An Evolving Man Podcast

From Broadway’s Hamilton to a Heart Attack: Burnout & Transformation | Julian Reeve | AEM #171

Julian Reeve · September 4, 2026

Thought Leader · Author · TEDX Speaker · Leadership · Artificial Intelligence · Public Speakerin

Interview with Julian Reeve

From Broadway’s Hamilton to a Heart Attack: Burnout & Transformation | Julian Reeve | AEM #171

Podcast: An Evolving Man Podcast

September 4, 2026 · 1 hr 4 min

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From Broadway’s Hamilton to a Heart Attack: Burnout & Transformation | Julian Reeve | AEM #171

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Key topicsYou are not your job: why a deeper understanding of who we are has never been more important.For many people, work became identity long before AI entered the conversation. As industries, roles, and professional certainty continue shifting, Julian examines why a deeper understanding of identity, purpose, capability, and self-worth has become essential to navigating uncertainty without losing ourselves in the process. He helps listeners separate what they do from who they are, so they can recognise the deeper qualities that remain valuable even when tasks, titles, and career paths change. This creates a timely and deeply human conversation about how people can rebuild confidence, agency, and direction from the inside out, rather than waiting for the external world of work to feel stable again. AI is here to stay: how to overcome the fear of change.Much of the anxiety surrounding artificial intelligence is psychological. Julian explores how individuals and organizations can move through disruption without collapsing into fear, panic, comparison, or hopelessness, developing the clarity and emotional steadiness needed to adapt intentionally in an increasingly unpredictable world. He reframes AI anxiety as a human capability challenge, showing that people cannot access their best creativity, judgment, or adaptability when they are operating from threat. This conversation gives audiences a grounded way to face change honestly, while developing the self-awareness and confidence needed to work with AI without feeling erased by it. Who Am I Now — The Question Waiting Behind Every Job TitleJulian Reeve spent his career being introduced by his job title, first as the music director of Hamilton on Broadway, until a stress induced heart attack at 43 and an injury two years later took the role away. He argues that most people answer the identity question with a job description, which works right up to the moment the work changes, and that AI is now forcing that reckoning on whole professions at once. Drawing on the years he spent shaping the careers of thousands of performers and, later, C suite leaders and their organizations, he separates what somebody does from the qualities that made them worth hiring in the first place. He is the author of Captain Perfection and the Secret of Self-Compassion, and he uses his own rebuild to show how confidence returns when self worth stops depending on a role. Listeners leave able to describe their value without naming their job, which is the answer that survives the next restructure.View all topics →

About Julian Reeve

Author and International Keynote Speaker on Unmistakable Identity™ and Human Advantage in the Age of AI.

Former Music Director of ‘Hamilton’ 20+ Broadway productions worldwideA Stress-Induced Heart Attack at 43 The lived catalyst for his work on burnout, identity & sustainable performanceTEDx Speaker Perfectionism & sustainable performance2 x Proven Methodologies Intentional Synthesis™ & Perfect Equilibrium®

Julian Reeve is an international keynote speaker and author helping leaders and organizations create Human Advantage in the age of AI. Working between Los Angeles and London, he speaks to corporate and education leaders about the future of work, sustainable performance, organizational burnout and the human capabilities that matter most in a rapidly changing world.

Born and educated in Cambridge, England, Julian has spent thirty five years in elite performance, entrepreneurship, and education. He worked on more than twenty Broadway productions worldwide - including seven in London's West End - while founding three successful companies in the creative sector and educating thousands of students in performance and performance psychology. After moving to the United States, he became Music Director of 'Hamilton', winning the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Music Direction, conducting record-breaking productions in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., and leading the Puerto Rico production alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Three months into his role on 'Hamilton', Julian suffered a stress-induced heart attack at the age of 43. Two years later, a repetitive strain injury ended his performing career altogether.

These experiences prompted a profound re-evaluation of the relationship between achievement, burnout, identity and work design.

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About this episode

What happens when reaching the top still isn’t enough?

In Episode 171 of An Evolving Man Podcast, Piers Cross speaks withJulian Reeve, international keynote speaker, author and creator of the Perfect Equilibrium methodology.

Julian worked across the West End and Broadway before joining the team behind Hamilton. In 2017, while Music Director of the show’s first US national tour, he suffered a stress-related heart attack at 43. A subsequent repetitive strain injury eventually ended his performing career.

That experience forced Julian to reconsider the relationship between achievement, perfectionism, identity and self-worth.

Piers and Julian explore why high achievers can become trapped in the belief that productivity equals value, the six organisational drivers of burnout, how leaders create cultures of either pressure or psychological safety, and why emotional intelligence, creativity and judgement will become increasingly important in the age of AI.

They also discuss perfectionism as a survival strategy, the importance of play and permission in creative teams, and how individuals can begin identifying whether their burnout is being driven by personal patterns, organisational systems—or both.

A rich conversation about burnout, identity, leadership, creativity and redefining what success really means.

🌐 Find out more about Julian Reeve: https://www.julianreeve.com/

Find Piers:

https://piers-cross.com

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Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems.

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man.

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community

Many blessings,

Piers Cross

http://piers-cross.com/

Guest: Julian Reeve