Behind The Story Show

Jelani Gonzalez

Welcome to Behind The Story Show, a long-form interview podcast hosted by Jelani Gonzalez that goes beyond the headlines to uncover the real journeys behind extraordinary people and powerful ideas. Each week, Jelani sits down with entrepreneurs, athletes, artists, creators, leaders, and change-makers to explore the defining moments, hard-earned lessons, personal challenges, and bold decisions that shaped their path. From business and creativity to leadership, culture, innovation, and reinvention, Behind The Story brings you candid conversations that reveal not just what people achieved, but what it took to get there. If you are building something, chasing a vision, navigating change, or looking for stories that educate, inspire, and challenge the way you think, this show is for you. Join us as we go behind the success, behind the struggle, and Behind The Story.

  1. 2d ago ·  Video

    The Type of Diabetes Doctors Miss in Adults (LADA)

    Send us Fan Mail Manny Hernandez grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, in a world that no longer exists — and left in 2000 as the country changed around him. Years later, a routine checkup in the U.S. led to a diabetes diagnosis, and then a misdiagnosis: he was told he had type 2, when he actually had LADA, sometimes called type 1.5, a form that's often missed in adults. In this episode, Manny sits down with Jelani Gonzalez to trace the full arc — the shock of diagnosis, the pizza-and-insulin-pump meeting where he first realized he'd found "his people," and how that single moment of not feeling alone became the seed for everything that followed. He co-founded the Diabetes Hands Foundation, built the TuDiabetes and EsTuDiabetes online communities, later handed them to Beyond Type 1, and today leads The Diabetes Link, supporting young adults ages 18–30 living with all types of diabetes. Manny is candid about the parts people don't see: winding down the foundation to care for his mother, an unforgettable send-off in a San Diego bar, the honest limits of diabetes technology, the fight over access and the Insulin Act, and why — after 24 years — he still hasn't "figured it out." His message stays simple throughout: find your community, and take it one day at a time.

  2. 6d ago ·  Video

    The Laptop Landlord: How Naresh Turned a Side Hustle Into 9 Properties and 5 Books

    Send us Fan Mail Naresh built the kind of business most people are told doesn't exist: one that funds his life instead of consuming it. In this episode of Behind the Story, he sits down with Jelani Gonzalez to trace the road from a Duke degree and a coveted banking offer to becoming a self-described “laptop landlord” — a work-from-home founder running two companies, raising two sons, and owning nine investment properties he scaled up starting in 2017. He opens up about the real mechanics of a lifestyle business (and why he stopped chasing the “get acquired” dream), the intrapreneur years that gave him a safety net before he went out on his own, and the five books — including a #1 bestseller with a foreword by Philip Kotler — that became his real business card. He also shares his four-part “focus formula” for physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental health, and why he's no fan of retirement. From there the conversation opens up into something rarer: an honest, good-faith exchange about media, culture, and how we lost the ability to tell fact from opinion. A former journalist, Naresh explains why he trades news for books, and he and Jelani — who calls himself an independent with libertarian leanings — disagree, agree, and think out loud about politics and belief without the usual heat. It's a two-part story: how to build a life of focus, and how to keep your head clear while you do it.

  3. Jul 21 ·  Video

    Warrior of Light: Turning Chaos Into Purpose

    Send us Fan Mail Theresa Garcia didn't set out to become a coach — she set out to survive. After losing her fiancé and her mother six months apart, she rebuilt her life from the ground up, eventually writing the book Warrior of Light and founding Ruby's Positive Empowerment. In this conversation, Theresa opens up about the difference between survival and real strength, the years-long crisis that forced her to shut down her business and start over, and why she believes healing doesn't have to be as hard as we make it. She shares the exact process she uses with clients to find the gift in painful experiences, why alignment — not hustle — is what actually moves the needle in her life and business, and the hardest truth she had to face about her own role in her chaos. A raw, honest conversation about resilience, reinvention, and choosing light on purpose.

  4. Jul 15 ·  Video

    The Career Crisis No One Talks About

    Send us Fan Mail Why do so many smart, capable, successful people still feel disconnected from their work? Sarah Aviram has spent her career answering that question — first as a director of talent development, then as the person who convinced her CEO to let her work from 12 countries in 12 months (before remote work was normal), and now as an author, keynote speaker, and leadership coach. In this conversation, Sarah unpacks the six core drivers of fulfillment at work, why raises and promotions rarely fix burnout, why some high performers quietly check out instead of quitting, and how hybrid and return-to-office policies have created new equity gaps — especially for women. She also shares the personal side of her year abroad: the Buddhist monastery in Thailand, the flamenco dancers in Spain, and the surprising life lesson tying it all together in her new memoir, The Scenic Route. If you've ever felt successful on paper but empty in practice, this episode is for you.

  5. Jul 4 ·  Video

    The American Slumber Party: Sam Daley-Harris on Waking Up Democracy

    Send us Fan Mail Sam Daley-Harris spent twelve years as a professional percussionist and a career as a music teacher before a single question changed the direction of his life: does your member of Congress know your name? In 1978, he asked 7,000 high school students, classroom by classroom, if they could name their own representative. Fewer than three percent could. That gap became the anti-poverty lobby RESULTS, and nearly five decades of work teaching ordinary citizens how to find and use their power. In this conversation, Sam and Jelani trace his path from music to movement-building — co-founding the Microcredit Summit alongside Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, and developing the idea of "transformational advocacy," where the people who show up to change something are changed themselves. Sam shares the stories of two volunteers, Maxine Thomas and Ellie Sparks, whose journeys from "clueless" and "climate trauma" to "euphoric" and "sacred and profound" illustrate what's possible when citizens are trained, not just recruited. They also talk about what Sam calls the "American Slumber Party" — the pattern of low civic participation he's tracked since the 1970s — and how small, organized groups of trained volunteers have recently helped shape the outcome of proposed federal budget cuts to programs like the EPA and global maternal and child health funding. It's a conversation about cynicism, hope, and the practical, unglamorous work of reclaiming a voice in your own democracy. Chapters: 00:03 — From percussion to purpose: Sam's unlikely path into activism 02:45 — The question that started it all: naming your member of Congress 06:25 — Co-founding the Microcredit Summit and meeting Muhammad Yunus 13:17 — Transactional vs. transformational advocacy 13:47 — Maxine's story: from "clueless" to "euphoric" 14:44 — Ellie's story: from "climate trauma" to "sacred and profound" 21:19 — Three questions to ask someone you disagree with 33:53 — How organized advocacy shaped a maternal and child health funding decision 39:02 — How a small grassroots network engaged on a proposed EPA budget cut 44:11 — The eighteen commitments behind transformational advocacy 53:15 — Where to start tomorrow: reclaimingourdemocracy.com Guest's book: Reclaiming Our Democracy — reclaimingourdemocracy.com Get connected with an advocacy group near you: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdCQuqj-4O2eh4Sfy_E-dfVntbPlqg1A4T4oQ8E2J0nuZbD-w/viewform

  6. Jul 2 ·  Video

    The Physician Taking Her Fight From the Exam Room to Washington

    Send us Fan Mail Dr. Neelam Perry spent over two decades practicing internal medicine and treating HIV/AIDS patients before a personal health crisis changed the direction of her life. After surviving seven strokes and fighting to access a costly medication she says her insurance wouldn't approve, she made a decision: leave medicine and try to fix the system from the inside. In this conversation, Dr. Perry talks with Jelani Gonzalez about her path from the exam room to the campaign trail, her 2024 congressional run, the election-integrity concerns she says she witnessed firsthand, and what's driving her current U.S. Senate campaign in Florida. The two also dig into her positions on federal power, healthcare policy, and where she stands with the current administration. This is a conversation about resilience, conviction, and what happens when a healer decides the healthiest thing she can do is challenge the system itself.

  7. Jun 28 ·  Video

    The Diabetes Theory Doctors Don't Want You to Hear

    Send us Fan Mail After 27 years practicing as a pediatrician and allergist in Texas, Dr. John Poothullil noticed something in his own body that medical textbooks couldn't explain: weight that crept on every winter and refused to leave by spring. The standard answer — "improper diet and lack of exercise" — wasn't an answer at all. So he spent the next several decades building his own. In this conversation, Dr. John walks Jelani through the "fatty acid burn switch" — his alternative explanation for Type 2 diabetes that challenges the textbook theory of insulin resistance — and the personal story that radicalized his skepticism of mainstream treatment: a relative whose husband, a medical professor, kept her blood sugar perfectly controlled with insulin for years, only for her to lose a limb anyway. They also get into why "blood sugar" and "table sugar" are not the same thing, how grain-based carbohydrates became the hidden driver of the obesity epidemic, whether low-carb eating can help starve cancer cells, and what's really happening in your body on GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound — including the question Dr. John says almost nobody asks before starting one. This is a conversation about the difference between treating a number and treating a person — and why understanding your own hunger might matter more than any prescription.

  8. Jun 23 ·  Video

    The Legal Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make Too Late

    Send us Fan Mail Scherrie L. Prince did not take a straight path into law. Before becoming an attorney, entrepreneur, business coach, and podcast host, she worked in operations, real estate, mortgage brokerage, and business ownership. Then the 2008 mortgage crisis hit, and she lost everything while raising two young children. In this episode of Behind the Story, Jelani Gonzalez sits down with Scherrie to talk about the personal experiences that shaped her legal work today — losing her mother at 16, watching family conflict unfold after her grandparents passed without a plan, losing her own business during the mortgage crisis, and deciding to rebuild through law school. Scherrie shares why she now helps entrepreneurs protect their businesses, personal assets, families, and future legacy. She breaks down why forming an LLC is not enough, what it means to build a “legal moat” around your business, why business planning and estate planning should work together, and how families lose generational wealth when there is no clear plan in place. This conversation is about entrepreneurship, resilience, legal protection, legacy, family, and the hard lessons that can become a mission.

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5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Welcome to Behind The Story Show, a long-form interview podcast hosted by Jelani Gonzalez that goes beyond the headlines to uncover the real journeys behind extraordinary people and powerful ideas. Each week, Jelani sits down with entrepreneurs, athletes, artists, creators, leaders, and change-makers to explore the defining moments, hard-earned lessons, personal challenges, and bold decisions that shaped their path. From business and creativity to leadership, culture, innovation, and reinvention, Behind The Story brings you candid conversations that reveal not just what people achieved, but what it took to get there. If you are building something, chasing a vision, navigating change, or looking for stories that educate, inspire, and challenge the way you think, this show is for you. Join us as we go behind the success, behind the struggle, and Behind The Story.

Information

  • Creator
    Jelani Gonzalez
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    52
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Behind The Story Show
  • Show Website
    Behind The Story Show

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