The Audacious Living Podcast

Audley Stephenson & The Podfather Network
  • 5.0 (57)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Semiweekly

The Audacious Living Podcast🎙unpacks wisdom from guests to help you live your best audacious life ever! #BeAudacious📢

  1. 1d ago

    Put Something Heavy Down with Sandra McQuade

    Sandra McQuade was six years old when she started forgiving her mother. She could feel her mother's pain before she had any words for it, and that understanding was where forgiveness began.   Signature Quote   "Forgiveness isn't about still putting up with things that hurt you. Forgiveness is for you."   Why This Quote Matters   Sandra's mother was doing her best with tools she did not have. The quote is the whole episode in one breath: forgiveness is not a favor for the person who hurt you, it is a decision about what you will keep carrying.   Sandra McQuade is a contributing author to When We Forgive, a Life to Paper anthology of fifteen stories tracing the path between hurt and healing. Her story, The Widow, is about her mother, a woman who lost her husband young, struggled with alcohol, and was called the widow by people who preyed on her vulnerability. It is the first thing Sandra ever wrote.   In this conversation, Sandra talks about forgiveness beginning as a feeling in a child who could sense her mother's pain, and the decision that kept coming for years in small acts of understanding. She talks about watching her mother spend a lifetime not forgiving her father, and what that cost. She talks about becoming a mother herself, and seeing both sides of the story at once.   This is a conversation about putting something heavy down. If you are carrying something old, something that keeps making your decisions for you, Sandra is your proof that the lighter feeling is real, and that you do not have to wait for an apology to choose it.   THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU IF...   - You are carrying something old and heavy, and it keeps making your decisions for you. - You have wondered whether forgiving means putting up with the same behavior again. - You are harder on yourself than you would ever be on anyone else. - You want to understand someone who hurt you without excusing what they did. - You keep a journal, or you have been meaning to start one.   GUEST BIO   Sandra McQuade is an artist and a first-time author. Her story, The Widow, appears in When We Forgive, a Life to Paper anthology of fifteen stories tracing the path between hurt and healing. It is the first thing she ever wrote.   Sandra paints primarily in acrylics and is a featured member of the Oshawa Art Association. Her work earned jurors choice at the Art Guild of Scarborough in 2025 for her piece Manhattan Mist, and an honorable mention at the Oshawa Art Association Juried Art Exhibition in 2026 for The Wedge Between Us. She is a mother, and her story draws on a childhood shaped by her mother's struggles with alcohol and the long work of forgiving her.   GUEST LINKS   Connect with Sandra:   https://www.instagram.com/sandramcquadeartfulcoaching   When We Forgive, a Life to Paper anthology. All proceeds support the Life to Paper Foundation:   https://buy.bookfunnel.com/isij6z3lv0   READ THE BLOG ARTICLE   Explore the conversation further:   [https://www.bestaudaciouslife.com/audacious-insights/do-it-scared-why-waiting-to-feel-ready-is-the-real-risk-gz62r]   LISTEN ANYWHERE. LIVE AUDACIOUSLY.   Enjoy The Audacious Living Podcast on your favorite listening platform.   Choose where to listen:   https://bestaudaciouslife.com   Enjoying the show?   Share this episode with someone who needs to hear this.   ⭐ Leave a review:   👉 https://ratethispodcast.com/audacious

  2. 3d ago

    Do It Scared: Ciara Horton on Faith, Fear, and Building She Is E Magazine

    What would you do if the vision came while you were folding laundry? Ciara Horton built two magazines on that vision, and she was terrified at every single launch.   Signature Quote   "If it scares you, if you cannot sleep at night and you don't have any peace, do it scared. Do the thing because you not doing a thing is going to hold you back, but it's also going to hold the people back that need you to do the thing. So just do it."   Why This Quote Matters   Ciara had never made a magazine when she saw the words SHE IS in lime green letters. The quote is the whole episode in one breath: fear is not the reason to stop, it is the signal to move, because the people who need your work are waiting on the other side of it.   Ciara Horton has spent ten years putting other people's stories on magazine covers. She founded She Is E Magazine in 2016 after a faith moment in her laundry room, and she added He Is E Magazine in 2020 during COVID. She had no publishing background. She researched her way in, taught herself what she could, and kept going even when she quit, which she has done more times than she can count.   In this conversation, Ciara talks about the everyday woman as a celebrity in her own right, the young woman who told her a two-page feature felt like taking off a mask, and the circle of family and friends who hold the mirror up and ask what she is waiting on. She talks about the mask she still wears herself, and what it costs to take it off piece by piece.   This is a conversation about doing the thing before you feel ready. If you have ever sat on an idea because the fear felt too big, Ciara is your permission slip.   THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU IF...   - You are sitting on an idea because you do not feel ready yet. - You have quit something you love and wonder if coming back counts. - You believe your story matters but you keep hiding behind the mask. - You want a circle that will not let you sit on your ideas. - You need proof that expertise is not a prerequisite for beginning.   GUEST BIO   Ciara Horton is the founder and publisher of She Is E Magazine and He Is E Magazine, platforms that give everyday women and men the cover treatment usually reserved for celebrities. Based in Atlanta, she launched She Is E in 2016 after a faith moment in her laundry room, building it from scratch through research and determination despite having no publishing background. Ten years on, her magazines have featured hundreds of entrepreneurs, authors, executives, and celebrities, including the daughters of Isaac Hayes, James Brown, and Sam Cooke. She added the men's title, He Is E, in 2020 during COVID.   Beyond publishing, Ciara is an author, a coach who runs magazine boot camps, and a women's empowerment advocate whose mantra is "She Is you, She Is me, She is We." She is also a mother who credits her own mother and the women around her for modeling the courage she now champions.   GUEST LINKS   Connect with Ciara:   https://sheisemagazine.com https://heisemagazine.com https://www.instagram.com/sheisemagazine/ https://www.instagram.com/he_isemagazine/   READ THE BLOG ARTICLE   Explore the conversation further:   [https://www.bestaudaciouslife.com/podcast-episodes/do-it-scared-ciara-horton-on-faith-fear-and-building-she-is-e-magazine]   LISTEN ANYWHERE. LIVE AUDACIOUSLY.   Enjoy The Audacious Living Podcast on your favorite listening platform.   Choose where to listen:   https://bestaudaciouslife.com   Enjoying the show?   Share this episode with someone who needs to hear this.   ⭐ Leave a review:   👉 https://ratethispodcast.com/audacious

  3. 5d ago

    The Nomadic Soul with Seline Shenoy

    Some people spend their whole lives trying to be someone else. Seline Shenoy spent hers learning to be herself, and then she wrote the book on it. Signature Quote "if you know who you are at your core, a lot of your decisions and the choices you make will be informed based on your core identity." Why This Quote Matters Seline was the quiet kid on the sidelines, keeping a diary, told she was too withdrawn. The core she found was not a limitation. It was the foundation everything else was built on, and it is the reason she can now help others find theirs. Seline Shenoy is a content creator, blogger, and podcaster, and the author of The Nomadic Soul. She started The Dreamcatcher blog in late 2014 to find her own voice, and it grew into a global community of readers and listeners. Her podcast, The Dreamcatcher Podcast, has run for more than 260 conversations on personal growth, identity, and meaningful living. In this conversation, Seline talks about identity as an onion, layers you uncover with every experience and a core of values, vision, and character that stays the same. She talks about grace, forgiving her twenty-year-old self, and treating mistakes as tuition. She explains what a nomad really is, a seeker who wants roots and room to wander, and why comparison, especially on social media, can be your undoing. She talks about being the quiet kid, the diary, and the day Susan Cain's Quiet gave her permission to be who she is. This is a conversation about knowing who you are before you decide who to become. If you have ever felt like the quiet one, the misfit, or the person still figuring it out, Seline is your proof that the inner work is the real work. THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU IF... - You have ever felt like the quiet one on the sidelines, and wondered if that was a weakness. - You are doing the inner work and want a clear place to start. - You have mistakes you still need to forgive yourself for. - You compare yourself to everyone else and know it is costing you. - You want roots and room to wander, and you are ready to stop living for others. GUEST BIO Seline Shenoy is an author, blogger, and podcaster, and the creator of The Dream Catcher, a global personal-growth platform. She started The Dreamcatcher blog in late 2014 and later launched The Dreamcatcher Podcast, where she has led more than 260 conversations on personal growth, identity, and meaningful living. She is the author of The Nomadic Soul: A Seeker's Guide to Finding a Sense of Self and Belonging in the Modern World, and Beauty Redefined. Her work focuses on identity, self-worth, emotional freedom, and living in alignment with the values that anchor your life. GUEST LINKS Connect with Seline: https://selineshenoy.com https://thedreamcatch.com https://nomadicsoulbook.com https://www.instagram.com/selineshenoy/ READ THE BLOG ARTICLE  Explore the conversation further: https://www.bestaudaciouslife.com/podcast-episodes/george-sully-designing-in-the-dark-dtnsc-ab6m7 LISTEN ANYWHERE. LIVE AUDACIOUSLY. Enjoy The Audacious Living Podcast on your favorite listening platform. Choose where to listen: https://bestaudaciouslife.com Enjoying the show? Share this episode with someone who needs to hear this. ⭐ Leave a review: 👉 https://ratethispodcast.com/audacious

    The Nomadic Soul with Seline Shenoy

  4. Nov 2

    Designing in the Dark with George Sully

    Some people wait to be seen. George Sully stopped waiting and built the thing that made his whole community impossible to ignore. Signature Quote "you seek that light, eventually you'll find it, and when you find it, surprise, surprise, you're better than everybody else in the daylight." Why This Quote Matters George spent twenty years creating brilliance while the fashion industry refused to count him. The dark did not break him. It trained him, and the light found a man who was already ready. George Sully is a Toronto fashion designer, the founder of Black Designers of Canada, and the author of the memoir Designing in the Dark. He went from public housing in Ottawa to the Bata Shoe Museum, the Starfleet boot on Star Trek: Discovery, and a platform that counts hundreds of Black designers the industry once pretended did not exist. In this conversation, George talks about the leap from music to fashion, the twenty years of being excellent and overlooked, and the day he put out the call and found 300 designers in a matter of weeks. He talks about systemic racism as carbon monoxide, ghost haters in Canada, and why AI might be the best thing that ever happened to designers like him. This is a conversation about vision that refuses to wait for permission. If you are building something the world has not noticed yet, George is your proof that the dark is not the end of the story. THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU IF... - You are building something excellent while the room pretends not to see you. - You have ever been told to wait your turn, and you are done waiting. - You want to hear how one platform can multiply hundreds of careers. - You need proof that resilience is a skill the dark teaches, not a gift you are born with. - You are curious what happens when the people who were overlooked stop asking and start counting. GUEST BIO George Sully is an Ottawa-born, Toronto-based designer, entrepreneur, and cultural advocate. He co-founded Sully Wong in 2010, built House of Hayla and Sully and Son Co., and made the Starfleet uniform boot for Star Trek: Discovery. Two of his designs live in the Bata Shoe Museum's permanent collection, one of them created with high school students. In 2020, George founded Black Designers of Canada, an interactive index of Black designers that grew to more than 300 names in a matter of weeks. His memoir, Designing in the Dark, traces the journey from public housing in Ottawa to the heights of Canadian fashion. He holds the CAFA Changemaker Award and an honorary degree from George Brown. GUEST LINKS Connect with George: https://georgesully.com READ THE BLOG ARTICLE Explore the conversation further: https://www.bestaudaciouslife.com/podcast-episodes/george-sully-designing-in-the-dark-dtnsc.ɓ LISTEN ANYWHERE. LIVE AUDACIOUSLY. Enjoy The Audacious Living Podcast on your favorite listening platform. Choose where to listen: https://bestaudaciouslife.com Enjoying the show? Share this episode with someone who needs to hear this. ⭐ Leave a review: 👉 https://ratethispodcast.com/audacious

  5. Oct 30

    Become the Person Your Future Requires: Barbara Daoust on the Terror Barrier and the Next Chapter

    What if the next chapter of your life is not a reinvention, but a becoming? Barbara Daoust spent decades directing other people's performances, then lost the person she had built her life around, and had to stop performing herself.   Signature Quote   "It is more what your future requires. So becoming the person your future requires."   Why this quote matters: it is the thesis of the whole conversation. Barbara does not believe in going back to reinvent what you already know. She believes in creating the new identity your future is asking for, then walking toward it before you feel ready.   Barbara Daoust is a former theatre, television, and film director who spent ten years coaching celebrity children on television sets. Then her husband of 28 years died within weeks of a terminal cancer diagnosis, and four more family members followed in under two years. She went looking for a way to heal, and what she found remade her completely.   In this conversation, Barbara shares the Terror Barrier, the fear, doubt, and worry that crash in the moment you commit to a dream bigger than your experience. She explains why that fear is a survival mechanism, not a stop sign, and how to walk through it. She also shares the acting techniques she now uses with entrepreneurs and leaders: character building, scripting, and visioneering, the craft of pretending your way into the person you have not met yet.   This episode is for you if...   - You are standing at the edge of a dream that feels bigger than you - You have been waiting to feel ready, confident, or qualified before you begin - You know what to do and still cannot seem to do it - You are rebuilding after a loss and wondering who you are now - You suspect the gap between your life and your goals is a self-image problem, not a strategy problem   About Barbara Daoust   Barbara Daoust holds an MFA in Theatre Directing from UCLA and spent more than 25 years as a theatre, television, and film director, producer, and acting coach. She founded a theatre company in San Francisco and an acting academy in Sherman Oaks, and coached young actors on television sets for a decade, including the Olsen twins, Vanessa Hudgens, and Aaron Paul. Her work earned an award-winning production at the Kennedy Center.   After losing her husband of 28 years and several more loved ones in under two years, Barbara went on a journey of self-discovery through Spiritual Psychology, Neuroscience, and Metaphysics. She realized she had lived her whole life seeking approval outside herself and did not truly know her own worth. In 2013 she certified with Bob Proctor at the Proctor/Gallagher Institute as a "Thinking into Results" consultant, and she now helps entrepreneurs and leaders break through the Terror Barrier using the same acting techniques that built A-list careers. She is the author of True Love, True Self: A Journey to Self-Love.   Connect with Barbara   Website: https://www.barbaradaoust.com Free Code to Success script download: https://codetosuccess.com   READ THE BLOG ARTICLE   Explore the conversation further:   [ADD BLOG ARTICLE LINK]   LISTEN ANYWHERE. LIVE AUDACIOUSLY.   Enjoy The Audacious Living Podcast on your favorite listening platform.   Choose where to listen:   https://bestaudaciouslife.com   Enjoying the show?   Share this episode with someone who needs to hear this.   ⭐ Leave a review:   👉 https://ratethispodcast.com/audacious

  6. Oct 28

    The Mentor You Need May Already Be in Your Life with Dave Schmit

    Who helped you become the person you are today, and have you ever told them? Sometimes the relationships that shape us most begin long before we recognize them as mentorship.   Signature Quote “Dr. Brown had 4,000 students during the time he was director, but I only had one Dr. Brown.”   That distinction captures something deeply personal about mentorship. Someone may influence thousands of lives, yet the relationship they build with you can feel entirely your own.   What if finding a mentor begins with noticing the people already around you?   In this episode of The Audacious Living Podcast, Audley Stephenson sits down with Dave Schmit, author of Five Men, to explore the relationships that quietly shape our confidence, choices and direction. Drawing on his construction career, baseball coaching and longstanding connections with students, Dave shares why mentorship means more to him than giving instructions or offering advice.   A drive home after a mentor’s funeral became the starting point for Dave’s book. Our conversation follows the questions that emerged from that reflection: How do meaningful relationships take root? What keeps them alive? Could one small act of willingness open a door you cannot yet see?   THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU IF... • You are starting your career and wondering where to find guidance. • You have received good advice but want a deeper, lasting connection. • You hesitate to volunteer before you know exactly what is involved. • You want to support someone younger without having every answer. • You are reflecting on the people who helped you along the way.   ABOUT DAVE SCHMIT   Dave Schmit is an Atlanta-area construction professional and the author of Five Men, a novel drawn from his own experiences of mentorship. Raised in a military family, Dave went on to study at the University of Florida and build a career in construction, while maintaining relationships with people who influenced his personal and professional life.   His experience also includes coaching high school baseball and speaking with graduating construction management students over many years. Today, he finds particular satisfaction in conversations and workshops that help young people think more clearly about themselves, their relationships and their next steps.   CONNECT WITH DAVE https://a.co/d/0dbOxcQ8   Book: Five Men Dave mentions that paperback and Kindle editions are available on Amazon.   READ THE BLOG ARTICLE Explore the conversation further:   LISTEN ANYWHERE. LIVE AUDACIOUSLY. Enjoy The Audacious Living Podcast on your favorite listening platform. Choose where to listen: [https://www.bestaudaciouslife.com/podcast-episodes/dave-schmit-power-of-mentorship]   Enjoying the show? Share this episode with someone who needs to hear this. ⭐ Leave a review: 👉 https://ratethispodcast.com/audacious

    The Mentor You Need May Already Be in Your Life with Dave Schmit

  7. Oct 26

    Your Strongest Point Is Your Equilibrium: Joseph Coco on Audacity, Work, and Calling

    Some people chase the highs of life and dread the lows. Joseph Coco says he have it backwards. Signature Quote "It's not about being dominant or it's not about overpowering people, but it's about doing your thing in life." Why this quote matters: Joseph defines audacity as something quieter and braver than dominance. It is the willingness to keep doing your thing, and to touch fear and move through it, again and again. Joseph Coco is an author and a tradesman who has spent a working life learning what strength actually looks like. In this conversation he talks about the wall of doubters he had to break through, family and friends included, and the line he borrowed to do it: lead, follow, or get out of the way. He talks about vocation as a calling, not a paycheck, and why he tells the people he works with to work for principle, not money. The heart of the episode is an electrician's image that stops you in your tracks. A sine wave has highs and valleys, but the electricity does not live at the top or the bottom. It lives where the wave crosses the center line. Joseph calls that equilibrium, and he says that is where you are strongest. Not when you feel your best. When you are steady.   This episode is for you if...   - You have been told who you are, or what your ceiling is, and you refuse to accept it - You are tired of chasing the highs and crashing into the lows - You want your work to mean something deeper than a paycheck - You are facing a wall of doubters and need the nerve to break through it - You are looking for steadiness, not just success   About the guest:   Joseph Coco is the author of The Tradesman. He has spent decades in the trades, working with crews, serving customers, and learning firsthand what it takes to keep clients, keep your word, and keep going when the people closest to you think you are taking too big a risk. His story runs from a kid who was told he was bad to a man who decided that did not have to be his destiny. He joins Audley to talk about audacity, calling, and the equilibrium that holds a life together.   Guest links: https://thefeosproject.com/   READ THE BLOG ARTICLE   Explore the conversation further: https://www.bestaudaciouslife.com/audacious-insights/unchallenged-assumptions-limit-your-world-bx7gz     LISTEN ANYWHERE. LIVE AUDACIOUSLY.   Enjoy The Audacious Living Podcast on your favorite listening platform.   Choose where listen: https://www.bestaudaciouslife.com/audacious-insights/unchallenged-assumptions-limit-your-world-bx7gz   Enjoying the show?   Share this episode with someone who needs to hear this.   ⭐ Leave a review:   👉 https://ratethispodcast.com/audacious

  8. Oct 24

    Leave Your Bubble: Wesley Warshawer on Curiosity, Courage, and Finding Common Ground

    What would you learn about your own country if you moved to the place you understand the least? Signature Quote "It's the audacity to have the guts to choose curiosity over comfort." Why this quote matters: Wesley's whole journey runs on that one choice. Every story in this conversation, from a failed knock-knock joke to eighteen months in rural North Dakota, starts with him picking curiosity over staying comfortable. My guest this week is Wesley Warshawer. By day he is a data analyst at a semiconductor company in Silicon Valley. By choice, he has spent years leaving his bubble on purpose: a semester in India, two years in South Korea, and five years as a digital nomad, including eighteen months in rural America starting in Bismarck, North Dakota, a place he had never been, where he knew no one. Wesley did not go to prove a point. He went to test one. He had read the polls about his own country and realized the Silicon Valley bubble he lived in did not look anything like America. So he moved to the place he understood the least and asked a different question. Instead of asking people which candidate they supported, he asked them to paint a picture of a fair immigration policy or a fair healthcare system. What he heard changed him from a skeptic into an optimist. This episode is for you if: - You catch yourself judging people you have never actually met - You feel like the country is more divided than it has to be - You want to grow but you are tired of advice that never leaves the screen - You are curious about what a stranger's life can teach you about your own - You are ready to be uncomfortable at least once a week About Wesley Warshawer Wesley Warshawer is a data analyst in Silicon Valley who studies numbers for a living and studies people for the love of it. His years abroad and his five years as a digital nomad taught him that growth accelerates the further you get from your routine, and that the most embarrassing moments often carry the biggest lessons. He writes about the moments that changed his life on Substack, and he would love to hear from you about the moment of clarity that changed yours. Connect with Wesley   READ THE BLOG ARTICLE   Explore the conversation further:   https://wesleywarshawer.com/   LISTEN ANYWHERE. LIVE AUDACIOUSLY.   Enjoy The Audacious Living Podcast on your favorite listening platform.   Choose where to listen:   [https://www.bestaudaciouslife.com/the-audacious-living-podcast-episodes/5eeivzs8zvlxz0bb8gn8ylpq58u0cp]   Enjoying the show?   Share this episode with someone who needs to hear this.   ⭐ Leave a review:   👉 https://ratethispodcast.com/audacious

    Leave Your Bubble: Wesley Warshawer on Curiosity, Courage, and Finding Common Ground
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About

The Audacious Living Podcast🎙unpacks wisdom from guests to help you live your best audacious life ever! #BeAudacious📢

Information

  • Creator
    Audley Stephenson & The Podfather Network
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    313
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Audacious Living Podcast

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