I’m a serial survivor.
(Maybe you are too?)
By age 23, I’d survived the death of my dad, an emotionally abusive mom, being repeatedly bullied, switching schools 15 times, chronic illness and a debilitating addiction.
My resilience.
But surviving doesn’t mean escaping unscathed.
Somehow, I kept bouncing back.
At 24 I found the faith to follow my heart to L.A. to create a dream career in music, with nothing in place, and turning down an acceptance to law school in the process. Newly in L.A., I hustled hard and began to see my dreams turning into reality, against the odds. I landed an internship with Interscope Records (Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, Lady Gaga) and worked my way up, before becoming a music coordinator at The Tonight Show, then launching an artist development / talent management company called 5AM Collective, where I helped advance the careers of emerging artists.
Signing my last band, The Moth and the Flame, to Elektra Records in 2016.
After an 11-year run of non-stop grinding in the music business, I found myself sinking, spinning into a complete breakdown. I was physically, emotionally, spiritually and financially devasted.
Every department of life was in ashes.
To coincide with all of this, at my lowest point in this process, I had a near death experience that left me in the hospital clinging to life from a tumor in my head that had hemorrhaged I didn’t even know was there.
Shortly after stabilizing physically, I left L.A. to regroup and when all of the dust started settling, I looked to place blame on a tough industry and former partners who I felt wronged me, for my demise.
But gradually I started to realize … it was me who had betrayed myself.
I became so disconnected from myself and everyone in my life, all I could focus on was signing the next deal, landing the next big paycheck, chasing the next accolade. I’d become a hostage to my own ego without even realizing it.
Suddenly, it all felt so empty, so meaningless.
From this realization, the first iteration of the Connection Is Magic Podcast (previously called The Hustle Sanctuary) was created. I wanted it to serve as a safe haven and catharsis for myself and others who were holding in all their heavy feelings, keeping themselves weighed down and blocking healing for others who could benefit from their wisdom and not feeling so alone in their struggles.
Soon, I found myself driven by a new dream: to TRANSFORM my pain and struggle into gratitude and wisdom – and to develop a deeper, authentic CONNECTION with myself and others.
My transformational journey, since 2015, has been one of intense personal growth, spirituality and self-discovery which has led to a degree of freedom within I never thought possible.
Along the way, I instilled a daily meditation practice, attended personal development retreats + trainings including Mastery in Transformational Training, The Esalen Institute and 1440 Multiversity.
I deepened my work in the trauma recovery space and completed a 3-month intensive program at the world-renowned Meadows Treatment Center in Arizona. I’m currently studying for a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology degree at Antioch University in Los Angeles.
All these trials and triumphs have brought me to this place and time, and allowed me to create my own unique coaching approach and program.
Rise & Shine: Utilize Adversity to Elevate Your Life
Through this approach, I help people who feel trapped by past (and present) challenges to create a deeper level of self-awareness, connection and rubik’s cubing their adversity to work for them rather than against them.
Caterpillar to butterfly.
Because it’s not about what we achieve in this life – it’s about who we become.
And adversity, used well, can be one of the greatest catalysts ever available to us to live our best lives, with more peace and grace on the other side than we could imagine possible…
So much so that you may even arrive at a point (without realizing how) where you would not erase those painful events from your past even if you could.
That’s the place I’ve finally reached – and I would love to help you get there too.
— Samson Shulman
