Hey everyone, it's Savan. Welcome to Life Between Titles. I wasn't sure if I was going to record this one, but I wanted to for a couple of different reasons. The first reason was because I think it's an interesting way to communicate to you, the listeners, some of the things that's going on and my appreciation for everybody. I know that you could be listening to just about anything else and there is a ton of podcasts or audio books or music that you could be listening to, but you're here with me and I appreciate that. It means the world to me. You might notice this small mark on my lip and I'll just say it up front. It's from a fall that I had earlier this week. I had a seizure on Tuesday and I thought about waiting until it healed before recording, but honestly that felt wrong. Because Life Between Titles has always been about showing up honestly, especially when life doesn't look perfect. So on Tuesday morning, I had an incident where I woke up and I went to the bathroom and I got really lightheaded and ⁓ I fell down a couple of times. And one of the times I hit the front of my lip and my tooth and my chin. And it was really disorienting and confusing because it had never happened before in my life. And I always thought I was a very healthy person. And, ⁓ the irony of it is that, I have been reducing my alcohol intake by an exceptional amount. I probably only had two days of drinking over the last month and a half, maybe two months, which is the least amount that I've had in a long time. ⁓ and, I work out pretty often. and I've been pretty conscious about what I've been trying to eat, but, High blood pressure does run in my family and I think there's a ton of things that could have happened. ⁓ I am fine and ⁓ I don't know exactly what caused it, but I am taking precautions to try to get as close to the bottom of it as possible. So, ⁓ you know, one of the first things I worried about was wouldn't would be the next time I could record a session, which is probably the last thing I should be worrying about. But, that's just how my brain works. But that moment made me pause. It really reminded me how fragile everything is and how quickly the rhythm of life can change. I had projects lined up, interviews scheduled, meetings planned. And for a few days there, I couldn't keep up with any of it. I missed a bunch of meetings because I... ⁓ Forgot what day it was. I had to reschedule interviews. I couldn't respond to messages as quickly as I wanted to. And you know what? Like I felt very guilty. I was worried what people would think. Think that I was a flake or that I wasn't able to follow through. But what surprised me was how thoughtful and forgiving people were. No one... No one made me feel bad for stepping back. They simply said, take care of yourself. And that really meant a lot to me because sometimes we hold ourselves to these impossible standards, believing that everything is going to fall apart if we slow down. but often people are kinder than the voices in our head. So. This experience has forced me to slow down, rest, reflect, and in that stillness, you know, I realized something powerful and that progress isn't always about motion. Sometimes it's about recovery and we tend to measure our worth by how much we produce or how quickly we respond. But that's not the whole picture. Progress can mean taking a breath and giving yourself space to heal and trusting the world can wait. And this week, what is definitely a setback. but it was also a reminder that showing up imperfectly is still showing up. If you're listening and you're going through your own pause, whether it's a burnout or uncertainty, I hope you give yourself permission to rest and reflect. You don't have to be perfect to keep going on. You just have to keep going on. ⁓ So what's next for the show? So going forward, Life Between Titles is gonna expand a little bit and I'm actually really excited by it. I'll share stories and reflections, but I also want to bring in people whose expertise can help us navigate these in-between moments. And so you're gonna hear from a new segment. And so I'm going to have another set of shows. probably with a different title, and you'll start to hear from HR professionals and recruiters and life coaches and mental health experts, people who understand what it means to rebuild and redefine yourself after change. And my hope is that their insights will give this community both guidance and grounding because it's not just about sharing stories anymore. I think the stories are powerful, but my hope is that with this channel, we can start to help each other get through these tough times. I think at the end of the day, regardless of if it's one person listening or a million people listening, if this show can help out just that one person, I think that'll be doing its job. And so I'm super excited about having that series of conversations ⁓ included into this show. The last thing that I'm excited about is I'm gonna be working with my friend, Mike Lee, who was also on the show. and we're going to start a new type of conversation. And it's going to be a mix of personal reflection and cultural discussions, the kind of talks that start casual, but really end up going deep. And the format of it is going to be more of a back and forth of quick hits, things that we've read, that we've seen, that we've listened to. It could be poetry, it could be art, it could be books. It could be things we've written that really hit home. And then we'll also dive deep into things like leadership and compassion and empathy and really sort of get to the nitty gritty of what that looks like. And I think the combination of these topics with the sort of natural banter that Mike and I have will be exciting. It'll be thought provoking and I'm really looking forward to bringing that to you guys as a new segment. So those are the things that's coming up with Life Between Titles. I'm super excited by the future of where we're at. The analytics have shown that everybody has taken a liking to these types of conversations, which I am. very appreciative of because when we started this, when I started this, I didn't know what to expect. But, you know, ⁓ it's one of those things that ⁓ really resonates with people. So that's it. There's going to be a lot more coming up and I'll try to keep you guys updated at least once a month on how this goes. Because whether it's health or relationships, we're all learning to balance who we were with who we're becoming. That's the real story behind Life Between Titles. Thanks for being here with me today and giving me the space to show up just as I am. I'll see you soon.
There is a version of rest that looks like giving up. This episode is about learning to tell the difference.
A solo episode where Savan pulls back the curtain on a new project in development, shares what's been driving it, and reflects on what it means to create something from scratch during your own life between titles.
Key Takeaways
- →Building in public requires a different kind of courage: Sharing something before it's ready—when it's still an idea, still a risk—takes more vulnerability than launching a finished product. Savan chose to share the process because the in-between is exactly what this podcast is about.
- →Creation is its own form of career transition: Launching something new while navigating personal uncertainty is one of the most demanding things a person can do. It requires holding two things simultaneously: the grief of what's ended and the excitement of what's beginning.
- →Momentum compounds when you make it visible: Sharing progress—even imperfect progress—creates accountability, attracts collaborators, and keeps energy moving forward. Savan has found that articulating what he's building has accelerated the building itself.
- →New projects reveal what you actually value: What you choose to create when you have no boss and no brief tells you more about your values than decades of corporate performance reviews. The new project became a mirror.
- →The audience is part of the creative process: Savan describes listeners as collaborators, not consumers. Their responses to earlier episodes shaped the direction of what he's building next. That feedback loop is one of the things he loves most about this medium.
- →Fear of judgment is the most common reason projects don't launch: Most creative work dies in the gap between idea and execution, killed by the fear of what others will think. Savan has had to actively work against that fear throughout this process.
- →What you're building between chapters matters as much as what comes next: Savan argues that the projects you pursue during transitions—not just the jobs you accept—define who you're becoming. The work you do between roles is also work.
Q&A
Questions answered in this episode
How do you start building something new after a career transition?
Start with the problem you most want to solve or the story you most want to tell—not with the business model or the brand. Savan began with a question he couldn't stop asking and built outward from there. The project found its shape through doing.
What is Savan Kong building?
In this episode Savan shares details of a new project in development within the Life Between Titles ecosystem—one that reflects the themes he's been exploring throughout the podcast: identity, transition, and what comes next. Details are intentionally partially revealed to invite listener investment in the process.
How do you stay motivated when building something with no guarantee of success?
Savan anchors to the mission rather than the outcome. When the goal is to serve a community or solve a real problem, the uncertainty of success becomes less paralyzing because the work itself feels worthwhile regardless of the result.
Is it okay to share unfinished creative work?
Savan argues yes—and that the fear of sharing unfinished work is often what prevents it from ever becoming finished. The feedback loop of sharing in process is too valuable to sacrifice on the altar of perfection.
What's the hardest part of launching something independently?
The absence of external validation. In a corporate job, performance reviews, promotions, and bonuses provide ongoing signals that you're doing okay. When you're building independently, you have to generate your own internal compass for quality and progress.
How do you deal with the fear that no one will care about what you're creating?
Savan says this fear never fully goes away—but it becomes more manageable as you accumulate evidence that the work matters to someone. Starting with one person is enough. He began this podcast hoping it would help one person feel less alone in their transition.
What does entrepreneurship look like after a career in the corporate or government world?
It looks like learning everything from scratch—marketing, operations, finance, content creation—while also doing the creative work itself. Savan describes the learning curve as steep but energizing in a way that institutional work rarely was.
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