Episode 508 Ryan Reichert Surviving the War After the War Transcript
This transcript is from episode 508 with guest Ryan Reichert.
Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] Do you ever feel like you’re just barely holding it together like you’re physically here, but your mind’s still stuck in a war zone Halfway across the world, you’re hyper alert. You can’t sleep, and even your damn recliner starts to feel like a foxhole. That’s where Ryan Reichert found himself. Imagine serving nearly two decades earning a Ranger tab, leading troops in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, and then transitioning into a job that slowly strips away your sense of purpose.
The mission’s over, the team’s gone and what’s left. There’s prescription meds, there’s bourbon. There’s the slow burn of isolation, but Ryan didn’t stay down. This episode is your fix. If you’re battling invisible wounds, questioning your path, or chasing that post-military adrenaline with all the wrong things.
We talk about sobriety, we talk about survivor’s guilt, broken marriages, faith, and the uphill climb toward finding a new mission.
I [00:01:00] also want to take a moment I. 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 wanna learn more or find out how you can support the mission, visit GWOTmemorialfoundation.org. Now, let’s get into today’s episode.
Scott DeLuzio: Ryan, welcome to the show. I’m really glad to have you here. It’s really, really a pleasure to to have you on the show. Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: Thank you.
Ryan Reichert: you Scott. Greatly appreciate it. This is awesome to be part of, [00:02:00] uh, all your hard work and dedication and being part of Drive on. It’s, uh, really super excited to be here. Thank you.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, you bet. Tell us a little bit about your background and your military career and then eventually your transition into the, the corporate world and, and kind of how you got involved, who you are and your, your background, all that kind of stuff.
Ryan Reichert: Yeah, I mean, it’s a long, uh, 46, uh, year and change story. Uh, but, uh, just a small town boy from, uh, Hoople, North Dakota, little Tater Town, USA, it’s, 350 people at least it was when I was growing up there long time ago, you know, back in the seventies. And uh, it’s one of those aspects where, uh, it was a good time you know, rural North Dakota, I mean, I guess everything in North Dakota’s rural, uh, but you know, you got to, you know, play Army in the front yard of your best friend’s house, you know, by the school and, you know, playing all the sports and everything else.
It was just, uh, it’s, it was a real blessing. And, uh, you know, it, uh, I think that’s where, you know, similar to
Scott DeLuzio: You.
Ryan Reichert: You know, you have this pride, you [00:03:00] know, at my both my grandfathers were in the Navy. You know, so it was one, and, you know, my dad was a Vietnam veteran, so like, you know, hoop will have like a very strong, you know, the guys, you know, with the Legion and the VFW in the area and so forth that, it was just like this, this thing that, you know, I, I think I, in 12, in 12, when I was 12, I think I was like, I’ll either be a firefighter or professional football player. And, uh, you know, I, I went to the University of North Dakota and, uh, you know, I ended up joining the army. Did ROTC there and then was commissioned into the infantry, uh, in 2002, which was a super cool second lieutenant. Nervous as all get up as I headed to Fort Benning. And, you know, went down there to be with the School for Boys in Columbus, Georgia. And it was one of those, uh, just super surreal experiences, you know, airborne School infantry officers, basic course ranger school. And then, uh, I was supposed to go to More Leaders course but my wife at the time, she was getting her master’s degree in [00:04:00] Hawaii, which was our first duty station. So everyone’s like, oh my goodness, she gets to go to Hawaii, it’s gonna be amazing. Uh, but you know, a little thing had happened called nine 11. And you know, we got there. I. And, uh, you know, ended up deploying to Afghanistan after we did our full train up and everything.
And so, yeah, that
Scott DeLuzio: that.
Ryan Reichert: that was really rough. You know, just like I know your time in Afghanistan was, was tough. And, and I know you’ve talked about that and sharing your book, um, and also, you know, many times, you know, being on air and so forth. And was a tough deployment. I mean, it was a long year.
Uh, you know, Afghanistan’s not a nice place. And, uh, you know, so coming back from that you know, I had PTSD really bad and, uh, we had our first, uh, daughter and, uh, back actually at Fort Benning. I, I returned redeployed, and then I went straight to the Captain’s career course in Fort Benning, uh, just a couple months after, uh, redeploying.
And, uh, we had Lauren there and, we had bought our first house and every night I just couldn’t even, like,
Scott DeLuzio: I hear noises.
Ryan Reichert: [00:05:00] I’d check every window, check the doors, check on her, like it was just, you know, a struggle and then fall asleep. And the same lazy boy that I have in my living room, you know, today, uh, it was like
Scott DeLuzio: Kind.
Ryan Reichert: security blanket, you know, I could sleep in that thing for whatever reason.
Once I guess I got tired enough. And
Scott DeLuzio: yeah. So
Ryan Reichert: there,
Scott DeLuzio: you know, kind
Ryan Reichert: you know, did a couple of company commands you know, thought about getting outta the Army about every two years. In second company command actually, uh, Apache Company went to Three Infantry. Uh, we went to Iraq together, uh, in oh nine. Amazing group of young men and women you know, with, uh, 1, 2, 3 Infantry. And then
Scott DeLuzio: Came back.
Ryan Reichert: to Fort Lewis. Uh, stayed there. And, uh. I did A-A-C-R-C battalion, S3 XO job. And uh, that was really awesome. You know, ’cause knowing your background as well, you know, where you get the, you know, the active component and the reserve or National Guard component, you know, getting ready to, to deploy and, and to think like you guys. You know, knowing what you do on, you know, uh, in your, [00:06:00] you know, civilian professional career and then like, what you gotta do to get ready to go, you know, downrange is just something that, uh, I mean, I just, it’s amazing, you know, you are, you know, a true, a true Blue American, you know, in that aspect of both, you know?
I couldn’t imagine being in corporate America and then, and doing, doing what you guys did in the National Guard, you know, and or in the reserves or whatever it may be. Because it’s just, you know, like I’m just not good at focusing on like, you know, like two to five things.
You know, I got like one thing, you know, it’s like super important thing. Focus solely on that and like, you know, if you’re thinking about this, this, this, this, this, like, I mean that’s,
Scott DeLuzio: It’s a lot of place to keep spinning. Yeah, exactly.
Ryan Reichert: That’s the best way to put it. So,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: so I, you know, uh, I suppose I had about, at that point, 10 years
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Ryan Reichert: and, uh, I got hurt.
I blew my Achilles out. And, uh, so I, I think I was a major at the time and, uh, you know, that was like, kind [00:07:00] of like the point of like, I’m like, what does my military career look like moving forward? You know, like to be operational again, you know? And, and so forth. And, you know, I was always a tier two guy, you know, like 25th Infantry division, second infantry division and so forth.
And you know,
Scott DeLuzio: After about a year
Ryan Reichert: physical therapy, you know, I, I got back to, you know, being able to run again and everything. And I did deploy to Saudi Arabia, had a good buddy of mine. Get me
Scott DeLuzio: straight over there.
Ryan Reichert: know, we had this awesome idea. We’d get ready for the, the best ranger competition together.
And, was, it was good that they couldn’t fund it. ’cause uh, you know, I, I certainly wasn’t as strong as, uh, my, my good buddy Isaac. And, uh, you know, one of those things that you know, we, uh, we got in good shape, but, uh, yeah, we didn’t, we didn’t get to make it back to Fort Benning and, uh, execute that dream. And, uh, yeah, you fast forward a couple more years, you know, command and general staff college, and, uh, went back to Hawaii, uh, was a battalion S3 and xo there. You know, [00:08:00] didn’t deploy, uh, while we were back in Hawaii. We got ready to a few times and then just never launched. And
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, it.
Ryan Reichert: pretty wild.
Back to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas was an OC again there, and then did a year. Um, I. As a two stars XO at the Mission Command Center Excellence. And that was like my first time really seeing behind the curtain, you know, the, the great and powerful OZ or Army, you know, kind of thing. It’s this like, I’m glad it took that long to see because I think I probably would’ve exited stage left like way early on in my career if I would’ve seen, you know, just how. Wild and crazy things are to keep, you know, the mighty green machine going. And yeah, after that it was time to start thinking about retirement uh, we ended up you know, we, we always wanted to retire in, uh, Washington State. We spent a lot of years there, met some great friends. And so that was the plan.
Let’s, uh, you know, get ready for retirement. How do we get back to [00:09:00] Washington state? And so what do you do? Right? You make a deal with the devil. And, uh, I took another deployment. Uh, so we moved the family, build a retirement house, and, uh, my best friend, uh, Chris and I had been planning, this awesome, you know, joint venture, you know, for being financial advisors in the same building, same everything.
He had been doing it for years uh, you know, so I think it was like 2008 when we met and probably 2009 we started planning this, this great thing that was gonna happen and, you know. Every, every couple years he’d ask me to, you know, how, why don’t you get out and come on over to this side? And you know, didn’t.
And, uh, but we were finally we’re gonna make it happen. And this would’ve been like 2019, 2020. So I had a couple years before retirement and, uh, yeah, I went back over to Saudi Arabia and, uh, this is where my PTSD like really came back, you know, in the fall of 19. Ab cake was bombed. I, you know, probably a lot of folks don’t remember that, uh, being five odd years ago now.
But it just riddled me. It just [00:10:00] shook me, like, you know, to not be able that, that control of, you know, the, the drone attacks that night and, um, you know, some of the Iranian missile attacks that you know, did or did not happen per se. And, you know, I struggled, you know, with just could never sleep.
Insomnia was just riddling me. And so, uh, came back from that deployment the family, um, you know, COVID happened and they, they wanted to move back to Midwest. Uh, you know, ex-wife, uh, originally from Minnesota, me being from North Dakota, it was perfect. We moved to Minneapolis. The kids could be next to their best friends. And, uh, so leap of faith, I was like, man, I don’t know what I’m gonna do professionally. You know, like, I have no idea. I know there’s a lot of decent Fortune 500 companies in Minneapolis, but you know, I wasn’t as secure as walking right into this financial advising job and, and so forth.
Scott DeLuzio: Sure
Ryan Reichert: So,
Scott DeLuzio: we did it.
Ryan Reichert: uh, we built the house.
The kids moved, [00:11:00] uh, you know, and, uh, I lived with my friend in, in their basement before I, uh, retired. And yeah, I got a job. It was, it was a good Fortune 500 job. It was just the right, you know, I was a program manager, risk management, uh, department. So, you know, we built that, uh, team together and it was, you know, it felt pretty good, like starting to build the team, but. You know, it got six months kind of boring. You know, it was like, you know, the standard TPS cover letter every report, you know, a little office space there for, for those
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Ryan Reichert: that great movie. And yeah, it just, uh, I found myself extremely depressed. Uh, you know, my body being riddled with, uh, you know, all the, you know, bumps and bruises, you know, the whole just head to toe broken. You know, I started abusing my prescription drugs and, uh, washing ’em down with, you know, whatever the, the newest, uh, IPA was in bourbon. And, you know, I myself a real mess. I gained about 50 pounds. I was a [00:12:00] real, a-hole. I mean, just, you know, my family, my friends just miserable. You know, I’d lost that connection, that team, that camaraderie and, yeah, it was ugly. It was really, really ugly. And yeah, in the end it cost me, you know, everything, you know, my family you know, 25 year marriage you know, my kids, you know, they’re starting to come back, you know, like probably feeling abandoned that dad, you know, like, you know, thanks Dad. You moved us to where we wanted to move, and then you kind of like left us high and dry, you know?
And, and then I lost my Fortune 500 job. And this is all, uh, all of this happened after I actually sobered up.
Scott DeLuzio: Oh wow.
Ryan Reichert: so, you know, I’ve been sober 16 months and change now. Uh, life’s never been better. I. And, uh, you know, I’m getting to talk to amazing Americans like you you know, on a Friday night.
And, uh, I’m super excited. I mean, like, look at this, you know, perma smile and, uh, it’s not drug or alcohol induced. And,
Scott DeLuzio: That’s a real [00:13:00] deal.
Ryan Reichert: that to me is just pure bliss.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: you know, it, uh, and then getting to talk, you know, with, with another veteran, you know, it’s just, to me one of those aspects where, it’s similar to meeting a friend of Bill W’s in the program.
You know, it’s just, you have this connection, it’s just natural, you know, brother from another mother kind of thing. And it’s just you, you just know that, uh, we’ve been through some stuff you know, I know if I called you 3:00 AM you know, like if we weren’t obviously X States
Scott DeLuzio: Right,
Ryan Reichert: you know, you’d come running and all you’d ask is, you know, whose car are we taking, you
Scott DeLuzio: sure.
Ryan Reichert: whatever we gotta do.
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Ryan Reichert: And you just can’t, you can’t replace that kind of stuff. It just, it doesn’t yeah. You know,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: special. I.
Scott DeLuzio: That, that’s something that I’ve noticed with this, this podcast that, you know, with the the other veterans that I, I talk to on this show anytime there’s, there’s a veteran, I. [00:14:00] Very often have never met the person prior to
Ryan Reichert: Right.
Scott DeLuzio: the interview. Uh, you know, kinda like, like us. We, you know, hadn’t have not met in person yet.
This is kind of the first time meeting, but by the end of the conversation, it’s almost like we’ve known each other for years. It, it feels that way sometimes. You know, it’s not, not every time, you know, there’s certain personalities that maybe just don’t click quite as well, but a lot of times it. It’s like there’s a lot of shared experiences and you just kind of feel like you.
Get the, the other person, like, like we’re kind of on the same page with a lot of things. I, it feels like, you know, um, and especially when it comes to some of the experiences that we’ve had and difficulties along the way and, and everything, despite them being completely different experiences. You know, you, you had your experiences and I, I wasn’t there for any of those experiences and vice versa, you know?
Ryan Reichert: know?
Scott DeLuzio: but, but we still kind of understand where each other’s coming from. Like, I. I can [00:15:00] understand how, you know, rocket attacks would trigger some PTSD. Like, that makes complete sense to me. You know, where someone else might not quite understand it, or maybe conceptually they understand it, but not like in actual practical application of it.
Like how, how does that actually work, you know? But.
Ryan Reichert: Yeah, like how it instantly, I mean, shoot, like, the other day I was like vacuuming the house. I had like, you know, ear pods in jamming out and someone came over, you know, backs like turned like, and I’m just going to town vacuuming. I. And that tap on the shoulder or whatever you want. I mean, I think like the vacuum went into the other room, thank goodness.
Like they stepped back. ’cause when I turned, you know, it was just like natural,
Scott DeLuzio: Oh yeah.
Ryan Reichert: Or the kid that drops a can of soup in the grocery mar you know, behind you
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: and, you know, you just like, you know, hit the floor almost. It’s this you know, weird how that happens. You know, once, uh. You [00:16:00] know, once you got, uh, that trauma, you know, post-traumatic, uh, stress disorder, you know, it’s just, it’s one of those, like, I think of my dad today, I mean, shoot, it’s been, I don’t know, 50 odd years since he was in Vietnam and like to watch him sleep, like to sit in a chair and sleep.
I mean, he just like shaking and like, you know, just all kinds of stuff and it’s just whatever’s going on inside of
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah,
Ryan Reichert: isn’t stopped, I guess.
Scott DeLuzio: sure.
Ryan Reichert: it’s,
Scott DeLuzio: yeah. It’s just too bad because,
Ryan Reichert: you don’t you know, unless you’ve been there. I mean, I got it. You know, like you can have PTSD from a lot of different things
Scott DeLuzio: yeah, you
Ryan Reichert: you know, from a car accident.
I mean, shoot, like
Scott DeLuzio: wreck.
Ryan Reichert: your bike, like playing maybe, you know, depending on like what you know, certain situations you’re in after that, you know, if you have someone that, you know, certainly brings trauma to your life on a daily basis too, that can, you know, keep you. That knows how to like, put the screws to you a little bit.
Scott DeLuzio: That’s right.
Ryan Reichert: you know, we’re, [00:17:00] we’re easily or easier to manipulate I think too, like, you know, depending on like if you have a
Scott DeLuzio: Have a
Ryan Reichert: that you know, like might be a little pushier, you know, like, ’cause like I’m certainly a pleaser and, you know, want to get, you know, like that straight, a gold star, you know, whatever it is.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: the best. And, uh, you know, you can take, you can take advantage of somebody like, you know me and, you know, I don’t know how you are with it, but like, know, it’s like, you know, hey, I need, I need 110% from me, you know, and I was already given 110%, so that means I’m gonna crank it up a little
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, so now it’s
Ryan Reichert: it
Scott DeLuzio: 20.
Ryan Reichert: Yeah.
Right. So it yeah, to me, I, I just think how it, it ends up being where if you don’t work on yourself, like, you know, your men, your mental aptitude, your mindfulness, you know, say meditation, just strengthening that muscle yeah, you can just turn. I mean, you know, I just think about how weak I was, you know, [00:18:00] turning, turn into the bottle, turn into
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: that could numb the pain and, uh, help you sleep.
You know, it’s like after how many days of not being able to sleep, like what will you do to try to sleep? You know, and your
Scott DeLuzio: Damn near anything.
Ryan Reichert: Ex. Exactly. And, uh, you just, you’re not, you know,
Scott DeLuzio: not in your right mind at that point,
Ryan Reichert: Yeah, exactly. You’re just so unhappy, you know, because like, you, how, how do you put it? like the, the side of, the greatest adrenaline or dopamine hit, I mean, is like being in combat. I mean, I
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Ryan Reichert: not a drug out there that I’ve done, you know, that like, you know, has given me that same rush or high of, you know, charging into, you know, obviously lead flying in your direction or whatever. And not that I want to do it again, you know,
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Ryan Reichert: Or even after the first couple times it happened, I didn’t want to do it again. But you know, if, if you’re thinking about a way to, you know, like inject something India, you know, it that was, that was it. That [00:19:00] was, that was the aspect of, uh, the rush you were looking for
Scott DeLuzio: And, and that’s what, that’s what you find with a lot of veterans too, is they, there’s they kind of turn into adrenaline junkies, you know, whether it’s, you know, uh, high risk activities, skydiving, or, you know, you know, what is it, motocross or, you know, whatever, like those, those types of, uh, activities or I don’t even other risky things that.
You know, you shouldn’t be doing, but you do it anyways. And you know, whether it’s drugs or, you know, stepping out on your wife or whatever, like, people do these things and it’s like, they, they want the rush of that adrenaline rush. And it’s not necessarily if they want to do that thing, it’s just they’re looking for that adrenaline rush.
And it’s almost like, you know, a, a drug addict is looking for that, that high and you know, they’ll. They’ll go just about anywhere to find that high. And I think, and I’m not a doctor or scientist or anything like that, I don’t know exactly if this is true or not, but it, it feels like it [00:20:00] probably affects your brain in a similar way.
You know, the.
Ryan Reichert: I mean, I think it does, I mean, like you say, I have no idea. You know, I’m like a, I got a bullshit degree, you know, in criminal justice and, you know, I mean, I, my master’s with the command of general staff College, so I mean, it was just like, hope, hope to be like a professor of military science or whatever.
One day when you. Lieutenant Colonel, that’s, you know, really why I got my master’s degree.
Scott DeLuzio: But, uh, I guess
Ryan Reichert: in it all the good Lord had a plan, you know, of like, this is how you learn to research. You know, like one day you’ll write books and it’ll be, you know, like you gotta read lots of
Scott DeLuzio: write a book. Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: like, let’s get you started. And yeah. So I mean, I really do think though it is just the way this thing’s wired to everything else in you, it it’s looking for. Yeah. Once you’ve. Hit those highs, whatever it is. If it’s drugs, if it’s elk, you know, I mean, alcohol’s a depressant, but you know, I mean, once you hit a certain point, it’s, uh, it’s all about just the numbing of whatever pain, you know, grief, suffering that you have, that you’re going through.
And it’s just, it’s not good. You know, seek [00:21:00] professional help, you know, talk to a friend. I mean, that’s the biggest thing is like, you know, I think of all, all my buddies that, you know. know, I had, you know, and I maybe for you too, like the survivor’s guilt aspect of it and how it’s just like,
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Ryan Reichert: you know, you’re like, well, how the hell did I make it out of that?
And you know, like they, you know,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: for you, you know, you just, you question that all the time. Or, you know, if they have kids and like, you see their kids and they’re like, you know, they’ll never know their, their dad the way, you know, I mean, at least I was old enough to remember how they’re, you know, that they
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: ’cause they were little
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, that’s right. And yeah. Ha having the survivor’s guilt, you know, is one, one of the things that I’ve had to, had to learn over time is that, you know. Yeah, you can feel bad, you can, you know, feel down on yourself and all that stuff, but it’s not, none of that’s gonna bring the person back. And, you know, that, that’s, I mean, it’s unfortunate, you know, I wish there was a magic button I could press and have the [00:22:00] person come back, but it, it’s, it’s not gonna happen.
And so what do you do with that? Right. So, you know, you gotta take that and, and think like, what would this person want me to do with my remaining days with. Days, weeks, months, years that I have left. I don’t know the future. I don’t know how many, how, how long I could get hit by a bus tonight and you know, like that.
And that, that’s it for me, you know, but, you know, I, I might have decades left and what, what would that person be be telling me if they were still here and saw me wasting away years of my life that they don’t have the opportunity to live? They, but I’m wasting away that time they would whoop my ass. I can’t tell you that much.
Right.
Ryan Reichert: I never
Scott DeLuzio: Like,
Ryan Reichert: you know, I mean, I still have the letters, you know, the deployment
Scott DeLuzio: yeah.
Ryan Reichert: Hey, I guess if you’re getting this, you know, things didn’t go as planned.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: And, uh, you know, I think it lays it, you know, I think they laid it out like, you [00:23:00] know, I mean, I’m pretty sure it was just like, I hope you live, you know, a life in such a way that you know, you, you don’t like regret what’s happened and know that it’s like, you know, you’re supposed to live.
Like, that’s why they call it life, you know? It’s the live it. I
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Ryan Reichert: and so, yeah, to me that’s a struggle though. I understand. I get it.
Scott DeLuzio: Yep.
Ryan Reichert: I mean, knowing that, you know, it’s almost like I struggle, probably more so like I think about like, like post-divorce, uh, and the grief and knowing, you know, the part that I played in my dysfunction in it. it’s almost worse knowing that they’re here though, and you know, like 25 years, you know. For me, I’m just like, I don’t quit. Right? Like, it’s like I’m not gonna give up. I mean, yeah, maybe I gave up on choices I made or
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Ryan Reichert: But when I look at thinking about like, what would you, you know, what would you do for a Klondike bar?
Like what would you do like for your marriage? Like even, you know, from that [00:24:00] perspective, right?
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Right.
Ryan Reichert: But you know, it’s just friendships, uh, you know, any type of relationship when the person’s still alive and you’re like. You know, I’m, I’m pretty sure there’s this guy, you know, called Jesus Christ that like to be more like him, like we forgive you know, so that to me, you know, is who’s, know, now late, you know, being a born again Christian where I’m like, you know, like someone this hand came down into the pit and helped me out, you know, and it wasn’t the people that I thought it was gonna be.
And I think that’s what hurts more than anything. you know, so like when I think about the survivor’s guilt, like. Just like you said, Scott, like it’s that aspect of like, like if they could, they’d be the one pulling you outta that pit. Like, and say, just knock it off. Let’s go, let’s like get back on the horse and
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Ryan Reichert: and you know, the things that they love to do.
Like, you know, maybe it wasn’t your favorite thing, but like you do it for ’em then, you know,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah,
Ryan Reichert: you [00:25:00] know, if they had kids like you, you know, you were part of their lives to teach them things that. would’ve wanted to teach their kids,
Scott DeLuzio: sure.
Ryan Reichert: and so forth. And so, yeah, to me it’s really interesting, I guess. When I think more about that today and see it, you know, and that, that grief that I have, you know, and the losses that I’ve taken you know, in the last few years, and know though that it’s, it’s normally like divine protection or redirection or deflection or whatever you want to call it. Because it, it, you know, it’s saving my soul.
Today and yeah, I had like this black tarnished heart, you know, and it’s like, I’ll remove that. because yeah, I was just, I wasn’t nice, you know, I was always like so cold hearted when it came to. You know, basically just, you know, how I treated people. I was like, you know, like, oh,
Scott DeLuzio: Your life. Not that bad.
Ryan Reichert: have you ever been here?
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: this happen to you? Like, you know, how many times have you slept outside, you know, like, or you’ve missed meals or whatever. You know the deal.
Scott DeLuzio: Yep.
Ryan Reichert: you’ve [00:26:00] lived it.
Scott DeLuzio: Yep.
Ryan Reichert: And
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: I struggled with that because I, I had no peace and, you know, so I’d always look at people as like, you know, yeah, tell me your real problems.
You know, like, let me, let me know what
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: been through. And we’ve all been through stuff. So nowadays I know that it’s real. Like, you know, because, you know, I’ve had my heart broken now and, and like, for real, for real. And not like some teenage love story, you know, it was supposed to be,
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Ryan Reichert: rest of your life.
And, um, yeah, that’s a tough one for me today. I struggle with that. Or friendships and stuff where you’re just like. Wow. We’re really that emotionally immature that like, you know, two grown ass adults can’t have a conversation or talk about life in such a way, you know, where pride and ego doesn’t get in the way, you know, but unfortunately it, it, it does get in the way at times
Scott DeLuzio: It does. Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: so.
Scott DeLuzio: So I want to, I wanna just kinda rewind for a second here. So you were talking about earlier a time [00:27:00] period where. You were dealing with some PTSD like the, the recliner was basically your, your security blanket, and then you deployed again, and the PT, PTSD kind of kicked back in. Was there a time in between there where those symptoms kind of went away, or did they kinda linger throughout the, that whole time period
Ryan Reichert: I don’t, yeah, I don’t think
Scott DeLuzio: they ever went away?
I think.
Ryan Reichert: just this aspect of like, what I believed was tolerable, you
Scott DeLuzio: okay.
Ryan Reichert: I was never somebody that, you know, this whole, like, you need eight hours of sleep or whatever. Like, I, I’ve never gotten eight hours of sleep. I don’t even know, I mean, kind of thing.
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Ryan Reichert: so from that perspective, I don’t believe like it would ever like, went away.
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Ryan Reichert: it might’ve got better at times, you know, depending on. The stressors of life and how you allow that to creep in. you know, I know I definitely, you know, oh nine deployment to Iraq. Like [00:28:00] I left I left these guys you know, I had almost two years with ’em.
I didn’t take an HHC company so I could actually, we could deploy together in Apache Company and, uh, I wouldn’t change it for the world.
But I did have to leave them like halfway through that deployment. And it was, to talk about just sheer an, you know, like I remember sleeping on the floor and I wanna say it must in anyways at the airport, like, you know, like the boys drop me off.
It was super cool. One of my old, my MGS platoon leader become the scout platoon leader, and. He was like, absolutely sir. We’ll, we’ll take, we’ll take you. I’d love to drive you out, you know, outta country. And, and I remember sleeping on the floor and, and like crying. It just, just, just broken. Just, you know, thinking like leaving your, your little boys mean it
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, I get that.
Ryan Reichert: they were just so amazing.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: And yeah, when I came home, I mean, that’s when I got probably really bitter. You know, like having, having to leave the, you know, they were in country. I [00:29:00] came home, and then that next summer, you know, seeing them again and you know, knowing that they did all make it home was amazing. You know, that was pretty special.
Scott DeLuzio: awesome. Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: yeah, it you know, I struggled through that, through those years. I mean, there’s those years were. I was drinking a lot, especially, you know, you get those assignments that, you know, are a little chill, you know, you’re not gonna take a deployment. You might be TDYA lot, you know, so you’re like, you know, hitting the hotel bars, like if you’re, you know, wherever you’re at.
And, uh, sounds terrible, right? I’m sure civilians are like, yeah, I’m glad my, you know, hard, harder earned tax money’s going, you know, and guys are TDY, they’re drinking it away or whatever. But yeah, I, is really interesting. I bring that up though. ’cause yeah, like I do struggle with that. The recliner, like I, there’s probably many times it probably should have went to, went in the trash, you know?
I mean, there’s no a hundred mile an hour tape holding it together. It’s still in pretty good shape. But it it’s ugly, it’s brown, you know, and, uh, like, shit brown and it, it is, it’s magic. I can, you know, I can sleep in it, you know, like just that. I dunno if [00:30:00] it was last night or night before, I probably slept in it for three or four hours and, yeah, it is. It’s just that, it’s like your whoopy, right? Like, I
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Ryan Reichert: you know, put, you put one of those on, you know,
Scott DeLuzio: And, and that, that’s,
Ryan Reichert: is magical
Scott DeLuzio: that, that’s better than, uh, than a PT belt for protection. I mean, nothing’s getting through there.
Ryan Reichert: I haven’t heard that in a while. A good old PT belt, I tell you. Yeah. You know
Scott DeLuzio: So.
Ryan Reichert: on a run have been hit by a car? You know, that thing
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Right.
Ryan Reichert: save me.
Scott DeLuzio: Um, yeah, I.
Ryan Reichert: I think P ts D’S one where I’ve seen a lot of it with my dad, like he lives in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and actually we were just talking. hours ago, more I think about it. And he had a ketamine, he does ketamine treatments now for his PTSD and uh, that seems to help him. Uh, and then he does the, what is it, the ganglion
Scott DeLuzio: S. Stoic, stoic, stoic ganglion block. Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: He does that one too. You know, and, and think his [00:31:00] PTSD is both like his, childhood upbringing, you know, like, because dad, like I said, I wanna say, was like three years in the Pacific. You know, so I know, uh, grandpa Rike, uh, definitely, uh, you know, shell shock you know, battle fatigue, you know, kind
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Ryan Reichert: aspect. Right.
Scott DeLuzio: Yep.
Ryan Reichert: And, so I think dad suffered from both just a, a tough upbringing in childhood and then, you know, heading off at, you know, what, 19 to Vietnam.
And, uh, knowing from the times that, you know, we’ve, we’ve talked about different things that happened to him, different things that happened to me that, you know, you’re just like, I was at least first deployment 20. 4 25, somewhere in there, you know, so first Lieutenant, and I mean, being a platoon leader, he got 30 Bubbas protecting you.
You know, like, I mean, that’s a different story than being like, you know, private Riker in Vietnam or, you know, whatever. Dad was, I mean, I think, I think he made E five and he got busted or whatever. And uh, you know, I think when he, he was a specialist when he got [00:32:00] out back four. So, but yeah, so seeing that, I mean, that’s hard ’cause I, I mean, he’s just riddled with it, you know, and it,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: He’s a recovering alcoholic, so that’s an amazing story in itself. Uh, he is been
Scott DeLuzio: Sure
Ryan Reichert: years. But you know, that doesn’t, you know, it doesn’t solve all of it, right? Like we, they just remove the drugs or the alcohol. You still have to, there’s a problem on, you know, I mean the, the symptoms, just the pain, you know, portion of it that we cover up and,
Scott DeLuzio: yeah, there’s a reason why you’re. You were using the, the drugs or the alcohol in the first place to, to numb some of the pain or, or kind of cover up whatever it is that you’re, you’re going through. And so without dealing with that underlying cause, you might risk falling back into that same trap.
And that’s, that’s not a great thing to not, not a great place to be in. I guess is is the way to, to put that. I wanna switch gears just a little bit and talk about. Our protector development [00:33:00] and, uh, and what, what the mission is there and, and kind of tell us a little bit about that, that organization.
How, what, what that’s all about.
Ryan Reichert: absolutely. Yeah. Our protector development, uh, the, the new, the new, the new show in town for this guy back in December. Yeah, I started a protector, LLC and I was just like, I don’t know where this is going, but you know, the big man upstairs was directing traffic and you know, Hey, there’s this, uh, Taylor brands out there really easy to get an LLC.
Just go do it. And so I did. And a few short weeks later, I was, uh, writing, uh, the first book. God only Knows When The Devil Comes For You, A Second Chance at Life. And, you know, that to me is this, you know, walk through, you know, recovery with sobriety you know, finding my connection with God. Uh, so as my higher power and, uh, you know, going through the divorce and that pain and perspective, that loss you know, trying to find myself again when I was like, you know, all fat and, you know, just, you [00:34:00] know, I’m sure the dog was like, it’d be really nice to walk more than like a hundred yards, you know, when you take me out.
And, uh, you know, so I came up some different tools and ways of like, okay, maybe you start with a hundred yards and then the next day it’s 200 yards. And then, you know, obviously you work your way up to 1600 yards, you get close to a mile and you know, and so I. Yeah, it’s kind of just, you know, a quick way of, uh, pulling yourself out of the darkness.
It’s got some ways to look at life when, uh, you know, you lose your Fortune 500 job and it’s like, what am I supposed to do?
Scott DeLuzio: Right,
Ryan Reichert: like, well, you probably have a God-given purpose, you know, similar to you, you know, like the catalyst of things for you to write and start this podcast and, and everything else you’re doing in life. you’re like, that’s what I’m supposed to be doing. You know, I’m not supposed to like. Drive 20 minutes, get in a cubicle or whatever, fill out my TPS reports and like try to make money and then go home and do it all over again tomorrow. Like that doesn’t, I mean, the
Scott DeLuzio: Ham.
Ryan Reichert: wheel is, I was gonna be [00:35:00] there if I need to go back to it, you know?
Scott DeLuzio: That’s right.
Ryan Reichert: Actually the other day it was, yeah, I had a buddy reach out. Hey, you want to come back? And I’m like, no I’m good. And uh, it’s one of those that I’m just so full of life today. So, yeah. So basically at the end of the day. consultancy looking at, you know, developing leaders just like we knew, like in our military time, you know, the Iron Mics of the world.
Like, follow me, let’s go. Like, you know, you’ve heard how many guys, you know, be like, what was the military really like? And you’re like, yeah, it was this, it was that. I think I could have done that. You’re like. You wanna, you wanna get put through the ringer? You want me to make you a better leader? You know, because I know what it’s like to lead 750
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Ryan Reichert: And it certainly isn’t from my computer station you
Scott DeLuzio: Filling out a TPS report right.
Ryan Reichert: Yeah. You know, it’s like, let’s put. You know, a hundred, 150 pounds of gear on let’s test your physical aptitude. And then, uh, while that it’ll build your mental, and, uh, you know, you can, [00:36:00] uh, you can do some amazing things after you press that threshold, a little bit and,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: you know, you won’t cry uncle when you miss lunch or whatever, you know, whatever happens. Yeah, just using other tools that have, have worked you know, like, you know, even the risk management team that we had, you know, we built stuff from scratch and a lot of it was just similar to, you know, the smart guys could turn the ones and zeros into things. Not this guy, uh, North Dakota public Education only get you so far. But, uh, but the aspect of, you know, really just. Working on building trust through how you talk to people. You know, it’s one of those things where you just literally communicate, you know, let people know that like, Hey, you’re gonna have to work late tonight because know this happened, you know? And, hopefully you’re not doing that at like five o’clock when they’re packing their bag
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Ryan Reichert: hopefully you do that early on enough to where they can start moving their schedule around. [00:37:00] Or, you know, the people that you know, you, you know your people well enough that it’s like, Hey, it’s their anniversary, it’s their birthday today.
You, you might wanna tap ’em on the shoulder to say, you know, Hey, why don’t you leave a little early? You know, I know you’re probably heading out to dinner with your family, whatever it may be, and it’s just showing you care. Like, you know, pull your head outta your ass. know, none of us are that big of a deal, you know, none of us are special and, you know, got it all figured out.
You know, today’s the first day that I’ve ever been this old, you know, and it’s, it’s the first day I’ve ever been this young, you know, right now kind of thing. So it’s
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Ryan Reichert: don’t, don’t take yourself so seriously. Actually, my youngest daughter told me this. She was probably like. I don’t know. Eight. dad, why’d you take yourself so seriously?
You know, none of us get outta this alive. And I was like, what TV show have you been watching?
Scott DeLuzio: know that that’s pretty,
Ryan Reichert: check it, put me in check. Like, just like, like right there.
Scott DeLuzio: That’s pretty insightful for a young kid, you know, but, but it’s true.
Ryan Reichert: yeah, she’s like 17 she’s just crushing
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: [00:38:00] like still in high school, but it’s got a job. She goes to church with their older sister. They go to Bible study together. shoot. She even goes to church with her boyfriend. I mean, like what? Have you ever heard of
Scott DeLuzio: Right, right.
Ryan Reichert: uh, you know, so proud dad moments. And I, don’t get to take credit for any of it, you know, because like, we’re kind of, you know, like a strange slightly, you know, from that perspective.
And to see it though, I’m just like, you know, proud dad moments for
Scott DeLuzio: sure.
Ryan Reichert: just, it’s special and uh, yeah, life’s good. Life’s really good.
Scott DeLuzio: That’s good. That’s good. And you know, I think it’s important for folks to find their, their sense of purpose or meaning in whatever it is that they’re doing. And I don’t just mean your job, your your nine to five job or whatever, just what is it that you’re doing with your life there. There’s gotta be some.
Purpose to it. Maybe you’re, you’re raising a family, maybe you have a job that’s super important, you know, you’re contributing to your community. You’re, you know, police officer, fireman, or, you know, [00:39:00] any of those types of things. Or you know, there, there’s any number of things, but there’s something that gives us a sense of purpose.
Something that we wake up in the morning and it’s like, I, I gotta go take care of this because this is, this is my. My why, my why I am getting up this morning. And I’ve found through talking to other veterans that when they don’t have that, it feels like, what the hell am I even getting outta bed for?
Like, what am I even doing today? And you know, in your case. You felt like you were kind of led in this direction. The big man upstairs, like you said, was leading you in the right direction. You know, not, not everyone is as receptive, I guess, maybe to that type of guidance and, you know, I’m sure it’s there.
It’s just we’re not all receptive. And that, that I think is a struggle for some folks to [00:40:00] figure out what, what is it that I’m supposed to be doing with myself? Yeah, sure. We talked about earlier, you know, if that person that you lost was to see you today, seeing you down in that dark hole or wherever you’re finding yourself, they’d, they’d come and drag you out and then smack you in the back of the head because they’d be like, what the hell are you doing?
Right. But sometimes it’s just not that easy to figure out. What you’re supposed to be doing or you know, the thing that you feel like you’re supposed to be doing, no one’s gonna pay you to do. So, like you’re still gotta put food on the table. Right.
Ryan Reichert: That,
Scott DeLuzio: So that right there,
Ryan Reichert: you struck the,
Scott DeLuzio: that’s gold mine. Yeah,
Ryan Reichert: I agree, you know, for me, very fortunate to, you know, be, retired, you know, and disabled once you lose that job. Right? Like I had a little bit to fall
Scott DeLuzio: sure.
Ryan Reichert: and, I mean, it’s certainly, I think it’s like a seventh of what I was making, you know, like over time and space.
So like it’s, it is [00:41:00] certainly, you gotta kind of gotta be practical, you know, you gotta live within, you know, your means. Um, but I look at it
Scott DeLuzio: Now?
Ryan Reichert: for me is like, if you don’t know what that is, like, you don’t like, I call it the war of purpose.
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Ryan Reichert: like, so like, building yourself. So you don’t break whenever that darkness is gonna come, whatever it looks like.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: it a divorce, is it a loss of a child, a brother? You know, is it, uh, you know, whatever, whatever it is, like, you are so ready to go that it doesn’t ma like you just, you just like, you know, throw it in the ruck sack. All right, let’s keep moving forward. And it’s this. it’s, you just have to like be like, oh, I don’t know what it is.
Well, right now, like when you wake up, I call it 4:00 AM courage. Like, so like I started realizing certain times when I was like writing. missing bills or whatever. Like, I was like, it was like 4 21 in the morning, 4 22 in the morning. I’m like, I’m not setting an alarm ever. Like why am I getting up like at this time?
So then I started reading the Bible and like googling like [00:42:00] 4 21, like scripture and so forth. And it was, it was this aspect of like, you know, when, when, when the Lord calls you, you know, when he awakens you. You don’t go back to bed, like you get up and go to the gym, like, you know, it’s probably
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: how many, you know, how many of us like, you know, aren’t in the shape we were in, you know, whatever, a month ago, a year ago, 10 years ago?
Like, right. Like, yeah. Check
Scott DeLuzio: Yep.
Ryan Reichert: and, and, and you’re just. Like, just focus on that. Focus on like drinking more water. I mean, I’m terrible. Like, do not like water. You know, it’s like a fight all day long, but if this is empty, I know I’m like one closer to,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Right.
Ryan Reichert: where I wanna be. You know, but it’s, yeah, focus on those things.
Like, you’re like, okay, like I don’t want to get out of bed. All right. Well get a gallon jug next your bed. And at least like, fill your cup up every now and then drink some water. Okay. That’s a start. You know, uh, then maybe like wash your nasty butt, like, you know, every couple days. You know, maybe you go a week without doing it because you’re so sorry [00:43:00] on yourself.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Right.
Ryan Reichert: But like, just take certain steps, like one step, like, you know, even if you took like one step today, just take two steps tomorrow. And I, I guess to me that’s that aspect of it and know like that. When you see yourself in a certain spot, you’re like, you know, I can’t remember what movie it was. It’s like, well, maybe it with Jack Lau like where he is, like, what if this is as good as it gets?
Maybe that’s the name of the movie as good as it gets. But I, but he comes outta like a therapist’s office, you know, and everyone’s in there, you
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: like one person’s like riddled with this, the other, and like they all look at him you know, he is like, what if this is as good as it gets? And if you’re doing something you don’t love, like. okay to like, you know, like take a loss, like, you know, like take a few hits to your pride and ego and go do what you wanna do. You know,
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Ryan Reichert: Be whatever you wanna be. I mean, that was the thing for me, I think, like, starting the business was like a fear, right? Like, ’cause like, it’s like, well. am I gonna get paid for it?
Like, you know, like you start investing in [00:44:00] yourself. But like, we sit there and go to college, we nowadays, I mean, shoot, you know, my, my oldest is in college. I think she’ll have $150,000 public education when it’s all done. I. I’m like, if you invested 150,000 into coursework, you know different things.
Like, you know, if you wanna be a motivational speaker, I know you don’t have to spend $150,000. Now some people won’t listen to you because if you don’t have a story but I mean, we all have a story inside of us. I mean, we all have a book inside of us. Like it’s one of those things. It’s like, but do you have that intestinal fortitude to finish it? That, you know, to go sit in the library. I mean, nowadays we don’t have to. Everybody’s got a phone or, or whatever to Google and, you know, get a notepad and write things down. but I, that’s the biggest thing is people are lazy. You know, we, we, we love comfort. Like, you know, like, you don’t have to go anywhere anymore.
Everything’s right here, you know, minus going to the bathroom.
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Ryan Reichert: like, and so. Yeah, you just sit there and, you know, and I call it doom scroll and you know, where you’re just like, [00:45:00] woo, you know, like going through it all.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: I, I get it like, you know, my goal or whatever, when I was, I don’t know, cadet Ryker was, you know, to be a full bird colonel brigade commander.
’cause we had a family friend that was that,
Scott DeLuzio: Okay.
Ryan Reichert: you know, and I was like, success in the military is oh six in a, in a brigade equivalent command. You know, I retired as lieutenant Colonel, no battalion command. No, you know, whatever. Oh five. And for me, I was like, I failed miserably. You know, I missed the mark by, you know, a good five years in time space and you know, promotion and so forth. And I carried that until probably a year ago, maybe, you know, and it’s like, shoot,
Scott DeLuzio: Like how many
Ryan Reichert: people volunteer for the military? Let’s
Scott DeLuzio: people?
Ryan Reichert: some quick math here. Right?
Scott DeLuzio: Right? Right.
Ryan Reichert: And, uh, we’re not talking about a draft, you know, we’re talking about raising your right hand and volunteering to do something for something greater than yourself, you know, and then maybe taking that ultimate [00:46:00] sacrifice and, you know, and it’s, it’s paid with one’s life. And, uh, to me now, like when I look at that, I would still do that today, now that I’m back on the horse riding in the right direction, you know, before I’d be like, oh, hell no, I ain’t never doing that again. but like you. When you pull yourself out of that hole, like you just, you, you
Scott DeLuzio: That same.
Ryan Reichert: drive you had, you know, like thinking how many years ago when you, you know, when you enlisted everything.
Like, it’s just like,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. You have that fear.
Ryan Reichert: You’re like, oh man, I don’t know what this is gonna be like. And you know, you get a little taste and you’re like, oh, I actually don’t like that. But then like, you wake up the next day and you’re like, man, that was really
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm. Something
Ryan Reichert: that I never thought I would do.
Scott DeLuzio: that
Ryan Reichert: You know?
Scott DeLuzio: you know. Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: never thought, I mean, airborne school. Yeah. Okay. Whatever like. Making it through Ranger school. Like never, never in my wildest dreams ever thought that that was gonna ha you know, happen.
Scott DeLuzio: Right,
And, and
Ryan Reichert: being with certain units or working with certain people. Like, you know, it’s just,
Scott DeLuzio: just like anything else,
Ryan Reichert: else, like all of us, when you want something, like if you want it that bad, like you’re gonna put the work
Scott DeLuzio: that’s right.
Ryan Reichert: I guess if you don’t want it that bad, you get what you [00:47:00] get. And that to me is like, I can’t, I. What’s the saying? You know, you can lead a horse to water, but like, can’t make it drink. Well, like you can push its head and as far down in there as you and they still don’t have to drink. So,
Scott DeLuzio: You’re gonna, it’s gonna end up drowning the horse though. That, I think that’s the, the, the point right is,
Ryan Reichert: that’s the point.
Scott DeLuzio: is that you’re gonna be stuck in that, that position that you don’t want to be in. You hate it, it sucks. It’s, you don’t want to be there. And you’re, it’s like you’re, it’s sucking your soul out as, as you’re doing all that.
So, so I, I think the, the key. Is to realize that your mission, like, yeah, fine, stick in that position. ’cause obviously you need, you need money to pay bills and, and
Ryan Reichert: Right.
Scott DeLuzio: buy food and keep a roof over your head and all that kind of stuff. Stay there. Don’t just like quit because you heard some guys on a podcast tell you to like, like, that may not be the best, best advice, you know, so like, you, you might [00:48:00] wanna stick in that, that position, but realize that your new mission in, in life.
Is to figure out what your, your purpose is, what you’re, you’re passionate about, what you’re what what’s gonna make you get up in the morning and say, hell yeah, I’m, I’m ready to, to go tackle this day. And
Ryan Reichert: Right.
Scott DeLuzio: I, I think that’s the, the, the way to look at it is figure out what that is and. Attack it like it’s a mission, you know, plan it out.
Say, Hey, there’s, there’s somebody else out there who is maybe in a position that I wanna be in. They’re successful doing whatever the thing is. All right, let’s go, let’s go take a look at that person, figure out how they got there. Um, it’s pretty easy to do these days. You can go on LinkedIn, find a person who’s in that field and like look at their, their background, their education, their.
Ryan Reichert: and then re reach out to
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, exactly.
Ryan Reichert: like ask them to be [00:49:00] your mentor. Like, that’s the thing to me now, like if there’s something I’m afraid of, whatever
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: it’s like a lot of times now it’s like, shoot, even reaching out to you. Like, you know, I mean, look at all the episodes and everything, you know, like the podcast that we started, we got like six, you know, like, and, and it’s like, oh man, and then you, you sent me that.
Awesome, you know? I don’t know what you want to call it, layout or
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Ryan Reichert: was like, holy cows, this is so put together. And, you know, I’m like sitting here with like my legal pad and, and you know, so, so it, if you’re afraid of something like that door isn’t locked, I mean, alls it is is just, you just need to go up to it and go like, I’m scared.
Push on it. You opens right
Scott DeLuzio: that’s right.
Ryan Reichert: And you know, that that’s, that’s what it’s all about. Like, it’s literally like if you have doubt or you have fear in something, like there is an amazing blessing on the other side of that. And just like you saying that the purpose aspect of it, like socking a gal the day actually accountant wise, and we were just talking about things and I, I was like, I was like, Hey, you know, I know you [00:50:00] probably like, really don’t want to be, you know, a tax advisor.
Like what are you really passionate about, you know? And she was like, a really good cook. I wanna have my own restaurant. And I’m like, what’s the holdup? You know? And it’s like, you know, do you work in a restaurant part-time so you can continue to hone your skills? Like is it a money thing? Is it, you know, and it came down to fear.
It was just fear of like, what happens if
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Ryan Reichert: what happens if I fail? I was like. If you never try, you’re always gonna
Scott DeLuzio: It it, you already failed. Exactly.
Ryan Reichert: and so it was so fond to like, just be like, I’m like, where’s this place gonna be?
Let’s breathe this. Let’s speak it into existence. And you know, like I’m in Florida, I’m like,
Scott DeLuzio: Fantastic
Ryan Reichert: Okay.
Scott DeLuzio: general
Ryan Reichert: vicinity. I’m writing it down ’cause I will, I will hunt you down in two
Scott DeLuzio: vicinity.
Ryan Reichert: to come eat this Asian food that you’re gonna make at this. You know? like if we don’t do that, [00:51:00] like. just think about it. I mean, it’s one less like, amazing restaurant to go eat in. We all need to eat,
Scott DeLuzio: Yep.
Ryan Reichert: right? And so,
Scott DeLuzio: yeah.
Ryan Reichert: just wild and crazy. We all have this gift, whatever it may be. And if we don’t share it with everybody else, it’s kind of selfish, right? Like it’s this aspect, like, ’cause we’re too lazy or scared or whatever it
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Ryan Reichert: But you’re being selfish. You know, like share your purpose with the world and, uh, you know, let us all, i’ll benefit from it, you know?
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, for sure. Um. I think that’s a great way to look at it because we, we do all have something that we’re good at, you know, something that we, you know, maybe you’re not the best at it, you know, there might be you, you’re not pro level, you know, whatever, but, you know, but, but who cares? You’re, you’re still really good at something and I don’t know what that something is.
But figure out what it is and figure out a way that maybe someone might [00:52:00] wanna pay you for it. Like being a cook. Like, yeah, sure you can make great meals at your home for yourself and for your family. And that, that’s, that’s wonderful. That’s great. They’ll eat well and they’ll, they’ll always be happy and, you know, well fed and, and all that kinda stuff too.
But you can also open up a restaurant and you can, you can make food for,
Ryan Reichert: I think that’s just so cool. I mean, like, to me,
Scott DeLuzio: yeah.
Ryan Reichert: am not a cook by any means. Like, you know, my, my favorite thing is like cereal and milk and bread, peanut butter, jelly, you know, a little butter whatever soup, uh, you know, really good at that. Cracking a can of
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Ryan Reichert: So,
Scott DeLuzio: yeah.
Ryan Reichert: I, when I look at people that can cook, because you gotta plan it, right? You gotta go get the ingredients, you know, you gotta prep. there’s this whole time analysis thing with, you know, cooking and then, you know, like most people want it hot. I, I’m so used to like cold food that like, I really don’t like my food. Like scolding
Scott DeLuzio: No, I don’t either. I,
Ryan Reichert: Yeah. And [00:53:00] is it because how many meals have we eaten that are, you know, never heated up? Like, you know,
Scott DeLuzio: I, I.
Ryan Reichert: didn’t heat up an MRE for years. I didn’t even know, like you could heat one up. ’cause they never let us in most schools and then you didn’t have time.
Scott DeLuzio: I preferred using the, the heater packet to like, keep myself warm. Like, like when it was real cold out and, and you’re, you’re out in the woods or whatever. It’s like,
Ryan Reichert: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: yeah, I, I need a little extra warm, so I, I’m gonna use this thing for me. Sometimes it, it’s like scalding, but, you know, whatever. It’s fine.
Ryan Reichert: Hey, that’s,
Scott DeLuzio: It’s heat,
Ryan Reichert: like, I wasn’t smart enough, like to even, I just was just like throwing it away, like, you know, because I’m like, like whatever.
Scott DeLuzio: but.
Ryan Reichert: no, that’s, that’s, that’s awesome. I love it. It, uh, so many things we forget about. You know, it’s only been three years, um, coming up here since I retired and, yeah, it’s just it’s like a life that never happened almost, you know? But then it’s just so vivid, like right there you know, at a moment’s notice
Scott DeLuzio: like two different worlds. Almost like, like almost like you, you woke up from a dream and. It’s like, well, [00:54:00] man, I did some weird shit. Like, why, why was I doing all that stuff? Like that was crazy. But then, then you think back, it’s like, no, that was, that was actually real. And, you know, that’s, that’s just how it is.
But, uh, you know, I, I think you know, first off, uh. Thank you for sharing your story, sharing your, your journey. I know you have a, a, you know, you mentioned a book, uh, that, that’s coming out or it just will have been out a little while after this episode comes out.
Ryan Reichert: have a few weeks of, uh, release by the time this comes
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: be awesome. And yeah, it, uh, it’s gonna be super cool. I mean, the website, you know, uh, our protector development.com will be, live and it’ll have, you know, whatever products, uh, we have out at that time. You know. Book two probably will be coming out shortly after this airs, I believe. But we won’t, uh, we won’t throw any dates out yet
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Ryan Reichert: In production, production for book two. But it is it [00:55:00] is in page design for those who, who know what that is. And, uh, we’ll go through probably a couple more edits, uh, before it actually heads into production. And
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Ryan Reichert: lot of cool other stuff. There’s a book three. Got a, got a writing coach now ’cause I guess probably one and two weren’t as, as good as they could have been. Definitely not as good as, as this bad boy. Reading this one here. ’cause you you, uh, definitely laying, laying down, uh, some massive wordage as I like to say.
You know, and describing things make it very, easy to visualize, very vivid and, uh, you know, so, um, yeah, I’m looking forward to what, what comes out, you know, I think. Probably in the fall sometime looking up for an online course, uh, that’ll come out as well to kind of pair up with the tools that come outta the books.
Scott DeLuzio: great.
Ryan Reichert: And excited to see, you know, yeah. Where, you know, I’m on out east, like, you know, getting to, getting to visit you and, and everything else. And, uh, you know, just continuing to, uh, you know, meet all the beautiful people in the world that you know, we just, we’re all connected. What’s it? The six [00:56:00] degrees of Kevin Bacon kind of
Scott DeLuzio: Right. Yeah. You’d be surprised how, how few degrees there are between people. Uh, you know, especially when you’re talking military with all the moves that people do and, and everything like that. So, I. Man, it, Ryan, it’s been a, a pleasure speaking with you though hearing about your story and, uh, you know, kinda learning about your background and, and some of the lessons that, that you take away from it too.
You know, I, I think will really resonate with some of the, the listeners and, you know, hopefully pushes people in the right direction and, and gets them on the right track. So, you, I do want to thank you for taking the time to come on and being vulnerable, sharing your story and your background and everything.
And, uh, it really was a great time. So I, I appreciate it. Thank you.
Ryan Reichert: Yeah. Thanks so much, Scott. I greatly appreciate the opportunity as well. I.