WWE Loss Into Reinvention | Daria Berenato on Breaking Norms & Overcoming Adversity

The Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset

In this powerful episode of The Determined Society, Shawn French sits down with Daria Berenato to explore her journey of reinvention, resili

Key takeaways

Authenticity and reinvention are not linear; they require embracing discomfort and rebuilding from the ground up.
The 'shut up and do it' mentality from South Jersey culture fueled Daria's rapid execution of ideas, especially in entrepreneurship.

Main topics

Reinvention after identity loss
Overcoming adversity and trauma

Notable quotes

"My entire identity, my entire adult life has been I'm a professional athlete... and that's no longer my identity."

"Only we can count ourselves out, but only we can count ourselves in."

Conclusion

Daria Berenato's story is a testament to the power of resilience, self-reinvention, and

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:02) My entire identity, my entire adult life has been I'm a professional athlete, I'm a wrestler with the WWE, and that's no longer my identity. It Speaker 1 (0:10) defined who I was. I didn't know who Daria was or what I stood Speaker 2 (0:14) for. Outside of that, I am a fighter. Whether I need to be fighting things or not, I fight them. Speaker 1 (0:20) You won your championship with Chelsea Green. And then three weeks later, you tear your ACL. The biggest win of your life, they don't renew your contract. An alarm goes off. 3 a.m. in your house. You open your eyes and there's a man standing four feet from you. Speaker 2 (0:36) Four years of messages from him with the very last message saying, I'm finally here, baby girl. I'm on your patio. I'll see you soon and I'm going to kill that blonde bitch inside with you. Speaker 1 (0:45) You went to an ayahuasca retreat. What did the quiet teach you that being in the arena couldn't? Speaker 2 (0:50) I learned a big lesson coming off that retreat. Probably one of the hardest experiences of my life. Go forward with such vigor and build something that you believe in. I just kept showing up. Speaker 1 (1:01) And Speaker 2 (1:01) that's how I've gotten everywhere that I've gotten in life. Only we can count ourselves out, but only we can count ourselves in. Speaker 1 (1:08) That is what fuels me. That is why I connect with your movement, with your brand. Speaker 1 (1:28) What's up, guys? I'm sitting here with Daria Baranato. She is without a doubt one of the most reinvented individuals that I've ever had in this seat. And I'm so happy to have her back on the show and to talk a little more deeply about her whole past and everything that she's gone through and overcame in her life and her new, new, brand new apparel company, Demon, which I love. I just bought four of their shirts and she sent me a nice box because I'm one of the founders, one of the first people to wear the shirt. And so without further ado, welcome to the show. I Speaker 2 (1:59) always love your intros. I liked the most reinvented. I really take that as a compliment because I feel like it's everything you talk about on this podcast is like, just keep going. And there's kind of never a destination. It's always a journey. So anyway. Well, no, I appreciate Speaker 1 (2:18) that. The intros are the hardest one because, you know, you really want to honor the guests and you don't want to fuck it up. You know what I mean? And sometimes, you know, the speech pattern slows down and then, you know, it's just, it's a weird thing. But, you know, truly the reinvention of you has been tremendous. There's been so many things that you've gone through, you know, but I don't, I don't want to start there. I want to start at the beginning, right? The little girl doing lemonade stands in South Jersey and Shemong. What was that girl actually chasing? Speaker 2 (2:48) Oh, Speaker 1 (2:48) the Speaker 2 (2:51) real answer. Speaker 2 (2:54) I think independence and control over her life. I had a great childhood and I love my parents and my family, but I think I wanted to be on my own. You know, I wanted to get away from certain things and I always had this like desire or like yearning for hyper independence. Like I wanted to do things on my own. I knew from a young age I wasn't going to want to depend on anybody else financially. And so I always had a strong urge to kind of create my own. Speaker 1 (3:26) That's interesting to me because when people have great childhoods like you did, there's usually not that yearning for independence, financial stability. Was there something that led you Speaker 2 (3:36) to Speaker 1 (3:36) maybe financial struggle? Speaker 2 (3:38) So I think it was my, so my mom, my dad are still best friends to this day, but they got divorced when I was young, when I was like two years old. And so my mom remarried my stepdad and they were together for like, 20 years. They're no longer together. But there was definitely, you know, our financial stability came from him at that point. And so when things weren't great, I think she hung around for the security for our family and did the best thing for our family. And I just hated seeing her in that position where she couldn't have full independence, you know? Speaker 1 (4:16) And Speaker 2 (4:16) so, and my dad was, you know, very hardworking, built his family company from 10 employees to 80 employees and then just sold the company. So he was kind of an entrepreneur his entire life. And I think seeing the way he operated, not ever having to answer to anybody and just building his own was really inspiring to me. And it was kind of like the path that I wanted. That's Speaker 1 (4:43) awesome. Yeah. Thank you for that. Side note. Yeah. Every time I talk to you, I feel like. I learned something else that we have in common. Speaker 2 (4:51) My Speaker 1 (4:52) biological father and my mom split when I was two. Speaker 2 (4:55) Whoa. Speaker 1 (4:55) And then she remarried another time. That was quick. That was over in Speaker 2 (5:01) a Speaker 1 (5:01) heartbeat. But my dad that raised me, they were together for about 20 years and then they ended up divorcing. So there's a lot of. Commonalities. There's a lot of commonalities there. It's always nice to learn more about you as we become better friends. I'm like, holy shit, wait, me too. Yeah. This is Speaker 2 (5:17) crazy. No, I know. Speaker 1 (5:18) And we both were all black. Speaker 2 (5:20) Yeah, I mean, I have to. Speaker 1 (5:21) It's slimming. Yeah. It looks nice. You talk about this South Jersey attitude, just shut up and do it. Where did that come from and who taught you that? Speaker 2 (5:36) You know, I don't know who specifically taught it to me. Maybe my dad from watching him. He wasn't much of like a do I'm going to tell you how to do it, do it this way. He just led by example. Like I kind of learned most of what I know just by watching how he operated. But it was that very like shut up and do it mentality. There wasn't a lot of space between an idea and then the execution of that idea. And I felt like. Growing up, parents are always telling your kids, be patient. Things take time. And obviously, circumstantially, that's true. But I feel like more times than not in business and in success, it's actually the opposite. Speaker 1 (6:19) And Speaker 2 (6:19) so for me, as I started figuring that out as an adult, it kind of was therapeutic because I was like, this urge of rush that I've always had from birth. is now accepted in this one avenue, which is business and hustle. So I operate that way. You know, with the clothing company Demon, I had the idea and we did our first drop within two months. I mean, that's everything. That's sourcing manufacturers, that's logo design, hiring employees, storing, warehousing, everything within, I think, maybe two and a half, three months. Because when I'm passionate about something, I want to see it come to fruition. And the more time you leave on the table, the more time you have to second guess yourself or overthink it or, you know, change your mind. And I really like organic thought. So I wanted that organic idea to kind of come to fruition. Speaker 1 (7:12) That's pretty cool because when you think of speed execution, patience is one thing. I think it takes patience. To wait for the massive glow up of demon or whatever it is Speaker 2 (7:24) that Speaker 1 (7:24) you're building. But the initial execution has to happen quick because as you said, limiting beliefs set in. Speaker 2 (7:30) You Speaker 1 (7:30) ask too many opinions from people that probably have never built a clothing line. Yeah, that part. Right? And that's real because those people want to keep you where they're at so they don't lose you. But it's super important to once you have an idea, you have to move on it quickly. When I started the show and consulted with my wife about it. She's the only one I talked to about it. And she goes, great, do it. But have it figured out by the time you get home and execute it or I don't want to hear about it again. And that night I recorded my first show. Speaker 2 (7:57) Wow. So Speaker 1 (7:58) sometimes you do need the people that are going to give you that tough love to stick that shank in your side a little bit to be like, you need to move on this. But I really love that explanation of it because the speed to execution with anything, when you have an idea and there's a purpose behind it, I think it's important. And before I move on to something else, I... We'll always go back to demon. Sure. But, you know, I want you to talk about the mission behind demon because you're not building just a clothing brand. You're building a movement. And it is very aligned with the determined society. Yes. I remember the time I was sitting there watching TV and my son is standing right behind me, looking over me and laughing hysterically. And I'm thinking, what are you laughing at, son? He goes, dad, you're balding. You have this massive bald spot on the top of your head. Immediately, I was mortified. I'm like, take a picture of this thing. And he did. And come to find out, he wasn't just joking with me. He wasn't just playing around or whatever kids do. He was telling me the truth. So immediately, I took action and got a hold of Lock Lab. And I'm going to tell you what. I've been using this product. for four months and my hair is growing back. It is fuller and I need haircuts more frequently. So being on camera and taking constant pictures all the time for the Determined Society podcast, I have to not be bald. I mean, it's just one of those things. I'm not ready for that yet. Lock Lab has given me the opportunity to regrow my hair so it's fuller and I could not be more happy. with the results so far, and I know they're just going to get better. I just take one pill a day, so it's super simple to fit into any routine. Lock Lab was formulated by past president, the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery, and one of the American Hair Loss Association's 2026 best surgeons in the world to give men the most hair back medically possible. You can get Lock Lab 100 % online and delivered direct. Speaker 2 (10:16) So I was with WWE obviously for 10 years. It was amazing. Since leaving, it was definitely kind of... starting over, right? It was figuring out, okay, my entire identity for my entire adult life has been, I'm a professional athlete. I'm a wrestler with the WWE and that's no longer my identity. And so that was a bit of a learning curve for me. And I was like, what is it that I care to do in this world? And obviously acting is one of those things that I'm very passionate about and also pursuing. But I have messaging that I've always had kind of ingrained in me from child that I feel very strongly about. And, you know, it's built without permission is the tagline for demon. And what that means to me is. not waiting for societal norms to align with your vision and your passions and going forth with complete vigor and believing that you know what you're doing before anyone else can kind of see that. Speaker 1 (11:22) And Speaker 2 (11:22) so built without permission is kind of how I lived my entire life. I definitely wasn't a scholar in school. In traditional education, I loved educating myself, just not in the setting of a classroom. And so I think that led a lot of people to believe early on that I probably Wasn't going to do much with my life, but I knew I was going to do something just not in the school setting. And so this clothing line is kind of for the people that were doubted like me to kind of tell you. Speaker 2 (11:52) Screw what everyone says. I was trying not to curse. Fuck what everybody says. Yeah. And go forward with such vigor to prove to yourself to make yourself proud every day and build something that you believe in. Because a lot of times, like you said, even the people that love us most can't see our vision because they're clouded with emotion or trying to protect themselves from something they don't want to experience. And only you know what you're truly capable of. And it's not a linear path. I don't want people to think like, oh my God, you're so strong. You can just go forward with all these pursuits and have no doubt and no, no, there's doubt along the entire path. Dude, there's, there's shame. There's guilt. There's insecurities along the entire path. That's not the secret magic of it all. It's going forward anyway, with whatever you have left in the tank, just keep going because those monotonous things that may feel small. are the tangible things that get you to the bigger goal. Speaker 1 (12:52) And sometimes your one day effort doesn't match your day before, but you still give 100 % of whatever you got that day. Speaker 2 (12:59) 100%. Speaker 1 (13:00) Imagine being a 47-year-old man and you have your 12-year-old son walking behind you on the couch. And all of a sudden you hear him losing his mind in laughter. And you want to know because you're curious, what's going on back there? And I say, hey, son, what are you laughing at? He goes, you, your head. You're balding. I said, what? Here's my phone. Take a picture of it. I don't believe you. I think you're messing with me. He was right. I was balding big time. And then we got a hold of Lock Lab. Now, this was really cool. They sent me a bottle. It's one pill a day and my hair is growing back. But I've been super happy with the results with Lock Lab. And like I said, it's super simple. Every single day, I just take one pill and I'm ready to rock. Do it in the morning. Don't have to worry about it. It's been super nice to put that into my daily routine. Lock Lab was formulated by the past president of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery and one of the American Hair Loss Association's 2026 best surgeons in the world to help give men the most hair back medically possible. You can get Lock Lab 100 % online and delivered direct to your door. Simply click through the questionnaire and once approved, you'll receive your treatment in days. If you've been thinking about doing something about hair loss, now's the time. Go to locklab.co and take the first step with a free consultation. You know, Bill, without permission, and you have about five sentences that I sent you the other day, and I don't remember all of them. Speaker 1 (14:31) But the first two, built without permission, for those who have been overlooked. Yeah. I have been overlooked my whole life. And to this day, it happens religiously. And that is what fuels me. That is why I connect with your movement, with your brand. And you've sent me many texts. You don't have to do that. Yeah, I do. I do have to do this. Because for me, I get it. That made me see you so much more. just those five sentences i'm like oh shit yeah like this is how i feel every day it's Speaker 2 (15:05) really relatable when i whenever i hear you talk i'm like oh my gosh i agree with so much of that because i i my story really is the underdog story i wasn't the the best the fastest the i wasn't the ist of anything I just kept showing up. And that's how I've gotten everywhere that I've gotten in life. You know, I tell the story because I think it's powerful. I didn't make the basketball team my first three years I tried out. My seventh grade, my eighth grade, or my sixth, seventh, and eighth grade year, I didn't make the basketball team. Freshman year, for whatever reason, I still tried out and then I made it and had a great couple years playing. And so I say that to say, like, only we can count ourselves out, but only we can count ourselves in. So you got to just keep. Going. Speaker 1 (15:51) You've always been brave. That's the one thing when I dig into everything, you've always been a risk taker. You're always pushing that envelope of societal norms. Yeah. Speaker 2 (16:02) When Speaker 1 (16:02) you were 16, Speaker 2 (16:03) you Speaker 1 (16:03) walk into an MMA gym. Speaker 2 (16:05) What Speaker 1 (16:06) does it take for a teenage girl to walk into a fight gym? Speaker 2 (16:10) It's funny because people have brought this to my attention. I do, admittingly, love risk. I get uncomfortable when I feel like I'm stagnant. I'm not doing things that make me uncomfortable. That's just in my DNA. But, yeah, so walking into the fight gym, again, I wasn't scared at all. I knew that's what I wanted to do. I had seen Gina Carano and Chris Cyborg, some of the greatest female fighters at the time, before females were allowed to fight in the UFC. And they inspired me so much. poised and beautiful and badass and strong. And I just knew that that's what I wanted to do. So yeah, I walk into this fight gym and it's owned by this little Italian guy and he comes out and he's like, can I help you? You know, typical Jersey. And I'm like, yeah, I want to be a fighter. And he's like, what? It's like a boxing gym. MMA, full MMA gyms didn't exist back then. Speaker 1 (17:00) And Speaker 2 (17:01) I was like, yeah, I want to be a fighter, an MMA fighter. And he's like. okay, put your stuff down. So I had like jeans on. My mom had just like picked me up from school and brought me there. I didn't have my license yet. And he was like, come on. My mom sat right there and watched the whole thing. And he like had me doing burpees to pull-ups to box jumps, like just crazy, intense circuit training. And we did it for about, I don't know, 20 minutes. And he looked at me and goes, all right, tomorrow at 10. Like it was like that. And I was like, Okay. I think I just got like hate initiated into this gym. You Speaker 1 (17:36) got jumped in. Speaker 2 (17:36) Yeah, somehow. And so I started showing up. I was there every single day. God bless my mom. She was the best. She would drive me like an hour, 45 minutes from my house to go here. Dang. And because we lived in a really, really small town that didn't have anything like this. And then when I got my license, I would drive myself and I fell in love with fighting because I'm a fighter. Not by... career choice, but