Podcast Summary: The Determined Society with Shawn French

Episode: Daria Berenato Breaks Down the Real Formula for Success

Date: February 16, 2026
Host: Shawn French
Guest: Daria Berenato (MMA fighter, wrestler for TNA, former WWE, actress, producer, wife, and mom)

Episode Overview

This episode features a deep-dive conversation between Shawn French and Daria Berenato about what it truly means to succeed: not flashy highlight reels, but the actual formula—consistency, discipline, and authenticity. Daria shares honest insights about her winding career in MMA, wrestling, and Hollywood, her struggles as a public figure balancing privacy and vulnerability, and the internal work that underpins real growth and accomplishment. Listeners get refreshing, actionable wisdom on navigating setbacks, honoring your unique path, and showing up for yourself and those around you.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Real Formula for Success: Consistency Over Motivation

• Consistency is the 'cheat code.'
  • "You have to be consistent and being consistent is being disciplined, because you're not consistently going to be motivated."
    — Daria, [01:18], [13:05]
• Momentum Matters:
  • Daria shares the story of bartending, fighting MMA, and doing a free podcast that led (unexpectedly) to her WWE break. The lesson: don’t dismiss seemingly ‘pointless’ efforts if they keep you moving.
  • "You just never know what's going to lead to something... I just am such a big believer on momentum."
    — Daria, [01:33], [13:49]
• Discipline gets you through when motivation fades.
  • "Consistency is the fucking cheat code that nobody wants to follow because it's hard and it's monotonous."
    — Shawn, [13:10]
  • "I'm very on the thought process of like, it's discipline over motivation."
    — Daria, [13:20]

2. Authenticity in a Manufactured World

• Resisting the urge for “performative” social media:

  • Both discuss pressures to curate, plan, or jump on trends, but ultimately:
  • "What I tell myself when I get overwhelmed... is like, just do you. Just stop overthinking it. Just do you, put it out there, and it'll resonate somewhere and it won't in other places, and that's fine too."
    — Daria, [08:45]

• Authenticity as a survival skill in public life:

  • Being vulnerable vs. safeguarding private life (esp. family, kids) is a constant push-pull for both guests.
  • "You do a great job of showing your audience who you really are … I really admire that."
    — Shawn, [06:25]
  • "That boundary is what I struggle with and try to straddle every day...I want to show my authentic self. I want to share my kids more … How do I do this in a safe way?"
    — Daria, [06:53]

3. Obedience to Your Instincts & The Power of Flow

• Listening to your gut and letting things unfold (no ‘forcing’):

  • Daria shares how leaving WWE and returning only when the “instinctual gut feeling” hit led her to TNA at a serendipitous and fruitful time.
  • "When you're living in your truth and your state of flow and you're not forcing things...good things will come."
    — Daria, [25:03]

• Obedience is a kind of success multiplier:

  • "There's this massive undertone of obedience...when you listen to that weird intuition or that voice, as long as you stay on that path, things always seem to work out."
    — Shawn, [27:00]

4. The Silent Nature of Determination

• Showing up for yourself, in the quiet moments:

  • "Determination and discipline isn't this roaring thing. It's just silently doing what you said you were going to do."
    — Shawn, [33:39]
  • "If you show up for yourself just by saying ... everyday you're accumulating points... That accumulation over time leads to confidence."
    — Daria, [34:09]

• Building confidence through self-accountability:

  • “My wife has called this out on me … your reservoir for confidence is very yellow. You're extrinsically confident, but inside you don't have this full tank … It never rectified until I showed up for me.”
    — Shawn, [35:44]

5. Blind Spots, Internal Work, and Modern Healing Modalities

• The root causes of our roadblocks:
  • Discussion of childhood trauma, triggers, and difficulty with self-reflection.
  • "I think so many of us have unhealed childhood [wounds]...if you go to the root, I think it's really helpful to kind of start healing."
    — Daria, [41:35], [45:00]
• Psychedelics & Therapy Tools (Ayahuasca, Ketamine):
  • Both share powerful stories of plant-based and modern therapies helping them process grief, trauma, and unlock personal breakthroughs.
  • "It essentially holds a mirror up to yourself and shows you your deepest, darkest vulnerabilities, weaknesses, triggers."
    — Daria, [43:32]
  • "I sobbed for an hour straight. ... I just finally processed and really broke over Melissa's passing. And we're talking way over a decade."
    — Shawn, [45:59], [47:07]

6. Chasing Big Dreams, Handling Setbacks, & Avoiding Scarcity Thinking

• Daria’s path in Hollywood & wrestling:
  • Finding success through the unlikely, pursuing acting since childhood, producing movies, and always loving the “little engine that could” mentality.
  • "I love being the little engine that could. I love being the underdog. I love being the comeback kid."
    — Daria, [56:45]
• Scarcity vs. Abundance:
  • "I don't like mixing passion with, like, this scarcity mindset … I live in a world of plentiful. There's enough for everybody."
    — Daria, [63:48]

7. Giving, Connecting, and Karma

• No fear of competition or betrayal:
  • Both discuss openly referring friends to contacts, being "givers," and having faith that karma will sort out the few who take advantage.
  • "I'm down to let you. I'm down to give anyone the rope to hang themselves. I am never scared of it."
    — Daria, [60:18]
  • "You don't live in scarcity … I really don't like thinking about things I can't control."
    — Shawn, [60:34]

8. Identity and the Importance of Being Uniquely Yourself

• Everyone is a limited edition:
  • "There is not two Sean French. There's not two Darias … I don't ever often feel like any of us can replicate what any of anyone else does. We're all very unique."
    — Daria, [61:16]
  • "Be you. Because everyone else is already taken."
    — Daria, [67:10]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Consistency:

  • "Consistency is the fucking cheat code nobody wants to follow."
    — Shawn French, [01:30], [13:10]

• On Flow and Obedience:

  • "When you're living in your path and you're being true to yourself and you're not forcing things but you're working hard, good things will come."
    — Daria, [25:03]
  • "There's this massive undertone of obedience."
    — Shawn, [27:00]

• On Internal Work:

  • "It essentially holds a mirror up to yourself and shows you your deepest, darkest vulnerabilities, weaknesses, triggers."
    — Daria (on Ayahuasca), [43:32]
  • "I think that was one of the main things I had: fear. And I think it was fear of not being enough. And it just brought it back to my child[hood]. It just starts showing…if you go to the root, it's really helpful to kind of start healing."
    — Daria, [44:48]

• On Confidence:

  • "Now you have a frame of reference. You have the experience that, 'Oh my God, I said I was going to do something and I did do it, and it worked.'"
    — Daria, [37:34]

• On Uniqueness:

  • "Be you, because everyone else is already taken. … It takes the pressure off."
    — Daria, [67:10]

• On Determination:

  • "Determination: The ability to pursue and believe in yourself without any evidence or fact other than what you feel in your mind and your gut and your spirit, and to go forth with that knowing, despite your emotion."
    — Daria, [65:41]

Important Timestamps

• 01:18 – Daria’s formula: discipline, consistency, and momentum
• 06:53 – Public vulnerability, privacy concerns, and family boundaries
• 13:05 – Motivation vs. discipline, and why consistency trumps all
• 15:21 – Daria’s story of “pointless” gigs leading to life-changing opportunities
• 25:03 – The power of flow and not forcing things
• 27:00 – Obedience to intuition
• 33:39 – Determination as quiet self-accountability
• 35:44 – Building authentic, internal confidence by showing up for yourself
• 41:45 – Self-reflection and why many avoid it (childhood roots)
• 43:32 – Daria’s transformative Ayahuasca experience
• 47:00 – Shawn’s healing story via modern therapy
• 56:45 – Embracing the underdog mentality and “the little engine that could”
• 61:16 – Embracing your one-of-one uniqueness
• 65:41 – Daria’s definition of determination
• 67:10 – “Be you, because everyone else is already taken.”

Tone & Takeaways

The episode is honest, warm, and frank—often humorous but always real. Both Shawn and Daria keep the language conversational and sprinkled with expletives for emphasis, mirroring their raw, unscripted approach. The takeaway? Real success has nothing to do with being loud, famous, or always motivated. Instead, it’s built quietly in the background: show up, be authentic, go through the hard internal work, embrace your unique journey, and always—always—give yourself another shot.

For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

If you want a candid, laugh-out-loud, and sometimes tear-inducing masterclass in personal (and professional) growth—without the platitudes—this episode delivers. You’ll walk away galvanized to be more consistent, more courageous, and above all, more unapologetically yourself.

Standout Advice

• Success is “consistency plus authenticity, multiplied by obedience to your own instincts.”
• Do the hard internal work—you can’t fake confidence or healing.
• Don't chase trends or measure yourself by others: “Be you. Because everyone else is already taken.”