The Ready State Podcast

Annie Thorisdottir is a two-time CrossFit Games Champion. After only a couple of months of CrossFit practice, Annie competed in the 2009 CrossFit Games where she famously performed her first muscle-up mid-competition. Her 1st place wins came shortly after in 2011 and 2012 making her the first female athlete to ever win the CrossFit Games twice. Of her eleven Games appearances, she has podiumed six times. Annie took a break in 2020 to have her first child and was back at it placing 3rd in 2021. Annie is known for competing with a smile and her infectious positive attitude. Annie lives in Iceland with her partner, fellow CrossFit Games athlete Frederik Aegidius and their daughter Freyja.•This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by LMNT, our favorite electrolyte drink mix. It was created based on a science-backed electrolyte ratio, with no sugar, no coloring, no artificial ingredients, or any other junk. Everyone needs electrolytes, but if you’re an active person and/or on a low-carb diet, you really need electrolytes to feel and perform your best. We drink LMNT every single day and it is our go-to drink for mountain biking. For more info and to get a free sample pack (just pay shipping), click HERE!

Hayley Hollander and Scott Hopson are the co-founders of Pivotal Coaching - a global development company empowering people to fulfill their greatest potential.   Scott is an internationally recognized leader in human performance, coaching and education. In a career spanning 25 years his work has impacted over 100,000 coaches and leaders in more than a 100-countries world-wide. At the heart of his extensive leadership work is the ability to empower and develop people by making the complex simple, to create breakthrough performances. Scott is renowned for his passion and impact in professional coach development and youth coaching. In addition to Pivotal, Scott is co-founder of PTA Global, Education Director for the Gray Institute, a Team EXOS education specialist, and Chairman of the Global Advisory Board at Power Plate.   Over her 20+ year career, Hayley’s leadership, programming, and content creation has influenced the masses. She has coached and educated thousands of clients, teams, athletes, and coaches from all over the world. Hayley is renowned for program creation and implementation, and her work can be found in major health club chains, university recreation centers, non-profit wellness centers, and professional sports training centers. In addition to Pivotal, Hayley is the Co-Director of Education for Gray Institute, Precor Master Coach, and Power Plate Master Trainer.   Scott and Hayley join us to talk about connecting with the human inside the human body, rebuilding an industry that is hitting bottom, and healthy movement nutrition.   •   This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by Paleovalley Beef Sticks. Made from 100% organic grass-fed beef and organic spices, these are hands down our favorite on-the-go protein snack. They are naturally fermented making them shelf stable without chemicals or questionable ingredients, for when you find one in a backpack you haven’t used since last summer. For more info and 15% off, go to thereadystate.com/beefsticks   •   This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by LMNT, our favorite electrolyte drink mix. It was created based on a science-backed electrolyte ratio, with no sugar, no coloring, no artificial ingredients, or any other junk. Everyone needs electrolytes, but if you’re an active person and/or on a low-carb diet, you really need electrolytes to feel and perform your best. We drink LMNT every single day and it is our go-to drink for mountain biking. For more info and to get a free sample pack (just pay shipping), go to thereadystate.com/freeLMNT

Mike Sinyard is the founder and CEO of Specialized Bicycle Components. Mike was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1988. The StumpJumper mountain bike was added to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s collection in 1994.   Mike’s journey begins in the summer of 1973 when he sold his VW van for $1,500 and cycled around Europe. During his travels, he connected with Cinelli and Campagnolo, Italian bike component manufacturers, to establish an import-business relationship. Today, Specialized is a leading manufacturer of bicycles and gear. Made by riders, for riders.   In 2015, Mike launched the Specialized Foundation, known today as Outride, which focuses on linking cycling to improve cognitive, emotional, and social health. The foundation helps kids achieve academic, health, and social success. Outride currently supports community cycling, trail projects, and the Riding for Focus program.   Mike joins us to talk about founding and growing Specialized and the obsessive curiosity that drives their unparalleled innovation.   •   This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by Paleovalley Essential C Complex. Created to be the most powerful, completely natural and organic source of vitamin C on the planet, Essential C Complex is one of the only supplements the Starretts take every single day. Because nothing’s funny about scurvy. For more info and 15% off, go to thereadystate.com/essentialc

Anastacia Maggioncalda is the Head of Production for the Creative Studio at LinkedIn.   Anastacia was a photography and cultural anthropology student at Sarah Lawrence College in New York and after graduating, worked as a producer and studio manager alongside fashion photographers in New York. After transitioning to commercial work, she led production at both Shelter Films and Crossroads Films.   Anastacia made the move to the west coast and the agency side of things working with such brands as BMW, Gatorade, Target, Lexus, Coke, Virgin America, Oakley, Apple, Visa, and Aria. She has also run visual effects production on numerous music videos for artists like N'SYNC, Ricky Martin, Linkin Park, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliot, Kanye West, and on feature films like Spiderman, Hell Boy, Castaway, Sin City and Iron Man.   Anastacia has won a Webby and a Bronze Lion for her work with Virgin America.   •   This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by Paleovalley Beef Sticks. Made from 100% organic grass-fed beef and organic spices, these are hands down our favorite on-the-go protein snack. They are naturally fermented making them shelf stable without chemicals or questionable ingredients, for when you find one in a backpack you haven't used since last summer. For more info and 15% off, go to thereadystate.com/beefsticks   •   This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by Kion Aminos. Available as powder or tablets, these aminos are 100 percent plant based with no artificial ingredients. Essential amino acids are the building blocks for all muscle and tissue but your body can only absorb about 50% from food which is why Kelly takes them everyday. For more info and 20% off your first purchase, go to thereadystate.com/aminos

Selema Masekela is a beloved commentator, journalist, host, and Emmy nominated producer best known for his work across VICE, E!, ESPN/ABC, Nat Geo, Red Bull Media House and beyond. A relentlessly curious narrator of the human experience, he thrives as a Black man who has historically been ‘the only’ in the spaces of action sports and entertainment. The son of South African jazz legend and activist Hugh Masekela, Selema‘s roots are as South African as they are New York City and San Diego.   Music and water being the most influential parts of his life at the age of 16 he first felt 'at home' on a surfboard; at 8 you’d find him sitting at Birdland in late night jazz sessions with his father and Miles Davis. It’s this unique life experience which paved the way for him not only becoming the face of ESPN’s X-Games but also a musician himself, recording under the alias 'Alekesam' (Masekela backwards).   His recently launched podcast, What Shapes Us?, explores he and his guests human experiences; who they are, what drives and gives them joy. Its mission is to highlight people and places through a mold breaking lens and redefine culture. He is the co-founder of Stoked Mentoring, an organization dedicated to mentoring at risk youth through action sports and the host of Hyundai’s series The Un-Adventurers on Tastemade Network. In 2020, Selema was also welcomed onto the Board of Directors for Burton Snowboards as a general advisor.   Selema joins us to talk what it's like to be the only person of color in the spaces you love, using whatever is in your toolbox to help break the cycle of racism, and how middle age is pretty sweet.   • This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by Paleovalley Essential C Complex. Created to be the most powerful, completely natural and organic source of vitamin C on the planet, Essential C Complex is one of the only supplements the Starretts take every single day. Because nothing’s funny about scurvy. For more info and 15% off, click thereadystate.com/essentialC • This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by Kion Aminos. Available as powder or tablets, these aminos are 100 percent plant based with no artificial ingredients. Essential amino acids are the building blocks for all muscle and tissue but your body can only absorb about 50% from food which is why Kelly takes them everyday. For more info and 20% off your first purchase, click thereadystate.com/aminos

Kate Courtney is a professional mountain bike racer for the Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team. She is the reigning UCI World Cup Overall Champion, the 2018 World Champion in women’s cross-country mountain biking, and a member of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team. Kate has also earned multiple Continental and National Championship titles. She is a member of the USA Cycling National Team and a Red Bull Athlete.   Kate grew up in Marin County, California, at the base of Mount Tamalpais, the birthplace of mountain biking. Though she was introduced to the sport at a young age – riding on the back of her dad’s tandem mountain bike – her race career started as a freshman on the Branson High School MTB Team. In 2018, Kate became the first American in 17 years to win an Elite XCO World Championship, only the fourth American woman to do so, and had the honor of bringing the title back to Marin and the roots of the sport.   Besides training and racing her bike, Kate enjoys yoga, skiing, hiking and writing. Kate is known for her insightful and clear voice, and her articles about being a professional athlete have been published in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Outside Magazine, VeloNews and Cycling Tips. Kate holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Biology from Stanford University.   Kate joins us to talk about life as a mountain bike champion, getting a second year to train for the Olympics, and how having her family as part of the team makes the whole process joyful.   •   This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by Paleovalley Beef Sticks. Made from 100% organic grass-fed beef and organic spices, these are hands down our favorite on-the-go protein snack. They are naturally fermented making them shelf stable without chemicals or questionable ingredients, for when you find one in a backpack you haven't used since last summer. For more info and 15% off, go to thereadystate.com/beefsticks   •   This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by Kion Aminos. Available as powder or tablets, these aminos are 100 percent plant based with no artificial ingredients. Essential amino acids are the building blocks for all muscle and tissue but your body can only absorb about 50% from food which is why Kelly takes them everyday. For more info and 20% off your first purchase, go to thereadystate.com/aminos

Soman Chainani’s debut series, THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL, has sold more than 3 million copies, been translated into 30 languages across 6 continents, and will be a major motion picture from Netflix in 2022. Each of the six books in the series — THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL, A WORLD WITHOUT PRINCES, THE LAST EVER AFTER, QUESTS FOR GLORY, A CRYSTAL OF TIME, and ONE TRUE KING — have debuted on the New York Times Bestseller list. Together the books have been on the print and extended lists for 38 weeks. Soman has recently announced a new book, BEASTS & BEAUTY, coming September 28, 2021 from HarperCollins.   A graduate of Harvard University and Columbia University’s MFA Film Program, Soman began his career as a screenwriter and director, with his films playing at over 150 film festivals around the world. He has been nominated for the Waterstone Prize for Children’s Literature, been named to the Out100, and also received the $100,000 Shasha Grant and the Sun Valley Writer’s Fellowship, both for debut writers.   We talk to Soman about growing up in Florida, transitioning from filmmaker to writer, making his first novel into a movie, and the accidental physical practice that keeps him sane.   •   This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by Paleovalley Essential C Complex. Created to be the most powerful, completely natural and organic source of vitamin C on the planet, Essential C Complex is one of the only supplements the Starretts take every single day. Because nothing’s funny about scurvy. For more info and 15% off, click https://thereadystate.com/essentialc   •   This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by Kion Aminos. Available as powder or tablets, these aminos are 100 percent plant based with no artificial ingredients. Essential amino acids are the building blocks for all muscle and tissue but your body can only absorb about 50% from food which is why Kelly takes them everyday. For more info and 20% off your first purchase, click https://thereadystate.com/aminos

Anya Fernald is the co-founder of Belcampo, a farm-to-table supply chain complete with regenerative farm, full service butcher shops, and restaurants. She is an entrepreneur, chef, and agriculture expert. And when we say “entrepreneur” there isn’t enough time in the day to go over all of the incredible things Anya had founded and done in her career prior to Belcampo. From founding a cheese co-op in Italy that led to micro-financing and investing in small family businesses, to founding Live Culture, Eat Real, Slow Food, to being asked by Alice Waters to serve as the Executive Director of Slow Food Nation in the bay area.   She also managed to write a cookbook called Home Cooked, and serve as a judge and sustainable food expert on Iron Chef from 2009-2015. She was named Food and Wine 40 Under 40, and one of the top 100 female founders in INC Magazine. She also runs “Meat Camp”. Which might be the single greatest thing we have ever heard.   We get into all the details of Anya's past that have led up to her success today, proving that Belcampo and regenerative farming is a model that can work and even thrive in our world of industrial meat and confinement farming.   For more info on Anya, check out the Belcampo website and follow her and Belcampo on their Instagram channels. • This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by Paleovalley Beef Sticks. Made from 100% organic grass-fed beef and organic spices, these are hands down our favorite on-the-go protein snack. They are naturally fermented making them shelf stable without chemicals or questionable ingredients, for when you find one in a backpack you haven't used since last summer. For more info and 15% off, go to thereadystate.com/beefsticks • This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by Kabuki Strength. Kabuki designs, engineers, and manufactures novel strength equipment, provides research-based education, world-class coaching services, and gives back by serving others in the community. The Kadillac Bar has been so crucial to Kelly's training that he keeps one at work and at his home gym. To check out all of their innovative products go to thereadystate.com/kabuki

Matt Vincent is a traveling strength athlete, two-time Highland Games World Champion, and founder of HVIII Brand Goods. Through his travels, Matt was lucky enough to spend time with exceptional people who were chasing strength, fulfillment, and personal growth in every imaginable way. In Matt's first book, Training Lab, he spelled out the philosophy of “The HVIII,” and tried to capture the spirit of self-improvement through self-loathing. This idea would serve as the spark that led to HVIII Brand Goods and a ton of adventures afterwards. Matt chronicles his travels and conversations with people in the strength game and beyond on his podcast UMSO.   We talk to Matt about his evolution from World Champion Athlete to founding a highly successful company by way of a number of other ventures and a total knee replacement. • This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by Paleovalley Essential C Complex. Created to be the most powerful, completely natural and organic source of vitamin C on the planet, Essential C Complex is one of the only supplements we take every single day. Because nothing's funny about scurvy. For more info and 15% off, visit thereadystate.com/essentialC! • This episode of The Ready State Podcast is sponsored by Kabuki Strength. Kabuki designs, engineers, and manufactures novel strength equipment, provides research-based education, world-class coaching services, and gives back by serving others in the community. The Kadillac Bar has been so crucial to Kelly's training that he keeps one at work and at his home gym. To check out all of their innovative products visit thereaydstate.com/kabuki!

Stan Efferding is the founder of the Vertical Diet and is an IFBB Professional bodybuilder and World Record Holding Powerlifter. He is one of only 10 men in the world to ever total over 2,300 pounds raw in competition. Stan holds the title as the Worlds Strongest Bodybuilder.   Stan studied Exercise Science at the University of Oregon and has been training high school, Collegiate, and Professional athletes for over 25 years. Stan conducts seminars all over the country for various sports and nutrition and training techniques. He has appeared in many magazines and writes for Muscular Development, Flex Magazine and Power Magazine. Stan is also a successful entrepreneur having built three different start-up businesses into multi-million dollar companies.