Building the Elite Podcast

Dr. Robyn Nadolny is a Biologist and the Chief of the Vector-Borne Disease Branch at the Defense Centers for Public Health at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD (DCPH-A). The flagship program of the Vector-Borne Disease Branch is MilTICK, a free, rapid tick-testing program for military beneficiaries. The results provide a tool in the diagnostic toolbox for military beneficiaries, and Dr. Nadolny uses the...

Dr. Alia Bojilova is a registered psychologist with a focus on resilience.  She grew up in Eastern Europe during some of the most tumultuous times in recent history before immigrating to New Zealand at age 17. During her service with the New Zealand Defense Force, she worked as the Lead Psychologist and an Officer with the SAS.  While serving as a UN military observer in Syria, Alia and her team w...

James Jensen is a former SAS Patrol Commander with a unique blend of scientific leadership theory and real-world, high-stakes leadership experience. James served in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) for two decades, with fourteen years in the Special Air Service Regiment (SAS), where he held leadership roles during multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, Iraq, East Timor, and the Philippines. Throu...

Aaron is an active duty Pararescueman currently stationed at a Special Tactics Squadron as a Troop Chief. He is a Team Leader, Evaluator, Special Operations Combatives Program (SOCP) Lvl 2 instructor, and an Onnit Certified Trainer, with a focus on Tactical Durability. Pararescuemen, or PJs, are the only DoD asset specifically trained, equipped, and employed to perform Personnel Recovery. They are...

Dr. Krista Scott-Dixon is a trained counselor specializing in the psychology of behavior change, with certifications including motivational interviewing, solution-focused therapy, DBT, CBT, and trauma counseling. She’s the author of numerous books and accredited nutrition, sleep, stress, and recovery courses.  She’s our go-to performance psych for special operations candidates and active operators...

Steve House serves as the managing director, coach, and official mascot of Uphill Athlete, which he co-founded in 2016. He lives in a remote and mountainous corner of Austria with his wife and two sons. Steve’s biggest coaching challenge was coaching himself. Which was successful enough for him to be called “The greatest climber of his generation” by none other than Reinhold Messner. He was inspir...

Dr. David “Wally” Walton is a retired Army Special Forces officer with 25 years of experience in the SF community. His career spans service with the 7th Special Forces Group, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), and the Special Warfare Center and School. Dr. Walton’s extensive operational experience includes deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and across Latin America. Since retiring in 2013, he...

Brad Stulberg is a bestselling author of the new book The Way of Excellence , a performance coach, faculty member at the University of Michigan, and a husband and father. The Way of Excellence comes out tomorrow, and you can pick up a copy at any major bookseller like Amazon , Barnes and Noble , Audible.com , or Bookshop.org .  You can learn more about Brad and follow his work at his website, ( ht...

Nick has over 12 years of military experience, including 4 years as an Australian Commando and 6 years as an SAS operator. His operational service included deployments throughout the Middle East and Southeast Asia, including Iraq and East Timor. Since leaving the Army, Nick has established two companies as a founding Director, The Mill Gym and Omni GeoX; as well as a new fitness competition, the T...

Dr. Krista Scott-Dixon is a trained counselor specializing in the psychology of behavior change, with certifications in motivational interviewing, solution-focused therapy, DBT, CBT, and trauma counseling. She’s the author of numerous books and accredited nutrition, sleep, stress, and recovery courses. She is our go-to performance psych, working one-on-one with many of our clients to sharpen the m...

SOF selection is a proving ground, where your physical, mental, and emotional raw material will be laid bare, with nothing to hide behind. It's a place where you voluntarily walk into a brutal challenge to find out if who you think you are matches who you are .  It's a way of answering a question that few people are willing to ask.  Mo Anthoine, a British mountaineer, referred to this as...

Dr. Daniel Cooper is a human performance and behaviour specialist who focuses on improving individual and team performance in high-pressure, high-consequence environments.  He provides a unique perspective that sits at the intersection of real-world experience, academic research, and high-performance development.  His experience encompasses over 18 years of service within the Australian Special Op...

Elias Kfoury was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and immigrated to the United States at an early age in search of a brighter, safer future. After college, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving 21½ years before his medical retirement. Beginning as a Hospital Corpsman supporting the U.S. Marine Corps, he soon entered the Special Operations community as a Deep Sea Diving Medical Technician and completed adv...

If your selection will be held in a hot environment, it’s important to acclimate to the heat before heading out. Any SOF selection will push you to your physical limits, and not being acclimated to the heat can significantly increase your risk of failure.  Heat injuries in SOF selection are fairly common, and they can be sneaky. The workload is so intense that even moderately warm, humid days can...

Matt Stevens transitioned from the U.S. Navy in 2017 after serving for 26 years as a SEAL. Transitioning from the SEAL teams to civilian life brought him to The Honor Foundation, a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting U.S. Special Operations Forces as they transition from elite military careers into impactful civilian roles.  Matt attended The Honor Foundation’s (THF) inaugural East Coast cl...

Rima is a medic in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a tactical medicine instructor originally from the United States. She came to Ukraine as an NGO volunteer in 2022 and began medical studies in 2023 before enlisting in 2024. Now, she works on medical evacuations of soldiers from the frontlines and works in stabilization points where they receive casualties and stabilize their injuries for transpor...

Chris Brennan served for 15 years in the Australian Army, 11 of which were as an operator within the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR). He fulfilled multiple team specialist roles, including as a JTAC and Tandem Bundle Master within a Freefall Assault Team, before progressing into leadership roles as a team 2IC and culminating his career as an SASR Team Leader. Chris deployed on multiple occasio...

Philip Andrew Armstrong is a decorated combat veteran, elite-level medic, program manager, and resilience-driven father of four. Raised in the woods by hippies and unable to read until the age of 14, his early life was unconventional, marked by hardship, self-reliance, and grit. Those experiences became the bedrock for a path of resilience that carried him through combat, service on some of the wo...

Ben Strahan is a Hotshot Superintendent and wildland firefighter with over 25 years of operational leadership on the fireline. Ben has spent decades in high-risk environments where clarity, discipline, and trust mean survival. His journey through fire has shaped a deeper calling—one that now centers around helping others cultivate resilience, emotional strength, and self-awareness. Through consult...

What makes a hero?  It’s easy to point to the dramatic moments in history: the burning tanks and bullet-swept battlefields. This form of heroism is important, but it's not the only form. Heroism also manifests in other ways that impact lives, strengthen our communities, and shape our culture.  In this episode, we look beyond the headlines to the everyday acts of heroism that rarely make the n...

Alex Potter is a photojournalist, trauma nurse, former wildland firefighter, and co-founder of Global Response Medicine , a humanitarian non-profit bringing emergency medicine to low-resource and high-risk areas.  Alex spent her early career photographing conflict in the Middle East, before spending two seasons as a wildland firefighter in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho.  She then moved to Alaska...

Mauri DiMeo is an Infantry officer in the US Army currently serving as an Assistant Professor of Military Science (APMS) at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). He attended Ranger, Airborne, SFAS, the SFQC, and the Austrian High Alpine School. Mauri was a platoon leader in the 4th Infantry Division and Rifle Company Commander in the 10th Mountain Division.  His career took a turn in the final Rob...

Anthony ‘Harry’ Moffitt retired from the Australian Defence Force after almost 30 years, most of which was spent with Australia’s Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment as a Team Commander and Team Specialist.  He completed 11 active service deployments and was wounded in action in 2008. He completed his time with the SAS as their Human Performance Manager.  Harry is a registered psychologist and runs...

Josh Bridges is a former Navy SEAL, with multiple deployments as a member of SEAL Team 3.  He’s a competitive CrossFit athlete and has competed in the CrossFit games six times, placing second in the world in 2011.  Josh left the Navy to spend more time with his family, and he is now a high-performance coach and entrepreneur.  More about Josh: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bridgesj3/ Website...

Ryan Wilson completed a long and challenging career in the Australian Army spanning 18 years, primarily in the Special Air Service Regiment, where he gained extensive experience leading teams in highly complex and uncertain environments on multiple combat tours.    During his time in the special forces, Ryan experienced many life-changing and challenging situations that sparked his interest in res...