"We spend our whole lives trying to climb the ladder, only to find it’s leaning against the wrong wall."

In this episode of The Leaders’ Arena, Nate Fochtman and Clifford Starks sit down with retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel and behavioral finance expert Ted McLyman. If you’ve ever felt like traditional financial planning doesn’t "fit" you, there’s a biological reason for that.

Ted breaks down why information isn’t knowledge, why your "money temperament" is hardwired, and why most gurus are lying to you about one-size-fits-all success.

What we discuss:

- The "Pathfinder" vs. The "Maintainer": Why some founders are wired to fix and others are wired to manage.
- Biology vs. Bank Statements: Why your ancient brain isn't designed for a digital economy.
- The "Lies" of 2008 & 2026: Navigating a crashing job market by creating your own LLC.
- The 15% Rule: How to identify if you are actually wired for the "guru" program you just bought.

Connect with Ted:
Website: TedMcLyman.com
Book: Confessions of a Reformed Financial Advisor

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What actually changes a person: motivation, or pattern recognition?

In this episode of The Leaders’ Arena Podcast, I’m joined by my co-host Clifford Starks and our guest Deevo The Storyteller (Chief Experience Officer, Storyteller) for a real, unscripted conversation about what happens when life forces a mirror in front of you and you choose to look.

We get into:

• Why most “decisions” are unconscious and how that runs your relationships, money and leadership
• Trauma, shame, guilt and what it takes to rebuild your identity instead of repeating the loop
• The difference between “being transparent” vs. showing up with integrity and reading the room
• Storytelling as the oldest technology for connection and why your story matters even if you “just sell widgets”
• How Deevo uses diagnostics, values work and structured reflection to help founders at inflection points
• Gratitude as a discipline, not a vibe and why perspective is the real power move
• Co-parenting, divorce and the uncomfortable truth: some chapters end so the next one can start

No script. No agenda. Just three men trying to tell the truth about the work.

Connect with Deevo: thebrandstoryteller.com

Follow / Subscribe for more conversations on leadership, mindset, resilience and building a life you can actually live inside of.

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What if the reason you keep “knowing what to do” but still can’t follow through… isn’t discipline?

In this episode, we sit down with Quentin McCain, co-owner of The Leaders Edge and a subconscious mindset coach who works with leaders on anxiety, productivity, high performance, limiting beliefs, and the deeper root issues that keep people stuck.

We get into the difference between the conscious mind (the goal-setter) and the subconscious mind (the goal-getter), why talk-only change can plateau and what happens when you remove the belief that growth has to be hard.

This conversation also turns into something bigger than mindset work:

• Building trust with strangers in real time
• Why presence is disappearing in modern life
• The “lone wolf” myth in leadership and what changes when you build with a partner
• Quentin’s path from the Arizona Burn Center to coaching leaders worldwide
• What community looks like in Brazil, and what we’ve lost in the U.S.

If you’re a founder, operator, executive, or simply someone trying to build a better life with less noise and more clarity, this one will land.

Check out Quentin's story at TheLeadersArenaPodcast.com, Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Wherever You Podcast.

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