in this episode with a little different format. Instead of just one guest who's had a really interesting second act, we're talking to 3 great minds in the (un)retirement world. With a little twist is that they are from three different age perspectives. 

Meet Paul Long a former TV newscaster, weatherman, film content creator who just created a movement "New Way Fo...

Meet the remarkable Edward Hechter, a high school dropout full of surprises. Edward started his career in the high-tech world at 17 years old. He rose through the corporate ranks to executive level and ultimately played a key role in helping this company Website Pros go public. And retired.

He missed the challenge of solving business problems but this time came back to the working world as first-time entrepreneur where he and his w...

In 1995, Mary-Lou Nash showed up in South Africa on a whim with just a backpack. And she never left. Today she is a Winemaster of her own brand, Black Pearl Wines, producing some of the best wines in the country and it's even sold in some high profile locations in the US.

She was born in England, grew up with a determined New England attitude and has thrived in South Africa. She had no experience in growing grapes, harvesting or ma...

This month's guest Stephanie Stuckey brings Carl down memory lane. He has great childhood memories of begging his mom for a Stuckey's Stop, a popular roadside oasis in the 60's! Apparently, there are millions of people that have the same memory. At its height, there were over 350 Stuckey's stores across the country filled with candy, novelty toys and their world famous pecan log rolls. 

Stephanie's grandfather sold the business in ...

The Martinus Evans story is a very surprising one. As an adult he had many jobs, including a career  as a suit salesman at The Men's Warehouse. Being on his feet 10 hours a day caused him hip pain. He saw a doctor that said, "Your hip hurts because you're too fat. You should walk to lose weight." Martinus was shocked and angered by his doctor's words. And then he turned that into the goal to  run a marathon. He's never looked back.

Everyone please rise this week on I Used to be Somebody. Carl interviews his first judge ever! Jeannine Barr was an assistant district attorney who decided after 9 years to throw her hat in the political ring, (brave move) and then became a criminal district court judge for 24 years. She oversaw cases on "all the people you are afraid of." She tells us what it was like to have a high profile, elected position as a Texas judge.

In a...