I Used to be Somebody

Carl gets to talk about "magic" for the first time ever on the show. Kevin Blake made a 180-degree change in his working life. He moved from a promising career in digital marketing, working with big time clients (JanSport Backpacks, Lagunitas Brewing Company, Duraflame, Intel and more), to working as a professional Illusionist / Entertainer.

He always had a passion for performing magic and took the big leap, turning his fun side gig into a lucrative and totally rewarding career. His AHA moment came during the pandemic, when he performed online magic shows multiple times a day for companies. He made an insane amount of money in just one month -- December of 2020 (you'll need to listen to believe).

Kevin has competed and performed on a national level -- America's Got Talent and Penn & Teller: Fool us. He is the star 3-4 nights a week as The Illusionist at The Palace Theater. And he's absolutely living his dream!

This month we tackle a topic we haven't talked much about...Forced Retirements. Anthony Napolitano had a very successful career in the high-tech world. Then he was laid off not once, but twice by two big corporations right around when he was 50 years old. That was two years ago, and since then he has plunged into the world of early retirement with great enthusiasm, (which is an understatement.) His friends joke that he doesn't have a "Type A personality," he has a "Type-Anthony personality".

Anthony has an analytical mind and devised a personalized Life Retirement Plan. He bases his plan on the four pillars of Health, Mindset, Purpose and Relationships. He even grades himself every year.

He was a star baseball player in high school and then went on to play four years of college division 1 baseball at Loyola-Marymount College. So in (un)retirement, Anthony is a natural as a high school coach. He loves being the assistant coach for the girls volleyball team.

He also works as a wine educator at a local winery in his tiny mountain town of Julian, CA, just outside of San Diego. He does a little bit of everything at the winery, from picking grapes to hosting wine tasting events.

You will love Anthony. He's full of wonder and personality. Although Carl points out that he is the star of the podcast, Anthony clearly steals this month's show.

It takes a long time to hit 100 episodes when you're a monthly podcast. So we're pretty excited. Carl wanted to get the perfect guest. He chose Fritz Gilbert the OG, who is the top voice in the modern retirement movement. Fritz is a retirement expert/book author/speaker/do-gooder and the author of award winning "The Retirement Manifesto". He's written 400+ articles and 1 million words about retirement and how to live your very best life in this next phase of life.

Fritz totally delivers! He's high-energy, funny and gives incredible insights into helping you plan a smooth transition to and once you're in that retirement how you can make it even better.

Who doesn't like to go out to eat? Carin Stutz gives you a behind the scenes look into the restaurant business. She is a true icon in the industry spending 40+ years as a C-level Exec. She started as a manager trainee at Wendy's International and she worked her way up to Division Vice President.

She shares stories of working with the celebrity Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy's, as well as her brush with fame by meeting movie star George Clooney. The rest of her career was in the hot trend of "fast casual" dining, with C-Level positions at Applebee's, Chili's and another half dozen other successful chains.

Carin shares what the restaurant business is really like, as in the long hard hours, the missed vacations and family events. Yet she truly loves the industry and the people. She is making up for lost time now with lots of international travel and attending concerts every week. She is also giving back to her industry. She helped start a wildly successful non-profit and serves on lots of very worthwhile boards. She has dedicated her (un)retirement to giving back!