The Grove Guys
A group of guys, having conversations about our experience and lives. As we discuss what it is to have compromise on (social, political, and cultural) issues. Starting in the roots of community.
The Grove Guys
Conversation with Logan Williams (Rising Valor)
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The guys bring on Logan Williams founder of Rising Valor: Lets Rise Together.
to talk our commonality in purpose and ambitions.
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SPEAKER_04We've got John. Ron.
SPEAKER_07Chad. Logan.
SPEAKER_04Ooh.
SPEAKER_07And Steve.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Now, some of you are probably wondering, wait, what just happened? What did just happen? We have a special guest here on the podcast. Most of you already know who it was because you didn't recognize the name. It is Logan Williams with a rising valor. He's here just hanging out with us, and we're gonna have a whole episode and talk to him, see what he was all about. So with that being said, Logan, anything you're comfortable sharing, go ahead and share. But uh who is Logan Williams?
SPEAKER_07Yeah, yeah. I'm at uh first of all, thanks guys for having me on here. Steve, I just wanted to say uh I'm glad I interrupted you on that one. And uh my name is Logan Williams. I founded Rising Valor. I'm a veteran, a father, a husband. I'm comfortable sharing everything. My mission is to destigmatize mental health and share my journey going through mental health and let everybody know who's going through that sort of thing, that it's a common thing and it's nothing to be ashamed of.
SPEAKER_04Awesome. That being said, like how did everything get started or what inspired you to start? I mean, obviously the mental health aspect, but like what was there something in particular that it inspired you to start this?
SPEAKER_07Yeah, so I've wanted to start this sort of thing for a long time. I uh I joined the I joined the military when I was 17 in high school, always been fascinated with the military. And shortly after I got in, I I got one of my friends in from high school. And shortly after that, he ended up taking his life. And that was the first of several of my military friends my encounters with suicide. And it it started a long dark spiral for me into a a depressive wave, and I've dealt with it ever since. And I have kind of just felt like it's it's been enough. Everybody talks about you should open up and and share, and you know, you please reach out for help, and somebody should do something about this mental health epidemic that we're living through. And it's not just veterans that are experiencing mental health crisis right now, it's everybody, it's such a relatable topic. And I wanted to do my part and and help out and kind of just share with you that if you can see me telling my story and going through this, and I can talk to some of these veterans or leaders within a community, and you can see that they are sharing their stories and being vulnerable, that hopefully somebody seeing that can can take some something from that and be able to open up and reach out for help if they need it.
SPEAKER_04Nice. Yeah, we've we've talked about mental health here on this podcast, and that's actually part of my journey too, of wanting to even start this. You know, just being guys that just kind of as you mentioned that talk about this stuff. Because for the most part, our society tells us that men don't talk about this. We don't we stuff it down, we don't deal with it. And then that's the manly thing to do. Right. Right. But is it? You know, that's that's the whole point of this podcast, and that's why I'm you know glad that you're here, glad that you're talking about all this. Um I think for right now, I know it's a short, quicker one, but let's take a quick break real quick and then we'll get back into the conversation. Still made that.
SPEAKER_05Never gonna let us forget.
SPEAKER_07Ever hey guys, Logan Williams. Check everything out, risingvalor at risingvalor.net. You can follow the socials at Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. And if you're somebody who's got a story, I would love to hear from you. You can reach out to me at Logan at risingvalor.net and have a great day. I love you.
SPEAKER_04And we're back in. So we're once again sitting here with Logan, um, talking all things pro guys and mental health and what it is to be a man here in today's modern culture. Um, so you heard a little bit about Logan as he started. Uh but to kind of get this conversation started. Um, Logan, what's your what's been your greatest challenge in starting the rising valor? Um can we say company? Like how do we how do you want us addressing that?
SPEAKER_07You know, I I I just say it's uh it's a storytelling platform.
SPEAKER_04Okay. So what's been the greatest challenge in in this platform?
SPEAKER_07So definitely the greatest challenge so far has been dealing with the the identity or feeling like I am not qualified enough to be a person to talk on mental health. It's something that I I hold no degrees. I'm not a doctor, I'm not a therapist. I am just somebody who's trying to tell other people's story and tell my own. So that kind of identity around that and and being willing to share when I don't feel qualified enough has been really challenging and difficult. And it's when I'm trying to talk about statistics or anything revolving around mental health, and I don't hold a degree or qualification for that. Right. But I do believe that it is every person's responsibility and place to be having those types of conversations, especially with your friends and people that you spend your time with.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, definitely.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, starting the conversation is the biggest hurdle sometimes.
SPEAKER_04Or even just having the platform to put it on and just, you know, because you have a blog on your plat on your website as well where it's just kind of talking over this stuff and having people just opening that door to that conversation is sometimes the most important part.
SPEAKER_07And it is, is absolutely very difficult. I mean, you you're probably not gonna talk about uh how you're dealing with something really heavy with your co-workers, maybe, but uh with with a lot, even just my friends. Uh this last interview that I had was probably the deepest I've ever talked with one of my best friends.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_07Even with your best friends, you don't get into more than surface level conversations very often. And it's sad. I mean, I I don't have a lot of friends that we talk about anything other than just how here's your day going and how's work and this and that. And it it can be difficult to bring up, hey, I'm I just wanted you to know that I'm struggling with something. And and I did that once. That was kind of one of the things that got me towards doing this. Was I was going through one of those big depressive waves of my life, and I decided to reach out to about 10 of my friends, and probably eight or nine of them told me that they were dealing with the exact same thing. Right. I called them up and just said, Hey, just wanted you to know this is something I'm dealing with. And they said, Yeah, dude, no, I'm actually struggling struggling with that as well. And I thought, oh my gosh, how crazy is that that's it.
SPEAKER_04We're all doing it here in silence, and we're right, we're all dealing with it.
SPEAKER_05Well, because you're never supposed to talk about it because you're a man.
SPEAKER_07Right.
SPEAKER_05Men don't talk about it, they hold it in, they deal with it.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, that's what society wants you to believe. Right. That it is weak. It's not weak to talk about. You know how hard it is to talk about that stuff. So yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I will say this as the only Grove guy having the distinct opportunity and ability for to be interviewed by Logan is that he does a phenomenal job with with it, and the conversation that he and I had was just great. And it was, you know, very you did you did a great job in asking questions and getting prompting me to think about or to go and you know bringing all the story together. And so you I know you were talking about that you felt like you know, you you weren't, you know, somebody that was, you know, a professional in doing it. But I will say is that you don't have to be, and that's the thing for all of us is that we don't have to be that professional person in order to be able to do those things. And you did a phenomenal job. And I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_07I appreciate you saying that. It means a lot that just to have that validation of saying, yeah, you you did a good job. Steve, we cut you off. What were you saying?
SPEAKER_03Well, we'll you'll get used to that. Everybody gets cut off once in a while. Uh you know, there's so the two two thoughts I had. One one is one of the most powerful things, in my my opinion, about what you're doing, Logan, is by sharing your story or sharing other people's stories, you're giving other people permission to share their stories, right? It's not not not explicit, but implicitly, you're saying, hey, look, we can do this, and we can be uh, you know, uh men and whatever, and still have and share feelings this way. So kudos to you. I think it's absolutely outstanding that you you would step up and do this.
SPEAKER_07Well, thank you.
SPEAKER_03Um the second, yeah, yeah, you're very welcome. So the second thought I had was um, gentlemen, we did the suicide episode, um, which I don't remember if it was the first one or the second one, but it was a one-back. Um that episode, we looked at some numbers and the disparity between male and female suicide rates. Look, either way, one is too many, right? So I'm I'm not saying uh females don't have problems, but like we talked about in that session, this idea of repressing your feelings and you know, with what Logan said, only talking about surface issues and you know, those kinds of things, it's a real problem. It's a real problem, and it it's not just something that you see when you have a friend who uh takes a life or any of that stuff. Any data nerd can look at the data and say, oh my gosh, this is a man problem.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, right?
SPEAKER_03Like there's numbers are unbelievable. Yeah, yes, yes, it's crazy. It's it's a large amount.
SPEAKER_07I don't know if you're you're aware this is actually men's mental health, mental health awareness month. It very rarely gets talked about that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04You know, be that guy, but men's issues aren't talked about, and it's not because people aren't willing to talk about it, it's because men aren't willing to talk about it.
SPEAKER_07I I would agree with that to a point because not to push back too much, because yeah, I do agree that yeah, men do struggle bringing some of that up, but I have found within the last year of me having these types of conversations with people, every man I've spoken to, even the ones that I thought wouldn't want to, have been very open to having these conversations, and everybody is very supportive. And everybody that I've talked to has been, yeah, you know what? I actually deal with some of those things as well, or I relate to some of those things as well. It's just having that opportunity to to ask about or even just talk to your friends, just open that dialogue up and men will talk about it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. But it's also once you open that door.
SPEAKER_03It's the permission thing. Yep, it's the permission thing, right?
SPEAKER_04Give me the opportunity.
SPEAKER_03By you starting this company, that's right. I know it's safe, right? If you're asking me to do it, I know that it's safe. Yeah, as soon as you expose yourself, then it's a safe thing. That's right. So so that that's what I mean by it's so critical that we have people take that stance. Uh, I'm I'm just super proud of you for stepping up to do it. I'm super proud of us for talking about these things too, of course. That's part of why we did this to begin with. But man, I I it we need more of this. More of it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's all about us as we grow and as we do more. It's it's it'll it'll get there because I you know, I know personally, I started this and you know, got these three guys together with me to you know talk about these issues because I noticed that you know there's a lot of manosphere, be macho, be tough, you know, talk down to women, you know, they're they're your property, do what you want with them. Like, and I'm just thinking young kids are hearing this, and I'm the only one in this group without children. So it's like these guys all have young, you know, young boys ranging from like what 12 to 18? 21. Well, 12 to 10. 10 days. I'll be 21. 12. So ranging from 12 to 21. And you know, how much are they hearing on a regular basis?
SPEAKER_07I just had my eyes open to that pretty recently. I attended my first men's group through my therapist office, held just a group with several of men that that attend there. And it was eye-opening because I was the only person in there that had a father growing up. And from what they were talking about, was the only role models they have are these social media people who are feeding them. And the what they were talking about is it's poison. What they're talking about is that you have to make a certain amount of money, and you're like you were saying, the talking down to women, it's awful. And that is what they have to look look up to. Yeah, it's and and one of the one of the young fellas in there was like, Man, I didn't even, I've never heard other guys talk about this sort of thing like you guys have in here, because it's what we as we're sitting here right now talking about mental health, is what we were doing in that group. And he had his eyes opened, he didn't know.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah, and it's most I would say most men don't. And most men are never you know, brought to this, and even when they are, there's that you know, the way that we used to say back in the 90s, there's that thing was like, Oh, that's gay. Like that, there's just this like pushback against being vulnerable, against putting yourself out there. You know, we've talked about on plenty of our episodes that you know, our our wives constantly call us out on that all the time.
SPEAKER_07They're good for it too. Yeah, good.
SPEAKER_04And it's and I know I speak for the rest of the four guys here, and I don't want to speak for you, Logan, but I speak for the you know three guys here. We encourage it. It's like if if you see me acting like a you know butthead or whatever, I don't want to say the other word.
SPEAKER_02You've already got us explicit on everything else. So we're expecting it.
SPEAKER_04If you see me acting like an asshole, call me out. You know, like say something.
SPEAKER_03Well, you're acting like an asshole, John. You're acting like an asshole.
SPEAKER_04Okay, Steve. No one asked you.
SPEAKER_07Well, that should be what men's friendships are is being able to call your friends out and point out when you're doing something like that.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, 100%.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, and that's one thing that I know with my boys is that I've always tried to do that with all of them since they were, you know, little is show that emotion, show that ability to be able to be, you know. Genuinely who you are. Yeah. Well, it's it's I think it's also just, you know, like I remember growing up, I remember hitting a point, and my dad was, you know, he didn't explicitly state this, but it was like you can't really show, you know, you can't really, you know, give me a hug or kiss or something, you know, like that.
SPEAKER_04And it would keep your distance, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and and you know, yeah, we, you know, he would still, you know, give hugs, and we do now, and it's a different thing because as he's gotten older. But you know, with my boys, that's something that I've always tried to make sure that they know. It's like if something's going on, I'm gonna give you guys a hug. I'm gonna you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna give you uh you know, I'm gonna give you a kiss on the cheek, you know, because you're my boy. I don't care, you know. We'll we'll walk arm in arm, hand in hand. I don't care how old you are or how much somebody thinks that that's goofy, but that's the thing that's drilled into us is that, oh, you know, there I've got, you know, here's this adult child, because he is. I mean, well, I've got I'll have two adult sons by the end of the year. Don't even get started.
SPEAKER_04I feel like all of your kids are adults.
SPEAKER_05I think Ron's the only non-adult. Fair.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but that's just because I'm childlike, not child-ish. Right, childlike. Childlike. We're all childlike. That's right.
SPEAKER_03Right. But some more than others. Hey.
SPEAKER_07I've got a friend who's uh in his 50s and he he's almost embarrassed to admit that he's really into Lego and building these little structures and around his house. I'm like, man, enjoy your Lego. They're they're fun. I like them too.
SPEAKER_05Enjoy your debt because that's what Lego is. It's debt. Buying those pets and being like, where'd my money go?
SPEAKER_04There are the he's not saying where'd my money go? He's like, it went right here. Right. I had a great time. You can see it up there.
SPEAKER_05No, and I I think that's great that people we're hitting that point now. People will do that. They're like, I enjoy this hobby. I'm gonna do it. I don't care what other people think.
SPEAKER_04Because it's we're getting we're getting something here.
SPEAKER_02No, Logan posted something about somebody talking about hobbies, men having hobbies the other day.
SPEAKER_07Oh man, I was listening. I don't know if you guys are uh big blitz listeners. I was fuming on the way into work the other day. I'm listening. The host goes, you know, as men, should should you display your achievements and trophies? They're talking about a guy who displays his division uh football trophies in his house. Like, are you kidding? What do you mean, as a man? Should you be proud of your achievements? Of course. 100%, yeah. And they're totally making fun of this dude and other people.
SPEAKER_04And let the man have his achievements, and I don't see your division trophy, bro.
SPEAKER_02Listen, I'm a Bengals fan, okay? So um, Ron. I know you know I get it. I know I know. We're we're brothers in this, being Bengals and Browns fans. The trash teams of the NFL.
SPEAKER_03Well, one's a little more trash than the other right now, so I'll take it.
SPEAKER_05And I'm over here like Go Sports. Same.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, don't care about sports too much. Go sports. It throws people off, especially as a masculinity thing. And you don't want to talk about football or you've no idea. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they're like, well, what do you mean you don't know who John? Some kid asked me one time. He goes, he had a shirt that said JJ Watt ate my burrito or something. I was like, who's JJ Watt? And this 10-year-old kid about smacked me in the face.
SPEAKER_02But again, again, that's another masculine thing, though, is that it is going sports. Right.
SPEAKER_05Well, and you know, that's one of the sad things because there's a lot of younger kids that grow up in sports houses. Not every sports house, but like they can quote statistics, they can tell you about every player, but they don't know to have know how to have a meaningful conversation.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. And that's really simple. Well, what Logan was saying, it's a surface level conversation. Like, you know, dad's right basic question.
SPEAKER_07Right. Yeah. How many kids only relate to their fathers over sports, and that's the only thing they have in common?
SPEAKER_04Probably too many that we want to actually think about. Three or four.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. But then again, that's probably the only way the dad felt like he could be able to connect with his kids because you know that was what's the way his dad connected to him.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02Almost like it's generational. Exactly. Exactly.
SPEAKER_04What?
SPEAKER_02You know, and that's because that's something for me, is that like me and and and my my boys, yeah, we love football. Yes, we're, you know, we talk about different stuff. Yes, I take them every year to welcome to the jungle for the bingles. You know, that's just our thing that we do. But the the root of it is that that's not the only thing that we have. You know, we we have our times where we we sit and we talk about our Star Wars, we talk about our Disney stuff.
SPEAKER_05You come be the characters don't lie.
SPEAKER_02We do, we nerd out. I mean, my son and I last year for his 20th birthday, we went and we did the Disney shirts together. You know, yeah, I picked them out and whatever, and it was father-son theme. Either way.
SPEAKER_04Did he enjoy it?
SPEAKER_02Oh, absolutely. He was all about it. He forced him to do it. Right. Yeah. Well, I mean, he, yeah, but still, no, no, he was all about it. I mean, I mean, he turned 20 and he's like, you know, I'm like, son, we need to do a trip together. And he's like, Do you think Lindsay would be okay if we did Disney? And I was like, You can talk to your stepmom all you want. Let's figure this out. But we ended up going because my wife is a blessing and a wonderful lady, and she yes, she let us go. But last, you know, but you know, we had the the day that was the most triggering was when I was Darth Vader and he was Luke Skywalker. Because when we went and visited, The characters, Chewbacca. I think Chewbacca about beat my ass.
SPEAKER_05He's intimidating too because he's like eight feet tall. Right.
SPEAKER_02I mean, you know, there's not a lot, a whole lot of people that's taller than I am, and I'm having to look up and trying to talk to him. Right. But you know, I think it just it just comes down to the fact that you've got to, as a father to to a son or even to daughters, is that you know, you've got to be able to diversify how you speak and communicate and how you share and how you're there for your kids. Right. And it's not a set way as a dad. You know, uh I'll say this, and you know, some some people were talking about how um, you know, look at the masculine men that you know call people out whenever they don't do something for their daughters. You know, like they're sitting there and they're like getting their nails painted or they're wearing a tutu. And somebody was like, The rock! It puts it out there that he is a girl dad. The the rock. He's sitting there getting his nails painted, he's got a tutu, he they're putting makeup on him, he's wearing uh uh, you know, you know, tiara and all that stuff. And and that's because as a father, you're relating to your kids how they can relate to you. And I feel like that that's something.
SPEAKER_04And if y'all want to see Ron doing kind of a similar thing, look back to the masculinity episode. I where the artwork looks great in that too, too, as well. I've never seen a pinker beard. Exactly. I mean, you know, but that's the thing. Or the smile, as we pointed out there, the smile on your daughter's face is the whole reason you do it.
SPEAKER_02And you know what? This this past Saturday, my daughter had come up, she was getting her hair done, and we walked around the Grove City Wine and Arts Festival. And you know, it I was almost in tears because she grabbed and she interlinked her arm with mine, and we walked down the street together. And all I could just think about is that here's this 19-year-old girl who still just loves her daddy. And most days. Most days, but she's not afraid to show it in public, and you know, and that was just a huge victory when your adult children come and visit you, but let but but also show that out in public.
SPEAKER_04And it was just But that also shows what we've been talking about this entire time, which is you've been a positive role model of what masculinity actually is for her. Because when she goes out and looks for you know, I'm only guessing here, but I don't know. But when she goes out to look for a partner, if she's looking for a male partner, then she's gonna look for somebody that loves her the way that you know you do that emulates the things that you do. Because you know, clearly she loves and wants your attention. And you know, what more do you what more do you want from a daughter?
SPEAKER_05But I mean, also kudos to Ron for having a 20-year-old son that wanted to go to the happiest place on earth for his birthday.
SPEAKER_02Most magical, happiest magic Disneyland. Come on now. Oh wow. Most magical is Disney World. You're even an annual Passover man.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, but but I mean the fact that he wanted to go there. Right. Instead of take me to a game, let's do something small, he wanted an experience to share with his father.
SPEAKER_02He goofed around with me wearing shirts. He I was Mufasa and he wore his Simba. We did Cheppetto and Pinocchio, and and we did Goofy and Max, and I loved that one because we got a picture with Goofy and Max.
SPEAKER_05The power line.
SPEAKER_07So, Ron, do you feel like that's an achievement as a father to have that daughter who wants to be seen with her father in public and to have that son who's willing to go and do that with his dad?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. And nobody can see this. Well, I guess some of the cameras here that Logan's got set up, but I've got tears in my eyes because it is. It's just such an emotional thing to have that, you know, that to have your adult children want to spend time with you. Not forced to spend time with you, but but take their time. Yeah. And and that's that's just such an honor, you know. Like, you know, tonight my son, he's like, I get off at 10 30, I'll come up and see you. He lives like 45 minutes away, and you know, because he wants to, he just wants to come and hang out. And uh, you know, so those of you that have, you know, younger kids, whether they be teenagers or 18 months old, it's just continue to showing up, continue being there, continue loving them because presence means more than presence. And I know that 100%.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's a good one. That's a good one. You know, I also, Ron, let me let me give you a little credit because it's not uh easy from a family where that's not acceptable. Uh-oh. You're losing me?
SPEAKER_02A little bit. Yeah, we had lost you a little bit, but you're back. It's not acceptable.
SPEAKER_03So all right, good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not acceptable to have that kind of relationship with your children, like when you grew up with your father, but now you've turned that into uh you know a strength for your children, and then they'll be able to take that forward. You know, not everybody, like we've talked before about overly regulated in individual um emotional situations, right? Like I I just don't get rattled by things like that. Part of that's likely defense mechanism from you know spending time in the children's home and what have you. But in group settings, I'm very emotional. So it's a it's a weird thing to be able to spot that and overcome it and pass that on to your children. I wish I did a better job of that myself. So really, kudos to you.
unknownYep.
SPEAKER_02You know, I had uh I had sent this to Logan after the episode had dropped, is uh Cooper, which everybody here knows and loves and has spent a lot of time with as he as uh you know he mentions quite often how he enjoys his time with progress. You know, I'd sent a screenshot, he'd put on his story, you know, he said uh the line was on there that says, I want people to be who they are. He put my role he put my role model. Wow. And you know for a 14-year-old boy to put that on his Facebook profile as his story, right? You know, that was that was huge. You know, I'd when I had said it to Logan, I had tears like I do now, pouring. It's just because it's just it's just it's just awesome. It just really is awesome to to see and to have that.
SPEAKER_04And I feel like it goes at the heart of what you know, Logan, what you're doing with Rising Valor, of just opening because think how different it's gonna be for Cooper. Where having these conversations is gonna seem normal to him.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_04It's just gonna be part of what he does.
SPEAKER_03That's right.
SPEAKER_04No pressure, Cooper. No pressure. So Cooper does listen, he's an avid listener.
SPEAKER_03We we haven't had Coop around for a little bit, so we're we're due to have a little coop time before too long, I think.
SPEAKER_02Agreed.
SPEAKER_07There we go. Yeah, that is that is the goal is to destigmatize the whole mental health thing so that I'm the there's probably a ton of kids that are dealing with bullying at school or uh self-image issues or who knows what that maybe they don't want to open up about it and they feel all alone in that sort of thing. Yep. And then it's who can they talk to about that and nobody talks about it? Just don't want that to be the way.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, because kids have so much they have to deal with that we don't even know about.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_05And it's it's hard to think about like kids going to school and and you don't know what they're dealing with, you know.
SPEAKER_04And especially if they don't feel like they have a safe place when they come home, they're not gonna talk to you about it.
SPEAKER_05And I think even if they have a safe place, they don't always talk about it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Because sometimes they feel like they're the problem and they don't want to get in trouble, or you know, they feel like that they caused the issue. And it's like, no, that's just just talk about it. It's it's more important to get it out there and then try to analyze what's going on than to just bottle it up because that's usually not a good good situation for kids to be in when it's all bottled up and just one day it it comes out.
SPEAKER_02And not to take away from things or any of my grove guys, I love my grove guys, but for me, somebody who has served in the military like yourself, Logan, when young men, young women can see the vulnerability that you're presenting, it adds a whole different element to it for them. Just because of experience and talking with the teenagers, I you know, I was youth and children's pastor for for 20 years. And when somebody that was a veteran that would be able to open up and to share what it was, then they felt then they would be like, Well, this guy's this guy's actually been in the military and he's had to deal with these things. And and you know, it just adds an extra element. So I want to personally say that I appreciate that from myself, you know, to you, of your opening up, because I feel like that you can reach out to a multitude of kids more so, not that we couldn't, but it's just in a way in a way that we can't. Right.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and accreditation that we don't have.
SPEAKER_07It and it's thank you for that, by the way. And I that is the benefit of telling these veteran stories is one, the the people who are listening to it are getting the benefit of seeing this this person who you you may see as as a a a strong, typically masculine person.
SPEAKER_04Not badass, you can say not badass. Oh no, I don't know.
SPEAKER_07I don't know if you've seen the the Sully interview that I did, but he I look like a very small person next to him. He's jacked as could be very handsome guy, just great, fantastic beard, and he looks like just a big masculine dude. And he's talking about some really real things that he's dealing with. And so you're you're seeing somebody like that who's talking about something like that. But then the the benefit is also for that veteran to talk about these things, and they may have never talked about any of this before. This might be the first time they're even coming to terms with some of the things that they've had to deal with.
SPEAKER_04I mean, for and for you to be a part of that is just amazing. Like the fact that you're you know doing this. I mean, I think the whole reason you're even here right now is just because we have a great amount of respect for what you do. And that the fact that you just decided I'm just gonna do this full time, full go, full tilt, I'm doing this.
SPEAKER_07So well, thanks, fellas. I I appreciate you guys having me on here. It's uh it's a huge honor to be on the Grove Guys podcast, be an honorary Grove Guy for the evening. I uh it's it's definitely been very challenging. And like you said, I I I did dive into this full tilt. I was working a lot of hours and needed more time to put into this. And I I'm challenged with all the administrative part of it, and I've got so much content and stuff that I'd like to put out there. It's challenging, and I wasn't extremely happy with my job, and I have been chasing this passion and my passion to bring benefit to people for a long time. And I thought, you know what, I I I just have to do this, and I don't know that everything is gonna work out, but I just have a lot of trust and belief that it's gonna be provided for and doors are gonna open, and and they have. I've been able to do some really great things. I've had dozens and dozens of people reach out to me privately and and say, Thank you for doing this, and they'll be watching something and tell me how close to home something like that hits for them. And they're like, Wow, that's I I didn't realize anybody else was numb to an emotion like this or had dealt with that, and people that you wouldn't even expect. It's crazy to see who who comes forward and says, Oh, wow, I actually really relate to that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, definitely. Well, it was very humbling to be asked to do that being a non-veteran myself, to be the somebody that you that you interviewed, and I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_07I wanted to be non-veterans as well, because you know my goal is mental health in a broad sense, you know, because men specifically and veterans specifically, veterans because that's the the group I'm so a part of, and I have such a brotherhood to all veterans of all the branches, and they're the people that I feel so close to, and men because that it's not talked about enough, but mental health for the kids and and the moms who are dealing with it, and uh just the everybody out there, but I'd like to do conversations with non-veterans as well and and share those stories and maybe do like a uh different series of both. And I'd I've actually really would like to get some of the wives of the veterans on and tell their part because it's such a fascinating and an interesting story that deserves to be told as well, is the women who are who are side by side with these men who are doing back-to-back deployments and having to deal with the children at home and and spending years of their lives waiting for somebody.
SPEAKER_02It's very unsung hero of our country or veterans and you know, military wives.
SPEAKER_05Right. The ones that usually aren't near family because they're deployed somewhere. So there's no family. The family is the other um wives and husbands, you know, of those deployed family members or stationed family members. Um, it's yeah, it it becomes their their little bit of community um because that's all you got.
SPEAKER_04You said it before Steve didn't. I did.
SPEAKER_05Well, I mean, I'm I'm thinking about when my dad was in the military and I was young, but I remember we were in Spangdall, Germany, and it was, you know, that there was no family in Germany.
SPEAKER_06Right.
SPEAKER_05The family was all in the U.S. Yeah, you and your mom. Right. It you know, yeah, and dad was working, so we just did the neighbors and the the other people from the base, that was your family. That's the only people you had to depend on.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, and and that family and and being in the military, that's the community, and that's the identity that you have your your life tied to. And once I got out of the military, I struggled so much with my identity loss. I was in from when I joined 17, when I was in, I joined when I was 17, and then I spent my entire formative years being in that. And and I separate and have to deal with who am I now? Who is this person outside of the military? I I mean that was just imagine if you worked a job for seven years and then left. Like you don't associate your whole life with being uh the bagger at Mark's grocery store, but that's just that's how the military.
SPEAKER_02Which I can definitely sympathize because when I was uh you know a youth and children's pastor for 20 years, that was my identity. That was everything that I did. Everything centered around that, everything that I was spoke on or that I embodied the entire thing. Yeah, and so when I lost that, because of going through a divorce and you know, losing that community that I had, I struggled. And that's why I have appreciated having the Grove guys, is because I've been able to find that community once again with them because I had lost that. And and I I'm a big personality, and my wife can only handle so much of Ron at a at a time. Thank you. That's everybody, just so you know. But the fact is, is that now I'm able to, you know, to be my full authentic self because of that, because of the community that I've been able to find.
SPEAKER_07So So did you did you have to find community or some identity outside of yourself? Did you did you do any introspective work once you lost the weight? Absolutely that is what I feel like is the biggest part is having to do the the internal work and and ask yourself some of the deep questions and figure out who you are without external things. And I think all the external community is really great and everything, but it's a lot of figuring yourself out before you.
SPEAKER_04How many people actually do that work though? How many people actually get the opportunity?
SPEAKER_07How many people know that that's what you need to do? And that's right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, I did. I spent a lot of time learning and trying to process who I was outside of the church, outside of that that that ministry. Who's looking at you in the mirror? Right. You know, and it was it was a difficult journey because that's how I identified myself. And it was like I lost every bit of identity that I had. So it was like, well, who am I? What what what do I do? Because I poured so much of everything that I had into that. And so it was a struggle. I mean, it was it was a big struggle, and it was a big, huge depression bout where I fell into some, you know, very tough and difficult times. Yep. And you know, but being able to have that freedom to do that and to find who I was outside of that, well, and then come out of it, yeah. Exactly.
SPEAKER_05Right. And I think it's important to look at yourself and who you are, and and you're not just this one thing, but but also finding that community, because that community can help pull out who you really are. You may think you're just a youth pastor, but the community can be like, oh no, Ron, you're this amazing father, you're this amazing partner, you're you know, you're still a very passionate person that that's spiritual. And that's that's you. But you think you're just a youth pastor.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you get absorbed in one part of one role of your life, right? That that's unhealthy as well. It's really tough, you know, to Logan's point when it that's his life from the time he wakes up to the time he goes to bed. That's really hard to overcome. But I mean, even even just with progress, remember like that that stuff kind of eats us whole sometimes. Right? Like it it's my damn near my entire day on the weekends, uh hell, sometimes during the week, but definitely on the weekends, is uh, you know, it's progress from the time I wake up until I close my eyes.
SPEAKER_04But but that's a position. True.
SPEAKER_03That's right. That's right.
SPEAKER_04But Logan, even for you.
unknownGo ahead.
SPEAKER_03Sorry, just real quick. The the other thing about the community is going back to what Logan said, that can be the place that you learn that you need to do that introspection, right? Yeah, so having uh people that can say, Hey, I I see you're feeling, you know, whatever way. Have you thought about this? Or maybe you should read this book, or maybe like that's how you get introduced to thoughts that don't commonly occur in your own mind is by having community.
unknownYep.
SPEAKER_03Right? Which beautiful, super important.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and which beautiful leaves me into what I was gonna say, Steve. So good job, high five. Um but Logan, has there been any follow-up with anybody you've interviewed? Apart like that, obviously, you know, you don't need to share details for stuff, but has people have people reached back out and said, you know, you open this door for me or this, that, the other?
SPEAKER_07I've kept communication with the people. I've only done a couple of interviews, by the way. I've only just begun this journey of being able to start talking to people. But yeah, I I keep a conversation going with the people that I talk to because I I found through my own therapy that once you do open those gates of some of those really emotional things that that you you just let a lot of that pour out and you get into something, and it's a couple days later you're going through an extreme emotion, and you're like, oh my gosh, wow, what is this from? And it's it's once you open that up, it it keeps on going sometimes. So I I try and maintain like a good conversation with some of those people and make sure that I I'm doing what I'm doing in the safest, most professional way that I can. But I haven't had any like follow-up uh conversations really, like in a camera setting kind of way.
SPEAKER_04Oh no, and I wasn't necessarily like saying in a camera setting, but just the fact that you like follow up with them and or even like connecting those dots when something happens. It's like, oh, this isn't even about I do this all the time, where I'm like, Oh, this isn't about the you know, the guy that cut me off in traffic. This is about the thing that that guy said twenty years ago that is now coming back up because a similar emotion around.
SPEAKER_05Right. Yeah. That yeah.
SPEAKER_04Trigger's all different. Right. But well, for right now, let's take a quick short break and we'll be right back to talk about what we're gonna talk about later. I said what I said.
SPEAKER_05But did you say it well? Doesn't matter, Chad. I said it.
SPEAKER_02And just so everybody knows, John made that.
SPEAKER_01What's up, Grove City? It's here, Councilman Mohammed Omar. I wanted to invite you to our community conversation with At large representative Jody Burrows on Saturday, June 27th, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Gance Park Rec School. Come make sure your voice is heard and talk to us about the issues that matter to you most. We hope to see you there.
SPEAKER_04And we are back in. So we've been talking about a lot of a lot of things, a lot of things centered around mental health. And again, congrats, Logan, on everything you're doing.
SPEAKER_05Um and the courage is taken to do it.
SPEAKER_04To do it, exactly. And you know, when it comes to just mental health in general, you want to make sure that you are taking the time to do the things that we've been talking about. Like check in with those around you. Um back when we did our mental health episode, we brought up the suicide hotline. We brought up you know all these different avenues that you have to talk. Um and even, you know, you don't need to do it in front of a camera. If you if you want to, I'm sure you know Logan would be happy to talk to you down the line. I'm not trying to overburden you with a bunch of people. Um but just in general, like having the ability to do what we're doing, sit down and talk about this stuff, sit down and open these conversations, I think is the most important part of our community and of just our who we are as people, because a lot more people are coming up on hard times now. A lot more people are starting to notice that you know holding this stuff in doesn't help us. And so the fact that everyone's coming to those conclusions and wanting to talk more, wanting to reach out more, I think is a good thing and a turning point for our society. You know, some people would call it soft, I would call it, as we've mentioned, you know, stronger than most people think. You know, Logan, you mentioned the biggest dude in the room, the the one guy you interviewed, just like completely jacked dude. You look at him and you think, this is a this is a badass. This is a guy who can do whatever he wants, and here he is, you know, for lack of a better word, pouring his heart out, and he's not doing it because he's soft, he's doing it because to face those internal demons can sometimes be the hardest things you face. So again, thank you for everything that you're doing. And thank you, Grove guys, for indulging me as we go through this process. Does anybody have anything that they want to shout out, add in?
SPEAKER_02I just want to ask Logan, what are some parting words that you would like to share with everyone in relation to what it is that we can do to help you, but also what you want to make everyone aware of.
SPEAKER_07That's great. Thanks, Ron. I appreciate that. Um well, first I just want to say thanks to the Grove guys. You guys have been fantastic. And I I I want to speak to the person who's listening who's dealing with something right now, who's having a really difficult time. There is somebody out there right now who's who's hearing this and is in a dark place or is struggling. I just want those people to know that they are not alone and that they are loved and that there are resources and help out there. And I want to encourage you to reach out and get help. Uh, for veterans out there, I want to shout out the MASH Pantry in Grove City. There's a fantastic organization that is doing a veteran pantry. They can stop in once a month and pick out and get their groceries. They're open every Saturday of the month, except for one random Saturday I can't remember. Want to shout out the American Legion, Post 164 in Grove City, uh, the post I belong to. They're always doing really great work and really great guys over there. And the um blank on the name, the Disabled American Veterans Chapter Three is a really wonderful group that I've just gotten involved with, and they're doing some really strong work helping out disabled veterans and delivering medical equipment. Anything I'm doing, you can find on risingvalor.net or on YouTube at RisingValour Nation or any of the social platforms. Um but other than that, yeah, I and also just wanted to say that I do a daily check-in with myself and I do a journal, and that's how I do my mental check-ins is I no matter what, sit down and do a couple of pages, and it always makes me feel better. And on the days that I skip it, I do miss it. And maybe journaling's not your thing, but there's something that you could do that that's your thing. Yeah, yeah. And I love it, and I love filling up one of those books and starting a fresh one. It feels so good.
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna say this because I know from other veterans that I am friends with that they don't like this, and so I know that this is a part of your heart, but I want to thank you for your service genuinely because we appreciate what it is that you have done and what you will continue to do because yes, you served our country, but you continue to serve our country even even now. And so we the Grove guys appreciate and thank you for your service. Thank you, Trevor and Preach.
SPEAKER_07Thanks. And we do most of us do not like that. I know, that's why I said it that way.
SPEAKER_04Yep. All right, anything else, guys? Or does that conclude uh episode of the Grove Guys?
SPEAKER_03Oh, just thanks for coming in. Thanks for uh real quick before we mail out. You're good. The first time I met Logan was at Mo's uh Town Hall at the library.
SPEAKER_05That's a minimum or council member for Ward 5. I mean how many that main mo is? Um, we have a number Grove City Living.
SPEAKER_03Thank you very much. Um, but I I just I wanna I want to say thanks just for making yourself part of the bigger community, for putting yourself out there and doing this stuff and getting out there and meeting people and shaking hands and you know doing the things that you need to do. It it means a lot. Uh I don't think we really talked about how you ended up in Grove City. Maybe we can do another episode down the road or something and get a little bit more backstory, but I mean, just uh it means something that you're here and it means something that you're coming out and making a difference for the people that live here. So thank you.
SPEAKER_07Yep. Thanks. Thank you.
SPEAKER_05And I mean, you always are welcome to sit in with us anytime. It's it's it's always it's always good to have another perspective. Um, and I think you bring a perspective that people need to know about.
SPEAKER_02Yep. Absolutely. We 100% agree. Very good.
SPEAKER_04Solid, solid. All right, y'all. Well, want to thank you all for listening. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed doing it, and uh, we'll catch you in the next one. Thanks for listening.
SPEAKER_06It's a pop, I ain't come up with that.