After 20 years in the military between the Marines and SEAL Teams, Eddie Penney has spent his fair share of time solving problems with violence. At first, you probably wouldn’t know it, though. Eddie radiates an energetic peacefulness that’s contagious. If you didn’t know better, it’d be easy to mistake him for a suburban CrossFit dad. Talk to him for more than a few minutes, and it’s easy to see why he has dedicated his life to helping others find the same peace he enjoys through self-improvement.
He’s more than just a retired Tier 1 Navy SEAL. Eddie stays busy with all the irons he has in the fire. We don’t know how he does it all — authoring Unafraid and a podcast of the same name with his cowriter Keith Wood, hosting podcasts with his wife Amanda, mentoring members of The Den, running his security company The Contingent Group, working as a public speaker, and plenty more. His most important and toughest mission, according to him? Being a dad.
RECOIL: Your new book and apparel line both carry the name Unafraid; what makes that word so significant to you?
EP: Well, there is what you normally think when you hear “unafraid,” but it has different meanings too. Unafraid could be “Screw this, let’s go get the enemy,” or not letting the fear of failure hold you back, like starting a business or a workout plan. People are afraid to go to the gym because they are out of shape, but people go to the gym to get into shape; why be afraid of the gym?
One day I was like, we have all these people that have become afraid of everything. No one stands up for what’s righteous anymore; the fear of what people might say paralyzes them. We let the negativity
