Episode 112: Mike Elliott
When Mike Elliott’s marriage ended, it awakened a much older wound—the fear of abandonment he had carried since being separated from his biological mother as an infant. In this deeply personal conversation, Mike reflects on adoption, his mother’s journals, masculinity, vulnerability, and the relationships that helped him heal. Together, we explore what our deepest wounds can teach us about the men we become, the responsibility we carry for the impact we have on others, and why none of us heals alone.
Episode 111: Dr. Rosslyn Knight
Who tells us we belong—and what happens when they tell us we don’t? Dr. Rosslyn Knight, Hartnell College’s Interim Vice President of Institutional Equity, Effectiveness, and Success, joins me for a deeply personal conversation about education, race, access, the meaning of merit, and the teachers and institutions that can shape what we believe is possible for our lives.
Episode 110: Taylor Abbitt
Quiet, reserved, and extraordinarily gifted, Taylor Abbitt is an artist coming fully into his own. The Juilliard-trained double bassist and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra member joins At the Podium to explore the discipline behind excellence, finding his voice as a biracial artist, and the journey from mastering technique to trusting himself. And when the conversation ends, Taylor lets the music speak—performing the magnificent Concerto No. 1 for Double Bass by Andres Martin at the Sphinx Competition tthat reveals what words cannot.
Episode 109: Jonathan L. Allen
Raised in the church and ordained as a minister at a young age, Jonathan L. Allen spent years wrestling with his identity, the roll of faith in his life, and the cost of living truthfully. In this episode of At the Podium, Jonathan joins Patrick Huey for a conversation about courage, purpose, leadership, and the lifelong journey of becoming more fully ourselves. Together they explore the personal sacrifices that come with authenticity, the mission behind Leadership Brainery to expand access to graduate education, and why coming home is ultimately about living in alignment with who you are rather than who the world expects you to be.
Episode 108: Connor Schoen
At nineteen, Connor Schoen co-founded Breaktime with a bold vision to help end young adult homelessness. Since then, he has become one of Boston's most respected civic leaders, but this conversation reveals a journey far deeper than professional success. Connor reflects on the pressures of leadership, embracing his identity, and the freedom that comes from no longer performing the person you think others expect you to be. Together, we explore authenticity, integrity, purpose, and the ongoing work of becoming—discovering that true leadership isn't defined by titles or achievements, but by allowing the person you are in public and the person you are in private to become one.
Episode 107: Christian Menefee
In this episode of At the Podium, US Congressman Christian Menefee of Houston’s historic 18th District reflects on growing up in Houston, the public programs that shaped his family's life, and why he believes government can expand opportunity when it serves people well. Together, we explore leadership, education, citizenship, personal responsibility, and the lasting influence of public servants who came before him. Rather than debating political headlines, this conversation asks a more enduring question: What happens when responsibility becomes personal?
Episode 106: Attica Locke
Season 4 of At the Podium begins with bestselling author Attica Locke in a deeply personal conversation about identity, creativity, purpose, family, and the meaning of home. Patrick Huey and Attica reflect on friendship, faith, race, and the unexpected ways life reshapes our plans, while exploring what healthy manhood looks like, the mentors who shape our lives, and two near-death experiences that forever changed Patrick's understanding of life's fragility. Together, they ask one of the defining questions of the season: Who do you become when life guides you home?
Episode 105: McCord Henry
For years, McCord Henry used alcohol to escape the things he didn't know how to face. Raised in a conservative Christian household, he wrestled with addiction, identity, and the weight of shame while trying to build a successful life. Then, in 2017, he reached a breaking point that would change everything.
In this candid conversation, McCord shares his journey through addiction and recovery, what it was like coming out in a religious family, and the moment he finally stopped running from himself.
A powerful conversation about shame, surrender, and the courage to begin again.
Episode 104: Zak Sandler
Broadway musician, composer, and writer Zak Sandler joins Patrick Huey for a deeply personal conversation about bipolar disorder, creativity, mental health, shame, and healing. Zak has performed as a pianist on Broadway in productions including Wicked, Mean Girls, and The Color Purple. In this episode of At the Podium, he reflects on his experience living with a bipolar condition, navigating mania and depression, and learning how to understand and accept his own mind.
Together, Patrick and Zak explore the relationship between creativity and mental health, the stigma surrounding bipolar disorder, family silence around mental conditions, emotional healing, and the thin line between brilliance and instability. Zak also shares how music, storytelling, and self-awareness became essential parts of his healing journey.
Episode 103: Chris Hetherington
Former NFL fullback Chris Hetherington joins At the Podium for a conversation about discipline, masculinity, fatherhood, identity, and life after football.
After spending 11 years in the NFL, Chris reflects on the physical and psychological realities of professional sports, including concussion culture, performance pressure, and transitioning beyond athletic identity. Patrick and Chris discuss meditation, stoicism, NIL deals, financial literacy, accountability, and what healthy masculinity looks like in modern life.
Chris Hetherington is a Yale graduate, entrepreneur, investor, former NFL player, and father whose work today centers on discipline, personal growth, wellness, and intentional living.
Episode 102: Zarak Fatah
In this episode of At the Podium, Patrick Huey speaks with Zarak Fatah, a transformational coach and former serial entrepreneur, about masculinity, trauma, faith, and the work of healing. Zarak reflects on growing up as the son of Pakistani immigrants in Canada, the impact of bullying and shame, and how those early wounds fueled both ambition and avoidance—leading to remarkable success and, eventually, a deeper reckoning.
Together, they explore why so many men and boys are struggling today with who they are, the role of fatherhood and male role models, and what real manhood looks like beyond performance, achievement, and avoidance.
Episode 101: Cole Sjoholm
In this episode of At the Podium, Patrick Huey sits down with Cole Sjoholm to explore solo travel, self-discovery, and the search for belonging in an interconnected world.
After more than twenty years in banking and finance, Cole made an extraordinary decision in 2023: to travel solo to all seven continents in a single year. What followed was not a bucket-list pursuit, but a deeper exploration of identity, perspective, and shared humanity—learning that meaningful travel is less about destinations and more about who we become.
Throughout the conversation, Cole reflects on growth, unseen support, and how choosing grace in unfamiliar situations reshaped his understanding of success and fulfillment. At its heart, this episode is a reflection on courage, gratitude, and the quiet work of becoming yourself.
Episode 100: Tembi Locke
In this special 100th episode of At the Podium, Patrick Huey sits down with Tembi Locke for a deeply personal conversation about love, loss, legacy, and the courage to begin again.
Following her acclaimed memoir and Netflix series From Scratch, Tembi reflects on her new memoir Someday, Now—an intimate exploration of midlife, motherhood, remarriage, and letting go. Returning to Sicily, this time with her new husband and her daughter, she considers grief that has changed shape, the passage of time, and what it means to live fully inside change—and an unknown, still-unfolding future.
This is a reflective conversation about becoming, resilience, and what we carry forward.
Episode 99: Michael Pugliese
Michael Q. Pugliese, CEO of Circadia, joins At the Podium for a wide-ranging conversation on legacy leadership, professional skincare, education, and long-term stewardship. As a third-generation leader, Michael reflects on building a science-led brand in an industry shaped by rapid trends, DTC pressure, and social media influence. He discusses how Circadia determines which innovations have staying power, the discipline required in R&D, and why restraint is often as important as growth. The conversation also explores industry-wide threats, the responsibility brands hold in shaping professional standards, and how fatherhood has reframed Michael’s understanding of balance, success, and legacy. This episode is a thoughtful examination of what it takes to build something that truly lasts.
Episode 98: Tijuana Ricks
When Tijuana Ricks talks about taking up space, she means it.
Her career as an actress has spanned more than a hundred episodes of television—from the Marvel Universe’s Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, to Billions, and now Hulu’s Tiny Beautiful Things.
But what struck me most is how she traces that confidence back to her beginnings.
Tijuana grew up in a small Louisiana town, inside a big, Black, Creole matriarchal family—women who taught her, from a young age, to use her voice and to take up space unapologetically.
Not to shrink.
Not to ask permission.
Not to disappear inside expectations.
And that feels so different from how so many of us are taught to move through the world—especially growing up Black in the South. You’re taught to be the good student, to do what you’re supposed to do, to persist even when something no longer fits.
In our conversation, Tijuana calls it being “proper.”
But she asks a deeper question: what happens when we let go of being the good kid—and start to own who we are, what brings us joy, and how we want to move through the world?
For Tijuana, the answer is honesty.
It’s coloring outside the lines.
It’s fully inhabiting the life you’re living—and asking the essential question: does this actually make me happy? And if it doesn’t – what steps are you going to take to reset the course of your life?
Because sometimes, reclaiming who we are is the most important space we can ever fill.
Episode 97: Calvin Anderson
Calvin Anderson’s story is not just about football — it’s about survival.
In 2023, what should have been a defining season in the NFL nearly became the end of Calvin’s life. While traveling in Africa, he contracted a deadly strain of malaria that sent his body into crisis. After surviving the illness and fighting his way through a grueling recovery, Calvin returned to the field only to suffer a rare heart contusion — an injury that once again forced him onto the sidelines.
What followed was not just physical rehabilitation, but a deeper reckoning with faith, identity, and mental health. Stripped of control and certainty, Calvin was forced to confront who he was beyond the game.
This is the story of what saved him when everything broke — and how breaking down became the beginning of rebuilding a life rooted not just in performance, but in purpose.
Episode 96: Justin Wren
Justin Wren is a big man—and not just in stature. When you meet him in person, he takes up space. With his professional athlete’s frame and long blond hair, you can’t miss him. He has presence.
In his book Fight for the Forgotten, Justin writes unflinchingly about the intense bullying that shaped his childhood—a pain that sparked the fire that carried him into the world of professional MMA, where he found money, recognition, and a sense of belonging. But along his climb to becoming a champion, he fell into addiction, spiraled into despair, and attempted suicide.
Somehow, in the haze of that turmoil, a vision—a single Bible verse from Isaiah—became the thread that pulled him toward Africa, toward purpose, and toward the people he felt called to serve: the forgotten ones. People living in modern-day slavery. People forced to drink water that, as Justin says, we would hesitate to give our dogs.
What happened next became a symbiotic story of restoration. Justin, who never had a champion fighting for him as a child, has become a dragon slayer for communities who need protection, dignity, and a friend in their midst. And as he brings them life-sustaining clean water, they give him something just as powerful: acceptance, belonging, and a reshaped sense of family.
In many ways, they are fighting for each other.
Episode 95: Willie Mae Sharpe
Willie Mae Sharpe’s rich contralto voice has been the heartbeat of worship at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, for years.
But behind that powerful voice is a woman who’s lived a big life — not just marked by darkness and despair, but shaped by success, divine purpose, and unshakable faith. From her grandmother’s shotgun house in Texas to the grand stages of gospel music and Christian television — and through the grace it took to mother alone, trusting that the same God who held her would also hold her children when she couldn’t be there — Willie Mae has lived both the valley’s depths and the victory’s heights.
And through it all, she’s been held by a God who would not let go.
In this episode of At The Podium, she reminds us that the Christian walk isn’t perfect — it’s a practiced, prayerful journey. And at some point, you have to stop talking about it… and walk it out for real.
Episode 94: Eric Litman
Eric Litman — the founder of Aescape — has the mind of an explorer. In the world of spa and wellness, he and his team are charting new territories, challenging long-held beliefs about what a massage looks like, feels like, and how it’s delivered. With Aescape’s robotic massage solution, Eric is pursuing something truly extraordinary: the authentic human experience of care, connection, and self-agency — achieved through technology and AI.
He’s not on this journey alone. He’s surrounded himself with extraordinary collaborators — from seasoned massage therapists to former NFL quarterback Tom Brady, who now serves as Aescape’s Chief Innovation Officer. Together, they share one bold goal: to empower humans to do better at being human.
Episode 93: Derrick Young, Jr.
In this episode of “At the Podium,” I sit down with Derrick Young Jr. He’s a modern-day wellness warrior, advocate and pioneer committed to living a life of unrestrained excellence and impact. As the Founder and Executive Director of Leadership Brainery, he’s creating pathways to Master’s and Doctoral programs for underrepresented communities – making what once seemed impossible, possible for thousands of college graduates. And with his newest venture, Forever Young Spa — a luxury wellness destination in Boston — he’s redefining who the wellness industry speaks to and who it serves. In our conversation today we discuss how his own health struggles, his faith in God and his optimism fuel Derek’s ongoing fight for a better tomorrow. And how he has not allowed the chaos and noise of the present moment, to steal his joy.