Five Star Life with Coach Seth

What separates ordinary people from extraordinary ones? In this inspiring episode, Coach Seth and Coach Mia sit down and discuss Indianas running phenom Noah Bontrager—the first athlete in Indiana history to break the four-minute mile—to uncover the mindset that fueled one of the greatest high school running careers in the country. More than a conversation about athletics, this episode explores di...

What if the most important investment you make this week isn't another meeting, another practice, or another achievement—but one intentional conversation with your child? In this episode, Coach Seth is joined by producer Kevin for a powerful discussion on why meaningful conversations have the power to shape a child's future and strengthen families for generations. As Five Star Life continues intro...

What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't your circumstances, your past, or your opportunities—but your focus? In this episode, Coach Seth and Coach Mia unpack one of the most powerful lessons from the Five Star Life RISE curriculum: wherever your focus goes, growth follows. Drawing from neuroscience, parenting, emotional intelligence, and real-life stories from Five Star Life programs, Coa...

What if the thoughts holding you back are not facts, but patterns your brain has simply learned to repeat? In this episode, Coach Seth and Coach Mia introduce Five Star Life’s new theme, RISE, and unpack how real change begins in the mind. Through stories from basketball, parenting, public speaking, and student development, Coach Seth explains how automatic negative thoughts, fear, anxiety, and ol...

Why do some people thrive through adversity while others feel trapped by it? In this episode, Coach Seth and Coach Mia unpack one of the most powerful mindset shifts a person can make: understanding that work is not the enemy—it’s the process required to thrive. Drawing from months of student interviews across the country, the conversation explores what young people are actually learning from Five...

What happens when a 27-year-old Army Ranger becomes the youngest mayor in Terre Haute history? In this powerful episode, Coach Seth sits down with Mayor Brandon Sakbun to unpack leadership, resilience, education reform, workforce development, and the future of young people in America. From the third-grade teacher who first sparked Brandon’s dream of becoming mayor to the brutal lessons learned ins...

Why are so many kids—and adults—surrounded by people, yet still deeply lonely? In this episode, Coach Seth and Coach Mia unpack the growing social disconnect happening in our culture and reveal why technology, fear, and unhealthy habits are quietly destroying authentic relationships. From vulnerable conversations about loneliness and social anxiety to practical lessons on loyalty, accountability,...

What if your exhaustion isn’t coming from work… but from the way you think about work? In this episode, Coach Seth and Coach Mia unpack one of the most dangerous lies in modern culture: that hard work is something to avoid instead of something that develops you. From powerful student testimonies to deep conversations about mindset, anxiety, integrity, parenting, goals, and belief systems, this epi...

Are you reacting to your wounds, or responding from your values? In this powerful episode, Coach Seth welcomes back Cherri Kulp (Executive Coach & Founder of Internal Garden Coaching) to discuss why your internal state is the ultimate predictor of your external success. Cherri breaks down the "Internal Garden" philosophy—the idea that our minds are fertile ground where we either cultivate frui...

Are you actually in the game, or are you a passive spectator of your own life? In this episode, Coach Seth and Coach Mia unpack the "Arena" lesson—a transformative concept taught to over 20,000 students weekly. They dive deep into Polyvagal Theory, simplifying the science of the nervous system into three actionable levels: the Dorsal (isolation), the Sympathetic (anxiety), and the Ventral (peace a...

Who are you when the titles, the clothes, and the followers are stripped away? In this powerful episode, Coach Seth and Coach Mia dive into the most core topic of the Five Star Life mission: Identity. We are entering an era where AI will master the "hard skills," making the "soft skills"—social intelligence, critical thinking, and emotional resilience—the most valuable assets on the planet. Coach...

For 20 years, Five Star Life has been on a mission to transform students' lives by challenging the way they think, act, and lead. But how did it all begin? In this foundational episode, Coach Seth and Coach Mia return to the "Why." From the staggering data of the "dropout epidemic"—visualized as 12 Empire State Buildings filled with students—to Seth’s own medical journey of discovering "root cause...

Are you raising a child who can survive the world, or a child who is afraid of it? In this deep episode of Five Star Life, Coach Seth and Coach Mia unpack what they believe is the #1 mistake parents are making in this generation: protecting children from adversity instead of teaching them how to thrive through it. We live in a culture driven by fear and the desire to give our kids the childhood we...

Are we failing our boys by forcing them into a box of silence? In this episode of Five Star Life, Coach Seth welcomes back Cherry Kulp of Unearth Coaching to discuss a topic that is often ignored in today’s cultural climate: the specific psychological and emotional needs of men and boys. Cherry shares insights from her work with the White House’s "My Brother's Keeper" initiative and her current re...

What’s stopping you from reaching your potential? In this episode of Five Star Life, Coach Seth sits down with 12-year-old Frankie Martinez, a young man who is redefining what it means to "thrive." What started as a simple 4-H project in a backyard garden has evolved into Frankie’s Spicy Farm—a fully FDA-approved hot sauce company with a nationwide reach.   Frankie isn't your average seventh-grade...

"I failed" is an event. "I am a failure" is a lie. In this transformative episode of Five Star Life, Coach Seth and Coach Mia tackle the "Toxic Rumination Loop"—the dangerous habit of replaying our mistakes until they become our identity. Using the "Railroad Track Theory," they explain why joy and adversity are parallel constants in our lives, and why your brain is biologically wired to "Battery O...

Is your parenting response building resilience or reinforcing failure? In this episode of Five Star Life, Coach Seth and Coach Mia dive into the "Railroad Tracks" of life—the reality that something amazingly good and something incredibly adverse are always happening at the same time. Using a real-time story of a teenage driving mistake, they explore why the way we respond to our children’s failure...

Is your parenting style building a champion or a crutch? In this episode of Five Star Life, Coach Seth and Coach Mia dive into why modern "soft culture" is robbing the next generation of the grit they need to succeed. While most people view adversity as a sign to stop, elite performers know it is the essential "springboard" for greatness. We break down the Toxic Pain Cycle—the dangerous psychologi...

Are you stuck in a "survival mindset" that no longer serves you? In this episode of Five Star Life, Coach Seth and Cherri Kulp of Unearth Coaching explore why so many of us are still using the mental tools we developed just to get through childhood. While a "scrappy" survival instinct might have protected you then, it could be the very thing blowing up your relationships and blocking your peace to...

Will your adversity build you or bury you? In this powerful episode of Five Star Life, Coach Seth and Coach Mia dive deep into the one thing no human gets a pass on: hard times. Whether it’s chaos at home, pressure on the field, or hidden trauma, adversity is a guaranteed part of the human experience—but it doesn't have to define your identity. In this conversation, Seth and Mia break down the thr...

How do you find your voice when you feel like you’ve lost everything? At fifteen, Kinley Shoemaker’s world was shattered by a violent act. Instead of hiding, she chose a path of radical resilience, stepping into the arena of pageantry and eventually becoming Miss Indiana. In this episode of Five Star Life, Coach Seth sits down with Kinley Shoemaker to discuss the "messenger mindset." They explore...

What is your unforgiveness costing you? In this episode of Five Star Life, Coach Seth and Cherry Kulp of Unearthed Coaching unfold the heavy price of holding onto the past. Forgiveness isn't just a spiritual concept—it is a physical and psychological necessity that can determine the state of your health and the quality of your future. In this powerful conversation, we break down the "Delorean Effe...

What separates the average from the elite? It isn't just talent—it’s the obsession with the details that everyone else ignores. In this episode of Five Star Life, Coach Seth sits down with Bobbo Torres to pull back the curtain on what it takes to build elite-level greatness. From the high school gym to training the pros, Bobbo and Seth explore why most people miss the "gold" in others and how a si...

What would your life look like if you truly owned every choice you made? In this episode of Own Your Choices, Change Your Life, Coach Seth and Ana Story dive deep into how taking responsibility, practicing gratitude, and learning to see your life from a higher perspective can completely shift your mindset, and your future. We also uncover the importance between practicing genuine kindness to those...

Overwhelmed with emotions and feel like you can't express them? There are reasons why we feel alone and ashamed of our feelings, but you have the power to face them head on and lift yourself out of these low states! Tune in this week to The Five Star Life Show w/ Coach Seth as he is joined in studio with Cherri Kulp of UnEarthed Coaching and Consulting. This powerful CEO is breaking down her wisdo...