SOLID

What does it actually take to become a neurosurgeon and still have a strong marriage and family on the other side?

Ruth and Jotham Manwaring met in seventh grade in Phoenix. Years later, after medical school and a year as an OBGYN intern at the University of Utah, Jotham walked away from the program with no job lined up. He was lost and unsure whether he wanted neurosurgery for himself or because his dad was a neurosurgeon. Then a residency swap opening came up in Tampa, and Ruth coached him through the interview and told him to pick up the phone when the program director called. He took the job standing in a JCPenney changing room.

What followed was seven years of residency: 30-hour shifts, 100-hour weeks, a $40,000 salary, secondhand clothes, and Ruth raising three kids mostly on her own. In this episode they open up about what that season cost, why the years after training were actually harder on their marriage, and how a neurosurgeon carries the cases that don't go well and still shows up loving his job.

At 18 years old, Cody Hofhine sat across a table from Warren Buffett and asked him how to become a millionaire. The advice he got that day stuck with him for the rest of his life but it took him almost two decades, a failed insurance business, a wife in tears at the kitchen table, and the loss of his mother to actually live it out.

In this episode, Cody Hofhine, co-founder of Wholesaling Inc. (the #1 real estate coaching program in the nation) and Joe Homebuyer, a real estate franchise he built and recently exited, sits down with Brandon Neil and Jeffrey Fieldstad to talk about:

• Meeting Warren Buffett at 18 and the credit card advice that changed how he saw money
• Serving a mission in Honduras and what he learned from people who had nothing
• Failing at insurance sales for five years and the night his wife broke down over groceries vs. the mortgage
• Getting rejected by a mentor who refused to teach him, and building it himself instead
• His first real estate deal, $24,000, 39 days after putting $5,000 on a credit card
• Scaling Wholesaling Inc. to 3,500 students and building Joe Homebuyer into a national franchise
• Losing his mother to cancer in 2021 and the decision that came out of it
• Why he says there's no such thing as balance, only presence
• His philosophy on fitness, fatherhood, and why he says he'll never retire

Ben Ward grew up in a split home, found his foundation in his dad's dusty box of Nightingale-Conant cassette tapes, and then got humiliated his first summer selling door-to-door — zero sales, a nickel flicked at him, and a breakdown on an Oceanside beach. That breaking point became the start of a career that took him from $25K his first real summer to over $400K a year, a company he co-founded to a public offering, and later an executive role scaling LuLaRoe to $2.2 billion. He also opens up about the hubris that drove his own company into the ground, what he learned about the gap between selling and leading, and his upcoming book co-authored with Brian Tracy. This one covers faith, family, failure, and the real cost of pride.

Marissa Hughes went through a divorce in the middle of nurse practitioner school, working 60-hour weeks while raising two young boys on her own. In this episode of the Solid Podcast, she shares how that season pushed her to start Mavi MedSpa from a single converted office room, only to have COVID shut down elective procedures weeks after she opened.

Marissa talks about rebuilding trust after divorce, blending families with her now-boyfriend Bryce, raising sons who "caught" her work ethic instead of being taught it, and her belief that success is attracted through consistency and the right people, not chased. She also opens up for the first time about her new project: the Teen CEO Blueprint, a course built to give young entrepreneurs the guidance she never had.

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Part two of our conversation with Gary Kornegay Sr. and Gary Kornegay Jr., and this half goes even deeper than the first.

Gary Sr. built a business empire out of nothing, and along the way built a family that actually wants to be around him and around each other. In this episode he breaks down the parenting philosophy that shaped his kids into leaders instead of followers, why he bought a Lamborghini he could barely fit in, and the unconventional way he turned his backyard into the safest place in town for his kids' friends to hang out.

Gary Jr. opens up about what it felt like to get pulled out of the field right when he was hitting his stride, what it cost him personally, and how he and his dad went from being compared against each other to building one of the most effective father-son business partnerships around.

We get into money mindset, what it means to "graduate from money," why succession planning matters way more than most business owners think it does, and why how you talk about your work at home might be the most underrated factor in whether your family ever wants to be part of it.

If you haven't watched part one yet, go check that out first. This one builds directly on it.

Subscribe for more conversations like this one, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Until next time, stay solid.

Gary Kornegay Sr. built one of the most successful organizations in his industry from scratch growing up in South Central LA as a preacher's kid, becoming a paramedic, and eventually building a business that now stretches across the country. His son, Gary Jr. (G2), grew up watching it all happen and eventually asked to learn the family business himself. Gary's first response? He offered to pay him to stay away from it.

In part 1 of this two-part conversation, Gary Sr. and G2 open up about growing up in a strict, faith-based household during the rise of gang culture in LA, the wealth that was lost when Gary's grandmother passed without a plan in place, why competition (not favoritism) is what actually made G2 better, and the leadership philosophy Gary built his entire organization around letting new people keep 100% of the commission instead of splitting it. Gary also shares the conversation with a client that completely changed how he built his business, and why he still believes "be nice to everybody" is the most important lesson he ever learned.

This is a conversation about family, legacy, and what it actually takes to build something that survives past you.

On this episode of the Solid Podcast, we sit down with Cody Webber longtime hunting guide, coyote caller, and outdoorsman with stories that sound made up (they're not). Cody takes us through decades of hunting memories: his first buck at 15, getting lost in the woods as a kid and flagging down a semi truck for help, surviving a whiteout blizzard alone in the Uintas, and the time he and a buddy dropped two giant Yukon moose 100 yards apart in Alaska then had to pack them out through freezing rain with cramping legs and a failing headlamp. We get into what makes coyote hunting his favorite pursuit, the drama that comes with two hunters claiming the same animal, guiding people like Bo Jackson, and the life lessons hunting has handed down through generations of his family. If you hunt, you'll relate. If you don't, you'll still want to hear these stories.

What does it actually take to go from broke to six figures and then do it again?

In this episode of the Solid Podcast, Jefferson Rogers and Jeffrey Dale Fieldstead sit down with two of JKR Windows' top office sales leaders, Obadiah Longoria and Cory Gilbert, to talk about the real price of success and why most people aren't willing to pay it.

Obie grew up in a chicken coop house in Commerce City, did concrete work at 16 just to survive, and bounced through a trucking company and a handyman business before stumbling into window sales. Cory spent over a decade building teams across home security and solar, ran a company doing millions in revenue, and then walked away from all of it to start completely from scratch, knocking doors like a first-year rep.

Both are now among the highest earners at JKR. Neither skipped a single step to get there.

This episode covers why starting at the bottom is actually the fastest path to the top, the spouse conversation nobody has before grinding season starts, what happens when you lose your sense of purpose and how to find it again, how to stay present with your family when work never turns off, and the one thing Jeff does that most guys get completely backwards when it comes to taking care of their wives.

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Some people build businesses through transactions. Mcrae Heppler built his through trust, consistency, and showing up for people long before there was any return. This episode dives into leadership, fatherhood, community growth, and why the long game still matters. Watch the full conversation on YouTube.

Key points: -Building a business through relationships, not transactions -How fatherhood changed his structure and priorities -Why giving without expecting return still works -The power of personal brand and consistency -Growing St. George while protecting its culture

Watch the full episode and subscribe for more conversations like this.

STAY SOLID!

📸 Instagram: @solid.podcast @therealbneil @mr_fieldstad @jeffersonkrogers @macraehepplerYoutube: https://youtu.be/XS8vEPX4aGk Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1oH3e04i5Q8bs1qLW0HCdT

🎧 Listen to the full podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.

#solidpodcast #leadership #entrepreneurship #businessgrowth #personaldevelopment

Mitch Frei breaks down what 15 years in sales, leadership, and investing actually looks like and why the basics still win.

Key points: -You can't skip steps if you want real growth -Recruiting and leadership compound faster than personal sales -Vision and consistency beat talent -Money amplifies who you are, it doesn't define you -There is no finish line, only progression

Watch the full episode and subscribe for more conversations like this.

STAY SOLID!

📸 Instagram: @solid.podcast @therealbneil @mr_fieldstad @jeffersonkrogers @mitchfrei10 Youtube: https://youtu.be/0uXSASitq1Y Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1oH3e04i5Q8bs1qLW0HCdT

🎧 Listen to the full podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you tune in.

#solidpodcast #leadership #entrepreneurship #sales #growth