No Name Podcast
This is a podcast where we talk about anything and everything and nothing all at the same damn time!
No Name Podcast
A Live Haircut Sparks A Candid Talk On Identity, Fatherhood, And Life After Service
The buzz of clippers sets the tone, but it’s the honesty that keeps you leaning in. We invited a friend into the chair and watched a routine haircut transform into a real talk about identity, fatherhood, and what happens when the military stops defining who you are. The laughs are big—no-shave chits, birthday shoutouts, and barbershop jabs—but they sit alongside raw moments on COVID separations, medical hurdles, and the quiet work of rebuilding life at home.
We dig into the tension between a reliable trade and the need to do work that actually fills your cup. One guest shares how mastering HVAC saved cash and built confidence, while another admits the skill stopped giving him purpose, pushing him to chase speaking, a TEDx stage, and a master’s in transformational leadership. The conversation opens wider: what does it mean to be a girl dad who leads with patience? How do you move from all action to deeper connection? And how do you carry grief, including the loss of a child, without letting it own your future?
The throughline is resilience you can use. We unpack identity after service, the risk of tying self-worth to rank, and the simple, repeatable choices that rebuild a life—protecting family time, saying no to constant fires, and designing a purpose that lasts beyond the uniform. The barbershop becomes more than a set: it’s a reminder that community heals, humor helps, and the next chapter is written one honest conversation at a time.
Welcome back to the No Name Podcast, Episode 6. This is Impromp 2. We got Mark Hinley here. He's my co-host. We're looking at Derek Johnson live. He's cutting Ryan, who's a uh ABF ABF? ABF, yeah. He's an ABF one in the Navy 18 years. We ain't never done this before. It's first thing ever time. So that's why it's called a known name podcast.
SPEAKER_02:Hey, Derek over there, man. He got the the OJ gloves on. What's going on, man?
SPEAKER_03:Ryan, Ryan, drop something on us, man. Tell us something. About what? I mean, man, we're live. The no name podcast. I don't know if you heard me say we talk about anything and everything and nothing at the same time.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, like I said, um before about the um the HVAC stuff. I do want to get deep into the HVAC stuff. I'm really good with my hands. And I have taken apart my, you know, um my heating duck because it obviously a lot of the times it goes down, and then you have to pay somebody to come out, and that's a lot of money right out your pocket. So what I do next time, the first time I see it, he can go down. I'll just watch him, just watch, watch, watch, watch, and learn. Because the next time it goes out, boom, I can fix it myself. That's a lot.
SPEAKER_03:I love it.
SPEAKER_00:Everybody needs an H-Fan guy. I know you don't like it anymore. I mean, see, because you're you're a chief as an MM. But I like it.
SPEAKER_03:So yo, man, I get it. There's there's a need for it. It's definitely a skill and a trade, but I tell you what, man, it's uh one thing that I talk to a lot of men about, man, is uh following things you love. And you know, we were just talking about that. You gotta fill your cup, and it doesn't, it no longer fills my cup. It served as a stepping stone. It was a stepping stone, but not something that could fill my cup. And it makes sense completely.
SPEAKER_00:I'm from Chicago and it's cold over here, so people need it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. No, you need it. You're gonna be dying over there if you ain't got heat.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. Derek, what are you saying, man? I will shotgun him real quick. Before I started cutting his hair, I actually seen him. He was one of the only dads that will always go to these uh the the events around the base, whether it's Blue Star, USO. He's uh he's uh daughter dad. So that's how we actually know. Three daughters. I would only see him. Oh hey, he's in the loop.
SPEAKER_03:Why are you keeping the the you're keeping the fact that you're a father hidden? That's what I wanted to hear. Yeah, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:I didn't know honestly, yeah. Yeah, I got three daughters. Um one's about to be 13 this year, one's nine, and the other one is gonna be five.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. All right, okay. I love it.
SPEAKER_00:But the only problem is is that um I'm leaving them here and I'm headed to Japan for two years. Oh absolutely, but I mean I don't want to take them away from the school either, because they're success, you know, they're succeeding you, so yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, 50.
SPEAKER_00:I take them to go to Japan when you're doing your thing over here. Yeah, and I'm almost out of the Navy anyways, so now that makes sense, man.
SPEAKER_03:I'm gonna I'm gonna shotgun you on a question. Tell me if you can hear me on this. I didn't ask you, Mark Kenley, so don't take offense to this. But being a girl dad, you got three girls. Give us give us some piece of advice for anybody that's listening. One piece of advice for three being a girl dad at three.
SPEAKER_00:Well, let's just say that don't try to push off boys. To be fair, don't try to push off boys. Because honestly, us boys, we don't we have lack of drama, honestly. These girls, they all have drama and it's ridiculous. We're going through it now. They all but boys are so chill. Go ahead and have some boys, it's fine. I love this. Mark Kelly, what you got, man? Throw it, throw it to you. All three of my girls, no boys, no boys, no boys. And then I've seen the drama recently. I'm like, I screwed this up. They need little boys. Yeah, I man.
SPEAKER_02:I I got I I got two, I got two daughters, a six uh 16-year-old and a nine-year-old. And uh I ain't gonna lie. Like, I I I would say one of the biggest things I I learned is just to kind of be a little softer. Because I ain't gonna lie, I was I was I was I was a little rough with my oldest daughter. But but now, you know what I'm saying? I ain't gonna lie. When she had a boyfriend, man, I I I I had I had that that bench rim like tank top on. Like, excuse me. Who who's this again? First thing, first thing, oh my daughter was like, dad, dad, dad, dad. I said, well, she's like, he said you're big. She said, yep, keep keep keep keep that keep the energy right now. Oh man. But no, but yeah, I realized that it it's actually the first they're having girls, for me, I think it softened me up a lot more. I think if I if I would have had boys, I would have I would have been I would have been like like like uh that dude off a baby boy, you know what I'm saying? I would I would have been a menace.
SPEAKER_03:I love it. I love it. Hey, so let me ask you a real quick question. So I I can't help but notice. I I'm just very observational here. Have you been on leave? No, I'm talking, I'm talking to you getting your hair cut. Right. Right, right. No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00:I have a shave chit.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, I was gonna say, you got this beautiful ass mane, man. You got this nice ass beard, and you got or or just the navy's relaxed at standards since I've been in. I don't know. No, no, I have a two-year low shave chit. Okay, so Derek, Derek told me to do it. You're RDC as well. You thought he was working at Cup Club? Oh man. Bro, bro, you are you're a unicorn.
SPEAKER_00:First of all, you are it's it's it's it's been real common recently, though. It has been real common us have a loser. He said us.
SPEAKER_03:Hey, did did Derek give you this no shave chip? Because I begged him for a no-shave chip in Italy and he never gave me a no-shave chip. No, it's actually easier to get in here, honestly. Oh man. I hear they're trying to kick people out that have no shave chips, though. What's that? What's that about?
SPEAKER_00:I think that's just the army thing right now. Oh, okay. Right now, though, that's all I'm hearing. I think it's just the army. They might have it to us because obviously the sec nav, he really likes clean cut and fit people.
SPEAKER_03:And the name that eliminates Derek right off the bat.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, we ain't gonna like that. Or second secretary of war. Yeah, secretary of war.
SPEAKER_00:So it's not a DOD number. What is it? A doe number now? Yeah, heard about that? Secretary of War? The Doe number.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, doe DOW, huh?
SPEAKER_02:Meanwhile, sailors are playing Pokemon go. Hey man, you saying they got that that new um esports command right now.
SPEAKER_01:Yo, hold up, Alex. I forgot to tell you, Alex, I met a sailor who got kicked out during COVID. He he was automatic automatically promoted from E4 to five. He kept his time and rate, and he's getting a lump sum of over 100K. Well, if we're coming back in?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Because of the COVID thing when they kicked him out.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, no, I got I got kicked out for COVID too and was not taking the vaccine. Yeah. But let me let me tell you this. Let me tell you this, man. I would be at C duty for the next six years to finish out my my four months, because I'm I was at 14 when I got out. So I don't I don't necessarily know if I want to do another six years at C. It's just if they were to give me, if they were to basically pull back my promotion all the way to when I got out, maybe we can consider because then I'd be I'd be looking pretty good, right? I might be a senior chief or a mass chief by now. Who knows?
SPEAKER_00:But you made, yeah, you made chief quit.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I made chief in seven years, man. It was uh quick journey, but then I got stuck at chief for I was a I was a chief for five and a half before I got out. Like when I got kicked out, I was a chief for five and a half years.
SPEAKER_02:Oh man, wey Alex, man, you you I am legend right here, man. Say that again. I I say you are you I am legend right now, man.
SPEAKER_03:Shit, man. You know, yeah, man. I I I'll say that I I put a lot to the Navy, but there's also, you know, there's cons to anything, right? Like if you put a lot of energy into something, something's gonna fall somewhere. So my family, my wife, my relationship with my wife initially was really tough. And I've been focusing on a lot of like fixing that that relationship as I gotten out.
SPEAKER_02:What do you what do you say since you've been out? What did you say would be is like the biggest difference you notice? Because uh a lot of time for for people like for me, Derek, Ryan, we we're still in, you know, so we we're still in. But I heard so many different people, different things, but what have you noticed though?
SPEAKER_03:Well, I think, you know, what just stands out for me is that so many m men, well, I'm gonna say sailors in general. So many people that have been in the military for a long time, their identity get gets caught up into their job. So when they transition out or they leave the military, they don't know who they are as a person. So it kind of goes into that that part of your your podcast that you were doing is about having a connection to self on who you are, your identity as a person, and who you want to be when you get out. So, like when I got out, I I was like I told you, man, I was gung-ho Navy. Like I was hard charging, really successful. And I didn't know who I was when I was when I got out. So I had to like really sit with myself and be like, okay, what do I want to do? What do I who do I want to be? Like, what is my purpose? It goes back to that idea that you know, with men, there's all action and no connection, or no action and all in your head, like all connection, right? So I was in the military, I was all action, you know, like I was straight, I had a vision, I knew where I wanted to go in the military, but I didn't really have a connection to who I was as a person. So getting out, it was about like building understanding the pain, you know, that I've experienced in my life and seeing where I wanted to go with that. Because I the way I got kicked out, man, it was a little shady. I got diagnosed with five brain tumors, and then they tried to they try to throw the COVID vaccine on me, and that I had a medical exemption, and the Navy was like, nah, you're still gonna take the COVID vaccine. And I said, No, I have a medical exemption, like you guys approved this a medical medical exemption. And long story short, man, I got kicked out. And you know, it's just been I I've been able, I have five kids. Did I mention I have five kids? No, whoa. Yeah, yeah. So I have five kids. Hey, that's a bad boy right there. Y'all, I don't have TV in my house, and when I'm outside the Navy, you know what I like to do? When I'm not drinking. No, man. So that's the I think that's the biggest thing for me, man, is really understanding the work life balance. And everything's not a pri like a major priority. I was one of those guys that like I would, if someone, if one of my sailors like brought something up, I'd make it a priority right away. And I'd be I'd be always on the go trying to fix my sailors' problems, also trying to fix the mission. And I didn't really have any time from like I didn't create that time for my family, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it makes sense. Uh it makes sense. Yeah. And it's funny because uh me and Derry, we had a uh uh a conversation. Remember when you it's like it's that analogy when you when you finally put the glasses on. When you take the glasses off, you look outside, you're like, man, it's bright outside. The mirror kind of gets gets out of the view, and you're kind of like, okay, I'm I'm not just my rate, I'm not my rank. Okay, who who am I at this time? You know what I'm saying? Who who do I want to be at this time? And and it's crazy because uh we was just talking about it like way before, like he's a barber. He he's barbering with we're shaking hands right now, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_03:So yo, he's he's a little high on the he's a little high on the fade there, too.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, live too too much on the side.
SPEAKER_03:Don't turn him to the side. If you're watching this right now, this man, he's just under pressure. He's never been video recorded live, Barbara.
SPEAKER_02:Don't do the Marine Corps haircut, man. That's all right.
SPEAKER_03:No, I won't do Ryan like that. No, he's good. That's why I always come back. No, you think you come back because you feel bad for him. You just you just you know, supporting business. I heard for anybody that's listening, I heard that Derek, he's been getting really good at AI. He's able to get these AI bots in there, and he'd be cutting their hair, different, different people's hairs. What you got to say, Derek? How? What you got to say, man?
SPEAKER_01:No, I I wanted to actually open up the floor for you. Like, uh, what are some of the stuff you got going on? I know you said you got some things you're cooking up for the rest of the year. I want to open up the floor for you. Like, what come on now? This ain't about me. Yeah, I'll share, but I'm gonna throw it through it back to everybody. I'll share. Hey, Lilla. Hey, Mark Kelly, before I met you in 29, he was my neighbor in Italy. He was who I got most of my gospel from.
unknown:What?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yo, he ain't even though. Yeah, yeah. Yo, Derek, man, he was a hard charger, man. He now that he's a he's about to be a senior chief. He was uh he was an E5 when I was a chief. And he just straight like caught me and passed me. That's what I'm talking about right there. He's beautiful. Yo, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Nah, so it's just a a job, job upgrade. What would you follow it? What would you call that when you get when you get um a promotion? Yeah, it's just a job promotion. Yeah, but it's something I there's no way you could have made that same impact inside the military. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:No, you you're right, man. We all got our we all got our lane, and it's I think it's important that like I'm I'm so grateful now uh to answer your questions. I just finished doing a I just did a TED talk two days ago on turning pain into purpose. Uh, as I was telling you, Mark Inley, the other day, uh, or on the podcast. I'm working on a book that's called A Man's Journey titled Transforming Pain into Purpose.
SPEAKER_01:Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, he snug that in on me. Hold up, trap. Yo, I I told you this when I was when I was you see how much he listens when he was here?
SPEAKER_02:Oh man. Yo. He it's because he got the clip in his hand now, so he he's good. He he's hearing his 25.
SPEAKER_03:I uh I straight opened up when he was here. I was like, Yeah, well, this is what I got going on. This is what we got, and you didn't even listen to me, man. That hurts.
SPEAKER_01:Wait, was that you the whole time, though? There's the mosquitoes whizzing in my ear. Yo, man. Nah. Yeah, no, no, I'm writing the book. I woke up in the middle of the night and a mosquito whispered. He said, What you gonna do? Leave?
SPEAKER_03:I was like, damn, bro. Yo, I feel bad because they weren't even that bad, and then I guess you brought them. Like, they just came flocking to you guys. I'm like, what the hell is up with all these mosquitoes?
SPEAKER_01:Nah, it was a processed food, man. They was in for a treat.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, well, they ain't they're not here anymore, man. So they they only came to visit you. We brought we brought the They had the airport seeing who's getting off the plane. Bro, we we brought the full experience. You said you want to come to DR. We made sure we were bringing you dengue.
SPEAKER_01:Hey, you gotta watch out for Alex. You notice how he changed he changed the whole thing? Hey, alright. So you got a book? Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Yo, man. Yeah, and I'm I'm I'm um you caught me there. I see it though. It's right, it's called deflection. I like it. I'm finishing my master's program. I got one class and I'm done with my master's program.
SPEAKER_02:Nice, nice.
SPEAKER_03:And um go ahead. No, what's your master in? Transformational leadership.
SPEAKER_02:Ooh, okay, okay.
SPEAKER_03:So just like you, I want to be a motivational speaker. So it's something that's been very near and dear to my heart for a long time. So my next my next goal, I haven't taken any steps towards it. I I'm looking for three paid gigs by March. So I'm I've done the TED Talk. I've applied for a few TED talks. So, like, I mean I'm I'm done that path, but now I want to make it a career.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, are you what arena are you trying to like do? Like with the uh high school, like detention youth, like what area?
SPEAKER_03:Bro, I'm universal. Like, I'll speak to whatever. I want to I want to hit on resiliency and just just helping people through transition phases in their life. It could be it could be losing a job, it could be a divorce, it could be, I mean, I think that Derek might have told you my uh my youngest son passed away seven months ago. So, you know, like just navigating through losing a child, that's something that a lot of people have a hard time with. So just you know, a lot of challenges, it's so a resiliency thing. It's not about how you get hit, just like in the term of Rocky, I don't know his exact verbatim, but it's not how you get hit, it's how you move forward from the hit, right?
SPEAKER_02:Oh yeah, he said uh it's not about how how hard you can get. It's about how I say and get back up. You gotta get back up.
SPEAKER_01:And I was like, yeah, like Alex, for the millennials, who's Rocky? Whoa! Whoa!
SPEAKER_03:I know Bro. I it's Rocky Balboa, right? That's his name. Yeah, yeah. Rocky Balboa, yep. Yeah, I saw my son the other day. I was walk I walked in. He's rocking watching Rocky One, old school Rocky, bro. But I'm I've only I've only been watching I've only watched uh Sylvester Stallone like later in life Rockies when he's old, not the not the young ones. Creed? Well, he was in Creed too. Yeah, yeah. No, but he's telling us old school, old schools. But old school Rockies, man, where he was like lighting up this whole town with with flamethrower. Oh man. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Damn. Am I the oldest one out of here, man? That was real, man.
SPEAKER_03:Ryan, how old are you looking, man? You're looking young now, but how old are you? He said 37. Okay, yeah, and um uh Mark Henley, you man, you the oldest. Damn, man.
SPEAKER_01:Mark Kenley was there with Rocky. Mark Kenley was on the steps pointing at him like, you that dude. Hey, you that dude, man.
SPEAKER_03:Hey, Mark Kinley, would you believe me if I told you I'm the youngest? I'm the youngest in this room right now. I'm the youngest. I'm 35 years old, man. No, I'm I'm the younger.
SPEAKER_02:I thought you were 30. Derek 33.
SPEAKER_03:I turned 35 to smile. You know what? I forgot, man. You are you are younger. Alright, I take that back. I take that back. Oh, you're hey, let's not let this slip. Derek turns 34. Yep. I might hey so Ryan, Ryan, you work with him?
SPEAKER_00:Uh same command. Nobody knows where I work.
SPEAKER_03:Same command. Not the not the same work chairman though. Oh, okay. Same command. So I'm gonna need you to make sure everybody knows that it's his birthday tomorrow. Oh, I got my group needs. Uh hey. The next on the next podcast, we're gonna talk about how your birthday went, Derek.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, apparently Seb says she got a surprise from me. I don't know. You know what that means, right?
SPEAKER_03:Number three.
SPEAKER_02:Congratulations, Derek, man.
SPEAKER_01:I know.
SPEAKER_03:Alright, I'm gonna We're gonna close up this podcast, but I wanna I wanna real quick, because it's back to our our main uh guest here, and that's Ryan. Ryan, leave the listeners with some words of wisdom, man. If you could go back to your 18-year-old self, what would you tell him? Alright.
SPEAKER_00:Let's see. No matter how hard times get, always keep on trucking. Because the time the hard times will turn into good times. It's all about the grind.
SPEAKER_01:I think he was when he pulled up, he didn't know he was gonna be on a whole I had no idea.
SPEAKER_03:Yo, so Derek, you gotta get his information so we can um we can tag him and make sure that he gets credit for for everything.
SPEAKER_01:Oh yeah, you do be on social. I mean you wanna drop your social I really don't have it. Only I have Facebook.
SPEAKER_03:I have Instagram, but look, if you're not watching this video, if you're not watching this video, but you're listening, this dude's got one hell of a haircut now. The fade's a little off, like we were talking about, but his his beard makes up for it. Please. The beard is like the makeup for men. I know man, and they they make us cut it off.
SPEAKER_01:They try to get real don't do it. Leave us alone.
SPEAKER_02:Hey, as long as you're not getting cut by Dragon Lady, man, you good, man.
SPEAKER_03:Man, I love it. All right, gents. I gotta go, man. My kids are screaming in the background. There it's time to play. It's it's starting bedtime, and that's that's that's my time to go fight and and wrestle and have a good time. So I appreciate y'all's time. It was one hell of a day meeting you, uh, Ryan. Please, you please good talk. Make sure that Derek uh he gets his uh birthday celebrated at the at the command tomorrow. Again, it is appreciate it. Mark Henley, man, it was one hell of a uh time meeting you again, seeing you on the on the podcast and chopping it up, brother. Same man, same man, man.
SPEAKER_02:Hey, stay blessed, man. Stay blessed, man. All right, appreciate it. Talk to y'all later.
SPEAKER_01:What'd you say? Still sharpened steel. I'm so glad we did this.
SPEAKER_03:Bro, I'm so glad we did it too. So I'm gonna end after this. But if you're if you're taking a haircut from Derek Johnson and you want to be on our podcast, just let him know beforehand and we'll drop, we'll drop in and record his uh his cuts.
SPEAKER_01:All right, how about this? How about this? I'll I'll do this. Because I haven't posted on on Instagram in like months.
SPEAKER_03:Yo, we're gonna call Mark Kenley up in this motherfucker too.
SPEAKER_02:Let's go, let's go.
SPEAKER_03:Are you recording?
SPEAKER_02:I'm not gonna go ahead, though.
SPEAKER_03:Hey, this is the no name podcast where we talk about anything and everything and nothing at all. If you want to come drop in and chop it up and maybe get a bad haircut on Derek's uh barbering shot, you let us know and we'll we'll make it that thing. That's cold blood. The haircut's almost done.
SPEAKER_01:We're halfway there, we're halfway there. Hey, let's get it, let's get it.
SPEAKER_02:Peace y'all go, peace.