How a Marine Turned Failure Into Unstoppable Leadership

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Living Your Legacy

Episode: "How a Marine Turned Failure Into Unstoppable Leadership"

Host: Rudy Mawer (with guest, Charles Solano)

Date: July 1, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode spotlights Charles Solano, former Marine, resilient entrepreneur, and founder of Rhodium Leadership Academy, Time to Wing It, and multi-unit Biggby Coffee owner. Charles shares his compelling journey from failed world record attempts to building thriving businesses and empowering leaders. The central theme is transforming setbacks into fuel for unstoppable leadership, with actionable insights on personal growth, leadership development, and creating team cultures rooted in learning and accountability.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Leadership as the Foundation

• Opening Insight:
  • Charles sets the tone:
    "Everything rises and falls on leadership." [00:00]
• The Role of Leadership in Business and Life:
  • Leadership is about ongoing self-discovery, developing strengths, and addressing weaknesses.
  • Charles emphasizes leadership’s influence on performance:
    "It's about influencing and getting others to perform at a higher level than even they thought wasn't possible." [00:07]

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2. Entrepreneurial Journey and “Time to Wing It”

• The Ethos Behind 'Time to Wing It' [02:14–03:00]:

  • Charles introduces his quick-service chicken wing restaurant:
    "We're going to revolutionize the right way to fry chicken wings." [02:39]
  • The restaurant stands out by frying wings in beef tallow, ensuring a superior taste and less sluggish feel.
  • Charles discusses the variety of sauces and focus on quality and customer well-being.

• Balancing Multiple Ventures [04:11–05:03]:

  • Charles shares how he manages several businesses, focusing on leadership delegation:
    "I got a great team in place now...it affords me the time to do some other things." [04:11]
  • He reveals his secret: early mornings (4–7am) dedicated to planning and prioritizing, enabling him to handle the "organized chaos" of entrepreneurship.

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3. Rhodium Leadership Academy & Building Company Culture

• Importance of Leadership Development [05:52–06:55]:

  • Charles explains the Academy’s aim to foster continual growth among team members:
    "We make sure that the values are there...they've got some hunger there and are looking to learn."
  • Academy mantra: "True education is self-discovery. Lean into your strengths and get better at your weaknesses."

• Creating Empowering Company Culture [07:21–08:38]:

  • Every employee is seen as both a contributor and a learner.
  • Team members are encouraged to share their voices, and feedback (even negative) is treated as a direct path to improvement: "Learning is not about being in charge. It's about taking care of those in your charge." [07:33]
  • Notable moment: Bad feedback is seen as a gift for growth;
    "They're telling you exactly where you're messing up. That's a layup." [08:38] (Host)

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4. Guinness World Record Attempts & Lessons from Failure

• Chasing and Failing Records [09:16–11:54]:
  • Inspired by David Goggins, Charles obsessed over chin-ups during the COVID period and attempted to break the 24-hour record (5,320 reps).
  • During his attempt, he tore his bicep and didn't reach the record. Rather than seeing it as defeat, he conducted a rigorous “after-action report,” turning failure into actionable lessons:
    "I got a lot of learnings and learned exactly how to break that record." [09:21]
  • The tattoos "3851, 07" on his arm mark his 8-hour and 12-hour chin-up world records.
  • Reflecting:
    "It's amazing what you know, if you get obsessed and you keep working at it, what our bodies are capable of...we are limitless." [11:12]

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5. Core Lessons and Advice for Listeners

• Embracing Purpose and Patience [12:32–13:02]:
  • Charles shares his guiding belief:
    "There's a quote that I really love, and it's the universe talking to you: 'What is meant to happen will happen when it's supposed to happen.' So use that. Put in the work, have some patience, and just keep getting after it. If you want it bad enough, you'll get it."
  • Host adds:
    "God's timing is always right. Just remember that." [13:02]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Leadership:
  "Everything rises and falls on leadership." — Charles [00:00, 05:52]
• On Self-Discovery:
  "True education is self-discovery. Lean into your strengths and get better at your weaknesses." — Charles [00:07, 05:52, 06:55]
• On Team Culture:
  "Learning is not about being in charge. It's about taking care of those in your charge." — Charles [07:33]
• On Failure:
  "I tore my right bicep. But in my after action report...I got a lot of learnings. We are limitless. If you want to put in the work, it's amazing what our bodies can do." — Charles [00:56, 09:21, 11:12]
• On Feedback:
  "Giving you bad feedback is telling you exactly where you're messing up. That's a layup." — Host Jason Tyler [08:38]
• On Perseverance:
  "What is meant to happen will happen when it's supposed to happen...Put in the work, have some patience, and just keep getting after it." — Charles [12:32]

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Important Timestamps

• 00:00 — Opening on leadership as the core of success
• 02:14–03:20 — "Time to Wing It" business philosophy and product differentiation
• 04:11 — Structure and leadership in multi-unit business operation
• 05:52–07:21 — Purpose and function of the Rhodium Leadership Academy
• 07:21–08:38 — Company culture and giving every employee a voice
• 09:21–11:54 — Guinness record journey, setbacks, and lessons
• 12:32–13:02 — Charles shares his favorite guiding quote on timing and perseverance

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Find Charles Solano

• Facebook & Instagram: Search "Biggby Coffee" in Michigan or “Time to Wing It”
• Guinness World Records: Search for “chin ups Charles Solano”
• Future book in the works

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Summary

This episode delivers practical and motivational wisdom, illustrating how setbacks can fuel growth, and why building resilient teams is the foundation of lasting ventures. Charles Solano’s Marine discipline, entrepreneurial grit, and passion for cultivating leadership provide a compelling blueprint for anyone aiming to build their own legacy.

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Transcript

[A]

Everything rises and falls on leadership.

[B]

Why is it so important to you to build leadership into other people?

[A]

True education is self discovery. So in that you're finding out what are my strengths and lean in towards your strengths and what are some of those weaknesses and also getting better at those as well. And ultimately it's about influencing and getting others to perform at a higher level that even they thought wasn't possible. Charles Solano is a resilient, purpose driven entrepreneur and the founder of Rhodium Leadership Academy, Time to Wing it and a bigby coffee owner. Through his work, he helps professionals master their mindsets and build thriving ventures, creating a lasting legacy of empowered leadership, bold action and community enrichment.

[B]

Talk to me about the story of breaking some Guinness World Records.

[A]

I had a period in my life where I got pretty obsessed with doing chin ups. I went after the 24 hour record, which was 5320 at the time and I didn't get was a failed attempt. I tore my right bicep. But in my after action report, as David calls it, I got a lot of learnings. We are limitless. We are limitless. If you want to put in the work, it's amazing what our bodies can do.

[B]

What do you think is the number one lesson that you want people to learn from viewing your episode?

[A]

I hope the viewers get a lot, but I would say it spans the globe like a super high Internet Elvis Presley. Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone. It's not over until I win the living your legacy podcast for those who live to leave a legacy that's extraordinary. The impossible has happened. Oh, that is sensational. Jordan, open Chicago with the lead. You said Paul is the fastest man on the planet. You can live your dream.

[B]

Welcome back everybody to another episode of the Inside success podcast. I am your host, Jason Tyler and I am joined today by by none other than Charles Solano. Now I know that you guys can see this on the screen, but his shirt says time to wing it. And I just want to take a minute to just kind of explain what's the, what's the ethos behind Time to Wing It. What are we, what do we got going on here?

[A]

So Time to wing it is a quick service chicken wing restaurant. We're going to revolutionize the way, the right way to fry chicken wings.

[B]

And now we talked about this in the episode. I don't want to give away too much of the sauce, but you guys do your wings a little bit differently. Talk to me a little bit about the differences.

[A]

Our sauces are fabulous. You Know, we've got the all. We've got four of the categories. We got mild, we got hot, we got medium, and we got lava hot. So now what separates us apart with the taste of our wings is that we fry everything in beef tallow.

[B]

See, that was the. That's what made. When we were talking about it in, in the interview, that's what made my ears perk up. I was like, hold on, we're doing. We're frying everything in beef tallow. All right? That's something that I can get behind because the last thing I want is to, you know, go out and eat fried food. And now I feel super sluggish afterwards. I can't get nothing done. I'm not going to eat fried food again for another week. So that's like a big, big benefit to having everything fried in beef tallow. Now I don't want to just spend time on time to wing it. You're in so many different businesses and obviously you have your background in the Marine Corps. So I want to talk a little bit about just what is it like running and operating so many different businesses, even specifically just in Bigby Coffee? How is it like, what's it like running five different locations?

[A]

I got a great team in place now that runs the coffee business. And I wouldn't have ventured out into these other businesses if I didn't know that I've got a solid team of leaders in to run the coffee business. I still have to meet with my leaders weekly and we talk about our KPIs, we talk about store performances and, you know, company culture and stuff like that. So now that I have those leaders in place, it affords me the time to do some other things. So you want to talk about constant prioritization and to do lists and stuff like that? Yes, it's always there. But I love it. I love it. My time is in the morning from about 4 to 7 in the morning. And then it's like, bring it on. Bring on the rest of the day. You know what I mean?

[B]

I love calling it organized chaos. Organized, yes. Anytime you, when you're running and operating a business, that's, that's really what it is, is life is going to throw obstacle. I mean, we talked about obstacles versus opportunities. Life is going to throw obstacles at you and you have no idea what they're, what they're going to be. And that's where the chaos part comes in. Right. But if you're organized, if you're practicing good leadership, I mean, you have the leadership academy, you can get through a lot of those obstacles. And what you'll find is those obstacles are the opportunities themselves. Right. That's another thing that we talked about. So I want to take a second here to talk about Rhodium Leadership Academy, because throughout your episode, we talked about how important leadership is. Why is it so important to you to build leadership into other people?

[A]

Everything rises and falls on leadership and it's a constant. You know, we always want to develop ourselves and self improve and the people that we bring on board into our businesses, we make sure that the values are there. We want to make sure that they're pretty. They're pretty high on wanting to develop themselves. They've got some hunger there and they are looking to learn. So in the leadership academy, that's, that's what it's all about. It's all about learning and growing. And you know, the. We say in the leadership academy that true education is self discovery. So in that you're finding out what are my strengths and lean in towards your strengths and what are some of those weaknesses and also getting better at those as well. And ultimately it's about influencing and getting others to perform at a higher level that even they thought wasn't possible.

[B]

We talked about the cycle of leadership and how important it is to, you know, how important it is to create company culture. Right. Culture is such an important aspect to any, I mean, any endeavor that you're going to get into. But talk to me a little bit about the company culture that you're, that you're creating in each one of your businesses.

[A]

Sure, sure. My employees know that. Yeah, they do work for me. But when you join our teams and join our businesses, you're working on yourselves personally and professionally. You're, you're, you know, you do work for Charles in this business, but they make that commitment that they are learning and growing, and that's what our culture is. My leaders know that they are there to take care of their people. Okay. Learning is not about being in charge. It's about taking care of those in your charge. So everyone who joins my team, you got a voice. We see you and we hear you. And learnings can come from everywhere. They can come from the newest employee joining the team with a set of fresh eyes and the most senior and everything in between. So it's constantly. We tell our folks there's all kinds of learning opportunities throughout the day, and those can be in good situations or they can be in. In bad situations. Sometimes the bad ones are a little bit hard to find. That nugget in there, but there's something there. And the bad feedback.

[B]

I feel like when I get bad feedback in business, when I get bad feedback, that's the easiest learning opportunity. That's like a layup. They're telling somebody telling you giving you bad feedback is telling you exactly where you're messing up. Right. They're going to go straight to the heart of what their experience was and what made it not great.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

And so for me, when I get a bad review in something that I've done in business, I'm like, oh, all right, that's. I got to immediately change this quick to action. Now I want to kind of touch on. There's two very important numbers tattooed on your arm there. 3851, 07.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Talk to me about the story of breaking some Guinness World Records.

[A]

Yes. So I had a period in my life where I got pretty obsessed with doing chin ups is during that Covid time.

[B]

Word to David Goggins.

[A]

Word to David Goggins. Wrote a book called Can't Hurt Me and also never finished as a second book. I got to meet him back in April earlier this year. David broke the Guinness World Record for pull ups back in 2013. And one of the chapters in his book he covers in pretty good detail of all of his milestones and his training. So I started gauging my training around doing chin ups and kind of matching David's milestones. And when I eclipsed his number in a 24 hour period, I said, it's time for Charles to go after this Guinness World Record. So I did. In 2021, I went after the 24 hour record, which was 5320 at the time. And I didn't get was a failed attempt. I tore my right bicep. But in my after action report, as David calls it, I got a lot of learnings and I learned exactly how to break that record. Now, it wasn't the 24 hour one that I ended up breaking. These two numbers on my arm are when I broke the 8 hour and the 12 hour records.

[B]

And I mean we talked about this off camera, but the pace that you were at when you broke the 12 hour record, had you maintained pace to go to the 24, you would have broken the 24 hour record too.

[A]

Yeah, it's pretty amazing. When I first went after the 24 hour record, 5340, I ended up getting 5112 or 5107 reps. And that's when. Yes, I'm just messing around. Yes. Yeah. So it's amazing what you know, if you get obsessed and you keep working at it, what our bodies are capable of. So that was one thing that I proved to myself, is that we are limitless. We are limitless. If you want to put in the work, it's amazing what our bodies can do.

[B]

And that is probably my favorite lesson that, you know, I'm privileged enough to have been able to share your story and talk with you over the last couple of hours. But I want to really hammer down on this for the people that are watching this right now who have the opportunity to go out and watch your episode of Operation CEO. There's so many great nuggets in there, but I want you to. What if you. Based on what you've shared so far today with me, what do you think is the number one lesson that you want people to learn from viewing your episode?

[A]

I hope the viewers get a lot, but I would say there's a quote that I really love, and it's the universe talking to you. What is meant to happen will happen when it's supposed to happen. I love that. So use that. Put in the work, have some patience, and just keep getting after it. And if you want it bad enough, you'll get it.

[B]

God's timing is always right. Just remember that. And with that, guys, we are on the other side now of our podcast episode with Charles. So, Charles, where can the viewers find you on social media? You know, I'm sure there's plenty that they can learn from you on your website. Social media. Is there any, you know, books that you might be working on, things of that nature? Where can people find you online?

[A]

Yeah, there's a book in my future working on that as we speak. But online, you know, there's Facebook, there's Instagram. I've got Facebook sites for all of my coffee shops and for my businesses. So you. I'm sure if you.

[B]

You Google big be coffee in the

[A]

big B Coffee, Michigan area. Sure. And maybe even the Guinness World Record for chin ups. You'll. You'll find me. It's still. It's still current.

[B]

I. Listen, I wouldn't. I. I don't know if I'm gonna make that attempt, but I do want to try to see how many chin ups I can get in a day. So I'm gonna. I'm gonna start working on that.

[A]

All right.

[B]

I might. I might be coming for your record here in a couple years. We never know. You never know. But with that, guys, we are on the other side of this episode of the Inside Success podcast. Make sure you guys tune in to Charles's episode of Operation CEO, and with that, we will see you guys in the next one.