Your Transformation Station - 3. Transition from Military to Civilian Life and Key to Mental Stability

Episode Date: February 7, 2020

Shawn Lopez the program manager for the Purple Knight Initiative (PKI), Knights Federal's Internship program for wounded warriors, and radio influencer (@Radioinfluence) to the "As You Were Podcast". Just after overcoming years of trauma, Sean believes embracing our vulnerabilities is the key to mental stability on this week's episode.PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: ⁠⁠https://www.ytsthepodcast.com⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You have to have a definition of success. If I could go back, there's not many things that I would go back for, but... What do you do when you lose your purpose? It's okay to struggle. It's okay that you're not okay. I am your host, Greg Favaza. Together, we will go on a journey. This show is all about surpassing our internal dialogue.

rediscovering your true identity. We have a chance to make the world a better place for our job. Start living in the example today and become your future self tomorrow. If you can leave our viewers with some good advice to follow, what would you let them know? These things that you're afraid to do, go do them. To your transformation podcast, I appreciate you coming on the show. I had every intention on, you know, being a hard charger and doing 20 plus years. With that, you know, my first deployment was in 2008 to Iraq.

You know, very, very little combat. It was heavy patrolling. By that time, the Iraq war was kind of dying out. What age did, sorry to cut in. What age did you join the military and also when you've been deployed, Sean? I was 18 years old. Just turned 18 in February. and then I went to boot camp in in March of 2007.

Okay. Any reason why you wanted to join the military? Man, you know, very patriotic. Yeah, it was, it was 9-11, you know. Yes. I'll never forget it as many of us. But 9-11, when that morning happened and, the towers head. I remember, you know, all these kids getting pulled out of class,

you know, just left and right. And the next, the next morning after, you know, we found out what happened and, you know, what that meant and what was going on, it was one of those things where, you know, the media was, you know, began talking about the Taliban and, you know, Al-Qaeda. Yes. Pointing fingers left and right. Yeah, you know, just pointing their fingers. And I remember them showing the videos of the training camps.

And they had, you know, the little kids in training camps. Yes, I remember. Me, I think, I was in. seventh grade, I think it was. And, you know, I'm like, well, hell, you know, if they have kids, you know, I want to go too. So I, you know, took took a notebook out and I started getting a petition with, you know, every, every boy in our school, like, yo, like, we want to go to war too. you know and that that's awesome Sean like that just that alone inspired you to take action I think that's amazing at the age of in seventh grade you said yeah that's awesome and let's

fast forward now you went to your first war in Iraq is that correct yeah and when you joined what was your MOS I was a infantryman 0-311 Um, a rifleman. Okay. That, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that was chosen, uh, by me, you know, it wasn't just one of those things where it was about, uh, both space, you know, I, enlisted as a infantryman. Um, I have, I have great respect for infantrymen.

I myself enlisted into the army and active, for active duty, uh, four and a half years as a rifleman. So I have complete high respect. we have a lot of competency. We can just see things on a higher level than the average person can't. Yeah, you know, best job ever, right? Agreed. So, you know, it's definitely one of those things where, you know,

I took it with honor and pride. I guess initially, you know, I wanted to serve and protect my country. Um, when's understandable, you know, but, you know, uh, as you're in and you're going through training or you're going through exercises, um, field ops. And then, you know, you do this big, long workup and, and you finally go to a combat zone, uh, that intent and that, perspective changes very fast. You know, it's it's not about, uh, can you elaborate on that? Can you elaborate? What do you mean your, your, your perspective? You know, uh, for me, it's, it's not the fact that, you know, I'm, I'm here to serve and, and protect my country. Um, and, and quite honestly, if I'm being frank, you know, I never felt as if, or during that time that

the country actually gave a crap. So, for me, you know, it was about my brothers to, you know, my left and right, my squad, um, my company, you know, and everything, you know, and everything, that that i did you know was for them um you know i i wanted to to you know make sure everybody was taken care of and you know everyone came home um it that the camaraderie it's it's it's it you cannot replicate it just to embrace all those surrounding elements and all those negatives and positives that are happening in your life, the way you, however way you look at it as a positive or a negative,

it just brings you guys together to be able to take on that mission and to see it through. How long was your deployment? November of 2008, so about seven months, I think it was, right? Yeah. Let's fast forward a little bit.

After your deployment, you got back. Did you take any time off? or you just kept trucking right through. We had, you know, unit leave. I think they gave us around like 10 days. But we were a little different because we got back in November of 2008. And I was in Afghanistan. in October 2009.

So our turnaround point was, you know, just at 11 months. Okay. And during that whole entire workup, I mean, we were spending heavy, heavy time in the field, you know, training, schools. there was no downtime at at all you know there there was no you know you know take care of the family you know at that time you know I had a wife and one child you know that relationship was up and down we we we are what you

call separated numerous of times I can say that the time that we were married, we got married in 2007. We lived together before Iraq. Separated it, you know, when I was in Iraq. My son was born in October, 2008. I saw him be born on a webcam. That had to be rough to be away from your child's birth.

Yeah. You know. So what was the first thought that came in your head once you saw his face on that webcam? You know, it was like two or three in the morning in Iraq. And, you know, it was a chilly night. the the the internet cafe um at at the base that we were operating out of you know there was maybe you know two or three other people in there and you know I I look around and you know I'm you know I'm alone watching my my son my firstborn uh be born

You know, and it was it was the The greatest Lonliest feeling I've ever felt You know It was a remarkable sign I've been Yeah You know, it It was

A positive and a negative You know, I would have loved to To have been in that delivery room With, you know, my wife at the time and my mom and my sister like all my family was there I wasn't right you know and and it was definitely one of those things to take in but also like kind of kind of made me think about what you know what I was really doing there um so then Going back to the relationship part, you know, I, I went through my option down and, you know, keep in mind, I'm, you know, 18 and 19 years old.

I'm married. I've got a kid, you know, and I'm out in the desert in a whole other country. that pretty much right in the sock of life yeah you know like you wish you could be anywhere else in the world than where you are right now yeah you know and um who who who did i have to turn to me you had to turn to to to my brothers um that that mentality carries carried over uh you know both and in my personal and my professional life today, you know, who can I turn to no matter what, you know, and those are, you know, the ones that I've served with those, those that I didn't serve with, but, you know, have traveled the same road. I've gained many, many new brothers and sisters that

have served in the military since my time on active duty. But, you know, that struggle of being a young man. I can't even say that I was a man yet, you know, when a 18-year-old or 19-year-old a 19 year old is, you know, given a gun, a wife, a child,

and so to protect this country, you know, we don't understand what that truly means. You know, I don't think we've truly developed, emotionally yet, you know. I definitely agree with you on that. There's some research that's been conducted

stating that past age 27, 27 seems to be the magic number where our brains fully developed to where we are capable of understanding what's truly happening in our lives and how the impacts can affect us. Yeah. So fast forward to Afghanistan. Afghanistan deployment, you know, I'm a squad leader. You know, I'm running operations. I'm communicating with the higher-ups and I haven't even hit 21 years old yet

you know and I'm killing it I know yeah pun intended right yeah that's good so you know but at the end of the day no one taught me how to handle law you know no one taught me how to compose myself or have the bearing in a high stress environment when everything goes wrong you know and you know you can train all day for combat you can train for when one of your Marines dies underneath your watch, you know, and that, that, that literally

changed my life forever. And, and, um, I, I, I, I wasn't the only one in, in our company, our unit to experience that. Um, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, in direct command or a leadership billet were also affected by that because they saw the guy to their left or right die you know and once once again

that amount of of pressure and stress at that age, you know, you're not developed to handle that yet. No. You know? What was going on your head when that happened? Oh, man. You know, I talk about a rush of emotions. You know, I could still remember, you know, my reaction was, you know, anger and then, you know, outburst.

and trying to take command and, you know, give orders, you know, execute, you know, call up the, the, the, the, the nine lines. You know, one thing that that, that that I can say is my Marines, they performed, you know, it was amazing. You know, I, I, you know, every, you know, every. every though the the the the the marine that was killed um it was instant um you know it didn't deter us it didn't it didn't stop us from um you know going through the whole entire process of like yo we got to get this guy we got to we got to get him to a hospital you know um We never gave up on trying to save him, you know, even though, you know, there was nothing that could have been done. That had to be really rough for you.

Yeah, no. For everybody. Absolutely. You know, and so, you know, we did our job that day and we kept on moving. and, you know, we kept the mission going. Exactly 30 days later, I got hit. What do you mean? Or, you know, I was involved in a improvised explosive device.

Oh, God. Blast. You know, a IED blast. Okay. And, you know, I got hit owning myself, my company gunnery sergeant, and our turret gunner. You know. What kind of vehicle were you in? This was an MRAP.

An MRAP, okay. So, you know, took three casualties. You're lucky to be alive. No, yeah, absolutely. You know, and, you know, myself and and, and my company guns, you know, we, we. I understand this is hard to talk about, Sean. You know, it's, you know, I guess what I'm going to get into next is, you know, the struggle of invisible wounds, you know. You know, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I dealt with, with, with, with a lot of things at a very young age, you know, and, uh, my company guns who were all really good friends.

Uh, and our attorney and our turret gunner, um, who was one of my real brothers, you know, he, he, he, we, You know, we're in boot camp. We were in S-O-I. You know, we hit the fleet at the same time. We were, quote, unquote, raised together, right? Yeah. You know, and the three of us got hit, and we all made it out alive. That's good.

You know, unfortunately, in the fall of 2018, my turriguez, my turrigue. Gunner. He fell to the opium epidemic. You know, he, he overdosed on heroin, you know, fighting the challenges that a lot of our veterans, a lot of our Americans, society has a whole face every day. So after your services within the Marines, what was your next transition? After the Marines, so I guess to explain it, after injury, I got transferred over to the Winter War Battalion.

And from there, you know, I started my recovery process along with transition. In 2011, I conducted a internship at the Joint Staff J7 used to be known as Joint Coalition Warfighting Center in Virginia. And with that, I conducted an internship in modeling simulations, conducting. military exercises. So, for example, you know, the war fighters, the unified endeavors, COBRA Golds, those joint military exercises, I, for the simulated models such as J-CAS, joint conflict and tax-gold, simulations JTLS, joint theater level simulations.

You know, those are exercise. Those are the models that are used to simulate joint exercises. Would you say it would be like a virtual battlefield? Exactly. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That's awesome.

So, you know, I, and so I, so I, so, I conducted an internship for a good eight or nine months until I was hired on full-time or I guess once I got out the Marine Corps in March of 2012. I rolled right into full-time employment. you know so my transition from active duty to a civilian probably was one of the smoothest transitions that I've ever heard seen you know like amazing I agree going from active duty to a full-time government civilian especially within the same perimeter right? You didn't you didn't transfer to a new location. You were still within the place you were serving in active duties. Is that correct? Um, so I was stationed in Camp of June, North Carolina. I went, um,

on temporary orders to Virginia, you know, to conduct the internship. So, uh, at that time, my, my, my wife was, I was a few months pregnant and I had my oldest son as well. This is baby number two we're on? Yeah, this is baby number two. Yeah. Okay. With that, in fact, the day I got out the Marine Corps, March 31st, 2012, was the day that my daughter was born. That's the one that I was actually there for in the delivery room.

All went well. That's good. So I started working. Everything was going well from the looks of it. I was suppressing. I was, I hadn't completely dealt with a lot of my combat. stress, a lot of my PTSD, the symptoms from a multiple last exposures, traumatic brain injuries. Let me stop you real quick. For the audience, they're probably going to have some questions as far as,

isn't there a process for us to go through prior to leaving to ensure that we are mentally fit to walk out into the civilian world? What was your process like? So, you know, this is going on, what, eight, eight, nine years ago. So the process has definitely improved over the years. But back in, you know, 2010 to 12, there was such a high influx of casualties. And, you know, even prior to that from the Iraq days, you know, the process wasn't anything. We've never experienced casualties like this since Vietnam, right? Yeah.

So it was one of those things where, you know, you had the med board process, which is the medical evaluation board where go through, you know, evaluations and they have to see if you're fit to return to duty or not. Eight times out of ten, with the combat casualties that were coming back from Afghanistan at that time, they were found unfit. So you were either projected for military separation or medical retirement, depending on your time in service.

I was pushed for medical retirement from 2012. And I was giving a new ID card that turned blue that said retired. You know, health care and benefits pretty much for the rest of my life, for myself and my kids and my wife at the time. but now the VA's got you. Yes. And the VA is a whole other animal in itself. It is.

And I'm not one of those. I'm honest, but I'm not one of those to crap on the VA. I understand the struggle and the reality of a situation. Everyone has their own experience through the VA. Have I had some difficult times through the VA? Yes, I have. Have I had some real help through the VA?

Yes, I have. So it serves its purpose. Everyone's or everyone's experience can be a good one, a bad one, indifferent. But it's all about how. you look at it and and how you take it in honestly yes Sean so you said you got pushed for medical discharge we're looking at you sustained some injuries could you elaborate on that what exactly you've sustained sure um man uh bilateral foot ankle damage nerve damage my lower back uh L3 L5

you know, pretty, pretty much, you know, just crumbled from the blast. My right shoulder, my neck, you know, all jacked up. And that's all from that one IED blast? No, I've, I've had a few exposures. That last one was kind of like the TKO, yeah. You're like the Terminator, but you just had enough after that third one there. Yeah, you know, that's exactly what happened, you know, brain injury, uh, fiscal bodily injuries.

And, you know, I, I praise God, you know, I'm, I'm not missing any limbs, but I do have added hardware, you know, I've got implanted, uh, it's, it's a tens unit. Um, it's called as a, uh, a spinal, cord as spinal cord stimulator. So it's like two electrolytes that run up my spinal column and they're used as

nerve blockers. They send out electric pulses to block the pain signals to the brain. Wow. Yeah.

So, you know, it's, it's, it's, I mean, medicine and chocolate out and technology has, has come ways, you know. You know, and, you know, that's, that's just the, the physical issues. You know, I, I definitely dealt with survivor skill. I dealt with post-traumatic stress, anxiety. depression was a huge one. So many symptoms that, you know, combat veterans face on a day-to-day basis. Not to mention, you know, the alcohol,

the drugs, the... Yeah, self-medication. The self-medication, right. I've contemplated suicide. I've attempted a couple of times, you know. There's definitely, Sean, during those times when you felt like committed suicide, at that very moment, did you just feel like there were just not enough resources out there for you? Um, man, you know, I'll, I'll be honest, I was plugged in, you know, I think the, the Marine Corps and, you know, I've got a lot of Army friends. a lot of Air Force friends, Navy.

The Marine Corps, in my experience, did a great job. And if, and once again, you know, if I was mature enough or knew how to handle the emotional regulations at that time, you know, I think, I would have been a little better off. But I was young. I didn't know what I was going through. You know, it was like going through puberty all over. You know,

where it was like, oh, man, like I'm getting muscles or, you know, I'm, my voice is changing. You know, I have no idea what's going on with,

with my body and, you know, I'm not talking to anybody, right? You know, and, you know, I don't know if that's the best analogy,

but it's one of those things where I was, wasn't sure what was going on with me. I was scared. I was afraid. And you hear about all these statistics out, out there. And, you know, I'm checking every box. You know, I'm checking every box. And I'm just, okay, well, you know, one is, one is my turn to, to pull the trigger. You know, and it's, it's a real fight. It's, it's an ongoing fight, you would say. Yeah, you know, I almost equated to a recovery program, you know, whether it's AA or NA, you know, any type of 12-step program, right? You know, you're always in recovery. You're always having to have due diligence in your recovery.

You have to stay on top of it. You know, I've had to have guys. I've had mentors that I looked up to and they've pulled me out of dark spots and, you know, come to find out that they're struggling with the same issues and they end up taking their lives, you know. Is this inspired you, the program that you were going to propose for us this evening? Yeah, you know, so, you know, I came to realize that. I was struggling, you know, talk about a book real quick, but it's called Overcome. And it's written by retired Navy SEAL, Jason Redmond.

He just released this book, but I am in this book as well. And in the chapter that I fall under is called Acceptance. Acceptance. You know. acceptance is probably the best word you know because at that point it's like I'm I'm at rock bottom I mean like there's times where you think you hit rock bottom now I mean you can always you can always fall another 10 feet oh I agree I agree completely you know and I think at this point I hit my rock bottom and uh it was

It was definitely one of those things where, okay, I have a problem. I'm not doing well, and I need help because I'm going to fail and I'm ready to, you know, commit suicide. I'm like, if if I can't do it, I'm going to find someone that can, you know. And it's just one of those things where I needed the help. and going back to the resources, the resources are there. You just have to have the maturity and the understanding that, you know, it's okay to reach out. You know, you don't have to do it on your own. And why don't you think, I mean, what makes you think that people don't want to reach out?

Do you think it's an ego? Do you think it's something the military instilled in us that we can do in our own? You know, I think times are changing. You know, I can speak on my experience as to like, you know, you know, drink, drink, motion, eat water, right? Yeah. And, and, and, uh, suck it up, you know, you know, uh, don't. Don't complain about it.

You know, keep on pushing. Embrace the suck, right? You know, that's what it all comes down to is, you know, embrace the suck. And that term, you know, it's great for life. It truly is, you know. But when you're, when you don't interpret it right or use it for its true meaning, you know, meaning adapt and overcome, you know, embrace the suck. I like that.

You know, is about adapting and overcoming. Not like, yeah, life sucks, you know, woe me. And I think that's where the confusion comes. But so, you know, I reached out and I went to a. intensive TBI and PTSD program at

or in Atlanta, Georgia at the Shepherd Center. It's called the share program or the share military program. It's only catered to those veterans.

I think they, as it recently changed it. some, but they opened up to combat veterans, wounded warriors, and on the female side, I believe it was sexual trauma as well. Okay. You know, and this, this program literally saved my life. You know, and that's where it all kick started. I was able to, one, take, take my time without any distraction.

I had nowhere to run. I had to, you know, talk about my issues. I had to work through my issues. I got answers for a lot of the symptoms that I was having, dealing with that no other doctors could answer. You know, we worked through every issue with a fine tooth comb. And they also taught me how to handle it and how to sustain and, you know, treat, you know, how to be proactive. And, you know, looking at from the outside, if you were, if you would want to get more people involved and how they perceive it, like, how would you paint the picture for those that don't understand the program that you went through. because the way I can look at it as it's a padded room and you get to come out, do therapy, and let me back in.

No, no. So the hospital itself is in the middle of downtown Atlanta. The veterans, they have free apartment housing for their patients. And every morning you wake up. You take the bus to, or there's an actual provided transportation that they'll pick you up every morning. They'll take you to the clinic. And you conduct your clinical every day. So whether it's physical therapy, occupational therapy, recreational therapy, recreational therapy, speech therapy, group counseling, one-on-one counseling, emotional regulation,

or emotional regulation, outings, you know, going on field trips, whether it's to the aquarium or out to the park, you know, getting you know, back in touch with, with, you know, being able to go to the grocery store,

you know, take, take your kids out of public, create a shopping list. You know, there's, there's, it, gives you the opportunity to rewire yourself, your brain, your behavior, and your thought process. You know, there have been cases where, you know, veterans that have gone in there with, you know, some of the worst PTSD symptoms or cases and come out.

to you know having little to nothing at all that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's the type of success and and progress that that the ship program has you know and that's I'm not I'm not saying you know that's that's that's every case but you know it's it's it's it's a good starting point and that's exactly what happened with me you know I I I worked through a lot of things. And I was there for a good three and a half months. And I graduated the program and I felt amazing. I had a support system.

I knew that if I ever had any problems, who I can reach out to in any, any avenue of my life, whether it's at home, whether it's at work, whether it's in the warrior community, whether it's in my community at home. You know, I had fire teams. I had networks that I can tap into. Like, hey, I need help. And then on top of that, with those resources, you become a resource for other veterans

because, you know, I get calls all the time. Hey, Sean, you know, I need help with this or I'm having issues at the VA or do you know where I can get counseling? Do you know of any yoga classes for veterans? There's tons of resources out there. So where I came into play was I remember the feeling of conducting the internship in the very beginning when I started my transition process. You know, learning a new skill and being useful and, you know, having a purpose and

contributing. I remember where I was during that internship or I'm sorry, prior to that internship where I was, you know, in my barracks room, uh, self-medicating all day long. and I was just waiting to go from appointment to appointment and then going back to the room, being in the complete dark, you know, and, you know, drinking and self-medicating, you know, you know. It was a downward spiral for you. Exactly. You know, just like constantly going down until, until, you know, I went to a program, until I got motivated

until someone gave me an opportunity to do better to do more and you know to, you know, provide my experience from war you know, in a positive

light by conducting that internship. Who introduced you into this internship? So the, So the Wooden Warrior Battalion East out of Camp of June, every quarter, would have these career days. And most of the time, we were volunteered to these career days. And, you know, one employer after the next, they get up there and say, like Charlie Brown's teacher.

want want want want want you know there was this one gentleman Tim Baker who was the deputy director for the joint staff J7 what used to be the joint coalition war fighting center I had no idea what deputy director meant what you know what level SES that was or anything like that I just I don't even know right at this point yeah so I mean When you, you know, he's the guy that's next to because that, that command is a three-star command. Okay. He's the guy just underneath the three-star, right? At the, at the civilian level. So he's a civil servant. But not knowing, you know, who this guy was and he's talking. about video games

and want, want, want, want, and then military exercises, and then want, want, and then, you know, Iraq, Afghanistan, want, want, want, I was just like, I like video games, you know. I've been to Iraq and Afghanistan, you know, and

I had no idea what what a military exercise was, but it sounded cool, you know? Great. So, took his card and from there, this man has become my second father. You know, when we talk about mentorship, this man is the epitome of mentored excellence. You know, I look up to him in so many ways.

his character, his leadership. He embodies, you know, the definition of leadership. And I owe my career to him, not to the fact of him giving me an opportunity, but to the fact that he has taught me so much and taking the time to, you know, mold me and groom me and, and helped me get to where I am today. You know, without his teachings,

I don't, I don't think any of it would have been possible, honestly. You know, so someone took the time to really invest in me and teach me how to invest in myself. I think that's the very definition of a true leader right there. What's that? Tim Baker, taking that time to put his knowledge into you to give you a path. I think that's awesome. Absolutely.

And funny story is I've been with the company that I've been working for now, almost four years. Tim Baker retired in 2017 from almost 25 years of civil service on top of

a 20 25 year Navy career. So, you know, he's dedicated over 50 years to to his country in one way or another. That's somewhere that goes beyond.

Yeah. You know, he easily could have gone home and, you know, retired. No. I go to his retirement ceremony and, you know, not only could he have easily, you know, chosen to just go home and retire, No, he had options to go work for any defense contractor in the United States, you know, the big elephants or, you know, any big corporation.

No, he decides to come work for a 100-man company, a small business company called Night Federal Solutions, which is the company that I currently work for now. And he's my boss again. So what are the odds of that happening? What are the odds there? You know, but, you know, I enjoy working with him. So what we do, you know, and I think, you know, this is going to be, you know, the question of the night. Yes. We run what is called the Purple Knights initiative for a program of, you know,

of Knight Federal Solutions. The purpose of the Purple Knight initiative is to provide internship opportunities to combat veterans, wounded warriors, or service-connected disabled veterans. This program is dedicated to those who have already transitioned out or those who are getting ready to transition. transition out within six months of their EAS.

The purpose behind it is to provide internship opportunities in a learning and networking environment. So what we do is we base our program off of five pillars. one, the veteran his or herself. Two, the spouse, the kids, the dog, the house, making sure everything at home is being taken care of across all sides. Because once that veteran transitions out, you know, they no longer have the Marine Corps or the Army, you know, the Navy, you know, the Navy to, tell them, hey, be at formation at this time or, or go through the checklist of the.

It would be like nobody's there to kind of hold your hand in the way. Right. You know, they become household six, right. It's very important that, you know, the veteran and the family is, you know, has the tools and resources. any way that we as a company can, you know, help them out. We're going to. So that's one and two. Number three is going to be continued medical care, you know,

making sure that they're getting the proper care, whether it's through the VA, whether it's through the DOD or within their community. Number four is going to be education. How are their educational goals lining up? with their career goals. And also, once again, what resources do they have available, whether it's their GI Bill, whether it's vocational rehab, if it's trade school, if it's I-C certifications, boot camps, you know, how can we line them up with success?

And then number five is going to be on the job training, which is the actual internships. Us as a company, we are a defense contractor. We have customers, you know, throughout the continental United States and or actually we're about to push overseas, hopefully here pretty soon. In the United States, you know, we use our contract vehicles to place and hold these internships to our veterans, providing them with a learning and networking environment, with the goal being at the end of the internship for them to successfully transition into gainful full-time employment. You know, this isn't a job. You know, these are careers. You know, we're trying to, we're trying to line them up with career paths. The other part of the program is our mentorship.

You know, we, we tried to line them up with, with three avenues of our mentorship. One is a peer to peer, a warrior, someone that is, that has gone through the program themselves or is a wounded warrior that can help connect them to the resources available to them. And then number two is going to be a professional mentor. The professional mentor is someone, you know,

in that career field that, that, you know, has tested the waters and, you know, walk the ropes and can help guide them. And then number three is going to be the day-to-day supervisor. That person will issue the quarterly goals and tasks of that intern. Every quarter, we all come together and we address whether that veterans on track, doing well, set up for our success, has the proper resources in support of that veteran. Okay.

Until, you know, he or she is ready to, you know, move into full-time employment. We do this, you know, for a period of anywhere from six to 12 months. Currently right, right now, we are teaming up with another company out of Jackson, Pennsylvania, Florida, which this one's really cool because it doesn't require any security clearance. And it's going to offer trade work. So sheet metal, mechanics, electricians, you know, people that want to work on helicopters, on, you know, military helicopters, we're definitely looking for those types of veterans that are service-connected, window warriors, or combat veterans.

What's one key item for our audience to start putting into action? They really want to make that first step. Where do they start? If I could go back and, you know, there's not, There's not many things that I would go back for, but accepting sooner, accepting the fact that it's okay to struggle. It's okay that you're not okay. And it's okay to get help. That's a powerful message right there.

Yeah. Yeah. I can't tell you how many times I've made the same mistake over and over just because I didn't want to talk to him. I didn't want to tell anyone that I was struggling. I want to tell anyone that I wasn't okay, you know, and I paid for it. My family paid for it. My kids paid for it. My job, I've, you know, I've struggled.

in other opportunities, you know, relationships. I've gone through my share of relationships, both romantic and and friendships. At the end of the day, you know, I can't dwell on the past, but only, you know, who I want to be. be tomorrow, you know. No, I completely agree

with you. For our viewers to reach you. So, you know, I can be reached at S. Lopez. So that's S-L-O-P-E-Z at night with a K

Federal dot com. So I'm on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Instagram is going to be Semper underscore Lopez. Well, Sean, I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy night to come on here and share with this valuable piece of information.

I see you're a man on a mission right now. And we share the same dream and it is to help people. And it feels so good to meet somebody with the same path. It's so important, you know, and I appreciate you. Invited me here tonight to, you know, talk with you. I mean, these are all identifiable and, you know, understandable issues, you know. One thing about our community is everyone has their individual story, but yet we're also common. if you tell your story and you communicate, you have no idea the impact you might have on another one of your brothers or sisters.

They might actually reach out to you. They might actually reach out to professional help versus, you know, secluding themselves and, you know, trying to do it on their own. by by by by you sharing you you you you you can be seeing lives and you have no idea so i i appreciate you gregg you know i told you last time you know how you and i got introduced um i don't i don't believe in a coincidence so uh no there's definitely they they're sean it's it's an honor to speak with you. Same here, brother, and I truly appreciate it. And I'm talking about those thoughts. They pass you right high. Are you going to let a great idea just go? Or are you going to act on it? Thank you so much for listening to Your Transformation Station.

I love hearing from listeners. If you want to reach out or even share your story, shoot me an email at Your Transformation podcast at gmail.com. Help spread the transformation and give a referral to a friend. The best thing you can do to help your transformation station is leave an honest review. Those honest reviews are kindly appreciated that allows us to boost the algorithm and climb up the rankings. I will see you on the next episode on your transformation station. I'm Greg Favaza. Thank you. This is your transformation podcast. Life lock. How can I help? The IRS said I filed my return, but I haven't. One in four taxpaying Americans has paid the price of identity. fraud.

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