111. Finding Meaning Through Resilience and Kindness with Noemi Beres
What's The Point? - Discover Your Purpose
Release Date: 11/26/2025
127. The Long Game: Susan Friedmann on Purpose, Publishing, and Staying Excited About Life
What's The Point? - Discover Your Purpose
In this episode of What’s the Point?, I sit down with Susan Friedmann, founder of Aviva Publishing and Marketing, to talk about longevity — not just in business, but in life. What does it take to stay engaged with something over time without becoming stale, stuck, or disconnected from yourself? Susan has spent decades helping nonfiction authors bring their books into the world, but what stood out most in our conversation wasn’t simply publishing. It was her honesty about passion, reinvention, and recognizing when something no longer fits. She reflects on starting in the trade show...
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126. Choosing a Life Before You’ve Lived It | Alex Dworsky & Gabriel DeSanti from Staj
What's The Point? - Discover Your Purpose
How do you choose a career before you’ve really lived life? That’s the question at the center of this conversation with Alex Dworsky and Gabriel DeSanti, co-founders of Staj. Most of us are asked to decide what we want to do at 18, 20, or 22 — long before we’ve had enough experience to truly understand what those choices mean. And while some people land in the right place, many others find themselves years into a path that no longer fits. Alex shares her experience inside corporate America, where careers often follow a predictable path shaped by expectations, environment, and...
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125. Andi Simon: The Stories We Believe—and Why They Make Change So Hard
What's The Point? - Discover Your Purpose
In this episode of What’s the Point?, Bill Ellis sits down with Andi Simon—corporate anthropologist, author, and founder of Simon Associates—to explore a deceptively simple question: Why is it so hard to see what’s right in front of us? Andi has spent decades studying how people think, behave, and—most importantly—how they make meaning. From working with banks and healthcare systems to helping leaders navigate transformation, she’s seen the same pattern over and over again: People don’t resist change because they lack information.They resist change because of the stories they...
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124. The Price of Change: David Schnurman on Choice, Family, and What Really Matters
What's The Point? - Discover Your Purpose
In this episode of What’s the Point?, Bill Ellis sits down with David Schnurman to explore a question many of us quietly carry: what do we think will happen when we change our lives? Change often begins with hope. A new job, a new city, a new path — we imagine it will give us clarity, fulfillment, or relief from whatever feels unresolved. But as David reflects throughout this conversation, change doesn’t always deliver exactly what we think we’re buying. Together, Bill and David explore the deeper motivations behind the choices we make. Family expectations, personal responsibility,...
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123. Built to Serve: Omar Ritter on Leadership, Discipline, and Living With Purpose
What's The Point? - Discover Your Purpose
In this episode of What’s the Point?, I sit down with Omar Ritter for a conversation about discipline, leadership, and what it really means to live with purpose. Omar’s story is rooted in challenge. He reflects on the moments that shaped him — not just professionally, but internally. We talk about early lessons in responsibility, learning how to carry weight, and what it means to choose growth instead of comfort. Throughout our conversation, a theme keeps surfacing: discipline. Not the loud kind. Not the performative kind. But the quiet, daily commitment to becoming someone you can...
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122. Ron Kmetovicz: What We Carry Forward About Money, Work and Independence
What's The Point? - Discover Your Purpose
In this episode of What’s the Point?, Bill Ellis sits down with Ron Kmetovicz—engineer, entrepreneur, investor, and author of Ghost Money: The Pathway to Financial Independence. This conversation isn’t about getting rich quickly. It’s about what quietly sustains a life. Ron reflects on growing up in an entrepreneurial farm family in Pennsylvania, working in early Silicon Valley labs during major technological shifts, and building a career grounded in confidence rather than accumulation. He shares the philosophy behind “ghost money”—multiple revenue streams paired with minimal...
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121. Remember You’re Dying: Annie Dike on Change, Courage, and Finding Meaning Without Tidy Answers
What's The Point? - Discover Your Purpose
Welcome to What’s the Point? — the show where we explore what shapes us, what changes us, and what gives our lives meaning over time. In this episode, I’m joined by Annie Dike — a writer whose life has moved through wildly different worlds: a complex early life in Clovis, New Mexico, a career in law, years living and working at sea, and a steady commitment to writing as a way of making sense of experience. Annie begins in Clovis — a place she once wanted to escape, but later came to appreciate for what it gave her: creativity, closeness with her brother, and a tough kind of...
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120. Building Something That Holds: Loryn and Edo Nalic on Partnership, Perseverance, and Belonging from Balkan Treat Box
What's The Point? - Discover Your Purpose
In this episode of What’s The Point?, I sit down with Loryn Nalic and Edo Nalic, partners in life and work and the force behind Balkan Treat Box, Telva, and the Ridge Room in St. Louis. Their story isn’t just about building award-winning restaurants. It’s about displacement, resilience, trust, and what happens when two people commit to solving problems together instead of letting adversity define them. Edo shares what it was like growing up in Bosnia during war, fleeing to Germany, living with uncertainty, and eventually coming to the United States alone. Loryn reflects on a very...
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119. From Survival to Self-Respect: Jason Van Ruler on Healing Old Patterns
What's The Point? - Discover Your Purpose
In this episode of What’s the Point?, I sit down with Jason Van Ruler for an honest conversation about healing, responsibility, and the quiet work of becoming someone you can respect. Jason shares parts of his story that began in instability—growing up in a chaotic environment, learning early how to survive, and internalizing beliefs about worth that followed him into adulthood. Like many of us, he found himself repeating familiar patterns, even when they no longer served him. We talk about the turning point that came when Jason realized that awareness alone wasn’t enough. Wanting change...
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118. The Secure Leader: How Attachment Shapes Trust, Leadership, and Purpose with Dr. Jaime Goff
What's The Point? - Discover Your Purpose
In this episode of What’s the Point?, host Bill Ellis sits down with Dr. Jaime Goff, founder of The Empathic Leader, LLC and author of The Secure Leader, for a powerful conversation on how our earliest emotional experiences quietly shape the way we lead. Drawing from her background in psychology, higher education leadership, and executive coaching, Dr. Goff explains how attachment patterns formed in childhood influence trust, control, communication, and emotional regulation in adulthood—especially in leadership roles. She shares personal stories from her own journey, including growing up...
info_outlineIn this episode of What’s the Point, I sit down with Noemi Beres, a woman whose life story is a powerful reflection of resilience, kindness, and purpose. From growing up in Hungary in a modest but deeply loving family, to becoming an entrepreneur, connector, and creative force, Noemi shares what keeps her going and how she discovered what truly matters.
Noemi opens up about her childhood, shaped by hardworking parents and the strong values of Eastern Europe. She shares how her family’s history — stories of survival, perseverance, and hope — gave her the foundation to keep going, even when life became incredibly difficult. We talk about how moving between countries, cultures, and languages helped her understand how people find meaning and how deeply human connection shapes our sense of belonging.
Her entrepreneurial journey wasn’t smooth or predictable. Noemi speaks openly about business failures, financial loss, and the shock of losing her travel business during the pandemic. But what stood out most was her unwavering belief in learning, growth, and living with purpose. When everything collapsed, she didn’t quit — she adapted, learned, and built Podcast Connections, a business driven by genuine care and service.
We also explored the deeply human side of Noemi’s story — losing her father, navigating grief, anxiety, and physical burnout, and ultimately discovering healing through art, silence, music, and presence. From her silent thinking sessions to her ASMR-style reading podcast, everything she creates comes from a desire to help people slow down, feel safe, and find meaning in their own lives.
This episode is a true human story of growth, compassion, and purpose — a reminder that discovering what matters isn’t about perfection, but about kindness, self-awareness, and choosing to keep going even when life feels overwhelming.
What’s The Point? is a podcast hosted by Bill Ellis featuring real conversations with people who’ve figured out what matters - their purpose. Each episode explores what motivates them and how they find meaning in what they do.
Connect with Bill:
- bill@billellis.com
- www.billellis.com
- www.brandingforresults.com
- IG - @wcellis
- Facebook - @CoachBillEllis
- Facebook - @bill.ellis
- LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/wcellis
- Book: Women Who Won
Links for This Episode:
Email noemi@podcastconnections.co
Website(s)
https://www.podcastconnections.co
https://noemiberes.com
SOCIAL MEDIA INFO:
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/noemiberes
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/noemi.beres
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/noemi_beres
CURRENT PROJECTS
My new ASMR-style reading podcast on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@noemiberes/podcasts
Quick Episode Summary:
- 00:00 – Welcome + introducing Noemi’s journey of resilience and purpose
- 01:00 – How it feels to be on the guest side of the microphone
- 03:00 – Growing up in Hungary and learning resilience early
- 05:00 – Family history and the power of cultural roots
- 06:30 – Travel, exchange programs, and discovering belonging
- 08:00 – Why Noemi never wanted a boss
- 09:00 – Business failure and losing money early on
- 11:00 – Starting an online travel business before remote work was normal
- 13:00 – Losing everything during the pandemic
- 15:00 – Learning podcasting from scratch
- 17:00 – Building Podcast Connections from nothing
- 18:30 – Why connection and communication matter most
- 20:00 – Silent thinking sessions and the power of quiet
- 22:00 – ASMR-style reading and helping people heal through sound
- 24:00 – Living outside the traditional “rules” of life
- 26:00 – Discovering the Go-Giver philosophy
- 28:00 – Why listening is more powerful than fixing
- 30:00 – Losing her father and navigating grief
- 33:00 – Art as therapy and healing
- 35:00 – Music, drumming, meditation, and peace
- 37:00 – Taking care of others without losing yourself
- 39:00 – Why self-care became non-negotiable
- 41:00 – Never giving up — “Just keep going”
- 43:00 – Advice for people who feel stuck
- 45:00 – Small steps create lasting change
- 46:00 – What legacy really means
- 48:00 – Why kindness is a strength
- 50:00 – The power of giving without expectation
- 52:00 – What’s the point?