More Than Before
How to Start Over When Life Falls Apart | Max Konan
What do you do when life forces you to start over? Max Konan has had to answer that question more than once. After surviving a traumatic brain injury at just four years old, Max had to relearn how to walk, recognize the people around him, communicate, and navigate life with hearing loss. Years later, he lost his mother, left Côte d’Ivoire for the United States, and found himself cleaning up a nightclub just months after graduating from law school. But Max kept rebuilding. Today, he is an author, speaker, entrepreneur, and the author of Start Over to Win: How to Build the Life You Want When You Don't Have Everything You Need . In this conversation, Max and I talk about what starting over actually looks like when the plan you had for your life falls apart. We get into his childhood in Côte d’Ivoire, surviving a traumatic brain injury, losing his mother, immigrating to America, loneliness, scarcity, entrepreneurship, faith, forgiveness, grief, fatherhood, and why failure can become something you build from instead of something that defines you. One of my favorite ideas from our conversation is simple: You don't need to have enough to start. Start with what you have. Max also shares why starting over doesn't mean erasing everything that came before. Your failures, experiences, relationships, lessons, and even the painful parts of your story can become resources for what you build next. If you're in a season where life looks different than you thought it would, this conversation is for you. GET MAX'S BOOK — START OVER TO WIN Start Over to Win by Max Konan Learn more about Max and his work: Max Konan's Official Website THE B.R.A.V.E. TOUR — OCTOBER 2026 Max is taking the message of Start Over to Win on the road this October with conversations about resilience, leadership, overcoming setbacks, and turning adversity into opportunity. St. Louis, Missouri — October 15–17 Chicago, Illinois — October 18–20 Washington, D.C. Metro — October 23–26 Tour details, venues and updates: B.R.A.V.E. Tour Dates & Events ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 — From Law School to Cleaning a Nightclub 00:25 — Meet Max Konan 01:08 — Growing Up in Côte d’Ivoire 02:52 — Growing Up With 12+ Siblings 04:23 — What His Mother Taught Him About Business 06:33 — Negotiation, Value & Hearing “No” 09:08 — The Accident That Changed Everything 11:19 — Learning to Live With Hearing Loss 13:33 — Education Became His Way Out 15:34 — Loneliness, Isolation & Finding Connection 17:49 — Why Max Wasn't Allowed to Play Outside 18:05 — Creating His “Book of Possibility” 19:39 — Lessons From His Mother & Father 21:14 — Losing His Mother at 24 23:27 — His Son Gave Him a Reason to Rebuild 24:51 — Finally Coming to America 26:37 — The Reality of the “Promised Land” 28:08 — The Loneliness That Changed His Mission 30:00 — Meeting Paul & Redefining Success 31:44 — From Law School to Cleaning Vomit 34:04 — Teacher to Entrepreneur 34:57 — Losing Everything in the 2008 Crisis 37:31 — Breaking the Scarcity Mindset 39:04 — Starting With What You Have 39:30 — How Max Found Jesus 41:15 — Faith & Making Difficult Decisions 43:33 — Why Forgiveness Matters When Starting Over 45:27 — Learning to Forgive Yourself 47:01 — Why You Need to Grieve 49:46 — Fatherhood & What Really Matters 54:30 — There Isn't Just One Way Forward 56:27 — The Reality of Chasing Your Dreams 58:15 — What “Start Over to Win” Really Means 59:41 — The First Step When You Feel Empty 1:02:20 — What Does “More Than Before” Mean? 1:04:00 — Closing Thoughts MORE THAN BEFORE The greatest growth in life isn't simply about achieving more. It's about becoming more of who you were created to be. Subscribe for conversations about identity, faith, leadership, personal growth, resilience, purpose, and becoming more than before. Be more. See more. Experience more than before. #MaxKonan #StartOverToWin #MoreThanBefore #Resilience #PersonalGrowth #OvercomingAdversity #Faith #StartingOver #Entrepreneurship
