Ep. 41 • Nik Hawks • From Navy SEAL to Sailing NAKED Through The Panama Canal & Other Adventures
Release Date: 01/02/2026
Ep. 41 • Nik Hawks • From Navy SEAL to Sailing NAKED Through The Panama Canal & Other Adventures
Liberty Risk
This week on Liberty Risk, the crew sits down with Nik Hawks - former Navy SEAL, sailor, entrepreneur, and adventure connoisseur - for an absolutely WILD episode with story after story for almost 5 hours. From bouncing between the U.S. and England as a kid, to questionable high school decisions, to chasing the idea of becoming a SEAL thanks to a larger-than-life uncle, Nik’s path was anything but conventional. He breaks down the realities of BUD/S, platoon life, hilarious bar fights, practical jokes, and the kind of lessons you only learn the hard way inside the Teams. And when the uniform...
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Ep. 40 • Peter Lemke • From Party Bus Chaos to Breaking Into Costco. ☕🚀
Liberty Risk
This week on Liberty Risk, the crew sits down with long time friend and fellow entrepreneur, Peter Lemke for a wide-open conversation about business, relationships, risk, and learning things the hard way. Peter walks through his path from Arizona to Southern California, launching a limo bus business that came with equal parts cash flow and complete insanity - one employee even stole a party bus and some cash, they found the bus 24 hours later with the employee and a h00ker in the back. 😂 Between the party-bus chaos, unreliable employees, legal landmines, and the moment Uber and Lyft...
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Ep. 39 • Greg Froelick • Running Toward The Storm: a Brotherhood in The Flood. 🔱🇺🇸
Liberty Risk
This week on Liberty Risk, the crew sits down for what may be the biggest and most meaningful episode we’ve ever recorded - a roundtable with six guests bound by military service, Texas roots, and a deep commitment to showing up when it matters most. The episode kicks off the only way Liberty Risk knows how: inside jokes, supporter gifts, custom knives, and the kind of ritualized chaos that comes from real friendships. But it doesn’t take long before the conversation turns heavier. The group shares stories of brotherhood, loss, and remembrance, including a deeply personal account of...
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Ep. 38 • Mike Mihalski • No Pants, No Rules, Full Auto Send - This Describes Our Whole Episode 🤘🏼😂🤘🏼
Liberty Risk
This week on Liberty Risk, we sit down with Mike Mihalski - founder of Sons of Liberty 🔫 Works, underground-casino alumnus, walking Texas legend, and the only man we know who partied so hard he changed state law. 🤘🏼🤠🤘🏼 Mike & Ryan have a long history, from meeting in an internet chat room 20+ years ago because of a mutual love of talking shit, to being ghost roommates, to being the best man at Ryan's wedding - what follows is a fast-moving, unfiltered conversation about entrepreneurship, culture, luck, faith, chaos, and the strange places life takes you when you keep...
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Ep. 37 • Crew Cast 2 • Aliens, Bigfoot & Bar Fights 🤘🏼👽🤘🏼
Liberty Risk
This week on Liberty Risk, it’s just the crew - no guests, no filters, and nothing off-limits. The guys sit down for a full-send, behind-the-scenes session that feels more like a late-night team room hang than a podcast. From the chaos inside the Patreon chat to the origins of the infamous “bat signal” 🍆🪽🔦 meme, the episode kicks off with pure Liberty Risk energy. The conversation rolls into what the veteran community looks like today: the good, the bad, the hilarious, and the downright weird. The hosts swap funny military stories, wild nights in Mexico, near disasters, and the...
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Ep. 36 •. Ernest Emerson • The Godfather of Tactical Knives, Forged in America. ⚔️🇺🇸
Liberty Risk
In this episode, the Liberty Risk crew sits down with Ernest Emerson, the legendary founder of Emerson Knives, for a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation about his life, career, and the evolution of the knife industry over the years. Ernest shares how his upbringing on a Wisconsin farm and his passion for martial arts led him to create his first knives out of necessity, eventually launching a career that would help define the tactical knife genre. Ernest discusses his transition from working as a machinist at Hughes Aircraft to becoming a full-time knife maker, and how mentorship from...
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Ep. 35 • Jim Wilkey • From Bulldozers in Vietnam to Big Rigs Hollywood: The Wild Life of a Stuntman Legend
Liberty Risk
In this episode of Liberty Risk, we sit down with a man who’s lived multiple lives in one - Vietnam Veteran, Navy Seabee, cowboy, and one of Hollywood’s original stunt legends: Jim Wilkey. If you’ve ever watched a truck flip end-over-end in The Dark Knight, seen Stallone crash through cars in Cobra, or watched Clint Eastwood & Charlie Sheen race through The Rookie, there’s a good chance Jim Wilke was behind the wheel - or flying through the windshield. We kick off with the whole Liberty Risk crew finally back together in the studio, and the energy is full send from the start....
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Ep. 34 • BJ Welsh • The Evolution of a Warrior: Service, Fatherhood & Staying Dangerous ⚔️🏴☠️
Liberty Risk
This week on Liberty Risk, we sit down with former SEAL BJ Welsh as he shares some WILD stories from 34 years of service - from operating with West Coast Teams to working narcotics cases for the DOJ, these are some adventures you won’t want to miss! Chrome handguns, bar fights, meth chases, and the brotherhood that ties it all together… this one has everything. BJ tells the real story behind the legendary El Centro Incident - SEAL Platoons, a "borrowed" pistol, a pissed off local, a tussle through saloon doors, off-duty officers who forgot they were on duty, and half of Imperial County law...
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Ep. 33 • "MC" • Aussie Military Life Unfiltered: Culture, Chaos & Sharing Pints Across Continents
Liberty Risk
In this loud, unfiltered, and absolutely hysterical episode, the Liberty Risk crew sits down with “MC” - not his real name - an Australian military veteran, close friend of Nick’s, and the first guest in show history who needed his face blurred and his name replaced to protect the guilty. What follows is a chaos-filled, cross-continental ride through military life, cultural whiplash, and stories that should never see daylight… yet somehow found their way here. MC opens up about his background: born in the Philippines, raised in Australia from age 12, figuring out English the hard way,...
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Ep. 32 • Ed Calderon & Eddie Dennis • Cartels, Corruption, Donkey Shows: The Truth Behind The Border.
Liberty Risk
In this gripping and wide-ranging episode, the Liberty Risk crew sits down with two fascinating guests: Ed Calderon and Eddie Dennis, each bringing a unique perspective shaped by extraordinary life experiences on both sides of the US-Mexico border. Ed Calderon is a well known former Mexican law enforcement officer (3 x guest on the Joe Rogan show) who spent over a decade working in some of the most dangerous and complex environments in Mexico. Growing up in Tijuana, Ed witnessed firsthand the transformation of his hometown from a party city to a battleground for cartels and organized crime. He...
info_outlineThis week on Liberty Risk, the crew sits down with Nik Hawks - former Navy SEAL, sailor, entrepreneur, and adventure connoisseur - for an absolutely WILD episode with story after story for almost 5 hours.
From bouncing between the U.S. and England as a kid, to questionable high school decisions, to chasing the idea of becoming a SEAL thanks to a larger-than-life uncle, Nik’s path was anything but conventional. He breaks down the realities of BUD/S, platoon life, hilarious bar fights, practical jokes, and the kind of lessons you only learn the hard way inside the Teams.
And when the uniform came off, the adventures just became wilder. Nik walks us though his story of buying a small 22' sailboat and heading out solo from the West Coast, down through the Panama Canal, and across open ocean toward Florida, picking up hitchhiking deck hands along the way. No plan. No permenent crew. And sometimes no clothes. Just chaos, danger, and freedom in its purest form.
The conversation dives into life after the military - the lessons lerned from failed businesses, hard resets, humility, and eventually finding success and building Paleo Treats and other unique ventures alongside his wife, Lee.
Packed with wild side quests, near-disasters, legendary pranks, and moments of real reflection, this episode is classic Liberty Risk - raw, funny, and honest. If you’re into SEAL stories, adventure, entrepreneurship, or just hearing how someone survives doing everything the hard way (and sometimes naked), this one’s mandatory listening.
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Come check it out and join the conversation! https://www.patreon.com/LibertyRisk
Get to know Nik and Paleo Treats at the following links:
✖️ Nik's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nikhawks
✖️ Paleo Treats Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/paleotreats
✖️ Paleo Treats website - https://www.paleotreats.com
Liberty Risk Hosts:
✖️ Ryan Williams - https://www.instagram.com/invictus5326
✖️ Kevin Kent - https://www.instagram.com/therealkevinkent
✖️ Nick Betts - https://www.instagram.com/n_betts
Liberty Risk Podcast Sponsored by:
✖️ Liberty Risk Merch - https://www.liberty-risk.com/collections/shop-all
✖️ Industry Threadworks - https://www.industrythreadworks.com
✖️ Archive 3PL - https://archive3pl.com
✖️ Krupto Strategic Media - https://kruptostrategicmedia.com
✖️ K-Squared Advising - https://www.k-squared.cc