In a world that often equates success with material wealth, a counter-cultural movement is emerging—one that champions the power of passion as the truest form of luxury. This isn't about discarding ambition; it's about shifting the very foundation of what it means to live a rich, fulfilled, and successful life. For entrepreneurs and creatives racing from one milestone to the next, the idea of indulging in one's passion can feel like an unaffordable extravagance. But what if this indulgence is not a distraction, but the very fuel for accelerated growth and profound personal development?
In a revealing episode of the Luxury Unplugged podcast, host Neeti Keswani sat down with Jeremy Laman, a fearless innovator whose journey from SpaceX to founding The Passion Company offers a masterclass in this modern paradigm. Their conversation unravels the intricate connections between passion, luxury, mental health, and entrepreneurship, providing a roadmap for anyone seeking to align their career with their soul's purpose.
From SpaceX to Creative Liberation: The Journey of Jeremy Laman
Jeremy Laman’s career began in the technical, high-stakes environment of SpaceX, where he worked in marketing and contributed to groundbreaking "imagination technology." While this role was intellectually stimulating, Jeremy felt a deeper calling—a pull towards the creative and the unexplored facets of his own potential.
His transition wasn't a simple career change; it was an evolution. "I left there really wanting to explore more of my creative side," Jeremy shared with Neeti. "I didn't know how to channel it, how to focus it. I felt like I'd never really used that muscle." This admission is a powerful reminder that even those at the forefront of innovation can feel a creative yearning. For many entrepreneurs, this spark of creativity is often the first thing to be suppressed in the name of practicality and survival.
Jeremy’s first foray into this new world was the superhero comic franchise, Mania. This project was more than just a creative outlet; it was a mission-driven endeavor focused on mental health empowerment at a time when the conversation was far less open than it is today. This project laid the groundwork for his life's work: unlocking human potential through passion.
The Passion Dojo: A Gym for Your Consciousness
This journey culminated in the founding of The Passion Company and its core offering: the Passion Dojo. But what exactly is a "Passion Dojo"?
Jeremy frames it as a "gym for your consciousness." In our fast-paced culture, especially in the demanding world of entrepreneurship, time is the ultimate currency. The notion of "indulging" in self-discovery or exploring one's passion can seem counterintuitive, even frivolous. This, Jeremy argues, is where we must redefine luxury.
"The older concept of luxury is about external validation," he explains. "But with the Passion Dojo, what we're talking about is a place to indulge in working out your passion. Because we're not given a lot of time, and people don't think they have time to do that. That's why it is a luxury for some."
This reframing is revolutionary. It positions personal development and passion not as indulgences, but as essential disciplines for high performance. Just as an athlete trains their body, the modern entrepreneur and creative must train their consciousness to operate from a place of purpose and clarity, rather than fear and scarcity.
Conquering the Anxiety of the Creative Entrepreneur
The path from a stable, conventional career to one driven by creativity and passion is rarely smooth. It is often paved with anxiety, self-doubt, and fear—the very antithesis of luxury. Neeti, acknowledging this universal challenge, asked Jeremy for his guidance for those experiencing this transition.
Jeremy’s response was rooted in his own "rebellious spirit." He never fully bought into the traditional concept of a linear "career." His advice is to challenge the very meanings we assign to success and life paths.
"Don't be afraid to challenge the meaning of things," he urged. "You don't have to buy into even the word 'career'... The owning of the freedom and the play with the freedom is the most important part."
For those grappling with anxiety, he emphasizes a critical shift: moving from external fixes to internal operating system upgrades. "If you're just addressing the top of it, the external symptom, you're not really getting to the operating level to see where the fear is actually coming from." This deep inner work is the cornerstone of effective personal development. It’s the difficult but essential process that allows entrepreneurs to build resilience and creatives to protect their most valuable asset: their inspiration.
iSELF: The Operating System for High-Intensity Personal Development
To facilitate this deep internal shift, Jeremy and his team are launching iSELF, a product born from years of research into what he calls "imagination technology." This is the practical application of the philosophy behind the Passion Dojo.
Jeremy describes iSELF as "the fastest and most effective means for healing, freedom, and mastery." In essence, it's a high-intensity personal development operating system. "It's going to challenge all the cultural, species-level evolutions like survival of the fittest... all the fear and scarcity-based ways that we've been conditioned and programmed to see."
For the ambitious entrepreneur or the blocked creative, this technology offers a way to systematically "clean, train, and refine" their passion. By upgrading your internal OS, you can channel your energy more efficiently, overcome the mental blocks that hinder creativity, and ultimately, perform at a higher level. This is where passion becomes a practical tool for success, not just a philosophical concept. This advanced form of personal development is what allows individuals to truly excel in their entrepreneurship ventures and creative projects.
Mental Health, Creativity, and the Mission of Mania
A consistent thread in Jeremy's work is a profound commitment to mental health. His comic book project, Mania, was conceived as a vehicle for mental health empowerment. By weaving a message of inner strength and self-acceptance into an exciting superhero narrative, he found a powerful way to engage a broader audience in a critical conversation.
This mission is more relevant than ever. As Neeti noted, even in places like India, awareness around mental health is growing rapidly, with schools introducing creative projects on the topic for teenagers. Jeremy’s work with Mania demonstrates how creativity can be a potent force for social good, destigmatizing mental health challenges and providing hope. For entrepreneurs, acknowledging and addressing mental health is not a sign of weakness but a strategic imperative for sustainable success and a sane mind. A focus on mental health is foundational to sustaining the drive required in entrepreneurship.
The Ultimate Luxury: Passion as the Hottest Currency
This brings us to the core philosophical takeaway from the conversation, perfectly encapsulated by Jeremy's own words: "Money is the shiniest object, but passion is the hottest."
He elaborates on this powerful statement: "Material wealth buys luxury in all the conventional ways. But at a certain point, there's a desensitization to the satisfaction and the fulfillment of that definition of luxury." The sparkle of material luxury can fade, but the fire of passion only grows brighter.
True, modern luxury, he argues, is the "self-discovery and self-realization that's all through choosing passion over fear." Passion is what sets humans apart. It is the engine of originality and the gateway to luxuriating in one's own spirit. For the creative, it is the source of all innovation. For the entrepreneur, it is the resilience to persevere. This makes the pursuit of passion the most valuable investment one can make in their personal development and overall luxury of life.
Your Invitation to a Luxurious, Passion-Driven Life
Jeremy Laman’s journey is a testament to the transformative power of aligning one’s work with one’s soul. His parting wisdom nugget for aspiring entrepreneurs and creatives is a call to action:
"As you depart your comfort zone... ask yourself what fears you can challenge today. And show yourself that passion is greater than fear. The more that you prove love, it's going to allow you to really discover your superpowers."
The message is clear: the ultimate luxury in life and business is not just financial wealth, but the freedom, vitality, and fulfillment that come from a life lived in passion. It’s about making the conscious choice to invest in your personal development, prioritize your mental health, and harness your creativity to build a legacy that is both successful and deeply meaningful.
For every entrepreneur feeling burned out by the grind, and every creative struggling to justify their path, this conversation is your permission slip. Indulge in your passion. Invest in that luxury. It is, without a doubt, the hottest and most rewarding journey you will ever take.
Luxury Unplugged Podcast: Episode Transcript
Host: Neeti Keswani
Guest: Jeremy Laman
(Intro Music Fades)
Neeti Keswani: Welcome to Luxury Unplugged. If you're passionate about entrepreneurship, creativity, and maintaining a sane mind, you've found your tribe. I'm Neeti Keswani, bestselling author and your host for the Luxury Unplugged Podcast. Join us as we embark on an unfiltered journey into the extraordinary lives of individuals who are living life to the fullest and achieving their dreams while inspiring others along the way.
Every week on Tuesdays, we bring you their incredible stories of success, a life full of luxuries, and the spiritual thought process that fuels their accelerated growth. So, get ready to dive deep into the minds of these CEOs and creative entrepreneurs who are shaping the world of luxury and spirituality.
Today, we are so pleased to host Jeremy Laman. He is a testament to the power of following your dreams and creating meaningful change in the world through his values and projects. Welcome, Jeremy.
Jeremy Laman: Hi, Neeti. Nice to be here. Thank you.
Neeti Keswani: So, Jeremy Laman, I would just like to give a little introduction for our viewers. He is a fearless innovator who has dedicated his life to unlocking the power of passion and igniting the human spirit. He's worked with SpaceX, where he was involved in inventing imagination technology, and then he moved on to founding his fashion company and many other creative projects that we're going to discuss in this podcast.
So, let's get started, Jeremy. Over to you. Let us know all about your transition from the role at SpaceX to your current projects that you are so passionately working on.
Jeremy Laman: When I really feel into my evolutionary journey from doing marketing and kind of wearing a bunch of different hats with SpaceX, I left there really wanting to explore more of my creative side. I think you had mentioned in the introduction "creative entrepreneurs," and that really resonated with me. But I didn't know how to channel it, how to focus it. I felt like I'd never really used that muscle; I was more of a technical guy.
And so, the first kind of artistic endeavor I did was a comic book called Mania, which I'm sure we could talk about later. Then, I started to feel my own soul's work, which you had mentioned with imagination technology. It's a new operating system for high-intensity personal development. It was always about focus; it was about how to land my bigger vision. And that's how we are founding The Passion Company, and that is where we are delivering on this creative idea and really being a beacon of the power of passion and what it can really do.
Neeti Keswani: Right. So, I was browsing through your blogs and I was just reading through some amazing stuff over there about The Passion Company and the kind of courses that you have. You're talking about a muscle or about a gym for your brain, mind, body, and spirit. So, is that a course that you do online, or something that you take classes offline as well? What is the kind of coaching that you do?
Jeremy Laman: Yes. I really want to connect this with the name of this podcast, "Luxury Unplugged." What I really get a sense of is redefining this definition of luxury in a much more holistic and freedom-based way. And what I take with what you're mentioning, the Passion Dojo, is that in this culture, it's kind of counterculture to indulge in your passion. There's not enough time to indulge, to luxuriate in your passion, especially as a busy entrepreneur, or where survival is the only thing that you're concerned about, or even just to get to the next thing and you're racing for the milestones. Like you were saying, this older concept of luxury.
And so, with the Passion Dojo, what we're talking about is a gym for your consciousness; it's a place to indulge in working out your passion. Because we're not given a lot of time, and people don't think they have time to do that. That's why it is a luxury for some.
Neeti Keswani: That's that, yeah. Exactly. Exactly.
Neeti Keswani: Now, in terms of your comic franchise, Mania, tell us something about that. What exactly is it, and how is it blending with your Passion Company? Or is it something as a different project altogether?
Jeremy Laman: It's a different project altogether, though, you know, all connected in my heart. That really was, if we're to land that into where that concept came from, a mission of mental health empowerment. That really felt really important to me, especially talking about 2013, 2014; the conversation about mental health wasn't as open as it is now. I kind of saw that this thing needed to open up a little bit.
We created a comic book that had a really cool spin on how superpowers can develop, and we had this mental health empowerment message behind it. It was crazy because none of us had ever made a comic book before, and we ended up doing three issues, released them, and then I got to speak at Comic-Con for a panel about Mental Health and Comics. So, it was incredibly fun and rewarding for sure.
Neeti Keswani: I think that is an amazing concept. Although there's a lot of mental health awareness going on in the US and the UK and other parts of the world, India is too catching up on this presently.
Jeremy Laman: Okay, that's great.
Neeti Keswani: So yeah, it is catching up. And surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, even my son at school, they are doing a project on comics where they have to create something on mental health. And I was just zapped by how they do it for teenagers, you know, they're just 13-year-olds. So yes, that kind of awareness is pretty much there now around the world, I guess.
Jeremy Laman: I feel so, too.
Neeti Keswani: And I've read on your blogs about you dealing with anxiety and those negative aspects that come when you change careers, transforming careers, or when you become more creatively inclined. Did you feel anything of that sort? Or what would you say to somebody who's going through that?
Jeremy Laman: Oh, boy. You're talking to a really rebellious spirit over here. I think when I really... what it really comes down to is there was this acceptance that it was okay to be unconventional. The way that I would say that is, I never really bought into this "career" idea of "do some things in order to get to the next steps of things." I felt rebellious because that really wasn't my focus or excitement; it felt forced upon me to have to believe that word.
So, to give you a wrap-around kind of response, it's like, don't be afraid to challenge the meaning of things. You don't have to buy into even the word "career." If you don't need that word in your life, there are whole new wonderful ways of looking at reality to live the way that is a freedom to you. The owning of the freedom and the play with the freedom... and I think that's for my own evolution from all the limitation and anxieties and things like that, was really just to get out of my own way of allowing the rebellious spirit to do what it wants without the shame of "it's not what a normal, good person should do."
Look at it this way: if you're trying to fit in, the allowance of not fitting in, and embracing it and having fun with it... that's the key.
Neeti Keswani: I can understand where you're coming from. So, if you have to guide somebody who is going through anxiety because they are changing careers, getting into creative professions, but they are facing that depressive feeling inside and all those fears and uncertainties that come with it, what would you say? How do you come out of it? Is there a process you follow, or do you think coaching is the right way to go about it?
Jeremy Laman: The coaching is great. What I'm really passionate to represent is the focus on personal development from the outer to the inner. And that shift is how you're operating through the anxiety. The ways in which that you want to see it, which is why it's such a soul's work that I get to bring imagination technology to the world.
Because when you get down to the operating system level, the anxiety is being driven by some fear. And if you're just addressing the top of it, the external symptom, you're not really getting to the operating level to see where the fear is actually coming from to create the anxiety. That's why I'm saying it's a shift to personal development versus external story. And that it's an indulgence because there's so much fear to do that. The luxury of taking time to shift that gear around, to turn it to look there, that's a luxury because everything is going to say you can't, it's not worthwhile. But it's that freedom to do that.
Neeti Keswani: True. So, you feel it can be channeled into creative pursuits, either through your own self or perhaps through the help of a coaching session?
Jeremy Laman: It can definitely be shifted. Yes. Oh, yes. Everything is possible.
Neeti Keswani: Everything is possible. Right. And so, what is this imagination technology that you are talking about? What sort of a creative project is that?
Jeremy Laman: On the deepest of levels, it is my soul's work. It's been something that I've been researching and developing for many years, and it's taken many evolutions and testing to find how to deliver it in the best, most efficient way to package it and deliver it. I'm so excited because in December, we're finally releasing iSELF 1.0. It is the brand-new product that we have to deliver this operating system and support it.
If you look at personal development and all the options out there for everything designed to help you consciously evolve, what we're aiming to have with iSELF is the fastest and most effective means for healing, freedom, and mastery. The best way to put it is, it's like high-intensity personal development. It's going to challenge all the cultural, species-level evolutions like survival of the fittest and the natural selection, all the fear and scarcity-based ways that we've been conditioned and programmed to see. It's a world-shaker because it's getting to an operating system upgrade so that you can work with our company, The Passion Company, to clean, train, and refine your passion—that's your energy—and how clean and high-performance it is.
Neeti Keswani: Okay. So, if I want to perhaps use this product, is it in an app form, or is it in a course form? How is it available, or how is it going to be available?
Jeremy Laman: Yeah, it's both. So, there are five videos; it's very simple. Five videos that give you everything you need, and an app where you get the support all along the way and the help desk. So, it's that simple.
Neeti Keswani: Lovely. Now, coming to the luxury aspect of things, I picked this up from your Instagram: you mentioned that "money is the shiniest object, but passion is the hottest." I completely resonate with that. But what do you have to say for that? Material wealth is luxury; it buys luxury in all the conventional ways.
Jeremy Laman: At a certain point, there's a desensitization to the satisfaction and the fulfillment of that definition of luxury, the conventional definition. But it is very, very shiny and sparkly and spectacular and beautiful. It blows your mind away.
But when I speak about passion, and I really ponder on the spirituality, philosophy, science all trying to make sense of what it means to consciously evolve and awakening and consciousness... I come from a very skeptical side growing up, and as I approached spirituality, it provided a lot of conflict. But that journey of seeking freedom and all of that, to discover that inner wealth that is immeasurable... that is the luxury. It's the self-discovery and the self-realization that's all through choosing passion over fear.
And that's why it's the gym, the discipline. It's all of that stuff because it's counterculture and dangerous and rare. But that's what makes it so exciting and the hottest. Because passion is the most volatile substance that is distinct to humans. I don't think animals have passion, and robots don't have passion. So, passion is what sets us apart and what allows us to discover our originality and to luxuriate in our own spirit. And it's the hottest because... what are you trusting when you choose passion to explore the self to that extent? To really indulge in self-realization? It's the operation that lays out the creativity to design the ultimate that you are visioning.
Neeti Keswani: Right. You also have been an advocate for mental health challenges. Would you like to talk about some of the things you have worked on, or how possibly other people can support you if they wish to in this?
Jeremy Laman: Yes. Like I was mentioning, Mania, the comic book franchise, is strongly in a mental health empowerment mission. Right now, the focus is on The Passion Company, which its mission feels maybe a little bit bigger in that sense of, to reduce fear and negativity on this planet and help accelerate humanity with conscious evolution.
But I do feel that Mania is calling for a revival. So, if you're resonating with mental health empowerment and you want to collaborate, I'm sure we'll have contact or websites or socials to get in touch to brainstorm and see. I definitely need help for something of the scope of Mania, but it's there and it's ready to go.
Neeti Keswani: Lovely. So that is an interesting project in itself, and I'm sure you're going to get a lot of support. We are also going to leave some links to your social media for people to contact you if they want to help you in your endeavor.
I think that drives us to the conclusion of this podcast. Although short, I think we have got those... yeah. I think one bit is still left, which is: what is one wisdom nugget that you'd like to give to our audiences, who are comprising of wannabe entrepreneurs and artists, people turning their passions into business?
Jeremy Laman: As you depart your comfort zone, not in a distant sense, but almost like in getting closer and closer to your natural way of being, ask yourself what fears you can challenge today. And show yourself that passion is greater than fear. And the more that you prove love, it's going to allow you to really discover your superpowers.
Neeti Keswani: Wow. That's a beautiful note that you are sharing with us. I think it has a very deep meaning as well: to conquer your fears and then to just go for your passions no matter what. In terms of following your bliss, yes, but at the same time, there's so much baggage—fears and anxieties and emotions that don't serve us—to overcome them and then to be on our path anyway is what is required, I guess. And that's a beautiful message. Thank you so much.
Jeremy Laman: You're welcome.
Neeti Keswani: So, Jeremy, appreciate your time with us and amazing nuggets of experiences and learnings from your life. Thank you so much for your time. It was a pleasure to luxuriate in a wonderful and enlivening conversation. Enjoyed it thoroughly.
Jeremy Laman: Thank you.
Neeti Keswani: And now, this is a message for our viewers. As you've seen in this podcast, Jeremy Laman's achievements are speaking for themselves. From his time at SpaceX to the creation of the superhero franchise Mania and his advocacy for mental health at Comic-Con San Diego, he is relentlessly pursuing his passions and committing to it. And he is also helping us all understand through his wisdom nuggets how we should be following our passions no matter what.
Hope this podcast really left you with something to ponder upon. And if you liked it, then do subscribe, do share, and keep coming back for more. Thank you so much.
(Outro Music Fades In)