Grand Slam Journey Klara Jagosova

Tracy Reifkind is the Author of "The Swing!" Lose the Fat and Get Fit with This Revolutionary Kettlebell Program. Tracy's book is inspired by her transformation journey and is a fantastic manual that is detailed yet simple to follow and can be easily personalized. At forty-one years of age, Tracy, after being overweight her entire life, made a fantastic transformation and lost 120 pounds by using kettlebells, cleaning up her diet, cooking her meals, and using her mindset to create a lasting change. Tracy is a sought-after personal trainer and motivation and nutrition coach featured in Tim Ferriss's The 4-Hour Body. In 2006, she became a certified Russian kettlebell instructor. Since then, she has developed a unique training program that works for everyone at any fitness level. 
We discuss: 
Tracy's transformation journey to becoming the athlete she always wanted to beTracy's book and how it came to lifeKettlebell training - why is it so effectiveThe importance of progressions, looking at trendlines, gradual goal settingMindset: Readiness zone, drive, inspiration, consistency, confidence, visualizationTaking responsibility and getting rid of thoughts that don't serve us, such as being-a-victimThe importance of self-love and being selfish, creating time for yourselfPurchase Tracy's book: "The Swing!" Lose the Fat and Get Fit with This Revolutionary Kettlebell Program.
Tracy's training program: https://swinglean.gumroad.com
Tracy's Youtube channel
My training session with Tracy on YouTube
Tracy in The 4-Hour Body video trailer by Tim Ferriss
Instagram
Facebook
Blogs:
Training, Food, and Thought
Girya Strength
SwingLean
My experience of working out with Tracy Reifkind

Favorite quotes:
"Kettlebell Swing: It's the biggest bang for your buck as far as exercise goes. If you want to do the littlest amount of work with the most potential for change - then kettlebell swing is it."
 "Always reflect and act from a place of pride about who you are today and who you will become in the future." 

Zachary Green's experiences in the Marine Corps shaped his destiny. His time in the military, then as a firefighter, gave him the resourcefulness, integrity, and grit to become a highly successful entrepreneur. Taking risks, trusting himself, and never letting go of his dreams drove him to create, produce, market, and sell a product that saves lives. Zachary was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and has testified in front of the US House of Representatives Small Business Committee. Zachary's entrepreneurial journey has been featured on the front page of Yahoo.com and also covered by CNN, USA Today, CBS, and many other major news outlets.
Key topics discussed in this episode:
We talk about Zachary's book, Warrior Entrepreneur: Lessons From The Battlefield To The Boardroom.Zachary claims that being a warrior and a successful entrepreneur is the same, and the skills that helped him succeed on the battlefield are the same skills that carried him forward as an entrepreneur. Zachary talks about fundamental warrior principles: Teamwork, Purpose, Confidence, Tenacity, Adaptability, Never giving up, Grit, Sacrifice, Morals, and Serenity. We dive into grit: the importance of prevailing through crucibles, learning to overcome challenges, and the critical lessons that overcoming challenges teach us - how they sharpen the warrior's character and skills.We also dive into purpose, adaptability, sacrifice, and the importance of creating your serenity practice and a support teamResources:
Email: zacharylgreen@gmail.com
Zachary's LinkedIn
Zachary's website
Zachary is also a Co-host of the Warrior's Voice Podcast.
Purchase a signed copy of the book here.
Purchase the book on Amazon here.

Amy Eliza Wong is the Founder of "Always On Purpose" and an author of an upcoming book "Living on Purpose."  Amy is a transformational coach and facilitator working with the biggest names in tech, organizations such as Salesforce, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more. Amy offers transformative leadership development and cutting-edge communication strategies to executives and corporate teams worldwide and in the halls of academia, with institutions such as Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley. Amy pulls from various disciplines, studies, and practices to find a consilient approach to achieving genuine and lasting success - what she refers to as "the fundamentals of thriving." Amy has an intense passion for helping people experience meaningful joy and satisfaction in their daily lives, free of fear and false perception. In short, she thrives on assisting others to live and lead on purpose. For more than twenty years, Amy has devoted herself to the study and practice of transformation. As a certified Executive Coach using expertise in transpersonal psychology, design thinking, interpersonal neurobiology, and Conversational Intelligence, Amy has provided thousands of transformative experiences for individuals, executives, teams, and organizations. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in mathematics and has an M.A. in transpersonal psychology from Sofia University. When she's not writing, researching, and speaking, Amy spends time in the Bay Area with her husband and two children.
Key topics discussed in this episode:
We go through the five choices that Amy talks about in her book Living on PurposeThe importance of having a mindfulness practiceSide effects of Living on Purpose
You can pre-order Amy's book "Living on Purpose: Five Deliberate Choices to Realize Fulfillment and Joy" on Amazon today or through other ways, which you can find on Amy's website. 
All resources discussed in this podcast can be found on Amy's website. Here is a link to Amy's articles, related to the discussion in this episode where you can find information on how to strengthen your self-awareness. You can then register and use text reminders to harness your focus, live on purpose, and thrive. I registered yesterday and find this practice to be a great addition to my morning routine. Please check out Amy's website for more information and an opportunity to participate.
"Conversational Intelligence: Increase your Impact" Stanford Continuous Studies class we discuss in this episode.

You can reach Amy via her website or social media accounts: Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook.

Samah Damahoori is the co-founder and creator of Madina Papel. You can subscribe to this channel on YouTube.
Please watch the eight-minute story of Madina Papel before listening to this podcast. 
Samah grew up in Saudi Arabia and came to the USA in 2014 to pursue her Master's degree in Creative Writing at Notre Dame de Namur University. Samah worked for some of the largest tech companies in the San Francisco Bay area and HBO, where she managed the production of a VICE News episode, which followed the struggles of two Saudi sisters who escaped from their family and struggled to break free from a life dictated by Saudi Arabia's oppressive guardianship laws. 
During this episode, we discuss various topics revolving around:
The movie and story behind Medina PapelThe process of creating an animationWe discuss Samah's journey and the difficulties for her to come to America to pursue her education due to the male guardianship laws in Saudi ArabiaFavorite quotes from this episode: 
On finding and owning your uniqueness: 
"When I started this whole journey, I was living as a survivor. I wanted to secure myself and make sure that I didn't end up in a bad situation or regret choosing to stay here and work for myself and my freedom. I buried the pain that I was abandoned by my country and my family for a very long time - for almost seven years. I left the Bay area a year ago to live in LA, and that was the first time I lived in another place that is not the Bay Area. I have been to many states here, but I never lived and changed locations. That hit me hard and made me more aware of that pain to come out. It made me learn to accept, for people like us, who choose to be free and break so many cycles and break so many traditions, to really accept that we are alone. Not in a bad way, but you really are alone, you are different, you are so unique, and if you look around you, there is no one like you, and sometimes this is painful. And I used to bury that pain. Now I have come to a point where I fully accept this and am fully aware of it. It is ok to be unique; it is ok to be lonely; it is ok to be different and enjoy the moment and the people around me no matter what the past is bringing to me. And I am also learning that we are systems and these stories when they come back, we have the power and control to re-write them and make them in a way that we can still see the beauty in a day."
What should we be doing more of or less of in 2022?
"Keep going, don't give up!"

Irina Lykina, originally from Kazan, Russia, played lines 1 and 2 for the University of Oklahoma's women's tennis team between 2003-2007. During her time at OU, their team was ranked #15 NCAA Division I. Irina's best NCAA D1 singles ranking was #63 and was named All-Big 12 Women's Tennis Singles Player in Spring 2005, a four-time member of the Academic All-American ITA Team, and four-time Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll member. Before college, during her Juniors tennis career, Irina was ranked in the top 300 in the world and achieved #1 ranking in Russia 16 and under in 2000. Between 2005-2008 Irina was also traveling with and coaching her younger sister, Ksenia Lykina, whose highest junior ITF ranking was #4 in the world during their joint work. Ksenia Lykina became a professional tennis player, achieving a career-high ranking of 171 in singles and 108 in doubles. Irina now works as a CPA but has kept her tennis passion alive, competing at different USTA tournaments and playing invitational tennis exhibitions. During her time in the Cayman Islands for work reasons, Irina won the Cayman Islands Championship in women's doubles in 2016 and mixed doubles in 2014 and 2016. 
Key topics discussed in this episode:
Tennis game and mindset: what does it mean to be a tennis player, exploring all aspects of the gameDifferences between being a competitive college tennis player and playing professionallyHow does one choose a college tennis team and the benefits of playing college tennisHow do you find resilience and stay positive through injuries and find the courage to go back to the sport that hurt you in the first place? The mindset and things Irina has learned when playing tennis that helped her excel in her professional careerFear setting: The power of living through the worst-case scenario and how you can use it for growthCreating boundaries and structure during COVID, gratitude, and choosing to focus on things that you can control and that bring you joyTrusting the journey, finding your passion, confidence, purposeSome of my favorite quotes: 

"You can't control everything in tennis. You have to react very fast, and adjust, and continue to be challenged."

"In tennis, you can't replay things the same way, every point is a new page, and you don't know how it's gonna go, and that adds challenges to staying fit and injury-free, that element of needing to react."

"That sense of togetherness is something I have not experienced until I got to college and I was 19 years old."

"An advice I would give when people are looking at choosing a college for their college tennis career - find your passion and what inspires you, what do you want to do, and who do you want to do it with."

"Teamwork is absolutely something huge in the work I do, I lead a team of brilliant accounts, and I am only as good as my team, and that is something that college tennis has taught me and really made me value."

"Sports have taught me that: Find what you can do and push hard, don't give up, communicate well, make sure that everyone is aware of the situation and try to enjoy what you do have even when things don't always go as planned."

"It's one of the things that tennis teaches you, and something that you learn is the reality of not performing. If you didn't win, you didn't make money. How are you going to pay for the hotel? How are you going to pay for the flight to travel?"

"How do you find resilience and stay positive through injuries? How do you go back to doing something that hurt you in the first place? By making choices and following your heart."

"Change your life for your knee, or change your knee for the life you want - only you know what the answer is."

Jesse Burdick's contact info: jesseburdick@gmail.com. You can also find Jesse on all social media under Jesse Burdick and check out his strength program at PowerWod.com.  Instagram Twitter
Topics discussed in this episode: 1. Using sport to build your network of people, 2. The importance of asking questions and being curious, 3. What it means to be a dad to three daughters, and how Jesse goes about his fatherhood, 4. What does it mean to be an athlete, 5. Generosity, helping others, and paying things forward, 5. Baseball and the importance of strength and power for baseball players, 6. The importance of strength and simple tips from Jesse on how to build strength and power, 7. Importance of goal setting, 8. Cooking and nutrition, 9. The art of starting with the small, focusing on the low-hanging fruit - and building good habits that will drive significant benefits in the long term, 10. The importance of consistency
About Jesse: Jesse Burdick is the owner and the head Coach at PowerWod. He has spent nearly two decades with some of the best athletes on the planet. Jesse is a former NCAA Division I baseball player and competed at the semi-pro level after college. After baseball, Jesse transitioned to powerlifting. Jesse has squatted 909 pounds, bench pressed 601 pounds, and deadlifted 820 pounds in competition, and holds an elite status in 5 consecutive weight classes—a feat accomplished by very few lifters. He trained with some of the greatest athletes in the sport's history, such as Chuck Vogelpohl and Paul Childress. 


Jesse's quest for diverse and extensive knowledge in athletic training and life has led him to share some of the most respected people in the industry, and Jesse, through his achievements and results of the athletes he now coaches, has undoubtedly become one of those people himself. He is a highly sought-after Trainer and Power Lifting Coach helping to produce a long list of successful athletes from NFL, MLB, NCAA, navy Seals, UFC, Lion Fight Bellator, and the Crossfit Games. Jesse is a father to three girls that mean the world to him and husband to Crossfit Games competitor Katie Hogan.

Some of my favorite quotes from this episode:
On Jesse's transition from baseball to powerlifting:  "For the next four years, I never missed a meal; I never missed a training day; I slept 8 -10 hours a day."

On what being an athlete taught Jesse:
"Being an athlete means you have a built-in identity. Everybody should be at least a little bit of an athlete as long as their abilities will allow them to."

"I have been very lucky to have been taught to ask questions, to be curious, and always gonna keep improving one way or another."

"If you can accomplish the big goals, that is awesome, but - very cliche - the reward is the journey. "

"You should want to be the best at something, and if life gets in the way or you don't necessarily accomplish it, you are not a failure. You went all in, and you did what you could. Let the chips fall where they may. It is what it is."

Balancing nutrition, recovery, mobility, training:
"It is a giant ever-changing puzzle that it doesn't matter which one you start with. You just need to start."

"We can complicate this stuff but get really good at something first before you need to complicate it. Start with the basics and move from there."

"Take a look back, look at things as a whole, and find the low-hanging fruit. The easy stuff that we can plug into people's lives. These small little bread crumbs that they can do over and over again that can become a good habit that therefore lead to greater things as they go."