The Stress is Killing Me: Finding Joy in Your Career with Filmmaker Tom Carroll
Rejuvenaging with Dr. Ron Kaiser
Dr. Ron Kaiser
5.0 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 30 April 2025
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this lively episode of REJUVENAGING with Dr. Ron Kaiser, filmmaker Tom Carroll joins the show to discuss his new comedy feature, The Stress is Killing Me. Tom shares how his background in advertising and corporate film production evolved into a passion for creating full-length movies. His film follows eight college friends at their 20th reunion who, facing midlife dissatisfaction, decide to change careers to chase their dream jobs—only to find that reality isn't as glamorous as their fantasies. Tom reflects on the real-world inspiration behind the movie and highlights the universal message: satisfaction often comes not from drastic change but from rediscovering value in the lives and careers we already have.
Throughout the conversation, Tom and Dr. Ron explore the common midlife questions that so many successful individuals experience. They emphasize how frustration with a career doesn't always mean abandoning it; sometimes it means tweaking roles or rediscovering the deeper meaning behind your work. Tom explains how The Stress is Killing Me captures this idea with humor and heart, showing characters who attempt new careers, face hilarious challenges, and ultimately gain a renewed appreciation for their original paths. Their discussion resonates with audiences of all ages—especially those reflecting on decades of work and seeking new energy for the future.
Dr. Ron and Tom also discuss the filmmaking process, the importance of laughter in tackling serious themes, and the universal desire to find joy and purpose at any stage of life. Tom encourages listeners to watch The Stress is Killing Me, now available on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.
Direct Links to the Movie:
🎬 Watch The Stress is Killing Me on Amazon Prime Video
🎬 Watch The Stress is Killing Me on Apple TV
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | And when you're in that business, you make commercials, you make corporate films. |
| 0:05.6 | And just before COVID, I launched into making a short film. |
| 0:11.7 | And at the best time, it just being a director, in this case, director, writer is the greatest |
| 0:19.3 | job in the world. |
| 0:20.5 | And so COVID ended. And I had. case director, writer is the greatest job in the world. |
| 0:21.2 | And so COVID ended and I had this script line around and I was, of course, like everybody |
| 0:28.1 | else who has a script in there. |
| 0:33.2 | Welcome to rejuvenaging with Dr. Ron Kaiser. |
| 0:36.4 | This is a podcast designed to help you lead your life enthusiastically, today, tomorrow, and every other day. |
| 0:45.3 | I am your host, Ron Kaiser, positive health psychologist and coach, keynote and TEDx speaker and author of Rejuvenaging the art and science of growing older with enthusiasm. |
| 0:59.5 | As listeners to the podcast know, my goal is always to bring you guests who lead their own |
| 1:04.7 | lives enthusiastically and have different ways of helping us to become better versions of ourselves. |
| 1:12.9 | And we have a really special guest today, someone who's in a field, we don't frequently |
| 1:21.0 | highlight on this podcast, but I was so interested in a project that he's done, a film that he's made that I think is going to have great relevance for all of us. |
| 1:34.8 | Tom Carroll has produced a film called The Stress Is Killing Me. |
| 1:42.2 | It's a comedy that follows eight college friends who reunite for their |
| 1:48.2 | 20th reunion and learn some interesting things about themselves and what they want to do. |
| 1:58.9 | I'm not the expert on it, so I'm going to let Tom tell us about it. Without any further ado, |
| 2:04.8 | I'd like to welcome Tom Carroll. Welcome to rejuvenaging with Dr. Ron Kaiser. It's such a pleasure |
| 2:11.2 | to have you with us today. It's great to be here. I'm thrilled. Great. Well, let me ask you, Tom. I know we want to talk a little bit or a lot about the film and some of the lessons we can take from it. |
| 2:27.3 | But before we get into it, tell us about yourself. You a long time filmmaker. Is this a project that was building up? |
| 2:37.5 | Give us a little bit of a clue of who you are |
... |
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