Listen Bitch Presents TELL ME WHY YOU'RE SPECIAL

Listen Bitch Presents TELL ME WHY YOU'RE SPECIAL
  • 5.0 (8)
  • Entrepreneurship

Tell Me Why You’re Special is a platform for people who are actually doing something with their life and are willing to talk about it honestly. Hosted under the Listen Bitch Podcast umbrella by Branden LaNette, this show exists to spotlight real stories, real work, and real potential. Entrepreneurs, authors, creators, leaders, founders, and misfits who have built something meaningful are invited to the mic to share why they’re special without hype, without fluff, and without pretending it was easy. This isn’t an interview about perfection. It’s about process. Obedience. Failure. Calling. And the courage to put your voice, product, book, message, or story into the world. If you’ve built something, are building something, or are brave enough to tell the truth about the road you’re on this show is for you. No gatekeeping. No fake humility. No watered-down potential. Just real people, real stories, and the question that matters most: Tell me why you’re special.

  1. 1d ago

    Sarah Bean in the Hot Seat: Books, Business & Authority

    Having a great book is not enough. If nobody knows it exists, nobody buys the damn thing. Publishing and book-marketing expert Sarah Bean joins Branden to talk about what actually makes books sell, why authors have to stop treating marketing like an afterthought, and how a book can become much more than something sitting on an Amazon page. Sarah has worked with more than 800 authors through Book Launchers, and she breaks down the realities of traditional publishing versus self-publishing, why even traditionally published authors are often responsible for their own promotion, and why a smaller targeted audience can be far more valuable than a massive audience that doesn’t care about your message. Branden also gets called out by his own damn interview. After publishing five books, he realizes somewhere along the way he basically stopped talking about them—and Sarah explains why authors can’t expect old books to magically keep selling without continuing to put them in front of people. They also dig into how publishing is changing, audiobooks and digital formats, building authority through a book, and where AI belongs—and doesn’t belong—in the writing process. This conversation is part publishing lesson, part business strategy, and part reminder to every author sitting on a book they stopped promoting: Your book can’t work for you if you refuse to talk about it. IN THIS EPISODE • Why good books still fail to sell• Why authors need an actual marketing strategy• Books as business assets and authority builders• Traditional publishing vs. self-publishing• Why publishers don’t necessarily market your book forever• Building the right audience instead of simply the biggest one• Using books to create speaking, consulting, and business opportunities• Audiobooks, ebooks, video, and changing reader behavior• AI’s growing role in publishing• Why AI can help with research and strategy without replacing an author’s voice• Why authors shouldn’t give up on older books• Branden’s realization that he needs to start promoting his own books again Sarah Bean believes everyone has a story to tell that can help others. She is Book Launchers’ marketing professional with over 20 years of entertainment and publishing experience. She started her career in the literary department of a worldwide agency, before becoming a speaking agent with a roster of best-selling authors, celebrities, athletes and business leaders. She's managed NY Times best-selling authors, produced live events like TEDx and has been an entertainment journalist covering TV/film news and red carpet interviews for leading entertainment websites. At Book Launchers, she has a passion for helping nonfiction authors build marketing strategy that uses their unique story and expertise to help others, build their brand and launch their career. https://booklaunchers.com/7steps

  2. 2d ago

    NICOLE LEMASTER IN THE HOT SEAT: REGULATE, RECONNECT, HEAL

    What if healing isn’t about making the pain disappear? What if it’s about expanding your capacity to experience hard things without allowing them to completely take over? In this episode of Listen Bitch Presents: Tell Me Why You’re Special, I sit down with Nicole LeMaster, a somatic therapist, dream coach, author, and publisher who helps people understand their nervous systems, reconnect with their bodies, and recognize patterns they may have been living in for years. Nicole breaks down what nervous system regulation actually means — and no, it doesn’t mean walking around calm and unbothered 24/7. We talk about the “window of tolerance,” fight-or-flight responses, shutdown, anxiety, depression, feeling stuck, and why people can become so accustomed to dysregulation that they don’t even recognize it until they hit a breaking point. Nicole also explains somatic work and why healing can require more than simply analyzing what happened to you. Sometimes you understand the damn story intellectually — but your body is still responding as though the threat is happening right now. And then Nicole actually walks me through a body-awareness exercise during the interview. That opened up an entirely different conversation about stress, compartmentalization, resilience, parenting, relationships, and how our lives continually hold up mirrors showing us where we still have work to do. We also get into something I loved: healing does not necessarily mean erasing pain. The past doesn’t magically cease to exist. Healing can mean developing a larger capacity to hold difficult experiences, remain present, recognize what’s happening inside yourself, and choose how you respond instead of automatically reacting. Nicole and I also discuss breathing, emotional regulation, dreams and Jungian approaches, feeling “safe enough,” and how nervous-system regulation can completely change the dynamics of our relationships. Because when you’ve spent years surviving, chaos can feel normal. And sometimes peace feels foreign as hell. This conversation is about learning the difference. Nicole Lemaster M.A., LMFT, S.E.P. A somatic therapist, dream coach, author & publisher devoted to helping people reconnect with their bodies, regulate their nervous systems and live a life they LOVE. Nervous system regulation is the foundation of all my work, supporting clients feeling safer, present, and fully alive. I work with individuals in my therapy practice, offering a space for healing, integration, and lasting change. Alongside this, I lead groups through my nervous system and dream coaching work. As author and publisher, I am gathering a collection of healers for a new anthology series, born from a desire to pour healing into the world and carve out a platform of possibility.  My approach is experiential and integrative, weaving together elements of the nervous system,mindfulness, chakras, movement, breathwork, and awareness to create radical resilience. I guide people into embodied practices that create real shifts in how they feel, respond, and relate to themselves and others. With over a decade of experience supporting healing, my work centers on expandingresilience and capacity - so people can not only navigate life’s challenges, but move toward whatthey truly desire with greater ease and authenticity.

  3. 3d ago

    CAROLYN SHERROW IN THE HOT SEAT: TRAUMA, FAITH, REDEMPTION

    In this powerful episode of Listen Bitch Presents: Tell Me Why You’re Special, I sit down with Carolyn Sherrill, author, speaker, former physician assistant, and founder of Cords of Grace. Carolyn shares an intensely personal story of childhood trauma, dissociation, healing, faith, forgiveness, and discovering who she was beyond what happened to her. We talk about what dissociation can actually feel like, including Carolyn’s experience functioning as a medical professional while struggling with dissociative trauma. She shares her personal account of trauma-based mind control and ritual abuse, how those experiences affected her identity, and the long road toward healing. But this conversation goes somewhere even deeper: spiritual warfare. Carolyn talks about experiencing what she describes as demonic attacks, learning to stand in her identity as a child of God, the power she found in worship and the blood of Jesus, and what she believes it means to surrender the battle to God. We also get into PTSD, anger at God, forgiveness, justice, breaking unhealthy soul ties, and the difference between forgiving someone and allowing them back into your life. Carolyn shares how she eventually moved from asking, “Why did God allow this?” toward finding purpose, healing, and a calling to help other people walking through trauma. We also discuss her book My Personal Holocaust, her ministry Cords of Grace, and the resources she has created for people working through trauma, abuse, dissociation, forgiveness, and faith. This episode isn’t surface-level motivation. It’s a conversation about what happens when someone survives something that could have destroyed them — and then decides their story isn’t going to end there.Carolyn is an author, speaker, and survivor whose ministry through Cords of Grace exposes the works of darkness while illuminating the goodness of God. After enduring ritual abuse and mind control in her early life, Carolyn experienced profound healing through God's relentless love, compassionate counseling, and divine guidance. Her journey through a dissociative disorder became the foundation for a powerful testimony of faith, healing, and redemption. A former physician assistant who practiced medicine for twenty-three years, Carolyn brings both clinical insight and personal experience to her writing and speaking ministry. Her work focuses on the intersection of mental health, emotional healing, and spirituality, offering deep exploration into topics including soul ties, identity, forgiveness, judgment, and the spectrum of dissociation—from simple "tuning out" to the complexities of Dissociative Identity Disorder. Carolyn is the author of My Personal Holocaust: Triumphing Over the Devastation of Trauma-Based Mind Control, where she shares how yielding to God's gentle guidance led to profound transformation. Her writing has been featured in Pentecostal Evangel magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and Bethany House anthologies. Through her books, blog posts, and speaking engagements, Carolyn helps readers and audiences collaborate with God to discover their true identity and understand the supernatural effects on the mind. Her mission is to help wounded souls develop dependence on God rather than on people, while reminding others that with God, no wound is too deep to heal. A lifelong Colorado resident, Carolyn enjoys her flower and vegetable gardens when not writing or ministering. https://cordsofgrace.com/

  4. 4d ago

    Mark Astor in the Hot Seat: Love, Addiction, Intervention

    What do you do when someone you love is drowning in addiction or severe mental illness—but refuses help? Attorney and former prosecutor Mark Astor works with families facing exactly that nightmare. We talk about the point where intervention stops being “controlling” and becomes an act of love, why families often wait until a crisis becomes catastrophic, and the legal options that may exist when someone can no longer make safe decisions for themselves. Mark breaks down guardianship, Florida’s Baker Act and Marchman Act, and what happens when addiction, mental health and the criminal justice system collide. This is a difficult conversation—but an incredibly important one for families who feel like they’ve run out of options.Mark is a partner at Astor Simovitch Law, where they lead a legal team dedicated to helping families in crisis due to mental health disorders, substance use, and failed recovery efforts. With a practice focused on crisis intervention, Mark Astor and his team are known for using the law not just as a shield—but as a tool for healing. From securing emergency guardianships and navigating involuntary treatment laws like Florida’s Baker Act and the Marchman Act, to working closely with clinical teams and family systems, Mark Astor helps families regain control when a loved one’s condition threatens their safety, autonomy, or future. Their work sits at the intersection of law, medicine, and mental health—making them a valuable source on how legal systems can be leveraged to support recovery and long-term stability. https://mentalhealthaddictionlawfirm.com/

  5. 5d ago

    Robbie Samuels in the Hot Seat: Your Bestseller Status Might Mean Nothing

    What if becoming a #1 bestselling author is actually the wrong goal? Award-winning author Robbie Samuels has hit #1 bestseller status in 37 categories across four countries—and then realized the title itself wasn’t what built his business. In this episode of Tell Me Why You’re Special, Robbie and I get into what actually makes a book successful: written reviews, relationships, audience research, strategic launches, long-term authority, and having a plan for what happens after someone buys the damn book. We also get into podcasting, vanity metrics, why downloads and rankings don’t tell the whole story, and how both books and podcasts can become powerful business assets when they’re built with an actual purpose. If you’re an author, aspiring author, podcaster, coach, or entrepreneur who thinks hitting “publish” is the finish line—listen to this one.I'm an award-winning author of four books that have received more than 900 written Amazon reviews and reached #1 Best Seller in 37 categories across four countries.  The latter did nothing to help me grow my business, yet everyone seems focused on these vanity metrics of hitting #1 Best Seller. Instead, as a book launch strategist, I design and implement launches for entrepreneurs that lead to 50+ Amazon reviews (social proof) and turn their book into a business development tool that attracts new revenue and media opportunities. I'm on a mission to change how entrepreneurial authors think about the success metrics of a strategic launch. If I'm invited on your show, I won't hold back! Ask me anything about my process, and I'll share the information with your audience. I love when it's a conversation that allows us to dig deeper into my answers.  I wrote about my book launch strategies in my fourth book, "LAUNCH Your Book! An Entrepreneur's Guide to Reviews That Drive Revenue." You'll find the book, bonus content, podcast guest appearances, and more at www.BookLaunchBrainstorm.com.  I'm the founder of the Biz Book Pub Hub, a resource ecosystem for entrepreneurial authors that includes a curated directory of experts who support authors along their journey, free virtual networking events, Kindle Flash Sales, and a podcast (500+ episodes recorded): www.BizBookPubHub.com. http://www.booklaunchbrainstorm.com/

  6. Oct 9

    Janette in the Hot Seat: When Life Forces the Pivot

    What happens when the life and career you built suddenly no longer fit the life you’re living? Janette joins me for an incredibly real conversation about becoming a full-time caregiver for her elderly mother while simultaneously adjusting to a permanent disability caused by a freak accident. After years of working 60–80 hours a week as a media entrepreneur, she was forced to rethink her schedule, independence, business, goals, and even her definition of success. We talk about caregiving, disability, asking for help, career pivots, women over 40, identity, resilience, accommodations, and refusing to disappear simply because life changed the damn rules. This is a conversation about rebuilding without losing yourself.Janette Burke is a women's empowerment speaker and media personality who has reached 15.2 million women across 15 seasons of her own TV podcast — and is now using her voice to say the thing nobody else is saying out loud.When her mother's health changed, everything changed. Janette had to rebuild her entire business around a 20-hour maximum work week while quietly carrying the weight of caregiving. She didn't quit. But she did have to get brutally honest about capacity, identity, and what it actually costs a woman to keep going when life demands everything she has.She speaks for every woman over 40 who is holding someone else together while trying to figure out who she is becoming. Her message is equal parts raw truth and hard-won resilience — and it lands because she's living it right now.Janette is available for women's empowerment, reinvention, midlife, and caregiving podcasts. She is also a sought-after speaker, red carpet host, MC, and brand ambassador. http://www.janetteburke.com/

  7. Oct 8

    Linda Harkey in the Hot Seat: Raising Kids Who Stay Curious

    What happens to childhood when screens start replacing stories, conversations, imagination, and real-world learning? Award-winning children’s author Linda Harkey joins me to talk about her unexpected journey from teaching and museum work to writing 13 children’s books. We get into raising curious kids, why reading builds more than vocabulary, teaching children real history, protecting imagination in a digital world, and what happens when moms remember they still have dreams of their own. This conversation is about books, yes — but it’s really about family, curiosity, connection, and refusing to let childhood become one giant screen.Linda is an award-winning children’s book author, with 13 books published to date, including "The Budding Staff," 'Desert Friends," "The Great Animal Escape," and her newest release, "The Case of the Missing Pink Piggy." Linda has built a reputation for creating engaging and meaningful stories that spark curiosity and empathy in early readers. For over 22 years she diligently worked as a volunteer docent at two outstanding museums in Oklahoma – The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City and Gilcrease Museum (Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art) in Tulsa.  During her tenure, she helped develop curricula for children’s programs and gave countless presentations to children both at the museums and local schools. https://www.harkeybooks.com/

  8. Oct 7

    Drewbie Wilson in the Hot Seat: Systems Beat Motivation

    Drewbie Wilson went from more than 300 pounds, “busy but broke,” and struggling to control his time to losing 100 pounds and generating more than $15 million in documented sales. And his message is simple: success isn’t luck. It’s systems. In this episode, Drewbie breaks down why discipline beats motivation, how he transformed his health through consistent daily habits, and why your calendar may be exposing exactly where your priorities actually are. We talk about weight loss, body image, discipline, productivity, time management, personal worth, sales, lead generation, entrepreneurship, marriage, fatherhood, and the systems required to build success without destroying everything else around you. Drewbie also explains how valuing his time changed his business, how genuinely caring about people became the foundation of his sales philosophy, and why following up and having actual conversations still beats hiding behind complicated marketing strategies. If you’re tired of waiting to “feel motivated” before changing your life, this conversation is your reminder that motivation is temporary. Systems keep moving when motivation disappears. Hey, I’m Drewbie — founder of Call The Damn Leads®, author of Crushing The Day, Social Media Mastery, Call The Damn Leads, and Diary of a Damn Closer. I’ve worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs and teams to build sales systems that generate consistent revenue — not through hype, but through heart, habits, and hard work. I’m living proof that discipline beats motivation and systems beat struggle. If your audience is made up of sales pros, business owners, or anyone chasing growth, I’ll show them exactly how to: Turn their follow-up into a full pipeline. Build confidence through consistent action. Stop overcomplicating success and start executing simple, repeatable processes that work. https://callthedamnleads.com/

See All (173)

5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Tell Me Why You’re Special is a platform for people who are actually doing something with their life and are willing to talk about it honestly. Hosted under the Listen Bitch Podcast umbrella by Branden LaNette, this show exists to spotlight real stories, real work, and real potential. Entrepreneurs, authors, creators, leaders, founders, and misfits who have built something meaningful are invited to the mic to share why they’re special without hype, without fluff, and without pretending it was easy. This isn’t an interview about perfection. It’s about process. Obedience. Failure. Calling. And the courage to put your voice, product, book, message, or story into the world. If you’ve built something, are building something, or are brave enough to tell the truth about the road you’re on this show is for you. No gatekeeping. No fake humility. No watered-down potential. Just real people, real stories, and the question that matters most: Tell me why you’re special.

Information