Episode Title: No Permission Needed
Description:
This episode opens the door to my new art show, No Permission Needed, running at The Art Spirit Gallery in downtown Coeur d’Alene.
These portraits grew out of real stories — women who’ve carried pain, power, and resilience in silence for far too long. The show is built from everything I’ve learned watching the women in my life fight for care, dignity, and the right to be heard.
In this conversation, I talk about the process, the fear, and the purpose behind the work. The imposter syndrome. The late nights. The hope that something honest can still move people.
I also wrote a song called No Permission Needed specifically for this art show — you can watch the full slideshow video and hear the song here: Watch on YouTube.
This project has changed how I see art, leadership, and empathy. It’s personal, raw, and rooted in gratitude for the women who continue to teach me what strength looks like.
Listen in, then come see No Permission Needed during the Art Walk on November 14 at The Art Spirit Gallery.
🎙️
Still Here, Still Trying – Episode 21: “The Things That Keep Me Sane”
What keeps you grounded when the world won’t slow down?
For me — it’s motion, creation, rhythm, and the people who still give a damn.
In this episode, I open up about the small, real things that keep me from burning out — the late-night drives along Lake Coeur d’Alene, the ten-hour runs to Utah where my brain finally breathes, the act of creating as a way of recovering.
This one’s about rhythm over balance, about learning that sanity doesn’t live in stillness — it lives in motion.
We talk about how creativity heals, how ritual builds resilience, and how connection keeps all of it alive.
It’s an episode for anyone carrying too much, thinking too hard, or just trying to stay human in a world built for speed.
And at the end, I share a song that means more to me than almost anything I’ve made.
“The Voice Is Mine” was born from a stretch where people stopped taking my work seriously because I was creating with AI — like the story behind it somehow stopped being real.
This track became my answer to that.
A line in the sand.
A reminder that technology doesn’t erase humanity — it expands it.
Every lyric, every layer still comes from lived experience.
If you’ve ever been doubted, dismissed, or told that your way of creating doesn’t count, this episode — and this song — are for you.
Listen. Breathe. Drive.
And remember: you’re still here, still creating, still trying.
Thanks for listening to Still Here, Still Trying.
If this episode gave you something to think about, please like, follow, subscribe, and share it with three people who could use it in their lives.
You can find more of my work — music, writing, art, and reflections — at:
🌐 mikebakerhq.com
Grab a copy of my book, The Optimist’s Way:
📚 https://a.co/d/4RqPS6g
Thanks for being here.
Still here. Still trying.
Episode Title: Life Across the Sea (with Cameron Baker)
Description:
In the first-ever interview on Still Here, Still Trying, Mike sits down with his middle son, Cameron Baker, who’s been living and working in New Zealand. Together they talk about what it means to start over in a new country — the pull of independence, the loneliness that comes with it, and the strength it takes to build a life from scratch.
Cameron shares stories from the restaurant world, his growing passion for wine, and the lessons he’s learned about leadership, patience, and finding purpose far from home. It’s a raw, honest conversation about family, culture, and the kind of personal growth that only happens when you step out into the unknown.
🎧 Listen in for a father and son conversation that spans oceans, rooted in love, grit, and the courage to keep trying.
Episode 20: The Art of Staying Human
The noise is everywhere — headlines, outrage, algorithms feeding the chaos.
But underneath all that, there’s still something worth protecting.
In Episode 20 of Still Here, Still Trying, Mike Baker shares The Art of Staying Human — a grounded, honest guide to holding on to empathy, truth, and decency in a world built for division.
He lays out a five-part playbook for staying human when the algorithms pull us apart:
1️⃣ Remember what’s real
2️⃣ Curate what shapes you
3️⃣ Practice slow truth
4️⃣ Create something that can’t be scrolled
5️⃣ Stay kind — especially when it’s unpopular
This one’s part reflection, part roadmap, and all heart — a reminder that connection still beats clicks, and that even in the noise, we can choose to be human first.
🎶 Closing song: “Came Here to Be Kind” by Mike Baker
🎧 Listen, share, and follow to help push back against the negativity feed.
Because the middle still matters — and you’re part of it.
🎙️ Episode 19 — The Middle Still Matters
Somewhere along the way, noise replaced nuance.
Everything became a side to choose, a take to post, a reaction to perform. We started scrolling through outrage like it was oxygen, and somehow forgot how to just… listen.
In this episode, Mike Baker steps back from the static to search for the signal underneath it — the quiet frequency that still connects us.
He reflects on what liberty looks like when truth flickers, on the slow erosion of empathy, and on why the middle of the story — the place between extremes — still holds the power to heal.
Through personal reflection, storytelling, and moments drawn from his art and music, Mike explores how we begin finding our way back to each other when everything around us rewards division.
He shares why he created Human First — not as a protest, but as a reminder. A reminder that connection still matters, that decency still counts, and that empathy is not weakness — it’s survival.
The Middle Still Matters is an invitation to breathe again, to remember who we are beneath the headlines, and to believe — even now — that light still breaks through the static.
🎧 Still Here, Still Trying — with Mike Baker
Music: “Human First” by Mike Baker
What if art wasn’t about what we see—but what we help others see?
In this episode, Mike reflects on how empathy opened the door to his creative life. From the EndoWarrior portraits inspired by his daughter’s journey with invisible pain, to discovering how AI could help capture ideas that move faster than his hands, this conversation is about creation rooted in love, not ambition.
Mike talks about learning to create with ADHD, bridging leadership and art, and finding meaning where humanity and technology meet. He honors traditional artists, challenges the fear around new tools, and reminds us that progress doesn’t erase heart—it reveals it.
This episode also introduces his new visual series, Human / Machine / Light, built around the idea:
And if you’ve seen the Human First T-shirt, this episode carries the same message—empathy, creativity, and connection in motion.
🖤 Get the shirt, wear the message: https://mike-baker-hq.printify.me
🎧 Listen now, and remember: creation still belongs to us.
🎧 Episode 18 – Seeing Differently: Art Beyond Vision“The future of art lives in the space where human and machine meet.”
After a week on the islands celebrating 26 years of marriage, Mike Baker returns home sunburned, grateful, and changed.
In this deeply personal episode, he reflects on the quiet moments that inspired his new album Human First — a project born out of compassion, faith, and the belief that kindness still matters in a divided world.
From floating off St. John with Kellie and writing Stop Making Amy Cry about his sister-in-law’s incredible heart, to wrestling with faith, leadership, and the headlines that challenge our humanity — this episode is raw, real, and full of truth.
Mike opens up about what it means to live with mercy, lead with grace, and create from a place of love instead of noise. He shares the story behind Human First, why he still believes in people, and how we can all help carry the flame forward.
If you’ve been craving something honest — something that cuts through the chaos and speaks straight to the heart — this one’s for you.
🎧 Listen now to Episode 17: “Human First.”
🌊 Like, share, and help spread the message — because the world still needs more light.
Here's the link to purchase a t-shirt
https://mike-baker-hq.printify.me
Episode 16 – You’ve Been Becoming This Whole Time
In this episode of Still Here, Still Trying, Mike Baker leans into one of the quiet truths from his book The Optimist’s Way™: that we’ve been becoming all along, even when it feels like we’re stuck or falling behind.
Mike begins by reading the full passage from the book, then opens it up into reflections on work, art, and life. He shares the unseen growth that happens in leadership at Heritage Health — the kind that doesn’t show up on dashboards or reports but transforms people in small, profound ways. He talks about the music and art he’s created over the years, including songs and images that may never reach the public but still shaped him in ways no metric can measure.
The heart of the episode is family. Mike reflects on the quiet strength he’s witnessed in his daughter as she lives with endometriosis, and how that has changed the way he sees the invisible battles others carry. He speaks about Jake’s move to Boise, and the becoming that happens as a parent when you learn how to step back, trust your adult children, and cheer them on as they build their own lives. He talks about Cameron’s move across the world to New Zealand, and what it has meant to learn how to love across oceans. And he reflects on his marriage to Kellie — how they’ve become more rooted and honest over the years through both laughter and hardship.
This episode is a reminder that becoming isn’t about big milestones or applause. It’s about the ways you grow softer, steadier, and stronger in the daily moments no one else sees. It’s about breathing, noticing, and remembering you are not behind, you are not lost — you’ve been becoming this whole time.
🎶 Featuring the song “This One’s for Me.”
📖 Read The Optimist’s Way™: https://a.co/d/igbHGkK
Episode 15 – The Quiet Victories
When you’re not thriving, but you’re still showing up.
In this episode, I talk about optimism — not the shiny kind, but the kind that survives.
The kind that limps forward when you’re full, tired, and no one’s clapping.
I tell the story of a meeting in D.C. that left me gutted — not because of what was said loudly, but because of what was named quietly.
I talk about how I walked for hours afterward just trying to find my breath again.
And how I ended up making three pieces of art about what it feels like to speak and not be heard.
There’s a reading from The Optimist’s Way™ — my book about leading, healing, and staying human in hard times.
You can find it here: https://a.co/d/igbHGkK
There’s a reminder to come home to what matters.
And there’s a song at the end — “Another Trip Around the Sun.”
A small, steady anthem for anyone just trying to get through the day with their head and heart intact.
This one’s about the victories no one sees.
The ones that count anyway.
Still here. Still trying. And I’m glad you are too.
Podcast: Still Here, Still Trying
Host: Mike Baker
Closing song: “Apologies to the Future”
From the book: The Optimist’s Way™
This episode lands a little late. And maybe that’s exactly right.
Mike returns from a heavy trip to D.C. with a full heart, a tired mind, and a deep ache for something we’re all losing: our connection to each other.
In a time when tension is rising, conversations are hard, and violence seems closer than we want to admit — this isn’t a reaction. It’s a reminder.
A reminder that we still belong to each other.
That disagreement doesn’t have to become destruction.
That light still comes back — even here.
Mike reads a full page from his book The Optimist’s Way, reflects on the quiet fractures happening all around us, and introduces his latest song “Apologies to the Future” — a raw, honest prayer for the world we’re handing off.
💬 Real talk. No scripts. Just presence.
🎧 Tune in, take a breath, and stay human.
🎙️ Episode 14 – The Light Still Comes Back
Episode 13 – Say Yes: The Wild, Risky, Beautiful Things
Lucky number 13. Most podcasts don’t even make it this far, but here we are — still here, still trying.
This week, I’m talking about the power of saying yes when everything in you wants to say no. I read a passage from my book The Optimist’s Way™ that reminds us life doesn’t wait — we only get one chance to step outside our comfort zones and chase the things that make us feel alive.
In this episode, I share:
This is part gratitude, part confession, and part invitation. If you’ve been waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect plan, or the perfect confidence — this is your reminder that the perfect moment never comes. Say yes anyway.
📖 Read The Optimist’s Way™: https://a.co/d/8DU2pRX
🎶 Outro track: The Way We Shine (from the album The Way We Shine)
In this episode, Mike reflects on anxiety, the start of school, the Ted Lasso panic attack scene, and a brand-new piece of AI art he created called Even Heroes Feel It.
This image is part of a larger series he’s building for a women’s health project later this fall — a collection of powerful visual stories about strength, survival, and connection.
👉 Check out the image here on Pictorem
A message of strength and courage
Keep this as a reminder for the days when things feel heavy. Anxiety is real, and it can feel overwhelming, but it does not take away your strength. The power to face it has always been inside you — this image is here to remind you of that.
Anxiety doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. It means your body is reacting to stress, even when your mind wishes it wouldn’t. That tight feeling in your chest, the racing thoughts — you’re not the only one. Even the strongest people feel it.
Heroes feel it too. They get scared. They doubt themselves. They wonder if they can keep going. What makes them strong is not the absence of fear, but the choice to carry on through it.
When anxiety rises, pause and breathe. Let the feelings move through you, and then take the next step. That choice is courage. That choice is strength.
The image is a reminder: strength doesn’t mean pretending everything is easy. Strength is looking up, even when fear is still in your chest.
You are not alone in this. You are stronger than you know.
Locker-Note Mantra
One-Line Toolkit
🌱 Yes, there’s a plant named Kevin — and Kevin deserves a shoutout.
🍷 And introducing our brand-new “international sponsor” — the amazing Cameron Baker with Barely Legal Wine. Stay tuned…
🎶 Outro track: My Therapist Has a Plant Named Kevin
🎙️ Show Notes — Episode 12: Even Heroes Feel ItFrom the Artwork — Even Heroes Feel It
Episode 11 – The Beer League Goalie Manifesto
Fall hockey is back, and so is the chaos of beer league. The sticks are taped, the skates are sharp (for about ten minutes), and the cooler in the locker room is waiting like it’s the Stanley Cup.
This episode is a survival guide from the crease — straight from your goalie. The weird one. The one who talks to his posts and willingly straps on fifty pounds of gear just to get lit up by slapshots for fun.
We’re talking about the language that actually helps your goalie survive (spoiler: yell at us like we’re dogs), the defensive basics that matter more than any system, why forwards need to stop floating and backcheck, and the unspoken code of beer league that keeps the game fun. There’s chirps, there’s self-deprecation, and yeah… there’s some swearing. Hockey’s a rough game, and the language can be too — so cover your ears if you need to.
At the end, I give a special shoutout to the fellas from Beer League Dad Life and to Nick from BLPA — go give them a follow and show some love for the beer league community.
We close this one with a track that says it all — Beer League Forever. You can stream it here: Beer League Forever on Spotify.
@beerleaguedadslife @BLPA
Still here. Still trying. Still stopping pucks.
Episode 10 – The Optimist’s Guide to Everyday Disasters
Description:
Life’s curveballs don’t always come as big tragedies. Most of the time, they show up as everyday disasters: the pizza dough you tried to microwave, the Zoom call you dozed off in, the Silly Putty that left you bleeding on stage, or the hockey puck that knocks your helmet loose.
In this episode, I share my Optimist’s Disaster Survival Toolkit — four lighthearted “rules” for surviving the mess with humor, optimism, and maybe a scar or two.
I also take a few minutes to talk about my brand-new album Invisible Wars — a project born out of heavy themes, but delivered with fun, defiant energy and even a full choir. The full album is out now on SoundCloud, and singles are rolling out all week on Spotify and the other platforms.
🎧 Listen now and laugh through the chaos with me.
Show Notes:
In this episode:
💡 Special shoutout to Anne, my new EA partner from Athena — she’s amazing, and the Tagalog in this episode’s intro is for her.
👉 Stream the full album on SoundCloud: Invisible Wars
👉 Follow me on Spotify for the single releases: Mike Baker Music
👉 Check out my art: Infinite Canvas Gallery
If this podcast or the music connects with you — share it. Stream it. Post about it. Every play, every share, every comment helps build this community and helps the work reach the people who need it most.
🎙️ Still Here, Still Trying
🎙 Still Here, Still Trying — A Spoken Word Special
Description:
This is different.
No guest. No interview. No backstory.
Just a spotlight, a quiet room, and words I’ve carried for years.
Still Here, Still Trying is a spoken word piece for anyone who has ever smiled and said, “I’m fine” when you weren’t.
For the leaders, the parents, the friends, the ones who keep showing up even when it’s heavy.
It’s about what I’ve learned—
that strength isn’t silence.
And the people who love you can carry more than you think.
When the weight is too much, find arms that will hold it with you.
And when you can — be those arms.
Listen. Feel it. Share it with someone who needs it.
Some things you don’t “get over.” They change you. They move in and make themselves part of your life. And maybe the goal isn’t to erase them — maybe it’s to learn how to live, love, lead, and create with them still in the room.
In this conversation, I explore:
Featured Song:
🎵 Made it Through the Morning – Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/track/6a7cHhIALMm536M87PsLIl?si=c3a0af577b9a4356
Featured Artwork:
🎨 Embracing the Weight: A Journey Through Shadows and Light – View here:
https://www.pictorem.com/1934551/embracing-the-weight-a-journey-through-shadows-and-light/
More ways to connect:
📖 The Optimist’s Way™ – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6J6M9Q4
🎶 All my music – https://open.spotify.com/artist/2hbJLbX7FkveIAz0xnJce9?si=UHpwiUotRUWTNDyGjsgq9g
📷 Instagram – https://instagram.com/mikebakerhq
💛 Support Endometriosis Awareness – https://instagram.com/endodad76
🎙️ Episode 8 – The Quiet Work No One Sees
Still Here, Still Trying
This one’s for the things nobody claps for.
The invisible labor.
The off-stage leadership.
The songs, the choices, the healing—done quietly, without an audience.
I talk about what it means to keep showing up when no one’s watching,
and then I walk through my newest EP—written during a weekend where I felt disconnected, heavy, and quietly unraveling.
It’s raw. It’s unfiltered. And it came from a night I just needed to survive.
Five songs. No plan. No polish.
Just truth I needed to say out loud.
As a special bonus, I added two of those new tracks at the end of this episode.
No intro. No outro. Just the music.
Let it hit however it hits.
If this episode speaks to you—let me know.
Leave a comment. Hit follow.
Share it with someone else who’s still trying too.
Appreciate you being here.
Still here. Still trying.
Sometimes life shifts in a way that’s hard to explain.
The plan made sense. The rhythm felt right.
But something changes—and suddenly, you’re standing in a story that no longer fits.
In this episode, I’m talking about those quiet turning points. The ones where leadership feels uncertain, identity feels blurry, and the version of yourself you thought you knew starts to evolve.
I’ll share what it looked like for me—in the work I do, in being a dad, and in how I process it all through music and art.
I’ll also open up about the story behind “Borrow Mine”, my standalone single written for anyone who’s out of gas and tired of pretending they’re not.
Because sometimes what we need isn’t advice. It’s presence. And a little borrowed hope until we can find our own again.
You’ll also notice something different about the intros from now on. I’m not explaining it. Just go with it. Let’s keep this thing fun.
If you’re feeling in-between right now—between what was and what’s next—I hope this episode gives you a little permission to pause, reflect, and keep writing the next line at your own pace.
🎧 Listen to my music on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2fVaE8YQk3YIGFgPrfGTzG
📖 Grab my book The Optimist’s Way on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJV7PDZ5
🌐 Explore more of my work—art, music, advocacy—at:
Thanks for being here. Keep showing up.
Episode 6: Hope in a Crazy World
Still Here, Still Trying with Mike Baker
There’s a strange heaviness in the air lately. People are tired in ways they can’t explain. The news is relentless. Politics feel like a battleground. The pressure to stay informed, stay productive, stay afloat — it adds up.
In this episode, I talk about what it means to survive without shutting down, and how we stay hopeful when the world around us feels chaotic. This is not a pep talk. It’s a pause. A place to name the weariness honestly — and still choose to keep our hearts open.
Hope, the kind I believe in, doesn’t shout. It doesn’t demand attention. It shows up in how we treat people. It grows slowly in the spaces we protect from cynicism. And it gives back in ways fear never will.
I share a few things that have grounded me lately — moments from my book The Optimist’s Way, the music I’ve been writing, the art that helps me process what words can’t always carry. There’s nothing polished about this season. But there’s still beauty in it, and I want to help us find it together.
Whether you’re a parent trying to hold it all together, a leader trying to stay steady for others, or just a human trying to stay soft in a world that keeps pushing you to harden up — this space is for you.
📖 The Optimist’s Way is available here: https://a.co/d/4RqPS6g
🎶 Stream the songs that grew from these reflections: https://linktr.ee/mikebakermusic
If this conversation means something to you, pass it along. Share it with someone who might need a little light. That’s how we keep building something worth believing in — not all at once, but one honest moment at a time.
Still here. Still trying. See you next time.
Episode 5: Let’s Talk About Hope
In this episode, I’m reflecting on what it means to hold onto hope in a world that feels increasingly divided and noisy. Hope isn’t something we wait to feel. It’s something we build through small choices, steady actions, and the ways we show up for one another.
These aren’t easy times. Outrage spreads fast. Suspicion grows quickly. But there’s still a different way forward. A slower, quieter path where connection matters more than volume. Where kindness matters more than winning arguments.
I’m sharing stories from my own life — the work we do at Heritage Health, moments on the ice with the next generation learning resilience, and the small acts of compassion that remind me people are still worth believing in.
This conversation comes from the heart of The Optimist’s Way. It’s about the work of staying human, staying connected, and holding onto hope even when it feels harder to find.
Thanks for listening. Thanks for showing up.
📖 The Optimist’s Way on Amazon: https://a.co/d/4RqPS6g
🎵 Music on Spotify, Apple Music, and more.
🎙️ Follow for future episodes.
Still here. Still trying.