My next guests are nothing short of awe-inspiring. I was finally able to sit down and have a conversation with the incredibly talented Freestyle Skydiving team, XP Ascend. Using the term, “talented” however, would actually be somewhat misleading because Jason Brigmon and Jake Carlton, the dynamic duo who’ve turned XP Ascend into the international powerhouse it has become, have worked dilligently to forge their vision of excellence into a reality. Not only have they dominated the U.S. National and world stages of competition over the last two years, but through laser-focused dedication and a leaning towards innovation, they continue to break the barriers of what was previously thought possible in the world of multi-axis precision body flight. 

Jake and Jason’s meteoric rise to success has done nothing to diminish their humility or approachability and has only enhanced their energetic and effervescent passion to raise the bar of body flight and to help skydivers of all ability levels improve their skills and collectively ascend to higher summits.

Please welcome Jason Brigmon and Jake Carlton. 

My next guest is Scott Festa. Scott is a former U.S. Army Green Beret Colonel, current business owner, Physician’s Assistant and adventure-philanthropist who creates intensive physical and mental endurance challenges  to raise money and awareness for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. 

In this episode you’ll learn how Scott prepares physically and psychologically to take on these incredible challenges while being driven by the mantra, “No child deserves cancer.” 

If you’d like to consider donating or finding other ways get involved, please visit the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital website at stjude.org, that’s www.stjude.org.

Kirk Verner is a current member of the US 8-way Formation Skydiving Team and is one of the original and founding members of one of the most successful 4-way teams in history - Arizona Airspeed. 

With a skydiving career spanning just over 4 decades, Kirk has amassed an impressive list of achievements. He’s a 2x 4-way Formation Skydiving World Champion, 4x 8-way World Champion and 1x Indoor 8-way World Champion. 

At almost 57 years of age, Kirk is one of the most relentless people I know and he’s showing no signs of slowing down. His mental and physical toughness are otherworldly and are matched by very few - of any age.

Kirk has been an inspiration and role model for me since I was just 16 years old and I’m honored to be his teammate on the US Team for the 2023 and 2024 competition seasons.