WEBVTT 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:08.980 All across America and around the world, this 00:00:08.980 --> 00:00:15.140 is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. Good 00:00:15.140 --> 00:00:18.600 day. I'm Jim Fossone. I'm the Officer of the 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:20.699 Deck today here on Veterans Radio and thanks 00:00:20.699 --> 00:00:23.460 for joining us. We've got some interesting stories 00:00:23.460 --> 00:00:25.640 for you. We always want to remind you, you can 00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:28.739 find more about Veterans Radio at its Facebook 00:00:28.739 --> 00:00:32.420 site or at the web, veteransradio .org, where 00:00:32.420 --> 00:00:35.259 we're on the web 24 -7. You can find a lot of 00:00:35.259 --> 00:00:38.299 our podcasts there as well. We post new ones 00:00:38.299 --> 00:00:42.479 every Tuesday, so you can get a new story, a 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:45.219 new interview, something you didn't know before 00:00:45.219 --> 00:00:49.219 by going to veteransradio .org. And before we 00:00:49.219 --> 00:00:52.259 get started, we want to thank our sponsors. First 00:00:52.259 --> 00:00:55.259 up, we want to thank National Veteran Business 00:00:55.259 --> 00:01:01.039 Development Council, nvbdc .org. It was established 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:04.379 to certify both service disabled and veteran 00:01:04.379 --> 00:01:06.659 owned businesses. You'll find out how they can 00:01:06.659 --> 00:01:12.319 help your business by going to nvbdc .org. We 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:15.840 want to thank Legal Help for Veterans. Legal 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:18.939 Help for Veterans fights for veterans disability 00:01:18.939 --> 00:01:22.040 rights all across the nation. You can reach them 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:30.500 at 800 -693 -4800 or on the web at legalhelpforveterans 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:36.180 .com. And finally, PuroClean. PuroClean is the 00:01:36.180 --> 00:01:38.760 paramedics of property damage. It provides water 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:42.019 damage remediation, flood water removal, fire 00:01:42.019 --> 00:01:45.840 and smoke damage remediation, mold removal, biohazard 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:50.900 cleanup. It also has a focus on veteran franchisees. 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:54.359 You can learn more about them by going to PuroClean 00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:59.299 .com. We want to welcome into Veterans Radio 00:01:59.299 --> 00:02:04.260 today, Marine T .J. Johnson. T .J., welcome to 00:02:04.260 --> 00:02:06.680 Veterans Radio. Yes, sir. Well, thank you for 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:09.340 having me. Well, we're glad to talk to a Marine. 00:02:09.879 --> 00:02:13.900 You went in in 1998. You medically, well, you 00:02:13.900 --> 00:02:17.639 got out in 2002. They ultimately gave you a medical. 00:02:19.060 --> 00:02:21.560 But you went into the Marines right after high 00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:24.319 school. What was your thinking at that point? 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:28.900 Oh, um, well, my, uh, my family raised a beef 00:02:28.900 --> 00:02:31.479 master cattle and orange groves and my father 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:33.240 was tougher than the Marine Corps. So I figured 00:02:33.240 --> 00:02:35.479 I'd get an easy out if I just joined the Marines. 00:02:36.139 --> 00:02:39.039 Um, plus the ladies liked the outfit. So it was 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:42.199 kind of a no brainer. Uh, but, uh, no, it, you 00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:43.960 know, like a lot of us did to join the military, 00:02:44.180 --> 00:02:46.240 I think in sharing stories that I served with, 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:49.090 you know, we all came from rural America. of 00:02:49.090 --> 00:02:52.250 us and, you know, some college options, you know, 00:02:52.330 --> 00:02:54.310 weren't really for us. And, you know, we wanted 00:02:54.310 --> 00:02:55.889 to serve our country. I think, you know, I always 00:02:55.889 --> 00:02:57.710 kind of joke. I think I became a better Marine 00:02:57.710 --> 00:03:00.229 when I got out than when I was in because as 00:03:00.229 --> 00:03:01.770 you get older, you start to appreciate things 00:03:01.770 --> 00:03:03.009 and look at things a little bit differently. 00:03:03.550 --> 00:03:04.990 But I definitely wanted to serve my country. 00:03:05.110 --> 00:03:06.569 I definitely wanted to be a part of the best. 00:03:07.229 --> 00:03:09.289 I wanted to earn it. That was a big part of it. 00:03:09.449 --> 00:03:11.909 And I want to go off and accomplish great things. 00:03:11.930 --> 00:03:13.930 And I felt that the Marine Corps would allow 00:03:13.930 --> 00:03:17.310 me to do that. Well, amen to that. It's one of 00:03:17.310 --> 00:03:22.310 those things that we owe the country. And I think 00:03:22.310 --> 00:03:25.270 as we get older, we realize what we didn't realize 00:03:25.270 --> 00:03:27.669 when we were in our youth that, hmm, this was 00:03:27.669 --> 00:03:32.669 a higher calling than I realized. So we recognize 00:03:32.669 --> 00:03:35.270 that as we get older, I suppose. But you sort 00:03:35.270 --> 00:03:39.689 of had a twist and turn in your career in the 00:03:39.689 --> 00:03:47.210 Marines and that. Uh, you, you suffered a significant 00:03:47.210 --> 00:03:50.990 motorcycle accident that really kind of began 00:03:50.990 --> 00:03:54.469 changing your life, right? Yes, sir. Yeah. I, 00:03:54.469 --> 00:03:57.250 I, I went in, um, you know, Marine Corps was 00:03:57.250 --> 00:03:58.770 probably my whole life. I think at the time, 00:03:59.090 --> 00:04:00.770 you know, if they would have given 20 year contracts 00:04:00.770 --> 00:04:02.270 are pretty, you know, probably would have signed 00:04:02.270 --> 00:04:04.389 it. Um, I was really dedicated to being a Marine. 00:04:04.509 --> 00:04:07.050 I was, I graduated, uh, honor grad. I was top 00:04:07.050 --> 00:04:08.930 of my class. I was meritorious and promoted three 00:04:08.930 --> 00:04:11.370 times by the time I got to the fleet. You know, 00:04:11.370 --> 00:04:14.300 um, I was, I was. doing really well. I served 00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:16.959 with 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines as an infantryman, 00:04:17.259 --> 00:04:18.819 was with them for about a year and a half and 00:04:18.819 --> 00:04:21.259 29 palms, and then had the opportunity to switch 00:04:21.259 --> 00:04:23.579 over to 1st Reconnaissance Battalion at Camp 00:04:23.579 --> 00:04:26.899 Margarita and Camp Pendleton. And it was great. 00:04:27.060 --> 00:04:29.180 You know, as I joined, it was a part of recon 00:04:29.180 --> 00:04:31.120 at the time. They were pretty underfunded and 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:33.139 attached to headquarters battalion and they were 00:04:33.139 --> 00:04:35.839 doing kind of an OJT program versus the traditional 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:40.339 ARS ARS or BRC programs for for the recon bubbles. 00:04:40.819 --> 00:04:43.040 And so we were training with the operators that 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:44.680 were already there. It was a very small unit. 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:46.959 They were starting to try to rebuild and put 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:49.540 it together. And I had had a good a couple of 00:04:49.540 --> 00:04:52.720 good friends of mine that were Stapleton. We're 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:54.959 going to be Stapleton snipers from three, four 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:57.100 or so. Pendleton had sniper school there. So 00:04:57.100 --> 00:05:01.420 they just finished up the school and there were 00:05:01.420 --> 00:05:03.879 guys I'd served with at three forward. And I 00:05:03.879 --> 00:05:06.980 just wrapped up pre scuba for combat dive that 00:05:06.980 --> 00:05:09.360 the operators were prepping for. And we finally 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:12.199 had a little bit of Liberty. And it's funny as 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:13.759 I've talked about this over the years and shared 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:16.540 this on the stages as a speaker and went through 00:05:16.540 --> 00:05:19.240 this, it always is the word accident, but really 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:22.139 it was attempted murder. They were targeting, 00:05:22.439 --> 00:05:24.459 the gang specifically was targeting you know, 00:05:24.579 --> 00:05:26.100 members of the military for gang initiation. 00:05:26.620 --> 00:05:28.420 And I happened to be one of those targets coming 00:05:28.420 --> 00:05:30.519 off the back of the base. And of course, they, 00:05:30.519 --> 00:05:32.120 you know, they caught me with a car when I was 00:05:32.120 --> 00:05:33.500 on a motorcycle and I caught the corner of a 00:05:33.500 --> 00:05:36.120 brick house at about 35, 40 miles an hour where 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:39.379 it broke all the bones of my upper body. All 00:05:39.379 --> 00:05:41.459 my ribs had punctured and lacerated all my major 00:05:41.459 --> 00:05:45.819 organs and my left bicep was sliced open and 00:05:45.819 --> 00:05:48.610 they got out and you know, kick me and beat me 00:05:48.610 --> 00:05:50.329 and rob me. The point was to kill me. I thought 00:05:50.329 --> 00:05:52.769 I was dead. Of course, because of the gang in 00:05:52.769 --> 00:05:54.629 the area, nobody would help. So I ended up having 00:05:54.629 --> 00:05:57.230 to walk two blocks to a fire station while I 00:05:57.230 --> 00:05:59.550 was drowning in my own fluid, taking about two 00:05:59.550 --> 00:06:02.410 full breaths or a full breath every two minutes. 00:06:02.910 --> 00:06:04.649 And, you know, by the time I got there, they're, 00:06:04.649 --> 00:06:06.649 you know, they had they flighted me and intubated 00:06:06.649 --> 00:06:09.509 me. And I had flatlined about three times, spent 00:06:09.509 --> 00:06:11.209 probably six to eight months in the hospital 00:06:11.209 --> 00:06:14.050 to learn how to walk, talk, breathe again. And 00:06:14.050 --> 00:06:16.889 maybe about a year and a half later, let's say 00:06:17.019 --> 00:06:19.160 Maybe about a year later, I was back operational. 00:06:20.339 --> 00:06:22.839 And then, of course, 9 -11 happened. So my unit 00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:25.660 was deploying, heading out, preparing to head 00:06:25.660 --> 00:06:27.839 to Hawaii and then head over to Afghanistan. 00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:32.740 And yeah, and that was my turn of events and 00:06:32.740 --> 00:06:35.740 experience during that time. And then I got out 00:06:35.740 --> 00:06:40.620 and moved on. Well, it's almost 23 years later 00:06:40.620 --> 00:06:43.180 kind of thing. And that's the beauty of time 00:06:43.180 --> 00:06:46.189 is so much more goes on in life. other than just 00:06:46.189 --> 00:06:48.910 our service experiences, but their service experiences 00:06:48.910 --> 00:06:51.009 are foundational, and we're gonna kinda come 00:06:51.009 --> 00:06:55.129 back to that because T .J. Johnson's not only 00:06:55.129 --> 00:06:58.430 a Marine, which we've been talking about, he's 00:06:58.430 --> 00:07:00.709 a business owner, which we wanna talk about, 00:07:00.769 --> 00:07:02.910 but he's also been a motivational speaker, a 00:07:02.910 --> 00:07:06.430 best -selling author, a life coach, so he's taken 00:07:06.430 --> 00:07:09.610 his experiences over time and really developed 00:07:09.610 --> 00:07:13.430 those skills to bring them to other folks, but 00:07:13.430 --> 00:07:18.019 we really, Along the way, you kind of went from 00:07:18.019 --> 00:07:22.759 this near -death experience, you have done some 00:07:22.759 --> 00:07:27.019 physical feats that make the resume, walking 00:07:27.019 --> 00:07:32.339 across the country, incredible number of sit 00:07:32.339 --> 00:07:35.259 -ups, I think, or push -ups, actually, I can't 00:07:35.259 --> 00:07:40.699 find my notes. What's the motivator for, like, 00:07:40.699 --> 00:07:44.759 I gotta push myself to my physical limits? Uh, 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:48.009 that's survivors guilt. So, um, you know, it 00:07:48.009 --> 00:07:50.310 took me a long time and it's still a process 00:07:50.310 --> 00:07:52.089 of working through therapy and truly kind of 00:07:52.089 --> 00:07:54.569 understanding why I do certain things. I think 00:07:54.569 --> 00:07:56.370 the best way to explain it is, is the general 00:07:56.370 --> 00:07:58.529 public sees that when someone goes through severe 00:07:58.529 --> 00:08:01.410 PTSD or a veteran for that matter, um, a lot 00:08:01.410 --> 00:08:03.230 of times as they coin, they go into drug and 00:08:03.230 --> 00:08:05.410 alcohol, um, you know, and they go down kind 00:08:05.410 --> 00:08:07.550 of a spiral and obviously the thoughts of suicide 00:08:07.550 --> 00:08:10.230 kind of start to come in. Um, for me, you know, 00:08:10.230 --> 00:08:11.870 to be given a second chance at life, there's 00:08:11.870 --> 00:08:14.930 a lot of whys, right? So why me, you know, why 00:08:14.930 --> 00:08:17.129 now? What's the reason? And I had to dig into 00:08:17.129 --> 00:08:19.029 that for a long time. And there's a lot of different 00:08:19.029 --> 00:08:20.910 emotions that kind of play into that, right? 00:08:20.930 --> 00:08:23.930 You know, anger, frustration, confusion, sadness, 00:08:24.410 --> 00:08:27.529 and trying to determine like, you know, what 00:08:27.529 --> 00:08:30.069 makes me so valuable that out of all of the amazing 00:08:30.069 --> 00:08:32.029 people that I served with that didn't come back 00:08:32.029 --> 00:08:34.090 or all the people that, you know, children and... 00:08:34.029 --> 00:08:36.210 families that pass away that don't have that 00:08:36.210 --> 00:08:37.769 second chance at life that would give anything 00:08:37.769 --> 00:08:39.629 to have that second chance at life. Why was I 00:08:39.629 --> 00:08:43.370 coined to that person? And it's a constant evolving 00:08:43.370 --> 00:08:45.610 understanding of something probably I will never 00:08:45.610 --> 00:08:47.529 truly understand because my brain is just too 00:08:47.529 --> 00:08:49.870 small to try to comprehend it. But ultimately 00:08:49.870 --> 00:08:53.090 it comes back to being of service for someone 00:08:53.090 --> 00:08:55.029 who gets the blessing to have a second chance 00:08:55.029 --> 00:08:57.690 at life. I feel that I must serve and pay back 00:08:57.690 --> 00:09:00.389 my debt or continue to pay that. I guess maybe 00:09:00.389 --> 00:09:03.929 more lease on life in order to do the right thing, 00:09:03.929 --> 00:09:06.029 because I would hate to get to the end. You know, 00:09:06.049 --> 00:09:08.350 walk up to the pearly gates and you know, say 00:09:08.350 --> 00:09:10.070 they will give you a second chance at life. What 00:09:10.070 --> 00:09:12.210 did you do with it? And I said, well, I squander 00:09:12.210 --> 00:09:15.110 it. I drank. I did drugs. I, you know, didn't 00:09:15.110 --> 00:09:17.789 give back to my community. And I think I would 00:09:17.789 --> 00:09:19.919 just. that would be way too heavy on me. So, 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:22.519 you know, more importantly, it's about how can 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:24.600 I push myself to limits? Because I know the max 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:26.639 limit, right? I know what it's like to walk to 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:28.799 the other side. So I do know that, you know, 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:30.740 what kind of pain you feel is never going to 00:09:30.740 --> 00:09:32.580 be that pain up until that point. You know how 00:09:32.580 --> 00:09:34.919 to pull back. So all the things that I've done 00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:37.299 or continue to do, even though it was tremendous 00:09:37.299 --> 00:09:39.639 amount of pain for me. And again, it is my version 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:42.620 of trying to overcome certain things and sometimes 00:09:42.620 --> 00:09:44.889 not always doing well with it. It's my version 00:09:44.889 --> 00:09:46.669 of that drug or alcohol addiction. It's a way 00:09:46.669 --> 00:09:49.330 to try to push myself through pain and agony 00:09:49.330 --> 00:09:51.809 to continue that lease on life, to help and serve 00:09:51.809 --> 00:09:54.950 other people, to selfishly put myself in a position 00:09:54.950 --> 00:09:57.789 to be worthy of God's grace. Well, you know, 00:09:57.789 --> 00:09:59.950 I talked to a lot of veterans and that adrenaline 00:09:59.950 --> 00:10:02.149 rush is a little bit of what you're talking about. 00:10:02.250 --> 00:10:05.889 And that's why we're buying fast cars and fast 00:10:05.889 --> 00:10:10.649 motorcycles. We're doing addictive activities 00:10:10.649 --> 00:10:13.909 almost to a level of whether it's physical activities 00:10:13.909 --> 00:10:17.190 like you were doing, or some are, it's drugs 00:10:17.190 --> 00:10:19.809 and alcohol. I mean, there's a lot, you know, 00:10:20.049 --> 00:10:23.070 that's a heavier topic than either you or I can 00:10:23.070 --> 00:10:26.029 really delve into. But I'm gonna bring you back 00:10:26.029 --> 00:10:30.230 to, over these 20 years, you've had highs and 00:10:30.230 --> 00:10:36.490 lows. You were... As I say, a best -selling author, 00:10:37.090 --> 00:10:40.049 you ran a CEO of a prosperous mortgage business 00:10:40.049 --> 00:10:43.629 that collapsed under the economy. That led to 00:10:43.629 --> 00:10:46.509 homelessness, that led to starting over again 00:10:46.509 --> 00:10:51.590 and being resilient. But somewhere along the 00:10:51.590 --> 00:10:55.070 way you got this serial entrepreneur bug. There 00:10:55.070 --> 00:10:58.169 was something in it about starting and running 00:10:58.169 --> 00:11:01.289 businesses. What's your personal philosophy about 00:11:01.289 --> 00:11:05.950 that? I think it's plays along of what you mentioned, 00:11:06.090 --> 00:11:07.970 just chasing a high. I mean, developing a business 00:11:07.970 --> 00:11:10.789 is for one. I think their freedom of being able 00:11:10.789 --> 00:11:12.870 to make your own decisions, getting out underneath 00:11:12.870 --> 00:11:16.490 Big Brother is is a big part of it. The ability 00:11:16.490 --> 00:11:18.169 to be able to have a vision and a dream. I think 00:11:18.169 --> 00:11:21.409 the military plays a great structure in some 00:11:21.409 --> 00:11:23.570 things and there are tools out of that toolbox 00:11:23.570 --> 00:11:25.450 that you can grab and use every once in a while. 00:11:25.450 --> 00:11:30.230 I do not think that a lot of times a great. Entrepreneur 00:11:30.230 --> 00:11:33.009 is a great military person because it's kind 00:11:33.009 --> 00:11:36.429 of a it's the difference between the two, you 00:11:36.429 --> 00:11:38.289 know, you've got structure and discipline and 00:11:38.289 --> 00:11:39.950 you have that in entrepreneurship, but you have 00:11:39.950 --> 00:11:41.669 to have the willingness to kind of go outside 00:11:41.669 --> 00:11:43.629 of the box. And I will say I think maybe it does 00:11:43.629 --> 00:11:45.370 play a little bit along the Marine Corps, you 00:11:45.370 --> 00:11:48.519 know, working a little. You know, making a lot 00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:51.139 out of it and taking risks, you know, on your 00:11:51.139 --> 00:11:53.779 own and going out and trying to take a underfunded 00:11:53.779 --> 00:11:56.539 small unit and accomplish great big things. And 00:11:56.539 --> 00:11:58.419 I kind of feel like in a nutshell, that's what 00:11:58.419 --> 00:12:00.940 entrepreneurship is. But for me, I just enjoyed 00:12:00.940 --> 00:12:03.799 the ability to be able to decide my own fate 00:12:03.799 --> 00:12:06.019 and build my own business. And a very smart man 00:12:06.019 --> 00:12:07.919 once told me a long time ago that someone paying 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:09.919 you a salary is them determining what your worth 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:12.399 is. You paying yours and building your business 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:14.639 is you knowing what your worth is. I think they 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:16.320 just kind of stuck with me at a young age. So 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:18.379 I just kind of continued to do that in building 00:12:18.379 --> 00:12:20.779 businesses. Well I want to talk about the one 00:12:20.779 --> 00:12:22.620 you're involved in now and we're going to come 00:12:22.620 --> 00:12:25.340 back maybe and talk a little bit about if we 00:12:25.340 --> 00:12:28.039 have time on and what advice you'd give to veterans 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:30.320 thinking about going into business. But let's 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:33.940 start with Big Guns Coffee which you started 00:12:33.940 --> 00:12:36.559 kind of launched it with your then six -year 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:40.820 -old daughter Charlie in 2021 just coming kind 00:12:40.820 --> 00:12:44.860 of out of COVID. Tell us about Big Guns Coffee. 00:12:45.710 --> 00:12:48.690 Yeah, well, so for one, it's not my business 00:12:48.690 --> 00:12:50.870 and be very clear is my daughter's business. 00:12:51.830 --> 00:12:53.789 Just in case he's listening to this, I don't 00:12:53.789 --> 00:12:56.570 want to get fired. I am the co founder. I'm the 00:12:56.570 --> 00:12:58.549 one that kind of laid the foundation and support 00:12:58.549 --> 00:13:00.649 and use my coaching experience to help her build 00:13:00.649 --> 00:13:04.149 it. She is truly not a novelty item. She is the 00:13:04.149 --> 00:13:06.830 one that sells and gets the relationships and 00:13:06.830 --> 00:13:09.110 builds the platform. Of course we do it together. 00:13:09.190 --> 00:13:11.750 Obviously, you know, there are some legal things 00:13:11.750 --> 00:13:14.529 that, you know, a 10 year old can't do, but exactly 00:13:14.529 --> 00:13:18.110 they can't. That's right, right, right. So, you 00:13:18.110 --> 00:13:20.250 know, she, we, we are partners in that sense, 00:13:20.250 --> 00:13:22.250 but it was really her idea. And it was a combination 00:13:22.250 --> 00:13:24.350 of all those things that we just briefly, you 00:13:24.350 --> 00:13:26.929 know, kind of skimmed over, you know, at the 00:13:26.929 --> 00:13:29.169 end, after I'd ran across America, you know, 00:13:29.169 --> 00:13:30.769 I'd been homeless. I'd been through all these 00:13:30.769 --> 00:13:32.470 things that done these pushup world records. 00:13:32.889 --> 00:13:34.529 Uh, she actually built the company right after, 00:13:34.590 --> 00:13:36.789 uh, broke, you know, and attempted the two world 00:13:36.789 --> 00:13:39.370 records of most pushups in 12 hours and one hour. 00:13:39.830 --> 00:13:41.629 And, uh, you know, and her comment was, you know, 00:13:41.629 --> 00:13:44.320 I. Dad, you've done all these things. Not everybody 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:46.360 can do what you do, but maybe they can feel like 00:13:46.360 --> 00:13:48.340 it. And I want to build a business like that. 00:13:48.340 --> 00:13:50.299 So that's where she came up with big guns. So 00:13:50.299 --> 00:13:53.980 it's not guns shoot. It's guns muscle. So, um, 00:13:53.980 --> 00:13:55.440 you know, she wanted people to feel empowered 00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:58.299 and feel strong. And, uh, and I just written 00:13:58.299 --> 00:14:00.639 a book called done by 230, where I was really 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:02.779 trying to focus on how to teach people to be 00:14:02.779 --> 00:14:04.980 better CEOs and executives of their homes and 00:14:04.980 --> 00:14:07.279 their business. Um, I didn't like how corporations 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:09.179 spent millions and millions of dollars on how 00:14:09.179 --> 00:14:11.120 to develop relationships with complete strangers. 00:14:11.730 --> 00:14:14.730 yet we just assume and had no real platform to 00:14:14.730 --> 00:14:16.809 do that with our partners or our children. We 00:14:16.809 --> 00:14:18.409 just assume because we have children and there 00:14:18.409 --> 00:14:20.629 are blood that automatically we can communicate. 00:14:21.250 --> 00:14:23.029 And when you work in the homeless community and 00:14:23.029 --> 00:14:25.090 you start to kind of get into the tunnels and 00:14:25.090 --> 00:14:26.929 skid row and you're sleeping in shelters and 00:14:26.929 --> 00:14:29.090 you start to ask the right questions, one of 00:14:29.090 --> 00:14:30.830 the biggest things that you'll see is absentee 00:14:30.830 --> 00:14:34.690 fathers. And I'm just, I realized the success 00:14:34.690 --> 00:14:37.889 rate of fixing out on the end was extremely low. 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:40.460 But the success rate on starting in the beginning 00:14:40.460 --> 00:14:42.279 to hope that never get there was extremely high 00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:44.659 and that was kind of my main objective and I'd 00:14:44.659 --> 00:14:46.519 written that book really focusing on teaching 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:49.179 people about that and then ultimately I came 00:14:49.179 --> 00:14:51.120 downstairs after I just kind of wrapped it up 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:53.139 and my daughter says I want to start a business 00:14:53.139 --> 00:14:55.259 just like any kid would say I want to do dance 00:14:55.259 --> 00:14:57.990 gymnastics. I want to ride a pony. She says, 00:14:57.990 --> 00:14:59.470 I want to do something like that. Dad, I want 00:14:59.470 --> 00:15:01.590 to make an impact. And I said, well, if you do 00:15:01.590 --> 00:15:04.269 this, you have to do it. I can't just go do it 00:15:04.269 --> 00:15:06.409 for you and then put you up in a shiny little 00:15:06.409 --> 00:15:08.129 pedestal and say, you're doing this. You've really 00:15:08.129 --> 00:15:10.669 got to put that work in. And as they say, 30 00:15:10.669 --> 00:15:12.970 minutes later, she developed Big Guns Coffee 00:15:12.970 --> 00:15:14.809 with a coffee cup, a little muscle arms on it. 00:15:15.309 --> 00:15:17.250 And she says, I want people to, coffee is the 00:15:17.250 --> 00:15:19.049 first part of people's day and it makes them 00:15:19.049 --> 00:15:20.669 feel great. And I want them to feel that same 00:15:20.669 --> 00:15:22.830 way. And that's how Big Guns Coffee started. 00:15:23.419 --> 00:15:27.059 Do I hear a little bit of your hard, uh, as nails 00:15:27.059 --> 00:15:29.820 father, uh, advice trickling through to your 00:15:29.820 --> 00:15:31.500 daughter when you say, if you're going to start 00:15:31.500 --> 00:15:34.740 something, you got to follow it through. Well, 00:15:34.740 --> 00:15:36.820 absolutely. I think that's, that's probably more 00:15:36.820 --> 00:15:39.879 love than it is hard as nails. It is, but I bet 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:41.500 when you were a kid, you thought it was just 00:15:41.500 --> 00:15:44.600 hard as nails stuff. Yeah. Well, my dad never 00:15:44.600 --> 00:15:47.960 started a business with me. So I was, he just 00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:49.879 made me swallow my teeth if I said anything out 00:15:49.879 --> 00:15:55.139 back. So, um, you know, look, Having a daughter 00:15:55.139 --> 00:15:59.340 is different than having a boy and Having a daughter 00:15:59.340 --> 00:16:02.220 you become you know again. I can't speak for 00:16:02.220 --> 00:16:05.100 everyone else I just speak for myself for me 00:16:05.100 --> 00:16:07.960 it is it is the most amount of love I've ever 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:10.500 experienced in my life. I have never had the 00:16:10.500 --> 00:16:13.019 feeling of love like I have for my daughter She's 00:16:13.019 --> 00:16:15.879 my best friend my emotional support animals. 00:16:16.179 --> 00:16:19.259 She's she's she's everything to me in this world 00:16:19.559 --> 00:16:21.559 And the one thing I have learned in business 00:16:21.559 --> 00:16:24.480 is that no amount of money can make you successful. 00:16:24.580 --> 00:16:27.840 It's the value that you create and your ability 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:30.080 to understand, connect, communicate, and sell 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:34.039 to people and serve people is where that monetary 00:16:34.039 --> 00:16:37.700 gain is in exchange. And what we're doing is 00:16:37.700 --> 00:16:39.539 laying that foundation for her. She can do whatever 00:16:39.539 --> 00:16:42.759 she wants when she grows up. I have no, I don't 00:16:42.759 --> 00:16:44.059 care if she wants to be an artist, she wants 00:16:44.059 --> 00:16:46.519 to do all these things, but. As I father in a 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:49.240 coach, if I coach her on the foundation of things 00:16:49.240 --> 00:16:51.919 that are, you know, a dying, it is dying right 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:53.519 now, right? Which is looking someone in the eye, 00:16:53.620 --> 00:16:55.539 shaking their hand, communicate, being able to 00:16:55.539 --> 00:16:58.320 work a room, feel confident, not have fear, you 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:00.720 know, based on other people. It'll allow her 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:02.039 to pick and choose her career. If it happens 00:17:02.039 --> 00:17:03.700 to be the coffee business and she builds her 00:17:03.700 --> 00:17:05.460 company, great. If she happens to take it and 00:17:05.460 --> 00:17:08.259 go be a teacher, that's great too. But more importantly, 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:10.079 it's about teaching her the foundation of the 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:12.140 skills that we unfortunately won't learn until 00:17:12.140 --> 00:17:14.710 later on in life. Yeah, those life skills are 00:17:14.710 --> 00:17:17.009 not taught in the classroom and they're probably 00:17:17.009 --> 00:17:19.069 more valuable than most of what you get taught 00:17:19.069 --> 00:17:22.549 in the classroom. And that's part of what you're 00:17:22.549 --> 00:17:25.029 teaching your daughter through Big Guns Coffee. 00:17:25.809 --> 00:17:29.190 You've also sort of in the company taken a kind 00:17:29.190 --> 00:17:33.849 of unique angle, I suppose, in coffee and where 00:17:33.849 --> 00:17:38.250 you buy it from. Tell us a little bit about that 00:17:38.250 --> 00:17:40.509 distinguishing feature and why it came about. 00:17:41.029 --> 00:17:43.410 Yes sir. Well, I'll take credit for that one. 00:17:44.049 --> 00:17:46.549 That is a hydroponic coffee. So we're the first 00:17:46.549 --> 00:17:49.650 indoor only first and only indoor hydroponic 00:17:49.650 --> 00:17:51.890 coffee farm in the United States. As we're starting 00:17:51.890 --> 00:17:53.690 to learn now that we've really kind of got out 00:17:53.690 --> 00:17:55.109 there, we're the only one in the world. We've 00:17:55.109 --> 00:17:57.890 been contacted by different countries. We leave 00:17:57.890 --> 00:17:59.910 for Germany later this year to kind of go talk 00:17:59.910 --> 00:18:02.109 about what we're doing in coffee in our segment 00:18:02.109 --> 00:18:04.490 and our focus. And it really just kind of came 00:18:04.490 --> 00:18:06.529 from a program I went through with Appalachian 00:18:06.529 --> 00:18:09.329 State University. It's called Frontline to Farm. 00:18:09.750 --> 00:18:11.750 And it was a program for disabled veterans on 00:18:11.750 --> 00:18:13.769 learning to understand farming. And during that 00:18:13.769 --> 00:18:15.390 time when we were doing our coffee, I just wanted 00:18:15.390 --> 00:18:19.309 to kind of get a little more back to the roots 00:18:19.309 --> 00:18:21.849 of farming and maybe just live a little bit more, 00:18:21.849 --> 00:18:24.150 you know, lax life in that sense, not that farming 00:18:24.150 --> 00:18:27.490 is lax, but just kind of take a different approach 00:18:27.490 --> 00:18:30.609 to my corporate side of it and kind of go back 00:18:30.609 --> 00:18:32.789 to my roots. And I had met a veteran that was 00:18:32.789 --> 00:18:34.549 growing hydroponic lettuce and was extremely 00:18:34.549 --> 00:18:37.190 intrigued by hydroponics, very naive to the process. 00:18:37.750 --> 00:18:39.910 And then I just submerged myself in it and was 00:18:39.910 --> 00:18:41.329 like, you know, I wonder why we can't do coffee. 00:18:41.769 --> 00:18:43.109 And when I went to Google it, there was nothing. 00:18:43.230 --> 00:18:44.589 There was no one's ever done it. There was no 00:18:44.589 --> 00:18:47.160 real data. nothing to research and I thought 00:18:47.160 --> 00:18:49.980 well either I've stumbled upon something or I'm 00:18:49.980 --> 00:18:51.839 a complete idiot and I don't see what the problem 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:55.380 is and somehow lucky for me I stumbled upon something 00:18:55.380 --> 00:18:58.059 something and and then we started to develop 00:18:58.059 --> 00:19:00.200 it and we spent all my savings and money and 00:19:00.200 --> 00:19:02.319 everything sold my car you know we went all in 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:06.220 to develop and build it and then we started having 00:19:06.220 --> 00:19:08.480 harvest we started growing coffee and we started 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:10.920 putting it together and that's where we are now 00:19:10.920 --> 00:19:13.809 creating the first indoor, you know, hydroponic 00:19:13.809 --> 00:19:16.269 coffee, American grown American made coffee with 00:19:16.269 --> 00:19:18.450 its own independent commodity and supply chain 00:19:18.450 --> 00:19:20.609 that hopefully will never compete with the overall 00:19:20.609 --> 00:19:23.609 coffee market, but will create an opportunity 00:19:23.609 --> 00:19:25.690 to lay the foundation for the future of how coffee 00:19:25.690 --> 00:19:30.150 may be done. And up until that point, an additional 00:19:30.150 --> 00:19:32.890 avenue for people to have to be able to source 00:19:32.890 --> 00:19:37.190 American products. So this is intriguing, T. 00:19:37.309 --> 00:19:42.049 Shane. How long does it take to grow coffee, 00:19:42.049 --> 00:19:47.519 uh, panically. Well, so, um, It depends on the 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:49.980 variety. There's 134 different varieties and 00:19:49.980 --> 00:19:52.480 coffee's been around for a long time and people 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:54.180 have been working. Been working on innovative 00:19:54.180 --> 00:19:56.240 ways to make coffee grow faster because it is 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:58.400 such a such a huge product, right? America is 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:00.579 this second. The second most drink product in 00:20:00.579 --> 00:20:02.900 America is coffee, so that's a high demand and 00:20:02.900 --> 00:20:04.519 whenever you have a high demand, you start to 00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:06.299 put in a lot of money and scientists to try to 00:20:06.299 --> 00:20:08.559 determine out how to push that demand and and 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:11.819 create that supply, right? So hydroponics just 00:20:11.819 --> 00:20:15.940 alone set aside the factor of whatever the. the 00:20:15.940 --> 00:20:18.079 produce is or whatever it is you're growing has 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:21.720 a 50 % faster growth rate than traditional grow 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:25.000 and anywhere between 30 to 40 % more yield in 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:27.779 the produce than a traditional grow. So if you 00:20:27.779 --> 00:20:30.119 had a variety that was taken two years to grow 00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:32.460 three years to grow there's a high probability 00:20:32.460 --> 00:20:34.180 if you have the right nutrient mix and you know 00:20:34.180 --> 00:20:35.660 how to do it that you're going to be able to 00:20:35.660 --> 00:20:37.640 grow that half the time say a year year and a 00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:40.480 half. So that's the part we're working on now 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:43.339 is to scale and we're creating franchise opportunities 00:20:43.339 --> 00:20:45.539 for veterans to be able to you know, start their 00:20:45.539 --> 00:20:48.000 own farms if they want to. And that allows us 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:50.160 to kind of scale and grow and meet that need. 00:20:50.819 --> 00:20:53.380 But this is substantially more than traditional 00:20:53.380 --> 00:20:55.640 grow. But again, it's not an apples to apples 00:20:55.640 --> 00:20:57.960 comparison. It's an apples to oranges comparison 00:20:57.960 --> 00:21:00.480 as far as the model. Very, very interesting. 00:21:00.619 --> 00:21:05.059 If people want to know more about Big Guns Coffee, 00:21:05.240 --> 00:21:08.339 where should they go? Yes, sir. So it's biggunscoffee 00:21:08.339 --> 00:21:12.140 .com and all of our social media is at Big Guns 00:21:12.140 --> 00:21:15.940 Coffee. And if they're looking for more information, 00:21:16.019 --> 00:21:19.519 some of the things you've written T .J. Johnson, 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:23.019 where should they go? They would go to T .Janeinspires 00:21:23.019 --> 00:21:26.000 .com and all social media handles at T .Jane 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:29.579 Johnson. I want to back up, though, because, 00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:33.779 you know, as a crayon -eating Marine, what the 00:21:33.779 --> 00:21:36.740 heck? Where did you ever think you had enough 00:21:36.740 --> 00:21:40.079 experience to run a business, enough financing 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:45.630 savvy? Where does that come from? Well, I think... 00:21:46.950 --> 00:21:49.730 It's kind of an oxymoron of the joke made Marines 00:21:49.730 --> 00:21:51.890 right when it comes to the intelligence level 00:21:51.890 --> 00:21:54.109 I think there's something to be said about being 00:21:54.109 --> 00:21:56.289 smart and being tenacious. There's a lot of really 00:21:56.289 --> 00:21:58.130 smart people that I haven't done anything There's 00:21:58.130 --> 00:21:59.529 a lot of really people that aren't that smart 00:21:59.529 --> 00:22:01.430 that have accomplished a lot And I think that 00:22:01.430 --> 00:22:03.970 comes down to the basis of the never quit mentality 00:22:03.970 --> 00:22:06.430 of being a Marine No matter what it is. I mean 00:22:06.430 --> 00:22:08.609 we are the only branch. That's you know one every 00:22:08.609 --> 00:22:11.890 single battle We are winners as a whole we are 00:22:11.890 --> 00:22:14.329 tenacious We are trained to continue to advance 00:22:14.329 --> 00:22:16.349 forward and to never quit and I do I do think 00:22:16.349 --> 00:22:18.190 that if you can take those principles in life 00:22:18.190 --> 00:22:20.569 and you can apply those to entrepreneurship or 00:22:20.569 --> 00:22:23.990 relationships or anything that you do, no matter 00:22:23.990 --> 00:22:26.069 what, the guy that continues to fight is the 00:22:26.069 --> 00:22:27.710 one that continues to win. I think Bella would 00:22:27.710 --> 00:22:31.109 prove that very well in the sense that you can 00:22:31.109 --> 00:22:33.950 do a few people with a tenacious appetite to 00:22:33.950 --> 00:22:36.789 it. to completely dominate can accomplish that. 00:22:36.789 --> 00:22:38.549 And I think that's something that's extremely 00:22:38.549 --> 00:22:40.769 important that, you know, from a takeaway standpoint 00:22:40.769 --> 00:22:42.730 is for people to remember that you just got to 00:22:42.730 --> 00:22:45.049 keep going. You know, life is life. And at the 00:22:45.049 --> 00:22:47.089 end, everything will be OK. I have that competitive 00:22:47.089 --> 00:22:48.849 advantage knowing that on the other side, there 00:22:48.849 --> 00:22:50.730 is something there. So make the best of what 00:22:50.730 --> 00:22:53.430 that is. This is today. Fight through it. Continue 00:22:53.430 --> 00:22:55.089 to push forward, advance, and just make sure 00:22:55.089 --> 00:22:57.170 you've got a great target and head towards that 00:22:57.170 --> 00:22:59.849 target. Well, perseverance really is everything 00:22:59.849 --> 00:23:03.109 and in business you have to hang in there, right? 00:23:03.410 --> 00:23:05.269 Through the ups and the downs and the economy 00:23:05.269 --> 00:23:08.509 and the interest rates and now tariffs and COVID, 00:23:08.849 --> 00:23:12.509 but in business it is about persevering and time 00:23:12.509 --> 00:23:15.789 being on your side if you stay in the fight. 00:23:16.650 --> 00:23:19.890 As you get a chance to talk to a lot of veterans, 00:23:20.940 --> 00:23:23.920 What advice do you give them about finding, and 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:25.880 these are different issues, right? Finding happiness, 00:23:26.180 --> 00:23:28.880 finding success, starting a business. Pick any 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:31.200 of those you'd like to close out on. And what 00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:34.900 advice would you give veterans? I would say pick 00:23:34.900 --> 00:23:39.099 your lane. I think, you know, look, the reality 00:23:39.099 --> 00:23:41.619 of life is I stay in a fight because I have a 00:23:41.619 --> 00:23:44.339 daughter. If I didn't have my daughter, you know, 00:23:44.339 --> 00:23:46.460 I probably wouldn't be in the fight. And I say 00:23:46.460 --> 00:23:49.380 that in the sense that I would not tenaciously 00:23:49.380 --> 00:23:51.660 be out trying to build my own business by myself. 00:23:51.819 --> 00:23:53.880 I think most of us that have served are service 00:23:53.880 --> 00:23:56.180 based people, and we have to have people to serve 00:23:56.180 --> 00:23:59.380 for. And that gives us a mission objective. And 00:23:59.380 --> 00:24:01.319 I think happiness is something that you have 00:24:01.319 --> 00:24:02.940 to take time to really work on yourself. And 00:24:02.940 --> 00:24:04.980 that's a hard thing to do for someone who's service 00:24:04.980 --> 00:24:07.140 based because their fulfillment comes from helping 00:24:07.140 --> 00:24:10.039 others. And it's really hard to be of service 00:24:10.039 --> 00:24:11.720 to yourself. And I think that's probably the 00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:14.319 most challenging thing you could ever do. And 00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:17.680 I think that you have to make a decision on which 00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:19.900 one you want. So when you find happiness, you 00:24:19.900 --> 00:24:22.960 have to learn to serve yourself first in order 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:25.750 to. to serve anyone for that matter, or to continue 00:24:25.750 --> 00:24:27.910 to live a happy, full life. As far as starting 00:24:27.910 --> 00:24:29.650 a business is concerned, there's a difference 00:24:29.650 --> 00:24:31.569 between being an entrepreneur and a wannapreneur. 00:24:31.990 --> 00:24:33.829 Make your decision on what you wanna be, because 00:24:33.829 --> 00:24:36.309 there is no fun. It is not fun. It's not exciting. 00:24:36.970 --> 00:24:39.710 There's minimal highs compared to the lows. It 00:24:39.710 --> 00:24:42.170 is complete 100 % challenge. You wanna quit every 00:24:42.170 --> 00:24:44.750 day. There's failures all the time. So make sure 00:24:44.750 --> 00:24:47.069 you have a clear, defined plan and objective 00:24:47.069 --> 00:24:49.309 of why you're doing a business. I think most 00:24:49.309 --> 00:24:50.690 people do it with the intentions of thinking 00:24:50.690 --> 00:24:52.170 they're gonna stay in it forever, because it's 00:24:52.170 --> 00:24:54.589 a passion. You know, build an exit, build a strategy 00:24:54.589 --> 00:24:56.950 to get away with it. Just shorten that time and 00:24:56.950 --> 00:24:59.269 hopefully build something that creates a service 00:24:59.269 --> 00:25:01.710 to people. But hopefully a monetary exchange 00:25:01.710 --> 00:25:03.809 allows you to live a life of at least financial 00:25:03.809 --> 00:25:08.410 freedom. Well, teaching Johnson, you are certainly 00:25:08.410 --> 00:25:16.210 a good number one employee for Charlie. We wish 00:25:16.210 --> 00:25:20.200 you her and big guns coffee, nothing. But the 00:25:20.200 --> 00:25:21.839 best, and we thank you for spending a little 00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:24.420 time with Veterans Radio today. Again, sir, it 00:25:24.420 --> 00:25:25.940 was my pleasure, and thank you so much for allowing 00:25:25.940 --> 00:25:27.460 us the opportunity to share our story on your 00:25:27.460 --> 00:25:31.000 platform. We just want to remind you that Veterans 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:36.000 Radio podcasts are available on all your favorite 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:40.059 streaming platforms, including RSS .com, Apple 00:25:40.059 --> 00:25:44.900 Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts, I Heart 00:25:44.900 --> 00:25:48.990 Radio, and Reeves Across America Radio. So wherever 00:25:48.990 --> 00:25:52.470 you are, you can find us, whether it's on your 00:25:52.470 --> 00:25:54.970 mobile phone or your computer or your laptop 00:25:54.970 --> 00:25:59.150 or tablet, but listen in to Veterans Radio Podcast. 00:25:59.269 --> 00:26:01.609 We post something new every week, and you're 00:26:01.609 --> 00:26:05.230 going to find it informative. And I want to thank 00:26:05.230 --> 00:26:07.430 everybody for listening to Veterans Radio today. 00:26:07.549 --> 00:26:10.849 I am Jim Fossone. It's been a pleasure to be 00:26:10.849 --> 00:26:13.670 your host. I'm a Veterans Disability Lawyer at 00:26:13.670 --> 00:26:16.130 Legal Help for Veterans, and you can reach us 00:26:16.130 --> 00:26:22.400 at 800 693 -4800 or legalhelpforveterans .com 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:25.359 on the web. You can follow Veterans Radio on 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:28.400 Facebook and listen to its podcasts and internet 00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:32.980 radio shows by visiting us at veteransradio .org. 00:26:33.240 --> 00:26:36.940 That's veteransradio .org. We again want to thank 00:26:36.940 --> 00:26:40.059 our national sponsors, the National Veterans 00:26:40.059 --> 00:26:45.480 Business Development Council, NVBDC .org, Legal 00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:48.849 Help for Veterans, A Veterans Disability Law 00:26:48.849 --> 00:26:53.950 Firm with a national practice before the VA can 00:26:53.950 --> 00:26:57.630 help you on your claims and your appeals. It 00:26:57.630 --> 00:27:00.990 can be reached at legalhelpforveterans .com or 00:27:00.990 --> 00:27:08.329 1 -800 -693 -4800. And PuroClean, a leader in 00:27:08.329 --> 00:27:12.150 property emergency services. It's the paramedics 00:27:12.150 --> 00:27:15.940 of property damage. providing water damage remediation, 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:19.880 flood water removal, fire and smoke damage remediation, 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:24.019 mold and biohazard cleanups. You can reach them 00:27:24.019 --> 00:27:31.700 at pureclean .com or 800 -775 -7876. We also 00:27:31.700 --> 00:27:34.640 want to thank our local sponsors. This would 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:40.480 include the Charles S. Kettles chapter of the 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:43.319 Vietnam Veterans of America. That's chapter 310. 00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:48.900 VFW, Graf O 'Hara Post 423, the American Legion, 00:27:49.380 --> 00:27:52.900 Erwin Preskin Post 46 in Ann Arbor as well, the 00:27:52.900 --> 00:27:55.720 VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, and certainly 00:27:55.720 --> 00:27:58.819 the National Vietnam Veterans of America Association. 00:27:59.500 --> 00:28:02.119 You can be a sponsor by going to veteransradio 00:28:02.119 --> 00:28:06.539 .org, clicking on the About Us and our sponsors, 00:28:06.680 --> 00:28:09.640 and help us out. Keep this program alive for... 00:28:09.630 --> 00:28:14.390 the 21 and 22 years. Keep us going for another 00:28:14.390 --> 00:28:15.609 20. Thank you.