The Strong New York Podcast

Being STRONG is more than just how much weight you can lift. The Strong New York Podcast is dedicated to inspiring you to become your strongest self- in the gym, in business, in relationships and in life. Join Kenny as he sits down with his strong as fuck buddies and shoots the shit on what it takes to be strong willed, strong minded and physically strong. Season one features everyone from entrepreneurs and local business owners to doctors and industry leaders in the fitness and wellness space. With over a decade of experience, Kenny Santucci has made himself known as one of New York City’s top trainers and a thought leader in the health and wellness industry. After transforming his life at 15 years old through fitness, Kenny made it his mission to transform the lives of those around him. Kenny has trained some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Jon Bon Jovi, Liev Schreiber, and Frank Ocean, and has been tapped as a fitness expert sharing his training approach with Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Runner's World, SHAPE, Well+Good, among other publications. Kenny is the creator of STRONG New York, NYC's only Health and Fitness Expo. Strong New York is an immersive day of workouts, wellness experiences, panel discussions, and inspiring conversations with the best in-class wellness professionals, industry leaders, and change makers who are sharing their expertise on today's hottest wellness trends and first-hand experiences on how to optimize your overall health and life. You can find Kenny at The Strength Club, his private training and group strength training facility in the heart of Manhattan located on 28th and 5th Ave in New York City.

The Strong New York Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 88 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts The Strong New York Podcast, a business show with 88 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #89

  UFC Championship Coach: Why Leaving Fighting is so Hard, Making Elite Fighters and MORE (Phil Daru)

  Aug 12, 202652 min

  Phil Daru has trained some of the biggest names in combat sports — Dustin Poirier, Amanda Nunes, and countless UFC and ONE Championship fighters — and built one of the most respected performance training brands in the game. In this episode, Kenny sits down with Phil to talk about the concussion that ended his pro fighting career, the framework he built at American Top Team that shaped how he coaches today, and how he's now applying those same principles to busy executives and entrepreneurs through his partnership with Marek Health. We get into readiness tracking and auto-regulation, why wrestling is the real foundation of great fighters, his Mount Rushmore of trainers, his brief stint in bodybuilding and powerlifting, and what he's building next — a certification course, a new HQ facility, a book, and a returning podcast. #PhilDaru #StrongNewYork #MMA #UFC #StrengthAndConditioning CONNECT: Follow Kenny: @kennysantucci Follow the Strong New York Podcast: @strongnewyorkpod Follow Phil Daru: @darustrong This episode is sponsored by: Celsius — the energy drink that fuels every Strong New York workout. Follow @celsiusofficial on Instagram for all the new flavors. Marek Health — optimize your hormones, recovery, and performance at marekhealth.com. Use code KENNY for 10% off Diagnostics, Supplements, and Guided Optimization. Founders Club — a trusted circle of 2,500+ builders across North America who share resources, open doors, and raise the bar for entrepreneurship. Learn more at FoundersClubOfficial.com. 00:00 – Intro: Welcome Phil Daru 01:30 – What makes Phil stand out after 20 years in the industry 04:15 – The 2-hour intake: understanding a client's true "why" 07:40 – Training fighters vs. training executives 10:20 – Readiness tracking: RPE, HRV, and the green/yellow/red system 13:00 – The concussion that ended his fighting career 16:45 – Opening his first gym at 22 while still fighting pro 20:10 – Scaling from an 800 sq ft gym to 11,000 sq ft 23:00 – Phil's Mount Rushmore of trainers 28:15 – Learning the conjugate method from Louie Simmons 32:00 – Making pro debut at 155 and the brutal weight cuts 36:30 – The final concussion and the decision to walk away 40:00 – Chasing the competitive itch: bodybuilding, Strongman, powerlifting 46:00 – Top 3 things every trainer needs to know 50:30 – Why wrestling is the real foundation of elite fighters 54:00 – Blocking out the noise: what separates elite fighters mentally 58:00 – Building Marek Health's performance division 1:02:00 – What's next: certification course, new HQ, book, and podcast 1:06:00 – Where to find Phil Daru

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  Episode #88

  This Mindset Shift Separates The 1% from Everyone Else | Giovanni Vaccaro

  Aug 5, 20261h 13m

  On this episode of the Strong New York Podcast, host Kenny Santucci sits down with Giovanni Vaccaro — co-founder of Glamsquad, an on-demand beauty service platform and founder of Peak Mode Coaching, his high-performance coaching business for executives, founders, and entrepreneurs. Strength isn't just something you build in the gym — it's a mindset. Giovanni breaks down his journey from shampooing hair 25-30 times a day at a top Manhattan salon to building a beauty-tech company from the ground up, and the mental toughness, discipline, and "radical responsibility" that took him from stylist to CEO to executive coach. This one is packed with lessons on staying strong through setbacks, building unshakable habits, and why nobody is coming to save you. In this episode: - Growing up in an immigrant Italian family and the blue-collar work ethic that shaped him - Paying his dues: 2.5 years shampooing hair before ever touching scissors - The "light bulb" moment that led to founding Glamsquad - Building the mental strength to shift his identity from "hairstylist" to "entrepreneur" - Why imposter syndrome is actually a sign of strength, not weakness - Hiring for your weaknesses and killing the "self-made" myth - Glamsquad's near-collapse during COVID — and the strength it took to rebuild - His non-negotiable 5am routine: meditation, prayer, gratitude, training - Training for his first marathon and the obsession behind elite performance - The 3 things every strong, high performer has in common - "No one's coming to save you" — radical responsibility and ditching the victim mindset - Why he started Peak Mode Coaching and how identity-first coaching builds mental strength Chapters: 0:00 – Intro: Radical responsibility & don't play the victim 2:10 – Welcome Giovanni Vaccaro + Strong New York 10th Anniversary 4:00 – Growing up Italian, working for his father, discovering the salon world 8:15 – Telling his dad he wanted to be a hairdresser 10:00 – Starting at the bottom: 2.5 years to become a stylist 14:30 – Building a client book & why every person is an opportunity 18:00 – The Glamsquad "light bulb" moment 22:00 – Shifting identity from stylist to entrepreneur 25:30 – Imposter syndrome as a sign you're playing a bigger game 28:00 – The power of a great business partner 32:00 – Hiring for your weaknesses, not your ego 36:00 – Launching Glamsquad & the slow build to viral growth 41:00 – What makes a great Glamsquad pro (and the hiring process) 45:00 – Money vs. purpose: what really drives high performers 50:00 – His 5am routine: meditation, prayer, gratitude, cold plunge 55:00 – Training for his first marathon & building mental strength 59:00 – The 3 non-negotiables of every strong, high performer 1:03:00 – "No one's coming to save you" — radical ownership 1:08:00 – Losing weight at 13 and the discipline that followed 1:14:00 – Glamsquads' worst year (COVID) and the rebuild 1:18:00 – Why he started Peak Mode Coaching 1:23:00 – Identity-first coaching & closing thoughts CONNECT: Follow Kenny: @kennysantucci Follow the Strong New York Podcast: @strongnewyorkpod Follow Giovanni Vaccaro: @giovannivaccaro #GlamSquad #EntrepreneurMindset #Selfimprovement This episode is sponsored by: Celsius — the energy drink that fuels every Strong New York workout. Follow @celsiusofficial on Instagram for all the new flavors. Marek Health — optimize your hormones, recovery, and performance at marekhealth.com. Use code KENNY for 10% off Diagnostics, Supplements, and Guided Optimization. Founders Club — a trusted circle of 2,500+ builders across North America who share resources, open doors, and raise the bar for entrepreneurship. Learn more at FoundersClubOfficial.com.

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  Episode #87

  Everything You Know About Renting is Wrong with Sam Bakhshandehpour

  Jul 29, 20261h 8m

  This week on Strong New York Podcast, Kenny sits down with Sam Bakhshandehpour, President of Merchants at Bilt, the platform that turned paying rent — historically "the worst day of the month" — into a rewards-earning, community-building experience. Sam's story starts long before Bilt: fleeing Iran with his mother at age 6 during the revolution, believing his father had been executed, then rebuilding a life from nothing in America. That immigrant grit carried him through decades in hospitality — running 80+ hotels and 50+ restaurants, including time at the Ritz-Carlton — before he came in-house at Bilt to help build what he calls a "B2B2C" neighborhood commerce network connecting your home, your merchants, and your travel into one loyalty ecosystem. In this episode, Kenny and Sam get into: What Bilt actually is (hint: it's not just a credit card) and how it evolved from a rent-rewards program to a full lifestyle platform Why one in four apartment buildings in the U.S. — and over 100,000 mortgages a week — are now on the Bilt network How Bilt's AI concierge orchestrates everything from dinner reservations to Lyft rides to gym check-ins The hospitality lessons Sam learned running nightlife, restaurants, and hotels — and what "the gold standard" of hospitality really means Why merchants are racing to connect with new tenants the moment they move in Bilt's next frontier: health and wellness, HSA/FSA integration, and Sam's vision for AI-personalized nutrition and recovery Building real community in a hyper-connected, increasingly isolated world If you've ever wondered how your rent, your credit card, and your neighborhood favorite restaurant are all quietly becoming part of the same ecosystem — this one's for you. CONNECT: Follow Kenny: @kennysantucci Follow the Strong New York Podcast: @strongnewyorkpod Follow Sam Bakhshandehpour: @sambakhshandepour Follow Bilt: @bilt #StrongNewYork #Bilt #KennySantucci #RentRewards #Hospitality #Fintech #NYCPodcast #Wellness #ImmigrantStory #LoyaltyProgram This episode is sponsored by: Celsius — the energy drink that fuels every Strong New York workout. Follow @celsiusofficial on Instagram for all the new flavors. Marek Health — optimize your hormones, recovery, and performance at marekhealth.com. Use code KENNY for 10% off Diagnostics, Supplements, and Guided Optimization. Founders Club — a trusted circle of 2,500+ builders across North America who share resources, open doors, and raise the bar for entrepreneurship. Learn more at FoundersClubOfficial.com.

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  Episode #86

  Dr. David Rabin: The Neuroscience of Learning, Safety & Why Gen Z's Brains Are Struggling

  Jul 8, 20261h 13m

  Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. Dave Rabin (co-founder of Apollo Neuroscience) joins Kenny Santucci to break down why modern life feels so complicated — and why it doesn't have to be. From his new book "The Simple Guide to Being Alive," Dr. Rabin explains the neuroscience of bottom-up learning, why Gen Z is the first generation to score lower on cognitive tests than the one before it, how screens hijack your nervous system, and why feeling safe is the foundation of learning, healing, and manifestation. They also get into caffeine, nicotine, and nootropics from a neuroscientist's perspective — and why we should treat plant medicines with respect instead of abuse. If you've ever felt like you don't know how to sleep, calm down, or focus — this episode is your reset button. #Neuroscience #StrongNewYork #ApolloNeuro #MentalHealth #podcast CONNECT: Follow Kenny: @kennysantucci Follow Strong New York: @strongnewyork Follow Dr.David Rabin: @drdavidrabin This episode is sponsored by Celsius, the energy drink that fuels every Strong New York workout. Visit @celsiusofficial on Instagram to see all of their new flavors! This episode is sponsored by Marek Health. Optimize your hormones, recovery, and performance. by visiting marekhealth.com. Use code KENNY at checkout for 10% Marek Diagnostics, Supplements and the Marek Health Guided Optimization signup.

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  Episode #85

  Can Caffeine & Nicotine Actually Make You Smarter? with Dr. David Putrino

  Jul 1, 20261h 1m

  Most people have been told caffeine and nicotine are bad for you — but what does the science actually say? This week, host Kenny Santucci sits down with Dr. David Putrino, neuroscientist and Director of Rehab Innovation at Mount Sinai, to break down the truth behind nootropics, brain optimization, and the substances that could sharpen your focus and performance. Dr. Putrino shares what it's really like to work at the intersection of elite athletic performance and clinical rehabilitation — and why the strategies used to train special forces operators and professional athletes aren't that different from what helps stroke patients recover. Plus, they dive deep into one of the most important and undertalked health crises happening right now: long COVID and its devastating effects on cognition and energy. In this episode: Why caffeine and nicotine have been unfairly demonized — and what the research actually shows The truth about nootropics and how to build your own cognitive "stack" How elite athlete training and stroke rehab are more similar than you think Long COVID and the brain: why millions of Americans are still struggling with brain fog and fatigue The supplements and treatments Dr. Petrino uses with his 4,000+ long COVID patients Creatine, lion's mane, L-theanine, nicotine patches, and more — what works and for whom The future of personalized nootropics based on your DNA CONNECT: Follow Kenny: @kennysantucci Follow Strong New York: @strongnewyork Follow David: @putrino_lab This episode is sponsored by Celsius , the energy drink that fuels every Strong New York workout. Visit @celsiusofficial on Instagram to see all of their new flavors! This episode is sponsored by Marek Health . Optimize your hormones, recovery, and performance. by visiting marekhealth.com . Use code KENNY at checkout for 10% Marek Diagnostics, Supplements and the Marek Health Guided Optimization signup.

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