Libsyn Directory

357. How to Let Go of Control and Find Peace (with Panache Desai)

Release Date: 09/23/2025

371. Meals By Cug: Why Caring Less Might Make You More Successful

Decoding Success with Matt LeBris

Get Guided Support on Building Your Brand If you’re looking for clarity, strategy, and guidance on building a personal brand that actually feels like you, book a free brand call here: 👉 In this episode of Decoding Success, Matt LeBris sits down with Danny Mondello—better known as Meals By Cug—for a raw, funny, and unexpectedly deep conversation about success, pressure, and why caring less might actually be the key to winning. Danny never chased fame or money. He was simply cooking, filming what he was already doing, and staying consistent. Over time, that approach turned into...

370. Robbie Bent (Co-Founder, Othership): I Built the Dream… But I Was Wearing Armor

Decoding Success with Matt LeBris

YOUR PERSONAL BRAND CAN LEVEL UP... START HERE: Robbie Bent reveals why entrepreneurial success, high performance, and constant pressure can disconnect you from the very self you’re working so hard to elevate. After years of scaling a fast-growing company, Robbie found himself battling anxiety, founder stress, and emotional burnout — even while living the dream on paper. He shares how operating in “armor” — overwork, intensity, and survival mode — helped him achieve success, but left him feeling tense, overwhelmed, and internally disconnected. But here’s the breakthrough:...

369. Why Betting on Yourself Feels Lonely (But Pays Off) w/ Lil Mo Mozzarella

Decoding Success with Matt LeBris

YOUR PERSONAL BRAND LEVELED UP STARTS HERE: What does it really take to bet on yourself — especially when the path feels isolating and uncertain? In this episode, I sit down with Lil Mo Mozzarella to talk about leaving a stable career, stepping into comedy later in life, and why real confidence is built through action, not approval. We unpack the loneliness that comes with growth, the importance of protecting your value, and how turning pain into purpose is often the key to long-term success. This conversation is about earned self-belief — the kind that comes from showing up, taking...

368. Why Shame Is Blocking the Life, Love, and Intimacy You Want w/ Stefanos Sifandos

Decoding Success with Matt LeBris

LEVELING UP YOUR PERSONAL BRAND STARTS HERE: Most people think they’re stuck because they lack discipline, confidence, or clarity. But what if the real reason you’re not experiencing deeper intimacy, freedom, and fulfillment… is shame you don’t even realize you’re carrying? In this episode, I sit down in person with Stefanos Sifandos for a raw, honest conversation about the invisible force shaping our relationships, our self-expression, and the parts of our lives where we keep holding back. We explore why shame doesn’t usually announce itself loudly— it hides in avoidance,...

367. Why You Keep Self-Abandoning (and How to Finally Come Home to Yourself) | Kate Eckman

Decoding Success with Matt LeBris

Kate Eckman breaks down why so many high-achieving people feel disconnected despite doing everything “right.” She explains how self-abandonment begins early in life as a way to earn love, safety, and approval—and how people-pleasing, perfectionism, and overachievement are survival responses, not strengths. Drawing from her own healing journey, Kate reveals why emotional invalidation teaches us to doubt our instincts, silence our truth, and perform instead of feel. She shares why choosing yourself often feels lonely, how solitude exposes what distraction hides, and why telling the...

366. The REAL Reason You Keep Self-Sabotaging (It Started in Childhood) w/ Jason VanRuler

Decoding Success with Matt LeBris

👉 Want clarity on your own brand? Book a free 1:1 call with the Brand Builders team: Most people think they’ve healed their past. But the truth is far heavier: your childhood blueprint is still running your life — your relationships, your success, your self-worth — and you don’t even realize it. In this raw and revealing conversation, therapist and author Jason VanRuler returns to Decoding Success to break open the invisible patterns that shape us: earning love, chasing highs, self-sabotaging the moment life gets quiet, and mistaking achievement for fulfillment. This episode...

365. Rory Vaden: Differentiation Is Dead. Be Unique Instead.

Decoding Success with Matt LeBris

BUILD YOUR BRAND w/ Rory Vaden joins the show to break down why differentiation is dead — and why your real advantage is your uniqueness. If you’ve ever struggled to build an authentic personal brand because you’ve spent years people-pleasing, fitting in, or carrying an identity that wasn’t truly yours, this episode is a reset. Rory shares how he reinvented himself overnight, why nobody is thinking about your brand as much as you think they are, and the simple shift that helps you build a brand rooted in service, not ego. We also dive into his Trajectory Test, becoming...

364. Why You Resist Change (And How to Finally Surrender) with Jessica Zweig

Decoding Success with Matt LeBris

💰 Book your F R E E Brand Strategy Call here: freebrandcall.com/mattlebris In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, Matt sits down with bestselling author, entrepreneur, and spiritual teacher Jessica Zweig for a raw exploration of what it really means to surrender, evolve, and take radical responsibility for your life. Jessica opens up about her recent season of expansion — navigating anxiety, overwhelm, business transitions, spiritual initiation, and the deeper truth behind why so many of us resist change even when we’re praying for a breakthrough. Together, they unpack...

363. Dr. Mariel Buqué on Breaking Generational Trauma & Healing in Micro Victories

Decoding Success with Matt LeBris

BOOK YOUR FREE BRAND STRATEGY CALL 👉 In this powerful episode of Decoding Success, we are joined by Dr. Mariel Buqué — psychologist, intergenerational trauma expert, and author of Break The Cycle. This conversation goes deep into what healing actually looks like, why the in-between seasons of life feel so uncomfortable, how to train your nervous system to tolerate triggers, and why breaking cycles can feel lonely — especially for the black sheep, cycle-breakers, and self-healers. If you’ve ever felt like you’re evolving faster than the environment around you… If you’ve ever...

362. How to STOP Chasing Validation & Become Your Own Best Friend w/ Valerie Greenberg

Decoding Success with Matt LeBris

👉 Start here (free strategy call): Today’s conversation with TV personality and author Valerie Greenberg is a masterclass in shifting from external approval to inner authority. We dig into befriending the inner critic, choosing presence over the next “big high,” and how to build your Confidence Community... those truth-tellers who both cheer you on and call you up. If you’ve ever felt like a black sheep trying to “catch up,” this one brings you back to center. In this episode, you’ll learn Best-friend energy: Practical ways to befriend (not silence) your inner critic so you...

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building your personal brand? get some complimentary strategy here 👉 https://freebrandcall.com/mattlebris/

watch this episode on YouTube 👉 https://youtu.be/gTJmhYN6q1Q

In this episode, Panache Desai and Matt LeBris dive into what happens when we stop trying to fix the unfixable, surrender control, and embrace who we truly are. We explore how ambition and success can mask deeper wounds, why so many of us feel “empty” even after we’ve achieved, and how letting go of past identity can open the door to lasting peace. Panache shares powerful insights, practical steps, and stories about what it really looks like to live with presence, self-love, and authenticity.

Who This Episode is For...

Anyone feeling exhausted from chasing success that never satisfies.
People longing for peace, presence, and authenticity.
Black Sheep & non-conformists who often feel different or out of place.
Those who are ready to stop “working on themselves” and instead begin “being themselves.”

Key Takeaways From This Episode...

Success and achievement won’t heal past pain — acknowledging we are powerless over the past is the first step toward freedom.
Surrender is not giving up; it’s a shift from doing-ness to being-ness.
Love of self is foundational: you can’t truly love others if you haven’t accepted and embraced yourself.
Letting go of control doesn’t mean inaction; it means trusting the natural unfolding.
Imperfection, mortality, human vulnerability—they’re essential. When we stop pretending and start being profoundly human, joy and peace follow.

Resources Discussed...

Website / Official Hub: Panache’s site with programs, events, and resources — PanacheDesai.com panachedesai.com
Instagram: @panachedesai

You Are Enough: Revealing The Soul to Discover Your Power, Potential, and Possibility — Panache’s major book releasing the message that you are already whole, not something to be fixed. Grab Your Copy

Call to Calm — Free daily meditation / presence practices via Zoom to ground, breathe, connect. Call to Calm
Impact — A 3-month mentoring / small-group journey for people committed to living from truth. panachedesai.com

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