Barbell Shrugged - Memoirs of a Navy Seal with Travis Kennedy — Real Chalk #81

Episode Date: June 25, 2019

Travis Kennedy is a 13 year Navy SEAL veteran. After becoming a member of my gym, CHALK, just a few months, I’ve always had so many questions I wanted to ask. I mean, who hasn’t wanted to be a Navy SEAL at one point in their life? And when you meet one, I feel like you just want to ask them everything! So that’s what this show is about.    It’s a little bit of everything from an internally super excited child version of myself, but also with a take away message of how to take that Navy SEAL mindset and incorporate it into your everyday life. If we all had just a little more of that mentality each day, so many people wouldn’t have to be searching Instagram for motivation daily. They would be their own source of motivation. They would be more confident, more assertive, more structured... And the list really goes on and on... But the show doesn’t just stop there, we also hit on some the scariest and some best times of his career as well as what gets him excited in civilian life.    I think everyone is really going to benefit from this one! I’m super excited for everyone to listen to it! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Show notes: http://www.shruggedcollective.com/rc-kennedy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ► Subscribe to Shrugged Collective's Channel Here http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedSubscribe 📲 🎧 Listen to the audio version on the Apple Podcast App or Stitcher for Android Here- http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedApple http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedStitcher Shrugged Collective is a network of fitness, health and performance shows that help people achieve their physical and mental health goals.  Usually in the gym, but outside as well. In 2012 they posted their first Barbell Shrugged podcast and have been putting out weekly free videos and podcasts ever since. Along the way we've created successful online coaching programs including The Shrugged Strength Challenge, The Muscle Gain Challenge, FLIGHT, Barbell Shredded, and Barbell Bikini. We're also dedicated to helping affiliate gym owners grow their businesses and better serve their members by providing owners tools and resources like the Barbell Business Podcast. Find Shrugged Collective and their flagship show Barbell Shrugged here: SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES ► http://bit.ly/ShruggedCollectiveiTunes WEBSITE ► https://www.ShruggedCollective.com INSTAGRAM ► https://instagram.com/shruggedcollective FACEBOOK ► https://facebook.com/ barbellshruggedpodcast TWITTER ► http://twitter.com/barbellshrugged

Listen to this episode right here because how many of you guys at one point in your life have wanted to be a Navy SEAL? I mean, almost every boy, I mean, if you're a girl listening, obviously you might not have wanted to be, but I mean, maybe. Every guy at some point wanted to be a Navy SEAL in their life, and I feel like whenever you get to interview one of these guys, it's just one of those shows that you always have to listen to because you're just always searching for that one story that you're like, oh yeah, that's exactly like what I wanted to live at some point or I wanted to be like that or whatever. So I feel like I'm going to get a lot of people who want to listen to this show and you are not going to be disappointed at all. Travis shares with us a whole bunch of his training, some of the fun parts, some of the not so fun parts, when he got deployed, some of the

more fun things he got to do on deployment. And we talk about a lot of mindset stuff. Like, I'm really excited for you guys to hear the mindset stuff and some of the things that you can carry over into your civilian life, you know, if you never had the chance to go into military at all, or even special forces for that matter. So one thing I really tried to squeeze out of the episode was things that we could incorporate into our lives. And then also just, you know, what's kind of going on in his head, like what's going on, you know, what made him want to be a SEAL and all these different things too. So this is going to be a strong episode for your mental psyche for the rest of your day, for the rest of your month, for maybe for the rest of the year, maybe for the rest of your life. I hope that you learn a couple different pillars that helped him get through, you know, one of the hardest military training programs in the world. And some of the things that he's thinking about still on the daily

that he brings to work with him every day and brings to the gym with him every day. And just the energy that surrounds him on the daily that, you know, was built through this program. So I'm really hoping that some of that exudes through the podcast and reaches you at some point and stays with you for as long as possible. I mean, that's my goal. I'm definitely going to have some things from this podcast that I keep and bring with me everywhere I go for sure. So before we get into the show real quick, I wanted to touch on our sponsor, which is Wattify. If you guys don't know what Wattify is, that's kind of weird because in CrossFit, they are like the number one platform for your software for your gym. They put the workouts up.

They are a one-stop shop. They do all of your billing, membership management, scheduling, athlete performance tracking. And if you guys follow Chalk Online, which thousands of people around the world do, that's what I use currently for my Chalk Online members and I actually use it for the members in my gym. So what I really like about Wattify is it's very, very simple. It literally brings up a calendar. You click on the day.

It shows you the workout. You can change the program. It shows you the other workout. No big deal. Super easy to use. On the admin side of things, if you're the gym owner, which makes it really easy, it goes straight to a different type of a platform and you can change everything like super, super easy. And if you have people who work at the desk or you have assistants or whatever, everything is outlined so simple

to the point where like you just click on athlete and then new athlete and you can sign up a new member. You know what I mean? It's like, it's very, very cut and dry. And I feel like some of the other systems, they have multiple systems together that get you through things, which are kind of hard, or it's just a lot harder to use because they were set up, you know, for another type of fitness business. And now they're used for CrossFit gym. So if you have a CrossFit gym or you have maybe some sort of online program that you want to get out to the world, kind of like Chalk Online or, you know, some of the other different programs that I have kind of going on, I think Wattify is a great thing that you can use and get out to all

your members. The app is always getting worked on. They always have new things going on. They have different sections that you can use for competitions, different sections for heart rate monitor use, and it just goes on and on and on. Anyway, they have this deal right now for you guys for listening to this podcast that you are definitely 100% not going to want to fast forward over because it's 20% off for your first year. 20% off for a whole year is one hell of a savings. And when they told me that, I was like, dude, I want that freaking discount right now. So all you have to do is go to Wodify, W-O-D-I-F-Y.com

and then slash chalk, C-H-A-L-K. All right, so Wodify.com slash chalk. And you guys will get 20% off your first year of Wattify. That is insane. So I know what you're thinking. Sometimes you want to have your own app, and I can guarantee you I've looked into it, and it is very, very, very expensive. And you have to have someone manage it forever. So it is a hefty price tag.

So if you're wanting to get some programs out there, wanting to get your gym managed a little bit better, this is a great way to get everything started, put the headaches onto somebody else, and just trust somebody. Trust me. As you start to delegate different things off and business gets crazy, it's nice to have some delegation onto somebody else and not have to manage it.

So go ahead and let them do it. Get this 20% off. I think it's going to help you out a ton. And if you're worried about switching over from another platform, they have people you can call on the phone and they just make everything super easy. And there's literally nothing that they can't handle. And if they can't, just email me and be like,

yo, that was the worst recommendation ever. And I'll be like, you know what, Wattify? Damn it. But that's not going to happen. All right. So without any further or do, letattify? Damn it. But that's not going to happen. All right. So without any further or do, let's get into this show. You guys are going to listen to Travis and I'm super pumped for you guys to share this episode with all of your friends and tag me in it. Oh, so excited.

All right, here we go. All right, Chalk Nation, it's Tuesday, which means it's time for another episode of Real Chalk. This time I'm pretty pumped. I get to talk to a former Navy SEAL, Travis Kennedy. Not only is he a former Navy SEAL, but he's also a current member of Chalk. And we've been joking around quite a bit recently. He's got a nice little tagline at the end of all of his Instagram videos where he says teams. And me and Herky, one of the guys who runs the desk at the gym, we've been kind of doing a little joke where we pretty much do everything and then end it with teams.

And then I wind up talking to Travis a little bit more and finding out that he was a SEAL and all of his stories and stuff. And actually, I don't know a ton of it, so I'm excited to get into it. And I basically want to take some of the principles that he's learned throughout his life that we can add into your guy's life because not everyone can go be a seal for one or two know what it's like to have all those different regimens in their life so um i think just making people better every day is our goal so let's see how we can do it the first thing i want to know is what made you want to be a seal all right first off ryan thanks for having me brother seriously super stoked to be a SEAL? First off, Ryan Hayden, thanks for having me, brother. Seriously, super stoked to be part of this. I guess the first thing that resonated with me in the beginning

was end of junior high, going into high school freshman year. Which I feel like is the time every kid in their life wants to be a SEAL. At some point. I wanted to be a part of the military. I knew that early on. I guess the SEAL bug didn't really resonate with me until sophomore year.

Originally kind of went back and forth. Military, definitely Navy because the water aspect. Growing up in Huntington Beach, I was really familiar and I loved the water. I just wanted to be in the branch that kind of was specialized in that. And I knew I wanted to be something really team-oriented and elite.

I didn't want to just join the Navy and just be some sailor swabbing the deck. Teachers are on, but that wasn't my path in elite. I didn't want to just join the Navy and just be some sailor swabbing the deck. You know, to each his own, but that wasn't my path in life. I wanted something more for myself, definitely. You know, the kind of the epitome of what made me want to be a SEAL was, honestly, was my father. He knew I wanted to be in the military, and at the time, I knew a little bit about SEALs.

I knew they existed back in, like, 2003, 2004. There wasn't much info out there online about what SEALs do or who they were. But you definitely could look them up on the internet to see they do exist. But as far as how to even become one, info out there was limited. But he actually brought home a pamphlet from the recruiting office about Navy SEALs. And it was literally like they don't even make pamphlets anymore in the recruiting office. But like back in the day, they had info pamphlets. He brought it home.

He was like, hey, this might be something up your alley. And as soon as I saw that, basically it just resonated with me and I became obsessed. Seeing it from him firsthand got the blessing. He's always supported me my whole life. But back then it was like when I was trying to figure out my life, I was like, what am I going to do after high school? Even to this day, I'm like that.

I'm always like a dreamer, planning way ahead, long-term, always looking ahead. So I was like, that's such an early age. When I was 16 years old, I was like, what am I going to do? Or 15, 16, what am I going to do the rest of my life? I want to do something good. Well, Special Forces, because I wanted to be a SEAL when I was a kid as well. It's not just like your father's blessing. To be a SEAL, you still have to be pretty smart.

It's getting a high ASVAB score. You have to get the physical screening test before you can even go to, which now is pre-BUDS now before they go to BUDS. Did you have a pre-BUDS? Nope, didn't have a pre-BUDS. I definitely had to get a certain ASVAB score so you can't be just strong and dumb. Definitely strong, but you can't be just strong and dumb. Yeah. All right?

But, yeah, definitely strong, but you've got to be smart. So you've got to study that if you're lacking that feel. But back then, you would just pass the PST, same PST as today. Which is hard, though. Yeah, it's tough. With the combat side stroke, you have to learn that stroke and then get the 500-meter swim in like nine minutes or something. Yeah, it's like you get 12 minutes like the cat, like 12, 12 and a half minutes,

but even that, it's hard to do. With that stroke, yeah. When you look at that test on paper, black and white, you're like, it ain't bad. But actually go do it and actually fall asleep with all the resting times, it's a dick-dragger. You put out on that thing. Yeah. And, again, I didn't have any swimming background.

Oh, you didn't have any swimming background. I didn't do swimming sports or anything in high school. I dabbled in football and wrestling, but then my true calling was lacrosse. I loved lacrosse. I played that throughout high school. So no water sports. I grew up surfing a little bit, swimming on my own, but all self-taught. Swimming was a challenging beginning, but all self-taught was side stroke.

But again, later, as I progressed throughout high school, busting my ass, was a challenge in the beginning but all self-taught was side stroke uh but again later as i progressed throughout high school busting my ass you know i tell people again we'll go like talk about mindset later but became just so obsessed with it to the point where that literally consumed my life throughout high school i didn't care about anything else i didn't care about really hanging out with friends much definitely not partying uh like other kids did i was just like training did my sports and training to become a seal because i knew what it took so this was 16 when you realized this is what i'm doing about 16 17 go end of my sophomore year going in junior senior that's when i really like kick-started my training so i started running a lot swimming a lot

yeah i bought a book uh 12 weeks to buds by stew by Stu Smith. It's like holy grail of training. And I followed that thing through and through like three or four times. And I did some other things on my own, some weight training on top of with my sports training stuff, which helped. But I just like – that book was kind of like the gospel for me. And it made it simple for me because it was laid out and especially coming from a former SEAL. He has a good thing for push-ups and pull-ups in there where it's like pyramid yeah like whatever your like max is you multiply it by five yeah it's like two times two times three yeah that shit works it works really well all those calisthenics like i barely lifted weights

back in the day i just all calisthenics all endurance it definitely paid dividends when i went to Bud's. One thing I do, guys asked me, I saw it on the post. It was one thing that you wish you did more of. Definitely running. Running was my weakness, my challenge throughout Bud's for sure. I was a strong-ass swimmer, and I gravitated towards that more because I was good at it throughout training. Looking back, I was like, yeah, because I love the water.

So I swim more than I run all day. Running sucks on beach. Soft sand runs and boots and pants all that shit sucks it looks really bad especially doing on your own accord i tell guys now like that's what it takes but looking back i wish i ran more for sure because i struggle with that especially in the boots like what was the because you guys did three mile times every week right every monday is a four mile time run in the morning. Four mile time. Like 05. Okay.

And then every phase you have to get faster, correct? Yep. It starts at 32 minutes and then it goes down two minutes every phase, like 30, then 28. Okay. So 28 minutes. So seven minute miles in boots, in sand. Third phase is not – third phase is the 28 minute mile. That's in shorts and running shoes.

Okay. Or sometimes they'll make you run in shorts and boots. Is it still on sand though? It's on the beach. Okay, yeah. Yeah. It makes it between the beginning portion of third phase is on the hardpack sand. And then once you go to the island, you'll be doing it on the asphalt.

Okay. Yeah. But again, you've got to progress and get stronger every time, especially being that beat down, like all that. All the extracurricular things you're doing you know you're not just like showing up fresh every monday morning like doing a four mile time run you know you're beat this shit from the week prior uh that's what that's what got me like early on like second phase i was like my body was wrecked dude i remember watching the

videos you remember those videos from like was it national geographic or yeah discovery channel the buds 234 yeah i remember watching i downloaded all those videos and i remember on like uh the pirate pirate bay or whatever like you remember that like old school website where you could download shit for free yep and i remember downloading all those videos and i used to watch all that stuff i was like oh man this would be so cool dude i got obsessed with that myself man i like bought all the videos books and i even bought like you know if you guys listen to his former seals marcinco marcinco like vhs tape like red cell it's called yeah that's my old og like navy seal stuff back in like 80s and stuff you know that's the type of things like what inspired me to be like a navy seal like once i got the bug it wasn't

some like movie like i saw the rock or navy seals with charlie sheen it's like i saw that stuff later date and i kind of like inspired me but that wasn't the driving factor becoming a seal by any means i've heard that they don't have winter classes anymore yeah they don't they go they start like at the tail end you know did they still have winter classes when you were there yeah they did were you in it no i started in july okay so i was a week class for you yeah i wasn't in a hard class guys so um how many people start out and how many people end typically between like 100 and 150 maybe a little bit more sometimes it kind of varies and it's like a little less than 20 at the end. Yeah, so going in, it's about a little over 80% dropout rate. But going in, so leading up to the fourth week, which is Hell Week,

you'll lose about 70%, 80%. And then going into Hell Week, whatever that number is, 50% will come out on the other side of Hell Week. So, like, for example, when I was a BUDS instructor, my class, when I was a proctor at BUDS class 305, we started out 105. And then we finished the fourth week with 20 guys. Okay. So 20 guys finished the fourth week of training. How'd you like being an instructor?

I thought that would be awesome. Yeah, that was the best two years of my career. Oh, man. the best two years of my career. Like I said, a lot of growing professionally, personally, and just seeing the other side, being on the other side of the curtain was definitely eye-opening for me. I was a student. You only see it through one lens when you're a student, if anything. But being an instructor, it was definitely a really cool experience. Plus, I love being outside and shit.

Was that a job that you picked or the Navy picked for you? I picked. I was, like, gunning for that thing. Especially I was gunning for not only being an instructor but first phase. I wanted to be like the selection portion of it. Like where all the grind and the grit, like a

beaten down dude. I wanted to be part of that at the beginning, the hell week. Stuff like that. It was awesome. So it's almost a year of straight training to get to well not even a seal well you're getting your trident is what like two years yeah it's like a year okay to actually get the buds is like six months and then you go after buzz you go to seal qualification training it's like four or

five months so like little like about a year okay if you make it through like one shot but the first six months is the hardest hardest yeah that's like one shot. But the first six months is the hardest, obviously. Hardest, yeah. That's buds. Okay. And then during that first six months, give me like your top three. They were like the worst things. Also like the hardest things to overcome like mentally. I know you guys have to do some crazy shit in the water.

Yeah. Like 50-meter underwater swim where you can't come up for air. Yeah. Different like drowning techniques and different things. And I know you guys have like frog hill you guys have so much stuff right and i only know this because i geeked out on this for a while doing flights with pallets on your back yeah so let's talk about uh maybe like your top three it could be two if it's only like two um most difficult things you had to overcome during that time and how you overcame them yeah i think because these this is these are first phase was definitely boats on heads you know that's like

the typical okay see you see on tv like running with those ibs boats on your heads with your crew dude by far if not the hardest evolution of buds hands down i mean we do the surf pass where you're paddling through the water but it's's the land portion of it. And they don't show most of that. And that's like literally just doing drag races, drag, like sprinting with these things on your head until your legs are just like numb. I mean, dudes are like collapsing mid sprint. Cause they want to win so fucking bad. And cause they want to get secure. It's like, it's, it's really crazy to see when, especially when I was a instructor, even as a student, like how bad somebody wants to win just so they could get that break. You're doing these things for an hour straight, just sprinting your ass off, getting reloaded because you came in second by a foot behind a boat crew.

The first phase, that was probably the most difficult thing for me was boats on heads and then the running too. I legit never even thought about the boat on the head. Yeah, that's fucking miserable. Yeah. I mean especially if you're really – if you're putting out, keeping your head straight, not ducking boat. But the drag race is what – I mean that's grueling, dude. Soft sand, sprinting in soft sand with a boat on your head. And especially if in the beginning you got a lot of turds in your boat crew. Like not everybody wants to be there, obviously.

So you might have like three guys really putting out under that boat and the other three are just not. And you can imagine you're carrying the load now for everyone else and how it becomes really dragging and grueling. So those guys eventually get weeded out. But at the beginning, that sucks. I mean, second phase for me was definitely – I didn't have trouble with like drown-proofing 50-meter definitely – I didn't have trouble with, like, drown-proofing, 50-meter underwater.

I didn't have trouble with – like, back in the day, we would have a practice day. I think they still do have it now, but they would have a practice day where you could do 35 or they'd be like, who here wants to do the 50? So you could man up that day, the practice day, and they could do the 50. And I was like, fuck this. I'm doing 50 right now. I'm not – I've always been that way, just like, I just want to knock this out dude if i can't do it now i can't do it tomorrow what's the difference you know yeah i'm gonna be more tired tomorrow i know i'm

gonna get my ass kicked later today so i'm just gonna like knock it out now i was like i'm gonna do it and i said screw it i dove in i fucking did it but then the drown proofing i would say the second phase of pool competency was when like you go down there in your twin 80s scuba tanks and they're beating the shit out of you underwater, rolling you around, tying knots. It took me four tries to pass that thing. I passed on my fourth try, which was a huge eye-opener for me. The very first one, I was not even expecting the experience. I was like, holy shit. Like, it scared the shit out of me for sure because, like, I felt that drowning.

First time I felt, like, in a drowning experience, that feeling of drowning. And I was like, I immediately failed that thing. It was, like, a pathetic performance. How many times are you allowed to fail it before they're like, okay? You give me, like, four tries. Oh, okay. So you got out in the fourth one. Yeah.

The last one, I was like – the hair on my ass. I was like – looking back, I could hardly remember. I remember the first experience and I remember the last one when I passed. But the other ones, I was like, man, it definitely was eye-opener for me. It wasn't – and prior to going into this, I had like doing scuba diving on my own in high school and stuff like that. So I had experience diving but nothing like that. I i mean that like you're getting your fucking ass kicked underwater like the videos yeah it's it's no joke it was like they're gonna kick the literally wind right out of you and that you think you're like fucking gaming it by like holding in your breath

because they're hovering over you like they're just watching the bubbles as soon as you exhale like that's when they smash you so you're like panic city already underneath the water immediately you don't even have a breath yeah so you're like freaking out but you know like trial and error i got better as it went on but that was like in the second phase is definitely the most challenging third phase third phase is actually really fun that's like when you actually get to learn like seal shit okay like shooting and land warfare stuff but but you're in class and people are still falling asleep yeah oh yeah because like everyone third phase you're still you're still a student you're getting beat the shit like the first day we showed up on the island which is like kind of like the main part of third phase you go to

san comini island they're like they just completely destroyed our sea bag got wet and sandy like buds first phase all over again base tour wet and Wet and Sandy, like, miserable as shit. Hitting the dip tank. The Al Huey. There's two hills there, Al Huey and Frog Hill. And you've got to, like, every morning do a chow PT. Either do that or you go, like, do some cool guy shit, like lift some bench dumbbells, pull-ups with your kid on.

So sometimes every meal you do a chow PT before you eat. It's either like frog hill al huey frog hill is like a super steep dirt hill and then al huey is kind of like long and grindy it's like 400 meter like sprint like but long like up a like an asphalt so it's a little different different feel okay but frog hill definitely was way worse because it was like vertical at one point and you know it's funny to say like once you do those those child pts certain people have to pass if you don't pass you're getting wet before a child you're getting beat so it's like every man it's like ruthless dude yeah we're like they

like because you run together as a class there's like you're maybe run like next like 15 15 dudes man you're like sprinting up this hill this tiny little path hill and everyone's like hitting each other like you're not even boys anymore. You're like, fuck, screw you. I'm not failing. I'm not getting wet. People hate that. It's pretty funny to see. In third phase, that's probably the hardest. Even in second phase, I've had

some of the worst beatings throughout training in second phase. Some guys think, oh, first phase is the hardest. Getting beat with twin 80 scuba tanks on the back and on your back on land that'll change your life man that's like it sucks that hurts do you hold like just just holding a push-up position like we're doing like you're holding them for minutes right yeah they're sitting there like just push them out push them out push them out and guys are doing like quarter

inch push-ups like they're bullshit push-ups but just holding it it is, like, grueling in and of itself, you know. And then how many days a week did you guys ever get off? Did you ever get, like, an off day to, like, go out in the town? Weekends. So the weekends were off Saturday? Never a day during the week, but weekends only. And then did you guys go parade around Coronado and try to hook up with all the ladies? I wish.

I was, like, 19 years old, dude, by then. I was 18 when I got there, 19. I never went out. The guys I knew, a lot of my classmates did. Because they're like after college guys over 21. But they didn't start partying

to like end a second phase going to third phase. First phase, never. That's just, dude, I'm so glad I couldn't go out when I was there

and drink. That would have screwed me up. Yeah, probably wouldn't have been the best. Yeah. What's the age group discrepancy you're talking about? We have probably 17-year-old kids

and then like 30-year-old men. 18 to 24. Okay. I would say that's like the bulk group description you're talking about? We have probably 17-year-old kids and then 30-year-old men. I would say that's the bulk. And then you've got the outliers, kind of older and out. Mid-20s to late-20s are the really outliers. These are the guys coming from the fleet with the Navy time already. Or there's some

oddball guys that join the Navy super late at an older age. Usually those guys are far few in between man dudes make it if they're like 28 29 but that's there that's just like a whole another grueling test in itself but typical age 18 and 24 okay so you go into 18 you're probably done like when you're 19 yeah i was done when i was 19 and then sqt the sQT directly afterwards. I became a SEAL in 2008. Okay. Then after that, I had a corpsman background.

I went to corps school, so that's like a Navy medic. So I had that before I went to BUDS. Is that where you were a medic? I was a medic, and then I went to a special forces medical school directly after that. I spent six months there. Then after that, I went directly to SEAL Team 4 in Virginia Beach. Okay. So,

so the three, there's three different stations, right? There's, where SEALs are stationed? San Diego, Virginia. San Diego,

Virginia Beach, or Coronado. Yeah. That's Coronado, Virginia Beach, and then there's a team in Hawaii. Yeah, Hawaii.

Yeah. Okay, cool. So now, you're 19. What's your mindset? Like from pre high school days to now you're a seal. I know.

Obviously you're like, okay, I fucking did it. I haven't tried it. I'm going to ask whatever, but like, actually like when you go out in the world, what does it look like through your eyes? Like what's it like?

I was looking in. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, when I was like, I can do fucking anything and everything and like whatever I want to do? Like is it a totally different confidence level? Oh, yeah. I mean I was on top of the world when I accomplished my goal for sure.

When I became a SEAL, like the highlight of my life I would say for sure. And like I felt – I did feel like on top of the world and I could accomplish anything because I just proved to myself. I set a goal early age. I'm going to become a SEAL and I've accomplished that goal in a very short period of time at such a young age. So I definitely felt great. But the mindset leading up to that point was to always tell people this is like you got to become obsessed with your goal. It has to be a passion. You got to enjoy it at the same time.

You got to embrace the lifestyle. It's not just like some cool idea. I rolled over one morning. I thought I could be a Navy SEAL. And then like, I could just do some pushups and sit-ups and call it a day. It's like, I had to change my whole personality, you know, my, and then along with all that training, my mindset developed over time, became stronger, you know, with routine, with good habits, surrounding myself with good people, setting high goals for myself, not just being mediocre and just kind of getting by, you know, that's all those little, that the whole mindset shift was developed over time. It's not something that happened overnight. Uh, but once I graduated

for sure, I was on top of the world and I was like, you know, I'm ready to, I could pretty much do anything. But that being said, when I showed up to a SEAL team, that mindset goes away fairly quickly when you're surrounded by guys have done everything you've done and more. So you do, you do, but you keep that head in you. They feel like level of confidence is high, but. So once you're a SEAL, there is like, there's even higher levels of being a seal like there's seal team six or unless if that's not a higher level then correct me if that's the highest level yeah yeah but then you were seal team four seal team four i did what puts you in like your team yeah it's it's honestly it's that's like big navy manning type stuff it's like whatever kind of whatever time that you're in, you fall in.

Like SEAL Team 4 was coming back from deployment, so guys were getting ready to leave that station, so they were losing SEALs, either getting out of the Navy or changing duty stations, so they need bodies. So that kind of fell in line. There's no like, I want to pick Travis because he has X, Y, and Z. It's like, no. We're losing guys. We need guys on the East Coast.

And originally I put in, I'm from West Coast. I grew up in Huntington Beach. Originally after that medical course, I was like, I want West Coast. I want to be San Diego. I want to live here because I know the area. They're like, nope, Travis, you're going to East Coast. I was like, damn. I was so like butt hurt.

I was so butt hurt. I was like, what the hell? I don't know shit about East Coast. I've never been to Virginia Beach, but I've heard it's cool. It grew on me. At first I was like, dudeurt yeah and I was like like what the hell I don't know shit about East Coast I've never been to Virginia Beach but I've heard it's cool it grew on me yeah at first I was like

dude this place sucks yeah it's a beach town but it's like it's a totally different vibe oh my god it's hard to even put in words yeah

the beaches are way different there yeah beach way different it's like you know small town living but on the beach so a little beach life

it's cool it grew on me and I right now back in the day I didn't like it but right now I'll tell you that it grew on me and i right now back in the day i didn't like it but right now i'll tell you that it grew on me i love it and i i had a life there a lot of good friends a lot of good people there huge military the biggest military kind of condensed

bases in the world that in san diego yeah so so during this time i mean i would i would imagine like the most important thing in your life is probably the brotherhood between you and your and and the boys that you fucking either train with yeah or became really close with in buds did you have anybody that was in buds that was on the same team as you yeah there's one guy but there there's a couple guys that went on still team four with me that went through buds but i would say the one guy that kind of he was my closest boy was in this guy named Remy Adelike. He's out now, but he went on West Coast, still Team 3. We became boys in buzz early on out of, like, need.

Like, he was bad at swimming. I was bad at running. So we, like, buddied up, became swim buddies, and then we kind of became roommates and stayed in touch. But the brotherhood in the teams is what makes the teams what it is. It's just the guys, it's the quality of dudes that, you know, make up the SEAL teams is kind of hard to describe. But it's bar none.

Like there's no one else out there. But that's what I miss most about it today is just the guy working with the guys because that's, you know, everyone there is just like, I mean, they're all alpha, you know, motivated, ready to crush fit, you know, want to perform at a high level, like all the time. Like everybody in my gym. Exactly. Just like CrossFit.

I saw that question for those of you out there. Like one of the girls asked, like if I wanted to join some sort of community that was like similar, like what could I do? And you said? CrossFit. Yeah. All day. A good CrossFit gym.

We'll touch on this, but CrossFit has been a huge part of my life and career. Like back in the day, Dave Castro was my SQT instructor. Really? Yep. You know he doesn't like me. Yeah. Yeah. Dave Castro is a prick. I made a doesn't like me. Yeah. Yeah.

Dave Castro is a prick. I made a t-shirt about him too. He was a fucking dick in the SQT as an instructor too. I'm sure. Yeah. Total dick. But he and like Andy Stumpf was my second phase instructor. Oh, okay. So all these dudes, like I went to St. Bud's class like Bridges.

So like back in the day, these guys – Was Bridges an instructor? No, he was a student with me. He was in my class. He was in your class? Yeah. Oh, that's cool. So back in the day, Stumpf and Castro, back in 2007, 2008,

when CrossFit started coming around, they used to make our class do workouts. We did Fran in second phase, GIG, 100 Burpee Pull-Ups. They would make it do these random CrossFit workouts. SQT, we used to do them a lot like Castro would make our class do uh CrossFit workouts he would lead us on ruck runs and shit like that and that's when I became I just started falling I love CrossFit ever since then yeah I've been doing it ever since then kind of off and on uh and those were the days too yeah that was back in the day when it was just kind of getting started and not really too many people knew about it. But I loved it, man.

And even to this day, I attest CrossFit to my resiliency as like an operator and as a human being. And, I mean, it's my therapy now. I mean, I love CrossFit so much. And exactly, the people. I mean, you want something that resembles like a good camaraderie, like I saw that question, camaraderie, team, all that, CrossFit gyms, the people. I mean, you want something that resembles a good camaraderie. Like I saw that question, camaraderie, team, all that. CrossFit gyms, hands down.

Yeah. I gravitate toward CrossFit. Everywhere I go, any state, if I'm traveling through, I'm going to a CrossFit gym. Yeah. Instant click. I mean, you relate to people instantly. Even walking to your gym, CrossFit Chalk, immediate welcome. Great people.

You meet people all walks of life like different professions like we're lucky here i feel like we just have such an intense vibe here oh yeah like it's dude i'll tell you what right there's nice people everywhere but like we have like um like soccer moms that will fuck you yeah you got haters in here like chicks getting like two days yeah like there's no drama yeah i was like that's impressive like coming in here like i honestly i like i honestly i like to think i've been a lot of crossfit gyms ryan but dude your workouts are are bar none brother like the workouts for sure yeah like i come out here walk out of here smoked and i can tell you

all my buddies in here too they're like yeah i'm fucking dead but that's that's the feeling you want that's the point you know it's like i tell people 80 of you guys should be scaling i need something for you to aspire to yeah you know what i mean so like that's why they're so hard yeah and i had to scale doing crossfit for as much as i do i scale too to this day i scale some of the workouts sometimes like dude i can't get through rx plus plus now i ain't doing that i like to think big dudes that can crush the bike or you know what i mean like that's that's what i like about it like somebody's gonna finish hitters you got male hitters, female hitters. You know, it's like that gives you something to aspire to.

That's what drives. Good competition makes you better. Oh, for sure. Even like when it begins to seal, like that mindset. Like you always want to be bettering yourself, pushing yourself no matter like what. You know, that's in performing. So to add to that, I have, for those of you guys listening right now i just i have a couple different quotes or a couple different like conversations from other seals that i've you know looked after for a while like david goggins and jocko and you guys i'm sure you

guys have no these people are and if you clicked on this episode and you saw the word seal in the title you probably if you're like me or travis you probably looked up every seal movie or every seal book and like you're just obsessed those dudes popped up and uh david goggins talks about you know how like we just do like progressive overload in our in our training so like everything you do um in workouts you're progressively putting more and more weight on the bar and he's he says progressive overload for life yeah so like which i think is so badass it's it's so like elegantly put like it's so basic and like so like oh well duh that makes it makes totally sense but you don't yeah you don't ever think of it that way it's like all right well i'm at this point in my life right now like with my job or you know with whatever and like i want to be here like next week and i want to be here like next

week just like setting those goals like kind of like you were saying when you were 16 like you knew exactly where you wanted to be next year yeah and i think that a lot of people just get to a point where they get this job they want let's go day by day yeah they get into the gym that they been like wanting to sign up for and they just go in and they do it and they don't try to like exceed expectations every single time and what they wind up doing is they wind up messaging people like me or you or someone and they're like hey how do you stay so motivated yeah so like you gotta say i was gonna say as much as you and i right now i would be like dude you're fucking put stop being a fucking pussy

like what are some of the things that you think of like i always try to use like past experiences as like a second wind yeah in my in my life so if i feel like i'm getting stagnant i'll be like oh man remember when you did this like that was badass and like that's some of the things i think about like what are some of the things that you think about yeah to get me through like stagnancy you know again that falls back on like i'm constantly setting little goals for myself whether that be like near term or long term and i feel like that because there's a saying like complacency kills man because it really does like you get in the mindset of just like kind of just meeting the mark checking the boxes day after day after day you ain't gonna get anywhere then

then you fall you find yourself like what am i gonna do you know how do i get through this how i'm losing motivation you know know, I'm procrastinate. I'm lazy. But, you know, I always look back on nowadays, the things I remind myself, the things that how far I've came and the things I've accomplished, you know, that I tell myself that I'm and I even tell people this. I told people that they could do anything they want in this world, man. It doesn't matter what you what goal it is, whatever it is.

Like you could do – set high goals for yourself because – give yourself something to aspire to. And I always reminisce back like I became a SEAL. Like I trained my ass off. Or I did something in the gym. I was very surprised I did like a lift or something like that, snatching 225 or something. I never thought I would do it and I did it.

Just little things like that will push you through kind of that complacency and that rut. And that's why I always tell people, and I love the biggest thing for me is the goal setting and I learn constantly learning, constantly setting goals. And if you don't do that, then you're just, you're just kind of meeting the mark every day. And that to me, that's just not enough. Are you writing these things down? They're like on your mirror in the morning? I do have – honestly, I just started doing like a journal type thing. I've never, ever been into it like in the teens. Like you're writing a journal daily?

Sometimes I jot down – yeah, daily I write something down, like something comes to mind, whatever that be, like inspiration, a quote. I like writing down quotes I read or what people say here like on podcasts whatever um and i just write those things down so i could remind myself i actually won't listen to a podcast anymore unless i have time to sit and write notes yeah because then it just goes and i'll hear something and it's one ear and out the other type of deal and i i genuinely enjoy it in the moment but i just can't remember it right and so if i write it down like in my in my phone right now i have in my little notepad like the topics of podcasts and then even if it's just like four little lines it'll be something that

i'll always remember the entire podcast for yeah if you could take away one little thing yeah that's what it's about you know just one little snippet of information one little quote and i do the same thing books i read i don't obviously remember everything that's in the book, but just little snippets here and there. I always jot those down because I like to refer back to things like that. Do you still wake up really early? I would say 6.30. If people think that's early, then yeah.

I wake up around 6.30 every day. Okay. Between 6.30 and 7, but no later than 7. I'm a morning – I like getting up like two hours before I have to do anything. Okay. Because I'm like – my morning routine is literally the same. That's one thing that never deviates throughout the day is my morning routine, morning game. I get up at the same time.

I can walk the same path to my bathroom walk same path you know like make the same exact meal every single day like literally i eat the same thing every single day and i that's one meal one thing i never change is my morning routine uh the rest of the day is kind of like sometimes it's set in stone but it could be whatever it's like literally every successful person – I even looked up different successful people's routines, like every morning routine. Every single person in the military especially and then every other giant heroic figure in general makes their bed every day, and they swear that it's a huge thing. Can you elaborate on that? What all boils down to is making – it starts with making your – you hear that like the famous speech.

It's like it starts with making your bed, and it's those little wins you get throughout the day. If you feel like at the end of your day, you're like, what did I do? Did I accomplish anything? If you have that kind of feeling, start with making your bed. Wake up, get your lazy ass, turn around and put your blanket over and put your pillows in there. Make your bed. Boom. That's one thing. All right.

Next thing, I'm going to move. I'm going to make my breakfast. I'm going to clean up. I'm not going to leave all the dishes in there. Just like those little things you set for yourself throughout the day makes you feel like you've accomplished something throughout the day. That may sound stupid and small to some people or people might not agree with it. But maybe making your bed isn't something you want to set for yourself but maybe it's something else but if you want somewhere

to start start by making your bed because that's like the first win i feel like say it's the first win in the morning man but set a routine have a routine in the morning even throughout your day my you know the one thing i do look forward throughout the day four o'clock chalk four o'clock there's like i'll deviate that's one thing i do look forward throughout the day, 4 o'clock chalk. 4 o'clock. There's like – I'll deviate. That's one thing I do not deviate. And if I have to deviate, I'm kind of pissed off. And that's only because work is involved or something like that.

I have to come to – I won't miss it. I may come to a later one or earlier one, but I have a set time. I come the exact same time every single day, and that's one thing I do not miss. And I rearrange my life around that time because – And 4 o'clock is an aggressive class. Yeah, 4 o'clock is the fucking – no, that's one thing i do not miss and i rearrange my life around that time because and four o'clock is an aggressive class four o'clock is the fucking bad class but yeah you gotta again set priorities and wherever your priorities lie and like for me fitness and crossfit that's like therapy so i'd never deviate from that because if i do i'm just like i feel like i'm not travis i feel weird you know i'm sure you're the same way if you don't get your fitness on yeah and i have a you know i have an

interesting routine as well mine mine does change a little bit but like i have to be up at like 5 or 6 a.m just to feel like i have like an edge on the day yeah like i don't like anyone to tell me anything better than i did like at all like if someone's like if i was like what time we'll get wake up and they're like oh we'll go 5 15 like what time like dude i swear to god on my life i will go home and i will set my alarm clock for 5 14 like oh five and run like oh what no all right i'll wake it at 4 45 i'll wake up at 4 40 at 4 59 i swear to god i don't know why i like that but I'll wake up one minute earlier. That's hilarious.

I'll try to do one more extra set. But that's the mindset, man. It's like, I'm not letting this dude beat me. It's crazy. It's crazy. And as I've gotten older,

a big reason I don't compete anymore is because my knee is all messed up and now what am I doing? I'm climbing all these mountains all over the world. Two day hikes up mountains.

Yeah. And it's funny because we were... That's good for you we were talking about david goggins and some of the things that he throws out there and i think it's funny how he's like i broke my leg and i just kept fucking running on that motherfucker broke your leg three places then continue to run throughout hell week again another 30 miles duct tape your shins yeah that's what he did he duct taped them huh yeah i duct taped him like 30 times or something like that. And he's like, it healed.

The whole thing healed. I was like. I'm sure it did. Not right, but. Your body will heal eventually. But I don't know if it healed correctly. I want to know what happens to him like when he stops. I mean, I don't know if he ever will stop, but I feel like his body is either going to be like, dude, it's done.

It's going to fall off, dude. Like I wonder what he really feels like i really want to know dude someone running that many like ultras i don't even i can't imagine i've never even ran a marathon i mean i ran but he doesn't take any days off yeah zero days off yeah i don't know if you listen to him he's like no days off and i'm like well what's like an like his day off is like a 10 mile run it's active recovery 10 50 mile legit if you hear i mean i'm full i mean people lie sometimes i don't think he does teach his own but there's no way i mean seals are hard you know but he's he's a cut from the mold dude for sure i tell you what when he

does when you hear him talk he's like seals didn't relate yeah seals don't relate they don't want to run like 15 miles and run swim 10 miles it's like, hey, guys, I hate to break it to you, but Navy SEALs don't run 10 miles every single day. People have this mindset. SEALs are like, oh, we're doing beach runs every single day, five, six miles, run swim every day. No, we don't. SEALs don't do that, especially when they become SEALs of the team.

We don't do that. We don't break down our box. We do do that stuff once a week for like hoo-yah, like maybe do a two-mile ocean swim or a run-swim run, and at the end, we got a keg, go grab some beers, and like have a good food and good time afterwards. Like that's the reality of things. I think it's funny, actually, because like you guys all start out as endurance athletes. Yeah.

Rangers, you know, PJs. All endurance, yeah. Seals, everybody. And then as soon as everyone's done, they're all fucking jacked in the gym. It's all pumping iron. All the dudes, yeah. Most of my teammates and boys are always just regular gym rats, meathead, pumping iron and stuff all the time.

The functional fitness CrossFit side, they're like, nah, they would talk shit about it. Yeah, I think it's funny that like... Because they don't want to do cardio. Yeah. No one likes to run. Once you actually were in SEAL Team 4, was there a lot of cardio demanded from you or not really?

Once a week we would do a team-wide like swim or run. That's it. But as a team, for training. Yeah, that's it. Did you ever actually have to do it in a mission? Running, swimming, yeah. I mean, running, yes. Swimming, no.

Running, yeah, all the time. But like running to and from places, but like short sprints, not like super long distance runs. That's what I'm saying. That's why I always thought it was so interesting. Yeah, running, sprinting, I would say more realistically realistically with, like, gear on and stuff like that overseas, but not, like, super high distance. A lot of hiking overseas, a lot of humps. I hate patrolling long distances, like 15, 20K, like rucking up mountains and stuff like that.

A lot of that stuff, but no, like, endurance, like long swims or super long running. That's not realistic, but patrolling in rucks are – that's realistic. So I have two questions at this point. What was your nutrition like during BUDS? I fucking ate everything, dude. They fed us. Yeah. And we had the chow hall and it's just like – it's government food, man.

It's not great, right? No, it's not great. It probably has zero nutritional value. Honestly, it tastes like crap. But we ate the shit out of it because we had to we get three meals a day as much food as we want i mean we're burning like the dudes are burning like over 5 000 calories a day easily easy yeah more and then at night i would just crush like don poncho's burrito or like a subway footlong sub like whatever you know honestly what i did stay away from leave the compound and yeah okay and that you could you can go or order it in a lot of guys

ordered it in but what i didn't do though i stayed away from like all like the super junk food a lot of guys like we're crushing ice cream can't all this can't all this bullshit i didn't eat that i honestly i thought i've never never been an eater like that anyways, but I just thought that would ruin me. I didn't think it would benefit me just because I just get calorie intake, but it's still bad calories. It's not good calories. But I did crush – I always ate subs, and I would get burritos all the time.

I would smash protein shake. I'd get these insurers. They're for old people. I still drank them. They're fucking good at time. I would smash like protein shake. I'd get like these like insurers. They're for like old people. I still drank them. They're fucking good at night. My grandpa used to drink those. Yeah. They're for like geriatrics.

But they work. They do the job. Yeah, for sure. Some quick, you know, but that's the type of stuff I would eat. But I'd be crushing food, especially on the weekends. On the weekends,

I would drive up to Huntington and just stay at my dad's house and he would just feed me all the good food. I would just sit there and just veg out. I always wondered what you guys were able to eat because you would get in trouble, actually, if you were training and you had food on you, correct? Yeah, you can't have food on you during the day. You get hammered, hiding. A lot of these high-like Snickers bars, snacks, candies, all that crap.

No. If you get caught with that, you're done. Okay. Yeah. Especially in Hell Week, there's brown shirts. Guys that pass Hell Week would hide snacks and food and shit in their clothing. When you do change out, you change out, get all your nasty candies, get new ones on. They would hide in big old fat Snickers bars in the pockets and all that crap.

When I was a instructor, I would catch Jews all the time. Sometimes I let it slide. Sometimes I wouldn't. But if I definitely caught you, I said you're done. Yeah. You're definitely going to be wet and sandy immediately and you're probably going to be eating dry ass MRE crackers for your snack next time. Puking.

I've heard the MREs go in in one end straight out the other like immediately and hellwick you eat mres the whole time uh not the whole time but um like two meals a day but yeah it's freaking nasty what is nasty i've never eaten an mre but i've seen the calories on those and those are pretty gnarly shit ton of calories yeah shit ton of calories and i've heard people just literally shit themselves like as yeah people are like i would say like hell week i would be eating over like on my boat like just dying and i would look over and i would see like dude just like throwing throwing up the yak and so much like because they just make them sick their stomach you know do you guys have any access to like physical therapy or like any sort of recovery during buds at all during

buds yeah but only if only if you're like seriously hurt okay or injured there's really good physical therapy staff and medical staff there like at night though could you like ice bath is there anything like that no you probably didn't even want to you're in the cold ass ocean that was the last thing i wanted to do is get in your fucking water. Get in cold water. I barely wanted to take a shower because you had lukewarm showers. I was like, dude, fuck this. Cold showers. I'm scared of cold water. I mean, yeah, dude, SEALs don't like water even after you become a SEAL.

It's like cold water, like nah. Do you ever do swims now? Yeah, I do. Okay. I'll do swims occasionally. I like swimming. But I'll have a wetsuit on. Wetsuit is mando um now that you're out and you're living the civilian life uh what do you do right now so right now i own a business i just started um it's called kennedy

defensive shooting it's a private firearms training business i teach people how to shoot firearms from a brand new beginner to advanced shooters and i also trained some law enforcement as well so that's my main effort and to be honest with you when i got out i had no plan on starting a business right yeah i had zero that thought i've always been into business like reading books about it you know it's kind of like my little secret passion, business, like stock market. I like reading about that stuff, finances. But leaving the military, that wasn't even on my mind. It wasn't until I moved back here until I got the inspiration.

It kind of honestly just slapped me in the face. It was like, oh, I'm doing this. And I just went with it. But now it's about three months almost now since I've started the company. And it's doing well. It's fun. And it's kind of a passion turn. I really enjoy shooting.

It's kind of a passion turn business for me right now. How long were you in the SEALs for? Pushing 13 years. I was in the Navy. Yeah. You signed two or three contracts. Yeah. Okay.

So 13 years. I got on as a chief. All right. I was a U7. You didn't want to do seven more years? I did not want to do seven more years. I got out as a chief when I was at U7. You didn't want to do seven more years? I did not want to do seven more years, no. I mean the lifestyle for me was I wanted to change, man. My whole adult life was nothing but military.

And looking ahead, like it falls back on, I like to plan ahead. I didn't like where I was going. Military is very structured, so I knew exactly my career path over the next seven years was going to be okay so I was like no that wasn't for me I wanted something different I wanted a little bit more freedom you know I just I didn't not there's anything against that path it was just at the time you know for me at my time in life, it wasn't for me. I think they said that Castro got out his 19th year. Something like that. I think it was between 16 or 19.

Something like before 20 years, but barely before. I remember he had this opportunity with the CrossFit thing, and he's like, I'm out. He just ran with it. Yeah, so. Hey, smart man, though. There is an overwhelming amount of SEALs, though, that wind up becoming just super successful business people. Yeah, there is. I think it's a natural progression for most SEALs.

Like, when they get out, they don't want to work for anybody. Yeah. So it's like they start their own thing, own business. I got friends that own all their own businesses, all entrepreneurs. Or, like, I know a couple people people that are like in the financial market too, but may the majority is they start their own businesses. Yeah, for sure. That is just a natural progression. I think it's a good progression for guys look without those types of

personalities. And cause I said that now, not even with the aspiration to kind of own my own business in the three months ago and having one now, dude, Ryan, I mean, now I know what it feels like to kind of own my own business three months ago and having one now. Dude, Ryan, I mean now I know what it feels like to have something of your own. It's really a good feeling. It's hard in the beginning too. It's super hard. I struggle to this day, man. This is not – having your own business is not easy.

I bust my ass like doing all kinds of things for free, not getting paid for my time. So it's like definitely a lot of growing pains, but I love doing it. I don't care about putting money into it and not getting that money in return. And I love helping. And it kind of boils down to what my goal in life now is to help people and to give back and teach people. And that's what kind of is the driving factor behind my company. It's not like, hey, I'm a cool guy.

Come shoot with me. Come shoot with Travis Kennedy because I'm a Navy SEAL. No, I'm going to use my experience as a SEAL, as a shooter, the 12 years that I've learned how to shoot guns, and I'm going to teach you to become a better, more responsible, educated shooter. I'm not going to turn you into a Navy SEAL. But I want you to walk away you know understanding the responsibility of owning a firearm how to effectively use a firearm in the event you need

to to save your life for someone else's life you know all these like kind of life tools and like make you a better person like that's that's my goal within the company too and i also help people on the flip side of it i have like a mentoring thing I like to do with people, with guys who want to be in the military, whether they want to be a Navy SEAL or not. Because I feel like nowadays the world of information is just so much. A lot of people, that's why we get these questions like, how do I get through the day? How do I do this? How do I start a routine? They're relying everything on. Yeah, they do all this research. There's so much going on,

but yet they don't know where to start. So I kind of help them, guide them on the right path of like hey you want to be a seal this is where i started this is where i think it's a good place for you to start or here's how to join the military you know because you may not know how to or honestly i worked i talked to help talk to a guy that just wanted to like turn his life around for the better you know not had nothing to do with the military just kind of get them on the right path of like getting in shape and like being a better human in general. So I, that's what I enjoy doing now. And it's, it's nice to see, like, even from like after a training lesson, I teach people how to shoot or whatever. Like

they walk out of there and I get texts from them saying like, dude, I feel so much better, like confident, you know, I'm sure you had the same feeling, you know, impacting people's lives in the gym and fitness and making them, you know, look good naked and shit like that. So then, which is important, you know, that's why I go do CrossFit. When you first got out, I know this is like a ridiculous question. This is just my own question. Did you find it hard to like talk to people at like with like a normal tone like when someone either like makes you mad or like you see some dumb shit happen do you want to just like

fucking yell at them yeah sometimes i want to just yell at them but i keep it i keep it internal i've always been kind of like a laid-back dude and real i don't know if i'd be able to let it go i think i would always be like a drill instructor yeah sometimes when i get into like all the the the buzz instructor comes out in me and I like get into people's asses, but I, I, as a whole, I sometimes,

a lot of times I just bite my tongue. On the flip side of it, I think about like when I talk to you is like, I shouldn't, I should just let it out. Let people hear the truth. But so I'm going to work on that more, more brutally honest with people.

Cause sometimes it's frustrating. It's like, that's what I'm known for. Yeah. I love all your shit, but it's like, I need to be more brutally honest with people because sometimes it's frustrating it's like that's what i'm known for yeah i love all your shit but it's like i need to be more brutally honest with people because like when you're telling me i lack motivation i can't go i was like man the you know man up and get your ass up and do the workout do the work you know that's what it takes is that mental game mental toughness you know it's we can sit and talk about it all day long and i and i even tell these people dude i could give you all the advice in the world and tell you what i did but yet if you're not taking on board you're

not getting your own ass up off the couch or whatever get out of the to do the work then there's no hope for you yeah so you get at the end of the day then you take it upon yourself there was actually something in the navy seals they had like five bullet points that they thought were really important it was one of them was the fifth one it was the lesson of doing the extra work and they highlighted that if you ever wanted to uh change the world in any aspect you can't be afraid of the circuses they called it does that make sense to you and then it says when you fail a daily physical event the navy seals circus is having to do two hours of more additional calisthenics. Does that make any sense to you at all?

I guess if you don't go above and beyond, they make you and your crew do two hours extra. Extra work. Designed to wear you down or break your spirit and force you to quit. Yeah. I mean, that kind of boils down if you're not exceeding expectation. Maybe instead of circuses, it's circuses. If you don't perform, then they're going to make you pay. Yeah.

The Navy SEAL mindset is like even when I became a Navy SEAL, even when I was a chief, like I've been in the Navy pushing 13 years. Obviously, I've been there, done that. But even as a leader, when I was leading guys, you constantly have to perform. There's a saying like earn that trident every day. I don't care how old you are. I don't care how junior you are. You constantly need to perform and try to be better than everybody else.

But go the extra mile. Exactly. Is what I'm saying. Do the extra work. Go above and beyond. And so you earn that title, that position to do the job. And that's what breeds good individuals and hitters. And that translates in real life too.

People who aren't SEALs. You could use all those tools, all the things we're talking about. It's like you apply it to your own life. Always getting after, always setting high goals for yourself. Go to the gym. Try to beat the guy that you think is fit in the gym. Like I do this. There's guys in this gym like they're better than me,

and I make them try to put a run for their money. You know, I try to put out to the point where they're like, holy shit, this dude's catching me right now and making me sweat. You know, or vice versa. Like I look at some of the people like are catching up to me, and I thought I could smoke them, holy shit, this dude is catching me right now and making me sweat. Or vice versa. I look at some of the people that are catching up to me and I thought I could smoke them. But yet, no, this dude is gaining on me quick. So I need to put out more.

So that makes you a better person in general. Even if you lose. Exactly. If you lose, like, dude, I've been humbled so many times in CrossFit gyms that it's honestly mind-blowing. But it's a good feeling, you know, in a sense of humbling with workouts, getting smashed, and then with individuals that I thought I could beat, and they beat me, or they outlift me, and I'm like, holy cow. Maybe I'm not as good as I thought I was.

But, like, again, it boils down to have humility, suck it up, but that's how you get better. Yeah, humility is another thing that Jocko always talks about. That's like that's like one of the hardest things but also one of the most beneficial things yeah it's hard exactly it's hard to humility is a good trait to have be humble and that's in early on that's bred into the seal community like day one is like having humility never think you're better than anybody you know just be that quiet professional uh i've heard that before quiet professional yeah and people in silence suffering silence people misconstrued like quiet professional you know whatever but that just goes along the lines of having humility you know don't

think you're better than anyone no matter what you do like to this day i'm the same i'm the i'm like that too like i don't think i'm better than anybody just because I'm a SEAL. Like who cares, you know? And a lot of times I experience guys try to like measure up to me or whatever just because they know I'm a SEAL. But at the end of the day, I'm just Travis, you know? But you do go above and beyond. Like I notice – I only notice certain members because of actions that they bring into the gym. Like I feel like you go out of your way to say hi to people more than somebody else or like you know yeah when herky or someone's going around with the camera you like you like to fuck around or like whatever i just i feel like for me personally like i wouldn't even have this gym if when i

coached classes at a gym that i was coaching at that i didn't own right if i didn't go above and beyond at that time no it's true for someone to invest in me like someone in a in a class is the person who gave me the money for this gym i don't know if you knew that i did not know that but i was coaching just like any of my coaches and somebody was like man this guy's a fucking great coach and they used to talk to me all the time what do you want to do with your life you know and i was like well you know this is yeah i would love to own a gym one day but i don't think it's appropriate right now it's you know it's 2013 there's a million gyms everywhere and i'm in orange county

which is like the mecca one is super expensive and two is the mecca of all these crossfits and like um i didn't win the grant i didn't win the games and actually someone who i used to coach with had gone to the games multiple times and did well and we both both opened gyms. I don't know if you knew this or not, but we both split off and opened gyms. And his failed. And mine went crazy. And I didn't even have anybody to help me in the beginning. None. I coached every class, every single day,

from 5 a.m. all the way to 8.15 p.m. And then I did all the computer stuff, everything I'd wake up in the morning. And even now, I don't have to wake up at five and get here but I like to do it and there is something about waking up and knowing that other people aren't willing to wake up that early and get their ass in here and and do the work that's right and and and stay after on their weekend like when on a day off and make a podcast with someone and and help somebody somebody who like literally you're going to get nothing out of it. Exactly.

You know what I mean? And those are the things that really go like a super long way. And I feel like that's like a big thing that is instilled in you guys. Like from the beginning, I think it makes a point to have exactly going above and beyond of things that you don't expect anything in return. You know, it's like simple as,

like you said, saying hi to someone being nice to somebody like i hear in my business calling someone on the phone responding to someone's message on instagram they're like blown away because no one responds to them to me it's so simple to do but it resonates with people too you know like it makes impact when you're like a good person a good human and people notice that thing you know those things you know in like you said you notice those things in members you know like i always make it a point to get to know people in my environment like i want to get to know people especially my coaches the owner like if i if you're going to a new if you're listening to this you go you're new to

crossfit walk in introduce yourself to the owner like. I mean, I like to do that just because I find it's out of respect. Hopefully he's there. Yeah, hopefully he's there. If he's not, then you wait. But definitely get to know the coaches and get to know the members too because some of the closest friends in my life are from CrossFit gyms, right? Yeah. Like all my friends back in Virginia, all my little clique of friends,

all go to the same gym. Okay. Dude, my closest, two closest friends all go to the same gym. Okay. Dude, my closest, two closest boys are not even SEALs. They're guys I met through CrossFit gym. Wow. So it's like some people might be surprised when they say that, but it's the truth. And like you'd be surprised. There's so many things that a gym, or it may not even be a gym,

but like things you join are like groups or sporting adult leagues or whatever. Like meet people. You might meet like one of your bestest friends, closest friends, and I did. And that's where I meet all my friends from, like CrossFit gyms. And again, I moved here. I know one person, one friend I grew up with. He lives here and that's the only person I know in this town. Oh, wow.

Now I come to this gym. Now I hang out with a handful of dudes from this gym. Now we're super tight. Guys, I never even thought I would ever meet in my life. They all come and walk us to life. Now we're boys. We're hanging out. Especially in this gym. We have such a great variety of just insane human beings.

When you start getting to talk to these people, it's like I didn't even know you did. I didn't even know you're an Olympian. We got Olympic gold medalists. I'm over here training like, I didn't even know you did. I didn't know you're an Olympian. Yeah, we got Olympic gold medalists. Holy cow. I'm over here training against – putting out next to this dude. He's a former Olympian and stuff like that. You would never even know until you open your mouth and talk to people.

And he's like 45, that guy. He's a freak. He's like – for those of you guys who don't know, he's like 6'4", 6'5", like 240 pounds yeah jack shredded olympical medal huge man yeah we have another guy who he's on nbc news every week in new york city talking like about the economics in the world really like oh dude he's insane kills it and then uh yeah just just crazy crazy people that are going to this gym is insane yeah dude that's why like the power of just saying hi to somebody is unreal it is yeah it doesn't go a long way it really is just open your mouth to talk to people get to know somebody and just like anything like everyone experiences like

the nerves like coming to a new new environment like even i do you know it's like i don't know anybody but i immerse myself in it and like i'm gonna come in here and put out i'm gonna make people get people run for their money in this gym and see if gonna come in here and put out i'm gonna make people get people run for their money in this gym and see if see how it is and then but yeah so many cool people people ask me all the time like uh do you ever want to get a manager for your gym or do you ever think about opening more gyms or any of this stuff and i'm always like well like i honestly feel like i don't know if i ever want any more gyms. And if I did, it would be like I would help them program and help them set everything up.

And I don't know if I'd really want to be there. But I like coming here because I feel like this is like – It's your home, dude. Even if I was incredibly wealthy to the point where like I didn't even need any money or anything, I'd still want to come here every day and work for a few hours and say hi to everybody and like have my routine. Yeah. Which I feel like is like super, super important. Yeah. hours and say hi to everybody and like have my routine yeah which i feel like is like super super important yeah and i actually feel kind of bad for people who don't have a gym that's like a group

vibe right like i go to 24 every once in a while and do just like random things like because my knees messed up i'll do like some leg machines and stuff like that and when i'm in there i'm like man this place sucks this is not the same at all no and i don't feel motivated even when i leave it's not like i'm gonna go fuck shit up like you can't even compare it yeah i'm gonna go to my computer and fuck that thing up you know you cannot even compare whatever but yeah it's like nice to have something of your you know only come here and like dude yeah like and being a member dude everyone here enjoys seeing you come in here you know because it's nice to see you know the head basically the head coach owner you know obviously you with your reputation like

coming here especially when sometimes you join the classes and like work out and shit like you best believe all the dudes in there like all right now it's time to put out i think that i'm like all right i'm gonna see i see what ryan's doing over there all right statue 185. All right, maybe I can't do that. I do love doing classes. It's fun. So I know that like now that you're out, like one of the big things you look forward to is like going to a gym like this. What are like some other things that you miss about that community that you wish you could apply into your life now? Or maybe there's nothing.

But there's got to be some big things that you're missing a little bit. I would say the dude – like I touched on this earlier, but the guys definitely. The lifestyle a little bit I miss, a little bit as far as like maybe routine. The training, I always enjoyed like the training aspect of it because I'm always learning and getting better at my skills. The training you get is like bar none, dude. It's world world class and it's definitely made me the man I am today especially with my shooting so I miss those aspects and it's I don't really miss like the lifestyle per se because that's what kind of made me change I want to change change my lifestyle but it's the dudes in there the quality guys I worked with and the guys that worked for me when i was just got out like some solid mugs man yeah yeah it's like the caliber of guys that these guys are like fire and forget like they'll do anything for

you hard workers don't need to follow up with them it's like give them a task and they'll do it, get it done. And they'll do more. They'll exceed your expectations. Honestly, they're trying to outperform you and outwork you out of a job, which I think it should be like that. You want to try to work me out of a job because eventually I'm going to be leaving. So try to take over. But that's the type of caliber of dudes.

And that's what makes the teams the teams in general is the dudes the dudes in there yeah there could be a bunch of cowboys sometimes but you know at the end of the day they're go-getters you know that's that's what i miss the most i would say as far as the teams are concerned okay no and now i know that you guys this sounds like this is like one of the first podcasts in a while where i haven't had any like knee slappers or people are like dying laughing but like we're talking about a lot of serious stuff and i want a lot of stuff to carry over to people and i want them to like leave this podcast and be like all right i'm gonna go fuck some shit up but i know you guys have some fun too oh yeah so let's talk about a couple of highlight like a couple times

that like some either really funny scenarios or just like something that you'll never forget. Like maybe you jumped out of a plane over some really cool place or you did something that was just – you traveled somewhere and just saw something amazing, like anything like that. Especially like in 13 years, you must have done some cool shit. I mean SEALs are like – I like to relate to like SEALs live like the rock star lifestyle. The things you don't see. We're always – we're training hard, but dude, SEALs party harder. I'm sure. I'm ready to hear.

Yeah. If you think you're going to miss out on drinking and partying by joining the military, especially the SEALs, don't be because you will get a lot of it. A lot of drinking, a lot of girls, a lot of everything you get. You get it all. But I've experienced a whole slew, like obviously partying, fighting, and lots of fights like in my career, bar fights. Just being like – you can imagine. Because people are picking on people who are SEALs? No, just group of alphas with dudes that –

you get a group of alphas boozing. And the next thing you know, like one little nudge and it's like game on. Yeah. Especially in Virginia Beach where it's like nothing but SEALs. Yeah. And then the other regular Navy dudes. Oh, so these are just SEALs fighting other SEALs? Oh, yeah.

No, no, no. We don't fight each other. Oh, okay, okay. I was like, oh, shit. Yeah. We don't fight each other. Oh, okay, okay. I was like, oh, shit. I've been blessed with the opportunity to go overseas, Afghanistan twice. Then I went to Columbia. Columbia was one of the coolest places I went to. Most guys don't have that, kind of didn't get that opportunity

to at least go over to combat twice at least. I've heard that Columbia one's a hard one to get. have that kind of get that opportunity at least go over to combat twice at least, you know, I, I've heard the Columbia one's a hard one to get. Yeah. Columbia. Being still team four was like, it's their,

their area of operation in South America. So they're kind of specialized in like that jungle warfare type stuff. And that's always been like their reputation ever since they've started. But my last one was to Columbia and I got to stay there the entire time. So we lived in Columbia. We lived in like, it was like the funny, it was like Pablo Escobar style. Like we lived in like this mansion,

five story mansion. Like it was ridiculous. Had like six rooms, a rooftop deck elevator in there, pool in the dead center of this. I'm talking poverty-ridden beach town. Our neighbors had like tin roof shack shingles on their roof, you know, like mud hut over there just like living off scraps, like dirt poor. We're over here like balling over here, like Americans over here.

Are you guys in uniform or in regular clothes? We're in regular clothes. So no one knows who you guys are? They knew we were Americans. They knew we were up to something. They probably didn't know we were military, but they knew we were gringos over there. We got the money over there. What are they doing? What are they up to?

Were you guys just partying the whole time? This is the part that I want to know. We're in a city called Cartagena, and that's like the biggest Mecca tourist party town in Colombia. It's right on the coast. Beautiful. I only know of like Bogota, right? Bogota is like capital, but Cartagena is like on the coast, and that's where all people come to chill on the beach. Damn, so you're right there.

Oh, we were right there. We lived like 20 minutes outside of town in this little beach town. I lived on the beach. You could see the beach like 20 yards away of town in this like little beach town like i lived on the beach you can see the beach like 20 yards away oh wow uh it was pretty kind of surreal experience being like in the military like a seal like and then getting that type of treatment it's like this is real because prior to that i did two deployments overseas and now those are like and afghanistan's not nearly sucking yeah I was like living in dirt eating out of like

no living like off nothing yeah like living like hell but then you go fast forward and like alternate reality like now you're like

living like a baller like doing whatever you want but Columbia was definitely anything other than that experience I mean we I was like running the show

and we definitely played more than we worked for sure. Okay. I mean, we were constantly like every weekend going out. We rent boats. We go out to like Isla Rosario. It's like an island off the coast. We just rent a boat with our, you know, get some girls and go out there and just cruise out.

There's supposed to be beautiful girls there. Oh, yeah. Some of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. Yeah. Good for you. We're out there. Oh, yeah. Some of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. Good for you. We're out there partying. I don't condone any of these actions. But we would do that every weekend, go spend time, and just see the sights.

It was kind of a surreal experience, to be honest with you. What was the job title at that point? I was an LPO. My title was a leading petty officer. I was running four of the SEALs, so five SEALs including myself, and there was two other support people that weren't SEALs, so a total of seven of us. But what's the point of you being there? Are you allowed to tell me that?

Yeah, we were there. We did some counter-narcotic stuff, and then we worked. We trained, mostly just trained the Colombian Special Forces unit. Oh, cool. Basically their base was like a five-minute drive away and we constantly just would every day. That would be our job 95% of the time. So teaching them how to shoot. Exactly.

Tactics, shooting, all kinds of different type of skill sets. Basically it was from 9 to noon. Every day I set the schedule, like 9 to noon. And then we do it by noon. That's the reality of things. Wait, so hold on. This is your last deployment and then you retire? Yeah, this was like the cushiest thing I've ever done in my naval career.

Stuff they don't talk about. But this is like the cushiest thing. When my new guys this was like their first deployment they would complain. Like this sucks. We don't have internet. I'm like shut.

First world problems. We don't have internet. When electricity went out it's like shut up dude. We're out here partying, drinking every weekend, renting boats and having fun. And we're working from 9 to noon. This is like – this is cake.

Yeah. This is like – this is the dream right here. We're getting paid bank. Had any of these guys previously gone to Afghanistan? No. One of them did, but he wasn't even carted in. None of my guys I was with, they did a plane but nothing to Afghanistan. So they didn't truly appreciate it like you did.

Yeah. So I always constantly reminded them. I was like, dude, it can get worse. It always can get worse. No matter what in life, it's always – something can always get worse. But that was definitely like the – not a highlight, but it was a fun deployment. The two prior to that were fun too but those are this kind of night and day difference yeah yeah that sounds like a great time yeah it was it was six months like dude

at the end of it then i was like depressed to leave i didn't want to come home yeah i was like it needed none of the dudes wanted to come home either you're like about going back there now yeah i thought about it you can buy one of those little shacks for free. Live like a baller up there. You know, your money goes a long way. Is the lifestyle at least cool down there?

It is. It's not bad? Yeah, lifestyle. Honestly, it's like if you want to live a good lifestyle, you're pretty much like paying American money,

American prices. Okay. But it's nice. It's like mini Miami like in Cartagena. It's not as like huge as Miami but it's like a little miniature Miami version but

yeah dudes were like depressed even come home like I'll stay here for another six months I'll stay here for another year I don't want to leave they don't want

to go home to like their family but I was like I felt the same way but I was like we got to leave it's our time but it was fun definitely one for the books all right so i hate to go on 180 but

now that we go from the greatest moments any like terrible moments you had like a close call or you lost a friend or anything like that overseas yeah like a lot of a lot of close calls i mean i tell you like i wrote it down like one of the because i saw this question like scariest moment or like whenever fear i experienced like fear as a navy seal like a lot of times all seals experience fear training we do like high-risk training it's like it's common sense even some people don't think that but trust me we do but i would say this when i was scared the most was on my second deployment in uh in afghanistan because the second deployment was nothing like the first the second one was like we were we were like in the middle of nowhere and we're like this new mission where we're like embedded right next to a village it was more kind

of like hearts and minds we're there for eight months five six and we're living on a little makeshift base that we made i mean literally you could throw a football to the other side of it. It's so small. Like we're living out of a tent on a cot. We didn't even have a kitchen. For eight months? I mean, for about six and a half months we were living on that thing. We eventually, at the end of it, moved.

We had to shut it down because we weren't going anywhere. The mission wasn't a success. So the guys higher than us that make decisions were like pull out, destroy everything, moving on. But three quarters of that point we're living on a cot, no kitchen. At one point we're like – I saw on there like what was the nastiest meal we ever had over there. Like we had an army guy that was a cook attached.

We had a couple army guys and it's like a cook that we used to bust his balls his name was timmy i mean this guy was like private pile like freaking full metal jacket dude like you didn't want to test it he had like a kill list you don't want to get on his bad side i felt like this dude was gonna snap he had like because we used to bust his balls because he would never put out in the cooking food well yeah no kitchen first off but we wake up the morning like he was supposed to cook us like breakfast he would just like microwave these nasty ass french toast sticks and throw a plate like paper plate out there you go turds like there's your breakfast one time you like he started a fire with diesel fuel to cook our mashed potatoes and what do you think that his like diesel fuel potatoes it was like the nastiest thing i've ever had in my fucking life. Like, dude, you don't start a fire with diesel fuel and like cook our food over it.

Like, you idiot. Yeah. Oh my God. Like this guy, he got made fun of so hard, like to the point we thought he was going to kill himself. Oh man. But it was all good. It was kind of like all good fun,

but obviously everything was fine. But the scariest movie there was, because on the second point, we constantly got attacked like every single night. I mean we made a joke like towards the middle of the point. It was like TIC-30. Like TIC is an acronym in a sense for Troops in Contact, so T-I-C. We would just say TIC-30 because literally every night like at 7.15, 7.30, we would just start – they would start shooting at our base from these ridge lines.

Because we were surrounded by mountains and we were kind of in a bowl. The villagers in a bowl were right next to us. So, I mean, they could just shoot down on us. It was very easy for them. That's kind of a shitty position to put you guys in. That was the nature of it. Yeah. So what did you guys do?

Did you shoot back or did you just hide? Oh, yeah, we shot back. Yeah. Well, again, down on the high ground, we're living in Alaskan tents made out of fabric. We got some like these HESCO walls that go around for somewhat cover. So we try to utilize that. Thank God no one got hit. But rounds would come through our tent constantly.

But the scariest moment was when they would launch mortars. You know, people don't know. Basically, it's indirect fire. They shoot these kind of grenades that fly up in the air, and they come down on top of your head uh you can't hide from those yeah unless you have like a no shit bunker underground bunker or something you can go into and we did not have anything like that but it's hard to aim those things it's hard to aim those things but they landed in our one landed in our damn kitchen and blew the shit out of our kitchen they got a dude happened to be in there and he dove dove into, like, this other room.

He got fragged in the back a little bit. He didn't get really hurt. But these things were making it in our FOB because our FOB was not – our base wasn't hard to hit. I mean, it was, like, middle of an open space. So it's like, you know, dumb luck. Some rounds are going to hit, you know, just so you can imagine. And this happened every night? I mean, this happened constantly.

Shooting every night, the mortars would happen, like, a couple times a week. But, like, that would scare me the most because, and I knew it would scare the dudes because, first off, when it happened, we'd be, like, at the beginning, we'd be half asleep, like, in flip-flops. So many times I would wake up, like, or midnight, wake up, flip-flops, freaking just, like, I like or midnight wake up flip-flops freaking just like i

would wear like crossfit clothing or whatever like workout gear we also be getting a firefighter at the run out put on her body armor and grab her guns so many times like you hear stories about that you know caught with our pants down that's the truth yeah and the scariest thing was the mortar thing because dude they'd be landing in our fob and i would all of us would just be hunkered up against a wall like a hesco thing i mean that's not gonna do anything we just did it kind of like comfort like mental comfort but at the end of the day if one landed next to me i'm done i mean that provides no protection whatsoever uh so that like that was like holy shit like this is real and then all of a sudden they're landing inside.

So it's like, these fuckers are getting close. But thank God no one got really hurt. Six months of that would have been a little bit rough. Yeah. In the beginning, dude, it was like dudes were on high order, high edge. Because we weren't expecting it. We'd just be laying down in our fucking cot. Next thing you know, we're taking rounds.

Dudes freak out, fall, wake up, panic, grab your kit, you know, don't really know what's going on. And then towards, like, the middle of deployment, you know, the boys start to get used to it, start to get used to the environment, you know, just because lifestyle is different, dude. Sleep sucks, eating sucks, everything, you know. Plus then you're waiting, like, oh, shit, 7.15, like these fuckers are gonna start hitting us like right about now so like eventually it got to the point where like all of us would be in our rack like or just chilling in full gear just like

waiting just like chilling in full gear full body armor got my boots on got my pants on so these fuckers not gonna catch us on guard yeah obviously we we caught their game, but up to that point, it definitely caught us off guard in the beginning. That was probably some of the scariest moments I had. A couple other times, like getting shot at. Anything close range? Close range, yeah.

As far as shooting is concerned. Like in a firefight, close range? Yeah, a couple times close range. First deployment, my very first encounter ever getting shot at when I was first deployed to Afghanistan was on top of a mountain. And I spent countless nights on top of freaking mountains. That's why hiking and shit was huge. We did a lot of hike training.

We call it heat training in the Nevadas, the nevadas out by a fountain fallon nevada out there so we did a lot of yeah so we do like long three week four week trips to just like hiking and stuff like that and it really paid dividends especially in afghanistan because it's real mountainous terrain so we dude i spent so many every op i was like land get landed on top of a mountain or just at the base of it we had to hike up and i would just be overwatch for like the main element below uh but one one the very first time that i got shot at like that was like i mean it was like on top of us was we're on top of a mountain the sun was creeping down and like the ridge line over apparently the dude saw we didn't see them they saw us because these these fuckers are sneaky that we're in their country. They know when shit stands out.

They just started hammering us with what ended up being a PKM, which is like a Russian machine gun. It's a pretty big round. Dude, I was with four other guys. They had the bead on the two guys because it was like rock cropping. And my two guys kind of like on a ledge that was about 10 feet above me. They were just honed in on those dudes. like if they would have popped up they would have their heads taken off like no doubt and they were then they started peppering us we're lucky enough we're

behind these huge rocks uh but it was like it was effective let's say it's like ineffective fire we know this was effective fire like to the point where if i move away from this rock right now i'm gonna get hit, no doubt. Eventually, when they started kind of slowing down, then we hammered them. We crushed them. We called in the air support and destroyed them. Okay. But that was, like, my first encounter of getting shot at to the point where

because prior to that, it was kind of, like, distance, plink, plink, like, nothing close, you know. They were still shooting at us, but it wasn't, like. You could, like, see these guys. Yeah, you could see them over there. And the rounds, I mean, it was, like, pep, boom, boom. Like, rounds were just, like, ricocheting off these rocks, like, I mean, a couple feet from me, you know. And you could see it peppering.

It was some rounds were lobbing over my head, hitting the rock, cropping right behind me, too. So it was definitely, like, right on top of our heads and that was kind of like the first encounter for me as a new guy being a first deployment like hey this you know reality check like this real deal i would i would read that book um the lone survivor book with marcus latrell have you read that book yes you know when he has like the opportunity he like he runs into a couple guys or sheep herder yep right and he has like the opportunity to whether he's going to basically kill this guy or not because he's worried that they're gonna yeah when one walks up on him yeah he's a tell yeah what do you think you do in that scenario so for those of you who don't know marcus lachelle lone survivor if you don't if you never heard of that

book that'd be kind of odd it's like a famous navy seal yeah but basically comes up on a sheep herder and obviously the law is you have to let him go but you can't second like your instinct is like this guy's got to go because he might get all of us killed which the gut instinct you know he's just going to tell he's going to leave and go down the village and like of course he's going to say something they just ran a group in the movie they do a really good job of it too but what do you think your your plan is on that? My plan was just to hold him. He'd be coming with us. Okay.

I would obviously cuff him up. I didn't even think that was an option for some reason. Yeah, I mean... Did they do that in the movie? No, he let him... They just let him straight go, huh?

Yeah. He didn't hold him. And then... Or did he hold him for a little bit? They held him for a little bit. They were obviously contemplating what they should do.

Yeah. Kill him or bring him with. And then, you know, they decided on, hey, let him go because it's a difficult – it's easy to armchair a quarterback, but it's a difficult decision for a platoon commander, an officer to make that call. Like, okay, obviously we're not just going to murder this guy in cold blood just because he walked up hurting a sheep, this young guy. So it's a hard decision to make but a lot of obviously lessons learned are in blood so it's like looking back

now my natural instinct probably would have been just like this dude's coming with me he's coming as to the point where i'm getting picked up by the helicopter and then i'm gonna kick him right in the ass off that helicopter or leave him there and then bye we're gone you know it's like who cares bring him with you uh he could go tell his his boys later but we're gone at that point yeah you're gone at that point so i know it's easier it's easier than i could sit here and say that but yeah that's something like i would definitely consider and i we've experienced stuff like that overseas like we see spotters and guys would come walking up on us uh and you know we would just tell them to fucking get away you know because we were there during the day our the gigs up at that point they know they know like americans are in the village so we don't do anything to them but

in that particular situation them they were like doing reconnaissance so small team no military no american military there presence so like being caught there is was a big deal you know it's like is at that point we were in that area so now i could i could only imagine the decision you know he had was good things i was going through his head to make that call but yeah you know fast forward to when i went there it's like we've already been there for years so it's like they're kind of used to americans showing up and we're not just gonna like we may hold the guy like i've held guys while we're there and then kick them out when we're leaving i've done we've done that plenty of times and then how many missions are going on typically like that are

really really important that the public doesn't even really know about. I would say, I mean... There's quite a bit of stuff going on that we never want to hear about. No, there's missions going on constantly over in, like, Africa. I mean, even to this day in the Middle East, there's still units there. So, doing good things. Like, really important shit, right? Yeah, in Syria and all that stuff. Like, all the stuff that's been popping off.

All good... You know, they're doing good things you don't hear about in the news anymore. Yeah. But there's still a presence of U.S. military, and it's all Special Forces guys. You know, like, Army is the ones that usually occupy. SEAL is not so much anymore. SEALs are more like Africa and stuff like that. And then you've got, like, the national mission with SEAL Team 6.

They do missions, too, but those ones you don't hear about, you know. So there is work being done that's not advertised. Do you think eventually all of the special forces will be obsolete at some point because they'll have a bunch of smart fucking drones flying around shooting people and stuff? Yeah. I don't think you could ever replace, me personally, I don't think you could ever replace a human kind of instincts

and decision-making skills. I agree. But I think we're going to use less and less as time goes on for sure. It will be more surgical, like, oh, we need people to do this job, you know, advice, technology in the future. That human element will go away, but it definitely will dwindle a little bit much less be much less the technology is pays a huge role in the seal i mean we're now like we got out we're all connected via wi-fi now uh every person in the platoon we got huge like tablet like phablets phones attached to us that

like it's all bluetooth all internet all know, it's all technology now. So it's only going to improve from here too. So night and day difference, like everything from, you know, it's crazy to think like we just now, we had the iPhone, you know, Android or something like that, but now having it as like an operator on the battlefield, like you can do every drop bombs from it, calling helos from it. It's like track everybody

on the field where they're at you can just see them real time like boom right there it's like it's wild to see would you rather be on the field like that or like traditional old school i'd rather have technology okay i'm a huge technology advocate okay i love like computers and using technology to your advantage. I feel like I would rather be old school. I'm not sure. Like Vietnam, rolling through.

But I haven't obviously been there. Mapping compass, just old school. But as long as everybody were on a fair field, no one else has technology, I feel like that's

a better way to go. Oh yeah. America's cutting edge of technology in the back. I want to fucking bayonet some motherfucker straight up. I think those days,

back in the day when you're like up close and personal yeah like world war ii yeah i'm like that that's what i think that will come back no it's never gonna come back that but that's like i couldn't only imagine like those type of wars that's like face to face yeah like up close and personal getting in like fist fights and like stabbing dudes and killing them like yeah that's the movie platoon he's got the guy's head like in his backpack and shit you know what i'm talking about yeah you're like scalping people and like taking mementos like people's toes and shit probably good i wasn't a seal because i for

sure have some dude's head in my backpack like i would that was like the type of opportunity trust me it's the type of shit seals talk about like we want to fucking take this dude out and like take a little memory of him you know what i mean yeah like that's the type of stuff that i always thought about when i was younger i was like i want to be fucking bad motherfucker yeah i wish that i don't like to say i wish that but like that's like those those type of wars i don't think are ever anymore that's why i was like did you ever get shot like close quarters i know a lot of it's like a lot farther distance now yeah i would say like the closest a few hundred meters, like never like 20 yards away. Like, you know, I took shots at a guy that was close, but never, he never returned fire.

But other than that, it was mainly like, I would say like a hundred yards away, you know, because dude, the enemy, they're cowards. They don't have the balls to fucking get up close and personal with like a bunch of hitters, fucking bearded out, yoked out Navy're cowards, dude. They don't have the balls to fucking get up close and personal with a bunch of hitters, fucking bearded out, yoked out Navy SEALs, dude. They don't fucking – these dudes are scared shitless. They know – they came to a point where they're savvy. They know that, hey, dude, these dudes are not regular. Yeah, he's not a regular guy.

Stay away. If these dudes are out patrolling, don't try to fuck with them because they're gonna like mess us up you know like so they became savvy sometimes you get some guys they get the guys that are we'll try to do something but they're like far away and they're fucking cowards and just take a couple pop shops at you and like bail or hide their weapon and then start walking away but yeah they once they know like hey seals are here special forces or something like that they they almost a lot of times would steer clear okay yeah they know because not every unit's like doing what we're doing and we're out in the middle of nowhere like only special forces get embedded like in the middle of nowhere in these small little bases so they they pick up

on that shit they're not dumb um so like what at this point in your life you've done a lot of crazy shit that gets your adrenaline going and besides the crossfit gym and your business like what else do you'd like to do like i like i mean you have any goals of uh hiking big mountains or riding across the country or anything surfing's another kind of passion of mine i'm getting more into now you know. I find a lot of joy in that. Yeah, I'm not – honestly, I'm not like much of a hiker. I don't seek to go mountain climbing and stuff like that. Because I did a lot of it like with work.

I was going to say, I feel like you did so much of it. So I never sought it out in my own personal time with hiking. So I know a lot of guys do like climbing rock climbing and bouldering and all this challenge yeah challenge stuff you know my goals are like i set for myself like in the gym or i learn new skills like or with my shooting skills like i try to push myself to like be a good shooter like not just average but really good fast and would you ever want to compete in shooting? It's an Olympic sport. Yeah, I like to do, honestly, I like to get in a three-gun competition shooting.

It's like a civilian kind of high-paced shooting. That's something I would want to consider looking into doing. But honestly, right now, my events are like doing fitness and maybe surfing. Those are the two things I kind of find peace in right now. And my a hundred percent focus on is like the business too. Like it's actually kind of consumed my life. Cause there's always something I feel like I could do every single day that, or if I'm not doing it, like I should be doing that.

Yeah. So it's, we're constantly trying to make it better, create something new, whether that be like marketing or product or service or whatever. I know that like shooting in general is getting pretty big as far as a brick and mortar is concerned. And I feel like whenever anything brick and mortar starts to get big, it's like five years behind the online boom of that yeah so like shooting it's like especially in california and especially in like orange county area there's always i always thought it was like a stigma like oh my god guns are so you stay away

from those so there's more ranges now than ever i know people but thing is like people are blowing me up to train like they want to shoot they want to get their guns they buy get their guns. They buy all these guns and they want to go use them. So I give them the opportunity to do that and teach them how to properly use it. So believe it or not, people are like, how are you doing with California out there, especially in Silicon? I'm like, pretty good. Two people want to shoot. You'll be surprised at how many people want to shoot out here and are willing to come out and do it and pay for it. So it actually blew me away at first but again there's

my market there's not that many people doing it so i find that's why my little edge here and especially in this area but i remember you saying you want to get into youtube right yeah youtube is my next like feat i have a channel but that's like my next kind of venture with marketing, just putting out good video content, like educational, you know, maybe some cool guy shit. Mainly just like shooting educational stuff for people to kind of learn from too. Yeah. Yeah. And I think having your signature teams thing at the end. Yeah.

You'll be hearing a lot of teams after every video I do. I think that's what really sets it apart though. I think it's like the one thing I'll always remember. I'll remember that as much as I remember David Goggins or Jocko because I'll just be like, that's the dude that always says teams at the end. Teams is something like, it's not just some little slogan thing. It is a slogan, but it's not something I just created one day. It has resonance.

It means something. It's like the teams. Your team, what comes of that what is you know your brother the brotherhood and you know everything that goes along with the brotherhood too and that's why we say like people team guys you know seals say it we say like end of sentences like oh that was cool fucking teams you know that was teams you know we did something cool like did a cool skydive or we like hooked and climbed with this moving shit like teams that was yeah that was some team shit. I like that.

So we say it in that context, and that's why I say it at the end of mine. We do something with shooting or anything fucking badass. I feel like someone accomplished their goals. Dude, that's teams, dude. That's what it's about, and that's why I say it. I'm glad that people like it and it resonates with people. I wake up at 5 a.m. every day and I text my friend teams. Even though I wasn't in the teams, I'm like,

it's a reminder to just be better than yesterday. Exactly. You can apply it to any team you're on. It's not necessarily just applies to freaking SEAL teams. In your personal life, your group, your team, the gym you're part of, or whatever you do, your football team, sports team, whatever, just teams, man. That's what it's about. Do something badass, and at the end of it, I can say teams

and see how it fires you up. Make your boy fire it up too. Yeah, hell yeah, dude. You've got to say it hard though. Yeah, you do have to say it hard. And it has to cut out instantly. You can't keep going. That's why I go like i say

teens it's like team boom done done um but yeah like i was saying i feel like everything once it gets big and i feel like a lot of these ranges are getting really big and shooting is getting big but i don't think i've heard or seen of a lot of like online presence in there no yeah it's weak i think you start hitting the youtube and i think maybe make some instructional videos yeah just like somebody would make you know workout videos yeah probably kill it that's exactly kind of what i'm gearing towards eventually i could end like long term i would like my own basically ranch slash compound where i could bring people to and just not like live there full time but i like my own range in a sense that's not open to the public but it's where i can invite shooters to come and like do an experience and like hold my own because you

know i like using the range i do but you know it's that's like one step away like that's a kind of i find it as like a chink in my business chain you know because it's relying upon someone else you know so that's my long-term goal is have a place to my place of my own where I could, I have that freedom. I can make videos. I could shoot when I want, do whatever. Where would that be? You know, I want, I want it to be in California. Okay. And I've already looked like out near Joshua tree out in the desert. So I was within like two, two and a half hours away, not too far away because I want to live here in Orange County. I want to live in Newport Beach, Costa Mesa.

I fucking love this town. I finally just was able to buy a house in Newport Beach and I'm like – Yeah. Fucking goals as fuck. That's awesome, dude. I'm so pumped. And you're in a clutch location too. You can't ask for anything better than that. And that's what like my long-term goal is.

Like live here, have a house in Costa or Newport and and then drive out once a month maybe, spend a weekend there, do a cool experience with people, and have fun. That would be super dope. Invite people. We talked about bringing the chalk crew out. It's that much easier when you have your own gig. Just like the gym. You got your own gym.

Hey, come in here. Come to the gym. Dude, you could even – we got a lot of really high baller people in this gym like you could probably do like invites with like celebrities i know that like that's what the realm i want like corporate like team building experiences like just need one contract for the month to pay for that thing you know yet and that's the goal is like one weekend a month where it's like you said it's like one contract a group of people and that's that's all i need you know? And that's the goal is like one weekend a month where it's like you said, it's like one contract, a group of people, and that's all I need, you know? I 100% could get that for you.

Yeah. And that's like my ultimate goal too. And it'll provide a better service to people as well. If it's my own facility, I can make badass ranges. I know how to make all these ranges. I have all the ideas. It's just having your own place. You have full control over it.

But that's obviously with time it'll come. But the fact that you can see that is already like 99.9% better than most people. Most people can't see exactly what it looks like. Yeah, that's like the overall. For Kennedy Defensive Shooting, it's the overall, for Kennedy Defensive shooting, it's going to be like Kennedy Defensive shooting ranch, where people would come for experiences. They'd come blast and have fun.

I like that. Full experience. They could stay at night. We're going to drink bourbon. We're going to hang out and cook hogs, have good food, and then the next day train and have fun. It's not going to be like strict buzz, like SEAL shit. It's like, no, we're going to have a good time and learn something too, get something out of it.

I was so bummed to hear that the SEAL fit guys, do you know SEAL fit? I know SEAL fit. Do I know it? I heard they had to stop the Kokoro camp, which was like a little mini Hell Week. Mini experience? Oh, yeah. I didn't know that. Yeah, someone passed away like in the training.

It was like, it was completely done. It was like the graduation part and some dude just dropped dead holy cow and then they were like i think the seal fit gym's not even there anymore the whole thing got like sued and holy cow whatever i was super bummed to hear that i don't know if it's 100 accurate but i heard that and i was like oh that's a bummer that is a bummer because you know they do help a lot of people individually with training and like setting them up for success. I remember following his workouts and being like, this guy's out of his mind. But, dude, again, it's like high-risk training.

Yeah, it was gnarly. Not so long ago, a Bud student passed away in training. Actually, it happens all the time, right? Not all the time. Not all the time, but it does happen. And guys pass away like I drowned. People are in uproar. Like, oh my god, someone killed a student and all the instructors, blah, blah, blah. It's like, no, he didn't.

The training is dangerous. What do you think? Being a SEAL is like easy day, perfectly safe. It's not, especially in training. The things that make you do, yeah,'s you could die doing it you could drown you could you know and everyone's different reacts differently to different stressful situations too so he was unfortunately he passed but that's just kind of the nature of nature of the beast you know and that's unfortunate that happened in i didn't hear about that but because i actually like that company too they make a lot of good

things i always refer to dudes that need a starting place like hey check out seal fit because they got a lot of good programs too yeah yeah that is cool well i hope that you put your stamp on the world as the the shooting guy for sure yeah i hope especially in this area i don't feel like in this area there's nothing nothing yeah yeah there's like some companies here but they're not trying to do what i do is they want to just kind of rotate people and just do kind of mediocre stuff. Yep. And I'm more like niche and I want to like give people quality. And you like just started your Instagram and it's already growing pretty fast.

Yeah. Yeah. I do the, yeah, the Instagram and social media game is a new venture frontier for me. Uh, but I love it though. Yeah. It's funny. like super fun i admit it but

like i i find joy in it and pleasure and like you have your own style which i think is cool a lot of people don't know what they want their style to be yeah i didn't know either i was like it kind of just naturally my personality i guess started showing within the feet you know everyone has their own personality like you do because people resonate with that. So it's like you got to find your own style too like you said. It's like I didn't know where the hell to start. But as soon as I started posting things, I was like, okay, the Teams thing. Okay, I started showing who Travis is.

Because I remember you touched on like – you mentioned this in like one of your posts. You're like getting used to like bumping up your game, feeds, Instagram stories, being in front of the camera. I took that on board, man, because I – Just texting your friends. Yeah, texting your friends. Like call them or get on FaceTime or whatever. I do it all the time. Yeah.

Now I do – I've been trying to do more video story posts than just typing like, oh, come train with me. Type. Like get on the horn and like get in front of the camera because that does – It's huge. Yeah, it's way different. i get way more interaction when i talk more views like way more everything and then i think people get really uncomfortable with it they're like man i really want to get better at social media and i'm like dude you have to get in front of the camera yeah like you have like even products i tell people like it doesn't even matter if you're a better coach than somebody else like if they like you as a person more, you're going to win more.

Yeah. They're buying you. They're not buying what you're doing. Yeah. They want to know who you are. I feel like every single person right now listening to this, they know somebody on Instagram that they fucking hate more than anything, and they're killing it. Yeah. And they're mad that they're killing it.

They're like, why is this person killing it? And it's like because he's not afraid. No, he's not. You know what I mean? He puts himself out there. He or she puts himself out there. It's like, that's what you got to do.

And that's what I'm learning. I am learning down a fire hose, man. It's like, I already know people are going to hate me and say dumb shit. People see pictures of me all the time. And you're like, Oh,

you're on steroids or you're this or you're that. And it's like, well, I'm not going to not post a photo of my shirt off. Right. I'm not going to like, not do this. I'm not going to not do that.

It's like, it just is what it is. I've already caught flack for, uh, about myself about seals and stuff like that and i've honestly fully expected that but two reasons there's a reason why i did it and i did it because i started doing that now i don't care about doing it because it's credibility and guys they're not just going to come to me if i just says travis kennedy shooting instructor. They want to know I was a SEAL.

I have experience. But one of my closest – a friend of mine, he has his own company. He's like, dude, don't be afraid to brag about yourself and your experience. Like you said, I'm not going to please everybody. And guess what? I don't want to please everybody. If you don't like me, then unfollow me. I don't care. But you weren't like previous.

Exactly. I was already caught flack. I was a previous SEAL. There's a stigma in the community. Again, remember we talked about quiet professional? Again, that's one of those stigma things. Don't brag about you're a Navy SEAL this, Navy SEAL that, blah, blah, blah. Dude, shut up.

I don't care what you say. I've caught flack about doing it from up the SEALs. I know Gog care what you say. I've caught in flack about doing it from up boys, the SEALs. I know Goggins gets a lot of crap. Yeah, but at the end of the day, he talks about it. He's like, dude, he doesn't care. It's like no matter what you do, there's going to be haters everywhere, even in your own community, and I know that.

I know. Trust me, I know there's people out there right now and be like, what the fucking Kennedy? What the fuck? I see this shit online. He's posting fucking SE concealed photos of myself only. Yeah. I blur out everyone else's face.

If I post a group photo, every one of them blur it out. I never disrespect other people if I do a group post. I have respect. I don't talk about certain things in my post. So I do it respectfully. But I try to just do it just me, my experience, because I'm out. I can do that if I want to. It's my life. So experience, because I'm out. I can do that if I want to. It's my life.

So honestly, I enjoy doing it. I like it. But, dude, at this point, you gave them 13 years of your life. You're 31? Yeah, 31. So you're 31. I mean, that shit has to be said for you to become successful now. It's almost like me being an athlete for my whole life, and i never said any scores that i got or any competition trying to sell

people fitness programs like but you don't talk about it yeah it's really hard to do it's like you can't expect people to buy something and like never advertise the fact that you're you know professional athlete you know accomplished x y and z it's like this is how i live my lifestyle and it just a fool could could comprehend that yeah you know it's just it is how I live my lifestyle. Just a fool could comprehend that. It's how things are done now. Especially I found out like 90% of my business comes from social media. All my effort goes towards Instagram, Facebook, and I'm still learning it. But that's where my business comes from right now at least.

Half of it is like word of mouth referral, maybe Google search. But 90% of it comes from right now at least some of it's some half of it's like word of mouth referral maybe google search but 90 of it comes from instagram so that's where i see i mean that's it especially nowadays i mean even you know i look up to guys like yourself and i see dudes crushing is like i want to emulate that in my way you know like take all these things that you know you're doing the guys that i know in the same kind of same business and make my own style but emulate it yeah and that's it's important you know that's i don't think people who say that i know the people who say that don't own their own business don't know anything about business oh and they and they they they have hate and yeah i get all the time slack like maybe show camera guy hold it at this angle and all this.

I'm like – I don't even respond, but I'm like, dude, who are you? But again, exactly. It's like you need to put yourself out there, and that's what I'm doing. And you said it, and I saw it, and I was like, dude, you're right. Because I have – I had that stigma too, man. I was like in front of the camera. I'm not used to this. My experience is like, oh, talking in front of the camera, but it's getting a hell of a lot easier. The reason I made that

post is because one of my coaches, Memory, if you've ever met her, she's like, I want to get better, and like, I don't know what to do, and I'm like, honestly, I know this seems dumb, but like, this is what I want you to do, and then I made that post the next day. I was like, I don't want you to text anybody for the next week. You're allowed to text anyone even your husband i was like i want you to send him a video and say hey like how's your day going whatever i'm serious and she was like she was like laughing i was like i fucking dead serious i was like i don't care who texts you it could be a friend from fucking high school tomorrow you send them a voice memo back or a video like yeah ideally videos all week but talk your face whatever you know and she was like after three days she's like oh my god i feel so

much better oh yeah and i'm like yeah i'm telling you like it's more of a human interaction than text you're gonna get excited like i got excited this morning i put my fucking mountaineering boots on and i'm walking around i was walking around the gym and i was like i can't wait to post this shit like check these out and you'll notice like little things that you do that you think are like probably not even that funny you'll get more views that day than any other day yeah and what's going on is they're telling their friends hey you gotta look watch this video because this happened or whatever right like i'm in the bathroom talking about some fucking stupid shit at the urinal or something fucking someone pissed in and flushed it it's like that shit i love that shit that's that's real life people people do that shit 70 pound dumbbell

on the 50 pound rack i've been getting posts about that all week you're like life's over it's just hilarious but that stuff like that i take on board because i find it because i see it in my own business like a simple dude a simple phone call with someone goes a hell of a lot more away than just like texting like doing business over text like no one or or even over email like i never sit there and have a full-blown conversation on email it's like immediately like i want to call you right now i want to talk to you you know and that's and i feel that's paid dividends in my business and even my life too that we touched on early on this podcast just like talking to people, getting used to putting

yourself out there. Don't stop being introvert. Like, yep. Talk to people. We're losing that nowadays. Like if you are texting, emailing, like that's why social media is hot. It's like, dude, talk to someone because people feel like they get to talk to somebody. Yeah.

No joke. Like that's why social media is cool. That's why people follow people is because they literally have lost that reaction in their life. Like that inner, not reaction, that interaction is gone. Like people why people follow people is because they literally have lost that reaction in their life. Like that, not reaction, that interaction is gone. Like people don't talk to people anymore.

They probably text people all day long. Like I want to see what this guy's doing because keyword C. I want to see what he's doing. You know what I mean?

And they get, dude, their people are so connected. I see people that have been following me for years. They come to the gym and like they feel like they already know me.

Yeah, that's true. So like I'm not even nervous anymore. I literally feel like I've been hanging out with you forever. I know what you wear to bed. I know what your fucking sheets look like. I know you sleep next to your bicycle.

Isn't that crazy? It's crazy. It's crazy to think, but that's reality. When I was in high school, I was trying to jerk off to dial up internet. Yeah, dude. That didn't work. Yeah. Getting caught.

Sitting there with a boner for five minutes. My mom walking out. Trust me, that's happened. to jerk off to dial up internet yeah dude that didn't work yeah getting caught sitting there with a boner for five minutes my mom walking out trust me that's i have some good stories about that right there all right so where can everybody find you right now all right guys could find me on instagram name is uh travis kennedy 267 facebook kennedy defensive shooting or you go to my website at kennedydefensiveshooting.com. kennedydefensiveshooting.com? Yeah, those are three places. Instagram is my favorite.

Instagram is my main one, traviskennedy267. Find me on there. Message, DM, send me a DM. My link to my website is through there. You can send me a message anytime, and I'll get back to you. I make it a point to get back to everyone. People ask me questions on there i make it very at the end of the day may not right away but at the end of the day i will i will get

back to you i will respond to you unless you're just sending me some stupid ass question or some bullshit response i'm not going to get back to you but if it's like an educated question or serious business inquiry then i'll get back to you all right just keep that in mind i like that as you get more messages like i do i actually don't write anyone back anymore i only message them back yeah like with the voice uh or face i do that because you know when you're sitting there you're just like texting all the time yeah it sucks dude i can just or like if you voice it and it doesn't text it out right you know what i mean like now yeah now i just do the actual voice memo or i do a legit video people freak out over the video because they're like,

oh, I got to see him and he talked to me. That's a good point. I'm going to do that. Dude, serious connection that you get between you and the person. Because I haven't done that yet, especially when guys ask me about like the seal thing. I'm going to do that. I'm going to try that if I can start in the morning.

It's super easy. It's actually faster than texting them back. Oh, yeah. It's a long paragraph. Like it just takes forever. And then you get an even longer conversation. So it's like rather just one-stop shop, yeah. It's a long paragraph. It just takes forever. And then you get an even longer conversation. So it's like rather just one-stop shop, boom. Yep.

And then end it with Teams. Yeah, end it with Teams. And then done. Then it'll be the greatest thing ever, dude. Here's what you want to do. Blah, blah, blah, blah, Teams. And you just end it. And then people will be like, fucking this is all time.

I like that shit. All right. Anything else you want to add? I don't, brother. I like that shit. All right. Anything else you want to add? I don't, brother. I want to thank you, man, for having me. This is huge for me, huge opportunity. But, again, honored to sit and talk with you and get to know you better too. I'm equally as pumped.

Yeah. I probably could have talked forever. But this is definitely one of the longer ones I've had in a while. But I had so many questions. I know. You're going to work out? Oh, yeah. Oh, nice.

I just brought my gym bag. That's talk get it in all right let's do it all right chalk nation um until next tuesday memoirs of an abc i think that's what i'm gonna name this one all right i will see you guys next tuesday i hope you guys loved it please check out his instagram i swear to god it is fucking hilarious now that you know the teams thing like you're gonna watch it and you're going to be dead. And if not, unfollow me. No, I'm just kidding. No, you guys are going to like it. I swear to God. All right. I'll see you guys. Teams. All right, guys, that concludes the show. I hope that you loved it a little bit longer than normal, but there was so much good stuff in there. I mean,

who doesn't want to hear like everything from a Navy SEAL? I literally feel like I could have went on for hours and hours on that show. But I get to talk to him fortunately every day. He comes in the gym, works out, and you can definitely tell that he was an ex-Navy SEAL. He brings all the energy. He brings all the heat, and I love it. And there's so many people in the gym that love him, and it's a pleasure to have him every single day.

I hope you guys go ahead on Instagram and check him out. His videos are really, really funny when you watch the end and he says teams at the end. I'm telling you, when you see what I'm talking about, it's funny. But on my end, guys, I wanted you guys to just remember that all my stuff can be found on jimryan.com. It's G-Y-M-R-Y-A-N.com. All my books are on there. My challenges, all that stuff. So June 24th starts this next carb cycle challenge. If you guys wanted to hop on that one. Um, and then all of my books, you guys get discounts. It's real chalk, all capital letters, R E A L C H A L K real chalk gets you 25% off anything in my store for being a listener. And you guys are good. That's pretty

much all the things I have going on right now. And Chalk Online, obviously, is a beast of its own. If you guys ever want to check out those workouts, just send me a DM on Instagram. I'll send you some examples. You can see what we're doing. And yeah, again, thank you for listening to this podcast out of all the podcasts in the world

because there is so many. But you keep coming back to listen to me, and I love it. Make sure you guys share this show. Make sure you tell everybody that you loved it. Make sure you tag Travis as well. And I will see you guys next week.