Eagle Freedom Presents

On December 23, 2025, 23-year-old Alli Jespersen, a lifelong athlete who trained in MMA and wrestling, said "I'm so dizzy" at work and collapsed. Her heart stopped, and then it stopped again. Doctors warned her family she might never be the same. Her mother held on to a vision of Alli sitting with Jesus, and on Christmas Day, Alli woke up.

On this episode of Eagle Freedom Presents, host and founder Deston Rogers sits down with Alli Jespersen and her mother, Bailey, to share both sides of the story: the daughter who doesn't remember dying, and the mom who refused to give up hope. It's a story about faith, prayer, the power of a church family, and finding out you are loved.

In this episode:

- Growing up a competitor in MMA and wrestling

- December 23: a normal workday until "I'm so dizzy"

- The phone call every parent dreads

- A heart that stopped twice

- Bailey's vision of Alli talking with Jesus

- The Christmas miracle on December 25

- Waking up knowing she is loved

- Advice for parents facing a bad report

- What freedom means to a survivor and her mom

Alli's coworkers started CPR the moment she collapsed. If you haven't already, learn CPR. It can save a life.

Eagle Freedom Presents is independent and listener-supported. Help keep the lights on at ko-fi.com/eaglefreedom

New episodes every Wednesday. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this with someone who needs to hear it.

Rise. Inspire. Overcome.

Bullied from childhood into adulthood, Deepak Chari hid in the library and read books that, without his knowing it, were reprogramming his mind. After losing his father to a heart attack at 51, he set out to understand why painful patterns repeat from one generation to the next, and how to break them.

On this episode of Eagle Freedom Presents, host and founder Deston Rogers sits down with Deepak Chari, an engineer with a master's degree, co-founder of the Chari Center of Health, and creator of the Life Transformation Technology Program. It's a story about how the hidden patterns we inherit can shape our lives, and about the hope that they don't have to define our future.

In this episode:

- Growing up first-generation, the son of an immigrant father who arrived with $100

- How his father carried his stress in silence until a heart attack took him at 51

- Hiding in the library from bullies and finding books on mindset and manifestation

- Why the bullying followed him into adulthood

- Founding the Chari Center of Health with his sister in tribute to their father

- The four phases through which Deepak believes emotional patterns are passed down

- What a first session with Deepak looks like

- Changing your perception of the past instead of being defined by it

- An 89-year-old client who went from isolated to surrounded by friends

- What freedom means to Deepak

Connect with Deepak Chari:

Book a free, no-obligation 15-minute consultation at fastanxietyhelp.com

This episode touches on bullying, trauma, depression and anxiety. If you're in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (U.S.). Asking for help is a sign of strength.

Eagle Freedom Presents is independent and listener-supported. Help keep the lights on at ko-fi.com/eaglefreedom. New episodes every Wednesday.

Subscribe, leave a review, and share this with someone who needs to hear it. Rise. Inspire. Overcome.

A boulder crushed his foot at 13. Doctors said he'd never climb again. He became a firefighter-paramedic anyway, until decades of trauma nearly cost him his family. Darren Richardson shares how he hit rock bottom, healed through EMDR therapy, and turned it into a calling.

On this episode of Eagle Freedom Presents, host and founder Deston Rogers sits down with Darren Richardson, a former South Metro Fire Department (Denver) firefighter and paramedic with 18 years as a first responder. Both grew up in the Eastern Sierra, and Darren's story is one of resilience, hard-won healing, and the courage to ask for help.

In this episode:

- Growing up in Mammoth Lakes as the "father figure" to his younger brothers

- The boulder accident at 13, the "miracles" that saved his leg, and his first amputation

- Defying the doctors who said he'd never rock climb or ski race again

- How complex PTSD built up over thousands of calls, and why it took two years to recognize

- The slide into alcohol, and the fear of becoming his father

- EMDR therapy explained in plain language

- Peer support and mentoring for first responders - His second amputation, and wake surfing three months later

- Becoming a coach for first responders, veterans, and amputees

- What freedom means to him

Connect with Darren:

Ashes to Ascent Coaching at Ashes to Ascent. He offers a free first session, online or in person in the Coeur d'Alene/Spokane area, and also does motivational speaking.

If you're struggling, you don't have to carry it alone. Call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 (U.S.), talk to a friend, or reach out to a therapist or your department's peer support program. Asking for help is a strength.

Eagle Freedom Presents is independent and listener-supported. To help keep the show going, visit ko-fi.com/eaglefreedom. New episodes every Wednesday.

If this story resonated with you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Rise. Inspire. Overcome.

How do you survive the unimaginable, pick up the pieces, and rise to become the CEO of your own life and business?

In this powerful episode of Eagle Freedom Presents, we sit down with the incredible Leslie Alvarez to explore her awe-inspiring journey of resilience, entrepreneurship, and triumph. Leslie’s story is the ultimate blueprint for anyone who needs to plot their own comeback.

From her humble beginnings selling tamales to make ends meet, to navigating the emotional gravity of surviving the unimaginable with her son and partner, Leslie’s path was anything but easy. Yet, she refused to let her circumstances define her. Today, she joins us to share the raw, unfiltered truth of her rise, her unique entrepreneurial start, and how she harnessed the power of the #RIOmovement (Rise, Inspire, Overcome) to build a life of impact.

In this episode, we dive into:

• The "Tamales to CEO" Journey: How a hustle born out of survival paved the way for massive entrepreneurial success.
• Overcoming the Unimaginable: The mindset and grit required to navigate deep personal and emotional adversity.
• Plotting Your Comeback: Actionable wisdom on how you can rise, inspire, and overcome, no matter where you are starting from today.
• The Heart of Resilience: What it truly means to build a mission-driven life.

If you are facing a setback, searching for your next step, or just need a spark of hope to ignite your own journey, Leslie’s story will prove to you that your current chapter is not your final destination.

Hit play to listen to this unforgettable conversation on resilience, grit, and the power of never giving up.

🔗 CONNECT WITH LESLIE ALVAREZ:

Website: Lesliealvarez.com

Books: Available on Amazon (When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Tamales, Hot Mess Express, Confessions of an HOA Manager)

🔗 CONNECT WITH US:

• Learn more about the movement: Use the hashtag #RIOmovement on social media to share your takeaways!
• Subscribe to Eagle Freedom Presents for more inspiring stories of triumph over adversity.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT:

Help us grow our #RIOmovement and continue to share these stories of inspiration by buying us a cup of coffee. Visit ko-fi.com/eaglefreedom.

If Leslie’s story inspired you, please leave us a 5-star review and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it today!

Behind closed doors, a seemingly perfect life can sometimes hide a nightmare of coercive control and emotional manipulation. In this episode of Eagle Freedom Presents, we sit down with Eva Levina, who survived 25 years of severe narcissistic abuse that culminated in a sudden, brutal discard and a stress-induced cardiac arrest.

Originally from Ukraine, Eva shares the harrowing reality of slowly losing her financial independence, her self-worth, and her voice. She details the terrifying aftermath of waking up in an ICU, fighting against her ex-husband's false claims to have her committed, and the crucial intervention by her therapist that finally broke the chains of her abuse.

But this episode is not just about survival; it is a masterclass in the Rise, Inspire, Overcome mission.

At 66 years old, Eva completely reinvented herself, building a lucrative new career as a stock options trader and publishing her powerful memoir, Death Is No Reason To Stop Living.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The stark contrast between the public facade of a marriage and the reality of covert emotional abuse.
• How gradual financial control and isolation slowly strip away a victim's identity.
• The terrifying reality of "reactive abuse" and how abusers shift the blame to their victims.
• The 4 major red flags of a toxic relationship: gaslighting, constant criticism, shattered boundaries, and sleep deprivation.
• How to find the courage to rebuild your life, your finances, and your self-respect from absolute zero.

Connect with Eva Levina:

• Website: evalevinabooks.com
• Read the Book: Death Is No Reason To Stop Living (Available on Amazon)
• Social Media: Follow @evalevina on Instagram and Facebook

Support the #RIOmovement:

If you found value and hope in Eva’s story, help us continue to shine a light on incredible individuals who rise above adversity. Support Eagle Freedom Presents by heading over to ko-fi.com/eaglefreedom. Whether through a one-time contribution or a monthly membership, your support keeps the movement growing. Keep soaring above the noise!

Have you ever wondered what it takes to walk away from a secure, decade-long corporate career to follow a childhood passion, even when the fear of failure sends you straight to the emergency room?

In this episode of Eagle Freedom Presents, Deston sits down with Chris Natzke, a former United States National Taekwondo champion and professional leadership coach. Chris began his martial arts journey at age 10 after being mesmerized by the television show Kung Fu. After building a highly successful 10-year career at Procter & Gamble, he took a massive leap of faith at age 33 to open his own martial arts school. Chris opens up about navigating debilitating panic attacks to eventually guide over 2,000 students to their black belts. Using martial arts as a powerful metaphor for life, he now teaches others how to break through their negative mindsets, discover their inherent gifts, and find true freedom.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Navigating a tumultuous upbringing in an alcoholic household and the profound wake-up call at age 16 that caused Chris to instantly give up drinking.
• The tragic loss of his younger brother and how a surprisingly peaceful conversation the week prior provided lasting comfort.
• The life-changing moment Grandmaster J.K. Lee told a 13-year-old Chris, "I will make you a champion," which Chris powerfully internalized as "I believe in you".
• The transition from a secure corporate job to entrepreneurship, including a stress-induced panic attack that resulted in an emergency room visit.
• A profound leadership lesson learned from Chuck Norris, who took the time to individually connect with 50 master instructors rather than just speaking from the stage.
• The core concept of Black Belt Leadership and why a black belt is simply a white belt who never quit.
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Connect with Chris Natzke:

• Visit his website at chrisnatzke.com to learn more about his speaking engagements, group coaching, and the "Breaking Through" online course.

Support Eagle Freedom Presents: If today's conversation sparked something in you, please subscribe and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. To help keep these powerful stories coming, you can support the show directly through our Ko-fi tip jar.

Remember that you too can rise, inspire, and overcome.

Jeff Hoffman helped build Priceline, invented the airport check-in kiosk after missing a flight, and made more money than he ever dreamed of. Then he watched his first mentor lose his entire family chasing the biggest yacht in the harbor, and asked himself a question every one of us should ask: how big of a boat do you need?

On this episode of Eagle Freedom Presents, host and founder Deston Rogers sits down with Jeff Hoffman, co-founder of Priceline.com, best-selling co-author of Scale: Seven Proven Principles to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life Back, chairman of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, and founder of World Youth Horizons. It's a conversation about what success really means, and why it was never about the money. It was always about the freedom.

In this episode:

- His three-part formula: dream big, work hard, create value

- The missed flight that led to the airport self-check-in kiosk

- Co-founding Priceline

- The yacht story: "How big of a boat do you need?"

- What his daughter taught him about quality time

- His "year of yes"

- Walking away from millions to stay true to his faith

- You can't grow until you let go

- What freedom means to Jeff

Connect with Jeff at jeffhoffman.com, on LinkedIn (search "Jeff Hoffman Priceline") and on Instagram at @speakerjeffhoffman.

This episode includes a story that mentions suicide. If you're struggling, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (U.S.). Asking for help is a sign of strength.

Eagle Freedom Presents is independent and listener-supported. Help keep the lights on at ko-fi.com/eaglefreedom

New episodes every Wednesday. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this with someone who needs to hear it.

• Rise. Inspire. Overcome.

As a child, Brandon Carter moved 28 times by the time he was 18 years old, navigating a chaotic early life with parents who struggled heavily with alcohol. As a young man coaching wrestling, he faced an unimaginable nightmare when his six-year-old brother, Danny, disappeared, resulting in a tragic loss.

Driven by a fierce determination not to repeat his parents' mistakes, Brandon built a highly successful 24-year career at UPS. However, suppressing his grief and unhealed trauma eventually led to a severe battle with daily drinking. His battle with alcoholism cost him his corporate career, forcing him into a humbling season of rebuilding his life from scratch with an $11 an hour job at Home Depot.

Today, completely sober since 2017, Brandon has rebuilt his life from the ground up. As the founder and leadership coach of Backbone Solutions LLC, he helps business owners move from chaos to clarity, teaching them how to build structure over stress. In this episode, we also dive deep into the power of the Million Man Campaign (MMC) Brotherhood and how it is changing men's lives.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Navigating intense childhood instability and surviving the tragic loss of a sibling.
• How an "overcorrection" into a 24-year corporate career masked deep emotional pain.
• The humbling reality of losing a six-figure job to alcoholism and starting over at Home Depot.
• The "B.A.C.K.B.O.N.E." core values that guide Brandon's business coaching.
• The 6 pillars of the MMC Brotherhood: Fitness, Faith, Friendship, Family, Finances, and Fight.

🔗 Connect with Brandon Carter:

• Website: https://backbonesolutions-llc.com/
• Social Media: Follow Brandon Carter on LinkedIn and Facebook
• Learn more about the MMC Brotherhood

☕ Support the #RIOmovement: Eagle Freedom Presents and the R.I.O. movement are growing incredibly fast, and we continue to grow! You can be a part of that growth process by simply buying me a cup of coffee. Click the link below to help expand the movement: 👉 https://ko-fi.com/eaglefreedom

Remember that you, too, can rise, inspire, and overcome! God bless.

Listen & Subscribe:

If you found value in this episode, please leave us a rating and a review!

How do you find a path forward when the heavy weight of the "what-ifs" and "if-onlies" threatens to build a permanent prison around you?

In this powerful episode of Eagle Freedom Presents, host Deston Rogers sits down with keynote speaker and former attorney Stephanie Renner. For 25 years, Stephanie advised leaders through complex, high-stakes decisions. But nothing could prepare her for the personal trials she would face in navigating the simultaneous heartbreak of her mother's battle with Alzheimer's and the tragic loss of her 18-year-old son, Jordan, to suicide.

Bonded by the shared, profound pain of losing a child, Deston and Stephanie have an incredibly raw and inspiring conversation about grief, guilt, and discovering purpose in the aftermath of tragedy.

Stephanie shares how she walked away from her legal career to create the Regret to Resilience Method™, a 7-pillar framework designed to help individuals and organizations release the guilt they were never meant to carry.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The Backpack Full of Bricks: How to identify and unpack the heavy "what-ifs" we subconsciously carry.
• Moving Forward vs. Moving On: Why resilience isn't about leaving your past behind or returning to who you were before the loss.
• The Illusion of Control: How to stop acting as the "prosecutor, judge, and jury" in your own life and recognize that love is not measured by outcomes.
• Gilly's Friends: The beautiful way Stephanie is honoring Jordan's empathetic spirit by interrupting despair and saving lives through her nonprofit.
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Whether you are navigating a difficult season of loss, a major life transition, or just feeling stuck in regret, this episode will give you the tools to step out of your own prison and start living again.

Connect with Stephanie Renner:

• Website: stephanierennerspeaks.com
• Free Regret to Resilience Guide: stephanierennerspeaks.com/podcast
• Support Gilly's Friends: gillysfriends.com

Support Eagle Freedom Presents: If this story brought a flicker of light to your darkness, please consider helping us keep the lights on. Every tip in our Ko-fi jar goes directly toward basic production costs so we can continue bringing you these vital stories of resilience. ☕ Support the show here: https://ko-fi.com/eaglefreedom

Join the Community: Connect with us on social media using the hashtag #RIOmovement. Let us know how you are actively dropping those heavy bricks and finding your path forward!

Remember, you too can Rise, Inspire, and Overcome. God bless!

How do you navigate growing up on what you call the "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and transform that pain into a seven-figure success story?

In this episode of Eagle Freedom Presents, we sit down with Alan Lazaros, CEO, Founder, and Co-Host of Next Level University. Alan understands firsthand how life’s heaviest blows can either break us or build us. After losing his father at just two years old, navigating profound family abandonment at fourteen, and surviving a near-fatal head-on collision at twenty-six, Alan was forced to question his entire trajectory.

Today, he leads a global team and a Top 100 podcast dedicated to helping individuals reach their full potential in health, wealth, and love.

In this powerful conversation, we cover:

• The critical difference between having self-belief (knowing you can build the castle) and self-worth (believing you deserve to live in it).
• The four internal archetypes—the Victim, the Villain, the Hero, and the Guide—and how to stop being a martyr so you can become a true guide for others.
• The "Triad of Transformation," and why genuine change requires humility, courage, and vulnerability.
• Why fulfillment isn't a finish line, but a continuous byproduct of "striving, never arriving".
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Special Note: Be sure to check out our previous episode featuring Amy Lenius, who started as Alan's client and now works directly on his leadership team, to hear firsthand what it is like to work with him.

Support the Show ☕

If this episode impacts you, you can support the RIO movement by buying me a cup of coffee through my Ko-fi tip jar! Your support keeps these conversations going, elevates the production, and helps others find the courage to step into their next chapter.

👉 Ko-Fi

What area of your life are you ready to level up in? Let us know in the comments, and until next time, remember that you too can rise, inspire, and overcome