To Grit with Grace

The financial crisis wreaked havoc on David Edwards's company…and life. As he watched his firm's assets shrink by 50%, his endocrine system flew into disarray, and he wondered whether he was cut out for this job, this industry, this world. But through grit, determination, and a ceaseless will to evolve, David rebuilt his firm, one client at a time. By transitioning from investment management to holistic financial planning, David grew his firm's assets to $500M in the following decade. David's intelligence, wit, and resilience are just a few of the qualities I love about him. I'm so glad to have captured his story in the most recent episode of “To Grit, with Grace: The Entrepreneur Sessions.”

René Syler co-anchored the CBS Morning Show from 2002-2006. Having started out as a local news anchor in Reno, NV, her ascent to the network level was meteoric. So, when she lost the job amid a network shakeup, it was that much harder to take.  René's story is one of high highs, low lows, setbacks, and transformations. A Black woman, René long faced pressure to conform to conventional beauty standards, which lifted when she transitioned out of network life. Now a one-woman, full-service production company, René's broadcast life continues — only now, it's in a way that lets her be her natural self.

Erin came to New York City at 18 years old with only grit and determination to fall back on. Needing to pay for food, housing, school — and fast — Erin learned how to hustle. That hustle would pay off in 2014 when, after a year of traveling the world, Erin started down the entrepreneurial road, one beset by challenges internal and external. Erin's company, Dynama Insurance, is more successful today than ever. Her story is a must-listen for young entrepreneurs — especially women — hoping to make their mark on the world.

In 2011, a freak cycling accident nearly killed Michael O'Brien. Doctors were bearish on Michael's chances to resume normal function — but Michael felt otherwise. Michael's radical injury prompted a radical shift in perspective. It took numerous surgeries to get his body bike-ready; it took deep emotional labor, including a redefinition of his values, to resume life with peace of mind. And when those values didn't fit with his corporate job (Michael was a VP at a global pharmaceutical company), it meant striking out on his own. Now a successful entrepreneur twice over, Michael's story illuminates the full spectrum of the entrepreneurial mindset: from chaos and self-doubt to self-belief and growth.

Aged out of her career and reeling from her husband's financial infidelities, Lisa Weldon found herself 58 years old and in need of a new start. While all of us take recovery one step at a time, Lisa took it one step further, walking every neighborhood in New York City, and building an online following around her blogs and photographs.

Julie Davitz literally grew up in a barn, believing that the best thing in life would be to marry — and marry rich. In spite of her spunk, her tenacity, her independence, Julie took the safe road. But looks, as we know, are often deceiving. The safe road can often be anything but.  You'll hear how Julie went from a Cinderella life, to an absolute wreckage, to what sounds to me like sheer hell. But it was hitting that bottom of desolation that brought her where she is today, running global impact investing company Plus Media Solutions.

There's no guidebook for grief. People on the outside can give support, but the real work happens inside. It's hard enough when a relative dies at a ripe old age. But when someone we love is taken from us unexpectedly, and prematurely, the difficulty multiplies. That's exactly what happened to my guest this week, Lynn Thomas. Just as she was starting her business and a new romantic relationship, homicide took away someone she loved. It pushed Lynn out to the edge of mental stability. But while she was out there, she developed depths of compassion she says she might never have otherwise known.

In 2008, the financial crisis brought Rachelle Fender's career to a halt. But she'd seen devastation before, and she realized that this time, the worst news could actually be the best news — with the right mindset, and with courage. Rachelle found her life's purpose working with the humanitarian organization appropriately named Unstoppable.

Justin Breen, founder of BrEpic, was thrust into entrepreneurship when his career came to a halt. A Chicago journalist, he was told one day that his salary was being cut in half for no particular reason. Over the course of the next several months, he reached out to 5,000 people. The day after he got his fifth client, he resigned, and BrEpic was off to the races. Justin works with the top .1% of people in the world. He describes himself as barely human, and he has boiled down successful entrepreneurship to four key elements. Listen to this month's episode of “To Grit with Grace” to find out what they are.  

Dustin Lowman wasn't always my marketing manager. In 2015, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee to turn his passion for songwriting into a career. But things didn't go completely as planned for the 22-year-old. Struggling in an industry town, Dustin faced trials of confidence and identity he never thought he'd face. In a first for the show, this episode features Dustin, his mom, Diane, and his dad, Donald. Diane and Donald divorced well over a decade ago, but they are united in love for their sons. Their support should be a model for every parental pair whose children dream big. Songs in this episode: Deranged Searching for My Twin Rather Be Right Holy the Path to Sleep

When we think about war stories, we tend to think in terms of Saving Private Ryan — heroism in the heat of battle, the willingness to face down death for the sake of our fellow soldiers.  My guest this month, Curt Cronin, calls that “valorous courage." Curt served as a Navy Seal in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Through some trying times, when the U.S. was conducting combat operations in unfamiliar terrain and against an unfamiliar enemy, Curt realized that “infinitesimal courage” — the courage to have tough conversations, the courage to have a certain mental mindset — was much more valuable. In Curt’s case, that meat telling his commanding officer what he really thought about his orders, unsure of the outcome, not once, but three times.  

Who do you trust? The older we get, the more is at stake, and the harder trust is to come by. This month's guest, divorce lawyer and newly minted author Leslie Montanile, was burned by one kind of trust: that which she invested in her business partner, Jeff. But she was saved by another kind of trust: that which she invested in her husband, Joe. Leslie just published her memoir, The Cult of the Black Card: A Divorce Lawyer's Tale of True Love, Lust, and Lies, available on Amazon, or wherever else you get your books.

Bruce DeBoskey was a bearded, camera-toting 21-year-old when he first came face to face with inhumanity. It happened in a remote part of Turkey. Bruce faced a choice that day that would change the course of his life. In the second episode of “To Grit with Grace,” hear Bruce discuss how that fateful brush with inhumanity ignited a lifelong devotion to loving humanity — the two sides, he says, of the human coin.

In the inaugural episode of "To Grit with Grace," host Randy Kaufman tells the story of surviving her "Trifecta of Suck" — the '08 financial crisis, breast cancer, and divorce. Credits: Randy Kaufman — host, narrator, story designer Dustin Lowman — producer, editor, theme music composer Buff Parham — story coach

To Grit with Grace will feature stories of perseverance in the face of hardship, from people across many walks of life. Released on the first Monday of every month, the podcast will be as curated and efficient as Ted Talks, never to exceed 15 minutes. Episode one, out February 1, 2021, will feature creator Randy Kaufman telling the story of her "Trifecta of Suck" — the '08 financial crisis, a breast cancer diagnosis, and a divorce, all in the span of a few years.