The Underlayer
Ever feel like you’re doing “fine” on the outside, but stuck or disconnected on the inside?
You’re not broken, you’re just living above the surface.
The Underlayer is a podcast for mid-life professionals navigating fear, identity, and personal growth, especially when success no longer feels fulfilling.
Hosted by keynote speaker and podcast host David Young, each episode goes beneath surface-level advice to explore the deeper stories shaping how we show up at work, in relationships, a…
Recent Episodes
13
July 6, 2026
Pressure, Patterns, And The Nervous System In A Hyperconnected World with Mandy Morris
Your nervous system is not broken. It's responding exactly the way it was trained. When email, Slack, social media, and nonstop entertainment flood your brain all day, your body reads "constant input" as "constant threat." A lot of us end up composed on the outside while feeling stuck, reactive, and exhausted on the inside, and we can't figure out why. In this episode, I sit down with Mandy Morris, a licensed professional counselor, executive psychology coach, and EMDR clinician, to unpack ho...
12
June 29, 2026
Reframe public speaking and make it your superpower with Amy Arbogast
In this episode of The Underlayer, David Young sits down with public speaking coach Amy Arbogast to get underneath one of the most common fears in professional life and figure out what's actually driving it.We explore a powerful question:What if the WAY you've been thinking about public speaking is the very thing making it harder?Amy shares why reframing the goal from performance to connection changes everything: your delivery, your structure, your nervous system, and your relationship with
12
March 5, 2026
12 seconds, 36 words = The Best Motivational Speech of All-Time
The Power of Pressure: How One Coach's Ultimatum Created Incredible Urgency. A slamming locker room door. A coach's warning. Thirty-six words that turned a .500 team into a wrecking crew. This isn't a story about inspiration; it's about consequences. When a high school basketball coach threatened to cancel Christmas break and institute 6 a.m. practices unless his team showed up against their county rival, everything changed. The result? Listen to find out. In this episode, we break down: Why ...
11
Feb. 25, 2026
What if the Universe Rewards Your Next Brave Step?
In this episode of The Underlayer, David Young sits down with business & leadership mentor Jodi Wilding to unpack the quiet ways high achievers play small: staying in safe roles, pleasing identities, and waiting for certainty that never comes.We explore a powerful question:What if the safest life is actually the riskiest?Jodi shares the turning points that pushed her toward alignment: loss, motherhood, and realizing her bold, adventurous self had gone quiet.Together, we talk about guilt,
10
Feb. 19, 2026
High Achiever Burnout: Why Your Goals Feel Empty & How to Reset
Why do so many high achievers burn out? And even set goals they don't even want? In this episode of The Underlayer, David Young and Katarina Kiseli break down the psychology of high achievers, burnout, and goal-setting mistakes that lead to exhaustion rather than fulfillment. If you’ve ever felt: - Driven but drained - Successful but unsatisfied - Productive but misaligned - This conversation will help you understand why. We unpack how social media comparison, the all-or-nothing minds...
9
Feb. 11, 2026
Impressive on Paper, Misaligned in Life: Finding Your Zone of Genius
Maira has spent two decades translating complex ideas into clear frameworks for senior leaders and experts, but her real gift isn’t just strategy. It’s helping high achievers identify the red thread running through their lives and turn it into a premium, sustainable offer.In this episode, we go beneath the surface of the “zone of genius.” The real Z.O.G.We unpack why so many smart, capable professionals build businesses around competence instead of calling, and why that almost always leads t
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