Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jeremy Goldberg. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jeremy, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

A few years ago, I was standing at the gate, waiting for my flight to board, and I looked over and saw a woman sitting by herself talking on the phone. She was crying loudly and alone.  I could tell she was really upset.  After a minute or two, she put down her phone, and she just continued to sort of sit there sobbing by herself, and I felt terrible. I watched her for a few moments, and I realized I had to do something. I wanted to do something nice to try to help. So, I reached into my wallet and pulled out a card. On the back, I wrote, “It’ll be okay. And you will be, too.” I walked over, looked her in the eyes, and handed her the card. I put my hand on her shoulder for just a second and then I smiled, I turned away and walked off. I boarded my flight, and I never looked back.  I felt like, at that moment, we had a connection, and her life was a little bit better as a result of that small action.  I thought there was power in that, and I realized there was honor in helping someone get through the day. I don’t know what happened next and I don’t know what her reaction was, but the whole experience shook me up and I thought about it a lot during my flight.



Why, in an airport filled with people, did nobody else step forward to help this lady?  Why was it okay for her to sit and cry by herself? Why had a crowd surrounded her, silently staring at telephone phone screens and magazines?  Why, in our society, is indifference so innocent and apathy so acceptable? 

I sat on the plane and wondered if this was the type of world that I wanted to live in and if this was the best we could do, and I decided it was not. I started daydreaming about an alternative world. I pictured the same scenario with the same lady crying the same tears, but in my version, I imagined her being bombarded with support. I imagined an old man shuffling over to offer her a hug. I pictured a group of teenage girls stopping by to ask if they could sing her a song. Maybe a couple on their honeymoon walks over and hands her a muffin and a smile. I feel like that world is possible.

So, I sat on the plane, and I started thinking about how to change things.  I imagined a world where every time someone was sad or lonely or unsure or depressed or in doubt, they knew that help was hiding in the heart of everyone around them.   I started imagining a world where kindness was cool, a world where we looked after one another. I started daydreaming about a world where compassion was popular and everyone helped each other out, a world where consoling a stranger was not the exception, it was expected.  I sat and tried to envision a world like that, a world where instead of posting photos of ourselves online, Facebook was populated with images of us being generous, kind, and supportive.

What if teenagers were obsessed with giving selflessly, not taking selfies?  


What kind of world would that be, and how do we get there?

As I sat on that plane that day, I decided I was going to try to make a difference. I decided I was going to make the world better than it was yesterday, and I decided I was going to start trying to make kindness cool.  I decided… I was going to change the world.  There was, however, one little problem: I had no idea what the hell I was doing. I didn’t know where to start, I didn’t know how to do it, but I had passion, and everything good starts with passion.


I sat and I started thinking about what this kindness revolution might look like, and I decided that it would be the same as any other revolution: It would start with an idea and ideas are just words, so I thought I may as well start there, with words.  So, I started writing, and I started sharing, and I started small.  And I stuck with it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a compassion-cultivating, day-making change agent, an empathy-collecting, anti-quitting word wizard, and a ferocious never-giver-upper. A connoisseur and collector of fine silver linings, my mission is to make kindness cool and compassion commonplace. I want to make the world better than it was yesterday.

My name is Dr. Jeremy Goldberg, and I worked internationally for governments and universities for a decade, researching and writing a PhD about how our brains influence our actions. I’ve managed teams of people and millions of dollars, gave a TEDx talk called, “What if kindness was cool?”, hosted more than a dozen retreats on four continents (including an annual 200 km Spanish pilgrimage), and wrote a book called It’ll Be Okay, And You Will Be Too.

An American-Australian word dork living in Canada, I’m an ordained minister, SCUBA diving instructor, recovering scientist turned author, podcast host, spoken word poet, and giver of keynotes.

I work as a life coach, but I’m more of a dream doula. People pay me to make them cry, sometimes in delight and sometimes as we confront the stories they hide behind. The core of my work is grounded in conviction excavation and clarity acquisition, reminding people of their inherent agency and realizing that beliefs are choices that influence malleable identities. My clients borrow my faith in them while we grow theirs together. I use writing as a medium to help people deal with life (and themselves) and believe creative thinking can stimulate healing, inspire epiphanies, and propagate aliveness.

My podcast is one of the top 1% globally. With nearly 600,000 downloads and over 200 episodes, you probably follow many of my guests from the personal development industry, including several NYT bestsellers and numerous therapists and thought leaders.

In terms of main messages, the world breaks my heart every day, and I know firsthand that sometimes things aren’t so great at all. Heartache is an old friend of mine, and I know what sorrow tastes like. I’m familiar with alcoholism, depression, and betrayal. I’ve met cancer, defeat, and hopelessness. I know what funerals do to your heart. I’ve lost friends and gained enemies, people I’ve loved like angels have treated me like devils, and I’ve felt ghosts in my veins where gods used to reign, and I don’t tell you these things to garner sympathy or to boast of my battles. There’s nothing extraordinary about me, and there’s nothing special about my life: Everybody struggles, everybody’s been hurt, and everyone is doing the best they can. And for that, everyone deserves kindness. That’s my message.

I’m not perfect, and I don’t pretend to be. I’m a flawed work in progress, but I’m trying to make a difference in this world by trying to make a difference in myself. It’s been a battle, and I struggle, and I stumble, and I always will, but no matter the setbacks, knock-backs, lies, and the loss, I will overcome, I will move forward, and I will keep going and keep fighting because I am fierce, but so are you. Let’s be fierce together. That’s my message.

We have work to do, and it’s easier if we help each other out, so let’s try to help each other out.  Empathy and encouragement — that’s my message.

Website – https://www.longdistancelovebombs.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LongDistanceLoveBombs
Book – https://shopcatalog.com/product/itll-be-okay-and-you-will-be-too/
Newsletter – https://longdistancelovebombs.mykajabi.com/email
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/longdistancelovebombs
TEDx talk – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mklMPHGLjo
Podcast – https://anchor.fm/longdistancelovebombs

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Please see responses to previous questions – I’ve included a lot of detail on this.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I did it backward. I worked full-time as a PhD student studying the Great Barrier Reef and began writing articles and sharing posts on Instagram without any intention of making it a full-time job or career. It was more like a creative outlet, a hobby, something fun on the side. Consequently, I had no qualms about being 100% myself, using profanity, writing the words I wanted to read, and sharing whatever I felt called to post. The authenticity built trust, which built a following. I had spent years building my audience before I ever sold them anything or asked for their money. I was just a dude ranting and raving about things he cared about, learned about, or felt like talking about.

My advice for those starting out is to remember that you are the brand. People are drawn to who you are. And you can fail at trying to pretend to be someone else, the perfect avatar online you think you should be, so you may as well just be yourself. As a lazy person, I’ve learned it’s also much easier this way. You don’t have to remember lies, pretend, or exert energy to become a character. Additionally, the world craves realness. We are saturated with fake filters, liars, scammers, and the like. We can feel when we’re in the presence of something real. Be someone real.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.longdistancelovebombs.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/longdistancelovebombs
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LongDistanceLoveBombs
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ldlb/
• Twitter: https://x.com/LoveBombsAway
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrJeremyGoldberg
• Other: Book – https://shopcatalog.com/product/itll-be-okay-and-you-will-be-too/

  Newsletter – https://longdistancelovebombs.mykajabi.com/email

  Podcast – https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/longdistancelovebombs