S.O.S. (Stories of Service) - Ordinary people who do extraordinary work
From the little league coach to the former addict helping those still struggling, hear from people from all walks of life how they show up as a vessel for service and drive for transformational change. Hosted by Theresa Carpenter, a 29-year active duty U.S. naval officer who found service was the path to unlocking trauma and unleashing your inner potential.
S.O.S. (Stories of Service) - Ordinary people who do extraordinary work
Damo Unfiltered: Giving Sailors a Voice the Navy Can’t Ignore | S.O.S. #220
What happens when a sailor takes his leadership philosophy beyond the quarterdeck and into the podcast studio? Command Master Chief Damo McCullough's story illuminates how authentic conversations can transform military culture.
From his Philadelphia roots to becoming a respected Navy leader, Damo shares the unfiltered journey that led him to create a podcast platform now boasting over 550,000 YouTube views and 100,000 downloads. His approach—speaking the "quiet parts out loud"—has created a unique space where sailors and leadership alike can engage in honest dialogue about military life, leadership challenges, and cultural issues that often remain unaddressed in formal settings.
Damo's early career experiences with exceptional leaders who valued open communication shaped his philosophy that every sailor deserves a voice. When confronted with communication barriers between leadership and junior sailors around sensitive issues, he didn't just identify the problem—he created a solution through podcasting that has evolved into a thriving community over five years.
The conversation explores how maintaining authenticity while advancing through the ranks presents both challenges and opportunities. As Damo notes, his podcast serves as an "integrity test," ensuring he embodies the leadership principles he advocates. What began as a way to help junior sailors see chiefs as relatable humans has expanded to influence leadership across the Navy, proving that speaking honestly doesn't hinder professional growth when done respectfully.
For today's military members navigating service life, Damo's journey offers a compelling blueprint—demonstrating how traditional leadership values can adapt to connect with a new generation through digital platforms while preserving what matters most: mentorship, guidance, and mutual respect.
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It is always such a pleasure to talk to the people who are doing similar work to my mind in the creator space, and one person who comes to mind who I look to as an example when I was building my podcast is Andamo Damo McCullough. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2:I'm good, I'm blessed, I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm happy that you are here and it's been amazing watching your journey, by the way, and seeing the different topics that you cover with your podcast, and not only that. As I said in the show notes and I'll read again the technical expertise that you take and the quality of content that you put out is just head and shoulders above what anybody else I see doing. So I really admire the approach that you put out is just head and shoulders above what anybody else I see doing. So I really admire the approach that you've taken to this and what you've done from a leadership standpoint and then from the standpoint of helping the enlisted sailors. So we're going to talk all about that, but before we get started, welcome to the Stories of Service podcast. Ordinary people who do extraordinary work. I'm the host of Stories of Service and, to get this kicked off, as we always do, at the beginning of the show you will hear an intro from my father, charlie Pickard.
Speaker 3:From the moment we're born and lock eyes with our parents. We are inspiring others by showing up as a vessel of service. We not only help others, we help ourselves. Welcome to SOS. Stories of Service hosted by Teresa Carpenter.
Speaker 1:Hear from ordinary people from all walks of life who have transformed their communities by performing extraordinary work, and for more than five years, Damo has built a platform that blends humor, candor and experience to spark meaningful conversations about leadership, military life and culture. With over 550,000 YouTube views and 100,000 downloads across platforms, his show resonates with listeners who value honest dialogue and real-world perspective, and today we're going to talk about his journey from a sailor to now command master chief, why humor and honesty are powerful leadership tools, building a podcast that connects both inside and outside the Navy, and lessons learned from five years of doing authentic conversations. Welcome again.
Speaker 1:Hey can I?
Speaker 2:tell you something so honestly. I never thought I was going to make it to this podcast, to be honest with you. So we did so. We did permission to speak freely. Damon wasn't there. Shout out to Damon my boy, we started this together. And Tish wasn't there either. It was just me and you.
Speaker 2:But, after we did permission to speak freely, then you did like an episode with some lawyer that was like the president's lawyer. Then I saw you do an episode with somebody that had like some surgery that was botched from you know all respect.
Speaker 1:Oh yes, Sergeant Carter.
Speaker 2:And the lawyer that you're talking about is Tim Parlatori.
Speaker 1:Who's?
Speaker 2:amazing. And then it was like somebody else. I'm like, oh no, I'm never. Permission to speak freely is never making it to Stories of Service. So I'm super happy to be here, I'm glad I'm here.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you. That's such a nice compliment and I really do owe it to the audience and the listeners who bring guest suggestions to me and are willing to come on the show and talk about really hard things, and we're able to get into some of these really interesting discussions in this format on live stream, and I think it's just a testament to the people that are willing to come and share their story so deeply. So thank you so much for the kind words. Now I always start off this show, especially for those people who serve to say where were you born and raised and what inspired you to originally join the Navy.
Speaker 2:I was born in Philly, raised in Philly too. I spent about a year in Jacksonville, Florida, with my aunt and uncle, who were both in the Navy. So my aunt, my uncle aunt, was a Lieutenant Commander. She retired as a Lieutenant Commander, Uncle retired as a CMC. I lived with them for about 10 months and then those 10 months, just the lifestyle that they lived. I caught their retirement paychecks a couple of times. You know it was buddy I never saw.
Speaker 2:You know, and they're like all of their friends, they all had, like no officer friends but all like. Cmcs and Master Chiefs. Right, the whole friend group was all CMCs and Master Chiefs, and that would inspire me to go to the Navy At one day. Out of nowhere, I'm in a recruiting office and I'm like, hey, I want to go to the Navy. So that's what it was.
Speaker 1:That's so cool and it really is a testament. And I say this all the time when people tell me how they've joined because I ask this question quite a bit. It is so much like if you know somebody or somebody talks to you about the service. That's what inspires you to do it and that's why I feel like it's so important to keep those ties with the veteran community, to do that networking with the parents and with the schools, because those are the ways in which we hear about service. I personally didn't. My father served. He was drafted in the army but and I didn't have a military background, it was kind of a fluke for me to go. But most of the time when I hear someone tell me why they joined, it's because they had a family member who served or a mentor in their school encouraged them to join. So it's really interesting to hear that. And when you joined the Navy, did you know what job you wanted to do?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so it was all credit. All of this is credit to my uncle. So my uncle was an engine man when he was in the Navy before he became command and he man he used to wax poetic, he used to smoke Back in the day he was smoking so he was telling me about when they stopped smoking and they cut that out, the Navy and stuff like that. So he was like wax poetic. I went to Florida because I went to Florida to get out of Philly, right. So I went there to figure something else out. So when I was in Florida I became an electrician and I went into the apprenticeship to be an electrician and my uncle, he said a couple of things. He was like do what you want to do and the bonus. So I wanted to keep being an electrician and got like 12,000 when I enlisted. So all of this, like the whole time, I'm like coached by my uncle. He coached me through boot camp, he coached me through pretty much my first year in the navy and about three months of us talking.
Speaker 1:I love it. And you know what, when you said the whole thing about smoking, I will. I will reveal something as well, and he knows who he is Andrew Sword. He was a friend of mine as I was joining and he was the same way. The pot smoking dude just would hang out with him constantly and he's like teresa or terry back then. Terry, I think you should do this, I think this is a really good idea for you and at the time I was like you just want it, you just want to get rid of me right, I mean my uncle wanted to get rid of me.
Speaker 1:But I didn't understand at the time that, like he was really giving me a gift. And to this day, he still comments on my Facebook every now and again or likes a post, and it's really neat. I mean, I really do credit him. He was the biggest influence for why I decided to do it. I had a roommate that served as well, but he's the one that just kept saying you should do this. I think this is really good for you, I think it'll really get you out. And the thing was is that he was in the army. I had totally forgotten that when he mentioned that in a facebook comment that he served in the infantry. And then I was like, oh right, he did go through the army boot camp. He was in for, I think, just a couple of years and uh, so he knew, he knew, he knew this great opportunity for somebody who needed a sense of direction, and that sounds like what it was for you as well yeah, it was a good.
Speaker 2:It was a good place to channel everything that I already had going on, like a good place to channel it. I was doing stuff, I had things. I got a family member right now and I think they need to go in the military. That's why I'm comparing like where I was at that time to where he was. I was making music, though I was like just that's all I was doing, like I did that every day, but they probably didn't see what could come out of that because they wasn't hearing none of it, you know.
Speaker 1:So it was like, hey, what about this? And you know, I just did it Right, and you knew that there was something there that you could do and be skilled at, because you already had that background, so you get into the Navy. Tell me a little bit about your first few years serving. What were they like?
Speaker 2:The goal was to make music. It was to get out, open up a studio and make music. That was my goal. That was for the longest, probably up until I made chief. Honestly, that was my goal, that was my gift. But what I? What I?
Speaker 2:The first couple years I was broke. Like you know that money that E1 through E4 pay is low and I did all the things they said we shouldn't do. I bought the car with the high interest rate that they said I shouldn't do. I went and rented a PlayStation and rented a TV and set myself up to where I couldn't make it. We went on deployment and I didn't have. It was physical payments so I had to go in to pay. So by the second time we got paid on deployment, they was hitting me up saying I owe money and I had back pay and it was some kind of scam thing they did. But they wound up getting my money for most of my first deployment. So most of my first deployment I was broke. But outside of being broke I went for everything. So it was a seller. I remember her Her name was Megan Staples and she got blue jacket of the year and I remember I had two third classes, and the third classes to me were larger than life.
Speaker 1:These guys were the guys, it didn't have to go past these guys.
Speaker 2:These were the guys Like it, like it didn't have to go past these guys. And they were like they was like damn, they gave Staples a blue jacket a year and they was like she deserved it. She got an Eastwise and they, the way they were talking about it, I'm like damn, I want somebody to talk about me Like they talking about Staples. So I just I worked hard. You know I just worked, I worked hard, you know I just worked, I worked hard every. And the hard work, the work ethic, came from my uncle, because all he did was work. That's all he did like. When I woke up in the morning, he was out working either on a pool, a car or something like that. That's just he's working right now and I know he is somewhere, just wants to work. Um, and then when I went and became an electrician, one time when I like as an electrician, one time when I like as an electrician, that some of the guys were smoking. They were on a smoke break. I didn't smoke, so I just took a break. It was like my second week of the job. The job foreman came up to me. He's like what are you doing? I'm like I'm taking a break. He was like why? I'm like, cause they are. He was like yeah, they paid that dues, you didn't.
Speaker 2:So you, I got back to work and from that moment on I worked so hard and needless. This is Jacksonville Florida, right? So the demographics are skewed in Jacksonville Florida. I was the only black kid on the job and I was young too, so I'm probably like 20 years younger than everybody else and I look different, act different and present different than everybody else too. They I'm from the city, they from the country, I'm driving, I'm broke, but my aunt had a Benz. I'm driving a Benz to this electrical site. They all in like trucks, pickup trucks and stuff. Right, I worked so hard. When I left that job, those guys like they loved me, they loved me, and so that gave me the work ethic. When I got into the Navy, it gave me that work ethic, uh, and I just worked, I just pushed those first five years. It was a push.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it really is when you're a junior enlisted. But what I love about the Navy is that there are always things that you can do that nobody can take away. Like you say, you can work on your e-swass, you can work on your EAWS. You can be the person, as I was in my electrician shop where I understood how to fix certain things really well, really fast, and I just sort of became indispensable at doing those particular what we call gripes, and so it led to so many opportunities. And that's what you do.
Speaker 1:You find your niche, you find that thing in the military that you can do and do well and keep doing it and then you will be like there is even like a time where I was kind of getting bullied and I wanted to go to the tool room and I remember my chief was, like I'm not sending you to the tool room, we need you. We need you in this work center. You are not going to just go to the tool room. You're not going to go escape from your problems and sit in the tool room and hand out tools all day long or sign toolboxes in and out. No, that isn't what you're going to be doing. So is in and out. No, that isn't what you're going to be doing.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it's really true. I mean, you just got to prove your value. Yeah, I had a chip on my shoulder too, coming from Philly, right, just the city, that's just the way. It's like New York or Chicago, right, you have that chip on you. You got something to prove. And then I came from a hip hop background, right. So again, it's a a competitive. Hip hop is like a competitive sport. So again, something to prove, right.
Speaker 2:So every stage of like, so I always let's go to having a voice. I never thought I didn't have a voice, you know. So it was like a dog barking at the moon. I was going to be that dog, you know, like just saying something, right. So from cranking out I went cranking.
Speaker 2:I did my FSA first stint in the war room. I always had advocates too. I always had people that took care of me, but again, like I said, I always had a voice. So I wound up becoming an MWR president as a second class, and in those days that was a big deal. It could only be a first class. So just being able to meet with the captain, the xo and the cmc and just have like unfiltered conversations, like and the reason why I bring that up because I always say I think those experiences, like on my first ship, they spoiled me. You know, I I never had a moment where I didn't feel like I could say what I wanted to say to whoever it is that I wanted to say it to. I never was pinned down like that from the first you had good leadership.
Speaker 1:That's what it was.
Speaker 2:I had great leadership. So my CEO, my second CEO he used to listen to. I'm a big music person, so it's a jazz singer. Her name is Melody Gardeau, from New Jersey. He used to listen to Melody Gardeau and it's like when was first coming out, and I did too. So me and my CO used to trade albums, right, and the thing that I want to say about that is that was just me and my CO, em3 McCullough and my CO. Imagine the connection he had with all the rest of the. I'm sure if he had that connection with me, he had a connection like that with all the rest of the sailors on the ship.
Speaker 1:That's so cool. You know you're reminding me of, like my good leaders. Like you know, now Admiral Brad Cooper, now Admiral Joe Cahill, there's just a few that really Admiral Bill Byrne that really stand out as just these amazing leaders that I knew anytime I had an issue I never really abused it or did it, but I knew I could talk to them.
Speaker 2:And we do have a couple of people on here Melody Gardeau, I love her live double CD. Yeah, yeah, melody Gardeau.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. And Darren says he's relating to what you said about that feeling of being able to talk directly to your leadership and he remembers that as a command fitness leader. So that's you know what. That is why you should take those jobs. Not why you take those jobs? Because you want to be in a position of leadership and you want to take care of your sailors. Number one, first and foremost, but number two you do get to see behind the curtain a little bit of how an organization is run and then, once you're understanding of how an organization is run, you have an ability to make more of a meaningful impact because you understand the pieces that are in play and you can understand the why behind certain decisions and you can translate that to your sailors that may not see that type of visibility and may not understand why things are happening the way that they do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one of the biggest experiences in my career was them telling us that they were wrong. The triad, our triad, actually told us they were wrong about something. We had a command picnic, command picnic or cookout, whatever you know, however you want to go about saying it, and we did, we did. We wanted face painting, we had like all these things for for kids, like we had all these things planned for kids. Now, mind you, I'm a second class, my vice president is a third class and my secretary is a third class, so it's a second class and two third class.
Speaker 2:Talking to the triad, coxo, cmc, uh, full bird captain, full bird, captain, cmc. And we, presenting this picnic, like hey, kids, kids, kids. And they like, no, it's gonna be a waste of money, waste of time. You know it's not gonna be too many people bringing kids there. A lot of people don't show up to these things. We like I'm telling y'all it's gonna be kids there. So what wound up happening was they cut all that stuff out of our plan and we just kind of went with a plan without things for kids. And then, the day of the picnic, a bunch of kids showed up but people left. They left real fast because it wasn't nothing for the kids and the joy I had saying. I told you so.
Speaker 2:As a second class, you know, and they apologize. I never like again, like I said, I'm spoiled. I got to see my captain, my ex on my CMC, apologize to me as a second class, like super early in my career, and that's. It's more than that. Right, that's just from my perspective as a second class. But they were like we were wrong, you know. And then that's what we said because you just can't tell me you're wrong. I got to put salt on the wound. I was like, hey, sir, respectfully, y'all put us in these positions that were voted by our peers and y'all want us to assess and bring y'all what people want. Respectfully, consider the fact that we assess and we know what people want when we bring it. And they was like, okay, but they wouldn't let us do a nail painting. They said no water guns on a ship and no nail painting. Competition.
Speaker 1:That's what you get in that Well, and it's just interesting because those are the kinds of leaders that we all want to work for. We want to work for leaders that can admit when they're wrong and can humble themselves. It's, it's, it's a, it's a sad day when we're working for those people that just won't be. They just can't do that. They haven't come to a place in their own, uh, leadership style where they can see, like, oh yeah, uh, you guys have a better idea or a better way to go about this than we do, so let's, let's go, let's do it your way. And it's always a judgment call.
Speaker 1:As a leader, too, like, sometimes you have to be the one to say no, I'm sorry, but we're got to do it this way, and here's why, um, and sometimes there's going to be people that are never going to get on board with you, no matter how hard you try, and so you have to kind of pick your battles and decide what are the things that you have to die on a hill on and what are the things that you can let go and have done. As long as it gets done, it doesn't matter if it's done your way or not. So it's definitely a judgment call. So when you went to your next ship, tell me a little bit about that and if it was similar in leadership, or was there any new challenges that you encountered?
Speaker 2:So my next command it was shore duty. So I did five years on a ship, then I went on shore duty. Now I'm going on shore duty and I'm going on shore duty with all this empowerment from this ship. So my first just for context, right, I never saw an eval that wasn't an EP. Just for context Every eval from the first one. My first year I actually actually like I followed staples, I got blue jacket of the year right. So my first year was that I was a junior seller of the year on that ship. I left that ship with five nams and a couple, a couple number one ep. So I'm getting to my next command and I'm just like you know what is this place. And it was waterfront readiness at the Naval Academy where they got the yard patrol craft where they train miss shipment on seaman shipping, and got there, it's like man, I'm in the sticks. What is that? Mayberry? Is that the name of that city? But I'm like yo, I'm in the sticks here.
Speaker 2:So it was a lot of stuff happening. I was very vocal. It was a lot of stuff happening. I was very vocal, I was combative, I caused a lot of friction on the account of me thinking I'm being an advocate and a leader to my people.
Speaker 2:At some point in my time there, um, you know some leadership and it was internal. Like I was working, I chose to work for 13 days straight and you know I was antsy and a situation happened. Some leadership came into the office and I was taking my first lunch in 13 days and they tried to stop me from taking a lunch and you know I snapped, you know. But it's like if you keep giving somebody something, eventually they expect that you know from you and they want to fire me. They want to fire me for that. But again, another successful tour. We did a lot this time because it wasn't a lot established. So I took a lot of ideas from the last ship, I took a lot of empowerment from the last ship and we built a lot of programs at that command. So it was one time I had like four programs, but they were all programs I built. They were all programs that I created. So it felt good giving programs that I created off to other people.
Speaker 1:I love what you said, too, about being able to. I mean, it's not often that I'm on a podcast with somebody and I try to do it myself where I look back and I can see what I did right and I can see where I fell short and there were things that I could have done differently. And it's really wonderful to hear you kind of juxtapose the two feelings, because that's really what leadership is all about. It's going to be the good times when things go well and you're, you know, sailor of the year. I mean, I've had those same experiences where I felt like I could walk on water at certain commands and everyone loved me and I was doing great.
Speaker 1:And then I've had sort of the other extreme where I just I pissed off the wrong person and, like you, I'm very vocal and will speak up sometimes, and sometimes I don't pick the right battles to speak up about and sometimes I go a little too far or I passive, aggressively, go a little. Like I told you before the call that I'm going to be talking about, I mean, I made a little mistake, I took a little anger and a little resentment into another direction and I got burned, and I think sometimes that is justified because we can let our egos take over, and so I commend you for being able to recognize that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and Teresa, what you just said, that was the goal. Right, that was the goal. That I learned is to pick your battles. Don't fight A great fighter. Let's use Mayweather Some people might disagree, right, Mayweather, not fighting every fight. Are the great warrior. It's not going out there and fighting every single fight. You got to be strategic. It gets to this point where you are just the fighter, that's just you. You're going to be the combative guy. No matter what You're going to cause friction, you're going to raise your hand. It got to a point where that was me and I had to mature in that and strategize and know exactly when to strike a blow or when to actually do something.
Speaker 1:not everything is worth that right, yeah, not, not everything is and and. Again I I liken it to the uh kenny loggins. I just used this song the other day when I posted a picture of me and tim parlatore and I said you know, it's like a you gotta know when I won't sing on the show because I'm a really bad singer, but's like a you gotta know when to I won't sing on the show because I'm a really bad singer, but it's like you gotta know when to hold him, know when to walk away, know when to run.
Speaker 1:You better count your something. You know what song I'm talking about when to roll them know, when to hold them. Yeah, no wind to walk away, no wind to run. Now you're going to get me to start singing it.
Speaker 1:I love it. It's the Gambler, that's the song. And I love that song because it's really just an old man telling a story on a train. But it's really just that life lesson of choosing your battles and I get I mean I have a little chills just thinking about the song. I mean I listen to it like on repeat sometimes because I feel like it's like a reminder that that is such a truism about life is not everything is worth the battle?
Speaker 2:So, yeah, yeah, I got put at attention there before from somebody I love. Now, Like we love, we love each other. I got love for her like a lieutenant. I love her, she loves me. You know, last time I saw her it was on my base and she get to see me from putting me at attention as a hard-headed first class who only wanted things to be good, right, but just hard-headed, to now the CMC of the installation that she's at enjoying her lunch and she's like Donald. I'm like Miss Davis, hey, we hug, we take pictures. But she put me at attention before and I hated it. But yeah, you know, that's like one of my favorite people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's, that's like the, you know, the cycle of life is to understand, understand that those could, that concept, and be able to be able to know, know when you could have done something a little bit differently. So, after this command, let's, let's's go, let's. Is this now? Are you now at the command after this command, or was there something in between?
Speaker 2:No, so, yeah, so I went from the ship to shore duty so I left this command as a first class. Yeah, I left uh Annapolis as a first class and I went to Cali. I went to, uh the um, I went to I forgot the LCSs, lcss, I went to LCSs. I worked at a region LCS, so I was what you would call unplanned loss. So what I, what I did as unplanned loss was I would go to either variant LCS, the one variant or the two variant, and I would do.
Speaker 2:I would do electrical work and, being as I was an engineer, they always needed an engineer on some ship. It's supposed to be a pipeline. You know, I'm like y'all gonna send me through the pipeline. They're like, no, you just get OJT, he could qualify, you could qualify on the ship. So I did shock trials on one of the LCS I think it was a Jackson. I did shock trials I was in Singapore on a one LCS that was stuck in Singapore for like almost a year. I was there for a little bit. It was a good experience. I made chief. What got me out of LCS so fast is because I made chief.
Speaker 2:I made chief on LCS.
Speaker 1:OK, awesome, yeah, I remember I think you did. You have the podcast when you made chief. So let's talk about like when the podcast started, because you've had it for five years, about like when the podcast started, because you've had it for five years. So was, was it like way later on or in the timeline, or are we around the time that you started the show?
Speaker 2:It's crazy how fast things happen. So. So I was at LCS for like two years and then I went to my ship. It was for three, okay, I started to show about two years into my time on the ship. What ship? It was the Peralta, the Rafael Peralta, in San Diego. So I started a show about two years into the time. So I had about a year left, I think, or a little less, maybe 10 months to a year left when we started the show.
Speaker 1:Got it and what was the genesis of how you went from being a chief on the ship to now I'm going to be a podcaster.
Speaker 2:So I used to man, we used to have so many jokes and shout out to all the other chiefs from the mess but I used to call myself like everybody's chief or something like that. We just had so many jokes, but it was me and Damonon uh, me and damon um, we just a few things happened, right, a few things happened. So the story of how we started the podcast was it was this event. It was like a fourth of july event and I think this was a covid deployment. It was a fourth of july event or something like that, and when we came back from it, a lot of the women on the ship were talking about they were harassed or touched the wrong way.
Speaker 2:It was a lot going on on liberty and this was like just beach or peer liberty. This was like a beach liberty Matter of fact. I think it was in Guam. So we get back and we get in the chief's mess and we having conversations about how to address this, and I'm always I'm a little younger than some people and stuff like that, so I'm always thinking progressively I'm like, well, let's just bring them all to the mess. Texas have an event where we just I had a name for it, but I forgot the name.
Speaker 1:I'm like well, we just have an open, you know where we talk about it, where we talk about our problems.
Speaker 2:Yeah, cause I I'm like it's a bear, it's a trust barrier. They got a barrier of trust and I was the simio as well, right, so like here we go, kind of double dipping, right, I'm like, but it's a barrier of trust. And this was the response. It was like, well, they could trust us, they should, they should be able to and they should be able to talk to us. I'm like, yeah, but they're not, because it's a barrier of trust. They like, yeah, but they should. And I'm like, yeah, but they're not barrier of trust. They like, yeah, but they should. And I'm like, yeah, but they're not. After like eight of those, I go to Damon and I'm like, hey, damon, we need to like do something about this barrier of trust. So me and Damon had already been talking about knowing like a leadership series thing or something, a seven series podcast or something like that. But this point now is just bred out of frustration. I'm like yo, damon, let's go have a conversation. This point now is just bred out of frustration. I'm like yo, damon, let's go have a conversation.
Speaker 2:Another thing happened in that scenario was we had a first class who emailed the chief's mess. He emailed the entire mess and he was pretty much cussing us out about the sexual harassment stuff and how are we going to deal with this stuff. And somebody responded to him and chewed him out for the way that he was addressing us. And I was like, oh man, I go to Damon, I'm like yo and me and Damon had already kind of circled back to that cell and had one-on-ones with him to figure his frustration out and how we could help. But this person who responded to him just chewed him out for his approach to the cheese mess. So then he responded. He had another email. He was like, just like I figured you know the chief's must chewing me out for how I'm saying what I'm saying and not addressing what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:The actual problem. Yeah, yeah, and I'm like man, yo. So I just at that point, I'm like man. I just want sellers to see that we could be different and not to put us all in this same like, like, like we were just like the last kind of thing. Right, it was that same Guam beach Liberty. I was talking to one of the E2s and, and you know, he was talking to me like I was like always a chief. I'm like yo. Do you think I was always a chief? He was like yes, and I'm like no, I wasn't. So what I wanted to do was bridge the gap.
Speaker 1:That was really why I started the podcast was to bridge the gap. I didn't even expect a khaki audience. Honestly, episodes from your personal accounts, from your partner's personal accounts how did you start it logistically and did you get permission from anyone to do it? Because this is a while ago we got permission.
Speaker 2:So it was going to be seven pillars of leadership, but we scrapped that idea pretty fast. But before we went out, we reached out to, uh, the San Diego PAO, and we sent her like three advanced copies of the podcast and she told us she liked it, uh, and she told us what we could and what we couldn't do. Oh well, she told us what we couldn't do and like that was like don't talk opsec, don't talk about shifts and stuff like that. So we just wanted, but she was like outside of that, nobody could stop you from having conversations. We were talking about beards. Our first it was like a three-episode pack that we gave her, the very first episode of our podcast. We didn't put it out until four years later.
Speaker 2:The first one we recorded it's actually called the One About Secret Pilots, right, because it became a secret pilot episode. It never came out. The one we put out the first one was called the One About Trunk Space. So when we first started, all our episodes were called the One About something. And the reason how that came about? Because we were passing off episodes to people on the ship Like, hey, check this out, check this out. And somebody was like hey, I listened to the episode I was like which one? He was like the one about. I was like I gotta wait for it, so like every. And then somebody came up to me one day they said I like how you title your episode, like they do on the friends episodes, and I never knew that I'm like I stopped that we can't do that over. You know, that was kind of how we, how we started no-transcript.
Speaker 1:in isolated places don't communicate quite well sometimes, especially when alcohol is involved and I'm, and sex is a is on the table, and so I'm curious did you address any of those topics in some of those early episodes, since that was kind of the genesis of why you did it?
Speaker 2:We were. You know that's a great question. You know I love it and I hate it, right, Uh, I love it cause it's a great question. I hate it because it hurts, because I had a dream episode and it was about sexual assault. Honestly, it was about sexual assault.
Speaker 2:When I was talking to you earlier about being an MWR president, I was talking about my secretary. My secretary at that time when we had that conversation with the captain and that so she was sexually assaulted and it was really, really bad. The dude's in jail for life. A lot of stuff happened, you know, and I always wanted to like reach out to her and have the conversation. I just honestly, I still have not at this time. I have not had enough in me to be like, hey, can we talk about this? Like you know, cause it, it impacted me just because she was a friend and she was a hard worker and I appreciated what she did for what we were building. But, man, it's super selfish. Because it really impacted her. Like her whole life is different, you know, from that situation. A lot of lives are different from that situation. So, uh, and I still have not had a conversation.
Speaker 2:So, over time now, yeah, we talked about sexual assault and stuff like that. But in those first few episodes I didn't think we wanted to do it. First of all we wanted to do it with a woman and we wanted to do it with a group, like with the VA, and I had a couple things set up but they all fell through. Some VAs like their commands wouldn't let them early in our podcast, like people commands wouldn't let them record with us. It was a lot of that when we first started, so it took us a while.
Speaker 1:We couldn't do it early no, I understand and it's it's. These are incredibly hard shows to do and again, now that I'm doing it on the other side of where I think some of the cases didn't go as well as they should, it's just as hard. It doesn't matter which side of this that you're on, whether or not it's a legitimate crime or it's a crime that maybe wasn't a crime, that maybe there was some, sadly, some incentive to gain by making an accusation. Either way, it's a really hard subject because there's so much shame and there's so much guilt and so much just problems with the legal system that nobody has a good answer for. And unfortunately, I think those are the conversations that we're going to have to continue to try our best to have.
Speaker 1:I'm still having a hard time having them myself. I mean, every show I do really really stays with me deeply when I cover these issues, because I also know that I could be triggering victims by having shows on about people who are falsely who I believe are falsely accused, and so I have to be very careful to say, no, I do believe there's legitimate victims, but I also believe there's people who weaponize the system. It goes both ways and it's it's. It's a tough thing to solve, and I think that only with good due process. You do that and, speaking of which, one of your co-hosts is a former um paralegal, so I think that's really exciting that you have that perspective on your show yeah, it helped us out.
Speaker 2:Like, yeah, she, she definitely. Like it's like, all right, let's get you on and make sure. Yeah, because you know, before her, and still to this day, I asked for grace for my ignorance. Like, hey, can you give me grace for my ignorance? I don't know everything and and the way that I ask questions or the way that I think is way more analytical than emotional, right, it's way more the empathy might not be felt, you know.
Speaker 2:So to have her on and her have some of the legal jargon and her just it kind of made it a little bit more legitimate than it already was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she was a big help for me, even at this command. I think you remember I reached out to you because I knew Tish was a paralegal or had been, and I was made an investigating officer and I just wanted some outside opinion of sort of can I trust this process? Is what am I? Cause I? You know I'd done so many shows on the IG process. I was I was a little untrusting and, and Tish really put me at ease and and really helped me feel good about the process and and that and and the and the jag I had. I had a command jag. That was actually really helpful and so between the two of them, uh, I felt I felt good going through the process and I think I delivered a quality report. So it's definitely a hard thing, but that's one of the wonderful things that you have is you have two co-hosts, so you have Tish and then, well, I don't remember the name of- your other, david.
Speaker 1:David, so he was the one who was with you from the start.
Speaker 2:Yeah, me and David started. It's our name on a logo and everything. The craziest thing is, when me and Damon started this, we hoped to build this community, this live and breathe community. I'm going to be honest with whoever's listening or watching. It's not easy to build a community. It takes work. If you build it, they will come, but if you water it, eventually it's going to be a plant and you got to take care of it. You still got to plant a seed. You got to do work. We're full-time sellers. We both enlisted going through careers. I say all that to say that Tish was the first outreach person that we got on. Me and Damon were going at it for about three years or something like that. We bring Tish on and, as me and Damon always wanted to build a community, like you just said, it'd be people hitting us up and they want to talk to Tish. Like hey can.
Speaker 2:I get some advice from Tish. So we are now in this year finally getting to it being real community-based, like people reaching out asking us questions. It feels real good now and it feels like it's growing. But at one time it was just like, hey, I'm going through this. Can I talk to Tiege? Hey, I'm going through this. Can I talk to Tiege? Only thing I would get is dirty urine. Right, like, hey, I didn't do the drugs, help me out, damo. And since I was an ad co for a little bit, I'll be able to help them out. But Tisha kind of opened that up too. Tisha's honestly Tisha's the first person that one of our clips went viral from on.
Speaker 1:TikTok. She's really good, she is really even keeled and just yeah, no, I think the world of her and I was really helpful for her advice. She really put me at ease. I mean, we talked for probably like a good hour that day about because I just I had researched how to be an IO. I took all the different instructions that my JAG gave me, but, as you know, when you become an investigating officer, you don't get any like formal training on how to be an investigator.
Speaker 1:And I took that job very, very seriously because somebody's career was on the line and somebody who'd served for many, many years. Their career was on the line over this, and so I wanted to make sure that I got to the truth of what this was, and I just wanted to talk to someone outside my chain to make sure that I was doing everything possible to ensure that I was delivering justice on this case. And I learned a lot through the process. I'm really thankful my command gave me the opportunity to be an IO, because now if I do a show about somebody who's been a subject of the investigation process, I have a little bit of knowledge of the process because I've been a part of it myself. So I thought that was really helpful. So I'm grateful that she did that. So you start the show, you're at your last command, where you start it, and you're doing all these other things too.
Speaker 1:By the way, you're doing these promos, you're making the reels because you have this filmmaker background from college, so you know how to do all that stuff and your reels, by the way, are the best reels still to this day that I've seen on like any show. And how did this come about that you were going to just continue it, like how did you maintain that? I mean, I could ask myself the same question, but I'm curious from your, because you're still on a hard charge or active duty job, whereas I kind of took sort of a down ramp.
Speaker 2:And I got a 20 month old, that's probably.
Speaker 1:That's true, right.
Speaker 2:That's the biggest challenge right there. Well, what I want to say is this We've built. What I don't think people see is that we build an ecosystem of and it's building. See is that we build an ecosystem of and it's building it's still building of us like non special warfare podcasters, right. So we build an ecosystem of like, yeah, and we share a lot of game. Right, we share a lot of inside ball that a lot of people don't see.
Speaker 2:So I'm communicating with people about equipment, because now you got people that have been doing podcasts, but now you got me coming in, who went to school for this in some capacity. So I know a little bit more about the technical aspect, right. So now somebody like DGuts, for instance, who might've been doing this, might be like hey, damo, what mic do you use? Or hey, what program you use for this, or whatever we've been. And then I might say, ad guts, what you know, I'm looking at stream yard and what you do. I'm like we want to do something like this. So, like what you know what's next steps, and we built that right, so that helps to keep going, just having that ecosystem up like like-minded individuals.
Speaker 1:But I do the same thing, like with with um nikki from mg tv, or with you, and especially when there's like a controversial issue that's going on in our Navy community. It's like the.
Speaker 1:Navy podcasters are the ones that really um they care about this issue and they're and they're impacted by it. So it's really great to bounce those ideas off one another and say well, what do you think of this, or are you going to cover this on your show? I always loved it when there was something controversial or something newsworthy going on. And the next thing I know I'd see Dom on it and you know your team covered it on the podcast, I'd be like, yes, yes, they're addressing it.
Speaker 2:I'll tell you what, teresa. It's easy to stop. The easiest thing to do is to stop. The hardest thing to do, especially with a 20 month, especially with I just heard a stop and a CMT.
Speaker 2:So, especially with a 20 month old and a wife, and so you know and I got to salute my wife, angeline, just for having enough grace and space to like, let me do these things that I love to do, but honestly, I think what keeps us going is the love and the community that we get to build and the fact that we have in conversations that seem like people never really had, like it's like these things are like hey, like they say in a quiet part out loud, that's such a good way to say it, Dalmo.
Speaker 1:It's the quiet part out loud. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I've had those same moments on my show with people loud, yeah. And I've had those same moments on my show with people and it's crazy because it's just through a computer screen and you're still able to get that deep with people. And I think that is so important because there have been people on my show that have never shared something that's happened to them. I had a crystal, crystal romeo comes to. She had and I've had actually Lauren Palladini just recently same thing where they'll like, really prepare, like, like.
Speaker 1:Lauren sent me this beautiful outline of her advocacy. She fortunately had a torn uterine artery that to this day will never allow her to have children and she can't sue the army, even though it happened on active duty, because of the Ferris doctrine, that whole thing, and she's waiting to get, hopefully get some kind of a claim, you know, submitted and compensated in some way, which of course was back for what she's lost. But she's just sent me the most beautiful outline and she allowed me to keep it. So if I've got other advocates that are nervous and don't really know where to put their story, I now can take Lauren's outline and I can send it over. Crystal was another one where she had this just beautiful way that she laid out her story and she read it.
Speaker 1:I've had people do that before too. Or they'll send me either something to read or they'll read it and I had people do that before too. Or they'll send me either something to read or they'll read it, and I'm okay with that too. I'm like you got to get your story out there. It might be all over the place I mean Darren, and he knows, I think you know he knows it too. He was. He was a little all over the place when he gave his story, but it was such a powerful story and I'm so glad he did it. Darren Lopez, I think he's still on the call now.
Speaker 1:And he just blew me away with his honesty and his vulnerability. So, like you said, damo, it is the quiet part out loud.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you talked about extending outreach, right, and like that's what you were just kind of talking about and that's what we've been doing now. So that keeps us going too. And we always tell people like, hey, you have to, people don't understand, like when you're not, when you're not getting paid for this and stuff. Sometimes engagement is fuel, right, Like you gotta engage, like like, comment share, do something, because that's what lets us know that we are alive, right, yeah that we're making an impact and like people actually listen to us.
Speaker 1:We're not Joe Rogan, we're not sean ryan although I love sean ryan, love joe rogan. We are not those people. Uh, we are. We are small time podcasters. We're not green berets and navy seals although I love green berets, navy seals and infantry. We're just never going to get the uh, same kind of love that those shows get. And then that's okay. I, I'm totally uh good with that. It's just yeah, it's that's how we know, uh, we're doing a good job. Is is by people like sharing and commenting.
Speaker 1:And by the way, on that note, we did have a new first time listener, who says Darren, recommended this and said this is a great podcast. So thank you, mark. I appreciate that and, yes, darren is still on the call, so give him a shout out. Darren Lopez, please check out my show with him. It was very good.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, out there and Lopez, please check out my show with him. It was very good, yeah. And I want to pin one thing real quick, Teresa, about extending the outreach. I'm not going to say a lot. I hate that word.
Speaker 2:Often you hear about a seller who never had a positive Navy experience. Often we hear that like, oh, all chiefs are garbage or just the Navy sucks and stuff like that. So what? What? Another thing we want to do is give them another side of that, Like no, it's not all, it's not. You know, this could be somebody else's experience.
Speaker 2:So, like I told you, when we first started, I was spoiled. All I had was good experiences and great leaders when I came into the Navy. So when I finally ran into like a horrible leader or somebody that just wasn't that good, it was like I was almost like I ran into a match. I'm like, hey, what is this, you know? And. But I was easily able to navigate past it because I know what I knew, what right looked like at that time, you know. So just what we do on in this podcast is helping a lot of young sellers see, like no, it's a different side of this. And the last thing I say you know, what surprised me the most about it is when we get chiefs that hit us up Like, hey, my whole mess is going through this or this is going through this. That's really what surprised me.
Speaker 1:You know that's such a good point and it's one of the reasons why I won't just do advocacy focused podcasts.
Speaker 1:I won't just do advocacy focused podcasts Like.
Speaker 1:It's very tempting, as a person who likes to push change and likes to point out what's wrong, for me to only do those kinds of shows or shows that are criticizing the military.
Speaker 1:But because I know, like you, I've had some amazing leaders in the service and I've had some incredible experiences at the hands of wonderful leaders. In fact, next week I'm having my mentor, ron Dean, the tech rep that I served with when I was enlisted, who was an amazing mentor and friend for the last God now 25, 30 years, and I would have never had those experiences had I not joined the service and had I not done the things that I did or been given the opportunities that I have. So I never forget that. I never, ever forget that, and so that's what I also love about what you're providing, damo, is you're giving them that space to see good leadership in action, because sometimes people do get disheartened, they get burned out, they go down that negative Nancy road I know I can do it as well and they don't see the good and we have to remind them constantly of all the good that there is from service.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I see Damon in the comments too and that was kind of like my secret right. So I was like, yo, I'm going to be the technical guy, damon is the great leader, because I was a senior chief when I was a chief. So I was like, hey, I'm going to be the technical guy and kind of be the B mic, damon is the great leader. But what wound up happening was I wound up naturally becoming, I think, the A mic, and Damon kind of fell to B mic, and then we grew together.
Speaker 1:Like everything kind of grows together.
Speaker 1:So it was well. We have one other comment. Um, she's also a. Uh, she's interviewed me, I think, on her podcast. Cheryl cross, I haven't heard from you in a little while, but it's great to hear from you. Don't stop, keep it up. Podcasting is not a get rich quick or ever scenario.
Speaker 1:I love doing mine for transitioning military and raising the voices of 100 military civilian Yep I was one and veterans in the workforce. It was a powerful series. Yeah, I really did enjoy your series, cheryl. I remember and, funny enough, cheryl was the one who told me I should run for office, and now I'm not running for office, but I am in a graduate program for veterans who are thinking about running for office. So, thank you, cheryl, it's wonderful to hear from you. Veterans who are thinking about running for office. So, thank you, cheryl, it's wonderful to hear from you. It was a powerful series. I'm creating the next series, military Spouse Employment, and we'll launch by November. So we'll be watching out for that.
Speaker 1:Thanks, cheryl for the comment. But yeah, yeah, yeah, it was nice of her to come in on the comments on LinkedIn. So really appreciate it, love it, love it when you guys participate in real time, by the way, I know my listening audience will catch the show later, but it's amazing when we have these real-time conversations and it's one of the other reasons, other than the transparency issue, why I go live is because sometimes in the comments people will ask better questions or they'll. Oh, you're still on there, cheryl. Awesome, awesome, woo-hoo, yes, and it's just neat. It's neat to have that interactive back and forth with your audience and you can't do that without being a live show.
Speaker 2:I like it. We've been talking about going live, so that's a new thing. I'm looking at it in real time. I like it. All y'all out there, I like it. That's good.
Speaker 1:I love it. Well, I do have a promo code so you can save a little bit of money. If I send you a link, so I will. I will send you a link after the show. Uh, through stream yard. I've had no issues with it. I'm not plugging stream yard. They're not paying me to put this out, but it's a. It's a great streaming service. It has never done. They also get back to you when you write the help desk because I've lost streams before, uh, or I've not been able to stream sometimes, just to keep very occasionally in the. You know know, whatever it is four and a half years or or however many years I've been doing the show, but uh, yeah, no, I think it's a great program and, my God, we're almost at the top of the hour, which I honestly cannot believe. So tell me which. Oh yeah, I knew the time was going to go quick with you. What has it been like for you now as a podcaster, but also as a command master chief at the same time?
Speaker 2:now as a podcaster, but also as a command master chief at the same time. Oh man, honestly, I feel blessed that first off, it's tricky. I say it's tricky because you never know who's listening. Sure, oh, every now and then, even with other CMCs, I might get a nudge like Every now and then, even with other CMCs, I might get a nudge Like hey, I heard your podcast. I'll give it to you in one example, one story.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, so I got a CMC, my boy Rich Balmer, over at NRC Baltimore, right, but my first time meeting him he came to my command and he was introducing himself as kind of like an administrative tenant of my command himself, as like they like a kind of like an administrative tenant of my command. So he was introducing himself and we were talking and he was asking me for like a list of things that he needed some help with and, prior to me getting there, the regime. They just weren't that connected, so it was kind of like a reintroduction and they had a new commander and stuff like that. So everything he given me, I'm taking it, I'm writing it down, I'm going to help him, I'm finding help in real time, and then he's about to leave and before he leaves he's like hey, man, I want to tell you something. I'm like what's up? He was like I listened to your podcast man. He was like I like it, I'm a fan, I'm a big fan.
Speaker 2:And for me I felt like that was an integrity test, right, like what if I wasn't helpful? Or what if I wasn't the guy that you know I present as on a podcast and I was a different dude. Like that would have been a whole skewed experience for this guy and it wasn't like that. I was who I, you know, kind of say I am. So I feel like the podcast sometime could be an integrity test. It's also another thing for me just how self-conscious, like just admittedly, just a self-conscious person. I never want people to think that and I know Damon probably on the same page if he's still here I never want people to think that anything that we've got are achieved. When we started the podcast, I was a chief, like just an EMC going through that and it's been five years.
Speaker 2:So I went from chief to senior chief to CMC. So I never want people to be like I'm so self-conscious about it being separate, I don't even talk about it at work, but every now and then a seller will come up to me and they listen to it and they might say a joke that I don't even remember. Somebody had a reference that I didn't even remember. Somebody had a reference that I didn't even remember the other day and he was like I'm sorry, man, I made it awkward. I'm like no, I just don't remember it. So it's like a litmus test. I think, too Like hey, are you doing everything that you say you would do? I can't imagine myself on a podcast talking about leadership, talking about doing great things for people, and then like getting on Facebook for being horrible. You know, this dude's a horrible leader.
Speaker 1:I hear you and I am the same way that the pod is funny Cause I've had a show almost as long as you not as long and it is the same thing where someone will meet me in person and I tell people I mean, I do the same thing. I hope I think I am the exact same person that you see on the internet. That is in person, and the way that I led sailors and the way that I worked at work was no different than the way that I work on my podcast, because now I have a show, I have an assistant who shout out to Evie she's now got a full-time gig with Parade Deck, so I'm really excited for that and she and I have been working together oh gosh, now about nine months, and it's been amazing to have some help with the show and shout out to Parade Deck, who has been my media company and helped me quite a bit through the last couple years of the show. So we all do this with help and this becomes a team of people who do this.
Speaker 1:And, like you said, damo, small-time shows like ours are not in it to make money. We're in it to make an impact and I think that's also what makes it beautiful. I mean, nickymgtv is the same way. Even though he's got a big YouTube following, he's in it for the impact and to give these news stories a voice and to entertain sailors and it's a joy. It's a joy to watch the podcast community Martin Foster is another one. I'm going to the Military Influencer. You really need to go to the Military Influencer Conference, domo.
Speaker 2:It's coming up to the military influence you really need to go to the military influencer conference. Domo, it's coming up the name, the title influencer. I used to have issues with it. One of the other things I want to say was, though I used to be skeptical about my junior sellers listening to it, especially as a CMC, but what I realized that it does, because of how honest we are on this podcast and just how transparent we are on this podcast. It separates months of disconnect or months of guardedness that the sellers will have.
Speaker 2:It breaks all that down super fast and so by the time I'm talking to my seller, they already know they could just keep it real with me because they've listened to the podcast. Like, hey, I listened to your episode, mad Sheep. I hear y'all cussing. I hear y'all acting a fool. I hear y'all you know talking about good stuff. I know they feel like they know me already that familiar. You know that time it takes to get familiar with something, it's wiped away. So I actually love that about it. I also used to be skeptical about admirals and captains listening too. Listen to episode 84. Listen to episode 57. Don't just go in there cold. You might catch episodes. That's not for you. But at the end of it all, it is what it is. It's me, it is what it is. It's you. I know it is, it's you, no unapologetically me.
Speaker 1:I know that's how I feel too.
Speaker 1:Like, really, my show and the guests that I have on and the issues that I come across are a reflection of my own personal curiosity about certain topics and things that I always wanted to see exposed in the workplace.
Speaker 1:But, like you, there was always a reluctance to talk about certain issues, and so I saw the opportunity to build a show where we could have these, these real conversations, and so I I'm really happy and blessed, like I said, that I have a small audience that I can have these conversations with, and sometimes I can be a little spicy, and, especially now that I'll be having a DD two, 14 in four days, I will be able to be a little bit more spicy.
Speaker 1:And now that I'll be having a DD 214 in four days, uh, I will be able to be a little bit more spicy and and not, like I said, to, to, to, to slam the Navy or slam the military and give them a black eye, but to be able to really speak freely and and know that, uh, I, I can do these things and I won't get a nasty gram to my chain of command or or or something along those lines. So I think it'll be, it's, it's. It's a really great thing that we're able to do this, and I hope to uh us being on active duty, we're showing other sailors and troops that they can do this too, I mean and and not get fired, not lose their job. They can still advance and it might be a little harder.
Speaker 1:You every now and again. You might get a side eye, you might get a nasty little comment here and there, but at the end of the day, if you're following all the rules and you've cleared it with your PAO and your JAG, then you're doing the right thing.
Speaker 2:Yes, one of the things I say it's a blueprint. Like I said, we started I was a chief, if you listen to this as a young seller from, and we get a lot of them now like hey, thanks for episode 84.
Speaker 2:This is this? They growing. We got an audience that's growing with us, they advancing with us and stuff like that, but to watch it happen in real time. Damon was a senior chief. Me and Damon are both CMCs now, so a young seller listening, it's a blueprint there. It's five years of how to be a good seller.
Speaker 1:How to be a good seller, how to put across a message, and there are a lot of great podcasts out there in the military community and that's like I said. There's two conferences. I've not been to MCON yet. That's coming up at the end of October military conference in Las Vegas. But there's also the military influencer conference, which is Curtis Riggs owns the company that pushes that out and it's an amazing event. I went to it last year, was super impressed by it, and it'll take place in Atlanta at the end of September. So I'll be going there. So something to think about later on, if you ever are interested in becoming a part of those events, it's a great way.
Speaker 2:I've got a sister that I never met who lives in Atlanta. My mom gave her up for adoption some years ago and like well, when she was a baby. So I want her to meet my daughter. So I have actually thought about going to that event. I just didn't. I knew I was going through a transition because I'm going to a new command in September, so I didn't know how it would line up military influencer conference, but I highly recommend it to people and I'm excited to go to MCon as well.
Speaker 1:So end of October I'll be in Vegas at MCon and I have a friend who lives there, ron Dean, the one I'm having on my guest my show next week. So it'll be a great opportunity. Now that I'm also retired I can travel a little more freely. So, that's.
Speaker 1:That's nice as well, but before we finish up the call, we're kind of at the end the top of the hour. I try to keep it to an hour. Sometimes it goes over, sometimes it goes under, but usually over. Is there anything else that I didn't cover down on or, in particular, that you want to say to our audience before we get off the call?
Speaker 2:I mean, I'm just honestly, I'm just thankful for the space. I'm thankful for everybody that's in it. I'm naming for five years of us doing this thing and it's our fifth year this year. It's certain things. As you look at things, teresa, you have good moments. You got bad moments when you're doing this To the other people that I think Cheryl, who also has a space like this.
Speaker 2:It's ups and downs, right, but it's just, it's appreciated. When people step in and some of these comments they feel good just to read it here. It just keep people going and sometimes you just need that fuel. So I just appreciate. First off, family. You know, wife, daughter, god, family, wife, daughter, god. I appreciate Damon for being there from the beginning, starting this thing and just holding it down. I appreciate you and every other creator in this space.
Speaker 2:Let's keep it safe. Definitely, trust me, I'm going to be a gatekeeper in this space. I don't mean stopping people. That's doing the right thing. But if somebody ain't here for the wrong reasons, you're not getting no help from me. I'll tell you, that's for sure. Yeah, yeah, let's keep it pure. Let's keep it pure and continue to help out these sellers because they need it and this is the way to deliver it. They not reading those NavAdmins? No more. They not looking at those tech managers, like this is the way that they are consuming this information. I hear sellers like hey, I don't even hear about these things. When I go to work, they put these headphones in and they hear some real stuff coming from real people that's going through what they're going through in the moment.
Speaker 2:It's nothing bigger than that.
Speaker 1:That's so powerful and you're so right. The podcast evolution is here and the ones that get on board with it and know how to utilize this space are the ones that are going to get their information out to the people. And we can be your and I'll say this and then we'll get off the call. But we can be your biggest advocate, navy. We can be your biggest advocate If you'll give us a chance. We want get off the call, but we can be your biggest advocate, navy. We can be your biggest advocate if you'll give us a chance.
Speaker 1:We want you on our shows, we want your leadership, we want your guidance, we want you to contextualize hard issues. When there's a controversial issue, we want you on as a guest and we want to be able to ask you those questions so that our sailors understand why decisions were made. So, as time goes by, as you know, I'm hopeful that more and more will agree to do that, because it's these long form conversations where problems get solved and people feel seen, heard and valued. So thank you so much, damo. I really appreciate the time you spent with me tonight on the show and, overall, just your friendship in the last couple of years.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I love, like I said, I love being I never thought I would you know I'm not going through no court cases. I'm so happy to you know, have a man here and us to share this space for the last hour.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, Absolutely. Well. I'm going to go full screen. I'll meet you backstage to say goodbye, but just want to go on a full screen mode and say goodbye to my audience. But thank you again for joining the show. Awesome guys. Thanks so much. I think I have just one show next week. I had two last week, I think two before. Sometimes I've been doubling up as I get closer and I inch towards that retirement date of September 1st. It is almost here, almost four more days, so very excited. I got my retirement ID card yesterday so it's getting more and more real by the day. I think they're about to decide my VA claim, so I'm on the track to get all those things done. But thank you for joining us. As I always close out these calls please take care of yourselves, take care of each other and enjoy the rest of your evening. Bye-bye now.