The David Leifeste Podcast

Obesity Isn't the Problem | Dr. Kathy Campbell

David Leifeste — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0500

Most of us have had a bad experience with medicine: side effects, copays we can't afford, a drug that stopped working while we kept getting sick. Dr. Kathy Campbell has been a pharmacist in one Oklahoma community for 35 years and has served five generations of patients, and somewhere along the way she saw that the medications only worked when food and movement came with them. Her book and TEDx talk, Obesity: The Modern Famine, make a case that surprised me. Obesity isn't the problem. It's a symptom of a body that is starving for what it needs. We talk about why dieting keeps failing, why she says movement instead of exercise, the foundations of health (nutrition, sunlight, water, oxygen, movement, love and connection), her definition of trauma as what your body had to do to survive it, why mental health is often physical health, and the research connecting metabolism and the brain. Kathy is also building a network of wellness pharmacists so the pharmacist can help you before you are sick, not only after.

Chapters:
0:00 Coming up
0:31 The David Leifeste Show
0:52 Welcome: Dr. Kathy Campbell
1:43 Our bad experiences with medicine
2:29 Seven years of chemistry
4:24 Obesity: The Modern Famine
4:46 Obesity is a symptom, not the problem
5:59 Why dieting keeps failing
7:04 The TEDx talk and the book
7:49 Nutrition in medical school
8:12 35 years, five generations of patients
8:32 Medication only works alongside diet and movement
9:18 Does your doctor talk about food?
9:46 73% of our food is ultra-processed
11:09 Movement, not exercise
12:04 Foundational health
12:32 Your personal fishbowl
13:29 The wellness pharmacist
14:14 The Wellness Pharmacy Network
14:52 My job is to help you not need medications
15:14 Love is the most powerful chemistry
16:54 The five Es
17:49 Trauma and physical health
19:17 Trauma is what your body had to do to survive
19:29 The brain is an organ
20:39 Love as acceptance
22:04 Physiology first, then the psychology of change
22:49 A diet that is toxic and deficient
23:12 Eat more of the right stuff
24:12 The skeptic at the hospital
27:04 Brain Energy and metabolic mental health
28:12 Less medicine, more love
28:59 A culture that produces health
29:29 Mothers as chief medical officer
30:02 What other cultures get right
31:39 Where to find Dr. Kathy
32:18 Thank you, Dr. Kathy
32:35 Until next time

This conversation is for education, not medical advice. Please talk with your own doctor before changing any medication or starting a therapeutic diet.

Watch Dr. Kathy's TEDx talk, Obesity: The Modern Famine: https://www.ted.com/talks/kathy_campbell_obesity_the_modern_famine

New conversations every week. Like and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

ABOUT THE GUEST
Dr. Kathy M. Campbell, PharmD, has been a community pharmacist in Oklahoma for more than 30 years. She owns Owasso Wellness Pharmacy & Compounding, founded the Wellness Pharmacy Network, and wrote Obesity: The Modern Famine, the follow-up to her 2018 TEDx talk of the same name.
Website: https://drkathysays.com
Instagram: @drkathysays
Facebook: Kathy Brooks Campbell

ABOUT DAVID
David Leifeste, M.S., L.P.C., is a psychotherapist and executive coach, and the author of The Possibility of You. The David Leifeste Podcast brings the book's message to life: honest conversations about the stories that keep us stuck, and the way back to your true self.

CONNECT & GO DEEPER
Join the OASIS community: https://www.skool.com/oasis
Podcast website: https://davidleifesteshow.com
David's website: https://davidleifeste.com
Get the book, The Possibility of You: https://www.amazon.com/Possibility-You-S-I-S-Unlocking-Purpose/dp/B0F31QK65X

#podcast #nutrition #obesity #wellness #mentalhealth

Your Mind Has ADHD. You Don't. | Blake Daugherty

David Leifeste — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 06:00:00 -0500

Blake Daugherty is 28, a software engineer, and for most of his life he made the next optimal move: a 4.0 in high school, summa cum laude in college, then straight into a job in Texas. Three years in he was burned out and felt stuck, so he did the least optimal thing he could think of. He quit, put his things in storage and spent three months in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The part he planned least changed him most: a meditation retreat where, on the sixth day, he finally saw what his ADHD and his anxiety had been trying to do for him all along. We talk about how to recognize a juncture in your life, why the optimal move is sometimes the suboptimal one, the difference between your mind and your consciousness, why modern work feels so unnatural to our brains, and why examining yourself too much can do more harm than good. I've known Blake for about nine years, and watching him open up to his own life has been one of my great joys.

Chapters:
0:00 Coming up
0:32 The David Leifeste Show
0:53 Welcome: Blake Daugherty
1:56 From software engineer to Southeast Asia
2:31 Life is full of junctures
3:56 Burnout and the grind
4:53 The lock screen that said go
5:28 Way outside the comfort zone
6:00 Always the next optimal move
7:06 Where the courage came from
8:28 The meditation retreat
10:26 Letting go of the expectation
11:36 You are not your thoughts
12:11 My mind has ADHD, my consciousness does not
12:36 ADHD, anxiety and the forgotten badge
14:23 A hug for the brain
15:16 Why modern work feels unnatural
16:31 Kids, desks and play
17:51 It is not just you
19:52 The study on too many tests
21:41 Rumination is over-testing the mind
22:54 Stop over-examining yourself
24:42 Surfing life
25:34 An OASIS journey, step by step
26:14 Nine years later
27:01 From four friends to the host with the most
28:34 The Possibility of You
30:06 Thank you, Blake
30:16 Until next time

This conversation is not medical advice. Talk with your own doctor about any tests, diagnosis or treatment.

New conversations every week. Like and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

ABOUT THE GUEST
Blake Daugherty is a software engineer from Tulsa, Oklahoma. After three years at a software firm in Texas, he left to travel Southeast Asia, spent time at a meditation retreat in Thailand, and moved home to Tulsa.

#podcast #ADHD #meditation #burnout #personalgrowth

The American Dream Is Not Dead | Carol Mathews

David Leifeste — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 06:00:00 -0500

If you Google "the American dream" right now, most of what comes back says it is dead. Carol Mathews spent this year proving otherwise. Carol is the founder of Hero Productions in Tulsa, the producer of the feature film Home Run, and one of my favorite human beings, which is saying something after 67 years. She just finished producing Reigniting the American Dream for Governor Kevin Stitt's year as chair of the National Governors Association: 56 interviews from every walk of life, from Mark Cuban and Governor Wes Moore to a woman who walked out of prison and now gives her life to other women. We talk about why the people who built this country were living for something larger than themselves, what makes America different (you can fail here and try again), why our lives are downstream from the stories we take in, and the one thing that decides who makes it: grit. Carol also gives the most practical advice in the episode: know your why, write it down, and ask whether it means something to the version of you at the very end of your life.

Chapters:
0:00 Coming up
0:30 The David Leifeste Show
0:51 Welcome: Carol Mathews
1:28 Home Run, and a year with the National Governors Association
2:49 Getting a pulse on America
3:07 What the documentaries taught David
4:25 The country was their dream
6:30 The nameless people who built it
7:10 Reigniting the American Dream
8:28 It is safe to believe
8:44 Grit, and the fear that Americans are getting soft
10:10 Fifty-six interviews: what the dream means
12:01 Cynt Marshall: from the projects to the NBA
14:10 Nobody overcomes alone
15:10 George Washington leaves Mount Vernon
16:40 What makes America different: you can fail and try again
19:10 Failure is just new information
19:50 The woman who is living the dream
21:10 Mark Cuban's best hug
22:23 Dolly Parton
23:25 Grit is a long game
25:50 How to keep going: know your why
27:40 Hang around people who pull the best out of you
29:00 Our lives are downstream from stories
29:32 Learn to think for yourself
31:40 Allocate your energy like a CEO
32:20 Thank you, Carol
32:45 Until next time

Watch Reigniting the American Dream on YouTube.

New conversations every week. Like and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

ABOUT THE GUEST
Carol Mathews is the founder and executive producer of Hero Productions in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with nearly three decades in film and television. She produced the feature film Home Run and the 2026 documentary Reigniting the American Dream for the National Governors Association.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolspannmathews/
Hero Productions: https://www.heroproductions.com

#podcast #americandream #grit #purpose #resilience

More Powerful Than Medication — Dr. Grant Daugherty

David Leifeste — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 06:00:00 -0500

What if the most powerful medicine isn't a medication at all? Dr. Grant Daugherty is a psychiatrist trained at the Cleveland Clinic, now practicing in Tulsa — and someone I've had the joy of watching grow for fifteen years. In this conversation he shares the research that surprises almost everyone: the relationship between doctor and patient can be more powerful than the prescription itself. We talk about getting unstuck, journaling your way to clarity, why loneliness has become America's number one epidemic, and the simple daily practice of choosing connection over fear. I left this conversation full of hope, and I believe you will too.

New conversations every week. Like and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Create the Right Conditions — with Dr. Matt Griswold

David Leifeste — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 06:00:00 -0500

Dr. Matt Griswold has spent his adult life asking one question: what happens when you create the right conditions and let the body do what it was made to do? In this conversation, one of my dearest friends — and one of the most respected healthcare professionals in our region — shares the story behind his practice, the rituals that carry him through a hundred patients a day, and why the physical and the emotional are two wings of the same bird. I left this one grateful, and I believe you will too.

ABOUT THE GUEST
Dr. Matt Griswold — 918 Chiropractic, Tulsa, OK
YouTube: @thegriswoldmethod
Instagram: @dr.mattgriswold
918 Chiropractic on Instagram: @918_chiropractic

ABOUT DAVID
David Leifeste, M.S., L.P.C., is a psychotherapist and executive coach, and the author of The Possibility of You. The David Leifeste Podcast brings the book's message to life — honest conversations about the stories that keep us stuck, and the way back to your true self.

CONNECT & GO DEEPER
Join the OASIS community: https://www.skool.com/oasis
Podcast website: https://davidleifesteshow.com
David's website: https://davidleifeste.com
Get the book — The Possibility of You: https://www.amazon.com/Possibility-You-S-I-S-Unlocking-Purpose/dp/B0F31QK65X

Never Live the Same Year Twice — with Julian Essolakina

David Leifeste — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 06:00:00 -0500

Julian Essolakina was born in Togo, West Africa, moved to France as a young student, and now works out of Washington, DC — with a recent chapter in Tulsa, where he and David first met. He reads Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, and Camus for pleasure, moves between languages and continents the way most of us cross state lines, dresses like no one else in the room, and organizes his whole life around one rule: never live the same year twice.

In this conversation, David — psychotherapist and executive coach with 40 years and more than 100,000 conversations in practice — and Julian dig into juxtaposition as a master key to growth: how contrast between cultures, places, and people wakes the soul up, why being "comfortable being uncomfortable" is a superpower you can practice, what the hamster wheel quietly does to a soul, and why you should always leave room in your life for the magic that happens in the margins.

ABOUT DAVID
David Leifeste, M.S., L.P.C., is a psychotherapist and executive coach, and the author of The Possibility of You. The David Leifeste Podcast brings the book's message to life — honest conversations about the stories that keep us stuck, and the way back to your true self.

CONNECT & GO DEEPER
Join the OASIS community: https://www.skool.com/oasis
Podcast website: https://davidleifesteshow.com
David's website: https://davidleifeste.com
Get the book — The Possibility of You: https://www.amazon.com/Possibility-You-S-I-S-Unlocking-Purpose/dp/B0F31QK65X

What the Dead Teach Us About Living — Dr. Jarred Michalski, Forensic Pathologist

David Leifeste — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 06:00:00 -0500

Dr. Jarred Michalski is a triple-board-certified forensic pathologist who investigates unexpected and unnatural deaths — and now works alongside Dr. Bennet Omalu, the physician Will Smith portrayed in "Concussion." He is also a gymnast, a juggler, and one of the most philosophically alive minds David has sat down with.

In this conversation, David — psychotherapist and executive coach with 40 years in practice — and Jarred go from the autopsy table to Albert Camus: why "autopsy" literally means to see for yourself, what daily proximity to death teaches about impermanence, why hope and regret may be the same trap, and how to build a life framework that is entirely your own.

ABOUT DAVID
David Leifeste, M.S., L.P.C., is a psychotherapist and executive coach, and the author of The Possibility of You. The David Leifeste Podcast brings the book's message to life — honest conversations about the stories that keep us stuck, and the way back to your true self.

CONNECT & GO DEEPER
Join the OASIS community: https://www.skool.com/oasis
Podcast website: https://davidleifesteshow.com
David's website: https://davidleifeste.com
Get the book — The Possibility of You: https://www.amazon.com/Possibility-You-S-I-S-Unlocking-Purpose/dp/B0F31QK65X

Shot at 12, Living in a Car — How Dan Arthur Built an Extraordinary Life

David Leifeste — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 12:01:16 -0500

At ten years old, Dan Arthur was living in a tent at a campground, selling nightcrawlers and hand-poured sinkers to buy macaroni and cheese. At twelve, he was living in a 1966 Plymouth Fury with his dad — until the night someone broke in with a gun. Today he's an engineer, a geologist, the owner of multiple companies, and an expert called on around the world.

In this first conversation on The David Leifeste Show, David — a psychotherapist and executive coach with 40 years in practice — walks through how Dan's openness and relentless curiosity turned brutal circumstances into an extraordinary life: love, health, prosperity, and contentment.

ABOUT DAVID
David Leifeste, M.S., L.P.C., is a psychotherapist and executive coach, and the author of The Possibility of You. The David Leifeste Podcast brings the book's message to life — honest conversations about the stories that keep us stuck, and the way back to your true self.

CONNECT & GO DEEPER
Join the OASIS community: https://www.skool.com/oasis
Podcast website: https://davidleifesteshow.com
David's website: https://davidleifeste.com
Get the book — The Possibility of You: https://www.amazon.com/Possibility-You-S-I-S-Unlocking-Purpose/dp/B0F31QK65X