Think Outside the Lines

Shawn Feeney

The old scripts for how to live, work, and belong are breaking down. Think Outside the Lines is a podcast for anyone ready to stop checking boxes, step off autopilot, and start living with intention. Host Shawn Feeney spent over a decade leading teams at Apple, Microsoft, and high-pressure tech startups before dedicating his work to helping others live more intentionally. The show explores what happens when we choose to build the life we want rather than accepting the one we were handed.

  1. 2D AGO

    Kimberly Lee: What Are You Still Defending?

    Kimberly Lee spent ten years as a trial attorney — four as a public defender in downtown Los Angeles, six running her own practice. She had the pedigree, the credentials, and a career that looked like everything was figured out. She also had a throat that hurt every time she left the courtroom, a Sunday dread that never went away, and a quiet inner voice that kept growing louder. Today, Kimberly is a writer, workshop facilitator, and retreat leader who works with creatives and emerging writers. She's the author of Have You Seen Him? — a thriller available now — and the creator of a body of work that exists because she finally stopped outsourcing her sense of self to a title. This is a conversation about what it means to trust yourself when the path isn't clear, let go of an identity that no longer fits, and build something new without a roadmap. Connect with Kimberly:  kimberlylee.me  In this episode, we explore: What it felt like to follow the "right" path into law — and when Kimberly first started to sense it wasn't hersThe physical signals her body sent before her mind was ready to listen — and what she did with themWhat it costs to perform a version of yourself for years, and how that performance eventually runs out of steamWhy identity gets so tangled up in impressive-sounding titles — and the quiet act of resistance it takes to let that goThe moment at a birthday party that became an unexpected test of who she was becomingWhat actually transfers from a high-stakes legal career into creative work — and what she was more than happy to leave behindImposter syndrome, the non-linear path, and why forging your own way requires a tolerance for uncertaintyThe difference between people who thrive in hard environments and those who carry that environment home with themPeople pleasing, saying yes to the wrong things, and how Kimberly learned to pause before committingFear as fuel — and the Nelson Mandela quote she adopted to replace the win/lose binary she left behindWhat "I either win or learn" looks like in practice when you're building something from scratchResources & Links: Ready to step off autopilot? Visit thinkoutsidethelines.com to access free worksheets designed to help you cut through the noise, ask the right questions, and finally hear yourself clearlyExplore 1:1 coaching and other resources at thinkoutsidethelines.comFollow along on all platforms → @thinkoutsidethelinesEnjoyed the episode? Please share it with someone who might need to hear it, and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.

    55 min
  2. APR 8

    What Lines Are You Living Inside That You Didn't Draw?

    Most of us never chose the rules we live by. We didn't have to — they were already everywhere. In what our parents valued, what our teachers rewarded, what our culture quietly insisted a good life was supposed to look like. Go to school. Get the degree. Find the stable career. Hit the milestones in the right order. And most of us followed those lines without ever questioning them. Not because we agreed — but because we didn't realize there was another option. That's the thing about inherited expectations. They don't announce themselves. They just become the water you swim in. You end up building a life that looks right but doesn't quite feel like yours. And that low-grade friction — that constant, quiet misalignment — takes more energy than most people realize. This episode isn't about burning it all down. It's about something quieter and more honest than that — learning to tell the difference between the lines that genuinely fit you and the ones that were drawn by someone else's anxiety, someone else's definition of enough. Because there's a version of your life where you get to choose. Maybe for the first time. Resources & Links: Ready to step off autopilot? Visit thinkoutsidethelines.com to access free worksheets designed to help you cut through the noise, ask the right questions, and finally hear yourself clearlyExplore 1:1 coaching and other resources at thinkoutsidethelines.comFollow along on all platforms → @thinkoutsidethelinesEnjoyed this episode? Please share it with someone who might need to hear it, and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.

    3 min
  3. APR 1

    Toni Will: Quiet Rebellion, Radical Clarity

    Toni Will is the General Manager of the Kalamazoo Wings professional hockey team, a role she's held for over a decade after a 13-year career in banking and a brief, pivotal stop at the Chamber of Commerce. She's a speaker, coach, conference organizer behind empowHER, host of the Women In podcast, and author. She is also the force behind Rainbow Ice, making the Kalamazoo Wings the first professional hockey team ever to dye the ice rainbow in a statement that everyone is welcome. In a culture where drinking is practically in the job description, Toni made a quiet but profound decision to go alcohol-free in October 2020. What followed wasn't just sobriety — it was a full reclamation of identity, clarity, and the kind of leadership that only becomes possible when you stop outsourcing your ability to cope. This is a conversation about what it means to redefine yourself — as a leader, as a woman in a male-dominated industry, and as a person who decides that "normal" simply isn't working anymore. Resources & Links: Connect with Toni, explore her coaching, podcast, conference, and pick up her book Rebellious Success at toniwill.comReady to step off autopilot? Visit thinkoutsidethelines.com to access free worksheets designed to help you cut through the noise, ask the right questions, and finally hear yourself clearlyExplore 1:1 coaching and other resources at thinkoutsidethelines.comFollow along on all platforms → @thinkoutsidethelines Enjoyed the episode? Please share it with someone who might need to hear it, and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.

    55 min
  4. Mark Williams: Rethinking The Brain

    11/07/2023

    Mark Williams: Rethinking The Brain

    Mark Williams' new book “The Connected Species: How understanding the evolution of our brain can change the world” is a #1 Best Seller. Mark has worked with thousands of students, teachers, health professionals, and company directors keen to understand how their brain works, how to perform optimally and maintain a healthy brain. He runs programs on the neuroscience of learning, the neuroscience of emotions, how our brains create our reality, and the impact of modern technologies on our brains. Mark has an extensive academic background in brain research and teaching. He is a professor of cognitive neuroscience, with over 25 years experience conducting behavioral and brain imaging research focusing on our social skills. He has taught the fundamentals of neuroscience to a wide range of students, as well as publishing more than 70 scientific articles and worked at MIT in the USA and multiple universities in Australia. He draws on his extensive scientific background to work with schools, companies and the public to develop evidence-based practices using neuroscience to enhance our education, work and personal lives. His work has been highlighted in the media both locally [e.g., Mirror Mirror (Channel Ten), Our Brain, Magic and the Brain, Music and the Brain, Making Australia Happy (ABC), Sunrise (Channel 7), Screen Time is Affecting Learning (SkyNews)] and internationally [e.g., The Guardian (UK), New York Times (USA), Economist, New Scientist, Leading Edge, (BBC: UK), Science in Action (BBC; International)]. For more information: https://rethinkingthebrain.com/ More information about the podcast: https://www.thinkoutsidethelines.com

    57 min
5
out of 5
28 Ratings

About

The old scripts for how to live, work, and belong are breaking down. Think Outside the Lines is a podcast for anyone ready to stop checking boxes, step off autopilot, and start living with intention. Host Shawn Feeney spent over a decade leading teams at Apple, Microsoft, and high-pressure tech startups before dedicating his work to helping others live more intentionally. The show explores what happens when we choose to build the life we want rather than accepting the one we were handed.

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