EverydaySpy Podcast - The Art of Reinventing Yourself From Navy SEAL to MMA to CEO

Episode Date: May 26, 2025

Find your Spy Superpower: https://yt.everydayspy.com/4ffYFzN Mitch Aguiar is a hero in more ways than one – Navy SEAL Team 10 operator, Pro MMA athlete, thriving entrepreneur and influencer. His story is one of powerful dedication and tenacity with powerful lessons you can use to get ahead and stay ahead in life, business, and personal success. Don't miss this awesome convo with a man you never want to meet in the ring… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You have reinvented yourself many times. You have gone from whatever you were to then becoming a Navy SEAL. And then you reinvented yourself from Navy SEAL to MMA, professional MMA fighter. And then you reinvented yourself into a supplement owner. And then you had to reinvent yourself yet again. No matter what you want to do in life, there is a path to get there. And most people have already walked that path. And if you have the courage to start taking those steps in that direction,

give the necessary effort, you can achieve whatever you want. I would say the only thing that separates me from someone who is maybe not as far along or not as achieved as me is just simply effort. Effort and courage are massive differentiators. I'm just going to say, where did you come from and how did you choose to go that direction? Good question. Mitch Aguar, professional MMA fighter, former Navy SEAL Team 10. and founder of massive supplements, dude, I am super excited to have a conversation with you.

And share you with my audience. How are you? I'm good. Thanks for having me, man. Appreciate it. And thank you for bringing your newest product in. This is going to be one of those moments of just shameless promotion. This is smashing energy. This is an energy drink that Mitch has created. You introduced it to me about four months ago. I love it, dude.

It's an excellent addition to a very competitive, trashy energy drink market. So thank you for trying to upset that apple cart. I appreciate it. And yeah, no, they're fantastic. And, you know, obviously it's people are like, oh, yeah, of course you're going to say it. But no, seriously, they're amazing. They really are. And yeah, no, thanks for having me.

Really appreciate it. Cheers. Cheers. Looking forward to our podcast. All right. So I'm going to jump into it because here's the thing. most people talk about reinventing themselves once at some point in their life. They want to reinvent.

They grew up poor and they want to get wealthy. They grew up from a family that was immigrants and now they want to be first generation American citizens. They grew up in a family that never went to college and they want to be the first one to go to college. And that's like, that's your huge majority of Americans fall somewhere into one of those categories. But then you also have, you know, soldiers who want to become civilian professionals. You've got people who are working in blue-collar jobs that want to get into white-collar jobs. You've got people who are attorneys that want to become partners, you know, nurses that want to become doctors. The list goes on and on.

People want to reinvent themselves once. And most of them don't. They spend their whole life talking about it and it doesn't happen. Why doesn't it happen? I would say primarily because of fear, you know, fear holding them back, fear of failure, fear of the unknown, you know, and like, our most primal instinct is fear, and the most primal, or fear is the fear of the unknown, right? So I think that's what scares a lot of people from taking that step or whatever, because no matter what you want to do in life, there is a path to get there. And, you know, at this point in our existence as humans, most people have already walked that path, you know. So it's not even like you're necessarily a trailblazer.

Like there is a blueprint somewhere. And, you know, if you want to be in the CIA, there's a path to go there, you know. And if you want to be a Navy SEAL, there's a path to follow. Yeah. And some people might not want to follow that path because that path is, you know, extremely. challenging or difficult but you know there is a path and and if you have the courage to start taking those steps in that direction and give the necessary effort you can achieve whatever you want and you know that's something that I've

you know come to realize is because I'm not special I'm not anything different than any other person and I would say the only thing that separates me from someone who is maybe not as far along or not as achieved as me is just simply effort. You know, I've been, and courage. Like, I've been willing to take the, to take that, you know, leap of faith. I'm willing to, you know, dare to be great and put in that effort that's necessary and follow that path. Effort and courage are massive differentiators. I'm just going to say, right?

I understand. I appreciate your humility. I have really come to appreciate the humility of Navy SEALs because you, I mean, as a contingent, as a cohort, you guys are some of the most humble people. I have met when it comes to not taking credit for anything alone. You guys always find a way to share the credit with all the people that are involved. The other teammates, the trainers, the doctors, the name goes on,

like the list goes on and on for the people that you genuinely honestly give credit for part of your success to. But what I want to say is you have reinvented yourself many times. You have gone from whatever you were as a civilian to then becoming a Navy SEAL. High school student.

High school students. And then you reinvented yourself from Navy SEAL to MMA, professional MMA fighter. And then you reinvented yourself into a supplement owner with a massive online following. And then that massive online following

got taken away from you by the powers of be, and then you had to reinvent yourself yet again. So I say that because I don't expect you to say that you reinvented yourself four times. I don't expect you to take credit for it. So I'm giving the credit for it because there's an incredible amount for all of us to learn from what you have gone through. So I kind of want to hear the journey that you went through. How old were you when you graduated from Buds? I was 19 Yeah 19

So I was a dumb shit 18 year old Yeah How did you make it through Buds at 18, 19 years old? Where did you come from And how did you choose to go that direction? Yeah, I mean I never wanted to be like a Navy SEAL

Or I never planned on it I didn't know I didn't even know I had to go to Buds When I signed up to be a SEAL I didn't know what a seal was Whatever I literally was just Kind of bored I didn't know what I wanted to ultimately do with my life. I knew that I just graduated high school,

and I absolutely hated academia, you know, academics, anything like that, paperwork, writing book reports, and I just absolutely couldn't stand any of that. And I knew that I, so I knew I definitely didn't want to go to college. And I was a roofer at the time, and I loved, like, hard physical labor and things like that. But at the time I was living in Ohio and I just, I knew I didn't want to stay there. There wasn't a lot going on.

And, you know, my parents were both in the Navy when I was growing up. So they, and they kind of encouraged me, you know, to check out the military as an option, whatever. But I was never really interested in it. It just wasn't for me. And then my recruiter that ended up recruiting me, happened to just kind of catch me on, you know, a day where I was just, man, I'm just don't want to be here. I'm bored here, you know, and hey, you want to join the Navy? And I was like, why not? Dude, that's the story of thousands of soldiers. So that's a legit story, right?

What else am I going to do? Sure. Let's go into the Navy. Yeah, I mean, I was like, well, you know, it's a, it's a paid thing. And it's four years. And I can see the world, get some life experience. And I grew up, you know, like I said earlier, my parents were both in the military. So moving around a lot as a kid, I was very used to that. I went, I don't even know. I couldn't even tell you how many schools I'd have to like think. But it's like, I think I attended like seven or eight different schools throughout my 12 years. So I was very used to kind of moving.

It wasn't, wasn't that out of the norm. So if you didn't know. So change wasn't like very scary to me. Yeah. You know. If you didn't know. what a seal was, or if you didn't know what Buds was, how did you go from saying, sure, to the recruiter,

to saying, sure, let's also try this whole seal thing. Well, because in that same sentence, he was like, oh, you wanna join the Navy? I was like, yeah, sure, why not? And he was like, well, you look like you're in good shape. You wanna be a seal? And I was like, okay, what's that, you know? And I was like, aren't those like the sneaky guys?

I'd seen the commercial where the, where the clouds roll over the moon, and it's the surf, and then the moonlight gets dimmed by the clouds, and then the clouds pass, and there's footprints out of the beach. That was really all I knew about seals. Wow. They're like the sneaky guys or whatever. And my mom, you know, she knew about seals.

My dad was a combat cameraman attached with the SEAL teams. So I knew that he was, you know, some sort of soldier, and he jumped out of planes and scuba dived and shotguns and all that. but I didn't I just wasn't ever interested in it like I had no desire to join the military and but she was my mom was like yeah I mean you know they're like the rock stars of the military like I think if if you were to join the military like I could see you being a seal how incredible and I was like nope okay sign me up wow and then yeah and I called my dad and I was like hey dad I'm going to be a Navy SEAL. And he's like, what? And I'm like, yeah, I joined the Navy. I'm going to be a seal.

And he's like, you know you have to go to Buds? And I'm like, no, what, what's that? So Buds, yeah, is 24 weeks of some of the hardest challenge in the world? I mean, on paper, like, first, second, third phase is supposed to be six months. But there's also, you know, Bud's prep. There's going to boot camp in the SpeckOps Division. There's, there's, buds prep, there's PTR, there's in-doc, then you start, you know, regular buds. And if you don't get rolled or anything like that, then it's six months through there, which is very rare. You know, you either get rolled for an injury or, you know, some sort of performance thing or whatever. People get rolled for all kinds of reasons. And so you end up being

there, you know, on average, I would say most people are their buds experiences closer to a year. So solid point. So the average Bud's experience is 12 months of pain, of challenge, going through adversity and challenge selection type stuff, you know. And then after that is SQT, which is another six months if everything goes smooth. So let's just, let's operate on the assumption for now that everyone listening understands a fraction of the difficulty of buds, right? the being wet, being cold, being tired, the underwater swimming, the rolling in the waves, the difficulty physically. Tell me about the mental challenge. What was it like for those 11, 12, 8, 16, however many months, what was the mental challenge like? What were the mind

games like? What was the mental tenacity like? Yeah. Good question. because they're there it's buds is a very unique beast and they do attack you not just physically but mentally emotionally spiritually whatever they they are trying their whole objective is to weed out you know the week and you know those that don't belong etc they're the gatekeepers to the seal teams that's what buds is because when you think about like what a navy seal is or what the job entails. I can teach anybody how to shoot a gun, how to jump out of a plane,

how to do scuba diving, how to build a bomb, how to do CQC. I can teach anyone that. But the reason, you know, the SEAL teams are so successful and they do the kinds of jobs they do and missions they do and stuff

is because the tier of person and the level of, you know, tenacity and drive and motivation and just that sheer willingness to go and until they die. You know, that's what separates those people on top of the immense training and skills that they possess. It's that heart, you know, that you can't teach someone. They have to either have that, you have that or you don't. And the only way that you find that out is through that grueling selection process.

Did you think you had that heart when you were a roofer in Ohio at 18? So I've always been, you know, confident. And I truly like, am very fortunate and blessed that my parents, you know, instilled that confidence, I would say, in me, you know, especially like my mom when I was a little kid, you know, having me up standing on the coffee table, singing Mary had a little lamb, you know, at the top of my lungs and, you know, my brother and my mom sitting there clapping like, yeah, that was so good, you know. So I never really, I was always, like,

built up and, you know, from a young age. And, and I always was in sports. And, you know, my mom and dad were both very competitive and, like, encouraged that competitiveness in sports, not in, like, an unhealthy way. Like, I've seen some parents with, their kids and and it's kind of weird you know it's like it relax it's just it's just a kids game you know yeah but they you know they just instilled um that confidence in me i would say and i just believed like i could do whatever i wanted to do you know when i put my mind to it and i i heard that a lot growing up you know so and i think that's important um because your young mind is malleable you know and and growing up now and looking back at how many people are screwed up.

And it's really rooted back to like their childhood. And people are a lot of times products of their environment, you know. And I didn't really understand that as a kid because you kind of just think, everybody, you know, everybody's raised like this, you know, but it's, that's not the case. You know, a lot of people have really messed up childhoods and don't. don't have that same thing. And then when I'm a kid, you know, you look at adults like, and you think, oh, all adults have their shit together, you know, and that could not be further than the truth, you know, in reality. And you now as I grow up, I see that, oh, some of these

adults are just kids that are now older and never had guidance, never, never, never really dealt with some of the trauma and weird stuff that happened in their childhood and they're carrying that around now. And that, you know, has affected the way they handle everyday situations, you know, so, um, so for me, I had a really good foundation mentally, I would say to where I always felt like I could do anything that I put my mind to. Then I have to ask, how were you an 18 year old high school graduate without a plan? If you had that kind of awesome support and that kind of awesome upbringing and that much self-confidence, how did you end up, how did you end up being 18 in Ohio working on roofs feeling bored? How did you not take on the

world right away? Well, I was always like an entrepreneur. Like I always had that entrepreneur's new real spirit. Like I always was hustling. I was always thinking about different ways to make money and, you know, and I worked not just as a roofer. In high school, I had three jobs. You know, I worked at, my parents had a gas station kind of deli thing that I worked and helped them with. I was also a roofer on the weekends Friday through Sunday. And then I was also a lifeguard and taught surf lessons at an indoor water park. And so. That's a very different story than I was a board 18 year old roofer.

That's a, that is a hustler for sure. Yeah, no. So, so, but with, with school, you know, I think our school system is designed to create workers. And I just did not respond well to that at all. Like it's not that I'm dumb. You know, I'm not dumb. I,

but I did absolutely horrible in school because I just did not care to be there at all. And I'm like, you're giving me homework? What are you? Are you crazy? Like, I'm already here at school. You're already making me. I'm a prisoner right now. You know, this is all the time.

you get. And I'm only here because I have to be here. And as soon as I walk out that door, school is the last thing on my mind. You know, I don't give one, you know, care about school. So I got horrible grades. Again, not because I wasn't competent and didn't understand what was going on, but I just refused to like do homework. It was the effort, like you said. Yeah, and I was just like, I'm not interested in this. I would rather give my effort to things that I'm interested in and I'm interested in making money. I'm interested in life skills. Like, I don't care about ancient Egypt. Well, it's just, you know, in history was even cool to me, but like there was just things that I just didn't care about, you know? And I was just like,

I'm not going to use this in my life. When you end up in buds, you lose all of that support network, Your cheerleaders, your family is taken away. They can't come with you. It's not like, I'm guessing you can't call mom every, like, Wednesday and get, like, a pep talk. No, you could. You have access to phones and stuff like that. So then how did you maintain your confidence in the face of the psychological challenge that comes from them trying to find those people of heart? Yeah.

So there's, I've thought about this a couple times, too, because. I was a rarity in the sense that out of the people there, I was one of the very few that didn't know what a seal was, didn't ever care to be a seal or whatever. This was just something I was doing, like on a whim. And that was not the case or the norm for most of the people there. Most of the kids there wanted to be a seal their whole life. you know, and I say kids, I mean, I was also young. Most of the average age I would say was 24, 25 years old in buds. That's five or six years older than you were.

Oh, yeah. And that's a big difference. Absolutely. From 18 to 25 is a big difference in maturity level and even life experience. Because, you know, it's not that different from maybe, you know, five years old to 10 years old. But it's a much different from 18 to 24. You know what I mean? Like, because you're already kind of an adult.

And now you're starting to form your own views and opinions and stuff like that, thinking more critically, et cetera. So that was definitely a big challenge for me. That was probably my biggest challenge in Bud's was my maturity. Wow. Looking back at it, you know. And in what way was maturity a factor? What did the 25-year-old have that was easier than what you had?

Easier is not the right word, but what maturity advantage did they have that you were missing? Social and life experience, you know. They had more context of what was going on. Yeah, and also I had horrible military bearing, you know, because I had no interest in kind of like with the school, how like I just was I always question like why are we doing this this doesn't make sense and there's a ton of that in the military yeah for sure you know why are we doing it just because do it just shut up and do it because we've always done this don't ask questions just do it and that like just has never sat well with me I I'm very much like a logical person I like to think about things logically and if it doesn't make sense why are we doing this or question things and maybe We try things differently. And that just is not the way to do it in the military.

It's very much follow orders. Do as you're told. And that's why I think the military wants 18-year-olds. They want young, dumb, impressionable kids. And like a lot of people that aren't confident and kind of want, you know, people want to be a part of something. And they don't want to be like outcasted or anything. A lot of people want to conform because of it.

it's safe. And, and I think because I had that confidence growing up, like, that was instilled in me. And like, and I really took all that to heart. And I used that my whole life. Like, I, I pursued things, anything I wanted to do. Like, I played sports. I was always a star athlete. I always did well. And again, I didn't do well in school, but I just wasn't interested. I didn't care. Everything else I wanted to do and I had an interest in doing, I got like hyper fixated on and would get like obsessive and I would do it and, you know, and then because I'm obsessively putting effort into something, that's how you get good at anything, you know? That's the only way to get good at anything unless you're just somehow a savant and gifted at something, but

then how did, this is so interesting to me, man, because you're, I love the, you, incredible transparency that you're sharing with your mindset during this period of your life, right? The Navy SEAL training and prep at buds and this idea that you knew that you weren't like the others, you knew that you were immature, you knew that you had certain disadvantages. I didn't know I was immature then. I know now that reflecting and looking back, I know now that I was mature immature

fair totally fair so then what was an advantage that you had that kept you there that is a course with an 80%

washout rate man it's not it's not an accident probability wise it's not an accident that you made it through there so one going back to

that my upbringing and being successful at things and again it's not that I was necessarily good in anything, but if I was interested in something, I would give a ton of effort and get like hyper-fixated and focused on it. And when you put tons of effort into something,

you are bound to improve. And I enjoyed that. And I enjoyed getting better. And I didn't necessarily get like run down or beaten down that like if I tried something I wasn't good at it. It wasn't defeating to me. It was like, okay, I'm going to try again. I'm going to try again. I'm going to try again. And I think just having that good positive attitude and like believing that like I can be anything I want to be, you know, and like that's what my mom and dad told me, you know, and that's so like they wouldn't lie to me. So obviously I can just keep going and keep doing this. And and, you know, so I put in effort and, you know, wow, the harder your work, the luckier you get sometimes, right? That's wild. So with sports, et cetera, doing

things that I was interested in doing, I always did well in. And I think maybe like it was a, you know, whereas school, I didn't do well in it, but it didn't discourage me because I'm like, well, yeah, I'm not trying. So it's like, it didn't, I never felt like that doubt in myself, you know, so I always felt confident. And I think that helped going, through buds and all these challenges. I was like a little bit cocky in a way. Like I can do anything, you know? So when I saw my dad bought these,

the Discovery Channel 234 videos, you know, with the buds documentary. And I watched that and I was like, oh, crap. Like this, this, I had never run further than a mile in my life. Wow. You know, so like when I saw they were running four miles in boots pants on the beach. I was thinking like, what? That's insane. And I was like, wow, okay, this is going to be a, this is going to be a hard, like, this is going to be a serious challenge, like,

the hardest thing I've ever done, you know, but. But why did you, why did you keep going? Well, because, like, my, like, you know, I watched that documentary, and at the end of my dad was like, so, think you got what it takes and just, like, I'm not going to back down, you know, and I was just, like, And I was just like, yeah, no problem. I'll do it. And in the back of my head, I'm like, you know, I'm hearing all the same things. Everyone else is. It's a 90% failure rate.

It's all this and that. And I'm like, oh, man. But I already said that I was going to do it. So, sorry. So I already said that I was going to do it. And so I was just like, well, I'm just going to do it, you know? Wow. And so I went.

And again, I think looking back and reflecting, on it, I think I had advantages by one being young and dumb and immature in some senses that help me. Yeah. And other senses, like, they try to attack you in all angles, like I said, in Buds. So if you're not a good runner, you know, they're going to run you out. If you're not a good swimmer, you know, find that out in swimming. If you're not strong, log p.T will expose you.

Boats on heads. if you can't handle the cold well, you know, that's going to show up. If you, maybe team pressure, like, they tell you you're not doing well, your team hates you, you know, we don't want you here, whatever. That, like, some of these people at Buds, like, who that would really impact them, you know, like, you suck, we don't want you, blah, blah, blah. And they're like, oh, my God, like, they really don't like me, you know. And, like, I went into this looking like, this is a game.

You know, this is, I see that this is, like, I looked at it kind of like boot camp is, it's a game. It's, it's to break you down and treat you like crap or whatever. And then, you know, that's the point of this place. It's not, you're not going to go in there and, like, make friends with the people. Like, that's not their job. That's not their role. And that's how I looked at buds. Like, these guys are, you're not going to impress them.

And even if you do, they're not going to impress them. And even if you do, they're not. going to tell you that. You're never going to tell you're doing a good job. Their whole thing is to make you quit. That's it. And, you know, when I was a roofer, I was the shingle bitch. Like, because I was, you know, I started doing that when I was 15. And everyone on the crew was 35, 45, you know, like men. And they were, you know, the worst hazing I ever received ever was working with them, you know, but I didn't care because it was fun. Like I have a dark sense of humor too and even if I'm the the butt of the joke if something's funny. It's funny

You know like my my friend Steve who you know I'm still super good friends with to this day I used to roof with him in Ohio he was I think he was like 35 something like that when I was 15 So and he used to just relentlessly Just make fun of me and haze me and everything like that like we'd be on the roof and he would just just like, you know, I had to pick up the shingles. He would frisbee him across the yard. He would piss on my car door handles. Like, but he was the funniest dude. Like, like I said, even if I'm the butt of the jokes, the jokes he would make were so funny. I'm like, damn it. I, you know, and I'm laughing, but I'm like, and everyone is laughing. But it were just so funny. And it, you know,

and it wasn't like he actually hated me or something like that. We were friends. But, you know, it's like if you and your friends bust each other's balls or whatever like he's just really good at it you know and it was way more hazing and stuff being with those guys those grown men on that crew and we worked hard you know in the summer 90 plus degrees on a roof you know and I'm dirty picking up shingles and all that stuff it's like but I'm having a great time laughing you know even if I'm being hazed and stuff and I'm like yeah I'm the young guy I'm the new one on the crew you know like it is what it is like I just didn't take things personally so there's a so that and buds really helped me too there's a wiring that that's cognitive wiring somewhere somehow that you

were totally blessed with because like out of 10 people oh there's only like three people who would think of it that way the other seven would take it personally they would say it as inappropriate. They would see it as unnecessary. They would see it as demeaning or demoralizing. So the fact that you could see the humor even through the fact that it was all those other things, like that is absolutely like a brain wiring gift. And I call it a gift because for what you have gone on to do with your life, that really is a superpower for you. Yeah. And people need to realize that like you are in control of your emotions. You. You are you are in control of whether or not you choose.

Like, is this gonna offend me or not? Yeah. Like, you're the one that can give that power or not, you know? And that's why, like, what I, you know, I say in my, my business and, you know, some of our our mottoes are mindset is everything and attitude is contagious, you know? And don't be a pussy. That's our other one. So funny story, funny story.

First of all, your attitude is contagious. Anybody who's watching right now, if you are listening to this podcast, if you're listening to this conversation between me and Mitch, you are missing out. You've got to see this guy on camera because your attitude is contagious. Your smile is contagious. You have these crow's feet that come out and that's a genuine smile. Like, dude, you are fucking absolutely disarming. Like, you are terrifyingly disarming, especially when I compare that with the photos that I see of you as a professional MMA fighter. So tell me this.

That's why I'm a violent hippie. Violin hippie, which I love. We work through buds. You make it through buds. You go into the SEAL teams. You have a phenomenal reputation. Everything I've heard, your reputation was stellar. I know you were very humble about it.

You did great things, creating great combat trainings for the SEAL units. And then you make this decision to pursue professional MMA fighting. How did you, how did that come up?

How did that transition happen? Was it an accident? Was it intentional? Was it something in between? Again, I think I kind of owe it to my parents because they were very protective growing up. They encouraged me to be very protective growing up. And my parents were young parents. They were both 20 years old when they had had me.

And they were. they were both competitive, aggressive type people, you know, alpha type people. And looking back at, you know, my grandparents who are, you know, I'm very fortunate that both of my grandparents on both sides are still alive and, you know, I'm close with them. And they are take no shit people and, you know, instilled that in their kids. and then, you know, I've been blessed with great parents, and they were, you know, real with me that growing up, my little brother was a year younger than me,

and he was kind of like fat growing up and kind of like more of the video game, you know, kind of nerd type, and just wasn't like a stellar athlete or whatever. I was like more of the jock. And so my parents, we're like, hey, you know, your brother's probably going to get picked on and stuff like that in school. And you need to stick up for him. And like, if you see anyone messing with your brother, I don't care where you are, the bus and the principal's office and the cafeteria, whatever, you beat their ass and make a statement.

And, you know, and if you don't, you're going to be in trouble when you get home. Wow. And I was like, okay, took that to heart, you know. And because I was capable and having that confidence, you know, there's videotapes, home videos of me and my brother when we're, you know, two and three years old, like, in this corner weighing a whopping 30 pounds. And like, I've got a, like, a towel tied around my neck and I'm like, bra, you know. And then she'd be like, ding, ding, ding, we'd like, you know, go at each other and, like, fight and mess around. And, you know, so it was normal to me. And then, yeah, and like I said, so I was capable and, and I took that to heart.

And I did. I grew up like whooping kids' asses in school. And sometimes taking a whoop in yourself, I'm sure. No, never. You never took the whoop. Never. So then especially considering that you never took the whoopin. Yeah.

You had to have gotten whooped by some of your fellow peers in the SEAL teams and in those combative trainings and in those experiences. I got a whoop in one time by many people. You know, when you're outnumbered by quite a bit, there's only so much you can do. But that was probably the first time that, you know, I got jumped and kind of whooped. But it was, you know, for a reason or whatever. But yeah, no, I never like a one-on-one fight growing up in anything. started fights in the sense like I I bullied bullies you know I never picked on anyone I

never had any interest in that yeah I wasn't an angry kid you know I was always a happy go lucky kid growing up but if you messed with my brother like you're I I took it to heart I would whoop your ass so how's like and and that transferred also into like now my friends because it was like well you know I see that if I didn't like bullies I didn't like people that were picking on people you know and and and you know I wrote I ended up writing my own ethos and like in there there's a line and it says my strength and aggression are a blessing and I utilize them justly and I really felt blessed that I was aggressive that I was confident that I was capable and you know and that's kind of what I carried that

my whole life and then it's just funny that I became a Navy SEAL, you know. I don't think it's that funny. It seems like a, seems like a, um, a fit kind of divinely inspired. Tell me, do you, how long is your ethos, your personal ethos? Uh, it's, I don't know, maybe 13 lines, something like that. Do you have it memorized? I don't have it memorized because my, my memory sucks. I do have written down. I can read it. I would love for you to read that. Okay. I should, I have tried to memorize these, but like my brain is, I feel like my brain is like a hard drive, you know, and it's like, I've only got so much RAM, you know, so it's like, if I need to remember something new, I gotta delete something old or something. I totally get it, man. I remember when I was with CIA and they first exposed what I had always suspected that I have a bad long-term memory, it was the most, like, disheartening thing in the world.

when somebody else has to tell you what you've always been afraid of. And they're like, you have a below average long-term memory. And you were like, for me, at least it was heart-wrenching. I was like, fuck, does that mean I'm getting kicked out? Does that mean I'm deficient? Does that mean I'm retarded? Like, I don't have a good long-term. I've always known.

Unfortunately, yes. Yes, sir, it is. But it turns out that long-term memory isn't what they need. They need a good, strong, short-term memory so that you can transition your short-term ideas on to a good, piece of paper and submit that into a channel and they appreciated the fact that I had a bad long-term memory because that means I'm not going to remember secrets for very long. Yeah, I don't, I don't, it's weird. I don't write anything down. Like, I don't take notes, even in my businesses, nothing. I never take notes. I never write anything down. I, because I usually won't read it again. So, like, I do have a good memory. It's almost like I have a good midterm memory, you know, I don't know. But, so my ethos go. Personal ethos. Yeah, this is my personal.

Ethos just kind of Mitch Aggie. Like what I kind of stand for what I'm about. Kind of, you know, obviously summed up. So I said, I am genuine and passionate about what I believe in. I do not tolerate mediocrity and will always give my best effort. I hold myself accountable to maintain my integrity and expect the same in others. I do what I say and finish what I start. My strength and aggression are a blessing and I utilize them justly.

I am a protector and will always defend those who cannot defend themselves. I aim to awaken and instill a new mindset in people. I encourage others to follow their passions, pursue happiness, and become the best versions of themselves. I aim to inspire the will to fight. I will always encourage people to be courageous and dare them to be great. I encourage others to not follow blindly or submit to complacency. I will be on guard against my pride and always strive to be humble. I lead by example and practice what I am.

I preach. Attitude is contagious and mindset is everything. That is an awesome personal ethos, man. There's a very famous book relatively recently written called Atomic Habits. Chapter one of the book Atomic Habits is all about defining your personal identity. And defining your personal identity is the process of defining what you are. Right. And so much of your ethos started with I am. Line after line. am, I am, I am. Yeah. And that, that's a guiding star.

That's a north star right there, man. What an incredible exercise. What inspired you to create that? I was actually, I don't remember what, I was doing a course. I was doing a course at Damnack. And I cannot remember what the name of it was or what it was for. But there was some sort of exercise where, they were asking kind of like what

what your views or looks on something. I don't even remember what it was because that wasn't it wasn't like oh write your personal ethos but I ended up writing that for that you know assignment and dang I wish I remember what it was for but well it's fascinating that whatever it was for it inspired something different and the things

that it inspired that's different has become something you carry with you in your pocket. Yeah. Right? That's that's powerful. So you went from being a guy who took no shit, which is funny because I come from a family that gives no shits. You come from a family that takes no shits. So very, very different families, right?

My family gives no shits. But you make it through buds. You become a Navy SEAL, a successful Navy SEAL of that. And then you have this decision to transit. into MMA, professional MMA. How does that transition happen? How is it is it is it looked on militarily like it's logical or is it looked on militarily like hey you're you're double-dipping how does it how does it work? So I actually started fighting while I was still active duty and and again being that

protector and being you know I grew up fighting. I I was not afraid of confrontation at all. I was not afraid to get into a fist fight. And then going into the SEAL teams, I just kind of, that was still me, you know, I was still protective. And when we would go out, you know, we attract a lot of attention and there's a lot of alcohol involved, et cetera, you know. So being young and young and like A-type, you know, around a bunch of guys in the bar, seeing women around, etc. You know, how it goes.

Egos getting involved and people start fights, pick fights, whatever. And I just, it was the same me. Like, I'm never going to back down, you know, or if someone was messing with someone, my teammates, or whatever, I got into a ton of fights, a ton of our fights. And that was just normal, you know, for me. and it wasn't due to alcohol, wasn't due to whatever.

I grew up fighting always, and I was a fighter. And then I had, I remember hearing about a MMA league in Virginia that was formed, you know, and the UFC was relatively still kind of newish on TV and, like, becoming more popular. And, but again, I looked at that like the UFC,

or like the UFC was like the NFL of fighting, you know. It's not realistic. It's not. It's like someone special is doing that or whatever, you know. I never even thought about me doing a cage fight. And then I had heard about this league. And I was like, whoa, anyone can do this? And they're like, yeah.

I was like, I want to do this. Like, I want to fight in a cage. Like, that's awesome. I was like, I can fight without getting arrested. Oh, my gosh. Like, hell yeah. Sign me up. And so I, you know, signed up for my first fight and, and I, and I just started training

Jiu-Jitsu. Like, I, I, I, I, I, I started training Jiu-Jitsu in 2008 with, like, friends and the SEAL teams and stuff that maybe had, like, a blue belt level of knowledge, nothing, like, crazy and some wrestling background and everything. So I had done a lot of training with those guys. And, you know, obviously just growing up fighting and bar-fighting, et cetera. So I wasn't afraid of that stuff and I liked it. It was fun to me.

And so when I actually signed up for my first fight, it was funny. You know, people were like, are you nervous about your first fight? And I'm like, this isn't my first fight? What are you talking about? Like, this is the first fight that's like with gloves on. Yeah. I'm getting paid. Yeah, like that, you know, but yeah, no, I'm not nervous.

I think it's going to be awesome. I'm just going to go. And they're like, well, what are you going to do? I'm like, I'm going to go punch him in the face. as hard as I can over and over. I don't know. That's what I'm going to do. And that's what I did.

And yeah, my first fight, I fought a guy that he, he was on the junior Olympics team for karate and stuff, and he came out in his black belt and Ghee and was like, yeah, I've been training for 20 years. I'm like, yeah, cool, I don't care. And, yeah, just whipped his ass real quick.

And, yeah, just smashed him. And I was just like, yeah, that's how I expected that to go. And that's where your name partially came from, Smash and Frog. Smash and Frog. Yeah, I was the Smash and Frog at the time. I think, you know, if I fight again, which I would like to fight again, I think I'm going to be the violent hippie now.

Nice. Because I've evolved. Of course. Reinventing yourself. Of course. But at the time, I was a frog man, you know, and I was just a very aggressive style of fighting. I, you know, my plan was always the same. I'm going to go out there and punch you in the face as hard as I can over and over.

How long was your professional MMA career? So I started fighting in 2012 was my first competitive fight in that cage fight. And then, you know, my, the last one I did, a cage fight was actually right before COVID's. And then I've basically just been doing ever since, like when COVID happened, it shut down. a lot of the leagues and my supplement company was actually you know already kind of taken off and everything so I had focused on my business more more so than like fighting so when you fight professionally for those who don't know it's a very in it or there's not much money in it at all like when especially in these lower level leagues and stuff when you start your pro fighting career you're talking you might get paid a thousand

to show and $1,000 if you win. So it's like, you know, best case, you'll get $2,000. And when my supplement company took off, I went from living paycheck to paycheck my whole life in the SEAL teams to, you know, we did $115,000 in sales a week. So I was like, yeah, I think I'm going to go over here and do this and focus my energy and effort in this. Whereas like, and during COVID, there wasn't any local fight league.

It was only a handful, and they were here and there across the country. And, like, you know, I didn't feel like going across the country, cutting weight somewhere, you know, and just being miserable, just to fight for $1,000 or something. Where to me, that was never even my interest. I didn't care. I didn't care to, like, make a living fighting. I fought because it was fun.

Yeah. I just enjoyed it. I fought on the weekends and the SEAL teams literally just because it was fun. I didn't care about making a career out of it. And, you know, the only reason I ended up getting out of the SEAL teams was because I had gained so much popularity from my fighting because, you know, at the time before, this is, again, pre-COVID, we had the biggest fight league in the country, like, in Virginia Beach,

in Norfolk, Virginia. And, you know, at that time, I was the biggest fighter in the area, you know, I was ranked number one on the East Coast in two different weight classes and was the headline every time that event. We had a big arena, the Ted Constant Center, and would sell thousands of seats, you know, tickets to these fights. And it was like a huge event. Like, you know, and everybody, like, loved it. My family and friends had tons of people in the crowds. Like, you can see on some of my YouTube videos in the past, like, you know, when I would walk out,

like the crowd go nuts and like you look and the camera would pan out and there's just people with smashing frog signs you know like it was it was it was awesome you know and I was like cool this is convenient because it's right in my backyard you know so I don't have to go anywhere I don't have to travel I can just do this for fun right and but it but it became like you know I started as an amateur I was making like five thousand dollars a fight because I started selling my t-shirts like my fight t-shirts with the smashing frog on it so I'm selling my t-shirts

plus I had sponsors like for all these different businesses and I was like hey you give me you know 600 bucks and I'll put your logo on the back of a hundred t-shirts and you know and like at the time like everyone know who I was there because I was always headlining these fights and and I was undefeated you know and I was ranked number one on the East Coast like I said so and my style was just very aggressive I would just go out there and just fucking beat the hell out of these dudes. Which is what everybody wants to see.

Right. They want to see that aggression and just going forward. They don't want to see a boring, you know, reserved fight. It's like my style was just chaotic and people loved it. When did you officially leave the SEAL teams? What year? 2018. So from 2012 to 2018, you were both. You were building your professional fighting career and fighting for our country

and training SEALs how to fight in, in close quarters. Yeah, so I was doing that fighting and stuff like that, and then I was going to get out of the SEAL teams to, like, pursue fighting and all that full time. But then I was like, well, I think I could do, you know, teach combatives. Like, I think that's something that I, because we didn't have good combatives.

Like, our combatives in the SEAL teams was absolutely trash. And almost, you know, and then it was not. Nobody would expect that. I know. know and it but it was and it was non-existent for a while and that was something that I was like hey I think that I could really like do good a good put on a good combatives program you know with with my real world experience of operational stuff and my experience with fighting and MMA I just think that I could do a good job and and when I had changed

checked into trade at and they were like, kind of like, no, you're going to mobility. And I was like, all right, you know, whatever. And then I had a fight scheduled and the master chief at the time that was running the command, his son was a big MMA fan. And so they got tickets to my fight and he was cage side. And like, I didn't ask about this fight or anything, you know, and this was like a new command. And I was just like, I don't really care. I'm going to just do it.

Anyway, you know, it's like sometimes better ask for forgiveness than permission. And you sound like a soldier for sure. Yeah. So I went out and did the fight, main event, you know, won the fight. And, you know, Master Chief and his son were Caged Side. And he comes up to me afterwards. And I'm like, oh, man, I don't know if I'm going to get chewed out or, you know, what to expect. And he just, like, has, like, you know, stern.

look and he's like, congratulations. Just passed your interview for combatives instructor. And I was like, oh, cool. And then I, you know, and then I became the combatives program manager. And then I literally wrote the curriculum A to Z for the combatives and built a really, really awesome training curriculum for combatives. So what seals, if any still today, what seals are training using your program? I don't know. I don't think that it's still being used because when I left, there wasn't really anyone to backfill me.

And like I said, that that position, like no one was in it when I took it over, you know. And combatives, for whatever reason, has just always taken a back seat in the SEAL teams. And it's super unfortunate, and it totally depends on who's at the, like, the decision-making position. Like, who's in the driver's seat at that time, like, are they interested in combatives or not? And it's like whoever the ops master chief or the, you know what I mean, like, whoever's making the decision to, all right, prioritize this training or not. And- So are SEALs expected to essentially just self-train? Is that why there's, it seems like there's a theme of, dude, I'm telling you, like, it was so bizarre to me when I was in,

because half of my, like, when you're in the military, you have 10 bosses, and that's, like, one of the things I hated about it. But, like, it would be like, this boss is all about combatives and thinks, like, it needs to be a priority. This boss thinks it's a complete waste of time. This boss thinks it's the best, and we need to, you know, guys need to focus on it. This boss, total waste. waste of time. We need to be focusing on other things. So it was literally like it could change.

It could change like one, you know, okay, well, who do I listen to? Like he outranks you, but you're my direct boss. And, you know, like, so it would, it was very much like that the whole time. And then when I went away, uh, the program, I think it like kept going maybe slightly and then they, it went away and now I believe they just do like they have a like a black belt come in every once and a while and do like a jiu jitsu club and then a moitai guy come in and do some moitai but that's not you know we were talking about yesterday it's like that was not my philosophy and approach with the combatives program that I was running because I had that real world experience in both but I'm like you know your combatives need to,

or I'm sorry, your tactics need to drive your combatives, not the other way around. Because if you're on target doing a triangle choke, something's gone terribly wrong, you know? So you go from Big Brother to Navy SEAL

to Navy SEAL to Navy SEALCompatives instructor developer to professional MMA fighter. You leave the SEALs, your full-on pro-MMA, you've built a supplements company. What made you build the supplement that launched your supplement company? So, so again, so back up to the fighting, right? So I was telling you, I was making like five

grand a fight for that. So I had started doing the T-shirts for my fight shirts. And I was selling, you know, the ad space essentially on the back of the shirts. And then I would sell, you know, print the shirts and then I would sell the shirts. And here's that, here's that. entrepreneurial spirit exactly all the way back to high school oh i mean coming in as you talk about way way before then yeah you know way before then but uh as far as i can remember i was doing stuff like that to make money but um but yeah i was selling the t-shirts and uh was you know growing my social media and stuff to give back to my sponsors you know because i didn't really have any other way other than the selling the t-shirts and you know creating the instagram and making posts and stuff to

to promote the businesses that sponsored me. And then, you know, I really liked seeing people wearing the smash and frog shirts and stuff like that, and they would post them on social media and stuff, and I thought that was really cool. And at the time, I was like, you know, but it's a big green frog, you know, on it. And I'm like, that's not a shirt that people are going to wear every day. Like, they're only going to wear it to my fights, you know. And I was like, and at the time I was posting. like motivational content. I was, you know, trying to encourage people to push themselves,

et cetera, and a saying that I was always saying was mindset is everything. And I was like, maybe I'll just put that on a t-shirt. Like, you know, and that could be something that people would wear every day. And so I was like, yeah, I'll take a chance. And I ordered like 30 shirts and put them out on my social media and on my website where I sold my, my smash and frog shirts. And that was the other thing. I had the website because people on social media were messaging me because they saw people wearing the shirts at locally, like my friends and family, and like people at the fights wearing my shirts and people that I was new to social media because I never had social

media, right? And then I had people messaging me like, hey, can I buy a smash and frog shirt? and I'm like, you don't even know me. You know, and I'm like, what do you mean? Like, you want to buy a smash and frog shirt? Like, where do you live? And they're like, Nebraska. And I'm like, what?

Why do you want a shirt? Okay. And like, so I didn't have a website or anything at the time. And I'm like, I guess, should I give me your address? And I'll, and mail me a check, you know? So they would literally like mail me $20 cash or a check. and I would mail them a shirt. Like, I would go to the post so I was in right,

your address. And that's what I did. And then people started doing that more and more. Like, more and more people were asking me for these Smash and Frogs shirts. And I'm like, what the heck? I'm like, okay. And then I'm like, how many people want these? Yeah.

You know, and it was like a bunch of people were like, I want one, I want one. I'm like, okay, this is weird, you know. So then I had to look in, like, how to create a website. And then once I got a website, then it was like I thought like I was like whoa I just created Amazon you know because these people were typing in their name and address and all that stuff and I could just hit print on a label like a label printer instead of handwriting it out and I was like dude I'm Jeff Bezos you know

I'm Jeff Bezos basically and you know so then I had my website with my smashing frog shirts and then I was like okay cool and then And yeah, when I launched the mindset is everything shirts, I put like 30 shirts on there and launched it on my Instagram and they sold out instantly. Wow. And I was like, whoa. But shirts are a whole different ballgame than a supplement. For sure.

So I'll get there. Sorry. Long way did. So I was like, whoa, that was crazy. And so I bought 60 the next time sold out instantly. And I was like, wow, okay. There's something. I'm making 20 bucks a shirt like.

that's maybe there's something here to this so I'm like okay now I need to like I saw the power of social media and at the time I only had like 5,000 followers something like that but they were which was crazy to me I remember telling my mom like she's like wow you have 5,000 followers and I'm like yeah that's great I don't even know 5,000 people that's wild like it was so weird to me yeah and and then but then I saw the power and I'm like wow maybe if I what if I like keep putting effort into this and like grow my audience and then I could sell a bunch of shirts and I you know maybe make a bunch of money with that so and I just kept putting effort into growing my content or growing my page and being consistent with posting stuff and I had and so I was doing that and I was being like real successful with it and I ended up selling $150,000 worth of shirts my first year of selling shirts and I was still in the Navy. You know, and I was like fighting also. So I was like, wow, there's something to this, you know.

And then I was like, okay, I want to kind of pursue this more, you know, and I think that like I need to get out of the Navy in order to really kind of pursue this. Not just because, you know, in the SEAL teams, it's like, and at the time especially, this was like in 2017, you know, social media was like really frowned upon, you know, and it was like, oh, we're the, we're the quiet warriors or whatever, even though we do our training in Coronado and scream as we run across the street and stop traffic and, you know, and there's movies and books about us, but we're secrets. Okay. But anyway, that's neither here or there. But so I was like, all right, I'm going to get out and pursue, you know, building my social

media and my business. And so I did. And, and I just didn't have anything to post one day. And I was just trying to be consistent, like, all right, I just need to post something. So I ended up posting my little concoction that I drank every morning. And that was also what I did to create, or I'm sorry, to cut weight for my fights. I fast. So I would make this blend of superfoods and then I would drink it and that would just fast. I wouldn't eat any food. And I would do that for 10 days at a time and drop like 18 pounds, you know. And so I just didn't think anything of it.

I just shared it and was like, yeah, this is what I do, you know, as a post. And it just, you know, sparked all kinds of interest and was asking me questions about it nonstop. I was just getting bombarded with questions and out of pure annoyance after like because I laid it out as like idiot proof as I could and it was like here's all the ingredients here's all the pieces you can go on the on Amazon or vitamin shop and get all these and I just mix them together that's what I do I have no association with these companies I'm not sponsored by them whatever like but this is what I do and after like a year and a half like people were just what is that zdadada asking me questions. I'm like, oh my God, dude. I'm like, okay, out of pure annoyance, I'm just going to go

like to a manufacturer. Can I make, can you just take all of these and mix them into one thing? Wow. And my followers were calling that concoction the smashing greens because I was the smashing frog and that was like my green concoction. So they named it, you know, and so then I just made it a product and said, here, smashing greens are born. And then like people started buying it And I was like, whoa, that's cool because a t-shirt is, you know, when you sell someone a t-shirt, a t-shirt's good for years. Yeah. You know, so in order to capture that same customer, you need to create a bunch of new products or new t-shirts. Whereas like a consumable product, you capture one person.

And if they like your product, you have them over and over and over as a repeat customer. Not to mention the fact that a t-shirt doesn't change someone's life. A consumable product. It might with a good message. Fair? Fair, I stand corrected, but I will say that a consumable that has a very specific outcome that is true to form can. Yeah. It can change someone's weight.

It can change someone's sleep. It can change someone's skin. Well, that's-and-and-that-was the thing was, like, my brother lost 110 pounds using my smashing greens. Wow. And lots of people have lost, you know, 100-plus pounds using the smashing greens. And, you know, doing it in these fasting routines that I do. where like I showed people like you know and paired with our motto mindset is everything don't be a pussy you know and just do it like if you want to do it do it and don't make excuses

just you know and and when people did that and applied that and applied that discipline and mindset they had results weird so we're gonna I have to cut us off yeah because of of time constraints No worries. We're going to have to sit together again and finish this story. But what I want to do is I want to tell everybody at your peak on Instagram, what was your approximate number of followers? 370,000. And I was verified before you could just buy it for $10,000, which was a big deal. At your peak, you had 370,000 followers.

Yeah. So there's a whole second half of the story that we have to get into. Yeah. But what I want folks to do is I want, if you have an Instagram account, if you have an Instagram account, look up Mitch right now. What's your handle? It's Mitch underscore Agiar, A-G-U-I-A-R. And if you don't know how to find that or if you have any questions about spelling, you can literally look up, Smash and Frog Instagram or Mitch Agu-R-I-N-S-A-R-N-S-G-E-R-N-U-F-R-N-E-R-N-U-S-E-R-E-R-N-U-S-E-1-2,000. As of February 28, it's 102,000. How did Mitch lose 66% of his followers? That comes in the second half of this story.

But for now, what I need you to do is look him up. Go to the description below on this video, and you will find links to Smashing Greens. You will find links to Mitch's Instagram account. This man is doing amazing things, and the story is only about to get even more interesting the next time we sit with him. If you've enjoyed what we've talked about,

make sure that you like, make sure that you leave a comment, make sure that you subscribe, share this message with a friend. This is the kind of story you want to get someone else engaged in because you're going to love it. Folks, Mitch Aguilar, Mitch, thank you so much for making time. If you want to know more about how I think and how Mitch thinks, make sure you follow the link below to take the spy quiz and you will see whether or not you're wired the same way that we are wired.

And I have to say, I am not to smash anybody in the face over and over again kind of guy. So I am so happy that you, that the violent hippie side of you stays to the hippie, the hippie-ish side whenever I'm around. Thank you very much, folks. We'll see you on the flip side and thank you, brother. Thanks for having me.