What if the real goal of money isn’t wealth—but time?

In this episode of Unknown Variables, I sit down with Andy Hill, creator of Marriage Kids and Money and author of Own Your Time, to talk about financial independence, Coast FIRE, and why so many people feel stuck even when they’re “doing everything right.”

Andy shares how he and his wife went from a negative $50,000 net worth to nearly $2 million, paid off their home in under five years, and ultimately designed a life around time freedom—not just money. We talk honestly about motivation, marriage, stress, side hustles, gambling culture, index fund investing, and what it really takes to build financial independence with a family.

This conversation isn’t about get-rich-quick schemes, crypto hype, or gambling apps—it’s about building margin, reclaiming your time, and designing a life you don’t want to escape from.

1. Why most people don’t have a money problem—they have a time problem
2. How motivation (not discipline) drives long-term financial change
3. Paying off a mortgage early vs. investing: what Andy would do differently
4. What Coast FIRE is and why it works for parents
5. How to build financial independence starting from debt
6. Why gambling and “quick money” are destroying wealth for young people
7. How couples can get on the same page about money
8. The role of side hustles, income growth, and index fund investing
9. Why time—not net worth—is the ultimate measure of wealth

Andy also shares the personal moments behind the numbers: marriage counseling, burnout, quitting a stable corporate job, and the realization that there are only 168 hours in a week—and how you use them matters.

📘 Andy Hill’s book, Own Your Time, is available now

Learn more at 👉 https://marriagekidsandmoney.com

🎧 Listen to Andy’s podcast & YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@MarriageKidsandMoney

Most people assume the answer is simple: greed. But the real story is far more complicated — and far more surprising.

In this episode, I sit down with Sam Kazer, PhD, a scientist who has worked across academia, global health, and the pharmaceutical industry, to break down what it actually takes to turn an idea into a real medicine. We talk about why drug development takes 10+ years, why clinical trials are so expensive, and why most drug ideas fail long before they ever reach patients.

We also explore:

1. Why “Big Pharma” isn’t a single villain
2. How academic research and industry depend on each other
3. Why biologic drugs cost more than small-molecule drugs
4. How public funding quietly enables many of the medicines we rely on
5. What people misunderstand most about drug pricing and regulation

This isn’t a defense of the pharmaceutical industry — it’s an explanation of the system we all rely on, and why simple answers don’t capture the full picture.

Is the medical system broken? And what does plastic surgery really do?

In this episode of the Unknown Variables Podcast, Dr. Anthony Rojas speaks with Dr. Kianna Jackson, MD, Chief Resident in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at Vanderbilt University, MIT graduate, and founder who challenged the residency application system itself.

Most people think plastic surgery is about Botox, breast implants, or celebrity aesthetics. Dr. Jackson explains why that’s wrong—how plastic surgery is about form and function, restoring faces after trauma, burns, and cancer, and helping patients reclaim their identity when their ability to speak, smile, or be recognized has been taken from them.

Dr. Jackson also shares her experience as a Black woman in surgery, confronting imposter syndrome and the “DEI hire” narrative despite graduating first in her medical school class and becoming the first Black student to win Vanderbilt’s highest academic honor. She offers a nuanced, honest discussion of affirmative action, equity vs equality, and why diversity in medicine leads to better patient outcomes.

The conversation goes deeper into the broken medical training pipeline. Dr. Jackson recounts spending thousands of dollars applying to residency, uncovering a system that extracts over $100 million annually from medical students, and building CentralApp, a platform that disrupted the residency application process nationwide—forcing ERAS to lower its fees. She also shares hard-earned lessons from founding a startup while working 80-hour weeks as a surgical resident.

This episode explores:

1. What plastic surgery really is (beyond aesthetics)
2. Facial reconstruction and restoring identity
3. Burn, cancer, and trauma reconstruction
4. Being a Black woman in surgery
5. DEI, affirmative action, and imposter syndrome
6. Why residency and medical school admissions are broken
7. The true cost of becoming a doctor
8. Lessons from building (and losing) a medical startup
9. Mentorship, medicine, and choosing the right path

Whether you’re a premed student, medical trainee, physician, healthcare professional, or simply curious about how medicine actually works, this conversation will change how you see plastic surgery—and the system behind it.

🎧 Listen to the full episode on the Unknown Variables Podcast

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