Chiseled - We're all a work in progress - with Rob Commodari

Robert Taylor Jr. will never forget 12/1/21 and not just because the date reads the same backward and forward. That's the night that Coach Taylor survived a massive cardiac event thanks to "everybody (doing) what they were supposed to do that night perfectly." Rob is a physical trainer who has worked with Olympians and NFL sports teams as well as youth and college athletes. You'd expect him to be...

Did you ever just do what you had to and then found yourself in the middle of a firestorm? That's what happened to Lindsey Graham, better known as "Patriot Barbie," six weeks into the COVID lockdown of 2020. A serial entrepreneur, Lindsey and her husband owned six brick-and-mortar service businesses. Think hair salons, tanning salons, and gyms. The power couple was a pinnacle of their community, a...

The call is coming from the inside ... no, not from inside the house, and no, it's not a scream. The call is the moment when you hear God talking to you. You can choose to ignore the voice, or you can jump in with both feet and follow the path less chosen. It takes some nerve, especially when you're at the top of your game, to muster the courage to walk away from it all, listen to the voice, and w...

If you're a business professional who believes in the notionthat "givers gain," you're probably familiar with Bob Burg. Bob, an entrepreneur and leadership trainer, is known for his "Endless Referrals" sales training classes. He alsoco-authored the book TheGo-Giver with John David Mann. The Go-Giver has sold 1 million copies and has been translated into 30languages. It is listed by Inc. Magazine a...

Well, this is going to be a little awkward. Dan Faulkner, Jr. should be sending you this message since he is my guest host this week and interviewed none other than ... me. 😉 If you've been following my journey for a while, you probably know that I have dedicated my life to learning. My love for personal development began when I first read Og Mandino's classic, The Greatest Salesman in the World,...

Patricia Gagic is a world-renown artist, photographer, and author. Her work has appeared in the Vatican Museum Library, the Société National des Beaux Arts in Paris, and the Whitney Commons Gallery in Toronto, to name just a few, and she has won dozens of awards and recognition of the highest order. Her skills developed young. Patricia picked up her first pencil and started drawing Elizabethan bal...

When we hear the word "intimacy," most of us thinkabout sex. But in reality, intimacy refers to honest connections with others,whether they be with a partner, child, friend, or even God. Dr. Stormy Hill, whom I met while working on my book chapter for  NextLevel Your Life , takes a broad approach to enhancing intimacy. An occupational therapist, mental health and substance abuse specialist, andint...

One day business and health coach Kelli Calabrese thought she had the perfect life — a successful career, a beautiful home, a 25-year marriage, and two great kids. But the next day, her husband came home and told her the marriage was over. He walked out, filed for divorce, and soon after married someone else. It was a huge shock to Kelli, who had spent her marriage trying to be a great wife. "It t...

This episode of Chiseled is intense. If you're exploring your faith or are hard-core religious — whatever your religion — Rob Foy has some deep thoughts about having a "real" relationship with God. Rob is a long-time friend of mine and a real estate agent in central Maryland. He grew up in an Irish Catholic household, but his family stopped attending weekly services around the time he was nine. Fl...

You must be a pretty good comedian if your roommate is Drew Carey, your opening acts are Rosie O'Donnell, Chris Rock, and Sam Kinison, and you’re sharing the stage with Eddie Murphy, Jerry Seinfeld, and Ellen DeGeneres. That’s how big Steve Rizzo was in the comedy world. But his story is about much more than laughter. In eighth grade, a guidance counselor told him he’d never amount to much. In hig...

"I do not fit into a box. I'm certainly not a typical attorney." Brandy Wilson Edwards was experiencing hardcore burnout. Working as an attorney for many years, she wondered where her passion went. She loved speaking, writing, and helping people live better lives, all activities she did as an attorney. But it wasn't fueling her own sense of fulfillment. So Brandy took a "pause" to figure out what...

Growing up in New York, Jim Poole wrestled, played football, and earned two black belts in martial arts. The downside? A lifetime of head injuries. “I was hospitalized 14 times with concussions,” Jim recalls. “And I was probably knocked unconscious 20–30 times without going to the hospital.” Despite the damage, Jim graduated with honors from two universities and became a successful entrepreneur. Y...

If you know anything about me, you know I love words. I'm an avid reader, a public speaker, and a burgeoning author. Mybook, Better Than You Think, is a study of some of my favorite words and how they shape us and our relationships. I am not alone in this love of language, which is why I really enjoyed my interview with Kevin Eastman for this week's episode of Chiseled. Eastman is the former assis...

As a 9-year-old, Missouri native John O'Leary wasnearly killed while playing with fire. Burned on 100 percent of his body with89 percent covered in third-degree burns, John was not expected to live thefirst night.  But then something happened, call it a miracle. Through thepower of countless people all striving to keep John alive, not to mention thewell wishes from near and far, including Presiden...

Real estate agent Garrett Maroon has never made a cold call,hosted an open house, or bought a lead. He started in real estate in 2014 with just 40 people in his referral database and has since built a business on relationships and referrals only, doing very well selling 550 homes in under nine years. But about seven years after starting his career, Garrett felt that he was dancing around a subject...

I couldn’t be more honored to welcome today’s guest on Chiseled: Brian Buffini. For more than 20 years, Brian has been a coach to me, a role model, a guide in my faith journey — and an all-around good guy. He’s someone I deeply admire, and I’m humbled he agreed to join me on this episode. You’ve probably heard me mention Brian before: he’s the founder of Buffini & Company, the largest business...

Many of you have been listening to Chiseled since I started podcasting in 2021. I love interviewing new people and hearing what they have to say. I hope you have found some useful insights from my guests on personal and professional growth. Most of all, I hope the podcast has entertained you. Turns out podcasting has brought me closer to an already strongband of brothers. In this week's Chiseled,...

When Chad Kneller was in his 20s, he “was all about sex, drugs, and rock and roll.” Laser-focused on being a singer in a rock band, Kneller figured life ends at age 27, just as it did for a host of famous musicians who burned hot and diedyoung. Through the lens of that existentialism, Chad drank too much, partied too hard, and ignored basic rules of society. Eventually, the warrants piled up and C...

Fazeena Haniff was just seven years old when she witnessed her three-year-old cousin killed by a drunk driver. Visiting family in New York City for her birthday, she ended up attending a funeral instead of a celebration. The pain of the event was immediately suppressed in a family that tended to hide its emotions, so Fazeena never got to process the guilty feeling that she was to blame for the acc...

Will Heaven be boring? During a trip to the Grand Canyon a couple years ago, I looked out at the vastness of it all and thought, if this is Heaven, I can't wait. One step closer to the edge and I may have found it. But I'm not ready yet. I have a lot of life left in me, plus I really don't know what I'm going to do with myself when I get there. Apparently, I'm not the only one. Many years ago, D....

Growing up in a "poor family" with "a lot of violence, drugs and alcohol in the house," Ken was a succesful entrepreneur from a young age, having started working at 8 years old. But by time he was 34, his success could not keep him from hitting rock bottom. "I had no business trying to run a business of any kind in the state of mind that I was in constantly, which was drunken at all times," he sai...

Justin Breen was an enterprising journalist in a Midwest media market when his bosses started slashing staff salaries in 2017. With a wife and two young children, Justin knew it was time to take his next step. It wasn't nearly as challenging for Justin as you'd think it might be. Tapping into his visionary mindset, Justin reached out to his 5,000-plus social media fanbase. Just six weeks later, he...

For Amy Somerville, life happens in the transitions. Amy was in the real estate business for 18 years with RE/MAX — as a realtor, broker, team leader, franchise consultant, and coach. She readily admits that throughout it all, she was not a public speaker. But after nearly two decades in business, Amy needed to help her young family transition to the next stage of their lives. She chose to "take o...

My guest this week, Dr. Robb Kelly, grew up in the projects of Manchester, England. Blessed with musical talent, he was performing on stage by the time he was 9 years old.  The music career led him to college, and even to a job as a session musician at the famous Abbey Roads Studio in London, but it also led him to drink. While he was able to get his PhD in psychology at University of Oxford, his...

At a tender age, Craig Moody moved with hisfamily to a new town. His educator mother and a businessman father wanted the best for their son, but while going to stay with family friends during thetransition, Craig felt unwelcome and unliked. Later, at school, he was bullied and had trouble making friends despite his best efforts. Flash forward two decades and Craig was stillfeeling uprooted. With n...