The Veterans Growing America Podcast

Caleb Green | Legacy Shield Rep | Veterans Growing America Podcast

• Donnell Johns & Coach R.L. Simmons

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In this episode of the Veterans Growing America Podcast, Coach R.L. Simmons and Donnell Johns sit down with retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant Caleb Green.

Caleb shares a powerful, wide-ranging story: 30 years of active-duty service, 14 years as a Signal Soldier, and then a rare pivot into elite ceremonial performance with the United States Army Band (Pershing’s Own), where his voice carried him from field life to some of America’s most historic stages.

You’ll hear how discipline, humility, consistency, and faith shaped his journey—along with what meaningful impact looks like after retirement when your gift becomes your lane. Caleb also speaks on leadership, service, raising a family with strong values, and what it really means to build “the ark” before the rain shows up.

This episode is part masterclass, part motivation, and all heart—built for veterans, entrepreneurs, and anyone trying to stay the course when the work isn’t “paying off” yet.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

  • Caleb’s 30-year Army journey: Signal to Ceremonial + National stages
  • How military communication skills translate into entertainment and leadership
  • Real lessons on discipline, foundation, humility, and consistency
  • Faith, fruit, and building for the future (before the storm hits)
  • Caleb’s work in the DC market and beyond, including major events and audiences
  • Veteran community, mentorship, and why VGA matters

Connect with Caleb Green:

  • Instagram: @NoahsArk151
  • Voices of Service: @VoicesofService
  • Linktree: Voices of Service + Caleb Green (links shared in episode)

Connect with the hosts:

If this episode encouraged you, do three things:

  1. Like the video
  2. Subscribe for more veteran entrepreneur stories
  3. Share it with someone who needs discipline and direction right now

 And if you’re in the DMV—stop by the store in Woodbridge, VA and… shop, baby.




SPEAKER_00

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Veterans Grown America podcast. I am Coach R.L. Simmons. I am here with my illustrious co-host Donnell Johns, and we have another special guest for you today. We have Mr. Caleb Green. He is a retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant, and we deem him the Velvet Voice. Welcome to the show, sir.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you, sir. Thank you, coach. Appreciate it. Sorry, Major. Appreciate y'all. Hey, Caleb.

SPEAKER_01

Um, first of all, I I know we're good friends, but you're one of my only friends that has his own Wikipedia page. And so, you know, yeah, we we looked you up today. We did some homework on you. But could you share a little bit about your military connected background and experience that we can't find on your Wikipedia page?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so seeing this, I might need to go check that now that you mentioned it. Yeah, truth be told, yeah. So U.S. Army veteran, I served 30 years in the Army, active duty. I'm an alumn of Hampton University, where I had the option to go to ROTC and do that, but no, not me. I am actually 1-800 an NCO. So I spent the first 14 years of my military career as a signal soldier. So I'm a tactical communicator and did all of that stuff. I was serving post-Vietnam, Cold War, Gulf War, Second Gulf War, and the War on Terror, or however you want to look at it, however you want to call it. And I feel like sometimes I still serve today, you know, through all of those phases. The second half of my career, I came from the battlefield basically into the halls of our legislative bodies. So all of the executive branches, the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. I served with the United States Army band Pershing Zone as a vocalist. So I like to say I literally came from the outhouse to the White House. And that's that's like nothing could be truer about the differences in um what a day is like compared to what it is being in the field. So hopefully I covered all bases there.

SPEAKER_01

No, you did. You did. You said from the the outhouse to the white house though?

SPEAKER_03

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So I was in Alaska. It was uh 50 below, ambient, not wind chill. And my best friend called me from Oklahoma and he said, Hey man, you're not gonna believe this. I got an audition, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, man, listen. I'm so happy for it. I am falling. I'm like, I knew it. Like, I told you, you know, you got it going on. And why wouldn't I believe it? You know, I'm hyping him up. He said, Well, guess what? I'm like, what's that? You know, I'm like at home shivering. And uh, he goes, They would like for you to come and audition as well. I'm like, how? I was singing background on his CD that we recorded when I was in Oklahoma. And by the grace of God, they heard me, I was singing bass at the time, so I was singing a bass voice. And if you listen to me now, it's like, there's no way he sang bass. Yes, I was a bass vocalist. And now they got me, they done squose my waist real tight and I sing really, really high sometimes. So but that's how I got to the U.S. Army band on my friend's audition tape. And like I said, by the grace of God, I got to spend 16, you know, and a half years there. So that was it was great. Uh just an incredible journey if you want to know the truth about it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's actually a blessing. Tell me a little bit about how your military experience influenced your journey into entertainment. Wow, that's a great question.

SPEAKER_03

Listen, the ability to speak on the radio and have to speak concisely, and I'm talking about AM radio, FM radio, and tactical satellite, which is teletype, but always having to have protocol, always having to understand, you know, having the ability to be able to speak clearly, and then I could translate those skills when I was on stage and speak to the audience where they were. So if you go, if we had a performance and we were with artillery, well, I have been in the field, so I know just enough about artillery to be dangerous. But you speak their language and you get them fired up. And musically, we were excellent, but sometimes you don't connect because you don't know. You don't know what you don't know. But I was able to incorporate all of the things that I learned in the field, and and God just gave me so many opportunities. Like I said, whether it was a song, whether it was uh speaking or, you know, being an MC or whatever the case may be, and I had the poise and the bearing to be able to work in those environments kind of flawlessly. It was natural, it was organic. I could say things, you know, the the you with the engineers, SAL, you know, let us try. That that's all of these things. I had been there. So it was second nature to me, and it helped me tremendously.

SPEAKER_01

So talk to me a little bit about your career, like not only your military career, but your follow-on career after the military and where where where things have taken you.

SPEAKER_03

Wow. Man, how much time do we have? I am so blessed. I started at Hampton University as a music education major. I was an artist, like I said, and I left school and came into the army with the intent of going back and finishing my degree. That was a long time ago. It was back in the 1900s. It was a long time ago. I got married. My wife and I, we've been married uh 38, getting ready to be 39 years, with seven children, so I have my family. Um I served as a tactical communicator, like I said, tactical communicator, I'm sorry. And then I um went to the schoolhouse. I'm actually the United States Army Signal Center instructor of the year for 1993. Um I had gone to all of the promotion boards and done all of that stuff. I made E5 promotable in like three and a half years. Wow. But I didn't get promoted. I stayed in E for 10 years, 10 and a half years. 10 and a half. Man, that was the longest, shortest 10 and a half years of my life. Because it's just a couple of duty stations. But whereas I should have been in E7, I was still in E5. And that was a little bit frustrating. But like I said, I'd done great things. I would, you know, SAR Morales board. Um, then they were like, you want to do audio? I don't I didn't want to do anything else. I was kind of done. I was actually ready to get out of the Army at 15 years when I got the call to come audition for the U.S. Army Band. Then I came here, and that's when it all turned. So I went, I got promoted to staff sergeant in 1999. I came in in 1984. What does that tell you? Then I hit E7 in 01, and it's like it was like bam, bam, you know, right off. Um I picked up Master Sergeant in the whole nine yards. I have been the face of so many significant events. Um, when President Barack Obama was uh inaugurated in 2009, his pre-inaugural service uh uh ceremony was on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It's called We Are One. So I led that off after the Color Guard, after he came down with the vice president and then he and the first lady. Then the color guard comes out, I come out with them, bam, we started off, and I'm I'm out there with everybody. It was millions of folks out there. That's the first time my breath ever got taken away, too, actually, in front of an audience. I executed a right face and I saw just I saw eternity. That's how far people were. Like it was that many people out there. It was crazy, but it was so cool. And um, I had just got on social media. Like my wife's like, you should get on. I'm like, eh, I ain't got time for all that. But I did. I had Facebook. So while I was there, Facebook was the first platform that I joined, and I got on there, and all of a sudden, all of my college classmates, army buddies, and the whole everybody's friend request. I it was new to me. It was like emotional overload. I'm like, take this thing, what is it doing? What blew my phone up. I I I mean, really, I've done so many things, you know, militarily, uh, double ACP image awards, been all over the country performing for significant events, both public and private, potential funerals, uh, library uh dedications, tons of ceremonies, spirit of America, Twilight Tattoo. And then one day, in 2015, it was all over. It just like that, it was done. So I thought I was done, you know, with my music career. I actually got invited to a private audition to become a background vocalist. So it's like you're on a circuit and you get to travel. You could sing with Sting, you can sing with Michael Jackson, you can sing with whoever, whoever you get assigned to, you would be a part of their entourage and go sing around the world. But that required me to be in Singapore for like 30, 45 days or go to Europe or go. I have seven children and I have two left in school, and I declined the audition. That never came again. It comes once in a lifetime. And I went to, I just stayed home. And and my kids needed me more than the world needs me. I've already given my entire portion of my life, you know, to serving the military and doing things. And I thought my music career was pretty much zapped at that point. And lo and behold, just a few short years later, I form up with um my musical battle buddies, my brothers and sisters, Voices of Service. And we auditioned for America's Got Talent. And we we auditioned and we were like, yep, check the box, we're done. Well, hot diggity dog diggity, all the way to fifth place. And uh, that's pretty, pretty impressive, if you will, for nobody who had been in the music industry prior to that. So you have uh, you know, Sony Records and, you know, just really the music industry, just being in the industry and being recognized as a music professional on the world stage. And we were about to take off. We were on the runway getting ready to take off, man. It was like, we're COVID, whole world shut down. Yeah. Whole world shut down. Do you hear me? So at that point, sir, things were a little rough. You know, we still record projects and we still travel and perform, but it's not in the same vein that it would have been had we stayed not hot, but had we been able to travel. So, you know, we got to do things, but it was under, you know, wearing a mask and all that stuff like that. People remember us still, and we still got a lot to offer, but it's not like it was when we first came off the show. But I venture to say it's gonna get better here pretty soon because we we're not quitters. And I just turned 16, so you know, got a little bit of time left.

SPEAKER_00

Hey, I love that for you, though, because um you have served, you've been seen, you put in your time. So now, what does meaningful impact look like for you?

SPEAKER_03

Well, the great part about being retired is people say, What are you gonna do? Say, whatever I want. And when I say that, it's not with arrogance, but it's with a reflection of gratitude. So I'll give you an example. I've been in this market since 1999. And I say market, but I've been in Virginia back home because I'm from Todwater since 1999. So that's what, 27, 28 years. Okay. Doesn't seem like it, but you had 26 plus 19, 99, 2000, and then add 26. I know we're early in 26, so this is my 28th year back home. And uh, if you see, you know, I'm repping my Washington Capitals gear. I'm a Stanley Cup champion because I've worked with that franchise for the past 28 years. I worked with the Wizards, I worked with the Caps, I worked with the Nationals. Uh, you know, so just being a Nathan Ant National Anthem Specialist in this market, somebody that's dependable, somebody that's professional, somebody who has consistency, and someone who um, you know, genuinely enjoys uh supporting the franchise. And I don't make, I don't try to come across as a celebrity because even though in some people's eyes I may be, I'm just Caleb at the end of the day. Because the big eyes, little use, that doesn't work in my book. Like everybody is somebody from the door man all the way to the owner of the team. You know, I just get the privilege to be able to do these things still. Like I said, Stanley Cup champion. I have a ring. I didn't, I can't even skate. How good is God? Boy, you better kill somebody. I can't even skate. I mean that, man. I can't even skate. But that's how the Lord will provide for you. Open doors. If you look at our discography, we have music that's played every day all across the world. That message is that messaging is positive. It's inspirational, and it's, you know, we're always looking to do more. We'll sing Three Blind Mice and Win a Grammy. We just haven't put that on tape yet. But it's the soul, you know, we sing country, we sing soul, pop, hip hop, classical. We do it all because we can do it all. Um, and like I said, we keep our music respectful, we keep our music clean, but we put on a good show, you know. You got you got white rice, you got dirty rice. We we do both. We do whatever's needed for the occasion, you know, whatever's needed. That's what we could do. Do it as an individual and do it as a group. So it's a privilege that that I get to enjoy. Then I get to run my own business from wherever I am. You know, I'm a marketing associate for Legal Shield. I do employee benefits. We specialize in um legal protection and identity theft protection, and we protect commercial drivers. So we protect individuals, families, small businesses, and then we can wrap a benefits package around an employer for his employees, and we can also protect the businesses with legal protection if they if they so desire. And what I like about what I get to do is no matter what state I travel in, I can work. I'm never out of the office, so to say. And that's a great privilege. And you know, I I have several things that I endorse and that I do, but the benefit of being me is that I get to be present and enjoy what I do now. You know, like I said, sleeping on the ground at 50 below, or the Waldorf Astoria, sir. Which would you prefer? Exactly.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. You know, sir, the beauty of what you shared, Caleb, is what I heard you say is you utilize your gift and your gift opened doors for you. And that gift is your voice. And see. And even as a background artist, right? It brought your voice forward even when someone else auditioned, they got in and you got in. So your voice, your your voice indoors even when you weren't in the room.

SPEAKER_03

Say it for the people in the back, my brother. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, sir. Talk to me a little bit about how discipline played a role in your success in business as well as in the military. How has that played a role in your success uh and Vicky?

SPEAKER_03

Man, I mean it's so there are building blocks for everything, but if you don't have a foundation, your building blocks are house of cards. And you and I both know that that's so important. I've seen every hour of the day so many times, from midnight to noon, it just it hey, and noon to midnight. I've worked all of those hours and I've slept all of those hours because four hours in a day, and you have to really apply yourself when you want to go or launch forward. You and I came into the chamber of commerce around the same time, back in like 2016, right, 2017. Yep, right? My first year there, I came to learn. I built a I built the block there. And I said, I I desire to be an ambassador for the chamber because I believe in the mission and I believed in what it could do for small business owners and me being a veteran and the whole night. So we've sat in many rooms and brainstormed and done all of these things. Here's the difference. We just took small steps and we executed. We put one foot in front of the other. You don't always have to run, but you do have to keep moving forward. And so if I had stayed where I was, I couldn't be where I am today. I always have had a vision. And that vision, it's like there's not too many people that can deter me from what I envision. And um, sometimes wisdom says, stop. I'll be on a move and stop. And I'm like, why am I stopping? Like, Lord, what's going on? But you know, I always acknowledge the Lord and what I do. It has when when the goal was right there, and I'm like, why am I going left? Like, it's right there. But when you go left and you obey, and then you see that there was a ravine or catastrophe, had you kept going, that's when you realize that you surrender what you're doing so that you can be greater. I I always try to make myself less. I hold, I still hold the doors for ladies. Oh, the door for men. Hey, bless you, brother. Come on in. Because I just think that the the Bible says the person who is the least among you is the what? So I exercise being the least as often as possible so that I can be great in the kingdom. And so when privileges and perks come upon me and to me, for me and my family, I'm like, hey, don't forget that what got us here wasn't being this. We're not snooty people. What got us here was being polite, being kind, being obedient, being respectful, being dependable, having that foundation that you were talking about, or that I was talking about earlier to help build to what we have today. And it's just not me. You know, we're you, your son, you're proud of your son, and all of the things that he's accomplished. That's because he's got good bones. That tree, I'll put it to you like this. When we produce, if I'm gonna call you an apple tree and I'm gonna call coach an orange tree, when you produce fruit, do you eat the fruit? No, you don't. It's for someone else. So your efforts are for someone else. Coach, your efforts are for someone else. But in doing so, in yielding the fruit that you've yielded, you make the community greater. And I I'm the father of seven. I have a my oldest son, is a doctor, he's a chiropractor. Second oldest son is a soldier. He's a he uh he's a former MP in the National Guard. My third oldest child, she called me like right before we got on the call here. She's in London. She she's so good, she created a post for herself in a company that didn't know that they needed that. So my baby's in London. My fourth oldest, who works as a contractor, he's down in Florida. My fifth oldest is a music teacher in Prince William County. He actually is up for uh for uh educator of the year for the second time. First time it was his novice, and the second time was, you know, he's working on his his master's, and you know, he's doing his great thing with the music program. My sixth oldest, he just got married. He's working and he's working on his IT degree. Um he married somebody in the Air Force. I don't hold it against the Air Force because uh she is doing great things. And then my baby girl is a nurse. I mean, talk about blessings. I ain't got enough hand or toes to tell you how many blessings I have. Now, I'm bragging like I did this all. I have a beautiful wife. That girl, yes, sir. You know, I'm happy. 38 going on 39. You better ask somebody.

SPEAKER_02

You talking about man, boy. Who type of fruit tree you got, boy? You you bearing a lot of fruit there, brother. What's going on?

SPEAKER_03

You know what? People ran to the club. I went home. I saw, I saw her when she was 16. I didn't meet her. And then she turned 17 later that year. And then I met her right after her 18th birthday, September 1986. We got married in April 1987. And I'm just four years older than she is. Four years and four days to be exact. And so, you know, it's like you you if you stick with it or if you you know stay the course, stay the course. It's been some hard days, man. We were broke, you know, when it said broke, the broke, the broke, broke. Yeah, we were that in the military. Yeah, yeah. But we had everything that we needed. Yeah. We didn't have everything that we want. Now we can have anything that we want because we were content with God giving us everything that we needed. And we obviously, even when we had everything we need, we still gave, we still plant, we still sow, because that's important to continue to get a crop, right?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I have even, you know, you learn, they said when you when you how to do what's the saying? When you know better, you do better. When you learn better, you do better. And that's us always learning. You know, even now at my church serving, you know, we're we're we're going through some challenges because we want to do what's right. So your spiritual walk influences your physical walk so much. I'm definitely not a perfect person. Just give me on 995 about 15th second, it's like, it's mama. But I'm honest. With the mouth, confession is made into salvation, right? But you know, I'm way hundred honest about it. And and I think that that being an open book, just had a show last night at Wolf Trap. And for people to embrace you, a person that they don't know, they've only they see my head in a jumbletron. It's like big old head, you know, coming at you. But but um you you you made a uh an alluded to my voice. If you ever watch me sing, I always give the glory to God. I don't care what business you in, if you forget who gave you the gift that you have. And I and I'm gonna say this publicly because I want people to know what's happening. When they when they announce the person to my left, and you know, they talk about the hero and whatnot, and you know, we acknowledge them, and then there's about a two-second break, and then they go, and now. And I just lift my I lift my hand and I bow my head and I say, Lord, you gave me the breath of life, you gave me a voice, and I pray for the anointing and power to reach your people. And any accolades that come to me, I pray that you will receive them back to yourself. I give them back to you because it doesn't belong to me. All of this belongs to you. I do not ask for gigs. I do not ask for gigs. Every gig that I get, I get a call because God has opened those doors for me. My name is spoken in rooms that I've never been in because of who God is. Amen. That's that's how it works.

SPEAKER_00

I'm not even lying. Caleb, could you share a key lesson or a piece of advice that you learned in the military that you now use today? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03

Instructor of the year, I used to talk about preventive maintenance checks and services. And that was one of the classes that I taught um as an AIT instructor. And uh Um, when I would get to the end of the class, you know, you get to the summary, moral lesson, whatever you want to call call it. Um I always had a saying, and I I told a story of Noah. I said, it took Noah 120 years to build the ark. God gave him the specs, and he told him exactly how it was supposed to be built and with what it was supposed to be built. And I said, Um, do you know the moral of the story? Most people were like, you get a boat and it'll float, ha ha ha ha. I said, no, it wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark. Let that sink in. It was not raining when Noah built the Ark. So for 120 years, his labor seemed to be in vain. People laughed at him. People told him he was crazy. People told him, you know, and you gotta remember, he's not only building, but he's also preaching. So the things that people see me do, they want the results, but they don't want to do the work. They don't get the same fruit because they haven't been in the vineyard laboring. Does that make sense? So that's kind of what I do with my business. That's kind of what I do with my music. Ain't kind of just what I do. Because you have to have a focus so that that foundation will be firm. And I have a firm foundation. Solid rock on which I stand. Yeah. And that enables me to work in any environment. Like I said to you earlier, from the outhouse to the White House. And if I go to the outhouse, I'm still gonna have the same manners, mannerisms, and respect to that person that I do to the one that's in the White House. Because that genuine kindness and reflection of one's personage is what is gonna be sounded in the portals of heaven. Tell your story. This happened to me last night. There's a lady that I know her. I know her from the, I know her from the uh from the Cap One. And she needed a ride. She said, would you mind giving me a ride to the, if you're not with your family, to the metro? I'm like, sure. I said, I gotta go change. So it's like 20 minutes, almost 30 minutes, because I'm just downstairs and it's like I, you know, I'm sweaty and stuff. So I change clothes, get get my get my stuff back on, hoodie up in the whole nine yards, and I go back upstairs. It's dark looking. And I'm like, oh my God, what happened? Did they put her out? Where did she go? Maybe somebody else gave her a ride. So I'm calling her name. I'm not gonna say her name, but I was calling her name. She's an older lady too, like she's much older. And she thinks enough of us to want to come and see our show. I go outside and I call her name. I take a right, and the other guy who was working with me, he was one of the stage guys, he was he went out to the left. And we're looking and I'm calling, and I'm talking about it's bitterly cold. You know how cold it was yesterday? Uh it was 15 degrees, and that wind was she was sitting in the cold just outside, and she was like, Thank you. I took her home. I didn't take her to the metro. I took her home. I felt as though if you thought enough to spend your Sunday afternoon with us, that's the least that I could do. You know, she lives in the area, but it was like, I I just I wouldn't do that. I would want somebody to take care of my mom like that. You know what I'm saying? And and I just think that any kindness that I show one day my children will receive the same kindness or my family members down through the years, because I remember that dad or grandpa was that guy I get on my boys now. If they speak and they don't have manners, I just give them the side eye. And if I can reach them, they they get touched because it's important. Keep it simple. My mom used to teach me, she said, manners would take you further than money. Yeah, you know, so I know I'm babbling a lot. I apologize. Always got a lot to say.

SPEAKER_01

You gave out some amazing nuggets. I remember when we first met at a chamber, in fact, I think it was the Veterans Commission. I mean the Veterans Yeah, Veterans Council. Veterans Council. That was the first meeting that I went to and uh and you were there. And I I remember standing outside and having a conversation with you after. So from the moment that I started business, you were there, which is super cool.

SPEAKER_03

Bless you, bruh.

SPEAKER_01

But let's talk about um a little bit about VGA, you know. Uh can you tell people about your experience with VGA? You knew it way before it was VGA.

SPEAKER_03

Before it was VGA. Wow, yeah, man. So let's talk about watching a dream come true for a friend and a brother, and then see him just explode. I went away for what, six months? I think we were in LA. Yeah. And I came back, he was a worldwide phenomenon. I was like, what your parents? What your parents? Go ahead, Sergeant Major. Cause we, because we used to, um, we used to introduce ourselves in in the committee meetings, and he's like, My name's Sergeant Major Donnell Johns, United States Army. We'd be like, oh, and we make all this noise, we would make all this noise. And, you know, we get around it then. I said, My name is Master Sergeant Caleb Green, United States Army retired. That's all you need to know. We'll make it. And just, we just, we just had this camaraderie and we kept it going. We would not relent on the vision. What I like is that you're always coachable. You would learn from anyone. And we had so many people to pour into us. And you went, you went from a round table to a hard structure to across the nation. I mean, and I remember seeing you at Fort Belvoir, you know, you whatever corner piece of real estate you could get, you were out there promoting the vision and and helping entrepreneurs to grow. I appreciate you. I mean, we're business partners, but it's it's your your vision. It's your dream that came true, that has helped so many people and still helping people to grow, you know, this market, in a market where people say, well, small businesses are dying and and you can't make a living as a small business owner. And we just you just prove them wrong. You just prove fact. I'm wearing a scent from one of your vendors. It's like lemons. Like, I don't like all of the fancy colognes and stuff like that. I just like being able to, my knee hurts. Like magnesium, I got me magn magnesium for my knee. And you know what? I'm gonna support, you know, from back then to going forward because all of your people have a dream and you have inspired an entire generation of people post-service who would not have a place to go, who would not have a place to launch, who would not understand what it is to dream, who would not have somebody to pour into them and genuinely pour into them. You know, nobody knows the struggles of being out front. They only see the face, they don't know the pressure and the stress. You took all of that for them. You took it for them so that they can have a place and land comfortably. You know, to go into your store when you just did your ribbon cutting not too long ago and to feel proud, like that's my boy. I don't want your spotlight, like it's yours, but I want to be there to let you know that's the man. Like I'm like, that's the man. Like you better know because they don't see, and then your family is involved, you know. And not only did you have family, then you just created more family. You talk about me being procreative. You got a big old family. VGA is huge. It's not just here in Virginia, it's all across the nation. People know who you are, not because you tried to promote your name. They know who you are because your dream and your vision was to lift up a community, and you've done that. But I think it's all by the grace of God. Amen. I know for a fact that it wasn't so at all. It didn't exist. And look at it now. That's that's what VGA means to me. And I know that there are people who are in your circle that I don't know, and that's the way it's supposed to be. That just means you're doing what you're supposed to do. And we support you 100%. I think that if if everyone were really to take an honest assessment of what it takes to be a leader, if they would take an honest assessment of what it takes to sustain a dream and what it means to sacrifice, then if they were to look at you, then they would understand that you make it look so easy. You know, look, look, man, do he did he everything that he tall, he light skinned, he got good hair. He got good hair. I ain't got no hair. He got good hair. Got it all, Lord. The guy gave me a voice. But I think Donnell, I think see them sound majors, boy, they got that cadence voice, though. They throw that cadence on him. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. But but I mean, honestly, it it is uh so amazing, man, to watch how awesome VGA has been in our community and our extended communities, and when you do your pop-ups, you know, all over the nation. And um, just having the notoriety, having earned the respect of people who are willing to give you that opportunity in their space. And a recognizable function of being a good leader is when somebody says, Hey, Caleb, hey, Johnny, hey, Ralph, hey, Susie, hi, Myrna. He knows his people. That's a gift because sometimes I'm like, hey, baby girl, because you have to know people, and you do. You're you're so genuine with that. I don't I don't think that people understand how much you have invested, how many times you have died to yourself to make the dream and the vision come true for somebody else. And that's truly what I think of BGA.

SPEAKER_01

I appreciate that. It's it's humbling. I just follow I just follow what God told me to do. Uh-huh. You know, one of the things that um has been on my heart is my I I felt like my job has always been to promote others, right? Yes. And that's what God, you know, set me on this earth to do is to promote others. And so you said something powerful about fruit, right? A tree that bears fruit. The fruit is not for him, the fruit is for other people to enjoy. And so we work this hard as an organization because there's people like you and Rob out there that are amazing and people need to hear your voice, you know, and know that you guys have a gift that is worth its weight in gold. And I'm just out here to try to amplify that voice of our community because we are leaders, we are heroes, we are entrepreneurs. And if people want to support us, I just want to give them a platform to really support us in a way that's honorable. Yes, that's uplifting, yes, that can help provide for not only you but your families because of your sacrifice.

SPEAKER_03

Yes. You said so much there, man. Sacrifice is what creates the and if you want, so how many times have you not taken what you deserve, what you've earned, and given it to somebody else so that they could thrive? And all you ask in return is that they that they are faithful stewards with what you know you have tried to provide them, that they, you know, hopefully will endorse you and humble themselves and come alongside you. I think the the biggest curse about success is that I've made it now. Aye. Me. Less of you. That's the worst possible perspective to take with regards to being a true leader, with regards to being a person who one can trust. If you send somebody to me, they know they're good. Or you know they're good. If I send somebody to you, I know they're good. I don't I don't have I cannot see you for three months, and it's like we just finished this conversation we're having now because I'm not checking in on you. What are you doing? Why is he getting ahead? How come I can't get ahead? There's so many people who do that. You know, and uh I'm trying to think of what the saying was. It's like, I looked in your cup to see what you needed, but you looked in my cup to see what I had. Jeez. I mean, come on, man. Do we not live in those times?

SPEAKER_00

And it's tough. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, but those things, but those are the core principles that we embody. Uh, I'll say it, I'll say it to you like this: your privilege with me and anybody else who has worn our cloth will always be what you've earned. I know you're a Sarge Major, but I get the privilege to call you brother. I get to call you Donnell. I refer to you as Sarge Major Donnell Johns. But our friendship and our brotherhood and our kinship takes no skin off of my back to honor you, to honor coach. Why would why would I not do that? That's what this is all about. But when your privilege leads to only power, but power that's unbridled and power that's not wise, then what you end up with is a conundrum that's gonna confuse generations to come. Your elbows are not tough. Your knees, yeah, you you you haven't been in a fight. Listen, get somebody who just learned how to shave and and and just go every which way. Give them a day or two. Man, they face tore up and they don't know. And then you just, hey, we're gonna put this on and they're gonna cry the blues. But now we do it. We cut, bleed, whatever, ingrown, whatever. We, you know, we just keep it moving. Because we know what, no matter how much it hurts, we have to keep going in order to maintain the standard. That's what we do. That's what you do. That's what you do, coach. That's what you do for people. You inspire them. You show up when it's inconvenient, you show up when it's hurt. You show up when you're hurting. That's different because you can be hurt, but when you're hurting, I know the journey. I I remember, you know, we were having conversations, you know, prior to your loved ones. And I'm like, I just want to be a brother that was there. Nobody knew it. I was hurting too, but we just carry it. We it's something in our rucksack, you know, we shake it, get it settled, make sure that the load is is even and we keep walking. And not until you take your ruck off, do you see how many muscles you've built? Do you see how much form you have compared to the person who is a figurehead or who we know. Nobody cowers at a at a person who isn't authentic. You know a warrior when you stand before one. I don't care what their rank is, you know a warrior when you stand before one. I seen them steroid muscles, no, all you do. And then I seen Lean Mean Fighting Machine, you're like, that one's a little bit different. Yeah, I think I'm gonna stay over here. Because you understand.

SPEAKER_00

It's facts. Right? Facts. Yeah. Hey, before we get out of here, we um we're gonna shut down the show soon. Um, but before we get out of here, I want to give you an opportunity to give the viewers and listeners some last words and of of encouragement. It may be somebody starting their business. There may be somebody who is thinking about getting into business. What are some words of encouragement that you would have for them?

SPEAKER_03

Absolutely. Coach, in my calendar, I don't care what day of the week or year it is, I have a verse and it's in there eternally. It's James 4.15. It says, You don't say what you're gonna do. You don't say what you're gonna do today. You say, if the Lord wills, then I'll do this or that. I'm just paraphrasing here. Because that time is his and you have to be accountable for it, you know. So small disciplines are the winning formula. Small disciplines, write it down and accomplish it. And if you find out that that five pounds is getting light, then make it eight. And then it becomes 15, then it becomes 30, then it becomes 50, then it becomes, you know, I ain't got past 50, but you know what I'm saying? When you when you get to that point that you can handle the weight because your disciplines allow you to do that, then you duplicate yourself. Do not give what must be earned. Can I say it again? Do not give what must be earned. Why can't you just give it to him? Because if I give it to him, he'll never know, or she'll never know what it takes to earn it. You reward what is earned. If I give it to you, I'm gonna make you do it again. That has to be your standard because if you're gonna replicate yourself, you know how many times it takes for you to do something the right way. And that one time that it takes to do it the wrong way that can nullify everything that you've done. And you just don't need that. My mom used to say to me, my mom and dad were very prudent. My mom would say, Why are you tearing up the house? Why are you tearing up your clothes? If you have the buy the same thing again that you already have, then you're going backwards. And that's just like, wow. So even now, so I have seven children, don't think they didn't see the same shirt for two or three generations. But then, but we recognized that it was important to build value so that when they got it new, say, listen, your brother, you were able to wear his shirt because we made him take care of it. And so then that transferred from clothes to cars or devices, then devices to cars. And now they're like, wow, my brother took really good care of this. I need a car. And that is just caded and precipitated because not only do we do it within, we also do it without. So am I gonna give you, if you say, Man, I need some headphones for my show, am I gonna go find some 1999 headphones or I'm gonna let you borrow my AirPod? I'm gonna let you borrow my AirPod Max because that's what you need. And if I have to give them to you, then I'll let you, I'll give them to you because meeting your needs sometimes is greater than my want. And a lot of people always go for what they want instead of being satisfied with what they need. When you meet your needs over and over and over and over again, and when I say meet needs, not wants, needs. You need to brush your teeth. So brush your teeth every day so you don't have a mouth like a jack-o'-lantern. Do things that are going to consistently build you up. If it ain't number five push-ups, do them. Do them so that you can have, if it ain't nothing but a moment, that quick reaction time. Comb your hair. I don't have good hair like you, so I cut it all off. But I do what I need to do on a consistent basis so that I can always be going forward. There's need to, there I already know what's back there. I was there yesterday. What I need to go back for. What's ahead of me is what I'm looking for. And that's what you must be in business. You must be disciplined, you must be encouraging. You please continue to micro-learn. And don't believe everything that you read or see unless you go get a book. Because I can give you a narrative right now and have you thinking something off to the left, and that's a distraction from what you need to be focused on. You know, garbage in, garbage out. So don't take in garbage and you won't produce garbage. From your speech to your music.

SPEAKER_00

That's good money right there. Hey, so Caleb, before we get out of here, how do the people get a hold of you? What are your socials? Um hashtag, at me, all that.

SPEAKER_03

I need all that. Right. Okay, so uh I'd probably easier to find me on Instagram. I don't post a whole lot, but there's enough stuff about there, me it. So it's at Noah's Ark151. At November Oscar Alpha Zulu Alpha Romeo Kilo 151, Noah's Ark 151. That's on Instagram. And you can also find me with my group at Voices of Service. All one word. Voices as in singing voices of service at voices of service. Or you could find us on Linktree forward slash forward voices of service. And you can find me on Linktree as well at Caleb Green.

SPEAKER_00

Just easy, easy peasy. Appreciate it. Donnell, um, how do people continue to support VGA?

SPEAKER_01

Well, the first way is they can support you by you know how they can support you. Tell us how they can, yeah. Tell us.

SPEAKER_00

Hey, if you are struggling trying to understand finances, what I do is I help family simplify finances. So from everything in the process, from budget and debt management, life insurance, you want to talk investment, we do it all really full-scale coaching for families and veterans. So what I need you to do is go to your moneygoat.com. Moneygoat.com. We will help you wherever you are with your finances. Outstanding. Appreciate the platform, Don.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. And uh, I just want to say, first of all, uh, Caleb, thank you for being on the show.

SPEAKER_03

We are Oh man, bless you.

SPEAKER_01

Uh it's been an honor to host you. And for those of you that are watching, we would love for you guys to go to veteransgrowing America.com and check out our platform. Go to our directory and support gentlemen, uh, these two gentlemen. We also can be found on all social media platforms at Veterans Growing America and stop by our store in Woodbridge, Virginia and shop, baby. Hey, hey, Donnell, before we leave, man, can you sing us out?

SPEAKER_03

Oh man, I got you. What you want to hear? Um, I don't know, man. Whatever you want, whatever you want. I don't know. Take a moment.

SPEAKER_01

You know me. Hey, man. When you're not hey, I I want to give y'all too much. I want to give y'all too much.

SPEAKER_03

I know that's right. I know that's right. Yeah, you're just enough because you don't want no copyrighted friends, you know. Exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00

That was outstanding, man. We appreciate you, brother.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you for joining us, and thank you for your time and experience. Thank you, Coach. Appreciate you. Thank you, Sar Major. You guys rot. Yeah, and uh, can you sing us on out? Uh, you know, we did lean on me in my show last night. Really? Do you know D.C. Washington? Uh-huh. D.C. Washington is a national anthem singer for the nationals and uh and all throughout the National Capitol region, like myself and Bob McDonald. And he was like, lean on me when you're not strong. Now, see, he has he has that church peel the paint voice. He hurts me when he sings. I gotta, I gotta, in my belt when I sing with the big dogs, boy. No, man. Oh man, you know, just thank you, man. You know what you should do? We have a song with Voices of Services called Hope. And you should use that, you should use that as your one of your theme songs. It's like, who do you call when everybody's let you down? Where do you go when you're a stranger in your house? Nobody knows the weight of chains that hold you down. That heavy load, just let it go for now. A little hope. You gotta hold on till you find it. A little hope. Cause sometimes heroes need reminding that even in the darkest times, we can spark the smallest light. A little hope, a little hope.

SPEAKER_05

Who do you call when everybody's let you down? Where do you call when you're afraid to rain your house?

SPEAKER_04

Nobody knows the weight of chains that hold you down. That heavy load, just let it go for now.

SPEAKER_05

You gotta hold on till you find it. Cause sometimes heroes be reminded. A little hope.

SPEAKER_04

A little hell. What do you pray when you allow the things to say? All out of fake, then I can see it in your face.

SPEAKER_05

Nobody knows a way to chase a hold your time. That heavy low. Just let it go. A little hope. You gotta hold on till you find me. That even in the darkest times, we can start the smallest line, we can start a fire line.