Leadership Communicator & Author
Communicator, author, and pastor, ANDY STANLEY founded Atlanta-based North Point Ministries in 1995.
Today, NPM is comprised of six churches in the Atlanta area, serving more than 36,000 people weekly, as well as a network of 30 churches around the globe. As host of NBC’s Your Move with Andy Stanley, reaching over 36 million viewers in less than two years on the air, and author of 20-plus books including Ask It, How to Be Rich, Deep & Wide, Visioneering, and Next Generation Leader, he is considered one of the most influential living pastors in America.
Andy Stanley and his wife, Sandra, have three grown children and live near Atlanta.
Commander Rorke T. Denver has run every phase of training for the U.S. Navy SEALs and led special-forces missions in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and other international hot spots. He starred in the hit film Act of Valor, which is based on true SEAL adventures. His NY Times Bestseller, Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior, takes you inside his personal story and the fascinating, demanding SEAL training program he oversaw.
Some people are born to lead. Rorke Denver is one of those people. Throughout his 13-year career as a platoon commander and training leader with the Navy SEALS, he constantly found himself leading in the face of danger. Denver led more than 190 combat missions and never lost a member of his team. His amazing leadership and bravery led to him running all phases of U.S. Navy SEAL training. Rorke communicates about leadership with unparalleled passion and intensity, rooted in his desire to see everyone lead to the best of their ability.
Commander Rorke T. Denver has run every phase of training for the U.S. Navy SEALs and led special-forces missions in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and other international hot spots. He starred in the hit film Act of Valor, which is based on true SEAL adventures. His first book, Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior, takes you inside his personal story and the fascinating, demanding SEAL training program he now oversees.
After completing the SEALs’ legendary Basic Underwater Demolition program in 1999 (BUD/S Class 224), Denver began an action-filled 13-year career as a platoon commander and training leader with America’s premier special-operations force. As assistant officer in charge of BRAVO Platoon at SEAL Team THREE, he was deployed to SOUTCOM, the Central and South American Area of Operations, where his platoon was the “alert” SEAL team for maritime interdiction, hostage rescue, counter-insurgency and counter-narcotics. As SEAL officer aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard, Denver led his group’s response to a murderous uprising in the Ivory Coast nation of Liberia, launching advanced-force operations, conducting hydrographic beach reconnaissance and helping to get U.S. Marines safely ashore. At Special Boat Team TWELVE, he started the Maritime Capable Air Deployable Boat Detachment, which specialized in parachuting large assault boats from U.S. aircraft.
In 2006, Denver was officer in charge of BRAVO Platoon of SEAL Team THREE in Iraq’s Al Anbar Province in one of the most combat-heavy deployments of any regular SEAL team since Vietnam. Stationed in Habbaniya, his team conducted more than 190 missions including sniper operations, direct assaults, special reconnaissance and ground patrols. Two of his teammates were killed in action, including Mike Monsoor, who received the Medal of Honor for jumping on a live grenade to save his teammates. Denver’s team has been widely credited with propelling the “Tribal Awakening” that helped to neutralize Iraq’s Shia insurgency. Denver was awarded the Bronze Star with “V” for valorous action in combat.
After returning to the United States, Denver was appointed flag lieutenant to Admiral Joseph Maguire, commanding officer of Naval Special Warfare, traveling to Afghanistan and briefing Congress on SEAL operations. In 2009, he became First Phase officer of SEAL Basic Training including Hell Week, then rose to Basic Training officer. He went on to run all phases of training including advanced sniper, hand-to-hand fighting, communications, diving and language.
Denver is an honor graduate of the United States Army Ranger School. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Syracuse University, where he was an All-American lacrosse player and captain of the varsity lacrosse team. He earned a Master’s Degree in Global Business Leadership from the University of San Diego. He lives with his wife and two young daughters in Colorado. In his off-duty hours, he enjoys surfing, hunting, fly-fishing, reading and playing on the living-room floor with his amazing girls.
This week Gary Vaynerchuck a.k.a. "GaryVee" descends upon Denver Start Up Week. If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Gary, he's been called an over-the-top personality (an understatement-fer sure!), he loves the hustle, the NY Jets, family, business and he loves life.
Gary was a guest on my radio show a few years back, right before his book "Crush It" hit the shelves. I actually had a huge "a-ha" during my interview with Gary, you'll hear it around the 20 minute mark, when he tells me "people aren't paying attention to what they are good at". I realized when Gary told me the defining characteristics that he looks for in his business partners, that I'm NOT a true entrepreneur at heart. (at least not in the way Gary describes it) Check it out:
Gary's theory is that if you weren't selling lollipops or crushing it at your lemonade stand before the age of twelve, you're probably not going to be the world's greatest entrepreneur, because you have to be really, really excited & passionate about selling your sh#$*. All I really wanted to be when I was twelve years old was -- a Rockette!
I guess I have GaryVee to thank for my hosting gig at Starto TV. He put me on my true path. :-D
Here are some of the other fascinating things Gary reveals in this interview:
Gary 'calls me out' on a line I used in my radio show opener
Why he's so friggin' passionate about ..... everything
Why Gary did not think he could write a good book (and how he crushed it in the book-writing department)
The question YOU need to answer in order to work with Gary
The exact steps you need to take in order to make money doing what you love
What Gary says to people that claim what he does isn't "scaleable"
How to Love the Process
Gary reveals his not-so-secret, evil plan to buy the Jets & exactly how he's going to do it
Why the big Zero still feels a little sexy
Here are Gary's Top 5 Tips for growing your business:
Care about your customer.
Don't spend money on anything you can get "away" with.
Recognize that NOW is the biggest opportunity for you to make cash (when times are tough; creativity & hustle are the differentiators).
Make sure what you are doing is what you LOVE. It's the only way to work as hard as you need to.
"Edu-micate" yourself on all technologies you don't understand. :-)
Gary's top tip for getting the most out of Twitter: LISTEN
Gary walks you through EXACTLY what to do when you get on Twitter to build your following.
Here are my favorite quotes from Gary:
"If you don't care, you lose."
"What do you really, really want out of life. Work backwards."
"I don't want to hear about golfing & tennis & John Madden football & the Wii, when you're crying about your financial situation. Stop watching friggin' LOST and start hustling and building your business."
"It's about conversation, not just plugging what you want to accomplish."
