Working For A Dream

Drew Laine is a serial entrepreneur who, in the past, has done his fair share of chasing after the next shiny thing. 

He’s started a wide variety of companies, from lead generation to insurance, software, printing, and, today, sports manufacturing. Some have been successes, some haven’t. He’s learned from them all. But perhaps his most impactful learning came out of his hockey company, the Penalty Box. 

Growing up “with a stick in his hand,” Drew has always been a major hockey fan. And when, through the Penalty Box, he came to see how local hockey communities were rallying around young hockey players in need and organizing for them on Facebook, he wanted to be a part of that. The Penalty Box Foundation started small, supplying a handful of kids with free hockey bags. When he was sent a video by a foster mom of one of her foster kids opening the bag with tears in his eyes, Drew knew the Foundation had already moved it way to the core of his purpose.

“Seeing the charity and the giving side of it gives me the basis to everything I do,” he says. “I’ll tell you, the fire I feel every day waking up knowing I’m making an impact on the sport that I love, on a community that I love, on the people that need it — it’s everything to me.”

In this episode of the Working For a Dream Podcast, Patrick and Drew talk about the “freedom to dream” that comes with entrepreneurship, what makes the hockey community so special, and the gift you get when you give back.

What You’ll Learn:

• How an idea one couple-of-beers-deep night became The Penalty Box
• How Drew has learned to combat the loneliness of entrepreneurship and find a community that gets it
• The value of failing “so many d*** times”
• And much more!

Favorite Quote:

“The feeling that you can make an impact through your hard work and really drive change is everything to me at this point. Other companies that I've had in the past, it was all, ‘Oh, this seems like a good idea.’ We go after it and there's no heart. There's no desire, there's no passion. I can't wake up in the morning and look myself in the eyes and see the fire and desire to get up and kick a** like you do when you get excited... it didn't feel like this, man.”

— Drew Laine

How to Get Involved:

Connect with Drew: 

DrewLaine.com

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

Connect with Patrick: 

LinkedIn

Facebook

Instagram

In 2007, Mike Young had a successful mortgage company and was a “liquid millionaire.” In 2008, after the market crashed, he’d lost it all and was a couple hundred thousand in debt. He was devastated — not just by the loss, but by the realization that he hadn’t been happy for some time.

“It wrecked me. There was a time where I had everything that someone could want, or that you’re told you should have — go to high school, go to college, start a business, get a big house, and then you’re quote-unquote ‘going to be happy,’” Mike says. “But I found myself unhappy. I was spending 80 hours a week at the office. And I just knew I wanted something different.”

The financial crash of 2008, he says, “helped act as a catalyst for that.” Today he’s the founder of The Makeover Master, host of the top-rated “Made Over Podcast,” and the author of “Made Over: How to Create a Powerful Brand That Will Transform Your Business & Save Your Life.” He’s also newly the founder and president of the Association of Mental Health and Well-Being For Entrepreneurs — a worldwide network of 24/7, 365 support in development for entrepreneurs. 

Mike is hugely passionate about bringing mental health and wellness support to entrepreneurs for a few reasons. He lost his brother-in-law to self-harm in 2015, and he’s seen firsthand the impact this kind of loss can have on family’s lives. And as an entrepreneur, he’s experienced his peaks and valleys with mental health — something he believes entrepreneurs may be particularly susceptible to. That’s because when you attach so much of your identity to something that exists outside of you when it gets taken away — as Mike’s business did in 2008 — the mental health impact can be profound. 

“Entrepreneurship is no joke,” he says. “It can be a very lonely road… I just started thinking, who’s out there to help them? Who’s out there to support entrepreneurs when we crash?”

In this episode of the Working For a Dream Podcast, Patrick and Mike talk about making over your mindset, fostering resilience, and prioritizing your mental health and well-being as an entrepreneur.

What You’ll Learn:

• How Mike, after a decade of 10-14 hour workdays, learned to prioritize sleep, nutrition, and exercise (and regulate his emotions better in the process)
• How he recovered from the “ego death” of losing it all and cultivated a stronger identity
• Why changing your environment changes the molecular structure of who you are, and why it’s key to “surround yourself with people who want the best for the very best parts of you.”
• And much more!

Favorite Quote:

“Over the last 15 years, I've had three or four significant crashes where I felt like I was lost. I felt like I was hopeless… I felt like my business was falling apart, my finances were falling apart, my life was falling apart. Just the complexity of the world — it overwhelmed me. You have these catalyst moments, and sometimes those moments that are the darkest are like your greatest blessing. Because just on the other side of that thing are these moments of brilliance.”

— Mike Young

How to Get Involved:

Connect with Mike: 

The Makeover Master

LinkedIn

Facebook

Connect with Patrick: 

LinkedIn

Facebook

Instagram

At the end of 2018, when Randy Gonzalez’s daughter first introduced him to TikTok, he had no idea it would eventually put both him and his son Bryce, who was just three at the time, on the map. 

“I didn’t know I had this talented little boy just waiting to get exposed to the world. It happened because Bryce was just this annoying kid,” Randy says, chuckling. “He kept telling me, ‘Dad, hey Dad, let me jump on TikTok.’” 

Ultimately, Randy did let Bryce jump on TikTok — and their first video racked up more than 5 million views. Since then, after a series of equally popular TikToks, most of them featuring the duo dancing, Randy and Bryce have gained 8.7 million followers on TikTok and nearly a million on Instagram as the “enkyboys.” Their lives, Randy says with Bryce sitting next to him, have “dramatically” changed in the process. 

“All we do now is influence work, promos, and advertising — this is what we do for a living now,” Randy says. “We started off making $50 (for posts) and then went from $50 to $100 to $200 to $300. Our first big check was from Safeguard the soap, and they gave us a $12,000 check. It’s amazing how social media can change somebody’s life.” 

As Randy puts it, the “effort you put in is what you’re going to get out of it — and that’s like in every situation.” In this episode of the Working For a Dream Podcast, Patrick, Randy, and Bryce talk about making it big on TikTok, Randy’s challenges pre-enkyboys fame as a former felon, and what’s next for the duo.

What You’ll Learn:

• How, as a former felon, Randy changed life paths after “coming from the streets and a bad background.”
• How the dad-son duo is combating stereotypes and changing the conversation about what it looks like to parent as someone with a criminal background
• What Bryce wants to be when he grows up (hint: it’s between a Power Ranger and one other job)
• And much more!

Favorite Quote:

“Getting out of prison, I was thinking, ‘Oh man, I’m going to get out and work in the (chemical) plants and take care of my family’… but God had a different direction for me. I guess the plan that he had for me is to show the world that people can change — no matter who you are, what you are, what color you are — and to be an inspiration to other people on being a father.”

— Randy Gonzalez

How to Get Involved:

Connect with Randy and Bryce: 

TikTok

Instagram

Connect with Patrick: 

LinkedIn

Facebook

Instagram

Jenna and Kyle Fry’s relationship — professionally and personally — started in a corporate catering kitchen. 

Jenna, who’d gone to school for Nutrition and Dietetics before pivoting into food service, and Kyle, who trained under several chefs before becoming Food Service Director at Nationwide Insurance, knew they made a compatible team after working together at Nationwide. Within a few months of their marriage, Kyle was over corporate life.

“We were serving hotdogs and hamburgers and french fries to college students, and I was more chef-oriented than manager-oriented,” he says. “I wasn’t doing what I wanted to do or what I love to do… I like to grind it out and be creative and make my menus.”

The couple decided it was now or never — it was time to start their own catering company. With a little (okay, a lot) of elbow grease, Pennsylvania-based Scratch Kitchen was born.

It was a considerable risk, but they had “faith in each other,” Jenna says, as well as faith in their abilities. They knew they could work hard and, with the right amount of time, effort, and luck, get their dream off the ground. In this episode of the Working For a Dream Podcast, Patrick hears from Jenna and Kyle about what’s made them a successful team, in and out of the kitchen.

What You’ll Learn:

• How they decided the time was right to make the leap and start working for themselves, together
• What sacrifices they’ve had to make (including working in what was essentially a closet at first) and what the payoff’s been
• How COVID served to help their business grow unexpectedly
• And much more!

Favorite Quote:

“It’s about having faith in your ability. You can work hard. You can put in the time and effort. You’re going to be working nights and weekends — is that worth it to you to sacrifice time with friends and family? You have to be willing to do that and put that time in to get where you want to go.”

— Jenna Fry

How to Get Involved:

Connect with Jenna and Kyle: 

Instagram

Facebook

Fry’s Catering

Connect with Patrick: 

LinkedIn

Facebook

Instagram

Twenty-some years ago, as Erik Allen tells it, his life was going nowhere fast. 

He’d been raised in a broken home, learning how to defend his mother from an abusive, alcoholic boyfriend physically and, after moving in with his absentee dad, getting into drugs and trouble with the law in his teens. By age 21, he’d been in jail, was $28,000 in debt, had filed for bankruptcy, and was plagued by addictions — something his lifestyle as a Universal Records employee and regular concertgoer wasn’t helping.

But then, Erik had a come-to-Jesus moment — literally. Working nights in a coffee shop, he was on the clock one evening when a woman came in and asked if he’d like to go to church with her. Not long after, a dreadful night led him to consider the offer more deeply.

“I woke up Easter morning in my buddy’s basement surrounded by 15 passed-out guys, and at that moment I just felt God say, ‘Man, you’re done,’” he recalls. “I quit cold-turkey drugs, drinking, cigarettes, everything right there. I gave my life to Christ at that moment. And I called that girl up.”

Now, at this stage in his life, Erik is celebrating few pretty significant milestones — including 16 years of marriage to the girl from the coffee shop, 219th episode as a podcaster, and a successful entrepreneur. As he puts it, “Our past does not define our future.” That’s the mantra he likes to remind himself as he continues working toward his ultimate future goal — becoming a full-time speaker, podcaster, content creator, and coach. 

In this episode of the Working For a Dream Podcast, Erik tells Patrick about growing his two podcasts, Top Rated MMA and The Erik Allen Show, from the days of recording in walk-in closets and the power of rewriting your legacy. 

What You’ll Learn:

• What helped Erik release the shame and hurt of his upbringing and embrace his journey publicly
• How he makes time for podcasting and entrepreneurship on top of parenting and his full-time job
• How he turned his love of combat sports into a career calling
• And much more!

Favorite Quote:

“I had to become a quitter. I had to quit being lazy. Quit complaining. I had to quit being around negative people. I had to quit thinking that I wasn't deserving of money or deserving of success, and I had to quit being a quitter.”

— Erik Allen

How to Get Involved:

Connect with Erik: 

Erik Allen Media

LinkedIn

Facebook

Connect with Patrick: 

LinkedIn

Facebook

Instagram

Greg Scheinma‪n has accrued more than a couple of titles over the years. He’s an insurance broker, a blogger, a fitness enthusiast, a father of two, and a husband of 20 years. He’s the producer of independent films, having started his career at Miramax Films in New York. He’s an entrepreneur whose children’s home entertainment venture, Team Baby Entertainment, was sold to the former CEO of Disney. And he’s a middle-aged man. 

It’s the last of these titles that’s Greg’s focus for his podcast, Midlife Male. With 136 episodes under his belt to date, Greg realized the demographic he’s in is a traditionally underserved one. That’s because too often men are sold the message that middle age is something they need to fear rather than embrace. But that narrative is one Greg is determined to end. 

“We’re talking about midlife men and how they’re navigating middle age to achieve a better quality of life — how they’ve turned their lives and careers around and how they’ve become a better husband and better father,” he says. “That’s where I am in my life, and that’s what I want to learn about.” 

On that front, Greg has been far from alone. From Olympic gold medal winners to Grammy-winning artists to chefs and entrepreneurs and dads and average Joes down the street, everybody has a story worth telling, with trials and tribulations and lessons to share. Celebrating those stories, the wisdom that accompanies them, and what midlife men are achieving in the here and now is what Greg as a podcaster is all about.

In this episode of the Working For a Dream Podcast, Patrick and Greg talk about recognizing the power of your midlife years, where Greg’s career has taken him, and what comes next. 

What You’ll Learn:

• The six focuses for success as a midlife male, according to Greg
• Why middle age is an aspirational place to be (and how brands are starting to recognize that)
• How Greg approaches taking risks, and how getting older means he’s gotten better at it
• And much more!

Favorite Quote:

“The middle is the sweet spot. It's not the end. It's not a crisis. It's not either. It's the sweet spot. This is when life should be getting better. This is when my foot’s on the gas, right now.”

— Greg Scheinma‪n

How to Get Involved:

Connect with Greg: 

Midlife Male

Instagram

LinkedIn

Connect with Patrick: 

LinkedIn

Facebook

Instagram

Brent Hunter knows that when you’re working for a dream, things don’t always go one hundred percent according to plan. 

When Brent’s wife of 24 years unexpectedly lost her job in 2017, that’s when the couple decided it was time to make good on their dream of being entrepreneurs. “It was time for us to do for us, instead of doing for someone else,” he says. “So we took that opportunity.” 

Months of market research, backed by his wife’s love of cooking, pointed them in the direction of opening their food truck. Hawaiian food had always been their favorite, and there wasn’t much of it to be found near where they lived in Oregon. After buying and driving a former t-shirt vending truck across the country, the Hunters were ready to turn their dream into a reality. But whereas Brent has friends who’ve taken nine months to build out a food truck, he and his wife were dealing with a much shorter deadline — they needed the truck to be ready in nine days, to be exact. 

In this episode of the Working For a Dream Podcast, Patrick and Brent talk about what it took to build his dream from scratch — literally — and what it’s like to run Grindz Food Truck as a family.

What You’ll Learn:

• How Brent and his family got their food truck ready in nine days (without sleeping for three of them)
• What they’ve learned about themselves as entrepreneurs and where they see their business going next
• Their favorite Hawaiian dishes to cook (content warning: your mouth will water)
• And much more!

Favorite Quote:

“You’ve got to put in the work is the first and foremost thing. Put in the work. It's a job, and it can become a career.” 

— Brent Hunter

How to Get Involved:

Connect with Brent: 

Instagram

Facebook

Connect with Patrick: 

LinkedIn

Facebook

Instagram

Michael-David Riley is a big believer in mantras. 

Specifically, he believes in using mantras and language to shift our internal narratives and own what we visualize and internalize in life. These visualizations and internalizations, he says, feed directly into the decisions we make — and when the average person makes 35,000 decisions a day, the impact adds up. 

“When you really own everything — the good, bad, and ugly and the victories — now you’re controlling the outcomes of your life because you’re no longer allowing conditions and others to control your emotional reactions,” he says. “When you’re finally taking ownership of decisions — all 35,000 — and being mentally aware of everything you’re doing, you start to realize your habits change, your actions change and your outcomes change.” 

But Michael-David didn’t always have this level of ownership in life. Growing up as a “highly abused kid,” he found solace and escape in cycling. It helped him handle the emotional chaos at home, and it also introduced him to an athlete’s approach to forming the intention and taking action. Years later, he was training to make the Barcelona Olympic cycling team when an injury sustained in the gym left him unable to stand up straight, literally, for the next five years. He was losing control of his life. Until he chose to make the mindset shift that would eventually become the 35K Decisions A Day mission. 

In this episode of the Working For a Dream Podcast, Patrick and Michael-David talk about why now, at age 48, Michael-David has “never felt more in control of his life.” 

What You’ll Learn:

• How Michael-David went from being a victim of his circumstances to truly owning his life
• What it took for him to bounce back from dropping out of college, two failed marriages, a lost job, and an injury that caused him to gain 100 pounds
• The mantras that he uses with his team
• And much more!

Favorite Quote:

“As I wallowed — ‘why me, poor me, why did this happen to me — I had this moment. For everything in your life, you’re the common thread. If you want a different outcome and a different life, you have to start making different decisions.”

— Michael-David Riley

How to Get Involved:

Connect with Michael-David: 

Instagram 

Facebook

Spotify

Connect with Patrick: 

LinkedIn

Facebook

Instagram

Growing up in North Texas, Zack Hughes always heard positive stories from his grandfather, a World War II veteran, about life in the military. After 9/11, the call to join the military felt strong and the right thing to do, yet, he wasn’t sure what exactly that path would look like until years later. 

“I had just left grad school and didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Zack says. “I thought maybe I wanted to go into law enforcement but decided against that and pivoted to Special Forces. And it was big for me.” 

Deciding to become a Green Beret, he graduated from his Special Forces qualifications course as class valedictorian before being deployed to Afghanistan. After seven years of service and the in-combat loss of a close friend, he was hit by a rock-propelled grenade, went through rehab and four surgeries, and ultimately left the army for civilian life in 2019. Today, through his involvement with Elite Meet, he’s helping other special ops veterans land leadership roles in Corporate America, and he’s also sharing his expertise as the founder of the Operations Association community. 

On this episode of the Working For a Dream Podcast, Patrick and Zack talk about the biggest lessons Zack learned on the field, his transition to civilian life and how he’s helping OA members push past their comfort zone.

What You’ll Learn:

• How his time as a Green Beret changed his perspective on America’s opportunities and resources 
• Why the principles you learn in Special Operations are crucial in the business world
• How he’s “connecting the dots” for other veterans
• And much more!

Favorite Quote:

“We still got it. Even in 2020, we still got it. I think the world needs a little bit more perspective on that sometimes.”

— Zack Hughes

How to Get Involved:

Connect with Zack: 

Operations Association

Instagram

Personal website

Connect with Patrick: 

LinkedIn

Facebook

Instagram

The year was 2001 when Miguel Montero, a 16-year-old, living with his family in Caracas, Venezuela, was signed into baseball’s minor leagues. His contract was for $13,000, but the money was hardly what excited Miguel. 

“All I wanted was a plane ticket and put me in the Dominican and leave the rest up to me,” he recalls. 

But being away from home, he quickly found that it wasn’t easy. He was fending for himself far from his family, and he wasn’t playing his best ball. There were times, he remembers, when he thought of quitting. But Miguel found the willpower to stick around, and in doing so, he learned a lesson that he carried with him all the way to the World Series. 

“I was not the most talented guy,” he says. “I really worked hard. I put in a lot of work and I got better. He told himself “I got to be really strong mentally… there’s one way that you’re going to survive, and it’s competing. They’re good, but they’re not better than you and you’re not better than them. You’ve just got to beat them someway or the other, and it’s competing.” 

On this episode of the Working For a Dream Podcast, Patrick and Miguel talk about how he hustled in his way to becoming a two-time MLB All-Star, how it felt hitting a Grand Slam in the NLCS (with a back injury to boot), and how he set (and achieved!) his three main goals for coming to the U.S.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why Miguel believes he “plays the game of failure” — and is glad he does
• How he approaches being retired at 37
• What he’s doing to support young baseball players in Colombia through the Miguel Montero Academy
• And much more!

Favorite Quote:

“It was a grind but it was a good grind, because you love what you do. When you start thinking ‘this is a job,’ that baseball is a job, that’s when everything starts falling apart because the passion stops. It’s about playing with passion and not even worrying about the money you want to make, because in the end if you play good, the money’s gonna be there, as long as you just enjoy what you’re doing and play well.” 

— Miguel Montero

How to Get Involved:

Connect with Miguel: 

Instagram

Miguel Montero Academy

Connect with Patrick: 

LinkedIn

Facebook

Instagram