Fearless Happyness Podcast Max Nijst

Escaping the Shadows with Lyn Smith Gregory
 
Growing up Mormon, Lyn Smith Gregory struggled to be perfect and protect her family’s high-profile image within The Church and community.
 
At seventeen, she would leave home to attend college and soon become exposed to ideas that countered everything she had been taught and believed.
 
Disillusioned by what she discovered and feeling broken, Lyn left her faith and family in search of establishing her own identity.
 
However, it wasn’t going to be as easy as she thought.
 
Riddled with guilt and old perfection beliefs, Lyn quickly learned that not everyone supported her decisions.
 
Finding herself shunned by her family and community, Lyn would be forced to reexamine who she was and what was faithful to her and her family and find an identity and path through this new reality.  
 
Now the author of “We Were Smiths: Escaping the Shadow of Joseph Smith’s Mormon Legacy,” Lyn shares in her memoir a unique and in-depth account of what it was like growing up within the Mormon Church as the great-great-granddaughter of Samuel Smith and what happened when she and her sister decided to break away from The Church and their family.
 
Listen in as Lyn, and I talk about her experience in the confinements of the Mormon faith, her journey once she left, and the challenges she overcame from it to find a path that would lead her to FEARLESS HAPPYNESS!

Walking through the Flames with Dan Herring
A full-time fireman/paramedic and devoted husband, dad, and stepdad, Dan Herring has been fundamentally transforming people’s lives and has been rising from the ashes the same way he has in life.
 
After losing his closest friend in a horrible accident, followed by one of his Fire Captains being tragically murdered, Dan turned to alcohol to cope. 
 
Miserable and unhappy with anything, Dan was not investing in life anymore either.
 
With his marriage on the rocks and fighting with his captains and fellow firefighters, Dan started to hit rock bottom quickly. 
 
Scared to let anyone know what was going on, Dan started to see the flames close in around him, with no way out, and contemplated ending it all.
 
Until one day, he learned to get vulnerable and asked for help. 
 
Discovering that there were people who wanted and were willing to help, Dan found the right resources to open up about what he was going through and find ways to deal with it all.
 
He connected with people and resources who helped him regain his health and fitness and be thankful for everything he still had in his life.
 
Now sober for over five years and remarried to his best friend while being a dad/stepdad to 4 incredible humans, Dan is living each day with intent and on a mission to help others do the same by helping them transform their lives holistically and letting them know it is OK to be vulnerable.
 
Listen in as Dan and I sit down to discuss the traumatic incidences that almost took him out, the resources that fundamentally shaped and transformed him to live with intention, his mission to help others do the same, and how he eventually found his way to FEARLESS HAPPYNESS!

Discover the Power of Resilience with Nina Sossamon-Pogue
 
From an Emmy award-winning journalist to a leadership team member of a successful tech startup, two-time best-selling author, and high-sought-after motivational speaker, Nina Sossamon-Pogue is what you would call a true beacon of resilience in the world.
 
As someone who's adapted to a lifetime of significant challenges and unexpected twists, Nina's ability to take on these challenges with resilience and determination has led her to find repeated successes through it all.
 
Nina was a member of the USA Gymnastics team in the 1980s, then became an award-winning journalist and Emmy-award-winning television news anchor. Nina left TV for Tech and spent 12 years on the leadership team of a technology company during its hyper-growth expansion and highly successful IPO.
 
After years of hard work, research, and two books later, Nina has identified the specific actions and mental shifts needed to 'adapt positively' to the challenges that life hands us.
 
For her experience in sports, television, and tech, Nina is referred to as a rare' triple threat' in the speaking world. She connects with audiences on multiple levels.
 
As an expert on Resilience, Nina is passionate about using her story to help others help other hardworking humans thrive through tough times.
 
After repeatedly being asked, "How'd you do that?" Nina's message is clear:
 
"Resilience is not just a trait – it's a skill that can be cultivated and leveraged to drive organizational success."
 
Listen in as Nina and I sit down to talk about how her deepest lows helped her discover the resilience she needed to find the success she desired, her passion for helping others do the same, and the turning point that led her to find a life of FEARLESS HAPPYNESS!

Spiritual Awakening with Donald Young
Once a successful pharmaceutical marketing executive, Donald Young lived what most saw as the American Dream in terms of fame and fortune. 
But inside, he was living more of a nightmare than a dream.
Unhappy and feeling something was fundamentally missing from his life, Donald chased stuff—reputation, physical desires, anything and everything the material world had to offer.
He would spend his entire early years seeking happiness through stuff, only to grow increasingly unhappy.
Until one day, Donald had a spiritual awakening that led him to finally surrender to a higher being than himself. He surrendered his heart to God.
From there, Donald would embrace a life journey centered on loving God by finally learning to love who he truly was and his neighbor.
He no longer valued material things but those around him and cherished a deep sense of peace and gratitude after years of unhappiness and selfishness.
Now, Donald is helping others do the same to transform their lives into ones filled with greater peace and a more profound love for humanity through faith.
Listen in as Donald and I sit down to discuss how he realized he didn’t have it all, the moment he discovered what having it all meant, how he is helping others do the same, and how it has all led him to a path of FEARLESS HAPPYNESS!

Against All Odds with Spencer Anderson
A U.S. Air Force Vietnam war veteran, former pilot, and schoolteacher/counselor turned published author, Spencer Anderson is a true example of defeating the odds to have it all!
At age 25, Spencer suffered a brain aneurysm that would leave him permanently paralyzed on the right side of his body.
Instead of letting his paralysis stop him from living, Spencer decided to make his disability his trademark by defeating the odds and finding ways to navigate through life to conquer his dreams.
2007, he fulfilled one of those dreams by gaining his pilot’s license. Scared but determined, he worked hard and even gained enough hours that first year to fly the skies solo for the first time.
Then, in 2012, he turned another dream into reality when he became a published author for the first time.
Since then, Spencer has turned his passion for aviation into a series of compelling fiction-based-on-fact books about action and adventure built around true events in time.
He has also gone on to accomplish many other dreams, like painting paintings in the style of his favorite artists!
He lives out his days traveling the country with his wife on book tours and setting new dreams and goals to accomplish.
“Life is more than what you appear to be,” says Spencer. “Life is what you define for yourself inside.”
Although he has accomplished many dreams in life, Spencer says his greatest accomplishment has been spending the last 22 years with the love of his life, his wife, Carole.
Listen in as Spencer and I sit down to discuss how he turned a life-long disability into a trademark on navigating through life to go after your dreams and how showing others to do the same has led him to a life of FEARLESS HAPPYNESS!

An Unstoppable Mindset with Alden Mills
A former Navy SEAL, two-time bestselling author, and CEO of an Inc. 500 company, Alden Mills is coming back to the show to share his proven mindset formula and discuss his upcoming new book, “Unstoppable Mindset: How to Use What You Have to Get What You Want.”
As captain of his rowing team and a three-time Navy SEAL platoon commander, Alden consistently ranked #1.
Through those personal triumphs, Alden catalyzed a natural progression into leadership roles.
His inventive spirit yields over 40 worldwide patents, including the wildly successful Perfect Pushup.
Fueled by his journey, Alden developed the UNSTOPPABLE Leadership methodology—an approach that shapes individuals into authentic leaders, mastering the art of building teams and fostering unstoppable cultures.
With 40 years of experience turning failures into success stories, Alden is a prominent business thinker today. He dedicates his time to sharing the three levels of Unstoppable Leadership with others through speaking, coaching, writing, and teaching.
Listen in as Alden, and I sit down to discuss how he took 3 Navy Seal techniques to develop an Unstoppable Mindset, his passion for helping others do the same, and the journey that led him to live a life of FEARLESS HAPPYNESS!