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Title: How to Quit Your W-2 and Never Look Back with Jamie Bateman Summary: In this episode of Raise the Bar Radio, Seth Bradley welcomes Jamie, a military veteran turned real estate and mortgage note investor, who shares his story of transitioning from a W-2 career into entrepreneurship and financial freedom. Jamie discusses the phases of his life, including collegiate sports, military service, and a long stint at the Department of Defense before pivoting to real estate and eventually mortgage note investing. He emphasizes how discipline shaped his journey and how shifting mindset, focusing on strengths, and leveraging his network were key to taking ownership of his life and finances. Jamie also dives deep into the mortgage note investing space, explaining how performing and non-performing notes work, the active nature of the business, and how he now offers passive investment opportunities for accredited investors. He closes by highlighting the importance of planning with intention, overcoming perfectionism, and using passive income to create margin and freedom in life. Links to Watch and Subscribe:  https://youtu.be/nRyX8_YA9YI Bullet Point Highlights: Discipline builds freedom - Sports, military, and entrepreneurship all instilled the value of discipline, which Jamie says is critical for success and freedom. W-2 life wasn't the path - Jamie recognized through his commute and stagnant career trajectory that he didn't want to follow the traditional path, sparking his exit plan. Mindset shift was essential - He stopped consuming negative news and started focusing on education and his strengths to shift into entrepreneurship. Mortgage note investing explained - Performing notes offer cash flow while non-performing notes offer the chance to add value, akin to fix and flips. However, both are active businesses, not passive. Passive income fuels risk-taking - Creating passive income streams allowed Jamie to take entrepreneurial risks while maintaining financial security. Action beats perfection - As an entrepreneur, chasing perfection isn't practical. Done is better than perfect. Reverse planning drives clarity - Backwards planning from a vivid vision 3-5 years into the future increases urgency and helps set clear, intentional actions. Final advice - Start by investing passively to learn, and later you can decide whether to become active. Don't underestimate the transferable skills you already possess. Transcript: (Seth Bradley) (00:02.062) What's up, builders? This is Raise the Bar Radio, where we talk about building wealth, raising capital, and all in all, raising the bar in your business and your life. This is the No BS podcast for capital raisers, investors, and entrepreneurs who are serious about scaling their business and living life on their own terms. I'm Seth Bradley, securities attorney, real estate investor, and entrepreneur, bringing you world-class strategies from the best in the game.   If you're ready to raise more capital, close bigger deals, build a better you and create true financial freedom, you're in the right place. Let's go. Jamie, what's going on, brother? Welcome to the show.   Thanks Seth, is awesome. I'm excited to be here and I'm hoping to add some value.   Absolutely, man. Third time's a charm. We've been trying to get this scheduled after I was on your show, which was fantastic. Had a really good time on that show and I think it turned out pretty good. I know we're going to deliver on this one as well.   Yeah, we're gonna try to try to I'll try to do as good a job as you did. So yeah, was that was a yeah, no, I that was a very, very good episode from adversity to abundance. highly recommend your your listeners check that one out to your episode on that show. So thanks for thanks for doing that.   (Seth Bradley) (01:20.086) Absolutely, man. You're an incredible interviewer. I've net, that's the only, I've been on dozens of podcasts and, you know, you pulled out a lot of things for me that I've, I've never talked about on the air. So it's pretty, pretty awesome. Pretty awesome show, man.   Appreciate that.   Cool man, well let's just jump right into your background man. What's your story? Take it back as far as you'd like to brother.   Yeah. Man, I'd like to think that life has phases. So I've had a few different phases in my life. I come from a large family. I'm the oldest of seven kids and we always had a competitive background as far as team sports and things like that. So I played lacrosse in college. That was always a foundational piece of my life and just kind of   think from there learned how to be a part of something bigger than myself and how to work toward a common goal with a with a team. So that's been something that's been a kind of a thread through my life and then got married and joined the military and actually joined the military technically before I got married, but seemed like I got married and then ran off and ran away from my wife. But it's not exactly what happened. But   (Jamie Bateman) (02:36.02) I joined the military, was an officer in the US Army. I did miss my first three wedding anniversaries through deployment and things like that. And again, it was a matter of trying to be plugged into something, you know, to serve and be a part of something bigger than myself and trying to add value like I think we all want to do. I've obviously glossed over a lot of details, but those were a couple of inflection points, I guess, if you will, like you like to talk about, I know.   And so my military career transitioned into a career with the Department of Defense as a civilian, and did 14 years as a civilian with DoD at Fort Meade. And the first half, so the first seven, for all you math wizards out there, was full time. And then the second half, the second seven years was part time. And that   seven years is when I was really building my businesses, which are largely real estate investing and mortgage note investing focus. So we can get into the details there. And then in 2022, I ended up quitting my job and now I have a few different small businesses that I run. And like you, Seth, I've got a lot of different things that I'm juggling and   You know, so, but yeah, I love talking about taking ownership of your financial situation and taking ownership of your life really. And I know that you and I have that in common. So yeah, that's a high level overview of my background.   Awesome, man. I appreciate that. There's a lot to unpack there. You know, going back to playing sports all the way up to the collegiate level, that's incredible. I always like to think even playing like popcorn or football back in the day, you need a way to instill discipline in yourself. And that's kind of the oldest memory I can think of where it was hard, right? Like it was like you've got a coach screaming at you.   (Seth Bradley) (04:38.134) Like back in the day, it's like, you know, they wouldn't give you water unless you like, you know, for like an hour, which I don't think they do that anymore now. But, you you had to earn that drink of water and all those sorts of things. But you you really learned what it's like to work hard and you really learned what discipline was all about. And I would say that and you can you can expand on this. But I would say that, you know, being in the military yourself, that takes it to a whole new level.   Right. It's like you got that from sports. You got that from the military.   Yeah, definitely. I mean, obviously, they're very different in a lot of ways. But that is certainly a common theme is being disciplined. And people, people shy away from that word, because it just sounds like work or no fun and no flexibility. But I found that having discipline in your life ends up adding more freedom in a sense, because you kind of have your foundational pieces set in stone, you don't have to think about those. And so, yeah, regarding   team sports, it's really a matter of, you know, everyone doing their part, right. And so there's a level of individual discipline and, and then just, and then also just kind of putting the putting the group ahead of yourself. Obviously, you know, you want individual, there's nothing wrong with individual accolades. And I was certainly chasing, you know, those individual accolades. It's not something I shied away from, I was definitely was wrapped up in   trying to be an All-American and that kind of thing. And did get that a couple of times, you know, but at the end of the day, nobody really cares about that. And the way I viewed it was if I was doing my part, and I got those, you if I was scoring goals in lacrosse, as an example, that means I'm contributing to, you know, to the team, right. And so there's obviously a fine line there, but of going too far, either way. But yeah, that discipline is critical.   (Jamie Bateman) (06:36.73) you know, even it's certain I played at a high level in college and there was year round your training your your your into it. It was a division three school but it but the reality was we worked just as hard as any any D one program and yeah, it's it's a these are skills that have paid off and are absolutely transferable to the rest of life.   For sure. Yeah, I think you've got to get those intangible things. You've got to develop them somewhere along the way, whatever that is, if that's sports or the military or from your parents. mean, you can get it from different places, but you definitely need it. I mean, we're in different stages of our life at this point. talking about a lot. We talk about freedom and flexibility and fun to try to get away from kind of the W-2 mindset.   But in order to achieve freedom, flexibility and fun in a successful way, have to be disciplined to be able to get there. You had to have done something successfully to be able to get there or maybe what separates you from the guy living in a van down by the river. That guy has freedom and flexibility. I don't know about fun, maybe fun, but it's a different, obviously it's a different outcome.   Yeah, and I, I think I still need, you I still use a lot of discipline today. It's still, still required, but it's, I guess it's self imposed. And, you know, I just love, love having that flexibility and that freedom that comes along with being an entrepreneur. So yeah, it's been a central piece to my success for sure. But I still, I don't think it ever, you know, goes away. I just get to pick and choose what, you know, what discipline I want to   kind of enforce on myself, I guess. So yeah, absolutely. And as you said, the military was a huge part of that for me as well. I mean, that's a different kind of, different kind of discipline and different kind of teamwork and different, you know, if you lose the lacrosse game, okay, you lost the lacrosse game, but military the stakes are a little higher. So maybe certain things are more important attention to detail or critic is critical and   (Jamie Bateman) (08:53.73) But at the end of the day, it's, the same principles apply across both, I guess, sectors, if you will.   For sure. So let's dive into that transition. You started working kind of part-time there for seven years, so that seems like a transitional period. How were you able to progress from that W2? And what I've heard you say is call yourself a W2 quitter. I love that. How were you able to progress from a W2 person to a W2 quitter? What enabled you to do that and what that transition looked like?   I mean, you know, I do remember in 2015, probably a little bit maybe maybe say 2014. But I just you get, you know, I had a wife and two kids and I had the commute the long commute that I know a lot of people can identify with. So it just was Groundhog Day was the same thing over and over and over. And that's not me sitting here complaining about my family or having having the opportunity to work.   But after a while, it gets old. Let's just be real, right? So it's like you're sitting in traffic and I just, you start looking at, you know, I worked for the government and you look around and you say, who, okay, who's sort of ahead of me on this? Like you, like I think you probably mentioned on our, on your, your show and my, show, your episode, you look around to the people who are more kind of further along the path than you. You say, do you want to be that person? Is that the life you want? And man, I did not want that.   And it just just having that just super long term just you know, pot at the end of the rainbow, I guess, nothing driving me in the interim, man, it was it was just it was brutal. So I probably did a little woes me for a little bit there a little victim mentality for a bit. But then you start to realize, like, okay, if you don't take ownership of your own life, no one's going to right. So   (Jamie Bateman) (10:54.934) No one's going to come in and do this for you. So I'm not sure what truly, you know, created the change in my mindset, but my mindset absolutely started to change and it just made a shift. And I, and I stopped watching cable news. I stopped, just, you know, stop paying attention to all the things that I can't control. And I couldn't control back then and, and started saying, no, what do I have? What are my strengths? Who is in my, who's back to the team thing.   who's on my team, who's in my network that I can add value to and who can add value to me. So I started looking around and my father was a realtor for many years. My brother was a loan officer. We had one rental property at the time. I had worked at, I didn't mention, I worked at a title company and I worked for a mortgage broker before as well briefly. So I had this experience that a lot of people don't have and that's   you know, that doesn't mean I'm better than anyone. It just means these are my strengths. So let's point to that. And let's use that. So I started really being intentional about focusing on my strengths and my assets that I had in my life, right. And then another asset that I used to see as a liability was the time in the car. So I started listening to podcasts. you know, and then it turned into wait, I don't even want to go into work yet. Because this this podcast episode is amazing. And I'm learning so much.   know, bigger pockets and all the other real estate podcasts and different investing podcasts and started using that mental bandwidth instead of focusing on national media stories that I have zero influence over. Here's something that I can actually take action on. And so in mid 2015, I went part time and it just so happens that at   DoD is one of the few agencies in the in federal government where you can go part time and still keep your benefits. So I still had health insurance for my family. You know, most people don't have that option necessarily, but well, I did. So that's what I did. And, and, you know, that's, again, decided to decide to start building my my other streams of income outside of my W two.   (Jamie Bateman) (13:15.752) my circumstances been different if I was single, I probably would have just quit the whole thing, right? But I was able to have that kind of laddered approach, I guess, or tiered approach to kind of ripping off the bandaid.   Yeah, yeah, no, that's awesome. I love just the idea of taking ownership of your life, right? Like everybody has those moments where they're feeling sorry for themselves. But the successful people, they don't sit there and stay in that mindset. They move on. You're going to be there sometimes where you've got to get out of it. You got to say, OK, what can I control? What can I change? And you don't say you don't give other people the power to control.   you and your mindset and how you feel about your life. Right. Like that's that's that's the thing. Like if you you're constantly blaming someone else or saying this happened to me rather than what can I do to get myself out of it, then you're going to be stuck there forever. You're going to be absolutely going to be spinning your wheels forever. And a lot of that, I think, helps because you said you don't listen. You don't watch the news. I don't either. No, it's a waste of time. What control? What does that do for us? If I do watch it.   I literally do it for entertainment and you look at it as an entertain. I look at it like I'm watching. I look at it like this is funny. Like I can, you know what I mean? You kind of analyze it like, this is funny. This guy's saying this in a debate. Right. This guy's saying that it's not taking it as a news and this is how I should live my life because of what they're saying.   sports almost.   (Jamie Bateman) (14:43.341) Fact.   (Jamie Bateman) (14:48.078) Absolutely. And it's not to say that none of these topics are important, mean, global war, politics, poverty, global warming, whatever, it's all very important, but I have zero control over it, almost zero, right? And then the other thing is fear sells and that's what they're selling. And so it doesn't mean that every story is invented and it's all fake news, but it's   it just doesn't serve me. And so I'd rather focus on, you know, go ground up and kind of just, I see it in people, maybe older people in my own life now who maybe are retired and they watch the news all day. And it's like, they won't travel because they saw a news story that the airports are packed or something. And, you know, it's, I'm sure that story was, was accurate, right. But it, but the, but the news can filter out and you end up only focusing on   the negative really, and it just didn't serve me. yeah, during that lot, the second seven years, I was able to build out my wife and I were doing single family real estate investing and doing a lot of the BRRRR method that maybe some of your audience is familiar with. And so kind of putting that capital back into the rental property machine and expanding our portfolio. And then eventually last year, well, and   2018, made the pivot, I kept the rental properties, but made a pivot to also add on mortgage note investing. And that's been my primary focus as of late. And if you want, can tell the story quickly about how I actually quit my job in 2022. I think it's kind of a funny one.   Absolutely, let's do it.   (Jamie Bateman) (16:38.318) All right. So, I, so I, two years ago, I was playing badminton and, I'd been doing now, mind you, I used to be like tough, you know, athlete. And like I did, you know, did jujitsu for three years right up before this. And, know, I used to lift weights a lot and still do it here and there, but, you know, I think I'm tough. Right. And,   ruptured my Achilles playing badminton. So that's an ego blow to add on to the physical pain that you know, especially with the recovery. So rupture my Achilles a little over two years ago today and I was out of work, it was my right right foot. And the reason I bring this up is not for sympathy, but to say, you know, I couldn't drive for three months. So I actually, yeah, and I had tons of leave from from work and   By this time, I was tired, really tired of my, I was pretty much checked out. Like I think you, might've been at your, your big law job, but I was, I was checked out. mean, I wasn't the best employee at this point. And so I took as much leave as I, as I could, you know, reasonably right. And so, but couldn't drive. And so I was out for three months and I come back. So come back into work and I'd had discussions with my wife about, about leaving. was just a matter of, of when, not if.   That's right   (Jamie Bateman) (18:04.43) I can tell you truthfully, I had no idea that I was going to quit this day, but I came back in from having been out for three months. Mind you, no one gave me a call. No one from work, no one from my management gave me a call the entire three months I was out, other than to say, to ask me, are you vaccinated? Because you have to be vaccinated to be, to get inside the building. Now, I don't want this to turn into some controversial vaccine discussion.   or get your podcast banned from something but yes, I'd been vaccinated to answer the question. But no one asked me how's your how's your recovery going? Like how you what do you you know, how's your life? You know, what's it's just are you vaccinated, you need to get that shot before you come in? Okay, great. Thanks. I really feel welcome here. So I'm already just, you know, you know what, screw this place, right? Come back in and just   go to my desk, and this is this is an office space kind of thing where I go to my desk and there's some there's an Air Force kid at my desk and long story short, they kind of moved me somewhere else without telling me I can't find my desk, I finally find it, it's got a box with my name on it with, you know, monitors sideways and all and clearly not a functioning desk and, you know, office space. So I literally quit that day. And I just say that it's just like,   I knew 100 % I was done. My wife didn't know I quit, but I quit that day. Still worked for another month or two, but there was no question, zero question in my mind, I'm done with this place. So that was March of 2022. And ever since then, I've just focused on building out my businesses and having look back.   That's awesome. Sometimes you just know, right? Like sometimes it's done. You just knew. I love that story, man. For me, it was a little bit. You already know the story, but for me, it was a little bit more of someone else's decision. I got fired. mean, and you mentioned that, you you weren't the best employee at that point. Correct. I knew the same thing. And it's great to have awareness and perspective and kind of looking back now, you're like, I would have done the same thing. Like this guy doesn't want to be here.   (Seth Bradley) (20:21.292) His output isn't what it should be. Like, he's got to go. mean, he's not the best employee. And as a business owner now, I have really good perspective of that and seeing that. And they were doing me a favor by being like, hey, your heart's not in it, it? And I'm like, no, it's not.   It's not. Yeah. The reality is for me, it's really hard to work. know, once you go part time, I mean, I knew I was casting a vote against my career progression there. So as soon as I went part time in 2015, I wasn't saying I'm in this for the long haul guys. This is this is my focus. You know, it's the writing's somewhat on the wall. Looking back, it's almost surprising. I lasted as long as I did. But so, yeah, haven't looked back and just loved love the entrepreneurial   you know, day to day and freedom that you alluded to and just the multiple streams of income and certainly has its challenges. I probably work harder now than ever than I ever have. But it's by choice. So I love it.   Exactly. Same here, man. mean, it's, you my days are long. I mean, I get up way before I used to get up when I had a 95. I worked past when I would have worked a 95 and definitely more hours. But when you're doing it for yourself and you're doing it because you're working towards something that you believe in, it doesn't feel like you're putting that much time in.   Definitely. I wake up early. A lot of days not on purpose is because I'm just excited to get cracking.   (Seth Bradley) (21:55.886) So, yeah. absolutely. Yeah. Well, let's kind of get into your current business. I know you mentioned that you focused on your strengths and your assets. Yeah. And, you know, I think it's important. just say it's important to take an inventory of what your strengths are when you're kind of considering going into something else, because a lot of our listeners are attorneys, they're doctors, folks like that. They kind of feel like maybe they're pigeonholed, right? Like, well, if I'm not an attorney, what the hell else can I do?   Right. And like, I don't know anything about real estate investing or node investing or starting a business or anything like that. But if you really take a step back, you probably have a lot of skills that you've learned and honed in your career that you can use for something else moving forward. And that was that's what you were able to   to do. Definitely. And one thing I'd say is that, you know, one thing that's always comforting for me is nobody knows everything, right? So you can always find somebody who knows more than you in a certain area. You know, there's one quote about every man is my superior in something, right? So basically, it gives me a lot of comfort to know, like, just because an attorney listening to your show knows a   way more than I do about a particular topic and probably many, many other topics. That doesn't mean I'm less of a person or you know, I don't know more than that attorney does in another area. So it's okay, I'm never going to know everything. There are other people who've already figured it out. So you know, that's, that's always comforting to me is to when I say look to your strengths, it's also looking to the people in your network who know, it can help you get to where you want to go. So yeah, I mean,   So many things we take for granted that we do know. you know, example, when I started working at a title company, fresh out of college, because it was my first real job, and it paid, you know, a salary. I realized quickly how little I knew about title insurance settlements, you know, just just basic stuff. Now looking back, pretty basic stuff. But you don't know that unless you work for a title company, or you're heavily involved in this, you don't you're not.   (Jamie Bateman) (24:10.03) trained in that in school typically, right? So, you know, you forget and so your your listener out there, the attorney, the doctor, guarantee they have a lot of life experience, not just from their professional world, but just life experience that they shouldn't take for granted. And the fact that you can go through law school and then be, you know, be an effective attorney, or go through medical school and be an effective doctor, that that means you you can learn things, right? And so   Again, I'll go back to life as seasons. I mean, you've shown that in your own story, Seth, like, you know, it's a, doesn't mean just because I started a certain business doesn't mean that's going to be what I'm going to be doing for the next 20 years, or just because I'm an attorney now, it doesn't mean that's what I have to do for the rest of my life. So we always have options. mean, you might look back and wish you'd done something differently or something, but you only have one chance at this. And so,   you know, just make the most of it and just keep, think, keep learning constantly is critical. I just hired a business coach, we've had one call. But one of his mottos is, you know, one of his sayings is that he's always he's in permanent beta. So he's always changing, always improving, he's always growing. So I'm trying to trying to implement that as well.   (Seth Bradley) (25:40.64) the interruption, but we don't do ads. Instead, know that if you're raising capital for real estate, my law firm, RaiseLaw, is here to give you the expert legal guidance you need to raise capital compliantly and structure and close your deal. And if you're looking for a done-for-you fund-to-fund solution, Tribest is the industry's only all-in-one setup and fund administration solution. Visit Raise.Law and Tribest.com to learn more.   Yeah, I love that permanent beta. I haven't heard that before, but I like that. I like that phrase. like that phrase. So tell me about your current business. Tell me about MortgageNode Investing. Start with the basics. What is it?   Yeah, so and, and I'll try to keep it, there's so much to it. But again, none of it is difficult. It's just a lot of moving parts and you've got to, you know, takes time to learn. We buy debt, so we buy a mortgage note, and that could be performing or non performing. The real high level version is, is a performing note is kind of like a long term buy and hold rental property.   but you're buying the debt and becoming the lender, becoming the bank, if you will. And so you're buying that performing note for cashflow. So I buy a performing note, the borrower now pays me through a loan servicer and I get monthly payments. So that's a great way to go. The problem with that is you can't really add value to that asset very well. You're kind of, it is what it is. And in fact, with mortgage notes, the value actually goes down over time, generally speaking, because   principal balance goes down. So it's just, it's worth less than, you know, then, you know, then it would then it was when you bought it. Then on the other side, the non performing side of things, we buy those as well. And those are more like a fix and flip property. So although we're still buying the debt, we're not buying the property. But there's a chance to add value, there's an opportunity to buy distressed asset and add value to that asset and then sell that that non performing note, either well,   (Jamie Bateman) (27:49.826) I should say sell that asset, whether that's as a re performing note, or as through the the real estate itself, there are a few different ways you can exit a non performing note deal. And but, but back to your kind of one of the themes thus far, one of the reasons I got into specifically that space was that I understood the real estate space. So I understood the single family, residential real estate space. So it wasn't a huge leap for me to go from   owning the property to now owning the debt on that property. Whereas it would have been a lot bigger leap for me to say, I to start buying distressed, you know, multifamily debt, which I know you could probably help me understand better. But at that, you know, it's like, incremental progress and change isn't that scary. So I kind of expanded my, you know, toolbox, if you will.   and got into the mortgage note space. So we have a couple of note funds. One is open currently and they're all for accredited investors. the income fund that's open pays a monthly, aims to pay a monthly preferred return. I know you and a lot of your listeners are attorneys, so I gotta hold the line here. And...   So the fund is structured to pay, to aim to pay a monthly return of 8%. It's not a, there's no growth in that fund. It's literally a cashflow play and diversification play. You're putting your capital in. We buy assets across the country. We've bought notes in probably 25 states at this point. And so the investment is diversified across geographic areas, across borrower types.   And we buy for a certain yield, we take a small management fee, and then we ideally pay the preferred return that we're aiming for to our investors.   (Seth Bradley) (29:56.686) Yeah, nice. 506c, you're able to talk about it. It's a credit investors only. Just want to that out there. yeah, I mean, so just going back to the basics a little bit and we'll get back into the fun. Like, how do you, how do you even find these things? mean, yeah, that's, how do you get started? How do you find these things?   So I mean, that is an ongoing challenge. I'm not going to lie to you. That's one of the things that truthfully a passive investor who doesn't have time to develop the network to go find these assets, they're just not going to have success. They might here and there, but it takes time. It's a word of mouth industry, just like real estate itself is. so we've built out a network of sellers and that could be   quite honestly, I've never had luck buying directly from banks. It's really either a larger Mortgage Note fund that's closing. So it might be a three year fund and then they've got to, they've got to liquidate, they've got to figure out how to sell off what to do with these assets. And so that's a great opportunity to buy is just a fund that's closing or somebody a note investor who's getting out of note investing or they've had a life change or something, you know, where   they just, there's an opportunity to buy from them as well. And so there are other, you know, I guess we buy from hedge funds, note investors, other note funds. There are also note brokers as well out there. There are also some online exchanges like paper stack and a couple of others that you can go and I've bought and sold on paper stack and other exchanges as well.   And you can find assets there. But at the end of the day, have our list of people that we work with regularly. And I would say one thing is that doing due diligence on a note seller is just as important as due diligence on the assets that they're selling. And so it's taken some work and it's a work in progress always. But it is the million dollar question is where do find these assets?   (Seth Bradley) (32:12.598) Yeah. So that's the hard part, right? Finding these assets is the hard part. Have you ever had to foreclose on any of these notes and actually acquire the property? And I guess a follow-up question is, do you ever look at a non-performing note like, hey, I actually want to own that property?   So, great questions. Yeah, great questions. To be clear, we're not trying to kick people, you know, grandma out on onto the street or anything like that. You know, that's not our goal typically. Well, that's never our goal. But we're never trying to kick someone out of their home. But the reality is, some people honestly need a little bit of a kick in the pants. And oftentimes, that's not really the best them staying in the house is not often   the best scenario for them. know that might sound harsh, but at end of the day, if someone can't afford to live somewhere, sometimes these people are living in squalor and they really need a change of environment. To answer your question about do we target the property? Yes, sometimes we do. In fact, we just closed on to, they're called heckum loans or reverse mortgages, where the borrowers are deceased. The property is underwater, meaning, you know,   the loan amount is higher, than the property value. And it should be a quick exit through the property. So HUD will sell off these big pools of reverse mortgages. And we were able to purchase two of them very recently. It's a vacant property, you're not doing an eviction, borrower is deceased, you've got to work through the heirs or foreclosure and exit the property that way.   If your listener wants to go to my website, I've got a really good Jacksonville blog post, I've got a couple of blog posts about this deal. I still hold this rental today. And it was a non performing note that we purchased a few years ago. And I had no intention of exiting through the property or holding, holding the property as a rental property, but running the numbers, it just was too good to, to let go. so long story, but we, we   (Jamie Bateman) (34:22.51) ended up doing a deed in lieu of foreclosure actually in this case and got the property back and now it's a long-term buy and hold property for my own rental portfolio.   Yeah, that makes sense. It makes sense. There's always multiple ways to look at an investment, right? But it does sound, you know, it's not something that I've executed on myself, but it sounds like this is an active business, right? And that's why you've put together an income fund for people that want to get involved passively. as everybody knows, there's active investments, there's passive investments. If you're to do something active.   Maybe your returns are going to be a little bit better, but you're going to give up a lot of time and effort to get those returns. So if you want to go the passive side, if you're still full-time in your career, you're a full-time doctor or lawyer or whatever you are, these passive investments are the way to go without having to know every single detail about a new business.   Yeah, and I don't know if you can see this, but I wear this specifically for your for this   There it is. There it is.   (Jamie Bateman) (35:29.272) Passive income. You're absolutely right. You know, these gurus, some of the some of the note investing gurus out there will try to sell, you know, notes as passive. We have another blog post that talks about just the it's a spectrum, there's active and passive on either end. But at end of the day, if you're going to note investing in my world is very, very active. And we have a non performing note fund that's considerably more active than the performing note fund. So   You're dealing with foreclosures, bankruptcies, deed and loo, tracking delinquent property taxes. Do I have to physically go anywhere? No, but it is not passive. But that's why we offer the passive investment for people who, like you said, have maybe more capital than time or energy, and they want to put that capital to work.   That's right. There are certain gurus out there that, know, whatever it is that they are pitching, they tend to always pitch it as passive, even though it is an active business, that's money. Whether that's a mortgage note or I mean, people will pitch Airbnb short term rentals as passive. They're like, well, you can delegate this and you can, you know, you can automate that and there's software for all these things. But you still got to put all that stuff together.   Mm-mm.   (Seth Bradley) (36:48.396) You've still got to monitor all those things. still got to oversee all these different aspects of a business. And that's what it is. It's a business that you're running and it's not passive. Like, it's not, it's not. And it is on a spectrum. Some things are more passive than others, but when you're investing in, you know, as a passive investor into some sort of a fund or syndication, that's really leaning really far into the passive side.   Absolutely, 100%. And I'm, as you are, Seth, I'm, I assume you are, I know you're an active investor, but I do have passive investments myself in other, other funds, other note funds, and, and my own, my own note funds as well. And so nothing wrong with doing both, but I would say you need to be careful about, you know, you got to make a decision at some point, do you want to scale this thing and make this really a business? Or do you do you are you satisfied with?   potentially a little bit lower return and you are giving up some control but much, you know, much fewer headaches and just a lot less work.   Right. Yeah. And a lot of, you know, lot of the listeners are high income earning professionals. So they've already dedicated, put a lot of time and effort into being able to earn this much money from their W2. And that's probably your best bet, to be honest with you. I've been there. I was in those shoes. You're probably better off putting your head down and like, let's grind for a few years. Let's not spend every single dollar that we make on all the new stuff on a new car every two years or every year.   in a bigger house that you don't need. Like, let's set aside some of that and invest it passively. And then maybe one of those will stick. Maybe one of those passive investments will be a mortgage no fund where you're like, man, I kind of like this business. I like the sound of it. I've learned about it. And then you start maybe progressing on the active side and maybe that takes over. And you want to get into that as a business, as an entrepreneur. But a great way to kind of dip your toe in the water is to become a passive investor. That's the way that I did it in the,   (Seth Bradley) (38:53.186) multifamily syndications. invested passively in a number of deals first and kind of learned about it, learned the ropes and I'm like, I can do this. And then that's when I made the transition.   Yeah, definitely. It really comes down to what your goals are and what your situation is, for sure. I'll say I was too passive initially when I went into notes, because personally, just don't... You were probably a little better student, Seth. Not that I was a bad student, I invest... Unless I'm actively investing, I'm just not going to learn a lot. So the reality is, yeah, it's fine to learn about the asset class. You definitely should learn about the operator for sure.   you're putting capital with them, but you're not going to once you're getting your checks and your disbursements, you're not going to probably learn a whole lot about how to do that on the active side. And so that's what we're here for.   Yeah, yeah, it's more of like a spark of an interest, right? Like maybe you already have that spark and then you invest passively. Then you're like, OK, well, now I'm invested. Like, let me learn about this. And you have to have to actively go out there and educate yourself and network and talk to people that are in the business.   Definitely, 100%.   (Seth Bradley) (40:01.71) Alright man, before we jump into the Freedom Four, you have one last golden nugget for our listeners.   Oh, I would say within when it comes to investing, you know, take the long term view. Don't chase immediate returns. You know, I do think just, yeah, it's certainly we all want to make a million dollars tomorrow. But I think it's it's a play the long game when it comes to investing. I think that's critical.   Love that man. All right, let's jump into the freedom form. What's the best thing you do to keep your mind and body healthy?   Yeah, I mean, one thing that I instituted this year, actually, is breathwork. And it's, you know, it's so it takes 10 minutes. And per day for me, at least. And it's been phenomenal. And it's something that quite honestly, as a, as a, you know, athlete back in the day, or even in the military, I would have scoffed at something like this, to be honest with you, because it's just, you know, it's not manly or whatever. And it's like, it is phenomenal. So breathwork,   I mean, I do other things for sure. But that's certainly this year, it's been a game changer for me. I just feel like it resets my central nervous system. It just gets me focused. And I know there are other physiological benefits that you can ask Dr. Andrew Huberman or somebody else about.   (Seth Bradley) (41:26.153) Cool. I'll have to look into that. actually have it. mean, obviously everybody talks about it's a hot topic. Yeah. I haven't gotten into it. I haven't gotten into that plus like the cold plunges and that sort of thing. Yeah. But I really want to want to   So I don't know how much you can cut this out if we don't have time, but I had a, I'm just going to be, be open about this. I just had a, you know, in late December, I got a viral infection, like a neurovirus. And then I had, I had a, what I think was a pretty severe panic attack and it was super scary. And so that's why I started doing this. And somebody on my team actually sent me a, I guess we'll call it an implement or a tool that   I use for the breath work. It's blue. There's a Bluetooth connection to your phone and it's pretty cool. So it's structured and back to that discipline, right? But yeah, so it's, there was a reason I started doing it and it's, it's so accessible in five to 10 minutes a day. You can start doing it. So I recommend. Cool.   Thanks for sharing that man. With all your success, what is one limiting belief that you've crushed along the way and how did you get past it?   I think just, you know, being afraid to, you know, that you have to be perfect, right? So I used to be an editor back in the day. And so many things would just not get done or not get completed within our team, our organization, because it had to be perfect. And it's like, I think as I've progressed into more of the entrepreneurial lifestyle and   (Jamie Bateman) (43:02.35) is just it's not a it's not an option anymore. So yeah, I think just taking action has kind of overcome that limiting belief of chasing perfection.   Yeah, I can agree with you there. Done not perfect. Yes. My background as an attorney, mean, we're paid to be perfect. We can't make mistakes, especially in contracts and the way that we write things. But when you make that transition over to being an entrepreneur, there's too much to do to be perfect. You just got to get it done. Good enough.   Absolutely. Good enough. You have to be willing to accept that for sure.   What's one actionable step our listeners can do right now to start creating more freedom?   I'll use the military here, which is where I learned kind of reverse backwards planning, reverse planning. literally just, and I'm not going to tell you I'm perfect at this, but, you know, think about what, create a vivid vision for your life in the next three to five years, pick it, pick three years out from today. And what do you want your life to look like? And then backwards plan. And now I'm not saying you need to plan every minute of every day, but   (Jamie Bateman) (44:20.876) you can be that will that will increase the urgency, sense of urgency in your life and the intentionality of every every hour and every day because you realize this is doable, but I got to take ownership of my current situation if I want this to be the reality in three years. So I would say, create a vivid vision and and kind of reverse or backwards plan to get there.   Perfect, perfect. Last but not least, House Passive Income made your life better.   Yeah, I mean, I think in multiple ways, but a big one that stands out is giving me, I guess we'll call it margin to take some more risks on the entrepreneurial side. And because I do have alternative sources of income, passive income, it's allowed me that kind of mental and financial bandwidth or margin to maybe invest in a company that even if it   doesn't go perfectly, or doesn't go well, it's not profitable, that's okay. I still have that cushion for me and my family. that's, yeah, it's a huge, it's been a huge factor in that regard.   Yeah, absolutely. Game changer, man. It just changes your mindset, changes your life in so many ways. Jamie, this has been incredible, dude. You've got so much great content to share in your brain, man. You got to get out there. know you've got an awesome podcast that I was on, Adversity to Abundance. Everybody should check that out. Other than that, Jamie, where else can people find out more about you? Yeah.   (Jamie Bateman) (45:54.924) Just two things I'll mention very quickly. Literally got my book delivered today, like an hour before I hopped on here. It's from adversity to abundance. It is based on the podcast. So I encourage your listener to check that out from adversity to abundance is the book that's out. then labradorlending.com, L A B R A D O R.com is where you can check us out.   All right, man. Awesome. I'll drop all that in the show notes. Thanks again for coming on, brother.   Thanks for having me, Seth. This has been great.   (Seth Bradley) (46:26.978) Thanks for tuning in to Raise the Bar Radio. If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Keep pushing, keep building, and keep raising the bar. Until next time, enjoy the journey. Links from the Show and Guest Info and Links: Seth Bradley's Links: https://x.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.youtube.com/@sethbradleyesq www.facebook.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.threads.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.instagram.com/sethbradleyesq/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethbradleyesq/ https://passiveincomeattorney.com/seth-bradley/ https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/sethbradleyesq https://medium.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.tiktok.com/@sethbradleyesq?lang=en Jamie Bateman's Links: https://x.com/batemanjames https://www.facebook.com/batemanjames https://www.threads.com/@batemanjames11?xmt=AQF0nwaIL6JD_GK94lbTvHphHOmWwlUyt3TkeHLav-vXU_E https://www.instagram.com/batemanjames11/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-bateman-5359a811/ https://labradorlending.com/about/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-adversity-to-abundance/id1618672867 https://open.spotify.com/show/7JjGWsKVzzEI8UwXP9GONZ https://www.youtube.com/@FromAdversity2AbundancePodcast

Title: How to Quit Your W-2 and Never Look Back with Jamie Bateman Summary: In this episode of Raise the Bar Radio, Seth Bradley welcomes Jamie, a military veteran turned real estate and mortgage note investor, who shares his story of transitioning from a W-2 career into entrepreneurship and financial freedom. Jamie discusses the phases of his life, including collegiate sports, military service, and a long stint at the Department of Defense before pivoting to real estate and eventually mortgage note investing. He emphasizes how discipline shaped his journey and how shifting mindset, focusing on strengths, and leveraging his network were key to taking ownership of his life and finances. Jamie also dives deep into the mortgage note investing space, explaining how performing and non-performing notes work, the active nature of the business, and how he now offers passive investment opportunities for accredited investors. He closes by highlighting the importance of planning with intention, overcoming perfectionism, and using passive income to create margin and freedom in life. Links to Watch and Subscribe:  https://youtu.be/nRyX8_YA9YI Bullet Point Highlights: Discipline builds freedom - Sports, military, and entrepreneurship all instilled the value of discipline, which Jamie says is critical for success and freedom. W-2 life wasn't the path - Jamie recognized through his commute and stagnant career trajectory that he didn't want to follow the traditional path, sparking his exit plan. Mindset shift was essential - He stopped consuming negative news and started focusing on education and his strengths to shift into entrepreneurship. Mortgage note investing explained - Performing notes offer cash flow while non-performing notes offer the chance to add value, akin to fix and flips. However, both are active businesses, not passive. Passive income fuels risk-taking - Creating passive income streams allowed Jamie to take entrepreneurial risks while maintaining financial security. Action beats perfection - As an entrepreneur, chasing perfection isn't practical. Done is better than perfect. Reverse planning drives clarity - Backwards planning from a vivid vision 3-5 years into the future increases urgency and helps set clear, intentional actions. Final advice - Start by investing passively to learn, and later you can decide whether to become active. Don't underestimate the transferable skills you already possess. Transcript: (Seth Bradley) (00:02.062) What's up, builders? This is Raise the Bar Radio, where we talk about building wealth, raising capital, and all in all, raising the bar in your business and your life. This is the No BS podcast for capital raisers, investors, and entrepreneurs who are serious about scaling their business and living life on their own terms. I'm Seth Bradley, securities attorney, real estate investor, and entrepreneur, bringing you world-class strategies from the best in the game.   If you're ready to raise more capital, close bigger deals, build a better you and create true financial freedom, you're in the right place. Let's go. Jamie, what's going on, brother? Welcome to the show.   Thanks Seth, is awesome. I'm excited to be here and I'm hoping to add some value.   Absolutely, man. Third time's a charm. We've been trying to get this scheduled after I was on your show, which was fantastic. Had a really good time on that show and I think it turned out pretty good. I know we're going to deliver on this one as well.   Yeah, we're gonna try to try to I'll try to do as good a job as you did. So yeah, was that was a yeah, no, I that was a very, very good episode from adversity to abundance. highly recommend your your listeners check that one out to your episode on that show. So thanks for thanks for doing that.   (Seth Bradley) (01:20.086) Absolutely, man. You're an incredible interviewer. I've net, that's the only, I've been on dozens of podcasts and, you know, you pulled out a lot of things for me that I've, I've never talked about on the air. So it's pretty, pretty awesome. Pretty awesome show, man.   Appreciate that.   Cool man, well let's just jump right into your background man. What's your story? Take it back as far as you'd like to brother.   Yeah. Man, I'd like to think that life has phases. So I've had a few different phases in my life. I come from a large family. I'm the oldest of seven kids and we always had a competitive background as far as team sports and things like that. So I played lacrosse in college. That was always a foundational piece of my life and just kind of   think from there learned how to be a part of something bigger than myself and how to work toward a common goal with a with a team. So that's been something that's been a kind of a thread through my life and then got married and joined the military and actually joined the military technically before I got married, but seemed like I got married and then ran off and ran away from my wife. But it's not exactly what happened. But   (Jamie Bateman) (02:36.02) I joined the military, was an officer in the US Army. I did miss my first three wedding anniversaries through deployment and things like that. And again, it was a matter of trying to be plugged into something, you know, to serve and be a part of something bigger than myself and trying to add value like I think we all want to do. I've obviously glossed over a lot of details, but those were a couple of inflection points, I guess, if you will, like you like to talk about, I know.   And so my military career transitioned into a career with the Department of Defense as a civilian, and did 14 years as a civilian with DoD at Fort Meade. And the first half, so the first seven, for all you math wizards out there, was full time. And then the second half, the second seven years was part time. And that   seven years is when I was really building my businesses, which are largely real estate investing and mortgage note investing focus. So we can get into the details there. And then in 2022, I ended up quitting my job and now I have a few different small businesses that I run. And like you, Seth, I've got a lot of different things that I'm juggling and   You know, so, but yeah, I love talking about taking ownership of your financial situation and taking ownership of your life really. And I know that you and I have that in common. So yeah, that's a high level overview of my background.   Awesome, man. I appreciate that. There's a lot to unpack there. You know, going back to playing sports all the way up to the collegiate level, that's incredible. I always like to think even playing like popcorn or football back in the day, you need a way to instill discipline in yourself. And that's kind of the oldest memory I can think of where it was hard, right? Like it was like you've got a coach screaming at you.   (Seth Bradley) (04:38.134) Like back in the day, it's like, you know, they wouldn't give you water unless you like, you know, for like an hour, which I don't think they do that anymore now. But, you you had to earn that drink of water and all those sorts of things. But you you really learned what it's like to work hard and you really learned what discipline was all about. And I would say that and you can you can expand on this. But I would say that, you know, being in the military yourself, that takes it to a whole new level.   Right. It's like you got that from sports. You got that from the military.   Yeah, definitely. I mean, obviously, they're very different in a lot of ways. But that is certainly a common theme is being disciplined. And people, people shy away from that word, because it just sounds like work or no fun and no flexibility. But I found that having discipline in your life ends up adding more freedom in a sense, because you kind of have your foundational pieces set in stone, you don't have to think about those. And so, yeah, regarding   team sports, it's really a matter of, you know, everyone doing their part, right. And so there's a level of individual discipline and, and then just, and then also just kind of putting the putting the group ahead of yourself. Obviously, you know, you want individual, there's nothing wrong with individual accolades. And I was certainly chasing, you know, those individual accolades. It's not something I shied away from, I was definitely was wrapped up in   trying to be an All-American and that kind of thing. And did get that a couple of times, you know, but at the end of the day, nobody really cares about that. And the way I viewed it was if I was doing my part, and I got those, you if I was scoring goals in lacrosse, as an example, that means I'm contributing to, you know, to the team, right. And so there's obviously a fine line there, but of going too far, either way. But yeah, that discipline is critical.   (Jamie Bateman) (06:36.73) you know, even it's certain I played at a high level in college and there was year round your training your your your into it. It was a division three school but it but the reality was we worked just as hard as any any D one program and yeah, it's it's a these are skills that have paid off and are absolutely transferable to the rest of life.   For sure. Yeah, I think you've got to get those intangible things. You've got to develop them somewhere along the way, whatever that is, if that's sports or the military or from your parents. mean, you can get it from different places, but you definitely need it. I mean, we're in different stages of our life at this point. talking about a lot. We talk about freedom and flexibility and fun to try to get away from kind of the W-2 mindset.   But in order to achieve freedom, flexibility and fun in a successful way, have to be disciplined to be able to get there. You had to have done something successfully to be able to get there or maybe what separates you from the guy living in a van down by the river. That guy has freedom and flexibility. I don't know about fun, maybe fun, but it's a different, obviously it's a different outcome.   Yeah, and I, I think I still need, you I still use a lot of discipline today. It's still, still required, but it's, I guess it's self imposed. And, you know, I just love, love having that flexibility and that freedom that comes along with being an entrepreneur. So yeah, it's been a central piece to my success for sure. But I still, I don't think it ever, you know, goes away. I just get to pick and choose what, you know, what discipline I want to   kind of enforce on myself, I guess. So yeah, absolutely. And as you said, the military was a huge part of that for me as well. I mean, that's a different kind of, different kind of discipline and different kind of teamwork and different, you know, if you lose the lacrosse game, okay, you lost the lacrosse game, but military the stakes are a little higher. So maybe certain things are more important attention to detail or critic is critical and   (Jamie Bateman) (08:53.73) But at the end of the day, it's, the same principles apply across both, I guess, sectors, if you will.   For sure. So let's dive into that transition. You started working kind of part-time there for seven years, so that seems like a transitional period. How were you able to progress from that W2? And what I've heard you say is call yourself a W2 quitter. I love that. How were you able to progress from a W2 person to a W2 quitter? What enabled you to do that and what that transition looked like?   I mean, you know, I do remember in 2015, probably a little bit maybe maybe say 2014. But I just you get, you know, I had a wife and two kids and I had the commute the long commute that I know a lot of people can identify with. So it just was Groundhog Day was the same thing over and over and over. And that's not me sitting here complaining about my family or having having the opportunity to work.   But after a while, it gets old. Let's just be real, right? So it's like you're sitting in traffic and I just, you start looking at, you know, I worked for the government and you look around and you say, who, okay, who's sort of ahead of me on this? Like you, like I think you probably mentioned on our, on your, your show and my, show, your episode, you look around to the people who are more kind of further along the path than you. You say, do you want to be that person? Is that the life you want? And man, I did not want that.   And it just just having that just super long term just you know, pot at the end of the rainbow, I guess, nothing driving me in the interim, man, it was it was just it was brutal. So I probably did a little woes me for a little bit there a little victim mentality for a bit. But then you start to realize, like, okay, if you don't take ownership of your own life, no one's going to right. So   (Jamie Bateman) (10:54.934) No one's going to come in and do this for you. So I'm not sure what truly, you know, created the change in my mindset, but my mindset absolutely started to change and it just made a shift. And I, and I stopped watching cable news. I stopped, just, you know, stop paying attention to all the things that I can't control. And I couldn't control back then and, and started saying, no, what do I have? What are my strengths? Who is in my, who's back to the team thing.   who's on my team, who's in my network that I can add value to and who can add value to me. So I started looking around and my father was a realtor for many years. My brother was a loan officer. We had one rental property at the time. I had worked at, I didn't mention, I worked at a title company and I worked for a mortgage broker before as well briefly. So I had this experience that a lot of people don't have and that's   you know, that doesn't mean I'm better than anyone. It just means these are my strengths. So let's point to that. And let's use that. So I started really being intentional about focusing on my strengths and my assets that I had in my life, right. And then another asset that I used to see as a liability was the time in the car. So I started listening to podcasts. you know, and then it turned into wait, I don't even want to go into work yet. Because this this podcast episode is amazing. And I'm learning so much.   know, bigger pockets and all the other real estate podcasts and different investing podcasts and started using that mental bandwidth instead of focusing on national media stories that I have zero influence over. Here's something that I can actually take action on. And so in mid 2015, I went part time and it just so happens that at   DoD is one of the few agencies in the in federal government where you can go part time and still keep your benefits. So I still had health insurance for my family. You know, most people don't have that option necessarily, but well, I did. So that's what I did. And, and, you know, that's, again, decided to decide to start building my my other streams of income outside of my W two.   (Jamie Bateman) (13:15.752) my circumstances been different if I was single, I probably would have just quit the whole thing, right? But I was able to have that kind of laddered approach, I guess, or tiered approach to kind of ripping off the bandaid.   Yeah, yeah, no, that's awesome. I love just the idea of taking ownership of your life, right? Like everybody has those moments where they're feeling sorry for themselves. But the successful people, they don't sit there and stay in that mindset. They move on. You're going to be there sometimes where you've got to get out of it. You got to say, OK, what can I control? What can I change? And you don't say you don't give other people the power to control.   you and your mindset and how you feel about your life. Right. Like that's that's that's the thing. Like if you you're constantly blaming someone else or saying this happened to me rather than what can I do to get myself out of it, then you're going to be stuck there forever. You're going to be absolutely going to be spinning your wheels forever. And a lot of that, I think, helps because you said you don't listen. You don't watch the news. I don't either. No, it's a waste of time. What control? What does that do for us? If I do watch it.   I literally do it for entertainment and you look at it as an entertain. I look at it like I'm watching. I look at it like this is funny. Like I can, you know what I mean? You kind of analyze it like, this is funny. This guy's saying this in a debate. Right. This guy's saying that it's not taking it as a news and this is how I should live my life because of what they're saying.   sports almost.   (Jamie Bateman) (14:43.341) Fact.   (Jamie Bateman) (14:48.078) Absolutely. And it's not to say that none of these topics are important, mean, global war, politics, poverty, global warming, whatever, it's all very important, but I have zero control over it, almost zero, right? And then the other thing is fear sells and that's what they're selling. And so it doesn't mean that every story is invented and it's all fake news, but it's   it just doesn't serve me. And so I'd rather focus on, you know, go ground up and kind of just, I see it in people, maybe older people in my own life now who maybe are retired and they watch the news all day. And it's like, they won't travel because they saw a news story that the airports are packed or something. And, you know, it's, I'm sure that story was, was accurate, right. But it, but the, but the news can filter out and you end up only focusing on   the negative really, and it just didn't serve me. yeah, during that lot, the second seven years, I was able to build out my wife and I were doing single family real estate investing and doing a lot of the BRRRR method that maybe some of your audience is familiar with. And so kind of putting that capital back into the rental property machine and expanding our portfolio. And then eventually last year, well, and   2018, made the pivot, I kept the rental properties, but made a pivot to also add on mortgage note investing. And that's been my primary focus as of late. And if you want, can tell the story quickly about how I actually quit my job in 2022. I think it's kind of a funny one.   Absolutely, let's do it.   (Jamie Bateman) (16:38.318) All right. So, I, so I, two years ago, I was playing badminton and, I'd been doing now, mind you, I used to be like tough, you know, athlete. And like I did, you know, did jujitsu for three years right up before this. And, know, I used to lift weights a lot and still do it here and there, but, you know, I think I'm tough. Right. And,   ruptured my Achilles playing badminton. So that's an ego blow to add on to the physical pain that you know, especially with the recovery. So rupture my Achilles a little over two years ago today and I was out of work, it was my right right foot. And the reason I bring this up is not for sympathy, but to say, you know, I couldn't drive for three months. So I actually, yeah, and I had tons of leave from from work and   By this time, I was tired, really tired of my, I was pretty much checked out. Like I think you, might've been at your, your big law job, but I was, I was checked out. mean, I wasn't the best employee at this point. And so I took as much leave as I, as I could, you know, reasonably right. And so, but couldn't drive. And so I was out for three months and I come back. So come back into work and I'd had discussions with my wife about, about leaving. was just a matter of, of when, not if.   That's right   (Jamie Bateman) (18:04.43) I can tell you truthfully, I had no idea that I was going to quit this day, but I came back in from having been out for three months. Mind you, no one gave me a call. No one from work, no one from my management gave me a call the entire three months I was out, other than to say, to ask me, are you vaccinated? Because you have to be vaccinated to be, to get inside the building. Now, I don't want this to turn into some controversial vaccine discussion.   or get your podcast banned from something but yes, I'd been vaccinated to answer the question. But no one asked me how's your how's your recovery going? Like how you what do you you know, how's your life? You know, what's it's just are you vaccinated, you need to get that shot before you come in? Okay, great. Thanks. I really feel welcome here. So I'm already just, you know, you know what, screw this place, right? Come back in and just   go to my desk, and this is this is an office space kind of thing where I go to my desk and there's some there's an Air Force kid at my desk and long story short, they kind of moved me somewhere else without telling me I can't find my desk, I finally find it, it's got a box with my name on it with, you know, monitors sideways and all and clearly not a functioning desk and, you know, office space. So I literally quit that day. And I just say that it's just like,   I knew 100 % I was done. My wife didn't know I quit, but I quit that day. Still worked for another month or two, but there was no question, zero question in my mind, I'm done with this place. So that was March of 2022. And ever since then, I've just focused on building out my businesses and having look back.   That's awesome. Sometimes you just know, right? Like sometimes it's done. You just knew. I love that story, man. For me, it was a little bit. You already know the story, but for me, it was a little bit more of someone else's decision. I got fired. mean, and you mentioned that, you you weren't the best employee at that point. Correct. I knew the same thing. And it's great to have awareness and perspective and kind of looking back now, you're like, I would have done the same thing. Like this guy doesn't want to be here.   (Seth Bradley) (20:21.292) His output isn't what it should be. Like, he's got to go. mean, he's not the best employee. And as a business owner now, I have really good perspective of that and seeing that. And they were doing me a favor by being like, hey, your heart's not in it, it? And I'm like, no, it's not.   It's not. Yeah. The reality is for me, it's really hard to work. know, once you go part time, I mean, I knew I was casting a vote against my career progression there. So as soon as I went part time in 2015, I wasn't saying I'm in this for the long haul guys. This is this is my focus. You know, it's the writing's somewhat on the wall. Looking back, it's almost surprising. I lasted as long as I did. But so, yeah, haven't looked back and just loved love the entrepreneurial   you know, day to day and freedom that you alluded to and just the multiple streams of income and certainly has its challenges. I probably work harder now than ever than I ever have. But it's by choice. So I love it.   Exactly. Same here, man. mean, it's, you my days are long. I mean, I get up way before I used to get up when I had a 95. I worked past when I would have worked a 95 and definitely more hours. But when you're doing it for yourself and you're doing it because you're working towards something that you believe in, it doesn't feel like you're putting that much time in.   Definitely. I wake up early. A lot of days not on purpose is because I'm just excited to get cracking.   (Seth Bradley) (21:55.886) So, yeah. absolutely. Yeah. Well, let's kind of get into your current business. I know you mentioned that you focused on your strengths and your assets. Yeah. And, you know, I think it's important. just say it's important to take an inventory of what your strengths are when you're kind of considering going into something else, because a lot of our listeners are attorneys, they're doctors, folks like that. They kind of feel like maybe they're pigeonholed, right? Like, well, if I'm not an attorney, what the hell else can I do?   Right. And like, I don't know anything about real estate investing or node investing or starting a business or anything like that. But if you really take a step back, you probably have a lot of skills that you've learned and honed in your career that you can use for something else moving forward. And that was that's what you were able to   to do. Definitely. And one thing I'd say is that, you know, one thing that's always comforting for me is nobody knows everything, right? So you can always find somebody who knows more than you in a certain area. You know, there's one quote about every man is my superior in something, right? So basically, it gives me a lot of comfort to know, like, just because an attorney listening to your show knows a   way more than I do about a particular topic and probably many, many other topics. That doesn't mean I'm less of a person or you know, I don't know more than that attorney does in another area. So it's okay, I'm never going to know everything. There are other people who've already figured it out. So you know, that's, that's always comforting to me is to when I say look to your strengths, it's also looking to the people in your network who know, it can help you get to where you want to go. So yeah, I mean,   So many things we take for granted that we do know. you know, example, when I started working at a title company, fresh out of college, because it was my first real job, and it paid, you know, a salary. I realized quickly how little I knew about title insurance settlements, you know, just just basic stuff. Now looking back, pretty basic stuff. But you don't know that unless you work for a title company, or you're heavily involved in this, you don't you're not.   (Jamie Bateman) (24:10.03) trained in that in school typically, right? So, you know, you forget and so your your listener out there, the attorney, the doctor, guarantee they have a lot of life experience, not just from their professional world, but just life experience that they shouldn't take for granted. And the fact that you can go through law school and then be, you know, be an effective attorney, or go through medical school and be an effective doctor, that that means you you can learn things, right? And so   Again, I'll go back to life as seasons. I mean, you've shown that in your own story, Seth, like, you know, it's a, doesn't mean just because I started a certain business doesn't mean that's going to be what I'm going to be doing for the next 20 years, or just because I'm an attorney now, it doesn't mean that's what I have to do for the rest of my life. So we always have options. mean, you might look back and wish you'd done something differently or something, but you only have one chance at this. And so,   you know, just make the most of it and just keep, think, keep learning constantly is critical. I just hired a business coach, we've had one call. But one of his mottos is, you know, one of his sayings is that he's always he's in permanent beta. So he's always changing, always improving, he's always growing. So I'm trying to trying to implement that as well.   (Seth Bradley) (25:40.64) the interruption, but we don't do ads. Instead, know that if you're raising capital for real estate, my law firm, RaiseLaw, is here to give you the expert legal guidance you need to raise capital compliantly and structure and close your deal. And if you're looking for a done-for-you fund-to-fund solution, Tribest is the industry's only all-in-one setup and fund administration solution. Visit Raise.Law and Tribest.com to learn more.   Yeah, I love that permanent beta. I haven't heard that before, but I like that. I like that phrase. like that phrase. So tell me about your current business. Tell me about MortgageNode Investing. Start with the basics. What is it?   Yeah, so and, and I'll try to keep it, there's so much to it. But again, none of it is difficult. It's just a lot of moving parts and you've got to, you know, takes time to learn. We buy debt, so we buy a mortgage note, and that could be performing or non performing. The real high level version is, is a performing note is kind of like a long term buy and hold rental property.   but you're buying the debt and becoming the lender, becoming the bank, if you will. And so you're buying that performing note for cashflow. So I buy a performing note, the borrower now pays me through a loan servicer and I get monthly payments. So that's a great way to go. The problem with that is you can't really add value to that asset very well. You're kind of, it is what it is. And in fact, with mortgage notes, the value actually goes down over time, generally speaking, because   principal balance goes down. So it's just, it's worth less than, you know, then, you know, then it would then it was when you bought it. Then on the other side, the non performing side of things, we buy those as well. And those are more like a fix and flip property. So although we're still buying the debt, we're not buying the property. But there's a chance to add value, there's an opportunity to buy distressed asset and add value to that asset and then sell that that non performing note, either well,   (Jamie Bateman) (27:49.826) I should say sell that asset, whether that's as a re performing note, or as through the the real estate itself, there are a few different ways you can exit a non performing note deal. And but, but back to your kind of one of the themes thus far, one of the reasons I got into specifically that space was that I understood the real estate space. So I understood the single family, residential real estate space. So it wasn't a huge leap for me to go from   owning the property to now owning the debt on that property. Whereas it would have been a lot bigger leap for me to say, I to start buying distressed, you know, multifamily debt, which I know you could probably help me understand better. But at that, you know, it's like, incremental progress and change isn't that scary. So I kind of expanded my, you know, toolbox, if you will.   and got into the mortgage note space. So we have a couple of note funds. One is open currently and they're all for accredited investors. the income fund that's open pays a monthly, aims to pay a monthly preferred return. I know you and a lot of your listeners are attorneys, so I gotta hold the line here. And...   So the fund is structured to pay, to aim to pay a monthly return of 8%. It's not a, there's no growth in that fund. It's literally a cashflow play and diversification play. You're putting your capital in. We buy assets across the country. We've bought notes in probably 25 states at this point. And so the investment is diversified across geographic areas, across borrower types.   And we buy for a certain yield, we take a small management fee, and then we ideally pay the preferred return that we're aiming for to our investors.   (Seth Bradley) (29:56.686) Yeah, nice. 506c, you're able to talk about it. It's a credit investors only. Just want to that out there. yeah, I mean, so just going back to the basics a little bit and we'll get back into the fun. Like, how do you, how do you even find these things? mean, yeah, that's, how do you get started? How do you find these things?   So I mean, that is an ongoing challenge. I'm not going to lie to you. That's one of the things that truthfully a passive investor who doesn't have time to develop the network to go find these assets, they're just not going to have success. They might here and there, but it takes time. It's a word of mouth industry, just like real estate itself is. so we've built out a network of sellers and that could be   quite honestly, I've never had luck buying directly from banks. It's really either a larger Mortgage Note fund that's closing. So it might be a three year fund and then they've got to, they've got to liquidate, they've got to figure out how to sell off what to do with these assets. And so that's a great opportunity to buy is just a fund that's closing or somebody a note investor who's getting out of note investing or they've had a life change or something, you know, where   they just, there's an opportunity to buy from them as well. And so there are other, you know, I guess we buy from hedge funds, note investors, other note funds. There are also note brokers as well out there. There are also some online exchanges like paper stack and a couple of others that you can go and I've bought and sold on paper stack and other exchanges as well.   And you can find assets there. But at the end of the day, have our list of people that we work with regularly. And I would say one thing is that doing due diligence on a note seller is just as important as due diligence on the assets that they're selling. And so it's taken some work and it's a work in progress always. But it is the million dollar question is where do find these assets?   (Seth Bradley) (32:12.598) Yeah. So that's the hard part, right? Finding these assets is the hard part. Have you ever had to foreclose on any of these notes and actually acquire the property? And I guess a follow-up question is, do you ever look at a non-performing note like, hey, I actually want to own that property?   So, great questions. Yeah, great questions. To be clear, we're not trying to kick people, you know, grandma out on onto the street or anything like that. You know, that's not our goal typically. Well, that's never our goal. But we're never trying to kick someone out of their home. But the reality is, some people honestly need a little bit of a kick in the pants. And oftentimes, that's not really the best them staying in the house is not often   the best scenario for them. know that might sound harsh, but at end of the day, if someone can't afford to live somewhere, sometimes these people are living in squalor and they really need a change of environment. To answer your question about do we target the property? Yes, sometimes we do. In fact, we just closed on to, they're called heckum loans or reverse mortgages, where the borrowers are deceased. The property is underwater, meaning, you know,   the loan amount is higher, than the property value. And it should be a quick exit through the property. So HUD will sell off these big pools of reverse mortgages. And we were able to purchase two of them very recently. It's a vacant property, you're not doing an eviction, borrower is deceased, you've got to work through the heirs or foreclosure and exit the property that way.   If your listener wants to go to my website, I've got a really good Jacksonville blog post, I've got a couple of blog posts about this deal. I still hold this rental today. And it was a non performing note that we purchased a few years ago. And I had no intention of exiting through the property or holding, holding the property as a rental property, but running the numbers, it just was too good to, to let go. so long story, but we, we   (Jamie Bateman) (34:22.51) ended up doing a deed in lieu of foreclosure actually in this case and got the property back and now it's a long-term buy and hold property for my own rental portfolio.   Yeah, that makes sense. It makes sense. There's always multiple ways to look at an investment, right? But it does sound, you know, it's not something that I've executed on myself, but it sounds like this is an active business, right? And that's why you've put together an income fund for people that want to get involved passively. as everybody knows, there's active investments, there's passive investments. If you're to do something active.   Maybe your returns are going to be a little bit better, but you're going to give up a lot of time and effort to get those returns. So if you want to go the passive side, if you're still full-time in your career, you're a full-time doctor or lawyer or whatever you are, these passive investments are the way to go without having to know every single detail about a new business.   Yeah, and I don't know if you can see this, but I wear this specifically for your for this   There it is. There it is.   (Jamie Bateman) (35:29.272) Passive income. You're absolutely right. You know, these gurus, some of the some of the note investing gurus out there will try to sell, you know, notes as passive. We have another blog post that talks about just the it's a spectrum, there's active and passive on either end. But at end of the day, if you're going to note investing in my world is very, very active. And we have a non performing note fund that's considerably more active than the performing note fund. So   You're dealing with foreclosures, bankruptcies, deed and loo, tracking delinquent property taxes. Do I have to physically go anywhere? No, but it is not passive. But that's why we offer the passive investment for people who, like you said, have maybe more capital than time or energy, and they want to put that capital to work.   That's right. There are certain gurus out there that, know, whatever it is that they are pitching, they tend to always pitch it as passive, even though it is an active business, that's money. Whether that's a mortgage note or I mean, people will pitch Airbnb short term rentals as passive. They're like, well, you can delegate this and you can, you know, you can automate that and there's software for all these things. But you still got to put all that stuff together.   Mm-mm.   (Seth Bradley) (36:48.396) You've still got to monitor all those things. still got to oversee all these different aspects of a business. And that's what it is. It's a business that you're running and it's not passive. Like, it's not, it's not. And it is on a spectrum. Some things are more passive than others, but when you're investing in, you know, as a passive investor into some sort of a fund or syndication, that's really leaning really far into the passive side.   Absolutely, 100%. And I'm, as you are, Seth, I'm, I assume you are, I know you're an active investor, but I do have passive investments myself in other, other funds, other note funds, and, and my own, my own note funds as well. And so nothing wrong with doing both, but I would say you need to be careful about, you know, you got to make a decision at some point, do you want to scale this thing and make this really a business? Or do you do you are you satisfied with?   potentially a little bit lower return and you are giving up some control but much, you know, much fewer headaches and just a lot less work.   Right. Yeah. And a lot of, you know, lot of the listeners are high income earning professionals. So they've already dedicated, put a lot of time and effort into being able to earn this much money from their W2. And that's probably your best bet, to be honest with you. I've been there. I was in those shoes. You're probably better off putting your head down and like, let's grind for a few years. Let's not spend every single dollar that we make on all the new stuff on a new car every two years or every year.   in a bigger house that you don't need. Like, let's set aside some of that and invest it passively. And then maybe one of those will stick. Maybe one of those passive investments will be a mortgage no fund where you're like, man, I kind of like this business. I like the sound of it. I've learned about it. And then you start maybe progressing on the active side and maybe that takes over. And you want to get into that as a business, as an entrepreneur. But a great way to kind of dip your toe in the water is to become a passive investor. That's the way that I did it in the,   (Seth Bradley) (38:53.186) multifamily syndications. invested passively in a number of deals first and kind of learned about it, learned the ropes and I'm like, I can do this. And then that's when I made the transition.   Yeah, definitely. It really comes down to what your goals are and what your situation is, for sure. I'll say I was too passive initially when I went into notes, because personally, just don't... You were probably a little better student, Seth. Not that I was a bad student, I invest... Unless I'm actively investing, I'm just not going to learn a lot. So the reality is, yeah, it's fine to learn about the asset class. You definitely should learn about the operator for sure.   you're putting capital with them, but you're not going to once you're getting your checks and your disbursements, you're not going to probably learn a whole lot about how to do that on the active side. And so that's what we're here for.   Yeah, yeah, it's more of like a spark of an interest, right? Like maybe you already have that spark and then you invest passively. Then you're like, OK, well, now I'm invested. Like, let me learn about this. And you have to have to actively go out there and educate yourself and network and talk to people that are in the business.   Definitely, 100%.   (Seth Bradley) (40:01.71) Alright man, before we jump into the Freedom Four, you have one last golden nugget for our listeners.   Oh, I would say within when it comes to investing, you know, take the long term view. Don't chase immediate returns. You know, I do think just, yeah, it's certainly we all want to make a million dollars tomorrow. But I think it's it's a play the long game when it comes to investing. I think that's critical.   Love that man. All right, let's jump into the freedom form. What's the best thing you do to keep your mind and body healthy?   Yeah, I mean, one thing that I instituted this year, actually, is breathwork. And it's, you know, it's so it takes 10 minutes. And per day for me, at least. And it's been phenomenal. And it's something that quite honestly, as a, as a, you know, athlete back in the day, or even in the military, I would have scoffed at something like this, to be honest with you, because it's just, you know, it's not manly or whatever. And it's like, it is phenomenal. So breathwork,   I mean, I do other things for sure. But that's certainly this year, it's been a game changer for me. I just feel like it resets my central nervous system. It just gets me focused. And I know there are other physiological benefits that you can ask Dr. Andrew Huberman or somebody else about.   (Seth Bradley) (41:26.153) Cool. I'll have to look into that. actually have it. mean, obviously everybody talks about it's a hot topic. Yeah. I haven't gotten into it. I haven't gotten into that plus like the cold plunges and that sort of thing. Yeah. But I really want to want to   So I don't know how much you can cut this out if we don't have time, but I had a, I'm just going to be, be open about this. I just had a, you know, in late December, I got a viral infection, like a neurovirus. And then I had, I had a, what I think was a pretty severe panic attack and it was super scary. And so that's why I started doing this. And somebody on my team actually sent me a, I guess we'll call it an implement or a tool that   I use for the breath work. It's blue. There's a Bluetooth connection to your phone and it's pretty cool. So it's structured and back to that discipline, right? But yeah, so it's, there was a reason I started doing it and it's, it's so accessible in five to 10 minutes a day. You can start doing it. So I recommend. Cool.   Thanks for sharing that man. With all your success, what is one limiting belief that you've crushed along the way and how did you get past it?   I think just, you know, being afraid to, you know, that you have to be perfect, right? So I used to be an editor back in the day. And so many things would just not get done or not get completed within our team, our organization, because it had to be perfect. And it's like, I think as I've progressed into more of the entrepreneurial lifestyle and   (Jamie Bateman) (43:02.35) is just it's not a it's not an option anymore. So yeah, I think just taking action has kind of overcome that limiting belief of chasing perfection.   Yeah, I can agree with you there. Done not perfect. Yes. My background as an attorney, mean, we're paid to be perfect. We can't make mistakes, especially in contracts and the way that we write things. But when you make that transition over to being an entrepreneur, there's too much to do to be perfect. You just got to get it done. Good enough.   Absolutely. Good enough. You have to be willing to accept that for sure.   What's one actionable step our listeners can do right now to start creating more freedom?   I'll use the military here, which is where I learned kind of reverse backwards planning, reverse planning. literally just, and I'm not going to tell you I'm perfect at this, but, you know, think about what, create a vivid vision for your life in the next three to five years, pick it, pick three years out from today. And what do you want your life to look like? And then backwards plan. And now I'm not saying you need to plan every minute of every day, but   (Jamie Bateman) (44:20.876) you can be that will that will increase the urgency, sense of urgency in your life and the intentionality of every every hour and every day because you realize this is doable, but I got to take ownership of my current situation if I want this to be the reality in three years. So I would say, create a vivid vision and and kind of reverse or backwards plan to get there.   Perfect, perfect. Last but not least, House Passive Income made your life better.   Yeah, I mean, I think in multiple ways, but a big one that stands out is giving me, I guess we'll call it margin to take some more risks on the entrepreneurial side. And because I do have alternative sources of income, passive income, it's allowed me that kind of mental and financial bandwidth or margin to maybe invest in a company that even if it   doesn't go perfectly, or doesn't go well, it's not profitable, that's okay. I still have that cushion for me and my family. that's, yeah, it's a huge, it's been a huge factor in that regard.   Yeah, absolutely. Game changer, man. It just changes your mindset, changes your life in so many ways. Jamie, this has been incredible, dude. You've got so much great content to share in your brain, man. You got to get out there. know you've got an awesome podcast that I was on, Adversity to Abundance. Everybody should check that out. Other than that, Jamie, where else can people find out more about you? Yeah.   (Jamie Bateman) (45:54.924) Just two things I'll mention very quickly. Literally got my book delivered today, like an hour before I hopped on here. It's from adversity to abundance. It is based on the podcast. So I encourage your listener to check that out from adversity to abundance is the book that's out. then labradorlending.com, L A B R A D O R.com is where you can check us out.   All right, man. Awesome. I'll drop all that in the show notes. Thanks again for coming on, brother.   Thanks for having me, Seth. This has been great.   (Seth Bradley) (46:26.978) Thanks for tuning in to Raise the Bar Radio. If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Keep pushing, keep building, and keep raising the bar. Until next time, enjoy the journey. Links from the Show and Guest Info and Links: Seth Bradley's Links: https://x.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.youtube.com/@sethbradleyesq www.facebook.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.threads.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.instagram.com/sethbradleyesq/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethbradleyesq/ https://passiveincomeattorney.com/seth-bradley/ https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/sethbradleyesq https://medium.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.tiktok.com/@sethbradleyesq?lang=en Jamie Bateman's Links: https://x.com/batemanjames https://www.facebook.com/batemanjames https://www.threads.com/@batemanjames11?xmt=AQF0nwaIL6JD_GK94lbTvHphHOmWwlUyt3TkeHLav-vXU_E https://www.instagram.com/batemanjames11/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-bateman-5359a811/ https://labradorlending.com/about/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-adversity-to-abundance/id1618672867 https://open.spotify.com/show/7JjGWsKVzzEI8UwXP9GONZ https://www.youtube.com/@FromAdversity2AbundancePodcast

All-American linebacker J Leman joins Illini Inquirer's Jeremy Werner to react to Illinois football's 45-19 win at Duke. Leman breaks down how the game was another sign of growth for Bret Bielema's program, how the defensive game plan and execution succeeded against a potent Duke offense, the key halftime offensive adjustments made by Illinois and some star performances. Leman then looks ahead to the nonconference finale against Western Michigan and discusses the rest of the Big Ten so far. Follow the Illini Inquirer Podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/3oMt0NP Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2Xan2L8  Other: https://bit.ly/36gn7Ct   Go VIP for just $1: http://bit.ly/3FUGfIj   To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the MTNTOUGH Podcast, host Dustin Diefenderfer sits down with Riley Gaines, a 12-time All-American swimmer and fearless advocate for fairness in women's athletics. Riley shares her journey from competing at the NCAA championships to becoming a leading voice in one of today's most intense cultural battles. She discusses her unshakable mindset, the pivotal moment that ignited her advocacy, and the spiritual strength that drives her mission. From her historic swim from Alcatraz while pregnant to her vision for her daughter's future, Riley's story is a powerful testament to courage, faith, and resilience.Join Dustin Diefenderfer, Founder of MTNTOUGH Fitness Lab and creator of the MTNTOUGH+ Fitness App in the top podcast for Mental Toughness and Mindset. (P.S.

Golf and UT football talk live from Dirty Martin's Place w/hosts Ed Clements & Scotty Sayers.  UT 3-time All American and former PGA champion Mark Brooks joins at the golfer's round table, along with Ben Clements from The End Zone Club as The Fifteenth Club begins Season 10.

On this episode of The Jon Gordon Podcast, I'm joined by Cornell lacrosse head coach and now national champion, Connor Buczek for an incredible conversation about legacy, leadership, and building a championship culture. If you want to know what it really takes to transform heartbreak into triumph after 48 long years without a title, this is the episode for you. We dive deep into the values that define Cornell lacrosse—toughness, togetherness, servant leadership and how the legendary George Boiardi, Coach Richie Moran, and others shaped a family-like culture that stands the test of time. Connor shares candid insights about stepping into the head coaching role at just 26, leading through failure, and the blueprint that brought a national championship to Ithaca. Listen in as we talk about never giving up, the power of belief, honoring the giants who came before, and what it's like to celebrate a once-in-a-generation win alongside teammates, alumni, and family. This is a conversation about more than lacrosse, it's about legacy, leadership, and lifting others up. If you want to get inspired by what's possible when people buy into something greater than themselves, don't miss this episode!   About Connor, Connor Buczek '15, a former All-American midfielder and Cornell lacrosse legend, has led the Big Red as the Richard M. Moran Head Coach since 2020. After guiding the team through the challenges of the pandemic, Buczek quickly established himself as one of the nation's top young coaches, taking Cornell to four straight NCAA tournaments, including a national runner-up finish in 2022 and the program's first national championship in 48 years in 2025. Under his leadership, the Big Red have captured multiple Ivy League titles, consistently ranked among the nation's top offenses, and developed elite players like Tewaaraton Award winner CJ Kirst. A three-time first-team All-Ivy honoree and 2014 Ivy League Player of the Year during his playing career, Buczek graduated as Cornell's top-scoring midfielder in history before going on to play professionally in Major League Lacrosse, the Premier Lacrosse League, and internationally for Team USA. His impact as both a coach and player reflects his commitment to excellence, leadership, and the storied tradition of Cornell lacrosse. A Cincinnati native, Buczek continues to shape the program's future while honoring its legacy. Here's a few additional resources for you… Follow me on Instagram: @JonGordon11 Order my new book 'The 7 Commitments of a Great Team' today! Every week, I send out a free Positive Tip newsletter via email. It's advice for your life, work and team. You can sign up now here and catch up on past newsletters. Join me for my Day of Development! You'll learn proven strategies to develop confidence, improve your leadership and build a connected and committed team. You'll leave with an action plan to supercharge your growth and results. It's time to Create your Positive Advantage. Get details and sign up here. Do you feel called to do more? Would you like to impact more people as a leader, writer, speaker, coach and trainer? Get Jon Gordon Certified if you want to be mentored by me and my team to teach my proven frameworks principles, and programs for businesses, sports, education, healthcare!

Morgan Evans is a biomechanical engineer, serial medtech entrepreneur, and angel investor. She shares her journey from aspirations of becoming a doctor, to working in mergers and acquisitions at Medtronic, to co-founding/founding six companies, including Agitated Solutions and Avio Medtech Consulting. Morgan discusses the importance of supporting startups in accelerating market entry, the challenges and opportunities with innovative medtech development, and the value of servant leadership.   Guest links: www.aviomedtech.com Charity supported: Polaris Project Interested in being a guest on the show or have feedback to share? Email us at theleadingdifference@velentium.com.  PRODUCTION CREDITS Host & Editor: Lindsey Dinneen Producer: Velentium   EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Episode 063 - Morgan Evans [00:00:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Hi, I'm Lindsey and I'm talking with MedTech industry leaders on how they change lives for a better world. [00:00:09] Diane Bouis: The inventions and technologies are fascinating and so are the people who work with them. [00:00:15] Frank Jaskulke: There was a period of time where I realized, fundamentally, my job was to go hang out with really smart people that are saving lives and then do work that would help them save more lives. [00:00:28] Diane Bouis: I got into the business to save lives and it is incredibly motivating to work with people who are in that same business, saving or improving lives. [00:00:38] Duane Mancini: What better industry than where I get to wake up every day and just save people's lives. [00:00:42] Lindsey Dinneen: These are extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, and this is The Leading Difference. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of The Leading Difference podcast. I'm your host, Lindsey, and today I'm excited to introduce you to my guest, Morgan Evans. Morgan is a serial medtech entrepreneur and investor, which means her passion is launching new businesses. She's a biomechanical engineer by training, went to business school and worked for Medtronic in corporate development before jumping fully into the world of startups. Over the past 10 years, she has founded or co-founded six companies: two medical device companies, two medtech accelerators, and two venture investing vehicles. She spends most of her time with Agitated Solutions, which is developing several innovations related to contrast and ultrasound, and Avio Medtech Consulting, which helps lower the barriers to entry for new ideas and new medtech companies. All right. Well thank you so much for joining us today, Morgan. I'm so excited to speak with you. [00:01:42] Morgan Evans: Thank you again for having me. Pleasure to be here. [00:01:45] Lindsey Dinneen: Of course. Well, I'd love if you wouldn't mind starting off by sharing just a little bit about yourself, your background, and maybe what led you to medtech. [00:01:53] Morgan Evans: Sure, of course. Originally from Houston, I went to school in the Bay Area and studied to be a biomechanical engineer. I originally thought that I was gonna be a doctor, and wanted to start in heart lung transplant of all things. Did an internship between my freshman and sophomore year and quickly learned two things. One is that I love people a bit too much to distance myself emotionally, so it would've really been a hard career for me, I think being on the front lines with that. But the second important thing I learned as well was there was a lot of technologies that existed in the medtech side of the world, just trying to buy people time and give options. And so I fell in love with medtech as a career relatively early. Started working for my first startup in the neuromodulation space before I even graduated undergrad, and loved that. Wore a ton of hats ranging from engineering, clinical commercial. I did some vertical line integrations in there and I started before we were even at 10 employees, left at 55. Thought it was massive 'cause we had middle management. Then toward the tail end of that, started studying to go to business school 'cause I realized I was getting further and further away from my engineering degree. And then I went to Kellogg at Northwestern and when I was there, co-founded my first startup with a clinician that had a great idea, didn't really know how to navigate the regulatory side of the world, and we co-founded that company together. And toward the tail end of that, was recruiting for formal kind of post-business school. Where am I gonna land? What am I gonna do? And decided to go to Medtronic and do mergers and acquisitions within the corporate development team. Did that for about two years. Loved it, learned a lot. The team was great. But big company was a huge change, especially as I just mentioned, you know, I thought 55 was large with middle management. And then you go to 90,000 at the time and deal teams of that. And kind of felt like my calling was going back to startups, so left in 2016 and have been innovating and building companies ever since. [00:03:53] Lindsey Dinneen: Wow. Okay. Well, thank you for sharing a little bit about your background and everything that's led you to where you are today. I really appreciate it, and so I am so intrigued. Okay, so you were on track in, in theory, initially to be a doctor and to go that route and then decided, "Okay, well, maybe this isn't for me," which is so great that you learned earlier rather than later, of course. But so as you were processing through making this transition into medtech and going, "Oh my goodness, there's actually a whole lot here." Were there any particular things that really stood out as being the most intriguing? Were you just kind of interested in the industry as a whole, or were there specific things where you thought, "Oh gosh, I really wanna learn about X, Y, and Z." [00:04:37] Morgan Evans: Yeah. Two things happened in relatively short order that I think landed me in my love, right? The first is, when I was doing this internship, they actually had some preclinical research going on in the basement of the hospital. And I, it's a long story, but I randomly ended up wandering into this place and figuring out it existed, and saw some of the early preclinical research happening live where they actually had a pig that they were trying to induce a heart attack in to then do a treatment for. And this pig actually coded in the middle of the procedure and they literally come out with paddles. And I'm just like, "This is the coolest thing in the world, this is actually how innovation is done and people learn." So that kind of, "Oh, cardiovascular sounds really interesting," was where I originally started. And then, at the time when I was at Stanford, I was playing on the basketball team as well, and I went to a event with some supporters of the program. And the person at my table was Chairman of the Board of a neuromodulation startup, autonomic technologies. And the one thing I at least love that I'm not afraid to ask questions. And so I just was like peppering him with like, "What is this? How does that work?" And that actually led to my first job. And it's kind of fortuitous that you're in the right place at the right time, but then just get exposure, and that was in pain and pain's a hard space. The type of treatment we were doing was treating condition that was known as a suicide headache. And so I think that was helpful to see the impact of the work we can do so early on. And then I, like I said, I've been hooked ever since. [00:06:05] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah, that's great. And those are great stories. I love the synchronicity and how those moments sometimes just play out perfectly and lead you to your next right step. So now you are in a position where you are advising startups, but you have lots of things going on. I feel like when I was looking at your LinkedIn, there were multiple different organizations you're a part of and participating in. So could you share just a little bit about all the wonderful things you're up to these days? [00:06:31] Morgan Evans: Yeah, for sure. So my day job, as I call it, but where I spend by far majority of my time is I am co-founder and CEO of a company called Agitated Solutions. And we say that we're unlocking the potential of diagnostic ultrasound. So we have multiple products that include a contrast agent that's revolutionary and that it has a temporary micro bubble, looking for holes or flaps known as a patent foramen ovale in the heart that's highly associated with cryptogenic stroke. So we have contrast side, and then we also have some software as a way to have better prediction of what our high risk shunts and what could cause stroke. That had a company spin out of it called Moonshot Medical that is more of a traditional incubator where we put all of the IP and ideas that weren't quite ready to be full-blown companies, but we knew there were some things there that I also technically lead. So those are the two that I'm CEO of. I founded a company called Avio, that I'm very passionate about, that is really focused on trying to help get these medical technologies to market faster. The work we do is on the backend of medtech, so quality systems, regulatory, R&D project management. But just in the theory that there's so much paperwork that is behind any innovation, like how do we get better at that paperwork so that we can keep innovators doing what they do best. And then we're just really that helping hand alongside. I joke, all of the things I'm involved in, this was my happy accident. I felt like I was building what I needed for my own startups. Literally no intent of anyone else ever seeing this or offering that as a service. And I just remember distinctly, I woke up one day shortly before my son was born and I was like, "Oh, I think there's actually a business here. Maybe I should run it like one." So that's another one. And then passionate about angel investing in early stage as well. When I fundraised for the first time, I was 29. I'm now 37. I get asked that a lot, although you're not supposed to ask a woman her age. When I fundraised for the first time, especially in these early stage rounds, no one looked like me, both in gender or age. And so I'm one of those believers, "Put your own money where your mouth is," even if they were baby checks to start, they were something. And that's been another area that I also spend some time. [00:08:48] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Wow. Okay. So you've got a lot going on to, put it mildly, which is fantastic. You mentioned something that really stood out to me. You're trying to help these startups bring their medical technology to market faster. And I'm curious, are there maybe one or two things that you see a lot of startup companies perhaps either accidentally overlook, or delay too long, or something like that, where, at the beginning, if they had done X, Y, and Z, they could have gotten their technology to market faster. [00:09:21] Morgan Evans: Yeah, a couple thoughts. One is I think people underestimate the amount of time that it takes to formally document all of the things that go into getting your device compliant and on the market. For example, I've had a client before that came to us that had a product that was working. He had tested it, he'd done all these things and it was a software, and ready to go, and submit to the FDA. And then you're like, "Well, we need user needs and product requirements, and your design schema," which, you know, there is a reason that these processes exist and I think they can make you have a better product at the end of it. But I think, you know, people assume, "Let's build the right product first and then worry how to document it." And then you forget sometimes why certain decisions were made or you know, is this actual requirement or was that done because it was an off the shelf thing? And so there is a lot of learning that I think can be lost by waiting. Now all that said, the other part of it would be that if people kind of shore up too fast, so you overbuild the team, you have a quality person, a regulatory person day one that feel like they need to be doing all of the things and justify their full-time job, then you end up documenting and revising. So there is some healthy balance and tension between the two. So it's not easy to get it perfect. But I would say those are the two areas that come to mind. [00:10:37] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I can see where the polar opposites could be challenging. So staying happily in the middle, working with an expert such as yourself, is a really wonderful way to go about that. You mentioned angel investing and being passionate about helping. It sounded like based on your own experience, you're very passionate about helping the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs in this space create the products and bring what they envision to market. As you've gone about this, and even as you learned for yourself how to fundraise, maybe feeling like, "Hey, nobody else looks like me, is my age," or whatever, what are some learning lessons that you've experienced that you would suggest for somebody who's maybe in a similar situation that you were in? [00:11:28] Morgan Evans: Yeah. Some of it is just to be a little bit fearless, I would say. There's a lot of people that have told me over the years, "Pick one. I don't understand how you do all these things." My least favorite question I've ever gotten is, "Do you ever see your kids?" Yeah. But people ask you that, you know? And I think it's easy to let other people tell you what you should be or what your product should look like or your path should be. And I think I have been fortunate to find some wonderful mentors that empowered me to be my own version. I didn't have an example of someone that had built the things in the way that I had built them or that had a couple of them at one time. But I also knew very confidently that I wasn't dropping a ball and I was doing the right thing by the companies I was building and supporting. And it was helpful to have the army behind me that just loved me for me and supported me in that, in developing it. And I think that next generation of entrepreneur, if you can find the same, that's willing to lean in just for you and there's no ulterior motive other than just to see you be successful, hold on with both hands and then pay it forward to the next one. [00:12:38] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yes. That's great advice and insight. So when you're thinking about your own career and the companies you're leading, what are some things that you're looking forward to in the future as you yourself continue to evolve and develop your own skill sets and whatnot, and also for your companies that you're leading? What are you excited about? [00:12:59] Morgan Evans: Yeah, I think for me, I'm excited about building that next generation of entrepreneur, which we've talked about a little bit. And how do I influence and build and develop those things without me being the one actively leading them? That's been a new learning that I'm continuing to kind of dabble in and grow personally, which is leading through the art of board work or questions or advising, which is different than leading a company by physically being the head of that company. And thinking about how to train and develop and give people enough of a leash to go and run and be them, but yet have that support system that you're still within their appropriate guardrails that-- I'm kind of mixing metaphors, but I think you get it. You know, it's an art, not a science, and one that I'm enjoying learning and growing and developing in this next phase too. [00:13:53] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Well, and speaking to that in general, so I'm sure you've had a mixture as most of us have had, of good experiences with leadership and poor experiences with leadership, and I'm curious how that has shaped your own leadership style now, especially as you're in this new phase of further developing your leadership skills to look a little different than perhaps they have in the past. But what do you draw from and what's your inspiration when you've developed your own leadership style? [00:14:23] Morgan Evans: Yeah. As I mentioned earlier, I've had a wonderful network of mentors that I think have really leaned in and and done it in the right way for the right reason. And I hope to emulate that myself, of being there to grow people and the technologies and the businesses that you're doing and giving them those chances to shine. As a leader, I believe very much in servant leadership. I never want someone to work a weekend that I'm not working as well. But then you kind of realize that isn't always feasible and can feel uncomfortable sometimes. And how I've evolved to give other people those opportunities, but recognize I'm not gonna be in the weeds enough to help them in the same way, it's a journey. I'd love to say I'm at the destination. I'm one of those, I love iterative improvement. I don't think I'm ever at a destination. But just really trying to lead through the art of question, for example, as opposed to coming with thoughts and opinions, has been a big one for me in the last couple months in particular. [00:15:20] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. So approaching with curiosity, it sounds like in an effort to understand and or provoke even perhaps that person taking additional ownership or responsibility in their own creative solutions to perhaps what they're coming up with. Are there particular questions you've found that are really helpful as you're shaping these conversations, helping people understand their next right step? [00:15:46] Morgan Evans: Yeah, I, it's funny because one of my mentors that's been coaching me on this is, she's kind of had that progression of learning to shift from, in the absence of leadership, lead, to leading someone else through that. I actually text her periodically and ask her for guidance of, "Hey, they came to me with... This is what I would normally say. How do I frame this in a question such that I'm giving them enough direction, but not leading the horse to water." So it the art of the question is in, in fact, itself an art. In general, I would think about asking something in the framework of, "Have you thought about the ramifications of?" or, " What is the key thing that we should focus on this week?" It's almost trying to pick out what I would focus as being the main thematic issue or next step, and giving them enough of a carrot that they can get there, but not quite telling them exactly how it should be done. [00:16:44] Lindsey Dinneen: Okay. Yeah. So in general those sort of probing questions that might suggest, "Hey, have you thought about X, Y, and Z? Or, what are your thoughts about X, Y, and Z related to this?" And letting them continue to take ownership and responsibility for that. That's really great. One thing I noticed, and I don't know if this is something you currently still do or not, but I was noticing on your LinkedIn that at least at one point you had a Medtech Startup CEO Bootcamp, which just sounds awesome and I would love, if you don't mind, sharing a little bit more about that and what that looks like. [00:17:17] Morgan Evans: Well, the good news is we are doing it, we're doing another one, I think in June. I'm happy to say I don't know the exact date 'cause that means I'm not in it enough to know exactly the dates. So in the spirit of me trying to take myself up a level -- success. But no, it's interesting because I had worked in medtech for five years before business school, went and got a traditional, you know, learning in all things business, right? Graduated, went to Medtronic, did M&A, and then came and did my first startup. And I remember day one it was like, "Do I form an LLC or C corp?" No one had taught me that. And it's funny because, now you can understand the nuance of the question, but I can't imagine how much money I spent on the first attorney. And yes, there's pass through income, but you know, is that appropriate for investors for me to take a disproportionate loss or there's 1202 tax code and all these other nuance. So I started realizing that a lot of just taking the first step where things that you have to learn on your own or find a really awesome board member, advisor, et cetera, to lean in and help you too. Other examples would be, you know, "How much stock options do you normally give your board?" Or, " Should I do a convertible note or a safe? What is a quality system," right? I knew entrepreneurs that had no idea what those things were. So the thought was, "How do I give enough detail to these other entrepreneurs, so where they at least feel that they can ask the right question?" Because to think that I can teach someone the nuance of verification, of validation strategy in an hour or four, versus someone that has done nothing but R&D for 15 years, right? That's not gonna happen. But if you could teach them enough to then say, "Hey, my CTO or contract design partner, should we dry run this test first? Or what test should we dry run?" Right? If we can give those people just enough there to phone a friend, that was the goal of the program. So just giving people that lay of the land and enough of a roadmap. And a lot of this too, like we literally have an acronym sheet because medtech is full of acronyms, and it's funny that like our acronyms can mean something completely different in other people's spaces. And so just even learning the lingo day one, like what's an SOP or CMO or CDO? [00:19:40] Lindsey Dinneen: That's incredible. I love that. That's so great that you have a cheat sheet because I remember that being such a learning curve when I first got into the industry of, " You just said an entire paragraph worth of acronyms and I would love to understand what you're talking about, but I don't yet." so learning how to decipher all of that was great. I'm thankful for it, but yeah, that's wonderful. A cheat sheet sounds fantastic. You know, it's interesting 'cause you mentioned, with this bootcamp, first of all, I'd love that you offer that. What a fantastic offering for anyone in that position who's just needing that support and that extra guidance, and having something that's so specific to the industry is great. Do we just go to your website for details if anyone's interested in that? [00:20:24] Morgan Evans: Yeah, it would be on the aviomedtech.com website. And then I believe there's a tab that is regard to the bootcamp. And yeah, like I said, it's all the stuff that I wish I would have learned or I learned. It took me way too much time and money, that I just want people to know where the landmines are that I had to step on. And if we can just accelerate that learning and that s-curve for the next entrepreneur, we can get these products to market a lot faster. [00:20:50] Lindsey Dinneen: Yes. I love that you offer that. You've gotten to have an amazing career where you've been diving into the industry itself and working for other people, and then of course being a leader in your own companies now as well. I'm wondering if there are any stories that stand out to you as really just affirming, "You know, I really am in the right place at the right time in the right industry"? [00:21:12] Morgan Evans: Yeah, it's funny. I don't get to reflect on this very often, but I co-founded Agitated Solutions and I founded Avio within one week of each other. I didn't know, again, that I was building what I was building on Avio's side. But what's been so much fun is that as I build and grow this awesome company, that's being an entrepreneur myself, being able to take learnings where I see them and try to pull them thematically into Avio so that you kind of have that flywheel effect. So I'm learning that I enjoy both operating within these technology companies, but also trying to figure out what of the system, or the process, doesn't make sense. Like I know other people might do it this way, but why? And, being able to innovate on the system and the output at the same time has been super fulfilling for me. And like I said, it's kind of a little bit of coincidence that it was within one week of each other, but that's part of where I've learned for myself that I don't think I'm fulfilled by just being in one company or one thing fully, and in fact, me being in something else is part of what makes me better at the other thing. So I feel really fortunate to have found that and to know where my passion lies. [00:22:41] Lindsey Dinneen: Yes. That's very cool. And definitely a gift. And you know how things sort of translate into each other-- I was thinking about this earlier because-- I noticed, and you also mentioned that basketball was, and is as my understanding, a core part of your life. And so you've been both a player, you've been a coach. How has basketball played a role in either life lessons, life skills that you've drawn from it, and or how does it just incorporate into your life? [00:23:11] Morgan Evans: You know, it's actually a really fitting question. So first of all, as an athlete, it taught me I cannot stand to be the weakest link on a team. And when you think about that servant leadership, or that hustle or that grit, I was tall, but I was not the most naturally gifted athlete. And so a lot of where I excelled in basketball was on fundamentals, just solid, putting in the time and doing it. And then I got to the point in my career where I could not outwork other people. I could put all the time in the world in there and I was not going-- like I played behind All American Centers when I was at Stanford, and everybody was an All American coming in to play basketball. And it was a good evolution for me to learn a little bit of "How else can I then play a role if I'm not the most gifted athlete?" and to recognize that a team can function well with all those pieces regardless, right? So I don't need to be the leading score to still have an impact on the team was kind of a good mental awareness of how talent gets pulled together to make effective teams. The other thing on the coaching side, so I actually had career ending surgeries between my junior and senior year. And basketball was, and still is, a big love of my life. And to then have my playing days over unexpectedly was a big transition, and I got to see basketball from the sidelines my senior year. And my job then was to make the other players more effective, to study scouting report, to teach, to try to do what I could to get the team ready, knowing I would never step foot on the court. And if you think about some of the parallels we've already just talked about, which is leading through the art of question or being able to lead and guide, but not being able to be out there, running around with everybody else in and of, in itself is a very similar transition to what I'm going through and continue to go through. I coach young women. I did except for this last year. It's been hard with two kiddos, in particular on my husband, especially, you know, we would do travel tournaments and things like that. But coaching young women too, and realizing it's the end result, but it's also wanting them to be good people and life lessons and skills through it. And how do you have them help respond in adversity? All of that, I think, makes me a better leader, and there's a lot of parallels to the working place, for sure. [00:25:35] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah, that's wonderful. And having a gift like that, even when it looks different and morphs over time, I love that you've been able to draw from it such inspiration and application to other areas of life. I think that's really special. Such a cool aspect of being an athlete. So yeah, thank you for sharing about that. [00:25:51] Morgan Evans: Of course. [00:25:53] Lindsey Dinneen: So, pivoting the conversation a little bit just for fun. Imagine that you are to be offered a million dollars to teach a masterclass on anything you want-- could be within your industry, doesn't have to be-- what would you choose to teach? [00:26:07] Morgan Evans: I would teach something on scrappiness. From my experience, I think there's a lot of people that would know the industry really well, but the how to get things done atypically for less money faster. And that's some of the thematic elements that I hope I'm-- not for a million dollars-- but, you know, starting to teach in our bootcamp. Some of the belief that I think sometimes you get these companies in medtech in particular that are kind of overbuilt, too much too soon. And now they have a really high burn rate and everybody has to leave, essentially a unicorn exit or bust. And how can you burn down and mitigate risk with little dollars and making sure you're spending your dollars in the right places early on? I continue to learn from others in that too, I should mention, but I think it's an area with a lot of impact. [00:26:59] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. And so relevant and helpful for startups that have no choice but to be scrappy and learn how to be creative on a dime. I think that's fantastic. Great. And then how do you wish to be remembered after you leave this world? [00:27:16] Morgan Evans: Yeah. I hope it's something to do with innovating on technologies that improve and help patients, but also innovating with people and process, that hopefully on all of this, that we're leaving the world a little better than we found it. [00:27:33] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And then final question, what is one thing that makes you smile every time you see or think about it? [00:27:42] Morgan Evans: Definitely my family. I have two kiddos, Marley and Mason. So my daughter's three months, my son is three. And then my husband Matt. It's hard to do all the things that I do without having an amazing support system. And, you know, you can have the hardest, most stressful day and you come home and my son's like, "Do you wanna play with me?" Or, "Let's play hide and seek" or something. And it's just funny how instantly all that stress kind of melts away. Very grateful for my family. [00:28:10] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, family is such a gift. Wonderful. Well, this has been such a great conversation, Morgan. I really appreciate you spending some time with us today, and thank you for sharing about your life and your story and your advice. I am excited to see how you could just continue to grow and thrive. I love the fact that you are just a total boss with all the things that you're doing. So thank you for contributing your gifts to the world, and gosh, I just wish you the most continued success as you work to change lives for a better world. [00:28:42] Morgan Evans: Thank you again for having me. I appreciate you. [00:28:45] Lindsey Dinneen: Of course, and we are so honored to be making a donation on your behalf as a thank you for your time today to the Polaris Project, which is a non governmental organization that works to combat and prevent sex and labor trafficking in North America. So thank you for choosing that organization to support. Thank you also to our listeners for tuning in, and if you're feeling as inspired as I am right now, I'd love it if you'd share this with a colleague or two, and we'll catch you next time. [00:29:16] Ben Trombold: The Leading Difference is brought to you by Velentium. Velentium is a full-service CDMO with 100% in-house capability to design, develop, and manufacture medical devices from class two wearables to class three active implantable medical devices. Velentium specializes in active implantables, leads, programmers, and accessories across a wide range of indications, such as neuromodulation, deep brain stimulation, cardiac management, and diabetes management. Velentium's core competencies include electrical, firmware, and mechanical design, mobile apps, embedded cybersecurity, human factors and usability, automated test systems, systems engineering, and contract manufacturing. Velentium works with clients worldwide, from startups seeking funding to established Fortune 100 companies. Visit velentium.com to explore your next step in medical device development.

When Sean Brosnan arrived at Newbury Park High School in 2016, their cross country team hadn't so much as qualified for a California state championship in twenty-five years. Brosnan himself had never coached high schoolers, though he was no stranger to the sport. A collegiate All-American, he had spent years trying to chase his ambitions of becoming a professional runner, along the way learning from some of the most successful coaches in the country.From day one at Newbury Park, Sean made a promise: "Give me your total commitment and I'll give you a state championship in four years."Brosnan's runners ended up:Taking an unprecedented three consecutive national championships,smashing records,winning Division I scholarships, and ultimately representing their country in the Olympics.Today Sean is on the show to share more of his incredible story,And some of the key insights he's gained about unlocking human potential,None of which may be more important than his steadfast belief that:The only limits that matter are the ones you set for yourself.For more on Sean you can follow him on IG and X @realseanbrosnanand for the full story of his high school cross country team that went from obscurity to becoming the fastest squad the country, and perhaps the world, has ever seen check out his inspiring new book: Beyond Fast: How a Renegade Coach and His Unlikely High School Team Revolutionized Distance Running.Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations we think you'll love:On Finding Peace and Confidence Under Pressure | Jim MurphyLimitless Mind: Learn, Live, & Lead Without Barriers | Jo BoalerEnjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts! Thanks for listening!Support the show

In this first part of my conversation with Krishna Lee, I reflect on what it means to see one of my former athletes grow, evolve, and accomplish so much. Krishna shares her journey from growing up in Kansas City, where sports were woven into her family life, to becoming a multi-time All American and Big 12 champion at Mizzou. She talks about the impact of her coaches, especially how they invested in her as a person, not just as an athlete. That influence shaped her into someone who competed at the highest levels, earned a spot in the Mizzou Hall of Fame, and even reached the Olympic Trials. We also dive into the challenges that come when competition ends and identity shifts. Krishna speaks honestly about those moments of transition and how coaching gave her a new way to stay connected to the game. Whether she was working with young athletes in karate and swimming or returning to Mizzou to coach throwers, she found purpose in helping others succeed. Her move into athletic administration and Parks and Recreation continued that mission, showing her commitment to building environments where athletes could grow without burning out. This part of the conversation highlights the resilience it takes to keep moving forward when one chapter closes and another begins.

What's going on guys?! Today we got a new kid in town! Tyler Dow was a multiple time high school freestyle and greco roman All-American, and graduated HS ranked number 7 in the county by Flowrestling. Tyler went on to compete for the University of Wisconsin, and most recently has taken a big role in Loras Wrestling.Great sit down with Tyler, hope you all enjoy it!!

Hall of Fame inductee, Bill Johnson, accumulated eleven state championships while coaching at Norton. Prior to his coaching career, he was a four-time All-American and 1987 NAIA national champion for Ft. Hays State.

All-American linebacker J Leman joins Illini Inquirer's Jeremy Werner to react to Illinois football's win over Western Illinois. Leman breaks down what stood out about the Illini offense and defense and which players caught his eye. He then previews the Illini's trip to Duke and discusses how Illinois can contain QB Darian Mensah and approach Manny Diaz's attacking defense. Follow the Illini Inquirer Podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/3oMt0NP Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2Xan2L8  Other: https://bit.ly/36gn7Ct   Go VIP for just $1: http://bit.ly/3FUGfIj   To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Honored to sit down with Rob Morris on my Beliefcast!   Rob is a former NFL linebacker, Super Bowl Champion, and true resilience explorer. His journey through triumph, adversity, and transformation is nothing short of inspiring.   From being a first-round draft pick for the Indianapolis Colts, starting in Super Bowl XLI, and earning the Ed Block Courage Award… to his standout years at BYU as an All-American and Conference Defensive Player of the Year.  Rob's story is packed with grit, resilience, and greatness.   Today, he channels that same drive into helping others rise. With over a decade of experience in wellness, mental health, and corporate culture, Rob delivers powerful keynotes and workshops that blend performance principles with emotional resilience. He's also a proud father, world traveler, and lifelong learner who embodies growth and adventure.   This conversation is filled with wisdom, heart, and lessons we all need to hear.   … #Beliefcast #ToddInspires #Resilience #SuperBowlChampion #MentalHealth #NFL #Leadership #OvercomeAdversity #Recovered#toddinspires   …. Follow Rob's journey: Web: www.robmorriscoaching.com Instagram:  @robmorris2.0 Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/rob.morris.752487 LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-morris-89016017/   ….. Special thanks to our Sponsor's:  Craig Swapp & Associates @craigswappandassociates Wasatch Recovery @wasatchrecovery Minky Couture @minkycouture Morii Nutrition @moriinutrition Music by Paul Cardall @paulcardall

En este episodio de La Resaca, traido a ustedes por Los Come Banco, hablamos de los siguientes temas:La Melaza: Michael Porter Jr. dijo que el All American de McDonalds le gana sin problemas a la seleccion nacional femenina de baloncesto de USA, Dana White dice que hay cocoteo en La Casa Blanca y se acerca la agencia libre del BSNEl Desmenuce: El Dream Team BoricuaEl Antiácido: Maximos ganadores del opening week en el NFLRecuerden que nos pueden seguir en: Youtube: Los Come Banco - YouTubeFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/loscomebancoInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/loscomebanco/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@loscomebancosApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/los-come-banco/id1510229034 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Ak1aK4W7VzJq3OwbjGmL6

Thaddeus Lowe is not buried at Laurel Hill, but has many connections there. He was an balloon aeronaut during the Civil War, thus father of the United States Air Force.  Grover Cleveland Bergdoll's family is in a huge mausoleum at Laurel Hill West. An early student of the Wright brothers, he became a poster child for privilege when he dodged the draft during the Great War. Hobey Baker's athletic gifts made him a natural pilot, but he crashed and died on the day he was scheduled to return stateside. Benjamin Lee II eagerly awaited his opportunity for a dogfight, but he was killed during a training accident. Holger "Hold Your Horses" Hoiriis was a Danish American flyer who made history when he flew across the Atlantic with a paying customer. Jacques Louis Francine was an All-American boy who used his flying skills to explore wilderness regions of northern Canada. His wartime service was very impressive. Edgar Loftus was commanding officer at a European Air Base in the final days of the war when Hitler's Iron Eagle made a surprise landing at his base, but then perversely refused to surrender.  Fold up your tray table, fasten your seatbelt, and get ready as we take off into the world of pilots at Laurel Hill. 

Recruited by Longwood to play field hockey, Julie Dayton picked up lacrosse from her college coach. With her speed and athleticism, she developed into a two-time All-American and a member of the US National Team.  After assisting Jane Miller in both sports at Virginia, she led the Virginia and Dartmouth Field Hockey teams.  This episode is part one of a two-part series. 

As Notre Dame kicks off the 2025 College Football season, pressures to get back to National Championship swirl as well as the talk of being a Heisman hopeful. Star running back Jeremiyah Love captivated college football fans last season with his explosive play and dynamic speeds, this year he has a little more noise around his play. All-American preseason accolades and Heisman hopeful talk, but Love isn't worried about the expectations others have put on him, he's focused on elevating his team and being better on and off the field than he was last year. He holds onto the pain of coming up short in the championship and is finding ways to use that pain as a lesson in all he and his team does this year.Tap in for this conversation with the Fighting Irish captain as top 10 ranked Notre Dame is battle tested and ready to for what's ahead. Pivot Family! hit the button to SUBSCRIBE HERE: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUnxiP7q4RDDyeioZFZLnXA?sub_confirmation=1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Auburn Tigers ran over the Baylor Bears, with quarterback Jackson Arnold leading the way with 137 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. The offensive line, led by All-American candidate Connor Lew, did a tremendous job of pushing the Bears off the line of scrimmage. Baylor's defense definitely has problems, and that's a reason Dave Aranda is likely to end up being on the chopping block until further notice. The offense is great but Aranda is supposed to be a defensive specialist. Finally, Nebraska gave up 202 yards rushing to Cincinnati. Yes, Cincinnati. Not good, not good at all! @fbscout_florida On X @LO_ThePortal TikTok @lockedontheportalSupport us by supporting our sponsors!Rugiet150,000 men have made the switch →https://Rugiet.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE Use code LOCKEDONNFL to get 15% off your order!DripDropRight now, DripDrop is offering Locked On listeners 20% off your first order. Just head to https://dripdrop.com and use promo code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE. Stock up now before the heat hits hard. PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONMLB to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.PrizePicks — Run Your Game.Click Link Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONCOLLEGEOpenPhoneStreamline and scale your customer communications with OpenPhone. Get 20% off your first 6 months at www.openphone.com/lockedonmlbGametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Post-Gazette Pitt insiders Stephen Thompson and Abby Schnable react to the Panthers' 61-9 season-opening win over crosstown rival Duquesne. What can we learn about Pat Narduzzi's team after a blowout win over an inferior opponent? Is Eli Holstein back to his best after starting last season hot and petering off at the end because of injuries? Is Desmond Reid already staking his claim to another All-American season? Will the special teams give the Panthers a boost this season after Reid's punt return TD and Kenny Johnson's long kick return? And what can the defense led by Kyle Louis take from this contest into games against more challenging opponents in the ACC? Our duo answers those questions and more.

pWotD Episode 3041: Micah Parsons Welcome to popular Wiki of the Day, spotlighting Wikipedia's most visited pages, giving you a peek into what the world is curious about today.With 198,027 views on Friday, 29 August 2025 our article of the day is Micah Parsons.Micah Aaron Parsons (born May 26, 1999) is an American professional football defensive end for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). Parsons played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, where he earned consensus All-American honors and was named Big Ten Linebacker of the Year as a sophomore in 2019. Selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft, Parsons was named Defensive Rookie of the Year and earned four Pro Bowl and three All-Pro selections during his four seasons with the team. After a contract holdout, he was traded to the Packers in 2025 and signed a four-year, $188 million deal, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 02:16 UTC on Saturday, 30 August 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Micah Parsons on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Emma.

FOX Sports lead CFB analyst Joel Klatt is LIVE from Columbus, Ohio, ahead of the Big Noon Saturday matchup between Texas and Ohio State. Joel welcomes All-American girl Jenny Taft to the show to talk about life as a sideline reporter and share her thoughts on Arch Manning's 2025 season debut. Klatt is also joined by former Buckeye legends TreVeyon Henderson, Lathan Ransom, and Cardale Jones as they reflect on their favorite memories at Ohio State. Chapters 0:00-4:01 Intro4:02-24:50 Jenny Taft joins the show!24:51-33:45 Questions from the audience33:46-56:10 Cardale Jones joins the show!56:11-1:22:39 Lathan Ransom and TreVeyon Henderson join the show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Send us a textFormer University of Oregon head wrestling coach Chuck Kearney shares his journey from the heartbreak of a cut program to building a player-led, athlete-owned wrestling culture at St. Mary's University in Leavenworth, Kansas.In this episode, Coach Kearney dives into: • How losing Oregon wrestling reshaped his coaching philosophy • Lessons from his own wrestling days at Oklahoma State • Shifting from a win-based, transactional program to an athlete-centered, transformational experience • Why accountability, ownership, and leadership drive long-term athlete successIf you're a coach, athlete, or parent looking to understand how wrestling—and sports in general—can transform young athletes into leaders, this is a must-listen.Coach Kearney is starting his 7th year as the Head Wrestling Coach for St. Mary's University in Leavenworth Kansas. Prior to that Coach Kearney was the Head Wrestling Coach for the University of Oregon from 1998-2008 along with being the Director of Athletic Alumni Development. Kearney has ABachelor's Degree from the University of Oregon inRecreation Administration and Management. Kearney also attended Oklahoma State University where he competed with some of the greatest athletes in the wrestling world and was an All-American for the Cowboys. In 2020 Kearney was named the KCAC Conference Coach of the Year leading St. Mary's to a Conference Championship. In 2024 CoachKearney repeated the honor of being selected KCAC Coach of the Year and the Spires were the 2025 Conference Champions. In his tenure with St. Mary's Kearney has had 3 Wrestlers of the Year with the last 2 in a row. They have also produced 36 NWCA Academic All-Americans, 8 NAIA All-Americans, 2 NAIA Finalists and, 1 NAIA National Champion.Coach Kearney currently ranks 4th in dual meet victories amongst active NAIA Coaches.

In this episode of Is That Cashmere, we sit down with Bree Schlereth — Pac-12 All-American gymnast, wife of a former MLB player , cancer survivor, mother of three, and survivor of one of the most high-profile abuse cases in sports history. Bree shares her incredible journey of resilience, from battling cancer and supporting a child with a congenital heart condition, to finding her voice as a Larry Nassar survivor and receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.Through moments of darkness, Bree discovered the power of light — literally and figuratively — and now uses her story to bring hope, healing, and empowerment to others. She opens up about her childhood in gymnastics, the pressure and pain of silence, the moment cancer took her voice, and how she now chooses to use that voice as a beacon for others.If you've ever wondered how to rise above circumstances that threaten to break you, Bree's story will remind you: hardship doesn't define us — it refines us.

I began the episode with talking about the topic of David Potnouy is not being allowed inside B1G stadiums, even though he is working for B1G NOON kick off. I ha e my thoughts on the matter. My guest is 5 times All American former Gopher Track star Goaner Deng. He has quite the story to tell about his life from South Sudan to the U.S., to MN to the U. of MN track team and major success on and off the track. We discuss his first days in the U.S. and his first days in Minnesota. How coped with the change in life style. We chatted about falling in love with the sport of Track and how he landed on the Gopher Track team. Once on the team how it added structure to his life and the people who played a part n his success at the U. of MN. We talked about about today's college sports landscape and would want to be a part of it. We finished with what's new in his life and what the future hold for him.  I finished the program with gloating over the fact that a certain football conference change their minds and why they did so. Title Sponsor: minnesotapersonalinjury.com Sponsor: Linkzart.com   #GOANERDENG, #GOPHERSPORTS, #COLLEGESPORTS, #ALLAMERICAN, #GOPHERTRACK&FIELD, #SEC,

On the final episode of the SeventySix Capital Sports Leadership Show - College Sports Edition, Wayne Kimmel and Co-Host Ken Shropshire interviewed College Football Analyst & Broadcaster, Adam Breneman. Breneman is a co-founder of Mercury: The College Sports Co., a venture-backed sports media company that is changing the way fans interact with their favorite teams and players. Breneman is also a college football analyst and broadcaster for ESPN, Big Ten Network and CBS.He hosts the Next Up Podcast with Adam Breneman, where he interviews prominent figures and experts on topics related to college football. He also founded the Blue Chip Journal, a weekly newsletter with over 15,000 subscribers that delivers his opinion and news on all things college football, NIL, and recruiting. He is a recognized leader and authority on NIL in national media.During his playing career, Breneman was a 5-star recruit and the No. 1 ranked tight end in the nation. He began his college career at Penn State where he earned Freshman All- American honors and still holds the record for longest touchdown by a tight end in PSU history. After facing injuries, Breneman transferred to UMass, where he became a 2x All-American, led the nation in receptions by a tight end, and a 2x John Mackey Award Semi-finalist. From 2020-2021, Breneman was the tight ends coach at Arizona State University under the legendary coach and media personality Herm Edwards.While at ASU, Breneman was regarded as one of the best recruiters in college football, and was named to 247Sports.com's 30 Under 30 list. He was the youngest position coach in Power 5 football.Adam Breneman:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adambreneman/X: https://x.com/AdamBreneman81Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adambreneman/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adambreneman81Chapters00:00 The Evolution of College Sports02:58 Navigating NIL and the Transfer Portal06:03 Coaching Challenges in the New Landscape08:58 The Role of Transparency in College Athletics11:40 Insights from Head Coaches14:58 The Impact of NIL on Team Dynamics17:48 Broadcasting in the Age of NIL and Sports Betting20:39 The Changing Landscape of College Athletics23:41 The Reality of Student-Athlete Life26:34 Building a Support Team for Young Athletes29:49 The Need for Leadership in College Sports

Talent comes at a young age — whether you're playing or coaching. As someone in her mid-twenties, Katie Oleksak has quickly rose in the world of volleyball.This NCAA Woman of the Year nominee broke the career assist record (5,083) at Colorado State University, and earned All-American honors each of her four seasons. After graduating, Katie wasted no time going pro and competing in Switzerland. She took a chance during the pandemic From there, Katie made the transition from the court to the clipboard, becoming the Director of Volleyball Operations at University of San Diego. Katie also serves as the community engagement leader for the Dig Pink organization. Hear her philosophy on taking chances in life, even when you're worried of the outcomes.Links mentioned: For more information go to www.side-out.org. Follow the side-out organization on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sideoutfndn/Have suggestions for the podcast? Email Janice: leaveitbetter@side-out.org

David Butler's life is a classic reboot story, from the courts of NBA Basketball to Wall Street Titan and co-CEO of Dimensional Fund Advisors. A powerhouse in the boardroom and on the court, David's career has been anything but conventional. A Rhodes Scholar candidate and Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor inductee, he was an All-American at UC Berkeley and drafted to the Boston Celtics. When his NBA career was sidelined by a strike and injury—David was faced with a serendipitous moment in his life that many would have missed—and pivoted with purpose, launching a remarkable Reboot journey shaped by discipline and a vision.A powerful force on the court, David has Rebooted Dimensional into a $850B powerhouse to become a leading global financial services group. Long before the me-too AI train, instead of chasing hot stock tips, they redefined the financial advice model with a systematic, research-based investment approaches that have outperformed their competitors. Listen in as we unpack David's remarkable personal journey and how a former pro baller became a Wall Street Trailblazer.

On Wednesday's, August 20, Daily Puck Drop, Puck and Jim Moore open the show discussing last night's Mariners game and how electric the crowd was and Puck busts Jim's ball for another lost bet on Cal Raleigh!   The boys also touch in on the Seahawks cutdown day and betting predictions Puck turns back to baseball to catch up with his MLB Insider Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times and they discuss Tuesday's Padres game and how much it was a playoff atmosphere in T-Mobile.  They also chat about Dan Wilson's use of the bullpen, the struggles of Luis Castillo, Victor Robles suspension, Josh Naylor extension talk and Cal Raleigh's historic season.Cougar football is back! Puck, Jim and Paul Sorensen, former All-American safety at WSU are back with the Old Crimson Podcast talking all things Cougs!  On the first show of the new season they yell, scream and talk over one another. They are in mid-season form!  They discuss the expectations for Jimmy Rogers, the new look offense, new look faces, the QB battle, the non-flattering home schedule and season predictions! Puck heads back to baseball and welcomes Adam Jacobsen, the founder of GrandSalamiTime.com, a brand new Mariners website dedicated to the analytics of his favorite baseball team.  How many home runs would Cal hit if he were playing in New York? What are his home run projections for the rest of the season?  How many wins are the Mariners expected to finish with? And, why signing Josh Naylor should be a priority for the M's.  Adam discusses all these topics with Puck and be sure to visit GrandSalamiTime.com Lastly, Puck wraps up the show with, “Hey, What the Puck!?” Big thank you to our PuckSports audience (1:00) Puck and Jim  (31:40) Ryan Divish (50:30) Old Crimson Podcast(1:37:10) Adam Jacobsen, GrandSalamiTime.com (1:54:32 ) “Hey, What the Puck!” 

What's goin on guys?! We are joined by Jimmy Gotto, former 2x state medalist for the Western Dubuque Bobcats, after his time at WD, Jimmy went on to Coe College where Jimmy was a 2x All American and National Runner Up for the Kohawks.Jimmy is currently the head assistant coach at Coe, and resides in Cedar Rapids with his wife Sam and three children!Sit back and lets Weigh in with Worm!

Former Oregon State wide receiver Mike Haas, a three-time All-American and College Football Hall of Fame inductee, joins 365 Sports to reflect on his journey from walk-on to one of the Beavers' all-time greats. Haas discusses Oregon State's resilience as the Pac-12 rebuilds, his expectations for the program under head coach Trent Bray, and his own experience overcoming challenges to earn a scholarship and succeed at the next level. He also shares life lessons from his NFL career, his current work in civil engineering and asphalt reinforcement, and his passion for supporting Oregon State football. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Final Surge: https://www.finalsurge.com (RUNNINGEFFECT20)From Division III runner to one of the most respected coaches in the NCAA, Sean Carlson has never stopped leveling up.Heading into his second season as Director of Cross Country & Track and Field at the University of Colorado, his journey is a story of persistence, vision, and transformation. From his days as a Division III All-American at North Central College, he climbed the coaching ladder at Notre Dame, where he built a powerhouse: guiding Yared Nuguse to an NCAA title and record, leading a men's team to a runner-up finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, and capturing a DMR national championship (2019 indoor) along the way.In 2022, Sean brought that same energy to Tennessee, where he led Dylan Jacobs to an NCAA 5,000m title and took the women's team back to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2006 — finishing an incredible sixth place in the nation.And now, as of 2024, he's at the helm of one of the sport's most storied programs in Boulder. In just his first year, he'salready making an impact–with Colorado athletes setting school records, earning All-American honors, and bringing fresh momentum to a program with legendary tradition.We're looking into Sean's philosophy of athlete empowerment and culture-building, the challenges of navigating today'sNCAA landscape, and what excites him most as Colorado heads into his second cross-country season under his leadership. In today's conversation, Coach Sean Carlson takes me through his principles of success and winning, rebuilding programs, how to coach champions, his thoughts on the new NCAA, and how all of the recent changes will affect the sport, and so much more. This one is PACKED with value. Don't miss it. Tap into the Coach Sean Carlson Special.  If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it. Comment the word “PODCAST” below and I'll DM you a link to listen. If this episode blesses you, please share it with a friend!S H O W  N O T E S-The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs-BUY MERCH BEFORE IT'S GONE: https://shop.therunningeffect.run-Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run -THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ-My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠-Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz

It's game week! The Ohio State Buckeyes will renew acquaintances with the Texas Longhorns Saturday at Ohio Stadium at noon. It's a brand new OSU football season and there is a lot going on, a lot we don't know (yet), and a lot of the kinds of ups and downs that are part of every year of college football. We can't wait to get it started, but we know that it will come and go before we know it.This week's show opens with a discussion of Ryan Day naming Julian Sayin starting quarterback for the Buckeyes ahead of the season. The race with Lincoln Kienholz was reportedly close, and both signal callers will need to continue to improve and develop, because one will need to keep his lead, while the other will try to close the gap and stay ready in case he's needed.We discussed the three Ohio State players who made the Associated Press preseason All-American list and the Buckeyes who had their black helmet stripes removed since our last show, becoming “official” members of the squad. Ahead of Big Ten teams starting to take the field Thursday night, we looked ahead to every school's Week 1 matchup to see how the rest of the conference will start the season. As usual, the first week doesn't provide many intriguing games, but there are a couple of interesting contests to keep an eye out this weekend — just none with the luster of Texas at Ohio State.Finally, we looked at the Buckeyes vs. the Longhorns. Ohio State went on to win a national championship one game after the teams last met, but Texas has had this rematch circled on the calendar for months. Both teams have experienced a ton of turnover, and we can't wait to see how they match up with so many new starters on both sides. We made our picks to click for Week 1, selecting the offensive and defensive Buckeyes we think will shine on Saturday, and we made our predictions for the final score.We would love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or ⁠send us an email⁠ at SilverBulletsPod@gmail.com Any questions directed toward us will be answered on our next show.Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at ⁠@SilvrBulletsPod⁠.As always, thanks for listening!0:21 - Julian Sayin has won the starting quarterback battle, but can he keep it? Plus, other news and notes from preseason camp.17:48 - A look at the first week of the 2025 season around the entire Big Ten.34:30 - The Texas Longhorns are visiting the Horseshoe on Saturday, and this game will tell us a lot about where both teams are now and where they need to be.

All-American linebacker J Leman joins Illini Inquirer's Jeremy Werner to kick off the 2025 Illinois football season. Leman discusses what he wants to see from Illinois in Friday's opener against Western Illinois and then breaks down each position group on the team and the next steps for offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. and defensive coordinator Aaron Henry. Follow the Illini Inquirer Podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/3oMt0NP Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2Xan2L8  Other: https://bit.ly/36gn7Ct   Go VIP for just $1: http://bit.ly/3FUGfIj   ***** Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with @shop.mando and get 20% off + free shipping with promo code ILLINI at shopmando.com! #mandopod Eat smart at FactorMeals.com/illini50off and use code illini50off to get 50 percent off plus FREE shipping on your first box. Get delicious, ready-to-eat meals delivered—with Factor. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Texas visits Ohio State in an almost-unheard-of matchup between the preseason No. 1 team and the previous year's defending national champion. The game can be seen Saturday at 11 Central on Fox. Jay Greeson, Chris Lee and Chase Robinson preview the game, with topics including: Ohio State has announced Julian Sayin as its starting quarterback. He'll be throwing to perhaps the country's best player in wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. Texas, of course, will give Arch Manning the long-awaited reins to coach Steve Sarkisian's offense. The Longhorns were inconsistent running the ball in 2024, but get back their post talented running back in CJ Baxter, who missed all of 2024 with injury. Texas replaces most of its offensive line and lost a potential starter in fall camp. Ohio State's got safety Caleb Downs anchoring a loaded defense. How much will the Buckeyes trust Sayin to throw against a front seven that features four All-American candidates in defensive lineman Colin Simmons, linebacker Anthony Hill, safety Michael Taafe and cornerback Malik Muhammad. FanDuel has Ohio State as a 2 1/2-point favorite with a 47.5-point over-under as of Monday. *GAMETIME SIDEKICKS* Use promo code SE16 for 20% off! http://www.gametimesidekicks.com/ ROKFORM Use promo code SEC25 for 25% off! The world's strongest magnetic phone case! https://www.rokform.com/ JOIN OUR MEMBERSHIP

You already know — we're huge Michigan fans, so we are especially excited about today's guest. Joining us is the brand new head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, Maile'ana Kanewa-Hermelyn.Maile has been a key part of the Michigan coaching staff for the past seven seasons — six as an assistant coach and one as a volunteer assistant. Before that, she was a gymnast at the University of Oklahoma, where she was an All-American on vault and floor, a two-time Big 12 vault champion, the NCAA runner-up on floor in 2014, and a member of two national championship-winning teams — including Oklahoma's very first NCAA title.After her competitive career, she transitioned into coaching, helping guide the Sooners to their third NCAA championship as a student assistant.My favorite fun fact about Maile (that I will say at every opportunity that I get) is that, to our knowledge, she is the only person to win an NCAA title as an athlete and a coach. She helped Oklahoma win its first title when she was an athlete in 2014 and then of course she helped Michigan win its first title as a coach in 2021. Now, she steps into the head coaching role following the legendary Bev Plocki, who led the program for 36 seasons. Maile joins us to talk about her vision for Michigan gymnastics as she leads the team into a brand-new era — right as the program enters its 50th year.Thank you to our monthly Patreon supporters: Lee B, Cookiemaster, Christa, Happy Girl, Erica S, Semflam, Amy C, Maria L, Becca S, Cathleen R, Faith, Kerry M, M, Derek H, Martin, Sharon B, Randee B, MSU, Kimberly G, Robert H, Lela M, Mara L, Jenna A, Alex M, Mama T, Kelsey, Lidia, Maria P, Alicia O, Cristina K, Bethany J, Diane J, Kentiemac, Marni S, Betny T, Emily C, Cathy D, Lisa T, Libby C, Thiago, Taryn M, Dana B, Jamie S, Chuck C, Je_GL, Kaitlin, Susan P, Katertot, Mallory D, LFC_Hokie, Ella, Debbie, Megan F, Kay, Diane J, Julie B,, Austin K, Jane, Sarah, Amy, Stephen S, Johanna T, Alison S, Kristina T, Abigail W, Becky, Ola S, Jennifer K, Kate M, Claudia, Erin L, Sarah A, Kennedy B, Thomas B, Lauren D, Kihika N, Beth C, Amy, Renee PM, Ryan V, Brandon H, Tyler, Hayley B, Ben S, Kate & Landon, Danielle, ALittleUnderRotated, Dana C, Grace, Pat G , Lexi G, Laura N, Kathy, Katie A, Ruby B,, Róisín, Becca, Megan J, Emily D, Britton, Ry Shep, Reyna G, William A, MB, MJ L, Jackson G, Brittany A, Stella, Ulo F, Noah C, Melissa H, Alexis, William M, Trish, Susie, Leslie G, Catherine B, Karlin, Laura L, Katy S, J'nia G, Kathy M, Kathy S, Okcaro, Caroline P, JD B, Cookiecutter, Ailish D, Wil D, Caroline M, kcmojojojo & Sammy S!

Undertrain now, dominate later. That philosophy–his dad's choice to undertrain him in high school–turned a patient Wisconsin high schooler named Drew Bosley into one of the NCAA's fiercest finishers.At Northern Arizona University, Bosley became an NCAA cross country podium finisher, broke the collegiate indoor 3000m record in 7:36.42 (which has since been broken), and stacked All-American honors across multiple distances. Along the way, he clocked personal bests of 3:39.32 in the 1500m, 3:59.34 in the mile, 13:13.26 indoors and 13:17.06 outdoors for 5000m, and a blazing 27:53.48 for 10,000m–times that placed him among the nation's elite.His journey hasn't been without turbulence. A quiet 2024 season tested his patience and resolve, but the comeback was worth the wait. Bosley stormed back in April 2025 with a 27:53.48 personal best at the Stanford Invitational and later placed 20th in the 10,000m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.Then he held his own against America's best, placing seventh in the 10,000m at the USATF Outdoor Championship in Eugene.Now, Bosley is stepping onto the professional stage, signing with Nike's Swoosh Track Club in Flagstaff under coach Mike Smith. Patience is a strange weapon in distance running. Drew Bosley turned it into a superpower.In today's conversation, Drew takes me through his adversity over the past few years, how he overcame it, the dream of signing with NIKE, his plans for his pro-career, lessons from being a part of NAU's domination, learning Bob Dylan on the guitar, and so much more. Tap into the Drew Bosley Special.  If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it. Comment the word “PODCAST” below and I'll DM you a link to listen. If this episode blesses you, please share it with a friend!S H O W  N O T E S-The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs-BUY MERCH BEFORE IT'S GONE: https://shop.therunningeffect.run-Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run -THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ-My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠-Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz

In this high-impact episode of Healthy Mind, Healthy Life, we sit down with Fragoza—All-American wrestler, MMA veteran, corporate dropout turned creative entrepreneur. From leading three businesses to producing music, writing books, and co-founding Headspace Studios, Fragoza lives at the edge of possibility. But what's the cost of doing it all? This raw and honest conversation dives deep into the emotional toll of ambition, the discipline learned from combat sports, and how time-blocking and long walks help him stay sane. If you're struggling to balance big dreams with your inner peace, this one's for you. About the Guest:Fragoza is a multi-hyphenate powerhouse—All-American wrestler, MMA fighter, musician, author, actor, and co-founder of Headspace Studios. A corporate escapee and creative entrepreneur, he now runs Collecting Heads Media and co-leads several ventures including a real estate investment firm. His work centers around performance, grit, and staying human in high-stakes environments. Key Takeaways: Mental Health Behind the Hustle: From 15-hour workdays to startup pressure, Fragoza shares how success often looks unhealthy before it looks polished. Time Blocking as Therapy: Time blocking isn't just a productivity tool—it's how he preserves his mental clarity. Creative Burnout Is Real: Walking and detaching are key to staying creatively aligned. Resilience from the Mat: Wrestling shaped his ability to handle rejection, long hours, and emotional setbacks in business. Don't Chase Everything Alone: Every venture Fragoza commits to must have a dedicated partner to avoid burnout. Connect with Fragoza:Instagram: @fragozamusic Want to be a guest on Healthy Mind, Healthy Life? DM on PodMatch: DM Me Here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/avik Tune to all our 15 podcasts: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-network/healthymindbyavik Subscribe To Newsletter: https://healthymindbyavik.substack.com/ Join Community: https://nas.io/healthymind Stay Tuned And Follow Us!• YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@healthymind-healthylife• Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/healthyminds.pod• Threads – https://www.threads.net/@healthyminds.pod• Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/podcast.healthymind• LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/reemachatterjee/https://www.linkedin.com/in/avikchakrabortypodcaster #podmatch #healthymind #healthymindbyavik #wellness #MentalHealthAwareness #PersonalDevelopment #PodcastLife #HighPerformance #Resilience #TimeBlocking #MindfulnessMatters #Entrepreneurship #MentalToughness #StorytellingAsMedicine #VoicesOfUnity

2 hours and 13 minutes The Sponsors Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com. Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Venue by 4M where record this, and Introducing this season: Radecki Oral Surgery, and Long Road Distillers. 1. Noncon and Big Ten: The Bottom Four Starts at 0:54 New Mexico. Former Wisconsin player who was at Idaho takes over, brings the QB and the DE who gave Oregon problems last year. Keegan Johnson used to play at Iowa. Oklahoma. Spiderman pointing game. Their defense was great and their offense just as terrible. Mateer the savior doesn't have WRs and his OL is highly recruited and young. They spent a lot for Damonic Williams at DT, have a great FS and iffy corners. Punting and arm-punting is winning? CMU. New coach is the former Army OL coach, interesting dude who sends his coaches home at 5pm, got all local coaches because he wants to be there a long time. Got an Iowa QB. #18: Purdue. Odom: Why? Team was falling apart already under Walters and got gutted. Multi-year rebuild. #17: Maryland. Walking Locksley to the gallows season. Inexplicable receiver depth is gone. Jalen Husky (from Bowling Green) and secondary is the relative strength of the defense. How much will Maryland seriously try to compete in this sport or just throw their House money at basketball? #16: Northwestern. The2021 running backs are still there. Caleb Tiernan how do you not come home? Edges Hubbard and Anto Saka (getting draft hype) are good. Dillon Tatum late transfer followed Harlon Barnett. Receivers are gone though. #15: UCLA. Encouraging second half last year, new belief in Deshawn Foster. But they're back to rebuilding from the portal, look like they have to do that every year. Only 2/15 players with 200+ snaps returned. Did get Nico Iamaleava. They have some access to money, but where's it going? Jalen Berger is their RB!   [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]  2. The Big Ten Middle Starts at 34:54 #14: MSU. Defense takes a step back, offense takes a step forward, Aidan Chiles could be a budding star. Jonathan Smith probably didn't understand what kind of fanbase he's walking into. #13: Wisconsin. Is this the last hurrah of Fickell? They dumped the spread and their best player is a huge RT so that's good; their defense is kind of falling apart so that's bad. #12: Rutgers. Schiano has done it: Rutgers is a perennial bowl team! No more Monangai but plenty of parts are back, especially on the OL. #11: Minnesota. High-variance offense, Koi Perich is an All-American. If a few of the transfers hit it's a strong defense. Could win 10 games vs a bad schedule, could also be just fighting for a bowl. #10: Nebraska. Raiola year 2 has a lot of weapons. They really spent to get him some WRs, Dane Key and a contested catch guy from Cal. Still going to be a 3-3-5 but playing tiny. The problem is their DL coach left and took the DL with him. #9: Washington. Only Big Ten RB to return, really like them. Also got back Boston. Upgraded from Stephen Belichick to Ryan Walters at DC, have a dual-threat QB who took over last year. Opposite Michigan: no kicker, weak in the trenches.  #8: Iowa. Mid! Offense improved quite a bit under Tim Lester, rose to 69th in SP+, had fewer wins because that's not Iowa. "We have a quarterback now!" /runs a waggle. #7: Indiana. Cignetti is tough to play for but he was able to rebuild through the portal again with guys who don't have to get to know Cignetti, including a new QB who might be pretty good.   3. The Contenders Starts at 1:10:38 #6: Illinois. Brian is wearing an Illinois shirt after a 10-2 season that was really lucky. Lose their playmakers from a team that was really lucky last year and did most of their work. Paid all these guys to return because they have a very weak schedule. Circle Illinois-Indiana. #5: USC. Ewebwuddy Woves Waymond. Scott Frost season where they lost to Maryland, banking on a massive, sorta overrated 2026 class. Have their choice receivers, have their QB in Maiava, have a magic wand to turn their secondary into poop. (#4 is Michigan) #3: Oregon. Dan Lanning is our top coach in the league but in-game management in Rose Bowl scares us. Doesn't lose bad games. Will be some talent drop-off, do we trust Dante Moore? He's had a year in the program and they didn't import someone. Probably spent the most of anybody in the portal. Bear Alexander at DT is a reason to doubt them; this team has a big potential to come together or completely fall apart with locker room issues. Easy schedule: Play two OSUs but not THAT OSU. #2: Ohio State. Have the best player on offense (Jeremiah Smith) and the best player on defense (Caleb Downs) in the country, but do they have a quarterback? Their OL is kinda iffy, but the LT situation looks like a hit, and then two transfers are battling for RT. Run game is meh, trust the pass game. People underrating how much they lost on the DL, but we like Beau Atkinson pickup. LB and secondary have a ton of talent: Sonny Styles and Igbinosun are back. S&P+ #1 because there's talent everywhere. If you're looking for reasons to hate on Ohio State: Matt Patricia is there to ruin their defense. #1: Penn State. Drew Allar started very low in our eyes, has improved to okay or mid, and then had a great bowl game. RBs can run in a straight line. TE lost Warren. Receiver is a little iffy, but best OL in Franklin's tenure (not saying much). Kotelnicki is a factor in the offense though. Reasons they're not overrated: defense is filled with talent and experience. Think national pundits see last year, see Big Ten teams that returned their quarterbacks and a strong defense won the last two national championships.   4. Hot Takes & Lightning Round Starts at 1:49:41 Takes hotter than this summer. At seven hours of podcasting we are getting loopy but we still answer most important, breakout players, biggest x-factors, who's your dude, and final predictions. MUSIC: "None of My Friends"—Liz Lawrence    "Pages"—Credit Electric "A Cold Sunday"—Lil Yachty “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra   

He made history in college. Now he's rewriting it on the world stage.From Ivy League dominance at Harvard to lighting up the Diamond League, Graham Blanks is one of America'sbrightest young stars in distance running.He was the first Ivy League male to ever win the NCAA Cross Country title — not once, but twice. In college, he set a then-NCAA indoor 5000m record of 13:03.78, ran 3:56.63 for the mile, and earned multiple All-American honors on the track and grass.Since turning professional with New Balance, his trajectory has only accelerated. In just the past six months alone, he'sclocked 7:29.72 for 3,000m, 26:57.30 for 10,000m, and 12:48.20 for 5,000m, cementing himself among the fastest Americans in history. Recently, he qualified for Team USA in the 10,000 meters for the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo by placing 3rd at the USATF Outdoor Championships in Eugene.Graham has impressed with his seamless shift from NCAA champion to world-class professional racer, inspiring runners everywhere to think bigger, train smarter, and run with purpose.In today's conversation, Graham takes me into his plans for Tokyo, qualifying for his first World Championship team, learning to give himself grace, preparing for World XC Championships in the US next year, inside training in Georgia, upcoming races, training insights, and more. Tap into the Graham Blanks Special.  If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it. Comment the word “PODCAST” below and I'll DM you a link to listen. If this episode blesses you, please share it with a friend!S H O W  N O T E S-The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs-BUY MERCH BEFORE IT'S GONE: https://shop.therunningeffect.run-Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run -THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ-My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠-Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz

Hour 4 with Joe Starkey and Jeff Hathhorn: Kyle Lewis is a preseason All-American who can be a star for the Panthers. Eli Holstein is in his second season for Pitt. Jeff believes Pitt can win 8-9 games. The Big Ten is discussing a 28 game College Football Playoff. No. 2 receiver isn't as much of a topic with Jonnu Smith.

Kyle Lewis is a preseason All-American who can be a star for the Panthers. Eli Holstein is in his second season for Pitt. Jeff believes Pitt can win 8-9 games. Jeff thinks Pitt people are relatively confident with their spot in the ACC. The Big Ten is discussing a 28 game College Football Playoff. We want to see Roman Wilson and Jaylen Warren have big games.

Kelly Reeves is in her second season as an assistant coach with UCLA Beach Volleyball, returning to Westwood where she made history as a Bruin. As a player, she helped UCLA win the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championship and became the program's first beach All-American in 2013.Her coaching journey has taken her through the club, collegiate, and national ranks—including guiding LMU to its best-ever NCAA finish and being recognized on the AVCA “Thirty Under 30” list. Now back at her alma mater, Kelly brings championship experience, a passion for player development, and a unique perspective as both a decorated player and rising coach in the beach volleyball world.

In the Trenches: The Journey of Robert Gallery from College Star to NFL Standout Join Marcus and Melanie as they welcome Robert Gallery, former NFL offensive lineman, College Football Hall of Famer, and one of the most celebrated athletes to come out of the University of Iowa. Robert's football journey is nothing short of extraordinary. Starting as a tight end at Iowa, he transitioned to offensive tackle, paving the way for a stellar collegiate career. A two-time First-Team All-Big Ten selection, Robert was named Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year in 2003 and capped off his senior year with unanimous All-American honors and the prestigious Outland Trophy. His excellence extended off the field, earning him three Academic All-Big Ten awards. In recognition of his remarkable contributions to the sport, Robert has been honored with multiple accolades: College Football Hall of Fame: Inducted in 2023 at the 65th NFF Annual Awards Dinner. University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame: Inducted in 2017. Kinnick Wall of Honor: Added to Iowa's America Needs Farmers Wall of Honor in 2015. Drafted second overall by the Oakland Raiders in the 2004 NFL Draft, Robert embarked on an eight-season career in the NFL, playing for the Raiders and Seattle Seahawks. Over 104 games, he showcased his grit and leadership, earning the Ed Block Courage Award in 2010 and cementing his place as a force on the offensive line. In this episode, Robert reflects on his incredible football career, the transformation of Iowa's football program, and his experiences in the NFL. But the conversation goes deeper, exploring his journey after football and the life-changing healing he found through ibogaine. For both Marcus and Robert, ibogaine offered a second chance—a path to healing they're now sharing to inspire and support others who may feel lost or stuck. These raw, personal stories are a testament to resilience and the universal power of hope. Tune in for an inspiring episode filled with life lessons, healing journeys, and a reminder that no matter the challenge, transformation is always possible. In This Episode You Will Hear: • My parents were very much like: “You do sports, or you work on the farm.” (9:55) • Once my siblings started earning scholarships, and I saw what it did for them, I was like “I wanna do that.” (11:17) • [The coaching staff] were just guys that wanted to get the best out of you. They were there to make you better. (14:25) • [Melanie] Q: What do you think builds a great team?  A: I think it's the people and the culture. (15:55) • It's that Midwest mentality. Work ethic, no show boating. It's about being the best you can be, doing it the right way, and being good people. (17:02) • I knew I needed my buddies next to me on the offensive line. For me to be great, I needed them to be great. (17:57) • I kept working and working. And by the end of my college career, I was the best there was in the country. (25:34) • Continue to work at wat you do to be a better all-around athlete. (25:39) • I love how I was raised. My parents still married after 50 years. (26:57) • I never had a sporting event that I ever remember from as young as I was in grade school, that one of my parents was not there. (36:37) •  I worked so hard and sweated so much that you gotta go to the bathroom. One day I had to go to the bathroom real bad and the game was about to start. The only thing I could do was sit here and go. Go in your pants. I did it every game after that. (47:51) • I got to where now I'm taking pain killers to get to practice. Now I'm asking my linemen what do we do? I'm dizzy. I'm not myself. (55:08) • As time went on, things started to spiral: alcohol abuse. (63:00) • I got a brain scan. That's when they put up a picture of a healthy brain against a picture of my brain. It was shocking. (65:23) • I started a journey of doing everything I could in modern medicine. (68:58) • I took the invitation to take an Ibogaine treatment. (73:15) • The treatment saved my life. I can out of it a different person. (77:57) Support Robert: - Website: athletesforcare.org - IG: Athletes4care Support TNQ   - IG: team_neverquit , marcusluttrell , melanieluttrell , huntero13   -  https://www.patreon.com/teamneverquit Sponsors:   - meetfabric.com/TNQ   - dripdrop.com/TNQ   -  cargurus.com/TNQ    - armslist.com/TNQ   - partnersinbuilding.com - Navyfederal.org        -    - You can find Cremo's new line of antiperspirants and deodorants at Target or Target.com    - WARFARE IN THEATERS APRIL 11th Watch Trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JER0Fkyy3tw First Look Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3DWuqiAUKg&t=3s    -   - PXGapparel.com/TNQ   - bruntworkwear.com/TNQ    - Selectquote.com/TNQ    - Groundnews.com/TNQ    - You can find Cremo's new line of antiperspirants and deodorants at Target or Target.com    - shipsticks.com/TNQ    - Robinhood.com/gold    - strawberry.me/TNQ    - stopboxusa.com {TNQ}    - ghostbed.com/TNQ [TNQ]   -  kalshi.com/TNQ   -  joinbilt.com/TNQ    - Tonal.com [TNQ]   - greenlight.com/TNQ   - PDSDebt.com/TNQ   - drinkAG1.com/TNQ   - Shadyrays.com [TNQ]   - qualialife.com/TNQ [TNQ]   - Hims.com/TNQ   - Shopify.com/TNQ   - Aura.com/TNQ   - Policygenius.com   - TAKELEAN.com [TNQ]   - usejoymode.com [TNQ]

Welcome to Season 14 Episode 31 of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this week's episode, Dr. Mark Kovacs is back to dive deeper into a recent social media post about the decreased fitness levels he's seeing in junior tennis players and what we can do to help our players get fit and stay injury-free.In case you're unsure as to why you should pay attention to what Mark has to say, he is a renowned performance physiologist, researcher, university professor, author, speaker and coach with an extensive background training and researching athletes at all levels. He serves the iTPA membership as its Executive Director. He formally directed the Sport Science, Strength & Conditioning and Coaching Education departments for USTA. He is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and the ITPA. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed scientific articles and abstracts in top journals including the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Sports Medicine, Sports Health, International Journal of Sport Physiology and Performance, Strength & Conditioning Journal, Journal of Sports Science and Medicine among many others. He has presented workshops and keynote addresses on four continents and well over 100 presentations. Along with his academic and scientific background Dr. Kovacs is also a coach and former professional athlete. He was an All-American and NCAA doubles champion in tennis at Auburn University. After playing professionally, he completed his graduate work at Auburn University and earned his Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology from The University of Alabama. Dr. Kovacs is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, a certified Health/Fitness Specialist through the American College of Sports Medicine, a United States Track and Field Level II Sprints Coach and Certified Tennis Coach. This man has the bona fides!You'll hear Mark discuss the Gatorade Sweat Patch as an easy tool to measure sweat level. You can get more information and order them through the Gatorade website at https://www.gatorade.com/equipment/gx-sweat-patch/gx-sweat-patch-00052000048520. Mark and I also discuss his recent article on combating jet lag which you can find here: Click HereTo reach out to Mark directly, email him at mark@kovacsinstitute.com. You can also follow him on Instagram at https://instagram.com/drmarkkovacs. To find our podcast on periodization, go to https://parentingaces.com/podcasts/what-is-periodization-how-do-we-use-it-with-dr-mark-kovacs/.As always, I am available for one-to-one consults to work with you as you find your way through the college recruiting process. You can purchase and book online through our website at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://parentingaces.com/shop/category/consult-with-lisa-stone/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.If you're so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your fellow tennis players, parents, and coaches. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or via your favorite podcast app. Please be sure to check out our logo'd merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our ⁠⁠⁠online shop⁠⁠⁠.CREDITSIntro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNEAudio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone

After batting .557 and setting a school record with 13 home runs his senior year of high school in California, Garrett Atkins was drafted by the New York Mets. He was also courted by several colleges including Oklahoma State, USC, Cal State, Pepperdine and UCLA. Garrett chose to wait for Major League Baseball and head to UCLA. He became the Bruin's first 3-time All American in baseball and spent time in the Cape Cod Baseball League where he was the MVP in 1999. Now Garrett was ready for a big-league team.   The Rockies took him in the 5th round of the 2000 draft. He started out in the farm system, and he worked his way up to The Show. His MLB debut came in 2003 and in 2005 he won the starting job at 3rd base after spring training. He'd finish 4th in Rookie of the Year voting that season despite being sidelines for a bit with a hamstring injury.   Garrett stayed with the Rockies for several more years, including the 2007 World Series. In 2009, he signed a one-year deal with Colorado, and his numbers began to decline. In 2010 he was a free agent and played for a short time with Baltimore and went to the Pirates camp in 2011. Baseball wasn't the same and he retired.   These days Garrett enjoys being behind the scenes as a husband, dad, coach and golfer with a 3 handicap. He also did his first podcast in 2025 (this one).  

Coach Aaron Mansfield is the head volleyball coach at the University of Oklahoma, where he has quickly built a reputation as one of the brightest minds and most passionate leaders in the sport. Before arriving in Norman, he spent five seasons at Loyola Marymount, helping guide the program to multiple NCAA Tournament appearances and earning recognition as one of the nation's top recruiters and developers of talent. A former standout libero himself, Aaron was a two-time All-American and went on to represent Team USA on the international stage.Download my FREE Coaching Beyond the Scoreboard E-book www.djhillier.com/coach Download my FREE 60 minute Mindset Masterclass at www.djhillier.com/masterclassDownload my FREE top 40 book list written by Mindset Advantage guests: www.djhillier.com/40booksSubscribe to our NEW YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MindsetAdvantagePurchase a copy of my book: https://a.co/d/bGok9UdFollow me on Instagram: @deejayhillierConnect with me on my website: www.djhillier.com

In this episode, Zach Shaw and Steve Lorenz continue their annual position group preview series, taking a look at the Michigan football team's special teams room. The episode can be heard in the embedded link below. They open with a look at the room's biggest strengths, including the preseason All-American kicker Dominic Zvada, who is coming off of one of the best seasons in collegiate kicker history. They then turn to the question marks of the room, including the uncertainty in a punter position battle between relative unknowns Hudson Hollenbeck and Hunter Robertson.  They close the episode with a look at which players might be most in the mix at punt- and kick-returner, and what to expect from Michigan's special teams room overall this fall. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's Daily Puck Drop, Jason “Puck” Puckett is joined by Tim Booth, Seattle Times.  Bill Krueger, “Old School Baseball”. And, college football preview with Jamey Vinnick of Cougfan.com and Christian Caple of OnMontlake.com Puck opens the show discussing the Mariners disappointing series vs. the Mets and the Orioles and the inconsistent offense.  Puck also looks back to the Seahawks game on Friday and the dominant run game is once again on display! Tim Booth, Seattle Times, was in Williamsport covering the Little League World Series Classic with his son and gives a firsthand account of cool and special the whole weekend was for them to share it together.  The players, coaches, kids and media talked about how special it was and a reminder of the power of baseball Bill Krueger, “Old School Baseball”  joins Puck to react to the last two series losses and the main culprit being their inconsistent offense. Bill and Puck chat about the atmosphere in Williamsport, plus, the lackluster start from George Kirby, looking ahead to this week and the return of starter Bryce Miller. College Football Preview with Jamey Vinnick, Cougfan.com and Christian Caple, On Montlake, OnMontlake.com, Puck starts off with the Cougars and he and Jamey talked about the Cougars starting quarterback will be in the fall, the strength of the team, the new look offense, the linebacking core and a prediction on the teams record.  Christian Caple breaks down year two under Jedd Fisch, plus, the growth of the team, growth of quarterback Demond Williams, the expectations of Jonah Coleman, what worries the Huskies and Christian gives his prediction for the season. “In Other News….”  The Bengals may trade Trey Hendrickson, Victor Robles ejected, the AP all-time All-American teams, Dillion Gabriel takes shot at Sheduer Sanders and Sue Bird honored. Puck wraps up with, “Hey, what the Puck!?”   No sport better than baseball of connecting kids and their game (1:00) Puck on the M's faltering vs. the Orioles and Mets, plus, the Seahawks look great on offense (18:00) Tim Booth, Seattle Times  (32:11) Bill Krueger, “Old School Baseball” (54:40) College Football Preview (1:16:38) “In Other News….” (1:23:00) “Hey, What the Puck!?”

Andrea (Annie) Rodenfels is a 7x All-American in the steeplechase and 5,000m, national champion, Drake Relays 3,000m steeplechase champion, and 2x Olympic Trials qualifier. Annie is also one of the few pro runners to come from a Division III school. In this episode, we discuss her path to going pro: The evolution of her career from college to now Her experience with the new pro team Meridia How she trains today (mileage levels, long runs, etc.) Her approach to double workouts in one day How she manages energy and caffeine for 8:30pm races A lot more! You can support her team Meridia by registering for their virtual mile here! Resources:  More info about Merida from Colleen Quigley Training & Coaching programs SR's strength series Thank you Avelo! Avelo is the world's smartest running shoe created by a team of ex-Nike engineers. I'm so excited by Avelo that I've been advising them for nearly two years. And the market has spoken - they raised over $100,000 on Kickstarter on their very first day because they're doing something unique. Embedded in their bouncy, lightweight Supertrainer is a sensor that measures impact and your running form, showing you how much force your body is experiencing and when during your run your form starts deteriorating. This gives you incredible insights into your unique form, how it changes, and when it breaks down so you better understand your injury risk and when you get fatigued. The shoes never need to be charged and you can reuse the sensor in each pair of Avelo's. Their app gives you real-time coaching that I had a lot of input on, based on your unique data. They're still available on Kickstarter at 34% off for a very limited time, so get yours today! Thank you to 2Before! We are supported by 2Before, a powerful sports supplement made from New Zealand Blackcurrants designed to increase endurance, manage inflammation, support immunity, and promote adaptation. 2Before helps to boost performance by increasing blood flow, making it more efficient for the body to pump oxygenated nutrient-rich blood into the muscles. Just like beetroot but more effective, blackcurrant berries are vasodilators, helping you get more blood flow to where it's needed. Boost your performance and immune system with 2before: use code JASON for 30% off 20 packs and multi-serve packs at 2Before.com. Thank you to 2Before for supporting Strength Running!

In this video, we dive into the latest Florida Gators scrimmage update—breaking down key plays, star performers, and notable momentum heading into the season. Then, we shift focus to former Gator and consensus All‑American return specialist Brandon James, examining his impactful legacy with the program. What You'll Learn: Highlights and insights from the Gators' latest scrimmage Standout players and standout moments We also break down the Gators defensive backfield from top-to-bottom. Who are the starters? What about depth? Hear it all here!