Born and raised in Thompson, CT, Eric Kapitulik attended Pomfret Preparatory School, where he excelled as a three-sport varsity athlete. Upon graduation, Eric matriculated at the United States Naval Academy, where he was a four-year varsity letter player on the Division I Lacrosse team.
After graduation in 1995, Eric went on to serve in the United States Marine Corps as both an Infantry Officer and Special Operations Officer with 1st Force Reconnaissance Company, 1st Marine Division. As a Platoon Commander within his company, Eric led a team of 20 covert operations specialists on numerous Special Forces-related missions, including long-range reconnaissance patrols, hostage rescues, high-altitude jump exercises, ship takeovers and gas-oil platform takedowns.
In 1999, during a routine training mission to prepare for an upcoming deployment to the Persian Gulf, Eric and his platoon were in a helicopter crash that resulted in the death of seven Marines. In response to this tragedy, Eric created the Force Reconnaissance Scholarship Fund to benefit the children of his fallen men.
Eric left active duty after eight years of service and received his MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in 2005. He founded The Program in 2008.
Eric holds himself to high standards and always strives to do ONE MORE. He has participated in eight Ironman Triathlons, The Canadian Death Race Ultra Marathon, The Eco Challenge, and The American Birkebeiner Ski Marathon. He is also an avid mountaineer and has summited five of the Seven Summits (the highest peaks on each of the seven continents): Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. McKinley, Mt. Aconcagua, Mt. Elbrus, and, most recently, Mt. Everest.
Episode Highlights:
- Eric shares key life lessons learned from his time at the United States Naval Academy and the United States Marine Corps.
- Travis and Eric have an important dialogue about failure and the opportunity to reframe failure in a positive light.
3 Key Points:
- Reframe the way you view failure.
- Build a habit of courage.
- Narrow your bandwidth and determine what you want to do.
Tweetable Quotes:
- “You will never have 100% of the information.”
- “Once you make a decision, work your backside off to make it the right decision.”
Resources Mentioned:
- http://www.theprogram.org/athletics/
- Visit Travis’ website at travischappell.com
- Join the Build Your Network Facebook group travischappell.com/group
- If you want to amplify your network… For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy
