Sgt. Aaron Quinonez (Sgt Q): Marine 1st Anglico Veteran, Speaker, Father, PTSD Ambassador, and Author of Healing Thru Service

This week, the TNQ Podcast brings you the inspiring never-quit journey of Aaron Quinonez – aka “Sgt. Q” – a Marine Corps Veteran, speaker, author, father, and PTSD ambassador.

Having been raised in a rough, homeless environment surrounded by people in the drug trade, Aaron became a marine right out of high school.

What he didn’t know is that his real battle would be fought in his mind. Sgt. Q suffered from depression, anger, and panic attacks and was diagnosed with PTSD. He nearly ended his own life in the parking lot of a church, where later he was redeemed by Jesus Christ, who gave him a new life.

When he volunteered to build housing for a family in Mexico, Quinonez was so inspired by the experience that he founded the organization, Q Missions, to bring Veterans together to construct buildings around the world and bring mental healing through mission service.

Quinonez authored the book: Healing Thru Service, The Warrior’s Guidebook to Overcoming Trauma.

In this episode you will hear:

• I grew up with rednecks, hippies, and pot farmers. Everybody I knew growing up was involved in the drug trade.
• To be homeless as a kid is a trip.
• My work ethic came from my mom, struggling to raise four kids as a single mother.
• I was once on the school bus driving thru the pouring rain and saw a lady carrying two garbage bags, and as we passed I realized - it’s my mom.
• You gotta reposition your mindset from negative experiences to find something positive and focus on that, because what you focus on - your brain will find more of.
• If you have one trauma, another trauma will stick to it and eventually become PTSD.
• Your brain is like a weapon – if it’s malfunctioning you do a function check, and you get back in the fight.
• I went from the battlefield to my front door in less than 48 hours, so there wasn’t any out-processing.
• It wasn’t until I could overcome the victim mentality that I was able to get my life together.
• You may have left the battlefield in Iraq, but every day that you wake up and put your boots on the ground, you’re on another battlefield – the battlefield of the mind.
• You can repurpose military tactics to overcome trauma.
• When anxiety hits, the first thing to do is return fire – speak truth:
  There’s no real threat;
  There’s no real danger:
  I’m totally in a safe environment.
  Bring yourself out of that emotional state.
• 67% of men in America have admitted they’ve struggled with a mental health crisis.
• You didn’t fight the war alone, so don’t fight PTSD alone. Communicate with people and tell them you’re struggling.