Contenders Wanted
43 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 53 ratingsWelcome to Contenders Wanted where we’re working relentlessly to solve our money problems without sacrificing what’s most important in life. We know money won’t solve our problems, but we don't want money to be THE problem. Cause for us it’s faith, family, and finances, in that order. So, how do we adopt the thoughts and behaviors that enable us to wisely take advantage of the opportunities before us, all while sifting out financial mis-information and not losing sight of our true priorities? My name is Rob Cook. I’m a husband, father, CPA, CFP, and a former financial advisor. Come with me as I search for the answer and share what I learn along the way. And if you’re a fellow Contender, then join us where Contenders are always Wanted.
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Episodes
Episode 40 - What if you only ever were a Contender with Kitty Robinson
April 11, 2022 08:00 - 55 minutes - 38.4 MBShow Notes: What do you do when no matter your effort or your dreaming, life sends you a curveball that makes your dreams impossible? Would just contending for those dreams be enough for you? Or, if you’re a bit more like me, would that be a bit tortuous? The hard part about these questions is I think you don’t really know the answer until you’re in a moment like that. In the episode today I share how I think I might understand a bit what that would be like because of my wife and I's battle ...
Episode 39 - How to Turn Your Educational Disadvantage to Your Advantage with Mark Herschberg
March 28, 2022 08:00 - 52 minutes - 36.2 MBShow Notes: Can you think of an example of someone or something in a perceived disadvantage that then turns it into their advantage? My mind things of Ben Affleck's character in the movie, the Accountant. Or the engineers from Apollo 11 using just what was in a box to fix the spaceship. Or Edmond Dantes from the Count of Monte Cristo. Beyond the pop culture references, some might even say that their higher education left them at a bit of a disadvantage when they entered the work force. You...
Episode 38 - Rewriting our Thoughts for Success with Sir Steven Wilkinson
March 07, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 51.4 MBShow Notes: How much do you think about your thoughts? Seems kinda like a funny question, don’t you think? Thinking about our thoughts? But in all reality, this is something people have encouraged me to do ever since I was a kid. But my early training around paying attention to my thoughts really only focused on moral cleanliness. I didn’t think about learning to observe and actively choose my own thoughts in other areas until I got more involved in personal development. Well our guest toda...
Episode 37 - Find Your Vision for Your Future with Curt Mercadante
February 21, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 46 MBShow Notes: Remember the scene from Alice in Wonderland where Alice meets the Cheshire Cat in the woods and asks him which direction she should go? Do you remember his response to her question? Well Cheshire Cat's response to Alice's question is deeply profound and can act as a guiding star in all of our lives if we allow it. Listen in today as Rob and our guest talk about casting a vision for your future and how taking the time to find that vision can have far reaching impacts. Our guest t...
Episode 36 - Lack of Education is No Excuse with Todd Lay
February 07, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 41.4 MBShow Notes: Growing up did you ever feel like if you don't go to college you're probably going to be a failure? Well if you did, you're not alone in that feeling. As a millennial, that belief permeated our education system growing up. Everything pointed to college. But in recent years that belief has been challenged. Examples of individuals who never went to college but were very successful include the likes of Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, and Steven Spielberg. This week's guest is another pe...
Episode 35 - Becoming Thoughtfully Fit for Success with Darcy Luoma
January 24, 2022 09:00 - 49 minutes - 33.7 MBShow Notes: We've all come across the internet trolls. They leave annoy or at the least frustrating comments that we all wish we could just reach across the internet sometimes and put them in their place. But unfortunately, if we do happen to be in a moment when our frustration or even self-righteous indignation get's the best of us and we write back a pithy and scathing response, we immediately regret it. But what if we could teach ourselves to always pause just before then, take a moment ...
Episode 34 - Lift your vision for your future with Erik Allen
January 10, 2022 10:00 - 50 minutes - 34.6 MBShow Notes: What is it that you think is holding you back from your dreams? Maybe you think you don’t make enough money, or you don't have the right connections, or maybe if you didn’t have your health challenges, or didn’t come from a broken home, or you hadn’t messed up when you were younger, or...fill in the blank. You know what’s funny about all of those things though? They’re all just in our heads. Chances are you could change your life right now if you were ready and willing to really...
Episode 33 - Finding your Unique Magic with Liz Pessaran
December 27, 2021 09:00 - 58 minutes - 40.4 MBShow Notes: "To thy own self be true." Have you ever pondered on what this oft quoted saying from Shakesphere’s Hamlet means? Better yet, how have you come to better know yourself? For me I’ve done at least half a dozen different personality quizzes, strength finder tests, and purpose discovery worksheets. Each one has been helpful, but, for me personally, it’s been the culmination of all of these together coupled with journaling and frequent reflection that’s allowed me to better come to ...
Episode 32 - How to Make More Time with Dr. Travis Parry
December 13, 2021 09:00 - 56 minutes - 38.7 MBShow Notes: No matter your position, power, or wealth, I think we all agree that we wish we could somehow get more time. The importance of time and our fascination with it is the subject of everything from pop culture movies to profound philosophy, and everything in between. Some that come top of mind are Marty McFly from Back to the Future and a short saying from Seneca, a Roman Stoic Philosopher and Statesman: Life, if well lived, is long enough. No matter your feelings about it though, w...
Episode 31 - A little pencil in God’s hands with Morgan Jones
November 29, 2021 09:00 - 1 hour - 41.5 MBShow Notes: If you are a person of faith, no matter your concept of God and faith, what role does your faith in God play in your path towards your success? For me personally it’s impacted the goals I have chosen to pursue, my view of what success is, my feelings about money, and more. For our guest today, her faith in God has influenced her own journey every step of the way. So much so that she now hosts a very successful podcast focused on faith and strives to live every day so she can be ...
Episode 30 - The trials that built the bully’s bully with Shea Taylor
November 15, 2021 09:00 - 1 hour - 45.4 MBShow Notes: Physically, who’s the biggest, baddest, strongest person you can think of? Maybe it’s Andre the Giant. Or The Rock. Or maybe Hafþór Björnsson, i.e. the Mountain from the hugely popular TV series, Game of Thrones. Either way, physical strength and size can be awe inspiring. But there’s another kind of strength that isn’t so easily viewed from the outside. It’s an inner strength, usually born and cultivated over years in the rich soils of trial, loss, pain, heartache, and injusti...
Episode 29 - How the pain and sorrow of loss can transform us with Andi Thompson
November 01, 2021 08:00 - 49 minutes - 34.2 MBShow Notes: Have you ever lost a close loved one? Perhaps a parent, sibling, close grandparent, or friend. Was it painful? It likely was. And each of us has our own way of dealing with those inevitable pains of life. Some more healthy than others. But no matter how we deal with it, we have to deal with it. We can't just run and hide, we have to face the pain. On the show today I sit down with a woman who has not only had incredibly painful experiences in her own life loosing two children, b...
Episode 28 - The Attributes of the Elite from a 2x Pro Athlete and Family Man, Paul Lasike
October 18, 2021 08:00 - 55 minutes - 38.3 MBShow Notes: If you could sit down with someone who's played professionally in two different sports, what would you want to ask them about success? Maybe it's how they did it. Maybe it's the biggest struggles they went through. Maybe it's the attributes they've seen in the most successful in their sports. Or maybe you ask about stuff that most people don't see. On the show today we talk about all these things and more with our guest and learn just what it takes to become pro at two different...
Episode 27 - Equity versus Equality in parenting, business, and life with Prof. Brad Agle
October 04, 2021 08:00 - 56 minutes - 39.1 MBShow Notes: I think it’s almost a universally understood fact of life that the old kids in a family are the guinea pigs and life tends to be very different when you compare the oldest and youngest children in a family. Part of that is that life circumstances change and part of that is that parents get better with time. Generally though, this is because parents tend to use an equity based parenting system and not an equality based system. But what is the difference between equity and equalit...
Episode 26 - Learning how to receive help when you go from 0 to 6 kids in less than 4 years with Dallin & Alyssa McEwen
September 20, 2021 08:00 - 58 minutes - 40.5 MBShow Notes: What comes to mind when you hear the word freeloader? What about mooch? Parasite? Slacker? Or deadbeat? No matter what came to mind, it likely wasn’t something nice. But at the end of the day we all know what it means: someone who takes advantage of the kindness and charity of others who shouldn’t. And almost universally we wouldn’t want to be described like that. But the problem is that none of us really is a “lone wolf”. We all need each other. So how do we appropriately acce...
Episode 25 - The Pain of Failure and the Joy of Success with Dave Woodward
September 06, 2021 08:00 - 44 minutes - 30.7 MBShow Notes: Have you ever been so invested in something it becomes part of your identity? So much so that when it disappears from your life, a part of you seems to disappear with it? Our guest today is Dave Woodward and he did the same thing when he tied a part of his identity to his company that in 2008 went from incredibly successful to hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt almost overnight. But that's just part of his story. Dave Woodward graduated from Brigham Young University. He b...
Episode 24 - Making SHIFT Happen to Incredible Success with Anthony Trucks
May 31, 2021 08:00 - 55 minutes - 38.2 MBShow Notes Do you ever feel like life is beating you down? Like you’re trying so hard, but just not getting anywhere? Like you have the tools you think you need to succeed but it’s just not happening. Well our guest today is Anthony Trucks. He has felt all of these things and so much more and now he coaches people on how to overcome these barriers by focusing on your internal identity instead of more tools and tactics. Anthony Trucks is a foster kid turned NFL athlete and serial entrepren...
Episode 23 - From hobby to a fulfilling career...mid pandemic with Sandra Osborne
May 17, 2021 08:00 - 1 hour - 43.4 MBShow Notes Do you have that dream career you’ve always wanted to pursue? If not, is it because life seems to get in the way? Maybe you already have a successful career and you tell yourself you don’t have the time to try and go after that dream because you have a family or it might require a bit of an investment, or be inconvenient. Well if you can relate to these feelings then you’ll love our interview today with Sandra Osborne. Sandra is a very successful voice over actor and motion cap...
Episode 22 - Looking for great decades not great days with Emil Ekvardt
April 19, 2021 08:00 - 1 hour - 42.8 MBShow Notes What are some of the life lessons you learned while playing a competitive sport or activity? Do you think of team work from the football field, or maybe composure on the golf course? Or maybe it’s how to think ahead from chess? Or maybe it was how to take risks from your favorite family card game. Either way, games and competition have a way of teaching us many life lessons and our guest has some incredible insights gathered while playing competitive poker at the highest levels o...
Episode 21 - Shaking off the blanket of success for greater impact with Cara Macklin
April 05, 2021 08:00 - 54 minutes - 37.5 MBShow Notes Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you were fairly successful but you felt called to something more? Something that would be uncomfortable or maybe even a little risky? Well our guest today is Cara Macklin, the founder and CEO of Caram, a professional coaching and business mentoring organization based out of Northern Ireland, and she understands these feelings all too well. Cara is a creative thinking entrepreneur and business success coach. She grew up in my fa...
Episode 20 - From Desperation to Rhodes to Wealth with Josh Rhodes
March 22, 2021 08:00 - 55 minutes - 37.9 MBShow Notes Have you ever wanted to know an answer so bad that you were willing to do literally anything to get the answer? Well our guest today is Josh Rhodes and his question was this: “how do you build wealth?” As a result of this question he sent out 50 emails to some of the most successful people he knew of and before he knew it he was interviewing these people, recording their conversations, then started a podcast, and now has done over 200 of these interviews for his show. Joshua R...
Episode 19 - How to ditch addiction, depression, anger, anxiety, failure and any other kind of unhappiness with Bob Gardner
March 08, 2021 09:00 - 1 hour - 43.7 MBShow Notes Do you ever wish you had more control over how you felt or what direction your life was going? Or wish you could figure out how to get out of those funks we all inevitably go through instead of having to just ride it out? Well our guest today teaches people how to do those things and more. Our guest today is Bob Gardner and after discovering and learning how to conquer his own demons he now teaches others how to do the same. Bob spent 18 years of his life battling frequent bout...
Episode 18 - Hustling and grinding leads to failure with Fraser Cameron
February 22, 2021 09:00 - 1 hour - 46.8 MBShow Notes Do you ever just feel burnt out? Like you’re trying as hard as you can but you just can’t seem to make the progress you were hoping towards your goals and the life you want to live? I know I’ve been there many times. Well our guest today would likely say that these feelings have come from hustling, and working, and grinding away too much. Our guest today is Fraser Cameron and he has made it his mission to push back against what he believes to be a toxic hustle and grind culture i...
Episode 17 - The Power of Choice with Robert Paylor
February 08, 2021 09:00 - 56 minutes - 39.1 MBShow Notes Can you imagine being at the top of your game and then suddenly losing everything? To go from being one of the best to fighting for your very life? Well our guest today is Robert Paylor and he has lived this reality. In one moment, Robert was in the best day of his life, competing for the collegiate rugby national championship. In the next moment, his life changed forever. Robert suffered a spinal cord injury in the first minutes of the game and found himself face down in the ...
Episode 16 - Purposefully position in order to accomplish any goal with Derrick Reiner
January 25, 2021 09:00 - 55 minutes - 38 MBShow Notes How often do you set a goal and then purposefully take specific actions within the week to ensure you’re setting yourself up to reach that goal? Or how often do you take a goal and ask yourself, “what do I need to do right now to achieve that goal?" Well our guest today is Derrick Reiner and that is exactly what he has done with his entire career and with every goal he’s ever set for himself. Derrick is an up and coming Contender in the real estate space who has his hands in so ...
Episode 16 - Purposefully position in order to accomplish any goal with Derrick Reiner
January 25, 2021 09:00 - 55 minutes - 38 MBShow Notes How often do you set a goal and then purposefully take specific actions within the week to ensure you’re setting yourself up to reach that goal? Or how often do you take a goal and ask yourself, “what do I need to do right now to achieve that goal?" Well our guest today is Derrick Reiner and that is exactly what he has done with his entire career and with every goal he’s ever set for himself. Derrick is an up and coming Contender in the real estate space who has his hands in so ...
Bonus Episode 1 - Do you want to know how to leave that job you hate?
January 18, 2021 09:00 - 16 minutes - 11.4 MBShow Notes Have you ever wondered how to get out of a job that you just can't stand but you feel stuck? Well on today's bonus episode Rob shares how he did it in this portion of an interview he recently did on another podcast called Capital Stack with Derrick Reiner. In the interview you hear the specific things he did to get out of his old job and the lessons he learned along the way. If you like what you hear or want to learn more about Rob, be sure to check out the full episode on Derric...
Episode 15 - Harnessing your Productive Intuition with AdaPia d'Errico
January 11, 2021 09:00 - 55 minutes - 37.9 MBShow Notes Have you ever made a decision on a gut feeling and it wound up being the right decision? And would you like to learn how to more clearly recognize those impressions and use them for good in your life? Well our guest today is AdaPia d’Errico, the author of the new book Productive Intuition, and on the show we discuss all these things and more. AdaPia d’Errico is a visionary leader with 20+ years of experience across countries, cultures, and both corporate and start-up environmen...
Episode 14 - The Power of a Living Legacy and Why You Need One too with Natalie Goldberg
December 28, 2020 09:00 - 1 hour - 42.1 MBShow Notes When was the last time you felt something so strongly that it informed your decisions around every aspect of your life? Well our guest today is Natalie “Money Mama” Goldberg and on the show today Natalie shares with us some intense life experiences that she went through that have informed her life’s mission and living legacy. Natalie Elisha Goldberg, Esq. is a celebrity wealth attorney, business strategist and managing attorney of Goldberg LLP. As an award-winning attorney, risi...
Episode 13 - How to Master Your Productivity and Attract World Class Mentors with Hunter Thompson
December 14, 2020 09:00 - 40 minutes - 27.6 MBShow Notes Have you ever gotten to meet someone who you’ve admired and respected so much and for so long that when you finally do meet them, you find yourself all tongue tied and nervous? Well that was me today on this show. Our guest today is Hunter Thompson. Hunter is the founder and Principal of Asym Capital, a technology enabled private equity firm that helps accredited investors passively invest in recession-resistant asset classes. Hunter has personally raised more than $25mm in priva...
Episode 12 - BBQ, Business, and Motherhood with Phyllis Williams-Strawder
November 30, 2020 09:00 - 1 hour - 43.5 MBShow Notes Have you ever thought about starting a business but you weren’t sure if your passion project was just a hobby or could become a full fledged business? Well our guest today is Phyllis Williams-Strawder or Mrs. Big Mista as she is known in the BBQ community. Phyllis is the Queen of late bloomers. She received her first college degree when she was 38 years old. She birthed her one and only child at 42 after two miscarriages and six months later purchased her first home. Next in her ...
Episode 11 - Leaning into discomfort to overcome personal barriers with Travis Lachner
November 16, 2020 09:00 - 58 minutes - 40 MB**Quick Disclaimer** Usually our show is pretty squeaky clean. However, in case you listen to this show with little ones around there is reference to a cannabis company in this episode as well a few swear words. Not enough to make it explicit by any means, but a couple so I wanted to make sure you were aware in case that situation does apply to you. Show Notes: What if you had the ability to suddenly turn all of your weaknesses into strengths? Well our guest today on the show stumbled up...
Episode 10 - Success isn’t linear with Bret Caretsky
November 02, 2020 09:00 - 59 minutes - 40.9 MBShow Notes: Do you ever look back on your life and notice things that appeared to be random changes or events in your life at that time that then later turned out to be key stepping stones to where you are today? Well our guest on the show today is Bret Caretsky and he walks us through the ups and downs and random twists and turns of his story that have all paved the way for where he is today. Bret is the CEO and co-founder of Unicorn Drinks, an innovative CPG and food service brand known m...
Episode 9 - The key to getting the plane of success off the ground with Tim Bratz
October 26, 2020 08:00 - 52 minutes - 35.9 MBShow Notes: Do you feel like you work so hard but success just never seems to come your way? Like it’s this metaphorical plane that just can’t get off the runway? Well on the show today I interview Tim Bratz, the CEO and founder of Legacy Wealth Holdings, and we will give you the tools you need to get your planes of success off the runway. Tim Bratz (pronounced “Brotts”) began his real estate career in 2007 brokering commercial leases in the competitive NYC real estate market and now is the...
Episode 8 - Breaking the Chains of our Brains to Accelerate our Success with Jason Hunt
October 19, 2020 08:00 - 1 hour - 41.6 MBShow Notes: Do you ever just feel like you yourself are the thing getting in the way of your success? Like if you could figure out how to control your natural tendencies then you’d surely be successful? Well then you won’t want to miss our episode today with Jason Hunt. Jason is from St. George, Utah. He attended Dixie State and Southern Utah University for his associate and bachelor’s degrees, then went on to receive his master’s and a PhD in Endocrine Physiology from Idaho State Universit...
Episode 7 - Creating Your Own Future with Adam Carswell
October 12, 2020 08:00 - 49 minutes - 33.9 MBShow Notes: Have you ever met someone and shortly thereafter the thought comes to mind "Yea...I'm pretty sure they're going somewhere"? Well one of those people for me is Adam Carswell. Adam is a Director at Concordia Realty Corporation, the Business Development Manager at Asym Capital, and Director of Media and Marketing for LibertyFund.io. He has syndicated, redeveloped, repositioned, and revitalized more than $500 million worth of real estate. Adam produces the Cash Flow Connections Real ...
Episode 6 - Living a significant life vs. a successful life with Casey Taylor
October 05, 2020 08:00 - 52 minutes - 36 MBShow Notes: There are some people in our lives who make a great impact on us without us even recognizing it at the time. Can you think of any such person in your life? Well one of those people for me was Casey Taylor. Coach T, as I like to call him, is the head football coach of Inderkum High School here in Sacramento California. He has been teaching and coaching football for over 18 years now here in the Sacramento area and in that time has had 17 playoff appearances, reached nine section c...
Episode 5 - Becoming one of the greatest in the world with Jordan Matyas
September 28, 2020 08:00 - 37 minutes - 25.9 MBShow Notes: Have you ever wondered what life would be like if you were one of the best in the world at what you do? Well our guest today is Jordan Matyas and she plays the 8th position for Team USA's women's rugby team. She earned collegiate All-American honors in the 2012 - 2014 seasons while playing at her alma mater, BYU. She then was hired to play professionally for the San Diego Women's Premier League team, the San Diego Surfers, where she helped lead her team to a league championship a...
Episode 4 - How to overcome depression and find real happiness through an abundance mindset and self-care with Christine Teh
September 21, 2020 08:00 - 57 minutes - 39.5 MBShow Notes: Do you feel like you're too broken to be successful? Well our guest today is Christine Teh. She is a LinkedIn influencer with over 73,000 followers and was dubbed the "Queen of Cash" by those followers. She is an incredibly successful financial coach who helps people transform their relationship with money so they can reach their financial goals She is the owner operator of Teh Financial Consulting, host of the podcast Life and Money with Christine Teh, an IRS Tax Preparer, and, ...
Episode 3 - Never giving up despite multiple set backs with Nate Evans
September 14, 2020 10:00 - 48 minutes - 33.1 MBShow Notes: Have you ever made a goal and then did everything you thought you needed to do to reach that goal only to be denied? Well our guest today is Nate Evans, a friend of mine, and the co-founder of Peak Wholeness, and this is exactly what happened to him. Today on the show we learn about: What Nate's original plans had been for his life (3:27) What kept happening to him in his professional life for many years despite putting in all the necessary work to make his initial goals a real...
Episode 2 - How Leaps of Faith leads to Success with Fred Penney
September 14, 2020 09:00 - 49 minutes - 34.3 MBShow Notes: What if you could sit down with the most financially successful person you've ever known personally and talk to them about success and how they did it? Well our guest today is Fred Penney and Fred is that guy in my life. Today on the show we learn about: Who Fred was before he became a successful attorney and businessman (4:57) An impactful lesson Fred Learned from his grandma as a kid that he believes set him up for success later on in life (8:26) Fred's general philosophy to...
Episode 1 - How to overcome fear to do the impossible with Kyle Marcotte
September 14, 2020 08:00 - 49 minutes - 34.2 MBShow Notes: Have you have had a dream to do something that felt impossible? Our guest today is Kyle Marcotte, a 21 year old real estate investor who own multiple apartment complexes, and just two years ago when I met him he was still in college playing soccer. Today on the show we talk about: What made Kyle want to leave school (4:44) What it was like for him to tell his parents and coach (12:02) How he made this real estate dream of his a reality so quickly (18:31) How learning to exami...
Trailer - Contenders Wanted Intro
August 27, 2020 03:00 - 4 minutes - 2.87 MBShow Notes: Do you drive everyday to work, wanting more? Do you dream of becoming something great, and know you can, but just don’t know how? Do you feel an absolute responsibility to become your best but you don’t want to follow the same path as so many others who sacrificed their families and everything else important to them in the process? Well I’m here to tell you that it’s not only possible, but easier than you think. You can be incredibly successful without sacrificing your famil...