RALLY POINT 53

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Scraps, rally pointers, fun in, good afternoon and morning, wherever

(01:06):
you're going to be in the world today, across the world.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
This is James the starchiming with Amena Maciato Mecano here
with you at the rally point. And of course we
have the man behind the microphone zaying the brain.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
How are we doing today?

Speaker 4 (01:19):
Folks being good, loving life.

Speaker 3 (01:21):
And folks, welcome.

Speaker 4 (01:23):
Back to our segment positively caffeinated with the one and
only Dane Boiled, a life coach and trainer. Hi, Daying,
good morning.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
Good morning, everybody, morning, morning.

Speaker 5 (01:34):
May Before we start, can we all take a sip
of coffee? It just sounds like a good idea.

Speaker 4 (01:37):
To me, take a sip of something. It might not
be coffee, it's water. It's water, to be fair.

Speaker 5 (01:43):
If I have water, we're gonna buy talking about that
today too. So there's a reason I use the Little
Boys room all day. There's a protein shake on my death,
there's coffee, and there's water.

Speaker 4 (01:53):
That's me. In the morning, I do like lemon juice,
like just the juice of a lemon and a cup,
and then I have my coffee, which is mushroom coffee.
And then I drink water pretty much all day, so
I'm with you on that.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Well, I'm having a flashback right now, America. Have you
hear the word caffeine. That's a cue to take a
drinking your.

Speaker 4 (02:10):
Coffee cup, correct, which I already did in abundance, because
my coffee cups. I don't know about y'all, but like,
I think those little coffee cups are really cute, but
they're horribly inadequate for my needs. And so my coffee
mugs are usually like sixteen to twenty four ouncers, no problem.
And my kids are like, Mom, why is your coffee

(02:31):
cup so much bigger than like a coffee cup? Though
in So's house, I'm like, cause Mom's got needs, Dude,
I don't know what to tell you. Mom needs a
little bit of extra help waking up in the morning.

Speaker 5 (02:42):
That's funny, but you're not. You're drinking out of Grandma's
tea set right Like back in the day, we have
mega Mega.

Speaker 4 (02:49):
Cup exactly, Yeah, now we do for sure, Like my
dad used to have a little it's like an Italian
and if you're Italian and you're listening, I'm gonna butcher this.
But whatever, if it's called like a dema tassa or
some it's like a very small coffee cup, extremely small,
like for espresso. And my dad used to drink coffee
out of that thing maybe had like and that was
considered a big one for Italy, but it was maybe

(03:10):
like three ounces at best, and he'd just drink like
three of those in the morning. Black coffee too, black,
like his soul. I love my father, he's great, but
he definitely drinks his coffee black. No sugar, no, no.
I'm like that to me, is like that just steals
the joy out of coffee. I'm kind of one of
those like would you like a little coffee with your

(03:31):
creamer and your honey type of gal So wow again.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
A second trigger right there. We drink coffee to stay away,
not for taste.

Speaker 4 (03:39):
Oh well, I was gonna say, if you can't, if
you can't see sounds after you drink coffee, what's the
point there?

Speaker 3 (03:45):
You go.

Speaker 4 (03:46):
That's how I feel about it. If you can't hear
colors and see sounds, it just doesn't does not make
sense that the saying goes that dog don't hunt.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
Oh boy.

Speaker 5 (03:57):
Back in the day, I'm sorry sorry to interrupt, It
was definitely all about saying a wait, for sure, if
I add very little to my coffee to this.

Speaker 4 (04:03):
Day, oh wow, well god bless you all for that.
I still got to enjoy the go I'd be like,
where's where's the creamer, where's the snickers for the candy
bar flavored.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
Or whatever sugar pack coffee?

Speaker 4 (04:15):
Right, I would say I was definitely. I was definitely
Air Force Medical, and I'm okay with that. We had standards, Yes,
we had standards. There was good coffee in the good
creamer in the fridge in the break room. That's just
how we rolled back in.

Speaker 3 (04:30):
A day in the field and have time to have.

Speaker 4 (04:32):
It nice and s oh no, you had to hope.
It was even more. We just stuck if we were
out in the field, sometimes we just stuck the grounds
under our tongue and kept it moving pretty much.

Speaker 3 (04:42):
Yeah, wow, another trigger.

Speaker 5 (04:44):
That's about I was.

Speaker 4 (04:44):
Going to say, I think that's about as hardcore as
it yet.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
Old fashioned lipper annoy it. I don't con zone tobacco,
but coffee grounds.

Speaker 4 (04:51):
Coffee grounds under the tongue. Man.

Speaker 3 (04:52):
We that's a trip. That's a fast trip.

Speaker 5 (04:57):
We dug.

Speaker 4 (04:58):
Hey, it did the job, haven't it got you through
the day?

Speaker 2 (05:01):
Amen, for sure, for sure, So tell us what get
going on in your negative woods there any programs? Are
things going on in Texas?

Speaker 5 (05:10):
Yeah? So, I mean it's even beyond Texas. So I'm
blessed you coach virtually and as we speak, it's right
after the big holiday break, and then it's Black Friday,
and it's Cyber Monday, and then depending on the age
of your kids, it's you know, choir practices, and it's
who knows. There's so much going on in so many things.
So I was like, what can I do? What can

(05:31):
we do to not get overwhelmed during the holiday season?
And sometimes it's about again, it's so we set like
caffeine fix, right, you got to just do it, get
through it, and move on. And then all of a
sudden it's gonna be New Year's resolutions. We'll talk about
that next month, et cetera. But I was like, what
are seven things? I created seven things, and I think
we can do most days of the week. And I
say most days. And I believe I said this before.

(05:53):
You know, if a coach, if we set out to
do something every single day, and I'm just going to
ask you set up to do something every single day,
are you most likely to do that or potentially fail?

Speaker 4 (06:04):
A few times a week, I will potentially fail. And
the first time I fall off the wagon, it's like
a perpetual tuck and roll. Like it's not like get
up and get back on, it's like one day. It's
like I missed one day whatever crime example. So I've
been trying to get back into more of a workout routine,
and I was doing really well up until yesterday. I decided,

(06:25):
you know, I'll give myself a day of rest. I'll
exercise my rest muscle. Right, So now today I have
to get back up and get back on that wagon.
And I'm like, I'm fighting it. I'm like mentally, I'm
like a halfy this happy this, I have this, but
you know, my body is like, you don't have to,
it's cool. So yeah, So routines, like even for being
in the military for twenty years, when that routine's not

(06:48):
a you have to or the boogeyman of your careers
in dangers, breathing down your neck, everything else is optional.
I'm like, I'm still part of the check of the
month club. All I gotta do is keep breathing. It
makes it really hard. I will absolutely admit that has
probably been a really hard thing for me, is maintaining
routines like that.

Speaker 5 (07:08):
I you know, as a kid, we fought that our
folks for creating maybe nighttime routines or baths on routines.
But the older we get and those of us that
have raised children to realize that routine is so important
and it's so important absolutely well. And then the first
mindset for me or that I challenge everybody and so
I don't have to I get to agreed.

Speaker 4 (07:26):
I took that from you. You helped me with that
a lot as I was retiring. My gosh, four years ago.
Isn't that crazy? How time flies like that?

Speaker 5 (07:33):
But long ago?

Speaker 4 (07:34):
I retired four years ago. Yeah, yes, and we've known
each other for six almost seven years. That's crazy. So
but note Dane started telling me, Sarge. He was like,
you know, he posted something on Facebook one time, but
then we talked about it. After that. You can say
I have to go, I have to do this, blah blah,
but he's like, if you reframe it around, I get you,

(07:56):
and that helps you with more of a gratitude mindset.
And the thing that I love is like where we
live here in Charlotte County, Florida. It's beautiful. So like
when I'm driving over bridges and looking out at Charlotte
Harbor or driving over to you know, a little Gasparilla,
Boca Grun, I'm like, if my kids are in the
car with me, I'm like, y'all we get to live here?

(08:16):
Like how cool is this?

Speaker 1 (08:18):
You know?

Speaker 4 (08:18):
And it does? It changes your whole perspective to think
I get to you versus a half.

Speaker 5 (08:23):
It truly changes your perspective. What are your thoughts on
that charge?

Speaker 2 (08:27):
Well, I can only say this, I mentally projected myself
ten years ago to here because to get to here,
I knew how to accomplish certain things. And I completely
understand the need to. I have to pass my PT
test and already get promoted or go to the next
level my job. I keep my job, and I never
want to be those people on the sideline going oof

(08:49):
remedial PT.

Speaker 3 (08:51):
Nope.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
I'm thankful that my routine I've kind of given built
in a built It has a built in break time,
three days on, two days off, one day, two days,
three days on, one day off, so it rotates throughout
the week. And sometimes you know, I have that I'm
feeling extra story today. I'll pick it up tomorrow. I
got two days off and then, you know, everyone knows

(09:12):
growth in your body begins when it's at rest, so
I pay the price anytime I exude that those time periods.
If you're going to play, you gotta pay for it,
So pay ahead.

Speaker 4 (09:24):
Yeah, you're really good about sticking to that schedule for sure.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
Well I'm stuck to Uh. I think my body becomes
so used to the routine that I have to It
moderates my blood pressure and if I miss a miss
a week, it goes triple digit.

Speaker 3 (09:37):
So oh wow, I'm just I'm stuck. Life is. I
think of my body at a car, the barrier treat
your card along your last right.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
And I've seen people and I don't know if it's
had this moment when you're out seeing some of your
high school college buddies, same amount of times past, and
either they say, oh you haven't changed the bit and
I'm fortunate you can't return that same compliment, and you go, oh, yes, you.

Speaker 4 (10:00):
Great, even if you can recognize them. There's some people
that I went to high school with that i'd like
I go home to visit my dad still lives in
the city that I grew up in, Virginia Beach, and
I go home sometimes and I'll be out in public
and it's like you have these weird deja vous moments
where you see somebody and you're like, ink, I know you,
but I'm not sure, and it's like, I'm almost positive

(10:21):
some of those people are people I went to high
school with that I can't recognize.

Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yes, and I'm thankful for And I say, this is
joining the Army was a worse mistake. I love to
death because it provided me a discipline and a routine
that I would not.

Speaker 3 (10:34):
Have picked up.

Speaker 1 (10:34):
Then.

Speaker 4 (10:34):
It wasn't a mistake. I tell people the Air Force
is the greatest snap decision I ever made. And people
thought I was crazy. I did. I walked in the
recruiter's office and I was like, I'm not gonna I've
told this story before. I was like, this was January
of two thousand and one, and I was like, no,
I'm going to go in after labor day? Should you
do the math? When that would have been crazy? So

(10:55):
I was like, I'm going to go in after labor day.
I want one more summer with some of my friends
who graduated after me or whatever, and the recruiters like
I would not do that. He's like, you gotta end
up getting a ticket or get pregnant or something's gonna happen.
You're not gonna be able to go in. And I'm
like nah. I was like, I don't. He don't put
that on me. But I was like, I'll be there.
So I went home and it was the weirdest thing,

(11:16):
like just stuff kept coming up that would just irritate
me to no end or frustrate me to the point
that no kidding. The same week, I walked right back
in the recruiter's office and I said, I'll give you
six years of my life, just get me out of here.
He was like what, And like less than a week later,
I was Blacklan bound on my way to San Antonio So's.
It was the greatest snap decision I ever made. So

(11:37):
I would dare say that, like maybe the Army wasn't
really a mistake for you, but it was definitely like
one of those decisions that you kind of wondered about
that ended up becoming a blessing, even though initially you
might have been wondering what did I get myself into?
I think we all do that though all said it
basic training, going what did I do?

Speaker 3 (11:56):
I'm like that I do here.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
One of the worst things I got during camp, during
actually boot camp, is when I received letters from home
and people like you know, John showing pictures of beers
and I'm sitting there at FTX at watching the base.
I'm going, what in sweet God that I do to myself?
And I'm going, you know what, They're going to be
there in fifteen years doing the same thing, and you're
going to be somewhere else.

Speaker 4 (12:17):
Better, doing something different.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
I was sticking in that story because let me tell
you something, fifteen years later, they're still there doing the
same thing. I show up once in a while, but
I have more skills and abilities than they.

Speaker 3 (12:29):
They're stuck.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
I mean they're not stuck, but the options have opened
up for us veteran see the average.

Speaker 6 (12:34):
Person for sure.

Speaker 4 (12:35):
Yeah, some folks, their lives don't change, really, And I
mean that's all. It's a matter of perspective. It's a
matter of choice. I mean, I also know people who
still live in the same town I grew up in
and they're flourishing because they made the decision to continually
move themselves forward and do things to make themselves, you know,
better or give themselves a better quality of life. But
I've also seen some people who, just like you said,

(12:57):
it's been twenty something years and they're they're kind of
essentially doing the same thing.

Speaker 3 (13:01):
Right, coach, Oh god, I'm getting.

Speaker 5 (13:08):
Time.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
By the way, still for the actually segue into a
conversation for those people who aren't veteran and they want
to have an opportunity to change your life, would you
recommend them trying to kind of ignite that kind of
fire within them to start that change.

Speaker 5 (13:22):
And again we go back to I don't have to,
I get to and then literally there's some things that
I think you can do each and every day to
do that. And it's about setting that routine. It's about
setting that intention and it can it's as simple. We
go all the way back to talking about setting an
alarm or not setting alarm, right, choosing a setting that
schedule to get up in the morning and when to

(13:43):
go to bed at night, because you control that even
if you work late, right, you get to decide if
you're going to scroll TikTok Instagram, if you're doing Snapchat,
whatever you're doing, you control that turn it off. I
try to get people to go to bed at ten,
but then it depends on what time you need to
get up in the morning or you walk to get
up in the morning. I mentioned this on one of
our earlier podcasts. Remember when you hit that snooze button,

(14:05):
it'stuff right, So get your butt out of bed, Get
out of bed. Nol Robin says, you know it's that
countdown five, four, three two one picture feet on the floor.
If my dogs sleep in my room, and if my
wife is listening, I remind all the time I went
more than fifty years without a damn dog in my bed,
and I have the dog's in my bed and that's
not going to change. But if the alarm, if I

(14:26):
do like a man is said, oftentimes I wake up
before the alarm goes off. But when the alarm goes off,
the dogs are ready, right, They're ready to go, whether
it's to go outside, use the bathroom, to have their food,
have their water. That's where I would start, and that
I challenge everybody. Get outside. I let's say that again,
get outside.

Speaker 4 (14:42):
Go touch go ahead of course, I said, go touch grass.

Speaker 5 (14:47):
Which we also talked about before. And here's the thing
I had an intern years ago when I was running
a hospital based fit in the center, and she said,
you say the same thing every day. Guess what that's
you didn't learn how to march on the first day?
How many times did you get yelled at by the
drill instructor? And we screwed up? We didn't about face,
we didn't left turnt whatever. Right, it is repetition. And

(15:10):
I also, I'm pretty sure my parents told me things
over and over that it took me forever to listen to.
And I know I told my kids. So it is
that repetition and truths are truth. Touch grass, get outside
field the sun. Bundle up. If you live in Michigan
or Maine or wherever.

Speaker 4 (15:23):
Oh, if you live in southwest Florida, bundle up. Are
you kidding? It was like forty four degrees this morning
for us. That's cold, y'all.

Speaker 5 (15:29):
Can do you want myself all the time with that too?
In Texas?

Speaker 4 (15:33):
Yes, exactly. A temperature shift is a temperature shift. Forty
fifty degrees makes a difference.

Speaker 5 (15:38):
Okay, you can't see me sitting with a beanie on
and a sweater in my house, right.

Speaker 4 (15:43):
I was to say, I'm sitting here in a fleece
myself and wearing boots.

Speaker 3 (15:46):
Boots, boots.

Speaker 4 (15:47):
Wow, cold enough, you know if boots come out, if
the hey dudes get put away and the boots come out,
you know it's cold.

Speaker 5 (15:55):
Yep, Texas going out is a hoodie of beanie jeans
and flip flops.

Speaker 4 (15:59):
Right, but yeah, so many people here, Like I was
so pleasantly surprised and yet also pleased to find out
that flip flops are considered appropriate business professional clothing here
in southwest Florida. Wonderful in right, But yeah, but you're
right going back to you know, the things, the decisions

(16:20):
we make and the things that we do. Repetition is
definitely a piece of the puzzle. The consistency, And I
think that's something that a lot of people struggle with,
whether you're a veteran or non veteran or I mean,
I know people on active duty. Heck, I was one
of them that struggled with consistency, like consistently doing the
same thing, setting a routine and making it that way.

(16:41):
Like I admired and slightly envied the people who were
creatures of habit because I was like, man, they want
to be like you. When I gw up. It was.
It was pretty cool to see, you know. But then
some of them would be like, well, I kind of
wish I wasn't like this because it gets a little
repetitive and boring, and I'm like, yeah, but you're consistent.
Pretty cool, and I.

Speaker 5 (16:58):
Think so that pro most of us that have built consistency.
It's practice. I didn't wake up and decide I'd really
like to get up at four o'clock in the morning,
you know, blah blah blah. But I knew that it
would work for me. I thought it would work for me.
And then when I didn't want to do it, like
I said, I stopped hitting this news button. I was
a snooze or doo. You know. All the things that
I try to teach, whether it's getting outside or setting

(17:20):
me wake up and to go to bed schedule, and
all these things are things that I felt like I needed,
and then I also studied and learned the benefits of them.
And now as I talk to you, it's years of
doing things. But we have to start with.

Speaker 4 (17:33):
Day one exactly. And then if you fall off the
wagon and do that perpetual tuck and roll, matter of
starting again at that one day one whatever that looked
like muscle memories.

Speaker 5 (17:43):
I think that's muscle memory exactly, Sard. I think the key,
that's the key of having a coach in a community.
If we could all do it on our own, wouldn't
we be doing that on our.

Speaker 3 (17:51):
Own exactly right?

Speaker 4 (17:52):
But I do think to some degree the beauty of
coaching is having that personal accountability and knowing that you
have someone to kind of not necessarily answer to, but
just somebody to be accountable to other than yourself. You
have somebody else who's going to point out things that
maybe you're aware of but you don't want to admit
to yourself, or those blind spots, or you know, whatever

(18:13):
the case might be. Having a coach is I think
helpful in that regard, because then it's not just about
you holding you accountable. It's about you and somebody else
as a team holding you accountable exactly.

Speaker 5 (18:24):
And even within our community we have community goals, and
then I think in general we don't want to and
you're probably not really going to let them down, but
we feel internally we're going to let the team down
if we don't you x or this morning I get
a message and said, hey, have you heard from so
and so in our community. I'm like, I have not,
but guess what, She's also on my list today to
reach out to personally. I reach out all the time anyway,

(18:45):
but specifically instead of sending a text when I'm going
and I'm going to rock after this call is, I'm
always like, hey, so and so with a video, just
thinking of you today, checking on you, making sure you're okay.
Is there anything I can do to help you? Support you?
And I don't know what happens over the holiday weekend.
Do they get to fight with their kins, then they
have to work. I don't really know, but then it
gives us them notes that their coach, their community are

(19:06):
aware of who they are. And we all want to
be seen. We all want to be heard and cared for.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
Most definitely, especially with our older veterans. I will say
that we've practiced the battle buddy system. They don't either
their children are older and have their own lives spinning,
or they don't have any kids and they're by themselves
and lost of spouse. One of the local organizations we
have here make it a point to make sure we
keep tabs on some of our veterans because we're hitting
that quarter of the year that you know, people feel

(19:33):
isolated because people are with other families and they're by themselves,
and we tend to digress and kind of shrink inward,
which I think is kind of unhealthy during this time
of the year. And Coach I would say that that's
why we kind of practice the battle buddy principle. If
you're going to do something, do it in pairs, because,
like you just mentioned, I'm less likely to fail if
I think if I fail, it'll affect my battle. If

(19:55):
I fail only affects me. And when you have two
people involved into a program or a process, you're just
you're gonna support one another through the tough times.

Speaker 3 (20:02):
And that's inevitable. We're all gonna have tough times sooner
or later.

Speaker 5 (20:05):
For sure. And I love the whole nature of the
battle buddy. It's just as big and we pick each
other up right, just like you said, We're gonna have
highs and lows, and those of us that have lived
long enough we know that life isn't just hitting puppy
dogs right and rainbows. It's hard yes and getting shine
lovely poppy go ahead.

Speaker 4 (20:23):
That's just singing that old Leslie Gore song where she's
like sunshine lollipops in rainbows something I don't know. I
don't know all the words, but that's the song I
always think of when I think of that kind of thing.
I'm actually old enough to remember who Leslie Gore is. See,
I'm an old soul, so I know who all the
older folks are. And that's not a bad thing, not

(20:44):
at all.

Speaker 5 (20:45):
That's great. But you know, whether it's getting outside, you know,
getting that fresh air, setting that alarm, checking out your
battle buddy, having a coach, having a community, being connected
to something bigger than yourself. And that's what I've seen
for most of us that have served, we always wanted
to be something much bigger or serves as something that
was bigger than just coach Dane or Sarge or Amanda.

(21:05):
Was always something bigger exactly. And even having your battle buddy,
it's I mean, I I've done training before and in
my part of Texas every now and then, it'll get
in the teens in twenties and we were were training
for say one hundred mile bike ride, which by the way,
is the equivalent of running a marathon, and it'll be
twenty seven degrees and it's it's the feather sucks. But

(21:26):
you know why I showed up because somebody else was
waiting for me. That's otherwise I had just gone right
back into the warmhouse and.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
Coach for our listeners who might want to reach out
to you and get get exposed to some of your material.

Speaker 3 (21:39):
Where can I.

Speaker 5 (21:40):
Find you at absolutely so, Dame Boiled d n E
O y i'll e dot com as my website. There's
blog posts, there's a way to sign up for email.
You can actually email me directly at Dane d an
e at Daneboil dot com and I personally will answer you.
Those are probably the two easiest one. And I have
a holiday checklist that I which some of the things
that I just talked to up. If you're just looking

(22:01):
for some way to stay accountable, and you can actually
join our online community per absolutly free for the month.
All you have to do is click on that and
it actually says, please join our Facebook group and we
will help keep you accountable and connected in coaching in
the community and not just surviving the holidays, but thriving
throughout the holidays.

Speaker 4 (22:18):
Very cool, and where can people find your your group
on Facebook?

Speaker 5 (22:22):
Yeah? So if you go to Trailblazers, that's the one
that I want people in. When it says how did
you hear from me? Say that you heard it on
the rally point and I'll let you in because we
are selective and to be honest with you, people ask
to join all the time and we don't let everybody
in as a special invite only Facebook group.

Speaker 4 (22:38):
Got it? Okay? So if they just search trail Blazers
they'll be able to find it. Or do they need
to search like Trailblazers Dane Boil for it to pop up.

Speaker 5 (22:46):
Well, if you do both of those, put my name
in trailblazer. But does it really says Trailblazers plural with
an F because obviously there's an NBA team out in Portland,
the Portland trail Blazers that are ours. Ours is different.
So if you put the word Trailblazers group and my
name Dna Boyl E and you you should be able
to find us.

Speaker 4 (23:04):
Very cool. Well, thanks so much for being on and
helping us do another segment of Positively Caffeinated with Dane Boyle.
We appreciate you, Dane.

Speaker 5 (23:13):
I absolutely love it. It's a great start to the
day for sure. I appreciate y'all.

Speaker 4 (23:17):
Agreed, we'll see you next month.

Speaker 3 (23:19):
We appreciate you and caffeinate audio.

Speaker 4 (23:21):
Yes, sir, all right. This segment today is a follow up.
If you've been listening to the Rally Point Show for
some time, you'll recall that we had j Morales, the
co founder of the fifty Mile March based out of Omaha,
on our show. The Fifty Mile March Foundation and Powers
of Veterans. We're facing mental health challenges and homelessness by
fostering a community of hope and relentless support, and we

(23:44):
talked about how they do this through an annual fifty
mile March. Just the name says it all. So good morning, Jay,
welcome back to the show. Thanks for coming on.

Speaker 6 (23:53):
I appreciate you guys following with our journey and allowing
us to share our story.

Speaker 4 (23:57):
Excited to be on today, absolutely so.

Speaker 2 (24:00):
So.

Speaker 4 (24:00):
We know that you started this fifty mile March in
twenty twenty with a team of like five people and
it has just blossomed exponentially to where this year was
quite a success, and so we wanted to have you
back on the show to discuss how this year's march
went and what some of the outcomes were from that,

(24:22):
as well as what's the future of the fifty mile March,
because you have a lot of goals, like the goal
was to have a veterans village of sorts on a
parcel of land that you own in Omaha, in that area,
and that you wanted to be able to provide a
pathway for homeless veterans to go from homeless to reintegrating

(24:44):
them back into society as you know, employed, better educated,
better adapted, you know, strong pillars of the community. Once again,
So tell us about all of that.

Speaker 6 (24:57):
Yeah, so that's a lot to unpack. Let's start from
the beginning. So twenty twenty until twenty twenty four has
been definitely a journey. It's five missions, right total. We
just completed the last one August. In August, and I'll
tell you a lot of great learn lessons. But more so,
we raised so far this year six hundred and fifty eight.

(25:20):
Some of it's on the online giving and some of
it's just corporate sponsorship that you can see. But what
we figure out a few things. First of all, we
had one hundred and fifty participants this year. It was
very hard it was one hundred three degrees. It was
definitely a trial and a tribulation. We had the largest
convoy ever, the largest support crew ever. We had two

(25:43):
ambulances with us, we had true medics with us, one
on infield doctor. We had a crew that was media.
So we treated this like it was truly a deployment.
So the things that we've learned, Growing fast is not

(26:04):
where we are headed. We're going to grow gradually, and
i'd call it a gradual growth. Last year was our
biggest spike in growth, but it's safe to say that
going forward, we're truly learning what it's like to find
out people who are committed versus interested, and we kind
of discover covered that before interested. It's very interesting. But

(26:28):
the commitment that this mission takes, the commitment that that
you know that twenty four to thirty hours takes the
people involved, is really an undertaking. So we have heightened
our requirements to join us in our mission. From a
walker's standpoint, right, one hundred and fifty people down in

(26:50):
open road is very challenging and every life is important.
We don't want an injury, we don't want an accident,
we don't even want you know, car on car if
you would, long story short, our qualifier is going to
be a little more difficult. Our fundraising requirements are going

(27:12):
to be a little more stringent because we have so
much demand now that we truly have to not take
everyone for the sake of growing. We've got to find
the ones that are truly committed to the mission. So
hopefully that that covers that part. It was a success.
We did have twelve people fall out, but at one

(27:33):
hundred and three degrees, you could, you wonder, And again
most of them are precautionary. Hey, let's just the doctors
would make the call and say, listen, looks like you
can't go on. Some people had blisters, some people had
heat exhaustion, but no one was really heat stroking or

(27:53):
there were no severe cases of you know, anything debilitating.

Speaker 4 (27:57):
It was just more to err on the side of
say see and in the best interest of their recovery.

Speaker 6 (28:03):
Yes, yes, and we want to make sure that this
should be fun too, right, This is truly not a deployment,
but we treat it like one. Safety again, zero accidents,
knock on wood. We just have operations down to a
science now, if you would, so on to the next

(28:25):
we have a lot of cash on hand, right, we
have a lot of fundraised money. So as we speak,
we have two parcels of land that we are under
due diligence for. What that means is we have a
letter of intent out. We're examining both. We're running our surveys,
we're running are but either one is going to land

(28:49):
in our lap and they're both great properties. More to
come on that, but we've been good stewards with our money.
We hand it out fifty thousand at our gap to
local nonprofits. As you know in our bylaws, whatever ten
percent is that we raise, we always help smaller local

(29:11):
nonprofits flourish. Right, it's through a grant making process. It's
a full application. So we're still going strong there. We
want people to know that we never forgot where we
came from. We used to just give all the money away,
you know, traditionally in first year and second year, third year,
you know, knowing that we have this momentum, we were

(29:33):
creating that community of relentless hope, right, the community of.

Speaker 4 (29:36):
Hope and wonderful it's kind.

Speaker 6 (29:39):
Of a veteran.

Speaker 4 (29:41):
Oh, go ahead, I didn't mean to interrupt you, but
I was just going to say it. It's a wonderful
mentality when it's like we want everybody to win, we
want everybody to cross the finish line. And that's not
just literally with the folks that you have marching in
fifty Mile March, but also your community partners as well.
You want to help bring them closer to their goals.
That's that's admirable.

Speaker 6 (30:01):
Absolutely, And you know, we are vetting these institutions because
at the end of the day, you know, it's it's
easy just to hand out money, but we want to
know where we are investing this money. We want to
know what you're doing with it, right, And there are
some organizations that overlap that we shake their hand and

(30:22):
we say, you know, we we salute you and your mission,
join us, you know. And there's there's other organizations that
are are in line with what we do but do
not overlap, you know, and we and we give them grants,
and we're just trying to be really good stewards. We
have a lot of momentum, a lot of eyes towards us,
and just a lot of people who want to volunteer.

(30:42):
So that's what we've noticed there lately.

Speaker 4 (30:45):
Absolutely, And there's I mean there's nothing wrong with wanting
to make sure that everything is transparent. That you know,
it makes sense that things are accounted for just for
the sake of being accountable to the people who gave
their money to support the cause.

Speaker 3 (31:01):
Absolutely, go.

Speaker 6 (31:06):
Oh no, go ahead, go ahead, I'm ready.

Speaker 3 (31:08):
For my apologies. Jay. This is the storage here.

Speaker 2 (31:11):
This will have a quick reintroduction for those listeners who
aren't familiar. Could you reintroduce your program who you are,
your experience of the military, and what your function and
what you guys really do and what your mission is.

Speaker 3 (31:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (31:24):
So the fifty Mile March was started in twenty twenty
as a promise to myself and to God. When I
got out of the Air Force after ten years in
nineteen ninety eight, I went to a bad divorce and
times were it was really tough back then, and I
isolated myself, found myself homeless and wanted to take my
life a couple of times, you know, And that's where

(31:48):
I think the story really resonates with a lot of people.
I want people to know that there is help out there,
there is hope, there are people who really truly care,
and isolation is bad for everyone. So you know, when
when when we created this mission. I just said, hey,
I said to my wife. I said, hey, babe, I'm
gonna walk fifty miles. And she said for what I said,

(32:09):
you know, I'm going to raise twenty five hundred for veterans.
This was in COVID And she goes, okay, she goes,
just know that if you don't raise that, you know,
you should probably plan on writing that check yourself. I said, yeah,
I hope I raise it. And we raised you know,
twenty something thousand that first year. So yeah, and we
just gave it away. But now the mission is to
create a community of affordable homes. You know, we stay

(32:32):
away from the tiny homeword now because that's such a
bad word. Yeah, we say affordable homes, a community center,
a place that veterans and civilians can get together and
support one another, you know, primarily for the struggling veterans
who suffer from you know, mental health issues and PTSC
and homelessness. You know. There's many great institutions around, but this,

(32:58):
on this campus, if you will, or this Operation home Base,
if you would, we're going to have a Veterans Alliance.
We started it about four months ago. The Veterans Alliance
is approximately fifty to sixty organization that align with our mission.
Some serve civilian, some serve military. But what we're doing
is we're calling all the arms together, we're collecting all

(33:20):
the data, and we're saying who does what in Omaha
that way? And what's funny is we found this outside
that people don't talk. Organizations, nonprofits don't correct.

Speaker 4 (33:30):
They all run in different directions and duplicate effort needlessly
because they don't talk.

Speaker 6 (33:34):
Agree yes, yes. And I'll give you, Amanda, I'll give
you a great example. You know, somebody said, hey, there's
a veteran out there they need help. Can someone venmo mean,
I'll venmo the veteran. Now, we trust this person, you
know who she is. But there's organizations out there to help.
And we don't have to keep this, you know, under
one person's watch, Like, let's get them to the right people,

(33:56):
to the right organizations so they can get to help
that they.

Speaker 3 (33:58):
Need most definitely.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
And one of the things that we found, especially here
in Florida, I know how it is an Omaha that
we have like a very let's say transient population, but
we have a lot of people migrating in and out.
And one of the things I've noticed here is that
we have a lot of veterans from out of state
that by hookbrook, trained by foot, by bus, find their
way traveling. And I stay trying to find kind of
solidity in a home base. And that's what makes your

(34:22):
project so invaluable. You provide that from basically grassroots up,
and that's something that we as a veteran community need
to kind of wrap around and kind of kind of
model attribute. So I say thank you very much for
you average Jay well, and.

Speaker 6 (34:37):
I appreciate that. And one thing that we've figured out
is the fifty Mile March has become a movement. Okay,
so even before this community of hope, even before this
piece of land, even before four walls and a roof right,
people have already started to heal. People are connecting with others,
people are coming out of the woodwork of hey me too,
I'd like to join you, and hey my sisters brother

(35:00):
needs help. And we've just the fifty mile March. Our
model has been very visible. So you see all these
other organizations, which are great, they're doing well, But what
organization do you know that annually takes a fifty mile
trek or half of Nebraska season, that's crazy. I mean
people from out of state. We had Ryan from Tip
of the Spear here. We had John Berry, our honorary

(35:23):
commander you know, a couple of years back. It's just
so many names or iconic names from that the Veteran
Space have joined us to put more light on the mission.

Speaker 4 (35:32):
So I have a question for you, Jay. For people
who are listening who are maybe in other parts of
the country, maybe outside of Omaha, outside of southwest Florida,
and they are part of a veteran based organization or
something like that, if they are looking to not necessarily
like duplicate, but just kind of emulate your program. Is
that something that you can kind of share or is

(35:55):
there room in the Veterans Alliance for groups that are
from out of hound to kind of join in or
even try to emulate portions of that program in their backyard.

Speaker 6 (36:04):
Yeah. So our Veteran Alliance meets physically four times a
year and four times virtually, so that's a total of
eight meetings. If you're out of town, you may miss some, obviously,
but we try to patch everyone in via technology. We
want people to see our model on why it's working,
on why we're able to collect funds, running lean logistics,

(36:25):
you know, still running a very low payroll for what
we're raising. It's difficult though, because I'll tell you people
in the nonprofit world are great at running a nonprofit
and their hearts are focused on so focused on the mission.
Sometimes they forget the business end, they forget the marketing end,
they forget the out of races, some.

Speaker 4 (36:44):
Of the technicalities and the idiosyncrasies that go along with it.

Speaker 6 (36:49):
Yeah. Yeah, there's so many things that people don't realize,
Like nonprofit is a business, right, but it's a business
to be a good do word with your money. It's
not not a business to get into a profit to
your pocket to better your own life. If it's truly
a business to solve a problem and hopefully you work yourself.

Speaker 3 (37:06):
Out of that problem exactly.

Speaker 6 (37:07):
And I really think a sustainable community like the fifty
mile Marcher's Community you can see it on our home
page there, we should be able to launch that and
it run on its own in theory in a few years,
and then we create another one, and then we create
another one. Because affordable housing, let's face it, right, is
never going to not be needed, right, I mean, plus

(37:29):
coordinated services, you know, and I just we stand in
the gap between us and the VA. Listen to VA
is trying to do what they can do, but when
you have a thousand people lined up for appointments, like
I absolute the VA that they're doing everything they can,
but in between the gap, there's people waiting.

Speaker 4 (37:43):
And I was going to say, they're trying, but they're
a cog in the machine and it's hard to affect
age on a massive scale like that. I've seen in
the last couple of years. Even here, it's gone from
maybe having to wait a week or two for an appointment,
now you're waiting a month or two or three. Yeah,
it's it's getting worse. And the VA is, the employees

(38:05):
are trying and they care. Some of them are veterans themselves.
You're crying out loud. So I agree with you that
you know, the VA though it's such a large, beerau
crazy kind an organization that I definitely agree with you
that they could benefit from the help of, you know,
veteran organizations in the community, nonprofits or whatever the case
might be.

Speaker 6 (38:23):
Yeah, and we also have to educate ourselves and the
end users on how to access or approach lett be honest.
I mean, some of the people who need most help
are not patient, and when they go to uh, you know,
press one, press three, damn hope for thirty minutes. I
mean I give up already. You know, I'd say forget it,
you know, which I did before. But again, all these

(38:44):
stand between services. You know, we're not talking, and I'm
not trying to put anyone down, but I wish food
pantries would coordinate with perhaps a shelter and perhaps a
counseling session and perhaps you know, all these coordinated services.
And that's not happening on a wide deal, you know
what I mean.

Speaker 4 (39:00):
There needs to be a framework for it. I think
people feel like that tiger's tail is too hard to catch,
and it really isn't. I mean, you just laid it
out so simply that I think people refrain from setting
up that framework and putting that in motion. But it
sounds like a fifty mile march. Is I don't on
track almost doing just that? Am I correct?

Speaker 6 (39:19):
Yes? And you know with you know, theoretically you can
drop j off at this property and say good luck,
here you go. We can intake you and say, hey,
fit in our coffee shop for now. There's four counselors
on standby, right, there's one person in rotation every week.
We're ready to say okay, transport from here to the VA,

(39:39):
or transport or call the VA and have them pick
them up. There's enough ordination to get them through to
at least stop. We can put the tourniquet on the
situation at that point, right, yeah, we could stop the bleeding,
you know, I mean figuratively, I'm saying just enough to say,
where are you in your drim? Where are you? And
some people just say, listen, I just came in for

(39:59):
a CA for coffee, you know what. I just want
to join my brothers and sisters. Some people are, hey,
I traveled all the way from you know, two hundred
miles away from Almah to get here, and I'm down
and out, you know. And and that's where we start
the intake process, and we can't help everyone. So that's
where we coordinate with a lot of other people inside
of the Alliance to say this is where you will
be best served or you know, immediate needs. There's so

(40:22):
many things available to veterans right now on immediate need basis,
heads as well as suicide support, hospital stays, checking for hospitals, like, yeah,
there's so's there's so many good things happening right now.

Speaker 3 (40:35):
I agree, Jay.

Speaker 2 (40:36):
And one of the things you just caught, you caught
my attention and I wanted to comment on, is that
one of the founding principles of the Rally Point Media
in the radio show was to provide information out to
veterans because there was none. It was such a just
scattered information that wasn't centralized. And then as we got
into this project, we learned that we have different veterans
at different stages, at different points in their lives, and

(40:57):
definitely there's an opportunity for there should be what we
call a veteran vetaverse, a.

Speaker 4 (41:03):
Veteran verse, veteran verse, like the metaverse, like Marvel verse.

Speaker 2 (41:07):
We are our own special creature and we have our
own special needs because we're all different at different stages
of healing or what our treatment. And one of the
things I will say is, for example, the VA is
a complete monster onto itself. The VA is any other
government agency. And this is why I became a veteran
service officer with a local veteran organization and that just

(41:30):
began my journey. And I was five years ago and
in my eighth year being now, I've discovered the whole
different nuances and that's about the change in twenty twenty
five and being an individual veteran trying to stabilize that
can be overwhelming onto itself. And you'll have that mentality
Sign here, sign here, go over here, fill this out.
Here's a stack of paperwork. People will say, you know what,

(41:50):
I'm just trying to find a place to live right now.
I have time to fill this out. But if we
had established a veteran universe, a vetaverse, so to speak,
to kind of intake what do you need and you go, okay,
go over here, go over there, and it will kind
of help us deal with that trauma. And the last
thing we want to do as doing service is to
provide an additional trauma to the veteran people that we're

(42:11):
trying to help. And what you're doing here is freaking
is right on point here.

Speaker 4 (42:16):
It just sounds like there's a lot of groups out
there in America that want to do this in their
communities too, and it's refreshing and definitely is it gives
hope and know that you guys are willing to share
information you're willing to kind of help people build that
framework in a manner that suits their community too. It's
just it's nice to see groups that help each other.

Speaker 6 (42:37):
Well, one thing that I'll say, and I know our
time is limited, but I want to emphasize this to
all the organizations out there, nonprofit organizations, our responsibility is
to educate the public at large for those who to
equip them to help. I mean, my goal is to
equip a thousand people, you know, within the next probably
four months to five months, to say, listen, here's what happens,

(43:00):
here's what you do next, here's the next organization. I
want that to be a standard to where what happens
when there's a fire and house? What number do you callee?
One one? That's normal? Here. We have a line in
Omaha that just started which is two to one one
run by the United Way of the Midlands, and it's
a pretty cool initiative. But what's next? Right, Hey someone

(43:21):
just committed suicide, they failed at the attempt there in
the hospital. Now what happens next, Like.

Speaker 5 (43:28):
Or hey, someone is homeless, they just lost their house,
they're able, they're still working. What happens next? I want
to educate about a thousand people in the next four
or five months on.

Speaker 6 (43:37):
Here's what you do next. Because if we get a
thousand people in Nebraska to at least understand here's what
you do next, then their approachability or their approach to
help a veteran would be easier.

Speaker 4 (43:48):
Absolutely, And it's more streamlined too, because you've educated a
thousand people on the process or structure of how to
kind of go about helping that veteran actually get help,
rather than just passing web sites and forms or whatever
at them and going, well, you just need to do all.
Sometimes I think some people benefit from having someone beside
them as they go through the process, just walking alongside them.

(44:09):
They don't have to do everything for them, but at
least just being a guide, you know, and a sympathetic
ear or someone who can at least assist or give
moral support while they go through the process.

Speaker 6 (44:21):
I agree. And you know, at the end of the day,
you said something key to walk through with them. You know,
there's a lot of people that avoid uneasy situations or
conflict because we're people who like to please people. Well,
this takes a special person to say, hey, Amanda, are
you okay? I noticed that you're this like, there's not
many people that want to dig into your background sometimes
or into your feelings because they don't want to offend you. Well,

(44:44):
we want to change that. We want to change the
language and say here's how to speak to someone that
you suspect might be in trouble, who might hurt themselves,
who might you know, just need a helping hand. Because
as humans, we want to stay out of everyone's business
because of privacy, and I get that, but we also
have to intervene to help someone. Right, you're going to

(45:04):
run into the street to help a kid not get
hit by a car. This is just as severe, right,
This is just as severe, and you've got to be
just as brave.

Speaker 4 (45:11):
Yep, exactly. You have to be bold enough to care.
And I think if people have a rapport where they
know they can ask that question, or they at least
have the confidence and fact and ability in themselves to
know how to ask some of those seemingly difficult questions.

Speaker 2 (45:27):
Absolutely, and as veterans were very private and one of
the blessings we've had on this show. What should see
our expectations is that when you when you approach the veteran,
the proper way, they provide you all the information about
themselves if they feel comfortable to do so, and that's
the key, make them feel safe in an environment that
they won't be judged. They won't be I guess I

(45:48):
called the public shaming or shamed for what's happened in
their lifetime, so that when you take that off the table,
they able to worry about healing themselves and if people
around them being their family well.

Speaker 4 (45:57):
And part of that is having a process, but putting
people ahead of process exactly, so that you're really focused
on the individual and what their needs are and what's
going to help them feel comfortable enough to open up
and receive help. Because it's one thing that I think
we can all safely say as veterans, a lot of
us have issues with asking for and receiving help. It
doesn't matter what level it's on. It doesn't matter if

(46:18):
it's because your house just got destroyed by a hurricane,
or you're on the side of the road of the
flat tire, or you're homeless and have nothing you know
nothing right now because you lost it all due to
unfortunate circumstance. It can span the gambit, but at the
end of the day, we all have that issue with
ask for and receiving or other pool So I love
that you're working to change that, and I'm excited about

(46:40):
the fact that you are willing to share this with
other people. Now as we get ready to kind of
close down things, how can people reach out to you
via the web or social media if they want more
information about the fifty mile March, whether it's to participate,
if they're part of a veteran group that would love
to network with you and you know, try to figure
out some kind of alliance or partnership themselves with you.

(47:02):
How do people go about doing that?

Speaker 6 (47:03):
Yeah, that's a great question, Amanda, fifty Dmilemarch dot org
dot five zero mile March dot org. We've made it
forty eximple. We are relaunching our site in February, but
as of right now, there's a point of contact telephone
number on there. There's a there's a comment box, there's
an email, there's a application to become a walker. But

(47:25):
once you contact us, we have enough. We have Brian Schuler,
who are executive director, who's always standby on that number.
We have Leon Hayes who's our operations director as well.
So long story short. We have people who are we
have a full fledgeboard, we have volunteers, We're going to
answer you. We're on Facebook. If you look at fifty
Mile March on Facebook as well, you'll find us if

(47:47):
we're really responsive. And I think that's what makes us,
that's what makes us strong because we never know who
our next contact is. It's either someone who needs help
or someone who can help us. And it's it's pretty magical.
It's pretty magical.

Speaker 4 (48:00):
I would agree. I was going to say I'm plugged
into your community as well. I was going to walk
this past year but had some events come up and
ended up conflicting with the dates of the walk. And
so absolutely, it's a true community of people that they
talk amongst each other, they share information. But also your
staff is highly approachable and quite congenial whenever people are

(48:20):
messaging back and forth with them, or whatever the case
might be, Like, you really do have a magical group
for sure, no question.

Speaker 6 (48:26):
It's all about the tribe, it's all about porting one another,
it's walking the walk, it's authenticity, and it's doing what
you say and say what you do.

Speaker 4 (48:34):
Absolutely, well, thank you again. J moraleis co founder of
fifty mile March for being on the show with us today.
We appreciate you and we look forward to having you
on again to discuss your relaunched website and other exciting
things to come in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 7 (48:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (48:47):
Absolutely, we love you guys. Thank you for having us,
and thank you for being true patriots to our nation.

Speaker 4 (48:52):
Ditto right back at you, sir.

Speaker 7 (48:55):
Every day, the men and women of the United States
Marine Corps stand ready to defend the American way of life,
the few, the proud, the Marines, and.

Speaker 4 (49:09):
Anything else I forget I think so just thanks to
our sponsors, Thanks to one hundred point nine WCCFFM, thank
you to reachs across America radio as well. We're having
us on their radio broadcasts. Appreciate all the opportunities to
put visibility on organizations that are veteran centric. You don't

(49:29):
have to be a veteran to listen to the show
or to be on this show. If you support us,
if you love us, so, just thanks and please continue
telling people about our show and how they can listen,
whether it's locally in Southwest Florida on one hundred point
nine FM or on the free iHeartRadio app. If they
pull that up and they search WCCF on Fridays at

(49:51):
nine am they can find our show. And then also
we are aired on reads Across America Radio on Fridays
at three pm. So you can find both recent Cross
America Radio and w CCF via the iHeartRadio app Rally
Pointers fall Out.

Speaker 5 (52:03):
I'm Staff Sergeant.

Speaker 1 (52:03):
Mark Anthonymous Straft, Sergeant Smith a Camp staff Sergeant, Staff
Sergeant William Lewis, and I am proud to defend my
family and our nation.

Speaker 8 (52:10):
The Air Force Reserve is part of the story of
this great nation.

Speaker 5 (52:14):
Grateful that I have a chance to wear the uniform
of the heroes.

Speaker 3 (52:16):
That won't performing.

Speaker 5 (52:18):
I am proud to be part of a team that
helps make a difference in the world.

Speaker 3 (52:20):
Every day.

Speaker 8 (52:21):
Men and women from communities across this nation serve as
Reserve citizen airmen. Even as technology evolves and changes, our
commitment to defend and protect this nation remains steadfast. We
celebrate those who have served and those who are proudly serving.
We celebrate our proud history and look towards an exciting

(52:45):
and uniting future. Our mission is to fly, fight and
win in air space and cyber space.

Speaker 4 (52:53):
And I am proud to be a member, and I'm
proud to serve in the United.

Speaker 7 (52:55):
And I am proud to protect our country. Proud to
serve in the US Air Force

Speaker 8 (52:59):
Reserve apreserve dot com