Live Inspired Podcast With John O'leary

“Just because I am happy and loved, doesn’t mean everyone else is. I know someone might be walking behind me who doesn’t feel happy and doesn’t feel loved. Maybe I can help them.” – Evan Ernst   While we’re thrilled our Live Inspired Podcast has been downloaded nearly 5,000,000 times, it’s the stories of impact from individual listeners that most inspire our efforts. And there is something particularly special when one of the lives being impacted is a 12-year-old boy from South Dakota. Today, I share the story of Evan Ernst.

Kiana Clay is the first adaptive female motocross racer, top-ranked para-snowboarder and 2026 Paralympic hopeful.   At 12 years old, Kiana suffered a traumatic brachial plexus injury on a motocross practice run that left her right arm paralyzed. While recovering from this accident, she was hit by a drunk driver, reversing any strength she was recovering and leaving her dominant arm permanently paralyzed.    Although these circumstances certainly changed her life, Kiana is not letting them define her.    Today, Kiana shares how she learned to accept her body, her struggle with depression, how she’s learned to trust God and what led to her recent decision to have her injured arm amputated.    This conversation is a reminder that you can't always choose the path you walk (or race!) in life, but you can always choose the manner in which you walk (or race!) it.   Learn more about this Live Inspired Podcast episode and more at JohnOLearyInspires.com.

Being heard is so close to being loved that they are almost indistinguishable. – David Augsburger   Today, we celebrate Augie Nieto and his quest to cure ALS.   Learn more about the Live Inspired Podcast at JohnOLearyInspires.com.

Maggie Doyne's mission is to create a world where children are safe, educated and loved.   At age nineteen, Maggie used $5,000 of her babysitting money to co-found BlinkNow Foundation which helped to build the Kopila Valley Children’s Home and School, a safe place for orphaned children in war-torn Nepal.   Since 2010, Maggie + her team have served 500 of the region’s most impoverished children and worked to deepen and grow the organization’s impact through grassroots community development efforts.   Today, as you hear from a humanitarian, activist, CNN Hero of the Year and Forbes "Top 30 under 30" Social Entrepreneur, you'll learn just how tremendous + unlikely her work has been. Plus, Maggie shares specific and practical ways to take action for a cause that’s meaningful to you.   Learn more about the Live Inspired Podcast at JohnOLearyInspires.com

John O'Leary recognizes the mothers shepherding their children through tragedy.   Learn more about the Live Inspired Podcast at JohnOLearyInspires.com.

With Mother’s Day upon us, today’s guest is a marvelous example of what’s possible with the love from a powerful mom. As one of four boys raised by a single mother, Steve White’s life could easily have taken a different path. Instead, armed with his mother’s determination that her sons make a better life for themselves and his own refusal to be shaped by his circumstances, Steve forged a path to extraordinary professional and personal achievement. Today, Steve shares lessons from every stage of life, and the people who influenced him along the way to form this overarching message: An uncompromising life is one where you stay true to what is important to you, what you believe in, and what you love. You’ll leave this conversation ready to discover what matters most and where you can make the biggest difference. Did you enjoy this conversation? You'll love our curated playlist celebrating mothers. Listen to the Mother's Day playlist here. 

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, and in honor of those heroes AND in celebration of the 2nd anniversary of IN AWE, I wanted to share one of my favorite stories from the book. It will remind you we all need someone cheering us forward and it will encourage you to embrace that role. In doing so we change the world one life at a time. Starting with our own.   Learn more about today's episode at JohnOLearyInspires.com.

Stephen M. R. Covey is an expert on trust, leadership and culture. As former CEO of Covey Leadership Center, Stephen personally led the strategy that propelled his father’s book, Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, to become one of the two most influential business books of the 20th Century.   Today, Stephen shares: The important lessons his parents modeled for him and his eight siblings His journey to finding his own purpose while working with his legendary father. The importance of trust, in ourselves and others,  How as truly great leaders, we’re able to unleash the potential and greatness in others.   Whether you're leading a small family unit or a Fortune 100 company, this conversation is for you.   Learn more about this conversation at JohnOLearyInspires.com.

So often we recognize a need in a family, a struggle in a friend, or a challenge in our community and wonder what we can even do to help. While it’s easy to assume there is little we can do, be reminded of the power in simply showing up for others.

Mental health challenges and broken relationships are a part of life, yet they don’t have to define us. Dr. John Delony is a mental health expert, bestselling author of Redefining Anxiety and host of The Dr. John Delony Show, a caller-driven show that gives you real talk on relationships and mental health challenges. Armed with not one, but two PhDs and more two decades of experience in counseling and crisis response, John’s goal is to help others navigate tough decisions, improve relationships, and remind others they're worthy of being well.   Today, John unpacks what we can learn by honestly embracing our past and the practical steps in order to take a proactive role in finding freedom in new beginnings.   If you or someone you love is navigating something challenging, this episode is for you.

What would you do if you knew today was your last? As a nine-year-old, this wasn’t just a hypothetical question to consider, but a reality I faced daily.   Because of my weakened condition, the additional stress of surgery and blood loss presented the very real prospect that the next surgery could be my last. With this in mind, my parents would make the evening before surgeries extremely special. They’d bring me a gift, my siblings would visit, we’d eat pizza, down milkshakes, and stay up late. We’d do our very best to ignore the painful reality before us. The focus was on me.   That’s how I spent my nights when I thought they might be my last.   How would you want to spend yours?   Learn more about today's episode at JohnOLearyInspires.com/podcast.

To celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month, I’m honored to welcome Kevin Eubanks, one of the most accomplished jazz musicians of his or any generation.   As a prolific guitarist and composer, Kevin is frequently recognized for his role as former Music Director of The Tonight Show band, appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno for 18 years.   Yet it’s what led up to this iconic role that is most intriguing.   Today, Kevin shares about growing up with a strong musical influence, what it was like to hitchhike to gigs around Philadelphia at 13 years old and how he was able to overcome his shyness.   And I can’t forget to mention…Kevin shares a fantastic impersonation of Jay Leno that you don’t want to miss.   Learn more about this episode at JohnOLearyInspires.com/podcast.

For three decades, Parkinson’s disease has robbed my dad of his ability to work, type, write, drive, walk and speak... and yet every day he chooses gratitude.   Today, on World Parkinson’s Awareness Day and in honor of my dad and the millions of others impacted by Parkinson’s, I challenge you to make the choice to fill your heart with gratitude.   Learn more about the Live Inspired Podcast with John O'Leary at JohnOLearyInspires.com.

David Sipress is an iconic cartoonist for The New Yorker. Since 1998, he’s published nearly 700 cartoons largely based on perceptions of shared human experience, rooted in his life-long love of history.   With humor, creativity and vulnerability, David shares stories about his complicated family, the day he decided to pursue cartooning professionally and the 25 years of rejection that followed.   Don’t miss today’s intimate and engaging conversation with an artist who understands that personal thoughts and feelings often lead to remarkable ideas.   Learn more about this episode and more at JohnOLearyInspires.com.

Join me as I share the most powerful five-word lessons I've learned after more than 400 episodes of the Live Inspired Podcast.   To get links to each episode I mention, visit JohnOLearyInspires.com.

Six-time Olympic medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee is regarded by many as the greatest female athlete of all time. After retiring, Jackie chose to return to her impoverished hometown with a greater purpose: empower youth in her community to dream, and have the drive and determination to succeed.   Today, hear Jackie share the pivotal moments in her life when she chose to never give up, why she refuses to let her environment define who she is and what that means for you.

How do you respond when tragedy strikes?   As we face storms in life, we have a choice. We can choose anger, yell about it, and remain negative about what happened and all we’ve lost.   Or we can choose to accept it, make the best of it, grow from it and realize that in spite of those unwanted changes that the best of life remains in front of us.   Learn more at JohnOLearyInspires.com.

There are about 7,000 languages in the world, all with different vocabularies, sounds, and alphabets—but how do these structural differences influence how we interpret the world?   Lera Boroditsky is a cognitive scientist recognized for studying how the languages we speak shape the way we think.   After emigrating to America from Belarus, Lera learned English and began to recognize how differences in languages can shape an argument and exaggerate the differences between others.   Today, Lera shares how people view the world differently based on their linguistic backgrounds and how her research has provided influential insight in the fields of psychology, philosophy, and linguistics.   To learn more about today's episode, visit JohnOLearyInspires.com/podcast.

To celebrate World Down Syndrome Day today I wanted to share a story of a family who received a diagnosis they didn’t desire…and ultimately a gift far greater than they could have imagined.   Learn more about today's episode at JohnOLearyInspires.com.

Michelle Hord is no stranger to tragedy. She started her professional career as a producer on America's Most Wanted, where she came face to face with the unthinkable on a daily basis.   But when her own beloved 7-year-old daughter Gabrielle Eileen was murdered by her ex-husband, Michelle’s entire life crashed down around her.   Today, with compassion + insight, Michelle joins us for a raw and powerful conversation about resilience, hope, and defiant faith and how it can lead to powerful transformation even in the midst of our darkest hours.   You’ll leave this conversation with a compassionate blueprint on how to harness your inner strength and the tools you need to reclaim your story.   Plus, Michelle reads a short excerpt from her book The Other Side of Yet, released earlier this week, that is profoundly special.   Learn more about this episode at JohnOLearyInspires.com.