50: Rebuilding Sergeant Peck with a Double Arm Transplant

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John Peck served as a Marine in Iraq and Afghanistan. During his second deployment, an IED detonated after he stepped on it, and he lost all four of his limbs. After a long road to recovery, he received a double arm transplant and became the second veteran ever to receive this life-changing surgery. He has regained motor function in his arms and he can accomplish numerous tasks that most never thought he would be able to again. In this episode:

  • Being broke down and built back up during Hell Week in the Marines
  • The brotherhood mindset in the military
  • Excitement to deploy
  • No regrets in serving as a Marine and sustaining injuries
  • 1st tour of duty to Iraq: enduring a frontal tear in his brain lobe that led to a 21 year loss of memory
  • 2nd tour of duty to Afghanistan: stepping on an IED and losing all 4 limbs
  • The pain of divorce after losing his limbs
  • Overcoming suicidal thoughts by learning that he can find love as an amputee
  • Becoming the second veteran ever to receive a double arm transplant
  • Relearning how to wiggle his fingers
  • Throwing out the first pitch with new arms at a baseball game

You can follow John at “John Peck’s Journey” on Facebook. He has a new book coming out on May 7th called Rebuilding Sergeant Peck that you will be able to find in any bookstore.

49: Love at First Spike with Travis Mewhirter

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Travis Mewhirter picked up sand volleyball for the first time at 24 years old and found a way to become a professional athlete in this sport. Life on the beach as a sand volleyball player may seem glamorous, but there are often extensive hardships outside of the court that all sand volleyball professional players deal with day-in and day-out. Travis shares how he turned pro, the sacrifices he has had to make, and why he loves this sport above all others. In this episode:

  • How a bartender initiated his interest in volleyball
  • Sacrificing brand name credibility in his career with the Washington Post to pursue a better lifestyle
  • The training, practice, and regimen that a 24 year old with no volleyball experience did to become a pro
  • Newfound motivation after getting embarrassed in his first professional competition
  • Pursuing greatness in a sport that doesn’t offer much financial compensation, even if you are one of the best in the world
  • Using a passion to create a platform and find a career in writing about volleyball
  • The man in the arena
  • The most exhausting sand volleyball day ever
  • How his best friend retired from volleyball for 2 years due to an autoimmune disease and returned to compete at an elite level

Travis Mewhirter is the co-host of the Sandcast Beach Volleyball Podcast and the author of We Were Kings: A Deep Dive Inside the Lives of Professional Beach Volleyball Players. You can buy his book on Amazon or online at Barnes and Noble. You can follow Travis on Instagram @trammew and on Twitter @tram_mew.

48: Hit by an RPG with Yonas Hagos

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Yonas Hagos was born in Africa and grew up in a Sudanese refugee camp before he came to America as a young boy. He enlisted in the Army after the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and was hit by an RPG in Iraq during his tour of duty. He survived and went on to become a successful serial entrepreneur in Illinois. In this episode:

  • Growing up in a Sudanese refugee camp
  • Muslim vs. Christian persecution
  • Family is important and family must stick together
  • Coming to the United States and living in the projects but feeling like a king
  • Learning English, preserving Ethiopian culture, and avoiding the hood life by listening to his parents
  • Serving in Iraq and getting hit with an RPG
  • Overcoming PTSD and how he views it now
  • Transitioning to an entrepreneur: 16 Dunkin Donuts, 2 Pet Supplies Plus, and a gun manufacturing company
  • Persistence beats resistance

You can find out more information about Yonas at www.yonashagos.com or on his public Facebook profile https://www.facebook.com/yonashagospage/

47: Survivor, Physician, Entrepreneur

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Dr. Edna Ma is an anesthesiologist that used her medical knowledge to create a product called BareEase. She wanted to raise money for her business by pitching her product on Shark Tank, but before she was given the chance to do so, she had to prove her worthiness on another reality TV show, Survivor. In this episode:

  • Learning from Chinese immigrant parents
  • Choosing the field of anesthesiology
  • Using her physician experience to create an everyday anesthetic consumer product
  • Creative finance approach to fundraising: becoming a contestant on Survivor
  • The most difficult part of being a contestant on Survivor
  • Getting onto Shark Tank and not getting a deal but gaining publicity
  • Becoming a children’s author
  • Handling a hectic workload
  • Wake up living the dream

You can learn more about Dr. Ma at her web site www.ednama.com and you can follow her on Instagram @dr.ednama

46: Wealth Can’t Wait with David Osborn

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David Osborn is a serial entrepreneur, a real estate mogul, and the best selling author of Wealth Can’t Wait. He built the 4th largest real estate business in the USA among many other successful businesses. But he found himself dead broke and unemployed at 26 before he embarked on his journey to create a life of his design. In this episode:

  • Learning that it doesn’t take money to have a fulfilling life
  • The pros and cons of capitalism in a worldview
  • Learning real estate from Gary Keller and building an empire
  • Success is not about the destination, it’s about the journey
  • Making an effort to be successful with his family
  • Wealth Can’t Wait – What wealth is and what wealth is not

You can find out more about David at www.davidosborn.com and you can visit www.thegoaltemplate.com to get a free copy of the template that he uses to set goals. In addition, you can buy a copy of his book, Wealth Can’t Wait, at any book retailer near you.