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

In this episode, John welcomes Dr. John Demartini, human behaviour specialist, polymath, philosopher, and creator of the Demartini Method. Joining the show from his ship near Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Dr. Demartini breaks down one of the most powerful ideas in integrative health: your symptoms are feedback — not flaws.

Across five decades of research, Dr. Demartini has mapped the emotional and psychological drivers behind nearly 1,000 health conditions, revealing how perception, stress, and the autonomic nervous system shape our physical experience.

You'll hear:

• Why symptoms often reflect imbalanced perceptions

• How emotions are physiological expressions of polarized viewpoints

• The role of intuition and neurotransmitters in attraction and caution

• How reframing perceptions can dissolve resentment, infatuation, and chronic emotional charge

• A powerful case study showing how missing information can create lifelong emotional pain — and how reclaiming it restores clarity and love

• Why values drive behaviour, resistance, and transformation

• How focusing on your highest values opens the door to opportunity, growth, and healing

Dr. Demartini also shares insights from his signature seminar, Decoding the Body's Messages, and explains how individuals and health professionals are using his framework to better understand chronic illness, unexplained symptoms, and long‑standing health challenges.

Learn more at drdemartini.com

Dr John Demartini, Demartini Method, human behaviour, chronic symptoms, emotional healing,
mind body connection, autonomic nervous system, perception, stress, healing, personal growth,
psychology, neuroscience, physiology, integrative health, A Swift Kick in the Ass

Ever wondered what resilience looks like in real life?
Lisa Pagotto sold her house, rebuilt her business after the pandemic wiped out global travel, and launched a private aviation experience that's changing how people explore Australia.
Her story is wild — and deeply inspiring.

In this episode of A Swift Kick in the Ass, John W. Curren talks with Lisa Pagotto, founder of Crooked Compass and Crooked Compass by Air. Lisa shares her remarkable journey from hitting a career ceiling, selling her house to fund a dream, surviving the pandemic collapse of global travel, navigating personal upheaval, and ultimately discovering a new business model in grounded private aircraft.

This is a story of grit, curiosity, and the courage to rebuild when everything falls apart.

Learn more at: crookedcompassbyair.com

Some folks hear the world through their ears. Others hear it through the quiet places inside. This week on ASKITA, John sits down with psychic medium Dallisa Hocking to talk intuition, frequency, and the unseen roads we walk.

This episode features Dallisa Hocking, a 5th‑generation psychic medium and educator who helps people develop deep self‑trust through intuitive awareness. She shares her awakening story, real‑world premonitions, mediumship experiences, and practical tools for raising your frequency.

00:00 – Opening 02:15 – Dallisa's 5th‑generation psychic lineage 06:40 – The 2015 awakening at Omega Institute 12:10 – Mediumship, frequency & intuitive mechanics 18:55 – John's story of spiritual presence 25:30 – Kimberly Bergalis & spiritual anger 31:20 – Premonitions: bank robbery, Halloween gunfight, Airbnb break‑in 40:05 – Meditation, Morning Pages & intuitive training 48:50 – Mind‑body healing & emotional patterns 55:30 – Family dynamics as spiritual lessons 01:02:10 – Rumi quote & closing reflections

Topics include meditation, Morning Pages, emotional healing, animal spirits, generational patterns, and the spiritual lessons hidden inside difficult relationships.

What if everything you've been told about your health is wrong? Most men don't realize their testosterone has been declining since their 30s — and by the time 40 arrives, burnout, weight gain, and low drive feel like the new normal. Dr. Stephen Sanders, MD, MPH, founder of Whole Men's Health, lived that reality and chose to fight back. He went from burned out, overweight, and running on empty in his late 30s to a complete physical, hormonal, and mindset transformation — and now he's guiding thousands of men through that same journey.

In this episode of A Swift Kick in the Ass, host John W. Curren sits down with Dr. Sanders for a no-filters conversation about what it actually means to be a healthy, whole man today. They break down the science behind testosterone decline, which now begins around age 30 and has dropped by roughly 30% in modern men compared to previous generations. They explore the hidden role of environmental toxins, the neurochemical impact of pornography on dopamine and drive, and the compounding effects of burnout and chronic stress on hormonal health.

Dr. Sanders and John get into the specifics: personalized elimination diets, dairy intolerance and inflammation, hitting approximately 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight, and why creatine and peptide supplementation deserve serious consideration. They cover the critical importance of muscle mass — particularly glute strength — for injury prevention and long-term longevity. Dr. Sanders also makes a compelling case for coronary calcium scans and establishing baseline lab work starting in your 20s before problems arise.

The conversation closes with something deeper — emotional resilience, mindfulness, and a reimagined definition of masculinity built on purpose rather than performance. This is not just a health conversation. It is a blueprint for becoming a whole man.

- KEY TOPICS -

- Dr. Sanders' personal burnout and transformation story
- Testosterone decline starting at 30 and what drives it in modern men
- Environmental toxins and their impact on male hormones
- Pornography's neurochemical effect on dopamine and drive
- Elimination diets, dairy intolerance, and personalized nutrition
- Protein targets, creatine, and peptide supplementation
- Muscle mass and glute strength for longevity and injury prevention
- Coronary calcium scans and baseline labs in your 20s
- Mindfulness, emotional resilience, and breaking male silence
- Redefining masculinity with purpose and intention

- CONNECT WITH DR. STEPHEN SANDERS -

Website: wholemenshealth.com
Instagram: @drstephensanders (105.7K followers)
YouTube: @drstephensanders
TikTok: @drstephensanders
LinkedIn: Stephen Sanders, MD, MPH
Linktree: linktr.ee/drstephensanders
Book a consult: 850-660-8348
Locations: Santa Rosa Beach, FL | Dothan, AL | Birmingham, AL | Nationwide Telehealth (all 50 states)

- ABOUT THE PODCAST -

A Swift Kick in the Ass, hosted by John W. Curren, is bold conversations on mindset, men's health, resilience, and living life on your own terms. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

- DISCLAIMER -

This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.