Instead of a Motivational Minute, today we’re having a Motivational Moment. This episode starts a Recovery series for Smashing Success Stories in honor of International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31st, and National Recovery Month in September
We will hear from an amazing champion of Recovery in Thursday’s full-length episode on Thursday, August 27th, 2026.
In this episode, I speak with my good friend Dr. Allison Scavo, aka Doctor Harvard! We talk about:
Having a plan and goals
The importance of having a community and support
Turning negativity and perception into motivation and becoming a role model
Breaking cycles and learning how to escape chaos
Creating new patterns versus falling into old habits
Dr. Scavo is an educator, a leader, and a professional photographer. She is incredibly accomplished, and after earning her PhD in education, she then studied for and passed her LSAT, and became a Harvard Law Student.
Support is always appreciated! Likes, comments, and subscriptions are welcome! If you’d like to further support Smashing Success Stories, one-time and/or monthly Ko-Fi donations are available: https://ko-fi.com/smashingsuccessstories
Support is always appreciated! Likes, comments, and subscriptions are welcome! If you’d like to further support Smashing Success Stories, one-time and/or monthly Ko-Fi donations are available: https://ko-fi.com/smashingsuccessstories
In this episode, I challenge you to tap into your personal power to overcome whatever obstacles are standing in your way. By taking ownership of what you are in control of, you are empowered to take the steps needed to reach the next level in your life. Get started, and keep it moving.
Next episode airs on Thursday, August 13th, and the topic is Get Shit Done.
Motivational Minute episodes go live every Monday. Full-length episodes go live every Thursday.
Our guest for this episode is Jessica Adanich! Jess is an artist, conservationist, and entrepreneur. We talk about identity, authenticity, conservation, and laughing. LOTS of laughing.
Jess referenced the latter part of this quote – here’s the whole thing:
“Just because you lost me as a friend, doesn’t mean you gained me as an enemy. I’m bigger than that, I still wanna see you eat, just not at my table.” ― Tupac Shakur
Support is always appreciated! Likes, comments, and subscriptions are welcome! If you’d like to further support Smashing Success Stories, one-time and/or monthly Ko-Fi donations are available: https://ko-fi.com/smashingsuccessstories
We have an impactful Motivational Minute here where I discuss the importance of choosing what to stand for, and actually giving a fuck about what matters.
The next full-length episode goes live on Thursday, August 6th, 2026, and I have a conversation with artist, conservationist, and entrepreneur Jessica Adanitch.
Motivational Minute episodes go live every Monday. Full-length episodes go live every Thursday.
This episode discusses connection, finding commonalities without compromising our values, and how to build our own communities especially when we feel lost, like the solutions to our current situation is eluding us, and when we feel the weight of isolation.
Resources referenced in the episode:
Are You Really the Average of the 5 People You Spend the Most Time With? Why purpose, not people, shapes who you become by Dr. Jordan Grumet (from Psychology Today)
…modern life has eroded… proximity. The weakening of religious institutions, the geographic dispersion of work, and the replacement of in-person community with social media scrolling have all contributed to something more worrisome. We are more disconnected than ever.
The Backfire Effect: https://neurolaunch.com/backfire-effect-psychology/ (TL;DR when we call someone out on them being wrong and it only solidifies their opinion on the thing they’re wrong about, aka when facts don’t matter to them)
About halfway down there’s discussions on how to deal with this
If no community exists for your interest, create one
Leverage technology especially if networking and social spaces are challenging
Take ownership and DIY – if you are waiting for someone to do it for you, chances are there are other people waiting for the same thing
And share the load, be vocal about what you need help with
Have a general idea and know what you’re comfortable handling, what you’re happy to delegate, decisions you want to be involved with, and developing a direction and ethos for your group
Motivational Minute episodes go live every Monday. Full-length episodes go live every Thursday.
Support is always appreciated! Likes, comments, and subscriptions are welcome! If you’d like to further support Smashing Success Stories, one-time and/or monthly Ko-Fi donations are available: https://ko-fi.com/smashingsuccessstories
Motivational Minute 09 – We Are At Our Strongest When We Work Together
In this Motivational Minute, we are gonna get into the importance of community, and how the ultimate act of resistance is coming together with folks that we share values with.
Thursday’s full-length episode will dive deeper into this, and will air on Thursday, July 27th, 2026.
In this episode, I get to chat with Meg Perry! Meg is an author of LGBTQIA+ mystery and has several series going, and has so far published over 40 books! Meg is a dear friend of mine and in this conversation we talk about creativity, inspiration, where the ideas, characters, and plots come from, the importance of communication and human connection, earmarks for success, and the impact of AI in creative spaces and globally.
Meg brought up Andrew Sullivan, and the term Christianism. I found an article by Andrew Sullivan on Substack from 2020 that provides further insight into Christianism vs Christianity – in brief, he talks about a fanatical, warped variation of an otherwise loving and tolerant belief system: https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/christianism-and-our-democracy-0cc
Motivational Minute episodes go live every Monday. Full-length episodes go live every Thursday.
Support is always appreciated! Likes, comments, and subscriptions are welcome! If you’d like to further support Smashing Success Stories, one-time and/or monthly Ko-Fi donations are available: https://ko-fi.com/smashingsuccessstories