About this episode
Jesse Lewis shares his journey of resilience and the importance of kindness during tough times.
Send us Fan Mail One bad stretch can make you believe you’re stuck as the worst thing that happened to you, and that’s exactly what we push back on with Jesse Lewis. Jesse is a professional stage hypnotist whose live shows vanished during Canada’s COVID shutdowns, and the fallout hit fast: lost income, a divorce, and a season of life where he lived in the cab of his truck on the side of a mountain in British Columbia. We talk through what survival actually looks like when there’s no clean “turning point.” Jesse shares the unglamorous details: limited service, a snowbank as a fridge, reading to stay mentally sharp, and calling his kids as often as possible. He explains why the comeback wasn’t a dramatic breakthrough, but a thousand quiet choices like showing up to a job he didn’t want, refusing to miss child support, and rebuilding self-respect one decision at a time. From there, we get practical. Jesse tells the story of building a hot dog cart from salvaged parts during the shutdown, turning it into a licensed operation, and eventually using that momentum to return to corporate events and stage performance. We also dig into the deeper theme of the Kindness Matters podcast: why…
People in this episode
Host: Mike Rathbun
Guest: Jesse Lewis
Topics covered
- resilience
- kindness
- survival
- comeback
- mental health
- divorce recovery
Keywords
- kindness
- resilience
- survival
- COVID-19
- divorce
- mental health
- hot dog cart
Mentioned in this episode
Places: Canada, British Columbia
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- Kindness On Cloudy Days · May 14, 2026 · 35 min
- Storytelling That Turns Small Talk Into Trust · May 7, 2026 · 35 min
- Kindness As A Lifeline · April 30, 2026 · 38 min
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