WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.720 Welcome to the Behind the Shield podcast. As 00:00:01.720 --> 00:00:03.520 always, my name is James Geering, and this week 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:05.580 it is my absolute honor to welcome on the show 00:00:05.580 --> 00:00:09.699 Army Infantry Veteran and the man behind Transcend, 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:13.720 Ernie Colling. So in this conversation, we discuss 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:17.079 a host of topics from Ernie's early life, his 00:00:17.079 --> 00:00:20.160 journey into the military, some of the worst 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:23.899 days in uniform, his transition, the world of 00:00:23.899 --> 00:00:27.399 contracting, the spectrum of factors that influence 00:00:27.399 --> 00:00:30.809 our hormones. testosterone replacement therapy, 00:00:31.089 --> 00:00:34.590 the importance of blood testing, mental health, 00:00:34.829 --> 00:00:39.409 the Transcend Foundation, 7X, and so much more. 00:00:39.670 --> 00:00:41.890 Now before we get to this incredible conversation, 00:00:42.130 --> 00:00:44.509 as I say every week, please just take a moment, 00:00:44.670 --> 00:00:47.750 go to whichever app you listen to this on, subscribe 00:00:47.750 --> 00:00:51.280 to the show. Leave feedback and leave a rating. 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:55.060 Every single five -star rating truly does elevate 00:00:55.060 --> 00:00:57.920 this podcast, therefore making it easier for 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:01.500 others to find. And this is a free library of 00:01:01.500 --> 00:01:05.700 over 800 episodes now. So all I ask in return 00:01:05.700 --> 00:01:08.640 is that you help share these incredible men and 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:11.980 women's stories so I can get them to every single 00:01:11.980 --> 00:01:14.700 person on planet Earth who needs to hear them. 00:01:15.079 --> 00:01:18.180 So with that being said, I introduce to you, 00:01:19.250 --> 00:01:40.989 Ernie Colling. Enjoy. Well, Ernie, I want to 00:01:40.989 --> 00:01:44.569 start by saying thank you to Brandon for connecting 00:01:44.569 --> 00:01:47.109 us and thank you for coming on the Behind the 00:01:47.109 --> 00:01:50.040 Shield podcast today. No, absolutely. Thank you 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:52.480 for having me. And Brendan's an awesome person 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:54.480 to be working with. And he had nothing to praise 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:57.060 to say about you. So, you know, I appreciate 00:01:57.060 --> 00:01:59.319 the opportunity. Yeah, well, we got to spend 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:01.540 a pretty interesting 10 days crammed in a plane 00:02:01.540 --> 00:02:04.159 together. So we'll get to that in a little bit. 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:07.739 Oh, yeah. All right. So first question, where 00:02:07.739 --> 00:02:09.539 on planet Earth are we finding you this morning? 00:02:10.520 --> 00:02:13.819 You're finding... Me and Auburn Hills, Michigan, 00:02:14.020 --> 00:02:16.780 which were right next to the Chrysler World Headquarters, 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:19.159 you know, the office building. And this is my 00:02:19.159 --> 00:02:23.780 executive office. Now, you said Chrysler was 00:02:23.780 --> 00:02:27.060 close to you? Yeah, yeah. So, you know, Chrysler, 00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:30.219 Dodge, Ram, the automaker, one of the big three. 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:33.379 You know, it's big to the Detroit area, you know, 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:37.240 born and raised here. When I found the office 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:39.879 space and it was right in proximity to it, it 00:02:39.879 --> 00:02:42.800 just had a great feel. So, you know, we were 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:45.819 quick to get at least and get the team in here. 00:02:45.939 --> 00:02:48.180 And it's just good to come in every morning and 00:02:48.180 --> 00:02:50.280 to look and see an icon, you know, something 00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:53.939 of legacy, you know, within our culture, you 00:02:53.939 --> 00:02:56.819 know, society. I wanted to be close to that. 00:02:57.610 --> 00:02:58.770 Well, the reason I ask, and it's interesting 00:02:58.770 --> 00:03:01.650 that you were born in Detroit, when you look 00:03:01.650 --> 00:03:03.669 at some of the problems, and we'll get into it, 00:03:03.710 --> 00:03:06.210 but mental health addiction, some of them, the 00:03:06.210 --> 00:03:08.849 origin story is an industry leaving, and Detroit 00:03:08.849 --> 00:03:12.110 is a perfect example. What are you seeing now? 00:03:12.189 --> 00:03:15.710 You're a pretty clued -in business leader. Is 00:03:15.710 --> 00:03:18.789 the American car starting to come back to our 00:03:18.789 --> 00:03:21.770 grounds again, our shores? Yeah, I think there 00:03:21.770 --> 00:03:25.300 is. quite a bit especially in this area um in 00:03:25.300 --> 00:03:29.060 the ev world uh specifically um chrysler and 00:03:29.060 --> 00:03:32.439 ford and uh gm jam mainly you know they're they're 00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:34.939 investing in infrastructure and facilities and 00:03:34.939 --> 00:03:38.259 that's creating a lot of jobs for construction 00:03:38.259 --> 00:03:40.539 and you know engineering specific types of things 00:03:40.539 --> 00:03:44.340 you have suppliers and vendors you know rapid 00:03:44.340 --> 00:03:46.520 prototyping all sorts of things that tie into 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:50.009 that so In Oakland County, where this is all 00:03:50.009 --> 00:03:53.289 located, there's a strip called Automation Alley, 00:03:53.310 --> 00:03:56.210 and we're right in the heart of it. So it's great 00:03:56.210 --> 00:03:58.710 to see buildings that were empty, you know, filling 00:03:58.710 --> 00:04:01.530 up again. You know, lots that were destroyed. 00:04:01.729 --> 00:04:04.389 There's construction coming in. You know, they're 00:04:04.389 --> 00:04:07.710 rebuilding old factories, you know, and revamping 00:04:07.710 --> 00:04:10.629 them for new lines. So, I mean, in this area, 00:04:10.689 --> 00:04:12.750 it's pretty prevalent that it's coming back. 00:04:13.349 --> 00:04:16.089 I can't speak for everywhere else, but it's great 00:04:16.089 --> 00:04:18.750 to see that here. Beautiful. I hope that kind 00:04:18.750 --> 00:04:20.730 of finds itself in Detroit because I know the 00:04:20.730 --> 00:04:24.050 firefighters in that particular city are extremely 00:04:24.050 --> 00:04:27.990 overworked and underpaid. Yeah, yeah. Important 00:04:27.990 --> 00:04:30.990 note with us, you know, Auburn Hills and the 00:04:30.990 --> 00:04:33.790 area, like people say Detroit, it's the easiest 00:04:33.790 --> 00:04:36.569 geographical location, but we're probably about 00:04:36.569 --> 00:04:40.389 40 minutes north, northeast of actual Detroit, 00:04:40.569 --> 00:04:43.509 the city itself. The city itself has also come 00:04:43.509 --> 00:04:45.970 back quite a bit and downtown area is beautiful. 00:04:46.889 --> 00:04:49.029 I'll be down there tonight with friends and family 00:04:49.029 --> 00:04:52.170 and a few others that we're hosting from company. 00:04:53.209 --> 00:04:55.709 So, you know, it's a great place to go to, but 00:04:55.709 --> 00:04:58.129 there's still some problem areas. You know, the 00:04:58.129 --> 00:05:00.889 civics, they're still underpaid, overworked, 00:05:00.889 --> 00:05:05.370 that kind of stuff. But yeah, we're close enough 00:05:05.370 --> 00:05:07.790 to say Detroit, but we're not necessarily exactly 00:05:07.790 --> 00:05:11.379 in Detroit. Brilliant. Well, you mentioned Detroit, 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:13.019 so I'd love to start at the very beginning of 00:05:13.019 --> 00:05:15.540 your lifeline. So tell me exactly where you were 00:05:15.540 --> 00:05:17.139 born and tell me a little bit about your family 00:05:17.139 --> 00:05:19.560 dynamic, what your parents did and how many siblings. 00:05:20.939 --> 00:05:27.860 Okay. Yeah. So let's see. Three brothers, two 00:05:27.860 --> 00:05:32.279 sisters. Two brothers and one sister surviving. 00:05:32.680 --> 00:05:35.620 Mom and dad been married for just about 50 years. 00:05:35.699 --> 00:05:39.600 High school sweethearts. You know, still married 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:42.959 to this day. I was born and raised in Oakland 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:45.459 County, Michigan, right on the border of Oakland 00:05:45.459 --> 00:05:48.019 and Macomb, which is a real blue collar area. 00:05:48.220 --> 00:05:50.259 Very blue collar. All the trades work there. 00:05:50.899 --> 00:05:53.180 Going back to the auto industry, especially in 00:05:53.180 --> 00:05:57.220 the late 70s, early 80s, even mid to early 90s. 00:05:57.850 --> 00:06:00.230 The neighborhoods and the way everything was 00:06:00.230 --> 00:06:02.329 done, it was like strategic. You know, your line 00:06:02.329 --> 00:06:06.509 workers were here, right? And then your managers 00:06:06.509 --> 00:06:08.689 were here and your white collar people were here. 00:06:08.810 --> 00:06:12.790 It was, you know, a very class division of where 00:06:12.790 --> 00:06:15.350 people lived, even in the same communities and 00:06:15.350 --> 00:06:18.209 proximity to where the plants were and all those 00:06:18.209 --> 00:06:21.110 other things. So my dad actually didn't work 00:06:21.110 --> 00:06:23.509 in the auto industry. He was in the computer 00:06:23.509 --> 00:06:27.850 industry. He was a Harvard engineer, which basically 00:06:27.850 --> 00:06:30.089 meant at that time he was fixing ATM machines 00:06:30.089 --> 00:06:34.290 and anything that had to do with electrical engineering. 00:06:34.709 --> 00:06:36.949 And it morphed over time into something that 00:06:36.949 --> 00:06:43.370 was more desk job type of orientation. But in 00:06:43.370 --> 00:06:45.670 the beginning, it was more of a skilled trade 00:06:45.670 --> 00:06:48.829 than it was a white collar kind of thing. It 00:06:48.829 --> 00:06:51.430 over time morphed into it. But the neighborhood 00:06:51.430 --> 00:06:54.329 back then, yeah, it was... a real blue collar, 00:06:54.529 --> 00:06:58.209 stick together, tight knit. You know, the kids 00:06:58.209 --> 00:07:01.389 knew who everybody was. If you weren't from there, 00:07:01.470 --> 00:07:05.829 we knew real quick. You know, grievances were 00:07:05.829 --> 00:07:09.490 resolved with a quick fist. And then, you know, 00:07:09.490 --> 00:07:12.410 you pulled that guy up and, you know, dusted 00:07:12.410 --> 00:07:14.899 each other off and, you know. Everyone learned 00:07:14.899 --> 00:07:16.819 their lesson, and we went back to whatever we 00:07:16.819 --> 00:07:20.019 were doing, you know, sandlot football or, you 00:07:20.019 --> 00:07:21.860 know, riding bikes on the trails and all sorts 00:07:21.860 --> 00:07:24.100 of things that Michigan kids do, you know, pond 00:07:24.100 --> 00:07:28.120 hockey, all that. Interesting enough, though, 00:07:28.300 --> 00:07:31.600 when I was really young, I was about five, and 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:36.000 my brother was four at the time. And, you know, 00:07:36.060 --> 00:07:39.259 same thing. As soon as the morning sun hit, you 00:07:39.259 --> 00:07:41.120 know, we're out the door, summertime, you know, 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:43.980 playing with friends. um you know tragedy struck 00:07:43.980 --> 00:07:48.120 uh my brother was actually killed um by a truck 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:51.899 uh on his bike and it was in close proximity 00:07:51.899 --> 00:07:55.660 to me very close so obviously it's tragic as 00:07:55.660 --> 00:07:59.759 a you know a young boy to um to lose a sibling 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:02.220 right there in front of you and in that manner 00:08:02.220 --> 00:08:05.759 uh damn near broke my family apart um the whole 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:07.959 neighborhood you know could feel it could feel 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:12.019 the weight of it um no one felt real safe anymore 00:08:12.019 --> 00:08:15.579 you know and it wasn't because of you know criminal 00:08:15.579 --> 00:08:17.680 activity or anything like that obviously it was 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:20.439 just a the notion that that can happen anywhere 00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:23.620 you know when you're careless and don't pay attention 00:08:23.620 --> 00:08:27.680 um too many factors in there to go back through 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:31.120 and and see why or how but there was a massive 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:33.960 impact and obviously impacted my life um you 00:08:33.960 --> 00:08:36.980 know really young you know that uh for the next 00:08:36.980 --> 00:08:41.639 god seven to ten years you know You know, we 00:08:41.639 --> 00:08:44.059 struggled as a family. You know, there was lawsuits 00:08:44.059 --> 00:08:48.220 and, you know, all sorts of turmoil and pain 00:08:48.220 --> 00:08:51.399 and healing that was going on. So growing up 00:08:51.399 --> 00:08:55.240 like that, it was a bit rough. You know, at some 00:08:55.240 --> 00:08:57.899 point in time, it started to mellow out. High 00:08:57.899 --> 00:09:00.480 school time, you know, I discovered sports. I 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:02.120 got into the wrestling. I was pretty decent. 00:09:03.340 --> 00:09:05.779 You know, that kept me, for the most part, out 00:09:05.779 --> 00:09:09.450 of trouble. But I did find enough trouble, especially 00:09:09.450 --> 00:09:11.409 hanging out with some of the guys I was hanging 00:09:11.409 --> 00:09:14.610 out with. Eventually, I got in enough trouble 00:09:14.610 --> 00:09:17.090 that I actually got expelled from high school. 00:09:18.029 --> 00:09:21.389 A year later, I was allowed back. And, you know, 00:09:21.470 --> 00:09:25.929 I went to school and finished my time. But I'd 00:09:25.929 --> 00:09:28.769 have to go that extra year to graduate. I didn't 00:09:28.769 --> 00:09:32.850 want to do it. So I dropped out. So, yeah, I'm 00:09:32.850 --> 00:09:37.149 a high school dropout. Took that time and just 00:09:37.149 --> 00:09:39.429 manual labor, construction, that kind of stuff. 00:09:39.610 --> 00:09:41.429 But in that time frame, I was out on the job. 00:09:41.529 --> 00:09:44.950 And my sister, she was 24. I was 18 at the time. 00:09:45.950 --> 00:09:48.370 She was hit and killed by a drunk driver. So 00:09:48.370 --> 00:09:51.730 I lost my older sister and my younger brother. 00:09:52.190 --> 00:09:56.889 So I've been the youngest, oldest, and middle 00:09:56.889 --> 00:10:00.669 child in my family, which is an odd experience. 00:10:01.809 --> 00:10:05.870 Oldest now. You know, after that happens, it 00:10:05.870 --> 00:10:08.730 kind of changed my perspective on where I was 00:10:08.730 --> 00:10:11.269 in life and where I wanted to be. So I went, 00:10:11.409 --> 00:10:15.870 you know, I got my GED. I literally just picked 00:10:15.870 --> 00:10:18.649 up the book, studied it for a few weeks, paid 00:10:18.649 --> 00:10:21.909 to go take the test, took the test. You know, 00:10:21.909 --> 00:10:24.009 they let you know like 30 days later whether 00:10:24.009 --> 00:10:27.929 you passed or don't pass. You know, got the mail 00:10:27.929 --> 00:10:30.909 in my parents' house. I'm like, oh, cool. I have 00:10:30.909 --> 00:10:36.590 a GED. decent so yeah i'm like oh i guess it 00:10:36.590 --> 00:10:39.690 works um so i'm like okay what am i gonna do 00:10:39.690 --> 00:10:43.730 now um so i just you know joined the army they 00:10:43.730 --> 00:10:47.450 saw me coming you know right there young you 00:10:47.450 --> 00:10:49.710 know former athlete you know kind of a troublemaker 00:10:49.710 --> 00:10:54.990 trying to fix some things up um and uh they they 00:10:54.990 --> 00:10:58.149 got me on an infantry contract and uh it was 00:10:58.149 --> 00:11:01.080 you know all of them from there on out But it 00:11:01.080 --> 00:11:04.940 was probably the best thing for me. I just, I 00:11:04.940 --> 00:11:09.480 enjoyed the challenge. I really enjoyed the mentorship, 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:13.100 even though it can be harsh at times. But it 00:11:13.100 --> 00:11:15.220 was exactly what I needed. And I needed to hear 00:11:15.220 --> 00:11:19.080 it from that type of environment, I guess. I 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:20.860 don't know. I just, I was receptive to it differently 00:11:20.860 --> 00:11:23.740 than I was throughout with parents and, you know, 00:11:23.740 --> 00:11:27.399 other friends and teachers, coaches. For whatever 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:30.590 reason, for me, it stuck. It was different. you 00:11:30.590 --> 00:11:33.490 know i was in and out i did my you know one time 00:11:33.490 --> 00:11:36.929 enlistment got it as a corporal um you know iraq 00:11:36.929 --> 00:11:39.350 was going on you know at that point in time it 00:11:39.350 --> 00:11:43.149 was late 2004 for me and i went right over and 00:11:43.149 --> 00:11:46.370 i got a security contract job and i was doing 00:11:46.370 --> 00:11:49.289 convoy security up and down msr tampa which is 00:11:49.289 --> 00:11:52.590 you know central to iraq and um the company i 00:11:52.590 --> 00:11:55.789 was with wasn't a very good company um but when 00:11:55.789 --> 00:11:58.590 you're you know, 20 -something years old, and 00:11:58.590 --> 00:12:00.350 they're offering you $10 ,000 a month in cash 00:12:00.350 --> 00:12:02.450 to go and do something, and you really don't 00:12:02.450 --> 00:12:04.870 have any other job skills. It seemed like a really 00:12:04.870 --> 00:12:09.649 good idea at the time. It wasn't. Fortunately 00:12:09.649 --> 00:12:12.149 for me, I had a former squad leader that was 00:12:12.149 --> 00:12:16.350 on a different contract with NSCOM, and we were 00:12:16.350 --> 00:12:19.049 both at Biop, Baghdad International Airport, 00:12:19.409 --> 00:12:23.460 and it was like a massive... like us military 00:12:23.460 --> 00:12:25.519 installation with different little installations 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:28.860 within it and uh he had kind of heard over the 00:12:28.860 --> 00:12:31.759 net that there was this uh you know civilian 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:35.059 convoy you know psd company and they were getting 00:12:35.059 --> 00:12:37.879 their ass handed to them uh just north of taji 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:41.580 uh because we got hit by an id uh lost our fourth 00:12:41.580 --> 00:12:45.399 vehicle ironically uh the person that died in 00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:47.080 that vehicle was to see i was supposed to be 00:12:47.080 --> 00:12:50.460 seating sitting in we uh when we went and picked 00:12:50.460 --> 00:12:53.929 up our cargo, our trucks, you know, we were coming 00:12:53.929 --> 00:12:56.850 back before we actually got in the vehicles and, 00:12:56.850 --> 00:13:01.590 you know, began to SP. One of the drivers ate 00:13:01.590 --> 00:13:04.309 a silicone packet from the MREs. It was an Iraqi 00:13:04.309 --> 00:13:07.309 driver, so he got sick as crap. And I think he 00:13:07.309 --> 00:13:09.330 saw it was in the back of the truck and actually 00:13:09.330 --> 00:13:11.110 didn't want to drive it because they, you know, 00:13:11.110 --> 00:13:13.730 always look underneath the tarp. And it was, 00:13:13.769 --> 00:13:16.889 you know, RPG rounds, grenades, you know, explosives, 00:13:16.950 --> 00:13:18.990 things for the Iraqi army that we were dropping 00:13:18.990 --> 00:13:23.700 off. So he got sick. So then we had to reconfigure 00:13:23.700 --> 00:13:25.100 everything because one of our American drivers 00:13:25.100 --> 00:13:28.340 actually had a CDO and could drive a semi. So, 00:13:28.340 --> 00:13:31.460 you know, he had to go in that truck. We reconfigured. 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:35.059 I went from truck four to truck three. And, you 00:13:35.059 --> 00:13:38.840 know, that was that. So, you know, by just one 00:13:38.840 --> 00:13:43.799 small event, it saved my life. You know, craziness. 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:46.740 I didn't even realize at the time that that was 00:13:46.740 --> 00:13:50.269 so significant. But, you know, we got back out 00:13:50.269 --> 00:13:53.470 on the road. And a couple hours later, we're 00:13:53.470 --> 00:13:56.850 halfway back, just south of Balad, you know, 00:13:56.909 --> 00:14:00.850 just north of Taji. And, you know, first cab 00:14:00.850 --> 00:14:02.269 was there at the time, and they had everything 00:14:02.269 --> 00:14:05.889 blocked off. And they kind of told us that this 00:14:05.889 --> 00:14:08.429 is a choke point, you know, most likely ambushed. 00:14:08.429 --> 00:14:10.090 You know, we know about this ID. There's probably 00:14:10.090 --> 00:14:13.409 more. But, you know, when you don't have air 00:14:13.409 --> 00:14:15.149 cover and night vision, you know, all the other 00:14:15.149 --> 00:14:17.330 things that you did when you're in the military. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:20.179 You know, the decisions are a lot different and 00:14:20.179 --> 00:14:23.360 they make it a lot quicker. And the truck leader 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:25.980 at the time decided, you know, we're going to 00:14:25.980 --> 00:14:28.980 press through because we didn't want to be on 00:14:28.980 --> 00:14:32.320 the road any longer with this kind of cargo. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:35.700 We wanted to get it dropped. So we pressed forward 00:14:35.700 --> 00:14:38.960 and sure as shit, you know, we get about a half 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:40.679 a click down the road and then, you know, boom, 00:14:40.779 --> 00:14:44.279 the fourth truck is hit, split in half, killed 00:14:44.279 --> 00:14:47.240 the TCE. where i would have been sitting um with 00:14:47.240 --> 00:14:50.639 the rest of the guys and then uh which was real 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:54.139 uh for the time they engaged us with the small 00:14:54.139 --> 00:14:56.100 arms fire and it was more of an ambush than anything 00:14:56.100 --> 00:15:00.720 else so you know four trucks one's down truck 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:02.820 three we had to turn around and you know kind 00:15:02.820 --> 00:15:04.740 of get in between the kill zone you know fatal 00:15:04.740 --> 00:15:07.659 funnel where you know those guys were at and 00:15:07.659 --> 00:15:10.519 we had a building and it had kind of a fence 00:15:10.519 --> 00:15:12.720 on either side of it. You know, it was probably 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:16.159 about 60, 70 meters, you know, just, you know, 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:18.379 in front of us. But the semis and the rest of 00:15:18.379 --> 00:15:20.480 the trucks, you know, they were getting the hell 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:22.279 out of there. You know, they were getting them 00:15:22.279 --> 00:15:26.360 out of the way. So, you know, we started covering 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:28.519 fire and trying to move wounded behind our vehicle. 00:15:28.759 --> 00:15:33.080 And I remember two shots in on my M4 and click. 00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:36.639 You know, rather inconvenient time for it to 00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:39.370 stop working. um yeah i did everything i could 00:15:39.370 --> 00:15:42.690 and you know finally uh you know i had no choice 00:15:42.690 --> 00:15:45.470 deadline the weapon and there are some guys creeping 00:15:45.470 --> 00:15:48.289 around like a small utility building yeah we 00:15:48.289 --> 00:15:50.789 had a secondary so i was fortunate for that um 00:15:50.789 --> 00:15:55.409 it was a glock 17 so use those 45 rounds really 00:15:55.409 --> 00:15:58.370 quick and uh then just picked up you know weapon 00:15:58.370 --> 00:16:00.409 on the ground you know just the same thing anyone 00:16:00.409 --> 00:16:02.789 else would do turns out later there was a damn 00:16:02.789 --> 00:16:05.679 bullet lodged in the barrel of that rifle oh 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:08.259 god so if you fired it would have exploded in 00:16:08.259 --> 00:16:12.600 your face yeah yeah so twice now unbeknownst 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:16.259 to me you know i'm injured to death and i you 00:16:16.259 --> 00:16:17.899 know you escape it and you don't even realize 00:16:17.899 --> 00:16:21.480 it at the time um you know as soon as we're getting 00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:23.980 low on ammo and it's probably only been you know 00:16:23.980 --> 00:16:27.000 three minutes you know felt like three hours 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:30.220 and uh the two other trucks came back blazing 00:16:30.220 --> 00:16:34.070 and we uh PKMs in the back with Kurdish Peshmerga 00:16:34.070 --> 00:16:36.870 as our, you know, secondary. And they were rolling 00:16:36.870 --> 00:16:39.490 pretty heavy and they came in guns blazing. And, 00:16:39.570 --> 00:16:43.470 you know, all of a sudden that got them to at 00:16:43.470 --> 00:16:45.769 least break the contact where they're at and 00:16:45.769 --> 00:16:47.470 fall back into their building. And, you know, 00:16:47.470 --> 00:16:50.690 we were laying waste to it. Don't ask how civilians 00:16:50.690 --> 00:16:54.509 had an AT -4, but we had one. And, you know, 00:16:54.529 --> 00:16:57.710 we pulled pins and, you know, it was armed, hot 00:16:57.710 --> 00:17:02.759 cocked, ready to fire. The Kurds realized that 00:17:02.759 --> 00:17:05.980 one of their guys had been killed and this particular 00:17:05.980 --> 00:17:11.380 group of Peshmerga hadn't been hit yet. You know, 00:17:11.400 --> 00:17:13.220 they had firefight experience, but they hadn't 00:17:13.220 --> 00:17:16.099 lost anybody. They hadn't had, you know, one 00:17:16.099 --> 00:17:19.079 of their tribesmen killed. So when they saw that, 00:17:19.259 --> 00:17:23.160 before we could fire off the AT -4, they ran 00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:25.640 through machine gun fire straight through right 00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:28.079 for the front door, kicked it the fuck down. 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:30.960 And went in there, and we were getting ready 00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:35.259 to go in. It was only maybe 30 seconds. And they 00:17:35.259 --> 00:17:38.140 came out with 10 guys, you know, hands behind 00:17:38.140 --> 00:17:42.480 their head. They took prisoners. So we zip cuffed 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:44.160 them, hooded them, had them laying on the ground. 00:17:44.740 --> 00:17:47.039 And we were still going to blow the building 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:50.920 just to, you know, make sure. And the Kurds, 00:17:51.019 --> 00:17:52.619 not speaking enough English, you know, they're 00:17:52.619 --> 00:17:55.160 like, bombs. You know, like, don't do it. We 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:58.890 go in there and look. It's all HME. It was a 00:17:58.890 --> 00:18:01.730 diet -y factory. If we would have hit that, we 00:18:01.730 --> 00:18:05.150 would have been just vaporized. Number three. 00:18:05.609 --> 00:18:11.210 Yeah. Number three that day. So, you know, we're 00:18:11.210 --> 00:18:15.109 waiting for Medivac to come in. Comes in, picks 00:18:15.109 --> 00:18:18.190 up wounded, picks up, you know, the KIAs, gets 00:18:18.190 --> 00:18:20.829 them out of there. You know, we take radios, 00:18:20.829 --> 00:18:23.309 everything sensitive out of the truck that was 00:18:23.309 --> 00:18:26.390 hit. You know, we regroup. and then you know 00:18:26.390 --> 00:18:30.730 push on down to taji at that point so get just 00:18:30.730 --> 00:18:33.130 inside the gate you know that's where the trucks 00:18:33.130 --> 00:18:37.769 are going to stay um you know go to use the wire 00:18:37.769 --> 00:18:42.029 take a piss and right before i put my boot down 00:18:42.029 --> 00:18:47.089 number four freaking anti -tank mine that was 00:18:47.089 --> 00:18:51.150 sitting there and uh i was like jesus christ 00:18:51.150 --> 00:18:54.940 this is days just getting worse it's not like 00:18:54.940 --> 00:18:58.819 like i don't know at this point like what's what's 00:18:58.819 --> 00:19:01.400 going on here so you know i kind of pointed it 00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:04.200 out like oh yeah we probably should do something 00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:06.980 about that more than likely it was inert anyways 00:19:06.980 --> 00:19:12.420 you know um but still just to you know have that 00:19:12.420 --> 00:19:14.420 happen mentally the things that go through your 00:19:14.420 --> 00:19:18.299 head there but we rolled out um went through 00:19:18.299 --> 00:19:21.019 the tip of the sunni triangle uh at this point 00:19:21.019 --> 00:19:24.420 it's night And we just hauled ass right back 00:19:24.420 --> 00:19:28.440 through. Everybody's tired, angry, had a long 00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:33.900 day. So if any pot shots came off, I mean, they 00:19:33.900 --> 00:19:37.660 got more return fire than they would have thought 00:19:37.660 --> 00:19:40.920 for because we had no problem stopping and saying 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:45.039 hi. We got back, the rest of the thing, you know, 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:46.660 no problem. It was a place called Camp Bristol 00:19:46.660 --> 00:19:53.190 out by the tower area. We got back, and I got 00:19:53.190 --> 00:19:56.690 to the talk, turned in my gear, and my squad 00:19:56.690 --> 00:19:58.549 leader was there, the guy I was referring to 00:19:58.549 --> 00:20:00.109 earlier, because he had heard everything over, 00:20:00.269 --> 00:20:03.069 and he's like, you're not staying. He's like, 00:20:03.150 --> 00:20:07.069 just resign, and you're coming with me. And I 00:20:07.069 --> 00:20:10.750 was hesitant, and he's like, this crap is going 00:20:10.750 --> 00:20:12.849 to happen every day. Do you want to do this? 00:20:12.950 --> 00:20:14.390 This is why they're trying to pay you $10 ,000 00:20:14.390 --> 00:20:18.089 a month. This isn't the same. And I was like, 00:20:18.089 --> 00:20:22.579 all right. So I just, you know, thanked everybody 00:20:22.579 --> 00:20:25.160 there. And I just said, you know, for me, I'm 00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:27.440 going to go with somebody I trust. You know, 00:20:27.539 --> 00:20:32.039 I'm not here. So I grabbed my bag and got in 00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:35.039 the truck, a Hilux, and drove to the other side 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:37.680 of Biop. And, you know, it actually turned out 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:41.240 to be an intelligence contract, INSCOM, Intelligence 00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:43.279 Command of the United States Military. And they 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:47.569 had a very different. contracts going out at 00:20:47.569 --> 00:20:51.210 the same time in that area. But I went and I 00:20:51.210 --> 00:20:54.230 met his boss and, you know, talked for about 00:20:54.230 --> 00:20:56.789 an hour and they're like, okay, yeah, we're going 00:20:56.789 --> 00:20:58.410 to, you know, send something back to the States 00:20:58.410 --> 00:21:01.269 and get you an offer letter, everything. Just 00:21:01.269 --> 00:21:03.910 go home. You know, we'll actually help you out 00:21:03.910 --> 00:21:05.329 and get you a ticket back to the United States. 00:21:05.829 --> 00:21:10.890 So recycled back out and back to the U .S. Two 00:21:10.890 --> 00:21:13.740 weeks later. Right back down to Georgia, right 00:21:13.740 --> 00:21:17.960 back through CRC, right back over to Iraq. But 00:21:17.960 --> 00:21:21.740 this time, I started doing security work. You 00:21:21.740 --> 00:21:24.660 know, it was intelligence support work. And I 00:21:24.660 --> 00:21:26.660 actually got put in the IZ, the International 00:21:26.660 --> 00:21:28.759 Zone of the Green Zone, right next to the Green 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:32.380 Zone Cafe after it was blown up. So, you know, 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:37.319 it was remodeled. That was kind of nice. But, 00:21:37.319 --> 00:21:39.619 you know, we're right behind the old Bath Party 00:21:39.619 --> 00:21:42.680 headquarters where FOB Honor was. We actually 00:21:42.680 --> 00:21:44.099 weren't in the FOB. We were actually outside 00:21:44.099 --> 00:21:46.160 of it, a place called the Golden Dome, which 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:50.720 was like essentially their compound. And I wasn't 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:52.579 sure exactly what I was supposed to be doing 00:21:52.579 --> 00:21:55.740 yet. No one had really mentioned it. Logistics 00:21:55.740 --> 00:21:58.380 was said. Something about recruiting was said. 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:02.980 But I really wasn't 100 % sure what I was going 00:22:02.980 --> 00:22:07.599 to do. And they were recruiting local national 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:10.700 linguists for the most part to work with U .S. 00:22:10.700 --> 00:22:13.240 military as interpreters. They were gathering 00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:16.259 biometrics. They were doing, you know, some other 00:22:16.259 --> 00:22:19.220 things that were going on there. And, you know, 00:22:19.220 --> 00:22:21.920 so I was one of the admins in the office going 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:25.539 through things. And I noticed there was a desk 00:22:25.539 --> 00:22:28.400 where all these files had just been thrown. I 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:31.200 was like, what are these? Like, oh, those are 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:33.869 the ones that got killed. either with their units 00:22:33.869 --> 00:22:37.930 or in most cases, honestly, family or raw people 00:22:37.930 --> 00:22:40.549 found out that they, you know, were working with 00:22:40.549 --> 00:22:44.930 us and they were, you know, killed. So there 00:22:44.930 --> 00:22:47.269 were supposed to be benefits paid to them through 00:22:47.269 --> 00:22:50.109 the U .S. government and a few other entities. 00:22:50.349 --> 00:22:53.430 And no one was really contacting them. At this 00:22:53.430 --> 00:22:54.549 point, they didn't know what happened to their 00:22:54.549 --> 00:22:57.630 family member, a lot of them. So talking with, 00:22:57.769 --> 00:23:01.470 you know, a few of the leaders. leaders in the 00:23:01.470 --> 00:23:05.269 company and what was going on. You know, they 00:23:05.269 --> 00:23:06.950 just didn't have the resources at that time to 00:23:06.950 --> 00:23:09.690 investigate, you know, go through, get the paperwork, 00:23:09.829 --> 00:23:11.450 make the contact, all those other things. But 00:23:11.450 --> 00:23:15.869 they really did want to. You know, just how I 00:23:15.869 --> 00:23:17.509 grew up and what I experienced, I didn't think 00:23:17.509 --> 00:23:20.750 was right. So I asked if I could do it, you know, 00:23:20.750 --> 00:23:23.980 as an additional duty at first. And so they let 00:23:23.980 --> 00:23:25.960 me work with one of our U .S. hired interpreters, 00:23:25.960 --> 00:23:28.119 you know, to interpret everything, you know, 00:23:28.119 --> 00:23:30.259 get all the paperwork documentation. You know, 00:23:30.259 --> 00:23:32.200 they were calling Iraqi police. They were calling, 00:23:32.460 --> 00:23:36.420 you know, units. We were getting everything we 00:23:36.420 --> 00:23:39.559 could to kind of get the standard thing you would 00:23:39.559 --> 00:23:43.240 need for, you know, a claim with, you know, an 00:23:43.240 --> 00:23:44.920 insurance company. In this case, it was U .S. 00:23:44.940 --> 00:23:49.200 Department of Labor. And we, you know, over time, 00:23:49.220 --> 00:23:52.240 you know, took care of. you know, several hundred 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:56.359 of them, hundreds of them. Whether it was getting 00:23:56.359 --> 00:23:59.819 the wounded out to Jordan or whether it was, 00:23:59.819 --> 00:24:02.660 you know, notifying next of kin and having the 00:24:02.660 --> 00:24:05.019 men give them a cash indictment and then start 00:24:05.019 --> 00:24:07.480 the Department of Labor paperwork, they quickly 00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:09.960 escalated to a full -time job once they saw the, 00:24:09.980 --> 00:24:12.160 you know, the amount of work that had to be done. 00:24:12.380 --> 00:24:15.039 And at that point in time, in 2005, things were 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:17.400 getting more kinetic, you know, they were increasing, 00:24:17.559 --> 00:24:21.609 so. They needed somebody to deal with it because, 00:24:21.750 --> 00:24:24.410 you know, they would dump them off at the hospital. 00:24:24.990 --> 00:24:28.410 And the U .S. military, for the locals, they 00:24:28.410 --> 00:24:30.450 were like, yeah, they can stay a night, but then 00:24:30.450 --> 00:24:32.869 they got to go. I was able to work with command, 00:24:33.170 --> 00:24:36.730 you know, and basically under the LOIs that we 00:24:36.730 --> 00:24:39.849 had, kind of get them to have a little bit more 00:24:39.849 --> 00:24:42.170 of an extended period of time. For those that 00:24:42.170 --> 00:24:44.410 weren't like severely wounded, you know, we would 00:24:44.410 --> 00:24:46.710 get them out if they were stabilized. For the 00:24:46.710 --> 00:24:49.700 ones that were severely wounded. and one in particular 00:24:49.700 --> 00:24:51.980 that was hit by an IED, and he happened to be 00:24:51.980 --> 00:24:55.700 the interpreter for one of the battalion commanders 00:24:55.700 --> 00:25:01.279 for an MP company, or battalion hire. You know, 00:25:01.319 --> 00:25:03.359 we did everything we could for this guy, but 00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:06.619 he had a TBI. He was in a coma. You know, it 00:25:06.619 --> 00:25:08.480 really wasn't looking good. He needed long -term 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:10.319 care, and there's only so much you can do in 00:25:10.319 --> 00:25:13.119 a combat support hospital. So, you know, I had 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:16.000 to work through the Department of Labor, through 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:18.450 our company. through the U .S. State Department, 00:25:18.630 --> 00:25:21.549 through the Iraqi Interior Ministry, through 00:25:21.549 --> 00:25:24.049 every hoop you could think of, to coordinate 00:25:24.049 --> 00:25:27.049 an ambulance flight from Lebanon to be allowed 00:25:27.049 --> 00:25:30.549 to land at Baghdad International Airport, to 00:25:30.549 --> 00:25:34.990 wait for us to take him there from the IZ, which 00:25:34.990 --> 00:25:38.309 means I had to get permission to use a medevac 00:25:38.309 --> 00:25:40.829 helicopter to take us there from the U .S. Army, 00:25:41.049 --> 00:25:43.630 and I had to borrow their life support systems 00:25:43.630 --> 00:25:48.519 in order to get him transported. got all that 00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:51.319 somehow worked out. And I was like, all right, 00:25:51.319 --> 00:25:54.880 good. He's going to go. And, you know, the mission 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:56.420 was about to start. They were getting ready to 00:25:56.420 --> 00:25:59.059 do their thing. You know, I was signing some 00:25:59.059 --> 00:26:00.900 paperwork and I was getting ready to leave. And, 00:26:00.900 --> 00:26:03.420 you know, the liaison was a major. She was like, 00:26:03.500 --> 00:26:06.960 where are you going? I was like, I don't know. 00:26:06.980 --> 00:26:11.779 I assume this is good. Oh, no. You're going with 00:26:11.779 --> 00:26:15.299 them. I'm not letting you go with this equipment 00:26:15.299 --> 00:26:17.319 and everything else. You're going with them. 00:26:17.799 --> 00:26:20.299 So she talks to the pilot, whatever. You know, 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:23.940 I have my stuff. Got it. At this point, it's, 00:26:23.940 --> 00:26:27.720 you know, about 4, 4 .30. It's getting late. 00:26:27.880 --> 00:26:31.460 You know, sun goes down there pretty quick. We 00:26:31.460 --> 00:26:36.259 get in, and we can't find the plane that flew 00:26:36.259 --> 00:26:38.180 in from Lebanon. I have no idea where it is. 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:42.200 So I'm on a... Iraq, you know, piece of crap 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:44.960 cell phone talking to somebody in Dubai who's 00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:48.579 talking to somebody in Lebanon who then picks 00:26:48.579 --> 00:26:52.440 up a Thraya to call a plane to tell them to start 00:26:52.440 --> 00:26:55.140 hitting their lights so we can see, you know, 00:26:55.180 --> 00:26:58.000 who they are. And eventually we were able to 00:26:58.000 --> 00:26:59.680 identify the plane. Problem was there were two 00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:02.079 sides of the airport, the civilian Iraqi side 00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:04.740 where these guys landed and the military controlled 00:27:04.740 --> 00:27:08.359 side where we were. And the pilots weren't really 00:27:08.359 --> 00:27:12.289 allowed to go over there. Obviously, you know, 00:27:12.289 --> 00:27:14.750 there was no other choice. So the pilot looks 00:27:14.750 --> 00:27:16.890 at me, he's like, you have five minutes from 00:27:16.890 --> 00:27:19.069 the time we hit the tarmac to the time that we're 00:27:19.069 --> 00:27:24.069 gone with or without you. I don't care, but we're 00:27:24.069 --> 00:27:28.430 gone in five minutes. You know, he was definitely 00:27:28.430 --> 00:27:32.210 timing the issue. So we lift off, go back, get 00:27:32.210 --> 00:27:34.369 right up as close as we can to the, you know, 00:27:34.369 --> 00:27:37.250 plane. their door drops to bring out their equipment 00:27:37.250 --> 00:27:39.450 and the doctor that was there was oh hi you know 00:27:39.450 --> 00:27:42.329 he's trying to talk like there's no time for 00:27:42.329 --> 00:27:45.529 this you know we yeah we have five minutes and 00:27:45.529 --> 00:27:48.089 honestly the sun is about to go down if this 00:27:48.089 --> 00:27:49.730 bird doesn't go off before the sun goes down 00:27:49.730 --> 00:27:51.529 you're not leaving you know because there are 00:27:51.529 --> 00:27:53.710 no flights especially civilian flights that dart 00:27:53.710 --> 00:27:59.690 um barely but barely got it done and hyder was 00:27:59.690 --> 00:28:03.509 not a small dude he was you know 661 you know 00:28:03.509 --> 00:28:07.160 240 he was Getting him crammed into that plane 00:28:07.160 --> 00:28:10.359 and, you know, taking him off and already putting 00:28:10.359 --> 00:28:13.259 him on and doing this, you know, outside, you 00:28:13.259 --> 00:28:16.259 know, on tarmac was an interesting experience 00:28:16.259 --> 00:28:19.460 to say the least, but it all got done. I just 00:28:19.460 --> 00:28:21.799 remember getting back on the helicopter and it 00:28:21.799 --> 00:28:24.079 was, it was winding up and they took off and 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:27.480 they're taking a turn to go back to the IZ and 00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:31.079 I could see the plane just taking off, you know, 00:28:31.079 --> 00:28:33.920 the sun just about to set. I was like, holy shit, 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:36.380 we actually did it. And they flew him into Armand 00:28:36.380 --> 00:28:38.680 Jordan and got him into a hospital there that 00:28:38.680 --> 00:28:40.660 the Department of Labor pretty much designated 00:28:40.660 --> 00:28:44.059 for these types of injuries with the Iraqis. 00:28:44.559 --> 00:28:47.400 And, you know, he was there for like six months 00:28:47.400 --> 00:28:50.180 and his family went there and was visiting him. 00:28:51.160 --> 00:28:53.500 His father was a correspondent for the L .A. 00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:56.400 Times. So it ended up getting a little bit of 00:28:56.400 --> 00:29:00.140 press, to say the least. But something happening 00:29:00.140 --> 00:29:02.420 and getting an infection. And I remember I found 00:29:02.420 --> 00:29:07.059 out Christmas. that he passed you know after 00:29:07.059 --> 00:29:10.819 all that now that was pretty defeating too because 00:29:10.819 --> 00:29:13.680 that was like the one thing out of all the you 00:29:13.680 --> 00:29:16.900 know shit crap you know all the things that had 00:29:16.900 --> 00:29:18.500 happened it was like that was going to be the 00:29:18.500 --> 00:29:23.079 one good thing uh to end that tour um but you 00:29:23.079 --> 00:29:25.660 know we did everything we could so you know it 00:29:25.660 --> 00:29:28.279 was what it was you know getting back to the 00:29:28.279 --> 00:29:34.619 states after that um i got lucky and the um Operation 00:29:34.619 --> 00:29:39.460 side in the U .S. picked me up for a job. So 00:29:39.460 --> 00:29:44.920 newly married, just married. Moved out of Michigan, 00:29:45.059 --> 00:29:48.799 never been out of Michigan like that, not to 00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:53.220 live outside of the military. And then starting 00:29:53.220 --> 00:29:56.079 a new job, all those things. Realized I'd moved 00:29:56.079 --> 00:29:58.319 a little bit too far away for the D .C. area. 00:29:58.700 --> 00:30:02.140 You know, 25 miles doesn't seem far, you know. 00:30:02.930 --> 00:30:05.589 At least it didn't at the time. But it ended 00:30:05.589 --> 00:30:07.089 up being like a two -hour commute each way because 00:30:07.089 --> 00:30:08.930 the traffic and all this other stuff was miserable. 00:30:10.390 --> 00:30:17.650 But I think, you know, for the next six years, 00:30:17.789 --> 00:30:21.950 you know, it was pretty much Op Temple was just 00:30:21.950 --> 00:30:23.890 the same there as it was, you know, in a theater. 00:30:25.130 --> 00:30:27.950 You know, same thing was on a Mexican team, NOC 00:30:27.950 --> 00:30:29.650 team, you know, if we'd have casually, I'd go 00:30:29.650 --> 00:30:32.589 to Dover, you know, and start coordinating to 00:30:32.589 --> 00:30:35.670 have them move over to a civilian morgue, whether 00:30:35.670 --> 00:30:38.269 they're viewable, getting the personal effects, 00:30:38.529 --> 00:30:41.250 coordinating, you know, the hero's flight home, 00:30:41.549 --> 00:30:44.170 escorting the remains, you know, getting them 00:30:44.170 --> 00:30:47.109 to the local funeral home there. And then at 00:30:47.109 --> 00:30:48.990 the same time, keeping everything in contact 00:30:48.990 --> 00:30:52.990 with the people that did the notifications actually 00:30:52.990 --> 00:30:55.829 with. Because as soon as the notifications were 00:30:55.829 --> 00:30:57.910 made, they stayed with the family until, you 00:30:57.910 --> 00:30:59.690 know, we were able to get their loved one home. 00:31:00.150 --> 00:31:02.069 And then usually, like I said, I stayed with 00:31:02.069 --> 00:31:04.390 the loved one until they were returned home. 00:31:05.230 --> 00:31:07.589 But, you know, that could happen at any point, 00:31:07.609 --> 00:31:09.789 any time. So I always had it backpacked. Even 00:31:09.789 --> 00:31:12.009 then, there's always something constantly, you 00:31:12.009 --> 00:31:17.470 know, ready to happen. Finally, a few years later, 00:31:17.589 --> 00:31:21.130 you know, I had a daughter, you know, so I have 00:31:21.130 --> 00:31:25.559 a new dad, all these other things. And Afghanistan 00:31:25.559 --> 00:31:29.640 was starting to warm up a little bit. And I really 00:31:29.640 --> 00:31:33.200 wanted to try again. You know, I wanted to go 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:35.799 back. I wanted to get the contractor money and 00:31:35.799 --> 00:31:40.200 all those other things. So, you know, my wife 00:31:40.200 --> 00:31:43.220 let me. So I moved off the Iraq test to the Afghanistan 00:31:43.220 --> 00:31:46.920 side. And, you know, I was there for almost 20 00:31:46.920 --> 00:31:49.920 months. You know, on that rotation, you know, 00:31:49.920 --> 00:31:52.680 I had two vacations home, like after nine months 00:31:52.680 --> 00:31:54.220 and then after another six months after that. 00:31:54.720 --> 00:31:59.779 But it was a long, a long one. That one was a 00:31:59.779 --> 00:32:03.599 little bit different position. You know, it was 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:06.880 a little bit more hands on. But, you know, I 00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:10.059 was in a little bit of our war back area, which 00:32:10.059 --> 00:32:12.920 is south of Kabul, about, you know, I'd say 70 00:32:12.920 --> 00:32:16.819 miles. And that battle space was, you know. a 00:32:16.819 --> 00:32:21.500 good a good warm one um but uh spent all that 00:32:21.500 --> 00:32:25.000 time there and uh went back again headquarters 00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:28.039 picked me back up uh so i was an operations manager 00:32:28.039 --> 00:32:31.759 there the whole time that was happening my tsci 00:32:31.759 --> 00:32:34.920 was processing and it finally came through um 00:32:34.920 --> 00:32:39.240 so i had some options i didn't have before and 00:32:39.240 --> 00:32:41.819 uh there was another agency i wanted to go to 00:32:41.819 --> 00:32:44.599 a new agency the joint id defeat organization 00:32:45.400 --> 00:32:48.339 guys that were making bombs and, you know, hunt 00:32:48.339 --> 00:32:50.579 them down and find them. Specifically the COVID, 00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:53.160 which was the world's, at the time, the world's 00:32:53.160 --> 00:32:55.980 largest fusion intelligence area. And they had 00:32:55.980 --> 00:32:59.839 people at the location in the U .S., you know, 00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:03.500 doing all sorts of things. And then people downrange 00:33:03.500 --> 00:33:06.240 all over the world, you know, on the other end 00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:09.369 of that mission. So I was lucky and fortunate 00:33:09.369 --> 00:33:12.450 enough to get into the J33, which was the current 00:33:12.450 --> 00:33:14.769 operations. And I was part of the general staff. 00:33:14.990 --> 00:33:18.549 So all the plans, policy, you know, centrally, 00:33:18.549 --> 00:33:21.009 all the planning, future planning, meetings, 00:33:21.390 --> 00:33:23.609 you know, dignitaries, all that stuff, everything 00:33:23.609 --> 00:33:26.109 that came through, you know, we were part of 00:33:26.109 --> 00:33:29.170 and knew and prepared and, you know, learned 00:33:29.170 --> 00:33:31.509 a hell of a lot there, especially about leadership. 00:33:32.690 --> 00:33:35.029 And just it was a whole different type of experience. 00:33:37.000 --> 00:33:40.339 That was pretty much the end of the military 00:33:40.339 --> 00:33:42.500 and contracting piece. I was there for a couple 00:33:42.500 --> 00:33:44.400 of years, did a couple of rotations with them 00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:48.559 too. And then that was when I went into the private 00:33:48.559 --> 00:33:53.900 industry side. So that's early life to end of 00:33:53.900 --> 00:33:59.400 civilian contractor military life. Well, I want 00:33:59.400 --> 00:34:02.480 to go back to the initial loss of your brother. 00:34:03.869 --> 00:34:05.650 And then obviously you have another one, you 00:34:05.650 --> 00:34:09.409 know, 20 years later. How did you and your family, 00:34:09.590 --> 00:34:13.369 when you look back now, what were the effective 00:34:13.369 --> 00:34:16.730 ways that you process some of this grief and 00:34:16.730 --> 00:34:18.889 were there any, you know, any negative ones now 00:34:18.889 --> 00:34:24.829 when you look back? Well, at first we didn't 00:34:24.829 --> 00:34:26.869 know where to start. You know, I remember the 00:34:26.869 --> 00:34:29.190 first Christmas because it happened in June, 00:34:29.329 --> 00:34:32.090 you know, and that six months was just an entire 00:34:32.090 --> 00:34:35.449 blur. started school school age kid you know 00:34:35.449 --> 00:34:39.650 just you know two months later so obviously you 00:34:39.650 --> 00:34:42.250 know they have you in therapy as a kid right 00:34:42.250 --> 00:34:45.710 away you know to try to process the trauma but 00:34:45.710 --> 00:34:49.969 um you know my sister and my mom same thing they 00:34:49.969 --> 00:34:52.949 were processing it oh yeah obviously it was still 00:34:52.949 --> 00:34:56.650 miserable um but my dad just shut down i mean 00:34:56.650 --> 00:35:00.670 he just shut down uh he would he went to work 00:35:00.670 --> 00:35:05.300 and he came home but he didn't want to talk about 00:35:05.300 --> 00:35:07.280 it. He didn't want it brought up. He didn't want 00:35:07.280 --> 00:35:10.579 to think about it. He just, he couldn't. It broke 00:35:10.579 --> 00:35:13.820 him pretty hard. So that caused a lot of tension 00:35:13.820 --> 00:35:16.300 because, you know, my mom wanted to see it as 00:35:16.300 --> 00:35:18.199 a family, go to family counseling, do all those 00:35:18.199 --> 00:35:20.639 things. It was point of friction. And that's 00:35:20.639 --> 00:35:22.960 when they decided that they wanted to do, you 00:35:22.960 --> 00:35:25.579 know, a lawsuit over the company because it was 00:35:25.579 --> 00:35:28.760 a commercial truck that actually hit them. And, 00:35:28.860 --> 00:35:31.960 you know, once that started, you know, lawsuits 00:35:31.960 --> 00:35:34.099 are expensive. And if there's not a lot of money 00:35:34.099 --> 00:35:38.739 to go around at that point, then, you know, there's 00:35:38.739 --> 00:35:40.420 even less. And when there's less and there's 00:35:40.420 --> 00:35:43.960 not a lot, that makes things very difficult. 00:35:44.500 --> 00:35:46.440 You know, I remember for probably the next five 00:35:46.440 --> 00:35:48.599 or six years, you know, my entire time through 00:35:48.599 --> 00:35:52.679 elementary school and even the beginning of middle 00:35:52.679 --> 00:35:54.719 school, like there was no school clothes shopping 00:35:54.719 --> 00:35:56.739 or anything like that. I got my cousin's hand 00:35:56.739 --> 00:35:59.460 -me -down clothes or, you know, I only got new 00:35:59.460 --> 00:36:01.920 shoes at like the discount store, you know, and 00:36:01.920 --> 00:36:04.760 that was like, one pair a year and had those 00:36:04.760 --> 00:36:08.500 things ripped apart and duct tape back up. It 00:36:08.500 --> 00:36:12.280 was, you know, it was what it was. So I think 00:36:12.280 --> 00:36:16.159 that was an added stress that as a young person, 00:36:16.219 --> 00:36:20.500 I wish I wouldn't have had to experience. I think 00:36:20.500 --> 00:36:24.239 it just added so much more to it and pulled everybody 00:36:24.239 --> 00:36:26.820 in such different directions and the family that 00:36:26.820 --> 00:36:30.860 it, it was damn near impossible, but you know. 00:36:31.360 --> 00:36:33.340 we all made it through it came back on the other 00:36:33.340 --> 00:36:37.000 side and during that time my parents you know 00:36:37.000 --> 00:36:40.179 they had three more kids you know there was almost 00:36:40.179 --> 00:36:45.420 back to back to back so you know quickly it was 00:36:45.420 --> 00:36:48.579 you know more like being a brother again and 00:36:48.579 --> 00:36:51.239 and kind of you know focusing on the new siblings 00:36:51.239 --> 00:36:54.539 and all those other things so i would say the 00:36:54.539 --> 00:36:56.199 things that were done right you know it was kind 00:36:56.199 --> 00:37:00.360 of it was good to have that that family you know 00:37:01.269 --> 00:37:04.610 aspect back to it joy you know playfulness all 00:37:04.610 --> 00:37:09.050 those things um you know as the brothers and 00:37:09.050 --> 00:37:11.530 sister got a little older you know my dad started 00:37:11.530 --> 00:37:15.369 to warm up a little bit and um thank god you 00:37:15.369 --> 00:37:18.269 know to this day he's seems like he's getting 00:37:18.269 --> 00:37:21.670 softer every year you know he's you know a lot 00:37:21.670 --> 00:37:25.150 better so in time everything worked out just 00:37:25.150 --> 00:37:27.969 the way it was supposed to now we kind of touched 00:37:27.969 --> 00:37:31.179 on this right before we hit record But when you're 00:37:31.179 --> 00:37:36.039 able to process trauma somewhat, it can actually 00:37:36.039 --> 00:37:38.179 drive you towards certain careers. And there's 00:37:38.179 --> 00:37:41.219 so many people on this show who wore uniform 00:37:41.219 --> 00:37:44.159 for their profession, for their career, that 00:37:44.159 --> 00:37:46.980 actually had quite significant trauma in their 00:37:46.980 --> 00:37:49.199 early life. Now, you know, you could argue a 00:37:49.199 --> 00:37:51.179 dress. I think that becomes almost a superpower. 00:37:52.279 --> 00:37:54.619 And unaddressed, obviously, it still leaves that 00:37:54.619 --> 00:37:56.659 kind of fractured foundation that we're now, 00:37:56.800 --> 00:37:58.820 you know, piling other stuff on as we actually 00:37:58.820 --> 00:38:02.639 do our job. When you look back now, how did that 00:38:02.639 --> 00:38:05.219 loss so early factor into your journey into the 00:38:05.219 --> 00:38:08.019 military? Oh, it was definitely a superpower 00:38:08.019 --> 00:38:11.619 because it was addressed. It took a lot of time. 00:38:13.239 --> 00:38:16.159 I mean, basically, my childhood and adolescence, 00:38:16.179 --> 00:38:17.760 you know, I had it out of therapy the whole time 00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:19.739 because as your brain develops and emotions and 00:38:19.739 --> 00:38:22.110 hormones and all those things change. And that 00:38:22.110 --> 00:38:25.150 leads me into something when we talk about Transcend. 00:38:25.710 --> 00:38:29.610 It, you know, it was just restarting all over 00:38:29.610 --> 00:38:32.530 again, you know, getting back to being able to 00:38:32.530 --> 00:38:35.250 process what had happened because it was so bad. 00:38:35.809 --> 00:38:38.130 To this day, you know, there are things that 00:38:38.130 --> 00:38:39.789 happened overseas and things that I dealt with 00:38:39.789 --> 00:38:43.989 that actually registered less of an impact than 00:38:43.989 --> 00:38:46.110 that did. You know, I think part of that was 00:38:46.110 --> 00:38:47.969 because of my age and part of it because actually 00:38:47.969 --> 00:38:53.389 the, you know, how dramatic it was. But, yeah, 00:38:53.530 --> 00:38:56.050 I think going through all that just made it so 00:38:56.050 --> 00:38:58.289 I could focus on what was important at that moment 00:38:58.289 --> 00:39:01.590 in time. And I was able to block out the actual 00:39:01.590 --> 00:39:04.510 event that had happened, you know, the emotions 00:39:04.510 --> 00:39:06.829 that were going along with it. It allowed me 00:39:06.829 --> 00:39:11.010 to kind of process things a little faster, a 00:39:11.010 --> 00:39:13.730 little quicker, and be able to be there for other 00:39:13.730 --> 00:39:16.989 people. Especially, you know, having that empathy 00:39:16.989 --> 00:39:18.690 to see the things that I was seeing, you know, 00:39:18.690 --> 00:39:21.559 with not being able to. get people their benefits 00:39:21.559 --> 00:39:24.940 and things like that so i you know between the 00:39:24.940 --> 00:39:27.019 empathy and the capability you know it definitely 00:39:27.019 --> 00:39:29.480 set me up a path that went up yeah and i can 00:39:29.480 --> 00:39:32.099 tell the empathy side not only what i know now 00:39:32.099 --> 00:39:34.960 about you know how you help with 7x for example 00:39:34.960 --> 00:39:38.099 but also just in this journey caring enough about 00:39:38.099 --> 00:39:41.699 you know the iraqi allies to take care of their 00:39:41.699 --> 00:39:43.380 families and you know some of the other things 00:39:43.380 --> 00:39:47.039 that you've done i've said this a lot as a medic 00:39:47.760 --> 00:39:49.840 I think the thing that haunts us, firefighters 00:39:49.840 --> 00:39:52.579 and medics and police officers, is not so much 00:39:52.579 --> 00:39:55.179 the grotesque scene of someone being killed. 00:39:55.260 --> 00:39:58.280 It's the wails of the people left behind. So 00:39:58.280 --> 00:40:01.699 you had your really shitty day, near -death experience 00:40:01.699 --> 00:40:05.480 times four. But then you have these death notifications. 00:40:05.500 --> 00:40:08.440 You literally are going to see these grieving 00:40:08.440 --> 00:40:12.260 widows and widowers. That is now compounding 00:40:12.260 --> 00:40:14.360 onto some of the trauma. As you said, even though 00:40:14.360 --> 00:40:16.019 it was addressed, it was still there as well. 00:40:17.519 --> 00:40:20.159 What were the highs and the lows of your own 00:40:20.159 --> 00:40:21.780 mental health as you progressed through adulthood? 00:40:24.639 --> 00:40:27.980 Highs and lows. Before, just to get back from 00:40:27.980 --> 00:40:31.980 those deployments with a sense of accomplishment, 00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:36.079 regardless of how arduous it was and mentally 00:40:36.079 --> 00:40:38.500 taxing, I felt like I'd built something that 00:40:38.500 --> 00:40:42.559 had left because when I was there, that position 00:40:42.559 --> 00:40:44.679 didn't exist and somebody wasn't taking care 00:40:44.679 --> 00:40:47.139 of those people when I left. you know, somebody 00:40:47.139 --> 00:40:48.940 was coming in to replace me and to continue that 00:40:48.940 --> 00:40:51.639 on and make sure that it continued, that as long 00:40:51.639 --> 00:40:53.880 as we were there and that was happening, that 00:40:53.880 --> 00:40:55.880 somebody was going to be, you know, on watch 00:40:55.880 --> 00:40:58.320 and making sure that, you know, the loose ends 00:40:58.320 --> 00:41:00.159 were tied, the families were contacted, taken 00:41:00.159 --> 00:41:02.619 care of, the right things were being done. So 00:41:02.619 --> 00:41:05.340 that meant a lot to me. And then, you know, like 00:41:05.340 --> 00:41:09.260 I said, getting married, you know, the woman 00:41:09.260 --> 00:41:11.699 I love, I'm still with her 17 years later, you 00:41:11.699 --> 00:41:15.090 know, and. be able to start our life together 00:41:15.090 --> 00:41:17.489 and have that excitement and actually have a 00:41:17.489 --> 00:41:20.690 job, you know, behind a desk instead of, you 00:41:20.690 --> 00:41:22.550 know, doing some of the other things that were 00:41:22.550 --> 00:41:27.489 going on. It was important. It gave me hope that 00:41:27.489 --> 00:41:30.909 I could do something in the future. So I guess 00:41:30.909 --> 00:41:35.530 that's a good way to put it. The Lowe's, a common 00:41:35.530 --> 00:41:38.429 story for everybody, you know, I think is self 00:41:38.429 --> 00:41:42.219 -medication, right? And then, you know, wanting 00:41:42.219 --> 00:41:45.139 to keep it private not wanting to complain knowing 00:41:45.139 --> 00:41:49.480 that i was alive and many others weren't um it 00:41:49.480 --> 00:41:54.139 gave me that sense of i shouldn't speak on any 00:41:54.139 --> 00:41:56.099 of these things i should just kind of keep this 00:41:56.099 --> 00:41:59.619 to myself and it didn't work out so well drinking 00:41:59.619 --> 00:42:03.480 got heavier heavier heavier heavier started to 00:42:03.480 --> 00:42:07.159 affect relationships and um you know that went 00:42:07.159 --> 00:42:10.389 on for years it wasn't like it was like I realized 00:42:10.389 --> 00:42:13.650 it was something good. And then all of a sudden, 00:42:13.690 --> 00:42:17.789 you know, it stopped. You know, I pulled back 00:42:17.789 --> 00:42:20.110 for a while. And, you know, it was when my daughter 00:42:20.110 --> 00:42:23.449 was born. And then, you know, I went and did 00:42:23.449 --> 00:42:27.570 another deployment, which is basically two. And 00:42:27.570 --> 00:42:31.329 then came back, same thing, right back to self 00:42:31.329 --> 00:42:34.630 -medicating, going into the cycle, you know, 00:42:34.650 --> 00:42:38.139 back. you know, over again. And I was in a rotation 00:42:38.139 --> 00:42:42.039 at this point with the COIC, you know, Task Force 00:42:42.039 --> 00:42:47.099 Paladin downrange, just back and forth. And that 00:42:47.099 --> 00:42:49.719 just continued to add, you know, stress and everything 00:42:49.719 --> 00:42:53.320 else. So I found myself in my early 30s, you 00:42:53.320 --> 00:42:56.519 know, and at this point, I was really going out 00:42:56.519 --> 00:43:01.130 the wrong path. Once I walked away from... the 00:43:01.130 --> 00:43:05.469 private industry, paramilitary contracting, government 00:43:05.469 --> 00:43:09.769 contracting, intelligence, all that crap. I didn't 00:43:09.769 --> 00:43:13.170 have that weight sitting on there. I realized 00:43:13.170 --> 00:43:16.429 at that point, okay, I need help. I got to do 00:43:16.429 --> 00:43:20.670 something. I got through a process called EMDR. 00:43:21.530 --> 00:43:27.039 I swear by it. You know, this was back in 2014, 00:43:27.360 --> 00:43:30.440 2015. So it's, you know, a while ago, you know, 00:43:30.440 --> 00:43:33.739 before some of the, you know, psychedelics, microdosing, 00:43:33.800 --> 00:43:35.719 all these other things, you know, were out there. 00:43:35.820 --> 00:43:37.780 This was, you know, kind of the top of mind. 00:43:38.239 --> 00:43:40.699 And honestly, I've gone back once or twice since 00:43:40.699 --> 00:43:43.659 just to kind of get a tune up, so to speak. And 00:43:43.659 --> 00:43:47.039 for me, it worked. You know, it really calmed 00:43:47.039 --> 00:43:50.500 me down, the anxiety, you know, the fears, you 00:43:50.500 --> 00:43:52.539 know, that fight or flight response that you're 00:43:52.539 --> 00:43:56.900 kind of stuck in. anger, all those things. It's 00:43:56.900 --> 00:43:59.280 not that they just went away overnight, but it 00:43:59.280 --> 00:44:01.659 allowed me to be able to deal with it. It allowed 00:44:01.659 --> 00:44:04.280 me to, you know, recognize when it was starting 00:44:04.280 --> 00:44:06.519 to happen or what was triggering, you know, made 00:44:06.519 --> 00:44:10.719 me self -aware. And then I honestly didn't want 00:44:10.719 --> 00:44:12.739 to be that way. So it took a lot of effort too. 00:44:13.320 --> 00:44:16.320 But, you know, I think eventually I was able 00:44:16.320 --> 00:44:18.659 to really put my demons where they belonged and, 00:44:18.699 --> 00:44:21.539 you know, go on and live a normal life, at least 00:44:21.539 --> 00:44:24.440 for the most part. Well, I've heard a lot of 00:44:24.440 --> 00:44:26.539 success stories about EMDR, especially when it's 00:44:26.539 --> 00:44:29.099 specific events that are, you know, beneath the 00:44:29.099 --> 00:44:31.539 thing, the thing beneath the thing. And this 00:44:31.539 --> 00:44:33.420 is, I think, an important conversation. As you 00:44:33.420 --> 00:44:35.139 mentioned psychedelics, obviously a lot of people 00:44:35.139 --> 00:44:37.000 are having success with that. A lot of people 00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:38.639 that were on the plane with us were having success 00:44:38.639 --> 00:44:42.019 with that. But it's understanding there's a toolbox. 00:44:42.340 --> 00:44:44.360 And I think this is a message that's not really 00:44:44.360 --> 00:44:46.760 relayed very well to military and first responders. 00:44:47.500 --> 00:44:49.940 You know, you have counseling, you have psychiatric 00:44:49.940 --> 00:44:52.619 meds, and there might be an application for those 00:44:52.619 --> 00:44:55.019 meds for bridging a gap or someone who's got 00:44:55.019 --> 00:44:57.579 extreme schizophrenia or something. Maybe they 00:44:57.579 --> 00:45:00.019 do need medication as well. But you've also got 00:45:00.019 --> 00:45:03.579 equine therapy and these retreats and psychedelics 00:45:03.579 --> 00:45:06.780 and AMDR and, you know, all these other things. 00:45:06.960 --> 00:45:08.800 And so I think that gives a lot of people hope 00:45:08.800 --> 00:45:10.159 because they were like, well, I tried counseling, 00:45:10.360 --> 00:45:13.429 EAP. And that person fucking sucks. And I'm never 00:45:13.429 --> 00:45:15.690 going back. Versus, okay, well, there's a lot 00:45:15.690 --> 00:45:17.250 of other different types of counselors. There's 00:45:17.250 --> 00:45:18.710 some that have worked with military and first 00:45:18.710 --> 00:45:20.730 responders that you need to be seeing. But then 00:45:20.730 --> 00:45:24.170 there's also this toolbox of other things. And 00:45:24.170 --> 00:45:26.269 it might be EMDR for this one thing. But then 00:45:26.269 --> 00:45:29.469 it might be meditation for another thing. And 00:45:29.469 --> 00:45:31.530 you start kind of layering them together to find 00:45:31.530 --> 00:45:36.090 your own version of therapy. Yeah, I think that's 00:45:36.090 --> 00:45:37.789 absolutely true. And I think the most important 00:45:37.789 --> 00:45:41.769 part about that is having somebody. that knows 00:45:41.769 --> 00:45:44.829 you, that is checking up on you and continuing 00:45:44.829 --> 00:45:47.949 to push you to get into one of those therapies, 00:45:48.110 --> 00:45:50.369 right, to break the loop. But the most important 00:45:50.369 --> 00:45:52.150 addition to that is just having somebody that 00:45:52.150 --> 00:45:54.889 knows you, buddy check system, whatever it is, 00:45:55.030 --> 00:45:58.210 kind of pushing that person who's suffering to 00:45:58.210 --> 00:46:02.030 go and find their tools and start to utilize 00:46:02.030 --> 00:46:04.230 them, you know, and to keep encouraging them 00:46:04.230 --> 00:46:06.570 even when they're not necessarily working very 00:46:06.570 --> 00:46:11.599 well. That way, you know, you do find what that 00:46:11.599 --> 00:46:13.300 combination of things are that works because 00:46:13.300 --> 00:46:15.119 there are so many different things out there 00:46:15.119 --> 00:46:17.780 that help. Not everybody's the same, you know? 00:46:17.940 --> 00:46:19.760 Yeah. You might fail in the first one. It might 00:46:19.760 --> 00:46:22.219 not help as much, but if you have that support 00:46:22.219 --> 00:46:25.059 and you're continuing to be pushed, you know, 00:46:25.079 --> 00:46:28.079 chances are you're going to end up in the right 00:46:28.079 --> 00:46:31.179 place. Well, we're going to talk about transcend 00:46:31.179 --> 00:46:34.239 in a moment, but, um, Brendan was also telling 00:46:34.239 --> 00:46:36.380 me about, you know, hitting some bullet points 00:46:36.380 --> 00:46:38.519 to help me, you know, understand the things because 00:46:38.519 --> 00:46:40.940 obviously you've got, Things online, you've got 00:46:40.940 --> 00:46:42.840 interviews, but then I'm always intrigued from 00:46:42.840 --> 00:46:46.019 people that are close to someone. What's between 00:46:46.019 --> 00:46:48.880 the lines as it was? And he mentioned that in 00:46:48.880 --> 00:46:51.460 the journey to Transcend, as you transitioned 00:46:51.460 --> 00:46:54.840 out into the corporate world, you'd had some 00:46:54.840 --> 00:46:58.000 other companies that hadn't succeeded, which 00:46:58.000 --> 00:46:59.980 I think is a very important part of the business 00:46:59.980 --> 00:47:02.280 journey. So talk to me about that. You've been 00:47:02.280 --> 00:47:04.659 very successful in the contracting space. You 00:47:04.659 --> 00:47:07.340 transition out. What's that journey to Transcend 00:47:07.340 --> 00:47:13.360 look like? So as I transitioned, I can't say 00:47:13.360 --> 00:47:16.219 that word today. As I left that space and went 00:47:16.219 --> 00:47:18.960 into the private industry, I ended up becoming 00:47:18.960 --> 00:47:21.679 like an IT program management, software development, 00:47:21.980 --> 00:47:24.260 implementations at ERPs, that kind of stuff. 00:47:25.619 --> 00:47:27.579 But, you know, it was just planning, just like 00:47:27.579 --> 00:47:29.900 I had done in the past, you know, taking complex 00:47:29.900 --> 00:47:32.280 pieces that were integrated and, you know, plugging 00:47:32.280 --> 00:47:33.820 them in the right places and then making sure. 00:47:34.639 --> 00:47:36.079 The people that need to be doing those things 00:47:36.079 --> 00:47:37.880 were doing them. But I was learning a lot about 00:47:37.880 --> 00:47:41.219 e -commerce and social media and how that would 00:47:41.219 --> 00:47:45.019 drive revenue and how to basically run a business. 00:47:46.860 --> 00:47:51.480 So I was intrigued by it. At the same time, I 00:47:51.480 --> 00:47:54.159 was trying to get back in fighting shape, so 00:47:54.159 --> 00:47:57.539 to speak. My wife was competing. She was a figure 00:47:57.539 --> 00:48:00.679 competitor, which is like bodybuilding. She looked 00:48:00.679 --> 00:48:04.440 amazing. Still does. But I couldn't, I could 00:48:04.440 --> 00:48:06.380 not keep up with her. There's just no way. I 00:48:06.380 --> 00:48:08.420 tried everything and I was getting pissed. I 00:48:08.420 --> 00:48:11.400 had a coach, you know, I'm on a diet, killing 00:48:11.400 --> 00:48:14.219 myself in the gym and nothing is happening. Finally, 00:48:14.480 --> 00:48:16.940 he's like, oh man, I think you need to go to 00:48:16.940 --> 00:48:19.699 a clinic. You know, I have some blood work done, 00:48:19.719 --> 00:48:21.480 get some things checked. You know, so I go to 00:48:21.480 --> 00:48:24.460 my primary care, talk to him about it. We do 00:48:24.460 --> 00:48:26.960 blood work, you know, but they don't do any hormones. 00:48:27.280 --> 00:48:29.320 They just do your standard panel. Like, okay, 00:48:29.400 --> 00:48:32.280 well, everything looks normal here. I'm like, 00:48:32.320 --> 00:48:34.340 well, I'm still feeling these symptoms, right? 00:48:34.400 --> 00:48:36.380 I'm tired, lethargic. This won't happen. You 00:48:36.380 --> 00:48:39.500 know, the libido, you name it, all the testosterone, 00:48:39.780 --> 00:48:44.699 you know, symptoms. And, you know, well, how 00:48:44.699 --> 00:48:46.719 about I send you to an endocrinologist and, you 00:48:46.719 --> 00:48:48.539 know, they can look and see if there's something 00:48:48.539 --> 00:48:50.619 that's not on this panel on one of their panels. 00:48:51.219 --> 00:48:57.090 Okay. So, you know, I get to the endo and. This 00:48:57.090 --> 00:48:58.949 female doctor, she looked at me and she's like, 00:48:59.030 --> 00:49:00.969 you were probably a long -term steroid user. 00:49:01.150 --> 00:49:03.929 You probably crashed your test. I don't help 00:49:03.929 --> 00:49:06.469 those people. I don't work with them. I'm like, 00:49:06.590 --> 00:49:11.150 okay. I've never touched a steroid. That wasn't 00:49:11.150 --> 00:49:12.809 my thing. I'm not in the bodybuilding. I was 00:49:12.809 --> 00:49:14.469 trying to get back in shape and wanted to lose 00:49:14.469 --> 00:49:18.730 some weight. But she wasn't having it. So I was 00:49:18.730 --> 00:49:20.570 stuck. I went back to the coach and I'm like, 00:49:20.610 --> 00:49:22.869 this is what happened. This took two months, 00:49:22.929 --> 00:49:25.030 by the way, to get through. I was suffering the 00:49:25.030 --> 00:49:27.650 whole time. And he said, oh, no, I meant to go 00:49:27.650 --> 00:49:29.730 to this other private pay clinic down the road, 00:49:29.769 --> 00:49:33.809 you know, that specializes in this. Maybe you 00:49:33.809 --> 00:49:36.670 should have told me that first. But, you know, 00:49:36.670 --> 00:49:39.710 so I go in there and doc takes one look, gives 00:49:39.710 --> 00:49:42.909 me this, you know, lab panel, go through and 00:49:42.909 --> 00:49:44.849 get everything done. Turns out my test is like 00:49:44.849 --> 00:49:48.150 90, you know, and it should be, you know, the 00:49:48.150 --> 00:49:51.829 four or five, 600 range. And my estrogen was 00:49:51.829 --> 00:49:54.150 like 80, which is more than double what it should 00:49:54.150 --> 00:49:55.900 have been. You know, which explains why I was 00:49:55.900 --> 00:49:59.739 crying at Disney movies. But, you know, got all 00:49:59.739 --> 00:50:01.360 that straightened around. And all of a sudden, 00:50:01.380 --> 00:50:06.360 the work that I had been putting in, it just 00:50:06.360 --> 00:50:10.780 so quickly changed. I mean, within probably two 00:50:10.780 --> 00:50:15.480 weeks, you know, my sleep was better. Cognitive 00:50:15.480 --> 00:50:17.559 ability was there. I didn't have the brain fog. 00:50:18.000 --> 00:50:22.239 My libido was back. I was dropping weight. I 00:50:22.239 --> 00:50:26.519 just felt great. And that was continuing. And 00:50:26.519 --> 00:50:31.940 then COVID hit and that clinic shut down. One 00:50:31.940 --> 00:50:35.199 of the guys that worked there actually had talked 00:50:35.199 --> 00:50:39.380 to the doc and essentially was going to buy their 00:50:39.380 --> 00:50:41.820 book of business. And, you know, they were good 00:50:41.820 --> 00:50:44.739 at the clinical side of things. You know, they 00:50:44.739 --> 00:50:47.150 were kind of like a. a patient advocate where 00:50:47.150 --> 00:50:49.170 they walk them through the process and help them 00:50:49.170 --> 00:50:52.090 determine what was probably right for them. Since 00:50:52.090 --> 00:50:53.610 everything was private pay, you know, it could 00:50:53.610 --> 00:50:57.190 be expensive. So we found a different physician 00:50:57.190 --> 00:51:00.610 and a financial backer and a business development 00:51:00.610 --> 00:51:03.230 guy. And they were all good in certain areas, 00:51:03.269 --> 00:51:05.969 but no one really was like the one that knew 00:51:05.969 --> 00:51:08.750 how to file the articles of incorporation, you 00:51:08.750 --> 00:51:11.759 know, put a financial system together. business 00:51:11.759 --> 00:51:15.039 processes, contracts, you know, all the fun stuff. 00:51:16.199 --> 00:51:19.780 So that was me. You know, and I wasn't even supposed 00:51:19.780 --> 00:51:21.920 to be a partner at first. I was just like a consultant 00:51:21.920 --> 00:51:24.119 they were going to pay. And they were deciding, 00:51:24.179 --> 00:51:27.619 you know, I'll split it four ways. And, you know, 00:51:27.659 --> 00:51:30.019 we kicked it off. I don't want to say the name 00:51:30.019 --> 00:51:32.239 of the company, but, you know, we did kick it 00:51:32.239 --> 00:51:35.000 off. And I always wanted to use e -commerce. 00:51:35.119 --> 00:51:37.559 I wanted to do telemedicine. I didn't want to 00:51:37.559 --> 00:51:39.820 do the brick and mortar thing, especially with 00:51:39.820 --> 00:51:43.559 COVID. So they agreed to start in that space 00:51:43.559 --> 00:51:46.280 because of everything that was going on. And 00:51:46.280 --> 00:51:48.960 then, you know, I wanted to bring in social media 00:51:48.960 --> 00:51:51.559 for marketing. And, you know, it was an uphill 00:51:51.559 --> 00:51:54.380 battle. They didn't believe in it. So eventually, 00:51:54.539 --> 00:51:57.539 we found an influencer that we really liked. 00:51:58.320 --> 00:52:01.260 And, you know, we were able to work a deal. So 00:52:01.260 --> 00:52:06.980 once they started promoting for us, it took off 00:52:06.980 --> 00:52:11.400 very quickly. The person that was financially 00:52:11.400 --> 00:52:14.079 backing it, once they saw that it was turning 00:52:14.079 --> 00:52:17.400 the corner, making money profitable into the 00:52:17.400 --> 00:52:20.159 millions, essentially just locked everybody out. 00:52:20.800 --> 00:52:24.539 And, you know, gave everybody the opportunity 00:52:24.539 --> 00:52:27.320 to sue him for, you know, shareholder oppression 00:52:27.320 --> 00:52:30.139 and then, you know, take their buyout. And that 00:52:30.139 --> 00:52:31.940 is essentially what everybody did. You know, 00:52:31.940 --> 00:52:34.579 and that process took months. And, you know, 00:52:34.579 --> 00:52:36.139 at that point, I was still working a full -time 00:52:36.139 --> 00:52:40.199 job. fairly depressed, you know, kind of was 00:52:40.199 --> 00:52:43.599 going back into that self -loving area. And my 00:52:43.599 --> 00:52:45.179 wife just kind of looked at me one day in the 00:52:45.179 --> 00:52:46.880 kitchen. She's like, you're going to do it again. 00:52:46.920 --> 00:52:49.659 So just do it again. Just go and do it. She's 00:52:49.659 --> 00:52:51.199 like this time, call a transcend, you know, kind 00:52:51.199 --> 00:52:53.460 of joking because it was a play on the other 00:52:53.460 --> 00:52:58.559 company. And I was like, I went down right, right 00:52:58.559 --> 00:53:00.019 then, right there. And then I went right down 00:53:00.019 --> 00:53:02.960 to the basement, to my office area, file articles 00:53:02.960 --> 00:53:06.300 in corporation. First thing I did was talk to 00:53:06.300 --> 00:53:09.840 one of my, business colleagues and i said hey 00:53:09.840 --> 00:53:12.300 you know i'd like to trade you percentage of 00:53:12.300 --> 00:53:14.639 equity to you know go in on this company with 00:53:14.639 --> 00:53:17.199 me if you'll build a website do all the technical 00:53:17.199 --> 00:53:18.679 stuff in the background because they were a developer 00:53:18.679 --> 00:53:22.300 and did all that stuff and they they agreed and 00:53:22.300 --> 00:53:24.699 then i went to the other two business partners 00:53:24.699 --> 00:53:27.800 that were kind of you know had the same experience 00:53:28.599 --> 00:53:30.420 I'm like, hey, what do you think about this? 00:53:30.460 --> 00:53:31.739 I'm going to do it again. I'm going to do it 00:53:31.739 --> 00:53:33.679 the way I wanted to do it. I'm looking for a 00:53:33.679 --> 00:53:35.159 little bit of seed money. Do you want to invest 00:53:35.159 --> 00:53:39.280 in all this other stuff? Yes, right away. So 00:53:39.280 --> 00:53:42.860 I found a gentleman that was a competitor of 00:53:42.860 --> 00:53:46.699 mine and worked out a deal with him, got him 00:53:46.699 --> 00:53:50.260 brought over. And at that point, he had a small 00:53:50.260 --> 00:53:52.400 book of business. So that kind of got the company 00:53:52.400 --> 00:53:55.650 started, got all the things established. And 00:53:55.650 --> 00:53:57.989 then we started the hunt for influencers and 00:53:57.989 --> 00:54:01.789 we ended up getting a call with Jason Poston. 00:54:03.130 --> 00:54:06.309 You know, he had spoken to one of our employees 00:54:06.309 --> 00:54:09.510 that reached out to him. And, you know, for whatever 00:54:09.510 --> 00:54:12.309 reason, he just said, OK, I'll, you know, give 00:54:12.309 --> 00:54:14.489 him a shot. I'll listen to him, which was odd 00:54:14.489 --> 00:54:16.269 because he had so many people contacting him, 00:54:16.349 --> 00:54:19.230 you know, throughout his career that just to 00:54:19.230 --> 00:54:22.789 take us randomly, you know, it wasn't normal. 00:54:24.679 --> 00:54:26.420 You know, I told him this story. I told him what 00:54:26.420 --> 00:54:29.199 had happened. And, you know, he asked me, well, 00:54:29.239 --> 00:54:31.500 why are you doing this? And I said, well, for 00:54:31.500 --> 00:54:33.960 a multitude of reasons. But to break it down, 00:54:34.099 --> 00:54:36.980 one, it changed my life. And I know I can change 00:54:36.980 --> 00:54:39.059 others. And I know I can do something good with 00:54:39.059 --> 00:54:42.699 it. I know at some point, if the business grows 00:54:42.699 --> 00:54:45.659 well enough, I'll be able to build a legacy and 00:54:45.659 --> 00:54:48.900 hand something down. You know, be there for, 00:54:48.940 --> 00:54:51.340 you know, the families of people that are working 00:54:51.340 --> 00:54:54.219 there, shareholders. you know, start a charity, 00:54:54.260 --> 00:54:57.440 all that kind of stuff. But mostly it'll give 00:54:57.440 --> 00:54:59.739 me roots and stability and I won't have to deploy 00:54:59.739 --> 00:55:01.320 or travel or do all these other things. I can 00:55:01.320 --> 00:55:04.019 actually see my family. I haven't seen them in, 00:55:04.059 --> 00:55:07.880 you know, forever. My career has been essentially 00:55:07.880 --> 00:55:11.139 leaving. And that meant something to me. It really 00:55:11.139 --> 00:55:17.059 did. So I was shocked because the way in the 00:55:17.059 --> 00:55:19.949 structure that we did the contract was... Kind 00:55:19.949 --> 00:55:22.630 of like pay to play. The more he did, the better 00:55:22.630 --> 00:55:26.070 he did, the better the company did. It was based 00:55:26.070 --> 00:55:28.030 on kind of like a commission kind of a thing. 00:55:29.849 --> 00:55:33.090 At the end of it, he ended up basically becoming 00:55:33.090 --> 00:55:35.869 one of our partners. He helped us find other 00:55:35.869 --> 00:55:39.289 connections and grow the company. Shortly after 00:55:39.289 --> 00:55:41.289 meeting with him, we met with Steve Weatherford. 00:55:41.750 --> 00:55:44.590 He was a former partner for the New York Giants. 00:55:44.630 --> 00:55:49.000 He was an NFL spittish man two times. I mean, 00:55:49.079 --> 00:55:51.860 guys in his forties and just still to this day 00:55:51.860 --> 00:55:55.000 is absolutely yoked. It's ridiculous. I don't 00:55:55.000 --> 00:55:59.940 know how he does it. Well, I do, but, um, you 00:55:59.940 --> 00:56:02.219 know, so they were all about that kind of lifestyle 00:56:02.219 --> 00:56:04.820 too, like the health optimization and wellness 00:56:04.820 --> 00:56:07.800 and, you know, taking, you know, control of your 00:56:07.800 --> 00:56:09.440 health and putting it in the patient's hands. 00:56:10.139 --> 00:56:12.480 versus working within the traditional means of 00:56:12.480 --> 00:56:14.519 things, which is more reactive. You know, you're 00:56:14.519 --> 00:56:17.000 not necessarily stopping things from happening. 00:56:17.039 --> 00:56:19.679 You're just taking another medication to stop 00:56:19.679 --> 00:56:21.619 one thing, but then, you know, you get a different 00:56:21.619 --> 00:56:24.239 problem. You know, a lot of people think that's 00:56:24.239 --> 00:56:26.639 by design. You know, I'm not going to share my 00:56:26.639 --> 00:56:30.519 opinion on it, but obviously I like the proactive 00:56:30.519 --> 00:56:35.199 and preventative approach personally. So, you 00:56:35.199 --> 00:56:37.550 know, once we started. having patients come in 00:56:37.550 --> 00:56:40.190 we were you know just focusing on education but 00:56:40.190 --> 00:56:44.030 you know i think with jason and steve telling 00:56:44.030 --> 00:56:46.170 their stories and explaining just how it helped 00:56:46.170 --> 00:56:50.869 them and why it was better for you know people 00:56:50.869 --> 00:56:52.809 in the industry especially the bodybuilding industry 00:56:52.809 --> 00:56:55.329 where we really cut our teeth you know because 00:56:55.329 --> 00:56:57.429 so many competitors were dying so young from 00:56:57.789 --> 00:57:00.690 abusing steroids to know that one you could do 00:57:00.690 --> 00:57:03.630 it legally with blood work and you could do it 00:57:03.630 --> 00:57:06.190 a manner in a way where you were just optimizing 00:57:06.190 --> 00:57:08.110 your your levels but you weren't necessarily 00:57:08.110 --> 00:57:11.170 you know you weren't taking tons and tons of 00:57:11.170 --> 00:57:13.630 gear you know where you get an acne and right 00:57:13.630 --> 00:57:15.610 rachel and these other things people that don't 00:57:15.610 --> 00:57:17.889 understand is over a certain dose it's not doing 00:57:17.889 --> 00:57:19.849 anything anyways it's just giving you side effects 00:57:19.849 --> 00:57:21.929 it's just hurting you it's not helping it's not 00:57:21.929 --> 00:57:24.130 going to do anything if you bring those down 00:57:24.130 --> 00:57:27.199 to the levels where they're supposed to be or 00:57:27.199 --> 00:57:29.840 slightly above where the high average is at, 00:57:29.980 --> 00:57:33.679 it's going to do basically the same thing. It 00:57:33.679 --> 00:57:35.880 just takes a little longer time, but it's still 00:57:35.880 --> 00:57:37.320 going to happen. You're still going to be at 00:57:37.320 --> 00:57:40.059 your peak. So they liked the idea of being able 00:57:40.059 --> 00:57:42.400 to promote something that was going to stop people 00:57:42.400 --> 00:57:45.559 from harming themselves and then obviously help 00:57:45.559 --> 00:57:47.500 them feel better and put things in their control. 00:57:48.199 --> 00:57:53.019 So they agreed, and once they did, it just grew. 00:57:53.639 --> 00:57:55.780 Then another influencer would hear their story 00:57:55.780 --> 00:57:57.880 and say, hey, I kind of like to do that too. 00:57:58.079 --> 00:58:02.619 Then another one. Now, I believe we're at about 00:58:02.619 --> 00:58:06.539 40 athletes that we're working with. The company 00:58:06.539 --> 00:58:11.039 grew from four people in my basement to 70 people 00:58:11.039 --> 00:58:16.980 as of today. We just signed a lease for 30 ,000 00:58:16.980 --> 00:58:21.360 square feet here. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. 00:58:21.639 --> 00:58:26.000 I want to walk through the the kind of genesis 00:58:26.000 --> 00:58:28.579 of this therapy first becoming you know available 00:58:28.579 --> 00:58:30.940 and then and then carry on forward to all the 00:58:30.940 --> 00:58:33.139 kind of pillars of health that you guys address 00:58:33.139 --> 00:58:36.400 my exposure to this was actually with the interview 00:58:36.400 --> 00:58:38.940 with kirk parsley as a navy seal term physician 00:58:38.940 --> 00:58:42.079 um sleep medicine is a big area that he focuses 00:58:42.079 --> 00:58:46.190 on but he was talking about the the kind of creation 00:58:46.190 --> 00:58:49.389 of this spectrum where your testosterone should 00:58:49.389 --> 00:58:51.050 be. And I always forget where it is. I think 00:58:51.050 --> 00:58:52.929 it was an Ivy League school area in the Northeast. 00:58:53.510 --> 00:58:58.309 But where they got that range from was the, you 00:58:58.309 --> 00:59:02.050 know, 950 was the 18 -year -old high school football 00:59:02.050 --> 00:59:05.630 player dripping, you know, testosterone and semen. 00:59:05.690 --> 00:59:08.210 And then you had the, you know, whatever it was, 00:59:08.289 --> 00:59:11.050 2250 was the eight -year -old sedentary dude 00:59:11.050 --> 00:59:15.820 in the same town. Up until very recently, a lot 00:59:15.820 --> 00:59:17.579 of, you know, myself, a lot of peers, if we did 00:59:17.579 --> 00:59:20.780 get blood work done that showed test, they would 00:59:20.780 --> 00:59:23.079 be told, oh, you're 300, you're fine. Well, this 00:59:23.079 --> 00:59:26.059 would be a 25 -year -old firefighter. This shouldn't 00:59:26.059 --> 00:59:30.039 be at 250 or 300. So for the longest time, you 00:59:30.039 --> 00:59:31.559 know, I was having this conversation like, look, 00:59:31.659 --> 00:59:33.579 you know, figure out where you should actually 00:59:33.579 --> 00:59:36.949 be. You know, if you're in your... 30s you know 00:59:36.949 --> 00:59:40.510 then i would argue if a 950 is a 18 year old 00:59:40.510 --> 00:59:43.230 you know stud then in your 30s you should at 00:59:43.230 --> 00:59:45.389 least be in the five sixes at least you know 00:59:45.389 --> 00:59:48.750 so if it's way below that but then the pendulum 00:59:48.750 --> 00:59:51.769 swung all the way the other way and now all of 00:59:51.769 --> 00:59:53.989 a sudden men's clinics and i'm doing air quote 00:59:53.989 --> 00:59:58.190 showed up everywhere and now i was having 25 00:59:58.190 --> 01:00:02.030 30 year old firefighter friends immediately walk 01:00:02.030 --> 01:00:03.829 in there and boom they're on testosterone now 01:00:03.829 --> 01:00:05.909 it's not the same one that maybe had the low 01:00:05.909 --> 01:00:07.809 ones or if they did but there was no discussion 01:00:07.809 --> 01:00:13.150 on on nutrition on sleep on on weight training 01:00:13.150 --> 01:00:15.789 and all these things that can naturally stimulate 01:00:15.789 --> 01:00:19.570 that you would do before then saying okay you're 01:00:19.570 --> 01:00:22.230 a good fit for trt these are the options and 01:00:22.230 --> 01:00:25.320 this is how you can do it so Talk to me about 01:00:25.320 --> 01:00:28.280 that first, just the industry that you've seen 01:00:28.280 --> 01:00:30.639 through your eyes. Obviously, we're going to 01:00:30.639 --> 01:00:32.599 talk about Transcend. There's a reason why we're 01:00:32.599 --> 01:00:34.539 having this discussion because I think people 01:00:34.539 --> 01:00:37.340 should know the good companies. But what have 01:00:37.340 --> 01:00:39.699 you seen as far as that predatorial element as 01:00:39.699 --> 01:00:42.500 well? Well, the predatorial element is pretty 01:00:42.500 --> 01:00:44.860 clear, right? Their sex cells are going to use 01:00:44.860 --> 01:00:48.440 that, the glory days, all those things. And they're 01:00:48.440 --> 01:00:50.800 going to make it very easy for you to get on 01:00:50.800 --> 01:00:54.550 testosterone. um easy is never a good way to 01:00:54.550 --> 01:00:57.949 accomplish a goal in my opinion um you know there 01:00:57.949 --> 01:00:59.750 should be a little bit more thought put in something 01:00:59.750 --> 01:01:02.010 especially when it comes into hormones what they 01:01:02.010 --> 01:01:03.789 don't understand is when they go on a hormone 01:01:03.789 --> 01:01:05.550 you're going on a hormone for life if you're 01:01:05.550 --> 01:01:07.869 replacing your body's natural ability to create 01:01:07.869 --> 01:01:09.789 testosterone and you're replacing with something 01:01:09.789 --> 01:01:13.329 synthetic um you know that's that's what your 01:01:13.329 --> 01:01:15.130 body's used to at this point and that's what 01:01:15.130 --> 01:01:18.210 it's going to carry on to do um sometimes you 01:01:18.210 --> 01:01:21.960 can into certain level you know to reignite natural 01:01:21.960 --> 01:01:25.960 test. And there's methods of doing it, but it's 01:01:25.960 --> 01:01:27.599 only going to be to a certain extent. And it's 01:01:27.599 --> 01:01:29.000 probably going to be around the level you were 01:01:29.000 --> 01:01:32.980 at before. It's most likely not going to increase 01:01:32.980 --> 01:01:36.760 where you were at. But once you go on testosterone, 01:01:37.000 --> 01:01:38.900 essentially, you should be able to, you need 01:01:38.900 --> 01:01:41.460 to stay on it. And that's one thing I think that's 01:01:41.460 --> 01:01:45.400 a real difference in the good clinics and the 01:01:45.400 --> 01:01:47.320 ones that are a little bit more predatory is 01:01:47.320 --> 01:01:50.010 explaining to everybody. what these things really 01:01:50.010 --> 01:01:53.530 mean and what they do and the dosage and levels 01:01:53.530 --> 01:01:55.269 and everything. And our approach is a little 01:01:55.269 --> 01:01:58.610 different. You know, 950, you know, 850, 650, 01:01:58.929 --> 01:02:01.650 a thousand. It depends on a few things. First, 01:02:01.809 --> 01:02:03.510 let's talk about the symptoms before we talk 01:02:03.510 --> 01:02:06.070 the numbers. You know, my number, your number 01:02:06.070 --> 01:02:07.869 might be different and it could be based on age. 01:02:08.050 --> 01:02:09.909 It could be based on metabolism. It can be based 01:02:09.909 --> 01:02:12.210 on body weight. It could be based on how I want 01:02:12.210 --> 01:02:14.590 to feel versus how you want to feel. And the 01:02:14.590 --> 01:02:18.969 blood work helps us find that number where. that 01:02:18.969 --> 01:02:21.690 is where you're feeling good. And also, we're 01:02:21.690 --> 01:02:24.070 not affecting other issues where you can go to 01:02:24.070 --> 01:02:27.269 the roof. You know, your AST levels or, you know, 01:02:27.269 --> 01:02:29.269 kidney functionality, liver functionality is 01:02:29.269 --> 01:02:32.289 starting to have, you know, other problems. You 01:02:32.289 --> 01:02:33.949 know, you're losing hair. Some of those things 01:02:33.949 --> 01:02:37.030 are going to happen. And there's times when you 01:02:37.030 --> 01:02:40.630 have to titrate down, you know, if you end up 01:02:40.630 --> 01:02:43.650 taking too much. But the thing that is, if you're 01:02:43.650 --> 01:02:46.030 monitoring the blood, like a good clinic would 01:02:46.030 --> 01:02:49.019 tell you to. then you'll see those things happening. 01:02:49.099 --> 01:02:51.780 And before it becomes a problem, you're lowering 01:02:51.780 --> 01:02:55.019 that dose and you're, you know, backing it way 01:02:55.019 --> 01:02:58.039 down. And I'll tell you this much, our physician, 01:02:58.179 --> 01:03:01.780 you know, he's never going to authorize a dose 01:03:01.780 --> 01:03:04.800 that is considered more than therapeutic. And 01:03:04.800 --> 01:03:07.480 that's where you need to be. About 200 milligrams 01:03:07.480 --> 01:03:11.340 a week, you know, in a split dose or, you know, 01:03:11.360 --> 01:03:15.429 in multiple split doses is about the max. you 01:03:15.429 --> 01:03:17.849 know, a male of most ages is going to be able 01:03:17.849 --> 01:03:21.650 to handle without a side effect. And any more 01:03:21.650 --> 01:03:23.670 than that, I would, I would have to argue against. 01:03:25.010 --> 01:03:27.710 And, you know, that's not even where most clinics 01:03:27.710 --> 01:03:30.570 start that are doing this, you know, in the right 01:03:30.570 --> 01:03:32.869 way. They're also talking again about nutrition 01:03:32.869 --> 01:03:35.070 and lifestyle and those other things, giving 01:03:35.070 --> 01:03:37.550 the patient all the information to understand, 01:03:37.769 --> 01:03:40.610 you know, what their options are. You know, they 01:03:40.610 --> 01:03:42.389 talk about ACG, they'll talk about nicotine, 01:03:42.690 --> 01:03:45.690 they'll. you know talk about their sleep and 01:03:45.690 --> 01:03:48.489 and you know mood and diet patterns and you know 01:03:48.489 --> 01:03:50.610 other you know comorbidities you know things 01:03:50.610 --> 01:03:54.010 that could be going on that you know people aren't 01:03:54.010 --> 01:03:56.110 looking at you have to look at the entire body 01:03:56.110 --> 01:03:58.389 you know all of the systems everything affects 01:03:58.389 --> 01:04:02.050 everything essentially so you go in and just 01:04:02.050 --> 01:04:03.929 to get testosterone you get it and you leave 01:04:03.929 --> 01:04:07.780 you're probably not one of the better If they're 01:04:07.780 --> 01:04:10.199 charging you per shot, you're not at a good clinic. 01:04:10.840 --> 01:04:13.679 You know, if you don't see the physician, like 01:04:13.679 --> 01:04:17.840 as in on a Zoom and talk to them, you're not 01:04:17.840 --> 01:04:20.780 at, you know, a good clinic. You need to be able 01:04:20.780 --> 01:04:24.460 to at least see their PA, you know, nurse, nurse 01:04:24.460 --> 01:04:28.920 practitioner. There should be a major blood panel 01:04:28.920 --> 01:04:32.199 workup with all of your hormones, plus all the 01:04:32.199 --> 01:04:35.059 base, you know, testing. Yeah, usually we do 01:04:35.059 --> 01:04:36.860 like a new patient form, just like you would 01:04:36.860 --> 01:04:38.760 in any other physician's office. You know, you 01:04:38.760 --> 01:04:40.579 get that 10 page packet and you got to fill out 01:04:40.579 --> 01:04:42.539 your health, medical history, you know, and then 01:04:42.539 --> 01:04:44.699 go into your goals and other things that you're 01:04:44.699 --> 01:04:46.900 trying to accomplish. And, you know, take all 01:04:46.900 --> 01:04:50.159 that information, interview the patient, and 01:04:50.159 --> 01:04:52.460 then, you know, at that point, walk them through 01:04:52.460 --> 01:04:54.139 the process and see what they want to do, where 01:04:54.139 --> 01:04:56.119 their priorities are. And that's essentially 01:04:56.119 --> 01:04:58.079 what we do. That's how we, you know, take it 01:04:58.079 --> 01:04:59.619 from the intake document where somebody makes 01:04:59.619 --> 01:05:02.360 contact with us until they get the medication. 01:05:02.909 --> 01:05:04.289 You know, they have to go through all those wickets. 01:05:04.429 --> 01:05:05.630 You know, they're going to talk to one of our 01:05:05.630 --> 01:05:07.070 patient care advocates. They're going to talk 01:05:07.070 --> 01:05:09.909 to, you know, a physician or physician's assistant. 01:05:10.070 --> 01:05:11.889 The blood work's going to be done. You know, 01:05:11.909 --> 01:05:14.409 we're going to have done a review. And then we're 01:05:14.409 --> 01:05:17.329 going to make a recommendation. Buy all the options, 01:05:17.409 --> 01:05:18.909 too, because there's so many options between 01:05:18.909 --> 01:05:21.769 peptides and some of the bioidenticals. You know, 01:05:21.789 --> 01:05:24.190 you could have 40 options. We're not saying you 01:05:24.190 --> 01:05:27.279 should do 40 of them. We're just saying. These 01:05:27.279 --> 01:05:29.500 medications do certain things, and these are 01:05:29.500 --> 01:05:31.599 all the things that you could do depending on 01:05:31.599 --> 01:05:33.820 what you think would be best for you and your 01:05:33.820 --> 01:05:36.900 budget. Because it's private pay, we don't accept 01:05:36.900 --> 01:05:39.900 insurance, and we do that for a reason. Medicare 01:05:39.900 --> 01:05:42.019 and Medicaid guidelines are very constringent, 01:05:42.039 --> 01:05:44.699 and when you are taking insurance, you need to 01:05:44.699 --> 01:05:46.780 fall in the U .S. with certain regulations and 01:05:46.780 --> 01:05:50.519 laws. And it takes away from the ability for 01:05:50.519 --> 01:05:52.699 a patient to put the care in their hands. So, 01:05:52.699 --> 01:05:55.599 you know, in this case, Private Bay was the right 01:05:55.599 --> 01:06:00.659 way for us to approach it. But once they've made 01:06:00.659 --> 01:06:02.280 the decision, you know, that's what we're going 01:06:02.280 --> 01:06:04.699 to support. You know, we're going to take that 01:06:04.699 --> 01:06:08.380 order. And we have several compounding pharmacies 01:06:08.380 --> 01:06:10.360 in the U .S. that we work with. We have a couple 01:06:10.360 --> 01:06:12.539 that we really closely partnered with and use 01:06:12.539 --> 01:06:17.360 for the main. source. But if they're out of medication 01:06:17.360 --> 01:06:20.059 or they're going through inspections or things 01:06:20.059 --> 01:06:22.800 like that, sometimes we have to shift. There's 01:06:22.800 --> 01:06:25.460 different regulatory restrictions in states. 01:06:25.880 --> 01:06:29.559 So sometimes we need to go to a specific pharmacy 01:06:29.559 --> 01:06:32.400 to ship a medication to a specific state. So 01:06:32.400 --> 01:06:34.019 there's a lot of logistics that are tied in this 01:06:34.019 --> 01:06:37.659 too. That's the other thing to be worried about 01:06:37.659 --> 01:06:39.840 and understand, you know, when you're going to 01:06:39.840 --> 01:06:42.199 a clinic, you know, where are they sourcing their 01:06:42.199 --> 01:06:44.619 medications that are going to be sent to you? 01:06:44.679 --> 01:06:47.159 And how are they going to be sent? Are they overnight 01:06:47.159 --> 01:06:50.099 cold pack? Or are they, you know, going USPS? 01:06:50.280 --> 01:06:54.260 You know, there's a few things there to look 01:06:54.260 --> 01:06:58.619 at and good questions to ask. All our stuff is, 01:06:58.699 --> 01:07:01.500 you know, sent overnight cold pack unless it's 01:07:01.500 --> 01:07:04.539 lypholized. which is powder form. It has to be 01:07:04.539 --> 01:07:06.500 reconstituted. Most of the peptides are like 01:07:06.500 --> 01:07:09.619 that. So they're heat tolerant and they're not 01:07:09.619 --> 01:07:13.019 necessarily as, you know, constringent on the 01:07:13.019 --> 01:07:15.980 time. So we don't have to put over an item, but 01:07:15.980 --> 01:07:18.000 there's a lot of medications that do need to 01:07:18.000 --> 01:07:21.219 be done that way. But we've made sure to go through 01:07:21.219 --> 01:07:23.480 and find the pharmacies that are compounding 01:07:23.480 --> 01:07:25.579 and sending to the patients, you know, as we've 01:07:25.579 --> 01:07:27.539 ordered it for them. So the medication is basically 01:07:27.539 --> 01:07:30.320 made at the time the patient is ordering it versus, 01:07:30.380 --> 01:07:33.420 you know, sitting on a shelf. you know, just 01:07:33.420 --> 01:07:36.179 waiting to go out at a standard pharmacy. You 01:07:36.179 --> 01:07:38.119 know, we've gone through and we've seen their 01:07:38.119 --> 01:07:40.219 FDA inspections. You know, we've seen their, 01:07:40.239 --> 01:07:43.000 you know, proof that they got their raw materials 01:07:43.000 --> 01:07:45.500 from an FDA approved source. You know, we've 01:07:45.500 --> 01:07:47.719 seen the facilities where the filtration systems 01:07:47.719 --> 01:07:50.079 are up and running, they're clean rooms. You 01:07:50.079 --> 01:07:52.599 know, we still go back and ask them to send sample 01:07:52.599 --> 01:07:54.480 products and see a third party independent testing 01:07:54.480 --> 01:07:58.239 and make sure that both see the, you know, bioavailability, 01:07:58.280 --> 01:08:00.260 the, you know, stableness of the medication, 01:08:00.500 --> 01:08:03.329 all those things are. being looked at and done 01:08:03.329 --> 01:08:06.670 randomly. So, you know, we can't just tell them 01:08:06.670 --> 01:08:08.510 on next Tuesday to have a batch ready for us. 01:08:09.329 --> 01:08:11.110 You know, because we do care because these are 01:08:11.110 --> 01:08:13.690 medications myself and my staff use just the 01:08:13.690 --> 01:08:16.789 same. So obviously we want them to be, you know, 01:08:16.789 --> 01:08:18.449 just as good for us as they are for our patients. 01:08:18.869 --> 01:08:21.590 But those are all things that good clinics do. 01:08:21.810 --> 01:08:24.289 And those are the ones you want to go to, the 01:08:24.289 --> 01:08:27.229 ones that are doing it right. So Brendan was 01:08:27.229 --> 01:08:29.409 telling me as well, when you've done this questionnaire, 01:08:29.489 --> 01:08:32.850 there is an element of, of counseling when it 01:08:32.850 --> 01:08:35.270 comes to your nutrition your sleep etc because 01:08:35.270 --> 01:08:38.750 i think this is a big uh sticking point in the 01:08:38.750 --> 01:08:43.109 fire service if We get the firefighters work 01:08:43.109 --> 01:08:45.449 week to where it should be in the US. They would 01:08:45.449 --> 01:08:47.649 have a lot more time to recover. And I think 01:08:47.649 --> 01:08:49.970 some of them would self -regulate at least when 01:08:49.970 --> 01:08:52.909 they were younger with their hormones. So, you 01:08:52.909 --> 01:08:54.890 know, but the problem is that they don't at the 01:08:54.890 --> 01:08:56.949 moment. The county that protects where I live 01:08:56.949 --> 01:08:59.710 now, they're on 56 hours a week and a lot of 01:08:59.710 --> 01:09:01.489 times getting mandatory forced to stay another 01:09:01.489 --> 01:09:03.890 one. So they're on sometimes 80 hour work weeks. 01:09:04.289 --> 01:09:06.770 So to tell those men and women, oh, you just 01:09:06.770 --> 01:09:09.649 need more sleep. Well, yeah, but sometimes they're 01:09:09.649 --> 01:09:11.670 not able to get it. The TBI is obviously the 01:09:11.670 --> 01:09:13.670 combat athletes, the military, the law enforcement. 01:09:13.970 --> 01:09:16.130 That's another area where it seems like the self 01:09:16.130 --> 01:09:19.630 -regulation starts to kind of fall away. But 01:09:19.630 --> 01:09:22.970 having that diagnosis element first of, well, 01:09:22.989 --> 01:09:24.689 you know, have you changed your diet? Have you 01:09:24.689 --> 01:09:26.369 done this? Have you done that? It's still not 01:09:26.369 --> 01:09:28.270 working or I'm just not able to because of my 01:09:28.270 --> 01:09:30.649 work schedule. Well, then for especially the 01:09:30.649 --> 01:09:34.750 younger male or female, now you've given them 01:09:34.750 --> 01:09:36.899 a tool. Okay, I'm not. I'm just going to be in 01:09:36.899 --> 01:09:40.899 this chaos for another 5, 10 years. Okay, now 01:09:40.899 --> 01:09:44.060 I can make a decision. I understand ideally I'd 01:09:44.060 --> 01:09:45.920 be able to do X, Y, and Z, but I'm not in this 01:09:45.920 --> 01:09:48.079 work environment. So now here's a tool I can 01:09:48.079 --> 01:09:52.239 use in the interim. Yeah, spot on, especially 01:09:52.239 --> 01:09:56.060 in those fields. There's no opportunity really 01:09:56.060 --> 01:10:00.720 to try anything else. So this is really the only 01:10:00.720 --> 01:10:03.539 option. um so obviously going to the right place 01:10:03.539 --> 01:10:06.720 is what's important but the um the interview 01:10:06.720 --> 01:10:08.619 aspect of that and the guidance those questions 01:10:08.619 --> 01:10:10.920 are obviously going to be asked first you know 01:10:10.920 --> 01:10:13.220 and even more questions too um you know for men 01:10:13.220 --> 01:10:14.479 we're going to ask them about their fertility 01:10:14.479 --> 01:10:16.119 and their family planning and what they want 01:10:16.119 --> 01:10:18.619 to do because there's an element there too that's 01:10:18.619 --> 01:10:20.359 a risk you know they need to know and understand 01:10:20.359 --> 01:10:23.560 and have full informed consent on the impacts 01:10:23.560 --> 01:10:25.680 of things um you know there are things we can 01:10:25.680 --> 01:10:28.260 do and medications we can use in tandem to protect 01:10:29.130 --> 01:10:31.810 you know fertility and you know even in some 01:10:31.810 --> 01:10:35.050 cases increase the potential fertility um we 01:10:35.050 --> 01:10:38.229 can do some things in that area we can assist 01:10:38.229 --> 01:10:41.350 males uh not so much in the in the female arena 01:10:41.350 --> 01:10:45.010 but there's you know things that we have to ask 01:10:45.010 --> 01:10:47.510 you know and it's beyond even just the diet nutrition 01:10:47.510 --> 01:10:51.050 and lifestyle it's like i said before you realize 01:10:51.050 --> 01:10:52.670 that this is a medication you're going to need 01:10:52.670 --> 01:10:54.350 to be on essentially for the rest of your life 01:10:54.350 --> 01:10:58.340 are you okay with that Do you understand and 01:10:58.340 --> 01:11:01.340 know that by taking this, you're shutting down 01:11:01.340 --> 01:11:03.539 any ash production that you have, and this could 01:11:03.539 --> 01:11:06.000 affect your fertility, and it will affect your 01:11:06.000 --> 01:11:09.260 fertility. So as much of the benefits this is 01:11:09.260 --> 01:11:12.619 going to have and the situation they're in, they 01:11:12.619 --> 01:11:15.119 still need to know those other potential effects 01:11:15.119 --> 01:11:18.600 that are going to happen regardless. Absolutely. 01:11:18.720 --> 01:11:20.439 I think that's what, you know, most people would 01:11:20.439 --> 01:11:22.500 appreciate. It's just an informed decision. You 01:11:22.500 --> 01:11:24.380 know, now you have all the tools because as you 01:11:24.380 --> 01:11:26.020 said, I mean, you get atrophy of the testes. 01:11:26.020 --> 01:11:28.600 I mean, it's a one -way street then. Your test 01:11:28.600 --> 01:11:30.100 is only going to get worse and worse and worse. 01:11:30.220 --> 01:11:32.100 But, you know, you can plan, all right, well, 01:11:32.180 --> 01:11:33.739 I'm not going to do it for another six months. 01:11:33.800 --> 01:11:35.840 We're going to try, you know, try and get pregnant. 01:11:35.960 --> 01:11:38.539 But sadly, I think I see a lot of infertility. 01:11:39.050 --> 01:11:41.569 In my profession, for example, because of the 01:11:41.569 --> 01:11:43.170 shift work, because of the sleep deprivation. 01:11:43.270 --> 01:11:44.949 So again, you know, maybe they've been trying 01:11:44.949 --> 01:11:46.770 for five years. Maybe, as you said, this with 01:11:46.770 --> 01:11:49.170 a combination of something else might actually 01:11:49.170 --> 01:11:52.489 work this time. So it's, but again, you give 01:11:52.489 --> 01:11:54.909 a family all these tools so they can make an 01:11:54.909 --> 01:11:57.789 informed decision. Now, you know, they've got 01:11:57.789 --> 01:11:59.550 all the information they need versus, as you 01:11:59.550 --> 01:12:01.909 said, walking into a clinic, being told, yeah, 01:12:01.949 --> 01:12:03.729 choose from the board. Yeah, that's 600 bucks, 01:12:03.770 --> 01:12:08.779 please. See you next week. Yeah, exactly. That's, 01:12:08.779 --> 01:12:11.380 that's the whole point too. That's why we asked 01:12:11.380 --> 01:12:12.739 the question. So you do want to have children. 01:12:12.859 --> 01:12:14.199 Okay. Well then I'm going to recommend to you, 01:12:14.279 --> 01:12:16.199 even though it's going to be, you know, a few 01:12:16.199 --> 01:12:17.739 hundred dollars more and I understand that's 01:12:17.739 --> 01:12:19.899 expensive, but this is going to protect your 01:12:19.899 --> 01:12:22.899 fertility, you know, so we're recommending you 01:12:22.899 --> 01:12:25.359 take this along with this or no one understand 01:12:25.359 --> 01:12:28.260 the risk that maybe that's not opportunity for 01:12:28.260 --> 01:12:30.859 you now, but you know, when you are able to, 01:12:30.899 --> 01:12:33.939 we should add this in, you know, those kinds 01:12:33.939 --> 01:12:37.409 of things. And obviously for, you know, firefighters, 01:12:37.590 --> 01:12:39.409 first responders, veterans, that kind of thing. 01:12:39.789 --> 01:12:42.430 You know, we discount the meds. And when it comes 01:12:42.430 --> 01:12:45.489 down to, you know, those that were, you know, 01:12:45.489 --> 01:12:48.090 wounded or have other issues, you know, significant 01:12:48.090 --> 01:12:50.750 issues and need real help, you know, that's where 01:12:50.750 --> 01:12:52.949 our Cherry Transcend Foundation comes in, you 01:12:52.949 --> 01:12:58.220 know, the 503. And we're able to, you know. essentially 01:12:58.220 --> 01:13:01.220 donate what we can in order to support those 01:13:01.220 --> 01:13:03.260 individuals to get through whatever they need 01:13:03.260 --> 01:13:06.500 to. And I know you mentioned TBI, and that's 01:13:06.500 --> 01:13:11.720 an important systemic issue, especially in the 01:13:11.720 --> 01:13:15.560 military, where a lot of the NSF guys, just through 01:13:15.560 --> 01:13:17.819 even training and everything else they've done, 01:13:17.899 --> 01:13:21.899 they've had exposure to detonations weekly. And 01:13:21.899 --> 01:13:23.680 those things are like a concussion every time, 01:13:23.699 --> 01:13:25.319 and it's going to add up, let alone anybody who's 01:13:25.319 --> 01:13:28.220 been in an IED or any other type of traumatic 01:13:28.220 --> 01:13:31.640 event, like a rollover or, you know, God only 01:13:31.640 --> 01:13:34.319 knows. But we have some medications that are 01:13:34.319 --> 01:13:39.420 showing real promise in helping reverse or repair 01:13:39.420 --> 01:13:41.899 some of the damage. It's way too early to tell, 01:13:41.960 --> 01:13:44.020 and I will never say that it's a miracle drug 01:13:44.020 --> 01:13:46.039 and it's going to do anything, but there is a 01:13:46.039 --> 01:13:49.939 drug, Dehexa, and it is a peptide. It's a oral 01:13:49.939 --> 01:13:55.529 medication. And it is initially created for Alzheimer's 01:13:55.529 --> 01:13:58.229 and dementia, but it's to improve the cognitive 01:13:58.229 --> 01:14:01.289 functionality. It repairs damaged brain cells, 01:14:01.430 --> 01:14:05.090 essentially. You know, there's limitations to 01:14:05.090 --> 01:14:07.270 everything. So we can't say, again, that it's 01:14:07.270 --> 01:14:10.710 going to heal and fix anyone. But for those that 01:14:10.710 --> 01:14:15.710 had low to mild TBI issues that have come to 01:14:15.710 --> 01:14:19.130 us and have taken the medication long term, you 01:14:19.130 --> 01:14:20.689 know, more than six months, close to a year. 01:14:21.130 --> 01:14:23.109 They were starting to see that they were seeing 01:14:23.109 --> 01:14:26.989 improvement in their day -to -day life, quality 01:14:26.989 --> 01:14:29.029 of life. And at the end of the day, what we're 01:14:29.029 --> 01:14:31.029 trying to do is improve people's quality of life. 01:14:31.869 --> 01:14:34.890 Like I said, we can't reverse age. We can't cure 01:14:34.890 --> 01:14:39.109 disease. But in a lot of the cases, we can optimize 01:14:39.109 --> 01:14:42.229 health and we can reverse some of the symptoms 01:14:42.229 --> 01:14:45.890 that people are feeling. So we focus on that. 01:14:46.609 --> 01:14:48.289 Well, I want to get to the foundation because 01:14:48.289 --> 01:14:51.359 there's a very... evident altruistic you know 01:14:51.359 --> 01:14:53.819 arm to not only your company but you yourself 01:14:53.819 --> 01:14:57.779 as a human being but just before we do 2020 obviously 01:14:57.779 --> 01:15:00.199 this all happens when covid when uh you know 01:15:00.199 --> 01:15:03.880 we go through the covid pandemic some interesting 01:15:03.880 --> 01:15:05.560 things have come out of that one of them that 01:15:05.560 --> 01:15:07.939 i've talked about here before is integrating 01:15:07.939 --> 01:15:12.579 emed with 911 and allowing some of these patients 01:15:12.579 --> 01:15:15.960 to interact directly with an ER physician, which 01:15:15.960 --> 01:15:18.020 then negates the need for an ambulance if it's 01:15:18.020 --> 01:15:22.760 a lower acuity call. What impact did the pandemic 01:15:22.760 --> 01:15:25.720 have on e -medicine when it comes to Transcend 01:15:25.720 --> 01:15:27.859 and the ability for people all over the country 01:15:27.859 --> 01:15:31.680 to be able to access you as a company? It had 01:15:31.680 --> 01:15:33.939 a tremendous impact, and I think it drove all 01:15:33.939 --> 01:15:36.920 of our growth, to be quite frank, because we 01:15:36.920 --> 01:15:39.670 were giving people healthcare options. in a manner 01:15:39.670 --> 01:15:41.670 where they could do it from their home mostly 01:15:41.670 --> 01:15:45.310 really the only time you have to go outside of 01:15:45.310 --> 01:15:47.250 the home is to actually go to a lab core request 01:15:47.250 --> 01:15:49.550 diagnostics facility that we are partnered with 01:15:49.550 --> 01:15:52.550 in order to get the blood drawn but beyond that 01:15:52.550 --> 01:15:55.090 it's done through zoom and phone call and you 01:15:55.090 --> 01:15:56.569 know the medications are shipped to the home 01:15:56.569 --> 01:16:00.109 directly and they're self -administered that 01:16:00.109 --> 01:16:02.130 was a very attractive option for a lot of people 01:16:02.130 --> 01:16:06.220 but even more so and you know I don't have an 01:16:06.220 --> 01:16:07.579 opinion on it one way or the other, but a lot 01:16:07.579 --> 01:16:09.760 of people become skeptical of traditional medicine, 01:16:09.819 --> 01:16:13.359 especially with the shots and the vaccines and 01:16:13.359 --> 01:16:15.520 all those other things. So they don't trust the 01:16:15.520 --> 01:16:18.659 medications, you know, traditional medicine as 01:16:18.659 --> 01:16:20.920 much as they used to in the past. And a lot of 01:16:20.920 --> 01:16:22.319 them are looking for other options. They're looking 01:16:22.319 --> 01:16:25.899 for an alternative. And we came in at the time 01:16:25.899 --> 01:16:27.760 where we were talking about preventative health 01:16:27.760 --> 01:16:30.060 care and, you know, in a way we were trying to 01:16:30.060 --> 01:16:33.739 focus on education. and a less is more approach 01:16:33.739 --> 01:16:37.079 and how to improve quality of life. And that's 01:16:37.079 --> 01:16:39.079 what a lot of people are looking for. They don't 01:16:39.079 --> 01:16:41.640 want to get sick, especially when they see people 01:16:41.640 --> 01:16:43.899 dying from things that are getting them sick. 01:16:44.180 --> 01:16:46.239 They want to improve their immunity, that kind 01:16:46.239 --> 01:16:49.140 of thing. So we were just there at the right 01:16:49.140 --> 01:16:52.199 time and we were available where others weren't. 01:16:52.199 --> 01:16:56.539 And I think that had a massive impact. So talk 01:16:56.539 --> 01:16:59.710 to me about the foundation. I met Brendan out 01:16:59.710 --> 01:17:03.310 on 7X, which was the incredible round the world, 01:17:03.449 --> 01:17:05.930 let's see if we can completely destroy human 01:17:05.930 --> 01:17:08.829 beings and rebuild them project that we were 01:17:08.829 --> 01:17:12.130 on. Ryan Parrott, and again, the genesis of that 01:17:12.130 --> 01:17:16.010 was his sniper partner's suicide, David Metcalf. 01:17:17.309 --> 01:17:19.529 And so, you know, we're making the book now. 01:17:19.590 --> 01:17:21.609 We're making a documentary about this. And ultimately, 01:17:21.750 --> 01:17:24.810 not only is it going to raise some money for 01:17:24.810 --> 01:17:26.510 some nonprofits, more importantly, it's going 01:17:26.510 --> 01:17:29.350 to share a lot of information on all the different 01:17:29.350 --> 01:17:32.050 holistic elements to a lot of the dark places 01:17:32.050 --> 01:17:34.590 that people find themselves and the way to find 01:17:34.590 --> 01:17:36.770 yourself out through nutrition, exercise, mindfulness 01:17:36.770 --> 01:17:40.069 and all these other areas. But you, and I'll 01:17:40.069 --> 01:17:43.449 pull it out of the shadows, you were absolutely 01:17:43.449 --> 01:17:46.970 imperative in. that going ahead it was a very 01:17:46.970 --> 01:17:49.750 last minute thing and you were extremely generous 01:17:49.750 --> 01:17:52.149 and made a massive donation to make sure that 01:17:52.149 --> 01:17:55.930 that 7x project went ahead so talk to me about 01:17:55.930 --> 01:17:58.789 you know the importance of altruism your kind 01:17:58.789 --> 01:18:00.890 of social but business model and then let's talk 01:18:00.890 --> 01:18:02.949 about the foundation as you touched on you know 01:18:02.949 --> 01:18:06.770 who you're trying to help through that well talking 01:18:06.770 --> 01:18:09.149 about the the social aspect of the the company 01:18:09.149 --> 01:18:11.689 i mean that's just the way we're able to get 01:18:11.689 --> 01:18:15.640 out to um you know a larger you know, massive 01:18:15.640 --> 01:18:18.939 people that, you know, are listening to people 01:18:18.939 --> 01:18:22.020 they trust. And that was the attractiveness to 01:18:22.020 --> 01:18:25.979 it was to find a way to focus on education and 01:18:25.979 --> 01:18:28.140 in an area that we knew people were suffering. 01:18:28.319 --> 01:18:31.039 And honestly, that was bodybuilding and fitness 01:18:31.039 --> 01:18:33.920 where people were, you know, abusing medications 01:18:33.920 --> 01:18:37.279 to start. So I took the approach of if we're 01:18:37.279 --> 01:18:40.460 going to. help people improve their quality of 01:18:40.460 --> 01:18:42.880 life we need to first stop people from screwing 01:18:42.880 --> 01:18:46.680 it up so let's let's start where the problem 01:18:46.680 --> 01:18:50.420 might begin in this area and um you know obviously 01:18:50.420 --> 01:18:52.500 you know from my wife being a competitor and 01:18:52.500 --> 01:18:55.439 other things it was just kind of a natural place 01:18:55.439 --> 01:18:59.100 to start um and that's just really where we grew 01:18:59.100 --> 01:19:02.399 through grew from but the military and everything 01:19:02.399 --> 01:19:05.439 around it obviously and all the tragedies and 01:19:05.439 --> 01:19:08.920 you know 22 day and mental health all of it You 01:19:08.920 --> 01:19:12.899 know, it's always, you know, in the back of my 01:19:12.899 --> 01:19:14.979 mind, it's always sitting there. It's, you know, 01:19:14.979 --> 01:19:16.899 it's just something I hate to hear about and 01:19:16.899 --> 01:19:20.539 hate to see. So when I met Brendan, you know, 01:19:20.539 --> 01:19:22.760 and I had found out his story and he's got his 01:19:22.760 --> 01:19:25.800 own story, a hell of a story. I'll tell you what, 01:19:25.840 --> 01:19:28.560 the one thing that really drove me quickly to 01:19:28.560 --> 01:19:31.060 wanting to start the foundation is I didn't want 01:19:31.060 --> 01:19:33.000 a guy to have to go back overseas again. I really 01:19:33.000 --> 01:19:35.920 didn't. I saw a family man who really wanted 01:19:35.920 --> 01:19:38.979 to get something done and do some good. And I 01:19:38.979 --> 01:19:40.720 was right at that point in time where we could 01:19:40.720 --> 01:19:42.699 have started a foundation. So instead of him 01:19:42.699 --> 01:19:45.720 going back, I wanted to offer him a job. And, 01:19:45.779 --> 01:19:48.260 you know, that's really how it started. You know, 01:19:48.279 --> 01:19:51.300 we were aligned, like -minded, had the very same 01:19:51.300 --> 01:19:53.619 outlook in how to approach these things. And, 01:19:53.640 --> 01:19:56.199 you know, it was kind of one of those things 01:19:56.199 --> 01:19:59.319 where I knew if I didn't, you know, do it now, 01:19:59.520 --> 01:20:02.819 if I did it even in two weeks, you know, he'll 01:20:02.819 --> 01:20:05.300 probably be back on a contract or off doing something. 01:20:05.939 --> 01:20:07.500 And I just didn't want to see that happen again. 01:20:08.010 --> 01:20:11.729 So we started it and, you know, he had known 01:20:11.729 --> 01:20:14.890 Ryan or had met him through all of his connections 01:20:14.890 --> 01:20:18.409 because he's got a massive network. But when 01:20:18.409 --> 01:20:21.189 I found out about 7X, it took me about 10 seconds 01:20:21.189 --> 01:20:25.210 to say that we were in. And I love the idea of 01:20:25.210 --> 01:20:26.970 raising the awareness of what it was for and 01:20:26.970 --> 01:20:28.829 what it represented and why Ryan was doing it 01:20:28.829 --> 01:20:32.880 importantly. And I like the fact that there's 01:20:32.880 --> 01:20:35.180 going to be science behind it. And the idea would 01:20:35.180 --> 01:20:37.060 be to prevent things like this from happening 01:20:37.060 --> 01:20:42.119 in the future. Why wouldn't you help there? Why 01:20:42.119 --> 01:20:46.420 wouldn't you jump on that? So for me, it was 01:20:46.420 --> 01:20:50.600 an instant decision. And I felt very strongly 01:20:50.600 --> 01:20:53.960 about it. So when I found out that Ryan needed 01:20:53.960 --> 01:20:58.850 some help, thank God we were able to. being able 01:20:58.850 --> 01:21:01.449 to and knowing what i knew it was felt like a 01:21:01.449 --> 01:21:03.310 duty and a responsibility and i just wanted to 01:21:03.310 --> 01:21:05.909 make sure that that went forward you know to 01:21:05.909 --> 01:21:07.750 me personally i felt like it was an important 01:21:07.750 --> 01:21:10.449 project and the world would be a better place 01:21:10.449 --> 01:21:14.409 with that being you know completed so yeah well 01:21:14.409 --> 01:21:16.270 again for for people listening it was a very 01:21:16.270 --> 01:21:18.329 substantial amount of money we won't put figures 01:21:18.329 --> 01:21:20.770 out there but it was a extremely generous donation 01:21:20.770 --> 01:21:24.229 that was really the difference between 7x going 01:21:24.229 --> 01:21:26.850 ahead or not so i just want to add that so talk 01:21:26.850 --> 01:21:29.029 to me about the foundation then now now you're 01:21:29.029 --> 01:21:31.470 you know you're basically almost done setting 01:21:31.470 --> 01:21:34.710 it up you touched on it before you know how is 01:21:34.710 --> 01:21:37.189 it funded and then who are you helping with that 01:21:37.189 --> 01:21:41.470 foundation specifically so um the plan to fund 01:21:41.470 --> 01:21:43.369 it is the same way we actually agree with the 01:21:43.369 --> 01:21:45.130 company where you want to work with our social 01:21:45.130 --> 01:21:48.380 media partners and our athletes and those that 01:21:48.380 --> 01:21:51.560 support the military. I'd like to talk to a few 01:21:51.560 --> 01:21:54.359 more in the military community that have a platform 01:21:54.359 --> 01:21:57.359 where they're able to reach out to people and, 01:21:57.560 --> 01:22:01.159 you know, again, bring awareness. But the idea 01:22:01.159 --> 01:22:05.399 behind the Transcend Foundation mostly is to 01:22:05.399 --> 01:22:08.140 utilize our medications and to make sure that 01:22:08.140 --> 01:22:10.680 we're able to help as many veterans and first 01:22:10.680 --> 01:22:12.539 responders, firefighters, law enforcement that 01:22:12.539 --> 01:22:16.720 we can. You know, in addition to that. We want 01:22:16.720 --> 01:22:18.859 to take the approach a little differently than, 01:22:18.859 --> 01:22:21.619 you know, others in the past. There's thousands 01:22:21.619 --> 01:22:23.979 of charities out there that focus in one specific 01:22:23.979 --> 01:22:27.319 area. They do it really well. Problem is people, 01:22:27.460 --> 01:22:31.420 humans have multiple issues and one affects the 01:22:31.420 --> 01:22:33.659 other. So one charity alone isn't really going 01:22:33.659 --> 01:22:36.800 to. you know, cure the person and their ailments 01:22:36.800 --> 01:22:38.760 and everything they need. We want to develop 01:22:38.760 --> 01:22:40.939 a mesh network where we're partnered with other 01:22:40.939 --> 01:22:43.439 charities that are focused in areas that we can't 01:22:43.439 --> 01:22:46.300 touch on specifically, but can support each other. 01:22:46.420 --> 01:22:49.979 So Transcend Foundation originally was self -funded 01:22:49.979 --> 01:22:52.880 through Transcend Company. And then we've had 01:22:52.880 --> 01:22:55.100 some private donors and, you know, we're working 01:22:55.100 --> 01:22:57.819 towards getting into the electronic donation, 01:22:58.000 --> 01:23:00.300 you know, more small donor types of donation. 01:23:00.960 --> 01:23:03.930 So we're getting ready to launch that. But as 01:23:03.930 --> 01:23:06.010 we've been kind of building the process and building 01:23:06.010 --> 01:23:08.409 the thing and we've taken on a certain number 01:23:08.409 --> 01:23:11.489 of patients that the company can afford to essentially 01:23:11.489 --> 01:23:15.890 carry and take care of, we wanted to fund other 01:23:15.890 --> 01:23:19.069 partnered charities as much as we could to keep 01:23:19.069 --> 01:23:21.229 those organizations going and doing the good 01:23:21.229 --> 01:23:24.329 and establish those relationships. So that's 01:23:24.329 --> 01:23:26.210 what we're doing up to this point. And I believe 01:23:26.210 --> 01:23:29.210 since last September until now, we've donated 01:23:29.210 --> 01:23:33.350 almost a million through those efforts. Now, 01:23:33.369 --> 01:23:37.369 we kind of didn't get into all the positive side 01:23:37.369 --> 01:23:39.869 effects of testosterone replacement therapy, 01:23:39.930 --> 01:23:42.449 if that's the route that is the right fit for 01:23:42.449 --> 01:23:44.750 you. So just talk to me about some of the success 01:23:44.750 --> 01:23:47.130 stories, because I know in this conversation 01:23:47.130 --> 01:23:49.590 or in this podcast, some of the conversations, 01:23:50.029 --> 01:23:53.130 like you said, it wasn't the only thing, but 01:23:53.130 --> 01:23:54.970 it was one of the tools that took people from 01:23:54.970 --> 01:23:57.670 some very dark places mentally back to feeling 01:23:57.670 --> 01:24:01.789 good again. The most important thing that. Transcend 01:24:01.789 --> 01:24:05.649 can do on the mental health side is going through 01:24:05.649 --> 01:24:07.890 and finding out where hormones are with that 01:24:07.890 --> 01:24:11.829 veteran or that patient so we can get them balanced 01:24:11.829 --> 01:24:13.689 out again. Therapies are amazing, but they're 01:24:13.689 --> 01:24:15.369 only effective if you're in the right space, 01:24:15.430 --> 01:24:18.590 in the right mind. And if you're not able to 01:24:18.590 --> 01:24:21.930 be receptive to any sort of treatment, it's going 01:24:21.930 --> 01:24:23.609 to be hard for the treatment to take effect. 01:24:24.569 --> 01:24:26.449 Going through and, like I said, getting the blood 01:24:26.449 --> 01:24:28.149 work, finding out their levels and getting them 01:24:28.149 --> 01:24:31.890 back to a base number. where they feel good again 01:24:31.890 --> 01:24:34.689 and it gives them hope the first thing you can 01:24:34.689 --> 01:24:37.210 do to help somebody is give them hope uh and 01:24:37.210 --> 01:24:40.569 that has a dramatic effect on you know somebody's 01:24:40.569 --> 01:24:43.170 outlook and somebody's receptiveness to change 01:24:43.170 --> 01:24:46.050 where especially they were feeling in a spot 01:24:46.050 --> 01:24:49.359 where they didn't have that before so you know, 01:24:49.359 --> 01:24:51.199 from us, the greatest thing we can do is provide 01:24:51.199 --> 01:24:53.739 that. And then we have a lot of healing medications, 01:24:54.039 --> 01:24:55.520 peptides, things like that. Like I said, with 01:24:55.520 --> 01:24:59.260 the cognitive ability of dihexa, BPC -157, you 01:24:59.260 --> 01:25:01.539 know, that's going to help with, you know, damaged 01:25:01.539 --> 01:25:03.779 tissues and, you know, ligaments, tendons, that 01:25:03.779 --> 01:25:06.140 kind of thing. You know, you combine a couple 01:25:06.140 --> 01:25:08.079 of those things together with testosterone and 01:25:08.079 --> 01:25:11.960 you've really made a significant impact on somebody's 01:25:11.960 --> 01:25:15.170 life and quality of life. And now you are turning 01:25:15.170 --> 01:25:18.069 that patient over to one of your partner charities 01:25:18.069 --> 01:25:20.649 that's going to go ahead and do the MDR or do 01:25:20.649 --> 01:25:23.449 the psychedelic type of, you know, treatments 01:25:23.449 --> 01:25:28.109 for mental health. And it works. It actually 01:25:28.109 --> 01:25:31.989 works. So, you know, that's how we've been able 01:25:31.989 --> 01:25:34.789 to, you know, kind of approach things. We're 01:25:34.789 --> 01:25:36.689 kind of the start, the triage, so to speak, in 01:25:36.689 --> 01:25:39.689 the ER. And then we're handing it off to, you 01:25:39.689 --> 01:25:41.609 know, wherever from that point they would need 01:25:41.609 --> 01:25:44.579 the most help. Beautiful. I mean, it makes sense. 01:25:44.619 --> 01:25:46.220 You know, it's not just psychology, it's physiology 01:25:46.220 --> 01:25:48.420 as well. And if your hormones are completely 01:25:48.420 --> 01:25:50.359 crashed, then if you're not addressing that, 01:25:50.420 --> 01:25:52.739 it doesn't matter how much meditation you do, 01:25:52.840 --> 01:25:54.840 you're not going to be able to change your physiology. 01:25:55.899 --> 01:25:58.359 Yeah, you're too tired to meditate. And, you 01:25:58.359 --> 01:26:00.000 know, at the end of the day, if you don't have 01:26:00.000 --> 01:26:01.979 that hope, if you don't have that physical energy, 01:26:02.279 --> 01:26:06.199 you don't feel like you can make a change. It's 01:26:06.199 --> 01:26:09.460 hard to mentally work through that. But I mean, 01:26:09.500 --> 01:26:10.800 when you talk about testosterone, you're improving 01:26:10.800 --> 01:26:12.880 your sleep. you know, you're improving their 01:26:12.880 --> 01:26:15.619 energy, libido. So just for those things alone, 01:26:15.899 --> 01:26:18.300 you know, and hoping to regulate some of the 01:26:18.300 --> 01:26:20.180 mood swings, all of that right there, that can 01:26:20.180 --> 01:26:22.460 impact not only that person's quality of life, 01:26:22.520 --> 01:26:25.399 but, you know, married families, the whole family 01:26:25.399 --> 01:26:27.659 dynamic, you know, you've just improved everyone's 01:26:27.659 --> 01:26:30.260 quality of life by helping that person, you know, 01:26:30.260 --> 01:26:32.199 improve their quality of life. You know, and 01:26:32.199 --> 01:26:34.319 then if you add, like I said, some of the things 01:26:34.319 --> 01:26:35.979 that heal some of the injuries physically, you 01:26:35.979 --> 01:26:37.359 know, where they didn't think maybe they would 01:26:37.359 --> 01:26:39.119 be able to before, because these are medications 01:26:39.119 --> 01:26:42.449 that are not being used for the VA. or even traditional 01:26:42.449 --> 01:26:45.770 medicine. And they're helping, you know, inflammation 01:26:45.770 --> 01:26:49.029 is going down, pain is going away, mobility is 01:26:49.029 --> 01:26:52.329 coming back, tissues are being repaired, cognitive 01:26:52.329 --> 01:26:54.850 functionality is being restored, you know, sleep 01:26:54.850 --> 01:26:59.090 cycles are resetting. You know, that's about 01:26:59.090 --> 01:27:02.050 as good as you can get, at least within our capabilities. 01:27:02.069 --> 01:27:05.289 And then adding in the mental health stability 01:27:05.289 --> 01:27:07.109 piece of that and getting them to the right, 01:27:07.109 --> 01:27:10.510 you know, team afterwards. you know, obviously 01:27:10.510 --> 01:27:12.710 continue on treatments that they're in, you know, 01:27:12.710 --> 01:27:16.069 it's, I, I believe that's the only way to go. 01:27:16.289 --> 01:27:17.890 Yeah. No, well, like you said, I think hope is 01:27:17.890 --> 01:27:20.390 the exact word, you know, you're addressing all 01:27:20.390 --> 01:27:22.710 the things at the same time. It was a family's 01:27:22.710 --> 01:27:24.289 hope too. Well, exactly. Yeah. Because they're 01:27:24.289 --> 01:27:28.590 the ones that deal with us. Yeah. And that's 01:27:28.590 --> 01:27:30.949 a good term too. They do deal with us. So I want 01:27:30.949 --> 01:27:32.470 to be mindful of your time. I just want to throw 01:27:32.470 --> 01:27:35.029 some quick closing questions at you. The first 01:27:35.029 --> 01:27:38.250 one is, is there a book or other books that you 01:27:38.250 --> 01:27:40.869 love to recommend? It can be related to our discussion 01:27:40.869 --> 01:27:44.210 today or completely unrelated. There's so many 01:27:44.210 --> 01:27:49.029 out there. Honestly, I wish I had just one that 01:27:49.029 --> 01:27:53.529 I could, but not at this point. Yeah, no problem. 01:27:53.590 --> 01:27:57.329 What about films and documentaries? So it's a 01:27:57.329 --> 01:28:02.449 documentary, and it's one that kind of hit home 01:28:02.449 --> 01:28:07.979 for me. Restrepo, you know, talks about, you 01:28:07.979 --> 01:28:11.119 know, an actual army medic, you know, attached 01:28:11.119 --> 01:28:14.359 to an infantry company, and, you know, their 01:28:14.359 --> 01:28:17.119 time through, you know, an Afghanistan deployment, 01:28:17.359 --> 01:28:20.739 and, you know, he's killed in the, you know, 01:28:20.739 --> 01:28:24.220 in that deployment. But you can see the brotherhood, 01:28:24.260 --> 01:28:27.060 you can see the camaraderie, you understand and 01:28:27.060 --> 01:28:28.720 see what people are going through, but the mental 01:28:28.720 --> 01:28:31.439 anguish that the soldiers go through at that 01:28:31.439 --> 01:28:36.369 point in time, exactly, it really gets you front 01:28:36.369 --> 01:28:38.869 and center to what they experience and what they 01:28:38.869 --> 01:28:40.810 come home with and what that weight looks like. 01:28:41.930 --> 01:28:45.369 So that would be one I would recommend that you 01:28:45.369 --> 01:28:49.970 watch and understanding there will be a heavy 01:28:49.970 --> 01:28:52.810 impact. Sebastian Jung has been on here, I think 01:28:52.810 --> 01:28:54.890 it's three times now. He's coming back on in 01:28:54.890 --> 01:28:56.989 a couple of months. But speaking of books, have 01:28:56.989 --> 01:29:01.439 you read Tribe that he wrote? I have it on my 01:29:01.439 --> 01:29:03.720 read list. You got to read it. Absolutely got 01:29:03.720 --> 01:29:08.420 to read it. Yeah. No, it's on my read list. Yeah. 01:29:08.439 --> 01:29:11.460 I mean, you take that, the observation from Restrepo. 01:29:12.140 --> 01:29:15.319 But then you add in, he goes into kind of tribalism 01:29:15.319 --> 01:29:17.300 in a positive way in some of the stories from 01:29:17.300 --> 01:29:19.960 the Native American communities. But then, you 01:29:19.960 --> 01:29:22.199 know, you've got that cohesion during combat. 01:29:22.279 --> 01:29:24.659 And then when it's the loss of tribe, when people 01:29:24.659 --> 01:29:26.680 are going to go home, that's when they see a 01:29:26.680 --> 01:29:28.340 lot of the unraveling. So it's a really interesting 01:29:28.340 --> 01:29:30.680 perspective, not only for the military, but first 01:29:30.680 --> 01:29:34.180 responders too. Yeah. Brendan, you know, when 01:29:34.180 --> 01:29:36.439 we were talking about this, you know, I say mesh 01:29:36.439 --> 01:29:38.319 network, but the first thing he said was tribe, 01:29:38.479 --> 01:29:43.600 you know, we're rebuilding a tribe. So a different 01:29:43.600 --> 01:29:46.079 approach to the term, but, you know, definitely 01:29:46.079 --> 01:29:48.500 the same kind of mentality where, you know, we 01:29:48.500 --> 01:29:50.840 have to band together to get to the same kind 01:29:50.840 --> 01:29:54.800 of result. Well, the next question, is there 01:29:54.800 --> 01:29:56.819 a person that you'd recommend to come on this 01:29:56.819 --> 01:29:59.840 podcast as a guest to speak to the first responders, 01:29:59.840 --> 01:30:02.079 military and associated professions of the world? 01:30:05.060 --> 01:30:08.279 I have met so many people in the last two years. 01:30:08.479 --> 01:30:14.619 Yeah, absolutely. Robert Wilkins. Rob is just 01:30:14.619 --> 01:30:19.720 a man among men. And I mean that in the most 01:30:19.720 --> 01:30:24.960 heartfelt way I can possibly put. He is empathetic, 01:30:24.979 --> 01:30:28.760 compassionate, intelligent, and he's worked in 01:30:28.760 --> 01:30:30.659 multiple administrations on the President's Council 01:30:30.659 --> 01:30:34.680 for Nutrition and Fitness to better the lives 01:30:34.680 --> 01:30:40.920 of soldiers, airmen, Marines. any way he can 01:30:40.920 --> 01:30:42.760 you know they look at everything from what the 01:30:42.760 --> 01:30:44.680 military is doing to you know how they're feeding 01:30:44.680 --> 01:30:47.460 them you name it um but he's a big proponent 01:30:47.460 --> 01:30:50.220 of things that we could do better uh i think 01:30:50.220 --> 01:30:52.520 he would be an amazing addition to the people 01:30:52.520 --> 01:30:54.520 you've interviewed beautiful yeah brendan actually 01:30:54.520 --> 01:30:57.380 suggested him before and with the military side 01:30:57.380 --> 01:31:00.439 and like you said the um the wellness side combined 01:31:00.439 --> 01:31:02.300 i think it would be an amazing conversation so 01:31:02.300 --> 01:31:04.300 if you guys are able to help we'll definitely 01:31:04.300 --> 01:31:08.039 make that happen We absolutely will. He's, you 01:31:08.039 --> 01:31:10.500 know, on the board of directors for our foundation. 01:31:10.699 --> 01:31:13.020 So I'll be reaching out to him today. Beautiful. 01:31:13.079 --> 01:31:15.359 Thank you. All right. Well, then the last question 01:31:15.359 --> 01:31:17.819 before everyone knows where to find Transcend 01:31:17.819 --> 01:31:20.520 and yourself online, what do you do to decompress? 01:31:22.680 --> 01:31:25.800 I spend time with my kids and my wife. I do. 01:31:26.199 --> 01:31:29.659 I like to ride four wheelers around our property 01:31:29.659 --> 01:31:32.340 and just see my eight year old son, you know. 01:31:32.800 --> 01:31:36.699 try to figure it all out and just be there. I 01:31:36.699 --> 01:31:39.739 like to play video games, stupid as that sounds, 01:31:39.779 --> 01:31:42.479 play guitar, you know, just the things that, 01:31:42.479 --> 01:31:43.880 you know, I did when we were younger that just 01:31:43.880 --> 01:31:46.460 helped me take my mind off of things. But the 01:31:46.460 --> 01:31:49.819 most important thing is just taking that 10 second 01:31:49.819 --> 01:31:51.920 pause in the day when it's nice and quiet in 01:31:51.920 --> 01:31:54.779 the morning before the day starts, you know, 01:31:54.779 --> 01:31:57.039 and I just kind of sit out and grab my coffee 01:31:57.039 --> 01:32:00.039 and take that breath. And I'm blessed to have 01:32:00.039 --> 01:32:02.680 some property to look at that. you know it's 01:32:02.680 --> 01:32:06.000 calming and you know i do that every day total 01:32:06.000 --> 01:32:10.199 tangent right before we close out as a parent 01:32:10.199 --> 01:32:13.119 now you lost a brother when you were a very small 01:32:13.119 --> 01:32:17.000 child how did that influence your parenting and 01:32:17.000 --> 01:32:21.239 how are you able to to not put steel apron strings 01:32:21.239 --> 01:32:23.319 on your own children because of the fear of the 01:32:23.319 --> 01:32:26.479 tragedy you experienced as a child honestly i 01:32:26.479 --> 01:32:29.359 probably put steel strings on to a certain extent 01:32:29.359 --> 01:32:33.159 to the As much as my wife would let me. Because, 01:32:33.239 --> 01:32:35.399 you know, she has a different upbringing and, 01:32:35.420 --> 01:32:39.199 you know, has a much softer touch. And, you know, 01:32:39.199 --> 01:32:42.239 thank God for that. If it wasn't for her soft 01:32:42.239 --> 01:32:43.859 touch with me, I don't know that I would have 01:32:43.859 --> 01:32:46.100 ever, you know, been able to be where I am today. 01:32:46.180 --> 01:32:50.399 In fact, I know I wouldn't. But, you know, as 01:32:50.399 --> 01:32:52.680 time's gone on and I've had a little bit of time 01:32:52.680 --> 01:32:56.300 to be a dad, you know, I've also realized that 01:32:56.300 --> 01:32:58.359 the world. you know, is always going to be a 01:32:58.359 --> 01:33:00.699 dangerous place. And there's only so much you 01:33:00.699 --> 01:33:03.159 can do to protect your kids. But the best thing 01:33:03.159 --> 01:33:05.180 you can do to protect your kids is sometimes 01:33:05.180 --> 01:33:06.600 you got to let them fail. You got to let them 01:33:06.600 --> 01:33:08.840 fall. You got to let them play. You got to let 01:33:08.840 --> 01:33:11.380 them do those things to learn the lessons, you 01:33:11.380 --> 01:33:14.260 know, to be safe. So, you know, I've kind of 01:33:14.260 --> 01:33:16.380 had to try to balance those things out, you know, 01:33:16.380 --> 01:33:20.130 that build them up. yeah it's a hard thing a 01:33:20.130 --> 01:33:22.050 lot of people listening to this you know we see 01:33:22.050 --> 01:33:25.130 that at work you know we see the the horrific 01:33:25.130 --> 01:33:28.229 accidents and you know it it does kind of play 01:33:28.229 --> 01:33:30.029 into your mind when you're with your own child 01:33:30.029 --> 01:33:32.489 and it is that kind of tug of war between being 01:33:32.489 --> 01:33:34.810 responsible and educating them on risks and everything 01:33:34.810 --> 01:33:37.170 but also as you said allowing them to be their 01:33:37.170 --> 01:33:39.350 own child and not this puppet that you're taking 01:33:39.350 --> 01:33:42.890 through 18 years of their life yeah absolutely 01:33:42.890 --> 01:33:46.510 um you know like i said i try to involve them 01:33:46.510 --> 01:33:49.909 so Being able to spend time with them is great, 01:33:50.010 --> 01:33:52.510 but they can't be there all the time, so they 01:33:52.510 --> 01:33:54.670 have to be able to figure it out for themselves. 01:33:55.649 --> 01:33:58.250 Absolutely. Well, I'm sure people are really 01:33:58.250 --> 01:34:00.670 wanting to learn a lot more about Transcend. 01:34:00.770 --> 01:34:04.550 Obviously, access it, maybe do an initial interview 01:34:04.550 --> 01:34:07.130 themselves, see what's available for them, what 01:34:07.130 --> 01:34:09.149 might be a good fit. Firstly, where are the best 01:34:09.149 --> 01:34:12.770 places to find Transcend online? One of the easiest 01:34:12.770 --> 01:34:14.850 places to go is to our Instagram account, and 01:34:14.850 --> 01:34:18.859 that's at TranscendHRT. You'll find us, Big Blue 01:34:18.859 --> 01:34:20.920 T is the envelope that you'll see right there. 01:34:21.020 --> 01:34:23.939 There's a link to the intake document. The intake 01:34:23.939 --> 01:34:26.720 form only takes about 15 to 20 seconds to fill 01:34:26.720 --> 01:34:29.899 out. And usually the same day, sometimes within 01:34:29.899 --> 01:34:31.760 10 minutes, but definitely within the same day, 01:34:31.920 --> 01:34:33.920 you'll have one of our wellness specialists, 01:34:34.119 --> 01:34:35.640 which is our patient advocate, and they're going 01:34:35.640 --> 01:34:38.119 to contact you back. If you don't have social 01:34:38.119 --> 01:34:41.439 media, you can find us at, you know, transcendcompany 01:34:41.439 --> 01:34:44.359 .com. And, you know, that's the same thing, very 01:34:44.359 --> 01:34:45.819 easy. You're going to find the link right on 01:34:45.819 --> 01:34:49.000 the webpage. And we're right there. You can look 01:34:49.000 --> 01:34:50.840 us up as well. And if you just want to talk to 01:34:50.840 --> 01:34:52.859 a human being, you can call the main line, tell 01:34:52.859 --> 01:34:54.659 them you're interested, and they'll transfer 01:34:54.659 --> 01:34:56.000 you over to a wellness specialist and they'll 01:34:56.000 --> 01:34:58.720 fill everything with you on the phone. So whatever 01:34:58.720 --> 01:35:01.159 is most convenient and easiest for you, we're 01:35:01.159 --> 01:35:03.239 easy to find. Beautiful. And then what about 01:35:03.239 --> 01:35:05.720 yourself individually? Any places on social media? 01:35:06.779 --> 01:35:11.479 I'm on Instagram. That's just EW Calling. That's, 01:35:11.479 --> 01:35:14.109 you know, first. First middle initial and last 01:35:14.109 --> 01:35:16.789 name. I wasn't that creative, you know, but if 01:35:16.789 --> 01:35:18.369 you want to follow it, you know, I'll be blessed 01:35:18.369 --> 01:35:20.829 to have you. Beautiful. Well, Ernie, I want to 01:35:20.829 --> 01:35:24.010 say thank you so, so much. I mean, the conversation, 01:35:24.210 --> 01:35:26.090 the vulnerability, and we talked before we hit 01:35:26.090 --> 01:35:29.010 record. This is something that people, especially 01:35:29.010 --> 01:35:31.289 men, need to hear. I mean, I've had so many people 01:35:31.289 --> 01:35:33.770 that have been courageous in their service, whether 01:35:33.770 --> 01:35:36.750 it's first responders, military or other professions, 01:35:36.890 --> 01:35:40.279 but have been so courageously. uh vulnerable 01:35:40.279 --> 01:35:42.920 as well and talking about you know the struggles 01:35:42.920 --> 01:35:44.899 and and some of the things that happened when 01:35:44.899 --> 01:35:46.880 they were younger for example i think it's important 01:35:46.880 --> 01:35:50.640 but then what you've done with transcend bringing 01:35:50.640 --> 01:35:55.960 these products um in a way that you know they're 01:35:55.960 --> 01:35:57.939 trustworthy and people can be educated and as 01:35:57.939 --> 01:36:00.039 you said be told okay these are the pros these 01:36:00.039 --> 01:36:02.340 are the cons you know and and allow people to 01:36:02.340 --> 01:36:05.100 make an educated decision with a veteran -owned 01:36:05.100 --> 01:36:08.159 company that I can put my hand on my heart and 01:36:08.159 --> 01:36:10.739 say is an altruistic social business as well. 01:36:11.239 --> 01:36:13.159 It's been an honor talking to you today. So thank 01:36:13.159 --> 01:36:15.659 you so much for coming on the show. Thank you, 01:36:15.680 --> 01:36:17.319 James. It was an absolute pleasure. I appreciate 01:36:17.319 --> 01:36:17.579 it.