The 80’s & Early 90’s – College & USMC
- Acceptance into one of the most prestigious music schools in the world for trumpet – Eastman School of Music.
- Earning an ROTC scholarship and then a commission as an officer in the United States Marine Corps
- Attending US Navy Dive School, followed by SCUBA diving all over the world, in all sorts of conditions
- Attending every advanced and elite school possible while serving as a Marine
- Gulf War Veteran – leading a platoon of Marines 3/1 in Operation Desert Storm
- Becoming a recreational distance runner – participating in dozens of 5k, 10k, and marathons
- Cycling my bicycle across the United States from Oceanside, CA to Washington, DC.
1990’s – Corporate Job, Adventure Racing, Sponsorship with Red Bull
- Corporate outside sales rep – earned President’s Club honors and top sales rep of the year in my first (and only) corporate job – Betz Laboratories
- Learning to mountaineer and rock climb, summiting Whitney and Ranier multiple times
- Mountain biking in the world’s toughest race – La Ruta de los Conquistadores in Costa Rica.
- Becoming a whitewater kayaker; Kayaking class IV and V rivers all over the Sierra Nevadas
- Becoming an outrigger canoe paddler; Racing in some of the longest races in the world – the Catalina Channel Outrigger Race, and the Molokai Hoe Outrigger Canoe Race.
- Becoming an early adopter of the emerging sport of Adventure Racing.
- Team Captain & navigator in adventure races all over the world – 300-500 mile expedition races like the Eco Challenge & Raid Gauloises.
- Becoming a Red Bull sponsored adventure racing athlete (running, mtn biking, kayaking, obstacles), racing in dozens of sprint and 24-hr distance adventure races world-wide.
- Becoming a certified massage therapist – built my first business with private clients
- Got my first job in the fitness business – nutrition consultant at the Mecca of Bodybuilding, Gold’s Gym, Venice, CA
Late 90’s – Early 2000’s – Personal Trainer, Fitness Entrepreneur, Petranek Fitness Challenge
- Starting my first business with two friends, Adventure Training Consultants; our primary product was a camp to teach rock climbing, orienteering/land navigation, kayaking, and mountain biking to groups of women in a 3-day format called “Girl Teams”.
- Becoming a full-time personal trainer, then going back to school to get credentialed at the C.H.E.K. Institute, one of the most challenging and complete corrective exercise programs in the world
- Getting married to the love of my life, Julia Michels
- President of Westside Referral Network of LeTip – a 60+ member professional networking group
- Creating the Petranek Fitness Challenge for my training lients to help give them a more powerful context and purpose for their training and fitness.
Mid 2000’s – CrossFit Affiliate Success, CrossFit Games, Fatherhood, The Biz Consulting
- Discovering Crossfit, adopting it very early, opening one of the first CrossFit Affiliates in the world in 2004, Petranek Fitness/CrossFit Los Angeles.
- Became a father in 2007 – changed the context, purpose, and focus of my entire life.
- CrossFit Gym struggled in the first 2 years in spite of enthusiasm. Pivoted by creating a new and completely different business operating system. Had double-digit growth multiple years in a row after the pivot.
- Launched a new business called The BIZ. A consulting company to teach our model of succeeding as a CrossFit gym affiliate.
- Competing in the 2009 CrossFit Games after qualifying by taking 3rd in the regional qualifiers
2010’s – 2021 – Whole Life Challenge, Emotional struggles, Professional Life, Leadership, and Performance Coaching
- 2011 – Launched the first-ever Whole Life Challenge. Added holistic & well-being elements to the established Petranek Fitness Challenge.
- 2013 – Completed a 2-year master’s degree program in spiritual psychology from the University of Santa Monica.
- Built the Whole Life Challenge into a global force of change, affecting the lives of over 200,000 people over 8 years. The Challenge is an online game for creating health and wellness habits, personal reflection, and community.
- 2019 – had a business growth hiccup with the Whole Life Challenge, forcing an emotional reorganization of my life. Helped me recognize my path to a bigger contextual conversation in my work as a coach.
- 2020 – In July, as a result of the struggle and growth over the year prior, I left the Whole Life Challenge and became a full-time professional life, leadership, and performance coach.