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The Chiseled podcast, hosted by Rob Commodari, is a biweekly show dedicated to fostering personal growth and self-awareness. Through candid conversations with guests from diverse backgrounds—including entrepreneurs, spiritual leaders, and...
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The Chiseled podcast, hosted by Rob Commodari, is a biweekly show dedicated to fostering personal growth and self-awareness. Through candid conversations with guests from diverse backgrounds—including entrepreneurs, spiritual leaders, and individuals who have overcome significant challenges—Rob explores how life's experiences shape us into the people we are meant to be. The podcast emphasizes that we are all works in progress, continually being "chiseled" by our experiences to live our fullest lives. Launched in 2021, Chiseled delves into themes such as resilience, transformation, faith, and the pursuit of purpose. Rob's approach is deeply personal and spiritually grounded, often reflecting on how divine guidance influences our journeys. Each episode offers listeners insights and inspiration to embrace their own paths of growth and self-discovery.
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Chiseled - We're all a work in progress - with Rob Commodari
Chiseled - We're all a work in progress - with Rob Commodari
Robert CommodariEpisodes & Posts
Episodes
Posts
6 DEC 2025 · Did you ever just do what you had to and then found yourself in the middle of a firestorm? That's what happened to Lindsey Graham, better known as "Patriot Barbie," six weeks into the COVID lockdown of 2020.
A serial entrepreneur, Lindsey and her husband owned six brick-and-mortar service businesses. Think hair salons, tanning salons, and gyms. The power couple was a pinnacle of their community, at the peak of their careers, and even talking about retiring early.
Then the pandemic hit. Everything shut down. "Two weeks to stop the spread" turned into an unforeseeable end. Lindsey and her husband were facing bankruptcy as the lockdown dragged on.
"We were doing the math, and I was like, dude, we are going to go bankrupt."
Knowing that she could face a backlash from local authorities, Lindsey decided to reopen her hair salon. What she didn't expect was the global media coverage and attention she soon received.
"Some people did not like that I was reopening and called me a murderer and a racist and all kinds of other crazy things, and then the other side said, 'You're a hero, you're brave,'" she said. "All I'm doing, to be honest, is hair."
Oregon officials threatened Lindsey with $50,000 per day fines, jail time, and the removal of their three children, including their infant son, from the family home.
Nasty memes and threats to her family and employees soon followed. Lindsey and her husband became outcasts and targets.
It took five months for "cancel culture" to destroy all six of the businesses Lindsey and her husband had built. Moreso, Lindsey was fearful she could be killed by an enraged activist.
"I didn't know any of that was going to happen, or perhaps I wouldn't have done it," she said.
But something else was happening behind the scenes in the early days of the media conflagration. Someone attempted to insult Lindsey by calling her "Patriot Barbie." Not seeing it as an insult, Lindsey adopted the name with pride. Her alter ego was born, and she quickly became an icon among political and religious conservatives.
Unsure of the next step, she and her husband moved out of Oregon that September to start over doing something different. After listening to the whisper in her ear, she began writing her testimony.
"I have a beautiful testimony, a beautiful and sad testimony, and I wasn't sharing that in Oregon," she said.
Now a Texas-based conservative activist, speaker, "faith-fueled Christian, and a freedom-fighting mama bear," Lindsey has launched a new clothing line called Pretty Little Patriot, which she says is a way to minister to women.
"All of the merch is either patriotic or Jesus," she said. "People are so blown away at how bold my brand is in Jesus, and so it's attracting people."
Lindsey says cancel culture ruined her life, but only because "that was not the life God would have for me." She found her voice amid an attempt to silence it. Speaking her truth is how she is getting chiseled.
Tune in to this week's Chiseled to hear how Lindsey managed to find her true purpose in one of the darkest periods in modern history.
22 NOV 2025 · The call is coming from the inside ... no, not from inside the house, and no, it's not a scream. The call is the moment when you hear God talking to you. You can choose to ignore the voice, or you can jump in with both feet and follow the path less chosen.
It takes some nerve, especially when you're at the top of your game, to muster the courage to walk away from it all, listen to the voice, and wait for the unknown to be revealed. But that's what Mark Viviano did when he left his highly successful 40-year career in sportscasting.
Raised in the St. Louis area, Mark was inspired early to get into sports reporting — by his mother and the legendary commentator Jack Buck.
"The sound of his voice and his description of the game is truly, I will say, what pulled me into the beauty and artistry of reporting," he said. "She gave him the confidence in telling me I'd be good at it."
Mark started broadcasting college and professional sports while still a student at the University of Missouri. After college, he was hired in big sports markets in Iowa, Ohio, Atlanta, and Baltimore working at top news stations.
Mark's illustrious career included reporting from locker rooms and on the field. He had a daytime radio show and delivered evening and late-night television reports. Most of the time, he did all of it in the same day.
"I became a workaholic," he said.
After decades in a career he loved — one in which he was named Maryland sportscaster of the year FIVE times — Mark was driving down the road when he received a message he could not ignore. It wasn't a heart murmur, but it was a literal pressing on his chest that he says was undeniably God telling him to slow down.
"I was shaking, scared, but in awe," he said.
Twenty minutes later, he arrived at the station and put in notice that he was quitting the radio show. One week after that, he met the woman who would become his wife.
"This was somebody that I had worked with for two years and I didn't even know them because my head was always down. I was always working."
It didn't take long after he and his wife Megan had their second son that Mark decided that family was his true passion. He retired from television in 2024 and has since focused on being a fulltime father, parishioner, volunteer, and youth sports coach.
"It's a blessing and I'm blessed to be in the position to do it," he said.
If you're a sports fan from the Baltimore area, you probably know of Mark Viviano, but I'm sure you don't know this side of him. I invite everyone who enjoys talking sports and God to hear him bear all on this week's episode of Chiseled.
19 NOV 2025 · If you're a business professional who believes in the notionthat "givers gain," you're probably familiar with Bob Burg.
Bob, an entrepreneur and leadership trainer, is known for his "Endless Referrals" sales training classes. He alsoco-authored the book TheGo-Giver with John David Mann. The Go-Giver has sold 1 million copies and has been translated into 30languages. It is listed by Inc.Magazine as No. 10 of the most motivational booksever written.
Motivate is what Bob does. He teaches salesprofessionals and leaders how to communicate their value to acceleratetheir business growth. He is an "unapologetic" believer in the freemarket system and says the amount of money one makes is directly proportionalto how many people one serves.
"The people who are most successful in sales,most sustainably successfully, (are) always the ones who (are) more focused ongiving value to others," Bob told me.
In this episode of Chiseled, Bob shares the principles behind The Go-Giver, which draws on storytelling and parables to teach the fivelaws of stratospheric success. These are defined as the laws of value,compensation, influence, authenticity, and receptivity.
I'm not going to give the whole podcast away and Icouldn't possibly tell you all the valuable nuggets in the book, so you'll justhave to listen to Bob's summary. Bob is full of wisdom, which he relays soclearly that you may instantly want to go out and buy his books. It was myhonor to interview Bob in one of my shortest but most jam-packed podcasts yet.
If you'd like to reach Bob and get a copy of hisDaily Impact email, you can sign up at https://burg.com/. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this episode of Chiseled.
13 NOV 2025 · Well, this is going to be a little awkward. Dan Faulkner, Jr. should be sending you this message since he is my guest host this week and interviewed none other than ... me. 😉
If you've been following my journey for a while, you probably know that I have dedicated my life to learning. My love for personal development began when I first read Og Mandino's classic, The Greatest Salesman in the World, while working as a penny stock broker in Boca Raton, Fl.
After reading Salesman in one night, I went the next day to Barnes and Noble and bought all of Mandino's books. Since then, I have read more than 1,000 books, and my interest in self-help and personal growth has become a passion for helping others discover the best in themselves.
Even after all that reading, I still had doubts about my worthiness to write my own personal growth book. Nonetheless, and despite my hesitation, I published Better Than You Think in 2020. The book focuses on 16 principles of awareness to build a more fulfilling life. With its release came a workbook, a website, and several personal appearances.
You already know how to reach me (just reply to this email) but I would be grateful for you to visit https://www.robcommodariauthor.com/ where you can learn more about Better Than You Think, order a copy for yourself or a friend, and download the accompanying workbook.
Better Than You Think turned out to be a beginning, not an end, to my efforts to share stories of impact and growth. As I describe in this week's episode of Chiseled, I had an epiphany before starting this podcast. I do believe it's part of a larger plan. At the very least, it has been hugely rewarding and I learn something new from every guest.
After more than two years of episodes, Chiseled has spawned a new project -- a 16-module course with stories, lessons, and exercises to help people realize that we all are a work in progress, and each of us is a work worth pursuing. I will be introducing it shortly.
Meanwhile, I have recently embarked on a related project. Next month, I will be hosting Living the Chiseled Life: An Introspective Look Inside live at Gramercy Mansion in Stevenson, Md. We will be bringing stories to life in an evening to remember. I am confident this will not be a one-night-only event.
I sincerely hope that you enjoy this episode of Chiseled, in which Dan asks some great questions about my getting started on this journey, stories I shared in Better Than You Think, and intense conversations between me and God.
8 NOV 2025 · Patricia Gagic is a world-renown artist, photographer, and author. Her work has appeared in the Vatican Museum Library, the Société National des Beaux Arts in Paris, and the Whitney Commons Gallery in Toronto, to name just a few, and she has won dozens of awards and recognition of the highest order.
Her skills developed young. Patricia picked up her first pencil and started drawing Elizabethan ball gowns at age three.
"I would finish a drawing. I would take it to my mom and dad and say, 'Oh, look at this,' and they would just stare at me like, 'Who are you?'"
But art wasn't her first career. An avid reader who excelled in school, she was encouraged by her parents to start a practical career, so in the 1970s she decided to join the good old boys' network of Canadian banking.
"I loved the whole idea of the business of banking," she said.
By time she was age 25, she was a branch manager. But that wasn't all. She excelled at property management and built a large portfolio of properties. Her studies and successes helped her mentor young business students.
But something else lingered. A polymath, Patricia felt the "spark of God" drive her not just toward artwork, but also to the relationship of art to math and the universe. This sense of unity with everything inspires her creations.
It also helped her to come out the other side after the death of her daughter.
"When you have the awareness that you have Christ consciousness, Buddha consciousness, that you have consciousness, it's like I've been able to separate and look at it in that duality and not let it be an absorption," she said.
Patricia has been on a karmic journey of detachment and connection her whole life, and it is a strength that has propelled her to dizzying heights of discovery and contentment.
"When you allow yourself to experience being in the fullness of time ... your Zen, your bliss, when you see that you're exactly where you need to be then you are allowing spirit to emulsify," she said.
Patricia has worked in multiple artistic media, though she gained her mastery in the Matisse palette — the result of years of study under a master artist in France. But she has also impacted communities around the world, including in Peru, Nepal, and Cambodia, where she has built a library and schools.
Patricia's success is impressive, but her spirituality and her empathy are truly inspiring. I could talk to her for hours, but we had to stop somewhere. I am certain you will feel the fullness of connection after listening to this week's episode of Chiseled.
4 NOV 2025 · When we hear the word "intimacy," most of us thinkabout sex. But in reality, intimacy refers to honest connections with others,whether they be with a partner, child, friend, or even God.
Dr. Stormy Hill, whom I met while working on my book chapter for http://view.bbsv1.net/bbext/?p=link&id=31d0d796-8cd8-9741-8de0-ba071b6d3ce0&c=039ab750-5718-b4bb-af37-692b9dae1f48&cid=215121BCDA0B4C409A9CB71A2655FAB0&dst=R2c0c2dEb09kM0x2UlhjRVVzWk4zdFBKTVlSM1BtY20zOU5K%0DTEZFTEdKNXRMOUdjVkUwaGdkZnVPNnhkNGVrZEFZVEF3Vzh3NktwaHlVbk9zWThmaXc9PQ%3D%3D&eml=cm9iQHRhbGt0b3JvYi5jb20%3D, takes a broad approach to enhancing intimacy.An occupational therapist, mental health and substance abuse specialist, andintimacy coach, Dr. Stormy dove into studies on intimacy while navigating thewaters of raising an autistic son.
"It was interesting, sort of a mom-world collision with aprofessional-world collision," she said.
Dr. Stormy, who is one of the celebrity authors of http://view.bbsv1.net/bbext/?p=link&id=93ddb34d-8d09-fc85-0c83-c5bfc3bb3575&c=039ab750-5718-b4bb-af37-692b9dae1f48&cid=215121BCDA0B4C409A9CB71A2655FAB0&dst=R2c0c2dEb09kM0x2UlhjRVVzWk4zdFBKTVlSM1BtYzh5TXBU%0DY25zQkhKWmdkdUdjVDE1ZzRQVG5LL05rN2Z4REpaT0R3REpJc1BFaGt4RFY1OGNFOFdWVHo3YVFjWEIvYmc9PQ%3D%3D&eml=cm9iQHRhbGt0b3JvYi5jb20%3D, now helps individuals and couples explore how to buildintimacy through self-confidence, self-love, bliss, and pleasure in and outsidethe bedroom. Dr. Stormy says having a growth mindset for life, love, and sexteaches us how to develop relationships for maximum satisfaction and spiritualfulfillment.
"The only thing about emotions is that they will change,which is why I don't think love is an emotion, it's a force," she told me.
In this week's Chiseled podcast, Dr. Stormyshares effective tools to connect with your partner, children, friends, andGod, and to overcome the challenges that confront us every day withpsychological and physical mastery. If you're interested in how your brain andbody work together, you must hear her insights.
Once you listen to this podcast, which is full of tips andexercises for building intimacy, you will probably want to learn more. On her http://view.bbsv1.net/bbext/?p=link&id=f3343786-2444-3595-ad31-9d15c40dd2d1&c=039ab750-5718-b4bb-af37-692b9dae1f48&cid=215121BCDA0B4C409A9CB71A2655FAB0&dst=R2c0c2dEb09kM0wwWFhaUFY4NUoxTm5WYzRaNmZTc0gxNFE9%0D&eml=cm9iQHRhbGt0b3JvYi5jb20%3D, Dr. Stormy offers a free"Compassionate Self-Care Guide," which is full of practices, videos,guided mediations and links to additional resources for developing intimacymore deeply. I'm betting you will want to check it out.
If you have questions or want even more of her incredibleguidance, you can reach Dr. Stormy by email or follow her on http://view.bbsv1.net/bbext/?p=link&id=3c16d538-93a7-d448-9ec7-6ba8fa287811&c=039ab750-5718-b4bb-af37-692b9dae1f48&cid=215121BCDA0B4C409A9CB71A2655FAB0&dst=R2c0c2dEb09kM0x2UlhjRVdzVmYwTjNBYllaMWZTc0gxNFJa%0DYm40ZEdwUnpiL0hDRGc9PQ%3D%3D&eml=cm9iQHRhbGt0b3JvYi5jb20%3D. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this enlightening episode of Chiseled.
1 NOV 2025 · One day business and health coach Kelli Calabrese thought she had the perfect life — a successful career, a beautiful home, a 25-year marriage, and two great kids. But the next day, her husband came home and told her the marriage was over. He walked out, filed for divorce, and soon after married someone else.
It was a huge shock to Kelli, who had spent her marriage trying to be a great wife.
"It took me to my knees, it emptied me out," she said.
After three years of doing a deep dive and peeling back the layers of her trauma, Kelli emerged a new woman.
You might have thought there were five stages of grief, but Kelli says it's more like 14. And she knows because she went through all of them and now teaches them as a divorce and mental health care coach.
Kelli explains the stages of grief concisely and powerfully in this week's episode of Chiseled. But her story isn't just one of turning lemons into lemonade. It's one of personal discovery, finding joy, and falling "madly in love" with God.
Her journey is also not the only one she's offering. Kelli is making available to Chiseled listeners an e-copy of her latest bestselling book, Success Habits of Super Achievers, which shares the stories of 80 people who had something "unreasonably difficult" happen to them and made something great out of it. Just go to her http://view.bbsv1.net/bbext/?p=link&id=2a313da7-b1df-dea0-6c7e-dd0d4868da49&c=039ab750-5718-b4bb-af37-692b9dae1f48&cid=18B858EE436B43249DC7CF872DE3479E&dst=R2c0c2dITWJkelhzUm5CWkNJUUR6OW5MYzQ1N01pUUoyTmxZ%0DY25oQURaUnM%3D&eml=cm9iQHRhbGt0b3JvYi5jb20%3D to download a copy or email her at kelli@kellicalabrese.com. You can also find Kelli on http://view.bbsv1.net/bbext/?p=link&id=d7fb092e-16cd-7f3c-5426-49c17715b61d&c=039ab750-5718-b4bb-af37-692b9dae1f48&cid=18B858EE436B43249DC7CF872DE3479E&dst=R2c0c2dEb09kM0x2UlhjRVZjcFB3ZDdJY0l3Mk1DY0ZsZUJZ%0DYlhFSExacHRZK3FCUkV4cA%3D%3D&eml=cm9iQHRhbGt0b3JvYi5jb20%3D or http://view.bbsv1.net/bbext/?p=link&id=888b230c-a7d8-beea-9e27-730f5ea59256&c=039ab750-5718-b4bb-af37-692b9dae1f48&cid=18B858EE436B43249DC7CF872DE3479E&dst=R2c0c2dEb09kM0x2UlhjRVg4SkN6OW5EZG9rMk1DY0ZsY0pU%0DTG5ZTEFwZG9ZZW1mUUYxK3FNM3RjUT09&eml=cm9iQHRhbGt0b3JvYi5jb20%3D.
29 OCT 2025 · This episode of Chiseled is intense. If you're exploring your faith or are hard-core religious — whatever your religion — Rob Foy has some deep thoughts about having a "real" relationship with God.
Rob is a long-time friend of mine and a real estate agent in central Maryland. He grew up in an Irish Catholic household, but his family stopped attending weekly services around the time he was nine.
Flash forward 20+ years, and Rob and his brother found themselves one weekend abandoning a golf vacation in Myrtle Beach with a bunch of their buddies to check out rumors of Virgin Mary sightings in Conyers,Georgia.
It changed his life.
"So much grace was put on me at once that Ididn't know which way to go," Rob said of the experience.
The event, which he describes in detail on this week's show, triggered a spiritual journey that has taken many ups and downs,including an incredible physical challenge that he explains in this episode. But through it all, Rob persisted, and has reached a level of faith that few of us can imagine.
This week's episode of Chiseled isn't just for the Catholics among us. It's for anyone who wants to hear another person's spiritual awakening and the incredible impacts that it has had on his life. Rob is extremely knowledgeable about his faith and discusses it in emotional and intellectual terms that you will find deeply engaging.
I promise, you're going to be intrigued by this episode of Chiseled. It may even inspire you to explore your own relationship with God. If you do, Rob's happy to discuss your journey with you. You can reach himat robfoy3@me.com. Or if you want to reach out to me, I am curious to hear what you think.
25 OCT 2025 · You must be a pretty good comedian if your roommate is Drew Carey, your opening acts are Rosie O'Donnell, Chris Rock, and Sam Kinison, and you’re sharing the stage with Eddie Murphy, Jerry Seinfeld, and Ellen DeGeneres. That’s how big Steve Rizzo was in the comedy world. But his story is about much more than laughter. In eighth grade, a guidance counselor told him he’d never amount to much. In high school, he was voted “least likely to succeed.” Instead of accepting those labels, Steve used them as fuel. With support from his brother, he earned two college degrees and returned to that same school — as a teacher. Then, one night in New York City, he jumped on stage during an open mic and completely ad-libbed a seven-minute set. The audience gave him a standing ovation. In a flash, his life changed. He went from classrooms to comedy clubs — headlining across the country and earning a Showtime special. But deep down, he knew there was more. The real calling wasn’t just to make people laugh — it was to help them laugh their way to success. Inspired by Tony Robbins and guided by faith, Steve left Hollywood behind to share a message about mindset, humor, and God’s sense of timing. Now, as one of the top motivational speakers in the country, he combines laughter and life lessons to help others find joy in the process and faith in the journey. Tune in to this week’s episode of Chiseled for stories, laughter, and a few divine punchlines. You’ll walk away inspired — and smiling.
17 OCT 2025 · "I do not fit into a box. I'm certainly not a typical attorney."
Brandy Wilson Edwards was experiencing hardcore burnout.Working as an attorney for many years, she wondered where her passion went. She loved speaking, writing, and helping people live better lives, all activities she did as an attorney. But it wasn't fueling her own sense of fulfillment.
So Brandy took a "pause" to figure out what drove her happiness. She realized that she didn't have to choose between professional and personal goals. She could have it all — if she knew how to pursue it.
Now working as a motivational speaker, author, yoga and mindfulness instructor — and attorney, Brandy turned her passion for personal wellbeing into a mission to empower the legal community and other professionals to become zealousadvocates for themselves, not just their clients. You could say it's not even work at all for Brandy.
"I turned burnout into a blessing," she said.
In this episode of Chiseled, Brandy shares the difference between contentment and complacency, and gifts and skills, and shares how to "PAUSE," her five step method for setting priorities, taking action, understanding the consequences of your choices, self-care, and existing with intention to "live with more courage and less regret."
Brandy is a bundle of energy and I can see why sitting at a desk is not the greatest use of her talents. I am blessed to have met her and look forward to seeing what she does next to craft memorable messages and spread her contagious spirit.
Interested in hearing more from Brandy? You can take a look at http://view.bbsv1.net/bbext/?p=link&id=1ab13a35-00a0-1586-61e3-d12c89c7ee59&c=039ab750-5718-b4bb-af37-692b9dae1f48&cid=47A997457FDC41A9AD6F51B1F7F34CB3&dst=R2c0c2dEb09kM0x2UlhjRVVkbE55dGplYUk1MElDY0czODlL%0DWUc4S0hkVmliZVhj&eml=cm9iQHRhbGt0b3JvYi5jb20%3D or email her
at http://view.bbsv1.net/bbext/?p=link&id=e64e982d-291e-548c-9cd1-8f1b2c46a40b&c=039ab750-5718-b4bb-af37-692b9dae1f48&cid=47A997457FDC41A9AD6F51B1F7F34CB3&dst=R2c0c2dITWJkei9xVTI1T1N1dE8xdDNKZTU1dk9pUWIxY1ZZ%0DWldvUEhKOXlMT3VjVEE9PQ%3D%3D&eml=cm9iQHRhbGt0b3JvYi5jb20%3D.
The Chiseled podcast, hosted by Rob Commodari, is a biweekly show dedicated to fostering personal growth and self-awareness. Through candid conversations with guests from diverse backgrounds—including entrepreneurs, spiritual leaders, and...
show more
The Chiseled podcast, hosted by Rob Commodari, is a biweekly show dedicated to fostering personal growth and self-awareness. Through candid conversations with guests from diverse backgrounds—including entrepreneurs, spiritual leaders, and individuals who have overcome significant challenges—Rob explores how life's experiences shape us into the people we are meant to be. The podcast emphasizes that we are all works in progress, continually being "chiseled" by our experiences to live our fullest lives. Launched in 2021, Chiseled delves into themes such as resilience, transformation, faith, and the pursuit of purpose. Rob's approach is deeply personal and spiritually grounded, often reflecting on how divine guidance influences our journeys. Each episode offers listeners insights and inspiration to embrace their own paths of growth and self-discovery.
show less
Information
| Author | Robert Commodari |
| Organization | Robert Commodari |
| Categories | Spirituality |
| Website | - |
| rob@talktorob.com |
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