Forging Life Podcast

David Waldy is a life & business strategist, speaker, and helping people master their emotions, business systems, and personal habits. Fierce Empathy serves to empower leaders to get out of their own way, create aligned abundance, and never stop becoming who they said they would be.

Some questions and topics we explore during this episode:

• What are different types of Empathy?
• What's the difference between Empathy and Sympathy
• What small shifts David used to help him get where he is today
• Learning how to see things from different perspectives
• And so much more

David is also giving away some things so you'll want to make sure you listen to the full episode to have your chance of winning! Make sure you follow myself and David Waldy on Instagram

Welcome to Season 3 of the Forging Life podcast. I speak with Jim Cermak, the Host of the Trade Show University podcast, and a coach for Exhibitors to help double their leads and sales from Trade Shows and events. In this episode, we speak about being a parent, entrepreneurship, and how you can use trade shows to stand out from the competitors and have massive results. 

Some questions for Jim:

What were some small shifts in your mindset that you started doing to help get you to where you are today?: Realizing I am in control of my future, and it's up to me to take action and advantage of opportunities  

What breakthroughs have you had in life?: Realizing God wants me to succeed, and we have to live every day with a servant heart toward all we do  Leaders are readers. 

What was a book that assisted you in life or is your "go to" for motivation/inspiration?: A few - The E-Myth Revisited (Gerber), The Common Path to Uncommon Success (Dumas), The One Thing (Keller)

Such an awesome time interviewing Army Veteran and Author, Jennifer Hobbs. In this episode, we sit down and talk about experiences in the military while serving in a combat zone and the challenges that came from within. Jennifer also talks about her book that dives deeper into her own experience as well as PTSD. You can grab her book and follow her now by going to:

I finally had the opportunity to speak with a great friend of mine, Dan Desmond who is a Master body practitioner, massage therapist and holistic coach.

Here's what Dan had to say:

I love helping other ambitious holistic health practitioners excel in life, build a robust & highly lucrative business & carry their passion & vision for healing the world every single day.  

What were some small shifts in your mindset that you started doing to help get you to where you are today?: I started investing in mentorship when I was 18 years old & haven’t stopped since. 

What breakthroughs have you had in life?: That I need to follow my vision so that others can embody abundance.  

Leaders are readers. What was a book that assisted you in life or is your "go to" for motivation/inspiration?: Dan Millman’s Way of the Peaceful Warrior.

What episodes of the Forging Life Podcast have you heard?: I’m new to listening to the podcast but love following your personal work.  

What a great opportunity to speak with Daniel Faust on this episode of the Forging Life Podcast. Just a few announcements:

Today's episode is with Navy Veteran and Coffee Roaster, Jose Alaniz Jr. What you thought you knew about coffee is probably a lie. I had no clue about the types of coffee's and what you're probably drinking is probably mediocre coffee.

In today's episode, it's all about responsibility. When you take on the responsibility of the things that happen around you, you can change how you respond to them. You can't change the event that occurred but you can change the was you respond to it. As always, these solopodcast episodes are some food for thought for you to carry into your day!

Check out our sponsor, Kajabi. I use them for all of my website and membership needs. If you're an entrepreneur looking to have a simple way to run and manage your website, landing pages, membership site, or even take payments, I recommend checking them out. From July 8-28th they are running a special to join them. For $99, you have access for three months and thats absolutely unheard of! With all sponsors of the Forging Life Podcast, we may be compensated for those that take action on products we feel are helpful to you.

In this episode, I sit down with LJ Raspler. She is an Entrepreneur and her mission is to help others live a pain free life while impacting the veterans suicide rate from 22 to 0. Here is some info on what we discussed:

"Because I suffered from a rare autoimmune disorder. I developed something called Guillain Barre syndrome in 2009, and it left me with a whole host of health issues, but primarily neurological severe and debilitating neurological damage, and I lived in pain, chronic pain. When I left teaching it was then that I was diagnosed with anxiety and PTSD, because I never went to a doctor I never went to anyone, because I was too afraid to find out how sick I was, and I know that's crazy and I don't advocate that for a lot of people, mostly everybody, but it's the journey I chose.

I healed myself to the best I could through my holistic journey. Acupuncture care and chiropractic care. Then with food, I developed a whole host of food allergies muscle weakness foggy brain I had so many different things. But I learned months ago that I had a mild case.

I really wanted to help veterans and I'm on a mission to serve you know my true heroes the veterans, not even knowing what it meant. Up until four months ago. And we partnered up. And I started doing challenges I did a fundraiser in March of, an event bright fundraiser, and I donated.

We raised virtually in a baking, pie, pie. We raised $800, and I i donated that to the United veterans beacon house here in Long Island, and they serve veterans and they house them.

They deal with programs in, you know, substance abuse, you know, the suicide the mental well being, you know, because that 22 to zero is where I'm looking at Trey that 22 you know the PTSD, we just came off of June and PTSD Awareness Month.

And I have to say this sleep that I'm wearing is a cognitive, sleep, which has the technology, different than the socks. And it's helped with my anxiety, and my PTSD and that fight and flight pinging off of every war for years and I didn't even realize it.

I'm so the journey began and Irene and I started raising money. We just did a fundraiser together for We The People Patriot Project. I'm all about Mark Peterson and Angie Eichmann, they have embraced us."

You can get more information about LJ's mission or reach out to her if you are experiencing pain. I personally have used the products she has been donating to veterans and several of my friends have also experienced great results.

Follow her at:

In today’s episode, I’m speaking with Raymond Carrasco, and he is actually a licensed financial professional, Founder of the War Council Financial and he's actually an active duty Marine. Here are some clips of the show!

Trey: What gave you that shove to join the military?

Raymond: Oh, I mean, I have to give respect to my grandfather. He is an amazing man. As a Veteran, he's one of the first builders to complete Disneyland and raised 15 children. Everything that he just did for our family, the foundation of our family, I was like, Yes, I want to make that person proud.

Trey: So, with you in the financial actually getting licensed and starting your own company while you being in the military. How hard was that?

Raymond: I'm not going to sugarcoat it, I'm not gonna lie, the military is a difficult place for growth. Sometimes it's just like we don't have time for that as we’re in a mission.

So, to get my license to study for my state boards and my course material and all these other things like that. It took a little bit more time than it should have, because I was going to the field, going back to back into the field, out of the field just that whole circus.

A week before I took my state board for my financial license, I was in the field. In this concrete, town house, like the whole thing was shaking.

I was just on my phone reading notes, I had a flashlight with a notebook. So, who wants it bad enough, I definitely wanted to do this for me and myself. 

Trey: In regards to being a founder of the War Council Financial, how did that come to fruition and you becoming a founder for this company.

Raymond: Yeah, so, you can go work in a financial office. There can be a lunchtime and how much they can pay you and what they want you to tell people and all that other stuff, or you can go to the independent route, independent financial contractor consultant advisor, whatever you want to call it. What's cool about going the independent route is the route that I chose is that I'm able to work with hundreds of different companies, and I actually represent clients, rather than representing financial companies to the clients actually represent the priorities of the client to the financial company. And if that company doesn't fall in line with what I'm trying to how I'm trying to help a family or a person, then we move on, that company clearly does not have us at the center of their priority.

Later in this episode, Raymond speaks on how not having goals, hobbies, wants, or likes and it almost destroyed him. It was just emptiness. He then explains how refreshing it was to click on a podcast and listen to how authentic it is. Raymond pulls back the curtain and gets personal about being a father and going through divorce.

You can check out the rest of the show notes @ https://www.forginglife.org/blog 

Reach out to Raymond where he deliver’s veterans, active military members, and families with financial education and services Free of charge to help them better their financial situations and futures.

In this episode, Trey Ryder talks about emotional control and what that means. My son, came up to me and stated he wanted to talk with me because he thought he did something wrong. Of course it was right before bed time but I felt it was important that we spoke about what was on his mind. As he explained his story that he and his friends had been in an argument and it became a little physical, I knew it all came down to one thing, emotional control. I have fell victim to letting my emotions control my decisions. I used to let my life run by how I was feeling emotionally. When I realized thoughts create emotions and I control my thoughts, then I could choose how I emotionally respond! Check out the episode for more on this!

In this episode, I get to speak with Kennedy Page of KPage Designs. After he created the Forging Life Logo, I had to have him on and speak about what he does.

(3:00) Began graphic design by self-learning through a friend. Later received a degree in it

(4:00) What is hobby Farming

(5:00) It literally started with a dream and vision to get into hobby farming

(6:30) Veteran transition programs in farming

(8:00) Another vision Kennedy has is helping at risk youth to get into farming

(9:00) Kennedy speaks on his military service, keeping his head down and moving often.

(11:00) Could the consistent stress be a reason for not remembering?

(13:00) After the military service, Kennedy breaks down his post military work where he chased being a massage therapist, security guard, and designing.

(14:00) Found that designing was always his go-to through it all. Once he realized it, that’s when he committed to doing design work.

(17:00) We talk about who some of his clients are and what they do. Kennedy does a lot of veteran business work

(21:00) Opportunities KPage Designs offer

(23:00) Colors have an important part in the meaning of the designing.

(24:00) Kennedy breaks down a few colors and the meaning and emotions for us.

(26:00) If you could go back to your 10 y/o self, what would you tell yourself? Kennedy gives a great response.

(28:00) The one thing that keeps Kennedy up at night is the movement towards his next goals/vision.

(30:00) Kennedy breaks down some of his goals in the business, and how to build a better relationship with his wife.

(33:00) The importance of setting intentions.

(34:00) Kennedy gives us his closing remarks/advice to follow. You have to believe in yourself first!

This episode was also streamed into the Forging Life Podcast Facebook Group with live comments. I kept the full version unedited so that you could hear some of the discussion prior to the episode.

(22:00) Subconscious Programing running in the background telling you all the negative things to keep you from taking action

(24:00) Friend was reaching out but Marshal never picked up the phone. After procrastinating on talking with Dustin, Marshal found out that he committed suicide.

(26:00) Was tired of working as a bartender and knew there was more out there for him. Marshal doubled down as an entrepreneur and started making massive results. He thought that if he could have all this money, his life would change. Marshal was speaking on live stages but in 2019, he lost it all

(28:00) He was always going to be real with others and tell them how it was. Marshal thought that if he just served other people at a high level, everything would be fine. The problem was that he was never helping himself first.

(30:00) Addicted to drugs to numb the pain and feel present. After 2019, Marshal left it all to find himself.

(32:00) Facebook Live shout outs from the Forging Life Facebook Group

(33:00) Question from Nancy: How did you get to “I do not care what people think about my past”?

Marshall: Led with good positive energy, showed up and did his job every single day. If I showed up, continued to better my skills, had positive energy and surrounded myself with the right people then what they say wouldn’t matter. If I go live and tell people how it is and be authentic when telling others what I’m going through then what else can they say?

(40:00) Trey: What is your relationship with your father?

Marshal: All kids want from you is to understand and be present. My mom was always there for me and poured her heart out.

Growing up, I would dress the same as my dad, wearing the same stuff as him and all he would do is tell me how I mess up. All I wanted was for him to care. “Hurting people hurt people”. I thought I was going to hate him forever. A month after Dustin passed away, my dad called me and told me he was dying. This is what sparked me with the thought that if my dad could stop drinking, then I can make it as an entrepreneur. My father took the initiative to reach out and say he messed up. Then we had the greatest relationship

(49:00) Marshal: When you put faith into a higher source whatever that may be, there’s a reason for the season. I believe you are in these challenges because the person you are now couldn’t handle the blessings you are asking for. You’re constantly tested by the universe so that you can be ready to accept.

Follow up with Marshal Gillen

Part 2

(00:00) Trey question to audience: If you were to be diagnosed with something and know that you would be passing away, what would you be doing right now? How would you show up in life?

(5:00) Trey: What is the future of Marshal Live

Marshal: People always knows me as Marshal Live and I’ll always have that. I just got tired of just making courses and entrepreneurship. I made it to the top and I just didn’t feel like I fit in with them. I struggled with my brand as Top Paid Speaker. (He was referencing struggling internally because it didn’t align with who he was.)

(10:00) Marshal created an event and had some really great speakers but 30 days before the event, he realized he wouldn’t be able to bring the audience the speakers would want. All except one backed out.

Marshal: I still hosted the retreat and the people still came out. I offered their money back and told them, if you want your money back, I’ll be happy to give it back. But, if you trust me, I’ll transform your life. At the very end, they were all thanking me for it.

(15:00) Marshal: At this time, I’m going to continue holding these retreats. I’m able to just connect with people. I don’t need all the fancy things.

(20:00) Marshal: People can tell you everything they don’t want but can’t say what they do want. My first event had 137 people there. I was so mad there was only 137 because I had 200 tickets out. No matter what you do, until you know you’re enough, it doesn’t matter what you do.

(22:00) That belief system will always be there to knock you down until you know how to change it. There would be a lot more successful people if they knew how to do that

Follow up with Marshal Gillen

In this episode, Trey Ryder speaks to you about doing a battle buddy check. Many of you may be preparing for a long weekend, lets not forget what this weekend is for. It doesn't matter what country you are from, you military has sacrificed their life for the country so others could have comfort in the home. 

During this episode, you will have time to reflect on those that gave their life. Maybe it was your father, mother, daughter, brother or friend. Regardless of who it is, this is a time for remembrance, not celebration.

I want to thank Kennedy Page for sponsoring the Forging Life podcast and creating the Forging Life logo. If you own a business or looking to start one, reach out to Kennedy and let him know that you heard about him through this podcast to get a discount on your purchase!

Don't forget to join the Forging Life podcast Facebook page, do an introduction post, tag me in it and #BattleTalk.

Every month, we invite the guests back onto the show and speak to our live audience. This month, we highlight the amazing guests from the month of April 2021 which include Bryce Mckinley, Jenny Mckinney, and Heather Caldwell. Carl Peter could not make it to this live recording but will be joining us on the next one.

During the 3 part series, the guests share some valuable information on Effective Communication with anyone, doing a laughing meditation, talks about CBD products and so much more. I hope you grab a pin and paper because you'll want to take notes on these!

Every month, we invite the guests back onto the show and speak to our live audience. This month, we highlight the amazing guests from the month of April 2021 which include Bryce Mckinley, Jenny Mckinney, and Heather Caldwell. Carl Peter could not make it to this live recording but will be joining us on the next one.

During the 3 part series, the guests share some valuable information on Effective Communication with anyone, doing a laughing meditation, talks about CBD products and so much more. I hope you grab a pin and paper because you'll want to take notes on these!

Every month, we invite the guests back onto the show and speak to our live audience. This month, we highlight the amazing guests from the month of April 2021 which include Bryce Mckinley, Jenny Mckinney, and Heather Caldwell. Carl Peter could not make it to this live recording but will be joining us on the next one.

During the 3 part series, the guests share some valuable information on Effective Communication with anyone, doing a laughing meditation, talks about CBD products and so much more. I hope you grab a pin and paper because you'll want to take notes on these!

In this episode, I speak to you about passion and purpose. What is passion and purpose? Have you lost site of your passion or purpose? When I got out of the military these two things, passion and purpose, is some thing that I lost sight of. Without these two it is easy to feel depressed, lost, or even unfulfilled in life. If you have not sat back and find your passion and purpose, I challenge you to do that today.

In this episode, I speak with Glenn Lundy. I first met Glenn on Clubhouse when I was looking for a morning message as I did my morning routines. Monday through Friday, Glenn goes live on all social media platforms to share a message and positivity into your morning. He is a husband and father of 8, author and international speaker. Check out below for ways you can connect with Glenn!

(3:00) Grew up in a blended home with his mom being white and father black. Glenn explains growing up in this situation

(7:00) Started struggling in his teen years with his Identity. While in college, Glenn met a girl and found out that she became pregnant

(8:00) Living the “looks good, feels good” life

(9:00) Work life excelled while his home life tanked. Daughter was taken from him. A warrant was out for his arrest

(11:00) How over time, homelessness eventually makes you invisible.

(13:00) Glenn decided it was time to take his life and walked out into the middle of the ocean.

(14:00) Realized that he is the constant in life. So, he is also to blame for all of the good things

(15:00) Went on a journey of self-discovery

(16:00) Reframed to “looks good, feels good, and is good” then go after it

(20:00) Creating a space online that is a safe space and does a morning show that cracked 830 episodes at the time of this recording.

(21:00) Seeks out others to make sure that they are seen, heard, and understood.

(25:00) Glenn shares some parts of his Morning 5 book to help you win your day

(28:00) The importance of goals and why you don’t write out your goals. Before writing goals, take time to write out gratitude. It gets you in a positive mindset instead of negative.

(37:00) The first step Glenn took was starting a morning show that was first recorded inside of the utility closet.

(42:00) Four words his company goes off of. Rise, Evolve, Impact, Together. Rise with intention and purpose, evolve to the best version they can be, impact others, doing things together

(46:00) The importance of investing time into everything. Don’t spend time because that’s a negative. Just like if you spend your money, your bank account goes down

(49:00) Put everything on a calendar. Even eating breakfast with his kids is on a calendar.

(51:00) What fires up Glenn…

Byron Morrison is an author of multiple books and the most recent is The Effective CEO. He is also a high-performance coach helping CEO’s focus and prioritize time.

(2:45) We introduce the book the Effective CEO and course content Byron has created called the Unshakeable CEO

(4:00) Three pillars that Byron focuses on: Mindset, Emotional Control, and Performance,

(5:15) We dive into Byron’s personal story and his dad getting cancer. That’s when he realized that it was time to take control of his life and health. After focusing on his weight, Byron went on to write his first book, Become A Better You. Over 2 years of research was put into the book.

(11:00) Byron speaks about the struggle losing weight. He felt like there was one step forward and two steps back. The awareness one day while at the beach, looking at other people and asking “why isn’t that me”. Byron dedicated himself and said that will be me next year!

(13:20) Struggling with mental health. Didn’t want to get out of bed or go out and do anything. He was dedicated to creating the body he wanted and when he finally got it, Byron realized he still wasn’t happy.

(17:00) From an early age, we paint this picture of how we believe the world should be. Nobody has the same experiences and that’s why we have different beliefs and values. It creates a lens of how we see the world.

(18:00) That’s why if you change your thoughts, you can change your life.

(21:00) You can’t change the past. What’s done is done. It’s about what you can learn from it

(23:00) Byron talks about why it’s so important to have a routine, especially in the morning.

(34:00) The Effective CEO book

(36:00) One take away Byron wants you to have from this is to realize we can take control. Ask yourself the question, what is it that I need to do to move forward

Last week, I had something break on my car. What sounded like a simple fix, turned out to be a long process. I'm thankful to have had help from my son as we worked together to fix the problem. This "30 Minute" fix turned into hours. Eventually my son wanted to give up and take the car in to be fixed. What he didn't realize is the self talk leads to us not trying our hardest. Can you identify a time in your life that you said you couldn't do something, AND YOU WERE RIGHT? Most often, what you tell yourself will show up in the actions you do.

During this episode, I had the opportunity to speak with Heather Caldwell from the Anxious Hippy. Heather shares her story of being a mother and post-partum. She talks about the struggles and the symptoms of what she went through to include anxiety. (Approximately 6:00 mark)

After struggling so much, Heather reached out to get help through online counseling that revealed past trauma that she was able to overcome.

(13:00) Heather brings the discussion into her experience with domestic violence and “love bombing”. During this relationship, she tells us how she was secluded from others because of the relationship. By identifying the cycle and taking actions, Heather was able to make positive changes

(17::00) Heather gives us her words of wisdom to those that find themselves stuck in a toxic relationship. Some areas she shares is the number 1 thing for you is safety.

(20:00) We speak about the thought process of opening a brick and mortar store in 2019 right before the economy shutting down. With $38 in Heather’s pocket, she knew that she wanted to impact the community. By February 2020, the Anxious Hippy opened their doors.

(25:00) The power of pivoting your business.

(30:00) Being a guide for others in natural ways such as herbs, cbd, and others. Heather was a dental hygienist and I had to ask about the mouth having direct health connections with the rest of the body.

(39:00) A general discussion on people’s sixth sense, law of attraction, and energy frequencies from our emotions

(46:00) Natural remedies such as cbd, aroma therapy

(49:00) Join Heather on all social media platforms by typing in Anxious Hippy. The brick and mortar store is in Pineville, Kentucky

Yesterday, I was given the opportunity to attend Steve Goble's Kingdom Focused Summit. In this episode, I share a takeaway that I had from the summit. I also wanted to give shoutouts to some amazing people that have showed support to the Forging Life Community.

Thank you Carl Peter for joining us on this episode of the Forging Life Podcast! During our conversation with Carl Peter, AKA OMZ_TheRoot, speaks about how his decisions of his past was changed with one choice. Some areas of discussion we spoke about was how he was living a life feeling unfulfilled while being an Aero Engineer and continued pushing to live a better life and serving others.

In this episode, Bryce Mckinley and I sit down and talk about how he lost millions of dollars and became homeless. 

After being homeless and living out of his car with his son, Bryce tried to end his life. With a malfunctioning gun, he decided to go all in on life and make a difference. While homeless, Bryce took the $38 and now owns several companies worth almost $100 million. 

If you want to know just how Bryce did this, sit back and enjoy the conversation! Don't miss our Monthly live podcast wrap up where we we be on a zoom call with Bryce and the other guests. By showing up, he will share 5 Steps to the Art of Communication!

You can contact Bryce or find out more information by going to:

Do you feel like you could be much more productive but lack the motivation? In this episode Trey Ryder will discuss five steps that you can take to help be more productive and motivated. This isn't a cure all but can help if you implement them. If this episode is of value to you, please rate it and leave a review. It helps us reach others that may need this too!

Today, we get to have an awesome time with Jenny Mckinney. Jenny is a transformational coach that brings laughter into your day. Her laugh is so contagious, it's hard to keep yourself from laughing with her. Jenny has broken the "life is stuffy" mold. She came out of the womb laughing and have shared that every since. by paving her own way while breaking our generational "hand me downs" of "work hard to make money" and "beat it out of them" mentality along with "rich people are a-holes". Jenny stopped participating in that mindset and disowned it. Broke right up with it because it didn't fit in her "lets live our best and lightest life!" 

Some questions we asked her:

• Leaders are readers. What was a book that assisted you in life or is your "go to" for motivation/inspiration?

I love reading and this question! I love the "You're a badass at making money" by Jen Sincero because she puts the smack down on me when I needed it.

• What episodes of the Forging Life Podcast have you heard?

Bunch - love SPF365

• Do you have anything you’d like to provide, offer to the audience such as free giveaways, courses, mastermind groups etc.?

We all have our story. Is it an empowering one or is it a story that is holding you back? When we are told information, you choose to update your story. Our story is what creates our reality. Maybe we stop playing with our children like I did, or you stop doing the things you love. Find out what story you are telling yourself and ask if this is what you want. If thoughts lead to emotions, emotions to feelings, and feelings into action/inaction, that means you have a choice in how you want to be.

What an amazing conversation with "Papa" Ray Hurst. During our discussion, Trey and Papa Ray have a deep conversation on how the thoughts and beliefs are what create us but can be changed by focus.

Ray Hurst is a husband and father before anything else. He's a dedicated transformation coach with his company ILAP Coaching and an Author of the "Daddy Why Don't You Love Me" series. We speak about his books, the importance of a being a father and also being present. Dive in and leave us a review if this gave you some valuable information!

Follow these links to connect, find out more information about Papa Ray Hurst and his mission.