Ep. 8 • Mitch Aguiar - Navy SEAL, to MMA Fighter, to Entrepreneur. Leveling Up Authenticity.
Release Date: 05/09/2025
Liberty Risk
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In this episode, Ryan and Nick sit down with Mitch Aguiar—a former SEAL who turned his passion for fighting into a pro MMA career, and then leveraged that into building the Smashin’ Frog empire. From pushing a lawn mower in 5th grade for ice cream money, to chartering jets and leading companies, Mitch shares some raw stories of triumph and failure with a healthy mix of brutal honesty and humor. We cover everything from the real perception of SEALs, to Instagram illusions, the challenges of business leadership, and why ice cream trucks are the gateway to philanthropy. Of course we have many...
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From East Coast to West Coast, Submarines to SEAL Teams, scuba adventures to skydiving mishaps, and a 1.9 High School GPA to finishing a rigorous degree program from Columbia University, this man has lived a lot of life. In this episode, Sean Stokes walks us through his early adventures starting with learning his recruiter was full of shit, to spending time in the Naval Submarine fleet and ultimately finding his way to the Teams. A continuing theme in his life is identifying a weakness, then focusing and working on it until it becomes a strength. From being traumatically injured skydiving...
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info_outlineIn this episode, Ryan and Nick sit down with Mitch Aguiar—a former SEAL who turned his passion for fighting into a pro MMA career, and then leveraged that into building the Smashin’ Frog empire.
From pushing a lawn mower in 5th grade for ice cream money, to chartering jets and leading companies, Mitch shares some raw stories of triumph and failure with a healthy mix of brutal honesty and humor.
We cover everything from the real perception of SEALs, to Instagram illusions, the challenges of business leadership, and why ice cream trucks are the gateway to philanthropy.
Of course we have many detours into viral videos, planned and unplanned fights, questionable HR tactics, and all the stories below.
Highlights include:
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Which is the most accurate Teamguy movie ever filmed (Spoiler: "Navy SEAL's" with Charlie Sheen of course).
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Mitch’s take on social media, Instagram’s highlight reel, and the value of real authenticity.
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"That which is most personal is the most universal"—on connection through vulnerability.
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Mitch’s behind-the-scenes breakdown of his fight with Sean Strickland—and how it nearly broke the internet (until a presidential assassination attempt stole the spotlight).
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The mindset shift from amateur cage matches to pro-level combat.
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The difference between accomplishing missions with military Teammates and leading civilian employees.
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Adjusting leadership and building culture when your employees are literally afraid of you.
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The importance of not taking yourself too seriously, and having fun along the way. Like wearing Dumb & Dumber suits on a private jet to a big business meeting.
Please check out more of Mitch's endeavors here:
✖️ MASF Supplements - https://masfsupplements.com/
✖️ Violent Hippie - https://violenthippie.com/
✖️ Adopt A Cop BJJ - https://adoptacopbjj.org/
Liberty Risk Podcast Sponsored by:
✖️ Industry Threadworks - https://www.industrythreadworks.com/pages/manufacturing-new
✖️ Archive 3PL - https://archive3pl.com/
✖️ Krupto Strategic Media - https://kruptostrategicmedia.com/
✖️ K-Squared Advising - https://www.k-squared.cc/
✖️ MASF Supplements - https://masfsupplements.com/