Seth Ewing on Operation Tabletop, Veteran Mental Health, and Fighting Isolation Through Community | Security Halt! Podcast Ep. 452

What if the answer to veteran isolation wasn't another program—but another person sitting across the table?

In Episode 452 of the Security Halt! Podcast, Deny Caballero sits down with Army veteran and Operation Tabletop founder Seth Ewing to discuss how tabletop gaming is helping veterans reconnect, rebuild relationships, and rediscover purpose after military service.

What began as Seth's personal response to grief after losing his brother has evolved into a rapidly growing nonprofit that's creating safe spaces where veterans, active-duty service members, first responders, and families come together through shared experiences and meaningful conversations.

This isn't just about games.

It's about combating loneliness, preventing veteran suicide, strengthening communities, and reminding people that healing often begins with simply showing up.

If you're a veteran, first responder, military family member, or someone passionate about mental health, this conversation demonstrates why community remains one of the most effective forms of prevention.

Chapters:
00:00 Meet Seth Ewing and the Mission of Operation Tabletop

01:56 How Operation Tabletop Is Growing Across Northwest Florida

04:02 From Military Service to Nonprofit Leadership

07:05 Losing His Brother and Finding a New Purpose

10:03 Veteran Isolation, Mental Health, and Suicide Prevention

14:58 Why Tabletop Gaming Builds Stronger Communities

20:01 Finding Purpose After Military Service

25:15 Vulnerability, Brotherhood, and Asking for Help

30:13 Growing a Grassroots Movement That Saves Lives

35:00 Leadership, Burnout, and Serving Others Sustainably

39:51 The Future of Operation Tabletop

44:53 How You Can Support the Mission

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Transcript

Isolation And Quiet Warning Signs

SPEAKER_01 0:00

It's important too to highlight that um one of the number one things that the VA and other researchers are finding that is truly the leading one of the leading causes of of veteran suicide is isolation. That is one of the biggest things. Like we have alcohol to worry about, we have opiate, we still deal with opiate crisis, but more often than not, people are choosing suicide because they are just deeply, deeply isolated and lonely. And that's heartbreak.

SPEAKER_02 0:29

Found myself um starting to really spiral downwards and fueling trying to fill the void with video games. I started isolating and you know, I was ignoring my spouse, and just finding any excuse to just be in my room or office, uh playing video games and drinking and consuming pornography as well. Um, which is all three of those are not good for a healthy relationship with your spouse.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Those three things are afflicting so many men, and it's there's a lot of shame in it.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

That Security Halt Media is looking for clients that need video editing. Have them reach out to info at securityhaltmedia.com.

Building Operation Tabletop From Scratch

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Seth Ewing, welcome to Security Hall Podcast, man. When we first met, you were but a young man with a dream of starting a nonprofit to save veteran lives with what what what could be a better mission than to save veteran lives with a friggin' game, like getting people around a table. And it was an inception, it was an idea, and now it's a real thing and it's growing, dude. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

No, it's I I love it, man. I feel like every day I I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing in life, like I found my purpose, my calling, um, a new identity since leaving the the Air Force last year. And and I never feel like I'm I'm you know working. It's always feels like I'm just having fun, uh, except for when I have to open up Excel and do some spreadsheet stuff, and the fun immediately drops to zero.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

Immediately, immediately not having a good time. But man, it's it's incredible to see your journey and um watching you like nobody can erase the fear, nobody can remove the doubt from from any other human being. But all we can do is encourage, all we can do is is see somebody and see the potential and see that there is something incredible and remarkable. And I I am I saw that from the moment we first met, man. I I knew you had something that was gonna be a game changer. And to now see what it's done in Northwest Florida, I mean the first events were just a few people, and now I'm seeing it on Instagram. Like, you got a packed room, you got packed rooms of people playing all sorts of games, man.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

Yeah. Yeah, it's it's awesome, man. I think the very first event we ever had um in person, we two people showed up and we were like, you know what? That's a win. That's two people who you know didn't have to sit at home alone, and uh, you know, so after that, it's just grown. Now our our Herbert Field game nights, there's con there's no less than 50 people there. You know, sometimes we get upwards of 60. It's it's crazy. It is a packed house. Um shout out to the chapel for allowing us to put that many people in there. Um, yeah, and then now we've expanded to to Eglin Chapel too, and those we're getting 35 people at the we actually we we have a game night tonight at the Herbert Field or the Eglin Chapel, expecting you know 35 to 40 people there. It yeah, and now we're expanding to Pensacola. Um we're we're gonna start setting up game nights on Corey Station. We're working that right now, and then um by the end of the year, we'll we'll have game nights running at um Canon Air Force Base out in Clovis. No way, yeah. So it's it's growing, man. Um faster than faster than I can keep up with it. So I've had to quickly adjust and bring on some um more professional smarter people than me to help me manage it, and it's going really well. And I've I've got a good passionate team of people who are putting in work um, both for the events, like at the event level, and then also at the strategic leadership level, um, stocking the board up with you know really smart and professional people to help steer the ship. Dude.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Um fucking believable, man. That is incredible. And and it's it's important to note too the the timeline. It it's it hasn't been that long. This is pretty freaking fast for a nonprofit to grow this big. And uh, you know, like let's let's uh let's dive into the story, man. Let's take it all the way back for those that didn't listen to the earlier seasons of Security Hall because it wasn't that good of a show. It's still mid, but uh proud of it.

SPEAKER_02 5:04

I loved it. You know, uh yeah, uh when I first started listening to it, um, it was it wasn't the very beginning, like the very early stages, it was like kind of the middle middle stages, yeah, when you had found the identity a little bit more and started talking a lot about um better mental health. It was very helpful to me. And I remember I we had talked about it in our in the the first time we had chatted and how grateful I was to you for bringing on those professionals to talk about that stuff and um you know people who have that lived experience for me to have to for me to have heard that and be like, yeah, man, like that that's very similar and that makes sense and to run with it. And it just it's just good to hear that. So yeah, man.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Yeah. I built it for us, man. I built it for us. Uh, there wasn't anybody talking about it. There were certainly a lot of shows that talked about a lot of negativity, and uh it can suck you in because sometimes it's good. It's it's like we're like gossip girls, man. I don't care what anybody says. Men love drama, they love that shit. Like, who's the latest operator getting shit on today? But I quickly realized you watch that, you're no better off for it. Like, nothing, like you're not gonna walk out of there and be like, I'm ready to take on the day. No. Like, but I I figure like there's a space for us, man. There's a space for us that are trying to do good. And uh, yeah, man, I I did have to evolve. I did. I had to, if I wanted to be taken seriously, I had to grow and and give it more of um a professional footing, bring people that could talk about it because you know, and that goes back to education before you guys were privy to this episode, you know, the the B-roll stuff. We were talking about education, how how it factors into this thing, man. Like you and I are both members of uh the VRE club. It's uh it's a great place to get that uh you know foundational knowledge, man. Uh because we're gonna be leaders. Like if it's not in the podcast space, it's in the local community, it's doing things, helping others. And um, I think that's uh that's an important thing to dive into, man. Like behind the stories of founders of nonprofits, there's an earlier story of an individual that was going through a tough time, man.

SPEAKER_02 7:14

Yeah, yeah. Um man, so yeah, as a callback to the the the first episode uh where I was on in um what was that, 2024?

Grief, Guilt, And The Downward Spiral

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Um, you know, we had talked about my you know losing my brother, which was like the start of everything um back in 2017. Um we're coming up on the anniversary of that next this coming month, next month in June. And um and so it's it's kind of you know coincidental that we're back on around that down around that time, but yeah, you know, he had committed suicide and just like anyone else, I had kind of buried myself in work and just focused on you know moving along and that it worked out for a little while. I was able to to find a prestigious pretty prestigious position um in special operations here in at Duke Field in Northwest Florida. And uh I loved that job and I kind of found you know um a new purpose. It really held helped hold the cork on top of the and and keep everything in the bottle, you know, yeah, until just in like inevitably the cork will eventually come off. Um, and that's when um AFSA uh Air Force Special Operations decided to cut that program. And so then it pulled the cork out of the bottle, and and so everything came started flooding back, and I found myself um starting to really spiral downwards and fueling my, you know, kind of trying to fill the void with video games. I started isol isolating and you know, I was ignoring my my spouse and just finding any excuse to just be in my room or office uh playing video games and drinking um and consuming pornography as well, um, which is all three of those are are not good for a healthy relationship with your spouse.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

Um there it's it's those three things are are are afflicting so many men. And it's there's a lot of shame in it, there's a lot of uh guilt associated with it, so a lot of people aren't uh aren't open to talking about it. This episode of Security Health is brought to you by Dr. Taylor Bosley and Persistian Wellness Group. Let's be real. By now, a lot of New Year's resolutions have already fizzled out, life gets busy, motivation drops, and health ends up on the back burner. But here's the truth: there's no better time to start than right now. Persistician Wellness Group specializes in hormone optimization and hormone health, delivering personalized care and treatment right to your door. If you've been dealing with low energy, brain fog, or sleep, or stalled performance, hormone imbalance, maybe the midst of peace. Dr. Taylor Bosley and his team take a data-driven, individualized approach to help you get back to operating at your best. Security Hall Listeners receive 25% off their initial consultation when they use Security Hall 25 at checkout. Click the link in the episode description to find out more and get started today.

Shame Cycles And How To Help

SPEAKER_01 10:23

But it's it's one of the most prolific things out there. And they and they go, they go together hand in hand. Like when whenever I talk to somebody and they get vulnerable enough, um, and it usually it's not, you know, it's gonna be if somebody trusts you enough to talk about this stuff, it's usually a close friend and they're struggling with it. It's heavy on their heart. But when they finally open up, it's always connected to either all three or you know, alcohol. But it it's one of the things that dude, if we just are willing to be vulnerable and reach out to a friend and ask for help or or strategies, or we're not met to just be zombies in front of a screen devoting ourselves to comfort and pleasure. That's all it is. But it's so um selfish. It's you're you're denying your spouse of intimacy, you're denying your friends of quality time with you, and nobody's getting the best version of yourself. Nobody. And it really does a lot of harm to the individual. And that's the other thing people like we're quick to attack. And that's the thing that I don't want people to like, you shouldn't shame people about this stuff, and you know, you shouldn't attack them for these addictions because it's really destroying them. It really is. It's harmful to the individual that's being plagued by it. But what we should do is be able to talk about it, be able to normalize the discussion with friends of like, hey man, like what's going on? Because you can see it, you can kind of see when somebody's struggling with it. But yeah, it's a weird subject to dive into with your friends. But when somebody is vulnerable enough to say, like, hey man, I I need help. Don't shame them. Like, offer assistance. There are resources out there. Um, I'm gonna drop some in the episode description at the end, but the biggest thing that that we gotta do is talk about it, man, because it's oftentimes like you're you're discussing right now, Seth. You're saying like the the catalyst was this deep suffering of loss, grief, and what is a quick band-aid for it? All three of those things. Oh yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

You can and like a lot of the way a lot of it starts is you know, you have uh that that guilt and that shame for you know, for me it was the night that my brother had committed suicide, he had liked a photo that I posted on Instagram and I saw the notification and I thought about calling him and just seeing how he's doing. And um, but I was tired and I just wanted to go to sleep, and so I didn't. And um come to find out an hour later is when he had killed himself, and so I really beat myself up. That's what you know kind of really drove me to you know a lot of the shame and guilt. And and um and so when you start to uh dive into alcohol and video games and and and pornography, like you saying, all those all three of those things kind of interconnect and compound some of the the shame. You just feel shameful for for drinking or for pornography or spending more mo more of your time playing video games when you should be working out or you know going on dates with your with your spouse or having fun with your friends in person, and so it just compounds all of that. And when you shame somebody for opening up when when they finally vulnerable, it really drives them down um even further. And so it's incumbent on on us as as vets and as friends and and just humans to recognize those indicators somebody's going through something, and then not making them feel ashamed about it when they start to open up and then pointing them to the right resources to kind of get help, yeah. Um, and just telling them like, yeah, me too, man, I've been there and it sucks. But this is what helped me just just good old-fashioned peer support um for sure.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Absolutely, man. Absolutely. Being there for your brothers and sisters, which seems easy, but is it takes an act on both sides? The the person that's suffering has to be vulnerable enough to ask for help. And the individual on the other side that has seen that suffering has to be able to acknowledge it, put their needs and their, you know, a lot of times you gotta put yourself in the backseat and say, you know, I'm not gonna try to inform them and give them the advice. We love giving advice. Just hold space for the person, just be there, offer your support in whatever capacity it can be, but you don't have to problem solve. That's the thing that that oftentimes like we miss, especially for us men. Um I was guilty of that for a really long time because you put on that uniform, you put on that beret and long tab. I'm a problem solver. What's the problem? And and everybody listening, if you're a guy, you've probably gotten it from your wife. She's like, I don't need you to fucking solve the problem. I just need you to hold space for me. Like, just shut the fuck up and just be here. And that's what a lot of our friends need. Somebody that can be there and just be like, yeah, man, I'm I'm here and to suck with you. Um and and we live in a crazy modern world where like the afflictions of things that we're suffering from come in in a wide variety, man. So don't judge. Don't don't judge. Even if it seems stupid and silly to you, be there for your bro, be there for your sister, because you never know what's gonna really weigh heavy on somebody, man. Like I dude, I've been guilty of it. I you know, you you you sit down with somebody and you're like, but what the fuck are you complaining about? And you want to be mean and want to be rude, and like be like we switch into that Jocko mindset of like, what the fuck are you talking about, dude? You you you're worried about that? Good. Suffering is good. And you're like, wait, wait a second, man. This is a young person that hasn't gone through GY, hasn't gone through deployments, and they're you know, getting fired from a job that uh is the was the first big thing. It's a pretty important thing for them. And uh, you know, be able to be there for that person. And I think that's something that that's unique about Operation Tabletop that you're bridging this divide and difficulty to connect with people by introducing

Why In Person Games Work

SPEAKER_01 16:30

a game. And it's not a virtual game. Um, there's a lot of virtual, and I'm not saying anything bad about you know the the gaming committee uh communities are out there. They're great. I freaking love Discord, I miss it. Um but getting in front of somebody where you know they're they're they're putting on their masks, they're willing to be vulnerable enough to go to a game night, but maybe throughout that discussion something comes up. Maybe they're willing to talk. And and uh I'm curious, man, you've been doing this for a few years now. Is that something that you've been able to see and witness through Operation Tabletop?

SPEAKER_02 17:03

Oh, yeah, absolutely. And that which is very validating because this is kind of the idea that we had. It's like, okay, we get people in into a room together, you know, vibes are a real thing. You start to feel other people's energy and genuineness, and you start to develop a relationship with that person, and over time, um, you might open up or that person might know you well enough to know that catch an indicator that something might be going on. Yeah, and um, yeah, and and so like I've noticed it with with myself too. People will be like, Hey man, are you okay? Because you've seen because like I'll come, I'll bring the energy at a game night, and sometimes I'll just be exhausted um or kind of frustrated, and people be like, I mean, are you good? And I need it too. So I these game nights are just as good for me as they are for anyone else. Um and um but yeah, we've let's see, last year we did I I think if I remember correctly, like 29 peer support engagements. Um I I thought was really, really great. Um and then this year we've already done I think 10, um, which is about two per on average, I think that's about two per event. Yeah, and and so it just gives people the opportunity to um be that listening ear, like you're just saying. And sometimes this there isn't like a resource referred, you know. Sometimes no one says, you know, hey, go check this out. It's just checking in on your on your brother and sister and asking if they're okay and seeing what the problem is, uh, and if it doesn't necessarily require a resource or um an escalation, such as a warm handoff to, you know, a crisis, you know, crisis intervention style, um then that's then that's a win. That's good. But if it does require that, then knowing what's available um and where to where to you know take that person and how to handle that situation, or at least someone who's in the building during the game night, knowing the person who can help with that is also good too. And um but yeah, it's it's been super rewarding watching people grow together. Because we have a lot of the same people show up for each game night. Sometimes people show up for both the Herlbert Field and the Eggland, um, or just one or the other. And the community like they start to get to know each other more and they start to play games. Um and not only that, but once they start to connect at the game night, they'll go off and hold their own little game nights um at their house as like they've started to develop a little friend group. Yeah, and that's a huge win. Um because now they're they're they're not relying on this once-a-month thing. Now they've developed an actual core group of people that they can continue this relationship with. And I just I love seeing that, man. That that's a huge win.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

Yeah, it's like growing in a network and uh developing your own decentralized insurgency, uh, but in a positive way. Yeah. And you know, it's it's important to the highlight that um one of the number one things that you know the VA and other researchers are finding that is truly um the leading, one of the leading causes of veteran suicide is isolation. That is one of the biggest things. Like we have alcohol to worry about, we have opiate, we still deal with opiate crisis, but more often than not, people are choosing suicide because they are just deeply, deeply isolated and lonely. And that's heartbreaking. That is truly heartbreaking that somebody feels so disconnected from the world, from others, they feel so alone that they're willing to turn to suicide to aim and end their pain. Um and that, man, like if that doesn't hit you at the at your core, if that doesn't hit your heart, then man, like you ain't got one. I don't know what to tell you, man, but the idea just visualizing somebody that served their nation, that worked hard, that that put their time in, that was a member of a platoon, maybe a member of a fire team, uh, an ODA, is now on their own trying to live life, trying to readjust to it, and they're so disconnected, so isolated in their suffering that they're uh they're choosing to end their life. Um and it's not going to be a giant pharmaceutical company that solves this. There isn't gonna be, you know, freaking Johnson Johnson isn't gonna release Friend all. New friendatol. Take two two of these in the morning and feel better about yourself because you'll have imaginary friends. No, it's not that. It's it's veterans doing what you're doing, Seth. Having little Groups of paratroopers come together and play games, man. There's something to it. And I think we need more of this, man. We need other organizations to key on this. We do have red, white, and blue and other ones that get out and work out. But you know, as much as I want people to work out and get out there and be an active, some people don't want to do that. Some people just want to sit down.

Transitioning Out Without Losing Yourself

SPEAKER_01 22:20

But you know, like I I want to I want to dive into your journey having to get, you know, going through the transition process, getting out of the military, but also dual hatting and building this. Do you feel like it gave you more of a positive and an easier transition, knowing that you already had a mission and purpose?

SPEAKER_02 22:44

Yeah, absolutely. Uh I tell people all the time, like, I could see how somebody who gets out without, you know, a new purpose or having without having found a new purpose, how it could be super um like detrimental to your mental health. Like, because losing the the military identity um was really tough, even with having the new purpose. Like taking off the knowing like that I'm I'm not gonna be putting that uniform back on, um and losing the you know, during the Honor Foundation they they had mentioned uh that there are three key things that you that that are identified that veterans miss after transit once they transition, and it's the prestige, um, the adrenaline, and then the camaraderie, right? We you can find camaraderie a lot in a lot of other places, you know, like with Operation Tabletop. But you know, I can't when someone I'm not gonna be able to send somebody out out of the back of a plane, you know, um and you know, send them to you know downrange to you know be at a firebase and you know, which you know, thankfully we're not, uh obviously, because that sucks, but there's a lot of adrenaline with that. And and what you know, as bad as it sucks, um, it's also kind of um fulfilling in a way, and you start to, once you start to slow down, it's hard to change that pace, I guess, from going from 100 miles an hour all the time from like deploying or whether you're training, um, and then obviously the prestige of you know, like you had mentioned, you know, having a long tab, um, wearing a beret, uh, or just generally just being in uniform um and knowing that you're serving your country as once you lose that, it's hard to to find something to replace it. And luckily, um, I had Operation Tabletop to to lead, and that was my new purpose. And I think one of the one of the really great things that I love about our organization is that we lead with uh with games, with tabletop games as the as the identity. Um, like you won't see in our marketing um people wearing uniform, um, even though we're a veteran nonprofit. Um we're trying to um, and this is just anecdotal. I think this is something that we're getting right. Uh, there's not any I don't have hard data to back it up. I I just this is just kind of a personal thing. How dare you?

SPEAKER_01 25:23

Yeah, how dare you not have eco security hall without facts and data? Get this man out of here. Yeah, I'm ashamed of you.

SPEAKER_02 25:32

We're just talking about this, man. Um yes. So it's we're like people who are transitioning, like we don't want people to forget their service. We want people to you know continue to be proud of that and to and to honor like we want to honor that, but we want to help them transition and and re-integrate into civilian community, and it's hard to do that if they're constantly inundated with depictions of people in uniform, um, and and you know, high energy, high octane um, you know, images, like people shooting guns all the time. And because it makes you miss it, you see it, and you're like, because I see it on on on social media, you know, any anytime a black rifle coffee commercial comes up, I'm like, dang. How do you go to the range? But uh no, so we we just try to help make it more about the you know, coming together and playing playing games and um help take their mind off off of it, but not forget. And and so, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

Yeah, it's an important part to understand the transition process, like the uh the longing for what you used to have versus focusing on the new the new chapter, man. Um it's something that uh everybody is gonna have to struggle and reconcile with. And it's an understanding that it's not trying to diminish or or trying to downplay the great the greatness of that first chapter, but it's just that it's your first chapter for for off oftentimes many of us, we didn't have these great prolific civilian careers. We came in the military, that was the first big thing. That that those those moments of awe, the memories, they're very critical. And and they are they they are the foundation of our identity for a lot of us for a long time. And when we get out, we have to come to this understanding that okay, I have to look forward to something else. I have to look forward to a new beginning. We really have to push that narrative to let people know that there is another chapter, and it can be just as impactful, if not more, and bring about more gifts and more greatness, but you have to be willing to walk away and and kind of yeah, kind of divorce the idea that going off and doing great things for the military were the best years of your life. Like there, you have a lot more life to give, you have a lot more to experience. There's greatness out there, and I can definitely understand the the the significance that seeing all that in media and seeing it on Instagram, and how that can affect the mindset of like, oh fuck, I used to be this cool guy. But it's like, yeah, man, like there's great stuff out there too. It's not, you're not your greatness, isn't just relegated to the military. You're an individual. You have other things that you're capable of doing. That's what I love about your journey, man. Um people always tend to think that nonprofits or great businesses, they're gonna be created by somebody who doesn't look like us. That that is this like you know, 40-year-old white guy with a Harvard degree, clean cut, freaking chiseled, friggin' blonde hair, blue eyes. And no, dude, there's a lot of nonprofits, there's a lot of businesses out there that are thriving and growing and doing great things. And they're represented by people like us, like people like Seth. He has a great beard. Like he looks great, but a lot of times you wouldn't picture that. You wouldn't picture somebody that just transitioned out of the military as the guy leading the charge in a nonprofit. And that's that you are a central figure to this man because when we can see it, when we can see somebody with our similar background, with you know, maybe the similar job, the similar experience in the military, and they're doing great things in their next chapter, gives people the the the comfort and the audacity to dream again. Be like, holy shit, Seth's doing that? I can do it too. I can go after this. Like, have you been able to reflect on that? Like what your presence as the creator of this has uh the impact it will have on service members right now.

SPEAKER_02 29:50

I don't know. I I like to think that you know people kind of see it, you know, see that you know, regular Seth Joe Schmoe, you know, is you know, out, you know, leading an organization and that that they can too. Um and I hope that they do. I hope that because anyone can. I mean, if I can do it, shoot, like anyone. I don't I mean I don't have a single degree in anything. And I and I think veterans are uniquely qualified to to do these this kind of stuff, to lead organizations, you know, it's and it's it's ingrained in us since day one to be a leader, and I think we owe it to ourselves and then to our community, whether it be the veteran community or just the community in which you live in, to do that. Because once you get out and you kind of like you lose that identity, you can really find it in in a new workspace or by leading an organization because you have the skills and the background to do it. And I think that you'll find like people will find that by by stepping up and and leading again in that capacity, it will be very rewarding to them. But um unfortunately, I think some veterans get out and then you know they they might retire 20 years and you know get their retirement and then their V disability and then just kind of chill at home. Yeah, and the real isolation can start kicking in because you know, I don't blame them. After 20 years of you know, hard charging, you don't really want to do anything. Yeah. Um, you start to find yourself after like that first year, you've taken you take off that first year and do nothing, and then afterwards you're like, okay, I need to find a job. Um definitely jump, you know, jump back into a leadership role. Uh so I hope that people do that. I hope that people kind of see, and I hope that I I can inspire some somebody, at least one person, um, to do that. And you know, and I think with just within Operation Tabletop, I've noticed some people like starting to stu uh step up.

Growing Leaders And Preventing Burnout

SPEAKER_02 31:59

Uh there is one particular, I won't say their name, um, but one particular person who is now leading their own independent game, like Operation Tabletop events in the local area. Um, out in Navarre. Oh wow. Every yeah, so they're doing two and that's this Saturday. Um they're called hobby hangouts, and it's just smaller intimate gatherings. I think last one we had like 13 people there, and it's just come out, you know, paint a miniature figurine or play katan or maybe a hand of magic the gathering, and they're much they're only it's only like three hours, and yeah, and so it's a great little extra way, but it's it it takes all the work off of me because they wanted to do it, and so uh yeah, I think that that's that's huge. And I think we need more of more of those kind of people.

SPEAKER_01 32:56

Yeah, I think it's uh building it out sort of like this this hub. This you come into the ecosystem of Operation Tabletop, you come in into the uh AO, you get briefed up on how to do these events, how to get together, how to do it right, and then you kick out to your own AO and you start building it on your own. And you report back to Seth with uh any uh crucial insight, anything that's gained from it, and then you continue to adapt and grow. It's it's a great campaign. Um I I love it, dude. Like because it's not relying on you, it's not relying on an individual to do everything because it will burn you the fuck out. We talked about all the great and wonderful things, but Seth, how are you managing the demands of this? Because you got a great beard and everything, but behind that beard is uh I see it in the face, a man that's not getting enough sleep, a man that's barely surviving probably on a bean burrito, uh bean and cheese burrito every once in a while, and some black coffee.

SPEAKER_02 33:59

Oh man. No, I'm not I'm not reliving the you know the the security days of eating you know, sitting in a you know a Humvee, you know, eating um you know my security forces days, eating a freaking tornado and drinking a Red Bull, you know. I'm not I'm not there not I'm doing I'm doing much better. There's there it ubbs and flows, you know, and I'm doing much better now that I have like a solid team behind me. And and I've always had solid people behind me, but initially it's just it was like just me and my friends who are passionate about this, and they they knew you know just as little as I did about how to run an organization. So it was it was me having to learn how to do everything, yeah, and then and then doing it, but then also taking that those lessons learned and putting it into like a team training plan and then training them how to do it. And so that kind of doubled down on on the exhaustion, but now we're kind of bringing bringing in people who who've been doing this longer than I have, who are very helpful.

SPEAKER_01 35:08

And how much of a how much of the core team has stayed around? Because it's um it's a lot of at first, at first I've imagined like there's there's there's so much excitement into building something new, and it's it's it's a wonderful initiative to get behind, but then quickly it becomes work, it becomes you know like a nine to five, and you have do-outs and you have taskers. How many of the core have have stayed?

SPEAKER_02 35:34

Yeah, so we started it with four of my friends, um, and only one has stuck stuck around um since that. But since we was it since 2024 when we gathered more people. Um most of them have. So one, let me think one, two, three. Yeah, so we have three for sure who are still there. Um and we've lost along the way, we've picked up people and lost people, um, board members, team members, um, and I think that's like three, four people, four people we've picked up and lost along the way. Um, and you're right, like how can I it's hard to ask people to to donate their time. Um and then for board members, also donate their time and their their talent, but then also their their um treasure as well, they're you know, donating monthly. Um I hate having to ask that, but it's it's definitely something that is looked at as far as by like grant makers and and and and donors, like hey, if you're invested, you need to be invested monetarily too. Yeah. Um, because how are you gonna ask for people to donate if you're not doing it yourself? And and so I get that. But they're already donating, you know, you know, a ton of their time, which is money to them, um, which I'm super grateful for. Um but yeah, so it's hard to it's hard to ask people to stick around for sure. Because eventually, you know, life happens and they they just cannot donate as much time as they they initially had. And so they and sometimes people will lead with that too. They're like, hey, I've got you got me for six months, you know, um, till I start school back up, right? Um our executive assistant, um, her name's Olivia, great person. Her dad was a Marine. Um, she's super smart. She graduated from the University of Chicago with like two two degrees, and now she's starting law school in August, and she's like, once I start law, and you know, once they start law school, yeah, dude. Yeah, and so we're super lucky to have her, but yeah, we're expecting her to have to drop off at that point. But it's been great having her.

SPEAKER_01 37:53

Yeah. It's amazing having people like that that have like you you're going to get the most and the best of performance from me, but I have to tell you it'll be for X amount of time before I go through this. And that puts it all up front, and they're gonna work their asses off for you. Um, I absolutely love that, man, because that's you're being you're accommodating, you're letting people know, and you're giving 100% versus a person that's like they have one foot in, one foot out, and they're spiteful and they don't really want to be there. It's like, dude, it's okay to walk away. It's okay. You don't have to begrudgingly do this stuff. Just say you don't got time. We only have so much bandwidth, we only have so much time we can commit to things. I say that to uh to myself on a daily basis, but yet I pile more work on top, and then uh then I stress and then I uh slowly unravel into a person that has like two to three hours of sleep. Okay. I'm the worst of taking my own advice, people. Don't listen to me. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 38:52

Well, you need to tell me what your skincare routine is because you're looking good for somebody always getting sleep, homie.

SPEAKER_01 38:58

It's a filter. Sony puts out the greatest filter. If I remove this, I would look uh haggard. Yeah. No, man, it's hard, man. It's an addiction. It's an addiction to say yes and support so many good causes and uh help people. But man, I I will say, dude, like you're you're building it as it's and and it's growing, and it's so great to see it, man. It's so great to see the trajectory. And you're also, you know, you're you're taking on big challenges still. It's you're not leaning on just one thing. A lot of people tend to think that it's like, well, I just go out here, I'll do one thing and I'll be good enough. It's like, okay, or or you challenge yourself and you try to achieve more. And uh, I have to ask you, because I felt the same way going back to school. Um it's a bit daunting at first. Like, how are you managing going back to school and running a nonprofit? Oh man, I I hate school.

SPEAKER_02 39:55

Um, I am not an academic type person. There's a reason I joined the service in the first place. The reason why I enlisted.

SPEAKER_01 40:02

Judging you, I I judged you with the glasses. I'm like, this guy loves education.

SPEAKER_02 40:07

I I know I fool people all the time. Like, this nerd, he's got he's gotta be smart and you know, he's gotta have at least a degree or in something, you know, neuroscience, maybe. I don't know. No. Yeah, no degree.

SPEAKER_01 40:24

Only judging that way. I'm like, he at least got a master's by now. Oh gosh, no, that's super flattering.

SPEAKER_02 40:31

Um but yeah, no, I think um I I well I like school in the sense that I get to to learn, I I take some gold nuggets out of it. Not everything is is you know um value added, but there are a couple things in there where I'm like, oh, okay, cool. That's a great, that's a great tool I can take back to the organization. And for a long time while I was in the service, I didn't do any education because I didn't know what I wanted to do and I didn't want to take time away from my you know service. Like I I liked to work, I didn't want to go to school, and so but now with Operation Tabletop, I'm like, okay, I can go to school and get some garner some actual education in what I'm doing. Um, and so that passion for what I'm doing with Operation Tabletop kind of drives me to want to learn, and that's made it a little bit better. But at the end of the day, um anything that makes me spend more time on the computer, uh it's man, that's why I look forward to these game nights like tonight. Like it gets me out of the house and and actually out like if that was my sole job, maybe one day I'll step down as the executive director and just go to like you know, program coordinator, just like demote myself so that way I just run the run run the events.

SPEAKER_01 41:56

That is a strategy, it's common. We've seen it in uh bigger companies taking a step down. Um you can, dude. It's it's your it's your thing, man. You you can do it whatever you want. That's um even I I tell myself the same thing, man. Like I find myself like to be completely transparent. If I have you as a client and you're a big organization, and you're the the president and founder of that organization, and you think you're gonna come at me sideways and be a fucking asshole and talk to me derogatorily, I'll just walk away. I'll just stop doing what I'm doing for you and walk the fuck away. Because at this point, I'm 41, dude. Watch your fucking mouth. Watch how you talk to people. Because I'll fucking leave. And uh that that's the one thing where people think they don't have a choice. You always have a choice, dude. You always have a friggin' choice. Walk away. If something doesn't suit you, if something doesn't serve you, walk away. And it can be the beginning of a great thing, it can be the end of a great chapter. Um, and you don't have to be rude or mean about it, you can just quietly quit. Stories shape culture, they build trust, and when they're told the right way, they move people to action. That's what we do at Security Hall Media. We don't just produce content, we create authentic, impactful, and purpose-driven storytelling for podcasters, nonprofits, brands, and leaders who are on a mission. For people who've lived real experiences and want their message to actually matter, from podcast production and video to strategic storytelling and distribution. We help you clarify your voice, elevate your brand, and connect with the audience you're trying to serve. If you have a story worth telling and a purpose behind it, Security Hall Media is here to help you tell it the right way. Click the link in the episode description to learn more today. I I talk to a lot of fans. I don't know if I can do this. It's kind of like just walk away, dude. Like literally, just you're not in the military. It it's we get so wrapped up on the idea that we have a contract, we like no. You don't have an you didn't swear an allegiance to Costco. You didn't swear to to protect and defend King Supers or any other any other entity you work for. At the end of the day, like you determine and you have control of your life. Like that's just that's just it, man. Like, and when you want to move away from Operation Tabletop and just focus on the game nights, you can definitely do that. Um because at the end of the day, like you built it. It's it but you still have a life to live, man. And that's something that a lot of us have a hard time understanding. You still have to live a life. Like that's being married to something and working nonstop, like that can also be an addiction. That can also be a pitfall.

SPEAKER_02 44:47

Yeah, absolutely. I I've definitely had to reevaluate my my work-life balance, but it it helps that you know this is my my sole thing, right? Operation Tabletop is my my full-time job, and um that I don't get paid for, but that's okay. One day, you know. Um I'm just super lucky to be blessed with the situation that I'm that I'm in to be able to afford to be able to do this full-time. Um and I I wouldn't have it any other way. And um I wanna I'm gonna stay on board, obviously, as you know, the executive director. Uh so by the end of the year, because right now I'm the president of the board and the executive director, and so by the end of the year, I want to step down from the board and let someone else obviously take the reins. And but and then stay on as the executive director and just manage the operational side. Um, that way my time's not split between the strategic, you know, board level stuff, and I can just focus on the operations. Um and I think that will be good for me, and it'll be good for the organization too.

SPEAKER_01 45:58

That's a solid move, man. A lot of people would struggle with that because they want to be in control.

SPEAKER_02 46:06

Yeah, it's hard, it's it's hard to relinquish control. I have to I have to find someone that I I think I have that I super, super trust to put in that position. Because yeah, obviously the board can um, you know, uh they're in charge of and they hire and fire the executive director. So you know, we could find myself in a what is it, the green goblin William Defoe situation.

SPEAKER_01 46:34

You can't do this to me. You can't do this to me. I never get freaking blocked, but I have to find that and clip that and put it on there. What? Yeah, you gotta cue that up. Oh, dude.

SPEAKER_02 46:51

So hopefully that doesn't happen. I don't I don't think it will.

SPEAKER_01 46:54

Um if it does, we gotta circle back and we have to do a segment just so we can add that clip in again. Yeah, a hundred percent. Oh yeah. Yeah, that is but you know what? It's one of those things where you can you can worry about something and stress about something that will never potentially happen. And and finding the right person that will be a team player and and uh oftentimes maybe even a mentor to help in that role, in that capacity. Um, but I don't think anybody would ever do that to you, man. You're you're too good of a soul, you're too good of a person, and uh you're doing so so many good things for our our veterans in Northwest Florida, man. I can't wait for this to be more national. The fact that it's a Canon Air Force Base, like, dude, that's huge, man. That is friggin' huge.

SPEAKER_02 47:41

Yeah. Thank you, man. Uh I'm super excited about it. You know, and it wouldn't be possible without the the volunteers who step up and want to lead. Like people, you know, how Canon came by came through is that someone's PCSing there, uh, who is uh they're uh retired, but their their spouse is still in, and there's so they're PCSing there, and they're like, dude, I'm I want to take the take this up, and and yeah, and it wouldn't be pop because we don't have the money one day we will, and we're pro we're we're uh budgeting for that now to be able to pay you know program managers to lead chapters or what we call tables. Um so to set up a table out in out in Clovis or in the next spot. And so yeah, we want to be able to pay those people because they deserve it. And it's because it's a lot of work, you know, standing standing that up. And but yes, so all the kudos to to everybody behind the scenes who are um making this thing happen, whether it's from a volunteer, you know, picking up the pizza on the way to the game night is such a huge help um to me because yeah, before it was like me doing it doing most of it and then also having to like go pick up the pizza, going to like Herbert Field, setting everything up um for the event, and then leaving to go get the pizza and then come back.

Pizza, Child Care, And Community Details

SPEAKER_02 49:11

It was a it was a lot. And so uh having people be you know doing that and helping with setup and teardown is just it's huge. And and so all glory to those guys, man, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 49:24

Yeah, we have to figure out a way to get somebody to donate the pizza. What's uh is Helen back still over there? Is this still around?

SPEAKER_02 49:30

Uh Task Force Pizza Um does it. So I reached out to Ryan Stanhope, Stanhope, the the owner of Task Force, and he was a prior combat controller, but also the the way it got connected is I saw his shadow box in the in the the pizza place and task force in Fort Walden. Um what first caught my eye was uh the tables because they had all like the the logos um of the you know special operations units in the the local area, and I saw that they had the combat aviation advisor uh crest on one of them, and then his shadow box, he had spent time at the six as a combat aviation advisor. And so I was like, I gotta reach out to this guy because it just happened to be serendipitous at the same time that the first time I went in there, the lady who was running the game nights on behalf of the chapel um reached out to me to help with the funding and and so basically sponsoring the game nights there because the chapel had had to cut the the funds because before they were buying able to buy like games and um and food, but they couldn't do that anymore. So to keep it going, she reached out to me. And so I was like, well, we gotta have to have to have food. So I I emailed him and he was all about it, and they give us a 50% discount on the pizza, which is huge, saves us so much money and allows us to reinvest it into you know things like child care, which uh I think we had mentioned we wanted to do it on the last uh podcast, the last time we did a podcast, we mentioned we want to be able to provide child care, and now we do through uh uh Operation Childcare project we got linked up with, and they train what they call home front helpers, which are just um people who want to fill the gap, or their whole mission is to fill the gap in childcare for for veterans and active duty. So you know, you say you got that short notice TDY, and now your spouse is left holding the bag. Well, now they can they step in and help out. Um, and but we hired them and to do the child care. They're really professional, background checked and everything, and uh yeah, and then we hire them to do the child care so at the the game nights, and so it's totally free. You can show up, you can drop your kid off, go have fun. We also do the giveaways, so you're gonna eat task force pizza, which is super good. Yeah, and then um we also do you when you show up, you get a raffle ticket, and and you know, three-quarters of the way through the night, we hold the we hold the giveaway, and we'll call, we'll pull a number, and you can come up and grab whatever whatever's on the table. And it's it's pretty good gifts, this peep gifts that the local game stores will donate. You know, games such as like Catan will be up there or um Magic the Gathering, you know, uh bot like booster boxes and things like that. It's the pretty it's pretty expensive, but it's something that we definitely budget for either eighth through that we find ourselves or through you know that the the gifts the game stores will give away. And sometimes, you know, individuals who just show up to game night will bring we'll buy it, we'll buy a game at like say Target and bring it as a donation as a giveaway, which is super huge. That's awesome, dude. Um, but it's great because it's it's a and sometimes we'll give we'll gift games directly to a great uh great story. Uh kid comes in and it's the first time he's there, and he goes into the room where these guys are playing Battletech, which if anybody who knows what battletech is, it's a pretty uh like extensive game. It's big stompy robots battling each other on a on a on a map. But it has quite a few rules, and so for a kid to learn it, yeah, it takes really special volunteer to teach it to him in a way that's fun. And so that's what happened. And it's he loved it, and now every time he comes, he he plays it. But we took note of that, talked to his mom, and was like, is it okay if we buy him the starter kit? And so now he we he's got the starter kit um that he can bring to the game night to engage with the people he has his own his own minis to play with, but so that's a win um in itself, but the minis come unpainted, and so now it's a another win because now he he wants to learn how to paint the minis, and so not only does he have an outlet to play a game, but now he has a new hobby to paint the minis with as well, which is just huge when you're talking about trying to get kids off of iPads and video games and things like that. And so, man, that that really worn my heart doing that kind of stuff. So uh we're definitely trying to do more of that.

SPEAKER_01 54:18

Yeah, it's badass, man. Well, Seth, before I let you go, I gotta ask, man, where can we go to support this mission?

How To Support And Get Involved

SPEAKER_01 54:24

How can we get in touch with you? Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 54:26

OperationTabletop.org. Um there's a donate button if you if you'd like to donate directly. There's also um ways to help link at the top where you can um volunteer, you can sign up to volunteer your time. Um if you're interested in standing up uh a table or chapter in your local town, um, you know, you can hit me up directly at Seth at operation tabletop.org. Um love to chat with you. And yeah. Hell yeah, man. Follow some of socials too. Facebook, Instagram, Operation Tabletop.

SPEAKER_01 55:01

If you go to the episode description, guys, just pause. You know, it should be old. It's already towards the end of the show. Click those links, support my man, visit him on Instagram, send him a friend request, follow them, support them by sharing their stuff. They also have a Discord. Uh head over there, join, get engaged. And if you're in Northwest Florida, get connected with them and show up at one of their local game nights, play a game. Um, Warhammer 40K. You guys get down with that? Oh, yeah. So we're playing that tonight, actually. There we go. There you go. You know, be willing to play some space Catholicism and enjoy some time with friends. That's the greatest part of 40k. It's uh when I look at it, I'm like, ah, yes, yes. Space Catholics. Yeah. Good game. Oh, dude. I can't thank you enough for coming back on, brother. And and uh more importantly, for continuing your journey and proving to everybody that we can have a more powerful and impactful next chapter if we're just willing to dream a little bit, man. Um, it's remarkable to see the growth. And I, dude, I cannot wait to be back in the area. Because spoiler alert, I moved back in July, so I'll be able to attend one in person and uh eat some pizza. Maybe you can teach me this game of giant robots because you you got me intrigued now.

SPEAKER_02 56:19

If it's uh mech related, I'm in. I'm in. You like 40k? You'll love battle type.

SPEAKER_01 56:25

Yeah, but uh I if they're better, they're better. I mean, you know, I'm gonna check out the beginner's guide before I show up, make a fool out of myself. Thank you so much for coming on today. And for everybody listening, thank you so much for tuning in. We'll see you all next time. Until then, take care.