We were lucky to catch up with Mark Divine recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mark, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

The idea for SEALFIT came after a government contract we won with the U..S. Navy’s recruiting command to mentor Navy SEAL trainees prior to their attending boot camp ended. I had wanted to do some innovative mental development with the candidates, but the recruiting command denied the request, wanting us to stick to the known physical fitness and water skill training. When the contract ended, I decided to launch SEALFIT to bring mental skills I had honed through years of Zen, mindfulness meditation, yoga and visualization to other special operators. The SEALFIT program was far more successful at developing mental toughness and resiliency than the government contract was. For instance, normally 85% of SEAL candidates fail at SEAL training. But individuals who train with SEALFIT have a 90% success rate. Word got out and requests from non-military folks for our training began to come in. So we opened up programs for civilians, sports teams and organizations to learn the unique mental toughness and resiliency skills we now call Unbeatable Mind.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My life was indelibly shaped by an early immersion in eastern philosophy and Zen meditation during my first career as a CPA at PriceWaterhouse Coopers in my early twenties. As a result of that mental work, my life took a decisive turn at 26 when I left the corporate world behind to join the elite Navy SEALs, graduating as the honor-man (#1 trainee) of his SEAL Basic Underwater Demolition-SEAL (BUDS) class. My distinguished military career spanned two decades, culminating in retirement as a Commander. Beyond the battlefield, my Navy leadership left an indelible mark through the creation of a nationwide mentoring program for SEAL trainees, significantly shaping the future Navy SEAL warrior.

My entrepreneurial adventures include SEALFIT, a program that seamlessly blends Navy SEAL training with innovative techniques for developing mental toughness and emotional resilience. Other ventures I founded or own include the award-winning Coronado Brewing Company, NavySEALs.com and Brute Force Training, specializing in functional fitness gear for military and first responders.

An accidental author, my innovative training led to several bestselling books, including Unbeatable Mind, 8 Weeks to SEALFIT, The Way of the SEAL, Staring Down the Wolf and Uncommon. These books have been cited for their profound insights into peak performance and mental resilience.

Beyond business and training elite performance and integrated growth, I also channel energies into philanthropy and scholarship. The Mark Divine Courage Foundation, founded to aid veterans with PTSD, leads the global “Burpees for Vets Challenge” which annually raises over $500,000 for veterans. And I am finishing up a PhD in Global Leadership and Change from Pepperdine University, where I plan to back my real-world experience with academic rigor.

And as the host of “The Mark Divine Show,” a top-rated podcast in its 9th season with over 5,000 5-star reviews that has reached over thirty million downloads, I love to engage with thought leaders and visionaries from various fields. Through deep and insightful conversations, the podcast explores themes of leadership, resilience, and personal development, resonating with a wide audience. I have found that I have a unique ability to distill complex ideas into actionable wisdom. The Mark Divine Show has earned the podcast a top ten rating at Apple and provides me a platform to speak to those seeking transformation in their personal and professional lives.

In addition, I share personal thoughts and transformational strategies through my newsletter, Divine Inspiration, which reaches several hundred thousand readers every week.

A family man, I value more than anything being a husband, father, and grandfather. I reside in Encinitas, California, and I continue to train every day to be the embodiment of unparalleled expertise and enlightened leadership.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I was a pioneer in teaching how individuals and teams could forge mental toughness and emotional resiliency. As a retired Navy SEAL commander I had a lot of respect, and I vowed to uphold the incredibly high standards of my SEAL teammates as a business leader. This meant complete transparency and authenticity with regards to our training and services. Also, that we had to earn our respect every day, we could never rest on yesterday’s accomplishments. Further, we ate out own dogfood, meaning we didn’t ask our team or clients to do anything we weren’t already doing, or willing to do, ourselves. Finally, we never leave a teammate behind. We take care of each other, support each other’s personal and professional growth, encourage dissenting voices without judgement and genuinely care for each other. These qualities have stood the test of time and help us stand out in a world where the mediocre is often marketed as the real deal.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Less is more. I love creating innovative training programs. I held onto the belief that more was better… more content, more training, more time in training would lead to better results. And it did for those who had the inclination and discipline to stay the course for the year-long process we call Unbeatable Mind foundations. But, I had to unlearn this when I found that most people didn’t have that long-term orientation anymore. I had to shift from “more is better” to “less is more” and now seek to create shorter, highly impactful training that has the same transformative power as our longer training programs.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sealfit.com, www.markdivine.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realmarkdivine
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RealMarkDivine
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markdivine/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@themarkdivineshow7739

Image Credits
Geoff Haskell, Shanette Kay, Peter Bohler