Rally Point 64

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Rally Pointers fall and as you know, folks, is that
time again at the Rally Point Radio Show with your
host Jay Hemingway also known as the Sarge and the
man in charge Zane. Let's get at okay, folks. In
this segment, we're bringing back you already know, Dame Boyle

(00:23):
a positive caffeine. How are you doing Dale and doing well?
How are you outstanding? Outstanding? We're here with our friend
here and producer Zay and say hello, so Dane, what
do we have for our viewers, for our viewers and
our listeners here today?

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Absolutely well. Number one, we want to make sure everybody's
positively caffeinated. I'm probably, Oh, I don't know. I've been
up about five hours. I just made a cup for
the show, so a third cup. So it keeps to
me fooling through my vein. Why I want to introduce
myself a little bit, tell you about me, because I
think everything that we do when we follow people, listen
to people about like liking, knowing and trusting them. And

(01:05):
I really want to talk about the Legacy Rock Club,
but why we created it because I believe that's where
we're going to be able to expand and connect with
our veterans locally and globally.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Most definitely.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
So can I if.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
You don't mind, I'm just going to tell you a
little bit about myself, okay, And I'm not going to
say I was more about a certain date in a
certain city, although I was born in Philadelpha, Pennsylvania, which
if you're a football fan, it just kind of makes
me a jerk.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
But I hope that's not really who I am. But
long story, Shore and I am a fourth generation veteran.
I wear that with greater pride today probably than I
did when I was active duty, just because you mature
and you understand the legacy that you had and you
leave and ultimately you know, I've lived, I've loved, I've lost,
I've learned. I've been the beneficiary of many, many of

(01:56):
the veteran benefits, which is something that my father, who
was actually active duty when I enlisted in the late eighties,
and that was his piece, is to make sure that
I understood how to take advantage of what was going
to be afforded to me when I decided to separate
and from school to homes to land and I live

(02:16):
in Texas and the Texas and the state of Texas
really does take care of the veterans. So as I've
gotten a little bit older, I just I feel like
I want to give back. And maybe that's part of
growing up, I don't know, part of maturation and realizing
that the world is bigger than just us. And I
think that's where most veterans go anyway, is that we

(02:37):
want to do something bigger whether and for me it
was now as a high school athlete, so it wasn't
just about me. It was about the other ten guys
on my right or left, and the other eleven guys
on the other side of the ball, or the other
eight guys I played football and baseball in high school,
and the other eight guys on the field and on
the bench too. And then I became a later many years,

(03:00):
I became a football coach, I became a school teacher.
I worked for my dad. I mean, everything's been about
the greater good, and that's really where we are today.
And I hope that if you're listening and whether you're
doing really well, let's go from good to great. If
you're struggling, let's get you up and moving it active
and connected, and that's really where the legacy rout club
comes in and I started it in my hometown. And

(03:23):
if you're not a most military filming was rucking, and
now it's a form of exercise that even the celebrities
are doing. Hey, can I ask you, guys, have you
ever read the book The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter? No?

Speaker 1 (03:33):
I have not.

Speaker 4 (03:33):
How about you saying I've actually heard of the book
but haven't had a chance to read it. But it's
definitely I actually wrote it down recently. Have one that
I want to hear on my audio books?

Speaker 1 (03:45):
Wow?

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Nice? I highly recommend it. And by the way, for
you Spotify listeners, and if you pay for Premium, you
get fifteen hours of audiobooks as part of your subscription.
I use that all the time. But I highly recommend
the book. And he just just to give you kind
of a synopsis. He talks about the fact that we're
so comfortable today that we have to find ways to

(04:08):
be uncomfortable and that's the way we grow. And you know,
many of us and I don't know about you guys.
So for example, I didn't want to wear a cover
when I got out of the service at all because
I had to wear a hat every day. You feel
that yes, and go ahead.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
Going outside without cover is a very very detrimental to
you your career in the military, right, right.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
But I'd want a hat since I was a little kid,
but it was just because I quote unquote had to.
But now, even though I don't have any hair on
my head, I still wear a hat every day. But
I say that because we are so comfortable, we don't
understand or that we have value of being uncomfortable. Okay,

(04:56):
when was the last time either of you were afraid
to be eat by a saber tooth tie your new
enter the bathroom?

Speaker 1 (05:02):
Never?

Speaker 2 (05:05):
Thankfully? Never? Right exactly, but again, right, so we're even
even if you're sitting in your studio today and you
have your perfectly ergonomic chair, you're super comfortable. Even the
muscles that you you're six hundred some muscles that you have,
they don't have to work free hard, right, you get
to relax in that chair. You have a posture peed Sorry,
go ahead, no, exactly matter, I'll be quiet, and second

(05:31):
I'll let you talk. Sorry, you don't have to really
do much when you sleep either, Go ahead, Zane.

Speaker 4 (05:35):
Oh, I was just saying, I'm willing to bet we're
doing ourselves a major disservice for sitting for too long.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
They call it the new smoking actually, and I so
he just goes on to say, and the reason I
was talking about the hat really was about because we
had to carry packs for so many miles, et cetera.
Maybe we didn't want to do it right, especially directly
out of the service. But what we know is you

(06:02):
can be stronger, you can build resilience, you can have
muscular strength, you can have core strength, and literally you
can do it anywhere as long as you've got a
backpack and some sort of weight, whether it's flour, sugar, dumbbell,
a rock plate, a kid, it doesn't matter right, you
can carry it wherever you go. And then even who

(06:23):
wanted the go ruck ads it says, and you can
actually carry a beer at the same time, which is
true too. But when he goes on to talk about
being uncomfortable, is that we can use rucking as an
idea to be uncomfortable. And you can make rucking harder
by carrying more weight, by going uphail, by doing any heat,
by doing it for longer time and distance. And also

(06:46):
the way I looked at it, because I've been doing
it almost every day for probably going on three years now.
I guess I also wanted to build a community. And
there's a low barrier of entry, meaning it's not doesn't
really scare people. If you who tells most relatively healthy
people or asked them to go on a walk, they
may not want to, but wouldn't you think that most
of them think they could go?

Speaker 4 (07:07):
Yeah, I would think so.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
Right, I would think so too, And then we know
we can make it a little bit more challenging by
grabbing the weight. So, for example, the last Friday in
My World, one of our legacy ruckers in Sagem, Texas,
so between Austin and San Antonio. They held a Legacy
Rock Club Mandi Gras event at their house and so
we were on the country roads and there was cattle

(07:33):
and there were horses, and there was talking and there
was laughing and there were beads, and then we came
back and we just connected. And that's literally what the
Legacy Rock Club is about because you could do it virtually.
So we have people all over the country that are
joining us to if you're in my World between Austin
and San Antonio and you can come and do it.
We're launching in Southwest Florida. I'll let you guys talk

(07:54):
about that in a minute. We're launching and lecting to
Kentucky all probably within the next six weeks to expand it.
Every one of the affiliates of the Legacy Root Club
is a veteran WOW so founded and operated by right
so we embodied the spirit of service, perseverance, and camaraderie.

Speaker 4 (08:14):
Beside the camaraderie, I actually remember the last time that
I had a really really hard work out. I had
a trainer at the time, and she said, we're going
to run the mile. I hadn't run the mile since
high school. So we did. We ran the mile at
whatever pace we wanted. The key thing was we've got
to complete that mile. We can't stop. So we get

(08:34):
to the end, we rest and she said, guess what,
We're going to run back. So we did. And it
was just making yourself do that. But there was a
huge reward at the end of the rainbow, and that
reward was I never felt better in all my life
that I just did that. Not only the accomplishment, but
the endorphins that were released everything. It was just amazing.

(08:57):
I'm willing to bet you get a similar experience with rocking, I.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
Would agree one hundred percent. I think, and again, we
can make it as hard a quote unquote easy as possible.
But when you pick a distance or you pick a time,
and there's and then you maybe you help the guy
or girl next to you who is struggling, then there's
something about that connection. Think about basic training, boot camp,
PT test, being out in the field. All of those

(09:24):
endorphins and memories come back, and that's that spirit of
service and camaraderie. So you're exactly right, Zane in the
sense that you will feel good. I'd share another example.
Years and years ago, I had put on more weight
than I ever had. It was going through school, raising
three kids, having a mortgage, you know, just life, and
and I got hired to run with football to be

(09:46):
an assistant girls basketball coach, and the head basketball coach
was super fit and he was a triathlete, and I said, man, dude,
I've got to take care of myself, Like, how do
you do it? Your kids at the same age as
mind blah blah law. And so it wasn't that I
didn't have the education, but John was telling me how
he scheduled it, how he did it, and then eventually

(10:08):
he's like, hey, man, you should do a triathlon. Now,
I'm not going to drop the word that I'm pretty
sure I told John that day when he recommended me
doing a driathlone. But I continued to listen, I continued
to think about it, and eventually I decided to give
it a shot. And what John told me that day,

(10:28):
going back to what you said about feeling a sense
of accomplishment in the doorphins, He goes, when you crossed
the finish line, you will feel like you can do
just about anything. And that was probably twenty I don't
even know anymore. I've got a teaching and coaching since
O six through the Math. That's nineteen years ago. So
it's been well over twenty years since I did it.
And to be honest with you, I've never stopped. Am

(10:49):
I ever going to win one of those races? And
God bless you. Mom? She always used to ask me
about my track meet and I'm like, Mom, i haven't
run track since high school. But anyway, I'm not going
to win. For me, it's about the sense of accomplishment.
That's where I start. If somebody wants to quote unquote,
we're in the race. Believe me, we can coach you
to win the race. But if you want to stay healthy,
you want to stay connected, you want to stay empowered,
you want to live your best life. You want to

(11:11):
keep your butt out of the nursing home, you know,
especially of aging veterans. And that's what this is all about.

Speaker 4 (11:17):
Yeah, it's a wonderful, wonderful thing, it really is. And
you know, to some point, it's counterintuitive, because what is
that everybody says, Oh, I've got to take a rest
for my health, and I've got to do this for
my No. I mean, yeah, there's a time to rest,
but pushing your body, I'm moving even just a little bit.
And I'm sure you would recommend that people starting out

(11:39):
don't go, you know, dung ho all the way. You've
got to do it in increments, and you've got to
do it in a way that you won't injure yourself,
like a little bit at a time.

Speaker 2 (11:47):
Right, absolutely, So, I think that's one of the things
that we almost have to remove ourselves, those of us
that were athletes, so those of us that had the
you know, score on PT test, we have to know
that it's okay to slow down. It's okay to start slowly.
It's okay to crawl. This was probably the best business

(12:09):
advice I ever got years ago and one of the
presidents of a bank I was trying to borrow money
from years ago. By the way, he didn't get the loan,
but anyway, he said, then make sure you crawl before
you walk, and walk before your run. And at that
time in life, I was sprinting. But we try to build.
It's about consistency. You did not run, you were pt

(12:30):
test the very first day of boot camp at the time.
Hopefully you finished in a boot camp or whatever that was.
And now we've got a little bit of time resting
and rest and relaxation is actually one of the keys
to longevity. You can get feel free to fact check
that it really is. But we start slowly, whether it's
a ten minute walk, transitioning to a rock or it's

(12:50):
going to you know, whatever that looks like for you.
We usually start with a mile with somebody. I recommend
for the novice, for the ladies to start with ten pounds,
for the men to start with fifteen pounds, and then
you know, try that for a week to two weeks,
be consistent in doing it. Years ago. By the way,
I don't ever take a breath when I talk and
change topics. But anyway, I'm taking a breath and I'm

(13:11):
changing topics. Years ago, I was also an assistant high
school cross country coach. Wow, And you'd always get the
kid thank you. The kids that would come in the say, coach,
I want to run faster. Can you create me a plan?
And so I'm a young coach, I'm diligently writing about
He'll repeat and LSV runs which are long slow distance

(13:33):
runs and track work and all this, and the head
coach goes, don't ever do that again. He goes, when
they come in, tell them to go run one mile
a day for seven days and come back. By the way,
nobody ever came back. But but as an adult, I
want you to come back. I'm not asking you to
go run. If you want to run, we can talk
about that. I don't run much anymore. I am a

(13:54):
three time marathon finisher, triathlete, et cetera, et cetera. But
just as my feet no longer want to cooperate as
much on that pounding, I'm full of grit. I'm sure
you guys are too. We'll go and we'll go to
the distance, and I want people to not be afraid
of that. I will there is the same mentality of
no man or a woman left behind. We will slow down,

(14:15):
we will speed up, we will encourage, we will come back.
We'll make sure that everybody is welcome. And at the
legacy of Rock Club, we want to make sure like
the TV show Cheers, we want to know your name right.

Speaker 4 (14:29):
So it's really a metaphor for life as in it.

Speaker 2 (14:32):
One hundred percent, one hundred percent. You know. I read
something I sing I say was this morning and said,
we're not really teaching you how to overcome pain and
discomfort because you've already got that, right. What we're trying
to do is teach you how to embrace growth and
enjoy and happiness and the spirit of who you are. Right,

(14:54):
we can pursue happiness. Isn't that something that we're as
Americans We have the ability to pursue happiness. That it
is all in metaphor for life.

Speaker 4 (15:04):
Yeah, we have the right to pursue happiness and we
have the means to also.

Speaker 2 (15:10):
And we're really lucky. If you think about I think
think about like so much of at least in my
news feed is about weight loss. By the way, you realize,
for thousands of years we tried to saten up and
during harvest and not die in the winter. You know,
now we live in the for the most part middle class.
We live in the land of abundance, and again that
discomfort zone. We're very comfortable. You know. I'm sitting in

(15:33):
my office. I've got a hoodie on, I've got shorts on.
I'm in Texas. It's warm today, I've got the ac on.
I slept with blankets, my coffee was hot, you name it.
Anything that I wanted this morning to start my day.
My belly is full. It was possible. Yeah, So to
be uncomfortable today, the wind is like freaking thirty miles

(15:53):
an hour or something, which is kind of crazy in
my world. But I'm going to go out when we're done,
put on our rough pack. And I didn't pretty much
five k a day or so. I try to go
through a little about three miles a day, and it's
probably not every day, and it's not not trying to
break any land speed records. But I know that today
I'm going to do it by myself. Tomorrow I'll do
it with a group. I'll do it again with a

(16:14):
group on Saturday. So sometimes I do, to be honest
with you, like to do it by myself. Sometimes I
have my earbuds in, sometimes I don't. It just depends
on the day. But for me, my health is a
non negotiable and I want it physically, mentally, and emotionally.
That's really why we built the Legacy Rock clubs. To
get veterans to be leaders, because many of us have
been leaders at some point, whether it's rank or not.

(16:38):
And then to bring veterans in. And you don't have
to be a veteran to be part of the club.
Like we want to encourage the veterans, we want anybody
in the area or virtually that wants to join and
feel connected to do it. But the idea is to
ultimately take action, you know, take action. On talk Starge
mentioned something earlier to me that he wasn't good at something.

(16:58):
I said at my response, not yet. So you may
not be a good record yet, but you can be.
It may not be the best, you know, version of
yourself yet. That's the most powerful word just added to
anything you want to do and become.

Speaker 4 (17:10):
But you got to put in the time, and you
got to put in the work.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
But that's the pursuit of happiness, right. It's an inside job.
Oh wow, your health is go ahead.

Speaker 1 (17:22):
I like that. The definition of the pursuit of happiness
is that's it.

Speaker 2 (17:27):
It's an inside job, right, because it doesn't say we're
going to grant you happiness. Oh wow, you can pursue it.

Speaker 1 (17:39):
I love this guy, and.

Speaker 2 (17:40):
I think that everybody's version of happiness is different. You know.
It's kind of like when I started my own LLC
over a decade ago, and you know, people are like,
is success for you money? Well, some of it equates
to money, because I've got to pay the bills and
I'm headed up to Pennsylvania later this week to see
my my daughter and our family and her husband's first

(18:01):
shirt in the Air Force. We had to have the
money to buy the plane, tickets, for the airbnb, for food.
So that's important. But success for me is way more
than that. It's being a when my wife is off.
It's being able to go into my office and work.
And then when I get a Texas says morning baby,
and I stop and for thirty minutes we go have

(18:22):
guess what, another cup of coffee. And so for me,
that's part of success. That ability, or my success is
being on the show with you guys and out into
the global world right and then putting on my rock
pack and going at nine or ten o'clock in the morning,
and then coming back and doing my first one on

(18:45):
one call, and then being ready this evening to do
my Healthy Huddle community call. But be able to regulate
and control my schedule if I wanted to. My wife
works in the town next is about thirty minutes from us.
If I wanted to take it would be about two
hours by the time my drive had lunch and drive
back our to be able to have the time in
the middle of the day to go do that. Not

(19:06):
everybody has that because they don't work for themselves. But
I learned as an entrepreneur they really are seven days
a week. So there are times when I do do
work on the weekends too.

Speaker 1 (19:16):
Oh, like you go ahead one hundred percent on that topic.
Being an entrepreneur, you're pretty much on the go every day,
every days. The marketing day.

Speaker 2 (19:28):
It is. It's funny because you I think most of
us leave the corporate world or whatever that is, thinking
that we're going to have You know, I'm only going
to work ten hours a week. Well, if you can
do that, more power to you. But for the most part,
I'm a solopreneur. I do have an assistant that helps,
you know, with some of my social media stuff, but

(19:48):
for the most part it's me because even with her,
I have to let her know what my mindset is,
what I want to be able to do. But if
you can discover, so again leaving the service, maybe what
sets your soul on fire, And maybe when you go
on a rock, maybe when you grab that pack, maybe
when you go outside, you can decide and discover what

(20:11):
sets your soul on fire and ultimately allows you to
jump out of bed like a child on Christmas morning
every single day.

Speaker 1 (20:19):
That's wow. Wow, I hear a book being written right now, folks.

Speaker 3 (20:24):
Yeah about you, Jane, Oh yeah, definitely, you know it's
I've had that so many times.

Speaker 2 (20:30):
I try to book. To be honest with you, my
book comes out in two days. I have that was
a great, great lead in, But it's not the book
like that. It's this is the cliff Notes versions about
one hundred pages. It's called Unstoppable. You let go level
up and live with purpose, and the book is a
counterpart to all of my coaching. It's kind of the

(20:50):
cliff notes of what I do. But I do need
to finish up because my wife's like, that's a good book,
but that's not your ultimate book. That's not the book,
the legacy book. Because I do have three grandchildren that
they're going to be able to read and go that
they call me pop up, that they know that's what
pop up believes are believed.

Speaker 1 (21:08):
Oh what? Definitely? WHOA? So you have a book, you know,
and where's that going to be available.

Speaker 2 (21:14):
Amazon on the sixth You can pre order it. There's
digital and there's a paperback. I will be putting out
into the role on my social media pages and through
email next week on stand By Real Quick I think it.

Speaker 1 (21:32):
Is March So America Exclusive.

Speaker 2 (21:38):
March eleven, at five pm Central Standard Time, will be
a Q and A live with me on Zoom about
the book and questions and comments and concerns, and again
hopefully to get people fired up literally to step into
their purpose, to pursue the happiness, to let go of
self limiting beliefs. You know, all the crap that you
heard of the kid that we still hear on repeat

(22:00):
and reruns in our head, that We've got to somehow
let go to rediscover who we're supposed to be, whether
you're twenty five or sixty five or anywhere in between,
because that's I think where you find your ultimate joy
when again you can literally and I asked my Trailblazers,
which is my community every day, what sets your soul

(22:21):
on fire?

Speaker 1 (22:22):
Go to that wow? And after that book hits, I
got to talk to Dane offline because I had this
epiphany while you were talking, to write a collaboration book,
The Pursuit of Happiness, the Inside Job.

Speaker 2 (22:38):
What's funny or interest? You know, it's so funny that
we're on the same page when we talked, because last
year I talked to a book publisher about helping our
community write a collaborative book. So seriously, offline will stay
on and anybody else that wants to. It's a possibility
and something we could do asap and potentially get done

(23:00):
in twenty twenty five. Is not the beginning of twenty
twenty six.

Speaker 1 (23:03):
Well, I'm one of those types that jump on it
because I feel that things happen at the time that
they as opposed to and given the times that we're
heading into, let's prepare for the worst and hope for
the best, and sometimes we need to have a Manuel
how to survive those hard times and know it again,
I don't believe in faith. I do believe our paths
take us in the direction we're meant to be and

(23:25):
bring along those along the journey that you're meant to
have with you. And I am I am going to
guarantee this half bigd idea almost a year and a
half ago of the Valey Point Show, start small, and
now we're here. I'm going around the perfect time and
I'm again if you could see the cheesy smile I
have my face right now, you'll be amazed because I

(23:46):
am like in the last five minutes of hearing you,
I might going ooh, that sounds like a book idea
and longbow hold. We have the first version Aril coming
out March eleventh, and the name of it is again.

Speaker 2 (23:58):
March six, March eleventh. It's called Unstoppable. You let go
level up and live with purpose. And if you put
my name Amazon Dane d an E, not Zane with
the z B, with the Dane b O, I l
E It'll come right. It should pop right up. I
haven't been on Amazon if the paperback version is up yet,

(24:19):
because I don't think that they allow that until it
actually drops. But the kindle version is available, I mean
you would get it downloaded in two days.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
Wow, man, Like I said, America, just when you thought
you figured us out, Dane comes out and just drops knowledge.
And Ronaldo is hav an epiphany and having a collaborative
book put together after this show. And that's why I'm
thankful to have them here and being a part of
the Valley Point Network. And dang, can you please remind

(24:46):
our listeners if they need to get in contact with
you or to find some of your podcasts, where they
can come, where they can go to find you.

Speaker 2 (24:54):
Absolutely so. Daneboil dot com d A n. E. Boiley
dot com is by way website. My podcast is called
Turn Positivity into Possibility. So I hope in my tone
and my voice and my passion you could hear the
positivity in that which we want to turn into possibility.
And I'm all over social media. If you just literally

(25:15):
put in my first and last name, whether it's YouTube, TikTok,
or Facebook or Instagram, you should be able to find it.
My dream and belief is that professionals should give some
intellectual content away every single day under to lead from
the front and provide for a greater good and for
those that don't want just dain light and that's when

(25:36):
we can join together, whether it's legacy rock or coaching
or any of the other narroative things that are coming
down in the pipeline.

Speaker 4 (25:42):
Outstanding Dane, let me say thank you for not only
the inspiration, but the caffeination as well.

Speaker 2 (25:51):
My pleasure know that I'm leading a sold out retreat
in Oklahoma City. At the end of all I've been
saying August over and hope for all my life. Calls
are like, it's not in August. If we show up
in April and you're not there anyway. One of the
first questions was do you drink coffee? What do you
take in your coffee? No worry, I'll have coffee. So

(26:14):
that's how we will start each and every day.

Speaker 1 (26:17):
Outstanding, Well, Dane, thank you for being on our show
today and again, folks you got the information to go
find the book and they see Dane on the internet
on this podcast. Thank you for being a part of
our rally Point Dane, and we'll talk to you next month.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
My pleasure.

Speaker 1 (26:36):
Thank you.

Speaker 5 (26:38):
Are you looking to honor a loved one who served
in our armed forces? Now's your chance to make a difference.
The one hundred point nine FM Rally Point Show is
proud to announce our partnership with Reats Across America Radio,
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the tune in app. Help us sponsor a veterans wreath
in honor of or in memory of a hero. Your

(26:58):
tax deductible DONI allows us to designate a wreath for
one of the millions of heroes who rest in honored glory.
Your contribution, no matter the size, plays a crucial role
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(27:19):
Rallypoint dot org forward slash Wreaths dash across Dash America
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simply click on the Field of Heroes icon and choose
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in this massive mission, your generous support will help us

(27:40):
recognize our veterans sacrifices today, Let's honor our veterans sacrifices together.
Thank you for your support.

Speaker 1 (27:47):
Okay, folks, for a back on the air right now,
we have our our in our studios today we have
Helping Hearts for Heroes saw SHAWNA. Willis and Kimberly Spencer.
Welcome back to your segment. How are you guys being
the last time we spoke?

Speaker 6 (28:01):
Great?

Speaker 7 (28:02):
Doing great?

Speaker 1 (28:03):
Basically, folks, For all you new listeners out there and
until there's something about. Helping Hearts for Heroes is a
new five oh one c corporation. It was founded in
twenty twenty four by Heidi Hype pronouncer he Nivel, Kim Spencer,
and Seana Willis, each with a passion for serving and
personal connections to the military. They are through their grassroots

(28:26):
efforts collectively created an organization that provides various support services
to the local area veterans in need and abroad. Additionally,
Helping Hearts for Heroes helps address the unique challenges that
veterans face and reintegrating into our sulfeeling society through a
continuum of care model that focuses on whole person, whole health.

(28:48):
This model helps to promote stability whilst ensuring that each
veteran maintains their dignity, pride and independence. They also include
in their programs Wellness Warrior. Warrior Wellness focuses on the
physical wellbeing of our veterans through health, wellness, education and therapy.
This program provides veterans with JIM memberships, personal training sessions,

(29:12):
and a lot more. I actually had an opportunity to
meet the owner and our co host, justin Leipford. He'll
be on our show a little bit later on and
he actually kind of frontlines the whole program. So welcome
to the show. Hi you guys, Ben, and welcome back.
Thank you.

Speaker 6 (29:31):
We've been doing pretty good. We've been very busy.

Speaker 1 (29:34):
Exactly so since the last time we spoke, we guys
been up to well.

Speaker 7 (29:38):
We've planned a Bingo night, which is to raise funds
for the five oh one C three. You know, we
recognize that, yes, we collected a lot of home goods
for our veterans, but if somebody needed help with a
deposit for their light bill or their water bill or something,
we had no way of doing that. So we are
now raising funds through the five oh one C three
so we can have some money that to help them

(30:00):
out as well.

Speaker 1 (30:01):
Outstanding and for those who want to have contact with you,
how it did come about to apply for our.

Speaker 7 (30:07):
Assistance, Well, they can call either one of us. They
can reach me at Brookdale Senior Living which is nine
four one seven four three nine three zero zero or SHAWNA.

Speaker 6 (30:17):
And they could reach me at nine four one two
one four zero two five eight. And we now have
our website live. So you guys now can just go
to Google or whatever search engine you use and it's
helping heartsfreheroes.

Speaker 1 (30:32):
Dot com most definitely. Now, if you don't mind, could
you kind of re educate America on yourselves individually with
their connection with veterans and how you find your passion
to do what you're doing right now.

Speaker 6 (30:45):
So I am married to a veteran. He has served
eighteen and a half years in the Air Force Reserves.
We've gone through five deployments together. During his deployments, I
got certified as a key spouse, so I was able
to reach out to other loved ones, family friends that
were trying to support their veterans while they were abroad

(31:07):
during their deployments. I also come from a long lineage
of veterans, So this was really near and dear to
my heart. My grandfather was a Korean War veteran. Most
of my uncles were all in the Vietnam and the
Gulf War, So this is really something that's just close
to me, and I just wanted to find additional ways
really to give back and to keep their spirits alive.

(31:31):
A lot of them lost their lives while serving, and
their families are still here and the ones that have
served really aren't looking to reach out and ask for help.
So we want to be able to do that for
them and show them we're.

Speaker 1 (31:41):
Here for them, definitely.

Speaker 7 (31:43):
And Kim so, Yeah, So my stepdad was in the
Korean War, was an MP and was very very proud
of his service. Still had his hat, which thankfully I
still have today, and we talked about his service a lot,
some of the things that he did, and you know,
he was really proud to serve his country. So it's
a something that I want to be able to help

(32:05):
other veterans that especially ones who kind of are even
afraid to reach out, which we found out really in
December when we did the presentation. Some of them are
pretty skittish to talk to is and so forth. So
there's a lot of pride involved.

Speaker 1 (32:18):
That we want to most definitely, most definitely and one
of the things that I'm actually how I met had an
opportunity to meet you both in two different respects. Shawna,
you work at Right at Home and can explain to
the audience what you do at right at Home.

Speaker 6 (32:34):
Yes, so Right at Home is it in home care agency?
It's international. We own a franchise in Englewood, and we
basically service individuals who are struggling to take care of themselves,
whether it's a cute episode or if it's something long term,
they're aging, maybe they have dementia, Alzheimer's. And one of

(32:54):
our biggest things is we take aiden attentions through the VA,
so we are able to service our veterans who have
those benefits to keep them at home or wherever home
is to them.

Speaker 1 (33:04):
Most definitely and yourself, Kim So.

Speaker 7 (33:07):
Again work for Brookdale Senior Living. I do the sales
and marketing, so I get to meet with the families
and prospective residents and help them through that journey. And
it is a journey. It's overwhelming, and you know, nobody
really wants to leave their home, but sometimes you know,
it's necessary because we're helping them with sometimes their activities
of daily living which they're not doing, or medication management.
So as I said, you know with Brookdale, they do

(33:29):
offer all veterans seven and a half percent off the rent,
which you know, Brookdale is very supportive of our veterans.

Speaker 1 (33:36):
Wellst definitely and America. How I got to know them
both was like one of the things that we do
here at the Rally Point is to try to discover
resources that we can utilize. And as we know and
as myself as a sergeant, I always told people you
either you choose succeed or you don't choose, you choose
to fail. And one of the things that we are
very big on at the Rally Point is having control

(33:58):
over our lives during the and thereafter. In one respect,
one of the things I liked about Right at Home
is because they give you the opportunity to plan your
destiny basically and depending on your level of care and
maybe you can kind of get more in detail about that, Shauna,
what you need to have done for your your lifestyle

(34:18):
at the point you want to maintain your independence and
you want to be by yourself, but you still need
like assistance in your daily living operations. They can help
you be I guess from my understanding, correct me if
I'm wrong, as as it can be or as extreme
as you a client needs to have involvement with right
out correct.

Speaker 6 (34:35):
So we can start off with your basic companionship, your
lonely maybe you're isolated, maybe your family has to work
during the day and they just want somebody to be
there with you to keep you safe. And we go
all the way up to end of care, end of
life care, so we can physically assist with all of
your ambulation, your toileting, you're dressing, you know, whether we

(34:56):
have to feed you or help you with your food
preparing me taking you to appointments, reminding you to take
your medications. So I always tell people, think of all
the things that you were doing for yourself or that
your spouse or your loved ones are helping you with.
We can come in and we can provide that and
give them that little bit of respite so they can
just be your daughter, your friend, your neighbor instead of

(35:17):
having to be.

Speaker 1 (35:18):
That caregiver outstanding. And there's that instance that there's that
still component of having self control and dignity and making
choices for yourself. And basically that's kind of probably part
of the reasons why I is automatically. We started talking
right at home, and that maintenance of independence is maintained
with respect. And as Brickdale I walked through the doors Froke,

(35:41):
I did my three sixty head was on a swivel,
and I saw an American flag and immediately I knew
that there were veterans on site, and I knew that
there are some of us who need help, and we
get to a point where don't want to have a
house and sell everything to have things done for us.
And that's why I kind of kind of ran into
kind of literally Kim for the first time. And the

(36:03):
level of respect that they had for veterans there was premium.
I know, we've heard horror stories about you know, senior
leaving places, but this is not the place, folks. And
before they knew me from a hole in the wall,
I was impressed with the level of care for the
inhabitants and also the ones that were veterans, as they

(36:24):
were also identified as veterans and given that extra you know,
extra shine. Oh, I don't hate everybody. It's not a veteran,
but I appreciate those organizations that take a little bit
of effort to recognize those who have served their country.
And it was like taking a next breath when I
saw at your facility. So I always say one hundred
percent the rally. Pointers I'll say right now, if you

(36:44):
got any concerns, if you make you need any help,
have Sean and you have Kim here at anytime a
part of our family. Now you have any questions, which
now I have about two of them already to help
you make those decisions educated and proper for yourselves. Now, Seana,
our first question for you would be is does that
include spousal If I say I'm married and I have

(37:06):
an elderly spouse, do you take care of us both?
If it just one person? How does that go?

Speaker 6 (37:10):
So we have the ability to take care of you
as an individual, or we can do a couple's care,
which we offer at a discounted rate. Instead of paying
twice for an individual, we actually just charge you an
additional ten dollars an hour to have your spouse receive
the same care with the.

Speaker 1 (37:27):
Caregiver outstanding and Kim for yourself. What are you what's
the usual entitlements for an average resident at at your facility.

Speaker 7 (37:40):
The ideal is to keep them as active as possible,
keep them with they're socializing and so forth. But assisting
them with whatever help that they need is an individual plan.
So we have different activities and such. The again, with
a couple, you know, just like you asked Shauna, there
is a second fee. It's not that they get charged double,

(38:00):
but we want to keep the couples together as much
as possible.

Speaker 1 (38:04):
Oh that's outstanding. And folks, now you take their backgrounds individually,
you put them together. Now you see how helping hearts
free heroes is such a natural project for them to
get into because again, imagine all that energy and all
that creative and all that knowledge focused on taking care
of veterans and helping them adapt to normal lifestyles. I

(38:29):
will say this again for those who haven't heard it.
Before I was into I was invited to a meeting
by a coworker of mine. I sat down in this
meeting and it took all but I think, five minutes
for them to make decisions that usually takes the average
board three weeks to make five minutes three weeks in
five minutes, folks, and the output did not did not

(38:54):
shy from that expectation either. Our first we were they
were formed in what our our first project was done
in November, Yes, and by and I say November, November, October,
and in October and then they were ready to go.
Guns of blazons and Ammo bags packed. By December ninth,

(39:15):
we were already providing housing and supplies for veterans and
at a facility here in Charlotte County, Florida. And I
was set there. I was all struck. I thought I
was back into the army with logistics all over again.
But the ability for them to mobilize, execute, and deliver
in that time frame makes it a no brainer that
they north they were doing. The objective was very clear,

(39:37):
and they got it done. And their growth has been nothing,
nothing but spectacular, despite economic downturn that we've been through
as a country. But again, my hat's off to you guys,
and I salute you both because you are going to
be the I call it the lighthouse effect. You're the
beam of light and upcoming darkness for us to get
our veterans in the right direction and actually improved their

(40:00):
quality of life, it has to you on their road
and journey to independence and right now and then take
a few minutes and take a few breaks from the situation. Okay,
for my next question for the both of you, how
did a group choose the name home Goods for Heroes
when you chose it.

Speaker 7 (40:18):
Well, as a group, we just kind of went back
and forth and came up with a couple of different names,
and that just seemed to fit because it was all
about providing those home goods for the bathroom, the kitchen,
and the bedroom. So it was you know, so we
just kind of all as a team worked on that title.

Speaker 6 (40:32):
So and we consider our veterans heroes every day.

Speaker 1 (40:35):
Oh definitely, definitely. And I happened, Like I said, folks,
I was. I was sitting on the board when I
heard him toss around the ideas and their ability to
keep things simple yet very informative. This blew my mind.
And go, folks, home Goods for Heroes says it all
short amount of words. It's impactful. And like I said
that again, I am only impressed easy, but Sergeant was

(40:57):
definitely impressed on those meetings. But that being the case,
as I digress, a couple of the questions.

Speaker 2 (41:04):
I have.

Speaker 1 (41:06):
What how did you measure the how did the group
measure the success for Home Gets to hearers an event
that you did, how do you measure success?

Speaker 7 (41:14):
Well, just the you know, the day that we actually
did the presentation, to have one guy that was telling
his story where he had been in his car for
I think it was like six hundred days. You know,
to think that he, as a veteran who served our country,
had no place to go and you know, learn that
he was you know, so he did a shopping that day.
There was another gentleman that was going to be graduating
from the program, and you know, to see all that

(41:35):
and it's just, you know, it's heart wrenching to think
that our veterans are in that situation. But to be
able to give back to them and show them that
people do care. And Charlotte County is so supportive and
we were so blessed to have that support system. And
we were concerned because you know, just as we started
this hurricanes hit. You know, we had two hurricanes come

(41:55):
in back to back and we thought, well, you know,
it won't be so so much, but you know, we
ended up with a Hugh Hall top to bottom, front
to back full of stuff. Our community bus was full.
And now we have a storage unit that is full
of stuff. And I think we what they figured about
twelve thousand dollars worth of items.

Speaker 6 (42:12):
Yes, and in one generous group alone, monetary wise, had
about seven thousand dollars in donations.

Speaker 1 (42:20):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (42:21):
This group of women came together and they decided they
were going to sponsor ten veterans from Veterans Village in
Pantagorda and that ten veterans total was over seven thousand
dollars in items. So even from a standpoint, we really
didn't go into this with a number in our mind.

(42:43):
We went into it with let's see what we can provide.
You know, maybe the first year won't be as big,
but that's okay. Every dollar is an item and every
item gets replaced to a veteran. So that was where
our success came from. But then when we saw the
amount over some items, we knew we kind of struck gold.

Speaker 1 (43:02):
That yeah, definitely. And as a veteran observing you guys
do this, I will say that you brought new meeting
for when of civilian says thank you for your support,
rather than just becoming in words, you produced I saw it.
Thank you and folks at the event when we were
harring out the gift bags. As you can imagine, we

(43:23):
veterans tend to be a little standoffish and skittish, and
I had to roll back my personality back to sergeant
having one call and the duties that called my soldiers
to rally to the mess hall, and all of a sudden,
slowly but surely, we start pecking through that wall of
you know, our fickleness, and they started coming out and

(43:44):
you know, seeing what was going on. And the best
part I had is when we saw we delivered it
back and when one of our givers gave a hug
and the veteran asked for it and she willing it
was for me that was ice breaking. That broke. It
broke the ice completely and again for them to feel

(44:05):
comfortable enough to ask for that, that was monumental because
we're very give me skittish from time to time. But
I will say thank you to have measured effect and short, shorter,
short amount of time. It is outstanding. A couple other questions,
and if you have any questions for me, please ask
if if you found, if you find yourself expanding what

(44:29):
you are, what do you see in the near future?
For your organizations and does does Home Goods for Heroes
fall under your new organization?

Speaker 6 (44:38):
Yes, so Home Goods for Heroes is definitely going to
be a continued effort. We initially set out with the
idea of doing this, you know, annually, and we realize
quite quickly that we really probably should do this semi annually.
There's veterans moving in and out of the Veterans Village
every week, but all so there's an untapped area in

(45:02):
Charlotte County where I'm sure there are veterans who are
not getting support from Veterans Village that need these items
and may need some additional items that we haven't even
thought of. So we are always looking trying to identify
veterans in need. So from that is kind of where
we came up with the additional programs, venturing out with

(45:23):
Justin to bring in the Warrior wellness efforts so that
as these veterans are getting their services and they want
to continue on their path of you know, whether it's
healthy mindset and physical body. Justin can do that through
his efforts with personal training, through some physical activities and swimming,

(45:44):
you know, other things. And we're also looking into partnering
with some of the other local Charlotte County veteran services
to make sure maybe they have never received an actual
application for veteran disability, maybe they're looking to see what
their health insurance can provide, maybe they're looking for mental
health supports in the community. So we want to create

(46:06):
this continuum model that as you know, Home Goods three
Heroes was the foundation. That's just the.

Speaker 1 (46:12):
Beginning, most definitely. And one of the things I'm sitting
here in your a flyer here and if I and
Justin we got on our show a little bit later
on one of the things, I believe that it's about getting
a mental mental frame of mind in the right direction.
And folks, sometimes just getting on in your chair and
walking around accomplishes that mission. And I believe Justin has

(46:34):
stated that his intentions are to get the mind buying
spirit in the right direction, because before you can start
doing anything for yourself, you can get your mind buy
straight and correct. And I applaud you guys for kind
of taking that in and adding that to your your
repertoire of services under your organization. What steps did it
take for you guys get involved to start from an

(46:57):
idea to a five one C three along the take
and what steps would you have to go through.

Speaker 7 (47:01):
Well, Shawn and I started talking with probably August September
because we both wanted to do something for the veterans
instead of each one of us doing something different. That's
where we started, and we collaborated and came up with
the home Goods for Heroes and then from there realizing
that there was so much more, Like we couldn't do
anything financially for anybody, we were just collecting items. So

(47:23):
from there, you know, we started the collection October through November. December,
we did the presentation and by the first of the
year we've got a five oh one C three, So
just a matter of a few months.

Speaker 6 (47:34):
Yeah, right around the week of Christmas, we applied in
the state of Florida for all of our funding. We
wanted to get everything set up so that we could
be legalized and that way, you know, we do get
people that ask us can we donate money, and at
that point in time we were like, no, but we're
working on it. So this is a great way to

(47:55):
legally collect money and know that it is going to
go right back into the hands of the veterans way
or another one hundred percent of collections is going one
hundred percent right back into the community.

Speaker 1 (48:05):
Oh wow, What were some of your earlier challenges when
you start this project? Do you think?

Speaker 7 (48:11):
I don't think it really had any We really did not.

Speaker 6 (48:14):
I think it was more or less just getting a
team of people together that would work with us, Identifying
areas in the community that would agree to just let
us put a box in their in their restaurant, their business,
getting some sponsors to man those boxes. I mean, I
think that was probably the biggest challenge out of anything.

Speaker 2 (48:34):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (48:34):
Wow, And folks, I'll say it again. Why I say
a bulldoz took place here, an idea gas is put
in the vehicle, It started up and they were off
to the races and they cleared a path and got
it done. I mean, like I said, if I had
them in the military, man the things we could have
done quickly.

Speaker 6 (48:50):
I think our biggest hurdle, honestly was just the storms.

Speaker 7 (48:54):
Yes, and that's when we thought that you know, it's
probably not going to go as well, but whatever we
get we'll be happy with. And I mean it was
just this explosion of items and just so overwhelming because
it did turn out much more than what we expected.

Speaker 6 (49:09):
I mean, we ended up on our end housing most
of the items in our office, so right at home,
as a team started sorting those items, labeling them, boxing them,
so that as the donations came in, we knew exactly
what we had in each kind of area of our office,
so that when it came day to deliver, we had

(49:32):
it already kind of set up and organized, so we
knew each veteran could get. You know, roughly there was
fifty plus items on there that they were each going
to get fifty of those items.

Speaker 1 (49:43):
Most definitely, most definitely, Now, if a person or even
would like to get in contact FIR Assistance, how they
go about asking for that?

Speaker 6 (49:52):
I mean, we have multiple ways. You can easiest ways
reach out to us via phone, if not on our website.
It again, it's Helping Heartsfurheroes dot com. There is a
section in there at the bottom where it says contact us.
You can contact us one of both ways. If you
are a veteran looking for some services or if you're

(50:12):
a community partner that wants to work with us, you
can do it either or through there and we get
a direct email to our website to our inboxes and
we will reach back out within twenty four hours.

Speaker 1 (50:23):
Definitely, definitely. And before I close out our talk here,
I want to ask, I just heard a story. What
there's a veteran memorial or a monument in at Brookdale.
Do you want to expound on that a little.

Speaker 2 (50:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (50:35):
So we do have our Wall of Honor, which has
a picture of all of our veterans in the area
that they served in, and then on their just outside
their apartments, they each have a plaque that shows where
they are, what they served, whether it was air Force, army, marine,
and so forth. So we really do take pride in
our veterans and we want them to know that we

(50:56):
appreciate everything they did and we have what we have
today because of them and their willingness to get to
our country.

Speaker 1 (51:02):
Most definitely. And folks, like I said, some people trying
to be something and some people just innately are because
it's in their DNA. It's safely to say that Kim
and Shawna have that DNA component because what they do
in life as an occupation is as as easy as

(51:22):
it is for us to live, and for them to
help up veterans just as easily as the same breath.
That being the case, I want to say thank you
guys very much, and also remember in the near future,
this is going to be their segment, folks, and they're
going to explore the universe a veteran community in our
area and I am thankful to have them in our

(51:43):
rally Point family. SHAWNA. Willis, Kim Spencer, thank you for
being on our show and we'll see you again and
once again, folks, that's our show. And right now I
want to thank our guts for being on there, and
I want to thank you our listeners out there for
keeping us here helping you. If you have any concerns, comments,
or ideas for our show, please contact me at Heminoy

(52:04):
at one Rallypoint dot org. That's hm I n g
Way at one Rallypoint dot board.

Speaker 5 (52:12):
Rally Pointers fall Out business.

Speaker 4 (52:17):
Our veterans risked it all to protect our freedom. One
of the best ways to say thank you is to
volunteer to support them at a time and history where
kindness is a virtue. 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

(52:38):
Heal Veterans, a not for profit organization, with the support
of citizens like you, has created, manufactured and distributed therapeutic
art and crafts projects for our veterans at the military
at no charge to them. As a National Veteran Service organization,
Help Heal Veterans supports VA hospitals, patients at home, and

(52:58):
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
helvetts dot org. That's Helvettes dot o r G