S.O.S. (Stories of Service) - Ordinary people who do extraordinary work
From the little league coach to the former addict helping those still struggling, hear from people from all walks of life how they show up as a vessel for service and drive for transformational change. Hosted by Theresa Carpenter, a 29-year active duty U.S. naval officer who found service was the path to unlocking trauma and unleashing your inner potential.
S.O.S. (Stories of Service) - Ordinary people who do extraordinary work
The Legendary Ron Deanne | S.O.S. #221
The most meaningful connections in military service often come from those who guide us through our most challenging moments. Ron Dean represents this kind of transformative mentorship—a Vietnam-era Navy veteran whose expertise in aircraft electrical systems made him legendary among maintainers across four decades of service.
Born to a World War II B-25 radio gunner, Ron joined the Navy in 1965 under the draft, deliberately choosing a different path than his Air Force father. As an Aviation Electrician's Mate, he quickly distinguished himself through exceptional troubleshooting abilities and a practical approach to maintenance that prioritized aircraft readiness over procedural orthodoxy. "I enjoyed fixing aircraft. I enjoyed making the maintenance chiefs happy," Ron explains, describing how he would take technicians directly to the flight deck to repair planes before returning to consult the manuals—reversing the traditional approach and keeping crucial combat aircraft flying during wartime operations.
Ron's impact extended far beyond technical innovation. During a particularly challenging 2003 deployment to Iraq, he specifically requested Theresa Carpenter—then a young aviation electrician struggling with workplace tensions—as his troubleshooting partner. This professional pairing evolved into a decades-long friendship that survived career transitions, including Theresa's commissioning as an officer and Ron's move to civilian technical representative roles with Lockheed. Their paths continued to cross at significant life moments, from commissioning ceremonies to retirement celebrations, demonstrating how military connections often become life's most enduring relationships.
From Vietnam-era deployments to supporting the historic moment when President Bush landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln, Ron's career spans significant chapters in American military history. Now enjoying retirement in Nevada, he remains engaged through political activism, community service, and even competitive bowling—continuing his lifelong pattern of service in new forms. Listen to this heartfelt conversation between mentor and mentee as they reflect on shared experiences, technical challenges overcome, and the lasting impact of showing up for others when it matters most.
Visit my website: https://thehello.llc/THERESACARPENTER
Read my writings on my blog: https://www.theresatapestries.com/
Listen to other episodes on my podcast: https://storiesofservice.buzzsprout.com
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https://www.youtube.com/c/TheresaCarpenter76
Good evening everyone, and tonight I have a very special guest. This is the first time I'm bringing you somebody from my enlisted days. I think I've brought you family members. I've brought you a cousin, a brother and friends that I've grown up with. These are always some of my favorite podcasts because I get to share with all of you who makes Teresa or, as I went by back in my childhood, terry who she is, and tonight is no different. I welcome my very dear friend who's been at so many of my most meaningful and special moments within my life Rondine, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2:I'm doing just fine, Teresa.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm so happy to have you. Thank you so much for agreeing to do your very first podcast, although you have been on social media for quite a while.
Speaker 2:I have I have four social media apps.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, but.
Speaker 2:I've never done a live version like this.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, you haven't. But we used to talk a lot on Facebook, but then you moved from Facebook over to X, and so now I link to your X account so people can follow you there. So, okay, I'm going to read a little bit about you and then we're just going to get into some questions. Ron D is my mentor and shipmate, but before I do that, as I always forget to do, welcome to the Stories of Service podcast. Ordinary people who do extraordinary work, and I am the host of Stories of Service, teresa Carpenter. And to get this podcast started, as we always do with every episode, here's an intro from my father, charlie Pickard.
Speaker 3:From the moment we're born and lock eyes with our parents. We are inspiring others by showing up as a vessel of service. We not only help others, we help ourselves. Welcome to SOS. Stories of Service hosted by Teresa Carpenter. Hear from ordinary people from all walks of life who have transformed their communities by performing extraordinary work.
Speaker 1:Anne Rondeen's 40 years of service spans an incredible arc of history, from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. He was born on September 26, 1945 in Chicago, illinois, and grew up with aviation and service in his blood. His father, a B-25 radio gunner with the Army Air Forces in World War II, left him a legacy of courage that Ron carried forward when he enlisted the Navy in 1965 under the draft. From the beginning Ron stood his ground, whether facing challenges in maintenance shops, on deployments or in life. I experienced this firsthand when I was a young aviation electrician's mate. At the time I was bullied and struggling to find my footing, but Ron took me under his wing. He trusted me. Let me work side by side with him and together we tackled some of the toughest troubleshooting jobs on the S3B Viking. His mentorship not only built my technical skills but it showed me what true leadership looks like steady, unshakable and loyal.
Speaker 1:Ron began his career as an aviation electrician's mate. After completing boot camp in San Diego and A school in Jacksonville, florida. He went on to Vietnam era deployments at VP1. He did shore duty at NAS North Island, carrier aviation tours at VF21, at NAS Miramar, deploying with the legendary F4J Phantom cutting-edge platforms. And he re-enlisted for the brand-new S3A Viking with the VS-33 Screwbirds. Later on he was an instructor and mentor and shore duty at AIMD, nas North Island and is a Lockheed tech rep and NATEC trainer for every VS squadron. Welcome again, ron.
Speaker 2:Thank you T, that hits it all.
Speaker 1:So tell me a little bit about where you were born and raised. I know Chicago, Illinois, and that is quite the Navy town. So what made you decide to join the Navy?
Speaker 2:Well, I graduated from high school as a senior in 1965. At that time the draft was real and I graduated in June, and in September my number came up and I had to join the service.
Speaker 2:And as you'll recall back then, there's a lot of people that ran away from the draft and ran to Canada and, of course, being from a military home, my dad asked me why I didn't join the Air Force and I told him because he dragged me around the world as a dependent. So I wanted something new and so I joined the Navy. At that time, they were expediting people to Vietnam, so I was in a reduced boot camp course. Instead of what is it? Six or seven months, something like that. I uh there for three months and graduated and and uh, from there I went to a electrician school that was based out of jacksonville, so uh did you always know you like to fix things?
Speaker 1:like, were you somebody that kind of grew up tinkering around with things?
Speaker 2:No, my boot camp commander was a chief, and he was an electrician too, and so I didn't know other than my scores on my entrance exam showed that I was good with electricity. Well, my dad was as well. So, it was kind of just I fell into this electrical thing and then, after a school and my first command, I found I was pretty good with a meter and schematics. So I continued learning more and more.
Speaker 1:What was the highlight? Do you think of your enlisted career? What did you enjoy most about being an electrician?
Speaker 2:I enjoyed fixing aircraft. I later just got very good at it and I enjoyed fixing aircraft. I enjoyed making the maintenance chiefs happy. During the wartime I kind of turned the maintenance system around around. You know, in an AE perfect AE shop you're supposed to read the manual, then go out and troubleshoot and fix the aircraft. Well, I decided to take people up to the flight deck and fix the aircraft first and then go back down in the AE shop and make them open up the book and show them what he just fixed. Here's where it is in the book. The maintenance chiefs loved it because you could turn an aircraft around. As you well know, teresa, if you could turn an aircraft around on the flight deck, it doesn't go down to the hangar deck and so they don't want to lose that warfighter. For the next event, which was about every 45 minutes, you had the launches and the recoveries.
Speaker 1:Right, right, did you also work as a final checker troubleshooter on the flight deck?
Speaker 2:Yes, and I was turned like you. I was turned qualified At North Island. They wouldn't let me taxi, though I didn't get taxi qualified.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, I was able to go up into the S3. Yeah, you do remember I was backseat qualified, so I was able to fly with the S3.
Speaker 2:I was backseat qualified as well. Okay, the S3, and then of course the US3 had the converted four seats in the back. They took out all the electronics and all that. And for Lockheed I was over in Diego Garcia helping BRC 50, except five US3s. I trained a lot of load masters.
Speaker 1:Now, as you were kind of going through your enlisted career, did you think that you would stay in for as long as you did Like? Did you think this was going to be something that you were going to make, or did you think you were going to get out sooner than you did?
Speaker 2:Well, To be honest with you, I worked 16 years of active duty. 16 years of active duty and then, when Lockheed offered me a very good job, I decided to join the reserves and then work for Lockheed for three years and I kept doing my reserve duty. You know, once a month did that and then two weeks a year. Well, I stayed with the reserves, Navy reserves at North Island, and they created a reserve, a reserve squadron, as you'll recall, that worked out of VS-41 hangars and it was I can't remember the name, I have the name tag over there but for retirement purposes in the Navy. I had 23 years, so the rest of the time was a tech rep.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. I think that that really also just kind of sealed your credibility with the maintainers. I mean, you were, you were pretty much like a legend to us, ron. I mean everybody who, who all the maintainers knew. If they couldn't figure something out, call Ron Dean, he'll figure it out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the problem with that is sometimes they would tear it all apart and they still couldn't fix it. So sometimes you walked into an AE shop and you see all these parts laying around. You knew that you were in for a good day's work. So what I made them do is I made them take one part at a time and put it in a known good airplane and see if it worked, so that way we wouldn't turn it in as a bad part. And then, of course, then you start your troubleshooting. Rather than just putting in parts, you check for power at, say, the dwell actuator or say the dwell actuator. Rather than and I taught people how to use the test equipment A lot of electricians would just go out and put the parts in. I can see that happening on a carrier. But when you're training at North Island or you're on a deploy before a deployment, you know you go out to sea for 30, 30 days and start training. So I would still require the electricians to use meters and schematics Right.
Speaker 1:And I think that there was a reluctance for people who just thought they could figure things out without using the pubs, People who got spoiled by the fact that they would do a few things really well and then they were like, oh, we don't need the pubs anymore. Back in those days it's probably a laptop now or a little iPad. Oh yeah, but back in our days, or at least my days, which was a big black pub.
Speaker 1:That was disgusting and nasty. A big black binder with this very oversized pieces of paper. If you had a schematic, you had to pull the schematic all the way out. It was not like a simple process to troubleshoot.
Speaker 2:You know and you know T. I have a story for you from a young. I met him in the VS-37 AE shop. His name was Kevin Eckman and when I came out to join you during the war he was a commander and he was the AIMD officer. And when I first met him he was the golden boy. And you're right, Teresa, they would send him out first and he would fix it by knowing which parts failed, by knowing which parts failed Right. Well, when I first met him, I introduced him to the test set that checks the dwell actuator. And you know, as you well know, you either have a bad CLA or a bad dwell actuator. But his eyes lit up when I showed him this test set that hooked up to it. And if you get a green light, you know the dwell actuator is good. If you get a red light, you know the CLA is bad. I know a lot of your listeners don't know what we're talking about, but aircraft today are computer troubles, trouble shock, like like in the F-18, they're all fly by wire.
Speaker 1:So so I think one of the things that you know really stood out to me working with you, ron, was that you came into the shop, like you said, at a very pivotal time when we needed to have up aircraft, and I think we were already well into a very hard deployment that extended for a very long time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you were extended for six months. Your carrier was extended Continue.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I was just saying that like all the planes were breaking because they had just been overused, I mean, we were all exhausted. Stress in our work center, too, was very high and tensions were high too was getting was very high and tensions were were high. And you just came in there and said, well, I need to turn the aircraft I, I need somebody who can turn the aircraft and work with me, and and that was so pivotal for for for me to learn what I needed to learn, and it really brought you and I closer together as friends yeah, well, what, theresa?
Speaker 2:prior meeting you, I didn't know any of the differences and I knew a lot of the AEs because I had worked with them. But I had already talked to your CO and XO and your Master Chief Maintenance Officer Filipino guy. Master Chief Maintenance Officer Filipino guy he was. I just flat told him. I said look, master Chief, I don't work the same hours as anybody else. I want somebody that will be my shadow when I'm working. I don't run for parts Shadow when I'm working. I don't run for parts. I need somebody who's turn qualified and has all the QA experience that you need to approve. Safety of flight items.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 2:And guess what? That was you, it was.
Speaker 1:It was. It was, and that was a godsend to me, because at the time I was working nights in the work center. We would work a 12 on, 12 off shift and the tensions in the shop had just gotten pretty high and I was feeling a little singled out, to be honest, and so it was an opportunity for me to do something different and to do something where I felt like I could be of value and help you as much as you were helping our team, because our team needed that help. I mean, this was how are we going to get these aircraft up?
Speaker 1:I remember there were aircraft that were had just been sitting in the hangar bay for a long time and I I can clearly remember an fdc flat debt flight data controller, the one that big back I remember we worked on that forever, um with it, with a gripe we had, and it was incredible to work with you, ron, because you patient, you took the time to teach people, you didn't make anybody feel stupid for asking any questions.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:I really appreciated that.
Speaker 2:Well, Teresa, the other thing you should know I've told you this already, but for your audience, this was during the high volume 2003 war. I came from the USS Kitty Hawk to the USS Abraham Lincoln and, uh, Nobody told me what all this was for. They just said we need airplanes, not only just for the war effort, but we need them as many as you can get up. And we got them all up. One was on the hangar deck for an AO problem, and that was the last one I worked on, and that was the last one I worked on. But nobody ever told me that we said we were going to do. And there's Bush landing on the carrier. I'm watching it on the Kitty Hawk televisions. It was rewarding in that respect too.
Speaker 1:We did something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and Bush? I found out Bush wanted to. I got a letter from Bush Library but Bush wanted to go out on the new F-18. Why the S3 was selected. If you go to the Ronald Reagan Museum Navy One is on the wall there where they have all the Air Force Ones and the last airplane was the Navy One and you'll see an S3 painted with VS-35's colors.
Speaker 1:That's great, I love it. Yeah, I mean, I don't think any of us understood. You never know when you're going on deployment or where you're serving, if what you're going to be doing is a part of our nation's history. You don't think about those things.
Speaker 2:No, you don't. You know you have to complete. You're not going anywhere, you're working 12 to 14 hours a day and there's only one place to eat, so you might as well just work, right.
Speaker 1:Exactly Well, I think what was amazing is that you not only taught me, you taught generations of sailors in the process while you were a tech rep, and one of them that remembers you is Marvin Sanchez, and he even he's now and he says I remember Mr Ekman, I worked with him in the VS wing. So yeah yeah, there are a lot of people who remember what you did and how long after 2003 did you stick around as a tech rep. I want to say recall in 2005,.
Speaker 2:They started sundowning the S3s. So I stayed there until 2005,. And we got all the airplanes, most of them sent by the time I left in 2005. So I get back to North Island and there's no more S3s. So they said, ron, we need an electrician's rep in the H53 community. So for retirement purposes I worked another three years. They sent me to Cherry Point and I got all my H-53 training there, and so in the civil service retirement system you have to work a minimum of three years in the district that you want to retire in. And San Diego and New York had the highest COLA. So your retirement is based on your high three, your high three. So I said, well, you don't get cola over in Japan because they're paying your salary, your overtime, and I was living off base at that time when this ship was not deployed. So I worked another three years and decided that San Diego wasn't the best place to retire on a fixed income. So I moved to Nevada just for a 40% pay raise. The difference between California and Nevada was huge.
Speaker 1:I remember, Ron, you said I'm going to buy an RV and I'm going to travel across the country, and that's what you did.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I was a GS-12 at the top of the step increases so they had the buyouts at that time. The VSIPs voluntary If you're a GS-12 and they approve it. They get rid of their senior people. So they gave me $25,000, and I put it down on an RV and moved to Nevada. Didn't even pay California's sales tax on it.
Speaker 1:Good for you. Good for you. California's sales tax on it. Good for you. Good for you. You were part of the. It's interesting because our paths have crossed so many times throughout the years, whether you were at my commissioning or I was at your retirement. But you also made a big impact in me getting into the RV lifestyle. And if I hadn't embraced the RV lifestyle I don't know if you know this, ron and if I hadn't embraced the RV lifestyle I don't know if you know this, ron I would have never met my now husband.
Speaker 2:I know it and you know, both Anita and I were afraid for you because you didn't buy the best RV you could buy. It's like buying a Ford with a few problems, you know.
Speaker 1:That's right. That's right Now. I'm remembering that I went and saw you on the way, I think on the way to.
Speaker 2:California. Yeah, you stopped in Nevada and we did a little training and you had your girlfriend follow you and you broke down a couple times. You did girlfriend follow you and you broke down a couple times. But you're right about once you got to Washington it was the cheapest place to stay an RV park it was, and I was deploying all the time.
Speaker 1:I mean, I was the carrier, public affairs officer for USS Nimitz and I was just going to go to back-to-back workups and then go right into deployment. So for me it was a no brainer to live in an RV and I love small spaces.
Speaker 2:I feel very well, yeah Well, look at, we're used to living on a carrier. How could you not love a small space?
Speaker 1:It's just simple. It's simple and it's easy. Now I have, you know, a house in Norfolk. My husband's got a ton of toys. We have a house here. I tell him all the time God, thank God, forbid something happens to you. We got all this crap. I don't know what to do with it all because I am a very simple person and I like I like it's just a small space.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I followed your career because I went to your incense pinning ceremony and then a couple times when you made lieutenant, I went to the midway when you had your bars pinned on. And. Anita and I. I invited you to a Christmas light where we were on the yeah in San Diego.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I still have that picture. We probably should have shown it. It was I'm actually borrowed Anita's puffy jacket. She had a really colorful jacket, yeah, yeah. There's a picture of me and her in there, so that was very nice. I enjoyed seeing you guys there, so that was very nice. I enjoyed seeing you guys there and your lieutenant commander.
Speaker 2:You got pinned on there and I got to see it before you went back east.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah. I've definitely enjoyed the fact that you were able to make a lot of these events, and there were a lot of people that were really surprised that I didn't do a commander I mean not a commander but a military retirement ceremony or not. Captain, I made commander and did a small, small ceremony in Norfolk. We went on a like a oh yeah, I didn't do that one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:That's. That was the one in Norfolk. But then I didn't do the retirement the one here just in September, the retirement the one here just in September. But I almost feel like just having you on the show here was kind of my way of just closing out this chapter and getting to talk to you. I wanted to talk to you once I was retired.
Speaker 2:I know it. I wanted to talk to you, teresa, this is my birth month too. I was born in 1945, in September the 26th. Even on my birth certificate you know how they put your father's occupation. It even says B-25 radio gunner, yeah, that's great and he was out of the Italy campaign when they were chasing Mussolini out of the country. Wow, and you know, he was a very, very ruthless dictator, if you know anything about World War II dictators.
Speaker 1:Yeah, another thing that I definitely appreciate about you, ron, is that you're not afraid to speak your mind, and I've also loved following your social media journey.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, your mind, and I've also loved following your social media journey. Oh yeah, I have a lot of followers and they always, they always tell me that same thing we, we like following you. I, I do a lot of posting, uh, a political posting mostly. Uh, you know, when I first started following Trump I know politics is sore to some people to listen to, but we have a great president now. I started following him in 2015 and you know they say bring your friends when you vote well when I had a lot of friends talking to me.
Speaker 2:between the Truth Social there's another app called safechatorg, and I do X too, so I always post progress of our president.
Speaker 1:I'm very patriotic. I know you are and I support our president as well, and I've gotten some crap over it, but I'm okay with that. I don't know if you knew this, ron, I think you did. I went and supported the Hegseth nomination. I went to-.
Speaker 2:I loved Hegseth. I watched them on Fox and Friends for years I liked them on that program.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm, I had an incredible, incredible time this past January First time I've ever seen a confirmation hearing in my entire life.
Speaker 2:Oh really.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh, I've seen probably snippets of them on television before, but I've never sat in the gallery and watched one in person where all the senators are grilling the nominee. I mean, it's just political theater, but it was really entertaining you know who else was there?
Speaker 2:Who, megyn Kelly, the great podcaster? Yeah, that you probably know, of course.
Speaker 1:She was right behind.
Speaker 2:She was right behind.
Speaker 1:Yeah, In fact she went to bat for him.
Speaker 1:She was one of the few and only females that would speak up for him. Myself and three other veterans did as well, and we stand by our decision. I mean, I have no regrets about what I did and I still, to this day, believe it was the right decision and the right way that our nation needed to go, and I was proud to be a part of it. So it was an invaluable opportunity. But I always loved the way you stand your ground and you stand up for yourselves, stand up for yourself and you also stand up for others. You've always been that kind of person.
Speaker 2:Well, guess what? That's what I told the FBI agent when he came over. I told you this, right, they wanted to do a face-to-face check on you after you got commissioned, he came over and we sat at the kitchen table and I made a cup of coffee. We talked about you and what kind of a person you are, and it was. It was uh. Instead of doing it by mail, they sent him over to talk to me. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:That's nice that they do that and I and that's really important that they do that they want to make sure that the people that they're clearing for those investigations.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Takes and are are people that don't have something that someone can use against them, so it's good that they take the time to do that.
Speaker 2:So so, from the time we work together, Teresa, to the FBI following your career, it's been a blessing knowing you, Thank you.
Speaker 2:I mean you're talking about me, but I've never done this for anybody else. I mean, you know, I had to do a trip report with every BF squadron before I left. You know how many deaths they did off of the California coast, the Mexico coast, and all that. I always worked with the AEs. The AE shot and I'll never forget going up there one day with two of the youngest AEs because of supervisor told me to work with these guys. Ron, I think you could get through to them. Well, before it was over, I called them Ark and Spark because they were in the load center touching the wrong terminals together, and I told them what we were doing and I said you know, why don't you do a little bit more training before you send them up with me? You know, when you go up on the flight deck you want to trust the people who's working with you, not just in the load center, but who can watch your back Right. So the next day both of them were TAD. So apparently, apparently, he didn't like them either.
Speaker 2:So, all he needed me was an input.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, well, your, your input carried weight and people knew that you meant business when you said something and and, like you said, people, people understood that you were coming out there, out to the ship, to help them out and to take care of the things that, uh, had perplexed the team and they couldn't figure out, because you had that experience that yeah of us didn't have, so that was greatly appreciated. And oh, go ahead.
Speaker 2:Well, you want to at least do some training with the people that you're going to deploy with. So we tried to do that intervention earlier in the squadron. We would groom airplanes and that was a good time to do training where you would bring them in the hangar, spread the wings and you would groom them from. You know what grooming means. You're doing electronic grooming. The ATs would do their stuff, the AEs would do the airframes would rig the flaps and stuff like that yeah, I do remember, I do it's.
Speaker 1:It's crazy to think like after all these years, um, you know, we can still talk about these things and it's still like I can remember it, like it was yesterday, even though it was so long ago and so much has happened since then. And, like you asked me the other day, like I can't believe you, you, you decided to become a podcaster and I, and I know I was actually surprised too, teresa.
Speaker 2:Well, what drove you to? What drove you to think that that was your next career?
Speaker 1:I think it was because I wanted to talk about I think I told you this earlier I wanted to talk about the subjects that I felt like people wouldn't talk about otherwise, but in that process, I still just want to hear people's stories. And.
Speaker 1:I don't want every show to be a hard issue or a sad story. I want it to be a mix of just stories, and my father has a background in broadcasting, as you can tell when he does that intro, and so it wasn't something that was foreign to me to be able to talk onto a microphone or to speak to a camera, and I'd been doing similar kind of work as a public affairs officer, preparing others to go on camera because I write press releases and things like that.
Speaker 1:So I had already been doing some of the things that were related to podcasting before I started doing a show myself. The technical aspect, to be honest with you, ron, was the part that most intimidated me was oh gosh, how am I going to get the right backdrop or the right lighting, or how am I going to get the right backdrop or the right lighting, or how am I going to put this thing together and keep it going for every week, and what you learn is that it doesn't have to be perfect, and after you do it so many times, you just like anything else, like fixing an airplane.
Speaker 1:you get better at it because you get those reputation reps and sets of doing it and after a while, even if you make a mistake, it's okay because your audience will understand and just move on and you learn from the mistake, and so that really propelled me to continue to do it.
Speaker 1:And now it's just well, where is it going to lead? Am I going to get more involved in the local issues? I've already made some inroads there by joining the chamber here, the vfw um. So it may turn into a local show at some point. It may continue to be a national show for military people, but I I know that this is my second. Well, you know my third chapter of life and the call. I'm going to do now.
Speaker 2:Well, you do it very well, Teresa.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you. Thank you, Ron. So tell me a little bit about post-tech rep career and post-military You've lived in Nevada now for quite a number of years and tell me a little bit about retired life. You've lived in Nevada now for quite a number of years, and tell me a little bit about your retired life.
Speaker 2:Well, since I was into politics before I got out, I told you that I started following him in 2015, the Trump administration I decided to become a for my zip code. I decided to do a little bit of knocking on doors, and all that with my hat on, and you know there's a lot of people that won't open doors. But when you wear a military hat and you're trying to get somebody elected to the Clark County Board, there's a lot of people that open doors for me and would talk to the person running. So I got really heavily involved into that. Then I started getting involved in the different sites for conservatives and that consumed a lot of time, and about two months ago I signed up for a summer bowling league. So now I'm bowling on Thursdays.
Speaker 1:I love it.
Speaker 2:And I hadn't bowled in probably 50 years, I mean. So I'm on a four-person team. And as you'll recall, I'm very competitive, Teresa. I was number three in the United States and professional darts and number eight in the world. That was a career in itself. I was sponsored by Buck Knives and so instead of taking a vacation to Oakland, scotia, oklahoma, I would go to a tournament somewhere and play darts. And I made a name in darts and got sponsored, and so now I'm just kind of playing it by ear.
Speaker 1:I love it. You're an example, but the service never stops.
Speaker 2:No, do you think this is what you're going to do for a while and see where it leads?
Speaker 1:I do.
Speaker 2:I have a master's program that I, I do, I think that I have a master's program that I'm in.
Speaker 1:I think I told you about that. I'm taking a master's class at the University of San Francisco. It's mostly online, but we do have in-person sessions in DC and in San Francisco. I go to San Francisco next month and then I'll go back to DC in a few more months.
Speaker 2:And you said you're coming to a convention here in October.
Speaker 1:I am Military conference MCON. I'm going to be there. It's a three-day conference for people who are into the military community military nonprofits, military companies or companies that serve the military community, military nonprofits, military companies or companies that serve the military community. So that's part of the podcast. Yeah Is doing some of that.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's cool. Well, you're a smart lady, so I know there's going to be a lot of people that's going to follow you there. Are you going to do a podcast from there?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know yet. I know there's also another conference I'm going to at the end of this month called Military Influencer Conference and that's in Atlanta, Georgia, and I am doing a podcast there. There's a friend of mine somebody I love following, who will be there as well, and we're going to do a show together, but how?
Speaker 2:many followers do you have now, Uh?
Speaker 1:it depends on which platform. So on LinkedIn, where people are watching this live, I have about 14,000, and then the rest of them. I'd say between a thousand and 3000, and then each show, and then I just hit a thousand subscribers on uh YouTube and each podcast generates between. It's hard to tell because every show is different.
Speaker 1:Ron depends on the guest depends on the topic. Uh, depends on time of day when I'm doing the podcast. Sometimes it makes a difference, but I would say my reach is about 20,000, if I had to just make a ballpark estimate of where I stand. I'm a small creator but I enjoy it and I'm grateful to be continuing to do it and have an audience four and a half years later.
Speaker 2:So yes, that's cool there. I'll look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas when you come to the conference here. We'll have to stay in touch and have dinner together. I talked to Anita about it and she's excited to see you, so we're going to pick you up and buy you dinner.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, I can't wait. Well, I think we're gonna pick you up and buy you dinner. Awesome. Well, I can't wait. Well, I think we're kind of wrapping up the call, but is there anything. Is there anything else that I didn't ask you, that you wish I had asked, that you can think of?
Speaker 2:uh, no, I think, I think, I think we did, we covered it all as far as careers go.
Speaker 1:Awesome, I'm going to meet you backstage, but I want to thank you so much for coming on the call. I know this was your first podcast, but I would say that you hit it out of the park and you did an amazing job. I'm honored that you did it.
Speaker 2:I was getting butterflies in my stomach there, kind of like when I'm playing competitive darts and I need to win it. So that's the way I thought about it.
Speaker 1:Well, I love it. Thank you so much and if people want to know more about you, they can follow you on X. I've linked to your X account at the end of the show notes. They can follow you on X. I linked to your uh, to your X? Uh account at the end of the show notes. But, thank you, so much. I'll say goodbye to you backstage, so just stay on the call for just a moment here as. I screen. Okay.
Speaker 1:Guys, appreciate you joining me tonight and, yes, absolutely. Thank you, ron, and for all of you. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us on the Stories of Service podcast. I do have another guest tomorrow. He is part of the MARSOC 3, so I'm taking on another hard issue and hard case, but he's also a Navy Corpsman, a warfighter and my classmate, so just shows you it's a small world and it really is. Ron, it is another person that I'm just amazing, amazing to have on the show and we're going to be talking about the military justice system and all kinds of topics.
Speaker 1:So all right, guys, thank you so much for joining us. As I always say to end these calls, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other and enjoy the rest of your evening. Bye, bye now Bye.