Eryk Anders: Identity is Everything

DJ Barton: Divorce Your Past to Marry Your Future

In this episode of Alignment First, I sit down with DJ Barton, co-founder and CEO of ELYT Travel, to talk about what it actually takes to build a life, not just a lifestyle. We dive into losing his father early in life, finding purpose through fatherhood, the power of proximity, and why divorcing your past is the only way to marry your future. Real, actionable ways to become the fittest leader possible through peace, power, and presence. Key Takeaways 1. You have to divorce your past to marry your future, growth demands it. 2. Moments matter more than things. The memories you create outlast any material possession. 3. The better you get at life, the smaller (and better) the rooms become. 4. Proximity is currency. One connection can literally change your life. 5. Most people want the accolades without the reps. Leaders put in the work behind closed doors. Quotes • "You have to trim to grow." – DJ Barton • "Talk is cheap. Whiskey costs money." – DJ Barton's Grandfather (via DJ Barton) • "Popular decisions are not voted popular. You have to do things that are uncomfortable to become comfortable." – DJ Barton Connect with DJ Barton 📸 Instagram: @TheRealDJBarton 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/therealdjbarton/ 👥 Facebook: Real DJ Barton 🍸 Connections & Cocktails: facebook.com/ConnectionsandCocktailsAZ Next Level Resources ✅ Clarity | Coaching | Consistency | Community → https://next-level.app.clientclub.net/communities/groups/next-level-headquarters/home?invite=69c17e4d5d8cee9656ff1c61 ✅ Become the Fittest Leader Possible → NextLevelHQ.co/blog ✅ Get More Alignment First → https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/coachderz/ Partners & Sponsors @ThorneHealth → thorne.com/u/progressalways @StrongCoffee → strongcoffeecompany.com/?ref=2YN5cnK8v9zQ4D Use Code: NEXTLEVEL15 Alignment First. Progress Always!

Keira Brinton: Stop Refusing Your Muse

In this episode of Alignment First, I sit down with Keira Brinton — the People's Publisher and founder of JOA Publishing — to explore what it really means to stop refusing your muse. We dive into channeling your gifts, the power of surrender, and what it takes to go from $5K to millions as a single mother of five and break down real, actionable ways to become the fittest leader possible through peace, power, and presence. Key Takeaways 1. Your gift may look like a curse before it looks like a calling. Lean in anyway. 2. Books are received, not written. Stop creating from your own understanding; ask for something new. 3. Surrender isn't poetic. It's practical and it requires you to burn the ships. 4. Evidence is the antidote to self-doubt. Your actions either match your vision or they don't. 5. Dark moments always leave. Anchor to that truth and you can tolerate anything long enough to win. Quotes * "I have not said no to one single ask that the creator has asked me to bring to the earth." – Keira Brinton * "It's the only thing that lives beyond us; the written word." – Keira Brinton * "I don't need anyone to tell me that I'm great. I am what I am. And I'm really proud of who I've become." – Keira Brinton Connect with Keira Brinton Author Archetype Assessment:  https://go.keirabrinton.com/assessment [https://go.keirabrinton.com/assessment]  The Author Threshold Workshop: https://go.keirabrinton.com/author-threshold-workshop [https://go.keirabrinton.com/author-threshold-workshop] 📸 Instagram: @KeiraBrinton 🌐 KeiraBrinton.com [http://keirabrinton.com] | JOAPublishing.com [http://JOAPublishing.com] 🎙️ Daily Podcast: 350+ episodes — ask, listen, do. ▶️ YouTube: Documenting the path to $10M as a single mom of five Stay Connected & Take Action ✅ Clarity | Coaching | Consistency | Community → NextLevelHQ.co [http://NextLevelHQ.co]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ✅ Ready to be the Fittest Leader Possible? → Join the Leaders Forum [https://next-level.app.clientclub.net/communities/groups/next-level-headquarters/home?invite=69e221647ebbc4d81d8d4c8e] ✅ Subscribe to Alignment First → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/coachderz/ [http://⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/coachderz/] Sponsors & Partners @ThorneHealth → ⁠thorne.com/u/progressalways⁠ [https://www.thorne.com/u/progressalways] @StrongCoffee → ⁠strongcoffeecompany.com⁠ [https://strongcoffeecompany.com/?ref=2YN5cnK8v9zQ4D] — Use Code: NEXTLEVEL15 @wearshepherds → ⁠Shepherds.com⁠ [https://www.shepherds.com] @team4kor → ⁠4korfitness.com⁠ [https://4korfitness.com] — Use Code: NEXTLEVEL15 Build Your Vision Espresso → ⁠VisionEspresso.co⁠ [https://visionespresso.co/fastpass?am_id=mycal7450] @TYRsport → ⁠fitness.tyr.com⁠ [https://fitness.tyr.com] — Use Code: 14034 @MorozkoForge → ⁠morozkoforge.com⁠ [https://www.morozkoforge.com] — Use Code: NEXTLEVEL350 / NEXTLEVEL500 Alignment First. Progress Always. #AlignmentFirst #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveCoaching #AlignedLeadership #HighPerformance #NextLevel #Veteran #AURA #LeadershipMindset #ProgressAlways

Eryk Anders: Identity is Everything

In this episode of Alignment First, I sit down with Eryk Anders — UFC veteran, fighter, and founder of Ya Boi Fitness Academy in Vestavia, Alabama — to talk about what it really means to walk away on your own terms and build something that outlasts the fight. We dive into identity, legacy, coaching the next generation, and why the most dangerous thing you can do is let your environment do your growing for you. Key Takeaways 1. Preparation isn't always perfect but identity covers the gap. 2. You don't retire from who you are. You retire from what you did. 3. Protecting kids from failure is the fastest way to kill their confidence. 4. The shift from competitor to coach is one of the most powerful identity moves a leader can make. 5. Real peace isn't the absence of pressure. It's knowing exactly who you are when pressure shows up. Quotes * "This ain't my first rep. I know what's up." – Eryk Anders * "Let your kid get choked out. He's still alive. He's going home and he'll be better because of it." – Eryk Anders * "Win or lose, you need whatever happens." – Eryk Anders Connect with Eryk Anders📍 Ya Boi Fitness Academy — Birmingham, Alabama📱 Instagram / Social: @yaboifitness & @erykeanders 🌐 Website: www.yaboifitness.com/ [https://www.yaboifitness.com/] Next Level Resources✅ Clarity | Coaching | Consistency | Community →https://next-level.app.clientclub.net/communities/groups/next-level-headquarters/home?invite=69c17e4d5d8cee9656ff1c61 [https://next-level.app.clientclub.net/communities/groups/next-level-headquarters/home?invite=69c17e4d5d8cee9656ff1c61]✅ Become the Fittest Leader Possible → NextLevelHQ.co/blog✅ Get More Alignment First →https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/coachderz/ [https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/coachderz/] Partners & Sponsors@ThorneHealth → thorne.com/u/progressalways@StrongCoffee → strongcoffeecompany.com/?ref=2YN5cnK8v9zQ4DUse Code: NEXTLEVEL15 Alignment First. Progress Always!

Stephanie Strine: Sobriety, Service & Superpowers

In this episode of Alignment First, I sit down with Steph Strine — Naval Academy grad, Marine veteran, yoga instructor, and fitness coach at Equinox and Soto Method — to talk about what happens when the uniforms come off and you're forced to rediscover who you are. We dive into identity loss, sobriety, service, and the real work of turning your hardest chapters into your greatest superpowers. Key Takeaways 1. Athletes and service members face an identity crisis twice — when they leave sport and when they leave the uniform. Most people never name it. 2. The scaffolding of military and athletic life is real. Discounting it is ego. Owning it is growth. 3. Sobriety isn't a limitation — it's a platform. Steph got sober in the military and runs marathons for soldiers against suicide today. 4. What you resist persists. Surrender isn't weakness — it's how the real work gets done faster. 5. You teach the lesson you most need to learn. Radical transparency is how we connect and how we heal. Quotes • "The death of two uniforms — I'm bringing that to my therapist this week." – Steph Strine • "It's actually very selfish of me to think my experience is unique. I'm not alone." – Steph Strine • "You're moving through the world with a higher sense of self-awareness than most." – Coach Derz Connect with Steph Strine 📸 Instagram: @stephsrine 🏋️ Equinox NYC & Soto Method (app + studios in NYC; Dallas location opening Fall 2026) Next Level Resources ✅ Clarity | Coaching | Consistency | Community → https://next-level.app.clientclub.net/communities/groups/next-level-headquarters/home?invite=69c17e4d5d8cee9656ff1c61 ✅ Become the Fittest Leader Possible → NextLevelHQ.co/blog ✅ Get More Alignment First → https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/coachderz/ Partners & Sponsors @ThorneHealth → thorne.com/u/progressalways @StrongCoffee → strongcoffeecompany.com/?ref=2YN5cnK8v9zQ4D Use Code: NEXTLEVEL15 Alignment First. Progress Always!

Mollie Gray: The Silence Makes You Stronger (Vipassana)

In this episode of Alignment First, I sit down with Mollie Gray — Olympic-level rugby athlete, army veteran, wedding photographer, world traveler, and finder of self — to unpack what ten days of radical silence revealed about identity, presence, and what it means to stop running and finally come home to yourself. We dive into her Vipassana meditation retreat experience and break down real, actionable ways to become the fittest leader possible. Key Takeaways 1. Silence isn't punishment. Ten days without talking forces you to face what you've been carrying in your body for years. 2. Sankaras are real. The tension, trauma, and "not good enough" stories don't live in your mind, they live in your body. The work is releasing them. 3. Day six will break you, and that's the point. The hardest moments in any transformation are the signal that a breakthrough is on the other side. 4. Presence is the practice. Anxiety lives in the future. Peace lives right here. Stop deferring your best self. 5. You cannot build your fittest life with someone who needs you to stay small. The right relationships give you space to keep growing. Quotes • "The silence makes you stronger." – Mollie Gray • "I love my life so much that I just want to get home to it." – Mollie Gray • "Be present, be in your life right now." – Mollie Gray Connect with Mollie Gray 📸 Instagram: @wheresmolliegray 📷 Photography: @mollygray.photography Stay Connected & Take Action ✅ Clarity | Coaching | Consistency | Community → https://next-level.app.clientclub.net/communities/groups/next-level-headquarters/home?invite=69c17e4d5d8cee9656ff1c61 [https://next-level.app.clientclub.net/communities/groups/next-level-headquarters/home?invite=69c17e4d5d8cee9656ff1c61] ✅ Ready to be the Fittest Leader Possible? → NextLevelHQ.co/blog ✅ Subscribe to Alignment First → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/coachderz/ Sponsors & Partners @ThorneHealth → ⁠thorne.com/u/progressalways⁠ @StrongCoffee → ⁠strongcoffeecompany.com⁠ — Use Code: NEXTLEVEL15 @wearshepherds → ⁠Shepherds.com⁠ @team4kor → ⁠4korfitness.com⁠ — Use Code: NEXTLEVEL15 Build Your Vision Espresso → ⁠VisionEspresso.co⁠ @TYRsport → ⁠fitness.tyr.com⁠ — Use Code: 14034 @MorozkoForge → ⁠morozkoforge.com⁠ — Use Code: NEXTLEVEL350 / NEXTLEVEL500 Alignment First. Progress Always. #AlignmentFirst #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveCoaching #AlignedLeadership #HighPerformance #NextLevel #PersonalGrowth #Podcast #Vipassana #ProgressAlways