Because This Matters

Mark Poiesz

Because This Matters explores the values that shape us, stretch us, and sustain us. Hosted by leadership coach and musician Mark Poiesz, each episode features insightful conversations with thoughtful, authentic people about how their personal values guide them through complexity, growth, and change. Whether the stories are everyday or extraordinary, every conversation reveals the power of living with intention—because a life aligned with values is a fulfilled life. Sometimes it takes witnessing someone else’s clarity to rediscover our own. Join us to reflect, reconnect, and remember what matters most. Subscribe and listen—Because This Matters.

الحلقات

  1. قبل ٤ أيام

    Steve Rucker: Identity, Flexibility, and Life Beyond Labels

    What does it mean to live beyond the roles and titles we use to define ourselves? In this conversation, Mark sits down with one of his mentors, Steve Rucker—musician, educator, and longtime director of contemporary drum set studies at the University of Miami—to explore a life shaped not by rigid identity, but by openness, curiosity, and continual evolution. Steve reflects on the moments and influences that reshaped how he sees the world—from discovering the work of Joseph Campbell to experiencing the difference between belief and direct knowing. He shares how these perspectives have informed not only his career as a performer and educator, but also the way he approaches growth, creativity, and human connection. Throughout the conversation, a deeper thread emerges: the idea that who we are is not confined to what we do. That flexibility, presence, and openness may matter more than any title we carry. This episode explores: • The difference between belief and lived experience • Identity beyond roles, labels, and professions • How openness and flexibility shape a meaningful life • Teaching, mentorship, and meeting people where they are • Creating a life that evolves over time rather than staying fixed ⸻ Because This Matters is a podcast exploring how personal values take shape and become action through conversations with leaders, artists, and entrepreneurs. If this conversation resonated, follow the show and share it with someone who might find it meaningful.

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  2. ١٤ أبريل

    Nancy Hajek: Openness, Curiosity, and Shared Humanity

    What does it mean to stay open in a world that often pulls us toward judgment, reaction, and division? In this conversation, Mark sits down with Nancy Hajek, hypnotherapist and founder of Dream Lodge Hypnotherapy, to explore a way of moving through life rooted in presence, curiosity, and a deeper sense of connection with others. Nancy shares how her life’s work has been shaped by a search to understand what happens in the space between people—moments of openness, trust, and something that feels like recognition. Through her experiences in hypnotherapy and spiritual study, she offers a perspective that invites us to look beyond surface-level behavior and relate to others in a more grounded, intentional way. The conversation moves through themes of attention, self-awareness, and how we meet others in real time, along with the challenge of holding that way of being in a world that doesn’t always reward it. This episode explores: • Why reacting with anger often creates more of what we’re trying to change • The practice of “catching yourself” in moments of resistance • Curiosity as an alternative to judgment • The tension between inner clarity and the external world • What it means to move through life with a sense of shared humanity ⸻ Find Nancy Hajek online: http://dreamlodge.org/ ⸻ Because This Matters is a podcast exploring how personal values take shape and become action through conversations with leaders, artists, and entrepreneurs. If this conversation resonated, follow the show and share it with someone who might find it meaningful—perhaps sparking a conversation of your own.

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  3. ١٧ مارس

    Joe Arias: Family, Compassion, and Life After Special Forces

    In this episode of Because This Matters, Mark Poiesz sits down with Joe Arias, a senior non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Special Forces, as he reflects on military service, major life transition, and the values shaping the next chapter of his life. Together, they explore Joe’s shift from achievement and identity-driven ambition toward a deeper focus on family, sustainability, and compassion. Joe shares how years as a Green Beret shaped his relationship with service, conflict, and responsibility, and how becoming a husband and future father has clarified what matters most, once again. The conversation also touches on religion as a path to understanding others, the tension of impossible decisions in combat, and the role of compassion in a divided world. Topics in this episode include: • family as a defining value • transition out of Special Forces • achievement, identity, and ambition • compassion as understanding • conflict, responsibility, and impossible choices • religion, culture, and learning how others see the world • sustainability and the next chapter of life Because This Matters is a podcast exploring how personal values take shape and become action in the way we live and lead. If this conversation resonates with you and you’re exploring your own values and direction, you can learn more about Mark’s coaching work at markpoiesz.com. Connect with Joe Arias here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-arias

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حول

Because This Matters explores the values that shape us, stretch us, and sustain us. Hosted by leadership coach and musician Mark Poiesz, each episode features insightful conversations with thoughtful, authentic people about how their personal values guide them through complexity, growth, and change. Whether the stories are everyday or extraordinary, every conversation reveals the power of living with intention—because a life aligned with values is a fulfilled life. Sometimes it takes witnessing someone else’s clarity to rediscover our own. Join us to reflect, reconnect, and remember what matters most. Subscribe and listen—Because This Matters.

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