Choose the Hard Way

Andrew Vontz
  • 5.0 (248)
  • Health & Fitness
  • Updated Weekly

Conversations about how hard things build stronger humans who have more fun. Guests from pro cycling, sports, politics, business, tech, journalism, the military and more. Resilience, grit, mental health, high performance, mindfulness. Host Andrew Vontz is an entrepreneur & founder of One Real Voice, the strategic & coaching consultancy for podcast guests & hosts. Previously, he was a Strava executive; a communications leader at the human performance company, TRX; and a journalist with hundreds of bylines in dozens of top outlets including The LA Times, Outside Magazine, Rolling Stone and more.

  1. Aug 26

    I have cancer. Andrew Vontz on chemo, DLBCL, CAR T, & what happens when The Hard Way chooses you with guest host Shannon Jones.

    Andrew Vontz has been an endurance athlete for 38 years. In March doctors found a tumor running from his the cavity between his lungs up across his neck that had displaced his carotid artery and was crushing his trachea. — This is the cancer episode. Andrew is five months into treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. He has been through six rounds of chemo, a cytokine release storm, multiple hospitalizations, and in September will go to Dana Farber Cancer Institute for three weeks to get CAR T genetic therapy. He talks about how he discovered he had cancer, living with uncertainty, going through chemo, what thirty-eight years of endurance sport did and did not prepare him for, and how listening to his body has guided his cancer experience. — Guiding the conversation is the titan of entrepreneurship, leadership development, and finance Shannon Jones, who teaches Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition at the University of Colorado Boulder's Leeds School of Business, writes the TranscendenCEO newsletter, and was a two-sport Division I athlete. Shannon joined Andrew on a previous episode to talk about building and winding down The Better Lab. — Thank you to everyone in this community who has reached out to provide positivity, prayers, encouragement, and support during this experience. — Recorded August 21, 2026, three days after Andrew's sixth round of chemo. — The media landscape has changed. Scripted is out. Real is in. Being a great podcast guest or host and being able to operate in dynamic unscripted contexts isn't optional. It's now a mandatory skill for senior leaders and doing it well isn't easy. That's why Andrew Vontz started __https://www.onerealvoice.com/__ to help industry leaders thrive on podcasts, panels and the internal and external high-stakes open-ended conversations where reputations are built and business is won. — When you're ready to be great, DM __https://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod__ or reach out to hello@onerealvoice.com. — To support this work, become a paid subscriber to the Choose the Hard Way Substack at __https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com__. — With over $1 trillion in transactions to date, Blockchain.com is your trusted partner on your crypto journey. Go to Blockchain.com to get started today no experience required. — Lauf is the Apple of bike design and they make elegant products that just work better than everything else. Check them out at __https://www.laufcycles.com__. — Thank you to Sunlighten infrared saunas for helping make it possible for my family to have an mPulse sauna. Being able to relax and recover in our mPulse sauna when possible between treatments is healing and feels like a luxury. I'm grateful for your support. Sunlighten: __https://www.sunlighten.com/__ — Thank you to Peloton of "come on Peloton, you got this" fame for following my cancer experience and surprising me with a Peloton Tread. Being able to go to the garage and move is huge for me, and Molly, especially on days when I'm too wiped to be able to take the dogs out. It's a next level treadmill and it takes me places. Peloton: __https://www.onepeloton.com/__ — Andrew Vontz's Choose the Hard Way newsletter: __https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/__ — One Real Voice: __https://www.onerealvoice.com/__ — Instagram: __https://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod__ — LinkedIn: __https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewvontz/__ — Shannon Jones's TranscendenCEO newsletter: __https://transcendenceo.substack.com/__ — Follow Shannon Jones on LinkedIn: __https://www.linkedin.com/in/wshannonjones/__ -

  2. Jun 17

    The PE Guy - Johnny Hilbrant Partridge on grief, bouncing back, & an overnight success 11 years in the making

    Choose the Hard Way is the show about how hard things build stronger humans who have more fun.  — One of my favorite comedians is Johnny Hilbrant Partridge, aka The PE Guy. His comedy operates at the intersection of private equity, hyper-conspicuous consumption, and radical insecurity. He is hilarious, and if you don't know his work, you soon will. — If you want to laugh go to @johnnyhilbrant, if you want to know who Johnny is, you're in the right place. This conversation is about the decade-plus Johnny spent working to become a comedy pro that preceded him blowing up as The PE Guy. We talk about the way life events and the sudden death of his twin sister shaped who he is, what he makes, where he is headed, and more. — A quick personal update. After three rounds of chemo, my cancer treatment took an unexpected turn last week. A PET scan showed we were successfully killing cancer. But my doctors told me it wasn't killing cancer fast enough to cure me. I'm going back to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute for another biopsy later this week and when we get those results back, they'll figure out what my new course of treatment will be. — I'm confident we will cure it, and being in this limbo is scary, for me, and for my family.  Whatever the road ahead is, we will get to cured, and I thank you for all of your love and support. — Please hit five stars and subscribe to Choose the Hard Way everywhere you listen. — The media landscape has changed. Scripted is out. Real is in. Being a great podcast guest or host and being able to operate in dynamic unscripted contexts isn't optional. It's now a mandatory skill for senior leaders and doing it well isn't easy. — That's why Andrew Vontz started __https://www.onerealvoice.com/__ to help industry leaders thrive on podcasts, panels and the internal and external high-stakes open-ended conversations where reputations are built and business is won. — When you're ready to be great, DM __https://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod__ or reach out to hello@onerealvoice.com. —   To support this work, become a paid subscriber to the Choose the Hard Way Substack at __https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com__. —   With over $1 trillion in transactions to date, Blockchain.com is your trusted partner on your crypto journey. Go to Blockchain.com to get started today no experience required. —   Lauf is the Apple of bike design and they make elegant products that just work better than everything else. Check them out at __https://www.laufcycles.com__. — Andrew Vontz's Choose the Hard Way newsletter: __https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/__ — One Real Voice: __https://www.onerealvoice.com/__ — Instagram: __https://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod__ — LinkedIn: __https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewvontz/__ — Follow Johnny Hilbrant Partridge: __https://www.instagram.com/johnnyhilbrant__ — Johnny Hilbrant Partridge on TikTok: __https://www.tiktok.com/@johnnyhilbrant__ — Due to My Role: __https://www.duetomyrole.com__ —

  3. May 13

    Dr. Stephen Seiler - You're not Pogacar, don't train like him. Breathing, Polarized Training, Joy, & High Performance

    Dr. Stephen Seiler coined the term polarized training and systematized the 80/20 method used by Tadej Pogacar, Kristian Blummenfelt, and the world's top endurance athletes.  — From the New York Times to the podcasts of Andrew Huberman, Peter Attia, and Rhonda Patrick, Dr. Seiler's polarized training method and zone 2 and vo2 max protocols have become an often misinterpreted cultural obsession. — I'm on the Fast Talk Labs advisory board with Stephen and I thought it would be fun to hear directly from Stephen how he thinks about polarized training, its application for masters athletes versus World Tour riders Pog, to hear more about Stephen's emergent research into the relationship between breathing, training zones, and its application in real life. — This episode was recorded before I learned I had cancer. I just completed round two of chemo for b-cell lymphoma. Thanks to everyone for your support and positivity as I move towards being cured. I'm sharing about my experience @hardwaypod and on the Choose the Hard Way substack, and I'll be doing an episode about it soon as well. — A heads up, part 2 of this interview coming soon. I often have people who haven't been racing bikes and running their entire life reach out to me who have heard something Huberman said or read Attia's book Outlive asking for advice about how to do zone 2 and vo2 max workouts, aka polarized training. — For part 2, I invite Seiler and one of these athletes on the show to do a live case study and analysis. — Please hit five stars and subscribe to Choose the Hard Way everywhere you listen. — To support this work, become a paid subscriber to the Choose the Hard Way substack, link @hardwaypod on Instagram, in the show notes, and you can go direct at __https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com__. — That's where I share my thoughts about these episodes, my cancer journey, family, bike racing, zen, and life. — With over $1 trillion in transactions to date, Blockchain.com is your trusted partner on your crypto journey. Go to Blockchain.com to get started today no experience required. — Lauf is the Apple of bike design and they make elegant products that just work better than everything else. Check them out at __https://www.laufcycles.com__. — The media landscape has changed and senior leaders must excel in unscripted forums like podcasts, fireside chats, and town halls. I started my consultancy One Real Voice at __https://www.onerealvoice.com__ to help industry leaders thrive in these open-ended and dynamic formats where reputations are built and business is won. When you're ready to be great, DM __https://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod__ or reach out to hello@onerealvoice.com. — Stay tuned for part 2 coming soon. — Andrew Vontz on Instagram: __https://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod__ — Andrew Vontz on Substack: __https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com__ — Andrew Vontz on LinkedIn: __https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewvontz/__ — One Real Voice: __https://www.onerealvoice.com__ — Dr. Stephen Seiler on X: __https://x.com/StephenSeiler__ — Dr. Stephen Seiler on LinkedIn: __https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-seiler-668202a/__

  4. Apr 21

    Veteran & Maine US Senate Candidate Graham Platner: Combat Fitness, True Strength, & The Defense Insecurity Complex of Hegseth, RFK Jr., and Elon Musk

    Graham Platner is a Marine Corps and Army infantry veteran with combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and a candidate for US Senate in Maine. He is also a lifelong student of fitness and strength whose training evolved from grunt-era running and calisthenics to CrossFit, Rob Shaul's Mountain Tactical programming, and Jim Wendler's 5-3-1. — He joins Andrew Vontz & Jonathan Kaplan on United States of Sweat p/b Choose the Hard Way to talk combat fitness, the multi-hour firefight his squad survived on zero water because everybody was fit, and what true strength actually looks like. — Graham has seen real strength under fire. What he sees in Hegseth, RFK Jr. and Elon Musk is masculine insecurity with access to power, and the difference between power OVER people and power WITH them. — Andrew joined live from the cancer floor at Maine Health Hospital in Portland, Maine, three days into a five-day chemo drip. Go to https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/ or @hardwaypod on Instagram for a full health update. Thank you for all of the positivity and support. Please keep it coming. — United States of Sweat is the series where politicians and policymakers join us to share stories about fitness, health, and the sports they love. It's part of Choose the Hard Way, the show about how hard things build stronger humans who have more fun.  — Please hit subscribe & give this show a 5-star rating wherever you listen or watch. — The media landscape has changed. Scripted is out. Real is in. Being a great podcast guest or host and being able to operate in dynamic unscripted contexts isn't optional. It's now a mandatory skill for senior leaders and doing it well isn't easy. — That's why Andrew Vontz started https://www.onerealvoice.com/ to help industry leaders thrive on podcasts, panels and the internal and external high-stakes open-ended conversations where reputations are built and business is won. — When you're ready to be great, DM https://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod or reach out to hello@onerealvoice.com. — Jonathan Kaplan is the founder of WRITE CADENCE STRATEGIES, helping individuals and organizations navigate Washington, shape policy and manage reputational risk. He also writes RIDING WITH, a newsletter and podcast exploring the intersection of pro cycling, media, business and politics. Find that at ridingwithkaplan.substack.com. — To support Choose the Hard Way, please become a paid subscriber of https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/. — With over $1 trillion in transactions to date, Blockchain.com is your trusted partner on your crypto journey. Go to Blockchain.com to get started today no experience required. — Lauf is the Apple of bike design and they make elegant products that just work better than everything else. Check them out at www.laufcycles.com. — Andrew Vontz's Choose the Hard Way newsletter: https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/ — One Real Voice - narrative, strategy and coaching for podcasts and high-stakes conversations: http://www.onerealvoice.com — Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewvontz/ — Jonathan Kaplan's Riding With newsletter: https://ridingwithkaplan.substack.com/ — Jonathan Kaplan Instagram: http://instagram.com/jonny99kaplan — Follow Graham Platner's path to the US Senate on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/grahamformaine

  5. Apr 6

    Tour of Flanders & Why Our Kids Love Riding the Wahoo Kickr Core w Spencer Martin x Andrew Vontz of Beyond the Peloton

    Spencer Martin of Beyond the Peloton / WEDU & Andrew Vontz breakdown Pog's big ride at the 2026 Tour of Flanders and share why their kids love riding the trainer.   — Andrew explains how he set up the Wahoo Kickr Core with Click & Cog so his kids could ride on Zwift + product feedback   —   And we discuss the forthcoming Boulder vs. Hope junior cycling rivalry when Spencer gets his Kickr Core set up for the fam. —   Choose the Hard Way is the podcast about how hard things build stronger humans who have more fun. — Please hit 5 stars and subscribe wherever you listen + pass this episode along to a friend. And if you want to hear more of Spencer and Andrew discussing bike racing, subscribe to Beyond the Peloton.    — With over $1 trillion in transactions to date, Blockchain.com is your trusted partner on your crypto journey. Go to Blockchain.com to get started today no experience required. — Lauf is the Apple of bike design and they make elegant products that just work better than everything else. Check them out at www.laufcycles.com. — JOIN US: Andrew Vontz's Choose the Hard Way newsletter: https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/   — Spencer Martin's Beyond the Peloton newsletter: https://beyondthepeloton.substack.com/   —   Beyond the Peloton pod https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-the-peloton-podcast/id1524689002 https://open.spotify.com/show/38KNvwfP4y7ALpBBu1izsI?si=7492eed55a3a4026   — One Real Voice - narrative, strategy and coaching for podcasts & high-stakes conversations: http://www.onerealvoice.com   — Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod   — Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewvontz/

    Tour of Flanders & Why Our Kids Love Riding the Wahoo Kickr Core w Spencer Martin x Andrew Vontz of Beyond the Peloton

  6. Mar 10

    Art O'Connor / Wukar Fit - Iditabike, Ultra-endurance, & Strength Training for World Champions like Keegan Swenson & You

    Choose the Hard Way creator Andrew Vontz in conversation with Wukar Fit founder Art O'Connor, a strength coach for pro cyclists including World Champion Keegan Swenson, Sofia Villafane, Chase Wark, and athletes of all ages & ability levels working to be strong for life. — Art is a former pro mountain bike racer and now races cold weather ultra-endurance fat bike events like the Iditarod Trail Invitational 350 and the Fat Pursuit 200k where he placed second. His philosophy is lift heavy, ride fast. — As someone who primarily spends my winters in Maine trying to leave as often as possible to go somewhere warm to ride, Art's affinity for racing in below zero temps in the wilderness fascinates me. — Art and I share an appreciation of functional movement and the importance of being durable enough to function in life, not just perform on the bike.  — Art famously completed the Abandon Your Family 500 challenge and joined us for the AYF hot wash, find that episode in the archives.  — Find Art on Instagram @wukarfit and his training programs are available there and at wukarfit.com through the train heroic app. — To support Choose the Hard Way, please become a paid subscriber of https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/. — Scripted and robotic is out, real is in. The communication landscape has changed and yesterday's media training just doesn't work.   — That's why I started One Real Voice to provide the training and narrative development senior executives need to thrive in the unscripted, open-ended communication formats like town halls, fireside chats, and podcasts that are mission critical for their roles.    — I limit the number of clients I work with to go deep, but if you're ready to be great, DM me @hardwaypod or email hello@onerealvoice.com. — When you're ready to be great, DM https://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod or reach out to hello@onerealvoice.com. — With over $1 trillion in transactions to date, Blockchain.com is your trusted partner on your crypto journey. Go to Blockchain.com to get started today no experience required. — Lauf is the Apple of bike design and they make elegant products that just work better than everything else. Check them out at www.laufcycles.com. — Andrew Vontz's Choose the Hard Way newsletter: https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/ — One Real Voice – narrative, strategy and coaching for podcasts and high-stakes conversations: http://www.onerealvoice.com — Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewvontz/

    Art O'Connor / Wukar Fit - Iditabike, Ultra-endurance, & Strength Training for World Champions like Keegan Swenson & You

  7. Feb 18

    Sharice Davids - MMA fighter, Congresswoman, White House Fellow

    Sharice Davids is a congresswoman from Kansas, a former White House fellow, a lawyer, and MMA fighter with 7 fights including two professional bouts. She joins Andrew Vontz & Jonathan Kaplan on United States of Sweat p/b Choose the Hard Way to share stories about training, fighting, and her hardest workout ever.  — United States of Sweat is the series where politicians and policymakers join us to share stories about fitness, health, and the sports they love. — Please hit subscribe & give this show a 5-star rating wherever you listen or watch. — The media landscape has changed. Scripted is out. Real is in. Being a great podcast guest or host and being able to operate in dynamic unscripted contexts isn't optional. It's now a mandatory skill for senior leaders and doing it well isn't easy. — That's why Andrew Vontz started https://www.onerealvoice.com/ to help industry leaders thrive on podcasts, panels and the internal and external high-stakes open-ended conversations where reputations are built and business is won. — Jonathan Kaplan is the founder of WRITE CADENCE STRATEGIES, helping individuals and organizations navigate Washington, shape policy and manage reputational risk. He also writes RIDING WITH, a newsletter and podcast exploring the intersection of pro cycling, media, business and politics. Find that at ridingwithkaplan.substack.com. — To support Choose the Hard Way, please become a paid subscriber of https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/. — The media landscape has changed. Scripted is out. Real is in. Being a great podcast guest or host and being able to operate in dynamic unscripted contexts isn't optional. It's now a mandatory skill for senior leaders and doing it well isn't easy. — That's why Andrew Vontz started https://www.onerealvoice.com/ to help industry leaders thrive on podcasts, panels and the internal and external high-stakes open-ended conversations where reputations are built and business is won. — When you're ready to be great, DM https://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod or reach out to hello@onerealvoice.com. — With over $1 trillion in transactions to date, Blockchain.com is your trusted partner on your crypto journey. Go to Blockchain.com to get started today no experience required. — Lauf is the Apple of bike design and they make elegant products that just work better than everything else. Check them out at www.laufcycles.com. — Andrew Vontz's Choose the Hard Way newsletter: https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/ — One Real Voice – narrative, strategy and coaching for podcasts and high-stakes conversations: http://www.onerealvoice.com — Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewvontz/ — Jonathan Kaplan's Riding With newsletter: https://ridingwithkaplan.substack.com/ — Jonathan Kaplan Instagram: http://instagram.com/jonny99kaplan

    Sharice Davids - MMA fighter, Congresswoman, White House Fellow

  8. Feb 12

    Jeff Troesch - Mental Performance Coach to NFL, MLB, NBA World Champions & Olympians

    Choose the Hard Way creator Andrew Vontz in conversation with Jeff Troesch, one of the most experienced mental performance coaches in elite sport. For nearly four decades, Jeff has helped athletes and teams win at the highest level, including the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup, Olympic Games, and Grand Slams. — Special thanks to our title sponsor Blockchain.com, the most trusted name in crypto with over $1 trillion in transactions to date. Go to Blockchain.com to get started today. — Jeff has worked with the Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers, U.S. Soccer Federation, USA Track & Field, IMG Academy and David Leadbetter's Golf Academies, and has coached Olympic medalists in both summer and winter Games since 1988. — Jeff is also the author of One Day Better, a practical guide to building mental strength drawn from decades inside professional and collegiate sport. You can learn more about him and the book on instagram at https://instagram.com/8020_books. — Applied high performance and behavioral science are two pillars of the method I use in www.onerealvoice.com, my strategic communications practice that helps senior leaders thrive in open-ended, long-form communication formats. I've found Jeff's book to be a great resource that has given me new and practical ideas that I've enjoyed exploring.  — To support Choose the Hard Way, please become a paid subscriber of https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/. — The media landscape has changed. Scripted is out. Real is in. Being a great podcast guest or host and being able to operate in dynamic unscripted contexts isn't optional. It's now a mandatory skill for senior leaders and doing it well isn't easy. — That's why Andrew Vontz started https://www.onerealvoice.com/ to help industry leaders thrive on podcasts, panels and the internal and external high-stakes open-ended conversations where reputations are built and business is won. — When you're ready to be great, DM https://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod or reach out to hello@onerealvoice.com. — With over $1 trillion in transactions to date, Blockchain.com is your trusted partner on your crypto journey. Go to Blockchain.com to get started today no experience required. — Lauf is the Apple of bike design and they make elegant products that just work better than everything else. Check them out at www.laufcycles.com. — Andrew Vontz's Choose the Hard Way newsletter: https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/ — One Real Voice – narrative, strategy and coaching for podcasts and high-stakes conversations: http://www.onerealvoice.com — Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/hardwaypod — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewvontz/

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Trailer

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out of 5
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About

Conversations about how hard things build stronger humans who have more fun. Guests from pro cycling, sports, politics, business, tech, journalism, the military and more. Resilience, grit, mental health, high performance, mindfulness. Host Andrew Vontz is an entrepreneur & founder of One Real Voice, the strategic & coaching consultancy for podcast guests & hosts. Previously, he was a Strava executive; a communications leader at the human performance company, TRX; and a journalist with hundreds of bylines in dozens of top outlets including The LA Times, Outside Magazine, Rolling Stone and more.

Information

  • Creator
    Andrew Vontz
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    147
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Big Truck, LLC
  • Show Website
    Choose the Hard Way

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