Your Thoughts Your Reality
Welcome to "Your Thoughts, Your Reality with Michael Cole," the podcast that shines a compassionate light on the journey of veterans battling through life's challenges. Michael Cole, a Certified Elite Neuroencoding Specialist, dedicated to guiding military veterans as they navigate the intricate pathways of post-deployment life. Join him as we delve into the profound realm of Neuroencoding science, empowering these brave individuals to conquer universal battles: procrastination, self-doubt, fear, and more. Together, let's uncover the strength within you to re-engage with families and society, forging a new path forward.
Your Thoughts Your Reality
The Power of Connection: How Networking Changes Lives for Military Veterans
Danny O'Neel's journey from Army Forward Observer to successful entrepreneur and veteran advocate exemplifies resilience in the face of devastating challenges. After enlisting on 9/11 and serving through two intense tours in Iraq, Danny returned home carrying invisible wounds that nearly cost him his life. In this raw and enlightening conversation, he reveals how his family's history of veteran suicide—his grandfather after World War II and his father's contemplated suicide following Vietnam—created a pattern he was determined to break after his own suicide attempt.
The turning point came through connection—first with his wife who encouraged him to seek therapy, then through building businesses that created purpose and community. Danny now owns multiple successful ventures including Kinetic Ink Tattoo Company and Kinetic Threads, while chairing Warfighter Overwatch, the nonprofit he founded that provides free mental health services to veterans and first responders.
What makes this episode particularly valuable is Danny's practical wisdom about networking for veterans transitioning to civilian life. He shines a light on the courage it takes to ask for help, reframing it as strength rather than weakness. His perspective that "if you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room" offers a powerful guide for personal and professional growth through intentional relationships.
Danny's approach to life after service demonstrates how veterans can leverage their military discipline, leadership skills, and teamwork experience in civilian ventures while healing from combat experiences. His three essential tips for veterans—network purposefully, be visible in your community, and support fellow veterans—provide a roadmap for anyone navigating significant life transitions.
Have you built a network that elevates your standards and aspirations? Connect with Danny through Warfighter Overwatch or his businesses to see how community can transform trauma into triumph.
Welcome to your Thoughts, your Reality with Michael Cole, the podcast that shines a compassionate light on the journey of veterans battling through life's challenges. Michael is a dual elite certified neuro encoding specialist in coaching and keynote training presentations dedicated to guiding military veterans as they navigate the intricate pathways of post deployment life. Join him as we delve into the profound realm of neuroencoding science, empowering these brave individuals to conquer universal battles procrastination, self-doubt, fear and more. Together, let's uncover the strength within you to re-engage with families and society, forging a new path forward.
Speaker 2:Hello, hello, hello everybody. I got my buddy, danny O'Neill on today, super excited whenever he's on. The funny thing is he's probably the only one that has ever been on probably 110 episodes that actually lives near me, so glad to see you on, obviously, danny. So Danny is a US Army veteran, listed on 9-11 as a forward observer, rising to sergeant and squad leader into 17 months. He had combat experience through two tours in Iraq, including challenging deployment in Sadr City. He's an entrepreneur I'm going to say a mega entrepreneur, because it's not just a business. He just keeps going and going and going. He's like the energizer entrepreneur rabbit. I just made that up.
Speaker 3:Owner of Kinetic Tattoo.
Speaker 2:Kinetic Threads, providing outlets for veterans as well. He's a veteran advocate, chairman of the board of Warfighter Overwatch, which is a nonprofit dedicated to combating veteran suicide, and of course, I worked with his wife, Fawn, to help veterans successfully reintegrate into civilian life and beyond. So I'm super honored to have you on again, buddy. Tell us a little bit more about yourself, people that have not heard or seen you before on the podcast.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I was born and raised in Northern California and I'm glad we live by each other because we can have sushi sometimes.
Speaker 2:I know Coming up soon.
Speaker 3:Exactly, yeah, I was born and raised right here. My dad's a Vietnam veteran. He was a police officer in Stockton for a bit and then my mom had struggles with substance abuse and she was a drug addict and life was pretty chaotic living with her. And then so, dad, when they separated, I was two. Dad was in Stockton, mom was in the Northern part of Sacramento, in the Del Paso Heights area, so I moved around a lot as a kid. I went to like seven or eight different high schools and then, you know, the stability or the discipline that's required in the military was kind of, you know, besides the fact that my dad served and my grandfather somebody in my blood. So when 9-11 happened, I was working for a highway construction company, quit my job, joined the army and, um, pretty adventurous after that, uh, to continue to continue the chaotic life yeah, so so you know, and my dad was three tour vietnam vet as and you you weren't.
Speaker 2:again, it wasn't like, oh, you're forced into it, but I'm assuming it just felt like this is what we do, Especially when nine 11 happened. I know you just wanted to step up.
Speaker 3:Yeah, to be honest with you, I if you can't tell by the way, you can't see all my tattoos but I had probably a problem with authority, right? I don't want people telling me what to do. My dad was already overbearing, so it wasn't. That was not my career path that I was looking towards, you know, growing up, and then, to be honest, when it happened, it definitely felt like a sense of duty for me.
Speaker 3:I was an athlete, played football and baseball growing up, you know, and I didn't just play right. So I was like the captain of my football team, co-captain the baseball team and, and those leadership roles taught me the, the importance of um, of leadership and uh, teamwork and being a good teammate. And so my dad was angry with me when I signed up on 9-11. He was not happy with that choice because he knew what war was like. Right, he'd saw, you know, 60, over 65,000 Americans lost their lives in Vietnam and many of them he went to school with, he grew up with, and those were his friends, and they got drafted or forced into the military to go fight in the unpopular war and it didn't turn out very well. So he definitely had some bitterness and animosity towards me serving in the government in the military capacity, for sure Right.
Speaker 2:Right. So you know you look back though, right, and you know the, the amazing life that you have now you know. You know people that don't know. Danny, he went through some shit you know, and came out on the other side of it, and that's why I love having you on here, brother, because you are the example you know, because he, he, he went through it, you know, and he's super successful and has an amazing wife and all the stuff you know. So congratulations for not giving up and pushing through and doing what you need to do.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I did two trips to Iraq and on my second trip we lost nine guys, two of them the day we left Iraq, on November 26th. And that's hard right, because it was a day after that year, it was a day after Thanksgiving. We're getting ready to go home, we're looking forward to seeing our family and it was devastating. It took any morale we had left and it evaporated very quickly. Unfortunately, after returning we've had 15 suicides, right. So you know, my dad was getting ready to commit suicide when I was a freshman in high school. His dad, my grandfather, was a World War II vet. He did commit suicide when my dad got sent to Vietnam. He's buried in the Golden Gate National Cemetery and that was devastating for our family.
Speaker 3:I never met him. I don't know his stories, but I understand what he was going through because I had my own suicide attempt. I didn't want to be here. I didn't think that I could stop the war that was going on in my head right, the PTSD, the constant hyper. Just, I was so hypervigilant everywhere I went, always looking for someone to attack me. You know, I've been shot, I've been blown up, my friends have been killed and so I have these, this baggage that I brought home and these things that were that were causing me issues and relationships. Right, they were caught literally causing me to end relationships and somehow you you know my wife giving me grace and allowing me to put myself first, instead of the team telling me that I needed to go to therapy and I needed to start working on these problems, allowed me to have the life that I have now, and I'm so grateful for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know I always look back and I think if you didn't go through the things you went through, you wouldn't be doing the work and helping all the people you do every day now, which is such a blessing now. So, amen, man, thank you, amen, yeah, hey, so we totally got sidetracked with that amazing good stuff. You know, that really is good stuff. Doesn't sound like it, but it's all part of because we're going to get into where he is now and networking both personally and professionally and how that can help veterans and their families. So before we do that, though, I always get all excited and have fun with people and at the top right-hand corner of your screen there there's a blue QR code. Please scan the QR code. It takes you to empowerperformancestrategiescom for people listening later on Again, empowerperformancestrategiescom.
Speaker 2:There are books, free books I've written. There are Facebook groups for both veterans and their families to join. You know, get involved in the mission and in our tribe if you will. Community, because isolation doesn't help anybody. So come join us. So with that, said Danny O'Neill, so let's talk about professional and personal networking. So a lot of people, they go networking. Oh gosh, right, but if we didn't network, we wouldn't be together right now, talking, you know. So tell us why let's start with personal networking, especially if you're veterans reintegrated into civilian life, and their families. Why is it so damn important?
Speaker 3:All right, I mean at the basic level, we want to provide for our family. So when you're transitioning out of the military or switching jobs or something to that effect, you need people who can help you Number one find jobs that are available. You need to help them or their help, rather with potentially resume building or the verbiage that's in there to make you a better looking candidate. And even more so, you want to talk to these people to get an idea of what that transition is going to look like, right, and if you've never done that, it can be scary, daunting, overwhelming, it can give you anxiety.
Speaker 3:If you haven't had those sort of things, I didn't have anxiety until at least that I can remember, until after war, but certainly going into the, you know, going into the workforce after being in the military completely different mindset. I didn't know what it was going to be like. It was a little, it was a little scary. And, um, there I know so many guys who have struggled with that transition, right, who, um, say and do things that are not appropriate in the civilian workforce, who, um, you know, have to go see HR because they said something that was okay in the military and not okay there, and I understand that these, these are things we have to be aware of or cognizant of, right, and so you need those people who have done this to help you, to show you the way. It's just the best. It's just the best way forward.
Speaker 2:You know you're working for a job or looking for a job, and I want to go a little to the darker side and then come out to the light, as we always do on the show Right. So you know when you're struggling to find a job, just getting out if you're.
Speaker 2:If you haven't already started doing that, whether you are reserves or reservists whatever the case may be, what are some of the things that you say hey, keep your head up, keep your chin up. May be. What are some of the things that you say hey, keep your head up, keep your chin up right and keep moving. So give us some thoughts on you know that. Kick in the pants if you will, if you do hit that wall of you know you're coming back to civilian life and things aren't what you expected.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, you got to be persistent. So one of the things that I think people struggle with is, when we get that rejection, or we didn't get the job we wanted, right, we immediately start feeling inadequate. Why am I not good enough? Those seeds are planted and we decide to water those. I don't get it, I don't understand. But well, I do understand more than I want to, because I know it happens right.
Speaker 3:And when I got a job in the oil field for a Fortune 500 company, I was lucky, but I had again I, when I went through the interview process and there's 50 guys and they're going to pick two, and I didn't know after I did, uh, went through the process if I was even going to get hired. So I actually called my recruiter and I said, hey, should I go get a job Cause I need to take care of my family. Like I got to work. This is not going to, it's not going to be okay for me, because I was already starting to get that anxiety, right, right, I'd also put all my eggs in one basket. I thought this was just going to work out and that's the way it was going to go, and that's not the case.
Speaker 3:In most instances it doesn't work out the way. Not your first time. I will say I was lucky. They told me do not go get another job, and the next day I got my contract and my packet and everything to sign so that I could start the hiring process. Well, if it doesn't work out and you don't get that first job, you need to be doing at least three or four, and I would say every week. If you can't do it every day, do it every week, because if you do, something is going to shake loose. And if you don't get your dream job right off the bat, fine, continue working towards that. But you've got to do what you've got to do, and that means we have to adapt and overcome the adversity that we're facing.
Speaker 2:The adversity that we're facing, yeah, you know that's. I love that you said that, because anytime I looked for a job I'm not joking, and it's been a while, because we've owned businesses for a while now but so don't laugh when.
Speaker 2:I say this, but I would fax like 30 different companies. Yes, I said fax. So I literally it would just be like, all right, here's my resume just everywhere I possibly could. I'd make a list and I would just be like, all right, here's my resume just everywhere I possibly could. I'd make a list and I would just send it out and I literally would generally have a job within days. You know because you know that. So you know, keep that in mind.
Speaker 2:I also want to bring up something else, because we're talking about networking and you just brought the thought in my head. I actually work with ACP, american Corporate Partners, and we coach veterans for business and mentorship and resumes and all of that stuff. So it might be a great networking asset for you to reach out, not you specifically, danny, but the people listening and watching. It's ACP and they're a phenomenal group. I'm actually going to be doing some extra trainings with them and so forth for veterans, so check that out.
Speaker 2:Just an extra little tip that popped into my head. Thank you for making that come to my mind there, danny. I appreciate it. So, with networking, and I love how you said, just get it out there, man. And I want to add one more thing I'm sorry because it's a hot topic for me.
Speaker 2:Every time you send a resume, every time you send a text, an email, follow up with a company, celebrate yourself for doing it, because it creates new neural pathways instead of it being a negative thing and a pain in the that. Hey, this is what I'm supposed to be doing and it's exciting and it's fun and you know, it changes the magnetism and so forth and the vibrational pattern of your body to actually bring more people into you, not to get all woo, woo and unicorns and rainbows, but it's actual science. So just just a quick tip there. So, danny, with with the networking, so you know, you, you, how do I say this? You went out, you know, for the job, you've got it all this, you know life happens right. So what, what other resources do you think are important with networking? Personally, you know when you're getting out, besides maybe business and jobs and that kind of thing.
Speaker 3:I think you know, you know where.
Speaker 2:I'm going with this as far as. So we have a ton of.
Speaker 3:We have a ton of resources available to us now that weren't available, like, say, 25 years ago, number one being LinkedIn, right. So you can go on there and see what people who were in the military transition out are doing, you can see what fields are going into, you can see the job opportunities they have and, more importantly, you can kind of see what it looks like in the civilian workforce and get a good read on that just by going on LinkedIn and kind of checking stuff out. Even if you're not engaging with those people right away, it's a good idea to go on there. Even more so, and with folks transitioning out of the military, your job may be completely different.
Speaker 3:I called for bombs in the army, right, and so that wasn't a job that I was going to have going into the civilian workforce. But I will say this having a job at a Fortune 500 company as a supervisor, as a field engineer, what that did was it laid the groundwork for me to bet on myself, to believe that I could do these things, even though I didn't have an engineering degree. I didn't know anything about the oil field, well, I also didn't know about owning my own business and QuickBooks and all these other things. Guess what. We're making it work and you can do the same thing. I promise if I can do this, you can do this. I barely graduated high school, but the people that I've met, the relationships that I've built, those people, when they hear about something that may be interesting to me or maybe up my alley, they reach out to me, and that's what networking can do, for you, yeah, absolutely love.
Speaker 2:you say that you know I dropped out right after eighth grade and so, you know, went and did my GED, just passed the test. But you know you talk about the other people in your life, right, I mean I built everything by talking to people I respect, like Mr Danny O'Neill and so on, literally the construction company. Everything I've done in my life it's that network of people that are around me that I respect and learn from every single day, every single day. So I mean, how, how, how would you say, that's changed. You know, I mean your, your life in general, the personal connections that have said, hey, keep going, hey, you're doing the right thing, hey, try this. That you're just talking about.
Speaker 3:So there's always going to be trial and error. We're going to learn things that work and things that don't. We're going to fall on our face and you got. Like you said earlier, we have to use those experiences to propel us forward.
Speaker 3:Now I will say that, despite the hardships that we face in life, we're pretty resilient as a species. Right, we've come from living in caves to having awesome dwellings, you know, right. So it's, it's pretty phenomenal what we can do, even as an individual, and I'll just imagine what you can do with a team, with support, with people who want to see you win. And I'll say this cause, I think it's, I think it's pertinent, but if you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room. I surround my, you're the average of the people you surround yourself with, so choose wisely. And I surround myself with people who are highly intelligent, who are highly motivated and disciplined Right, because motivation doesn't always last, but if they're disciplined, they'll continue doing it. And again, if we're persistent, we're going to be successful. We're going to find successes, and you have to celebrate those. You have to acknowledge the, what it took to get there, and then you have to find that you know that next goal, that next mission. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And James Hicks, I agree, danny is a good dude man. That's fantastic. So, yeah, you know, here's the thing that I learned in my life, too. Right is you have to keep going. You can't play victim mode, because that doesn't solve anything, or the people around you. Danny, you're the reason that I hang out with you, because you are the smarter guy in the room, my friend, and if we don't fall on our face, we don't learn. You fall on your face. You have two options, right, danny? You either play victim mode at someone else's fault or some other circumstance's fault, or you learn from it, you change it and you do it again until you're successful, right?
Speaker 3:100 and listen, I will say this despite you know, all my friends who have been, um, killed or injured, what I've got to see in my life and I know it can be, you know, a somewhat extreme experience, but I will say this um, you know, we got guys like, uh, louis puertas, who's a double amputee, he's also a Paralympic runner Right, and Shane Parsons is a double amputee and he plays sled hockey.
Speaker 3:So what I'll tell you is we can do things, despite other people telling us we can't, giving us limitations, giving us labels, and, even more so, we see the human spirit in people like that, right.
Speaker 3:So when, when we find, uh, an example of someone who has had you know kind of this crap sandwich that life has dealt them for lunch, they can smile and still figure out a way around what they've been through. And and for me, that reminds me that, no matter what I'm complaining about, no matter what's going wrong in my life, I can still get my ass back up. Because Shane laid in that hospital bed and he had two choices with no legs and he wasn't getting prosthetics, he could lay there and wait till he died he was a 21 year old young man at the time or he could get his ass up and figure out a way to live a life that was fulfilling despite his injuries. And I'll tell you, watching him is awe-inspiring because I know that if he can do it, I can do it. If I can do it, you can do it.
Speaker 2:I absolutely love it. And shout out to him for sure. Huh yeah, absolutely, that's awesome. So you know, that is it right. It is. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, get up and move.
Speaker 3:That's right.
Speaker 2:Stop being a victim and start being a victor. Amen, love that. So, and it is literally, it's just. You know, I always, when I'm doing trainings and I don't everything I teach people I do myself right and so all it is is take that little action to get the ball rolling and then follow up the action and so all of a sudden you have a tsunami. You know it's not a ripple effect, it's a damn tsunami, you know. So you know, I love that when you say that, because it's just the little two millimeter shift or that take that next step that takes you to that next place of where you are Right, Because when you got out of the military, did you ever see yourself doing this?
Speaker 3:Absolutely not, and that's why I will say that's why this is so important. I hope you guys hear this at home. Listen, not only did I not think I'd be doing this, but I thought I'd failed at so many aspects of my life that I wasn't capable of doing this stuff. So if you are in that position where you've been successful, you've found some of the trials and tribulations and have overcome them, turn around and help the next person, because you know that's what helps us. You know, build a better society and community is when we have good leaders and people who are willing to look out after each other.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that you said that, because really when you find a success formula too, you can share the success formula. It may be a little bit different for other people, but generally it's still there, right? That's it. So if we can tell me about your success formula a little bit, oh man, so I have a.
Speaker 3:My life is mostly routine, though we get lots of curveballs around here, especially because we put ourselves out there to help people with Warfighter Overwatch, right. But aside from that, we have businesses. Right, we have multiple businesses. We have a tattoo shop with Kinetic Ink Tattoo Company, we have custom apparel with Kinetic Threads, and then Fawn wasn't busy enough, so she started Mother Trucker Hat Bar and boutique. So they're doing permanent jewelry and all that stuff.
Speaker 3:And at the end of the day you know, the formula is simple I'm the water boy, I'm, I'm the guy who cleans it, I'm the janitor. Right, I have to invest in these businesses, and not just that, but it's relationships with the community. I need them to know that we're a good business run by good people. You know, I want to do good things, and so, number one, I hope that helps us stand out and, even more importantly, that goes to my value. So it's more important that I do that for myself than anything else. But people are watching, and so I want including my kids, and so we got to set a good example. We have to be good business owners, and that starts with, you know, waking up in that routine is, you know, I take my kid to school, I exercise, and then it's work time, right, and I have to make sure that the folks who are you know what they're tattooing, that they have the supplies they need. If it's the printing shop, I make sure that the boxes, the supplies that we need are there so we can continue to provide quality product in a timely manner, right.
Speaker 3:And so all of those things come down to being persistent, getting good at your craft. And then, even more importantly, something I teach my kids if we need help, we ask for help. Sometimes my wife is in there making the shirts and she gets overwhelmed. She gets a bunch of orders and she's like, hey, enough golfing today, I need you to come help. Yeah, all right. So you know we've got to have balance. It's so important to have that balance, especially as a business owner. But in the beginning, uh, the balance isn't necessarily going to be there, but it's worth it. And if you're again, if you're persistent, if you stick with it, you'll, you will find that you'll own your time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, and there's a. There's a life balance flow for sure. You know, I don't I don't really call it myself a balance, because sometimes there's more on one side and more on the other, but hopefully they even out and you know, and so on, for sure let's. Let's talk about asking for help for a second, because you brought that up, and I know we're getting a little low on time, but I think it's super, super, super, super important, right? So, as as veterans, as as human beings, as as men, as women, whatever you are, a lot of times we have trouble asking for help and we think that it's a weakness, when actually it's the most courageous thing we can actually do. Talk to me about that.
Speaker 3:Three hardest things on this planet to say are I'm sorry, I was wrong, or Worcestershire sauce. And so I know that I struggled so hard with asking for help. As the last thing I wanted to do specifically with my mental health stuff, because in the army I had a security clearance, right. I didn't want that to be affected when I got out. I didn't want to tell people because I thought it was a weakness, right. And then now I screen this stuff from the rooftops. That, if you listen, I told my kids when they were four years old, you know, eventually you're going to be able to put the straw in the Capri Sun, but until then, if you need help, ask for help. I wouldn't be a very good leader or parent or example if I said to do something and then didn't follow that. So if I need help, I ask for help. It's so vital. And it's not a sign of weakness. It is actually a sign of strength because I can do so much more with a support system, with help right.
Speaker 3:And I used to do things. Listen, I've lifted things and hurt myself my back, trying to be tough like a sink. Most recent memory I was lifting. My wife asked me to go pick up the sink. I didn't ask my buddy to go help me. I could have. I even had a friend offer. I said, no, that's all right, I got this, went over there. It was like 300 pounds. I'm like, what are we doing? And so, uh, I got it taken care of, but at what cost? And so that's what I want, as I think about is, there's consequences, and if we don't ask for help, there can be negative consequences for that too. But we're definitely, uh, more capable, or capable of doing more with with others.
Speaker 2:So Absolutely, absolutely. And Danny, I'm half an hour away, man, I could have helped.
Speaker 3:Exactly, you know, that's exactly it, right, I have people who would help me and I'm I'm, you know, my pride or ego gateway. I try to do that more. I say but absolutely, and then the next time you need help, you ask me and I'll come help you, because I'm always like, I'm down for that. If you need help, I'll come help you, and I don't always accept it. And so that's where you know I need to make changes, and that's OK, because we don't have all the answers and we do need help. We're always going to have to count on someone at some point in our life.
Speaker 2:And I just want to make a point Amen, first of all, and see, see how we just learned by the mistake. That's what we're talking about. That, that simple. And I want to say something else. You know, asking that person for help, um, physically, mentally, whatever the case may be If someone else has moved that sink beforeds, are they can get you further faster. If they've opened that business before, they can get you there further faster. You know, and that's the beauty of that network and we're bringing it back to the network here Networking is just there's people out there, you probably know that have done it before. You have the experience and or successful with it, and they can get you there three times faster. I mean, that's what coaching is all about, right, but you have friends that can do the same damn thing, that's right, yeah.
Speaker 3:So amen, yeah, please. Well, I'll just say this real quick. I even asked people like, let's say, with my business, right, if I see someone with the tattoo? I asked them that is just, you know, kind of a little icebreaker or whatever, but it's planting that seed. And they're like oh, you own a tattoo shop, you do tattoos, and then we start talking about that and art and those sorts of things. Well, I'm asking them to help support my business. Is what I'm asking them to do, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. With that said, if you're in the Folsom area, so tell us a little bit real quick. I know we're getting low on time. But about Warfighter Overwatch I want to make sure we bring light to that.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Warfighter Overwatch is a veteran and first responder nonprofit. It's focuses on mental health and suicide prevention. I pay for veterans firefighters, police officers to go to therapy. We do trips.
Speaker 3:I took 15 guys up half dome in october to remind them that you know what's inside of them is greater than what's in front of them. You can overcome any adversity. It's better if you do it together. Climbing that mountain was difficult. It would have been even more difficult as an individual when I have 14 other guys next to me. Uh and gals. It's you know.
Speaker 3:It reminds you that I can keep putting one foot in front of the other, but I I don't just have to put my head down and grind. It's important to look around at all the beauty we see and not just grind all the time. So we do a lot of good stuff. It's all cost-free to those we help. We're an all-volunteer nonprofit. Everyone does this because they care. We don't get paid a dime. We were the nonprofit of the year for the state of California in 2022. We hope to continue that going. We're almost at a million dollars raised since 2021. And I'll say that I'm this is my purpose right? I do a lot of different things in my life, but getting to help other other war fighters. This is, this is what allows me to um, to fill my bucket or my cup so that I can do those other things, whether it's with my kids, my businesses. This makes me feel whole. It allows me to be part of my community instead of isolating, drinking and doing those negative coping skills. We do the opposite.
Speaker 2:Amen, man, and it's, it's. It's so easy to go down that road, but when you find something fulfilling to fill your bucket and I was literally just talking to somebody about this yesterday it mitigates the negatives you know, number one deterrent for suicide is connection to others. Amen, I love it, absolutely love it. All right, we're past time. So, with that said, danny, how do people reach out to you?
Speaker 3:Man, you can find me on social media Instagram, facebook. Danny O on Instagram. Danny man, you can find me on social media instagram, facebook. Uh, danny o on on instagram. Danny o'neill, I'm super easy to find. Warfighteroverwatchorg uh, kinetic ink, tattoocom and any of those things. You can reach out if you need threads. Any of that stuff we got, uh, we got stuff, and if I don't have the business that you need, you let me know and I got someone who does and we'll network and get you hooked up with them too easy, hey man back back to networking.
Speaker 2:Nice little, nice little bow on the on the end there. Absolutely fantastic and as always, danny. Three tips to get veterans and their families further faster.
Speaker 3:Yeah, man. So first off, you got to network. You need to know who your neighbors are, because they're going to help you get to where you want to be Right, and I think it's important to to have those friendships you have to. You also have to be a good steward of the veteran and first or veteran community. So that means be out in your community, let them know that you know we're leaders, we have these skills and values and we want our communities to know what those are. And, even more importantly, we've got to support each other. So if you're in that position and you've gone somewhere that someone else hasn't, help them understand the groundwork and what you need to do to get there. And if you're in a bad spot, don't be afraid to ask for help so that you can get to where those other folks are that you want to be Absolutely man.
Speaker 2:I love that. I love the three tips and literally man use them because they're priceless. Those are golden nuggets, danny. Just drop right there. So, with that said, danny, just drop right there. So with that said, danny, thank you again for being on the show. As always, time is the most precious resource we have as human beings. We do not get it back. So thank you for spending some more minutes of your life with me and our audience, just bringing value man.
Speaker 2:Thank you, my friend Appreciate it brother, all right, man Love you, brother, we're out.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us on another insightful journey of your Thoughts your Reality podcast with your host, michael Cole. We hope the conversation sparked some thoughts that resonate with you. To dive deeper into empowering your thoughts and enhancing your reality, visit empowerperformancestrategiescom. Remember your thoughts shape your reality, so make them count. Until next time, stay inspired and keep creating the reality you desire. Catch you on the next episode.