Episode 500 Scott DeLuzio 500 Times Veterans Chose to Drive On Transcript

This transcript is from episode 500.

[00:00:00] Hey everyone, this is Scott DeLuzio, and I just want to first off start this episode, taking a moment to say thank you. Uh, this is episode 500 of the Drive on Podcast and say, number I never really imagined hitting when I started this thing. Uh, it’s kind of surreal to look back at where this all began and see how far the show has come.

I, I, I don’t really think I could have done. All these episodes without the support of the listeners though. Um, you know, honestly, if none of you are listening, I probably would’ve thrown the, in the towel a long time ago. Just stop doing it. But because you guys keep listening, ’cause you guys keep tuning in.

I know I must be doing something right and I keep putting out the, these episodes. ’cause quite frankly, I, I wanna be here to, to help you guys,

and, you know, I wanna put these messages of hope out there for folks. Um, so whether you’ve been here since the beginning, in the early episodes where I. Still didn’t really know what I was doing [00:01:00] with this podcast, uh, or you’re tuning in for the first time. Uh, just wanna welcome you to the show and I wanna make this episode a little bit different, uh, you know, giving that it’s episode 500, I wanna make it a little more special, a little more personal.

Um, I want to answer a few questions that listeners have sent in, and I also wanna take the opportunity to reintroduce the podcast. Tell you guys what it’s all about, who it’s for, and why it even exists in the first place. It’s been a long time since I’ve done any sort of introductory episode, 500 episodes, uh, to be exact.

Um, since I’ve done that, um, I. And so I want to do kind of a reintroduction. I think that’s a lot long overdue, um, because there might be some folks who are coming along to this podcast for the very first time and, um, maybe don’t wanna scroll all the way back 500 episodes to figure out what this show is all about.

So, um, you know, here, here we are and I’m gonna try to. Give it to you, you know, give you [00:02:00] the, the, you know, rundown of what this show is all about. And so, you know, I started the, the Drive on podcast after, uh, I lost several guys that I served with in Afghanistan and, you know, other places in the Army. And, um, you know, they, they came home from their deployments and, uh, they, they took their own lives.

And to me that was unacceptable. Um, that we were losing folks. We, we went to a place where people wanted to kill us and we survived there. And we came home where people want no, nothing but the best for us, and that’s when we’re losing people. Like that just didn’t make sense to me. Um, you know, and at the same time I was dealing with my own issues.

Uh, PTSD. Grief after losing my brother Steven, he was killed in action while we were both deployed to Afghanistan. And that loss hit me hard, not just because I lost my brother, but I feel like I lost part of myself with that loss. I was a soldier after losing him. I kind of just didn’t care about [00:03:00] the army being a soldier.

I didn’t care about any of that stuff. I ended up getting out of the army shortly thereafter. Um, and so it, it hit me hard. Um, it wasn’t something I could easily process or even talk about, and like many veterans, I tried to just push down and just carry on, uh, with life, but that didn’t work out so well.

Um, had it not been for the tremendous amount of help that I received from my family and later through the vet center, the va and other folks that I got help through, uh, I may have gone down a different path than the one that I eventually did go down. So I can feel the pain of those who decided to punch their ticket, and I feel like I couldn’t just sit, sit back and wait to hear that another friend took their life, um, or felt like they had to deal with whatever they were dealing with all alone.

Uh, in my mind, something just needed to be done. Yeah, I didn’t know exactly what that something [00:04:00] was at the time, but the, this podcast became that something, it was a place where we could share stories, we could talk about the struggles that veterans face, and more importantly, I, I think we can highlight the ways that people are overcoming those struggles that they’re dealing with.

And that’s what Drive on has really always been about, from the very beginning, is providing hope to those who might feel hopeless and. I also maybe a little bit selfishly benefit from hearing stories from the guests that we have on this show. Um, some people have asked about the title of the show, drive On, and looking back, I.

May have made it something different. Uh, so it wouldn’t be confused with car related topics and driving and, and that type of thing. But, uh, at this point I’m committed to it and don’t really want to change it now. Um, plus I have all the swag and the merchandise I’ll, I’ll created already. I don’t want, I don’t wanna go and change all that right now, but, um, but no, anyways, you know, more, more seriously drive on is a phrase that was used.

In the military that, [00:05:00] that we use from time to time. That refers to, you know, when you’re going through, um, you know, some task that you’re, you’re trying to complete, um, and you, and you have to complete no matter what. You, you have to get this mission accomplished and there’s some hardship, there’s some suck that’s going on.

Um, that’s, that’s when you have to just drive on and you have to continue, uh, through whatever that hardship is. Um, you know, when, when we return from a deployment or transition out of the military, we experience combat or lose a friend. We all have our own hardships that we’re dealing with, um, and we have to overcome them no matter what.

We, we have to figure out a way to get through them. And so. That’s where drive on comes from. Uh, there there’s other similar phrases that might be more popular in other branches of the military, um, which to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t aware of at the time that I started the show. Um, things like carry on, hold fast and, and I’m sure there’s others, um, you [00:06:00] know, so other branches may.

Not be quite as familiar with Drive on, but to me it, it had that meaning. Uh, and so regardless of what term you might be most familiar with, the idea really is the same. Um, the podcast is designed to help those, uh, in the military community who are stuck or struggling, so they, they can find ways to keep going and continue to, uh, try to live a better life.

And I want, I want actually take a second here. I, I mentioned in the beginning I was gonna, um, answer some listener questions and I thought it was good to just kind of weave ’em in, uh, where appropriate throughout the, the episode here because, um, you know, some of the questions relate to some of the stuff I wanted to talk about anyways.

And so, you know, what better way to kind of weave ’em in than, than just to fit ’em in here. So, uh, I want to answer a listener’s. Question here, because it does fit in naturally with what I was just talking about. And the question comes from Daniel Odell, who some listeners may know as the, the guy with the fluffy poodle with green hair, if you’ve [00:07:00] ever seen him in person.

Uh, is, is Service Dog is a, a, a. Big old poodle, he dyed the, the hair on top of his head green. Um, and so it’s kind of, kind of funny to see, but also I got to know, uh, Daniel, uh, when we met last year at the military influencer conference, great guy. Uh, and his question is, what is your why behind your why? Um, I’ll be honest.

At first when I got that question, I wasn’t sure how to answer the question. Um, took me a minute to kind of think about. The why behind the why. Um, and you know, I think I talked a little bit about the, the why, I suppose, like, like that first why is what we already talked about? Uh, here, I, I started the podcast to support the, the veterans who are dealing with PTSD transition challenges and feeling disconnected from the civilian world.

Uh, maybe even their, maybe even feeling disconnected from their own families. Um, the why behind that, why [00:08:00] though, is. That I’ve personally experienced some of the struggles myself. I know what it’s like to feel isolated, to feel like if I just drank enough to pass out, I’d be able to get some sleep and I won’t have to deal with those thoughts that are in my head.

I know what it’s like to walk into an office on the civilian side and hate that everyone is absorbed in some bullshit. That really doesn’t matter. You know what so and so said on the Bachelor, or who won the game last night. The water co cooler talk became like a special kind of torture to me. Um, so much so that it was a struggle to even get out, get out of bed to go to work every morning.

Um. You know, for, for me, the highlight of my day was either sitting in the drive through at line at Dunkin’ Donuts to get my morning coffee or the commute home. Um, when I was, I was just by myself and I didn’t have to deal with any of the things that were going on in the office, any of the, the coworker [00:09:00] chatter that was going on.

Um, and don’t, don’t get me wrong, nothing wrong with the people that I worked with at the time. It just, for me, I wasn’t able to handle it. The, the conversations that were, were being, uh, being had in the office, you know, sitting at my desk, I, I couldn’t concentrate and I hated all the things that were going on around me.

Um, but I knew that wasn’t the type of husband, the type of father or son, neighbor, coworker, or whatever other relationship I had with people at that time that I wanted to have. Uh, I, I didn’t wanna be full of hatred. Um, not because I wanted something different for myself. Um, you know, honestly, uh, I, I never really looked at it like.

I need to change for me, and maybe that’s not the right way to look at it. Maybe I do need to change for me, but, um, I knew that those people deserve something better from me. I needed to, to be putting something better out, uh, for those people. I, I didn’t want my, my kids growing up with a dad who is constantly angry and constantly drunk and constantly, you know, just a miserable [00:10:00] person.

So when I see other people struggling like I did, and quite frankly still do, from time to time, I see a bit of myself in them. And so my why behind the why is I, I guess kind of simple. It’s anyone out there who feels like they’re carrying too much and doesn’t see a way forward. The show exists to remind them that they’re not alone and that there are paths out of whatever dark hole they may find themselves in.

There’s other podcasts out there doing great work for the veteran community. I don’t see any of those podcasters as, uh, competition. As a matter of fact, I’m friends with them. Uh, I know them. We’ve, I’ve, I. Swapped on each other’s shows. I’ve done an episode on their show, they’ve come on, came onto my show and promoted, uh, you know, on, on each other’s platforms.

Um, and we, we still talk to each other and we still, you know, share things with each other, even guests, uh, you know, like, Hey, I got this great guest, they’ll be a great fit on your show and vice versa. [00:11:00] Um, you know, we do all that. I see them more as teammates in this effort to help reduce veteran suicide.

Uh, and, and improve the lives of the people who, who served, um, you know, the, the, the fellow veterans that, that we’re trying to help. Um, you know, drive On is a, a show where veterans share how they got through their darkest moments and how they’re thriving now, but it’s not all doom and gloom. We talk about the healing, the growth, and the, the tools that people use to get through that darkness.

We also talk to people from organizations doing amazing work, nonprofits, therapy providers, alternative treatments, basically anyone out there helping veterans in ways that maybe are just not available through the va, or maybe they are available and, and folks just don’t want to go through the VA for one reason or another.

I mean, I think anyone who’s been to the VA can understand that. Um. And not to say that every, everyone’s bad at the va, but you know, there’s some [00:12:00] experiences may not be all that great and so, you know, perhaps there’s another option out there. And that’s what I try to highlight, uh, with the show. I wanted it to be something that any veteran could listen to for free.

I didn’t want it to be behind a paywall or anything like that. I figured when I started the show, podcasts are free, so I thought that was a perfect medium to use. The only problem at that point was that when I started the show, I really didn’t have any idea how to run a podcast. I didn’t know the, the technical side of things, how to market the show, or, you know, honestly, even if anyone would listen, I thought it was a good idea, but didn’t mean that anyone else would.

Uh, for the first, I don’t know, five or six episodes, I didn’t tell anyone that I was even starting a podcast o other than my wife she knew, um, which I later learned. Is probably the worst way to start a podcast by not telling anyone that you’re starting a podcast. You know, it’s not the field of [00:13:00] dreams.

If you build it, they’re not gonna just come. Listeners aren’t gonna just start flocking to you unless you start telling people. Um, but eventually I started figuring things out. Um, you know, and I’m, I’m big on optimizing things. If there’s something I have to do more than once, I wanna figure out a way to automate it.

Uh, and I eventually automated the entire guest. Onboarding process, which takes a bunch of tests off my plate, uh, makes a better experience for the guest and keeps me sane, quite frankly. Uh, you know, so I don’t have to try to remember all the things that I need to do for each episode. Um, and after doing 500 episodes, I’m glad that I, I figured out some of those processes.

Um, and actually speaking of that, I want to get to another listener’s question. This one is from JP Perez, who I had on the episode, uh, or had on. An earlier episode titled, uh, transforming Lives with Vet Rise Academy. That’s his, uh, business Vet Rise Academy. He, he’s out there helping veterans. Uh, it’s episode 4 [00:14:00] 44.

Um, I also met him at Military Influencer Conference this past year. Uh, also another great guy. So, P’S question is, what is one thing you would’ve started doing sooner with your podcast? That was a game changer? And I would say getting better systems in place earlier. Uh, things like scheduling tools, uh, get the guest onboarding process, uh, the audio, uh, and video editing processes.

Uh, I would’ve, you know, maybe not prioritized the gear as much as I would the processes, you know, the tech side of things I, I felt like were, um. You know, whatever you have, I, I think you can make a, a decent podcast out of. Um, but I would, I would focus on the processes to make sure that, you know, I’m not forgetting to, schedule a post or schedule, an episode to go out.

I record all my episodes way in advance of when they, they come out, um, [00:15:00] sometimes months. In advance. So I, I, I think, uh, my biggest backlog has been about four to five months or so of episodes. Um, and so I always record ’em in, in advance, but scheduling ’em, remembering to edit them and get them out. At the right date, at the right time.

I haven’t missed a single week since I started this, uh, podcast. When I, I first started, uh, I was releasing one episode a week for the first couple years, and then I switched to two episodes a week. And I have not missed a single, uh, week or a single scheduled episode since, uh, I started. Um, there’ve been some tech glitches where an episode didn’t get out when it was supposed to get out.

But the episode was done. It was, it was there, it was just some technical difficulties that prevented it from getting out, uh, at the right date or time. Um, but, you know, regardless of all that, um, the systems are, are the [00:16:00] things that, the processes are the things that I, I would’ve, uh, focused on earlier. Uh, had I known if I was to start another podcast, I would start.

From scratch with the processes and make sure I had those down pat. Um, early on I was kind of winging it, and that’s fine when you’re just starting and you’re, you’re trying to get your feet wet and try to figure things out. But having a process really helped me focus more on the conversations and less on all the technical stuff.

Um, another related question that we have is from another former guest, Doug Brinker, uh, from episode 360 titled Beacon 4 Hope. Uh, Doug’s question is a two-part question and he asked, what drew you to start a podcast? And I. What does it take as far as equipment, platform, et cetera, to make it happen? Um, and I touched on some of this earlier, but what drew me in, uh, was that feeling of needing to do something, uh, podcasts felt like the best way to reach people and give them a voice and offer something helpful [00:17:00] to those who are out there maybe isolating by themselves, you know, just not, um.

Not really willing or able to reach out and speak to other people. Um, and I figured even if a podcast wasn’t the right something to do, it would at least get me started. I knew I wanted to do something and I wanted to be able to fail fast and get something started so that I can move on to something else.

The podcast wasn’t working. Uh, fortunately, you know, I obviously, after 500 episodes, I, I think I figured out that it was the right platform and, and the right media. Um. But it, it could have gone a different way. Who knows? Um, as for equipment. Um, I think I, I kind of touched a little bit on this earlier, but you don’t need a studio to get started, like any fancy, uh, recording setup and, and anything like that.

I, I mean, a decent mic, headphones and a quiet space to record goes a long way. Uh, I’ve had the, I. I’ve had some audio snobs tell me that. [00:18:00] A Blue Yeti microphone, uh, for those aren’t familiar, that’s a brand of microphone. Um, a blue Yeti wasn’t good enough for a podcast, at least not a, a good quality, uh, podcast.

And, um, I also played an episode that I recorded, uh, with a Blue Yeti microphone for them, and they told me that it sounded great. And so clearly they didn’t have a clue what they were talking about. Um, I use the same Blue Yeti microphone for most of the episodes that I recorded. Uh, and I only. Recently started using the microphone that I am using right now.

It’s a sure, uh, MV seven. I only started using that recently and I’ll admit that it does sound better, uh, but it certainly isn’t necessary. Um, I use, I do use podcast hosting platforms, YouTube, and my website to distribute the episodes. Um, that’s kind of a common thing that most people use. W any combination of those things to get episodes out there.

So that’s, that’s kind of just a standard practice and I, I keep things pretty streamlined as far as [00:19:00] that, that’s concerned. Um, the one thing I, I realize with any technology, um, whether it’s microphones or headphones or cameras or even computers for that matter, is that by the time you get your hands on any piece of technology, there’s going to be a faster, better option available the next day, the next week, the next month.

So. Yeah, sure. Could you wait around for that new thing to come out? Yeah, absolutely. Um, but you’re gonna have something better come out, you know, a month. Uh, two months, three months later. And you know, you’re not gonna just keep waiting for the next best thing to come out because there’s always gonna be something better.

Uh, at some point. I think, um, the more important thing is that you’re consistently putting out episodes if you can do, uh, based on your schedule and your, you know, other commitments that you have in life between your work, your family, you know, other. Volunteer activities, your church, your whatever it is that you have going on in your life.

If [00:20:00] you can do one episode a week, great. Do that. If you can only do one a month, fine, that’s fine too. Just do that. But be consistent. Whatever it is that you’re gonna do, be consistent with it. Um, if at some point you need to scale back, let the audience know what to expect. Um, because if you don’t, um. You just suddenly stop publishing episodes.

People may just assume that you’ve ended the show and unsubscribe altogether, and then you lose that listener going forward. So, you know, be upfront, be, uh, you know, talk to your audience and let them know, Hey, I’m, you know, I’ve been doing it once a week, but honestly it’s too much for me and I, I don’t wanna let you guys down.

And, um, you know, I, maybe I’m gonna scale it back to. You know, every other week or, you know, once a month or something like that. Um, that, that would be my advice. Uh, anyways, um, you know, I’m not an expert. I’ve been doing this for, for a while, but by, by, by no means am I an expert at any of this. So there, there may be other advice out there, but [00:21:00] I, I think the same thing goes with, with tech.

Uh, use what you can, use what you can afford. You know, a, a $400 microphone may sound better than a $99 microphone. Um. Or even less. Um, but I’d rather listen to an episode recorded on that $99 microphone than not listen to an episode at all because you’re waiting until that $400 microphone was something that you can afford, whether you’re saving up for it or you were, um, uh, waiting for it to come down in price as technology changes or, or whatever the case may be.

Um, I’d, I’d rather listen to the episode on the $99 microphone if it meant not listening to an episode at all. Was the alternative. So yeah, I mean. Yeah, you could get the best audio quality with, you know, a more expensive microphone. Um, you could also get better quality by renting out a recording studio and, uh, paying all sorts of money for every episode.

But how sustainable is that? I mean, sure. If [00:22:00] you have sponsors and, and all this money flowing in from it, yeah, probably you can do that and it’ll sound great and it’ll look great and everything will be be wonderful. You’ll have top tier production, but you know, reality is most of us don’t have that. Um, you know, so just use what you can do, what you can afford.

Um, and I will say though, that I do use a program, uh, called De Script to edit the episodes. And actually it’s what I’m recording this episode in right now. Uh, and I. It’s, as far as I’m concerned, it’s invaluable. It saves me so much time and has some features to just automate a lot of the editing process.

It, um, lets you do scene transitions, create social media clips, and, uh, all sorts of other things. And, um. You know, it’s honestly, it’s just a great program. When I, when I first heard about it, I was like, this thing kind of sounds too good to be true. Um, but it lets you do edits, um, just as if you’re editing a, a Word document.

Um, you know, it lists out [00:23:00] the, the whole transcript of the episode, all the words that you were, that you spoke during the episode. Um, and you can, if you want to cut out a section like, you know, Hey, I, I screwed up the way this sounds. You can just. Highlight the text and hit delete, and it’s gone not just from the text, but also from the video and the audio and all that too.

So. It’s really, to me, it was a, a game changer, um, as far as the editing process goes. And, you know, I, I don’t know that I would’ve been able to keep up with all the episodes that I’ve, I’ve been doing had it not been for that. So, um, I, I’m actually going to put in a, put in my affiliate link in the show notes.

So, um, you know, if you do use it and you click through that link, you, you make a purchase, I’ll make a little bit of money, uh, which I’ll use to offset the cost of running this show, which by the way. It is all out of pocket. You know, I’ve had a couple sponsors, but really not a ton. And, uh, you know, pretty much everything is out of pocket as far as all the expenses go.

And, and it does get expensive to run a podcast. So, um, [00:24:00] actually another question that I got from a listener is, has this podcast changed me? And if so, in what ways did it change me? And I, I think absolutely it has. Uh, every episode is a reminder that people are out there doing the work, healing, helping others, building something better.

And I get to be a part of that in one way, shape, or form, even if it’s just spreading awareness that there are people out there that are able to help. Um, on a personal side, it’s helped me process some of my own grief and trauma, uh, kind of. Opened me up to different ways of thinking about some of the things that I’ve been going through and hearing from other veterans and family members, uh, it’s helped me realize that I’m not alone.

And hopefully that’s the same for the listeners, that you guys listening. Hopefully you realize that you’re not alone either. Um, and it has created a sense of connection, which has been really, I, I really powerful. [00:25:00] Um. It’s also made me realize something about the veteran community. Uh, speaking of that, uh, oftentimes actually the, the vast majority of the time, the first time I speak with a guest is just a few minutes before we hit record.

Um, so as the listener, you’re seeing two strangers who also happen to be veterans, uh, interact for the very first time. And by the end of the recording, it sometimes seems like we’ve known each other for years, at least it does to me. Um, sometimes the, the dark twisted humor that we all share helps accelerate that process, but, um, you know, it makes the, the sometimes awkward moments of talking to someone new, a little less awkward.

Um, but it also shows that it is possible for two veterans or just two people, uh, to share their ups and downs together. You know, if I can do that with the guests that I’ve had. On this show, uh, then hopefully the listeners can realize that they can talk to somebody too, you know, whether that’s a mental health professional, their chaplain, or a [00:26:00] priest or, uh, you know, whatever religious figure that is in their life.

Or, uh, you know, even a battle buddy, you know, someone is there for you. And it’s also made. Me a little bit more hopeful. You know, we hear a lot about the problems that we have and the 22 a day and all the, the things, the, the negative. We hear out all this stuff, but, but through this podcast, I’ve seen the solutions and the resilience and the grit that veterans possess.

And I don’t know, I, I guess it’s kind of impossible not to be changed by that again, hopefully. That’s what’s helping some people out there. Hopefully people are listening to this podcast, not just this episode, but other episodes and seeing some of the same things that I’m seeing between the solutions and the grit and the determination that veterans have to.

Uh, make a better life for themselves, for their families, for whoever it is in their, their life that they need to make a change for. They’re, they’re, they’re doing something and [00:27:00] hopefully, um, you know, that’s changing some folks as well. You know, one of the hardest things about doing this show is talking with family members who’ve lost a loved one to suicide.

Um, there, there’s a heartbreaking consistency to those conversations though. Um. You know, not one of those family members has ever said that they were relieved that their loved one was gone. Not one ever said that their loved one was a burden. Quite the opposite actually. They all wished that they had more time.

They all would’ve done anything to help, to support, to listen, even just to sit quietly with that person if it meant that they’d still be here. And that’s one of the things that, that’s so tough to hear because so many veterans carry this idea that. The people in their lives would be better off without them, that they’re a burden, that they’re dragging everyone else down.

I think a lot of it, especially amongst the guys, is that we see ourselves as the protectors or the providers [00:28:00] for those around us. If we’re asking those people for help, then we’re not living up to our mission or pulling our weight, I guess is a better way to say it, but it’s just not true. And I’ve talked to these families, I’ve, I’ve seen the heartbreak and the the what ifs that never go away.

If you’re struggling and you think that no one would care if you’re gone or they’re better off without you, I want you to know that someone absolutely would care. And now, if you cannot think of a single person who would care, then think of me. I do. That’s why I, I keep doing this. This takes so much of my time.

Between recording these interviews and, um, editing the interviews and the social media posts, which by the way, I freaking hate social media and the fact that I’m doing anything on social media must tell you something. Um, you know, I keep, I keep doing these things [00:29:00] because I give a shit. I’m not doing this because I want fame or notoriety and God knows I’m not getting it.

So, you know, why would I keep doing it if I’m not getting it? I’m not doing it for that. Um, you know, use me if you can’t think of anyone else. So there’s always at least one person who care. I guess the pain of your absence would cause more pain. And would I. Echo far beyond what you would imagine it would just rever reverberate out.

Um, and we’ve talked about this on the show before, um, but for anyone who hasn’t heard this, um, you know, think of it like throwing a rock in a pond and you see the ripples that, that go out from there. If you’re gone yeah. It’s gonna affect your immediate family. Um, you know, the, the, those people who I was just talking about, the people who, um.

That, that care, you know, [00:30:00] that the people who want you there. Um,

but because it affects them, it’s gonna affect their, the people in their circle as well. Um, it’s gonna affect their. Their neighbors or coworkers, their, their other family members, it’s gonna affect, it’s just gonna affect other people in their circle, which then affects other people in, in that other circle.

And it just reverberates out from that middle, um, core person, which is you. And it’s gonna reverberate out from there. So, uh, and it’s not gonna put out good positive vibes. It’s not gonna make things better for those people. It’s gonna make it worse. And so. I don’t think anyone wants that. For, for anybody else.

I don’t think we want, you know, for our, our families, for our friends, for our, uh, you know, whoever it is in our lives that, that we, we care about. Like, I don’t think we want to make things worse for them, but every single time, every single time I talk to somebody, that’s what I find. [00:31:00] I find it just makes things worse.

And that’s what I guess the message that I wanna drive home is if you’re in that dark place and you’re thinking that the world would be better off without you, it’s just not true. It’s never true. The people who love you want you here. They want you to get help. They want to be the help if they can be, and they, they don’t think you’re a burden, you know, reversal roles.

If somebody that you care about came to you. And, and said, Hey, I’m, I’m really struggling here, and I don’t know what to do. I tell me, you wouldn’t put everything aside to, to help ’em out, tell me that you wouldn’t be pissed off if they didn’t come to you.

That’s the way they’ll, they’ll feel too, they’ll feel pissed off at you didn’t come to them, that you didn’t reach out and get some help. [00:32:00] That you didn’t raise the red flag and say, Hey, I am in over my head and I cannot, I’m treading water, but just barely. I’m, I’m in so far deep that I, I don’t know if I can keep swimming.

They want you to raise that red flag.

So, you know, that’s really what this show is about. And you know, it’s not all.

All, you know, negativity and doom and gloom in, in, and things like that. We, we have fun. We, we laugh, we joke. I talked about the dark humor, the, the silly things that we, we joke about, uh, in the military, you know, and, you know, a lot of times I’ll have, you know, I was an army veteran. I, I’ll have folks from different branches on the show who, you know, we, we.

Get under each other’s skin a little bit. We, we, uh, you know, make fun of the Marines for eating all the crayons. You know, now we, now our [00:33:00] kids don’t have anything to draw with ’cause they ate all the crayons and, you know, we make fun of the, the Air force for, well, sorry, the chair force, um, for their cushy accommodations.

And, um, let’s not forget about the Coast Guard. they might get their, their ankles wet walking to the, the ship that they’re going on. Um, you know, we, but we joke around, you know, it’s all in, all in good fun. Um, and if you, if you see, if you’re watching the video, you see behind me, I have the flags of every branch in, in our military.

I have you, the Army, the Marines, the navy, uh, the Air Force, the Space Force, the Coast Guard. Um, I got all those flags there because the show is for all of you. It, it, it’s not a single branch. There’s not a single veteran. There’s not a single person who is not included in who the show is, is designed for, you know, we we’re here for everybody.

It’s not an army show, it’s not a marine show. It’s not a Navy show. It’s not an Air Force show. It’s not a space force [00:34:00] show because there would not be a very large audience for that. But, um, you know, it’s not a Coast Guard show. It, it’s a veteran show. I don’t care what branch you served in, I don’t care what uniform you wore, if you’re out there and you’re struggling, we’re here to help that.

That’s what we’re trying to do. Um, I do wanna wrap up this episode though with a lighthearted question from one of the listeners. Uh, Jeff Circle, also another previous guest from episode 363 titled Empowering Veterans Through Writing. Um, he asked, what is your most memorable moment? And what is your dumb, most dumb host moment?

Um, you know, the thing that I did that made me feel all embarrassed that that type of thing, I guess is what you’re, you’re looking for. Um, as far as memorable moments, there have been a lot of meaningful conversations over the years. Uh, it’s I think, kind of hard to pick just one, but anytime a guest opens up.

And shares their [00:35:00] story, it kind of sticks with me, um, because they’re trusting me with their story and I feel a little bit of responsibility with that because they’re telling me a story that’s deeply personal, deeply meaningful to them, sometimes about the darkest moments that they’ve ever experienced.

And I wanna make sure that I do right by them and put that episode out there so that, um, so that people. Will hear it, they’ll get the message and their, their struggle, their suffering won’t be for, for nothing. It’ll be able to be out there and help other people. Um, you know, so it’s an honor to be trusted with those types of stories.

Um, there is one person, uh, in particular, I won’t mention who this person is because I don’t know if. He wanted me to tell this publicly, and so I’ll keep it anonymous, but I did have a guest once who told this story, and it was for the very first time on this, uh, this podcast that he told this story, uh, at least publicly.

[00:36:00] Um, and it was an incredibly emotional story. For him to tell It was emotional. To listen to it, it was definitely, you could tell there was a lot to it. And after we stopped recording, I could see that it was an emotional experience for him. Um, and he thanked me for allowing me, or allowing him, sorry, allowing him to share his story and.

It felt like there was a weight that was lifted from him. You could kind of see it that like he was relieved to finally be able to tell this story publicly. Um, and I think he kind of got hooked on podcasting or sharing a story at least. Uh, ’cause he, he did ask me if I could introduce him to some other podcasters that I knew so he could keep sharing that story, which I think is great.

Um, because, you know, sometimes you’re, you’re. Story that you’re struggling through your, your story that you made it through, uh, [00:37:00] could be the roadmap for somebody else. And so, you know, this guy, uh, you know, he shared his story and hopefully it was a roadmap for, for somebody else to figure out, you know, their way out of whatever dark hole they may have found themselves in.

Um, so conversations like that help. Release the floodgates, uh, a bit for one person, but it shows others that it’s okay to share their story. Uh, and that can have a snowball effect and spread like wildfire. You know, if your friend’s sharing their story and, uh, you know, you think it’s okay to share yours and you share your story to somebody else, and then they think it’s okay to share theirs and, you know, people keep talking and opening up and, and sharing and like, Hey, geez, I’m not alone there, there’s somebody else out there.

And so, you know, to me, I think that’s, um, that’s where the, the memorable moments come in is, is when I’m able to, uh, share those stories and, uh, you know, help help people, uh, you know, get that story out there and hopefully help some other folks along [00:38:00] the way. Now as for a, the dumb host moments, um, yeah, there’ve been plenty.

Of those, um, I think the biggest, uh, biggest dumb host moment, uh, that I, I’ve had and. Maybe I’ve had more than once is mispronouncing guest names. I think that’s kind of the, the classic one that I have, uh, kind of dealt with. Any guest will tell you though that I always ask to make sure that I’ve, uh, that I have the pronunciation of their name correct.

I. Before we start recording, um, my last name DeLuzio, gets butchered all the time. So I hate doing that to other people. Um, I, I don’t care if the person’s name is John Smith, uh, that I’m talking to. I’ll always ask to make sure I’m saying it correctly. Um, because, you know, who knows? They might put an accent in there somewhere and somehow it, I’ll come off looking like the dumb one because I pronounce it Smith instead of Smy or something like that.

Who knows? Um, you [00:39:00] know. Another moment that that comes to mind. Um, it wasn’t so much my fault, uh, you know, as a dumb host kind of thing, but, uh, as it was the platform that I was recording on, uh, but since it’s my show and I chose the platform, I’m gonna own it as my fault. Um. This was early on, probably in the first 10 or 20 episodes.

I recorded an awesome interview with a guest. It would, it just hit all the points that I wanted to hit, and it, it just, it, it flowed so well. And, uh, it was just a, a, a great episode. Um, unfortunately, uh, that episode never saw the light of day. And, um, because the, the platform that I was using recorded, uh, both the guest audio and my audio in separate files, which is standard practice in a lot of platforms these days.

Um, and there there’s reasons for that. I won’t, I won’t get into that now, but if you have questions about that, reach out, let me know. But anyway, uh, when I went to edit the episode and piece everything together, bring the [00:40:00] guest audio and my audio together and make it one coherent file that, um, you know, audio file that you can hear everything.

In, uh, conversation as opposed to layered, uh, one after the other. Um, I realized that I only was able to get about the first 10 minutes of the guest audio out of about a 45 minute interview. Um, unfortunately, the, the platform only only kept the first 10 minutes for whatever reason. I have no idea why. I was never, never able to figure out why.

Um, but I, I learned from that issue and I switched to another platform to record on and, uh, never went back to the other platform. I’m not gonna say the other platform’s name now ’cause I think they’ve made significant changes in how they do things and I think they’re a lot better now. And I don’t want to turn people off from it, but I, regardless I’m not going back to it.

Um, if you choose to that, that’s fine. And I, I’ve, I’ve recorded other episodes on other people’s podcasts on the same platform. Um, and it [00:41:00] turned out. To be just fine. And so I think it was, you know, temporary glitch that happened early on and um, you know, but I. Regardless, I’ve, I’ve moved on from there and I, I, I switched to another platform.

Um, the guest was, uh, a friend of mine and was kind enough to rerecord the in interview, so we ended up getting something out there. It wasn’t the same episode, uh, obviously as the first one, although I did ask a lot of the same questions. But, uh, you know how it is when you have a conversation, you kind of already know some of the answers.

It’s like, I don’t wanna. Ask that question ’cause I already know the answer, but I, I sort of played dumb a little bit and asked some of the same questions, even though I knew the answers, uh, that, that the guest was gonna give. But, um, I did feel like I had some egg on my face after that one. Um, fortunately it’s been about, you know, 480, 490 episodes or so since then, and that hasn’t happened again.

Um, there’ve been other things that have happened, but that’s another story for another day, I suppose. Um, and one last thing though, [00:42:00] that. Wasn’t a dumb host thing. Well, maybe an ignorant host thing, I guess you can say. Um, uh, did happen. So, most podcast hosting platforms will give you some statistics for the number of people who listen to your show.

Uh, some platforms have better statistics than others, uh, but that’s besides point. Um, most have at least some sort of basic analytic data available. And, uh, earlier this year, I was taking a look at those numbers for this podcast, and I noticed a huge sharp decline in the number of listeners that I was, I was getting for this show.

Scratch my head, trying to figure out what went wrong. You know, I was asking, you know, did I say the wrong thing? Did I offend somebody without even realizing it? I couldn’t figure it out. I went back to the last few episodes over the last, you know, month or so. Uh, you know, prior to looking at all this stuff and I was looking, I was like, nothing was really controversial, nothing was crazy.

Uh, so I couldn’t figure it out. [00:43:00] I ended up reaching out to a, a friend who does, uh, coaching for, uh, podcasters and he took a look at my statistics and he pointed out that a huge chunk of listeners that I had prior to this year were coming from Samsung Podcast, which. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t even realize was a platform.

Again, this is me being ignorant. Well, it turns out that in December of 2024, Samsung pulled the plug on Samsung Podcasts and with that went, all the followers that I had on that platform. Yeah, bummer. Right? Um, yeah, and while that was a, a bummer and I’m still pretty upset about it. That did make me realize that I cannot rely on a single platform to deliver my content.

Not that I chose those listeners to use that platform, it’s just the platform that they happen to find me on. Um, and that’s fine. That’s, I mean, that’s how everybody, you know, if you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify [00:44:00] or YouTube or wherever it is that you’re listening, you’re using one of those platforms and I still distribute to all those platforms and that’s fine.

Um, but I. I think I was putting all my eggs in one basket. Um, and that’s why I started including a thing at the beginning of my episodes about subscribing to the podcast newsletter. I, I send out an email, uh, for each episode that directs people to where they can listen to the episode on, uh, the podcast website.

I didn’t put much time or effort into growing that list previously. Um, because, I dunno, it was sort of an afterthought to me and that was, uh, you know, my fault obviously. Um, but I’m doing that now to sort of, uh, I guess own the platform and therefore the audience. And so if I lose subscribers, it should be clear why I’m losing subscribers because I messed something up, or the content is no longer relevant to the subscriber.

Um. [00:45:00] But it shouldn’t be because some executive at Samsung or any other company decided to pull the plug on their podcast app. And so yeah, I guess that was something that, yeah, again, like I said, it was a bummer, but you, you live, you learn, you, you drive on. Right. Anyway, I wanna wrap up this episode by saying thank you again to, uh, all the listeners for helping me make it to 500 episodes.

Whether you’ve listened to one or all 500 episodes, I’m grateful that you’re here. If you’re new to the show. I hope this episode gave you a sense of what the show is all about. And if you’ve been here for a while, thank you for sticking around, sticking with it, uh, as I’m stumbling around trying to figure out how to, how to do these, uh, these, uh, podcast episodes and, and making ’em better.

Um, you know, regardless of, you know, whether this is the first episode or, or not that you’ve listened to, uh, please do me a favor and consider sharing [00:46:00] this podcast with somebody who you think might need to hear it. Um, spread it around your social media, uh, you know, or, you know, send it in a private message to somebody, whatever the case may be.

Um, send it out. Yeah, because you never know, there might be someone out there in your life who might be struggling and just not able to reach out and get the help that they need. They just don’t know where to turn or they, they don’t know who to ask. So even if you’re not suspecting that somebody needs that help, um, share it anyways.

’cause you never know who might need to hear it. And if you haven’t already, um. I’m gonna do this at the end of the episode. I know I said earlier, I do this at the beginning, but I’m gonna do this right now. If you haven’t already, head over to drive on podcast.com/subscribe to get onto the email newsletter.

Um, it also has links for where you can subscribe to the podcast on other platforms, apple Podcast, Spotify, and a bunch of other places. Presumably though, if you are listening right now, you’re already on a [00:47:00] podcast platform of one sort or another. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, uh, on there, uh, on that platform.

But also get onto the email newsletter. You’re gonna, I don’t send spam messages. I send episodes whenever a new, sorry. I send emails whenever a new episode is released. Um. And when you first sign up, I’ll send you one email right off the bat. It’ll send you five episodes, uh, right away to get you started.

I think it’s a good starting point. Um, you know, the episodes cover a variety of topics and, and things that you can kind of expect from this show. Um, so if you haven’t listened to other episodes, that’ll give you the first five to kind of dive right into, um. I guess that’s it. So here’s to the next 500 episodes.

Let’s see if I make it that far. If I make it to a thousand, uh, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll do something bigger and better for episode 1000. Maybe I’ll do a live recording and, you know, rent out a place somewhere and get a bunch of people in there [00:48:00] to, uh, share in that milestone. Um, but regardless, we’ll see what, where that, that takes us.

That’s, that’s gonna be a few years down the line, I’m sure. But, uh, stay safe and. As always, drive on.