Rally Point 57

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Rally pointers.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Fun, good afternoon and morning wherever you're going to be
in the world today across the world. This is James
Lasartimri with Amena Machiato Micano here with you at the
rally point. And of course we have the man behind
the microphone saying the brain. How are we doing today, folks.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
I'm good, love and life and.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Folks, we have an outstaying show today.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
And now on our show we have with us today
a special guest, someone that I was actually assigned with
in the Air Force. His name is Tony Ballard. He's
a retired Chief Master Sergeant in the Air Force A
nine and he is also a global human resources and
talent transformation professional. So he has a virstaial career that
spans the finance industry and the United States Air Force,

(00:44):
where he developed expertise from empower organizations and individuals to thrive.
So he's currently pursuing a PhD in business administration. So
he is a doctoral candidate and he is also actively
engaged in the Association of Talent Developed Atlanta chapter, which
is one of the nation's largest and most award winning chapters,
recognized as a thought leader in talent development. He supports

(01:07):
professional development initiatives and resources focused on advancing workplace learning
and performance. Good morning, Tony, Welcome to the show.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
Absolutely glad to do it. So Tony is actually a
mentor of mine, has been since I think about twenty thirteen,
and I've I've told a story about you on the
show before, Tony, but I didn't mention your name, so
I think you remember at one point I told you like,
I actually had somebody come up to me and be like,
I want to mentor you. Yes, that was Tony. So

(01:41):
he pulled me aside. When I was working in Airman
and Family Readiness, so I was on a special duty
and I was in a unit with most of the
active duty folks were personnelists, which was like hr, like
they took care of our orders, leave all that stuff.
And so I saw then Senior Master Ballard at some
events in the squadron pet stuff like that, and and

(02:04):
we kind of got to talk him. But one day
he was like, hey, what are you doing for lunch?
And I was like nothing, and he's like, let's go
to the DFACT. I was like, all right, let's go,
Dimestilly sure, So we go there, and that's when he
told me. He's like, I want to mentor you, Like,
what are your goals? Where are you trying to go?
I want to help you get there? And I was
just like wow, because I think at that point, I
had been in the Air Force for about thirteen years

(02:27):
and I had never had somebody come up to me
and say that. And it was cool, because it's awesome.
It's an awesome feeling to have somebody say that to you.
But it also set a great example for me when
I saw younger airmen or NCOs that were doing great
things that you know, I could this is a thing
like I can go up to them and be like, hey,

(02:48):
I want to mentor you. And that helped me make
some very meaningful connections with other people as well. And
Tony and I have kept in touch all these years
and now we're both retired and live in the Great Life.
So so yeah, so that's that's how I know Tony,
and that's how he came to be on the show.
And I asked him. He was like absolutely, so I

(03:09):
guess Tony. Sorry, I've talked enough. Let's jump right in.
Tell everybody about your your career, your time in the military,
how long you were in where you were assigned, roles
you held, give us all the good stuff.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
One quick moment, Tony, on Behalf of America and the
Rally Point media and network, say thank you very much
for mentoring Amanda because she has been nothing less than
spectacular as an n CEO, a senior Master's sergeant and
my co host and without your and I understand as

(03:42):
an n CEO, it's our job to train and make
more of us, and I will say that you succeeded
with the gold standard. So I will say thank you
on Behalf of America and the Rally Media.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
Thank you you guys. But yes, Tony, definitely thank you
for serving and thank you for being a signed to
Andrews at the same time as me.

Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yes, yes, I completely agree. Thank you all for the
kind word. And Amanda, what I did for you was
what happened to me my first money at my first
duty station at Robins Air Force Space. So I met,
I actually met a Vietnam veteran who became my lifelong
mentor same relationship you and I have and we've been
connected since nineteen ninety nine.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
So yeah, So, as Amanda stated, and you know, I
was in the Air Force for almost twenty three years.
I didn't intend on staying that long. I'm originally from
South Carolina, so of course, like anyone else who who's
more of a homebody, didn't travel as much growing up
as a kid, I wanted to get stationed close to home.
So the Air Force sent me to Robins Air Force

(04:44):
Space in Georgia. I got a chance to go home
every uh, every weekend, almost until I just got tired
of going home.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
There you go, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (04:55):
So that was about three or four hours. And at
Robins I actually deployed twice. I got a chance to
go to Ramstein Air Base in Germany when the Air
Force actually stood up our deployment cycles to make them
more consistent, because prior to that you would just deployed
a moment notice. The Air Force wanted to stabilize that
for quality of life efforts, and so after that I

(05:19):
deployed again for September eleventh. That was a unique situation
at that time because I was coming up on eligibility
for a realistment, and so that changed my perception of
whether or not I wanted to stay in the military
at that time, and so of course I got married
the year before and my wife and I we went
to Massawa. She's part of military as well. That was

(05:42):
one of the highlights of my career and we got
we had two kids at the time going to Massawa,
and then we also deployed from Matsaua to Kuwait.

Speaker 4 (05:53):
That was unique.

Speaker 3 (05:54):
Yes, so we deployed from Matsaua to Kuwait and we
just so happened to be there during the time they captured.
But that was a very eerie feeling being over there
during that time there. Yes, yes, but I enjoyed all
my deployments and that's where I essentially met majority of
the people that I met in the military who became
an extension of my network and they helped me help

(06:16):
others like Amanda. So I just used my network to
help other veterans that need that help along the way
as far as the mentorship goes. And then it's from Alchias.
My wife had a top secret player, so she was
the reason when we got diverted to outs. They needed
her more than they needed me. That's my story and
I was sticking to it for as my wife deployed

(06:41):
to Afghanistan six months after we got there, and then
I deployed six months after she got back to Tatar,
where I was originally at Robins Air Force Space after
Septemy eleven. So going back this town was completely different
because we helped set up Qatar the first time I
was there, which is next to Saudio Arabia, and then
I went back to see it transition to permanent party.

(07:04):
So they were actually building the hard building, the house dependents,
which you're there now. It's a nice area. If you
haven't ever been, it's like, yeah, I.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
Stopped there on my way to Southwest Asia back in nine,
so I got to stop there and stay in like
their transient tents. But I think in O nine it
was kind of more like an in between. I think
they were building some more of that. I think people
could bring their dependence at the time, but not not

(07:36):
all the people that were deployed there were in hard
billeted dormitories, like there were people still sharing like connexes
that have been converted into living space, and then they
had to truck it over to what we lovingly called
the Cadillacs, which are those really nice bougie trailers that
have they got acy, got showers, you got thinks, and

(07:58):
mirrors and all kinds of that's how we roll in
the Air Force.

Speaker 4 (08:01):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (08:02):
So Tony Jay Jay's prior armies. So we go back
and forth about this all the time. I'm like, yes,
I'm like I'm bougie and it's okay them well, And
the funny thing is is that base in Qatar was
an R and R stop for the army.

Speaker 4 (08:18):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (08:18):
So they would get to come there and they'd be like, are.

Speaker 4 (08:20):
You kidding You guys have two pools and a bar.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
And all of suther We're like, yeah, we're just we're
living the life. Okay, Sorry, you have McDonald's Burger King.
What did we have? I think we had like Dominoes
or pizza Hut. I think there was pizza Hut there,
and there was basket Robins, yes, and Burger King exactly.
I think that's a staple on any base that has
a fees you will have Burger King there you go,

(08:46):
period dot. But yeah, so our our army friends showed
up and it was like like they had like reached
enlightenment in the deployed side.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
That's an extra car was great, definitely pt necessary after
that trip. So Tony tell us a little bit what
you do right now and what got you in this direction?
So right now.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
I actually stopped working in the banking industry because I
wanted to focus on school full time. So I'm actually
a full time student right now at Kinnessas State University,
pursuing a PhD in Business administration. But of course it's
hard to not work when you've been working for like
the last two decades, and I have a lot of energy,
I'm sure managed. Probably you can't sit still.

Speaker 1 (09:30):
I think we both know that, like we cannot sit still.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
You need to train and do your next your next opportunity.
So just consider your studying as your next job.

Speaker 3 (09:39):
Yes and so, but so I did. While I was studying,
someone nominated me to go to a student Engagement and
Belonging belonging to mentor students that are like trying to
acclimate to the college environment and that lifestyle. So I
actually go on campus no more than twenty hours a week,
and I dedicate my time to this Student and Engagement

(10:01):
Student Engagement and Belonging department under Student Affairs to help
mentor students. So that's kind of like a part time
job for me. They actually paid me to do that,
and then from there I do speaking engagements. Of course,
Hey here, I am on the show with you all,
and from there I just just help people. So I
still get phone calls throughout the day. I still get

(10:22):
one on one. I had three phone calls yesterday where
people will call. I think I get more phone calls
now than I did in uniform, where hey, moment, can
we can we talk for thirty minutes? It doesn't stop
so here yeah, oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (10:38):
Well, to our congressional listeners today, I want to take
note that we have a retired Air Force individual who
is mentoring kids and our youth in colleges and he
is so effective that his phone is bringing and he's
in school, and I just want to say again, kudos

(10:58):
to you time, because that's a mentoring never stops from
the NCO your training, yours teaching. You're always mentoring, and
right now America's youth need you.

Speaker 3 (11:07):
Yes, oh yeah, I agree. So you know it's fulfilling
for me and that I landed in the Association of
Talent Development that was actually doing independent consulting downtown Atlanta.
I went to a chamber Chamber of Commercy man I
met some executive coaches and they were actually the ones
who referred me over to the Association of Talent Development.
And I had only heard of ARM which is the

(11:29):
Society of Human Resource Management Association, and I had only
heard of them from the HR channels, but not Learning
and Development, which focuses on talent development. So I chased
it and two years later I'm still there.

Speaker 1 (11:46):
So what's what's your plan once you're officially doctor Ballard?
That's exciting, by the.

Speaker 4 (11:51):
Way mention it.

Speaker 3 (11:53):
Yeah, that is a real question, que real occurring question
that I get on the regular. And I have opportunities
of exploring government contracting opportunities that will allow me to
help veterans transition into the private sector. I'm sure many
veterans can attest to the stress that you feel after

(12:13):
you're hired. Not the process itself. It's just the right
job for me. Most of us have probably switched jobs
twice within that first five years because that first job
you went to wasn't what you thought it was, and
it didn't quite fit the niche area that makes you
happy to come to work. You don't want it to
really feel like a job anymore after wearing that uniform
for so long. I want to build a consultant firm

(12:37):
that kind of assists with that transition and among other things.
But that's what I intend to do first, and I'm
actually already it's already in motion. Is just I can't
watch it until after I graduate though.

Speaker 1 (12:49):
Nice Well, there's definitely a need for that in the community.
And even as far as like transition goes, it's like
a snowflake, Like, no two transitions are the same out
of the military. Everybody has different experiences and then also
everybody has unique needs as far as how they go
about seeking counsel and support during their transition. So it's

(13:11):
awesome that you're going to be another option and another
great form of you know, service and providing this to
people as they transition out of the military so that
folks can get what they need and also bring it
in like a multifaceted approach. So I know, I've known
you long enough to know that you never do anything

(13:32):
half baked. So I think it's great that you're starting
this now while you're still in school to kind of
try to form it and shape it and kind of
you know, work some of the kinks out as best
you can before you launch it. Because if there's jay,
if there's one thing I know about Tony. It's like
when he launches something, it is like for real, ready

(13:57):
to go. This is not a test kind of thing.
So when I was in the Air Force, and I
don't know if you remember this, but you probably will
once I mention it. When I was in the Air Force,
we were talking about continuity and you know, being replaceable
and how important that is, Like you should never sit
in a job and act like I'm going to be
here forever or you know whatever. The next person can

(14:19):
figure it out. Wrong answer, right. So Tony told me
when he was at AFPC, which is Air Force Personnel Center,
that's our hub for all things assignments and such, he
told me he's like, I wrote a guide for how
to do my job. And I was like, awesome, because
I was always making these little smart books kind of
had instructions on how to do certain functions of my

(14:41):
job so that nobody would ever be lost. But I
had never thought to put it all into a guide.
And so he gave me that while I was at Andrews,
and I used it there to make a continuity book
for my job in airmin in family readiness. But and
I don't know if I ever told you this, Tony.
But when I got to Patrick, my next assignment, and

(15:03):
I was you know, I was only there for about
two years and some change, and then I promoted myself
out of a job. But when I was getting ready
to leave, I didn't We didn't have any other senior
n CEOs. We had tech sergeants, and they were scared
to death of running the flight and doing my job.
And so I was like, fear not. I was like,
my mentor gave me a guide, and I will tailor

(15:24):
it and make it fit to what we do here
in the office. And so when I left Patrick to
go to Moody, I was able to hand them a
living breathing document. It was a word document that they
could edit if they needed to as things changed, but
it had everything in it. It had daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually,

(15:45):
semi annually, by you know whatever the frequency tasks, and
it had directions down to the point of you can
find this information at this path on our shared drive.
This is what you do, this is who you send
this to, this is how you you know, complete this
task basically, And so when I handed that off to
the tech sergeant that ended up taking charge. When I left. Initially,

(16:09):
he breathed a huge sigh of relief, and I even
was able to, Thank god, I was able kind of
about three weeks out to be like, I'm going to
hand this over to you, and you're going to test
drive it, and you're going to tell me what's wrong
with it, because that's what Tony taught me how to do.
He taught me like, don't go throw in something half
baked onto somebody. Like if you're if you're really going
to do this, you got to do it right. And

(16:30):
it really doesn't take as much time as it seems like.
It's like one bite at a time, you know. So
I think it's awesome that you're, you know, you're still
doing that in a sense, and that your next mission
when you become doctor Ballard, I'm sure is going to
include all of that type of stuff as far as
making sure people have the consultation and the resources that

(16:51):
they need to transition successfully.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (16:54):
So, oh wow, right on, that's it.

Speaker 3 (17:01):
I'm writing about post service employment beyond honeymoon hangover phase.

Speaker 1 (17:06):
That's that's a good thing to call it. What did
you call that honeymoon hangover phase? I love it.

Speaker 3 (17:12):
Yeah, So when you first start your job. You know,
you're on that high, like I'm excited to be here.
Ask me to do anything, and I do it mindset,
and then I say, I give it about too much
to a year. It's when when the dust settles and
I really want to keep doing this.

Speaker 1 (17:28):
Correct. I think you're right though. We all kind of
go through that where we have like that that first
job straight out of the military, where we're like, this
is going to be great because we're sitting on the
other side of the fence. You know, think everything's going
to be better once I'm in that other job and
what And then you get into that other job and
you might find that it's not meant for you, or

(17:49):
like in my situation, I loved what I did when
I first left the military, but I had some life
events kind of come up that made it to where
that just wasn't feasible to stay in that anymore, and
so I kind of had to switch gears. But I
know that that happened kind of to shift my trajectory
and put me on the path that I'm on now,

(18:09):
because if I was still doing that first job, I
wouldn't be here, you know, having this conversation with you
right now on a radio show. So I'm extremely grateful that,
you know, for whatever reason, things worked out the way
they did. But what I would ask you is, you know,
so now that we know that you're going to have
a huge, wonderful, kind of one stop shop for transitioning,

(18:32):
what are some words of wisdom, advice nuggets that you
would give to people who are transitioning or people who
have transitioned and kind of, like you said, find themselves
in the honeymoon hangover stage and maybe they're not quite
as happy as they thought they were going to be
with their transition.

Speaker 3 (18:49):
Yeah, that's a great question, though, Amanda, I actually journal
on that very exact topic, so actually have in my
notes my iPhone better in transition workshops. I wanted to
make it more realistic, and the top five that I
normally go to is give yourself grace as you transition
to a new life, because everybody's journey is different. So

(19:11):
I wouldn't compare my journey to yours because it would
take both of us and Jay it would take us.
We don't know exactly how long it's going to take
us to feel normal, to take that uniform off. And
I always use my brother as an example of who's
prior army, he was filled artillery and it took him
eight years to settle. For me, it felt more like

(19:31):
three years. And then and from there it's how I
got build a new ecosystem. So you don't have that
same network as you did before, and depending on where
you live, they might not be a heavy military presence there.
So nobody can really emphasize what a veteran goes through
other than another veteran. Ye, And so I always say

(19:55):
with that in mind, a lot of veterans that I've
came across, having pasta center and what they doubt themselves
and their capabilities, not realizing that you've done so much
throughout your military career, it's hard to pinpoint what you
want to do long term. So I would always I
use the analogy pie continue what you've learned using the
pile analogy, and that's anew moonic for performance, image and

(20:18):
exposure and peace stance for performance, which is related to
your job performance and your career path. So you can
map that out with that new ecosystem that you have.
But then image is focused on self improvement, where you
would build out your career development. And again you would
use your new ecosystem to develop yourself. As far as
self improvement goes, it's why I'm back in school again.

(20:38):
And then as far as the exposure piece goes, that's
your involvement in the community and that enables you to
build those relationships, which is why the Air Force really
emphasized community involvement. That was part of our performance management system,
and that teaches us how to build those relationships that
essentially some of them last a lifetime. So here I
am talking to Amanda almost fifteen years later.

Speaker 1 (21:00):
After I met her, but absolutely, even little stuff ten
years exactly. I was going to say, he sends me
text messages on Thanksgiving and I've still I've totally stolen
your phrase, gobble, tell you wabble. Then he said, like
we send each other Christmas greetings, Like yeah, absolutely. That's
the beauty of the military family is that that doesn't stop.

(21:23):
As long as nobody changes their phone number and nobody
jumps off of social media. There you go, I should
put it that way. It doesn't stop.

Speaker 2 (21:31):
And Tony, I'd be remiss not to ask this question.
And as you're doing your dissertation, have you ever thought
about buying a self help book because you already have
the title for it, hangover.

Speaker 4 (21:43):
And.

Speaker 3 (21:45):
I'm sorry, no, you go. So I was going to say,
when I was doing my independent consult downtown Atlanta with
chaper Commerce, I actually met a publicist who actually we
sat down and talked about this. We actually sketched out
what a book would look like for me to tell
my story on how to help others. And what we

(22:06):
did with the conclusion that we came to is that
I needed to do a series. One book wouldn't work.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
No, you're gonna need a series. But I called DIBs
on helping you edit it. I'm putting that out there,
that's on the airwaves. This will be on two different
shows too. I'm helping.

Speaker 2 (22:21):
And I'll say this, and you kind of nailed it
on the head earlier on the conversation that everybody's path
is different, but the destination is the same. It may
take you three years, it may take your ten years,
but you'll find the place you need to be as
long as you have you follow the same the same
you fall pie And it sounds simple, but it's not
the same breath. And I'm just saying, I'm just you know,

(22:43):
a little little little sergeant. I'm saying that that's a
bestseller series right there, because, like you said earlier, no
one knows the life experience of a veteran other than
another veteran, and you have the skills and knowledge that
the set us all straight.

Speaker 3 (23:00):
I learned that. I always emphasized two great points of
jays that we all learned servant leadership. And then it
doesn't matter what your Spanish GOP responsibility is when you
were that, you're the forum. If you stayed in and
completed your first enlistment or went on to the second
enlist My wife and I we have this conversation on
the regular. You actually have those foundational principles there, and

(23:22):
it was up to you whether or not you nurtured
those because all the other professional military courses that you
went to beyond that, the longer you stay was just
a continuation of that conversation. And then you can do
a deeper.

Speaker 2 (23:33):
Die hundred percent spot on on that. I mean, like
I said, I think you'd be doing a disservice for
not writing the book because we're in such a need
as veterans to have this. You know, we are features
of habit, we're out a uniform but we follow in
the structure real fast when it's presenting the right format,
and yours is like HoTT in candy and bricks. I

(23:55):
love it, ay Man, I don't build with it and
feed me.

Speaker 1 (24:01):
Yes, I was gonna say, I definitely think a series
of books from you will be a very welcome thing
to have out in the world for sure. So with that,
we will definitely be having you on the show in
the future. And we appreciate you coming on this morning
and sharing your story and your wisdom with us. So

(24:22):
with that, we will definitely have you on again. And
thanks so much for being on with us today.

Speaker 2 (24:27):
Thank you, Tony, thank you, thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
And now on the show we have with us Nicole Jordan.
She is the president and founder of Women's Veterans Glamping.
Wemen's Veterans Glamping focuses on providing a space for women
veterans to come together and bond and they do this
in the main Woods state of Maine, which provides a
perfect atmosphere to relax, recharge and connect. So with that, Nicole,

(24:51):
welcome to the show. Thank you for being on with
us today.

Speaker 4 (24:54):
Good morning, Thank you for having me morning.

Speaker 1 (24:57):
Absolutely and good morning So tell us if you would,
about when you were in the service, Like what branch
were you in, what years did you serve, where were
you assigned, what was your your career field in the military,
those kinds of detail.

Speaker 4 (25:13):
Well, I was United States Army ninety one through ninety four.
I was an E thank you. I was an E
four stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. I was an eighty
eight MIC ten, which is a heavy equipment operator.

Speaker 1 (25:28):
Nice.

Speaker 4 (25:28):
So the bigger the truck, the bigger the trailer, the
more difficult the loads, the better it was. I accepted
those challenges and enjoyed every moment of it. I had
no deployments, but I was injured on the most patriotic
day there was, fourth of July nineteen ninety five. That

(25:49):
ended my career ten days later. So it's been very
hard to fathom what I lost.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
Sure, were you planning on staying in and making a
career out of the Army?

Speaker 4 (26:03):
Oh? I did it. I was already on my second
my second duty, and for me, I thought I was
going to go further. I had an eighteen month old son,
and I was looking forward to it.

Speaker 2 (26:16):
You know.

Speaker 4 (26:16):
I enjoyed everything about what I was doing and the
fact that I was there for my country gave me
even more strength to keep going forward. But when that
injury happened within ten days, I lost everything that meant
everything to me.

Speaker 1 (26:33):
Wow, Well, we thank you for your service and your
sacrifice that you made while serving our country. That's genuinely
appreciated from us here at the Rally Point Show. Most
definitely would like to talk to you about, like, you know,
as far as for the time that you were in
the military, did you have any like really awesome experiences

(26:55):
or memories that you can draw that you know, give
you a little bit of joy when you look back
on your service.

Speaker 4 (27:06):
The daily grind. I loved the daily grind, the different
little missions that we did moving the equipment. It was
never always the same type of equipment being hauled. It
was different vehicles, different sizes. I love the old dinosaur.
I loved the fact that you had winched the trailer

(27:29):
onto the back of the truck and it was always
a challenge. I really did miss uh once I left.
I missed that sense of pride and accomplishment and all
the connections to my fellow soldiers that I had, Because
when you leave the military, you lose all of that
because life gets in the way and people change duty stations,

(27:50):
so you lose connections.

Speaker 1 (27:51):
It can happen, for sure. And you served at a
time where you know, we didn't have Facebook, we didn't
really have email, and in those years, necessarily that was
all in its infancy, So I'm sure that made it
a lot harder to keep in touch with people once
you separated.

Speaker 4 (28:08):
Yeah, cell phones were just barely coming out, and so
it was regular snail mail to healthline phone calls. So
when people move, that connection breaks.

Speaker 1 (28:21):
Yep. Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (28:23):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (28:25):
Have you been able to get in touch with any
of the folks you served with now that we're in
a more digital age where like you can find people
on Facebook, it seems like in a couple of minutes.

Speaker 4 (28:34):
No. The biggest thing is most of the females when
you're in that we're not married at the time. Now
they're all married or divorced and remarried, so kind to
really go to somebody? Yeah, yeah, it's really hard to
find them. And to top it off, after my injuries,

(28:55):
there is some information I can't even recall it, but
I have it documented in my files. But it's you know,
I remember their faces, I remember their name. But if
I walked to them, to them right now, you know,
life has changed over thirty years. Sure we don't look
the same. Yeah, I'd be like, I know you, but
I don't know you right.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
Well, I'll tell you. I think you're making a lot
of positive connections via social media because that's how I
found you. I found you through a women veterans group
talking about women Veterans glamping, and I was like, what
is this about? So I went and I looked on
your website, which is Women's Women Veterans Glamping dot org.

(29:38):
So it's women w O M E N Veterans v
E T E r A n S Glamping g L
A M p I n G dot org and so
there was just a lot of great information there, fantastic photos.
So tell us about how your path brought you to

(29:58):
create women Veterans Glamping.

Speaker 2 (30:02):
Okay, So.

Speaker 4 (30:05):
After I left Texas, I had, you know, I had
to find something to fill the void. So I was
able to use my GI bill to go to college.
So I moved from Texas to Nebraska and I went
to college for business management. And then when I was
done with my degree, I moved to Maine to be

(30:25):
closer to back home because I was born and raised
in New Hampshire. Nice, but I spent every weekend of
my life camping and being outside and at the ocean
in the mountains of Maine. So for me, what's the
best the second best thing you could do in life
when you're done with service, go back to the place
that brought you the serenity and the calm and the enjoyment.

(30:48):
So I moved to Maine and that was over eighteen
years ago.

Speaker 1 (30:52):
Nice, very cool and so so how did you put
two and two together between your service and your love
for Maine and its beauty and create women veterans glamping? Like,
how did that come about?

Speaker 4 (31:08):
Well? I lived up in Aroosta County in the Hainesville
Woods and being isolated and then not having anyone around.
I connected with the American Legion Ata Holton Post forty
seven and started reconnecting with my fellow brothers, and that
gave me a sense of camaraderie again. And then being

(31:28):
able to try to find other women veterans to connect
with are very far and few between in the county.
There's more now in the last fifteen years than there
was before. But trying to connect with the woman veteran
after their service. Depending on our age and when we
get out of the military, it is really hard to

(31:50):
get a woman veteran to be able to find the
time to join organizations and then to find time to
come to like a retreat and have time to do things,
especially to help heal herself and give her that time
that she needs away from her family in order to
reset and rejuvenate herself and then be able to go

(32:12):
back and give everything back to her family. So for me,
after finding out there wasn't a lot of things, there
was no activities literally in the early two thousand for
women veterans, and after being part of the American Legion
as a post commander, a district commander for Aristic County. Yes,
I was a Sun County district commander.

Speaker 2 (32:34):
Past commander and past district commander. Hello, right, I was
a past commander myself back in the day. But we'll
get into that later.

Speaker 1 (32:42):
That's awesome. So your experience to the American Legion led
to women's and women veterans landing as far as.

Speaker 4 (32:48):
Did you know you look at the history of the
American Legion, you look at what it stands for, you
look at how it can guide and help you and
train you. And after connecting with women that were telling me, hey,
there's nothing for us, and I'm like, you know, I know.
Bob Crowley it Main Force Sturrets. I was his first
disabled veteran to use the URATE. I went to him
and you know, suggested what I wanted to do, and

(33:10):
he was like, all blessings. Absolutely, So we started women
veterans lamping at main Force Sturret for our first four
years wow. And that was our way to get the
women back out into Akrid in the urrot hiking the
one hundred acre was doing activities to help heal between
water and nature. It heals this hole and it just

(33:30):
halms the nerves where you can take things in so
that way your body has down time to recharge and
re rhythm itself to go back into the chaotic world
and our families to take care of them better.

Speaker 1 (33:41):
Absolutely. I was actually while you were talking to us
about it, I was showing Jay pictures of the yurt
so that he can kind of see what they are,
because when I was looking at your website the other day,
my husband was standing in earshot of me, and he
and I are both retired Air Force and I was like, holy,
tell him, like she puts them up in urts, like
and my husband's like, really seriously urts. I'm like, dude,
look at that. So the pictures you put on your

(34:02):
website are really cool, and actually I would think they
spark interest because I know they kind of made my
brain light up when I saw the pictures. It looks
really neat, and I understand that you work with the
folks with main forest yurts, and then you're also possibly
looking at kind of expanding things a little bit this year,
if I'm not mistaken correct.

Speaker 4 (34:20):
Yes, we've migrated from our four years with Maine Forest Shirt.
We've outgrown their facility because we can only do so
many veterans at their location. They only have four Europe
and they're awkward, so it hampers women that need their
suppat machine or need to put their medication in a
refrigerator and not in a cooler with ice, got it.

(34:41):
So we expanded and we actually use Loonehaven Family Campground
in Naples.

Speaker 1 (34:47):
I think that's luxurious because when I saw that the
other day on your website, I had to go Google.
I was like, no, wait, because we have Naples, Florida,
so I was like, hold on a minute, I'm like,
there's a Naples Main And I genuinely had to go
google it. And I was like, and my husband's from Massachusetts,
but he's he knows Maine, but not intimately, I guess,
And so I was like, is there a Naples Main?

(35:08):
And my husband's like, I don't know. I had to
google it. But that's really crazy because you have Naples
up there and we have it down here too.

Speaker 4 (35:15):
Yeah, and it's it's great. That is a small pond
off the side of Tobago Lake. So the water is
like phenomenal. It could be eight am and it could
be chilly out with that water spring said there's like
over thirty spring springs in that pond.

Speaker 1 (35:28):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (35:29):
So it doesn't freeze very well. So it's not a
nice fishing pond at all. But it's phenomenal because at
eight am you can walk right in and not do
the up to my knees, halfway up my thigh, up
to my waist, I don't want to go way you
could walk in, but it's not bathwater.

Speaker 1 (35:43):
Got it? See if bath water?

Speaker 4 (35:45):
And we'll be out there for hours water kicking and
hanging out, socializing. Nice so it's become a really big
part of the events that we do.

Speaker 1 (35:53):
That's cool. So, speaking of the events that you do,
can you tell our listeners about like a typical day
with women veterans clamping retreats? Like, what does that look like?

Speaker 4 (36:03):
The typical day is there is always hot joe available,
and it's always leaded. We do have unleaded, but you're
through five gallons of coffee a day.

Speaker 1 (36:15):
I was going to say, as veterans, most of us
know and appreciate the value of true, good, strong coffee.

Speaker 4 (36:21):
Well, we do have to thank our sponsor, Black Rifle
Coffee has been our sponsor awesome for all our coffee
for over three years now.

Speaker 2 (36:29):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (36:30):
So we have connections all across the United States is
what we do. Like I said, we started off with
just the first two years being just main women veterans,
and as we grew and perfected what we were doing,
the last four years we have been a national retreat
facility and having women veterans come in from all across
the nation.

Speaker 1 (36:50):
That's wonderful. And so what does their typical day look
like during these retreats.

Speaker 4 (36:54):
Yeah, so they'll get up, they'll have coffee, we'll socialize.
There's gourmet breakfast is made. We do cater if somebody
has a dietary restriction or diabetes or stuff, we do
take that into all our meals and our prep because
we know ahead of time and the registration if we
need to look at anything to be able to accommodate.
From gourmet meals to hike, they're not real long hike.

(37:17):
They're all within it, under an hour hour and a
half out kayaking, lake fishing or deeply fishing. I'll take
forty five women veterans out annually out of Hampton, New
Hampshire off a charter down there nice. We go to
baseball games, we could be doing arts and crafts. We
could be one of our favorite things last year with
a scavenger of the pashround.

Speaker 1 (37:39):
That's awesome. It sounds like it's a good mix of
socializing but also being active, which is so important in
our community, especially once we leave the military, to try
to maintain some you know, mobility and movement, the cool exactly.

Speaker 2 (37:53):
I'm sorry I had a question for you. You to
say you're an army right because the catered food and
all this.

Speaker 1 (37:59):
I'm to take some notes from some Air Force folks
you have to know Jay is so excited that you're
army because usually he's outnumbered by Air Force people, so
he's ecstatic.

Speaker 4 (38:11):
Well, I completely understand that. Well, I guess it goes
back to the fact that you know real good food
and we do. We are naughty and I tell everyone.
They'll look at the table and they'll be like, oh
my god, there's too many calories here. I can't eat that.
I'm a smarty pant. I'll grab a big old baker's
knife and I'll go right through all the food. And
I'll look at him and say, hey, Willow, Grace, is

(38:31):
are my service dog and our mascot. I'll be like,
We'll are going to seat all the crumbs up. Hey,
look she ate all the calories. Not a single thing
that you eat at this retreat counts to the calorie.
People there heel and connect and great food is how
you also do it. They do not be counting calories.

Speaker 1 (38:47):
And plus it sounds like you're going to hike it
off of them anyways. So I mean, you can eat
all you want, but it sounds like there's plenty of
activity and movement to kind of balance it out.

Speaker 4 (38:57):
Oh and going outside out of the rental house that
we have there at Lune Haven. Out in the front yard,
we literally have all the long games. We have the
fire pit that we're around. We're always out doing something
and if it gets really chilly, we're inside. But we
have tons of arts and crafts from helping heel Avett
out of Bendo Aego, California. In Texas. We've got over

(39:20):
four hundred different arts and crafts that we can pick
a selection of and bring to a retreat and we
sit and do crafts and they can take some crafts
home so that they have something to work on. So
we do a lot of different things in a day.
Every now and then we'll catch a bingo game or
a movie at the campground that they're hosting in the field.
So there's so many different things we can incorporate to

(39:42):
also show the community what the women veterans are doing.
We do on Saturday mornings, and we always keep it
a Saturday morning. Saturday morning, we're either down by the
ocean or we're going to be lakeside and we're wrapping
our women with tilts of valor.

Speaker 1 (39:56):
Yeah, I was the one that commented to you that. Unfortunately,
so Jay and I received our Quilts of Valor at
the same time. I think back in either I think
it was twenty twenty two. I think it was like
spring of twenty twenty two, or it might have been. Yeah,
I think it was. And then Hurricane Ian came through
in September twenty twenty two. Unfortunately, my home was destroyed,
as were most of my belongings, and one of those

(40:18):
things was my Quilt of Valor. And I know that
that's a one time issuance, so I was kind of
bummed to lose it. But at the same time, it's like,
I also understand their policy of a one time awarding,
so but I think it's great that you do that
for the women that attend their retreat because their mission
is so important too, and it's wonderful to see that
you are so cognizantly aware of all these other veteran

(40:41):
organizations and you weave them into your retreats. I think
that's really admirable.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
Definitely, And Nicole, it is going to sound awkward coming
from me, and I'll wait a minute. I'll pull our
a fellow past commander of the American Legion. I'll put
my camp on one little time. I want to say
thank you for acknowledging the service women of our kind.
During my time with the American Legion, I had an
opportunity to kind of go through district and go to
conventions and all that good stuff into One of the

(41:07):
things I felt kind of slighted about is that there
are many women veterans that are unrepresented, and I've gotten
kind of a weird kind of vibe that they don't
want to say they served or And I said that
because a lot of them don't go for their benefits
and the mind going you served your country, I don't
care what you did. You're a veteran like anybody else.
And the fact that your retreat acknowledges that service and

(41:29):
gives them time to breathe, that's a long time coming.
And as there's anything we can do to help make
your mission go forward successfully, you have the full control
and opportunity of the rally point medium, but a simple
fact that your work is God's work getting the word
out that women who serve their country are as capable
as men.

Speaker 4 (41:47):
And I will say thank you for that, thank you
very much. So that is a very strong point for
me and being with the American Legion and having that
ability to learn and grow and see where I could
assist after surviving lung cancer six years ago. Now, during
that downtime, I really was looking to God with what

(42:07):
could I do and can I make my Can I
make my trauma a healing aspect of a living legacy
to continue on to help women veterans. We have one
less woman that take their life from not getting the
care they need or the connection. And that's how Women
Veterans Lamping was created. It was the abilities of what
I had available, but looking at my service I after

(42:28):
my injuries, my service didn't matter, my connection with people
didn't matter. I was invisible. I'm not in uniform, I'm
not cared about. And it took over twenty years to
break that stigmatism. And we still have some male veterans
out there that you are a secretary, you were a nurse,
your service didn't matter. And I understand where they're coming
from because that was during their time and they still
live in that time and can't accept what we do nowadays.

(42:51):
But the transition that women have made in the military,
breaking barriers and opening up so many different avenues for
what they can do and showing them that we have
the determination and the skills to do the same jobs
as our male veterans. We just need to know that
they're time. They need to be respected, just like our
fellow veterans. Just because you go home to go to college,

(43:13):
raise your children, go to work, and be an active
volunteer in your community doesn't mean you're invisible and you
don't exist any further.

Speaker 1 (43:19):
Absolutely agree. I can't tell you how many times in
public I've been looked at and like, my husband and
I'll be out together, people will thank him for his
service and just kind of sit there and then my
husband has to tell them, like, hey, my wife retired
from the military too, So we definitely appreciate that for sure.
I mean it's the truth, that's the thing.

Speaker 4 (43:36):
And dual families that both served. You can say that
you're the veteran as a female, but they'll automatically turn
and continue talking to the male as if you do
not exist. Yeah, in the give you of our conversation
any further.

Speaker 1 (43:48):
So funny that you say that, because what I noticed
and what I like. At first, he used to make
me really angry, and now I kind of think it's funny.
Is once my husband corrects them and says, no, you know,
my wife retired too. It kind of give me this
look like and then they don't really know what to say,
so yeah, you're absolutely right. They go back to look
at him and keep talking, and I'm just like, whatever, it's.
You know, in some ways, it's like we know well

(44:08):
enough to know it's not necessarily about, like, you know,
thank me for my service. But at the same time, yeah,
it sucks feeling like you're invisible because of your gender
and because of people's preconceived biases about who serves in
the military and who doesn't.

Speaker 4 (44:21):
Right well, And I seek nationally across America. So I've
been speaking nationally for three years for Women Veterans Lamping,
and I go to American Legions, vfw's ouse lodges, Moose lodges,
Masonic lodges. I seek for different businesses and stuff I
get requested all across the nation. My thing is is
I do not receive a dying from them for my

(44:42):
speaking engagement. We have an entire different type of mentality
when we look at what we do for women Veterans
Lamping and myself as the president, I am fortunate enough
God has left me here and take that for granted.
So for me, my entire board is one hundred percent
male and female veterans. That way we can both say
on the same if we overlook something, you know, our

(45:03):
male veteran might say, hey, what about this because we
were just thinking one way. So it's great to have
the other perspective. But the male veterans do not come
to our retreat. They're part of our fundraising and out
in the community as we're doing things. I call them
the bronze and the muscles that we meet sometimes.

Speaker 1 (45:19):
Right, And I think it's impressive that you spotlight them
so well on your page. They're very prominently displayed, their names,
their bios where they serve, like I think that's wonderful.
It's great to be able to see that you know, yes,
you're to some degree the face of women veterans glanping,
but at the same time you give full credit to
your team and that's wonderful.

Speaker 4 (45:38):
Oh. Absolutely, the diversity is great to see what you
know everyone did for service and whatnot. In fact, our
marine is our gourmet cook and she's the one who
does literally our cookbook and designs all our meals around
everyone's dietary. So she's phenomenal. Our young male on there
is connected to me because it is my son, but

(45:59):
he's an Air Force veteran. But if cancer take my life, yeah,
so if cancer should take my life or something else,
then I have a living legacy policy where he will
continue my mission and not change the name to my foundation.
It will say women Veterans Lamping to continue through the
ages to honor the women veterans. This is about the

(46:20):
women veterans, not me, of course.

Speaker 2 (46:22):
And Nicole's a little saying I'd be myself memorized and
I and you definitely embody this. This philosophy I've kind
of embraced over the years. Great people are forced from fire.
Is the lesser privilege of individuals to light the flame.
And you are a light bringer because without you, you
bring the flame.

Speaker 4 (46:37):
Thank you. So my saying that I tell folks is
service to others above self.

Speaker 2 (46:42):
Amen. Military.

Speaker 4 (46:43):
For me, I remind people, but as I speak nationally,
I remind everyone women are the only ones who can
can sieve, grow firth and raise the children while still
doing their military service. It's an incredible feat. It's a
huge job and a toll on our bodies while you're serving.
No man can do this job, well, would they want
to take this job from the women veterans right exactly.

(47:04):
So if we don't defend our women veterans, and we
don't defend our women and give them the credit, we
are not going to have the next generation born to
be able to defend our nation.

Speaker 1 (47:13):
Exactly, and they won't want to because they'll see what
we all went through and they'll be like, yeah, no,
thank you. I mean I see that now. My children
are fourteen and eighteen, and their generation has a much
lower tolerance for tomfoolery, shall we say, than previous generations.
So if they see something and they kind of see
like that's how that's going to go, they're kind of like, yeah,

(47:35):
I miss me on that. I don't want to deal
with it. So I agree it's important to make sure
that we take care of all of our veterans collectively,
but definitely our women veterans, because I mean, it's just
not at the forefront of some people's minds. Most people
when they think military, they think of a male and
so it's important to remind them that we have served,
we are serving, we will continue serving. And with that,

(47:56):
I wanted to ask for our listener's sake, how can
they get we get more information and how can they
support or sign up or the opportunity to get one
of the slot where Women's veterans lamb.

Speaker 4 (48:09):
Okay so they can go to our website, Women Veterans
Glamping dot org. And you spelt it out earlier, so
that keeps the confusion out of it.

Speaker 1 (48:16):
Correct.

Speaker 4 (48:17):
Read through our pages, check out the photos our event.
Every January fifth get posted on the website. I keep
everybody in suspens as we build because we start in
August the year before planning the following year, so I'm
always fifteen to sixteen months ahead of myself planning. And
then once it's released, everyone registers on the website and
puts in the information that's needed. And then April fifth,

(48:40):
we draw the names for the retreat that are held
that year, and we always have a weightlift. That's one
of the benefits. So after you spend one night at
a retreat, we consider you alumni. You're welcomed into the
alumni of glamping. And so it's an amazing thing where
we can draw from our alumni when we need volunteers
to assist at a retreat. So those alumni yet to

(49:00):
come back and assist and go through everything again, and
they can. So what a donation covers is paying for
the lodging, food and activities and the different events that
we offer to our women veterans. We fundraise year round.
We own our own land, so we are trying to
fundraise for the buildings that we'll be going in. We

(49:21):
are attacked to ACTIBLE five oh one C three nonprofit
for Veterans organizations. Donations could be sent to women Veterans
lamping at one twenty six Western Avenue, number one ninety
seven Augusta Main zero four three through zero. And I
just want to say that all these contributions not only
bolster the quality and the reach to all of the retreat,

(49:43):
but also reaffirmed society's gratitude for the sacriface made by
these courageous women. Public support is more than a charitable act.
It's an investment in the well being of those who
have staunchly served our nation. Through each act of kindness,
the natural world becomes an even more fertile ground of healing.
Allowing women veterans to find solace and strength, admits the
duty of the wilderness. Returning home, we're fresh and relaxed

(50:05):
and ready to continue the challenges that the world gives her.

Speaker 1 (50:08):
Awesome. Thank you so much Nicole for taking your time
today to be on the show with us.

Speaker 2 (50:13):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (50:14):
We so appreciate you. Ladies and gentlemen. Nicole Jordan, the
president and founder of Women Veterans Glamping, Thank you again, Nicole.

Speaker 4 (50:21):
Thank you absolutely, and look for us out in the community, becaus.
We do coffee socials around the state for women that
and we'll be at Moxu Festival again for our second
year this year, so we'll have a booth and we're
out and around. Come visit up.

Speaker 1 (50:33):
Awesome. Thank you so much. We appreciate you. Hope to
have you on the show again soon.

Speaker 4 (50:37):
Oh absolutely, thank you.

Speaker 2 (50:38):
You're welcome. Okay America and that's our show for today.

Speaker 1 (50:41):
Thanks for joining us. Rally Potters fall Out. I'm Staff
Stargeant Marc Anthey Staft Stars and Samantha Staff Sergeant Alice
Fast Stargeant William Lewis, and I am proud to defend
my family and our nation.

Speaker 5 (50:55):
The Air Force Reserve is part of the story of
this great nature.

Speaker 3 (50:59):
Grateful that I have to wear the uniform of the
heroes that went before me.

Speaker 2 (51:02):
I am proud to be part of a team that
helps make.

Speaker 1 (51:04):
A difference in the world.

Speaker 5 (51:05):
Every day. Men and women from communities across this nation
serve as Reserve citizen airmen. Even as technology involves 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

(51:28):
an exciting and uniting future. Our mission is to fly,
fight and win in air space and cyber space.

Speaker 2 (51:38):
And I'm proud to be a member.

Speaker 4 (51:39):
And I'm proud to serve in the United And i
am proud to protect our country.

Speaker 5 (51:42):
Proud to serve in the US Air Force, Reserve, Affreserve
dot com. Our veterans risked it all to protect our freedom.

Speaker 4 (51:52):
One of the best ways to say thank you is
to volunteer to support them at a time and history
where kindness as a virtue.

Speaker 5 (51:59):
Volunteering at a therapy bag event, teaching a craft class,
or simply helping veterans at a hospital means a lot.
For over forty seven years, Help Heal Veterans are not
for profit organization, with the support of citizens like you,
has created manufactured and distributed therapeutic art and crafts projects
for our veterans and military at no charge to them.

(52:22):
As a National Veteran Service organization, Help Heal Veterans supports
VA hospitals, patients at home, and our active military. Together,
Help Heal Veterans and volunteers like you have delivered over
thirty two million therapy kits to injured and recovering veterans.
To volunteer or learn more, visit heel vets dot org.

(52:44):
That's heel vets dot org.