How to find your passion

Alexi answers listeners’ advice questions about what to do when they learn deal-breaking information about their fiancé, and how to deal with the feeling that disaster could be looming around every corner. Alexi also offers advice for relating to an uncertain future.  For a limited time, we’re partnering with Merrell to give you an exclusive offer of 25% off your first purchase using the code MENTORBUFFET2026 when you checkout on Merrell.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ultramarathoner Max Jolliffe joins host Alexi Pappas to share about his evolution as a person and athlete over the past few years, including how he’s formed the habit of choosing positivity, and how he’s learned to prioritize progress over perfection. Max recounts his third place finish at the Kodiak 100 last week, which qualifies him for next year’s UTMB—the most prestigious trail race in the world. Max shares about the challenges in his upbringing and the challenges of abusing substances in, and presents running as the vehicle that transformed his life. He’s grateful to have found his thing and says when you find your thing it will bring you amazing gifts. Among those gifts are Max’s many mentors, who he catalogs: his sponsor in AA Ray Coder, his friend JP Olson who got him into more serious running, the veteran local trail runners Jesse Haynes and Sally McRae, Max’s wife Mackenzie, trail running legend Courtney Dauwalter, and all around legend Cam Hanes.   Add a comfy pair of Merrell's to your rotation with 25% off your first purchase using the code MENTORBUFFET2026 at ⁠https://merrell.com⁠. If recovery is something you know you should be taking more seriously, visit ⁠https://therabody.com⁠ and use the code MENTORBUFFET at checkout for 15% off one product of your choice. Ready to upgrade your eyewear? Visit ⁠https://goodr.com/mentorbuffet⁠ to claim $10 off their first order. Visit https://GoBrewing.com/alexi50 for 50% first beer club subscription order with code ALEXI50. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alexi answers listeners' advice questions about getting in touch with your passion, how to make money if you don't want to work a 9-5, and how to choose which direction to go at a crossroads. For a limited time, we’re partnering with Merrell to give you an exclusive offer of 25% off your first purchase using the code MENTORBUFFET2026 when you checkout on Merrell.com.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Richard Linklater, the great filmmaker who made Boyhood, Before Sunrise, Dazed and Confused, and so many other movies you love, joins host Alexi Pappas on Mentor Buffet to share about protecting how he spends his time, why the art life is important to him, and how he relates to actors. Both having backgrounds in sports, Rick and Alexi also compare and contrast sports to the Arts. Rick recounts his first interactions on the internet and explains why he doesn’t have any social media. His worldview is centerstage every step along the way.  Add a comfy pair of Merrell's to your rotation with 25% off your first purchase using the code MENTORBUFFET2026 at ⁠https://merrell.com⁠. If recovery is something you know you should be taking more seriously, visit ⁠https://therabody.com⁠ and use the code MENTORBUFFET at checkout for 15% off one product of your choice. Ready to upgrade your eyewear? Visit ⁠https://goodr.com/mentorbuffet⁠ to claim $10 off their first order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Richard Linklater, the great filmmaker who made Boyhood, Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise, Slacker, and so many other movies you love, joins host Alexi Pappas to discuss what it has meant for him to listen to his passion and create his own path. Rick recounts community college professors he admired for living the Art life. He points to Henry David Thoreau as his greatest mentor for writing Walden, for demonstrating that the most important thing in life is to spend as much time doing exactly what you want. Another mentor figure Rick points to (“A ment—”) is Martin Shafer at Castle Rock who helped Rick get Before Sunrise made when the big movie studios wouldn’t offer him the same creative freedom. Rick also shares about admiring Frank Zappa. Alexi and Rick talk about the differences between sports and the arts, and Rick shares why he prefers the Art life. In this conversation with Alexi, Rick’s worldview comes through clearly—the world is trying to help you; the most important thing is to follow your sense of excitement; when you’re ready everybody else will sense it. And so much more. Rick Linklater on Mentor Buffet—enjoy. Another hour of this conversation will be released in a week.  Add a comfy pair of Merrell's to your rotation with 25% off your first purchase using the code MENTORBUFFET2026 at ⁠https://merrell.com⁠. If recovery is something you know you should be taking more seriously, visit ⁠https://therabody.com⁠ and use the code MENTORBUFFET at checkout for 15% off one product of your choice. Ready to upgrade your eyewear? Visit ⁠https://goodr.com/mentorbuffet⁠ to claim $10 off their first order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jenny Simpson, the World Champion and Olympic medalist track athlete, joins host Alexi Pappas to share about her experience with cardiac arrest, and the changes in her life that are coming as a result of never being able to run again. They talk about our relationship to the unexplainable, finding new teachers when we’ve outgrown old ones, and embracing the fact that we’re good at multiple things. Jenny shares about her relationship with her sister and the process of letting people show up for her.  Ready to upgrade your eyewear? Visit ⁠https://goodr.com/mentorbuffet⁠ to claim $10 off their first order. If recovery is something you know you should be taking more seriously, visit ⁠https://therabody.com⁠ and use the code MENTORBUFFET at checkout for 15% off one product of your choice. Add a comfy pair of Merrell's to your rotation with 25% off your first purchase using the code MENTORBUFFET2026 at ⁠https://merrell.com⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amelia Meath of Slyvan Esso joins host Alexi Pappas on Mentor Buffet to share about her Aunt Carol who showed her how to be free, what it means to means to share creative and romantic partnership with the same person, and how to build a scene. They talk about how there’s no such thing as “the best,” meeting your icons, and what it means to be guided by intuition. Amelia also shares the feeling she’s after and what it means. She calls it disappearing. Sylvan Esso’s new album “Ow ∞” is out September 11.  Buy “Ow Infinity” on Bandcamp: https://sylvanesso.bandcamp.com/album/ow.  If recovery is something you know you should be taking more seriously, visit ⁠https://therabody.com⁠ and use the code MENTORBUFFET at checkout for 15% off one product of your choice. Add a comfy pair of Merrell's to your rotation with 25% off your first purchase using the code MENTORBUFFET2026 at ⁠https://merrell.com⁠. Ready to upgrade your eyewear? Visit ⁠https://goodr.com/mentorbuffet⁠ to claim $10 off their first order. Visit https://GoBrewing.com/alexi50 for 50% first beer club subscription order with code ALEXI50. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Allie Rowbottom, the author of Aesthetica, Jell-o Girls, and now Lovers XXX joins Alexi on Mentor Buffet to share about the mentorship she’s experienced from her husband, the writer Jon Lindsey, from her mom, who was constantly writing during Allie’s adolescence, and from her professors—who offered her reading lists that accelerated her toward her taste and style and set deadlines for her. One of her professors was the writer Maggie Nelson. Allie and Alexi also discuss rejection, the nature of the internet, and the benefits of getting in touch with the worst case scenario. Allie shares the books she reads to study her craft and also explores mentorship dynamics between the characters in both Aesthetica and Lovers XXX, explaining the importance of characters that steer the story in the direction of conflict and then learning or growth. It’s a lovely conversation between two writers. Order Allie's new book, Lovers XXX: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1641297301?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback If recovery is something you know you should be taking more seriously, visit ⁠https://therabody.com⁠ and use the code MENTORBUFFET at checkout for 15% off one product of your choice. Add a comfy pair of Merrell's to your rotation with 25% off your first purchase using the code MENTORBUFFET2026 at ⁠https://merrell.com⁠. Ready to upgrade your eyewear? Visit ⁠https://goodr.com/mentorbuffet⁠ to claim $10 off their first order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alexi answers listeners' advice questions about navigating long-distance relationships with your friends and family, giving advice to somebody who doesn't accept advice easily, and dealing with being more intense or ambitious than your friends. She also offers wisdom on how to deal with being constantly busy, because she's constantly busy right now. Add a comfy pair of Merrells to your rotation with 25% off your first purchase using the code MENTORBUFFET2026 at ⁠https://merrell.com⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nils Arend, the founder of The Speed Project, shares the story of designing his life, step by step, from the beginning. He traces the foundation of his principles from his adolescence in Germany to decades later founding and then exiting his successful advertising agency. He talks about the importance of setting ambitious goals but then detaching yourself from the outcome, how he avoids settling, why he loves America, and his running origin story, which leads to the foundation of The Speed Project—a 300 mile journey through the desert from Los Angeles to Las Vegas that Nils first completed in 2013 with Blue Benadum. There’s so much wisdom in this conversation about dreaming big and designing your own life. Here’s Alexi’s conversation with Nils Arend.  If recovery is something you know you should be taking more seriously, visit ⁠https://therabody.com⁠ and use the code MENTORBUFFET at checkout for 15% off one product of your choice. Add a comfy pair of Merrell's to your rotation with 25% off your first purchase using the code MENTORBUFFET2026 at ⁠https://merrell.com⁠. Ready to upgrade your eyewear? Visit ⁠https://goodr.com/mentorbuffet⁠ to claim $10 off their first order. Visit https://GoBrewing.com/alexi50 for 50% first beer club subscription order with code ALEXI50. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices