The Hoffman Podcast

  Frankie Olivieri is a third-generation Italian-American and third-generation owner of historical Pat’s King of Steaks. Listen in as Frankie and Drew talk about family history and doing the Hoffman Process. People come to the Process when they are serious about change and Frankie is no exception. He believes in the importance of wanting to better oneself and the power of surrounding oneself with those who want to do that, too. In the Process, Frankie saw that his life could take two very different paths. In his work through the Process, Frankie chose, and continues to choose, the Right Road, the road of compassion and taking responsibility for one’s life. This is the life he wants to embrace. Frankie also shares with us the fascinating family history behind the birth of the Philly Steak and Cheese Steak Sandwiches and his famous restaurant. More about Frankie Olivieri: Pat’s King of Steaks was established in 1930 by Pat Olivieri. A humble hotdog vendor who wanted something different for lunch, Pat Olivieri made a sandwich of chopped steak and onions on a crusty roll. When a cab driver said he wanted to give it a try, Pat gave him half of his sandwich. The cab driver loved it and the Philly Steak sandwich was born in South Philadelphia. President Obama orders a Philly Steak Sandwich from Frankie. Over 90 years old, Frankie’s Great Uncle Pat’s legacy lives on in Pat’s King of Steaks. This famous restaurant has been owned and operated by the original Olivieri family since its inception. Frankie E. Olivieri is the current owner of Pat’s King of Steaks. After graduating from Friends Select School in 1982, Frank was accepted to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. He was ready to follow his dreams of a culinary degree and four years in Paris, but he got sidetracked. Frankie went on to manage his family’s business. With still unfulfilled dreams of being a Chef, Frankie enrolled in The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College. There, he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Culinary Arts and Sciences. Next time you’re in Philadelphia, stop by Pat’s King of Steaks, 1237 E. Passyunk Ave (at 9th & Wharton Sts), and say Hi to Frankie! As mentioned in this episode: Pat Olivieri: Along with his brother, Harry Olivieri, Pat Olivieri created the Philly cheesesteak. The brothers opened Pat’s King of Steaks in 1930. Pat Olivieri died in 1970. Harry’s grandson Frank Jr. (Frankie!) now runs the business. The 1st Rocky Movie and the Orange Toss: When Rocky runs through the Italian Market, one of the vendors tosses Rocky an orange. This was a completely spontaneous moment. Read more about it here. World Famous Italian market, continuously running for 127 years. Quaker School, Friends Select, est. 1869 Frankie and his wife Nancy The Hoffman High: Spending seven days in the Hoffman Process is quite powerful. There are no phones and there is no driving in cars. Guided by teachers, you’re engaged in many immersive, outdoor, and deep experiences that can change your nervous system.  By the last day, the physical, emotional, and spiritual effects of the work have an impact. Often, the result is the sense of a peak experience.  While that Hoffman high realistically cannot last forever, it does provide the impetus to continue the work once you leave the Process. Post-Process weekend: Participants often feel very different after completing their Process, almost like a new self who is inhabiting a new life. In order to orient and synthesize everything you have experienced and learned, we strongly recommend taking the weekend for yourself as a time for quiet integration. Hoffman Process tools: Recycling/Pre-cycling The Q2 Intensive Retreat: In the Q2: Beyond Mom & Dad, we meet you where you are today. The Q2 is all about your current life, looking at and transforming the challenges that hold you back from what you want now. We’ll also look at what’s in the way of being fully alive and living your vision.

Award-winning chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, Seamus Mullen, is our guest today. Seamus shares how realizing he is not his patterns led to profound healing. Identification with our patterns can perpetuate suffering. When we realize our Spiritual Self can never be patterned we find freedom and a genuine willingness to take responsibility for our lives. Growing up on a rural farm in Vermont, Seamus and his brother cooked meals alongside the rest of the family. Seamus learned early on that he could make others happy if he cooked good food for them. Eventually, his career became an extension of this early learned pattern and belief. When he arrived at the Hoffman Process classroom, Seamus noticed a wall poster that said, “I am not my patterns.” Seamus took this in as he looked back over his life. Twelve years earlier when he was working to heal from Rheumatoid Arthritis, Seamus’ new functional doctor helped him see that “he wasn’t sick but he had this illness.” This is the difference between identifying with sickness – I am sick – versus having an illness. Through the Process, Seamus worked to heal through the cycle of transformation. Another big learning at the Process for Seamus was how compassion must be the precursor to forgiveness. Through the Process, he forgave his parents, which brought him freedom and peace. Listen in as Seamus shares a beautiful story of healing and forgiveness that happened post-Process with his father and family. More about Seamus Mullen: Seamus Mullen is an award-winning chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. A health crisis nearly ended his career in 2012. A dramatic re-evaluation of his lifestyle and relationship with food led to a total transformation. In twelve months, he reversed an “incurable auto-immune disease, lost over 80 pounds, and returned to being an active and healthy human. As a nationally recognized leading authority on health and wellness, Seamus is on a mission to help as many people as possible take control of their own health and embrace the remarkable healing power of Real Food! Seamus can often be seen as a featured judge on the popular Food Network series “Chopped” and “Beat Bobby Flay,” and is a frequent guest on programs such as The Today Show, The Martha Stewart Show, and CBS This Morning where he shares his knowledge of cooking and nutrition. In 2012, Seamus published his first cookbook, Hero Food. In 2017, he released his second cookbook, Real Food Heals. Seamus lives in sunny Malibu, California, and is the Culinary Director for the Rosewood Sandhill Hotel. You can find him swinging kettlebells, riding bikes, and hiking in the coastal mountains when he’s not cooking or writing. You can learn more about Seamus here, and follow him on Instagram and Twitter. As mentioned in this episode: Pattern Ping Pong: Patterns feed off each other and reactions lead to escalation. Functional Medicine: “The functional medicine model is an individualized, patient-centered, science-based approach. This approach empowers patients and practitioners to work together to address the underlying causes of disease and promote optimal wellness.”    

  Do you wonder why the Hoffman Process works so well on many levels? Listen in as Volker Krohn, psychotherapist, Director of Hoffman Centre Australia/Singapore, and Director of Hoffman International shares his experience of and insights into the Process. Born in Germany, Volker found his way to Australia after spending a short time in the United States. In the late ’80s, he attended the second Process ever held in Byron Bay, New South Wales. Bob Hoffman was his Process teacher as well as his Process teacher trainer. In this conversation between Volker and Drew, we learn some fascinating things about the Process. Volker reminds us that the Hoffman Process is a psycho-spiritual process. As such, it supports the integration of the psychological and spiritual natures within us. With a background as a psychologist as well as his studies in spirituality, Volker shares his sense of what happens underneath the surface of the Process. Through his experience of decades of teaching the Process, Volker speaks to the heart of what the Process does. He says the Process helps each of us come to live by the intrinsic values of our hearts. He goes on to add that we aren’t our thinking and we’re not our feelings, rather these are aspects of our ego structure. Ultimately, the Process helps us come back into Presence and back into peace with ourselves. Volker beautifully encapsulates the Process as one that re-initiates us into our own humanity and into the family of humanity. Settle in for this beautiful conversation. Be prepared to come away with a deeper sense of your place in the family of humanity. More about Volker Krohn: Volker Krohn is an accomplished psychotherapist and has been the director of the Hoffman Centre Australia/Singapore since 1991. He is also the director of Hoffman International. He was personally trained by Robert Hoffman in the late 1980s and is a senior supervising facilitator of the Process. Volker’s extensive professional background includes Family Therapy, Self-Psychology, and Creative Arts Therapy as well as organizational development. He also speaks and writes widely on emotional healing, re-education, and spiritual renewal, through the exploration of early childhood conditioning. Volker is passionate about helping people improve their emotional and spiritual intelligence and has inspired thousands of Hoffman graduates in Australia and worldwide to live from a place of self-acceptance and gratitude claiming compassionate leadership in their lives. As mentioned in this episode: The Arakwal and Bundialung Nation: Hoffman Centre Australia’s retreat site is part of the Arakwal national park. The Arakwal are part of the Bundialung Nation. Teach Your Children by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young The lyrics that Volker mentions: Teach your children well Their father’s hell did slowly go byAnd feed them on your dreamsThe one they pick’s the one you’ll know by Read the full lyrics here and listen on YouTube. Two Spiritual Paths: The Yana Path – the path of understanding. For instance, Zen Buddhism follows the Yana path. The Bhakti Path – the path of devotion. For instance, Sufism follows the Bhakti path through prayer, dancing The Enneagram: 3 basic human instinctual drives, Claudio Naranjo, and the 27 Enneagram sub-types. How climate change is affecting us: Climate Anxiety and Climate Depression University of California research on the Hoffman Process: Several different scientific research studies have been conducted about the Process – on the methodology and its aftereffects. One of the most significant studies was done by Professors Michael R. Levenson and Carolyn M. Aldwin, of the University of California, Davis. Their three-year, grant-funded research study shows that Hoffman Process participants experienced lasting significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and obsessive/compulsive tendencies, coupled with lasting significant increases in emotional intelligence, life satisfaction, compassion, vitality, and forgiveness. Further information on the study can be found on our website here, downloaded here, and in the Nov/ Dec 2006 issue of the scientific peer review journal, EXPLORE, The Journal of Science and Healing. A worldwide search of the research literature shows no other treatments or interventions that produce lasting, significant reductions in negative effects while simultaneously producing such increases in positive effects.  

Anne Hockett calls herself a gut geek and a lifelong learner – and, she is so much more than that. Anne’s story is a powerful testament to our spiritually human capacities of resiliency, adaptability, and deep capacity to return to trusting in the unknown and the knowing that comes from deep within. Anne’s background is in public health and medicine. She is a proponent of western medicine. But when she found herself diagnosed with a major cardiac diagnosis and prognosis with little hope for a long life, she turned toward eastern medicine and alternative modalities. With these, she began to heal. Anne found herself with a new capacity for knowing things about people just by looking at them, things that one hundred percent of the time turned out to be true and supportive of that person’s healing. Anne did the Hoffman Process in 2016. Through doing the Process, she found the ability to love herself. She left the Process with a deep understanding of who she was without the degree of shame she had around her shadow patterns. Anne tells us her experience of open-heartedness and lack of judgment during the Process allowed her to know them much more than simply as ideas. She now feels them because she received them during her Process. One other big result from doing the Process was solidifying her knowledge of her life purpose. More about Anne Hockett: For over four decades, Anne’s work has concentrated on the healthcare field. She has applied her work experience, research, and teaching skills in Asia to better understand how modern medicine and traditional, gentle, natural approaches can be most effectively integrated. Since 1983, Anne has worked in a variety of capacities with children and adults with physical and emotional needs. She specializes in the care of those managing cancer and heart disease, but her practice has broadened considerably over the years. Before moving to Asia in 1989, Anne worked with the Ford Foundation, The U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. She has a Master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Anne also has a variety of training and certification credentials in other health care and healing modalities including homeopathy, Bach Flowers, therapeutic yoga, plant-based medicine, healing breath work, meditation, guided imagery, past life regression, hypnotherapy, and Reiki. She’s years into a Ph.D. she might never complete in plant-based medicine and also halfway through excelled training in Functional Medicine. You can learn more about Anne at YouHealing.org. As mentioned in this episode: Shadow patterns Rishikesh is a city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand, located in the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India. Pacemakers and ‘pacing’ Near Death Experience (NDE) Other healing modalities explored by Anne: Reiki BodyTalk Harvard Study on crying and good health Anne’s exercise: “In a world without judgment, what is the most self-loving thing for you to do, right here, right now?”    

You don’t want to miss this episode with Neil Strauss, ten-time New York Times best-selling author, contributing editor at Rolling Stone, and a former music critic, cultural reporter, and columnist at The New York Times. Neil did the Hoffman Process just before the pandemic hit in very early 2020. In this conversation, he weaves together pivotal moments of and insights of his Process with his deeper life insights. Neil talks about how doing personal healing work is often stigmatized. For him, doing healing work such as the Process is something important to share with others, something to wear as a badge of honor. In this conversation, Neil and Drew cover a lot of territory on relationships, healing, writing, and the creative process. A prolific writer, Neil generously shares his writing process in depth. He shares how all four aspects of our Quadrinity can inform the creative process. Listening to this conversation is almost like taking a short writing class. Toward the end, Neil turns the tables on Drew and asks Drew questions. Be sure to listen to the end for this fun back-and-forth between them. More about Neil Strauss: Neil Strauss is a ten-time New York Times best-selling author; a contributing editor at Rolling Stone; and a former music critic, cultural reporter, and columnist at The New York Times where he won the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for excellence in music journalism. In 2018, he was honored with the Los Angeles Press Club’s Journalist Award for his Rolling Stone 50th anniversary cover story, “Elon Musk: The Architect of Tomorrow.” Coaching and mentoring have always been a passion for Strauss. His love of learning and teaching propels him to speak at conferences around the world. He formed an exclusive, high-level, international personal growth, networking, and mastermind group called The Society International in 2011. The Society International continues to grow as a one-of-a-kind global group of like-minded people. Neil personally mentors its members, comprising award-winning artists, international entrepreneurs, tech CEOs, professional athletes, and visionaries who defy categorization. Neil resides in Malibu, California. You can learn more about Neil here and here. More about Neil’s Writing and Books: Hollywood hails him as one of the most sought-after ghostwriters in town. His books include The Dirt with Motley Crue, hailed by Q magazine as “the most unputdownable rock book of the year, or possibly any year,” while Publishers Weekly cited The Long Hard Road Out of Hell with Marilyn Manson as “possibly the highest-selling rock biography of all time.” A feature-length film of The Dirt was recently released on Netflix, directed by Jeff Tremaine, which propelled the book back into the New York Times bestseller list. His recent book collaboration, Kevin Hart’s I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons was both a #1 New York Times bestseller and topped the most downloaded audiobooks list at the same time. In his own books, Strauss is renowned for going undercover to explore controversial subcultures. The Game and Rules of The Game, for which he went undercover in a secret society of pick-up artists for two years, topped The New York Times best-selling list and were #1 on Amazon. He then completely revamped his perceptions of dating and relationships when he went undercover to explore trauma, healing, and intimacy disorders with The Truth: An Uncomfortable Book about Relationships. In this best-selling book, he explores the hidden forces that cause people to choose each other, stay together, and break up. As mentioned in this episode: Letters Neil received from Process Graduates: In the Process, students write letters to express gratitude to those who have supported them in their healing journey. Carl R. Rogers: American psychologist and one of the founders of the humanistic approach in psychology. “What is most personal is most universal.” ― Carl R. Rogers Sex Addiction & Treatment Post Induction Therapy: “Post-Induction Therapy is a therapeutic modality developed by Pia Mellody in the 1970s. Specifically, Post-Induction Therapy treats the effects of childhood trauma and the resulting developmental immaturity and codependency. Post-Induction Therapy integrates elements of Gestalt Therapy, Family Systems Theory, Person-Centered Humanistic Therapy, and others.” Neil on Relationships as Growth: Is My Relationship Working? by Neil Strauss Helpful aids that support more productivity, focus, and creativity: Kitchen Safe and the Freedom app Trauma & High School P.E.: Articles: “Gym Class Trauma Leads to Future Health Problems“, “The Trauma of High School Gym Class” Vicious Cycles: A way patterns manifest in cycles and a tool to help disconnect from this cyclic nature of pattern activity. De-tox from phone and media: To get the most out of your Process, and to create an environment where each person gains the maximum benefit from their work, we require students to electronically and digitally disconnect from the outside world. Telephone calls, emails, and texting are not permitted, as well as connecting to the internet and other “outside” means of communication. Your family will be able to reach you if there is an emergency.    

Monique Petrov is a former All-American triathlete. She qualified for five Ironman World Championships and ranked among the top female age-group triathletes worldwide. Just three weeks before what was to be her ninth Ironman, a disastrous accident ended her career. What brought Monique to the Hoffman Process? As she shares with Drew, the physical trauma she has endured would become emotional trauma, which would sneak into how she related to those she was most intimate with. Through the Process, Monique found the healing she was looking for. She found the playful, curious, loving, kind soul she’d hidden inside long ago. Since the Process, Monique now makes time for this fun-loving part of herself. Listen in as Monique shares her story of the tragic accident that happened just three weeks before what was to be her 9th Ironman. Monique has been reluctant to share her story, never wanting the accident to define her. But today she shares all that she’s been through, the depth of her healing, and the incredible journey her life has been and continues to be. Be sure to listen all the way to the end. Monique shares her story about how she healed a big ball of shame in the Process. More about Monique Petrov: Monique had a serious accident three weeks before the Hawaii Ironman World Championships, which was to be her 9th Ironman. She was struck almost head-on by a van while finishing a long training ride a few miles from home. After six days in a coma, followed by six weeks in a hospital, Monique underwent eighteen hours of surgery to stabilize her vertebrae which burst upon impact. Suffering a traumatic brain injury, shattered knee, leg, arm, scapula, ribs, and blood-filled punctured lungs, she needed more surgery to piece her body (bones) back together. Monique had no idea how surviving this near-death experience would alter her life. The following thirteen months – and thirteen years – took her through a journey of recovery that has taught her more about resilience and strength than her entire career as a world-class athlete.  Oddly, she forgave the driver almost immediately. It was herself she could not forgive because of shame. Splitting open more than her physical body, she eventually discovered it was the deep reflexive shame (which controlled her) or (within her) that needed to heal. Monique Petrov is a former All-American triathlete. She qualified for five Ironman World Championships, ranking amongst the top female age-group triathletes worldwide.  Monique had been a triathlon and strength & conditioning coach. She became a NICU (neonatal intensive care) nurse after her life-threatening accident.  Monique has a passion for using her life experience and relationships as data. She examines them for clues – even amid anguish, isolation, loneliness, and shame. Looking for hope, inspiration, and the ultimate connection with one’s own self, while developing and emerging with a brand new level of self-trust and security to step forward more boldly in the world.  She delves into her ongoing recovery. Monique shares how she was able to survive, heal, rebuild, and continually reinvent herself. As mentioned in this episode: Intubation and Extubataion Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) 2-Day Hoffman Essentials program The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessel van der Kolk    

Just five months ago, Jack Rafferty did the Hoffman Process, graduating only weeks shy of his 91st birthday. Jack shows us that you’re never too old to do the Process. Listen in to hear this beautiful sharing of love, friendship, and what it means to be real with each other. Over the last 50 years, Jack did a lot of work on himself but procrastinated on coming to the Process.  Eventually, he felt the call to go and jumped in. Jack felt he was in good shape but thought he might tweak some things while he was there. As he shares, though, that idea went out the window in the first minutes of the Process. Jack now says the Process changed his life and that he is a different person for having done it. Jack speaks to living in a posture of love and how the Hoffman Process helped him deepen his capacity for awareness, vulnerability, and even more love. This phrase, the Posture of Love, describes the work Jack has been involved with over the many decades of his career. We hope you enjoy this beautiful conversation with Jack and Drew. More about Jack Rafferty: As an innovator with forty-two years of experience as a relationship guide and course facilitator, Jack has developed simple techniques that are easy to understand and put into practice. He has worked with thousands of people who have an interest in creating more conscious, fulfilling relationships. Jack’s mission has been to expand the horizons of this knowledge. In 1971 Jack was one of the founders of est, a preeminent organization in the human potential movement. In 1980, Jack turned his focus to relationships. Through years of research, presenting courses, and coaching, he has developed a unique approach that produces results that make a difference in people’s lives. Jack has taught his course, The Art of Relating, for 42 years. Now, together with a fellow Hoffman graduate, he is offering a new course, Born to Love. As mentioned in this episode: Psycho-Cybernetics, by Matthew Maltz. Loneliness and Health: Jack and Drew talk about the importance of having lasting, deep friends. Drew mentions how loneliness can be deadly, but connection creates longevity. Read more about the correlation between loneliness and health at Nature, the CDC, and the Campaign to End Loneliness. Creating Deep Friendships: An abundance of articles can be found on how to create deep friendships. Here are a few: Tiny Buddha: 7 Ways to Form Deep Meaningful Friendships The Atlantic: The Best Friends Can do Nothing For You NYTimes: How to Have Closer Friends (and Why You Need Them) Charles “Raz” Ingrasci, Hoffman teacher and Founder of the Hoffman Institute Foundation Liza Ingrasci, CEO of the Hoffman Institute Foundation, has been with the Hoffman Institute since 1990. Hoffman Scholarships: The Hoffman Institute provides over $400,000 in scholarships annually, with over 22% of Hoffman graduates being scholarship recipients. You can apply for a scholarship here and donate to the scholarship fund here.    

Jeff Snipes’ experience, during the Hoffman Process and after, shines a beautiful light on why we call this podcast, Love’s Everyday Radius. As a result of doing the Process, love’s extension and enlargement into the world can be unlimited in possibility and scope. Jeff’s story is one vivid example of this. In his early forties, Jeff experienced what he calls a ‘starburst of awakening.’ He couldn’t satisfy his hunger for books, podcasts, retreats – anything he could find – on spirituality and awakening. He followed every impulse within him as made this spiritual journey. The Hoffman Process was one stop on this journey. But it was more than that, too. The Process was a catalyst that would launch Jeff into the new direction his life was asking him to take. Jeff wondered why we aren’t taught to live filled with love, self-awareness, and a sense of purpose. Eventually, he created a new way to educate, one filled with spirituality, love, and purpose. Listen in as Jeff recounts his journey with Sharon in this remarkable episode of Love’s Everyday Radius. More About Jeff Snipes: Jeff is most passionate about the intersection of spirituality and education. He believes the current system of education has abandoned what’s needed most: cultivating the inner life of students. So together with a truly inspired group of educators, he serves as the Founder & Chairman of Millennium.org, a non-profit lab school and teaching institute advancing conscious well-being. Jeff and Whiskey In a previous life, Jeff spent 20 years in corporate leadership development. He served as the CEO of Ninth House and Co-Founder of PDI Ninth House (now Korn Ferry Organizational Consulting), the largest leadership assessment, consulting, and development business in the US. Over the years, he has been grateful to learn from many others who knew what they were doing. These include the boards of Mindful Schools, The Fetzer Institute, Challenge Success, the Learning for Well-Being Foundation, the Collaborative for Spirituality in Education, Education Superhighway, The Tugboat Institute, Circl.es, and Marin Montessori School. Along the way, he told bedtime stories, helped with homework, and sat in countless bleachers, doing his best to assist his indefatigable wife in raising three amazing young adults. Most mornings today, he’s likely to be found recovering by wandering among the redwoods on Mt. Tam, only slightly lost, and chasing after their dog Whiskey. You can learn more about Jeff on LinkedIn. As mentioned in this episode: Millennium School in San Francisco Hoffman tools and practices: Left Road, Right Road Quadrinity Check-In YPO: A global leadership community of chief executives driven by the shared belief that the world needs better leaders. YPO Forum practice Circle Method    

Andy Milberg, beloved Hoffman teacher and coach, has been teaching the Hoffman Process since August 1991. Bob Hoffman taught in Andy’s Process and trained Andy to become a teacher. Andy tells us it is a privilege and an honor to stand beside students who are committed to making a lasting change in their lives. As he says, “They’ve made a serious commitment in preparing for the Process.” He goes on to add that most of the time people get “more than they even know they want” from the Process. While the Hoffman Process is deeply grounded in science, something we know from scientific studies, the spiritual part of the Process can be difficult to define. Andy shares that the structure of the Process supports things to happen that he cannot explain or understand. The Process structure also supports him as a teacher to show up in a way that he can neither strategize nor plan for. Andy calls it the “magic of the moment.” This magic, mystery, and the miraculous go hand in hand with science to produce the amazing results we experience during the Process. In the late ’90s, Andy wrote a portion of the Process that happens at the very end as we say goodbye to those we’ve become so close with. He refers to it as, “I Am, We Are.” Listen to this beautiful conversation with Andy and Drew to learn more about what it’s been like for Andy to teach the Process. More about Andy Milberg: Andy did the Hoffman Process in July of 1990. He was immediately inspired to become a teacher, completing his training in August of 1991. “Although I had done a lot of personal growth work before”, he says, “the Process went deeper in so many ways, showing me my blind spots and then teaching me how to move beyond them into my authenticity. It was an amazing gift I wanted to share with others, and still do, 32 years later.” Four years ago, Andy moved from California to Ajijic, Mexico, with his wife and dog. He commutes to teach several times a year, while also coaching and leading online courses. Andy is a writer and has written his first book, Inspiration for Writers Who Don’t Write, and Want To. As mentioned in this episode: Ajijic, Mexico: A small town on the north shore of Lake Chapala, just 35 miles (56 km) south of Guadalajara. Bob Hoffman was the founder of the Hoffman Process. Andy describes Bob’s teaching style as “fearless and totally committed to helping people get free of their patterning.” Bob’s mission was “Peace on Earth, one person at a time.” Learn more about Bob here. Introversion and Extroversion: Andy speaks of being an Introvert at his core, but having had patterns of extroversion. Johanina Wikoff, Ph.D. The Dark Side: Andy describes the Dark Side as “the energy system of all the patterns that takes us back to the past, and doesn’t change, learn, or grow.” Kani Comstock, Retired Hoffman Teacher: Kani taught the Process for many years after training directly with Bob Hoffman. She co-authored Journey Into Love, a book about the Hoffman Process, with Marisa Thame  

Our conversation with Amanda de Cadenet is deeply nourishing and a swim upstream against the status quo. Amanda and Drew touch on many different topics in this rich, hour-long conversation. As you’ll discover, Amanda’s work touches many areas of life and so many lives. After becoming sober from alcohol and drugs at twenty, ten years later, Amanda did the Hoffman Process. Today, ten years later again, Amanda says her Process work has been an integral part of her recovery journey. It can be hard to put tangible results into recovery work, yet Amanda’s Hoffman work has helped give her the tangibility she had looked for. Amanda’s work at the Process allowed her to own that she has beautiful, big feelings. As she shares, big feelings are often frowned upon by the culture. But in the Hoffman Process, we learn that our feelings are vital to living our humanity. As the host of many conversations over decades, Amanda creates a safe space where challenging the status quo is possible. Listeners can feel their own feelings in response. These conversations are ripple-like making them conversations that are changing our world. Amanda says she learned to talk to people in Juvie (the English Juvenile Justice system) at fifteen. This survival skill became a great asset as she started her first job as the host of “The Word.” She would become famous for interviewing the biggest names in music at an incredibly young age. We hope you enjoy this compelling, dynamic, love-filled conversation with Amanda de Cadenet. More about Amanda de Cadenet: Amanda de Cadenet is a multifaceted talent, celebrated global media personality, and was named one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business.” de Cadenet became a household name at age 15 as host of “The Word,” the UK’s hit late-night music show, interviewing the biggest names in music. She is the creator, host, and executive producer of “The Conversation,” an interview series best known for interviewing bold women with boldface names, such as Vice President Kamala Harris, Lady Gaga, Hillary Clinton, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Tarana Burke, and the 3x best-selling author of “It’s Messy: On Boys, Boobs and Bad Ass Women,” “Girlgaze – How Girls See the World,” and “Rare Birds.” de Cadenet is also a founding member of the new Victoria’s Secret VS Collective, and proudly sits as an ambassador alongside Naomi Osaka, Stella McCartney, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Megan Rapinoe, Hailey Beiber, Bella Hadid, and others. She hosted Victoria’s Secret’s first-ever podcast, “Voices” (June 2022), where she connected with trailblazing women all over the world to celebrate the multifaceted nature of the female experience. Following that, de Cadenet launched two additional podcasts exclusive to iHeart Radio, “The Conversation: About The Men” and a new season of “The Conversation” (Fall 2022.) de Cadenet is also the Founder of Girlgaze, a media and jobs platform that connects a network of female-identifying and non-binary creatives with companies who want to hire diverse creative teams.  She is also involved in a number of efforts to protect women’s rights. She frequently collaborates with the #MeTooMvmt around initiatives focused on ending sexual violence toward women. de Cadenet lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Nick, and her three children. Find out more about Amanda de Cadenet here. Her online community is called The Conversation Community. You can also find Amanda on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. As mentioned in this episode: ‘Juvie‘ is the slang word for a Juvenile Detention Center. Find out more about both the British and American juvenile justice systems. Quad Check and Tools Amanda mentions Q1, which = The Hoffman Process Q2 = Hoffman’s Q2 Intensive: Beyond Mom and Dad When Amanda says ‘OG,’ she’s referring to our old retreat site, White Sulphur Springs, which burned in the Glass Fire of 2020. Recovery Raz Ingrasci: Hoffman teacher and coach, and Founder of the Hoffman Institute Foundation. Richard Schwartz, Ph.D.: The Founder of Internal Family Systems. Gabor Maté: Canadian Physician, Hoffman Process Graduate, and a leading authority on many topics including addiction, trauma, and childhood development. Bessel van der Kolk, MD:  develops and studies a range of treatments for traumatic stress in children and adults. Peter Levine, Ph.D.: The Founder of Somatic Experiencing. “Trauma is not what happens to us. But what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness.”