Two ex-special operations guys armed with MBAs seek out people leading lives less ordinary, in order to find out how they fill their ‘unforgiving minutes’, and what helps them go, always, a little further. Like intellectual bowerbirds, we collect shiny little objects of knowledge that will help build better humans. Co-hosted by Ben Pronk and Tim Curtis.
Episodes
Thursday Mar 19, 2020
Thursday Mar 19, 2020
Ever thought that poker was easy, glamorous and all about the money. Well this one is for you!
“This is business …. and this is investing”- Alec
Alec Torelli is a professional high stakes poker player, entrepreneur, and motivational speaker from California. Alec began playing poker in 2004 when he won $12!
It WAS US Dollars though!
At 21, Alec moved to Las Vegas. During his first World Series of Poker (WSOP), he finished 2nd. He then won back-to-back events at the Bellagio. The next summer, he placed 6th in the commemorative 40-year anniversary WSOP event, and then 4th in the World Poker Tour at the Bellagio.
Alec is the founder of 'Conscious Poker', a popular poker training platform. Alec has been spending the last 14 years making decisions for hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single hand. Now we dissect the anatomy of decision making to help others hone the way they make choices.
We talk: the role of luck in life, evaluating risk, maintaining a positive mindset, strengthening mental fortitude, handling adversity and setbacks, managing your bankroll and cultivating self-awareness.
And Alec's power song!? The Gambler perhaps?
Intelligence Summary (INTSUM)
0:00 Cha-ching!
00:30 How it all started
06:30 7 figures up and 7 figures down!
08:20 US rules mean Alec can’t play anywhere but he can in Australia!
10:30 Playing 4 … even 6 .. games at a time!
12:50 ‘Grinding a lot of poker’
15:40 ‘What will you do when you leave school’ – love Dad
16:15 Playing poker recreationally?
18:20 Monikers
21:50 The psychology of poker
24:30 Emotions…. And overcoming them
27:00 Rich amateurs v professionals
30:00 How do you overcome emotion/ and reset!
32:20 How to give advice to yourself
35:15 How to read someone eating broccoli
36:00 ‘Tells’….. and girls in coffee shops!
39:05 Wearing hats, sunglasses and headphones
42:45 Kipling wants to lose everything in one pitch and toss… and Alec’s thoughts!
44:10 Kipling’s point according to Alec.
46:00 Quick Questions/ Quick Answers….
53:40 Alec plays poker with Dan Bilzerian ... and the after party!
56:30 Kenny Rogers and Poker
57:00 Good v great poker players?
Links
Contact Us
Music
As Always by: The Externals …. Available on Spotify.
Thursday Mar 12, 2020
Thursday Mar 12, 2020
Mark Wales knows first-hand what happens when a Special Ops combat veteran designs a leather jacket. And also, how to find love on a reality TV show!
He’s a Special Operations Combat veteran. Boxer. CrossFit Regionals athlete. Ivy League MBA graduate. McKinsey consultant. Fashion designer. Entrepreneur. Model. Reality TV star. Father. Husband.
Mark Wales has fit a whole bunch of titles to his name, and he certainly doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
In this episode, the conversation ranges from the tragic (losing a mate in combat) to the absurd (an inappropriately long discussion on bringing back leather pants). It takes us from Newman to New York; and provides insights working with McKinsey to redesign a cheese packet; and finding love on reality TV. But also, what traits Mark hopes to pass onto his son. An absolute must-listen episode with an individual who continues to go – always – a little further.
Intelligence Summary (INTSUM)
2:42 One of these kids is not like the others….. Ben and Mark talk CrossFit Regionals. Tim (having never been to Regionals) is unable to contribute meaningfully.
5:35 Mark’s right of reply to being killed off during our Zombie Apocalypse episode with Mick Neven
6:33 Mark’s early years in rural Western Australia
8:10 Ben recalls the pinnacle of his military career – getting a ‘black jibber’ for academics as a cadet at the Australian Defence Force Academy
8:30 Mark’s first field exercise at the Royal Military College Duntroon – in which he accidentally attacks his own troops
9:35 Posted to the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, in Townsville, Queensland prior to successfully completing SAS selection
10:55 Mark’s strategy to get off the selection course without shame
12:20 Mark’s time in SASR
15:15 Losing a mate in combat – and getting on with leadership while dealing with the impacts
19:15 Ramp ceremonies – farewelling a mate
22:50 Back to the Royal Military College – as an instructor
25:04 The motivation to get out of the Army and do an MBA – at Wharton!
30:40 The genesis of Kill Kapture – tough luxury!
31:40 Cost of goods: $1500. Sale price: $1000. Not the endorsed Wharton pricing strategy
31:55 Coming up with the name “Kill Kapture”
33:40 Building the first jacket in New York’s garment district
35:20 Tough luxury – and taking inspiration from military uniforms
35:55 Out of Wharton and into McKinsey & Co
37:45 Taking on Australian Survivor
38:45 Reality TV – putting military Operational Security to shame!
40:40 Tim throws out some more spurious ‘facts’ (which turn out to be true – John Lapaglia is a medical doctor)
42:35 Celebrity models – former SecDef Jim Matthis in KillKapture
44:45 Seeing (now wife) Samantha Gash for the first time
47:20 Coming off the island – and catching back up with Sam
48:05 Now - and to the future. Corporate speaking roles and a new product launch
50:10 Tim and Ben reflect on their very brief period as watch brand ambassadors
50:55 The future of Kill Kapture
52:55 ….which may or may not include leather pants…..
53:40 Mark on leadership, resilience, PTSD – and opening up a little through his corporate speaking roles
56:05 Mark’s daily routine – doing the basics well
57:15 On fatherhood
1:01:20 Quick Question / Quick Answers – on luck, fashion, power songs and Mark’s coolest Army moments
1:05:45 The Cormack McCarthy quote Mark refers to: ‘“War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner” (from Blood Meridian)
Links
Mark’s Corporate Speaking profile
Mark’s Survivor page
Contact Us
email: debrief@unforgiving60.com
website: www.unforgiving60.com
Music
By: The Externals …. Available on Spotify
Friday Mar 06, 2020
Friday Mar 06, 2020
Monika Georgieva was the first female to attempt Australian SAS selection …. twice! Monika was also Australia’s first female Infantry Officer, having commanded a Rifle Platoon and a Reconnaissance/ Sniper Platoon.
And before we start (or continue) to stereotype. Monika is around 5 foot 4 and has been 56kg at her heaviest! She has been called a ‘little girl’- but you’ll see that she is far from that!
What if we told you that being first wasn't important to her. She just 'pursues her bliss' (Ref: Greg Wallace episode).
Monika talks us through her amazing life – from gunfights in Bulgarian nightclubs, through boarding school in Scotland, to her ground-breaking military career and beyond. In the process, she speaks to her motivational techniques, her (strange!) relationship with pain and how breaking paradigms is far less important to her than the simple act of going – always – a little further.
Intelligence Summary (INTSUM)
03:18 The 98 Gym Podcast with Monika – a must-listen!
03:30 Mon’s early childhood in Bulgaria
04:26 UK Army recruiting – how to lose applicants!
06:40 First combat experience. Age:8. Location: Bulgarian Nightclub
08:47 Ben speaks on ‘complexiness’. It’s a technical term…
09:40 Boarding school in Scotland
11:50 Tough love from Mon’s parents
14:00 To Canberra, where Mon recalls her Mooseheads years…
15:45 Life lessons from working in a pub
17:05 Mon’s time at the Royal Military College, Duntroon
18:20 Graduation to Artillery Corps as one of the first female officers – and more recruiting lies!
19:15 Corps transfer to logistics and a posting to Townsville
19:30 ….and straight onto Accelerated Infantry Training and Commando Selection
21:00 Physical preparation for selection
21:31 Mon’s bête noire – the 3.2km run!
24:20 The pressure of being the first – Imposter Syndrome and self-doubt
28:45 Tim’s single piece of advice for SAS selection
30:15 Ben and Tim struggle with maths. Again.
32:30 Working with Kev Toonen to prepare for the second SAS selection course attempt
33:50 Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation for the course
34:20 Mon’s relationship with pain…and an out of body experience!
36:30 Tara Mohr and the two Hebrew words for fear
39:00 Breaking paradigms and glass ceilings (….is not something Mon cares about)
41:00 On being the first female infantry officer in the Australian Army
45:20 The importance of authenticity as a leader
50:30 Mon on leadership presence – ‘always own the ground you’re standing on’
51:42 Amy Cuddy on body language and power poses
Contact Us
Music
By: The Externals…. Available on Spotify
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Heather Taylor, our guest this week, is going a whole lot further – 4000km further to be precise! And in a rowboat! Heather is about to row from California to Hawaii and join only a handful of other humans who have made this incredible trek solo. On the way, she will need to be prepared to face extremes of weather, the ever-present threat of bigger ships and perhaps even a dolphin stampede!
Heather speaks to Tim and Ben about her boat, her kit, her preparation and how she finds inspiration and motivation to keep going through the countless hours alone, including through the power of 120 hours of Harry Potter audiobooks! And Season 1 of the Unforgiving60 podcast of course ;-)
Intelligence Summary (INTSUM)
03:23 Heather’s first experience with rowing in high school in Canada
06:26 Making the decision to go solo
07:40 Risk assessing a row across the Pacific Oceans!
08:40 Tim’s assessment of the likelihood of an incident during the row – ‘Extreme’!
10:00 Some statistics on the row Heather is about to attempt
11:10 A two-week sprint out of California
12:45 Current records for the row
13:50 Heather’s daily routine during the row
15:40 What do you do for 100-odd days in the middle of the ocean?
16:00 Tim and Ben offer some ideas of audiobooks not to take on the trip
16:30 Heather describes her boat, facilities, rations and equipment
20:20 First aid kit and procedures
21:30 Navigation – primary and old-school backup!
22:00 Emergency procedures – and avoiding big ships
24:50 Anticipated wildlife encounters – watch out for the dolphin stampede!
25:30 Inside Heather’s head – the mental side of the row
27:30 Motivational techniques for going ‘a little further’ – and the importance of being kind to yourself
29:45 The power of faith for Heather
30:40 Funding the voyage
33:30 Heather’s literary inspirations
34:00 Heather’s accidentally dark high school poetry
35:00 Quick questions and quick answers (full disclosure – neither the questions or answers are quick!)
36:10 Heather’s fantastic distinction between happiness, joy and contentment
38:50 How to find out more about – and support! – Heather’s row
39:30 Heather’s fundraising partners
Links
Heather’s website – www.pacificgiantsrow.com
Contact Us:
Email: debrief@unforgiving60.com
Call to Arms:
** If you are a charity or an emergency services or veteran owned small business (or know one!) don't forget to get in touch- we'd love to recognise your hard work and selflessness.
Thursday Feb 20, 2020
Thursday Feb 20, 2020
It's the year 2100. How would SAS inspired tactics fight the Zombie Apocalypse? Mick Neven is 120 years old but still a comedic legend. He loves a good apocalypse and has a comedy show to prove it!
Zombies are descending. What's YOUR life choice!?!?
Intelligence Summary (INTSUM)
- 0:30. The Situation in the year 2100
- 5:05. Welcome Mick Neven – Genius Mind & 'What do you have'?
- 7:20. When running from the tiger when do you rest?
- 8:30. From your childhood what do you bring?
- 9:00. Ben and Tim’s biological relationship
- 09:30. Mark Wales .... from Survivor.... Sux!
- 12:20. Ben and Tim’s early story
- 14:00. Talking SAS Selection
- 20:15. Would you have ‘them’ in your workforce?
- 22:15. Why Mick is in elite company!
- 24:25. How Comedians are funny- from Mick (not Ben and Tim!).
- 31:00. Australian v UK Comedy demand.
- 42:00. Ben wants high tech stuff in the Zombie Apocalypse!
- 44:30. Plans and the Zombies! Mick is sceptical!
- 47:45. Mick’s skills are critical!!!!
- 52:00. Mick thinks Ben and Tim can’t unite anyone!
- 52:40. Cray fisherman
- 56:45. What skills do we need in the apocalypse?
- 58:00. Obstacle Planning
- 1:04:00 Park runners we need you!!!
- 1:05:30 Tim’s obstacle plan- “The Molasses Pit”
- 1:06:00 How to kill with combine harvesters.,
- 1:08:30 Tim takes a selfie on the edge of - “The Molasses Pit”. Doesn’t end well.
- 1:11:30 Designing a “The Molasses Pit”.
- 1:12:00 Farewells and pleasantries!
Music.
NEW Music from The Externals in this Episode.
Music from The Externals is available on Spotify.
More
Contact Us
Friday Jan 24, 2020
Friday Jan 24, 2020
It's the anniversary of Season 1 and the finale to boot.... and we didn't ever think we would come this far with this (any!?) trajectory.
We reflect on the Heard Island episode.
Then the last 12 months- Just once over lightly!
And then.... Ben gets his Performance Appraisal Report as a co-host.
Finally..... find out how you can be involved with us as part of our 'Ambassadors and Allies' Programs.
Ciao to Season 1! We loved every minute ..... thanks for joining us on this crazy ride.
Contact Us: debrief@unforgiving60.com
Music: As always by The Externals..... find them on Spotify
** While you are there check out the Unforgiving60 playlist on Spotify!
Monday Jan 06, 2020
Monday Jan 06, 2020
20 years ago, a team of four Australian SAS guys, attempted to be the third climbing party ever to summit Mawson’s Peak, otherwise known as Big Ben - Australia’s only active volcano on the sub Antarctic Heard Island- 3,500 south-west of Australia. 20 years later we got the climbing party back together to make this episode. Stu and Matt are still serving SAS officers and Robb Clifton is now in a senior role at Australian Antarctic Division.
In 1998-99, the SAS had supported anti-poaching activities in the Southern Ocean. As a result, Austral Fisheries were sympathetic to taking an SAS team south to Heard Island.
The team put ashore at Atlas Cove on the 1st of January 2000 after nearly a month at sea on the 88 metre Fishing Trawler, SOUTHERN CHAMPION. The team worked in the Ship’s fish factory through the incredibly challenging Southern Ocean.
On the very first night at Heard Island the team realised how difficult this was going to be …. And it only got worse! They got a lot of things terribly wrong. And Mother Nature was never going to be helpful.
But sometimes fate does (and will) smile.
It’s a great story of adventure. Facing challenges and accepting fate. Homicidal desires to summit but the need to calculate the risks.
And of course, the indefatigable and enduring nature of mateship.
Intelligence Summary (INTSUM)
- 3:50 The Team
- 5:15 About Heard Island
- 8:30 What is at Heard Island
- 11:15 The mad idea to climb an active volcano on a sub-Antarctic Island!?
- 13:00 How do you get there?
- 14:10 How did the voyage start…. of course, with logistics challenges!
- 15:45 The voyage south! Working for passage!
- 18:15 Into the Southern Ocean
- 20:45 SAS Water Operators and sea sickness!
- 21:30 Patagonian toothfish
- 24:30 Fishing in the Southern Ocean
- 25:45 The morning of departure to Heard Island
- 29:05 Environmental guidelines and restrictions
- 30:40 Night 1 and the first BIG problem
- 32:15 Naively selecting the worst route up the mountain
- 33:15 Let’s get climbing….
- 39:00 Even more difficulties above Camp 1
- 40:19 The homicidal nature of climbing…. And even more problems.
- 42:00 ‘The most vivid moments are the hard bits’.
- 42:50 Failed summit attempt …. And facing (accepting) death
- 45:00 It just gets worse. No food, fuel or water, two broken tents and only three sleeping bags.
- 47:20 Summit Day
- 50:45 Summit reflections- Robb and Matt
- 55:00 The day after
- 58:55 Reflections - 20 years ago about the Heard Island Expedition
More About Heard Island
http://heardisland.antarctica.gov.au/about
More About Fishing in the Southern Ocean
https://www.australfisheries.com.au/fishing-operations/southern-ocean
Music
As always music by The Externals. Hear more of The Externals on Spotify.
Contact Us
Also check out the Unforgiving60 playlist on Spotify. A collection of our guests 'power songs' : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7cjO1k0evBeP2nFxX83Akp?si=n6dyi9h1Tamsqc7TAVNmjg
Friday Dec 27, 2019
Friday Dec 27, 2019
Welcome to RV13. We dissect our episodes with the young whippersnapper Jimmy McKeown- Australian Master Distiller of the Year, trail running with Melina Mellino and passion & poetry with Chris Huet.
We also talk Ben’s work of art in the Australian War Memorial.
Listener feedback is in here too. And some wider Season 2 announcements for 2020.
And we finish off with our suggested reading list. Pick up a book and do some reading!
INTSUM
1:30 Jimmy McKeown. Australian Master Distiller of the Year. Modesty and humilty
3:00 Genesis of the Whippersnapper logo
3:50 Differentiation
7:50 Melina Mellino …. And about being the energy in the room
11:00 Silent Sundays
13:05 Toe shoes, lycra, Lululemon, singlet, visors and covering up
14:40 Chris Huet, precision and passion….. through poetry
17:50 Strength in words
19:00 Is poetry for me?
20:50 Southern Comfort in Woolsheds
23:10 Ben’s challenge to Tim for 2020
23:46 About a challenge and grinding away
25:48 Ben’s Highly Commended Artwork in the Australian War Memorial…. We talk about where it is and how it came about
28:10 What inspired Ben’s painting in the War Memorial
30:02 The Unforgiving60 Playlist! How did it come about?
32:25 Listener feedback and comments
34:33 Feedback on ‘Piss taking’
35:40 Questions from Zagreb, Croatia. And someone is indeed reading the show notes!
37:20 A note from Wandering Distillery
37:47 Feedback from Kirsty. A request to discuss our favourite books.
38:50 The start of Ben and Tim’s Recommended Reading List……
MORE
email: debrief@unforgiving60.com
MUSIC
Music as always by The Externals. Find out more about The Externals on Spotify
PLAYLIST
The Unforgiving60 Playlist also available for free on Spotify. A collection of power songs: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7cjO1k0evBeP2nFxX83Akp?si=Ths0BS7mTaqAsEBXSxVzzg
Friday Dec 20, 2019
Friday Dec 20, 2019
Chris Huet flew fighter jets with precision and now speaks with passion! He is an award winning, national poetry champion and communications coach, who also applies the principles drawn from his flying fast jets.
Chris's Air Force career started with a Bachelor of Arts at the Australian Defence Force Academy before graduating to being a Hornet pilot. In a near-20-year career with the RAAF, Chris ultimately led the fighter training school with a staff of 200 personnel as well as 14 F/A-18 Hornet jets.
Chris had always written poetry. He realised that communicating was his passion. And that his poetry was a key vehicle for communications, and it has plenty of transferrable components.
Enter CJ Bowerbird. Chris's 'nom de plume'. Chris was the Australian champion of the Australian Poetry Slam. CJ Bowerbird loves to challenge our emotions- to make us feel!
To just feel something!
In 2018, Chris released Beyond This Blue, a recording of the show he wrote and performed with the Downfall Choir for the 2017 National Folk Festival.
This interview left Ben and Tim grinning from ear to ear- just listen to the poem about the billy cart!
****
Tim then was on a flight.... and he wrote this to Chris:
****
"Chris, A big thanks for yesterday. We had a quick listen to the audio and we think that it will be very special. Thanks for sharing. Indeed, more than that for me. Thanks for inspiring. On full charge from CJ Bowerbird, last nights whisky and today’s Eckhart Tolle.... I put pen to paper in flight and wrote for the first time in years.
CJ Bowerbird & the Downfall Choir: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/cjbowerbird
Music
As always from The Externals .... available on spotify
More about the Unforgiving60 Podcast
Unforgiving60 Playlist (songs from our guests): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7cjO1k0evBeP2nFxX83Akp?si=9m8a9K9kSEOg7typYrIq8g
Thursday Dec 05, 2019
Thursday Dec 05, 2019
This episode is just great fun! Melina Mellino is a former United States Airforce Computer Systems Operator: But she knows nothing about computers!
Melina claims it was good sales work by the US Military that got her into the Airforce. So good that instead of 4 years she signed up for 6 years of ‘adventure’! Melina served in Afghanistan, including driving trucks and tactical vehicles as her secondary task. After Afghanistan she served in Turkey, where Melina reflected that people’s problems with internet connections were in stark contrast to people problems in Afghanistan.
Melina left the military after Turkey and went to ‘just hang out’…. back in Afghanistan.
Melina then got the lure of Australia to study natural medicine. But she needed a laptop!? Who would have thought!? And that clearly didn’t last!
Trail running has always been her passion and we talk- lycra, headbands, shoes, nature and the community of trail runners.
And we talk power songs!
Melina now owns and runs the Perth Trail Series where she encourages people to get out there, run, have fun and just 'woohoo'!
Intelligence Summary (INTSUM)
- 02:55 How it all started
- 04:00 How the military sucks fun out of fun activities
- 05:50 On flying
- 08:30 Why we yelled at communications experts
- 09:45 In Afghanistan. Endearing thoughts. Running convoys from Bagram Air Base to Mazar e Sharif
- 13:00 In Turkey
- 16:00 Hanging out… back in Afghanistan
- 19:15 Into Australia. Chase the sun
- 19:55 Studying Natural Medicine
- 21:35 Fact check Australia’s coastline length
- 27:50 Trail running as a vocation
- 28:30 Zoolander struts into the conversation (Ben!)
- 31:45 What is trail running?
- 36:35 Ben’s mountain running and bathrooms
- 44:10 Is it a competition?
- 49:01 How Melina describes her leadership style
- 55:55 Power Songs! Melina, Tim and Ben’s power songs
- 01:01:00 Lycra
- XX:YY:ZZ Is no one still reading the show notes?
- 01:02:15 Tee Shirt or Singlet?
- 01:02:40 What prose/ poetry inspires Melina
- 01:03:10 Tim reads Edward Abbey
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.”
― Edward Abbey
About Perth Trail Series
http://www.perthtrailseries.com.au
Music
As always…. by the Externals.
Find more Externals music on Spotify
Contact Us