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Haley Morgan Hunt joins Marnie and Alisa for a conversation about what happens when life doesn't go the way you planned it — and why that can be the best thing that ever happens to you. A singer-songwriter who landed a record deal at 16 and spent years building brands for professional athletes, Haley shares how a single visit to a juvenile detention center in 2018 changed the entire trajectory of her life.
That one visit became The Verb Kind, a mentorship organization now serving incarcerated and at-risk youth across multiple states, from Miami to Nashville. Haley talks candidly about identity, faith, service, pregnancy at 42, and why she believes God saved her from the fame she once chased.

Episode Highlights:
00:00 — Introducing Haley Morgan Hunt: philanthropist, businesswoman, and friend
00:45 — From senior superlative "Most Likely to Become Famous" to a record deal at 16
03:27 — Building brands for professional athletes and navigating identity after sport
05:58 — The 2018 invitation that changed everything: teaching at a juvenile detention center
09:07 — Founding The Verb Kind and expanding mentorship across three states
13:29 — Singing the national anthem at six NFL games in six weeks
15:18 — What it's really like walking into a detention center for the first time
19:28 — Why service resets perspective more than anything else
25:20 — Where The Verb Kind is growing next and how to bring it to your city
29:19 — Expecting her first baby at 42 and her boldest moment ahead

About This Week's Guest:
Haley Morgan Hunt is a singer-songwriter, brand builder, and the founder of The Verb Kind, a mentorship organization serving incarcerated and at-risk youth in juvenile detention centers and foster homes across the country. A former record-deal artist and national anthem performer, Haley has spent the last several years building brands for professional athletes while growing The Verb Kind into a multi-state operation. She lives in Orlando, Florida.

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This week, Marnie and Alisa welcome Kristen Weaver, life coach, founder of Dream by Weaver, and wife of NFL coach Anthony Weaver for a conversation about finding her own voice after years of putting everyone else’s needs first. Kristen shares how she built a platform rooted in encouragement and positivity, and what it really looks like behind the scenes of an NFL family’s very public life. The heart of the episode is Kristen’s story of her son AJ’s sudden, debilitating anxiety at age eleven and how the family worked through it together, eventually co-authoring a book, A Family’s Playbook to Coping with Anxiety. Kristen also opens up about the family’s recent return to Baltimore, AJ’s full-circle moment walking back onto the same campus where he once couldn’t step foot, and what gratitude looks like for a coach’s family starting a new season.

Episode Highlights:
00:53 — Who Kristen is beyond being a coach’s wife and mom, and where her positivity comes from
02:38 — Why putting herself out there on social media was terrifying at first
04:00 — Kristen’s “locker room” advice for getting clarity before chasing motivation
05:51 — What people don’t see behind the scenes of NFL family life
08:30 — AJ’s story: losing his ability to walk into school at age 11 due to anxiety
11:11 — Co-writing A Family’s Playbook to Coping with Anxiety with AJ
13:13 — Returning to the same Baltimore school where AJ once couldn’t set foot
19:55 — Anthony Weaver’s gift for connecting with their kids
20:40 — The championship game: AJ’s panic attack and his comeback to win it
29:48 — Where to find Kristen and the latest on the book

About This Week’s Guest:
Kristen Weaver is a life coach and the founder of Dream by Weaver, where she helps clients find clarity, confidence, and their authentic voice. She is married to NFL coach Anthony Weaver and is mom to AJ and Justice. Alongside AJ, she co-authored A Family’s Playbook to Coping with Anxiety, sharing the tools that helped their family navigate his anxiety diagnosis.

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This week, Marnie and Alisa sit down with Ace, known to her growing audience as “Ace the Money Game” a real estate investor and wholesaler who built a self-made career out of one of the hardest possible starting points. The hosts met Ace by chance, as their Uber driver during a Kentucky Derby weekend in Louisville, and what started as small talk turned into one of the most candid conversations they’ve had on the show.

Ace opens up about being kicked out of her home as a teenager, periods of homelessness in Phoenix, and time spent in prison and how those bench moments became the foundation for a real estate wholesaling business that crossed seven figures within five years. She talks about renovating homes as a kind of rebuilding metaphor for her own life, her plans to launch a construction company focused on affordable housing, and the mindset shifts that got her here.

Episode Highlights:
00:00 — Meeting Ace as their Uber driver during Kentucky Derby weekend in Louisville
02:24 — Ace’s bench moment: starting with nothing and his first wholesale deal in 2015
04:32 — How Ace became homeless after coming out to her mother as a teenager
06:42 — Where the name “Ace the Money Game” actually came from
09:03 — Reconnecting with her mom and losing her father in a tragic accident
11:40 — Why renovating homes feels like a metaphor for rebuilding her own life
14:08 — From wanting to be a trauma surgeon to discovering real estate
16:32 — The real story behind driving for Uber on Derby day
18:06 — Lessons Ace would share on stage at a Grant Cardone event
22:29 — Ace’s boldest goal: building a construction company and her own hotel brand

About This Week’s Guest:
Ace, known as “Ace the Money Game,” is a real estate investor and wholesaler who has done deals worth well over a million dollars since starting her business in 2015. After experiencing homelessness and time in prison, she rebuilt her life from the ground up, and is now working toward launching a construction company focused on building apartments, subdivisions, and affordable housing.

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Carolina Panthers safety Trey Boston joins Marnie and Alisa to talk about the sport that's taken over his post-NFL life: padel. From a vacation rally in the Dominican Republic to traveling internationally for tournaments, Trey breaks down what the sport is, why it's exploding worldwide, where to play in Charlotte and why he's betting big on it as a business. Plus: his media career after football, raising kids with intention, the meaning behind number 33, and a look at the team tennis league he's helping bring to the South.

Episode Highlights:
00:00 — Welcome & introducing Panther legend Trey Boston
01:00 — Paddle or padel? The naming debate explained
03:23 — The international governing body and Premier Padel league
06:04 — Life after the NFL: ACC Network, Weather Channel, and HBCU GameDay
09:50 — Jobs that found him: on financial freedom and commercial real estate
17:25 — Why padel makes business sense: court economics and investment opportunity
22:37 — 92% retention rate, 45% women players, and why padel beats pickleball
26:51 — Where to find padel courts in Charlotte right now
34:15 — Growing up with a single mom in Fort Myers and the faith that guides him
39:04 — The meaning of number 33, Intense Tennis, and a new padel brand on the way

About This Week's Guest:
Trey Boston is a former Carolina Panthers safety who played six seasons in the NFL after being drafted in the 2014 NFL Draft. Since retiring, he's built a media career that includes co-hosting a daily show on the ACC Network, appearing on the Weather Channel for a home renovation series, and covering HBCU football for Byron Allen's network. He's now one of padel's most visible advocates in the United States, investing in courts, attending international tournaments, and building what he calls a "family" around the sport. Trey splits his time between Charlotte and Fort Myers, Florida, where he grew up.

Connect with Trey Boston: https://www.instagram.com/trebos10/
Follow Trey on Instagram and keep an eye out for his upcoming padel brand, Por Quatro.

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Diondre Lewis went from a military upbringing across four continents to Duke pre-med to IBM and landed in Charlotte, the city he swore he'd never live in. Marnie and Alisa talk with the founder of Wave Rideshare about what it took to break into tech, why he started giving away free training to underserved communities, and how that nonprofit mission eventually gave birth to a safety-first ride and delivery platform. They also get into the broken economics of gig platforms, Wave's growing footprint in healthcare and professional sports, and the story of how Diondre met his wife in the YMCA basement.

Episode Highlights:
00:00 — Welcome & introducing Diondre Lewis of Wave Rideshare
01:37 — Born in Fayetteville, raised in the military: Germany, Hawaii, and everywhere in between
03:12 — Choosing Duke over full rides and surviving organic chemistry
07:55 — A pivot from pre-med to tech, inspired by IBM-bound engineering buddies
13:20 — Spamming IBM every day for a semester and landing a job in 25 minutes
24:43 — Starting a free tech training nonprofit and discovering Charlotte's transportation gap
28:42 — How Wave was born: trust, safety, and the problems gig platforms can't solve
35:36 — Wave's food delivery model and why high-value orders need a different kind of driver
41:15 — Healthcare, professional sports, and the exotic car division
38:45 — Meeting his wife in the YMCA basement, the one he always knew was coming

About This Week's Guest:
Diondre Lewis is the founder and CEO of Wave Rideshare, a Charlotte-based transportation company built around safety, trust, and accountability. A Duke University graduate who pivoted from pre-med to tech after stints in IBM research and training, Diondre spent years helping underserved communities access technology skills before identifying transportation as the hidden barrier behind his nonprofit's attendance problem. That insight became Wave — now serving healthcare systems, professional sports organizations, restaurants, and individuals who need more than a gig platform can offer. He lives in Charlotte with his wife, a music professional with sync licensing credits and studio connections, and their family.

Connect with Diondre & Wave Rideshare:
Follow Diondre on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dmajorbnr/
Follow Wave Rideshare: https://www.instagram.com/waverideshare/

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Marnie and Alisa turn the cameras on themselves, literally emptying their bags on air. Inspired by a Louis Vuitton 'What's in Your Bag' campaign, they go item by item through everything they carry: the sentimental keepsakes, the wellness staples, the snacks, the things they didn't know they had. Turns out, what you carry says a lot.

Episode Highlights:
0:00 — Welcome and the Rorschach test intro, why 'what's in your bag' is really 'what's in your brain'
1:35 — Alisa's bag: the Gucci silk bag, rhinestone readers, and why glasses are non-negotiable
4:15 — Alisa's essentials: wallet, Fireball candies (yes, they've broken two teeth), phone, keys, and Alisa Lux Beauty lip gloss
6:47 — Alisa's makeup bags and organization system
7:28 — Marnie's bag reveal begins
10:30 — Marnie's sentimental carries: her mom's charm bracelet, photos, a note from her grandmother Jane, and a copy of 'Briefcase Essentials'
12:09 — Marnie's wellness staples and what's on her supplement counter
16:08 — The 'Grippy' prototype
18:07 — The cookie reveal: Nowhere Bakery (no soy, no dairy, no eggs, no gluten, no refined sugar) and Erewhon pronunciation drama
23:40 — On staying consistent and keeping your foot on the gas
24:12 — Alisa's gummy vitamin routine and the art of pre-portioning for two-week travel

About Your Hosts:
Marnie Schneider is an entrepreneur, author, and lifestyle voice rooted in Charlotte, NC. A connector by nature and a storyteller by trade, Marnie brings warmth, humor, and a deeply personal lens to every conversation. Alisa Hood is the founder of Alisa Luxe Beauty and a lifestyle entrepreneur known for her sharp eye for quality, her love of all things beautiful, and her refreshingly direct take on everything from skincare to Gucci bags.

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When Nesha Pai's brother told her that his friend found her life 'intimidating,' it triggered something. She'd been hearing that word her entire life and she was done letting it be a problem. In this episode of Bench to Bold, Marnie and Alisa sit down with the Charlotte-based CPA, keynote speaker, author, and breast cancer survivor to unpack one of the most loaded words applied to successful women. Nesha traces her own path from starting Pai CPA at 40 as a single mom with one client and a kitchen table to running a fully remote firm with over 70 clients and shares how a 2024 breast cancer diagnosis was just another obstacle for someone who describes herself as a doer. Together with Marnie and Alisa, they dig into the double standard of who gets called intimidating, why relatability is the antidote, what it means to build your own personal board of directors, and why the most powerful response when someone calls you intimidating is simply: thank you.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
00:07 — Introduction — Retiring the Word Intimidating
01:07 — Where the Conversation Came From — A Brother and a Triggered Word
02:29 — Do We Ever Say That About Men? The Double Standard Nobody Talks About
04:41 — One Client, One Kitchen Table — Starting at 40 as a Single Mom
05:28 — Breast Cancer, 2024 — Another Obstacle for a Doer
08:16 — Lupita, Citizenship & What Truly Intimidating Looks Like
11:29 — Inspiring vs. Intimidating — The Word Swap That Changes Everything
13:30 — The Highlight Reel Problem — Why Relatability Is the Answer
19:38 — Susan Fletcher, the Wicked Witch of the Vet & Rewriting the Rules
23:04 — Your Personal Board of Directors — Who's Calling You Out?z

ABOUT NESHA PAI:
Nesha Pai is the founder and CEO of Pai CPA, PLLC, a fully remote bookkeeping firm in Charlotte, NC, one of the first of its kind when she launched it in 2011. Starting as a single mom with one client and no office, she grew the firm to over 70 clients and multiple six-figure revenues while prioritizing employment for stay-at-home moms. A breast cancer survivor, keynote speaker, and award-winning author of Overcoming Ordinary Obstacles, winner of the Multicultural Non-Fiction category at the 2020 American Book Fest. Nesha was named one of the Top 50 Influential Women in Charlotte by The Mecklenburg Times in both 2020 and 2024. She is a podcast host, keynote speaker, and fierce advocate for women building lives on their own terms. Find her at neshapai.com and on Instagram at @neshapaicpa.

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He dropped out of high school, attempted suicide, got on a plane to Oakland with no money and no plan, earned a scholarship to UC Berkeley, and was drafted 12th overall in the 1988 NFL Draft. If the story ended there it would already be worth telling. In this episode of Bench to Bold, Marnie sits down with her longtime friend and Washington Commanders legend Ken Harvey — four-time Pro Bowler, author, comedian, and one of the most raw and honest guests the show has ever had. Ken walks through all of it: the truancy, the depression, the three career-ending injuries that didn't end his career, losing his first son to SIDS, the identity crisis that followed retirement, and the decade-long process of rediscovering purpose after the stadium went quiet. He also talks about writing children's books with Terry Crews to give his sons brown characters to see themselves in, the animated series and live-action sport he's creating now, and why he did stand-up comedy on his 60th birthday — because it's never too late.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
00:00:07 — Introduction — One of Marnie's Favorite People
00:01:18 — Pop Warner to Dropout — The Road That Almost Wasn't
00:02:33 — A Purpose and a Destiny — What Brought Him Back
00:04:10 — Laney Junior College to UC Berkeley — Speaking It Into Existence
00:05:44 — 12th Pick, Arizona Cardinals & Learning to Be a Pass Rusher
00:08:37 — ACL, Rotator Cuff & the Loss of a Son — Challenges as Challenges
00:12:05 — Where the Resilience Came From — Family, Faith & a Mom Who Hopped Fences
00:15:55 — Retirement, Identity Loss & Hiding in Broad Daylight
00:22:39 — Children's Books, Terry Crews & the Exodus 4:2 Moment
00:26:18 — What's Next — Comedy at 60, Float Ball & Claudia and the Prayer Warriors

ABOUT KEN HARVEY:
Ken Harvey is a former NFL outside linebacker, four-time Pro Bowler, and member of the Washington Commanders Ring of Fame. Drafted 12th overall by the Phoenix Cardinals in 1988 out of UC Berkeley, he compiled 89 career sacks across 11 seasons before retiring in 1998. After football, Ken channeled his creativity into authorship, co-writing the children's book Come Find Me with actor and artist Terry Crews, along with several other children's books and two thriller novels. He is the Executive Director of the Touching Heart Foundation, focused on inspiring children through compassionate leadership, and is a co-host of the Commanders Justice podcast alongside Marnie Schneider and John Booty. He is currently developing a 12-episode animated series called Claudia and the Prayer Warriors and a new live-action sport called Float Ball.

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