108. Rising from the Ashes: The Jason Steiner Story and the Power of Hero Stock

From the depths of struggle to the pinnacle of leadership, Jason Steiner's journey from a self-proclaimed "dumb tile guy" to the inspirational founder of Hero Stock is the kind of story that both humbles and elevates. As we sit down with Jason, we're reminded that transformation is not just possible, but necessary for those who dare to make an impact. This episode is a mosaic of such transformations, as we traverse the heart-wrenching challenges and celebrate the profound victories of veterans, first responders, and their families.

Our dialogue with Jason steers us through the magnetic pull of purpose-driven collaborations and the sheer tenacity required to lead an organization fueled by donations. Hero Stock isn't just an entity; it's a movement, binding together those with a shared vision of service and sacrifice. We delve into the powerful stories of individuals like Karen, whose father's battle with PTSD unearths the harsh realities our heroes face, and the community's role in holding space for healing and hope. With Jason's guidance, we see how passion and dedication can sculpt events that not only honor but actively support our veterans and first responders.

As the conversation unfolds, we confront the societal stigmas that cloud the reintegration of our heroes and the critical importance of addressing mental health with the reverence it deserves. This episode is a call to arms for community-based initiatives, a blueprint for expanding support, and an anthem for those who recognize the power of standing united. Together with Jason, we chart a course for a future where every Gold Star family feels embraced, every dream of support materializes, and every act of generosity reaches its intended mark. Join us in a testimony to the human spirit's capacity to rise, lead, and heal.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:08

But as far as like battlefield of the mind, welcome back. I'm back with Jason Steiner, hero of Hero Stock, and we're just hanging. So this isn't gonna be one of those like all right, jason, we're gonna go fucking hard, like it's like, dude, just let's tell the story, tell what's going on, just be cool. And there's another episode that we did before, when it was just you were still forming the idea of Hero Stock and I think we were just talking, just so people can catch up on our conversation about the acceptance of our own evolution. And that's a tricky concept for us because, like you said, I was just a dumb tile guy and I'm like you know, what I was is not what I am, and I think this is something that, as a part of leadership, is a really difficult thing for us to gather. I had to do that too. Like we all just did stuff before.

Speaker 1: 0:57

I was a cook or I worked at and in door-to-door sales are Verizon wireless. You know, like I was the dude who, like, when you came in, was like all right, so you need all your phone contacts from this phone to this phone. That's I got you. Like that was, I was that guy before I wrote a book before I started doing programs, before I was working in mindset, before I started a show. Do you want all your contacts moved over for you, do you? Would you like your photos? Like I'll help you. Would you like to buy a tablet? Get a speaker.

Speaker 1: 1:30

Right right right, would you want me to put your screen protector on for you? Yep, yep, you know what I mean. So what was I? I'm just the dumb Verizon guy. Well, there's an evolution that happens where you have to admit your evolution into leadership. Sure, you changed, you're evolving, you're turning into something different, where you you now with Hero Stock, the collaboration I was explaining to my warriors before because I had my men's group. Yeah, I was explaining. I'm like, yeah, I'm on with Jason soon, and a couple of my vets are in there and they're like I don't know what that means. What is it? What is Hero Stock and what is that? And I explained. I'm like here's the best way I can explain it from what I've experienced.

Speaker 1: 2:07

Jason has a energy, a passion, a persona about him that has made it so.

Speaker 1: 2:14

All of the nonprofits, all of the companies that work with veterans, the people who are mom and pops, the people who want to improve the lives of our veterans and our people who serve as first responders, wants to make the people who serve us, we want to make their lives better, and so what he's done is he's created a place where we can collaborate, not as competition, but as one giant Voltron energy of how do we truly in every element. It doesn't matter if it's entertainment, if it's fun, if it's distraction, if it's deep work, doesn't matter. This is the place you go, Sure, and they're like man, that's amazing. And they're like I know people who are trying to do that and I'm like there's something about Jason, there's something about him that makes people go. This is the guy who we're gonna team up with. This is the guy who will follow, right, right. And that's the evolution I'm saying, even for you is like you're not the dumb tile guy, you're something else, who used to just do tile work. Right right.

Speaker 3: 3:20

Yep, yeah, 100%. And it's to me. It's crazy because it was an idea in my front yard. It was never supposed to go past the one night event and I, just the earlier this month I was in Nashville and I sat down and had lunch with Doug Johnson and he's a famous songwriter, singer, songwriter, and he listened to our pitch and we had Scotty Hastings.

Speaker 3: 3:48

Manager Karen was sitting across the table from us and she actually started to tear up Because her dad was. He was a Vietnam vet, I believe. If I remember right, he might've even been World War II, but like he came back with shell shock, ptsd, and it wasn't talked about and she was listening to what we were saying and she's like we resented him for so many years for being the way he was and not realizing that mentally he had changed when he was over there and he brought it back with him and she's like we hated him. We resented him and now, looking back, it was literally PTSD and there was no studies on it and there was no talk about it and there was none of that. So it was just the angry guy that came back from the military that would yell at you all the time, you know.

Speaker 3: 4:51

So I got to do that. I got to sit down with them and pitch what we're doing to them and the president of Black River Entertainment. We talked to him. We met eight different veteran singers down there singer songwriters, guys that are starting labels for veterans, you know that kind of stuff.

Speaker 3: 5:14

And then I literally just got back yesterday from California we were talking about that off the air and I was hanging out with Michael Ward from the Wallflowers and I met a guy that built an $18,000 guitar, you know, and just crazy stuff like that, and the people that I've met. So for me that's the cool piece of it is get to meet, you know, all these crazy people that if I would have stayed the tile guy I never would have got to meet, you know. So it's been pretty cool, the evolution of where we're at, from where we started from, and it is. It's I'm not sure why, but the energy, the passion it seems to pull people in and draw people to what we're doing, and they're like man, we want to be a part of this. How can we be a part of this?

Speaker 1: 6:04

There's a heart element you bring, like even just being in your presence. It's not a presence of greed, but a presence of need. It's not a what can I get, it's how can I give. And that energy it's obvious to anybody who can read. People Like I've gotten to hang out with you.

Speaker 1: 6:24

There's not a part of you that's like hey, welcome to my. Everything is about me, show you know. In fact, you're like please, don't make it about me. And they're like well, we got an award for you. And you're like ah, I'm just, I was trying to help that group and help these people and I wanted this guy to meet that guy so that way they could help these guys. And they're like here's your recognition for that. Your energy is definitely. It's something that's, it's contagious in a very needed way. And so like, praise to you on that one. Not to do an ego inflation, but an awareness of purpose, you know, and guys who find their purpose. And this is where, whenever I work with anybody who's found a purpose, it's never easy, you know, and so like is what you're doing easy?

Speaker 3: 7:15

No, no, not at all.

Speaker 1: 7:17

It's fucking hard. Anybody I've ever met who's like I found my purpose. I wake up, I burn myself out. I am both ends of the candle. I am going and I actually love doing what I'm doing, but it is hard. Yep, yep. And that's where I respect you, cause I know when I found my purpose. It's hard.

Speaker 3: 7:38

Yeah, yeah, yeah, cause you're constantly thinking you're, you know how can I make this better? How can I make this, you know, a better event for our veteran first responders and Gold Star families? And then how do you pay for it? Right, because we're all off donation. So then you're like okay, we went from a $6,000 budget to a $20,000 budget, to a $120,000 budget. You know, we didn't take baby steps Like it, and then You'll be pushing a multi-million dollar budget soon, Sure sure, well, and we could have this year.

Speaker 3: 8:13

We've been invited to 23 different states to do this Like. And that part blows my mind too, because people see what we're doing and there's other groups doing kind of what we're doing and they're like how do you get the traction that you have?

Speaker 1: 8:30

That's that magic thing. There's a spirit element to this, and I don't mean this in a hyper religious way, but there's a God element to what's happening, as a purpose to it for people to be able to connect to. There's something else, because I have talked to other guys who are trying to do what you're doing. Like I've spoken to them, we need to collaborate, everybody, we need to do the thing, but they're visionaries without integration. Like there's a missing element to this. There's an idea without a passion, there's a missing pieces, but you're bringing in the pieces that they were missing. And that's why, when I first met you, I was like I could see that there's a different thing than the other guys. Sure, I see it. There it is. There's the thing as a person who reads people for a living, I'm like that's hey, that was different. I see you.

Speaker 1: 9:18

And that's a very cool thing to be a part of. Also, and I'm very honored. I can't wait. I'll be in the September. One can't wait to serve back because I'm like, I see and believe in you, because you believe in others, and that's a person I can follow.

Speaker 3: 9:33

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So our September one is going to be crazy. Like we just spoke to the American hitman and they're an all veteran band, great guys out of Utah, just finished a European tour and they're like, dude, we want to come in and do this. But you know, and we've reached out to some bigger bands and they're like, well, what's the budget on it? And it's like, dude, we're small, like we can't afford a $30,000 band.

Speaker 1: 10:06

I think even that sentence though you're not small, we just care more than we're paying Like this is for a purpose, not for a payment, and we're looking for the people who can see beyond their paycheck to go. We're here to serve those who serve Right right, and I do the same thing, like I do high ticket for what I do. What I do is fucking hard and I charge way lower than I should for what I do. But it's the purpose more than the payment, and this is also. I had a business meeting with my people yesterday. They were like you're not charging what you should for what you do and I'm like I know that, but the purpose supersedes payment for me.

Speaker 1: 10:49

I do things out of heart and purpose, not necessarily because like bottom line, you know, and that's where being able to say you're small compared to who, because there's a lot of people trying to do this and you're big compared to all the people trying to create Voltron, sure, sure you know you're putting lion bots together that never fit together before and if somebody doesn't catch the vision, you're gonna regret missing the show, not. How much do I owe you? Right, right right.

Speaker 3: 11:19

Yeah, and that's the cool thing is, when you grab these, you know local bands, you grab even the bigger bands. You know the guys like American Hitman, you know they've done a European tour, but they see what we're doing and they're like, yes, yes, we want to be a part of this. Not how much are you paying me? And so that's been really cool.

Speaker 3: 11:42

And the veteran singers I've had veteran and first responder singers crawling out of the woodwork Like I was reaching out to them when we started this. Right, hey Scotty, can we get you to come in and do this? Hey, barbara, would you come in and do this? Now they're like, hey, can I come in and do this? Like, how do I get on the roster to be part of this? And I'm like, okay, this is kind of cool now where people are reaching out to me going we want to do this. Yeah, and you know so. And even with podcast, you know, last year, prior to the event, I did 25, I think I did 24 different podcasts and I did 41 episodes in like seven or eight months.

Speaker 1: 12:26

Dude, you were on mine, you were one of mine, yeah.

Speaker 3: 12:30

And I was hustling, right, I was hustling, I was doing everything I could to spread the word, and now I'm starting to get podcast reaching out to me going hey man, we've heard about this, we want to talk to you about it, and so that's been. Kind of cool too is now we're starting to get that feedback from outside, where they haven't seen it, they've just heard about it and they're like we want to bring this into what we're doing.

Speaker 1: 13:50

I did a training the other day that correlates exactly with what you just said, and it was a belief training for people who are trying to fight for their dreams, and a lot of times people are waiting for validation so that way they can feel they're doing the right thing. But I had to remind them that people are not going to get it when you start, but if you start and keep going, eventually they'll get it, and that's what I've noticed too. I had people that I reached out to be like hey, can we collaborate, Can we work on stuff? Who blew me the fuck up, Didn't even return a call Like blew me off. Who now I get messages like can I please be a part of what you're doing? I had people I would send emails to who have big shows, who are like who the fuck are you and what do you do? Who are now like can we do a collaboration? I'm seeing what you're doing. They won't get it at first, but keep going until they just get it and don't wait for them to get it. They'll get it eventually. Just keep going. They'll get it when they do, and then it'll just keep going faster. But it's those keep repeating the same thing, whether they're there or not, whether people get it or not, keep just doing it. And so what are you doing? Well, I'm just connecting these guys to these guys and these guys to these.

Speaker 1: 15:10

I didn't think it was that big a deal. Keep doing it. It gets bigger and each wrap of the yarn makes the ball bigger and you're like I didn't think one wrap of yarn would matter Like, keep going until they go. I see what you're doing. Now I get it. When you had only the little ones and you were doing this, I didn't. I'm like what the fuck is this guy doing? But now you're doing this and they're like OK, this is a legitimate thing. And now you've got people grabbing other ends and you're walking around the whole thing and they're like how do I add my yarn to this? How do I become a part of this thing? But all it is is just one wrap at a time, and they may not get it at first, but they will later.

Speaker 3: 15:53

Right, yeah, and it's cool, you start out with the one set of hands and for us, a year and a half later, two years later, we're talking 100 hands on the yarn ball and helping wrap it. And, yeah, it's just been and I'm not gonna say overwhelming because it really hasn't been overwhelming, but it's been very touching to see the amount of people that see the vision of what we're doing and they're like this, this is needed, this is needed in our community. We actually we reached out to the Chamber of Commerce down in Rola, you know, because that's our kickoff event this year, and me and Jesse were coming back from from St Louis and we reached out to them or not, st Louis, I'm sorry from Tennessee and we were talking to these ladies and we're like, okay, this is, this is what we're doing and we want to bring it to your town. Like we've already got feet on the ground down there, we've got you know. And they're like, yes, how do we facilitate? We need to make this happen.

Speaker 3: 17:07

Because they saw just through us talking of what we're bringing to their town and they're like, yes, we need this in our community and their their boots on the ground now for us down there. They're talking to businesses down there. They're talking to the fairgrounds to get a reduced price for the fairgrounds and, like they're doing, they're doing our work Basically down there because they see what we're doing and they're like we need this in our town. That's not a want, they need this in their town and you know we've been reached out to there's. I think we have six different locations in Texas. Now. That's like 2025.

Speaker 1: 17:48

You can do a full run through the whole state of Texas and I'm like that's cool, but I also still run a business that pays my bills well, there's an evolution though, again, like there'll be a point where this thing because it takes a couple years until this now makes more than my business, right, right, you know, and it will. Sure it's part of the evolution of it and there'll be a point where you have to go. I can't keep doing my old thing Because my calling and purpose goes a different direction. There's an evolution out of it. I think that's the right word for it. I know people want to be like evolution is the Galapagos Highlands like slow down. No, we are changing from what we were into something more right, you know.

Speaker 1: 18:34

And so what you did, the chapter for you know, tile work and building that business, which was a beautiful thing, you there was. You built that from literally just from the clay in the muck. You have built this into a thing and you're like but now that chapter has done what it needed to do for me to go to the next thing. Listen, I've done so many screen protectors. It goes from one thing to the next thing. And then I built a fitness company and I built it and it was beautiful and it still goes. People still use it, sure, but I evolved from from body to mind and you evolve that. I love that baby, but it has grown and I'm gonna let it go to college. And it did its thing. Yep, farewell. It's time for me now to evolve to the next piece.

Speaker 1: 19:18

Right, you know right and so it's cool to watch your evolution, where you're like I was the tile guy. Yes, you were, yes, you were, but now you will be the guy who changes lives in a very different way. Yep, yep.

Speaker 3: 19:32

Yeah, and that's you know. And you came to the event last year and and With the growth I mean we had, you know, went from a hundred to a thousand people, you know. So we had a huge growth last year. We went from 12 vendors to 44 vendors, you know, the just the growth in one year Made me realize that, yes, we're hitting our marks, we're doing what we're supposed to be doing.

Speaker 3: 19:59

Where I found my new purpose, you know, and that's I think everybody has to have a purpose and and my purpose is Hero stock and it's a lot of hours, it's a lot of time, it's money out of pocket, you know, to do it right now, but it's I See the effects of it. I had a buddy last year and this was my win last year. I had a lot of wins last year, having all the podcasters come in that I got to talk to you through the podcast but never got to meet, you know. And I got to meet a ton of different podcasters that I've been on their shows and we've got a relationship and you know, over text. Well, now we've got it face to face. We got to hang out at the Airbnb and you know, and that kind of stuff. So I had those wins last year.

Speaker 3: 20:50

But my big win was I've got a buddy that was army EOD, spent 15 years diffusing bombs and multiple tours. I watched a couple of those guys basically disappear, you know, right next to him type thing. Severe PTSD, severe anxiety, does not do crowds. He called me up the day before and he goes, dude, he goes, I'm gonna come out and I'm gonna be there to support you, but I'm not gonna stay alone. And I said, man, I totally get it, you don't do crowds, you don't do noise like 100% get it.

Speaker 3: 21:30

He was there for five and a half hours and he sent me a text the next day and he goes. I have never felt more relaxed and a room full of killers in my life and I was like that's my win, right, I got him out of the house for five and a half hours. I got him into a situation that was outside of his comfort zone. But he realized it wasn't outside his comfort zone, you know. And he had that evolution of hey, maybe I can do stuff like this, you know. So that was, that was probably my biggest win last year.

Speaker 1: 22:13

It's a it's a powerful moment and I love that he said it that way like I've never felt more comfortable in a room full of killers in my life. And it's true. It's true, but I think it's a different. It's a different level of understanding that I'm gonna go back to that. Ladies, dad who came back, the angry man, you know where you don't understand that these people who are serving have to sacrifice part of their humanity to protect you.

Speaker 1: 22:44

Right you know, they have to forfeit an element of compassion in order to make sure that you don't have to go on to A life-and-death situation. To do so, they have to look at death right in the eye. This guy, every time he was called to do a job. This could be the last five minutes of your life. Yeah, every time. To face death. Look at right in the eye every day you go to work. Is not that? It's not.

Speaker 1: 23:08

I don't give a shit what your office Deadlines look like. I don't care what your quota is, I'm not concerned about. Like did you send a message to me? I'm not concerned about. Like did you send in the documents with the right cover sheet? When you have to go, if I pushed the wrong thing today, I Explode. Right, the change is you. And so for this guy to go, okay, man, for you, I'll have the courage to challenge that part of me that looks at death every day and then come out finding camaraderie and compassion and love and connection and safety and security in a room full of people who we do not advertise differently. We are dangerous, but we are the lion that protects you. But don't mistake, we are not. We are still lions right.

Speaker 1: 23:59

We're just your lion, right, you know, and this is something where the guys even there, the love and compassion we all, everybody could feel it. You know, hanging with, like you know, eric mellow and and all of these, brian who's there, you can just you just feel everybody's, just like these are all warriors who are able to just feel camaraderie in the room. You know, and it felt good, it felt good to meet with other people who are like we've been into some shit right Right you know, and there's some people who have been through some- shit right.

Speaker 1: 24:28

You know, and you see them. That's where you get to talk with you and you get to talk with the guys who in there a Donald Dunn, barbara Sims, like these people who have been through some shit right, and they're here going. We're together, we're all stronger, you know, and it's cool to just see all these, these warriors together. So I want to kind of go back to that guy where people will go back into the judgment of, like you know, I was so resentful of him. He's angry, he's mean, he's shitty, he's fuck him, you know, and they're mean to people who come back, who had to sacrifice their humanity to protect you, and then they're judged and blamed and shamed and ridiculed and the suicide rate for our vets and first responders has doubled. You know, I don't want to take our police officers out. I don't want to take our EMTs out. I don't want to take our nurses out. I don't want to take our firefighters out, like they have to go into people's worst day of their life for a living. Yep, you know that's a, that's a tough toll that takes on for our people. And I'm also trying to work into those fears. I got police stations right now. They're like how can we integrate the mindset, work, the deep work right. This is why I called you to.

Speaker 1: 25:41

I want to all veteran group Sure and I would love it to be sponsored. Where like can we support these vets? Where I will do the deep work. I will work with PTSD. I will work with extreme traumas. I will do the deep work and I think people don't understand that the podcast is a thing I do for entertainment, but I really do go and do the deep work months. I'll go in and dig the trenches with you to pull your soul back to the top so you can find your humanity.

Speaker 1: 26:10

And I've worked with a lot of veterans who are in my community like dude. I was a shell until you dug all of the weight off of me so I could come back out and be human again. But I didn't know how to do it in a healthy way because I was called the angry guy, I was called the mean guy, I was called the psychopath, the fucking, the lunatic, the piece of shit. I was judged and shamed and blamed and I go no, no, no, no, no, no. We just have to rebuild your humanity back up because there is goodness in you. That's why you sacrificed that, that feeling so you can protect, let's get, that's pull it back up in a healthy way. Right.

Speaker 3: 26:51

Yep, yeah, and that's you know, and that's why we included the first responders and Gold Star families into what we're doing. You know the Gold Star families, they live with it every day. You know they lost their loved one for this country and that was an easy integration of we're bringing them into the fold of what we're doing and Not only honoring them for the, the person they married, you know, the dad, the brother. You know whatever, whatever that piece may be, but for them, being the family that that is still carrying their name, they're still talking about them. They're still, you know, keeping their name alive, keeping them alive through their stories. But then, you know, you go to the first responder side of it and, like you said, it's, it's, their days are somebody else's worst day of their life. You know whether it's a firefighter that's running into a burning house or you know a cop that has to, you know, protect people it's, and for them.

Speaker 3: 27:55

You know military, you do the the six, nine, twelve month deployment. Usually you know whatever it is and you come back home and you can reset a little bit before you have to jump back into that. That world Cops, firefighters, ems, emt, corrections, I mean they're, they're in it every single day of their life. And, yeah, they get vacation, so they take two weeks off and then they go right back into it.

Speaker 3: 28:21

You know, and it's so for me, adding those pieces into what we're doing too Is it's an easy integration for me, because they are our heroes. Right, whether they want that title or not, guess what, you are the heroes. You're the ones that stand and protect and you don't think twice about running into a burning building or, you know, taking out somebody that's shooting a bunch of people. You know, whatever it may be, you're the heroes, as well as our military. You know, obviously. You know so when we changed the name and we created the hero stock, that was a, that was, it was simple, that was simple math to put them right into that what we're doing. So, yeah, the vision's contagious dude, it's powerful.

Speaker 1: 29:11

If you could, if you could even like just keep conveying on what's. What would you like next? Like if you had a next wish and anybody listening who's like I actually know someone who does that thing what would your next wish be? Like I wish we had this thing, not how do we just pay for it. Like, what would the wish be? And if any listeners like hey, I know that guy. And if any listeners like hey, I know that guy, right, what would the wish be?

Speaker 3: 29:37

you know, probably one of my biggest wishes to get somebody like Gary Sinise behind us, somebody that has the the power to the higher platform to explain what we're doing, to let us explain to him what we're doing, you know something like that to help grow this. And and I honestly my, my biggest wish is to be able to show it to all 50 states. I want to take it to all 50 states and go look, we, we can all work together and together we are bigger, stronger, faster and we can touch more lives. We can create better environments for our first responders goals to our families in our military.

Speaker 3: 30:24

What's set aside, the, the idea of my nonprofit, is the do all sale, because there's no such thing, there's no one nonprofit out there that can save everybody. So let's get rid of that mindset. Let's bring it together and say Okay, now I've got a group that does hunting and fishing. I've got a group that does motorcycles. I got a group that jumps out of airplanes. I've got and I know these people and I trust these people, so I can go. You, oh, you don't like this, what this group is doing as far as the activity or whatever Guess what, I have a group for you over here. We want to be that hub and that's my ultimate goal is to be the hub when our heroes come to plug in and get connected within the world of good nonprofits, because if you're a shitty nonprofit you won't come to our event period. I, I, you will be vetted, you will be checked out and if you don't meet requirements, you're not coming.

Speaker 1: 31:40

What are some of the requirements so people can go like, well, what are you looking for? What is he talking about? What are some requirements that are like? These are the standards in which I operate.

Speaker 3: 31:48

We're. We're we're working through that right now Because we didn't vet last year and that was one thing that I wanted to do this year is as veteran nonprofits, and part of it is Are you out in the community doing stuff? Are you getting your group out doing what you're supposed to be doing? And part of that is through social media. You watch their social medias. Are you actually doing equine therapy or is this ranch for you To go out and ride horses? Are you fulfilling your mission? And if you're not, there's something wrong. You know, because there's a lot of nonprofits in this world. I think I'd heard there was like 66,000 nonprofits for veterans and I'm going to tell you right now we've run into some really crappy ones, and you know so I know they're out there, so we're looking at their financials. Are your financials on the up and up? Do you have money missing out of your account that you can't account for? You know, and that's all public knowledge for a nonprofit. That's all public knowledge. Are you in the? Are you fulfilling your mission? Are you doing what you say you're doing?

Speaker 3: 33:15

Do you have people on social media talking about you in a negative way? If so, why? What was the cause of that. I was part of a nonprofit I was actually one of the founders and we had some stuff go bad and it wasn't the board's fault it was. It was the board's fault to a certain degree because we didn't have the oversight as the board that we should have, but it was one individual that decided to do something that basically blew our nonprofit apart. And you know they're still struggling to try to get things back together. But you know I ended up leaving after Hero Stock kind of took off and that kind of stuff. But you know. So I've seen the good, bad and ugly.

Speaker 3: 34:07

And just because you're not on that list to be able to come doesn't mean you can't clean up your act and come in next year, but for this year these are the reasons why you're not invited to our party. You can come as an individual and see what we're doing. You're just not going to set up a booth and talk about it. So that's kind of where we're at and we're still working through that vetting process of how deep do you go? You can't always believe everything you hear, you know, and that kind of thing. So you've got to really do a lot of research on. You know, are you doing what you say you're supposed to be doing and you know, I know nonprofits like I know at some point in time this will become my full-time job.

Speaker 3: 34:55

So we don't look at. Are you paying yourself to run your nonprofit, right, I don't care about that because that's part of it. It's more are you bringing in $50 million and you're spending $42 million on advertisement on the TV and not doing anything with the other $8 million that you're bringing in? You know, because there's a national that does, that they spend $42 million a year on admin and advertisement and, sorry, you could spend that $42 million over here. How many people could you help with $42 million, you know? So that's part of what we look at too, is you know what are your admin fees? What are your cost percentages of running your events compared to what you're bringing in? So those are kind of some of the ones that we're working through. Right now is and a lot of it goes back to social media watching their social media Are you really taking people out hunting or are you just sitting on this money and doing nothing with it?

Speaker 1: 36:14

I got five words so far out of that explanation. That may be your categories. I got honor, honesty, action, integrity, accountability. Yep, those are like these, the categories you explained. Like, I think these are our vetting system right now. These are the pieces that we're looking for to see. If you're one of us, sure you know honor, honesty, action, integrity, accountability.

Speaker 3: 36:39

Yeah, and that's what it is. I mean you've got to meet those requirements or you don't get to set up your booth. You know, and I don't want to be the ass about it, but I'm also not going to be the one that places somebody that's in a bad place into a bad place. You know, I've seen the repercussions of a bad nonprofit and it tore people apart. It tore friendships apart. It crushed people. I mean people were crying themselves to sleep at night over it because they were so passionate about what we had in that nonprofit. And to have everything blown apart the way it was. I don't want to be that person that puts somebody into a bad situation, even if they're in a good place, and put them into a bad situation.

Speaker 1: 37:33

Yeah, it's a heavy toll watching the corruption of a dream, especially a pure dream. It's like watching a unicorn die. Yep, you know it's like, oh, it's just sad in every way. Yeah, it's just sad. But someone was like I want the horn and you're like, no, no, no, no, no, don't, don't kill it and take the horn. It's a magical creature. Leave it alone. Yep. It'll take you wherever you want to go. Screw all of you. I'm getting that horn, Yep. And you're like ah, the greed destroyed the dream.

Speaker 3: 38:02

Yep, yep, and I watched it firsthand and you know, I was the VP of Hockey Ops, I was the coach of the team, I was the main fundraiser, I wore a lot of hats within that organization and I spent a lot of time and a lot of money on it and you know, more time probably than money, but watching it fall apart because of the greed of one person and now it's tainted Like people don't want to deal with it because you know they don't want to have anything to do with it, because they're like okay, what's coming next? What's going to happen around the corner, you know, is this going to happen again? Is this, you know? And we as a board didn't have checks and balances that we should have had and basically it was one individual that destroyed the whole piece. That really was a magical thing.

Speaker 3: 38:55

Like you put, you put combat veterans into a locker room, you know, and they're confined to this little box and they're all sitting there getting dressed and we're talking about the game, and you look over and all of a sudden there's this side conversation going, you know, and it's hey, man, where were you at? I was here. Oh, dude, I was there too. And you know, when they start talking through their stuff right there in the locker room because it's a safe space, they're surrounded by people that understand, and you know. And then you go out on the battlefield and you battle through this game and then you come back to the locker room and you still have that, you know.

Speaker 3: 39:38

You get that connection back Now. We've just battled together as this group and when loser draw we fought our asses off and now we're back in our place again where we can talk. You know, and it was a very, very cool. You know, usa Hockey set this up years ago and it was a very cool idea. It just takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch and it happened. I watched it happen and I never want to be a part of that again because I lost friends out of it because I was on the board.

Speaker 1: 40:17

What a it's a heavy toll in leadership. I have things like this, even in my group, where like it's a guy who's like maybe not breaking some of the rules but could be the bad apple, and you're like, ah, it's a really tough thing for, like this, this can corrupt the whole thing. You know this could mess the whole thing up and you know I don't want to destroy this or I don't want to ruin that or I don't want to kick someone out or I don't want to have to do those choices. But like that's a part of this honor, honesty, action, integrity, accountability that like sometimes you got to do the not cool thing because it's the right thing and it's a tough thing to have to do. I highly relate.

Speaker 1: 40:59

My organization's getting pretty big. You know it's getting there where we've got hundreds of men now and I'm like man, I don't like some of the lines that leadership has to bring to the table, but I constantly say I'm with you on this one. The battlefield reveals who you are. The road to leadership is paved in shit and like the guys who are the furthest ahead on this road of shit can come back and go. I know what shit spot you're in. I went through that shit and we have to walk a nasty hard path. It's like ice skating uphill. It's just a grind and people will respect you for doing it, because most never will, sure sure, and for me it's sharing.

Speaker 3: 41:47

I like the sharing side of it because a lot of people will hold their stuff to their heart. They won't share anything. You know we run a tiered sponsorship for any of our sponsors and it goes anywhere from $250 up to $25,000. We just added corporate tiers in this year but prior to that I'd had a conversation with a guy up in Michigan and he runs the Primal Outfitter and it's a veteran first responder, non-profit. They take him out fishing, hunting, camping, survival stuff like all this.

Speaker 3: 42:30

And I was talking to him and he goes dude, he goes. I'm trying to buy this $30,000 boat because it's got like a big deck in the back and I can get a guy in a wheelchair in and out of there much easier than I can by 19 footer and it gives him room. And I said, well. I said, hey, man, I got this tiered sponsorship. I'm like I would love to share this with you. You can use it throughout your town or whatever your area is, and say, hey, I'm trying to buy this boat and this is why Would you be one of my sponsors of one of these levels? And this is what you get out of it.

Speaker 3: 43:06

He took that tiered sponsorship twisted it for him, you know, put in whatever he needed to and ended up raising $30,000 in about a month and a half and bought that boat and now he's taking guys in wheelchairs out fishing. Now he's got track chairs that were donated to him so he can take them out hunting. You know, and I've done it with multiple groups Wheels for Warriors USA. We just partnered with them. You got to see the bike presentation.

Speaker 1: 43:40

Yeah, Jesse's the man.

Speaker 3: 43:41

Yeah, for sure. They're now using our tiered sponsorship to sponsor these motorcycles.

Speaker 1: 43:48

Look at what you're doing, man, like just a dumb old tile guy. It's almost like watching some sort of fairy godfather. You know some sort of like, what do you need? My wish would be if I could just have the boat to help these guys, or if I could just have the funds to help these people, or if I could get this thing off the ground and you're like babadibabadiboo and then like, boom, we'll create the way for that to happen.

Speaker 1: 44:16

And now you have wishes coming true, because you have a thing that, like I said, there's a magic about you, bro, that, like, it makes wishes come true around you. Right, like and I don't want to downplay this beautiful gift that you, just you give to people Like, you're the fairy godfather, like babadibabadiboo, you have a boat. Babadibabadiboo, you've got a motorcycle. Like, you have a stage to play on, you have a platform to speak, you have donations to use for true, honest integrity and action and honor the purpose that you have. Now you have a way to make the dream come true, right, and there is no bong at midnight. It's like your wish is now granted. It's like that Jason Steiner is the Jason the Genie. Like, what's your wish? Be specific on your wish. What kind of boat would you like? What kind of bike would you make your wish specific and we shall make it real.

Speaker 3: 45:23

Now to me it's. I know the fundraising side is hard, Like raising funds is hard. If I can help somebody do that, that's gonna use those funds for good. I have no issues helping them out. I was on a podcast with Brian Roof. I love Brian Roof.

Speaker 3: 45:48

Every day of the Saturday, Brian's awesome and it was a wacky Wednesday, right, it was one of the player round wacky Wednesday ones. And and, uh, derek Thompson was on it with us and there was a nonprofit on there and and he was he was talking about man, you know it's. I just got to raise funds. I just got to raise funds. I got to raise funds. I got to raise funds and and I said, hey, dude, I said I'm gonna tell you what I said after we get off this. I said I'll give you my phone number, shoot me a call, let's talk through some stuff.

Speaker 3: 46:19

And he goes well, actually you got to fill out the form and then talk to my people and then my people will set it up to for you to talk to me. And I went no, no, I have no desire to talk to you now, like I'm offering my time to try to give you ideas and I have to talk to your people and fill out a form and my time's too valuable. I sorry, I, I don't even want to talk to you now and I would. It's Lord, yeah, man, you make such a good point here.

Speaker 1: 47:00

It's amazing how one sentence can destroy the connection. It's amazing how one sentence can ruin a good thing. And I think there's, there's it's a really difficult line, to the like I said the integrity, the honesty, the honor, the action, the accountability. It's, it's a solid line that if you cross, it's obvious and in that moment you're like I'm offering you a chance to have the dream your wish granted.

Speaker 1: 47:28

I'll grant your wish. And he's like I'm gonna give you my time. I'll grant it. I'll grant your wish. And he's like, only if you do it on my terms. You're like you fucked up your wish. Yep. You fucked up your wish man. Yeah, god gave you the opportunity. It was right. He said help that guy. I was like I'll help you, he's like only on my terms, god. Yep.

Speaker 3: 47:46

You're like man you messed up and I've, I have no issues. Somebody calling me and going dude, how do I fundraise? What are you good at? What do you enjoy? Well, I enjoy softball. Okay, set up a softball tournament? Well, I don't know how to do that. I said, okay, let's talk through it. And they raised like $9,000 at a softball tournament. You know, it's just. It's like I'm willing to take my time to talk to you and explain my thoughts, and I'm no guru, I'm no genius on raising money. Maybe, but it's-.

Speaker 1: 48:24

Maybe, maybe you are.

Speaker 3: 48:25

Maybe I am, I don't know.

Speaker 1: 48:26

Maybe you are.

Speaker 3: 48:27

Maybe you are, but it's a thought process, right, it's spitball and it's being able to say okay, where do you excel at? Do you excel talking to people? Because, guess what, if you do, here's how you do this. You go into this and do this, this and this and you talk to them about this, this and this, and you be honest and you be upfront and you be 100% transparent. A lot of times people are gonna go dude, how much do you need? You know it's that's a question that's powerful.

Speaker 3: 48:56

You know, or you wanna set up a tournament. Okay, well, what kind of tournament? Okay, how are you gonna format it? What are you gonna charge per team? What is you know? And it's literally just talking through something and somebody taking notes on the other end going hey, I can do this, I can set up a softball tournament, I can make a couple thousand bucks on it and you know that will pay for a hunting trip for this group. Yeah, you know, and literally I do not mind doing. I actually enjoy doing that because I make a connection with another group.

Speaker 1: 49:27

Yeah, listen, I'll be open with you, man. I need to team up with you on this, because the fundraising element is that's not how my strength is Sure. And so to plug in with your strength, my strength is doing the deep work and doing the speaking and going in there and like give me the hurt ones, I'll show you how to build, I'll pull them out of hell, I'll go get them, but I need hell equipment. Right.

Speaker 1: 49:48

You know, but I can't go like, hey, can I get a hell equipment? Cause I don't know what I'm talking about. Like that doesn't make any sense to people, I gotta go into the fire. Can I get some equipment for hell? They're like nobody goes into hell on purpose. I'm like I do. I'm going to go get this guy who was molested. I'm going to go get that guy who killed his best friend. I'm going to go get that guy who watched his best friend blow up. I'm going to go get this guy who got shot and killed in service. I'm going to go get this guy who just saw a woman he talked to yesterday that he wanted to save kill herself. I'm going to go get that guy and we'll get him. Yep, but I need some equipment.

Speaker 1: 50:23

How do I articulate that? And you say I'm no genius. I'm no genius, but you just articulated something in such a simple way that the simplicity is genius. Yep, I think that you have a gift, man. I'm calling you the fairy godfather from now on, man, you make wishes come true. But there's a gift there, there's a power there that I don't. I don't want to downplay this. You know just my heart to heart, brother to brother, I'm like man. What a, what a powerful gift you have to grant wishes. You know to give it, to make it like your dream should come true. Let's make it true, right, right. And you can give that to people by showing them a simple way to make their wish a reality. Man, so much honor in what you do and I don't want you to downplay it. It's powerful man.

Speaker 3: 51:11

And I want to work with people. That's going to work at it. Right, I've got another group that I was dealing with that they literally want to sit there and let money fall in their lap and I'm like that doesn't happen. But you can pray all you want, god is not going to put money in your lap for your nonprofit. You have to work for it, you have to be out there, you have to grind for it. It doesn't just happen. I sat down. We got our new letter put out this year for our ownership, we got our new tiered systems. We've got our flyers. I sat down personally hand-addressed 800 envelopes, folded four-page flyers stacks, stuffed the envelopes, stamped the envelopes and mailed them out by myself. It doesn't just happen, right, you've got to work for it. And if you don't work for it and you don't want to work for it, I don't want to work with you Because I can talk till I'm blue in the face. I'm not doing it for you. I'm going to tell you how to do it or how I would do it, but if you don't want to grind for it, don't call me. And if you do and we talk through something and you don't utilize anything I talk about. I'm going to be hard-pressed to talk to you again because I've got 12 other guys that's calling me going. Hey, dude, I need help with this, and if they're going to grind for it, I want to work for them, with them, and it's cool watching the ones that are using it.

Speaker 3: 52:58

I brought up Wheels for Warriors. They just did theirs, they just put out their new system and this is how they're raising funds, where before it was, they would literally go to these motorcycle presentations and hope that somebody would give them a thousand dollar. Check, right, I mean, they were out there, they were grinding, they would go to events and that kind of stuff, but they never had anything set up where you give me X amount of dollars and we will give you this. You're on every podcast, you're on every time. I'm on this TV. Every time we're here, we're talking about you and our pitches or whatever. So now they have that set up, they just sold their first diamond. Sponsor.

Speaker 1: 53:41

Just so people know what's a diamond sponsor.

Speaker 3: 53:43

So for Wheels, for Warriors is 6,000. And I don't know their full system. I would have to look at it because they took mine and tweaked it and stuff. But, like for us, we have corporate levels. So our corporate level diamond sponsor is $25,000. You get mentioned on every TV ad, every radio, every podcast and stuff like that. And then there's the swag bag and you have a chance to talk at the event and a chance for you to get a booth, and then for that one we're actually putting their logos on the sleeve of all of our T-shirts for a year. So we've got one out in Colorado we're working with right now Doc Goodbeard, beard Proctor. Yeah, yeah, I saw stuff.

Speaker 1: 54:25

I was checking the stuff out Super cool. Guy Kevin's a he's a Marine.

Speaker 3: 54:30

I'm actually supposed to go out in February and meet with him, but they're talking about possibly coming in at a certain time. You know they're talking about possibly coming in at a diamond sponsor on corporate level and he's like I believe in what you're doing, I see the need for it, I believe in it, I want to help. So he's talking about coming in as a diamond sponsor. Now we go down. So we go $25,000 down to $10,000 on our corporate sponsors and every tier down you lose something. Right, the higher the tier, the more you get. And then for our local sponsors, we started $5,000 and go down to $250,000. And all of our funds that we bring in they go to pay for the venues, the Porta Johns, the insurance, the singer songwriters, the sound and lights. So basically what we bring in last year, what we brought in, over 85% went back into the event and we're paying these singer songwriters. Some of them were charging $500. If you're bringing in a full band they might charge $3,000. But the sound and light is $3,000 to $4,000. The Porta Johns is $1,500. Your insurance is $1,000. Like, all these things just add up as you go through it and we're working on sponsorships right now for this year and I was thrown in the spotlight for very long and they did that Mission Service Award and I stood in front of the crate in basketball crowd and did my little queen wave and it was something that I don't like being put in.

Speaker 3: 56:31

I don't like being in the limelight. I'm the face of it. But I don't want to be the face of it, that type of thing. The recognition isn't what I'm looking for. I want to help more people. That's my ultimate goal is to help more people. But it was cool because I got put in front of 40,000 people and our logo got put in front of 40,000 people. So now there's 40,000 people in Omaha that have heard of Hero Stock and will we get a sponsor out of it? I have no idea. Barry Law wants to sponsor because they see what we're doing and they're tied in with the veterans, but it's literally getting out and talking to people. That's the easiest way for us to generate funds is being face to face with somebody and getting that interaction and let them understand and see the passion and see the love for what we're doing. For them to go. This is cool. I want to help this. That's my biggest asset is being in front of people, so it's, it's a man.

Speaker 1: 57:46

I can't say enough how inspiring just the way you put your pieces together. You got to, you got to gift, bro man, you really do. There's a gift to you, there's a, there's a power and, like you just mentioned something, and just there's like there's like 50 beautiful pieces to what you just laid out. You know, like it's just a regular day for me and when I think, dude, it's the dream is beautiful and it's fragile and it's powerful and it has potential to change everything or to destroy everything. It is a beautiful, amazing thing that you are doing.

Speaker 1: 58:20

I think that it takes the kind of man who operates the way that you do to do it, and it's a natural leadership inside of you that, like, is really coming out. Man, I'm looking forward to just the pieces of this, just of just exploding more and more and the way that you articulate, the way that you can go, look at it just a little different and your dream can come. True is true. Yep, there's again. I love your humility and it's not misplaced, but I also don't want you to downplay the reality of how powerful, what your ability is.

Speaker 3: 58:54

Yeah, yeah, and I'm seeing it more and more. You know the just the watching watching Gunny buy that $30,000 boat and then I got to fish on it. Yeah, like we got to go up. We went up to scout venues up there because we were going to do one up in Michigan and he took us out on his 30 foot boat and we fished on the boat that. I helped him create something to be able to buy that and you know so it was. It was for me that was the full circle moment, you know, getting to help him create this, to raise the funds to buy this, to then be able to fish on it with him. And my daughter took my daughter up to him.

Speaker 1: 59:35

So fair, Godfather bro.

Speaker 3: 59:38

Right Right Ace calls me the mayor of Heroville.

Speaker 1: 59:45

So you were like Bibbidy Babbidy boat. He's like ah, like it's, it's, man, I'm honestly super proud and honored for like the stuff that you're doing, man, I'm happy to be a part of it. I believe in you and this and this the journey you're on, and I also want to plug in to like your power, so that I can use my ability to also help more people with the ability you have. Your skill is not my skill, sure, you know, and my thing is not your thing, but together we are stronger, and so I definitely want to be a part of what you're doing so I can improve what I'm doing, so that together we just make that Voltron.

Speaker 1: 1:00:23

Just you can't fight that. It's too strong and you know we have to take an account too. What are we going against? We're going against the biggest dog of all, like the way the government is set up and the way things are set up. We're like, we know it's wrong, right, and so we will build it on a foundation of honor, honesty, action, integrity, accountability to do what is right. You know, because the biggest thing that I hear from all my vets is my VA isn't treating me the way I need, you know, and I know that the psychology element is where I lean in hard to go. I got to help pull you out of the mess, not give you a pill for it.

Speaker 3: 1:00:58

Right, right. Because, that's the greatest power the VA has is handing out pills.

Speaker 1: 1:01:03

Yeah, and I hear it all the time. They're like I'm fucking number 226-5489. I'm not Tony, or I'm not Jason, or I'm not, you know William, I'm. You know a number there. And they go. Your diagnosis is PTSD, adhd, bipolar disorder. These are your things. Here's pills, yep. Anxiety, like here you go, depression, take these, take these medications. And you have to take this medication because the one that helps you not be depressed kills your liver. So you got to take this one to stop that. You're like hold on man, like hold on Yep. Or we can get to your core and we can rebuild it. We can tear out the stuff that's tearing you apart.

Speaker 3: 1:01:43

Yeah, and that's that's what has to happen is dig deep and figure out why, why you're in this place and how do we fix that. Because the pills don't work. And you know, you see, you see, you see, you see, you see, you see, you see, I've seen veterans 15, 18, 20 different pills and you're like, well, what does that do? And they're like, I don't know, the VA just told me to take them. And it's like, okay, what happens if you don't take them? Yeah, well, psychologically they fall apart because they think they have to take them, because the VA told them to.

Speaker 1: 1:02:19

I'm going to share with you outside of this, like so, people who are listening, if you like, what are you guys talking about? You'll have to reach out to us. But there are things that I am doing that are permanently helping fix these guys to not need medication, and it is healthy, holistic, safe, all the parts that make it. So we do the deep work, we really work on your things and we are. I go into the fucking fray of the nightmare for and or with you and we fight our way out together. And I have a lot of vets who are like dude, my life, it's life debt, like what I would be on all these medications if it wasn't for what you just did. And so there are things I can share with you outside of this that we are doing. Sure, that well, it makes it so.

Speaker 1: 1:03:03

Your guy who was on the bomb squad the fear isn't there anymore. Right, you know the part of him who's like I can't be around this. Well, we work on that. That's not there anymore. I don't need medication for a thing. That isn't a symptom anymore. Right.

Speaker 1: 1:03:18

Right, you know, and that's what I really do, and that's why it's fun for us to do these things, because we talk about you going like, yeah, I'm doing the hero stock show or yeah, rick, you run a Warriors way group, and like you don't know. No, what he does is he makes it, so the dreams and wishes of people's like deep down purpose, becomes a reality. That's a real fucking thing that Jason does and Rick goes into your deepest nightmares and fucking kills the demon that haunts you, so you no longer sleep with a demon in your closet. That's a real fucking thing we do, right. Right.

Speaker 1: 1:03:50

And you go like man. I thought it was just he does, he does podcasts or he does concerts, Right, Right, you don't. You're looking at the surface but not understanding that these two Warriors do real things.

Speaker 3: 1:04:03

Right, right. We do things that will change lives.

Speaker 1: 1:04:06

Yeah, this is why. This is why I connect with you, man. I'm like I see someone who also goes into the muck. Yeah. Yeah, someone who will do the envelopes, somebody who will do the work, someone who will go into somebody's like this is so hard. I'm like well, I'll come in with you. Right, right.

Speaker 3: 1:04:21

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3: 1:04:23

And so our future visions. I want to kind of jump to that quick. You know we're we're in our second year as Hero Stock. Future vision for us is, as we expand this we want to find a nonprofit in Nashville that wants to be a part of what we're doing and wants to be our boots on the ground. They're going to be our advertisement, they're going to be our fundraisers for that area. You know, obviously we're still going to be reaching out and trying to get funds raised and stuff too, but we want to lean on a nonprofit in that area and say you're a boots on the ground.

Speaker 3: 1:05:12

These are our talking points. Anything above and beyond this, have them. Contact somebody from the board so we can explain deeper if you can't. But within that, we are selling tickets for this and we're fundraising for this, and this event costs $25,000. Anything above and beyond that $25,000.

Speaker 3: 1:05:39

We're going to give you a kickback for being our boots on the ground back to your nonprofit and it may be 500 or it may be 25,000. That depends on you. You're the boots on the ground, you're advertising this. So the more we sell, the bigger we make it, the more money we can bring into this event. You get a cut of that and that goes to your nonprofit to help your local nonprofit grow. And then the second piece to that is we're looking at doing a, instead of for a veteran or a first responder, we want to do a scholarship for a Gold Star brother, sister to a fallen officer's child, to a fallen police or a firefighter's child, something like that to give back to the kids that get affected by losing the brother, the dad, the mom, the you know, whatever it is, and be able to get back to that community too. I say that's probably a three to five year vision as far as doing that, the first step I'd like to start putting into place next year.

Speaker 1: 1:07:09

And you can create something so good for, like that, that one sponsored kid too. Yeah, like again, like we're visionaries and I'm like if I could make his dream stronger. And we have a kid who, like we, chose this child whose father was killed or mother was killed in in the service and they are filled with loss and grief and hopelessness and I don't see how this can happen in my my safety, security, or my provider or my mentor or my love was just taken. There's a lot of elements to that that are more than just scholarship, financial, and I'm like man, how could I help that? It's like I would be honored to be able to take that kid and give him the pieces that they just never knew how to work through grief and how to develop growth. They were stuck in pain and loss and tragedy and their identity can easily be routed in that loss. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:08:02

And I'm like I can teach you the way out of that that you don't. Your identity does not have to be a trauma. Your identity is not what other people have done or not done, or happened or didn't happen. Your identity is an authenticity that people will not teach, but I will. And so take that kid and go. We got your college, but we also help your mental health not be like you know yeah, I've got the degree, but I'm still in pain every day. Right, right.

Speaker 1: 1:08:31

Like, and this is where I go like, man, how could I support your dream? And I'm sure, if you talk to every single person who's passionate about their thing, like, well, we could do this for them too, Jason. We could do this for them too, and I can make it so they never buy a shirt again. I'll take care of all the clothes, you know like. They may have my logo, but they'll never buy a shirt again, you know it's like one of those things where how can we make these people's lives better?

Speaker 1: 1:08:52

And I think this is the thing that I hope that people are catching Like this is the guy who does that.

Speaker 3: 1:08:58

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3: 1:08:59

Cause that's essentially. That's what I want to do. I want to make the world a better place for our veteran first responders and gold star families. That's that is my full goal. You know, our veteran musicians music heals, yeah, and that's why it's a big piece of what we do. Um, I had, we were talking about Nashville and when we went down there, we had a group that was like oh, don't, don't come down here and do your thing, because you'll never draw a crowd. You'll. You'll get 35 people that show up. And I'm like okay, but we're different. We're different than everybody else that comes down to do this. So, let's, we're going to do this. And like, my board's like, and I'm like no, we have to go down there, like this is the place we need to be because music heals and we are in the heart of music in Nashville. So we're going to do this. And you know, we've got some really good people down there behind us and we've got a ton of musicians down there that are veteran artists that are like yeah, this is fucking cool, like this is really cool. We want to be a part of this.

Speaker 3: 1:10:12

So we're changing our format a little bit. You know, we had, we had, a pitch to us. Well, let's, let's focus more on the motorcycle giveaway than the music portion of it. And I'm like but the music is, is the big part of hero stock right? I mean, the motorcycle piece is a super cool piece of it. Giving that motorcycle to a veteran or first responder, because now they're changing their bylaws, by the way, they're going from just veteran only, now they're they're opening up to first responders and Gold Star families to fall in suit with what we're doing. But I'm like the music is a big piece of it. So we're we're changing our format a little bit. Instead of just having the four bands, we're going to do two riders rounds, so we're going to give four veterans an hour and a half to get on stage, talk about their service, talk about the song they're singing, sing their song and then it goes to the next person. They do the same thing. So they'll do that for an hour and a half. Then we'll have four more come up, they'll do the same thing again and then we'll have a band play and then Scotty Hastings is going to headline it and we'll have the bike presentation in there too. And but as we were in Nashville and we were talking to people like Black River Entertainment is, who Scotty just signed to, and they're all about this. So they're going to be helping with social media and that kind of stuff and and I'm looking at it going, this is a win-win.

Speaker 3: 1:11:42

We get to go down to Nashville, hang out in the heart of Music City, do our thing, show off what we're doing, but then we've also got these amazing people that are jumping in with us going dude, this is awesome, we need this in Nashville. You, you crack Nashville. I mean that's a big deal. You crack Nashville and have a crowd. That's a big deal. And I'm like we're going to do this Like it is. I'm full steam ahead. We are doing this one way or another, and there may actually be two bike presentations in Nashville. We're not sure yet. So but yeah it's. I'm very hard headed when I see the vision of it. I'm like we have to.

Speaker 1: 1:12:34

You have to be. We have to be as stubborn for our dreams, you know. And so again, it's the terminology I'm hard headed. You're not hard headed, you're your laser focus. Your eagle sight is clear. I see something you may not see, but you will. I'm going to keep doing a thing you may not understand, but you will, you know. And so I don't think you're hard headed. I don't think you're a dumb tile guy. I think you're the very godfather, you're the visionary, you have an eagle sight that others won't see until they get closer and they go. You saw this all along. Right.

Speaker 1: 1:13:12

And you're like, yeah, it's pretty badass, right. And they're like I see it now. Now I get it. I think we have to be stubborn for our dreams, you know, and it's the little things over and over, your leadership is natural, it's authentic, it's honorable and it's an honor to team up with you. Man, I hope that that Nashville nonprofit caught wind of anything that we're doing, because the Warriors way the battlefield of the mind. It's going up and to the right and I hope any noise that we make somehow translates over into a Nashville nonprofit people who want to sponsor a child of a Gold Star family, who want to help out the vets to break out of the PTSD element of things. Like there's something that we do, that the dream comes true and it just leads to the chain of events that we could never have known would be the way that we got to that vision and that's how it goes. I mean, that's the role of a leader is just being adaptable, that the path is not going to be clear until we're on the path. Right, right.

Speaker 1: 1:14:18

Yeah, you're bad motherfucker, jason Steiner.

Speaker 3: 1:14:21

Same, same. I've not seen about you since I first watched you, so I'm always intrigued watching your stuff and enjoy it, and there's a lot of really good information that you put out within your not only just in your podcast, but within your Facebook posts and that kind of stuff. There's a lot of really good information that people need to take in and that's why I shared the Warriors way with all of my friends.

Speaker 1: 1:14:50

Appreciate it. Yeah, there's the thing that I find is the most fun for what I do is you guys hear the show, you guys get to hear the podcast, but when I invite my guys to the underground and you guys get to see the real gladiator arena where we go and we pull the demons out and fight them for real, like that's where people who really know what I do, know what I do, right, right, because these are the shows, guys, these are the shows. This is where Jason and Rick are talking about the show. But then after the show, we're like all right, go into the arena later and you're like dude, I got to do it, I got to do the demon for you. It's tough. I'm like bring it.

Speaker 1: 1:15:26

Is it doubt, is it fear, is it depression, anxiety? Bring them, bring them, put me in the ring, I'll show you how to kill that dragon. I'll show you. Yeah, for sure, for sure. It's always an honor, man. Well, I know you got to get some rest. Your wish has been put out there. The wishes you're granting will be put out there, and it's time for the things to come in. Be it God, pray for us, be it the universe, bring it into, attract it to us. Whatever you believe in, pull it towards this direction, but I believe in your vision and I can't wait to be a part of what makes it stronger. And just my one piece that I add to your puzzle I believe in your dream, bro. Yeah man, that's awesome. It's something powerful.

Speaker 3: 1:16:05

I'm excited to clap with you, as always. That's something I look forward to. Oh yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:16:12

For those of you hero stock, check it out. Just give any support that you can. I don't care if it's $5 or $5,000. Give support if you can and check out all of the people that Jason is doing the legwork to vet to see are they really worthy of being able to say I support these groups. Anybody who's going to be in this corner or somebody you should go like all right, I can get behind this, instead of maybe throwing donations out to somebody who can't wait to put it in their pocket. Right right.

Speaker 1: 1:16:43

Yep, my dude, it's an honor man. Thank you, jason.

Speaker 3: 1:16:46

Same brother. I appreciate you having me on Rick Always.