Storyteller's

Brady Williams grew up in Ridgefield, Washington, about 20 minutes north of Portland, in a family where everything revolved around sports. He took the junior college route to get to Central Michigan University, where he played Division I baseball, and then built a career in commercial real estate in Detroit. In 2024, a client asked him to do a 70.3 Ironman with him, around the same time he and his wife Chloe were having their first child, Elsie. Nine 70.3 races later, he has qualified for the World Championships twice and was four days away from flying to France for this year's Worlds when we sat down.

In our fifth episode, Brady takes us through the training, the mindset and the faith behind the miles. We jump right into a discussion about a hard interval session, recovery and why he listens to his body instead of blindly following the training plan. He explains what a 70.3 Ironman is (a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike and a half marathon), why the half distance is no easier than the full, and how his first race came together: a client asking him to do one, a PDF from Google and a swim test where he couldn't make it 10 minutes. We get into how you can condition your body to do whatever you want if you are consistent, hyperventilating in 56 degree water in Oceanside, CA and grabbing a kayak, and how he got faster every year at his favorite race in Frankenmuth, from 5:40 to 4:58 to 4:35. We explore the lifestyle changes it takes to achieve greatness, and how his faith lives at the center of his life.

Sponsor: Great Lakes Hydration — go to GreatLakesHydration.com and use code STORY10 for 10% off.

Music: Intro music by Puana, original music for businesses. ⁠⁠puana.app⁠

(3:24) Intro: Ridgefield, Central Michigan & eight 70.3s

(5:13) Growing up in Ridgefield: a rural, sports-obsessed family

(7:40) Expectations, not pressure: how his parents raised him

(9:07) Why environment shapes who you become

(11:44) Never forced: letting kids choose their sport

(13:37) Did endurance always run in him?

(16:21) The JUCO route: Linn-Benton, Chemeketa & finally Central Michigan

(19:02) A drill-sergeant coach who straightened him out

(20:02) What a 70.3 Ironman actually is

(21:51) Why the half distance is just as hard as the full

(26:07) His first 70.3: a client, a Google PDF & a swim he couldn't finish

(29:49) Training now: a coach, TrainingPeaks & 10 to 18 hour weeks

(31:48) Consistency: your body adapts to what you put it through

(33:14) Listening to his body vs. sticking to the plan

(35:03) The mind-body connection & the 40% rule

(37:04) Turning off the Garmin buzz: racing by feel

(43:46) Every day is a blessing

(44:42) Race morning: the national anthem & a prayer

(48:03) Doubt, the pain cave & never walking on a run

(48:33) Oceanside: hyperventilating in 56 degree water

(53:22) "You can't stop moving": momentum in sports & life

(55:45) Why he's never had to deal with a DNF

(59:46) Move it or lose it: the commitment it takes

(1:03:36) The lifestyle changes: three months without a drink

(1:05:31) Early mornings & being "up one-zero on the rest of the world"

(1:08:07) The most important thing he's learned: faith

(1:10:43) The wristband: Psalm 20:4 & why this podcast exists

Nikita was born in Angarsk, Siberia, near Lake Baikal, and grew up in Moscow with his parents, older brother and older sister. He was on skates at the age of three, fought almost every kid on his brother's team (all three years older), and watched his dad push him and his brother toward the NHL dream he never got to chase himself. At 12 he moved to Toronto, then made his way to Detroit, where he played junior hockey, spent time in the NAHL in Amarillo, Texas, and played college hockey at Adrian College. Today he's the founder of Rive Autohaus, an automotive paint protection studio in southeast Michigan, and the owner of Bloomfield Valet.

In our fourth episode, Nikita takes us from a village in Siberia with no electricity to a business he built from scratch in a country that wasn't fully home. He breaks down the greyhound trip to Toronto that changed his life and why watching what not to do shaped him more than any advice could. He tells the story of getting pushed out of his first job, buying pizza for the whole shop on his way out, and why he always leaves on good terms. We close with a series of rapid fire questions and the 198 mph run he's never trying again.

Sponsor: Great Lakes Hydration — go to GreatLakesHydration.com and use code STORY10 for 10% off.

Music: Intro music by Puana, original music for businesses. ⁠puana.app⁠

(0:57) Angarsk, Toronto, Amarillo, Adrian & Rive Autohaus

(2:21) Growing up in Siberia & going back to the village

(4:52) The Moskvich vs. the BMW: "I kind of forgot where we came from"

(5:12) On skates at three & his dad's NHL dream

(5:44) Why his dad's hockey career ended

(6:56) Moving to Moscow & fighting almost the entire team

(10:41) His Dad's 40-minute car-ride lectures

(13:23) How the move to America started

(15:30) Pittsburgh, a Greyhound to Detroit & a week shadowing a school in Toronto

(16:43) "I'm going to give you 30 days to decide"

(19:10) Landing in Toronto at 12

(21:47) How he ended up in Detroit

(24:44) Igor Larionov plays street hockey with a broomstick

(29:48) The NAHL, Adrian & moving eight or nine times by 18

(34:11) Isolation & learning from what not to do

(38:55) His dad's sacrifices & the two kids who made it out of one small town

(40:54) Growing up around success & the pressure on kids of successful parents

(43:07) Slumps, the book on fear of failure & good vs. phenomenal players

(46:35) Swinging freely: why not trying is the scarier option

(48:41) Why he started a business

(49:30) Where the love for cars comes from: driving at eight on an old airstrip

(51:52) What Rive Autohaus does

(56:48) The loneliness of starting a business

(58:33) Hans Baron, the valet company & how he got his first industry job

(66:24) Tough love & walking out the door

(68:05) Buying pizza for the whole shop on his way out

(72:31) Your reputation is your brand: leave on good terms

(75:05) Firm beliefs, flexible plans

(78:11) What clients with big careers teach him

(82:01) The corporate promotion ladder

(83:16) Rapid fire: dream car & why he loves 90s cars and top speed ever

(86:00) Closing

Chef Shawn Loving is a Certified Master Chef, one of only 72 in the U.S., and the Executive Chef at the Detroit Athletic Club. He grew up in Detroit, found his path in a high school vocational program, and went on to Schoolcraft College, where he later led the culinary program as department chair. His career took him from Michigan kitchens to Disney's Epcot and Euro Disney, to running Race Rock restaurants in Orlando and Las Vegas, and then to owning his own restaurant, Loving Spoonful. One day, a guest asked if he'd be interested in having his life changed. That night he was cooking for former Detroit Pistons star Rip Hamilton in a West Bloomfield basement. Word spread through the NBA, and he has cooked for Team USA basketball at the Olympics and FIBA World Championships since Beijing in 2008.

In our third episode, Chef Shawn takes us through the whole run: his mom's kitchen and the cornbread he calls "the essence of me," a Disney interview where the question was what to do when a kid drops her ice cream cone, and the real work of owning a restaurant (raccoons on the roof included). He tells the story of closing his restaurant for the Pistons' Eastern Conference Finals party, how he met LeBron, and the one thing he never asks athletes for. We get into cooking for 24 elite players with 24 different preferences, the lesson Diana Taurasi taught him in 2008, cooking LeBron a different breakfast every day of the Olympics, and how he quietly wins over hotels overseas that would rather he wasn't there. Then the exam: showing up alone at the Culinary Institute of America in 2010, flying to Singapore to learn from a master chef, and deciding to cook as himself. He explains why running the DAC, with 5,000-plus members and about 68 cooks, is harder than the Master Chef exam, why "when you pull in, you're on," and why he wasn't always the talented one, but he was the hungry one.

Sponsor: Great Lakes Hydration — go to GreatLakesHydration.com and use code STORY10 for 10% off.

Music: Intro music by Puana, original music for businesses. puana.app

(0:00) Intro

(2:52) Where the love for cooking started

(5:50) 11th grade & choosing hospitality

(9:06) Disney: Epcot & Euro Disney

(14:26) Race Rock & the decision to own a restaurant

(19:12) Owning Loving Spoonful

(22:48) How the Detroit Pistons found him

(25:04) "What if I change your life?"

(29:35) How he met LeBron James

(32:59) Cooking for Team USA at the Olympics

(36:17) Why he never asks for an autograph

(37:40) Diana Taurasi's lesson: "we eat like them"

(44:22) Winning over hotels abroad

(49:48) The Certified Master Chef exam

(54:32) "You'll see me again"

(56:14) Cooking as himself: passing in 2017

(62:31) Running the Detroit Athletic Club

(69:49) The most important thing he's learned

(70:27) "I wasn't always the talented one"

(75:45) Closing

Will Lockwood is a recently retired professional hockey player from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Introduced to hockey as a toddler on a backyard rink his dad built, he played his way up through AA and AAA hockey around Detroit, then the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, before playing for the University of Michigan for four years. He was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the third round of the 2016 NHL Draft, turned pro in 2020, and made his NHL debut in 2021, going on to play in the Rangers and Panthers organizations across a six-year pro career. We explore his life story as an undersized, late developer, who simply refused to stop outworking everyone around him.

Sponsor: Great Lakes Hydration — go to GreatLakesHydration.com and use code STORY10 for 10% off.

Music: Intro music by Puana, original music for businesses. puana.app

(5:01) Growing up & the family behind the player

(8:24) Skating before he could walk: the backyard rink

(10:36) The underdog turning point: his U16 year

(14:53) "You'd be stupid not to take this opportunity"

(21:04) The U.S. National Team Development Program

(26:02) "Being ready is not a feeling, it's a decision"

(29:38) Becoming captain at Michigan

(31:24) Leading without being the loudest voice in the room

(37:55) The "I'm great" trick

(52:42) Two shoulder surgeries and multiple concussions

(58:42) Injury prevention: playing smart instead of soft

(62:43) Why he walked away while he was still healthy

(64:19) The 1-in-700 odds of getting drafted

(66:43) Doing the things nobody else is willing to do

(82:19) Rapid fire: favorite game, favorite player

(85:41) Closing

"Beef" is a U.S. Army Special Forces Communications Sergeant (18E) — a Green Beret. He walked away from a desk-job future to chase one of the hardest paths in the military. Today he's the link between his ODA and the outside world.

Beef takes us through the whole journey: the decision to depart from a comfortable life to join the military, the retired Green Beret Lieutenant Colonel who changed everything, the full Special Forces pipeline (SFAS, the Q Course, SERE, Robin Sage and language school), finding zero points on day one of land nav, and finishing selection on a broken foot because quitting was never an option.

We also get into the two fears that have driven him his whole life, why Green Berets plan for everything to go wrong, the bonds he built with partner forces overseas, faith inside Special Forces, and why everyone needs to find their community.

Sponsor: Great Lakes Hydration — go to GreatLakesHydration.com and use code STORY10 for 10%off.

Music: Intro music by Puana, original music for businesses. puana.app

(02:02) Growing up outside Detroit & where the drive comes from
(03:04) The two fears: failure and quitting
(07:33) Breaking his foot in selection and refusing to quit
(12:40) When the military first became a real possibility
(16:22) The retired Green Beret Lt. Col. who changed everything
(18:45) An "unhealthy obsession": preparing for selection
(20:56) Land nav: zero points on day one
(25:49) The Green Beret pipeline explained
(32:04) How he became an 18E communications sergeant
(35:10) Mental vs. physical: the 2 a.m. suck
(40:49) Backup plans to the backup plan
(42:37) Learning Levantine Arabic
(43:11) Boots on the ground: an honest take on deployment
(44:06) Relationships with partner forces
(46:14) The hardest part about being overseas
(48:20) Preparation as a daily standard
(50:13) Faith inside Special Forces
(61:41) Find your community — you're never alone
(64:59) Closing