Education

Human School

We’ve been taught everything except how to be human. In a world obsessed with output, Human School is where we study what happens within.

Hosted by Miles Adcox, this podcast was born from a journal entry during a breakdown –– a reminder that struggle isn’t weakness; it’s instruction. Through raw conversations with world-class experts, therapists, and thinkers, Human School reframes pain as purpose, productivity as presence, and leadership as inner clarity.

If you are navigating personal growth, emotional health, and self-discovery, you are in the right place.

Welcome to Human School.

Latest Episodes:

Janet McDonald: You Become a Better Leader by Becoming a Better Human Dec 31, 2025

Show notes

What if the loneliest position you'll ever hold is the one you worked your whole life to achieve?

What if everything you learned about leadership left out the most important part?

Janet McDonald, CEO of Onsite, didn't start her career planning to lead with vulnerability. She started at 14, running a ladies boutique in downtown Franklin, TN while her friends worked as her employees. At nine years old, she was already holding her family together after her parents' divorce, learning early that "if it is to be, it's up to me." That message drove her through a successful career in management consulting, always climbing and achieving, until she realized something was missing.

Janet first heard about Onsite the way many do: someone told her, "It changed my life." Then another person said it. Then another. Her curiosity piqued, but she was skeptical. Either they had a really good marketing campaign, or something real was happening an hour outside Nashville, TN. When she applied to be Chief Operating Officer, she thought, "Who in their right mind is going to drive an hour every day out here?" But as she drove up the hill to the campus, something shifted immediately.

What makes Janet's leadership distinctive is that she bridges two worlds that rarely meet: strategic clarity and courageous vulnerability. In this conversation, Janet opens up about the cost of leadership, including the loneliness and isolation, and reveals how her pre-teen self still shows up in boardrooms. She shares why curiosity is the number one skill of any leader, and why the 18-inch journey from head to heart is the hardest one you'll ever make.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

How to Lead from Behind Instead of in Front
How Your Nine-to-Fourteen-Year-Old Self Still Shows Up in Boardrooms
How to Change Your Observer to Open Up New Possibilities for Action
How to Ask "What Is It Like to Be on the Other Side of Me?"
How to Depersonalize Conflict After Establishing Connection
How to Navigate the 18-Inch Journey from Your Head to Your Heart
How to Bring Soul Back into Leadership and Life
How to Love Others Really Well by First Learning Everything About Yourself
How to Unlock Capacity in Already Successful People
How to Fill in the Blanks Without Assuming You're Right

Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most. - Miles Adcox

Learn More About Onsite

Discover the transformational experiences that changed Janet's life and leadership. Visit experienceonsite.com to learn about Onsite's immersive programs in Tennessee and Southern California, or call 1-800-341-7432 to explore how we can support your journey.

Follow Human School:

YouTube - Human School Podcast

Instagram - @humanschoolofficial

Threads - @humanschoolofficial

TikTok - @humanschoolofficial

What We Discuss:

00:00:00 Welcome to Human School

00:00:31 Meet Janet McDonald: Leading from Alongside, Not in Front

00:03:04 Getting Interested in Leadership at a Young Age

00:06:56 Second Half of Life: Helping Others Have Their Best Career

00:09:23 What Leadership Afforded Her and What It Cost

00:11:48 What's Missing from Traditional Leadership

00:15:30 Everyone Kept Telling Her About Onsite

00:17:25 Applying to Be COO at Onsite

00:22:00 Teaching What Traditional Leaders Are Starving For

00:25:42 The Onsite Effect: Watching Transformation Happen in Real Time

00:26:58 You Become a Better Leader by Becoming a Better Human

00:29:00 Our Observer & It's Impact

00:31:56 Your Inner Child Is Always with You

00:35:49 The Exercise: What's It Like on the Other Side of Me?

00:38:30 Making Assessments and Acting Like They're Facts

00:40:00 Onsite: Growth as a Human, Not Just a Leader

00:45:28 How Dialog Changes After Connection

00:50:10 The Myth of Work-Life Balance

00:57:00 The Number One Skill Is Curiosity

01:00:25 Regenerative Leadership: Bringing Soul Back

01:01:58 Three Lessons from Janet's Living Centered Program

01:04:28 The Plot Twist: It's Not Just Leadership, It's Life

Tyler Hubbard: Becoming Yourself When the World Knows You as Half of Florida Georgia Line Dec 17, 2025

Show notes

What if the person you became after tragedy is exactly who you were meant to be?

Can you rebuild a friendship after the world watched it fall apart?

Tyler Hubbard built one of the biggest acts in country music history with Florida Georgia Line: breaking records, selling out stadiums, and changing the genre forever. But before the charts and the spotlight, he was a kid from small-town Georgia washing cars to make ends meet, learning work ethic from a father who collected people the way most collect things, and finding solace in music during the hardest moment of his life.

In this raw conversation, Tyler opens up about losing his father, Roy Hubbard, at 20 in a tragic accident, and the real story behind Florida Georgia Line's breakup. A story that is not the political narrative the internet created, but the human one about boundaries, business decisions, and two friends navigating an impossible season during a pandemic. Tyler also shares stories about why he played the inauguration, how he met his wife, Hayley, and knew she was the one, and why he's finally ready to let people see the man behind the brand.

This is a conversation about second chances, choosing faith over fear, and why sometimes the hardest thing to do is simply tell the truth.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

How to Turn Tragedy Into Faith Instead of Bitterness
How Your Childhood Work Ethic Shapes Your Adult Success
How to Navigate Partnership Breakups Without Destroying the Relationship
How to Set Boundaries When Your Business Partner Wants Something Different
How to Handle Public Criticism Based on False Narratives
How to Stay in the Middle When the World Demands You Pick a Side
How to Process Grief While Building a Career
How to Rebuild a Friendship After Years of Silence
How to Lead with Your Values When Everyone's Watching
How to Be Vulnerable Without Being a Victim

Follow Human School:
YouTube - Human School Podcast
Instagram - @humanschoolofficial
Threads - @humanschoolofficial
TikTok - @humanschoolofficial

Learn More About Onsite

Explore Programs - www.experienceonsite.com

Talk with Our Team - (800) 341-7432

What We Discuss:
00:01:21 The Man Behind the Brand You Think You Know
00:03:09 Why Tyler Has Been Afraid to Tell His Story
00:06:15 The Victim Narrative vs. Authentic Vulnerability
00:17:14 Growing Up Small Town Georgia
00:22:30 Dad's Advice: "You Do Not Let Them Outwork You"
00:35:17 When Music Became More Than a Hobby
00:40:26 The Cultural Diversity in Georgia That Shaped Tyler's Sound
00:49:38 Going Against the Grain - Why Tyler Never Fits the Mold
00:51:21 The Day Everything Fell Apart - Losing His Dad
01:00:03 The Unexplainable Peace That Came Through Tragedy
01:09:05 Meeting Brian Kelley & the Birth of Florida Georgia Line
01:19:03 The Groundwork Years - Building Florida Georgia Line From a Van
01:26:51 When "Cruise" Took Off and Changed Everything
01:34:10 Meeting Haley and Choosing Home Over the Road
01:42:11 The Fall of 2020 - When Tyler's World Collapsed
01:51:55 The Phone Call That Ended Florida Georgia Line
01:57:02 Why Tyler Unfollowed BK - The Human Mistake That Went Public
02:08:10 The Inauguration Invitation That Created a False Narrative
02:20:24 "I Don't Follow a Politician, I Follow Jesus"
02:27:43 The Truth About the FGL Breakup vs. What the Internet Says
02:39:17 Where They Are Now: Rebuilding What Was Lost with BK
02:51:03 What Tyler Wants His Kids to Know

03:12:16 The Problem With Picking Sides in a Divided System03:14:10 When Being Patriotic Doesn't Mean Picking a Party03:17:00 Message to the Critics - Know the Truth Before You Judge

Ashley Gorley: Staying Human When Everyone Expects You to Be a Machine Dec 10, 2025

Show notes

What does it mean to have more number one songs than anyone in country music history and still struggle with sleepless nights, wondering if any of it matters?

What if the machine everyone thinks you are is actually just a person trying to figure out why they're here?

Ashley Gorley has written more number-one songs than anyone in country music history. His work has shaped the sound of modern country music through hits recorded by Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Morgan Wallen, and countless others. But the numbers don't tell his story.

Ashley grew up in Danville, Kentucky, a small farm town where sports were everything and nobody he knew loved their job. He moved to Nashville for college, then spent eleven years grinding before his first real success. He has built a career on a simple goal: to write "songwriter" on his taxes.

Despite achieving what most would consider impossible, including 85+ number one songs, induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and running one of Nashville's most successful publishing companies, Ashley found himself wrestling with the weight of wondering what it all means.

Partnering with The Onsite Foundation, the success of the hit "I Am Not Okay" with Jelly Roll funded the Creatives Support Network, a place where songwriters can process their stories and struggles in a therapeutic space for no charge.

Today's conversation is an honest look at what it takes to stay human when everyone expects you to be a machine, how to carry success without letting it carry you, and why the best legacy has nothing to do with the songs you write.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

How to Navigate Rejection Even at the Top of Your Field

How Your Greatest Compliment Might Have Nothing to Do With Your Career

How to Set Goals You Can Actually Control

How to Recognize When Being "Used" Is Actually Okay

How to Build Time for Vulnerability Into High-Pressure Creative Spaces

How to Dissolve Yourself and Write for Someone Else's Voice

How to Protect Your Family When Your Career Demands Everything

How to Process the Gap Between Achievement and Fulfillment

How to Turn Success Into Service for Your Creative Community

Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most. - Miles Adcox

Follow Human School:
YouTube - Human School Podcast
Instagram - @humanschoolofficial
Threads - @humanschoolofficial
TikTok - @humanschoolofficial

What We Discuss:

00:01:38 Ashley Gorley: Introduction

00:07:03 Growing Up in Danville, Kentucky: Where Sports Were Everything

00:14:18 The ACL Tear That Changed Everything

00:17:08 The Moment He Discovered Songwriting Was Actually a Job

00:19:01 The Eleven-Year Grind Before Anything Made Money

00:21:13 The Truth About Networking in Nashville

00:26:00 When the Spotlight Gets Too Bright: Protecting Privacy in a Public Industry

00:30:05 Why Being Critical of Songs for a Living Makes Life Harder

00:38:35 The Counterbalance: His Wife

00:41:09 Curating Environments vs. Living in Them—The Trap of High Expectations

00:43:17 The Myth That You Have to Choose Between Success and a Life

00:49:03 Why "I Am Not Okay" Became More Than a Song

00:52:08 The 95% Rejection Rate Nobody Talks About

00:58:11 Never Set Goals You Can't Control—The Wisdom That Changed Everything

01:03:53 His Daughter's Hall of Fame Speech: The Greatest Thing Ever Written About Him

01:06:15 Why Being Present Matters More Than Being Prolific

01:09:34 The Myth of the Machine—And the Human Behind the Hits

01:14:05 Opening the Door to Vulnerability in the Writing Room

01:18:03 Writing "I Am Not Okay"—The Ten-Minute Freestyle That Became a Movement

01:21:29 The Creative Support Network: Fully Funded Therapy for Struggling Songwriters

01:29:30 The Struggle He Still Can't Shake: "Does This Even Matter?"

01:31:30 Go After Your Core Relationships the Way You Go After Your Career

01:34:25 The Moving Target of Success and Why Small-Town Sideline Parents Might Have It Right

Victor The Good Boss: A Story About Second Chances For the People Who Need Them Most Dec 03, 2025

Show notes

What if the person society gave up on is one conversation away from changing their entire life?

What if the best leaders don't wait for people to ask for help, but they go find them?

Victor Oliveira, known to millions as "The Good Boss," doesn't just talk about second chances. He drives the streets looking for people who need one. From buying coffee for his employees to pulling over on highways to offer hope to people living on the streets, Victor has built a movement around one simple truth: everyone deserves to be seen as equals who've just been through different struggles.

Victor's story didn't start with generosity. It started in a Massachusetts state prison, where a young man who'd dropped out of high school and fallen into drug dealing sat on a prison bed and decided his life wasn't over. That two-year sentence became his reset button.

In this raw and moving conversation, Victor opens up about the monumental moments that happened before becoming the man millions now know for stopping on the side of the road and asking one question: "Do you want help?" Through the stories he has been a part of, Victor reveals why refusing to hold people's hands and giving tough love is often what can help change people's stories.

This is a conversation about redemption, leadership, and what it really means to see people. Victor doesn't just save lives. He reminds us that the most overlooked person in your city might be the one who changes everything if someone just stops long enough to care.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

How to Turn a Prison Sentence Into a Second Chance at Life
How to Offer Opportunity Without Enabling Dependence
How to Approach Someone Living on the Streets With Dignity and Respect
How to Build a Business That Reflects Your Values From Day One
How to Navigate the Treatment World With No Experience and Pure Determination
How to Raise Money and Manage Resources for People in Crisis
How to Balance Tough Love With Radical Compassion
How to Use Social Media to Inspire a Movement of Generosity
How to Teach Your Kids That Everyone Deserves Kindness, Not Judgment
How to Create Ripple Effects That Change Lives You'll Never Meet

Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most. - Miles Adcox

Follow Human School:

YouTube - Human School Podcast

Instagram - @humanschoolofficial

Threads - @humanschoolofficial

TikTok - @humanschoolofficial

What We Discuss:

00:00 Intro - Welcome to Human School

00:02:05 From Average Guy to Prison - Victor's Early Story

00:05:53 Selling Drugs to Control the Habit - The Beginning of the End

00:07:52 What State Prison in Massachusetts Was Really Like

00:09:02 Seeing the Pattern - Why People Reoffend Without Family Support

00:12:51 Starting a Landscaping Business While on Bail

00:15:07 The Freedom and Nerves of Leaving Prison

00:17:06 What It Means to Be "The Good Boss" - Leadership Through Action

00:21:20 Driving Job to Job and Seeing People Holding Signs - The First Video

00:22:03 The Viral Moment That Started Everything - Meeting Kevin

00:24:37 Learning the Treatment World From Scratch

00:27:16 Building a Nonprofit With No Idea What He Was Doing

00:37:50 The Airport Story

00:39:03 Tay From Las Vegas - Reuniting a Father With His Kids After Five Years

00:39:42 Where the Money Goes - Transportation, Sober Living, and Fresh Starts

00:41:25 Case Managing Every Person - Interventionist, Placement Specialist, and Lifeline

00:42:17 The App That Will Change Everything - A Menu of Stories People Can Support

00:47:12 The Ripple Effect - Why Generosity Inspires More Generosity

00:48:13 What Victor Wants for His Two Daughters - Prevention and Compassion

00:50:02 How Jelly Roll and Victor Connected - A DM in the Orlando Airport

00:51:37 Finding Sean in Florida - The Kid From the Viral Hallelujah Video

00:55:30 How You Can Support - Do Something Good Right Now

Moments with Miles: When the Life You Built Starts to Stretch You Nov 27, 2025

Show notes

What if the thing that's exhausting you is actually the life you once begged the universe for?

What if your tiredness isn't evidence of failure, but proof that you're living a life that asks something of you?

In this solo episode, Miles Adcox shares a message that unexpectedly resonated with millions. But before unpacking why this landed so deeply, he tells a story that changed his entire perspective on gratitude, loss, and what we choose to focus on.

Miles opens up about the tension between being tired and being grateful, between feeling overwhelmed by the life you built and remembering you once dreamed about having it. He reveals why so much of the advice we hear about rest and unplugging can feel idealistic when you're in the thick of raising kids, leading teams, or building something from nothing. This isn't about glorifying burnout or romanticizing exhaustion. It's about learning to hold two truths at once: you can be stretched and still be exactly where you're supposed to be.

Miles goes deep into the concept of reframing, explaining how shifting the way we interpret our experience changes how our brain and body hold it. He shares the psychological principle that "gratitude without honesty is denial, but honesty without gratitude is despair."

This conversation will help you see that not everything stretching you is breaking you; sometimes it's growing you.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

How to distinguish between exhaustion that drains you and exhaustion that sustains you
How a brown dead spot in a yard became a prized possession and shifted everything
How to reframe "I have to" into "I get to" without denying the weight you're carrying
How psychological reframing changes the way your brain and body hold stress
How to hold both tiredness and gratitude without falling into denial or despair
How to recognize if your overwhelm is evidence of purpose, not failure
How the life you dreamed about still asks something of you (and why that's not a problem)
How to notice whether you're the victim of your momentum or the author of it
How to find dignity in your fatigue by asking one simple question
How to practice honesty and gratitude at the same time without choosing just one

Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most. - Miles Adcox

Follow Human School:

YouTube - Human School Podcast

Instagram - @humanschoolofficial

Threads - @humanschoolofficial

TikTok - @humanschoolofficial

What We Discuss:

00:00:00:00 Intro - Welcome to Human School

00:00:30 Miles's Introduction

00:01:35 The story of Dakota

00:09:00 How subtle perspective shifts get our attention

00:11:04 Why advice to "slow down" can feel idealistic

00:13:27 The psychology of reframing: how shifting interpretation changes everything

00:14:35 The art is learning to hold both

Dax: What Happens When You Finally Take the Shot You've Been Too Afraid to Take Nov 19, 2025

Show notes

What if the anger you've been running from is actually the fuel you need?

What happens when an 11-year-old discovers manifestation, commits a decade to basketball, then rewrites his entire life story with a poem on a bus?

Dax has built a career on saying what most people are afraid to say out loud. He is blending hip hop, gospel and country influences into music speaking from a place of raw vulnerability. But before the millions of followers and sold-out tours, he was a kid who felt invisible.

In this conversation, Dax opens up about discovering the Law of Attraction at age 11, spending ten years in what he calls an "unhealthy commitment" to basketball, and the pivotal moment on a team bus when he wrote his first poem and opened up a new outcome for his life. He reveals his ten-month journey of sobriety, confronting the tough questions and realizations of his lifestyle that changed everything.

Dax shares how anger became his alchemy; not something to escape, but a force he learned to harness through repetition and mental discipline. From mental health walks to the liquor store to performing sober for the first time, Dax's story is about transforming every rejection, every missed opportunity, and every uncomfortable emotion into art that changes lives.

This is a conversation about standing in your divinity, taking the jump when it matters most, and discovering that the person you're chasing when you drink is actually who you already are when you're fully present.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

How to Transform Anger Into Your Greatest Motivator
How the Law of Attraction Changed Everything at Age 11
How to Use Repetition as Your Only Real Superpower
How Missing Your Shot Can Become Your Greatest Teacher
How to Build an Audience From Zero to Millions Through Strategic Focus
How to Know When Alcohol Has Stopped Being a Tool and Started Being a Crutch
How to Perform Without the Substance You Thought You Needed
How to Quiet the Noise of the World So You Can Hear God's Voice
How to Give Yourself Six Months of Real Focus to Change Your Life

Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most.

- Miles Adcox

Follow Human School:

YouTube - Human School Podcast

Instagram - @humanschoolofficial

Threads - @humanschoolofficial

TikTok - @humanschoolofficial

What We Discuss:

00:00:00 Intro - Welcome to Human School

00:00:30 Meet Dax: Artist, Poet, and Truth Teller

00:03:45 Discovering The Secret and the Law of Attraction at Age 11

00:09:00 Walking Into Seventh Grade Feeling Completely Invisible

00:11:40 Kobe vs. Jordan: What Dax Learned From the Greatest

00:19:10 When Anger Becomes Alchemy Instead of Destruction

00:25:35 The Hidden Cost of Medications We Use to Numb

00:30:50 Writing His First Poem on a Bus to a Basketball Game

00:34:55 Mental Health Walks to the Liquor Store in College

00:37:15 The Game That Changed Everything: Getting Called In With 30 Seconds Left

00:45:50 How to Get Your Art to the People Who Need It

00:50:25 The Oprah Story: Learning to Stand in Your Divinity

00:59:05 From 0 to 10K Followers: The Button Poetry Strategy

01:03:15 Why We're Losing the Ability to Think and Only Learning to Feel

01:08:40 When Dax Realized Drinking Had Become Unsustainable

01:12:30 Writing "Dear Alcohol" and Confronting the Truth

01:16:49 Why Presence Is the Currency the World Is Starving For

01:21:30 Discovering He Could Sing in a College Class He Almost Skipped

01:26:24 Faith, God, and a Mother Who Prays All Day

01:36:40 The Importance of Visual Storytelling: Why Dax Makes a Video for Every Song

Will Guidara: The Night He Came in Last Changed Everything Nov 12, 2025

Show notes

What does it cost to be exceptional at something? And is that price worth paying? How do you know when competitiveness becomes calling—or when it just becomes noise?

Will Guidara grew up in restaurants, watching his father balance being a Hall of Fame dad while caring for Will's mother, who developed quadriplegia after a brain cancer diagnosis. At 12 years old, a single dinner at The Four Seasons changed everything. That night sparked a journey that would take him from Cornell to working for legendary restaurateur Danny Meyer, eventually transform Eleven Madison Park into the #1 restaurant in the world. But this isn't a story about climbing to the top; it's about what happened after.

Will opens up about the night he came in dead last on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list and how that became the catalyst for completely reimagining what excellence could mean. He shares the legendary stories behind the restaurant's most magical moments. Then COVID hit, allowing Will to rethink his next steps in the New York restaurant scene.

Miles and Will explore the danger of tying your entire identity to your work, what it means to welcome people truly, and why small gestures matter more than grand productions. This conversation is about hospitality as a philosophy for life—turning toward people with curiosity, being fully present, and remembering that excellence and empathy can live in the same room.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

How to Turn Adversity Into Your Greatest Teacher Instead of Your Biggest Enemy
How to Know If Competitiveness Is Serving You or Destroying You
How to Create Unreasonable Hospitality in Any Relationship or Work You Do
How to Recognize When Your Identity Has Become Too Wrapped Up in What You Do
How to Be Intentional and Creative in the Pursuit of the Relationships That Matter
How to Give Yourself Grace to Feel Disappointment Before Jumping Into Cheerleader Mode
How to Create Margin When Everything You're Invited to Feels Meaningful
How to Make People Feel Seen With the Smallest Gestures
How to Evaluate Opportunities Using Three Simple Questions

Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most.

Miles Adcox

Follow Human School:

YouTube - Human School Podcast

Instagram - @humanschoolofficial

Threads - @humanschoolofficial

TikTok - @humanschoolofficial

What We Discuss:

00:00:00 Intro - Welcome to Human School with Will Guidara

00:01:36 Why We All Still Need Praise and Affirmation No Matter How Much We've Accomplished

00:04:06 Criticism Is Not a Bad Word - Why We've Given Negative Connotations to Helpful Things

00:10:27 How Hospitality Could Actually Heal the Division We're All Feeling

00:14:01 How Will's Dad Became His Hero While Caring for His Mom and Running Restaurants

00:16:36 The First Time Will Went to The Four Seasons and Fell in Love With Fine Dining

00:18:00 Why Understanding the Higher Purpose of Your Work Changes Everything on Hard Days

00:21:20 The Email That Changed Everything - Being Ranked #50 on the World's 50 Best List

00:26:10 Why Leaning Into What Never Changes Is the Answer When Everything Is Changing

00:29:16 The Dream Weavers - Hiring People Whose Only Job Was Turning Details Into Memories

00:31:49 The Night They Became the #1 Restaurant in the World in Melbourne

00:47:08 Why They Immediately Closed the Restaurant to Rebuild It Into Their Dream

00:49:41 How COVID Gave Will the Gift of Deciding What to Do Next Instead of Just Reacting

00:52:05 The Conversation About Margin - Why It's So Hard to Create Space in a Full Life

00:55:05 Why "No" Is Not a Bad Word - Learning to Protect Your Time and Energy

00:59:36 Knowing There Will Be a Day When No One Cares Who You Are

01:05:21 The Reminder That You Hold the Flashlight

01:10:20 Becoming a Producer on The Bear

01:13:00 What Will Is Working on Now - A Season of Going With the Flow

01:17:03 The Three Buckets for Saying Yes

01:20:10 Will's Dad's Advice on Finding Inspiration Everywhere

Annie F. Downs: The Cost of Being Everyone’s Bridge to Something Better Nov 04, 2025

Show notes

What if the person who always makes things sound fun is actually doing the hardest work of all?

What does it cost to be the bridge that connects people to their next true thing—knowing you might get walked on, knowing they might never come back, knowing you have to keep showing up anyway?

Annie F. Downs has built a New York Times bestselling writing career, launched an award-winning podcast, and created a network that reaches millions. But beneath the joy she's known for is a woman who's learning to hold grief in one hand and hope in the other—and not let go of either.

As an Enneagram 7, Annie's wired to chase joy and avoid pain, to keep moving, to make everything sound fun. But life doesn't work that way. And in this conversation, she opens up about what happens when the fun runs out and you're left sitting in the hard stuff alone.

Annie reveals the true cost of being a "trusted bridge"—a person who connects others to what matters most, even when it means they'll walk right past you to get there. She shares about the loneliness that comes with public life, the parts people don't see: grieving alone, making impossible decisions, carrying financial weight, and the exhausting work of showing up when you'd rather disappear. She talks about losing someone who believed in her, about learning to sit in grief rather than run from it, and about why she's planning to shut down her entire company for the summer of 2027—a radical sabbatical practice inspired by biblical wisdom about letting fields rest.

This is a conversation about what it means to make joy and grief roommates, to trust your calling when it gets hard, and to keep showing up as yourself even when yourself isn't always fun.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

How to Be a Bridge Without Getting Walked All Over
How Your Enneagram Type Shapes Your Relationship with Pain
How to Hold Joy and Grief in the Same Moment
How to Lead a Public Life Without Losing Your Private Self
How to Know Your Calling When Everything Feels Hard
How to Rest From What You've Done and Toward What You're Building
How to Build Community When You're Deeply Lonely
How to Sit in Grief Instead of Running From It
How to Make Peace With What You Can't Control
How to Trust Your Voice Even When People Walk Right Past You
How to Practice Sabbath in a World That Never Stops
How to Build Things That Don't Exist Yet
How to Be "Both/And" in an "Either/Or" World
How to Keep Going When Your Why Gets Heavy

Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most.

- Miles Adcox

Join the Human School community at humanschool.com for exclusive content, resources, and conversations that support the betterment of humanity.

Follow Human School:

YouTube - Human School Podcast

Instagram - @humanschoolofficial

Threads - @humanschoolofficial

TikTok - @humanschoolofficial

What We Discuss:

00:00:00 - Intro: Welcome to Human School

00:01:29 - Why Annie Calls Herself a "Trusted Bridge"

00:05:30 - The Parts of Public Life People Don't See

00:09:42 - How Enneagram 7s Avoid Pain by Chasing Joy

00:12:15 - When the Fun Person Has to Sit in Grief

00:17:28 - Learning to Hold Joy and Grief at the Same Time

00:24:56 - When Community Feels Far Away Even When You're Surrounded

00:36:55 - When Your Mission Means Losing Your Audience

00:46:09 - Making Peace With What You Can't Control

00:53:42 - Planning a Full Summer Sabbatical in 2027

01:12:29 - Breaking Into New Areas of Media

01:28:34 - Making Faith Attractive and Invitational Instead of Activating

01:36:06 - Final Thoughts: We're Going to Make It

Judah Smith: How to Stay Human When Everyone’s Watching Oct 28, 2025

Show notes

Have you ever felt like you're performing your life instead of actually living it?

Today, Miles Adcox sits down with pastor, author, and communicator Judah Smith for a conversation about confidence, criticism, and the courage it takes to lead with gentleness in a world that rewards strength. Judah grew up as a seventh-generation pastor, watching his father build a church from 20 people in a Courtyard Marriott to a thriving community. But what shaped Judah most wasn't the legacy—it was his father telling him from age seven: "People like you, and they want to hear what you have to say."

This conversation goes deep into the duplicity that haunts anyone in the public eye—the chasm between who we are on stage and who we are at home. The label "celebrity pastor" gets unpacked as Judah shares what it's really like to be a safe place for public figures while his own profile grows, navigating interviews that aren't about his message but about his friends. Miles reflects on one of the saddest realities for well-known people: they lose the ability to ever make a first impression again. Everyone makes up a story about who they are before they even open their mouth.

From breaking tennis rackets to breaking down barriers, from his dad getting on his knees to ask his son to pray for him before he died to parenting his own kids with radical repair instead of toxic comparison, Judah reveals what it means to stop performing and start participating. He shares his preparation method—studying himself full, praying himself hot, and letting himself go—and why he imagines the life story of a stranger in the audience before every sermon. Miles and Judah discuss why the best family moments happen in the environment of repair and why artists are the ones who bring us together when the world gets polarized.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

How Confidence Gets Built (Or Broken) in Childhood
How to Stop Performing and Start Being Yourself
How to Close the Gap Between Public and Private
How to Handle Criticism Without Becoming Defensive
How Repair Defeats Comparison in Parenting
How to Prepare Without Overthinking
How to Love Your Audience More Than Your Message
How to Separate the Human From What They Do
How to Lose the Ability to Make a First Impression
How to Reach Out to People Who've Hurt You
How to Make the Table Big Enough for Everyone

Welcome to Human School, where we learn what matters most.

Miles Adcox

Join the Human School community at humanschool.com for exclusive content, resources, and conversations that support the betterment of humanity.

Follow Human School:
YouTube - Human School Podcast
Instagram - @humanschoolofficial
Threads - @humanschoolofficial
TikTok - @humanschoolofficial

What We Discuss:

00:00 Intro - Welcome to Human School
03:41 Playing Tight End at a Small School: Graduating With 94 People
06:42 Why Judah Quit Football for Tennis (And Basketball)
08:43 Where the Drive to Be the Best Comes From
09:11 "People Like You and Want to Hear What You Have to Say"
12:17 The Day Confidence Broke
14:59 His Dad's Response
20:46 Meeting People Where They Really Are, Not Where You Think They Are
24:50 "I Didn't Believe I Was Smart"
27:48 Imagining the Life of a Stranger in the Audience Before Every Sermon
30:24 The Human Behind the Craft: How Does It Serve You?
36:58 "Here's Where I Get It Wrong Sometimes"
41:14 Working With Celebrities
51:04 Handling Criticism
01:07:12 Repair, Not Compare
01:15:39 Losing His Dad at 30
01:35:26 Why Storytellers Need More Grace and Less Comparison

Jelly Roll: How to Break Free From Your Past and Build the Life You're Meant to Live Oct 21, 2025

Show notes

Have you ever been so stuck in your past that you couldn't see your future?

What if the person you used to be is the exact reason you can help someone else become who they're meant to be?

Today, Miles Adcox sits down with Grammy-nominated artist and advocate Jelly Roll for a raw, unfiltered conversation about redemption, rage, and the messy road from rock bottom to purpose. From stealing TVs from bars to pay his band, to being intoxicated in sketchy venues, to the moment his daughter was born while he was locked up in Davidson County Jail—Jelly Roll's journey isn't polished or easy. Known for vulnerable songs like "Save Me" and "I Am Not Okay," Jelly Roll has transformed his wounds into songs that give millions permission to admit they're struggling too.

This conversation goes places most interviews don't dare. Jelly Roll opens up about his affair with his wife Bunny, calling it "one of the worst moments of my adulthood," and shares how they've rebuilt their relationship stronger than ever through repair and presence. He reveals his ongoing battle with food addiction and how he is overcoming it day by day. They discuss his Damascus Road moment in jail when he learned his daughter Bailey was born, the rage that was his default emotion, and how signing up for the GED program while surrounded by convicts became his first act of humility.

Miles and Jelly Roll explore the power of changing your circle — how, when you hang around nine people long enough, you become the tenth.

The conversation reveals Jelly Roll's purpose work—why walking into jails and juvenile detention centers is where he feels most relaxed and most alive. They discuss the Jericho program, Sheriff Darren Hall's grace in placing him in the education unit despite his charges, and how that decision changed the entire trajectory of his life.

From the Grand Ole Opry to WWE SummerSlam training, from IVF struggles with surrogacy to buying an entire farm after his Onsite experience, from the pre-show prayer that evolved from bar fights to the basketball court where he values assists over baskets—this conversation reveals the human behind the headlines. Jelly Roll shares his father's profound prayer story about a difficult coworker named John, teaching that prayer often changes us more than it changes our circumstances. Miles offers his own two-word prayer for the broken: "Whatever" in the morning, "Enough" at night.

In this conversation, you'll learn: