Primal King Podcast

All good things must come to an end and it is time for the Primal King Podcast to ride off into the sunset. After more than 5 years and 260 episodes, Derek is wrapping up the ride of a lifetime. To say that he is humbled and grateful for all of your support would be an understatement. Just as life changes and experience changes, so does the direction of what someone wants to talk about and who they want to talk to. That is exactly where Derek found himself while making this difficult decision. Make sure that you check out this final episode because there are some MAJOR updates for what the future holds and it might not be too long before he's back at it with a different direction that hopefully you will all love.

Are you a part of the "useful class" or the valuable class? It seems like we have gotten to a point in our country where people that bring the lowest overall value to our society recieve the most financial gain. This isn't a victim claim but rather a call out to those out there doing the most important and fulfilling work that almost always goes completely unrecognized. There will be people that trade (basically) fake numbers on a computer screen all day on Wall Street that make billions yet the people that literally build society struggle to get by. People that trade rounding errors on currencies around the world have multiple beach homes yet the individuals building those homes can't afford a house. How did we get here? In this episode, Derek wants to give a shout out to those that are out there doing work that may go unnoticed yet is the most essential work that can be done; the work that makes our society better and the work that is needed by all of us. He also gets into why it is that he is launching a beef stick line specifically made to honor those individuals and how it all came about...

Do you ever feel like you are just smack dab in the middle of it? Maybe you aren't necessarily right at the starting line and you definitely haven't gotten to the other side so you don't know where to go or if you'll ever actually get to where you are going? If so, this episode is for you... Derek heard a saying years ago that "we shouldn't talk about our wounds, just our scars." The reason behind this saying is that wounds are still open and they can be difficult to talk about. However, what do the people do that have the wounds? Who can the people that are right in the middle of their storm listen to that can relate? Maybe we should talk about our wounds after all and not wait until they have been fully healed. This isn't an episode to talk about "oh poor me because things are hard." It's an episode about understanding that many of us are right in the middle of everything and we're not alone. It could be in the middle of raising kids or growing a business or a struggling marriage or so many other things. If that's you, you're going to be okay one way or the other because being in the middle of it is a hell of a lot better than never starting...and there's an army of people just like you going through similar trials.

You've all gotten to know Derek and Jess pretty well over the past few years so would you ever imagine that Jess is becoming a prepper? Well, maybe... We know how weird some of the things that are happening seem to be. A highly divided election season. Inching closer and closer to what could turn into WW3. Port strikes that could threaten supply chains. Natural disasters impacting millions of people. The list goes on and on. So, what should we do? Should we become preppers and just hunker down for a few months? Derek and Jess dive into what it looks like to be prepared in an uncertain time. Does that mean burrying gold in the back yard and living a terrified existence? Not at all. Does it mean that we all could be a little more prepared just in case? Absolutely. Make sure to tune into this episode where you can learn what it looks like to have a sensible approach for anything that could be heading our way.

Every generation has it's challenges when it comes to marriage. In the old days, isolation with your spouse could be an issue or the fact that you may not have had access to very many potential mates before getting married. Nowadays, we have a whole different set of issues. Whether it's access to those old flames through social media or if it's the access to being able to see just about anything we want anytime we want, it can really stress a relationship in ways that we haven't ever dealth with before. The question is this; how hard is it to stay married in this new digital age and if you can stay married, how hard is it to have a great marriage? What are the do's and don'ts? In this episode, Derek and Jess break it down and share some of their insight having been married for 17 years and most of that being in the digital age.

As humans, we all want to world to bend to our will. So often we want others to think like us or see things how we see them. We also know that isn't real life to have those expectations... In this episode, Derek breaks down how important it is to simply trust the process and don't try to do everything our way. As difficult as it can be, there are natural laws, roadmaps and clues to the success that we want in just about every area. Whether it's spirituality, fitness, business or a number of other areas, there are ways to achieve success but the question is...can you submit long enough to get it???

How do you handle those "hard conversations" with your kids? Is it with anger and strict consequences? Is it with compassion and being somewhat of a pushover? Does it maybe even vary from instance to instance? In this episode, Derek and Jess dive into what they have been doing recently with the hard conversations. As your kids get older and inevitably get themselves into some trouble here and there, what is the best way to navigate it in a way that sets boundaries but doesn't cause resentment? There most likely isn't any "right answer" to this question but Derek and Jess hope that opening up the conversation around this will lead to some clarity if this is something that you are struggling with!

Have you thought to yourself in the past few years that nothing seems to make sense? Have you had a friend that does things or makes decisions that don't make sense? I'm pretty sure we all have... When you can figure out this ONE thing, you can start seeing through all of the fog. You can see why people, politicians, corporations and even yourself keep making decisions that may not make any sense. Once you know, you can use it to your advantage and not only see through the fog, but you'll be able to go out and crush it in your own life!

Sometimes it's really easy to take things personal. Maybe it's that guy that cut you off in traffic. Maybe it's that rude cashier or even that fight with a friend that you never saw coming. Maybe it's even someone taking their life that you would have never expected... The reality is, we don't ever truly know what someone may be going through but our reactions usually don't take those thoughts into mind. Yes, people should always have a certain amount of kindness and decency but it's also very easy for us to be so self-focused that no matter what the reason may be, we take it personal...and it may be destroying us for no reason. In today's episode, Derek goes into the topic of how sometimes the best thing that we can do is chalk up some of our negative reactions to what may be going on in someone else's life and it may not be out you at all and that requires us to have a little bit of grace and understanding.

Derek and Jess don't get a lot of time to spend doing absolutely nothing...but it happened this past weekend on a cruise ship to Mexico and back! We all know how easy it is for us to get in the day to day grind and sometimes what we all need is a change of environment and, perhaps, a change of pace to learn some real lessons. This episode is based around the two biggest takeaways that Derek and Jess learned from being able to take a couple days away from the ranch, the kids, the work and everything else to re-charge and re-focus. This should be a good lesson for all of us to consider even if we aren't on a cruise ship anytime soon!

We all want bigger and better. It may be the bank account, the house, the car or just about anything. Here is the question that Derek and Jess ask in this episode...is better ACTUALLY better? Our life is just a giant collection of decisions. If we make one decision, it could affect several other things. So often in life we don't really think about the downstream affect of what becoming better may actually mean in other areas of life. If you want the billion dollar business, will that impact your home life? If you want the six pack abs, will it impact your relationships? There may not be a "one size fits all" answer to this question but Derek and Jess dive into the tricky topic about better not always actually being better...

How is it that we have gotten to a point that down seems up and left seems right? How is it that we almost feel like we are living in an alternate reality? In this episode, Derek breaks down exactly how we got here and what we can do to improve our lives using this exact model...

Calley Means has gained a ton of traction over the past year and there's good reason. He is someone that graduated from Stanford and Harvard business schools and then went on to be a pharmaceutical and food consultant. Like so many of us, he had an event take place that changed his entire trajectory: seeing his mother get diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and pass away 13 days later. This led him to find his true life mission which turned out to be leading the way for alternative ways to become healthier which also led him into a fight with\ big food and big pharma. Although many of us know that some of the so-called "experts" don't have our best in mind, Calley has been on the inside and knows why this all works. Is it some massive conspiracy? Is it a coordinated attack on the American people? Is it just simply greed? This is a must-listen episode if you want to know the TRUTH behind how our food is now a weapon and what you can do about it to take back control and live as healthy as possible!

Human beings can handle just about anything. We can struggle through loss, heartbreak, job loss, financial collapse and so much more. The one thing that we CAN'T handle over even a short period of time is chaos. It can literally make us go crazy... What some may not realize is that we were about a quarter inch away from absolute chaos just a few short days ago. If that shot had been just a few millimeters over, we may be watching chaos unfold like none of us have ever seen. Are we out of the woods now though? Derek doesn't think so. This episode is not meant to be "doom and gloom." Instead, it is an intense look into what we should all be focusing on in this moment in history. It is an episode that should serve as a warning and a call to action; we have to get better and be better. It's our obligation. It's our duty.

When you live your day-to-day life, you may not think that you are making any type of an impact. It's very easy to discount what you do... In this episode Derek and Jess dive into how the peaks and valleys of life can be hard but just a few kind words can change everything. If you think that what you do doesn't matter, this is the episode that you HAVE to listen to.

Derek and Jess are celebrating their 17 year wedding anniversary! Rather than just talking about how easy it has been, they decided to get real and lay out their best and worst qualities... Often times in business, there will be team building exercises and personality tests and many other tools to help each other communicate at the highest level. Derek had an experience with a company that actually had the upper-level management lay out what they think the others' best and worst qualities were. This can help show an outside perspective of how people perceive one another and give insight into how you show up. While this can be very uncomfortable, it can also spark conversations that will spur growth. Derek and Jess wanted to do this very exercise in front of you all in hopes that it will not only help them in their marriage journey but also to inspire these conversations to happen in your relationship. Communication, honesty and growth has been key to their marriage and it can also be key to yours...if you're willing to do it. You are encouraged to take this episode's topic back to your significant other and get real. Your relationship will be better for it in the long run...

Do you have days that feel like you are on a rollercoaster and the only thing you want to do is get off? In this episode, Derek and Jess take you through "how they do it." Hint; they don't do it well despite what some people may think... Pursuing greatness will always be much harder and take much longer than we think so how is it that you can get through all of the days that feel like the lowest of lows? You keep going. You may cry (as Jess talks about). You might threaten to sell everything and go live in a subdivision (like Derek talks about). However, you dig down deep and keep going because the breakthrough always comes after the breakdown. You'll see how the day and even weeks of hell turned into one of the best and most rewarding days that they have had...simply because they kept going.

Ian Smith became known worldwide virtually overnight because of his stance on the lockdowns just a few short years ago. While most of the country was hunkering down and waiting on their "leaders" to tell them what they could do and how they could live, Ian took a different path: he refused to be locked down. Despite numerous fines, arrests and becoming a national villain for so many that were on board with the Covid policies, Ian made the decision to stay true to his beliefs. Some people love him. Some people hate him. Whatever your thoughts are on Ian, it's impossible to argue with his determination and backbone to stay true to what he believes. In this episode, Derek and Ian dive deep into his story and look at how he made his way through hell and come out the other side. If you struggle with sticking to what you believe in and how to stick to your beliefs, this is a must listen episode!

What do you accept as "normal?" Why do you think it's normal if it isn't right? After a recent trip to the Bay Area, Derek reflects on a conversation that he had that drove home the fact that sometimes, there may be no coming back. Sometimes the only way to stop doing something is to keep it from escalating yet so often, we let it get to that point anyways. Whether it comes to crime in our cities, our southern border or our own fitness or relationships, there is danger in simply accepting bad behavior. In this episode, Derek breaks down how this happens and how to keep it from ever escalating beyond the point of no return because by that time, it's probably too late...

Life and business isn't all rainbows and lollipops despite what we see on Instagram. Usually, especially if you are trying to accomplish big goals, there will be more problems that most feel like they can handle. What then? Recently Derek and Jess had to make a MASSIVE change in their business in order for it to be sustainable. It wasn't an easy decision. It certainly wasn't comfortable. How did they get through it? Honesty. This episode breaks down exactly how they faced the problem and how they proceeded to deal with it. As with anyone, they definitely don't have it all "figured out." However, this will be an episode to give you the picture on how they dealt with this big decision and how it was received by their customers and hopefully this can help you if or when you are in a similar situation.