Meet the GrowRuck Trainers
Anthony Cartrette
Trainer Team Leader
Anthony Cartrette, 37, Noonan. Developing an elite group of Trainers that accelerate the invigoration of male community leadership. At each GTE the Trainer Team utilizes schooling and shared suffering to engrain the lessons of Virtuous Leadership. Noonan and the Trainer team are leaders who are developing leaders. Noonan is Nant’an Emeritus out of F3ENC in Greenville, NC. He is a runner and a rucker; completing (5) GrowRucks, (5) BRR’s, a custom F3HTL, and similar CSAUPs since joining F3 in May 2018. A believer in Jesus; husband and father of four, he serves at Covenant Church on a leadership board and in youth ministries and professionally, leads a real estate development company as well as a private equity investment group.
Daniel Hastings
Trainer
Daniel Hastings, aka Murdock, represents F3 Northwest Arkansas as a member of the GTE SLT Trainer Team. After completing five GrowRuck Training Events in 2022, he joined the Trainer SLT in order to train, develop and serve the high impact men of F3. Murdock is a best-selling author, a husband, and a follower of Jesus Christ. He loves being under the log with his fellow F3 brothers and seeing who steps up as a leader under high stress and low visibility. He believes that a better version of yourself exists only on the other side of pain and suffering. Every man must seek, embrace, and dominate that pain and suffering in order to have an impact on the world and pull men out of darkness and into the light.
Seth Brown
Trainer
Seth Brown aka Bono hails from F3 ENC and the Eastern Fleet of North Carolina. He met his bride in 1992 when she invited him to the Valentines Day dance and he has two shorties, Caitlin and Madison, who are strong, independent, fierce ladies. He was first introduced to GrowRuck at GTE 02 in Atlantic Beach since that time he participated in GTE 02,03,12,14,17,21,22,& 26 as well as 10 other GORUCK events including 3 Heavies. He served as the 2nd Nantan for ENC and since served F3 Nation as the Q for GrowRuck as well as currently serving as the Head of Leadership Development. His Ultimate Life Purpose is to positively impact those I love by engaging and empowering them to become leaders who build and inspire leaders. It’s something he does in his mammon as the Director of Educator Support & Leadership Development for Pitt County Schools and as the Chair of the Board of First Christian Church, Greenville, NC. Be Candid, Be Courageous, Be Connected. Be a leader who builds leaders.
Frank Schwartz
Trainer
Frank joined F3 down in Fort Mill, SC, in Fall of 2014 with the intent of “not being fat anymore”. The complete trajectory of his life would change, however, from that point. He caught the vision of Sua Sponte leadership and in not too long a time, he found himself being asked to help with things at the Nation level. After serving as the Q of Grow and the Q of Culture, he began serving in Jan. 2020, as the first ever President of F3 Nation, under a re-organized F3 structure.Frank is a successful entrepreneur, founding LEC Media in 2007, a corporate communications and video firm in Charlotte, NC which serves clients like Bank of America, Electrolux, Honeywell, and others. He also serves in leadership in his church and community, is the husband of his far better half, Tracy, and is the father of three wonderful red-headed daughters (ages 18, 16, and 12).
Matt Ryburn
Trainer
Matt Ryburn aka ‘88 hails from the F3 Gold Rush region outside Sacramento, California. He served as the first West Sector Q for F3 Nation in 2021-2022, connecting with regional Nant’ans to encourage and accelerate their regions. He was the launch Nant’an of F3 Rocklin in 2018 which changed its name to Gold Rush in 2019 after seeing explosive growth in the Sacramento area where today there are over 60 AOs weekly across 5 regions. ‘88’s first GTE was GTE25 The Grizzly in his home region. Fun fact about ‘88: He and his wife moved to Charlotte, North Carolina on January 1, 2011. (F3 Nation’s birthday and original location) Shortly after moving back to his home state of California he posted at his first F3 workout July 1, 2017 in the SF Peninsula region.
Dustin Jordan
Trainer
Dustin Jordan aka Italian Job calls F3 The Fort (Fort Mill, SC) home. Husband and father of two, he’s been active in F3 since June 2013. He’s was the first Nant’an of F3 Rock Hill (SC), led F3 Nation’s TRUEbadour program, currently leads the communication efforts for F3 Nation, is co-host of the “Stuff Worth Trying Podcast,” and has been a trainer with GrowRuck since February 2021. His passion is empowering men to have the maximum impact in their homes, workplaces, and communities. Dustin is known to challenge his F3 brothers physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. Professionally, he is the Manager of Customer Advocacy at Duke Energy. When not tending to obligations, he enjoys being outside – preferably in the cold – hiking, skiing, camping, and kayaking.
Erik Nowak
Trainer
Erik Nowak grew up on West Virginia on the family farm. His days were filled with dirt, chicken manure, and the sounds of birds. At 18 he became a Hokie and eventually joined the Army. He has served in uniform for 15 years and countingIn April of 2017, he became Gobbler when The Nation planted the first shovelflag in the Steel City. In October 2019 he traveled across the country to Tacoma, WA where he joined the pax of F3 Puget Sound.His new home brought new F3 duties. He joined the TRUEbadours and worked to help the regions of the West. In April 2021 he fell and hit his head. Dark Helmet took advantage of Gobbler in his weakened condition and asked him to be the Nation’s Weasel Shaker. His duties are a contributing cause to his inability to recover.Gobbler has been blessed with an amazing M, two 2.0’s and another on the way in September.
Clayton Hromadk
Trainer
Clayton Hromadka serves as the CEO/Executive Director of the Tennessee PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association). In this role, he oversees a section of the largest sports membership organization in the country — which has over 28,000 members — as well as its local Foundation and their programming. In addition to this role, he has chaired, managed, or served on, multiple boards for 501 (c)(3) organizations. Hromadka also brings an understanding of regional logistics, creating a culture across an expansive geographical section by activating mission at a grass roots level. Hromadka began F3 in 2018 and lives in Franklin, TN with his wife and two children.
Jason Silverstein
Trainer
Jason Silverstein is a technology executive with over 20 years experience inside public and private companies such as Tango Card, Tucows, Rightside, Yahoo!, ACBJ, and the National Basketball Association. Silverstein joined F3 in 2011 and has served its Chairman of the Board as well as multiple F3N operating group roles, including technology, operating, and finance roles. In 2015, Silverstein moved from F3 Metro (Charlotte, NC) and established F3 Puget Sound in the Seattle area, where he now lives with his wife and two children.
Cory Phillips
Trainer
Cory Phillips, 47, Tommy Boy. Currently serving as your F3 Nation’s XQ of Education, I mow down verbal BS and lift up virtuous leaders. If you’re tweeting about it, I don’t care. If you’re living it out and giving it away, I’m all in. A survivor of GrowRuck 17 (so bad-ass it was documented on YouTube), I walked away with the knowledge pursuing high-impact leadership before it was a hashtag. Nant’an Emeritus and current Hype Q of F3 Greensboro, I demand Candor and Commitment from/for myself, my family, and the Pax I love. Find a need, Fill a need. #FanFan
Jordan Carpenter
Trainer
Gus (Jordan Carpenter) regularly works out with the Men of F3 Memphis. He has served as founding Nantan of both F3 Chattanooga and F3 Memphis, as a TRUEbadour, and as GrowRuck Q for F3 Nation. He deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq while serving in the United States Army. Because he knows Men build strong bonds as they endure suffering shoulder-to-shoulder, Gus believes in the transformative power of the GTE.
Zach Pipkin
Trainer
Captain Planet (Zach Pipkin) hails from F3 Wilson NC, where he planted the first flag there in 2021 and served as the Nantan for the following year. He joined the Trainer SLT in 2022 and is the Weasel Shaker. He believes a GTE event will allow men to see more of what’s inside and shows them how to unlock other men to do the same. Now a member of the Trainer SLT he is able to help push men to the point of change both physically and mentally.
Austin Collins
Trainer
529 (Austin Collins), representing F3 Puget Sound since 2016, has served as Site Q for MOHAI, and 1st F Q for the Puget Sound Region. Outside of F3, he serves in a number of different leadership roles both professionally and personally. He was introduced to rucking events as a participant in GrowRuck class 004. GrowRuck weekend accelerated his leadership, and that of the entire F3 Puget Sound region, more than any other event. Witnessing the positive effects of accelerated leadership in his personal and professional life, and in the broader Puget Sound community, has been an inspiration to train other men across the country through the same high impact GrowRuck experience. 529 believes that growing as a leader improves our effectiveness in all other endeavors, and the cornerstone of that growth is a deep understanding of our true capabilities. Nothing accomplishes that better or faster than GrowRuck.
Drew Ishmael
Trainer
Power Clean (Drew Ishmael) came to be a GTE Trainer via Trainer Academy Class 001. Power Clean hails from F3 JeffCo – a big part of the St Louis Super Region – and was a founding AOQ for Neverland in The STL region and also has served as Expansion and Rucking Q’s for the JeffCo region. He also served as Support Q for GTE 23 in STL and on shared leadership teams for other area wide events and celebrations. Power Clean has watched men become unlocked during a GTE weekend and knows that it has every likelihood of changing men’s lives for the better. “If I can be one small part of saving a man from a life of mediocrity, then I am all in to do what is needed to make that happen.”
Joe Howard
Trainer
Pink Slip (Joe Howard), a graduate of Trainer Academy Class 001, hails from F3 Fort Bend in Texas and served as GTE Support Q for GTE034. He believes strongly that a GTE experience that prompts collective suffering, immediate candor and correction, and the need to depend on our brother next to us will help us to invigorate male community leadership and enhance regional growth.Awarded HIM of the year in his region in 2022.
Glenn Ayala
Trainer
K9 (Glenn Ayala), a graduate of Trainer Academy Class 001, hails from F3 Katy situated in the Republic of Texas and serves as the Q for 2F Regional Lunch and “Respectables Council” for the Katy Region. He firmly believes that a GTE experience will allow men to confront their perceived limitations and help them realize that they are much more capable than they originally envisioned thereby furthering the F3 mission
Brent Barringer
Trainer
Tinker Bell (Brent Barringer) calls the Greater St. Louis Area home. After serving as 1st F-Q for F3 St. Louis, he assembled and equipped an SLT to successfully star-fish launch the Spirit of St. Louis Region. Tinker Bell currently serves as Nantan for Spirit of St. Louis. In 2021, in preparation for GTE-23, he was also a member of the host-region SLT responsible for executing the largest GTE to date. After seeing the Post-GTE explosive regional growth first hand, he has made it a mission to be a part of giving it away to as many men and as many regions as possible.
Ed Perry
Trainer
Urkel (Ed Perry), a graduate of the Trainer Academy 001, OG from the great region of F3 Naperville and has served as 1st F Q for Naperville’s SLT 1.0 and an F3 Nation TRUEBADOUR. He was advised by DOAH himself to utilize his talents in transferring positive habits to the men of the F3 nation by joining the Trainer Team. As a member of the Trainer Team, Urkel strongly believes every man in F3 should experience all aspects of a GTE from the Rally, King Builder, Grow School, and the OverNight Ruck, to be able to unlock their potential to becoming a leader in his life. The GTE experience is life changing; allowing you to make an impact, becoming a greater influence on the people around you. GTE truly changes men’s lives. Period.
Luis Mario Rodriguez
Trainer
Vibram (Luis Mario Rodriguez), a graduate of Trainer Academy Class 001, hails from F3 Katy in the great state of Texas and has served as 1st F Q for the region; he calls “The Spigot” home but he is one of the AO nomads in the Greater Houston Area. He feels like a true life disruptor and strives to never mince words within his candor. He never shies away from challenges unless it involves running! Vibram has experience in the Practice and Coaching of Strength and Conditioning through various methodologies and implements like The Barbell, Kettlebells, the Steel Mace and of course Ruck + SandBag. He strongly believes that through a GTE, every man has the opportunity to unlock great potential from within that can ultimately help them accelerate to an advantageous position in any area of their lives. Just like the 1st F, Fitness, he agrees 100% that physical strength is the foundation and precursor for a strong mind, soul and spirit.
Andrew Block
Trainer
Maximus, Andrew Block, hails from The Fort in Fort Mill, SC. He served as a Trainer in a training capacity for GTE 22 in Grand Strand and as a T2 at GTE28 in NW Arkansas. He has served as a Site Q, The Fort’s 1st F Q, The Fort’s Nantan, and now is a Site Q again. Maximus is a strong believer that the shared physical suffering of a GTE builds bonds that become invaluable throughout life’s stages. The bond is forged when a man has to dig deeper thanbefore in order to pull a brother from a struggle.
Lucas Walker
Trainer
UNO (Lucas Walker, 42), Trainer Academy Class 001. Nant’an of Laurel Highlands (Mustard Seed Region), previous 2nd F Co-Q of Cape Fear Region and Pax since July 2020. UNO is a proud father of his 2.0s Skip, Draw4 and Reverse. He is passionate about personal Leadership Development and believes GTEs offer the high level challenges and controlled chaos where Pax can overcome obstacles and fear, giving them the courage and ability to not only fight the daily flux but also to positively impact those in their Concentrica
Nathan Handel
Trainer
Gopher (Nathan Handel), introduced to growruck at GTE 029 and given opportunity to further his experience as a graduate of Trainer Academy 001, hails from F3 Boise where he serves the pax as the 3rd F Q and works with local SLT to grow the region and further the mission of F3. He sees GTE as an incredible way to accelerate the growth of a region as pax learn to trust and rely on each other through shared pain and chaos. As a trainer he looks forward to seeing head knowledge transformed into heart knowledge as men grow their physical and emotional toughness to allow them to love and serve their concentrica deeper.
Ruben Rodriguez
Trainer
Ruben Rodriguez aka Blimpie, a graduate of Trainer Academy Class 001, hails from F3 Katy. He understands the importance of F3’s mission and has helped to establish several AO’s within his region. His passion to help his F3 brothers through their LDP has been fundamental as the “VQ Q” at his home AO. As a US Marine, he knows that shared suffering will create unbreakable bonds and the GTE experience is that catalyst. It will forge F3 Men into what they are destined to be by unlocking their true potential and being the ultimate IMPACT on those within their proximity.
Michael Flikkema
Trainer
Michael Flikkema (Waterboy) is a graduate of Trainer Academy 001, and hails from F3 Katy where he has served an AO Q/Site Leader and currently is the region’s Weasel Shaker. He believes the GTE sets the foundation and helps the pax move the head knowledge to heart knowledge, develop leadership skills, and push beyond previously established limits while developing bonds over shared pain. He enjoys teaching the QSource and can’t wait to share it with all of F3 Nation.
Steve Schaefer
Trainer
GMO (Steve Schaefer) is the current Head of Sectors for F3 Nation and past Nantan of F3 St. Louis. He’s a Genetically Modified Organism, Old Man, Optimist for men to get unlocked. It happened to him and sees it happen every day in The Gloom. GMO has a passion for GTE as a rite of passage most men need to surrender from who they think they are to who they need to become. He’s attended four GTEs and been a Trainer for two. He’s holding the key to your lock. Ready? Let’s Freak’in Go!
Andy Peterson
Trainer
Bartman (Andy Peterson) aka Carpex Bartman, lives in the Raleigh NC area and has been part of F3 since 2015. That’s also the year he did his first custom GORUCK event with F3 Raleigh, where he met Cadre Danny. Dozens of ruck events later, Bartman still enjoys the shared suffering of being under the log with his teammates. He returned to his homeland for GrowRuck 16 in Naperville and has enjoyed sharing the F3 and GrowRuck experience with men as part of the GTE trainer staff ever since.
Tyler Hudson
Trainer
Dreamliner (Tyler Hudson) comes from Hampton Roads, VA. He served as Trainer Apprentice (TA) at GTE32. He was the launch Nan’tan of F3 Hampton Roads in 2016 and served in that role until 2020. He joined the TRUEbadours in 2021. He believes that GTE can unlock individuals to break past the status quo of their lives. He has seen men move from a participant/consumer of F3 to a true HIM because of one, short weekend.