Lost in the Groove

#272 - Interview with photographer Jonathan Schuessler

I sat down with Jonathan Schuessler, and what stood out right away is how he sees things most people walk past. We talk about photography not as gear or settings, but as awareness. Slowing down, noticing detail, and learning how to frame moments. That don’t ask for attention but deserve it anyway. Jonathan breaks down how perspective shapes everything. Not just the image, but the story behind it.We get into the creative process, and the discipline behind the lens. Understanding the difference between taking pictures and actually creating something that holds weight. Jonathan shares how photography becomes a way to document reality. Without over-editing it into something artificial. There’s a real respect here for natural light, and timing. Letting the subject exist as it is instead of forcing it into a trend.This episode is about seeing clearly. Not chasing perfection, not overcomplicating the process. Just developing an eye and trusting it. If you’ve ever felt like you’re missing something right in front of you. This conversation brings you back to basics in the best way.Where to Find Jonathan Schuessler?🌐 Website: https://www.jonathanschuessler.com📚 Work: 📸 Photography & Visual Projects https://linktr.ee/jonathan_schuessler📲 Social: @jonathan_schuessler

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#271 - Interview with podcaster Aaron Machbitz

Apr 201:08:22Tap to summarize

I sat down with Aaron Machbitz to talk about discipline, masculinity, and entrepreneurship. What it actually takes to build a life most people only talk about. Aaron doesn’t deal in motivational fluff. He lives in the trenches of fitness, fatherhood, and leadership. We unpack what that looks like when the camera is off. From mental resilience to building physical strength. As a foundation for character, this conversation cuts straight through modern noise.We get into personal responsibility, the state of young men today. Building confidence through hard work, and why comfort is quietly destroying ambition. Aaron breaks down how fitness isn’t about aesthetics, but identity. How structure leads to building freedom. Why most people sabotage themselves long before the world ever does. There’s no victim mindset here. Only ownership, standards, and showing up daily whether you feel like it or not.If you’ve been feeling stuck, distracted, or disconnected from purpose, this one hits. It’s about sharpening yourself mentally and physically. Leading by example, and refusing to drift through life half-awake. Real growth. Real accountability. No shortcuts.Where to Find Aaron Machbitz? 🌐 Website: https://aaronmachbitz.com 📚 Work: 🏋️ Fitness coaching & mindset training 📲 Social: @aaronmachbitz

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#270 - Interview with author Bria Rose

Jan 2901:12:57Tap to summarize

I sat down with Bria Rose, dark romance author and fairy-tale rewriter. To talk about why Disney was never meant just for kids, and why the stories we grew up with deserve to grow up too. We dig into adult fairy-tale retellings. Retake of Beauty and the Beast as an 18+ narrative. Why sanitizing myth, folklore, and European fairy tales. Strips them of their cultural spine. This conversation isn’t nostalgia bait. It’s about respecting history, intention, and the emotional weight. That made these god damn stories matter in the first place.We get deep into Disney’s past, from The Black Cauldron and Sword in the Stone. To the scrappy VHS era, and why modern remakes feel hollow along. Compared to the original risks the studio once took. Bria breaks down her writing philosophy. Why research and travel matter when retelling culturally rooted stories. How she approaches representation without flattening identity into corporate checkboxes. We also talk anime, international and storytelling, horror, censorship, inscriptive fearlessness. Why Americans forgot how to let art be uncomfortable.This episode is honest, unfiltered, and unapologetically adult. It’s about creativity, culture. Why rewriting stories doesn’t mean erasing their origins. If you love Disney but feel disconnected from what it’s become. Or if you believe fairy tales should still have teeth, this one’s for you.Where to Find Bria Rose?🌐 Website: https://authorbriarose.com/📚 Work: Dark romance & fairy-tale retellings, and her latest book Her Dark Promise: https://a.co/d/80ru4Xs📲 Social: @authorbriarose

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#269 - Interview with podcaster Dave Keeshan

Jan 2801:04:30Tap to summarize

I sat down with Dave Keeshan. An engineer, science comedian, and sharp cultural observer. Who’s lived and worked across Ireland, Australia, the U.S., and beyond. What starts as a conversation about microchips and engineering turns into something bigger. How fragile modern systems really are. Why supply chains are a house of cards, and how much they effect us. Even in our daily life technology runs most people's lives. You never stop, and think about it until you set aside the distractions.We dig into semiconductor shortages, subscription culture, planned obsolescence. Why “smart” tech often makes things dumber. Breaking down everything from aviation systems, and GPS reliance. To why legacy tech sometimes survives because it’s harder to hack. There’s humor throughout, but it’s grounded in lived experience. From working at Bell Labs, and Intel. Watching innovation get strangled by profit models and walled gardens.This episode is about seeing the world clearly not hype, not fear. Just an honest look at engineering, comedy, and culture colliding. Seeing what happens when systems designed to be invisible suddenly matter.Where to Find Dave Keeshan?🌐 Website: Check out Dave's podcast Gurus of Comedyhttps://gurucomedy.podonaut.com/🎤 Work: Comedy, Engineering, Podcasting📲 Social: @gurusofcomedy

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#268 - Interview with author Kay A. Oliver

Jan 1300:53:36Tap to summarize

Talking with Kay A. Oliver felt like stepping behind the curtain of an industry. That seriously loves control more than creativity. Kay shares her path from Hollywood expectations to independent authorship. Seeing why walking away from traditional gatekeeping. Was the only way to write honestly, and freely. We get into what it really means to own your stories, your voice, and your pace. Within a business that constantly tries to rush and reshape you.We talk about writing strong female characters without turning them into clichés. Why lived experience matters more than trends. How independence gives writers room to breathe, and break open. Kay opens up about creative freedom, discipline, and the quiet confidence it takes. To keep going when there’s no studio, no machine, and no one telling you what to do next.This conversation is for writers and creatives who feel boxed in by expectations. Kay’s perspective reminds you that the work gets better. When you stop asking for permission and start trusting your instincts.Where to Find Kay A. Oliver?🌐 Website: https://kayaoliver.com/ Work: 📖 Independent novels and screen inspired fiction 📲 Social: @The_Hollywood_Gal

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#267 - Interview with author Dr. Rhonda Lawson

Jan 600:51:49Tap to summarize

I sat down with Dr. Rhonda Lawson for a conversation that cuts through the noise. Even around writing, success, and so called shortcuts. We get honest about why trying to do everything alone burns people out. How real collaboration actually works, and why asking for help is not weakness. Dr. Lawson speaks from lived experience, and not theory. Sharing what it took to stop micromanaging, build trust with a team. Being able to protect her energy without losing control of her vision.We dig deep into writing craft, confidence, and the myths surrounding AI. Dr. Lawson explains why AI should never replace a writer’s voice. Rather can be a powerful assistant when used with intention. We talk about writer’s block, perfectionism, and starting over. Why some stories need to be rewritten while others need to be left imperfect. This episode breaks down the difference between using tools. Also, allowing the tools to erase your humanity.The conversation expands further into education, and career paths. Why putting all your eggs in one basket can be a dangerous game. Dr. Lawson shares why learning never stops, why college still matters for many people. Seeing how passion does not cancel out the need for structure. This episode is for writers, artists, and creators. Trying to build something real without burning themselves to the ground.Where to Find Dr. Rhonda Lawson?🌐 Website: https://www.mtwimagesolutions.com/ 📚 Work: 📖 Author services, writing education, and publicity through Meet the World Image Solutions. 📲 Social: @meettheworldimagesolutions

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#266 - Interview with mixed-media artist Candace "Candy" Campbell

Dec 3001:06:38Tap to summarize

Sitting down with Candace Campbell felt less like an interview. More like opening a long, well worn journal. Candy walks me through a life that zigzagged on purpose. From childhood humor and early writing to acting. All the way to radio, debate, academia, aviation, nursing, and finally circling back to art. Nothing here followed a straight line, and that is exactly the point.We talk about being unprepared and surviving anyway. About leadership that finds you before you find yourself. Also, about the quiet courage it takes to pivot when the room you are in no longer fits. Sharing stories from Pan Am, Vietnam era flights, theater mishaps, and improv chaos. Finally to the moment a single image haunted her for decades. Until it demanded to become a screenplay, then a book. This conversation touches faith without preaching, creativity without ego, and failure without shame.What stayed with me most is Candy’s refusal to be boxed in. Actor, scholar, nurse, artist, storyteller. She never chose one and let the rest die. This episode is for anyone who feels late, scattered, or misaligned. Sometimes the long way around is the work.Where to Find Candace Candy Campbell?🌐 Website: https://www.candycampbell.com/ 📚 Work: 📖 Upcoming book based on her award winning screenplay and solo performance work 📲 Social: @candycampbell

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#265 - Interview with photographer Lesle Lane

Dec 2301:09:00Tap to summarize

I sat down with Lesle Lane to talk about what happens after the spotlight fades and you decide not to disappear. Lesle opens up about reinvention, and a creative identity. Finding the long road of staying true to your voice in an industry that constantly asks not to. Become something else you never wanted to be. We get into the discipline it takes to keep creating when the rules change. How the courage required to start over more than once truly exists.Our conversation moves through music, production, and entrepreneurship. Seeing how the quiet work is made behind Studio 13. Lesle talks honestly about learning through failure, and trusting instinct over trends. Building something meaningful without chasing validation. There’s a real sense of earned wisdom here, and not packaged advice. Lessons pulled from experience, rather than a degree.This episode is for anyone rebuilding or recalibrating. Maybe, refusing to let their creative life end on someone else’s terms. Lesle’s story is a reminder that longevity comes from adaptability. Staying honest, and connected to why you started in the first place.Where to Find Lesle Lane?🌐 Website: https://www.studio13online.com/ 📚 Work: 🎧 Studio 13 Music and Creative Projects 📲 Social: @studio13indy

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#264 - Interview with coach Dale Walsh

Dec 1600:39:16Tap to summarize

Dale Walsh shows up grounded, honest, and allergic to shortcuts. We talk about discipline not as hustle jargon, but as a daily practice that shapes identity over time. Dale breaks down what it means to commit to your craft when nobody’s watching. How consistency builds confidence. Why most people quit right before things start to click.The conversation moves through music, self-belief, creative doubt, and the quiet pressure. To become someone you actually respect. Dale speaks, openly about growth without ego, learning from failure. Trusting the long road instead of chasing instant validation. There’s no motivational fluff here, just real talk about effort. patience, and showing up even when it’s uncomfortable.This episode is for anyone building something slowly and wondering if it’s worth it. Dale’s perspective reminds you that identity isn’t something you find. It’s something you earn through repetition, restraint, and honesty with yourself.Where to Find Dale Walsh?🌐 Website: Dale has an Instgram page, where he covers his work and journey.https://www.instagram.com/dale.walsh.14 📚 Work: Set up a consultation for coaching with Dale.https://calendly.com/dalecoach55/dale-walsh-consult 📲 Social: you can find Dale @dale.walsh.14

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#263 - Interview with author Andy Dietrich

Dec 901:00:01Tap to summarize

I dropped into this conversation with Andy Dietrich expecting a talk about his book. We ended up wandering through one of the most honest, unfiltered hours I’ve had on the show. We go from busted childhood cartoons to the slow death of TV shows. That really overstayed their welcome, debating Simpsons writers like they’re ancient philosophers. Andy’s got this knack for dropping regular-guy wisdom right when you least expect it. The kind that sticks with you long after the episode ends.But the core of our talk hits when we get into the real stuff: How people grow?How relationships break? How do we stop beating ourselves up over who we used to be. Andy explains the heart behind his book, a mix of absurd life stories. Mixed in with foot-in-mouth disasters. The kind of self-reflection you’d only admit in a late-night kitchen conversation. He breaks down why struggle makes life interesting. Why the “easy mode” fantasy never works, and why everyone carries a story they’ve been terrified to write.By the time we get to the creative side, why he wrote the book. How he catalogs his own chaos, what he wants readers to walk away with. You feel like you’ve already lived half the chapters with him. It’s part confessional, part comedy, part therapy. All delivered with the dry humor of a man who knows exactly how ridiculous life can get.Where to Find Andy Dietrich?🌐 Website: https://www.andysbook.com/ 📚 Book: Available on Amazon + signed copies via /gift https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5241R8T 📲 Social: via contact form on his site

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All episodes

#272 - Interview with photographer Jonathan Schuessler

#271 - Interview with podcaster Aaron Machbitz

#270 - Interview with author Bria Rose

#269 - Interview with podcaster Dave Keeshan

#268 - Interview with author Kay A. Oliver

#267 - Interview with author Dr. Rhonda Lawson

#266 - Interview with mixed-media artist Candace "Candy" Campbell

#265 - Interview with photographer Lesle Lane

#264 - Interview with coach Dale Walsh

#263 - Interview with author Andy Dietrich