Episode 507 Rob Bracero Rebuilding Purpose Through Veteran Fitness Transcript

This transcript is from episode 507 with guest Rob Bracero.

Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] You ever catch yourself saying, man, I used to be in shape. You think back to those PT days pushing through the pain with your squad beside you, and now you’re back stiff. Your knees are shot, your motivation feels miles away. The gym’s full of folks who forget the gym. You don’t wanna be around those folks sometimes.

And uh, working out solo just doesn’t seem to be the same. Um, but what if you could train again sometimes, uh. Getting back around other vets programs built for you, for your body, for your injuries. That’s what Warrior Strong is doing. Uh, Rob Bracero, he joins us today to talk about how they’re veteran led wellness programs are helping guys like us get back in shape physically and mentally through strength training, yoga, breath work, and real community.

And whether you’re looking to stop making excuses, find your tribe, or just feel like yourself again, this episode’s got something for you. [00:01:00] Before we dive in though, make sure you’re subscribed to the email newsletter at driveonpodcast.com/subscribe You’ll get my five favorite episodes sent straight to your inbox.

No fluff, just the best insights to help you drive on. I also wanna take a moment to raise awareness for something deeply important to our community. The Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation. This organization is working to build a permanent national memorial in Washington. DC to honor the service members, families, and civilians impacted by the global War on terrorism.

This memorial serves as both a tribute to those who served and a way to ensure their sacrifices are recognized and remembered for generations to come. If you want to learn more or find out how you can support the mission, visit gwotmemorialfoundation.org. Now let’s get into it.

[00:02:00]

Scott DeLuzio: Rob, welcome to the show. Really glad to have you here. And I’ve been looking forward to this, this conversation you know, especially to discuss your work with Warrior Strong and the things that you guys are doing. But let’s first off, just welcome to the show.

Rob Bracero: Yeah, no, I certainly appreciate the opportunity. You know, everything that you do with the Drive on Podcast and getting the word out and just helping uplift people, that’s, that’s awesome, man. I, I really appreciate it.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And we had Tom Tice on on a little while ago talking about the organization and, and the things that you guys do. Tell us a little bit about your involvement with the the organization with Warrior Strong and, and the mission and, and kind of how you got all involved.

Rob Bracero: Sure. So, you know, I know Tom’s pretty modest with himself, right? But he kind of, he kind of really came up with this idea himself. And I don’t know. imagine he doesn’t share this story because he doesn’t share it often. But, you know, this all kind of stirred from some of the [00:03:00] challenges that were floating around social media, you know, for, for veterans veteran suicide and veteran, you know, PTSD awareness and stuff like that. And, you know, I’m not down shooting any of that stuff, but, you know, Tom kind of took it, its heart and he just thought that there was something more than he could do. And he kind of started developing this idea that gear started turning his head and he, he kind of started jotting things down on paper. He really started putting it together on a business plan. And he brought, he brought me in towards the end of the business planning phase. And, you know, I kind of helped fine tune that and we hit the ground running from there. It’s, it’s been a hell of a journey, so it’s, it’s exciting.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, I. Anytime you have an idea to, to help people and, and you kind of just get that vision that, that to go out and, and do something, it kinda likes a little fire under you. And you know, when you start seeing the, the fruits of your labor coming through and you’re, you’re actually helping people.

You know, an idea is great and, and everything, [00:04:00] but once you see that there’s actual real people who are actually being helped by the, the work that you’re doing, god, it makes it feel so much better than just that planning phase. Right. The, the planning phase is, that’s sometimes the easy part, but then when you go and implement it and then you, you, you try to get it you, you try to get

Rob Bracero: are definitely, things are

Scott DeLuzio: Definitely,

Rob Bracero: right? Like

Scott DeLuzio: yeah.

Rob Bracero: organization and, and our real,

Scott DeLuzio: Our mission is really,

Rob Bracero: you know,

Scott DeLuzio: you know.

Rob Bracero: just giving a mission statement, right? It, it’s really there to kind of. Provide an opportunity to, for veterans, you know, people that have been in the service that kind of stepped up to, to help, help uplift them, help bring some things back into their lives that they’ve really been missing out, and just help ’em get out of, you know, any funk or any ruts that they’re in and just, you know, generally make their lives a little bit better through fitness and wellness and comradery, you know, and. Yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s great. It really is good. And for me being a veteran too, right, that gives me a [00:05:00] sense of purpose back and it, it’s helped me out as an individual as well as, you know, the other veterans that have

Scott DeLuzio: Veterans been

Rob Bracero: of our

Scott DeLuzio: part of?

Rob Bracero: it’s, it’s awesome.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. You know, I’ve talked to several veterans who got out of the military and ended up in some sort of organization like yours that is out there to support veterans and. They had that same kind of mindset where they felt like, now I have that sense of purpose again.

Rob Bracero: Yeah.

Scott DeLuzio: You know? Did you feel like you kind of lost that sense of purpose after getting out?

Was that kind of your experience or, or what was your experience getting out?

Rob Bracero: Abso. Absolutely. Absolutely. So, you know, I did, you know, just a short stint. I know some people have done a lot, a lot longer than I’ve done, but I, I did four years in the Marine Corps,

Scott DeLuzio: Okay.

Rob Bracero: over in the infantry over in Fallujah and Ramadi and you know, it was back in 2004, 2008.

Scott DeLuzio: Eight.

Rob Bracero: it was a little bit of a hectic time and, got

Scott DeLuzio: I got out. I had

Rob Bracero: [00:06:00] my

Scott DeLuzio: my issues.

Rob Bracero: many other veterans. Know, and I did, I felt like a, like a sense of detachment, right?

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Rob Bracero: I didn’t have a purpose anymore when I was in the Marine Corps. You know, I had a purpose. I knew what my purpose was, and I, I worked to execute on that purpose every single day. and then you get

Scott DeLuzio: Get out.

Rob Bracero: and things are just different.

There’s, you have to. You have to really find that sense of purpose again. It’s, it doesn’t usually just drop in your lap. So for me, it took a while. It took a while, and I had some things turning in my head to, to, to try and find that sense of purpose. And then, and then Tom came along, like I said, with his idea and he kind of brought me back in and, and ever since then I’ve had that sense of purpose back.

And, you know, people find purpose in different ways and stuff like that, but. You

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Rob Bracero: if I had to give a piece of advice, it’s don’t wait for it to fall in your lap. Just kind of go and seek out, seek it out, you know?

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah, definitely [00:07:00] seek out opportunities for sure. I agree with that. And you never know where that thing might come from. You know, like in your case came from Tom. Right. And, and cool. That, that’s, that’s great. But you know, he may have had an idea for something different and you, it might not have jive with you.

And, you know, maybe he wanted to help some other group of people and not. Necessarily veterans. And, and while that’s a noble cause, and it’s certainly nothing wrong with that it may not have been for you. And, and so you could have, you could have said, okay, well that’s not for me, but there’s something else for me and you, you try that next thing.

And so, you know, to that point, find that thing that’s for you and you’ll feel a hell of a lot better than if you’re just like taking whatever crap comes your way, you know?

Rob Bracero: Yeah. I mean, taking it day by day, you know, it’s, that’s one approach, right?

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Rob Bracero: you really have to find something to clinging on

Scott DeLuzio: Right.

Rob Bracero: you’re, something that

Scott DeLuzio: That you’re really passionate.

Rob Bracero: Something that that energizes you,

Scott DeLuzio: That’s right. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. [00:08:00] So I know we, on the episode with Tom, we talked a little bit about the, the programs, services, things like that, that Warrior Strong has to offer. But for the folks who maybe didn’t catch that episode or you know, are, are. I’m curious to learn more maybe about Warrior Strong.

Tell us about the programs and services, you know, all, all the stuff that goes into warrior Strong and what people can expect from it.

Rob Bracero: Sure. So again, you know, we’re really just trying to help out with. Fitness and wellness and, and bringing comradery and community. Right? Community’s a big one back into veterans’ lives. You know, when you get out and stuff like that too, you kind of have a detached community. You had a group that you can rely on and then you come out and you don’t necessarily have that.

So everything that we gear from a health and fitness aspect also really integrates community and bringing that comradery as well back into the veterans’ lives. And we offer programs like we have strength training, we have body weight training, we have like a hybrid body weight and, and [00:09:00] actual weight training. And those are some of the newer classes that we’ve brought on. Yoga is kind of like a staple in our organization. When we first, when Tom first told me about it and I was like, that’s great ’cause I know there’s a lot of benefits, but I had never done yoga before. I’m gonna be honest with

Scott DeLuzio: Right.

Rob Bracero: But I tried it out and it’s, it’s awesome.

You know, I have back issues from the military and I know you had some, some guests on not, not too long ago, that were talking about back issues and stuff like that. So the yoga has really helped me out.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Rob Bracero: we have some other programs too. We have breath work. We have meditation, which is great. The breath work class is probably one of my favorites. In the last year we, we, last year and a half we started an aquatics therapy class, and that’s kind of like more localized to our area now. And we’re working on ways of trying to get it out. To some other populations, but we offer that. And this last year we really started an adaptive fitness class, and we have [00:10:00] some awesome instructors.

Kenny is our adaptive fitness guy. He’s like, you know, the guru. He’s, he’s our, he’s the guy that we lean on for all the adaptive fitness stuff. He is super motivated. He’s a marine guy as well. But he does a, he does a heck of a job. So we have that. And then we also offer a. Veterans like certification class.

So what what happens is if a veteran comes to us and, you know, maybe they’re looking to start a business in fitness or they just wanna become an instructor somewhere else, they can come to us and, you know, there’s a small vetting process. But we

The veteran to go out and get certified in a, in a health, a wellness or a fitness class, and they get that certification and, you know,

Scott DeLuzio: you know.

Rob Bracero: bring it however they want it.

They can instruct somewhere else or they can, I. start their own business and we kind of use that to one, you know, have them give back to the veteran community, [00:11:00] but two, it helps ’em out, you know, with their own livelihood and, and earning some extra cash and stuff like that as well. So financially it also helps out.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, that’s awesome too because a lot of times folks will get out of the military and they want to do something like that. They wanna, you know, start a business coaching or training, you know, tho those types of things. And you know, maybe sometimes the pathway to get there isn’t super clear. And so if you have someone who’s already walked that path and can say, Hey, this is kind of.

What you need to do and, and we can get you certified and, you know, help you set up that business and and stuff like that, that I, I think that’s, that’s an amazing part of the program too. But you know, I, I think that also leads to you know, some of the other issues that veterans end up having is sometimes they, they face that like isolation or just feeling disconnected from.

The world after getting out of the military. ’cause they, they, you know, you have your group of. Folks that you [00:12:00] were close with when you’re in the military then you get out and it’s like you against the world and you know, those people are maybe are still in the military and they’re off doing their thing and you gotta go figure out your thing and kind of feels like you’re all alone and you’re, you’re kind of isolated.

Right? And if, if you have you know that, that path to starting a business, well now you’re gonna. Get clients and employees, and now, now you have people, you have your own you know, built in group of people that can kind of help mitigate some of that isolation feeling right.

Rob Bracero: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, you bring it up, the isolation. As a veteran, I’ll take it from two ways, right? So when you’re in the military, there’s always somebody telling you what to do, when to do it, how to do it, where to do it. You know, for the most part. Obviously you have some leeway operationally, but there’s always somebody that’s telling you what to do and when to do it, and when you get out. You don’t have that anymore. And, and not to say that it affects [00:13:00] all veterans, but it certainly affects a large population of veterans. They come out. And they just don’t know what the next steps are, how to f, how to figure out the next steps. And there’s that disconnection again. So, you know, having some people that have been through it and kind of helping guide them back onto that path, you know, that certainly helps out. And then you have the isolation that you mentioned. You know, and, and this is not just a veteran issue, right? I think with the way. With social media and with people, kind of, you know, everything that happened with Covid, people have kind of isolated themselves and a lot of people have found themselves in a rut where, you know, they’ve lost that community that they had before.

And then obviously veterans, you know, they have issues with that from their time in service as well, and it kind of compounds. So again, when we have these classes, we always make sure that. There’s that sense of camaraderie that [00:14:00] we’re bringing back, you know, so people can establish relationships in our classes, and then they can lean on our organization, of course, but they can also use those relationships that they just built with other veterans and lean on each other too.

So it, it, it’s definitely a big help. And, you know, community’s, community’s everything. You know, that’s beings are community based. Organism. You know, we, we, most of us really need community, you know?

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. As, as much as we may say we don’t need it, you know, we do you know, we can be stubborn sometimes too and, and really think that, no, that’s not for me. I’m, I’d rather just have a cabin in the woods and be by myself and, you know, it’s completely isolated. Maybe with a dog or something like that. But,

Rob Bracero: Sure.

Scott DeLuzio: you know, maybe that, maybe that’s.

Good for a little while, you know, a week, you know, to get away and unplug and you know, just kind of have a digital detox or something like that. But eventually you’re gonna need to get back into, you know, some sort [00:15:00] of society where you’re, you’re with people and not just, you know, transactional relationships like, you know, the cashier at the grocery store, but like real relationships where you actually have someone to talk to.

And, and you can. Rely on them. They can rely on you and you can, you can help each other out. Even just having a phone call just to catch up and see how each other’s doing. You know, that type of thing. Yeah,

Rob Bracero: definitely that sense of community and having that person to talk to definitely helps people out in life. It lightens their load and stuff like that and

Scott DeLuzio: yeah,

Rob Bracero: de-stress, which, I mean, there’s lots of stressors out in life. You know, you need those people, you need that community.

Scott DeLuzio: exactly. Yeah. And. It just, it’s just amazing to me that how many veterans that I’ve talked to through this show and in, in other places have had that pretty much same experience. And so for the listeners who are out there, they’re [00:16:00] saying, yeah, this sounds like me. Well, guess what? You’re not alone.

You’re not the only one who felt, felt that way. You know?

Rob Bracero: not alone. There’s, there’s lots of people out there, right? And we, we see this, like I said, it’s not, it’s not just it’s not just the veteran community.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah,

Rob Bracero: everybody, you

Scott DeLuzio: that’s right

Rob Bracero: Nothing wrong, there’s nothing wrong with admitting it. There’s nothing wrong with, with wanting a cabin in the woods.

I, you know, I’ve

Scott DeLuzio: in the woods.

Rob Bracero: so many times to myself. But you know, in real, in reality, it’s, it’s all about the community.

Scott DeLuzio: And if we all were to go get a cabin in the woods. It would be a very crowded place because if everyone who said it they wanted one went out and actually did it eventually we’d be like, no way, man. I don’t, I don’t wanna be here. There’s too many people here. So with Warrior Strong talking about the isolation and being disconnected, community’s a big deal.

How does, how does the program work? You know, so someone comes and signs up and you know, is in one or more of the, the programs. How does, how does that all work [00:17:00] and, and how is their community kind of tied into all that? Sure.

Rob Bracero: Like we started, we started off you know, this is back before Covid had happened and, you know, our plans had changed because we had no intentions of ever going virtual. And we had a small studio that we had set up and we also had used, community partners, fitness studios, and they would pretty much donate their off time and we’d set up classes all around and have in-person classes.

And it was great, you know,

Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.

Rob Bracero: obviously when you’re in person you could really establish that sense of community. And we actually had a veteran reach out to Tom he was all the way out in California and he wanted to take some of our classes, but they were all in person. So, you

Scott DeLuzio: Know, basically.

Rob Bracero: had started working with this guy through the phone, but he suggested one day, Hey, can you just put the phone up and video and put the video on and I’ll, I’ll just take the class, you know, via Zoom [00:18:00] or, or whatever, FaceTime, whatever the app was. And that’s kind of where the virtual class kicked off. And at first we were a little skeptical ’cause we didn’t think we’d be able to establish that sense of camaraderie and community. But we were wrong. We’ve definitely been able to establish that. We kind of allow for time. We typically allow people to check in a little bit early.

We’re working towards that, you know, so people have some time before and after to, to have their conversations and chat. And then we kick the class off and everybody relaxes or, you know, works out depending on the class. And then there’s typically some time afterwards the. For some discussion and then for some typical veteran banter back and forth and, and all the good stuff.

You know, our

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Rob Bracero: veteran classes. They’re, they’re definitely veteran friendly classes

Scott DeLuzio: That’s awesome.

Rob Bracero: that’s the way we like it.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, one of the things that I’ve, I’ve noticed through doing this show is that a lot of times I’ll have a guest on the show. [00:19:00] Actually most times I’ll have a guest on the show who. The very first time that I’m physically speaking with him, other than, you know, back and forth emails, working out the schedule to get you on the, on the show or whatever.

Very first time I’m speaking to him is when we start recording the interview or, you know, just a few minutes before and. I, I don’t know the person you know that well, I mean, I, I can read up on them and, and kind of figure out who that person is a little bit, but it’s not like we’re we’re best friends or anything like that, that we, we go back all, you know, years ago and, and anything like that.

But by the end of the conversation, we’re having just a normal conversation the way, you know, any, anybody who’s known each other for years might be having and, you know, kind of cracking jokes at each other and, and things like that sometimes. So it’s. It’s amazing how easily you can fit right back in with a group of veterans.

And almost like you just never skip a beat. And, and you’re right back into it. The you know, the banter and the you know, just joking around with each other and, and [00:20:00] everything and it’s, it’s a good time. And, and I think you know, people start to miss that and that’s one of those things that you can easily get back with just getting involved with a group of.

Other veterans, and it could even be virtually, like you were talking about you know, it doesn’t have to necessarily be an in person thing, although, you know, it could be. But, but that’s, it’s a great thing too because, you know, if you’re one of those types of people who, you know, you, you can only handle so much social interaction.

There’s a cutoff time too. And, and you, you know, you know, I can, I can always just log out and. I’m done. And it’s not like you’re you know, being rude and just storming out of the place and just walking away from people like you might be in person. You know, you, you just, you know, close the, close the thing, say your goodbye and, and you’re, you’re done.

And you don’t have to get back involved in that. And so it’s, I think a nice way to kind of ease yourself back into those, those types of environments.

Rob Bracero: Yeah,

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Rob Bracero: it definitely is, you know. Veterans are certainly a [00:21:00] distinct and unique breed of, of people, right? Like, we get out and we don’t really seek out other veterans. You know, we

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Rob Bracero: a lot of times we don’t really look for a group. You, you get that isolation going, right? And

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Rob Bracero: you see somebody running by all the time and may wave or say hi, or you may not, right?

But then all of a sudden, like. They notice that you’re wearing a piece of Army gear or Marine Corps gear or whatever, and then all of a sudden they stop and have a conversation. You find out that you’re both veterans and like you said, yeah, it’s like you’ve never met the person before, but you have that brother sisterhood

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Rob Bracero: we like instinctively have. And it’s, it’s kind of awesome to really witness. I don’t know too many other groups of people that really have. What we have, you

Scott DeLuzio: Right.

Rob Bracero: so, so it’s pretty awesome. And you know, like that guy from California, Earl, awesome guy. [00:22:00] He’s the reason why we have a virtual program and it works and we have people from 19 or 20 different states now attending our classes virtually. And we had somebody from Guam actually taking some of our classes as well, so it’s. It’s pretty exciting to see that

Scott DeLuzio: That something

Rob Bracero: even planned of is working and we could still, still have that sense of community and comradery

Scott DeLuzio: right?

Rob Bracero: you know, virtual methods. So it’s, it’s pretty awesome.

Okay.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And, you know, stretching all the way out to Guam and, you know, throughout, you know, several different states. When, when you have. People like that. And then eventually someone might be traveling somewhere. Maybe it’s for work or a vacation or something like that. And who knows, maybe meet up with some of these people and you know, then you have that in-person connection as well.

I know some of the guests that I’ve had on this show I’ve, I’ve met them just a few months ago at a, at a conference, and I, I. A lot of the people that [00:23:00] I had on the show were at the conference and but that was the very first time I met a lot of them in person. And it was, it was just a kind of a cool experience to, to be there.

And, and you already have a group of people built in that you can go and network with and, and interact with, and it’s not like you’re speaking to them for the very first time. So that, that’s, that’s kind of cool too. So, you know, for the, the folks who might have. Physical injuries. I know you talked about some of the adaptive programs.

Tell us about some of the, those programs and how that, that might work for someone who, you know, might have, you know, some physical limitations. As far as the, the types of activities that they’re able to participate in.

Rob Bracero: Sure. So all of our programs, you know, we, we kind of let everybody know like. know yourself, you know your body, you know your capabilities. If something feels uncomfortable, don’t do it. Let us know. And there’s modifications that our instructors make. Our instructors are great. Our [00:24:00] yoga instructor, he’s a combat vet and he teaches a lot of the other classes as well, and he’s always really good with that.

Same thing with our breath work and meditation. You know, you wouldn’t think that breath work and meditation would need to make adjustments like that, but sometimes people don’t feel comfortable or can’t take as deep of a breath. So we always, we always let everybody know, know your limitations and it’s okay.

You can always modify it this way. For our adaptive training, you know, for people with more serious injuries and stuff like that. Our instructor, Kenny, you know, he’s, he’s paralyzed, so he teaches all these different classes. You know, he is paralyzed from, I believe, the chest or waist down. And he teaches all these different classes and there’s different modifications, and he does this program with our. Chris, and they make all these modifications and they kind of go over different things that you could do for, for different aspects. And when you’re taking these live classes, you

Scott DeLuzio: You [00:25:00] can.

Rob Bracero: you can always speak up, right? Like, like I said, we are a veteran. Our classes are very veteran friendly, like you just.

Speak up and then we will, we’ll make modifications for you. And same thing with yoga. We have people that have physical limitations. We also have some older veterans and stuff like that. A lot of, a lot of veterans with back issues and stuff. So we have regular yoga, we have chair yoga, and there’s all sorts of different, different ways that you can modify it.

So we certainly let everybody know that. They know their body best and just to speak up and we’ll just show ’em a, a modification for something that works the same muscle group or can move on to the next muscle group. However, however, the instructor decides to work it at the time.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And that’s, I think, an important piece because there’s, there’s a lot of people that I’ve. Kind of interacted with who just kind of give up on whether it’s physical fitness [00:26:00] or, or whatever, because it’s like, oh, I can’t do that because fill in the blank of whatever excuses that, you know, they have a, you know, a, a back injury or a, a, you know, a their hips or their knees or something.

I can’t run because my knees hurt or I can’t, you know, do whatever because fill in the blank. I don’t know. There’s, there’s ways around that. There, there’s other things that you can do. Yeah, sure. Fresh injury and you’re, you’re still sore or whatever. Yeah, sure. Maybe, maybe take a, a couple days to rest and recover and, and get yourself back on track.

Right. But but it’s not like a, a lifelong sentence just because you know you have a bad back or something like, okay. Yeah, I have a bad back and neck too. Like, but I still. I still do things, I still lift weights. I, I figure out ways that I can do it and I’m, you know, I’m not, I’m not, you know, bench pressing like I was 20 again, but, you know, I’m, you know, I’m in my forties, so I probably shouldn’t, that’s probably not, not the smartest move to do anyway.

So, but you know, there, it doesn’t mean that I [00:27:00] don’t do anything. You know, just because I can’t do what I used to be able to do. There’s a lot of things I can’t do anymore than I used to be able to do. I’m not as fast, I’m not, and I’m, I’m not as strong. I, you know, there’s, there’s things like that that I, I just don’t do, but it’s fine.

I can still do other things and you know, don’t, don’t limit yourself just because there’s, there’s certain things that might be uncomfortable. You can always find ways around that. Right.

Rob Bracero: Yeah. And look, I, I get it. I’ll be honest with you, I was one of those people. I

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Rob Bracero: I think when you come from the military, right? Everybody thinks, oh, you know, you work out all the time, adapt and overcome. Pain is weakness leaving the body. And, and I get it, I’m totally on board with a lot of that stuff. But sometimes when we get out we kind of fall from that, right?

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Right.

Rob Bracero: come up with excuses, like you said, there’s, there’s a thousand excuses, you know,

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Rob Bracero: that are easy to come by, they just pop in your head, right? But it’s, it’s kind of committing to yourself, you know, you have to. You have to look at what’s [00:28:00] important in your life, right?

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Rob Bracero: your wellness. It may not seem like the most important thing at the time, but I assure you it certainly is. It’s the most important thing to you,

Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.

Rob Bracero: the most important thing to all the people around you, because when you’re not taking steps to kind of keep your wellness up whether it’s physically or mentally, and those two certainly are correlated, right?

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah,

Rob Bracero: You again, you, you find yourself isolating and detached because your physical health and wellness is connected to your mental health and wellness.

Scott DeLuzio: that’s right.

Rob Bracero: not only affects your life and how you live it, but it also affects the loved ones that are around you. And when you vet, when a veteran gets out, a lot of times they’re missing that sense of community,

Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.

Rob Bracero: people to pick them up and those people to tell ’em all. It is time, you know, so it’s, it’s, it’s easy to fall out of,

Scott DeLuzio: Yep.

Rob Bracero: you really have to [00:29:00] commit to, you have to commit to yourself. And I know it’s, I know it’s not easy for a lot of people because everybody’s busy. We all have things going on. There’s, there’s work, there’s family, there’s kids, there’s doing stuff around the house.

There’s all sorts of stuff, right? But, you really have to just make a commitment to yourself and, and, and, and start the process again. It’s okay. You know it’s okay if you drop the ball, but you can pick it up at any time. You just have to commit to yourself.

Scott DeLuzio: That’s right. And excuses are like assholes. Everyone’s got one and they all stink.

Rob Bracero: right. That’s right. That is right.

Scott DeLuzio: But so. You, you talk about a few people that have gone through your, your program and, and, or are, you know, maybe currently even going through the program and, and participating here. Are there any significant stories of anybody who like really made a, a transformation? Maybe they, they started and they were, they were kind of, not so sure of it or, you know, whatever. And then they, they came through and [00:30:00] now they’re kind of a superstar going through, through some of these training programs anyone like that come through that that comes to mind.

Rob Bracero: Yeah, so, you know, it’s, it’s kind of. It’s kind of shocking when we started this, like we started this help veterans of them stepping up. You know, that’s, that’s what we did. It’s my community. And I, I want to give back to my community. But we never, I guess we never, the, the impact really never kind of popped in our, our mind that we would have such long lasting and, and, and. Impact. You know, we’ve had people come up to us and they told us without our program, they probably wouldn’t be here today. And that there’s, been quite a few people and I, the first time I heard that,

Scott DeLuzio: You know?

Rob Bracero: I was shocked. [00:31:00] I just, because we never really even thought of that, you know,

Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.

Rob Bracero: to help people out and just help them live. Healthier lives mentally and physically and bring back that camaraderie. But we, I guess we didn’t really realize what impact that we would really have. So there’s, there’s some of that. We’ve had some people with some fairly catastrophic knee injuries that have gone through our program. And obviously it’s not just our program.

They have, they have their doctors that have been helping them out as well. But they kind of gave up in their recovery. And now they’re excelling, running marathons. And, and taking part in things that they didn’t think they were really gonna take part in,

Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.

Rob Bracero: for a while. So we have that and obviously we, we help out a lot of, a lot of Vietnam veterans and it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s awesome seeing, seeing the Vietnam veterans, ’cause they’re, they’re a different breed too with [00:32:00] everything that they went through and stuff like that.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Rob Bracero: having that sense of comradery outside of like A VFW again, awesome organization, but totally different from our approach. And it’s, it’s awesome to see them. We, we have a lot of ’em take aquatics therapy program and stuff like that,

Scott DeLuzio: That

Rob Bracero: They just, you know, they’ve come up to us and they said, we never would have done this. We never would have done yoga had we not come across your organization. And it’s really helped us out lot. You know,

Scott DeLuzio: Sure.

Rob Bracero: there’s, there’s, there’s a lot of, a lot of good stories. And again, it’s, it’s, it’s not just us.

There’s, there’s a lot of organizations that are out there helping people, helping the veteran community. And that’s, that’s something that we always do too. Like we always. always have a community of organizations, so if somebody comes to us and they have an issue that’s really outside of what we do, do like a handoff to [00:33:00] another organization that has like, focuses on something specific that we just don’t, you know, so

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Rob Bracero: also that we have, that we have that, those resources available to us because of our community partners and connections that we’ve made with other, other organizations too.

So.

Scott DeLuzio: You know, I, I think that’s a super important piece that you just mentioned there, because if a veteran sometimes for a veteran to just reach out to an organization to. Take part in whatever it is that they have to offer. And it could be an organization like yours, it could be any other nonprofit, it could be the va, it could be anything for them to reach out and say, Hey, I’m looking for some help with something.

That’s a big step for a lot of, a lot of times for, for people. And if they reach out and. They are asking you for something that maybe you guys don’t necessarily do and, or, or maybe [00:34:00] they have a situation that you don’t necessarily know how to work with or, or whatever, and you’re like, just, sorry, can’t help you.

Immediately they’re gonna be like, well, that’s it. Nobody’s gonna help me. Like, that’s probably the mindset that that’s going in into their head and they’re done. They’re probably not picking up the phone again or writing another email or anything to, to other people because they. They get discouraged when, when people are like, oh no, sorry, can’t help you.

Like, yes. Right, right. So, and, and unfortunately that happens with a lot of these organizations with you know, folks who. Only focus on certain things. They, they’re just like, oh, nope, sorry, can’t help you. But they don’t take the time to work with that person and make sure that they get the help that they need, whether or not it’s from their organization.

Now there’s, I’m not saying this is every organization out there ’cause there’s others that are, are. Good like that the way you guys are. You know, so I’m not totally discouraging everybody [00:35:00] from checking out you know, other organizations, but you know, when you take the time to really understand what they need and then point them in the right direction.

If, if you’re not that right direction, you point them in the right direction, then. They feel like, Hey, someone actually gives a damn damn about me, and they actually will take time outta their day. Even though I’m not necessarily participating in their program, they’re gonna help me find the thing that’s right for me.

And I, I don’t know, I mean that, that would make me feel pretty good that someone actually cared enough about me to do something for me, even though they were not really getting anything in return, you know?

Rob Bracero: Yeah, there’s, look, there’s a lot of great organizations out there. That’s why we’ve partnered with, with so many of them and,

Scott DeLuzio: Right.

Rob Bracero: have these communications back and forth, right? But we started this organization to help veterans.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Rob Bracero: Our

Scott DeLuzio: Our focus area.

Rob Bracero: to be in health and wellness, you know, but if a veteran comes to [00:36:00] us and they need help and it’s something that’s outside of our wheelhouse, we’re there to help them.

You know, we

Scott DeLuzio: Sure.

Rob Bracero: least point them in the right direction. If we could do a, a, a person to person handshake and, and, and hand them off to an organization that, that focuses and what they need them, we’re gonna do

Scott DeLuzio: Do that.

Rob Bracero: that’s who Warrior Strong is. We’ve always been that way. We will always be that way.

You know, we’re committed to that.

Scott DeLuzio: yeah. Right.

Rob Bracero: and

Scott DeLuzio: And there’s a lot of

Rob Bracero: out there that are committed to

Scott DeLuzio: that.

Rob Bracero: But yeah, you’re right. I if, if an organization doesn’t, step up and, and, and help you out at least point you in the right direction, then you know, I’d have a sour taste about that as well.

I.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And, and that’s, unfortunately, I’ve heard stories about other organizations. I’m not gonna call ’em out specifically, but you know, other organizations that have done things like that to veterans. And yeah. I mean, I, that for me would just be like, okay, well they’re piece of crap. I don’t want to deal with them.

Let’s, let’s move on to the next thing. [00:37:00] You know, that’s, I think, the mindset that. We should have. We don’t necessarily always have that, that mindset unfortunately. But you know, I know there are probably some folks listening who are interested in Warrior Strong and finding out more about the programs, you know, when they meet, you know, how they can get involved, all that kinda stuff.

Where can they go to find all that information? I.

Rob Bracero: Sure.

Scott DeLuzio: Sure,

Rob Bracero: we’re on a lot of the social media, so we’re on, you know. Instagram, we’re on LinkedIn, I believe we’re on TikTok and, and some other social medias. But

Scott DeLuzio: Really.

Rob Bracero: I could point you in a direction, I would say there’s an app that they can download. Okay. It’s, I. very simple. It’s bo, it’s both on Apple and I believe the Android stores.

It’s, if you just type in Warrior Strong, two words and then INC at the end, it’ll pop up. It’ll have this logo on it in some color. That’s a quick way because everybody will. [00:38:00] Has their phone on them at all times, basically. So you can just open the app up, you can go and you could see all the classes.

You could see the classes at the different physical locations, but you can also click on virtual and all the classes will just pop up. You know, there’s a a little quick process where you just fill out a little bit of information so we can verify that you know, you’re a veteran and put you in the system and then. You sign up for a class, you just register for it, and the link gets kicked out to you via text, and you’re not gonna get inundated with. Text for every single class. You’re only gonna get sent links for classes that you take. Okay?

Scott DeLuzio: Okay.

Rob Bracero: you’ll get a reminder, like if, if, if you join and, and you take yoga classes, you’re only gonna get a reminder about the yoga class.

You’re only gonna get a link. To the direct class that you, that you registered. So the app’s definitely the best way. Certainly you could check us out for information on social media or you can go to Warrior Strong Inc. INC. [00:39:00] Dot org and we’re there, we, we are a 5 0 1 C3 nonprofit, so all of our classes are free to military veterans, and we also take care of spouses, independents, because if you’re not taking care of the military family, then you’re not taking care of the veteran, you know?

Scott DeLuzio: Perfect.

Rob Bracero: a big firm believer in that and it’s pretty interesting. We’ve had veterans as well that have said because of some of the stuff that we’ve done they wouldn’t have never really had the opportunity to spend that time with their kids doing something. One of our events, like we’ve had events with, some NHL teams and we’ve had some hike hiking events and they brought their kids and you know, they said that they wouldn’t really have had that opportunity before. So we’ve also helped, you know, parents that bond with their kids and stuff like that. But yeah, you could

Scott DeLuzio: You check.

Rob Bracero: apps. You could check us out on the website.

That’s where you’ll find all the information for the classes and everything. Again, everything is totally free and you can always look us up on social media.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And, and [00:40:00] there’s some in-person things too that you guys do too. It’s not all virtual, right? That is that that correct. Yeah,

Rob Bracero: Yeah, so we

Scott DeLuzio: so we have, we have a small studio out in

Rob Bracero: we’re looking here in the next year or two to expand that studio as kind of like our home base. But then there’s the virtual stuff. So we

Scott DeLuzio: we have a

Rob Bracero: our classes in Scranton. That’s where we do a lot of our filming and stuff like that.

Scott DeLuzio: sure.

Rob Bracero: So those classes are filmed there, or, or. Recorded live and then streamed for anybody from really to take them. And then we have some in-person classes out in Morris County, New Jersey. That’s where our aquatics therapy program is run out of. But most of our classes that we offer are both live and virtual with the exception of the aquatics therapy. we also for, for those two that are kind of maybe not looking to jump right into a class, we’re also on YouTube and there’s some prerecorded stuff. And if, if you sign up, you know, you [00:41:00] have access to that prerecorded stuff. So if you just wanna check it out in an environment at your own pace, you’re certainly welcome to do that.

But you know, if you like it. Check out our live classes. It’s, it’s awesome. You, you get that

Scott DeLuzio: Get that full

Rob Bracero: camaraderie, camaraderie in the community when you do that.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. To, to your point, you know, if someone is just let’s just call it window shopping, they, they wanna, they want see what it’s all about first. You know, easy enough to go check it out on, on the prerecorded stuff and just see what it’s all about. See, see kind of how the classes are run. If it seems like a good fit, then yeah, heck yeah.

Go, go check out the, the live stuff and you know, make some connections, make some friends and you know, have something to look forward to too. You know? And, and you, you mentioned even with you know, doing stuff with. Your, your kids, you know, you can bring them along and have them do stuff too. And you know, it’s, it’s all fitness related, so everyone’s getting better, everyone.

You know, you’re teaching kids you know how to [00:42:00] take care of themselves, take care of their bodies, and you know, showing that it’s an important thing to do. And, and that’s, I think good value to be passed down to that next generation. So, it is, it’s really, I. You know. Awesome. And, and the, the fact that you, you have it you know, mobile connected, you know, through the apps where you can take it with you anywhere you’re going, even if you’re, you’re traveling someplace, you still have it with you.

You don’t necessarily have to be at home. You certainly could be, but you don’t necessarily have to be. And you know, with, you know, devices these days, you can connect ’em to all sorts of other things. So you probably could even watch it on your television, you know, if you have the right setup and everything.

Right. Yeah.

Rob Bracero: we, I mean we’ve definitely had, you know, the virtual thing is great. We’ve had, we’ve certainly had people who are on the road for work and stuff like that. We’ve also had people that were on vacation that just. Really liked the classes and they wanted to take them. Maybe, maybe they took a, a breath work or a meditation class because they were, you know, they were at the beach with their family and their kids were running around driving ’em crazy, and they just needed a quick de-stressor at the end of the day. People with [00:43:00] work, you know, work, work gets hectic and sometimes you just need a de-stressor. And then we, we have people that, you know, regularly sign in. Sometimes they’re on their couch, sometimes, you know, they’re, they’re laying in bed, ready to go to sleep, and they do a meditation class right at the end of the night.

And, you know, they turn off their, their camera. The, we do the class. They leave and they, you know, go right out. It definitely helps for people that have sleep issues, which a lot of veterans have. It just gets you melting and just ready, ready to close those eyes, you know, so

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. That’s excellent.

Rob Bracero: awesome. Virtual, the virtual stuff again, not planned, but you know.

Thanks, Earl. That was a great idea.

Scott DeLuzio: You know, there, there’s been some times when I’ve, I’ve been traveling for work and you know, the hotel says, oh yeah, we have a fitness center. And you go in there, it’s like a treadmill and you know, like a couple, you know, dumbbells or something. It’s like, this is stupid. This is not a fitness center, you know?

But. You know, having [00:44:00] something like, you know, one of the body weight exercises or, or, you know, one of those types of things that you could just do in your hotel room you know, while you’re traveling and you don’t need to have any special equipment or anything like that. You could just, you know, maybe it’s pushups or sit-ups or whatever it is that you guys are doing, but you, you know, just kind of a, a class that works you through it and, and.

Why I think the, the class is a good thing. ’cause yeah, sure. Anyone could just start doing pushups if they want, or you know, situps, whatever. You could do that on your own and that’s not a big deal. But you know, sometimes you are doing them and it’s like, I’m kind of tired, I’m done. You know, and you’re not really pushing yourself.

But when there’s other people around and, and you have people who are motivating you to push yourself harder and push yourself a little bit more, that might be a good thing to, to get you to be able to push yourself outta that comfort zone. And, and so that’s, I, I think a, a great benefit of having someone there to you know, not necessarily be a drill sergeant screaming in your face, getting you, getting you moving, but get you, get you going enough [00:45:00] that you, you’re not just sticking inside that comfort zone.

Rob Bracero: Yeah. You know, it, it’s all up to, it is all up to the individual, right? Like, that certainly helps having, having those people around you to help motivate you. Again,

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah,

Rob Bracero: people helping, people picking each other up, you know?

Scott DeLuzio: exactly.

Rob Bracero: but at the same time, you know, I just wanna throw it out there for, for your viewers and stuff like that. That option’s up to you. You can certainly sign into one of these virtual classes and we have a lot of people that just turn their cameras off and they, they go and do their own thing. But we have some people that like to keep their cameras on too. That’s okay. What

Scott DeLuzio: Sure.

Rob Bracero: approach, you know, the individual wants to take is, is, is fine with us.

Uh uh, and we certainly. Always recommend everybody do it and however they want to do it, you know, we’re here, we’re here for you, you know, and then you just use our services however you seem, see fit, you know, it’s if it can get you back and into health and wellness and it can get you to focus on yourself, then [00:46:00] it’s a win-win, you know?

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Rob Bracero: so yeah, we, we, we, we like it, you know, and, I think we have a lot of people. You know, a few years ago we were only in two states. Now we’re in 1920 states. So I think a lot of people like it and I would

Scott DeLuzio: Great.

Rob Bracero: even though you think it may not be for you, try it. I did and I love yoga and I love breath work.

And those are two things that I never thought I would say, you know?

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Rob Bracero: have helped me out. So much. So much so give it a try. If you like it, keep going. And if you don’t, try something

Scott DeLuzio: No worries.

Rob Bracero: Okay.

Scott DeLuzio: exactly. Exactly. So, well, God, it, it’s been you know, awesome hearing a little bit more about the program and the, the types of things that you guys do. I know when we talked to Tom a little while ago, he, he gave us some, some background and info on that, but it, it’s nice to hear it again and, and hear some different stories about some of the folks who you know, got some [00:47:00] benefits from the program and the folks, you know, who.

Unfortunately may not have been here. Still if these, a program like this didn’t exist. And so, that’s, that’s super awesome and I’m really grateful that you guys are here because you know, we wanna keep these folks around you know, as long as we can. So, I. So thank you so much for taking the time to come on for all the work that you guys do supporting veterans and, and their families.

And I, I think that it’s really amazing and I’m, I’m glad to be able to highlight what you guys do again. So, so thanks a lot for coming on.

Rob Bracero: Thanks Scott. We certainly appreciate the opportunity to get our word out and, you know, drive on is awesome. I’ve seen some of your other stuff and again, people helping, people just trying to lift up the community. That’s what it’s all about.

Scott DeLuzio: Absolutely. Thanks so much.

Rob Bracero: Thanks Scott.