What if your teenager could go to college — and you didn't have to go broke doing it?

College planning expert and founder of College Ready, Shellee Howard, joins John on the ASKITA Podcast to break down exactly how families can take control of the college planning process before it's too late.

Named Global Educational Consultant of the Year by the FLUXX Awards, Shellee has helped thousands of students earn millions in scholarships, gain acceptance to top universities, and graduate with significantly less debt than they thought possible. She's been featured on FOX, CBS, NBC, U.S. News & World Report, and MarketWatch.

In this conversation, John and Shellee dig into:

• Why starting your college plan early changes literally everything

• How to navigate FAFSA, the Student Aid Index, and financial aid award letters

• Where to find scholarships — and how to actually win them

• Choosing a major that aligns with your teen's strengths AND long-term career goals

• The long-term strategy most families completely overlook

• How to avoid the most common (and most costly) college planning mistakes

Whether your teen is in 7th grade or staring down senior year, this episode will challenge you to think bigger — and plan smarter.

Connect with Shellee: CollegeReady.com | Podcast: Parents: Is Your Teen College Ready?

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John W. Curren talks with identity and relationship strategist Riana Malia about why high-achieving people often struggle in love despite success in other areas of life. Riana explains how unconscious patterns, emotional wiring, and old identity stories shape recurring relational outcomes — and how her Clear to Create framework helps people clear old narratives, dissolve destructive cycles, and claim a new identity aligned with extraordinary love.

They discuss the danger of focusing on what's not wanted, the power of meditation and intentional thought replacement, and how values, non-negotiables, and desires guide better choices. Riana shares her 72-hour mindset rewiring exercise, the Extraordinary Love Index (ELI) diagnostic, and her Clarity Codex process. John reflects on personal experiences with past relationship struggles, meditation breakthroughs, and meeting his future spouse after releasing old beliefs.

Riana shares her Clear to Create methodology — a process for clearing old stories, dissolving destructive cycles, and claiming a new identity that supports extraordinary love, confidence, and aligned relationships.

Together, John and Riana explore:

• Why high performers repeat the same relationship patterns

• How the unconscious mind clings to old stories, fears, and expectations

• The danger of focusing on what you don't want

• Meditation, awareness, and intentional thought replacement

• Values, non-negotiables, and desires as decision-making tools

• How identity shapes romantic, personal, and professional outcomes

• The "Clear to Create" framework for building a new relational identity

Riana also shares her 72-hour mindset rewiring exercise, including the "Away vs. Toward" lists and the rubber-band pattern interrupt that helps break negative loops in real time.

John opens up about past relationship struggles, meditation breakthroughs, and how letting go of old beliefs made space for meeting his future spouse.

If you're a high achiever who feels stuck in love, or you're ready to rewrite your relational identity, this episode will hit home.

00:00 – Intro 01:12 – Why high achievers struggle in love 05:40 – Identity, unconscious patterns & emotional wiring 11:10 – The danger of focusing on what you don't want 16:55 – Meditation & interrupting negative loops 22:30 – Riana's "Clear to Create" framework 29:45 – Values, non-negotiables & desires 36:20 – The 72-hour mindset exercise 42:10 – John's personal story on letting go 48:55 – Extraordinary Love Index (ELI) 52:40 – Clarity Codex & North Star 56:10 – Closing thoughts & future collaboration

Resilience isn't just surviving the hard moments — it's building a life that can handle them. Today's guest knows that better than most. In this episode of A Swift Kick in the Ass, I sit down with Brandon McCraney, Founder and Master Blender at Olde Raleigh Distillery in downtown Zebulon, North Carolina. His journey is a masterclass in grit, reinvention, and extreme ownership.

EPISODE SUMMARY Brandon didn't grow up around whiskey. In fact, he grew up Southern Baptist — alcohol wasn't just discouraged, it was forbidden. His great‑great‑grandmother was part of the temperance movement. But life has a way of calling us toward the work we're meant to do, and for Brandon, that calling came wrapped in oak barrels and the art of blending.

Before launching Olde Raleigh Distillery, Brandon served in the Air Force, built a corporate career, traveled endlessly as a "road warrior," and hit a breaking point when he realized he was missing his child's early years. That moment sparked a transformation — one that eventually led him to walk away from corporate life and pursue the craft whiskey world full‑time.

But the road wasn't smooth.

KEY CHALLENGES WE DISCUSS: • 12 rejected small business loans • A four‑year delay from idea to opening • Navigating North Carolina's restrictive alcohol laws • COVID shutting down his planned April 2020 opening • Burning through his 401k to keep the dream alive • Pivoting from distilling to blending due to market shifts • Revitalizing a nearly empty downtown Zebulon • Building a tasting room focused on conversation, not consumption

Brandon's story is brutally honest — the kind of honesty you only get from someone who's lived through the spins, the setbacks, and the "praying to the porcelain idol" moments that come from learning the hard way. But it's also a story of craft, community, and the relentless pursuit of doing something the right way.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: • What resilience really means • Why extreme ownership changes everything • How to pivot when your plan collapses • The art and science of whiskey blending • How to build a business that becomes a community anchor • Why authenticity beats scale • How to turn obstacles into opportunities

ABOUT OLDE RALEIGH DISTILLERY Olde Raleigh Distillery is a family‑owned craft bourbon and whiskey distillery in downtown Zebulon, NC. Brandon's blending approach is unique — he doesn't replicate batches. Instead, he cherry‑picks the best barrels from across North America, creating one‑of‑a‑kind releases that reflect craftsmanship, curiosity, and artistic freedom.

GUEST LINKS Website: https://olderaleighdistillery.com/ Email: brandon@olderaleighdistillery.com Instagram: @olderaleighdistillery Facebook: Olde Raleigh Distillery

ASKITA LINKS Website: https://aswiftkickintheass.com SoulWagon: https://soulwagon.co Podcast on Apple: [link] Podcast on Spotify: [link]

HASHTAGS #ASKITA #OldeRaleighDistillery #Whiskey #Bourbon #Resilience #Entrepreneurship #ExtremeOwnership #CraftSpirits #ZebulonNC #SoulWagon