This is The Do It For Yourself Podcast.  Each week I sit down with someone who is doing it for themselves and chasing a dream they just couldn’t suppress.  This is often speakers, entrepreneurs, or athletes.  They all share one thing in common, they are overcoming challenges and never giving up.  Someone who is Doing It For Themselves is not selfish in their pursuit, they are simply chasing a dream or working towards a goal because it is something THEY want to do.  They are not forging down a path because society or someone is telling them it’s what they should be doing.

My guest this week on the show is Kristen Smith.  Kristen has an amazing weight loss story and I am so happy she came on the podcast to share it with everyone.  I got connected with Kristen via Instagram where I immediately fell in love with her personality and delivery on her stories and videos.  

Kristen has overcome a lot of diversity and hardship to get to where she is both in her weight loss journey and her personal life.  It was a pleasure to sit down with Kristen to tell her story this week on the podcast and I hope you enjoy.

 

Kristen's Instagram

 

Do It For Yourself Instagram

This is The Do It For Yourself Podcast.  Each week I sit down with someone who is doing it for themselves and chasing a dream they just couldn’t suppress.  This is often speakers, entrepreneurs, or athletes.  They all share one thing in common, they are overcoming challenges and never giving up.  Someone who is Doing It For Themselves is not selfish in their pursuit, they are simply chasing a dream or working towards a goal because it is something THEY want to do.  They are not forging down a path because society or someone is telling them it’s what they should be doing.

This week my guest is podcaster Rich Butler.  Rich has been in the podcast game since 2006, which was well before you could easily download a podcast to your phone.  Rich took a complete deep-dive right from the start and never looked back.  He has had multiple different podcasts and has gone on to start his own podcast network called Rage Works.  

I really enjoyed this conversation with Rich and I am looking forward to sharing it with you!

 

RAGE Works Instagram

RAGE Works Facebook

 

Do It For Yourself Instagram

This is The Do It For Yourself Podcast.  Each week I sit down with someone who is doing it for themselves and chasing a dream they just couldn’t suppress.  This is often speakers, entrepreneurs, or athletes.  They all share one thing in common, they are overcoming challenges and never giving up.  Someone who is Doing It For Themselves is not selfish in their pursuit, they are simply chasing a dream or working towards a goal because it is something THEY want to do.  They are not forging down a path because society or someone is telling them it’s what they should be doing.

My guest this week is Manolo who is a musician, songwriter, and producer.  Manolo was introduced to music at a very young age because of the musicians on his dad's side of the family.  Manolo's interest was immediately peaked by music, he loved all parts of it, he loves listening to music, playing music and anything to do with music.

At a young age, Manolo found himself nervous performing music in front of people. For this reason, he wasn't part of his highschool band or anything, he enjoyed playing solo and not necessarily performing in front of people.  Even to this day, Manolo would prefer to send music to people he knows so that they can listen to it, rather than play it for them while sitting there. He enjoys receiving feedback from people on line both good and bad, but he doesn't like this feedback face to face and he isn't sure why.

What is interesting though is that Manolo always wanted to be a super big rockstar in front of a huge crowd.  His brother took him to see a show and he immediately felt this high that he knew this was what he wanted to do, but he still felt scared. It was tough for Manolo as a kid because he felt this nervousness about performing but he wanted it so bad.

Coming up Manolo was raised by his mom and his grandparents.  They were always in full support of things that he was interested in.  They really fostered his passion for music.  Specifically, in 5th grade, Manolo can remember his grandfather going against the school's advice to get him a science tutor and he put him in a music program.  This support really fostered Manolo's growth in his music career.  Manolo knew that even though the music was his passion, he needed to go to school to continue to grow this passion.  Manolo went to school for music but what he was learning, wasn't doing it for him, it wasn't piquing his interest.  Luckily Manolo discovered technical school where he could go to learn how to record and produce his own music.

Something that Manolo has found that really helps with his creative process is his fitness.  He really enjoys martial arts and fitness and he feels like it really helps with everything in his life.  Manolo also feels like his fitness really helps with his travel and his touring.  It helps him feel good, it helps him get ready for his shows both mentally and physically.

Manolo feels like both with his fitness and his music he is a hands-on person.  He learned what he needed to while in school and had very good grades, but he felt like he learned so much more when he was out doing it on his own.  Manolo thinks that for certain things and for certain people, you can learn what you need to on the job or on your own.  He felt like he learned so much more when trying to do it on his own.

Manolo really began to make a transition because he couldn't find a producer that he could work with.  He realized that it wasn't the producers, it was him, he didn't know what he wanted.  He went on a journey for about 18 months to discover what he wanted to do, what kind of music he wanted to put out for people.  Manolo put his nose to the ground, was working a job, producing music, he was always on the go, building his dream. This all started with a motorcycle trade.  Manolo traded his motorcycle to a friend in order to produce his song and this is when things began to take off.  Manolo was constantly hustling on his music and going to places to get in front of people who were in the industry.

Although Manolo was constantly grinding and hustling on his music he had an amazing support system through his family.  He was getting kickback from some people around him, asking him what he was going to do because he couldn't be a bartender forever.  His family threw him a rope and offered to help him a bit to get some more studio time and record music.  Manolo was given an opportunity after all of his hustle to perform in Russia to a crowd bigger than he ever had before.  This was bittersweet for him because when he returned from his trip to Russia he knew that bartending wasn't what he was supposed to be doing, it didn't make it happen.

While Manolo was working at this bar, a guy came in who was playing the guitar and they started talking.  Chris offered to show Manolo his studio and initially, Manolo was a bit skeptical because he knew what some previous home studios looked like.  When he went to see Chris's studio though Manolo was super impressed and they started working together in this studio until he moved to Georgia.  Once he moved, Manolo had to rent a studio here and there to record when needed.  Ultimately Chris reached out because he was moving to Manolo's area and they built a new studio again to record in.

One thing that Manolo found when he was coming up versus now is that information is readily available today.  For the most part, you can find anything that you need online.  The one thing Manolo discovered was that a lot of this content was not available in other languages.  He decided to start translating for people who pays his bills and any money that he makes from music he is able to reinvest in his music.  Manolo is so passionate about making information available to people that he now works for Gary Vaynerchuk on his translation team.  This is all out of a passion to give back to people and make information available to people who otherwise wouldn't be able to get the content.

I have no doubt that Manolo is going to live out his dream to play in front of a huge crowd because of his passion and empathy to impact people through music.

 

I hope that you enjoy this interview!

Manolo's Instagram

Manolo's facebook

 

Do It For Yourself Instagram

This is The Do It For Yourself Podcast.  Each week I sit down with someone who is doing it for themselves and chasing a dream they just couldn’t suppress.  This is often speakers, entrepreneurs, or athletes.  They all share one thing in common, they are overcoming challenges and never giving up.  Someone who is Doing It For Themselves is not selfish in their pursuit, they are simply chasing a dream or working towards a goal because it is something THEY want to do.  They are not forging down a path because society or someone is telling them it’s what they should be doing.

My guest this week is Livi Ron who is a meat scientist and registered dietician.  Livin is a senior meat scientist full time and she travels around the country to different meat processing plants to help them develop better products.  This is her full-time job and on the "side" Livi is a registered dietician coaching clients and she is also studying her Ph.D. in meat science.

Livi's story starts back when she was riding a friend's horse.  Something happened that spooked the horse and the horse took off back to the barn because it was scared.  Unfortunately, when the horse hit the pavement the horse fell over and landed on Livin and she ended up in a coma for 9 days.  Livi got to the point where doctors were asking her parents if they wanted to keep her alive.  The whole situation was very hard on her family but miraculously one day she woke up.  After waking up Livi had a long road to recovery because her brain did a complete reset on her.

When Livi returned to school people were very mean to her.  She was in a neck brace and couldn't be in the hall between classes with everyone else and so she began to stick out like a sore thumb.  Livin found at this point that the only people she fit in with were the people who were outcasts that did drugs.  Livi began using drugs to fit in with this new collection of friends and it quickly spiraled out of control to the point where she was selling her body just to get money to pay for her drugs.  One day after work her parents came to pick her up, which Livi thought was strange because she had her car there and could have driven home.  Her parents disguised it as a birthday surprise but in reality, they were taking her to a rehab center.

Once Livi turned 18 she had almost graduated the program but she left not on good terms.  Towards the end of the program, she had a job at a gas station and she met a boy and they got into trouble.  The program gave her an ultimatum to either start over or just leave and so she just left.  Livi was living in section 8 housing illegally watching someone's kids and went right back to selling drugs.  Livi figured out that she could use her body and good looks to manipulate some of the officers patrolling the area.  Somehow Livi got herself into community college and met another boy there.  This guy was different from any of the previous guys that she had interactions with.  This guy didn't drink, didn't do drugs and was completely sober.  Livi wanted to move in with him and start to get back on track but the only way she could do this was to become sober.  Simultaneously Livi had a check-up with her OB/GYN provider that was very alarming.  She found out that at a very young age that she had ovarian cancer and that was it, she knew she needed to get her life together.

Kyle played a very pivotal roll in helping Livi get back on her feet.  He created a great environment for Livi at the time, he motivated her and kept her on a straightened path.  Livi fed off of this environment and made the decision to go to veterinary school.  While she was going through her program she took a class that sparked the interest for meat science and so she completely changed her path but she definitely wouldn't have been able to do this without the help of Kyle. 

Livi became so passionate about this career because she wanted to help people see that what they think and sometimes what they are told about their food is not true.  This is also why Livi wanted to be a registered dietician because she really wants to help people understand that there is more than just the marketing on the packaging for the food that we see in stores.  Livi had a professor that answered all of her questions, showed her the data that backed it up and took her to food lots.  This just poured gas on Livi's fire and really built her passion.  

Livi has used this passion to completely rebuild the life of her dreams.  She is helping athletes and women understand food better, she lives in an amazing condo in downtown Chicago and drives a fancy car.  This is nothing that she could have seen back when she was living in section 8 housing, but she is completely confident that those things helped shape where she is today.  Moving forward Livi could see her nutrition company bigger and bigger but she loves her job so much that it would be hard to walk away from it.  

Livi's journey is just so amazing and inspiring and I am honored that she came on the podcast to share her story.  I love the way that Livi conveys her point and information on Instagram so please make sure to check it out.  

 

Livi's Instagram

Revival Wellness Facebook

Revival Wellness Instagram

Revival Wellness Website

 

Do It For Yourself Instagram

This is The Do It For Yourself Podcast.  Each week I sit down with someone who is doing it for themselves and chasing a dream they just couldn’t suppress.  This is often speakers, entrepreneurs, or athletes.  They all share one thing in common, they are overcoming challenges and never giving up.  Someone who is Doing It For Themselves is not selfish in their pursuit, they are simply chasing a dream or working towards a goal because it is something THEY want to do.  They are not forging down a path because society or someone is telling them it’s what they should be doing.

This week my guest if Dr. Drew Timmermans.  Dr. Drew is a naturopathic doctor who specializes in pain management.  Dr. Drew has a DEA number and reports to the FDA and a board he reports to the same way that a normal DO or MD would.  There are only 7 schools across the US and Canada that offer this as a program.

Dr. Drew knew from high school he wanted to be a physician.  He was always interested in the body and sports and he knew he wanted to be a physician.  Initially, Dr. Drew wanted to be a cardiothoracic surgeon.  While he was going through school and witness an open-heart surgery first hand.  Unfortunately during this surgery, Dr. Drew didn't get the rush he thought he was going to.  He left this surgery feeling like this didn't really pique his interest, it wasn't something he felt a pull towards.  

At this point Dr. Drew took a step back to figure out what path he wanted to go down.  He was in his third year of university and got really passionate about muscular-skeletal medicine through following Kelly Starrett and Mobility WOD.  Dr. Drew was still focused on traditional medicine and had not yet learned of the Naturopathic field.  He applied to some different med schools in the US and Canada for this program but unfortunately, he was not accepted to any of the programs.

Yet AGAIN Dr. Drew had to take a step back and change his path.  He began working as a personal trainer during this time and this was when Dr. Drew really began to develop his internal compass on where he wanted to go with medicine.  He had countless clients coming to him after working together saying they were being taken off their medications thanks to the work they were doing together.  Dr. Drew really started to look into supplements and alternative forms of medicine.  One of his clients began to talk with him about naturopathic medicine and suggested that he look into it.  Dr. Drew discovered this was exactly what he wanted to do, he wanted to focus on treating the whole issue from the root and not just the acute problem. 

Dr. Drew did his research and found a school that offered the program he was interested in and he began his application process.  When deciding on a school it was hard to argue with going to school somewhere as beautiful as Arizona so it seemed to make the decision pretty easy.  

Although Dr. Drew didn't get accepted into a med school through his first round of applications, he was so passionate about going into medicine that he did not let this get in his way.  Dr. Drew knew that he needed to get back up to bat and keep swinging to make this dream a reality.  

Although Dr. Drew has gone through an extensive program there is some flack from "regular" doctors because they are unaware of the training they go through.  Naturopathic medicine laws differ from state to state and it is not as regulated as traditional med school.  Ultimately Dr. Drew would love to work together with DO's and MD's to help patients treat their issues.  Although this is not something that happens right now, Dr. Drew would love to work towards this in the future.

After finishing med school and residency, Dr. Drew decided to add one more layer of complexity to his story by going right into launching his own private practice.  He graduated with typical med school debt but he had his blinders on after graduation and was laser-focused on his clinic.  Dr. Drew knew leaving school that he wanted to launch a major clinic with brand recognition, he didn't want to just be his own boss, he wants to create something much more.  All of this provides challenges because he is launching a clinic but they are also not accepting insurance and patients have to pay out of pocket for services.  Even with all of this being said Dr. Drew is still Doing It For Himself and building his business!

I really enjoyed learning about this entire field and I hope you enjoy as well.

 

Dr. Drew Instagram

Dr. Drew Website

Dr. Drew Facebook

Dr. Drew Youtube

 

Do It For Yourself Instagram

This is The Do It For Yourself Podcast.  Each week I sit down with someone who is doing it for themselves and chasing a dream they just couldn’t suppress.  This is often speakers, entrepreneurs, or athletes.  They all share one thing in common, they are overcoming challenges and never giving up.  Someone who is Doing It For Themselves is not selfish in their pursuit, they are simply chasing a dream or working towards a goal because it is something THEY want to do.  They are not forging down a path because society or someone is telling them it’s what they should be doing.

This week my guest is Jono Hooper.  Jono was born in Australia and went through school there.  When it was time to think about college Jono was considering coming to the United States to attend college or university.  Through a school fair, Jono got connected with a guy named Chris Bates who acted as an agent to help students get scholarships to schools in the states for athletics.  Jono was always athletic but running was something that he really stuck with and so this is what he decided to pursue in order to get into a school in the United States.  

Chris went through this process of going to the school in the United State so he uses his knowledge of the process to help athletes do exactly what he did.  Chris is not allowed to be reimbursed by the colleges or universities for his services so this is all paid for by the student-athletes. 

After going through the process Jono decided on a school in a very small town in Iowa.  He knew going in that he was going to a very small school but he picked this school because of the location and price.  Jono had one other school that accepted him but the location just wasn't going to work for him.  

Jono and his mom set up their trip and got ready to come to the United States for his schooling.  The trip to get to Iowa alone was a lot of travel.  They had to travel from Brisbane to Los Angeles and then from Los Angeles to Chicago and from Chicago to Iowa.  Even after all of this travel, Jono knew almost immediately he wanted to transfer out of his school in Iowa.  He knew that eventually, he was going to have to transfer to finish his degree because Indian Wells was a community college but he wanted to speed up the process.  Jono felt as though he had a debt to pay to his coach because the coach took a chance on him so he committed to running for the two seasons that he said he would.

As a college student who is paying their way through school Jono had expenses that he needed to cover just like most college students.  The tricky part for Jono was though, as a student on a visa you are limited on how much you can work while you are here depending on what you want to do after graduation.  Jono had about 10 months in Brisbane before he was coming over to the states so he worked two jobs to sock away as much money as he possibly could.  Once Jono arrived he knew that he needed to live VERY frugal.  After the first year in the states, Jono went through most of the money he had saved and was still only able to work 20 hours per week.

After Jono completed his two seasons of cross country he knew he needed to make a decision about where he was going to go next.  Luckily as part of the program and process with Chris, Jono was still able to use him as a resource to help with this process.  So Chris and Jono began to look into different schools over the country.  Jono met someone who was transferring to Goldey Beacom in Wilmington Delaware.  They have a cross country team and he could complete his degree there so he applied to this school as well.  After having a long conversation with the cross country coach from Goldey Beacom Jono was committed to going to this school to help the coach rebuild the cross country program.  

After finishing his four-year degree Jono went right into a masters program.  Jono is currently working on finishing his law degree.  ono definitely how to overcome many challenges in this journey and I am honored he came on the podcast to share them.

 

I hope you enjoy this episode.

 

Jono's Instagram

Do It For Yourself Instagram

This is The Do It For Yourself Podcast.  Each week I sit down with someone who is doing it for themselves and chasing a dream they just couldn’t suppress.  This is often speakers, entrepreneurs, or athletes.  They all share one thing in common, they are overcoming challenges and never giving up.  Someone who is Doing It For Themselves is not selfish in their pursuit, they are simply chasing a dream or working towards a goal because it is something THEY want to do.  They are not forging down a path because society or someone is telling them it’s what they should be doing.

This week I had the pleasure to sit down with San Diego's Best Meteorologist Jodi Kodesh! We get a chance to dive deep into Jodi's story about chasing her dream to be a weather person, how that dream was crushed and how she rebounded from a blindside.  This was such a fun conversation and I am really looking forward to sharing it with you.  

 

Jodi's Instagram

Jodi's Facebook

Do It For Yourself Instagram

This is The Do It For Yourself Podcast.  Each week I sit down with someone who is doing it for themselves and chasing a dream they just couldn’t suppress.  This is often speakers, entrepreneurs, or athletes.  They all share one thing in common, they are overcoming challenges and never giving up.  Someone who is Doing It For Themselves is not selfish in their pursuit, they are simply chasing a dream or working towards a goal because it is something THEY want to do.  They are not forging down a path because society or someone is telling them it’s what they should be doing.

This week my guest is the amazing John McLucas who is an independent music producer working in the pop genre.  John started off by bootstrapping his way up and living in his studio to keep his costs low.  He has since moved out of that studio, but he has not forgotten his roots or what got him to where he is.  

I had a really great time chatting with John and I hope you enjoy it as well.

 

John Instagram

John Facebook

John Website

 

Do It For Yourself Instagram

This is The Do It For Yourself Podcast.  Each week I sit down with someone who is doing it for themselves and chasing a dream they just couldn’t suppress.  This is often speakers, entrepreneurs, or athletes.  They all share one thing in common, they are overcoming challenges and never giving up.  Someone who is Doing It For Themselves is not selfish in their pursuit, they are simply chasing a dream or working towards a goal because it is something THEY want to do.  They are not forging down a path because society or someone is telling them it’s what they should be doing.

 

This week my guest is Jimmy Lee from Inner Fire Podcast.  We get a chance to dive deep into Jimmy's story about childhood obesity, losing weight in high school and they regaining weight from a job he worked in the military.  The chemicals Jimmy was using in a very small and not well-ventilated room impacted his health more than he realized and he began to gain weight with no explanation whatsoever.  Once Jimmy discovered what these chemicals did to his body he began a new journey to find his health, peace, and happiness.  

This is an awesome interview with Jimmy and I hope you enjoy.

 

Inner Fire Podcast

Inner Fire Instagram

Inner Fire Twitter

 

Do It For Yourself Instagram

This is The Do It For Yourself Podcast.  Each week I sit down with someone who is doing it for themselves and chasing a dream they just couldn’t suppress.  This is often speakers, entrepreneurs, or athletes.  They all share one thing in common, they are overcoming challenges and never giving up.  Someone who is Doing It For Themselves is not selfish in their pursuit, they are simply chasing a dream or working towards a goal because it is something THEY want to do.  They are not forging down a path because society or someone is telling them it’s what they should be doing.

This week my guest is Kaan Erel.  Kaan is the host and creator of a podcast and Instagram page talking about the NBA in Turkish.  Kaan started this out of his passion for the NBA, but it has led to much more.  This is a very relatable story of someone who left their day job and decided to chase their passion.  

 

Kaan's Instagram

 

Do It For Yourself Instagram