She grew up with no roadmap, no support, and no clear path forward. One pull-up changed everything, leading her into the Army and a career in explosive ordnance disposal. Twelve years later, Kaitlyn Hernandez built a life defined by discipline, resilience, and service. She shares how daily discomfort, purpose, and small hard choices shaped her mindset, helping her run a bomb-suit mile, set a world record, and tackle some of the military's toughest challenges. 3 Key Learnings:

• Small daily challenges build discipline, mental toughness, and high-stakes performance
• Leaning into discomfort strengthens resilience, focus, and decision-making
• Purpose, service, and consistent action create long-term endurance and growth

3 Tools / Frameworks:

• Controlled discomfort protocols: rucking, cold exposure, physical stress
• CNS reset through structured challenges
• Mindset reframing: "I get to, not I have to" and "Fix your face" to shift state

Timestamps:

• 00:51 – Growing up without structure and finding purpose in service

• 02:27 – Joining the military and discovering direction

• 04:08 – How she chose the bomb squad and what EOD means

• 07:48 – What EOD teams do during stateside and presidential missions

• 09:14 – How bomb suit training works and what "bomb suit dumb" means

• 10:28 – Breaking the world record and the strategy behind it

• 12:59 – Running a bomb-suit mile on all seven continents

• 13:39 – Preparing for the Antarctica mission and raising awareness

• 18:50 – Her step-by-step advice for building resilience through daily discomfort

Start with one hard thing, lean into discomfort, and build discipline through daily action. 📲 Short, Impactful Content 👉 Instagram: @spartanuppodcast 👉 From me directly: @realjoedesena 💥 Join the Spartan Community: 👉 Find Your Next Spartan Race: https://www.spartan.com/en/race/find-race 👉 For everything Spartan: https://www.spartan.com/