The founder of Bar beverage has 5 tenets for success: be audacious, authentic, tenacious, obsessive and inspire others to be great. No wonder he built a company that just sold for 1.8 billion. A company that uses the civet to represent the highest achieving employees, has to be a little different. Bai has bucked many beverage company trends and ...…

What’s the point? Is it money? Is it something more? Roman gathers today’s most influential icons and leaders to do what’s NBDB (Never Been Done Before.) How can we drive culture in a positive direction? Roman Tsunder thinks he’s found a way. In this episode, he explains his mission with PTTOW (Plan To Take On the World) and WORLDZ, and tells J ...…

Dan Pena is an F-ing maniac! He lives in a castle in Scotland, has run ultra-marathons, has made and lost fortunes, never uses a cell phone and his motto is just F-ing do it (obviously). He’s a living contradiction. He speaks at Oxford but you can still hear the echoes of his gritty upbringing on the streets of East L.A. in his voice. He can da ...…

“Love is the answer” is the conclusion you might expect from a new age guru not a successful internal medicine doctor and trauma center director as Dr. Erika Schwartz was. But she always went against the grain of conventional protocol. Only now are her views starting to be vindicated. She urges doctors to connect with their patients and for pat ...…

Is Paleo the best diet? The CrossFit pioneer who authored “The Paleo Solution” says maybe. Results may vary according to who you are. The point is you’ll need to experiment a little. Similarly when he started the first CrossFit gym. Rob Wolf didn’t have the franchise model or rule book, He had to write it himself. If you’re going to be successf ...…

Have you given up? Know someone who has? There’s an answer for everything and Peter Cohen thinks he has it. We live a life our ancestors may have envied, largely free of hardship, so why are so many unsatisfied? Why, Cohen asks bluntly, is the world so messed up? A lot of us, he says, have simply given up. It shouldn’t be this way. Cohen taps f ...…

People are kidnapped, run away to the circus, sell a business for 1.7 Billion, complete the explorer's grand slam, and just talk philosophy, grit, and resilience. Today the team previews the next batch of podcast episodes. We have guests that will change your frame of reference, give you tools to change your life, and teach you to rewrite your ...…

When a leader changes his life, the implications can be great. With fifty pounds shed in five years, Ric Urrutia now sets an example for his 550 employees and for his family. His company, Taos Mountain Software, has been growing for twenty-five years and his clients include all the biggest names in Silicon Valley. What makes for a successful em ...…

Knowing your opponent wins championships. For Olympic fencer Jose Luis Abajo this has been paramount to his success. Self-knowledge too, knowing what will bring out the best in himself. It's what's in the mind that wins the match. This has meant being prepared for the unexpected, for just about anything that comes his way. How do you get ready ...…

Paradigms are made to be broken. Question everything. But do it in such a way that is data driven and informed by the best possible research. That means question the gut instincts, question what you’ve “always done,” and question the ideas you see on social media. This is the way Jack Easdale has maintained the prominence of a billion dollar bu ...…

Kombucha, heard of it? If you have, GT Dave is the reason. He says Kombucha, and restores an essential balance to your body. The Kombucha King dropped out of high school to spread his love of this drink after seeing it’s positive effect on his mother’s recovery from cancer. In the process he created a $600 million category--one that he still do ...…

This mountain warfare instructor accepts no excuses; just learn and do. He speaks with the same force of confidence that he hopes to instill in others. First growing up gaining woodsman skills in Maine and then later through a 36 year tenure in the military, Smith always sought and found strong role models from who to learn. That learning soon ...…

What is a “Not to do” list and why would you need one? Dean Graziosi found business success at a young age. It was a way to gain control in his own life in what felt like an out of control world. He has been doling out, through books and television, the techniques and wisdom that worked for him for nearly twenty years. It’s the mindset, he says ...…

When feeling stuck, what do you do to get back in the game? What’s the one thing you can do right now? Mordechai Winer discovered a series of simple steps that changed his life. A self-made success in business, he had been unable to control his eating or his weight. What he discovered was that it wasn’t about restrictions, shame, and punitive m ...…

One of the most successful women in the venture capital field and dedicated runner, Elizabeth took her cue from her mother. Come hell or high water her mother would be out the door at 4 am to swim or run, and in her 70s she’s still at it. Similarly, Weil never stops driving toward success. Within her hectic schedule of career, and raising twins ...…

Olympic marathoner Rod Dixon believes in the transformative power of physical activity so much that he started the Kids Marathon program. He won the New York Marathon in 1983 and an Olympic Bronze, now his program trains kids to run as soon as they enter school. The schools are realizing that keeping kids active brings test scores up, improves ...…

Is it possible to develop a surfing culture without an ocean? What would that mean? Keno Knieriem left the navy and to developing surf parks on man made lakes that simulate Hawaiian waves with his company Honokea. It is either the best thing or worst thing to happen to surfing. Will it nurture a whole new generation of surfers who would not exp ...…

You excel in ANY situation. Director of Counseling and Psychological Services at Cornell University Dr. Greg Eells explains how. In this interview describes how Viktor Frankl created meaning out of senseless and horrific circumstances. Frankl was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp and not only maintained his wits but retained the wherewith ...…

His doctor forbade world champion power lifter Robert Herbst to lift anything when he was a child with scoliosis. Eighteen world championships and twenty one consecutive national championships later, what compelled him to rebel? Herbst believes in managing risk but errs on the side of throwing caution to the wind. It’s paid off spectacularly. H ...…

Demali Elliott mentors young women in challenging situations through creative and introspective activities to redirect their stories onto a positive trajectory with her program Petals-N-Belles. It is a rigorous program designed to help those ready to receive that help, sixty- eight young women at last count. The organization, largely staffed by ...…

Musical prodigy Ray Ushikubo emulated what he saw on television and, contrary to what you might fear, discovered his passion. At five years old and with the help of supportive parents he his calling. Are there days he doesn’t want to practice? Or course. But he practices without fail and is fast approaching the theoretical 10,000 hours of study ...…

Marcello (an author and physics professor at Dartmouth College) and Kari (with a Ph.D focussed on trauma and PTSD,)decided to build an obstacle course in their backyard. What’s the connection? Marcelo, the physicist, sees OCR and physics as a way to go beyond the known boundaries. Kari, the psychologist, sees it as a way to get out of our heads ...…

Son of pioneering Hawaiian surfer “Buffalo” and a living legend in his own right, Brian Keaulana had two mentors. The first was his father who taught him to share the ocean’s bounty. The second was the ocean itself which served as a playground, school and church. Before he and his siblings could walk their father would toss them into the surf. ...…

Starting Health Warrior, a business borne out of a passion for health and fitness, moved Daniel Gluck away from Wall Street. He seized the opportunity to fill a niche in a food industry dominated by overly processed and high sugar offerings with healthful chia based alternatives. He was inspired by the legendary Tarahumara Indians who, fueled w ...…

Battling addiction late in the Vietnam era, the US Army’s Deputy Chief of Chaplains Brigadier General Thomas Solhjem found redemption through his faith and other’s mentorship. As he realizes now, isolation, though a common strategy, is the worst way to deal with adversity. Reaching out to others and sharing your experiences is an admission of s ...…

Running across the Sahara, all 4600 miles, 50 miles a day for 111 consecutive days. That’s what Ultrarunner Charlie Engle did to raise 6 million dollars for H20 Africa (now Water.org). In doing so he took his passion and did good with it. Engle overcame addiction and an unexpected jail sentence, but instead of running away from adversity, he em ...…

Behavioral scientist & expert on adventure, Jon Levy knows what makes Spartans tick. He wrote a book about it, The 2AM Principle: Discover the Science of Adventure. A big reason why people undertake challenges outside their comfort zone is to reach flow state, a zen like sense of timelessness, total absorption in an activity, and sense of maste ...…

Not wanting to spend his life on the sidelines, blind athlete Pete Cossaboon started participating in Spartan events. He sought out and found a way to achieve this seemingly impossible goal. Nelson Diaz has dedicated himself to facilitating the implausible achievements of adaptive athletes through compassion and action. The events only have mea ...…

Trauma care is a creative process for Dr, Jeffrey Upperman. He mentors young surgeons by throwing them in a room together with very little to work with and let their ingenuity and communication skills come to the fore to solve a problem under duress. He points out that these skills are becoming a lost art in the age of texting and tweeting but ...…

Cal Fussman, author as well as a writer for Esquire, went on a ten year worldwide journey with little money to his name. He subsisted on the good will of others, most often on those he met on the bus ride to his next destination. It was the perfect way to satisfy his insatiable curiosity and hone his interviewing skills. In this episode Fussman ...…

When your business is in trouble, this is the guy you need. Tim Gentry develops people to motivate his own success. As an Ironman competitor he exemplifies strengthening the body as a way to maintain a powerful mind, something he believes many business people neglect to their detriment. His suggestion: keep it simple and do just one thing every ...…

Mortgage officer and part of a Vermont family maple sugaring business, Ray Morvan found extreme multi day racing at random, after a battle with alcohol and opiate addiction. By helping him find community and a way to exert and build mental resilience it’s exactly what the doctor ordered . He went on to compete in nine Peak Death Races which is ...…

Damion Hahn came a hair’s breadth away from making the Olympics and advises those not achieving there goals “be mad about it, then turn your attention to tomorrow.” He channels that drive training a team that has been near dynasty for the last quarter century of Ivy League wrestling. They got there by honing raw talent. The best persist, the re ...…

This week’s podcast features two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, Christian Johnson and Chad Grills, disrupting the world of business. Johnson started Fotition a platform to unite brands people and charities to create a positive social outcome. He arrived at this idea by following his lifelong mantra, “creativity will save the world,” which lead h ...…

Nini Meyer created Positive Tracks as a way to get kids moving and involved with a cause through athletics. She has witnessed it not only helping the causes, but connecting the youth with each other and teaching them to manage risk, take on challenges and get active. Since not every child enters the program with the same resources, it also teac ...…

Helping runners move faster and injury free is the mission of Nathan Helming. A former Ironman qualifier, Nathan Helming runs programming for San Francisco Crossfit with a focus on helping runners and triathletes become better rounded athletes. He’s taking this passion into a startup called The Run Experience which guides athletes through stren ...…

The founder of Charity Water, Scott Harrison was a successful nightclub promoter living a life of decadence many might envy. He found himself hobnobbing with the beautiful people on a daily basis, but he had an epiphany on the beaches of Uruguay. Though he didn’t lack materially he was morally, spiritually and emotionally bereft. He sold everyt ...…

With a military career spanning 26 years, retired Col. Fellinger has become a model of resilience and fitness. He asks that you bring him the hardest problems you have because he lives to overcome them. As he explains, it’s a process and one that can be practiced but not necessarily mastered. After all, if you’re not at least a little off balan ...…

The “man whisperer” Mammarella-D'Cruz runs men’s groups that set them on a course to fulfillment. Clients, even billionaires, find they need help understanding how to achieve happiness. His ability was honed by the dire circumstances of his own childhood. After his family was placed on the death list in Uganda, Mammarella-D'Cruz spent a signifi ...…

Adaptive athlete Amy Winters, is so resilient she was chosen to help struggling athletes complete the brutal 60+ hour Spartan endurance event Agoge. If you ask her, she won’t credit rugged individualism for her perseverance. She relies on the strength of others to buoy her up as she does the same for them. It may be that the wellspring of grit ...…

Coach of the highly successful wrestling program at Cornell, Rob Koll wasn’t an overnight success. His virtuosity was years in the making, working hard and surrounding himself with the kind of motivating people that would eventually transform the program into a powerhouse. When asked, Koll denies that his methods involve any mystique. He simply ...…

A restaurateur with 7 NYC restaurants and a passion for fitness, his restaurants have succeeded in large part due to Chernow’s keen sense of emotional intelligence. One of the unique ways he keeps his staff happy is the emphasis he places on fitness in the workplace and the program he started to cultivate this. The interview takes place in Seam ...…

UFC fighter “The Spaniard” and lifelong wrestler, Charlie grew up in normal circumstances. As he puts it “I’m just like you,” he didn’t have to overcome a great deprivation or trauma, he just worked hard and went on to great successes. Brenneman dispels the myth that you must follow a Rocky type trajectory to compete with the best. Instead he s ...…

A former infantry officer Josh Mantz was shot by a sniper in Baghdad. He flatlined, and his life was in the hands of a nineteen year old medic in the heat of battle. Mantz was revived ten minutes after the period that’s considered survivable. When asked why, the medic said simply that he never gives up. Mantz moved on to Tesla, pioneers in elec ...…

Former Olympic downhill skier Doug Lewis decided at 8 he’d compete on the Wold Cup level. Success came very early, but during his first World Cup race at age 17 he broke his back. Failure, he now says, is critical to building confidence. He went on to win World Cup Bronze and represent the US in 3 Olympic games. The problem with peaking early i ...…

The founder of a massive sports promotion company Matchroom Sport, started off without a clear direction. He says just start, take a scattershot approach and eventually you’ll find your direction by the process of elimination. Aim high, then adjust. Hearn wanted to be a heavyweight boxing champion, but his path lead him to be a promoter instead ...…

His first memory is the moment his mother gave him away. Former NFL player, Anthony Trucks, wants to matter because his first memory in life was feeling like he didn’t. At 14 a harsh remark by a girl in school shocked him into self awareness. Sheer force of will it set him on a course that has defined his life to the present day as a successful ...…

Explorer and mountain biker Shannon Galpin brings cycling to Afghan women. The 2014 National Geographic Explorer believes bicycles are a vehicle for transformation in a society where this simple freedom and pleasure is denied to women and girls. This simple act, easily taken for granted in the West, provides them with a stronger voice so vital ...…

www.spartan.com/103 As a professional recruiter and founder of Executive Athletes Ken Lubin knows what it takes to build a career. As one of the ultra endurance athletes that built the epic Stone Steps in Pittsfield, Vermont he knows grit and hard work too. He says it’s what will get you hired, and what will make you successful once you land a ...…