Welcome to In Search of Excellence! You're listening to part two of my awesome conversation with Joe De Sena, the CEO of the global fitness and wellness brand Spartan, which has a community of more than 10 million athletes around the world.

If you haven't yet listened to part one of my conversation with Joe, be sure to check that one out first. In this part, Joe shares his incredible story of perseverance, the importance of mentorship, and how pushing your limits can lead to extreme success and personal growth.

Time stamps:

00:58 From Cornell to Wall Street

The entrepreneurship class at Cornell
Won a $5000 prize in a competition for the best business idea
The advice from one of the judges to go to Wall Street
Went back to his pool business

05:00 Joe’s bold stock investment

Buys Syntax stocks and earns $ 100,000
Sells his pool business for $500,000
Blew it all on the wrong stock investments

07:25 How to get a mentor?

Mentors are looking for basic human skills
Randall’s experience with his mentors
Earning a mentorship – a story about Max

13:35 The importance of taking meetings

You might add value to their life, they might add value to your life
Money comes from the most unexpected places
You never know where a meeting could lead

17:46 A risk to peruse your dream

Leaving the shore is uncomfortable
Take the chances, you can always come back
An incredible red barn story

21:20 The Spartan Company 24 years ago

Getting people outside their comfort zone
In the beginning, it didn’t work
People don’t want to buy discomfort
The change that came with Facebook

23:18 The Death Race

It’s like a Navy SEALs or Delta Force event
Spartan’s toughest event meant to break you
You look in the mirror and find out who you are
What does the Death Race look like?

26:27 Serious health issues in Japan

Joe was stressed out about his business
Woke up one morning and couldn’t see anything
Ended up in the hospital – and was told a part of his brain is dead
He decided not to accept that

28:59 Why do people come to the Spartan race?

When people experience the transformation, it’s addictive
Even if it sucked while they were doing it
Joe’s philosophy - nobody cares, work harder
Optimize your health and wellness to be able to operate

31:01 The fear of failure

Failure is a learning opportunity
A lot of our fear is just fiction

32:48 Three most important ingredients for success

Persistence, Personality, Gratitude
The level of hard work needed for success
You must be willing to sacrifice and save the fun for later

35:45 The importance of extreme preparation

Joe is constantly working and always preparing
He prepares months ahead

37:42 Joe’s ultimate dream

A year of some form of military service post-high school
Disconnecting all water heaters
Kids doing burpees before they come into the school
Is a work-life balance possible?

38:55 Fill in the blanks for excellence

The biggest lesson I've learned in my life is

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