Own. Move. Anchor. with Kevin Pannell

Are you a physical liability or a protector for your family? In this high-speed "Five Minute Friday" episode, Kevin Pannell breaks down the objective strength and agility standards every man in his 40s and 50s needs to meet to stay capable and dangerous. We move beyond vanity and focus on functional fitness for men, longevity, and the discipline required to lead your home with composure. Kevin shares his personal journey of re-starting his fitness lifestyle at 40 and beginning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) at 44. Now a 52-year-old purple belt, he explains how to use the "Prescribed Burn"—a physical stress-management tactic—to incinerate mental anxiety and decision fatigue before they turn into a wildfire at home or work. What you’ll learn in 5 minutes: Connect, follow, and share at https://ownmoveanchor.com/

Train for Pressure: Why Men Need to Move Daily Movement is not about motivation, it is about identity and standard. In this Foundations Friday episode, Kevin focuses on why men, especially fathers and leaders, need to stop treating exercise as optional and start using it as a tool to build strength, resilience, and clarity. This episode connects physical training to real life pressure, showing how pushing your body prepares your mind to handle stress at work, at home, and in leadership. What you’ll take from this episode: Call to Action: Today or this weekend, do something physically challenging. Notice how your mind responds, then carry that into the rest of your life.

Move Your Body: From Optional to Non-Negotiable Building fitness into who you are will always outperform trying to motivate yourself every day. In this episode of Own. Move. Anchor., Kevin breaks down how movement shifted from survival and identity to something many treat as optional, and why that needs to change. From ancient culture to modern convenience, this episode connects movement to clarity, stress management, and how you show up in life and leadership. Drawing from his experience at 52, Kevin shares how consistent training, strength, endurance, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu have helped him stay capable, focused, and grounded through real life challenges. This is not about complex programs. It is about building a non-negotiable standard. What you’ll take from this episode: Baseline Fitness Test: Train for life, and the results will follow. Own your mind. Move your body. Anchor your spirit. Social prompt: Where are you starting from, or where did you land on the baseline test?

This Foundation Friday builds on the concept of the space between reaction and response and brings it into real life. Through a simple but relatable moment at home, Kevin walks through how quickly reaction can take over and how a brief pause can completely change the outcome. He connects this to leadership, meetings, and high-pressure situations where tone, control, and clarity matter most. You’ll learn how to recognize that space, how to use it, and a simple breathing tool to help you stay composed when it counts. This is about building the reps to respond with intention, at home, at work, and everywhere in between.

Stop reacting and start responding. In the premiere of the rebranded Own. Move. Anchor., Kevin Pannell explores the life-changing power of "The Space Between"—the split-second where you reclaim control, even when circumstances feel overwhelming. Drawing on the profound survival insights of psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, this episode breaks down why we default to "automatic" reactions and how that cycle shapes our leadership, relationships, and results. You don’t rise to your plan when pressure builds; you fall back to the systems you’ve built. In this episode, you’ll learn: Own your mind. Move your body. Anchor your spirit. Resources:

Most teams plan to 100% capacity and call it efficiency. In reality, that’s where things start to break. In this episode, I walk through a better way to think about capacity, not as a percentage on a heatmap, but as a balance between people, workload, and real-world unpredictability. You’ll hear how experienced and developing project managers handle workload differently, why not all work should be treated as a project, and how shifting repeatable work back to operational teams can free up meaningful capacity. I also break down the difference between planning for what you know, like PTO, training, and admin work, versus creating space for what you don’t know, like escalations and unexpected priorities that derail even the best plans. This isn’t about tools or systems. It’s about awareness, leadership, and better conversations. If you’re leading projects, programs, or teams, this episode will help you move from tracking utilization to actually improving performance.

Many projects struggle not because of poor execution, but because alignment was never built at the start. In this episode, Kevin Pannell shares practical leadership lessons on why the first 30 days of a project matter most. Drawing from experience in healthcare IT, emergency management, and cross-organizational initiatives, he explains how clear intent, open communication, and shared expectations set the tone for successful work. If you lead projects, teams, or initiatives, these early conversations can determine whether your work moves forward smoothly or spends months correcting avoidable problems.

A lot of young people feel like they are already late. Late to choose the right major, late to land the right job, late to make real money, late to figure life out. In this episode, I share the long arc of my own path, from joining the Navy at 19 to working IT support at 25, going back to college at 29, graduating at 32 with a newborn at home, serving in public health and emergency management through my late 30s, becoming an EMS Captain at 41, and eventually leading an enterprise IT PMO. Along the way, I also built strength in my 40s, earned my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blue belt, and continued to grow in faith and discipline. This conversation is a reminder that your twenties are not a deadline; they are a runway. You are not behind, you are building.

In this episode of People, Process, Progress, From the GWOT to Giving Back: How Clay Surratt Builds Others Through Martial Arts, host Kevin Pannell sits down with Clay Surratt, the founder of Guerrilla ATX. Together, they explore the transition from military service to civilian life and how the "mission" doesn't end when the uniform comes off—it just changes shape. Clay opens up about his journey from joining the Army in the wake of 9/11 to finding a new calling in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). He shares how he uses martial arts as a restorative practice to build men up physically, mentally, and spiritually, creating a community where veterans and civilians alike can sharpen one another. Resources mentioned: Connect with Clay Surratt: Guerrilla ATX@conscious.claySupport the Mission: Learn MoreSupport Veterans

This week’s episode, When the Bagpipes Play: Owning the Moment, Moving through the Weight, Anchoring What Comes Next, is about the weight of losing brothers and sisters in public safety, the responsibility of planning line of duty death services, and how to move through grief in a healthier way. I break it down using a simple framework: This one is for those who have carried the flag, stood watch, or covered a shift so others could grieve. Godspeed y'all, Kevin

In this Faith in Action Friday episod, Own. Move. Anchor. Lessons from The Burg Box, I follow up on my recent conversation with Jennifer Prevette, founder of The Burg Box, and reflect on what Own. Move. Anchor. really means in everyday life. I share how owning your mind is about learning to handle stress and regulate emotions, how moving your body is simple but powerful medicine for mental and physical health, and how anchoring your spirit helps keep the weight of decisions and expectations from becoming overwhelming. Jennifer’s approach to business, family, mental health, movement, and faith is a practical example of how these ideas can show up together without extremes or hype, just steady practices that support clarity, consistency, and perspective.

In this episode of People, Process, Progress of the New River Valley, I sit down with Jennifer Prevette, founder of The Burg Box, a locally rooted gift box company built around community, craftsmanship, and care. Jennifer shares her journey from studying architecture at Virginia Tech to working in marketing, to becoming a full-time mom, and eventually building a business that connects people through thoughtfully curated boxes featuring local makers. We talk about faith, intention, and what it really looks like to build something meaningful and sustainable, one box at a time. Connect with Jennifer and The Burg Box: Start with the website to explore current boxes and local makers: https://www.theburgbox.com/ Follow on Instagram for new releases and behind-the-scenes updates: https://www.instagram.com/the_burg_box/?hl=en Connect on Facebook for community updates and gifting ideas: https://www.facebook.com/theburgbox/ More conversations highlighting the people, process, and progress shaping the New River Valley at https://peopleprocessprogress.com

This short bridge episode, Why DRiVE Still Matters in Leadership, revisits key leadership lessons from Drive by Daniel Pink. The focus is on why autonomy, mastery, and purpose continue to shape motivation, engagement, and performance in modern organizations, especially in complex and remote environments. This episode also connects recent reflections with an upcoming conversation with Jennifer Prevette, Founder and Owner of The Burg Box. Episode Highlights:

In this episode, I share seven books I read, or returned to, in 2025 that helped me stay disciplined, grounded, and clear-headed heading into 2026. These aren’t trend-driven recommendations. They’re books focused on hardship, meaning, faith, resilience, and personal responsibility. Some pushed me physically, others reshaped how I think about suffering and connection. All of them helped me show up better in my life and leadership. Books Discussed in This Episode Read the full post and resources: https://peopleprocessprogress.com/2026/01/01/7-books-to-start-2026-strong/ Own your mind. Move your body. Anchor your spirit.

As of the end of 2025, What 2025 Taught Me and How I’m Setting Up 2026, People, Process, Progress has reached listeners and viewers around the world. The audio podcast has generated approximately 78,000 total listens across 324 episodes and has been heard in 138 countries. Across the full catalog, the show maintains an average episode engagement of over 80%, meaning most listeners who start an episode stay with it. That matters because it signals relevance and trust, not just reach. On YouTube, content across the channel has generated over 848,000 total views, reaching viewers in 128 countries. The data reinforces a clear direction moving forward. Episodes built around clear problems, practical frameworks, and lived experience consistently resonate more deeply than generic motivation or surface-level commentary. In 2026, the show will move into a steady rotation, alternating between short, structured solo episodes and conversations with leaders and business owners from the New River Valley who are quietly building, serving, and leading in their communities. Same values. Clearer focus. More grounded conversations. Godspeed y'all.

In this Faith in Action Friday episode, Faith Lived Through Discipline, Structure, and Service, I reflect on my recent conversation with Adam, a police officer, jiu jitsu black belt, and gym owner. His story highlights how faith is often lived out through consistent action, structure, and service, not loud words or perfect belief. Faith doesn’t always show up as certainty or comfort. Sometimes it shows up as discipline, restraint, and choosing to do the right thing when it would be easier to shut down. We explore Psalm 34:19 and what it really means to walk through hardship without becoming hardened by it. This episode is about resilience, accountability, and faith expressed through daily choices. Key Themes: Call to Action: Listen to the full interview with Adam and share this episode with someone who needs structure more than motivation.

In this episode of People, Process, Progress, I talk with Adam, a police officer, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, gym owner, and MBA graduate, about leadership shaped by real-life experience. Adam shares how growing up with instability and the impact of a compassionate police officer early in life set him on a path into law enforcement. We discuss his journey from the jails to patrol and SWAT, the weight of critical incidents, and responding to the death of a close friend. We also explore how Brazilian Jiu Jitsu became a foundation for discipline, humility, and resilience, ultimately leading Adam to open Blue Gorilla BJJ and build a community rooted in accountability and respect. This episode launches the People, Process, Progress of the New River Valley series, focused on the people doing meaningful work in our region. Watch the full video interview on the People, Process, Progress YouTube channel, or listen on your favorite podcast platform. For more interviews and insights, visit peopleprocessprogress.com. People first, process aligned, progress together.

Growth can’t be rushed. In this Faith in Action Friday episode, Kevin reflects on a lesson drawn from farming and from life experience: you can do the right work and still harm the outcome if you try to force progress. Using Psalm 126:5–6, this episode explores the difference between sowing well and harvesting too early, and what patience, consistency, and faith look like in 2025.

Life in the New River Valley has shaped me in ways I never expected. In this Season 9 opener, I share how the move, the mountains, the community, and the challenges along the way changed my approach to family, leadership, health, and resilience. This season, I will be talking with people across the region and sharing my own reflections as we explore the real stories and steady progress happening here.

In a world accelerated by AI, leadership still comes down to human judgment. Today’s episode looks at how President Kennedy used quiet moments during the Cuban Missile Crisis to think clearly and choose restraint, and how we can do the same. This week’s tool from The Stability Equation is The Mental Stop Sign a simple way to slow down, breathe, and make decisions from calm rather than pressure. Takeaways • A pause can shift an entire day • The Mental Stop Sign settles your mind fast • Prayer and mindfulness strengthen leadership • AI can inform us, but wisdom guides us One pause, one breath, one clear decision.