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Words from the Wise Podcast
Join Words From The Wise with Gary Wise, retired U.S. Navy Command Master Chief and founder of Wise Leadership Solutions, for relentlessly authentic deckplate leadership insights forged in real-world experience.
From advising Commanding Officers and leading Sailors worldwide in high-pressure environments to his current daily mentorship of 180+ high school NJROTC cadets at Vanguard High School, Gary delivers no-fluff conversations and actionable strategies that help you:
- Cultivate persevering teams
- Create inspirational intensity
- Take full ownership of your growth
- Generate unstoppable momentum in your leadership and daily life
Whether you’re a young person determined to build real leadership skills, a parent who wants your teen to develop unbreakable discipline, a struggling leader searching for a breakthrough, an aspiring leader ready to step up, a seasoned leader who refuses to plateau, or a veteran transitioning into civilian leadership — this is your place.
Tune in for practical, battle-tested lessons on discipline, perseverance, ownership, and earning your opportunities every single day — drawn from over 28 years on the deckplates and now applied daily in the classroom, headquartered in Ocala, Florida.
Episodes
82 episodes
Getting Fired As Squad Leader Was The Lesson
She wanted overseas orders and got Camp Lejeune. She wanted aviation and landed in engineering utilities. And somehow, that’s exactly why this conversation works: it’s an honest look at how a young Marine turns disappointment into direction wit...
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When Family Breaks Bad
A single phone call can be the difference between burning your life down and finally growing up. I’m Gary Wise, and I’m telling one of the most personal stories I’ve ever shared: my relationship with my little sister Kristina, from childhood cl...
The Swim Call Stunt That Ended Up Building A Master Chief
One risky moment can break your body, and a single email can build your future. Jason Brown joins me to trace a Navy journey that starts with a teenager from Southern California who knows he needs a way out and a way up, then turns into a decad...
From Fireman To Master-At-Arms
The Navy rarely follows the plan you had at 17, and John Lukosus is living proof. We sit down as shipmates and walk through a career that starts in the engineering spaces as an undesignated fireman, then pivots hard into the Master-at-Arms worl...
Strong Leaders Say No So Others Can Grow
Boundaries are not about being harsh, they’re about being clear. I’m back with part two of our conversation on setting effective boundaries that protect your time, your sanity, and your relationships, while still helping the people around you g...
Protect Your Time
Your calendar is not neutral. If you do not set boundaries, somebody else will gladly spend your time for you. I sit down solo to get honest about where I still struggle: going all in, saying yes too fast, and letting work expand until it fills...
Leadership And Mental Health Across A Navy Career From Japan To Texas
A Navy career can look clean on paper while feeling brutal on the inside, and that gap is where this conversation lives. I sit down with Master Chief Dean Howell to talk about what it really takes to grow from a young sailor trying to keep his ...
From Louisiana To Master Chief Through Loss Service And Purpose
One bad decision can derail a life. One good mentor can reroute it. Gary sits down with retired Master Chief Tyrone Jiles to trace the real path from Rayville, Louisiana to the highest enlisted levels of Navy leadership, with the messy middle i...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 Cano—retired Navy Chief Hospital Corpsman—shares how “sailor first” shaped every step: enlisting th...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...