
About this episode
He played in the big leagues, wore the Red Sox jersey, and had 14 surgeries trying to keep a dream alive. Then the career ended. And in the silence that followed, Ryan Kalish almost didn't make it through.
Ryan is not the kind of guest I typically have on this show. He doesn't have a bestselling book or a company that just crossed a hundred million. What he has is a story that stopped me cold on Instagram months ago. I was scrolling and I saw this guy on a street somewhere in the world, walking up to a man who was homeless, and he bathed him and gave him a haircut and got him some food. I thought: who is that? I looked him up. And I thought, "I have to have him on.
"Ryan brings something to this conversation that is rare: the honesty of a man who was at rock bottom and didn't dress it up. He talks about the dark thoughts after his career ended, the substances he used to self-soothe, the spiritual calling that kept finding him even when he ran from it, and the moment sitting by a river in Austin, Texas, where it all clicked.
He has now served orphans, refugees, and vulnerable people across Indonesia, Thailand, Uganda, India, Jordan, Tanzania, Egypt, and more, largely on his own dime. His 70-year-old father is his cameraman.
I ask Ryan questions I think most people are afraid to ask: what does it actually feel like to do this? Is it lonely? Is it worth it? What did you have to let go of to get here? And I push Ryan on whether the hit he gets from feeding someone who's starving compares to circling the bases after a home run. His answer stops the conversation.
Here's what you'll gain from this episode:
What to do When You're Feeling Helpless: The reframe that unlocks everything for anyone sitting in a hard season wondering what to do next.
Your Old Identity Has to Die: What Ryan had to pluck out of himself to make room for who he was becoming, and why the most painful part of reinvention is also the most necessary.
You Don't Have to Be Qualified: Why the people least likely to think they can make a difference are exactly the ones who should
Collective Consciousness: Learn about the only thing that will actually change the world at scale.
This is an episode you will share with everyone you know!
If you would like to support Ryan Kalish, visit his fund link HERE.
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