Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories

Jeanne Andersen
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Personal Journals

Everyone has a story worth telling. On Project Candor, host Jeanne Andersen sits down with entrepreneurs, veterans, educators, creatives, leaders, and everyday people to explore the moments that shaped who they became.  Through thoughtful conversations and our signature Two Truths and a Lie segment, guests share authentic stories filled with unexpected turns, hard-earned lessons, humor, resilience, and hope.  Learn more at ProjectCandor.com

  1. 28m ago

    The Story That Serves Your Future with Kristen Crabtree | Ship's Log #48

    “Does your story serve your future?” — Kristen Crabtree Episode Summary After 22 years in a psychologically abusive marriage, Kristen Crabtree did the thing most people only talk about — she left. Not with a plan, not with a strategy, not with clarity. On her bathroom floor in the middle of a panic attack, with the bear behind her finally scarier than the abyss in front of her. In this episode she walks Jeanne through what it actually took to rebuild — and why she calls the work self-recovery, not self-help.  Kristen is a Certified Divorce Coach, the creator of the Paramour Paradox self-recovery framework, and the author of Be the You That's More You Than You've Ever Been. She talks about emotional sobriety as breaking an addiction to your own chemistry, monkey mind as the chatter that runs every conversation we have with ourselves, and the moment she realized that the story she was telling about her past wasn't serving her future. There's a confetti story you won't forget. There's a Roomba.  And then there's Two Truths and a Lie — where one of Kristen's three headlines turns out to involve the FBI, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and a case that's now taught in law school. The lie is somewhere else entirely.  Kristen's Bio Kristen Crabtree is a Certified Divorce Coach and the creator of Paramour Paradox, a self-recovery framework grounded in lived experience. After 22 years in a psychologically abusive marriage, she built her own path back and now works with people moving from trauma to truth. She's the author of Be the You That's More You Than You've Ever Been and the companion True You 2.0 Field Journal.  Kristen's Links Website (Paramour Paradox):  https://www.paramourparadox.com Website (Coaching / Book a Call):  https://www.you2point0.com Facebook:  https://facebook.com/paramourparadox Instagram:  https://instagram.com/paramourparadox LinkedIn:  https://linkedin.com/in/kcrabtree8/ Kristen's CTA If something Kristen said landed for you — to agree, to push back, or just to talk it through — book a free call at you2point0.com. There are also about nine free downloadable tools in the shop at paramourparadox.com. Who do you know who'd make a great guest for the show? Please let us know. Email: info@projectcandor.com Website:   https://www.projectcandor.com Social Media Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ProjectCandor/ LinkedIn:     https://www.linkedin.com/company/projectcandor/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/project.candor/ YouTube:    https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectCandorPodcast

    The Story That Serves Your Future with Kristen Crabtree | Ship's Log #48

  2. 4d ago

    Built From The Inside Out with Amy Lenius | Ship's Log #47

    "Most people don't fail because they're doing too little... They fail because they're doing too much of what doesn't actually move the needle."  - Amy Lenius  Episode Summary  Amy Lenius didn't set out to become a personal development coach. She became one because, for years, no one could tell her what was wrong with her own body. Growing up with endometriosis before the internet existed, she navigated years of pain, dismissal, and failed treatments before deciding to take her health into her own hands. That decision - to stop being a victim of her situation and start asking better questions - became the foundation of everything she teaches today.   In this episode, Amy walks through the framework she's built around three deceptively simple ideas: self-worth, self-belief, and consistency. But it's her breakdown of the four archetypes - victim, villain, hero, and guide - that stops the conversation cold. She explains how even high achievers can get stuck in the hero role, doing everything for everyone else while quietly starving their own self-worth. The path to the guide, she says, isn't about becoming someone different. It's about becoming more conscious of the fears that are already running the show.   Amy also makes the case for the "unsexy fundamentals" - the compounding, unglamorous daily actions that most people abandon too soon because results don't arrive on schedule. And in Two Truths and a Lie, it turns out the bass fishing and metal music are very real. The coffee habit? Not so much. It's all tea.   Guest Bio  Amy Lenius is a personal development and success coach and Director of Group Coaching at Next Level University. After rebuilding her own health through years of trial and error with endometriosis, she now helps women reconnect with their self-worth, build lasting consistency, and stop doing more of what doesn't move the needle. She's spoken on stages across the health and personal development world - and yes, she bass fishes and listens to metal to unwind.   Guest Links  Website: https://www.nextleveluniverse.com/group-coaching/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amy.lenius Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amylenius  Guest CTA  Join Amy's free Facebook community - Next Level Nation - dedicated to growth and self-awareness: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thenextlevelnation  Who do you know who'd make a great guest for the show? Please let us know. Email: info@projectcandor.com Website:   https://www.projectcandor.com Social Media Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ProjectCandor/ LinkedIn:     https://www.linkedin.com/company/projectcandor/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/project.candor/ YouTube:    https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectCandorPodcast

    Built From The Inside Out with Amy Lenius | Ship's Log #47

  3. Sep 28

    Preacher. Breacher. FBI Teacher, with Eric Robinson | Ship's Log #46

    “I have never regretted going into an interaction with a victim, informant, or criminal, and employing curiosity.” — Eric Robinson  Episode Summary  For 12 years, Eric Robinson stood in a pulpit. For the next 24, he carried a badge. In this episode he tells Jeanne how a Baptist pastor from western New York walked into the FBI Academy having never held a gun — and spent the next two and a half decades working white-collar fraud, public corruption, counterterrorism, and crimes against children, all while serving 15 years on SWAT. The throughline that connects both lives turns out to be a single skill: getting people to talk.  It's a heavier resume than the conversation feels, and that's the point. Eric explains how agents survive the worst of the job by telling each other stories, why he treats an interrogation like a normal conversation instead of a table-slamming standoff, and how he stays self-aware enough not to believe the whole world is as dark as his caseload — “you're a bird watcher; of course you find the birds.” Along the way, he shares some of his most memorable stories: the couple who got caught making out in the middle of his sermon, the church that held services in the Lucille Ball Theater, and the confession he got just by pressing play on a pile of recorded calls that caught a boyfriend cheating. The episode closes with Two Truths & A Lie — a protective detail for an FBI director, a great-grandfather interned in WWI for preaching in German, and two Attorney General award cases — and Eric's memoir, Irreverent: From Saving Souls to Chasing Sinners with the FBI, coming this fall. We won't tell you which headline was the lie. You'll have to listen. Eric's Bio: Eric Robinson spent 12 years as a Baptist pastor before trading the pulpit for a badge and giving 24 years to the FBI as a special agent, SWAT operator, and firearms instructor. He worked everything from white-collar fraud to counterterrorism — and somehow kept his humor through all of it. Now retired, he's turning those years into a memoir. Turns out the same curiosity that made him a good pastor made him even better in an interrogation room. Eric's Links: Website: https://preachertobreacher.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-robinson-9220053a4/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_eric_robinson Book: Irreverent: From Saving Souls to Chasing Sinners with the FBI (memoir, releasing fall 2026) Eric's Call to Action: Follow Eric on Instagram (@_eric_robinson) for his latest content, and visit preachertobreacher.com to sign up for updates on his upcoming memoir, Irreverent. Who do you know who'd make a great guest for the show? Please let us know. Email: info@projectcandor.com Website:   https://www.projectcandor.com Social Media Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ProjectCandor/ LinkedIn:     https://www.linkedin.com/company/projectcandor/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/project.candor/ YouTube:    https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectCandorPodcast

    Preacher. Breacher. FBI Teacher, with Eric Robinson | Ship's Log #46

  4. Sep 24

    No Map. No Degree. Got There. | Grit Isn't Grinding Harder with Andrew Brummer | Ship's Log #45

    “Plant seeds, wherever you can, that will grow into trees that you will never sit under.” — Andrew Brummer Episode Summary: Andrew Brummer grew up in South Africa knowing early that the world wasn’t going to hand him anything. Born with a medical anomaly that set him apart, he learned from his mother that he couldn’t change what he looked like—but he could decide, every single day, who he’d become. That lesson became the operating system for a life built with no degree, no safety net, and no map. In this conversation, he tells Jeanne about the 2024 moment when the company he was leading nearly shut down and how he chose to respond instead of react—and why the two years since have been the most purposeful of his life. He opens up about a lifetime of serving others at the cost of his own brand and finances, mentoring founders from Botswana to Venezuela, and building My Story Told, a way to help people turn a lifetime of experience into books that outlast them. Then comes the show’s signature game, Two Truths & A Lie—a scuba dive that got a little too close to two reef sharks, a family cruise cut short by COVID in Stockholm, and a mountain summit back in 1999. One of them isn’t quite what it sounds like. Stick around for the reveal. Andrew's Bio: Andrew Brummer is a South African–born business leader, executive coach, and author who built his whole career on demonstrated capability rather than credentials. Today he’s COO at Industry Technologies, co-founder of VeritEye, and CEO of My Story Told, where he helps people turn a lifetime of experience into books. Known as “The Business Polygraph,” he has a knack for hearing what an organization is really telling itself. He’s also the author of two books, You Decide and Leading Magnanimously. Andrew's Links: ● Website:  https://ardunan.com ● LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewbrummer ● Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/ardunan.village ● YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@Ardunan ● X (Twitter):  https://x.com/AndrewBrummer Andrew's Call to Action: Ready to transform your leadership approach or scale your operations? Connect with Andrew to explore fractional executive services, leadership coaching, or simply to share insights over a great conversation. Whether you’re navigating a pivot, building a team, or seeking that next-level breakthrough—Andrew’s door is always open. Who do you know who'd make a great guest for the show? Please let us know. Email: info@projectcandor.com Website:   https://www.projectcandor.com Social Media Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ProjectCandor/ LinkedIn:     https://www.linkedin.com/company/projectcandor/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/project.candor/ YouTube:    https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectCandorPodcast

  5. Sep 21

    He Invents. He Ships. He Sings. with David Ask | Ship's Log #44

    "The greatest good you can do for another is not to share with him your riches, but to reveal to him his own."  — Benjamin Disraeli  Episode Summary  David Ask has lived several lives at once — and somehow they all rhyme. He's a Nashville inventor who, with his brother-in-law, built the world's first thermostat guard, StatGuard Plus, now carried in more than 3,700 Home Depot and Lowe's stores — and he'll be the first to tell you the road there was anything but glamorous. He's also a singer who has performed the National Anthem more times than he can count, sang backup for Andrea Bocelli, and opened a legislative session on the floor of the Tennessee House.  But the thread David keeps pulling on now isn't invention or music — it's identity. Through the True North Resiliency Program and his forthcoming book, Guardians of Grit, he makes a case that we've got the order backwards: we chase what we do before we ever settle who we are. He draws a hard line between grit and just grinding harder, and for fathers he boils connection down to three words — Notice, Name, Nurture — anchored by the idea that our deepest longing is to be fully known and loved.  It's a conversation about building things, losing your footing in your 40s, and being introduced to yourself — held together by the Disraeli line David lives by. Stick around for Two Truths & A Lie, where one of David's wilder claims turns out to have a twist.  Guest Bio  David Ask is a Nashville-based inventor, entrepreneur, and identity coach — the creator of StatGuard Plus (in 3,700+ Home Depot and Lowe's stores) who now spends his energy helping people figure out who they are before they chase what they do. He's the lead coach for the True North Resiliency Program and is finishing a book for dads called Guardians of Grit. And yes — that's really him singing the National Anthem (and backing up Bocelli).  Guest Links  Website:  https://www.TheAskExperience.com  LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedavidask/  Music / Linktree:  https://linktr.ee/davidaskmusic  YouTube (singing):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ_ub2jU0_g  StatGuardPlus:  https://StatGuardPlus.com  Chorum Global:  https://ChorumGlobal.com  Contact:  hello@davidask.com Who do you know who'd make a great guest for the show? Please let us know. Email: info@projectcandor.com Website:   https://www.projectcandor.com Social Media Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ProjectCandor/ LinkedIn:     https://www.linkedin.com/company/projectcandor/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/project.candor/ YouTube:    https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectCandorPodcast

    He Invents. He Ships. He Sings. with David Ask | Ship's Log #44

  6. Sep 17

    She Sails Between Two Worlds with Sharon Madsen | Ship's Log #43

    “Somewhere between surviving and achieving, you forgot you were born sacred. Your soul has been waiting in the stillness of your heart for you to remember.”  Episode Summary  Sharon Madsen has spent 30 years doing work that's hard to put on a business card. She's a regulated health professional, a Reiki Master Teacher, and a self-described psychic medium — and the people who find her are usually the ones who look most put-together from the outside. The house, the marriage, the career, the success. And a quiet, confusing emptiness underneath it all.  In this conversation she and Jeanne trace where that emptiness comes from — what Sharon calls being out of alignment with your soul — and why so many of us learned to tamp down our own intuition until we couldn't hear it anymore. Sharon shares astonishing stories from her practice, including channeling a late father's private nickname for a client in a language she doesn't speak, and offers a deceptively simple daily practice: standing at the mirror and learning to love the person looking back. Jeanne brings her own thread too, from a childhood premonition of her father's car accident to the idea that you can't love your neighbor until you love yourself.  Then it's Two Truths & A Lie — three unforgettable headlines: healing an elephant with her bare hands, a whitewater rafting accident that nearly killed her, and a meditation-retreat moment she believes was the gift of divine healing. Jeanne makes her guess. Sharon walks through each one. And the reveal is not the one you'd bet on. Stay to the end.  Guest Bio  Sharon Madsen helps successful people who've achieved everything but still feel empty inside. A regulated health professional, psychic medium, and Reiki Master Teacher for 30 years, she guides people from racing minds and emotional exhaustion back to inner peace — and back to the wholeness they've been searching for all along.  Guest Links  Website:  https://shineyoursoullight.com  Private Session:  https://shineyoursoullight.com/privatesession  Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/sharonshaymadsen  Instagram:  https://instagram.com/sharonshaymadsen  Email:  Sharon@shineyoursoullight.com  Who do you know who'd make a great guest for the show? Please let us know. Email: info@projectcandor.com Website:   https://www.projectcandor.com Social Media Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ProjectCandor/ LinkedIn:     https://www.linkedin.com/company/projectcandor/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/project.candor/ YouTube:    https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectCandorPodcast

    She Sails Between Two Worlds with Sharon Madsen | Ship's Log #43

  7. Sep 14

    40 Years Navigating Two Worlds, with Dr. Greg Yuen | Ship's Log #42

    “Through mindful touch, we reconnect and restore our wholeness and health.” — Dr. Greg Yuen  Episode Summary  When Dr. Greg Yuen was twelve, his grandmother died — and at the funeral, placing paper money on her coffin and touching her pillow to say goodbye, he was hit by the realization that one day he would die too. He handled the fear the way a kid does (a lot of Snickers bars) and made himself a promise: he was going to find the secret to living forever. That vow launched a forty-year voyage between two worlds of healing.  Greg became a psychiatrist who prescribed pharmaceuticals for his patients while quietly avoiding them in his own life, studying qigong, tai chi, and massage instead. On this episode he and Jeanne dig into Do-in — the practice of mindful self-massage he now teaches — and the idea at its heart: where the mind goes, the chi goes. He walks Jeanne (and the listener) through a hands-on demonstration of feeling your own vital force, makes the case for treating the whole body rather than chasing one sore spot, and explains why the tools for your own healing are already in your two hands.  Then it's Two Truths & A Lie: a medical doctor turned fortune teller, a milk bone dog biscuit that helped heal a staph infection, and a psychiatrist who creates transformation through karaoke. Greg tells all three stories before revealing which one he made up — and closes with a self-healing message and a complimentary gift for listeners.  Guest Bio  After his grandmother died when he was twelve, Dr. Greg Yuen made a vow to find the secret to longevity. More than forty years later — as a psychiatrist, tai chi instructor, and licensed massage therapist — he teaches Do-in, the practice of mindful self-massage for radiant vitality. His message is simple: the tools for your own healing are already in your hands.  Guest Links Website:  https://gregyuenmd.com  Website (Do-in):  https://do-in.us Speaking:  https://gregyuenMDspeaks.com YouTube:  Do-in International LinkedIn:  https://linkedin.com/in/greg-yuen-29423120  Guest CTA Greg is offering Project Candor listeners a complimentary video of his 10 energizing pressure points — his go-to sequence for beating burnout and fatigue. Reach out to him at gregyuen@cs.com to connect and claim it. Speaking Engagement CTA Dr. Yuen leads Do-in workshops and speaks on natural healing, longevity, and the mind-body connection. Learn more at https://gregyuenMDspeaks.com. Who do you know who'd make a great guest for the show? Please let us know. Email: info@projectcandor.com Website:   https://www.projectcandor.com Social Media Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ProjectCandor/ LinkedIn:     https://www.linkedin.com/company/projectcandor/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/project.candor/ YouTube:    https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectCandorPodcast

    40 Years Navigating Two Worlds, with Dr. Greg Yuen | Ship's Log #42

  8. Sep 10

    The 42-Year Voyage with Chris Donaldson | Ship’s Log #41

    “Home is where the bike is!” — Chris Donaldson  Episode Summary  In 1979 a 21-year-old Chris Donaldson pointed a café-racing Moto Guzzi out of Belfast—a city of checkpoints and bomb scares, where his family’s furniture shop got blown up on the regular—and aimed it at Australia. He never got there. The Iranian revolution closed his road east, and what was meant to be a four-month, 10,000-mile ride became a year and a half and more than 50,000 miles the “wrong” way: across the Sahara on a road bike never built for it, down through Africa to Cape Town, a hitched ride on a yacht race back to Europe, then Canada all the way down to Buenos Aires.  Forty-two years later, Chris is climbing back onto the very same bike to finally finish the ride—this time with Parkinson’s, an old friend named Liam, and a phrase he lives by: “adventure before dementia.” He and Jeanne talk about the Aboriginal walkabout that shaped him, why an unmapped, pre-GPS world made for richer adventure, and the strangers across four decades who fed him, fixed his bike, and once filled his petrol tank for free in Iran and waved off the money.  They close with Two Truths & A Lie—the Sahara, a scooter to Antarctica, and crossing Iran with a canceled visa—and with Chris’s quiet reframe of a lifetime of detours: “It wasn’t the wrong way at all.”  Guest Bio  Chris Donaldson is an adventurer and author from Belfast who set out in 1979 to ride his Moto Guzzi to Australia—and ended up going 50,000 miles the wrong way instead. His memoir of that trip, Going the Wrong Way, is an Amazon best-seller with more than 1,200 five-star reviews. Now in his sixties, he’s back on the same 1977 bike, finally pointing it toward Australia—because it’s always adventure before dementia.  Guest Links Website:  https://chrisdonaldson.world Book:  Going the Wrong Way (Amazon) — https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1838012761 LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisdonaldson1 Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/goingthewrongway.book X / Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ChrisDo69411982 YouTube:  Video on file: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAEPhkadGbc  Guest CTA If you’d like to follow Chris’s journey or read his book Going the Wrong Way, you can find everything at https://chrisdonaldson.world. Who do you know who'd make a great guest for the show? Please let us know. Email: info@projectcandor.com Website:   https://www.projectcandor.com Social Media Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ProjectCandor/ LinkedIn:     https://www.linkedin.com/company/projectcandor/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/project.candor/ YouTube:    https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectCandorPodcast

    The 42-Year Voyage with Chris Donaldson | Ship’s Log #41
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Everyone has a story worth telling. On Project Candor, host Jeanne Andersen sits down with entrepreneurs, veterans, educators, creatives, leaders, and everyday people to explore the moments that shaped who they became.  Through thoughtful conversations and our signature Two Truths and a Lie segment, guests share authentic stories filled with unexpected turns, hard-earned lessons, humor, resilience, and hope.  Learn more at ProjectCandor.com

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