Archive: Interviews

Mental toughness isn’t built in a single workout—it’s forged through thousands of small decisions to keep moving forward when things get hard. In this SGPT Interview, we sit down with SEALFIT Kokoro finisher and fitness coach Heather Parillo to learn how she prepared for one of the toughest civilian leadership events in the world, the... Read More

There are few teachers more valuable than someone who has lived the mission. In this SGPT interview, we sit down with former Navy SEAL Kevin Stark to discuss the lessons he learned through BUD/S, life in the SEAL Teams, and the mindset required to perform when the stakes are highest. Kevin shares hard-earned insights on... Read More

There are moments in life when you have every reason to slow down. Injury. Surgery. Age. Setbacks. Most people accept those obstacles as the end of the road. SGPT athlete Charles Allen saw them as the starting line. Just months after undergoing a total knee replacement, Charles committed himself to the hard work of rehabilitation,... Read More

Very few athletes have what it takes to finish GORUCK Selection. The event is designed to expose weakness, test mental toughness, and push competitors far beyond their perceived limits. In this interview, Eric Kling shares the lessons he learned while becoming a GORUCK Selection finisher, including how he prepared physically and mentally, what kept him... Read More

Most aspiring Navy SEALs focus on the stories of the men who graduate BUD/S, but there is just as much to learn from those who don’t make it. In this interview, Roger Sierra shares his firsthand experience preparing for BUD/S, enduring the challenges of First Phase, and dealing with the injury that ultimately ended his... Read More

Success leaves clues. If you’ve spent any time around the SEALgrinderPT tribe, you’ve probably heard the name Glenn Bland. Glenn is one of those athletes who refuses to quit. Whether it’s crushing the SEALFIT Kokoro, finishing 100-mile endurance events, or standing on top of some of the most challenging mountains in America, he continues to... Read More

One of the things I enjoy most about being in SEALgrinderPT is getting to meet and know ordinary people who decide to do extraordinary things. Graham Dessert is one of those athletes. He is not a professional athlete. He is not a Navy SEAL. He is not someone blessed with unlimited free time or perfect... Read More

More than a decade ago, SEALgrinderPT sat down with Dale Comstock for what became one of the most popular interviews in SGPT history. That original 2014 interview gave readers a rare look inside the mindset, training, and operational world of one of America’s elite special operations warriors. Now in 2026, Dale returns to SEALgrinderPT for... Read More

Most people will never experience what it feels like to keep moving forward after days of exhaustion, sleep deprivation, pain, and nonstop mountain climbing. Joe Hashey recently did exactly that by finishing the brutal Cocodona 250 — one of the toughest ultra endurance races in the world. Covering over 250 miles across Arizona, the race... Read More

SGPT: Tell us about yourself? EGR: I was born in Chile and have lived in multiple Chilean cities. I also lived in Ontario, Canada, for 6 years from age 8 to 14. In 2016, I moved to Santiago, Chile, to get my engineering degree and have lived here since. SGPT: Did you have an athletic... Read More

Lock in. Today we sit down with one of our own: Bar Master Mark Cunanan. He’s the athlete who doesn’t just hang on the bar—he owns it. He puts in the time, sweat, and grit to set a standard in strength we all strive for. In our group, we demand more than muscles—we demand mindset,... Read More

Hooyah, warriors of the trench and the trail! Welcome to another no-fluff dispatch from the front lines of endurance and grit, delivered straight to the operational deck at SEALgrinderPT. Today, we lock eyes with a man who didn’t just run a race—he stamped his will into the earth and made it answer: meet Justin Smith,... Read More

Today we sit down with Arno Ilgner, Army Ranger, climber, and creator of The Warrior’s Way®. Arno took his struggles, failures, and victories and built a system to train the mind under pressure. In this interview, he talks about climbing as a classroom for fear, the mental tools that carry over into life, and how... Read More

We are always looking for warriors who step up and take on challenges that most people only dream about. Today we sit down with Hector Robles—an athlete, climber, and all-around grinder who has tested himself on some of the toughest terrain in the Americas. Hector’s not just a weekend hiker. He’s trained through CrossFit-style workouts,... Read More