The Hard Way With Joe De Sena

A Marine officer, professional MMA fighter, and jiu-jitsu practitioner came home from his third combat deployment in Mosul and sat down at a table with a loaded Glock. His mother called his phone at the exact second he began to pull the trigger.
 
Joe De Sena sits down with Lee Stuckey, founder of America's Heroes Enjoying Recreation Outdoors (AHERO), a nonprofit that has served over 13,000 veterans and stopped more than 600 suicides in 16 years. Lee breaks down how he rebuilt after nearly taking his own life, why he swapped every toxic relationship in his circle for someone healthy, and how a four-pillar framework became the structure that holds his life together.


Things You Will Learn:
Why controlling your environment and your circle changes your trajectory faster than willpower alone.
The four-pillar framework Lee Stuckey uses to audit his physical, financial, emotional, and spiritual health every week.
What a one-for-one relationship swap looks like and why it forces accountability into your daily life.

Tools & Frameworks Covered:
One-for-One Swap: Remove one parasitic or toxic relationship and deliberately replace it with someone who helps you grow across four pillars.
Four-Pillar Weekly Audit: Physical, financial, emotional, spiritual. Sit down weekly with your family or team and assess each one. Get 1% better daily with a deliberate plan.
CEO Family Meeting: Block your calendar for family first. Let your spouse fill priority dates before anyone else gets access. Structure your household like a mission.
 
If this episode moved you, do not just listen. Do something about it. Sign up. Show up. Do the work. Spartan.com. No more excuses.
 
Chapters:
00:00 Intro: Marine, MMA fighter, and the man behind A Hero
01:35 Military school, Staff Sergeant Sutton, and enlisting as a machine gunner
04:24 How Lee reconciled faith with combat
06:12 Why suicide permanently destroys the family left behind
09:23 Controlling your environment: the VA nurse and the one-for-one swap
12:15 Jiu-jitsu mat or the bar
13:57 Third deployment, a loaded Glock, and the phone call that stopped the trigger
18:31 AHERO Records: veterans turning trauma into three-minute songs
20:21 The four-pillar framework and CEO family meetings
22:45 How to find A Hero and get involved


Lee Stuckey went from a mischievous kid facing juvenile detention to a Marine infantry machine gunner, commissioned officer, professional MMA fighter, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Carlos Machado. After three combat deployments, he came home carrying injuries, insomnia, and alcohol dependence that nearly ended his life.
 
In August 2009, a phone call from his mother stopped him at the moment he began pulling the trigger. That night became the foundation of AHERO America's Heroes Enjoying Recreation Outdoors a nonprofit that has served over 13,000 veterans, stopped more than 600 suicides, placed 62 people into treatment, and launched AHERO Records, a label where veterans turn trauma into songs with Grammy-winning songwriters.
 
Connect to Karl:
Website: https://leestuckeylegacy.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leestuckeylegacy/

Ninety-four 100-mile races finished. 14 DNFs. A bartending shift that turned into a Red Bull sponsorship. Karl Meltzer, known as the "Speedgoat," sits down with Joe De Sena to talk about what it actually takes to keep showing up to the start line at 58 years old.
 
They break down his mental strategy for surviving the darkest hours of a hundred-miler, the races he dropped out of, why 11 of his 14 DNFs were mental, and what that taught him about headspace. Karl walks through the three non-negotiables he gives anyone who wants to stay in the game: get outside every day, build a routine you protect, and keep moving even when the first ten minutes fight you.

Things You Will Learn:
A single-word mental reset that keeps you moving when everything in your body says quit.
Why most DNFs are mental, not physical and what that means for your own breaking points.
The three daily non-negotiables that sustain performance across decades, not just seasons.

Tools & Frameworks Covered:
The Blink Reset: When suffering peaks, compress your timeline. Tomorrow at this time, you will be done. That reframe keeps your legs moving now.
Headspace Audit: If your mind is checked out before the start line, the race is already lost. Identify whether the resistance is physical or mental before you act on it.
Three-Point Daily Standard: Get outside. Protect your routine. Start moving even when the first ten minutes resist you. Consistency across years beats intensity across weeks.


If this episode moved you, do not just listen. Do something about it. Sign up. Show up. Do the work. Spartan.com. No more excuses.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro: 94 hundred-milers and counting
01:23 How Karl Meltzer found his distance at 100 miles
03:00 The bartending shift that landed a Red Bull sponsorship
04:36 Why luck only works if you follow up
07:58 Going from 71 to 100 finishes raising the bar at 58
10:15 What Karl tells people who have never run 100 miles
11:15 The dark place: how to fight the urge to quit at mile 60
13:00 The DNFs that still haunt him and what headspace really costs
15:01 Three daily non-negotiables: outside, routine, and just start
17:29 Nutrition, burgers, and refusing to be methodical
20:36 What Karl would tell his 10-year-old self
21:40 The plan to reach 100: Hard Rock, Wasatch, and the final six

Karl Meltzer, known as "Speedgoat," is the most accomplished 100-mile trail runner in history, with 50 wins at the distance and nearly 100 career 100-mile finishes. Over a 25-year career, he has built a reputation for treating extreme suffering as a mechanical problem to be solved rather than a reason to quit.
 
From failing twice before conquering the Appalachian Trail FKT to redefining what elite endurance looks like in his 50s, Karl represents resilience, longevity, and relentless discipline. His story is about consistency, mental toughness, and finding what actually works instead of following trends.

Connect to Karl:
 
Website: https://karlmeltzer.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meltzerkarl/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MeltzerKarl/

A Stanford professor who has spent 27 years studying how opportunity works says the device in your pocket is destroying your luck.
 
Tina Seelig, PhD in neuroscience, builder of Stanford's entrepreneurship center, and author of What I Wish I Knew About Luck, sits down with Joe De Sena to break apart the difference between fortune and luck.
 
Tina explains why saying hello to a stranger in line has launched friendships, businesses, and marriages. She also shares the story of a thank-you letter that was read at a professor's funeral 20 years after it was written, and talks about the time she was caught acting as a corporate spy because she had never defined her own values.
 
Things You Will Learn:
The difference between fortune and luck, and where your agency actually lives.
Why a sincere thank you is the shortest distance to unlocking new opportunity.
What happens to your decision-making when you skip defining your core values.

Tools & Frameworks Covered:
Luck vs. Fortune Distinction: Fortune is what happens to you. Luck is what you build through decisions, energy, and engagement.
The Anti-Luck Device Test: If you walk through your day with headphones in and eyes on a screen, you are closing doors you will never know existed.
Gratitude as a Compounding Asset: A sincere thank you reopens closed loops, rebuilds bridges, and creates opportunities that transactional networking never will.
If this episode moved you, do not just listen. Do something about it. Sign up. Show up. Do the work. Spartan.com. No more excuses.
 
Chapters:

00:00 Intro
00:00 Intro: Joe De Sena introduces Tina Seelig and the luck question
01:08 Fortune vs. luck: why the distinction changes everything
01:40 Every decision unlocks the next one, and saying hello opens doors
02:51 The backpack that started a lifelong friendship in an airport line
04:04 A Spartan t-shirt at Cornell that led to a marriage
05:39 Can you manufacture energy or is it innate?
07:00 Why staying a little hungry creates more energy
10:07 Why you need a team
10:53 The 6:30 a.m. Sunday workout that put Joe next to an eleven-billion-dollar contact
12:05 Adding randomness to your life as a luck strategy
14:05 Why people have forgotten how to say thank you
15:55 A thank you letter read at a professor's funeral 20 years later
19:43 The sambuca story: why older people need to hear thank you most
20:27 Recap: energy, gratitude, showing up, and taking opportunities
22:21 Why strong values build trust and attract investment from others
22:44 Where to find Tina Seelig and the book
 
Tina Seelig is a Stanford professor, entrepreneur, and bestselling author who has spent her career helping people unlock creativity, innovation, and leadership potential. After earning a PhD in neuroscience, she navigated multiple careers across consulting, technology, entrepreneurship, and academia before becoming one of Stanford's leading voices on innovation. Her work focuses on creativity, entrepreneurship, and mindset development, teaching people how to turn uncertainty into opportunity and transform challenges into growth.
 
Connect to Tina:


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tina.seelig/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tinaseelig/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/tseelig

Joel Del Rosario enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2005 because a girl asked him to. She left him with a Dear John letter while he was deployed to Iraq. Then an IED nearly killed him. His mother received an incorrect killed-in-action notification and believed her son was dead for 24 hours.
 
When Joel came to after the blast, shrapnel in his body and a traumatic brain injury that erased most of his memories, he was not relieved. He was angry that he survived. That disgust with his own reaction became the turning point. He chose ownership. Nobody forced him to enlist. That was his decision. And from that moment, he committed to 21 years of service instead of coasting to the exit.
 
Joe De Sena sits down with Joel to talk about growing up in the Dominican Republic, a tough Latina single mother in Providence, the blast that rewired his brain, and the law-enforcement fitness mission he now runs alongside his wife, Rebecca, through Iron Stronghold LLC and MCHN.
 
Things You Will Learn:
Why taking ownership of a bad decision matters more than the decision itself.
The difference between surviving hardship and choosing to build from it.
A simple daily framework for building mental toughness without needing a traumatic event.

Tools & Frameworks Covered:
Daily Hard Thing Protocol: Pick one hard thing each day and do it. Hard is relative. Consistency compounds.
Ownership After the Blast: Stop blaming the circumstance. You made the choice. Now make the next one count.
Recovery as Performance: Sleep and recovery are not optional. Emotional regulation, resilience, and physical capacity all degrade without them.
 
If this episode moved you, do not just listen. Do something about it. Sign up. Show up. Do the work. Spartan.com. No more excuses.
 
Chapters:
 
00:00 Intro: Joel Del Rosario, retired Marine and kettlebell athlete
01:53 Growing up in the Dominican Republic and low-income housing in Providence
04:02 Hard mode: why childhood adversity resets the scale
04:56 Drugs, a tough Latina mom, and consequences that stuck
08:07 Joining the Marines for a girl and the cost of that decision
09:45 Boot camp, School of Infantry, and deploying to Iraq in 2007
11:56 His mom was told he was killed in action for 24 hours
13:18 The TBI erased most of his life before the blast
17:01 Bloom where you're planted and one foot in front of the other
18:50 The kettlebell: compact training for deployments on a Navy ship
21:44 Why law enforcement faces worse than most military and gets less support
25:17 Using Spartan events as target dates for uniformed services
25:48 Three things to do every day: hard thing, push harder, get sleep
28:31 Set your alarm at night, not in the morning
 
Joel Del Rosario is an elite endurance athlete specializing in trail running, mountain racing, and obstacle course competitions, known for consistently pushing his physical and mental limits in extreme environments. Through his journey, he represents resilience, discipline, and community, using his platform to inspire others to embrace discomfort, pursue adventure, and grow through consistent effort and challenge.
 
Connect to Joel:
 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joellerblades/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Joellerblades

Spartan Race started as an idea written on a napkin during a financial crisis. No business plan. Limited money. No guarantee any of it would work. Brian Duncanson, one of the original architects behind Spartan, sits down with Joe De Sena to walk through the real origin story: a meeting in Hartford in December 2009, the decision to fire before aiming, and a ragtag team that turned mud and barbed wire into a global brand operating in 45 countries.
 
They break down the Fenway Stadium gamble Joe did not want to take, the pandemic pivot that forced DECA into a box, and why the strongest ideas at Spartan came when resources were thinnest. Brian also introduces his book, Becoming Spartan: Leveraging Friction to Forge, Scale, and Outlast, and explains what seventeen years of building under pressure taught him about action, constraint, and the 1% daily grind.
Things You Will Learn:

Why the strongest business innovations at Spartan came from resource constraints rather than abundance.
The fire-ready-aim approach that turned a napkin sketch into a global endurance brand during a financial crisis.
What breaking a massive goal into checkpoint-sized commitments does for focus, execution, and follow-through.
Tools & Frameworks Covered:

Two Bike Math: When you lose a resource, the team that adapts fastest wins. Constraint forces innovation you would never find in comfort.
Fire Ready Aim: Stop planning. Launch small. Test in the market. Adjust under pressure. The plan improves only after contact with reality.
Checkpoint Navigation: Break the hundred-mile goal into five-mile segments. Solve the first one. Then move to the next. Momentum compounds.
 
If this episode moved you, do not just listen. Do something about it. Sign up. Show up. Do the work. Spartan.com. No more excuses.
Chapters:

00:00 Intro: Joe and Brian Duncanson go back to the late 1990s
01:04 How adventure racing on TV changed Brian's corporate life
03:50 Why adventure racing was too expensive and too hard to scale
05:19 Joe at nine years old: destroying a park to build a BMX track
07:07 Leaving Wall Street: Joe stops feeling alive at the trading desk
08:01 Financial crisis, biking across America, and a friend's death on the road
09:17 The Hartford napkin: December 2009 and the birth of Spartan
12:44 The ragtag team that invented the spear throw and rope climb
14:31 The Fenway Stadium gamble Joe did not want to take
16:35 Complacency kills: why backs-against-the-wall moments drive the best work
17:58 Eight kids staring at devices and three playing hacky sack
20:52 Kids chose their phones over ice cream and watched it melt
22:14 Burning through cash to build a global brand, then doing it again after the pandemic
25:03 Brian's book: how Spartan stories became business lessons
28:50 Why sitting around planning kills more ideas than launching ugly
29:56 Action as the antidote: checkpoints, calendars, and the first five miles
33:05 Hammering metal into a sword: the 1% daily grind that outlasts shortcuts
 
Brian Duncanson is a longtime Spartan community member, endurance athlete, and event producer who has spent years embracing unpredictable challenges and pushing beyond comfort zones. Having competed in more than 50 adventure races while producing over 150 race events, Brian has built a life around resilience, leadership, and taking on difficult challenges. His story highlights endurance, adaptability, and the mindset required to keep showing up when things get hard.
Connect to Brian:

Website: https://linktr.ee/brian_duncanson
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brianduncanson
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-duncanson-6825971a
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H2RCLPLG