Welcome to Mick Unplugged, the podcast where inspiration meets action, brought to you by Mick Hunt, a recognized thought leader in leadership, entrepreneurship, and personal development. Each episode is a journey beyond the superficial why of our actions, delving deep into the powerful because that fuels true success and transformation.As a mentee of the legendary Les Brown, Mick has learned the art of storytelling and motivational speaking from one of the best. Mick Unplugged brings this wisdom to you, blending practical advice with inspiring stories from Mick's own journey and those of his esteemed guests. Whether you're an entrepreneur, minority, sales professional, or anyone with a dream, this podcast is your beacon towards becoming the best version of yourself.In Mick Unplugged, you'll discover:The Power of Because: Uncover the profound reasons behind your ambitions and how they can drive you to unprecedented success.Success Stories: Learn from the journeys of successful entrepreneurs, leaders, and visionaries who have harnessed their because to create impactful change.Debunking Myths: Mick challenges common myths in sales and leadership, offering fresh perspectives to push you beyond conventional limits.Strategies for Growth: From actionable sales strategies to personal development tips, get the tools you need to grow your business and yourself.Leadership Lessons: Insights into becoming a leader who inspires, with lessons learned from Mick's mentorship under Les Brown.Mick Unplugged is more than just a podcast; it's a community of forward-thinkers driven by their because. Join us as we explore the depths of motivation, leadership, and success. Get ready to be inspired, challenged, and transformed.#MickUnplugged
Nat Berman: Stop Chasing Followers. Build Something That Matters.
November 9, 2026
A growing business does not always mean a better life. Nat Berman joins Mick Hunt to explore meaningful success, relevant audiences, and the daily discipline behind getting better.
Nat shares the family and support behind his purpose, the lesson he learned from expanding into too many websites, and why his first five dollars through Google AdSense meant so much. Mick and Nat also discuss choosing advice that fits your responsibilities, treating AI as a tool, and protecting the routines that support your well-being.
WHAT YOU'LL HEAR:
• The people behind Nat’s purpose
• How business success and personal well-being can diverge
• Speaking to one person and building the right audience
• Why repetition creates room for improvement
• Choosing advice and tools that fit your role
• Nat’s first five-dollar win and a defining meeting with Gary Vaynerchuk
• The Unplugged Five and the idea of being better every day
CHAPTERS
00:10 Welcome
01:28 The Because: family and support
04:55 The Unplugged Truth: success and well-being
09:57 Engagement and audience building
15:48 Hot Takes: support, repetition, and focus
28:23 Advice, AI, and knowing your role
34:14 The Room: five dollars and a defining meeting
41:00 The Unplugged Five
44:41 Be Better and closing thoughts
CONNECT & DISCOVER NAT BERMAN:
Website: https://natberman.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realnatberman/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanielberman/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@realnatberman2
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NathanielBerman79
FOLLOW MICK ON:
Spotify: MickUnplugged
Instagram: @mickunplugged
Facebook: @mickunplugged
YouTube: @MickUnpluggedPodcast
LinkedIn: @mickhunt
Website: MickHuntOfficial.com
Website: howtobeagoodleader.com
Website: Leadloudseries.com
Apple: MickUnplugged
Book: How to be A Good Leader When You’ve Never Had One
Follow and Subscribe to Mick Unplugged
#MickUnplugged #NatBerman #Entrepreneurship
John R. Miles: Being Needed Isn't the Same as Mattering
November 5, 2026
You can keep showing up, delivering results, and supporting everyone around you while losing touch with yourself. John R. Miles joins Mick to explore the difference between being needed and knowing that your presence matters.
John shares the calling behind his work, the experience he calls the slow fade, and the ideas discussed in The Mattering Effect. Together, they unpack how leaders can help people feel seen, known, valued, and able to make a difference, and why that work also has to begin within ourselves.
You'll Hear
• Why being useful to others can leave your own sense of significance unanswered.
• How John describes the slow fade in high performers and caregivers.
• Why a culture of mattering requires more than recognizing someone's job title.
• The mattering needs pyramid and John's MATTER framework: meaning, autonomy, trust, time, energy, and reciprocity.
• The turning points that led John toward a more intentional life.
• How small, self-honoring choices can help rebuild belief.
• The Unplugged 5: culture, personal growth, podcast conversations, and legacy.
Chapters
00:00 Your presence makes a difference
00:12 Welcome to Mick Unplugged
02:04 The Because: a calling to serve
07:24 Recognizing the slow fade
11:18 The Unplugged Truth: seen, known, and valued
15:45 The mattering needs pyramid
21:21 The Hot Takes: The Mattering Effect
26:43 Meaning, autonomy, trust, time, energy, reciprocity
29:52 The Room: the turning points behind the mission
37:53 The mattering loop and self-honoring choices
42:14 The Unplugged 5
50:32 Final reflections and your because
Connect & Discover John R. Miles:
Website: https://johnrmiles.com/
The Mattering Effect: https://thematteringeffect.com/
Passion Struck: https://passionstruck.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrmiles/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john_r_miles/
Follow Mick
Mick Hunt Official: https://mickhuntofficial.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickunplugged/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mickunplugged
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MickUnpluggedPodcast
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickhunt/
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mick-unplugged/id1731755953
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2cUp7JRzkVqunYmD2ENe4g
Buy Mick's book, How to Be a Good Leader When You've Never Had One: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Leader-When-Youve-Never/dp/1394357958
Your because is your superpower. Go unleash it.
Content note: This conversation includes a home invasion, bereavement, suicide loss, and personal experiences with mental health.
Jeff Staple: Stop Pleasing Everyone. Build What You Believe In.
November 2, 2026
What does it cost to build a life you believe in before other people understand it?
Jeff Staple joins Mick Hunt for a candid conversation about creative independence, the business lessons talent cannot replace, and the courage to stop pleasing everybody.
Jeff traces the early T-shirt orders that became STAPLE, the decision to leave college, and the strain his choices put on family relationships. He explains why founders need to delegate, how listening to younger perspectives keeps his work relevant, and why a UPS driver's connection to his designs meant more to him than industry recognition.
There is warmth and humor, too: five hours with Mike Tyson and his pigeons, a surprising closet answer, and the hidden wing pattern in the Breakneck sneaker. Jeff closes with the lesson he hopes people remember.
TAKEAWAYS
Give your creative talent the business skills it needs.
You cannot grow by trying to do every job yourself.
Hear a new idea all the way through before dismissing it.
Build a life you believe in without making everybody else's approval the goal.
MICK'S BREAKNECK OFFER
In the conversation, Mick offers to buy Breakneck shoes for the first ten people who message him “Breakneck.” Mick will confirm whether you are among the first ten and ask your size. Jeff also offers support and discusses signed pairs. Message Mick at https://www.instagram.com/mickunplugged/ and hear the episode for the recorded details.
CHAPTERS
00:00 The secret to failure: cold open
00:16 Meet Jeff Staple
02:39 The Because: refusing other people's limits
05:00 T-shirts, necessity, and finding a path
06:22 Talent needs a business: delegation
09:21 Staying relevant by staying curious
13:21 Family expectations and the cost of belief
17:55 Taking care of yourself first
19:00 Simplicity, the UPS driver, and real impact
22:30 Growing beyond T-shirts
24:36 The next chapter: legacy and physical retail
27:55 The Unplugged Five
28:25 Mike Tyson and the pigeons
31:29 Breakneck: city, trail, and hidden pigeon wings
33:36 Mick's Breakneck offer
34:42 Stop trying to please everybody
35:36 Keep the kid in you: the closing
CONNECT & DISCOVER JEFF STAPLE:
Website: https://www.staplepigeon.com/
Jeff Staple: https://jeffstaple.tv/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffstaple/
FOLLOW MICK
Website: https://mickhuntofficial.com/podcast
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MickUnpluggedPodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickunplugged/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickhunt/
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mick-unplugged/id1731755953
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2cUp7JRzkVqunY
Kordell Stewart: Reclaiming My Story | Mick Unplugged
October 31, 2026
What happens when the world talks about you for years before hearing your side? Kordell Stewart joins Mick Hunt for a candid conversation about silence, faith, and reclaiming his own story.
The man known as “Slash” reflects on his path from receiver to starting quarterback, the personal cost of rumors, and why telling his story matters to the fans and young people who look up to him. Mick shares what Kordell’s example meant to his family, and Kordell closes with the priorities that have carried him: God, family, and career.
WHAT YOU'LL HEAR
Why Kordell wanted the opportunity to tell his story in his own words.
How he describes the impact of years of rumors and public assumptions.
What it took to move between wide receiver and quarterback.
Why silence can be misunderstood and how he chooses to respond today.
His gratitude toward the fans who stood by him and the young people he coaches.
The Unplugged Five: New Orleans food, choosing Colorado, competition, music, and faith.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Cold open: the sound of silence
00:17 Welcome to Mick Unplugged
01:06 The Because: telling his own story
04:40 The origin and cost of rumors
14:18 Faith and handling adversity
17:11 Receiver, quarterback, and the work behind Slash
23:44 When silence becomes the story
27:14 Gratitude, grace, and reclaiming his voice
29:49 Giving Kordell his flowers
37:47 The Unplugged Five
42:52 God, family, career
Kordell discusses the documentary featured in the interview, his relationship with Pittsburgh, and the responsibility he feels when speaking to the next generation. His recollections and views are presented in his own words.
Mick and Kordell also discuss a possible fan gathering. No date, game, or registration details are confirmed in this episode.
Connect & Discover Kordell Stewart:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kslash10/
X: https://x.com/KSlash10
KORDELL STEWART / SLASH & BURN is now available on HBO Max.
FOLLOW MICK
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickunplugged/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mickunplugged/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MickUnpluggedPodcast
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickhunt/
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mick-unplugged/id1731755953
How to Be a Good Leader: https://howtobeagoodleader.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mickunplugged
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2cUp7JRzkVqunYmD2ENe4g
Mick Hunt Official: https://mickhuntofficial.com/
Buy Mick’s book, How to Be a Good Leader When You’ve Never Had One: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Leader-When-Youve-Never/dp/1394357958
If this conversation speaks to you, subscribe to Mick Unplugged and share it with someone finding the courage to tell their own story.
Your BECAUSE is your superpower. Go unleash it.
#mickunplugged #kordellstewart #NFL #resilience
Daniel Nicholson: Idea. Intent. Action.-Turning Creativity Into a Business
October 29, 2026
What happens when a creative outlet becomes the thing your family needs? Daniel Nicholson joins Mick Hunt for an in-person conversation about building custom bourbon barrels, finding focus through woodworking, and turning an idea into something real.
Daniel shares how a first barrel, a small tool investment, and a change in his family's circumstances pushed him to keep creating. He talks about the value of working with his hands, the support of his wife, and the link between intention and action.
The conversation goes deeper into his experience growing up biracial, the importance of honest conversations, and the relationships that opened doors in his career. Daniel and Mick close with mentorship, The Unplugged Five, and a spirited comparison of their favorite bourbons.
YOU'LL HEAR
Daniel's because: bringing an idea out of his head and into the physical world.
How music and art helped him recognize his creative spark.
Why woodworking became a personal outlet and then a business opportunity.
How he and his wife responded when their family needed another source of income.
His experience growing up biracial and why connection starts with conversation.
How honesty and relationships helped him move beyond restaurant management.
The quiet impact of mentorship, plus cooking questions and bourbon favorites.
EPISODE CHAPTERS
00:00 Idea, intent, action
00:11 Meet Daniel and the bourbon barrel
03:29 The Because: turning ideas into reality
06:54 The Unplugged Truth: woodworking, family, and action
13:09 The Hot Takes: identity and honest conversations
20:42 The Room: honesty opens doors
25:00 The Unplugged 5: cooking, life, and bourbon
35:00 Connect with Daniel and closing
CONNECT & DISCOVER DANIEL
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cbusbarrels/
Daniel recommends finding CBUS Barrels on Facebook for custom builds.
FOLLOW MICK
Mick Hunt Official: https://mickhuntofficial.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickunplugged/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mickunplugged
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MickUnpluggedPodcast
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickhunt/
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mick-unplugged/id1731755953
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2cUp7JRzkVqunYmD2ENe4g
Buy Mick's book: How to Be a Good Leader When You've Never Had One
https://www.amazon.com/Good-Leader-When-Youve-Never/dp/1394357958