Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the Dr. Random podcast. I'm Dr. Sarah, and here's the deal. We don't do boxes here. Every episode is different, every conversation has its own flavor, and no topic is off limits. If you're looking for predictable, this isn't it. But if you want real conversations, honest takes, and a touch of intellect in the best way, you're in the right place. This is Dr. Random podcast.
Hello and welcome to the Dr. Random podcast. I'm Dr. Sarah and today I am here with Johnny Martin and he is with Veterans Future Foundation.
And actually, Johnny, do you want me to do your whole name there on the bottom or just Johnny Good with.
[00:01:20] Speaker B: No, it's great. All right, whatever. Whatever you're comfortable with is good with me.
[00:01:25] Speaker A: Okay. And so, yeah, I initially got connected with Johnny through a group that I'm involved with called Behind Closed Doors, which is a bunch of small businesses entrepreneurs who network and meet together and basically have master chats.
And Johnny Martin gave an amazing master chat. And yeah. So I'm really excited to have him here today on the Dr. Random podcast.
So, Johnny, you want to go ahead and introduce yourself and share with the audience kind of a little bit about yourself?
[00:01:57] Speaker B: Sure, yeah. The first. First and foremost, psyched to be here. Thanks so much for having me. It was. You never know where, what rooms you walk into and what sort of impromptu meetings you'll have that just get you introduced to great people going out doing awesome things in the world. So that was the case for. For you and I.
Excited to be here. As you said. My name is Johnny Martin. I am the national director of performance for an organization called Veterans Future Foundation.
Veterans Future Foundation.
This purpose is to empower active duty service members and transitioning veterans in three lanes, mindset, mental performance, career advancement, and continuing education. I've been with them since their inception and. And it's just an honor to serve a population that I hold in the highest regard and to get to work with the men and women that are serving or have served our country and now are looking to transition into civilian life and use my background and experience in mental health and mental performance to be a guide on the side with them is phenomenal. But a little bit about me. I'm Western Massachusetts is where I call home and super proud to be the dad of two amazing kids, 1 19, 117 and beautiful wife for the last 21 years. And yeah, I'm excited to be here, but to talk about anything you'd like relative to mindset, mental performance or our amazing. Our amazing veteran population.
[00:03:38] Speaker A: Awesome. I Love that. And I myself, I think audience kind of knows my name, but I have a passion for our veterans and so really believe in what you're doing and.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: Thank you. Yeah.
[00:03:52] Speaker A: And you have a background in teaching football coaching, mental, mental performance coaching for veterans.
What would you say, what path led you from those worlds into working with transitioning service members at Veterans Future Foundation?
[00:04:11] Speaker B: Yeah, the, the journey is a super interesting one, as you said. I started my career in public education, worked with adolescents and families as a teacher first, then went on to get my first master's degree in, in educational psychology, that is school counseling, and was working as a football coach. And love that work, loved working with adolescents and families and coaching football.
But during that time I developed a really, really strong passion for high performers.
Was really drawn towards high performers, either academically, through the arts, athletically, and just became really, really intrigued, not just from a behavioral lens, but really from a performance lens watching their habits in action. What separated really elite level performers from those that sort of were doing great things in their lives, but just weren't crossing that threshold. Threshold.
And, and what I, what I really was fascinated by was it was not talent alone that was the separator. It became very clear very early in my career that these folks operated with a completely different value system than just about everybody else. And that value system was heavily rooted into sacrifice, discipline, doing what they said they were going to do when they said they were going to do it. So all of that to say, I started working privately with high performing athletes while I was still working in the school.
And some of those athletes ended up going on to play professionally across Major League Baseball and a couple across the NFL.
When that started to happen, I, I continued working with them and that opened other doors for me to start working with other athletes. And so I, I started a consulting company around mental performance and ended up working with not just athletes, but corporate leaders, CEOs, and then found the veteran population by accident. I am, I am not a veteran. My father was Vietnam era Army veteran. My brother is a veteran.
And about seven years ago I was in New York City with a friend and we went into a gym. We walked into a beautiful gym in New York City with the intent to just get a workout in. At the time, my friend was in, in business with a gentleman named Matt Hessey, who eventually became a, a tremendous friend and then a boss. And it was on that day that I learned about at the time what was called the Fit Ops Foundation.
Matt Hesse was the owner of, of this gym in New York City. And he was doing a professional development at the time. And he brought in a couple of veterans, combat veterans who had gone through one of his camps that he was running as a nonprofit called the Fit Ops Foundation.
And I listened to their stories and was compelled to learn more.
And it wasn't, it wasn't the struggle that drew me to their stories. I believe that as human beings, we all struggle.
The struggle is an inevitable and essential part of the journey.
But what really struck me about the gentleman that I listened to in Matt's vision for helping veterans was how these folks chose to struggle and who they chose to struggle with as a pathway to growth and peace in their lives.
And Matt's vision was to, to build something centered around a purpose driven, the all encompassing veteran experience that focuses on growth and empowerment, using health and wellness as the conduit to that change.
And so I was just compelled to learn more. And so I asked him if I could volunteer at his camps. I said I don't, I don't, I don't know if I have a skill set that is, that will correlate with the work that y' all are doing with your veterans. I am, I am not a veteran and to be honest, was scared to step into that arena. Even having worked with elite level athletes and very successful corporate folks, the veteran population is very guarded at times.
And I, I hadn't felt like I had earned my place in the room. And so I, I just said, I'll, I'll do whatever's asked. I just want to see it. I need to see it. I need to, I need to hear it, I need to smell it. I need to be around these men and women.
And I ended up teaching a little bit. When I first started volunteering, I did some work around empathy and growth mindset and the response was super positive. And so when Matt took this small camp experience and decided that he was going all in on what is now called UHP Unlock Human Potential, he asked me if I would, I would join his team. And I walked away from everything, walked away from all of it to jump in and I, in some capacity, in one capacity or another, I've been with Matt and UHP and now the non profit side of Veterans Future foundation for about seven years.
[00:09:36] Speaker A: Wow, that's.
That takes a leap, you know, even with your own mindset doing that. But it sounds like, you know, you had that, you just had a belief in it, a core power and to take that.
[00:09:52] Speaker B: Yeah, I appreciate that. I had and still do an unwavering belief in Matt and His vision.
But also when I had a chance to spend time throughout that year of volunteering with the American veteran, I. It went from a place of me wanting to say thank you for your service to I've got to find a way to give thanks. I've got a way to. I've got to find a way to action.
My gratitude for the life that we are all afforded, despite our political beliefs, our religious beliefs, all of the things that. That everybody works really hard to do to separate us as a nation.
The backbone of this country and the very best that this country has to offer is the American veteran. And I got a chance through my work to see that firsthand every day. And so when he offered me a chance to work with him and learn from him and pour into this community, it honestly was not as much of a leap as a lot of people have given me credit for. It felt like the most normal and natural thing to do, and it's been unbelievable every day since. It's been truly, truly rewarding.
[00:11:14] Speaker A: That's awesome.
I. I like what you said about kind of like, I believe in that. Like, you take action on something instead of just talking it or saying it like you do an action.
Like I always say, love is a verb. You know, it's an action word. But, you know, I think I would say my way where I feel like I contribute is. Is the wreaths across America. I do that.
[00:11:36] Speaker B: It's beautiful.
Yeah.
[00:11:40] Speaker A: And then, yeah, I'm not a veteran myself either, but I'm my daughter of a veteran, so granddaughter, but, yeah, so that's awesome.
[00:11:50] Speaker B: Well, you said something. You said something. I think that's really important, too, Sarah, is that the only way we change behavior is through action. Right.
And so I was just at a place in my life where, when I was able to be exposed to a different population of people that I had not been around before, not only to test my work and my aptitude in that arena, but where. Where I thrive the most and where I take the most enjoyment out of my work is the human experience.
And when. When I was able to step into large rooms filled with active duty or transitioning veterans from every branch of service, every walk of life, you can imagine, there were a few things that were undeniable, and that was the camaraderie, the brotherhood and sisterhood, the lived and shared experience, the unwavering belief, and they had in one another's potential to grow through really difficult and challenging circumstances.
And so all of those things really, really drew me to. To that population and. And really flipped on its head. The narrative that so many of us have been taught or have assumed about the American veteran, especially post 9 11, with our global war on terror and the conflicts we've really been in since 2001, the narrative that we've been taught as civilians around the American veteran, I was able to see firsthand that for the most part, that narrative is just not true.
These folks are not looking for pity.
They're not looking for anyone to feel sorry for them.
They're looking to take the things that make us the greatest fighting force in the entire world and to take those skills and to be able to translate them into a purposeful life when they transition from service.
And that's what I get to pour into and try to do every day.
[00:13:53] Speaker A: It's amazing.
And I know you hold advanced degrees in psychology and counseling, and were. Was there a pivotal moment or experience, perhaps from your own life or someone you've worked with, that made you passionate about veteran transitions and mental performance?
[00:14:14] Speaker B: Yeah, I think. Well, I think first and foremost, just to get into the role that I, or the professional work that I've done. My father, hands down, was my, my greatest inspiration. I mean, he was absolutely my hero and my idol, and not so much because of his time in service. But my father was a inner city school counselor. He worked in the poorest community in Massachusetts for almost 40 years.
And I, I'm often asked about, you know, childhood inspirations and how I got into the work that I'm into now. It's much less, or was much less about just working with veterans and much more about helping people. Right. I've, I've always had a desire to be a helper of people. But my father was my greatest inspiration. Almost 40 years in a really, really tough community, socioeconomically, very high crime rate. But I never once, once heard him complain after work.
I never once saw him come home, ever, and complain about his job. In fact, I saw just the opposite. I saw someone who loved working. What he was able to do every day. And so that was definitely sort of pushed me to working first with adolescents and families, and then, you know, being able to step into opportunities or create new opportunities as they've presented themselves throughout my professional life has brought me where I am today.
But I would have never, if you asked me 10 years ago, hey, you know, 10 years from now, you're going to be overseeing a national nonprofit whose sole mission is to empower the American veteran. I would have been like, there's no, there's no world where that could, could Happen, you know?
[00:16:03] Speaker A: Huh.
That's cool. I. I think that's amazing testimony on that. And that's really awesome that your dad's your inspiration. That's cool.
[00:16:13] Speaker B: Oh, no question, no question.
[00:16:16] Speaker A: And as a nationally recognized speaker and performance coach, including, you know, with the high level athletes and pros, how would you say that experience translates to supporting the veterans who might feel like they're starting over in civilian life?
[00:16:35] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a great question. One of the biggest challenges we face with our population is the identity shift that occurs when they go from wearing the uniform to. To not wearing the uniform.
The only other place I've seen it resonate so strongly is with transitioning professional athletes that I've had a chance to work with.
So much of who these men and women are is wrapped up in not just their job, but the uniform that they've earned.
Most of us as civilians, we get our first job or we walk into our first career, whether we're an accountant or a school counselor or a. Right, that, that, sure, that's an important part of our makeup, but it's more what we do. Right.
Well, for the American service member, that uniform is earned.
And there's an unbelievable sense of purpose and pride that comes with putting that uniform on every day, working as a member of a team and accomplishing a mission where in many cases, that mission has very, very real costs.
Now, you take this person who's done that for four years or 12 years or 25 years, and just like that, they are just Johnny again.
And so one of the most difficult challenges that I've seen and worked with in transitioning veterans is with that shift in identity. And many will tell you that loss of identity, so too comes the loss of purpose.
Who am I now? What do I do now?
Does anybody even care about all the skills I've acquired? And how do they transfer into a meaningful life for me and my family?
Those are hands down the biggest challenges we see with the transitioning population.
[00:18:36] Speaker A: Mm.
Okay.
Yeah, that's.
Yeah. The whole identity thing, that's been talked about a lot in previous podcast. How. And it can relate to other areas of identity too, like career loss or career change, like what we're talking about. And then even with within marriage, the identity of being a husband or a wife or a boyfriend or girlfriend, things like that.
Yeah, that's. It's important.
[00:19:07] Speaker B: Yeah. And, and there's in many, in many cases, there's grief tied into that too. Right. When you think about what grief really is, it's the normal and natural reaction to loss of any kind. Right. And when you've spent a good part of your adult life in a uniform that only 1% of the population has
[00:19:24] Speaker A: earned,
[00:19:27] Speaker B: there is a very normal and natural reaction to that loss. But many of our men and women are not prepared for that. They're not prepared for the grief that comes with, wow, I just spent the better part of my adult life in service to others, in service to my country, in service to my. My teammates. Right. My battle buddies.
Where do I find that now?
How do I find that now while not recognizing that, hey, this is a really normal and natural part of the grieving process.
And there are a lot of organizations and folks out there that can help them navigate that transition.
And the military is doing a much better job now than they did before, but not enough.
Not enough to help these folks transition into civilian life.
[00:20:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
And I'm just going to do a little switcheroo here.
[00:20:29] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:20:29] Speaker A: Putting me on the pink side.
Sorry.
[00:20:33] Speaker B: You know what? I didn't even notice. But whatever makes you feel better.
[00:20:38] Speaker A: All right.
And then. So now about Veterans Future foundation itself.
Can you walk us through the core mission, if that's okay, of Veterans Future Foundation? And what does empowered, embrace and equipped look like in practice for a veteran coming through one of your programs?
[00:20:58] Speaker B: Sure, I'd love to.
All human beings, all of us, we. There's. There's a few things that innately, we. We really need to thrive. Right. We all want to belong to something.
We all want to believe in something, and we all want to strive for something.
Veterans Future foundation exists under that belief.
Many of those things, that belonging, that belief, that striving that was instilled in these men and women in service.
Belonging. Belonging to something that was bigger than themselves.
[00:21:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:34] Speaker B: Belief in a mission that is really important and greater than oneself, and striving every day to improve, to get better, to challenge yourself physically, emotionally, spiritually.
Well, with those beliefs in mind, Veterans Future foundation was created to continue to empower and strengthen those beliefs that were built for so many of these men and women long before service solidified and strengthened in the service.
And we use those as a conduit and a Runway to continue that journey after service. How do we do it? Three main ways. We build a community with this idea that everyone wants a sense of belonging.
We've built a unbelievably strong community across the country with over 2000 veterans and active duty service members and growing.
And we run throughout the week, lots of virtual calls to keep that community connected. Sometimes five people show up. Sometimes 50 people show up, but we run them all around the idea that as a community we rise by lifting others.
And so we run those calls all the time.
We also, another one of our pillars is around continuing education. We expose our population to continued learning opportunities.
Many of those come from when I was talking to you before about Matt Hessey's sort of brainchild in what has now become an 800 acre campus in northwest Arkansas called UHP Unlock Human Potential.
UHP provides 18 day courses around personal training certifications, integrative health and wellness coaching, culinary nutrition coaches. They have now opened the first of its kind anywhere in the country called Ignite America, which is a residential live on campus trade school for veterans.
[00:23:33] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:23:34] Speaker B: So part of our goal at the FF is to make sure that we avail our, our members and our, our folks around those opportunities at UHP through other organizations like Team rwb, Team Red White and Blue, which is the largest, over 300,000 veteran and veteran ally members across the country, all centered around health and wellness initiatives.
So giving our population a chance to always be learning, right?
Always, always be learning.
That's what we call continuing education and the other is career advancement. So building partnerships with organizations and businesses across the country that are actively seeking to hire American veterans and recognizing that our, our population at Veterans Future foundation, because so many of them are digging into the mindset and mental performance work all the time, consistently as part of our community, they come in with a huge advantage and tremendous resilience to navigate new workplaces.
You combine that with their ability to learn quickly, to adapt really well as a member of a team, to be able to fail forward, to handle adversity, to be in environments that change quickly and rapidly. They're just really well positioned to step into workplace environments and be very quickly contributing members to those workplace teams. And so that's, that's VFF in a nutshell. But if, if I were to say, like what do I love most about the work? It's being able to help as part of a team, help build and shape of community. A community across the country of men and women who show up for each other and pour into each other so that they all can grow and get better.
[00:25:19] Speaker A: Yeah, that's so important because I think if I remember one of the crisis that we kind of have, or it was a crisis, is employing veterans when they get. That's maybe I'm thinking more when they come home from actual combat.
[00:25:36] Speaker B: But no, you're not wrong.
Yeah, a lot, a lot of businesses will, will proudly fly the flag that says we are, we emphasize veteran hiring.
And oftentimes when I have a chance to speak to the talent specialists at these places and I, I reach out to them and I say, man, I love the fact that you, you all promote your passion and your initiative to hire veterans. And I asked them, well, how are you doing it?
And the sad truth is many don't answer directly.
And while it's one thing to say we are going to vigorously and passionately recruit veterans, it's another thing to actually do it.
What I want the. Some of the companies that I found that are the best at doing it are the ones that have veterans as a really, really strong part of their working population and also put veteran leaders or veteran leaders in positions within the company that do the hiring and the talent acquisition because they recognize that the American veteran brings a different set of experiences but also qualities to the workplace.
And helping build communities within businesses of veterans makes the entire business exponentially stronger.
[00:27:02] Speaker A: Yeah,
[00:27:04] Speaker B: yeah.
[00:27:05] Speaker A: So I think my experience working alongside people that I know or veterans has always been a positive one. I actually, you know, I prefer it, but because I just feel like they, you bring something with you that the normal civilian doesn't have when they haven't been through, you know, training or experience.
[00:27:28] Speaker B: Yeah. And the key is for businesses to start to recognize that outside of the job specific training. Let's say you take a, an infantryman. Right.
Well, on paper, the skills that infantrymen learned in their military career might not specifically transfer to the job description. Right.
But what I encourage employers to do all the time is I challenge them and I say share with me the soft skills that you'd be looking for in an ideal candidate in 2026. Right.
Well, geez, Johnny, first and foremost, we, first and foremost, we'd love for somebody just to show up on time consistently.
[00:28:11] Speaker A: Mm.
[00:28:12] Speaker B: We'd love for them to be able to navigate a rapidly changing work environment.
We'd love for them at some point to be able to supervise a group of people and oftentimes it off, it requires management of assets, equipment.
Right. Well, if you look at the job of that infantryman outside of tactics that make them operational, everything that their life is built around in the military is centered around all of the soft skills that employers are really looking for.
[00:28:50] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:51] Speaker B: They think they're going to find them in the college grad at 22 years
[00:28:54] Speaker A: old
[00:28:57] Speaker B: and we have a huge population of transitioning veterans that have these soft skills at 10x20x50x what the average 22 year old college graduate has, what they often don't have is that piece of paper that says, I have a degree in this.
And what we found is for employers that are willing to take a chance on some of these folks, they acclimate faster and, and they run harder, they fail quicker, and they fail forward because they have lived experience.
They have lived experience doing all of those things, managing people, managing assets, adapting to a difficult environment, being able to have difficult conversations, showing up on time.
All of the things that are not written in a job description. So one of the things we work really hard on with our population in Veterans Future foundation is we teach them how to take the skills that they learned in the military and we teach them to translate that language into corporate or business friendly language in the civilian world.
So oftentimes what happens is I'll have folks call me and they'll go, johnny, I love this job, but look at the job description. I don't qualify.
And I say, well, what would it look like if you looked at that job description from the lens of your job when you were in the military?
What are some of the skills you want them to know you have that might not be written in this job description?
[00:30:33] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a smart way to look at it. Yeah.
[00:30:39] Speaker B: And it's a challenge. I mean, it's a significant challenge because a lot of civilian employers don't know how to craft language that will appeal to the American veteran.
And a lot of the younger veterans I work with don't know how to use the right language to be appealing to a potential employer. So one of the things we work hard on is helping our, especially our younger veterans, helping them understand. No, you did this stuff. You did this stuff. We're just going to teach you how to put it in language that the civilian who's reading it on the other side of the office understands.
[00:31:16] Speaker A: Yeah. And I can see how your all of that is a valuable assets. Hopefully we'll have some audience listening.
Really encouraging. And also even to the people out there hiring, people need to listen to this.
[00:31:33] Speaker B: Yeah. And if you are somebody that listens to this and you are actively looking to hire veterans and you're not sure how to start or where to start, you can reach out to me anytime.
[00:31:45] Speaker A: Awesome.
And something that kind of came up in me researching about Veterans Future foundation is the dirt therapy project.
[00:31:58] Speaker B: Awesome. Yeah.
[00:31:59] Speaker A: Okay. And how does connecting veterans with the outdoors, which is, I guess, riding trails, nature, how does it complement the mental performance and career skilling work?
[00:32:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I love the question. So let me give you a little background on the dirt therapy project. First.
So one of my colleagues, his name is Jonathan Hagerman. He'd be an awesome guy for you to talk to.
Jonathan Hagerman is the founder and executive director of the Dirt Therapy Project.
His story is his to tell, it's not mine, but I'll, I'll. I'll give you the abridged version. Jonathan and I met as colleagues.
The Dirt Therapy Project was joined with Veterans Future Foundation a couple years ago.
Jonathan was a United States Marine who transitioned from service and like many transitioning service members, was just looking for a way to bring some peace into his life and, and reignite that purpose. One of the things Jonathan used to love to do was mountain bike.
So when he got out of the Marine Corps, he jump back on an old mountain bike.
And that passion for mountain biking and being on the trail sparked in him an idea.
Well, if I'm really enjoying this being outside and mountain biking and being in nature, stands to reason that maybe some of my brothers and sisters in arms would really enjoy this experience as well.
That's where the Dirt Therapy Project was born. Now they have chapters in states all across the country. They provide outdoor recreation opportunities all across the country, most specifically in mountain biking. But just recently, they ran a huge event at the Buffalo River Recreation center in northwest Arkansas. They did a one week long event. They did one day of biking, one day of kayaking on the Buffalo river, one day of hiking.
Mixed into all of that was community. Right? You had 45 or 50 veterans all together.
In the morning, they set intentions for the day. In the evening, they debriefed it. They were able to sit around by a fire and talk about the things that maybe they don't talk about with a lot of other people all the time because the environment isn't set up in a way for them to, to do that. The Dirt Therapy project is a phenomenal, phenomenal organization that is doing amazing things for, for veterans across this country specific to outdoor recreation.
And they are, I mean, Jonathan and I work together weekly, sometimes daily.
And he started this because he refound his passion and purpose being outside and on a mountain bike when he got out of the Marine Corps. And he's created an organization now where he can share that with his fellow veterans all across the country.
[00:34:51] Speaker A: Awesome.
I worked for Mammoth Mountain a little bit during COVID Oh yeah. I used to sell. It was a remote job, but I used to sell the mountain biking passes for there.
[00:35:06] Speaker B: Oh yeah.
[00:35:07] Speaker A: But it's like I, I just feel like you, you're kind of your own little beast. When you do that mountain biking.
[00:35:13] Speaker B: But yeah, and he's tried to get me out there a couple times with him, it is.
I'm. I am not good at it. And these guys, some of them guys and gals, I mean, they bike all over the country on some of the most intense mountains and trails that our country has to offer.
But I think it's like anything else. I think being able to explore something new and different or revisiting something that you used to love, the actual activity becomes a byproduct of everything else. And I think Jonathan would now tell you, man, it's just about being around the people and being able to share these experiences with fellow veterans from across the country.
Mountain biking is what we do when we're here, but it's the human experience and the human connection that makes this whole thing worthwhile.
So I'm just a huge believer with our population at vff. We provide endless opportunities for them to connect with fellow veterans across the country and just do something, get out and do something. And you'll be amazed at what happens when you start connecting and having conversations with other human beings.
[00:36:20] Speaker A: Yeah, it's awesome. And I love that they did the little. It sounds like they have like a little campfire bonfire in the evenings or something. It's one of my favorite things.
[00:36:30] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, they do. Yeah, a lot of that stuff. And, you know, just when you spend time with somebody physically and you have to endure together physically, you're much more apt to open up and to start to talk about the stuff that's really on your heart.
And outdoor recreation opportunities provide that outlet for people.
[00:36:54] Speaker A: And I guess as far as rebuilding the sense of belonging and tribe that many miss after service.
What role does accountability and community play, would you say, for Veterans Future Foundation?
[00:37:10] Speaker B: Yeah, I think, you know, it's.
Community is obviously that's. That's one of the things that we work tirelessly to strengthen and to build.
But I think where the accountability piece is so important.
Excuse me. We. And we hear about this weekly on our calls with our population.
One of the things that we do is we ask folks to celebrate wins, to share wins that they've had in the previous weekend, to tee up wins that.
That they want to celebrate or want to achieve this week. And those wins can be physical. Physical, professional, relational, spiritual.
But one of the things that we hear time and time again is since I've started joining these calls and joining this community, I'm so much more apt to get up and go out and do the thing, because next week, when I come back, I'm going to talk to the group about it. And what they're also finding is that other people within the community on their own are reaching out and going, hey, I'm just checking in on you. I wanted to see if you got that work in that you were talking about getting done today or, hey, you told me you wanted to get, get that resume written. You know, this is what I did for a long time.
I can help you with it. Send me what you have and I'll get it cleaned up for you. So when people keep showing up, there's a, there's an organic and sense of accountability built in to the group, to the community, because now not only does the person, they don't want to let themselves down, but they also know that they've put it out there. Right? They've put it out there. And so they're asking for that accountability. They're asking for that check. They want to know that people are going to remember next week, hey, did you go off and do that thing that you said you were going to do?
This is not a community that we've built that is built around this toxic positivity. And everybody's great just because they show up and we don't, we don't. I don't know if you can curse on here or not. I try, I've tried not to, but we just, we just don't believe in that ideology. We don't believe in that. Hey, everybody gets a hug because, because you. That's not what we're about. We're. We're a community of, of challenge.
Hey, you said you were going to do this. What can I do to help you get it done right?
And human beings, not just veterans, human beings thrive in an environment where the expectations are not lowered.
Human beings thrive in an environment where the expectations are higher. And they see everybody else working really hard to go where they want to go in life. That's contagious. Yeah, that, that momentum is contagious. So we, our community is centered around challenge.
Love, support, but challenge. We're going to challenge you to do the things that you say are most important in your life. And we're going to help you do those.
We're not going to hand you the fish, but we're going to teach you how to fish.
[00:40:07] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay.
And that kind of, I feel like, leads into when I was going to kind of focus on like, mental performance and mindset and challenges, which I know you are just amazing at.
And so I guess there's a. In Your blog a winning mindset. You talk about personal ownership, defining wins and writing your own story, which I feel like kind of plays into what we just discussed. And I would say, how do you help veterans or anyone? You could say, well, this would be veterans shifting from a service mindset where the mission is, you know, external to owning their post. Service journey.
[00:40:50] Speaker B: Yeah, it's great, great question. I think it's, it's not just specific to the American veteran, but in the case that you just cited, a lot of the folks that I work with, they are, they're altruistic men and women.
They, they have a heart to serve and that heart for service, that selfless service doesn't end when their service ends.
[00:41:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:17] Speaker B: And so it's a, it's one of the things that stands in all of, all of our ways and trying to do something different or something new from a mental performance perspective is the stories that we tell ourselves, the limiting beliefs. Right.
We have these beliefs and, and many of them have started since we were little kids or they've been shaped by certain experiences or it's our, our brain steps in and wants to protect the vessel. So we don't dare to try new things because all of the stories that we tell ourselves about what may might happen outweigh the things that probably actually will happen.
So the sir, our veterans are no different. Right.
But once we can get in there and do some work with them around these limiting beliefs.
Okay, what else is true about what you want to do with your life? And when we talk about daily wins, the only way we change behavior neurologically, the only way we can change behavior is by doing something small to start doing it correctly and doing it over and over and over again.
[00:42:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:42:31] Speaker B: So this, one of the things that we, we are so blessed to have with our community is that many of these people are service driven leaders already.
Now the key is to work with them around this idea that you are the same warrior you were in uniform, your mission is now different, and you get to design that mission in a way that aligns with what you say matters most.
That's when our work around the limiting beliefs, values based, limiting growth mindset, that's when we can really dig into the daily work of what is the story you're telling yourself today about how you're going to grow and get better?
What does a small win look like for you today that you can repeat over time until you do it without even thinking about it?
And when those limiting beliefs start to creep back in your values, those things that you say, matter most. Those are the things that can anchor you when you're faced with the toughest decisions of your day.
Those values will anchor you and they will always, always provide you with the right answer. Now, we don't always choose the right answer because we're human and we're flawed. So oftentimes we choose the easy answer. We choose the path of least resistance. But from a mental performance perspective, it's about shattering, working to shatter those limiting beliefs by creating new truths. Those new truths are not created with thoughts or feelings. Those new truths are only created with action.
The only way we change is by doing the thing.
Not talking about doing the thing, not wishing that we could do the thing. We have to actually do the thing.
Whatever that is for you.
That's the most challenging piece.
[00:44:27] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's interesting because I listened to a podcast called Model University, which I've talked about before. I'm not sure if you're familiar with that one.
[00:44:38] Speaker B: I'm not.
[00:44:39] Speaker A: Okay. That's like a whole compilation of, I think, different podcasters and different motivational speakers, but they're Navy SEAL based.
And I think it is geared toward, I'll be honest, more towards men or athletes. But I listen to it.
But I feel like I started listening to that podcast, I would say in about April, March, April, somewhere around early 2023.
And I just.
That mindset of listening to that, it's like what you're saying, except it's like these guys like yelling at you, like, get up. And they're like, you don't have tomorrow. And I was like, okay. And I really feel like, you know, doing my doctorate, like working full time while doing the courses, and every other month we had to go in person and just taking that military kind of mindset that they push on that podcast kind of source. I think it helped me, like get through those days where I was like, I don't feel like reading today, or I don't feel like, you know, writing a 30 page paper today for one class, you know, and I have this and it. Just because it, you know, it's not physical, but it's more mental, you know, and now I'm using it more towards my mental, like, physical journey, which I kind of had to put on the back burner during my. Yeah, but you know, I just think that if people out there more took like what you're talking about, the motivation, the mind, everything, I think it would help them. So many different facets of everybody's lives, you know, and we all draw, we
[00:46:24] Speaker B: all draw inspiration and motivation from somewhere, something. Right.
Motivation is, motivation is fleeting, but discipline is a, can be a trained habit.
Right. So that's really an intrinsic driver. People talk all the time about intrinsic and you know, external motivation. Which one is more powerful.
Always without question. Any intrinsic driver we have is going to be more sustainable if practiced every day than an external motivation.
I don't discount either. Right.
Sometimes my inspiration and motivation needs to come from someone else or something else. Right.
But typically the way that we most effectively change behavior is there was something about Dr. Sarah during that journey that began to shift.
The way you were talking to yourself about the, the doing of the things that you were like, I, I just, I don't want to do this right now.
Right. That's, that's one voice, that's one story.
But the voice that became more powerful was, even though I don't want to do this, I'm going to do this. And you were able to answer that when you did that repeatedly.
This idea that you're still not going to be tired or are going to be so excited all the time, that's where people get, get it screwed up. But you, what you did was you developed a self discipline, an intrinsic motivation so that when those negative beliefs kicked in, when those poor me's kicked in, you had enough practice, enough mental performance reps to say, I see you, I see, I see you creeping in.
This voice is stronger because this voice is supported by action.
And what you learned was that that action repeated over time yielded the results that you were looking for.
It's the person that knows they need to get up and start exercising. But the hardest thing to do is that first, first step in that first workout.
That's the hardest, the hardest thing to do when, when we co. When I coach clients, sometimes I've coached clients literally haven't been to the gym in 15 years post service. And they're embarrassed and they're ashamed and they've told themselves a million stories about why they can't go. Right.
First step is I just tell them, hey, just take a ride this morning with a coffee and just pull into the gym parking lot.
Just do that for a few days. Just pull into the gym parking lot.
Why? Because momentum is important too. And I say, okay, next week though, I just want you to pull into the gym parking lot and all I want you to do is walk to the front door.
[00:49:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
And, and it, it's almost like the, like you're saying, like the discipline within ourselves, that mindset of like, okay, and I don't Know if there's something embedded in me. Like, I remember when I was little, I mean, I was, like, in a high chair. So this is. I remember this. This is gonna sound funny. And I remember, like, my mom would say, oh, you gotta drink your whole glass of milk. And I remember sitting there, and I'd be like, I don't really want to drink this glass of milk right now. So. So I thought, okay, if I take. If I count to three, and I would, like, divide up the glass, and I'd be like, okay, if I just counted to three, three times, then I'll be done. I mean, I remember being in a high chair thinking that it's a strategy.
And I was like, okay. And so I think, you know a lot. And I'm kind of looking at. With some research I've done on Veterans Future Foundation, I think, like, veterans face invisible battles, ptsd, isolation, identity, you know, shifts and all that, and the mental performance and all of that. You know, you coach with practical tools and mindsets.
What would you say is proven or most effective with that? And it's funny.
I'm kind of all over the place right now, but.
[00:50:41] Speaker B: Oh, it's great.
[00:50:43] Speaker A: But it's just, you know, I think, like, with.
And I've been. I try to motivate my sisters a lot, too, with fitness and stuff, and I'm just like, you know, and I think this is a big thing with fitness, but it's like, okay, just get in there and do it. And, you know, you're not. When you start seeing your results, it's more motivation, but that takes time, you know, and then, same thing I would say with doing the education journey with anybody and probably, you know, with a master's, it's like. It's almost like that feeling. It becomes almost like an adrenaline rush when you do accomplish something that you don't want to do. It's hard. You.
That is, like. I think there's a chemistry shift in our bodies when we actually challenge ourselves to do something we don't want to do. Like, if. Yeah, I think I heard something where it was like, oh, if you love doing cold plunger, you love doing sauna, and you go do it all the time. That's great. Yes. It's good for you. But you need to challenge yourself to do something that you don't want to do. So you kind of. Only.
[00:51:45] Speaker B: Only. I would say only if there's a certain area that you really feel like you need to grow in. To answer the question, I work under some very, very simple but I think very powerful beliefs in working with people.
One, talk at people less, talk with people more.
Two, the individual is the expert on themselves.
I. I am not the expert on anyone.
People are the experts on themselves. And the third thing that has served me really well throughout my career is meeting people where they're at, not telling people where they're supposed to be.
[00:52:26] Speaker A: Yeah, that's cool.
[00:52:27] Speaker B: My whole focus on working with people is to develop a relationship with the human being so that I can be on the guy, a guide on the side.
When they get to a place where there's. Where they know and they share, this is how I think my life would look better or different.
But my coaching and counseling philosophy is rooted in those three beliefs. Talk at people less, talk with people more.
People are the experts on themselves. I am not the expert on anyone.
And my responsibility is to meet people where they're at, not where I think they should be.
Yeah, everybody. It's so easy for all of us, especially when you get into professions like mine.
We think we have the answers for everybody.
People have the answers for themselves. My job is to help them find those by asking curious questions, by holding space, by not judging.
Right, people.
The answers are in here.
[00:53:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:53:43] Speaker B: We have to create an environment and ask the right questions and guide them on a journey where they can figure out the answers for themselves.
Me telling somebody what to do may only change their action that day.
Me asking somebody what change would look like for their life today is going to prompt far, far deeper introspection into their own lives and so they can figure out what is best for them.
[00:54:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
And how would you say, how important is emotional expression and vulnerability in your work with graduates? Veterans are often trained to be, you know, tough. So how do you create safe spaces for that, would you say?
[00:54:34] Speaker B: Yeah, well, you just hit on so many key points. I mean, it literally is a whole nother hour together. Probably. But you mentioned a few things. You mentioned vulnerability and safety. Right.
Those things only come with trust.
Our job is to establish and prove through our actions that we are people that can be trusted.
People want to be around people they can trust, especially in moments where they want to share something that is difficult to share.
One of the things that we emphasize all the time is forget the definitions that you were. That you.
[00:55:20] Speaker A: You.
[00:55:21] Speaker B: You think are attached to these words. Right. What is vulnerable? What does vulnerability really mean?
In what ways is vulnerability strength?
We want to create a psychologically safe environment.
I don't want to tell you what that is. I want you to tell me what that is for you so that I can design our work around that.
Here's. Here's what. What I. Why I believe vulnerability is strength, because that which goes out never comes back in the same way.
And if I can share what I'm feeling with a group or an individual who I trust, then what I'm sharing is not going to be judged, it's not going to be analyzed, it's not going to be criticized.
Right.
The person that I'm sharing with, we've developed a relationship based on trust.
And the intent of me sharing is so that the person can reflect on what I've shared to try to help support me. Not talking it away, not saying, it's okay, everything's going to be all right, but by engaging in a dialogue where we ask curious questions so that we both can grow together.
But to answer your question specifically, creating an environment that is psychologically safe and open to vulnerability is everything or the work that we do, we would never be able to do. Our. Our foundation would not exist.
[00:56:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:56:56] Speaker B: It would not exist.
[00:57:01] Speaker A: Yeah. And, yeah, you made me think of something, because that is so true. Because I think there's a lot of. I've noticed a lot of kind of trending talk about vulnerability and safety kind of online, and I think that is true. Everybody has their own experience with life, of what that means. And so I think that's. That plays into the whole key role of, like, really listening to somebody and giving that time, like you said, physical presence with people and talking and, you know, closing that gap of, you know, distance, you could say.
[00:57:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:57:37] Speaker A: And.
[00:57:38] Speaker B: And that's why I think it's so important to recognize that people are the experts on themselves, because my version of being open and vulnerable in an initial conversation is going to be very, very different. Based on my life experience, the work I've done for 27 years, it's going to be very different than a retired veteran that I'm speaking to for the first time who doesn't know me from Adam.
Right. My. My.
My level of comfort around being open and vulnerable is going to be very different than his.
Yeah, but what would it sound like if I shared with him? Hey, man, I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to meet you.
I'm really excited to talk to you today.
And just understand, brother, I am not the expert on you. You are the expert on yourself.
We're going to take this thing nice and slow, and we're going to go at the pace that you set, not at the pace I said.
So what does it look like for you today, brother? What does a win look like on this call?
What brings you. What brings you here to talk to me?
What would you like to accomplish in the next hour? Together?
Yeah, I'm not telling him anything. I'm just asking.
[00:58:56] Speaker A: Yeah, you're opening up the.
[00:58:58] Speaker B: I'm just asking questions.
He'll. He'll guide. He'll guide the conversation.
[00:59:07] Speaker A: And what misconceptions about veteran transitions do you encounter? And how is Veterans Future foundation working to change the narrative around what veterans bring to communities and workplaces?
[00:59:22] Speaker B: Here's the biggest. Here's the biggest that I've seen and that I talk with our guys and gals about all the time.
The media and others have painted a picture that by virtue of their service, they are broken.
Because of what many of them have seen or have done or have endured or have encountered that they are broken.
We don't believe in that at all.
Then neither do the men and women that I am so honored and blessed to work with every day.
There's nothing about the American veteran that is broken. They are the most resilient group of people in this entire country.
They are our country's greatest asset.
Hands down, they are our country's greatest asset.
And so that is the biggest misconception and narrative that we work to shatter every time that we get together. Every time I have a chance to talk to somebody who is not familiar with the veteran space or the work that we do, anytime I speak to a potential employer.
This is the most adaptive, resilient population that this country has to offer. Always has been, always will be.
Hands down, there's nothing about this population that is broken. All of us, civilians, military alike, we've all endured struggle. We've all endured hard times.
Right.
Most of the men and women I work with, they do not want to be fed the narrative that they are broken.
[01:01:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:01:02] Speaker B: At all.
Right.
[01:01:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:01:07] Speaker B: All of us, all of us could use work.
Right.
All of us are work in progress. All of us have flaws and areas that we can improve upon.
But to tell a man or woman who has just sacrificed part of their life for this country that by virtue of that service, that they are broken because of what they've seen or done in their life or in service.
[01:01:32] Speaker A: No.
[01:01:33] Speaker B: That's the biggest misconception that we. That we work to shatter every day.
They are the best that this country has to offer. Hands down.
[01:01:45] Speaker A: Awesome.
Okay. And I was gonna kind of see if we can discuss role quick on.
You know, you mentioned some questions in the behind closed doors discussion. Do you mind if I bring up those questions real quick to talk about on the podcast? So I was just going to go over the. Who am I spending time with? What am I consuming? What am I allowing?
[01:02:12] Speaker B: Yeah, all three really important questions that we should be asking ourselves regularly if, especially if we're, if we're, if we find a place of sort of stagnation or regression in our life. Those are three really quick internal audits that we can ask ourselves that if we're prepared for the honest answers when we ask, they can point us in a really, really good direction.
[01:02:37] Speaker A: Okay.
Yeah. And so, yeah. And on a more just real quick, personal, kind of random note, what's something unexpected you'd learned about yourself for veterans through this work that some surprised you?
[01:02:53] Speaker B: Oh, love that question.
I tell people all the time that working with this population has changed my life, professionally and personally.
On the personal side of the house, what I've learned from working with this population and the gifts that they have given me, probably the, the two biggest is one, they have welcomed me into the community once I earned it, which is an amazing gift.
And the second thing that they've taught me is that I am far more resilient in every area of my life than I had given myself credit for in the past.
[01:03:39] Speaker A: Okay, so you, you were far more resilient yourself than you giving yourself credit for.
[01:03:48] Speaker B: And, and they've challenged that. And, and they've given me that gift. Yeah, it's.
It's amazing.
[01:03:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
Yeah. And do you ever find sometimes that you get feedback from others in your communities that you do realize sometimes.
And I feel this for you, it's like, yeah, sometimes we don't give ourselves enough credit sometimes. But, you know, and I don't know if it's a society driven thing, it's like a guilt thing if we try to embrace that. But it's awesome that, you know, you're hearing that and getting that from your community.
[01:04:25] Speaker B: Are you asking me if I, I hear that from them? Like,
[01:04:31] Speaker A: kind of. Well, just in a sense. Like for instance, I had a guest on, on one of my podcasts and later on he, he built up my confidence a little bit, I would say more than I give myself credit for. Kind of like you're saying, which I think is important and you know, to kind of remember just to give you that little boost sometimes that we need. Mental boost, I would call it almost.
[01:05:00] Speaker B: Yeah. I think one of the things that they absolutely do for me is they are constant reminder that the work that I'm doing is the work that I'm supposed to be doing.
[01:05:11] Speaker A: Yeah, that's awesome.
[01:05:13] Speaker B: That's probably. That's probably the most honest way I can.
I can frame it.
[01:05:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
Well, Johnny, I just. I am feel like this conversation was awesome and I feel like.
[01:05:27] Speaker B: Thank you.
[01:05:28] Speaker A: Everybody who listened today. Obviously is going to know more about Veterans Future Foundation. If you didn't know anything before, even more. Awesome.
And if you want to, quickly, Johnny, do you want to share with everybody how they could reach out or get in touch with you or Veterans Future Foundation?
[01:05:45] Speaker B: Yeah, that would. That would be awesome. Thank you. Yeah, we're easy to find on social media, Veterans Future.
And I would also really encourage you guys to check out the dirt Therapy project, which is very easy to find on socials as well, even just a general search.
And also check out, uhp, Unlock Human Potential.
And if you want to reach out to me, you can go right to our. Our website, www.VeteransFuture.org, and it'll show you how to connect with me directly.
[01:06:21] Speaker A: Awesome.
[01:06:23] Speaker B: All right, well, thanks so much for. Thanks so much for having me. It was a lot of fun.
[01:06:26] Speaker A: Yeah. Thank you. And just tell everybody, as always, ciao.
[01:06:31] Speaker B: Thank you so much.
[01:06:32] Speaker A: All right.
