Thoughts From A Balcony

Shelby Spear is a writer, spiritual practitioner, creator of Peaceful Change World (@peacefulchangeworld), and mother of 3. Shelby starts off this insightful conversation by telling the story of her own personal growth. She details the process of being a young mother, dealing with the diagnosis of bipolar disorder, confronting past trauma, managing her internal dialogue, and eventually entering in...

Patrick Beeman (MD, OB-GYN) is a leader in women/family healthcare with Veranova Health, works in addiction treatment, founder of Ars Longa Media, Air Force veteran, man of faith, philosophy lover, husband, and father of 5. We jump into a discussion about the pursuit of being a good father and husband as he balances all the obligations in his life. Patrick gets real and vulnerable as he explains h...

Zach Smith is a former college football player at Mercyhurst University, former strength & conditioning coach at the University of Rochester, received his masters in Organizational Leadership at Gonzaga University, current tech salesman, avid long distance runner, and amateur pianist.  Zach and I begin by talking about his time at Mercyhurst University & what he gained from the entire expe...

Angelo Carmago is a powerlifter, fitness trainer at Old School Iron, veteran, husband, and father of 3. Angelo begins by telling the story of how he first got involved with powerlifting as he ventured from the local rec center to the military. We then jump into dealing with injuries, the detrimental mindset that can lead to pushing your body too far, overcoming the injuries after they happen, and...

Peter Stancato is the founder and owner of the nonprofit “Nosotros Rock Climbing Gym” in Lakewood, a military service member, man of faith, husband, and father of 3. Peter starts off by telling the story of how he had to close down his downtown location and the unbelievable flood that caused chaos as they were moving out. We then jump into his own personal story and how we went from being a social...

Owen Wolf is a man of service, John Carroll alumni, former football player, real estate worker, and someone who has a unique mindset towards life. We start off by discussing the benefits of sitting in silence and addressing your thoughts as they come. This leads us into a conversation about meditation and how it can help foster a positive relationship with ourselves. As former football players, we...

Charles Gustafson is an amateur bodybuilder, life enthusiast, fitness coach, writer, avid meditator, and a man of faith. We start our conversation by discussing how we should all be experimenting with life and the wide range of range of activities that bring us joy. We compare mindsets towards fitness and how (when taken too far) going to the gym can have the opposite effect of its intention, cons...

Welcome to “Quick Thoughts”! A short podcast episode where I answer questions, elaborate on a specific topic, or just want to share my random thoughts! Today’s episode features 4 questions: Where would you love to visit and live for 3-6 months? What are 2 hobbies you have that aren’t gym related? What is your favorite meal ever? Do you have any habits you’re trying to break/become more conscious o...

Max Quinn is an entrepreneur, the founder/owner of Uncover Vintage, and a Raider super fan. Max and I start off by talking about the community of Las Vegas Raiders fans and how special a bond we share amongst each other. We then jump into the vintage clothing reseller market as Max discusses the importance of creating a great experience for your customer over focusing on making money. Being a busi...

Zach is a chiropractic student, former college football player at John Carroll University, jui-jitsu competitor, and functional fitness enthusiast. Zach and I jump right into a conversation about training - what he does currently, his background, how athletes should be training, and the benefits and downsides of traditional weight lifting. We then discuss injuries and how many people are forced to...

Charlie Schreiber is a certified strength and conditioning specialist, rock climbing coach, and is a world class rock climber himself. Charlie starts off by detailing how he got into rock climbing at a young age and how it positively affected him as a kid who struggled with ADHD. We then jump into how to properly train as a rock climber, as he details the importance of strength training, mobility,...

André Alamina is a bodybuilder, content creator, fitness/health coach, immigrant from Belize, works in the tech industry, and is a John Carroll University alum.  Andre starts off by detailing how he went from being a skinny teenager to posting valuable fitness content that grew his account to over 100k followers. We then discuss how he went from a serious back injury to stepping on the bodybuildin...

Karli Chiappone is an elementary PE & health teacher at the Lawerence School, powerlifter, marathon runner, and my beautiful future wife. 😁 We start off by discussing Karli’s experience working in a school that focuses on learning “differences” like ADD, ADHD, dyslexia, etc. and how it differs from the public school environment. Karli then details how COVID negatively impacted children’s deve...

Cal Reynolds(CalWillCookIt) is a content creator, fitness coach, entrepreneur, avid foodie, life enthusiast, and former college football player. For the second time on the podcast, Cal joins me in a deep conversation where we laugh, think critically, and open ourselves up to vulnerability.  We begin by reminiscing on how far we came in our lifestyles & mindsets since living together as roommat...

Kahrin Spear is a musician, artist, videographer, creative, and former college basketball player. Her new album, “Poems from Willow Creek” is out now on all streaming platforms. To start, Kahrin and I reflect on our student athlete careers and how it turned us into the people we are today through the traumas, challenges, and blessings we experienced. Kahrin then walks me through when she discovere...

Nick Yanosko is a guitarist, producer, singer, song writer, & carpenter based in Cleveland, Ohio. He’s currently working on his own solo project while playing, mixing, and producing in multiple other bands. Nick & I get to sit down and break down his creative process from start to finish, digging into where he gains inspiration from and how he lays down tracks in the studio. We talk about...

Luke Brown is a podcaster, tri-athlete, marathon runner, former college football player, and kettlebell training enthusiast. For the second time on the podcast, Luke joins me in another intentional conversation.  We start off by discussing Luke’s new podcast, “Anyone Extraordinary” and the purpose behind its creation.  Next we talk about functional training with kettlebells, landmines, and mace be...

Elizabeth Rohde is a doctor in training, bodybuilding competitor, and co-founder of Hippocratic Strength, a fitness coaching service.  Elizabeth starts off by discussing her own personal health and fitness journey of how she went from being an overweight middle schooler to then stepping on the bodybuilding stage.  We discuss treating the root cause vs. symptoms in the current medical lan...

Speedy Sheppard Jr. is a motivational speaker, content creator, and former football player from New Jersey.  Speedy discusses how his tumultuous upbringing and football career led him to find his purpose of motivational speaking.  As a content creator, he highlights the importance of creating intentional energy through your authentic self if you want to experience positive results on soc...

Luke Brown is a triathlon athlete, humanitarian, and former college football player at John Carroll University.  Luke and I jump into his most recent triathlon and how he learned to properly swim to prepare for his big race. Next we go over his marathon for charity that he completed during the height of Covid. He ran around the city of Pittsburgh to raise money for the local food bank while i...

Grant Loy is a former college football player at Bowling Green State University and Auburn University, as well as an avid man of faith. Grant takes us through the story of how he went from not getting recruited out of high school to eventually becoming a quarterback at Auburn. He then dives into his small town roots- growing up in a predominantly catholic area with only 900 people in his town and...

Nico Lautanen is a former college football player at Bowling Green State University who recently just completed his M.B.A.  We start by reminiscing on the funny story of how we met way back in our freshman year of high school. Nico then takes us through his football journey that led him to become a starting d lineman at a D1 college.  With mental health often being an overlooked aspect i...

Cal Reynolds is a former college football player, fitness trainer, entrepreneur, and life enthusiast. He’s also going to be my best man in my wedding, so this conversation was definitely a fun one!  Cal and I get real and vulnerable as we go over our battles with depression early in our college football careers and how much our mindsets have grown since that experience. He dives into why we h...

Nina Ruhe is a personal trainer, CrossFit coach, content creator, podcast host, nutritionist, and one strong ass woman!  Nina talks about how she got involved in the fitness space and details the common mistakes she made during that process. We compare the differences of men and women’s health and fitness, and how easy it is to fall into the comparison trap on social media.  We dive into...

Max Potokar is a former football player, spiritual health practitioner, soon to be nurse, and content creator.  Max and I start off by discussing the new emotions he’s experiencing after learning he’s going to be a father. We dive into the importance of family and the work he is doing to heal generational trauma before jumping into his new role as a dad. We got to discuss the direction he wan...