Underdog Empowerment

Most of us have experienced some sort of trauma in our lives. That past trauma is most likely still in the background, not letting you reach your full potential. CEO of Brass and Unity, Kelsi Sheren, knows all about that. As a combat veteran, Kelsi has struggled with depression and PTSD. It’s what inspired her business, Brass and Unity, which makes jewelry and sunglasses, donating 20% of all proceeds to veteran mental health organizations.    Many of the organizations she supports deal with non traditional mental health approaches, such as plant based medicine. After Kelsi realized her prescription medications were holding her back from gaining ground in therapy, she turned to cannabis, and then ultimately psychedelics. Having now completed 9 Ayahuasca retreats, Kelsi says she couldn’t have fathomed where she’s at now. She explains the importance of using any plant based medicine in the right setting with the right guidance. The medicinal journey is only the beginning, the things it opens your mind up to need

Growing up in Springfield, MO, there wasn’t much that Brent Cassity could complain about; life was good. His dad was a bigger than life character that found success in everything he did, including owning multiple businesses. Brent wanted to be just like his old man. As he rounded out 8th grade, Brent was excited to embark on his high school journey and follow in his dad’s footsteps. Then, a bombshell was dropped on Brent. His father informed Brent that he had gotten into some financial trouble and was looking at prison time. Not only would Brent’s dad be pleading guilty and spending 6 months in prison, but the family had to move to St. Louis. Brent was devastated, and can remember thinking this is the one thing he wouldn’t follow in his dad’s footsteps.    Brent went on to do well in high school and college. He planned on becoming an attorney, but found that he couldn’t pass the LSAT. His backup plan was to work at the one business his dad had left, which was in pre-arranged funerals. Brent’s dad was all for

One of Zach’s goals for 2023 is to grow his email subscribers list. So, while he’s learning how to make that happen, he’s sharing that knowledge with you as well. Greg Johnson is one of the experts on how email marketing works, and he’s sharing some of his best tips and tricks. As a coach and consultant, Greg is passionate about e-commerce and digital marketing. Along the way he’s learned that you almost have an unfair advantage for sales when you already have an audience to sell to. That’s where email marketing comes in.   Think of it as a ‘one-to-many’ platform that feels more like a ‘one-to-one’ experience for the reader. Just like a podcast, an email series builds rapport over time. It’s an opportunity for people to get to know, like, and trust you, before you try to sell them on something. It all starts with what you can offer a potential subscriber. For example, Zach offers his podcast listeners a podcast roadmap that will help them to launch and rank a podcast of their own, when they subscribe to his e

There’s a problem Zach has been trying to solve for years, but never went all in on. While putting together his goals for 2023, Zach decided now is the time to build that large email list. With a goal of 50,000 subscribers, Zach wants to build a newsletter that creates transformation, and builds deep connections. So, he reached out on Facebook and asked his network if anyone knew someone that could help him make that goal a reality. Seth Ellsworth was tagged as the expert on the matter, and Zach has him on the show today to teach all of us the ins and outs of building a strong email presence.   It all starts with creating a transformation for your subscribers. Having been involved in high-ticket coaching/consulting since 2004, Seth has seen it all. What he has found works is the transformation first, transaction second philosophy. Seth prefaces by saying he’s not a marketing scientist, he didn’t do great in school, and has an average IQ, but he knows what works and what doesn’t. He’s found that when you care

We’re all familiar with digital marketing, but have you heard of neuromarketing? Chances are you haven’t since today’s guest, Alex Vonderhaar, is one of the only one’s talking about it. It’s completely unorthodox and will flip the script on marketing as we know it. Alex is no stranger to the Underdog Empowerment podcast, so if you missed his story before, check it out on this past episode. Today he’s sharing the exact framework he uses to bridge neuroscience and digital marketing to get results that last.    As cliche as it sounds, Alex says it all starts with mindset. If you’ve never heard of the prime number maze, it was something discovered by physicist Richard Feynman. He found that rats could be trained to make it through a maze by turning at every even or every odd number, but they couldn’t be trained to turn at prime numbers because it was too abstract. He found that there could be patterns in our daily lives that, if followed, would lead us to success, but we just couldn’t comprehend them. In other wo

During the holiday season a lot of people slow down, but not Zach’s guest, Garrett Atkins. Today’s episode is being recorded in Garrett’s studio, Half Coast Studios in St Louis, MO. There, he records his own podcast, The Official St. Louis Podcast. Garrett was once named the Most Admired Business Leader in St. Louis, but he wasn’t always business savvy. He says his entrepreneurial journey started in high school at the age of 16. His first job was knocking on doors and pitching windows and siding. He was bringing in $30,000/year at 16 and was quickly promoted to supervisor. Having learned a lot about sales, his next lesson would be in recruiting more salespeople. Not very academically disciplined, Garrett would try his hand at college and drop out soon after.    From there, Garrett job-hopped quite a bit. He sold cars, did inside sales at a startup, worked for credit repair companies, and at mortgage companies. Garrett went through 7 or 8 jobs in just 3 years, but he credits that for where he is today. Working

What are your plans for 2023? If it’s to dominate every aspect of life, you’re in the right place. Zach promises that if you follow this process to a T you’ll do just that. It all starts with having your vision super dialed in. When we know what the target is at every moment, we plan how we’ll get there, and we execute daily, that’s when we dominate. And again, we’re not just talking about dominating in one aspect of life, but in every aspect of life. Mind, body, soul, relationships, finance, they’re all interconnected. What legacy do we want to leave behind in each of these areas? What’s our plan to make that happen? Are we disciplined enough to see it through? Have you made a legacy statement yet? Do you know how you want to be remembered, or what lasting impact you want to have? Start there. Write it down and be clear. Now, start making plans. What are the goals you’ll need to achieve to make that legacy a reality? Set 10 year, 5 year, and 1 year goals, down to monthly, weekly, and daily goals. All that’s

Tomas Keenan, author of Unf*ck Your Business, host of the Step It Up Entrepreneur podcast, and head coach at Step It Up Academy, is back on to share what he’s been up to since his first appearance. If you’d like to hear more of Tomas’s backstory, make sure to check out his last interview on Underdog Empowerment HERE. It’s been almost 2 years since Tomas has been on the show, and in just the last year so much has happened. There was some good, some bad, and some ugly, but Tomas was able to find the silver lining in most of it.   In September of 2020 Tomas had moved to Dallas, TX to start Step It Up Academy. Just 30 days in, he was recruited to work at a local coaching mastermind in operations. He ended up doing this for two years, all the while paying $800/ month on software licenses for his coaching business that he had yet to launch. Almost canceling a couple times, Tomas is glad he didn’t because in July of this year he left the company he had been working for. With everything still in place for Step It Up

Repeat guest, Mike Szczesniak, is back to share the growth he has experienced since his original appearance on the show 4 years ago. If you want to dive deeper into Mike’s story, find his earlier appearance on Underdog Empowerment HERE. Mike jokes that his come-up took too long, but upon reflection realizes that the journey made him the person he is today, a person that could sustain the success. All things considered, he has seen great growth since he went into business for himself in 2016.   Leaving a good paying engineering job, Mike had to move back home in order to make his entrepreneurial dreams come true. His first full year in business was full of mistakes, but Mike learned something from every one of them. By his second year, he surpassed his old engineering pay, and has grown every year since. Covid did bring the business to its knees for a moment, but it also opened Mike’s eyes to a niche market where he could grow even more. Before he knew it, Mike was hiring more coaches and salespeople. While th

Tony Whatley is a 20+ year serial entrepreneur, business coach, best-selling author, podcast host, and speaker. He is Co-Founder of LS1Tech, an online automotive performance community which grew into the largest of its kind. This website grew to over 300,000 registered members and 150 advertising accounts, and was later sold for millions, in only 5 years. Amazingly… it was just his part-time business! Tony is going to be one of the guest speakers at the nest Alpha Dog Pound Live event. Tony says success is all about consistency. It's about showing up every day and putting effort into what your goals are. Sounds simple, but it's all about doing the work. Consistency is king. Inside the personal development space, there is a lot of information being tossed around. There is the next guru, the next event, the next book, but the reality is people are collecting a lot of information that they are not doing anything with. The ever busy but not improving.   Tony throws some badass events that focus more on a journey

Building your tribe or your online community has never been more important. Today we’ll look at building it the right way with a solid, meaningful foundation that will attract the right people. Host of the Dark Horse Entrepreneur podcast, Tracy Brinkmann, is here to share his journey from student to teacher.   Recently going through a clearing exercise, Tracy tapped into a repressed memory from when he was 14. His dad had just retired from the Army and they left their structured, routined life for liberal Southern CA. It was a culture shock for Tracy and he never felt accepted there. He didn’t realize it at the time, but this caused Tracy to harbor a lot of resentment, and that led to a lot of bad choices as a teenager. Moving forward, Tracy attempted to buy acceptance. He made money installing car stereos and painting cars. When money was low, Tracy was no stranger to doing shady stuff to make money. Of course this caused him to fall in with shady people, and the rest is a slippery slope.   Right out of high

For early bird tickets to Alpha Dog Pound Live, click HERE Seasoned entrepreneur and host of the top-rated “Championship Leadership Podcast”, Nate Bailey believes in living the life you want. Like almost everyone else, he has endured some trauma throughout his life. Also, like most people, Nate has tried to repress a lot of those memories. From an absent father, to fearing for his life, Nate knows it’s all part of who he is today. If there are parts of himself he doesn’t like, he recognizes the solution lies within. It’s about getting back to your true self before life and people shaped you into something else. Years ago, Nate heard Joe Rogan introduce the idea of Ayahuasca retreats to dive deeper spiritually. In the years since, Nate has heard many success stories of life-changing experiences. So, as someone who talks the talk, he’s also going to walk the walk. He wants potential clients to know that he’s willing to continue working on himself, and at an even higher level than what he would expect from anyon

Last month, Zach met Vic Fralof at a networking event, and knew immediately he needed to have him on the show. Currently living in Utah, Vic grew up in LA as a first generation immigrant. At just 17 years old, Vic’s mom had already been married twice and had two children. When extremists started to take over Iran, she fled to the US. Vic’s dad left Soviet Russia in his 20’s to pursue a better life in the US. The two would meet in LA, conceiving Vic before parting ways. Growing up in a broken home, as an immigrant, Vic experienced a lot of bullying and developed a lot of resentment and anger. With his dad dying when Vic was 11, and his mom dying later on, Vic experienced a loss of identity early in life.   All of this led Vic to drug use and reckless behavior as he attempted to feel alive. When Vic met the girl of his dreams, he felt like everything was going to turn around. Despite loving this girl with all his heart, Vic found himself pushing her away and self sabotaging anything good in his life. Finally, V

Not only is he on the show today, Brad Lea will be a guest speaker at the next Alpha Dog Pound Live. To learn more about the event and score discounted tickets for a limited time, visit underdogempowerment/events. Brad is the man to talk to when it comes to building a powerful personal brand. With millions of followers, Brad knows what it takes.  Brad has assembled the best media team out there, spending about $40k/month on media. The immediate return may not always be monetary, sometimes it’s connections and opportunities, but at the end of the day he’s getting a great ROI. A lot of people trying to build a personal brand don’t have that kind of money, or any money, to spend on content creation. The answer to that problem is to learn to do it yourself. The quality may not be the best to begin with, but if you’re being you and capturing it on film, you’re going to find your audience.  Just like everyone, Brad has had his share of adverse experiences, but he’s a firm believer in not dwelling on the past. Grati

Some people will tell you that if you’re happy with where you’re at, that means you don’t have big enough dreams.  Zach is here to tell you that is not true. If we’re always looking at what's next, always moving the goal post, we’ll find ourselves anxious, on edge, and unfulfilled. That’s not good for anyone’s mental or physical health. Zach speaks from experience, as he has struggled with this for some time. It wasn’t until the end of 2021 that he decided there had to be a better way. He’s found there is a way to be happy with where you’re at right now while still maintaining goals and a drive for the future.    It starts with finding out what makes you happy. Take some time and get crystal clear on your end game, what you want your legacy to be, what you want people to remember about you after you’re gone. Now, what targets do you need to hit to get there? Develop clear and specific actions you need to take daily. What daily habits and disciplines do you need to be the person you want to be? Decide on a few

Do you find yourself having a rough go with your business? Or maybe you haven’t even started yet because you don’t know what your business should be? Well today Zach is going to help you get in your lane by figuring out 4 simple areas. Figuring these things out will help us get crystal clear on our mission, we’ll be able to map it out, and give it the time it deserves to flourish.   First and foremost, you need to find what you’re passionate about. If you want to be able to do something for the long haul, it needs to be something you’re passionate about. You don’t want to do something you hate day in and day out, even if it is making you money. Next, it should be something that has purpose, that fulfills us. Ask yourself if it makes you feel accomplished, or like you’ve given something back. That will tell you if you’re on the right path. Third, you simply have to be skilled at it. Whether you’re naturally good at it, or it’s something you have to build on, skill is necessary to compete. Which brings us to th

Zach is keeping it short, sweet, and concise with a win-win tactic that you can start utilizing today. Would you like to service your clients at a higher level, make a memorable experience for them, and make more money? The key to that could be one ten-minute phone call a week.    Zach calls it the 4-question phone call. Simply select someone from your audience that’s engaged with your content, and ask them if you could get to know them better over a quick call. During that call you’ll ask the following: where they found out about you, what they like about you, what they don’t like about you, and what problem you can help them solve.    This is great information to collect because you’ll have a pulse on your audience and what they need. You’ll learn what content, product, or service to focus on to better service your clients.    What You’ll Learn: What 4 questions you should be asking. How to ask those questions to get honest feedback. Why you need to sign up for the Underdog Empowerment newsletter.   Favor

Zach is coming at you live from the airport with a quick message as he heads back home from a mastermind event. His biggest takeaway from the Lion’s Den Fly-in Friday, Mastermind, was to not let success go to your head. When we feel like we’ve made it, we tend to get comfortable, complacent, and we take our foot off the gas. A quick remedy for this is to get yourself around people that are all in on their dreams. Find a mentor, and never stop learning and leveling up. If you haven’t signed up for the Underdog Empowerment newsletter yet, head over to... UnderdogEmpowerment.com/Subscribe. Zach is about to launch a new and improved newsletter where he plans to overdeliver on value. It will include things like a roadmap to launching and ranking your own podcast, how to grow your audience fast, and a blueprint for launching an event. It’s definitely not something you’ll want to miss.   What You’ll Learn: What Zach learned at the Lion’s Den Mastermind event. How to get back on track when you’ve become complacent.

Today, Zach comes at you with a short but powerful message. He often sees people searching for the next best marketing hack or sales tactic, and while you should always want to sharpen your saw, he recommends another way to really set yourself apart. It’s the one thing that separates the people who dominate from the people that just get by. It’s simply doing what you say you’re going to do. Which actually isn’t always simple.  Just 20 days before Zach’s live event, his featured speaker had to cancel. Zach had to issue some refunds and scramble to put together a new lineup. It would’ve been easier to just reschedule, but Zach said he was going to do something, so he was going to do it. Staying true to his word is one of Zach’s core values, so he’ll always do it, even when it’s difficult. He’s found that the long-term gain of staying true to your word outweighs any temporary setback.  He’s also staying true to working on himself, recently adding EMDR therapy to his journey. He says it’s doing wonders with helpi