The Better Mindset Podcast with Joseph Ari'el Towne

What happens when the story you've been told about yourself is no longer the story you want to live? I've been thinking a lot about the labels we inherit, the expectations we absorb, and the moments that invite us to rewrite our own narratives. And sometimes, the most powerful transformations begin when we stop asking for permission to be who we really are. For this special live episode of the Better Mindset Podcast, recorded at the Schermerhorn in Nashville, I sat down with two extraordinary creatives: two-time Grammy-nominated musician Tracy Bonham and #1 New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone. Tracy first captured widespread attention with her 1996 hit "Mother Mother," a song whose explosive chorus concealed a deeper struggle with speaking up and asking for help. Now, she's revisiting her relationship with anger, self-expression, and the power of helping others find their voices. Nic, the author of Dear Martin, Dear Justyce, Boom Town, Deja Forever, and many more books has built a career telling stories about people whose humanity is too often overlooked. She shares how her creative journey began, why representation matters, and what she's learned about forgiveness, courage, and creating without permission. Together, we explore what it means to transform our experiences into something meaningful, whether through music, literature, relationships, or the way we choose to live. If you've ever felt stuck inside someone else's definition of who you should be, this conversation is for you. In this episode, we explore: The labels others give us don't have to define us. Our environments shape the stories we tell about ourselves. Creative courage means making room for the whole human experience.

What happens when the career you spent a decade building disappears and you have no idea what comes next? Mike Yam has spent his adult life around some of the greatest athletes, coaches, and broadcasters in sports. He got his start hosting six hours a day on SiriusXM straight out of Fordham, spent four years at ESPN, became the founding studio host of the Pac-12 Network, and now hosts NFL Total Access at NFL Network while leading national college football coverage for The CW. Then his career was suddenly disrupted in 2020 and he had to explore more than what he did for a living. We talk about the relationships that carried him through that uncertainty, why reputation matters long before you need it, and what happened when he was willing to take what looked like a step backward in order to move forward again. We also go inside what Mike has learned from watching elite athletes and coaches up close: the sacrifice nobody sees, the “lonely work” behind greatness, why different people require different kinds of coaching, and why joy and play might be more important to sustainable excellence than we realize. And we talk about representation—why seeing Asian American sportscaster Michael Kim helped Mike understand what was possible for his own career, why progress in sports media still has a long way to go, and how that experience eventually inspired Mike to write his children’s book, Fried Rice and Marinara. In this episode, we explore: Your reputation is built in the moments when you don’t need anything. Greatness requires the work nobody applauds. Representation expands possibility. Connect with Mike: instagram.com/mike_yam

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.