12 Steps to Success: Navigating change, uncertainty, and what comes next

Eric Mackay
  • 5.0 (4)
  • SELF-IMPROVEMENT

What happens when the old definitions of success stop working? 12 Steps to Success is a long-form podcast about identity, purpose, burnout, and the messy, uncertain middle of building a life and career. It explores moments of transition, pressure, reinvention, and recovery, especially when clarity disappears and familiar paths no longer fit. Hosted by Eric Mackay, a senior music industry executive, founder, author, and recovering perfectionist, the show sits between success stories and self-help. These are not highlight reels or tidy frameworks. They are honest conversations with artists, founders, executives, creatives, and operators who have built things, lost things, walked away from roles that looked perfect on paper, and had to rethink who they were along the way. Each episode examines themes including identity, leadership, burnout, sobriety, creativity, pressure, and the quiet recalibrations that happen when life does not go to plan. The focus is not on how people made it, but on how they kept going when certainty disappeared. Eric is not a neutral interviewer. He brings his own lived experience into the room, asking better questions, challenging assumptions, and staying with discomfort rather than rushing to resolution. The tone is reflective, occasionally funny, sometimes raw, and deliberately unscripted. This is a podcast for people in transition. For anyone questioning success, navigating change, or trying to build something meaningful without losing themselves in the process. New episodes are released weekly during each season, with breaks between seasons. Learn more at twelvestepstosuccess.com and on Instagram @twelvestepstosuccess.

Episodes

  1. Leaders Worth Believing In: Agency, Accountability, and the Mindset Economy (ft. Jean Gomes)

    5D AGO

    Leaders Worth Believing In: Agency, Accountability, and the Mindset Economy (ft. Jean Gomes)

    This conversation with Jean Gomes is about what it means to stay human when leadership, work, and technology keep pushing us toward speed, cynicism, and performance. We start with agency, not “positive thinking,” but the practical kind: choosing how you show up, what you feed, and what you participate in. From there, we get into the stories we’re sold about success (and why so many of them collapse in real life), what “leaders worth believing in” actually means, and why accountability has a physical and emotional foundation, not just an intellectual one. We also talk about AI, tech culture, and the way “existential fear” can be used to numb people into passivity. Jean shares why the real advantage in an AI-first world isn’t efficiency, it’s mindset, embodied intelligence, imagination, and moral ambition. What comes up in the conversation In this episode, we talk about: - Why “agency” is getting harder to hold onto and why it still matters - The gap between business-school success stories and what actually happens inside change - Leadership archetypes and why charisma without moral centre is a dead end - Why your body is part of your brain and what embodied intelligence changes - The Mindset Economy: what becomes valuable when machines can think - AI narratives, power concentration, and the risk of learned futility - Polarisation at work, ideology vs values, and what it costs to stay quiet - Reclaiming a “both-and” mindset in a world addicted to binary thinking - Building a healthier relationship with your future self About Jean Gomes Jean Gomes is a New York Times best-selling author and an advisor to hundreds of CEOs, focused on applying the science of mindset to leadership, wellbeing, and organisational agility. He is part of the research-based consultancy Outside, and co-host of The Evolving Leader and The Mindset Economy podcasts. Since April 2024, Jean has been Professor of Practice at UCL Global Business School for Health. He co-authored the New York Times bestseller The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working, and his book Leading in a Non-Linear World explores how to build mindsets for uncertainty. Jean also writes the newsletter The Mindset Monthly. Links & resources Jean’s Speaker Profile (London Speaker Bureau): https://londonspeakerbureau.com/speaker-profile/jean-gomes/ Jean’s newsletter (Mindset Monthly / The Mindset Economy on LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/mindset-monthly-7001265313933619201/ About the podcast 12 Steps to Success is a podcast about what happens when the path you were on stops making sense. Hosted by Eric Mackay, the show centres on honest conversations with people navigating change, pressure, identity shifts, recovery, and redefinition. These are not success stories or instruction manuals, but real conversations about how people live inside uncertainty and keep moving without false certainty. Website: https://twelvestepstosuccess.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/twelvestepstosuccess

    52 min
  2. When the Pack Disappears: Community and Building Something That Lasts (ft. Lauren Blitzer-Wright)

    FEB 17

    When the Pack Disappears: Community and Building Something That Lasts (ft. Lauren Blitzer-Wright)

    This conversation with Lauren Blitzer-Wright centres on what happens when the community you relied on suddenly disappears - and what it takes to rebuild connection without losing yourself in the process. We talk about growing up in New York and learning early that even the biggest cities can feel intimate when you find your people. Lauren reflects on building a career in music, creating culture inside corporate environments, and what it felt like to leave a company after more than a decade and realise her identity had been tied to one room. There is a recurring thread throughout this episode around control versus presence. Between micromanaging outcomes and allowing life to unfold. Between staying inside safe systems and choosing to build something new. We also talk openly about LGBTQ+ family, legal adoption, safety, and what it means to raise children in a world that feels uncertain. This conversation isn’t about success in the traditional sense. It’s about accountability, belonging, and the quiet strength of showing up for each other. What comes up in the conversation In this episode, we talk about: Growing up in 1980s and 90s New York and finding community inside chaosThe difference between control and presenceCareer identity and what happens when you leave a company after 12+ yearsStarting Lone Wolves and rebuilding connection after layoffsMentorship, generosity, and paying support forwardLGBTQ+ family, legal adoption, and protecting your childrenAccountability and having the conversations you’d rather avoid About Lauren Blitzer-Wright Lauren Blitzer-Wright has spent over 15 years in the music industry, working across brand, marketing, and business development. She is also the co-founder of Lone Wolves, a community built to reconnect music industry professionals navigating layoffs and transition. Earlier in her career, Lauren wrote Same Sex in the City and worked in nonprofit advocacy with GLSEN, supporting LGBTQ+ youth. She lives in New York with her wife and their twin boys. Links & resources Lauren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lulu_blitzer/ Lone Wolves on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lonewolvescommunity/ Lone Wolves website: https://www.lonewolvesclub.co/ Buy Same Sex in the City on Amazon: https://a.co/d/09CoGnWe About the podcast 12 Steps to Success is a podcast about what happens when the path you were on stops making sense. Hosted by Eric Mackay, the show centres on honest conversations with people navigating change, pressure, identity shifts, recovery, and redefinition. These are not success stories or instruction manuals, but real conversations about how people live inside uncertainty and keep moving without false certainty. Stay connected Website: https://twelvestepstosuccess.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/twelvestepstosuccess

    48 min
  3. When Your Belief System Breaks: Identity, Fear, and the Way Back to Love (ft. Brian Recker)

    FEB 10

    When Your Belief System Breaks: Identity, Fear, and the Way Back to Love (ft. Brian Recker)

    This conversation with Brian Recker centres on what happens when the belief system you built your life around no longer feels honest or humane. We talk about growing up inside fear based religion, the cost of belonging to high control systems, and what it means to start questioning ideas that once felt untouchable. Brian reflects on the quiet tension of knowing something is harmful while still being afraid to let it go, and the emotional fallout that can follow when identity, community, and certainty begin to unravel. There is a recurring thread throughout this episode around fear versus compassion. Between belief as control and belief as care. Between inherited frameworks and the slow work of rebuilding a way of living that puts humanity first. Rather than arguing for or against religion, this conversation stays with the experience of deconstruction and the patience required to find meaning without coercion or shame. What comes up in the conversation In this episode, we talk about: Growing up inside fundamentalist Christianity and separation from the world The loss of belonging that often comes with changing your mind Fear as a tool of control, and how it shapes identity and behaviour Deconstruction, grief, and the “death of a dream” Rebuilding faith, values, and community without fear Choosing compassion over certainty About Brian Recker Brian Recker is a writer, speaker, and public theologian exploring Christian spirituality beyond fear, shame, and exclusion. He spent eight years as an evangelical pastor before stepping away to re-examine faith, power, and belonging through a more humane and inclusive lens. Brian is the author of Hell Bent: How the Fear of Hell Holds Christians Back from a Spirituality of Love, and shares his work online through writing, teaching, and community conversations focused on deconstruction, compassion, and change. Links & resources Brian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/berecker/ Brian’s website: https://www.brianrecker.com/ Hell Bent by Brian Recker (affiliate link): https://amzn.to/3Zt4LGy About the podcast 12 Steps to Success is a podcast about what happens when the path you were on stops making sense. Hosted by Eric Mackay, the show centres on honest conversations with people navigating change, pressure, identity shifts, recovery, and redefinition. These are not success stories or instruction manuals, but real conversations about how people live inside uncertainty and keep moving without false certainty. Stay connected Website: https://twelvestepstosuccess.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/twelvestepstosuccess

    52 min
  4. When Things Fall Apart and You Have to Rebuild (ft. Nyeesha D. Williams)

    FEB 3

    When Things Fall Apart and You Have to Rebuild (ft. Nyeesha D. Williams)

    This conversation with Nyeesha D. Williams explores what happens when the structures you’ve relied on begin to fall apart, and the work required to rebuild without rushing to make sense of it too quickly. We talk about setbacks and how disorienting they can feel when the path you were on suddenly stops making sense. About loss, disruption, and the pressure to keep moving forward even when you’re unsure what you’re rebuilding toward. Nyeesha reflects on moments where certainty disappeared, plans unraveled, and the focus shifted from outcomes to honesty about where she really was. There is a recurring theme in this episode around rebuilding without performance. Around resisting the urge to frame difficulty as growth too quickly, and instead allowing space for grief, recalibration, and quieter forms of resilience. Rather than searching for neat lessons, this conversation stays with the reality of rebuilding slowly and with integrity when things do not go to plan. What Comes Up In the Conversation: In this episode, we talk about: - Navigating setbacks without rushing to reframe them - The emotional cost of holding things together when they are already breaking - Rebuilding identity and direction after disruption - Leadership in moments of uncertainty and loss - Finding steadiness again without pretending clarity has arrived About Nyeesha D. Williams: Nyeesha D. Williams is a leader, operator, and community builder working at the intersection of purpose, culture, and connection. Her work focuses on creating spaces where people can be honest about where they are, particularly during periods of change, disruption, and transition. She is the founder of The HAUS, a membership-based community designed to support people navigating growth and leadership without pressure to perform certainty or resilience before they are ready. Links & Resources: Website: https://www.nyeeshawilliams.com LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram: @nyeeshad The HAUS: https://www.jointhehaus.com Instagram: @jointhehaus About the Podcast: 12 Steps to Success is a podcast about what happens when the path you were on stops making sense. Hosted by Eric Mackay, the show centres on honest conversations with people navigating change, pressure, identity shifts, recovery, and redefinition. These are not success stories or instruction manuals, but real conversations about how people live inside uncertainty and keep moving without false certainty. Stay Connected: Website: https://twelvestepstosuccess.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/twelvestepstosuccess

    45 min
  5. When Momentum Stops Feeling Like Progress (ft. Chris Brereton)

    JAN 27

    When Momentum Stops Feeling Like Progress (ft. Chris Brereton)

    This conversation with Christopher Brereton centres on what happens when the identity you built your life around no longer fits as cleanly as it once did. We talk about momentum and how easily it can turn into something you hide behind. About being known for a particular role, skill, or output, and the quiet unease that can surface when you realise you are still moving, still producing, but no longer sure who that movement is really serving. Christopher reflects on moments where forward motion stopped feeling like progress and started to feel like avoidance. There is a recurring tension in this episode between building and becoming. Between the satisfaction of creating systems, companies, and portfolios, and the harder work of asking what kind of life those systems are meant to support. Rather than chasing reinvention, this conversation stays with the discomfort of re examination and the patience required to let a more honest direction emerge. What comes up in the conversation In this episode, we talk about: Momentum as both a strength and a defence mechanismIdentity beyond titles, roles, and outputThe pressure to keep building even when direction feels unclearA portfolio mindset applied to work and lifeSlowing down long enough to ask harder questions about impact About Christopher Brereton Christopher Brereton is a fractional product and operations leader working at the intersection of product, energy, health, and long term impact. His work is guided by a portfolio mindset and a clear purpose of amplifying positive impact for people and the planet. Christopher currently leads energy management systems work at MARA and serves as Head of Portfolio Acceleration at MOHARA. He is the founder of Product Hang Partners and is building The Folder, a platform rethinking estate planning as a living system rather than a static document. Links & resources: Website: https://christopherbrereton.comProduct Hang Partners: http://producthang.com/MARA: http://mara.com/MOHARA: http://mohara.co/ About the podcast 12 Steps to Success is a podcast about what happens when the path you were on stops making sense. Hosted by Eric Mackay, the show centres on honest conversations with people navigating change, pressure, identity shifts, recovery, and redefinition. These are not success stories or instruction manuals, but real conversations about how people live inside uncertainty and keep moving without false certainty. Stay connected Website: https://twelvestepstosuccess.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/twelvestepstosuccess

    48 min
  6. You Can’t Rush Clarity (ft. Mo Hiromoto)

    JAN 20

    You Can’t Rush Clarity (ft. Mo Hiromoto)

    This conversation with Mo Hiromoto sits inside a familiar but often unspoken place. Knowing that something needs to change, without yet having language for what that change looks like. We talk about what happens when momentum keeps you moving but leaves little room to listen. About staying busy, staying capable, staying productive, while slowly losing contact with what you actually want. Mo reflects on the experience of quieting the noise, not to arrive at quick clarity, but to make space for it to emerge in its own time. There is a strong thread in this conversation around patience. With yourself. With the process. With the uncertainty that comes before decisions feel solid. Rather than chasing outcomes, we spend time on what it means to notice signals, question inherited expectations, and resist the urge to rush forward just to feel resolved. This episode lives in that in-between space, where nothing is fully formed yet, but something is clearly asking for attention. What comes up in the conversation In this episode, we talk about: Why clarity cannot be rushed, and what happens when you tryStaying stuck out of fear, even when movement feels necessaryLearning to listen beneath noise, obligation, and expectationFirst generation wellness and the work of changing patternsCreating space for joy without treating it as something to earn About Mo Hiromoto Mo Hiromoto is a wellness coach and educator whose work focuses on self awareness, intentional change, and helping people reconnect with what matters to them when navigating transition or uncertainty. Links & resources: First Generation Wellness:https://www.firstgenerationwellness.com/Website: https://www.mohiromoto.comBio site: https://bio.site/mohiromoto Connect with Mo: Instagram: @mohiromotoTikTok: @mohiromoto_YouTube: @mohiromotoEmail: mo@mohiromoto.com About the podcast 12 Steps to Success is a podcast about what happens when the path you were on stops making sense. Hosted by Eric Mackay, the show centres on honest conversations with people navigating change, pressure, identity shifts, recovery, and redefinition. These are not success stories or instruction manuals, but real conversations about how people live inside uncertainty and keep moving without false certainty. Stay connected Website: https://twelvestepstosuccess.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/twelvestepstosuccess

    54 min
  7. When Burnout Arrives Quietly (ft. Marni Wandner)

    JAN 13

    When Burnout Arrives Quietly (ft. Marni Wandner)

    This conversation with Marni Wandner explores what happens when burnout does not arrive as a breaking point, but as a slow erosion. We talk about creative ambition, responsibility, and the quiet ways people lose themselves while trying to be useful, capable, and reliable. Marni reflects on building a career in an industry that is supposed to generate joy, and the moment she realised that something essential was missing, even though everything looked fine on the surface. There is a lot of honesty in this episode about resistance to change, the fear of not knowing what comes next, and the tendency to override internal signals in order to keep moving. Rather than framing burnout as failure, this conversation treats it as information, something asking to be listened to rather than pushed through. It is a thoughtful discussion about agency, identity, and learning how to notice when the way you are working no longer matches the life you want to be living. What comes up in the conversation In this episode, we talk about: Burnout that develops gradually rather than dramaticallyResistance to change and uncertainty about directionCreativity, pressure, and responsibility in the music industryLearning to listen to internal signals rather than override themRedefining usefulness and success on your own terms About Marni Wandner Marni Wandner works with individuals navigating stress, burnout, and career transitions, particularly in high pressure and creative environments. Her work focuses on helping people build sustainable ways of working without losing themselves in the process. Links & resources: Website: https://marniwandner.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/marniwandnerInstagram: https://instagram.com/futurepresentco If you are interested in speaking with Marni about stress management, burnout, career transitions, or thriving in high pressure environments, you can schedule a free call here: https://calendly.com/marniwandner/free-consult-call About the podcast 12 Steps to Success is a podcast about what happens when the path you were on stops making sense. Hosted by Eric Mackay, the show centres on honest conversations with people navigating change, pressure, identity shifts, recovery, and redefinition. These are not success stories or instruction manuals, but real conversations about how people live inside uncertainty and keep moving without false certainty. Stay connected Website: https://twelvestepstosuccess.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/twelvestepstosuccess

    49 min
  8. Trailer: The Messy Middle — Purpose, Identity & Redefining Success (with Eric Mackay)

    SEASON 1 TRAILER

    Trailer: The Messy Middle — Purpose, Identity & Redefining Success (with Eric Mackay)

    What happens after the big win - or before anything makes sense? 12 Steps to Success isn’t a podcast about polished success stories or highlight reels. It’s a series of honest conversations about the messy middle - the moments where identity shifts, certainty disappears, and you keep going anyway. Hosted by Eric Mackay, this podcast explores purpose, pressure, identity, recovery, leadership, and change through real conversations with founders, creatives, executives, and builders who have had to redefine success more than once. Across this season, you’ll hear from guests including Marni Wandner, Mo Hiromoto, and Christopher Brereton (plus many more), reflecting on burnout, evolution, grief, faith, community, legacy, and what happens when the identities we build no longer fit. This trailer offers a first look at the tone and intent of the season: Conversations that don’t rush clarityStories that include doubt, recalibration, and resilienceA refusal of performative success and empty optimisationSpace for humour, honesty, and being present rather than productiveEach episode stands on its own, but together they form a bigger picture - not of what success is supposed to look like, but of how people actually live with it, question it, and sometimes walk away from it. If you’re in a moment of transition, pressure, burnout, recovery, or quiet re-evaluation, you’re in the right place. Season 1 Launch Information 🎧 Episode 1 of 12 Steps to Success drops on January 13th, 2026. New episodes will be released weekly. Subscribe now so you don’t miss the start of the season. About the Podcast 12 Steps to Success is a long-form conversation podcast about navigating change, redefining success, and building a meaningful life - without shortcuts, hype, or neat answers. Hosted by Eric Mackay. twelvestepstosuccess.com Instagram.com/twelvestepstosuccess

    7 min

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

What happens when the old definitions of success stop working? 12 Steps to Success is a long-form podcast about identity, purpose, burnout, and the messy, uncertain middle of building a life and career. It explores moments of transition, pressure, reinvention, and recovery, especially when clarity disappears and familiar paths no longer fit. Hosted by Eric Mackay, a senior music industry executive, founder, author, and recovering perfectionist, the show sits between success stories and self-help. These are not highlight reels or tidy frameworks. They are honest conversations with artists, founders, executives, creatives, and operators who have built things, lost things, walked away from roles that looked perfect on paper, and had to rethink who they were along the way. Each episode examines themes including identity, leadership, burnout, sobriety, creativity, pressure, and the quiet recalibrations that happen when life does not go to plan. The focus is not on how people made it, but on how they kept going when certainty disappeared. Eric is not a neutral interviewer. He brings his own lived experience into the room, asking better questions, challenging assumptions, and staying with discomfort rather than rushing to resolution. The tone is reflective, occasionally funny, sometimes raw, and deliberately unscripted. This is a podcast for people in transition. For anyone questioning success, navigating change, or trying to build something meaningful without losing themselves in the process. New episodes are released weekly during each season, with breaks between seasons. Learn more at twelvestepstosuccess.com and on Instagram @twelvestepstosuccess.

Information