Episode Overview
Podcast: Mick Unplugged
Host: Mick Hunt
Guest: Karen Salmansohn
Episode Title: Avoiding Life's Potholes with Karen Salmansohn
Date: October 9, 2025
This vibrant episode of Mick Unplugged features best-selling author and self-help innovator Karen Salmansohn. Known for blending wit, design, and science into personal growth, Karen delves into how “avoiding life’s potholes”—the obstacles and ruts that trip us up—drives her mission. Together, she and Mick explore resilience, self-worth, gender and leadership, the motivation behind her books (including her latest, You're to Die For Life), and powerful, practical tools for personal transformation.
Main Themes
- Transforming adversity ("potholes") into purpose and wisdom
- The importance of being your own best friend
- Gender and leadership: Challenging “you need a penis to succeed”
- How humor and design make self-help accessible
- Mortality as a motivator, not a morbid topic
- Practical, science-backed tools for emotional resilience and habit change
- The creative and publishing process
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Karen’s “Because”—Her Driving Purpose
- [02:49] Mick’s signature question: What is your "because"?
- Karen: “Because I’ve been in potholes and I want to make sure other people don’t wind up in potholes. I want to make sure they walk around the potholes, avoid the streets with potholes, heal from potholes. Recognize a pothole to be a pothole, because sometimes potholes don’t look like potholes.”
[02:49]
- Karen: “Because I’ve been in potholes and I want to make sure other people don’t wind up in potholes. I want to make sure they walk around the potholes, avoid the streets with potholes, heal from potholes. Recognize a pothole to be a pothole, because sometimes potholes don’t look like potholes.”
2. Origins in Humor and Psychology
- [03:45] Karen combined early fascinations with psychology and humor:
“If you took Psychology Today and Mad Magazine, put them in a blender, press frappe, you’d get my books."
– Karen [03:45] - She started with the desire to help a loved one, sparking her quest to understand what makes people happy.
3. Reinventing Self-Help: Fun, Honest, and Stylish
- [05:30] Karen felt self-help could be embarrassing or preachy—so she created playful, visually engaging books.
- "A spoonful of eye candy helps the self-help medicine go down... Instead of hiding the book, you want to put it on your coffee table."
– Karen [05:30] - Her breakthrough, How to Be Happy, Dammit, introduced “naughty” words in titling self-help for realism and humor.
4. The Power of Self-Worth & Being Your Own Best Friend
-
[08:01]–[10:38] Karen’s mantra: Be your own best friend.
- She explains “masochistic equilibrium”—the tendency to recreate familiar patterns of love and pain from childhood.
- "You have to get out of autopilot... take control of the wheel of your life.”
– Karen [10:38]
-
Mick’s Reflection: Sometimes you need to be your primary support because loved ones might not be available during your crises.
- "Don't be a go-to person for people you can't go to." – Les Brown (quoted by Mick) [11:27]
-
Boundaries signal self-worth and self-care: “It’s valuing yourself enough, more than people-pleasing your way to misery.”
– Karen [11:49]
5. Challenging Gender Norms in Business
- [12:37]–[19:45] Discussing How to Succeed in Business Without a Penis and its global impact.
- Karen shares that the title was initially a joke, but it resonated and turned into a bestseller, even in countries with traditional gender values.
- "A woman doesn’t need a penis to succeed—just balls."
– Karen [18:05] - Her follow-up, Ballsy, encourages everyone—especially women—to go above and beyond, even if that means being “150% person.”
6. How to Be “Ballsy” or Take Calculated Risks
-
[20:15] Karen’s analogy: Focus on the goal (the pot of gold), not the dangers (alligators under the bridge).
- Envisioning success and staying motivated kept her moving forward, especially when writing challenging material.
- “If you keep your eye on the prize… you’re going to get across that bridge.”
– Karen [20:15]
-
Resilience and envisioning the positive impact of your work can propel you through creative blocks.
7. Emotional Resilience & Overcoming Adversity
- [23:22]–[26:44]
- Karen uses metaphors: Completing small goals (running to the next tree) to handle big challenges.
- Stop-and-Swap Tool: When anxious or fixated on negative thoughts, swap in a healthier mental substitute rather than just trying to stop the thought.
E.g.: Swap "nobody likes me" for "the right people like me."
[25:40] - “When we’re anxious, our brains need something to chew on… so, stop and swap.”
– Karen [26:06]
8. The New Book: You're to Die For Life
- [27:06]–[38:34]
- The title is about leveraging mortality awareness to create urgency, not morbidity.
- Karen had a "near-life experience" (being adjacent to life by waiting for ‘someday’, being on autopilot, or distracted), rather than a near-death experience—triggered by the loss of her father.
- Reading about regrets of the dying, she reversed-engineered her life to avoid having them.
- Writing Her Own Eulogy: She guides readers through a fun template, emphasizing living by core values (identity-based habits).
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
“We repeat what we don’t repair.”
– Karen Salmonson [09:57] -
“Boundaries are actually a symbol of self-worth, self-love, self-care. So it’s valuing yourself enough more than people-pleasing your way to misery, quite frankly.”
– Karen Salmonson [11:49] -
“A woman doesn’t need a penis to succeed—just balls.”
– Karen Salmonson [18:05] -
“Stop staring at what could go wrong and stare at what you want, right.”
– Karen Salmonson [20:15] -
“Writing for me is cathartic and it’s therapy… Writing the book then changes me.”
– Karen Salmonson [21:34] -
"Mortality awareness is not morbid, it's motivating if you use it right."
– Karen Salmonson [27:12] -
“Identity is destiny… Who you think you are determines what you do.”
– Karen Salmonson [33:37] -
“Nobody’s going to read your Google calendar or your LinkedIn profile at your funeral.”
– Karen Salmonson [36:43]
Timestamps for Major Segments
- Karen’s “Because” and “pothole” philosophy: [02:49]
- Combining psychology and humor as a life’s work: [03:43]
- Making self-help accessible (eye candy + honesty): [05:30]
- Power of being your own best friend: [08:01–10:38]
- Challenging gender in business, writing “How to Succeed in Business Without a Penis”: [12:37–19:45]
- How to be “ballsy” and take risks: [20:15]
- Emotional resilience, stop-and-swap mind hack: [23:22–26:44]
- On using mortality to drive life urgency, writing her eulogy, identity-based habits: [27:06–38:34]
- Daily “To-Die List” and actionable habit formation: [33:37]
- Rapid-fire “Top 5” with Karen: [39:56–42:57]
Actionable Takeaways
1. Be Your Own Best Friend
- Develop self-love and boundaries. This forms the foundation for everything else.
2. Practice Stop-and-Swap
- Don’t just stop negative thoughts—redirect your mind with a positive, actionable replacement.
3. Visualize Success
- Keep your focus on your goals, not your fears or risks.
4. Live with Mortality Awareness
- Let the reality of life’s limits drive you to action, not anxiety.
5. Write Your To-Die List
- Align your daily actions with the kind of person you want to be remembered as.
- Ask: "Who do I need to become to get what I want in life?" (Core values are the answer.)
Rapid-Fire Round Highlights [39:56]
Morning mantra:
“I am smarter than this problem. I’m stronger than this problem. I’m more resilient than this problem.” – Karen [40:04]
Book that changed her life:
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying [40:17]
Favorite comfort food:
“Chocolate mint ice cream” [40:30]
Theme song to her life:
"Alanis Morissette, You Learn... live and learn.” [40:48]
Aspiring writer’s tip:
Picture specific people reading your work; read your manuscript in different settings and from different perspectives for fresh insight. [41:15]
Where to Find Karen Salmansohn
- Instagram / Facebook / Substack / Website: @notsalmon (Not Salmon)
- Book site (free resources): yourtodieforlife.com [39:12]
Final Message
“Remember, your because is your superpower. Go unleash it.”
— Mick Hunt [43:20]
This episode is a powerful blend of vulnerability, humor, and tangible strategies, leaving listeners ready to rethink their autopilot habits, embrace their purpose, and live a more meaningful, value-driven life.