Learned the Hard Way with Kier Gaines

EP 24: Are You Asking Your Partner to Be Your Peace?

Are you expecting your partner to be responsible for your peace? We hear “I just want someone who brings me peace” all the time. But what does that actually mean? Does

EP 23: Your Job Is Not Your Identity ft. Jason Rosario

What happens when the thing you’ve always used to measure your value starts disappearing? For a lot of men, work has never just been work. It’s how we provide. How we p

EP 22: Who Told You You’re Behind?

It’s hard to appreciate your own life when you’re constantly measuring it against somebody else’s. Their career is moving faster. They bought the house. They got marrie

EP 21: I Love My Kids… But I Don’t Love Being a Parent

You can love your kids with everything in you and still not love being a parent all the time. The pickups. The drop-offs. The schedules. The sleepless nights. The endle

EP 20: Why Men Are Afraid to Say “I Don’t Know” ft. Dr. Dakotah Tyler

What if the smartest thing you could say is, “I don’t know”? In this episode of Learned the Hard Way, Kier Gaines sits down with astrophysicist and former Division I fo

EP 19: You Can't Fix People You Love

Sometimes the people we love are carrying more than we can see. A new baby. A growing career. Depression. Anxiety. Burnout. The pressure of leadership. The weight of tr

EP 18: Money Won't Make You Feel Safe ft Tiffany Aliche (The Budgetnista)

Money isn't just something we earn, spend, or save. It's something we feel. For a lot of us especially men money quietly becomes the measure of our safety, our confiden

EP 17: Don't Trade Peace for Pleasure ft. KevOnStage

Everybody talks about cheating like it's a morality issue.This conversation asks a different question: What are you actually risking... and what are you really chasing?

EP 16: The Performance Tax: The Price Black People Pay to Succeed (Ft. Savon & Antoinette from the Can’t Afford Therapy Podcast)

Some rooms don't just ask you to show up.They ask you to perform. To soften your voice. To shrink your personality. To make yourself "easier" to digest. To become a ver

EP 15: You Can Be a Good Person... and Still Be a Bad Partner

Being a good person doesn't automatically make you a good partner. In this episode of (L)Earned The Hard Way, Kier Gaines unpacks one of the biggest misconceptions abou

EP 14: Imposter Syndrome Is Lying to You Ft. Jess Hilarious

How do you know the voice in your head is lying to you? In this episode, Kier Gaines sits down with comedian, media personality, Jess Hilarious, for an honest conversat

EP 13: Are You Leading... or Just Controlling?

Are leaders born... or do they become one decision at a time? In this solo episode of Learned The Hard Way, Kier Gaines challenges one of the most common beliefs about

EP 12: How Much Should You Care? Ft. Crissle West

What happens when being the person everyone depends on becomes the thing that's breaking you? In this episode, Kier Gaines sits down with media personality, cultural cr

EP 11: The Truth About Feeling Unheard in Your Relationship

Why do so many relationship problems feel impossible to solve… even when both people care? In this special mailbag episode of Learned The Hard Way, Kier Gaines answers

EP 10: Anger Isn't What You Think It Is

Everybody says anger is a secondary emotion. But… what if its not that simple!   In this episode of Learned The Hard Way, Kier takes a deeper look at one of the mos

EP 9: The Invisible Load Nobody Talks About ft. Noémie Gaines

How do two people build a healthy relationship… when both of them are carrying invisible weight the other can’t fully see? In this episode of Learned The Hard Way, Kier

EP 8: Are You Living… Or Just Performing Survival? ft Dustin Ross

How do you know when you’re becoming yourself… instead of just surviving? In this episode, Kier Gaines sits down with media personality, comedian, and podcast host Dust

EP 7: What Depression Looks Like When You’re The “Strong” One

How do you know you’re struggling… when your life still looks “fine” from the outside? In this episode, Kier Gaines opens up about being clinically diagnosed with depre

EP 6: Built In Public: The Cost of Being Seen ft. Ryan Clark

What happens when the life you worked for finally arrives… and suddenly everybody is watching? In this episode, Kier Gaines sits down with Super Bowl champion, ESPN ana

EP 5: Why You Joke About Your Pain (And Why It’s Keeping You Stuck)

What are you protecting every time you make yourself the punchline? In this episode, Kier Gaines breaks down the psychology behind humor as armor and how something that