The Breaking Normal Podcast

Daniel Eisenman

Breaking Normal: Exploration of memetics, language, & mystery, and applying it to an everyday lifestyle

  1. 1d ago

    Can You Receive a Life Bigger Than Your Dream? | Sam Tarantino

    Sam Tarantino helped build Grooveshark into one of the largest music streaming platforms in the world. By his twenties, he was running a company with millions of users, battling some of the most powerful corporations on Earth, and living what many would call the entrepreneurial dream. Then he lost it. In this conversation, Sam shares parts of the story he rarely talks about publicly—from the founding of Grooveshark, to the lawsuits that changed everything, to the loss of his co-founder and close friend, Josh Greenberg. What emerged was not a conversation about business. It became a conversation about luck, loss, brotherhood, success, failure, family, fate, and the strange way life can lead us exactly where we’re meant to go. We begin with a series of synchronicities: two oldest brothers, two Florida boys, two entrepreneurs shaped by family dynamics, each navigating different versions of the same questions. From there we dive deep into: * The untold story behind Grooveshark’s rise and fall * What losing a company teaches that success never can * The loss of a co-founder, close friend, and brother-in-arms * how “luck” can cut both ways * The hidden costs of ambition * Whether success and failure are largely stories we tell ourselves * The parallel lives we never get to live * Family, fatherhood, and what truly matters in the end Near the end, we explore the film Family Man and the question it poses: What if the life you thought you wanted wasn’t actually the life that would make you happiest? This is one of the most honest founder conversations we’ve ever had. Daniel and Sam explore the rise and fall of a company, the loss of people and dreams, and the realization that sometimes life’s greatest gifts arrive disguised as setbacks. For anyone who has ever wondered whether they are behind, ahead, winning, losing, or exactly where they are meant to be, this conversation is for you.

    54 min
  2. May 5

    The Sin of Seriousness | With My Brother Timothy Eisenman

    What happens when two brothers—cut from the same cloth, yet living their own paths—sit down and stop taking life so darn seriously? This one starts very Breaking Normal… Timothy refuses to do what I ask him within seconds 😂 And from there, it turns into one of the deepest, strangest, and most heartfelt conversations I’ve ever had—with my own brother. We go from: * Identity — why Timothy may relate more to “brother” than his name * What Jesus may have (or may not have) identified with * Language, labels, and the illusion of who we think we are * Stories from our travels around the world — including the time he may have saved my life… and the time he gave me stitches but accidentally glued my butt cheeks together 😳 * How he met his now wife… while she was with her ex-husband * The blessing/dream… her ex-husband gave him later * Nicaragua, sickness, and a moment that felt like our mom made a deal with God * Prayer… live on the podcast * god, Kenya, Carl Jung, synchronicity, dreams, and moments you can barely explain—but can never forget * Trusted house sitting as a real-life treasure hunt * His raw, honest take on Tribe Vitamins * And a powerful moment where he speaks directly to his son—imagining him at 15, about to get his driver’s license, listening to this episode… and what he’d want him to know And somehow… it all leads to a moment where I ask him for one final question— and instead, he ends in tears… expressing pure gratitude. No script. No filter. Just two brothers exploring life, God, memory, and meaning in real time. If you’ve ever wondered how deep a conversation can go with someone who shares your blood… this is it. — Get real nourishment from the inside out (and the outside in): 👉 https://tribevitamins.com — This is back-to-back with the episode I just recorded with my dad… Something powerful is happening in these family conversations. Expect nothing. Experience everything.

    1h 11m
  3. Mar 28

    Greg Lefcourt of Beleza (Boulder) on Coffee, Community & Creating the Best Vibes

    What actually makes a coffee shop feel different? In this episode of Breaking Normal, I sit down with Greg Lefcourt — co-owner of Beleza Coffee in Boulder — to explore what’s really happening beneath the surface of coffee culture. Greg has spent decades at the highest level of specialty coffee… competing, judging, and helping shape the scene. But what he’s building with Beleza goes beyond coffee — it’s about connection, presence, and creating a space people actually feel. We get into: - Why he killed the Wi-Fi (and what that revealed about people) - What coffee taught him about human nature - The fine line between mastery, ego, and art - How drinks like the Persian Love Latte (with saffron, rose, pistachio) can shift your state - What makes a great barista vs. just a skilled one - His favorite coffee shops around the world - What actually creates a magnetic community vibe Questions we explored: - What has coffee taught you about humans that has nothing to do with coffee? - Why did you remove Wi-Fi when most cafés are doubling down on it? - What made you step away from the “high-level coffee world” to build something more human? - When does mastery become ego… and when does it become art? - What kind of ritual are people craving right now without realizing it? - Can a drink actually shift someone’s emotional state? - What’s a place or experience that changed how you see what a café can be? - What makes a truly great coffee shop? - What separates a great barista from everyone else? - What do people reveal over coffee that they don’t say anywhere else? - What would the perfect café for human connection look like? Connect with Greg & Beleza: https://www.instagram.com/belezacoffeebar/ If you’re in Boulder, this is one of those spots you don’t just visit — you feel it. Coffee might be the excuse… But connection is the real product. Get Greg’s favorite tallow and the best organ supplements in the world at www.TribeVitamins.com

    1h 7m
  4. Feb 13

    Why Sustainability, Sales, and Retirement All Need a Rethink

    What if sustainability isn’t about optics—but about doing the hard, unglamorous work no one wants to deal with? In this episode of Breaking Normal, host Daniel Eisenman sits down with Kathey Pear, lifelong entrepreneur, sales strategist, and sustainability realist, to unpack why “green” has become more marketing than practice. From office furniture landfills to the myth of retirement, Kathey shares decades of lived experience navigating business with integrity. This episode is for founders, operators, and thinkers who want to build something useful, honest, and human—and understand why that matters now more than ever. Main Topics Covered Why “retirement” is a broken concept for people who love their work Sales as service, triage, and truth—not manipulation The hidden environmental cost of office furniture and business moves Why 90% of office furniture ends up in landfills Greenwashing vs. real sustainability practices The real constraints: storage, real estate, and economics Why scaling too fast destroys otherwise good businesses Potlatch economics and redefining wealth, value, and success Key Takeaways Sustainability fails when it’s cheaper to throw things away than deal with them Sales done well is about helping people make better decisions Going slow allows you to survive your mistakes—and learn from them Real impact often starts long before profit or recognition Wealth isn’t what you accumulate—it’s what you circulate Connect with the Guest: Kathey Pear Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathey.pear.7 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathey-pear-90aa091/Get the book on Audible!https://www.audible.com/pd/Self-Development/Breaking-Normal-Audiobook/B074G49CW2Get the book on Amazon!https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071SBC7NC/ref=sr_1_16?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1495314934&sr=1-16&keywords=motivational+self+help+help_________STAY IN TOUCH ↣WEBSITE: http://breakingnormal.com↣FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/DanielEisenman↣INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/DanielEisenman↣TWITTER: https://twitter.com/DanielEisenman If this conversation challenged the way you think about sustainability, work, or success, help us spread it. Follow, like, and share this episode with someone who’s ready to question the “normal” way of doing business.

    1h 6m
4.9
out of 5
301 Ratings

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Breaking Normal: Exploration of memetics, language, & mystery, and applying it to an everyday lifestyle

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