Built From Scratch

What happens when the biggest challenges in a marriage come from outside the marriage?

In this episode of Built From Scratch, I sit down with Pesa Shayo, an author and co-founder of Live Your Best Marriage, for a conversation about marriage, family pressure, culture, communication, boundaries, and building a United Front.

Pesa helps cross-cultural Christian couples navigate some of the pressures that can quietly create division inside a relationship — including in-law pressure, loyalty conflicts, cultural differences, and communication breakdowns.

Drawing from his own cross-cultural marriage with Whitney and his experience working with couples, Pesa explains why couples can sometimes find themselves turning against each other when outside pressure enters the picture.

But what if the answer isn’t choosing between your spouse and your family?

What if it’s learning how to face the pressure together?

Connect with Pesa :

https://unitedfrontmarriage.com/

In this episode of Built From Scratch, I sit down with Bridger Frederick for a deeply personal conversation about adversity, identity, healing, resilience, and the search for a meaningful life.

Bridger’s journey began long before the spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed nearly seven years ago. From leaving home at 14 and dropping out of school at 16, to starting businesses, moving across countries, and spending four years traveling around the world, Bridger spent much of his life searching for happiness and trying to understand himself.

Along the way, he battled addiction, destructive patterns, and unresolved experiences from his childhood.

Then, in one moment, everything changed.

A spinal cord injury forced Bridger to completely rethink his future and rebuild his life in ways he never expected.

But his physical recovery was only part of the journey.

Years later, an intense ketamine experience and subsequent drug-induced psychosis became part of a much deeper process of confronting the beliefs and struggles he had spent decades trying to avoid.

Today, Bridger is focused on healing, surfing, traveling, creating content, and building a meaningful life from everything he has experienced.

Connect with Bridger:

https://m.youtube.com/@bridgerfrederick?ra=m

Or

Bridger Frederick's Website

In this episode of Built From Scratch, I sit down with Mark Stackpole for a deeply personal conversation about grief, family, gratitude, and finding a way forward after unimaginable loss.

Mark shares the story of his daughter, Corinne, who was diagnosed with leukemia at just 22 years old. After 11 months of treatment, including a bone marrow transplant, Corinne ultimately passed away from an infection while surrounded by her family.

But Mark’s story isn’t only about loss.

It’s also about how he and his family chose to remember Corinne — not through the way they lost her, but through gratitude for the life they were fortunate enough to share with her.

We talk about navigating grief, finding joy again, keeping a loved one’s memory alive, and learning how to move forward without leaving them behind.

Connect with Mark:

https://nmdp.org/

In this episode, we dive into an honest and engaging conversation about real experiences, personal growth, challenges, and the lessons life teaches us along the way.

Join me as we explore different perspectives, share meaningful stories, and have a conversation that you can relate to and learn from. Tune in and enjoy the conversation!

Welcome to Built From Scratch, a podcast about business, entrepreneurship, ideas, and building something meaningful from the ground up. In this first episode, I introduce myself, explain why I started this podcast, and share what listeners can expect in future episodes.