Get Off The Bench Podcast

James Oliver is the founder and CEO of Atlas Bar, one of America’s fastest-growing protein bar companies, focused on clean, convenient, high-protein nutrition. What makes James’ journey remarkable is how he built the business from absolutely nothing. To fund his first production run, James drove over 3,000 Uber rides while still in college, refusing outside investment, and sticking to his vision of clean, honest nutrition.

Atlas Bars are a testament to that conviction: each bar packs 20 grams of protein, just 1 gram of sugar, and contains zero artificial ingredients. James didn’t just talk about health and perseverance; he lived it, running 100 miles in six days with nothing but his own bars for fuel to prove they worked. Since those humble beginnings, Atlas Bar has sold millions of bars nationwide and hit over $1 million in sales within just two years, all powered by word of mouth and grit.

Socials:

Website: atlasbars.com

Insta: Atlas Bars @atlasbars

LinkedIn: James Oliver

FB: Atlas Bar

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube

Drew Norton, known as The Everyday Sales Leader, is a dynamic self-development coach, sales consultant, and co-host of The Everyday Leader Podcast. Drew's deep commitment to helping others succeed is rooted in a highly personal belief: that life is too short to settle for anything less than your full potential. This became acutely clear after an accident with his baby, which fueled his passion to translate his decades of professional knowledge into powerful, actionable insights for his clients. 

He’s a dedicated husband to his wife of 13 years and a loving father to four children. Originally from southeastern Arizona, he cherishes the values of small-town life and the freedom he finds outdoors. A private pilot, Drew also enjoys the freedom of flight.

Socials:

Website: https://theeverydaysalesleader.com/

LinkedIn: Drew Norton

Insta: Drew Norton @theeverydaysalesleader

YouTube: The Everyday Sales Leader

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube

Ryan Christensen is The Belief Engineer.

A self-proclaimed oddball, having led a very unconventional life, with a path that seems to have been perfectly crafted to bring him to this phase and place in his life.

Ryan’s journey began when he chose to join the United States Marine Corps rather than go the traditional college route. That set him on a 23 year long career in Intelligence - as a Russian Linguist in the Marines, supporting F-16 and F-22 fighter squadrons in the Air National Guard, and finally supporting counter terrorism and counter proliferation operations as a CIA contractor.

In 2019, Ryan began his personal development and healing journey in earnest. He'd already been in therapy off and on for almost a decade, and knew it was time to get serious. He tried just about everything under the sun, alongside becoming a professional hypnotist.

The frustration he faced, realizing that nothing worked the way it was supposed to, left him with no other option but to figure it out himself.

Leveraging those 23 years of experience, plus his autistic gifts and insights, he took a deep dive into how things REALLY worked. He found out a lot about how the mind is built, how beliefs shape our reality, why they're so resistant to change, and how to break himself out of the prisons he'd created to keep himself safe.

Now, he helps others finish their own journey. He says “It's the least I can do”.

Socials:

Website: https://thebeliefengineer.com

LinkedIn: Ryan Christensen

Youtube: The Belief Engineer

Winner Peace (Book)

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube

Matt Parker is Co-founder of The Exodus Road. While Matt and his wife Laura provided care to young girls at an orphanage in Thailand, they came face-to-face with the issue of sex trafficking. As a result, Matt began undercover work in support of law enforcement. Matt served as CEO at The Exodus Road for nearly 10 years, and he has been doing humanitarian work for over 15 years. He is currently also a Global Brand Ambassador at Cellebrite, the world’s leading cyberforensics technology.

Socials:

Website: https://theexodusroad.com/

LinkedIn: The Exodus Road

LinkedIn: Matt P.

FB: The Exodus Road

Insta: The Exodus Road @theexodusroad

Cyber-Safety Training Program: influenced.org

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube

It’s been 4 months since I posted the last episode in May, and after a lot of reflection, we’re back! In this episode I share some reflections on recognising when you’re tired and when things are even a tiny bit out of alignment. Sometimes we don’t have the answers and we have to be OK with just sitting in the the unknown, waiting with trust that what’s meant to be will be, and may already be. I went to Hawaii last week to do some work (on me) with the wonderful Sam Horn, and surprisingly that opened up a few cans of worms I wasn’t expecting. Sometimes we just need to sit in faith.

Long known as one of the world’s finest Jazz Pianists, Rick DellaRatta also began to receive major recognition as a composer when his symphonic piece “Permutata” was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra at the Beatles famed Abbey Rd., Studios in 1999, and as a unique and important vocalist in 2004 when he was included in a definitive listing of the greatest jazz singers of all time in Scott Yanow’s Book “Jazz Singers”. 

Jazz for Peace rose from the ashes of 9/11 as a poem and is now considered "The most significant cultural event of our time!", Jazz For Peace. Rick witnessed the extraordinary events of 9/11 from his rooftop less than 1/4 mile away from Ground Zero on that fateful morning when the words of a poem titled “Jazz for Peace” that he wrote on that day went on to lead him to over 850 concerts across the Globe to help the world's most outstanding causes, educational presentations, and instrument donation programs for children.

Through his life long endeavor to help advance people to their highest potential through the understanding of Jazz as well as spreading peace worldwide through his "Jazz for Peace World Tour", Rick DellaRatta is considered to be an innovator and a visionary, a designation that became known by many when he was included by The Foundation Center in their list of the top musician philanthropists of our time along with Bono (U2), Elton John, Peter Gabriel and Sting.

Socials:

Website: https://rickdellaratta.com/

Website: jazzforpeace.org

LinkedIn: Rick DellaRatta

FB: Rick DellaRatta

https://jazzforpeace.wordpress.com/about/unprecedented-achievements/

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube

Aisha Alim is an empowerment coach, mindset strategist, teacher and NLP, Time Line Therapy & Hypnosis Practitioner. She is also a DISC Advanced consultant and holds degrees in teaching and coaching – (B.Ed. – Primary [Hons.], Dip. L.C. [Hons.]). Aisha has written and delivered multiple programs in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. She is a published author on the subject of empowering women and has dedicated over 25 years of her teaching life to personal growth and development expertise.

Aisha is a highly experienced coach who is focused on mindset and strategy to achieve identified goals. Aisha is a confident and motivated facilitator and project manager who inspires and ignites ideas in her clients. Aisha has recently finished delivering group coaching programs for men and women funded by the Department of Employment & Workplace Relations 2023-2024.

Her program called, “The Confidence Blueprint” is aimed at assisting vulnerable people back into the community by helping them to reframe the way they think, develop confidence, take affirmative action to achieve identified goals and utilise existing support and education services to further their education and training and regain employment. It is the link between being at risk and thriving again.

The Confidence Blueprint™ is designed to support and enhance the employment services model by addressing the core issues and barriers women face through a specialised group coaching program, including those who are long-term unemployed and are at a social, emotional or economic disadvantage. 

The program builds individual self-esteem, confidence and connections to develop a personalised plan to transition to secure employment or further education across a variety of local industries. It also provides a deeper exploration of the issues that contribute to low levels of self-confidence that impact their ability to effectively engage with existing services, training and employment and the community as a whole. By addressing these core issues, the aim is to build confidence, resilience, self-awareness and improve communication skills in order to experience more personal success and transition into sustainable employment. It is a fresh approach to assisting women back into employment.

Socials:

Website: aishaalim.com

LinkedIn: Aisha Alim

FB: Aisha Alim

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube

I returned from a trip to Nepal less that a week ago, and I have to say it opened a can of worms. While I loved Nepal overall, I have come away with a lot of questions about traditions, religion and humanity, and how they intertwine. Sometimes not in a good way. I really believe Nepal is a great place, but it was also an intense catalyst for pain, growth and intense curiosity and interest in why we never stop to question our beliefs. I was ready for this trip, but it impacted me far differently than I expected it to.

Mentions:

Magic Marble Foundation https://www.magicmarblefoundation.org/

Community Homestay Network https://communityhomestay.com/

Panauti Homestay https://communityhomestay.com/homestays/panauti

Stuart Wade is The Mind Coach. With over 30 years of elite competitive experience in martial arts, with 4 World Championships under his belt; a degree in Applied Sport and Exercise Science and over 10 years of experience helping elite business owners to excel to new heights… he understands the psychology of high performance. 

Stuart is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Licensed NLP Practitioner, BLAST Trauma Resolution Practitioner, and Sports Performance Mind Coach—featured in The Daily Mail Online, The Sunday Mirror, and top international podcasts.

Stuart is also a Clinical Partner of Nurosym- the leading Auricular Vagal Neuromodulation Therapy device on the market. Stuart’s superpower is helping his clients turn pressure into power, fear into fuel, and success into a way of life.

Socials:

Website: themindcoach.co.uk

LinkedIn: Stuart Wade

Insta: Stuart Wade @themindcoachuk

FB: The Mind Coach

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube

This week I spent 2 days at a Changemaker workshop facilitated by the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation. It was challenging but in the most wonderful way. I had a lovely realisation when my ‘list of things I need as a changemaker’ made it clear that it’s all about the journey.

I also found out a life changing secret about the humble sticky note!