I’ve always believed that some of the best leadership lessons come from places you wouldn’t expect, and in this conversation, I got to explore that idea with retired deputy fire chief and author Frank Viscuso. We talked about what firefighters can teach us about fear, pressure, teamwork, and leadership and why staying calm in a crisis isn’t simply something you’re born with. Frank explains how training, preparation, urgency, and what he calls “ruthless repetitions” can help us make better decisions when everything starts falling apart.

We also dug into trust and empathy, why great leaders inspire people instead of demanding loyalty, and how spending real time with your team can build stronger relationships. We talked about conflict, workplace drama, unresolved tension, and why teams can fall apart even when talented people are involved. One lesson that really stuck with me was Frank’s advice to “stop expecting you from other people.” Different people respond differently, and great leadership starts with understanding that.

What happens when you stop avoiding the hard things and start moving toward them?

I sat down with retired Navy SEAL senior chief Kris "Herge" Hregdovic, and this conversation cracked me wide open in the best way.

We start with a story about my daughter and a moment on a train in Bangkok that taught me what it really means to fight the good fight

He breaks down why so many men wait until they're completely broken before asking for help. We also get into servant leadership, the lie that toughness is about looks or titles, and why knowing who you are internally matters more than anything you can lose externally.

Herge spent twenty years in the SEAL teams and six deployments learning this the hard way, and now he's teaching men how to lead with humility instead of ego.

What's one battlefield in your own life you've been afraid to walk back onto?

I sat down with Rich Keller, a former corporate branding executive who walked away from a thirty-year career on the spot to help people discover their identity in a single word.

Rich breaks down why so many of us stumble when someone asks "tell me about yourself," and how conflating what we do with who we are quietly steals our confidence, our resilience, and our sense of purpose.

We talk about Apple, Steve Jobs, and why iconic brands never waver from their core value, then bring it back to something deeply personal: grief, gratitude, and what it means to keep showing up when life reminds you that time is not guaranteed.

What's the one word you'd use to describe yourself?

I sat down with naturopath and anti-inflammation expert Cynthia Blancaflor, and this conversation cracked something open for me.

Cynthia grew up watching diabetes and heart disease take her family one by one, until she discovered a deep gut detox technique from a Chinese medicine master that healed her own sciatica in two weeks.

Now she's built a program, Self-Care Blueprint, that's helped her clients heal chronic pain, autoimmune disease, and inflammation just by changing what they eat. We got into what she calls generational food trauma, and why 80% of grocery store food is ultra-processed junk dressed up as nourishment.

What's one food habit from your childhood you've had to unlearn as an adult?

I sat down with Lisa Woodruff, founder of Organize 365 and author of The Paper Solution and Escaping Quicksand, to talk about why so many of us feel exhausted before the day even starts.

We got into the invisible workload that runs every household, the 20 to 40 hours a week it actually takes to keep a family functioning, and why treating your home like a business with real systems changes everything.

We also talk about parents putting themselves last, how organization is a learnable skill, and what it really means to run your household like the CEO you already are.

What's the one area of your household that always seems to fall apart, and what would it take to finally fix it?

In this episode, I sit down with Glenn Freesman, founder of Digital Speaker Agent and the force behind the Two Hands, Two Meals, Two Lives movement, for a raw conversation about resilience, reinvention, purpose, artificial intelligence, and paying it forward.

Glenn shares how losing nearly everything at 13 pushed him to sell 500,000 soft pretzels, help save his family’s home, and build a lifelong belief that one act of kindness can transform generations. We talk about why he came out of retirement, taught himself Python, and developed technology that helps professional speakers find and apply for speaking opportunities faster. But this conversation goes far beyond entrepreneurship. Glenn explains his mission to redirect unused conference food to people who need it, creating social impact without adding unnecessary cost or waste.

We also explore his concerns about AI misinformation and the growing struggle to separate truth from confident-sounding fiction.

What is one small action you could take today that might change someone else’s life?

I sat down with retired Navy SEAL Thom Shea for a conversation that hit me harder than I expected.

We got into why so many of us quit long before we actually reach our limits, and Thom broke down the four excuses that quietly sabotage every person's potential.

We talked about why practice and repetition matter more than talent, why modern comfort has made us softer without us even realizing it, and why the lie we tell ourselves about how we feel is the biggest barrier to growth.

Thom shared stories from SEAL training, raising his own kids, and running his leadership business, all pointing to one truth: showing up matters more than being ready.

What's one excuse you keep telling yourself that's holding you back from something you actually want?

Today was one of those days where anger completely took over.

A project my wife and I had worked on for months got canceled, and I found myself furious, exhausted, and thinking about the absolute worst ways to deal with conflict.

Including, apparently, wondering whether dueling people is still legal in 2026.

But the more I thought about it, the more I came back to one idea:

Anger is fuel. Don’t let it drive.

Anger can tell you something is wrong. It can give you energy, courage, and resolve. But if you let it make your decisions for you, it can destroy the very outcome you’re trying to create.

Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr are a pretty extreme example. Their conflict ended in a duel. Hamilton died. Burr survived, but his future was devastated.

Nobody won.

So when someone pisses you off, screws you over, or makes you want to throw hands, ask yourself:

What am I actually trying to win?

Sometimes the strongest move isn’t saying everything you feel. It’s controlling the fire long enough to use it for something productive.

I’m still working on this one.

How do you handle yourself when you’re seriously angry?