Quest for Success

Season Finale! The Final episode of Season 1 of the Quest for Success Podcast. Hosts @zac5aguilar & @blain6 sit down to recap season 1, talk about how Quest for Success all started and what’s to come for season 2 and beyond. Some big announcements will come out in this epsiode including a Quest merch drop, guests for season 2 and much more. We want to thank each and every one of you who has supported this project. We couldn’t keep this operation going at the quality we have without your tremendous support, from sharing our content, to listening or watching each episode! To all the Guests who have joined us on this journey, Thank you! The best is yet to come! 

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Ebony Madrid-Brown is a professional international soccer player who recently signed to play in Hungary for Astra Hungary FC. Coming from a military family, Ebony moved and lived all over the world, including in South Korea, Germany and Hawaii. She would receive many awards which included Stars and Stripes Athlete of the Year, Osan Korea Athlete of the Year and the Ramstein, Germany Athlete of the Year. Ebony would eventually receive a scholarship offer to play at Hawaii Pacific University where as a Senior Madrid  would be named the PacWest Conference Player of the Year. She was also named First Team All-PacWest as the only Hawai'i Pacific player named to the squad. Madrid, a 5-3 forward from Porterville, Calif./Ramstein (Germany) was named the Player of the Year after leading the PacWest in goals, assists, points and shots in 2019. She set a new HPU school record with 14 goals on the season, chalked up six assists to share the conference lead, totaled 34 points, and led the conference with 77 shots and 43 shots on goal. Madrid set a new school record for with 66 career points and her 26 career goals were one shy of the HPU career record. It was the third time Madrid was chosen to the All-PacWest team and the second time she had been named First Team All-PacWest. After graduating from Hawai'i Pacific, Madrid would head overseas to play professionally where she is currently playing in Hungary for Astra Hungary FC.


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“Quest for Success Podcast” w/former @ufc fighter and @bellatormma champion Joe Soto (@joesoto135). We had a great time sitting down and talking to Joe about his childhood growing up, wrestling career, fighting in the UFC, being roommates with Jon Jones and Colby Covington.

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Joe Soto fought at the bantamweight division in the UFC. A professional competitor since 2006, Soto has also formerly competed for Bellator Fighting Championships, where he was the inaugural Bellator Featherweight World Champion and first ever winner of their Featherweight Tournament, and for Tachi Palace Fights where he is the former Tachi Palace Fights Bantamweight Champion. Soto went to Porterville High School in Porterville, California where he was on the wrestling team and won a California state title under coach Tim Vanni. Soto got an athletic scholarship to Iowa Central Community College where he was a 2x NJCAA All-American. There, Soto wrestled with Jon Jones and Colby Covington. Soto, Jones and Covington were also roommates during their freshmen and sophomore years.

In August 2014 Soto signed a deal with the @ufc. Soto was expected to face Anthony Birchak on August 30, 2014 at UFC 177. However, the day of the weigh-ins, @renanbaraoufc had to be admitted to the hospital as a result of his attempts to cut weight. Soto stepped up and faced champion @tjdillashaw in the main event.

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The “Quest for Success Podcast” w/ Cal State Bakersfield Women’s Head Golf Coach Tiffanie Yabut (@tiffanie_yabut) who is the founder of the @impactourgolf and an LPGA Professionals Member. It was a great pleasure having Tiffanie on the show to talk about her journey, golf career, being a head golf coach and her new journey with her Non Profit. Tiffanie is an amazing person who makes those around her better. She is the definition of what a great leader and role model should be.

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Tiffanie Yabut is in her second season as Head Coach of the CSU Bakersfield Women’s Golf team in 2022-23. Yabut is a 2018 Cum Laude graduate of Missouri Western State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Health & Exercise Science and competed four seasons on the Griffon golf team. A team captain during her senior season, she led MWSU to the NCAA II National Championship Tournament in 2016 and 2017 and was named the school’s women’s golf scholar-athlete of the year in 2018. Yabut has also served as the Tournament Director and Junior Golf Coordinator at The Bridges Golf Course in Winona since 2019 and earned her LPGA Club Professional card in 2021. Tiffanie recently launched a non profit and Charity Golf Tour called the ImpacTour. The ImpacTour was built with the goal to impact the future of golf by inspiring the next generation of golfers through giving and service, as this tour will help provide scholarships, equipment, and course access to kids.

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Tiffanie Yabut Instagram | @tiffanie_yabut

ImpacTour | @ImpacTourGolf

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We sat down and had a great conversation with Steve Brown, the Oregon State Hall of Famer and former All American Linebacker. We discussed Steve’s early childhood, work ethic, lifting weights, his playing days and what motivates him to continue coaching today! Steve Brown is a man’s man who lives and breaths football, but more importantly a man of faith, family and service!

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Steve Brown, a 1969 Porterville High graduate and a member of the Porterville High Athletic Hall of Fame. He’s also a member of the Oregon State Athletic Hall of Fame. During his time with the Oregon State Beavers, Brown was named as an All-American by 9 organizations and as a first-team All-American by 7 organizations. He was a 3-year varsity letterman with the Beavers. He came to Oregon State as a fullback, but moved to linebacker as a freshman. He was a two-time All-Pac 8, two-time All-Coast and two-time team defensive most valuable player. His school record of 186 tackles as a senior still stands. As a junior, he led the Beavers with 134 tackles and had one of the most memorable games in college football history as a junior, although it’s a “haunting” memory for Brown because Oregon State lost the game. In a loss to Stanford, Brown finished with 22 tackles and four interceptions. After his senior season, Brown played in the East-West Shrine Game, the Hula Bowl and the Coaches All-American Bowl. Brown was the team captain for the West in the East-West Shrine Game and co-captain of the North Squad in the Hula Bowl, a game in which he almost equaled the numbers he put up against Stanford as he had 19 tackles and three interceptions. He also had 15 tackles and one interception in the Coaches All-American Bowl. Brown eventually went on to become a coach at various area high schools. He continues coaching high school football today on California’s Central Coast!


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Are you an American Ninja Warrior fan? Zhanique Lovett (Zee) is the ultimate Ninja Warrior! We got to sit down with Zhanique Lovett (Zee) and had a great conversation with the American Ninja Warrior competitor. We learned a lot about her early childhood and perseverance to overcome many obstacles in throughout her life, experience on America Ninja Warrior, being vegan, mother, and an absolute beast of a human being. She is the ultimate Ninja Warrior! Zhanique is a personal trainer who first competed in Los Angeles in American Ninja Warrior 9. She has since been on 4 seasons of American Ninja Warrior. Zhanique is a mother of three who has grown up and overcome a rough childhood, with her mother being an alcoholic. Lovett is the owner of Z-Mode Fitness and has her own vegan protein bars called ZFIT Bars. Oh and did we mention, she is an absolute BEAST!


Zhanique Lovett Instagram | @zhaniquelovett

Zhanique Lovett Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/zhanique.lovett

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Grateful and humbled to announce Episode 4 of the “Quest for Success Podcast” w/ the great Jim Short. We caught up with Jim and had an absolutely incredible and humbling conversation with the former @nevadafootball standout, High School Teacher, coach and one of the greatest, most humble men you’ll ever meet. We call him coach, teacher, friend and a role model.

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Jim Short grew up in the small town of Poplar, California. When Jim entered Monache High School in 1977, his childhood friend Jeff Brown was already blazing the sports trail, so Jim did what Jeff had, and became a three-sport athlete. By his sophomore year, Jim was playing at the varsity level in football, wrestling, and baseball. By his senior year, he was becoming an accomplished athlete and earning recognition in the East Yosemite League and as an All-Valley recipient. He received the Double M Award, or Male Athlete of the Year, that same year. Having been positively influenced by many special men and women at Monache, he aspired to play at the college level. Signing with Cal Poly Pomona, he began playing under the famed NFL quarterback, Roman Gabriel. Jim was named first team all-conference after his sophomore year. When Pomona decided to drop its football program, Short took the initiative to keep on playing and transferred to the University of Nevada. While there, they won the Big Sky Championship under the College Hall of Fame Coach, Chris Ault, and Jim earned many additional individual player awards including Player of the Week against Boise State and the Hammer Award his senior year. Jim also played alongside future NFL players before earning his college degree. Jim currently lives just outside of Porterville with his wife, Quinanne. They have three daughters, Devin, Zander, and Bryn, all of whom also graduated from Monache. Jim teaches and coaches at Monache. He was honored to coach Monache’s first state wrestling champion in 2006 and is currently the girls’ wrestling head coach.
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Episode 3 of the “Quest for Success Podcast” w/ @fresnocitycollege Head Mens Basketball Coach @rob81_04. We had an eye opening and deep conversation with Coach Haynes about growing up, his journey, playing career, coaching career and lessons learned along the way.

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Rob Haynes is the head men’s basketball coach and professor at Fresno City College. Haynes previously served as head coach @portervillecollege . Rob Haynes inspires his fellow staff members and commands a presence in any basketball arena he enters. In addition, he is strongly committed to his family and community. In 7 seasons at Porterville, Haynes was known for his recruiting of Central Valley student-athletes and scheduling of state-ranked opponents. Over the years, Haynes guided Porterville into the state rankings and helped 21 players land scholarships with four-year programs across the country. Two of his former all-conference players went on to play professional basketball overseas. Haynes, born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in Far Rockaway, originally came to California in 2001 to play basketball at City College of San Francisco but suffered an injury. He later transferred to Porterville College and became a two-year captain and as an all-star player. Before transferring to NCAA Division II Colorado State University-Pueblo he earned an associate degree from Porterville in social science. He later earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from Chapman University, and a master’s degree in Kinesiology and physical education from Fresno Pacific University. Haynes started his coaching career at Granite Hills High School in Porterville, as boys’ varsity assistant and junior varsity head coach from 2007-2012. He joined Porterville College as a lead assistant coach in 2012-13 under T.J. Jennings – the current head coach at Reedley College – before accepting the head coaching job the following season. He is also an instructor in the physical education division.
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Episode 2 of the “Quest for Success Podcast” w/ Cal State Bakersfield Women’s Basketball coach and former CSUB basketball standout Zack Grasmick (@zgrasmick). We had a great conversation with Zack about his childhood, playing career, coaching career and what it takes to succeed and get recruited at the next level. 

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Zack Grasmick journey to success began at Granite Hills High School in Porterville, CA & continued on to Cal State Bakersfield where he will begin his 11th season as an assistant coach on the CSU Bakersfield women’s basketball coaching staff in the Fall of the 2022. Grasmick moved over from the Bakersfield men’s basketball staff after beginning his coaching career in 2008 as a graduate assistant. He became the Roadrunner men’s basketball director of operations for the 2009-10 campaign before becoming an assistant coach on the men’s basketball staff for the 2010-11 campaign. He finished a four-year career for the Roadrunners as one of the top perimeter threats in Bakersfield men’s basketball history.

Grasmick ranks No. 3 all time in three-point field goals (160), fourth in games started (64), seventh in minutes played (2,561) and eighth in games played (104).

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We are thrilled to announce the release of Episode 1 of the “Quest for Success Podcast” with 2x Olympic Wrestler Tim Vanni.  We had an amazing conversation with this absolute legendary man, one of the all time greats, the one and only Mr. Tim Vanni! 

Tim Vanni is a two-time U.S. Olympic wrestler. He finished fourth in the '88 Games in Seoul and fifth in the '92 Games in Barcelona. Vanni also has six world championships placings, and is a five-time Senior U.S. national champion. He is currently a physical education teacher and wrestling coach for Porterville High School in Porterville, California.

Men’s Freestyle Wrestling - Team USA
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Silver Medal - 1987 Indianapolis 
Bronze Medal - 1991 Havana
Bronze Medal - 1995 Mar Del Plata

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