Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
You're listening to Selling the Dream. This isn't an interview and we're not journalists.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: But each week we'll ask our guests to open up and share their secrets to business success.
Let's have a conversation and have some fun. Welcome to another episode of Selling the Dream.
Here in this podcast we hang out, we talk about sales, entrepreneurship, leadership, sometimes fatherhood, talk about all kinds of stuff.
But most importantly, we like to have, like to have fun and, and we don't take ourselves too seriously. And as always, speaking of not taking himself seriously ever, I want to introduce my co host as from California, Joe Irenell. What's up Joe? Good to see you again.
[00:00:55] Speaker C: Happy to be here once again, brother.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: So got birthday coming up. You're going to be looking to celebrate in South Florida?
[00:01:03] Speaker C: Yeah, well it's, it just happens to be one of the offices will be open right around that time. My kids are competing in in pans for ibjjf which is Jiu Jitsu, which is in Orlando. So we're going to be out for the weekend and then going to shoot over to the, to the, the other coast of Florida and Pompano where one of my off new offices is. So we're going to check that out. I'm gonna make sure that all the pictures and all the videos I'm being sent of its construction are legit and not just AI and so I'm gonna spend the week out there and then it happens to fall on my birthday. So anybody in interested in coming out of South Florida and having a good time, let me know.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: Just.
[00:01:49] Speaker B: Yeah. Soda and ice cream cones for Joe though.
[00:01:52] Speaker C: That's it.
[00:01:53] Speaker B: Yeah, man, I was just in Florida and bro, it is hot down there, man.
It's crazy. It was a Florida hot is a different kind of hot, man. It's like it was like 98 at a real feel of 104.
[00:02:07] Speaker C: Yeah, because hold on, dude, where you are at if you're on, you have to literally be like on the beach and then it's like tolerable because you get this sea breeze and, and then the thunderstorm that happens like pretty much. You can set your watch to at about 253 every single day. Cools it off. But if you go like five miles away from the coast, it just turns into like a swamp sauna. Wet sauna, dude. So you are, you're in the, you are not in a good spot, dude. You should, you needed to shoot over to my old stomping grounds in south beach now.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: Yeah, brother.
We didn't make it to south beach, we did get some cool stuff. Boat rides on the water and, and some beach time in, but, but not South Beach.
It would have been. I, I don't know if I have the energy, the money or.
I just, I just don't know if I could survive in South Beach.
[00:03:01] Speaker C: I don't know. I'm never gonna want to go back there.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: Well, listen, we got a pretty good show today. I'm super excited to bring in, bringing a new friend, Caleb Cobb from Adventures Training. Caleb is a, an interesting cat coach, wrestling coach, entrepreneur, and, and also Joe, I'll have you know, also serves clients through his nonprofit, which I think is alignment in, in a lot of ways with, with uh, hometown, uh, home front fighters. So, so without further ado, Caleb, thanks for joining us today, man.
[00:03:40] Speaker A: Yeah, honored to be part of it, man. I was excited to, to get introduced to you guys and Jay's. I love, love talking with Jay. I feel like I learned something every 30 seconds. And so he's like, hey, I want you to listen to this podcast and send me you guys. Send me your guys show. He's like, I'm gonna introduce you. You want to. Do you want to meet these guys? And I was like, yeah, man, that'd be great. Yeah. So, so here we are. So thanks, thanks for having me. I'm pumped.
[00:04:08] Speaker C: So you're, you're the guy that listened to it. All right, cool.
[00:04:11] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:04:13] Speaker B: We're just two dudes hanging out, right?
[00:04:16] Speaker A: I'm a big podcaster and, and I was never a big reader, but with the advent of the audiobook I have, I have probably read more books this year than I did my whole life, you know, just on my commutes and things like that.
[00:04:34] Speaker B: So I love that, man. So, so tell us a little bit about your non profit and how'd you get started and what's your background there?
[00:04:44] Speaker A: Yeah, so I, we started this, we started in 2015 and at that time my dad was working for an orthopedic surgeon.
He.
And he's got a crazy story too. He grew up in Oklahoma, played football for the Pittsburgh Steelers three for, for 10 years, coach for 13, and then went back to school and got a master's degree in exercise science. And so he was working with a lot of folks that had, you know, chronic disease and illness and, and, and things like that. And so what had happened, you know, what happens is, you know, insurance dictates your outpatient pt and so, you know, he had a lot of clients that you Know, the insurance funding was cut. They still needed a place to, to, you know, receive care and there was not, there was nowhere for them to go. And my dad wanted to start it at the office and so he had a meeting with the, with the owner and the CFO and they were like, you know, that's a great idea but that doesn't make any money. And so, and so we both quit our jobs and I was living in Nebraska at the time, selling medical supplies and moved home into my parents basement at 27 years old, you know, to run a non profit with my parents.
And it's been great. It's been, you know, I'm really, I met my wife, moved out of my parents basement so we have a house now. And yeah, it's just been a wild journey but kind of the evolution of this, you know, veterans and first responders were always, were something that we were passionate about. We've always offered free services to veterans and first responders. And just as we've grown, we've been able to introduce kind of more offerings and services. And so really our flagship program right now is called Aurelius and that's what I, that's the link I sent you guys for the website. And so what it is, it's really, it's a 12 week whole body health, mind body soul wellness program. It's a holistic program where we combine physical training, the physical wellness side, we combine mental health services, counseling and transcranial magnetic stimulation as well as like adventures. So you know, typically every Saturday that I'm in town, we do an adventure day, whether that's hiking, biking, rock climbing, just to get, you know, the clients out together. We, we do cohorts. Every five weeks we start a new cohort and just build that camaraderie and resiliency. And it's been a really cool experience and something that, you know, I'm proud to be a part of and enjoy doing it. And I get to work with my family. The dog is here. He's our office dog. He's here every day. So, you know, can't complain.
[00:07:37] Speaker B: Talk about building a life by design, man. I love that.
Tying in helping people and doing stuff you love. I mean it really, it doesn't, doesn't get any better than that.
So tell me about, tell me about the adventures that you guys do.
[00:07:52] Speaker A: Yeah, so we, I think we've just always, you know, my whole family, we've been pretty outdoorsy by nature. We started rock climbing before we knew what we were doing, you know, before we knew how to tie any knots. We were. We were rock climbing. I grew up right next to a place called McConnell's Mills, so we'd go out there a lot.
And just as I got older, I really enjoyed, you know, being outside, backpacking, climbing, hiking, things like that. And one of the reasons I went to school in Nebraska, in my mind was like, oh, it's closer to Colorado. Like, my plan was just to continue moving out west.
And so about, what, five years ago, there's a guy named Kevin Chirilla.
And you can Google them later, but I was coaching wrestling at Pine Richland and the next door, like, the school next door, I was the coach there. I was telling him what we do, and he's like, oh, my brother went to school with a guy named Kevin Cherilla. Like, I'll try and track down his phone number. So I got his phone number. He's kind of a world renowned mountaineer. Set multiple world records. Most blind climbers to summit Kilimanjaro. He led that trip. Eric Weinmeier is a famous blind mountaineer. Kevin was the base camp manager for that.
[00:09:11] Speaker B: Wait, what do you mean by blind mountaineer?
[00:09:13] Speaker A: Like, yeah, man.
Yeah. Further than the eye can see. Check out that documentary. It's on Eric Weinmeier. So climbing Everest. And so Kevin has climbed Everest himself. So, you know, I get this guy's phone number, and it kind of reminds me of the. Was listening to your guys podcast about, like, doing the cold call. Like, the. The call sales. And. And so, like, me and my wife, I'm like, all right, what. What should I say? Like, you know, I want to work for this guy. Like, I mean, ideally, like, I wanted to start my own guide company. I had no idea how to do that. And so the first call that I had with him, you know, cold called him and picks up the phone and I'm like, hey, my name's Caleb. I'm from Pittsburgh. I want to do what you're doing. I was wondering if I could pick your brain for a little bit.
And then.
[00:09:58] Speaker B: Way to start.
[00:09:59] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just like. And then I was silent. Yeah, then it was just silent. I was just like, well, you know, we'll see what happens. So next thing you know, my wife and my dad and I are on Kilimanjaro climbing as clients for his company.
And then.
And then he was like, you know, if you really want to do. If you really want to be a guide, you know, the first thing you got to do is get your wilderness first responder certification, which is a 10 day wilderness medicine course.
And so I was like, all right, you know, so my wife and I both signed up for that. We went to Cullowy, North Carolina, and camped out for 10 days, did this course. And then I called him back, and I'm like, all right, now what? He's like, oh, like, you're pretty serious about this.
And then so he ended up hiring my wife and I on as an assistant guide, and then we became head guides. So we're leading our own trips.
And then this past year, really wanted to do more, to do more additional things. And I like the logistic aspect, the planning, the relationship building with the. The, you know, the area that you're in. I like doing that stuff. And.
And so I had a call with my wife and Kevin and Kristen, the owners of the company, and, you know, kind of told them, hey, you know, talk through that with them. And. And they were very supportive, said, you know, I think, you know, I think it is time you guys start your own company. And so we're. We're in the kind of very beginning phases of that. We set up an LLC several years ago for this, and now we're, you know, we're already guiding trips. We don't even have a website yet, but we're already. We already got. I was in Virginia. Virginia high country in Mount Rogers National Forest last week. I'm going again this week where you have Montana, Grand Canyon rim to rim, so this. This fall. So. And then I got to leave for Mount Whitney on Tuesday in California. So we got a lot, lot going on, man. And. But. But I love the adventures. I love the kind of. The challenge of it, like Brazilian jiu jitsu. It's like you put yourself in this kind of uncomfortable, tough situation. You get through that and you grow from it, you know, and it builds you. And so I think after wrestling, I was kind of like, what is my next thing? Like, what is. How do you get that after college Wrestling? And I found it in climbing and mountaineering and backpacking.
[00:12:24] Speaker B: So one of the core tenants of our. What we've learned in the journey of asking a lot of questions and talking to cool people is. And Joe. Joe, you're a big fan of this is do hard things, right?
[00:12:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:12:39] Speaker B: Every day.
[00:12:40] Speaker A: Why.
[00:12:41] Speaker B: Why do you. Caleb, why do you think that's so important to entrepreneurs? Why do you think it's important to entrepreneurs to push yourself and do hard things? Do. Do stupid, difficult things that serve no purpose other than something that it does to you internally?
[00:12:57] Speaker A: Well, have you guys read the book the Comfort crisis.
[00:13:00] Speaker B: No.
[00:13:01] Speaker A: Okay, that's a, that's a good book. And I was given that book actually through kind of a mutual contact.
One of the guy that Jay works with, Eric work. We work together. And I was telling him we were having pretty much this exact conversation because.
And he was like, have you read this book? And I'm like, no. And he's like, a lot of the things you're talking about are in this book. So I read it and it's an amazing book. But for me, like, it really started and I'll kind of be brief, but when I was, when I was in elementary school.
No, I'm sorry. I was in middle school. It was in middle school, we were doing a backpacking trip out to Colorado. And it was my dad, his two friends, their sons, and my brother.
And so we were doing a multi day trip and you know, we were, we were on summit day. So we woke up and we were going to summit this mountain and it started raining and it was cold and like the worst combination of I don't mind being cold, I don't mind being wet, but like when you're wet and cold, it's just miserable, right? Oh, yeah. And so kind of like everybody, people started turning back until it was just me and my dad.
And, you know, I'm like in middle school and I'm like, I don't want to go anymore. I'm kind of like, like, kind of like crying. Like, like I want to turn around. And I remember my dad, like, I remember this like it was yesterday. My dad said, you know, if you do this, if you get to, if you summit this mountain, like you're gonna remember that for the rest of your life and you're gonna have that to build on. And we were talking a lot about wrestling is like, you know, you're gonna be in high school next year. You want to be on varsity. Like, it's not easy. Nobody lets you win. You know, nobody lets you submit them in Brazilian jiu jitsu. You're taking somebody down against their will. Like, this is thing, this, doing this, you'll have this for the rest of your life to look back on and build on. And that's just something that I remember clear as day. And so, you know, fast forward, I've been able to have those experiences. And another one, you know, a couple years ago we were in Nepal climbing a mountain called Island Peak or mjc.
And I remember a lot of times it kind of coincides with like a ton of stuff going on in the business world. Like, there's so much work that I have to do, and I'm like, second guessing myself. Should I really be leaving right now? Like, leaving the country to go climb a mountain? Like, I have all these projects and it's like, for me, I think you get a lot of clarity.
And, you know, I remember, like, I was. I was going on this, this route, and there were these, these women that they're picking up yak pie, you know, yak scat, you know, with their hands put in a bag, they dried out, and they use that to fuel fires and heat their houses. And I'm. And I'm stressing out about like, you know, something that I didn't think was meaningless until it really puts it in that perspective.
But I think really just, just put. And so that for me is like, that's kind of my why of guiding is like, I like to share that experience with other people. And, you know, these things change you. And so when we took the pavement group, the company down the street, we took 10 of their employees rim to rim on the Grand Canyon.
You know, I was telling them, like, listen this, like, you're not going to be the same person you were when you go in or when you come out as you were when you go in. And, you know, it sounds cliche and all this, but, you know, you know, you get your ass kicked for 24 miles and it's over 100 degrees in the bottom. It's in the 40s when you start. It's. It just is a really big test. And so, you know, I share that with them, is, hey, you do this, this is something you're gonna have for the rest of your life. And I believe that. I wholeheartedly believe that it. It makes us stronger and tougher, more resilient, and, you know, helps us get to the next challenge.
[00:16:43] Speaker B: So that's really cool. That's really cool. I think that.
Yeah, I mean, I love the idea of the, of that thing that you can carry with you forever. To say this is, you know, this. I did this and work that went into it to. Nobody could take it away.
But the perspective piece, I think that's also important, especially if you get an opportunity to see people who are in a different place than you are and reprioritize what you consider to be important or more importantly, what you consider to be a problem. Right? Yeah, I think that, that that's it. That's a huge part of it, right, Joe?
[00:17:18] Speaker C: I think that what I've come come to understand these types of things, and it's like, there's, there's so much that goes into it. That, number one, if you start to accept the fact that you're, that you can quit at something, like, you, you don't want that quit in you. That'll. That'll stick with you for everything else, and you just become okay with quitting. And so that drives me, like, that fear of, like, if I quit at this, then it's going to be easier to quit the next thing. But all the stuff that, that I found with, you know, some of the things that I do, people are like, why would you do that? Like, it's so unnecessary. And what it does for me is, like, it enables me to compartmentalize, like, pain and struggle.
So in jiu jitsu, let's use that example. Like, you have to figure out, like, okay, what part of me hurts right now or is stuck or I have to get out to get around. So it's not my whole body. Like, not everything. Like, if I thought about it, like, everything sucks. Everything hurts. But if you start to train your brain to think, like, it's just this, and then you're like, or if you're in the sauna, it's like, I do the sauna cold bath. You're like, my whole body. Like, I'm not overall miserable. Like, this part, my skin hurts, but I can still breathe. But if I don't separate the two, then you just think everything's miserable. So when you start to translate that to business, and I've been saying it recently to my partner, some, you know, the stuff that you have every day, a lot of this stuff, I'm like, dude, literally, this is just putting words on paper. That's our problem. Like, we need to put the right words in the right paper, and it unlocks everything. So when you can just deconstruct all of these struggles that you have that you think is part of a big thing, then, and you train your brain by, like, acknowledging this through the difficult things that you do, it translates into everything else. And then this big problem you have is actually just a series of little small fires that you need to put out, and they're not as big as it is. So that's kind of, that's helped me a lot recently, just going through that struggle.
[00:19:26] Speaker A: So, yeah, that's well said. That's. I like that compart, compartmentalization piece to it. That's, that's, that's really good.
[00:19:36] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:19:36] Speaker B: And the quick part, I, I, well, when I did the marathon back in, in 22, I remember the night before, my stepfather, like, you know, I. I trained. I mean, did I train the way I should have? Probably not, but I trained.
And I remember him saying, like, with a concerned look on his face, listen, you know, my whole family was worried as shit.
[00:19:58] Speaker A: They.
[00:19:59] Speaker B: They were all. I mean, they were all worried. And I. And he said, you know, if you don't feel like you can finish, like, you don't have to finish. I want you to know that you've done, like, you know, you've ran 17 miles in a. In a. In a training run, like you've already accomplished. I said, russ, I would rather die than not finish this race tomorrow. Like, there is absolutely no way I was going to allow myself to quit for that reason, Joe. Like, I don't. Like, like you said, Caleb, you carry that win around with you, and. And it pulls you forward, man. Quitting something, that's a heavy weight to carry. That's a heavy weight to carry, you know, going forward.
[00:20:38] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And I think it makes the next things not easier. I don't think. I don't think it ever gets easy. I think it's hard. You know, everything.
Life's tough, you know, like, it's difficult. But I think, like you said, Joe, like, it makes it harder to quit. You know, you built that grit and that resiliency and, you know, and that's why, like, I, like, I enjoy coaching and is kind of being able to share that, you know, more than. It's a lot more than teaching technique, you know, especially combat sports is like, you know, it's a street fight and a chess match put together. You know, you can be. You can be the toughest dude, but you got to understand the chess game of it. And, you know, you can understand the technique and the chest side of it, but if you're. If you're not tough, you're gonna have. You're gonna struggle, so.
[00:21:28] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:21:29] Speaker B: Listen, Joe, I swear to God, one of these days, you're gonna. You're gonna remind me to do the two truths and a lie when we first start. Like, I don't know why you keep letting me do it.
[00:21:38] Speaker C: You get on a roll, and I'm like, I can't see this guy, bro.
[00:21:41] Speaker B: You gotta stop me next time. All right, so before we segue into the next topic, I want to. I want to. Let's do our two truths and a lie. Now, we've already said all ideas that, you know, our Joe is our human lie detector. So listen for the clues and try and figure out through the course of the conversation. Which ones? The lie. We've already gone through a couple, so let's just. Let's just throw them out there. Caleb. What? Are your two facts True. One of them is false.
[00:22:05] Speaker A: Yeah, I've been thinking about this all day, and I. Let me, like, remember what I was going to say because I hope I didn't, like, already say you some of the stuff, but.
Okay, Okay. All right, all right, all right. The first one is my wife and I are pretty big cat people. We have five cats and one dog in Trek.
They get along well.
Number two is, what was I gonna do? Oh, I have a brother that graduated from college with a mathematics degree, moved to Germany and became a clown.
And the last one, my.
One of my best friends growing up, his grandpa invented the Big Mac.
[00:22:59] Speaker B: Wow, that's pretty good. I like that. We'll try and piece that one together here as we continue on.
Why'd you laugh about the cats, Caleb?
[00:23:11] Speaker A: Embarrassing. I don't know.
[00:23:14] Speaker B: All right, I think we know which. I think we know one of these is true. All right, so. So you started talking about coaching. Coaching sports, specifically whether it's, Whether it's high school or youth sports is a. Is a huge passion of mine. I think that one of the greatest gifts we can give young people is the lessons we've learned in our struggle. And when you're in a position, Joe and I, and obviously you, Caleb, where we are, we're in a certain mind space of improvement, self improvement. Right.
Always looking to challenge ourselves, always looking to grow, always looking to battle adversity, always looking to figure out a way to succeed in spite of the challenges and when we could turn around and take what we learn and start kids at a young age and use that sport as a microcosm, as a, A stage for, for. For. For what the world is. Is going to provide them or, or, or pit against them later and you can give them these lessons. I think it's one of the most valuable things you can do as a human, as a. As an adult human to give back to kids. And, and, and, and you coach youth wrestling, Joe. You've coached your kids in surfing, Jiu Jitsu. You know, you guys train together in Jiu Jitsu. And I, I've coached, you know, everything. Football, baseball, basketball, base softball. Currently coaching my daughter in softball. What are some of the biggest. Like, what are some of your core tenants? Caleb and Joe, I'll ask you too, what are some of your core tenants that you try to instill in the kids that you coach?
Like there's probably a lot of them, but if you had to pick two, what are the two you're not, they're not, they're not, they're not leaving your, your presence, you know, until they understand these two things.
[00:25:02] Speaker C: I got one. It's only one.
[00:25:05] Speaker A: Yeah, go ahead, Joe.
[00:25:07] Speaker C: Consistency, that's it. Consistency wins every single time. And if it's not, you know, it's not what you do one time, it's what you do over time. And like, so I explain it to my kids, like, if you were to eat a candy bar one day, you're not going to get fat. And if you were to eat a salad one day, you're not going to get healthy. But if you do that every single solitary day, like one or the other, it's going to have ultimately add up to an adverse effect. So like when it comes to sports or anything, the process and the consistency of what you do will, will ultimately catch up and beat anyone who has a natural talent or aptitude for that skill set. And like, that's transferable.
The sport doesn't matter. It's completely irrelevant. But if you can have a consistency and, and you can have the discipline to do things over and over and then perfect them as you go, then like, you can, you can be great at anything. And the people who are at the top of their game in any single, any sport or anything else like that, beyond natural ability, they have the most ridiculous, disciplined approach to the consistency of how they execute their practice, how they execute games, like everything. It's all very, very consistent. So that's what I tell my kids.
[00:26:31] Speaker A: I love that. Yeah, it's like compounding interest, you know, a little bit. One extra rep a day.
Yeah. So I would say what I try to, what I try to teach kids number really.
And it's hard to just tell somebody to believe in yourself. Right. Like, be confident.
But like one of the things that I learned growing up is, is, and it actually, I guess it kind of relates to what you were saying, Joe, is, is like the doing the one extra. Right. So like I try to train like our high school guys, like do an extra rep. Everything you do, if coach tells you to do 10 pull ups, you're doing 11, if you're doing 10 double legs, you do 11, if you're doing 15 sit outs, stand ups, whatever you do 16.
Because I, I think there's this mental component where you start to believe like, all right, I've put in the, I'm the hardest worker in the room, you know, like that's what, like when I was training in high school, like in college, like, I had to believe that and, and you can see it in, in the kids. Like we had a kid and he wouldn't. His name's Robbie. He would, I tell this story all the time, so he wouldn't care. But he won one match as a freshman, right? He won one high school wrestling match as a freshman and he's wrestling in college now. And I remember and you know, he had a.
I think you also mentors are a great thing. He would follow a kid around named Nate Lucas, who just graduated from West Point, was on the wrestling team there and was living right and doing all the hard things. And you know, and so Robbie would stay after practice. He would come in early. I have all the kids get a notebook. So we go through what they're working on and you know, and finally like this switch flipped in his brain where I'm not going to take a back seat to anyone. You know, somebody might, you know, previously, like he might have got clubbed a little too hard and he just kind of fold over and let, you know, let a kid, let a kid win. And, and I remember like when that happened to him and, and so like, that's, I think fundamentally is like, how can I without saying, hey, you have to believe in yourself. Because like, that's like, it's the same thing. It's like, you know, but how can I put kids in a situation where, you know, they start to gain that confidence and it's like compounding, they start to see some success.
But I think, you know, just the confidence and really kind of the intrinsic motivation where, you know, you're not, you're not with, you know, you want to win a state title, but it's not for the medal. Like, I have no idea where my metal is. Like, I have no idea. It's, it's, you know, it's, that's the goal and that's what you want to do and you're motivated because I want to do it, not because my coach is on my rear end, you know, yelling at me.
[00:29:28] Speaker B: So I love that you said, I'm going to give my, my number one thing and that is progress towards a meaningful goal. I think the progress towards a meaningful goal is one of the most fundamental components to happiness. It's a, to a well adjusted kid, a well adjusted adult. I think friendship is another very close second to that when, when we talk about, you know, kind of the things that are, that, that everybody needs, but progress towards a meaningful goal is Is why is the one thing I harp on with my. With my kids and, and with the loan officers that I mentor, with the real estate agents that I talk to and anyone is you. You have to have a goal and it has to be meaningful. And. And this kid who. Robbie, who. His meaningful goal, wanting to wrestle in college, like that burned inside of him because it was meaningful. You know what I mean? So many times people put in place a.
An achievable goal, progress towards an achievable goal. That's not the same thing, right? It's got to be. It's got to. And I think that's the shortcut that a lot of people take because they want to hit a number and say they did it right? But it's got it. It really has to be meaningful.
[00:30:44] Speaker C: Let's also not just glaze over this. If we're talking about kids in sports, the kids actually have to want to do it. Where.
[00:30:53] Speaker B: Correct.
[00:30:53] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. 100.
[00:30:54] Speaker C: 100.
You put. I would be like shocked if you showed me a field full of kids in a sport that 95 of them weren't there because their dads wanted them to do it or whatever, dude. Like, there's. That's so, that's the key. So one of the things with success in. In that realm. That's why I said it's transfer transferable to any sport is the fact that, like, you gotta find the one that they like. So like with my oldest son, dude, he was. We played every sport under the sun with him and he just didn't be like Pop Warner football.
He was like, all right, not great, didn't love it. And then we got him into other stuff. Surfing. I would love to, if he was good at, you know, love surfing. He was decent at it. He didn't love it. And like, I couldn't. Like, it's like trying to put a cat in water, like getting kids to do sports.
And then. And then he found water pole. He liked that. But wrestling in jiu jitsu, man, he just.
It was like a fish in water and never have to ask him to go to practice. Like everything like that. And it's. It is such a night and day difference when you find. When the kid finds something they love, it's no longer, like, it's not work to them. Like, they literally. I'm not. They get up at 5 o' clock in the morning every morning. They train at 6 o' clock before school.
And my rule with them is, I'm not gonna wake you up. I never wake them up. I said, I'm up anyway. If you're up, I'm gonna take you if you're not cool. And like they get up every morning without me saying anything. And they're there. Cause they love it. And like, that is crucial because you can't force somebody into that because it's cruel at their kids.
[00:32:38] Speaker A: Like, let them find 100%.
I'll tell you one thing. So I was the head high school coach for Pine Richland High School at Northrop Pittsburgh here for five years. And.
And this year I, I stepped down as the, the head coach.
Our staff all wanted to continue coaching. Basically we just slid up and I went to the bottom. So I'm a volunteer assistant now. And it, you know, it was just. I was leaving work every day at three and then coming back at six and catching up on all this stuff. It was just, it was a lot. But now I do before school workouts, so we go at 6am like you were saying. And I love it. I. Absolutely. It is so much fun for me because you know who comes at 6am the kids who want to be there.
[00:33:26] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:33:27] Speaker A: Not the kids that I'm babysitting. Not the kids that are made to be there by their parents that I'm babysitting after school.
And. And I don't care if they're good or not. You know, those are the kids that I'm going to coach. Those are the kids. If they win one match, zero. Zero matches, or we had a state champion this year, you know, it doesn't matter to me. Like they're bought in. I'm gonna go out on a limb for him. I'm gonna do what I can. Because, you know, I had a mentor, I had a coach that did that for me when I was in high school. And I know how much it helped me. So I want to, I want to do that kind of for the. For them. So.
[00:34:01] Speaker B: And that's it. Like, so when you talk about it. So you got goal, right? Goal. And then progress towards that meaningful goal. Joe. Right. If you're not making progress because you don't enjoy. You're not going to make progress if you don't enjoy it. Right? If the, if the activity, if the, if the goal isn't. Isn't strong enough, but it's also activities, goals plus actions. And I think that as coaches and mentors, you have to give them the space. Like, Joe, you don't wake them up, but you're. If they want to go to the gym, they're getting into the gym. Caleb. If they want to be in the gym. You're going to. You're going to be the person that creates that space them to take the actions that, that are ultimately going to get them the results they're looking for.
And, and I think that, you know, that's another big responsibility of mentors, coaches, you know, that, that it's not just you. You have to. You have to create that sometimes you have to help create that space to let them take that action, right?
[00:34:53] Speaker C: Yeah, but here's the, here's the hack, too, that, like Caleb mentioned that when you have somebody, a kid who's, who's eager to do it, man, the resources that they get, because other people are psyched, even if they are the worst. Like, that's why I said, like, consistency will beat talent. Because every single person starts pulling for that kid, they're like, all right, how can I get this guy better? He's working hard. And it just becomes this, like, snowball of, you know, getting, pumping this kid up. And then the other kids on the team see it too. It's kind of like, Rudy, you know, like, you have the worst kid.
[00:35:26] Speaker A: Yeah, man.
Dude.
[00:35:27] Speaker C: Everyone is pouring everything into that guy to get him up. And like, it's contagious. And it's really, you know, it just. But it just comes from internally. Like, they got to want to do it and they got to be consistent about it. And it just, you know, and they're going to be.
[00:35:42] Speaker A: They're going to be successful, man. I mean, it's funny because I got a kid. Kid right out here. We got a glass wall here.
And he is in middle school right now. He's one of the wrestlers at Pine Ridgeland. And he just. He rides his bicycle from his mom's house to our office.
And my dad trained. My dad's out training him right now. And it's just like, you know, seeing the kid like his. Nobody makes him come here. You know, he just. He rides his bicycle, he shows up. My dad trains him for an hour and a half and. And, you know, he comes almost every day. So it's, you know, it's like that he's gonna be okay. You know, like, just hit the. The.
He wants to be here. Nobody's making him be here.
[00:36:21] Speaker B: So funny story. So I'm at the game last night. I'm at the Phillies game, and we're in this section. There's this 1312 year old kid who wants to get the wave started. Right now, It's. It's a 3, 2 game, and I don't know if you don't follow the Phillies, Caleb, because you're in Pittsburgh. But Ranger Suarez is pitching another gem. He's about to get his ninth win of the season, and it's just phenomenal. And this kid keeps trying to get the wave started. And I got to the point where his enthusiasm, at first it was like, come on, kid, we're trying to watch the game. But he didn't give up, right?
Got some buy in around, though. We're like, all right, all right, let's see if we get this thing going, right? So we try nothing happens. We try nothing happens. We talk to the section next to us. Can you guys help us out here? You know, he's not stopping. Finally he gets it started and like the first go round all of a sudden. And it catches on, right? It catches on over here. And then the whole state, the. The. Our section was cheering louder for the fact that we got this kid and he didn't give up on it. And people are high fiveing him Anthony's way. He's, like, walking down the aisles. People are giving him high fives. And it's the same thing, man. Joe, you're right, man. Enthusiasm is contagious, man. People love it. And you might look silly at first, but if you. You keep at it, people start to look at you like, all right, maybe. Maybe you're a little bit crazy in a good way, and. And maybe this is going to work and maybe you're going to pull it off. And when you do, man, and you got to crowd cheering for you, it's something else. It was. It was. It was the highlight of the night that they. It was probably one of the best waves four times around the stadium, the upper decks doing it like it was. It was all because he.
It was cool, man. It was. It was really, really cool to see that enthusiasm. So that's. That's another lesson. Like, I hate to, you know, one, I. Joe, I love consistency. But. But I do believe there are so many lessons and enthusiasm.
I think it's an important one, too. You know, you gotta be. As a coach, you gotta be enthusiastic for what you do because your kids are gonna feel it. Your people as a leader in your organizations, your employees are gonna feel it, right?
So that enthusiasm piece is key.
[00:38:32] Speaker C: Enthusiasm and consistency equals authenticity. So if you're just enthusiastic, one day you show up to practice one day a week, and you're like, ah, let's go. And the other days you're dogging it when you're not authentic about it and, like, all right. This kid, like, you know, so he's a fraud. Boom. Every day, dude, you got to bring that every single day. And that's where. That's where it starts to actually make a difference. It's like I said, like, it's not what you do one time. It's what you do overtime. So that's where.
[00:39:00] Speaker B: Arthur Scott.
[00:39:01] Speaker C: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
[00:39:03] Speaker A: Arthur Scott.
[00:39:04] Speaker B: We interviewed a guy, Caleb, who was a. I think I might have told you about this. He was a marathon runner, long distance runner. He did the Philadelphia Marathon 26 times.
[00:39:14] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:39:14] Speaker B: I was fortunate enough to run with him in his 26th. My first.
And it was a great story. But. But when he came on our podcast, he was one of our very first guests. When we started this thing, it was certainly, at the time, hands down, one of my favorite guests.
He said that, you know, it's. It's. It's. It's not what you do one time, it's what you do overtime. And he's accomplished some amazing feats of bicycling and. Or cycling, I guess, as they call it, and, And, And. And long distance running.
Pretty amazing, you know, all because he just continues to put the work in. And. Not that he doesn't take a day off, but.
[00:39:58] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, do it. Do hard things, man. That's. That's actually kind of relates. Though the name of our veterans and first responders program is Aurelius, and The website is aurelius520.
And so it's after Marcus Aurelius. And I don't know if you read this book of meditations, but so in the fifth book, the 20th entry. So Aurelius 5, 25th book, 20th entry, he wrote the impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.
[00:40:33] Speaker B: Can you say that again?
[00:40:34] Speaker A: Yeah. So the impediment to action advances action.
What stands in the way becomes the way.
So for us, like, all of our clients that are going through this program are dealing with either post traumatic stress, depression or anxiety. And most of it is, you know, treatment resistance. So they've been on medication before. It's not helping. And so they're trying kind of an alternate methods of transcranial magnetic stimulation, the physical wellness. And so, you know, kind of our take on that is like, all. Everybody has obstacles, Right. Everybody's dealing with something. Right. You guys will go home. I'm gonna go. We all got something else going on. We're probably at a fire to put out today at work. Right. And, you know, so we all have these obstacles and, and you know, the way the path to growth is essentially facing those obstacles and, and you know, growing from that, you get, you face it head on and you grow from that.
And I'm not like the, I struggle with it every day, you know, but I'm, that stuff fires me up. So, you know, I trying to get better with my own life about that stuff, but yeah, it's cool.
[00:41:53] Speaker B: So we're going to jump into truth and a lie here in a minute. But, but give me one more reason why, why Joe needs to do the north rim to the south rim.
[00:42:05] Speaker A: Oh man. Are you thinking about it for real, Jeff?
[00:42:08] Speaker B: I'm thinking about it.
[00:42:10] Speaker C: If the dates work out, that's something, that's something I, I could be down with. It's just, it's. I got a lot on my, I got a lot on my plate and
[00:42:20] Speaker A: if the dates, if the dates don't work out, you guys pick some dates and I'll, I'll come out and guide you through it.
But I think so I, why I think Rim to Rim is such a special trip is, I think it is the hardest one day trip that we do that still that I, that I think anybody with training can do. So you don't need any like technical mountaineering skills. You don't have, you don't need crampons. Ice axe. It's walking. It's one foot in front of the other for 24 and a half miles. And when you start it's, you know, it's sometimes 40 degrees on the North Rim. By the time you get to Phantom Ranch, it's over a hundred.
And it's, it's the epitome of type 2 fun. If you've, if you've ever heard about type 2 fun, it's so type 2 fun is essentially like it's miserable when you're doing it. Like you hate it. You can't, you have no idea why you signed up.
You hate the person that signs you up for this and then you finish.
And it generally doesn't set in right away. Sometimes it takes a little bit and then you're like, you know what, that wasn't so bad. You know, I liked it. Like we should do something like that again, you know. And so that's where a lot of the clients that we've been able to guide, they're repeat customers on different trips. You know, they get bit by that kind of adventure bug. And so I think, you know, Grand Canyon is just, is just a great way to kind of just, just experience that really like you know, test yourself. Have that experience that you look back on. 3% of the people that visit the Grand Canyon actually drop below the rim. So to walk from the north rim to the South Rim, doing that in one day is an amazing challenge. And, you know, I love it. So, yeah, if it's something you're thinking about, I definitely would do it. Even if you don't do it with us, man, you, it's, it's worth doing it.
[00:44:19] Speaker B: I think it's awesome, man. I love the idea that so few people have done it. And of course, it's not climbing Mount Everest, but it is, it is a challenge, and it does require all of the faculties, all the mental fortitude, all the ability to battle adversity, all the, the conversation you have with yourself that causes you to go forward versus the conversation you have with yourself that causes you to quit. You need to draw on all of that experiences. And that's, that's what I look for forward to. And that's, that's my type two fun. I, I, I, I love that kind of stuff where it's like, you know, you really do got to tap into, you know, some of your lessons to, to get through it. So I'm, I'm looking forward to it. I hope we can pull it off.
[00:44:57] Speaker A: Let's go. Let's go.
[00:45:00] Speaker B: All right, so let's get into your two truths and a lie. All right. All right, so I think you did a pretty good job keeping the information out of the conversation, but we have two. We have two, three facts. One, your wife and I. My wife and I have five cats we're embarrassed to say, and a dog. And you name the dog. So, Joe, I think that's a dead giveaway.
[00:45:22] Speaker C: Brother graduated dog. It could be that, you know, there's different layers to these things, man. You know, I would.
[00:45:30] Speaker A: Yeah, you guys are. This is good.
[00:45:32] Speaker B: This is. You get.
[00:45:33] Speaker A: This is good. I like this.
[00:45:35] Speaker B: So your brother graduated with a math degree and moved to Germany to be a clown.
That's hilarious. And then your buddy's grandfather invented the Big Mac.
Joe. Have at it, brother.
[00:45:52] Speaker C: So the whole watches get into it. Anytime somebody's like, yeah, my buddy this or that. Like, that's never true. So I don't believe that your buddy's grandfather invented the Big Mac. And I'd like to hear more about your brother, who's the mathematical clown.
Well, that's my guess.
[00:46:15] Speaker A: You want me to tell you?
[00:46:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:46:17] Speaker A: All right, I'll tell you. The lie is the cats.
[00:46:20] Speaker B: Whoa.
[00:46:21] Speaker A: Yeah, dude, I didn't Even think about that, because I was saying five cats. I already talked about our dog, and I'm like, oh, and a dog. You know, he's here. We don't have any cats because.
[00:46:31] Speaker B: So you're not a cat guy.
[00:46:32] Speaker A: No, I mean, they're. They're fine, but I'm not like a fire cat. I was just. I wanted to throw you guys, like,
[00:46:38] Speaker B: no cat guys here.
[00:46:39] Speaker A: Like a crazy cat guy on our. You know.
[00:46:42] Speaker C: See, I automatically shut my brain off because Kenny was like, oh, dude. You're like, you know, man, that's it. See?
[00:46:48] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. When you said that.
[00:46:52] Speaker B: Yeah, Joe, you got to be dialed in, man. It's not my job to get you there.
[00:46:56] Speaker C: That's it.
[00:46:56] Speaker A: Yeah. So. Yeah.
[00:46:58] Speaker B: So. All right, so back up.
So your buddy's dad did invent the Big Mac.
[00:47:03] Speaker A: Yeah, man. So if you isn't. So. Jimmy Delligatti is his name that invented the Big Mac. His son is Dan, and then his son is Nick, who. We grew up together, you know, played football together. He. He was actually a Penn Stater as well. Nick and his dad were Penn Staters.
And so when I was in college and, you know, you have to do that, like, fun, like, tell us your name, favorite ice cream, and, like, some fun fact. Like, I would tell people, like, yeah, my buddy's grandpa invented the Big Mac. Because I just thought that was like a wild, like.
[00:47:40] Speaker B: Yeah, sure, man. Yeah, absolutely.
[00:47:42] Speaker C: Question mark.
[00:47:44] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. So when we were, like, in high school and stuff, like, after stuff, like, if we had a playoff game or something, something. His dad would get to go to McDonald's old team.
[00:47:52] Speaker B: Now, did he get free Big Macs for life or what?
[00:47:55] Speaker A: I don't know. I don't know.
[00:47:56] Speaker C: I'm.
[00:47:57] Speaker A: I mean, I'm sure he. So. Because they.
[00:47:59] Speaker B: So his dad, he subsequently died of heart disease.
[00:48:05] Speaker A: I don't know. I don't know the structure of it. I've never really, like, asked, you know, asked, but I know that they're still involved with, you know, with McDonald's, so.
Yeah. Yeah. And then. And then my brother, he graduated from Ohio University with a degree in mathematics, and he. He. He learned to juggle and stuff when he was a kid and.
And ride unicycles and stuff when he was a kid. And he had made friends with, like, the German kind of, like, exchange students or whatever, The. The overseas students. And so when he graduated, he asked my dad. He wanted to.
He wanted to go visit. Like, go home with them and visit for a couple weeks. And.
And I guess he went. Went over there and, you know, started.
[00:48:58] Speaker C: Kept him.
[00:48:59] Speaker A: Fell in love with this girl from southern France or whatever. And so he would. He would. He was a street performer, and that's how he would make money. And. And then he, like, instead of coming home when he got cold, he went to, you know, went back home with this girl and then went back to Germany. And.
Yeah, never. Never moved home. Still lives there.
[00:49:20] Speaker B: And he is a paid clown, not just a guy who likes to dress up and go, you know, so.
[00:49:27] Speaker A: Yeah, so he's done a lot of different. Like, you know, when he did just street performing for a long time.
Yeah, he's a busker. Like, he would do. He would juggle spitfire ride, unicycles, that stuff. And then he's done, like, the theater performances. But his. His. His clout, like, his, I guess, character is Dr. Clue. And he has a little, you know, he's got the nose and all that, and he's kind of got red hair already. So it worked.
But then. Yeah, and then he goes. He went back to school, and now he's, you know, a psychologist. He's got his doctor in that. And so that's what he's doing now,
[00:50:04] Speaker C: which is scary as hell.
[00:50:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
And my. I saw that on paper. I'm like, all right.
[00:50:13] Speaker B: Like, yeah.
[00:50:14] Speaker C: And if you put on a rental application, pass.
[00:50:18] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:50:20] Speaker A: And, you know, I can't. I. And so he's. He's much older than me, and so, like, my parents are pretty conserved. Like, I can't imagine being a fly on the wall when, like, you know. Yeah. Telling my dad, like, hey, I'm not coming home. And, you know, I know that I just spent thousands and thousands of dollars to get a degree in mathematics, but I'm gonna. I'm gonna juggle on the side of the road and hope people feed me,
[00:50:44] Speaker B: you know, like the kind of guy, like, if he turned out to be a serial killer, the experts were like, how do we miss all these signs, dude?
[00:50:52] Speaker C: I always say, like, when they interview the neighbors, they'd be like, oh, we had no idea. I'm like, yep, nope. I've been saying it for years.
[00:51:00] Speaker A: We saw that.
We all talked about it. We saw.
[00:51:04] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:51:05] Speaker B: Dude, that is hilarious.
[00:51:06] Speaker A: Well, this is.
[00:51:09] Speaker B: This is a lot of fun. Caleb, I really appreciate hanging out with us, man. Hopefully you'd be willing to come back and continue to talk about this kind of stuff, because we could literally talk for hours. And that's kind of why we decided to do this. This crazy podcast. So hopefully we'll see everybody again. Soon. And.
Yeah, have fun. We'll chat.
Peace.
[00:51:31] Speaker A: Thanks, guys.
