The Call Center Rebel with Richard Blank
The RebelRebel Podcast
““You shouldn’t use words to burn. They should be for light and for warmth.” Richard has spent the last 19 years running a near-shore bilingual contact center that thrives on empathy, communication, and human connection in an era dominated by automation. This episode is sponsored by my new book , helping you find, shape, and share your story with the world. In this episode, Michael Dargie sits down with Richard Blank, CEO of Costa Rica’s Call Center. Richard has spent the last 19 years running a near-shore bilingual contact center that thrives on empathy, communication, and human...
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From Teeth to Tech with Brandon Sherwood
The RebelRebel Podcast
“Entrepreneurship is the craziest, scariest roller coaster ever.” What happens when selling RVs leads to buying dental scrap, melting it down for precious metals, and then launching a startup with a mission to bless lives? In this episode, I talk with Brandon Sherwood about entrepreneurship, family, and why it’s just not that serious. This episode is sponsored by my new book , helping you find, shape, and share your story with the world. In This Episode In this episode, Michael Dargie chats with Brandon Sherwood, an entrepreneur from Heber City, Utah, whose path has been anything but...
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The Sound of Success with Jodi Krangle
The RebelRebel Podcast
In this episode, Michael Dargie sits down with Jodi Krangle, a professional voice actor, singer, and host of the Audio Branding podcast. Based just north of Toronto, Jodi has been a full-time voice actor for nearly two decades, lending her voice to clients around the world while exploring the psychology and power of sound . Jodi shares how her journey started in the mid-90s when she volunteered at CNIB, recording articles to reel-to-reel tape for the visually impaired. Years later, after burning out in SEO and internet marketing, she returned to the idea of voice acting and built a thriving...
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Speed Learning for Rebels with Howard Berg
The RebelRebel Podcast
“Speed reading doesn’t work. Speed learning works.” What happens when a kid from Brooklyn grows up to become the world’s fastest reader and teaches others to learn 100% faster in just four hours? In this episode, I talk with Howard Berg about speed learning, knowledge, and why smarter decisions could change the world. This episode is sponsored by my new book , helping you find, shape, and share your story with the world. In this episode, Michael Dargie sits down with Howard Berg, officially recognized as the world’s fastest reader by the Guinness Book of Records. Howard reads at a...
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RebelRebel Takeover Episode: BrandJitsu Uncovered
The RebelRebel Podcast
“Your value proposition is the reason people choose you.” What happens when Michael Dargie hands over the mic to branding legend JP Lacroix? In this takeover episode, they unpack the lessons behind BrandJitsu and why truth and clarity are the foundation of every brand story. This episode is sponsored by my new book , helping you find, shape, and share your story with the world. In this special takeover episode, Michael Dargie flips the script and lets branding veteran Jean Pierre Lacroix take the host’s chair. The focus is Michael’s book BrandJitsu, which JP describes as one of the...
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Lead It Like Lasso with Marnie Stockman & Nick Coniglio
The RebelRebel Podcast
“Question everything and see it from every perspective.” What happens when a high school math teacher and a computer programmer leave the corporate grind, write books inspired by Ted Lasso, and create a personal leadership app? In this episode, I talk with Marnie Stockman and Nick Coniglio about building businesses, books, and better leaders. This episode is sponsored by my new book , helping you find, shape, and share your story with the world. In This Episode In this episode, Michael Dargie welcomes co-authors, entrepreneurs, and leadership coaches Marnie Stockman and Nick Coniglio....
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Rebels, Rogues, and Role Playing with Jim Zub
The RebelRebel Podcast
“Sometimes you just have to create your own creative circle.” What happens when a kid from Oshawa who loved Dungeons & Dragons grows up to write the Avengers, Conan the Barbarian, and create new canon for D&D itself? In this episode, I catch up with my longtime friend Jim Zub, a comic writer, teacher, and storyteller who proves that staying in the game is the game. This episode is sponsored by my new book , helping you find, shape, and share your story with the world. In this episode, comic writer, teacher, and storyteller Jim Zub joins Michael Dargie to talk about a creative...
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Bold Moves Only with Dr. Apollo Emeka
The RebelRebel Podcast
“So many people are waiting for permission. A decision is the permission.” In this episode, Dr. Apollo Emeka joins the conversation from Panama City, Panama, where he and his family relocated after wildfires forced them from their home in California. What began as an evacuation turned into a bold life decision—one that exemplifies the very work Apollo now does with leaders and entrepreneurs: helping them make decisions so bold that the path forward becomes obvious. This episode is sponsored by my new book , helping you find, shape, and share your story with the world. In This Episode...
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From Sea Kings to Stout with Rob Truscott
The RebelRebel Podcast
“You don’t know what you don’t know—until you travel.” Today’s guest is Rob Truscott—retired Canadian Forces navigator, brewer, and motorcycle enthusiast. From flying in Sea Kings and responding to Swissair 111 to surviving cancer and brewing in Nova Scotia, he’s living proof that memento mori is less about dying—and more about living. This episode is sponsored by my new book , helping you find, shape, and share your story with the world. In This Episode In this episode, Michael Dargie welcomes Rob Truscott—retired military navigator, brewer at Great Roads Brewing,...
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Ignite Your Neurons with Utkarsh Narang
The RebelRebel Podcast
“I’m someone who’s building life one day at a time—and loving it.” In this episode, coach, facilitator, TEDx speaker, and podcast host Utkarsh Narang checks in from Melbourne—“in the future,” as he jokes—and lays out a life stitched together by courage, curiosity, and conscious impact. This episode is sponsored by my new book , helping you find, shape, and share your story with the world. In This Episode Raised in a family of doctors, he followed a straight path into physiotherapy, running three clinics in Delhi. But a restless question kept tugging: what’s my larger...
info_outline“So many people are waiting for permission. A decision is the permission.”
In this episode, Dr. Apollo Emeka joins the conversation from Panama City, Panama, where he and his family relocated after wildfires forced them from their home in California. What began as an evacuation turned into a bold life decision—one that exemplifies the very work Apollo now does with leaders and entrepreneurs: helping them make decisions so bold that the path forward becomes obvious.
This episode is sponsored by my new book BRANDJITSU, helping you find, shape, and share your story with the world.
In This Episode
Apollo shares his framework for understanding choices, distinguishing between inherited, default, and big decisions. From leaving school in fourth grade to joining the U.S. military at seventeen, his life has been shaped by pivotal moments where courage, clarity, and conviction mattered more than circumstance. His story winds through service as a Green Beret, intelligence analyst in the FBI, entrepreneur, and now decision strategist and coach.
He reflects on how his parents’ defiant love—marrying across racial lines when it was still illegal in many states—set the stage for his own willingness to challenge norms. Losing his mother as a teenager forced him into independence, while deployments in Iraq revealed the cost of poor decisions and deepened his commitment to developing better frameworks for making them.
The conversation explores how bold decisions create clarity, why “waiting to see how it plays out” is rarely the answer, and how courage transforms fear into thoughtful action. Alongside stories of family life in Panama, skateparks with his kids, and date nights with his wife, Apollo underscores the importance of deciding with heart, not just with feasibility.
Whether moving across continents, leaving stable careers, or reframing personal values, Apollo shows that life-changing clarity comes not from more information, but from the courage to choose.
Quoteable Quotes
“When you decide with heart, it lights you up even if you fail.” — Apollo Emeka
“So many people are waiting for permission. A decision is the permission.” — Apollo Emeka
“Sometimes you just have to let shit go and make space for what’s next.” — Michael Dargie
“Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking while you’re thinking.” — Apollo Emeka
Episode Highlights
Born into Boldness | Apollo’s parents’ interracial marriage set the tone for defying convention.
Fourth Grade Dropout | How being allowed to choose school sparked his decision-making journey.
Military Intelligence | Training taught him to structure decisions in high-stakes contexts.
Big Life Shifts | From physiotherapist to soldier, Green Beret, FBI analyst, and entrepreneur.
Fires and Panama | Wildfires in California led his family to relocate across continents in 30 days.
Decide With Heart | Why “can, could, should” aren’t strong enough drivers.
Raising Rebels | Skateparks, BMX, and resourcing kids in Panama’s expat community.
Courage Over Fear | How fear can be a catalyst for action.
Lessons from the FBI | Understanding biases and critical thinking as tools for better choices.
Rebel Advice | Define success in your own terms and crave it like air.
LINKS FROM EPISODE
Website (https://www.apollostrategy.com/about-us)
Apollo on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolloemeka)
Apollo on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/apolloemeka)
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