John "Nick" Valentine has vast experience in not only for profit but non-profit businesses. As a retired U.S. Army mental health professional we discuss mental health and the difficulties of transition as well as his businesses such as Sgt. Ritters Spirits, Combat Boxes, and Operation Phantom Support. Nick knows the difficulties all veterans face not only with the transition but sometimes meeting the needs of the military members and their families. Nick's non-profit called Operation Phantom Support feed hundreds of military members, veterans, and their families every week in and around Fort Hood.

Transcript from Episode 7 with Nick Valentine:

Keith McKeever 0:05

Welcome to the battle buddy podcast with Keith McKeever. Hey everybody. Welcome back to the bottom line podcast. I'm your host Keith McKeever. I've got Nick Valentine here, who's the CEO of a handful of companies Sergeant Raider spirits, Operation phantom support. Veterans be real podcast, Phantom freelancing, combat boxes, and probably a handful of other things in the work. So welcome, Nick to the show. Good to have you here. So go ahead and tell us a little bit about your story. You know, what, where you from, what your military journey was, things like that.

Nick Valentine 0:38

Okay, where I'm from? That's a conflicting question because I'm born at the Great Lakes Naval Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. My father was in the US Navy. So we I grew up all over the country. I lived in Hawaii. I lived in Florida. I live in California. I lived in Philadelphia, I lived in Maine, I lived South Carolina. And then as my father was getting ready to retire, I graduated high school. We were in Maine, my dad's last duty station was in Maine, and I enlisted in the Army. And as soon as he retired a month later, two months later, I was in the army. And then I did 20 years in the Army. So I moved around my whole life in the army to I'm actually this is a longest anywhere in my entire life. I got here at Fort Hood in 2005. And I've lived here ever since because when I retired, it just stayed here. So I'm like, I ain't moving no more. I'm done with it. So Texas is God's country.

Keith McKeever 1:23

Right? Well, Texas

Nick Valentine 1:24

is God's country, and they are all about some veterans and some military so it's all about being supportive being so you know, it happens to some good people in the Alfredo stuff. Yeah, there's a little Captain crazies running around. But for the most part, you know, people are in Texas and my wife's from Texas and both my kids were born here in Texas at Fort Hood. So I just figured, hey, I'll give him a chance to kind of live the life I never had and I'll just provide that for him. So that's what we're doing. Yeah.

Keith McKeever 1:46

Awesome. Well, that's the goal of you know, having a family is providing that next generation the life that you didn't have and provide them something different and Texas is not a bad place to live. Pretty pretty appealing to me living here in central Illinois where it's pretty bitterly cold out so

Nick Valentine 2:02

yeah, I'm all about Yeah, it actually snowed here about a week ago and we actually got to go outside make a snowman when my kids my kids are off the chain crazy. We were throwing snowball fights because there's like eight inches of snow literally but it was gone. But but we had it was wet snow too. So it's good for snowballs and we made this giant snowman in our front yard. People are taking pictures people driving by stopping and waving because you know I grew up in Maine Chicago so I grew up in a lot of coal wares. I know how to make snowman. So we're building a snowman and having a good time put hats on him and scarves and hats and so we had a good time but it was the good family time, that's for sure.

Keith McKeever 2:37

I'm sure they were just absolutely amazed when they saw snow in and

Nick Valentine 2:41

my youngest son was like nine years old never seen snow you know? Yeah, that's

Keith McKeever 2:45

gotta be a crazy crazy feeling because I'm the same way you know growing up here Central Illinois knows a thing. Haven't had a good wet snow in a while though. And my kids are old enough now that I can have snowball fights with them and not worry about hurting them too bad

Nick Valentine 3:00

that's nothing to sneeze I was born in Chicago so I'm a huge Cubs fan Bears fan and bulls. You know, those are my team like I got Walter Payton autograph and all kind of I mean, all here on the right hand side of my desk is all my bear stuff. And I'm the size on my cubs stuff. And I got all because I'm a huge sports guy. So I mean, on that wall. I got my picture of the World Series when and yeah,

Keith McKeever 3:17

I'm sure. Being a sports fan. I'm sure you know, it's painful to have the bears losing the playoffs, but you're probably pretty happy to lose Mitchell Trubisky

Nick Valentine 3:25

I don't know man. I'll be honest with you. I don't think Trubisky is the problem. I think naggy in my opinion. I think naggy was trying to overstep his abilities, he wasn't really playing to Trubisky strengths. I mean, if you trade up, give up a pick and trade up to get this guy you thought is better than mahomes a better than Watson a better than he has the talent is they evaluated him in other organizations salt Trubisky is that time and talent you that's why the bears traded up to make sure they got him.

Keith McKeever 3:49

Yeah, somebody else will probably jockeying for that position. Right? So

Nick Valentine 3:52

I don't think Trubisky is a bad quarterback I think you have to play two different quarterbacks strengths. You know, he's guys he's better at scrambling out of the pocket and moving he's not good at staying stationary like a Tom Brady or whatever he's got to run around to throw the ball and let his athleticism be is that because look at it he was six and three this year when he started you know I mean to play yeah. Oh, just to in whatever whatever. So it wasn't a Trubisky was the problem it was the play calling and I think what really helped the bears when when I gave a play call and duties and let somebody else do it. Now you could focus on just being the coach and the strategy of the game versus having to worry about day every single individual offensive play and you could focus on the team and I think it's gonna I hope with the mayor to assign Trubisky to a one year contract for next year. Or I hope that the bears make a huge offer to the Houston Texans to get Watson find Trubisky do a contract trade for Miss Houston plus give up have to do like I did like the Mac deal give up three or four first round picks. But get that quarterback that's going to be the changing thing for our friends. Yeah, you stopped. You started thinking about it back in 2000 was a 2006 when they drafted Aaron Rodgers the Packers drafted Aaron Rodgers look like number 25 So, I know we had to pick before 25. And think about what the bears are done with Aaron Rodgers is our quarterback. You see, I'm saying because those quarterbacks in the NFL your quarterback, and I know we're way talking off track here, but in the NFL quarterbacks is what makes him break your organization because it's how they perform under pressure, how they perform in that and then how they motivate your team. That's why Patrick mahomes is so well because he's a he's a guy that can stay in the pocket and throw it 100 yards, or you can scramble and make a place and same thing with Watson watching the Santa pyre scramble. Lamar Jackson can stay in the pocket or he can scramble. So I mean, there's a lot of potential there for those quarterbacks that are more mobile, especially in today's NFL, it's not like that ground and pound like it wasn't the 80s with the bears was just given water painting. You know, Jimmy never throwing deeper once well, but for the most part here to water and walk in the water. So it's not like that anymore. So you got to find a sports teams are a little challenging, but yeah,

Keith McKeever 5:51

yeah, I was gonna ask cuz I'm a Denver Broncos fan been Broncos fan for years. And it's been a rough five years. But I've seen reports that the Broncos were possibly linked, you know, there's like, all the rumors like bringing into your Biscay and I'm like, he's not. He's not on the same level as drew Locke. You know, he needs us his athleticism. I think there's no put the tools around them, they need to be healthy.

Nick Valentine 6:11

And I like luck. I think last night, I think again, teams that struggle like the bears and the Broncos this year, it's not because of their quarterback play, it wasn't really because of the quarterback plays because their offensive line is not good enough to ask blocking. They're all these offensive lines are good at run blocking, or, you know, run, he's gonna just get the ball and go. But when they got a backup and pass law, a lot of those guys struggle and and like I tell everybody to talk to you. That's why the Cowboys are so good for so long, because their offensive line was dominant. That's why the Steelers are always good, because our offensive line is dominant. And they can protect Ben Roethlisberger. If you can protect your quarterback, you can win games, if you can give your quarterback three to six, three to five seconds to make a decision, you'll win. Let's see, most quarterbacks only get to two and a half seconds and they're they're not going to make the right decision. So it's great point. Mark is a huge upside to his side. If he can get an offensive line that can protect he's got to get a good left tackle. And both his center and two guards got to be strong, or they're not going to be no no team. It's like the bears. There's nothing without an offensive line. I don't care who the quarterback is. If you can't protect him, you're gonna do nothing, right?

Keith McKeever 7:17

Absolutely. It's a every position is important. Just like just like in a military. A quarterback. Yeah, they have to have the talent, the ability, but it's also the glue that holds everything together. They touch the ball on every play. They're, they're the one leading everything. They're they're setting the tempo, along with the coaches. So, you know, it's it's an important step. But you know, the offensive line is kind of like you're young privates out there. They're the ones doing the dirty work. They're getting stuff done. And if you're not taking care of them and putting the right talent there and grooming them, right. They're gonna let you down some way. They're gonna do some stupid in the barracks.

Nick Valentine 7:53

The hardest thing for me the Bears fan is 2006 We made the we made the Super Bowl against the coals. To kick off, Devin Hester ran a kickoff back for a touchdown. I'm like, Okay, that's it, we're good. The tape man had did his thing, you know, thing of just what it is what it is. But you know, it's been a while for us to get to get some foundation stuff. I thought getting Mac was huge. But again, if your offensive line isn't good, your team's not gonna make it. Because even if your defense is amazing, your number one defense, you still got to put points on the board. I mean, in the end, you got to put points on the board. So

Keith McKeever 8:21

very rarely do you see a defense that just overwhelms an opponent the Broncos did at the Super Bowl 50. I mean, they were able to stop Cam Newton, probably because their offensive line wasn't all that. All that super great. So But back to the military thing. So you were in, in a medical career field, right?

Nick Valentine 8:40

That was a medic, I started off as a combat engineer, and I got hurt, reclassify the American and they actually specialize me mental health for a while. So I did both mental health and Medic. But I did 17 years as a mental health tech guy. And three years as a combat engineer was first Lutheran whole nine yards in the army, all those jobs, retired 2010 20 years and six deployments and decided that was enough. And I got out and decided to be home with my family. And then I decided to start a nonprofit to kind of pay it forward and help the soldiers so serving then look out for the veterans I've gotten out of that might be struggling a little bit. And that's kind of what I do now.

Keith McKeever 9:17

What was that experience in a medical career field? And was it a combat stress unit stuff that you were in? Really what was the catalyst to start a nonprofit and given back seeing the struggle that people were going through?

Nick Valentine 9:29

Well, yeah, that and use the injuries because I ran eight stations when I was in Afghanistan. I was the mental health guy there too. But, you know, in theater, I needed to do bluntly, honestly, we saw some people for mental health, but it was really more they just needed a psychological mental break. And they just wanted to come talk to somebody it wasn't like it was gonna get them out of assignment or we had a few soldiers that were you know, dramatic and wanted to get out of stuff. But for the most part, most of those guys came to us to just kind of get away from their unit for an hour or two and just kind of relax a lot of them. We let them just sit in the room and just chill and watch TV. That's what they wanted to do because They just needed a psychological break away from their unit. So I wouldn't say the mental health side maybe get into the nonprofit world, I think more the physical champion was just going to win I had a guy lose a leg or a guy lose both legs or guy lose an arm or, and I saw what the strain was never going through the rehab to get better than what the struggles were going to be from now to be actually semi normal back on their lifestyle with their families, and how they're going to survive and take care of their families. So I wanted to be there for those guys, too. I mean, yeah, granted, don't don't get me wrong. I work with people all the time that have suicidal ideations, I have PTSD, myself, and I deal with a lot of war myself, because the guilt I feel, and all that stuff, but there's a lot of organizations out there that do mental health stuff. So I don't really get involved in that I do direct people to organizations that help them with that kind of stuff. But I don't, just because I didn't the army, and I'm just kind of like, yeah, you know, that's not where I want to be in my civilian life. In regular life, I'll kind of be helping people and making, I want to go home to help a lot of people that they still I don't let that I'm not trying to hold that person mental health issues, but I do get them to people that have them and get them in the right organizations. I work with an organization that helps them so that's what's good about it.

Keith McKeever 11:03

Yeah, there's only so much you can do in a day, week, month, whatever you got, got to pick what you can do the most impact on so I can understand that, you know, if somebody else is better suited, because they're a doctor, they got the certifications when they need to be the ones that handle it, you know, handle what you wish you can handle.

Nick Valentine 11:22

That that's what needed help. I mean, that's not my forte anymore. So I was really good at it. And I did it for a long time. And I was I was sought after by a lot of colonels and Lieutenant Colonel's and doctors that work with me, because they knew I could handle the other side of it for them. And but in the

Unknown Speaker 11:38

long run, you know, it's not something i i

Nick Valentine 11:44

I don't enjoy doing it. So I mean, it wasn't I mean, yeah, I love helping soldiers. But in the end, it's all the rules and regulations and all of those other bullshit. It just, it's not worth it to me, Well, I just decided one different route. Yeah,

Keith McKeever 11:53

I imagine it'd be pretty tough to sit there and have to hear people's stories. And in because you got to weigh you got to take that on yourself mentally, when you're hearing their stories and their impact. Go back to the war on terror. I heard somewhere I can't recall where it was. But there's a big difference between wars of past and today. In a lot of past wars, you'd be out on the front for maybe go out on patrolling, maybe be out on the front for a few weeks, maybe a month or two, then you come back to a fairly secure rear area. And you could let your guard down a little bit, and then go back out, rotate back out, but on the war on terror, you're the small fobs, you know, you're on constant patrols and, and all these things, and every single person around you is a potential threat. So you're, you know, you're constantly on guard, and you have really no great ways to really let that guard down. So there's a there's a lot of mental health stuff there. And hopefully, we can all work together as veterans to kind of end that stigma and let people get the help they need. Well, you're

Nick Valentine 13:01

any veteran out there that's listening to your podcast, the biggest thing you can do for anybody struggling with mental health issues, PTSD is just be there and be a sounding board and don't judge them and just listen to a man, you don't have to judge them. You don't have to second guess him. You don't have to critique him. Just listen to him because most guys are struggling PTSD or depression. Just need to get that shit off their chest. And as long as they can get it off their chest and not feel like they're being judged by the person listening. It's going to help that we might not help them in a diagnostic way mental, mental, mental health wise or medically, but it's going to help them because the stress and the relief is going to come off when they could talk to somebody about it. They didn't judge them. They didn't look at them different. They didn't. Because I've had so much sit across me say man I had we got to golf and I killed a kid. I didn't really and obviously this well, you know, okay, it happened manners. gunfighter, no one's gonna judge you for that man and to get out of gun and shoot. Now you, you know you did what you had to survive to come home to your family, no one's judge. He was just at the end of that conversation. Like, man, I can't believe you did. I mean, I was in the same situation or whatever, blah, blah, blah, boom. But it's not about my situation is worse than yours, or this is that it's just about listening to your battle, buddy. And listen and say, Listen, I'm here for you, man. Let's get it off your chest, whatever you got to say. And I'll just listen. And that's the most important thing we as veterans can do for each other. It's just, sometimes we just got to listen, sometimes you just got to shut up and listen, and just just absorb it for him here and then a hug of you and say, Man, I'll see you tomorrow, let's go get another drink of beer tomorrow or whatever. And that way you're pushing the reinforcement of let's see each other tomorrow. So he feels safer, she feels safe. So that's what it's about. It's not about solving their problem. It's about just being there to listen to Him and hear him out. That's it.

Keith McKeever 14:32

Yeah. Or call them during this time. You know what COVID reorder your geographically separated. I had a conversation with a an old friend of mine and not too long ago, honestly. And this year has been rough in certain ways for me, and I started start talking to a counselor myself and so I was talking to my buddy not too long ago and he late recently, last fall lost his wife to COVID. And so I you know, I was talking to him and you know, trying to check in on him, just like that TV does at the end. Every episode pick up the phone and call somebody. And so I find, you know, I picked up the phone and, you know, we we ended up talking and I told him then he goes, dude, 13 years later, he goes, Man, you should have gotten, you should have talked to somebody before, Don't bottle that stuff up, go talk to somebody, let that stuff out, get the help you need.

Nick Valentine 15:17

Yeah, the most important. Doesn't matter who it is you can be, you can be a bum on the street, gonna cry, no matter you mean listen to just talk, because it's about getting it off your chest, it's about with getting it out and getting out of your head and getting out. Let your words project that out of your body. So it can feel like a kind of release or like all it comes off your shoulder, you can feel a little bit less stress. That's what's really, at least from my perspective, in my PhD, that's the biggest thing for me, I talk to my wife about it. And there was a time I couldn't talk to my wife about all the little things that happened me all the combat, I was in all the conflict. But I got to a point where I was like, my wife got to know who I am. She's gonna know everything about me. She's my partner, right? So then I started opening it up. And it kind of made her an easy in the beginning, because it was like, wow, I didn't think that something you would ever do. But I'm like, That's because you weren't in that environment. You weren't, you don't, it wasn't that I met, it was a mental choice that I made to do it, it was reactionary or whatever. And then, but now she's absorbed that understanding, it doesn't change the person that I am. It just changed the it just was the actions I had to take in that situation. And I think that's what people that's when I tell therapists all the time to stop trying to think you have the answer. PTSD is not something you can fix. It's a condition that we have to live with for the rest of our lives. We can fix, I can't fix it, you can't fix it. Because those thoughts are going to be in my head forever. No matter what you tell me, I don't give a shit what you think you can tell me, it's never gonna go away, I have to learn to deal with the condition I have, which is figuring out what my triggers are understanding how to control my triggers, so I don't explode. Or that's what's important when you teach me how to control my trigger, how to control the end, how to control your emotions that are coming out of that's what I need to teach you how to do not fix the PTSD, I need you to fix what happens when I go through. And that's what I need you to fix that no one has the answers because

Keith McKeever 16:56

it's not that I realize this this year is that I was more in my mind with being at home more. And all these things going on with COVID. And I realized I was thinking about things way more than I ever really thought you know, I keep myself busy, always go on all these different things going on. And when those things kind of slowed down a little bit. I thought about it and and I was thinking about it. And I've been very open with my wife about things that I've gone through. And I'm like man to somebody who hasn't been through those experiences, some of this stuff sounds absolutely crazy. And, and I thought it was just kind of normal, because I experienced it. I knew and both battle buddies around, it experienced the same thing, we all went through it, you kind of think that you're normal, and then we start thinking about it, you're like, that wasn't a normal experience. Most people don't go through that. So that's, that's when I finally said, You know what, I'm just going to talk to somebody and get this stuff off my chest and talk to a counselor about things that I've done, seen and experienced and just just talking to help, I'll talk to her twice. So you know, just to be able to act and I realized, you know, some of the ways I you know react to different things are zero 60 in a fraction of a second, she's like every

Nick Valentine 18:06

GST is a fall condition. Because you did have a good day, I could be having a great day. And I'll put in 1001, no one, whatever could trigger something. And I go from zero to 100 and like seconds. And that's what you should scare my wife and my kids. One day, I'd be fine all sudden, boom, there'd be a noise out on the TV or smell out with mono, and it would set me off I'd like so what I've learned though, going to different retreats and different things that helped me is that if I can control the trigger, I can control the outcome. So once I start to feel that trigger coming on now I have ways to tell myself, take a breath, slow down, do whatever, blah, blah, and it goes it keeps me control now. So that's what I tell them all the time. You can't stop PTSD from being a part of your life. But what you can learn to control the outcomes of the PTSD, you can't control it, but you control the outcomes of your actions. And that's what I tell people, that's what you got to focus on the positives or what you can do to control it. Because once you learn that, your life will get better with your family because they'll understand you better Plus, you'll learn to know that you can family can trust you and then it's not gonna feel like they're gonna be on eggshells when they're walking around. So that's what it's about.

Keith McKeever 19:08

Yeah. And I I had to realize the hard way that you know, everybody's everybody's triggers are different. Everybody's response is different. I I never really thought you know, PTSD, I don't really I don't really have any PTSD and my wife for years was like, you've got PTSD. No, my now and this year really made me realize I'm like, I don't have that stereotypical punch holes in the wall and slap people around. Like the stuff that you see in TV. It's just, that's really PTSD for you know, everybody's gonna be different. But that's what I was thinking in my head like, Nope, that's somebody with PTSD. They're failing to adapt, they can't do things. They can't focus on things. Why get hyper focused on things I bury myself in work, and I do things but also know that I've got a short temper sometimes, you know, sometimes if I'm focused hyper focused on something and somebody tries to break my attention. It will Send me into like a mini rage. And I'm like, I'm focusing your braking my attention, I'm 100% into this. And first thing the counselor told me when I told her that is, wait four seconds, just count four seconds before you say anything or do anything. And it will all drastically alter your response and the impact. So you know that like close my office door when I'm working, so my kids don't come in here and bother me. So I can maintain a focus without somebody coming up behind me and, and bugging me for a hunger book and bugging me for snack time or asking for some math, homework help. You know, not that I don't want to help but to me, there's got to be a time for it, I want to be able to devote my full attention instead of being distracted with what's going on. So but that's that's enough on on. On the mental health stuff. Here we go down a long rabbit hole on that. But your your operation phantom support is a nonprofit that you started when you got out. So what what kind of things you tell us that you're that you're trying to achieve and accomplish and have accomplished with that?

Nick Valentine 20:59

Well, for me, and the reason we started operations were to help soldiers and veterans and their families with day to day lives. So we primarily help with things that happen day to day, we make sure their families have enough food on the table, they got clothes, they got furniture they got they can get their car fixed their tires, a place to get birthday cakes, for the kids, Christmas toys, backpacks for school for their kids. So we can't we came up with a lot of programs that just kind of impact their lives throughout the year that they're going to run into a birthday, they're gonna run into Christmas, they're gonna run into a school, their car might break down, they might need to get extra food this month, they might need tires, or they might need to get their car. So that's what we focus on is primarily things that we can do to help the soldiers save money throughout the year and make their lives easier, or are the veterans and make their families have more so they don't have to worry as much they can be at work and have a clear head be at work, focus on their work, and then get home to their families and just be home with their families and not have to worry about do I have enough food on the table for my family, they're for dinner. So that's what we kind of do to help them out.

Keith McKeever 21:51

Yeah, talking to you, before we started recording, I got the feeling that it's really kind of a crisis aversion kind of thing. It's kind of like a mini emergency, you're you're filling that gap so that something doesn't escalate into a major issue. You know, if you fix the tire on the car, they could keep driving, if they if they don't, they don't have the money for it, then they're skipping work. They're not coming in, they're getting an article 15 Or you know, whatever, whatever happens,

Nick Valentine 22:17

it can escalate a whole lot of other problems just because they couldn't do X, Y or Z. And that's what I do that like I get a call first time they call me on time I got a soldier gunner got a no pay, do whatever it needs some food. Yep, send them over top, I got him, I'll make sure you got all the food to get all the way to next payday, I'll make sure you squared away. And that's what we do. So it's about being there for the leadership on Fort Hood, because we're right outside the gates, here in Texas, and then also to take care of the veterans, for everyone. So it's truly about a like it like that, that gap fill, it just makes sure that we'd get them to the next level, they get them and get them to this and they're gonna be okay. And that's what we kind of wanted to do because most soldiers paycheck to paycheck, because they don't have the financial background or they don't have the financial knowledge to really make sure they're saving and doing so they live paycheck to paycheck. So I'm helping them spread that out a little bit more, because they come to my food pantry, they get about three $400 worth of food every month. So that helps them their grocery bill is $300 now they can cut it down to $100 We got 300 So now they can start looking at putting money away or have a little bit money to stretch a little further or whatever. So that's what we're trying to accomplish them in the end,

Keith McKeever 23:15

putting that Thrift Savings Plan or or going back to save for that, that next emergency because we all know a life you're going to have that next the next emergency that comes up we're going to fork out 500 or $1,000 for something and expect

Nick Valentine 23:27

that as soon as you get this check from the government that stipend check sums gonna come up and it's gonna eat all that money on your car's gonna break in the summer it's always the way it works when you get into money off and then a problem happens you got to fix your toilet or you got to fix your your frigerator breaks or whatever and you guys spend money on that anyway so I took no time when you get this check in the mail don't go spend it all too fast you might want to put it in savings for at least a month or two just as way to see if anything happens and if not then you got it you got to do whatever but don't just spend in the minute you get it because something's going to come up it always does it's just new law something's gonna happen to you know Cassie great

Keith McKeever 23:57

points sit on it for a little while. Assess the situation that

Nick Valentine 24:03

we're in the wife that ours we sat on it for a month and a half we did just in case just in case and then when our washing machine went outside to wash dishes but I had the money because we put it all right it was one bottom but that that's my point you just never know. So

Keith McKeever 24:16

I'm bid that was a pain in the butt. I just got a new washing machine about a month ago and I got that a lot faster and I on my stove but that's a whole different story. I've been waiting six months for a stove. The top works but the oven doesn't work. So we have side note on that we cook Thanksgiving dinner and an air fryer and a smoker. We made it work. We cross my fingers and stuff gets here by the end of the month. I'm missing a frozen pizza. I haven't had frozen pizza in a while it's just not the same on a grill and can't cook in a smoker at airfryer but you know some of that some of that financial stuff you're you're filling in some of those gaps to buy. You've got a guy that comes in and does seminars and and talks to people about fixing their credit and financial stuff. So what's he doing for the guys there?

Nick Valentine 24:58

Well, the biggest thing is like we We talked about before we started recording, a lot of young soldiers that come in, they don't really have a big financial background, a lot of soldiers that come in come in from broken families or issues. And that's why they come in the military to kind of get away from that. Or they come from low income families or income or families that didn't have, or some families that have money and all that stuff. But for the most part, we all know the higher percentage of income in the military family guys that were struggling or couldn't go to college or whatever. So they don't have a middle, they don't have a financial background. So this guy comes in His name is Billy works with me, as a friend of mine, the class cost 25 bucks, but it's a donation to all the charity. So it doesn't, he doesn't even take any pay, he just donate straight to me. And they teach them how to build their credit, fix their credit, understand what interest rates are, and how to work them. So they go buy a car, whatever. And the guy took 70% interest so that you owe 17%, you know, I'm saying right now, it should be, you know, five to eight range, you know, but why am I paying, and they'll say, oh, because your credit score, and then you go look at your credit score, and then he but teach him how to look at his credit score, how to look it up how to how to fight things in your credit, if you need to teach them all that stuff. So it just gives them more tools in their toolbox, the way I look at it until I understand that they now have the ability to manage and maintain their financial, their financial future, because of what he teaches them. And like I told you earlier, no one can come in scores in the four hundreds and in six months and went up to like 600, because he taught him the right way to run his credit, you use the credit you and he started doing it. And his credit score started going up because the credit bureau started seeing that he's using the credit the right way. So they started bending his points went up, boom. So and that's one of our that's one of our success stories, he actually that kid actually comes to the class now, because you came here as a P two now as an e4. But he comes in as if I would have came in this class, I probably would have been in worse shape than I was that I could. Now I have a car, I have a car, it's already paid off that and he went through this whole thing that he's learned about. Instead, all it was was an hour class, I sat down with him and then I just followed up them two or three more times. Because that's what Billy does. He let you reach out to him if you need to, if you want to take his class, you have access to him. He said I reached out to him two or three more times, and all sudden my path started jumping on my credit score was going up. And then I got a car, I was able to just because my credit score was up high enough to get a car now but and my life changed because of Billy. And then that's what and he comes in and talks to these kids all the time. They're like what so it has a real big impact around here. Because a lot of leaders right here don't have time to sit on their soldiers and teach them the mechanics of finances on that time. And then no soldier wants to go to a class and sit through that shit. But if you can voluntarily do it, and commit on his own, on his own time we work around his schedule, they're more likely to come in and do it. That's what we said.

Keith McKeever 27:28

Yeah, you find it, you get get young guys and gals that come up, and they take it. And as they become supervisors that they're recommending and bringing their troops, I'm sure you're you're finding that probably happening quite a bit more.

Nick Valentine 27:41

Well, that's what I teach them. Because that's part of my part of the class, I come in and say now listen, I want you guys to say education, your responsibility to now your new privates are coming to you or new soldiers that PCs and as you talk to them about how they're doing with their finances, and if not recommended this course, and or you can sit down now and show them what you've learned. So they're better prepared to be here at Fort Hood and deal with things that happen here, whatever. So it's your responsibility to soldiers, you get promoted to train the person behind you to know what you know. And knowing this now is a huge responsibility to those new soldiers coming in, because you can prepare them to be successful financially, while they're in the military, because this kid that also came in, he said, So when he if he does 20 years in the Army, by time he retires, he's gonna have like $600,000 in his IRA, blah, blah, blah, because he's been putting money slowly away, and it's building up for him. And it's projected to be whatever number it is, when he gets to 20 years in the Army, he'll have a whole bunch of money when he gets out that he's not missing right now. And that's what I tell him. If you don't pay yourself first in the military, before you do anything with your money, I don't care what's put 50 bucks in a savings account. But if you don't do that every month, and you get paid every paycheck, you don't do that first. Why are you doing anything because if you're not paying yourself, you're paying all your bills, you're paying this net, and then you're spending money at restaurant, but you didn't pay yourself for doing your job and being being a good human being and being a good person. What are you doing, that's the thing about that, when you first bills to yourself, you owe yourself 50 bucks a month in savings. 50 bucks a month for a whole year is 600 bucks, 600 bucks. 600 bucks times 20 years is a lot of money in the next 10 If you do it right, every time you get promoted, you add 10 bucks to the 20 deposit. So you make 23 Now you put 60 When making 3040 foot 7045 foot 85 a 60 foot 90, e 67 foot 100 If you start doing that over the next 20 years, by the time you get out, you're gonna have enough money that you don't have to work at all you can retire retire.

Keith McKeever 29:24

But it's not difficult to set up, you kind of set it up once and like you say when you get that promotion, just go in there and bump that value of

Nick Valentine 29:31

a lot or do write on your own checking account. Just say it's going in my city. Then don't touch your savings if you run into an issue or an emergency. That's what you have other organizations that can help you or AR whatever, but don't touch that the whole point is that's for your future, not for your now. Even if there's an emergency that still for your future. I try to stay away from that you can and that's what I tell the guys all the time and that kid he does come in and does class with a billionaire all the time and helps out because he's a walking model of what we did and he's he shows off what he's gonna have when he gets out here. All excited about it, how much he's gonna have an account. So he's

Keith McKeever 30:04

walking, walking, talking advertisement for success of the program,

Nick Valentine 30:08

please a lot of folks to tell for us. Yeah, that's awesome, isn't it smart to?

Keith McKeever 30:14

Well must be smart to, you know, finally realize I needed to come get the class and get the education and get on that path.

Nick Valentine 30:21

And that's right come on Thomas, because you were smart enough to at least at least check in and out. And then when you got to know you're like, oh yeah, this could help me. And then you realize that you stuck with it and you follow through now look where you're going to be at 20 years. I'm saying so you're going to be set. So yeah, I said something other than that for me. Because nobody that for me either, you know, I mean, and I learned it a little bit later on in my career, which is kind of too late. I learned it like my 15 or 16 years when I started really getting involved in finance, because I looked at my show Oh, man, I'm when I retire. 50% of this is not that much money. You know, I mean, like I get, I make about $1,700 a month in my retirement check. That's not a lot of money. That's enough to pay my mortgage, basically, but don't really pay my other bills. Don't say blah, blah. Yeah, I have a D VA disability laws to help some of that, you know, but the point is, I thought thank you so much. I'm good. You know, I'm not sorry, 50% of just your base pay is not that much not what you make in a month. It's just your base pay not your bet separate racks and your your BH and all it is just what you make. So it's not negative. So and then, you know, I make less than what a three mix you know, in retirement is that's sad, but that's what I make. But it is and that's what I told this kid I said, you're going to be set up for life now, man, because you listen to billing, you're doing it so great. And I'm happy for you. So go Go for it. That's what it is. Yeah.

Keith McKeever 31:30

Yeah, that's a something I never got either. I never really had anybody sit me down. I was knowledgeable enough to know, you know, am I gonna get X amount of money per mom not to overspend. I knew credit cards are bad. I knew the interest rates were terrible on them. Obviously. I know, when I was in in the mid 2000s. Payday loans are a huge thing, you know, then they they outlawed payday loans, don't go get them, you know, the 300 400% interest on those those those were quite quite a popular thing at the time to try and get people to stop do it. But yeah, that education that day, that gap fails it because either the supervisor doesn't know, or is unwilling to learn. There's no you know, a lot of places, there's no resources, thank goodness, there, they've got the resources where they can learn that. But I guarantee you that there's other installations and across all the branches that just don't have any infrastructure like that. And I don't think it's a difficult thing to really set up. And I don't know movers and shakers, independent God are going to listen to this, whether they should do something about it, you should take care of your troops at every single level. And that should be something I think, should be maybe an extra class, when you come in, I was Air Force to end the first term airman center shortly after you come in where you learn the basics of what's available to you. That should be part of it should have a full day to three days of financial education. Yeah, budget stuff like that, like, hit him young, because almost everybody comes in is 18 to 22 ish. Yeah. Well, I mean, most people don't know anything about funds. I mean, you go from a part time job in high school, to all of a sudden the government's gonna give you X amount of money and

Nick Valentine 33:13

full medical coverage dental office, and you're like, what? So?

Keith McKeever 33:17

Yeah, then you gotta, you got to be prepared for retirement to retirement or getting out. And then you got to go get your own health insurance and all these other things that you didn't have to worry about the last four years, 10 years, 20 years. So now you got to figure that in your budget, too. So definitely some some good stuff that, like I said, Don't doubt anybody in the Pentagon is ever gonna listen to this. But if they do, yeah, get up, get a play and go on as taking care of your people. And that's less than it helps veterans to because they're eventually going to get out. And if they're financially savvy, they don't need the resources. It's less less on the nonprofits to have to do they can focus their attention on helping other people so. So other things you've got going on? I'll let you talk a little bit about you got started Ritter spirits. You got combat boxes. Yep. So tell us a little bit about those two companies. Have a sergeant.

Nick Valentine 34:05

A couple. I started a care of my own brand of liquor. I have vodka, whiskey bourbon, I'm getting ready introduced rum and tequila here pretty soon. And that's just to raise money for my nonprofit really, I built it. Specifically, all the profits I'm making that come in after I pay my employees. All the money comes to the nonprofit. So it was just another way for me to help funnel money into my nonprofit. So I'll keep going and donations and whatnot. So it's another way that I can draw some money into our nonprofit. I also have a coffee brain it's either called Good morning Sarge and coffee that's in my liquor company, but we carry a coffee green tea that we sell it to a lot of restaurants in the area here and stuff like that. We make some money off the coffee to comment boxes. Now. Comment box is a new venture I got into in November and what I did there were as a veteran in a lot of the veteran groups come in on Facebook and stuff. I've noticed that a lot of veterans have products that they sell, and a lot of them have struggling time selling enough product to make enough money blah, blah. So I thought, you know my wife and daughters get disability bucks every month a makeup in a box. And then what if we were, I started a company where all the products in that subscription box come from veteran owned businesses help get their product in the hands of people. So they go want to check out their website or maybe makes a purchase, maybe give me a discount code to go buy something, maybe start driving some people that are military and veteran supporters to go to some of these businesses to help them out. I said, You know what, I can come up with a reason. So I tried to think of the names. I had different names in my mind at first, but then I'm like, you know, combat Bach, because we might not have appointed combat or in the military while we're at war. So they understand the word combat what it means that box is, and that's why I put the boot on the logo, there's booths there, and then the American flag underneath it. And I did, I started signing vendors that were veteran vendors, better known company vendors that have product, we have an agreement that they send me so much in product every month, and then after the first month, I start buying it from them at cost so that it's not a big value. They don't make any money off me but I help them market their promotion or promote their business. Or on our website. We do Facebook ads for them, we do all kinds of stuff to promote their business to help drive customers to their website to buy their products. And we have their products in our box. So you get a sample product or you get an actual product, they might have a shirt, a can opener, you know, it could be anything that I get, I get a ton of different stuff now but I'm we're up to about 30 vendors now. A lot of product, a lot options. It's a really fun thing to do too, because I do it every month we send stickers we send fliers.

Keith McKeever 36:20

Guess I'm right there. I'll show for anybody that ends up watching it and get it right for the camera. Yeah, there's a couple of stickers happen to be sitting on my desk.

Nick Valentine 36:27

At home, I just got more stickers today from a couple more companies because they know that having them in the box, it's an opportunity for visibility for their company. So they give me their stickers and stuff to on top of their products. But you know, I got a box in behind me right here. That's a boxes. Yes, this is. So this is the boxes get ready to go out. It was a mistake, send a mistake box, I accidentally sent the wrong stuff to a guy that I saw. So I'm sending this box out to him today. She'll get this in the next couple of days, but the boxes go out once a month, every middle of the month they go out. Now we do have one time purchase box you can buy just to get one box tested out, we have a nonprofit box that supports one of the veteran nonprofits we pick, we have a female heroes box, it's all female veteran owned businesses that are in that box, we have a collector's box. And that box is really cool because you'll get like collector items like comic book, baseball card autographed items, you know, all kinds of different cool collectible type items. And then we also have a Quarterly box where you can get a box every once every three months. So you can do it either monthly, once every three months, or you can buy at one time. But you can also buy all our boxes gifts, and send it to a friend or family member, whatever you want to send it as a birthday gift. We also provide gift boxes for organizations that do events like we're in the seven figure Summit, we're going to be the box that everybody gets for being in seven fingers, some of the other speakers are going to get a box. So we're gonna send this really nice stuff in their boxes and stuff like that. So that this is kind of part of though is a way for me to kind of help other fellow veterans, it wasn't for me to make a lot of money off it, it was more to help my fellow veterans out there there might be starting up a new company don't have a lot of marketing or don't have a lot of money for that I can help a marketing budget there stuff. So that's what we do.

Keith McKeever 37:59

Yeah, it's great. I jumped right in when I first saw it advertised entrepreneur trap. And I was like, man, it's really cool, because I'm not the kind of person that would normally get a subscription box with a lot of them really, to me are really advertised towards guys, there's a lot of towards women, my wife gets one or two, enter on makeup related to. But you know, this sounds like this was a perfect fit. This is cool, you know, because that kind of business, I bookmarked it in my web browser so that if I start shopping, I've gotten categorized, because I'm, I'm very organized like that. But I can go shop by categories, if I'm looking for something and I try to look at that first before going to Amazon or you know someone other company, so we're

Nick Valentine 38:39

talking earlier next month, hopefully February, it'll be where now my subscribers, that you're gonna get a list that they can pick from, of the different vendors that they might like. And then they can just pick they want their stuff, and then boom, boom, and then that's what we'll send them in the box. So we're trying to open it up more to give our customers more more of a access to what they're going to get versus just a surprise. So although I personally like to surprise some people get really surprised they get some stuff, like they'll get a hat, they'll get a t shirt, then they might get a you know, they might get a shot glass or whatever. So it's just different things you can get. But now we've had a lot of customers reach out to hey, we'd like to pick them up. Alright, so we're gonna find a way to make it where you can pick some items every month. And then we'll still probably throw some extra stuff in there just because there's some stuff in there just to make it you know, bona fide the box a little bit. But yeah, that's what we're getting ready to do for that. So yeah, I got my fingers in a lot of pots. But it's all about supporting for my fellow veterans and their families and stuff in any way I can do it. That's what we tried to do.

Keith McKeever 39:28

It's a great way for your business to get their get their stuff out there. get their name out there one way or another. I've got some stickers. I'm gonna be

Nick Valentine 39:37

like your podcast. Yeah.

Keith McKeever 39:39

Yeah. And so this is really cool. I look forward. It's like it's almost like a birthday or Christmas every single month. Like you just don't know what quite what you're gonna get my kids get excited when I know that it's coming. And they'll be like, Hey, Dad, can I get the next hat? Can I wear the next day? And I'm like, No, I'm gonna wear hats, but I don't wear them all the time. So I'm like, oh, yeah, maybe maybe I'll give you an One

Nick Valentine 40:02

after the next one because a buddy of mine just sent another guy some hats and then the guy American trigger pullers, they get me hats all the time because they get hat orders that don't, whatever and they don't want to throw them away. So that was given to me. So then I put them in the box.

Keith McKeever 40:17

We the People want to rely on that one isn't

Nick Valentine 40:20

enough Brian hunt this company. Yeah, that's a

Keith McKeever 40:22

good one. Yeah, my kids, my kids really look forward to it. It's I think it's more exciting for them. See if there's anything in there think they're looking for the goodies by the way.

Nick Valentine 40:33

That's funny, cuz I have a couple veterans that they do, like kids toys and stuff that you put in there, but and I was compensated for it. But if I make it an option for you to say, Yeah, I want that. Because I got kids, I love that. You might pick that so that I can put it in your box. I mean, that's that's what we're getting to that now. So there'll be more choices so you don't have to get a toy. But if you want it if you got kids, you can pick it now. And then give that to your son or daughter. Yes, we're gonna get to good point.

Keith McKeever 40:53

Yeah, they saw that buffalo jerky they came in the other day. Like can I try that? You really wanna try buffalo jerky like

Nick Valentine 41:06

crazy bikes jerky, he sends me he goes pepper, black pepper. He's got all different flavors in there. So I try to mix it up with the different boxes we send I think just about the black pepper in the in the barbecue the the BB the buffalo sauce, which is like hot wing sauce. It's like that hot sauce. But yeah, the kids man, you know, you gotta love when you got kids, it's fun thing to do to play them just to watch their facial expression when they're eating like, Okay, if you want to go ahead, here, not going to get a drink.

Keith McKeever 41:38

If you never know what's gonna happen, so we definitely for the combo boxes and all your businesses I will I've got the links, I'll put them in the YouTube is better than rattle off, because you got a few of them here to that we'll put out there. But you got some great stuff going on. We'll go ahead and wrap this up. But I've got three questions I asked everybody. First one is what would be your advice for somebody who's looking to get out of the military today?

Nick Valentine 42:09

Right now, today, I would say if you're not planning to get out, if you don't already have if you don't already have a plan, start making one because transitioning out of the military is not as easy as it sounds, it's not as easy as you think you're gonna run into challenges, you might have family that's gonna step up and all that that's all great, but your family is gonna want to kick you out of the house eventually, too, because they're gonna be like, Hey, man, you know, it's nice having you around, but damn. So I would say this, use the skill bridge program that's in the military that you can reach out to to start maybe get an apprenticeship, make sure you're getting a certain type of job you want to find enter that right? That's right field, you want to go into steel bridge, as a lot of fields you can get into that you get to do a little apprenticeship time while you're still on active duty. And then army still military still paying you. But you're working for that company because you get approved in that program. So think about skill bridge for a way to help you transition out that that would be my biggest advice to everybody getting ready.

Keith McKeever 42:57

How about somebody who's you know, 1819 20 years old? They're thinking about joining the military. What do you have for somebody there?

Nick Valentine 43:06

I do it in a heartbeat for multiple reasons. One, it's going to give you a sense of belonging, a sense of camaraderie ship that you've never probably felt in your life, it's going to set you up for the rest of your life. Because even if you only did two or three years and then got out you have the GI Bill to go to college. So now you don't have to worry about paying for school. So it's going to help you there, you're going to get life experience you would never get anywhere else. You're going to get the opportunity to get educated while you're in the army. You can take college classes while you're in the army. You can get army schools, your military schools, whatever branch you decide to go in. I would tell I'm a firm believer that every kid that graduated high school that doesn't go right into college should have to go in the military in my personal opinion, because they should have to understand what this country sacrificed for everybody who lives here. I don't think that'll ever happen. But I do think that the ones that are thinking about it should jump on the opportunity because it is an opportunity. It's not an It is a privilege to be a soldier or sailor or an airman or marine or Coast Guardsmen It is a privilege to do those things and then the benefits you get from it after your service. Although we as veterans sometimes feel like we get crapped on or whatever but that's not true. Veterans get taken care of if they know how to produce present themselves to people and their situation and they know how to talk to people. People help you because you did sacrifice you did write a check that was willing to give up your life to so that we could all live the way we live in this country. But I would totally 1920 years ago because if nothing else that we are not like me I wouldn't melt because I didn't want to go to school anymore. I was tired of school and I wanted to be like my dad bla bla bla but it changed my life. So that was good with I don't know prefer

Keith McKeever 44:42

to be free to choose research and stuff like that

all right. My screen went blank for a second and then you disappeared for a sec. I don't know what that was. That's a word that one's never happened before. Alright, great. Little third question here is, is there any, you know, nonprofits or Facebook groups or anything like that, you know, one or two that you want to give a big shout out to that, that you think is super valuable or helpful.

Nick Valentine 45:16

Alright, so if you're a veteran out there, and you're in any kind of entrepreneur status, I would suggest that that's for newer tribe. And I'm probably probably a lot of guests on that push that that tribe, it is amazing for those of us that actually interact in it, there's so much help. And there's so many people that want to help you and be positive for you and support you. So that's a big one. And then it depending if you're a nonprofit, in the nonprofits, there's a few nonprofit groups that I'm in, I run a nonprofit, I've been doing it for seven years, I've been the CEO and founder. So you have to find a nonprofit that's going to benefit your community. That's what I'll tell you go to the irs.gov website and search and nonprofits, you can actually break it all down by zip code. And then like the literally the city of clean, there are 247 nonprofits registered. Right 247. Now that includes all the churches and stuff, too, but the point is to break it down and start looking for what they do and see they have a website, see there. So you just have to do a little bit of work if you're going to get that nonprofit sector. But I would suggest that find a nonprofit in your local community that you can support that can make an impact on your community, because that's what's going to make your community stronger. And that's what we should all be striving for is to make our own community stronger and healthier and safer for all our families to live in. That's what it should be about.

Keith McKeever 46:26

Absolutely, there's a mission after the mission, we get a lot. And that's why I volunteer, I'm wearing my granddaughter flight shirt. Right now. I'm proud of volunteer there love the mission to the best of DC. But just you know, get out and get involved. Donate, find the nonprofits, there's nothing more than volunteer and giving back.

Nick Valentine 46:49

And honestly, your time is more valuable than your money, your money is important. I'm not promising your money. But they need volunteers more than anything they need support physical people body showing up because like me, my staff is mostly women. And they're mostly older women. So they don't have the physical strength to do a lot of stuff that we need to get done. So having young men come in and volunteer helps us a ton. Because now we can move stuff, we can lift stuff we can. And that's great. So just remember that there's more than you can, you don't have to worry about how much money you can give them, you can worry about doing some of your time. And that's going to make just as big of an impact, giving them money giving them money. So just remember that if you're out there listening?

Keith McKeever 47:19

Absolutely, yeah, there's always there's always a need for for somebody somewhere to do something. So always great advice. And Nick was great to catch up with you and more about the things that you've got going on. And which which is absolute ton for the local area there. So good to know that the soldiers down there, hopefully they've got leadership that are taking care of them, if not, they've got somebody in their corner that they're looking at and help them out. So it takes a lot of stress off people because we all know, there's a lot of stress when you serve between deployments and TDY schools and taking care of your family and all that stuff. So thank you so much for what you're doing for the for the people down there. And you know, if anybody's got any interest all like I said, I'll have all the links in the YouTube description. So

Nick Valentine 48:06

you guys can definitely reach out to me you can reach out to Keith and get a hold of me. You can shoot us an email at the website and all that stuff. So if you run it you got questions for you personally, you can definitely find me on Facebook or Instagram. And then I can You can DM me there and I can message back and we could start a conversation need to hear from you. But thanks for having me on keep Yep, no problem.

Keith McKeever 48:23

Thanks for being here. You bet.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai