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 had the privilege to sit down with Zach and James Wilson of WayVine.  These two brothers started their vineyard from the ground up.  It all started as a passion project when Zach ordered some vines to plant on his families farmland.  He ordered way more than anyone ever imagined and he remembers promising his dad to have them all in the ground before the weekend and that they would still be able to go golfing.  

 

Those vines were all planted in more than enough time but they were far too exhausted to go golfing that Sunday.  This work ethic has never left the two brothers that now run the winery.  They are out there 7 days a week, 11 months out of the year taking care of their vines.  When they aren't out in the vineyard they are producing some world-class wines from the barn that has now been transformed into their production and bottling area.  

 

It was such an honor to sit down with two people who are so passionate about their craft and I really enjoyed my time on the property with James and Zach.  

 

I hope you enjoy this interview with James and Zach of WayVine

 

WayVine Website

WayVine 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.

 

Today my guest is Nathan Turner or more commonly known as the_tri_lyfe on Instagram.  Nathan is a triathlete who is currently living and working in Colorado.  If you follow him on Instagram or check out some of his pictures you will see that Nathan love his triathlon training and racing.  You will find pictures of him doing his swim, bike, and run along with is #MedalMonday posts.  

 

If you scroll back enough you may happen to see one of his transformation pictures.  Believe it or not, Nathan wasn't always comfortable posting pictures in tight cycling clothing.  Nathan actually didn't even like to get up and speak in front of a crowd when he was working.  He decided to make a change though and it was all centered around some peer pressure from a friend.  She peer pressured him into doing a mud run and he agreed with next to no training under his belt.  Nathan did the run and immediately fell in love with racing.  

 

He then turned the tables on his friend and peer pressured her into doing a triathlon with him.  Nathan actually signed up for the race before he even owned a proper road bike!  He quickly realized he was going to need to iron out a few details before race day.  So Nathan went and got a proper road bike and went on to do his first triathlon ever.  It was at this point he wanted to see how far he could take this sport.  Fast forward to today and Nathan is taking this sport to lengths he never even imagined.  He has a goal to complete every 70.3 Ironman race offered in North America and he is also racing for Team USA in the world championships.  Nathan has completely turned his life around and he couldn't be happier about where this road has taken him.  

 

I hope you enjoy this interview with Nathan as much as I did. 

 

Nathan'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 Josh Sprague, the owner of Orange Mud.  Orange Mud is a hydration pack that actually sits between your shoulder blades as opposed to the more tradition belt style packs.  Josh came up with this idea after many frustrating long runs while training for Ironman distance races.  He simply could not find a belt that he liked or worked for him.  So Josh took to his garage one night and used some of the resources he had to make his first prototype.  From there he was off and running, literally and figuratively.  

 

Josh jumped into this with both feet and began dedicating all of his free time to making this pack perfect.  From sourcing to materials, to production, it was all at night or on the weekends as he was still working a full-time job in medical device sales.  Josh was beginning to realize that this was something more than just a hobby, he knew he was really on to something here, but he was nervous about leaving the steady income to go after this dream.  Luckily for Josh, he managed his finances well and set himself up to jump into Orange Mud full time.  

 

Join us on this episode as we learn where Josh found his passion for endurance and adventure and how he took that first "rough" prototype into the production of a product that is not shipped all over.

 

Orange Mud Website

Orange Mud Instagram

Josh 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 super pumped to bring you my interview with Austen Gravett.  Austen is a fitness entrepreneur from Delaware who owns GravFitt.  GravFitt is a membership-based platform formed to help individuals who are looking to get in shape and lose weight.  

Austen started his fitness journey after getting into a small fight where he was beaten up.  He thought to himself "man if I was just a bit bigger I bet that wouldn't have happened". So he went on a quest to put on some muscle and become a bit bigger.  This is when Austen found his love for fitness.  Austen quickly realized that he wanted to turn this into something more than just a passion, he wanted this to become his job.  This is when he launched his campaign "Gravitate a Million" with a goal to get a million people moving.  

After launching this campaign Austen began to realize that he was lacking some focus and it was also around this time he learned about Ryan Lee and his membership program Freedym, which we talk about a bit on this episode.  Since finding Ryan and joining the group Austen has become laser-focused in what his goal is and he is working much smarter to reach this goal.  

I hope you enjoy this interview with Austen.

 

Austen Instagram

GravFitt Website

Freedym Website (Mentioned in this episode)

 

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 very honored to bring you an interview with a very good friend of mine, Patrick Masticola.  Pat and I have known each other for a very long time and when I launched this podcast he was one of the first names I wrote down on my list of people I wanted to talk to.  Pat and I go way back and we have even been called doppelgangers once or twice.  I will say, we do have some very similar characteristics, one of which was being bigger dudes.  Pat says that he was always a "bigger" dude and he remembers using techniques to try and "hide" his size.  He would wear shirts with large logos or anything to take the attention away from his size.  It wasn't until after his marriage while he was on a trip with his wife that he realized he wanted to make a change.  There was a picture taken of them on this trip and he was disgusted with the way that he looked.  

 

It was also around this time that Pat discovered something called the Keto Diet.  He had a friend who had tried it and really liked it so he shared that with Pat along with a SubReddit about this way of eating.  Pat began to adopt this way of eating and he found that he was REALLY enjoying it.  He knew this wasn't going to be something he just did to lose weight and then he would go back to his old ways.  

 

After seeing his remarkable transformation picture, I just knew I had to have this conversation with him.  I know this episode is a bit on the longer side but it had been awhile since I got to sit and talk with Pat so we went a bit over.  

 

I hope that you enjoy this interview!

 

Pat'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 honor of sitting down with Adam Jones who is one of the creators of Peloton Cold Brew Coffee and Cascara Tea.  I have been a long time fan of Peloton Cold Brew and I remember going on a wild goose chase to find it for the first time.  I learned that is was made locally in West Chester, PA and it had a cyclist on the logo so I had to find it.  Luckily I found it in a Whole Foods near home and I instantly fell in love! 

 

Adam's story with Peloton began one night late in New York when he went into a local bodega looking to get a Red Bull to pull him through a long night of photo editing.  At the time he was living and working in Brooklyn as a photographer.   Instead of picking up that Red Bull, however, he found a cold brew coffee that had a label he was very attracted to.  Never being a coffee drinker he decided to give it a shot.  This changed his course entirely.  Adam fell in love with the smooth, rich flavor of the cold brew and he went on a quest to learn everything he could about this holy grail of coffee.  

 

Adam began doing his research and brewing his own coffee out of his apartment.  His roommates and friends LOVED the product, one so much so that he came to Adam and offered him $10,000 to go start a cold brew company.  Adam knew this was his chance, he always wanted to start a business with his brother so he moved back home and they began working on Peloton.  

 

Peloton is now available in Whole Foods on the east coast and is rapidly expanding not only their territory but also their product line.  This year they are launching an all-new Cascara Tea along with their line of cold brew coffees.  This is a wide-ranging interview where we get into a lot of Adams story and how things got started.  

 

I hope you enjoy my interview with Adam Jones. 

 

Peloton Instagram

Peloton 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 I had the pleasure and privilege to sit down with Sergio Gaytan.  Sergio is a triathlete living in beautiful southern California.  Sergio is a husband, father, and hard worker by day.  You will find Sergio out on the roads training in the early morning hours before going to work for the day.  Sergio has not always been this dedicated to health, fitness, and triathlon though.  As Sergio admits in our interview, he fell victim to the "worker" lifestyle when he moved to the US and was eating out A LOT.  He believes this was a result of having such food readily available to him.  Where Sergio came from in Mexico, they did not have McDonald's, KFC, and the like on every corner so when he came to the United States and had a job that afforded him the opportunity to have these foods he began to take advantage of it.  

 

After a meeting with his doctor, Sergio had an eye-opening conversation about his health and he knew he needed to make some changes.  He began to hit the trails on his mountain bike and become more aware of how he was fueling his body.  This did, however, take him in the opposite direction and as we discuss, he became very obsessed with his food.  His body fat percentage was so low at one point that it actually became unhealthy and he reevaluated yet again.  

 

Sergio has now found a balance between tracking his food and a few different techniques or dietary solutions that work very well for him.  This interview is on the longer side but I really enjoyed talking with Sergio and given the similarities in our stories we got to talking and lost track of time.  I really hope you enjoy my interview with Sergio as much as I did.

 

Sergio'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 professional triathlete, Max Fennell.  Max is a professional triathlete living in sunny central California.  He was born and raised in Pennsylvania but moved out to California to work with his coach.  Becoming a professional triathlete was an amazing accomplishment by Max, however, the when Max became a professional triathlete who was the FIRST African American professional triathlete.  This came with its own set of challenges.  Max faced some backlash from people in the sport that made being a professional triathlete even more challenging.  Working as a pro early on it was difficult to pay bills, find housing and many other things that most early pro triathletes face.  Max how to do this all while receiving threating messages, notes and hate.  

 

Max used these experiences to channel the negative and turn it into a positive.  He will not be representing a country in hopes to show kids that they too can pursue a dream just as he did.  Max was very open and honest about how these things impacted him and I thank him for sharing not only this part of his story but his whole story with me on The Do It For Yourself podcast.  

 

I hope you enjoy this weeks episode with Max Fennell.

 

Max'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 neglect.  This is often speakers, entrepreneurs, or athletes.  They all share one thing in common, they are overcoming challenges and never giving up.

 

This week my guest is Cody Loeffler.    Cody is the owner of Opex Upper Main Line in Paoli PA.  Opex hosts a different training atmosphere for its clients and athletes.  There are no formal classes, it is a much more individualized training atmosphere.  Cody came from a CrossFit background but eventually found a different way he wanted to take his training and coaching style.  Cody didn't like having to follow the "rules" and stay within the box, which could be why he initially left his teaching job to pursue this journey of coaching.  

 

Eventually, Cody broke the mold and launched Union Forged Fitness, which was his first gym that incorporated training clients, nutritional services and much more.  Cody believes in looking at each athlete's needs in a case by case basis.  There is no one plan that will work for every athlete across the board.  Unfortunately, Cody and his funders didn't see eye to eye on some things with Union Forged and he needed to pivot his path slightly.  This was where Opex entered and Cody couldn't be happier.  

 

It was great to reconnect and chat with Cody and I look forward to getting together again soon to hear how Opex has grown.

 

Please enjoy this weeks interview with Cody.

 

Codey'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 neglect.  This is often speakers, entrepreneurs, or athletes.  They all share one thing in common, they are overcoming challenges and never giving up.

 

This week my guest is Ryheem Johnson.  I met Ryheem quite a few years ago when he was hustling his way through his Master's program and we have kept in contact ever since.  Heem has always been a hustler, hence where he got his nickname Hustle Heem.  When we met, he was completing a Master's program, working overnight at a department store and doing personal training at a Retro Fitness.  As I followed his journey I became more and more intrigued by what he was up to.  I learned that Heem landed himself a great job working for an accounting firm but he was still training his clients on the side.  It was around this time that he also began modeling and competing in NPC competitions.  This was a way for Heem to stay in shape while working his 9-5 job, but it also made him a great example for the clients he was training.  Heem had a desire though, one that he just could not suppress and that was for fitness and training his clients.  So not long after accepting his job, he quit that job to pursue his passion for fitness and modeling.   

Heem went on to become a published model, an actor and eventually and stand up comedian.  Although now he looks back on some of the things he did and laughs (S.O.S. Underwear gig) he knew that there was also some dark times.  When he left his accounting job he had to really dig deep into his hustle if he was going to make it and he did just that.  Heem did just about everything he could to chase this passion and now he is enjoying the fruits of his labor.  Although he has returned to working full time since getting married, he is launching himself into standup comedy and beginning a new hustle.  

Heem has a passion and energy that you will be able to feel coming through your earbuds and this is sure to be a great episode.  

   

Please enjoy this weeks interview with Heem.

 

Ryheem's Instagram

 

Do it for Yourself Instagram