Air Force veteran, Cat Corchado has spent her childhood as a military brat.  It's no wonder that she too decided to follow in the tradition of service to our country.  Throughout this lifetime around the military and her role as a podcaster discussing women veterans issues Cat knows a few things about the experiences of women in uniform.  We discuss how for women veterans their identity as a veteran is challenged and they are not typically recognized as a veteran even within their own families.  These issues, and more make transition more difficult in some ways for women veterans vs male veterans.

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sistersinsvc@gmail.com

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Transcript from Episode 62 with Cat Corchado:

Keith McKeever 0:02

Welcome to the battle buddy podcast with Keith McKeever.

Keith McKeever 0:08

Welcome back to another episode of the battle buddy podcast. I've got an awesome guest today. I've got cat CORCHADO. She is also an airman she is also a podcaster. So we're gonna highlight what she does. But we're going to talk about women veterans today. We're bringing up a second. Before we get started, just remember to go like, subscribe and follow not only to my podcast to hers, you definitely want to give her listen. Without further ado, welcome Kat.

Cat Corchado 0:31

Thank you, Keith. So nice to be here.

Keith McKeever 0:33

Absolutely. I am. I'm glad to finally be face to face with you talking. Because I think we originally we've talked a few times in clubhouse, it seems like literally an attorney to go. Right? Well, like, Okay, fine. We're gonna have this conversation. We'll do it on the podcast. It's, I'm excited about it. But before we get going, tell us a little bit about yourself what your military story was, and kind of catch us catch up on who who is cat?

Cat Corchado 1:01

Absolutely. I was actually born into the military. My dad was already in the Air Force when I was born. And I grew up as a military brat. And I thought that, you know, every four or five years you move, that's just what everybody did. I thought everybody did that. And it came time for me to graduate from high school. And I was already a single parent. And I kept thinking, what am I going to do? Because we're, you know, think back in the 70s. So I graduated in 75. And it was just difficult to figure out what I was going to do. And I thought, well, let me just go in the military for like four years.

Keith McKeever 1:41

Let me guess, a little bit more than that.

Cat Corchado 1:44

Just just a little bit. And I had a trade and I was able to take care of my son, I was able to take care of myself. And you know, every time it was time to re up, you know, my, my son was either getting into another school, you know, you go from grade school to middle school, or something was happening. And I thought, well, let me just do another four. And then we just do another four. Let me just do another four. And then I thought, holy crap, almost 20 years, you blink and blink. Exactly. And so I've had the distinct pleasure of being a military brat, a military spouse, active duty military and now veteran.

Keith McKeever 2:25

Well, there's nobody better to provide a little perspective on things that so what what did you do in the Air Force then,

Cat Corchado 2:33

I was a communications project manager. So I was the one who brought in all the communications equipment that would be needed in a building. However, one of my biggest projects was to bring about the communications backup system to NORAD in case NORAD ever went down. And I think you know, if NORAD goes down, well, we're all screwed.

Keith McKeever 2:58

up pretty cool. Now. It's amazingly started to think I don't care who you are, where you served in the military, what branch what job you if you really think about it, we do some really cool stuff. We really do some really cool, neat stuff, adventures, all that, you know, if you just take the time to look at the perspective of it.

Cat Corchado 3:16

Well, you get to see some cool stuff, especially like NORAD actually got to go TDY to Colorado Springs, and walk inside NORAD and I thought, holy crap, I had no idea this was it's like, a tiny city within this mountain. And it was just phenomenal. That would allow and I'll never forget that.

Keith McKeever 3:36

That was, that was one of the places I was like, you know, we wouldn't be upset if I got to see that. That'd be cool. You know, it was very cool with security forces. And I never, I never served in the new fields. But that was one place. I didn't want to go. You know, why not? Might not where you're freezing for a reason. Right? Most of my tech school class ended up going to the new fields. And I remember sitting there, they're passing out all these orders. And there's like six of us sitting by we're like, where's our orders? You know, where? Where's the air for sending us? Fries? Out overseas, and I'm like, I don't know how I got so lucky. I just I got Yokota, Japan. Everybody else is headed to bind otter Barksdale.

Cat Corchado 4:16

Yeah, my husband was is actually a veteran and he was the one who inspected those. That was his first job. Yeah. He said, Yeah. What am I doing? I'm getting flashbacks.

Keith McKeever 4:33

I would suck. My duty stations were decoded. Japan is Scott Air Force Base. I cannot imagine this. Well, I guess I can kind of admit, I'm from the Midwest, you know, where we have a lot of cornfields just never ending cornfields. So I guess I can imagine the vastness of nothing up here in Montana and Wyoming and stuff, but there's a

Cat Corchado 4:51

lot of it out there, according to my husband. But it's funny you said Scott Air Force base because I'm very familiar with Scott. My dad's last duty station was Scott Hot Air Force Base. And so my mother actually lives in. Okay you already Masuda Illinois, she actually still lives.

Keith McKeever 5:10

My mother in law's retired out of there I met my wife down there. She, she lived in Lebanon. So I mean, I, I'm still down there every now and

Cat Corchado 5:20

then. Yeah, very familiar with that area area down there love it love

Keith McKeever 5:23

it down there. So I'm actually a couple hours north there. I'm about halfway between near Chicago right now where I'm at so, but we're here to talk about women veterans, I was just telling you a few minutes ago, I'm probably not the best person to provide perspective on it. I know. I mean, throughout security forces throughout my time in the Air Force serves a lot of women shout out to all the ladies that served with so got it great connection with a lot of them. I've always heard perspective, like almost suck will work with women or women are weak or whatever. I'll tell you what, there were some badass women out where I serve. And then people be like, Whoa, do you trust them? Yeah, I trusted the women, you know, or there's guys I didn't trust? Exactly. And I you know, it didn't matter to me who had my back, you know, being 16 security forces, it was law enforcement. Like, there was women that did I didn't trust there was men I didn't trust and vice versa. So. But that's like,

Cat Corchado 6:17

it depends on the person, whether they're male or female, whether you trust them or not. Yeah,

Keith McKeever 6:21

I had one. I was supervisor for a young lady. And she was if she was five foot tall, I'd be surprised, right? That was probably with boots on. She was a feisty little girl. And I know, on our second deployment, she was our gunner, and our Humvee. And, you know, I thought crossed my mind, I'm like, I'm a big guy, you know, I was about to 25 at the time, I'm a little bit more than that now. And I'm like, is she gonna be able to pull me out of the seat? And you know, I gotta think about it. I'm like, she probably she was. You know, she was she was a good trip for a supervisor, but she would cause you some problems every now and there was no quitting that girl. And so yeah, you know, without a doubt, you know. And then all in, all, in all in had my back, you know, never, never once had a thought, especially in law enforcement. Like, somebody's literally got to have your back, you know, yes, situations, and but anyway, you know, doing this podcast and diving into the veteran related stuff, and conversations on clubhouse and other stuff. You know, there's a lot of issues in the veteran community when it comes to women. And that's why I was really excited to talk to you about this, because, like, I've got a glimpse, maybe, you know, I can't, obviously, I can't relate. But I know that there's issues with women being harassed going to the VA identity. But thanks, you know, you kind of highlight and talk about identity recognition transition, you know, and I was like, That's genius. Because there's, there's a lot of issues there. So, I just wanna start with get your thoughts. Well, first of all, let's let's just back up and go go into your podcasts a little about your podcast.

Cat Corchado 8:01

Absolutely. Well, my podcast came about because I'm gonna, I'm gonna flashback I got out of the military over 22 years ago. And I'm sure that there were organizations out there to help veterans, but I did not know about them. And so I like to tell this story that, you know, if you're a sports fan, and it's that it's draft a, you know, in the in the college, that college first round draft pick, that's what I felt like coming out of the military. And I tried it out there, and had my DD 214 in my hand, and walked outside, and I'm expecting balloons and music and confetti and organizations throwing money at me, come come work for us. And I looked outside, and it was quiet. And I thought, Wow, do I have the wrong day? What's going on? And I proceeded to walk forward, and I did this freefall. And I didn't know what was happening. It was just this black hole type of thing. And, you know, I said, let me just keep my call and see what was happening. Because no one talked about this. No one talked about transition. And if they did, it was like, Oh, it's great. It's this, you know, they didn't talk about this part of it.

Keith McKeever 9:13

Yeah. Welcome. Like, it's all sunshine and rainbows over here.

Cat Corchado 9:17

Right? So think of, you know, for 10 of my 20 years of being in the service, I fantasized about being a civilian, what it's going to be like all the things I could do all the things I could talk about all that, you know, that type of thing. And you get out there and none of that matters. Because you're in this this hole, you're in this space. And what I realize now is that we all go through it, but I think women go through it a little bit more. Is you more in your service. So you're straddling between the civilian world and the military world and you don't fit in either one. And so you have to find your you have to ground you stuff you have to find you get your feet on the ground to say, Okay, I'm not a military person, I will be civilian. What what do I need to know, to be in this world? Because you forget, you know, in the military is all about, you know, service, it's about get the mission done. You know, they don't care if you like the person you're with or not, they're like, let's just get it done. And you do. And when you become a civilian, it's a little bit different. Because no one, what I found is that there are a lot of people out there who don't care that you served. And there are a lot of people who don't want to hear about your service.

Keith McKeever 10:37

That's a that's a good point. And oral doesn't work with, you know, the buckle down, work as a team, communicate, get things done like that. Corporations just don't work that

Cat Corchado 10:48

way. They just don't get it. There's, there's no culture. And all the organizations were like, Oh, we, you know, we hire veterans, but there's no veteran culture. And so in some instances is actually toxic to the veteran. And so it's just really, you know, when you do your transition, I always talk to people to, you know, two years out at a minimum, start to know who you are, when you no longer can put the uniform on. And so if I met you, Keith, and you had just gotten out of the military, and I'd say keep telling me about yourself, you're not sergeant, you're not PFC, you're not Captain, you're not lieutenant, you are now civilian, Keith McKeever. And a lot of people don't know how to do that.

Keith McKeever 11:39

Obviously, for a long time, I think we're I've noticed talking to people, those that serve like four years and get out, obviously, the transition stuff, because let's face it, you go in officer or enlisted, you go through boot camp or training you go through, you know, you go through all that you're fully indoctrinated into the military culture. You do for years to get out. It's difficult. But the people who've done 2025 30 years, that is a vast, overwhelming majority of your life. You just don't know any different. Like, what is civilian?

Cat Corchado 12:10

I could spell it. I know what it was.

Keith McKeever 12:14

I mean, I've been out 10 years, and I'm still trying to figure out, you know, it's like some things. Point blank, some things are just going to be difficult. You're just going to just be frustrated sometimes be like, Why doesn't work this way? You care? Why does nobody have pride in the way they show up? The way they work? Being on time? I go to certain things, and I'm using the person in the room for the meeting.

Cat Corchado 12:36

You're probably early, aren't you? I store on time.

Keith McKeever 12:41

Try to be better at it. But you know, five to 10 minutes early.

Cat Corchado 12:48

I think nowadays a lot of people think that being a few minutes early. And there was a study actually, they said they pulled some people about what do you think being a few minutes early is and they said anywhere between five minutes and 60 minutes. Interesting. I thought so.

Keith McKeever 13:12

Well, you know, it's still stuck in my head. If if you're not 15 minutes, early or late?

Cat Corchado 13:19

Absolutely. Even my dad, we would go on road trips. And my dad would say if you're not in the car at Oh, 800 you're getting left behind. Now, I'm not sure he would have gone through with that. But as a child, you're like, No, you're not leaving me.

Keith McKeever 13:33

I know, right? Yeah, I mean, sometimes I'm even like that still to this day. It's like no, no, no, there's there's time like it has to be done on time. Like, it's difficult. It just takes time. Some of those things you learn, you may never unlearn. You just kind of got to learn how to navigate the system.

Cat Corchado 13:52

It's just part of who you are. I've figured out that it's part of who I am, of being on time or being you know, I'm usually 1015 minutes early, or very much on time, one or the other. And it's just, you know, my husband on the other end, bless his heart, he's always late. But, you know, we navigate that together. So he understands you know, that I start to get like this. I'm like, if we're gonna be late to something so he gets it.

Keith McKeever 14:23

I have I have a real problem with because my wife is that way she'll, you know, she'll take a little extra time really no big deal like, but I'll get it in my mind if we have to be somewhere at five o'clock. It's already stuck deep in my mind. We have to be there for 45 Right? I'm like to get there but I want to leave with an extra five minutes early just so like in my mind if we're not out of here bye for now, I'm gonna drive to get there for 45 You know if you're doing the math of signing up. Like I start getting frustrated. Yes, it's like our time to go it's time to go Behind, we're late. We're late. Yes, actually getting to the point where you will be late, the more bothers me even more. And it doesn't happen all the time. I found the trick for the odd people out there to have to deal with a partner like that. You just hate to say, but you lie to him. If you got to be somewhere at five, and you need to leave at 430 Tell them you need to be there for that does work actually. does work? Leaving at 330? Really? That's us? You got to send a reminder and alarm clock anyway. Okay, it's not that. There's definitely a lot of a lot of issues there. So. So that all that all is what led to starting the podcast for you then. Yeah, so

Cat Corchado 15:47

it was, well, like I was saying, you know, you flash forward 20 years, and women were still talking about how hard transition was. And I thought, Wait, we haven't fixed this yet. But now you've added in, you know, now we're openly talking about PTSD, we're openly talking about military, sexual trauma, all of this getting lumped in together. And I really wanted a safe place for women to be able to talk about these things. Because in the military, they sort of kind of don't want to hear about it, and then you get out and civilians don't care. Well, some of them don't care. But I wanted to be able to have this place for women to be able to share their story because one person listening it might help them. And then I kind of opened it up and me being you know, a military brat and and a military spouse, I thought, well, when one person in the family's in the military, the entire family's in the military. And so I've opened it up to military spouses, military brats, and even veteran service organizations that I think do a great job in helping veterans. And so that's, that's where my podcast started.

Keith McKeever 17:01

That's awesome. You know, you have a good, obviously a perfect perspective on it. But even if you would never have served as people that never do, which is our military, brass themselves, your, your life's different. Not everybody moves every four years, you know, and, and all those different things and the things that you have to deal with and, you know, got go outside and play and, you know, you hear reveling in retreat, and yes, cars are stopping the people stopping and Saluton. You know, like, it's just a different experience to grow up as a military brat. I didn't. But you know, you drive to see all that and

Cat Corchado 17:35

I miss being on a base, I miss that every time I go to a base, like, I'll go and see my mom at Scott Air Force Base. And I get on base. And I'm like, yes, it just feels like home to me. And it's because, you know, I was a military brat, you know, even now, if I've been somewhere for a while I'm looking at my husband going. It's time to it's time to move right? Where are we going next?

Keith McKeever 18:01

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because yeah, military is really good at that we have people around, which is good. You know, you don't want to get stuck in one place too long.

Cat Corchado 18:15

Absolutely. I think one of the things that I'd love to talk about is identity for women veterans. And, you know, regardless of how long you served, you get out and women are less likely to wear all the paraphernalia, you know, the hat, the t shirt, we're more inclined to do it now. But back, you know, when I got out, you, you just didn't do that, you know, you didn't, I didn't know that. Putting my veteran status out, there was something to do. And I didn't really speak about it, because I retired in South Carolina. Charleston Air Force Base, actually. And we moved to Massachusetts, where, you know, the furthest the closest base was five hours away. And I didn't really talk about it, people kind of knew, Oh, you know, you're in the military. Great. And then 911 happened. And I remember going to the supermarket. And there were people who were selling these flags, you know, to show their support for the survivors and those that that didn't survive in 911. And the guy selling the flags asked me, Do you want to buy a flag? And I said, No. And he said, why not? What have you done for your country? And I said, I did 20 years for my country. And then I thought, why am I hide? Why am I not expressing the fact that I'm a veteran. And it was a common theme theme among women. And so we moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, which is where I am now. And I thought, well, let me let me go to these veteran networking events, these veteran coffees and lunches, and I went there and if there were 100 people there and 95 of them would be men. And there'd be five women there. And I thought, We are the rest of them. I know there's more. And they just weren't really coming out and talking about, I'm gonna steal a word from one of our a woman veteran, you know, she calls it veteran Z. Why aren't they expressing their veterans say, why aren't they talking about it? And you know, even when you're wearing a t shirt, or the hat or whatever, there's still people who don't understand what you did, or why you did it. And I've been told, I don't look like a veteran, although I'm not really sure what that means. Because there's a picture in the dictionary that says, Woman veteran here

Keith McKeever 20:45

wants any base and take a snapshot of the people under you'll find the most diverse organization in the world. Yeah, right. Because one of the veteran look like,

Cat Corchado 20:52

I don't know, and most of the time when I get confronted by these people, they're, you know, I'll say things like, well, obviously, you didn't serve. Well, no, I didn't. But my father, my grandfather, my uncle, you know, it kind of goes there. Or even people in their own families don't see them as veterans, because they were desk jockeys, they didn't fight in a war. And, you know, I was in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. And even though I didn't deploy, I was in support of, there were all kinds of, you know, communications equipment that, that I was planning for, you know, in support of, and so that's part of it, too. But I think sometimes even women, don't they, they think Why didn't deploy, so maybe I'm not a veteran.

Keith McKeever 21:40

I think there's a general identity issue there between veteran combat veterans and non combat veterans. Because I've seen that play out here in my local area, I do some volunteering with the Honor Flight network, taking the veterans to DC. And I've talked to guys and they're like, I'm not going to sign up. And it's like, why not? You know, your Korean War era veteran, veteran or Cold War, Vietnam War, whatever? Well, I never deployed, I never go over there. And it's like, so there was still job to do here. Exactly, idle. I just, I just told somebody the day do random conversation, I said, look, it's if the if the airplane is not guarded against threats, and it's not fueled up, and the pilots don't get good sleep, and they don't get a full belly of the chow hall, right. And the maintenance guys didn't put a good new set of tires on it. The plane doesn't fly, you know, exactly. Or something bad happens, right? And that plane has to fly to the supplies and the reef reinforcements and stuff like that to the cop. So, you know, we all play an integral part.

Cat Corchado 22:47

Apply it? Yes, it's a team effort.

Keith McKeever 22:50

But even when I wasn't deployed, we had team members that were deployed and you knew, you know, being back home, like, Okay, I'm not deployed right now they're doing the job. But I'm doing my job back here, hold down before doing what we do. Yes. You know, we're all part of a team. But not everybody looks at it like that.

Cat Corchado 23:09

And that baffles me sometimes, you know, because now I'm loud and proud. Like, yes, I am a veteran. What do you want to know?

Keith McKeever 23:19

To the people who didn't like, especially like Cold War era, or sometimes in you know, roughly in your era, especially the sort of certain 80s or the 90s or after Desert Storm? Like, why didn't deploy didn't go anywhere? Okay, but we weren't attacked at that point time either. We were you know, you did your job. And we were safe. That's, you did your job.

Cat Corchado 23:45

You did your job? Yes. Absolutely. honorably, honorably.

Keith McKeever 23:52

You were standing watch, and we didn't get hit, you know, unfortunately, no, on 911 We got hit, you know, we got sucker punched, we got to hit right square in the jaw. It's suck as a nation. We all remember what that pain is. But, you know, that's that's happened once. You know, because we've had people staying there to answer the call. So that's, that's kind of a line I always give people like you did serve, you know, don't discredit your service, you sign on the dotted line, you made sacrifices, you got paid for your bumps and bruises and blood sweat and tears too. So

Cat Corchado 24:25

Well, I think the identity thing for women is you know, the whole transition process is different for women than it is for men. And I will, I will stand up to that to anyone, because think of it this way. So you have dual military, you know, the the husband goes to do his job. The wife goes to do her job, but when she comes home she still has another job when she gets home. So when you think about transition, you know the man can go and they they network and everything But when a woman gets out, she's more likely to be a single parent. So now she has to find schools, she has to find babysitting, she has to find a job. What? If she's relocating, she has to find a house, who has time to say, Oh, hey, I'm a veteran over here. And that's the last thing on your mind. And then finally, when you get your feet on the ground, and, and you've got things that things are running smoothly, or maybe in some instances not so smoothly, because women are more likely than men to be homeless coming out of the military. And then you look around and you think, wow, where are the other veterans? And so that's when you start to think that's where you get this feeling of being alone. And, and, you know, you want to be part of that team. Again, everybody wants to be part of that team. But when you get out, it's it's you, you, you and you. You know, I always tell people, they're saying, Are you entrepreneurs, I go, yeah, they go, do you have a team? I go, Yeah, me, myself and I, that's my team.

Keith McKeever 26:03

Well, I think what I was taught identity to, you have to look at the numbers, I think, all right, right. So we're, I'm just gonna say about 17%, something like that. 15 to 17% of the force. Last year, year before, something like that was better was women. That's still that's still a lot of women, if you put, you know, calculate the numbers of that, but it's not a huge percentage. And it was women all get out. And like you said, you show up when there's 100 people in the room, there's only five that are women. If you look at the numbers, Saturday is probably pretty good attendance. You know, for 5% have to show up. So

Cat Corchado 26:45

I think the problem is that when you do the networking, a lot of times when it comes to networking, because there's there's an issue, there's a problem, either with housing, with a job with something in particular. And it's a very difficult situation to be able to talk about those things with all of these men present, because they don't understand that situation. Like, Well, why don't you just do this? And why don't you just go here, and it's, it's not that simple. And so to be able to connect with other women, veterans, talking with them, one on one, finding out what, you know, what are they dealing with, and being able to say, Okay, I know about this organization, I think it would be great, giving them that warm handoff. So if I said, Keith, oh, I've got someone great for you call this person, well, you don't know who they are, you've never met them. But if we got on a zoom call together, and I said, Keith, I want you to meet this person, I think they'd be able to, you know, you'd be great. You know, when you guys are vibing, then I can back out of the picture. That's a warm handoff. And I think that's what veterans need is, you know, not just calling somebody that you don't know, although you can. But it's that warm handoff, it's just like, when you have a resume, and you send your resume to organization, I don't think resumes get you jobs. I just don't, especially for veterans. I feel that it's who you know, in your network, other veterans and say, You know what, I know somebody who would be perfect for you. Let's connect.

Keith McKeever 28:21

Oh, there's definitely something to it's it's not what you know, it's who you know,

Cat Corchado 28:25

absolutely. Especially when you're a veteran.

Keith McKeever 28:29

Body, you know, just something like that, you know, we're that's where I think a lot of people will say that's, that's how people in general tend to get the jobs, no matter if you're a veteran or not, you just know somebody who knows somebody, somebody guess work for you, and you kind of skirt the line on there, or you put the right thing to get your resume at the top of the list or, you know, whatever the case may be.

Cat Corchado 28:52

And I think it's veterans, helping veterans, I think that's where, where we are going to excel. And I think now other organs, civilian organizations are realizing that and they want in, like, hey, you know, we'd like veterans to we like to, you know, hire veterans. But, you know, I always ask the question, you know, when you're in the interview, and the interviewer says, Do you have any questions for me? We don't know. You know, and you shake hands and you leave. Now I'm telling veterans to say or to ask the question, is there a veteran culture? How many veterans have been hired? What's the ratio of male to female veterans? If they have never hired a veteran, you're going in there at your own risk?

Keith McKeever 29:44

darkened point. And people didn't even realize an interview is an interview. It can go both ways. Yes. You need to make sure that you're finding the right fit. I mean, I just finished my bachelor's degree in business and that was a lot of talk about just like culture fit and, and a lot of other things in business and It was like, oh, yeah, there's, there's a lot to that. I mean, I've been self employed for years, I would have never really thought about those kinds of things, as a veteran trying to go get a job. But a connection to the community or a community is huge. And it's one of the things I've noticed as a podcaster, and people I've talked to, is, there's other issues, but that's one of them. A lack of connection to the veteran community is one of those risk factors that leads people down the road of homelessness, suicide, or substance abuse, or multiple bills, you need some sort of connection. I know, I've connected with some people on some Facebook groups online, it made a world of difference in my mindset, I just got I have people, they might be on the other side of the screen, but I have people on fake people. Yeah, we know like and trust each other, we have similar experiences. And you can reach out to him at a moment's notice.

Cat Corchado 30:59

When I speak to women, veterans, I tell them are not women veterans been active duty military. And I will tell them get connected with organizations prior to getting out. Like don't just oh, I'm part of this group, be involved with the group because you never know where your next job is coming from. It could come from a face someone in Facebook that you connected with, it could come from somewhere in LinkedIn, or an organization you connect with in LinkedIn. And so there's so many things out there that you don't know. And I want to, you know, educate some of these women that are starting to come out of the military and saying, Look, this is what you have. Because the problem was when I got out, there was nothing. And the difference now is that there's everything. So it's like drinking from a firehose. And when you have too many choices, what do you do? You don't do anything, you stand still, because you don't know what to pick. And so you want to take enough time to go through some of those organizations say, Wow, I like that one. That one, that one, and I tell people get to organizations and look them up, what are their websites like? And I think transition is also something that should be talked about the entire time you're in your career. It shouldn't just be a one and done

Keith McKeever 32:19

should have a plan from the day you go in? And quite honestly, especially Yes.

Cat Corchado 32:22

Oh, absolutely. But who does? Who does that?

Keith McKeever 32:26

That'd be my advice to any young tree at the end of my podcast, but to kind of cut time down a little bit, I kind of stopped asking those questions. But I would ask people like, what one piece of advice you'd give somebody going in the military, it kind of came up a lot. And so I've said it like you need to plan when you go in, choose your job carefully. Choose your branch carefully, right? Know who you are, what's going to work for you. But take advantage of those education benefits. Take advantage of the audit job training, rack up those accomplishments, your resume, because your time will be up. There might be four years, six 810 20, that

Cat Corchado 33:01

goes by fast. Yeah, always goes by fast.

Keith McKeever 33:05

It was just like, I realized the other day, I'm like, man, I've been up very quickly approaching twice as long in my career in real estate is it wasn't a military. Yes. It was like, Wow, this doesn't seem like it life life in general blows blows by fast. So

Cat Corchado 33:19

yes, it does.

Keith McKeever 33:23

So there's definitely a lot of stuff there. I get that identity stuff. So what what's your thoughts on recognition, and the recognition that women are getting, or not getting?

Cat Corchado 33:38

I think recognition for women who are active duty first is is getting there. You're starting to see these women break these glass ceilings, things that you never thought you would see, like for me when I was in to see a high ranking woman officer female officer was just like, you know, you're sitting in the corner whispering icon. Do you see the woman officer? You know, it's like, very cool. But I think we need more of that up in Washington. I think we need to see more women making those decisions. And, and sitting in with the brass as my dad used to say, and and helping make those decisions. Now once you get out of the military. I think it's helping women veterans, so the women who have been out like I have helping those women veterans, and, you know, taking a hand back and pulling them along, saying Come on, I'll help you. I know, I've been this road. You know, I don't know everything but I'm going to help and there are a lot of organizations out there now like veteran Rottie you know, veteran, it has mentorship now where you can just pick the mentor and, you know, talk to them. You can pick as many mentors as you want. And I'm one of the mentors I'm better at because I wish I'd had something like that.

Keith McKeever 34:58

Absolutely. I started Got myself and I've talked, I've had conversations with two different guys that have reached out. Somebody asked me the other day is an advisor or something like that. And I was like, I remember talking to this guy. Anybody I'm a talker.

Cat Corchado 35:15

Right? I know everyone says, just a girl who likes to talk.

Keith McKeever 35:23

But you kind of say something about the glass ceiling. And my first thought was, you know, breaking down barriers, showing people a path forward as Air Force veterans. I love the fact that right now, if you look at the Air Force leadership, you know, our top general, is a black man. And we have a woman as the chief master sergeant, the Air Force, yes, a couple of firsts. And when I saw those news break on that I'm like, This is awesome. And an outsider's perspective is it seems like the troops that are serving now. Absolutely. Love these two. Like there is real respect, like they are real leaders. That's just my perspective, what I'm seeing on the outside looking at. And it's like, that's, that's, that's awesome. Because I can't say that it's always been the case that you've got leaders up there that everybody seems to have a respect for. And you have respect for the rank?

Cat Corchado 36:16

Well, yeah, you have to you have to respect the

Keith McKeever 36:20

like I said outsider's perspective, it seems like troops that are still served in the Air Force, have a respect both ways.

Cat Corchado 36:27

And that's a big deal. You know, that that's a big deal. And I think along the lines of, you know, the women and some men who are dealing with sexual harassment, and military sexual trauma, I think it's imperative that we have women in these high ranking positions, you know, to be able to change the policy, and change the culture and put policy in place to protect these people. You know, the ones that are, you know, that it happens to them, but they're there in command doesn't, they're like, Okay, whatever, and they move the perpetrator to another base, and you're like, Oh, well, that helps. And so I think we're making strides in that direction. And I'm so happy to see that happen. Because when I was in, like I said, you know, a female general. Yeah, good luck. You know, a female full bird, Colonel. Yeah, good luck. Not that it didn't happen, then I wasn't privy to it. So where I was stationed, meaning, I didn't hear about it, and I didn't see it. So for all those women out there that you were a full bird, Colonel or higher. I'm not taught I didn't get to see you. So I'm sorry. But I just I didn't get a chance to see that. But it's wonderful to see these changes that are being made and changes in the uniform. You know, women are in the middle, especially in the Air Force, they can have their ponytails hanging down, you know, and, and it just warms my heart when I see

Keith McKeever 37:58

obviously so much backlash on that, when I think the army really relaxed their standards a little bit too from a write so much stuff on tick tock, and other social media. And it's like, why do you really care how a woman wears her hair? You know, what time it matters? Just like a guy's facial hair, you know, doesn't matter if you're wearing a gas mask, does it matter? Extra job or the safety of doing your job? And that you should do something? You know,

Cat Corchado 38:28

yeah, if it's a safety issue, absolutely, I would want to put my hair up, you know, but it you know, I just came back from Norfolk, Virginia, and I was at the joint women leadership symposium, and seeing all these women from the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard and Space Force, and seeing them in uniform. And it just warmed my heart, you know, to see this, I thought I want to put the uniform on then I thought, no, it probably won't fit. So let's just mix that

Keith McKeever 39:04

here and it like, you know, take a uniform off next week, it doesn't fit.

Cat Corchado 39:09

Yeah. But I just love the changes that are happening. There are, you know, panels that that they're talking about these issues, and it's nice to hear? Because back in the day, they would just shove stuff under the rug and leave it alone. And now they're, they're openly talking about all of this. And it, you know, doesn't matter. Like, you know, we were talking earlier. It doesn't matter who you're serving next to. If they have your back, they have your back, period. And that's all you want. That's all you need. And, you know, it's hard being an individual in the military, because you all look the same, wearing the same uniform, but you know, that's where your personality comes out. That's where you start to be more of a people person. and, and really and especially as a supervisor to really see the people that you're supervising not just as your subordinates, but as people that are helping you on your team. And it's how I like to think about it.

Keith McKeever 40:17

Well, speaking of subordinates, in you mentioned military sexual trauma earlier, we've kind of hit on culture, toxic leadership, stuff like that, I see a lot of stuff on Tik Tok. And I've had a couple of guests come on my show and talk about military sexual trauma and their experiences. It's absolutely sickening. And It's sickening aid there and see the leadership just turn a blind eye or text somebody. And on one hand, I understand that there's a mission mission has to happen. But they're not taking care of people, you take care of people, the mission happens even more efficiently. And everybody gets along, it's better. But some of the stories that I hear, it's just the hoops that they have to go through the stigma. It's the name calling, the perceptions that they have around the unit. It's just that sucks. And I think back to my time, man, and like I had female troops. I had one that had a, I guess we'll say a mental breakdown, can never figure out why never got to the bottom of it. Nothing like that ever came up. And all these years laters these stories kind of come out. And it's more more mainstream is more talked about, I can't help but sit back and think what happened? Yes, what takes a troop that was I'm not gonna call her, you know, high speed, low drag troop, you know, but this individual she she was okay. You know, she was learning kind of new, and, and all of a sudden to have a mental breakdown, for no known reason. You know, and as a supervisor, they're looking at me, like, what happened? I don't know. You know, she never, she never opened up and told me, but then I'm gonna mail supervisor,

Cat Corchado 42:06

right. And she's not going to open up to you. Exactly. And

Keith McKeever 42:09

I'm like, I can't help but to think, and I have no idea where this person is at right now. Obviously, you know, protecting their identity and all this stuff. But it's, it's like, wow, this is a, you know, I can't help but to wonder if that happened. Or to wonder all the women I worked with, how prevalent was that even in the units I served in, and I didn't even know how much of that was happening right under my nose. And you had no idea that they never said anything, they never even heard about those that never even show any indication, verbally or anything that anything was wrong.

Cat Corchado 42:42

I truly believe that

Keith McKeever 42:44

they'll just pressed on with their life and not saying anything is sickening.

Cat Corchado 42:49

I think that there should be an independent. Someone, probably female, who is familiar with the military maybe was in the military at some point. Now there are civilian, that when something like this happens, that this person is is someone that these women can go to like they like if it happened at a base, this one will go to this base, she would do this independent review or whatever, talk to all the individuals and then report right back to Washington, not to the commander, the base, or the commander of the squadron, but goes right back to Washington. This is what I say this is this is what happened.

Keith McKeever 43:35

There should definitely be another mechanism that should be taken out of commanders hands. Yes, absolutely. accusation, you know, isolate that I'm not saying you put that person immediately in jail, but isolate two people figure out what's going on, give both sides mental health help, right? Because even if you're the accused person, you didn't do anything wrong, you're being accused of some stuff that gets people physical and mental health, separate them. Because I've heard stories of that where, you know, guard and reserve and then the next weekend, they're there, they walk into the unit, they got an order of protection on the civilian side, against this individual, and they have to work to

Cat Corchado 44:10

and they have to work together. Yes, I've heard those stories to tell. And that's just horrific.

Keith McKeever 44:14

I've been around some toxic leadership on my time in but that's that's a whole different level of toxicity. But yeah, if there was an independent, something that would come down one person or a group of people that would investigate a group of individuals with different backgrounds, race, men and women, you know, that could look at it from the outside, maybe some active military, some veterans, maybe some civilians, I don't know, you know, maybe a small panel that just takes all these and says, we're going to investigate this from you know, we're going to look at it from the outside. We want everybody separated, we won't you know, this than the other but no doubt about it. Some sort of reform has to happen,

Cat Corchado 44:56

right because now you know, depending on how much time The person has in service, if they're getting ready to get out, they just separate them, you know that, oh, we'll just let you retire early and keep your rank. You know, that's how I've heard of instances of where that's happened or they just relocate the person to another base. They don't tell whomever what's going on. They're just like, oh, let's PCs, you and your, you know, you no longer my problem, your that person's problem over there. So, yeah, you know, I've been thinking about this for a long time, and not that I have any sway over anybody, but I think something, something needs to happen. Yeah, like that.

Keith McKeever 45:37

I know that one of the ladies that I had on my show, who told her story or name story, it was for the first season. She talked very highly of the guy who turned the acronym in the Air Force, the sexual assault response, court sark's, sar, sharp, whatever it was, what, whatever the army version was. But he likes to put it on the next like, the next day, you know, it was available by phone call, and advocate for her 100%. You know, and it's like, that that was comforting, like, out of the whole terribleness of the story. At least there was somebody there that had her back.

Cat Corchado 46:17

Absolutely. I think that, you know, to backtrack, I don't want to say that, you know, there aren't instances where there there is never any support. There are lots of instances where there are where there is support for this for women and men that this happens to. But when you keep hearing those stories, those horror stories of you went to go do the right thing, and you got backlash for it. And those are the stories that I don't want to hear anymore, because they don't exist anymore.

Keith McKeever 46:51

Yeah, I mean, there's you got the military units to handle the support. Right. And hopefully, people are getting their support. But there is something for outside of the military channels. Yes.

Cat Corchado 47:04

Because you can't be swayed. Exactly.

Keith McKeever 47:10

In mines, or maybe if it's something that's volunteer, where you have a volunteer service where people have to be vetted and stuff to get into it. But you know, no monetary anything, just a volunteer to listen, provide counseling, whatever. Because that's, that's the worst part. You know, you're violated by a team member, you have toxic leadership. Now, people are talking about you behind your back. How do you continue on with that career?

Cat Corchado 47:34

There's no safe splay safe space for that person. You know what I mean, you can't go to the dorm, you can't go, you're living on base, you know, there's no safe place for you. And that that can end up to be tragic.

Keith McKeever 47:50

Well, there's the mental health aspect of the two. I mean, that truth that follows you for the rest of your life. Every victim of military sexual trauma, or rape on the civilian side, even I mean, that's something that follows you for the rest of your life. Yes. You know, so, yes, I 100% agree, there should be something, maybe we'll just cross our fingers. Maybe I'll just maybe I'll just send this after our release, I'll just send it to Keith and cat. Okay. We need you to do this.

Cat Corchado 48:21

Well, when you talked about being on TV, and I just I want to backtrack. Again, I know I said that once. But a lot of the identity problems is whenever there's something about veterans, whether it's Veterans Day or whatever, you never see women on TV. And I and I'm in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I went to all the networks and I said, Hey, women, veterans days, June 12. What do you guys plan on doing? You know, you're going to parade what what's happening, and I got crickets, nothing. And when it's Veterans Day, and I look for this stuff now, and I look to see if there are, you know, going to be a woman featured or just a picture of a woman something. But I don't see anything. And that's and I think that's part of the identity problem. Because when people get used to seeing us women as veterans on television, then I think the identity problems gonna probably go down a little bit, that it's going to kind of dissipate.

Keith McKeever 49:22

I would agree with that. Yeah. Yeah, the more just just the more awareness. Yes. You're used to repetitively seeing something like that. Because, as you say that and I'm like, You're right. I'm like, Where do I see women? veterus. Well, the VFW and the Legion magazine. I've seen women veterans in there. You know, I've seen him in the Facebook groups, but I'm a veteran.

Cat Corchado 49:45

Exactly your your program to see that.

Keith McKeever 49:51

Do civilians see like what you know? It's hard to say, You know what, what their perspective is because it You and I are gonna see it that way.

Cat Corchado 50:03

Yeah, that's true. But I think, you know, civilians are looking for something nice. I don't even know what it is, you know, both my husband and I are veterans. But you know, if we walk up to someone and my husband bless his heart, I'll say, Yes, we're retired military. And now all of a sudden, all these questions, Oh, what did you do and blah, blah, blah. And my husband say, she's the, she's the retiree. And then it's like, oh, thank you for your service. And you're like, what? You can ask me the same questions. You know, and that's the other thing. Okay, one of my pet peeves.

Keith McKeever 50:34

I've heard, I've heard this before the direction you're going. So

Cat Corchado 50:37

thank you for your service. Okay. It's honestly, it's very dismissive. You know, if it's, if you don't have time to speak to the veteran, I get it, just say thank you, for your service, at least mean it. Don't just say it. But if you have time, say thank you for wearing the uniform. Because you know what that says to the veteran, it says that you understand the sacrifice that I made by wearing the uniform. And that's so much more meaningful to say thank you for wearing the uniform. I even say it to other veterans. Thank you for wearing the uniform. I think it's important. Yeah, sounds great. Sorry. Okay. Now I'm gonna get off my soapbox.

Keith McKeever 51:18

Vietnam veterans, we all highly publicized you know, what would be a non veterans came home to I've gotten to the point that when I see a Vietnam veteran, I always go up, and I say, Welcome home. Absolutely. You know, like, glad to have you back. You know, just something. But yeah, that thank you for your service. It's just feel so empty. And it's like, what do you say back? And I heard somebody say, once Well, thank you for your support. Well, that almost feels empty going back. Thank you for your support, you know, I guess myself be like, well, you know, most of it was a pleasure. You know, yeah. You get a weird luck. And it's like,

Cat Corchado 52:02

but I think there's no question when you say thank you for wearing the uniform. It's very direct. It's very complimentary. And both people understand what's being said, thank you for your service. Okay, what service? Which service you talk, you know what I mean? It's very general.

Keith McKeever 52:23

genuineness to it? Yes. Or you can come up and you can say, hey, I noticed you're a veteran. And I just want to say thank you so much for for being the kind of person that would stand up and protect our freedoms as Americans, and I appreciate it. Absolutely. But along those lines, I that will take me back, I'd be like, Oh,

Cat Corchado 52:42

I know, I'd be a puddle. I would just cry. Which is like, Oh, my God, thank you so much.

Keith McKeever 52:47

Yeah. It was like, you know, when somebody has a death in their family or a sickness in their family, I think it's like, I don't even know what to say. You know, so it's a lot of that, because I get it all. I mean, you mentioned kind of identity earlier, like, I really didn't mention my identity as a veteran much either for a number of years until I was I got to know people through volunteering day for things and into this podcast. And then over the last couple of years, I'm like, I'm not I'm not ashamed to be a veteran. Like, I want to celebrate the fact like it was a huge part of my life. Huge part. Yes, I'm only 37 I served five and a half years, I did two deployments to Iraq. I was in Ecuador. I mean, I did a lot of cool stuff. Not just cool. Some people you know, was our navy seals out there doing it. In a pickup truck behind airplane quite a bit wasn't nearly as cool but still, like, you do a lot of fun stuff, you know, but at a young age, I was 21 when I joined your young adult it forms a part of who you are as an adult at a young age like that. Even five and a half years shape. So you are still to this day, like is organized, organized. I am no different little things that I do. I'll be like

Cat Corchado 54:05

Right, like

Keith McKeever 54:09

for me to slow down on eating all the time. She's like, are you going to taste it? And I'm like,

Cat Corchado 54:15

Just shovel it in, just shovel it.

Keith McKeever 54:21

But you know, it's who we are, I guess.

Cat Corchado 54:26

And I think I think we have to you know, toot our own horns and help other people realize that being a veteran is amazing. And you've got an amazing network. You know, I was I like to tell women that you have membership to a club that you didn't even know you had. Use your network use your membership.

Keith McKeever 54:48

Yeah, we got a huge family. We're, I forget the exact you know, they say the 1% Whatever. I think total veteran population is about 5% Something like that. Last I read that It's not a lot of people, we have a big family, big, crazy dysfunctional family. But it's also a big network and what a lot of people don't celebrate, what they should think about when wearing something that identifies you as a veteran is, we shouldn't be proud of the things that we look at your civilian counterparts, we are far more organized, we show up on time, we're consistent. We are no nonsense. Sometimes we you know, get stuff done kind of people. We understand rank, structure, position, and all those different soft skills that you get the things that you don't put on resumes, right, that sets us apart, the things that frustrate us about civilians, that were like, Oh, my God, why did they not get this? Those are skills, they aren't skills that employers are looking for the ones that really do care about hiring veterans and value that. So that's, you know, those are the kinds of things that we need to be like, Don't Don't be afraid of being a veteran, be proud of it. Like you. You You are skills that. Well, if you joined at 19 years old, if all of your friends went to college, did you see what I mean? We all learned skills at that point that they didn't learn?

Cat Corchado 56:17

Oh, yes. I truly believe that there there are things that I learned that even now I'll go, oh, yeah, I did learn the military. My eyes will say where did that come from? Like, I think there was a military thing, you know, but just understanding that even when you you come out of the military, that there are organizations that aren't going to understand what you bring to the table. Because I tell this story a lot is that when I first got out of the military, I was gonna, you know, project manager, man management, right? Great job, I should be able to just slide right into a job. And I went to an interview, and I swear the interviewer was like, 12 years old, you know, he had no hair on his face. And he goes, Wow, 20 years, and I go, Yeah, and he goes, where's your degree? I said, You see those 20 years there? And I know, and I did a quick pivot, and that's another thing veterans are good at is, okay, is not working. Let me quick pivot to B, and see what's happening. So we have tenacity, we're able to turn on a dime, because we had to in the military sometimes, you know, you know, if you have a project, like, yeah, you got three months to do it, and they come back and go yet needs to be done by the end of the month. You know, how many times that that happen? And so, you know, we're good at those things. But a lot of civilian organizations don't value those types of things, because I don't think they understand what it is we bring to the table. And it's a lot.

Keith McKeever 58:02

I absolutely agree. And that transition is definitely tough, tough for everybody. And it's it's a lifelong amount of lessons. But I know there's a lot of issues when it comes to female veterans and transition when it comes to like VA care, too, because I read statistics somewhere to like one in four women that walk through the doors of a VA and I have I have called men out on this before and I'll do it again. One in four women and walk through the doors of a VA are sexually harassed, and much shit. Step up.

Cat Corchado 58:38

It don't be that way. Not be that way.

Keith McKeever 58:42

You know, I mean, like, that's back to the big happy family with a you know, that's, that's big brother, say some inappropriate little sister. Right? You know, like, you know, like, just can't let that happen. And that's just sad. You know, and ever since I learned that, I've been a lot more conscious of that, walking into my local VA.

Cat Corchado 59:03

You know, I love that.

Keith McKeever 59:04

Where are the women veterans sitting like, where, what, what is going on? Of course, I've got a small clinic here. So it's not that many people in there, but it's, you know, like, is this stuff happening? You know what I mean?

Cat Corchado 59:17

Yes. Because you don't you don't see it, but you hear it? You're like, Wait, why this is happening. And I still hear about stuff today. And I'm thinking why does this keep happening? Because, you know, during, you know, the whole Vanessa again. issue. As sad as it is my husband asked me, he said, did that to any, you know, were you sexually harassed or anything? And I said, No, there was a guy wants that. You know, he liked to look over my shoulder when I was typing, and I remember looking back at him, I said, Do you want to back up please?

Keith McKeever 59:59

Kind of in my mind If

Cat Corchado 1:00:00

you're in Las Vegas, but um, and I'm sure it did happen during my era, it never happened to me. i Not that I expected it. But it's just, it should not be happening. It just should not be happening. I'm just going to put it out there. This should be zero tolerance to zero. Period. Oh, it

Keith McKeever 1:00:23

was me is like, how do I, where's that mindset come from that it's okay to do that. My I guess my perspective was different. I had a father who was very my father would have done something like that, which surprised he was just that kind of good guy. But then after he passed away, it was just my mother, my sister and I, for a couple of years. And we always had girls that were always hanging out in my group of friends, you know, my buddies, girlfriends and stuff like that. So like, it's been around a long, long time around women could possibly imagine saying some of the things that I hear some guy say, I'm like, what kind of household were you brought up in where you think it's okay to talk to people like that?

Cat Corchado 1:01:08

Absolutely. But obviously, the kind of household it allowed that type of thing to happen.

Keith McKeever 1:01:14

Generational, I mean, just sexism, racism, like, just go down the list.

Cat Corchado 1:01:21

All the isms.

Keith McKeever 1:01:24

Stuff comes from is generational. It definitely is. So it's, it's a shame, though. But hopefully, the next, you know, all it takes is one generation to stop that. And then switch that cycle to something more positive. So

Cat Corchado 1:01:39

I think it's happening after these past few days and seeing these women, I'm just like, Yeah, this is. Yeah, well, we've had this is badass.

Keith McKeever 1:01:51

NASA that got a lot of press. And that brought a lot of eyeballs on on issues, podcasts, in television, interviews about military, sexual trauma, the issues, social media, in general, even just brings more eyeballs and awareness to things and hopefully things get better. And hopefully, next time I talk to you, you will, you'll tell me, that, that you found a woman Veterans Day parade or event,

Cat Corchado 1:02:19

right? It's coming It's

Keith McKeever 1:02:25

I mean, I've never heard of anything around here either, like Come to think of it, like, why not? I live in a community that's got we've got active duty code, a small group of active duty coast guard here. We've got Air, air guard, Army Guard, and we have Navy and Marine Corps Reserves. So we've got a large veteran, fairly large veteran community for a small town around here. And I'm like, I don't think we have anything for that. But all the VSO organizations should put their heads together and figure it out, figure it

Cat Corchado 1:02:55

out. I totally agree.

Keith McKeever 1:03:02

Absolutely. So what can I appreciate you coming on here? And talking about some of these veterans, women, veteran issues and veteran issues as a whole to in a lot of ways? So any, any last thoughts or comments?

Cat Corchado 1:03:18

No, thank you so much for allowing me to speak on this. It's, it's my passion. It's my heart to connect with women, whether you're veteran or active duty. It's never too early to talk about your transition. But you also want to be smart about it. And you know, people always ask me, you know, I want to be an entrepreneur, should I just jump into being an entrepreneur and I'll say, get a job that's paying you money first. And then do your passion on the side. And then when you're making money from your passion, then you can step away. But you can navigate transition. You just need help. And sometimes for women, and even veterans in general, asking for help is very, very hard.

Keith McKeever 1:04:05

That it definitely is.

Cat Corchado 1:04:08

So thank you very much for having me on. It's been a pleasure.

Keith McKeever 1:04:12

No problem. Well, for those who are watching to get your podcasts link scrolled at the bottom, it'll be in the show show notes, too. Thank you. I've got your email address. Would you like me to put your email address in the in the show notes too, if anybody want to reach out to you about maybe being a guest or absolute lights or resources, any of that stuff?

Cat Corchado 1:04:30

Absolutely. I love having, you know, people telling their story, because everyone's story, you know, you talk about transition as a road, but it's a different road for everybody. And so you know, hearing different people's stories, sometimes you you say you identify with a particular story, and know that this person made it to the other side and so can you.

Keith McKeever 1:04:51

Absolutely there's plenty of people who've done it before you there's there's a pathway, you just got to find the right one. So I will have that in there and i will say i You still We're pretty active on clubhouse two.

Cat Corchado 1:05:01

Yes. Active on clubhouse, and all the social media, LinkedIn, all of it. That's all

Keith McKeever 1:05:10

connected on a few of them. Even though we hadn't talked on clubhouse in a long time I was. I was pretty into clubhouse for a little bit and then you get busy. You get busy and it's just like you never stop and think I still get the notifications. I probably have 15 of them on my phone. Yeah, should definitely go in there. If you're on clubhouse go connect with cat because I know there's been great conversations even though it's probably been better part of the year since I've, I've been kind of active on there. But it's a very conversations on all the stuff that is going on. And if you're a woman veteran, sometimes maybe that's just what you need is just to have conversation in a smaller, little bit more intimate settings, there might be 1015 people in there. So that'd be some good place to connect with cat to

Cat Corchado 1:05:56

absolutely. Thank you so much, Keith. This has been a pleasure.

Keith McKeever 1:05:59

Absolute pleasure. You don't be a stranger. Absolutely. It

Cat Corchado 1:06:03

was great to meet you virtually.

Keith McKeever 1:06:07

I'm a son of a Cub Scout I appreciate

Cat Corchado 1:06:13

all right, bye.

Keith McKeever 1:06:17

There you go folks, if you enjoyed that podcast remember all the the links will be in the show notes. You can go check out my website battle buddy podcast dot dat for all kinds of resources. You know, I'm always trying to update that. If you're struggling, the National Suicide Hotline number is 800-273-8255 or you can text 8382552