Bob Pondillo started in radio at fourteen and never stopped telling stories. In this episode he takes us from a tiny Ohio radio station to 30 Rock in New York, through his years writing comedy for radio stations around the world and teaching screenwriting and media history, and into his newest chapter as a novelist. Every one of his books began as a screenplay, and he shares how that happened, the stories behind a few of his novels, and his thoughts on AI and what it's doing to our heads. He also tells the story of a dream that became an award-winning short musical, and leaves us with an idea every creative person should hear.

His newest novel, My Name is Wallace, is a sweet and funny story about a lonely man who falls for an AI companion, and it has plenty to say about where the AI companionship industry is heading.

Mentioned in this episode
The New, True, Charlie Wu (Bob's short musical film): watch on YouTube
Pew Research Center: pewresearch.org

Connect with Bob
Books: bobpondillobooks.com
Instagram: @bobpondillo
Facebook: facebook.com/bpondillo and his author page

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:
Instagram: @dee_ogsoul
Website: ogsoul.ca

Today I'm chatting with Joey Payeur, the sports reporter who covered my high school rugby team in Fort Saskatchewan 25 years ago, and a friend I'm so grateful to have back in my life.

Joey's story starts before he was even born: a great-grandfather found as a baby on the side of a road in Belgium, and a dad who arrived in Canada with $300 and met Joey's mom at Expo 67 while running a carnival ride. From there, Joey takes us through growing up on a farm near New Sarepta, skipping ahead in school and being the youngest, easiest target in the room, and the college years where he finally found his people and almost lost his footing. He shares the mentor who stood in his corner when it counted, the years of moving across the country for newspaper jobs, and the school tour that pointed him toward teaching.

Joey also opens up about the hard moments and the lessons that came with them. He gets candid about how alcohol gripped his life and the difficult lessons that came from that. He also shares what's bringing him joy right now, plus an important final reminder for all of us.

Content note: This episode includes discussion of suicidal thoughts, impaired driving and a serious car accident. If you're struggling, you can call or text 988 anytime in Canada.

Connect with Joey:
Instagram: @jp9997
X/Twitter: @jrpayeur

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:
Instagram: @dee_ogsoul
Website: ogsoul.ca

Today the tables are turned. Hayley Musgreave came on the show a few months back, and the second we stopped recording she said she wanted to interview me. So this one's a takeover. She's running the show and I'm in the guest seat.

We go into my mental health story, which I call rounds instead of episodes (a nod to my boxing days), because every one of them felt like stepping into the ring. Round one hit in 2012 and took my job, my apartment, my education and my freedom with it. Round two came in late 2016 with a house and a mortgage on the line. In between: hospitalizations, diagnoses, medication, and a voice that showed up one morning in the shower and asked me to listen.

We talk about what actually moved the needle, which wasn't what I expected. It started with my dad telling me to do whatever I needed to do to keep the house, leading to my neighbour renting my basement, which revealed the thing I'd been missing entirely: I was alone all the time. Everything else came after that. Diet, walking, sunlight, sleep, magnesium, and eventually coming off medication in 2021.

Hayley asks about spirituality and we go all the way there.

Synchronicities, God, an Akashic reading about a girl in room 402, and a dream eight months later. We also talk about my husband Joel, the box of wedding letters we've had sealed for five years and are about to open, Karl our beloved cat, my twelve month painting project, and the teacher I'm still looking for.

The heart of this episode is a story my old supervision teacher told about a little boy who rocked on the couch, and the caregiver who sat down and rocked at his pace before slowly changing it. That's the whole thing. If someone you love is in it, don't try to pull them out. Get in there and rock with them first.

Thank you, Hayley, for flipping the tables. This was a healing conversation.

Connect with Hayley:

Instagram: @thehayleydawn

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:

Instagram: @dee_ogsoul

Website: ogsoul.ca

Today I'm chatting with Kevin McNee, a men's coach and mentor, and lead author of The Sovereign Man (Sovereign Acres Publishing)

Kevin and I get into what it means to take off the armour and let yourself be fully seen, and why that vulnerability is a form of strength rather than the opposite of it. He shares the 2013 turning point that cracked his life open, his faith journey from rejecting religion to reading the Bible and attending church, and the "God-sized hole" he sees so many men carrying. Kevin also gets honest about self-worth, cheating, and what he learned about the power of monogamy, plus his long distance relationship with Alana and his Men for More coaching work.

At the heart of this episode: when a man drops the walls and lets himself be seen, he gives everyone around him permission to do the same.

Purchase The Sovereign Man

Connect with Kevin:
Instagram: @the_kevin_mcnee
Website: www.menformore.com

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dee_ogsoul/

Website: https://www.ogsoul.ca/

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

02:57 The Journey of Writing and Publishing

06:07 Vulnerability and Authenticity in Men

09:00 The Importance of Male Voices

11:53 Personal Growth and Healing Journeys

15:03 Faith and Spirituality Exploration

18:05 The Impact of Energy Healing

21:01 Noticing Signs and Synchronicities

23:58 The Ripple Effect of Personal Change

27:29 Expanding Perspectives on Belief Systems

30:31 Navigating Personal Faith Journeys

33:49 The Search for Meaning Beyond Religion

36:36 Vulnerability and Shame in Religious Contexts

38:25 The Misnomer of New Age Practices

41:45 Authenticity in Sharing Personal Truths

44:32 The Power of Vulnerability in Relationships

51:12 Deepening Intimacy in Monogamous Relationships

52:31 The Hot Stove Experience: Learning Through Pain

53:55 Honesty in Relationships: The Weight of Cheating

56:01 The Beauty of Healthy Long-Term Relationships

58:29 Navigating Long-Distance Love

01:01:06 Finding Joy in Relationship Challenges

01:11:18 Men's Coaching: Creating Safe Spaces for Growth

Today I'm chatting with Erin Leonty, founder and CEO of Leonty Consulting and the creator of Power to Care.

Erin spent 25 years in corporate leadership associating power with authority and command and control. Then a coach asked her where she felt power in her body, and she had no answer. What she built from that question is a leadership program grounded in neuroscience, one that treats care as a capability.

We get into what the program actually does. Why leaders grip for control when they feel none internally, what happens in the body under pressure, and how noticing and naming a felt sense starts to shift things. Erin really breaks it down in this conversation: notice the tension, name it, decide what to do with it. She's now taking this into boardrooms and to shareholders, making the case that command and control leadership is undermining business results, and she has the research to back it.

Leonty Consulting has been around for 10 years, but Erin talks about why she built Power to Care as a clear container after years of consulting.

Erin has a Power to Care session coming up this fall on September 10, offered virtually.

SPECIAL OFFER:

Join the September 10 Power to Care Session

Use Coupon Code SEPT50 at checkout for 50% off!

Connect with Erin:
Website: erinleonty.com
LinkedIn: 💡Erin Leonty | LinkedIn
Power to Care: Power to Care

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:

Instagram: @dee_ogsoul

Website: ogsoul.ca

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Erin Leonti and Her Vision

01:57 The Power to Care Methodology and Its Impact

02:08 Introduction and Background

04:16 The Concept of Power to Care

06:49 Erin's Corporate Journey

09:38 Transitioning from Corporate to Consulting

12:37 The Birth of Power to Care

15:15 Practical Applications of Power to Care

17:56 Navigating Leadership Challenges

20:56 The Science Behind Leadership and Care

23:42 Building a Culture of Care

26:32 The Future of Leadership and Connection

33:56 Compassionate Curiosity in Leadership

37:32 Navigating Fear and Compassion

40:30 Transformational Inner Conversations

42:28 Communicating Boundaries Effectively

47:06 Self-Reflection and Personal Growth

51:38 The Impact of Internal Chaos on Leadership

57:24 Understanding Manipulation and Authenticity

01:01:54 The Joy of Self-Discovery and Connection

Today I'm chatting with Shannon Sauer, a fellow co-author in Reclaiming Mental Health and someone who spent close to two decades navigating what gets called anxiety before she found her way back to herself.

Shannon and I get into her chapter and the long arc that shaped it. She talks about being a sensitive, intuitive kid who felt most at home in nature, and how that connection faded as the world took over with jobs, motherhood, and the pressure to always be doing more. We talk honestly about the pharmaceutical road she went down, starting with antidepressants prescribed during postpartum while her father was dying, and the hard reality of how difficult those medications can be to come off of. She shares what brain zaps actually feel like, the years it took to finally grieve, and the experience in 2018 that got labeled a breakdown but felt much more like a spiritual awakening she didn't have language for yet.

A big part of our conversation lives in the gap between Western medical labels and lived spiritual experience, and how the two don't always fit. Shannon opens up about her plant medicine journey, how ayahuasca became a catalyst after years of inner work had already prepared the ground, and what it's meant to come off her medications and actually feel joy again. We also talk about the quieter numbing habits that are easy to miss, the importance of who you sit with if you ever explore this path, and the farm in Costa Rica she and her husband just bought.

Connect with Shannon:
Instagram: shansauer
Reclaiming Mental Health: https://a.co/d/06r2cm9D
Costa Rica wellness center: lamatriztica

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:

Instagram: @dee_ogsoul

Website: ogsoul.ca

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

02:56 Childhood Connection to Nature

05:59 Mental Health Journey and Plant Medicine

08:57 Anxiety and Self-Criticism

11:59 Pharmaceuticals and Their Impact

15:02 Spiritual Awakening and Healing

18:07 Navigating Quetiapine and Its Effects

21:00 Understanding Spiritual Awakening

23:55 Holistic Approaches and New Perspectives

29:19 The Intersection of Mental Health and Spirituality

31:59 Understanding Dissonance and Alignment

34:38 Awakening to Clarity and Intuition

40:06 Exploring Plant Medicine Journeys

46:58 Connecting with Nature and the Self

49:26 Exploring the Nature of God and Spirituality

52:51 Technology, Nature, and Spiritual Connection

55:05 Plant Medicine Journeys and Personal Growth

01:01:13 The Importance of Safe Plant Medicine Practices

01:02:37 Transformation Through Spiritual Awakening

Today I'm chatting with Jen Morin, a co-author in Reclaiming Mental Health and a contributor to Sovereign Volume 1, who now builds workbooks and affirmation decks to help people reprogram the patterns that keep them stuck.

Jen and I get into her mental health journey, the years inside the system, the medications that never fit, and the COVID crash that became a full reset. We talk about why she no longer accepts diagnoses as identity, how symptoms are really patterns, and what it takes to notice them, write them down, and slowly choose something different. We also dig into discernment, the power of writing by hand, and where hope actually comes from.

Connect with Jen:
Instagram: awake_anddreaming
Reclaiming Mental Health: https://a.co/d/02oVIius

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:

Instagram: @dee_ogsoul
Website: ogsoul.ca

Today I'm chatting with Hayley Musgreave, who I first crossed paths with back in high school in Fort Saskatchewan and then reconnected with years later through a coaching program. She's a farmer in northern Alberta now, with cattle, mini donkeys, and a grain and hay operation, and she's been a steady light every time we connect. We share some similar threads in our mental health journeys, and that's a lot of what we get into here.

Hayley opens up about growing up feeling like the black sheep, the shame she carried as a kid, and the ADHD she only understood later. She shares about being diagnosed with bipolar in her 20s after a breakdown, the two episodes she went through, and what it was like to be handed a heavy load of medication and a sense that this was just how life was going to be, with no real light to look toward. We compare notes on what mania actually felt like from the inside, including the grandiose thinking and the racing mind, and we sit with how strangely real it all feels in the moment.

From there she talks about her Graves' disease diagnosis, how its symptoms mirrored mania, and the path she took to heal it through changing her diet, prayer, and a refusal to accept the outcome she'd been told to expect. We get into her faith and gratitude practice, the tools she leans on now like grounding, sleep, and music, and where she's landed today: not identifying as bipolar, but as someone who came through two breakdowns and kept going.

At the heart of this one is the reminder that you can walk through the fire and come out the other side. We share our stories so that the younger versions of ourselves, and anyone in the thick of it now, can see that there's hope to be had.

Connect with Hayley:

Instagram: @thehayleydawn

Connect with Darrel-Lynne:

Instagram: @dee_ogsoul

Website: ogsoul.ca

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Nerves

02:53 Journey into Farming and Mental Health

06:00 Childhood and Early Mental Health Struggles

12:00 Bipolar Diagnosis and Its Impact

18:00 Navigating Mania and Breakdown Experiences

24:05 Healing Journey and Personal Growth

29:56 Graves' Disease and Its Effects

30:30 Healing Through Diet and Faith

32:15 Managing Mental Health and Medication

33:45 Current Well-being and Self-Identification

34:51 The Role of Faith in Healing

35:10 Prayer and Gratitude Practices

39:41 The Power of Sleep and Mental Health

42:56 Marriage and Support Systems

45:43 Navigating Relationships and Personal Growth

50:48 Resilience and Grit in Life

52:06 Finding Peace in the Journey

55:30 Tools for Mental and Emotional Well-being

57:11 Mutual Admiration and Future Aspirations