The Shuman Show

Drew Shuman

5.0 (1)
Society & Culture
Updated Biweekly

Life can be complicated, conversations can help.

5d ago

Why Strong People Go Looking For Pain - Michael Chernow

Michael Chernow is an entrepreneur, father, husband, and recovering addict who has built his life around family, faith, fitness, discipline, and business. In this conversation, Michael opens up about the difficult childhood that shaped him, the addiction that consumed 11 years of his life, the principles that helped him rebuild, and why he believes family and love ultimately matter more than business or success. Expect to learn why Michael believes growing up in a chaotic household gave him two choices — repeat the cycle or completely break it; why he and his wife made a pact to never raise their voices and have built a nightly ritual around communication; the 13 things Michael teaches his sons every night and why he believes routine, courage, and consistency create safety; how growing up with an abusive father and battered mother shaped the father he became; why he became an entrepreneur as a young kid and learned that if he wanted something, he had to go get it; why he is grateful for the adversity and 11 years of addiction that shaped who he is today; the “Bless You, Change Me” mantra his grandmother gave him and how he applies it to business, marriage, and difficult relationships; why Michael drafts important emails at night and waits until the next morning before sending them; his 3 C framework — commitment, confidence, and courage and why he believes commitment is the foundation of confidence; why he considers the hours between 5am and 7am the most powerful hours of the day; how he balances discipline with sleep and refuses to sacrifice time with his wife and kids; why family comes before faith, fitness, and business; why he believes humans are ultimately here to connect, love, and be loved; the biggest regret of his entrepreneurial career and why he refuses to repeat that mistake; and what Michael would tell his younger self after everything he has been through. Michael also explains why he is willing to fight all day for his businesses but will not fight after 6pm. And ultimately, his definition of success comes down to something much simpler than money, business, or status: Love. Love and be loved.
Sep 17

Why Most People Are Living A 4, 5, 6 Life - Mike Aidala

Most people live at a four, five, six. Mike Aidala's point: if you refuse to feel the one, twos and threes - grief, fear, sadness - you lose the eight, nines and tens too, and you end up in a life where nothing is great but nothing feels terrible either. That is the whole episode. Mike walked away from a gym he was winning at, caught dengue fever on the year of travel that followed, set the Guinness World Record for the heaviest ever Turkish get-up at 261.3 lb, and this year went for the Lead Challenge in Leadville and did not finish it. He says every one of those taught him the same thing: the life you actually want sits behind the discomfort you are avoiding. We get into the exercise he uses to pull real values out of people, the five regrets that show up at the end of a life, why comfortable lives are the hardest ones to leave, and why "get comfortable being uncomfortable" is the wrong advice. Mike is a mindset coach who runs his own coaching company, an ultra-endurance athlete, the Guinness World Record holder for the heaviest Turkish get-up, and has just finished his master's in Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Sep 2

Why Hitting Your Goals Leaves You Restless - Eric Hinman #21

Eric Hinman retired at 34 after building three businesses simultaneously while competing in Iron Man triathlons, and has since become one of the most trusted voices in the wellness creator economy partnering with and investing in early stage wellness brands, competing in the Leadville 100 and Hyrox World Championships, and building a life most people only dream about. In this episode, Eric breaks down how he went from out of shape insurance salesman to the Iron Man World Championships in under five years, why slowing down is the secret to going faster in endurance sports and in business, how he trained for Iron Man while running three businesses and what that taught him about saying no, why discipline always beats motivation, how he built a personal brand before influencer marketing even existed, why everyone needs a quest and what happens to people who sell their company for $100 million and lose their purpose overnight, and how he got into early stage wellness investing and why equity deals beat cash every time. Whether you are building a business, chasing a fitness goal, or trying to design a life you actually love this one is packed with hard-won lessons from someone living proof that it is possible.
Aug 12

What Psychedelics Reveal About God, Death & Reality Ryan Hawell #19

A psychedelic facilitator and Bufo guide on death, ego, God, past lives, and the lesson that changed his love life: you attract what you are. One of our most expansive conversations. Ryan [Last] shares what plant medicine taught him about letting go, presence, and who we really are.
Aug 3

How To Trust Yourself Enough To Walk Away — Brooke Robbins #19

Brooke Robbins is the host of The Well Path podcast, a former tech executive who spent four years building a life in Dubai, broke off a five-year engagement, overcame a raging eating disorder, left corporate at the end of 2025, and grew her Instagram from 400 to 10,000 followers in weeks by going all in on her platform. In this episode, Brooke breaks down why she felt the presence of God enter her body on a night walk in Dubai after October 7th, why she broke off her five-year engagement after a year of contemplating the decision and what finally made it clear, why she believes you always know when something is not right but convince yourself otherwise anyway, how a dream about a sea turtle led her to John 3:16 painted on a rock along the Thames in London, why she got baptized and still considers herself fully Jewish, the difference between fear and scarcity fuel versus love and abundance fuel, why surrender is not passive but the most powerful thing an ambitious person can do, the self-trust muscle framework and why you cannot take a massive leap of faith without building it first, and why she quit corporate with 400 followers and no evidence it would work and what happened next. Whether you are sitting on a decision you already know the answer to, rebuilding your identity after a major life change, or searching for something deeper this one will stay with you long after it ends.
Jul 25

His First Speaking Fee Was a Coffee Mug. Now He Speaks for AmEx #18

Juan Bendana is a professional keynote speaker and the author of Confident by Choice published by Penguin in 2025. Over the past decade he has delivered close to 1,000 keynotes for organizations including American Express, AT&T, L'Oreal, Zillow, and Manulife, speaking roughly 90 times a year. In this episode, Juan breaks down why he woke up handcuffed to a hospital bed at 19 and what he did with the last $500 he had, why confidence is not something you are born with and the exact age it starts forming instead, the difference between self-esteem and self-efficacy and why most people have them wildly out of balance, how a single comment from a sophomore English teacher became a limiting belief he carried for decades, and why confident people treat failure as a signal to reengage rather than a sign to stop. He also gets into the confidence cycle framework, why energy comes before courage, why one criticism outweighs ten compliments in your head, how to build excitement anchors into your week, why money only magnifies who you already are, and what it actually took to build a speaking career from zero including 100 cold emails a day, a $15,000 bet on a credit card, and seven years of mediocre speeches before landing on his message. Whether you are building a business, chasing a career, or just trying to find more confidence in your everyday life this one is packed with hard-won lessons from someone who learned them the hard way.
Jun 18

He Built an 8-Figure Brand and Was Still Miserable #17

Sam is the co-founder of The Cold Life, an eight-figure premium health and wellness brand that went from zero to millions selling cold plunges and has now launched what may be the most advanced filtered shower head on the market. In this episode, Sam breaks down how he scaled a brand to eight figures while being completely miserable and what finally made him change, how he met his business partner Kyle by handing him a check after a deal went wrong, and what it actually takes to build a physical product brand from scratch including near bankruptcy, 65% product failure rates, and raising money with almost nothing in the bank. He also gets into why a 10-minute shower is equivalent to drinking 11 cups of chlorinated water, why he stopped caring about building a $100 million company, and what one Wednesday night a week did for his relationship and his peace of mind. Whether you are building a business, chasing money, or just trying to find balance — this one is raw, honest, and packed with hard-won lessons from someone who learned them the hard way.
Jun 3

The Sun Isn't Killing You — Avoiding It Is #16

Jonathan Jarecki is a biology student, neuroscience researcher, and science communicator who has spent years diving deep into the literature on light, mitochondria, and ancestral health. In this episode, Jonathan breaks down why avoiding the sun may be one of the most dangerous things you can do for your health, why chronic sun exposure reduces your risk of melanoma while burning increases it, and what is actually happening in your mitochondria when sunlight hits your skin. He also covers why melatonin is the most powerful antioxidant in the human body and how sunlight produces it during the day, the truth about vitamin D supplementation versus actual sun exposure, why standard LED lighting is silently damaging your eyes, and why a single incandescent bulb on your desk can improve your vision by 30%. Whether you are deep into biohacking or just starting to question mainstream health advice this one will completely change how you think about light.

Life can be complicated, conversations can help.

Creator

Drew Shuman
Years Active

2026
Episodes

23
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© Drew Shuman
Show Website

The Shuman Show