Kickasspirational Podcast

Accountability & Leadership Keynote Speaker Sam Silverstein’s mission is to empower people to live accountable lives both in their personal lives and in business. He aims to transform the way they do business and thrive at extraordinary levels. By challenging leaders to shift their priorities, cultivate an organizational culture that matters, and inspire both individuals and teams to take ownership in fresh and results-producing ways. He is helping companies, Their leaders, and staff to dramatically increase productivity, profitability, and growth. In this episode of Kickasspirational David and Sam speak extensively about the importance of accountability, what that looks like and how to implement it in an authentic way so it aligns with your beliefs. They speak about the importance of culture in business. It is the culture that inspires people to want to be their best and choose to be accountable because the leader is accountable to them first. Listen in and learn powerful insight on how to be your best self and how to thrive in both your personal and professional lives!   You can find more about Sam here   Website: https://samsilverstein.com/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samsilverstein/

Season 5, Epsiode 8: Grabbing the Bag, an Unusual Discussion with Rob Bell About Money, Our Mindsets about It and How it Shapes Our Lives “Who are you and why are you here?” Is one of the most important and fundamental questions each person has to answer each day. Our relationships and mindsets around money tell a lot about us and how we live our values.   Best-selling author, Rob Bell, shares ancient wisdom about the necessary tensions of money in our lives, how to navigate it and why he thought it was important to generate a new audiobook about it titled, “Grabbing the Bag” in this interview with David Vanderveen,   Following are links referenced in this podcast:   https://robbell.com/audio/grabbin-the-bag-a-few-thoughts-on-money/   https://robbell.com   https://www.facebook.com/realrobbell   https://www.instagram.com/realrobbell/

Money fuels much of our ability to function. It fuels many of our dreams. In this episode, David Vanderveen, presents a summary overview of the importance of having a financial plan, which doesn’t have to be complicated, that provides a budget, ways to get out of debt and how to prioritize resources to build the future we want.   Following are links to different resources that David Vanderveen references in this episode:   The Overview on Personal Finance, Budgets, Debt and Investing from Customize Your Life:   https://www.amazon.com/Customize-Your-Life-Frances-Pappalardo/dp/1737725916   Best Budgeting Apps:   https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/best-budget-apps  

Jason Tartick was a senior vice president in banking when he realized that despite career success, he was headed down the wrong path. After giving up his career to pursue reality television on The Bachelorette, Jason realized that he didn’t have to accept a corporate path to create the life he really wanted.   In this podcast, Jason talks about his new book, The Restart Roadmap and eight simple steps to assess, define and pursue a life that can lead to deep joy. He and David Vanderveen also talk about how to manage personal finances, debt and investing to make these major life transitions possible as well as the best advice he’s received on his podcast Trading Secrets.   Following are links referenced in this podcast:   https://www.jasontartick.com   https://www.amazon.com/Restart-Roadmap-Jason-Tartick/dp/1400226864   https://www.jasontartick.com/podcast   https://www.instagram.com/jason_tartick/   https://www.tiktok.com/@jason_tartick

Season 5, Episode 5: How an Obsession with Ketogenic Snacking Led Manuel Zeller to Start a Business that Created the Best Tasting Protein Bar on Earth.   Manuel Zeller is an Austrian entrepreneur who built a business around his passions for eliminating sugar from modern Western diets while still satisfying his sweet-tooth cravings and snacking habits.   In this episode, David Vanderveen and Manuel explore the power of ketogenic diets, how to break through bad habits to transform what we eat and our lives with fun snacking hacks that make the experience enjoyable. Part of this discussion also covers how Manuel’s and David’s mutual obsession for sugar alternatives led them to co-create the Perform Bar for ItWorks International.   Manuel Zeller on FaceBook:   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000115244715   Perform Bar:   https://itworkseu.com/shopping/item/EU37001-AO?result=perform%20bar    

Dai Manuel didn’t have to hit rock bottom to know that he needed to make a change in his life. What he didn’t know was that making one significant change would lead to personal transformation, like a string unwinding a sweater he didn’t want to wear anymore. If we assume that change is certain, then Dai believes that perhaps we ought to be champions of change. The problem is that we need clarity to take action. David Vanderveen and Dai Manuel explore the four big questions that we all must answer to follow our bliss, take the hero’s journey and start on the path of personal transformation: Can I do this? If I do this, will it work? Is it worth it? Do I have a community and mentorship to help me accomplish it? Dai Manuel is a super dad, dating his wife, who leads by example. He is an award-winning digital thought leader and author, Distinguished keynote speaker, former partner and Chief Operating Officer of a successful retail company, and a sought-after lifestyle mentor and executive performance coach. He models his work based on five F’s: Fitness, Family, Faith, and Finances with an overarching roof of FUN. His community helps people transform their lives. LinkedIn   https://ca.linkedin.com/company/daimanuel-com?trk=public_profile_topcard-current-company   Instagram   https://www.instagram.com/daimanuel/   Website   https://www.daimanuel.com/   The Kickasspirational YouTube can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eICtKneM-hY  

The concrete world outside our bodies is concrete, results are easy to measure and we can see, touch, smell and taste it. We often hear how the interior work inside us unleashes extraordinary exterior results, but where is this elusive and abstract “inside?” Sabrina Scheuerling shares her remarkable story about escaping the good life, where she had all the material things but was missing purpose, missing deep joy, and how she discovered her interior mental muscles and how to use them. The six mental muscles are: 1. Will: Learn to focus on one thing. 2. Memory: Remember the future. 3. Visualize: Make what you want real in your mind first. 4. Intuition: How inspiration finds us and why it matters. 5. Perception: The law of polarity allows us to observe a situation from whichever point of view we choose. 6. Mental Creation: Your mind can create the world you desire. Sabrina shares how these six mental muscles, working together, can help a person create the reality, community and world that they want to inhabit rather than the options that the world offers us.

Jake Fox is a semi professional mountain biker who was on a trajectory to making his dreams real when disaster struck and was paralysed in an accident.   A year later, Jake is riding and skiing again in the mountains of British Columbia but has had to rebuild his dreams, his skills and his life.   Rather than embracing self pity or remorse for what could have been, Jake chose gratitude and investing himself in what is possible with what he has. His recovery has surprised doctors and himself.   There is a cliché that we all die, but we don’t all live. Second chances often help us see the world through a refreshingly different lens. In golf, a second try after a failed tee shot is called a ‘mulligan.’ It is the epitomy of grace and forgiveness, of a generous universe.   When you fail, when things fall apart, how have you chosen to try again, to restart, to recover? What are you grateful for in the life you have?   This is an amazing episode with a resilient young man about focusing on what you want rather than the narratives of well-meaning experts and loved ones. What do you want and how will you make it real, despite everything else?   The Kickasspirational YouTube can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eICtKneM-hY   You can find more about Jake Fox and his story on Instagram at: @fake.jox  

Sometimes we need to take a little time off, reset, reload and restart to hit our goals.   Sometimes a not-to-do list is essential in order to focus, to prioritize on what matters most.   In the inaugural episode of Season 5, David Vanderveen explores his own sabbatical from podcasting during a strategic shift in work, moves from California to Florida to Europe and a new culture.   What does Kickasspirational mean in a new place with new people? How does it translate? Why do they care? What comes next?   Following our bliss sometimes means setting important projects aside to tackle a new dragon, forge new adventures and find new stories worth sharing. The hero’s journey isn’t all about campfires and epic poems…we also have to do the work to win.   Kickasspirational is back for a new season. Looking forward to hearing all about your journey, your questions and how you are making the life you want.   The Kickasspirational YouTube can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eICtKneM-hY   You can find more about David Vanderveen and Kickasspirational on Instagram at:   @daveed58 @kickasspirational

Brian Bent actively and deliberately creates the world he wants to inhabit. Like filmmakers who are "auteurs" because of how they impact every element of a story told on film, Brian is an auteur for how he has crafted his personal brand story told in real life (including film).    From his midcentury modern home that he recreated, to the hotrods he builds and races, the boards he builds and rides, the clothing he designs and the paintings he exhibits, Brian has an aesthetic that you know when you see it, touch it, feel it or ride it. David Vanderveen recently discovered Brian's holistic approach to living a customized life, built by his own hands, when picking up one of Brian's paintings at his home. Experiencing Brian's world, his ethos, his intentional way of living and applying his values deliberately created an impact that David felt needed to be shared on this podcast and as a video podcast with more visual inputs.   The Kickasspirational YouTube can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eICtKneM-hY   You can find more about Brian Bent and his art on Instagram at: @brian_bent @brianbentgallery Enjoy the ride Brian's about to take you on and buckle up, because Kickasspirational just went radness to the max!

Welcome to 2021 and hopefully a year that allows us to take advantage of everything we learned in 2020. It has been a year of dramatic changes, difficult lessons and, hopefully, personal transformation. Hopefully this year has been full of learnings for you.    One big question I had to revisit was something my younger son, Willem asked me recently, "What do you do?" The question was in reference to the new life that my wife, Sarah, aka, Sissi, and I have created living at the Laguna Beach coast in 100-year-old cottages.   This episode is about some of the major changes in my own life in 2020, and how I've been breaking through personal barriers through breath work, meditation/mindfulness, cold water free diving and connecting to abalone in the cove where we live. These practices have redefined what I do and who I am.   In this episode, I mention the James Nestor book, BREATH. Linked below is information about the book and a couple of interviews with the author about the remarkable science around breathing practices.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpTsqskpIhU   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0EftTC4mYs   https://www.mrjamesnestor.com/breath   Also discussed in this episode is one of the best films of 2020: MY OCTOPUS TEACHER by Craig Foster. Below is a link to the trailer (available on Netflix).   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s0LTDhqe5A   What do you do? How will your answer transform your life in 2021? Would love to hear your answers. Whatever you do this week, please #BeKickasspirational

Reis Paluso is a breath instructor who helps people breathe better and get more control of their bodies and minds through active breathing practices. This year, Reis has pivoted from operating a creative digital agency he co-founded to working full time leading Our Breath Collective (www.ourbreathcollective.com) and doing group and individual breath workshops.   Recently, Reis led a Wim Hof Method outdoor workshop at David & Sarah Vanderveen's home, Cap d' Vantibes, the Laguna Beach Kickasspirational World Headquarters. The results were remarkable. Many of the adventure athletes in attendance felt deep emotional relief, energized and euphoric responses physically, the ability to breath-hold for minutes and 100 percent success being submerged for two minutes in an ice bath.   There are a myriad of breathing practices to help people learn to heal themselves, generate energy, improve athletic performance, manage and release emotions and live healthier lives. If you'd like to dig deeper, consider visiting Our Breath Collective. If you subscribe to the daily breath practices, use the code REIS for a substantial discount.   https://www.ourbreathcollective.com   You can also find Reis as @ReisPaluso on Instagram, Spotify and his website:   https://open.spotify.com/user/reisp?si=d4MXeCs1RfaASqz0FuwquQ   https://www.reispaluso.com   Learning to breathe better is a giant leap forward towards breaking through personal barriers in 2021. Give it a listen and start your own practice! #BeKickasspirational

Nobel Gibbens has a long history of success in the military, as an entrepreneur and with his family, but something snapped last year. He and his wife, Kathy learned to see, map and understand their own emotional lives which has helped them manage their own trauma, behave differently and be in better, healthier relationships.   Since February, Noble and Kathy have launched EQ for Entrepreneurs, which is really for anyone who wants to dig into their own triggers and feelings, learn to own them and deliberately create the emotional context of their lives. They now have a podcast, eight-week training course and video series that is used by the military, business leaders and is being applied more broadly (link below).   https://www.eqforentrepreneurs.com   You can also find Noble and Kathy under EQforEntrepreneurs on social media and YouTube. Great discussion that fits with people who are being Kickasspirational in a difficult time and breaking through barriers of their own. #BeKickasspirational

Chris Mauro is back for round two!!! He has spent his life entwined with surfing and adventure sports as a top professional athlete, selling the brands, managing surf shops, shaping, writing, editing, filming and producing for the sport as a journalist and an executive within the World Surf League.    Life is long, and Chris continues to figure out how to deliberately create meaning and happiness in his work through relationships with family, friends and connection to nature, especially via the ocean.   Chris has helped shape and define adventure sports as much as they have defined him. We talk a lot about how to pivot as industries are disrupted, but we also get into big ideas around journalism, how news media shapes our realities and some thoughts on how to vet information in 2020.   Chris' podcast is titled "People Who Surf" and runs a lot deeper than a sport, he helps us understand our souls through adventure, places we visit, the people who inhabit them and our shared humanity.    Check out "People Who Surf" here: https://peoplewhosurf.com/author/cmauro/

Adam Mundy graduated from Boston University in May 2020 and decided to start a side hustle with his brother while waiting for his international relations career to begin...then COVID hit.   Adam and his brother Andrew co-founded CharlieTodd Goods, where they create fine handmade leather wallets and other goods as well as a remarkable blog and lifestyle website of sounds, images and text at www.CharlieToddGoods.com.   In this episode, we discuss how and why there hasn't been a better time to start your own side hustle and how Adam and Andrew have created their own productive business by integrating their passions and skills in ways that add value to others to earn value in return.   CharlieTodd can be found below and Kickasspirational listeners get 15% off with the code: Kickass   http://charlietoddgoods.com   http://www.instagram.com/charlietoddgoods   Adam would love to help you make custom products not found on the site. There is a comments box where you can interact with him and make your concepts real.   Enjoy the ride and break through some barriers of your own this week! Whatever you do, #BeKickasspirational

Lindsey Davidson was laid off in March due to COVID and decided to start an apparel business, pursuing her love of fashion in a field where she had experience both selling and creating. Her brand, LENNY  has taken off in a sustainable and scaleable way, leveraging social media, personal connections and manageable capsules that both generate revenue and help define the direction of the business.   It seemed that as COVID lingers, the economy continues to behave in strange ways and employment changes, talking with a young entrepreneur who broke through a barrier in her own life as changed happened to her was a good place to come back after a summer hiatus.   LENNY can be found below, and Kickasspirational listeners get 20% off with the code: LENNY20   https://withlovelenny.com/   https://www.instagram.com/withlovelenny/?hl=en (@withlovelenny on Instragram)   Lindsey would love to help you create custom apparel if you're not finding something that works for you in a current capsule. I had her create a shirt/jacket that is incredibly soft but looks like a jean jacket with a navy dye. Let Lindsey help you create a custom piece that's insanely Kickasspirational!   Enjoy the ride and break through some barriers of your own this week! Whatever you do, #BeKickasspirational!!!

Kelly James Clark has a PhD from Notre Dame and is an international advocate for interfaith cooperation, focusing on the Abrahamic religions. He is project director for “Abrahamic Reflections on Science and Religion” which brings together 36 scholars from 14 countries to reconcile issues in the fields of science and religion.   In this podcast, we discuss how difficult it can be to see our own bias because, as studies show, bias is subconscious and instinctual. Kelly says his in his recent article (linked below):   "Our biases and fears, those of Republicans and Democrats alike, condone and even encourage our sitting idly by as systemic racism continues unabated. Without admitting our biases and our inaction (Republicans and Democrats alike), we will quickly return to the racist status quo as soon as the protest’s last ember is extinguished.   Or our better self, the one that doesn’t want to accede to blinding bias and is more sensitive to the Light of Love and Justice, can and should tell our biased self that America’s systemic racism must stop now."   https://medium.com/@kellyjamesclark/the-subtle-and-corrosive-power-of-racial-bias-54d7bda3c5f1   We also discuss Kelly's book Strangers, Neighbors, Friends: Muslim-Christian-Jewish Reflections on Compassion and Peace and how bias affects religious views of each other.   https://www.amazon.com/Strangers-Neighbors-Friends-Muslim-Christian-Jewish-Reflections/dp/1532619669   Kelly also suggested watching two films, Same God Film and 13th:   https://samegodfilm.com/   https://www.netflix.com/title/80091741   Maybe breaking through barriers in our lives requires that we examine our naturally-occurring biases that inform many of our opinions and actions. Kickasspirational isn't a spectator sport. Whatever else you do this week, please, #BeKickasspirational.

This week is an audio monologue that stemmed from a number of conversations and feedback about how important perspective can be to help us be aware of others and not just our own needs.At the end of this podcast, I read an excerpt from David Foster Wallace's "This Is Water," a commencement address he gave at Kenyon College in 2005 that was published as a small book and can be found on YouTube. it's a short read, and I hope you take the time to read it as well as watch it (below):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC7xzavzEKYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhhC_N6Bm_shttps://www.amazon.com/dp/0316068225/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_BeU0EbHV52K3JBe Kickasspirational.

This week we get a bit more technical about entrepreneurship with two under-30 founders, John Sherwin and Jai Kim, about how they’ve been able to create one of the fastest growing hydration start-ups via a direct-to-consumer model that is now getting pulled into strong retail partnerships.     John and Jai, came together to solve the problem of dehydration under the pressures of life. Jai was working long hours and pursuing his MBA, while John had been on the start-up grind in Silicon Valley while using his background in biology from Oxford to try various approaches to defeating his daily dehydration. Collectively, the coffee, energy drinks and gallons of plain water weren’t good enough, so they came up with a better way. Together, their commitment to creating a better science-driven hydration product is delivering a healthier solution across the country.   Kickasspirational Bro Codes:   Hydrant: If you’re interested in better hydration, simpler ingredients and a great-tasting alternative to sugary re-hydration drinks, our friends at Hydrant are offering 20% off for Kickasspirational listeners. There are both caffeine and L-theanine options as well as caffeine free versions depending on preference. Http://drinkhydrant.com and use code: KickAss20   SuperCoffee: Our friends at Kitu Super Coffee are offering 25% off their delicious, all-natural, sugar-free Super Coffees and Super Creamers (I drink the creamers straight they are so good). Lots of great MCT fats and 3-10g of protein. Https://drinksupercoffee.com and use code: Kickasspirational25   NewAge: The Noni by NewAge immunity bundle combines Tahitian Noni Juice and Cell Defense that can help your body dramatically boost immunity. Use this link to get a bottle of each plus free shipping ($120 value) for $40. https://noninewage.com/roth  

  Aaron James holds a PhD from Harvard and is professor of philosophy at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of Assholes: A Theory, Assholes: A Theory of Donald Trump, and Fairness in Practice: A Social Contract for a Global Economy and numerous academic articles. He was awarded a Burkhardt Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies, and spent the 2009-10 academic year at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. He’s a skilled, lifelong surfer and lives in Irvine, California.   When Aaron and I started this podcast, I didn’t realize it would last roughly three hours…an amazing journey about living authentically, being attuned to our environment, traveling through remote parts of the world to surf epic waves and how monetary policy may save us.   If you’re enjoying this podcast and want more information about Aaron, there was a recent article in Fast Company where he was quoted as an expert because of his work Assholes: A Theory.   https://www.fastcompany.com/90490489/how-reddits-am-i-the-asshole-became-the-definitive-document-of-the-trump-era   You can find more of his titles at the link, and Aaron writes in a popular style that is accessible to everyone:   https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/150710/aaron-james   Kickasspirational Bro Codes:   SuperCoffee: Our friends at Kitu Super Coffee are offering 25% off their delicious, all-natural, sugar-free Super Coffees and Super Creamers (I drink the creamers straight they are so good). Lots of great MCT fats and 3-10g of protein. Https://drinksupercoffee.com and use code: Kickasspirational25   NewAge: The Noni by NewAge immunity bundle combines Tahitian Noni Juice and Cell Defense that can help your body dramatically boost immunity. Use this link to get a bottle of each plus free shipping ($120 value) for $40. https://noninewage.com/roth