“Belief isn’t a feeling — it’s a decision.” – Dean Otto One moment, Dean Otto was living life on his terms — an avid cyclist, athlete, & high-achieving leader. And then, everything changed. On what should have been a routine morning bike ride, an F-150 — a truck weighing more than two tons — struck him from behind. The impact shattered his spine. Doctors gave him a 1–2% chance of ever walking again. In that instant, his future was rewritten. Not by the accident — but by the decision he made next. Dean didn’t put his faith in percentages. He put it in belief — in himself & what persistence could unlock. Months of grueling rehab followed. Pain. Setbacks. Uncertainty. And then, miraculously, steps. One year later, Dean crossed a half-marathon finish line. Not alone, but alongside two unlikely partners: the surgeon who helped him walk again & the driver who hit him. Together, they raised nearly $100,000 for spinal cord injury patients — turning trauma into hope & recovery into something bigger than self. Dean could have stopped at survival. Instead, he chose impact. Connect with him at DeanOttoSpeaking.com Strength doesn’t always look like winning. Sometimes, it looks like getting back up — and bringing others with you. As Albert Camus wrote, “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”

“I like to solve problems, & I never give up.” – Martin Kenneth Lopez Most founders talk tough. Kenneth grew up in a place that required it. Lima, Peru — beautiful on the surface, unforgiving underneath. Corruption. Precarity. An environment built to break entrepreneurs. There’s no help desk in a place like that. You either solve problems… or you get swallowed. That wiring became his operating system. So, when he launched his first company in his early 20s, he didn’t seek the easy path — he sought a bigger arena. “Forget local,” he said. “I’m building for the U.S.” No connections. No warm introductions. Just hunger, a laptop, & LinkedIn. And his pitch wasn’t polite — it was legendary: “Give me the project nobody wants. The ugly, neglected, impossible one. If I don’t deliver, you don’t pay me.” All the risk on him. All the upside for them. That’s how a kid from Lima ended up solving Perl script nightmares for Bank of America… & earning a reputation as the one-man A-team you call when everyone else slinks away. Today at Equals 11, the stakes are higher — Salesforce chaos, global teams, stalled initiatives — but Kenneth’s ethos hasn’t budged: Run toward the hard. De-risk it for the client. Solve — don’t whine. If you’re the kind of person who gets stronger when the work gets messy, this episode is for you.

Connect with him through Equals 11. Kenneth doesn’t quote Churchill — he proves him right: “Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.”

“I think if I’m gonna be remembered some way, it’s for the way I’ve served & helped others.” – Jim Marascio Seven-year-old Jim dreamed big — Notre Dame quarterback, Heisman, NFL Hall of Fame. But he grew up in Augusta, ME, where you chose something steady & respectable. His parents were educators; the path was predictable. So, when it came time for a career, accounting felt “right.” Until he looked around & thought, “I can’t imagine working with these people for the rest of my life!” So, he pivoted — to Computer Science, to late nights, to challenges that made him feel alive. Then came the moment that set his trajectory: the CEO of a global media distributor handed him a mandate & a budget — build the entire digital music platform from scratch. No roadmap. No safety rails. Just overheating servers & a cliff-steep learning curve. Jim didn’t say yes for glory. He said yes because he saw a way to serve — the company, the team, the people who’d never know his name but would rely on his work. That’s still his compass at Equals 11. If stories of leaders who build quietly & serve deeply make you feel alive, connect with him through Equals 11 Jim reminds us of what Albert Schweitzer wrote: “The only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who have sought & found how to serve.”