The Post Game Podcast

Greg is a former professional baseball player with the St. Louis Cardinals and current Partner / CEO of Valor Cybersecurity. Valor partners with organizations to help them face cyber threats head on. “The ultimate measure of our success is the enhanced business resilience and security of our partners.” In addition to running the business, Greg hosts a Podcast called “The Connected Mindset,” where he sits down with leaders, authors, and entrepreneurs to discuss the impact of connectivity, digitally and in our relationships. What You’ll Learn About: You can learn a bunch of stuff, but none of it matters unless you take action If you’re not in the role you want to be in, ask why and what you have to do to get into one that aligns How security is something that can bring people together We are more connected than ever before, but less connected at the same time The power of asking “What are you struggling with?” Asking yourself how you are showing up in the world and being honest with yourself How questions can be the best answers How chasing money can often times lead to earning less Timestamps: (0:00) - Intro to Greg (1:15) - Growing up in a military family (4:50) - Testing himself as a college athlete (7:16) - Ups and Downs of College Baseball (13:40) - If you’re not in the role you want to be, ask why (14:10) - Pro baseball career winding down (16:30) - The origin story of Valor Cybersecurity (20:20) - How connected we are internet wise and culturally (21:45) - Why he created his show “The Connected Mindset” (23:45) - Superficial connection vs. getting to deeper levels (25:50) - Importance of self-awareness (29:30) - Questions are the best answers - what do you want to contribute? (33:00) - Money is an exchange of value (35:00) - Speed Round of random questions Where Can You Find Greg? LinkedIn: Greg Tomchick Instagram: @Greg_Tomchick YouTube: The Connected Mindset valor-cybersecurity.com

Michael Gardon is the CEO of Rejoin Media, a digital business holding company. He also hosts a podcast called THE BREAK where he helps career pivoters and folks who are looking to change their careers, start a business, or make a significant change in their life. In 2018, after spending years feeling unfulfilled by his career path, he decided to “break” his career and pursue a calling to help others do the same. What you’ll learn about: Building a future that is uniquely “you” and carving your own path Balancing giving your kids a great life while letting them experience their own struggles The amount of opportunities in front of you you are blind to Thinking internally about your situation and mapping out areas of life to create an advantage for you Teaching younger people how to listen to themselves better Reconfiguring how we think about our work Timestamps: (0:00) - Who is Mike Gardon? (1:10) - Mike’s upbringing and his family today (5:00) - Generational improvement and growing up with struggle (8:00) - When he first realized he needed to “break” his career (11:28) - Investment in Loss (13:30) - Not taking crazy risks, but also taking appropriate risks (16:28) - “It doesn’t start with the idea” (17:45) - Where can you create an edge? (22:20) - How do we figure it out sooner rather than later? (23:25) - The way society is situated for work (26:10) - Teaching younger people to deal with uncertainty (28:30) - Breaking stupid rules (29:50) - What is “The Break” (33:15) - Future of working remotely Where can you find Mike? careercloud.com LinkedIn: Michael Gardon Five Things You Can Do To Become More Resilient During Turbulent Times

Introducing…The Post Game Podcast! The transition from being on a high level sports team or serving in the military isn't easy. The Post Game Podcast will act as a bridge between one part of life to the next. I'll be talking to former college / pro athletes, military vets, and other high performers about their careers, mindset, and more to help you answer the question "What's Next?" The goal is for their stories to inspire you to pursue what you love to do and hopefully close the gap to figuring that out sooner. Thank you for your support!

Jack is the writer of Young Money, a Finance blog that consists of everything from personal finance to travel stories to career advice. He is also the editor of Exec Sum, a financial newsletter started by a popular meme page Litquidity. After graduating from Mercer University and playing 4 years of football, he started down a traditional career path during COVID and quickly realized it wasn’t going to work for him. Since then, he’s done some traveling, grown a newsletter to ~45,000 subscribers / ~250,000 readers, and is proof a traditional career path isn’t for everyone. What You’ll Learn about: Putting content out there to prove you can adequately do a job Embarking on an untraditional path through writing online Focusing on doing more things that will move the needle Not going for the “big stuff” because we don’t have to Good writing coming from good inputs Advice for kids out of college entering the professional world Timestamps: (0:00) - Intro to Jack (1:10) - Walking onto the Mercer Football team (4:18) - Starting down a traditional career path at UPS (6:25) - Starting career remotely during COVID (9:00) - One way ticket to Barcelona (10:30) - Starting finance blog to prove he can put out content (12:00) - Leveraging internet stuff vs. consulting or banking (15:16) - Getting outside the Internet Bubble and into Real World (16:00) - Nothing Wrong with a normal job (18:05) - Value of an Ivy League MBA (20:30) - Leaning in to Resistance (Steven Pressfield) (22:24) - Why do procrastinators procrastinate? (25:30) - Internet can lack context (28:45) - What’s next for Jack? (33:00) - Advice to kids right out of college (34:15) - Advice to kids wanting to travel for a bit (35:40) - Thinking about starting your career as a writer? (37:30) - Random Speed Round Questions Where can you find Jack? Youngmoney.co @JackRaines on X LinkedIn: Jack Raines

On Episode 7, I was joined by Malcolm Lemmons. Malcolm is a former college and professional basketball player, author, and entrepreneur. He is current building a newsletter called the Hype Report: A Weekly newsletter helping sports tech founders and investors become smarter about the industry in less than 5 minutes. He frequently speaks on entrepreneurship, Sports business, Sports tech, Startups, career development, personal branding, and personal development. In 2017, he published Lessons From the Game. In the book, he talks about his experiences dealing with failure, depression, adversity, politics in sports, life after sports, and much more. Malcolm is a great example of a guy who’s not afraid to throw things at the wall to see what sticks and is a guy that focuses on adding value to people without asking for anything in return. Excited for you to check this one out. In this episode, you’ll learn about: Preparing for the transition to business and professional world while being an athlete Regardless of other people’s opinions, you’re the one that has to live with it Working on projects because you love them, not necessarily because there’s a monetary objective Defining your metric of success Finding a tribe of people who can derive value from your work Putting people first and being willing to serve - Business is all about people Timestamps: (0:00) - Intro to Malcolm (1:00) - His upbringing with his Mom and brother (3:35) - Basketball and lessons learned from his career (5:15) - The Coach that made the biggest impact in his life (7:00) - The transition away from basketball (10:30) - Nobody really cares as much as you think they do (12:55) - Balance between persistence and knowing when to quit (15:50) - Differentiating himself in a saturated media space (18:00) - What’s his version of success for the newsletter? (20:30) - Advice to athletes transitioning out of sports (22:40) - Being intentional with follow ups (24:30) - Building relationships with people on the same plane as you Where can you learn more about Malcolm? LinkedIn: Malcolm Lemmons Go check out his Newsletter: The Hype Report His Book: Lessons from the Game

On Episode 6 of Howie Doin’, I talked to Angelo Gingerelli. “Ang” has been the Strength Coach at Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ since 2005. Before arriving at Seton Hall, he held similar positions at Virginia Tech, North Carolina State and with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In addition to being a full time Division 1 Strength Coach, he regularly performs stand up comedy and is a published author. The man does it all. His book Finish Strong: Resistance Training for Endurance Athletes came out in 2021 and is a great read for endurance athletes looking to level up their game. I had the opportunity to learn from and work alongside Ang from 2013-2017. To me, he is a great example of a guy who doesn’t take himself or life too seriously and is pursuing things he loves to do: Working out, comedy, and writing. In this episode, you’ll learn about: Having an idea of what you want to do and asking for it A look into the life of a college athlete through his perspective How an “I’m going to get this done” attitude can help you Addressing athletes as people more than players to get results Thoughts for college athletes making the transition into a career Building a resume online to prepare for career you want to pursue Timestamps: (0:00) - Intro to Angelo (1:20) - Growing up in Toms River, NJ (3:45) - Story of how he got to Seton Hall (5:43) - Living out his childhood dream at the SHUcademy Awards (7:00) - Realities of being a college athlete (10:55) - Working across a number of different sports (12:00) - Traits of most successful athletes he works with (14:50) - Designing workout programs and how they’ve evolved over the years (17:30) - His coaching style - I don’t lift weights I lift spirits! (22:00) - The process of writing Finish Strong (25:15) - Comedy intertwined with college athletics (31:45) - Transition from college sports to a career (33:55) - Don’t be scared to do other things you enjoy (35:00) - Advice for pursuing job in strength & conditioning industry (37:35) - Using the internet and social media as a tool Where can you find Ang? Instagram: @mr5thround Book Instagram: @finish_strong_book Check out his book on Amazon: Finish Strong: Resistance Training for Endurance Athletes

Ben is a US Army Veteran and Founder of Bear Hug Cattle Company, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that provides vocational training to veterans pursuing a career in the ranching industry. He served in the 101st Airborne and 3rd Ranger Battalion. He also spent time in Italy, advising on counter-terrorism. While transitioning out of the military, he started Bear Hug Cattle Company to help veterans figure out what that next thing is for them. He is a United States Military Academy graduate as well as a Harvard MBA. In addition to running Bear Hug full time, he is an associate at Hivers & Strivers, an angel investment group that supports companies founded by US military veterans. It was such a cool conversation that even my dog wanted to get involved. In this episode, you’ll learn about: What it’s really like transitioning out of the military How Bear Hug Cattle Company helps Veterans transitioning out of military get first job in ranching industry The natural inclination for Veterans to continue doing hard work when they get out of the military As a society, getting back to achieving worthwhile goals Ben’s experience at Harvard Business School and working for Private Equity firm Hivers & Strivers Timestamps: (0:20) - Intro to Ben (2:25) - Expectations vs. reality of serving in the Army (5:38) - The reality of transitioning out of the military (9:30) - How you feel when you’re fully devoted to something (10:35) - What is Bear Hug Cattle Company? (13:23) - MOS’ that tend to want to get into ranching industry (14:30) - Process of narrowing down applicants for the program (17:00) - Why Veterans want to do hard work and have entrepreneurial spirit (19:25) - How do we swing the cultural pendulum back to embracing discomfort and struggle? (21:50) - His parents influence on his work ethic (25:00) - Harvard Business School and Hivers & Strivers (27:00) - Balancing ranching with a “white collar” job (29:10) - Advice to kids thinking about joining the military (29:45) - Advice to people transitioning out of the military Where can you learn more about Ben? Bearhugcattlecompany.org On Instagram @bearhugcattlecompany

Travis is a Certified Financial Planner based in Flower Mound, TX. After starting his career with a few large corporations in the Finance Industry, he started his own Financial Planning practice, Kinetix Financial Planning, in 2019. He specializes in working with small business owners and equity compensated professionals to create financial optionality. He’s an avid outdoorsman and takes an annual trip back to his home state of Montana to hike, fish, and hunt. In this episode, you’ll hear about: Learning skills at a corporation that you can use to launching your own “thing” The realities of starting your own business Taking risks and betting on yourself Is the person you’re taking advice from living the life you want? Controlling the things you can control Timestamps: (0:00) - Intro to Travis (1:00) - Growing Up in Small Town Texas (5:50) - Skillsets developed through college athletics (9:00) - College classes that peaked his interest (12:45) - Beginning his career at TD Ameritrade (15:30) - Wanting to be his own boss (19:35) - Looking back on starting his own practice (20:40) - Taking the risk before you’re ready (22:50) - Advice to people looking to take the leap (25:00) - Who are you taking advice from? (26:25) - Value he’s gotten from Twitter (31:12) - Future for Financial Advising (33:15) - Control what you can control (37:05) - His routine (41:45) - What advice would you give your 18 year old self? Where can you learn more about Travis? Kinetixfp.com - Kinetix Financial Planning’s site @T_Gatzemeier on Twitter (X)

Rick is a Documentary DP & producer based in Bozeman, MT. He has worked alongside Bear Grylls on The Island, shot for Steve Rinella and the MeatEater crew, and won the 2019 News & Documentary Cinematography Emmy for his work on Wild Yellowstone. Most recently, he was the Director of Photography for Netflix series Connected and Director of Photography for Human Footprint on PBS. He’s an incredibly talented dude who sheds a ton knowledge on his unique career journey in our conversation. In this episode, you’ll learn about: Childhood influences that led Rick to become an award winning cinematographer The process of building and producing a TV show and his role in it Managing relationships in a craft based job Expanding your world view by seeking out different opinions Can all jobs can be fulfilling and interesting? Pursuing interest and not stopping until you’re good at it Timestamps (0:00) - Intro to Rick (1:30) - Interests as a kid growing up in Washington (4:30) - Experience studying abroad in Costa Rica (6:35) - Trying to find first job (8:00) - Coming to a Cross Roads (9:08) - TV / Film Childhood influences (11:30) - Do I like doing this enough to keep doing it? (13:30) - Process of building a TV show (18:10) - Media made in Yellowstone (21:00) - Sitting and Waiting (24:05) - Being on a survival TV show (28:00) - Building up community (29:30) - Is the sacrifice worth it? (33:50) - Working with Steve Rinella (37:45) - Advice to young people (41:25) - Who are you going to advice for? Where can you learn more about Rick Smith? ricksmithmedia.com Instagram: @ricksmith_media Check out this article if you want to learn more about embarking on a career in cinematography: Going Deep with Alum and Director of Photography Rick Smith ’02

On this episode of Howie Doin’, I was joined by Jon Finkel.Jon is a writer and author of books 1996: A Biography, Hoops Heist, The Life of Dad, Jocks in Chief, The Athlete, Heart Over Height, “Mean” Joe Green, among others.He’s written for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, GQ, Details, NY Times, AskMen.com, ComedyCentral.com, Bodybuilding.com, ThePostGame.com.Jon has written autobiographies on:* Nate Robinson* Charlie Ward* Mean Joe GreeneHis book Jocks in Chief ranks every United States president by athletic ability (no right or left wing biases included!).He also writes a newsletter “Books and Biceps” that comes out every Friday at 11:11 am.In this episode, you’ll learn about:* Creating things inspired by what you’re interested in* Taking an untraditional path* A quality Father / Son relationship* Starting from 0 and grinding your way to the top* Treating your job as if someone is paying you a lot of money to do it* Putting systems in place to slowly evolve into the person you want to becomeTimestamps:(0:00) - Intro to Jon Finkel(1:40) - How he formulates writing ideas(4:00) - Embarking on an untraditional path(9:20) - Jon’s relationship with his Dad(13:06) - Living up to expectations(15:40) - The greatest piece Jon’s ever written(20:05) - The mental approach to publishing a book (Jocks in Chief)(24:38) - Flipping his mindset to “Jon Finkel Publishing”(27:55) - Putting systems in place to overcome laziness(29:45) - Setting quarterly goalsWhere can you learn more about Jon Finkel?jonfinkel.comWeekly Newsletter: Books & Biceps@Jon_Finkel on X.comCheck out Jon’s favorite piece of writing - The Night the Driveway Basketball Legend Was BornLastly, don’t forget to check out Jon’s upcoming Auto-biography on “Macho Man” Randy Savage! Coming out in Spring 2024. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit howiedoin.substack.com