Mojo for the Modern Man Ken Mossman

Jon DiSavino, actor and host of the Short Story Today podcast, shares his story of growing up in the Boston suburbs in the ’60’s and ’70’s.  He talks about being impacted by assassinations, the Vietnam war, the moon landing - and a high school audition that changed the course of his life.  Jon closes Act 1 with sage advice on living in the moment, facing pressure and rejection, and finding gratitude for all of it.

Jon DiSavino is an actor and stage director. In recent years he has begun producing and narrating audiobooks for Audible.com. His most recent release, Doctor Assassin: A Medical Science Thriller by Mark R. Belsky, was published in December of 2021. In 2022, he introduced a new literary podcast called Short Story Today. It gives listeners an opportunity to hear the work of some of the best emerging writers of today. Jon hosts the weekly episodes, which begin with his interview with the week's guest author, and ends with his professional audiobook performance of a story by that author.

Jon's Short Story Today show was recently  voted one of the 20 best short story podcasts on the planet!  You can check that goodness out here:   https://blog.feedspot.com/short_story_podcasts/
www.shortstorytoday.com
www.jondisavino.com
@ShortStoryToday on Twitter and Instagram

Chris Plourde opens Act 2 responding to observations about asking for help, crossing the line to do the work of his own soul’s calling, and moving beyond lingering cultural resistance to getting paid for work he loves.
 Chris digs deep into patterns of fear, highlighting the courage it takes to break free and follow one’s callings.
 Mountains – a whole lot of mountains – become a metaphor for getting on the heart’s path that reveals itself only through the “Law of GOYA.”  (And no, Chris is not talking about the Spanish artist!)
 Expressing gratitude for the butterflies of challenge that invite courage, we begin to wrap Act 2 with Chris sharing the range of the good work he does, helping people become the best possible versions of themselves and, of course, suggesting useful steps they can take to ramp up their own inner work.
Chris Plourde is a coach, businessman, father and husband. He works with top athletes, well-known companies, organizations, celebrities, moms/dads and even military special ops.  As a Former Master Trainer and Presenter, he created and presented content both nationally and internationally, on the mental and physical aspects of training for peak performance in all areas of life.  As a former Chief Executive with Men’s Teams and Organizations, he has mentored many men to find their authentic self and create leadership qualities which they bring to their families, communities, and businesses.  
He helps his clients gain clarity, establish personal performance habits, create balance, and unleash their true potential in all areas of life. He believes while the needs of every type of person may vary, the core concepts are the same. The way you approach one thing in life is the way you approach everything in life.
If Chris has learned one thing in his 20+ years of coaching, it’s that the journey to your most authentic, fulfilled, and happy self begins from the inside out. The process of falling in love with the journey of self discovery means embracing your unique story so that you have clarity on where you have been and where you are meant to be.
Visit Chris and learn more: chrisplourde.com
Facebook
Instagram: @coachchrisplourde

Conscious Performance Coach Chris Plourde spent his early years in Brockton, Massachusetts, as a sensitive kid who learned very early in the game to bury his emotions.  It wasn’t until his move to Marina Del Rey, California in his 20’s that he learned that it was OK to feel.


Chris does a brilliant, transparent job of describing the mechanics of shutting down his inner child, reflecting on the limiting “codes” he learned to live by.


He found his way to men’s groups at a relatively young age, where he learned to make his way back to the rich world of emotional experience and expression.  At the same time, he also learned to lead men’s groups!


 Chris shares the story of making his way to his very first men’s group meeting, where he found himself judging the other men in the circle… Only to have the light came on later, when he realized that he was witnessing reflections of himself.


 We take a wild leap into the emotional realms, pausing for an examination of acceptance.


 And all that in just the first 15 minutes!


 We touch on courage, vulnerability, compassion, and a whole lot more, finally rounding out Act 1 with some great places for men to begin their own journeys of growth, including the radical act of asking for help.


Chris Plourde is a coach, businessman, father and husband. He works with top athletes, well-known companies, organizations, celebrities, moms/dads and even military special ops.  As a Former Master Trainer and Presenter, he created and presented content both nationally and internationally, on the mental and physical aspects of training for peak performance in all areas of life.  As a former Chief Executive with Men’s Teams and Organizations, he has mentored many men to find their authentic self and create leadership qualities which they bring to their families, communities, and businesses.  


 He helps his clients gain clarity, establish personal performance habits, create balance, and unleash their true potential in all areas of life. He believes while the needs of every type of person may vary, the core concepts are the same. The way you approach one thing in life is the way you approach everything in life.


 If Chris has learned one thing in his 20+ years of coaching, it’s that the journey to your most authentic, fulfilled, and happy self begins from the inside out. The process of falling in love with the journey of self discovery means embracing your unique story so that you have clarity on where you have been and where you are meant to be.


Visit Chris and learn more: chrisplourde.com
Facebook
Instagram: @coachchrisplourde

Plunging into the deep end, executive coach and men’s work leader Jake Fishbein opens Act 2 rising powerfully to a question about vulnerability and  realness.
We touch on romantic and platonic love, and stepping out of our comfort zones to enjoy richer, deeper, more real conversations.
Willing to have your heart broken?
Jake’s response is, of course, an enthusiastic “yes.”  And he shares the importance of that answer in a moving moment of recalling his grandmother and her passing, and how heartbreak is, at times, an expression of joy. 
Jake wraps his wisdom around the connective power of emotions, and we dig into the ways in which denying emotions diminishes our humanity, leading to separation from both self and other. 
After a rich riff on acceptance, emotional flexibility, and complexity, we wrap with Jake’s powerful recommendations for men starting their own journeys of self-discovery.
Jake Fishbein is an executive and personal coach who helps people and organizations make and navigate their most important decisions. He works with small business owners, mid-level executives, and runs men's groups. He's been helping men trust themselves, live authentically and vulnerably, and step into the arena in their personal and professional lives for over half a decade. Jake grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and has somehow survived nine years in New York City as a die-hard Red Sox fan.
 
Learn more about Jake:
www.jakefishbein.com
www.thearenaseries.com
www.linkedin.com/in/jakefishbein
Instagram: @thecoachjake

A New Yorker hailing (originally) from Santa Fe, New Mexico, executive coach and men’s group leader Jake Fishbein shares his younger days as a Montessori student and explorer of the land.  He talks about his early connection to that land, and how New York is… different.
And walking on the concrete of the city rather than in connection with the Earth is where different begins. 
Jake unpacks some long-time influences, including a couple of translations of the Odyssey and the lessons they hold, then points his narrative lens at his experiences of leading Saturday services for nine months whilst preparing for his Bar Mitzvah. 
On a recent visit home, Jake found his D’var Torah – the talk centered on the Torah portion he read at his Bar Mitzvah – discovering that the topics he covered are still of interest, noting that he could have written a very similar piece today!
We dip into Jake’s work history, highlighting the growth he experienced as he did a reset after the challenges of his first post-university job.
At the tender age of 24, Jake joined a men’s group “strictly for research purposes.” (There’s more to that story!)  We look at worst fears, featuring a cameo of Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction”, before closing Act 1 with an instructive nod to vulnerability, truth, and authenticity. 

Jake’s wisdom and warm is palpable throughout, and we leave well-primed for Act 2! 
Jake Fishbein is an executive and personal coach who helps people and organizations make and navigate their most important decisions. He works with small business owners, mid-level executives, and runs men's groups. He's been helping men trust themselves, live authentically and vulnerably, and step into the arena in their personal and professional lives for over half a decade. Jake grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and has somehow survived nine years in New York City as a die-hard Red Sox fan.
 
Learn more about Jake:
www.jakefishbein.com
www.thearenaseries.com
www.linkedin.com/in/jakefishbein
Instagram: @thecoachjake

Jim Young returns to the mic to share the goods on his new book, Expansive Intimacy: How “Tough Guys” Defeat Burn Out


 My first question: “What led to this book being?”


Jim’s response: “The simple answer is seven years.”


Jim shares how his drive to achieve and deliver for others led to him hitting the wall (hard) and breaking down.


 We plunge into the important, challenging work that vulnerability can be, taking a few minutes to put comparison under the microscope.


 Jim unwraps the qualities of expansive intimacy and offers additional rich context for the title and many of the lessons in his book.  We spotlight shame and the separation it causes and reinforces, and Jim recounts some of his own stories of connections built when shame was shared in psychologically safe places.


 After a brief touch on the unsustainable nature of fear as a motivator, we wrap with Jim sharing a few subtle secrets from his improv experience sure to help listeners begin to move toward their own practices of expansive intimacy.


 Jim Young is an executive coach, facilitator, author, and speaker who leverages his experiences from the corporate C-Suite to cure burnout for leaders and organizations. His book,  Expansive Intimacy: How “Tough Guys” Defeat Burn Out, helps men create a roadmap that leads them on through a common modern malaise and into the best parts of life they've ever seen. 


Website: www.thecenteredcoach.com


LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thecenteredcoach


Newsletter: expansiveintimacy.substack.com