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The Hard Way With Joe De Sena

The Hard Way With Joe De Sena

By: Joe De Sena
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The proving ground where mental resilience, endurance, and purpose are built, the hard way. Spartan Founder and CEO Joe De Sena sits down with the toughest minds on the planet; warriors, entrepreneurs, athletes, and leaders who've earned their success through discipline and pain. No shortcuts. No excuses. Just raw truth about what it takes to stay sharp, endure suffering, and keep moving through hard times.© 2025 Spartan Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success
Episodes
  • Joel Del Rosario on Surviving an IED in Iraq, Losing His Memory, and Owning Every Decision After

    Joel Del Rosario on Surviving an IED in Iraq, Losing His Memory, and Owning Every Decision After
    Jun 30 2026
    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
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    21 mins
  • 11 Years Pro Soccer: Hugh Roberts on Getting Benched, Training Alone, and Never Quitting

    11 Years Pro Soccer: Hugh Roberts on Getting Benched, Training Alone, and Never Quitting
    Jun 23 2026
    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
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    25 mins
  • Building How Brian Duncanson Helped Turn a Napkin Idea Into Spartan Race

    Building How Brian Duncanson Helped Turn a Napkin Idea Into Spartan Race
    Jun 16 2026
    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
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    27 mins
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