Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: The podcast for those who find themselves immersed in adversity and choose to write their story instead of having others write it for them. I'm Drew Duraney. And I'm your host, Zach. Hey. So great to see you, my friend.
[00:00:25] Speaker A: You too, Drew. I appreciate you having me today, brother.
[00:00:27] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. You know, I was thinking the other day, sometimes, you know, I. You and I have known each other for a short time, and we had one phone call that for me, it was very impactful in a positive way. And I've noticed that I may know people for 30, 40 years. Right. And I may know people for 30, 40 minutes. And I find lately that the people I've known for 30, 40 minutes, I. I have a much. I don't know. It's like a stronger connection, it's hard to describe than people I've known for years. I don't know if that's good or bad, different or because of my mindset's change. But I want to thank you because you made a huge impact on me, and I really wanted to have you on the show.
And I guess I just want to let you know that before we started.
[00:01:13] Speaker A: So I appreciate it. I appreciate that. It's funny, especially in this podcasting world. It's such an interesting thing because.
And the way we got connected, we're inquisitive about stuff. We want to learn and see and grow more. So it's almost like I feel the same way when I meet new folks like yourself or on my podcast, it turns into, like, almost like a refreshing piece to see new mindsets, new new personalities, and see how people have very similar and very different struggles, but how we've all gone through it. So it's. Definitely enjoyed it, man. Definitely enjoy it all.
[00:01:42] Speaker B: Yeah, no, it's awesome. So. So you have an interesting background, and I admire what you're doing now. Can you try to catch us up on how you got where you are, Tell your story a little?
And I'm just. Want to go sit and listen.
[00:01:58] Speaker A: Yeah. So, man, I'm born and raised here in Atlanta, and that's very hard to find. It sounds like everybody's moving to Atlanta these days, but born and raised right here, man. And I was actually a police officer. It was my first gig here in Atlanta, so in my backyard, literally before that. I know we talked a lot about mentorship and different pieces, and it's funny, I did a little bit different upbringing where I was actually homeschooled in middle school and high school.
I went and I got my bachelor's degree while I was a police officer. So my early 20s, got my bachelor's. Took to me about like six and a half years, seven years, something like that. But it was all remote. So similar to like homeschooling. Right. And then I left the police department, joined the military and I became an infantry officer, deployed to the green berets in 2019. I did a lot of my. I have a MBA in small business operations. Did a lot of that. Remote actually from Afghanistan. So during. Man, very little wi fi, but it was enough to read and write a paper or two.
You know, it's crazy. During that time, actually owned a couple of businesses. I was operating a couple businesses from over there. So it's. It's been a very interesting journey. Right. You know, police is usually what happens after the military, not before. And then business ownership. You know, business ownership never happens with government folks because government work is usually decent. So.
Yeah. So trying to try to figure out the world in a different way, if that makes sense.
[00:03:20] Speaker B: Absolutely. No, it completely makes sense. So, you know, since you did it kind of backwards, but, you know, there's no, there's no written book on how you, how you do things. You do things when you're ready and how you're ready. And how did the police. Police training and the military training, how did that impact the bit? Well, you had the business before the military, so how did each one impact the other? You know, kind of like did you adapt some skills you learned in each one and they all work together. I'd love to know that.
[00:03:52] Speaker A: Yeah. So it was. It's weird, you know, the entrepreneurial mindset. Never meant to be an entrepreneur, never meant to be a business owner. The only thing I ever wanted to be was. Was a police officer. So when I started that first company, it was actually my two weeks led into. I was 28 years old. My two week notice from the police department led into basic tr. So at 28 years old, I'm a decade older than all the kids running laps around me, getting drill sergeants yelling at us. And my drill sergeant was younger than me and was in my face relentlessly. And two weeks before, I was arresting drug dealers and working narcotics. I'm like, what? So it was such a shift, but it was so humbling at the same time.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: Yeah. Right.
[00:04:27] Speaker A: And during that, I knew I didn't want to get back into law enforcement. And I recognized the gap that I felt like I could provide. Where law enforcement, you can't make recommendations, you can't say, install this lock, this alarm, this da Da, da. And I actually have a long why. You know, the start with why with Simon saying my why was actually something that happened on. On duty. But what it did is it shifted. Like, man, I think I could bridge this gap from how police is. Police officers are limited by liability. You'll get sued if you say something wrong. I can do this. I can help them help the community in a different way. And that's where I started the first company. And it was phenomenal. But where it tied into the military, got out of training, came back, launched the business.
Month six. I made $10,000 in month six alone. My first 10k month. And that was after working for years. I was a police officer for seven years making 40,000 a year. So I'm like, oh my God, I'm onto something.
In month seven, I left to go to Afghanistan and it's like all of it shifted. So I had to really quickly figure out business operations, remote operating and really restructure the business where I was forced. A lot of entrepreneurs work in the business, not on the business. I couldn't do that from Afghanistan. So I had to really, really study processes and figure out how to efficiently run a business which. Doing that during the military and then Covid hit after. So six months after I got back from Afghanistan, Covid hit, I get rolling again and then Covid hit and I didn't miss a beat because I already learned how to really streamline operations. So it was really fortunate. Yeah, yeah.
[00:06:02] Speaker B: And that, yeah, that is fortunate.
[00:06:04] Speaker A: It was, it was, yeah, very fortunate. And not everybody was that lucky, but it was definitely good lessons. I kind of look at it lessons from the battlefield to the boardroom and kind of how do you operate and manage in a high stress environment? And thankful. I'm very well trained in that for sure.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: For you. Good for you. When you transitioned out of the military, was it a difficult transition to civil civility and all that? Because I've talked to a lot of veterans where it has been difficult for them.
[00:06:28] Speaker A: Yeah. So technically speaking, I'm actually still in the military.
Yeah. So I got injured in Afghanistan, but it wasn't, wasn't found until it was two years ago this month. Actually, right about this time, I went down to do push ups. I was getting promoted. I was fast tracking after several of the awards I got and some of the work I did in Covid and with the CDC and went down to do a push up, dislocated my thumb and I'm like, ah, that's weird. Stood up, popped it back into place, thinking Nothing of it. And then my entire left arm from the elbow down went numb. And I'm like, well that's not right. And we had a four day weekend. So in the military you don't ruin a four day weekend like you go enjoy the four day weekend. I'm like, I'll check it out next week. Right. Well, five days later my entire arm was still numb and nothing had come back. No tingling, nothing. And. And the ring finger, pinky in my left hand stayed numb.
And go through a bunch of tests and all this stuff and come to find out I had a massively pinched nerve in my elbow. My old. Your funny bone nerve.
[00:07:28] Speaker B: Right, right.
[00:07:29] Speaker A: That nerve was highly compressed, but instead of it actually presenting itself like it normally does with the numbness, it atrophied my hand and it didn't get the nutrients in my hand. So. Which is why my thumb dislocated. So fast forward to now. I just had my first medical discharge appointment last week. Twenty months later, because the military is so slow in I wasn't for four months out of these 20 months I've actually gotten treatment on the arm. I mean it's one of those. I still don't have feeling in the hand. Can't really use the left hand very much and working on that medical retirement. But all that to say when that injury happened is one of the darkest times. I actually, about the same time the injury happened, turned down an eight figure deal from a very large broadcast company for one of my companies.
I scaled one company in Covid to 155 countries and I was getting a lot of VC interest turn that down for other reasons. Wanting to maintain the altruism attached to the mission we were accomplishing. Yeah, at that point I owned six companies. And when all of this happened, the week before the surgery in March two years ago, I was at the end of a dock with a pistol in my mouth and I was so miserable. And knowing this injury was going to take the uniform from me, that's the long term. I'm no longer good at the infantry. I'm no longer good at the army.
The big army already said they didn't want me. The state side already said that they couldn't do anything for me. So felt completely worthless, like used up. Like I gave everything. I gave an arm. Literally. Oh my God, you did it felt used up. And it's like now you don't need me. And I thought that was the rock bottom point where I was just going to become a statistic on paper at 32 years old at pay on paper, I was massively successful.
[00:09:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:19] Speaker A: And massively miserable knowing I was going to lose everything I'd worked for. I was going to lose my identity, the uniform, the flag I fought for for 15 years. Like right, ripped away from me, which is where the actual cover of my book came from. It's American flag heart with a tear through it. And it's actually a photo that I took in Afghanistan as the background and it really signifies all that getting torn away from me because I hated it, man. It was a terrible transition because it's like now you're not good to anybody. And I actually internalized that quite heavily.
[00:09:51] Speaker B: Oh sure. Yeah. It is interesting how most men, and I'm sure women, some women do it too. You tie your self identity and your self worth to the job you get paid for or that you do for service.
And when you rely on an external circumstance or something outside of you for the level of your self worth, when something goes bad, your self worth goes bad. So I feel for you, man. I'm just, I'm just trying to process everything you just said. So the part where you mentioned at the end of the dock with a pistol in your mouth, what got you to take the thing out of your mouth and turn around and say, no, there's something to live for. What, what was it?
[00:10:40] Speaker A: That recognition didn't happen for me, actually. I sent a text message to my now ex wife and I sent a text to her. She we have a goddaughter that lived with us at the time I was on for. I was stationed elsewhere if you will. And so back home she was there with the goddaughter and the goddaughter's mother. And I sent her a text, I said, hey, don't worry about me anymore. Life insurance is going to take care of you. You'll have everything you could ever ask for.
Thinking just like, hey, just don't worry about me, stop worrying about me. Because it was a very.
I brought a lot home from Afghanistan. I lost six guys out of 50, brought a lot of guilt home, leader guilt, survivor guilt, and just never dealt with it. So I was really angry and I was so angry at the world, angry at myself. And there's so much to unpack, attached to. Thankfully later I got therapy and now I can conceptualize it better but send her this text message. And she sent back, the cops are on the way. Don't you dare. And the guy that was a cop just a few years before, I then spent six hours in my apartment complex hiding bushes and running from cops, I became a criminal and I got so angry. So the rage I felt internally, then I turned and displaced onto her and blamed her for calling the cops on me. Like, how could you? How dare you?
And for a long time, I held it against her. It was like, how could you betray me like that? Right? I was on my way out. I was good, and then spent hours running from the cops. So it wasn't that something took the pistol out of my mouth and I decided against it. It's that that rage got redirected in a way. So instead of being mad at myself, I became mad at her.
And that. That sounds like a rock bottom point. And it wasn't for me. Like, that wasn't where I actually look at rock bottom. And I could talk about that piece a little bit more. But as far as that one instant, that's where it shifted for me, you.
[00:12:39] Speaker B: Know, in a way. And I don't know if I'm processing the way. It's almost like a thank you to her for turning that rage from within to outside. Because if she hadn't texted you, the cops are coming, what would you have.
[00:12:55] Speaker A: Done being that cop? End of a doc, I would have been found for weeks. Like, I had it planned enough to understand. Like, I just. It wasn't going to be something where somebody had saved me and it would have been done for and. Right.
People say it's selfish. People say, you know, that that path is the wrong path for some reasons. And I. I agree in a lot of capacities. But there were things that, you know, the skeletons in the closet, the military and police, they teach you to compartmentalize.
[00:13:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:25] Speaker A: Take the skeletons, bury that shit buried in the closet and continue the mission. You know, if. If you're on an op and your battle buddy, if your best friend gets killed, they drop, and you keep moving. And so you're just taught to. To disengage. And what I found out later, as I was going through therapy, I found out later it's actually a sector of PTSD called avoidance, where you learn to just avoid those feelings. You avoid all that. But what ended up happening is every night when I was miserable and I was at the bottom of a bottle of bourbon, those skeletons started clawing at the door, and it's like a volcano, just bubbles up, bubbles up, and eventually it explodes. And that was where I couldn't. I couldn't maintain that. Right. And that's where, you know, it started showing itself. And I isolated myself. Didn't have relationships, friends, family, anybody, because I Isolated myself. I didn't want people to see me like that. You know, it was almost embarrassing to an extent.
[00:14:18] Speaker B: Right, right. You know, it is interesting that. That when we go through trauma, and trauma is all relative. I mean, I can't compare what I've gone through to what you've gone through. For each one of us, it was equally as painful.
We tend to shun the support systems that we have that have helped us in the past, because I know I did it. And it's interesting how the human mind does that, because. Yeah, the embarrassment, the, you know, I don't want you to feel sorry for me, you know, that kind of stuff. Whereas it is actually healthier to be able to reach out and ask for help. And, I mean, that's something I'm trying to help men realize that it's okay to ask for help. So how did you get to the point where you finally did get to go to a therapist? Lead me up to that path.
[00:15:09] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's the funny part, is, I think the reason, looking back at it, the reason I didn't ask from help from the people that I knew would show up, because I didn't really want the help. They would actually show up. It's like, oh, crap, what if they actually show up and the people that I could have called would have actually shown up? So it's like I purposefully refused help. Almost like I didn't conceptualize it then. I wasn't thinking about, this is what I do.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: Yeah, you just do it automatically.
[00:15:33] Speaker A: Right. So fast forward the next week. I left the training I was in, moved back to Atlanta, didn't have anywhere to go. One buddy of mine, a Navy veteran, let me sleep on the sofa in his child's playroom for a couple months. That's the only spot I could find to come back to Atlanta. And we had a long conversation one night, and he, he, he, this is the rock bottom point. He said, zach, you've done all these amazing things. You, You've gone, you've paid for mentorship, coaching, the mba. You've always sought external knowledge. You've done such a great job trying to learn more externally. Dale Carnegie, instructor, police instructor, everything you could imagine to garner more said, the one thing you've never done is look inside to learn more about yourself.
And he's like, go upstairs. And I bet you you can't look in the mirror and tell yourself you love yourself. Me being the brash and audacious, you know, high performer. Watch. I love me some me. So I march off, never Turn down a challenge, march off upstairs, go look at the mirror. And I got. I look. And then I immediately had an anxiety attack. Balled up on the floor for two hours and just bald for hours. Because the one person you should be able to tell that you love couldn't do it. And that was the rock bottom point. That was the part where the first chapter on book is called A Look in the Mirror. That was the part. Taking a look in the mirror was so devastating to me. And that's where I finally realized this is rock bottom. I have to find answers to this internalization that I'm missing. And that's where therapy. The next week I started therapy with an amaz.
I got out on a mission of knowledge to figure out who the heck I was, not who the uniform, lieutenant, or officer was. Who's past that. Who am I? What part of me do I love?
[00:17:28] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:17:28] Speaker A: Then it let me fall. Essentially I dated myself. Right. I rediscovered who the heck I was and then started falling in love with myself again. And it was a huge shift.
[00:17:37] Speaker B: Geez, the gratitude you must feel for your buddy who had the, the wherewithal, the wisdom, the knowledge and the courage to actually say that to you, not knowing what your reaction would be.
[00:17:49] Speaker A: Right. I'm on. I'm not in a good mind space. I'm not necessarily a small guy. I'm pretty well trained in a lot of things. So. Ballsy. Very ballsy to say it.
[00:17:59] Speaker B: Yep. He took a risk and he didn't care.
[00:18:01] Speaker A: Somebody that. But that's somebody that truly loves you as a man to man, as a friend. So that, that's somebody that cares about you. That's who you need to surround yourself with. Like, holy cow, what if I didn't have him as a friend, a mentor.
[00:18:12] Speaker B: Yeah, man.
[00:18:13] Speaker A: Where would I be now? Because he cared enough to say that.
[00:18:16] Speaker B: Absolutely. Well, that, that, that's, that's wonderful to hear. And that's, that's one of the things where a lot of men don't have that. And it, you know, you don't want men to fall into that victim mindset where I don't have somebody. You can go out and find somebody, you know, you've got. When you're doing okay, when you're doing quote, unquote well or better, that's the time to look for your mentor and role model. Because it's, it's, it's the times when you're not thinking about it that you're going to need it, you know, And. All right, so, so, wow. So you've come a long way, man. And you're very inspiring. So once the you you finally were able to tell yourself you loved you and you did the therapy and you started working your way, I say you've already gone from the caving in to now you're in the coping stage.
I feel right now you're in the crushing it stage. So how did you get through that coping stage? To start to be more self aware and change that mindset that I am going to do so much more that's going to help myself and help others.
[00:19:21] Speaker A: You know, it took a shift in perspective and it took a huge dose of grace for myself.
One of the things going through therapy that my therapist said the very first call, this is where I actually accepted having him as a therapist. Very first call.
And I interviewed, you know, a dozen therapists. Nah, nah. And I always found a reason to say no, right? Just nitpicking. And this guy said, you know what, have you ever thought that you didn't pull the trigger that killed your guys? Because I always said, oh, I got, I, I killed these guys. I got these men killed. I'm the one doing, planning the operations. I did this. He's like, have you ever thought to actually blame the enemy combatant that pulled the trigger? And I was like, I literally sat back in my chair like, holy cow. I've never, like the, the thought never crossed my mind. I consider myself a smart dude, but like never thought. So having that shift in perspective, like, wow, I didn't actually pull the trigger. And I'm dishonoring the memory of these men by thinking I did this to them. And I'm like taking away the value that they gave to this world.
[00:20:23] Speaker B: Right.
[00:20:24] Speaker A: You know, it wasn't honoring them in the way that I, that I should have. And that grace and having that understanding shifted in a lot of ways for me to recognize the best way I left. Putting it in our best way I love saying, is my morning routine involves the gym every morning, every single day. I don't take any off days unless something happens. I wake up, I go to the gym. And one of the big pieces for me was recognizing that just like at the gym, you don't go in day one and walk out looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger that same day. For your mind, you have to be putting in the reps day in, day out. And I told you about my hand and I have a whole story of how I got to this, but I actually picked up the piano and started learning to play the piano as recovery for this, this issue. And you think a weighted key on a piano and I can't even feel two fingers. So imagine that controls your grip. So I can't even put pressure. I had to learn how to roll my hand a certain way. Right. But it challenged me, stimulated me mentally. I started journaling. I love classical music. So it's always when I was really high, high anxiety, I would put earphones in, listen to classical music. I'm like, what if I actually create it and I just listen to it? So the first day I practiced for six hours. By week two, I was playing a piece of Mozart. And I'm like, it's terrible. Don't get me wrong.
[00:21:37] Speaker B: I'm not like, it doesn't matter how good or bad.
[00:21:40] Speaker A: Never played instrument in my life. So like I, you know, but it was enough for me to be like, wow, what am I actually capable of?
[00:21:46] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:46] Speaker A: And you think of all that I've done in my life. I'm pretty dang capable of a lot of really interesting things. But like, the mind is so strong. So putting the reps in, from journaling to reading, playing the piano, that meditation piece, you know. Absolutely. A couple times a day actually have it blocked off of my calendar walk. I have a 16 year old Husky. So I walk my husky and cook lunch and then walk my husky and cook dinner. It's actually in my calendar.
So preserving and being selfish with myself in my own time. Right. Caring for myself enough to put myself first when for so many years. That servant mentality can be toxic if you're not careful because you're giving all the time and you're never refilling your own coffer to be able to give to others. And for me, that was the big shift is like, how do I maintain that and just keep doing the reps over and over and over again? Because you have to. To maintain that semblance of a decent mindset.
[00:22:40] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, it's very helpful. You mentioned about putting it in your calendar and then not just putting it in your calendar, but honoring what you put in your calendar and doing it. I struggle with that. Zach, maybe you can help me with that at some point.
[00:22:53] Speaker A: Well, you know, it's one of those things and being. Having grace like that time is actually right now while we're recording. But knowing how valuable this conversation is to me, it's that piece, right? It's like, wow, this is worth me shifting this because this is like one of those. I'm refilling my coffer. Like, we don't have this conversation. It's not client time. It's not all these businesses that I'm, you know, I'm not putting out a fire. It's like this lets me reflect on things. This, this lets me have a great conversation about this stuff. This is worse. So it's not a hundred percent solid concrete all the time, but as soon as we get off this, I'm gonna go walk the pup and make lunch. Right. So it's having that grace and flexibility to maintain it. That rigidity is great at times, but you got to flex a little bit for a good combo, you know?
[00:23:36] Speaker B: Well, I'm honored that you, you kept this time. And you know what? If you had told me that you had, I would have said we can do a different time just because, you know, and, and that's not the people pleaser in me either, because I'm trying. I've. I'm a reformed people pleaser, but.
[00:23:50] Speaker A: Oh, I get that one.
[00:23:51] Speaker B: I would have done. Yeah, that's a tough. That's, that's toxic. Being a people pleaser.
[00:23:54] Speaker A: I'm telling you 100%.
[00:23:56] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So what I want to be able to help you. What does the audience need to know about Zach Knight?
Tell them about what you do, how you service people and your businesses. Whatever you want them to know. Tell us a little about that and how they can reach you.
[00:24:16] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate that. And the first piece, my book I released on Veterans Day a few months ago, and it's called the Legacy of Love, A Journey of Self Mastery. And it actually highlights everything we just talked about. Highlights what I. The steps I took, the tactical, applicable steps that I took.
Small things every day. Right. And highlights that that's found on Amazon.
I actually, I did a lot of research on ancient leaders and look back to the Romans and they're all philosophers, the philosophical leader. And I read Meditations and Marcus Aurelius and different pieces there. And when I released the book, it released number one in mental health and number one in philosophy, mythology. So I thought that was really fascinating to see how my leadership style has really shifted. But the book is a big piece that I'm really highlighting now. And the other piece is the newest organization, my seventh company I just launched in October about the same time of the book. And it's called ATL Advancing the Line for Veterans. I'm really focused on small business owners that are veteran owned, trying to. Knowing how much the mindset impacts the business for every entrepreneur. Right, right. I, I do this on the business side with be a tactical leader, but I wanted to give this to the veteran community, seeing the struggles I went through and talk about my struggles. And HL Vets is a big piece that's really going crazy right now, having some amazing things and hosting a bunch of events.
[00:25:39] Speaker B: You send that to me in the bio.
[00:25:41] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:25:42] Speaker B: You already did. Or you will do send.
[00:25:44] Speaker A: I believe I did. I'll check.
[00:25:47] Speaker B: I'll check it for the show notes, but I want to put that in the show notes for you.
[00:25:50] Speaker A: So, yeah, that piece is huge, man. Because, you know, and there are, of course, female veterans out there. Love them all. I only served with men in the infantry, so when I say this, you know, I. I speak to those men of like, you know, we need men to lead the charge in the mindset piece. A lot of guys don't want to hear about it in the personal life. So, hey, let's work on your business. But every time you talk about business, it goes back to. This is what I'm struggling with personally. So I've recognized there's a good balance there. And that's the big piece I'm really trying to support right now. And I have about 10 events in person a month here in Atlanta. I'm doing a massive conference here this summer where I have some amazing sponsors. And it all goes back. All the profits go back to support ATL Vets and really focus on that business entrepreneurship. So recognize, like, the big pieces, like, recognize the mindset feeds into it. If you're a business owner out there, like, you got to get the mind right, learn to lead yourself, and then you'll more effectively lead others.
[00:26:42] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, that's a very good point. The mind. You know what I've noticed, too, is a lot of men, the same men who are resistant delegating in their business are the same men who are resistant asking for support in their personal life.
[00:26:57] Speaker A: Control.
[00:26:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:58] Speaker A: You have that iron grip. You have to be in control.
[00:27:00] Speaker B: And being a fix. I fix things. Now. What we learned growing up, which I think was a lie, is you need to separate business and personal life, because to me, it didn't make logical sense. You know, you're sleeping, quote, unquote, eight hours of the day, right? And your person, let's pretend it's even 8, 8, 8, 8 hours. How do you have everything at home and then stop it and then go to work? You can't. Human beings aren't meant for that. And what I've learned, what I've seen is there are a lot of skills that men have personally that they don't adapt to. Their business and a lot of skills they have in their business that they don't adapt to their personal life.
[00:27:42] Speaker A: Guilty. Holy cow. Let me tell you how guilty I'm think about law enforcement. I couldn't. I thought I couldn't bring that home to. I'm twice divorced. The police department ended up breaking up the first marriage because of all the things I went through. I worked undercover narcotics and gang investigations like SWAT operator. All those things I internalized which fed into the home military then did the same thing. And that whole work life balance concept is impossible. As a business owner. The shift I've seen is integrated life. How do you integrate the life that you're living at home? Because I was wearing so many different masks and then I'm never genuine to myself and you never knew who the heck I was. So how could somebody love something that you don't even know? Right. You can't even learn who I am. So that integrated life, I mean, that's a great point. Really got to figure out that integrated life for it.
[00:28:32] Speaker B: All right. And you know too. So. So we got to work.
[00:28:35] Speaker A: People.
[00:28:36] Speaker B: It's people like you and me are going to. It's got to be a grassroots efforts because the powers that be are not going to do this. So you think about we got to work on that integrated life. And the second thing is you have the military and the police who teach you or indoctrinate you certain things what not to the whole compartmentalize and all that. They have a duty to then when you transition out to help you unlearn that compartmentalization and try to help you, you know, train you to assimilate back to reality. I say it and. And that's where we need a lot of the aftercare for former police officers and former military veterans. It doesn't happen. So we got to create it. And that's really the types of stuff. Because that mindset is exactly what's changed for you when you're in those establishments. And when you leave, they don't untrain you.
[00:29:29] Speaker A: Right. And you know, from the time I was in Afghanistan, the time I was back on my own sofa was five days.
[00:29:36] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:29:36] Speaker A: And I'm back living my quote unquote normal life, right? Five days after I just. I ran the offensive operations every four days for a year. Then five days later I'm on my own sofa. How do you. There's no decompressing from all that. Like you can't. There's no gear down on that capacity. So of course things started cracking all around me and. And 100. I agree. We have to do a better job as mental man to man. Right. Like, men can bond in a different way, and it's like, man to man. We have to do a better job about recognizing the. The conversations we don't want to have, like loving yourself. You got to have that conversation. We got to be able to talk about this with each other and recognize we're all struggling with very similar things as men. And if we talk about it, we all start healing a little bit more.
[00:30:19] Speaker B: Yep. It's all about. It's all about the debrief. Right. We do debriefs and meetings, debriefs and any kind of tactical plan. We got to debrief our mindset and debrief the day together and help each other lift each other up. Well, you know, Zach, I could talk to you for hours and hours. I thank you so much for your time and. And for your service and for the friendship we've. We've begun. And I trust this won't be the last time you and I speak, my friend.
[00:30:47] Speaker A: Absolutely, man. I appreciate you for having me and definitely keep on doing this. Good work, my man.
[00:30:52] Speaker B: All right, you too, Zach. Take care of yourself.
Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe and give us a review to help others find it. If you find yourself immersed in adversity and would like to find support from other men in times of struggle, please become a member of my Men's Supporting Men Collaboration tribe by emailing me at Drew profitcompassion. Com, expressing your interest, and I'll get in touch with you. Speak to you soon.
