April 2, 2025 • 37 mins
Michael Odell's journey from Marine Corps service to prison to leadership offers a masterclass in building teams that last through accountability, courage, and personal growth.
After struggling with addiction from his teenage years through his military service, Michael found himself in prison, where he made a pivotal prayer: to use his experiences to help others and provide for his family. That prayer was answered when he joined Warrior's Heart, an organization helping veterans and first responders overcome addiction and trauma. Starting as an admissions advocate, Michael has risen to Chief Operating Officer, playing a key role in serving over 3,500 warriors in their recovery journeys.
The heart of Michael's leadership philosophy centers on a profound distinction: "You don't manage people. You manage systems, platforms, payroll, schedules... but people can only be led." This insight transforms how we approach team building across any industry. Michael emphasizes that leadership begins with self-leadership—being willing to exemplify the behaviors and accountability you expect from your team.
Salon owners will find immediate value in Michael's concept of "Rules of Engagement"—clear, agreed-upon expectations that create self-governing cultures of accountability. When everyone commits to these shared principles, addressing issues becomes expected rather than resented. Equally powerful is his emphasis on acknowledgment and kindness as motivational forces that cost nothing yet transform workplace dynamics.
Perhaps most transformative is Michael's perspective on fear: "Fear is literally what courage feels like." By reframing fear as an invitation to courage, salon owners facing challenges gain a powerful mindset shift that can propel them through obstacles toward their most ambitious goals.
Ready to build a salon team that's motivated, aligned, and committed? Start by examining your own leadership, establishing clear rules of engagement, and embracing fear as your opportunity to demonstrate courage. Visit warriorsheart.com to learn more about Michael's work and the organization's mission to bring one million warriors home.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
welcome to uh built to last, today's podcast episode
, and we have an incredibleguest on today that's going to
help us with mindset andmotivation and how to build
strong salon teams.
You know, as a salon owner,you're not just managing
services.
You're building a team, shapingculture and carrying the weight
(00:25):
of your company's future.
But creating a team that'sloyal, motivated and committed
can feel like uphill battle.
Battle, especially when you'refacing walkouts or burnout or
misalignment.
So if you're ready to go frombuilt to last, this is going to
be your podcast today.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yeah, and so this episode is your reminder that
lasting teams aren't built byaccident.
They're built with intention,and so our guest today brings
powerful insight from leading inhigh pressure environments, and
you know he can share with ussome mindset shifts, some
leadership principles and justsome motivational tools that you
(01:09):
, as a salon owner, can apply tocreate a team that doesn't just
work.
It's somebody who believes inthe mission and is able to grow
with you.
So, whether you're startingyour team from scratch, you're
rebuilding your team orstrengthening an already solid
culture, you'll walk away withfresh perspective and real
strategies that help you leadwith purpose and build something
(01:32):
that lasts.
So, without further ado, wewant to welcome our special
guest, michael Odell.
Michael, welcome, we're soexcited to have you with us
today.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Thank you all so much .
Super excited myself.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yes, awesome.
Well, hey, we would love toknow.
You know, we know so much aboutyou that you work with an
incredible company calledWarrior's Heart.
You do some motivationalspeaking, you have a big
leadership background, but canyou tell us who's Michael?
What's your story, how did youget into what you're doing and
(02:06):
what is it that you do to servethe world?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Those are great questions, 50 of them all at
once, and I'm the chiefoperating officer for our
headquarters element which iskind of like admin, marketing,
sales, compliance, humanresources, all of those fun
(02:33):
pieces and what we do atWarrior's Heart is we help train
our nation's heroes.
So it's veterans, active dutymilitary first responders who
are struggling with addictionand trauma.
We know they're out there.
Our mission is to bring onemillion warriors home and to
date we've served thirty fivehundred plus since 2016.
(02:59):
And the beautiful thing to thatis that the thirty five hundred
plus is.
Those are just single humanlives who all impact another
life and another life andanother life, their family's
life, their kids' life, theirfriends' life, their workplace's
life, their team's life.
So the ripple effect of that isjust absolutely remarkable and
(03:22):
you'll never really even knowand that's another beautiful
thing is like you don't reallyneed to know the ripple effect
that you're making in the worldas long as you believe that you
are and you're and you're doingthings with intention, which you
already mentioned, uh, on thepodcast.
Uh, I've been with WarriorsHeart since um 2018.
I started, uh, my leadership injust my my life, really my life
(03:47):
really in the Marine Corps.
I joined the Marine Corps in2006.
I got out in 2010.
We deployed twice to combat Onedeployment to Fallujah, iraq.
That was my first deployment,and then a second deployment to
Ramadi, which is where you knowI didn't mention this yet, but
(04:11):
as a young man teenagers Istruggled with addiction and
really what that was is I wasn'thappy with who I was for
whatever reason, it doesn't evenmatter.
It's nobody's fault.
I just wasn't happy with who Iwas.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I didn't know why.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
And substance changed the way that I felt inside, and
so that was what I thought atthe time was the way to go right
.
Well, if you don't like how youfeel, change it.
You know, it makes sense thatdidn't get any better when I was
in the Marine Corps.
Makes sense, that didn't getany better when I was in the
(04:49):
Marine Corps, and so theaddiction kind of plagued me for
a long time.
You know I got out in 2010.
It was starting to get into aton of trouble and just couldn't
figure out how a Marine, afather, you know, with a little
bit of trauma and honorabledischarge from service, I just
couldn't wrap my head around howI was not able to get out of
(05:12):
this hole that I was in.
And I did get out of that holethrough a lot of help, a lot of
support, recovery, all of thethings but I was able to dig
myself out.
And I've been with Warrior'sHeart, like I said, since 2018.
I've been sober since 2016.
And actually March 31st will benine years, so just a few days
(05:35):
away from celebrating nine yearsof sobriety in this beautiful
life.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
That's a little bit.
A little bit about me.
Wow, that's incredible,incredible, so incredible.
Thank you so much for sharingyour story and I'm sure you know
, as listeners on the podcast,we can all relate to addiction.
You know addiction is soworldwide.
My brother actually is inrecovery.
He's been recovering now forabout three years.
I've lost family members toaddiction.
Yeah, so proud of him.
And so just thinking forsharing your story, um, because
it's it's so inspiring to knowthat there is hope, like you
(06:08):
don't have to give up, and Ilove what you said is that you
just didn't have the tools thatyou needed for that solution
that you were looking for, andso, like, how did you begin this
journey of you know workingwith warrior's heart?
You know you have a leadershiprole there.
Um, you step into that, like,did someone see that in you?
Did you just come your way?
(06:28):
Kind of help us shape the waythat that began?
Speaker 3 (06:33):
So it actually began.
So in 2016, I found myselfgoing to prison for substance
abuse related things.
I just couldn't stop drinking,you know, and what comes along
with drinking bar fights,fighting, drinking and driving,
all the things you actuallyshouldn't be doing, but you do
(06:53):
them.
You know it's, it is what it is.
I was in prison and I prayedand I prayed and I asked my
higher power to provide a waywhere I could use my past
(07:13):
experiences to help people andprovide for my family.
So that was my prayer to use mypast experiences to help people
and provide for my family.
If God grant that prayer, Ikind of, you know, bargained a
little bit but like if you canmake that happen.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
I will never turn back.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
I will change my ways .
I, I will seek help all thethings.
And then, when I got out ofprison, I was offered a job
helping veterans and firstresponders who were struggling
with the exact same things thatI was struggling with, and so
that was like, okay, uh, thankyou, and yes, I'll take it.
And um, and since then, youknow, I, I, uh, I was the
(07:58):
admissions advocate and thenadmissions team lead, and then
admissions director, and thencommand executive director and
now chief operating officer.
I got custody of my childrenand I've been able to utilize so
many different tools, not onlypersonally but also
professionally, to help me getwhere I've got.
(08:18):
But it was through a ton ofpeople that support me and
support the path that I'm on.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
It's not everybody supporting the path that I'm on.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
You're going to run into people that don't support
the things that you're trying todo.
You know, you're trying tostart a salon.
You're trying to start abusiness.
You're trying to start acoaching company.
You're trying to cut back onyour drinking.
You're trying to not go out andstay out late as much.
Um, cut back on your drinking,you're trying to not go out and
stay out late as much, orwhatever it is you're trying to
(08:49):
do.
If you're going against thegrain, uh, there's going to be
people who absolutely do notsupport it.
Uh, and it's important toremember, like in recovery, we
talk about your people, placesand things changing, or that you
need to change your people,places and things.
But I learned something veryvaluable, and it's that when I
(09:10):
do the right things for theright reason, my people, places
and things change on their own,and so it's not a matter of me
having to force differentsituations in life.
It's a matter of me beingdisciplined enough to stay on
the right path.
And if I stay on the right path, then those things are going to
(09:32):
change.
And then, look, now I'm on apodcast with y'all Like okay,
you know, life has beenbeautiful since then, but that's
how I started at Warrior'sHeart and how my recovery
journey started.
It was through a prayer ofdesperation, really.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Wow, that's powerful, and I love what you said about
you know, not everybody's goingto see your vision was kind of
how I interpreted it.
You know, because it's yourvision, and I love that.
You said, hey, if you are doingit for all the right reasons,
it doesn't matter.
If people see your vision,because that's why it's your
(10:12):
vision, they're going to havetheir own vision.
We're all here to fulfilldifferent purposes, you know, in
life.
And so I'm just curious,michael, was there a moment in
your journey where everythingshifted for you as a leader?
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Yes, absolutely so one thing about one thing about
leadership is there's there'speople that want to be leaders,
and then there's people thatbecome leaders without ever
wanting it in the first place.
Um, and for me, I never I don'tthink I ever wanted to be a
(10:53):
leader, um, but uh, for somereason, people would follow me
and they would listen to me, andpeople would follow me and they
would listen to me and I Ididn't have to really try to be
seen as a leader and the the bigturn happened when I realized
(11:17):
that it was one.
It's impossible to managepeople.
You don't manage people.
You manage systems, you manageplatforms, you manage payroll,
you manage schedules.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
You manage those things, but you can't manage
people.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
People can only be led.
Other people they'll call itwhat they want to call it.
You'll have a manager title orwhatever.
It's not what I mean.
You just can't manage people.
They can't be managed, they canonly be led.
And then to lead people, youhave to be able to lead yourself
(11:55):
.
If you, if you expect this fromsomebody and you're unwilling
to do it yourself, you will notbe a leader for long.
You might be for a time, butyou won't be a leader for long.
You have to be able to leadyourself.
And that was a big, pivotalmoment for me was realizing that
(12:17):
if I'm going to expect this youknow A, b and C out of people I
also have to be willing to do A, b and C, and I'm never, ever.
A leader is never above thepeople that they're leading.
They think their title meansthat they're above Absolutely
(12:43):
not.
If that's what you think, thenpeople will not follow you and
they will only listen to youbecause you're cutting checks.
That's it.
And if that's, and if that'shappening, what kind of culture
do you really have?
a leader is responsible for theculture of their team and if
your team only follows youbecause you cut the checks and
(13:04):
you have the title, then you'renot a leader of anything.
And so, again, that is justbringing it back around for me,
having the awareness that I needto be able to, and willing to,
lead myself through personaldevelopment.
I have to be willing to share,I have to be open, I have to be
honest, I have to deal direct.
(13:25):
There's a, there's a book byAdmiral Admiral McRaven.
He's a Navy SEAL, I'm sureyou've heard of him, but he has
a super motivational speech andhe talks about if you want to
change the world, you got tostart by making your back.
That's what I mean by leadingyourself.
(13:46):
You have to be disciplined andtake care of yourself.
If you can't, you're not goingto be able to lead anybody.
And I learned this through aleadership program, and the
leadership program was notfocused on anybody else, it was
focused on you know, and thenthe other person was focused on
them.
So it was an individualleadership seminar where I got
(14:10):
to really look at myself, andthat's what got me started with
personal development andprofessional development was
that if I'm not willing todevelop myself and be honest
with myself and be honest withmy failures, my mistakes, the
things that I'm not good, at IfI can't get honest with those
(14:32):
things and work on changing them.
I, I I'm not leading anybody, um, so that was.
That was a big one for me.
It's like it's not about it.
It you just have to be able tohave the accountability.
You've got to be able toembrace accountability.
People hate accountability.
Not everybody hatesaccountability, but a lot of
(14:56):
people hate accountability, likeyou know how often does someone
show up late for work andsomebody says, hey, why are you
late?
today, all right, and when theydo say it, that person might get
upset.
That person might get upset.
Well, so in order to be able tolead like we're talking about
high performing teams, you wantto lead a high performing team
(15:16):
in a salon or high performingteam in any industry at all, it
doesn't matter what the industry.
You have to have buy in fromthe team for to embrace
accountability, because ifeverybody can embrace
accountability, then it's not abig deal and it's expected.
When someone says, hey, you'rea little off today, what's going
on?
Or hey, why are you 10 minuteslate?
(15:38):
You agreed to be on time.
That person's not going to meetyou with resistance because
you're their leader.
If you're managing them andthat's all they see you as, then
, yeah, they're going to meetyou with some resistance.
So self-development andembracing accountability were
the biggest aha moments for meon this journey.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
That's so good.
Thank you for sharing that.
I love what you said.
You mentioned, like if you wantyour team to do ABC, you got to
do ABC too.
And I remember working withsalon owner one time and they
were like Jen, I can't get myteam to come dress luxury, I
can't get them to come dress forsuccess.
And I was like, okay, well, weworked through some things.
And then when I had theopportunity to visit their salon
(16:24):
, she was there in leggings and,you know, just a tank top, and
I was like that that just goesto show you that, that
accountability piece, and thatif you truly want your team to
do A, b and C, you've got to doA, b and C too.
So thank you for what youshared.
I'm sure salon owners canreally relate to that.
And in your personal story too,like how, how have you been
able to use that personal storyto show up for your team?
Speaker 3 (17:02):
use that personal story to show up for your team.
Oh my gosh, I am so blessed.
I am so blessed to have theteam that I have.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
They are.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
so the way that accountability works is you have
to have bite, and so we havesomething called our rules of
engagement for our team.
So everybody that joins theteam here agrees to these rules
of engagement.
In the military it's ROEs,which is that rules of
engagement.
So like, hey, in the militaryyour ROE is do not engage the
(17:41):
enemy until they engage youfirst.
So that's an.
Roe.
So everybody knows andeverybody in the military
understands that rule.
I have not to shoot at anybodyunless they shoot at me first.
Then I can engage.
So we have rules of engagementin our company.
One of them is dealing direct.
Another one is celebrating allwins, Like if you, you have to
(18:05):
be able to celebrate your winswith your team.
If you are the person that showsup to work and you walk right
by somebody and you don'tacknowledge them, even if it's
something small like hey, youlook great today.
You know, like if someone walksby me and says, hey, man, you
look really good, did you get ahaircut?
(18:25):
And they acknowledge me, I'mprobably going to be more open
to get my hair cut a little more.
Maybe I'll wear that shirtbecause apparently it's a good
shirt.
But if I'm constantly walkedpast by my leader, they're not
leading me and uh, we don't.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
We don't have that.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
We have rules of engagement here at warrior's
heart and the team follows themand it has created a culture
where it kind of it kind ofstructured, governs function and
it governs itself and there'svery little actual dealing
direct.
That has to happen because it'sjust happens organically.
(19:03):
But it takes a lot to get there.
But you have to start somewhere.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
It takes a lot to get there, but you have to start
somewhere.
That's incredible.
I um, what did you call it?
Uh, there there was a threeletter acronym uh, rules of
engagement ROE.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
ROE rules of engagement.
Yeah, you don't want a longlist, you want like six, seven
things, maybe, like that'spushing it.
Um of course we have 10, butthat we have.
We have a lot.
You really need like five toseven and you get everybody on
board, you identify them and youget everybody to agree to them
and then you can embrace aculture of accountability, but
(19:43):
it's like if you never told meto show up on time and I and I
show up when I want to show up,and now you're mad at me.
Well, you never told me when tobe there I never and I didn't
agree anyway, so you people haveto be in agreement to the rules
, because if they're, if they'rerunning around with with
unclear rules.
(20:04):
As you know, people will make uptheir own rules, you know, or?
Or a rule gone unchecked willcontinue to get further and
further apart.
Someone will show up at eight,oh, five, and then two weeks
later, at eight, 10, and theneight, 30 and then nine o'clock,
and then, and then, and then,the leader of the manager is
(20:24):
upset, well so-and-so.
They won't ever show up on time.
It's like well upset, wellso-and-so.
They won't ever show up on time.
It's like well, what did youaddress it the first time?
No.
Second time, no, no, okay, soit's not a staff problem, it's a
leader problem.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
So good, yeah, we.
You know it's very similar to aprinciple that we teach about
heartbeats instead of salonbusiness school.
You know the things that reallykeep.
You know the, the hearts of thesalon.
You can't survive without aheart.
You know you gotta have thosethings that you agree to.
Um, I love that.
You know, I, I didn't grow upin the military.
(21:00):
My dad served in the Navybefore I was born.
I live next to a military base,fort Riley um, which is an army
base, but I'd never heard that.
You know the enemy thing thatyou just said don't engage an
enemy before they engage you.
I think that that's a that's agreat thing just to have in life
, just to know.
So thank you for that littlehot tip, michael.
That was great.
(21:21):
But I'm just curious, yeah, forsalon owners listening, many of
whom struggle keeping teamsalive, alive and driven, um,
what advice would you offer tothem?
Speaker 3 (21:35):
So if you're struggling to, you know, keep
that drive going, keep your teammotivated.
Uh, one of the One of thebiggest things I've learned over
the years is simpleacknowledgments and, oddly
(22:01):
enough, reward systems.
But reward systems don't alwayshave to be money.
In fact, some of the mostpowerful reward systems is
recognition.
On our sales team.
Here we, we, celebrate all wins, we have a scorecard and so
everybody, everybody's,accountable to a number,
(22:24):
whatever that number is fortheir department or their
position.
Uh, and acknowledgements alongthe way.
People love to be acknowledged,whether, whether they, whether
they tell you that or not, itdoesn't matter Like you know,
even if they say I don't want it, I don't need it, that's fine.
People like to be acknowledgedfor the things that they do, and
(22:46):
it's important for the leaderto be able to.
It doesn't take long to be kindto another human being,
especially ones that are helpingyou grow your business, because
that's what our staff are doing, that's what you know other
salon owners, hairstyliststhat's what they're doing.
(23:08):
They're helping the businessgrow, they're helping people,
they're serving people and beinggenuinely kind.
I know that's like oh mindblown right time.
This goes so far and I've raninto so many leaders that it
blows my mind how they're in theposition that they're in
(23:30):
because they're unkind, they'reunwilling to learn, they're
unwilling to grow, they're neverwrong, they don't listen to
anybody, and yet they're inthese positions of power that
they absolutely have no businessbeing in because they're not
kind.
People deserve kindness and Itell you what if the world today
(23:50):
and it is full of kindness, wejust don't see it on the news,
but it is full of kindness andit is full of good people and
it's full of good things, butall people see is all the
negativity.
But if people would just setout their day like wake up, make
your bed, tell yourself I'mgoing to be kind to people today
(24:11):
.
And if you can just do thosetwo things to people today, and
if you can just do those twothings make a bet and be kind to
people you'll your life willchange and so will the people's
lives around you.
Cause people.
Have you ever, have you everseen somebody who is maybe a CEO
?
or a leader or director,executive director, whatever
where you just kind of know,like man, how did they?
(24:39):
what are?
How is that person even in thatposition?
Yeah, not that they're a badperson, they're just not kind
and they probably maybe got thatposition by being unkind.
Uh, you know, but I just did.
The world would change ifpeople would just meet people
with kindness, like I, one ofthe you know, but I just did.
The world would change.
People would just meet peoplewith kindness, like I, one of
the you know.
One of the things I've learnedtoo.
(25:00):
So this this was a big lessonthat I learned when I was in
prison.
I got to learn how to be kindin an unkind place and I know
people can probably relate withthat, even though they've never
been to prison.
But they can relate to being inunkind places.
Maybe the workplace is unkind,maybe the people I'm working
(25:22):
with are unkind.
Maybe you know where we go outfor dinner.
Our friend group is unkind, orwhatever the situation is
Learning how to be kind inunkind places.
It goes back to.
We talked in the beginning aboutkind of going against the grain
.
You don't have to let thatculture bleed into your life.
You can be courageous and standout and be kind.
(25:48):
All it takes, for that is isfear.
A lot of people are scared offear.
Well, fear is literally whatcourage feels like.
So when you're fearful, justknow that that's your
opportunity to be courageous.
(26:09):
So if you're fearful of yourenvironment, be courageous.
If you're fearful of talking tosomebody about something, be
courageous.
That's what courage feels like.
It doesn't take courage to.
We actually talked about thisthis morning.
There's somebody who's afraidto go do some jujitsu a martial
(26:33):
art and they're scared to deathof doing it, but they did it
anyway.
That took courage right becausethey were fearful of it.
Where somebody else lovesjujitsu, so it's not courageous
for them to do it.
It's something that they train,it's something that they love
to do.
So courage is the things thatmaybe we, that they love to do,
(26:56):
so courage is is the things thatwe, maybe we don't love to do.
Whatever it is you're trying todo in life, courage is, or fear
is your chance to step out intocourage.
And when you step out intocourage, you really change.
Change the game for yourself-concept yourself, self
ideals, your self-esteem.
It all starts to change.
But fear is a good thing, uh,it's not something to be afraid
(27:19):
of, it's a, it's, it's life,tapping you on the shoulder,
saying, hey, it's time that youget to be courageous, uh, and
that you don't always have thatopportunity right, like like
some people, let's say, publicspeakers Um, some people love
public speaking.
It takes no courage for them toget out and do that, and so they
(27:42):
may live their entire life, notever, not ever really having to
be courageous, because they'rejust doing what they love and
they're not stepping out oftheir comfort zone.
So whenever you have feartapping you on the shoulder.
It's like that's when you getto go.
Yes, I have a chance to becourageous and change my life,
even if it's just for thatmoment.
(28:02):
We have a lot of courageousleaders here at Warrior's Heart,
so it makes my job really easy.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Love that.
I love that really easy Lovethat.
I love that for a salon owner.
Just, you know, taking a momentand asking yourself where can I
be more courageous in my life,in my salon?
Maybe it's, you know, in yourhiring process, or maybe it's in
your releasing a team member,or whatever it may be.
So I love that.
You share that.
So thank you for that.
And what would you say is likea book or a tool or resource
(28:35):
that you recommend to leaders?
I know you mentioned the bookon the Navy SEALs.
Is there any other resources ortools that will help salon
owners become the best versionsof themselves?
Speaker 3 (28:45):
So there there's the book, and I'm just going to go
off of Admiral McRaven again,but it's called the Wisdom of
the Bullfrog.
Won't make Raven again, butit's called the wisdom of the
bullfrog.
Um it is it's cheap on Amazon.
It's a super easy read.
(29:06):
It's like 18 small chapters, uh, but it's a phenomenal human
being teaching you lessons helearned over the course of 40
years of leading a highperforming team, the Navy seals,
uh, and like one of his quotes,it isn't enough to believe in
something.
You have to have the stamina tomeet the obstacles and overcome
them.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Because we can all find an obstacle.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
They're all over the place.
And there's also a book calledthe Obstacle is the Way.
That's another fantastic book.
That's where courage comes intoplay Anytime you face an
obstacle, because that's whenfear comes in oh, that's too big
, oh I can't break through that,oh I'm on the wrong path, like
realistically, like who whoreally knows if you're on the
(29:51):
wrong or right path?
Anyway, you know, like for me,I, I, when I started at
Warrior's Heart, I knew, I feltthat I was on the right path,
but I also didn't know, I had noclue what kind of things were
to come, and nobody ever does.
You can, you can strategicallyplan, have your three-year
(30:13):
targets, five-year targets,ten-year targets, what your
mission is, where you want toend up, but, um, you never
really know.
That's a beautiful thing aboutlife, like y'all said uh earlier
about like being invisible alittle bit.
Uh, like that's the beautifulthing is, those things to come
are invisible, but you get tocreate the opportunity, like I
(30:38):
had the opportunity to learn aton of lessons, so I went with
Blair Singer to MountKilimanjaro in 2020.
And one of the lessons Ilearned on Mount Kilimanjaro in
leadership and life was I needhelp along the way.
(31:00):
I didn't go up the mountain bymyself.
I went up the mountain with ateam first of all, and our team
went up the mountain with agroup of porters local Sherpas,
if you will.
They carried all of our foodand water and tents and all that
stuff.
We didn't carry that stuff, wehad our day pack and so I
learned right then and therethat if I want to accomplish big
(31:23):
things in life, I have to haveit to help me accomplish that.
If my goals, if I canaccomplish my goals by myself,
then they are not big enough.
That's a cheap way out.
It's a cheap way out.
(31:44):
Oh yeah, I got all my goalsaccomplished.
Yay, Okay, good job for you.
How many people helped youaccomplish them?
None, then they weren't bigenough.
The other thing I learned is Ithought that this was a once in
a lifetime opportunity.
Well, I was wrong.
I got asked two years later togo to kilimanjaro again with a
(32:08):
different group of people tofilm a documentary on uh veteran
and first responder support,and so this is another lesson
like the language that we chooseto use.
One around our teams.
They hear it, oh, and they pickup on it.
If you're walking around likewe can't do this, I can't do
(32:30):
that, that'll never happen.
Oh man, don't, don't even getin that business Empowering your
team through words we got this,you can do this.
We like there's no once in alifetime opportunities here.
Uh, and I I checked myself whenI got to go again and then I
realized but I'm I'm not goingto limit myself anymore with
(32:53):
these once in a lifetimeopportunity things.
No way, I get to create theopportunities.
I may not know what they looklike, but I get to create
opportunities.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
And so for anybody listening.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
You may not know what opportunities are ahead and you
may not even know how to createthem.
But if you embrace a culture ofaccountability and you work on
your self-development, you haveto start to develop yourself and
be open, be honest and truthful.
(33:29):
If you're able to do those twothings, you're able to lead a
high-function, high performingteam, high performing company,
and they will follow you becauseof who you are, not because of
your type.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Wow, that is amazing.
I love everything that you justsaid, michael.
You're such a bright light inthis world and your outlook is
just incredible.
And you know, our guests, I'msure, have gotten so many golden
nuggets off of this podcast andwe're just so grateful for you,
(34:06):
so grateful for your time andyou sharing who you are and you
know your visions of the worldand what you see possible, and
you know your visions of theworld and what you see possible.
If somebody who's listeningtoday is, you know, looking to
find you warriors heart, wherecan you help lead them?
Where they would find that yes,okay, awesome.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
So we just wwwwarriorsheartcom.
Uh, and you can.
That's our website.
You can find out anything aboutus.
If, if you have a family member, loved one, that might need
some help, they can reach out tous.
Our team is awesome,compassionate and understanding.
We get it, and then you cancheck us out on Facebook.
(34:47):
We've got a ton of coolFacebook videos and we're also
trying to do do like providevalue through our social media
channels.
Uh, you know.
So you know, maybe hop on oursocial and you might see a video
that might inspire you.
So, uh, yeah, but it's warriorsheart on Facebook and then
(35:08):
warriors heartcom.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much.
We are so grateful for yourtime and you know, I know
addiction has impacted it'sprobably impacted every single
person in the world on somedegree, whether it's, you know,
they themselves, a family member, a friend you know or somebody
(35:29):
out there in the world.
So we just think it's wonderfulwhat you guys are doing at
Warrior's Heart specifically forveterans.
We're so grateful for yourservice, michael, and for
everybody else who just it takesa whole world of people to make
a positive change and I lovethat you pointed out.
Hey, there's miracles andamazing things happening all the
(35:50):
time.
You just don't see it on thenews.
So, thank you for your timetoday.
Thank you for your value,wisdom and insights and we look
forward to working with youagain in the future.
And thanks everybody for tuningin.
Feel free to share this withsomebody that you think it would
bring some sort of a positiveimpact to today.
Thanks for tuning in.
welcome to uh built to last, today's podcast episode
, and we have an incredibleguest on today that's going to
help us with mindset andmotivation and how to build
strong salon teams.
You know, as a salon owner,you're not just managing
services.
You're building a team, shapingculture and carrying the weight
(00:25):
of your company's future.
But creating a team that'sloyal, motivated and committed
can feel like uphill battle.
Battle, especially when you'refacing walkouts or burnout or
misalignment.
So if you're ready to go frombuilt to last, this is going to
be your podcast today.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yeah, and so this episode is your reminder that
lasting teams aren't built byaccident.
They're built with intention,and so our guest today brings
powerful insight from leading inhigh pressure environments, and
you know he can share with ussome mindset shifts, some
leadership principles and justsome motivational tools that you
(01:09):
, as a salon owner, can apply tocreate a team that doesn't just
work.
It's somebody who believes inthe mission and is able to grow
with you.
So, whether you're startingyour team from scratch, you're
rebuilding your team orstrengthening an already solid
culture, you'll walk away withfresh perspective and real
strategies that help you leadwith purpose and build something
(01:32):
that lasts.
So, without further ado, wewant to welcome our special
guest, michael Odell.
Michael, welcome, we're soexcited to have you with us
today.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Thank you all so much .
Super excited myself.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yes, awesome.
Well, hey, we would love toknow.
You know, we know so much aboutyou that you work with an
incredible company calledWarrior's Heart.
You do some motivationalspeaking, you have a big
leadership background, but canyou tell us who's Michael?
What's your story, how did youget into what you're doing and
(02:06):
what is it that you do to servethe world?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Those are great questions, 50 of them all at
once, and I'm the chiefoperating officer for our
headquarters element which iskind of like admin, marketing,
sales, compliance, humanresources, all of those fun
(02:33):
pieces and what we do atWarrior's Heart is we help train
our nation's heroes.
So it's veterans, active dutymilitary first responders who
are struggling with addictionand trauma.
We know they're out there.
Our mission is to bring onemillion warriors home and to
date we've served thirty fivehundred plus since 2016.
(02:59):
And the beautiful thing to thatis that the thirty five hundred
plus is.
Those are just single humanlives who all impact another
life and another life andanother life, their family's
life, their kids' life, theirfriends' life, their workplace's
life, their team's life.
So the ripple effect of that isjust absolutely remarkable and
(03:22):
you'll never really even knowand that's another beautiful
thing is like you don't reallyneed to know the ripple effect
that you're making in the worldas long as you believe that you
are and you're and you're doingthings with intention, which you
already mentioned, uh, on thepodcast.
Uh, I've been with WarriorsHeart since um 2018.
I started, uh, my leadership injust my my life, really my life
(03:47):
really in the Marine Corps.
I joined the Marine Corps in2006.
I got out in 2010.
We deployed twice to combat Onedeployment to Fallujah, iraq.
That was my first deployment,and then a second deployment to
Ramadi, which is where you knowI didn't mention this yet, but
(04:11):
as a young man teenagers Istruggled with addiction and
really what that was is I wasn'thappy with who I was for
whatever reason, it doesn't evenmatter.
It's nobody's fault.
I just wasn't happy with who Iwas.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I didn't know why.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
And substance changed the way that I felt inside, and
so that was what I thought atthe time was the way to go right
.
Well, if you don't like how youfeel, change it.
You know, it makes sense thatdidn't get any better when I was
in the Marine Corps.
Makes sense, that didn't getany better when I was in the
(04:49):
Marine Corps, and so theaddiction kind of plagued me for
a long time.
You know I got out in 2010.
It was starting to get into aton of trouble and just couldn't
figure out how a Marine, afather, you know, with a little
bit of trauma and honorabledischarge from service, I just
couldn't wrap my head around howI was not able to get out of
(05:12):
this hole that I was in.
And I did get out of that holethrough a lot of help, a lot of
support, recovery, all of thethings but I was able to dig
myself out.
And I've been with Warrior'sHeart, like I said, since 2018.
I've been sober since 2016.
And actually March 31st will benine years, so just a few days
(05:35):
away from celebrating nine yearsof sobriety in this beautiful
life.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
That's a little bit.
A little bit about me.
Wow, that's incredible,incredible, so incredible.
Thank you so much for sharingyour story and I'm sure you know
, as listeners on the podcast,we can all relate to addiction.
You know addiction is soworldwide.
My brother actually is inrecovery.
He's been recovering now forabout three years.
I've lost family members toaddiction.
Yeah, so proud of him.
And so just thinking forsharing your story, um, because
it's it's so inspiring to knowthat there is hope, like you
(06:08):
don't have to give up, and Ilove what you said is that you
just didn't have the tools thatyou needed for that solution
that you were looking for, andso, like, how did you begin this
journey of you know workingwith warrior's heart?
You know you have a leadershiprole there.
Um, you step into that, like,did someone see that in you?
Did you just come your way?
(06:28):
Kind of help us shape the waythat that began?
Speaker 3 (06:33):
So it actually began.
So in 2016, I found myselfgoing to prison for substance
abuse related things.
I just couldn't stop drinking,you know, and what comes along
with drinking bar fights,fighting, drinking and driving,
all the things you actuallyshouldn't be doing, but you do
(06:53):
them.
You know it's, it is what it is.
I was in prison and I prayedand I prayed and I asked my
higher power to provide a waywhere I could use my past
(07:13):
experiences to help people andprovide for my family.
So that was my prayer to use mypast experiences to help people
and provide for my family.
If God grant that prayer, Ikind of, you know, bargained a
little bit but like if you canmake that happen.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
I will never turn back.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
I will change my ways .
I, I will seek help all thethings.
And then, when I got out ofprison, I was offered a job
helping veterans and firstresponders who were struggling
with the exact same things thatI was struggling with, and so
that was like, okay, uh, thankyou, and yes, I'll take it.
And um, and since then, youknow, I, I, uh, I was the
(07:58):
admissions advocate and thenadmissions team lead, and then
admissions director, and thencommand executive director and
now chief operating officer.
I got custody of my childrenand I've been able to utilize so
many different tools, not onlypersonally but also
professionally, to help me getwhere I've got.
(08:18):
But it was through a ton ofpeople that support me and
support the path that I'm on.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
It's not everybody supporting the path that I'm on.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
You're going to run into people that don't support
the things that you're trying todo.
You know, you're trying tostart a salon.
You're trying to start abusiness.
You're trying to start acoaching company.
You're trying to cut back onyour drinking.
You're trying to not go out andstay out late as much.
Um, cut back on your drinking,you're trying to not go out and
stay out late as much, orwhatever it is you're trying to
(08:49):
do.
If you're going against thegrain, uh, there's going to be
people who absolutely do notsupport it.
Uh, and it's important toremember, like in recovery, we
talk about your people, placesand things changing, or that you
need to change your people,places and things.
But I learned something veryvaluable, and it's that when I
(09:10):
do the right things for theright reason, my people, places
and things change on their own,and so it's not a matter of me
having to force differentsituations in life.
It's a matter of me beingdisciplined enough to stay on
the right path.
And if I stay on the right path, then those things are going to
(09:32):
change.
And then, look, now I'm on apodcast with y'all Like okay,
you know, life has beenbeautiful since then, but that's
how I started at Warrior'sHeart and how my recovery
journey started.
It was through a prayer ofdesperation, really.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Wow, that's powerful, and I love what you said about
you know, not everybody's goingto see your vision was kind of
how I interpreted it.
You know, because it's yourvision, and I love that.
You said, hey, if you are doingit for all the right reasons,
it doesn't matter.
If people see your vision,because that's why it's your
(10:12):
vision, they're going to havetheir own vision.
We're all here to fulfilldifferent purposes, you know, in
life.
And so I'm just curious,michael, was there a moment in
your journey where everythingshifted for you as a leader?
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Yes, absolutely so one thing about one thing about
leadership is there's there'speople that want to be leaders,
and then there's people thatbecome leaders without ever
wanting it in the first place.
Um, and for me, I never I don'tthink I ever wanted to be a
(10:53):
leader, um, but uh, for somereason, people would follow me
and they would listen to me, andpeople would follow me and they
would listen to me and I Ididn't have to really try to be
seen as a leader and the the bigturn happened when I realized
(11:17):
that it was one.
It's impossible to managepeople.
You don't manage people.
You manage systems, you manageplatforms, you manage payroll,
you manage schedules.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
You manage those things, but you can't manage
people.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
People can only be led.
Other people they'll call itwhat they want to call it.
You'll have a manager title orwhatever.
It's not what I mean.
You just can't manage people.
They can't be managed, they canonly be led.
And then to lead people, youhave to be able to lead yourself
(11:55):
.
If you, if you expect this fromsomebody and you're unwilling
to do it yourself, you will notbe a leader for long.
You might be for a time, butyou won't be a leader for long.
You have to be able to leadyourself.
And that was a big, pivotalmoment for me was realizing that
(12:17):
if I'm going to expect this youknow A, b and C out of people I
also have to be willing to do A, b and C, and I'm never, ever.
A leader is never above thepeople that they're leading.
They think their title meansthat they're above Absolutely
(12:43):
not.
If that's what you think, thenpeople will not follow you and
they will only listen to youbecause you're cutting checks.
That's it.
And if that's, and if that'shappening, what kind of culture
do you really have?
a leader is responsible for theculture of their team and if
your team only follows youbecause you cut the checks and
(13:04):
you have the title, then you'renot a leader of anything.
And so, again, that is justbringing it back around for me,
having the awareness that I needto be able to, and willing to,
lead myself through personaldevelopment.
I have to be willing to share,I have to be open, I have to be
honest, I have to deal direct.
(13:25):
There's a, there's a book byAdmiral Admiral McRaven.
He's a Navy SEAL, I'm sureyou've heard of him, but he has
a super motivational speech andhe talks about if you want to
change the world, you got tostart by making your back.
That's what I mean by leadingyourself.
(13:46):
You have to be disciplined andtake care of yourself.
If you can't, you're not goingto be able to lead anybody.
And I learned this through aleadership program, and the
leadership program was notfocused on anybody else, it was
focused on you know, and thenthe other person was focused on
them.
So it was an individualleadership seminar where I got
(14:10):
to really look at myself, andthat's what got me started with
personal development andprofessional development was
that if I'm not willing todevelop myself and be honest
with myself and be honest withmy failures, my mistakes, the
things that I'm not good, at IfI can't get honest with those
(14:32):
things and work on changing them.
I, I I'm not leading anybody, um, so that was.
That was a big one for me.
It's like it's not about it.
It you just have to be able tohave the accountability.
You've got to be able toembrace accountability.
People hate accountability.
Not everybody hatesaccountability, but a lot of
(14:56):
people hate accountability, likeyou know how often does someone
show up late for work andsomebody says, hey, why are you
late?
today, all right, and when theydo say it, that person might get
upset.
That person might get upset.
Well, so in order to be able tolead like we're talking about
high performing teams, you wantto lead a high performing team
(15:16):
in a salon or high performingteam in any industry at all, it
doesn't matter what the industry.
You have to have buy in fromthe team for to embrace
accountability, because ifeverybody can embrace
accountability, then it's not abig deal and it's expected.
When someone says, hey, you'rea little off today, what's going
on?
Or hey, why are you 10 minuteslate?
(15:38):
You agreed to be on time.
That person's not going to meetyou with resistance because
you're their leader.
If you're managing them andthat's all they see you as, then
, yeah, they're going to meetyou with some resistance.
So self-development andembracing accountability were
the biggest aha moments for meon this journey.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
That's so good.
Thank you for sharing that.
I love what you said.
You mentioned, like if you wantyour team to do ABC, you got to
do ABC too.
And I remember working withsalon owner one time and they
were like Jen, I can't get myteam to come dress luxury, I
can't get them to come dress forsuccess.
And I was like, okay, well, weworked through some things.
And then when I had theopportunity to visit their salon
(16:24):
, she was there in leggings and,you know, just a tank top, and
I was like that that just goesto show you that, that
accountability piece, and thatif you truly want your team to
do A, b and C, you've got to doA, b and C too.
So thank you for what youshared.
I'm sure salon owners canreally relate to that.
And in your personal story too,like how, how have you been
able to use that personal storyto show up for your team?
Speaker 3 (17:02):
use that personal story to show up for your team.
Oh my gosh, I am so blessed.
I am so blessed to have theteam that I have.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
They are.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
so the way that accountability works is you have
to have bite, and so we havesomething called our rules of
engagement for our team.
So everybody that joins theteam here agrees to these rules
of engagement.
In the military it's ROEs,which is that rules of
engagement.
So like, hey, in the militaryyour ROE is do not engage the
(17:41):
enemy until they engage youfirst.
So that's an.
Roe.
So everybody knows andeverybody in the military
understands that rule.
I have not to shoot at anybodyunless they shoot at me first.
Then I can engage.
So we have rules of engagementin our company.
One of them is dealing direct.
Another one is celebrating allwins, Like if you, you have to
(18:05):
be able to celebrate your winswith your team.
If you are the person that showsup to work and you walk right
by somebody and you don'tacknowledge them, even if it's
something small like hey, youlook great today.
You know, like if someone walksby me and says, hey, man, you
look really good, did you get ahaircut?
(18:25):
And they acknowledge me, I'mprobably going to be more open
to get my hair cut a little more.
Maybe I'll wear that shirtbecause apparently it's a good
shirt.
But if I'm constantly walkedpast by my leader, they're not
leading me and uh, we don't.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
We don't have that.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
We have rules of engagement here at warrior's
heart and the team follows themand it has created a culture
where it kind of it kind ofstructured, governs function and
it governs itself and there'svery little actual dealing
direct.
That has to happen because it'sjust happens organically.
(19:03):
But it takes a lot to get there.
But you have to start somewhere.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
It takes a lot to get there, but you have to start
somewhere.
That's incredible.
I um, what did you call it?
Uh, there there was a threeletter acronym uh, rules of
engagement ROE.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
ROE rules of engagement.
Yeah, you don't want a longlist, you want like six, seven
things, maybe, like that'spushing it.
Um of course we have 10, butthat we have.
We have a lot.
You really need like five toseven and you get everybody on
board, you identify them and youget everybody to agree to them
and then you can embrace aculture of accountability, but
(19:43):
it's like if you never told meto show up on time and I and I
show up when I want to show up,and now you're mad at me.
Well, you never told me when tobe there I never and I didn't
agree anyway, so you people haveto be in agreement to the rules
, because if they're, if they'rerunning around with with
unclear rules.
(20:04):
As you know, people will make uptheir own rules, you know, or?
Or a rule gone unchecked willcontinue to get further and
further apart.
Someone will show up at eight,oh, five, and then two weeks
later, at eight, 10, and theneight, 30 and then nine o'clock,
and then, and then, and then,the leader of the manager is
(20:24):
upset, well so-and-so.
They won't ever show up on time.
It's like well upset, wellso-and-so.
They won't ever show up on time.
It's like well, what did youaddress it the first time?
No.
Second time, no, no, okay, soit's not a staff problem, it's a
leader problem.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
So good, yeah, we.
You know it's very similar to aprinciple that we teach about
heartbeats instead of salonbusiness school.
You know the things that reallykeep.
You know the, the hearts of thesalon.
You can't survive without aheart.
You know you gotta have thosethings that you agree to.
Um, I love that.
You know, I, I didn't grow upin the military.
(21:00):
My dad served in the Navybefore I was born.
I live next to a military base,fort Riley um, which is an army
base, but I'd never heard that.
You know the enemy thing thatyou just said don't engage an
enemy before they engage you.
I think that that's a that's agreat thing just to have in life
, just to know.
So thank you for that littlehot tip, michael.
That was great.
(21:21):
But I'm just curious, yeah, forsalon owners listening, many of
whom struggle keeping teamsalive, alive and driven, um,
what advice would you offer tothem?
Speaker 3 (21:35):
So if you're struggling to, you know, keep
that drive going, keep your teammotivated.
Uh, one of the One of thebiggest things I've learned over
the years is simpleacknowledgments and, oddly
(22:01):
enough, reward systems.
But reward systems don't alwayshave to be money.
In fact, some of the mostpowerful reward systems is
recognition.
On our sales team.
Here we, we, celebrate all wins, we have a scorecard and so
everybody, everybody's,accountable to a number,
(22:24):
whatever that number is fortheir department or their
position.
Uh, and acknowledgements alongthe way.
People love to be acknowledged,whether, whether they, whether
they tell you that or not, itdoesn't matter Like you know,
even if they say I don't want it, I don't need it, that's fine.
People like to be acknowledgedfor the things that they do, and
(22:46):
it's important for the leaderto be able to.
It doesn't take long to be kindto another human being,
especially ones that are helpingyou grow your business, because
that's what our staff are doing, that's what you know other
salon owners, hairstyliststhat's what they're doing.
(23:08):
They're helping the businessgrow, they're helping people,
they're serving people and beinggenuinely kind.
I know that's like oh mindblown right time.
This goes so far and I've raninto so many leaders that it
blows my mind how they're in theposition that they're in
(23:30):
because they're unkind, they'reunwilling to learn, they're
unwilling to grow, they're neverwrong, they don't listen to
anybody, and yet they're inthese positions of power that
they absolutely have no businessbeing in because they're not
kind.
People deserve kindness and Itell you what if the world today
(23:50):
and it is full of kindness, wejust don't see it on the news,
but it is full of kindness andit is full of good people and
it's full of good things, butall people see is all the
negativity.
But if people would just setout their day like wake up, make
your bed, tell yourself I'mgoing to be kind to people today
(24:11):
.
And if you can just do thosetwo things to people today, and
if you can just do those twothings make a bet and be kind to
people you'll your life willchange and so will the people's
lives around you.
Cause people.
Have you ever, have you everseen somebody who is maybe a CEO
?
or a leader or director,executive director, whatever
where you just kind of know,like man, how did they?
(24:39):
what are?
How is that person even in thatposition?
Yeah, not that they're a badperson, they're just not kind
and they probably maybe got thatposition by being unkind.
Uh, you know, but I just did.
The world would change ifpeople would just meet people
with kindness, like I, one ofthe you know, but I just did.
The world would change.
People would just meet peoplewith kindness, like I, one of
the you know.
One of the things I've learnedtoo.
(25:00):
So this this was a big lessonthat I learned when I was in
prison.
I got to learn how to be kindin an unkind place and I know
people can probably relate withthat, even though they've never
been to prison.
But they can relate to being inunkind places.
Maybe the workplace is unkind,maybe the people I'm working
(25:22):
with are unkind.
Maybe you know where we go outfor dinner.
Our friend group is unkind, orwhatever the situation is
Learning how to be kind inunkind places.
It goes back to.
We talked in the beginning aboutkind of going against the grain
.
You don't have to let thatculture bleed into your life.
You can be courageous and standout and be kind.
(25:48):
All it takes, for that is isfear.
A lot of people are scared offear.
Well, fear is literally whatcourage feels like.
So when you're fearful, justknow that that's your
opportunity to be courageous.
(26:09):
So if you're fearful of yourenvironment, be courageous.
If you're fearful of talking tosomebody about something, be
courageous.
That's what courage feels like.
It doesn't take courage to.
We actually talked about thisthis morning.
There's somebody who's afraidto go do some jujitsu a martial
(26:33):
art and they're scared to deathof doing it, but they did it
anyway.
That took courage right becausethey were fearful of it.
Where somebody else lovesjujitsu, so it's not courageous
for them to do it.
It's something that they train,it's something that they love
to do.
So courage is the things thatmaybe we, that they love to do,
(26:56):
so courage is is the things thatwe, maybe we don't love to do.
Whatever it is you're trying todo in life, courage is, or fear
is your chance to step out intocourage.
And when you step out intocourage, you really change.
Change the game for yourself-concept yourself, self
ideals, your self-esteem.
It all starts to change.
But fear is a good thing, uh,it's not something to be afraid
(27:19):
of, it's a, it's, it's life,tapping you on the shoulder,
saying, hey, it's time that youget to be courageous, uh, and
that you don't always have thatopportunity right, like like
some people, let's say, publicspeakers Um, some people love
public speaking.
It takes no courage for them toget out and do that, and so they
(27:42):
may live their entire life, notever, not ever really having to
be courageous, because they'rejust doing what they love and
they're not stepping out oftheir comfort zone.
So whenever you have feartapping you on the shoulder.
It's like that's when you getto go.
Yes, I have a chance to becourageous and change my life,
even if it's just for thatmoment.
(28:02):
We have a lot of courageousleaders here at Warrior's Heart,
so it makes my job really easy.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Love that.
I love that really easy Lovethat.
I love that for a salon owner.
Just, you know, taking a momentand asking yourself where can I
be more courageous in my life,in my salon?
Maybe it's, you know, in yourhiring process, or maybe it's in
your releasing a team member,or whatever it may be.
So I love that.
You share that.
So thank you for that.
And what would you say is likea book or a tool or resource
(28:35):
that you recommend to leaders?
I know you mentioned the bookon the Navy SEALs.
Is there any other resources ortools that will help salon
owners become the best versionsof themselves?
Speaker 3 (28:45):
So there there's the book, and I'm just going to go
off of Admiral McRaven again,but it's called the Wisdom of
the Bullfrog.
Won't make Raven again, butit's called the wisdom of the
bullfrog.
Um it is it's cheap on Amazon.
It's a super easy read.
(29:06):
It's like 18 small chapters, uh, but it's a phenomenal human
being teaching you lessons helearned over the course of 40
years of leading a highperforming team, the Navy seals,
uh, and like one of his quotes,it isn't enough to believe in
something.
You have to have the stamina tomeet the obstacles and overcome
them.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Because we can all find an obstacle.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
They're all over the place.
And there's also a book calledthe Obstacle is the Way.
That's another fantastic book.
That's where courage comes intoplay Anytime you face an
obstacle, because that's whenfear comes in oh, that's too big
, oh I can't break through that,oh I'm on the wrong path, like
realistically, like who whoreally knows if you're on the
(29:51):
wrong or right path?
Anyway, you know, like for me,I, I, when I started at
Warrior's Heart, I knew, I feltthat I was on the right path,
but I also didn't know, I had noclue what kind of things were
to come, and nobody ever does.
You can, you can strategicallyplan, have your three-year
(30:13):
targets, five-year targets,ten-year targets, what your
mission is, where you want toend up, but, um, you never
really know.
That's a beautiful thing aboutlife, like y'all said uh earlier
about like being invisible alittle bit.
Uh, like that's the beautifulthing is, those things to come
are invisible, but you get tocreate the opportunity, like I
(30:38):
had the opportunity to learn aton of lessons, so I went with
Blair Singer to MountKilimanjaro in 2020.
And one of the lessons Ilearned on Mount Kilimanjaro in
leadership and life was I needhelp along the way.
(31:00):
I didn't go up the mountain bymyself.
I went up the mountain with ateam first of all, and our team
went up the mountain with agroup of porters local Sherpas,
if you will.
They carried all of our foodand water and tents and all that
stuff.
We didn't carry that stuff, wehad our day pack and so I
learned right then and therethat if I want to accomplish big
(31:23):
things in life, I have to haveit to help me accomplish that.
If my goals, if I canaccomplish my goals by myself,
then they are not big enough.
That's a cheap way out.
It's a cheap way out.
(31:44):
Oh yeah, I got all my goalsaccomplished.
Yay, Okay, good job for you.
How many people helped youaccomplish them?
None, then they weren't bigenough.
The other thing I learned is Ithought that this was a once in
a lifetime opportunity.
Well, I was wrong.
I got asked two years later togo to kilimanjaro again with a
(32:08):
different group of people tofilm a documentary on uh veteran
and first responder support,and so this is another lesson
like the language that we chooseto use.
One around our teams.
They hear it, oh, and they pickup on it.
If you're walking around likewe can't do this, I can't do
(32:30):
that, that'll never happen.
Oh man, don't, don't even getin that business Empowering your
team through words we got this,you can do this.
We like there's no once in alifetime opportunities here.
Uh, and I I checked myself whenI got to go again and then I
realized but I'm I'm not goingto limit myself anymore with
(32:53):
these once in a lifetimeopportunity things.
No way, I get to create theopportunities.
I may not know what they looklike, but I get to create
opportunities.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
And so for anybody listening.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
You may not know what opportunities are ahead and you
may not even know how to createthem.
But if you embrace a culture ofaccountability and you work on
your self-development, you haveto start to develop yourself and
be open, be honest and truthful.
(33:29):
If you're able to do those twothings, you're able to lead a
high-function, high performingteam, high performing company,
and they will follow you becauseof who you are, not because of
your type.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Wow, that is amazing.
I love everything that you justsaid, michael.
You're such a bright light inthis world and your outlook is
just incredible.
And you know, our guests, I'msure, have gotten so many golden
nuggets off of this podcast andwe're just so grateful for you,
(34:06):
so grateful for your time andyou sharing who you are and you
know your visions of the worldand what you see possible, and
you know your visions of theworld and what you see possible.
If somebody who's listeningtoday is, you know, looking to
find you warriors heart, wherecan you help lead them?
Where they would find that yes,okay, awesome.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
So we just wwwwarriorsheartcom.
Uh, and you can.
That's our website.
You can find out anything aboutus.
If, if you have a family member, loved one, that might need
some help, they can reach out tous.
Our team is awesome,compassionate and understanding.
We get it, and then you cancheck us out on Facebook.
(34:47):
We've got a ton of coolFacebook videos and we're also
trying to do do like providevalue through our social media
channels.
Uh, you know.
So you know, maybe hop on oursocial and you might see a video
that might inspire you.
So, uh, yeah, but it's warriorsheart on Facebook and then
(35:08):
warriors heartcom.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much.
We are so grateful for yourtime and you know, I know
addiction has impacted it'sprobably impacted every single
person in the world on somedegree, whether it's, you know,
they themselves, a family member, a friend you know or somebody
(35:29):
out there in the world.
So we just think it's wonderfulwhat you guys are doing at
Warrior's Heart specifically forveterans.
We're so grateful for yourservice, michael, and for
everybody else who just it takesa whole world of people to make
a positive change and I lovethat you pointed out.
Hey, there's miracles andamazing things happening all the
(35:50):
time.
You just don't see it on thenews.
So, thank you for your timetoday.
Thank you for your value,wisdom and insights and we look
forward to working with youagain in the future.
And thanks everybody for tuningin.
Feel free to share this withsomebody that you think it would
bring some sort of a positiveimpact to today.
Thanks for tuning in.
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