776 - From Stadium Dreams to Soulful Simplicity: Why I Chose Depth Over Scale

In this episode, I reconnect with Charles Vance, who last saw me at the Free the Dream Conference in 2019. What started as a casual drop-in turned into a profound, winding conversation about identity, purpose, spiritual deconstruction, coaching, artificial intelligence, and what it means to create from deep alignment.

Charles shares openly about his journey from strict Baptist upbringing, through disillusionment and atheism, into a more ancient understanding of faith and the concept of the "10 Words" (often known as the 10 Commandments). He also describes how he's using AI as a collaborative tool for writing spiritually grounded books.

I share parts of my own story that I haven’t spoken aloud publicly until now: why I stopped promoting Free the Dream two weeks before the 2019 event, the pivotal conversation I had with Michael Hyatt that made me rethink everything, and the choice to let go of growing a stadium-sized conference to instead focus on deep, transformational work with a few people at a time.

We talk about the difference between ego-driven ambition and soul-aligned devotion. I share candidly about what my business looks like today. No more mastermind groups, no live events currently on the calendar, and the smallest monthly recurring revenue I’ve had since 2009. Yet, I’ve never felt more aligned, more peaceful, or more sure of my path.

We also explore what it means to write with AI, the ethics of authorship, and whether the Spirit of God might be present even in our most modern tools.

This episode is not a marketing message. It’s a real-time expression of where I’m at, what I’m creating, and why I'm choosing to walk forward with faith, not formulas.