with Michael Carruthers
Exploring what it actually takes to build meaningful creative work in the real world either alongside or instead of traditional careers. Conversations with people at every stage of the journey, from side project builders to full-time creators and founders, about the practical and emotional reality of choosing purpose over default paths.
What happens when you chase your entrepreneurial dream for four and a half years and then realize it’s not actually what you want? In this episode, I sit down with Jacob O’Bryant, creator of The Sample (now Yakread), to talk about his journey from quitting his job in his early…
In this episode, I sit down with Laura aka “Couch Polyglot”, a polyglot and YouTuber with over 44k subscribers who creates awesome language learning content whilst also working a day job. We explore how she balances both worlds: maintaining multiple languages as well as a growing channel without burning out. …
Elena Mostovova is a product manager and art enthusiast who writes Art for Breakfast, a weekly newsletter making art accessible and relatable to everyone. In this conversation, we explore how art can be a shortcut to understanding culture, why starting with contemporary work beats historical pieces, and Elena’s journey from…
Catt Small is a staff designer who’s figured out something most of us struggle with: how to juggle multiple creative projects without burning out. She’s written a book, runs online courses, organizes conferences, develops games, and somehow manages to be intentional about where she puts her energy even with all…
In this episode, I sit down with Paul Hughes, who’s career is far from the traditional 9-5, being that he’s worked as everything from travelling salesman, military photography, radio host, to now running AFN Europe’s radio programming across 15 stations, 8 countries, and 4 timezones. We talk about the struggle…
Dr. Rod Berger has a degree in clinical psychology, has interviewed over 4,000 people, and just wrote his first book “The Narrative Edge”, but his real expertise is in finding the human behind the talking points. In this episode, we explore what makes storytelling important, how Rod breaks through people’s…
What if the biggest breakthrough in your communication isn’t about being more persuasive, but about being more curious? Dr. Michael Gerharz, a communication coach with a computer science background, joins me to unpack why so many brilliant ideas die in boring PowerPoint presentations. We dive into his PATH framework (Plain…
Orel Zilberman quit his job to become an indie hacker, and then built 9 projects and made… nothing. And then everything changed with his latest product, WriteStack, an AI writing tool now generating thousands in revenue. In this conversation, we dig into the messy reality of quitting your job to…
Michael Box is a filmmaker, writer, musician, juggling indie film production with a full-time job and family life. In this conversation, we dig into how he and his creative partner Patrick launched Echo Eterna Productions to create “Speakeasy”, a dystopian film about punk musicians in a world where self-expression is…
What does it take to walk away from a broken system and build something better? In this episode, I talk to Toni Finnimore, founder of The Social Society, about her journey from “climbing a mountain of treacle” in the charity sector to creating a platform that actually helps people give…
Apple Podcasts
Spotify