Retired Army Command SGM Donnell Johns Sr: Must-Have Military Business Mindset Hacks

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One last thing that I want to add, and I heard this from my boss, and it's this one, and it's consistent, predictable actions lead to consistent, predictable results. So if you go by then on a daily basis, you know, consistent predictable actions, you get up every morning and you fight your challenges, you're going to have consistent, predictable results. One day, you're gonna wake up and you're gonna have 10,000 followers, then you're gonna have $20,000 1000 followers, then you're gonna have 100,000 followers, and it's because of that consistency.

Warriors fall in, it's time for formation. Thank you for tuning in today, folks. Today, we are also joined with our co host, Avi Avi, Don Raj, who is the future military leaders currently in the process of applying for several different options to get himself to, to a commissioned officer. And we are very fortunate to have this retired Army Command Sergeant Major who now serves as a veteran advocate for business and leadership. His time in the military and education serves to qualify him as a trainer coach mentor, in many different facets as far as organizational leadership, human resources, human capital management, talent, acquisition, marketing and recruitment. And you think you take all these different things and you mix them together. And with the skills and experiences and you get a professional with the ability to create an entity like veterans Grow America, which is an organization focused on engaging and helping military community entrepreneurs accelerate their growth. They do this through marketing, and hosting veteran business expos. Veterans GROW AMERICA also partners with the Rosi network a fees to create a robust event helping hundreds if not 1000s, of military community entrepreneurs. Those of you in the know, you might have already met this guest on maybe one of the many social media platforms that he's busy on whether it's LinkedIn, Instagram, or even clubhouse. But today, I want to welcome retired Command Sergeant Major, Darnell, Johns, thank you for joining us today, Danielle.

And I'm happy to be here.

So now we'll just go ahead and get things started and talk about veterans girl America. In August of 2019. You co founded veterans GROW AMERICA. Can you talk about the mission statement and talk about the organization's overall impact?

Absolutely. Our mission is to spotlight the contributions of veteran and military spouses. What we do is we partner with local and state organizations to increase brand awareness. We also conduct local events and marketing programs to engage your business community. We're a national program to help America veteran first.

So with anyone out there within the military community thinking about starting a business, but are stuck on the where do I start mode? What advice do you have for those folks,

the best advice that I can give anyone is to start where you are. I know that you know, most people want to you know be at the end part and collecting all of that money, but you got to start where you are. If you have if you're at the idea, ideation phase, write down your business goals. Get with those organizations out there that can help you put together a business plan. Figure out you know, who your competitors are, and then just start there. There's a lot of organizations out there to help any person start their businesses, a lot of startup organizations that help you in so many different ways, grow and start your business.

So can you talk a little bit about some of the lesser known programs that help the our military community entrepreneurs launch their businesses?

Absolutely. My favorite, which is one of our partners is the Rosie network where they offer the service to CEO program. And it's 100%. Free to veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs. Another one out there is I'm sure one of your favorite as well as ACMA education. I mean, they have an abundance of resources and they do research every day on different tools to help you grow individually. And also support the the growth in your business. There's other organizations like bunker labs that have the veteran in residence program where you can basically sit down with other veteran entrepreneurs in the same facet that you are to be able to grow your business. Yeah, Patriot boot camp, you got the dog tag bakery and also the IBM F. For those of you that may not know the Institute for veteran and military families, has also a wealth of information out there for not only business owners, but those individuals that are veteran or military spouses or even dependents that can improve your knowledge and growth in the business as well as the commercial communities.

And that's actually a whole lot of different assets out there that I think a lot of people really don't know about, especially folks that are already in service and might be looking to make that step off. What is the proper mindset to have, if you're an aspiring I wish I could be entrepreneur with a family or full time job, yet you desire to follow your dreams, despite not feeling like you have the time to do so. As far as starting a business, and at the same time feeling like all those goals are out of reach,

I look at it like this, you have to have the ability to have abundance versus scarcity. mindset, I look at it, you know, money is printed. And so they can print as much money as they want to. But you have to just go out there and figure out how money is made. And how to grow your business. If you have the woe is me, I can't do it mindset, you will not be able to do it. But if you have the abundance mindset, you can make it to any level that you want to great insight they're done now. And now that I think about it. That's something that we preach both on this podcast and an act now education time and time again. It's exactly as you say, with this abundance mindset, you have the opportunities right there in front of you is just about acting and taking them great insight there. Now foundationally entering this business, entrepreneurship space is not an easy thing, especially as a veteran with so many other commitments, what would you say is a good tactic or strategy to help balance all of the different responsibilities, veterans, male spouses are active duties are juggling. So they have this thing called a calendar. Most people let their day happen to them, but you have to plan your calendar, what I do is anything that I need to do, I call it a calendar rising it, I'll put it on my calendar to include you know what I plan on doing in the future. If you don't put it on the calendar, it will not happen. And you have a lot of stuff going on, and so does everybody else. But if you take time to manage your day, and don't let your day manage you, you could actually accomplish more than you think.

Then I want to go back to talking about veterans Grow America and the mission statement and the overall impact. Can you go at least a tier two deeper as far as the impact that veterans grow? America is offering our military community because I see you guys everywhere. I mean, I've seen literally every single veteran military spouse entrepreneur out there, I've seen them at your events, I've seen them physically, they're selling their products and offering their products. But can you talk a little bit more about that bridge as far as the foundation that it provides, and the path that it provides from military community entrepreneur to reaching and contacting the distributors and, and the marketing folks out there to help their businesses accelerate?

Absolutely. So 98% of the programs, you know, that are out there are theoretical. And when I say theoretical is book training on how to start a business, after the book training, you got to go out there and make it happen. And that's the hard part, you know, connecting with customers, selling your product, getting product feedback. And through our events, what we do is we connect individuals with their customer, and they're able to, you know, test their product right then and there. And they're able to get immediate feedback from the customer. And a customer usually sees that the veteran or military spouse has a very unique product or service. And a unique product or service really solves a problem. And I'll give you a perfect example. We have Mr. Kurt Ballard, who sells wood, right. Wood is one of those things that you can go and get you a cutting board anyplace. However, when you hear about him talk about what his cutting board does, he makes his cutting boards in a way that they self heal, where you don't get those lines in it, and it lasts a lot longer. And when I heard that I was just like, wood self healing. And I was and I thought about it, you know, this, this wood is alive, right? And it's still living, even though you know, you cut it and you put it together and he knows his product that well where it could take his product to the next level. And when you surround yourself by like minded individuals, veteran entrepreneurs at these events, they can also help you in the product aspect on okay, how do I get my product on a shelf? How do I get my product in front of a customer? By the way, these these organizations can also work with each other. Because when it comes to business, the inside of business is the same the product may be different. And it works that same way in the military. You know as a commander or a First Sergeant you can actually command vehicle men who are first starting to any type of organization if you learn and know leadership. And the same thing applies with business, you know, those business leaders, if they understand the fundamentals of business, the product is different, but business is the same. And so that's why these businesses and organizations are able to grow at a tremendous rate when they, when they work together, through veterans go America.

I've actually noticed that before that, you know, I always say it every time we're in the clubhouse room, that the group that's in there, the military community that's in there is really only about seven to 8% at max of the entire US population. But when we're in those rooms together, and there's 30, folks in there, in the audience, and folks are literally passing along information, man, it feels like we're taking over the world. So I understand like what you're saying with the whole product, entrepreneur, to distributor to marketing and everything, when you get everything kind of working in a perfect machine, you feel like wow, this is really pumping it out. And this is really making things happen. So it's kudos to you for, for getting co founding this and getting things off on the ground. I'm sure that you've done many projects throughout your career that helped inspire many, many people, especially you know, you as a retired Command Sergeant Major. And I want to ask you, because I saw this on a blog that you posted a couple years back, for any current entrepreneurs listening, what would you say are the best questions to answer if you're looking to grow from stagnation to innovation? What did I say that?

No, I don't. I don't remember that. But I'm pretty sure I said some pretty profound. Yeah, no, it's, there's a couple of things that you have to do in order to grow from stagnation to innovation. And, you know, one of those things is, you got to understand your why. What problem you solve, you know, what are your competitors, and who is your target audience is basically your avatar, if you understand that, it'll take your business to the next level, your why is very important. That's what gets you up in the morning. And if you don't understand your why, on those days, that is really hard, it will be really, really hard to get out of it, make things happen. Now, Danelle, it's no doubt that your experience has definitely shaped the way you approach the business aspect of both veterans to GROW AMERICA and your own personal business. Now, what would you say that you found is a common entrepreneurship misconception that is pretty elusive to military folks, and should be put to bed right off the bat, that you could start a business and you're gonna be making a lot of money overnight. And I guess, you know, when you when you, you match it up to the military, you know, most people in the military, you know, they want to come in at a higher rank, too, but you got to start from the bottom, and grow your way up. And it doesn't happen overnight. And you have to work hard on your business every day. And you got to be passionate about it, you gotta love what you do. And if you don't love what you do, you won't, you know, wake up in the morning, and you'll find other things to occupy your time. So you have to be passionate about what you do, and you got to love what you do. And you got to know your why.

So then let's let's help some folks out here. And let's answer a really, really important question and foundationally as a veteran or a military spouse, what are the top single most important things that you must have to start a business coming out of the military,

other than your wife. So you got to have a product or service that solves a problem. That's the number one thing that you need. Once you have that, you got to understand, you got to really have an undying desire to win. And you got to be able to solve whatever problem that people have out there. And those are the top three things, you got to be able to solve a problem. You got to have a undying passion for your product, and you have the have to have the desire to win.

Yeah, I really think that the problem part is one of the biggest ones that folks have a hard time really identifying, I think that folks might be passionate about something. But at the end of the day, is it a problem? So I mean, there's a lot of things out there that already have solutions. But if you're going to create something that's already out there, you got to ask yourself, what's gonna make you different? Mm hmm. And that was one of the things that the founder of ACN education, Jay Salters, early on, when I started this whole podcast thing. You know, you're a lot I know, I understand both your peers and your friends and, and I can see why because you're a lot like one another when it comes to the business mindset. And one of the things that he asked me early on was he's like, Well, what's the difference between you and all the other hundreds of podcasters out there. And I said, I don't know, like we all own microphones and we all we all have this desire to help the military community in some way some shape somehow, it really got me thinking like, what is the difference? And what problem am I solving? Or am I solving a problem? And do I even know what I'm trying to solve? So I think that is a huge one that you just mentioned right then in there, because I see folks starting businesses that already have businesses out there that are not just running, but are actually flourishing and doing really well. And you got to ask yourself, well, what makes you different than anyone else? Why do people come to you? You know,

you know, when I first started looking at business, you know, I was like, you know, what problem do I solve? And then I started looking at, you know, the things that were around me. And I looked at something really crazy, and it was tires, right? You go outside, and you look at tires, and then I started looking at names on tires. And there's about 5000 different variations of tires out there. And so what makes those tires different? Are they cheaper than one? Do they help water move from outside of your tire? What makes them a little bit different? And why did they go into business because there's billions and billions of different products out there. But what makes yours a little bit different than the other one. And it could be your passion just for tires, I don't know, you know, but you have to be willing to identify what problem you solve. And then you got to be passionate about that problem you solve, and you got to be able to be able to go out there and tell your story over and over and over again, and not give up. And when you have that ability to just wake up in the morning and go over and over and over again. Because like you said, you know, anyone can have a podcast. But it's those podcasts out there that are willing to get up on a daily basis until stories on a daily basis that they're passionate about that goes into their why that really makes a difference. There's a lot of people that are in business today that they're not really, you know, the smartest people in their industry. But what makes them a little bit different as they're willing to get up and face those challenges on a daily basis. I look at the news in the morning, those guys get up at two, three o'clock in the morning and make it there for at six o'clock to do the news in the morning and stand out there in the middle of storms. You know, are you willing to do that on a daily basis? And give up your vacations and that type of stuff for what you for your product? I don't know, that's a question that you have to ask yourself. But you have to have that passion, you have to understand your why. And you got to have a willingness, undying willingness to take yourself to the next level on a daily basis. And that's, and that's not an easy thing to do is consistency really

not at all, it's not an easy thing to do, especially when you have a lot of influences out there that are trying to get you to do things that are not very progressive, and not very directed. So I understand what you're saying with that.

One last thing that I want to add. And I heard this from my boss, and it's this with me. And it's consistent, predictable actions lead to consistent, predictable results. And so if you go by that on a daily basis, you know, consistent predictable actions, you get up every morning and you and you fight your challenges, you're going to have consistent, predictable results. One day, you're gonna wake up and you're gonna have 10,000 followers, then you're gonna have 20,000 1000 followers, then you're gonna have 100,000 followers. And this because of that consistency,

Avi, you need to write that down, man,

I just wrote it down. I'm gonna go put that on

your back pocket and one of these days when you're standing in front of your formation. That's what you need to pull that out. And throw that out there because that statements like that. It's a fairly simple statement, but at the same time, it's the way it's the way you put it into perspective that makes it clicked with people. And I've no I've noticed

not only that, KP but Darnell has the experience and has gone through the hardships to back it up. That adds even more levity to it. Can't agree more. Now, Darnell, I want to ask as Kp and you have been pointing out over the last conversation or two. Being an entrepreneur, especially at a high level has been nothing short of amazing. There's an unbelievable amount of grit and determination and discipline that goes into raising a successful business or investing the passion in order to create one. Now. Following that, in your experience, what parallels Have you seen between the lessons you learned through entrepreneurship and just normal life, similar to how we were discussing the discipline and grit it requires to build a successful business can translate to your discipline and work ethic in normal life. What other parallels Can you see? Oh, it's actually easier and harder to work for yourself then As with someone else, when you think about business, and you do your research about business, there are so many different ways that you can make money. You can do it through podcasting, you know, like, like we're doing it here. And getting sponsorships and that type of stuff. Or you could sell a product online. For instance, you can sell stuff on Amazon, most of the businesses that are on Amazon are mom and pop businesses that are selling products through Amazon, you could also whatever your passions are, you may like to draw, you could sell your drawing and pictures on different platforms that are out there. Whatever you plan on doing, and whatever your passions are, if you do the proper research, you can take those things, and you can turn it into a business that takes it to the next level. For instance, cooking, who loves cooking out there, I know a bunch of people love cooking. Well, those individuals that have a passion about cooking and understand it and are and can have conversations about it, those people can be commentating commentators on cooking shows, they can have their own cooking shows, like they can host a cooking show on Youtube and get paid for it. And so if you think about those things in life and what you want to accomplish, you can create your own channels, and create your own audiences and make it out to be a business. And so just don't think that you have to have a brick and mortar to start your own business. You can do anything out there and start a business. And you could you could actually sell other people's product to the affiliate programs that are out there. They say you like water, for instance, I'm pretty sure if you go to their website, and you scroll all the way down to the bottom, they have an affiliate program and you can share their water and make money from sharing water.

For anyone out there that might have a product and might be interested in possibly signing up with veterans, girl America, well, how would you suggest they get started?

First thing that you should do if you want to get started with veterans GROW AMERICA is follow us on social media. And you can find us on veterans Grow America. And you can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, follow us in those three locations first, and see what we're all about. The next thing is when you find an event, or you're interested in hosting an event in your area, please contact us on our website, or DM us on any of those platforms. And we will be happy to help you cultivate those ideas and be a part of our program.

Yeah, there's so many ways now to be dynamic when it comes to revenue and business. And you really have to think outside the box. Because Gone are the days where it's simple. And it's just like get product sell product in store. Now you can do so many things online, you can sell services online, you can sell advice online, and you can reach a lot of people, was there ever a time during your military career or even, you know, being a veteran that you were simply extremely inspired by what somebody said, I know you just talked about, basically your actions are going to speak to your results. But is there anything out there that you would want to tell people to inspire them to believe in themselves, and to believe in their goals? Specifically, when it comes to entrepreneurship and business?

I think you guys got my good one. But I have another good one here. And it goes along those some those same lines. And I heard this from a motivational speaker, and it resonated with me. And it's all about improvement. Most people think you know, that you have to improve a lot, right? It's kind of like lifting weights, you know, when you lift weights, you know, people go to the gym, and you know, right after the new year, they start going to the gym and they start lifting heavy weights. And they're just, you know, heavy weights is gonna do it. And then all of a sudden you stop, it don't matter how many weights that you lifted, you know, during that timeframe, it just won't, it won't help you the rest of that year. If you improve 1% per day, just 1% We're not talking about a lot, 1% per day, and 100 days, you'll be 100% Better than you were 100 days ago. And so if you go to the gym, and you just lift a little bit of weight, and you're consistently going to the gym on a daily basis, 1% per day, it helps you improve in anything that you're doing. And that right there is one of the things that I try to do is even when I'm studying for a quiz or something like that, I take 15 minutes out of my day study, and those 15 minutes are very impactful because I can remember that 15 minutes span of information. And it will help me pass that test that I'm looking at passing because I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I can remember 15 minutes worth of information. And if I do that, you know just that It will, it will take me to the next level. And so those are things right there. It's just you know, mastering the small. If you understand how to master the small, you can make big things happen. Now done. Now, I want to piggyback off that here, for those who are current or ex military, in the virtual veteran assistance space that we're in as part of act now. And veterans through America, we're always talking about all the skills military affiliated people can develop through the military, whether that be discipline, organizational management, or even their technical skills that are specific to their jobs, and how those skills can prove to be invaluable when transitioned into the private sector. What would you say are some skills that you learned in the military that really helped you when transitioning to working for yourself? leadership, leadership was the main skill that I learned and when, when I talk about leadership, I don't, you know, I don't look at it. As you know, being you know, standing in the front leadership is listening. Leadership is listening and understanding those that are around you, and how they communicate with you and what they're actually saying and what they're trying to accomplish. If you listen, people will tell you everything that you need to know, and the ability to ask questions. I learned a long time ago, that asking the right questions will open doors for you and lifting people up. One of the things that I learned in the military that was very important was rewards and a reward system. We do that very well. In the military. We reward people for accomplishing goals. And if you think about it, a little piece of ribbon will make things go a long way. Am I right? KP? Yes, they give you a ribbon bar? Yeah, yeah, a ribbon was a certificate or something like that will make people do great things for you. And I realized that if you recognize people for what they do, and it's gonna help you achieve your goal, do it, you know, what is? What's wrong with giving out a piece of paper or ribbon or something, it doesn't cost you anything but time. And that's what I learned in the military is that to recognize those things that I love that people do, you know, I can tell people that they suck all day long, but it's not gonna give it anything but resentment. You know, and I'm pretty sure that they know when they made mistakes. However, if I recognize and were like, Hey, man, I appreciate that you did X, Y, and Z for me, they're gonna, they can be like, oh, man, thank you. And they'll be happy, and I'm happy. I don't have to tell the person what they're doing wrong. And the other thing that I learned in the military that saved me lots of money. On the business side is this thing called the AAR, the after action review. That is the most powerful tool that we learned in the military, what went well, what we're not so well, and how to improve. If you ask yourself, those three questions, after everything that you do, you will constantly improve in the military, in your military life, in your personal life, to include your marriage, if you ask those same questions in your marriage, you know, in any relationship that you have, you can constantly improve by using what you learned in the military to the AAR, the after action review, I don't know what they call it in other branches of the services. But the after action review, if you put that in your life, and you apply that to your life, you go to great, great levels.

He just took me back to my platoon leader days, when we were coming up with different ways to acknowledge folks and all their hard work. And sometimes we'd have competitions, just to break things up. And you know, have them do basic skills that basic but yet essential and important skills that anything from switching out a tire on a vehicle. Because things like that were important when we were in Iraq, you know, when you had a breakdown, or you had a busted tire, you had to pull security, and then you had to get that vehicle back online. So you could roll out before you know, you could get ambushed or anything. So we would have competitions with the different squads to see who could do it the fastest and the most efficient, and then we would, you know, give them a small reward or something. So, yeah, things like that, you know, they didn't cost me anything, except for time to put those things together. So you just take me back. And one of the things that you talked about, that you had learned in the military, which surprised me, was something you talked about in clubhouse a few weeks ago, and you talked about soft skills. You talked about how the soft skills that you learned while you were a recruiter was you was a team skills that you're using to teach real estate agents in the civilian side. You talk a little bit about that.

Yeah. So it's what I learned in the military was it goes back to the consistent predictable actions, right. It's called the 54321 And the 54321 just basically means that you have to contact one person per day. You know, and tell them your story. And understanding what that person's story is and understanding, you know, what they want to accomplish. Because you, as a as a realtor, and as a recruiter, I knew that I want to put that person in the military, or I want to put that person in a house, why is it that they want to get into that house? What is it? Is it their dream house? You know, what does it look like, and I got to be able to see it, they have to be able to see it on one side. And so when it comes to those soft skills, and in being a recruiter and being a realtor, they parallel, you have to understand, you know, what your which are people want, you know, what do they desire? And how does this benefit them? And if you understand that, it'll definitely take them to the next level. And it'll make your customer happy, because you you really listening to them. Now, for the audience who doesn't know, when did you transition out of the military, and how was building a business while transitioning. So I transitioned out of the military in 2016 2017. So while I was still in, here's a funny story that happened to me, I wanted to do the same thing that I did as a command SAR major is I wanted to lead people and make them successful. Let me tell you what the acronym commands are major meaning meant to me, it doesn't mean commands are major means Customer Service Manager. And as a customer service manager, I went to make sure that all of my customers, which were my people, made it to make their dreams come true. And so I was looking at being a leadership coach. At the time I was call it a leadership success coach. I didn't even know if that was a real thing or not. And I was on my way to a conference while I was still in back in 2015. And I was telling Uber driver, hey, I want to be a leadership success coach. And he was like, Yeah, my sister does that. And I was like, really. And he was like, Yeah, my sister does that. And he introduced me to his sister. And she told me about her being a leadership success coach, and this lady, she was a teacher. And she went from teaching to open up and her own business being a leadership success coach. And I was like, Really, and she was like, what she said, You're, you're a little bit more credible than me since you were a command. So a major leading people. At the time, I was the Army National Guard, she wants our major and lead, I was in charge of our should I say, I don't want to say I'm in charge, because you can't be really in charge of 350,000 people. My responsibility was 350,000 people at that level when it came to their personnel readiness. And she was like, you'd be you know, you're with your experience. You do better at this than me. And I was like, Really, and so she told me how to get started. And that's how I got started in business. And then I found out later on, that there was not really many programs for the military, is, as far as you know, when you're in the military, and you leave the military and you start a business. There's a bunch of programs out there to help you start a business. But what, when you start their business, after you get started, what do you do? Where do you go to get help. And there's really no organizations while you're in business to help you through the everyday struggles of business. And so, I started, I found this organization called 1 Million Cups, and it's a mastermind group for entrepreneurs is 100%, free. I went to this thing, and I was like, This is phenomenal. They give you free help and advice on your business, all you got to do is tell them your issue, opportunity and challenge. And you get a whole roomful of people telling you how to solve those issues. And so I started my own chapter in Fairfax, Virginia. And I was like, This is amazing. But these people really didn't understand me as a veteran. They understood business very well. But they didn't understand me as a veteran. And I met my business partner in at a 1 Million Cups conference, and at 1 Million Cups conference is where veterans grew up America. The birth of it took place. And we were there to solve those problems of our community not really coming together. Because where can you Where can you go as a veteran entrepreneur, and where do you have a community of other veteran businesses out there? There is not. But now there is one through veterans for America where you can come together and you can have your business and you can communicate with other veteran business owners while in business, and you could talk to those individuals. I give you an example of what happened at our last veteran business expo. One thing that happened was one of our vendors CW dressing has a dressing, he sells dressing and another one of our vendors RePEc. Don Williams has a toothpaste that is a waterless toothpaste that you can put in your mouth. And it basically cleans your mouth. And this thing would be perfect for going into Mr. as well. The guy from CW Dressen was a cook while in the military. And he was also a First Sergeant that worked in the MRE, whatever is called the MRE where they made Mr. E's. Well, he's going to introduce rip pack to the MRE people, and potentially get this person's product into Mrs. That's the power of our community. That's the power of our community coming together, working together and growing. And so this community, this community is so powerful when I say it's so powerful, it's relationships like this, that come together in really are able to take businesses to the next level. And there's multiple stories like this, I can give you one other My son didn't have a business, one of my one of my vendors found out that my son wanted to start a business, sat down with my son. And now my son is able to take a has a hat that he may based off and he got this hat made from scratch, based off of the stuff that he believes in. So shout out to Monica at Queen of Spades style that helped out my son's come up with his own hat. Now he's building five different hats, based off of the platonic solids, just think about these things, you know, that we build as a community, you know, and we take care of each other, these are things that we learned in the military, the job of a Sergeant Major, is to make sure all of those soldiers under him make it to where they want to be. This is what we do in the military is we we make sure that the guys at the lowest level can reach up to the next levels. And through veterans Grow America, we create that community where you can be with like minded individuals that can help you grow your company tremendously at the next level. And we do this all organically. And so why not be a part of an organization that, you know, you can basically grow your business and be around people that are just like you that have the same values as you and you know, just do great things within their community. So that's what we are, in a nutshell,

it's always nice to make those connections for sure. And I can tell you that even if you're sitting at a bus stop somewhere, and if you simply start small talk, it's funny how folks are connected to one another, and how we can really help out one another. But down here in the civilian world, a lot of folks don't talk to each other, they just look at the ground as they walk from point A to point B. And so it's great that our military community, you know, in a sense, you're still bringing people back into formation. And you're still having the conversations with one another to small talk and you're helping each other out. And and that's really what it's all about. And that's what makes our community so wonderful in itself. And before we wrap up the show here, I just want to ask Avi, do you have anything last that you want to add to today's episode?

Not really, Donal, it's been a pleasure to have you. It's been a pleasure to be here. You know, like KP said, one of the things that I miss is that morning formation, you know, being able to stand out there. And you know, the first thing that you do, you know, when you go to formation as you take accountability, you make sure that the guy from your left and your right is taken care of that, that accountability is is worth everything, you know what I mean? You know, there's somebody that's just going to have your back, you know, and then they salute the guy in front of them. And they go, Hey, all President accounted for it, which means that they have, you know, they have you for the day. And you know, it's an honor KP to be a part of your formation today. Thank you for opening the doors for me to be here with you. I love what you're doing. I watch you and your professionalism. Absolutely amazing. And thank you for the ability to come on here and tell my story. And one thing that I don't like doing is talking about myself and what I do, it makes me highly uncomfortable. And you made me feel very comfortable today. And thank you for doing that. I mean, you and Avi. Avi, you're You're truly a professional man. I like I said, I want to be like you when I grow up. You are leaps and bounds. You know, I wish there was a lot a lot more young people that really, you know, take the time to get out there. Those questions that you asked me are profound. Keep doing what you're doing. You're making us proud. If you are officer in my formation at the time, and I would love to work with you that I can't wait to see what you become continue to do doing what you're doing. Thank you so much, Danielle. That means a lot, especially coming from you.

I think that's the best thing about this community is we have folks that are joining the military. And then we have folks that have been in the military and been out for a few years in our success like yourself, don't know. And so that's what I think is absolutely fabulous is bridging together and actually helping each other not make the same money. steaks but actually level up at a much faster rate more effectively, more efficiently. And so with that being said, that's the one reason why I called this show the morning formation because it was terrible to get up that early in the morning. I didn't like it either. But on the same token, it was nice to see everybody's face, especially after a long weekend to get that accountability, and also hear about the stories of what's going on with their families to check in with one another, to make those connections with each other. It was the one time that I think everyone had unity together. And I really think that it's something that our society and our world needs today is that understanding of having a formation within our community of unity and, and helping each other out and being neighbors. I want to really bridge that gap between what we want to do in the military and that morning formation to the civilians actually understanding what that felt like to be part of that family. Thank you for being part of the formation today. Danelle, and thank you for explaining to us and going into detail on entrepreneur aspects as well as veterans, girl America. I'm interested in getting some people connected with you because I do know some folks in the military community that are out there selling their products and their services. And so let's let's help them that's helped them level up

who are bridging the gap? I love that. I'm stealing that from you,

bridging the gap. That's what we're doing. So for everyone out there listening, I appreciate you for joining us for the morning formation podcast. Thank you for joining us for more information. We're out