175 episodes

The Unconventionalists is a weekly show covering the stories behind the people who went against the curve, took the road less traveled and stayed true to being themselves in the face of adversity. Listeners often say that each episode feels like eavesdropping on an intimate conversation between two old friends as host Mark Leruste uses his warm, compelling style to tease out the truth and create moments of radical honesty.

Previous guests include Noah Kagan, Danielle LaPorte, Paul Jarvis, Chris Guillebeau, Sarah Knight, James Wilks and the Founders of The Minimalists.

The Unconventionalists with Mark Leruste Mark Leruste

    • Business
    • 4.8 • 52 Ratings

The Unconventionalists is a weekly show covering the stories behind the people who went against the curve, took the road less traveled and stayed true to being themselves in the face of adversity. Listeners often say that each episode feels like eavesdropping on an intimate conversation between two old friends as host Mark Leruste uses his warm, compelling style to tease out the truth and create moments of radical honesty.

Previous guests include Noah Kagan, Danielle LaPorte, Paul Jarvis, Chris Guillebeau, Sarah Knight, James Wilks and the Founders of The Minimalists.

    #171 Donald Miller's secret playbook to building a million dollar coaching business

    #171 Donald Miller's secret playbook to building a million dollar coaching business

    In this must-watch episode, Donald Miller is back on The Unconventionalists podcast to dive into his latest masterpiece, "Coach Builder," launching tomorrow! Get ready to grab your copy at CoachBuilder.com or from your favourite book store.

    🌟 In this episode we talked about why did Donald Miller suddenly decide to write about building a lucrative coaching career (despite there being a ton of books out there already) and whether or not anyone really can turn their know-how into a money-making venture (spoiler alert, Donald believes that's a big fat YES).

    🥗 Hear the incredible tale of a stay-at-home mom who transformed her hobby of growing salads into a million-dollar empire. It's a story that's as inspiring as it is astonishing.

    💡 Plus, Donald tackles a burning question from our audience: Should business coaches stick to a set methodology, or is it better to guide clients in crafting their own solutions? His answer is enlightening and not to be missed.

    🔥 If you've ever wondered about creating a sustainable, profitable coaching business that genuinely impacts lives and gives you more time and freedom, then this conversation with Donald Miller is exactly what you need.

    💬 Drop a comment below: What's your biggest takeaway from this episode?

    👉 Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more Unconventional wisdom!

    • 11 min
    #170 Daniel Costa Gil - Against all odds: A tale of loss, love, and Resilience

    #170 Daniel Costa Gil - Against all odds: A tale of loss, love, and Resilience

    In this profoundly moving episode of The Unconventionalists podcast, Mark Leruste sits down with Daniel Costa Gil, a man whose life story embodies the very essence of human resilience and hope.

    Born as the youngest of four brothers in South Africa, our guest this week is the sole survivor of a family that faced an unimaginable cascade of tragedies.

    From the heart-wrenching loss of his parents and siblings to facing life's harshest challenges alone, his journey is a testament to the indomitable human spirit.

    In an intimate conversation, Daniel shares for the first time the harrowing details of his childhood - marked by the sudden loss of his father, a renowned psychologist, to suicide and the devastating struggles of his mother, a dedicated doctor who through a series of tragic events, found herself in a situation that led her to her darkest hour.

    The episode takes a deep dive into the fateful day that changed everything, when a crisis led to an unimaginable family tragedy that would forever change the course of Daniel's life.

    Yet, amidst this backdrop of sorrow and loss, Daniel's story is not one of despair. It's a narrative of incredible strength, love, and an unyielding belief in the possibility of a brighter tomorrow.

    He opens up about the challenges of overcoming the complex emotions surrounding his mother's actions on November 13th, 1998, and the heartbreak of losing his last remaining brother during the global pandemic.

    His message is clear and powerful: Life happens for us, not to us.

    In this episode, Daniel eloquently shares how he transformed his pain into his purpose, helping others navigate their journeys of grief, guilt and shame into transforming into their authentic self and expression.

    When shit hits the fan and your world turns upside down, Daniel is the man you call.

    Join us for a life-changing episode that's more than just a story - it's an exploration of the depths of grief and the heights of human resilience.

    It's a reminder that even in our darkest moments, there is a light of hope that never goes out.

    Daniel Costa Gil (www.danielcostgil.com) is a graduate of my Own Your Story programme. If you'd like to find out more how you can go through the same life-changing experience and turn your story into a powerful asset that gets noticed, raises your profile and inspires others, visit www.storycast.co.



    SPONSORS



    This week’s episode of The Unconventionalists podcast was brought to you by:




    Storycast: ⁠www.storycast.co⁠ - Learn how to turn your story into a powerful asset that gets noticed





    GET IN TOUCH WITH MARK




    Website: ⁠www.markleruste.com⁠


    Instagram: ⁠www.instagram.com/markleruste⁠


    YouTube: ⁠www.youtube.com/markleruste⁠


    Facebook: ⁠www.facebook.com/markleruste⁠


    Twitter: ⁠www.twitter.com/markleruste⁠


    LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/markleruste

    • 1 hr 51 min
    #169 Donald Miller - How a Fatherless Boy Built a $15M Empire & Transformed His Life Story

    #169 Donald Miller - How a Fatherless Boy Built a $15M Empire & Transformed His Life Story

    Welcome back to another inspiring episode of The Unconventionalists podcast! Today, I'm thrilled to bring you an exclusive interview with the incredible Donald Miller, CEO of Business Made Simple and StoryBrand, and the author of 13 transformative books.



    I had the pleasure of sitting down with Don on the eve of Thanks Giving and dive into the myriad of questions I had about his various books.



    From asking about his memoirs such as Blue Like Jazz (that stayed a New York Times Bestseller for 40 weeks) to some of my favourite business books he wrote like "Hero on a Mission", "Building a StoryBrand" or "Marketing Made Simple", we talked about what it takes to build a successful business and create a meaningful life.



    If you've never heard about Don before today, you're going to love his story: A fatherless boy from southern Texas raised by a struggling single mother, who grew up poor standing in line for government cheese and who through a series of events and guidance ends up writing books and manages to go from being an author with a virtual assistant to running a $15m company with 40 employees impacting hundreds of thousands of lives.

     

    You wouldn’t know by looking at him but Don also used to weigh 387lbs (175.5kgs) and lost 200lbs (90.7kgs)! Which is an incredible feat.

     

    When screenwriters wanted to turn his breakout book Blue Like Jazz into a film they realised they needed to edit his life to make it more interesting. That’s when Don realised that we can all have a more meaningful and fulfilling life by being intentional to treat our lives like a compelling story. 

     

    Don’s super power is to take complex concepts or ideas and to explain them in a really simple way, be it religion, life or business.

     

    Alex Hormozi is a fan and so am I.



    From Don's backstory to his thoughts on what it takes to build a successful business and create a life of meaning to what is desperately missing in the narative to resolve the Israel - Palestine conflict, this episode is going to blow your mind.



    I genuinely can't wait for you to listen to this episode! 🙏



    SPONSORS



    This week’s episode of The Unconventionalists podcast was brought to you by:


    Storycast: www.storycast.co - Learn how to turn your story into a powerful asset that gets noticed








    Donald Miller’s website: https://www.donaldmiller.com
    Business Made Simple - businessmadesimple.com
    Twitter - twitter.com/donaldmiller
    Instagram - instagram.com/donaldmiller
    Facebook - facebook.com/donaldmillerwords
    David Gentiles’s Obituary : https://eu.statesman.com/story/news/2012/09/23/beliefs-big-and-small-paint-picture-of-pastors-life/9886546007/

    GET IN TOUCH WITH MARK




    Website: www.markleruste.com


    Instagram: www.instagram.com/markleruste


    YouTube: www.youtube.com/markleruste


    Facebook: www.facebook.com/markleruste


    Twitter: www.twitter.com/markleruste


    LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/markleruste

    • 53 min
    #168 Did Glow in the Dark win a Business Book Award...?

    #168 Did Glow in the Dark win a Business Book Award...?

    Last night Mark Leruste attended the official Business Book Awards 2023 Gala Dinner in London, as his book Glow in the Dark was Shortlisted for a Business Book Award under the “Business Self-Development Book” category.

     

    Hundreds of authors had submitted their non-fiction business books to be considered for the competition but in the end, only a hundred authors were shortlisted for a chance to win gold.

     

    From panic renting a last-minute tuxedo to forgetting his potential acceptance speech at home, in this is special episode Mark breaks down the 24hrs around the event and why even though he wasn’t able to share his acceptance speech he wanted to share it with you today.

     

    Resources:

    👉 Order your copy of Glow in the Dark today: ⁠⁠https://amzn.to/3Vg51Vd⁠⁠



    Shownotes:


    Mark's newsletter: https://www.markleruste.com/newsletter


    Selfie on stage at the #BBA2023: LinkedIn / Instagram

    • 27 min
    #167 Grow the f*ck up with Sarah Knight

    #167 Grow the f*ck up with Sarah Knight

    In this week's special episode of The Unconventionalsits podcast, Mark Leruste sits down with global best-selling author Sarah Knight whose books have sold more than 3 million copies worldwide and her TEDx talk has been watched more than 10 million times! Her new book "Grow the F*ck Up: How to be an adult and get treated like one" is officially out today and in today's juicy episode, Sarah talks about why this book is the book we've all been waiting for.



    Resources:

    👉 Order your copy of Glow in the Dark today: ⁠https://amzn.to/3Vg51Vd⁠



    Shownotes:


    Glow in the Dark Official Website: ⁠https://www.glowinthedarkbook.com⁠


    Sarah Knight: https://www.sarahknight.com/


    "Grow the **** Up" by Sarah Knight: ⁠https://www.amazon.co.uk/Grow-Up-adult-treated-Given/dp/1529424925

    • 53 min
    #166 Glow In The Dark: The book that broke the internet with Mark Leruste

    #166 Glow In The Dark: The book that broke the internet with Mark Leruste

    In this week's special episode of The Unconventionalsits podcast, Mark Leruste dives into the entire journey behind how his new book, "Glow in the Dark: How Sharing Your Personal Story Can Transform Your Business and Change Your Life" (Hachette UK) launched as a Top 10 Bestseller on Amazon in three different categories. 

    As you will learn, it was the best of launches and it was the worst of launches...



    Resources:

    👉 Order your copy of Glow in the Dark today: https://amzn.to/3Vg51Vd

    Shownotes:


    Glow in the Dark Official Website: https://www.glowinthedarkbook.com
    Official Book Trailer: https://www.glowinthedarkbook.com/trailer
    Unboxing 'Glow in the Dark by Mark Leruste' (Hachette UK) Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXx4P9fUc98
    "How To Live An Awesome Life" by Ben Coomber: https://amzn.to/3HVYPxZ
    "Grow the **** Up" by Sarah Knight: https://amzn.to/40v7MFM

    Corrections: 

    In this week's episode Mark forgot to mention that one of the reasons Amazon UK may have crashed on launch day is that Mark offered some exclusive bonuses to anyone who bought his book on launch date, depending on how many copies people bought they would unlock various prizes and bonuses. This meant that people sometimes bought 10, 20 or 30 copies at a time. Which may have contributed to Amazon UK panicking and thinking the increase in purchases were down to bots trying to bring the website down...

    Also, Mark mentioned "Ben Keene" attending his official book launch, but he actually meant "Ben Coomber"! The correct link to Ben Coomber's new book is included in the show notes above.

    • 25 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
52 Ratings

52 Ratings

Frenchie_soph ,

Merci Beaucoup

Thank you Mark for showing up to this podcast, thank you for your guests. I find myself dipping in and out of the episodes and always coming back. Just listened to the one with Lynsay Gould about podcasting for business and it was exactly what I needed to hear. (Would love to know more about the French side of your story???) thanks 🙏

Fergus M ,

A fantastic podcast.

Really enjoyed the latest episode with Chris Ducker . Fergus

RuneLondon ,

Mark’s humble ability to ask really good questions makes this great

Mark Leruste - have an amazing ability to let his ego rest on the table, despite he himself is an established Enterpreneur and coach and all round nice guy, he get in, asks good questions and does his background, thus makes it compelling binge worthy podcast advice - plus he does the effort to pick up and connect with people who are less famous but much more interesting.

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