Transacting Value Podcast
Looking for ways to reinvigorate your self-worth or help instill it in others? You're in the right place. Transacting Value Podcast is a weekly, episodic, conversation-styled podcast that instigates self-worth through personal values. We talk about the impacts of personal values on themes like job satisfaction, mitigating burnout, establishing healthy boundaries, enhancing self-worth, and deepening interpersonal relationships.
This is a podcast about increasing satisfaction in life and your pursuit of happiness, increasing mental resilience, and how to actually build awareness around what your values can do for you as you grow through life.
As a divorced Marine with combat and humanitarian deployments, and a long-distanced parent, I've fought my own demons and talked through cultures around the world about their strategies for rebuilding self-worth or shaping perspective. As a 3d Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and a lifelong martial artist, I have studied philosophy, psychology, history, and humanities to find comprehensive insights to help all of our Ambassadors on the show add value for you, worthy of your time.
Ready to go from perceived victim to self-induced victor? New episodes drop every Monday 9 AM EST on our website https://www.TransactingValuePodcast.com, and everywhere your favorite podcasts are streamed. Check out Transacting Value by searching "Transacting Value Podcast", on Facebook, LinkedIn or YouTube.
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Transacting Value Podcast
Skydiving as a Path to Transformation and Resilience with Ross Mitchell
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What happens when you leap out of a plane thousands of feet in the air? We uncover this and more in our conversation with Ross Mitchell, president of Leaps of Hope and a full-time skydiver. Skydiving isn't just a sport; it's a therapeutic journey that balances emotional highs and lows, providing a release for pent-up emotions. Ross opens up about the complexities of mental health and the pressures faced by individuals in high-stress careers. We close by spotlighting Ross's nonprofit, Leaps of Hope, which aims to offer veterans transformative experiences through skydiving. By fostering a supportive community, the organization hopes to share stories that extend beyond trauma, creating meaningful connections and a sense of purpose.
(13:29) https://www.passiton.com/
(37:16) https://cancer.va.gov/
Learn more about Leaps of Hope on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567502383806
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The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast host and guest and do not necessarily represent those of our distribution partners, supporting business relationships or supported audience. Welcome to Transacting Value, where we talk about practical applications for instigating self-worth when dealing with each other and even within ourselves, where we foster a podcast listening experience that lets you hear the power of a value system for managing burnout, establishing boundaries, fostering community and finding identity. My name is Josh Porthouse, I'm your host and we are redefining sovereignty of character. This is why values still hold value. This is Transacting Value.
Ross Mitchell:You can walk away. It's just are you willing to part ways with an identity that might be behind you at this point and you're kind of clinging on to? If you walk away, there are other opportunities out there.
Josh Porthouse:Today on Transacting Value. Who are you and how do you come across to people? How well does it match up to your expectations? More importantly, and sometimes most importantly, how accurate is it? Today's conversation we're talking to the president of Leaps of Hope, a nonprofit out of Utah. All about his experiences, what that means and what he's done about it. I'm Josh Porthouse, I'm your host and from SDYT Media, this is Transacting Value, ross. What's up, man?
Ross Mitchell:How are you doing, brother?
Josh Porthouse:I'm good. I'm good, I'm glad you made it out. It's been, I think, a long time coming now, give or take a couple of years. Maybe we've been talking about this potentially. Oh yeah, yeah. So I appreciate the opportunity, I appreciate you flying out here and making the trip, but there's a lot of stuff I think we need to catch up on. Uh, the complexity here is that nobody else knows who you are, and so I've got a little bit of an upper hand. So let's just set the stage from the beginning, build a little bit of resonance for everybody watching or listening. All right, so just take the next couple minutes. Man, who are you? All right, where are you from? Where do you live now? What sort of things are shaping your perspective on the world?
Ross Mitchell:One thank you for having me. It's really awesome to be here and Florida's awesome. I kind of don't want to go back to Utah, but don't tell my friends that I'm sure they'll see it. But my name is Ross Mitchell. I'm 29 years old. I'm from Pittsburgh, pennsylvania, born and raised, and I live out in Utah now where I own a business. We are starting a nonprofit and I am a full-time skydiver at Skydive Utah.
Josh Porthouse:Sweet Now. Is that a statewide or state-run program? Skydive Utah.
Ross Mitchell:No, skydive Utah is a small drop zone, like many of them are throughout the United States. It's a United States Parachute Association accredited drop zone out in a little valley called Tuella, utah. It's about 30 minutes west of Salt Lake City. Oh, okay, there's three drops. There's multiple drop zones Skydive Moab and Moab. Skydive Ogden a little north of Salt Lake. It's got to have the Wasatch a little south of Salt Lake. We're a bunch of drop zones all over the country, yeah.
Josh Porthouse:And when you say drop zone, these are just what airfields.
Ross Mitchell:Yeah, anywhere you drop your body and you want to land in that zone. That's where you're at. Yeah.
Josh Porthouse:Okay, all right, so it. You're saying that, though, because I think a lot of that metaphor stands pretty similarly right when you run into these positions, like, for example, for anybody who's new to the show, ross and I were actually in the Marine Corps together a while ago I think it was six, five, six some years ago.
Ross Mitchell:Eight years ago, sure Eight years ago.
Josh Porthouse:Okay, all right, and there's a lot of things I think that happened then, like in our case in Marine Corps infantry, but there's a lot of things that happened then that wouldn't happen at, like, you know, your local JCPenney or Boy Scout troop or you know whatever Any other group programs and obviously the role you're filling. But I imagine skydivers are such a uniquely tight-knit group it's got to be pretty close.
Ross Mitchell:You know, in the Marine Corps we used to say there's no one else that will give their life for you, but then steal your pack of cigarettes from you when you're not looking. Skydivers are very similar in that way. Um, sky skydivers are a uh, a roughneck crew of band of misfits that all kind of you know merge onto this island we call a drop zone and they get together and they bond through the sport of skydiving and there's a lot of similarities between what we do in the jumping uh area and in comparison to the marine corps, if we're getting ready to go on a mission or training, so on, so forth, which was a big lure for me.
Josh Porthouse:But skydivers do get very close, for for a plethora of reasons you know well, what do you think is the appeal then to that mindset, that psychographic, that kind of environment for you when it comes to working with other people or small teams, or a business.
Ross Mitchell:One thing that I've noticed about skydivers and I've noticed this in the Marine Corps too, especially the infantry is we do not do moderation right.
Ross Mitchell:We cannot do three things at 33%. We have to do one thing at 120. If we find one thing, we have to suck ourselves into it, learn everything about it and do it as best as we can, and at mass. That is most skydivers, right? They don't do moderation, they love stimulation, right? And I've learned that there's reasons for that the more you get to talk to these folks. They all come from different walks of life and they all have had a lot of challenges that they've faced. It's all relative. Not everyone's trauma is the same as the other, but more often than not I've seen that a lot of skydivers come from some type of turmoil in life and then you go to a drop zone and you go do this thing in their first tandem.
Ross Mitchell:It makes you feel so awesome afterwards. You feel so stoked and so powered. You're like man, I just did that. What's it all about? And then you start to get to know these people and you realize, wow, all these folks are just as weird as me and I can kind of let my barriers down and just be myself a little bit. And that was the allure for me. It was just somewhere you could go and be really good at what you want to do and you can beat on it as hard as you can and progress either as fast or as efficiently as you can. But while you're doing it, you're doing it with these people and you start at the same level, just like boot camp. You start at the same level and you work your way up with each other and people progress differently and they get better in different areas and you try and move neck and neck with them and it creates a camaraderie, and that camaraderie is something that a lot of people from the military miss especially when they get out.
Josh Porthouse:I think that's the biggest gap actually, because not everybody wants to keep carrying ammo cans or do whatever airframes or whatever the job was forever In fact. A lot of people want to stop sooner.
Ross Mitchell:Yeah.
Josh Porthouse:Yeah, but I think that's the biggest gap. Right, you get out and you're like, well, maybe from two different fronts On one hand, who I was or who I thought I was in the noise. Now that I don't have that sort of chaos and I see sort of that maybe wasn't me, I don't even know who I am anymore, or I had a pretty good handle on it. I liked where I was, I liked who I was, but now I don't have the people who I was with, yeah, and now I'm by myself and I think the interesting thing is, in both cases it still is lonely or can be at least in some sort of transient state where you figure it out, if you figure it out. Do you think that was something that helped you with, maybe, continuity to figure it out? You went straight from the Marine Corps to working with what? Us Parachute Association.
Ross Mitchell:No, no. After the Marine Corps I got my EMT. When I was in the Marine Corps I did some weekend classes at the local community college. I knew I wanted to be a paramedic when I got out I wanted to continue to serve in some way and I went straight to my community college at Allegheny County Community College and I got my associates of paramedicine at that community college in about two years and then I became a paramedic and then I worked full-time as a paramedic while I got my bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh in emergency medicine, and that's what I did. What led me to skydiving was a series of events that not only in my personal life, but mainly from my work life as a paramedic, that ended up leading me to burnout life as a paramedic, that ended up leading me to burnout.
Ross Mitchell:And when it led me to burnout, which I think, I burnt out way faster than some people do. I don't know how they do it People who do it 20 years in some of the areas I was working in. I look at them and I don't know how they do it. But when I look at those folks, they're struggling themselves.
Ross Mitchell:But, anyway, I had a really gnarly call one night and this was for me, it's always the straw that breaks my back. This by no means was like the goriest call that I had and, to be honest, it's not the gore that bothers you. You know, this was just a call that kind of set me over the edge and I just kind of lost it that night. I got sent home early from that shift, kind of lost it that night. I got sent home early from that shift and I kind of just, you know, was a little going through some stuff back at the house from the hours of 4 am all the way till 8 am and then when my wife left for work, when she woke up and left for work, I had no idea what to do and I was like I just want to feel something and I was like, screw it.
Ross Mitchell:I saw a video of a skydive and I always wanted to do it. I watched lots of my friends and lots of people I look up to doing it and I went and I did it and it was at Skydive Pennsylvania, in Grove City, pa, a little north of Pittsburgh, and I got there and I remember getting there and, you would think, leading up to a jump, that you would be very nervous and very like you would have jitters, and most people do, but I felt nothing like. I felt so numb at that point, you know, and uh, even getting sued up and getting on the plane, nothing you know, um, but as soon as that door opened, uh, and you feel that rush of wind coming in and it was a small cessna 182 with me and a guy named Kush I kept calling him Ralph for some reason, I don't know why, but Kush, I was attached to him and I get to the door and I'm looking down and all of a sudden I'm feeling things again and I feel fear and excitement and I feel joy. You know, I feel a little bit of peace at the same time, because it's just so nice to feel something you know. So, as soon as we left that plane man God, it was blissful. I mean, there was no spitting feeling in your stomach.
Ross Mitchell:As soon as you left, you're flying and it was the most amazing feeling ever, because nothing prepares you to do that in life ever, and you're on a mattress of air and you can push against it. Man, I was going nuts, I was losing it. I was so stoked the entire time and all those feelings that I had in those traumatic situations, either as a medic or growing up the fear, the dilated pupils, the sympathetic nervous system response, you know, the high blood pressure, high heart rate all of that came back in that moment, which was normal for me, I felt. That's why I think I kind of feel at peace. I think a lot of people feel at peace in that area, you know, when things aren't going good, it's normal for them, and so I felt all that. But then as soon as the free fall happened, as soon as the parachute opened up, it was just quiet.
Ross Mitchell:And you're so overjoyed because I'm alive.
Josh Porthouse:Oh, I bet You're like firing on every cylinder.
Ross Mitchell:Every cylinder's going V12 engine like you're ready to go. You're running on JP at jet fuel, you're amped up and I just it was so profound and I just knew I was like I'm not thinking about anything and I didn't know I wasn't thinking about anything at the time because I obviously wasn't thinking about it. But when I got down I felt so invigorated it was better than any substance I've ever taken.
Ross Mitchell:I did therapy for years which I still think therapy is extremely important, but it impacted me in more ways than therapy ever did. And I got down and I was like I want to go again, I want to go again, but I didn't have the money at the than therapy ever did. And I got down and I was like I want to go again, I want to go again, you know, but I didn't have the money at the time and I sat there and I thought about it and I was like how do I do more of this? And that's kind of how it started, you know. From there I started to make plans and quit my job and, you know, chased it full time, moved out to Utah and started chasing it. You know, chased it full time, moved out to Utah and started chasing it. All right, folks, sit tight and we'll be right back on Transacting Value.
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Ross Mitchell:I sat there and I thought about it and I was like, how do I do more of this? And that's kind of how it started, you know, from there I started to make plans and quit my job and, you know, chased it full time, moved out to Utah and started chasing it, chasing the dream.
Josh Porthouse:Yeah, and I mean changed everything. Then, wow, there's a lot of things things, too, that we've talked about here on the show. For anybody who's interested, you can hear a lot of those conversations as well, but this is a point, I think, that's really just been brought up recently, similarly to what you just described. And let me preface this by asking you a question, two of them specifically. Do you know who Jeff Foxworthy is? Comedian.
Ross Mitchell:Oh, okay.
Josh Porthouse:Have you ever heard of a show called Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
Ross Mitchell:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Josh Porthouse:The host.
Ross Mitchell:Yeah, oh, you got to be kidding me. Okay, yeah, okay, right, okay, now you put a name to the face, all right.
Josh Porthouse:All right. So my son, as of right now, at the time of this recording, especially at the time of this recording especially, he's in fifth grade. I am not, as it turned out, smarter than a fifth grader.
Josh Porthouse:Okay Me neither I'll tell you. He and I had a conversation as of right now. I think it was a couple weeks ago, maybe a couple months ago, I can't remember exactly but he asked me a question that I'm now about to ask you. Okay, you're sitting down, you feel good? You're sitting down, you feel good, you're ready to try it.
Ross Mitchell:I'm ready to go send it.
Josh Porthouse:Okay. What is a non-Newtonian fluid? Yeah, that's what happened to me too what you got First guess. Don't overthink it. I feel like I want to have a seizure right now.
Josh Porthouse:Yeah, so we were sitting there talking about it and I have no idea why it's named what it's named. Isaac Newton, first of all. That's as far as I got. Okay. A Newtonian fluid is something that as more friction is applied ie increased friction it becomes more liquid or more unstable. Okay. So, for example I don't know think like oil yeah, the more you add friction on a surface and you smear oil on a desk or whatever. Or petroleum jelly, okay, it smears and becomes more like a liquid. Okay, yeah. Or your body temperature it heats up from the friction and starts to melt, becomes more like a liquid.
Josh Porthouse:Okay, those are Newtonian fluids.
Ross Mitchell:Okay, all right.
Josh Porthouse:Non-Newtonian fluids are things where as you increase friction, you increase stability. So Okay, in regular, normal everyday life, non-newtonian additives are everywhere. You know what ketchup is If you leave it just regular condiment. If you leave it out in the bottle, let's say, and it after a while starts to separate, what happens when you shake it.
Ross Mitchell:It starts to come back together.
Josh Porthouse:It becomes more stable Friction, more like a solid as you increase friction?
Ross Mitchell:Yeah, friction brings it together. It's a non-Newtonian fluid, okay.
Josh Porthouse:Jelly Anything, it's a non-Newtonian fluid. Okay, jelly Anything, that after a while it sets and separates Milk. All the same, these are non-Newtonian fluids.
Ross Mitchell:Yeah.
Josh Porthouse:Okay, so rooted in science, not physiology. Okay, I didn't write this in a journal. I came up with this talking to a fifth grader. Okay, non-newtonian fluids and service member, first responder psychographics, mindsets, perspectives are equal. So let me put it to you like this the more somebody gets accustomed, naturally or through training, to increased amounts of friction, stress, chaos, you have one of two responses. You brought up a sympathetic response earlier, but you basically have one of two responses Figure it out or fall apart. Yep, that's it.
Ross Mitchell:I've seen both happen?
Josh Porthouse:Yeah Well, in the increasing amounts of chaos and conflict that comes with a war zone, you know, a fog of war or some degree of uncertainty or confusion, complexity, whatever that happens there, or any other stressful environment as a paramedic, whatever Some people find it more comforting and easier to focus, more natural in that environment, more stable in that environment. Now, what happens when you remove the chaos, you remove the friction, you separate, you're disjointed and you don't really have any purpose anymore. No stability. And so I think these non-Newtonian mindsets, these military, psychographics, law enforcement, first responders, fire services, all collectively fill that same category. Do you think that people, for example, who are looking to skydive, learning to skydive, want to skydive, or do it professionally or whatever, feel that same category, or is it more based on the adrenaline rush and the sort of addiction or whatever that that causes?
Ross Mitchell:I'd be careful for me to generalize it, as everybody would be that way, because I've definitely met people who have—so you said non-Newtonian is friction gives stability, but for Newtonian, friction gives instability. Essentially, individuals who come from very good backgrounds, good upbringings, haven't met a lot of strife in their upbringings and they really cling to it.
Ross Mitchell:And I think for a lot of them. For them it just might be the thrill of the adrenaline, something that as human beings, we're built to endure. That through years and years of evolution, we have that built into us too. The sympathetic nervous system, for example. The fight or flight response it's built in us. Everybody has a way of responding to it, and you said how people sometimes like Newtonian, non-newtonian. I've seen both. I've seen people crumble and I've seen people rise to the occasion on stressful occasions. But there's a good saying experience is something you get shortly after you need it. I like that. Yeah, it's a great saying and I love that. I've seen police officers freeze in the moment because they're new and then I've seen them respond very well in the next few calls.
Josh Porthouse:Conversely, I've also seen veterans not by military status, but by more experience. I've also seen veterans freeze in certain circumstances.
Josh Porthouse:Right and think about it like this. Here's something that's interesting too. You work for, let's say, 15 years, 20 years, 10 years, whatever, however long and pick a field first responder, cop, fire, science service member, whatever applies right. You work for an extended period of time and you're one of these types of people that thrives in chaos, and you've got some degree of stability in these moments, right, for any number of reasons. And then you go home and your wife asks you a question like what do you want for dinner? And you're like Jesus, right now I just need some space to myself.
Josh Porthouse:Are you really that stable? Because now, what's the difference? There's less friction, maybe, and so, by our metaphor we talked about earlier in fifth grade, science, you know, maybe it's still applicable. But like, how adjusted are you actually? Because I think the threshold there, the importance there, is, you've got to be able to switch back and forth. I think that malleability is the actual important factor that requires the most training, the most time and service to put in your training hours, because I think that's where the detriment is without it.
Ross Mitchell:You know we talked about moderation. Right and balance and moderation might be somewhat synonymous. Maybe I'm sure they're not synonyms, but they can go hand in hand together. What I've noticed amongst a lot of first responders is that they don't do moderation either, and when it comes to the compartmentalization side of it, they don't moderate that. They compartmentalize and they're good at it. But that can be a problem too. It's a problem because the trunk can only get so full until it explodes open. I've seen this happen time and time again, and usually it doesn't happen where you think it would happen, on a bad call or something like that. It happens when you burn oil in a pan at the house in your kitchen which happened to me, like I was noticing when I was back home in Pittsburgh.
Ross Mitchell:These little things would set me off, and set me off in ways that I never saw myself with that type of anger. It bothered me, it reminded me of my father.
Josh Porthouse:But it is anger though.
Ross Mitchell:It was anger, absolutely, it was 100% anger. And what it was was me compartmentalizing in these situations and calls that I would respond to and realizing now's not the time to get angry, now's not the time to get stressed. Now's not the time to get sad. I have a job to do. I have to tell a loved one some bad news. I have to be professional right now. I have to tell a loved one some bad news. I have to be professional right now. I have a guy who's a rapist and he was shot six times and I have to treat him. I can't afford to look at him and say, I'm just going to let you bleed out right now, or something like that. I have to help him. I have to put away all my—it's a very hard thing to do to put your—especially when you're a moral person. Most people who go into first response they want to help people. They're usually moral folks, usually, you know. And when you put aside those morals for so long because you have a job to do, where does all that energy go? Yeah.
Ross Mitchell:It goes somewhere. A repressed memory is still a memory in the head. You just can't remember it, but it comes out at different points in life depending on the trigger stimulus that you experience, you know. So I personally, I tell everybody this, and skydivers are guilty of this too. You know, skydiving is inherently dangerous. We had 10 deaths in 2023 throughout the entire nation, which is extremely low for what it was in the 60s or 70s, and we're very proud of that.
Ross Mitchell:But I've had friends who compartmentalize in skydiving and you know, if someone, if one of their good friends, gets hurt and they have thousands of jumps or they die, you can hear it in their voice. You can hear them say I told him not to do it. You've known this guy for 12 years. Yeah, yeah, well, you know. I'm like I know what you're doing. You're compartmentalizing right now, but then I see those guys later on, you know, at the parking lot or something like that, and see them breaking down because you know someone said something small to them the wrong way throughout the day and it was just enough. You have to talk, you have to process these things, because all that energy goes somewhere and it builds up, and it builds up and it builds up until you explode one day All right, folks sit tight and we'll be right back on Transacting Value.
Josh Porthouse:Join us for Transacting Value, where we discuss practical applications of personal values, every Monday at 9am on our website transactingvaluepodcastcom, Wednesdays at 5pm and Sundays at noon on wreathsacrossamericaorg slash radio.
Ross Mitchell:You have to talk, you have to process these things, because all that energy goes somewhere and it builds up, and it builds up, and it builds up, until you explode one day.
Josh Porthouse:Well, actually it's a lot like what we were saying earlier when we were talking about science. You brought it up and I'm pretty sure it was also Isaac Newton I don't know, buddy, you'll have to tell me when we talk later but I'm pretty sure it was also Isaac Newton where he said everything about energy, that it's neither created nor destroyed, it just changes form. And so, to the same point and I like what you said about compartmentalization you start putting all these emotions and experiences into these compartments, right on an ambulance, on a fire engine, whatever same thing in a humvee, right, you start putting it in these compartments. And what does that do for you in an operation in terms of your efficiency and action? Raise it up absolutely, 100, absolutely, and then you put it back where you found it and that's where it stays and it has a place and a name and a role until it doesn't. And then it has to go somewhere.
Josh Porthouse:And so what happens with the gear that you don't use anymore? It goes to the lot, somewhere for somebody else to use, to pillage, to sell, to burn, to recycle, to whatever. It still goes somewhere, but it's no longer fulfilling the purpose that it did in the beginning. It's no longer fulfilling the purpose that it did in the beginning. And I think to the point you brought up about grief or even moderation, that you can't be on a high all the time, and I don't even mean like a heightened mental or emotional state. As a high I just mean, not a low. You know what I mean. So you can't avoid being depressed all the time.
Ross Mitchell:No, it has to happen. Yeah, in some way.
Josh Porthouse:And I think that's why having some demon slaying enterprise is necessary. You have to find your Virgil and go for a walk every so often and just deal with it. You know you take your sabbatical, that I don't know 12,000 feet to zero. Great, do it If that's what works for you. You know, if you got to go somewhere to yell, why not do it? Going 180 miles an hour or whatever it is, and and I think those are powerful opportunities. But I have to think when you're at that degree of stimulation, there's a crash. That takes place, at least in the beginning, if not every time. Am I far off the mark?
Ross Mitchell:No, tomorrow when you jump, you're going to feel it. When you get down, you're going to feel like you just sprinted three miles, but you're going to look at your wife and be like whatever you want to do today.
Josh Porthouse:I don't care, we'll do whatever.
Ross Mitchell:Which is the nice part of it? It levels you, you know. Sure but there is a crash.
Josh Porthouse:Yeah, so I mean it sounds like it almost force feeds an opportunity to process that maybe before you were neglecting even still.
Ross Mitchell:Yeah.
Josh Porthouse:Right, so, okay. So saying that then it's everything in an equal and opposite reaction, right? So as high as you get, is that as low as you go, do you think, in terms of a behavior, an emotion or cognition after a jump, does that, do you think, have the potential to exacerbate any of these compartmentalized feelings?
Ross Mitchell:I think on the first. It's when you have 500 jumps or a lot of jumps, you start to get a little desensitized to some things you know. But the highs come from different types of things that happen up there For you. Tomorrow you're going to experience that high, you know. Things that happen up there For you. Tomorrow you're going to experience that high, you know. And as far as the proportions of it, yeah, it is the highest you can possibly be right there, but it does insinuate that you are going to have a crash.
Ross Mitchell:There's been many times and you made me think of it, but there have been many times where I've had great days at the drop zone and I drive home borderline in tears because I'm mellowed out. And now I'm thinking about things and I'm happy. But now I'm processing things a little bit more. I'm thinking about how did I get here, what happened during that time? And it all led me to this spot. Why did I respond that way? How would I respond now?
Ross Mitchell:Looking back on that, and I think it gives you, instead of a 90-degree sight picture, it gives you more of a 108-degree or even 360-degree sight picture. Skydiving it's not a fix, it is definitely a treatment. But when you combine these modalities with therapy and you're having this balance in your life and you're able to go to therapy and you're actually able to get a little bit more of a better product out of it. I think it overall just benefits everything. But, like you said, there needs to be a low point, there needs to be depression. I think today there's a large emphasis on happiness in social media today, yeah, and I think it's good. But at the same time I think it might give people a skewed reality on how the human psyche works and what should be happening up there. You're not supposed to be happy 100% of the time. You won't appreciate anything.
Josh Porthouse:Conversely, seeing other people be happy 100% of the time. You need to learn to appreciate some things too, but for the exact same reason. Right, it goes both ways. And so having opportunities like that whether it's skydiving or whatever it is, I think is a powerful opportunity to have, is a powerful opportunity to have, but sort of an interesting position of authority to give somebody that degree of ownership back. You know so many people. I talked to a guy a few days ago who went and had breakfast. He retired as a registered nurse after 40 years. That's a long time and in Pennsylvania, as a matter of fact, long time. And in Pennsylvania, as a matter of fact, and as his sort of off ramp out of his nursing career, he decided he was going to go work in emergency and disaster management to sort of temper down the chaos. I guess I'm not sure.
Josh Porthouse:Reduce the complexity incrementally, whatever.
Ross Mitchell:Yeah, he's titrating, he's attempting to.
Josh Porthouse:Yeah, yeah, well so after a couple years he said dude, this is too much. I've been hospitalized in the ER five times for stress, I'm just done, and that was it. And then he just retired and that was a little while ago. So you know, there's all sorts of things, I think, where you try to manage that lack of control or perceived lack of control. But even in those environments it's like you said earlier, I don't know how people do it for 20 years Paramedic, for example, which is arguably very similar to being in the military, or law enforcement, or firefight, all the above first responders that gives you the same degree of perspective where I remember, in my first four years, I remember sitting there hearing people that had been in for whatever 12, 15, 17, 25, some odd years all say very similar things that you know I've been doing this for so long.
Josh Porthouse:I'm on my third wife and you know whatever Good thing, gunny's got alcohol in the office. You know whatever, I'm just going to go out and shoot guns this weekend. You're like, dude, what are you doing with yourself?
Ross Mitchell:A little bit of a crude acceptance in it.
Josh Porthouse:yeah, well it may be an attempt and maybe it was all joking, you know.
Ross Mitchell:I don't know, I don't.
Josh Porthouse:I, especially at the time, didn't have like you said, I didn't have insight into those groups. I just knew from the bottom of the hierarchy, looking up and hearing the sound waves come down the mountain. That's all I knew. So it seemed to be the reality, right? So I didn't want that. Then I got there and I was like, nope, this is exactly what people are doing, this is exactly how people are talking. You know, and maybe not all, maybe not most, but the ones I came across was fairly accurate Multiple marriages, multiple poor coping strategies and trying to find outlets to process those things in one manner of effect and success or another.
Josh Porthouse:And so then getting into a position where you are now working with a nonprofit providing a service and an opportunity to instead take people this is at least how I see it to instead take people from. This is just how it is in the system. Whatever the system is, this is just how it is. You just got to suck it up, you just got to deal with it, cope with it and process every one Like, no, you don't, you can walk in and, as maybe trivial or childish as it seems like, you can walk into that room and leave your bad attitude outside, or however you want to phrase it, and go to work Like it is still exactly what you make of it. You know, and I don't know that that's as well or widely publicized, but you're creating opportunities to give people that ownership back. Yeah, that's huge.
Ross Mitchell:You can walk away. You know, sometimes, like for me, I walked away from a job and I listened to my gut. Yeah, but it was an identity crisis. Right, I said my identity is I'm here to serve. Yeah, and that's what I want in life. I was put here on this earth to make sure that others are okay and my personal entrance and my personal well-being is secondary. And this is a common perception amongst first responders in the military. You know, you're trained to be that way. It's why we're good at the job. But that individual who is struggling so much, going into the same job every day, they're not saying anything about it and they're just like this is it until I retire or I die? I'm going to get cancer you just accept it.
Ross Mitchell:You just accept it, right, you can walk away. It's just are you willing to part ways with an identity that might be behind you at this point and you're kind of clinging on to If you walk away? There are other opportunities out there and there's a lot of beautiful, amazing people out there that are willing to help you, which is a big reason for Leaps of Hope. I know what it feels like to feel horrible and that's a big reason why one of the values I live by is kindness. I try and be kind to everybody I meet.
Ross Mitchell:Now, you never know what someone's going through. You never know, you have no idea what just happened in that person's day and you just being kind to them for just a couple seconds might make their day. It might stop them from doing something drastic when they go home or something like that. So kindness is one of them. It's a huge value that I really care about a lot and I think the people I surround myself with believe that as well from the friends that I have.
Ross Mitchell:But with Leaps of Hope, we know people are still out there feeling like this is it and I have nothing left, this is all it is for me, or they feel that they have nowhere to go, they have no other options, no other outlets, and they feel like no one's coming, or they feel that they can't reach out for help In the Marine Corps. How would it have gone if a four-time divorced gunny alcoholic went to his leadership and said he was depressed? He'd be all right, go back to work. Right, he'd be all right, go back to work, or, depending on how vindictive the leadership is, they might try— he doesn to go to work anymore.
Ross Mitchell:Yeah, you don't have to go to work. They might try and get rid of you, Right? So it doesn't. The Marine Corps doesn't do necessarily a great job of fostering mental well-being, but leaders like you you know help that, which is why I'm thankful guys like you stay in.
Josh Porthouse:Alrighty, folks sit tight and we'll be right back on Transacting Value.
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Josh Porthouse:Marine Corps doesn't do necessarily a great job of fostering mental well-being, but leaders like you, you know, help that, which is why I'm thankful guys like you stay in Well let me also caveat that dovetail here, whatever the expression is right, because got that dovetail here, whatever the expression is right, because that has been the case and I'm also going to speculate in every branch or any military around the world because you have to build some sort of intentional distancing or coping mechanism to do things that aren't as natural and sometimes inhumane, like shoot somebody, right.
Josh Porthouse:But to that point I think there's also, like you were talking about, a degree of ownership that you can foster with just a little bit of kindness. You know you walk digging a fighting hole right Like a six foot deep hole, for example, that you stand in and well, that's about it, you stand in it, and so to have somebody walk up and down this line of holes as you're digging, it gives you a little bit of hope and purpose when somebody who's not digging, like the commander or whoever, walks up and says you doing okay. Mm-hmm.
Josh Porthouse:I didn't actually know anybody cared. No, not at all. I really don't want to do this. I'm tired and I'm really hungry. Thanks for asking, sir.
Ross Mitchell:Grant, no one's ever checked on me when I've been digging a fighting hole.
Josh Porthouse:I wish they would have. But maybe it's hypothetical then for some people. But to have those kinds of opportunities and conversations where everybody knows nobody here is having a good time that you still extend some sort of a hand not a handout, but a hand it can make all the difference. You know, and the irony here, with all of this, you said your identity changed. I don't know that it has really that much. I mean, you're still, it sounds like in a position where you're helping other people heal and putting you second. It's just the application of that skill set is now drastically different than in an ambulance, for example. So you know, there's got to be, I think, a little bit of comfort in that kind of continuity.
Josh Porthouse:You know, because I don't want to make it sound futile as an effort, but to be able to be in a position where you can reinvent the application of your strengths without losing sight of who you are, as long as you have awareness of what those strengths happen to be you know you.
Josh Porthouse:You know your character. You mentioned your value systems. This is a good point, I suppose in the conversation called developing character D-D-D Developing character. So for anybody who's new to the show Ross, obviously you included. It's two questions. Entirely up to you how in-depth you want to answer it. But here's the reason. I have a working theory that values are a shortcut to identity and grounding and deepening relationships and they become that sort of continuity for our decisions in application. And so not all of what you accomplished is because you were taught or because you chased it. I have to believe some of it was just natural and you grew up around these types of values or character or something about it. So my two questions are one, what were some of the values you were raised on or that you remember growing up around? And two, after all your experiences now to this point, what then are some of your values now?
Ross Mitchell:experiences now to this point. What, then, are some of your values now? Growing up with the environment that I was in, there was a lot of turmoil. My father had to play a lot of roles. He was a phenomenal provider. He went to work every day, sometimes seven days a week. Blue collar job, working for the city any job he could find just to put food on the table. Seven days a week blue collar job, working for the city any job he could find just to put food on the table. He was a recovering addict and he was. He came from a generation um, and, knowing his father and how he was raised, uh, he was raised very disciplinary, very authoritarian, um, and that's just the only way he knew how to parent and he was under a lot of stress.
Ross Mitchell:My mom was using um all the way up until I was about 11 or 12 years old which are performative years for any child and she was constantly in and out all the time. When she was around, she was great, very loving, just very happy to be there and just have a moment of peace with her kids. Just very happy to be there and just have a moment of peace with our kids. But when she was gone and she was struggling with her addiction. It was me and my sister. For the most part, my sister watched me. Sometimes we didn't have a babysitter, sometimes we did. She's older, she's a little older. She was born in 91. I was born in 95.
Ross Mitchell:Okay, we're a little close, but my father had a lot of stress under him and I actually talked with him about this years ago and he contemplated leaving multiple times and I appreciate that he didn't, you know, but he was going to take care of us. So he never gave up. Like I really appreciate that about my father. He never gave up, but he I really appreciate that about my father he never gave up and uh, but he had a temper on him and growing up with the lack of attention that I was getting, I found any way that I couldn't get attention. The biggest thing was making you smile. Well, if I can make you laugh, no matter how that didn't, no matter how I did good or bad usually bad that meant some approval for me.
Ross Mitchell:It meant like oh, oh, like a validation, like a validation Interesting, like, oh, I'm in their good graces right now. You know, like, oh, maybe they're going to stick around, you know, because I was always used to the person I always wanted around leaving, you know, but my father, when he was with me, he became very distrusting of the people around him, even family, really Very distrusting, because he couldn't trust the people closest to him. A lot of the time, you know, he was in a very bad position and with me acting out and me getting in trouble, I think I set the record for most detentions in first grade or something like that.
Ross Mitchell:But I was constantly in in-school suspension. I was constantly getting in trouble. I think I set the record for most detentions in first grade or something like that. But I was constantly in school suspension. I was constantly getting into fights. I'm sure that didn't help. It did not help and he only knew one way to discipline and he did it, you know, and I was usually the receiving end of that all the time. So I caught beatings Uh, they were not spankings, you know, they were beatings and I I remember going to school in my head with throb for days, you know.
Ross Mitchell:So, um, I didn't really understand boundaries growing up. I didn't understand how to speak for myself. I was labeled as a bad kid, you know, even from some other family members, just because they thought I was humorous at the time, you know. And they're just like ah, you know, but for a kid, you know, that sticks, it sticks in your head. So I had very low self-esteem, very low confidence, and I constantly was just trying to get approval and that follows me all the way into adulthood. Even now I know when it's happening now and I try and take a step back when I know it's happening, especially with friends and whatnot, like no, let's hold your friend accountable right now. You don't have to tell them what they want to hear. You need to tell them what they need to hear right now. So that's helped me a lot.
Ross Mitchell:But growing up it caused a lot of issues. So I really, when I look at my childhood and I was telling you like I have a hard time even today processing some of the things that happen. So I'm still learning as I go. I'm only 29. This stuff didn't happen that long ago, um and uh. I think what I got mainly from from growing up was uh, never give up on on a, on a dream or an idea that you have Cause. My father's dream was to have his wife by his side all the time and for her to be doing well and for her to do well so she can do well for us. And I think that's maybe one of the values that I got from him was don't give up, and if you keep on working, if you keep doing it, something good will happen. Maybe my mom won't come back, but maybe his kids might do something good in the future. Something like that. You know, with the good things that happen might not always be what your exact idea is in your head, but I am not regretful of what happened growing up. Um, that lot did happen, uh, but uh, I'm happy that it all happened, because it's the reason why I am today.
Ross Mitchell:I always say if you've truly ever felt bad in your life, you never want anybody else to feel that way. If you know what that feels like like really know what it feels like unless you're a sociopath you don't want people to feel that way. Yeah, it's horrible. I remember I did a veterans retreat to Colorado one time. We were summiting this mountain. It's horrible. I remember I did a. I did a veterans retreat to Colorado One time. We were summiting this mountain. It sucked Like I mean, it was eight hours of high altitude headaches and high altitude sickness and we sat down right before the peak and we talked about stuff and they were in a very vulnerable like you're tired, you're saying whatever you want. It was the things I was talking about were hurting so much. I would have much rather went up that mountain and went back to the pain. Yeah, so it says something that how strong can your emotions be that you would much rather prefer severe physical pain rather than deal with your emotions.
Ross Mitchell:It shows that they're pretty powerful in the end. So everything that happened when I was a kid, I'm not then deal with your emotions. It shows that they're pretty powerful in the end. So everything that happened when I was a kid I'm not angry about anymore. I just know that they turned me into who I am today. But the values that I got from my father was he gave me a lot, even though I was pretty hard on him for a little bit.
Josh Porthouse:Well, it goes both ways in time.
Josh Porthouse:It's interesting and this is really one of the last points I guess I'll bring up for the sake of time, but it's interesting.
Josh Porthouse:You spend so long at least in my case, I spent so long feeling like I was running further and further away from the people I didn't want to become which, when I was younger, were basically my parents that I had kicked up so much dust and so much dirt and just running that I didn't realize it was a circular track, good way of putting it and eventually I think, I started to resent some of that, and maybe to a degree I still do.
Josh Porthouse:Like you said, you figure it out as you grow. But in that I also started to appreciate then what was happening or what had happened growing up, just in a light that I wasn't necessarily familiar with. So you're certainly not alone in that assessment. And it's interesting the amount of opportunities you have or that you can create to talk to people about it. And so I guess, speaking of opportunities and probably my last question for the sake of time here but as far as Leaps of Hope is concerned, for anybody that's interested in that experience wants to find out more about that experience, or even skydiving in general, what it can do for them as a therapy, as an outlet, as just an opportunity to live a different level of life where do people go?
Ross Mitchell:So right now we're in the founding phases of it. Everything's in with the lawyer. We have the process going with the IRS, which is the longest part, but we're paid up and we're ready to go. We're going to be building a website here very soon. We're in the project management phase with one of my board members and, as of right now, we just have social media. My board members and, as of right now, we just have social media. So the biggest part with this with the nonprofit as novice as I am at this is exposure. Right, I need people to know what this is well before we even get up and going Absolutely yeah, exactly.
Ross Mitchell:So exposure and marketing. So we have Instagram, we have Facebook right now, keeping it simple, instagram is phenomenal, but on Instagram we're called Leaps of Hope, all one thing, no underscores or anything like that, just Leaps of Hope. And then my personal Instagram is here for the thrills, thrills, with a Z at the end instead of an S. Classy, exactly, yeah, words spelling. But people can reach out to me through either outlet. Okay, and it's, it's going to. It's it's. I read every message I get and I have a lot of people who want to be candidates, who want to come in and do this, but reaching out to me on social media right now is going to be the best way and I upload everything to that.
Josh Porthouse:To Instagram or. Both.
Ross Mitchell:To Instagram and Facebook. I upload everything to that and that's how everyone stays aware and up to date with all the info and what we're doing. Sweet, we have a lot of people who want to back it. So Black Rifle Coffee a few of their representatives there, like Dean and Edwin, have expressed interest in wanting to back it and sponsor it. Having conversations with Shields Going to be having a conversation with Red Bull if everything works out and a lot of canopy companies, a lot of small, veteran-owned businesses. They all understand you, get it. You know what.
Ross Mitchell:I mean, anyone who's been there gets it. So we have a lot of people who want to get behind this, which is overwhelming, I feel like way over my head. But I'm going to figure it out. I am unequivocally determined to get this done and I will get it done.
Ross Mitchell:It's the one thing that I want to leave behind, if something were to ever happen to me, is this right here, and we have a board of military, former military and all skydivers with a vast background, some vast corporate backgrounds, special operations backgrounds, some still active, still in um, female, male, uh, a lot of different perspectives on the board.
Ross Mitchell:But essentially what we're going to try and do is we're going to take people in tandems at first and then whoever expresses interest or whoever really shows a want to keep going in the sport, we'll fly them out, we'll house them, we're going to put them in the wind tunnel and get them trained up so that when they go to Accelerated Free Fall School AFF, they're successful and they, they can, they can progress um, pay for their aff, pay for their license, give them gear I'm hoping to get them parachutes, get them everything to get them into the sport entry level and then give them in that community that's you know we were saying earlier the guys out there who are struggling, our organization and many others like it. Like we will find you and we will help you out. We'll give you something Sweet. You know, even if you don't like skydiving after you get done with it, you still got it. You know it might lead you on to better things.
Josh Porthouse:Well, like you said, the amount of clarity after the fact may be just the hook or the trigger that you need to start moving into a direction that suits you better.
Ross Mitchell:Yeah.
Josh Porthouse:Yeah, tough call, man, but I appreciate the opportunity to sit here and talk, to cover this, to talk about leaps of hope, to talk about just reconciling how you come across to yourself as yourself, to other people in relationships, the catalyst for that to be able to do it effectively. It's such a powerful opportunity. Whether or not you realize it, man, you're effectively with the rest of us, digitizing American military subculture and it's not showcased anywhere else. And it's not showcased anywhere else and any more than, like you know, invest in gold, join this organization, don't forget to get your hearing aids and file for TRICARE and, you know, education benefits and all those things are cool, but we're way more than our trauma and these conversations show that.
Ross Mitchell:Yeah.
Josh Porthouse:Yeah, so I appreciate it, man.
Ross Mitchell:No, thank you for having me Super cool.
Josh Porthouse:This was great to talk. Super cool and these conversations show that.
Ross Mitchell:Yeah, so I appreciate it, man. No, thank you for having me Super cool. This was great to talk Super cool. Finally, all this stuff is super hard for me to even say just because I've been around so many people who had so much worse, but it's all relative.
Ross Mitchell:Absolutely, in the end, it's all relative. We all have the same feelings and sitting here and talking with you, even if we weren't talking about this, I'm just grateful to be around you again, man, I missed you. Oh, that's cool, missed you a lot. I appreciate that. Yeah, I appreciate that, thank you for having me.
Josh Porthouse:Yeah, definitely. And to everybody who's obviously tuned in to listen to this conversation or to watch it here on YouTube, a couple points for you guys. One conversation on you can click see more. You can click show more, and in the drop down description for this conversation, you'll be able to see links to Leaps of Hope on Instagram and Facebook. Once your website comes up, let me know, shoot me a text or an email. We'll add it in as well, for right now, social media is where you're going to find it. Now, saying that. The other thing I'll leave you with If you like this conversation or not and you want to hear more of our conversations If you like this conversation or not and you want to hear more of our conversations, go to our website TransactingValuePodcastcom.
Josh Porthouse:When you get to the homepage, here's a really cool opportunity we have for everybody. In the top right-hand corner, there's a button that says Leave a Voicemail. Do it. It's two minutes of talk time. It's all yours, yeah, and you'll be able to do and say anything you want. Here's my recommendation for what you can do with it.
Josh Porthouse:One tell us what you think about the show, my style, my questions, the topics, the insight, the ideas, how will you understand what we're trying to get across? Give us some feedback and let us know the production value. Relay to my team how good of a job you think they're doing and I'll ensure that they get your message. But secondly, tell Ross what you think about the conversation. Give him some feedback, because we're all growing through life together, separately and what you think about Leaps of Hope as an idea, as an outlet, as an opportunity, and then they can better build out that nonprofit, their strategic partners, the opportunities and the benefits to anybody for potential therapies or anything else they can do with it. That's what makes this process possible the feedback. So take the opportunity. I appreciate you letting me share this one and maybe even your drive home with you. But for right now and until next time, that was Transacting Value. Thank you to our show partners and folks. Thank you for tuning in and appreciating our value as we all grow through life together.
Josh Porthouse:To check out our other conversations or even to contribute through feedback follows, time, money or talent and to let us know what you think of the show, please leave a review on our website, transactingvaluepodcastcom. We also stream new episodes every Monday at 9 am Eastern Standard Time through all of your favorite podcasting platforms like Spotify, iheart and TuneIn. You can now hear Transacting Value on Wreaths Across America Radio, eastern Standard Time. Wednesdays at 5 pm, sundays at noon and Thursdays at 1 am. Head to wreathsacrossamericaorg. Slash transactingvalue to sponsor a wreath and remember, honor and teach the value of freedom for future generations. On behalf of our team and our global ambassadors, as you all strive to establish clarity and purpose, ensure social tranquility and secure the blessings of liberty or individual sovereignty of character for yourselves and your posterity, we will continue instigating self-worth and we'll meet you there Until next time. That was Transacting Value.
