We’ll Take it From Here with Joe

This week we took a trip to Yoga Odyssey in Somerville, New Jersey and spoke with its owner/founder, Zachy Christodoulou.  Yoga Odyssey is not your typical yoga studio, in fact, it's more of a community where people come to build friendships while practicing what they love.  In this episode, you can really feel Zachy's love of life, her family, and her students.  Zachy shares how she sought Yoga in 2013 after suffering a horrific knee injury during a competitive volleyball match.  Although she helped bring her team to the championship, it came at a cost; a great one however, which would allow her to find her passion and purpose.  Outside of the studio, Zachy is a competitive athlete who routinely performs in Iron Man Triathlons in which she competed this year in Greece, a Mother, and Wife.  Come join us in listening to Zachy's story.

This week we had a blast as we sat down with Joe Farina.  Joe is a resident of Morris County, a lifelong martial artist, and police officer in which he holds the rank of Sargent, however his most proud accomplishment is that of being a Father and Husband.  We spoke about his career in law enforcement, his love for martial arts, and his philosophy on life which includes having a positive impact on the world.  Joe always looks for ways to better the community both on and off duty, whether it be pulling over to shoot hoops with residents, defusing stressful situations while on patrol, or teaching Brazilian Jiu-jitsu (BJJ) to fellow LEOs.  Having been in martial arts for 32 years, Joe is well versed in self-defense, holding black belts in both BJJ and Karate.  Joe believes that every officer should be training BJJ and thus devotes time to teach BJJ every Sunday at 8am at Pure MMA (where he is also a student).  The best part is that it's FREE; so if you are in law enforcement and you want to start training, Joe is waiting for you.  You may reach out to Joe with any questions on Instagram at Karatekid01fan.  Fun fact, as his name suggests, Joe is a huge fan of the film Karate Kid and was an extra on the Kobra Kai series!  Sit back and enjoy the show!

This week we had the pleasure of interviewing our friend, Al Cuccinello.  Al is a father, husband, BJJ/Judo practitioner, salesman, and a lover of adventures.  In this episode, we learned about Al's past and how it had a tremendous impact on his current success.  Although Al is a BJJ brown-belt, Judo green-belt, and has a successful career and family, it was not always this way.  Al overcame many obstacles both self-inflicted and not, which taught him how to overcome adversity.  Whether it was having little money, walking to work every day in beat up shoes, getting a DWI, or experiencing other events from his past, Al's perseverance and ability to keep moving forward allowed him to create his current life.  Al's philosophy is the same whether it be on the mats or off and that is he will not quit when it gets tough.  We hope you will enjoy this episode as much as we did as you learn more about Al.

Today we bring you a new segment to the We'll Take It from Here podcast called JitZone.  As the name implies, JitZone covers all things Jiu-Jitsu related, which we feel will bring a neat dynamic to the show since many listeners are part of the community.  The goal of the segment is to bring light to the sport and martial arts in general.  In the first episode, we speak about our Jiu-Jitsu beginnings and what it has done for us.  We will definitely be having friends from the community on to share their stories.  Enjoy!

This week we had a conversation with our friend Phil McEntee of Rockaway, New Jersey.  Phil is a father, Jiu-Jitsu practitioner / coach, entrepreneur, and most importantly, a great human being.  Phil's story is an interesting one as at the age of thirty-five (he is now in his forties), he performed a self-assessment and, as Jordan Peterson would describe, decided to "burn the dead wood" in his life.  This meant becoming a better individual both physically and mentally.  One of the main ways Phil accomplished this was through the sport of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and other martial arts.  His philosophy is simple but so important, identify your weaknesses and turn them into your strengths.  This allowed Phil to excel in Jiu-Jitsu and in life.  For instance, we speak about his journey as a surveyor, and how he jumped from the secure, corporate world to starting his own company.  Finally, we have a very fun conversation about Phil's spirituality and meditation, which leads us into a tiny rabbit hole about life and its meaning.  Sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Today we bring another duo episode in which we chop it up about a couple of topics.  First, we chat about Don's successful surgery to fix a hernia he had for a while.  Amazingly, you would have never known if he did not mention it because of his ability to stay disciplined in the gym and in Jiu-Jitsu.  Goes to show you that the mind is a powerful tool.  We then move on to provide a recap of our first in year in the podcast world.  We shout out all the amazing guests we had and talk a bit about some of the shows.  We also discuss about what we learned in the first year and how pumped we are for this next one.  We have full intentions of progressing each and every week.  Full steam ahead on the We'll Take It from Here train!

This week we are joined by Joe's good friend Remo D'Alessandro.  Remo grew up in Totowa, New Jersey to an Italian family and resided in Passaic County for the majority of his life.  Remo has served (and currently serves) his community in various roles within law enforcement.  He is extremely outgoing, nice, respectful, and has a reputation for being the fun guy.  This made the episode that much better and funnier.  We touch upon his time in law enforcement, his Jiu-Jitsu journey, and his transformation over the past few months.  You see, Remo used to be 300+ pounds due to an eating disorder which up until recently, he could not control; as he states on the show, "My deadly sin would be gluttony".  Remo details his entire transformation from the driving force to how he remains disciplined!  Currently, Remo has lost 70lbs and plans to continue.  Remo is a great example of how no matter your age (he is 48), you must always hold yourself accountable and strive to be better.  Sit back and enjoy the show!

We welcome back to the show our great friend, Matt Ciecwicz.  Matt was initially a guest on episode eight (which we highly recommend that you listen if not already) in which we spoke about leadership tactics, political events, and more.  This time we took a slightly different approach, and Matt was able to recount some awesome stories of his time as a Private Investigator, which he can do now seeing that he is no longer in the profession.  Matt does a great job painting the scene and putting us right there with him.  We finish off the show with some political discourse (as always) and dive down the rabbit hole a bit.  Enjoy!

This week, we are joined by Joe's extremely close friends, Paul Mouhtis and Mike Isley.  Paul and Mike grew up in Morris County and have been friends since high school where they formed their band "Days Break In", along with two other friends.  Since then, Mike has gone on to form two other bands such as: "Michael Isley Band" and "GLMR" (both on Spotify), and Paul fell in love with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is currently a Black Belt under the Main Brothers at Pure MMA.  We spoke about a plethora of topics including: music, Jiu-Jitsu, soccer, Mike's time in Argentina and Hong Kong, etc.  We also give you the origins of the "SIIIIIIII" which we created before Cristiano Ronaldo.  If you're confused, then you'll have to listen.  Amazing episode and had a blast recording.  Enjoy!