Episode 340 Katie Preste Coffee with a Purpose Transcript

This transcript is from episode 340 with guest Katie Preste.

Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] Thanks for tuning in to the Drive On Podcast where we are focused on giving hope and strength to the entire military community. Whether you’re a veteran, active duty, guard, reserve, or a family member, this podcast will share inspirational stories and resources that are useful to you. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio, and now let’s get on with the show.

Hey everybody, welcome back to Drive On. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio, and today my guest is Katie Preste. Uh, Katie is a Navy… Veteran and founder of Boots on the Ground Coffee. And she’s here to discuss her time in the Navy and what led her to create her company. Uh, but first welcome to the show, Katie.

Really glad to have you here.

Katie Preste: Yeah. Thanks for having me.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, you bet. Um, so maybe we can start off with a little bit of an introduction. I know I just talked a little bit about you there, but, uh, for folks that might not be familiar with you, can you tell us about your background and your journey as a Navy

veteran? Uh, you know, what are you to join the Navy, some of [00:01:00] your experiences, that type of stuff, uh, during, during the service.

Katie Preste: Okay. Yeah. Um, I joined in 2011. I was in for 10 years. I was stationed in Hawaii, Italy, and Washington State. I did, um, three deployments on destroyers. And traveled all over the world. In Italy, I went, I was shore duty there. So I did a lot of personal traveling on my deployments. I have seen literally almost the entire world.

So, there’s not a lot I haven’t seen. Um, I’m from Wisconsin. Uh, I don’t remember what the rest of it is. I think that’s it.

Scott DeLuzio: Okay. Yeah, no, that’s fine. No. And so one of the things I think with a lot of, uh, service members, one of the things that the recruiters always, uh, try to try to say is you get to go see the world and, you know, especially in the Navy, you

know, you’re, you’re on these ships and you’re, you’re going to from port to port and you get [00:02:00] to, um, go around and, um, I sometimes I wonder, like, how much time do you actually get in some of these ports?

Is it a significant amount of time that you’re like when you’re, you’re out at sea and you’re, you’re stopping at different places? Um, you know, I, I know it’s not like a, you know, a civilian cruise

where you’re just going and you’re going for the day and you’re, you’re, you know, sightseeing and then you’re coming back to the ship or

whatever.

I’m sure you’re, you’re there for, you know, at least a few days, uh, you know, whatever it is that you’re, you’re doing there. Um, What is that like when you, when you get into port and, and, uh, you know, do you, do you have time that you can go off onto shore and kind of explore on your own? Or are you pretty much confined to the ship for, for a lot of

it?

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Katie Preste: Um, it depends on where you [00:04:00] are and. Really what your job is. So I was a cook, so we had really weird hours. Um, so sometimes I was able to go out as soon as we pulled in and have however much time, you know, until liberty expiration, and sometimes I had to wait hours until I was able to go do anything. And sometimes we’re only in port for a day, so you can’t even go out and do anything anyways.

So you can, you can be in from anywhere from like less than 24 hours to, I think we were in Norway for like two weeks, but we ended up getting extended for the second week, which was really awesome. Norway at Christmas time was beautiful. Um,

so

Scott DeLuzio: Oh, that’s cool.

Katie Preste: it just depends what you’re doing.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And you know, some of the places that you go to, uh, like, you know, you mentioned Italy and, uh, you know, I know there’s other, other places around. It’s just, I’d love to travel there anyway. So yeah, like. That would be totally awesome. Although it would be a bit of a tease if, if you’re pulling into port and, [00:05:00] um, you know, it’s this place that you’ve always wanted to go to.

And it’s like, oh yeah, we’re only going to be here for a

day. So you can’t leave. It’s like, oh crap, you know,

Katie Preste: I feel like going there on deployments makes it much more comfortable when you need to travel, like, not with the military. Not necessarily alone. I’ve only traveled alone once. It was an amazing time because you don’t have to rely on what somebody else wants to do and try to make everybody, like, no, go by yourself.

It’s an amazing time. Ireland by yourself is fantastic, but I feel like hitting ports with the Navy has made me much more comfortable. Like, Oh, hey, I think I’ll go on a trip overseas to some random country that I don’t think civilians are just like, Oh, I think I’m just going to pack up and leave today.

Scott DeLuzio: right, right. Yeah. I mean, most, most people wouldn’t even think of

doing that. Um, but when you get to experience so many different places and, uh, I’m imagining different cultures and different, you know, just, yeah. Experiences all over the place. Um, you’re much more comfortable with that. [00:06:00] Um, now. So you said you you’re in from, uh, 2011, uh, which coincidentally is the year that I got out. 2011 and through, um, uh, for 2021.

Right? So, um, so that was a relatively recent transition

out of the military. Um, sometimes that, that can be challenging. How did that, uh, that transition work out for you? Um, any particular obstacles that you encountered?

Katie Preste: It was hard. Um, so my husband is still in, he’s stationed in great lakes. And I’m from Wisconsin, so Great Lakes is in Illinois, so I was like, I’ll just go home. Mom can have fun with her grandson and I will have all of the help. So while we were looking for a place for me to live, cause we didn’t know if we were going to rent, buy, there was just so many different options of what we could do.

I went and lived with my mom for 10 months and I don’t recommend living. I don’t like living with people cause then you just get irritated of them. I’m so grateful that I [00:07:00] was able to do it, but the hardest part was having somebody there constantly. Like, In the military, you’re surrounded by people, but…

By yourself, even if you’re with your friends, like you’re doing your own thing, but having like family there to be like, Oh yeah, what are you doing today? Oh, what did you do? And I’m like, okay, get out of my business. It was very

difficult. That was, it sounds really stupid, but that was probably the hardest part was having somebody constantly there asking

questions.

Scott DeLuzio: Oh, let me tag

along too with whatever it is that you have going on today. Right.

Katie Preste: yeah, it was.

Scott DeLuzio: I can imagine that. Um, so, so that, that transition you said was a little bit difficult. You did have some help from family, um, which, you know, could be a blessing

in, in disguise a little bit. Right. I mean, or it could be a bit of a, uh, you know, a curse at times too, maybe, um, you know, if it’s, um, you know, too overbearing, um, you know, anything, uh, In particular that, that was [00:08:00] difficult as far as that transition went.

And, and, uh, how did you kind of overcome any of the difficulties?

Katie Preste: Um, I hired a life coach

Scott DeLuzio: Okay.

Katie Preste: to help me because I was like, I don’t know what is happening to me. I was so angry. I’m like, I am angry. I’m frustrated. I’m irritable. I’m like, I don’t understand. And I was like, I just feel like eyes were on me and I’m like, okay. I was like, this is too much. So I hired somebody to like, I did a, I think it was like a month long course or something with them and I was like, oh, okay.

So, and it’s not just me, like, cool. And I found out that it’s common for this to happen when people get out. I was like, I had no idea. Somebody could have warned me because I thought I was crazy.

Scott DeLuzio: Well, you know, that’s one of those things that I would think when people are transitioning out, I know they have like, you know, taps and they have, you know, stuff like that to kind of help, but it’s, it’s almost like. Drinking from a fire hose. Uh, like you get so much information thrown at [00:09:00] you at

once. And it’s like, there’s no way you’re going to retain all of it.

Um,

you know, they may even mention something like that during, you know, some classes like that. And it’s like, yeah, I’m going to remember that along with the 57 other things you just told

me, like, no, it’s not going to

Katie Preste: I

actually had a, a weird, uh, transitioning out period.

Scott DeLuzio: Okay.

Katie Preste: So, I, what branch were you?

Scott DeLuzio: Army. Yeah.

Katie Preste: Yeah, so I heard that the Army is way better for families than the Navy is. And I know some people are family people and they’re very successful, but I think I was at the wrong command for that.

Scott DeLuzio: No. Okay.

Katie Preste: I didn’t have a family care plan, so I essentially got honorably discharged.

Or involuntary separation because I didn’t have somebody to watch my son while I deployed because me and my husband weren’t married yet and he’s an RDC. He works from 3 a. m. to 11 p. m. So,

Scott DeLuzio: Wow.

Katie Preste: I don’t [00:10:00] know how he’s going to watch a child. I mean, people do it, but

Scott DeLuzio: But that’s difficult. Right. and

and you know, you know,

yeah, go ahead.

Katie Preste: So I knew that essentially they were going to be, uh, kicking me out. And I was like, all right, well, I need to take TAPS classes. And they’re like, well, since you don’t have a date that you’re getting out, like you can’t go to the class yet.

It was just this whole thing. So I ended up doing it online, like at my own pace. And I retained no information, none. Because I did everything online and I got a 10 day letter that’s like, hey, here’s your separation orders in 10 days. You’re done. So I had 10 days to, because you can’t move your household goods.

You can’t go plan any of that until you have like a date that you’re. So, like, in those 10 days, I had to do so much stuff.

Scott DeLuzio: Oh, yeah. Yeah.

I mean, and, and moving, like you said, moving your

household goods, like that’s, that’s a lot of stuff to

move sometimes, like, [00:11:00] I mean, and, you know, packing it all, getting, getting a mover to get you out

of there, to go someplace else and, um, on short notice like that in 10 days, I mean, that’s a week and a half, like

who,

Katie Preste: Well, I ended up having to stay in Washington an extra month because that’s when the movers could come. And I’m like, no, you need to pick it up this date because we’re trying to sell this house. Which was a stupid idea because we’re going back to Washington now and house prices are through the fucking roof.

I’m like, oh, what did we do?

But,

Scott DeLuzio: Right, right.

Katie Preste: story.

Scott DeLuzio: So, I mean, transitioning is, is, is difficult for a lot of people. Did you have, did you even have time to, like, come up with a game plan of like, what, what were you going to do after getting out, uh, as far as, um, you know, work or, um, were you planning on staying at home with your, your child or, or what was that like?

Katie Preste: Um, I actually, so I ended up getting out in September and around [00:12:00] February time frame I started planning like, okay, well if this actually happens, I know that I don’t want to work for anybody else. And so I was talking to my mom about it. And I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Washington. I don’t know where you’re from.

But they have the, the little like coffee stands everywhere. Like every corner, just a little. And I love them so much. I just love them. So I. Bought a coffee

trailer and I did that for a year and I knew that we were going to be moving next year so I sold it to my sister because I needed to sell it and she wanted it.

So I recently sold that but that’s what I did for the first a year or whatever, and I could make my own hours. I could stay home if my kid was sick, like things like

Scott DeLuzio: Mm hmm.

Katie Preste: and now I don’t have to leave the house if I don’t

want to.

Scott DeLuzio: Which is nice. I mean, if you don’t want to, I mean that, that you have that

option, right? Um, and so is that, that kind of what sparked the idea for, uh, boots on the ground coffee and, and, and how you [00:13:00] got into

that,

Katie Preste: part of, yeah, I was on a coffee trailer and I was like, I don’t even know how it popped in my head, but I was like, I know that when I deployed, the first thing that I put on my list that I needed to have was. coffee and a french press and I would go get like the little short yeti mugs or the little like stumpy hydro flasks and I’m like something that can take a beating and not tip over every time the ship rolls.

So, and that’s like the first thing I would get and I’m like how cool would it be to do like a deployment crate? And offer that to people, like, all in one place, like, yeah, you could go to the NACs or the PX or whatever and get the shit, but like, I could set it up in a way where we would donate back to organizations.

And I’m like, well, I don’t want to pick just any organization. So I decided to do military and veteran organizations. So, and we’re working on deployment boxes. I’m waiting for my cups to come in. And then I think I’ll be ready to launch

that.

Scott DeLuzio: Oh, that’s awesome. That’s awesome. And I know, I know when I deployed to Afghanistan, that was, that was one of the first things on

my [00:14:00] list too, was I need, Yeah. A way to make coffee and the coffee itself. And if you can send some sort of, even if I don’t care if it’s powdered, you

know, like cream sugar, you

know,

that type of stuff,

send all that,

send all that

stuff to, Oh, it, it was actually really good.

Um, so my wife, my wife went out, she bought like bags of like all sorts of different bags of coffee. Uh, it was just a variety. It was everything from Starbucks to Dunkin Donuts to, you know, like just a variety of everything. Um, and, and she sent it out and it was, it was. More than I could drink. So like everyone got to share in it, which was, which was awesome. Um, and, and actually she sent me like. A legit like coffee maker with the pot, like the, like the whole

thing. And so I was brewing like full pots of coffee for everybody. Um, which was actually nice because, you know, a lot of times we’d have, uh, you know, guard duty at night and people were, uh, you know, up overnight, I’d, I’d be, you know, going around to just check on them, make sure everything’s [00:15:00] going.

All right. And I’d bring them coffee when, when we’re up there. So it was, it was just like a nice thing to

have.

Um, you know, even though

it

Katie Preste: a morale

booster. Yeah.

Scott DeLuzio: Oh, for

sure. Yeah.

Um, you know, even though it was 120 degrees, uh, you know, outside, sometimes I still wanted to have it and I didn’t really care how hot it was. It was just that little piece of home that I wanted.

Um, you know, so, um, so this, uh, kind of deployment box like you were talking about is, is a really good idea. I think. That would be something that would have probably made life easier for my wife to, you know, get all of that stuff to

me and,

Katie Preste: Yeah, and like, I

will pack them up, ship them out to whoever it needs to be shipped out to, so it’s not like the family member or friend or whoever is sending it out needs to handle all of that stuff. They literally would just go on my website as soon as the deployment boxes are on there, pick what they want in it, I will pack it up and send it out,

Scott DeLuzio: That’s perfect. and

I know

so,

Katie Preste: so excited for it.

Scott DeLuzio: and just kind of selling this idea even, even a little bit more for, for the [00:16:00] listeners out there. So just a story from my wife. So. She had, we had just had a child before I deployed, he was a month and a half, two months or so old when, when I deployed to Afghanistan and. She was first time mother, um, you know, first time with the kid and now she’s by herself with this kid and, and I’m writing home like a jerk, asking her for coffee and shit like that.

And so she goes out and she gets all this stuff and she packs up in a box and she’s trying to bring it into the post office to send it with a stroller. And she’s carrying this big giant thing in the stroller and nobody’s opening the door for her at the post office. Like she’s

struggling. She’s like, you know, what do I do?

Yeah, thank you. Um, so she finally gets into the door. I forget if someone actually held it for her. She figured out how to prop it open. Um, whatever. And then she had to fill out all like the customs forms [00:17:00] and all the paperwork and all that crap. And she’s like, she’s never filled out that stuff before.

And it’s like, like just one thing after another, after another. And she was just so fed up with it. Um, that anytime she was going to send anything else throughout the deployment, she said she was, she was going to pack one big box. That’s going to last me a month. And then. You know, not have to worry about it again.

So, um, so like this, um, I can totally see this as like such a great idea, especially for someone who just wants to get the stuff there doesn’t need to go through all the hassle of packing and the customs forms and the paperwork and all that other crap that you don’t really want to deal with. I mean, having that service there, I think is great.

And coffee is such, like you said, it was such a big morale booster for people. Um, It really helps, um, and it helps a whole lot more than when we got sent chocolate.

I don’t know if you’ve ever,

okay, I’m guessing, I’m guessing you’ve probably, uh, [00:18:00] seen some care

packages that had melted chocolate all

over it.

Katie Preste: boxes of candy, and I’m like, yeah, cool, but some of these people could use some deodorant.

Scott DeLuzio: sure. Yeah. Well, I mean, and even,

Katie Preste: coffee.

Scott DeLuzio: and even with the chocolate, like we would get it and it would be melted and it would melt all over everything inside the box. So everything is covered in sticky chocolate now. So even if there was deodorant in there, it’s like now it’s covered in chocolate.

Katie Preste: It’s

Scott DeLuzio: Now we got to go wash it off

and it was

just, it was a pain in the ass.

It was, it was a nice thought, but coffee ships a whole

lot better. So,

Katie Preste: Yes.

Scott DeLuzio: um, so you were talking before how you have, uh, you know, uh, this, this goal of donating to the various military and veteran, uh, causes. Um, uh, what are some of the organizations that you support and, and, you know, what are, what are their missions and what do they do?

Katie Preste: I should have pulled [00:19:00] this list up sooner. So we’ve only been, we’ve only been around since November of last year.

Scott DeLuzio: It’s almost a year. Well, actually by the time this episode comes out, it’ll be

over a year. yeah,

Katie Preste: yeah, I

Scott DeLuzio: So happy anniversary. a little bit early.

Katie Preste: thank you. Um, but we have donated to organizations that, oh right here it is, um, we’ve donated to Combat Sexual Assault, Veteran Help Point, 22 0, Make a Vet Sweat, Visionary Veterans, 22 Mohawks, Protect Our Defenders, Vets for Success, Mighty Hero Homes, and Paws Healing Heroes.

And this month is Glass Soldiers. So, a lot of organizations that help veterans with PTSD, um, organizations that help fight against sexual assault in the military, a [00:20:00] significant amount of that. Um, Yeah, I have a lot of PTSD type of PTSD, sexual assault, and veteran help is my

Scott DeLuzio: Well,

and I think that

Katie Preste: I see.

Scott DeLuzio: those organizations are really important to support because there is such a big problem with all of

those things, unfortunately. Um, you know, PTSD, um, you know, people are coming back and it doesn’t even have to be combat related. PTSD. It could be even from the

sexual assaults, like you were talking about, like there’s PTSD that’s involved with that as well.

And, um. Luckily, I think we’re, we’re starting to see attitudes shifting towards mental health. Um, whereas 10, 15, 20 years ago, uh, mental health was looked at kind of as a taboo type, type thing. And even

before

that,

Katie Preste: You’ll get sent home

for being crazy.

Scott DeLuzio: yeah, [00:21:00] exactly. Um,

Katie Preste: Yeah.

Scott DeLuzio: and, and you, you see how people now are taking the approach where it’s like, hey, we, we recognize that there’s a problem with whatever’s going on here.

Um, But it’s, it’s something that we can work on and we can address this problem so that this person is not just sent home or, you know, kicked out of the military for being crazy. They, they still. Got some fight left in them.

Let’s, Let’s,

Katie Preste: Like, they’re not

broken.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, exactly. I mean,

Katie Preste: need a little help.

Scott DeLuzio: they, might be a little

damaged, right.

But they, they need the help to, um, you know, just like, you know, if you’re, your car is, you know, got something squeaking going on under the hood, like you take it to the mechanic, you get it fixed and, you know, it’s good to go and you can continue

using it. You don’t just throw the car away because it’s squeaking,

you know, it’s the same mindset I think as far as mental health goes, um, actually any.

You know, your, your physical health or whatever. You break a bone, like, well, [00:22:00] you’re not done

forever. Like you’ve broken a bone, like, okay, go get it fixed. And, and then, you know, whenever that’s, that’s done, you’re, you’re good to go. So, um, these, these organizations, I think, um, you know, the more that are popping up, um, the more.

Support we’re having for the mental health causes. Um, you know, unfortunately the, uh, the sexual assaults and things like that are, are things that happen. Um, but the more awareness that we have about it and the more, um, people that are working to kind of fight against that, hopefully the, the more, um, We see the tide turning on that situation as well.

You know, we don’t want that to continue obviously, right? So so you go through and you find all these charities Do you do you do any sort of like kind of vetting on these charities to make sure that they’re you know, Legit organizations or you know, not just some kind of fly by night organization,

right?

Katie Preste: Yes, I don’t have any, um, [00:23:00] like professional, oh my God, professional vetting that I do, but, um, I like to make sure they have like a legitimate website that I can go in and look up stuff on and see if they have like, oh, well, we’ve been able to do this or we can do that. And, you know, we helped with this and like a tangible website and I always, it’s going to sound weird, but.

I make sure they’re active on like Instagram because a lot of organizations, well, they, they need, I don’t know if it’s called an EIN for a nonprofit. I can’t remember her taxpayer

ID or something,

Scott DeLuzio: I think it’s the tax. Yeah, probably.

Yeah, something

Katie Preste: yeah. So every nonprofit has one, but you can have one and still not be actively working with the nonprofit. And it’s just not a thing anymore. So I, I always go in and I look at like when their most recent post was on like Instagram. To see, oh, okay, well, this 1 was from 3 years ago, so we’re not going to pick this.

It was a good cause, [00:24:00] but. I don’t know if they’re even a real organization anymore,

so

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And, and, and sometimes, unfortunately there’s those, those people out there who are just, you know, scamming saying that they’re an organization that supports fill in the blank, whatever the cause is, but they really aren’t. And they’re just, they’re just out there to collect money and, uh, for their own, well, their own wellbeing and they don’t really care about anybody else.

And that’s. obviously not the type of thing that you want to support, which seems like you’re, you’re doing the work to make sure that it’s, it’s not that type of organization. You mentioned Veteran Help Point, um, earlier. Uh, and I, I know, uh, you know, uh, the folks over there and, you know, they’re great people there.

So, um, doing, doing some good work too. So, um, so when you started this business, um, Was the idea basically to support veteran organizations and military personnel through these kind of packages as well, or, [00:25:00] or were there other kind of ideas floating around as far as when you started this, this company, like what you were, what you’re setting out to, to accomplish?

Katie Preste: Well, I, I definitely wanted to do like the deployment crate. I don’t know what I’m going to call it yet. Probably just a deployment crate,

but,

Scott DeLuzio: works. It’s simple. It tells what it is, right? I

mean, that, that

works.

Katie Preste: And like I mentioned before, you could go to the next or Walmart or whatever and like, get everything you need. But I’m like, how would I set this apart from just going to the store and grabbing everything?

And that’s when I wanted to donate a portion. Because I. I’m not doing this so I can make money. I want to turn around and help all of these other organizations. And especially like, I didn’t know that there were organizations that helped with any of this stuff when I was in, like none of it, because some of the organizations that I pick, they’re for like active duty people that are still in and [00:26:00] it can be handy.

Scott DeLuzio: Oh, it’s certainly good. Yeah. And, and I think to your point, um, there’s just not enough

awareness about some of these organizations and what they do and who is even eligible to receive the, the services that they might offer or whatever it

is that they do. Um, And if you don’t know that something exists, how are you ever going to take advantage of the benefits that are out there?

Um, you know, it, and it could just be, you know, a simple pick up a phone and call a number and you get, you know, some sort of

support on whatever it is. Um, or, you know, fill out a form, a contact form on their website or, or whatever. Um, but if you don’t know that those things exist, yeah, sure. You can go Google it, but.

If you don’t know what you’re even looking for, it’s harder to find, I think. Right. So, so helping support these organizations. Um, and, uh, obviously increasing [00:27:00] funding that that’s going to them helps them spread the word about their, their message and what they’re doing. Right. Um, and that’s part of what I like to do with this show too, is have different organizations on podcasting.

The show to talk about what it is that they do. So it kind of just raises awareness. Now, however many people listen to that episode, now they get to know, Hey, this is a thing that’s available and they may not need it today. They may not need it next year. Um, but at some point they may need it. And. It’s like, okay, yeah, I remember listening to something about that.

And now they at least know what to look for. Um, you know, whether they come back to that episode and relisten to it or, or they just go to Google and say, Hey, I remember there was something that some organization that did this thing, I just got to find it again. And, you know, at least. They have that awareness of, of what it is.

And I think that’s, that’s kind of the, the name of the game with a lot of us. Right. Um, so I know, [00:28:00] I know you were talking about the, the deployment crates and things like that, that you want to start setting up, which I think is an awesome idea. Do you have any other, uh, kind of future goals, ambitions for the company as, as you are looking forward?

Katie Preste: Um, I just want it to be well known

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah,

Katie Preste: because I want to help so many organizations and my My goal is to be like, here’s a thousand dollars that my company raised from our customers. Like, just, that would be so cool.

Cause like, that’s a thousand dollars that can go help somebody else.

So,

Scott DeLuzio: One of the things I’ve noticed with the military community is the whole concept of selfless service. Like even after getting out of the military, we still have that kind of ingrained in us. I mean, it’s part of the reason why I do this show. I’m not, [00:29:00] I’m not making millions of dollars

doing this show. I’m, I’m doing this to spread awareness of things that are disenfranchised.

Can help people. And, um, that’s, to me, that’s the, the biggest, uh, benefit that, that comes out of doing this show. Um, and, but there’s so many other, uh, people that are out there who have that same kind of attitude where it’s like, we just want to help. Period.

Like, hard stop. We, all we want to do is help people.

Um, we’re not looking to make tons of money doing this. Obviously, you know, you got to put food on the table, so you have to make something doing,

doing whatever it is that you’re doing. But, um. People are not solely focused on the money side of things. They’re looking at people, they’re seeing people that are hurting and that hurts them.

And they want to, to try to help fix

that problem, whatever that problem happens to be. And so I guess. My, my reason for saying this is, um, [00:30:00] there are people out there who are hurting, who might even be listening to this, or maybe someone who’s listening to this knows somebody who’s hurting in one way or another.

Maybe it’s mental health, maybe it’s financial, uh, you know, resources that they’re struggling with or whatever it is that they’re dealing with. There are people out there who want to help

you.

Katie Preste: Mm.

Scott DeLuzio: That bottom line, there are people there, uh, just might take a little bit to, to track some of these people down, but those people do exist.

They’re, they’re out there and they want to help. You’re not a burden on those people. They want to help period. Right.

Katie Preste: Mm.

Scott DeLuzio: I guess I can step down off that soapbox for a second, but, but I think, I think it’s just something that needs to be, uh, you know, put out there because a lot of people feel like they’re, they’re that kind of a burden on other people and it’s just.

Not the right attitude to

have, right?

Katie Preste: Mm.

Scott DeLuzio: Um, well, is there anything else, um, [00:31:00] that, that you have, uh, going on or that you want to, uh, you know, chat about and share with the, the audience, uh, before we, we wrap up?

Katie Preste: Well, we talked about the deployment crate, which isn’t launched yet. So I do want to add that I do have an Etsy and I do have a website and I have product on there. If you shop on Etsy, You cannot get the t shirt. So this is the t shirt. Um, those are only on my website. The Etsy goes directly to my roaster, my small town roaster from like 10 minutes away.

And, and it gets shipped like directly to you from the roaster.

Scott DeLuzio: Oh, okay.

Katie Preste: Um, yes. So that one goes like directly to her and that’s if you just want some coffee, I recommend you just order it on my Etsy site. Um, I do have the t shirts right now that are on my Shopify, my. Main website, and you can get shirts, you can get coffee.

So there are things available now while we wait for the deployment [00:32:00] boxes to launch.

Scott DeLuzio: Sure. Sure. Well, I’ll have links to those in the show notes too, for folks who want to check it out, see what, what kind of coffee is available and check out the shirts, um, all that kind of stuff. And you’re. If you go there, you’re not only supporting a veteran owned business, uh, you’re, you’re also supporting other veteran organizations because a portion of the, the, the proceeds are going to these, uh, veteran nonprofits and organizations that support veterans active duty.

Um, you know, whoever it is that, that they’re supporting, um, you’re supporting them as well. Plus. You got some good coffee to go along with it. So, um, I think that makes everybody feel good. And I, I, I think we should, uh, we should definitely be supporting that.

So, um, so thank you for taking the time to join us and share all that with us.

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[00:34:00] Um, before we wrap up though, I do a segment, um. that I call is it service connected? Um, it’s a bit of a humor, uh, kind

of segment. Um, so for the viewers and for yourself who may not be familiar with this particular segment, uh, I like to equate it to it’s, uh, like America’s Funniest Home Videos, uh, but military edition.

So we take a look at a video of a service member doing something stupid. And then we try to predict. Whether or not whatever happened would qualify for VA disability down the line. Um, and so it’s usually a good

time. Um, sometimes they, sometimes we, we determine it’ll qualify for it. Sometimes it won’t. Um, you know, it, it all depends

on the, the individual, uh, video and individual situation, but, um, regardless, it’s a fun time to, uh, to check out, so I’m going to share my screen with you right now.

right now for the podcast listeners who don’t have the video, uh, to be able to [00:35:00] see, um, looks like we have, uh, a soldier who is in. A gym, looks like he might be bouncing a basketball. It looks like it’s right down by his foot right now. We, we’re kind of frozen right now, but, um, when I hit play, we’re going to see what happens with this guy.

And I’m guessing it’s not going to end very well for him. He’s trying to dunk off a chair and the chair slides and he’s down on his back. Um,

yeah,

Katie Preste: you see his

knee?

Scott DeLuzio: his knee did not end in a very natural position. I’m going to, I’m going to do that one more time. His knee, oh my god, like his foot was on his back somehow. I don’t know.

Katie Preste: strained his quad. Something definitely is gonna be sore.

Scott DeLuzio: His, yeah, his leg is definitely screwed up. Um, I, I don’t know, maybe, maybe his hip, his knees, I, I, that was not a natural way to,

to land [00:36:00] at all.

Katie Preste: quad is definitely

gonna be hurting.

Scott DeLuzio: And I always say this for all these videos, at least they have, This caption on video because you go back and you’re like, Oh, well, you don’t have any, any proof.

Hang on. I do. So, um, so yeah, that guy is, uh, I’m thinking he’s, he’s probably good for, for a

little, a

little disability

coming his way,

depending on how bad that, that landing was. That was not a very intelligent thing to be doing though. I mean, that, that little folding chair on, looks like a concrete floor.

That’s almost like, like you might as well just put it on ice at that point. So anyways, um, thank you again for taking the time to join us. Thank you for what you’re doing and helping support, uh, other, other veterans and, and service members, uh, through the work that you’re doing, uh, and bringing coffee to people, uh, who are away from home is I think [00:37:00] a, uh, noble effort as well. So thank you for everything that you

do.

Katie Preste: Thank you for having my company on

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, you bet.

Katie Preste: the podcast.

Scott DeLuzio: Thanks for listening to the Drive On Podcast. If you want to support the show, please check out Scott’s book, Surviving Son on Amazon. All of the sales from that book go directly back into this podcast and work to help veterans in need. You can also follow the Drive On Podcast on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts.