How does a Tax Preparer from Minnesota end up moving his family to a little village in the French Countryside end up becoming an award-winning food writer and publishing his memoir about the experience with a big-time book publisher?

Today's guest Steve Hoffman's story is so unlikely. Back in 2012, Steve dreamed of living in France with images of swimming in the ocean on the coast and then sipping with a wonderful glass of Rosé. The reality was that he brought his wife and two children to a hard-working, hot and dusty winemaking village. No one spoke English. To say the beginning of this adventure was rocky is a understatement.

Once Steve and his family stepped back and let their French experience evolve on its own, it was transformative. It's all shared in his memoir, "A Season for That, Lost and Found in the Other Southern France".

Steve still lives two lives. For 6 months a year, he runs his self-stated "boring" job of tax preparation that pays well and the other half of the year is devoted to his creative life, winning a James Beard M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award.

• More about Steve Hoffman: https://www.sjrhoffman.com/

• Steve's book "A Season for That": http://tiny.cc/z37uzz

• Episode Content:
https://pickleballmediahq.com/blog/Steve-Hoffman-Interview-Food-Writer-and-Author-of-French-Countryside-Experience

• Sponsored by How to Retire and Not Die:
https://garysirak.com/how-to-retire-and-not-die/

• Sponsored by Capital Advantage:
https://capitaladvantage.com/promotion/retirement-planning-guide/

• I Used to be Somebody World Tour:
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• Subscribe to the I Used to be Somebody newsletter:
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We've gone CAT crazy this month on the podcast. They say cats have 9 lives. Our guest Suna Kneisley is probably on life #5. Her story starts in Korea where she was born. She was raised in a small town in the Midwest where she was the only Asian kid in town. At 12 years old, she helped run her family's 24-hour donut shop.

In her 20's, Suna lands in Silicon Valley as a marketing exec at Intuit and Oracle. Eventually, she launched her own real estate investment company. And this is when things get even more interesting. She sees an opportunity and pounces on the Cat business, running a non-profit and buying a successful boutique Cat Hotel as a third, maybe 4th act. It's a super fun story full of lots of twist and turns. Suna is full of optimism and has some great (un)retirement advice for you!

• More about Suna Kneisley:
https://patsplaceforcats.com/about/meet-the-owners

• Pat's Boarding House for Cats: https://patsplaceforcats.com

• Episode Content: https://pickleballmediahq.com/blog/Suna-Kneisley-Interview-Kitty-Hotel-Second-Act-Success-Story

• Sponsored by Capital Advantage:
https://capitaladvantage.com/promotion/retirement-planning-guide

• Sponsored by How to Retire and Not Die:
https://garysirak.com/how-to-retire-and-not-die

• I Used to be Somebody World Tour:
https://pickleballmediahq.com/tour/all-tours

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Carl interviews "Stacking Benjamins" host Joe Saul-Sehy. Joe is a former financial advisor and has represented American Express and Ameriprise in media. He left his financial advisor career at age 40 and reinvented himself into what he truly wanted to do. He was the "Money Man" on WXYZ-TV in Detroit and has appeared in countless newspapers and magazines, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Detroit News and more. And now, his award-winning podcast is one of the most listened to in the personal finance sphere. Plus, he's funny as hell! (Full disclosure: Carl is a total fanboy of the show.)

Joe's show Stacking Benjamins has the same tone as the former NPR show "The Car Guys". With Car Guys, you didn't need to be a car person to love listening to the show. Same can be said about Joe's show. You don't need to be financial investment aficionado to love listening. Joe and his cast of characters make it entertaining to listen to a subject matter that is generally perceived as dull to the general public. "Stackers" (reference to the listeners of the show) are anything but bored listening to him and his sidekick Josh Bannerman (AKA OG), Doc G, Paula Pant and of course Mom's Neighbor Doug. Oh, the running gag is that the show is produced in Joe's Moms basement.

Joe is a perfect example of an (un)retirement success story. As a young man he was personally a financial disaster. Ironically, he became a very successful financial adviser. But at 40 he realized he liked his job but didn't love it. He sold his business. And 18 years later he's become a financial media star. Helping hundreds of thousand listeners stacking benjamins one at a time!

• More about Joe Saul-Sehy:
https://www.stackingbenjamins.com/about/

• Joe's Book STACKED:
https://www.stackingbenjamins.com/stacked/

• Episode Content: https://pickleballmediahq.com/blog/Joe-Saul-Sehy-Interview-Stacking-Benjamins-in-his-Moms-Basement

• Sponsored by How to Retire and Not Die:
https://garysirak.com/how-to-retire-and-not-die/

• Sponsored by Capital Advantage:
https://capitaladvantage.com/promotion/retirement-planning-guide/

• I Used to be Somebody World Tour:
https://pickleballmediahq.com/tour/

• Subscribe to "I Used to be Somebody" newsletter:
https://pickleballmediahq.com/contact/subscribe