Innerspace: Deep, Meaningful Conversations with Brett Kaufman

Brett Kaufman
  • 4.9 (53)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

Innerspace is a space for reflection, awareness, and lived experience. Through calm, grounded conversations with Brett Kaufman, the show explores what happens beneath the surface, the inner signals, transitions, and moments of clarity that shape how we move through the world.

  1. You Are the CEO of Your Own Life: Greg Scheinman on Midlife Male

    5h ago

    You Are the CEO of Your Own Life: Greg Scheinman on Midlife Male

    Greg Scheinman is the founder and CEO of Midlife Male, the premiere digital publication and lifestyle brand for men over 40, with a newsletter that reaches more than 50,000 men every week. He's the author of the bestselling book The Midlife Male, a keynote speaker on transformation and redefining success, and a coach to midlife CEOs, executives, and founders, with two company exits behind him. The path there started with loss. Greg lost his father to cancer at 17 and went off to college carrying it, then spent years numbing the grief instead of facing it. In his twenties he chased the film business in New York, got his start at Miramax, produced independent films, and made a movie dedicated to his dad. He built a sports children's video company out of the trunk of his car, landed licensing deals with the NFL, NBA, NHL, and NASCAR, brought in an investment from former Disney chief Michael Eisner, and sold it. Then he did the opposite of everything he had done and went into insurance, building a million dollar book of business, becoming a partner, and helping sell the firm in 2020. It was his biggest financial success and his least satisfying professional experience. At 47, with resentment building and his wife telling him not to blow what they had built, he got his first coach and started writing what he now calls his Midlife Action Plan. It took thirty days to write and three years to follow, and from 47 to 50 his life changed in every category. The conversation moves through grief, entrepreneurship, fatherhood without a template, and what it actually takes to rebuild a life once you stop running from it, all of it grounded in the idea behind Midlife Male: most men plan the first half of their lives and have no plan at all for the second.

    1h 16m
  2. Nate Ebner: From Junkyard to Super Bowl

    Jun 22

    Nate Ebner: From Junkyard to Super Bowl

    Nate Ebner grew up between two worlds. School weeks in Columbus, and weekends and summers in Springfield, Ohio, working the family junkyard with his father Jeff. Lifting off railroad-tie dumbbells they welded themselves. Chasing robbers through the yard on Sunday mornings. Jeff Ebner was the kind of man who kept a notebook of every workout his son ever did, so they could look back together at what the work had built. He was also the kind of man who made everything an experience worth having. Nate remembers that time more clearly than he remembers most of high school. The day before Nate decided to walk onto the Ohio State football team, he had the best conversation of his life with his dad. The next day, Jeff was murdered at the junkyard. Nate was 19. He dropped out of school and spent weeks in the dark, sitting near the weights they had built together, close to something he couldn't have come back from. Then his mom walked upstairs and said a few sentences that changed the entire direction of his life. What followed is one of the more remarkable athletic careers of the last two decades. A walk-on at Ohio State under Jim Tressel. A sixth-round draft pick of Bill Belichick's New England Patriots. Three Super Bowl championships. The 2016 Olympics in Rio with the US rugby team. An All-Pro season. Now an author and part of the team at Goodwin, Nate tells the full story here: the junkyard, the grief, the grind, and what it looks like to carry someone with you all the way to the Super Bowl. Connect with Nate: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ebs43/ Book: Finish Strong: A Father's Code and a Son's Path: https://www.amazon.com/Finish-Strong-Fathers-Code-Sons/dp/0525560858 Goodwin: https://www.teamgoodwin.com/ Goodwin on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goteamgoodwin/

    1h 55m
  3. Emma Gilbert: The Artist Who Heard "You're Not Done Yet" at 9 Years Old

    Jun 15

    Emma Gilbert: The Artist Who Heard "You're Not Done Yet" at 9 Years Old

    Emma Gilbert was nine years old when she found herself under her bed, in the depths of a depression no kid should have to carry. That is when she heard a voice, loud and clear: "You're not done yet. You have so much more to do." It snapped her out of the spiral, and she carried it with her. Even at nine, ten, eleven, she kept telling herself she had to keep creating. She grew up in Alabaster, Alabama, about the smallest town you could get, with no art scene and no one around to show her that a life in art was even possible. Teachers told her to have a realistic career. Her own feelings rarely landed at home, where attention came when she created and words or tears got waved off with "you're fine." Art became the one place she was actually heard. This conversation explores the relationship between childhood pain and creativity, what it does to a kid to grow up unheard, and how a family can change when someone finally speaks up. Emma talks about the depression that still shows up today and still fuels her work, the parents who later apologized and learned to listen, and the long road from selling her first painting at twelve to building a real business around her art. Now she travels the country painting large-scale murals, works with a team of ten contractors, and is building toward the day she gets to be just the talent. This one is about turning what nearly broke you into the thing that defines you, and why the voice that saves you can become the work of your life.

    1h 3m
  4. From Presidential Politics to Federal Prison: Matt Borges's Story

    Jun 9

    From Presidential Politics to Federal Prison: Matt Borges's Story

    Former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges lived a life most could only dream of. Traveling with presidential candidates, hosting the first Republican debate of 2016, standing next to history on Air Force One. Then one July morning in 2020, the FBI was at his door with handcuffs. What followed was a federal trial that would test everything Matt thought he knew about himself. Offered a plea deal that would have kept him out of prison, he turned it down rather than confess in open court to something he says wasn’t true. He went to trial, he lost, and, despite appeals that took him all the way to the United States Supreme Court, he ended up serving twenty-seven months in federal prison. In this raw, unfiltered conversation - his first since coming home - Matt opens up about the daily emails he wrote to his wife Kate, that became a lifeline for both of them, and what he learned about what actually matters when the comforts of life are taken away. This isn't a story about politics. It's about a human being tested in the crucible, and facing the question “who are you?” then being brave enough to find that answer – and trust it. Matt's story is one of the most powerful examples of reckoning, resilience, and human connection we've ever shared on Innerspace. A reminder that sometimes losing “everything” is the surest way to find what's real. Learn more: joininnerspace.com

    1h 55m
  5. Chet Scott: Live Hard, Love Harder

    Jun 1

    Chet Scott: Live Hard, Love Harder

    Chet Scott is the founder of Built to Lead, a coaching practice he started in 2002 to help high performers discover who they are at their core. A former tech executive, Chet's path changed in 1993 after a leadership course forced him to confront how he was actually perceived, and he has spent the years since studying human nature and high performance with business teams and sports teams alike. His work has grown to include a book, an app, and a team of coaches he calls builders. In this conversation, Chet shares his philosophy of "oneness within, then oneness with others," and why most people stay stuck blaming external circumstances instead of doing the harder inner work. He and Brett get into his mantra "live hard, love harder," why the work is "for the few," what happens when clients plateau and stop growing, and why learning to run toward hard conversations instead of away from them is what separates chronic pain from acute healing. Chet also talks about the power of curiosity, the seven good minutes exercise that has transformed relationships, and why the people you invest in most are sometimes "built to leave."

    1h 20m
  6. Why Deep Self-Awareness is the Blueprint for Career Success | Anthony Hughes

    May 25

    Why Deep Self-Awareness is the Blueprint for Career Success | Anthony Hughes

    Anthony Hughes struggled with dyslexia from an early age, often living in the shadow of his twin brother, who seemed to excel at everything Anthony found difficult. Fast forward thirty years, and Anthony had built Tech Elevator, a company that placed 6,000 people in software development careers. This conversation explores his winding path to entrepreneurial success, from getting rejected by Formula One racing to the mentor who pushed him to take the leap. Prior to his current venture, Anthony was a two-time edtech entrepreneur with two successful exits: Tech Elevator (acquired by Stride) and The Software Guild (acquired by Wiley). Before that, he partnered with MIT at JumpStart to found a mentoring program that helped over 100 early-stage companies raise $45M in capital. Today, Anthony is the Co-founder and CEO of VITALS. VITALS is a personality-powered self-awareness platform that helps you make better decisions, build stronger relationships, and find work that actually fits. It starts with a deep assessment across six dimensions (Values, Interests, Temperament, Action Style, Learning Style, and Social Style) and translates what you learn into highly actionable guidance. Sign up for free at: www.vitals.me

    1h 23m
  7. The CEO Who Found His Why Behind Bars: Cody Warren on Rebuilding a Life

    May 18

    The CEO Who Found His Why Behind Bars: Cody Warren on Rebuilding a Life

    Cody Warren was arrested just one month before his college graduation. What followed were four years in prison and a choice: let the mistake define him or use it as a turning point to reshape his entire life. While incarcerated, Cody discovered endurance running by completing his first marathon behind prison walls, finding a new sense of purpose through suffering and discipline. Today, Cody is a husband, father, and a entrepreneur. He is the acting CEO of Two Men & A Vacuum, a commercial cleaning company he started from the ground up in 2012 that now employs over 200 people. He is also the founder of Peak + Restore, a performance and recovery company dedicated to helping others push their physical and mental limits. From the prison yard to completing some of the world's toughest ultramarathons, including the Moab 240 and Cocodona 250, Cody’s story is a masterclass in redemption. In this raw conversation, we explore trauma, growth, and the mindset required to rebuild yourself. Cody’s mission is simple: help others find their "why," because when you find your why, you find your purpose.

    1h 23m
  8. The Long Detour to Master Guitar Builder: Leo Elliott's Journey

    May 11

    The Long Detour to Master Guitar Builder: Leo Elliott's Journey

    Leo Elliott's transformation into a master guitar builder is a remarkable story of second chances. In this conversation, Leo shares his journey from a curious kid in Dallas who loved taking things apart, through years of severe personal struggle, to becoming the founder of Scarlet Fire Guitars. After a winding path that included mining gold in Ghana, Leo crafted his first Jerry Garcia inspired custom guitar. When he took it to Bryant "Pablo" Russell at the iconic Charley's Guitar Shop, the restoration expert was completely blown away. That validation sparked a career that eventually led Leo to track down and work directly with the legendary Doug Irwin. Whether you are interested in guitar building, the Grateful Dead legacy, or incredible human resilience, this episode shows that sometimes the longest detours lead you exactly where you are supposed to be.

    1h 13m
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Innerspace is a space for reflection, awareness, and lived experience. Through calm, grounded conversations with Brett Kaufman, the show explores what happens beneath the surface, the inner signals, transitions, and moments of clarity that shape how we move through the world.

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