Practically on Purpose

About Practically on Purpose

For high-achieving humans learning to release expectation and embrace cultivate deeper meaning and purpose. Through honest reflections and soulful conversations, we'll explore how to release the pressure to perform and remember who you truly are. It's time to stop chasing the success story and step into your life. alliecanton.substack.com (https://alliecanton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Allie Canton

Category

business · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

18 Mar 2025

Latest episode

24 Feb 2026

Latest episodes

35 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   24 Feb 2026

   The Resume Game vs. Real Life

   What does it actually cost to take the road less traveled — and what do you get back? In this episode, I sit down with my Amherst classmate Blake Murphey: liberal arts kid, former finance intern, and US Navy intelligence officer of 13 years. Blake's career reads like something out of a novel — aircraft carrier Intel cells in the Persian Gulf, supporting a SEAL Team deployment in East Africa, NATO in Sicily (yes, on the slopes of Mount Etna), the Pentagon, and now working alongside the people who literally defuse bombs for a living. But what strikes me most isn't the résumé. It's how Blake thinks about time — not as a backdrop to ambition, but as the whole point. We wander through the invisible curriculum of elite college culture: why so many brilliant people funnel into finance (spoiler: it's not just the money), what it actually felt like to leave that path, and what 13 years of high-pressure intelligence work teaches you about staying present when your amygdala is running the show. We also talk about the song Blake sings in his head when everything goes blank under pressure. It's Bob Seger. It works. And honestly, it makes complete sense. This is a conversation about the stories we inherit about success and the courage it takes to write a different one. In this episode: The "default path" trap at elite colleges — and why it's gotten more extreme Finance to the Navy: what a quarter-life crisis in London actually looks like Life as a Navy Intel officer: aircraft carriers, SEAL teams, East Africa, NATO, the Pentagon Working with EOD (the bomb defusal community) — and what extreme stress teaches you about your own mind Breath work, sports psychologists, and the Bob Seger method for resetting under pressure Why time — not titles, not money — is the only non-renewable resource "Do it now. You don't know what life looks like down the road." This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alliecanton.substack.com (https://alliecanton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

2. 

   10 Feb 2026

   Law Is For Smart People Who Don't Know What Else To Do

   Jordan Nahmias didn’t grow up dreaming of being an entertainment lawyer. He wanted to be an artist. But a professor suggested he write the LSAT, he did well, and suddenly he was on a track. Once you’re on the track, it’s easy to mistake momentum for destiny. “It is a well-worn groove,” he told me. “Once you’ve made the choice… the blinders are on.” He continued, “Law is the thing that smart people do when they don’t know what to do.” OOF For Jordan, there wasn’t one clean “I’m done” moment. It was more like epistemological dissonance, in his words. He knew for a long time, even going back to law school, but couldn't make himself act on that knowing. But then in 2021, he got into a fight with a long-term client and he was treated poorly in a way he could not shrug off. “I ended up firing them,” he said. “And that was really hard for me… but then I was like, whoa, wait a minute, you can fire people? You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to continually expose yourself to this.” And he realized that i you can fire one client, you can fire them all. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alliecanton.substack.com (https://alliecanton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

3. 

   27 Jan 2026

   Start Being Heard

   A Harvard Law grad, negotiation expert, and author of Unlearning Silence, Elaine has spent the last decade teaching people how to have difficult conversations. But it wasn’t until she confronted her own self-silencing that the real work began. We talk about how silence gets rewarded, how it gets internalized, and what it really means to reclaim voice. Bio Elaine Lin Hering (http://www.elainelinhering.com/) is a speaker, facilitator, and former Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. She works with organizations and individuals to build skills in communication, collaboration, and conflict management. She has worked on six continents and facilitated executive education at Harvard, Dartmouth, Tufts, UC Berkeley, and UCLA. She has served as the Advanced Training Director for the Harvard Mediation Program and a Managing Partner for a global leadership development firm. She has worked with coal miners at BHP Billiton, micro-finance organizers in East Africa, mental health professionals in China, and senior leadership at the US Department of Commerce. Her clients include American Express, Chevron, Google, Nike, Novartis, PayPal, Pixar, and the Red Cross. She was named a Thinkers50 global management thinker to watch and is the author of the USA Today Bestselling book Unlearning Silence: How to Speak Your Mind, Unleash Talent, and Live More Fully (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/720975/unlearning-silence-by-elaine-lin-hering/) (Penguin). * Free Newsletter: https://hello.elainelinhering.com/newsletter (https://hello.elainelinhering.com/newsletter) * Book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/720975/unlearning-silence-by-elaine-lin-hering/ (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/720975/unlearning-silence-by-elaine-lin-hering/) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit alliecanton.substack.com (https://alliecanton.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

Who has been a guest on Practically on Purpose

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Nneya Richards
• Amanda
• Catherine Pao
• Rachel Johnson
• Glenn DeVore

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

15,202

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 26 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

10

Social presence

0

YouTube

72

Engagement

32

Contact Practically on Purpose

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.