Success, Rewritten

Emily LoMenzo Washcovick
  • 4.4 (7)
  • Mental Health

Success, Rewritten explores the moments that change how ambitious people think about achievement, work, and the lives they are building. Hosted by Emily Washcovick, former Yelp Small Business Expert and host of Behind the Review, this show features candid conversations with founders, executives, and leaders who have faced pivotal moments that forced them to rethink what success actually means. Some left high-powered careers. Some rebuilt after burnout, illness, or loss. Others discovered that the version of success they were chasing was not sustainable. In each episode, guests share the turning points that reshaped their priorities and how redefining ambition helped them build businesses and lives that work together. This is a podcast for thoughtful builders, entrepreneurs, and leaders who are not stepping away from success. They are redefining it. If you are asking bigger questions about ambition, balance, and what it really means to build a meaningful life, you are in the right place.

  1. 2d ago

    23: Building More Than a Flower Shop: Mikel McGee on 414loral, Pricing Your Work, and Redefining Success

    Mikel McGee did not set out to become a florist. Before 414loral became a beloved Milwaukee flower shop, before the bouquet bar, weddings, workshops, farmers markets, and the bigger space on Historic King Drive, Mikel was working in nonprofits with survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. She had a master’s degree in criminal justice. She had student loans. She had a full-time job with healthcare, PTO, and a path that made sense on paper. Flowers were the thing she did for fun. She would buy bunches from Trader Joe’s or Pick ’n Save, arrange them at her kitchen counter, and give them to friends. It was creative, low stakes, and joyful. Then that joy slowly became pop-ups, deliveries, subscriptions, weddings, and eventually a brick-and-mortar shop. In this episode, Emily sits down with Mikel, founder and owner of 414loral in Milwaukee, to talk about the path from criminal justice to flowers, the early delusion of entrepreneurship, what it means to price your work properly, and how success can become something much more meaningful than money. In this episode: What 414loral Is TodayBuilding a Flower Shop That Feels Like CommunityThe Early Days of Hustling and Figuring It OutLearning to Price Her Work ProperlyFrom Speech Pathology to Criminal Justice to FlowersFlowers as a Creative Outlet After Heavy Nonprofit WorkChoosing a Life Centered Around Joy and CreativityRedefining Success Beyond MoneyStaying Present in a Growing BusinessBringing Her Identity Into the BusinessHonoring King Drive and BronzevilleThe Support System Behind 414loralHow Her Husband Ray Supports the BusinessThe Valentine’s Day Flower DisasterWhat Comes Next for 414loralUsing Social Media to Stay Human and Connected New episodes of Success, Rewritten every Tuesday. Check out the show website for previous episode articles and more about our guests. And check out the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SuccessRewrittenShow To connect with Emily, email emily@successrewrittenshow.com or follow her on social: Emily's Instagram, Mental Health Advocacy profile Bipolar Brought Balance, and the show's Instagram: Success, Rewritten

  2. Jul 30

    22: Solo Ep. 3: They Built Empires With Bipolar Disorder and ADHD

    What do the founder of JetBlue, the co-founder of Kayak, the founder of Bonobos, and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles have in common? They have each spoken publicly about living with ADHD or bipolar disorder while achieving extraordinary success. In this solo episode of Success Rewritten, Emily explores what their experiences reveal about mental health, entrepreneurship, achievement, and the assumptions we make about successful people. These stories are not meant to frame ADHD or bipolar disorder as automatic superpowers. Both diagnoses can bring serious challenges. Instead, the episode looks at how people can better understand how their brains work, create systems that support them, and find success without hiding or feeling ashamed of their diagnoses. In this episode: Billion-Dollar Founders with ADHD and Bipolar DisorderEmily’s Diagnosis and Return to WorkWhat We Assume About Successful PeopleAndy Dunn and His Hidden Bipolar DiagnosisBurn Rate and Building BonobosHow Hiding a Diagnosis Can Affect HealingPaul English, Bipolar Disorder, and KayakThe Benefits and Risks of IntensityDavid Neeleman, ADHD, and JetBlueWhen ADHD Challenges Became Visible at WorkBuilding a Company Around How Your Brain WorksWhy a Diagnosis Is Not Always a SuperpowerSimone Biles, ADHD, and Mental HealthSuccess Without Romanticizing a DiagnosisWhen Mania Resembles Startup CultureDisclosure, Support, and Finding BalanceResources and Closing Thoughts Find me: Success, Rewritten | Website | Instagram Emily LoMenzo Washcovick | LinkedIn | Instagram Bipolar Brought Balance | Instagram To go deeper on my experience with bipolar disorder, visit bipolarbroughtbalance.com

  3. Jul 28

    21: The CIA Research Behind Headphones That Calm Your Brain | J Johnson Jr, High Frequency Highway

    J Johnson Jr borrowed $100 from his mom at 14 to put his first app on the App Store. It hit #7 on paid entertainment apps. That instinct to spot the trend early and just build the thing has followed him ever since. In this episode, Emily talks with J Johnson Jr, founder of High Frequency Highway, about a journey that runs from #1 in the nation for track at age 17, to walking away from D1 athletics for Silicon Valley, to building a frequency wearable company now shipping over 1,000 units a month. It started with an ADHD diagnosis and a medication that helped his focus but wrecked his appetite as a sprinter, which pushed him to look for another way and led him to the power of sound. J gets into the skeptical experiment that made him a believer, the declassified CIA document behind his obsession with frequency, and how he went from prototype to shipping in seven months through a run of rooms most founders never get into. He also shares how he protects his energy, why he refuses to "go below neutral," and how his definition of success moved from "normal jock trying to make a lot of money" to peace on Earth and raising the frequency of the planet. As J puts it, "You live life differently when you're at a high frequency." High Frequency Highway (get the headphones!) Follow High Frequency Highway on Instagram and TikTok And Follow J for more of his personal journey on Instagram and TikTok New episodes of Success, Rewritten every Tuesday. Check out the show website for previous episode articles and more about our guests. And check out the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SuccessRewrittenShow To connect with Emily, email emily@successrewrittenshow.com or follow her on social: Emily's Instagram, Mental Health Advocacy profile Bipolar Brought Balance, and the show's Instagram: Success, Rewritten

  4. Jul 21

    20: Jay Laurie & Charlotte Maya: Surviving a Suicide Loss, and Learning to Live Again

    Content note: this episode is an honest conversation about suicide loss. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, free and available 24/7. Jay Laughrey and Charlotte Maya met at a yoga studio. He complimented her ring, she told him the story behind it, and within minutes they had found the one thing nobody wants to have in common: they had each lost someone to suicide. Charlotte lost her husband Sam. Jay lost his brother Jeff. This week, Emily brings them together for a group conversation about the loss that so many people carry and so few people talk about. It is an imperfect conversation on purpose. Charlotte, a former attorney and the author of Sushi Tuesdays, and Jay, a business owner who became an advocate after his brother's death, talk through the language that heals and the language that hurts, why "died by suicide" matters, and why 988 belongs in everyone's phone. They get into what actually helps a grieving family, from the lasagna on the porch to the idea that everybody has a light and the job is to bring it, and the things people say with good intentions that land all wrong. They also sit with the harder stuff: comforting everyone else while you are the one who lost the most, the questions you will never get answered, and how you learn to hold grief and joy at the same time. As Charlotte puts it, suicide is a disease that takes our loved ones, it just looks uglier from the outside. And as both of them keep proving, the way you honor the people you lost is by living, out loud, with their names still in the room. For their individual stories, listen to Charlotte's and Jay's one-on-one episodes. Charlotte's solo episode Jay's solo episode IN THIS EPISODE How Jay and Charlotte met, and why that connection was instantWhy the words we use around suicide matterWhat actually supports a grieving family, and what to stop sayingSuicide literacy: how to ask someone directly, and why it does not plant the ideaWhy 988 belongs in your phone right nowHonoring the people we lost by living with joy RESOURCES 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988Sushi Tuesdays: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Resilience by Charlotte Maya New episodes of Success, Rewritten every Tuesday. Subscribe, rate, and follow wherever you listen.

  5. Jul 16

    19: Solo Ep. 2: Suicide Literacy: What to Say, What to Ask, and Why Language Matters

    Most of us have been touched by suicide in some way, either directly or through someone we know. But when someone we love is struggling, most of us don’t actually know what to do. Not because we don’t care. Because nobody taught us. That gap has a name: suicide literacy. Emily talks about what suicide literacy means, why it matters, and how having the right language can help us respond with more care, clarity, and confidence when someone may be in crisis. This episode follows Emily’s conversations with Jay Laughrey and Charlotte Maya, both of whom lost someone they love to suicide. Those interviews made Emily aware of the gaps in her own understanding, and this solo episode is her way of helping listeners prepare before they ever find themselves in that moment. Suicide literacy is not clinical training. It is not about having all the answers. It is about knowing enough to recognize warning signs, ask direct questions, use careful language, and know where to turn for support. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. In this episode: Suicide Literacy and Why It MattersWhy Language Is the First StepWhy “Died by Suicide” MattersSuicide Is Not a Lack of LoveWarning Signs Can Look Different for EveryoneThe Guilt Trap Around Warning SignsThe Direct Question That Can Save a LifeSelf-Harm and Suicide Are Not the Same QuestionWhat to Ask Next If Someone Says YesKnow 988 Before You Need ItFor Survivors, There May Never Be a Clear AnswerGrief as a Heavy SandbagJay and Charlotte’s Upcoming ConversationKeep Talking, Even When It’s Hard Find me: Success, Rewritten | Website | Instagram Emily LoMenzo Washcovick | LinkedIn | Instagram Bipolar Brought Balance | Instagram To go deeper on my experience with bipolar disorder, visit bipolarbroughtbalance.com

  6. Jul 15

    18: Charlotte Maya: Surviving Suicide Loss and Learning to Love Again

    Charlotte Maya was terrified she'd be ostracized by her community after her husband Sam died by suicide in 2007. Instead, being open about it drew people closer. In this conversation, Charlotte talks about writing her memoir, Sushi Tuesdays, raising two young sons through grief, and the messy, nonlinear reality of loss. She shares why asking someone directly if they're struggling can open a door instead of planting an idea that wasn't already there, and how she eventually found love again with her husband, Tim, building a blended family out of two families shaped by loss. Charlotte Maya is an author, attorney, and suicide loss survivor. Learn more about her and her book, Sushi Tuesdays, at charlotte-maya.com. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

  7. Jul 7

    17: Jay Laughrey on Losing His Brother to Suicide, Grief, and Rebuilding After Loss

    Jay Laughrey has built Proteus Pools into a thriving pool business, but the road there was rocky and started with losing his brother and mentor, Jeff, to suicide in 2009. In this episode, Jay shares what it was like to watch Jeff's rapid decline into depression at a time when almost nobody talked about mental health, the day he got the call that changed everything, and the words from a police officer that he credits with saving his own life. He talks about rebuilding his brother's business, learning to reframe grief instead of anger, and why sharing his story, including with total strangers, has become part of his own healing. This is a conversation about loss, men's mental health, and what it really takes to rebuild. If you're struggling, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.  New episodes of Success, Rewritten every Tuesday.

  8. Jun 30

    16: Solo Ep. 1: The Habits That Protect My Mental Health as an Entrepreneur

    The mental health advice entrepreneurs don't want to hear is that working less can actually make you more effective in your life and business. I can prove it, because it happened to me. In 2018, I had a manic episode that turned into psychosis. I was hospitalized, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and spent three months on medical leave from a full-time job I loved. When I came back, I rebuilt my work life around three things: sleep, structure, and workload limits. I thought it would break my career. It made me sharper. Then in fall 2025, I got laid off and became an entrepreneur. Every habit I'd fought to protect came under pressure again. This episode is about what those habits actually look like, why they work, and what it costs when life breaks the routine. If you've ever worn "busy" as a badge of honor, this one is going to challenge that directly. In this episode: Why sleeping more and working less made me better at my jobMy eight-hour sleep minimum and the rules that protect itHow a weekly to-do list beats a daily one for sustainable outputWhat it cost me when I stopped saying yes to everythingThe mindset shift my therapist forced me into around work hoursWhy habits never stay linear, and how I do a hard reset back to zero Find me: Success, Rewritten | Website | Instagram Emily LoMenzo Washcovick | LinkedIn | Instagram Bipolar Brought Balance | Instagram To go deeper on my experience with bipolar disorder, visit bipolarbroughtbalance.com

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4.4
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Success, Rewritten explores the moments that change how ambitious people think about achievement, work, and the lives they are building. Hosted by Emily Washcovick, former Yelp Small Business Expert and host of Behind the Review, this show features candid conversations with founders, executives, and leaders who have faced pivotal moments that forced them to rethink what success actually means. Some left high-powered careers. Some rebuilt after burnout, illness, or loss. Others discovered that the version of success they were chasing was not sustainable. In each episode, guests share the turning points that reshaped their priorities and how redefining ambition helped them build businesses and lives that work together. This is a podcast for thoughtful builders, entrepreneurs, and leaders who are not stepping away from success. They are redefining it. If you are asking bigger questions about ambition, balance, and what it really means to build a meaningful life, you are in the right place.

Information

  • Creator
    Emily LoMenzo Washcovick
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    23
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026
  • Show Website
    Success, Rewritten

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