The Hard Deck with Mark Perna

8 - Berrick Abramson: Former Marine, Entrepreneur, Higher Education Commissioner & Policy Strategist

Berrick Abramson is a former U.S. Marine, entrepreneur, executive coach, policy strategist, and Commissioner on the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. He is also the host of the Living Life All In [https://livinglifeallin.com/] podcast, where he explores leadership, purpose, adversity, and the small decisions that shape a meaningful life. In this episode of The Hard Deck Podcast, Berrick joins Mark to talk about leaving home before 15, serving his country, building businesses, navigating public policy, and helping leaders solve complex problems through his work as President of Confluence Policy & Strategy Group. The conversation also gets into Berrick’s work supporting major Colorado public-interest initiatives, including the Task Force on the Rights of Coloradans with Disabilities, his role in higher education, and the personal battles that shaped his perspective on resilience, service, faith, family, and living with intention. This one is about leadership without the corporate bumper stickers, resilience without the motivational fluff, and what it actually means to live all in when life hits back.

#7 Raymond Adams: Fashion, Freefall, and the Art of Capturing Skydiving History

Raymond Adams didn’t come into skydiving photography as just another jumper with a camera on his helmet. He came from the fashion world — lighting, composition, style, attitude — and brought that eye straight into freefall. In this episode of Hard Deck, Raymond sits down with Mark Perna to talk about his path from hairdressing and fashion photography to becoming one of the most recognizable visual storytellers in skydiving. Six weeks after putting a camera on his helmet, Raymond landed a shot on the cover of Parachutist. Since then, he’s captured freefly pioneers, early swooping competitions, legendary boogies, canopy pilots, world-class athletes, and the everyday drop zone moments that make the sport feel like home. They get into the early days of modern swooping, the Pro Swooping Tour, the evolution of canopy piloting, X Games-era skydiving, skysurfing, freefly history, Z-Hills culture, loss, humility, legacy, and why the best photos are often the ones people never knew were being taken. This one is about more than photography. It’s about preserving the stories, people, and strange beautiful chaos of a sport most of the outside world still doesn’t fully understand. Raymond has spent decades making skydivers look like rock stars. Turns out, a lot of them actually are. Check out his work at https://raymondadamsimagery.com

#6 Angie Aragon: USPA National Director & Founder of USPACourses.com

In this episode of Hard Deck, I sit down with Angie Aragon — USPA National Director, newly appointed Latin America representative, founder of USPAcourses.com [http://USPAcourses.com], tandem and AFF examiner, FAA senior rigger, and one of the most respected instructor developers in the sport. We talk about how Angie got into skydiving, why she left a successful real estate career to go all in on the sport, and what it really takes to train the next generation of instructors. We also get into canopy consistency at altitude, the pressure and responsibility of examiner work, what it’s like serving as a USPA National Director, and why Latin America is becoming such an exciting part of skydiving’s future. This is a conversation about growth, service, leadership, and staying sharp in a sport that does not tolerate complacency. What we cover: * Angie’s path from Southern California to international skydiving leadership * How she got hooked on skydiving in New Zealand * The realities of tandem and AFF examiner courses * Instructor standards, safety, and decision-making under pressure * USPA leadership and the responsibility behind hard decisions * The growth of skydiving in Latin America * Building new opportunities through competition, education, and community * Angie’s newest project: Project Cutaway

#5 Joe Jennings | World Champion Skysurfer, Hollywood Freefall Cinematographer and Space Cowboy

In this episode, Mark Perna sits down with legendary skydiver, aerial stunt coordinator, and freefall cinematographer Joe Jennings. Joe is a pioneer of camera flying and competitive skysurfing, a World Champion, and an X Games gold medalist whose work helped redefine how skydiving is captured on film. Over the course of his career, he has coordinated and filmed aerial stunts for major feature films including Charlie’s Angels, xXx, Air Force One, San Andreas, and Point Break, along with major commercial work for brands like Pepsi, Dell, Kia, and Nvidia. The conversation also dives deep into Space Cowboy, the feature documentary about Joe’s life and career, including the risks, innovation, personal loss, and mental health struggles behind the image. This is a wide-ranging conversation about skydiving, Hollywood, creativity, trauma, resilience, fatherhood, and what it takes to keep pushing at the edge of human flight. Check out the film at https://spacecowboymovie.com

#4 Tim Jedrek of Right Rudder Marketing: Flight School Marketing, Aviation Storytelling, and Growth

Mark sits down with Tim Jedrek of Right Rudder Marketing to talk aviation, digital marketing, flight schools, and the strange overlap between teaching people to fly and hucking people out of airplanes. Tim shares how he went from manufacturing into aviation and niche marketing, why storytelling matters more than ever in the AI era, and what flight schools and drop zones can learn from each other about growth, trust, and customer experience. They also get into skydiving safety, jump plane operations, airport politics, the realities of running aviation businesses, and why niche agencies work best when they act like true partners instead of vendors. If you’re into aviation, entrepreneurship, marketing, or just want a behind-the-scenes look at two guys building businesses in weird, high-trust industries, this one’s for you.