What if the life you were handed was never the life you had to keep? KAYR Robinson turns a childhood of poverty, instability, and repeated setbacks into a blueprint for unbreakable success. If you need proof that mindset, discipline, and the right people can change everything, this conversation delivers it.

Dave Roberts talks with Kevin "KAYR" Robinson, a two-time USA Today bestselling author, real estate investor, and former Goldman Sachs finance professional who built a portfolio of more than 160 rental units after growing up in Philadelphia with uncertainty, hardship, and constant movement. KAYR shares how he moved from survival to structure to stability - and why the turning point was not talent, luck, or timing, but vulnerability.

You'll discover the exact mindset shifts that helped him go from skipping school and struggling academically to becoming valedictorian, student leader, Wall Street professional, and multi-million-dollar entrepreneur. KAYR breaks down his "three D's" - desire, discipline, and determination - and explains why motivation fades but discipline lasts. He also shares the role mentors, sponsors, and a "personal board of directors" played in helping him build a life that was bigger than his circumstances.

We also unpack what vulnerability really means for men, why asking for help is a strength instead of a weakness, and how to stop confusing personal pain with personal destiny. KAYR opens up about loss, identity, resilience, and the responsibility of creating your own safety net when no one is coming to save you.

This episode is a powerful reminder that where you start does not decide where you finish. Perfect for anyone rebuilding, reinventing, or trying to level up with more clarity, structure, and purpose.

Kevin Bio and Contact Information

Kevin “KAYR” Robinson (pronounced KAY-R) is a real estate investor, entrepreneur,and operator who built a multimillion-dollar portfolio after growing up in poverty in West Philadelphia. After beginning his career in finance — including roles at Goldman Sachs and other investment firms — he went on to build a real estate company from the ground up. Today, his portfolio includes 160+ rental units, supported by a professional team focused on acquisition, development, and operations.

KAYR is also a sought-after speaker and business advisor focused on discipline, mindset, leadership, and wealth-building systems. His work bridges street-level lived experience with institutional business training — offering a powerful lens on what it actually takes to break generational cycles.

He serves on the boards of Philadelphia Young Playwrights, The Great Young Society II Organization, and the Grove Collective Foundation, and has been recognized as a nominee for Philadelphia’s 40 Under 40 Leadership Awards. His story and perspectives have been featured by outlets including MarketWatch, NPR, PBS, NBC, The Atlantic, and KBS (Korean Broadcasting System). His memoir, Can’t Break Me, became a USA

TODAY Best Seller and landed on the list for consecutive weeks in 2026. His life journey is also highlighted in Black in White Space: The Enduring Impact of Color in Everyday Life by Yale professor Elijah Anderson.

KAYR earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Bowdoin College and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Website: kayrmotivates.com

Instagram: @kayrmotivates

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/krobins2

TikTok: @kayrmotivates

YouTube: @kayrmotivates

His book: Can't Break Me, is available wherever books are sold.

Subscribe to the podcast for more great episodes.

Music licensed through Soundstripe.

Code: 4HRTIHB177D6UXAU, 1WLKUMBZSHD7HOYT

Trauma may not need years of talk therapy to shift. Dr. Judith Swack shows how the body stores emotional pain, why it keeps repeating in your life, and how to interrupt it in minutes using simple techniques you can do yourself.

Host Dave Roberts sits down with Dr. Judith A. Swack, the originator of Healing from the Body Level Up, for a conversation that blends science, somatic healing, and surprising hands-on demonstrations. Judith explains why the conscious mind often misses the real problem, how trauma gets frozen into the nervous system, and why uncovering the structure of a pattern is the missing piece in lasting healing.

You'll discover:

• Why trauma lives in the body, not just the story you tell about it
• The four-step framework Judith uses to identify and clear stuck patterns
• How hugging and tapping can calm the nervous system fast
• Why frontal occipital holding can shift guilt, fear, and old childhood pain
• How ancestral trauma and root causes can keep showing up across generations

Dave doesn't just ask the questions - he steps into the process and experiences the techniques in real time, making this episode especially powerful if you've ever felt stuck in the same emotional loops, relationship patterns, or body-based stress responses.

Judith also shares how HBLU integrates biomedical science, psychology, hypnosis, NLP, applied kinesiology, energy psychology, and spiritual techniques, plus how her work extends to root-cause healing, past lives, and ancestral patterns. If you've ever wondered why talking about trauma isn't always enough, this conversation will change how you think about healing.

Essential listening for therapists, coaches, healing practitioners, and anyone ready to understand trauma at the level where it actually lives. T

Judith Swack Bio and Contact Information

Judith A. Swack, Ph.D., biochemist/immunologist, Master NLP practitioner, mind/body healer and best-selling author is the originator of Healing from the Body Level Up (HBLU), an innovative and powerful methodology with transformative results. HBLU integrates biomedical science, psychology, hypnosis, NLP, applied kinesiology, Energy Psychology and spiritual techniques with original research on the structure of complex damage patterns. She has presented her dramatic results on national television and at international conferences and has published in scientific, professional, and popular books and journals. Dr. Swack is a recipient of the 2015 Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP) award for major contribution to the field of Energy Psychology and author of CLEAR TRAUMA NOW A Powerful Solution for Getting Unstuck. Dr. Swack works with clients in person and by Zoom

https://hblu.org/

Purchase Heal Trauma Now on Amazon

Subscribe to the podcast to get more great episodes.

Music licensed through Soundstripe.

Code: POTKA3Y0RA1PYUZE, PNIMPQA0KTF6NM94

Shame can look like freedom on the outside and still keep you locked up for years. Matilde Hernandez reveals how she turned incarceration, silence, and self-protection into a life of real freedom, and why the hardest prison to escape is often the one in your own mind.

Host Dave Roberts sits down with Matilde Hernandez, certified coach, speaker, author of Beyond These Walls, and founder of Dare to Lift It, for a powerful conversation about what it takes to stop surviving and start truly living. Matilde shares the experiences that shaped her, from incarceration to years of mental imprisonment after release, and the moment she realized healing had to begin with forgiveness, self-awareness, and community.

You'll discover:

• Why incarceration is not just physical, but deeply mental and emotional
• How shame, fear, and silence can keep you stuck long after release
• The difference between strength and freedom, and why one does not guarantee the other
• How forgiveness becomes a tool for liberation, not just a moral ideal
• Why community, honest conversation, and aligned support matter for lasting change
• This episode is a reminder that your past does not get the final word. Whether you're navigating trauma, recovery, self-doubt, or a season of reinvention, Matilde's story offers something urgent and deeply practical: freedom is a choice, healing is a process, and your voice matters.

Essential listening if you need encouragement to forgive yourself, reclaim your voice, and step into the life waiting beyond your walls.

Matilde’s Bio and Contact Information

Matilde Hernandez is a , certified coach, speaker, author, and founder of Dare 2 Lift It.

For years, she carried the weight of expectation, silence, and responsibility. Matilde knew how to be strong, but didn’t always feel free. She poured into others, held things together, and kept moving — even when she hadn’t fully acknowledged what I needed to heal.

Matilde’s life shifted when she stopped surviving and started asking better questions. When she chose to pause and examine the patterns that kept pulling her back. When she started reclaiming the parts of myself that were hidden or buried.

Dare 2 Lift It was born out of that process. Not just personal growth, but personal liberation. She is also the author of Beyond These Walls.

• Website: Dare 2 Lift It — spelled “D-A-R-E,” the number 2, “Lift It”
• Podcast: Unpack That Be Free
• Listen on: YouTube and Spotify
• Available through her website: book information, workshops, a free assessment, and a complimentary 30-minute call

Subscribe to the podcast for more great episodes.

Music licensed through Soundstripe.

Code: IPWCP5GHVDFOUAWL, A44QH5EYCGOVCTYH

The most painful part of Alzheimer’s is not always the diagnosis - it’s the slow, heartbreaking loss of the person you love before they’re gone. Sarah Vosburgh shares the story behind Who Will Name the Bees? and the moment a simple question about bees became the title of a memoir about memory, grief, and holding on.Sarah - a psychologist, mother, wife, and memoirist - opens up about her mother’s decline, the emotional toll of caregiving, and the impossible choices families face when autonomy begins to disappear. She and host Dave Roberts talk candidly about memory care, the grief that starts long before death, and why caregivers so often feel isolated even when they’re not alone. You’ll discover:

• Why the title Who Will Name the Bees? carries so much emotional weight
• What Sarah’s mother was like before Alzheimer’s and how dementia changed their relationship
• The painful reality of losing autonomy, driving, and independence
• How Sarah navigated the decision to place her mother in memory care
• Why caregiver guilt is so common, and why grace matters more than perfection

Dave also draws on his own experience with loss, creating an honest, compassionate conversation about anticipatory grief, end-of-life decisions, and the burden so many families carry in silence. If you’ve ever cared for a parent, walked alongside someone with dementia, or questioned whether you made the right choice, this episode will meet you where you are.Sarah’s memoir itself was born in the middle of the night from dreams, memories, and a pile of Sharpie notes on the glass beside her bed - and the result is a deeply personal book shaped by prose, poetry, and family. This is essential listening for anyone navigating Alzheimer’s, caregiving, grief, or the search for meaning inside loss. Sarah Vosburgh is a psychologist, memoirist, and member of the International Memoir Writers Association and San Diego Writers, Ink.

Sarah’s Bio and Contact Information

It was never in Sarah Vosburgh’s plan to be an author or to write a memoir.

As a busy mom, wife, and psychologist, she always saw her life as full (sometimes overfull). But in the dark of night, memories knocked on her brain, compelling her to commit them first to paper, then to bits and bytes. Sarah is a member of the International Memoir Writers Association and San Diego Writers, Ink. Her work has been published in A Year in Ink and numerous volumes of Shaking the Tree: brazen. short. memoir. A native New Englander, she now lives in San Diego with her husband, her daughter, her granddog, and a most extraordinary feline.

Her book Who Will Name the Bees? is available at whowillnamethebees.com, sarahvosburgh.com, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Audible.

Music licensed through Soundstripe.

Code: 3DFUAJAMXM8978CV, 65FERJUZUZMY3PKW

Discover the inspiring story of resilience and rebirth in our latest episode featuring Ron Klopfenstein, an adjunct professor at Utica University and host of Hot Seat Media Monday. After suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome for over a decade, Ron shares how he transformed his life from debilitating illness to impactful educator and community activist.

Ron’s journey is not just about overcoming a health crisis; it’s a testament to the power of choice in the face of adversity. He candidly discusses the struggles that come with chronic fatigue syndrome, including the physical and emotional toll it takes. You’ll hear about the innovative treatments that finally helped him reclaim his life, including the surprising role that colloidal silver played in his recovery.

In this episode, you'll discover:

- The lesser-known symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome and its elusive causes.

- The unconventional treatment paths that led to Ron's recovery.

- How his experiences shaped his teaching philosophy and approach to life.

- Insights into the importance of choosing gratitude over bitterness after loss.

- The ways in which chronic illness can redefine one’s purpose and passion.

Ron’s story is a powerful reminder that even in our darkest moments, there is always a path forward. He emphasizes the importance of resilience, the strength found in vulnerability, and the impact of maintaining a positive outlook.

Whether you’re facing your own challenges or simply seeking inspiration, this episode is essential listening. Ron’s journey will leave you motivated to confront your own obstacles with courage and determination. Tune in and be inspired to live with intention and purpose

Ron’s Bio and Contact Information

Ron Klopfenstein is an adjunct professor at Utica University and has taught in the Utica New York school system for several years. He is also involved in various social causes in the Utica area, with his husband Jim Hale. Ron is also the host of Hot Seat Media Monday, a live podcast which highlights individuals and organizations who are having a positive impact in the Utica, New York community.

Ron’s Contact information

All Social Media: Ron Klopfenstein

Podcast: Hot Seat Media Monday

uticapheonix.net/media-monday , 95.5 FM The Heat, Mondays from 5–6 p.m, and on all major podcast platforms

Music licensed through Soundstripe.( For Audio)

Code: KSVELDKHTBG33F1B, VIFGXBNKLK8BORNN

What if the behaviors that make you great at helping others are also the ones that keep you stuck, burned out, and disconnected from yourself?

Trauma expert and award-winning professor Dr. Adam McCormick joins host Dave Roberts for a deeply practical conversation about adverse childhood experiences, emotional survival, and why so many helping professionals are drawn to this work long before they ever realize it.

Adam shares how growing up with an alcoholic father and becoming a parentified child shaped his path into social work, and why so many adults recreate familiar pain in relationships, work, and self-sabotage without meaning to. He breaks down the difference between ACEs and trauma, why trauma is the wound rather than the event, and how shame, control, and survival adaptations like fight, flight, freeze, overfunctioning, and people-pleasing follow us into adulthood.

You’ll discover:

• Why emotional and relational trauma often shapes professionals more than overt abuse
• How childhood survival skills get rewarded in social work, teaching, and other helping roles
• Why “just do self-care” fails when someone has disconnected from their authentic self to survive
• How countertransference can reveal unresolved childhood material in the room
• Why connection, co-regulation, and being truly seen matter more than perfect advice

Adam offers a powerful framework for understanding how meaning gets made, how trauma spreads when it goes unrecognized, and how healing begins when someone finally stays present without judgment.

This conversation is essential listening for anyone who works with trauma, supports young people, or is trying to break generational cycles in their own life.

About Adam

Adam McCormick, MSSW, PhD, is an award-winning professor, social worker, keynote speaker, and author whose work explores trauma, burnout, emotional development, helping professionals, foster care, resilience, masculinity, and the emotional lives of boys and men.

Over the course of his career, Adam has delivered nearly 300 keynote presentations, workshops, conference sessions, continuing education trainings, and professional development programs for social workers, counselors, healthcare professionals, educators, universities, and helping organizations across the United States.

In 2026, Adam received the Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award, widely regarded as the highest honor for teaching excellence in the state of Texas. He is also a candidate for the 2028 Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, one of the most prestigious teaching awards in higher education in the United States, and was the recipient of St. Edward's University's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2025.

Adam is the author of Healing the Helping Professional: The Unfinished Business of Childhood (NASW Press, 2026), a book exploring childhood trauma, emotional survival adaptations, burnout, authenticity, and the journey back to the self. He is also currently completing The Cost of Becoming a Boy: Trauma, Boyhood, and a Return to Self, a forthcoming book examining the emotional, developmental, and cultural experiences that shape boys and men. Dr. McCormick is the author of LGBTQ+ Youth in Foster Care (Routledge).

Known for blending trauma science, storytelling, vulnerability, humor, and practical application, Adam's presentations help audiences better understand both the people they serve and themselves.

Connect with Adam McCormick:

Follow Adam on LinkedIn for his social links and weekly trauma-focused newsletter.

His book is available through Amazon and NASW Press.

Music licensed through Soundstripe.

Code: XWLO67WFURMT2DN2, ABDSVWEN4S5MUN7Y

Subscribe to the podcast for more great episodes.

Some paintings are beautiful. Mary Marquiss makes paintings that answer back. In this conversation, the Oregon artist and author of Behind the Painting reveals how grief, synchronicity, travel, and 30 years of watercolor work turned her art into a mirror for the most life-changing moments of her story.

Mary and host Dave Roberts trace the deeply personal paintings in her memoir, including the poppy that became a symbol of unexpected strength, the bird that felt like her sister Betty's spirit, and a cave in Scotland that opened into a moment of profound release. What begins as an art conversation becomes something much larger: a meditation on how creativity helps us survive loss, recognize meaning, and keep moving through the dark toward the light.

You'll discover:

• How Mary's psychology background shaped the way she sees art, memory, and emotion
• Why watercolor became the perfect medium for play, layering, and transformation
• The role of synchronicity in her travels through Ireland, Scotland, Paris, and southern France
• Why she believes life is not linear and neither is healing, forgiveness, or growth
• How kindness, boundaries, and self-compassion became central themes in both her life and work

Mary also shares the hard-won wisdom behind surviving divorce, miscarriage, cancer, and the death of loved ones without becoming bitter - and why one small act of kindness can echo for a lifetime. Dave brings his own reflections from psychology, teaching, grief, and spiritual meaning, creating a thoughtful conversation about what art can hold when words fall

MARY MARQUISS – BIO AND CONTACT INFORMATION

Marquiss developed her interest in art as a child, surrounded by the lush beauty of Oregon. Originally from Corvallis - she is a fifth generation Oregonian and has lived in Bend for 34 years.

Marquiss attended both the University of Oregon and UCLA, earning her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology. After graduating she became the Admissions Director for a private psychiatric hospital in Reno, Nevada, owned by HCA with 500 hospitals worldwide. After two years as the hospital Admissions Director she was promoted to Marketing Director and then became a Marketing Consultant for HCA.

In 1995 she moved to HCA’s corporate offices in Nashville to become the product manager for Seniority – a benefit that only comes with age - which was franchised in hospitals across the country.

When her daughter was born 38 years ago, she left her corporate career and returned to her love of art and writing.

“I focused primarily on watercolor because it can be playful, has a beautiful transparency and teaches me about the challenge of controlling this medium – when to take it and when to let go – as in life,” she explains.

Marquiss has written and illustrated two cookbooks, and taught art and design classes to both adults and children in Bend for over 30 years.

Combing her art and writing she is the author of the forthcoming book: Behind the Painting – An Artist’s Memoir which holds ten of her paintings and a story interwoven behind each one over a thirty years trajectory. This book takes the reader on an adventure with both the high notes in Paris and finding love late in life through challenges she faced including family suicide, a stroke and cancer.

Her original art and book information can be seen at www.marymarquiss.com.

Email: mary.marquiss@gmail.com

Book: Behind the Painting on Amazon

Music licensed through Soundstripe.

Code: EUVL5TMU3OAME5WY, 0EMPZ9AVHFR3XLNJ

Subscribe to the podcast for more great episodes.

Fear does not disappear by accident. It gets transformed when you finally face the root, reframe the story, and stop calling stuck "fine." Claudia Wyatt returns with the energy, honesty, and hard-won insight to help you break the loops that keep you repeating the same patterns.

Dave Roberts and Claudia go deep on the hidden ways fear shows up - in change, in grief, in old childhood wounds, and in the pressure to stay comfortable. Claudia explains why the very thing you keep avoiding can become the doorway to your next level, and why your brain often clings to safety even when safety is keeping you small.

You'll discover:

• Why "fine" is often code for stuck
• How fear of change quietly shapes your decisions
• The difference between changing something and reframing it
• Why childhood moments can echo through adult behavior
• How to spot the patterns that keep replaying like Groundhog Day
• Why awareness is the first step to breaking the cycle

Claudia also shares how her own walkabout method grew out of her refusal to keep repeating the same emotional patterns. She and Dave explore what it really means to sit with pain instead of outrun it, and how that process can unlock confidence, clarity, and momentum you may not realize you already have.

If you are navigating a transition, carrying old baggage, or simply tired of living on autopilot, this conversation will meet you exactly where you are. It is a powerful listen for leaders, coaches, and anyone ready to move from fear into freedom.

Claudia's Bio and Contact Information

Claudia Wyatt is a globally recognized inspirational leader, international keynote speaker, consultant, coach and writer known as The Enthusiasm Igniter™ and Self-Doubt Eraser™. With over 20 years of experience coaching high-performing teams and leaders, she helps individuals and organizations break free from limiting beliefs, strengthen communication, and lead with unshakable confidence.

Claudia is a certified confidence, cognitive behavior and life purpose coach with emphasis in leadership, empowerment and wellness.

She is the founder of The Walkabout Method™, her signature framework guiding leaders & individuals to reclaim their power, elevate emotional intelligence, and lead boldly from within. Showing up as themselves for themselves and living on purpose.

Claudia was recently named Professional Training and Coaching Provider of the Year, New York, 2026. Claudia’s impact is immediate, audiences leave energized, empowered, and ready to rise.

Social Media Links:

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudiawyattcoaching/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/theclaudiawyatt/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554805040594

Company pages:

LinkedIn: : https://www.linkedin.com/company/claudia-wyatt-coaching-llc/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567176611416

Website: https://claudiawyatt.com/

Music licensed through Soundstripe.

Code: YRJTM1LEAQOJS5RU, ULOO0HBNYD8BM6JH

Subscribe to the podcast for more great episodes.