In this episode of The Sean Trace Show, I sit down with Dr. Kevin Ahmaad Jenkins, a University of Pennsylvania lecturer and the founder of Concord Healthcare Solutions, to talk about equity, empathy, and what it actually looks like to show up when it counts.

We get real about bias, not as a buzzword, but as something you can notice, challenge, and use to become a better human and a better leader. Kevin shares stories from the rooms where tough conversations happen: hospitals, Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, and community leadership. He breaks down the difference between cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, and compassionate empathy (the kind that ends with action). I also share personal moments from life in Vietnam, fatherhood, anxiety, and the daily discipline of making the bed and walking into the fire instead of running from it.

If you care about leadership, DEI, mental resilience, fatherhood, and how to build a world that is safer and more human, this conversation will challenge you in the best way and push you toward the simplest takeaway: don't just say "aw," do something.

In this episode of The Sean Trace Show, I sit down with Dr. Alison Kole, a triple board certified sleep medicine specialist and the host of Sleep Is My Waking Passion, to unpack what actually happens in your brain while you sleep and why sleep is one of the biggest levers for health, performance, and emotional stability.

We talk about the glymphatic system and how sleep helps your brain clear out “junk,” why deep sleep and REM sleep matter for memory consolidation, learning, and emotional processing, and how sleep deprivation can wreck decision making by taking your prefrontal cortex offline and putting your amygdala in charge. I share my own experiences with late night schedules, stress, anxiety spikes, and the way smartphones can quietly sabotage sleep quality, plus why a single massage reminded me what real restorative sleep feels like. Dr. Kole explains how circadian rhythm and schedule consistency impact energy even when you think you’re getting enough hours, how sleep problems can affect metabolism, hunger hormones, insulin resistance, weight gain, and long term risks like heart disease, and why shift work and circadian misalignment can change who you are as a person.

We close with simple, real advice for better sleep tonight, including the mindset shift that helps most, stop obsessing over sleep, build a wind down routine, and protect your decompression time so you can show up as a better partner, parent, leader, and human.

In this episode of The Sean Trace Show I sit down with ultra endurance adventurer turned high performance leadership coach Luke Tyburski to unpack what mindset really is and why he says self belief is not even real.

We talk about running down Mount Everest, crossing the Sahara, and building a world first 2000 kilometer triathlon from Morocco to Monaco, then translate those lessons into parenting, leadership, and everyday life. Luke breaks down the difference between self belief and confidence, how to actually build confidence with reps, positive self talk, and community, and why being present is the real success hack in a world addicted to distraction. We get into helping our kids face exams and fear of failure, training our attention like an athlete, making choices instead of sacrifices, and crafting a personal life philosophy that becomes your North Star.

If you have ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or trapped in negative self talk, this conversation will give you practical tools to refocus, be less negative, and move forward one intentional choice at a time.

In this episode of The Sean Trace Show, I sit down with communication coach and TEDx speaker coach Michael Ashford to unpack what it really means to talk like a human in an AI driven world. We dive into everything from storytelling and conflict resolution to thinking on your feet and asking better questions. We explore why presence and attention are the real flex, how to train curiosity so your intuition becomes sharper and less biased, and how emotional intelligence shows up in hiring, leadership, parenting, Muay Thai with my daughter, and even learning to embrace failure with a growth mindset.

Along the way, I share some of my own wild stories from Zen Buddhism, Chinese medicine, and recovering from years of food allergies, while Michael breaks down practical frameworks for becoming a better listener, interviewer, and leader so our conversations build trust instead of breaking it. If you care about communication, conflict resolution, intuition, or just staying genuinely human while AI reshapes the world, this episode is a masterclass in slowing down, paying attention, and letting curiosity lead the way.

In this episode of The Sean Trace Show, I sit down with executive coach and leadership expert Chris March to talk about what real leadership looks like in 2025, far beyond the fake it till you make it mindset.

We start with our shared love of basketball and Kobe Bryant, breaking down the mamba mentality, how Kobe reset the culture of the Redeem Team, and what it means to set a standard that pulls everyone else higher. From there we dive into the difference between performative confidence and real confidence, why the best leaders often do not have to be the loudest in the room, and how one person can change the culture of a team, a company, or even a kids Muay Thai class just by how they show up. Chris shares how high performers burn out when they try to be machines, and we unpack the seven types of rest, from physical and mental rest to social, sensory, creative, and spiritual rest, and why they matter if you want sustainable high performance. We also talk about finding your why, how his 17 year travel career collapsing during the pandemic pushed him into coaching, what feedback really is for ambitious mid career professionals, and why you will never earn more than you secretly believe you are worth.

If you are a founder, a manager, or just someone who wants to lead your life with more purpose, this conversation blends Kobe Bryant mamba mentality, executive coaching, burnout recovery, leadership mindset, and real talk about resilience into one powerful playbook for becoming the kind of leader people actually want to follow.

In this solo episode, I open up about something we all struggle with: quitting too soon. I talk about how, growing up, I bounced between instruments and sports, never sticking long enough to see progress. I even joke about faking guitar in my wife’s music videos because, honestly, I quit before I ever got good. But that’s the point! We all hit “the dip,” that frustrating middle zone where excitement fades before the results show.

I share how my daughter Ailani hit that same wall learning piano, and how staying consistent turned endless “Mary Had a Little Lamb” into real music. The truth is, success isn’t about grinding till you burn out, it’s about small wins, showing up daily, and not quitting on a bad day. Motivation fades, but identity sticks. When you start telling yourself “I’m someone who finishes,” everything changes.

This episode is my reminder for you and for me, that we are what we repeatedly do. Keep showing up, even when it sucks. Don’t stop when you’re tired, stop when you’re done.

I sit down with New York Times bestselling writer Bill Blankschaen to unpack how your real breakthrough starts when you start with your story, for real, and we get into leaving safe gigs, choosing the calling, and building StoryBuilders to help leaders craft books and content that actually move people.

We talk mindset, faith as action, the hero’s journey, the normalcy trap, and how motion creates options. Bill shares the framework behind Your Story Advantage, from finding a meaningful message to multiplying it through books and platforms, then monetizing it in the creator economy. I share my own leap moments, from Vietnam to film sets, and how answering the call opened wild doors.

If you want a life that feels aligned, if you want clarity on your strengths, and if you are ready to tell your story with courage and cash flow in mind, press play and let’s build.

I sat down with leadership coach Hugo Breton to talk about one of the hardest jumps in any career, going from being the best individual contributor on the team to actually leading one. We got real about the gap between management and leadership, learning to delegate, building trust through authenticity, and why communication is everything.

Hugo shared how great leaders set a clear North Star, keep their teams aligned like a perfect LEGO build, and create systems that prevent burnout instead of causing it. We even dove into how creative teams, from game studios to media companies, can use Pixar-style feedback loops to level up together.

If you’re ready to stop micromanaging and start scaling, this episode is your cheat code for leadership.