What if “home” isn’t where you were born, but where your habits, friendships, and values finally make sense?

Brian sits down with Dorothée Chareyon, a French educator who has lived in China, Hong Kong, and now India, to unpack the lived reality of expat life—beyond visas and job titles. The conversation threads through identity, safety, community, and the quiet rituals that either divide us or pull us closer.

Dorothée offers a clear, human definition of an expat—someone who lives and works outside their home country—and then complicates it in the best way with stories. We explore the peach vs coconut model of culture, why “yes” can hide “no,” and how saving face shapes communication across Asia. From open doors in apartment buildings to honking as road language, everyday norms become maps you can learn to read. Along the way, we talk about building community after moving during COVID, the pull of local friendships, and the unwritten rules you only learn by asking a neighbor instead of a guidebook.

Food becomes a passport in its own right: Kerala fish curries, South Indian coffee with chicory, and India’s many kinds of spinach sit alongside France’s endless cheeses. We compare traveler vs tourist mindsets, and how language—asking for a “parcel,” ordering “filter coffee,” choosing “Americano”—signals respect. There’s a deeper current too: leaving home can sharpen your view of it. Brian shares candid reflections on safety and belonging, and why raising a child in India changed his sense of what matters. Dorothée describes the freedom and challenge of a life abroad, and how simplicity on a Ladakh trek recalibrated her idea of comfort.

If you’re considering life abroad or want to thrive where you’ve landed, this conversation offers practical guidance and honest encouragement. Do your homework, then make space for surprise. Learn local codes, taste the local story, and let the place change you. Enjoy the episode, and if it resonates, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.

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Thank You to all of our supporters that have contributed a couple of bucks to keep this show up and running! All proceeds go back into the show to make it better and increase the reach out to the community.

If you like what you have heard and to support the show, just click on the link for support! Every dollar helps us bring more stories and inspiration to your ears!

Thanks for being amazing!

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If you would like to connect to the host (Brian Hooks), please reach out to bchcoaching@gmail.com or check out or website at BCH Coaching - BCH Coaching

Neuro‑Spicy isn’t just a catchy label—it’s a way to honor the courage it takes to move through a world designed for someone else’s brain. In this episode, Brian sits down with longtime friend Sonia Brantley for a candid, generous conversation about dyslexia, ADHD, autism parenting, and the everyday resilience required when systems still reward masking over authenticity.

From a second‑grade diagnosis to finding refuge in clubs, creativity, and performance, Sonia traces how confidence grows when kids are allowed to shine where they’re strong and get real support where they struggle. Together, we dig into self‑advocacy—why it starts at home, how teachers and peers shape it, and what happens when difference is misread as deficiency.

The challenge‑support framework comes alive here: big challenges require equally thoughtful support, or the outcome isn’t growth—it’s trauma. Sonia opens the door to the realities of parenting an autistic teen: sensory overload in grocery aisles, deficit‑heavy annual assessments, and the quiet grief of constantly apologizing for a child’s neurology. Drawing a boundary around that apology becomes a turning point—less shame, more presence, clearer expectations.

We also rethink representation. Sonia is developing a documentary series that centers families with autism—especially families of color—beyond savant tropes and stereotypes. Expect the full picture: joy, fatigue, logistics, safety, and the messy beauty of real care. We explore universal design, why one in eight adults being neurodivergent should reshape schools and workplaces, and how the X‑Men analogy helps kids see their wiring as ability that needs training, not correction.

If you’ve ever felt pressured to be “standard,” this conversation offers language, perspective, and practical steps to build environments where difference isn’t just accepted—it thrives.

If this episode resonates, share it with someone who deserves to feel seen. Subscribe for more voices, leave a review to help others find the show, and tell us: what support helps you bring your whole self forward.

Let us know what you think of the episode!

Thank You to all of our supporters that have contributed a couple of bucks to keep this show up and running! All proceeds go back into the show to make it better and increase the reach out to the community.

If you like what you have heard and to support the show, just click on the link for support! Every dollar helps us bring more stories and inspiration to your ears!

Thanks for being amazing!

Support the show

If you would like to connect to the host (Brian Hooks), please reach out to bchcoaching@gmail.com or check out or website at BCH Coaching - BCH Coaching

Meaning rarely arrives as a neatly wrapped answer—it comes as a signal, a nudge, a question that lingers. In this episode, Brian sits down with Sweta Kumari to trace those signals from the banks of the Ganga to the quiet edges of a golf course, weaving spirituality, neurodiversity, and community into a lived practice of purpose.

What begins with early rituals—Havan at home, river baths, gratitude—unfolds into a framework for self-understanding: notice the energy you carry, pay attention to what your environment reflects back, and choose interpretations that help you grow.

We explore parenting as a path to meaning, where curiosity leads and learning happens outdoors. Sweta shares how her son’s love for nature—and an unexpected connection with golf—became a gentle teacher in focus, calm, and self-trust. Brian reflects on his Quaker roots, the power of being with community instead of doing for it, and how conversation fuels his sense of purpose. Together, they consider how failure reframes as feedback, how fear points to past wounds, and why letting go creates clarity for action.

The dialogue also moves through India’s layered realities: tier one and two cities with greater resources, tier three and four communities with deeper informal support. We look at neurodivergent coaching beyond checklists and medication, toward an instinct-led approach that validates emotion while guiding toward actionable meaning. And yes, golf becomes more than a sport—it’s a quiet lab for presence, breath, and patient adjustments that mirror real growth.

If you’ve been searching for purpose, this is your invitation to slow down, ask braver questions, and listen to the places and people that steady you. Subscribe for more thoughtful conversations, share this with a friend who could use a reset, and leave a review so others can find us.

Let us know what you think of the episode!

Thank You to all of our supporters that have contributed a couple of bucks to keep this show up and running! All proceeds go back into the show to make it better and increase the reach out to the community.

If you like what you have heard and to support the show, just click on the link for support! Every dollar helps us bring more stories and inspiration to your ears!

Thanks for being amazing!

Support the show

If you would like to connect to the host (Brian Hooks), please reach out to bchcoaching@gmail.com or check out or website at BCH Coaching - BCH Coaching