INSTINCTS

Reflecting the host’s own background and life experiences, guests will be veterans, entrepreneurs, and risk takers of every kind who can communicate to the audience their struggles, sacrifices, failures, and successes. They will discuss the “Return on Life Investment” of taking risks in life, war, and business. The host will question the guests in an open-ended manner to elicit their feelings, ideas, thoughts, and methodologies. He will explore the role of instinct (gut feelings) and how that mechanism helped the guest achieve decisive success or avoid approaching doom. Military veterans and entrepreneurs often possess little, or no data related to a given challenge, but are required to decide and act anyway. Fusing stress management, ideation, planning, and most importantly, effective, and timely decision making.

EPISODES

EPISODE 1: CHRIS ANTHONY

Chris has over 20 years of leadership and governance experience. He served as the President of Weichert, Realtors where he oversaw the Capital Region Offices in D.C., Virginia and Maryland and prior to that served as that company's VP for the New Jersey region. Chris is currently the Senior Vice President, Northern Markets at ONE Sotheby's International Realty.

EPISODE 2: GUY GRAVINO

Guy Gravino is a former U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Beret), Command Sergeant Major and former counter-terrorism advisor and security expert for the public and the private sector. He is known for his leadership insights and experiences gained while supporting operations and contracts around the globe.

EPISODE 3: TRENT M. CLARK

Trent M. Clark is a 3x MLB World Series coach with 12 seasons in professional baseball. He currently serves as a leadership coach, speaker, and CEO of Leadershipity. Trent specializes in building winning teams, developing corporate growth strategies, and inspiring personal development. He hosts the "Winners Find a Way" podcast and is the author of the book "Leading Winning Teams".

EPISODE 4: KRIS PARONTO

Kris Paranto was a member of the U.S. Army’s elite 75th Ranger Regiment, and is the author of two books. He was also a part of the CIA annex security team that responded to the terrorist attack on the US Special Mission in Benghazi, Libya on September 11th, 2012, helping to save over 20 lives while fighting off terrorists from the CIA Annex for over 13 hours. Kris and his fellow brothers-in-arms story is told in the book and the highly successful movie, 13 Hours.

EPISODE 5: RIC PRADO

Enrique “Ric” Prado is a paramilitary, counter-terrorism, and special/clandestine operations specialist who served Ric served in Air Force Special Operations before joining the CIA, where he experienced direct combat and clandestine roles in Central America and around the world. Prado served in six overseas posts as Operations Officer and was an original member of the Bin Laden Task Force. He retired as a Senior Intel Servoce-2 (Major General equivalent), with twenty-four years in the CIA.

EPISODE 6: VINCENT HANCOCK

Vincent Hancock is an American Army sergeant, sports shooter, and four-time Olympic champion. He won the gold medal in men’s skeet shooting at the 2008 Summer Olympics (with a then Olympic record), 2012 Summer Olympics, 2020 Summer Olympics, and 2024 Summer Olympics. He is the first skeet shooter to repeat as the Olympic champion.

EPISODE 7: CHRIS CASSIDY

Chris Cassidy is a Retired NASA astronaut, U.S. Navy SEAL Captain, graduate of Annapolis and former Chief of the Astronaut Office. Over three space missions, he spent 378 days in orbit and completed 10 spacewalks. He is currently the President and CEO of the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation.

EPISODE 8: BOB PIZZINI

Bob Pizzini is a former U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Device (EOD) Special Operations officer, business leader, author, and speaker. He is known for his leadership insights and experiences gained during his military service, as well as his work in the private sector. He has an Amazon bestselling business book: Elevate Your Leadership, as well as a training program of the same name focused on teaching business leaders. He is very civically active in both politics and charitable organizations. Bob also speaks and writes on topics related to risk taking, resilience, teamwork, and leadership.

EPISODE 9: ART BLANCHFORD

Art Blanchford is an accomplished global automotive executive and adventurer, dedicated to family, personal growth, and living a purposeful, connected life. He is a seasoned executive in the automotive industry, celebrated for his achievements in business as well as his dedication to family and personal growth. Beyond his professional success, he is an avid adventurer and a passionate advocate for living a life filled with purpose, resilience, and meaningful connections.

EPISODE 10: TARA DELUCCIA

Tara Deluccia is the CEO and co-founder of Flipt, with fourteen years of cross-industry experience. She brings a fresh perspective and fearless leadership to business operations cutting through complexity, re-engineering processes, and building scalable systems that work. She is known for uniting teams, solving tough problems, and driving meaningful, measurable change. Undergraduate degree in Mass Communication with a concentration in Strategic Advertising and a graduate degree in Administration and Leadership. Find out more at flipt.pro

EPISODE 11: DON MANN

Don Mann is a decorated former Navy SEAL Team 6 commando, CIA operative, and New York Times bestselling author. Known for his "Reaching Beyond Boundaries" philosophy, he combines his elite military background with extreme endurance sports to deliver motivational keynotes and corporate leadership training. Served globally in covert operations—including Somalia, Colombia, Afghanistan, and Iraq—and survived being captured twice by enemy forces. He is the author of 25 books, his latest is The Navy SEAL Hand Book.

EPISODE 12: ALAN MACK

CW5 Alan C. Mack retired from the Army as a Master Aviator after serving 35 years. He began as an aircraft mechanic then became a pilot. He flew CH-47s in support of Operations Desert Shield & Storm. Additionally, he spent 17 years flying MH-47 Chinooks with the 160th SOAR. As a Night Stalker Flight Lead, he participated in Operations Desert Thunder & Fox, Enduring & Iraqi Freedom. Alan finished his career as Commander of the West Point Flight Detachment. His website is http://www.alancmack.com

EPISODE 13: BRANDON C. WHITE

Brandon is an entrepreneur with 2x exists (so far), lots of strikeouts, angel investor, former venture capitalist, and worked in Marketing at America Online. He was the Founder/CEO of Worldwide Angler, Inc. which became the #1 social networking and e-commerce site for sport fisherman on the Internet. His career has taken him from working at America Online, working at two venture capital firms, starting a CRM company that turned into an intelligence platform and running a software engineering company serving the DOD and other USG customers.

EPISODE 14: CRAIG SAWYER

Former Marine, Navy SEAL, Actor, Motivational Speaker & military veteran decorated for heroic service, Craig “Sawman” Sawyer is leading the charge to stop child trafficking as President of the non-profit, Veterans For Child Rescue (V4CR). Craig believes his whole life and military career has been a dress rehearsal, preparing him for what is most important mission to date, “helping save our kids”

EPISODE 15: BRAD MCDONALD

Brad McDonald is a former Commanding Officer of the USS L. MENDEL RIVERS (SSN686), where he successfully led missions involving SEALS and their SEAL Delivery Vehicles (SDV) globally. He is known for his seven principles of leadership, which he shares in his appearances, including on The Elevate Your Leadership podcast. Brad also transitioned into entrepreneurship, a journey he describes as a defining moment. His experiences led him to author “The Art and Skill of Sales Psychology.”