The Overcomer’s Podcast

S7: Episode 12 - Heather Deffenbaugh | Overcoming Difficulties and Traumas and Becoming the Very Best Version of Oneself

Heather is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, wellness educator who aims to help people overcome strongholds and become the very best version of themselves.

She has been in the fitness industry for over 30 years teaching many genres of group exercise such as indoor cycling, strength training, step classes, TRX classes, boot camps, and pilates mat… just to name a few. In addition, she has coached hundreds of people through personal training and transformation programs and has helped them to achieve higher levels of fitness, confidence, knowledge and health.

As a certified holistic nutritionist she has guided and taught people how to infuse healthy and delicious food into their daily routine in order to achieve optimum health, while educating them on understanding what is in our food supply and what foods and are critical for thriving. She is passionate about “wholeness” in ones life and teaches others how to thrive by achieving overall wellness in 5 key areas: physical health, mental health, spiritual health, physiological health, and emotional health.

Heather released her best-selling memoir, “From Ashes to Beauty: How a child of two mentally ill parents went from surviving to thriving.” in May 2022, in hopes to help many people who suffer from trauma and mental health issues go from surviving to thriving. In October of 2022, she released her second best-selling book, a collaborative effort along with 27 world renowned fitness experts titled “WHAT’S NEXT?: Igniting Change & IMPACT in Health Fitness & Life, NOW!!!” Heather goes into depth in Chapter 6 on the 5 Pillars of wellness and how to achieve wholeness in health and fitness. Her books are available for purchase on Amazon.

Heather and her husband Dan have been married for 32 years and are loving this new season of "empty nesting" but often hang out with their two adult children whom they still adore to pieces. When Heather is not teaching, coaching, speaking, writing, or ministering to others... you will either find her at a concert or in the kitchen conjuring up new recipes that please the palate and nurture the body. She doesn't sit still much and is often traveling with her husband and friends while sharing the love of Jesus and listening to music incessantly.

For more information on Heather and her 5 pillars of wellness, visit her website at:

www.heatherdeffenbaugh.com Instagram: heather_deffenbaugh

S7E11 - Brian Ford | Burpees for Vets

Brian Ford is the host and founder of Self Improvement Daily, a personal development podcast that has shared a new 3 minute insight every day for over 4 years and earning more than 15 million downloads.  He is also the founder of For Purpose, a social impact agency that is committed to educating and inspiring the next generation of philanthropists.

S7:Episode 10 - Diana Alt | Aligning your Career with the Life you Want

Diana Alt is a No BS executive coach and career growth strategist who helps people take charge of aligning life and livelihood. Diana uses her 20+ years of experience in corporate product development roles to help people get out of their own way by building confidence, setting boundaries, and casting a vision for an awesome career and life. She believes work should feel good, not like a long slow march towards oblivion.

 Diana helps individuals and organizations to make work awesome through her coaching, consulting, and training services. She helps people identify ideal work for them and execute an effective job search strategy. She also helps people identify ways to update the way they work in their current jobs and businesses to align with the life they want.

Diana is a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach and Certified Career Coach from the Career Coach Institute.

Her top strengths are Input, Learner, Intellection, Maximizer, and Connectedness. Her top weaknesses are tacos and Diet Coke.

Diana can be reached at dianaalt.com and via LinkedIn.

S7:Episode 9 - Zachary Paul Hoffman | Sensible Worldwide Adaptable Leadership

Zac is an Italian/American dual citizen, effective leadership developer, transformation coach, award winning author, and former professional American football player. Originally from a small, rural town in Western Pennsylvania (USA), he has spent his twenties living in 6 different countries while playing and coaching American football. During his time abroad, he developed the SWALeadership concept based on his many thrilling and eye-opening experiences within various leadership roles across cultures.

S7:Episode 8 - Dan John Part 2 | Legacy

Dan John has spent his life with one foot in the world of lifting and throwing, and the other foot in academia. An All-American discus thrower, Dan has also competed at the highest levels of Olympic lifting, Highland Games and the Weight Pentathlon, an event in which he holds the American record.

Dan spends his work life blending weekly workshops and lectures with full-time writing, and is also an online religious studies instructor for Columbia College of Missouri. As a Fulbright Scholar, he toured the Middle East exploring the foundations of religious education systems. Dan is also a Senior Lecturer for St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London.

His books, on weightlifting, include Intervention, Never Let Go, Mass Made Simple and Easy Strength, written with Pavel Tsatsouline as well as From Dad, To Grad. He and Josh Hillis co-authored “Fat Loss Happens on Monday.”

In 2015, Dan wrote Can You Go? on his approach to assessments and basic training. In addition, Before We Go, another compilation akin to Never Let Go became an Amazon Bestseller.

In early 2017, Dan’s book, Now What?, his approach to Performance and dealing with “life,” became a Bestseller on Amazon. Hardstyle Kettlebell Challenge, published also in 2017, focused on the keys to the kettlebell.

His most recent book, Attempts, is a collection of short essays for both the professional coach and trainer and the “rest of us.” He is currently working on a new edition of “Easy Strength” with Pavel.

S7:Episode 7 - Dan John Part 1 | Bounce: Resilience and the Strength Coach

Dan John has spent his life with one foot in the world of lifting and throwing, and the other foot in academia. An All-American discus thrower, Dan has also competed at the highest levels of Olympic lifting, Highland Games and the Weight Pentathlon, an event in which he holds the American record.

Dan spends his work life blending weekly workshops and lectures with full-time writing, and is also an online religious studies instructor for Columbia College of Missouri. As a Fulbright Scholar, he toured the Middle East exploring the foundations of religious education systems. Dan is also a Senior Lecturer for St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London.

His books, on weightlifting, include Intervention, Never Let Go, Mass Made Simple and Easy Strength, written with Pavel Tsatsouline as well as From Dad, To Grad. He and Josh Hillis co-authored “Fat Loss Happens on Monday.”

In 2015, Dan wrote Can You Go? on his approach to assessments and basic training. In addition, Before We Go, another compilation akin to Never Let Go became an Amazon Bestseller.

In early 2017, Dan’s book, Now What?, his approach to Performance and dealing with “life,” became a Bestseller on Amazon. Hardstyle Kettlebell Challenge, published also in 2017, focused on the keys to the kettlebell.

His most recent book, Attempts, is a collection of short essays for both the professional coach and trainer and the “rest of us.” He is currently working on a new edition of “Easy Strength” with Pavel.

S7:Episode 6 - J.D. McCabe | The Third Gift

J.D. “Danny” McCabe grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the middle child of a very large family.

From an early age, he was independent and a practical realist. This first-time author began writing his diary as a historical journal of events in the demise of his marriage that evolved quickly and came without context.

Danny was encouraged to share this personal and unbelievable voyage in rediscovering himself by the many people who witnessed and heard about his journey first hand. He is blessed with two beautiful adult children. J.D. resides in the Charleston, SC area.

S7:Episode 5 - Jared Lamb | Overcoming Autism

Jared Lamb has been a member of Journey Fitness for just over a year. He came to Journey to not only lose weight, but to help him with the struggles that come with autism. He was diagnosed with autism at age 2 1/2, but has overcome those struggles with the help of his family, friends, fitness and his own personal self-talk. Jared has competed and been a medalist in the US Summer games in Seattle in 2018  and the World Games in Abu Dhabi in 2019 for the Special Olympics. He won 6th in the 400m and 7th in the 4x100 relay race. Jared currently is playing softball for Special Olympics and last year his team won the NY State Championship. Over the past year, he lost 50 pounds by being a consistent member at Journey Fitness and taking his nutrition seriously. He is a true Overcomer.

S7:Episode 4 - Liz Hagadorn | Overcoming Addiction

My name is Elizabeth Hagadorn and I am 33 years old. I am the co-founder of a non profit organization called ROAAR (Raising Overall Awareness About Recovery). Most Importantly though, for the first time in my life, I am free from the bondage of my addiction. After struggling through childhood trauma, years of intravenous drug use, multiple trips to jails, rehabs and prisons, I finally found my success through a drug treatment court program.  After starting this program and getting sober, I began my journey of figuring out who I am. Through service work and helping others, I have FOUND MY WHY! I work hard through ROAAR, shouting to the world that Recovery is real, that we are not defined by who we once were, and that once we start having fun in Recovery, our whole lives will change. With God, some grace, and a heart of gratitude, I plan to continue this journey wherever it may take me. 

S7:Episode 3 - Brenden Kumarasamy | Being a Rockstar Communicator

Brenden Kumarasamy is the founder of MasterTalk, he coaches ambitious executives & entrepreneurs to become top 1% communicators in their industry. He also has a popular YouTube channel called MasterTalk, with the goal of providing free access to communication tools for everyone in the world.

As an experienced speaker and facilitator, Brenden understands that audience members need to walk away captivated, and above all, inspired to master the art of communication. It should be seen as something to look forward to rather than a burden that must be overcome.

You can connect with Brenden at rockstarcommunicator.com or find him on YouTube at www.youtube.com/c/MasterTalks