is tell me about your vision when it came to Miss Fit Nation
and the show.
So when I first had this idea, it was at the height,
I guess right at the beginning of COVID,
when everything was shut down,
I just finished my studies at Georgetown University
to get my master's in disaster emergency management.
And I told my wife, I said,
I have eight hours a week that I don't do anything now.
So I have to do something.
So I started researching things I could do.
And I figured starting a podcast
where I can help veterans get the pressure off their chest,
tell their story and stay with us longer.
So they wouldn't become part of the 22 a day
or 44 a day statistic that you hear about for suicide
and stay with us would be a great idea.
So I started it up and after about the first 12 veterans,
they're like, hey, this is great, but we need more tools.
Put my thinking cap back on and reverted my strategy
and started getting experts on to help them
mixed in with veterans along the way.
And it's been going great.
Okay, so you're basically just the show
and then you're the connector.
So you're the bridge to all the resources that they need,
but yet getting them on the show
and actually hearing what they need and then moving forward.
That is awesome.
So how many shows do you have in the pocket?
I just recorded 417 on Sunday.
Okay, okay.
And you said this started during COVID, is that correct?
Yes.
Okay, and you were in studies of a master's degree.
So how does that correlate with this show
and what you choose to do with that master's degree
or was it just something you decided to take?
Polar opposites.
So that-
Yes, yes.
That's the emergency management.
When I finished that, I figured I'd try something else
and that's why I did this.
But now I'm also going for my doctorate in Homeland Security.
So also way outside, both sides opposite.
Okay, well, you know what?
Now that I think about it, as I put it all, excuse me,
put it all together, you're just showing what you can do
for those that have yet to have done it, right?
Because there's still more people that are coming out.
There's still more that are actually still involved
and still need that encouragement.
And so all you're doing really
is you're just showing them the way, which is awesome.
By the way, by example.
Absolutely.
Was it hard for school?
Are you online or were you taking classes?
It's 100% online, which it makes it harder, I believe,
because you're on your own, basically.
You get to chat with people,
unlike in the private chat we're doing here,
but you don't really have the interaction with humans
until maybe at the last second or the last minute
or through a Zoom call or something.
So it's a little different.
The doctorate process is way harder
because I only get to talk to my chair and co-chair
every so often as I write the paper.
So getting that feedback is kind of weird.
But when I get it, I just dive in and say,
all right, I'll fix what you said to fix and make it better
and hopefully make it better
so I don't have to keep doing this forever.
Wow.
How long will your doctorate take?
Hopefully it'll be done by either Christmas
or May of next year.
That is, I'm super proud of you for what it's worth.
Like that is awesome.
Thank you.
So you'll be Dr. LaMonica, right?
Yes.
I know that's right.
I'm gonna tell my wife to say that.
So that's my new name now.
Don't call me anything else but doctor.
I have another question for you.
What is your goal for being on the show today?
You run your own podcast.
So what's the difference from coming on to Vision Pros Live?
I believe getting my show out there,
even on a great platforms like Vision Pros Live,
helps grow my audience by also introducing your audience
to me and my audience, the Miss Fit Nation.
And so we can cross contaminate each other,
cross pollinate each other, I guess,
to get more of both of our voices out there.
So maybe every day we come on our show,
help one more person
and make that one more person strive to greatness.
That, absolutely.
What's your goal?
Do you have a goal?
I know I was speaking with someone else
and they were talking about,
I desire to have this amount of shows
or reach this amount of people.
What's your goal?
My goal when I started, like I said,
was to save as many as I could.
And as I grew and learned from more experts
and teaching and reading self-help posts and such,
I knew that helping everyone is not,
I'm not Superman, I can't do that,
but I can help one person on every show.
So if all my 417 shows were recorded,
I helped one person each show,
that's 417 people that are still with us.
417 people are doing better today than they were yesterday.
So that's a great goal.
The second portion of my goal
is to not just have me host the shows,
start the branch out.
So now I have three shows a week,
Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
My Tuesday show is now hosted by my buddy Jake
and my brother Steve.
So they have the Tuesday crew on Tuesdays
and I just produce
and so that way they don't have to press the buttons.
I can do all the buttons, they can just talk.
Nice, and that's the T-O-O-S-D-A-Y, right?
I loved it.
I was like, shut up.
That's the way we should spell in general.
Like we should just spell how we say it and think it.
It makes so much more sense.
Yes, I was like, that is super cute.
That's my favorite word is like, that is so super cute.
As you move along and you continue to do these shows,
is there more out of it?
So with becoming a doctor,
are you gonna branch off and be that necessary help
for those offering jobs?
Or what will you do that doctorate degree correlated
with what you're doing now or will you?
It's gonna be two separate lives.
Okay, got it.
Like right now I have a day job where I train soldiers
in during the day and at night just podcasting school.
So when I get the degree,
I'll probably stay with my current company
but move into a different position,
hopefully consulting Homeland Security
or maybe doing something with Homeland Security directly
and then still do the podcast
and keep it two separate lives.
So I'll basically have my life,
my life and my wife, my wife, my work
and then this, so three different chapters every day.
No, every day.
And you definitely have to make sure
that you care for yourself, Rich.
Yes.
And that you get you some me time,
whatever that looks like
because I see that you have your hands full already
but also with the doctor degree, oh my goodness.
That's gonna be a lot, a lot more.
What did it take for you to get to this point?
Did you have to fund anything?
Did you have to figure things out?
Were you pretty much in this alone?
I know you said you have your friend and your brother now
but what was it like starting this all on your own
pretty much as a entrepreneur?
It was straight out of pocket.
So my first studio setup was really my MacBook
and a very cheap microphone.
And then as you grow, you start testing other things,
you test other microphones and such.
And I did some interviews just in my Jeep.
I'd be in my Jeep and just do audio only
and you know, Jeeps are not quiet.
And so they're pretty loud vehicles
and I'm doing my, and I've learned and grew along the way.
And then my wife bought me a Rodecaster
for my birthday a couple of years ago.
So the Rodecaster Pro for Sound, I got a Rode mic,
got a better Mac now, double screens in front of me
but everything is self-funded for people to saying,
hey, here's a couple of dollars, let me help you out
and stuff like that.
I haven't really started any GoFundMe's ring like that
but I do have a buy me a coffee site
if you wanna buy me a coffee, help me out.
No way, I'm writing that down.
Throw that in the private chat for me.
All right, copy the link here.
And does that really buy you a coffee?
Do you drink coffee?
I do, yeah, but that is for my streaming costs.
That makes all the sense in the world.
So now I have a question for you.
Why do leaders hide from funding their vision?
What's the fear in, or did you even have any fear?
What would you tell an entrepreneur
trying to do what you're doing?
I don't think I had, I guess concerns.
I don't think I had real fears.
I knew if I got to a point
where I was bankrupting my family, I would stop.
Got it.
So I didn't get close to that point.
I wasn't really scared of it.
I knew my vision was,
I don't think it was skyrocket high for my goal at first.
So I would hit that ellipse and fall down.
I didn't think that would happen.
I thought maybe if I just start small
and keep growing and growing, things would be great.
And I think it's been on a pretty good trajectory right now.
I get enough people to donate that pay for my streaming
and keep us online so we get more people involved.
Thank you for being here today.
I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live.
I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions
as these episodes continue to move forward.
This is gonna get more and more fun.
We'll have more and more engagement as well.
We'll invite people to participate in the show
and thank you for giving us your time and attention.
Have an excellent time building out your vision
and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.