Every achievement has a price. Survived Success is a podcast for leaders who've built something significant — and are honest enough to talk about what it took.
A real conversation about pressure, sacrifice, identity, and what success actually does to a person. Because the goal was never just to succeed. It was to survive it with the right things still intact.
"I see men and women who work hard their whole lives to give their family everything they never had. And somewhere in all that working — they get a little lost."
I'm building this because I want my kids to watch me try to get that right. And I think a lot of leaders are quietly asking the same question I am — did I survive my success with the right things still intact?
Your Host
Michael Karel
Founder, The Lasting Company
Michael Karel is a senior business leader, founder of Grace and Bread — a nonprofit serving the underprivileged in Memphis, TN — and the creator of Survived Success.
He's spent his career watching what success costs people, and his life trying to make sure the cost is worth it. He also hosts Neighbors on the Street, a podcast giving voice to people living on the street.
Every Episode
Five questions. One conversation. No script.
Every guest sits down with the same five questions — because the answers are always different.
01
"The world would look at what you've built and call it success. What would you call it?"
02
"Did you have to change who you were to get where you are?"
03
"What did success cost you that no one sees?"
04
"If you had to live through that season again — what would you hold onto more tightly?"
05
"What do you want to be known for — not professionally, but as a person?"
Signature Closer — Every Episode
"What do you know now that you wish you'd known before the success came?"
Listen
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