Do It For Yourself Podcast

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 have a chance to sit down with Tom Antion who has been Doing It For Himself for the last 50 plus years.  Tom has never had a job and has been an entrepreneur since he was a child.   We get a chance to dive into Tom's first ventures through college and owning a hotel, all the way up to what he is doing currently.  It was interesting to see how Tom's businesses changed as his interests changed over the years.  

I really enjoyed sharing Tom's story and I hope you enjoy it as well.  

 

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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 Ryan McCoy.  He is a writer and independent filmmaker living in Los Angeles.  Ryan is primarily a writer and that is what he enjoys most but he always has a few pots boiling at once.  Ryan has another passion and that is to pull back the curtain on Hollywood and show some of the things going on that are impacting workers in this industry.  This was a very passionate conversation about many of the things that mean a lot to Ryan and I thank him for being so open about this industry. 

I hope that you enjoy this interview and it opens your eyes to some of the things going on in this industry.

 

Ryan'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 am sitting down with Shane Nicolich.  Shane is an avid runner living with MS.  Shane has a goal to run every day, from a few miles to a marathon, it's not about the distance he just wants to enjoy running because it keeps him grounded.  Shane suffered from a traumatic brain injury and he thought he was never going to get his life back, the life he had.  Shane began running with the wrong crew, drinking and doing drugs.  

After getting clean, Shane now has a new outlook on life, one that he wants to share with everyone!

 

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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 on the podcast this week is Laura Briggs.  Laura is a freelance writer who helps clients with their copy on their websites.  Laura was a teacher but found it difficult to maintain a job because of her husband's career in the military.  She felt even though it was a full-time position when she had a job, it would never last because they always had the chance of being relocated.  Laura needed to come up with an alternative, something she could do no matter where they were living.  This is when Laura began to build her writing career.  We get a chance to dive deep into the early days of Laura's freelance work, to building a client base that she wants to work with after getting burnt out.  

This was such a fun conversation and I really look forward to sharing it with you today.  

 

Laura's Facebook

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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 on the podcast I am doing something a bit different.  This week my guest is Ben Trela.  When Ben and I got connected he wasn't sure if his story would really fit with the theme here on the podcast because he was just getting started on his journey.  After getting to know Ben a bit more I decided this would be a great fit if we framed it just a bit different.  My goal with this podcast is to tell a story but that doesn't necessarily have to happen over the course of one episode.  I have done this in the past with guests like Ginny Cataldi, Justin Mendoza, and some others.  

So my goal for this weeks episode is for Ben to give us some insight on where he is right now in the beginning stages of his journey and how he plans to move forward with Doing It For Himself.  

I hope you enjoy this story and I look forward to sharing an update with you down the road.

 

Ben Trela on Instagram

Do It For Yourself on 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.

If you are a triathlete who surfs through pictures on Instagram I am sure you have come across the page, Humans Of Triathlon.  100's upon 100's of inspirational stories of people participating in triathlon and sharing their love of the sport.  On this weeks episode, I got the chance to sit down with the creator of this movement, Swapneel.  We discuss the story behind Humans Of Triathlon and his inspiration to start this page.  We also take a long walk down the path of Swapneel's "why" for starting this page and some of the things he was and still is battling related to his health and fitness.  

I was honored that Swapneel sat down with me for his first ever interview and it is my pleasure to share it with you.  

 

Humans Of Triathlon Instagram

Humans Of Triathlon Podcast

Humans Of Triathlon 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.

My guest on this weeks episode is Joel Hawbaker.  Joel is an award-winning teacher, speaker, and author who is Doing It For Himself.  Joel after being an athlete all his life made some very poor decisions which ultimately led to him to divorce.  Post-divorce Joel continued to make decisions that were not in his best interest.  He found himself sitting in front of the TV, eating take out and unhealthy snacks.  One day while Joel was shopping in Wal-Mart he thought he would step on a scale.  When he saw the number that the scale read, he thought man this thing must be broken so he stepped on an additional two scales before realizing it was not broken, he had gained that much weight since the divorce.  

Under the direction and support of a friend, Joel began working out before work during the summer time.  At the time he didn't realize that this friend was possibly interested in him on more than just a friend level.  They continued to work out together and Joel began to see the weight start to come off.  

Once Joel finally caught on, his workout partner and he became more than just friends and ultimately they got married.  Joel's wife has been his biggest supporter throughout his journey and he still thinks that she is way out of his league and he is not sure how he got so lucky.  

Joel has gone on to do some truly amazing things and I really look forward to sharing them with you in this episode.  

 

Support the show here

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 get a chance to catch up with Elle Goodall who is more commonly known as elles_journey_to_good_health on Instagram.  Elle started her journey in triathlon about 3 years ago.  Elle was very overweight before she started, weighing 406lbs.  Elle remembers everything being a struggle weighing this much.  She couldn't walk 100 meters without having to stop and take a break, she couldn't get up off of the floor without help and she was throwing her life away.  Elle's biggest struggle during this time was her addiction to food.  

When Elle was in school she remembers eating balanced meals while she was at home.  They hardly ever had take out and she remembers her mom cooking quite a bit.  Once Elle moved out though, she realized she could have McDonald's any time she wanted and so she did.  She would have McDonald's for every meal.  The weight gain and food addiction really started when Elle began her desk job.  She remembers her if her partner would tell her that they shouldn't eat McDonald's she would get really mad and turn into an evil person.  

One fateful day Elle had to step on a scale while at the doctor.  Elle usually tries to avoid going to the doctor because she would just prefer to take some cold and flu tablets and handle the cold on her own.  One day though she had to go to the doctor for a physical exam for work and they asked her to step on the scale.  When she stepped on the scale and it gave an error message.  Elle didn't understand why this was happening.  She had estimated her weight to be around 120kg but she didn't know for sure because she stopped getting on the scale.  Her doctor explained that she too heavy for the scale and that they went up to 150kg.  Elle couldn't believe it, she just didn't understand.  They moved into the nurse's room where they had a larger scale and when she stepped on she saw 184kg which is 406lbs. 

The doctor told Elle that she immediately needed to go get more tests done.  She needed blood work, sleep tests and a whole list of other tests.  Elle got the news that she was basically killing herself every night in her sleep.  Her oxygen levels would drop so low that she was almost dying in her sleep.  On top of everything else, they wanted to take away her driver's license because they were afraid that due to her sleep issues she could fall asleep at the wheel.  

After about 2 weeks of going through testing and back and forth with the doctors Elle got all of her results.  During this time Elle joined a local gym because she knew that she needed to do something.  Elle went to the gym one time over the two weeks and she walked on the treadmill for about 30 minutes.  She saw that she burned 300 calories and so she rewarded herself with McDonald's.  Elle was hiding her food at this point.  She would go and get the food, eat it in private and then throw the trash away where no one could find it.  

Elle had to work really really hard to change her relationship with food.  She had weight loss surgery which changes how much you can eat but it didn't change how she felt about food.  It didn't change how much food she WANTED to eat.  After surgery, Elle had a switch that flipped in her head.  Surgery was so painful that Elle didn't want to go through that ever again.  Elle worked to eat something healthy each time she wanted McDonald's.  She would have celery or cucumbers and this would take away her craving.  Elle realized that even though she wanted to eat bad food if she ate something good, it would satisfy her hunger.  Even though this was extremely hard Elle worked at it and kept doing what she knew was a good choice.  

One of the hardest parts of this journey, one of the things that kept Elle going through this journey was her family.  Elle remembers her father saying to her that he should not have to bury her.  Elle is very close with her family and her parents keep pushing her forward and chasing her dreams.  

After surgery, Elle started to do everything on her own.  She went online and began to do research and try things as she went along.  Elle gained all of her knowledge from the internet and different videos.  One of the activities Elle began doing after surgery was standup paddle boarding.  Elle would go to a local lake to get on her stand-up paddleboard.  While Elle was at the lake one day she saw a local group doing a training swim.  This immediately sparked Elle's interest because she used to be a swimmer herself.  Elle went over to talk with the group.  She expressed her interest in doing a triathlon and a woman said you could absolutely do a triathlon and so Elle left with a plan and began doing the workouts on her own.  

Elle signed up and completed her first race while she still weighed about 160kgs.  Immediately after this race, Elle stepped up to a sprint and then an Olympic and then a 70.3.  After the 70.3 Elle knew that she wanted to do a full Ironman.  Over the course of all of this training for her first full Ironman Elle has lost about 265lbs.  

Elle learned about Kona through people who were talking about it and so, of course, she jumped online to learn more.  Elle realized how much of a big deal Kona was and she knew she wanted to get there one day.  As Elle continued to train she also continued to post online and document her journey.  This gained international attention and the attention of Ironman.  Ironman reached out to Elle about following her story and sharing it with their followers.  

Ironman followed Elle to Cains Ironman where she completed her race even after being hit by a car.  After the race, Ironman reached out and asked her to come down for an interview.  It started off as a typical interview for Elle, but then the interviewer asked Elle about Kona and what it means to her.  She thought it was a little odd but didn't think anything of it and she explained that one day she would get there.  The interviewer then looked at the camera guys and told them to keep the cameras rolling and then he disappeared.  He returned with a plaque and he begins to explain that each year Ironman selects an ambassador to go to Kona.  When the interviewer turned the plaque around it was for Elle and it was her invitation to race Kona.  Her dream had come true.  

While in Kona Elle had some struggles with people and their comments about how she got to Kona.  There were some doubts that went through her head while Elle was there.  Elle felt in a way that maybe she didn't deserve to be there.  This was a difficult time for Elle but she handled it with flying colors and she went on to finish her dream races and has memories from this trip that are going to last a lifetime.  

Elle's major goal right now is to go back to Kona again, but this time through a qualification.  Elle is aware of how much of a commitment this is.  She has given herself 4 years and she will be back in Kona again through a qualification.  Elle is working with a coach now and this is her long term goal.  

I really enjoyed this interview with Elle and I hope you do as well.

 

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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 Nick Barba.  I have known Nick for years now and when I first launched the podcast I knew that I wanted to sit down with him to go through his story but I thought it was too soon.  I made excuses as to why I couldn't reach out and I also wanted to give him so time.  Recently Nick posted his video part which you can watch here and I knew after that I needed to get connected with him.

We went back and forth to get something scheduled and sometimes things just work out.  We ended up meeting one night and got a chance to sit outside, enjoy the weather and hash out his journey.  

Nick's introduction to drinking goes back as far as he can remember.  He details memories of being a young kid and his family members giving him beer because they thought it was funny.  By the time Nick was in 8th grade, he can remember already having a tolerance for alcohol.  

As Nick got older he can remember drinking and having a good time while skating with his older friends.  One instance he remembers well is going to skate at Bam Margera's barn.  Nick nailed a trick while Bam was watching and Bam asked him afterward how he did it.  Nick was dumbfounded...A skateboarding LEGEND was asking him for tips!  Nick told him what he did and Bam ended up nailing a trick he had been working on himself.  After that, he went to hang with Bam and drink.  

This became a trend, but Nick didn't think anything of it.  He would go hang at the barn, skate, drink and everything was cool.  Nick ended up getting an ankle injury and he received muscle relaxers and pain killers for this injury but he never took them.  He knew he didn't need them so he never went and filled the scripts. Shortly after his injury, Nick went to film again and did the same exact thing to his other ankle.  This time was different though, Nick did get the scripts filled.  He couldn't go skate so all he had was these pills and this alcohol.  

This is when things began to really go downhill for Nick.  He started with one pill and then that wasn't enough so he started taking more.  Soon that wasn't enough so he began snorting them and doing anything he could to increase his high.  

People started to notice a change in Nick.  He would be nodding off at parties and people were asking questions and putting pressure on him to chill out.  It actually got to the point where Nick traded his pills for cocaine.  Nick figured that people would see he wasn't nodding out at parties so they would get off his back.  For Nick during this time, he was strictly focused on keeping people off his back for the things that he was doing.  

The toughest part of Nick's story is that he has a tough time remembering specifics from his story.  When it comes to the night of Nick making the decision to go to rehab Nick doesn't remember a whole lot.  Nick remembers that he was up for multiple days straight.  He convinced someone to pay for his Uber to get to Chester to get drugs.  Nick remembers walking around the streets of Chester PA early in the morning.  He left Chester and went to Philly to continue partying.  The last bar that Nick went to in Philly was called 12 steps down ironically.  He convinced someone to pay for his Uber to get him back to West Chester to drink more.  He leaves the bars in West Chester to go home and this is when he realized he had nothing left.  He had no money, he had been up for days and he was SUPER ANGRY.  He tried to fight his brother, he was breaking things in the house and he remembers having a conversation with his mom.  

The next thing Nick remembers is pulling into a rehab facility in New York but he doesn't even remember agreeing to go.  Once there Nick realized where he was and he was prepared to take off into the woods and figure it out.  Nick figured it would be easier to just bite his lip and go through this to get back to where he was.  Nick ended up being in detox for 7 days straight because of what he was coming off of.  

Going through the program Nick started to realize that maybe this was something he needed to take seriously.  Towards the end, Nick started to hustle the counselor a little bit to get a script for Adderall.   The person who he talked to ACTUALLY wrote him a script to get it.  When Nick returned home he tried to get it filled but nothing worked.  He couldn't get it filled, he couldn't get an appointment, nothing.  Nick took this as a sign, maybe this was done.  

Once Nick was out, he started to realize how good he actually felt.  This has been the biggest motivator for him.  Nick doesn't want to go through what he went through again and he feels so amazing he doesn't want to ruin that.  Nick has gone through so such an amazing change that he doesn't want to ruin it.  He has truly gotten his life back.

 

This was truly such an amazing conversation and I hope that you all enjoy.  Please make sure to check out Nick's video part here!

 

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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 Marc Guberti.  Marc is an entrepreneur, author and content marketer who started with blogging when blogging was very young.  Marc was also very young himself, starting his first blog at the age of 11 thanks to the push from his mom.  Marc went on to start 100's of more blog over the course of his years based on his interests and this is where he began to find success.  

Marc transitioned from blogging to building his business of showing people how to take advantage of the internet to market their business or personal brand.  

Marc has faced many challenges specifically his age when it comes to being an entrepreneur but he has had the support of his family the whole way.  This was a great interview and I am looking forward ot sharing it with you on the Do It For Yourself Podcast. 

 

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