Return To Authenticity

Here we go with Episode 44!! Tune in and meet McClain Hermes.  McClain lost her eyesight to a rare condition called Wagner Syndrome at the age of 8 years old.  She didn't let that stop her as she wanted to enjoy and play in the same games as her friends.  She learned, adapted and grew along the way.  She continued to swim and was swimming year round by the age of 10. Her mom driving her an ho...

Season 2 of The Return to Authenticity podcast has arrived!   Season 2 starts off with guest, Matt Hermes.  Matt’s story is incredibly inspiring as he shares how he faced and ultimately overcame challenge after challenge, including financial devastation with the 2008 real estate market crash, loss of his home in a short sale and near homelessness, and the severe chronic illness of two of his three...

Here we go with episode 42! Tune in and meet Aaron Guyett.  Aaron joined the US Marine Corps in 1999 and deployed to Kuwait and Iraq while on active duty. After leaving active duty in 2003, Aaron took a turn down the dark path of nihilism that led to the end of his marriage and a bottoming out before reaching a turning point and changing his life.  He felt a call to dig into his faith and he began...

Welcome to Return to Authenticity, episode 41, with our guest, Scott Wells. Scott has an highly entertaining story that twists from the world of journalism to the oilfield, to the commodities trading floor to the world of magic on the high seas!  Quite a journey for a kid from Southern Illinois who grew up in a town of six thousand people, 80 miles from St. Louis.  Scott was disciplined in setting...

Episode 40!! What a great conversation with Jessica Depatie.  Jessica grew up in Southern California, attended Cal State University, Long Beach and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism with an emphasis on public relations.  She pursued work in the field of marketing and had great success.  In 2016, after a series of jarring personal events, she found herself at a fork in the road.  Jessi...

Episode 39! What a great conversation with Josh Painter.  Josh is a chill, California guy with an easy way about him, and an incredible story of rising to the occasion again and again.  He has continually said yes, and then figured out how to make it happen.  It began with an major curve ball at age 17 when he got his high school girlfriend pregnant and then figured out how to make a living to sup...

Welcome to Return to Authenticity Episode 38!   Meet Mike DeSanti.  Mike grew up in a close-knit, Italian family in New Jersey, where he played sports at a high level and life was comfortable, predictable, and stable.  In a few short weeks, life changed dramatically as Mike suffered an injury that put him on the sports sideline indefinitely just as his brother moved away to college and his parents...

Here we go with RTA episode 37!! Joining me in the studio today is  Kase Knockenhauer.  You're going to enjoy hearing the colorful and varied background Kase brings to the show.  His willingness to try new things that interest him and being willing to fail, learn, pivot and grow are matched by his belief that some things aren't meant to be and ego must be kept in check to prevent hanging...

Return to Authenticity episode 36!   In this episode, I sit down in the studio for a great conversation with Mark Anderson.  Mark grew up outside Boston, Massachusetts as an active kid playing most sports that included a ball:  baseball, golf, basketball, tennis, and volleyball.   After a semester of junior college,  in the months prior to 9/11, Mark joined the U.S. Marine Corps and was active for...

Return to Authenticity podcast episode 35 is up!!  Thomas Pfanner grew up in Eugene Oregon active in sports, playing high school football and wrestling.   A key turning point in Thomas’s life happened at the age of 18, when he became a father and had no relationship with his son’s mother within a month of his birth. Despite that lack of relationship, life became work, go to school and spend time w...

RTA episode 34 is here!   Meet Matthew Paetz. Matthew went from small town Jamestown, Indiana, population of 700 to traveling the world as an international model in a matter of days.  Gone were the days of innocent basketball and one-stop-light-town farm life.  Matthew jumped into a foreign world and had to figure things out quickly to survive.  From there, Matthew’s life accelerated as he dated a...

Here we go with RTA episode 33!  Meet Greg Westgate.  Greg grew up playing in the woods around his Michigan home, exploring, being in nature and working on a family farm. He decided at the young age of 13 that he was going to join the military, inspired by an uncle in the US Marine Corps.  The Corps wasn't his destiny, however, and he continued to run into mentors that guided him away from he...

Here we go with episode 32!   Meet Mike Salemi.  Mike is a first generation Italian American who grew up around the family stone business.  After a short time in the business, Mike decided to pursue his passion for sport, fitness and human performance while remaining near his close-knit family.  His passion took him to the heights of the sports of powerlifting and Kettlebell Sport where he became...

Episode 31!  You’re going to love meeting this week’s guest, Rebecca Rouse! Rebecca shares her story of continuing to pivot again and again through major life changes such as being told she could not be in the military, to moving back and forth across the country for life and work, and then having her employer shut down and layoff the entire staff during the pandemic.  Hear her inspiring story of...

Episode 30!  Meet Chase Tolleson. Chase shares a transparent story of life's challenges and how he pivoted around those challenges.  After growing up outside of Chicago, Chase joined the Navy with a dream of going to  BUD/S to become a SEAL.  A roadblock prevented that from happening, and Chase began planning for life after the Navy, opening a CrossFit gym and becoming a personal fitness coac...

RTA Episode 29!  Tune in and meet David Waldy.  David grew up in an idyllic life in the country, with fishing poles and BB guns and raising animals in nature.  He also watched his dad struggle as the local veterinarian and entrepreneur, working incredibly long hours to make ends meet.  The stress that applied to family and home life led David to associate being your own boss with struggle, stress...

Here we go!  Return to Authenticity, episode 28!  Meet Amit Gaglani.  Amit has a powerful story of business pivots from medicine to business owner to entrepreneur.   After returning from Physical Therapy school in Scotland, Amit went to work in the world of PT.   A chance discussion with a patient made all the difference, as the seed of starting his own practice was planted.  Amit nourished that s...

Welcome to Return to Authenticity episode 27!  Meet Anthony Morolda a certified personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach and co-host of the Building Men podcast.  Anthony has a passion for learning that he hopes to instill and inspire in others.  Along with the podcast, he coaches individuals one on one and is building a group program and a retreat for young men and their fathers to grow...

Return to Authenticity Episode 26! Meet Rob Wolfe.  Rob grew up outside of Chicago in an idyllic neighborhood and had an awesome childhood.  He gravitated to computers and had the personality and drive to succeed and thrive in IT sales for large enterprises.  Life's curveballs then started flying, including a layoff, a career change and a health scare that had Rob facing his own mortality.  T...

Return to Authenticity Episode 25!  Meet Chad Kirkpatrick.  After earning multiple college degrees, Chad went on to hold senior level positions as a technology executive in both the private and public sectors, including serving on the Cabinet of the Arizona Governor as Chief Information Officer and working for a Silicon Valley start-up.  Despite appearances of success and a high income, Chad felt...

Welcome to Return to Authenticity, Episode 24!  In this episode, you will meet Jeff Depatie. Jeff shares his story of growing up in Northern Ontario Canada as a high energy, explorative young teen who enjoyed exploring the wilderness and pushing boundaries of all kinds.  After searching for his path and trying University for a couple of years, Jeff joined the Canadian military.  He elevated to Can...

Here we go with Episode 23 and our guest, Ken Wimberly! Ken is a US Navy veteran of the first Gulf War and a serial entrepreneur -- and the first sponsor of our show!  From his early days at a military school for boys to his business and family successes, failures and lessons along the way, Ken demonstrated grit, determination, discipline and resilience and shares it all in the honest telling of h...

Welcome to Return to Authenticity, Episode 22. Meet U.S Army veteran, Marcus Thornton.  Marcus has an incredible story of overcoming many challenges including PTS, addiction and even homelessness.  An amazing story of picking himself up time and again, overcoming devastating lows, and finding his way home to his authentic self.  Tune in Wednesday to hear Marcus’ inspiring and courageous story! Eri...

Hey friends!   Welcome to our first episode of a special series of Return to Authenticity, called RTA Uncut.  On RTA Uncut, you will find host Eric Sardina discussing a variety of topics with special guests to the show. On this opening episode of RTA Uncut, Eric welcomes to the studio past guest, friend, and all-around class act and gentleman, Dennis Morolda.  They discuss how to engage a flow sta...

On today's episode, we sit down with Spencer Mozingo.  When the terrorist attacks occurred on September 11, 2001, Spencer was in the 9th grade.  Four years later upon graduation, he was entering the US Marine Corps to join the fight in the GWOT.  On his third combat tour, a pressure detonated IED would physically change Spencer forever, and he resolved to approach that change as another step...