In this heartfelt and inspiring episode of The Greatness Garage, Brad welcomes longtime friend and entrepreneur Jarid Lundy — a third-generation business leader, father of six, and champion of building meaningful workplaces.

Jarid opens up about his journey from dreaming of becoming a chef and restaurant owner to leading multiple businesses across North Dakota, including tire centers and a restaurant. He reflects on how family has been both his grounding force and his greatest training ground, shaping his leadership, resilience, and purpose.

Listeners will hear how Jarid navigated financial setbacks, devastating property losses, and high-stress business challenges — including negotiating out of restrictive land covenants and learning tough lessons through deals, including with his own father. Through each trial, he shares how faith, humility, and perseverance led to unexpected blessings and long-term success.

A central theme: business isn't personal — but leadership should be human. Jarid reveals why he built "sanctuaries of normalcy," workplaces where people feel supported, respected, and inspired to grow. He discusses generational leadership differences, the importance of washing your ego daily, and why finding your right lane in life matters more than ever.

With humor, authenticity, and deep wisdom, Jarid and Brad explore:

✅ Balancing business growth with being a present parent
✅ The real cost — and reward — of owning a restaurant
✅ Letting faith guide timing, even when plans fall apart
✅ Learning from pain rather than avoiding it
✅ Family business dynamics & preserving relationships
✅ Competing against giant corporations through personal service
✅ Why great leaders create places where people thrive

This episode is a powerful reminder that greatness is forged in adversity, grounded in values, and built through serving others.

In this powerful and inspiring episode, Brad sits down with former pro baseball player turned entrepreneur and coach, Derek Blacksher. From grinding through 100-hour workweeks to building a thriving fitness business and leadership movement, Derek shares the raw truth behind pursuing purpose, family balance, and personal fortitude.

Derek opens up about:

• His journey from professional baseball to opening an F45 franchise

• The burnout moment that forced him to confront overtraining in business and life

• Learning the hard way about systems, delegation, and scaling with intention

• The critical importance of family presence and support systems

• How hiring a coach — and making a list of "$15/hr tasks" — changed everything

• The concept of concentration risk in business and why "getting out of your own way" can lead to growth

• Acting with urgency — even when it means scraping floors at night before a lease is signed!

• His Misogi challenge and using adversity as a catalyst for internal clarity

Derek also shares one of his core philosophies:

"Launch the plane and build it in the air — but do it with vision."

From tombstone statements to daily non-negotiables, he reveals how aligned language and intentional living shape his mission to fortify men and build stronger leaders.

This episode is packed with wisdom, humility, and high-performance mindset shifts that will inspire you to take action — without sacrificing what matters most.

In this episode of The Greatness Garage, Brad welcomes Maurice, co-owner of Wurk Gym in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Maurice shares the real, behind-the-scenes journey of launching a fitness facility in 2019—right before the pandemic—and the trials, lessons, and triumphs that came with it.

From navigating the hidden challenges of commercial real estate (sprinkler systems, ADA compliance, HVAC headaches) to painting ceilings that literally collapsed overnight, Maurice takes us inside the "build it as you fly it" chaos that every small business owner can relate to.

We also dive into the world of boxing and MMA, where Maurice and his business partner train both amateurs and pros. You'll hear what it really takes to chase greatness in combat sports—long hours, little pay, high risk, and unwavering passion—and how it parallels the entrepreneurial grind.

Whether you're building a business, pursuing a dream, or just looking for inspiration, this conversation is packed with lessons in grit, humility, and resilience.

In this episode of The Greatness Garage, Brad Borkhuis welcomes longtime friend and executive coach Mike Goodfriend of Goodfriend Consulting. With over 30 years in coaching and team development, Mike shares powerful lessons from his journey—from becoming an early adopter of the Birkman Method in the 1980s to building programs that help leaders and teams embrace their unconventional strengths.

Together, Brad and Mike explore:

• The hidden value of "unconventional" traits in leadership and teamwork.

• Why culture plays such a big role in whether organizations embrace or resist different perspectives.

• Stories from Mike's decades of consulting, including a transformative coaching experience that connected personal motivators to professional breakthroughs.

• His book Breakthrough Time and how leaders can stop waiting and start acting on their best ideas today.

This conversation is packed with insights, personal stories, and even a few baseball analogies that bring leadership lessons to life. Whether you're leading a team or navigating change yourself, this episode will challenge how you see your own strengths—and inspire you to leverage them for greater impact.

In this episode of The Greatness Garage, Brad Borkhuis welcomes executive coach David Handler—a man whose career spans sports television, global sports travel, franchising, and over two decades of leadership coaching. David shares remarkable stories from his journey, including what he "wished he would have" done differently, lessons learned from missed opportunities, and how risk tolerance shapes our paths in business and in life.

From launching a Notre Dame travel company on a napkin sketch to producing thousands of live sports broadcasts, David's experiences reveal the balance between hesitation and boldness, and how confidence (or the lack of it) can alter our trajectory. He also reflects on the wisdom that helped him shift from playing by others' rules to trusting his own voice—both in media and in coaching.

Listen in for a rich conversation on opportunity, risk, resilience, and the power of showing up authentically in work and life.

In this powerful episode of The Greatness Garage, host Brad Borkhuis sits down with Dr. Ken Mojer, a chiropractor with over three decades of experience, a husband, father, and soon-to-be grandfather. Dr. Ken opens up about his journey—from building and buying practices during the changing landscape of chiropractic care, to navigating personal challenges, and finding deeper meaning in family, faith, and legacy.

He shares candid reflections on the "I wish I would have" moments of his career, including lessons learned from industry shifts, personal development struggles, and the unique challenges of running a family-owned business.

Dr. Ken also takes us inside one of his most life-altering experiences—a devastating motorcycle accident that nearly cost him everything—and the resilience, gratitude, and humility that grew from it.

From business insights to personal growth, from contracts and valuations to empathy and legacy, this conversation is full of wisdom for entrepreneurs, leaders, and anyone walking through the unpredictable turns of life.

In this episode of The Greatness Garage, Brad Borkhuis sits down with Ricardo Monardez, founder of Taligens, a cultural transformation company. Ricardo shares his unconventional journey from being trained as an architect in Chile to becoming an organizational coach and business leader in the U.S.

He opens up about the challenges of starting a business without a network, the power of partnerships, and how admiration and trust shape successful collaborations. Ricardo also reflects on his early leadership lessons, including a pivotal moment when he asked a team member to "help me be your boss."

Along the way, he shares extraordinary personal stories—from navigating post-9/11 travel as a newcomer with limited English to discovering the importance of intentional language in shaping identity and culture.

Ricardo's insights remind us that leadership is less about showing what you know and more about how much you care, and that building meaningful partnerships starts with friendship, respect, and admiration.

In this episode of The Greatness Garage, Brad welcomes Chris Hawley, founding principal of Craftwell Architecture + Construction, a 22-person design-build firm based in Fargo, North Dakota. Chris shares his journey from starting his firm at just 32 years old to leading projects across the Upper Midwest and beyond.

Chris opens up about the lessons he's learned along the way—the importance of asking better questions earlier in his career, the grit it took to push through sleepless nights in the firm's early days, and the pivotal role of mentors, family, and community support. He also reflects on the value of building a team like the '90s Chicago Bulls—where every role matters—and how Craftwell's philosophy of elevating the ordinary drives their work.

From $40,000 cabins and treehouses to $60 million developments, Chris shows how vision, persistence, and people-first leadership can transform a business. If you've ever wondered what it takes to grow a boutique firm without losing its soul, or how to balance passion with responsibility, this conversation is packed with wisdom you won't want to miss.