Chiseled with Rob Commodari

JM Ryerson has built three financial services companies from the ground up. A successful business coach, international speaker, best-selling author, and host of the Let's Go Win podcast, JM shared with me how he gets people to the win. In short, it all comes down to mindset.

In this episode of Chiseled, JM talks about the best ways to show empathy and to support people who are discovering their passion, plus he shares a bit about letting your own light shine even when others want to dim your bulb.

JM's strategies aren't just useful for building successful businesses. They are tools to successfully navigate every relationship of your life. And when you master them, you will find how much easier it is to fulfill goals you didn't know you had.

We all experience pain in our lives! When we experience pain do we look for the silver lining? Do we play the victim role? Can we find purpose in that pain?

Marybeth Henderson has overcome some awful and bizarre challenges in her life, including losing her dad while still a teen, surviving a mystery contagion that left her in isolation in a hospital basement, facing down a rare cancer that was accidentally discovered, and preventing her house from trying to kill her.

 Throughout it all, she has been working on a mantra that includes the reminders to "never leave anything unspoken," "look for the blessings," "encourage others," and "bring purpose to the pain."

Thankfully, much has worked out well for Marybeth as well. She found her husband in an unexpected place, runs an extremely successful real estate brokerage, and has started a new service to help people discover and recover from unusual illnesses.

I've had the pleasure of knowing Marybeth for over a decade, and she is one of the most positive people I know. She also has another contagion: a laugh that sounds like tinkling bells. And you know what happens when you hear a bell ring!

In the latest episode of Chiseled, Marybeth shares how all of the challenges she surmounted and all of the success she achieved were possible through a help from her friends, the kindness of strangers, and unyielding faith in her creator.

Do you have the intestinal fortitude to keep going after you’ve been knocked down? Are you resilient? From one of my favorite “Rocky” quotes: “But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”

Sean Hackney’s story is a story about resilience and fortitude. An 11-time Ironman triathlete and a 20+ time half Ironman finisher, he did it all on a leg that defies medical explanation.

When Sean was a running back in college, his leg was destroyed when he was hit by multiple players during a football game. His kneecap was dislocated, his ACL tore, his quadricep hyperextended down to his shin, and his artery was severed. He should have lost the whole leg.  

After multiple surgeries, doctors were able to take a vein from his thigh and move it behind his knee to act as a conduit for circulation to his lower leg. That graft was expected to last five-10 years and doctors were unsure what to expect next.

Then something inexplicable happened. Twenty-seven years later, the graft was still holding steady — and the vein mapping didn't just work, but one vessel had grown 2-3 times its size and started functioning as an artery.

Listen in as Sean tells his remarkable story of resilience and perseverance.

Brian White grew up without "expectations." A New Jersey boy with no real vision of his future, he never imagined life beyond minimum wage. Then at 19, his girlfriend told him she was pregnant, and he had a choice — to be a part of his baby's life or to get lost.

Ten years later, Brian became one of the youngest presidents ever to run a hospital. Chasing prestige and winning titles, Brian eventually ended up running a health system of 27,000 people and a $4 billion budget. Yet he never stopped to celebrate any of his success. He just kept searching for the next win.

Still married to his teen sweetheart — and four children later — Brian found himself facing the biggest challenge of his life — and suddenly winning took a back seat to surviving, forcing Brian to change his entire perspective on life.

Growing up in California in the late 60's, Larry Underhill's motto was "better living through chemistry." His experimentation with drugs almost beat him. Years later, Larry decided to trade in drugs for Jesus. He committed to a relationship with Christ and over the last 50 years he has seen his share of hardships and humility. Through his strong faith and his discipline Larry say's he is confident that his personal relationship with Christ will last "after his earth suit goes away."

In this episode, you will hear how Larry has applied his commitment to Christ it in all areas of his life; as a business owner, as a father and grandfather, as an addiction treatment specialist, and as a friend. His far-reaching studies and efforts to walk the path of God are the epitome of selflessness in the conduct of service. I hope you enjoy this episode and Larry's many pearls of wisdom and powerful insights.

Gary Adornato has had a passion for sports since he was a kid. Realizing that he never was going to go pro (especially for wrestling), Gary decided to do the next best thing: he built Varsity Sports Network, a Maryland-based media company focused solely on high school sports. 

It wasn't easy. As you can imagine, high school sports coverage isn't the best-paying or highest profile gig but Gary says it's the best job he could ever have, especially because he runs his operation focused only on positive coverage.

The company's trajectory has taken a lot of dips and turns over the past 30 years but that doesn't matter to Gary. He's doing what he loves and he did it by putting his faith in his guardian angel — St. Anthony, patron saint of lost items, who Gary says has helped him every step of the way.

Mike Gandolfo grew up in a Catholic home and went to Catholic schools his whole life. He was so used to going through the motions that after college, he became an instructor at the very school where he graduated.  

But as Mike admits, he was only going through the motions, not living a truly Catholic life. He didn't gain a deeper appreciation of his faith until he started talking to people of other faiths.

Gaining knowledge about the differences between his and other religions, Mike felt an intense connection to God and the Catholic liturgy emerge. It changed the way he led his life, the way he did business, and the way he looked at destiny.  

Mike, a top real estate agent in Louisville, Ky., shares his message of faith and how it has made him a better boss, a better dad, and a better servant of the people. Mike is our 27th guest on Chiseled, the podcast to help you build awareness in your life to become the person you were created to be.

JoAnn Zebrowski has attended a few schools of hard knocks but came out shining on the other side. The daughter of an abusive, alcoholic father who died when she was a child, JoAnn faced bullying at school because of a stutter. The persistent harassment led her daily to a quiet place — a church pew — and on a journey that proved that God only gives you what you can handle.

Raising two children on her own following a failed marriage and a years-long IRS pursuit, JoAnn says she is grateful every day for the hardships. Without them, she wouldn't be where she is today — a top producing real estate agent and mother of two successful young women.

In this latest episode of Chiseled, JoAnn describes how she witnessed God's plan and never gave up getting chiseled.

Ron Saharyan and Mike Michalowicz started working out of Mike's family's garage in 2014 while they were devising the "Profit First" method. Profit First is their ingenious approach to cash flow management that helps entrepreneurs grow their business while also living their best lives instead of slaving away at the company register. It is a proven success in increasing businesses' growth and more importantly business owners' financial freedom. Even better, you can use it to run your household as well.

For every business owner who's heard that they have to get out of working in their business so they can work on their business, here's a key tip: you're not profitable until you get out of debt. But cash is not king, cash flow is.

In this latest episode of Chiseled, Ron offers a spiritual twist on some key concepts of the Profit First method and discusses how to use the system to fulfill your mission and purpose in life.

Talk about getting chiseled! Imagine being so disciplined that you can complete your goals for the next year in just 12 weeks! It can be done! Husband-wife team Michael Lennington, best-selling author of "The 12-Week Year," and Kristin Tabbert, a nationally recognized executive coach, say it all comes down to the way we perceive and treat time. We know. Easier said than done. We humans can find ways of wasting time all day long! 

But, my guests warn, we don't have an infinite amount of time. We all get the same amount as everyone else. By knowing how to use ours to prioritize and focus on our most impactful tasks, we can lower stress, improve results, and turn our lost hours into powerful productivity. Plus, managing our time well creates another benefit: It raises our awareness of the paths God is putting before us and leads us down the ones that chisel us into the person we're meant to be.