What happens when you stop performing for the plan and start building the life that’s actually yours? In this episode of Experience Over Expectation, Mary sits down with Alan Lazaros—founder/CEO of Next Level University, host of a global Top-100 podcast (1M+ listens, 175+ countries), and a builder who turned a near-fatal car crash into a compass for Growth, leadership, and social courage.

In this conversation:

– Alan’s origin story: loss, a crash at 26, and the pivot to Personal Development
– Mary’s 4-stage Founder Cycle vs. Alan’s “Out-” framework (Outfocus, Outrisk, Outwork… Outlast)
– Social courage vs. the performance of success
– Boundaries, Relationships, and finding your “absolutely people”
– What to tell a 12-year-old about responsibility, humility, and belief
– The one question Alan asks himself every day

Chapters
00:00 Welcome + why “let go of the plan”
01:24 Alan’s pivot after the crash
03:49 Mary’s Founder Cycle (conceive → decide → resource → execute)
10:32 Alan’s “Out-” framework: Outfocus → Outrisk → Outwork → Outlearn → Outgrow → Outskill → Outtool → Outlead → Outlast
14:47 Personal vs. professional: boundaries in the internet age
22:44 Relationships that change as you grow
24:31 Filters for team/peers (“absolutely people” vs. “absolutely not”)
30:31 Advice to a 12-year-old: responsibility + humility + belief
34:33 The question Alan asks himself most: “Why?”
36:37 How to reach Alan + Next Level University
38:01 Mary’s book plug + wrap

Connect with Alan
Podcast: Next Level University
Site: nextleveluniverse.com

Connect with Mary
Subscribe on Substack: marymccorvey.substack.com
Pre-order Experience Over Expectation (out Sept 23, 2025): marymccorvey.com

Watch more episodes on YouTube: @MaryMcCorvey

About the show
Experience Over Expectation is where we trade rigid timelines for real life—resilience, reinvention, and the messy middle included. New episodes weekly. Subscribe for conversations that nudge you toward your version of success.

#ExperienceOverExpectation #AlanLazaros #NextLevelUniversity #PersonalDevelopment #Entrepreneurship

Most Recent Episodes

January 30, 2026

Don’t Say Crazy to Me: Marion Hoffman Koenig on Empathy, Mental Health Advocacy, and Turning Loss into Kindness

In this episode of Experience Over Expectation, Mary McCorvey sits down with memoirist and Mental Health advocate Marion Hoffman Koenig, author of Don’t Say Crazy to Me.Marion’s story moves...

Listen · 30:13

January 30, 2026

Don’t Say Crazy to Me: M. Koenig on Empathy, Mental Health Advocacy, and Turning Loss into Kindness

Mary McCorvey welcomes Marion Hoffman Koenig, author of Don’t Say Crazy to Me, for a conversation that is equal parts brave, funny, and deeply human. Marion shares how early experiences with loss...

Watch Now

December 29, 2025

Eternity in Mind: Rev. Dr. Frank Selden on Chronic Illness, Faith, and Choosing to Stay

Frank Selden came to a cemetery ready to end his life and walked away with one question: “What if my actions in this life affect what comes next?”In this episode of Experience Over Expectation, I...

Listen · 31:37

Load More Episodes

Mary McCorvey Mary McCorvey

Mary McCorvey is a veteran of the Gulf War, founder of 7 companies, TV producer, author, radio host, and playwright whose life reads like a memoir—because it is one. From being implicated in a murder at 17 to surviving sarin gas exposure in Kuwait, Mary’s story is defined by resilience, reinvention, and one core question: What do you do… when life keeps rewriting the script?

After being diagnosed with terminal pulmonary fibrosis and told she had two years to live, Mary defied the odds. She rebuilt her life after betrayal, launched a mission to send students’ work to the Moon, and most recently, opened a locked box she’d carried for 35 years—unleashing a memoir-in-motion about love, memory, and healing.

Now the host of the podcast and author of the book, Experience Over Expectation, Mary brings wit, warmth, and depth to conversations about identity, aging, forgiveness, and second chances. She’s equally at home discussing trauma and tenacity as she is laughing through the absurdities of life.

Mary lives—and thrives—in Pennsylvania, with a story to tell and a mic in hand.