Life’s Black Belts with Eric Alders
43 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsDiving into the lives of "everyday" people and their real life experiences. Learn from their challenges, goals, failures, ability to overcome obstacles and how they grind through life and carve their own path. This podcast is not all about martial arts, even though we will speak with many Black Belts, it is however designed use the martial arts journey as a parallel comparison with life’s journey. Black Belts don’t know everything. They still have to fail, learn, grow and constantly set new goals. Each new beginning and goal is like putting your white belt back on. The same is true for life. You start something new not knowing anything (white belt) and you slowly gain skills and experience belt by belt until you have a solid foundation (Black Belt). Like life however, the journey continues. This is my chance to highlight the many amazing people in life that are out there killing it and living their life as a black belt. I hope their stories insprire you as much as they do me. If you enjoy the show please share with your family and friends and please don’t forget to leave us a 5 star rating in iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts.Email us at [email protected] - Listen on iTunes, Pandora, Spotify, Google Play, TuneIN Radio, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Radio Public and on your Echo/Alexa device say "Alexa, ask AnyPod to play Life's Black Belt's Podcast." Watch interviews on our You Tube channel
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Episodes
Episode #43 - Andrea Firpo
March 09, 2020 09:00 - 57 minutes - 39.8 MBToday's Life's Black Belts guest is Andrea Firpo. We had a great conversation on how she's battled through a very tough journey in life until she could find her true self and happiness. Her story of perseverance is inspirational and she now uses her life experiences to help others through her life coaching as well as her podcast. She truly is a Life's Black Belt. She is a professional psychic cheerleader. She helps people transform their physical, spiritual and emotional pain in order t...
Episode #42 - Angela Marshall
February 22, 2020 09:00 - 1 hour - 46.4 MBToday's Life's Black Belts guest is Angela Marshall, also known as “Author Stone.” She is an Augusta, Ga., native, entrepreneur and positive words powerhouse that utilizes her personal life experiences of struggle, strength and success to captivate audiences and readers abroad. Author Stone, is a motivational presenter, published bestselling author, columnist, ex-NFL wife and creative writing consultant. Having struggled through a lavish but sorely lacking lifestyle as a former NFL wife, t...
Episode #41 - Daniel Bruce Levin
February 14, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 54.1 MB*To support the show and for a Free Month of Stitcher premium go to http://stitcher.com/premium and enter promo code "blackbelts" to receive 1 month free! Today's guest is Danny Levin. We had a great conversation about his life's journey. He brings so much life wisdom and advice to the episode. He has an inspiring outlook on life and philosophy on how mankind can help better themselves and respect one another, especially our differences. Bio: Daniel Levin walked away from an opportuni...
Episode #40 - Bill Protzmann
October 16, 2019 15:00 - 58 minutes - 40.3 MB*To support the show and for a Free Month of Stitcher premium go to http://stitcher.com/premium and enter promo code "blackbelts" to receive 1 month free! Today's Life's Black Belt guest is Bill Protzmann We talk about his early life, feeling alone and depressed at times. He says he never "fit in" to any particular group. Music was something required in his household since his mother was a piano teacher. He shares a great story from his childhood about the first time he felt his music...
Episode #39 - Valerie Worthington
September 26, 2019 13:00 - 1 hour - 57.2 MB(This episode is brought to you by Stitcher Premium. Go to www.stitcherpremium.com/premium and use Promo Code “BlackBelts” to receive 1 free month of premium services for ad free and exclusive audio content) On today’s episode I sit down with BJJ Black Belt Instructor, published author, PHD College Professor and Certified Life Coach, Valerie Worthington. Valerie discusses her life growing up with two therapists as parents. Having to move to Germany as a teenager with her family and how th...
Episode #38 - Dr. John DeWitt
May 13, 2019 09:00 - 1 hour - 28.9 MBDr. DeWitt is a Vanderbilt University graduate who earned a full athletic scholarship after his first semester. He went on to become the starting defensive end for the next four years and was awarded The Wade Looney Award for outstanding work ethic. He continued his football career with the NFL Houston Oilers, NFL Europe Champion Scottish Claymores, Montreal Alouettes of the CFL, San Francisco Demons of the XFL, and several teams in the AFL including three seasons with the LA Avengers. Aft...
Episode #37 - Lorraine Reguly
April 18, 2019 12:00 - 1 hour - 38.2 MBLorraine Reguly is an author and English teacher who is now a freelance editor and entrepreneur. Her life journey is motivational and inspirational. Lorraine’s book, From Nope to Hope, is designed to help anyone who wishes to lead a happier life. It contains a built-in workbook and is available on Amazon. Throughout her life, Lorraine has had her share of problems. She was raped at 14 years old, got into drugs, earned money through prostitution and has had suicidal thoughts for years. She a...
Episode #36 - Alison Donaghey
March 26, 2019 08:00 - 55 minutes - 25.6 MBAlison Donaghey was a single mom on welfare when she met a guy who relapsed into drug addition. After they moved in together, his addition to drugs and alcohol resurfaced and he died 6 years later. She was on welfare and didn’t know what to do so she started her own house painting business. She now has a great life, her son is taking over the business and she has another business called "Domino Thinking" where she challenges people to think about what they think about. She is the best-se...
Episode #35 - Louis Fuentes
March 13, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 33.1 MBLouis Fuentes is the regional business manager for Phillips Healthcare. He is also a husband and father of 3 beautiful children, a teen son and two younger daughters. We discuss his heritage from Puerto Rico, growing up in the Bronx and then northern NJ. Louis talks candidly about what it was like growing up, losing a best friend to suicide at a young age, learning to mature into a man and climbing the ladder of his career. Louis talks about finding his true love, getting engaged quickl...
Episode #34 - Chuck Rylant
March 08, 2019 09:00 - 1 hour - 31.9 MBChuck J. Rylant is best known for his work as an author, expert witness, college teacher, and a high performance coach. Today, Chuck provides high performance coaching on life, personal finance, and marketing through his books, online training, and one‐on‐one coaching. We discuss his life growing up with two mentally ill parents. Getting out on his own at 17 years old. Becoming a Police officer and Homicide detective of 15 years. Now an author, life coach and expert witness. Chuck s...
Episode #33 - Daniel Ameduri
February 25, 2019 05:00 - 42 minutes - 19.6 MBToday's Life's Black Belt guest is Daniel Ameduri. Daniel is the CEO and founder of www.FutureMoneyTrends.com. Daniel is a self-made millionaire real estate investor that bought his first property at 18 years old. He reached a high level of success, only to loose it all and end up bankrupt a few years later. He discusses how he and his wife had to make sacrifices like getting rid of their pets, moving to the dessert and much more just to have enough money to get by. Then we review how h...
Episode #32 - Maggie Kelly
February 08, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 28.1 MBToday’s Life’s Black Belt guest is Maggie Kelly. Maggie is a Holistic Lifestyle and Spiritual Wellness Educator, Life coach and the founder of Satsang House, which is a meditation and spiritual healing center in San Diego, CA. Maggie is also the host of the “Life Illuminated” Podcast. Maggie takes us through her story from her childhood, to moving to Spain for a few years, to being a manager in corporate American and a full time mom. She discusses how she was overwhelmed with stress and ...
Episode #31 - Helen Owens
January 30, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 40 MBToday's Life's Black Belt guest is Helen Owens. Author of "Finding Our She-Compass: 15 Life Lessons For Women Voyaging toward Restoration, Reconstruction, and Renewal." This is an extraordinary story, that's a must-listen-to episode! Helen is an incredible human and someone that empowers women to find happiness, confidence and beauty in their life again. Helen takes us back to when she was a child growing up in the ghetto. She discusses losing her father at 11 years old and at the sam...
Episode #30 - Maura Sweeney
January 21, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 36.1 MBToday's Life's Black Belts guest is Maura Sweeney. Maura is a self-created "Ambassador of Happiness®" and is on a mission to advance the human race. From law school "escapee" to corporate manager to home schooling mom, Maura launched again at midlife to positively impact the greater world. Featured on NBC, BBC, European TV and African press, she’s lectured to aspiring FBI and CIA candidates, spoken at the inaugural Nelson Mandela Day celebrations and joined several celebrities as a spoken w...
Episode #29 -Damon Nailer
January 12, 2019 11:00 - 1 hour - 32.7 MB"Multifaceted", "passionate", and "skilled" all describe today's Life's Black Belt guest, Mr. Damon “DaRil” Nailer. DaRil is a New Orleans native who currently resides in Monroe, LA. Known as a "Renaissance Man" and a "Multi-talented Inspirational Communicator", Mr. Nailer does many things. Among them are mentor, motivate, educate and address people's mental, spiritual, and emotional needs through various means. He writes inspirational books and blogs, he speaks, he coaches, and he even ...
Episode #28 - Glen Kirkpatrick, Jr.
January 02, 2019 15:00 - 51 minutes - 23.6 MBToday's Life's Black Belt guest is Glen Kirkpatrick, Jr. Before retiring in 2011, Glen served as southern California law enforcement professional for over 25 years. He is a three-time, thirty-one-year cancer survivor, living with late effects of radiation and chemotherapy. Glen enjoys sharing what he's learned about how to persevere in life, the importance of finding joy in each day, and the significance of living in the moment. Glen writes about faith, family, and overcoming life's obst...
Episode #27 - Kenny Weiss
December 19, 2018 13:00 - 1 hour - 33.8 MBToday’s Life’s Black Belt is Kenny Weiss. A Life Coach, Speaker, Author of “Your Journey to Success”, Podcast host and founder of The Greatness Movement. We discuss Kenny’s life and upbringing. How he played two professional sports and also, in his words, his self destruction. His addictions: Alcoholic, a sex addict, spending addict, sugar addict, tobacco addict, a love addict. 2 horrific divorces, a child custody battle and a bankruptcy. Suicidal He needed to find an answer and...
Episode #26 - David Moadel
December 12, 2018 05:00 - 1 hour - 28.7 MBToday's Life's Black Belt guest is Mr. David Moadel. David proudly serves as the Chief Analyst and Opportunity Researcher for PortfolioWealthGlobal.com. His YouTube channel educates and informs a loyal crowd of followers on topics ranging from cryptocurrencies to stocks, options, precious metals, bonds, futures, and other areas of finance. With a master's degree in education and decades of investing experience, David has the financial know-how and a passion for teaching that has boosted the...
Episode #25 - Caleb McAllister
December 05, 2018 05:00 - 1 hour - 37.5 MBToday's Life's Black Belts guest is Caleb McAllister. Now a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Caleb has been a martial artist his entire adult life. He represents the Renaissance Academy of Martial Arts under Jamie Ridgeway, part of the Pedro Sauer Association. Caleb is a former professional MMA fighter and also actively competes as a professional submission grappler. As always, we go deeper throughout our conversation to learn more about Caleb's upbringing and how he established his ph...
Episode #24 - Emily Kwok
November 27, 2018 13:00 - 1 hour - 40.5 MBToday's Life's Black Belt is 3-Time BJJ World Champion, Co-Owner and Master Instructor of Princeton Brazilian Jiujitsu, Professor Emily Kwok. Emily is a pioneer of the sport of BJJ and a great ambassador for women’s jiu jitsu through her work with Groundswell Grappling Concepts, as well as through the “How to Defeat the Bigger Stronger Opponent” series produced with Stephan Kesting. Emily is also a highly demanded instructor, traveling the world teaching seminars to hundreds of students eac...
Episode #23 - Amberly Lago
November 19, 2018 05:00 - 1 hour - 38.6 MBToday's Life's Black Belt is Amberly Lago. What an honor it was to interview her and have her share her amazing story with our listeners. The advice, inspiration and incredible strength she shows in this interview is priceless. This is a must listen to episode. Amberly was a professional dancer, fitness coach/model and even was featured in MC Hammer's "You Can't Touch this Video." Having grown up in Texas in a small town dancing and eventually teaching dance, Amberly wanted to pursue he...
Episode #22 - Raana Zia
November 12, 2018 05:00 - 1 hour - 35.6 MBToday's Life's Black Belt is Raana Zia. Raana is corporate executive/CFO turned spiritual self-help author of the book "Your Hidden Light: A Personal Guide to Creating Your Desired Life." Raana's passion for developing others and her own personal growth journey has led her to writing a book that synthesizes ancient spiritual wisdom into practical application today. The purpose of the book is to awaken people up to the powers they already possess to fulfill what is in their heart. When th...
Episode #21 - Richard Kaufman
November 05, 2018 05:00 - 1 hour - 32.9 MBToday's Life's Black Belt is US Army Veteran, Author and Public Speaker, Richard Kaufman. Richard is now known at "The Comeback Coach" for all the work he is doing with helping veterans and people in general to overcome their addictions to drugs and alcohol. Richard and I had a very open and honest conversation about how he finally got sober at the age of 20. He talks about growing up without a father, getting into trouble a lot as a child, getting hooked on drugs and alcohol by 12 years ...
Episode #20 - Candice Bakx.Friesen
October 29, 2018 04:00 - 52 minutes - 24 MBToday's Life's Black Belt is Candice Bakx-Friesen. Candice is a successful real estate entrepreneur that manages 4 businesses, 4 children and a large portfolio of rental properties. We talk about her life growing up as a career focused and independent woman that didn't focus on finding a husband or having children. That all changed when she met her future husband and together they decided that having a family didn't hinder their goals or dreams but rather was an integral part of them....
Episode # 19 - Joel W. Hawbaker
October 21, 2018 04:00 - 1 hour - 36.2 MBToday's Life's Black Belt guest is Joel W. Hawbaker. Joel is a Real Life Leader: husband, father, award-winning high school teacher and soccer coach in Alabama. In addition, Joel is a public speaker and the author of "Inverted Leadership:Lead Others Better By Forgetting About Yourself" which is available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Inverted-Leadership-Others-Forgetting-Yourself/dp/1983110167/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Joel talks about life, career and family. Meeti...
Episode #18 - Jeff Leisawitz
October 15, 2018 04:00 - 1 hour - 28.4 MBToday's Life's Black Belt is Jeff Leisawitz. Jeff burns with a mission— to inspire writers, artists, musicians, filmmakers, entrepreneurs (and everyone else) to amp up their creativity, heal their hearts and shine in the world. Jeff is an award-winning musician/ producer, a critically acclaimed author and internationally distributed filmmaker who has devoted his life to creativity. Not F*ing Around— the No Bullsh*t Guide for Getting Your Creative Dreams Off the Ground is Jeff’s first book ...
Episode #17 - Mansu Edwards
October 08, 2018 04:00 - 1 hour - 29.1 MBToday's Life's Black Belt is Mansu Edwards. Mansu is a prolific artist who continually challenges art forms with boldness and creativity. He talks about his life growing up and how he followed his passion, got up every day to promote himself and never gave up trying to reach his goals. In 2016, Mr. Edwards produced, wrote and directed his first short film, "Texting In New York City". A work inspired from people's responses to the street marketing of its paperback (text) edition. Later on in ...
Episode #16 - Rachel Smets
October 04, 2018 04:00 - 52 minutes - 24 MBToday's Life's Black Belt is Rachel Smets. Rachel is an expat coach, bestselling author, 2x TEDx speaker, professor and Cultural Trainer. In her work, Rachel is dedicated to help dynamic single expats who feel overwhelmed or homesick to gain clarity, plan the next steps and build a social network so that they can feel energized and truly enjoy their new home abroad. She has been living and working abroad in various countries, for many years and has learned to turn every challenge into a new ...
Episode #15 - Ken Schumacher
August 27, 2018 04:00 - 1 hour - 43.4 MBToday's Life's Black Belt is Ken Schumacher. Ken has a great story of perseverance and constantly pursuing your passion in life. How to never be afraid to fail and to always try new things in your life. He learned this through his involvement in school sports, where he wasn't the natural athlete but found success through his hard work and surrounding himself by people that were better then him. School sports led to a love for music, where he had a natural gift, and eventually joined a band w...
Episode #14 - Scott St. John
August 09, 2018 04:00 - 1 hour - 39.8 MBToday's Life's Black Belt is Scott St. John. Scott's positive energy is contagious and after listening to this interview you're going to want to start setting and achieving your goals right away. Scott, along with his wife Laura, own Pearl Street Fitness in Colorado he is one of the top business leaders in Isagenix, he is one of the select few chosen to be on Team Isagenix (an elite group of athletic leaders), runs a very successful health and fitness group on Facebook called "Strong. Confid...
Episode #13 - Cole "Magrinho" Miller
August 02, 2018 04:00 - 1 hour - 46.7 MBToday's Life's Black Belt is Cole "Magrinho" Miller. Cole is a 20x UFC Veteran, over the last 10 years in the UFC he has won the Submission of the Night 4x and Knockout of the Night 1x. He was a cast member of Season 5 of The Ultimate Fighter, which featured other future UFC stars such as Gray Maynard, Joe Lauzon and Nate Diaz to name a few. Cole is the owner of Miller Martial Arts and Fitness in Bonaire, GA. You can visit his school's website at www.ATTWarnerRobins.Com We discuss Cole's lif...
Episode #12 - Life’s Stripes Series: Eric Alders
July 22, 2018 04:00 - 51 minutes - 23.6 MBIf you’ve listened to past episodes, you know that my podcast focuses on an individuals story. How their life’s journey is similar to the martial artist’s journey towards Black Belt and beyond. Through these episodes I’ve highlighted stories that have shaped my guests into the people they are today. I thought it would be interesting to offer episodes in addition to our full interviews that go more into more detail of these impactful events. Stories of the past or present that substantially s...
Episode #11 - Jeff Eisenberg
July 02, 2018 04:00 - 1 hour - 48.5 MBToday's Life's Black Belt is Jeff Eisenberg. Jeff is the best selling author of "Fighting Buddha - Marital Arts, Buddhism, Kicking Ass and Saving it" as well as "Buddha's Bodyguard - How to Protect Your Inner V.I.P." He is currently working on his 3rd book which is due to be released next year. In addition to holding several Black Belts in a variety of marital arts, he is also a Brown Belt In Brazilian Jiujitsu under Professor Bill Scott of BJJ Shore Academy in Point Pleasant, NJ. In this co...
Episode #10 - Ricardo Liborio
June 19, 2018 04:00 - 1 hour - 28.2 MBToday's Life's Black Belt is Ricardo Liborio. Master Liborio is a legend and pioneer in the martial arts. An original member of Team Carlson Gracie, the very first World Jiu Jitsu Champion in the super heavyweight division back in 1996, an original co-founder of Brazilian Top Team and original co-founder of American Top Team. He has been featured on tons of magazine covers, TV, radio and more. You can learn more about him here: https://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-fighters/ricardo-liborio In most o...
Episode #9 - Stephane D'Amour
June 12, 2018 04:00 - 1 hour - 36.9 MBToday's Life's Black Belt is Stephane D'Amour. Stephane is the owner and head instructor of Mixed Martial Arts and Fitness Academy in Kanata, Ontario Canada. His school is also the only certified American Top Team MMA school in the country. Stephane takes us through his childhood growing up in Ottawa. How bullying early on in school led to him starting martial arts training. He talks about being adopted, growing up as an only child, trying to figure out who he is in life and some challenges ...
Episode #8 - Gabe Cohen
June 05, 2018 04:00 - 1 hour - 36.7 MBToday's Life's Black Belt is Gabe Cohen. He reviews his life growing up in NY and Colorado. How at a young age he fell into hard drugs and crime and wound up in and out of jail 7 times. He's since turned his life around and teaches Krav Maga, mentors our youth, tours around the world doing seminars and also works with the Sheriff's Department to do public speaking/motivational talks with inmates. His story is very motivational, raw and real. I appreciated his openness, honesty and vulnerabil...
Episode #7 - Bonnie Carolan
May 30, 2018 04:00 - 1 hour - 38.4 MBToday's Life's Black Belt is Bonnie Carolan. Bonnie is a close family friend that has inspired my wife and I a lot over the years as a friend, mother and overall with her approach to life. I think her real story and outlook on life will inspire you as well. We start her story growing up in the 60's and 70's, meeting her future husband on her first day of college when she was 18. We review how life was then, the importance of friends and family. Their adventure as a couple from NJ to Californ...
Episode #6 - Dave Gerber
May 23, 2018 04:00 - 1 hour - 37.9 MBToday’s “Life’s Black Belt” is Dave Gerber. I sit down with the President and founder of Synergy Development and Training, Published Author and Certified Krav Maga Black Belt, Mr. Dave Gerber. As always we discuss his early childhood filled with memories of being bullied, moving to new schools and cities, starting college, finding out out he had Graves disease, how he overcame divorce, a variety of obstacles in life and much more! Dave’s story and outlook on life is inspirational to say the ...
Episode #5 - Jay Alders
May 16, 2018 04:00 - 2 hours - 70.4 MBToday I sit down with my big brother who also happens to be a world renowned artist. We cover more then just his art career. We start at the beginning and go through Jay's story of overcoming insecurity, learning to turn his talent into a business, overcoming failures and more. We discuss his time in high school, college, Theta Xi fraternity, his wife and children and of course we go into how his art career took off to the point it is at today. Introducing our next Life's Black Belt, Jay Ald...
Episode #4 - Shilamida Kupershteyn
May 03, 2018 04:00 - 1 hour - 34.1 MBOn today’s episode I sit down with Shilamida Kupershteyn. She is the best selling author of "31 Days of Gratitude - Create The Life You Desire", a motivational speaker, acupuncturist, mother of 3 boys and stepmother of 2 and overall one beautiful human being both inside and out. We talk about Shil being born in Russia and coming the the USA with her parents when she was only a few months old. They had very little money and didn’t speak any English but wanted to provide a better life for Shil...
Episode #3 - Mark Sisom
April 23, 2018 04:00 - 1 hour - 39.1 MBIn this episode I sit down with Mark Sisom. Mark highlights his life growing up with a Green Beret as a father and how his dad instilled tremendous character traits in him that he still uses today. He discusses how he transitioned from playing Baseball and Hockey at a competitive level to getting into martial arts. How his parents divorce led to him moving to southern NJ which introduced him to a world of Art, Surf and Skateboarding. He discusses getting more involved with graphic design whi...
Episode #2 - Paul Alders
April 17, 2018 04:00 - 1 hour - 30.9 MBI sit down for my first full-length interview with my Father, Paul Alders. We discuss growing up in Brooklyn in the 50's and 60's. He discusses what it was like being raised by a strict tough father, how navigating the city with his friends helped to build his character and how he avoided major trouble that some of his friends got into. From there we cover how he went from hard labor, to putting himself through college at night, a variety of jobs he had and eventually how he got into the sal...
Episode #1 - Introduction to Life's Black Belts
April 12, 2018 04:00 - 18 minutes - 8.44 MBIn this intro episode Eric discusses what the idea is for the Podcast "Life's Black Belts." Guests chosen to interview won't all be in the marital arts but rather how we view them as Black Belt's in life. That doesn't mean perfection just like in martial arts. The path to Black Belt has a beginning, lot's of challenges and adversity and the need to constantly learn and grow. To overcome failure and stay focused on your goal. Then when the goal is reached you need to continue your growth, the...