The Better Mindset Podcast with Joseph Ari'el Towne

What happens when the identity you’ve carried since childhood gets put on the line—and you have to rethink everything you’ve believed about who you are? For the first-ever live recording of The Better Mindset Podcast, I sat down in Toronto with two incredible artists and friends, David Reale and Steffi DiDomenicantonio, for a conversation about performance, identity, failure, vulnerability, and what it really means to get better. David is an actor known for roles in Mean Girls, Suits, The Boys, Doc, and more, as well as a teacher who works with the next generation of actors. Steffi got her start as a top-five finalist on Canadian Idol before going on to perform in Spring Awakening and more than 1,300 performances of Come From Away, along with extensive work on stage and screen. Both of them know what it means to build an identity around performance—and what can happen when that identity gets challenged. We talk about the people who believe in us before we can believe in ourselves, the hidden cost of tying our worth to achievement, and why chasing “best” can become a trap. We also get into the habits that sustain a creative career, learning to stay with uncomfortable emotions, keeping a performance fresh after hundreds of shows, and finding worth that exists independently of the opportunities other people give us. In this episode we explore: Your identity has to be bigger than what you do. Better is a direction; best is an outcome. Sustainable excellence requires something bigger than yourself. Connect with David: instagram.com/therealedavid Connect with Steffi: instagram.com/steffid5

What if the thing that makes you the most alive is exactly the thing you’ve spent your whole life being told to quiet down? And what happens when you finally decide the world can misunderstand you, as long as you no longer misunderstand yourself? In this episode of The Better Mindset Podcast, I sit down with my dear friend and mentor, Kate Harris, managing partner of Istoria, author of The Poet’s Rebellion: A Willful Defiance of the Status Quo, and host of Rebel Poets Rising. Kate and her husband, Harris III, have worked together for more than twenty years, building Istoria and producing Story Gatherings. Kate also spends her days helping everyone from freelancers to Fortune 100 companies uncover the stories and language sitting just beneath the surface. This conversation is especially meaningful to me because we originally recorded it shortly after The Poet’s Rebellion came out (in April of 2025). In the time since, Kate has become even more woven into my own story. Through Istoria Studio, she helped spearhead the structure and flow of The Better Mindset until it became the book you’re about to hold. Together, we explore what happens when we stop building our lives around who the world expects us to be and start remembering who we’ve been all along. We talk about nålbinding, an ancient Viking stitching technique, and the powerful metaphor it offers for the stories we stitch into ourselves. We explore alchemy, vulnerability, being underestimated, stepping out of the shadows, generational healing, partnership, parenting, education, and what it means to build a life that is both fierce and gentle. This episode is also arriving during Story 2026—the same week The Better Mindset book launches—and I love that these stories are entering the world side by side. In this episode, we explore: Your power may not be something you need to find—it may be something you need to remember. Vulnerability can be a form of strength. It isn’t too late to choose yourself. Connect with Kate: Istoria: istoria.com Story: istoria.com/story Instagram: instagram.com/katemharris Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rebel-poets-rising/id1800835227 Book: amazon.com/Poets-Rebellion-Willful-Defiance-Status-ebook/dp/B0G24J47KX

What happens when someone tells you that you’re not cut out for the thing you feel called to do? And what might change if you stop trying to become the shape the world expects and start seeing yourself, your work, and your future differently? In this episode of the Better Mindset Podcast, I sit down with my friend Ken Black, a creative leader whose work has helped shape some of the most recognizable brands and cultural moments in sports. Ken spent years at Nike, where he served as a VP, worked alongside Tinker Hatfield on the Air Jordan 11, helped build Nike’s Advanced Concepts Team, and served as a global creative director across three Olympic Games. He co-founded Spark Training, helped rebuild the Denver Broncos’ identity, and served as Chief Creative and Innovation Officer at Omnicom’s Experiential Group. Today, he’s helping shape the comeback of the Pac-12 Conference, advising brands like Gatorade, and hosting The Designasty, a podcast about the origin story of Nike Team Sports. But this conversation isn’t really about a résumé. It’s about what happens when we learn to see differently. Ken shares the story of the professor who told him he wasn’t cut out for a career in art or design, the mentors who saw something different in him, and the curiosity and challenge that kept him moving forward. We explore the blinders we inherit from schools, companies, families, and culture—and why defining “better” for ourselves matters if we don’t want to spend our lives chasing someone else’s version of success. In this episode, we explore: How seeing differently changes everything. Why connection matters more than perfection. How vision gives me direction without locking me into a destination.

What if the way we think about love has been shaped by stories that are no longer serving us? In this episode of the Better Mindset Podcast, I sit down with my longtime friend Damona Hoffman—relationship futurist, bestselling author of F the Fairy Tale, and relationship expert on The Drew Barrymore Show—to explore what happens when we stop waiting for love to magically happen and start becoming more intentional about how we create connection. Damona’s career has taken her from casting rooms to dating apps, television, coaching, podcasting, keynote stages, and boardrooms. Along the way, she discovered something fascinating: many of the principles that help us communicate who we are professionally also show up in dating and relationships. But finding connection requires more than presenting ourselves well. It requires clarity about our values, awareness of the stories we’re carrying, and responsibility for the energy we bring into a room. We talk about why instant chemistry isn’t necessarily connection, why “slow love” can give relationships space to develop, and why shared values and goals matter more than an impossible checklist. Our conversation also moves beyond dating. Damona and I explore visualization, improv, leadership, digital communication, generational differences, burnout, the cost of success, and what it means to remain a whole person while building a life with other people. In this episode, we explore: Why instant chemistry isn’t the same as genuine connection—and why trust, compatibility, and “slow love” need time to develop. The stories and expectations we inherit about love, from the idea of “the one” to impossible dating checklists, and how changing our mindset can change the way we show up in relationships. What makes relationships last, including shared values, listening, appreciation, personal responsibility, and learning to remain a whole person while building a life with someone else.

What happens when the philosophy you’ve been teaching suddenly becomes the philosophy you have to live? Five years ago, I started this podcast with a simple question: What does it actually mean to get better? I didn’t know then how deeply life would ask me to answer it. Since season one, I’ve navigated the end of my marriage, becoming a single dad, health challenges, sleepless nights, financial uncertainty, grief, and the loss of my father and uncle. Through it all, I kept returning to one idea: better isn’t a destination. Better is a direction. Come join me as we walk through where I’ve been, what the last few years taught me, and why now is the right time to return to these conversations. This season, I’ll sit down with world-class performers, creatives, athletes, executives, and wise humans to explore how they meet difficult moments, the practices that sustain them, and what it looks like to become more fully themselves. In this episode, we explore: Why pursuing “better” is different from chasing “best” How difficult seasons can force us to build a new map while we’re walking it Why a well-lived life requires us to stop waiting and start living now