PJ Milani built a 450,000-follower audience by drawing ideas most people scroll past. In this episode of Teach Coach Mentor, the 23-year film and animation teacher behind Milani Creative breaks down how a single boat-and-lighthouse visual on management versus leadership kicked off a movement, and how he still builds an "aha" into every metaphor he makes.

Key takeaways:

📌 Why "efficiency doesn't equal efficacy," and what a 20-slide Japanese presentation style taught PJ about earning attention

📌 The Zeigarnik effect and Feynman's 12 favorite problems, and how PJ primes his brain on his commute to solve creative problems on autopilot

📌 The "curiosity gap": why PJ never fully closes the circle on an idea, and lets the audience take the last step themselves

📌 Why PJ refuses to call his visual work a "side hustle," and what that reframe means for anyone building something outside their day job

📌 The difference between a metaphor and an analogy, and why AI can hand you the drawing but never the thinking

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome and PJ's 23 years teaching film and animation

02:17 The pandemic identity crisis that pushed PJ online

08:31 The boat and lighthouse visual that started it all

10:27 The day Adam Grant reposted PJ's work

20:47 The "aha-ness factor" and selective attention bias

36:46 Feynman's 12 favorite problems and PJ's creative process

PJ Milani is a career educator and the creator of Milani Creative, teaching the cohort-based course "Thinking in Visual Metaphors" to help others communicate ideas visually.

Subscribe for more conversations on teaching, coaching, and mentoring, and check out PJ's course if you want to start thinking (and communicating) in visual metaphors.

More PJ:

LinkedIn: 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/pejmanmilani/

Website: 🌐 https://www.milanicreative.com

More Mike:

LinkedIn: 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelwish0802/

Podcast Site: 🎧 https://teachcoachmentor.org/

Company Website: 🏫 https://vellelogos.com

Personal Website: https://michaelwish.com

Kendall Morris turned down Shark Tank, built a marketing company that landed Verizon as a client, then walked away from it all to teach kids the durable skills schools skip. On this episode of Teach Coach Mentor, Mike Wish sits down with the founder and CEO of Founders Mark to unpack how youth entrepreneurship builds leadership, grit, and problem-solving in ways a classroom never can.

Key Takeaways:

• Why 76% of job postings list durable skills as a top requirement, according to AmericaSucceeds.org data
• How to let kids fail at the right scale, building real grit without risking their confidence or the family savings
• The parenting habit that quietly kills initiative in kids (hint: over-scheduling)
• Why a "crowded" market rarely stops young entrepreneurs from succeeding
• How Mike's own framework, stay aggressively curious, experiment joyfully, get a little obsessed, mirrors what Kendall sees in every successful kid and adult she coaches

Timestamps:

00:00 Kendall's path from classroom teacher to founder

04:00 Turning down Shark Tank and why it paid off

07:00 Scaling a marketing company and spotting the skills gap

12:00 Launching Founders Mark with her own three kids

15:00 The six durable skills backed by hard data

19:00 Building grit in kids without letting them fail too big

Kendall Morris is the founder and CEO of Founders Mark, a youth entrepreneurship organization partnering with schools, YMCAs, and Boys & Girls Clubs to teach durable skills through real business building.

Enjoyed this one? Subscribe to Teach Coach Mentor, leave a review, and share it with a parent or educator who needs to hear it.

More Kendall:

LinkedIn: 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendalllmorris/

Website: 🚀 https://founders-mark.com

More Mike:

LinkedIn: 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelwish0802/

Podcast Site: 🎧 https://teachcoachmentor.org/

Company Website: 🏫 https://vellelogos.com

Personal Website: https://michaelwish.com

Dr. Arielle Jordan brings a rare combination of credentials to this conversation: Army veteran, licensed trauma therapist, keynote speaker, and entrepreneur. She breaks down why telling veterans to seek help has not been enough, and what actually has to change for mental health support to land.

Key takeaways:

• The PTSD Coach app (developed by the VA) works for anyone dealing with anxiety, anger, or sleeplessness, not just combat veterans, and it is free.
• Destigmatization campaigns fail when the system does not back them up. If getting help costs you your career, you will not get help.
• Community erosion is a real mental health driver, both inside and outside the service. Intentional calendaring is one practical fix.
• The three chairs framework: your past self (survivor), your present self (wisdom), and your future self (visionary) all have to be in the room.
• 988, then press 1, connects you to crisis support trained in military culture. It is not just for emergencies.

00:03 AI and the PTSD Coach app

05:30 Veteran mental health trends and systemic gaps

11:00 Community, loneliness, and intentional connection

17:00 Patriot Boot Camp and veteran entrepreneurship

19:30 The three chairs mindset framework

Dr. Arielle Jordan is a licensed trauma therapist, Army veteran, and founder of Mindset Quality, LLC, working with veterans, first responders, and high-achieving professionals navigating stress and resilience.

Subscribe, leave a review, and share this one with a vet who needs to hear it.

Find Arielle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ariellejordanlcpc/

More Mike:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelwish0802/

Podcast Site: https://teachcoachmentor.org/

Company Website: https://vellelogos.com

Personal Website: https://michaelwish.com