January 26, 2024 • 21 mins
Meet Eddie Molina, an Army veteran and passionate writer who is making a difference in the veteran community. From hosting events to writing articles, Eddie is dedicated to helping nonprofit organizations get the exposure they deserve. Join us as we dive into his inspiring journey.
#VeteranCommunity #NonprofitSupport #ArmyVeteran #InspiringJourney #MakingADifference #PassionateWriter #EventsForVeterans #SupportOurHeroes #HypnosisShow #FarmingAsTherapy #BuyHeroStuff
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Hello everybody. You're listening to Wake Up with
Patty Katter and I am Patty Katter.
Today I have Eddie Molina on theshow.
Welcome, Eddie. Hello, good morning.
How are you? Good morning.
I'm great. I'm caffeinated.
How are you? I am also caffeinated.
I'm on my #2 and I usually only do 2 for the day, but I was like
I want to be extra prepared for this one.
(00:23):
Good, because I'm a little bit feisty sometimes.
So Eddie is an amazing author and all around fantastic guy.
I've known Eddie for a hot minute now.
Eddie's also an Army veteran. Eddie, tell us a little bit
about yourself in your own words.
Tell my listeners. Well, real briefly.
(00:45):
I joined in 1999 at the age of 20 years old.
I wasn't sure what to do with mylife and I was inspired by my
brother who did active duty time.
Prior to that I so I went with to the National Guard 'cause I
was looking for the military butwanted to stay closer to home.
So that was like a perfect blend.
Not only that, but I heard the commercials all day, every day
as I was delivering pizza and that's what you hear on the
(01:06):
radio all day. So it actually works.
And I signed up there, did a fewyears, got out and went back in
and continued on. So I did a total of 10 years in
the National Guard as an officerand then I got out and pursued
other things. And during that time, we did
deploy to Iraq in 2008. It was rather modest compared to
some of your other guests and some of the, you know, people I
(01:28):
know that been doing a lot more wild stuff.
But it was a good experience. But I'm glad I moved on.
You know, I was ready to move onto the next challenge.
Mm hmm. So what are you doing right now?
I mean, I kind of know what you're doing, but tell my
listeners. Well, I I noticed you said
author earlier, which is also true.
I authored a couple of books, one on leadership, which you
(01:48):
know, derived from most of it from the military, and the other
one on sales, which I would havea sales background, but really I
consider myself more of a writerthan an author.
One of the things that I really enjoy doing is writing articles,
interviewing people. But I really have a passion for
writing about nonprofit organizations because I know
(02:09):
that they're out there to help, and some of them struggle with
getting their voice out and getting their exposure out.
So what I've learned is, hey, ifI can interview them, find out
about the organization, and thentell you know, the military and
law enforcement and 1st responder world about this
nonprofit organization, that maycompel them to take action
'cause they might find somethingthat sounds intriguing to them.
(02:30):
Your articles are really interesting too, so I love to
read, but I only like to read interesting articles and yours
are interesting. You hold my attention the whole
time, so I personally appreciateyour articles and so let's dig
in a little bit. Now, you mentioned, you know,
your military experience. You mentioned that you like to
(02:52):
write, but I've noticed lately online you've been posting about
veteran events in your area. That actually caught my eye
because it's funny like post 911we had tons and tons of military
events going on around the nation.
And then as of the last few years, it just seems like
sometimes some of these events are fizzling out.
(03:13):
Or for example, I talked to somebody last night who's Army
veteran, He's like, man, Patty, I'm just having a really hard
time getting guys to my events anymore.
They're not even coming to free breakfast.
Like what's up with that? Your events are super
successful. So let's talk about those a
little bit. Yeah, I'm glad you brought that
up. You know, my brother's been a
member of the VFW for, I don't know, 15 years, a long time.
(03:36):
And I like to say he dragged me into it about 10 years ago.
And I really have never, never had any interest because my
preconceived notion of VFW is like, oh, it's for older folks,
you know, nothing in it for me. Like, I wasn't that interested
in it. So this year I would say less
than a year ago I decided you know what instead of resisting
(03:56):
why don't I find ways to use it and get involved and find ways
to bring it back to what it was originally meant for.
So we started hosting events youknow with the with the idea of
bringing veterans out and a lot of it's inspired by this one non
profit called the Reverend Warriors where they take all
military whether you're active duty you're just joined long
(04:18):
term veteran everything between and they go on these hikes,
these pre planned hikes throughout different cities
throughout the country. And the whole idea is just to
get veterans together socialize,meet each other and find out hey
you might find somebody that youcan relate to whether it's
whether you relate to them because they both, you both
struggle with post traumatic stress or whether you just have
(04:39):
a good time they create these opportunities.
So I'm like you know what let's find activities so that we can
just invite veterans out all military as well.
So for the same reason just comeout get together.
And so I really embraced the VFWrecently and I'm trying to bring
it back to what it was originally meant for cause a lot
of them have really devolved into just watering holes
(05:01):
unfortunately, which is fine, that's one social event, but
there's got to be others. So we're looking to get
creative, we're looking to find different type of events so that
we can attract different veterans.
And one of the keys is I am looking for different type of
events because I know with the concert that we did over the
summer, I've invited a lot of veterans that I know that are in
(05:21):
this NE and some of them are like, they don't like the noise.
It's a little too hectic for them.
You know, it triggers them, which I I understand.
And then we did something with the comedy shows like, all
right, that's a little bit more mellow, not as chaotic.
And now we're doing the hypnosisshow, which is a different one
but similar. But you know, we're trying to
get creative and just get them out.
(05:43):
Just socialize and let let them know that hey, you can meet
somebody that could change your life.
I absolutely love that. Have you ever been hypnotized?
No, I haven't. No, I haven't.
I've been watching the videos ofthe performer.
He's he's incredible. He's probably one of the
nation's best and we got lucky with him that he did it for next
to nothing because he's local and he's a huge veteran
(06:05):
supporter. I've never done it.
I I did do one of those Weight Loss Diet ones at like the
county college like 1 Nighters. I was like, well, it's just it's
50 bucks. Let me just try it out of
curiosity. But it was a class setting and
it was more of an introduction to the idea.
But that was the closest I came.I'm not against it, it's just
(06:27):
the thought of it kind of Spooksme.
I mean, I could hypnotize you onthe show right now.
I'm just kidding. I.
Don't want it's your show, You can do it.
I mean, I'll wait till afterwards, we'll talk.
So. So one thing that I think is, is
(06:48):
really fun is that you are thinking about the different
types of events to get to the different types of veterans.
Because let's face that, everybody's different, right?
I've seen comedy work for the veterans and and for people in
general and then also the hypnotists.
That's going to be really a fun event.
And I'm kind of curious, is it is it more like for fun or
(07:12):
people can get hypnotized to overcome some things like PTSD?
Or is it just like more entertainment this time around?
This guy is, he does. He does it all.
He has clients that he helps personally with, you know,
smoking cessation or alcohol or or just trying to improve
themselves. But he's also very funny.
So he does it in a comedy sense as well.
(07:33):
So he he does have a therapeuticeffects hypnotist, and he does
have the entertainment comedy part of it too.
Interesting. All right, so last year I took
some classes on how to hypnotizepeople, FYI.
Yeah, you know what he said? He said that he's like, I can
teach you. He's like, it's not hard.
It's really simple. And I was like, that seems like
(07:55):
a a God like power that I don't want to tinker with, you know, I
don't know what I'm self into, but now I'm now the the more I
talk about it, the more I look into it.
I'm kind of curious myself to see what what's involved in
doesn't sound hard. No, I mean, part of the battle
is actually getting people to believe that you can hypnotize
them. That's the, you know, the
biggest, the biggest thing you have to do.
(08:18):
But so, OK, let's, let's talk about how are you getting to the
veterans? Because one of the other
questions I had pop up last weekis I had a lady say, hey, I
really want to help do somethingfor veterans.
So I just told her, in my experience, you just go out and
you find organizations that needhelp.
(08:39):
Is that what you did? Is that how you found this
irrelevant warriors? Or how how did you find your
people? It's a work in progress and what
I'm trying to do is create a sort of like a system of how to
put this together. And one of the next big pushes
we're going to be going after are veteran owned businesses who
(09:01):
are also philanthropic that wantto give back because there are
plenty of those. After we did the concert, we did
have some local businesses that were veteran owned.
They hate and they were like, hey, keep us in the warm this.
We love what you're doing and wewant to sponsor it not just for
us a business aspect but also asto give back because they
understand what veterans are going through.
So we're trying to pair that up with if we can find a list of
(09:25):
sponsors that are would considerit great.
That'll help fund the operational cost of these
events. And then we can once we fund the
operational cost we can invite as you know non profit
organizations especially local ones to show up and just set up
a table and like hey you know we're trying to bring in these
veterans, we're trying to put together these events.
(09:45):
You know, we have the space and we, you know, fortunately our
VFW is one of the bigger ones, you know, across the state.
So we have the space. So we want to put it together.
And really it's just a matter ofword of mouth, networking,
social media. The more we're doing this, the
more people are intrigued and they want to get involved.
And the more people that are involved, the more we can branch
out. And you know, sometimes it comes
(10:07):
down to just going into a local pizzeria.
But hey, can you put this flyer up or hey can donate cards, a
gift cards, anything. And nine times out of 10,
they're receptive because they understand what we're trying to
do and they understand that we are committed to hosting these
events at no charge, which is part of the the challenge, but
it's also part of the the draw. They hey, you have no excuse
(10:28):
with veterans, you know, the isolation, it can be tough.
So we're trying to minimize as as many reasons that we can for
them to not come out. But hey, it's free, it's fun
what you know, come out. So obviously we can't force
people, but we're doing everything we can to to
encourage it. Have you seen any veterans have
(10:50):
a life changing moment at any ofyour events would you say?
I've had feedback that's that said they, you know, some of
them were a little skeptical andthey weren't really into it, but
then they decided to come out and I've had feedback where it
did help them. They did meet somebody.
It's really hard to determine, like this one time changed
everything for me, but it's sometimes it's just a start.
(11:12):
It's just the beginning process of it.
I have had people that have since stayed in touch.
You know, they were friends before.
Now they're, you know, closer friends because they went to
these events and some that were complete strangers that just
have to chat. So we have had that that back
and that's what we're pushing for.
We're just make those connections.
(11:32):
And I've experienced some of that with the irreverent
warriors, you know, where I met people there that I stay in
touch with and social media, youknow, I know it has its downside
and but it also has its benefitsand we're able to stay in touch
through social media and then wesee each other maybe once a
year, twice a year. But at least that's one extra
connection, and that's the wholeidea.
(11:53):
Make these these connections possible so that you know they
can continue going forward. Absolutely.
It sounds like it made a drasticdifference in your life.
I mean, I've seen it. Yeah, yeah, it definitely has.
(12:13):
I found more purpose, you know, as far as this creative outlet.
So it is part fun, but it's alsopart productive too.
So you know, knowing that it canhelp helps me.
Absolutely. I love that.
That's definitely my motto as well.
So tell me about one article that you've written that you
(12:35):
think has really impacted your life.
Like, what is probably the number one article that you've
written that you really, really love the most?
One of my earlier ones I I this is probably 3 summers ago.
It might even be pro pre COVID. I don't know what COVID you know
the whole time thing just confused me.
(12:57):
But it was a, it was a veteran out in Maryland who was a
farmer. We were, we were going, we have
friends in the DC area so we're looking for a non profit nearby
that we could visit. So at the time I was like you
know going to a physical place would be fun.
And someone mentioned it was called fields for valor farms.
And I went, my wife and I went to go volunteer on a Saturday
(13:21):
because Saturday's the big day where they load everything on
the trucks and they take the food into DC for homeless
veterans and, you know, veteranswith food insecurities.
And as I'm talking to him, you know, he was shaking.
I thought it was nerves, you know, because he's talking to
somebody, a writer, Not that I'mimportant, but I thought it was
that. But as we continue talking and
we're walking around the farm, you know, I start to realize
(13:43):
that that's just who he is. And that's part of his post
traumatic stress. And he was telling me like his
level of post traumatic stress is one of the more extreme cases
where you have to do six months inpatient therapy, you know, And
he just really had struggled fora long time.
And he found relief in farming in the sense that he liked to
(14:05):
cook but he couldn't work in a restaurant because you know how
restaurants are at peak hours inthe kitchen.
It's chaotic. So he said he couldn't function
properly in that environment. So he picked up farming with 0
experience in farming, he decided to lease a plot of land.
You know, he had, he had sponsors and other people help
him out and they just fell in love with it.
(14:26):
And at the time he was just getting started and I still
follow him today. Now he brings in other veterans
and he teaches them how to farm and they expanded into
beekeeping. He's expanded the the amount of
land. So he's really learning it.
And and that, to me, was that resonated more than most.
That's incredible. I've heard of farming as therapy
(14:47):
and I've heard a lot of veteranswho've had great success in
that, so that's amazing. Well, Eddie, tell us where we
can follow you. Where are you on social media?
Tell us about where your websiteis.
Sure. I'll start with my personal
website. It's actually my name.
I was fortunate enough to get myname acquired, so it's Eddie
(15:09):
molina.com. And I put a lot of the more
interesting articles on there, especially for the ones that are
related to nonprofit organizations, Because what I've
learned by researching and talking to nonprofits and
knowing about some of them, they're not all great and some
are I don't know how to use the word bad, but not as wholesome
(15:32):
and genuine as you would want a nonprofit to be.
So the ones that I do see that are passion driven, that come
from personal experiences and and personal backgrounds, those
make the most genuine and those are the ones that they're trying
their hardest to keep operating costs low because they're really
more about the cost. So I put on my website all those
(15:54):
nonprofits that I know are really effective and really
passion driven and genuine and want help, and I'm going to
continue doing that. So are those all military
affiliated nonprofits or just ingeneral nonprofits, or do you
have them separated or categorized?
I don't have them categorized. They are all either military,
(16:16):
law enforcement or first responder.
Many of them serve all all of those categories because they
all deal with the same challenges.
Some are strictly military, but others are a little bit of both.
But I don't have them categoriesthat way.
But I do talk about it, and that's why I put it on the
website, not just hear the name of the nonprofit, but here's the
(16:37):
link to the actual article so you can read about that
nonprofit and find out more details.
And that's one of the goals is you know if they can do a quick
three minute read, they can get all the information in on
whether it's the right for rightnonprofit for them or even if
they're if it's a nonprofit thatthey're eligible for.
So that that's why I do that forthe awareness part I.
(16:58):
Love that Eddie Molina that justrolls off your tongue when you
say it the right way. It is.
And here's a fun fact, that's myactual legal name.
Because my father didn't want tocall.
It didn't want anyone calling meJunior, so he named me Eddie
because he's Edwardo. Oh wow.
So your name is literally Edwardor Eddie, not Edward.
Correct. Eddie Molina.
No middle name. That's a fun fact.
(17:20):
That is a fun fact. That's a great fact.
So are you on Instagram or any other social media platform?
Yes, you can find me on Instagram.
Ed Blue Magazine. That's one of the outlets I
write for The Blue Magazine. I posted there.
I posted goofy videos but I alsopost pictures.
You know I'm not super active onon Instagram, but it it is one
(17:42):
way you can follow me. I'm also on LinkedIn, They can
find me there as well. Excellent.
Thank you so much. Eddie, do you have anything else
you'd like to add today? I'm going to put you on the
spot. Yes, yes.
I wasn't going to mention it unless it came up organically,
but I did start AT shirt apparelbusiness that I just launched
(18:03):
this week. It's still a work in progress,
but at least it's functional now.
It's called Buy herostuff.com and I'm coming up with designs,
you know, for the hero community, whether it's law
enforcement first, founder, military.
And my intent is to donate a portion of those proceeds to
these nonprofits that I know aregenuine.
So I'm trying to tie everything in together.
(18:23):
It's amazing. And you know what?
I almost forgot to ask you my key question.
I've been off on a little break.What is 1 trial you've had in
your life and how did you overcome that trial with
Triumph? That's a good question.
Now should it be military related or first respider
related? Anything, any trial you've had
(18:45):
in your life and how did you overcome it?
It can be one trial. I mean we all have like a 50
million of them, but. Fair.
I would say one trial was that isn't on the spot question.
Well done, well done. I was saying raising kids,
raising kids first. We had our two children 14
(19:08):
months apart. They were very young and I've
learned that obviously they're going to test your patience at
the, you know, at the young age.But also that helped me kind of
look inward because I never thought post traumatic stress
was an issue with me. But then I learned it was like,
here's an example. I tell everybody when I used to
(19:30):
go pick up my kids from school, the younger one, there was
somebody in this, this, you know, Muslim garb, you know, the
full black. And I used to stand at the
opposite part of the parking lotbecause I thought it was safer,
which on the surface makes no sense.
But to me it made sense. So, you know, that to me was
like like one of my first, oh, maybe I did have some level of
(19:52):
post traumatic stress, but I didn't realize it.
So that kind of started the ballrolling with digging into other
things. And then I learned that, you
know, my responses to some of what the kids were doing was
more about me than it was them. So, you know, once I kind of
learned that, now I kind of tooka step back.
So when the kids do something, I'm like, hold on, Is it really
(20:14):
them and what they're doing? Or is it really my response to
what they're doing and that? Helps.
Yeah. And and the first couple years
of of even now, but the first couple of years were especially
trying because they were so small and so close together in
age, but that all kind of happened is in the same thing.
So that was really a really hugetrial to overcome.
(20:35):
That's not perfect now, but it'sa lot better than one of us.
Oh my gosh, I love it. It's so important to remember,
like the way that people are treating you, the things that
our kids do, the way we respond is how we respond.
And it's, you know, they can't make us do it, especially kids,
right? So as a parent, you're probably
(20:56):
like, Oh my gosh, you're, you know, talking too loud.
You're driving me crazy. And then really, it's just
because you already had a long day and you were working or
whatever. It really wasn't their fault,
you know, that you had all theseother things going on.
So I love that you shared that. That's that's an important key.
Yeah, that was that was wrong because I didn't have any prep
(21:16):
time for that. So that that that came out.
I love that. Thank you, Eddie.
Thank you so much for joining me.
You are welcome to come on my show anytime.
I don't make that offer to just anybody, but I do appreciate
you. I appreciate your spirit.
You're always helping other people and I think that's
amazing. So everybody, make sure you go
(21:36):
over to eddiemolina.com. I'll have that hooked up on my
website as well, so you can click the links.
I appreciate you so much, Eddie,and thank you everybody for
listening this week. And yeah, just have a great,
great rest of your day. Awesome.
Thanks everybody. Good luck.
Thank you.
Hello everybody. You're listening to Wake Up with
Patty Katter and I am Patty Katter.
Today I have Eddie Molina on theshow.
Welcome, Eddie. Hello, good morning.
How are you? Good morning.
I'm great. I'm caffeinated.
How are you? I am also caffeinated.
I'm on my #2 and I usually only do 2 for the day, but I was like
I want to be extra prepared for this one.
(00:23):
Good, because I'm a little bit feisty sometimes.
So Eddie is an amazing author and all around fantastic guy.
I've known Eddie for a hot minute now.
Eddie's also an Army veteran. Eddie, tell us a little bit
about yourself in your own words.
Tell my listeners. Well, real briefly.
(00:45):
I joined in 1999 at the age of 20 years old.
I wasn't sure what to do with mylife and I was inspired by my
brother who did active duty time.
Prior to that I so I went with to the National Guard 'cause I
was looking for the military butwanted to stay closer to home.
So that was like a perfect blend.
Not only that, but I heard the commercials all day, every day
as I was delivering pizza and that's what you hear on the
(01:06):
radio all day. So it actually works.
And I signed up there, did a fewyears, got out and went back in
and continued on. So I did a total of 10 years in
the National Guard as an officerand then I got out and pursued
other things. And during that time, we did
deploy to Iraq in 2008. It was rather modest compared to
some of your other guests and some of the, you know, people I
(01:28):
know that been doing a lot more wild stuff.
But it was a good experience. But I'm glad I moved on.
You know, I was ready to move onto the next challenge.
Mm hmm. So what are you doing right now?
I mean, I kind of know what you're doing, but tell my
listeners. Well, I I noticed you said
author earlier, which is also true.
I authored a couple of books, one on leadership, which you
(01:48):
know, derived from most of it from the military, and the other
one on sales, which I would havea sales background, but really I
consider myself more of a writerthan an author.
One of the things that I really enjoy doing is writing articles,
interviewing people. But I really have a passion for
writing about nonprofit organizations because I know
(02:09):
that they're out there to help, and some of them struggle with
getting their voice out and getting their exposure out.
So what I've learned is, hey, ifI can interview them, find out
about the organization, and thentell you know, the military and
law enforcement and 1st responder world about this
nonprofit organization, that maycompel them to take action
'cause they might find somethingthat sounds intriguing to them.
(02:30):
Your articles are really interesting too, so I love to
read, but I only like to read interesting articles and yours
are interesting. You hold my attention the whole
time, so I personally appreciateyour articles and so let's dig
in a little bit. Now, you mentioned, you know,
your military experience. You mentioned that you like to
(02:52):
write, but I've noticed lately online you've been posting about
veteran events in your area. That actually caught my eye
because it's funny like post 911we had tons and tons of military
events going on around the nation.
And then as of the last few years, it just seems like
sometimes some of these events are fizzling out.
(03:13):
Or for example, I talked to somebody last night who's Army
veteran, He's like, man, Patty, I'm just having a really hard
time getting guys to my events anymore.
They're not even coming to free breakfast.
Like what's up with that? Your events are super
successful. So let's talk about those a
little bit. Yeah, I'm glad you brought that
up. You know, my brother's been a
member of the VFW for, I don't know, 15 years, a long time.
(03:36):
And I like to say he dragged me into it about 10 years ago.
And I really have never, never had any interest because my
preconceived notion of VFW is like, oh, it's for older folks,
you know, nothing in it for me. Like, I wasn't that interested
in it. So this year I would say less
than a year ago I decided you know what instead of resisting
(03:56):
why don't I find ways to use it and get involved and find ways
to bring it back to what it was originally meant for.
So we started hosting events youknow with the with the idea of
bringing veterans out and a lot of it's inspired by this one non
profit called the Reverend Warriors where they take all
military whether you're active duty you're just joined long
(04:18):
term veteran everything between and they go on these hikes,
these pre planned hikes throughout different cities
throughout the country. And the whole idea is just to
get veterans together socialize,meet each other and find out hey
you might find somebody that youcan relate to whether it's
whether you relate to them because they both, you both
struggle with post traumatic stress or whether you just have
(04:39):
a good time they create these opportunities.
So I'm like you know what let's find activities so that we can
just invite veterans out all military as well.
So for the same reason just comeout get together.
And so I really embraced the VFWrecently and I'm trying to bring
it back to what it was originally meant for cause a lot
of them have really devolved into just watering holes
(05:01):
unfortunately, which is fine, that's one social event, but
there's got to be others. So we're looking to get
creative, we're looking to find different type of events so that
we can attract different veterans.
And one of the keys is I am looking for different type of
events because I know with the concert that we did over the
summer, I've invited a lot of veterans that I know that are in
(05:21):
this NE and some of them are like, they don't like the noise.
It's a little too hectic for them.
You know, it triggers them, which I I understand.
And then we did something with the comedy shows like, all
right, that's a little bit more mellow, not as chaotic.
And now we're doing the hypnosisshow, which is a different one
but similar. But you know, we're trying to
get creative and just get them out.
(05:43):
Just socialize and let let them know that hey, you can meet
somebody that could change your life.
I absolutely love that. Have you ever been hypnotized?
No, I haven't. No, I haven't.
I've been watching the videos ofthe performer.
He's he's incredible. He's probably one of the
nation's best and we got lucky with him that he did it for next
to nothing because he's local and he's a huge veteran
(06:05):
supporter. I've never done it.
I I did do one of those Weight Loss Diet ones at like the
county college like 1 Nighters. I was like, well, it's just it's
50 bucks. Let me just try it out of
curiosity. But it was a class setting and
it was more of an introduction to the idea.
But that was the closest I came.I'm not against it, it's just
(06:27):
the thought of it kind of Spooksme.
I mean, I could hypnotize you onthe show right now.
I'm just kidding. I.
Don't want it's your show, You can do it.
I mean, I'll wait till afterwards, we'll talk.
So. So one thing that I think is, is
(06:48):
really fun is that you are thinking about the different
types of events to get to the different types of veterans.
Because let's face that, everybody's different, right?
I've seen comedy work for the veterans and and for people in
general and then also the hypnotists.
That's going to be really a fun event.
And I'm kind of curious, is it is it more like for fun or
(07:12):
people can get hypnotized to overcome some things like PTSD?
Or is it just like more entertainment this time around?
This guy is, he does. He does it all.
He has clients that he helps personally with, you know,
smoking cessation or alcohol or or just trying to improve
themselves. But he's also very funny.
So he does it in a comedy sense as well.
(07:33):
So he he does have a therapeuticeffects hypnotist, and he does
have the entertainment comedy part of it too.
Interesting. All right, so last year I took
some classes on how to hypnotizepeople, FYI.
Yeah, you know what he said? He said that he's like, I can
teach you. He's like, it's not hard.
It's really simple. And I was like, that seems like
(07:55):
a a God like power that I don't want to tinker with, you know, I
don't know what I'm self into, but now I'm now the the more I
talk about it, the more I look into it.
I'm kind of curious myself to see what what's involved in
doesn't sound hard. No, I mean, part of the battle
is actually getting people to believe that you can hypnotize
them. That's the, you know, the
biggest, the biggest thing you have to do.
(08:18):
But so, OK, let's, let's talk about how are you getting to the
veterans? Because one of the other
questions I had pop up last weekis I had a lady say, hey, I
really want to help do somethingfor veterans.
So I just told her, in my experience, you just go out and
you find organizations that needhelp.
(08:39):
Is that what you did? Is that how you found this
irrelevant warriors? Or how how did you find your
people? It's a work in progress and what
I'm trying to do is create a sort of like a system of how to
put this together. And one of the next big pushes
we're going to be going after are veteran owned businesses who
(09:01):
are also philanthropic that wantto give back because there are
plenty of those. After we did the concert, we did
have some local businesses that were veteran owned.
They hate and they were like, hey, keep us in the warm this.
We love what you're doing and wewant to sponsor it not just for
us a business aspect but also asto give back because they
understand what veterans are going through.
So we're trying to pair that up with if we can find a list of
(09:25):
sponsors that are would considerit great.
That'll help fund the operational cost of these
events. And then we can once we fund the
operational cost we can invite as you know non profit
organizations especially local ones to show up and just set up
a table and like hey you know we're trying to bring in these
veterans, we're trying to put together these events.
(09:45):
You know, we have the space and we, you know, fortunately our
VFW is one of the bigger ones, you know, across the state.
So we have the space. So we want to put it together.
And really it's just a matter ofword of mouth, networking,
social media. The more we're doing this, the
more people are intrigued and they want to get involved.
And the more people that are involved, the more we can branch
out. And you know, sometimes it comes
(10:07):
down to just going into a local pizzeria.
But hey, can you put this flyer up or hey can donate cards, a
gift cards, anything. And nine times out of 10,
they're receptive because they understand what we're trying to
do and they understand that we are committed to hosting these
events at no charge, which is part of the the challenge, but
it's also part of the the draw. They hey, you have no excuse
(10:28):
with veterans, you know, the isolation, it can be tough.
So we're trying to minimize as as many reasons that we can for
them to not come out. But hey, it's free, it's fun
what you know, come out. So obviously we can't force
people, but we're doing everything we can to to
encourage it. Have you seen any veterans have
(10:50):
a life changing moment at any ofyour events would you say?
I've had feedback that's that said they, you know, some of
them were a little skeptical andthey weren't really into it, but
then they decided to come out and I've had feedback where it
did help them. They did meet somebody.
It's really hard to determine, like this one time changed
everything for me, but it's sometimes it's just a start.
(11:12):
It's just the beginning process of it.
I have had people that have since stayed in touch.
You know, they were friends before.
Now they're, you know, closer friends because they went to
these events and some that were complete strangers that just
have to chat. So we have had that that back
and that's what we're pushing for.
We're just make those connections.
(11:32):
And I've experienced some of that with the irreverent
warriors, you know, where I met people there that I stay in
touch with and social media, youknow, I know it has its downside
and but it also has its benefitsand we're able to stay in touch
through social media and then wesee each other maybe once a
year, twice a year. But at least that's one extra
connection, and that's the wholeidea.
(11:53):
Make these these connections possible so that you know they
can continue going forward. Absolutely.
It sounds like it made a drasticdifference in your life.
I mean, I've seen it. Yeah, yeah, it definitely has.
(12:13):
I found more purpose, you know, as far as this creative outlet.
So it is part fun, but it's alsopart productive too.
So you know, knowing that it canhelp helps me.
Absolutely. I love that.
That's definitely my motto as well.
So tell me about one article that you've written that you
(12:35):
think has really impacted your life.
Like, what is probably the number one article that you've
written that you really, really love the most?
One of my earlier ones I I this is probably 3 summers ago.
It might even be pro pre COVID. I don't know what COVID you know
the whole time thing just confused me.
(12:57):
But it was a, it was a veteran out in Maryland who was a
farmer. We were, we were going, we have
friends in the DC area so we're looking for a non profit nearby
that we could visit. So at the time I was like you
know going to a physical place would be fun.
And someone mentioned it was called fields for valor farms.
And I went, my wife and I went to go volunteer on a Saturday
(13:21):
because Saturday's the big day where they load everything on
the trucks and they take the food into DC for homeless
veterans and, you know, veteranswith food insecurities.
And as I'm talking to him, you know, he was shaking.
I thought it was nerves, you know, because he's talking to
somebody, a writer, Not that I'mimportant, but I thought it was
that. But as we continue talking and
we're walking around the farm, you know, I start to realize
(13:43):
that that's just who he is. And that's part of his post
traumatic stress. And he was telling me like his
level of post traumatic stress is one of the more extreme cases
where you have to do six months inpatient therapy, you know, And
he just really had struggled fora long time.
And he found relief in farming in the sense that he liked to
(14:05):
cook but he couldn't work in a restaurant because you know how
restaurants are at peak hours inthe kitchen.
It's chaotic. So he said he couldn't function
properly in that environment. So he picked up farming with 0
experience in farming, he decided to lease a plot of land.
You know, he had, he had sponsors and other people help
him out and they just fell in love with it.
(14:26):
And at the time he was just getting started and I still
follow him today. Now he brings in other veterans
and he teaches them how to farm and they expanded into
beekeeping. He's expanded the the amount of
land. So he's really learning it.
And and that, to me, was that resonated more than most.
That's incredible. I've heard of farming as therapy
(14:47):
and I've heard a lot of veteranswho've had great success in
that, so that's amazing. Well, Eddie, tell us where we
can follow you. Where are you on social media?
Tell us about where your websiteis.
Sure. I'll start with my personal
website. It's actually my name.
I was fortunate enough to get myname acquired, so it's Eddie
(15:09):
molina.com. And I put a lot of the more
interesting articles on there, especially for the ones that are
related to nonprofit organizations, Because what I've
learned by researching and talking to nonprofits and
knowing about some of them, they're not all great and some
are I don't know how to use the word bad, but not as wholesome
(15:32):
and genuine as you would want a nonprofit to be.
So the ones that I do see that are passion driven, that come
from personal experiences and and personal backgrounds, those
make the most genuine and those are the ones that they're trying
their hardest to keep operating costs low because they're really
more about the cost. So I put on my website all those
(15:54):
nonprofits that I know are really effective and really
passion driven and genuine and want help, and I'm going to
continue doing that. So are those all military
affiliated nonprofits or just ingeneral nonprofits, or do you
have them separated or categorized?
I don't have them categorized. They are all either military,
(16:16):
law enforcement or first responder.
Many of them serve all all of those categories because they
all deal with the same challenges.
Some are strictly military, but others are a little bit of both.
But I don't have them categoriesthat way.
But I do talk about it, and that's why I put it on the
website, not just hear the name of the nonprofit, but here's the
(16:37):
link to the actual article so you can read about that
nonprofit and find out more details.
And that's one of the goals is you know if they can do a quick
three minute read, they can get all the information in on
whether it's the right for rightnonprofit for them or even if
they're if it's a nonprofit thatthey're eligible for.
So that that's why I do that forthe awareness part I.
(16:58):
Love that Eddie Molina that justrolls off your tongue when you
say it the right way. It is.
And here's a fun fact, that's myactual legal name.
Because my father didn't want tocall.
It didn't want anyone calling meJunior, so he named me Eddie
because he's Edwardo. Oh wow.
So your name is literally Edwardor Eddie, not Edward.
Correct. Eddie Molina.
No middle name. That's a fun fact.
(17:20):
That is a fun fact. That's a great fact.
So are you on Instagram or any other social media platform?
Yes, you can find me on Instagram.
Ed Blue Magazine. That's one of the outlets I
write for The Blue Magazine. I posted there.
I posted goofy videos but I alsopost pictures.
You know I'm not super active onon Instagram, but it it is one
(17:42):
way you can follow me. I'm also on LinkedIn, They can
find me there as well. Excellent.
Thank you so much. Eddie, do you have anything else
you'd like to add today? I'm going to put you on the
spot. Yes, yes.
I wasn't going to mention it unless it came up organically,
but I did start AT shirt apparelbusiness that I just launched
(18:03):
this week. It's still a work in progress,
but at least it's functional now.
It's called Buy herostuff.com and I'm coming up with designs,
you know, for the hero community, whether it's law
enforcement first, founder, military.
And my intent is to donate a portion of those proceeds to
these nonprofits that I know aregenuine.
So I'm trying to tie everything in together.
(18:23):
It's amazing. And you know what?
I almost forgot to ask you my key question.
I've been off on a little break.What is 1 trial you've had in
your life and how did you overcome that trial with
Triumph? That's a good question.
Now should it be military related or first respider
related? Anything, any trial you've had
(18:45):
in your life and how did you overcome it?
It can be one trial. I mean we all have like a 50
million of them, but. Fair.
I would say one trial was that isn't on the spot question.
Well done, well done. I was saying raising kids,
raising kids first. We had our two children 14
(19:08):
months apart. They were very young and I've
learned that obviously they're going to test your patience at
the, you know, at the young age.But also that helped me kind of
look inward because I never thought post traumatic stress
was an issue with me. But then I learned it was like,
here's an example. I tell everybody when I used to
(19:30):
go pick up my kids from school, the younger one, there was
somebody in this, this, you know, Muslim garb, you know, the
full black. And I used to stand at the
opposite part of the parking lotbecause I thought it was safer,
which on the surface makes no sense.
But to me it made sense. So, you know, that to me was
like like one of my first, oh, maybe I did have some level of
(19:52):
post traumatic stress, but I didn't realize it.
So that kind of started the ballrolling with digging into other
things. And then I learned that, you
know, my responses to some of what the kids were doing was
more about me than it was them. So, you know, once I kind of
learned that, now I kind of tooka step back.
So when the kids do something, I'm like, hold on, Is it really
(20:14):
them and what they're doing? Or is it really my response to
what they're doing and that? Helps.
Yeah. And and the first couple years
of of even now, but the first couple of years were especially
trying because they were so small and so close together in
age, but that all kind of happened is in the same thing.
So that was really a really hugetrial to overcome.
(20:35):
That's not perfect now, but it'sa lot better than one of us.
Oh my gosh, I love it. It's so important to remember,
like the way that people are treating you, the things that
our kids do, the way we respond is how we respond.
And it's, you know, they can't make us do it, especially kids,
right? So as a parent, you're probably
(20:56):
like, Oh my gosh, you're, you know, talking too loud.
You're driving me crazy. And then really, it's just
because you already had a long day and you were working or
whatever. It really wasn't their fault,
you know, that you had all theseother things going on.
So I love that you shared that. That's that's an important key.
Yeah, that was that was wrong because I didn't have any prep
(21:16):
time for that. So that that that came out.
I love that. Thank you, Eddie.
Thank you so much for joining me.
You are welcome to come on my show anytime.
I don't make that offer to just anybody, but I do appreciate
you. I appreciate your spirit.
You're always helping other people and I think that's
amazing. So everybody, make sure you go
(21:36):
over to eddiemolina.com. I'll have that hooked up on my
website as well, so you can click the links.
I appreciate you so much, Eddie,and thank you everybody for
listening this week. And yeah, just have a great,
great rest of your day. Awesome.
Thanks everybody. Good luck.
Thank you.
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