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Welcome to the Dare to Be Great, Dare to Be You Podcast.
If you like honest, vulnerable, and real stories about what it takes to not only become great, but more self-confident and bold enough to be yourself, then this show is for you.
Join me each episode for inspiring, encouraging, and meaningful conversations with diverse people from all walks of life and industry.
Each of my guests started as ordinary people like you and me but have accomplished extraordinary things in their lives to be considered great, masters, or experts at what they have been called to do.
Leaders and brave individuals who offer unique insights into the fields of Arts, Entertainment, Business, Finance, Technology, Healthcare, Sports, Psychology, Recovery, Self-Improvement, Personal Growth, and so much more.
Whether you are in the same fields as my guests or not, I guarantee you will walk away from each episode feeling better about yourself and inspired to take the next bold step toward your own goals and aspirations.
Your life will improve if you,
Dare to Be Great and Dare to Be You!
Episodes

Sunday Oct 26, 2025
Sunday Oct 26, 2025
All I Want for Christmas is a New Liver So I Can Live
There are best-selling guided journals out there like "Bro, tell me your story." But those are guides, this is the raw, unedited real deal from my brother Kelly talking about his downfall with alcohol and the "Christmas Miracle" five years ago when he was literally given a liver transplant that saved his life.
This is our heartfelt, real conversation about the incidents leading up to that miracle and how we both have battled our own inner demons from our dysfunctional upbringing, including our escape with drugs and alcohol and how we've lived to tell the story.
Beyond these events, and the fact that our youngest brother Seth wasn't so lucky (after years of battling his own demons, he lost the battle, falling asleep at the wheel in 1999. He died instantly in a car crash two weeks shy of his 29th birthday) we are sharing this story with the world because it might help a few people or their families find the courage, strength, and resilience to keep fighting and never give up.
May the brotherly love we share be a light to guide those who are still suffering and encouragement to help them (or you) ask for help.
____ about this show____
Downloads of the Dare to Be Great, Dare to Be You Podcast have increased by 200% in the past 30 days. I have to assume it's because people are liking we talk about on the show.
If you liked this episode, please share it with friends and colleagues or leave a review and follow the show.
If you want to learn more about what I have going on, including events, my latest books, and more, please visit: www.shawnlangwell.com.

Wednesday Oct 15, 2025
Wednesday Oct 15, 2025
Why Heart Matters and Creative Writing is a Great Elixir for Exploration and Healing
Join me and Curtis as we talk about writing, family dysfunction, how he turned three screenplays into an evocative new book, Lost and Found: Coming of Age. Coming Clean.

Synopsis:
An eighteen year old leaves his home in Philadelphia to get away from a drug- addicted mother and her abusive partner—and to track down the man he thought was his deadbeat dad. His bus trip across the country and adventures in San Francisco, bring him answers and unexpected discoveries—and a new friend. When an accident brings both mothers and dad together for a reunion of opposites, we just might discover that we can respect and appreciate our different journeys.
About Curtis:

Every writer’s experiences can influence a novel’s storyline and characters. Curtis’ struggles plus those of his characters (including homelessness, addiction, sexual, or domestic abuse), might inspire readers to look into their own lives and local resources.
He returned to San Francisco State University to do postgraduate in screenwriting and believing his stories should entertain even when they might enlighten and empower, he converted his trilogy into a novel. That actually has allowed him to go deeper into the lives and psyches of his original characters.
Now living in Santa Rosa with his husband, Dr. Charles Roth, PhD, and working a few days a week in the Wellness Department at Oliver’s, he shares what he knows about nutrition. Additionally, he offer assistance to organizations such as Verity, a rape-crisis service in Santa Rosa whose mission is to help people recover and find peace and harmony in their lives.
Website: www.jcurtismoran.com
Email address: curt@curtismoran.com
About this show and Shawn Langwell:
Downloads of the Dare to Be Great, Dare to Be You Podcast have increased by 300% in the past 30 days. I have to assume it's because people are liking we talk about on the show.
If you liked this episode, please share it with friends and colleagues or leave a review and follow the show.
If you want to learn more about what I have going on, including events, my latest books, and more, please visit: www.shawnlangwell.com.

Thursday Oct 02, 2025
Jonathan Mahrt, Founder, Flywheel Consulting
Thursday Oct 02, 2025
Thursday Oct 02, 2025
How to Increase Efficiency for Small Family Businesses
Join me and Consultant, Jonathan Mahrt for an Open Conversation About Making Meaningful Upgrades to Systems, Processes, Operations
About Jonathan:
Jonathan Mahrt is the founder of Flywheel Consulting, a boutique business consulting firm focused on digital transformation and business process improvement. Growing up and working on his family’s farm, Jonathan learned the value of hard work, creative problem solving, and doing the right things the right way.
He leverages 14 years of real world business, operations, IT, and automation experience to help his clients make meaningful changes in their businesses by streamlining busywork, modernizing operations, and automating business processes. This allows business owners to spend less time working in their business so that they can spend more time working on their business.
Find Jonathan Here:
Flywheel Consulting
jonathan@flywheelconsulting.co
707-232-5352
Website: www.flywheelconsulting.co
Social Media links: https://www.instagram.com/flywheel_consulting, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558910588811, https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanmahrt/
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About the show and where you can find/follow me:
Downloads of the Dare to Be Great, Dare to Be You Podcast have increased by 355% in the past 30 days. I have to assume it's because people are liking what we talk about on the show. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends and colleagues or leave a review and follow the show.
If you want to learn more about what I have going on, including events, my latest books, and more, please visit: www.shawnlangwell.com.

Tuesday Sep 23, 2025
Tommie Whitener, From Journalist, to Lawyer, to Writer
Tuesday Sep 23, 2025
Tuesday Sep 23, 2025
Creating a "Can-Do" Mindset for Older Aspiring Authors, regardless of skill
Join me and Tommie in an encouarging conversation about writing at any level or age.
More specifically, using his latest novel, The Bar Pilot as a framework, we talk about how to have fun with characters, themes, and start writing the novel you've often dreamed of.
About Tommie:
After graduating from UCLA in his still beloved City of the Angels, Tommie thought he would spent a quick three years at UC Hastings in San Francisco and then move to Los Angeles to practice law. Now, some 45 years later, he still lives in Marin County with his wife Svetlana and thoughts of moving south are only a dream. However, the law career, first as a criminal defense lawyer and then as a divorce lawyer, is winding down.
Instead, creative writing (novels, short stories and memoirs) is taking over. In this new endeavor, Tommie is often able to offer intimate first hand and insightful views on that old adage, “Criminal lawyers see the worst people at their best, while divorce lawyers see the best people at the worst”.
However, Tommie has not limited his writing to criminal law and divorce. His first novel is about three couples. One member of each couple attends a series of personal development retreats and then deals with the consequences with their spouse when they return home. To say that the results are unexpected is an understatement. The second novel, to be published later this year, is a fictional account of his grandparents, Tom and Leone, in Arkansas, where they were farmers. Both were handicapped in their own way, Tom physically and Leone mentally. Yet four sons came of the union, all of whom overcame their parents to lead normal lives.
find him at: http://tommiewhitener.com/
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If you liked this episode, please share it with friends and colleagues or leave a review and follow the show.
If you want to learn more about what I have going on, including events, my latest books, and more, please visit: www.shawnlangwell.com.

Wednesday Sep 17, 2025
Jessica Rios, Women's Leadership Coach & Brain Tumor Survivor
Wednesday Sep 17, 2025
Wednesday Sep 17, 2025
In January 2021, Leaning into Light founder Jessica Rios was diagnosed with a massive brain tumor. During a 9-hour brain surgery, she had a near death experience (NDE) that catapulted her greatest passion — illuminating the beauty of the human spirit by
loving humanity into remembering the truth of who we are.
Join us for a candid conversation about trusting and surrendering to the divinity within and embracing our couargeous capacity for love from the inside out.
Jessica Rios is a prolific lifelong letter writer. Since childhood, Love has been her ' religion' and she has taken this devotion into her journey as a serial social entrepreneur, working on behalf of our planet Earth and to illuminate the beauty of the human spirit, so we can collectively create a world based more in Love, than fear. In 2021, she was diagnosed with a massive brain tumor that led her to release a lifelong addiction to food and sugar, and she now lives with more vitality than she ever knew was possible. On her 50th birthday, also the 50th anniversary of the UN declaring International Women's Day, Jessica performed a one-woman-show called Making Love to Fear. She is passionate about dancing, hiking, freestyle frisbee, cappuccino foam and singing Love songs. Raised in Fairfax, California, she has lived in Petaluma since 2013 with her daughter and their Goldendoodle, Jerry.
Find Jessica at:
Website: www.leaningintolight.com
Social Media links: @makinglovetofear (IG)
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# Gratitude
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Downloads of the Dare to Be Great, Dare to Be You Podcast have increased by 500% in the past 30 days. I have to assume it's because people are liking what we talk about on the show.
If you liked this episode, please share it with friends, and colleagues or leave a review and follow the show.
If you want to learn more about what I have going on, including events, my latest books, and more, please visit: www.shawnlangwell.com.

Monday Sep 15, 2025
Monday Sep 15, 2025
This is a special treat to hear Crissi's story about Overcoming Compulsive Overeating, Sugar Addiction, and Body Image Issues.
Join us for a vulnerable and inspiring conversation about real struggles with food and sugar addiction and her struggle to accept the concept of a higher power. A power, program, and new way of thinking and relating to food that has helped her make the positive mental, physical, emotional, and spirtual shifts with lasting results: Ilosing 50+ pounds, and reclaiming a sense of power and serenity around food and body issues over the past 2+ years.
About Crissi:
Crissi L. is living in food recovery and has celebrated more than two years of abstinence from compulsive eating. As both an author and a storyteller, she shares openly about her journey to encourage others who are seeking freedom from food obsession and body shame. Find her on substack at foodaddict.substack.com.
_______________________________________________________
Downloads of the Dare to Be Great, Dare to Be You Podcast have increased by 500% in the past 30 days. I have to assume it's because people are liking what we talk about on the show.
If you liked this episode, please share it with friends, and colleagues or leave a review and follow the show.
If you want to learn more about what I have going on, including events, my latest books, and more, please visit: www.shawnlangwell.com.

Sunday Sep 14, 2025
Sunday Sep 14, 2025
Challenging systems takes courage and tenaciity as well as humble curiosity and a willingness to look in the mirror to connect with who we really are.
Join me and Tanya in this unedited and real conversation about working for the State of California under Governor Gavin Newsom, and how she has leveraged social advocacy through goodtroubleforchange.com and her coaching practice to help people identify, clarify, and replace old stories with new ones.
Tanya M. Thompson, MPA, CPM, is the founder of Level Up Coaching and creator of The Storyboard MethodTM, a framework that helps individuals, leaders, and organizations transform lived experience into strategy for growth and resilience. With 30 years across law enforcement, education, and social work, Tanya brings expertise in personal empowerment, cultural transformation, and organizational change.
Her work bridges the personal and the systemic: guiding individuals to reclaim their voice and purpose, equipping leaders to foster inclusion and integrity, and supporting organizations to
unlock shared knowledge and build thriving, future-ready workplace cultures.
She holds a Master’s in Public Administration with a focus on Organizational Change and Counseling, and is a Certified Public Manager, a national designation for leaders in public service. Through her coaching, speaking, and advocacy, Tanya challenges systems while equipping people at every level to step into freedom, power, and possibility.
Her coaching website is under construction but you can reach Tanya by email: tanya@levelupcoaching.info
or through her other website: goodtroubleforchange.com or on IG https://www.youtube.com/@WWB-Good-Trouble; @levelupcoaching2023
(Instagram)
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# Gratitude
Downloads of the Dare to Be Great, Dare to Be You Podcast have increased by 500% in the past 30 days. I have to assume it's because people are liking what we talk about on the show.
If you liked this episode, please share it with friends, and colleagues or leave a review and follow the show.
If you want to learn more about what I have going on, including events, my latest books, and more, please visit: www.shawnlangwell.com.

Wednesday Sep 03, 2025
Ralph Scott- Introducing Mini-Multicasting for Audiobooks
Wednesday Sep 03, 2025
Wednesday Sep 03, 2025

Taking Audio Book Production to new heights!
Join me for an insightful and enaging conversation with Audiobook producer, Ralph Scott
ABOUT RALPH
He's an award-winning producer with a get-it-done (with a smile) attitude, Ralph Scott produces audiobooks, audio theatre, scripted entertainment, commercial spots, or pretty much anything within the live or recorded audio arena.
The characters Ralph creates on the spot (we lost count just north of 83) are only bested by the number of children’s verses he has written since he was handed a cocktail napkin on a dare back in 1993. (That would be just north of 1,700.) Give him three words and he’ll compose a witty poem for you in under five minutes.
Give him a studio and your manuscript and he’ll vibrantly breathe life into any character you craft.
Together with his roster of expert thespians, Ralph turns the studio into a theatre for the ear. Be sure to grab a chair the next time you download one of his audiobook productions. Dim the lights. And don’t forget the popcorn.
You’ll swear you’re in a movie.
URL: www.squeakycheeseproductions.com PH: (707) 971 9419
Connect above and learn how to infuse your novel or nonfiction story with authentic characters and narrators through the power of radio theatre.
Why use one narrator to tell your story…when you can now afford three, four…even ten!
(Of course, for the Purists, we also produce Solo; Duet; Dual; and Dual-hybrid audiobooks, tapping an entire troupe of award-winning talent.)
“All I can say is WOW! YOU ARE SO AWESOME! That is amazing! You…captured my characters so perfectly!”
– Miller Thomas, Author –
Wolf Hunter Inquisition
To find out what else I have going on, please visit shawnlangwell.com

Shawn Langwell
My personal mission is to add value to people and businesses everywhere. More specifically: To encourage, inspire, and help people like you become brave and confident enough to believe you can accomplish your dreams and goals. This podcast is one of the ways I do that. I’m also an inspirational author, speaker, coach, and business consultant who is passionate about helping others dare to take a chance on themselves.
I’ve also authored four books —Beyond Recovery a memoir, Ten Seconds of Boldness and a companion workbook to overcome challenges and build self-confidence, and Today’s the Day, a pocket muse to inspire and encourage you to find joy and gratitude in all you do.
You can find me at www.shawnlangwell.com