What does it take to achieve peak performance while navigating life’s toughest transitions? Today on Success Unleash’d, hosts Zack Ellison and Shawne Merriman sit down with Ken Corigliano, aka Air Force Ken—a decorated veteran, trauma survivor, and trailblazing Chief Data & AI Officer. Ken opens up about his remarkable transformation after a traumatic brain injury, his experience within the military health system, and his breakthrough work in human performance optimization. From the science of sleep to brain regeneration technologies like NuCalm, Ken reveals how cutting-edge tools are revolutionizing recovery and resilience. Explore how veterans and pro athletes share similar mental and physical demands, and why consistency, purpose, and community are key to thriving post-transition. Whether you’re a high performer, a veteran, or someone seeking to unlock your full potential—this episode is packed with inspiration, insight, and practical takeaways you won’t want to miss.

Success Unleash’d Principles From This Episode

1. Prioritize Foundational Health For Peak Performance

Before pushing for external achievements, focus on optimizing your core well-being. Ken’s recovery from a traumatic brain injury, including hormone replacement and peptides, highlights the necessity of addressing underlying health issues.

2. Cultivate A Deep, Undying Purpose

Discover a purpose so profound that it drives you relentlessly. Ken’s motivation, stemming from his experience with homelessness and desire to provide for his family, illustrates how a deeply personal mission can fuel unwavering dedication.

3. Embrace Consistency Over Motivation

Understand that consistent action, regardless of daily motivation, leads to long-term success. Shawne emphasizes that showing up regularly, even when you don’t feel like it, ensures continuous progress and eventual victory.

4. Strategic Planning For Life Transitions

Meticulously map out your future and anticipate challenges when transitioning between significant life phases. Ken’s detailed plan for civilian life, including financial security and personal growth, underscores the importance of forethought.

5. Acknowledge & Adapt to Identity Shifts

Major transitions, like leaving a high-stakes career, involve a loss of identity. Recognize this shift and consciously adjust to build a new sense of self.

6. Prioritize Quality Sleep As Non-Negotiable

Treat sleep as a fundamental pillar of your health and performance. Both Ken and Shawne stress that consistent, sufficient sleep is as vital as eating and drinking water, impacting everything from physical recovery to cognitive function.

7. Address Underlying Trauma & Self-Reflect

Confront past traumas and engage in self-introspection for holistic healing and growth. Self-reflection and healing are crucial for overall well-being.

8. Be Discerning With Your Inputs, Especially Food & Stimulants

Pay close attention to what you consume, understanding its long-term cumulative effects. Mindful consumption, favoring highly refined sources, supports optimal performance.

9. Cultivate Genuine Human Connection

Actively seek out and nurture meaningful relationships, as loneliness is a significant contributor to psychological distress. Prioritize human interaction for mental and emotional health.

10. View Obstacles As Precursors To Success

Develop a mindset that interprets challenges and setbacks as signs that a major achievement is near. Difficulties often arise right before breakthroughs, reinforcing patience and perseverance.

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Watch the Episode Here

Listen to the Podcast Here

Peak Performance & Military Transition: From Air Force To AI With Ken Corigliano

We have with us Ken Corigliano, better known as Air Force Ken. Thank you for joining.

It’s a pleasure. I  appreciate the invite. I’m very grateful. It’s my duty to serve.

Tell everybody what you’re doing and how you got here.

I’m North of Detroit. I’m with a company called Transcend Company. We do hormone replacement, human performance optimization, peptides, early interventional medicine, and regenerative medicine, all through telehealth.

I know you guys well. That’s a lot of alternative stuff from what’s been out there. A close friend of mine for a long time, Phil Heath, you guys work with him. Jumping in it, for me personally as a former athlete, I know exactly what you guys have done and the direction you’re headed. I know about the company and the products.

I looked into you guys. You guys have done a hell of a job over the course of the years, growing and providing a different alternative perspective that’s healthier and the right way to do things. Talk to me a little bit about how you got the background on that. You guys are so diverse and ahead of the curve. The products and some of the things you introduced into the market, how did you get into that side of it?

Overcoming Traumatic Brain Injury & Military Health System Challenges

I’m going to have a lot of strong opinions here, and they won’t necessarily be company lines. I had a traumatic brain injury in 2011. I spent six months in Iraq with no medical assistance. I was screwed up. For the next decade or so, I was inside the Military health system. If you ask any civilian on the street who hasn’t served or doesn’t know anyone who served, they’d be like, “The Military gets the best.” It’s not. The system is broken, and I was a product of that.

I spent over a decade being recycled in and out of medical appointments, getting canceled, and all that stuff. My appointments were being canceled as I either deploy or change duty stations, and all this nonsense. I have a friend, Rob Wilkins. He invited me to this event in DC, where they honor veterans, called the American Veterans Center. It was a huge gala. They honor all these World War II vets. They fly them up to the memorial and all that stuff.

I happened to be there. Transcend Company has the Transcend Foundation, which provides services for free for Military members like me. The executive director of the foundation was there and was like, “Have you had your blood panels run?” I was like, “I don’t even know what that is.” Sure enough, for thirteen years, I never even ran my blood panels. They came out, and my testosterone was so low.

I remember the wellness specialist called me and was like, “Are you like in the hospital?” I was like, “No. I got off a 30-mile bike ride. I’m going for a run.” He was like, “That’s not possible. Your markers are so screwed up.” That was many years ago. After two weeks, I was back at it. We had a huge, comprehensive panel done and protocols done. The approach that they took was amazing. I owe a debt of gratitude to them, so I retired from the Air Force to join them as a chief data and artificial intelligence officer.

Ken, what kind of stuff did you do that helped you? I’m curious what others could learn from it.

We did a full frontal assault. First, it was testosterone injections, which were critical. That brought me to where I was leveled out and wasn’t so pissed off and angry. I then had dihexa, which was huge. I had a bunch of other peptides that we combined, and then I added supplementation as well.

What’s dihexa?

Dihexa is the compound on which the movie Limitless is based. It helps regenerate neural connections in the brain. What I’ve noticed is being able to contextually expand in a conversation, like in the Limitless movie.

How do you get hold of that? How does the average person on the street get access to that?

It needs a pharmacy prescription from a medical provider. We provide access to our clients for that.

I have one question. I played in San Diego with the Chargers. You got Miramar there. You got Camp Pendleton. I’ve worked with the Military for a lot of years. Back in Maryland, you have the Andrews Air Force Base. I’ve always worked with the Military. I’ve always found that there are a lot of similarities. We sit down and talk about former athletes, especially football players, who are moving on to the next thing. The Military is more extreme. You guys are more extreme. I found it always fascinating, the correlation between an athlete and the Military in general. We sit down and have these talks.

For us, our dedicated time was on the field, lifting weights, or watching film. You’re not ahead of the business side of things. It pisses me off when I hear athletes are dumb. Our job for 12 to 14 hours a day since we were kids was to get better as an athlete or get better as a player. That doesn’t mean we’re dumb. You know more because instead of playing, tackling, or whatever you’re doing, you were learning business. You were learning things. You talked about being an investor. You’re an investor in multiple things. When did that transition start when you were able to wrap your head around moving on from that to that?

Strategic Planning For Military To Civilian Transition

One of the weird effects of my brain injury is that I can see and taste information. My cause-and-effect relationship abilities are unbelievable. I see and taste sounds, smells, and everything. What happened was that when my wife was pregnant, I was cooking on the stove. I look over her belly and I see a foot push out. I was like, “I’m going to be responsible for a human being. I need to get it together. Eventually, the Air Force is going to be a distant memory. Let’s fast forward 15 or 18 years from now when this kid is on his own. What do I need to look like?”

I drafted a very comprehensive plan of like, “This is who I need to be,” not the material stuff or whatever. I was like, “What are my idiosyncrasies? What are the things I don’t do well? What are the things that get me in trouble? What do I do well?” I mapped out, “How do I get to a guy who’s financially secure, very mature, and comfortable in my own skin?”

Everyone, when they leave Ken, they go, “I’m so glad I met Ken.” That was my main goal. I started years ahead of time. I know that doesn’t help a lot of people, but that is tremendous advice to start years out early. Business is a big thing. People in the government don’t know crap about business. There is a huge difference. There isn’t a guaranteed paycheck. You goof up on Tuesday, and you are out on Wednesday. It’s different. There is a big difference.

I’ve got to ask you. What other tips, processes, and habits have you learned that you think would be helpful for other veterans who are transitioning into civilian life, especially in business, but in general? What more can you tell us? I love the thought of mapping it all out, building out a strategic plan in advance, and thinking with the end in mind. What else would you add to that?

This is what I tell people. You realize why you went in. There’s typically 1 of 2, or maybe a 3rd. The first one is that you have no other options. It is either jail, you get homeless, or you’re going to the Military. That’s a lot of people. That was me. The second one is that you want to get college credit, or you want some kind of Military benefit. The third one is a sense of duty. Not a lot of people do that.

Realize which one of those choices you made to get in so that you understand what kind of person you are. If you leave the Military and you want that same experience of everything being taken care of for you, that’s going to be a hard transition. You need to get some counseling, some help, and some professional services done so you can understand how it hits hard.

I was prepared, Zack. It hit hard, too. I didn’t realize there was a whole month where I didn’t get a paycheck. I wasn’t good with my finances. Then, there was medical care and all that stuff. Get that sped up when that day occurs on the 30th or the 31st. First, you’re a civilian. You’ve got to game out. Have folders that are structured. Have dates on the calendar. The historical data that you need when you transition is unbelievable. I’m a chief data officer, and my data was off. I had to put them in places and make sure the dates were right and everything, so that I could refer back. That’s a big deal.

When you transfer and what kind of job you’re looking for, you need to look inside and go, “What am I capable of? What do I want to push the envelope at? What are the gaps for me?” Be honest with yourself. If you try to get out and be like, “I was a staff sergeant,” or, “I’m a colonel or even a general,” that doesn’t equate. People don’t care about that on the other side. You need to know how you are going to lead people and how you are going to follow. That’s important.

Let me ask you. I said the correlation between athletes and the Military. Many of my buddies are former Military. Some of them are still in reserve or something. I heard you say the word civilian. The only people who have that mindset when they get done with something are the Military and somebody who’s an athlete. You start looking, and you’re a civilian.

We’ve always existed as humans, but you have this newly found thing that you’re like everybody else. What adjustment did you have to make personally, leaving that life? You technically never leave, but you have to adjust to something else. That civilian word to me is very important. I understand that more than anything when you said that.

It’s a big deal. It was a slide into what I felt was almost irrelevant. I knew classified information. I knew what was going on in the news. I was part of something huge, important, big, and critical. Sliding out of that hurt. Having the same clothes every day reflected something, like the standards. There are ways to stand out in having a sharp uniform and the way you conduct yourself.

Wearing that uniform was tough, taking it off and not sending that signal to other people. Now, I’m in some clothes. That was hard. It’s the same with athletes. I’m an athlete, too. You are showing up and you have your suit on, your letters, or whatever it is, as an athlete on the field competing. When I went to work, I was in the field. I was in the spotlight. Stepping out of that and losing that identity was quite tough.

What sports did you focus on?

I did an Olympic distance triathlon. I almost had an Olympic debut, but got messed up with the car accident. As soon as I got my legs under me, I transferred into obstacle course racing and Ninja Warrior stuff. I still do triathlons. I got a bronze medal. It was pretty cool. I broke two world records for the longest-serving Military triathlete in world history. I did Ninja Warrior and all this other stuff. I like to go fast between A and B.

We do have some similarities because I did American Ninja Warrior. I’m sure that yours probably ended a whole lot better than mine. For somebody that’s 270 pounds, for me to get past 4 to 6, I was, I was proud. What they didn’t tell me was that jumping on the trampoline at 270 was going to hit the bottom of it. I didn’t make it to the ropes. I thought I was going to drown on national TV. We do have something in common there.

That’s tough. Being an athlete, especially if it’s televised, is forever. The stress I went through knowing that there was going to be memes of my butt falling in the water and hitting my face was tough. Athletes have a huge advantage of being under pressure in the limelight. That’s next-level stuff where most people don’t even understand. People are falling apart behind the scenes, and they don’t even compete because they’ve fallen apart.

I’m glad you brought that up. On a serious note, a lot of guys that I know who played at a high level professionally have suffered from PTSD, to be honest, because of the amount of stress, because they’re performing in front of millions. To your point, one mistake and everybody in the world is hating on them, making fun of them, and degrading them. Worse, it goes on social media, and it goes viral. Tens of millions of people see it. That’s pretty stressful.

The only thing more stressful, and I’ve had this conversation many times with guests on this show and others, is when you’re in the Military and your life’s on the line. That’s the most stressful. The second most stressful thing is what pro athletes go through. In my mind, I can’t think of anything more stressful than that for somebody who’s not in the Military.

Media talent like actors and actresses, I did some of that. That’s tough, being recorded and having lights all over you.

I want to do something. I got two guys on. Both of you guys are high performers. I want to go with both of you guys and ask you for some of your tips. What can people do to improve their performance right from the get-go? Ken, we’ll start with you, and then we’ll go to Shawne. I’m curious about things that anybody can do to step up their game immediately.

Purpose & Consistency As Pillars Of High Performance

Immediately, first is to get some deep, unbelievable, undying, massively lit purpose. What I ask people on my shows is, “What would you die for before you let it happen?” It’s usually something vague, but go deep. For me, my kids will never have a cold bed and cold food. Anybody I love is going to have food and a warm bed because I was homeless at one time, and I know how that feels.

Anytime I go on the screen or I’m on the field, I tell people on the left or the right, “Unless you’re ready to die on this course, you’re facing second place.” It’s that deep purpose. It doesn’t matter after that. You could screw up a lot of your training and you’d still be deadly out there. Look at what the best people in the world do. Emulate them and then get their coach. Book closed. Those are two tips.

One thing I do agree with you on, Ken, is the purpose. You have to have a purpose to get out of bed. Every day is not going to be the greatest. You have to have something that’s going to get you up in the morning. That’s one. Zack, the biggest thing for me after you have a purpose to do something is consistency. People underestimate consistency. Regardless of whatever’s happening that day, it doesn’t matter because you’re going to be so consistent long enough that you eventually win.

You’re not going to be motivated every day. You’re not going to get up and want to go to the gym. You’re not going to want to get up and go and do whatever you’ve got to do that day. If you are consistent enough to get through that day and get through the next day, and you do it long enough, eventually, you’ll get to where you want to go.

People ask me all the time because I still go to the gym 5 or 6 days a week. Zack, we worked out together. Every single workout that I go to, I’m not trying to go and do Olympic trials. I’m not trying to set some records. I’m not trying to go do a bench record or a squat record. If you go in there, some of them days are like. On Tuesday or Wednesday, you don’t feel like going in there at all. You get a 45-minute circuit in, do 30 minutes of the stair climber, stretch, and do abs at the end.

I’m not going in there to kick everybody’s butt seven days a week. If you stay consistent enough on the days you don’t want to go, you are eventually going to be so far ahead of everyone else. There are people who go into the gym for 2 weeks or 3 weeks, hit it hard, do it big, and then they don’t see the gym for another month or two. If you go in there consistently enough or you do something consistently enough, you’re going to eventually get there. That, for me personally, is the most important part.

I love both those points, having the purpose and then having the consistency to reach whatever goals you’re setting. One thing I would add to it is having great integrity and setting out to add value for others. When you have that type of mentality where you’re thinking about the team first, in a sense, it brings about a lot more opportunities.

One of the things I think about a lot is this idea of short-term transactions versus long-term relationships. There’s a real bias in the market towards people thinking about short-term transactions and being very selfish in trying to take as much as they can in a specific instance without regard to the value that can be created if they acted more fairly and were more willing to collaborate in the beginning.

That’s what sets me apart as a fund manager. I tried to partner with hundreds of people over the years, or they’ve approached me. Sometimes, I’ve approached them. I kid you not, 99% fall apart because they wind up being pretty selfish and not being good people. You don’t find that out initially. It’s usually in the ninth inning with two outs that you find out, “This person wasted the entire game. It was a complete waste of my time.”

That’s one thing I encourage people to think about. Are you the type of person that others trust and that they want to work with consistently, and that they want to work with again? Sometimes, you get one at bat. You’ve got to get on base. Otherwise, you’re out, and you’re not going to get another time at bat. That’s the other thing I’d add to what you guys are saying. I agree that purpose and consistency are key to everything.

Ken, the other thing I wanted to bring up briefly is that offline, you had mentioned that there was a product that you had used called NuCalm that helped you a lot. We had the founder on the show, Jim. He did a great job, I love the product, I’ve tried it, but I haven’t used it extensively. I wanted to get your thoughts on that, if you felt like that made a difference for you and your performance.

The consistency of NuCalm is important, like supplementation or working out. Part of this previous story is that I started getting desperate about eleven years into the injury. My fingernails were falling out. My hair was falling out. I couldn’t sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time. I had a lot of PTSD dreams, nightmares, and all this stuff, so I started going out to Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show.

There are 1,000 people in this huge convention. There were drones flying around. There were speakers and TVs. Right in the middle of all this chaos, people were sleeping in the middle of the convention. I walk over them, I haven’t slept in eleven years. I grabbed somebody who was there who looked like they were in charge. I told him my story, and he was like, “Jim loves guys like you.” He grabbed Jim, the CEO, who was on your show. He was like, “Are you one of our heroes?” I was like, “Yeah.”

This line was wrapped around. There are 300 people in line to get 15 minutes of sleep. It was chaos. I popped these on and I dreamt for the first time in eleven years. I was like, “I want this.” At the time, it was rescue tracks. I used that on loop. I started ripping the tracks off and programming them with certain hertz and everything, and then applying my workouts to them. I could tell you the improvement of watts per heartbeat on certain workouts based on what tracks I was using for how long and stuff. I built this huge scientific database on it.

For me, it was getting my fight, flight, and freeze mechanism that was always on. It was always pegged at 10. I got it down to 6 or 5 so I could function. My body started recovering a bit and healing a bit. I wasn’t hating my bed. NuCalm was instrumental in the beginning of my recovery so that I wasn’t a maniac or an aggressive, crazy madman all the time. That was amazing.

Now, they have a flow track. They have a purpose. I listen to all those things before I do a podcast. I do ignite. That’s dope. I crush people’s skulls with that thing. The suite of tools inside NuCalm, because they are algorithms, not just lullaby music and pump-up music, affect the core of the brain to do what it says it’s going to do. I don’t know where I would be.

You and Jim met at CES. That’s pretty cool. Shawne and I were out there. Shawne goes every year. Shawne, you’re a staple at CES. It was my first time going, and it was insane. 150,000 people hit the city. Every single consumer electronics brand in the world was showing off its best ideas. That was quite an experience. Shawne had about 60 meetings lined up with everybody that matters in the streaming space, connected TV, and sports and entertainment. It was an awesome event.

That’s great. I’ll go with you guys in 2026. I had a blast.

The Critical Importance Of Sleep

There is one thing I wanted to add to that. When you talk about performance, and not just performance like working out in the gym, but how important sleep is, you don’t even understand how important it is. I got people who are friends of mine who work a crazy amount of hours and can’t sleep more than 3 or 4 hours a night. I’m like, “That’s okay, but you do that for 30 years and you are going to be in some trouble. You can’t.”

You talk about sleep and how NuCalm has changed everything you’re doing. I can’t stress enough to people, “I don’t give a heck how much you’re grinding away or how much you’re working. If you don’t sleep, eventually, something’s going to break down.” I wanted to jump in and say that because it’s as important as eating, drinking water, and anything else. If you don’t sleep for a long period of time, you will be in trouble of some sort.

Shawne, I’ll send you a copy of my book. I got this cool intro on there about how fascinatingly intelligent the human nervous system is where it will disable you in certain parts of your body. If you’re not sleeping, you’re going to get crushed, you’re going to get sick, and you’re going to have joint problems. It’s going to get you into bed somehow. You cannot mess around with that. I cannot agree with you more.

Ken, talk a little bit about your book.

It’s not a huge bestseller, but it distilled a lot of information that I had learned. I was an intelligence analyst in the Air Force. I read probably 150,000 pages every year. That’s equivalent to a PhD every year. I’m an avid, crazy learner. I’ve learned a tremendous amount about the human experience, the mind, the body, the spirit, nature, the universe, and how intertwined everything is.

I’ve distilled in this particular book the nervous system and how incredibly intelligent it is. Everyone holds a baby on their left side because the hearts communicate through the electromagnetic spectrum. There is all this cool stuff. If you’re interested in anything like that, it’s on Amazon. You can Google me, Air Force Ken, and you should be able to see it. It’s pretty cool.

While we’re on the topic of performance, Shawne mentioned sleep, which I couldn’t agree with more. That’s probably the most fundamental thing. What do you guys eat, and what should you be eating? I’ve seen Shawne eat. He can eat whatever he wants, and he’s still going to be 275 and ripped. Let’s say somebody didn’t have Shawne’s genetics. What should people be eating for optimal performance?

For me?

Yeah, and then I want to hear what Shawne would say.

You can ask me. I had a bowl of cereal and a honey bun before we got off. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be in the gym six days a week. I was in the gym this morning at 5:30. I have days where I can get away with it. I do feel that when I slow down and I don’t want to hit the gym six days a week, I have to change that up. Diet is important, even if you are in shape. I’ve got to get better with that. Ken, you’re probably much better than I am because I pretty much slam it down whenever I please.

You’re getting up there. I turned 40. You’d better start counting.

I know. It’s coming.

This is an interesting one. If you want to piss people off, talk about religion, raising kids, and what they eat. This is a hard subject. For me, there’s a lot to consider. First, it’s cumulative. If you keep eating a lot of crap, you can run on it and burn it for a long time. We discovered this in the ultra-running community. People are dying of heart attacks because they are running 100 miles and stuff, but they drank so much water and the calcium and all the hard crap in the water was calcifying their heart. There were drawbacks and everything.

What I do know is that in the Blue Zone study, nothing was shared in nutrition. What they shared was that they spoke to each other, so there was face-to-face communication, and they walked. That was the only two things that they all shared. Nutrition didn’t play that big of a role. What I say is if you eat it and you can’t do a hard workout right after, it’s probably not something that you should be eating. If your body can’t do it while under duress, it’s probably not good for you.

I don’t do caffeine unless it’s highly perfected caffeine for performance. I don’t use any food coloring and preservatives. We stay away from four-legged animals, dairy, and oils. Cottonseed oils and all that, we stay away from that stuff. Those general things you won’t be able to shop for at the grocery store anymore, but you’ll be healthy.

Ken, when you talk about caffeine, I’ve heard both sides of that argument. Some people think it can be used as a very effective performance enhancer that has positive benefits, but a lot of people think it has negative benefits. What have you found in caffeine generally?

This is the same argument as protein. With the strands of protein, there’s pollution. I have this in my book, too. There is always some other crap attached to molecules. You can’t get pure molecules. Caffeine is the same way. It depends on where it’s from. If you’re getting like the junk caffeine, especially from coffees and stuff like that, your nervous system does not like that as much. You’ll have some inflammatory response.

There are other pure caffeine sources that you can find that are of a more highly refined variety and source. Those are the ones that I use for my sports performance purposes. That’s it. You can build a tolerance to it, and it does have side effects as far as long-term usage of it. You’ll have to keep using it. It’ll mess up your gut biome, which will mess up your hormones, which I’m an expert on. You don’t want to screw around with your hormones too much with things that you eat though. That’s my advice. If you’re going to use it, use highly refined pharmaceutical-grade caffeine products.

We’ve got about five minutes left, so I wanted to do a couple of Rapid-fire questions and answers with you, Ken. My first question is, what’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken, and how did it pan out?

Probably separating from the Military. It worked out pretty well. I was too big for it. It didn’t have enough vertical expansion for me. I came out and I was like, “If I’m not crushing it in six months, this is going to be a bad situation.” I’m at the six-month mark, and I’m crushing it. It’s great.

Zack, I know you have questions, but I want to ask something in particular on that side. I felt the same way in my last year with the Buffalo Bills. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to complain about a $1 million contract. Even after taxes of $500,000 or $600,000, I am still making a lot of money. It was like, “You got injuries. You’re older.” I was given a veteran’s minimum. There was a ceiling there for me that I didn’t like. Unless there were some crazy incentives where I go out and get 10 sacks and I can make $10 million out, there was something that was going to be a bigger ceiling. Did you feel like your ceiling was tapped out being there in the Military?

Yeah. I tell people, “If Mark Zuckerberg were in the military right now, he’d be a captain.” What kind of talent management would you be doing? It’s all tenure-based. Unless you kill somebody or do drugs or DUI, you’re going to get promoted. It’s terrible. That’s why the new administration is cleaning house. There are a lot of slugs that got promoted up there. I will tell you that.

There was a ceiling. I’m like, “Make me a colonel right now. I can do a better job than all these monkeys. Let’s get some automation and some AI in here.” There was a huge ceiling, and there was no way of getting through it. I’m going back as a restart advisor equivalent. I get to oversee all those people in a different way. Shawne, I’m sure you have more to that story, but you can do more on the outside, many times.

Ken, are there any books, podcasts, or other resources that you highly recommend that people should get in touch with?

What Happened to You? is a good book. It explains a lot of trauma. People need to address their trauma, Zack. We fill it in with retail therapy, social media, video games, and our cell phones. It could be any book that helps with self-reflection. Unfu*k Yourself is an unbelievably good book. Self-introspection, anything that you can look at yourself, heal others, and see others in a more empathetic way so that you can accept them is the best. It’s awesome.

I have one question for both you and Shawne. The question is, if you could give 1 piece of advice to your 20-year-old self, what would it be? Ken, let’s start with you.

Stack your dollars. Don’t buy from, but buy them. If something’s good, buy them. Don’t buy from. That would be my advice.

For me, it’s to slow down. When you’re younger, everything is rushed. You’ve got to get it right now. You’ve got to do it right now. You’re not looking at making the best decisions because you’re rushing through everything. I was young when I got drafted as an NFL player at the time. Defensive Rookie of the Year, all these accolades and everything, people want you here, and you want to go here, it’s, “Yes. Let’s do it.” Instead of that, say, “Let’s slow down and look at everything. Let me sit down and look at everything. Let me start making different decisions.”

For me, it’s to slow down. Due to my experience, everything’s a matrix for me. Everything is slow motion. I can see it coming ten miles away. The decision-making is a lot better because I’m slow-rolling it. Even if I want to do something, it’s like, “Not right now. Let me look at it.” Do not say yes. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Learn no. That’s the biggest thing. It took me a long time to learn the word no. Once I learned the word no, it was one of the best feelings you can have, not even being an athlete. Any entrepreneur or anybody, when you learn to say no, it opens up the door to even better options. When you say no, you look at things a lot differently.

Those are great pieces of advice. One I’ll add to it for myself is to be patient. There were a lot of things that I saw in my mind when I was young that I knew would happen, but they maybe took a lot longer than I thought they would. It was a lot harder to get there. They’ve all happened. Everything I’ve set my mind to in my entire life, I’ve accomplished, but the process of getting there was infinitely harder than I thought it would be.

The second piece of advice I’d give myself is to get comfortable being uncomfortable. Being successful is a heck of a lot of work. It’s not easy. It’s painful for anyone who’s achieved it. I wish I had learned that earlier. Now that I know that, I’m like, “If I had been a little bit more patient, it would’ve all happened anyway. I wouldn’t have been as stressed out or pissed off along the way. I would’ve been a happier person.”

We’re done, but I’ll quickly summarize a couple of your key points and Shawne’s key points. Ken, you said to create a map of your plan, and then find a deep purpose. Emulate the best in the world. Surround yourself with the best people that you can. Shawne mentioned being consistent and showing up every day. Both of you mentioned being disciplined.

I talked about having integrity, being open to possibilities, and being long-term focused as opposed to being short-term and transactionally focused. Shawne mentioned slowing down. That makes sense. To me, that’s like being patient. Things will come to you. You always have to be pushing, but know that sometimes slowing down a little could make it a little easier. Stacking your money goes for everybody. Whether it be pro athletes, veterans, or every single person, start saving early and let your money work for you in compounding.

There were a couple of things you guys touched on in terms of performance. Shawne mentioned getting sleep. Ken, that was critical for you, as well as finding NuCalm as a tool to help with that, and all the work you’ve done on your own, like researching things that you can do to improve your sleep quality, along with everything else.

I also like what you said, Ken, about addressing trauma. A lot of people have trauma in their lives, and it festers under the surface. I’m no psychologist or psychiatrist, but I see that with a lot of people. They have things that happened in their past that they can’t let go of. Addressing that is important. Last but not least is human interaction. Ken, you mentioned that in terms of one of the things that the Blue Zone study identified as making people healthier is having quality human interaction with family and friends. So

Addressing Trauma/Loneliness

Zack, the only single shared ingredient of all psychological disorders, including death by suicide, is loneliness. All of them. If you eliminate that, you reduce your chances by a tremendous amount. There is one thing, too, I forgot to say. There’s a weird little thing that the things that I don’t do for recognition and that no one will see eventually get me recognized. Shawne’s the same way with this. When you got those medals, decorations, and awards, Shawne, there were moments in earning those where you were probably not in good character. If you knew that this medal, this award, or this decoration was coming, you would’ve performed steadily with duty, honor, integrity, the whole way.

One piece of my advice here, and I’ve never articulated this ever before, is to know that there’s some kind of recognition coming. You don’t want any regret. Pretend that you’re going to be on stage receiving some kind of award for what you’re doing. If I had known all the decorations and awards I would’ve gotten, I would’ve acted a lot better, nicer, and more respectful when it got hard.

Ken, I’ve got to add one last thought. I know we’re over time, but I have to add this because you nailed it. One of the things I’ve noticed in life is that whenever I’ve been close to a big achievement, a lot of things go wrong right before that. Now, I view things going wrong as a sign that things are about to go well. It’s like the law of the universe. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s just me, but every time I knew something big was going to happen, there would be a lot of obstacles that popped up. Shawne, we’ve talked about this in your life, too. This is very true for people. Being patient and knowing that good things are going to happen if you stick with it, to me, is mission-critical.

Ken, I appreciate it. This is great. I have so many friends who are in the Military. I appreciate everything there, but getting a chance to talk to like-minded people, although you guys had a little bit more danger in what you did, there’s a lot of transitioning that I understand. I appreciate you coming on.

Thank you. The honor is all mine. This is awesome. I appreciate you putting me on here. Thanks so much. I appreciate it. You guys are awesome.

Thanks, Ken. Bye.

Important Links

• Zack Ellison on LinkedIn
• Zack Ellison on Instagram
• The 7 in 7 Show with Zack Ellison (podcast)
• Applied Real Intelligence (A.R.I.) website
• Shawne Merriman on LinkedIn
• Shawne Merriman on Instagram
• Lights Out Sports TV website
• Lights Out Xtreme Fighting website
• Ken Corigliano on LinkedIn
• Transcend Company
• Air Force Ken
• Ken Corigliano on Instagram
• State of Being: How Everything You Need to Win is Within You
• What Happened to You?
• Unfu*k Yourself
• Creating A Revolutionary Technology With Jim Poole, Introducing Jim Poole Of NuCalm

About Ken Corigliano

Kenneth Corigliano is a highly accomplished individual with a diverse background in military intelligence, artificial intelligence, and business. Currently, he serves as the Chief Data and AI Officer at Transcend Company. He has held significant roles at the Defense Intelligence Agency, including Deputy Chief positions in Future Capabilities and Innovation, as well as Space and Counterspace Analysis.

His work includes leading a major investigation into user experience across intelligence community tools, resulting in substantial funding increases. He has received multiple awards from the USAF, DNI, and OSD, and is a member of the MENSA ProdigyWorks “Genius” group. He built the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Ukraine Common Operational and Intelligence Picture and led AI efforts for the US European Command.

Ken architected the “Go-IC” data fusion feed for the Intelligence Community and played a key role in adopting geospatial visualization tools within the USG. He created the USAF’s “Fight on JWICS” program and delivered a keynote speech on quantum technologies to a Congressional Delegation. He has authored and contributed to numerous strategic documents on AI and defense technologies.

He holds certifications from MIT in Business Applications of Artificial Intelligence and leadership training from Disney, John C. Maxwell, and Franklin Covey. He has a Masters in International Relations and dual Bachelors in International Relations and Political Science.

Additionally, he is a three-time world champion in endurance sports, has been featured on multiple television networks, and is a published author. He developed the “Corigliano Method” for data visualization and holds numerous patents, trademarks, and copyrights. He is also a world-ranked triathlete and obstacle course racer.

Ken has synesthesia, allowing him to perceive information across multiple senses, which he leverages to understand complex relationships. He has a proven track record of transforming industries and is recognized for his strategic and tactical insights in artificial intelligence.