Built Not Born

Built Not Born Podcast (#202) - Henry Akins - Hidden Jiu-Jitsu | Less Ego. More Flow. Train for Life. 🥋🔥

Henry Akins is the founder of Hidden Jiu Jitsu.

Henry trained under Rickson Gracie from white belt to black belt and was head instructor at Rickson’s academy in Los Angeles.

In this episode:

• Henry breaks down why hard rolling is the least productive use of your time.
• Why physicality fades while technique compounds.
• How to keep training for decades without wrecking your body.

Henry talks about watching Rickson dismantle world champions years younger, why he’s done traveling in 2027, and how virtual privates are leveling up students around the world. Henry also opens up about the heartbreak that nearly made him quit BJJ.

Connect with Henry Akins:

• Website - HiddenJiuJitsu.com
• Instagram: @henryakinsbjj

"Life is Built, Not Born"

Joe Ciccarone

© Copyright - Joe Ciccarone 2026 - Built Not Born Podcast. All Rights Reserved.

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host.

3.5 Ideas from Stephan Kesting — Perseverance: Life and Death in the Subarctic 🚣‍♂️🏔️🥋

Stephan Kesting is the author of Perseverance: Life and Death in the Subarctic.

He is also a BJJ black belt, career firefighter, and founder of GrappleArts.com — one of the most respected jiu-jitsu instructional resources on the internet, with over 425 podcast episodes and hundreds of thousands of downloads.

After a diagnosis of polycystic kidney disease and a transplant from his brother, Stephan set off alone on a thousand-mile journey through the Canadian Arctic — the day before his own wedding.

In this conversation, we get into kidney failure, grief, solitude, and the mental frameworks that carry someone through the worst moments life can offer. Plan beats no plan. Always be thinking. Remember you're going to die — then decide what you're actually going to do about it.

Connect with Stephan Kesting:

• Website - GrappleArts.com
• Website - EssentialWilderness.com
• Book - Perseverance: Life and Death in the Subarctic

© Copyright - Joe Ciccarone 2026 - Built Not Born Podcast. All Rights Reserved.

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host.

Episode #200! LFG🔥

Jim Murphy is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Inner Excellence and The Best Possible Life.

On January 12th, 2025, NFL star AJ Brown read Jim's book on the sideline during a Wild Card game — and everything changed.

• A 3 book deal.
• A #1 bestseller.
• A coaching roster that includes PGA champions, Olympic athletes, and Fortune 500 CEOs.

But this episode goes beyond the highlight reel.

Jim opens up about a recent cancer diagnosis, the extraordinary string of miracles that followed it, and the deeper truth underneath all his success — that performance and a fulfilling life are not the same thing, and chasing one without the other is a losing game.

This is episode 200 of Built Not Born. It's amazing to have Jim as the guest.

Inner Excellence and The Best Possible Life are available everywhere books are sold.

© Copyright - Joe Ciccarone 2026 - Built Not Born Podcast. All Rights Reserved.

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host.

Built Not Born Podcast (#199) - Jeffrey Gitomer - The King of Sales | Selling in the Age of AI 🤖💰

Jeffrey Gitomer is the King of Sales.

Jeffrey is the New York Times Best Selling author of the #1 selling sales book of all time - The Little Red Book of Selling and is the author of more than a dozen other bestsellers.

He has sold over 10 million books and spent four decades teaching the world how to sell without being salesy.

In this conversation, two Philly guys sit down and get into all of it:

• How AI is completely reshaping the sales game
• Why attitude beats aptitude every single time
• Why nobody likes to be sold but everybody likes to buy
• How the same grit that runs through Philadelphia and the Eagles runs through every great salesperson.

Jeffrey is no BS.

Doesn't do fluff.

He does truth, delivered straight.

Whether you sell for a living or you're just trying to get better at getting a yes — this episode delivers.

PS - Go Birds 🦅

Connect with Jeffrey Giomer:

• Website - Gitomer.com
• IG: @JeffreyGitomer

"Life is Bult, Not Born"

© Copyright - Joe Ciccarone 2026 - Built Not Born Podcast. All Rights Reserved.

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host.

Built Not Born Podcast (198) - Katie Hardie: Peak Performance | Energy Management, Real Food & Why Your Body Never Lies 🏋️ 🥦 🧠

Katie Hardie is a Board Certified Holistic Nutritionist, FDN Practitioner, former endurance athlete, and founder of My PEAK 365 — where she helps high performers stop settling for "fine" and start operating at their peak potential.

After following mainstream health rules led her straight into burnout and heartbreak, Katie went looking for a better way — and found it under the hood, in hormones, gut health, blood sugar, and energy management.

In this conversation, Katie breaks down the practical, do-it-today tactics that busy parents and professionals can actually use: why there's no one-size-fits-all diet, the one lab test almost nobody gets, the truth about naps and intermittent fasting, mouth taping for better sleep, and why less volume with more intensity beats grinding every day.

The takeaway?

Your body is always talking.

Most of us just never learned how to listen.

Connect with Katie Hardie:

• Website - MyPeak365.com
• IG: @MyPeak365

"Life is Built, Not Born."

Joe Ciccarone

© Copyright - Joe Ciccarone 2026 - Built Not Born Podcast. All Rights Reserved.

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host.

#197: Chris Haueter — The Dirty Dozen | BJJ Pioneer on Coaching, the Rule of Three's & Why Nobody Knows Anything 🥋🧠

Chris Haueter is a BJJ living legend:

• One of the Dirty Dozen — the first 12 non-Brazilians to ever earn a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
• The first American to submit a Brazilian in competition.
• The man who coined the term "combat base."
• A coach whose influence runs all the way to Conor McGregor.

He learned the art in the original Gracie garage in the late 1980s — no YouTube, no Instagram, no instructionals. Just reps, mentors, and mat time.

In this conversation, Chris breaks down the difference between teaching and coaching, his Rule of Threes, why you should walk out of every class with just one thing, and his entire philosophy in six words: Think Street, Train Sport, Practice Art.

At 61 and still rolling, Chris leaves us with three rules that go way beyond the mat — listen, don't pout and fuss, and be kind.

Connect with Chris Haueter:

• Website: Combatbase.com
• IG: @chrishaueter96

"Life Is Built, Not Born."

Joe Ciccarone

© Copyright - Joe Ciccarone 2026 - Built Not Born Podcast. All Rights Reserved.

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host.

#196 - Josh Moniz - The Surfing Life | Winning Pipeline, The Ocean as a Classroom, Family & BJJ 🌊🥋🤙

Josh Moniz grew up on Waikiki Beach in one of Hawaii's most legendary surf families.

His dad was a surfing icon in the 90s. His siblings are world class surfers. Josh had to earn his own name on the same beach where everyone already knew his father's.

He did it with hard work. Two Pipeline victories (2108 & 2020). A broken neck at 26 that left him unable to move from the neck down. A comeback that took six months of learning to walk again. And now — a family surf school on iconic Waikiki, a BJJ blue belt training on Oahu, and still competing in the WSL (World Surfing League) going up against the best surfers in the world.

Connect with Josh Moniz:

• Moniz Family Surf School — Waikiki Beach, across from the Duke Statue.
• IG: Josh Moniz

© Copyright - Joe Ciccarone 2026 - Built Not Born Podcast. All Rights Reserved.

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host.

#195 - Scott Davis - The Last of the Old Breed | The Last WWII Marines of the Pacific — Their Stories Before They're Gone Forever 🇺🇸🎖️📖

Scott Davis is an oral historian, author, and founder of The Vietnam Experience YouTube channel.

Scott's new book "The Last of the Old Breed" captures the firsthand stories of over 130 of the final living Marines from World War II's Pacific Theater — men in their 90s and 100s who fought at Tarawa, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.

We're crossing a moment in history right now.

Soon there will be no living connection to World War II. No firsthand voices. No men who were there.

Scott Davis made sure that before they were gone — we heard them.

Fitting this episode drops the week of July 4th.

The stories these men carried deserve to be heard.

Thank a veteran.

• Website: scottdavisbooks.com
• Book: The Last of The Old Breed

© Copyright - Joe Ciccarone 2026 - Built Not Born Podcast. All Rights Reserved.

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host.

#194 - Ed Kressy - Addiction, Recovery, and Why Significance Is What We're All Chasing ⛓️ 💡 🙏

Ed Kressy had a career at Stanford University, a home in San Francisco, a BMW motorcycle, and a life savings. He put all of it in a glass pipe and smoked it away.

20 years addicted to cocaine and meth. Homeless. Arrested. Carrying a loaded .357 pistol through the streets of San Francisco because he believed the FBI was hunting him. Then one night in a hotel ballroom — wearing a filthy tuxedo — he made the decision that changed everything.

Ed shares the raw truth about addiction, mental health, rock bottom, and the three S's that pulled him back — spirituality, self-improvement, and service.

He's now the CEO of Uncarcerated, a nonprofit helping incarcerated people transform their lives. His book is distributed inside prison walls.

The comeback is real. And it started with one decision.

Connect with Ed Kressy:

• Linked In: Ed Kressy
• Ed's Book: My Addiction & Recovery

© Copyright - Joe Ciccarone 2026 - Built Not Born Podcast. All Rights Reserved.

Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host.

Jordan & Erica - The Hawaii Vacation Guide | Everything You Need to Know Before You Go 🌺🌊🤙

Jordan and Erica are the founders of The Hawaii Vacation Guide — the most trusted travel resource for anyone heading to the Aloha State.

They've lived on Oahu and Maui, explored every island, and built a thriving media business during a global pandemic when nobody was traveling anywhere.

In this conversation, we break down all four major Hawaiian islands, the best beaches, the most underrated experiences most tourists never find, and the mistakes first-timers make.

Plus — how two people from UC Santa Barbara turned a side project into one of the top Hawaii travel brands on the internet.

If you're planning a trip to Hawaii — or just dreaming about one — this is your cheat code.

• Website - TheHawaiiVacationGuide.com

© Copyright - Joe Ciccarone 2026 - Built Not Born Podcast. All Rights Reserved. Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host.