Spirit of the Deal

About Spirit of the Deal

Spirit of the Deal is where sales meets soul. Hosted by Brandon Handley, this podcast explores the deeper currents beneath high performance and success—what happens when spiritual alignment, intention, and purpose converge in business. While rooted in the Superhuman Selling framework, each episode goes beyond tactics, tapping into the inner work that unlocks outer results. We're not just closing deals—we're opening portals to our highest potential. Tune in for unfiltered conversations, practical tools, and transformative insights designed to help you sell with power, presence, and purpose.

Publisher

Brandon Handley & Guests

Category

business · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

31 May 2020

Latest episode

2 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 287 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   2 Nov 2026

   You're Not Broken, We're Wounded | Marci Hopkins

   Marci Hopkins walked into the wrong mall. That is where the story turns. She had a modeling gig. She had spent years carrying a bottle of wine in her bag, her liquid courage, because she was too nervous to be seen without it. That day she convinced herself she could walk the show sober. She was proud of herself. Then she found out she was at the wrong mall. So she drove to the right one, drinking the whole way. She met a friend afterward for drinks. She got her third DUI at forty-five years old. Her first two came around twenty. She went to bed a victim, the way she always had: her husband's fault, her life's fault, everyone's fault but hers. She woke up the next morning and heard her own voice for the first time in decades. What are you doing, Marci? You are about to lose this life that you built. Sober since October 4, 2015. The part most people get wrong, and the part she says out loud in this episode: she did not get sober to quit drinking. She got sober to get her life back. Those are two different deals and only one of them holds. Before any of that there was a house where her mother drank every day. A boyfriend who beat her at six years old. A choice, offered to a child, between her mother and her grandparents, and the abandonment that came when she told her mother what happened and nothing changed. At twelve her mother remarried, and the sexual abuse started six months in. She got drunk for the first time at that wedding. She ran. She drank. She achieved. A program at the Art Institute, then an internship in television, then Liberty Sports Communications, then a manager job at Fox Sports Rocky Mountain. Engaged, house in Denver, career climbing, and dying the whole time. A month before the wedding she left the job, sold the house, ended the relationship, and moved to Los Angeles. Then the party really started. What changed is not dramatic. She describes it as a switch, and switches are quiet. The work after the switch is what this conversation is actually about: letting go of the ego, learning to ask for help after a lifetime of never asking, eating the candy and the olives because her body was screaming for the sugar it used to get by the gallon, and getting quiet enough to find out who she was underneath the noise. A gratitude jar. Mornings that start with meditation instead of a screen. Kundalini yoga. Inner child work. The twelve steps, which she calls life-changing, especially the amends and the part where you stop being the only victim in your own story. And the reframe that runs under all of it: you are not broken, you are wounded. She says it twice, like she needs you to hear it. She built Coffee with Marci, then Wake Up with Marci, then three Telly Awards and two Anthem Awards and a nationally syndicated show she retired at the top, because the vehicle changed and the mission did not. Now there is a podcast, two more Tellys, and a new book, Wake Up, You're Not Broken: A Companion for Your First 30 Days of Sobriety. Ask her what she would do if she lost all of it tomorrow and kept only her sobriety, and she does not say rebuild the business. She says she would be with her kids. One brick at a time. That is the whole method. ACTION ITEMS: 1. Start a gratitude jar this week. One small thing, written down, every day. She says that is where her shift actually started. 2. In the first thirty days, stop white-knuckling and allow harm reduction. If your body wants candy or salt or olives, let it have them for now. 3. Put meditation before the phone. Ten quiet minutes in the morning before anyone needs anything from you. 4. Ask one person for help out loud. She survived by never asking, and unlearning that was the real work. 5. Do the honest inventory: write down your part in what happened, not only what was done to you. That was the step that broke the victim story open. 6. When the fear shows up, say yes anyway. The what-am-I-doing-here moment is the entrance, not a stop sign. RESOURCES & LINKS: - Wake Up with Marci (official site): https://wakeupwithmarci.com/ - Marci Hopkins (official site): https://www.marci-hopkins.com/ - Wake Up with Marci on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wakeupwithmarci - Telly Awards: https://www.tellyawards.com/ - Anthem Awards: https://www.anthemawards.com/ - Alcoholics Anonymous (the twelve steps she credits): https://www.aa.org/ - Spirit of the Deal: session feedback and booking: https://brandonghandley.com/session-feedback/

2. 

   26 Oct 2026

   Breathwork, Brandon Novak, and the Space Between Versions of You

   Brandon's been gone a minute. Life happened — dog died, the daily grind wore thin, and the mic gathered dust. But here's the thing about silence: it's never empty. He's been over at Novak's place teaching breathwork — yeah, *that* Novak from Jackass — watching men's armor crack open in real time. The fascia hardens around your shoulders and chest when you're stuck in survival mode. Your body literally builds a cage. Breath is the solvent. But here's the kicker nobody talks about: when the armor dissolves, you don't feel free. You feel naked. A void opens up. And every old pattern, every anxious script, every 'crazy' you've ever known comes rushing back to fill it. That's the moment. That's the whole game. Brandon sits in that void with you — no toxic positivity, no bypassing. He talks about the Plymouth Horizon his grandmother gave him, how new tires taught him you don't notice things working until they're fixed. He references Sapolsky's *Determined* while stuck in traffic, wrestling with free will and generational inheritance. You are who you are because of everything that came before. Stop judging the armor. Stop judging the void. The question isn't how to avoid the crazy — it's who you're willing to become when the dust settles. One leg at a time. Like putting on new jeans. Uncomfortable at first. Then yours. Key Takeaways ·         Your body builds physical armor (hardened fascia) in survival mode — breathwork acts as a solvent to dissolve it. ·         The void after armor falls isn't failure — it's the opening where old patterns rush back *or* where a new self can emerge. ·         You don't notice what's working (health, friends, spirituality) until something breaks — like new tires on a beater car. ·         Judging your old patterns keeps you stuck; recognizing them as inherited survival wiring lets you breathe through them. ·         Becoming a new version of yourself feels wrong at first — like new jeans — and that discomfort is the proof it's real. Resources & Entities Mentioned ·         Brandon Novak ·         Jackass ·         Robert Sapolsky ·         Determined (book) ·         Plymouth Horizon ·         Novak's facility ·         Fatherhood for the Rest of Us ·         Spirit of the Deal podcast ·         Spiritual Dope podcast

3. 

   19 Oct 2026

   If I Would Have Overthought This, I'd Still Be in Germany | Dr. Christiane Schroeter

   Dr. Christiane Schroeterwalked into her Fulbright interview straight from work, zero prep, while everyone else recited statehood dates like scripture. She got the scholarship. Curiosity over credentials, presence over performance. That moment became her operating system. A German academic turned Cal Poly professor, TEDx speaker, and creator of the Petite Practice Framework, she built a top-1% podcast (Happy Healthy Hustle) and a coaching business while teaching full-time. Not by grinding. By going small. Her PhD mathematically proved what her life confirmed: tiny wellness steps shift body weight. Same math runs business. Same math runs transformation. The breakthrough wasn't a lightning bolt. It was exhaustion. She caught herself in photos looking hollowed out, sleep-deprived, running on fumes. That's when the hustle lie cracked. She didn't need more discipline. She needed permission to celebrate. So she took her birthday month. Pool days. No clocks. Dinner on the patio watching the ocean. Chocolate-chip moments sprinkled across the calendar: coffee with a friend, a walk through the botanical garden, a band on the beach. Not rewards. Fuel. She calls it praising progress. The P in her STEP system: Simplify the big hairy goal. Tell someone your first microscopic step (sneakers by the door, 30 seconds). Examine the data without judgment. Praise the progress. Again. And again. She reframes failure as FAIL: First Attempt In Learning. Then SAIL: Second Attempt In Learning. You fall. You study the fall. You adjust. You catch wind. Telling your goal out loud rewires your brain. Neuroscience backs what mystics knew: speech creates pathway. Accountability locks it in. This episode isn't about productivity porn. It's about surrendering the lie that worth equals output, and building a life that feels like yours, one petite, joyful, utterly doable step at a time. Action Items (for the listener) 1.       Shrink your next goal until the first step takes 30 seconds. Put the sneakers by the door. That's the whole game. 2.       Tell one person your first microscopic step out loud today. Speech creates pathway, accountability locks it in. 3.       Reframe your last failure using FAIL (First Attempt In Learning) and take the SAIL (Second Attempt In Learning). 4.       Schedule three celebration moments this week like meetings on the calendar: coffee with a friend, a walk, something that's pure fuel. 5.       Examine your progress data without judgment this Sunday. No inner critic, just the numbers and the next tiny step. 6.       Audit the burnout: when did you last look at a photo of yourself and think 'who is that?' Use that as the signal to reset, not to grind harder. Guest Bio Dr. Christiane Schroeter is a business and wellness coach, professor at Cal Poly, TEDx speaker, and creator of the Petite Practice Framework. She hosts Happy Healthy Hustle, a top 1% globally ranked podcast. She moved from Germany to the U.S. on a Fulbright scholarship and researches how tiny, joyful, fuel-based habits create big momentum without burnout. Resources & Links ·         Happy Healthy Hustle Podcast (Dr. Schroeter's top 1% podcast): https://www.happyhealthyhustle.com/ ·         The Petite Practice Framework: https://www.happyhealthyhustle.com/ ·         Cal Poly Orfalea College of Business: https://business.calpoly.edu/

Inside a recent episode

The ROI of Coherence: Translating Inner Signals into Strategic Clarity W/Michael McAdams

Published 28 Dec 2025 · Transcript excerpt

[…] And when they're ready, they find you, or they find me in this information, and that will lead them to their next step on the journey. And we're all on a journey. We're born into this physical existence. And I tell people is that, you know, there is no debt. We never really die. It's just graduation. […]

Who has been a guest on Spirit of the Deal

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

• Michael McAdams
• Brandon G Handley
• Glenn Poulos
• Laura Grabavoy
• Laura Dionisio

Reach and audience

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

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

15 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

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

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