BeTempered

What happens when your normal life disappears overnight? In this episode of BeTempered, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Kateryna Tabota to hear the real human side of the Ukraine war through the eyes of a wife, mother, and woman of faith. Her story moves from growing up in post-Soviet Ukraine, to serving in the medical field, to suddenly facing air raid sirens, uncertainty, and separ...

Two years later, we decided to turn the cameras around and let Brian Ballenger ask the questions. This episode pulls back the curtain on the real story behind the BeTempered podcast, how a mindset shift, a weight loss journey, and the idea of tempered glass became the foundation for something much bigger. Strength is not built in comfort. It is built through pressure, heat, failure, and choosing t...

A bowl of porridge does not look like a life plan, but for Dennis Alejo it was the first glimpse of something different. Sitting down with hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr, Dennis walks through a childhood in the Philippines shaped by hunger, instability, and survival. Introduced to alcohol at eight and working just to eat, long term thinking was not part of the equation. It was day to day, moment...

Some people know what to say when life is smooth. This episode is for when it isn’t. When work feels heavy, marriage feels strained, and you’re quietly asking yourself, “Is this all there is?” Joe Swartzel joins us with a story that doesn’t hide from the hard parts. A longtime bricklayer known for his smile, Joe shares what that smile has carried through. A childhood marked by constant moving and...

Charles “Murph” Byrne didn’t become a coach because of wins. He became one because he showed up in the hardest moments when people needed someone to steady them, guide them, and refuse to let them quit. In this episode of the BeTempered Podcast, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Murph to unpack a life shaped by loss, discipline, faith, and the kind of mentorship that changes everything...

Episode 100 isn’t polished and that’s the point. This time, it’s not one guest sitting across the table. It’s a room full of people who have lived it. People who have carried addiction, trauma, loss, shame, and still chose to show up anyway. On this episode of the BeTempered Podcast, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr step into something different. You’ll hear voices from past conversations and new o...

Cindy Lee shows up with energy, humor, and a presence that lights up the room. But behind that is a story most people would never guess. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 28, battling relentless fatigue, surviving a head-on crash that left her with guilt she couldn’t shake, and walking through a career shift that pushed her into a level of depression she didn’t think she’d come back from. In th...

Rock bottom doesn’t always look like chaos. Sometimes it looks like a normal life slowly coming apart behind the scenes. In this episode, that’s exactly where the story begins before everything spirals. Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Donald Reed, whose journey didn’t start with addiction, but with identity loss, divorce, and depression that cracked the door open just enough. What followed...

Some stories do not build slowly. They hit you with the reality of what trauma and addiction actually do, and they force you to sit in it before showing you what redemption can look like. Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Joni Reed for a raw and honest conversation about a life shaped early by chaos, fear, and instability. Growing up in a home marked by severe mental illness, repeated suicid...

Tracy Nutt shares the painful and powerful truth about surviving childhood sexual abuse, the manipulation that kept her silent, and the shame that followed her into school, relationships, and her mental health. Joined by hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr, Tracy opens up about the reality many survivors carry behind closed doors. This conversation includes discussion of suicide and may be difficult t...

A 0.1 percent chance can sound impossible until you hear Cheyanne’s story. In this episode, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Cheyanne Mitchell and her aunt Maria to talk about a journey marked by resilience, faith, and the relentless hope for a second chance. Cheyanne shares what life has looked like since being diagnosed with a rare genetic condition, including a kidney transplant, t...

What if the most important thing you steward isn’t wealth, but identity? Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with financial planner and community builder Brett Guiley to unpack a journey rooted in small town values, deep curiosity, and the courage to step away from comfort to chase purpose. Brett reflects on how watching his dad make a bold career change and his mom return to school shaped his unde...

What starts as a foggy morning hike with his daughter turns into a life saving chain of events Dennis never could have planned. At 69, the firefighter, EMT, chaplain, and tool and die craftsman found himself facing multiple iliac aneurysms on the brink of rupture. What followed was a series of moments that felt anything but random: a hurricane delay that shifted their trip, swelling that refused t...

What happens when the crash you never wanted becomes the wake up call you needed? On this week’s episode of BeTempered, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Zac Shisler for one of the most raw and redemptive conversations we have had yet. Zac shares the moment everything came to a head. High behind the wheel after a speedball. Blacking out at a stop sign. Waking up to sirens, charges, and...

Pain does not ask permission before it reshapes a life. On this episode of BeTempered, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Lisa Chandler to talk about what it looks like to stop running and start rebuilding when survival has been the default for decades. Lisa’s story moves through constant childhood instability, overwhelming debt, and a traumatic brain injury from a car accident in 1984....

What if the thing you are most ashamed of becomes the bridge that helps someone else survive? That question frames this conversation as hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Mandy Turner, a teacher, coach, photographer, and woman of deep faith whose life has been shaped by resilience, integrity, and hard decisions. Mandy’s story begins on an Ohio farm where her parents modeled discipline,...

What starts with a fifth a night and a recliner slowly becomes absence. Jerry Wilson was still providing, still present in the house, but slipping further away behind the glass. His story does not begin with a polished plan to change. It begins with a daughter asking hard questions about death, a desperate prayer whispered in a Kroger parking lot at midnight, and a baptism that changed everything...

What if one sentence could change the entire direction of your life? When Chief Kurt Holden’s foster dad introduced him as “my son,” something finally settled. After years of instability and separation, that moment of belonging became the foundation that carried Kurt from a fractured childhood to leading public safety at Wright State University and earning selection to the FBI National Academy. In...

Some stories do not get easier with time. They shape who you become. On this episode of BeTempered , hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Superintendent and educator Mike Derringer. What begins as a conversation about leadership in education quickly turns into something much deeper. Mike shares a life marked by early momentum and purpose-driven work that was later shaped by unimaginable l...

What happens when the plan you built your life around stops working, and you choose not to walk away? This week on BeTempered , hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Jeff Schmidt, Dan’s brother , for a real conversation about discipline, identity, and staying grounded when life forces a pivot. Jeff’s story begins on the farm and carries through football, education, and leadership, shaped b...

What does it look like to coach for something bigger than a scoreboard? In this episode of BeTempered, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Tyler Luce, a sixth grade social studies teacher and head varsity baseball coach at National Trail, to talk about leadership that lasts longer than a season. Tyler’s story begins in a blue collar home shaped by consistency, accountability, and family...

Before Christmas rushes past, we press pause to ask better questions. What truly mattered this year? Where is God leading the mission of BeTempered? And how do we show up for people in ways that outlast trends, algorithms, and noise? Hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr reflect on a season of growth, clarity, and calling, and they officially welcome the newest BeTempered team member, Shawn Ruebush. Thi...

What if the hardest detours in life turn out to be the exact preparation you needed for a purpose you didn’t see coming? Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Dr. Craig Hewitt, a husband, father of five, and Navy trained dentist whose path runs from a small Catholic school to Parris Island, to Hawaii, and then back home to build a practice anchored in trust, gratitude, and faith. Craig opens up...

What happens when a child cannot focus in class because the lights were shut off at home, there is no food in the cupboard, or their clothes have not been washed in a week. On this episode of BeTempered, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Eaton Community Schools Success Liaison Allie Shafer to shine a light on the non academic barriers that quietly shape whether a student learns or simp...

What makes someone worth following when no one is watching. In this leadership roundtable, that question sits in the center of the table as stories unfold from classrooms, locker rooms, offices, and quiet early mornings when no one else is around to see the work. On this episode of BeTempered, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with guests Brian Ballenger, Mark Broeker, and members of the Wa...