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.

Robb Wolf is a former research biochemist and the 2X New York Times/WSJ Best Selling author of The Paleo Solution and Wired To Eat. Robb has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world via his top ranked iTunes podcast, books and seminars.   Robb has functioned as a review editor for the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism (Biomed Central) and as a consultant for the Naval Special Warfare Resiliency program. He serves on the board of Directors/Advisors for: Specialty Health Inc, The Chickasaw Nation’s “Unconquered Life” initiative and a number of innovative start ups with a focus on health and sustainability.   Robb holds a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, is a former California State Powerlifting Champion, and a 6-0 amateur kickboxer. He has provided seminars in nutrition and strength & conditioning to a number of entities including NASA, Naval Special Warfare, the Canadian Light Infantry and the United States Marine Corps.   Robb joins us to talk about the Paleo Diet and the science behind his nutrition choices and recommendations.

Jen Widerstrom is a world-renowned fitness trainer, published author, and Fitness Director of SHAPE Magazine. She is well known for her work as a trainer on the American television series The Biggest Loser. Before that, she appeared on American Gladiators, as the female gladiator Phoenix. Jen most recently founded GetUP, a CBD supplement company, continues to coach athletes of all stripes including leading monthly carb cycling challenges through her site Widerstrong.com. Juliet has personally found great success zipping up her diet with carb cycling. Jen joins us to talk nutrition, movement, and the important role both play health, wellness, and self image.

Adee Cazayoux is the Founder and CEO of Working Against Gravity (WAG), an online nutrition coaching program with a mission to transform lives. Having made a name for herself in nutrition, Cazayoux has worked with elite athletes such as Katrin Davidsdottir, Jessica Lucero and Tia Clair-Toomey, just to spotlight a few. Adee is lifelong learner with a Bachelors in Honors Psychology and a Masters in Teaching and is working toward a Masters in Nutrition and Human Performance. Beyond being an entrepreneur and student of the nutritional sciences, Adee is also an accomplished athlete, having competed in the National Pro Grid League, CrossFit Open and won the Bronze Medal in the 2016 Canadian National Weightlifting Championships.   Michael Cazayoux, president of WAG, specializes in helping his team and clients “get out of their own way” by identifying self-limiting beliefs and ineffective behaviors. In fact, the back-to-back CrossFit World Cup Champion is no stranger to this unique process of self-examination. At the impressionable age of 17, Cazayoux confronted his own limiting beliefs and ineffective behaviors head on, attending drug rehabilitation to overcome his addiction to opiates. It’s this experience that inspired a love of health and fitness on a personal level, which later translated into a passion for coaching and mentoring inside and out of the gym. Prior to joining WAG, Michael cofounded Brute Strength, an online fitness training company, where he continues to contribute to operations and remains as the podcast host.   Adee and Michael live in Austin with their dog, Otis and welcomed their first child this year.

Dr. Mike T. Nelson (known as Dr. Mike) joins us to talk about the Flex Diet. He is a research fanatic who specializes in metabolic flexibility and heart rate variability. He is also an online trainer, adjunct professor, faculty member at the Carrick Institute, presenter, creator of the Flex Diet Cert, kiteboarder, and (somewhat incongruously) heavy-metal enthusiast. The techniques he's developed, and the results Mike gets for his clients have been featured in international magazines, in scientific publications, and on websites across the globe.