Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset - From Fighter to Elite Coach: Phil Daru's Story of Purpose And Training Dustin Poirier & Amanda Nunes

Episode Date: June 8, 2026

Phil Daru, world-class performance coach, former Mixed Martial Artist, and trainer to elite athletes like Dustin Poirier, Amanda Nunes, and Colby Covington, joins The Determined Society for a powerful conversation on discipline, faith, purpose, adversity, and what it really means to become unkillable in life. In this episode, Phil opens up about his early life in Broward County, training martial arts from a young age, playing Division I football, losing both parents within months, becoming a father, and being forced to pivot after a neurologist told him one more hit could change his future. He shares how that moment led him from fighting to coaching, and how routine, repetition, faith, and service became the foundation of his work with fighters, Olympians, Special Forces operators, CEOs, and high performers. This conversation is about more than training. It is about finding your purpose, staying prepared, and building the mind, body, and spirit to keep moving forward when life hits back. The Determined Society is hosted by Shawn French — a show for people who refuse to quit. Every episode goes beyond the highlight reel to explore the real stories behind resilience, reinvention, and the relentless pursuit of a life built on your own terms.   Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all others.. If this episode moved you, share it with someone who needs to hear it — and leave a review. It helps more than you know. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You could do a lot of things and you can be very eclectic, but if you really want to be the best at what you're trying to be, you have to have tunnel vision focus. Really determination and disciplines of muscle. You know, you are born with some capacity for it, I believe, but it's like any muscle. You push it, you work it, you rest it, you feed it, it grows. Imagine you're a 26-year-old, you're fighting in the octagon, you're busting skulls, and then one day, a neurologist tells you, if you take one more hit to your head that by the time you're, 50, you're going to have Alzheimer's. You need to retire immediately. Phil DeRue made a pivot and got behind the scenes and started training fighters. A lot of people don't want to suffer to get better. They fall back to things that they feel are comforting to them, and they never evolved. They never grow. At 26, you had your first child, then your career ended. You lost your mom and your dad

within three months. Those are one, two, three, four massive events that can impact your identity, happen within one year. How did you move through that? Hey, what's up guys? Imagine you're a 26 year old amazing competitor. You're fighting in the octagon. You've been doing martial arts since you were four years old, football since you were eight, a Division I football player, you have it all going. You're busting skulls. And then one day, a neurologist tells you, if you take one more hit to your head that by the time you're 50, you're going to have Alzheimer's, you need to retire immediately. Most people would quit. But a determined individual, individual, someone who really wants to make something out of their life makes a pivot.

See, that's what my guest today did. Phil DeRue made a pivot and got behind the scenes and started training fighters, like world champions like Dustin Poilliers, Amanda Nunez, and many other athletes and Olympians and Special Forces operators. This dude is the epitome of determination. And I've been waiting for this conversation. Welcome to the Determined Society. My brother, that is probably the best intro I've had.

ever got me. Who the fuck you talk? I mean, well, you know, we're here, baby. That's crazy. Well, you know why it was so good, right? I'm going to tell you why.

Let me know. Because you destroyed my ass. At the Brawler's Box. Yeah, we're just coming from it. Yeah, baller's box right here. What are they called? Little Haiti?

Little Haiti. Right in the heart of it. And, you know, mine, the shorts too as well. I got the quads out because we just got done with the train session. I know, I know. But it's all good. You're looking nice and shaved. Thank you, brother.

Appreciate it. Well, I got a little blonde hair. Yeah, I do. It's nice. It's very nice, man. I'm not as good looking as you. You're a burly man. But I've got, you know, I've got some jeans on. Love it. I can barely pick up my legs right now, but you did great, man. You did I really, though, and I got a bullshit. Because I feel like it was a lot of massive imbalance in my body. And, you know, the things that I was very coordinated at when I was playing baseball, you just see that stuff deteriorating over the years when you don't use them. So like sometimes even when I was going, okay, these drills getting the arms to work in sync with opposite leg like that was hard for me if you don't use it you lose it right so that's what they say the biggest thing like what i see and you picked it up fast was and it's a testament to your athletic ability and the way you pick up things and when i look at an athlete it's basically going to come down to how well they can pick up things when i actually teach them whether it's auditory whether i give my visual cue cueing techniques that

i use are reframing for the actual event so that they can conceptualize how to do it but you did perfectly even even with some of the the movement drills that we did obviously you had to coordinate the arms and everything else but that rotation of your hips and we got video of it too as well you picked it up fast and most of my athletes it's it's pretty demanding you know so you do good job no I appreciate that man you know it was just one of those things where I put myself back in that athlete mindset and I was thinking when I was working out with you like I'm not here working out that's my coach and I'm going to allow him the space to coach me and me be the student and dude it was awesome man it was it was really cool doing something like that i haven't done

in a long time and and the cool thing is is like have we just shown up here i feel like we're boys now yeah it is you know you made me throw up a little bit already did you throw up i tried a little bit yeah a little water came up but it was just yeah because i didn't have much in my stomach well when you know when we reached out and we were going to do this thing i was like well you got to train let's get something going let's get something physical before we hop on this podcast because I know now that you get to understand a little bit what I do physically too. So I'll put you in the fire a little bit. Yeah, dude.

And I want to get to all that because one of the things that you really focus on or two of them is making sure you're ready for every situation. You're always ready no matter what. And making fighters and competitors unkillable. Yeah. Right. But first, I want to go back. I want to go back to Brower County at four years old.

You know, you're doing Kimpo Karate, your parents. I mean, that's a great thing your parents did. But what was it like in the Daroo household growing up? It was a loving household. I grew up in some rough areas. And I had to, at that point, that's why martial arts was so vital for me, was to maintain discipline because everything else that's going on around you. You can get sucked into your environment.

And so allowing myself to get into a martial art where it, again, kept me discipline, kept me motivated, kept me determined to improve and progress. And a lot of people asked me before, like, where does your determination come from, where does a dedication come from? And I think it's instilled in me, obviously, through my parents, but also I don't know any different. So I couldn't really give them, I can't get you a good answer with that, because at that point, it's just second nature.

And I don't want to sound like too egotistical with it, but as far as I can remember, I've always had a goal. I always had something that I wanted to achieve. And when you have an understanding of what is the purpose and where you're trying to go, then everything that you do is centered around that. So waking up, I woke up, you know, even at four or five years old, waking up at five in the morning,

going and jogging and getting my working. How old were you when you're waking up at five and jogging? Four or five years old, yeah, that I can remember, yeah. You sure you said four or five years old? Yeah. Four or five years old, waking up and jogging. I want the audience to really dig into that

because that's discipline. That's also upbringing. Yeah. Right. I don't think that's a stretch. I don't think that's insane. I think that is so amazing, dude. I didn't mean to stop what you were saying, but four or five years old, bro. I mean, that, that right there sets you up for the foundation for discipline and determination your whole life. And now everything that I've researched on you and read about you, now it makes sense. It's second nature. Yeah. I think it comes from, even with my mother,

you know, she was a very determined person. She was the first female. in Broward to join the fire department. Oh, wow. And so I remember to some degree me training her and running up the towers and, you know, yelling at her to keep going. And it was, it was, uh, my mother was my best friend, you know, when I growing up and seeing her put the work in. And even my father, too, you know, I barely saw him because he worked nonstop.

But I think, you know, as young kids and I'm a father now, we lead by example. And so I saw that intuitively, I just did what they. did and so that's why it sticks with me to this day um is your so what did your dad do so they both died okay seven years ago damn yeah so in the beginning he worked a lot of odd jobs uh he was a manager to some restaurants did a couple other things but for the most part you know grew up in like that restaurant like hospitality yeah hospitality oh he was always working yeah yeah yeah so you know I'd be sleeping. He'd come home two, three o'clock in the morning. You know, I'd get up at my 5 a.m. with my mother. We'd go run. You know, we'd get the training in. And then he would go off to work

again. So, yeah. But it was, it was something like, again, loving father, but just really wasn't there. Just doing what he had to do for the family. Exactly. So he has both your parents and you're 25. Yep. Do you mind me asking what happened? Yeah. So my mother developed lupus, this is autoimmune disease. And that starts to deteriorate your body over time. And then my father He, they're codependent, man. And I think that the biggest thing was stress. And he had an esophageal bleed right around, it was like 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning.

I remember getting the call right around 5 a.m. And my mother called me from my father's phone. And I thought my dad was calling me to tell me that my mother passed. And I picked up the phone and my mom was hysterical. And she was like, he's dying, he's bleeding everywhere. And so we ended up, you know, hopping in the car, me and my wife, I get to their house and there's blood everywhere. And as soon as I saw that, I knew that it was over.

So we went to the hospital and the doctor said we couldn't do anything. And so I had to tell my aunts, my sister, everyone that my dad had passed. Three months later, my mother passed. You lost your mom and your dad within three months. Yeah, pretty much. How do you at that point stay focused? And let me remind the audience, you were 25. At 26, you had your first child and then your career ended.

Those are massive events. Those are one, two, three, four massive events that can impact your identity happen within one year. How did you move through that? I just stay focused on my path and my purpose. And at that point, I knew that I needed to make a change because fighting career wasn't going there. you know, I had the injuries. And I had people that still depended on me. My son, my daughters, my wife, the people that I coach.

And so I just had to move forward. And that's what my parents would have wanted me to do anyways. So there wasn't a time where I stopped it. And it sounds bad, but, you know, we went to the funeral and then I had, at that point, we were working with some high-level athletes and I had to go right back to the gym, right after the funeral and get the job done. And it's not because I wasn't hurting, but my job still had to go. I still had to work.

I still had to provide. So that's where, you know, I just kept moving. See, that's where most people lose identity in those moments. Like those four things back to back, the child's a blessing. But it's still a change of life. Oh, yeah. I mean, it changes your identity quick, right? There's a lot of different things that go on there.

most people retreat, fall into addiction, just shut down, right? But for you, when you say the jobs still had to be done, people are still depending on me, this can go all the way back to when you're four or five years old, waking up in the morning and running. And most people won't understand what I just said. They don't see any correlation to that. And that's the gap in their gain, right? They have to figure that out.

because what you find out early at four or five years old is that your emotions have nothing to do with what you have to do or what you said you would do. So even in those moments, extreme loss, you still had to push forward and do the damn thing, man. Yeah, I stay connected with my purpose. And I have to do that. And I always have to reconsider the fact that if I don't get the job done, no one's going to do it. and at that point, you just don't negotiate with yourself. And a lot of people do. Like, they wake up and they're feeling a little tired.

And don't get me wrong, like, if I know that I'm not 100%, I'm still going to do the thing. Maybe I'll tailor off of it a little bit. Maybe I'll auto regulate. But, yeah, the job still has to get done. You still have the schedule. You still have your routine, and you still have to get after it. You know, but your childhood, you know, as you said,

it was instilled in you. Really determination and disciplines of muscle. I think at some point, there's somewhat of it is innate. You are born with some capacity for it, I believe. But it's like any muscle. You push it, you work it, you rest it, you feed it, it grows. But when you're a heavy athlete, and I don't mean in weight, I mean just heavy in volume. You know, you can't go karate at four, football at seven or eight.

And then you get into, you know, Alabama State University or Division I football player, linebacker, right? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, all of these things that you've done in your life require extreme discipline. And focus. 1,000 percent, right? So I want to talk about that real quick, you know, between the karate, the football, the

MMA. At one point, you were doing all those things simultaneously. Yeah. Right? And so what does that do to? a young athlete's mind, in your opinion. And did you ever feel like you had to choose? At times, yeah.

Yeah. And I think the problem that I had as a young professional fighter was I was still trying to be a business owner, obviously lead the household. So I had all these things going on. My focus was shifted. And that's why I go back to focus. Because you could do a lot of things and you can be very eclectic. per se.

But if you really want to be the best at what you're trying to be, you have to have tunnel vision focus. And the moment that I made the transition from being a fighter, athlete, business owner to just being a coach and being engulfed in figuring out the ways to get my athletes prepared, that's when my coaching ability elevated. That's it right there, man.

So I think I had at that point, God said to me, listen, this is what you're here to do. This is your purpose, right? And we have to lead with love. We have to lead with gratitude. And we have to lead with grace. So if I'm here to provide a service,

because we're all here to serve to some capacity, what's the best way to do that? And that's when I found my true calling was coaching individuals, was leading them, teaching them, inspiring them. and give them some guidance to get their goals accomplished, to get their,

whatever their aspirations are. And that's where, like, a lot of my foundation of my methods come from because it starts with the assessment process. So to answer that question, I think that, yes, you can dabble and you can have your things that you do

and by all means live your life. But if you're trying to be the best at what you're trying to be, you have to be focused. I can relate to everything you're saying because I feel like I'm in an echo chamber right now. Because when I found this, it's all I could think about. I was obsessed.

And I had a very successful sales career. I was in medical sales. I was in the OR. I was making money. And I didn't have to worry about spending a few grand here on a weekend to take my family on vacation. That was easy. I knew I was going to make more money on Monday.

But what happened is when God put this on my heart, when I finally figured out what my purpose and my calling was and you know granted i sucked at it at the beginning i go back and watch some of the videos i'm wow no wonder that nobody was listening you know you you you have to be willing to suck at something if it's your purpose and your calling but when he gives you that to turn your back on it and to not go all in is the ultimate act of disrespect i believe it i think you know with with that being said you had to go through some friction a lot of people don't want to suffer to get better. Right. Right. So they fall back to things that they feel are comforting to them. And they

never evolved. They never grow. Yeah. So when you started doing the podcast, yeah, you said that the first few episodes were trash, whatever. Maybe the first hundred. Straight up, bro. When you look at it now, it's hyper successful because you kept at it. Right. And the same thing goes in the gym, right? You may have a couple exercises that you did today that were like, oh, this is off. And I saw, and I saw a little bit of frustration, but then you went back. That's a good thing, though. Be pissed for greatness. Come back and do it again. Don't let it stop you. Don't let it stifle you. When I started boxing, you know, after Kempo Karate, and I knew how to like, I knew how to strike, I knew to throw my hands to a degree, but when I started boxing, one of my boxing coaches, and this was in Alabama too

as well, it was a hole-in-the-wall boxing gym. This guy, I think he lived in the gym, be honest with you. And I was doing okay, but he was like, man, stop doing what you're doing. Because I was shadow boxing. I was all over the place. He's like, go in the mirror and throw the jab. Just throw the jab. And I want you to do that.

I want you to do that 100 times a day. And I want you to keep doing that for the next six months. Literally six months. And I go, man, I don't know if I even have the discipline to just throw the jab. Because that's monotony. Yes. It's, it's boring. Yeah and you have to be comfortable in that boring state and it for you to grow.

Yeah. And then it started to evolve and then I was like, okay, I know how to throw the jab slow, concise, I could throw from different angles now let's put it into practice. So we isolated the jab and then we started to integrate that into a real-world environment in sparring because I couldn't throw any other punch. Right. So as you just throw the jab, sometimes it would tie my other arm up. Yep. And so it allowed me to learn how to to slip, how to move, how to move my feet, but still throw the jab as accurate as possible. And that goes for everything in life. So when I started to understand how to dissect those small details, I transfer that over into my coaching career. That's amazing because I'm tying this all in with baseball. As a baseball player, when you're struggling, they tell you go back to get, go back to the tea and just work the tea, man.

Tease your, tease your best friend, you know, load stride, work middle, work middle, boom, boom, work opposite field but make sure no matter what that ball stays on a line come straight off the tee not to the ground not up right right here stay flat at contact stay stay strong through it those things that baseball players do when they're struggling they should do no when they're when they're doing well so derrick jeter right back in the day one of the greats yeah the captain right the freaking guy would always hit off the tea if he was doing well if he was doing poorly you know slump or not hitting off the tea. That's called monotony. That's called mastering the monotony. And he's a Hall of Famer. By the way, last at bat, RBI line drive to right field. Like, I get goosebumps

because that was set up his whole career. It's like there's no way God or the baseball gods are going to let him fail on his last at bat. He put in too much work. And so when you jab, jab, jab, jab, jab, or load and try, load and tried, hit the ball off the tea, what do you think is going to happen when it's time to compete? It's there because the work is already done. And what does that do? That instills that work ethic and the ability to stay in that monotony. So then it transfers over into whatever else you're trying to do. Yeah.

And so I look at these lessons in athletics and sport, and I tie that into everything that I do, even with business. You know, it's like we have to, one, if I'm not prepared, I don't feel comfortable at all as far as, like, going after the thing. So we have to have a strategy. We have to have a system. And then we have to plan accordingly. So we have to play chestnut checkers. Oh, come on. Right?

And so, like, at that point, whenever I'm looking to elevate my business or my systems or even my family, everything has to be organized to the right degree. Now, obviously, there's going to be some times where you have to auto-regulate. But because you have a system, it's easier to do that. The problem is people just go through their day-to-day life with no routine. And routine leads to discipline. So you create these habits that allows you to stay disciplined. And that goes hand in hand with the individuals that I work with now.

And these guys are really successful people, right? CEOs of big companies. We got athletes. The thing that I see that's standard across the board is that they don't deviate from their routine. They stay consistent no matter what, whether they're traveling, whether they're traveling, whether they feel good or they don't, the routine stays there. And so it becomes second nature,

becomes unconscious competence, which is important when you're trying to elevate. It's all important, man. You know, we keep saying the monotony. We keep saying the little things, but those are the things that create the success. You know,

so I was joking with you guys laughing at it, but I literally woke up at two. Yeah. You know, and I couldn't sleep. And so what did I do? Did I get pissed about it? Oh, I got this workout. I got these two shows.

What am I going to do? No, I just got up and worked, man. Yep. So if I'm up, God woke me up for a reason. 100%. You know, and you understand that because you've started to speak about your spirituality and your faith a lot more.

When did that switch for you? So I've always, I grew up in a Catholic environment. and I was baptized Catholic and I got away from the faith a little bit obviously growing up in the environment you know you don't go to church I'll slide a little bit slide yeah 100% I slid a lot

I slid a lot and I got it to some trouble at 16 you know and I was facing facing some time and I remember sitting in the jail cell and going yeah you didn't know this one? I didn't know this one what'd you do? All right so

let's get cooking baby 16 years old, right? I'm just, I'm living two different lives, right? I'm playing football. I got Division I offers, but I'm also selling drugs. And the reason why I'm selling drugs is because, one, I didn't want to ask my parents for money. So I'm like, all right, if I want shoes or if I want, you know, anything that I want, I'm just going to get it. So I started going down that route, losing focus on my purpose, and got into some trouble, ended up, right around 16 years old. I think it was 16, yeah.

It was my junior year in high school. And I went to go do a sale, and I got into a scuffle, ended up beating these kids up, unfortunately. And then we took their cell phones. And we took their cell phones, they got me for armed robbery. You jacked them, bro.

Jacked them. And at that, point I go and I didn't wasn't thinking about it like I was just cell phones whatever yeah right and I gave him the cell phones back actually be honest I sold it back to him you didn't give him shit

yeah and I was on Broward County's most wanted list for two weeks didn't know this didn't know this so I'm going to I'm going to school I'm still doing my thing and you know and then my my guy that was with me my boy

he got picked up at at track practice. So he locked him up. I go to school. I'm driving. I'm riding up. I think I was, yeah,

I was driving at that time. I actually bought my first car with drug money. Going to school, and I'm like, why is he not at school? This is weird. Because he usually would tell me.

And so, then they called me in office. They said, you know, we picked up your boy, and they're going to come after you too. So I called my mother. And my one said,

don't say anything. Come get you. We'll have to figure it out. So I'm leaving. I'm about to leave school as I'm leaving early and they closed the gate and they never closed the gate

I said okay I know what's going on so at that time I would have my last class and as I was leaving my coach called me in the call me in his room he's like just sit down

and I sat down and he looked at me and he said what did you do oh boy you ain't gonna lie to your football coach no you can't man and I was like coach I messed up and he's like

what are coming to get you and he's like he just got to face it. And I was like, all right. So he came and got me. I'm sitting in a detention center now. And typically, you know, I'm not thinking the ramifications of what could happen. Sure, of course.

My young kid. Yeah. So I'll do my 21 days. I'll get out. And then I just keep going with my life. Or pay a fine. Yeah. You know, like some restitution.

Yeah, like an anger management class or something bullshit. Yeah, yeah. Probation. Or garbage on the side of the road. I'm good. Exactly. Exactly. So 21 days pass.

And they're like, you know, not going anywhere. You're getting direct filed as an adult and you're going to the county jail. So they put me in the wagon. We go to the county jail. And at this point, it became real. So like with the with the charge that we have on you, you could face up to 60 years. Yeah, this is Brow County. So two counts. Right? Because there's two of them. So I'm sitting in there and first I get the phone calls to my mother. I'm like, I don't know what to do. She's like, don't say anything. We'll figure it out.

Just pray about it. And when she said pray about it, I sat there in that cell. And I was the first time I prayed since I was a six-year-old kid. Oh, boy. And I said, God, if you get me out of this situation, I would change my life. So I sat in the county for about a month and a half, two months. And we're in a holding cell, 23-hour lockdown. And I started training the inmates.

So we were working with, you know, towels and, you know, wrapping the mattress up and doing partner drills and stuff. And at that point, I'm like, man, I like training. I really do like doing this, you know? Wow. So it's kind of like comes for a circle. And so what ended up happening was they had no evidence. It was hearsay. So by the grace of God, the judge was lenient because it was my first offense.

Like, we're going to give you five years probation. Some restitution. Because they thought I was going to violate and go back in. Of course. If you were the full sentence, if you violate. Anytime you violate. So at that point, they had to drop me out of school. I lost 90% of my scholarships.

We're all off. So I go into a drop-in program. I switch schools. And now I'm just basically trying to get back to where I was. And luckily, I went through all. my probation, I got off in two years because I was straight and narrow. Oh, so they gave you three years, they gave three years of your life back. Yeah, that's good. So at that point, I was waiting to go to Alabama State. And so I had a year that I was off until I could go because I was still on probation.

I could leave. Right, right. Once that happened, you know, I was, at that point, I'd go, all right, I'm making a change and I would go to church and I would just try to find, you know, my place in life. Now, fast forward, and I got, I was still spiritual, but I wasn't tapped in to the first cause, like I should. Fast forward, and I meet an individual by the name of Kevin James, is the actor. Yeah, okay, so the Kevin James. Kevin James, yeah. Funny as how, man. He's a great guy.

He's a great. He's a, he's a, like a father figure, you know, brother, brother in Christ. And we were on set to do a moment. movie in Louisiana, in New Orleans. No way. And he's like, why don't you come to this Latin Mass? And I'm like, all right, cool, yeah, I'll come. Because I'm a part of the crew. I might as well go. And I'm sitting there in the Latin Mass, and it felt like I was being

let in on something. And I just was sitting there like, what am I doing with my life? Now, I'm 100% like, obviously I'm successful, but I'm not, I'm not whole yet. You don't feel aligned in your soul. No. Right, right. And so after the Latin Mass, I get out, and I'm like, I got to make a change here. And I started to dive deep into theology. And I also, at one point, we're in New Orleans, and I'm frustrated about something.

He goes, he just asked me a simple question, what is your purpose? And I go, what do you mean, man? It's to leave a legacy, it's, you know, whatever. He's like, that's not your purpose. Your purpose is to know and love God, first and foremost. Find your purpose. elevate the skill and the talent that he has given you to serve others because you lead with love and love is to will the good of the other. So at that point I go, all right, I need to make a change

in my understanding of why I'm here. And that's when it led to now having my son and my son now is like he's all in. Right. So he's getting his first Holy Communion next week. That's awesome. Yeah, yeah. That's so cool, man. So it's a good story. It's a good battle back from all these. I think it's great. You know, it's one of those moments, right,

where you know, you're sitting there in that holding cell and then you go to the detention center. You know, and that, what else are you going to do at that point? Yeah. You know,

and I think what's really good or powerful about that story is you're facing all this time. You're facing, you know, what, you said 60 years because it's two counts. You're 16 years old. You know,

you're a pup, man. you're still wet behind your ears you you don't know what's going on yeah no no and your life could be over yeah right because of one dumb-ass decision to beat two dudes up yep right um but again i'm gonna go back to the statement most people would give up you're in jail and you find a way to make friends with everybody yeah and train them yeah you served there inside the detention center and you got out and And you were blessed. You know, you didn't have to spend the full five years under damn probation.

You spent two. Like, there's a reason, right? And it all points back to when you're given a crappy hand or you create the crappy hand, how do you respond to it? Yeah. And I think response is the most important thing in life because most people react. That's where it comes back to understanding and identifying why you're here. And I'll give you another thing, which was crazy. You fast forward a little bit further right around 20, 22, so not too long ago.

And I started working with Broward Sheriff's Office with the SWAT team. And they say, come out to our training facility. So I'm driving to the training facility. I'm like, this looks familiar. I bet it did. Right? They changed the holding area where I went to as a young kid to their training facility. So I pull up and I go.

Oh wow. Damn. So I go in there, now I'm working with these individuals. Great people, right? They're just trying to elevate. They're trying to serve and protect. And now I go, all right, I see what you're doing. So, I mean, the biggest thing I would say for people is to really figure out exactly where you want to go with your life and then have something that can staple you to your purpose.

And we keep going back to that, but that's really the goal with anybody in life. And a lot of people ask, like, what's the purpose of life and what's, why am I here? What am I doing? And I always say the biggest thing in Jesus Christ will say this and said it before it's been written in scripture, love thy neighbor. Love the God. Love your God for all your might and love thy neighbor. I'm getting choked up a little bit because it truly changed. changed the way I look at people.

Because I always used to think at some point in time that, damn, you got me. It's good, man. You got me. No, dude, I love it, man. Look, this is, this is, you're going to make me fucking cry. I don't, like, look, man, to love people is life. And these reactions, these emotions are bringing out who you are.

And everything that you've been through. Don't, don't, this is, this is good stuff. Yeah, I mean, well, and so when I decided to truly just make that decision to keep God first in my life, it allowed me to elevate my career. Because everything that I do now is to serve. And I lead as a service-based leader. And I'm a servant of the first cause. I'm a servant of man.

I'm a fisher of men. And the only in the true way I know how to do that is to get you to the point where you feel really good about yourself where you feel really confident about your abilities to protect yourself as we go back to being capable. And you can't do that if you're not physically tapped in, mentally tapped in, mentally tapped in and spiritually tapped in. So we tie these three things together, mind, body and soul, mind, body, and spirit. If you don't have the mind, you don't have the mental fortitude to get past a certain situation, you will never elevate to. where you want to be. If you don't have the body, if you don't have the physical acumen, if you don't have the physicality to push past fatigue, you're not going to get to where you want to be. And if you don't have a connection, a soul connection to the creator, you will not get to

where you want to be. It's beautiful, man. I'm going to tell you something. That's probably your superpower, also Achilles Hill. And here's how I know that, because it's mine. Yeah. I'm an amazing communicator but I also love people. And I will serve, serve, serve, serve and not ask you for anything back. And sometimes my best friend, my wife, my protector, right? She protects the hell out of me. These boys know. You can't keep doing things and not getting anything in return.

I go, and I'm thinking, I'm like, yeah, you're right, but I am getting something in return. It's just not directly correlated. You know, it's, I'm serving people, but it's all. also filling me in some way. Sure. Right? Because everybody wants to be able to give back, but they don't know how. But when you're connected with your gifts are, then it's easy to give back.

100%. And the one thing about you that's really special, man, is I can smell energy, right? I can tell within two seconds, typically, of what this person's about. Sometimes I get a little confused, right? But the moment you interacted with me outside that gym, you're like, Sean, hey man. I was like, hey, what's up, dude? You're like, oh, just come right. I'm like, that's a good dude.

Just your normal, your speech pattern. I could tell like you were an individual that cared. Well, same, same. At the same interaction with you, like I could tell that you cared, that you were a thoughtful person and you love doing what you do. I'm obsessed. I love it, man. I'm obsessed, dude, you know, and that's the thing.

But, like, dude, all this stuff is great. And I have so many more questions that I want to get to because it just ties the whole Phil Derues story up. Take me back. Let me ask you a question. Oh, go ahead, man. So what made you want to do this podcast? Oh, man, this is a good one. You know, and I've said it a lot on air.

Yeah. You know, but the thing that I will say is there came a time in my career, right, that I was, like I said, making money. I was so unhappy. I was broken. I didn't understand why I was so focused on more. I need more.

I need more money. I need another revenue stream. I need to be rich. I mean, don't get me wrong. I want this thing to take me to the top. But I'm going to do it by serving. By giving the people great conversations that they can grow from

like this one with you. Absolutely. But when I was in that moment in 2020, I was trying to find more ways to make money because I thought it was a money situation. I was like, well, I need FU money. You know, I'm making a quarter million. It looks like the life that I want to create. I need $3.50 to $5. So it's a money problem.

No, man, the problem was me. The problem was me. I have the most gorgeous wife. I have three beautiful children. And I was unhappy. What in the hell is wrong with me, man? And so long story short, I had a friend that was helping us get into a network marketing or direct to consumer, whatever, to go sell more things because I thought it was money. But you need a personal brand.

And I was like, what in the hell is a personal brand? So what do people think about you? I'm like, I don't know. Post a picture on your stories and ask them. My friends were like, douchebag, douchebag, sweet hat, take it off. you suck, but you know, your friends, dude. You know, your boys do. They're going to get you.

But like most people are like leader, leader, leader, coach, determine, determined, determine, determine, determine, determine, determination. Determine, determine. So I was like, so at that point, I had 800 people that, you know, hit the follow button on Instagram. And about half of those were all skewed towards determination. So that's what I said. People think I'm determined.

She was great. Start your Facebook group. I'm like, call it determined. That's stupid. She got so frustrated with me. She goes, what do you want? Yeah. I said, I'm sorry, what?

And she goes, what do you want? I go, you know what? I'm so sick of excuses. I want to wake up in a determined society where people actually chase their dreams every single day, no matter how they feel emotionally at that time. Mm-hmm. I said, because that's the definition of determination in my mind and commitment. She goes, that's it.

Yeah. Determined society. I like it at all. I don't like it. I don't like it. I like it. And I was like, it's missing something. She goes, no, it's not.

I go, yes, it is. It's missing the word the. The determined society. I make it a little more exclusive, a little more sexy, right? And so it was a Facebook group for a long time. And it was just me talking about my struggles, me asking other people what they were struggling with.

And it was all to sell products. That was the goal. But what was really going, on was God working and going, no, no, no, I'm using this to show you who you really are and what you can accomplish and what you can pull off in your life and be happy in your career. And eventually, about two months later, people were interacting, sharing things, you know, doing all these different things inside the community or the Facebook page. I'm driving down the road, heading to another O-WR, about an hour and a half, two hours away,

and my brain exploded. You know those moments, man? It's like a goodwill hunting moment or a beautiful mind and you're smelling colors and tasting the air. It's like that moment. Call my wife. I was like, I just had this moment

and I need to talk to you. She goes, okay. I go, the determined society isn't a Facebook page. It's a podcast. She goes, what do you mean? I was like, well, this is what I'm thinking. And she goes, cool. I'm like, do you think I can do it?

She goes, I think you can do anything you want. She goes, but here's what I'm going to tell you. You have until the time from right now until you get home to figure it out, but don't talk to me about it again. She's a tough one. It's like, okay, I'm thinking, like, I always kind of follow through, I think. You know, maybe not. Maybe this is a gut check.

So what did I do? I turned the F around. I didn't go to the hospital. I didn't go to the hospital. I was like, nah, hell with this. I'm going to turn around. I'm going to figure this thing out. And so I asked my first.

for Natalie. I'm like, how do I start a podcast? And she sent me a YouTube thing that she made. And I was like, oh, anchor. Cool. Oh my God. I don't have equipment. I don't have a studio. I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't. You know, scarcity. I said, but you know what? My bride told me to figure it out. Yeah. So I recorded my first episode that night. It was called The Determined Society. And I did it on my phone. Nice. And the next 20 episodes were in my vehicle at the time. I had a VW SUV ATLUS, right?

And after the gym, I just do not disturb and talk into the phone and do the show notes there. That's how it started. Man, that's, I mean, you had so many, there were some obstacles there. A ton. But you didn't let it deter you. There's been so many. And I'll tell you this, a lot of people look at obstacles and they go, ah, this is too much. I don't have the money

I don't have the resources I don't have the time Time is such an illusion dude The money thing is real But here's what I discovered about the money thing I don't have people that want to fund the show I don't have investors I don't have people that want to invest in me

But I was also running a show called The Determined Society that's all about determination and discipline And meanwhile I was 230 pounds and 31% body fat What part of that screams discipline and determination. Okay.

Yeah. So when, yeah. So when you look at that, it's like, well, it's my fault. I'm not the walking billboard. So I started handling my shit. Yeah. And I transformed very quickly because I was very locked in, focused, like you say. Tunnel vision.

Nutrition, workouts. I wasn't running. I dropped like 20 pounds in a month or two. you know and I just kept going and then all of a sudden started clicking because what people don't understand it's something that you understand is once you do the things that you know you need to do to fix that one thing about you that needs to be fixed and you fall back and you fall into alignment the universe opens up for sure and that's what happened yep that's where I can't really speak on like how did this all happen it just God gave me the path and I walked it

Yeah. And I'll continue to walk it. And whenever I feel like I'm veering off, I go back to prayer. And I ask God, just give me the path. And I will not alter that path. Yeah. There's going to be roadblocks. There's going to be, you know, those obstacles that we talked about.

And as long as you can stay consistent on that path, a lot of times when you get a certain level of success you get opportunities and you have to decipher are those opportunities something that is a part of your purpose and that path and a lot of people again you know people talk about the woman in the red dress yeah they start to deviate oh yeah you know and it's devil yeah 100% and the devil will tempt you and if he doesn't tempt you and he doesn't get in your way Typically, you're walking side by side with him. So I'm ready and I'm prepared to fight the good fight.

But that's what you do, though. You make sure your fighters, your Olympians, special forces operators, and podcast hosts, make sure they're ready for everything to make them unkillable, right? That's the thing. Like, you know, that is such an important concept. Because when you're ready for anything, and I'm not talking about being ready to to drop down and fight in the middle of an alley. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.

But mostly it's, it's, there's going to be this, all this adversity that comes at you. Are you ready to deal with it? Can you work through it? Because if you can't, you're never going to get to the point that you want to. You know, and I just think it's so important. And I'm very passionate about that concept, about that because that is where most people screw up. It's where they, is where they fall, man.

Yeah. And I think you have to put yourself, you definitely have to put yourself in the position to feel that pressure continuously. And you could do that through the gym. You can do that when you're running. You can do that with your business. But give yourself some tough times. Yeah. And see what you're made of through those tough times.

Do you believe adversity is a real classroom? I do. I think that. So I've been through a lot of adversity. And so when people go, you know, when there's, tough times or like it could be my new small little issues like parking outside in Miami. It was actually easy today. It was easy today.

You guys busted my balls because I parked a little further. Sorry for getting my steps. I didn't. I actually liked it, to be honest with you. I was good. But you don't let it change the perspective. Yeah. A lot of times, you know, let's say even with, so my son at some point when he was like maybe

He's six or seven years old. He used to wake up with me at four or five in the morning. And one morning, he woke up at six. And he was mad at himself. He was like, I can't believe I woke up late. I said, son. One, he went to bed later too as well. We got back from a family thing.

And I was like, if your body needs rest, give it rest. But at that point, you have to make up for the time that was lost. Don't get down or mad at yourself. Just keep transitioning. Keep moving forward. And I started to think, man, I need to take some of that advice that I'm giving, right? It's, you know, Solomon's paradox. Yep.

And I go, well, whenever I have a bad day, I never really have a bad day. It's funny because my wife will go, you have a very easy way to jump back into position. You don't let negative things dictate your whole day. I may be off for 10 minutes, but then I'm back on. Because I know there's more time in the day to get the thing done.

And it falls back to like being able to execute and knowing the system. And I love routine. I'm very conscientious, but I'm open to new opportunities. Sure. So I'm able to adjust and auto regulate and call an audible. You got to adapt.

You got to adapt. adapt. Same thing with training. So when I was working with fighters, right, you might have a system, you'll have a program ready for them to go. And it's not always a part of the plan to have somebody kick an elbow. And now you can't do the things that you did today. So I have to transition. The plan is still the plan. I just deviated a little bit so that we can still move forward. And a lot of teachers, coaches, trainers, they have an inability to, you know, to adjust. People have an inability to adjust. Yeah. So keep adjusting, but still stay the path.

That's important, man. I just feel like when we look at bad days, you know, to go back and talk about that, my kids will come out to me. I go, hey, how was your day at school? Oh, it's terrible. It's usually my, my middle child. My daughter, my nine-year-old is like, is bad. Terrible. My youngest as well. My son can sometimes like, eh, it's boring, school. Yeah. Yeah. He's like a man a few words, right? Until it's bedtime. Always. Always, dude. But you know that's when they open up. That's when they So, message for your parents out there. Don't tell them to shut up at bedtime. Sit there and listen to them. For sure. Because years are going to pass quickly. I'm talking to myself because I suck at that sometimes, dude. I want to spend time with my wife. Yeah. Yeah. But the thing is, I always ask them,

Was it really a bad day or were they bad moments? Because if you can think of that, then you can move quickly. And I think that maybe subconsciously where you're at, it's like that was just like one situation. I can go impact somewhere else. Bounce back. Bounce back, man. You know, we talk about the fighters, though, right? Like you've trained some amazing fighters, right?

Dustin Poyer. We talked about him a little bit at the gym as one of your closest friends. I mean, no doubt he's a great dude. He's from Louisiana. I mean, they're all dope people from Louisiana. Yeah, yeah. You know it. But Colby Covington, you know,

that's a pretty openly divisive personality, right? Definitely. How was it training someone like him and kind of dealing with the performative aspect of it to the personal side? You know, with Kobe, he was great to train. He was a hard worker.

he was super respectful. You know, I think when you get into this world of entertainment, then it kind of gets skewed to one direction or another. Now, he was facing, like, he was going to get cut from the UFC. Oh, wow. So at that time, they thought that that was the best option for him. And so, you know, teach his own. I would say that as far as me, a personal relationship,

when it came down to coach athlete, he was great, super coachable. He listened to everything that we did. He worked hard. One of the hardest workers that I know. And the one thing that I would say is that I think that there was a loss of understanding. And his personality was shifted and cut in half. And so I know that he's getting back into who he is. And I mean, I haven't talked to him in a while.

But when it came to me coaching him, I've had athletes that are not coachable. They're uncoachable to a degree of where, like, I can't work with you. Really? Yeah. So, like, because that was my, that was another part of the question. I was like, because some of these fighters have such big egos, and they have strong opinions about their own training.

You know, so how do you deal with that? There's a mutual respect that needs to happen first, right? So it starts with the assessment process, and that is really just having a conversation where it comes down. It could be 90 minutes, could be two hours. hours. It could be literally maybe even two weeks when you develop this relationship and then there's mutual respect knowing they know that you have their best interest at heart. Then they're open to new ideas. They're open to new training methodologies. And then obviously you have to

show the result. So I think once I was able to get those wins and to really elevate the other athletes that were in the same room as him or her, it allowed them to let their guard down. But for the most part, you may have one or two that are stuck in their ways. Maybe they're veterans. They've been doing the things that they do. You have to give them the opportunity to realize what their limitations are. And so, again, I go back to it. Let's assess.

Let's evaluate. Let's indicate the problem. Let's figure out what is your rate limiting factor. And it could be just a minute detail. And when you can pinpoint that, then it allows them to let their guard down. and really get after because at the end of the day, they want to be elite, right? And the thing that separates the elite from the great,

so you have good, great elite, right? The elites know how to, one, let their guard down and know that they need to evolve in order for them to get to that level. And then the biggest thing is being able to block out the noise, block out distraction. You think about it from a UFC perspective, some of the world champions,

there's, you know, thousands, hundreds of thousands in attendance sometimes, and millions watching all over the world. They're not focused on the crowd. They're not focused on all the distraction. They're focused on their opponent. They probably can't hear them. You'd be surprised. They can?

Sometimes. Wow. And you could be so locked in on the actual game plan, knowing that what you need to do to get the goal accomplished, which is to win the fight, win the championship. set your legacy in that particular sport, nothing else is going to deter you from that. Dustin, by far, has this ability

because he loves the game. It wasn't because of money, it wasn't because of accolades, he could care less. It was more about the actual love of fighting. And if we break it down, fighting is so primal. You know, we all,

it doesn't matter. You can have a guy, you know, you can have a couple of kids playing outside, playing basketball, maybe some guys, you know, playing baseball, pickleball now. Everybody's playing pickleball, right? Yeah. But then a fight breaks out. Nobody's watching pickleball. No.

They're all running to the fight because it's primal. And so it's very exciting. And so people want to be involved in that. And so they all think that they know better. And so you'll get people that'll tell Dustin Porre, how to fight. And the good thing about D.P. Is that he doesn't allow people to dictate his game.

Even with the coaches and the coaches are great, his great coaches. But he knows what he needs to do. That's elite, right? That's elite. Because when I think of people that try to tell me what to do, I look at where you at. Are you right here with me? Are you here? And are you trying to help me?

are you posturing, right? And so, but, but it's all an assessment. Yep. So if you come, so that's where you got me from minute one. And, and I noticed it because we're standing out there waiting for them to open up the, you know, the door. And you're like, hey, man, like, what are you been doing? Yeah.

And it was just so natural and psychologically disarming. Because I was, dude, I was nervous, you know, because it's a new, it was a new environment for me, you know, like, I knew it wasn't going to be, all right, we're just going to push weights. Yeah. I told the boys yesterday, I'm like, dude, like, just remember, let him know that I need to interview him at 10 a.m. And I have to be functional. Yeah, yeah. They didn't say that, by the way.

They did? They did. They said, we got to do a 10 a.m. podcast. That was it. But no, listen, because I know, like, I did some research on you too as well. I know that you're in shape, but I know that you haven't been doing any training the way I trained. Yeah. So there was there was you still want to get I still wanted to teach you some new things so that it can open up your mind and then also push you to a degree, but I know that we have to do something afterwards.

So that's why we cut it short. Well, it's funny because there's two things. I'm going to share this on air. I've never done it before. There's two things I wish that I always have learned to do. One was trained like a fighter so I can be in shape like a fighter. I don't want to fight, but I want to look like a fighter. I wish I could hip hop dance, dude.

Well, that's rhythm. I wish I could walk it out. You know? I sent my wife a video the other day. I was like, hey, you think I can learn there? She goes, nope. Oh, I said, all right. I'm going to write this down.

And in two years, we're going to be at somebody's wedding. 100%. And I'm going to ask for that song. I'm going to blow the roof off that freaking place. Love it, bro. But no, man, I love everything that you do. It's such a great friendship that we've built in such a short time in two hours. You know, people think that how do you build a friendship or relationship that quickly?

It's all about divine connections, man. 100%. And so you've done amazing things. You're continuing to do amazing things. And, you know, one more final question for you, man. With everything you've been through, what does the word determined actually mean to you? I was actually going to ask you that. But I'll give you mine.

I'll answer it, though. Go ahead. For sure. Determine when I think about it as a whole, it's the actions that you take consistently through order, obedience, and strength. that allows you to elevate to your purpose. And if you're not determined, then whatever you feel like you want to accomplish,

it will not get done. It's a solid definition, man. Thank you, brother. I thought about that one for a good one, man. No, I mean, you could take as long as you want. You know what mine is? Go ahead. So, I used to think it was loud.

I used to think it was Annie Fressela type loud. Gotcha. You know, so I try to mimic that. What I realized was I wasn't being me. And I wasn't accomplishing anything. I was leading out of shame with myself. I'm like, I don't like the way you look, so I'm going to lose 10 pounds. And it never would stick.

But what I started to realize is that determination is so quiet. It's done in the dark, man. It's done at 4 a.m. When you're just waking up and maybe you're having a cup of coffee, taking some more notes down, or maybe you're in the gym, or maybe you're walking, or maybe you're weeding a book, or maybe you're praying. I don't know what it is that you're doing.

for but determination is done in those dark moments where no one's there and what it looks like at the very highest level of of the definition to me is you do what you said you were going to do no matter how you feel about it at that moment yeah period end of freaking story i've walked in the gym thinking this is going to be the worst 45 to 60 minutes of my life i just want to go home and sleep. But on set two, I'm ready to rock. And I never regretted it. So determination is doing what you says you're going to do long after the emotion wears off. It is sometimes getting up and just walking out of bed. Sometimes it's putting your shoes on depending on where you're at in that day. Sometimes it's just getting to the gym and doing the bare minimum because you're crushed emotionally.

but you're determined to move forward so you do the work that to me is the ultimate definition of determination do as you say and say what you do that's it right be it baby you know when i was when i was i was getting ready for a half marathon and like i'm not a runner by the way yeah i mean either you know but i knew that there was a gap there and so every morning i would wake up either it's raining cold out whatever i had a bad night sleep doesn't matter but but I knew if I had my clothes ready to go, laid out. My shoes are right there. If I put my shoes on, I'm not negotiating with myself.

I'm taking one step forward and another step forward. I did a 100-mile ruck on December with 50 pounds on my back. And the year before that, I attempted this thing and ended up put myself in a hospital. I got rabdo. Feet were torn apart, everything else. But I didn't have a strategy, didn't have a plan, I just went after it, right? Because I was confident, right? Fast forward to the next year, I had a plan, I organized the programming, I trained consistently,

and then my strategy was just put the bag on and step one foot at a time. And then I would go, all right, I'm going to do 10 miles in three hours. I'm going to rest for an hour and I'm going to do another 10 miles. And I'm going to do that for five days straight. at 50 miles the last time I got put in the hospital at 50 miles the time that I finished

I was just getting warmed up come on man and so we finished 100 miles and it wasn't because that you know I was different I had more physicality no it was because I had a strategy I had a plan

and I stayed in tune with that plan and I stepped one foot in front of the other process is so important standards are important Yeah. Sanders are something you don't come off of, right? It's almost like determination. It doesn't matter.

It's part of your identity. It's who you are. It's what you do. No negotiations. You know, but I really love what you said about your shoes and your clothes. Every morning, my workout clothes are sitting, folded, waiting for me right by the shower. Right? My shoes are there.

Everything's there. Now, they're not right beside me because I've worked the discipline. up to know that when my alarm clock goes off, I don't even know what the snooze button is. I don't care about the snooze button anymore. It's just not a part of my life. So I know I can get up and I can walk to go get dressed. But if they're in the drawer, I don't want to wake up my wife. What if my seven-year-old comes in?

I don't want to wake her up at 4 a.m. Then I'm getting to get all these hate texts from my wife while I'm at the gym. Like, hey, you woke us up. You know, so, but the process, the systems. the routine to automate your life to a point where people go, why do you always wear black? Like, well, because they don't have to think about it. True. And it's a brand color, dipshit.

Like, take a look, right? It was like, I try to automate everything that. Hello. Yeah. You know, I try to automate everything that I can, you know, and that goes from food to what I wear to doesn't matter. You know, but, dude, thank you so much, man. This has been amazing.

And I can't wait until you come to Fort Myers. 100%. I'll be there over there a couple weeks, man. Really? Okay. Shoot, I'm going to New York the 14th. Okay. Let me know you back.

Yeah, I'll be back the 17th. Cool. Yeah, come on. Let's do it. Let's do it, man. It'll be fun, man. Perfect, brother. Teach me some stuff, man.

Keep you know. Teaching me, man. I love it. Man, it's just, yeah. You're killing it. Hey, listen, dude. That's what friendship is. 100%.

You know, we inadvertently help each other and help each other grow, man. That's what we do about. So thanks again, man. For the audience, thank you so much for listening. Go check Phil out on Instagram. It's at Phil DeRue, right? Just DeRue Strong. Just DeRue Strong, right?

And go check him out, see everything that he's done, and support him and share the show with everybody you know, love and trust. And until next time, guys, stay determined.