This weeks episode of @the38challenge podcast is a “Best of 2022” with some of our amazing guests!

This year we have learned the importance of vulnerability and that nothing is stronger. EVERYONE deals with seasons of darkness, anxiety and depression.

This podcasts purpose is to empower our listeners to embrace vulnerability while giving actionable tips on doing hard things and prioritizing mental health.

As always, please rate, review and share the podcast so that others can be helped by the conversations!

Wes Whitlock is a US Marine veteran, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist. Wes Whitlock served in the USMC for 6 years until transitioning to High Threat Protection Services. Wes has protected some of the most influential government officials and business leaders in the world while serving around the globe.  

Wes then pursued his passion to become an entrepreneur where he started Rogue American Apparel and Invader coffee, brands that inspire to “remind you of your purpose and responsibility to pick up the shield you dropped, whether it became too heavy, or you felt you were no longer "purposeful."

Wes and Brandt discuss the darkest point of Wes’s life, what it looked like, how to look inward with meditation, prayer and study, and the importance of vulnerability in warrior culture.

Episode 26 with Dr. Jess Garza is live!

Episode 25 of The 38 Challenge Podcast with Ryan Manion is live! 

Ryan Manion is an author, keynote speaker, podcast host, and advocate for the Veteran community. 

Ryan lost her brother, USMC 1st Lieutenant Travis Manion,  to war and her mother to cancer, and she’s the daughter of a retired Marine. A wife and mom to three, she is no stranger to resiliency and how to struggle well in life. Now the president of one of the nation’s leading veteran service organizations – the Travis Manion Foundation – Ryan works to empower veterans and families of fallen heroes to inspire future generations to change. 

Ryan and Brandt talk about losing their brothers, turning grief into purpose, what anxiety and depression can look like, and what it means to live a resilient life.

Clint Bruce is a former Navy SEAL, a graduate of the US Naval Academy, decorated athlete, and seasoned entrepreneur. He is dedicated to helping leaders protect, perform, endure, and compete while helping veterans and their families transition successfully from service.  Clint jumps on the podcast for the second time to reflect on the original conversation he and Brandt McCartney had on the creation of The 38 Challenge, the progress it has made, and where it is heading.  Clint also gives his wisdom on vulnerability, the equation for being vulnerable, and how it creates more effective warriors.

Ben Smith is a fitness and nutrition coach, entrepreneur, Army Veteran, and mental health advocate based in Los Angeles. With more than a decade working in health and fitness, he has led programming at respected strength training gyms in LA, developed online training for high performing individuals all over the world, and currently travels the globe as performance coach for clients in the music industry. Ben leverages his platform to promote holistic mind body wellness by candidly sharing his own struggles along the way.

Tim Kennedy is a Ranger qualified Special Forces Sniper with deployments in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and multiple other deployments around the world. He is also one of the top-ranked mixed martial arts fighters in the world with a black belt in jiu-jitsu. Prior to his retirement from professional mixed martial arts, he was ranked among the top Middleweights in the UFC.

Tim is a seasoned entrepreneur, an incredible father and husband, and an advocate for veterans mental health. Tim and Brandt talk about living in darkness, how to break free from it, what it means to wear your scars, how vulnerability plays into being a warrior, Let’s Talk TBI and a whole lot more.

Make sure to give the podcast a listen, rate and review so that it can continue to grow and help others understand that vulnerability = strength.

Those years were spent in the military’s most secretive and elite Special Operations unit, Delta Force. As an Operator and CSM, Tom fought in and lead countless high profile military missions including Operation Red Dawn (Saddam Hussein’s capture) and the Battle of Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down) which was the longest sustained firefight since Vietnam. That 18-hour firefight ended with Tom, along with several of his team mates, running the Mogadishu Mile to safety.  Although the physical, mental, and emotional toll of war had compounded over the years, Tom never faced his Post-Traumatic Stress symptoms and in 2013 he nearly ended his life. Had it not been a text from his now wife, Jen, he would have joined the 22 veterans who commit suicide every single day.  Tom and Jen founded the All Secure Foundation to help provide training to Veterans transitioning out of the military, and often breach the importance of vulnerability in their work.   Brandt, Tom and Jen talk about The Battle of Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down), what darkness looked like in Tom's life, how Tom and Jen work through this darkness, TBI treatment, and how all of this lead to the amazing work Tom and Jen are doing All Secure Foundation .  We get vulnerable, fast. Please continue to rate, review and share these life saving conversations!

Ray “Cash” Care is a Navy SEAL veteran with multiple tours and other numerous overseas security details. Upon leaving SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team Two (SDV-2), Ray turned his passion and SEAL Team experience to the world of self-improvement and team building.

Ray is not the lead instructor of The Modern Day Knight Project, a “a 75-hour self-development program for men who want to break free from the lower version of themselves,” The Squire Program and the LTD Project.

Ray is in the business of building men into purpose driven leaders, and believes that vulnerability is at the core of becoming great.

On this weeks episode, Brandt and Ray talk about doing hard things, conquering your inner voice, showing love as a Navy SEAL, and of course, Ray shows vulnerability by sharing his darkest moments.