Stories Worth Fighting For

In this episode, Matt sits down with Garrett Gravesen, Co-Founder of ADDO Worldwide, author, and speaker about servant leadership and getting people excited about serving others. Garrett uses his views on leadership and service to motivate those around him to do more for others.  He believes life comes down to a few pivotal moments where you can choose courage or comforts.  What will you choose? Garrett is a great communicator who dives into things feet first.  You can learn more about him via his Instagram.

In his twenties, Phil Blow was taking hardcore medications for his high blood pressure that left him barely able to function. He decided to take charge of his life with a gym membership and watched a lot of YouTube videos about bodybuilding. He entered a competition, just to give himself a motivating deadline to keep training. At the competition, before he even stepped on the stage, he felt like he’d already won because he was the healthiest he’d ever been in his life. He didn’t care how he stacked up against the 15 professional bodybuilders. He came in second! This motivated Blow to keep competing and training year-round. He has since won many awards and honors.   He is also a motivational speaker who helps inspire people to achieve more than they thought possible.

Tommy Lefever is a second generation police officer who is a very active competitor in amateur and charity boxing matches. He knew what he wanted to do from a fairly young age and worked hard and waited for the right opportunities. He has applied many lessons from the ring to his life, and vice versa. He enjoys raising money for charity and is a tireless practitioner of the fighting arts.

This Roundtable is the first of its kind on the Stories Worth Fighting For podcast! In this episode, we talked with a few of the most prominent anti sex trafficking organizations in Georgia.  Depending on the report, we as a city are in the top three in the nation in sex trafficking. Organizations like these and Morgan and Morgan, who made this panel possible, are dedicated to helping eradicate sex trafficking. Keep listening to hear from: Tati Ferguson, Executive Director of Hands United and her husband, Tommy Ferguson, a Brawl For A Cause participant. Kelsi Deel, the CEO of House of Cherith, and her father, Bruce Deel, CEO and founder of City of Refuge.  

A lot of Brawl For A Cause fighters are supporting a cause for a friend or family member. But Jonathan Kolowich is living his cause. When he was 13 years old, Jonathan started rapidly losing weight and experiencing extreme exhaustion. A natural athlete, this was quite unusual for him. His mom took him to the doctor, where they learned that Jonathan's blood sugar was at 1000. It should have been at 100. He was diagnosed with Type I diabetes. But that hasn't stopped Jonathan one bit. Even though he has to keep careful track of his carbohydrate intake, giving himself around 7 shots of insulin per day, he's still pursuing life to its fullest. A personal trainer working at his family's gym, Jonathan came on the show to talk about being a Brawler. He also shared his experience with diabetes, how it's affected his life, and how he's overcoming it.

Former powerlifter and DDP yoga student turned instructor, Bobby Hayes, walks us through his journey through back surgery, heart attack, and into yoga. It wasn't the weights, but racketball that was the "straw that broke the camels back".  Except it was Bobby's back.  And it was broken in the form of an internally ruptured disc. At 300 lbs and over six feet tall, Bobby admits he isn't the person most people picture when they imagine the quintessential yoga practitioner, but that didn't lessen the positive impact it has on his life and the inspiration to become an instructor.  

Sam Konigsberg is a CIMA®️ Investment Consultant with BlackRock in Atlanta who went from ringside in a tuxedo to brawling inside the ring for a charity that completely changed his world view. Listen to his amazing story of going from broke to high finance, from running because it was free to entering the 24-hour World’s Toughest Mudder obstacle race that had teams running up mountains and crawling through mud for 24 hours straight. These are amazing stories that will not only move you and embolden you to achieve your goals, but also to see how you can make real improvements to the lives of people who live close by but whom you never knew existed.

What does it take to win a boxing match with a fractured rib against a worthy opponent? Any fighter, whether you're doing it for charity or whether you're a professional boxer, has to have a hunger, a drive. It’s all about summoning the mental energy. On this episode of Stories Worth Fighting For I talk with Adam Berlin, the founder of multiple companies in the restaurant and bartending sphere including: Big Sky Buckhead, AMP, The Silver Dollar, The Tipsy Gourmand, Broad Arch Investments He shares his insight on entrepreneurship, the value of mentorship, how to push through challenges, and why he chose Aids research as the charity for his Brawl for a Cause match.

When you walk off a cliff, a lot of mental clutter is cleared out. Naturally the only things on your mind in that moment are what’s most important to you. Rappelling has this effect on everyone. Even in a controlled situation that is physically very accessible, facing an instinctual fear like heights is often transformative. This process of facing fear for its transformative benefits is a big passion of this episode’s guest Marshall Mosher Marshall is the Cofounder of Vestigo, a company that exists to create and facilitate dynamic outdoor culture-building, team-enhancing experiences for people-focused teams. On this episode of Stories Worth Fighting For we talk about Marshall’s passion for adventure, the mental benefits of going outside your comfort zone, and how this has a dramatic impact on the camaraderie and effectiveness of teams..

When you found a company it has to be something that fascinates and inspires you. Jerem Jones is passionate about Georgia.   So he founded GAFollowers, a company dedicated to helping other explore Georgia. In this episode, I chat with Jeremy about the story that brought him to Georgia and how his cause is inspiring others to visit, invest, and sometimes move to the state.

Rennie Curran is a keynote speaker, personal development coach, author and former American football linebacker.   His success starts with family and the humility, discipline, and dedication to self-improvement his parents taught him.  Throughout his life, Rennie pushed himself to be ready for those pivotal “make it or break it moments

CEO and Admiral of Altruism at Friendly Human, Daniel Roberts is a long time media guru and brawl sponsor. In this episode, I get to chat with Daniel about his lifelong passion for media that stretches back two generations and the causes the Admiral pours his time and effort into!

Not all fights are in the ring.  People often fight figurative battles for the things that impassion them!  Then there are the ones who crawl into the ring to duke it out for a charity they believe in. On this episode, Tyler Eastridge talks about his experience with Brawl For A Cause. For him, it was also a time to get his athletics back on line and find a channel for his fitness goals.   Listen to Tyler talk about the process he went through physically and how brawling for his friend helped him follow through!  

On this episode, "The" Brawl veteran, Rob French, has had more brawls with us than anyone else. Rob's mom is heavily involved helping the people of Kenya through the Start With One organization.  From building homes to providing clean water, her involvement inspired Rob to jump in the ring.  

Diamond Dallas Page is one of the most recognizable names in Professional Wrestling.  With a career that spans more than two decades, DDP is a wealth of knowledge and inspiration. In this episode, DDP recounts his story with Matt - the things that have motivated him from the very beginning and what continues to propel him to personal growth and a healthy mind and body. With his new book entitled Positively Unstoppable on the way, Diamond Dallas Page shows no signs of slowing down even now!    

Welcome to our podcast! Stories Worth Fighting For is dedicated to the every day heroes who brawl for their cause.  Whether it's a literal fight or a more figurative arena, these influencers have chosen to stand for something bigger than themselves. Each week we'll be talking to a hero and unpacking their motivating stories and how they're impacting their world in profound ways. If you're looking for motivation to give your daily grind a kick, you've found the podcast for you!