Things Go Sideways

KiKi L'Italien
  • 5.0 (8)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

When life, leadership, or the world go sideways, certainty doesn't show up on schedule. Things Go Sideways is a podcast for the middle of it — the part where the plan has cracked, but nothing new has fully formed yet. Each episode is a slow, honest conversation with someone living through change: a career ending, an identity shifting, a sense that what used to work no longer fits. We don't rush to lessons or tidy conclusions. We stay with what's real long enough to notice what's true. Hosted by KiKi L'Italien, Things Go Sideways is not pitching you advice, motivation, or transformation content. This podcast is bringing you orientation. A place to make sense of uncertainty without pretending you already know what comes next. (Because most of the time, we don't — and that's not a failure.) This podcast exists to help people stay present long enough to learn when certainty is gone.

  1. 1d ago

    She Went In for Her First Mammogram. Then Everything Changed.

    Cecilia Satovich was 40, raising three young daughters, and living inside the life she had hoped for. Then she went in for her first mammogram. What started as something routine (an appointment you know you should make, the kind you might delay because life is full and you are busy and also, let's be real, who wants to deal with it?) became the beginning of a breast cancer diagnosis right as the world was heading into the uncertainty of early 2020. In this episode of Things Go Sideways, Cecilia talks about what it felt like to hear the word cancer when her children were still small, treatment was suddenly complicated by COVID, and the future she had been counting on no longer felt guaranteed. We talk about mammograms, fear, motherhood, asking for help, saying the wrong thing, and how hard it can be to stay close to someone else's pain when you don't know what to do with your own discomfort. This is not a neat cancer-survivor story with a shiny bow on it. Cecilia's story is about what happens when the body interrupts the plan, when ordinary life becomes precious in a way that feels almost unbearable, and when surviving something changes how you show up for other people who are still in it. Because sometimes the sideways moment is not only the diagnosis. Sometimes it is realizing how much you love your life. And yes. Get the mammogram. --- What is it like when your first mammogram leads to a breast cancer diagnosis? When a first mammogram leads to a breast cancer diagnosis, the shock is not only medical. It can interrupt your sense of safety, your plans, your family life, and the future you thought you were standing inside. In this episode of Things Go Sideways, Cecilia Satovich talks about being diagnosed with breast cancer at 40, while raising three young daughters and beginning treatment during the uncertainty of early 2020. Her story is about fear, motherhood, asking for help, and what changes when your body forces you to pay attention. --- Connect With Things Go Sideways: Substack: https://thingsgosideways.substack.com/welcome  Website: https://thingsgosideways.com  LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kikilitalien/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kikilitalien/  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thingsgosidewayspod and https://www.tiktok.com/@thingsgosideways  For Business Inquiries: kiki@thingsgosideways.com

    40 min

  2. May 28

    Grace Fatigue, Boundaries, and the Business That Survived Two Crises — with Lori Zoss Kraska

    What happens when you've already had your wake-up call — and life sends another one? Lori Zoss Kraska built Growth Owl into a thriving consultancy helping nonprofits and associations land Fortune 1000 sponsorships. Then, in 2022, a doctor's hunch caught bilateral pulmonary embolisms that had no symptoms she could feel.  She was answering client emails from the ER! The lesson stuck — until her mother walked into knee surgery in 2024 and walked out with the first signs of vascular dementia. In this episode of Things Go Sideways, Lori shares what it's actually like to run a business while becoming a primary caregiver. She talks about "grace fatigue" — the exhaustion of trying to make everyone else comfortable.  She talks about boundaries that aren't slogans. She talks about why her client roster looks completely different now, why perfectionism didn't survive the second crisis, and the conversation with her mother on a patio that became an assignment for the rest of her life. This one is for anyone in the middle of caregiving, anyone whose body has tried to warn them, and anyone rebuilding a business around a life that won't sit still. Listen now. When things go sideways, that's where the real story begins.  Connect with Lori: Website: thegrowthowl.com Books: lorizossbooks.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lorizoss 00:00 — Cold open / intro 01:30 — Welcome and setup: holding responsibility and uncertainty at once 02:30 — The knee surgery waiting room: noticing the signs 04:00 — The sundowning event after surgery and the diagnosis 06:30 — "I had to start respecting my boundaries" 08:30 — Why she stopped taking every client and started getting selective 10:30 — Working with creators and voiceover artists — the new audience 12:00 — Walking, journaling, gratitude: self-care as infrastructure 15:00 — 2022: the pulmonary embolism and the lesson she didn't quite learn yet 18:00 — The healthcare system, the squeaky wheel, and being your own advocate  20:30 — Throwing out the perfectionism 22:30 — "Once I made the choice to work on myself, the right clients came" 25:00 — Trust, taboo, and the people who can't talk about dementia 27:30 — Grace fatigue (this is the segment to clip) 30:00 — The patio conversation with her mother 32:00 — Becoming an exceptional listener 34:30 — Her father, the protector vs. the daughter, the solutions-provider 37:00 — Final advice: listen to your body 39:00 — Close and CTAs grace fatigue, boundaries, caregiver burnout, sandwich generation, women in business, only child caregiver, corporate sponsorship, nonprofit consulting, health scare, blood clots, perfectionism, client selection, business pivot For Business Inquiries: kiki@thingsgosideways.com  Listen & Subscribe Substack: https://thingsgosideways.substack.com/  Website: https://thingsgosideways.com/listen  Libsyn RSS Feed: https://feeds.libsyn.com/597715/rss Libsyn Podcast Page: https://sites.libsyn.com/597715/site  Libsyn Video Feed: https://feeds.libsyn.com/597715/spotify Spotify (video): https://open.spotify.com/show/0AToVdda4omlLpG9KpQ0Hj Spotify (audio): https://open.spotify.com/show/2K6DYzLMRkbT4FfmDaFP7a?si=4b4c70c5a3a84ce2 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/things-go-sideways/id1849510232 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/87fc90ea-455c-443d-a24f-bd3bccc2e764/things-go-sideways Audible: https://www.audible.com/podcast/Things-Go-Sideways/B0G59XM2XY YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhenThingsGoSideways  Join the Community Things Go Sideways Book Club: https://bookclubs.com/clubs/6100919/join/4db79195 YouTube Playlist (Full Episodes): https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRiPZ_HubKQpcbMaCYtlJN9D6qTv4tOrb LinkedIn Company Page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/things-go-sideways/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1150721167011215 Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61585524425304 Share Your Sideways Story Podcast Guest Intake Form: https://forms.gle/UcccE9eJBSfEc9UN9 Schedule a Podcast Interview: https://calendly.com/kiki-interview/podcast-interview

    42 min

  3. May 21

    When Everything Falls Apart at Once. The "Think Liquid" Mindset for Surviving Forced Change | Geoff Livingston

    When career, grief, and identity all come apart in the same 30 days, the instinct is to fight harder. Geoff Livingston learned the opposite. In this episode of Things Go Sideways, marketer, author, and Zen Buddhist Geoff Livingston walks through the month his co-founded company Cognitive Path wound down and his father died — and the "think liquid" mindset he built afterward for navigating change you can't outrun. This is a conversation about forced surrender as a starting point, not a failure. About honoring red flags the first time you see them, instead of the third. About what the body teaches you that the mind can't. And about why the fastest way through grief, job loss, or any sideways moment is to let it bleed — not stuff it down. Geoff's new book, "Now Is Gone: Think Liquid to Navigate Never-Ending Change," comes out June 2. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN - Why surrender isn't losing — and what it actually unlocks - The "think liquid" framework for adapting at the speed of real change - How to recognize red flags before they become exit signs - Why misery often lives in how we consume life, not just what happens to us - What endurance running teaches about managing pain vs. quitting well TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Cold open: the 30 days everything came apart 02:11 Cognitive Path winds down as Geoff's father is dying 04:42 The heart attack, the DNR, the drive back 07:11 "Begin by surrendering" — what surrender actually looks like 10:13 Honoring red flags: why we ignore what we already see 14:58 The "think liquid" mindset, explained 19:00 What the body teaches the mind about discomfort 21:48 Sassy the dog, Zen sits, and the social media audit 25:03 Writing the book in 30 days 28:18 The red flag Geoff is honoring right now 31:15 Manageable pain vs. real pain — and when to quit 41:33 "Let it bleed": honest advice for someone in their sideways moment CONNECT WITH GEOFF LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffliving/  Substack — The Buzz: https://buzzbylivingston.substack.com  Generative Buzz: https://generativebuzz.ai  Geoff's book, Now Is Gone: Think Liquid to Navigate Never-Ending Change, comes out June 2, 2026. Pre-orders are eBook-only; print will be available shortly before the publishing date. Available here: https://www.amazon.com/Now-Gone-Liquid-Navigate-Neverending-ebook/dp/B0GHNMM383/ FOLLOW THINGS GO SIDEWAYS https://thingsgosideways.com/home Things Go Sideways Substack: https://thingsgosideways.substack.com/welcome TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thingsgosidewayspod and https://www.tiktok.com/@thingsgosideways For Business Inquiries: kiki@thingsgosideways.com Libsyn RSS Feed: https://feeds.libsyn.com/597715/rss Libsyn Podcast Page: https://sites.libsyn.com/597715/site Libsyn Video Feed: https://feeds.libsyn.com/597715/spotify Spotify (video): https://open.spotify.com/show/0AToVdda4omlLpG9KpQ0Hj Spotify (audio): https://open.spotify.com/show/2K6DYzLMRkbT4FfmDaFP7a?si=4b4c70c5a3a84ce2 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/things-go-sideways/id1849510232 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/87fc90ea-455c-443d-a24f-bd3bccc2e764/things-go-sideways Audible: https://www.audible.com/podcast/Things-Go-Sideways/B0G59XM2XY YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhenThingsGoSideways  Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube — search "Things Go Sideways Podcast" #ThingsGoSideways #CareerChange #ChangeManagement #GeoffLivingston #ThinkLiquid

    45 min

  4. May 13

    What Is Digital Nomad Life Really Like? The Real Story

    What is digital nomad life really like? For Katherine Tuominen — marketing strategist and founder of Catalyst Brand Strategy — it looked nothing like the Instagram version: visa battles, reverse culture shock, lost friendships, and the slow realization that a beautiful destination doesn't outrun an unhealed self. It started during Melbourne's hardest lockdown, when she couldn't leave her house without a grocery receipt and made a quiet promise to herself: she would never feel that trapped again. In this conversation, Katherine talks with KiKi about what the lifestyle actually costs, why the nine-to-five script makes any other path feel reckless to the people around you, how she landed on a travel rhythm that worked for her after almost three years of trial and error, and how the cultural fluency she's built abroad now shapes the brand work she does with founders in the health and wellness space. The thread running through it: when you strip away the titles, the resume, the corporate version of yourself nobody calls you by overseas, what's left tends to be what was already there — the kid who wrote plays, drew on lunch breaks, made up worlds. The life she designed didn't invent a new Katherine. It handed back the original one. Resources Catalyst Brand Strategy — Katherine Tuominen (website): https://catalystbrandstrategy.com Katherine Tuominen (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-tuominen/ Catalyst Brand Strategy (Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/catalyst_brandstrategy/ HIGHLIGHTS 00:00 — KiKi opens with the gap between designed life and lived life 01:15 — Katherine on what a digital nomad actually is 02:48 — Melbourne lockdown becomes the non-negotiable turning point 04:18 — Making the jump: backlash, lost friendships, going against the grain 06:53 — The Instagram version meets the laptop on the beach 08:55 — First real hurdle: baggage travels with you 10:25 — Finding her travel rhythm after almost three years of trial and error 13:18 — How cultural nuance reshaped her brand work with clients 16:39 — The third culture kid origin: Finland, China, Australia 20:08 — Identity stripped of titles: who you were as a kid is who you are 24:30 — Fear as guide, and breaking the leap into bite-sized starts 30:11 — Closing: you don't have to resolve everything, just stop pretending If you've been suspecting the life you carefully designed is starting to design you back, Katherine's story is a steady, honest look at what happens when you stop performing the version that's been working. Listen & Subscribe Substack: https://thetrustproject.substack.com/  Libsyn RSS Feed: https://feeds.libsyn.com/597715/rss Libsyn Podcast Page: https://sites.libsyn.com/597715/site  Libsyn Video Feed: https://feeds.libsyn.com/597715/spotify Spotify (video): https://open.spotify.com/show/0AToVdda4omlLpG9KpQ0Hj Spotify (audio): https://open.spotify.com/show/2K6DYzLMRkbT4FfmDaFP7a?si=4b4c70c5a3a84ce2 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/things-go-sideways/id1849510232 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/87fc90ea-455c-443d-a24f-bd3bccc2e764/things-go-sideways Audible: https://www.audible.com/podcast/Things-Go-Sideways/B0G59XM2XY YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhenThingsGoSideways

    33 min
  5. Finding Direction After Roads End

    May 7

    Finding Direction After Roads End

    He Built a $25 Million Business. Then Everything Collapsed. 🔴 JOIN on SUBSTACK: 👉https://thetrustproject.substack.com/  Shane Barker thought he was building something that mattered. His company grew fast during the mortgage crisis by helping people challenge predatory loans. Within two years, the business exploded to 130 employees and a reported $25 million valuation. Then everything shifted. A $62 million lawsuit, frozen bank accounts, public attacks, and years of uncertainty forced him into a fight he never expected. In this episode, Shane Barker talks with KiKi L'Italien about what it feels like when your name, your business, and your future all come under pressure at once. They discuss the emotional toll of public scrutiny, the collapse of professional trust, losing opportunities because of online narratives, and the strange reality of trying to rebuild while still in the middle of the storm. This conversation also explores how that experience eventually led Shane into online reputation management and the creation of TraceFuse.ai. Underneath the business story is something more human: what happens when survival replaces strategy, and the only way forward is one day at a time. Resources Website — Shane Barker: https://shanebarker.com/ TraceFuse.ai — Shane Barker: https://tracefuse.ai/ LinkedIn — Shane Barker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanebarker About the Things Go Sideways Podcast When life or leadership goes sideways, the story's just getting interesting. Things Go Sideways with KiKi L'Italien features honest conversations with leaders, creators, and changemakers navigating disruption, uncertainty, and identity shifts. Each episode explores trust, resilience, and what it means to stay human when certainty breaks down. New episodes share real stories about rebuilding agency and meaning without rushing to quick-fixes, spiritual bypassing, or pretending clarity comes easy. Connect With Me On Other Platforms: Substack: https://thetrustproject.substack.com/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhenThingsGoSideways/shorts  LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kikilitalien/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kikilitalien/  For Business Inquiries: KiKi@ThingsGoSideways.com

    54 min

  6. Apr 29

    When the Caregiving Season Costs You Yourself

    If you're the one everyone leans on… this conversation with brain health coach Barbara Gustavson is worth your time. Barbara's path to becoming a brain health coach started with a piece of paper handed to her at a Cracker Barrel on Thanksgiving Day — a document that revealed a family history of covered-up crimes, mental illness, and Huntington's Disease. That moment didn't end anything. It started something. What followed was fifteen years of navigating caregiving alongside a career just beginning to take shape, children, a marriage, and a growing awareness that her own brain was carrying more than she'd admitted. In this conversation, Barbara walks through the difference between resetting and regrouping — why you can sleep eight hours and still wake up depleted, and what it takes to actually address the root causes. We also talk about the limbo season: that stretch of time after something shifts where the old rules don't work and the new ones haven't formed. Barbara doesn't frame it as a problem to solve. She frames it as a pause that asks you to listen differently. The conversation also covers the window of tolerance, what it costs to work outside it, and how learning the language your brain actually speaks — signals, not shoulds — changed how Barbara made decisions, set limits, and stayed present through the hardest stretch of her life. Her book is Regroup: How to Reset Your Mind to Unlock Hidden Energy, Enjoy Productive Peace, and Feel Like Yourself Again. Resources mentioned the following during the episode: Regroup (Audiobook) — Barbara Gustavson: https://amzn.to/48AWdCw  Welcome to Your Crisis: https://amzn.to/3QJpyVc  Think Again — Adam Grant: https://amzn.to/3P2SxTg  Calm — mindfulness app: https://www.calm.com  Five Minutes' Peace — Jill Murphy (children's book): https://amzn.to/4w536G8  Connect With Things Go Sideways On Other Platforms: Substack: https://thetrustproject.substack.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kikilitalien/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kikilitalien/  For Business Inquiries: kiki@amplifiedgrowth.net  00:04 — Show opens; KiKi introduces today's guest 01:53 — The Thanksgiving moment that changed everything 06:18 — Caregiving guilt: the feelings we don't name out loud 09:17 — What limbo season actually is and why it isn't a mistake 11:24 — From quicksand to surrender: reframing the stuck feeling 14:40 — Survival mode is biology, not a character flaw 18:32 — Regroup isn't reset: the difference and why it matters 23:30 — Listen to the whisper before it becomes the two by four 25:59 — The window of tolerance and the cost of ignoring it 31:12 — The principle Barbara still wrestles with: negativity bias 34:30 — Staying present in the current season, not the last one 36:32 — What to do when you're in the middle of your own limbo About the Things Go Sideways Podcast When life or leadership goes sideways, the story's just getting interesting. Things Go Sideways with KiKi L'Italien features honest conversations with leaders, creators, and changemakers navigating disruption, uncertainty, and identity shifts. Each episode explores trust, resilience, and what it means to stay human when certainty breaks down. New episodes share real stories about rebuilding agency and meaning without rushing to quick-fixes, spiritual bypassing, or pretending clarity comes easy.

    41 min

  7. Apr 22

    He Built a Company Inside the Limits His Body Set

    Justin Brown was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at 12, and for years he found ways to keep going anyway — ski life in Utah, cooking professionally, staying physically active. Then around 2005 his body stopped cooperating in ways that couldn't be pushed through. A bowel resection changed the baseline. Some of what he'd assumed about himself didn't come back. 👤 Connect With Me On Other Platforms: Substack: https://thetrustproject.substack.com/  LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kikilitalien/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kikilitalien/    For Business Inquiries: kiki@amplifiedgrowth.net  In this conversation, Justin talks about the slow process of understanding what his body could and couldn't do — not as a limitation on who he was, but as information he had to work with. He's the founder and CEO of Rhino Skin Solutions, a company built around durability and staying in the game longer. It's hard not to notice how directly that philosophy tracks back to his own story. Want to check out the promo pack for Rhino Skin? Justin shared this great offer for our audience! https://rhinoskinsolutions.com/products/podcast-starter-pack The conversation covers: the year things broke down before surgery; what "identity" actually means when it's not tethered to a condition or a sport; the craftsman approach to illness, work, and incremental improvement; how Jiu Jitsu gave him a kind of community that cooking never quite did; and what he says when someone asks if it's going to get better. Join the Things Go Sideways Substack!  HIGHLIGHTS 00:04 — KiKi sets the episode premise and introduces Justin 01:15 — Justin describes the body breaking down: two good hours a day 03:58 — Self-discovery before surgery; the physical paths that closed off 06:17 — Being diagnosed at 12 and what it did to his sense of self 08:32 — Justin explains what Crohn's disease is and how it works 10:24 — The cultural story about strength, and when it stopped fitting 11:04 — The craftsman philosophy: illness, cooking, Rhino, all one approach 13:25 — Why identity shouldn't be tethered to a condition or an object 15:37 — Wondering if disability was the path; what pointed him toward Rhino 22:09 — Two pieces of family wisdom he still carries 24:07 — His annual resolution: no complaining without a solution 25:30 — Jiu Jitsu and the kind of community that earns your trust 29:53 — The honest answer: it's not going to get better for everybody 31:26 — What passion looks like today: family, Rhino, incremental improvement Resources Rhino Skin Solutions: https://rhinoskinsolutions.com/ Podcast Starter Pack — Rhino Skin Solutions: https://rhinoskinsolutions.com/products/podcast-starter-pack Justin Brown on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-brown-772717105/   Things Go Sideways Podcast Libsyn RSS Feed: https://feeds.libsyn.com/597715/rss Libsyn Podcast Page: https://sites.libsyn.com/597715/site LinkedIn Company Page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/things-go-sideways/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1150721167011215 Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61585524425304 Book Club: https://bookclubs.com/clubs/6100919/join/4db79195 YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRiPZ_HubKQpcbMaCYtlJN9D6qTv4tOrb&si=85aYxvab0LAD8LKj Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0AToVdda4omlLpG9KpQ0Hj?si=6f32814b56004eab Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/things-go-sideways/id1849510232 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/87fc90ea-455c-443d-a24f-bd3bccc2e764/things-go-sideways Audible: https://www.audible.com/podcast/Things-Go-Sideways/B0G59XM2XY?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp Share Your Sideways Story (Guest Intake Form): https://forms.gle/UcccE9eJBSfEc9UN9 Schedule Your Sideways Story Interview: https://calendly.com/kiki-interview/podcast-interview About the Things Go Sideways Podcast When life or leadership goes sideways, the story's just getting interesting. Things Go Sideways with KiKi L'Italien features honest conversations with leaders, creators, and changemakers navigating disruption, uncertainty, and identity shifts. Each episode explores trust, resilience, and what it means to stay human when certainty breaks down. New episodes share real stories about rebuilding agency and meaning without rushing to quick-fixes, spiritual bypassing, or pretending clarity comes easy.

    35 min

  8. Apr 15

    He Renamed His Disease "Constant State of Adaptation." Then He Got Back to Work.

    Mark Wallach was diagnosed with ALS in April 2021. By then, he'd already been losing function in his right arm for years — adapting each time, finding workarounds. He's now a quadriplegic and also a working entrepreneur who recently posted about learning to drive his wheelchair with his eyes. That post reached more than 300 people outside his network. An assistive technology company in Germany reached out to send him equipment. (Could this be what happens when someone stops protecting the image and starts telling the truth about their sideways moment?) In this conversation, host of Things Go Sideways podcast, KiKi L'Italien, and Mark cover what it means to keep building when the losses keep coming — and they don't stop. They talk through the grief that doesn't end (he lost use of his right arm, then his left, then both legs), how ALS clarified rather than collapsed his sense of what matters, and what legacy actually looks like when you have a real timeline. They also get into bandwidth, delegation, AI as a genuine equalizer, and why Mark believes vulnerability isn't a soft concept — it's an access point. Mark has a name for his disease that isn't ALS. He calls it "CSA: Constant State of Adaptation." If you were hoping for tidy resolutions, you won't find them here. This episode doesn't end cleanly. It ends with a man still in the thick of it, still building, still figuring out how to receive what other people offer him. And that's where things get interesting! Timestamps 00:04 — KiKi names the premise: stories about reckoning, not highlight reels 01:45 — Mark shares his mission: earn the right to be the first call 04:01 — Mark renames ALS to CSA: constant state of adaptation 06:07 — Going public with vulnerability: unexpected reach and a $8K technology offer 09:49 — What the disease taught him that anyone could use 14:47 — Outsourcing admin, leaning on AI, and working as a quadriplegic 18:21 — Mind shift: from salesperson stigma to connector with purpose 22:34 — Why building for legacy means learning to replace yourself 26:29 — What legacy actually looks like: his wife, his reputation, pizza nights 29:54 — The first sideways moment: August 2018, a weak right arm at Whole Foods 33:28 — The diagnosis, stopping driving, and doing what he'd been putting off 38:51 — Getting out of a funk: goals matter more than self-pity — with permission for rest 40:45 — The hardest thing he's learned: accepting help and letting go of the how 44:33 — The cave question: learning to receive what others offer Resources 🔗 Mark Wallach on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markwallach/ 🌐 Engagement Mobile Strategies: https://www.engagementmobile.com/ 💙 I Am ALS (advocacy organization): https://www.iamals.org/ 💙 The ALS Association: https://www.als.org/ About the Things Go Sideways Podcast When life or leadership goes sideways, the story's just getting interesting. Things Go Sideways with KiKi L'Italien features honest conversations with leaders, creators, and changemakers navigating disruption, uncertainty, and identity shifts. Each episode explores trust, resilience, and what it means to stay human when certainty breaks down. New episodes share real stories about rebuilding agency and meaning without rushing to quick-fixes, spiritual bypassing, or pretending clarity comes easy.

    46 min
See All (19)

5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

When life, leadership, or the world go sideways, certainty doesn't show up on schedule. Things Go Sideways is a podcast for the middle of it — the part where the plan has cracked, but nothing new has fully formed yet. Each episode is a slow, honest conversation with someone living through change: a career ending, an identity shifting, a sense that what used to work no longer fits. We don't rush to lessons or tidy conclusions. We stay with what's real long enough to notice what's true. Hosted by KiKi L'Italien, Things Go Sideways is not pitching you advice, motivation, or transformation content. This podcast is bringing you orientation. A place to make sense of uncertainty without pretending you already know what comes next. (Because most of the time, we don't — and that's not a failure.) This podcast exists to help people stay present long enough to learn when certainty is gone.

Information

  • Creator
    KiKi L'Italien
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    19
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026
  • Show Website
    Things Go Sideways