Ninja Warrior Flip Rodriguez was The Man Behind the Mask, until he chose to face his past and flip the script on his life. Fran Racioppi and Jessie Graff sit down with Flip to talk all things American Ninja Warrior, how to compete on the sport’s biggest obstacles and what it takes to win when you know little about the course of your competition. 

They also share Flip’s story of childhood sexual abuse, the difficulty of accepting what’s happening, the dangers of normalization, and how he eventually took a stand and walked out. Flip shows us how to take charge of our own lives even when it seems we are all alone in our fight.

Listen to our conversation with Flip Rodriguez from Jumptwist Ninja in Boca Raton on your favorite podcast platform. Watch the full video version as Jessie trains Fran how to become a ninja on YouTube. 

Learn more about Flip on Instagram @youngflip7. Read his book The Man Behind The Mask and flip the script on your life. Get involved in the fight against child abuse at fightchildabuse.org and support Flip’s partnership with the Barbara Sinatra Children Center Foundation. 

Follow Jessie on Instagram and FB @jessiegraffpwr. 

Click here or use code JED for $10 off your first order of Modballs.

Read the full episode transcription here and learn more on The Jedburgh Podcast Website. Subscribe to us and follow @jedburghpodcast on all social media. 

Highlights:

• 0:00 Welcome to Jumptwist Ninja
• 7:01 Preparing for a Ninja Warrior competition
• 11:53 Flip finds the mask
• 15:43 Flip takes off the mask 
• 23:41 Flip’s battle with child sexual abuse
• 31:48 How Flip took action to end his abuse
• 42:40 Flip describes why consistency is the key to performance
• 47:55 “Absolute Best” must be the standard
• 54:04 Educating for child protection
• 58:30 Flip’s three daily foundations to success

Quotes: 

• “Life doesn’t care what age you are. Life is going to teach you a lesson. A valuable lesson. It’s gonna knock you down on the ground. You have to learn to get back up.” (6:28)
• “Having a mask is like Peter Parker and Spiderman. Everyone loves Spiderman but nobody really cares about Peter Parker.” (13:02)
• “It made me feel powerful, confident and feel like I could literally take on the world.” (14:24)
• “I felt so alone the entire time growing up…I had to be a man, not say anything.” (22:52)
• “Once you make a decision on who you want to be, what you want to do and how you want to do, life just gets out of your way.” (29:33)
• “Every moment that I spend depressed is a moment that I’ll never get back.” (38:18)

Flip’s Three Daily Foundations to Success:

• Lead by example
• Be real with who I am in the mirror
• Lay down at night with a clear conscious

This episode is brought to you by Jersey Mike’s,  Rhone, Modballs, 18A Fitness & Compass Workforce Solutions