Why I Left with Brian Aquart

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Some careers do more than give you a job. They give you structure, identity, mission, and a sense of belonging. For retired Lieutenant Colonel Oak McCulloch, leaving the Army meant more than stepping away from a role. It meant learning who he was without the uniform.

In this conversation, Brian talks with Oak about his transition out of military service, the grief of leaving behind a deeply rooted identity, and the surprise of entering civilian leadership spaces where mission, urgency, and communication were understood very differently. Oak shares how he moved from the Army into service-oriented work at a food bank, then into leadership development, keynote speaking, and helping organizations build stronger leaders.

This episode is for anyone who has felt loyal to a system that no longer fits, anyone rebuilding purpose after a major career shift, and anyone asking, “Who am I without this title?” Oak’s story is a reminder that service does not have to end when one chapter closes. Sometimes it becomes more personal, more deliberate, and more human.

Enjoy!

Stay connected with Oak McCulloch
Website: www.ltcoakmcculloch.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/oakland-mcculloch/

Work with Brian Aquart
Storyline by Kingswood helps leaders and professionals make sense of career transitions, identity shifts, and the stories they’re telling about their work.
Learn more: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IT1-NDl51cZbhNUzUO4lCyjVJiVcmvxS/view?usp=drive_link

Stay connected with Why I Left
Visit: https://www.WhyILeft.co 

Subscribe:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgQI4X0kEp8-o7Z9D3tRmg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TE4Y626idPxNeewpCG6Ef 

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Connect with Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaquart/
Rate us 5 stars and share feedback: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 

Your story deserves to be told with clarity and impact. That’s why I created Storyline by Kingswood, an executive branding and narrative strategy service for high-impact professionals who are stepping into a new chapter. Elevate your leadership. Command your story.

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Learn more about partnership opportunities here: https://whyileft.co/sponsor-why-i-left-podcast/

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Money is rarely just about numbers. For Kara Stevens, founder of The Frugal Feminista, money was tied to avoidance, shame, family stories, ambition, risk, and the question of what it really means to have enough.

In this conversation, Kara shares how she moved from debt and financial avoidance to helping women heal their relationship with money. Before building The Frugal Feminista, she worked in education, eventually becoming an assistant principal. But after years of building systems, serving students, and growing her platform on the side, she realized she had reached the end of that chapter.

Kara talks with Brian about leaving education, preparing financially for a major life transition, moving to Ghana with her family, and learning to build community in a new country. She also explains why money stories matter, how shame shows up for professional women, and why a powerful exit requires more than a leap of faith.

This episode is for anyone who is considering a career move, questioning their relationship with money, or trying to make a values-based decision without ignoring the numbers.

Enjoy!

Stay connected with Kara Stevens
Website: The Frugal Feminista https://www.thefrugalfeminista.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kara-stevens-edm-37882b12/
Book: Heal Your Relationship with Money https://thefrugalfeministastore.thrivecart.com/heal-your-relationship-with-money-book/
Free resource: First three days of Heal Your Relationship with Money at https://www.thefrugalfeminista.com/community/

Work with Brian
Storyline by Kingswood helps leaders and professionals make sense of career transitions, identity shifts, and the stories they’re telling about their work.

Learn more:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IT1-NDl51cZbhNUzUO4lCyjVJiVcmvxS/view?usp=drive_link

Stay connected with Why I Left
Visit: https://www.WhyILeft.co 

Subscribe: 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgQI4X0kEp8-o7Z9D3tRmg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TE4Y626idPxNeewpCG6Ef 

Follow:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialwhyileft/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/why-i-left/
Connect with Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaquart/ 
Rate us 5 stars and share feedback: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 

Your story deserves to be told with clarity and impact. That’s why I created Storyline by Kingswood, an executive branding and narrative strategy service for high-impact professionals who are stepping into a new chapter. Elevate your leadership. Command your story.

Support the show

Interested in sponsoring Why I Left?

Learn more about partnership opportunities here: https://whyileft.co/sponsor-why-i-left-podcast/

Send a message to the show

Geoffrey Roche left corporate healthcare after realizing that professional success could not come at the expense of personal authenticity. His decision to step away from Siemens Healthineers came during a profound period of identity, courage, and recalibration.

Geoffrey is a nationally recognized voice in healthcare leadership, education, workforce strategy, and the future of work. In this conversation, he reflects on the influence of his mother, his early career in healthcare administration, the leaders who shaped him, and the corporate environment that eventually no longer felt aligned with who he was becoming.

This episode is for mid-career professionals, healthcare leaders, educators, and anyone questioning whether the role they are in still fits the person they are becoming. Brian and Geoffrey explore holistic leadership, personal branding, career pivots, workplace belonging, and the importance of trusting your gut when something no longer feels healthy. Press play for a conversation about courage, clarity, identity, and choosing work that allows you to live whole.

Enjoy!

Stay Connected with Geoffrey Roche
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffreymroche/

Work with Brian
Storyline by Kingswood helps leaders and professionals make sense of career transitions, identity shifts, and the stories they’re telling about their work.

Learn more:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IT1-NDl51cZbhNUzUO4lCyjVJiVcmvxS/view?usp=drive_link

Stay connected with Why I Left
Visit: https://www.WhyILeft.co 

Subscribe: 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgQI4X0kEp8-o7Z9D3tRmg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TE4Y626idPxNeewpCG6Ef 

Follow:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialwhyileft/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/why-i-left/
Connect with Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaquart/ 
Rate us 5 stars and share feedback: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 

Your story deserves to be told with clarity and impact. That’s why I created Storyline by Kingswood, an executive branding and narrative strategy service for high-impact professionals who are stepping into a new chapter. Elevate your leadership. Command your story.

Support the show

Interested in sponsoring Why I Left?

Learn more about partnership opportunities here: https://whyileft.co/sponsor-why-i-left-podcast/

Send a message to the show

Gretchen Andrew left Google with just $5,000, no art degree, and no clear roadmap. Years later, her work, Facetune Portraits, now lives inside the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

In this episode of Why I Left, Gretchen shares how she walked away from one of the most prestigious jobs in tech, taught herself painting online, and pioneered “Search Engine Art” by manipulating digital systems as artistic expression. Along the way, she confronted rejection, grief, gatekeeping, and the pressure of building an identity completely outside traditional institutions.

This conversation is about far more than art.

It’s about reinvention, self-belief, visibility, and the courage to pursue something that feels impossible before anyone else validates it. If you’ve ever questioned the path you’re on or wondered whether it’s too late to rebuild your life around what actually matters to you, this episode is for you.

Enjoy!

Stay connected with Gretchen Andrew
Website: https://www.gretchenandrew.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-andrew/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gretchenandrew/

Work with Brian
Storyline by Kingswood helps leaders and professionals make sense of career transitions, identity shifts, and the stories they’re telling about their work.

Learn more:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IT1-NDl51cZbhNUzUO4lCyjVJiVcmvxS/view?usp=drive_link

Stay connected with Why I Left
Visit: https://www.WhyILeft.co 

Subscribe: 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgQI4X0kEp8-o7Z9D3tRmg Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TE4Y626idPxNeewpCG6Ef 

Follow:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialwhyileft/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/why-i-left/
Connect with Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaquart/ 
Rate us 5 stars and share feedback: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 

Your story deserves to be told with clarity and impact. That’s why I created Storyline by Kingswood, an executive branding and narrative strategy service for high-impact professionals who are stepping into a new chapter. Elevate your leadership. Command your story.

Support the show

Interested in sponsoring Why I Left?

Learn more about partnership opportunities here: https://whyileft.co/sponsor-why-i-left-podcast/

Send a message to the show

At the height of a successful career in Hollywood, Steven Puri was working on some of the biggest film franchises in the world. The path forward was clear. Bigger titles. Bigger budgets. More recognition. But something didn’t sit right.

What happens when you realize the system you’re succeeding in no longer reflects your values? For Steven, that moment came when he saw firsthand how success could be disconnected from meaning. The work was profitable, but it wasn’t purposeful.

In this conversation, Steven shares how a health diagnosis, impending fatherhood, and growing disillusionment with the attention economy pushed him to step away from Hollywood and return to building something different. 

Today, he’s focused on helping people reclaim their focus through his company, The Sukha Company.

This episode explores the hidden cost of distraction, the discipline of deep work, and the courage it takes to choose alignment over achievement.  You’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of focus, flow, and how to reclaim your attention in a world designed to take it from you.

Enjoy!

Stay connected with Steven Puri
Website: https://thesukha.co
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-puri/

Work with Brian
Storyline by Kingswood helps leaders and professionals make sense of career transitions, identity shifts, and the stories they’re telling about their work.

Learn more:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IT1-NDl51cZbhNUzUO4lCyjVJiVcmvxS/view?usp=drive_link

Stay connected with Why I Left
Visit: https://www.WhyILeft.co 

Subscribe: 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgQI4X0kEp8-o7Z9D3tRmg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TE4Y626idPxNeewpCG6Ef 

Follow:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialwhyileft/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/why-i-left/
Connect with Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaquart/ 
Rate us 5 stars and share feedback: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 

Thanks to our partners & sponsors: 
BetterHelp: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/whyileft and get 10% off your first month  

ApodcastGeek: Use Code BA10 to 10% off your first order at https://apodcastgeek.com/  

Your story deserves to be told with clarity and impact. That’s why I created Storyline by Kingswood, an executive branding and narrative strategy service for high-impact professionals who are stepping into a new chapter. Elevate your leadership. Command your story.

Support the show

Interested in sponsoring Why I Left?

Learn more about partnership opportunities here: https://whyileft.co/sponsor-why-i-left-podcast/