He grew up sleeping on bricks in a tent extension of a caravan — and turned that raw struggle into a life of building and exiting companies.

From bankrupt parents filleting fish in New Zealand to bootstrapping a tech platform out of the printing business, this is the story of resilience, obsession, and choosing struggle as a way of life. In this conversation, the masks come off: money raised too early, founders eating tuna and rice for years, and the real cost of chasing KPIs.

Key Episode Highlights:

From signboards to tech platforms — how a “boring” problem created a powerful business

Why bootstrapping teaches lessons no VC cheque ever could

The brutal caravan childhood that forged founder resilience

Struggle meals, scams, and survival abroad

Honouring family sacrifices while building something bigger

Why business becomes identity — and the richest version of life

The crossroads of raising VC vs. keeping control

Why monetisation is the ultimate validation test

100 true fans vs. 500,000 free users

Tall poppy syndrome, Gen Z ambition, and thinking differently in Australia

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro – Business talk finally begins

00:01 First Startup – From signboards to tech platform

00:04 Bootstrapping – Hard lessons and discipline

00:07 Market Validation – Data, pain points, and talking to users

00:11 Struggle Story – Growing up in a caravan

00:16 Chosen Struggle – Founders chasing hardship

00:17 Struggle Meals – Scams, survival, and hunger in Germany

00:18 Family Sacrifice – Honouring parents’ struggle

00:20 Business Identity – Why founders keep building

00:25 VC Crossroads – Deciding whether to take funding

00:29 Monetisation – Paying users vs. free noise

00:31 100 True Fans – Why depth beats scale

00:36 Content Leverage – Documenting, building in public, and strategy

00:40 Tall Poppy Syndrome – Thinking differently in Australia

Follow Our Podcast Studio:

Follow Our Podcast Studio:

🎥 https://www.linkedin.com/company/candid-studios/

Nick’s Apps:

🧠 SCULPTED → https://sculpted.site

📚 LivFree → https://livfree.live

⚽️ B42 → https://b-42.com

Follow Nick:

🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-kratochvil/

📸 https://www.instagram.com/nickratochvil/

Meet The Team:

🎬 Editor – https://www.instagram.com/jethropaco/

🎨 Design – https://www.instagram.com/shanika.j11/

🎙 Producer – https://www.instagram.com/_charlieslattery/

📂 Podcast Manager – https://www.instagram.com/alfiogangemi_/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

He lost in the first round at the Olympics, on camera, and cried. Now he’s chasing a medal with nothing left to lose.

Josh Katz is no stranger to pain. After reconstructive knee surgery and ten months away from competition, he’s back, mentally sharper, emotionally lighter, and physically primed. But this episode isn't just about rehab and comeback. It’s a raw dive into what it really costs to pursue greatness. Josh opens up about missing life outside the mat, building a mentorship business with his brother, and why hard work isn’t enough to guarantee success. This isn’t inspiration. It’s reality.

Key Episode Highlights:

• Why losing early at the Olympics might’ve saved his career

• How rehab forced him to face what he’d sacrificed, and what he wanted back

• The brutal truth about effort: “Working hard is the bare minimum”

• Inside the subjective politics of Olympic selection

• Why some athletes thrive without goals, and others can’t survive without them

• The surprising camaraderie inside an individual combat sport

• What makes a coach actually credible (hint: not medals)

• Why he avoids coaching elite athletes… for now

• Starting a business to teach resilience, while still chasing his own

• The most honest answer he gives students chasing “impossible” dreams

Follow Our Podcast Studio:

🎥 https://www.linkedin.com/company/candid-studios/

Nick’s Apps:

🧠 SCULPTED → https://sculpted.site

📚 LivFree → https://livfree.live

⚽️ B42 → https://b-42.com

Follow Nick:

🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-kratochvil/

📸 https://www.instagram.com/nickratochvil/

Meet The Team:

🎬 Editor – https://www.instagram.com/jethropaco/

🎨 Design – https://www.instagram.com/shanika.j11/

🎙 Producer – https://www.instagram.com/_charlieslattery/

📂 Podcast Manager – https://www.instagram.com/alfiogangemi_/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

He couldn’t speak, read, or believe in himself — now he’s rewiring minds for a living.

Karim, once a stuttering, overweight kid with undiagnosed learning disorders, is now a world-class peak performance coach using advanced hypnosis to reprogram limiting beliefs. From working in high-pressure surgical sales to mentoring elite athletes and entrepreneurs, Karim’s transformation is staggering — and in this raw, live hypnotherapy session, he turns the mic on Nick for a confronting, breakthrough experience that redefines what it means to take radical responsibility.

Key Episode Highlights:

• The belief that almost destroyed Karim’s life — and how he rewired it.
• What it really means to take radical responsibility (and why most people get it wrong).
• Why we unconsciously adopt limiting beliefs as kids — and how they shape our future.
• The moment Nick confronts his own transactional mindset live on air.
• Karim’s framework for spotting subconscious blind spots in 5 questions.
• Why the most successful people in the world all share one trait: they act.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro – “I can only take you where you want to go”

01:00 Meet Karim – Hypnosis, Performance & His Journey from Stutterer to Stage

05:30 Breaking Limiting Beliefs & Victim Mentality

09:00 Karim’s Rock Bottom: Quitting His Job, New Baby, No Plan

13:30 Radical Responsibility: The Mindset That Changed Everything

17:00 Helping vs. Distracting Yourself From Inner Work

21:00 The Deep Childhood Root of Anxiety

26:00 How Scarcity Shapes Our Adult Operating System

29:00 Why Successful People Think Differently

33:00 Live Blind Spot Analysis: Nick’s Transactional Mindset

36:00 Lone Wolf vs. King – The Real Cost of Control

40:00 The Hidden Voice Driving Nick’s Relentless Drive

44:00 Karim’s Hypnosis Begins — Visualising the Subconscious

50:00 Visiting the 13-Year-Old Version of Nick

54:00 Releasing Fear & Rewriting the Narrative

59:00 The Moment It All Changes: “I Am Enough”

1:02:00 A New Timeline: Letting Go of Scarcity, Embracing Abundance

1:06:00 Debrief – “My Head’s Spinning. That Was Real.”

1:10:00 Karim’s Final Message: Take Action. Think Differently.

Follow Our Podcast Studio:

🎥 https://www.linkedin.com/company/candid-studios/

Nick’s Apps:

🧠 SCULPTED → https://sculpted.site

📚 LivFree → https://livfree.live

⚽️ B42 → https://b-42.com

Follow Nick:

🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-kratochvil/

📸 https://www.instagram.com/nickratochvil/

Meet The Team:

🎬 Editor – https://www.instagram.com/jethropaco/

🎨 Design – https://www.instagram.com/shanika.j11/

🎙 Producer – https://www.instagram.com/_charlieslattery/

📂 Podcast Manager – https://www.instagram.com/alfiogangemi_/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Pro Football to a Health setback, that launched an entirely new life.

In this raw solo episode, Nicholas Kratochvil sits down in the brand new Linfield Studios to unpack the origin story behind SCULPTED, LivFree, and his rapid rise in Australia’s startup scene. From living alone in Germany at 15 chasing football, to facing a potential cancer diagnosis at 18, Nick details the real moments that reshaped his path—forever.

What starts as a studio update quickly turns into one of the most personal deep dives into mindset, struggle, stress, and self-belief you’ll ever hear. This episode marks a new era of Think Differently: The SCULPTED Podcast.

Highlights from this episode:

The cancer scare that ended his football dream—and started a new one

Why he believes most people misunderstand stress and burnout

The hidden privilege of self-improvement—and what most people get wrong

How he used LinkedIn alone to get trials with Bayern Munich and Frankfurt

His unfiltered views on success, money, and betting on yourself

Why systems - motivation—and how he uses struggle as a tool

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome to Season 2 in the new Linfield studio

01:00 Podcast, tech, and company updates

02:30 Who is Nick really? Producer Charles takes over

04:10 Nick’s definition of success (and why he hates the word)

06:10 Ideology behind SCULPTED, LivFree, and Candid Studios

08:00 Why improving yourself is a privilege—and school kills it

09:00 Self-imposed struggle vs. real struggle

10:45 The cancer scare that ended football

12:00 How it led to founding SCULPTED

13:00 Going all in on tech with zero background

14:30 LinkedIn to Pro: The insane football journey

16:30 Does Nick overwork himself? And how he thinks about burnout

18:30 Why stress is a mindset (not a curse)

20:00 What happens when stress isn’t self-imposed?

21:30 The exact moment everything changed

23:00 Long-term vision: Can all these companies work?

25:00 The only real variable: time

26:30 Betting on yourself like you’d bet on Bill Gates

28:00 Why he always builds fallback skills—and how

30:00 Final thoughts: Is this all just arrogant or honest?

Follow Our Podcast Studio:

🎥 https://www.linkedin.com/company/candid-studios/

Nick’s Apps:

🧠 SCULPTED → https://sculpted.site

📚 LivFree → https://livfree.live

⚽️ B42 → https://b-42.com

Follow Nick:

🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-kratochvil/

📸 https://www.instagram.com/nickratochvil/

Meet The Team:

🎬 Editor – https://www.instagram.com/jethropaco/

🎨 Design – https://www.instagram.com/shanika.j11/

🎙 Producer – https://www.instagram.com/_charlieslattery/

📂 Podcast Manager – https://www.instagram.com/alfiogangemi_/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you constantly worry about your choices or the path you’re on, you’re not alone.

The truth is — fear comes from the unknown. But once you’re in motion, it’s not as scary as it seemed.

Nick 🎓 and Jack 🧠 share real-time insights into the thoughts and philosophies they have to navigate the modern world. Subscribe our channel to follow along with this journey.

It's time to SCULPT yourself into the best version of you. 💪🌟 Sign up to SCULPTED App Waitlist here: https://sculpted.site/app

📸 Stay connected with us on Instagram @The_Sculpted_Podcast for exciting behind-the-scenes moments and updates! 🎙

📰 Don't miss out on our latest updates and insights – subscribe to our newsletter on LinkedIn! 🚀

🌐 Explore our new landing page at www.sculpted.site and discover more about the SCULPTED journey! ✨

Follow Jack & Nick's journey on Linkedin & Instagram Jack Mcloughlin & @Nickratochvil 🏃‍♂️🌟

Chapters:

00:00 - 02:52 - Introduction & Today's Topic

02:53 - 10:11 - Pain Tolerance Is Relative

10:12 - 15:08 - Muscle Memory vs Mental Fear

15:09 - 22:03 - Motivation, Incentives & Time Pressure

22:04 - 25:37 - Beliefs Should Be Malleable, Not Fragile

25:37 - 29:48 - Frameworks Aren’t the Skill — Action Is

29:49 - 39:56 - Overthinking Kills Action: Just Begin

#Motivation #FearControl #TakeAction

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you use your subjective success as an excuse for your lack of objective success, that's probably because you never get there. This is a smart victim card, but you should stop playing this game.

Nick 🎓 and Jack 🧠 share real-time insights into the thoughts and philosophies they have to navigate the modern world. Subscribe our channel to follow along with this journey.

It's time to SCULPT yourself into the best version of you. 💪🌟 Sign up to SCULPTED App Waitlist here: https://sculpted.site/app

Chapters:

00:00 - 01:54 - How Victims will try & Win Either Way

01:54 - 04:08 - Topic of Today

04:09 - 08:46 - Subjective success

08:47 - 11:04 - Objective success

11:05 - 13:20 - Money is relatively objective, but not a true measurement

13:21 - 14:59 - Excusing Ambition with Subjective Success

15:00 - 18:41 - Don’t Use Subjective Success As An Excuse For Your Lack Of Objective Success.

18:42 - 21:39 - Let me know your rebuttal, otherwise, FOLLOW US!!!

21:40 - 25:09 - Delayed Gratification is Valuable With Progress

25:10 - 29:33 - Solitude (Isolation) & Delayed Gratification

29:34 - 34:28 - The Majority Owns the Objective System

📸 Stay connected with us on Instagram @The_Sculpted_Podcast for exciting behind-the-scenes moments and updates! 🎙

📰 Don't miss out on our latest updates and insights – subscribe to our newsletter on LinkedIn! 🚀

🌐 Explore our new landing page at www.sculpted.site and discover more about the SCULPTED journey! ✨

Follow Jack & Nick's journey on Linkedin & Instagram Jack Mcloughlin & @Nickratochvil 🏃‍♂️🌟

#successstory #excuses #ambitiongaming #perspective

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

📸 Stay connected with us on Instagram @The_Sculpted_Podcast for exciting behind-the-scenes moments and updates! 🎙

📰 Don't miss out on our latest updates and insights – subscribe to our newsletter on LinkedIn! 🚀

🌐 Explore our new landing page at www.sculpted.site and discover more about the SCULPTED journey! ✨

Follow Jack & Nick's journey on Linkedin & Instagram Jack Mcloughlin & @Nickratochvil 🏃‍♂️🌟

#successmindset #solitude #confidencebuilding #KnowYourselfBetter

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People often see money as the ultimate measure of success and social life as the path to get there. But Nick thinks differently, because money can sometimes be your compensation not your value. Watch this podcast to find out why character matters more than wealth, and how solitude became a powerful tool for personal growth.

Nick 🎓 and Jack 🧠 are here to share real-time insights into the thoughts and philosophies they have to navigate the modern world. Subscribe our channel to follow along with this journey.

It's also the right time to SCULPT yourself into the best version of you. 💪🌟 Sign up to SCULPTED App Waitlist here: https://sculpted.site/app

Chapters:

00:00 - 04:05 - Life Update

04:46 - 10:54 - Taking Opinions On Board (Not “I Don’t Care”)

10:55 - 18:09 - Money Isn't a Good Measurement Of Success

18:10 - 22:58 - Money = Value + Stress + Compensation ≠ Success

22:59 - 30:54 - How Solitude Boosts Growth

30:55 - 33:46 - Words About the Future

📸 Stay connected with us on Instagram @The_Sculpted_Podcast for exciting behind-the-scenes moments and updates! 🎙

📰 Don't miss out on our latest updates and insights – subscribe to our newsletter on LinkedIn! 🚀

🌐 Explore our new landing page at www.sculpted.site and discover more about the SCULPTED journey! ✨

Follow Jack & Nick's journey on Linkedin & Instagram Jack Mcloughlin & @Nickratochvil 🏃‍♂️🌟

#successmindset #solitude #confidencebuilding #KnowYourselfBetter

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.