Apogee Strong

Today's guest is Josh Blue. Following his groundbreaking win on NBC’s Last Comic Standing in 2006, Josh Blue has risen through the ranks to become a well-established headliner at venues throughout the world. In 2018, Josh crushed his set on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In the same year, he was honored with a performance at the William H. Macy Gala at the prestigious Just for Laughs Come...

Today's guest is Sevan Matossian. Sevan has been involved in CrossFit Media since the start of CrossFit itself. He is a producer and director, known for Our House (2003), Pulling John (2009), and Every Second Counts: The Story of the 2008 CrossFit Games (2009). Sevan is a content king. From creating tremendous value for the CrossFit community to now creating content with his three young sons on fi...

Today's guest is Josh Tyler, a professional fighter and survivalist. He is the co-founder of Savage Gentleman, a retail brand and ethos that believes that men are both savages and gentlemen. Josh is also the host of a podcast by the same name. I've followed Josh for a long time, within the fighting sphere and his brand Savage Gentleman. The concept of the Savage Gentleman is something that has dee...

We frequently talk about the importance of mindset on the Essential 11, particularly how your mindset will affect how you handle tough situations, how resilient you are, and how your mindset can drive your success. But what if we told you your mindset directly correlates to how long you live, the very expression of your genes, and shape the anatomy of your brain? That's exactly the scientific-base...

We've decided to change things up a bit on The Essential 11. Today's special guest kicks off a new format that we'll be adding to the mix of episodes. While we normally ask our guests the set of questions from the 1,500 youth that was surveyed, in today's episode we get the questions directly from the mouths of the young people who want to ask them- our very own savage gentlemen participating in t...

When we were establishing Acton Academy Placer, we actually had our founding students choose our mascot. Groups of students created and gave a pitch for their idea and then everyone voted. Lions won. We refer to all of the young heroes at Acton as Lions to reaffirm in their minds that they are independent thinkers, learners, and doers that are courageously leading their own journeys. Someone who w...

Today's guest is someone who Matt has known personally for quite a while. Performance coach for almost 8 years with over 6,000 hours of one-on-one coaching experience, Jason Drees is an expert on using elevated mindset to achieve elevated growth. In this conversation, Jason talks us through how he works with clients to shift their mindset to operate at a higher vibrational frequency to match the f...

Anyone who knows Matt, knows that he's an avid carnivore. Meat is pretty much the only thing he eats because it's one of the only foods that keep him at peak performance. He's certainly not the only one who follows and thrives on this kind of diet. We've previously had Mikhaila Peterson as a guest, we've had Chris and Mark Bell, but today, we have the Carnivore King. Shawn Baker is credited with t...

Acton Academy has a term that they use to identify the true leaders among the group, the ones who are making big things happen, and are actively supporting fellow students' success- we call them sheepdogs. When we had the idea for Apogee, before it had its name, we wanted this new program to specifically cultivate sheepdogs, not just men who follow the herd, but men who go above and beyond to be t...

Pete Roberts is an entrepreneur, founder of Origin Maine, and an absolute savage gentleman. Pete admits that he began his entrepreneurial venture very naive but ambitious nonetheless. He recounts losing everything in the 2008 recession including the business he was running at the time, an experience that humbled him. During this time he had turned to jujitsu as an outlet which in turn began his ne...

Ed Latimore is a best-selling author, former professional heavyweight boxer, and competitive chess player. His writing focuses on self-improvement and a practical approach to stoic philosophy. He has published two books, Not Caring What Other People Think Is a Superpower: Insights from a Heavyweight Boxer and Sober Letters to My Drunken Self , along with a writing and marketing guide for social me...

Today's guest is a highly accomplished athlete who has a passion for nutrition.  Cynthia Monteleone is a World Champion Track Athlete who specializes in the 400 meters. She competes for Team USA in Masters Athletics, is a 2018 National Champion, a 2019 National and World Champion, oh yeah- and she's faster than she was when she ran in college. Cynthia regularly challenges the typical standard...

Today's guest is Kristopher Lee "Kit" Cope, a man known by many names- Cobra, Doctor, Havoc, The Prophesy- is best known for his time in professional kickboxing and mixed martial arts. Kit is a very outspoken individual, particularly about fighting, masculinity, and freedom. He was a natural-born fighter, always having been involved in some way. He talks about how he discovered his love for martia...

Today's guest is a man who is on a mission to make good people dangerous. Byron Rodgers served in the United States Marine Corps infantry with two deployments to Iraq as a Squad Leader for four years, afterward becoming an executive protective agent. He has authored the book, “Finding Meaning After the Military, and he's currently working on book number two: “Social Dynamics of Executive Protectio...

Today's guest is someone who Matt has known for a long time. Michael Brooks is a multi-millionaire who owns and runs a thriving, $76-million plus freelance marketplace business with no employees, goLance. Michael is a rule-breaker, especially when it comes to business. The greater the risk, the greater the reward. But he has certainly not obtained this level of success without encountering his fai...

Today's guest is Chris Bell, director, writer, and producer best known for his movie "Bigger, Stronger, Faster*" a documentary that examines the steroid use of director Christopher Bell's two brothers, Mark "Smelly" Bell and Mike Bell "Mad Dog" and the use of anabolic steroids as performance-enhancing drugs in the United States and how this practice relates to the American Dream. You can tell very...

Today's guest is Gabrielle Reece. 'Gabby' is not only a volleyball legend, but an inspirational leader, New York Times bestselling author, wife, and mother. The former professional beach volleyball player and Nike’s first female spokeswoman is the definition of both athleticism and beauty. Creator of HIGHX ® , Co-Founder of XPT ® and Executive Member of Laird Superfood ® , Gabby is dedicated to bu...

Today's guest is Aaron Hinde, Co-Founder and President of Lifeaid, a leading manufacturer of premium, healthy, and convenient nutritional products designed to boost performance and speed recovery for people pursuing active and healthy lifestyles. In this episode dive into Aaron's journey, how he worked for over ten years as a Clinic Director at Hinde Chiropractic Sports Injury and Pain Center, and...

Will Witt, a Colorado native, attended the University of Colorado Boulder for two years before he dropped out (You know we always love a good drop-out story). Before working for PragerU, he worked with other nonprofits to help spread the values of freedom and conservatism across America. He now creates online content for PragerU and helps inspire young people worldwide to fight for the values they...

Today's guest is Claude Silver, the Chief Heart Officer for VaynerMedia. The heart of all companies are the people within it, and that's today's guests forte. This wonderful individual has such a love for human beings, it shows in how passionately she speaks about her own journey of turning her love of people into a career. We get back to the Essential 11 questions with this episode and we dive de...

Today's guest is Ian Smith, co-owner and founder of Atilis Gym in New Jersey.   He’s recently been thrust into the national limelight and has been featured on Tucker Carlson, CNN’s Chris Cuomo, and the Charlie Kirk show for defying local business restrictions and refusing to close his gym.  Today we talk about his journey, his willingness to fight for what he believes in, getting ba...

Rogan O'Handley is a former entertainment lawyer-turned-political influencer. A 2011 University of Chicago Law school graduate, Rogan had plans to become a star in the field of entertainment law amongst the Hollywood elite, but in 2016, Rogan experienced a shift after Trump got elected. He began to see the consequences of not following the political status quo. As an outlet, he started to post onl...

Jacob Christopher " Tito " Ortiz is an American mixed martial artist, best known for his stints with the UFC, where he is a former Light Heavyweight Champion, having held the title from April 14, 2000, to September 26, 2003. He was one of the sport’s early stars. Ortiz is the CEO of Punishment Athletics MMA equipment and clothing line. He also owns an MMA training gym called Punishment Training Ce...

Charlie Kirk is the Founder and President of  Turning Point USA , a national student movement dedicated to identifying, organizing, and empowering young people to promote the principles of free markets and limited government. With a presence on over 2,000 high school and college campuses nationwide, 250,000 student members, and over 150 full-time staff, Turning Point USA is the larg...

Today's episode of the Essential 11 is a bit more free form. Continuing with the political streak, today's guest is Dave Rubin. Dave is the host of The Rubin Report, the largest talk show about free speech and big ideas where he goes one on one with thought leaders, authors, and comedians in ‘The Sit Down,’ has honest conversations, and moderates opposing voices in ‘The Panel,’ and share...