To leave the world a bit better...this is to have succeeded. ~Emerson

Daniel Press

Like you, I have been an underdog all my life. I was born into chaos beneath an abusive father who taught me that I was less than everyone else, every day, since I was a toddler. We moved from a middle class neighborhood to a rough impoverished one when I was 12 where the cultural and socioeconomic differences made me a target. 

I spent my childhood reading books about overcoming adversity and personal development, and lifting weights...until I had rebuilt what life had broken within me. Until I was unconquerable. And then I faced life anew. 

I became drawn to pursuits of uncertainty and unpredictability that held harsh consequences and thrived on challenging myself.  I competed as a boxer, played ice hockey, raced mountain bikes down mountains, whitewater kayaked, backpacked alone – once waking to mountain lion footprints outside my tent three straight days. I amassed over 200 injuries in my pursuits; I was once told I would never walk again and fought to beat the odds, and after another injury my family was told by doctors I would not survive the night.

I faced down an intruder who broke into my home. I worked as a fitness trainer. I earned a degree in psychology to further learn how to use my mind as a battering ram against anything in my way. I worked as an advertising copywriter because I read it was the second most competitive field. I lost everything pursuing a dream and slept on friends' floors, penniless, eating as little each day as possible. 

I also served as a congressional intern, an experience which ingrained in me a philosophy of recognizing a need then setting out to answer it. A drive which inspired me to take part in developing two programs to help those less fortunate: one in which university students spend time with children from an impoverished town, keeping the at-risk youth off the streets and guiding them toward more fulfilling and positive life choices. And the Sammy Fight Night For the Pediatric AIDS Foundation – which for nearly two decades remained one of the largest philanthropy events on the Miami University campus. In addition, I have been involved with  wonderful causes such as: Share Ourselves SOS Community Food Bank, Kure It Cancer Research, and Toys For Tots.

I entered many realms of life unprepared, under-qualified, and disadvantaged, with nothing but courage to serve me. I did not always come out victorious, but I always came out, always got back to my feet.

Along my journey I have worked with individuals facing life's cruelties and helped them develop the courage to not only rise again, but to surpass the heights from where they had fallen. I have seen the incomparable transformational power of courage time and again. 

I have learned that one can lose everything but if one has courage, they have something more valuable than all the world’s riches. They have the ability, no matter what life throws at them... to Kick Life's Butt.

And that is what I would like to give to you within the pages of this website.