Episodes

Emily Stockman is a professional beach volleyball player, a 2 time All-American, and a member of the US National Team competing in next year's Olympic Games. In this episode, we discuss her transition from indoor to beach volleyball and the struggles that came with that, fear and finding love for it, living to be the best you can be through speaking that into life, leading by example compared to leading with your words, recovery and nutrition, and wanting to be the best while still ensuring love...

Leland is an old friend and inspirational businesswoman who has dipped her toes in so many things throughout her career. She is the co-founder of Azione, a PR and Communications firm that's helped build brands like Away, Sakara Life, Summersalt, Kosas, Equinox, Simplehuman, HOKA, and Stance. They've gone against the grain, taking a proactive approach to PR. In this episode, Leland and I talk about growing up in NYC, the importance of relationships, being a doer, using fear to help you take the ...

Race is a two-time Olympian foil fencer and Olympic bronze medalist. Race Imboden made his international competition debut at the age of 16, winning a bronze medal at the 2010 World Fencing Championships. Since then, he’s won over 50 medals across team and individual competitions, including bronze at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Race was the First American Male to win the Fencing FIE World Cup and led Team USA to a historic first-ever World Championship Title in 2019. In this conversation, Race an...

Henry Cejudo is a retired American mixed martial artist and wrestler. He is the former UFC flyweight champion, UFC bantamweight champion, the fourth UFC fighter to hold titles in two different weight classes simultaneously, and the second to defend titles in two different weight divisions. During his wrestling career, Cejudo won an Olympic Gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, a Pan American Games Gold medal, three Pan American Championships, and two US National titles. In today's episode, w...

Vincent Fisher is a best selling author and entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience. He's had multiple 7 and 8 figure businesses and through his company Fully Accountable, he helps entrepreneurs grow and scale their businesses to the max. Vincent is incredibly passionate about leadership and that growing the culture of a company will lead to true success. In this conversation Vinnie and Michael break down the importance of culture at every organization, and how it can make or break t...

Lauren Abney and Stephanie Biegel are on a mission to empower listeners to live their best lives with Well Behaved Podcast. They met each other on the job a decade ago, and have been besties ever since. They are a yin and yang duo that deliver fun uplifting knowledge on wellness and living the life you're supposed to. With full time gigs in the corporate world and entrepreneurial space, Lauren and Steph have stepped into their power by cultivating a community and empowering listeners to find wh...

Adam Bossie is the cofounder and CEO of Afficionado Coffee Roasters, but he wasn't always a coffee connoisseur. Like many entrepreneurs he played in many fields and started various businesses. It was during his full time gig as a financial analyst and compliance associate that he became disillusioned and yearned to return his entrepreneurial roots. That's when he decided to quit his day job and pursue his passion of coffee roasting . He started roasting coffee on his mom’s bbq on the weekends an...

Michael Wystrach is not afraid to talk about his failures, because it's his failures that led to the massive success he see today as the CEO and Founder of Freshly, the leading manufacturer of fresh, healthy, nutrition prepared meals in the U.S. Add to that backgrounds in finance, real estate, and multiple startups, it was only a matter of time before he worked his way up to the success he's achieved today. Freshly was built off the failure of Michael's restaurant, but without that loss he neve...

Jay Ferruggia has figured out the mindset game and he's been helping guys get jacked and become the strongest version of themselves since 1994. He's a fitness expert, performance coach, speaker, author, and host of the Renegade Radio Podcast, which has had millions of downloads since its launch in 2014. Jay grew up skinny, weak and painfully insecure, but over the years he educated himself and trained his mind to overcome not only his physical hurdles, but more importantly the mental ones that ...

Emily Abbate is fierce and inspiring. Her story starts off in a small town in Connecticut where she grew up like most young girls in a loving home with support and guidance. Fast forward to today, Emily is a freelance journalist, motivational speaker, 8-time marathoner, and run coach. She writes health and fitness content regularly for publications from GQ to Women’s Health, just to name a few. She also hosts a wellness-focused podcast, dubbed “addictive” by The New York Times (they're right), c...

On part 2 of our episode with bestselling fitness author, podcaster and founder of Legion sports supplements, Mike Matthews we delve into the science behind peak physical performance. To stretch or not to stretch? Water intake...how much is enough? Steroids...to use or not to use and if so when and what kind? Remember, Mike is practically a walking encyclopedia of human physiology and performance, so his answers are very thorough and easily explained. It's the reason he's the #1 bestselling fit...

Mike Matthews is all about the science. The guy is a walking encyclopedia of human physiology and performance. He's the #1 bestselling fitness author in the world, with over 1.5 million books sold, all stemming from his first book Bigger Leaner Stronger. He's also the founder of the #1 brand of all-natural sports supplements, Legion and host of the popular podcast Muscle For Life. What's great about Mike is his simple and science-based approach to building muscle, losing fat, and getting health...

Adam Bornstein is an award-winning fitness and nutrition writer and editor, and has been named "one of the most influential people in health." A highly respected fitness authority with a ton of accomplishments under his belt, he's currently the Chief Nutrition Officer at Ladder, a sports nutrition company, founded by Lebron James and Arnold Schwarzenegger, that is dedicated to creating high-performance workout supplements for daily use. He is the author of 7 books (3 of them NY Times Best Seller...

Joshua Kopel is an entrepreneur, restaurateur and environmental advocate. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he headed to LA thinking he'd find an innovative concept & bring it back home. It turns out LA craved some of that southern hospitality. Josh found success on the west coast in his creative and unique establishments that served up not just great food and drinks but one of a kind experiences, and that's what the customers kept coming back for. Josh also founded FLO Hospitality Solutions, a co...

Mike Diamond is a Television Personality, Director, Life Coach, and Interventionist. He has an uncanny ability to read people and is incredibly in tune with what they need to overcome their specific obstacles. Mike has guided countless people to sobriety, success and happiness. He's written 2 books, the latest due out this fall called A Dose Of Positivity. He's starred in numerous TV shows like Sex and The City, Grapevine, Miami Ink and Bondi Ink Tattoo Crew. Mike is incredibly empathetic and li...

Doug Bopst is an award-winning personal trainer, author, speaker and entrepreneur. Those are some incredible accomplishments that Doug earned in spades. However just a few years ago, Doug's accolades were very different. Not too long ago, he was a felon, drug addict and drug dealer. His life came crashing down the day he was arrested and found guilty of “possession with intent to sell.” Some would argue that could've been the best day of his life. Because, that was when Doug decided to transform...

Mary Shenouda is Private Performance Chef, Entrepreneur and a master of the grind and hustle. She spent over 20 years of her life suffering with crippling migraines. We're talking pass out on the floor and wake up in a pool of your own vomit migraines. She spent years in and out of hospitals with no help from doctors trying to diagnose extreme food allergies and sensitivities. At 24 with a record number of ER visits from vomiting induced blackouts brought on from migraines, she'd had enough. She...

At some point you were in a room somewhere at some event or some club (back when human beings socialized) and Brendan Fallis got in your head. He played that mix that got you to bob your head, shake your butt and get up and dance. Being one of the most sought after DJs in the world gives you that super power. Brendan has provided music for some of the most high-profile events and campaigns for clients across the spectrum such as Absolut, Audi, Balmain, Chanel, GQ, Louis Vuitton, Samsung, Taco Be...

If you are a lover of food television you probably know Adam Richman. He's an author, chef and tv host who currently hosts The History Channel's Food That Built America, American Made, and the upcoming Dave's Supperman. However, we were all introduced to Adam in 2008 when he brought out the challenger in all of us in the incredibly popular Travel Channel's Man vs Food. For 4 seasons we tuned in every week to watch Adam take on ridiculous food challenges and eat dishes that would make a cardiolog...

You wouldn't know it by looking at him, but Jordan Syatt is a beast. He's a 5x World Record Powerlifter and one of the few people in the world to deadlift 4x his own body weigh. Not bad for a self proclaimed short, bald, Harry Potter nerd. He has become one of the industry’s leading experts in strength training, nutrition, and behavioral psychology. You've likely seen his work featured in CNN, The Huffington Post, Business Insider, Men's Health Magazine, Men’s Fitness Magazine, and Schwarzenegge...

Megan Dolce is a mental health advocate, life coach, culture consultant and the founder of Ripe. She is an incredible, empathetic human being that helps athletes, business executives, and many other professionals navigate the challenges and hurdles of various points of life. Megan's company Ripe is an education space that provides their community with the tools they need to grow and summit adversity every step of the way. On this episode Michael and Megan dive deep into leadership and the chara...

This episode of Born or Made is a personal one, as Michael sits down with childhood best friend and business partner Daniel Holzman. Daniel is a chef, restaurateur, author and sought-after educator, who's work has been published in Saveur, the New York Times, TASTE, and Afar, among others. He's appeared in countless local and national broadcast segments and print publications, and as a competitor, lead character, and judge in hundreds of hours of television programming including The Today Show, ...

Anthony Mendez is an entrepreneur, coach, athlete, and fitness professional specializing in loaded & unloaded movement training. You've likely seen him featured in publications like Men's Health and Mens Journal, to name a few. His 10 + years of experience and unique style of training have garnered him a Puma athlete ambassadorship, private clientele and hundreds of thousands of followers. He’s all about nourishing the mind, body and soul, and he’s a dedicated influencer on social media who uses...

Kari Pearce is a straight-up superhero. She's a five-time CrossFit Games athlete and three-time Fittest American Female. She is currently the 5th fittest woman on earth and has been in the top 10 the last four years. She holds the NY State bench press record at 240 lbs and she's the founder of PowerAbs. The list goes on... She began her athletic career as a gymnast at the age of 3 and did it for 18 years straight. Kari was on the Varsity Gymnastics team at the University of Michigan where her t...