Choosing Love Over Work: Erika Napoletano

Imagine you're an actor. You work your entire life to generate a magic moment. A call, offering you the role that could open the door to your dreams. But, there is a cost.

The gig will require you to cancel the trip of a lifetime with the one person in the world who leaves you breathless. And, on a deeper level, it represents a choice you've vowed not to make, picking craft over love.

What would you do?

That's the choice this week's guest, Erika Napoletano grappled with just days before we sat down to record this week's conversation. And, in many ways, it's a choice she and many of us have been forced to answer many times over the course of our lives.

This is actually the second time Erika has been on the show. We first sat down a few years back in Boulder, Colorado, where she was deep into her writing career. Since that time, her world has changed in profound ways. Now in Chicago, with a deep focus on speaking and acting, I was curious about this evolution, so I when I heard she'd be passing through New York, I invited her to take me deeper into her transformation.

And, as is her style, Erika got very real, very fast. We explore Erika’s climb from the darkest of depths of suffering and loss to rediscovery joy, returning to her long-held passion for acting, becoming an award-winning author, acclaimed speaker, TedX Editor’s Pick 2012, columnist for both American Express OPEN Forum and Entrepreneur Magazine.

We also talk about what it means to live a messy, truthful life, the power of establishing sacred commitments, and why the biggest risk you’ll ever take is simply not taking one.

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