The Misfit Heroes Podcast

Rick Bateman is the owner of Outer Banks Mixed Martial Arts, a combat sports gym in Nags Head, NC. He was recently ranked 18th in the international Brazilian jiu-jitsu foundation (IBJJF), and has been a martial artist for nine years, and was a combat veteran in the 101st airborne in the United States Army.  After being shot in a turret position during service in Afghanistan, he was awarded the pur...

Sara Canizales is a mother, a wife, and children's pastor at Coastal Family Church in Nags Head, NC.  Since 2008, she has created and led her passion project Children's Fest, a yearly celebration of Jesus on Halloween.  The event has grown from a small event on a street corner to a yearly celebration with over five thousand attendees.  We discuss how the event started, her passion for children tha...

This is a brief introduction to our program. Check us out!

Bilal Markis is the creator of MCB, Miracle Come Back, a global nonprofit that holds blood drives across america and the entire world. As a single father, fearing his children’s entry into gang life, he moved to a new township. During the move, his son was run over on his bicycle by two SUVs. After surgery, a coma, and various injuries from the accident, Bilal’s son Rasheed was a stronger student,...

Naomi Lambert is the creator of the cool to be kind project, a global social enterprise that uses kindness cards left in random spots to inspire acts of kindness in others and log them on a website to share with the world.  She is also an author, and her new children's book, "One Kind Day", is available wherever books are sold.  Her story leads her from being paralyzed from a spider bite to creati...

Jenasa Staples is the creator and host of the #createyourearthlife podcast, a Christian podcast that documents and chronicles jenasa’s journey with her walk in the Christian faith. She is a mother, a podcaster, and recently started a new blog of the same name. She speaks about her journey through being a surrogate mother to twin babies for a Singaporean couple during the COVID pandemic, and her jo...

Matt Wenger is lead therapist at the Begin Again Institute and Boulder Recovery in Boulder, Colorado. His office has released a new book, “TINSA: Trauma Induced Sex Addiction”, and he is leading the way in helping Christian men deal with sex and porn addictions and intimacy issues. We discuss sex and porn addiction and the stigmas surrounding them, how the adult entertainment industry is targeting...

Donovan Brooks is host of The Building Stewards Podcast, a podcast about how our finances affect our faith walk. He is also an author, father, and a financial planner, and owner of storyline financial planning. He has been featured on investopedia, credit karma, bankrate, and the Wall Street journal. We discuss the Robinhood investment app debacle, GameStop and other meme stocks, and what it means...

Shannon Bray ran for senate in the 2020 election in North Carolina, and will be running again in 2022. With a campaign party consisting of himself and his wife, he received 3% of the popular vote in the state of North Carolina, and over 171,000 votes total. He is also a speaker, author of several books, free diver, and one of the top cyber security professionals in America. We discuss the need for...

Matt Hayes is the co-founder and COO of Engiven, a giving platform that allows cryptocurrency donors to donate different forms of cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and ethereum to nonprofits and receive US dollars. As the former Chief Technology Officer (the “Pastor of Innovation”) of the Rock Church in San Diego, CA, he developed a passion for technology and his previous company, Mogiv, was the first t...

James Franchise is the lead singer of This Surrender, a Christian Lifecore metal band from New York, NY. He has gained notoriety on TikTok as the metal worship leader, performing covers of modern worship songs and hymns with a hard rock theme. His band This Surrender is releasing their first full length album in March of 2021, and planning shows across the country later this year. We discuss the m...

Ashley Henriott is an author, social media influencer, and a mom of 4 wonderful kids. She is also host of the Motherhood Unfiltered podcast about moms, parenting and the imperfect situations that arise in mom life. We discuss parenting your children during a pandemic, imperfection in a perfect social media world, and how creating tiktok videos has brought her family closer together. Ashley can be...

Quincy Carr is a standup comedian and television personality from Virginia Beach, VA. He is the host of the Quality Comedy Series, a laugh-out-loud clean stand up comedy show, as well as an on-air personality for Mainstreet Living and Living 757, a nationally televised morning show. We speak about what it takes to be an entertainer in 2021, Free speech and cancel culture, and why the world needs c...

In this episode, Chris details where the podcast has been, where the podcast is at, and where the podcast is going in the future. We discuss our successes and failures, the goals we have met, and the next accomplishments we want to strive for.

Jeff Thompson is the lead outfitter for the Outer Banks chapter of Cross Trail Outfitters.  Cross trail outfitters is a sportsman’s group whose goal is to lead the next generation to Christ through the outdoors.  We speak about what CTO does, the misconceptions around hunting and fishing, how a sportsman’s lifestyle affects a child’s mindset, and how social media is changing the way kids interact...

Delia D’Ambra is the creator and host of the true crime podcast, Counter Clock, which focuses on two murders that occurred on the outer banks of North Carolina over twenty years ago. A graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, Delia has been a news correspondent in Fort Myers, Florida, and Charlottesville, Virginia, and she recently started an additional podcast, Park Predators, which revolves around crimes co...

OBX Room in the Inn is an organization that helps the homeless population on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Tracy Ryder is the president of OBX Room in the Inn, and she directly helps people in need. We discuss homelessness, tent cities, and what you can do to help the homeless this holiday season. They can be found online at www.obxroomintheinn.org

In this episode, Austin and Chris discuss the concept of identity. Austin speaks about his comic book character, Lizzy Voxel, and the guys talk about how identity plays a major role in how we perceive ourselves and others.

Skylor Bryant is the owner of Audacious You, an apparel company that offers products designed to inspire conversations about Christ. The company has recently released a product collection devoted to ending human trafficking, in which all product proceeds go directly to the organization Operation Underground Railroad, which fights for and rehabilitates victims of human trafficking. We discuss human...

Chris brings his wife Michele on as a guest to talk about the trials and errors of their 16 years of marriage.

Maureen Swindell is a local artist with Candle & Mirror Creative based out of Manteo, North Carolina. She has a local ministry called The Art of Play that helps people destress and decompress for their mental health while creating and enjoying art. She is also a mother of two children, and a blast to speak to. We discuss mental health, dealing with the issues that have arisen in 2020, and how art...

In this episode, Austin and Chris discuss the features and qualities that make a hero a hero. We speak about Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Deadpool, Anti-Heroes, Villains, and what would happen if Christopher Nolan directed a Klondike Bar commercial.

Jonny Waters, AKA the flipflop cowboy, is a popular musician from the Outer Banks of North Carolina. He has been playing with his band, Jonny Waters & Co., for over nine years. He is also a veteran of the Iraq war, a social studies teacher, and a great conversationalist. We speak about his time in the army, his interactions as a teacher and interactions with kids, and he even plays one of his favo...

Every story has a beginning. Come along with us on this journey as we discuss the origins of the Misfit Heroes Podcast.