The Morning Formation Podcast
Hosted by KP Phillips—a U.S. Army combat veteran, former law enforcement officer, and seasoned instructor in tactics, firearms, and combatives—The Formation Podcast is built on the core pillars of Survivability, Situational Awareness, and the mindset to Adapt & Overcome.
Drawing from over two decades of real-world experience in combat zones and high-risk environments, KP leads authentic conversations with warriors, protectors, and everyday individuals who’ve faced adversity head-on. This podcast is more than content—it's a movement for those who understand that the fight begins before the event.
Through storytelling, lived experience, and expert insight, The Formation Podcast equips its listeners with the mindset, tools, and awareness to remain vigilant and prepared—whether on the battlefield, in the streets, or in everyday life.
The Morning Formation Podcast
The Veteran Coach: Here's JP's Journey
Transform your life through the lens of a veteran's journey from service to success. Engage in a powerful discussion that focuses on resilience, identity, and the importance of community support for veterans.
- The significance of mentorship in transitioning from military to civilian life
- Challenges faced during reintegration into society
- Building resilience and finding new purpose post-service
- The role of community in supporting veterans' journeys
- Personal success stories that illustrate recovery and transformation
- The importance of self-awareness and proactive decision-making
- Insight into the coaching techniques that promote holistic development
- Aspiring to create a supportive hub for veterans seeking change
If you're looking to change your life, connect with JP and learn more about the programs available to veterans.
Follow JP on IG: https://www.instagram.com/jptheveterancoach?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Enroll into JP’s VetRISE Academy: https://17sqhhzzb9o.typeform.com/to/WmZkovCL
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Episode Powered By Act Now Education
Warriors fall in. It's time for formation. Today, folks, I have a wonderful guest that I'm just eager for you to meet, if you haven't already met him. He is fairly popular in the military community on many social media out there, so today I'd like to welcome JP to the Morning Formation podcast. Today we're going to talk about his journey, mindset, coaching, philosophy and his impact on the community. Jp- welcome.
Speaker 2:Hey, what's going on, brother? Thank you so much for having me here. I appreciate it. It's a privilege and I've been following you for a while and I was hoping one day this would happen, so I'm happy we're here.
Speaker 1:Man, the honor is all in this in the mic. Honestly, dude, I know a lot of people that have met you. I have heard a lot of great things about you. A lot of folks that you met at the MIC this last year that I'm familiar with, that I personally know. So it's an honor. On this end of the mic, man, and just kicking things off, I just want you to share your military background with us. What was your MOS and what inspired you to join the military?
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. I joined the military as soon as I turned 18. And I joined the Marine Corps because the commercial it just got me right the sword, the dragon, all that cool stuff. However, the reason why I joined the military isn't because it's all I ever wanted to do.
Speaker 2:Honestly, I made a lot of mistakes growing up and I rebelled. I was involved in a lot of stuff that I shouldn't have been and I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life. I was getting expelled, suspended. I ended up going to four different high schools and finally, at the last one, I met a teacher there who basically told me that if you don't get your life right, where are you going to be in three, four, five, 10 years? And I didn't know. I didn't have an answer, and he talked to me about the Marine Corps and I ended up making that decision to join the Marine Corps and I enlisted in 2008, went off to bootcamp, did the 0311 kind of route, and I did that for a few years.
Speaker 2:Went over to the West Coast. I was with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines deployed to Afghanistan. In 2010, helmand Province came back and I knew that the one thing that I really wanted to do while I was in the Marine Corps is I wanted to be a scout sniper, so I did the INDOC and was able to make it to the State. Platoon Did that for a few years and, uh, I ended up getting out of the military, so yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's quite a journey. Um, and when you went in, we were well underway uh as far as war. I joined in 99, 98, technically into 98, uh did uh the uh delay entry and uh, that was before 9-11. So when you went in, that knew well underway that you were probably going to end up going to Afghanistan or Iraq at some point, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I had a cousin that joined the Army right when 9-11 kicked off and I got to experience that from his point of view and he was injured. He came home for a little bit and he went back and I never knew that. I didn't know that I was going to necessarily follow in his footsteps, but I did know that when I did enlist I knew that I wanted to become part of something that actually meant something For my entire childhood. I didn't really belong to anything. I didn't do sports, I was involved in games, so there's that. But that was a chapter in my life that I wanted to close. So I knew that I was doing something to become something and to become part of something that was a lot larger than myself. So I was well aware of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah you said you're involved in gangs. Yeah, was this, uh, in chicago yeah wow, but what a big turnaround. What do you, you think, inspired you to change course? Was it your cousin, or was it any influence around you?
Speaker 2:It had a lot to do with my cousin for sure, but my teacher was kind of the person that really influenced me in the right direction and I talked a lot about him because he actually came out to see me graduate when I graduated bootcamp and we still keep in touch. He was able to influence me because he went through the same path. He was also involved in Gaines group in Chicago and joined the Marine Corps and then he also became a law enforcement officer when he got out and I'm sure that had a lot to do with why I ended up kind of following those same footsteps as well.
Speaker 1:That mentorship is huge, man, and it's great that you sort of made something of yourself, because I always tell people that when folks go out there and they go to bat for you, it's important for you to make it worth their time and effort to have done so. What do you think while you're in the military, what do you think were some of the biggest lessons that you learned from your military service that you still carry with you today?
Speaker 2:So much man. They were my formative years. Honestly, I don't look back at the military with a lot of anger. A lot of it has to do with you learn lessons everywhere you go. You learn good leadership, bad leadership. You learn discipline. You learn consistency. You learn what it means to be organized. Side note, which has a lot to do with this I had ADHD my entire life but I was never diagnosed until I was 24.
Speaker 2:When I went into the military it's organized. You know what you're going to be doing. For the most part, you show up at a certain time, there's someone there that tells you what you're doing and you have a plan. And that helped me a lot because I learned organization. I learned how to be disciplined and, honestly, what I loved most about the Marine Corps is that you really can make the most of it.
Speaker 2:And I went in with the mentality like I finally found my people. I finally found a place where I felt that I belonged and I gave it everything I had, from bootcamp to SOI to getting to my platoon. I always tried to do more because I really loved it. I bought into the idea that I was a part of something and it meant everything to me, everything that I carry to this present day is influenced by the Marine Corps. Now a lot of it has changed and it's been adapted over the years. I mean, even my leadership style has changed, because I've learned that you can't be the same type of leader in the military compared to getting out and treating people differently. So everything's been adapted and changed.
Speaker 1:But my foundation of who I am, the way that I operate, the way that I even think kind of stems from the Marine Corps for the most part whole structure portion of it all, because I I once heard an administrator um for one of the LA County schools here talk about how she pushes um a lot of the students away from the military because of it's the uh, the history behind it and some of the stereotypes behind the military.
Speaker 1:But at the end of the day I think it there is a lot of value because it kind of pushes you in your journey towards a direction and gives you some momentum towards life and learning what life is really all about and gets you outside your comfort zone. And I'm glad that you just mentioned about the transition part. You know when it comes to leadership and how you handle folks in the military. Would you mind just talking to folks about how that transition was for you, how you know if it was a challenge for you and what was the hardest part? You know that you experienced and how did you overcome that.
Speaker 2:So what's unique about this transition is that you have to look at it from a different point of view, in my opinion, and what I mean by that is that, especially if you join when you're 18, like most of us do you're going to get out and you're going to realize that you have been in a culture that was very formative your best friends, the people that were your mentors, the people that you end up mentoring because you do become a mentor, whether you know it or not. Everything that you know from the way that you talk or the way that you walk, customs and courtesies over a weekend it goes away just like that. And courtesies Over a weekend it goes away just like that. And you're going into a new phase of your life. Now, whether you move back home or you end up staying where you're at, a lot's going to change, and I think the problem is. The problem that happened to me because this is what happened to me is that I didn't realize that the culture shift was going to be so large and I didn't pay attention to it. So, because I didn't pay attention to it, I kept operating and working and talking and acting the same way that I did when I was in Because it served me so well when I was in. It served me so freaking well when I was in that when I got out I thought I will just be who I am. The problem is that you have to change, you have to evolve, and for me it didn't happen. So I immediately got into a relationship that I was already in, because it was the first woman that paid attention to me.
Speaker 2:I was around a bunch of dudes, I was in the infantry and I thought, well, this is what's next. I was very much in that mindset of you know, we're preparing for deployments, and then we deploy, we come back, we do another workup, x, y and Z. And my mindset was the same way. I thought that there were these rules that I had to follow of like, okay, I'm out, I'm going to go to school, I'm going to use my BAH, I'm going to get a job, probably as a law enforcement officer, I'm dating, so I guess now I have to get engaged. That means I have to get a house and we have to get married, and X, y or Z.
Speaker 2:And I never took time to really find out who I was. I never took time to get to know myself and to truly realize that I wasn't evolving. I was just staying stuck in that same mentality, thinking that things have to be a certain way, thinking that militaristic kind of mindset is the thing that's helping me because it's served me so well, characteristic kind of mindset is the thing that's helping me because it served me so well. And all of that came crashing down. My first marriage ended in a divorce and I self-sabotaged a lot.
Speaker 2:And the transition is rough if we don't actually focus on it, if we think we just keep doing what we're doing, if we keep being the way we are, everything will work because it worked before. The problem is is that you have to change who you are. You have to learn that, like society is not going to change for you. You're a part of society. Now you are the one that has to make the changes in order to, like, not just survive but thrive in society.
Speaker 2:And I was that asshole. I was that veteran that you know always wore the veteran stuff, always wore everything. There's nothing wrong with that. But the problem is that when it is your identity because that's all you've known, and those very formative years, like they were huge years yeah, you can narrow it down and say, well, it's a percentage of your life, but at the end of the day, like those years, they were so formative. I mean, looking back, I was in charge of a sniper team and that's really cool.
Speaker 2:But the thing is, when that becomes your identity and that's all you talk about and that's all that you think about, you end up pushing people away. And I did that. I did that and I ignored my health. I didn't get any sort of mental health help. I didn't want to talk about PTSD because I'm in law enforcement, so I can't do that. So I went into law enforcement. So I can't do that.
Speaker 2:So I went into law enforcement and, to be honest with you, I love the law enforcement community. It's something that's very near and dear to my heart, and I didn't leave because I didn't like it anymore. I left just because I knew that it was the right move for me, based on what I'm trying to build and create for my life. But, to be honest as well, it prevented me from healing, and the reason is a lot of the tools that the military gave me also helped me succeed in law enforcement.
Speaker 2:I showed up early, I left late. I wanted to write the most search warrants. I wanted to get to work undercover. I loved it. But my personal life was falling apart. Went through a divorce. I was drinking every night. I was completely sabotaging my health. I was smoking a Went through a divorce. I was drinking every night. I was completely sabotaging my health. I was smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. I used to take the streets home instead of the highway because I knew that there would be two McDonald's on the way home and one of them would have the ice cream machine working.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Wow, you know, I love what you said, man. You said a lot, but I love what you said about identity, because I think that military folks as well as law enforcement have the same issue with that. Your career can become your identity and in all reality, you have a character, you have a behavior like you are you. I don't think that any uniform or any rank should be anyone's identity. I think that's what makes us all unique, leadership wise. But I I love what you said about that and I've told other folks about that as well, like over the last. Um, you know however many years since I've been out, man, it's been freaking. Almost 20 years since I joined the military, um, and you, when you got out, you know you, you said you got out for reasons because it was best of for what you're doing in your journey. You know, and now, now you serve as a veteran coach. Um, would you mind talking about, like, what inspired you to become a veteran coach and what does that, what does that title mean to you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so. So I was working in law enforcement and everything that I ever wanted to do in law enforcement I was able to get to. So the last role that I had that was. My goal was to get to a unit where I would be able to work undercover, and I was doing that, and then it was taken away from us in a matter of my control, and that's when they moved us to a unit that it no longer resonated with me. I ended up working in mass transit and a great group of guys over there and I love them. It's the group of guys that I worked with for almost the last seven years, maybe even eight, but it just didn't sit well with me that I gave everything that I had and cost me a marriage, cost me my personal life, and they were able to just move me wherever they wanted. Now, with that being said, I had a decision to make Do I just sit here and keep doing this and live my life, or do I do more? And I just have it in me that I'm very much of the mind that I want to be able to do more, because if I have it in me and I keep it inside, I have this untapped potential and I don't want to live life with untapped potential.
Speaker 2:So at that point, about two and a half years ago, I made a decision to start a business, a coaching business online. Initially it wasn't going to be geared towards veterans and I started it and I started doing it and I ended up hiring a business coach and that really helped a lot. As I was doing it, I realized that, yes, it was enjoyable, but it wasn't my passion, and I remember that I wish I had something like this. When I got out, I remember that I wish that I had something that actually kept me accountable, something that would hold up that mirror to me and show me that it's not that I can't do it alone. It's just that there are tools, there are people, there are mentors, there are communities, there are groups that are a little bit ahead of you, that can tell you and remind you hey, you're on this journey, but we're going to stop for water here. We're going to tie up our shoelaces here to make sure we don't trip. We're going to make sure that we stay away from the negativity. The positivity needs to come into our life more and more often.
Speaker 2:So I made a decision to kind of refit my business and I named it VetRise Academy and I started coaching veterans. It took off more than I knew it would, even though, to be honest with you, I am delusional, optimistic and I believe that the world is completely full of possibilities. And it's a mindset that I've adopted over the past couple of years, because I wasn't always like this and as I started coaching veterans, I started to realize that it's me speaking to me, it's me speaking to where I was and the things that I wish I would have heard and the things I needed to hear. And then, the more and more I did it, the more and more I became okay with being uncomfortable with it, meaning that I was willing to speak my mind a little bit more, I was willing to be a little more controversial, I was willing to say things in a different way that maybe haven't been said before. And, honestly, there's so many organizations out there that are wonderful, they're doing amazing work.
Speaker 2:I think the disconnect happens when we don't get those services, when we don't reach out for the help, because we all know that the mindset of the veteran a lot of times it comes back to that stoicism, that being so tough that they don't need help, that I can figure it out on my own, that I'm self-reliant, I'm capable and when I bring people into the program when they start I started I had four people join today One of the first things that we do is we do an audit of where we're at and we start looking at everything.
Speaker 2:It is not just about fitness. Fitness is the baseline, it's the foundation of what we do, but all of it is tied together and what it means to me to be a veteran coach is that I want to help that veteran succeed in society, like no matter what. It started as a fitness program and it's evolved throughout the years and it's become this beautiful, freaking thing where we have community people, we do coaching calls every week, we support each other, there's people that are on this journey that can help other people who just got out and, honestly, it's one of the most beautiful things. We're going to have our very first in-person event for all of our clients in August in Chicago and I'm really excited about that.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, man, that you built something that you wish you had. I think that's impactful. A lot of people talk, they talk about things, but nobody ever executes. Usually it's just something that sounds nice. So, as far as the program that you have and the coaching that you do about approximately how many folks do you have in there right now and is there room for more?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so. We just actually crossed the 50 member threshold recently because we ended up getting a video that went viral on IG and we're all over. But, yes, we do have spots for more people in the coming months. I wouldn't say selective of who we bring in, but I want to make sure that it's people who are truly ready to make a permanent change in their life. There's people that need therapy. There's people that need to do some self-work. There's people that are not ready to make that change. But, yeah, we're definitely have spot for people. If that's something that someone is interested in, feel free to reach out and we'll have a conversation.
Speaker 1:I really appreciate it about you because I'm going to tell you, right now, I see a lot of people out there selling their programs to people that aren't ready, and if you're not screening folks, then you're not being authentic and you're not being genuine. If you're just taking their money and giving them coaching or a template or something like that, I mean that is a scam. At the end of the day, you need to prepare people and make sure that they are ready for you. Need to prepare people and make sure that they are ready for you. You know you were so popular, uh, a couple of months ago that I saw they had um kind of um fabricated your your video, yeah, yeah. So what, what, what? What was the deal with that?
Speaker 2:Man, Uh, so I made a video a long time ago and the first couple of words they, they twisted everything, so they used they used the first three of words. They twisted everything. So they used the first three lines where I said something about like veterans are not entitled to shit, and then I went on to say that you've earned it right, so, like it's. The video was, the original was different one. And then a bunch of people start sending me this video saying, hey, is this you? And I'm like, well, that's me, that's not me. No-transcript. You know that that it's getting. My voice is getting out there again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean that that means you're, you're, you're getting some attention. Yeah, that was wild. Yeah, I remember seeing that. I was like that is wild. Is AI man at AI at its finest. Yeah, wild as AI man at AI at its finest. It's kind of scary. Um, no man. I. I really, I really dig what you're talking about. Um, you know the the journey overall, I think interviewing you and interviewing all the folks I've interviewed as a part of my journey too, um and I'm I'm always evolving, always trying to get better, and it's taken quite quite some time. Do you think that when you hired the business coach, that was the game changer, that kind of elevated your mindset, gave you some clarity on how to properly do the whole coaching program?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely Honestly, I believe that you have to build. So I'll put it to you this way You're not your environment. You get to create your environment Wherever you are at. You get to create the environment In the military. You get to choose who you hang out with, what NCOs you look up to, what type of leaders you surround yourself with when you get out. It's the same way. Now I'll tell you right now, most of my mentors I've never met. I've built my repertoire of mentors based on who I believe is in a position to guide me in the right direction.
Speaker 2:I listen to a lot of podcasts. I have my list of people that I enjoy listening to, and when I found my business coach, what he said spoke to me and I believe in diving all in. If you're trying to do all these things at once, if you're trying to be a jack of all trades, you're not going to fully dive into something. You can't tell yourself that you're committed if you're only interested. So I saw his videos. He spoke to me, I reached out to him and a lot of the stuff that got me to join his program, the way that he went about running his business. I've applied that directly to my business. For me, it was the fact that he actually sent me a voice message when we were talking, so I knew it was him. It wasn't someone that he was paying to do this.
Speaker 2:And since I joined this program, I mean, the business has just taken off. He teaches us everything from how to make videos to how to edit them, how to hire a team, and since then it's been nonstop growth. And every event that he has, I go to it. Every single time that he has an event, I'm there and I will continue to be there, because the value that I get from him isn't just here this is how you do it. It's the fact that there's a community of people that are very like-minded that I get to be a part of. So a lot of the stuff that he does, the coaching calls that he does, I've adopted a lot of that into my business and I've become a better person, a better leader, just because I get to see someone that is further ahead along than I am, and that's where I do want to be one day.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I do think that you need to find people that are a little bit further along than where you are and truly lean into it, be willing to pay, be willing to invest. We spend so much money on stuff that we don't need, yet we're not willing to invest in something that is actually for you. So I remember this is a little bit of a mindset shift that happened to me the second event that I was going to as I was on the plane flying over, it's in Canada. They have most of their events in Canada.
Speaker 2:I remember thinking of how much money I've spent in this program and I realized I didn't spend this money on this program. I didn't spend this money on him, I'm spending it on me. This is growth that's happening here. This is the fact that every time I go to an event, I come back and the business doubles in size because of something that I learned, like this is for me. And that was a huge mindset shift because I realized that I spend so much money on stuff that I don't need, I don't want, and now I've realized that when you pay for something, it's about what you're going to get out of it, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, totally, and it's all about it and and using it to its fullest potential. And man, what you talked about as far as kind of having your circle is your strength. Um, you know, I always say like if you have a circle of idiots around you, that also makes you an idiot as well. Um, that's, that's really interesting to hear that that you, that that was kind of the game changer for me. I've heard that same feedback from other folks that were kind of stuck in a on a plateau and looking to try to elevate. Just to bring things back to the coaching and talking about veterans, you know a lot of veterans out there struggle with purpose after service. How do you help veterans rediscover themselves and their their passion and just help them with their direction?
Speaker 2:Great question and, honestly, I think one of the reasons, personally, why a lot of veterans have that issue is because, for the longest, one of the main ways that they feel of use is to be useful to other people, to be able to serve other people, to be able to give and give and give, and that mentality doesn't go away when you get out, and it's not that it's the wrong mentality, but it's not conducive for building a life for yourself and a lot of veterans. They get out and one of the first things that they do is they want to give back, they want to find a way to continue to be of help, and then they get into this rhythm, this pattern, this never-ending cycle of over-volunteering, of giving and giving and giving, of trying to do everything for everybody else, and in the process they don't find who they are. They don't take that time to slow down a little bit, to try some new hobbies, to maybe make friends with people that aren't veterans, people that have a different way of thinking. They don't expand and I think that's one of the biggest issues is because we get into this kind of like mentality of everybody is this way or, if they're not, they're not someone I want to have around me, and there's different ways of creating that passion and that drive and that, honestly, purpose for yourself. And it could be becoming part of a, you know, training jujitsu or joining a group of people that does something that you've never done before and getting out of your comfort zone.
Speaker 2:And the thing is like, when you try these things, when you put yourself into a different place and when you try and create that new passion or that new drive or that new business idea, whatever it is, you have to go all the way in.
Speaker 2:You can't tiptoe that shit, you can't kind of find out what it's about. No, like you have to buy into it. Because in the back of your mind, if you don't truly give yourself permission to find out everything that you can about it and give it everything you have, in the back of your mind there will be that little voice that continues to talk yourself out of truly succeeding in that area of your life. And I say this because a lot of people reach out to me and they ask me about starting a business or doing this or that. They have all these ideas and I see time and time again I've spent time and time again having conversations and they have this idea, but the thing is they don't want to dive all the way in because they're nervous about this or they don't know enough about this. When you dive all the way in, you find out about it. You do it like no matter what. All it takes is all you got hippie, are you talking to me?
Speaker 1:yeah, I mean at the end of the day, honestly, man, like it's a lot of the things you're saying, I, I'm. I've learned a lot in this last like 30 minutes about myself, man, man, so this is an honor on my end because you're talking about me right now, like this is totally me, everything that you're talking about. When I left service, you know, I had to find something that was still serving the public, soul fulfilling. It wasn't self-fulfilling as much. It's always about God and country, sometimes Right, and I always tell people that, and sometimes it is, but sometimes you have to take care of yourself too. And, and I love what you talked about, man, everything from what you're talking about with, like meeting, meeting in the middle, like you, I find a lot of veterans sometimes want to say that the world doesn't understand me and it's like, why don't you try to understand the world?
Speaker 1:How about you go meet them in the meadow, meet them in the middle somewhere and try to understand their perspectives? Um, and maybe that won't drive you, you know, as crazy. Uh, when, when you look at things that way, um, overall, man, I, man, I'm so glad I did this interview because, overall, I'm telling you like everything you just said was exactly how I am, but you're coaching. Would you mind breaking down your coaching approach and what are the key principles that you focus on when you're working with veterans?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, and I'm happy that you said that I've done a lot of work on everything. I'm a nerd when it comes to this kind of thing, so, like I've done a lot of work on words and the delivery and the method, and all of that applies to the coaching and I've learned a lot throughout the years. The coaching program continues to evolve every single day, every single week. So right now we have a one-year membership and most people end up doing that one because they want to see that long transformation. It's broken down by phases, right. Initially, we start by just building that self-awareness and then starting to audit your life and seeing where you're at. Every individual has a different story. Every individual has different things that they need and it is customized for them, so the fitness is going to be made for them. However, if you guys look at my socials, I don't spend a lot of time doing workout videos. Why? Well, because we know what it's like to be in the gym. For the most part, nutrition. We can get there if everything else falls in line. So, like, nutrition and fitness are the foundation of what we do, and we get you on a program and we start tracking your meals and we start teaching you how to intuitively eat, how to build a good relationship with food, how to make sure that you understand that everything that you do affects everything else in your life, right? So we start just by auditing your life, by looking at where you're at, and there are veterans that definitely need that reset of that kind of reminder of like you have to stop drawing that line in the sand between you and society, like you're a part of society now, and sometimes that's the starting point. Sometimes we have veterans that join that they're a little bit further along their journey and for them it's more of like they have to get back to that discipline. And whenever they bring up the word discipline, everyone loves that word and it's a great word.
Speaker 2:The problem with discipline is that we think that we just go into it automatically. We think that we can just build this robot mindset because we've had it before when we were 18, 20, we freaking, operated, we woke up, we did what we had to do, we could run a freaking PFT, like whatever. The problem with that is that, as life happens, other things start to take priority in your life and that made sense Children, a relationship, your job. We start to lose a little bit of that discipline because we forget why it was so important. So the real thing that we focus on, the real D word that I like to really bring up a lot, is devotion.
Speaker 2:Why are we doing this? Why is this important to you? Why do you want to be healthy? And it's not because you want to do a PFT. It's because you want to be able to walk your daughter down the aisle instead of possibly losing a foot because you've been eating so terribly for so long that you're developing issues. It's because you want to make sure that you are an inspiration to your children. It's because you want to make sure that you and your wife have a good relationship. It's because you want to make sure that you are an inspiration to your children. It's because you want to make sure that you and your wife have a good relationship. It's because you want to get that promotion at work. And you understand, because we talk about this, that the way that you do one thing is the way that you do everything. So they joined the program.
Speaker 2:We have coaching calls where we talk about negative self-talk, limiting self-beliefs, using your calendar as a map, making sure that you're organized, learning your calendar as a map, making sure that you're organized, learning that building your habits doesn't just happen overnight. You have to not only remove something negative, but you have to put something positive in its place, and that applies for everywhere. If you remove someone from your table, a negative person from your table that doesn't deserve to be there, one of those five idiot friends, you have to replace that person with somebody else that does deserve to be there. You have to make space for someone at least. And we focus on all these things the mindset, accountability, the right way. This isn't like a drill instructor program. I don't yell at you, even though my clients might say otherwise. We made sure that you understand why this is important.
Speaker 2:We build that devotion to change and we do biweekly check-ins to make sure that you're actually making progress. And we gauge everything. We look at all the data and as you go through the program, you go through different phases. We focus on your habits, we focus on your routines, we focus on everything, and the number one thing that I always tell my clients when we start to look at all the data is that you can't always look forward. Sometimes we have to look back to understand why this is happening.
Speaker 2:So I'll give you an example. We have a client, and I'll call them Joe. Joe continuously misses his workouts on Mondays and, before we know it, on Friday he ends up self-sabotaging and he binge eats. It's not, hey, you have to stop binge eating or you have to start going to the gym on Monday. It's what's happening on Sunday that is preventing you from waking up with energy to go to the gym on Monday. And we look at that and we start making changes. On Sunday, same with Friday.
Speaker 2:What is the emotional thing or what is the thing that's happening that's making you feel this way, and we tackle that. That's the real problem. And when you look at stuff like that, you can address the fact that maybe it's the ego, maybe it's some of that veteran baggage that you've brought with you, maybe it's the fact that you feel that you can't ask for help because of the way that the military raised you, because it was needed then. You needed to be that one five-man fire, four-man fire team, four-man fire team that needs to exist on, and if something came down to you, you were in charge of it. You had to figure it out and we kind of like not necessarily take that away, but it's more of reframing it, that this is a team environment. You have to be willing to speak up. You have to be willing to to make permanent changes by understanding why this is important Devotion. That's what it comes down to in my opinion.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's huge man, I could see how you would be a huge help in helping veterans get unstuck in their, in their hamster wheel and and I love what you said about discipline, and I always tell people all the time that offer up is the best place to purchase, like any type of, like podcasting, any kind of video items, because it's kind of the the land of uh, of broken dreams, you know, unfortunately, and I always tell people you can't buy discipline on Amazon. Um, you, you know that's something that you have to create yourself and you have to figure out how to discipline yourself, and you know that's when success happens is um, not just motivation, but discipline and um devotion is even deeper than that. Your reason why, how do you, how do you help your clients build those sustainable habits?
Speaker 2:Everything comes down to paying attention to what happens when you do and when you don't. So when we get them in the program, we immediately want them to start having some wins. We want them to make sure that they are just making forward progress. We get them to join a coaching call right away to start making some small, little incremental changes, even if it comes down to sleep optimization, putting that cell phone on a charger across the room or even outside of the room, making sure that they're not staying up late watching TV, the little wins like that even going to the gym and getting a workout in and then paying attention to how you feel afterwards, the self-awareness and like really paying attention to that moment it can develop a new core memory of like what it feels to do the right thing. So so many times, so many times, we focus on the negative of life of like. I know what it feels like to feel sad. I know what it feels like to negative of life of like. I know what it feels like to feel sad. I know what it feels like to feel out of shape. I know what it feels like to feel depressed. We forget what it feels like to feel great like. We forget what it feels like to to, you know, run that pft and finish it and feel like you know, holy shit, I'm done with the pft, but I I crushed it. Or I slept really well and I woke up and because of that I decided to take a cold shower. And because of the cold shower, I have a clear mind and because of that, you know what I can make that appointment at the VA that I haven't made in three months. Or I can decide that I'm going to put my name in for the promotion at work. Or you know what? I'm making the decision that I don't want to drink every weekend, so I'm going to start to save up money so I can move out of my parents' basement. So, like, that's that's where it comes down to of, like paying attention to what the result is, of of doing the hard thing and understanding that, like, sometimes the mood is not going to be what you want it to be, but the mood will follow, cause I guarantee you, like nobody has ever felt shitty after an amazing workout, right, like, yeah, you feel like your heart's about to explode sometimes, but the thing is like you feel alive and sometimes, like we forget that A lot of veterans forget that because, for one, you were forced to do it for the longest and that's the thing that I don't think a lot of people realize like when you were forced to do it you think that freedom means I'm not going to do it anymore, nobody's forcing me to do it.
Speaker 2:But now you got to do it for yourself. Now you have to do it for your kids, now you have to do it for the life that you're trying to build, because that was me. All of this was me. I didn't work out why. Because you know what I don't have to wake up early. I don't want to go for a freaking three mile run because I don't have to do that. The problem was that it wasn't for anybody else, it was for me and I wasn't doing that.
Speaker 2:So, to kind of answer the question and finish it off nicely here, we just try and truly help them with the self-awareness. We celebrate wins, big or small, because we want them to start building that library of positive moments of like. You know what? Last week I wanted to go drink because my boys called me, and I know what it feels like to do that. But this time I actually set my alarm of when I'm going to go to bed. I did everything right and I woke up. I did my check-in with coach and I went for a hike and, holy shit, I feel alive for the first time in a long time. And then, with that, we just keep building on it. We keep building those positive freaking moments to show them what's possible for them and so many truths, uh, that you just mentioned right there.
Speaker 1:This is probably the most powerful conversation that I've had in this extremely long time. Oh man, appreciate that so much no, I mean it, it's fascinating. I'm so glad that I was able to get this, get this in today. Um, the, the self-awareness part of it, all I, I. That speaks to me. Um, I started doing Brazilian jujitsu for that reason.
Speaker 1:I was going through going through a tough time, going through a divorce, I knew I had two choices. I could either go to the bar uh, on Friday, saturdays, you know, whenever I'm off, or whatever or I could go to the gym and with my wrestling background, I just thought, well, I'll go to, I'll go to Brazilian jujitsu and um with, with something like that, you have to go two to three times a week. You have to in order to improve. So that forced me into the gym and then it made me, like you know, build this team of family members around me that I wasn't related to by blood but that I was related to through through fighting and um, that self-awareness, part of it all is what got me through, has has gotten me through all these years.
Speaker 1:Whenever I'm going through a tough time and I love what you said about business versus the military, it's part of my intro when I talk about you know what happens with a cadence fades and you're no longer wearing that uniform. Nobody's telling you when to pivot and how to pivot. You have to tell yourself that now you have to get yourself up. No one, no NCOs coming to your door to tell you, hey, it's time for a run, nothing like that. So that's, that's huge, that you're helping folks build that out. And you often, you know, going through some of your materials, you often about resilience. Can you talk about a personal moment that you had where you had to push through some adversity and actually apply that resilience to your own life? Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I believe that resilience is something that people think they either have or they don't. It's something that you build and sometimes resilience just means that you get back up faster this time than you did last time when you fell. And for me personally, it's something that I've been working on deliberately throughout the years and I've never been as good as I am now, but the thing is, I'm going to keep getting better. It keeps building and for me, there's a lot of moments in my life that I've felt like it's a tool that I lean back on and for me, looking towards the future and what's possible, is the reason why I can't get back up. It's because I don't sit in the moment, I don't dwell in it. When I started my business, almost immediately I ended up going through a second divorce, and this is something I talk about openly because it's the truth, it's history and, to be honest, there's nothing wrong with vulnerability because it opens up people to get to know you and for them to open up to you. So, as I'm going through some of the biggest personal growth building a business, trying to build it large enough to where I can leave my law enforcement job because that's the plan and I'm going to follow it, no matter what Started going through another divorce. It was very tumultuous. I ended up losing basically my house, for the most part because the person I was going through a divorce with, she stayed in the house and I was living out of one bedroom and it was a very hard time. It was a very dark time.
Speaker 2:But there was moments. There was times when I didn't want to go to the gym, I didn't want to work on myself, I didn't want to show up to the coaching calls that I had to give my clients and sometimes in those moments you do have to go on autopilot. You have to just be able to turn it on and do the thing and then feel however you feel afterwards. And I did that. So I continued to show up. I was doing the coaching calls. I was still trying my very best to make it to the gym, even if it was just for maintenance at the time and survival at the time.
Speaker 2:I knew that one day this would end, meaning that one day I would feel that liberation, one day I would get my house back. One day I'd be able to be where I'm at right now and have an entire office in my basement, because nothing lasts forever. The pain that I feel right now is temporary and sometimes you have to remember, sometimes pressure is a privilege, because I'll tell you right now, when I went through that, I had such tremendous personal growth that, like, just because you're feeling it right now, just because you're going through right now, doesn't mean that it will always be like this, and you have to keep looking at the horizon, you have to keep thinking about what you're trying to create, what you're trying to do, and that kept me devoted, that kept me resilient, that kept me relentless in my pursuit of making sure that I would come out on the other side of it without falling and not being able to get back up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, nobody should ever be ashamed of life. I mean, life is life, like no matter how many divorces you went through. I, you know, back when I was in the military myself, I always said there's two types of warriors. There's a textbook warriors and then there's a warriors with the battle scars that are still standing here, and I would take advice from folks that have lived life versus someone that's read it in the book. You know I've got so many questions for you and I know we have an hour and I want to get into entrepreneurship, fitness, all this stuff, community impact, so I hope I get an opportunity to get you back on the show again. But I want to talk about some of the folks that have actually taken your coaching. What's one of the most rewarding transformations that you've seen, somebody that you've coached?
Speaker 2:So one of the most rewarding transformations that I've seen from someone I've coached, um, I'll give you two examples, because they're both. They're both pretty freaking awesome um. So shout out to, uh, conroy and to carlos, I think they'll like this. So conroy and he he openly, openly, openly talks about this because it's something he's proud of. So conroy joined the program and he had been following for a while. He's he's been watching my videos and finally he made the decision and he started to finally build his confidence, something that he never had.
Speaker 2:And, to be honest, we could talk about the fact that he lost 30 pounds. He's in the best shape of his life, he's been able to do things that he never thought he'd be able to physically do. The guy wakes up, he takes a cold shower and he freaking attacks his day, right. But to be honest with you, the thing that matters most to me is that Conroy lost his job and within the same day, he was able to get a better job. And he completely said that it was because he built confidence, that he never thought he would have to actually speak up for himself, ask for help, and within the same day, he got a better job.
Speaker 2:And to me, that was just. It was amazing, because a lot of people can't do that. A lot of people they go into this dark place and I was just very proud of the fact that that happened for him. So I see that as one of the biggest success stories in my program because, to be honest, building confidence is sometimes a very hard thing to do when you don't know where or how to build it.
Speaker 2:And I want to talk about Carlos too, because Carlos went through a divorce and he realized that because he was going through this, that is when he needed to focus on himself the very most, not because he needed to find another partner or because he needed to become a better version for other people, but it was for himself. So he was able to come out of it. He's on the other side of it. He's in the best shape of his life, he's doing great work and he's doing some amazing things in his life, and I'm really proud of him. He actually just bought an ice barrel because he wants to start doing cold plunges as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I saw you doing that man. I have a couple of friends that do that. The whole ice bath thing. That's insane to me. I don't know. It's amazing, man, it's amazing. Just real, briefly, man, how has that transformed you?
Speaker 2:So I started doing that about two years ago and I do it every day. Now hit and miss a couple of days where I don't do it, but I still do a cold shower. So the reason why I do the ice barrel in the morning is because it's the hardest thing of my day and if I can do that, everything else it'll be a freaking breeze. This like watch that it'll shock you in the morning if you don't wake up Right. So I'm gifted because I'm a very deep sleeper. I have a good sleep cycle, but sometimes in the morning it's hard for me to wake up.
Speaker 2:So I have this thing and it goes off in the morning and I have 30 seconds to make it to my door to scan a QR code, so it doesn't shock me. And then I'm right there and I jump in my ice barrel and I do three minutes and it's been life-changing because it releases serotonin into the brain. It helps with recovery, helps with your immunity, it helps with everything. But honestly, the number one thing, the number one benefit, is that it is freaking hard and if you do that, if you can power through it, if you can mentally withstand that, nothing else can really get to you. Doing that has been a game changer for me, as far as anxiety, as far as depression, as far as even getting headaches and migraines. It's a game changer for me. I recommend it to everybody.
Speaker 1:I'm originally from Hawaii, so I don't know if that's for me, man, I mean, I'll try it. There's a few guys at work that do it. You should give it a try. Yeah, I know I'm. It's, it's get, it's becoming more and more convincing, uh, day by day and I think, and overall, you know I, by the way, I don't want to scan over it, but congratulations to Carlos and Conroy with those big wins, um, those big wins, especially, you know, finding the same job the same day. You know that's self-awareness. Like you know, you have a choice go to the bar or get back on the horse again and figure it out, you know. So that's huge. You know, in the next five to 10 years, where do you see the veteran coach brand going?
Speaker 2:Good question a good question, and then that's five to ten years. I want to grow this brand, this, this, this organization so large to where we're the the number one coaching company out there for veterans. Not to take away from anyone else. There's a lot of people doing some amazing stuff out there and I support all of them, but I want to be able to be that transition program for veterans when they get out, that they immediately kind of think about joining our program. We have a lot of people that do that. We have people that join immediately after leaving the military, because I want there to be that community. I want there to be that hub of people that are actually working towards something.
Speaker 2:I think one of the things that happens is people join these Facebook groups that are veteran friendly and it's just an echo chamber. It's an echo chamber where the same negative thing gets complained about, talked about, blah, blah blah. It doesn't help you, in my opinion, and there's a lot of great ones out there. Nothing against them but I want to be able to help veterans get out of the service and realize that they're not alone, to have people that are there to guide them. I want to be able to bring in more and more coaches that focus specifically on a certain thing resume building, even transitioning out, working on everything. I want to make it the hub where veterans can come to and have that veteran reset, not just like a long-term transition, but a reset to where they start realizing like all right, I need to check my ego.
Speaker 2:This is one thing I have to change. All right, we have to still work on our fitness. All right, this is next in life and then get to find out who they are and build out their lives. And, as far as me, I hope to be speaking on stages in front of hundreds of people one day, thousands of people. I really it's on my vision board and I believe in vision boards, so that's kind of something that I'm speaking out into the world. So, yeah, that's that's kind of where I see myself Um 10 years. I don't know, I mean more and more, right? Yeah.
Speaker 1:No, you seem like you're on the right track, man. You're doing all the right things, you're disciplined, you're devoted, most importantly which is something that I pulled out of our earlier conversation and it enjoys. It's a big thing for me to help spread awareness for people like you, who are very genuine and authentic, and I've been following you for a while as well, and I've heard a lot of great things about you. I know you're at the MIC. I know you met Jenna, the millennial veteran and you met.
Speaker 1:Like so many other folks that I know I was supposed to be there as well but just due to, like, work and time constraints and everything, I couldn't make it down there. And I love how you're helping out the community and for any veteran out there that's listening right now that might be feeling stuck. What's the first step they should take in turning things around?
Speaker 2:The first step you have to do, in my opinion, to turn things around is you have to understand that you are where you are at because of every decision you've made. You are responsible for everything in your life. Whether it's someone that's doing something to you, you allowed that relationship to exist. You allowed that person into your life. If it's a job that you don't like, you took that job. If it's anything at all, you are responsible for where you are at. But the nice thing about that, the beautiful thing about that, is that that means that you can be in a different place tomorrow if you start making different decisions today, and a lot of people don't want to take that ownership. A lot of people want to put the blame on someone else, because then it's easy to say that, well, I have no control over this, I can't do anything about it. But that's the beautiful thing about it is that you do have control.
Speaker 2:You can change your day-to-day by doing that ownership piece and just truly fucking saying I'm going to change my life, and sometimes it's going to be by brute force. Sometimes you have to be in such a bad place that it burns and it freaking hurts to stay there and get to that point and you're comfortable and you tell yourself well, it could be worse, or you know it's all right, or I'm living day by day Like that's the dangerous place, that's the place that you don't want to be, because that means that you don't have any reason to change. So for anyone that's in a place right now, if you're not happy where you're at, you truly have to understand that. You need to truly like tell yourself the truth that you are unhappy where you are at, and then you have to do something to change it, whatever it is. Start working out, start walking, change your habits, wake up early, go to bed on time.
Speaker 1:Like the little things do matter, because they do stack up and, before you know it, you will start to transform your life little by little huge right there talking about you need to be responsible for the folks that are in your life and what, what you allow them to do to you. Um, a lot of folks want to blame other people for those, for those types of things that I can man, I'm sure, like I can go down the list talk about my own life and the people that I've had to cut out. Uh, just to build myself to be where I'm at today, jp, what would you say? Uh, what's your quote or mantra? Mantra that keeps you going when things get tough.
Speaker 2:Fuck your mood, follow the plan.
Speaker 2:It's one of the ones that's been resonating with me lately.
Speaker 2:I apologize for the vulgarity, but I saw that in the past two months and it's something that I keep saying to myself over and over again, because I'm a human being, I have feelings, I have emotions, things happen, but the thing is, if I want to get to a different place, if I want to completely continue to continue leveling up, I cannot allow the momentary mood to dictate the actions that I take, because the mood will follow, and if you would have asked me that three or four or five months ago, it might've been different.
Speaker 2:But right now, in the phase of life that I am at, because of the growth that we're having, the growth that I want to continue to have the momentary mood, the feeling of loneliness, because right now I'm on this lonely journey where my best friends, the guys that I worked with for the past seven years, I don't get to see them every day like I used to. And I'm on this kind of lonely journey and that's okay, that that's part of, you know, life. It's supposed to be this way. And right now, like you know excuse my language, but like fuck your mood, follow the plan.
Speaker 1:You have to have a plan that's big enough, that matters enough, that your mood is not going to be the thing that derails it no, I don't care about the vulgarity, it's, it's impactful, it's impactful man, it's deep and that's and it's, it's to the heart, and this has been the most powerful conversation that I've had, next to the conversation I had with my own father when I started doing this whole podcasting thing, man. So thank you, jp.
Speaker 2:It means a lot to me, man. Thank you for saying that it means a lot to me. I really appreciate this. This has been a lot of fun, thank you it has been man.
Speaker 1:Just one last thing you know, if, if you could train or coach with any body or any historical figure, military, otherwise who would it be and why?
Speaker 2:this is a good question if I could train or coach with anybody, any even historical figures.
Speaker 1:Could be someone from that's not even here anymore. But who would it be and why?
Speaker 2:I think that if I could train or or coach with anyone, if I could train with anyone, I think I would really love to to be able to. This is a tough question. There's just so many people. Um, I'm a huge fan of jordan peterson. I think that I would love to train or coach with him. Um, his book saved my life. It was. It was the first thing that I read when I actually realized that because of his book, the 12 rules for life I, uh I was. That was the first thing, that first thing that started making me realize that I am in charge of how I treat people and how I am, and I started taking ownership over that. So I really believe that his mentality, his mindset, politics aside, I think that he is one of the most impactful people that has been in my life. He's a mentor of mine and he doesn't even know me Well. I did meet him once at an event that he he was at, but yeah, that that I guess he'd be the number one.
Speaker 1:That's a, that's a man of high, high accountability right there.
Speaker 2:For sure, for sure.
Speaker 1:Almost. It's almost too much for a lot of people out there to accept that accountability. So folks out there that are listening, uh, where can they find you and learn about your coaching programs?
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. I'm on all socials. We just launched a website. I don't know if it's live, so I don't know if I can give out the link yet but any socials. Jp the veteran coach. I have a podcast as well. It's called the Vet Rise Podcast and if they want to be part of the program, if they want to learn more about that, they can either hit the link in any one of my bios or just send me. Send me a DM with the word veteran and we'll have a conversation. That sounds awesome man.
Speaker 1:JP, was there anything that you also wanted to mention before we rounded out this, uh, this episode? Anything that you want to mention that I didn't talk about, that you want to throw out there for everyone?
Speaker 2:Oh, I just I really appreciate this opportunity. It's been fun, it's been a, it's been a blast. Uh, I guess if there's one thing that I would love to share, it's just that you know, if anyone that's listening is on a lonely journey. I want you guys to change that perspective and think that, well, you finally have enough freedom to figure out who you are. You've removed people from your life that no longer serve you, and it means that it opens up the world of possibilities for what's possible for you, and that's that's something that I say out loud to to everybody listening, because that's something that I need right now, that we all need. So, um, yeah, that's. That's my low little piece of advice.
Speaker 1:This entire uh hour long episode has been like a therapy or coaching session, even for myself. You, you've, it's almost like you're talking to me, man, and we're not doing a show here. So I really appreciate that. I'll make sure that I uh put your links down in the uh uh, down in the description or the show notes. So if you're listening to this, make sure you scroll down to the bottom and click on the links. Follow JP. Um, super highly inspirational, uh, professional man. I mean. I I knew I had to get you on the show at some point and I'm so happy that we were able to connect and I hope that you'd be willing to come on again because I have so many more questions for you. Man, I want to pick your brain. I highly respect you and I appreciate everything you're doing for the community.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I appreciate that. Yeah, I'd love to come back on. Thank you.
Speaker 1:No, it'd be my honor man For everyone else out there. I'm glad you were able to tune into this very powerful episode. Um, I'm hoping to have JP back on again, uh, to do some more follow-on questions. Uh, definitely opened me up to a lot of, uh, a lot of questions about myself too. So, uh, thank you everyone for listening. As always, I want you to stay tuned, stay focused and stay motivated. Warriors fall out.