Dr. Yeshwant Muthusamy is the owner and principal of Yeshvik Solutions in Allen, Texas, and a fractional Chief AI Officer. He trained his first artificial neural network in 1989, spent thirty years across Texas Instruments, Nokia, Samsung and Immersion Corporation, holds seven U.S. patents, chairs an AI governance working group, and was named a 2025 Dallas Innovates AI 75 honoree. He is also, as it turns out, a gourmet chocolatier.

This episode is part of the With Hat and Cattle AI Literacy Series, and it starts where the hype does not. Dr. Muthusamy has watched artificial intelligence go out of fashion and come back, so he is unusually hard to impress. The refrain he rejects outright is "AI is coming for your jobs." The version he accepts is sharper: the person who learns to use these tools well will take your job if you do not.

The center of the conversation is vibe coding, which is describing what you want in plain English and letting a large language model build the code. He is completely comfortable with the model doing the heavy lifting. He is not comfortable with shipping code nobody has read. He reviews every line his own firm produces, because the client receives something with his company name on it and he knows whose head is on the line if it is wrong.

Then he tells the story of the Tea app: an application built so women could share information about people they had dated, which required every user to upload a selfie holding their driver's license. It was built fast, it was a great advertisement for vibe coding, and the founders never checked the security on the database. Within a week those photographs and driver's licenses were on the dark web. His reaction: "nobody in your start-up company took the time to read the code?" is the argument of the whole episode. Dani takes it a step further, asking what it means for a woman on that platform who was hiding from someone.

From there they get practical. Dr. Muthusamy walks through the EU AI Act and why he leans closer to Europe's approach than to the American appetite for unfettered innovation, covering deepfake labeling, algorithmic bias in hiring, and why model audits are onerous and necessary anyway. Dani asks the question most listeners actually have: if she downloads her health data from her Garmin, is it safe to paste into a chatbot? His rule of thumb is simple enough to use tomorrow: keep any information that can be traced back to a specific person out of the model.

The back half of the episode is his life, or how he earned the right to have the hat and cattle. The Nokia years inside standards bodies, which he describes as a heady mix of politics and technology, learned by shutting up for the first few meetings and watching the room...and which involved far less sightseeing in Nice and Seoul than anyone assumes. The move from corporate to his own practice in 2012. Teaching more than a hundred non-technical business professionals, including a tax advisor in his seventies, fifty years into his career, who is now writing a book with AI. Why so few companies that adopted AI agents have dared to put them into production. And the phrase the episode turns on: humans at the helm, not just in the loop.

It closes on the two things he built that nobody would predict from the résumé: The Blissful Gourmet, a small-batch chocolate business he is deliberately not scaling yet, and his favorite of seven patents, which is about keeping students safe in school parking lots.

The following are mentioned in this episode: Texas Instruments, Nokia, the Khronos Group and the OpenMAX working groups, Samsung, the EU AI Act, the Anthropic fair use ruling, OpenAI and Hugging Face, Descript, Seedance, the Texas Cottage Food Law, UT Dallas, and Paul Byrne, previous guest and author.

Be sure you're subscribed so you don't miss out on future episodes and conversations that help you level up your sucess!

Links:

•     Yeshvik Solutions — AI consulting and training: https://www.yeshvik.com/

•     The Blissful Gourmet — handcrafted chocolate: https://theblissfulgourmet.com/

•     Stop Prompting, Start Delegating: No-Code Agentic AI for Business — Friday, August 28, 2026, in person at The Meeting Place. Register: https://t.ly/sjVA0 

CHAPTERS

0:00  Cold open: nobody read the code

0:25  Welcome, Dr. Yeshwant Muthusamy, Yeshvik Solutions

0:55  Thirty years in AI, and a working distrust of hype

2:55  The hype that makes him roll his eyes

3:05  "AI won't take your job — the person using it will"

4:20  Training a neural network in 1989

5:15  What to expect from a large language model

6:05  Be at the helm of everything you do with it

6:40  Are AI agents still the thing to learn?

7:00  Agents are cool. Do you have a governance framework?

7:15  Seedance, Descript, and an hour of work in seven seconds

9:15  So what is vibe coding, actually?

10:00  Where he has serious problems with it

10:10  Why he reads every line of code himself

12:00  "ChatGPT's a little liar"

12:10  Can you read the code it wrote?

12:20  "You can't build strategy on hope"

12:35  The Tea app: a selfie, a driver's license, and trust

13:40  Shipped fast. Great advertisement for vibe coding.

14:00  A week later, it was all on the dark web

15:00  "Nobody in your startup took the time to read the code?"

15:20  The Rainbow Bridge, and when it stops being abstract

16:15  Is AI governance moving fast enough?

16:40  The EU AI Act vs. the American wild west

18:10  Deepfake labeling and what has to be disclosed

19:00  Bias, audits, and why governance is onerous but needed

20:15  "Does my Garmin data put me at risk?"

20:35  The one rule: keep anything traceable out of the model

22:10  Inside the Nokia standards years

23:00  Khronos, OpenMAX, and who is really in the room

25:00  "A heady mix of politics and technology"

26:45  What IP actually stands for

27:15  Seven patents meets generative AI

28:00  Where the Anthropic fair use ruling landed

29:05  Leaving corporate to start Yeshvik Solutions

30:50  Teaching 100+ non-technical professionals

34:00  The question everyone asks now: "what next?"

34:35  Agentic AI, and why so few have shipped it

35:40  Humans at the helm, not just in the loop

37:00  When OpenAI's models escaped and reached Hugging Face

38:15  The chocolatier: The Blissful Gourmet

39:00  "Creating something from scratch — it's a high"

39:30  The ceiling built into a cottage food business

41:40  Why North Texas and not the Bay Area

42:35  His favorite of the seven patents

43:10  One office action, and Dani's trademark filing

44:20  Safe parking for students, explained

46:10  Thank you

46:45  Outro

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

Nicolle "Nicki" Ketcham, co-founder of Big Future Consulting, helps professional service firms look more polished and communicate their brand online. She is also Dani's best friend, a returning guest, and, by Dani's description, a top-tier connector. This episode came directly from listener response to Ely Delaney's conversation about networking as an introvert, so Dani and Nicki set the usual format aside and built a practical networking 101 out of their own wins and misfires.

They start before you leave the house: what belongs on a business card, why you should print on stock you can write on, and why Nicki never goes anywhere without a pen. They cover the LinkedIn QR code workaround for the day your cards are still in the car, what to do when there's no cell service, and why scanning the guest list and finding the host in the first five minutes changes the whole evening.

In the room, the advice gets specific. Your name tag goes on your right shoulder so the other person's eyes travel up your arm as you shake hands. Your drink goes in your left hand so your right one is dry. Approach the person standing alone — they will be relieved. And stop opening with “So, what do you do?” Nicki's alternatives include “What are you working on that you're excited about?” and her favorite, “Who would be a helpful person for you to meet?” Dani's, when the banter is already good, is “How did you fail this week?”

The middle of the conversation is about listening: asking the follow-up question instead of pivoting to your own story, mirroring as a practiced technique, and Nicki's husband, who never tells anyone a thing about himself and still leaves every party as the most interesting man there. Dani shares a recent event where an introduction went badly enough that she went home, and what she would do differently. Nicki answers with Kacey Musgraves: "You are not everybody's cup of tea."

They close on the exit and the follow-up. Three exit lines that don't require an apology, the 24–48 hour follow-up window, why an obviously AI-generated email undoes the entire evening, and Dani's “human first, AI forward” take on using it well anyway. Nicki's metric for a good event is deliberately small: three real conversations, one helpful introduction, or one person you genuinely want to follow up with.

Items/topics specifically mentioned throughout the conversation: Ely Delaney's episode on networking as an introvert; the Rubin Brothers episode; The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann; Dallas Meetup; Chicks with Stix, a women's golf networking event at PGA Frisco; Big Bend; the AEC (architecture, engineering and construction? community in Dallas–Fort Worth; and the North Texas casting call for Frisco King that came out of one compliment at one event.

Chapters

0:00   Cold open: you're already networking

0:15   Why we're doing a networking episode

1:52   There's no wrong way to start

2:26   Run clubs, Gen Z, and the pull toward community

3:34   Introducing yourself when you're brand new

4:11   Nobody remembers but you

4:40   Pre-work: what belongs on your business card

5:49   Carry a pen — and write on the card

7:01   Forgot your cards? The LinkedIn QR trick

7:55   No signal? The workaround

8:33   Scan the guest list, arrive early, find the host

10:02   Name tag on your right — and why

11:51   Drink in your left hand

12:21   Who to approach first

13:34   Working the drink station

14:05   Stop opening with “what do you do?”

15:03   Better questions — including the best one

15:40   “How did you fail this week?”

16:37   Ask the follow-up, don't make it about you

17:53   The best networkers are connectors

18:43   Mirroring — and the party trick

21:23   How to introduce two people

21:54   When someone doesn't want to meet you

23:48   Grace, and not being everybody's cup of tea

26:17   The trip question that opened a door

27:44   The elevator pitch: who do you help?

28:20   Names: using them, and forgetting them

30:32   Eye contact and what people notice

31:23   Three exit lines that don't feel rude

32:30   Follow up in 24–48 hours

33:40   Why AI-generated follow-ups fail

34:44   Three conversations, not thirty

35:12   A compliment, Dallas Meetup, and a casting call

37:57   When networking gives you “the ick”

38:30   Be a go-giver

39:15   Showing up bad at golf

41:28   Phone a friend, and shoot your shot

42:49   Thank you and close

43:35   The takeaways, all in one place 

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

What happens when two brothers from Portland, Oregon decide to build a vaudeville career in the 21st century with no roadmap, no safety net, and "well-meaning" people telling them it won't work?

AJ and Colescott Rubin, known as The Rubin Brothers, are Berklee College of Music alumni, circus musicians, and vaudeville entertainers who juggle, unicycle, and perform acrobatics while playing trumpet and upright bass. They've appeared on American Idol, shared the stage with John Legend, played 24 shows in 19 days in Thailand with one gig booked, and recorded an album on pre-1926 acoustic equipment at one of only two such studios still operating in the world! In fact, Colescott's great-grandfather played with Louis Armstrong in New Orleans on that same technology, 100 years ago.

In this episode, Dani Raschel Chou and co-host Nicolle Ketcham sit down with AJ (23) and Colescott (nearly 30) for one of the most honest conversations With Hat and Cattle has recorded. And through it all, they discuss how to build something real when there's no career ladder to climb, what it looks like when the path breaks down, and how joy can be a discipline rather than a destination.

What you'll take away from this episode:

• On radical self-trust: AJ describes the practice of trusting yourself when the path has no map: "It's radical self-trust, and that is a lesson and is a practice as well."
• On the long way being the short way: Colescott shares a Wayne Shorter quote he's lived by since he was 14: "The long way is the short way." Every time they've doubted their direction, this has been the reset.
• On the hardest chapter: Colescott details the tendonitis that cost him 9–12 months of playing while on a Berklee scholarship, and how being forced to stop led him to tap dance, improv comedy, songwriting, and the front of the stage for the first time. "I had to be just Colescott rather than Colescott the bassist. And it turns out there was a lot more to me than I thought."
• On building a career with no set of directions or blueprints and deciding what's important: AJ shares the Quincy Jones rule they live by: Follow the goosebumps. When Quincy was asked how he chose projects when he had more offers than days in the year, his answer was simple: Trust your intuition.
• On being a fish out of water: "If you feel like you don't fit into your industry, that's not a weakness. That's your leverage. That's your opportunity to bring something that isn't there otherwise." —Colescott
• On nurturing the partnership: They hold monthly communication improvement meetings, and they don't discuss the act. They're discussing the partnership itself. "Make sure you leave time to talk about the partnership, not just what you're doing." This one habit, they say, is what makes collaboration sustainable.

The episode closes with a question Dani and Nicolle crafted for the arc of the show: 100 years from now, when another pair of siblings decides to revive a lost art form, what do you hope they're borrowing from the Rubin Brothers? Colescott's answer says it all. 

Have you been told that your path doesn't make sense? Or making you're taking the safe path and wondering if there's more? Give this a listen today.

─── GUEST LINKS ───

The Rubin Brothers on Instagram: @rubinbrothers

Patreon: patreon.com/rubinbrothers

 ─── WITH HAT AND CATTLE ───

Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou

Co-hosted this episode by Nicolle Ketcham

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

Dani Raschel Chou is the host and producer of With Hat and Cattle, a Dallas–Fort Worth podcast built on honest conversations with people who’ve put in the miles. In this episode, she shares that she is a recovering sex and love addict, and explains why that experience is the reason the show exists.

In this conversation: growing up in Freer, Texas, and the 1,200-calorie dieting trap of the ’90s; the high school hallway moment when attention got wired to weight loss; three marriages and the pattern underneath them; the 2012 journal entry that read, “If I don’t change my ways, I’m going to end up dead in a hotel room”, whick finally acknowledged the problem; the therapist who gave the addiction its name; seven years of the real, unglamorous work; co-parenting done right; meeting Bryan; and the bad cup of coffee that proved the work works. 

Told without graphic detail and without a tidy bow.

It’s for anyone who has been told they are “just a” something, anyone carrying a past they think disqualifies them, and anyone who needs to hear that where you have been is not the ceiling on where you can go.

Resources: 

Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (S.L.A.A.) — free meetings worldwide, slaafws.org. 

National Alliance for Eating Disorders — free therapist-staffed helpline, Mon–Fri 9am–7pm ET, 1-866-662-1235, allianceforeatingdisorders.com. 

In crisis, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.

Chapters

00:00 — Cold open: the journal entry

00:30 — A note from Dani before we begin

01:20 — Jeff takes the host chair

04:00 — Freer, Texas: grass and central air

07:00 — Childhood wounds and numbing the void

13:30 — Dieting in the ’90s: the 1,200-calorie trap

15:00 — The hallway: when attention became a drug

16:30 — Married at 18

19:00 — Losing 100 pounds — and the first affair

21:30 — The second marriage and the chat rooms

23:30 — “Dead in a hotel room”: the journal entry, in context

26:00 — Six years, a separation, and a move to Dallas

29:00 — Getting the label: sex and love addiction

30:30 — Where was my kid? Co-parenting done right

32:00 — The third marriage: “I’m battle-tested”

35:00 — Women, shame, and double standards

38:00 — Trading one addiction for another

39:00 — “No, we’re not doing this”

40:30 — The relapse

42:00 — Seven years with the right therapist

43:00 — What I chose not to share

44:00 — 2021: running vs. DoorDash

45:00 — Breaking the pattern

48:00 — Meeting Bryan

48:45 — The knife tattoo: “It’s not your job, it’s mine”

49:30 — The three-minute reset

52:00 — Honest from the first date

53:30 — Faith, grace, and a kinder God

56:00 — We are not prisoners to our past

57:00 — When you can’t make amends

58:45 — The woman at the well

59:30 — Next week: the Rubin Brothers

Guest Host Information

Connect with motivational speaker and DTM Jeffery Mercier on LinkedIn and follow him on Instagram.

Find his episodes on With Hat and Cattle and listen now!

• Building a Personal Brand on Buzzsprout and Spotify
• Framing the Future on Buzzsprout and Spotify

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

If you're finding us on Part 2, start with Part 1 for networking as an introvert, archery as meditation, and going deep on one skill.

And please note: This episode includes a brief discussion of suicide. If you’re struggling, or worried about someone who is, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or chat at 988lifeline.org.

Ely Delaney is a Dallas–Fort Worth email-nurture marketing strategist, the founder of Meet Cool People, and the author of The Seven Virtues of Email Marketing. In Part 2 of his conversation with host Dani Raschel Chou on With Hat and Cattle, the discussion moves from how to connect with people to why it matters.

Ely explains how he found Bushido (the code of the samurai) in 2020, and how its seven virtues, including honesty, integrity, respect, kindness, and loyalty, became the framework for his book and his daily life. He calls it “ancient intelligence, or the other AI,” and argues that Buddhism, Stoicism, and Bushido are all answering the same question: how do you think, speak, and act well? Along the way he shares the three questions he asks before sending any email, why Stoicism teaches you how to react while Bushido teaches you how to act, and how to give someone hard feedback without becoming the jerk in the story.

Dani shares the Google review she left years ago and still hasn’t deleted, and the moment at a World Cup match when someone told her to pick a side, and what she did instead of reacting. The episode closes on purpose, belonging, and Ely’s next project.

Mentioned to help you find us: Bushido and the seven virtues, Stoicism, Dale Carnegie, T. Harv Eker’s Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, and Ely’s Seven Fold Projects. 

This is the With Hat and Cattle Promise: Stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Chapters:

0:00 Cold open: kindness & respect

1:00 Bushido: the code of the samurai

2:00 You don't have to like someone to respect them

3:00 Ancient intelligence — "the other AI"

4:00 The seven virtues of email marketing

6:00 Why he finally wrote the book

8:00 Halloween announcement to April launch

10:00 The best feedback he's ever gotten

12:00 Which virtue matters most

13:00 Three questions before you hit send

14:00 The samurai's prayer on his wall

16:00 It was never really about email

17:00 The Google review she still hasn't deleted

18:00 Giving hard feedback without being a jerk

20:00 Stoicism reacts, Bushido acts

21:00 Trolls, hecklers, and disagreeing well

26:00 The pause: Dani's World Cup jersey story

29:00 Chaos energy and what stress costs you

32:00 The kitchen table

33:00 What's next: Seven Fold Projects

36:00 On men, belonging, and purpose

37:00 Thank you and close

About the Guest

Ely Delaney is the creator of the Follow Up Rockstar System, helping entrepreneurs build a 24/7 automated system and go from surviving to thriving in any economy.

He’s a three-time Amazon bestseller, including his latest book, "The Follow Up Code: 7 Virtues for Building Trust Through Email" & his programs have over 1424 students globally. 

Connect with him on LinkedIn.

Learn more about him online here.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

Ely Delaney is your Email Marketing Architect and is also known as "The People Whisperer. He's the creator of The Follow Up Rockstar System, teaching entrepreneurs how to go from surviving to thriving in any economy through the art and science of building strong relationships and following up for LIFE."

He's an Amazon bestseller with his three books "Marketing Tidbits", "Networking Tidbits", and his latest book, "The Follow Up Code: 7 Virtues for Building Trust Through Email".

With a passion for connecting people, his best-selling training course "Networking Like a Rockstar" has over 1,424 students registered globally.

And in Part 1 of this two-part conversation on With Hat and Cattle, host Dani Raschel Chou and Ely dig into the quiet skills that actually build a business: showing up, connecting, and getting deeply good at one thing.

Ely explains how an introvert can work a room by leading with "who can I help?" instead of "who can help me," why he'll spend hours at an event without stepping inside, and why a cold shoulder is never worth taking personally. He shares how archery became a form of meditation, and how becoming the #1 longbow archer in the Northwest mirrors the focus behind his work. Then he and Dani turn to mastery: Jim Rohn's rule to spend five years getting great at one thing, what ghostwriting really means (pulling out your stories, never inventing them), and why "know, like, and trust" only works when loyalty comes with it.

Mentioned in this episode: Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, Bob Burg's The Go-Giver, and marketing writers Bob Bly and Dan Kennedy. This is Part 1. Part 2 goes deep on the seven virtues Ely built his life and business around, and that's dropping next week.

You can find Ely on LinkedIn and on his site. Listen to his podcast here: Meet Cool People.

And you can also buy his book The Follow Up Code: Seven Virtues for Building Trust Through Email on Amazon today!

With Hat and Cattle: Stories from people who walk the walk, and leave you better off for listening.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

Amir and Dani get into why trust, not raw capability, is the real bottleneck for AI adoption: the truth-vs-trust gap in AI-assisted medical diagnosis, what actually happened when the U.S. government suspended access to Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 model, why AI implementations stall without leadership buy-in, and what AI means for executive assistants and other roles built on repeatable work. Amir also shares how he responds to AI phishing scams himself, and what it takes to stay grounded — in faith, family, and mentorship — while everything moves faster than ever.

This is the With Hat and Cattle promise: stories from people who walk the walk, and leave you better off for listening.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 — Cold open: Meet Amir Habib

1:00 — Faith, family, and the entrepreneurial mindset

2:00 — From a Buc-ee's dream to falling in love with IT

4:00 — Family as your "why," and trusting your own pivots

7:00 — How to ask for mentorship (and handle rejection)

11:00 — Selling phone cards to selling yourself

16:00 — How Amir got intentional about learning AI

21:00 — What data centers actually do

25:00 — The truth vs. trust gap in AI

29:00 — Inside the Claude Fable 5 security story

31:00 — Protecting yourself from AI scams and phishing

34:00 — From "just an accountant" to trusted leader

35:00 — Why morning self-talk builds self-trust

36:00 — People over strategy: why AI needs buy-in to work

38:00 — AI, executive assistants, and the future of work

41:00 — Why critical thinking matters more, not less

42:00 — AI slop, LinkedIn, and trusting human creators

44:00 — Bad data in, bad AI out: building a successful AI journey

45:00 — Staying true to your true north

CONNECT WITH AMIR HABIB

LinkedIn: Amir Habib | LinkedIn

Amir's appearance on Blackbelts and Boardrooms: S2.EP46 - Takes a Village of Leaders to Make a Leader w/ Amir Habib, Global Strategist at Stefanini

ABOUT WITH HAT AND CATTLE

With Hat and Cattle is a podcast built on one belief: the best lessons come from people who've actually lived them. Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou, this show features honest conversations with leaders, builders, and people who've learned through experience, not shortcuts.

Stories from people who walk the walk, and leave you better off for listening.

 If this episode helped you, the most useful thing you can do is leave a rating and review wherever you're listening — it's how new listeners find the show.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

On this episode of With Hat and Cattle, Dani Raschel Chou sits down with three guests at once: Eric “Big Juicy” Love, Colin Weatherwax, and Colin's daughter, Kennedy. Eric is a Fort Worth private investigator and philanthropist who led the 2020–21 campaign for a presidential pardon of “Tiger King” star Joe Exotic. Colin spent years working his way to CEO of a nonprofit before an unexpected job loss led him to insurance sales in Roanoke, Texas. Kennedy, age 9, was named Mayor of Arlington for a Day during White Cane Safety Day.

Together they talk about the difference between joy and happiness, what actually survives once a title disappears, how to keep showing up for people without being asked, and what it means to grieve — a dog, a job, a friendship — out loud. Eric also previews forgiveness, his upcoming documentary on people who've forgiven the unforgivable.

This episode follows the With Hat and Cattle motto: stories from people who walk the walk, and leave you better off for listening.

Guest Bios:

Eric “Big Juicy” Love — Fort Worth private investigator, philanthropist, and self-described “professional friend-maker.” Led Team Tiger's 2020–21 campaign for a presidential pardon of Joe Exotic (Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/who-eric-love-tiger-king-team-tiger-pardon-joe-exotic-leader-1650352). Currently producing Forgiveness, a documentary on people who've forgiven the unforgivable.

Colin Weatherwax — Former nonprofit CEO, now an insurance agent focused on home, auto, and key-person coverage in Roanoke, Texas. Known for intentional, no-agenda networking and staying in touch with the people who matter.

Kennedy Weatherwax — Colin's 9-year-old daughter, named Mayor of Arlington, Texas for a Day during White Cane Safety Day. Reads in braille, plays piano, and has better advice than most adults.

Episode Outline + Timestamps

Joy vs. happiness, and why they're not the same thing [13:00]

Colin's path from CEO to insurance agent, and the wake-up call that changed his definition of success [7:00, 14:00]

The real story behind the Joe Exotic pardon campaign, from the person who ran it [19:00]

How to build a network from nothing once the title's gone [21:00, 23:00]

Kennedy's rule for staying close to the people she loves [27:00, 29:00]

Grief, in real time — a dog, a job, a friendship [31:00, 35:00, 39:00]

Inside Eric's next project, Forgiveness [47:00]

Resources & Sources Mentioned

-        Newsweek — “Meet 'Pardon Joe Exotic' Campaigner Eric Love”: https://www.newsweek.com/who-eric-love-tiger-king-team-tiger-pardon-joe-exotic-leader-1650352

-        TMZ — “Joe Exotic's Team Arrives to Deliver Pardon Request to President Trump”: https://www.tmz.com/2020/09/10/joe-exotic-tiger-team-eric-love-presidential-pardon-request-trump-dc/

Subscribe to With Hat and Cattle so you don't miss next week's episode. We're breaking our usual every-other-week schedule for a conversation with Amir Habib on AI literacy.

With Hat and Cattle is a podcast hosted by Dani Raschel Chou featuring honest conversations with people who've earned their lessons through experience. This episode features Eric “Big Juicy” Love, a Fort Worth, Texas private investigator who led the 2020–21 campaign for a presidential pardon of Joe Exotic; Colin Weatherwax, a former nonprofit CEO now working in insurance; and Colin's daughter Kennedy Weatherwax, age 9, named Mayor of Arlington, Texas for a Day. The show's motto: stories from people who walk the walk, and leave you better off for listening.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

Paul Byrne is the founder and CEO of Razoyo, a Dallas-based e-commerce technology company. He holds an MBA from SDA Bocconi (Milan) and a degree in Italian from Brigham Young University -- proof, as he puts it, that there is no 'useless' degree. He is the author of Adapt or Die: The Real AI Playbook, a practical guide to understanding artificial intelligence written for business leaders and entrepreneurs who did not go to MIT.

Connect with Paul on LinkedIn.

Find Razoyo on LinkedIn and on the web.

GET THE BOOK

Adapt or Die: The Real AI Playbook by Paul Byrne -- https://www.amazon.com/Adapt-Die-Playbook-Founders-Successfully-ebook/dp/B0GHPBGM7C

FOLLOW WITH HAT AND CATTLE, stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Subscribe today!

Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou
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#AIliteracy #AdaptOrDie #ChatGPT #AIforBeginners #AgenticAI #WithHatAndCattle #PaulByrne #ArtificialIntelligence #Entrepreneur #CareerPivot #LLM #FutureOfWork #AItools #TokensExplained #HowAIWorks

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

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In this episode:

[00:00] Introduction — financial advisor, business broker, and the "mayor of Casa View"

[00:01] "Everybody wants a village, but nobody wants to be a villager"

[00:03] What Mike wants you to know about him first

[00:03] Life's break points: why 40 and 60 change everything

[00:05] Career beginnings — Dun & Bradstreet and learning to sell

[00:06] Xerox, oil & gas, real estate, and landing in business brokering

[00:07] Forming his own firm in 2007

[00:07] "Business is a contact sport" — networking, giving first, and staying present

[00:09] Not afraid to make the ask: the DMA story

[00:11] Work-life balance vs. seasons of life

[00:12] Life in thirds: learning, earning, returning

[00:13] How Mike became the "mayor of Casa View" — building community from scratch

[00:15] Community advocacy in East Dallas: the wins, the losses, finding the middle ground

[00:17] The Magdalene House — the one that got away

[00:20] "Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered" — on knowing when to exit a business

[00:22] Preparation before opportunity — the Jim Rohn thread

[00:23] The Picasso napkin story

[00:25] Give, give, give — sometimes 10:1 before anything comes back

[00:27] Soft skills we're losing — handshakes, name tags, and the power of face-to-face

[00:29] AI, critical thinking, and the case for a liberal arts degree

[00:32] Going back for an MBA at 35 — and why it mattered

[00:35] Investing in yourself as a lifelong practice

[00:38] The three mentors who shaped Mike's career

[00:42] What kept him going when entrepreneurship got hard

[00:43] Mike Nurre the music fan — The Rolling Stones, The Monkees, and live music memories

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

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This isn't a polished interview. It's the real thing, with all the awkward pauses, the breakthroughs, and the moments where someone has to stop and say, "Oof, that's for my journal."

In this episode, we explore:

• The four pillars of the Purpose Factor: Natural Advantage, Acquired Skills, Pull Passion, and Origin Strength
• Nicki's Builder Advantage...and the printer story that will resonate with every Type 3 listener
• Dani's Truth Teller Advantage...and the uncomfortable question Darin asks about why she isn't being heard
• A four-step framework for managing triggers in real time: recognize, pause, reframe, release
• Why "frustration" is a cop-out word, and what's actually underneath it
• Enneagram stances explained: feeling dominant vs. feeling repressed, and how they shape your relationships
• A practical communication hack for Type 4 and Type 3 types

If you've ever felt like people only take you seriously when you raise your voice, or you're the one quietly getting everything done while quietly resenting it, this conversation is for you.

About our guests:

Darin K. Newbold is the founder of Bold Solutions and creator of the Bold GPS framework, a guided purpose system combining the Enneagram with the Purpose Factor assessment to help leaders and teams find clarity and direction. He's a certified Enneagram coach and licensed Purpose Factor facilitator.

Nicki Ketcham is Dani's best friend, a Type 3 Achiever, a Builder by Purpose Factor, and the woman who keeps Dani's emotions (and projects) on track.

Special offer for listeners: Darin is offering $50 off his Bold GPS Starter Map — normally $297, available to With Hat and Cattle listeners for $247. Mention the show when you book a discovery call with him on LinkedIn.

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Purpose Factor by Brian and Gabrielle Bosché
• The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile
• Part 1 of this conversation (listen first for full context on the Enneagram)

🎧 Make sure you've listened to Part 1 before jumping into this one.

📲 Follow the show, leave a review, and share this episode with the friend you thought of while listening.

Connect with us:

• Darin K. Newbold on LinkedIn and at Your Bold Solutions
• Nicolle Ketcham on LinkedIn and at Big Future Consulting

With Hat and Cattle brings you stories that leave you better off for listening.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

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Following Darin's first appearance on With Hat and Cattle, Dani and Nicki took both assessments and invited Darin to coach them on the mic. The result is a candid conversation about self-awareness, blind spots, and the patterns that quietly shape our personal and professional relationships.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• A live Enneagram typing session, with Dani as a Type 4 with a 3 wing, and Nicki as a self-preservation Type 3 with a 4 wing
• How the Enneagram's wings, stress paths, and growth paths actually work in real life
• Why the heart-center triad (Types 2, 3, and 4) processes grief and shame differently, and what that means for high performers
• A real friction point between Dani and Nicki, broken down in real time using the framework
• Why no Enneagram number is "better" than another, and how each one contributes something the world needs
• Childhood wounds, core fears, and the unconscious messages that shape who we become at work
• A preview of the Purpose Factor Assessment (the lighthouse half of BoldGPS) coming in Part 2

Whether you're new to the Enneagram or you've been studying it for years, this episode demonstrates how personal development tools translate into practical decisions about leadership, relationships, and self-trust.

Part 2 drops next week with the Purpose Factor reveal for both Dani and Nicki.

Connect with Darin Newbold (BoldGPS) (Be sure to tell him you heard about him on With Hat and Cattle to get your community discount!): You Bold Solutions

Connect with Nicki Ketcham: Big Future Consulting

Color analysis by Bianca: B. Well Styled | DFW Color Analysis

Subscribe to the With Hat and Cattle podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and join the community at the kitchen table for stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Keywords: Enneagram Type 3, Enneagram Type 4, emotional intelligence

Want to be notified when Claude responds?Notify

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

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In this episode of With Hat and Cattle, host Dani sits down (again) with Amir Khawaja, engineering executive and co-host of the Black Belts and Boardrooms podcast, for a candid conversation about authenticity, leadership in the age of AI, and how to stay human when the tools around you are getting smarter every day. After his first appearance had listeners texting Dani about how much it hit, Amir is back to go deeper: on trust, credibility, the Dunning-Kruger effect, AI hallucinations, and why “leave people better than you found them” is still the leadership standard that holds up.

 Whether you’re a leader trying to use AI without losing your voice, a young professional wondering how to build a career when entry-level tasks are being automated, or a creative worried about what authenticity even means anymore — this conversation gives you something rare: a thoughtful, grounded, real-talk framework for showing up as a human in a machine-driven world.

What you’ll learn:

•        Why AI can polish your words but can’t protect your reputation

•        How to give AI “pre-flight constraints” so it stops flattering you and starts telling you the truth

•        The difference between a chatbot and an AI agent explained without the jargon

•        Why the Dunning-Kruger effect is about to get magnified by AI — and how to protect your credibility

•        What every young professional should be doing right now to build a career that AI can’t replace

•        The leadership philosophy that still wins: “leave people better than you found them”

•        Why a liberal arts mindset and critical thinking are now competitive advantages

•        Slop vs. scratch kitchen: how to feed your mind in a content-saturated world

Quotes from the episode:

“AI can write the message, but it can’t carry your reputation.”

“We all have a PhD in our pockets now.”

“If you feed your mind slop every day, what happens to your ability to appreciate the more nuanced things in life?”

“Titles are what other people give you. Can somebody honestly say I was useful to them? That would make my day.”

About Amir Khawaja: Amir is a seasoned engineering executive with nearly three decades in technology, product, and transformation leadership. He is the co-host of Black Belts and Boardrooms, a podcast at the intersection of leadership, mindset, and real-world performance, and the author of the AI Brain Trust methodology shared on LinkedIn.

If this episode hits something for you, send it to one person who’s navigating this AI moment with you, then follow With Hat and Cattle on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube so you don’t miss the next one. We’re sharing stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

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In this episode of With Hat and Cattle, Dani sits down with Jim Futrell: amusement park historian, 11-time author, and the man the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions trusts to capture the soul of an entire industry. And here's the twist: Jim never had a degree in history. He had something rarer, an unshakeable curiosity and the courage to say yes every single time an opportunity showed up.

From checking out the same three library books on repeat as a kid in Chicago, to interviewing industry legends at global conventions, Jim's story is a masterclass in turning a "hobby run amok" into a legacy. He breaks down how his career in market research and his lifelong love of amusement parks weren't competing priorities. Oh, no. They were two lanes running parallel toward the same destination.

What you'll walk away with:

• Why saying yes first and figuring out the logistics second is often the right move
• How showing up at industry events can completely redirect the trajectory of your life
• The mindset shift that separates people chasing passion from people living it
• Why "balance" is a myth, and what seasons of sacrifice actually look like in practice
• A reminder that the greatest careers are sometimes built without a single class on the subject

Whether you're an entrepreneur, an executive, a career-changer, or just someone who's ever been told their interest is "too niche," Jim's story will leave you better than it found you.

You can find Jim on LinkedIn: Jim Futrell - CERP, ICAE | LinkedIn.

And his new book dropped April 14, 2026, and is now available on Amazon: Knoebels Amusement Resort (Images of America): Futrell, Jim, Knoebel, Dick: 9781467163132: Amazon.com: Books.

New episodes drop biweekly (for now). Subscribe, share, and come join the With Hat and Cattle community.

#WithHatAndCattle #FollowYourPassion  #PersonalDevelopment #AmusementParks #HistoryNerd #CareerAdvice #PurposeDrivenWork #GrowthMindset #LifeLessons

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

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Host Dani Raschel Chou brings together three voices you rarely hear in the same room: a historian, a chaplain, and an AI strategist, and she asked them the question everyone is dancing around: What does artificial intelligence actually mean for us as human beings?

In this conversation, Dr. Dallas Cothrum, Chaplain John Betz, and AI leader Tori Begg go deep on job displacement, spiritual identity, environmental ethics, systemic bias, and why the people building AI may not be the right people making its moral decisions.

Because from the Luddite riots of 1811 to ChatGPT, history keeps rhyming, but the tempo is accelerating. And this time, the machines aren't just replacing muscle. They're imitating personhood.

Key Takeaways from This Episode

• The real spiritual risk isn't that machines will think. It's that we'll forget what thinking means. 
• AI is eliminating the entry-level rung...and not everyone is ready. 
• Five billionaires probably shouldn't be your source of truth. 
• The environmental debate around AI is more complicated than the headlines suggest. 
• Who's helped? Who's harmed? Whose voice isn't at the table? 

Why This Episode Matters

The AI conversation is too often siloed. We have tech people talking to tech people, and policy people talking to policy people. What this episode does is rare: It holds the economic, spiritual, historical, and ethical dimensions of AI transformation in the same space, at the same time.

Whether you're a parent worried about your kid's future, a professional trying to stay relevant, a person of faith wrestling with what any of this means, or simply someone who wants to understand what is actually happening right now — this conversation's for you.

Fair warning: This episode asks more questions than it answers. But that's kind of the point.

Stay curious. Stay grounded. And maybe start learning AI before it learns without you.

Links and Resources

You can find Dr. Dallas Cothrum online via LinkedIn, his Dallas Morning News contributing columnist page, or on the podcast Working Title with Zach Sams.

Chaplain John Betz is on LinkedIn, and he's co-host of the podcast the Chaplain's Compass, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Tori Begg is on LinkedIn, and, if you're in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, you can increase your AI literacy by attending one of Mind and Machine DFW's events.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

Jeremy shares the pivotal moments that shaped him as a leader, including working his way up through his father's collision repair business, relocating to Atlanta to reshape 18 locations, and eventually striking out on his own. He opens up about sobriety, work-life balance, and why listening — truly listening — is the skill he wishes he had developed sooner.

Whether you're climbing the corporate ladder, building your own business, or just trying to lead better at every level, this conversation is for you.

In this episode:

• Why Jeremy's dad refused to let him skip his education
• The Atlanta move that changed everything — professionally and personally
• The leadership gap Jeremy sees in executives across every industry
• How he manages stress, protects his family time, and stays grounded
• What legacy really means when you're building something to last

Resources mentioned:

• The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Harvey's Collision Centers

With Hat and Cattle is a podcast for the people walking the walk and talking the talk — leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives sharing the real stories behind their success.

Subscribe so you never miss a conversation.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

In this episode of With Hat and Cattle, we pulled a previous conversation from the archives that deserves a repeat listen. Heath Hilliard shares the stories that shaped how he leads today. From showing up to a major sales meeting dressed completely wrong, to reconnecting years later with the mentors who challenged him the most, Heath reflects on the hard-earned lessons that changed how he thinks about leadership, business, and personal growth.

Those experiences eventually led him to launch EQHR and become a facilitator of the ZeroRisk hiring system, which helps companies avoid costly hiring mistakes and place the right people in the right roles.

In this conversation we talk about the following:
 • Why culture fit matters more than raw performance
 • The role emotional intelligence plays in leadership
 • How great mentors shape the leaders we become

Remember, leadership isn’t built overnight. It’s built through stories, mistakes, and the people who challenge us to grow.

Thanks for joining us on With Hat and Cattle, where we bring you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening. People like Heath, who you can connect with on LinkedIn.

And learn more about EQHR Consultants here.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

In this episode of With Hat and Cattle, Dani sits down with executive leadership coach and Certified Enneagram Coach Darin K. Newbold to explore how the Enneagram can help you understand your core motivations, fears, blind spots, and purpose.

This is not surface-level personality talk. This is about the real work.

Darin breaks down:

• What the Enneagram actually is (and what it’s not)
• How childhood coping strategies become adult leadership patterns
• Why understanding your Enneagram type improves communication and relationships
• How stress and growth paths show up in real life
• How the Enneagram integrates with purpose discovery through his Bold GPS framework

Dani shares her experience as an Enneagram 4 and how self-awareness transformed the way she navigates shame, creativity, and relationships. Darin unpacks life as an Enneagram 7 and what it means to chase joy without running from discomfort.

If you’re interested in any of the following, this episode has your name written all over it and gives you language for the story you've been living:

• Personal development
• Executive coaching insights
• Leadership growth
• Self-awareness tools
• Relationship dynamics
• Finding your purpose

Be sure to connect with Darin K. Newbold on LinkedIn, and learn more about Your Bold Solutions here.

Start your Enneagram journey with these books Dani and Darin discussed: 

• The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile
• The Purpose Factor by Brian Bosche and Gabrielle Bosche
• Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson
• The Path Between Us: An Enneagram Journey to Healthy Relationships by Suzanne Stabile

If this episode resonates, share it with someone who’s walking their own growth journey. Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and join us as we continue sharing stories from people who walk the walk, and leave you better off for listening.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

In this episode, host Dani Raschel Chou sits down with Amir Khawaja, Senior Director, technology leader, and co-host of Black Belts and Boardrooms, to explore what it really means to lead with presence, discipline, and care. Amir shares how being a perpetual student has shaped his approach to executive decision-making, team development, and personal growth.

From earning his black belt in Taekwondo after 40 to leading teams of hundreds, Amir reframes leadership as a daily practice. Together, they unpack why grace, accountability, and perspective matter more than ego in the boardroom. 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why leadership is not a title but a responsibility
• How discipline and practice translate from martial arts to the boardroom
• The role of journaling, reflection, and active listening in executive presence
• How confidence grows from courage and continuous learning
• What it means to truly leave people better than you found them

Listen now and discover why perpetual students win, not just in leadership and business, but in life, too.

And you can learn more about the Black Belts & Boardrooms podcast on LinkedIn, and listen on YouTube or wherever else you get your podcasts.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

Sarah shares how her fashion and running brand began with deadstock fabric not as a mission-driven statement, but out of necessity. She opens up about the early fear of using materials that couldn’t be reproduced, the pressure of making irreversible decisions, and how those moments forced her to trust her instincts and learn fast.

Throughout the conversation, Sarah reflects on failure as a teacher, the steep learning curve of entrepreneurship, and the importance of listening to the people around you, because often, the best ideas don’t come from doing it alone. As she puts it, “I started from ‘I didn’t know’ to ‘now I know,’” a quote that left our host speechless because this is a mindset that truly captures the heart of growth through experience.

This episode is for founders, creatives, and professionals who are waiting for the right time. Sarah’s story is a reminder that clarity can come from action, and that confidence really does come from learning. 

Sarah also teaches us that resilience is built by surrounding yourself with people who can pull you through the hard seasons.

In this episode, we cover:

• Starting a business with limited resources
• Learning from mistakes and early failures
• Making decisions when there’s no do-over
• Why listening to others can accelerate growth
• Building confidence through experience, not perfection
• The power of surrounding yourself with the right people

Are you learning as you go? Good. You're in the right place. And if you've been waiting, take this as a sign: Start.

Sarah can be found on Instagram here, and you can check out what's in stock on Vanderjacket.com.

Sarah's currently reading Good is the New Cool Guide to Meaningful Marketing: Guide to Meaningful Marketing by Afdhel Aziz and Bobby Jones, and a theological book written by Katherine Parr, King Henry VIII's sixth wife.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

• Competing in his first bodybuilding competition
• Earning the elite title of Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM), and
• Stepping into a new leadership role in the construction industry.

We dive into what it takes to stay consistent and keep moving forward, even when the spotlight isn’t on you yet.

In this episode, Jeffery shares:

• How Toastmasters continues to help him master storytelling and public speaking
• The discipline and mindset needed for bodybuilding and professional growth
• What it means to build a life that aligns with your calling
• Tips for stepping into your next chapter

This episode is packed with motivation and practical takeaways for anyone on a personal or professional growth journey, so give the conversation a listen now!

You can find Jeffery on LinkedIn, and on Instagram. He's also on YouTube.

The books he's been reading include:

• The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida
•  The Science of Scaling by Dr. Benjamin Hardy and Blake Erickson
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
• Start With Why by Simon Sinek

Jeffery reminds us all: Your voice, and your actions, are your power.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

Raised inside a growing family business, Dallas learned early on what it means to nurture something bigger than yourself. Those experiences shaped not only his work ethic, but his belief that leaders must genuinely know and invest in their people if they want to build anything that lasts.

We dive into:

• Authenticity in leadership
 • The lessons learned from growing up in a family-run business
 • How refereeing prepared him for emotionally charged land-use projects and public scrutiny
• Understanding people’s emotions, especially when his columns or projects hit sensitive community issues
• Why a leader must know their people, and why employees thrive when they know each other
• Dallas’s commitment to an employee-first mindset, and how it shapes culture from the inside out

Whether you are an emerging leader, a seasoned executive, or someone navigating complex conversations at work, this episode offers grounded wisdom on leading with integrity, humanity, and courage.

If you’re ready to learn from one of DFW’s most respected voices in land use and leadership, this conversation is a must-listen.

Read Dallas's columns here. Be advised a subscription to DMN is required.

Connect with Dallas on LinkedIn.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

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Sharon opens up about building a business in an industry that hasn’t always made space for women. From the early challenges of running a tattoo studio in a changing Dallas neighborhood to establishing herself as a respected artist and mentor, Sharon’s journey is one of resilience, creativity, and deep partnership.

She shares how love became the foundation of her business, what it takes to stay grounded while creating art that lives forever, and how she’s leaving her mark, literally and figuratively, on her community.

Tune in for insights that will inspire you to take charge and embrace growth! 

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

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From knocking on the doors of diabetes and high cholesterol, to competing at the IRONMAN World Championships, Coach Hector Torres embodies what it means to turn your life around, one disciplined choice at a time.

Host Dani Raschel Chou sits down with USA Triathlon Level 3 Certified Coach Hector Torres, founder of TriPeak Athlete and host of the podcast Coffee Time with Coach Torres. Hector shares his journey from receiving a wake-up call at 18 to becoming one of the top endurance coaches in the sport, guiding athletes at all levels to reach their full potential.

Hector opens up about the mental side of triathlon (how athletes often enter endurance sports to heal from trauma), and reveals his own battles with fear and self-doubt. He dives deep into the power of finding your why, facing the fear of the unknown, and leading by example, both on and off the course.

Whether you’re an experienced triathlete, a weekend warrior, or someone chasing growth, this conversation will leave you motivated to face your own Ironman, whatever that looks like in life.

Tune in for:

• The story behind Hector’s transformation from 263 pounds to elite triathlete
• Insights into training the mind as much as the body
• Coaching wisdom from years with TriPeak Athlete and Special Olympics
• The mindset behind endurance, resilience, and conquering fear
• How to uncover your personal “why” to keep moving forward

So, as always, go grab your coffee, and join us as we go from your seat to, this week, the coach's seat.

Coach Torres references his motivation go-to video Goliath, which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPzidEs2U3c&feature=youtu.be. And you can find Coach Hector Torres in the following ways:

• Website: Welcome - Tri Peak Athlete
• LinkedIn: Hector L Torres | LinkedIn
• Instagram: @tripeakathlete

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

Dennis shares what it’s really like to coach CEOs, how great leaders overcome doubt, and the most important question he finds himself asking, again and again, at the Vistage table. Whether you’re leading a company or stepping into your own next chapter, this conversation will challenge how you think about your circle, your mindset, and your mission.

He also gives us some insights into his upcoming book 1% Leader: And the 11 Elite Skills the 99% Never Master (dropping next year with accompanying assessment!) and the books that should be in your library:

📚 Good to Great by Jim Collins
📚 Leadership and Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute
📚 What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
📚 10X Is Easier Than 2X by Benjamin Hardy & Dan Sullivan

If you’re looking to grow with intention, and/or lead with clarity, you won’t want to miss this one.

You can find Dennis on LinkedIn at Dennis Howard, PCC | LinkedIn, or on his site Intrepid CEO – Peer Group & Individual Executive Coaching.

You can also get access to the second chapter of his book here: Intrepid CEO.

And remember: Subscribe, share, and tune in to level up your leadership journey now.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

Key takeaways to get you leveling up your success today:

• SMART goals and why you should set them
• Tools that are available when you don't have access to a gym or trainer
• The importance of community, in wellness and business

Lea reminds us that intentionality isn’t about perfection; it’s about small, meaningful wins that add up over time. Whether you're an executive, entrepreneur, or someone working to level up in life, this episode is packed with insights to help you lead yourself well, on purpose.

Get Lea's dumbbell program for free here! 

Where can you find Lea:

Website: Lea Genders Fitness

LinkedIn: Lea Genders | LinkedIn

Instagram: @fortworth_trainer

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

In this episode of With Hat and Cattle (previously Suite Mornings), host Dani Raschel Chou sits down with Tom Metcalfe, President of Metcalfe Commercial Realty, to explore the foundations of his 30+ year journey through the dynamic world of real estate development in Dallas, Texas. He shares how relationships, not commissions, carried him through every crash since 1980, and why he says money is an illusion.

Tom came to Dallas in 1979 to manage apartments, got his license while bartending on Knox Street, and turned the investors at his bar into his first clients. In this episode, you'll learn about the S&L collapse and its 125% loans, the Borden Milk deal that made way for the Symphony Hall, a client relationship 37 years strong, mentors Herb Weitzman and Joe Bowers, the leap to founding his own firm in 2003, and the networking advice he’d give anyone starting out. Also, the night he waited on George Harrison.

Whether you're a seasoned investor, someone curious about the future of commercial real estate in Texas, or interested in how to craft a successful, lasting career, this conversation offers industry wisdom and a deep dive into the mindset of a long-term market leader.

Tune in and take notes. Your next move might just start here.

Tom can be found on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/metcalfecommercialrealty/

You can also learn more about him at https://www.metrealestate.net/

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

In this conversation, Dani sits down with financial advisor Vivian Ong to break down the basics of building wealth with intention. No jargon, no judgment.

Vivian shares approachable insights on how to get your money working for you. We cover what it means to build a legacy, and how you don't need thousands and thousands of dollars to begin investing today, and how the best way to begin is to be honest with yourself.

This is an empowering, judgment-free conversation about money, values, and future planning. If you’ve been telling yourself you’ll figure it out “someday,” consider this your call to action.

You can find Vivian on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivianyong/.

In the episode, Vivian's gives the following sites as tools to learn more (but remember to do your research):

Investopedia: https://www.investopedia.com/

The Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/

Influencers: Your Rich BFF at https://www.yourrichbff.com/ and Kattie Gatti at https://www.morningbrew.com/contributor/moneywithkatie

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

You can follow Jeffery on Instagram at @oratorofdivinity and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jefferymercierbh/.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

In this episode, I sit down with Heath Hilliard, founder of EQHR and expert in the ZeroRisk Hiring System. Heath shares how emotional intelligence isn't just a buzzword—it's the secret weapon behind smarter interviews, stronger teams, and fewer costly hiring mistakes.

We cover how to interview in a way that reveals the real candidate, and what founders and future execs need to know before making their next hire.

Whether you’re building your first team or leveling up your leadership, this conversation will shift how you think about hiring—for good.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

From rebuilding his health and business to growing a successful second company, Juan’s story offers real, actionable insights for anyone navigating the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.

Whether you're launching a business, pivoting your career, or simply looking for motivation to keep going, Juan’s journey will remind you that resilience is a skill—and success can be built one intentional step at a time.

You can find Valles Brothers Industries here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/valles-brothers-industries-llc/posts/?feedView=all  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093667547194

Website: https://vallesbrothersindustries.com/

And you can follow Juan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vbillc/In

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

Nicki also breaks down how to create marketing strategies that tell a compelling story and put your client’s customers at the heart of it all.

Bonus: Nicki gives us a mini masterclass in networking! Ever thought of holding your drink in your left hand so your right hand is free (and dry!) for shaking with? Now you do!

Whether you're just starting your career or are already a seasoned business owner, this conversation will give you tips to up your marketing game and create meaningful connections with your audience. Tune in for valuable insights that will help you turn your marketing efforts into a strategy that truly works.

Follow Big Future Consulting on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/big-future-consulting and on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/bigfutureconsulting.

And be sure to like and subscribe to With Hat and Cattle to keep up with future episodes.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

Now the founder of a thriving new venture, Paul opens up about rebuilding from the ground up, leading with vulnerability, and what it truly means to come back stronger.

This episode is for the builder who's quietly struggling, the leader questioning their worth, and anyone who believes it's too late to start again. Spoiler: it’s not.

Topics include:

• Navigating leadership through personal crisis
• How addiction shaped—and sharpened—Paul’s entrepreneurial journey
• The mindset shifts that turned recovery into a superpower
• Building a second act with purpose, grit, and grace

Listen in and get ready to rethink what growth really looks like. Be sure to pick up Paul's book, now on Amazon: https://a.co/d/8WBncxj. And check out his site at www.icantquit.life.

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!

From overcoming challenges to motivating his team, Jeremy shares actionable advice for anyone looking to elevate their own leadership skills. We dive into what it takes to transition into leadership and the importance of your interests (like fitness and music) in the face of responsibility.

Whether you’re just starting your career or you’re already on the path to leadership, this conversation will help you level up and reach your goals. Tune in for insights that will inspire you to take charge and embrace growth!

That's the With Hat and Cattle promise: Bringing you stories from people who walk the walk and leave you better off for listening.

Connect with Dani Raschel Chou on Instagram @withhatandcattle or via email at dani@thehouseofchou.com. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more conversations that leave you better off for listening: With Hat and Cattle I Hosted by Dani Raschel Chou - YouTube! 

Go to www.withhatandcattle.com to sign up for our mailing list so you don't miss weekly insights. Be sure to check out our affiliate links!