Ep 1/12 || Entrepreneurship, Boxing, & Plant Medicine with Rob Paddock
✨ Episode Summary
In this first episode, I sit down with entrepreneur, educator, and friend Rob Paddock. Together, we unravel what it means to live a life of depth, how boxing became a surprising teacher, and why marriage and fatherhood are proper spiritual practices.
We touch on everything from men’s work, plant medicine, and the culture of overwork, to parenting, leadership, and the transformative power of committed relationships.
🕰️ Time-stamped Topics
● [00:00] Welcome & intro to “Through The Fog”
● [02:00] Introducing Rob Paddock — from GetSmarter to Valencia Institute
● [04:50] First meeting at an unexpected place — Vision Quests at an accounting conference
● [06:00] Rob’s life today — fatherhood, remote leadership, and nourishment
● [08:25] ‘Who is Rob?’ — seeking depth, shadow work, and creative identity
● [10:50] Lessons from the boxing ring — anger, embodiment, and safe aggression
● [16:40] Addicted to suffering? The illusion of value through overworking
● [24:30] Ayahuasca insights: “You do not need to suffer to find peace.”
● [29:00] Belonging vs. status — the paradox of human motivation
● [33:30] How marriage becomes the ultimate mirror
● [36:00] The value of fighting well — nothing is too small to bring into the relational space
● [40:00] Children as spiritual teachers & the creative force of family
● [44:00] Tradition as a guide — the forgotten wisdom of lineage
● [46:00] What does the world ask of us now?
🧠 Key Takeaways
● Embodiment reveals what intellect cannot.
● We all carry shadow aspects — growth means stepping into them.
● Deep relationships demand honesty, conflict, and commitment.
● Suffering ≠ value. Overwork isn’t the only currency of worth.
● Marriage isn’t just romantic — it’s a spiritual discipline.
● Children teach us how to serve beyond ourselves.
● Tradition may hold more truth than we realise.
✂️ Pull Quotes
“Life will present us with the people and circumstances to reveal where we’re not yet free.” – Rob Paddock
“You can talk about this stuff until you’re blue in the face, but to embody it is a very different experience.”
“I realized I had an addiction to suffering. I thought if I wasn’t carrying the heaviest burden, I wasn’t valuable.”
“Boxing taught me more about myself than boardrooms ever could.”
“Marriage isn’t there to make you happy — it’s there to make you holy.”
“We don’t change easily. We change when life backs us into a corner.”
“I seek depth. In business, in love, in self.”
“Children are spiritual teachers. They show you what real service means.”
🔗 LINKS
Sign up to my daily letter: https://thisispierre.co
Rob's links:
https://www.valentureinstitute.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-paddock
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Rob Paddock
Coming soon with Rob Paddock, co-founder of Get Smarter, founder Valenture Institute creating low fee online High Schools in Africa.
This is a fortnightly podcast that explores some of life's biggest questions:
"What do I do now, where do I go next, what do I do with this one precious life?"
Through open and honest conversations with people doing their best work; founders, artists, musicians, and pioneers, we delve into why these people made the choices they did that led them to where they find themselves today.
We all hit moments where the path ahead feels unclear, where doubt creeps in, and every decision feels like a gamble, this is about those moments.
Hosted by Pierre, a strategist and systematic theologian who’s spent years helping people and businesses make their way through the fog. This is for anyone trying to find their way and do their best work. Expect honest conversations, hard-won insights, and real strategies to help you move forward, even when you can’t see the whole map.
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