From Combat To Community - Clear Path's Mission To Help Veterans Rebuild Their Lives - Ryan Woodruff : 165

Ryan Woodruff shares his journey from a rootless childhood to finding purpose as CEO of Clear Path for Veterans, an organization dedicated to helping veterans transition from military to civilian life.

• Moving frequently as a child created a desire for community and led to military enlistment at 17
• Deployed to Iraq twice during Operation Iraqi Freedom, facing combat and losing fellow Marines
• Military culture discouraged discussing mental health issues, leading to suppression and unhealthy coping
• Struggled with alcoholism, isolation, and finding purpose after leaving the service
• Found healing through community, spirituality, and Clear Path's service dog program
• Service dogs provide unique support for veterans with PTSD by responding to anxiety signals
• Dogs act as social facilitators, helping veterans connect with the community
• Clear Path offers holistic support, including peer mentoring, career services, and nationally available programs
• Now, as CEO, he focuses on creating stability for his children while expanding Clear Path's impact

If you're a veteran struggling with transition or know someone who is, reach out to Clear Path for Veterans. They offer programs nationally and are working to expand their digital presence to reach more veterans and their families in the USA.

Let's enjoy Ryan's story.

clearpath4vets.com
https://www.instagram.com/clearpath4vets
https://www.facebook.com/ClearPathForVeterans

Chapters

• 3:18 Early Life and Military Service
• 8:00 Combat Deployments and Mental Impact
• 13:34 Struggles in Civilian Transition
• 18:54 Finding Purpose at Clear Path
• 24:10 The Healing Power of Service Dogs
• 31:40 From Peer Mentor to CEO
• 38:20 Building Family and Community

Transcript

Daniela SM : 0:01

Hi, I'm Daniela. Welcome to my podcast, because Everyone has a Story, the place to give ordinary people's stories the chance to be shared and preserved. Our stories become the language of connections. Let's enjoy, connect and relate, because everyone has a story. Our guest is Ryan Woodruff, a thoughtful and deeply kind human being whose insights stay with me long after a conversation ended. His story is powerful not just because of what he's been through, but because of the way he shares it. During our time together, he shared his journey from serving in the Marines to leading a nonprofit that supports veterans in finding healing and purpose. It is a conversation about struggle, resilience and the quiet strength that comes from showing up for others. I am honored to share it with you, so let's enjoy Ryan's story. Welcome, ryan, to the show.

Ryan Woodruff: 1:01

Thanks for having me Appreciate it.

Daniela SM : 1:03

Yes, yes, I'm super interested in the story that you're going to share. So why do you want to share your story?

Ryan Woodruff: 1:09

So I learned over several years of just going through my own challenges how important it was to hear someone else's story to be. On the other end of that, A lot of my growth I could directly correlate with those that were willing to be vulnerable enough to share some of their life lessons, and if there's anything that I could say that resonates with somebody from my story, I would just like to pass that on.

Daniela SM : 1:34

And I appreciate that, because it's true, when we share our stories, we don't have to be famous To do that. I think everybody has a story and it is important that we share it for others.

Ryan Woodruff: 1:43

Yeah, I couldn't agree more.

Daniela SM : 1:44

And so when does your story start?

Ryan Woodruff: 1:46

Like everybody, my path started when I was a child Growing up. I was never rooted in one place for a long enough time for me to establish a community. And as a young boy growing up and the biggest challenge I found with moving around a lot as a kid was getting into a social circle, rooting myself in a support network of people that wanted better for me, and I know now that because of that it led to a lot of inhibition and some confidence issues and it was a struggle. As far back as I can remember, my biggest support system was my family, so my mother and my brother. My mom raised us as a single parent and it was tough growing up. They divorced at a young age and pretty much just was with mom my whole life.

Daniela SM : 2:34

Oh, you're moving around and you don't know where that community is Interesting.

Ryan Woodruff: 2:38

Yeah, state by state too. I mean we were bouncing around different school districts so I was repeatedly the new kid and I think that just became part of my identity. We were rapidly jumping from place to place. My mom was trying to provide for us and find careers everywhere we went and it was just a struggle. At some point. I think that contributed to a lot of avoidance for me, and it was certainly at that young age that I really developed an affinity for the military culture because I felt like how could you be more rooted in anything else other than, you know, enlisting in the military? You move around a lot, for sure, but you're part of a fraternity and a community that is all after a typically a singular mission and so like, really right out of the get-go, a lot of you know early on, early childhood just, I think, really steered me in that direction.

Daniela SM : 3:31

And so after high school, you enrolled right away.

Ryan Woodruff: 3:34

Yeah, actually, during high school, I enlisted as soon as I turned 17. As far back as I can remember I wanted to go in. The Marine. Corps Spoke to me in ways nothing else did. I didn't really do well in school, if I'm being honest. I mean, I would also attribute the moving around a lot to not doing well academically. And I felt most connected when I was within nature. I really loved being out in the woods and hanging out outside. I spent all of my childhood outside. I really rarely was stuck in front of a TV or anything like that. You know, the military really just spoke to my spirit. It's something I really wanted to do. So as soon as I got the opportunity, I found a recruiter and I enlisted. My mother signed the papers happened to be at the height of Operation Iraqi Freedom, so I knew full well that I'd be deploying to Iraq shortly after I enlisted as well.

Daniela SM : 4:26

How was that experience? Was it everything you thought it would be?

Ryan Woodruff: 4:29

Honestly, it was nothing that I thought it would be. So, you know, going into the military was exactly what I thought it would be. You know I did enough research in my time growing up that you know I knew exactly what to expect. I was physically fit. I really studied military culture a lot. I knew everything I needed to know before I went to boot camp. And you know, to be honest, people talk about boot camp being really hard. I didn't find it super difficult. I just you had to move fast, do what you were told and speak very loudly, and that was easy for me. Following orders was never a problem. The biggest challenge was the mental struggle. You're immersed in a completely different culture. You're separated from your home, you're put in front of a bunch of people you've never met before, and it was what I expected. But really, when things began to change for me was when I actually left boot camp.

Ryan Woodruff: 5:27

I graduated, I became a Marine and I finished my infantry training and I ended up being attached to my unit, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, in Camp Lejeune, north Carolina, and I felt like I had to be reinitiated all over again. That was just a whole chapter that I didn't foresee. I thought that becoming a Marine was it? You know, once you're in, you're part of the brotherhood, and it just wasn't the case. A lot of the people in my unit had already deployed to Iraq, so they had come back with combat experience. Automatically disqualifies the younger guy joining right Because they hadn't been yet, they hadn't done their time overseas, and so, yet again, I had to go through this initiation, which certainly wasn't easy. Big mental game, really. For the next seven months after I got out of bootcamp was all training, just getting ready to go to Iraq.

Daniela SM : 6:21

Oh, so they went back again.

Ryan Woodruff: 6:23

Yeah, actually, the first time I deployed was in 2006, just turned 19. And I look back and I'm like holy moly, I can't believe to have gone through those experiences at such a young age. And I look at the kids out today and I just couldn't imagine some of them being put in an environment like that. But it was the path I chose and nonetheless, put in an environment like that. But it was the path I chose and nonetheless we deployed and I spent seven months in Al-Anbar province, iraq. It's right between Fallujah and Ramadi.

Ryan Woodruff: 6:51

Some of your listeners might be familiar with that area and it was a lot of friction in that space. At the time the unit that we were replacing faced heavy losses and we knew that we were going into a very turbulent territory. So when I first got there I didn't know what to expect. I was prepared for the worst. That's something that I was taught at an early stage in my military career was just always expect things to be hard and you'll never be disappointed. Unfortunately, that carried with me even until the point where I got out of the service. In that deployment we were faced with a lot of combat, small arms fire, sniper fire, ambushes, improvised explosive devices and unfortunately not everybody I left with came home with me.

Daniela SM : 7:35

Wow, that must have been hard and traumatic in a way.

Ryan Woodruff: 7:39

Yeah, extremely. I mean there were so many different events that occurred during that seven month deployment that I would contribute to a lot of the feelings I had really post deployment. Do the job, focus on the mission and the objective and put your blinders on and not really focus too much on the emotional component that you're carrying. They actually really program you to suppress a lot of that. To be honest with you, anytime you speak of things that would compromise your mental health, that puts you at risk of being kicked out of the military. So at an early stage you're taught suppression just in the subculture. I wouldn't say that's the overall arching message. But anybody that I was serving with boots on the ground basically said don't say anything, don't talk about your nightmares, about not sleeping. Certainly don't admit that you have an alcohol problem, because it doesn't put you down a good path. You could end up getting kicked out of the military and then you'll struggle to find a job. So we really all just kept our mouths shut, you know, and did our job, said that we were okay, no problems, and it's just. It's crazy.

Ryan Woodruff: 8:57

I mean I'm reading this book right now. It's called Gates of Fire and it's about you know this historical reference of the Spartans going to Thermopylae you know ancient battle and it talks about how each of them were provided a ticket. This ticket split in half. It was like a necklace and on one end was their battle heart and self, which entered into combat. But before they went into war they would give this other ticket back to their commanding officer and say, like, hold on to this. Upon the close of these battles they would get their other ticket and be over immersed like with emotion, right, because they survived the battle. Those that survived got both their tickets and put them together.

Ryan Woodruff: 9:39

And I just read this recently and it just really stuck out to me because that really it resembles well military culture today. As you go to deploy in a combat zone, you pretty much you just go in and you do it and you don't think about all the other stuff and the military, what I'll say doesn't do well is prepare you for the weight of all of that after you return home. That is something that took me well over a decade to wrestle with and overcome. I would say I mean, honestly, that's something that we're all still struggling with. It's kind of a lifelong thing. Recovery and growth are certainly available, but it's something that you always have to be mindful of.

Daniela SM : 10:17

Yes, so many. I mean, I don't have the experience that you have. What I'm feeling that I have is that they prepare you really well, they want you to go to combat and then when you come back it doesn't seem there is a space for any of you and you see all these veterans really struggling and it's just very sad because they are really smart people capable of many things, but the intensity is never going to compare with any other jobs in regular world. So that's also similar. Similar, I will say, and I'm afraid to compare, but to be an Olympian, they are so intense on their training.

Ryan Woodruff: 10:50

Yeah, I mean the skills and experience you develop. Four years in the infantry and two combat deployments doesn't translate a whole lot to real life in the domestic territory, back in your nation and getting into a career field. That it's not the same, similar to somebody that really makes it to the top in the sports arena and the adrenaline that they receive and the crowds and the winning. It's it's. There's a lot of similarities to being in combat and firefights and having your you know, your cortisol and fight or flight response constantly all the way up, you know, as far as scaling goes, and when I got out I thought I was going to just get a job as a police officer. That I would just, you know, because of my experience here. There seemed to be nothing else that would translate based on those skillsets. So I would be a cop. But you know if police force that I was applying for wasn't hiring at the time. So I had a choice to make. I could either continue to pursue law enforcement or take a different direction. And so after I got out it was really like a tornado of just trying to figure out this next path for myself.

Ryan Woodruff: 12:02

After I left the Marine Corps I was excited to be a civilian. I couldn't wait to be done. Those experiences that I lived and the brothers that I lost and the fact that I made it back from what I experienced really changed my viewpoint on life and just not to take anything for granted, I was really grateful just to breathe fresh air and be out of the desert and be back in America, back home, where there was green grass and there was people that weren't trying to kill me. I tried to figure out what this next path was going to be, but I realized very quickly that I couldn't relate to anybody. It was very difficult for me to establish community. The kids I was going to college with. There was nothing that them or I could identify with and it was just very difficult to figure that out. People that I found good company with were other veterans, just connecting with other veterans, and it was very isolating.

Ryan Woodruff: 13:00

For a long time I struggled with alcoholism for you know, I would say even before I got out of the service, that became a strong coping mechanism for me. I would never admit that I got out of the service. That became a strong coping mechanism for me. I would never admit that I had an alcohol problem at the time. I certainly know now that that was a huge problem for me, because it was the only thing that would help me feel better about myself. You do that for so long and it just becomes part of your fabric. It's like a reflexive response. It gets worse and worse and worse, and that certainly was the case for me. I was functional, I was going to school, I was getting great grades and everything else, but I was lacking in so much and I felt empty inside. It wasn't until I found ClearPath that I really understood that community was just so important, something missing in my life, and I had to become very vulnerable in some of the things I was experiencing, to ever cross these bridges, to integrating back into society.

Daniela SM : 13:55

So you were seven months in combat. You came back and then you decided to leave.

Ryan Woodruff: 14:00

Actually, I did another tour to Iraq. So I came back, we trained again for another seven months, I deployed again, spent another seven months in Iraq and then, after my second deployment, I had less than a year left in my four-year contract. So I had a decision to make. I could either re-enlist and stay in the military or I could get out. And it was very easy for me at that point to decide to get out of the service and in June 2009, I was honorably discharged.

Daniela SM : 14:30

So that you have a contract for four years that you have to follow, and then afterwards you can leave or stay.

Ryan Woodruff: 14:36

Yes.

Daniela SM : 14:36

Okay, so you left and then you went to college and to study what?

Ryan Woodruff: 14:40

I ended up studying natural resources and forestry.

Daniela SM : 14:42

Okay.

Ryan Woodruff: 14:43

Wow, because you know, like I said, growing up I really had a deep affinity for nature and since law enforcement wasn't working out, I figured this would be the next best thing. That led me down a completely different path. I ended up developing multiple skill sets, one of which is I became an arborist. So I was a tree climber, working in small teams really difficult work, pushing 10, 12 hour days, you know, making 12 bucks an hour that was what my college degree provided me with at the time is it was a template that I fell into and I stuck with for five or six years.

Ryan Woodruff: 15:14

You know, something I didn't mention is my time in the military really did physically injure me over that prolonged period of just high intensity work, wearing 200 pounds of gear, being in close proximity to explosions, jumping gates and fences, being an infantry Marine. It comes with a cost, and usually that is your mind and your body for sure, and the things that I experienced in that timeframe just expedited my physical limitations much quicker than normally. So after getting out and then doing this time in forestry, I just continued to break my body. To be honest with you, it wasn't until I went to a doctor and I said I'm having a lot of problems with my back and my shoulder keeps dislocating when I'm climbing these trees and just having all sorts of these problems and these comorbidities. And he said yeah well, your back looks like something we'd see if you were 70, not 30. All of that weight that you were carrying in the military has really just destroyed your spine. You're going to want to think about changing your career trajectory.

Ryan Woodruff: 16:18

And then again I'm kind of thrown out into the atmosphere and I had to pivot yet again and so it was a lot to take in and I'm just I just part of me wanted to go back in the military. I just felt like I wasn't finding a place to belong, super isolating and the only thing I knew at that point and I felt like I just needed to go back in. I actually tried to go back into the military and they they wouldn't take me. At that point in time I was already beyond the age that was acceptable and some of the physical limitations that I had were just deemed unworthy of getting through the physical checkups and all those types of things at that time. So I had to figure out what was next for me.

Daniela SM : 16:59

Wow, that's a challenge for sure, looking for community and not able to fit anywhere.

Ryan Woodruff: 17:04

Yeah.

Daniela SM : 17:04

And so then, what happened? What did you do?

Ryan Woodruff: 17:07

So, by chance, a friend of mine was working with this organization that helps veterans navigate their transition from military to civilian culture. He was running an employment program helping veterans find jobs and he said, hey, we're looking for somebody like yourself that has combat experience, has transitioned out of the military successfully and can help other veterans navigate these unique challenges. And so I was like that sounds great. I mean, that sounds like a meaningful job where I could find purpose and identity again. So I applied for this position and I got this job with Clear Path for Veterans as a peer mentor. That was almost 10 years ago at this point, and it's been a huge transformation since I've been there.

Daniela SM : 17:50

When you got in there. You realized then that you were drinking too much.

Ryan Woodruff: 17:53

Yeah, shortly after I was with the organization for about eight months, I actually enrolled into their service dog program as a recipient. Through that experience, I started to take a pretty deep look in the mirror and ask myself here I am trying to be an ambassador for other veterans transitioning out of service, but I've not yet overcome some of my own barriers and some of my own challenges. I was building a family, I got married. I had children. I started to weigh the gravity of what I could potentially lose as well. I quit drinking cold turkey and I've been sober since. This is back in 2017. So I think it's been a little over eight years.

Ryan Woodruff: 18:35

You know what I'll say about that is it didn't fix all my problems, to be honest with you. I had to rediscover myself because I had been drinking alcohol for so long that I didn't know how to be any different without it, and so my confidence took a big dive. I didn't have anything to cope with anymore. There was no medications or anything that were really helping me with my mental health, and I really had to push through some significant adversity to learn what it was to be who I was without alcohol, and that took a couple of years, but it was absolutely necessary. It was one of those steps in my journey and a chapter that I had to overcome in order to get to where I am today.

Daniela SM : 19:14

I can imagine, in this job that you're having now, you have met a lot of people similar to you with similar situations, but you seem to call turkey, have fixed things and I'm sure you're still in the process, but what do you think is the difference between you and other people that have noticed that I was struggling and in a dark space?

Ryan Woodruff: 19:54

And they invited me into a social group and I started to attend this weekly group for well it's been over six years now, but it just took an invitation to go to this group and start talking with these guys and that was, honestly, the first time I experienced somebody else sharing their, their story with me, and the deep vulnerability and just willingness to put it all out on the table and then talk about what they're doing now was immensely healing for me.

Ryan Woodruff: 20:27

I couldn't there's no words to describe it but it's the first time I actually felt welcome in an environment and to be, you know, to be willing to be open and honest in such a deeply vulnerable way was admirable to me. It still took me a long time to cross that bridge myself. I mean, I was with the group for probably three months before I even opened my mouth and said anything, but I was just attending. You know it wasn't alcoholics and ominous, but I could see that there's a lot of people that find a lot of healing in groups like that as well. But community was 100%, and just being connected to people that would surround themselves around you and want better for your situation was a huge healing for me. That and all the things that I was experiencing at ClearPath.

Daniela SM : 21:13

So this group was mainly to share your feelings.

Ryan Woodruff: 21:16

Yeah, and it was spiritually based, so it was a Christian fellowship and we would, you know, we would really talk about our own stories and then we would tie it to scripture in some respects and talk about like, how do we do life? You know what? What's the what? You know what you're dealing with right now? Is there something we can relate it to biblically that could help your situation? And I didn't grow up in a, you know, very strong faith background or anything like that. It was somewhat surface level. It wasn't something that I was very strongly attached to, but it was definitely this that opened up some doors for me that I felt okay and comfortable stepping into.

Daniela SM : 21:57

And then also some resilience from your part as well to overcome and go through all these things in a different way than other people, I guess.

Ryan Woodruff: 22:05

Yeah, I mean, at the same time I was working with other veterans and a lot of these veterans I was working with were homeless. They couldn't put food on the table, they were facing substance abuse. It was really humbling and it was just eye-opening that there were so many out there that really needed help and they were looking to us for that resource. So it was just a catalyst for change, you know, for for me to change things within myself so that I could be better for these others. And, um, like I said, at the same time I went through this canine program to be placed with a service dog and that experience was, I mean extremely, I mean very transformative.

Ryan Woodruff: 22:43

There's something about connecting with a dog on the other end of a leash that's indescribable. I mean, one of the trainers told me at the time she was actually the founder of Clear Path that, like your dog, is an inner reflection of your emotional state. So once you get a better control over how you're feeling, the training is going to go better. And then again I'm being taught all of these little mini life lessons, you know, through community, through dog training, through peer support, and it was really an all-inclusive, holistic approach that it took several years, but all of this I would attribute to being able to overcome a lot of these challenges.

Daniela SM : 23:27

Yes, I've heard that dogs take the people's personality.

Ryan Woodruff: 23:32

They do and they have incredible intuition. They pick up on things. It's why the human-animal bond is so important in the work that we do. They're able to respond to different mental health challenges that veterans are facing and they perform specific tasks to help mitigate that. And when you actually see this in real time, it's incredible. There's nothing like it, and a lot of the times when these veterans are experiencing this for the first time, it brings them to tears because a dog that has been trained to do this work is performing these specialized tasks to help them feel better. And it's just really incredible.

Daniela SM : 24:09

So you are training them, that's your dog, or you train dogs to give it to other people.

Ryan Woodruff: 24:14

We do a little bit of both. So when I started it was a different model where they would place us with a dog from the shelter and we would train it for two years as the veteran going through the program. And we would train it for two years as the veteran going through the program and then the goal was for that dog to meet all of the criteria to become a fully trained service dog. And through my own experience I realized that there was a lot of things we could do better within that program. It actually helped me discover that I wanted to become a dog trainer and I went to school for that. And through that process and just all the learning that I've done and networking with other providers that are doing this work, I learned that training the dog beforehand is a much better path to helping them be successful. So now we're raising puppies from seven weeks all the way to two years. We're doing all of the training and then we're bringing veterans in to be partnered with these dogs.

Daniela SM : 25:09

And what happened with these dogs and the veterans?

Ryan Woodruff: 25:13

They'll go through, do they?

Daniela SM : 25:13

go home with their dog or they come to visit you.

Ryan Woodruff: 25:17

They'll go home with the veteran, they'll go back to their community. They do about three weeks of training with us. So wherever they are in the country, we'll bring them to central New York and do this three weeks of training, and the idea there is to provide them with all of the information that we provided that dog within two years. So that's it's a lot. I mean, it's eight hours a day for these for this time of intensive training. But the you know the interesting thing is that when we're placing the dog with a veteran, there's nothing we can do up front to measure compatibility, and you really got to get them there to see if the dog is going to be compatible with the veteran. So we'll have between two and three dogs available and the trainers are, for the first week, just really assessing if there's a match, a good match for the veteran, and they have to be in person to see that. And beforehand we're also training that dog to be specifically tailor trained for the veteran.

Ryan Woodruff: 26:11

So you know we're asking them questions like if you're experiencing a panic attack, what does that look like? Are you bouncing your knee up and down? Are you messing with your wedding band? Are you touching your face? And then we're training the dog to respond to that picture by doing some complex task. So there's a lot of work that has to be done on the front end and then, when we actually bring them there, we're testing out these different dogs and finding a suitable match. They go through that training and then they go home and that dog's allowed to attend the general public with them wherever they go. So it's a. It's really a. You know it's a. It's really a, you know it's a. It's a partnership, it's a mutual relationship where the dog walks alongside the veteran wherever they're going, constantly doing these tasks and just being there for support.

Daniela SM : 27:01

That's fascinating. So it's like having a healing dog. So what happened? I'm playing with my ring when I get anxiety.

Ryan Woodruff: 27:05

And what would the dog do? It depends. Every dog does something different, but you will typically have the dog provide some sort of grounding mechanism or alert, and it's really to help bring the veteran back into a mindful state. I see it's not about disrupting the behavior. I think it's very important that when we're defining the type of work that our dogs are doing, it's really grounding, so helping relieve tension and relieve anxiety. And sometimes one of the tasks that we'll do is called visit and the dog will be prompted differently on how to do this. But it can be. If you're using the wedding band as an example, dog will come up and rest their chin on the veteran's lap and just solicit petting, so it changes the behavioral pattern to get them to interact with the dog instead of doing the self-soothing technique to respond to their own anxiety.

Daniela SM : 28:00

Wow, that seems a lot of training for sure.

Ryan Woodruff: 28:03

Yeah.

Daniela SM : 28:03

Yeah, I have heard that if you pet the dog it gives you serotonin and it's very good. But how to train the dog to help that? That's incredible.

Ryan Woodruff: 28:11

Yeah, service dogs for military-related post-traumatic stress is relatively new. It's been going on since, I would say, around 2010, 2011. And that's when ClearPath was founded. But really that's when the discovery of service dogs being a validated you know, evidence-based modality for veterans facing these challenges was really validated at that time. We've been doing it for about 15 years, but service dogs have been around since the early eighties, you know, helping people with mobility issues, visual impairment and so on, and it makes sense to me.

Ryan Woodruff: 28:45

You know like I've been through a lot of different treatments. I've done therapy, I've seen social workers, I've been going to the VA for decades now, but there was nothing that could compare to that of training with a dog and just having that experience. It helps you get beyond yourself too. One of the things I always tell veterans as they enter the training room is you got to check your ego at the door, because if you're going to connect with a dog, you can't be super militant. You have to get beyond yourself, be a little animated, show that you genuinely want to connect with the dog, or else they're not going to respond well.

Ryan Woodruff: 29:22

So you know it helps their character formation as they're transitioning out of the military as well, and the other part of it is, if you're going to go out in public with a service dog, you're going to be the center of attention, people are going to talk to you, they're going to ask questions, they're going to want to pet your dog, and for veterans that are isolating and are struggling to find a bridge to community, the dog can be a great social facilitator because it's inviting the people in, so it's really helping them overcome that over time. In order for the dog to be successful, they have to go out in public too. So it's interesting just the way it works. It's like a whole package. The dog does the task. They're helping the veteran find a dependence, they're going out into public more, they're doing things they weren't doing before they got out of the military, and it's really awesome.

Daniela SM : 30:12

Like, if you say that they have veterans with substance issues and stuff, are they helping at that level as well?

Ryan Woodruff: 30:19

Yes and no.

Ryan Woodruff: 30:20

The one thing that we have to ensure before we have a veteran come into the program is that they are not facing substance abuse issues, that they've overcome some of that prior to being enrolled into the program.

Ryan Woodruff: 30:33

We have to really ensure that we're looking at needs and readiness as two components when we're asking ourselves is somebody suitable for a service dog? So, need being that, you know they've done some work on their own. They've gone to therapy, they have a, they're starting to bridge into a social network, but they've done something evidence based to help their situation. But there's something that's not helping them be completely independent. And then readiness would be they've done all this work, they don't actively have suicidal ideation, they're not actively facing substance abuse, and so we kind of try to find veterans that are in the middle of that spectrum. That would be most likely to be successful, because you know, if you're going into this program, it's a disruption to your life. There's still going to be some stress components to it and we need to make sure that everybody entering into it can be reasonably successful.

Daniela SM : 31:26

Well, it sounds like a great program. I saw that they have a lot of activities besides just the dog training. I wonder why it's only in New York. Shouldn't that be everywhere in the country and around the world actually?

Ryan Woodruff: 31:39

Yeah, I mean I think that one thing that's been lost with society. I mean traditional warrior culture talks a lot about how, when service members or warriors were returning home, there was a process to it. It wasn't just, hey, you finish your contract and I'll go back into your community. There was rituals, there was things that were done to help kind of cleanse the spirit and bring them back into community. And ClearPath part of its founding principle was to form a protective circle around service members and to endure with them for as long as it takes to get them where they're going. So when we set up these programs, we looked at the unique challenges veterans are facing and then we intentionally designed these core programs to help alleviate those challenges. I 100% believe there should be a clear path or something like it in every community. The VA does a great job, but there's only so much they can do. We're more in the innovative, non-traditional space. So really, looking at the holistic approach, yeah, that's true.

Daniela SM : 32:40

You have gone through a lot. However, you are in a really good path, so I wonder if you will have changed anything now.

Ryan Woodruff: 32:48

Well, you know, in the nine years I've been with ClearPath, I started as a peer mentor and then I became a dog trainer, I became a program director, I basically navigated every part of the organization and eight months ago they asked me to be the CEO. If you asked me five years ago if I would be the CEO of this organization, I would tell you you're crazy, or absolutely not. No way, that's. I'm meant to be the boots on the ground, providing the direct services to our veterans and our families. But I was called to this line of duty and I'm grateful to do that and lead the charge. No shorter work to be done.

Ryan Woodruff: 33:25

I think the hardest thing for me to you know lay down and go to sleep at night is there's a lot of veterans out there that aren't willing to ask for help. And I tell people all the time like if you're hearing this, consider this your message, Reach out to us. There's a lot that we can do to help you get to where you're going, and really it does take a village. I tell people that all the time.

Daniela SM : 34:00

It's not just what ClearPath is doing. It's not just what ClearPath is doing. It's about finding community. We help you get there, but it takes resource providers near far and work to be done in North America for that culture, because I know in South America and Japan community is a very important thing.

Ryan Woodruff: 34:15

Yeah, certainly. I mean we're fortunate. We serve veterans and their families because we know that what's good for the family is going to be good for the individual veteran as well. We do everything from peer support, service dogs, career services. We have a culinary program. It's because we know that food helps bring people together, breaking bread at a table. Every Wednesday we'll have between 150 or 300 veterans at our campus. Oh wow, it's just a really good way to just find authentic connection. To sit at a table. There's no barrier to entry, everybody's welcome.

Daniela SM : 34:48

There's no cost no-transcript Path can go to other communities Because you're in New York. So people that are in California or somewhere else it will be very hard for them to get there.

Ryan Woodruff: 35:24

At some point in the future I hope that we can expand our campus for sure to have a bigger national footprint. The programs that we're offering right now so the K-9 program does serve nationally. Anybody from anywhere in the country can connect with us and we fly them out to New York to go through that program. We also have a vocational training program called Operation Socrates where we're helping active service members that are transitioning out of the military find jobs in the K-12 teaching field. Again, that's nationally represented, so anybody from anywhere in the country can connect with us to go through that program. That includes family members as well.

Ryan Woodruff: 36:02

In the next year we're looking to expand digitally, so having just a digital footprint so people can access our website and navigate through some of our unique programs and services. Nothing beats being on the campus, though. I mean I wholly believe that face-to-face direct services is really the way to go. Sitting down and having coffee with somebody is much different than having a Zoom call or being on the other end of a virtual screen. Yes, in short, I think at some point in the future we will look to expand brick and mortar. We're just focusing on mastering everything we're doing in New York right now. I think we're about there before we're invited into this next community. We've also said that when people are seeing what we're doing, if somebody approaches us and says we want this in our community, we're willing to have those conversations and talk about what it would take to do that.

Daniela SM : 36:52

Yes, and I hope that you get those conversations and those requests and congratulations for being the CEO. Now it's true.

Ryan Woodruff: 36:59

Thank you.

Daniela SM : 37:00

Who knew? Right, that's what happened, so very successful, I think. And you're helping the community. You have a meaningful job, which is something that people like community, but also they have jobs that sometimes they don't feel that they're meaningful and you are just helping a lot of people, so that's amazing.

Ryan Woodruff: 37:17

Yeah, I mean I couldn't be more grateful. I disqualified myself time and time again. I think one of the hardest things to bear is what you tell yourself in the mirror every day, and it's something we all do often, and I would definitely attribute that to my story as well growing up and just never feeling like I was enough, and even to this point of taking the mantle of CEO, I just couldn't believe it. I was like, why me? Why am I the guy? I don't feel qualified for this. I didn't go to college for business masters in business or business development or leadership. All I have is my experiences, and they said that's exactly what qualifies you. We want somebody that has the lived in experience to represent this organization and help build what's next for us. So it took a while for me to put the uniform on and accept that, but I definitely am grateful and looking forward to what we have ahead.

Daniela SM : 38:09

Yeah, that's wonderful, and I want to ask you about your kids. You have kids now, so what are you doing differently?

Ryan Woodruff: 38:16

A lot. So one thing we're doing is not moving. We're very rooted in our community. My kids are at work with me almost one or two times a week they come out to our campus and hang out. We're actually homeschooling our kids, which is new for us, but that's another way of just being very intimately connected with what we're doing and how we're raising our children, and I'm also just being very honest with them and always lifting them up, encouraging them and helping them figure out what it is they want to do in their lives, while not, you know. The other thing I'm often told is what do you say to your kid when they say they want to join the military? And I just give them honesty. You know, I tell them it's not what the movies all chalk it up to be. It's. Those experiences are very different and just try to be very honest with them but also not discourage them. If that's something they decide to do, I'm always going to be there behind them to help lift them up Wonderful.

Daniela SM : 39:17

Yes, that's true. The moving part is something that with my husband. He moved a lot, I moved just a bit, but I didn't really put the two together and he was like no, we're having our kids, we're staying where we are until they finish high school. And it's true, it does make a big difference for stability and for having a functional family relations. I think it's very good.

Ryan Woodruff: 39:40

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. It makes a huge difference. They, you know, they know their people, they feel part of this village and we're raising them together and I think that's really important.

Daniela SM : 39:54

Yeah, wonderful. Well, is there anything else that we haven't talked about yet?

Ryan Woodruff: 39:59

I think we covered quite a bit of ground. I just would anybody listening to this if you're looking for help and if you're a veteran or a family member or veteran and trying to figure out what's next for you, we encourage you to reach out. We are looking to expand our campus and do more each and every year. If you're looking to partner with us or help us with our mission, we definitely welcome the conversation.

Daniela SM : 40:21

Ryan, thank you so much for sharing your story. It was amazing.

Ryan Woodruff: 40:24

Thank you Appreciate it.

Daniela SM : 40:25

What stayed with me after this conversation with Ryan is the quiet strength it takes to be vulnerable and how vital compassion and connection are, especially when it comes to mental health. His story reminds me that healing isn't linear and sometimes the smallest gesture of support can make the biggest difference. Spread the word and share this episode, allowing the ordinary magic to go further. Join me next time for another story conversation. Thank you for listening. Hasta pronto.