Hello there, I’m Jon. Back in 2016, my fellow artillery officer, Kirk, and I were brought together during our service in the Active Duty Army. We were assigned to lead our Battalion’s Fire Direction team, a team with the critical role of controlling indirect fires across the battlefield, supporting an entire Brigade Combat Team. It was no small task, but through the challenges and victories, we transformed our underperforming team into the top Battalion Fire Direction team in our Division. We found unity in our quest to challenge the status quo, care for our team, strive for excellence, and dominate our space. Little did we know then, these shared experiences would establish a lifelong bond and plant the seeds for an exciting future venture.
Post-military life wasn’t exactly a smooth ride for me. Like many others transitioning to civilian life, I grappled with a sense of purposelessness. It was in these moments of introspection that I realized the need to create my own purpose, rather than simply searching for it.
As we navigated life’s challenges together, I proposed an idea to Kirk – to embark on a new journey, one that would create value and purpose. Kirk, who was on the other side of the world wrestling with his own challenges, was ready to join me in this new adventure. Our vision was simple, yet powerful: to create solutions that empower people to lead better lives and create more value.
However, pinpointing our starting point wasn’t straightforward. We recalled our time serving in grueling 24-hour operations, kept awake by ‘Stimulant Day Dreams’. We asked ourselves: What if we could create an energy supplement that empowered people to perform at their best, without compromising on health? What if one didn’t have to trade tomorrow’s wellbeing for today’s achievements?
After two and a half years of trial and error, Sisu Stamina, Performance Evolved, was born. More than just an energy booster, these handy, take with you anywhere chews provide razor-sharp focus and unending stamina, while contributing to cognitive and physical benefits after just 14 days of consistent use. It was the tool we wished we had during our time serving – a tool that now exists for those safeguarding freedom, for those building a brighter future, and for those pushing the boundaries of human potential.
Join us, and together, let’s redefine what’s possible.
At the Universal Learning Approach (ULA), our mission is to equip individuals to lead maximized lives, build strong communities and create lasting value.
I’m Kirk, the other driving force behind the Universal Learning Approach (ULA) and Sisu Stamina. But before embarking on this revolutionary journey, I spent nearly 12 years on active duty in the Army. From jumping out of planes in the early days to deploying twice to Afghanistan and working across all echelons of the Army—from the company level up to a 4-star Army headquarters—I’ve amassed a wealth of experience. This unique background not only granted me a perspective to influence positive changes internationally at scale but also became the catalyst for my aspiration to develop ULA.
Throughout my service, I’ve had the privilege of managing international operations and delving deep into strategic planning at a theater level. Those travels to far-flung corners of the globe were potent, transformative experiences, underscoring just how vast the need is for global assistance.
My ethos is firmly rooted in service to others, striving to uplift those less fortunate. This very conviction fuels our mission at ULA — to empower every individual to tap into their vast potential and flourish.
At home, I eagerly await the arrival of my first son with my extraordinary wife, a skilled veterinarian, who, along with our three wonderful dogs, keeps our home full of love.
When I’m unplugged from these endeavors, you’ll often find me embracing the outdoors — be it hiking, snowboarding, or traveling. I love photography and meeting people from all backgrounds.
Thank you for pausing to learn a bit about my story. I eagerly anticipate our shared journey toward a brighter, empowered future. Let’s connect and embark on this transformative adventure together.
Warm regards,
Kirk.
Aside from being the name of our company, the Universal Learning Approach (ULA) represents a Belief, Lifestyle & Learning Approach. The belief is that we, as humans, are most powerful when we are individually free, and that we are universally capable of exercising sovereignty over our lives. It is from this belief in human potential and personal sovereignty that we strive to unleash individual capability, empowering people to cultivate their full abilities and seek to lead intentional, disciplined, value-creating lives that maximize each fleeting moment that we have.
The more you seek to control external events, the less control you will have over your own life.
Holistically we as humans are comprised of three elements, our minds, our bodies, and our souls, and it is at the merger of the the mind, the body, and the soul that we can identify how we feel in the current moment. Whats more, it is when we suspend ourselves in the tension between these three elements of the self and evaluate how we feel and what we think about the current moment that we become aware of the fact that we can alter how we interpret our circumstances, determine our responses, and lead our lives. It this merger that represents the essence of who we are and it is the only thing that we can reliably control and truly alter should we choose to live intentionally.
The three rings in our logo represent the mind, the body, and the soul. They additionally represent, ourself, our families, and our communities. However we will focus on the Mind, Body and Soul here.
Always be challenging and developing your mind! It is critical that we continuously seek to learn, adapt and grow. This can be accomplished both through cultivating discipline and learning new things. We seek to promote the development of the mind through the Be Relentless Podcast, the ULA Blog, and "Be Relentless: If the Obstacles is the way, then we must be WayMakers."
Always be challenging and developing your body! We believe it is our duty to strengthen our bodies and increase our physical capacity. This in turn gives us health, and a more natural ability to tackle the challenges that life throws at us. To do this takes a life time of discipline and effort but the rewards of this pursuit are received daily. We seek to promote this by providing Sisu Stamina, Performance Evolved.
Always seek to be more resilient internally than the external world around you! What if at the end of your life you had to meet the best version of yourself? How large would the gap be from who your are today compared to who you were meant to become? We believe that at our core we are meant to strive for excellence. To work to bring good into the world and to live in peace.
Between the stimulus and response, there is a space. And in that space lies our freedom and power to choose our responses. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
