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Words from the Wise
Join Words from the Wise with Gary Wise, a retired Navy Command Master Chief, for authentic leadership insights forged in real-world experience. Through engaging discussions and actionable strategies, Gary empowers you to master emotional intelligence, build resilient teams, and unlock your full potential. Tune in for practical advice on delegation, conflict management, and inspiring others, drawn from his over 28 years of service and ongoing leader mentorship headquartered now in Ocala, Florida.
Episodes
74 episodes
What Does It Take To Lead When No One Picks You
Some careers are straight lines. Terence Harmon’s is a fight through storms—boot camp setbacks, a fraternization hit that torpedoed his first run at MA, a year in Gitmo during riots—and a steady climb back built on mentorship, discipline, and n...
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Season 3
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Episode 20
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2:13:06
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How A Healthcare Leader Plans To Fix Georgia Schools
What does it take to fix a system that keeps letting kids down? We sit down with Dr. Nelva Lee—healthcare executive turned education reformer—to map a practical path from broken metrics to better lives. Her story runs from directing patient adv...
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Season 3
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Episode 20
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1:09:30
From Country Roads to Carrier Decks: A Damage Controlman's Journey of Leadership, Loyalty, and Legacy
A small-town country kid from deep East Texas—near Beaumont and Jasper—joins the Navy in 1986 as an undesignated fireman and steps aboard the legendary USS Midway in Yokosuka, Japan. What follows is a 22+ year career defined not by flash, but b...
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Season 3
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Episode 19
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2:28:48
How An 18-Year-Old Radioman Grew Into A Command Master Chief
What does it really take to grow from an 18-year-old radioman into a Command Master Chief trusted to steady a carrier crew? We sit down with retired Master Chief Shaun Brahmsteadt to map a 35-year journey packed with hard choices, honest mentor...
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Season 3
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Episode 18
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1:56:26
How Service, Faith, And History Shape A Life Of Purpose
History isn’t background noise here; it’s the compass. We open by connecting Cold War alliances to today’s fault lines, then ride along as David Kano—retired Navy Chief Hospital Corpsman—shares how “sailor first” shaped every step: enlisting th...
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2:06:35
Strength, Faith, And A 12,000-Mile Vision
What happens when you hate running, but choose obedience anyway? That’s the spark at the heart of this conversation with faith-first performance coach Chris Avery — a man who ran a marathon with zero training, logged a mile a day until it becam...
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1:23:06
Recognizing Stress Through Navy Color Codes And Real-Life Leadership Lessons
Stress doesn’t start at the crisis point; it starts the moment the phone lights up. We open with the real baseline most of us carry—pings, expectations, and a mind that wakes up in the yellow—and then lay down a clear roadmap to navigate the da...
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Season 3
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Episode 12
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1:09:32
From Cults To Calling: Athena Dean Holtz On Healing, Publishing, And Spiritual Warfare
A wound left untended doesn’t just hurt—it starts to steer. That idea threads through a gripping conversation with author, speaker, and publisher Athena Dean Holtz, whose journey spans Scientology, pioneering PTSD advocacy, a booming publishing...
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Season 3
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Episode 12
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1:32:33
From SCBAs To Series 7: Yes, That Escalated Quickly
A kid from Staten Island walks three miles to a Navy recruiter after a jobsite blowup and ends up a warrant officer, a chief engineer, and finally a financial advisor. That’s not luck—it’s discipline, mentorship, and a lot of deckplate reps. Ga...
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Season 3
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Episode 14
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2:09:15
Choose Your Reaction Or It Chooses You
When emotions run hot, one choice can change everything. Gary Wise lays out a clear, battle-tested way to slow the moment, tell the truth about what you feel, and make a response you won’t regret tomorrow. Drawing on decades of Navy leadership,...
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Season 3
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Episode 11
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44:15
Do It For You: Leadership, Boundaries, And Finding Your Why
The best leaders don’t start with perfect test scores or spotless plans—they start with a clear why. Gary sits down with Chelsea James, a first-generation student at Florida State, to unpack how a COVID-era freshman became a campus leader ancho...
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Season 3
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Episode 10
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1:30:34
Grit Starts At Home
The difference between a fragile follower and a future leader often comes down to one habit: perseverance built on safe, real-world reps. We dig into how parents, mentors, and teens can trade helicopter control for a clear framework that create...
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Season 3
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Episode 10
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1:00:20
Building Chiefs, Fixing Messes, Leading With Grit
The story starts in Norwalk and lands on a steam frigate in Pearl Harbor—then it never really slows down. Brian Ortega charts how an Operations Specialist grows into a Command Master Chief by choosing hard jobs, chasing qualifications, and hold...
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Season 3
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Episode 9
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2:00:57
Year-End Wins, Lessons, Next Steps
What if the most honest growth you had all year came from the mistake you’d rather hide? Gary pulls back the curtain on a year that mixed big wins with hard lessons: publishing Own Your Journey for students and families, launching Ocala Inspire...
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Season 3
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Episode 8
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1:07:28
How Visualization, Grit, And Faith Changed My Life
A small moment can reroute an entire life. Gary shares how a background of constant moves, a Boy Scout love for structure, and a rough detour into street life set the stage for a Navy career he once resisted—and later learned to master. The tur...
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Season 3
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Episode 7
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50:10
Year-End Pivot: Building A Purpose-Driven Podcast For Students And Veterans
A pivot only matters if it serves people. That’s the throughline as we look back on a year of testing formats, learning from missteps, and finding the work that actually changes lives—especially for the students we see every weekday. What start...
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24:33
From Tampa To The Chief’s Mess
The heart of this conversation is simple and fierce: people matter more than the machine. We sit down with Dave Robinson, a Navy cook turned Command Master Chief who led on carriers, a cruiser, a minesweeper, and at Great Lakes before launching...
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2:18:46
Mentorship, Loyalty, And The Making Of A Command Master Chief
A career isn’t a straight line—it’s a wake, and sometimes the seas are rougher than the chart suggests. Gary sits down with Master Chief Mike “Kaz” Kaszubowski to trace three decades of Navy life from Chicago sidewalks to Seventh Fleet, from le...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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2:41:47
Memphis Roots, Navy Grit, Hollywood Drive
A creative kid from Memphis taught himself to record raps in a closet, signed an indie deal in high school, and then made a decision everyone told him was unlikely: he joined the Navy to buy time, structure, and a ticket to the wider world. We ...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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2:08:30
Island Strong: A Military Spouse’s Journey
Orders said “Guam,” and Ashley’s world changed overnight. What followed was a whirlwind of a temporary hotel room, a toddler, a pregnancy, and a husband who left again within a week for a year-and-a-half stretch tied to submarine maintenance in...
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1:10:24
When The Goalposts Move: Choosing Family Over The Uniform
Navy Senior Chief (Ret.) Mike Savant spent 23 years turning weather into warfare — from forecasting off Iraqi oil platforms to keeping a three-star calm while the flagship’s comms melted down on the flight deck. He made Chief at 11 years, Senio...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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2:20:54
What Happens When “If The Gear’s Up, The Brow’s Down” Becomes A Life Philosophy
What does it take to go from a San Diego kid sleeping on potential to a Master Chief ET shaping ship readiness across Seventh Fleet? Dom Taylor joins us to unpack a career built on grit, clear standards, and the kind of leadership that keeps ge...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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2:08:51
How A Bay Area Kid Became The Master Chief Everyone Called For
A Bay Area kid keeps a promise to his mother and steps into a Navy that will test everything—grit, heart, and the courage to say “no” when “make it happen” would be easier. From recommissioning the battleship Wisconsin and learning the hard tru...
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Season 2
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Episode 20
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2:19:50
How Service, Faith, And Family Turned A Dropout Into A Master Chief
What does it take to turn a restless teenager into a leader who can steady a room in a crisis and still laugh with his team after? Gary opens up about ten reasons he’s deeply grateful for the Navy, starting with faith and flowing through family...
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Season 2
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Episode 19
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49:05
From Small-Town Alabama To Master Chief
What does it take to turn a “dirty ship” into the crew everyone else calls when things get tough? We sit down with Master Chief Jeffrey “JB” Brooks—raised in Fort Payne, Alabama by his grandparents, recruited by accident, forged on deckplates a...
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Season 2
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Episode 18
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2:18:54