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 --> 00:00:49.460 by going to veteransradio .org. 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We just want to remind you that Veterans 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:39.340 Radio podcasts are available on all your favorite 00:01:39.340 --> 00:01:43.359 streaming platforms including RSS .com, Apple 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:48.849 Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube podcasts, iHeartRadio, 00:01:49.430 --> 00:01:52.329 and Reeves Across America radio. So wherever 00:01:52.329 --> 00:01:55.870 you are, you can find us, whether it's on your 00:01:55.870 --> 00:01:58.269 mobile phone or your computer or your laptop 00:01:58.269 --> 00:02:02.030 or your tablet, but listen in to Veterans Radio 00:02:02.030 --> 00:02:04.750 podcast. We post something new every week and 00:02:04.750 --> 00:02:08.400 you're going to find it informative. We want 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:11.759 to welcome back, I should say, to Veterans Radio, 00:02:12.020 --> 00:02:15.740 Shelly Rood. She has been with us before, talking 00:02:15.740 --> 00:02:20.060 about her transition from the military into civilian 00:02:20.060 --> 00:02:23.180 life. She was with the U .S. Army Reserves for 00:02:23.180 --> 00:02:25.879 about, I don't know, 15 years or something as 00:02:25.879 --> 00:02:29.259 an intelligence officer. Shelly, welcome back. 00:02:29.960 --> 00:02:32.159 It feels like home. Thanks for having me back, 00:02:32.379 --> 00:02:38.889 Jim. Glad to have you. So Mission Ambition is 00:02:38.889 --> 00:02:44.289 LLC, is the current life coaching and performance 00:02:44.289 --> 00:02:46.349 coaching that you're doing, leadership training. 00:02:47.409 --> 00:02:49.810 So before we get into that, we always like folks 00:02:49.810 --> 00:02:52.569 to on Veterans Radio kind of understand your 00:02:52.569 --> 00:02:55.270 military background of our guests so that they 00:02:55.270 --> 00:02:56.810 know they're hearing from somebody who's kind 00:02:56.810 --> 00:02:59.810 of the real deal. So why don't you tell us a 00:02:59.810 --> 00:03:02.349 little recap for us a little bit, your military 00:03:02.349 --> 00:03:05.020 career. Well, the real deal, I'm not sure I'm 00:03:05.020 --> 00:03:06.979 going to measure up to that, even though I have 00:03:06.979 --> 00:03:10.800 been told that I am that I do. I do like to think 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:14.199 of myself as the least of these when it comes 00:03:14.199 --> 00:03:16.840 to interacting with my veteran brothers and sisters. 00:03:17.539 --> 00:03:21.379 I did have a wonderful career in the Army Reserves. 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:23.699 I had a little bit of active duty time in there 00:03:23.699 --> 00:03:27.479 and I've served overseas. I have been to South 00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:30.240 Korea and some other incredible duty stations. 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:32.919 But I'm, you know, I'm not a combat veteran and 00:03:32.919 --> 00:03:36.439 I don't pretend to be, and I love to be able 00:03:36.439 --> 00:03:40.219 to raise awareness for the fact that support 00:03:40.219 --> 00:03:45.039 comes in all shapes and sizes. programs that 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:47.520 we run that are funded even by the government 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:51.259 recognize veteran in a way that's different from 00:03:51.259 --> 00:03:54.039 the federal definition of veteran you know so 00:03:54.039 --> 00:03:56.500 for those of our guardies and our reservists 00:03:56.500 --> 00:03:59.840 that haven't hit that retirement mark and don't 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:02.180 qualify for a lot of the veterans benefits once 00:04:02.180 --> 00:04:04.479 you get out to me it doesn't matter if you've 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:06.219 served one day that means that you've served 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:10.159 Yeah, one of the things we've bumped into is 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:13.560 people who have maybe not been at the pointy 00:04:13.560 --> 00:04:17.980 end of the spear in combat in Afghanistan or 00:04:17.980 --> 00:04:24.939 Iraq, sort of a reluctance to recognize their 00:04:24.939 --> 00:04:29.639 service and their veteran status. And, you know, 00:04:29.660 --> 00:04:33.019 it takes nine people to support the one person 00:04:33.019 --> 00:04:36.379 who's at the tip of the spear. So you really 00:04:38.250 --> 00:04:40.889 I think we're fighting uphill on this a little 00:04:40.889 --> 00:04:47.569 bit because of the way cultural media, TV, movies 00:04:47.569 --> 00:04:51.110 kind of portray who's a veteran. You know, you're 00:04:51.110 --> 00:04:53.670 going to be battle scarred. So I think it's good 00:04:53.670 --> 00:04:56.490 to get across that. No, there's a whole lot of 00:04:56.490 --> 00:05:00.790 work that's done by a whole lot of people to 00:05:00.790 --> 00:05:04.089 protect the nation's security. And they don't 00:05:04.089 --> 00:05:06.170 have to be at the pointy end of the spear. I 00:05:06.170 --> 00:05:08.970 think that's what you're referring to. Absolutely. 00:05:09.709 --> 00:05:12.649 And you know, in the support world as well, it's 00:05:12.649 --> 00:05:15.709 in the veteran world, it's a giant. butt sniffing 00:05:15.709 --> 00:05:18.709 contest if you will. Like if we're all dogs and 00:05:18.709 --> 00:05:20.910 we just stare at each other's uniforms and we 00:05:20.910 --> 00:05:23.569 try to size each other up and at the end of the 00:05:23.569 --> 00:05:26.589 day we're not doing each other any favors as 00:05:26.589 --> 00:05:30.110 human beings. We're losing a lot of that interpersonal 00:05:30.110 --> 00:05:32.949 connection because we're just judging each other. 00:05:33.209 --> 00:05:36.990 And while that was a necessity when we were in 00:05:36.990 --> 00:05:40.269 service, when we look at our lives out of the 00:05:40.269 --> 00:05:43.800 uniform, It's taking its toll and we're seeing 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:46.819 that in the mental wellness numbers that are 00:05:46.819 --> 00:05:49.379 about our nation's military in a very negative 00:05:49.379 --> 00:05:52.879 way. So definitely appreciate the ability to 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:56.220 even open the conversation about let's just talk 00:05:56.220 --> 00:05:59.060 about what your service time was and you tell 00:05:59.060 --> 00:06:01.779 me your experiences. I'm not here to judge you 00:06:01.779 --> 00:06:05.519 or to minimize how you did serve, but you also 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:08.720 shouldn't be doing that about yourself. So let's 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:11.899 talk about one other issue before we get into 00:06:11.899 --> 00:06:16.079 mission ambition a little bit Okay, military 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:19.600 intelligence Now somebody out there listening 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:22.819 right now and veteran radio land is making a 00:06:22.819 --> 00:06:25.600 joke about that being an oxymoron So explain 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:28.579 to folks what somebody who was in the Army Reserves 00:06:28.579 --> 00:06:32.379 did in the field of military intelligence I will 00:06:32.379 --> 00:06:34.920 I absolutely will and the answer is not very 00:06:34.920 --> 00:06:37.899 much. No, I'm just kidding Um, so, you know, 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:41.160 my experience was on the officer side. So as 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:44.300 a tactical all source Intel officer, I did do 00:06:44.300 --> 00:06:47.680 a lot of briefings and my position is really 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:51.040 one of a team. And so I would have specialists 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:54.279 that would be working in human and Mazant and 00:06:54.279 --> 00:06:57.459 Emmet, um, kind of analyzing the data at the 00:06:57.459 --> 00:07:00.970 raw data points. And then I had the opportunity 00:07:00.970 --> 00:07:03.569 to bring all the data together and help tell 00:07:03.569 --> 00:07:06.769 a story through that data. And then the story 00:07:06.769 --> 00:07:09.470 is what I'm able to then bring to the decision 00:07:09.470 --> 00:07:12.149 maker so that the decision maker can really say, 00:07:12.149 --> 00:07:14.949 let's go with course of action one, two, or three. 00:07:15.709 --> 00:07:20.529 Yeah, as I said, we like to joke as oxymoron, 00:07:20.589 --> 00:07:24.029 but it's absolutely necessary part of the planning 00:07:24.029 --> 00:07:27.449 process before you can point somebody or something 00:07:27.449 --> 00:07:31.439 in a direction. Folks, you may have heard in 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:33.879 Shelley's earlier discussion this recognition 00:07:33.879 --> 00:07:40.019 of, hey, I wasn't the most important person in 00:07:40.019 --> 00:07:44.459 wearing a uniform. And that goes a little bit 00:07:44.459 --> 00:07:49.079 to one of your slogans with mission ambition, 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:53.300 which is others over self, which I think tells 00:07:53.300 --> 00:07:58.660 us a lot right there. But talk to us about that. 00:07:58.620 --> 00:08:03.680 catchphrase, that cornerstone that the company 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:09.759 has a touch base. So we landed on others over 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:13.079 self as we were out in the community teaching 00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:16.000 personal and professional development and we 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:18.639 recognized that it wasn't enough to just shout 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:21.600 the word values like a lot of the military does 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:24.860 and a lot of individuals do. We wanted to say 00:08:24.860 --> 00:08:28.189 if we're going to be out here coaching people 00:08:28.189 --> 00:08:31.829 to embrace something. What does that look like? 00:08:32.409 --> 00:08:35.549 And part of my military career towards the end, 00:08:35.750 --> 00:08:38.370 I always say I'm the intelligence officer that 00:08:38.370 --> 00:08:42.269 knows too much. I made a choice at the very end 00:08:42.269 --> 00:08:45.769 of my career to work on a branch transfer out 00:08:45.769 --> 00:08:48.009 of military intelligence and into the chaplain 00:08:48.009 --> 00:08:51.450 corps, because I truly recognized that what our 00:08:51.450 --> 00:08:54.470 nation didn't need was one more intel officer. 00:08:54.830 --> 00:08:58.269 there was a national shortage of chaplains and 00:08:58.269 --> 00:09:03.090 there still is. And so I followed that path to 00:09:03.090 --> 00:09:08.049 move away from learning data for data's sake 00:09:08.049 --> 00:09:10.309 and really getting into the hearts of the people 00:09:10.309 --> 00:09:14.049 around me. And because of that chaplain desire 00:09:14.049 --> 00:09:18.029 and that chaplain heart, it really feels natural 00:09:18.029 --> 00:09:22.000 to put others over yourself. And a lot of that 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:25.379 does come from my followings of Christianity, 00:09:25.500 --> 00:09:27.460 which I didn't get into until I was nearly 30 00:09:27.460 --> 00:09:29.779 years old. So we can talk about that. But please 00:09:29.779 --> 00:09:33.080 don't think that I'm some church baby. I did 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:35.860 not follow any of that until I was well, well 00:09:35.860 --> 00:09:40.240 grown. And others over self has become, like 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:42.259 you said, the cornerstone for what we teach. 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:45.690 It's not. Just a phrase that we throw out there. 00:09:45.809 --> 00:09:48.049 It's something that we embody very, very deeply. 00:09:48.509 --> 00:09:52.210 And we even established a framework for how we 00:09:52.210 --> 00:09:55.110 teach others overself. And so like you'd mostly 00:09:55.110 --> 00:09:58.210 do in the military, we deconstruct it backwards, 00:09:58.210 --> 00:10:01.169 right? So to reverse engineer others overself, 00:10:01.309 --> 00:10:04.230 we teach it in three phases. And the three phases 00:10:04.230 --> 00:10:08.529 are self, over others. And so you really cannot 00:10:08.529 --> 00:10:11.909 go out into the community and make a significant 00:10:11.909 --> 00:10:15.029 impact if you don't know who you are at your 00:10:15.029 --> 00:10:17.950 core. And that is really where it all starts. 00:10:18.029 --> 00:10:20.409 It is the idea of putting on your own oxygen 00:10:20.409 --> 00:10:22.750 mask before you can help those around you. And 00:10:22.750 --> 00:10:25.230 what I see happens a lot of times with military 00:10:25.230 --> 00:10:28.730 people is we're so quick to jump into the others. 00:10:29.190 --> 00:10:32.470 We're so quick to say, sacrifice me, send me, 00:10:32.470 --> 00:10:36.940 I'll be the one that we forget about the self 00:10:36.940 --> 00:10:40.840 and the self tends to disappear over time and 00:10:40.840 --> 00:10:43.059 at some point you have to bring it back around 00:10:43.059 --> 00:10:45.399 or you're going to go down a very very dark and 00:10:45.399 --> 00:10:48.879 scary path. I should mention to veteran radio 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:51.740 listeners, since we've talked to Shelly Root 00:10:51.740 --> 00:10:54.419 a number of times, I skipped some of the normal 00:10:54.419 --> 00:10:58.399 intro that I do but she has a bachelors from 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:01.279 Western Michigan University where she participated 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:04.139 in Army ROTC. We've done a number of programs 00:11:04.139 --> 00:11:07.919 recently on Western Michigan University's ROTC 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:11.100 program. I think they just celebrated their 75th 00:11:11.100 --> 00:11:13.440 year, so we got a chance to talk to them about 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:16.559 that history. You were on the marksmanship team 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:19.600 there, which is interesting. But you went on 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:22.480 much later in life and picked up a master's in 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:29.659 ministry studies in 2022 so that you could make 00:11:29.659 --> 00:11:33.399 this transition you were doing from Intel to 00:11:33.399 --> 00:11:37.399 the Chaplaincy Corps. So there's a bunch of study 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:41.580 that goes on besides just talking about it. You 00:11:41.580 --> 00:11:44.100 have to do the work to get yourself in a position 00:11:44.100 --> 00:11:47.509 to be of assistance to people. And along the 00:11:47.509 --> 00:11:49.769 way, you've picked up some really good partners 00:11:49.769 --> 00:11:53.669 in this mission ambition. Talk to us about some 00:11:53.669 --> 00:11:59.309 of the other military leaders and coaches and 00:11:59.309 --> 00:12:02.669 trainers that are participating in this effort. 00:12:03.809 --> 00:12:06.990 Absolutely. So Others Over Self is a collaboration 00:12:06.990 --> 00:12:11.330 of military first responders, frontliners that 00:12:11.330 --> 00:12:14.350 believe in the mindset and want to instruct. 00:12:14.429 --> 00:12:16.529 We have it deep in our bloods. We know what we're 00:12:16.529 --> 00:12:18.990 doing. A lot of military people come to me and 00:12:18.990 --> 00:12:21.090 they say, Shelly, just put me in front of a group 00:12:21.090 --> 00:12:24.139 and I would love to teach some content. So we've 00:12:24.139 --> 00:12:28.120 been able to be approached by General Doug Slocum, 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:30.659 OD, for those of you that know him. He's one 00:12:30.659 --> 00:12:32.679 of the garrison commanders from Selfridge Air 00:12:32.679 --> 00:12:36.000 National Guard Base. We also have Laverne Santangelo, 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:39.600 who's a retired major from the Army. We have 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:42.519 Colonel Nancy Dakin. She's now retired. She was 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:46.419 the 127th Wing Commander, female A -10 fighter 00:12:46.419 --> 00:12:48.940 pilot, like doesn't get any cooler than that. 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:55.110 And, you know, Jim, these people are so unbelievably 00:12:55.110 --> 00:12:59.690 incredible when you get into their life stories, 00:13:00.009 --> 00:13:02.809 the decisions that they make, what goes into 00:13:02.809 --> 00:13:06.289 their day -to -day lives. And it's easy to gloss 00:13:06.289 --> 00:13:08.690 over that because we look at rank and we look 00:13:08.690 --> 00:13:11.129 at, you know, maybe paychecks or what they're 00:13:11.129 --> 00:13:14.929 doing as civilians now. But if you can really 00:13:14.929 --> 00:13:17.429 take the time to get to know them and to really 00:13:17.429 --> 00:13:20.409 understand where they're at in life, you'll find 00:13:20.409 --> 00:13:25.039 that they have so much to teach us. I could talk 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:27.080 to you about my team all day long, because all 00:13:27.080 --> 00:13:29.299 I wanna do is put a microphone in front of my 00:13:29.299 --> 00:13:33.000 team and let them talk. Well, and they all have 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:35.539 life experiences, different life experiences, 00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:41.659 from men and women, intel officers to fighter 00:13:41.659 --> 00:13:45.960 pilots, just a whole variety of life experiences, 00:13:47.899 --> 00:13:52.019 and families and kids. That all goes into making 00:13:52.019 --> 00:13:55.899 somebody comfortable that, hey, I want to have 00:13:55.899 --> 00:13:59.940 a leadership program with you, or I'm a business 00:13:59.940 --> 00:14:02.740 owner and I'm kind of burnt out. I need somebody 00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:05.639 to talk to. So talk to us about that audience 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:10.639 that you guys serve. We are a leadership and 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:13.539 development training company. We have clients 00:14:13.539 --> 00:14:16.779 that are civilian. We have clients that are organizations. 00:14:17.889 --> 00:14:20.350 county -level clients and we also have state 00:14:20.350 --> 00:14:26.090 -level clients. So one example of the organization 00:14:26.090 --> 00:14:28.250 or the people that we serve through the Michigan 00:14:28.250 --> 00:14:31.350 Department of Health and Human Services, we specifically 00:14:31.350 --> 00:14:34.909 focus on women veterans. So these are women who 00:14:34.909 --> 00:14:38.269 have served in the military in any capacity and 00:14:38.269 --> 00:14:40.450 the service that we provide on behalf of the 00:14:40.450 --> 00:14:44.690 state is peer support services. And so it is 00:14:44.690 --> 00:14:47.830 literally about getting women veterans to be 00:14:47.830 --> 00:14:50.629 able to support each other. And the reason for 00:14:50.629 --> 00:14:52.710 that is because of the negative mental wellness 00:14:52.710 --> 00:14:55.769 issues that come with the veteran community. 00:14:56.149 --> 00:15:00.070 And so it is proven that peer support is one 00:15:00.070 --> 00:15:05.070 of the social ways that we can enhance our lives. 00:15:05.490 --> 00:15:08.970 And it bleeds off into other areas. And it's 00:15:08.970 --> 00:15:12.269 clinical without being clinical. It's the preventative 00:15:12.269 --> 00:15:16.230 measure before the scales start to tip into we 00:15:16.230 --> 00:15:18.429 need some type of crisis management or critical 00:15:18.429 --> 00:15:22.470 care. So it's really been just an absolute awakening 00:15:22.470 --> 00:15:25.549 since we started that type of work back in 2019. 00:15:26.059 --> 00:15:29.740 of what do veterans need, particularly veteran 00:15:29.740 --> 00:15:33.259 women, to be able to be healthy, to be able to 00:15:33.259 --> 00:15:36.960 lean into each other and not trigger each other. 00:15:37.019 --> 00:15:39.480 That's something that I've really noticed. And 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:41.740 we've done a lot of work on that, of why are 00:15:41.740 --> 00:15:43.860 women veterans triggering each other when we're 00:15:43.860 --> 00:15:47.000 gathering as groups? We're like lone wolves, 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:49.399 and you can't put a bunch of lone wolves in a 00:15:49.399 --> 00:15:51.899 room and tell them to play nice. It just doesn't 00:15:51.899 --> 00:15:55.250 happen. Well and you're trying to, if I understand 00:15:55.250 --> 00:15:58.750 it right, you're trying to do this work before 00:15:58.750 --> 00:16:02.090 it's crisis time. Absolutely, absolutely. And 00:16:02.090 --> 00:16:04.549 we do, you know, offer those resources. Of course, 00:16:04.549 --> 00:16:06.429 if you need help paying your rent, we've got 00:16:06.429 --> 00:16:08.970 some answers and some phone numbers, but that's 00:16:08.970 --> 00:16:10.750 not what we're here for, right? Like you're not, 00:16:10.809 --> 00:16:13.149 if you think of your grandmother or like some 00:16:13.149 --> 00:16:15.710 great aunt that just like deeply, deeply loved 00:16:15.710 --> 00:16:18.190 you, you're not going to call her at 2 a .m. 00:16:18.190 --> 00:16:20.889 to pull your car out of the ditch. It doesn't 00:16:20.889 --> 00:16:23.370 mean she doesn't love you. It just means that 00:16:23.370 --> 00:16:27.330 that's not her purpose in your life. It's all 00:16:27.330 --> 00:16:30.799 about the right tool for the right job. It absolutely 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:33.779 is. You've used a phrase a couple of times and 00:16:33.779 --> 00:16:37.039 it's obviously meaningful in what you're doing. 00:16:37.159 --> 00:16:43.580 I want to have you expound on this phrase, mental 00:16:43.580 --> 00:16:47.360 wellness. You don't use mental health, use mental 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:50.759 wellness. Why is that? You know, we need to get 00:16:50.759 --> 00:16:55.929 rid of the stigma. Truly. We literally are all 00:16:55.929 --> 00:16:58.950 mental. If you have served one day in the military, 00:16:59.570 --> 00:17:02.629 congratulations, you've got some mental wellness 00:17:02.629 --> 00:17:05.970 issues. And the more that we can just say that 00:17:05.970 --> 00:17:08.349 out loud and have it be part of our normal day 00:17:08.349 --> 00:17:11.049 -to -day conversation, the less stigma is going 00:17:11.049 --> 00:17:14.670 to come with that. Yeah. And again, it's one 00:17:14.670 --> 00:17:18.369 of those things I'm not sure veterans, military 00:17:18.369 --> 00:17:21.630 folks are. are necessarily trained up at a young 00:17:21.630 --> 00:17:24.509 age to reach out for help. Is that one of the 00:17:24.509 --> 00:17:28.190 things you keep bumping yourself into? It absolutely 00:17:28.190 --> 00:17:31.390 is. And what we see is there's a change in gender 00:17:31.390 --> 00:17:34.390 even. If you're a male, then you tend to self 00:17:34.390 --> 00:17:36.470 -medicate through substance use and abuse. If 00:17:36.470 --> 00:17:39.650 you're a female, then you do tend to reach out 00:17:39.650 --> 00:17:41.849 for help, but your symptoms show up more like 00:17:41.849 --> 00:17:45.170 depression and anxiety. And so just having the 00:17:45.170 --> 00:17:47.809 data and the knowledge to see what these patterns 00:17:47.809 --> 00:17:50.190 can look like in different types of the veteran 00:17:50.190 --> 00:17:55.569 community positions us as a group. at the large 00:17:55.569 --> 00:17:58.730 level to be able to make some actual change. 00:17:58.829 --> 00:18:01.130 And that really is something that our company 00:18:01.130 --> 00:18:05.230 has dug into over the last few years. Yes, we 00:18:05.230 --> 00:18:08.150 do have the peer support program, and yes, we 00:18:08.150 --> 00:18:10.609 are serving those women, but I don't think we've 00:18:10.609 --> 00:18:13.829 been doing it good enough, Jim. And so just this 00:18:13.829 --> 00:18:16.980 year... We kind of went into hiding last year 00:18:16.980 --> 00:18:20.359 and focused on the strategy. And I'm so excited 00:18:20.359 --> 00:18:22.579 to be able to announce to Veterans Radio today 00:18:22.579 --> 00:18:26.079 what is coming over the next year, specifically 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:28.940 for our women veterans, because it is changing 00:18:28.940 --> 00:18:31.519 the landscape of how we're able to communicate 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:34.339 with each other and how we're able to shift our 00:18:34.339 --> 00:18:39.720 landscape. So tell us what is coming. When you 00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:43.650 think of what's available to women veterans you 00:18:43.650 --> 00:18:46.349 think the traditional red white and blue patriotic 00:18:46.349 --> 00:18:50.690 and eagles and what I have found is that a lot 00:18:50.690 --> 00:18:53.869 of women veterans don't hate that, but they also 00:18:53.869 --> 00:18:56.869 don't love it. So we did a lot of research and 00:18:56.869 --> 00:18:59.069 tried to figure out what was something that they 00:18:59.069 --> 00:19:03.789 did love. And we came up with the idea of wildflowers. 00:19:04.390 --> 00:19:08.450 Wildflowers are not planted, they just grow. 00:19:08.690 --> 00:19:11.349 And it depends on the territory, the terrain 00:19:11.349 --> 00:19:14.569 that they're in, how and when they bloom. And 00:19:14.569 --> 00:19:17.750 so if you think of a military woman, she is extremely 00:19:17.750 --> 00:19:20.930 unique, right? You don't just decide as a woman 00:19:20.930 --> 00:19:23.690 to wake up. day and join the military. Somehow 00:19:23.690 --> 00:19:26.750 you have been uniquely chosen for that purpose 00:19:26.750 --> 00:19:30.230 and so if first of all if we can get the women 00:19:30.230 --> 00:19:34.049 to love themselves for being a wildflower and 00:19:34.049 --> 00:19:37.289 then get her to understand where and when she 00:19:37.289 --> 00:19:40.430 blooms the best, meaning when she feels like 00:19:40.430 --> 00:19:44.529 she really is just rocking out life, then she's 00:19:44.529 --> 00:19:46.569 going to love herself a lot more. And you know 00:19:46.569 --> 00:19:48.710 what happens? You're married, Jim. You know what 00:19:48.710 --> 00:19:52.150 happens to a woman who loves herself? She loves 00:19:52.150 --> 00:19:56.049 others a lot better. I really think that that 00:19:56.049 --> 00:19:58.210 right there can change the landscape for the 00:19:58.210 --> 00:20:00.910 mental wellness of all of our veterans. One of 00:20:00.910 --> 00:20:04.720 the challenges for any Buddy is a continuous 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:07.440 source of funding right in business. And the 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:10.059 area in which you're working is so dominated 00:20:10.059 --> 00:20:17.059 by state funding, federal funding, non -profit 00:20:17.059 --> 00:20:22.180 funding, and particularly for support of women 00:20:22.180 --> 00:20:25.119 veterans. We've seen programs announced and then 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:28.819 they collapse. We won't pick on anybody in particular 00:20:28.819 --> 00:20:31.680 where that happened last year. But how do you... 00:20:31.740 --> 00:20:34.460 How do you keep the momentum going forward when 00:20:34.460 --> 00:20:38.559 the funding landscape is challenging? I'm going 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:40.839 to make that deeply personal and I'm going to 00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:43.880 tell you that when I got my fine I got discharge 00:20:43.880 --> 00:20:46.440 orders from the military because I hit time and 00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:49.140 grade and they told me just re -enlist straight 00:20:49.140 --> 00:20:52.400 into the chaplain corps and I tried and you know 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:55.380 what Jim I don't medically qualify for re -enlistment 00:20:55.380 --> 00:20:57.619 it was it's like a joke right like are you kidding 00:20:57.619 --> 00:21:02.730 so for four years for four years I did everything 00:21:02.730 --> 00:21:05.509 I possibly could to get that wave and get back 00:21:05.509 --> 00:21:09.609 in the military. And I finally got like the definitive 00:21:09.609 --> 00:21:12.890 no at the highest level. And I remember being 00:21:12.890 --> 00:21:17.150 in my car at a stoplight and tears started falling. 00:21:17.150 --> 00:21:21.309 And I heard a voice inside of my head that said, 00:21:21.450 --> 00:21:24.690 Shelly, do you need to be a soldier to serve 00:21:24.690 --> 00:21:29.410 the soldiers? No, I don't I don't need to be 00:21:29.410 --> 00:21:31.930 a soldier to serve the soldiers and that right 00:21:31.930 --> 00:21:36.170 there is the mindset that Carries me through 00:21:36.170 --> 00:21:40.029 every year. We've never had a negative year What 00:21:40.029 --> 00:21:43.609 funding source do we use? The answer is yes If 00:21:43.609 --> 00:21:46.890 somebody wants to donate we've got a 501 c3 partner 00:21:46.890 --> 00:21:49.240 if somebody what I have checks for a thousand 00:21:49.240 --> 00:21:51.299 dollars that just show up in our mailbox because 00:21:51.299 --> 00:21:53.859 they believe in what we're doing, right? And 00:21:53.859 --> 00:21:56.079 so if you can be smart with your money and make 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:58.319 sure that you're doing things legally, have really 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:00.420 good partners that can handle the finance side 00:22:00.420 --> 00:22:04.279 of things, if you just can really believe in 00:22:04.279 --> 00:22:06.559 your heart that what you're doing is absolutely 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:10.019 the best way that you can focus on that one mission, 00:22:10.539 --> 00:22:12.839 I really believe that God is going to provide. 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:14.779 And I think that our, well, I know that our company 00:22:14.779 --> 00:22:18.079 has been a living testimony to that. And you 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:23.019 have a new affiliated project, a podcast of your 00:22:23.019 --> 00:22:26.640 own that you're doing. And before we run out 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:30.660 of too much time, I want to talk about that weekly 00:22:30.660 --> 00:22:36.200 podcast, Hardcore at Ease. Tell us about the 00:22:36.200 --> 00:22:38.519 concept, what you're trying to accomplish, those 00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:41.410 sorts of things. Yeah, so what do we want our 00:22:41.410 --> 00:22:44.829 listeners to become? We want them to be hardcore 00:22:44.829 --> 00:22:48.809 and we want them to be at ease. And so hardcore 00:22:48.809 --> 00:22:51.670 and at ease is a series of interviews and guests 00:22:51.670 --> 00:22:54.710 that are hardcore in some area of their life, 00:22:54.890 --> 00:22:56.950 something that they're deeply passionate to and 00:22:56.950 --> 00:23:00.690 dedicated to. We've had professional golfers 00:23:00.690 --> 00:23:02.849 on, we've had New York Times bestseller Donald 00:23:02.849 --> 00:23:06.130 Miller on, we've had obviously some veterans 00:23:06.130 --> 00:23:09.190 on, but there has to be something that you are 00:23:09.190 --> 00:23:11.910 intensely dedicated to to qualify as a guest 00:23:11.910 --> 00:23:15.180 on our podcast, but that's not enough. because 00:23:15.180 --> 00:23:18.180 you also need to be a phenomenal person. And 00:23:18.180 --> 00:23:20.339 that's where the whole idea of be at ease comes 00:23:20.339 --> 00:23:24.200 in, because we need to learn the secrets of how 00:23:24.200 --> 00:23:27.819 these people can stay grounded while being incredibly 00:23:27.819 --> 00:23:30.359 dedicated towards something. So that's hardcore 00:23:30.359 --> 00:23:34.000 and at ease. What audience are you shooting for 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:38.019 with that podcast? There's so many of us podcasters 00:23:38.019 --> 00:23:40.180 out there now. What's the niche you're shooting 00:23:40.180 --> 00:23:42.940 for? That's so interesting and the people find 00:23:42.940 --> 00:23:45.539 me right if you identify with the word hardcore 00:23:45.539 --> 00:23:48.240 you like yeah You get it you automatically get 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:50.400 it and if you don't then it's probably not for 00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:57.319 you Okay And and this is a new project a Little 00:23:57.319 --> 00:24:01.059 under a year old I think so as you look forward 00:24:01.059 --> 00:24:05.240 what? How do how does that integrate into what 00:24:05.240 --> 00:24:08.160 mission ambition is doing? Great question. So 00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:11.119 it's all part of a master plan because I am an 00:24:11.119 --> 00:24:14.539 Intel officer. So what we're doing is we are 00:24:14.539 --> 00:24:18.059 writing books and we are backing our way into 00:24:18.059 --> 00:24:22.940 the books. So what we do, the books are on women 00:24:22.940 --> 00:24:25.779 veterans specifically this year. Next year we 00:24:25.779 --> 00:24:27.980 will expand into something else. But for this 00:24:27.980 --> 00:24:30.720 year we are focused on our one thing, Gary Keller's 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:34.319 one thing, and the one thing is encouraging healthy 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:37.609 female friendships. for women veterans. So we're 00:24:37.609 --> 00:24:39.970 writing two books this year. One of them is about 00:24:39.970 --> 00:24:42.890 the wilderness, and we define the wilderness 00:24:42.890 --> 00:24:44.789 in different ways. You have to have three out 00:24:44.789 --> 00:24:47.069 of the five requirements for what is the wilderness, 00:24:47.130 --> 00:24:49.609 but essentially it's something where you've either 00:24:49.609 --> 00:24:51.410 never been there before, you never thought you 00:24:51.410 --> 00:24:53.829 would be there before, nobody has a training 00:24:53.829 --> 00:24:57.029 manual for where you are, or there is like a 00:24:57.029 --> 00:24:59.990 moral quandary, right? It's a no -win situation. 00:25:00.109 --> 00:25:02.609 So we're writing a book on the wilderness, and 00:25:02.609 --> 00:25:05.130 then we're also writing a book on the wildflowers. 00:25:04.970 --> 00:25:10.430 And the wildflowers are eight very specific personalities 00:25:10.430 --> 00:25:15.049 of women veterans. And so what the plan is is 00:25:15.049 --> 00:25:17.430 to write about the wilderness, write about the 00:25:17.430 --> 00:25:20.450 wildflowers, and it starts with the podcast. 00:25:20.549 --> 00:25:23.230 So we're interviewing and collecting all of this 00:25:23.230 --> 00:25:27.119 incredible content. Then that gets turned into 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:29.339 our sub stack, which is our newsletter. If you're 00:25:29.339 --> 00:25:31.380 on sub stack, you can just look up Shelly Rood 00:25:31.380 --> 00:25:33.980 sub stack and you'll be able to get a hold of 00:25:33.980 --> 00:25:36.980 our newsletter. It's called Mission Wildflower. 00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:40.160 And then through the sub stack, you can also 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:43.569 get into. a new launch. This is very cutting 00:25:43.569 --> 00:25:45.670 edge and I can't believe that we're doing it, 00:25:45.670 --> 00:25:49.910 but we are. And we are launching a bot and it 00:25:49.910 --> 00:25:52.930 is literally digital Shelley. So come the end 00:25:52.930 --> 00:25:56.609 of March, the world is going to be able to have 00:25:56.609 --> 00:25:59.849 24 seven access to digital Shelley, which is 00:25:59.849 --> 00:26:04.009 a collection of all of my team's goodness. It's 00:26:04.009 --> 00:26:06.009 like if you were sitting in the boardroom with 00:26:06.009 --> 00:26:08.269 me and my team and all the resources that we 00:26:08.269 --> 00:26:10.839 have. and you could have a conversation with 00:26:10.839 --> 00:26:14.200 us. She can be your best friend. She can be your 00:26:14.200 --> 00:26:16.460 business mentor. She can help plan your veterans 00:26:16.460 --> 00:26:19.019 event that's coming up. And so that's launching 00:26:19.019 --> 00:26:21.880 at the end of March. Oh, that's exciting. That 00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:28.019 is good and breaking news. You know, through 00:26:28.019 --> 00:26:30.480 your military career and the way it exited and 00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:33.359 didn't go the way you had hoped it'd go, I think 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:37.220 it kind of leads maybe to this final question. 00:26:39.390 --> 00:26:44.630 Do you probably get asked by folks? Hey, my daughter's 00:26:44.630 --> 00:26:49.190 my niece is thinking about Going into the military. 00:26:49.190 --> 00:26:52.430 I just can't you know, I can't fathom that You 00:26:52.430 --> 00:26:54.329 probably get asked to talk him out of it or talk 00:26:54.329 --> 00:26:58.309 him into it What what kind of questions along 00:26:58.309 --> 00:27:00.589 that lines do you get and what kind of advice 00:27:00.589 --> 00:27:04.380 do you give? Yes, exactly that and I I was just 00:27:04.380 --> 00:27:05.920 approached by someone when I used to work in 00:27:05.920 --> 00:27:08.200 broadcast television And he said, you know, my 00:27:08.200 --> 00:27:10.339 son's of the age and he's talking about it and 00:27:10.339 --> 00:27:13.380 I don't even know what questions to ask him And 00:27:13.380 --> 00:27:15.720 my first answer question might what I told him 00:27:15.720 --> 00:27:17.720 was Rick, you know You really need to have a 00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:20.119 heart -to -heart with him. Like you really get 00:27:20.119 --> 00:27:24.619 into what is attractive to them about the military 00:27:24.990 --> 00:27:27.410 Because you need to know are they just spitting 00:27:27.410 --> 00:27:29.690 out lines that the recruiter said to them which 00:27:29.690 --> 00:27:33.789 is a lot of us You know or is it that they really 00:27:33.789 --> 00:27:36.950 want that depth of meaning in their life, right? 00:27:37.009 --> 00:27:40.170 And if that's the case if you have a young person 00:27:40.170 --> 00:27:42.049 in front of you searching for meaning in their 00:27:42.049 --> 00:27:46.009 life Please don't blow it off Look at what the 00:27:46.009 --> 00:27:49.910 military can do the United States military can 00:27:49.910 --> 00:27:52.869 do on so many positive levels for growth and 00:27:52.869 --> 00:27:57.460 aspiration You know, we don't all join because 00:27:57.460 --> 00:28:00.400 of this amazing patriotic reason that a lot of 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:03.319 people think we join. But there are some of us 00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:06.440 that really do have that bug. And so I would 00:28:06.440 --> 00:28:10.240 definitely say dig deeper and listen, absolutely 00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:12.859 listen to their answers. And you might be surprised 00:28:12.859 --> 00:28:14.940 at what they're saying. Now, opposite of that, 00:28:15.019 --> 00:28:17.519 I have a son who's 16 right now and the military 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:20.829 is the last place that he wants to go. And he's 00:28:20.829 --> 00:28:24.029 got some relationship parental issues associated 00:28:24.029 --> 00:28:28.289 with that. Right. Mom went, I am not doing that 00:28:28.289 --> 00:28:32.589 job. Well, and this kind of cycles back to what 00:28:32.589 --> 00:28:35.089 we started with a bit, which is there are so 00:28:35.089 --> 00:28:37.890 many opportunities. Not everybody's at the pointy 00:28:37.890 --> 00:28:41.990 end of the sphere. So if you want to be a computer 00:28:41.990 --> 00:28:44.329 programmer, you want to be in accounting, you 00:28:44.329 --> 00:28:46.809 want a mechanic, you want to fly drones, you 00:28:46.809 --> 00:28:50.509 want to, there's all kinds of support, logistics 00:28:50.509 --> 00:28:55.269 roles that again, Hollywood doesn't portray, 00:28:55.710 --> 00:28:59.890 but it's so important. And I think again, those 00:28:59.890 --> 00:29:01.910 are great conversations. As you say, you have 00:29:01.910 --> 00:29:04.789 to dig in and understand what your child might 00:29:04.789 --> 00:29:07.930 be thinking about. Well, Shelly, tell folks where 00:29:07.930 --> 00:29:09.809 they, you've mentioned a number of them, but 00:29:09.809 --> 00:29:12.190 let's wrap it up with, tell folks where they 00:29:12.190 --> 00:29:14.869 can find out more about what you're doing. Absolutely. 00:29:15.269 --> 00:29:17.329 So the podcast, if you're a podcast listener, 00:29:17.730 --> 00:29:21.130 hardcore and at ease. Shelly Rood, hardcore and 00:29:21.130 --> 00:29:24.470 at ease. And if you want to get with me, go to 00:29:24.470 --> 00:29:27.710 join .othersoverself .com. And that is my inner 00:29:27.710 --> 00:29:29.789 circle. You can start messaging me and my team 00:29:29.789 --> 00:29:32.910 right away. That's join .othersoverself .com. 00:29:33.589 --> 00:29:36.829 Well, we appreciate you once again coming on 00:29:36.829 --> 00:29:39.990 Veterans Radio and updating us on things that 00:29:39.990 --> 00:29:42.549 you're doing. And we're going to have some more 00:29:42.549 --> 00:29:44.569 conversations about how we can continue to work 00:29:44.569 --> 00:29:46.809 together. Shelly, thanks for your time today. 00:29:47.230 --> 00:29:50.369 It's my honor, Jim. And I want to thank everybody 00:29:50.369 --> 00:29:53.190 for listening to Veterans Radio today. I am Jim 00:29:53.190 --> 00:29:56.069 Fossone. It's been a pleasure to be your host. 00:29:56.230 --> 00:29:58.890 I'm a Veterans disability lawyer at Legal Help 00:29:58.890 --> 00:30:02.910 for Veterans. And you can reach us at 800. 693 00:30:02.910 --> 00:30:07.769 -4800 or legalhelpforveterans .com on the web. 00:30:08.390 --> 00:30:11.250 You can follow Veterans Radio on Facebook and 00:30:11.250 --> 00:30:14.089 listen to its podcasts and internet radio shows 00:30:14.089 --> 00:30:18.349 by visiting us at veteransradio .org. That's 00:30:18.349 --> 00:30:22.710 veteransradio .org. We again want to thank our 00:30:22.710 --> 00:30:25.509 national sponsors, the National Veterans Business 00:30:25.509 --> 00:30:30.769 Development Council, NVBDC .org, Legal Help for 00:30:30.769 --> 00:30:34.589 Veterans, A Veterans Disability Law Firm with 00:30:34.589 --> 00:30:39.109 a national practice before the VA can help you 00:30:39.109 --> 00:30:43.130 on your claims and your appeals. It can be reached 00:30:43.130 --> 00:30:49.150 at LegalHelpForVeterans .com or 1 -800 -693 -4800. 00:30:49.809 --> 00:30:52.970 We also want to thank our local sponsors. This 00:30:52.970 --> 00:30:58.140 would include the Charles S. Kettles chapter 00:30:58.140 --> 00:31:01.160 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, that's chapter 00:31:01.160 --> 00:31:06.819 310, VFW, Graf O 'Hara Post 423, the American 00:31:06.819 --> 00:31:10.319 Legion, Erwin Preskin Post 46 in Ann Arbor as 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:13.980 well, the VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, and 00:31:13.980 --> 00:31:16.720 certainly the National Vietnam Veterans of America 00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:20.059 Association. You can be a sponsor by going to 00:31:20.059 --> 00:31:24.029 veteransradio .org, clicking on the about. us 00:31:24.029 --> 00:31:27.089 and our sponsors and help us out. Keep this program 00:31:27.089 --> 00:31:32.450 alive for the 21 and 22 years. Keep us going 00:31:32.450 --> 00:31:34.190 for another 20. Thank you.