When you hear Dr. David Layman speak, it’s almost as if a voice from above filled up a room and took over any remaining space there was available within it. Not only because of the sheer tone and presence of his voice, but due to the depth of his words and the wisdom that presides them. It’s the same voice I go back to when I first met him back in 2016 at a fair in my hometown.

I was approaching my sophomore year in college and had as many questions in me about life as someone had answers. Thankfully on that day, I met someone who was willing to gab just as much as I was. We sat and spoke for about three hours, while my younger sister and his daughter ran off to play. He not only answered every single one of my existential questions—he actually had GOOD answers.

After a while, I started thinking to myself, ‘This guy’s got it all figured out.’ Part of that, I shortly learned after, was due to his three decades-long career as a therapist and neuropsychologist (him being an expert on the brain isn’t hyperbole.) This obviously led me to ask even more questions and of course, I got even better answers. I learned about his life. His upbringing as an adopted foster child, the loss of his father at an early age, navigating relationships. We got into it all.

And as we approach nearly a decade of being in each other’s lives, we revisited that conversation for @insidevoicesseries. And of course, I came with even more questions than my 19-year-old self had at the time. His answers? Still profound as ever.