Life-Changing Challengers
Dive into the heart of transformation with "Life-Changing Challengers," a podcast that inspires listeners to turn their challenges into opportunities for growth. Hosted by Brad Minus, a seasoned endurance coach with over 13 years of experience, this show brings you compelling stories of resilience, ambition, and personal triumph.
Brad and his guests share their journeys of overcoming obstacles through endurance sports, personal development, and pursuing passions. From completing Ironman triathlons to conquering personal and professional hurdles, "Life-Changing Challengers" is your guide to breaking barriers and achieving your dreams.
Whether you're looking to incinerate your limits, find inspiration to chase your big passion or enjoy motivational stories of people who've transformed their lives, this podcast is for you. Join us to explore how embracing challenges can lead to a happier, more fulfilled life.
Subscribe, review, and share to be part of a community dedicated to making every challenge a stepping stone to success. Follow "Life-Changing Challengers" to ignite your desire, push your boundaries, and embark on your journey to the extraordinary.
Life-Changing Challengers
Transforming Life Through Fitness and Faith With Derick Johnson
Have you ever wondered how fitness could transform not just your body, but your entire life? Derick Johnson, the founder of Fit with Derick, joins us to share his incredible journey from growing up with a unique blend of German and African-American cultures to facing the stark reality of life in Pensacola, Florida. Derick opens up about the turbulent dynamics within his family, shaped by his parents' alcohol struggles, and how these experiences forged his resilience and determination.
Derick's story takes a profound turn as he describes finding solace and purpose through faith and fitness. Learn how intense workouts became his sanctuary amidst the chaos of a violent home environment and his mother's severe health scares. One gripping account involves a life-saving moment of performing CPR on his mother during a diabetic episode, highlighting the resilience and faith that anchored him through his trials. Derick's journey is a testament to the transformative power of physical discipline and spiritual growth.
As we wrap up, Derick delves into his path to self-actualization and empowerment, challenging societal expectations to carve out a successful career in fitness and life coaching. We'll explore how his military background and academic pursuits in exercise science, military science, and psychology equipped him with unique insights into the mind-body connection. Derick shares personal anecdotes and professional wisdom on breaking destructive patterns and embracing the healing power of physical activity. Join us to uncover how one man's dedication to fitness and faith can inspire us all to find our inner strength and achieve our fullest potential.
Contact Derick:
Instagram: @fitwithderick2
Facebook: @fitwithderick2
Tiktok: @fitwithderick
Linkedin: @derickjohnson1
FitwithDerick.com
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YouTube: @lifechangingchallengers
LifeChangingChallengers.com
All right and welcome back to Life Changing Challengers. I am still your host, brad Minus, and with me today. I am very honored and privileged to have Derek Johnson with me today. He has a program called Fit with Derek, and I have to tell you something, ladies and gentlemen I have not seen as many positive testimonials on this guy's site as you could possibly imagine. So this is going to be a rocking conversation with Derek Johnson. How you doing, derek Doing good Brad, how you doing I am excellent on a Monday. So, derek, as I ask everyone that starts my show, can you tell us a little bit about your background, the compliments of your family, what it was like growing up, where you did and what your childhood was like? Yeah, for sure.
Derick:So first off, I appreciate you having me on your podcast, brad Pleasure being here. So as a child I grew up in Germany, my mother's German, my dad's African-American. My dad was US Army for 23 years and my mother she's been a kindergarten teacher for about 45 years and growing up with the German mentality of borderline, ocd, keep things clean, really strict home. And then with the father, he was a country boy, he grew up on a farm in Starkville, mississippi, so he's a farm boy. So the father was a farm boy turned aviation and the mother who's from the city in Nuremberg Americans would say Nuremberg and so had that strict upbringing. But it helped a lot. It was very beneficial in a positive light of work, ethic, education, doing right by others. So that's all I saw.
Derick:So, yeah, so as a child grew up in Germany and in third grade that's when he moved to the United States my dad was about to retire from the army and so he retired in Fort Rucker, alabama, but he did not want us living in Alabama, so he moved us to Pensacola, florida, and on the weekend he would drive home. He's like we're not living in Alabama, no offense to anybody in Alabama, but he just didn't want to live in Fort Rucker. You're probably familiar with Fort Rucker. Outside of that base there's nothing, right? Oh yeah, so third grade, that's when we moved to Pensacola and before all Europeans, or especially kids and teens, moved to the United States. We always watch American shows and movies and we wonder is it really like that? In the movies, the bully, the cheerleader, the jo jock, the person get pushed into the locker. The mystery meat in the lunchroom, all the american stuff are like is it really like that?
Brad:yeah, well, in my case it was. What about your case?
Derick:oh yeah, 100. So once you move to the states and I had my first couple days in school, I was like, oh, like, oh yeah. I was telling my cousins in Germany I'm like it's exactly like the movies I had the cheerleader, the jock, the bully, everything. So we moved to the States and as a kid, I'm thinking Florida, I'm thinking we're close to Disney world, we're close to Miami, and as a European, you don't know. So we moved to Pensacola, florida, which is in the panhandle Beautiful city, beautiful beaches, but it does have a closed mentality. And I just wasn't used to that because I grew up being mixed and grew up around a lot of different cultures, your army as well, as you know how it is different cultures, different backgrounds. That was our norm. So my school was split in half and some of my friends were like hey, are you on our side, are you on this side? And I was like what are you guys talking about? My lunch table had the most random people. I was like I didn't care what your background was, as long as you're working hard and positive person.
Derick:But long story short, when I turned 11, that is when everything shifted. So up until the age 11, it was positive, beautiful family, good grades everything was going smooth. But once I turned 11, I realized that my parents started to drink a lot more, and it was only at night, so it never affected their career. My dad was always the first on base or the first with his platoon or company, and my mother was always the first to unlock the school, so it never affected their professional life ever. The only day that they missed of work is if they were in the hospital getting surgery for like a cyst or something or had the flu. Besides that, they didn't miss a day of work. Never saw them miss anything. And so growing up they were both awake at 4 or 5 am, seven days a week, working out. The night before between the hours of 9 pm to 1 am, they were drinking and they would release whatever anger, aggression or emotion was happening in the right now, or 90%, was from their past, but it would only happen after the guests would leave. So you had a beautiful house, four bedrooms, four baths, screened-in pool. People were like, wow, your parents are so funny, they're so positive, this, this and that. And I was the kid that would never want to bash anyone's reputation, so I would never complain. Nobody knew anything. I didn't say anything. Even my best friends didn't say a word, because I would always say you know what? Somebody has it worse than me. I have both parents. Not all my friends have their parents. Some were in foster care. I was like we live in a beautiful home. From the outside looks great. But from the ages of 11 to 17, that is when I realized that there's a lot that I'd have to overcome. So how it began they would just start drinking more at night Once the crowd would leave, once the last person would leave dinner, once our neighbor would go back home and they would just release anger, aggression and that turned into physical, emotional, mental and other types of abuse. But the very next morning it would be hey, want to go have breakfast? Where would you like to meet for lunch today, as if nothing happened.
Derick:And the first year, at age of 11 to 12, it was a culture shock because I was also getting beat up at school and then at home. So I was getting bullied in school because I was a skinny kid, I was very shy, I was timid, I was insecure, I had a stuttering issue. And at the age of 12, I made a pact with myself and I said, from here on out, nobody else is going to have control over me Not my family, not people in school, not people in public. I'm tired of feeling this way. So my step one into personal development at the age of 12 was fitness. I picked up the bodybuilding encyclopedia of Arnold Schwarzenegger. I read Bruce Lee autobiographies. I watched Bloodsport, kickboxer Rocky I grew up on all the Rambo. I grew up during that time period and so I just immersed myself in real stories, fictional stories, but also life stories of individuals that overcame similar or worse traumas.
Derick:And so my step one into personal development was fitness. Because I got tired of being that skinny, mentally and physically weak kid and so within about a year and a half I completely transformed my physique. And I went about a year and a half. I completely transformed my physique and I went from the shy kid in the class to then raising my hand, sitting in the front, leading group projects, doing public speaking. And my friends, teachers and my parents' friends were like who's this kid? Like do you have a twin that just came out of the hyperbolic chamber? Like who is this guy? You, you were somebody totally different a couple years ago, and so I told people. I said, hey, I just got immersed in fitness and psychology. I was obsessed with learning about the body and the mind and how we could overcome stress, endure stress to our physical body and endure mental stress but come out positively in the end.
Derick:And so, with everything happening at home, of the physical abuse, of all the trauma and all that is, I realized that kids and teens that went through a lot of those things. They tend to give what they weren't receiving. So our home and our family ran like a business. We had dinner for like five minutes, all right. What do you got to do next? What's next? What's next? What's next? There was never. I love you, let me give you a hug.
Derick:Affection how was your day? How was this? There was none of that. It's like what'd you get on the test? All right, that's it. All right. Let's go study, go work out, go do whatever. So it ran like a system. There was no real affection.
Derick:So on personal side, I was missing that camaraderie of the family, that love, that feeling of being heard and understood, and so I learned that I was the kid and the teen who would give that to people. I really fell in love with learning people's stories, being present with them, actively listening. Because I noticed that it was very rare to see that anybody would actually listen to people. They would just listen to cut them off, to then tell that anybody would actually listen to people. They would just listen to cut them off, to then tell their opinion, besides listening to understand. So I was that team that always wanted to give somebody my time and actually sit with them.
Derick:And so by the age of 15, I made so much physical and mental progress that people were asking me like hey, can I work with you? And so at the age of 15, I actually got certified as a personal trainer. Wait, I thought there was an age limit for that. I thought you at least had to be 18. Work and I became certified on paper at 15 and I started training my neighbors, my parents, friends, my teachers, my friends. I was also in army, rotc in school and also in martial arts. So because I was in such a positive transformation, people just saw how mentally calm I was and they wanted to learn like, hey, how'd you get in shape and how do you never seem stressed? You always seem so blank. And I would teach them natural modalities. And I fell in love with the fitness aspect. But at that time but before I was even 16, I knew long-term I was going to do something that was deeper than just fitness performance and helping people have a better relationship with food.
Brad:That's definitely something that's needed right now. Adam, I need to cut you off. I just want you to step back here for a couple of minutes. I've got a couple of questions. One is you said that your father moved you to Pensacola and he was driving back and forth to Fort Rucker to retire. So when did he actually retire? Yeah, so third grade, you're like eight, right Eight, six, seven, eight. Yeah, so you're like eight, nine, and then you got there, and then about 11, you said, is when things started to shift at home, and at 12, that's my biggest thing at 12, you realized that you needed to do all this changing, that you were going to make this pack with yourself. That's remarkable, because that's. Do you attribute that to your time in Germany and that structure?
Derick:I honestly attribute it to getting obsessed with learning people's comeback stories. So before the age of 12, I didn't have faith, I didn't believe in God, I didn't believe in the universe, I didn't believe in any of that stuff because I was that kid that would ask the questions why does bad things happen to good people? Why does this happen to children overseas? Why is X, y, z? And nobody had answers for me. And so until I went through a lot of dark things I realized I started having stronger faith, with all the pain, because I knew what would happen if I picked up the bottle or picked up any drug, because on both sides of my family drugs and alcoholism is very rampant and a lot of people have passed away from those things. So I knew in my bloodline extremism and addictions ran in there. So I got addicted to fitness and personal development and mindset.
Derick:And the first time of having an excruciating workout after honestly just getting my ass beat all night once they would pass out drunk I would go in the garage and work out and after my workout I would have such calmness. And that is when either I was delusional, either I was dehydrated, or either I was just outside of myself. But I started to have visions and hearing God and he would just talk to me and I would just pray. And it was only like after workouts, when I would just have the equilibrium of there's no thoughts, there's no self-judgment, there's no emotions, and I was just blank and I realized that I was working really well with my faith at that time period, and the reason why is because I wasn't learning a lot in church. I tried different churches. Nobody was answering questions. I was the kid that would just ask too much. And they're like all right, he's asking too much, let's get him out of here, somebody tell him to shut up. And I was like all right, well, I guess I got to go on my own journey because nobody wants to answer questions. Well, I guess I got to go on my own journey because nobody wants to answer questions.
Derick:And fitness was the inlet. And then the secondary part of the personal development was my faith. And the faith came afterwards, after the workouts, and then, eventually, I learned that, hey, I can use both to my advantage. And so, with that being said, I realized that my gift at the age of 12 was discernment, and I was consuming this type of information back then Like saying it now, it just sounds funny to myself, but when you see your mom almost die in your arms, like multiple times, and then like blood on the floor and like all kind of violence at home and you see all this stuff and you've seen somebody overdose in your family and all this, seen somebody overdose in your family and all this you either choose that path or you choose the positive path.
Brad:So I knew how like hell and darkness looked hey, hang on, man, you can't drop stuff like that and not give us a little bit of detail. I mean, I know it's probably it might not be the easiest thing for you to think about, but you know I dropped something about your mom almost dying and then glance over it. You gotta give us a little bit of detail.
Derick:Yeah for sure. So my mother's been always been an amazing physical shape. She would always work out and health was fine, but she did have she was borderline diabetic and sometimes when she was screaming only when she was drunk. I don't know about all cultures, but German culture, hispanic culture and Korean culture are very similar in regards to when they're trying to get their point across. They will not stop until they fall asleep or pass out, like there's no off button. It's either on or falls asleep or passes out, like legitimately. And so add a couple bottles of wine to that and some anger and rage and then there you go. So since you, essentially what would happen is I guess your sugar would drop from having excess wine and while yelling and mid-yelling she would just pass out and like hit the tile floor and just pass out.
Derick:And there was one time that it happened where she did not have a pulse. And I'm a teenager in this living room in this big beautiful house in Florida, and two hours before that the guests left. I'm like, oh, your parents, your family's amazing and I'm just that kid, that's like I can just feel the darkness about to hit. And so the first time that it happened, she passed out and I'm feeling her and I don't feel a heartbeat. And I was in ROTC and I knew all the basics and so in that time period I really didn't have fear because I was used to this kind of stuff happening. But at that in particular night her pulse wasn't coming back. I did mouth to mouth, did the compressions, did CPR on my own mother. My dad comes in, he's drunk and he's like this is your fault. And he's like blacked out drug and he's like oh, my wife is dead because of you. And blah, blah, blah. And, mind you, I had AB on a roll, never got a referral in my life, never been arrested, never like I did the stupid teenage stuff. But there was no reason for somebody to be that angry with me and I knew that it was not me. And so, with him screaming like that and with her being passed out, I'm like you know what? I need? To call 911. I can't do it in here because it's my turn. Violent, them thinking I hurt my own mother. So I step outside, I call and I'm just calm yes, ma'am, here's the address. My mother, there's no pulse, just need help, blah, blah. And so as I'm about to get off the phone. My dad comes outside into the front yard and just yelling, and they just hear a guy yelling in the background. My dad's like six foot three, just big ass guy. And they hear his deep voice. And then he's like, yeah, this is all your fault. And then the lady's like did you do something to your mother? And I'm like, oh, my goodness, I see, I see where this is going.
Derick:And so about 15 to 20 minutes later, fire truck, ambulance, multiple cop cars in this beautiful neighborhood, just pull up. And it's like 10 pm, probably like a Tuesday or Wednesday night, just during the week. All these vehicles are in front of the house and I already called my friend at that time and I was like, hey, can you guys pick me up? And I was too young to drive back then, but I have some older friends. I was like, hey, can you guys pick me up? And I was too young to drive back then, but I had some older friends. I was like I just got to get out of here and so I'm waiting on my friend to come with all these people out here and I'm just waiting to see is my mother, did my mother pass away? I just want an answer. That's all I want, and then I'll continue with my life.
Derick:And so I'm standing in the driveway, they go in, the EMTs rush in my dad's inside, and then I give it a couple of minutes and then I walked to the front door. As I walked to the front door, I remember clear as day, there's this cop there and he's like hey, your dad told me, this is your fault. Did you put your hands on your mother's son? And my blood is boiling at this point, but I'm staying calm. I was like no, sir, I I actually called.
Derick:She's more like diabetic. Sometimes she drinks. She was screaming. Blood sugar must have dropped. She literally just passed out. So if she has a concussion, that's why you can check. That's what it is. There's no mark on her besides the back of her head and he's, like you, sure about those, I guess, sir, I'm sure. How about you go look at her and not question me?
Derick:And I'm just getting aggravated. I'm like I just want to know if my mom's alive or dead right now. Like can we stop this right now? And I'm like 13, 14 years old when this is happening. So everything's going through my head. I'm like one I'm gonna go to jail. Two, my mom's probably dead. Three, they're probably gonna say that I did it or did some violence. And I'm just having all this stuff go in my head.
Derick:And then, out of nowhere, this short hispanic emt it's probably like five foot flat. She just comes out of nowhere and just says everybody shut the. And she's like screaming and all of us shut up. And she walked to the door and she says sir, you should be thanking your son because I was about to walk here to tell you guys the bad news and as I was walking up, your wife started coughing. Somehow. I did electric shock on her. I did check her pulse multiple times and she didn't come back. And as I'm walking to tell you guys bad news, she starts coughing. So you should be thankful. Your son even called.
Derick:And then I walk in. She's like let him in. He didn't do anything. She had a concussion, there's no marks on her and, yes, her blood excuse me, her alcohol is very high in her bloodstream. So he was not lying. I said thank you, ma'am.
Derick:So I walk in and I look around in the living room and I see my mother on the couch. She has an IV and she comes back to her senses, but again she's like, there he is, he did this to me and I'm like, oh my God, is this like a movie right now? Because she's blackout drunk, she doesn't know what's even happening and she's just screaming. And then my dad's like, yeah, you see this. And I said I got to get out of here. I was like man, thank you for what you did, I appreciate it.
Derick:So I walk out, my friend, luckily around that time already pulled in the driveway and then I left. My friend, luckily, around that time, already pulled in the driveway and then I left. But like that's one example of one of those nights. So there's been multiple of those nights and we're blessed that, like both my parents are still alive. I don't know how my mother has survived that in many nights, like literally not having a pulse, but sometimes that can happen. So, on a side note, if people have alcoholism or drug addicts in their family, somehow some of them like just keep coming back.
Brad:Yeah, Well, it makes sense now why you were so calm. You know what I mean For you to live through that and over and over again, it makes sense that you were able to. You know it's just another night, so you were able to remain calm and then, of course, on top of that you were, you know your personal development probably got you to the point where you were. You know you were able just to sit back and you know, kind of push it down is basically what you did. You kind of held your feelings in is what it sounds like to me, which is in that situation is what you want to do, right, Because you don't want to go, you don't want to go off the handle. And then everybody's starting to point to figures and they already did.
Brad:The only marks on her should have been your compressions. Yeah, you know, and that would have been evidence enough, and it sounds like the EMT knew that. So, yeah, yeah, I can think of. I know most of the people that I've dealt with probably would not have had the sense or the ability to to think clearly in that situation. So that's kudos, what kind of makes it? Kind of makes it and we're going to get to it, but it definitely tells a story of how you did, how well you did in the, in the military as well, Cause you kind of need that, especially when you're dealing with drill instructors. Oh yeah, All right. So yeah, so okay. So you're 15, 16, you're, and you're in a public high school, I'm assuming.
Derick:Yes, I'm in public school, personal training in school, also in army ROTC, and so a huge reason that I joined army ROTC was I loved the military camaraderie, the aspect of it. I'd always watch my dad get up early, him and his buddies, and all that just that brotherhood, and I wanted to be part of that. And also I knew that my younger version still has some fears of height excuse me, fears of heights, other fears. I was like all right, I need to face this. I did not want to do 20 plus years, but I knew that a temporary time period would help me a lot and it would look good on my resume and I just knew I needed to get out of my comfort zone. So I did it, more so for my younger version because he would have been scared. So that's why I honestly joined.
Brad:I'm going to assume you haven't mentioned it, but I'm going to assume that you were an only child.
Derick:No, I had an older sister, so I have a full sister older. She was five years older than me and then I have a half sister. Both are older. But my sister that lived in our home, she's actually a genius. So funny thing is she skipped two grades and because I was just a normal kid that made a's and b's and I didn't skip a grade, I was compared to like a genius who didn't even have to try and it was like a funny dichotomy in the home.
Derick:So beautiful home, hardworking parents. At night all hell broke loose and they wouldn't really mess with her. They would just mess with me because I'm the youngest. And then she's like what's going on? And she doesn't even have to try. She's like smoking weed in a room, just passing all the classes, and I'm like so yeah, so like, I'm the kid who didn't never smoke, never drank back then never got in trouble. She was getting in trouble. But they're like well, she's got all these full-ride scholarships already, like we don't have to pay a dime and all like. So this is a funny dichotomy of the difference in the house. So I was the black sheep of the family. They all had. They were all cuckoo in a good way. They're all very intelligent, but they're all're all cuckoo in a good way and it's all love. Like I could talk about it now. But it's just funny in hindsight to see that I was actually the non-crazy one in the home because I was the most neutral.
Brad:Yeah, I could see Since then has the partying at night faltered, has it kind of lessened out since then?
Derick:I haven't seen them, my parents, in about like five to six years. Wow, yeah, I'm 34. So I haven't been in the house since 18, but I did keep in touch with them throughout the years, a couple of years ago. But I will say, for my own mental health, for my business growth, for my relationship growth and everything else, one of the best things I did for myself just so I know this was seven years ago the best thing I did for my own mental health besides starting my personal development journey at 12, was seven years ago, so I was 27. And that was I changed my phone number. The reason I changed my phone number is because I would receive drunk voicemails and drunk paragraph texts but I mean 30 paragraph texts at odd hours of day and I would be on a coaching call, be in a gym, be on a date with my girlfriend, studying, improving my skill sets, and then, out of nowhere, my phone would vibrate and I would just see this random stuff that had nothing to do with anything in the present moment and I knew it was just drunk rants and it was just knowing that.
Derick:A narcissist even if it's not family, but a narcissist when they know that they don't have control of you and you don't need them in any kind of way. For years on end, they want to find a way to sneak in and bring up something from your past to try to control them, manipulate you again, to overshadow their insecurities. So I knew this deep down. I knew the psychology, I knew their patterns and all this, but I knew that the only way that everything was going to take off in life was if I blocked access to myself from family and not saying there's any hate or anger anymore. But it was just more so for me. I had to, and so if they want to contact me, there's email or social media. They end up in the message request folder, but I have control of if I want to respond and so I had to do it for myself. So, honestly, that's one of the biggest things that helped in regards to my adult mental health journey was just changing my phone number, because I'm not going to say nothing stresses me out, but normal things, as most veterans would agree, normal things in society don't really stress us because we've seen a lot.
Derick:But the only thing that would still irk me is when that name or his name would pop up on my phone. I was like I'll just feel this annoyance or rage and it would just make me angry for a couple hours. I'm a very positive, laid back person, love to make people's day. But the second that that would pop up on the screen internally I'd be off for like two hours or three hours straight, even if I wasn't thinking about it, just my whole body, language, heart rate would be up. And it was just the interruption because I'd be in a total flow state, doing whatever I was doing, and I said you know what, let me just block the access.
Derick:And so my goal for this year now to come to the present moment is to surprise them later this year, in 2024, go to the home. But I'm going to do this and say hey, before we have a conversation, I just would like you to sit down. Then I'm going to play my laptop on their screen and I just want them to take 45 minutes to two hours, depending on how many are on there at that time period, to watch every single testimonial video and picture. Not to say I told you so, but just to say this is why I went this path and didn't stay in the army. Okay, because they wanted me to stay in 20 years. Hey, you were soldier of the year multiple times. It's good, blah, blah, blah, safe route. Because in their mind, coaching fitness equals broke bodybuilder. That's the mentality they had. Broke bodybuilder lives in this truck and I was like you don't know the power of this thing. So I was always using social media to empower people and I realized that I was onto something, and so that's one of my goals for this year, and after I showed them that it's more so, like a thank you, I appreciate everything that happened. This is why I'm good at what I do.
Derick:90% of these videos are regarding life coaching. It's not just abs, nice legs, 225 on bench. It's more than that. There's also clients that got off drugs, alcohol, traumas, overcame those things. So I want them to see those videos and to say I appreciate you. They just see my calmness. You guys helped me with this, had to love you from a distance, but you guys gave me skills that I probably wouldn't have had if I would have not had this upbringing. So I appreciate you and at that time period, if they'd like to have a conversation or a friendship or relationship, awesome. If they don't, also awesome, cause at least I know I feel good, where I'm like hey, I appreciate you with everything. There's no anger, hate or resentment. But if we cannot have a common ground conversation then, hey, I'll talk to you guys in a couple years. But yeah, so that's honestly just where I'm at, but again, it's just a neutral feeling of being grateful for what happened.
Derick:So, going to one of my favorite quotes from Tony Robbins is life is happening for you, not to you. And one of my other favorite quotes from Tony is if my mother gave me the love I wanted as a child, I would not be the man I am today. If my mother gave me the love I wanted as a child, I would not be the man I am today. Those two quotes have stuck with me since I first heard them around 12 years old, because my father would always listen to Tony Robbins tapes, zig Ziglar and all that, which is funny because the night before it was like beating my ass and the next day he's dropping me to practice and we're listening to Tony and I'm like this is interesting duality. But that's where I am am and I do appreciate everything in life.
Derick:So when I speak to people, I just challenge them to say what gift or light can you find in the pain or in the trauma? What gift or light can you find in the pain or the trauma? So my gift, I realized at age 12, was discernment. I could feel people's energy. Strangers would come up to me and just open up. At first it was overwhelming. I'm like why is this old lady just pointing her heart out? She's like crying on my shoulder. I'm like what is happening? But then I realized that was what was supposed to happen.
Brad:That's. I mean, that's pretty amazing. I think what you're coming upon is something that people, a lot of people in this generation that's popping up. It's self-actualization. Yes, like you, you figured that out. You figured out, hey, that negative aspect that causes me this stress is my parents, and as much as they're my parents, my family. That's what's causing me this stress, so I need to eliminate that. You know that's what's causing me the stress, so I need to eliminate that. You know, not completely, because, again, it's family, but enough, so you can go on and continue to grow, you know, as you want to. So it's really it's I mean, it's basically turning. It's turning adversity into empowerment, exactly A hundred percent, yeah. So yeah, you'd be. I for those, those listening. And, derek, if you want to give it a shot, I'd love to.
Brad:But one of my, one of my very first episodes as a guy named Luke Fernandez that kind of had some of the same journey, except that he had a deal with depression in the midst, but he figured out what it was, just like you did. It was a self-actualization. But the other thing that he really figured out was fitness and how he has a coaching business as well, and he's always like no, first you gotta start working out, that's it. He says no, we're not touching the life coaching until you start working out. Yeah, you've been doing it for, and you were doing it for a month. I'll give you whatever you want, I'll take care of all your tools. And you seem to be kind of going on that same direction as far as I saw in your testimonials.
Brad:I'm not sure if that's how you start we haven't gotten to that point yet but but I can see where the, the self-discipline and the flow state is kind of what you were describing when you talked about you going in to the garage and working out while your parents were partying and finding that flow state, and that's kind of what got you to where you were. So now it makes. Now you deciding at 12 to hit the gym and start learning about personal development. That makes all the sense in the world, which is why I had to step you back. I appreciate it, yeah, but no, it makes a lot of sense now. So all right. So so you all right. Let's say what. You graduated high school.
Derick:Yes. So graduated high school in Pensacola, florida, and then I went to the University of West Florida. I had a full ride scholarship with Army ROTC Along with in the state of Florida we have a scholarship called the Bright Future Scholarship and so I had those and so parents were happy, didn't have to pay a dime for anything. So that was cool. But deep down I just knew that I wasn't going to be doing full-time army for 20 plus years. So in college I studied exercise science and also studied a minor in military science and psychology. I love the brain, I love the body, and a lot of what I do now is mind-body connection rather than just performance or just tell me about your trauma. I cover both so that way we can fully overcome it. So we're not just talking or only working out, because that was the missing piece. But definitely in college is where I got deeper into my coaching modalities, because I realized that having discernment gave you the skill to capture people's patterns quick, because I caught my patterns of my family myself, even like my response to them and their response to me and vice versa, and I'd always see things at a higher level and I just fell in love with that and growing up as a quiet kid, I was always literally the DD for my parents, even way before I had a license. But I would sit in the corner, eat the food at their friend's house and just people watch and I was like this is like a reality show in here. I'm like he went to the bathroom, they talked about him and vice versa. I'm like what the fuck? But it was interesting because I learned so much about psychology just growing up being that fly on the wall, just watching people, and so bringing that into Army, rotc and field training. I could sense the soldier's energy off if it was something personal, something from their past, something happening right now, and I would always pull them to the side or approach them strategically in a different way and I realized it came really natural. So the unapproachable person that was really aggressive and all that was like the easiest person to talk to because you could sense that they were just overshadowing something and whether that was male or female soldier, and then on the flip side, the quiet one, and then them learning like, oh wait, he does relate to me and I'd tell him a little bit about myself, we'd speak, and I just always love making somebody feel heard or understood, because I knew what it felt like to not feel that. And in hindsight I was like man this is amazing. Life prepared me for all of this and so in college I really fell in love with psychology and the natural modalities.
Derick:I got nothing against therapists, nothing major against big pharma. I think a lot of things are unnecessary. But I did realize that a lot of people hit a wall and they're stuck and I want to do it, to do everything I could to help people get unstuck by. Maybe they forget because they feel so good, they forget to take the prescription, or maybe they forget to keep going to the therapist because now they're making actual progress and not just venting every Tuesday and Thursday, putting themselves in a dark place for three hours. And again, therapy can help, it is effective, but I've worked with many people that had the same therapist for five to 10 years and they've been in the same position and we worked together for one month and then make such major progress and it just makes you wonder like what did he or she have you doing? How many times are you going to repeat what happened when you were 12 without having much progress? So that's what always irked me.
Derick:So that's what inspired me deep down is to help people break their patterns so they can feel like they have control, like they're thriving, not just surviving, and also to show them that they don't have to be codependent on a person or on a substance to get through things, to mask things or to take the edge off. So that's my deepest passion is to show people that the power that they're searching for is actually already within them. It's always been within them. They just have to get rid of stuff first. So teaching them how to get rid of these things, and they're like wow, I'm the one in control. So teaching them how to get rid of these things, and they're like wow, I'm the one in control. Their food, their mindset, their reaction to people, to their toxic family, toxic boss, traffic they're not speaking about somebody that cut them off in traffic 7 am to their family at 7 pm at dinner. Like you won't believe what happened this morning. It was a two-minute interaction. Why are you still talking about that?
Brad:Like it's 7 pm, you're having dinner with your family. What is going on? Oh, I completely agree and I get you because I have to. You know, I don't know how you felt in basic, but we had, you know, one drill instructor that was loud and just yelling at us all the time, and you had the one that was like reserved and quiet, and I was more afraid of him because he'd be just like all right, prize. You know what you need to do and just go do it. You know, it's like you knew that, all right, you're getting down and you're giving him 20. Then he'll tell you all right, flip over prize, flip over, all right shuttle. You know, give me some flutter kicks, let's go, let's go, just like that. The other guy would be like you better get down and give me 20 right now. You know, yeah, that guy didn't scare me, I knew he was coming, but the one that was quiet, you didn't want to mess with him. Oh yeah, but yeah, no, I get it.
Brad:I've had, I had a client that you know, lost, lost a partner, and it was getting him out on the bike and we're doing like multiple threshold rides and that you, you know you start to get the endorphins going. Yes, they can start. It's interesting because they can start talking and because of everything going on in their body and their brain. Now, all of a sudden, they could talk rationally, oh yeah, whereas when they are in a normal resting heart rate and, oh yeah, depression state temporarily yeah so I mean it was amazing it was literally amazing that all of a sudden you know where he would be crying.
Brad:All of a sudden he's just really mellow and just yeah, this is what happens kind of feeling bad about it. Well, you know what I mean? I don't know what I'm going to do, but I have a plan and I was like great, you got a plan, so I get that. Yeah, sometimes I wish therapists would like put people on treadmills.
Derick:Yeah, exactly Like in our office, subtle things like that that people don't pay attention to it. It's always the small things that are basic, simple and straightforward that people overlook, like there's no way that just walking can help that way. I'm like, well, if you do a combination of walking and talking and there's a term I forget who originated this quote, but in psychology there's a term that goes if the problem is in the mind, the solution is in the body. If the problem is in the body, the solution is in the mind positive headspace, because they're going to think it's fake. But if they move the body, stretch, walk their dog for five minutes, jumping jacks in place, whatever they want to do just change their state, their physicality, move, shake, play some music and dance for a song, do whatever, play with their kid, play fetch with their dog. After that, if they do something for the mind, it's way more effective because the mind is open and they're not self-judging, they're more in an excited flow state. Same thing with being on the 15th mile on the bike and then he starts talking and just opening up and it's just flowing, making sense, he's not breaking down. You're like, wow, this is amazing. And so that always stood out to me. And the same thing in reverse.
Derick:If the problem is in the mind, the solution, excuse me. If the problem is in the body, the solution is in the mind, Meaning the solution, excuse me. If the problem is in the body, the solution is in the mind, meaning if the person's like am I having an anxiety attack? Step one what have I consumed? Am I dehydrated? Did I have water? Did I have coffee? Before I even had two glasses of water. Yeah, I just dehydrated myself before I was dehydrated. So now my anxiety is up, my heart rate is up, I'm dehydrated and I'm about to fall asleep. So it's like sometimes we got to add up the basics, but it's so interesting, so everything that I do is just so straightforward.
Derick:We can go deeper, but it's not until later on in the programming, until, as you mentioned, they start making the progress, having the confidence, and I just call it stacking wins. Once they've stacked a lot of wins and have built that momentum, they're confident. Then we can say all right, he's in a good zone, now let's talk about the deep stuff and they're more open to it, rather than first conversation Like hey, pleasure to meet you, man. So tell me what happened when you were seven? What'd your uncle do to you?
Derick:Well, it's nearly impossible for some people to just open up right on the spot. So it's always interesting to see what the best approach is at what time period for a specific individual and also their communication style. That's what I feel a huge disconnect is within companies leadership and therapy. Wherever somebody is in a controlled environment and they have a leadership that does not communicate differently with each individual, they, more so, are stuck in the knife hand mode. If you are listening, the knife hand mode is the drill sergeant or the army guy just in your face pointing, or the alcoholic parent screaming. So that different approach of speaking to them like a human or pulling them aside instead of embarrassing them in front of the team.
Derick:But it's crazy to me how leadership training is so rare where us military guys, or even like sports coaches, teach corporate America and they're like, wow, this is some groundbreaking stuff. But internally we're like wait, like no, no wonder you guys have such high turnover rate. What do you expect? But again, it doesn't click for some. But that's where we come into play. But it's just crazy how a lot of people, companies, organizations just over complicate things. They think super high level and we just bring it down. Simplistic. Just follow these steps. Let's elevate the team's morale, your own morale, and then we can start to go deeper, opposed to just this high level which they can't absorb it or they can't take action on it, or they just think it's just fluff. Well, it's not going to work. So it just always has blown my mind how good leadership is so rare nowadays. And it makes sense.
Brad:No, I totally agree. Yeah, getting back on what we were talking about before, yeah, yeah, I was. There's several stories of um, some ultra marathoners that you know they're running first hundred mile races and I've got a couple of clients that have done it and they said that like things open up, at like at 75, 76 miles, 77, 80 miles, 76 miles, 77, 80 miles, they like emotions, just like pour out things they've never, ever thought about before in their life and it all comes pouring to the top and they get really emotional. But it's so cleansing, like it lets it out. But it lets it out in such a healthy way and like can't figure out.
Brad:One woman was telling me she couldn't figure out whether she was laughing or crying Cause just, it was just this outpouring of emotion. But she said, when she was done and she was able to reflect on what, everything that was going on in her head, that it was a very like she said, cleansing. It was like all that stuff, all that extra stress that she's been holding onto. But then when you're done and you've let it all go, now it's even keel. It's almost like starting from scratch again, like a clean slate, and I think that's what you're talking about here is you get them into those winds, stacking the winds, and then you can sit them down and go okay, well, let's talk about this, and then they get that clean slate exam. Yeah, so I, yeah, that's amazing. So, all right. So, university of West Florida is that what you said?
Derick:Yes, university of West Florida, that's in Pensacola, florida.
Brad:Okay, so you stay kind of, did you? Did you stay at home while you were in school or did you go? Did you hit the-. No, I was on campus.
Derick:Okay, yeah, I was on campus because of the Army ROTC program there.
Brad:Okay, so it was Pensacola. Yeah, it's going to be a pretty big, decent program. When I was in ROTC, it wasn't the wasn't the biggest or the greatest program in the world. I mean, we got to do a lot of stuff but it wasn't. You know, it wasn't great, it wasn't something that it wasn't even didn't even meet as often as like you'd be if you were in a fraternity or something, right, yes, so I imagine. So the Army ROTC actually puts you up is is that you stayed in, not I wouldn't say a barracks, but it was a dorm, that was yes dorms, apartments, really nice apartments on campus, so military paid for it, plus tuition and fees, oh nice.
Derick:I had the other scholarship which helped, like pay for food and everything, so I wanted to just take advantage of that and just be on campus and in rtc. Now in army rtc at least you have class two days a week, it's for two, two hours, and then you also have PT five, actually three mornings a week, so Monday, wednesday, friday, and so I would just like walk to formation and all that. So it was just convenient and it all worked out, because I also worked at the gym there as well, so I could just walk to work and I walked to classes. So that's my real reason for joining.
Brad:Perfect, so did you. Were you one of the guys that ended up? Did you go to basic?
Derick:between junior and senior year. No, so I did not go to OCS. So I actually got out of ROTC and I went national guard. Because I got introduced to some leadership. We really clicked and I got a clear path to what decisions I wanted to make. So my original thought was criminology, military intelligence, army officer go that route. But with the route that I was on and working with so many people throughout college, I was like I think I'm onto something. I work with so many people who have these skills. I can't just say, hey, I'm putting this on pause, I'm just going to go active and the heck with training or coaching. So I saw a clear path. So I went five years active. So my junior year I did go to basic. And that's when I went to basic, did five years active and then I finished with the last five years of Army National Guard in the state of Florida and in basic.
Derick:Going back to what you're mentioning earlier with the different drill sergeants, mine were similar. I had three. You had the African-American female who wouldn't stop screaming. She was just like an annoyance in your head but she would smoke the shit out of you. Then you had the very calm infantry guy. That had everything you could think of on his chest. He was like five foot two, just chill White guy, just like Johnson go, and he would barely say anything when he was yelling. You had to have done something when he was yelling. And then our lead instructor was a Filipino. He was one of the best leaders in the army I've ever met and to this day we keep in touch via Facebook and all that and just an awesome guy. He's a master sergeant now but just his leadership style was one of the best things. So those three different is like the three headed beast. You had the country black girl from outside of Memphis, just screaming and yelling get you in crazy shape and she would teach you really well. And then you had the infantry guy was really calm and confident. He would teach you everything in the field with the weapons. And then the overall well-rounded leader just calm and could also snap into place was the Filipino drill sergeant. So I just love that aspect of it.
Derick:But with day one and two, shark week as a whole. Shark week, essentially for non-military, is when you get off the bus and all the drill sergeants run up to you, so that first week you're just like a chicken with a head cut off during the headlights, look, don't know where to go because they're just playing a mental game. At that time period, when I first got off the bus and seven were surrounding me and just screaming, it took everything within me not to bust out laughing. The reason why? Because in my head I was like my five foot two mother would destroy all of you and my dad would freaking throw y'all through a wall. And I was just like, wow, they prepared me for this because it was crazier at home than right now. I was like, and I get paid to be here and I get free food Awesome, this is a walk in the park. So, honestly, the mental and physical aspect I actually really enjoyed basic Because of the upbringing and because I love the challenge, and I was like, wow, and in those moments it clicked and I said, all right, our beautiful home was the training ground for all this.
Derick:So, and I, you know when you're, when they can see that you're not scared, they'll choose somebody to be the platoon guard. So they chose me because I was just calm in those environments and then I, everything just started to click. I'm like I'm supposed to be the platoon guard. So they chose me because I was just calm in those environments and then I, everything just started to click. I'm like I'm supposed to be here, and then I would see the male or female soldier.
Derick:I went to Fort Jackson, so we have male and females. Some would call it relaxing Jackson, but we still got our ass kicked. But in general is that the individual who's 18, 19 years old that is scared out of their mind has never witnessed anything like this. I could see my younger version in them. Then I'd approach them differently and then the same thing with, like the people that grew up in a rough home. You could see that they were calm.
Derick:But I just love seeing the dichotomy of different communication styles, different ethnicities, different people's reactions to the stress lack of sleep, dehydration, being hungry and those environments I feel like the best leaders truly thrive in those, because you're not worried about yourself in that moment. Yes, I'm tired, yes, I'm dehydrated, yes, I feel everything everyone else feels, but you have soldiers that depend on you and another version of you just takes over. And that's my favorite part of that basic or any other army training school where you feel just you can't go anymore. You have a seven, three days, but something just takes over, and for two more days you just go hard and lead by example, and it's just incredible.
Brad:Yeah, no, I agree, I, it was after basic. When I finished basic I felt like it was the greatest thing ever. Now I went to Fort Sill with the field artillery, oh yeah, and I was one of the last. All male classes, okay, right. So my whole battery back then. You know battery, and then you know platoons. My whole battery was guys and all the drill sergeants were guys. So they beat up on you a little bit. Oh, you know what I mean. They didn't have a problem.
Brad:Yeah, broke my hand during BRM. I was trying to. You know, you're supposed to keep it nice and set. The barrel is supposed to be nice and steady in your hand, right, yes, and I was. I just needed just like just a couple millimeters. So I just up, like this, and I just kind of picked the better up, just enough, and drill Sergeant Marshman saw me and he came over and he goes, put that back in your hand and he steps on the barrel right onto my hand and literally crushed my hand. So but finished out BRM because I wasn't saying anything, I wasn't going to be one of the sick, lame and lazy that was going to go get a profile. That wasn't happening there. But, interesting enough.
Brad:When I went to ait, I went to fort jackson, okay, interesting. So yeah, so I was there for ait and I'll never forget it because, like you said, they'd already been doing um, co-ed military, co-ed basic, so they'd already been around. And I get there and there's two of us coming from fort sill into fort jackson, we in, but with all the traveling and stuff, we don't get there till like 9 pm and all everybody's like scattered around the barracks and they're all in pts and stuff. And we're, because we come from fort sill, class a's, everything's perfect. We're at parade rest, sitting in there waiting for the sergeant that's on cq to assign us a bunk you know rack, and this girl comes out, pts are like, you know, like the zipper's halfway down and hood's not right and her stuff's she's got. She's at this very weird off kilter at ease position and she's like and the sergeant telling her something to do and she goes.
Brad:But sergeant and I look back at my friend, where we are at perfect military bearing, yeah, straight up, and I looked at him and I was like is going on, this is not right, this is not where we came to. And that was like culture shock for me, being that the military was in that way. But once I got out of Fort Jackson and I got to permanent duty in Korea, went back to being full military bearing, so I was grateful for that. So all right. So you ended up going to basic between junior and senior year and then you get out, you go to AIT right outside of college.
Derick:I went to AIT in Fort Gordon, georgia, right, and that's where a lot of satellite communication is. You have some of the biggest satellites there and good training school. So Fort Gordon, georgia, that's where I went to AIT, and a lot of camo guys, a lot of SF guys, rangers, are there because some of us will train with them, because obviously they need a secondary and primary. But I loved it there. Honestly, it was a good experience because I got to get back in my zone and because of basic, I actually lost 20 to 25 pounds in basic. So and it was like all muscle because you're not hitting the weights. So, like internally, I was like I'm shriveling up, I'm becoming that skinny kid, I'm not going back.
Derick:And so, ait, I was just going to class, going to DFAC and going to the gym, and everybody was like you want to go to the hotel party? I was like nope, and they're like man, you're in such a zone. I was like you don't know how happy I am. I can just walk to the gym, walk to the barracks, go to class. And I was like I'm actually enjoying this.
Derick:And then I'd go to like Hooters or Buffalo Wild Wings on the weekend, some nights, to watch a game or a fight or something, but besides that, like I didn't party, didn't drink or anything. And it's just funny now in hindsight that some of my current active clients I actually met way back when they're like dude, you're still like in that same zone and they're like I didn't tell you that back then but you impressed me every time you turned down a drink and I was like I wasn't judging, I just didn't want to do stuff. And it's just funny because I don't think about it. And nowadays you're like man that I always thought about that and now I'm like good, I'm glad I didn't give into the peer pressure.
Brad:Right, no-transcript. I bulked all out and then got to AIT and I did the same thing and free time when I had, when I was able to do it, we just went to the gym and then all of a sudden shredded out. So when I got home after AIT man, it was, that was probably the best I've ever looked. It was great. And we were talking about this earlier about the generations and stuff and how they're going through. You know kind of well, we didn't mention the word, but it kind of like a victimization. I feel like here and I've said this before to a lot of people and I think like every 18 year old they'd have to go to, whether they go to the military, whether they serve or not, they should all have to fricking go to basic.
Derick:Exactly, I totally agree because, especially if they don't have a good home life and no structure and I totally agree with that like I work with some teenagers where I'd wonder, like how do you not know these basic things? Like I love coaching people but sometimes like where's the common sense? Right, and then but I can't be mad at the teen it's mom, dad's, foster parent, grandma, whoever was their guardian angel or, excuse me, their guardian in that household just makes me wonder, like what was the shift? Because I'm 34, so I grew up on dial-up internet to change it for the fax machine, and then we went through Facebook and Wi-Fi and et cetera, et cetera, so we had like the best of both worlds. So now this new generation, a lot of them do work hard, but the ones that are coddled too much best way to put it it's just scary to see like where some of them are going of not having basic life skills, whether it's common sense or whether it's just analytical thinking.
Derick:But that's where good leaders come into play, because if without good leaders this next generation would be, not all of them will be screwed, but a lot of them would because of just the lack of training, lack of good upbringing, lack of discipline and even general respect. But the ones that do have a good head on their shoulders, they are working really hard, very intelligent, especially with the tech space and cyber security and all that, but the big picture it's it's rare to see when they're really focused and have I'm in the south even just manners. Thank you, yes, ma'am, no man like that's so rare. With this generation in my head, I see these kids out when I'm at the mall and I'm like man. My parents would slap the shit if I said that.
Brad:I said that oh no, I agree, I agree. So you get out of Fort Gordon, when was your first duty station.
Derick:So I get out of Fort Gordon and then I go to Pensacola, florida. So my Army unit was Pensacola, florida. Pensacola is actually known as the Navy, as the main Navy base. So you have, the Blue Angels are from there, so a lot of people are familiar with the Blue Angel Airshow, the jets, and so they started having army there as well.
Derick:So I was at an army attachment there for satellite communications and then we would travel a lot. So we would go to Central and South America do exhibitions for like three to six months and it was just different training environments. So personally I've never been to the Middle East. I was never deployed to Iraq, afghanistan, kuwait or anywhere. My buddies were, but my unit detached we went to Central South America and we'd also go to South Florida a lot to give commo to South Com, to some of the SF, and it was very interesting. I learned a lot.
Derick:But I was surprised that I went South instead of East or West, but I was in Pensacola. Surprised that I went South instead of East or West, but I was in Pensacola. And then I would bounce around to different training schools, but the majority of my time was in the Pensacola area and also at Camp Blanding is a small training base outside of Jacksonville, florida, and we would spend a lot of time there. So army active duty and guard are there a lot. It's completely empty when nobody's there training, so everything is super dusty and it's super sketch, but I have a lot of memories there. It's in the middle of nowhere, so I did air assault school there, a lot of other schools and so, with me being satellite communications and on the verge to going guard, I was bouncing throughout florida and then going to Central and South America.
Brad:Sweet yeah, so you got, you got some good experience with the military. Yeah, yeah, I don't know where I would have been if I, if I didn't, if I wasn't in the military. When I went, when I decided to go and I went a little bit later, I had already I already been to college and I'd already well, I guess the same thing as you. Yeah, basically when. So we were a little, both of us were a little bit older. When we finally went basic.
Brad:Oh yeah, oh, that was the one thing. I never that that way. You would. You had talked about that earlier. I remember these kids at 18 years old no drill sergeant's gonna he, I'm just gonna laugh in his face right and I was like, okay, let's see, let's see you do that. Yeah, never seen such scared kids in my life. Oh yeah, they're about to pee themselves.
Derick:Exactly. I had one guy that had a huge Chevy symbol and some other gang stuff on his tats and he's like I'm Robin Bush Gooden. He was crying and I was like I told you, man, I was like that street stuff doesn't matter here. I was like dude, yeah. So you ended up there for five years and you decided to get out the 12 hours from Pensacola excuse me, from Miami to Pensacola. A lot of people don't realize that Florida is actually that big, so I would drive all throughout. And then I also had a place in Orlando, so I would like stop. And so during that time period I was in Miami, I was doing, I was growing my coaching business, a lot of in-person bootcamps and a lot of life coaching. Life coaching was 90% online and a lot of the in-person coaching was bootcamps and one-on-one and I was guard then. So I was obviously weekend warrior for every couple of weeks or whatever school that I would go to and I was just dedicated on building the coaching business.
Derick:And last but not least, the biggest reason I went to Miami is I pursued modeling and acting. I was with Elite Model Management, the modeling agency, because I wanted to see if I could become an actor and long story short, had some cool experiences, traveled to different countries. But you realize quickly you can't get to the next level without doing weird stuff. So I made it as far as I could being myself showed up on time in shape, helped the team out. But then you realize that the rabbit holes that most of us know about are definitely real. So I hit the ceiling in the industry just being myself, and I was like, all right, in order for me to get hired in this industry, you're gonna have to do some sketchy stuff or be around uh, very dark people. So I was like I have discernment and I have strong faith. I believe in god and jesus christ. So it was like I, I have discernment and I have strong faith. I believe in God and Jesus Christ. I can feel the shift happening and I need to get out of this industry and I never did drugs or anything but just being around some of these people. So, like some examples, some amazing things I did in the industry I was in a couple of commercials with Samsung for their smart gear watch and was doing lunges running on the stadium like doing some awesome commercials. I was only in there for like two seconds, but awesome experiences. And then I kept going up and traveling the States, getting gigs in different countries, and then just after a while I would get invited to the Hollywood parties, the New York penthouse parties, and then you'd see the sketchy stuff that's happening there and I was like all right, this is not for me happening there. And I was like all right, this is not for me. And so this is a guy growing up in alcoholic, drug family and coming military. We're clean, we're focused and all that.
Derick:Then you go into the industry. You're excited, you're like all right, I'm going to show up and I'm going to study this dialogue, I'm going to do this scripts to see how far I can go in the industry and act and model. And then you realize really quickly how political it is and how dark it is. And you're like all right, those rabbit holes that I went down as a kid are definitely real. So then I was like, well, at least now I know I've faced it. And then I'm going all in on the coaching business.
Derick:So a huge life takeaway for people is to whatever your conscience is guiding you to do, just go for it and see what happens. Just go for it and see what happens. I went for the army, went for coaching. I wanted to see what I could do with modeling or acting. I saw that it was going to go down a weird path and I said you know what? Everything always comes back to the basics empowering other people. That fulfills me more than anything. So just to share with people is whatever truly fulfills you at your core. Do more of that thing, even if you don't know how to get there. Right now things are going to come together. You might want to go different routes, try some different things out, but if something's always gravitating you back onto your track of what your deep passion is, that's what I truly feel. That God whatever that individual believes in has you here. For that reason and I truly believe that my reason is just to flip my pain into fuel help heal other people which helps them win, creates a positive ripple effect for people in their life and then also heals our own inner child.
Derick:Where to win, and not in a selfish way, but you probably relate to that. You see a client thriving. He just got engaged. She lost 20 pounds. They just crossed the finish line, beating their time by 10 minutes. But it's deeper. For them. They're like man.
Derick:10 years ago I was drinking out of divorce and it's always the deeper aspect where you're getting chills. You're almost tearing up seeing that text message and you're like, oh man, so that's definitely one of the best things. And then you think back on your younger version. You're like, damn, we were that close to quitting or that close to pivoting or that close to getting into corporate America or whatever thought we had to go, or we thought we were going to go because somebody said that's the safe route. You need to go that safe route. So I'm just happy that I never went the route that others wanted for me. I wanted to do army, I wanted to test out the industry and I wanted to coach. And I'm glad I did all three, because most people are like you can't do all those things, you can't do this and can't do that. I was like F this, I'm going to be the monopoly, excuse me. I'm going to be the analogy of just facing what you want to face and going your own path.
Brad:Yeah no, and then, and you did, and you're only 34. So there's a lot more avenues for you to go. So I'm looking forward to seeing where you end up. But I am totally. I'm excited for everybody. If you're you know, I would tell everybody here that you need to at least go check out fit with Derek and you see it on the screen, or not at D E R I C? K fit with Derekcom. Go check it out. He's got this amazing video that he talks about on the front page. Listen to that and then scroll down and take a look at all the testimonials and read some of them, because they will light you up. So remember that's fitwithderekcom D-E-R-I-C-K. And I'll put that in the show notes. And Derek, yeah, thank you. Thank you very much, and I'm like, and I'm telling you everybody, you need to go check it out.
Derick:But yeah, thank you.
Brad:Yeah, thank you for being on the podcast. I appreciate it. I think a lot of people are going to see a lot of similarities with some of the things that you know, you went through and were able to accomplish and take. You took, you know some of the, you took a adversity and basically you know and then just turn that into an empowerment and I am, I'm grateful yeah, I'm definitely grateful that you're they were able to spend some time and grateful to know you, because definitely we need people like you out there. You know, I really appreciate it, brad.
Derick:I just love powerful conversations, especially with other veterans. Just good to get connected and talk about topics that matter, instead of just yeah, tom, brady, kobe, mj, yeah, who's doing this?
Brad:it's like I don't care no, and I'm hoping that, uh, maybe somewhere, you know, down the line, we'll meet up again and we'll literally have a discussion based on, like training, science or something, as we start to morph this podcast. So thank you again. I appreciate it. I appreciate you, brad, thank you and for all of you out there, don't forget, you know, go ahead and share, like whatever, whichever platform you're looking on, and we will see you in the next episode. Thanks for listening.
