Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Rally pointers fall in. Good morning and Happy Friday. It's
your host, Amanda Macchiato maccanu here in the studio with
the great and wonderful own official book Engagent Paul Poleshi,
Good morning, and the man who makes the magic happen.
Our producer's aye. Hey, all right, so we're gonna jump
(00:21):
right into the show today, but we're gonna we're gonna
start off by talking about Warrior Wellness. So we've talked
about Warrior Walnis quite a bit on the show a
lot of you know what that's about. It was founded
by Justin Ledford and it seeks to keep veterans in
the fight. And how does that work? By physical fitness,
every age, every stage, every ability level. Justin helps provide
(00:45):
personal training, swim lessons, any kind of cardio. He meets
the veteran where they are to keep them moving, keep
them mobile, keep them getting out. And then also the
social engagement piece, which is sometimes as veterans, we can
kind of have a tendency to kind of retreat inward,
become a little bit of a hermit. It just happens.
(01:05):
And so sometimes the most dangerous place we can be
as veterans is in our own head. So part of
Warrior Walness's goals are to help keep veterans in the
fight by keeping them engaged, keeping them meeting new people,
you know, having camaraderie, a sense of unity, and we
do that through things like Legacy Rot Club, but also
(01:26):
we do that through hosting events and most recently we
hosted an event at Charlie Foxtrot in observance of pow
Mia Recognition Day, which is the third Friday in September.
And a lot of people don't I think, necessarily know
that Paulity Well, I mean it is it came out
in the nineties, though it was declared in the seventies,
(01:49):
and then in the nineties they started doing proclamations. So
I just don't think it's gotten a lot of visibility. Yeah,
And I think some of that is because the tip
topic of prisoner of war missing an action it is
sensitive because these are folks who literally made good on
what they raised their right hand to do.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
You know, it's some very difficult situations. Absolutely in most
cases they were not treated well at.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
All, right, and that's.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
The stories are really horrific.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I agree, and I do think that's why some of
it was not well publicized because with it emerging in
the late seventies, we were just coming off of the
Vietnam War and there were some really awful things that
happened to our service members who served over there, and
then when they came home, unfortunately they did not get
(02:43):
the welcome home that they deserved.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Well, the whole pow a topic is very difficult for
a lot of people. It just doesn't there's nothing positive
about it other than the heroic factor of what they
endured and what they did and how they came out
of it.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I would dare subject, I would dare posit that there
was something positive that came out of that, and that
would be the bracelets the people wore. I do think
that was kind of a way to try to heal
a little bit and and try to show unity and
to surround these families and these loved ones, letting them
(03:21):
know that their loved one was not forgotten. That's why
the POW mia flag says you are not forgotten. But
I mean, overall, on its face, you're absolutely right. There
was nothing positive about being a POW. It was harsh
and the stories you're writer are absolutely harrowing. Some of
them are absolutely difficult to read, to be quite honest,
(03:43):
I mean, they're horrific accounts and we're just I mean,
God bless the people who lived through that, who lived
to tell their story and you know, went on to
do great things, got to come home, and fortunately there
were some that did not. And I do think that's
(04:03):
what makes it so difficult to observe, because celebrate is
definitely not the appropriate word. It's necessary to observe and recognize,
recognize those sacrifices, recognize their bravery, their heroism. So that's
exactly what we did this month with pow Mia Recognition Day.
(04:28):
We held an observance at Charlie Foxtrot Brewing and we
did the reading of the description of the pow mi
i a table because Charlie Foxtrott has one of those
on site at all times, so we helped educate the
folks in attendance on what that was about, and we
(04:49):
took the time to reflect on the symbolism and the
meaning of the items on that table, and then we
finished with a silent toast of water to remember those
who are still missing. So that was That's something that
I think we really need to take the time to do.
(05:11):
Every year, and I'm really glad that we had that
opportunity to do it. But then we had a wonderful
opportunity to have a guest speaker, and I'll let you
talk about that.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Well. It was mar Gonzales and his story. He's and
we interviewed him on the station here, we did, but
we got to meet him in a little different not
quite a social type of environment, but more one on
one where we got to talk to him individually, and
he told his story, and as difficult as his story was,
(05:46):
he managed to make some of it rather light. We
saw some I mean, what he went through his story,
what he accomplished, how we kept himself together. And yet
he still has a sense.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Of humor and positivity, but I think very positive. I
think that's something that's indicative of veteran culture though, because
if you think about it, we have all gone through
some serious stuff and part of the way that a
lot of us kind of try to handle really heavy,
difficult situations is we try to infuse a little bit
(06:24):
of humor where and when we can. And some people
don't understand that, people who aren't veterans, they might not
understand it. They might think it is you know, maybe
inappropriate or whatever, but that's kind of how we cope
with some of the difficulty and the hardship is we
try to bring a little bit of levity or we
try to infuse a little bit of humor where we can,
(06:46):
where it seems appropriate. And I think Mark did an
excellent job of I mean, he had wrapped attention of
every single person in that room. There were seventy people there,
which was a tremendous turnout. He did he kept their attention,
but he did he balanced the heavy and the truth
of it with tempered it with a little bit of
(07:08):
humor where he could. And it's his story to tell,
so to be clear, though he was He's Mark Gunzalvus
is an Air Force veteran and he was a government
contractor with Northrop Grumming at the time when he was
abducted by the Colombian terrorist group that's known as the FARC,
(07:30):
and he was held in captivity from two thousand and
three to two thousand and eight. For those of you listening,
if you didn't know the story, But he also wrote
a book.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Yes, yes, I haven't.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Read it, you're gonna love it.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Yeah, his his The people who have read it, just
can't say enough about it. So it's I recommend that
you find a copy. It's on Amazon. It's all.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
It's called Out of Captivity one thousand, nine hundred sixty
seven Days in the Colombian Jungle, and it's written by
Mark Gunsalvez. His last name is spelled g O N
SA l V S Keith Stancil, Tom Howe's with the
help of Greg Brozak, who's an author. So, and the
(08:19):
book is awesome because it's written in all three of
their voices, so you can it gives you a heading
to tell you who's speaking if you will in the book.
But after a while you figure out their writing styles
and then it's almost like, I don't know. For me,
it was almost like when I would read it, it's
(08:39):
almost like I could hear a different voice in my
head for every different uh, every different one of them
between Keith, Tom and Mark. So, yeah, their story is
incredible and parts of it are heartbreaking, parts of it
make you angry, parts of it make you laugh.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
I get to rock with him in some of the right. Yeah.
So when when we're when we're walking and we get
little snippets of conversation, right, what he's done, how it
has not I should say how it has inspired him
to continue on in his life right really inspiring others
(09:20):
to get better.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Absolutely. He has such a wonderful spirit about him and
he puts his experience to work by working in the
community with a prison ministry actually in helping people who
are incarcerated with you know, figuring out kind of helping
them see that there's there's so much more to life
(09:41):
than being you know, incarcerated. There's there's more to come,
there's you know, there's hope. And I think, honestly, for
him to come out of that his situation, I mean,
it took a lot of courage. It definitely took perseverance,
but he kept a very healthy dose of hope.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Yeah, and he never gave up. Never. He dealt with
the situation as it came up. So he's a remarkable individual.
If you haven't seen his book, please go out and
look for it. If you get a chance to hear
him talk, do not pass it up. He does a
very quick and it was kind of brief. Actually, I
(10:25):
think people would have liked him to tell more.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Honestly, I thought the time Flew said he was going
to speak for fifteen minutes, so I was like, okay, cool,
he ended up speaking for twenty five minutes. But it
did not feel like that. No, Like, sometimes, depending on
the content, what takes twenty five minutes might feel like ten.
And I think that's what it felt like. Like you said,
it felt very brief, It felt very quick, and in
(10:49):
those twenty five minutes he really only got to like
scratch the surface of his story.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
So yeah, only because I know a lot more about it. Yeah,
it was very hed. He went through it rather quickly,
not even all the highlights.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
But that's a good thing though, because I'm like I
was hoping. I was like, don't give away too much.
You want people to read the book. The book was
well written.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Him.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
No, he's not like that. There was no angle. It
was just him being.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Having a conversation with seventy people, right. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
And when Mark was here, his description of what he
went through was so vivid. I mean I felt like
I was right there. You could really picture.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Everything absolutely, And that's exactly what he did at Charlie Foxtrott.
He put you there in the middle of whatever he
was describing. So from and I'll give some of you
a preview from the plane crash, because that's what precipitated
their abduction. They their plane crashed in Colombia when the
(11:50):
engine failed, and he puts you right there. He describes
everything right down to the sounds, you know, what they
were feeling, go and around securing everything on the aircraft
to make sure that like a pencil or notebook or
something didn't become a projectile. He puts you through everything,
and he tells you exactly what he could see ridgelines
(12:12):
or you know, the people coming at them. He puts
you right there. And so yeah, absolutely, I mean that
was a tremendous honor and a privilege to be able
to have Mark there to tell his story. Because if
we're being honest, there aren't that many that I know
of that are left who who have lived that and
(12:35):
who are willing to share because it's a deeply personal thing,
like we talked about, you know, it's a gravitus difficult topic,
and not everybody that has experienced, you know, being a
prisoner of war or missing an action, not all of
them are ready to tell their story. And that's okay.
(12:56):
I just hope they know that they are supported, that
they are respected, that they are appreciated for what they
did and for upholding the caoset freedom in one of
the harshest ways possible. But they did it, and they
did it with dignity and they came home. So yeah,
(13:17):
So every year y'all pow Mia Recognition Day the third
Friday in September. So there will be an event held
next year that's already in the planning process. But another
thing that I think as veterans we could do a
little bit better on is keeping track of like dates
that are significant to us as veterans and finding ways
(13:39):
to observe them and if appropriate, celebrate them, things like
the service birthdays. Once we get out of the military,
we don't really do much to highlight or observe those.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
We didn't do it. I was in for two years.
We never did anything.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
For anyway, right for disclosure, I was in the Air
Force for twenty years and I never went to an
Air Force or small which is like, yeah, the record
just scratched it. Everybody staring at me and it's quiet
right now. But I never went. And so the service
birthdays are important. Flag Day is important, Veterans Day of
(14:16):
course is important. These are times that we should definitely
be finding a way to bring ourselves together as veterans
in the community that supports us, because our civilian supporters
are just as important.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Oh, absolutely, And I guess that's become my passion to
make sure that that our family other civilians understand all
of our stories, no matter what we did, no matter
what branch we were in, whatever our mos or job
was in the military. We need to make sure that
(14:53):
our family knows and our friends know what we did,
why we did it, and what we accomplished.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Absolutely, and I think too they like being shown what
our traditions are, what our heritage is. I think our
civilian supporters appreciate kind of being let in on what
that's about.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Well, there's only the last I saw, there's only seven
percent of the population. When you look at three hundred
and thirty million people, only seven percent of the population
has been in the military service, right, and all of them.
And now it's even less what the volunteer services. So
(15:33):
it's it's approaching down to one percent very rapidly.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Because of age, right, which is why it's also important
to make sure that as veterans that we do our
part to let our supporters love on us through things
like honor flight. Go on your honor flight. If you
are listening to this right now and you are from
the World War two, Korean War, Vietnam More era, if
(16:00):
you are listening to this and you have not registered
to go on your honor flight, please apply for that.
That is one of the biggest honors for our civilian
supporters to give us, is to love on us and
take us to our service memorials and give us the
welcome home we deserve. So please, if you're listening, please
(16:22):
look into that find the hub near you. You just
fire up the Google machine type in Honor Flight hub
near me and it will come up and you can
find out where that is and you can go about
the application process. If you live here in Southwest Florida,
it's SWFL honorflight dot org and right on the front
(16:43):
page you can apply. So taking you know, taking advantage
of that and not in a bad way. But let
people love on you, let people appreciate you. Please, For
the younger generation of veterans, my generation and younger y'all,
we've got to keep things moving with our vfw's, our
(17:03):
American legions. And I know people out there who are
like I don't want to be involved in it. It's
too political, et cetera, et cetera. However, the bigger picture
to keep in mind is that the American Legion, the
VFW am Vets, these groups advocate in the halls of
Congress for us and at a time when a fraction
(17:28):
and I mean I think it's less than like sixteen
percent of people sitting in Congress have ever served in
the military. First of all, that needs to change. But
that is why those groups are so important. That is
why membership in those groups is important, because the more
members that the American Legion the VFW am VETS has,
(17:50):
the louder the voice in Congress to try to hold
on to our benefits. And I say try because we
all know some of them have been eroded over the
years unfortunately. So please keep in mind we've got to
keep that advocacy going as veterans, and that's a responsibility
for all of us to bear to keep that, to
(18:12):
make sure that the promise is kept to take care
of our veterans. I think we owe that to ourselves
to keep that going.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I'll tell you another hot button with me is when
I meet somebody who was in the service and I
asked them, are you registered with the VA, and they say, well, no,
I didn't do anything right, yes you did.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
We get the same answer with on our flight. People
are like, I don't deserve to go. I didn't deploy,
I didn't go to war. I didn't do anything while
I was in the military. It does not matter if
you served, you deserve That's what the Sarge says. If
Jay Hemingway was here right now, he would be like,
darn right, but you're absolutely right. It's horrible looking at
the statistics of how many for how many veterans we
(18:55):
have in America, the small small number that are actually
registered with the VA.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
No full confession. I had nothing to do with the
VA for probably thirty forty years, and I had a
cousin who got on me and she was relentless. But
I finally did And then I look back and say, yes,
I didn't need it because I was employed. I had
a great job, I got good benefits, but that went away.
(19:23):
And now that I'm involved with the VA, I look
back at it and say, the requirement to be a
member of the VA system is one physical a year
that keeps you active in the VA system. And we
hope you never need it, but it's there. You earned it.
(19:45):
Do it. Spend that time taking that one physical year.
By the way, they do it, very extensive physical the
blood work alone. The first time I saw the print
out of that, I was amazed. So do it. I
hate the harp on it, but do it.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
I agree, and I think too. That's also generational because
my father he served during Vietnam in the Navy, and
when he was getting out, his chief petty officer told him,
he said, don't go to the VA. He's like, if
they tag you disabled, you won't be able to work.
Like they scared people away from the VA. They were like,
you won't be able to work. You're going to get
tagged as disabled. You won't be able to provide for
(20:26):
your family. So my father did the same thing and
stayed far far away from the VA for a very
long time. Until there are things that take decades to
show up, and for him, his agent orange exposure took
decades to show up. Once it reared its ugly head
and affected his quality of life, he finally relented and
(20:47):
got himself into the VA health care system and he
does get some benefits, which is good. But now the
pendulum has shifted to where there's so much awareness for
the VA. With my generation of the military, generation before,
in the generation after that, we know, keep track of
your medical records and as soon as you get six
(21:08):
months out from your separation or retirement date, file that claim.
So the culture has really shifted, for sure. But absolutely
VA healthcare is a benefit that if you served, you
have earned that and you absolutely right, Paul, like you
should be taking advantage of it.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Yeah, there's no, there's no, it's not hard exactly. I
don't know what I can say to convince you to
go just do it.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
I think for some people too, though, there's a privacy aspect.
I will say, and I'm about to drop a bit
of a you know, truth bomb here and then we're
going to have to wrap this up. But the thing
that concerns me greatly is why does a VA want
to know what people's income is? That has absolutely zilch
to do with your eligibility for benefits Because you served,
(21:58):
who cares if you make more than forty eight thousand
dollars a year, good for you. You still deserve VA healthcare
VA benefits and there should not be any inquiry of
what is your income and that should have absolutely zero
bearing on your eligibility in or worthiness for veterans benefit.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Well, next time we have a VA representative, you got
that right, warn them with that question. Then it's coming up.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
We shall be asking. I have been talking to my
my VSO friends actually to tell them, like I think,
as veterans, we might have to stand up on our
own two feet here a little bit and push back
through the proper channels of writing letters, engaging the VA,
engaging our elected officials to say what gives that's that's
(22:47):
a file. We need to fix it.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
We know of one person that won't do it because
they ask him is financial. It's like, okay, I give up.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Well that but at the same time, that is a
foul and that needs to stop because your income should
not at all, in any way, shape, form or fashion
affect the degree or level of care and benefits you
received from the VA.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
It does not matter, especially what they paid me when
I was in the service.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Right. But the thing is, even the threshold they set
it at, if you're one hundred percent disabled, you don't qualify.
That's wrong. If all you're getting is one hundred percent
via disability pay. According to this income standard of forty
eight thousand dollars a year, more than likely you will
not qualify for whatever threshold they have set there because
(23:34):
you are over that threshold of forty eight thousand dollars
in most cases. So we got work to do, y'all
stay tuned because as veterans, yep, we've come a long way,
but there is still work to be done. So thanks
for attending our pseudo ted Talk if you will this morning.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
I hope we got you fired up.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Yes, absolutely. And now in this segment, we have with
us via phone a friend of mine and my sister
in arms from our time in the Air Force together.
She is your friendly and favorite health and wellness educator
and as well as wealth educator. Don't let me forget that.
Krishanda Torres. Welcome to the show. Krishanda.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
Oh, thank you so much. Amanda. Is so good to
be talking to you again.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Absolutely, yeah, no, we're glad to have you on this show.
We've been trying to put this together I think for
a little while now, and we finally found a date
and a time that works. So we are excited to
talk with you and hear your story. So tell us
about your time in the Air Force.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
So as you know, because we were stationed together, right,
that's how we became family and met exactly. I served
twenty years and nine months, and yet you know we
count every single second exactly thousandety four days.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Yes, ma'am. I tell people twenty years, twenty four days.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
We'll say nine months.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
At fourteen days, there we go exactly.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
So I was a health service manager. I retired in
twenty nineteen from Shaw Air Force Base. But my career
path as a health service manager it was kind of
very like. I went from working in medical treatment facilities
where you and I met as mediums, down in the
readiness shop and operational planning, to becoming a readiness planner
(25:24):
at the magcom level, the major command level, so doing
things like planning when we had the Africa leaders come
to DC, the air shows, when we had the Pope come.
That was the job that I got to do. Of course,
throughout my time, I deployed the places like Kuwait, served
five global assignments, and at the end I was the
(25:45):
I got to experience the line side. As you know, Amanda,
they say that our side, the medical side, is not
the real Air Force.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
I live with somebody who tries to remind me of
that all the time, like, excuse me, sir, we are
both part of the check of the month club, politely.
Speaker 4 (26:02):
But for my last two years I got to actually
be on the line side as a superintendent at the
wing level to see what that looked like, to work
with the OG, the AMXS, the other squadrons and groups
that we usually only serviced, you know, from our perspective
as a customers and clients. So what my twenty years
(26:24):
actually gave me, Amanda, I would say that it gave
me way more than rank. It gave me resilience, adaptability
and a legacy that I can carry forward in everything
I do today.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Absolutely, and I would dare say it broadened your worldview,
if you will, to help you kind of see things
from various ends of the spectrum.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
So, Yeah, I remembered that at Shaw you stepped outside
of the MED group. I do remember that. Was it
called a Commander's Action group at Shaw?
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Yes, okay, it was called the Commander's Action Group. Yeah,
And I used to make the joke because it was
supposed to be in office of three. But when I
first got there, are used to say, yeah, it's the
commander's action girl. It's just me myself and I.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
There you go. Well cool. So, so then you transitioned
out of the Air Force, you retired, started living the
good life. And so how did your Air Force career
prepare you for your transition and then the path that
you found your way too? Because I've obviously kept in
touch with you all these years, and so I've I've
(27:29):
seen multiple paths, and I admire it because you can
you handle so many things, and you juggle so much.
But I don't want to say juggle in the sense
of like barely making it work, like you are like
on it and you make it look so easy, but
you do so much. So tell us about your transition
(27:49):
and how it's led to all the multiple pathways that
you take care of others, that you help others.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
I would agree that the Air Force prepared me sure
as a dido with grit, right tenacity, that was all
the ability to adapt to any situation under pressure. Remember
that simple gunna be. We used to always shout right,
and so I believe those are all skills that I
use right now as an entrepreneur. My transition actually wasn't
(28:18):
easy at the end because my mother passed in my
eighteenth year and so yes, so at that same time
they lost my EPR in VPC. So I missed a
promotion board.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Am I.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
That I was not aware of? Oh my goodness?
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
So of course I could have stayed stuck there, I
could have stayed upset. But I believe that God uses
those moments to redirect us. So instead of focusing on okay,
well I'm not going to make senior now, because I
went up for a supplemental board. So then I was then,
as you know, competing with the line side. Right, good
luck with that. I focused on my final two years
(29:06):
and learning everything I could because again as a medic
who was stratted at a fighter wing as a number four,
that that's phenomenal in itself, right, Absolutely, learning how the
linesid worked, doing the introductions for all the commanders, the
squadron commanders, like for me, it just gave me a
first perspective and a different level of confidence.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Absolutely, And if I can interject for a second, I
would dare say, when we leave the military, I mean,
if we're being honest, my perspective, when we leave the military,
whatever rank we held, it doesn't matter anymore. But the
truth of it is is even though you retired with
a Master Sergeant stripe as an E seven, you were
(29:47):
walking the walk and talking the talk of a chief
Master sergeant personally. And I'm not saying that to inflate
your ego or flatter you or anything. But anybody who
knows you like truly knows you like. I can hear
doctor Radiance Rose in my head right now. Yeah, I
think she would absolutely agree with this statement. Anybody who
(30:10):
knows you knows that that stripe did not define you
at all. You definitely carried yourself as a chief Master sergeant.
So I hate that you had to go through that,
but I agree with you that I think it helped
shift your focus to where it needed to be, which
was gaining everything you could before you retired and taking
(30:32):
it with you.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
Absolutely I would agree with that assessment. I mean, for me, Amanda,
I said retirement brought It actually brought prooning and refining
if you want to think of it that.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Oh yeah, and you were very transparent about your transformation
for sure.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
Definitely. I mean I loved what I did. I don't
regret it, right, but the transition showed me who was
for me and who wasn't correct, and it also but
it also even though most people say, well you had
that a horrible time where you know your mom, you
know she passed, and they basically didn't really seem to care,
(31:14):
but it also birthed my calling, right, I wouldn't have
become a health and wealth educator if I hadn't gone
through all of that. I wouldn't be helping women and
families reset their health and rebuild their legacy if I
had an experience burn out myself.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
So I agree with that. So so then it helped
you figure out your calling with health and wealth coaching
and how you that was a process to get there,
from the time you transition to fully stepping into those roles,
so tell us about that.
Speaker 4 (31:47):
So it was definitely a process because in my mind,
I thought I was going to retire and lay on
the couch and eat my bond. You know that was
planned that.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
I know you too well, ma'am. That was you couldn't
if you tried. We love the idea of that because
I agree. I thought the same thing. I was like,
I'm going to wake up and be like what do
I feel like doing today? No, we can't sit still.
We are the movers and the shakers in this world.
So as much as we love that idea, I don't
think you could have done that even if you tried.
Speaker 4 (32:16):
Yeah, what do we used to say? All gas, no breaks?
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Right?
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Yes, I was going to say, you know, I tell
people to this day, don't get me started. I don't
come with breaks.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
Right, So what that looked like is okay? So first
I was again you saw my transition, my transformation. Well,
first of all, let's talk about transition. I tried to
go to TAPS times because the information changed so much.
I don't craft that one time two years before you
retire is adequate enough. So now I was king, and
I could change the process. I would tell anyone who
was listening, you should start your TAP prep probably in
(32:50):
year fifteen, especially the financial peace. But that's just what
we'll get to that, I'm sure in the financial education line.
So after I finished my certification for health coaching, I
continued learning about gut health. I got a certification a
hormone health. And then, of course, as if having one
degree wasn't already enough, because now we're retired, right and
we have so much time.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
NVA benefits for education, Hello.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
Right, NBA benefits for education. I earned a second master's
in biblical theology. Well it's actually called Bible exposition, so,
but the technical that's a technical term. What it means
is mining the Bible for the gyms. So and then wait,
wait is if that wasn't enough, Amanda, because you know
we already have to we're used to multitasking. Were active duty,
right homeschool COVID came, so then homeschool had got added
(33:36):
to the place.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Yes, exactly. I was just going to say, I was
hoping you would talk about being a homeschool educator, because
what an important and amazing thing to be able to
do for our kids. My husband educated our children for
five years. And it's funny because he tells people he'll
talk about it, and he'll be like we and I
stop him right there. I'm like, excuse me, no, sir,
You like I was still active duty when he was
(34:00):
educating the kids, and I saw how he put that together,
and I know that you did the same thing, probably
just taking so much time and effort and really thoughtfully
crafting your kid's curriculum to teach them the most important
parts of education.
Speaker 4 (34:17):
Absolutely. My son is now fourteen. We're in our fourth
year homeschooling, and my daughter is now eleven, and he
he already knows what he wants to do. Because when
it comes to homeschooling, a lot of people think that
it's the same as what you do in brick and
mortar school, and it's not even close. Homeschooling is a lifestyle.
You get to create what you need to create based
on your child's need and your family's.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
Meet Absolutely, and to put it in perspective, Paul, she
just said her children are fourteen and eleven. When we
really got to know each other when she was working
in medical readiness, I was pregnant with my youngest one,
and as I was I think it was the week
I delivered him. I was down there doing medical readiness
because I was our unit deployment manager. That was one
(35:00):
of my additional duties. So that's how I got to
know Kashanda. And I'm crawling around on the floor a
week out from my DU date, going through medical records,
like readiness records, making sure people's folders had everything in
it that they needed to deploy, and She's like, please
don't let your water break in our office. I was like,
oh wow, but then not long. I think like near
(35:20):
the end of my pregnancy, I think you found out
you were pregnant with your baby, and so it was
like it was so funny because she was just looking
at me like, I guess this is just a preview
of what's you know, what's coming. So yeah, that's man.
Time flies gosh. Yes, so so obviously I'm sure too
(35:42):
all of the educational experience that you had has gone
into who you are as an educator for your kids
as well as for others. Yes.
Speaker 4 (35:52):
Absolutely. One of the things that I looked at when
I was crashing their curriculum, I wanted them to have
to how used. But like when my daughter was in
public school, she was struggling with reading initially, and their
solution was just to say that she needed to show
up at eight thirty in the morning on the screen.
This was during COVID again, you know, so they were
(36:13):
doing screen and I had noticed that the teacher actually
wasn't reading with her. So I'm like, why is she
showing up at eight thirty in the morning to sit
and stare at you with forty other kids if you're
actually not having her read? So, you know me, I
canceled that and then we actually enrolled her in a
tutored class, and then I sat with her for two
years helping her to make sure that she understood you're
not supposed to memorize fit words, that's what they wanted
(36:35):
you to do in public school. But phonics. Let me
show you how phonics works.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Right, exactly. So, and that's the beauty of homeschooling is
you can educate, like you said before, like you can
educate your child on at their pace, because some stuff
they're going to pick up really fast and they don't
need to wait for everybody else to catch up. And
then some stuff they might need a little bit of
extra time on because you know, our brains are wired
(37:00):
the way they're wired, some stuff's going to make more
sense to us more quickly than other concepts. So that's
that's a nice thing. And then the fact that the
world is your classroom. I mean, my husband would take
my kids to the zoo and that was their science
class for the day. He could find a way to
make a math class out of it. You know, there's
there's so many things that we do every single day
(37:23):
that can be a lesson, whether it's math, science, civics, English, grammar,
point nine. So this was the kind of homeschool educator
I was. I would like, you know how sometimes you
see stuff out in the world that has like a
grammar error or a spelling error. I taught my kids out.
I was like, it's important to check your work, and
(37:43):
this is why go read that sign. Tell me what's
wrong with it.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
See, that's a whole new world to me. I you know,
I didn't grow up with that. I know if my
mother homeschooled me, we'd need a whole new supply of
wooden spoons.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
I was just gonna say, I'm like, would your backside
have survived it? Therein is the question, So.
Speaker 4 (38:03):
I mean, and you can make it lesson out of anything.
You just reminded me real quick when the whole political
environment was going on, that was a part of their homeschool. Listen,
civics engage physically in discussion.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Yes, absolutely, and civics is is so important, especially nowadays
in the world where people have to be reminded it's
okay to disagree, and then they also have to be
reminded of the saying. And I know you probably heard
this a lot as a child too, when adults would
tell me, can you imagine how boring the world would
(38:37):
be if we were all the same. And nowadays we
have people who want us to all think the same,
act the same, feel the same way about certain topics,
and it's like we were warned about that as kids.
We were told that was a bad thing, and then
we learned about group think and how bad that is.
So yeah, no, I love the freedom and the independence
(38:59):
that it gives you as a parent to educate your
child and to help them see a multifaceted look at
the world, not just a narrow view. So then you
moved on to coaching and you said you got your
health coach certification, and so now you have a health
(39:22):
and wealth educator career. So tell us what that looks like.
What does that involve?
Speaker 4 (39:29):
So as I help women and families reset both their
health and well that's the long and shouldern I have
three program specifically that I use on the health side,
I have what's called the Nervous Circle. It's my monthly
membership for a simple sustainable health habits and then for
a more in depth program depending on what that woman needs. Again,
(39:51):
we figured out and out in our initial assessment. It's
called the Reset Protocol. It's a sixth week good and
horrmone recovery program for high achieving women who were like me,
like you, were dealing with operating in a high ops temple,
but they were actually battling burnout, but they didn't recognize
it correct because the mission had to go on right yep.
(40:11):
And then on the wealth side, that's what's called the
Legacy Reset. So it's a faith aligned financial coaching program
where women and families learned things that we didn't learn
at active duty, healing money habits, building wealth. I mean,
for example, Amanda, it's one of the things I often
share with new clients is we had SGLI Service Group
(40:34):
Life Insurance, right you remember that?
Speaker 1 (40:35):
Yep? I still got AGLI see which.
Speaker 4 (40:40):
But what I learned in becoming a licensed financial professional
on the health and wealth side, because I am licensed
in South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, NBC and
continuing to add more states, was when we retired, we
didn't have any cash value that came with us that
could have helped us start our millionaire statuschool. Do you
understand what I'm.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
Saying, Yes, exactly, And we.
Speaker 4 (41:04):
Weren't taught about that in all of the financial counseling
coaching classes that right, we.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Were taught make a budget and try to stick to it.
But even then the budget didn't always cover everything right, and.
Speaker 4 (41:18):
So we weren't taught the steps that we needed to
build a secure financial foundation. And that's one of the
things that I helped families do through the Legacy RESET
as a licensed financial professional. So for me, that it
gives me joy that I get to continue to serve,
just in a different way, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
Oh, absolutely, no, That was that's been the greatest blessing
of being retired, is that we get to continue serving
Airman because at our core, that's you know, that's what
it was all about with serving others. So we get
to continue serving, just in a different capacity, and it's
wonderful because it's what lights us up. But we also
get to serve on our terms, if that makes sense,
(41:57):
Like you get to address financial and and wealth aspects
of wellness. You know, I get to be part of
a radio show, I get to do media. I get
to be involved with nonprofits. I know you're heavily involved
in your community as well, and obviously having your your
degree for theology, that's a whole other layer of involvement
(42:20):
and serving others. So, yeah, that's it's wonderful to be
able to do that, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Yes? It is?
Speaker 1 (42:28):
So what are what are some parts as a coach
that you find there's info out there because you talked
about how you help people with their financial planning and
kind of taking it beyond just the basics, and the
same thing with health, you know, helping people, helping women
reset from being in chronically stressful situations. What's something that
you feel that not a lot of people know, and
(42:49):
more importantly, things that you don't think veterans are fully
aware of that you want to enlighten them to, or
that you do enlighten your clients to.
Speaker 4 (42:59):
Two things in particular, Man, a great question on the
health side. Most people don't realize that their gut is
their second brain and it's the foundation of help. Making
sure that you're taking care of your gut impacts other
areas of your body, impacts other systems, So it impacts
your energy, your hormones, even your mood. That's one thing
that you know. Probably seven years ago, eight years ago,
(43:20):
they weren't even talking about get help, but each day
were discovering more and more how it impacts other people.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
Or they'd tell you, they'd tell you you had a
leaky gut, but they couldn't very clearly tell you how
to go about fixing it, or they wouldn't.
Speaker 4 (43:33):
Correct, or they would they wouldn't exactly.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
I mean, I need to say that, but it's not
necessarily outside their own.
Speaker 3 (43:40):
So you have to keep the microbiome health.
Speaker 4 (43:43):
And the medical term is a medical is intestinal permeability.
Speaker 1 (43:49):
Right, because we're seeing so many more people now that
have like diverticulitis or chronic ulcers or you know, things
that used to be a rarity that are now become
like commonplace. And it's like, oh my goodness. But like
you're saying, it all starts with the gut and taking
care of that. So that's that's good.
Speaker 4 (44:08):
Because many years doesn't Oh sorry, no, I was.
Speaker 1 (44:12):
Just will realize it's the second brain, like you said.
Speaker 4 (44:15):
Right exactly, and chewing motorin for twenty years does not
help your gut life and not.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
At all, not at all. What about on the financial.
Speaker 4 (44:24):
Side, Yes, on the financial side, like I said, when
we transition, not understanding that we had a term life
insurance policy, but it didn't give us any cash value.
So we don't have a investment vehicle or a long
term insurance vehicle to build wealth for us, such as
an index, universal life product or something to that effect,
(44:46):
because we're not taught that. In addition to that, we're
not taught the rule of seventy two. The first time
I heard the rule of seventy two, Amanda, was after
we were out of the military, which basically is the
real rate of return on your money and how your
debt impacts you. For example, people are now getting credit
cards with a thirty two point nine to nine percent
interest rate.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
Oh and that hurts right right, my god.
Speaker 4 (45:09):
And they're thinking that, oh, that's great, the thank gave
it to me. Well, if you understood the rule of
seventy two, and why they gave it to you is
because they understood that it will take you your debt
will double excuse me, every two years using the rule
of seventy two, So that ten thousand dollars that you
just ran upon your credit card. That's why they're smiling.
That's why they're excited about it, because they know you
(45:29):
won't pay it off in two years at that interest rate.
That's not something we're taught at school. Albert Einstein actually
told us that the compound interest is the eighth won
director world, and those who understand it benefit from it,
and those who don't pay for it. And that's just
a classic example of something that we were not taught,
not just in the military, but in public school as well.
Personal finance is missing.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
How are you going to say that that's the financial
world is a mystery, and we didn't spend enough time
learning about it. But when you get that first bill
in and you look at the interest rate, you need
to pay attention to.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
That, right, I was going to say, When I was
in high school, micro and macroeconomics were not electives, And
I mean, I feel like it shouldn't have even needed
to be that complex, because those are much more specified
realms of economics, Like you said, even just keeping it
to a basic financial management class teaching people. Like the
(46:26):
first time I ever went through any kind of a
financial management class was in First Term Airmen Center when
I first joined the military got to my first base.
They made you go for two weeks to this course
that did everything from PowerPoint presentations on a plethora of topics,
but one of them was financial management, and for some
airmen that was the first time they had ever written
a check or balanced a checkbook or done any kind
(46:48):
of budgeting. It was like they had never It was
so alien to them, and it was like, hold on,
but we're expected to go fight for our country, laid
down our lives, and we don't know how to manage
our home life at all, even as a single person
with no kids. Like that was just mind boggling. So yeah,
(47:08):
definitely there's work to be done with that, And that's
awesome that you're jumping in and helping educate people sooner
than later.
Speaker 4 (47:17):
Yes, because I'll.
Speaker 1 (47:19):
Admit my husband talks about finances a lot, like bonds
and stock market this and that and index is my
favorite is dead cat bounce. That's that's actually a financial concept.
But anyway, he talks about stuff and a lot of
it's over my head. I want to understand it, but
it's one of those things that my brain is not
well wired to, so it requires a tremendous amount of
(47:42):
focus on my part to try to understand it.
Speaker 2 (47:44):
That's why we have financial advisors.
Speaker 1 (47:47):
Correct, That's why we have a financial educator, right, and.
Speaker 4 (47:51):
That's why we offer That's why I offer Paul free
Financial workshops, free financial reviews and strategies at no cost.
And that's aside from the services, because we understand that
once you're in the room, the knowledge changes everything.
Speaker 1 (48:05):
And that's a good thing that you touched on. So
how can our listeners if they want to take advantage
of the free classes or learn even about the paid services,
how can they contact you? How can they see your material,
what you offer? Where can they go to find that information?
Speaker 4 (48:23):
Well, great question, Amanda. I love to connect. So they
can visit my website at www dot Chris Shonda O
k R I S H O n DA or S
t R R E S all one word dot com,
or they can email me. It's probably easier for them
to email me because my email is fairly easy to remember.
Your guide on the side, all one word at PM
(48:44):
dot me. Well, of course they can call me or
text me. I'm happy to share my business number. It's
two four zero five sixty five eight nine seventy five.
I share resources on Facebook, I share resources on LinkedIn.
All they have to do is search my name Krishonda
with a Y tour it And so, whether it's reducing sugar,
balancing the hormones or rebuilding their financial future. I'm here
(49:07):
to help women a family.
Speaker 1 (49:08):
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for being on the
show today. We're so appreciative of everything that you shared
and it was just good to talk and catch up
and reminisce about stuff. So thanks for being on the show, Krishanda.
Speaker 4 (49:23):
Thanks for having me. Sus we'll talk to again.
Speaker 2 (49:25):
All right, I hope, So thank you all.
Speaker 1 (49:29):
Right, And that looks to be our show for the day,
Paul was.
Speaker 2 (49:33):
We went through a lot of topics today, I think.
Speaker 1 (49:35):
So we had some really great conversations and got to
know another veteran in our network Krishanda, and.
Speaker 2 (49:41):
What it's all about exactly.
Speaker 1 (49:43):
Veterwork, Yes, and we have to network and we gotta
we got to support each other and stick together.
Speaker 2 (49:50):
I think we've got a lot of stories to tell,
a lot of experiences and a lot of talent out
there right now we need to bring to the surface.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
Absolutely. Yeah, that's what we're here for really, So for
people listening, if you have an organization, if you're a
veteran business owner, or if you're a business owner that
loves and supports veterans. Maybe you aren't a veteran, but
you support the veteran community. We would love to hear
from you. We want you to get in touch with
(50:21):
us about being on the show so that we can
give visibility to your business. We can tell your story
as a veteran and just so you know, like that
all comes at zero cost, just your time to come
and share your story or share about your business. So, Paul,
how can people go about booking with you since you're
(50:41):
a booking agent.
Speaker 2 (50:43):
Well, they can get me on the internet. They can
contact me. It's p A U L P E L
L E S C hi. I do it phonetically, but
it's too long, the number three at gmail dot com
(51:03):
and then the subject matter. Just put down rallypoint show
that'll always get my attention.
Speaker 1 (51:09):
Absolutely. We love telling your story of your service, and
don't get hung up on the idea of thinking you
didn't do much. It doesn't matter whether you served in
Vietnam on the ground, if you were stateside the entire time,
if you served during the Cold War and feel like
you didn't do that's not true. And we want to
tell your story. We want to hear about your experiences.
(51:31):
We want to hear your funny stories, your good memories.
Speaker 2 (51:34):
There are some.
Speaker 1 (51:35):
Oh yeah, they're absolutely. I was going to say, you
have the legend of the generator, So I think we
all have stories like that.
Speaker 2 (51:44):
Sometime. I'll have to tell you about my favorite meal
in the military.
Speaker 1 (51:47):
Oh nice, gosh, we could probably do a whole entire
episode about mrs or some folks. Remember Sea rats run. Yes,
my husband tried some of those at one point and
he was like, I will never complain about emrie ever again.
Speaker 3 (52:04):
My dad used to talk about k rations.
Speaker 2 (52:06):
Yeah, they were oh wow, well we had in the States.
This was now. They gave us the rations and they
had green Lucky Stripe Lucky Strike cigarettes in them, so
they went back.
Speaker 1 (52:20):
Sure that was even healthier than a regular bleached one. Huh,
we ate them nineteen Oh my goodness.
Speaker 4 (52:28):
Well.
Speaker 1 (52:29):
Also, another thing that I just want to say is
this is going to be my last episode at the
Rally Point Show as a regular host. This has been
a tremendous experience. I have absolutely loved every minute of
being on this show, telling your stories, giving visibility to businesses, programs,
and just I'm so thankful for the opportunities. I want
(52:50):
to say thank you to Jay Hemingway for hounding me
to be on this show where I finally gave in,
came on as a guest, got bit by the bug,
and you know we're on episode ninety something now.
Speaker 2 (53:04):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (53:04):
So it's just it's been a wonderful ride. I'm so grateful,
but I know the show is in good hands. Paul.
You're gonna do awesome things.
Speaker 2 (53:13):
And I oh boy, talk about pressure.
Speaker 1 (53:15):
Yeah, no pressure at all. And I'll still be on
the show from time to time as a periodic guest host.
Speaker 2 (53:20):
Well, we'll drag you back screaming and yelling, but you'll
be back.
Speaker 1 (53:24):
It's not that hard. Put a microphone in front of
my face. I'm good. And with that, rally pointers fall
out
Rally pointers fall in. Good morning and Happy Friday. It's
your host, Amanda Macchiato maccanu here in the studio with
the great and wonderful own official book Engagent Paul Poleshi,
Good morning, and the man who makes the magic happen.
Our producer's aye. Hey, all right, so we're gonna jump
(00:21):
right into the show today, but we're gonna we're gonna
start off by talking about Warrior Wellness. So we've talked
about Warrior Walnis quite a bit on the show a
lot of you know what that's about. It was founded
by Justin Ledford and it seeks to keep veterans in
the fight. And how does that work? By physical fitness,
every age, every stage, every ability level. Justin helps provide
(00:45):
personal training, swim lessons, any kind of cardio. He meets
the veteran where they are to keep them moving, keep
them mobile, keep them getting out. And then also the
social engagement piece, which is sometimes as veterans, we can
kind of have a tendency to kind of retreat inward,
become a little bit of a hermit. It just happens.
(01:05):
And so sometimes the most dangerous place we can be
as veterans is in our own head. So part of
Warrior Walness's goals are to help keep veterans in the
fight by keeping them engaged, keeping them meeting new people,
you know, having camaraderie, a sense of unity, and we
do that through things like Legacy Rot Club, but also
(01:26):
we do that through hosting events and most recently we
hosted an event at Charlie Foxtrot in observance of pow
Mia Recognition Day, which is the third Friday in September.
And a lot of people don't I think, necessarily know
that Paulity Well, I mean it is it came out
in the nineties, though it was declared in the seventies,
(01:49):
and then in the nineties they started doing proclamations. So
I just don't think it's gotten a lot of visibility. Yeah,
And I think some of that is because the tip
topic of prisoner of war missing an action it is
sensitive because these are folks who literally made good on
what they raised their right hand to do.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
You know, it's some very difficult situations. Absolutely in most
cases they were not treated well at.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
All, right, and that's.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
The stories are really horrific.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I agree, and I do think that's why some of
it was not well publicized because with it emerging in
the late seventies, we were just coming off of the
Vietnam War and there were some really awful things that
happened to our service members who served over there, and
then when they came home, unfortunately they did not get
(02:43):
the welcome home that they deserved.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Well, the whole pow a topic is very difficult for
a lot of people. It just doesn't there's nothing positive
about it other than the heroic factor of what they
endured and what they did and how they came out
of it.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I would dare subject, I would dare posit that there
was something positive that came out of that, and that
would be the bracelets the people wore. I do think
that was kind of a way to try to heal
a little bit and and try to show unity and
to surround these families and these loved ones, letting them
(03:21):
know that their loved one was not forgotten. That's why
the POW mia flag says you are not forgotten. But
I mean, overall, on its face, you're absolutely right. There
was nothing positive about being a POW. It was harsh
and the stories you're writer are absolutely harrowing. Some of
them are absolutely difficult to read, to be quite honest,
(03:43):
I mean, they're horrific accounts and we're just I mean,
God bless the people who lived through that, who lived
to tell their story and you know, went on to
do great things, got to come home, and fortunately there
were some that did not. And I do think that's
(04:03):
what makes it so difficult to observe, because celebrate is
definitely not the appropriate word. It's necessary to observe and recognize,
recognize those sacrifices, recognize their bravery, their heroism. So that's
exactly what we did this month with pow Mia Recognition Day.
(04:28):
We held an observance at Charlie Foxtrot Brewing and we
did the reading of the description of the pow mi
i a table because Charlie Foxtrott has one of those
on site at all times, so we helped educate the
folks in attendance on what that was about, and we
(04:49):
took the time to reflect on the symbolism and the
meaning of the items on that table, and then we
finished with a silent toast of water to remember those
who are still missing. So that was That's something that
I think we really need to take the time to do.
(05:11):
Every year, and I'm really glad that we had that
opportunity to do it. But then we had a wonderful
opportunity to have a guest speaker, and I'll let you
talk about that.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Well. It was mar Gonzales and his story. He's and
we interviewed him on the station here, we did, but
we got to meet him in a little different not
quite a social type of environment, but more one on
one where we got to talk to him individually, and
he told his story, and as difficult as his story was,
(05:46):
he managed to make some of it rather light. We
saw some I mean, what he went through his story,
what he accomplished, how we kept himself together. And yet
he still has a sense.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Of humor and positivity, but I think very positive. I
think that's something that's indicative of veteran culture though, because
if you think about it, we have all gone through
some serious stuff and part of the way that a
lot of us kind of try to handle really heavy,
difficult situations is we try to infuse a little bit
(06:24):
of humor where and when we can. And some people
don't understand that, people who aren't veterans, they might not
understand it. They might think it is you know, maybe
inappropriate or whatever, but that's kind of how we cope
with some of the difficulty and the hardship is we
try to bring a little bit of levity or we
try to infuse a little bit of humor where we can,
(06:46):
where it seems appropriate. And I think Mark did an
excellent job of I mean, he had wrapped attention of
every single person in that room. There were seventy people there,
which was a tremendous turnout. He did he kept their attention,
but he did he balanced the heavy and the truth
of it with tempered it with a little bit of
(07:08):
humor where he could. And it's his story to tell,
so to be clear, though he was He's Mark Gunzalvus
is an Air Force veteran and he was a government
contractor with Northrop Grumming at the time when he was
abducted by the Colombian terrorist group that's known as the FARC,
(07:30):
and he was held in captivity from two thousand and
three to two thousand and eight. For those of you listening,
if you didn't know the story, But he also wrote
a book.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Yes, yes, I haven't.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Read it, you're gonna love it.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Yeah, his his The people who have read it, just
can't say enough about it. So it's I recommend that
you find a copy. It's on Amazon. It's all.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
It's called Out of Captivity one thousand, nine hundred sixty
seven Days in the Colombian Jungle, and it's written by
Mark Gunsalvez. His last name is spelled g O N
SA l V S Keith Stancil, Tom Howe's with the
help of Greg Brozak, who's an author. So, and the
(08:19):
book is awesome because it's written in all three of
their voices, so you can it gives you a heading
to tell you who's speaking if you will in the book.
But after a while you figure out their writing styles
and then it's almost like, I don't know. For me,
it was almost like when I would read it, it's
(08:39):
almost like I could hear a different voice in my
head for every different uh, every different one of them
between Keith, Tom and Mark. So, yeah, their story is
incredible and parts of it are heartbreaking, parts of it
make you angry, parts of it make you laugh.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
I get to rock with him in some of the right. Yeah.
So when when we're when we're walking and we get
little snippets of conversation, right, what he's done, how it
has not I should say how it has inspired him
to continue on in his life right really inspiring others
(09:20):
to get better.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Absolutely. He has such a wonderful spirit about him and
he puts his experience to work by working in the
community with a prison ministry actually in helping people who
are incarcerated with you know, figuring out kind of helping
them see that there's there's so much more to life
(09:41):
than being you know, incarcerated. There's there's more to come,
there's you know, there's hope. And I think, honestly, for
him to come out of that his situation, I mean,
it took a lot of courage. It definitely took perseverance,
but he kept a very healthy dose of hope.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Yeah, and he never gave up. Never. He dealt with
the situation as it came up. So he's a remarkable individual.
If you haven't seen his book, please go out and
look for it. If you get a chance to hear
him talk, do not pass it up. He does a
very quick and it was kind of brief. Actually, I
(10:25):
think people would have liked him to tell more.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Honestly, I thought the time Flew said he was going
to speak for fifteen minutes, so I was like, okay, cool,
he ended up speaking for twenty five minutes. But it
did not feel like that. No, Like, sometimes, depending on
the content, what takes twenty five minutes might feel like ten.
And I think that's what it felt like. Like you said,
it felt very brief, It felt very quick, and in
(10:49):
those twenty five minutes he really only got to like
scratch the surface of his story.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
So yeah, only because I know a lot more about it. Yeah,
it was very hed. He went through it rather quickly,
not even all the highlights.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
But that's a good thing though, because I'm like I
was hoping. I was like, don't give away too much.
You want people to read the book. The book was
well written.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Him.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
No, he's not like that. There was no angle. It
was just him being.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Having a conversation with seventy people, right. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
And when Mark was here, his description of what he
went through was so vivid. I mean I felt like
I was right there. You could really picture.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Everything absolutely, And that's exactly what he did at Charlie Foxtrott.
He put you there in the middle of whatever he
was describing. So from and I'll give some of you
a preview from the plane crash, because that's what precipitated
their abduction. They their plane crashed in Colombia when the
(11:50):
engine failed, and he puts you right there. He describes
everything right down to the sounds, you know, what they
were feeling, go and around securing everything on the aircraft
to make sure that like a pencil or notebook or
something didn't become a projectile. He puts you through everything,
and he tells you exactly what he could see ridgelines
(12:12):
or you know, the people coming at them. He puts
you right there. And so yeah, absolutely, I mean that
was a tremendous honor and a privilege to be able
to have Mark there to tell his story. Because if
we're being honest, there aren't that many that I know
of that are left who who have lived that and
(12:35):
who are willing to share because it's a deeply personal thing,
like we talked about, you know, it's a gravitus difficult topic,
and not everybody that has experienced, you know, being a
prisoner of war or missing an action, not all of
them are ready to tell their story. And that's okay.
(12:56):
I just hope they know that they are supported, that
they are respected, that they are appreciated for what they
did and for upholding the caoset freedom in one of
the harshest ways possible. But they did it, and they
did it with dignity and they came home. So yeah,
(13:17):
So every year y'all pow Mia Recognition Day the third
Friday in September. So there will be an event held
next year that's already in the planning process. But another
thing that I think as veterans we could do a
little bit better on is keeping track of like dates
that are significant to us as veterans and finding ways
(13:39):
to observe them and if appropriate, celebrate them, things like
the service birthdays. Once we get out of the military,
we don't really do much to highlight or observe those.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
We didn't do it. I was in for two years.
We never did anything.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
For anyway, right for disclosure, I was in the Air
Force for twenty years and I never went to an
Air Force or small which is like, yeah, the record
just scratched it. Everybody staring at me and it's quiet
right now. But I never went. And so the service
birthdays are important. Flag Day is important, Veterans Day of
(14:16):
course is important. These are times that we should definitely
be finding a way to bring ourselves together as veterans
in the community that supports us, because our civilian supporters
are just as important.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Oh, absolutely, And I guess that's become my passion to
make sure that that our family other civilians understand all
of our stories, no matter what we did, no matter
what branch we were in, whatever our mos or job
was in the military. We need to make sure that
(14:53):
our family knows and our friends know what we did,
why we did it, and what we accomplished.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Absolutely, and I think too they like being shown what
our traditions are, what our heritage is. I think our
civilian supporters appreciate kind of being let in on what
that's about.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Well, there's only the last I saw, there's only seven
percent of the population. When you look at three hundred
and thirty million people, only seven percent of the population
has been in the military service, right, and all of them.
And now it's even less what the volunteer services. So
(15:33):
it's it's approaching down to one percent very rapidly.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Because of age, right, which is why it's also important
to make sure that as veterans that we do our
part to let our supporters love on us through things
like honor flight. Go on your honor flight. If you
are listening to this right now and you are from
the World War two, Korean War, Vietnam More era, if
(16:00):
you are listening to this and you have not registered
to go on your honor flight, please apply for that.
That is one of the biggest honors for our civilian
supporters to give us, is to love on us and
take us to our service memorials and give us the
welcome home we deserve. So please, if you're listening, please
(16:22):
look into that find the hub near you. You just
fire up the Google machine type in Honor Flight hub
near me and it will come up and you can
find out where that is and you can go about
the application process. If you live here in Southwest Florida,
it's SWFL honorflight dot org and right on the front
(16:43):
page you can apply. So taking you know, taking advantage
of that and not in a bad way. But let
people love on you, let people appreciate you. Please, For
the younger generation of veterans, my generation and younger y'all,
we've got to keep things moving with our vfw's, our
(17:03):
American legions. And I know people out there who are
like I don't want to be involved in it. It's
too political, et cetera, et cetera. However, the bigger picture
to keep in mind is that the American Legion, the
VFW am Vets, these groups advocate in the halls of
Congress for us and at a time when a fraction
(17:28):
and I mean I think it's less than like sixteen
percent of people sitting in Congress have ever served in
the military. First of all, that needs to change. But
that is why those groups are so important. That is
why membership in those groups is important, because the more
members that the American Legion the VFW am VETS has,
(17:50):
the louder the voice in Congress to try to hold
on to our benefits. And I say try because we
all know some of them have been eroded over the
years unfortunately. So please keep in mind we've got to
keep that advocacy going as veterans, and that's a responsibility
for all of us to bear to keep that, to
(18:12):
make sure that the promise is kept to take care
of our veterans. I think we owe that to ourselves
to keep that going.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I'll tell you another hot button with me is when
I meet somebody who was in the service and I
asked them, are you registered with the VA, and they say, well, no,
I didn't do anything right, yes you did.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
We get the same answer with on our flight. People
are like, I don't deserve to go. I didn't deploy,
I didn't go to war. I didn't do anything while
I was in the military. It does not matter if
you served, you deserve That's what the Sarge says. If
Jay Hemingway was here right now, he would be like,
darn right, but you're absolutely right. It's horrible looking at
the statistics of how many for how many veterans we
(18:55):
have in America, the small small number that are actually
registered with the VA.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
No full confession. I had nothing to do with the
VA for probably thirty forty years, and I had a
cousin who got on me and she was relentless. But
I finally did And then I look back and say, yes,
I didn't need it because I was employed. I had
a great job, I got good benefits, but that went away.
(19:23):
And now that I'm involved with the VA, I look
back at it and say, the requirement to be a
member of the VA system is one physical a year
that keeps you active in the VA system. And we
hope you never need it, but it's there. You earned it.
(19:45):
Do it. Spend that time taking that one physical year.
By the way, they do it, very extensive physical the
blood work alone. The first time I saw the print
out of that, I was amazed. So do it. I
hate the harp on it, but do it.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
I agree, and I think too. That's also generational because
my father he served during Vietnam in the Navy, and
when he was getting out, his chief petty officer told him,
he said, don't go to the VA. He's like, if
they tag you disabled, you won't be able to work.
Like they scared people away from the VA. They were like,
you won't be able to work. You're going to get
tagged as disabled. You won't be able to provide for
(20:26):
your family. So my father did the same thing and
stayed far far away from the VA for a very
long time. Until there are things that take decades to
show up, and for him, his agent orange exposure took
decades to show up. Once it reared its ugly head
and affected his quality of life, he finally relented and
(20:47):
got himself into the VA health care system and he
does get some benefits, which is good. But now the
pendulum has shifted to where there's so much awareness for
the VA. With my generation of the military, generation before,
in the generation after that, we know, keep track of
your medical records and as soon as you get six
(21:08):
months out from your separation or retirement date, file that claim.
So the culture has really shifted, for sure. But absolutely
VA healthcare is a benefit that if you served, you
have earned that and you absolutely right, Paul, like you
should be taking advantage of it.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Yeah, there's no, there's no, it's not hard exactly. I
don't know what I can say to convince you to
go just do it.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
I think for some people too, though, there's a privacy aspect.
I will say, and I'm about to drop a bit
of a you know, truth bomb here and then we're
going to have to wrap this up. But the thing
that concerns me greatly is why does a VA want
to know what people's income is? That has absolutely zilch
to do with your eligibility for benefits Because you served,
(21:58):
who cares if you make more than forty eight thousand
dollars a year, good for you. You still deserve VA healthcare
VA benefits and there should not be any inquiry of
what is your income and that should have absolutely zero
bearing on your eligibility in or worthiness for veterans benefit.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Well, next time we have a VA representative, you got
that right, warn them with that question. Then it's coming up.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
We shall be asking. I have been talking to my
my VSO friends actually to tell them, like I think,
as veterans, we might have to stand up on our
own two feet here a little bit and push back
through the proper channels of writing letters, engaging the VA,
engaging our elected officials to say what gives that's that's
(22:47):
a file. We need to fix it.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
We know of one person that won't do it because
they ask him is financial. It's like, okay, I give up.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Well that but at the same time, that is a
foul and that needs to stop because your income should
not at all, in any way, shape, form or fashion
affect the degree or level of care and benefits you
received from the VA.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
It does not matter, especially what they paid me when
I was in the service.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Right. But the thing is, even the threshold they set
it at, if you're one hundred percent disabled, you don't qualify.
That's wrong. If all you're getting is one hundred percent
via disability pay. According to this income standard of forty
eight thousand dollars a year, more than likely you will
not qualify for whatever threshold they have set there because
(23:34):
you are over that threshold of forty eight thousand dollars
in most cases. So we got work to do, y'all
stay tuned because as veterans, yep, we've come a long way,
but there is still work to be done. So thanks
for attending our pseudo ted Talk if you will this morning.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
I hope we got you fired up.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Yes, absolutely. And now in this segment, we have with
us via phone a friend of mine and my sister
in arms from our time in the Air Force together.
She is your friendly and favorite health and wellness educator
and as well as wealth educator. Don't let me forget that.
Krishanda Torres. Welcome to the show. Krishanda.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
Oh, thank you so much. Amanda. Is so good to
be talking to you again.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Absolutely, yeah, no, we're glad to have you on this show.
We've been trying to put this together I think for
a little while now, and we finally found a date
and a time that works. So we are excited to
talk with you and hear your story. So tell us
about your time in the Air Force.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
So as you know, because we were stationed together, right,
that's how we became family and met exactly. I served
twenty years and nine months, and yet you know we
count every single second exactly thousandety four days.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Yes, ma'am. I tell people twenty years, twenty four days.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
We'll say nine months.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
At fourteen days, there we go exactly.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
So I was a health service manager. I retired in
twenty nineteen from Shaw Air Force Base. But my career
path as a health service manager it was kind of
very like. I went from working in medical treatment facilities
where you and I met as mediums, down in the
readiness shop and operational planning, to becoming a readiness planner
(25:24):
at the magcom level, the major command level, so doing
things like planning when we had the Africa leaders come
to DC, the air shows, when we had the Pope come.
That was the job that I got to do. Of course,
throughout my time, I deployed the places like Kuwait, served
five global assignments, and at the end I was the
(25:45):
I got to experience the line side. As you know, Amanda,
they say that our side, the medical side, is not
the real Air Force.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
I live with somebody who tries to remind me of
that all the time, like, excuse me, sir, we are
both part of the check of the month club, politely.
Speaker 4 (26:02):
But for my last two years I got to actually
be on the line side as a superintendent at the
wing level to see what that looked like, to work
with the OG, the AMXS, the other squadrons and groups
that we usually only serviced, you know, from our perspective
as a customers and clients. So what my twenty years
(26:24):
actually gave me, Amanda, I would say that it gave
me way more than rank. It gave me resilience, adaptability
and a legacy that I can carry forward in everything
I do today.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Absolutely, and I would dare say it broadened your worldview,
if you will, to help you kind of see things
from various ends of the spectrum.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
So, Yeah, I remembered that at Shaw you stepped outside
of the MED group. I do remember that. Was it
called a Commander's Action group at Shaw?
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Yes, okay, it was called the Commander's Action Group. Yeah,
And I used to make the joke because it was
supposed to be in office of three. But when I
first got there, are used to say, yeah, it's the
commander's action girl. It's just me myself and I.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
There you go. Well cool. So, so then you transitioned
out of the Air Force, you retired, started living the
good life. And so how did your Air Force career
prepare you for your transition and then the path that
you found your way too? Because I've obviously kept in
touch with you all these years, and so I've I've
(27:29):
seen multiple paths, and I admire it because you can
you handle so many things, and you juggle so much.
But I don't want to say juggle in the sense
of like barely making it work, like you are like
on it and you make it look so easy, but
you do so much. So tell us about your transition
(27:49):
and how it's led to all the multiple pathways that
you take care of others, that you help others.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
I would agree that the Air Force prepared me sure
as a dido with grit, right tenacity, that was all
the ability to adapt to any situation under pressure. Remember
that simple gunna be. We used to always shout right,
and so I believe those are all skills that I
use right now as an entrepreneur. My transition actually wasn't
(28:18):
easy at the end because my mother passed in my
eighteenth year and so yes, so at that same time
they lost my EPR in VPC. So I missed a
promotion board.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Am I.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
That I was not aware of? Oh my goodness?
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
So of course I could have stayed stuck there, I
could have stayed upset. But I believe that God uses
those moments to redirect us. So instead of focusing on okay,
well I'm not going to make senior now, because I
went up for a supplemental board. So then I was then,
as you know, competing with the line side. Right, good
luck with that. I focused on my final two years
(29:06):
and learning everything I could because again as a medic
who was stratted at a fighter wing as a number four,
that that's phenomenal in itself, right, Absolutely, learning how the
linesid worked, doing the introductions for all the commanders, the
squadron commanders, like for me, it just gave me a
first perspective and a different level of confidence.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Absolutely, And if I can interject for a second, I
would dare say, when we leave the military, I mean,
if we're being honest, my perspective, when we leave the military,
whatever rank we held, it doesn't matter anymore. But the
truth of it is is even though you retired with
a Master Sergeant stripe as an E seven, you were
(29:47):
walking the walk and talking the talk of a chief
Master sergeant personally. And I'm not saying that to inflate
your ego or flatter you or anything. But anybody who
knows you like truly knows you like. I can hear
doctor Radiance Rose in my head right now. Yeah, I
think she would absolutely agree with this statement. Anybody who
(30:10):
knows you knows that that stripe did not define you
at all. You definitely carried yourself as a chief Master sergeant.
So I hate that you had to go through that,
but I agree with you that I think it helped
shift your focus to where it needed to be, which
was gaining everything you could before you retired and taking
(30:32):
it with you.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
Absolutely I would agree with that assessment. I mean, for me, Amanda,
I said retirement brought It actually brought prooning and refining
if you want to think of it that.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Oh yeah, and you were very transparent about your transformation
for sure.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
Definitely. I mean I loved what I did. I don't
regret it, right, but the transition showed me who was
for me and who wasn't correct, and it also but
it also even though most people say, well you had
that a horrible time where you know your mom, you
know she passed, and they basically didn't really seem to care,
(31:14):
but it also birthed my calling, right, I wouldn't have
become a health and wealth educator if I hadn't gone
through all of that. I wouldn't be helping women and
families reset their health and rebuild their legacy if I
had an experience burn out myself.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
So I agree with that. So so then it helped
you figure out your calling with health and wealth coaching
and how you that was a process to get there,
from the time you transition to fully stepping into those roles,
so tell us about that.
Speaker 4 (31:47):
So it was definitely a process because in my mind,
I thought I was going to retire and lay on
the couch and eat my bond. You know that was
planned that.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
I know you too well, ma'am. That was you couldn't
if you tried. We love the idea of that because
I agree. I thought the same thing. I was like,
I'm going to wake up and be like what do
I feel like doing today? No, we can't sit still.
We are the movers and the shakers in this world.
So as much as we love that idea, I don't
think you could have done that even if you tried.
Speaker 4 (32:16):
Yeah, what do we used to say? All gas, no breaks?
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Right?
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Yes, I was going to say, you know, I tell
people to this day, don't get me started. I don't
come with breaks.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
Right, So what that looked like is okay? So first
I was again you saw my transition, my transformation. Well,
first of all, let's talk about transition. I tried to
go to TAPS times because the information changed so much.
I don't craft that one time two years before you
retire is adequate enough. So now I was king, and
I could change the process. I would tell anyone who
was listening, you should start your TAP prep probably in
(32:50):
year fifteen, especially the financial peace. But that's just what
we'll get to that, I'm sure in the financial education line.
So after I finished my certification for health coaching, I
continued learning about gut health. I got a certification a
hormone health. And then, of course, as if having one
degree wasn't already enough, because now we're retired, right and
we have so much time.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
NVA benefits for education, Hello.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
Right, NBA benefits for education. I earned a second master's
in biblical theology. Well it's actually called Bible exposition, so,
but the technical that's a technical term. What it means
is mining the Bible for the gyms. So and then wait,
wait is if that wasn't enough, Amanda, because you know
we already have to we're used to multitasking. Were active duty,
right homeschool COVID came, so then homeschool had got added
(33:36):
to the place.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Yes, exactly. I was just going to say, I was
hoping you would talk about being a homeschool educator, because
what an important and amazing thing to be able to
do for our kids. My husband educated our children for
five years. And it's funny because he tells people he'll
talk about it, and he'll be like we and I
stop him right there. I'm like, excuse me, no, sir,
You like I was still active duty when he was
(34:00):
educating the kids, and I saw how he put that together,
and I know that you did the same thing, probably
just taking so much time and effort and really thoughtfully
crafting your kid's curriculum to teach them the most important
parts of education.
Speaker 4 (34:17):
Absolutely. My son is now fourteen. We're in our fourth
year homeschooling, and my daughter is now eleven, and he
he already knows what he wants to do. Because when
it comes to homeschooling, a lot of people think that
it's the same as what you do in brick and
mortar school, and it's not even close. Homeschooling is a lifestyle.
You get to create what you need to create based
on your child's need and your family's.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
Meet Absolutely, and to put it in perspective, Paul, she
just said her children are fourteen and eleven. When we
really got to know each other when she was working
in medical readiness, I was pregnant with my youngest one,
and as I was I think it was the week
I delivered him. I was down there doing medical readiness
because I was our unit deployment manager. That was one
(35:00):
of my additional duties. So that's how I got to
know Kashanda. And I'm crawling around on the floor a
week out from my DU date, going through medical records,
like readiness records, making sure people's folders had everything in
it that they needed to deploy, and She's like, please
don't let your water break in our office. I was like,
oh wow, but then not long. I think like near
(35:20):
the end of my pregnancy, I think you found out
you were pregnant with your baby, and so it was
like it was so funny because she was just looking
at me like, I guess this is just a preview
of what's you know, what's coming. So yeah, that's man.
Time flies gosh. Yes, so so obviously I'm sure too
(35:42):
all of the educational experience that you had has gone
into who you are as an educator for your kids
as well as for others. Yes.
Speaker 4 (35:52):
Absolutely. One of the things that I looked at when
I was crashing their curriculum, I wanted them to have
to how used. But like when my daughter was in
public school, she was struggling with reading initially, and their
solution was just to say that she needed to show
up at eight thirty in the morning on the screen.
This was during COVID again, you know, so they were
(36:13):
doing screen and I had noticed that the teacher actually
wasn't reading with her. So I'm like, why is she
showing up at eight thirty in the morning to sit
and stare at you with forty other kids if you're
actually not having her read? So, you know me, I
canceled that and then we actually enrolled her in a
tutored class, and then I sat with her for two
years helping her to make sure that she understood you're
not supposed to memorize fit words, that's what they wanted
(36:35):
you to do in public school. But phonics. Let me
show you how phonics works.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Right, exactly. So, and that's the beauty of homeschooling is
you can educate, like you said before, like you can
educate your child on at their pace, because some stuff
they're going to pick up really fast and they don't
need to wait for everybody else to catch up. And
then some stuff they might need a little bit of
extra time on because you know, our brains are wired
(37:00):
the way they're wired, some stuff's going to make more
sense to us more quickly than other concepts. So that's
that's a nice thing. And then the fact that the
world is your classroom. I mean, my husband would take
my kids to the zoo and that was their science
class for the day. He could find a way to
make a math class out of it. You know, there's
there's so many things that we do every single day
(37:23):
that can be a lesson, whether it's math, science, civics, English, grammar,
point nine. So this was the kind of homeschool educator
I was. I would like, you know how sometimes you
see stuff out in the world that has like a
grammar error or a spelling error. I taught my kids out.
I was like, it's important to check your work, and
(37:43):
this is why go read that sign. Tell me what's
wrong with it.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
See, that's a whole new world to me. I you know,
I didn't grow up with that. I know if my
mother homeschooled me, we'd need a whole new supply of
wooden spoons.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
I was just gonna say, I'm like, would your backside
have survived it? Therein is the question, So.
Speaker 4 (38:03):
I mean, and you can make it lesson out of anything.
You just reminded me real quick when the whole political
environment was going on, that was a part of their homeschool. Listen,
civics engage physically in discussion.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Yes, absolutely, and civics is is so important, especially nowadays
in the world where people have to be reminded it's
okay to disagree, and then they also have to be
reminded of the saying. And I know you probably heard
this a lot as a child too, when adults would
tell me, can you imagine how boring the world would
(38:37):
be if we were all the same. And nowadays we
have people who want us to all think the same,
act the same, feel the same way about certain topics,
and it's like we were warned about that as kids.
We were told that was a bad thing, and then
we learned about group think and how bad that is.
So yeah, no, I love the freedom and the independence
(38:59):
that it gives you as a parent to educate your
child and to help them see a multifaceted look at
the world, not just a narrow view. So then you
moved on to coaching and you said you got your
health coach certification, and so now you have a health
(39:22):
and wealth educator career. So tell us what that looks like.
What does that involve?
Speaker 4 (39:29):
So as I help women and families reset both their
health and well that's the long and shouldern I have
three program specifically that I use on the health side,
I have what's called the Nervous Circle. It's my monthly
membership for a simple sustainable health habits and then for
a more in depth program depending on what that woman needs. Again,
(39:51):
we figured out and out in our initial assessment. It's
called the Reset Protocol. It's a sixth week good and
horrmone recovery program for high achieving women who were like me,
like you, were dealing with operating in a high ops temple,
but they were actually battling burnout, but they didn't recognize
it correct because the mission had to go on right yep.
(40:11):
And then on the wealth side, that's what's called the
Legacy Reset. So it's a faith aligned financial coaching program
where women and families learned things that we didn't learn
at active duty, healing money habits, building wealth. I mean,
for example, Amanda, it's one of the things I often
share with new clients is we had SGLI Service Group
(40:34):
Life Insurance, right you remember that?
Speaker 1 (40:35):
Yep? I still got AGLI see which.
Speaker 4 (40:40):
But what I learned in becoming a licensed financial professional
on the health and wealth side, because I am licensed
in South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, NBC and
continuing to add more states, was when we retired, we
didn't have any cash value that came with us that
could have helped us start our millionaire statuschool. Do you
understand what I'm.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
Saying, Yes, exactly, And we.
Speaker 4 (41:04):
Weren't taught about that in all of the financial counseling
coaching classes that right, we.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Were taught make a budget and try to stick to it.
But even then the budget didn't always cover everything right, and.
Speaker 4 (41:18):
So we weren't taught the steps that we needed to
build a secure financial foundation. And that's one of the
things that I helped families do through the Legacy RESET
as a licensed financial professional. So for me, that it
gives me joy that I get to continue to serve,
just in a different way, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
Oh, absolutely, no, That was that's been the greatest blessing
of being retired, is that we get to continue serving
Airman because at our core, that's you know, that's what
it was all about with serving others. So we get
to continue serving, just in a different capacity, and it's
wonderful because it's what lights us up. But we also
get to serve on our terms, if that makes sense,
(41:57):
Like you get to address financial and and wealth aspects
of wellness. You know, I get to be part of
a radio show, I get to do media. I get
to be involved with nonprofits. I know you're heavily involved
in your community as well, and obviously having your your
degree for theology, that's a whole other layer of involvement
(42:20):
and serving others. So, yeah, that's it's wonderful to be
able to do that, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Yes? It is?
Speaker 1 (42:28):
So what are what are some parts as a coach
that you find there's info out there because you talked
about how you help people with their financial planning and
kind of taking it beyond just the basics, and the
same thing with health, you know, helping people, helping women
reset from being in chronically stressful situations. What's something that
you feel that not a lot of people know, and
(42:49):
more importantly, things that you don't think veterans are fully
aware of that you want to enlighten them to, or
that you do enlighten your clients to.
Speaker 4 (42:59):
Two things in particular, Man, a great question on the
health side. Most people don't realize that their gut is
their second brain and it's the foundation of help. Making
sure that you're taking care of your gut impacts other
areas of your body, impacts other systems, So it impacts
your energy, your hormones, even your mood. That's one thing
that you know. Probably seven years ago, eight years ago,
(43:20):
they weren't even talking about get help, but each day
were discovering more and more how it impacts other people.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
Or they'd tell you, they'd tell you you had a
leaky gut, but they couldn't very clearly tell you how
to go about fixing it, or they wouldn't.
Speaker 4 (43:33):
Correct, or they would they wouldn't exactly.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
I mean, I need to say that, but it's not
necessarily outside their own.
Speaker 3 (43:40):
So you have to keep the microbiome health.
Speaker 4 (43:43):
And the medical term is a medical is intestinal permeability.
Speaker 1 (43:49):
Right, because we're seeing so many more people now that
have like diverticulitis or chronic ulcers or you know, things
that used to be a rarity that are now become
like commonplace. And it's like, oh my goodness. But like
you're saying, it all starts with the gut and taking
care of that. So that's that's good.
Speaker 4 (44:08):
Because many years doesn't Oh sorry, no, I was.
Speaker 1 (44:12):
Just will realize it's the second brain, like you said.
Speaker 4 (44:15):
Right exactly, and chewing motorin for twenty years does not
help your gut life and not.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
At all, not at all. What about on the financial.
Speaker 4 (44:24):
Side, Yes, on the financial side, like I said, when
we transition, not understanding that we had a term life
insurance policy, but it didn't give us any cash value.
So we don't have a investment vehicle or a long
term insurance vehicle to build wealth for us, such as
an index, universal life product or something to that effect,
(44:46):
because we're not taught that. In addition to that, we're
not taught the rule of seventy two. The first time
I heard the rule of seventy two, Amanda, was after
we were out of the military, which basically is the
real rate of return on your money and how your
debt impacts you. For example, people are now getting credit
cards with a thirty two point nine to nine percent
interest rate.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
Oh and that hurts right right, my god.
Speaker 4 (45:09):
And they're thinking that, oh, that's great, the thank gave
it to me. Well, if you understood the rule of
seventy two, and why they gave it to you is
because they understood that it will take you your debt
will double excuse me, every two years using the rule
of seventy two, So that ten thousand dollars that you
just ran upon your credit card. That's why they're smiling.
That's why they're excited about it, because they know you
(45:29):
won't pay it off in two years at that interest rate.
That's not something we're taught at school. Albert Einstein actually
told us that the compound interest is the eighth won
director world, and those who understand it benefit from it,
and those who don't pay for it. And that's just
a classic example of something that we were not taught,
not just in the military, but in public school as well.
Personal finance is missing.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
How are you going to say that that's the financial
world is a mystery, and we didn't spend enough time
learning about it. But when you get that first bill
in and you look at the interest rate, you need
to pay attention to.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
That, right, I was going to say, When I was
in high school, micro and macroeconomics were not electives, And
I mean, I feel like it shouldn't have even needed
to be that complex, because those are much more specified
realms of economics, Like you said, even just keeping it
to a basic financial management class teaching people. Like the
(46:26):
first time I ever went through any kind of a
financial management class was in First Term Airmen Center when
I first joined the military got to my first base.
They made you go for two weeks to this course
that did everything from PowerPoint presentations on a plethora of topics,
but one of them was financial management, and for some
airmen that was the first time they had ever written
a check or balanced a checkbook or done any kind
(46:48):
of budgeting. It was like they had never It was
so alien to them, and it was like, hold on,
but we're expected to go fight for our country, laid
down our lives, and we don't know how to manage
our home life at all, even as a single person
with no kids. Like that was just mind boggling. So yeah,
(47:08):
definitely there's work to be done with that, And that's
awesome that you're jumping in and helping educate people sooner
than later.
Speaker 4 (47:17):
Yes, because I'll.
Speaker 1 (47:19):
Admit my husband talks about finances a lot, like bonds
and stock market this and that and index is my
favorite is dead cat bounce. That's that's actually a financial concept.
But anyway, he talks about stuff and a lot of
it's over my head. I want to understand it, but
it's one of those things that my brain is not
well wired to, so it requires a tremendous amount of
(47:42):
focus on my part to try to understand it.
Speaker 2 (47:44):
That's why we have financial advisors.
Speaker 1 (47:47):
Correct, That's why we have a financial educator, right, and.
Speaker 4 (47:51):
That's why we offer That's why I offer Paul free
Financial workshops, free financial reviews and strategies at no cost.
And that's aside from the services, because we understand that
once you're in the room, the knowledge changes everything.
Speaker 1 (48:05):
And that's a good thing that you touched on. So
how can our listeners if they want to take advantage
of the free classes or learn even about the paid services,
how can they contact you? How can they see your material,
what you offer? Where can they go to find that information?
Speaker 4 (48:23):
Well, great question, Amanda. I love to connect. So they
can visit my website at www dot Chris Shonda O
k R I S H O n DA or S
t R R E S all one word dot com,
or they can email me. It's probably easier for them
to email me because my email is fairly easy to remember.
Your guide on the side, all one word at PM
(48:44):
dot me. Well, of course they can call me or
text me. I'm happy to share my business number. It's
two four zero five sixty five eight nine seventy five.
I share resources on Facebook, I share resources on LinkedIn.
All they have to do is search my name Krishonda
with a Y tour it And so, whether it's reducing sugar,
balancing the hormones or rebuilding their financial future. I'm here
(49:07):
to help women a family.
Speaker 1 (49:08):
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for being on the
show today. We're so appreciative of everything that you shared
and it was just good to talk and catch up
and reminisce about stuff. So thanks for being on the show, Krishanda.
Speaker 4 (49:23):
Thanks for having me. Sus we'll talk to again.
Speaker 2 (49:25):
All right, I hope, So thank you all.
Speaker 1 (49:29):
Right, And that looks to be our show for the day,
Paul was.
Speaker 2 (49:33):
We went through a lot of topics today, I think.
Speaker 1 (49:35):
So we had some really great conversations and got to
know another veteran in our network Krishanda, and.
Speaker 2 (49:41):
What it's all about exactly.
Speaker 1 (49:43):
Veterwork, Yes, and we have to network and we gotta
we got to support each other and stick together.
Speaker 2 (49:50):
I think we've got a lot of stories to tell,
a lot of experiences and a lot of talent out
there right now we need to bring to the surface.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
Absolutely. Yeah, that's what we're here for really, So for
people listening, if you have an organization, if you're a
veteran business owner, or if you're a business owner that
loves and supports veterans. Maybe you aren't a veteran, but
you support the veteran community. We would love to hear
from you. We want you to get in touch with
(50:21):
us about being on the show so that we can
give visibility to your business. We can tell your story
as a veteran and just so you know, like that
all comes at zero cost, just your time to come
and share your story or share about your business. So, Paul,
how can people go about booking with you since you're
(50:41):
a booking agent.
Speaker 2 (50:43):
Well, they can get me on the internet. They can
contact me. It's p A U L P E L
L E S C hi. I do it phonetically, but
it's too long, the number three at gmail dot com
(51:03):
and then the subject matter. Just put down rallypoint show
that'll always get my attention.
Speaker 1 (51:09):
Absolutely. We love telling your story of your service, and
don't get hung up on the idea of thinking you
didn't do much. It doesn't matter whether you served in
Vietnam on the ground, if you were stateside the entire time,
if you served during the Cold War and feel like
you didn't do that's not true. And we want to
tell your story. We want to hear about your experiences.
(51:31):
We want to hear your funny stories, your good memories.
Speaker 2 (51:34):
There are some.
Speaker 1 (51:35):
Oh yeah, they're absolutely. I was going to say, you
have the legend of the generator, So I think we
all have stories like that.
Speaker 2 (51:44):
Sometime. I'll have to tell you about my favorite meal
in the military.
Speaker 1 (51:47):
Oh nice, gosh, we could probably do a whole entire
episode about mrs or some folks. Remember Sea rats run. Yes,
my husband tried some of those at one point and
he was like, I will never complain about emrie ever again.
Speaker 3 (52:04):
My dad used to talk about k rations.
Speaker 2 (52:06):
Yeah, they were oh wow, well we had in the States.
This was now. They gave us the rations and they
had green Lucky Stripe Lucky Strike cigarettes in them, so
they went back.
Speaker 1 (52:20):
Sure that was even healthier than a regular bleached one. Huh,
we ate them nineteen Oh my goodness.
Speaker 4 (52:28):
Well.
Speaker 1 (52:29):
Also, another thing that I just want to say is
this is going to be my last episode at the
Rally Point Show as a regular host. This has been
a tremendous experience. I have absolutely loved every minute of
being on this show, telling your stories, giving visibility to businesses, programs,
and just I'm so thankful for the opportunities. I want
(52:50):
to say thank you to Jay Hemingway for hounding me
to be on this show where I finally gave in,
came on as a guest, got bit by the bug,
and you know we're on episode ninety something now.
Speaker 2 (53:04):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (53:04):
So it's just it's been a wonderful ride. I'm so grateful,
but I know the show is in good hands. Paul.
You're gonna do awesome things.
Speaker 2 (53:13):
And I oh boy, talk about pressure.
Speaker 1 (53:15):
Yeah, no pressure at all. And I'll still be on
the show from time to time as a periodic guest host.
Speaker 2 (53:20):
Well, we'll drag you back screaming and yelling, but you'll
be back.
Speaker 1 (53:24):
It's not that hard. Put a microphone in front of
my face. I'm good. And with that, rally pointers fall
out
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