Episode 513 Sean Abrusci & Tom Tice Finding a Community After Military Transcript

This transcript is from episode 513 with guest Sean Abrusci & Tom Tice.

Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] Taking off the uniform doesn’t mean everything else disappears. The old habits stick. The memories that you have stay with you, and sometimes you’re left wondering what it all meant. Some nights feel too quiet, and the structure you once had is in order to be found. And you think back to the guys that you served with the mission that you had, the sense that every day meant something.

In this episode, I’m sitting down with Marine Veteran Sean Abrusci and Warrior Strong founder Tom Tice. These are two guys who understand what this feels like. Their work is there to help veterans give them space. Allow them to keep serving in ways that make sense for who they are. Now, through fitness, shared experience and honest conversations, warriors Strong is helping veterans rediscover a mission that matters.

In this episode, they’re going to talk about what it means to lose your identity after your service, how purpose can shift, but never [00:01:00] really vanish. And why openness with your community, your family, and even yourself can change everything. Before we get into this episode, though, I wanna take a moment to raise awareness for something that’s 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 will serve as both a tribute to those who served and. A way to ensure that 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 GWOT memorial foundation.org. Now, let’s get into today’s episode.

Scott DeLuzio: [00:02:00] Hey, Sean, Brittany and Tom, welcome to the show. Uh, really glad to have all three of you here. We’re gonna be talking about warrior Strong. We’re gonna be talking about coffee. We’re gonna be doing a lot of jumping around a lot of different topics here, but I think it’s gonna be a great episode.

But just wanted to welcome you all to the show.

Sean Abrusci: Dude, I mean, thanks for having us, man. We’re excited to be here.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, absolutely. Before we get started could you tell us a little bit about your, your backgrounds, a little bit about yourself and kind of, you know, we’ll, we’ll take it from there after that.

Sean Abrusci: Sure. Yeah, dude. So grew up over here in Roxbury, New Jersey alongside Tom Tice. A little bit older than him. He’s a little bit younger than me. It’s all right though. From there, I went to college for two years. After that point, um, spring break, sophomore year of college, I decided to join the Marine Corps.

Um, always wanted to Marine. Marine from the, the time I was a young lad, if you will. Always wanted to brew Marine. Lucky enough, my, my parents sat me down and they were like, Hey, dude do, can you promise us you’re gonna give us two years of college first? Like, do, do two years of college [00:03:00] first, after those two year mark, they’ll give you a blessing, then you join the Marine Corps.

At the time I kind of followed with ’em back and forth and I was like, you know what, man? Like. Roger that. I’ll, I’ll give them the two years of college. I think in their head they thought that A, the war was gonna be over, you know, this is, this is oh seven, so they figured two years, oh, nine war was gonna be over, you know, b like, maybe they thought I was gonna fall in love in college or something like that.

I might, or my mind would’ve went somewhere else, right? So, uh, sure shit didn’t, uh, spring break, sophomore year of college, I, uh, came home. I was like, Hey guys. I did my two years. Like it’s time. Like I’m ready to join the Marine Corps. You know, like all, all my friends from high school, they’ve already done their combat pump.

It’s time for me to get mine. So my dad and my mom are like, okay, you got our blessing. So me and my father went into, uh, the recruiting office, unbeknownst to me until years later. While I was in that recruiting office, my dad actually had to step out. He was throwing up outside. Yeah, he was like, him and my mom were that nervous and rightfully so.

Like I was a, a kid joined the military during [00:04:00] a time of war. So I, I did that, signed up oh nine. Went to Paris Island. Um, from there, camp Gouger. From there I joined, uh, they put me in America’s Italian, right? Second time, Nathan Marines. 2011 we went to SE Valley, Afghanistan, and then in 2000. 13. I went to, uh, right outside, uh, Garger that camped wire, we shut that camped wire two complete polar opposite deployments on that, on that spectrum, like complete opposite deployments.

Now you were in the Marine as well.

Scott DeLuzio: No, I was, I was in the army.

Sean Abrusci: You were in the Army. Okay. Uh, what times were you in

Scott DeLuzio: I, I was in, uh, I, I deployed to Afghanistan in 2010. Yeah. And so I joined just a little bit before you, I was, I, I went through basic training 2005, 2006, like around that time period. And, and I. When we were going through, I was kinda laughing as you were, you were saying.

Yeah. The world will be over by then. Uh, when we’re going through basic training, we [00:05:00] were being told it’s not a, not a matter of if, but when you get deployed, uh, like that, at that time point, uh, time period, everybody was getting deployed. We were infantry. So that, that it was kinda like a, you know, no brainer.

That’s, that’s, you’re getting out there. You’re, you’re gonna, you’re gonna be deployed. So, and it’s funny just how a few years, like that mindset starts to, to kind of shift a little bit and,

Sean Abrusci: So in oh nine was summer decision, right? That that’s where Obama’s were kind of kicked off, or Court of court. Obama’s were kind of kicked off was the oh nine summer decision. We’re gonna, we’re gonna do the true surge in Afghanistan, right. For me at that point in time, my seniors who are younger than me, I 21, I’m buying these dudes beers.

They already did their full blown combat pump where they are not only squad size element, they’re a company size element versus company size element. Getting after like full blown firing lines going down in Garger. And I was like, did I miss the war? Did I not miss the war? Like, when are we going, when are we not going?

And [00:06:00] then, uh, I remember training for se valor. At that time we were training for Marja and we were 29 Palms and there was rumors of I think it was three five getting wrecked in Sangin. Um, when three five was starting getting wrecked, those rumors started coming around. We’re like, yo, three five’s in combat replacements.

How big is the common replacement’s gonna be? And there the nerve room is, there might be a company size element, and then sure shit we got tapped. Like, Hey, company size element, you guys are going to Second Valley three five needs a replacement of a companys size element There. They’re like, wow, it’s, it’s like that then, you know? Yeah, right. It, it, it’s like that. And I, I’ve heard the statistics before and don’t quote me on where the statistics came from, but it was one outta every four people we came across was no shit, Taliban and or affiliated with a Taliban. All of our patrols, we would say we find two to three IDs per patrol. That was just the, the environment that we’re in. And it was the [00:07:00] complete polar opposite of that oh nine pump that my seniors did. And, and they were gun slinging the entire time, like they were full blown firefight, gun slinging the entire time. My deployment was more so negotiating IDs, negotiating threat thresholds.

Every corner had an id, every threshold of the door had an ID So we’re blasting our way through the walls of, of the compounds instead of making entry through the doorway. ’cause there’s always the pressure plate there. Two completely polar opposite deployments and. I think there’s something that you said about Afghanistan and Iraq that a lot of people don’t understand.

Like, oh, you went to go play in a sandbox. I’m like, what does that mean? What does that mean? Right. Like, like it’s, it’s different deployments and where you went and where I went, were two completely different spectrums. And the timeframe that you’re there, two completely different spectrums as the stands too, right?

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Right. Yeah. It and yeah, exactly. Because I, I think that the people who, uh, haven’t been over there and, and. Maybe haven’t done multiple deployments. I haven’t done multiple, but I’ve talked to plenty of people at different stages of the wars that I know. It w the, the different deployments were not [00:08:00] all the same.

They’re not all created equally. Depending on where you were, depending on when you were there, all that really

Sean Abrusci: dude outside looking in, like that’s, that’s something that like everybody thinks, oh, he is gonna, the sandbox, gonna the sandbox. ’cause they relate to that one person that they know that went to that one deployment that they did. And that one deployment is what people foresee all aboard to be

Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Sean Abrusci: because you don’t know what you don’t know and you relate to that one person that’s saying what, what that is.

Right? Yeah. So, so from there I’d, uh. When it came time for my second deployment, I actually had extended my contract an extra four months for my second deployment. That one relatively nothing happened on my second deployment. There was a, a few things that happened, but nothing as drastic as my first deployment for, for that matter.

Got out. I. Got lucky enough to get into law enforcement, um, relatively quick. Took the civil service, got picked up relatively quick, uh, jumped into the narcotics world relatively quick, um, patrol world relatively quick and, and started going that down that route. I think that’s probably right along the same time that I started meeting Tom.

I would say circa [00:09:00] 2015, 2016, you say at time.

Tom Tice: Yeah. Yep.

Sean Abrusci: So for me at that point, 2015. I started coming across my transitional issues at that point where I was like, uh, probably more or less looking for that sense of purpose. I, I, I think I, I would say like, I think I, like my whole life was circled around during the Marine Corps from the time I was a little kid.

Like, dude, I want to gun ling. Like, I wanna be a little kid. Like, I want to gun sling, I wanna play dress up. I’m Hide in the woods. Like, that’s it, dude. Like that, that was all I ever trained to do in my head, even though it’s not training, but like, I was, you know, like, I’m wanna be a kid. I wanna be a gun slinger in the Marine Corps.

So from there, when I got out, I was like. I make the right decision by getting out? Right? Is is that, is that my move by getting out? Still to this day, I go back and forth, like, was that the right decision? And I don’t, I don’t, for me, at that time, it became a downsizing issue, right? Uh, the Marine Corps was downsizing.

I had tattoos. I couldn’t even reenlisted the [00:10:00] reserves. I could have re-listed. I stayed in infantry. But I decided that I wanted to get out. I wanna get out and have a fail. So I, that was, that was my move. Got out, had my transitional issues were, I think it was purpose driven ’cause that’s all I wanted to do was be a Marine.

So then a friend posted on Facebook, Hey, here’s an organization called Wine to Water. And I’m probably like, long-winded my side of the story. So lemme take a break back and let her jump in and kind of tell her side of the story a

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, sure, sure. Absolutely.

Sean Abrusci: I, I am not a veteran. I, I do have a lot of military in the family.

I do crisis management and risk mitigation for corporate. But we just met Memorial Day last weekend and she’s been locked since I’m in. Yeah, locked, locked in. Full support head first into everything. Everything. And she’s also been circled in the nonprofit world too. Yes. So she was working at an organization called Beyond Badge that was helping out law enforcement, suicides.

Yeah. Families of [00:11:00] Right. Families that have lost their fathers husbands to suicide. Yeah.

Scott DeLuzio: I mean, that’s, uh, obviously not in, not, not a cause that anyone wants to have happen, you know, to take place. But it’s great that there’s organizations out there like that to look after the families and, and the folks who need that type of support after those tragic,

Sean Abrusci: Yeah, absolutely. And, and I’m gonna bring that back from what she did to where we are today. I. I like to surround myself who, by people who are part of these nonprofits, like people like Tom, you know, like, or people like Brittany or, or other people who see a need and go forth and they conquer that need and they conquer that purpose.

And it’s, it’s, they do it because it’s what’s in their heart and what, what needs to be done. And that, that’s why you see people like Brittany here in my life. You see people like Tom there in my life. You know? Now you’re in my life, dude. Congratulations. But I think purpose is everything,

Scott DeLuzio: [00:12:00] mm-hmm.

Sean Abrusci: So the bare bones of that purpose, I could probably go on a tangent with, but, uh, so that, that, that, the gist of it. And then I kind of run into, I started making a coffee company and I decided to take that coffee company and I realized that, hey man, um, community’s always surrounded around a coffee.

So like, why not? Circle our nonprofit communities around the center of coffee and have a conversation like this and that. That’s kind of where we’re now tying into Warrior Strong and what Tom does with all that. Does that make sense, Tom? Right.

Tom Tice: Oh yeah, definitely, definitely. And, um, you know, Sean’s been doing, that’s how I met Sean through wine to water. I went to high school with his sister and um, Sean was doing something locally at the time. I think raising money, I. Uh, for wine to Water before I even started Warrior Strong. His sister Angie forwarded me the fundraiser I shared on my Facebook.

Um, went out there, was able to support it, and [00:13:00] just learned about what Sean was doing. Kind of learned about, you know, the reason behind why he was doing it was to give back, to serve. And be part of something bigger than, than themself. And at the time, like I said, I wasn’t even doing Warrior Strong yet, but I realized, you know, there’s a need for, for other organizations out there to help on another level, on another scale.

I. So it’s, it’s been amazing to work with Sean. Uh, he’s doing this coffee business, which I’m excited for us to, to kind of go deeper in and what he’s actually doing with it, besides just selling coffee. ’cause he is doing a lot more than just that.

Sean Abrusci: I appreciate that bud.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Right. And, and that was gonna be one of my questions because I, I know when, when Tom and I were talking, he was telling me a little bit about you and you know, we, we got to the point, uh, where I was like, okay, there’s, there’s gonna be some. More to it. It’s not just coffee. It’s not just selling coffee.

You’re, you’re not a, uh, you’re, you’re not a just a [00:14:00] one stop shop where it’s just coffee. There’s something else special about, uh, what you guys do. So, tell us a little bit about the, the coffee company and, you know, kind of how it ties in with Warrior Strong and, and what you guys are all doing

Sean Abrusci: Yeah. Yeah. Rock and roll. So yeah, so I started this call for company about a year and a half ago, right? I roasted all my own stuff, start to finish. Um, I. We have a direct trade connection with Columbia. I’m very, uh, fortunate to have that. So I can literally call the guys on WhatsApp, tell ’em what, see what they have available, and they send it up here.

Then I roast everything. But more importantly for me and the coffee company as a whole is, I’m gonna go back to that nonprofit where I was talking about before, like, like, I love what Brittany was part of. I love what Tom’s a part of. I love what these other organizations are part of. And I, I truly do believe that coffee’s always surrounded by community, right?

So if I could work a. Non successful non-profit and get paid for it. I would love that. You know, but what I saw was I was like, you know what, when I was working with wine to water should I probably take it back a second and talk about wine to water? And as far as what I was doing with those guys a little bit, and that would probably [00:15:00] help explain where I’m going with this.

Scott DeLuzio: Sure

Sean Abrusci: So what wine to order is, is they. Give the gift clean water to organization or to countries that don’t have the, the gift to clean water. What that means is they drill wells for water. They set up water filtration devices. We, I, I’ve been through all throughout the Amazon Ethiopia, the both of us have been in Nepal.

We’ve sent, I’ve sent veterans. I paid for veterans full. Flight, food, water, stay, everything to go to these different locations, Cambodia, for that matter to help regain a sense of purpose while giving a gift to clean water. And that goes back to the veteran suicide ratio in, in my eyes, I, I truly do believe that a lot of veterans have committed suicide due to lack of purpose.

Right? A lot of people throw the words PTSD out there. But what I really like, and it’s from the gala I saw yesterday at Warrior Strong’s Gala was. Yes. PTSD is one of the leading factors that veterans have a transition problem with. Right. But there’s also depression. There’s also loneliness. [00:16:00] Right.

And those two factors easily get lumped right in there with PTSD. Mm-hmm. Now is P-T-S-D-A killer? Absolutely. Do I do. I know that survivor’s guilt a real thing. Absolutely. But I think purpose above everything else is what can and will combat the veteran suicide ratio. And it’s something I truly do believe in.

’cause I, I, I know. I’ve lost, 19 is low, 20 worth of friends of suicide, and I, I, I know what a lot of them saw and didn’t see, but I also know that having conversation with the loved ones after the fact that they killed the himself, they say, yeah, it’s ptsd, TSD, that’s ptsd. T And I’ll be like, maybe, yeah. Or was it depression or was it loneliness?

Or was it the fact that you didn’t have a, a sense of purpose? So what I saw with Wine to Water vendor chapter, which is what we, we started, was to give these guys a sense of purpose, right. But when I was running that I had a fantastic time fundraising. I was pulling money in left and right and Tom, you could probably attest to, you’re marking money is a real thing.

Like if that [00:17:00] money doesn’t get spend, it becomes an issue, right? Mm-hmm.

Tom Tice: Right. Yep.

Sean Abrusci: I was having a difficult time physically getting veterans on these trips. Like the mindset’s great, right? But then once a veteran say, I wanna go on this trip. Now the, there’s a stigma associated with that. ’cause I fundraise with that stigma and that was the learning curve for me. So when I realized I was hammer that learning curve, I was like, you know what going do. So I had to, I had to readjust, right? I didn’t have any guidelines or anybody really helping me kind of readjust this nonprofit. ’cause there’s not something that, that’s exactly like that, right? It’s its own program. So then when I decided to start this coffee company, I was like. Coffee’s surrounded by community. Let’s get involved in the nonprofit community because all these nonprofits run parallel. And one nonprofit might know more about how to succeed than this other nonprofit. Or there might be a issue with, and don’t, don’t quote me on this one. There might be an issue with Warrior Strong in the fundraising portion of it versus, [00:18:00] uh, we’ll say Operation Pay it Forward, has a great time getting people on their trips when they have a hard time fundraising.

Like, alright, so if coffee’s surrounded by community and we sit here and have this conversation and these, these nonprofits run parallel with each other, then let’s get them talking to each other. Let’s get them feeding off each other and let’s get them building an empire. Let’s get them building all these different teams and sending guys that, hey, maybe warrior Strong has an individual that can do that needs some adaptive physical fitness training.

Cool. I know, I know a person. Hey, Tom Tyson, bro. Do you mind, uh, teaching this guy who doesn’t have any legs how to train himself? Roger? Check, right? Tom says, Hey man, I got a guy who loves connecting and outdoors, or I got a guy who’s a, I got a, I got a guy who loves connecting outdoors. Do you have something to do that?

Yeah, dude, operation, pay it forward. They send guys on deep sea fishing, hunting, hiking, and they surround each other by like-minded individuals who wanna get outside. Mm-hmm. So I, I saw these voids in these different nonprofits. Or I’m sorry, I didn’t see these words. I just know that there are [00:19:00] boards and, and nonprofits that can react to each other and can build off each other.

So that’s what I’m trying to do right now with the coffee industry and the coffee company as a whole is try to get these dudes talking and I every other month. Sorry, I’m probably going a rant right now, but every other month I work with a different nonprofit where I take that nonprofit, I take that name, uh, their, their logo, I throw it on this front of it, and now I’m throwing a their mission statement on the back of it, right?

So now in somebody’s house, they have a mission statement in their logo in somebody’s house, and they could build off that. They could see what this is about. Hey, is this somebody I want to donate to, or is this something that somebody else could benefit from? You know, oh, that’s a good idea. I know so and so who runs a nonprofit.

He would love this. That’s what I want. I wanna help build their followers and build their mission statement to ultimately succeed in life.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And I, I wanna go back to something that you were just talking about, about how the you know, one organization might have somebody who. Wants to do stuff with [00:20:00] outdoors. Someone else might have someone who needs adaptive fitness. Someone else might have someone who wants to, I don’t know, do golf or, you know, something like that for their, you know, whatever their issues are that they’re, they’re dealing with and, and they’re just looking for that type of, of support.

But if they’re already, you know, kind of tied in with one organization and that organization doesn’t do the thing that they’re looking for, sometimes it just kind of feels like they’re just. On their own and floating around there and not really getting the support that they they need. And to your point, wouldn’t it be great if we can bring these organizations together and say, Hey, you do this.

I got a guy who needs this. Let’s send him over your way. And you know. Hey, no skin off my back. That guy needs help with whatever. Let let him go over there. And that’s, to me, the, the way I look at it is like, so long as that person gets the help that they’re, they’re looking for, it’s a win-win for everybody [00:21:00] in involved, right?

Sean Abrusci: And dude, that’s what I’m saying, like the ultimate goal is the help of veteran, right? Or, or, or help a law enforcement or whatever, wherever your ultimate goal is, why can’t you work together? Why? Why can’t you have that conversation? Why can’t you say, Hey man, I got a guy that might benefit from what you’re doing, but it’s not what I’m doing.

I’m more than willing to pass ’em off to you. You know? So like, and that’s why I wanna get these guys running parallel to see each other. ’cause they might not see each other. They, I mean, and, and Tom jump on this man. Like, do you guys go to like, uh, conferences or something like that where you guys interact?

I, I’m sure you, you’ve come across other non-profits.

Tom Tice: Oh, definitely, definitely. We come across many different nonprofits. Warrior Strong I, I think, does a great job collaborating with other nonprofits, but the most important part. I think the most important part of this is, and Sean Scott, you guys are veterans. Veterans in the nonprofit sector are always gonna be weary of the organization that they’re going to be working with.

’cause [00:22:00] a lot of veterans, oh, we’re strong. I don’t know anyone about it. I don’t know anyone who used it. I don’t know anyone who’s about it. Right. So that’s a challenge in its own. And, and, and this is where it’s so important that Sean, you’re touching on, is giving that veteran introduction to another organization.

Like we work with the Fisher House Foundation, PVA, um, veteran Spouse Network, military spouse fest. And when we say, Hey, you know, we work with these organizations. You should look into them. They have opportunities for you. Well, that validates now, okay, these, I trust Warrior Strong. I trust Tom, I trust these organizations.

And then they’re more willing to participate and be part of those groups because, you know, I’ve been doing this for eight years and I’ve learned so much in the past eight years. And Sean, you heard it say, you know, you heard me say it last night at the gala. Veterans help Veterans and they trust each other.

And if someone isn’t gonna be there and just say, Hey, you know, this organization’s good, they might not get to [00:23:00] that point of actually participating within that organization. So, to your point yeah. That work, what you’re doing at, at your strong roofie coffee is really important just ’cause you’re breaking the

Sean Abrusci: I appreciate that. But, and, and there is something said about the trust aspect, right? Because it, we do know that there is a lot of, we’ll say Fuga Nonprofits out there, right? There’s a lot of, you know, like I’m from Jersey, bro, we’re, we’re throwing food out there, getting used to it. It’s,

Scott DeLuzio: I.

Sean Abrusci: There, there is a lot of those nonprofits out there and there’s a lot of nonprofits that aren’t allocated the money in the best way it can be.

And I’ll, I’ll say again, like, I never had a hard time fundraising for money. I had a hard time giving the veterans on the trip.

Scott DeLuzio: Okay,

Sean Abrusci: So that was my, that was our nonprofit issue, right. There is something my hear my dog howling right now. Um, there’s something to said about that because there’s other people out there that, that could have stepped in and could have helped me with that.

But I didn’t know all these other NGOs existed. I, for instance, I [00:24:00] would love to travel back over to Africa and do more humanitarian work in Africa. I don’t wanna do it under the blanket of religion. I have a hard time finding something that’s not like in religion, right? But it’s out there. I know it’s out there.

I just have a hard time finding it. So what I’m trying to do again is just run these all out there, put it out there. These are the, these are the options available through the social media accounts. Um, I should probably put it all on like a website and kind of list down everything on, on a website, list down all these different NGOs.

And I will vouch if I am selling coffee on behalf of this NGO, I’ll vouching. That means I, I’ve already had a, a conversation with someone. I say, yeah, this guy’s legit.

Scott DeLuzio: Right, and, and I think that’s the important piece right there is, is that. We’ll, a lot of times in the veteran world, we will take another veteran’s opinion on something. We’ll, we’ll hold that pretty highly and we’ll, we’ll say, yeah, well, you know, if they’re recommending this guy, you know, I’m, I’m gonna trust him.

I, I, I believe that he’s, he’s not just selling me a load of crap, [00:25:00] but if I go and check this organization out, and they absolutely suck, and they’re, they, they’re screwing with me, or they’re, they’re not delivering the

Sean Abrusci: my

Scott DeLuzio: it is. I’m gonna look at you and I’m like, man, what a piece of crap. You know what, like, why would you do that?

And so I’m not gonna trust you anymore. But the thing is like, that’s, that’s the more than just coffee piece of it that, that we were talking about before. Th this is kind of what you do is, is you’re making those connections. You’re, you’re finding the, the organizations that actually are legit, they’re, they’re not the, you know, just here to.

Steal people’s money and not deliver services and, and that type of thing. So those, those types of organizations will never even get on your, on your list of companies that you might recommend, you’ll, you’ll sniff those people out in, in no time and they’re not gonna even make it. Um, and if, God forbid one of ’em does slip by, they’re gonna be off right away.

And so, you know, [00:26:00] that type of thing I think is, is. What we’re looking for. I think veterans in, in general, sometimes we don’t know where to go because the amount of, and you guys can probably attest to this, the amount of nonprofits and, and other programs through the VA and other organizations that are out there.

There’s just so many. It’s like drinking from a fire hose when you’re trying to collect this information,

Sean Abrusci: percent dude. A hundred percent.

Scott DeLuzio: So if there’s, there’s a place that you can go and be like, Hey, this is what I’m looking for. Can you point me in the right direction? At least, you know, at least get me in touch with the people and then I’ll take it from there.

You know, you don’t need to be holding my hand the whole way. I just, I don’t know where to go. And so if you, if you get those people that way you know, I think it’s just a hell of a lot better.

Sean Abrusci: Yeah, and, and it, sorry, go ahead, Tom. I.

Tom Tice: I just wanna add to that too. There’s two things that I think when you’re getting someone into an organization as a, as a user, right? [00:27:00] Is does it fit their needs and will they build a relationship? Two major things, when you bring, well, especially, you know, warrior Strong. It’s okay, they’re looking for yoga, meditation, great.

They’re looking for adaptive programs. Great. But will they build relationships while they’re here? We say that to our new members because it’s great that they’re participating using our service, but you have to build relationships because you’re gonna need these relationships moving forward and having these conversations.

So is it a good fit for the need, but is it a good fit to build relationships with people that they can trust? Because you need to put yourself around people that are gonna lift you up and not lift you, you know, put you down.

Sean Abrusci: A hundred percent. And I, and I’ll, I’ll add on that too. ’cause it probably un unpopular opinion too. Like there are veterans out there that are, that can be squirrely. Uh, they, they can be squirrely and they, they can use the PTSD [00:28:00] Facebook status as their life. You know, like, like they, they, they use the once a marine, always Marine as that is who they are for the rest of their life.

You don’t know what it’s like, you don’t know what I did, instead of using that as a pillar or, or they could use that as a fundraiser or a GoFundMe and et cetera. And it, the milk, the dollars of people in reality is. You probably don’t need that. They’re just kind of milking dollars, you know, like, it’s very unfortunate and, and I hate it.

There was a period of time in my life where I was those dude’s, 9 1 1 calls, right where I was getting those phone calls, where I was trying to combat suicide, and I had to sit on that phone and I had to listen through their entire story and I had to figure out if this guy is. Telling the truth actually in a critical incident right now about to have a critical incident.

Do I need to call 9 1 1? Does he have to get hospitalized or is it just a cry [00:29:00] for attention? For attention because he’s a veteran and it’s a cool thing to do and that, that’s extremely un it’s a very unpopular conversation to have out loud right now. But that’s a real conversation I had to deal with all the time.

And there was an instance where. I said, okay, I think this guy’s good. I’m not gonna call the police right now. I’m gonna let this roll, roll out. And I sit there all all night. I’m like not sleeping my whole entire night. I’m like, what? Is that the right decision?

Scott DeLuzio: Did you do the right thing?

Sean Abrusci: You know, I, and I just sit there and pray to guys answer, answer my text message or phone call the next morning.

Or there’s instance where I’m like, I gotta call 9 1 1 right now.

Scott DeLuzio: sure.

Sean Abrusci: And when you call 9 1 1, you put these guys in the hospital, there could be potential repercussions like that guy’s outta work now for three, four days. He’s in the hospital. But his life is saved. So like what? So like, so like that’s one, that’s one of those battles to do the right thing, you know?

And realize that he’s not just drunk at a wedding.

Scott DeLuzio: that

Sean Abrusci: Being a combat veteran and or being a veteran, I should say, not a combat veteran, just being a veteran in general at drunk at a wedding saying you don’t know what it’s like, what I went [00:30:00] through

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Right.

Tom Tice: right.

Sean Abrusci: and filtering through that. It’s hard.

Scott DeLuzio: Well, and just tying that back to something else that you were talking about earlier, I think at the beginning of the conversation is that when you get out, sometimes you’re searching for a sense of purpose or meaning or like whatever that that uniform meant to you when you had it on.

And then now you’ve, you’ve left the military, you’ve taken that uniform off. Now, who are you? You need, you need an identity that you can tie yourself around and you start to feel broken because you don’t know. I don’t know who I am anymore. I don’t, I, I can’t figure that out. And so then you start hearing about the, the PTSD from other people and it’s like, well, geez, maybe, maybe that PTSD label is what I need to attach to myself and you know, maybe I’m not.

Suicidal necessarily, but I am, I’m still struggling to figure out who, who I am at this point, [00:31:00] and

Sean Abrusci: Purpose.

Scott DeLuzio: maybe I’m I, my new label, my new identity that I’m tying to myself is. A veteran in crisis. And so I’m calling to get help ’cause that’s what a veteran crisis is gonna do. I don’t know if that’s true or not.

Um, just as you were talking kind of, that picture kind of got painted in my head that maybe that’s one of the issues that some, some of these people are going through.

Sean Abrusci: Yeah. So, and, and I have probably three schools of thought with that one personally, that I’m, I’m by no means a doctor. Everything I could say can be washed away, swept away. Don’t, don’t listen to me. You know? Again, I’ve lost a lot of friends, suicide unfortunately, and then there’s a couple schools of thought where I could say, number one, uncle Rico, right?

Napoleon Dynamite. You’re 1980s, you’re on Ville, Pennsylvania. You’re the quarterback of the, of the high school team out there, like you are the bee’s knees, dude, like you’re going out there every Friday night, you’re doing your thing every, every day during the week, you’re rocking your jersey, you’re going to the diner.

Everybody’s buying your food. Everybody’s saying, Hey, dude. Can’t wait to [00:32:00] see you at the game. Like you’re the guy, right? You’re getting all the girls high school’s over. What happens? You’re working on a steel mill. Maybe you’re okay with that. Maybe we’re not. If you’re not okay with that and you’re, and you peaked when you’re in high school, how do you recover from that?

I translate that just back to being in the military. If you’re coming home and you’re saying, everybody’s saying thank you for your service. ’cause they didn’t do it when they, with the Vietnam vets, which they should have, but now they’re doing it to you now and they should still like not, I shouldn’t say should, but like they are, you get accustomed to that and you get accustomed to all these meals being bought from you. It is the same concept where you get out, cool, dude, you’re in the Marines. Thank you for your service. But what else? Like, now you have to be an adult and you have the ability that was a pillar of your life, that that is something that, that, that formed who you are.

But it’s not who you are. It’s only a pillar. It’s only a starting point and you gotta

Scott DeLuzio: that’s, that’s just one piece of, of the whole overall

Sean Abrusci: is only one piece, right? So now there’s another con, another thought [00:33:00] process that goes on where like, I see a huge difference of guys who went directly to college versus guys who went directly into the workforce right after they got in the military.

And I, I don’t know what exactly the correlation is, but I do know that you surround yourself by people say, oh, you must have saw some bad things. You must have done this. You must have done that. It starts weighing on your brain.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Tom Tice: Yeah.

Sean Abrusci: waste that messed up? Like, because at the time, like dude feeling a belt, a belted machine, gun vibrating through my shoulders, pretty cool.

Like I love doing that stuff, like blowing some bombs up, pretty cool, throwing grenade. It’s pretty cool. You know, at the time with my boys, like, dude, that was pretty cool, man. You know? But then when you surround yourself by people who say, that’s not cool, then you start playing back in your head. Is that cool?

Is that not cool? Shoot, I must be wrong. I’m, they’re all thinking this way. I must be the wrong person here. And that’s why I like to circle back to organizations like Warrior Strong or or [00:34:00] other vendor organizations. ’cause you get surrounded by like-minded individuals who have done what you’ve done and realize, you know, that’s just war.

It’s not really so much we saw or didn’t see. It’s just like, that’s like you could have deployed and saw nothing, no comment the entire time. But when you shrine yourself by people who have no idea anything what you did, they automatically assume the worst that you have survivor’s guilt, that you have this and you have that, and then depression.

You’re, and you’re job part of every single bang. Like, it, it’s a, it’s a hard, hard thing to go across, you know? Like, what, what is the right answer? I don’t know.

Scott DeLuzio: dunno. Yeah. And I don’t know that there is a right answer necessarily. It, it’s just you know, going back to what I was saying before, it’s just kinda that, that picture that was getting painted in my head as, as, as you were talking, you’re right. Everybody has different experiences. One person could have, could have deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq or any of these, these places and saw zero combat, even as a, you know, an infantry soldier. They could have saw absolutely no [00:35:00] combat. They, they could’ve gotten, and I’ll say it, they could have gotten lucky and saw no combat at all, you know?

Sean Abrusci: Or they could be upset because they saw no combat and they’re, and they’re dealing with that.

Scott DeLuzio: And that’s, and that’s where I was going with that, is that then they come back and felt like, well, I didn’t really do my job, did I? Because I, I was trained to do infantry stuff. I was trained to do all those things that you were just talking about. The, the machine guns, the grenades, the, all the, those, those things.

Clearing buildings, all that.

Sean Abrusci: Mm-hmm.

Scott DeLuzio: Hey, but I didn’t get to do it. So did I really do my job? Or did I just walk around the desert for, you know, nine months or a year or whatever, and waste the taxpayer’s dollars for absolutely nothing? And that, that mindset goes on in people’s heads too. And you know, I’m not saying that that’s the right mindset to have.

Absolutely not. I I don’t think that that’s, that’s, that’s right. You went and did what your country asked you to do and. Just because nobody decided to shoot at you. Hey, you got lucky. You know? That’s, that’s the way I see it.

Sean Abrusci: depending what you wanted, right?

Scott DeLuzio: [00:36:00] Well, well, I suppose. Yeah. But I mean, having been in those types of situations, it’s lucky.

Trust me. It, you’re good. You did what you’re supposed to do and, and you know, maybe you did it better than the rest of us and that’s why you didn’t

Sean Abrusci: be said about that, right? So leaving, leaving a combat environment with a, with your full squad intact. Congratulations, bro. Like you did. You exceeded better than other squads

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Sean Abrusci: other companies like that. There’s something you said about it. Be proud of that.

Scott DeLuzio: Big time. Yeah.

Sean Abrusci: and that, that’s where I think that.

Scott DeLuzio: that

Sean Abrusci: Who you surround yourself by what you do after, and knowing that what you did is a pillar, not not your identity, is what ultimately helps combat the vendor suicide ratio,

Scott DeLuzio: Right,

Sean Abrusci: my opinion. Again, I’m not a doctor, but that’s my

Tom Tice: All right. You’re spot, you’re spot on. You know, and just working with the veterans every single day and their, their families is, you can’t let your service define who you are. You can let it. Help you be [00:37:00] successful in the future. ’cause what you did in service leadership, skills, communication, community comradery, can translate to the civilian world and use that as a skill, as an advantage to rise the ranks out here as a person, as a leader in your company, as a pillar in the community.

That’s how it translate,

Scott DeLuzio: yeah,

Tom Tice: you know? And I. I don’t know what it’s like to be obviously a veteran and, and someone to deal with the transitions that you have to deal with from service to civilian life. But the challenges are real. Their experiences are different, but the challenges are the same. And the fact that, you know, we keep talking about purpose and I’m glad Sean brought, brought up.

The conversations of, of suicide, but also the way of thinking after service. And it’s funny, the chairman of the board, Rob, [00:38:00] he’s like, you know, back in the day I was surrounding myself so much with people that talk to my PTSD. He is like, oh my God, man, like have PTSD now, you

Scott DeLuzio: PTSD from people talking about it.

Sean Abrusci: That’s truest thing like it.

Tom Tice: it true. Like, and he even says it. He’s in a better mental health space and a better mindfulness and, and mood generally because of the people he’s around and the thing that he’s doing positively for his life. And I know he’s been through his own transition, and I’m not sharing his story, but what I’m saying is there’s a, there’s a reason behind the conversation that we’re having right now about surrounding yourself with two people.

Scott DeLuzio: yeah. And, and I, yeah. And I, I think Tom, to your point, everything that we do in our lives, whether it’s in the military or not, and this applies to. To service members, it applies to civilians. It doesn’t matter who you are. Anyone who’s [00:39:00] listening to this right now, everything that we’ve learned in our life, we have these new sets of skills, these new things that we have acquired just through maybe sometimes trial and error, maybe sometimes through school, maybe sometimes, you know, your, your dad taught you how to, you know.

Change the oil in the car or something, you know, whatever it is, it’s a skill that you have that you, and, and it could be small things, it could be big things, whatever you, you can make money doing it or it could just be, it makes your life a little bit easier and you know, whatever it is, doesn’t matter.

But all of these things are, are. I, I equate it to kinda like a contractor who has, they carry around a tool belt and they also, like in the back of their truck, they got a toolbox where all the bigger tools or the tools that they don’t use very often, that’s where those, those tools kind of hang out. And a lot of the stuff we learned in the military, a lot of stuff that you were talking about earlier, Sean, about, you know, shooting machine guns, thrown grenades, all those kind of things. I’m just gonna go out on a limb here and say, you probably don’t need to use any of [00:40:00] those skills in your day-to-day life making coffee and, and that type of thing. Right. I mean, you might wish that you could from time to time, but, uh, but you probably don’t need to do those things too, too much. Right? And so those are, but you still, if, if, God forbid there was a situation that you needed to do that and you had the tools available, the, the grenades and machine guns and all that, you could still do it.

I’m, I’m sure you could. Those things are sitting out in the truck right now, and you, you can leave those there. You don’t need to be carrying that stuff around with you. You don’t need to have the, the hypervigilance, the, the constantly, you know, facing facing towards the, the exits. Not, you know, with your back against the wall.

Like you don’t have to constantly be hypervigilant. ’cause guess what? Bad things like someone sneaking up behind you and popping you, popping you isn’t gonna happen on a day-to-day basis. Around here. You can put some of those things away. You don’t need to have those until you need them. Then you can go out in the truck and you can go grab those tools and you can, you can use those things when you need those things, but [00:41:00] for the most part.

Take the skills that you use on a day-to-day basis, keep that on the tool belt and you can walk around with those and, and things like, like Tom was saying, the, the leadership skills, the you know, those types of things, those are things that you can use on a daily basis. Take those, yeah, absolutely.

Carry those things with you and, and use those in your, your next career or just whatever it is that you find yourself doing in life. And, and I, I think that’s just a, you know, a good way to look at it because, you have to sometimes like mentally offload some of that stuff. And for me, I, I like these visual analogies and so if I can, if I can offload stuff, just leave it out in the truck and that, that’s where I’m gonna leave it.

And, and sometimes I might not even go out to the truck, you know?

Sean Abrusci: Yeah, I mean, and there’s something said about like exactly what you’re saying. Like put it the away in the truck. Like, you don’t need that today. Maybe put it away in the truck. You know it’s there if you case you need it. Like anytime you you need it, you go grab it, right? Um, there’s things that like maybe you should keep always on your two belt tool belt that you have on you right there.

Like, Hey man [00:42:00] gear inspections. Go over your gear for the day, make sure you have everything prepped for tomorrow. Make sure everything’s working function, function tests, right. Mentorship, make sure you’re mentoring as well as being mentored and understanding what being mentored means. These are all things that you learn from the military especially in infantry world.

Like you, you understand this? ’cause like, yeah. I’ll, we’ll leave it. Yeah.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. No way. I, yeah, we can, I, I’m sure we can go like, dive deep into all those, those different things, but, but yeah, look at, look at your day-to-day life and like, what is it that you really need to be carrying around with you and, and yeah, things like you said, like those inspections, like yeah, you wanna make sure you got, you have all the equipment that you need, all the tools you need before you go and do whatever it is you’re supposed to do and make sure that they work and, and all that kind of stuff.

So, so yeah, I guess, you know, there’s a lot of things that we, we could do. It’s, but I guess like the heart of this whole conversation, it’s, is about connections, it’s about people. And, and that I think is, is probably the most important thing that, that we, we we’re talking about today. Right.

Sean Abrusci: Yeah, absolutely. And there’s one other thing that I wanna touch [00:43:00] on too while, especially while we have her here too, is like, and the importance of what you’re talking about as far as doing things in the truck, right? So if I’m carrying that, that load with me at all times and I am just like. Tensed up at all times.

Is it gonna affect me? Maybe? Is it gonna affect her? Absolutely. Do. Do I want it to affect my relationship? No. Do I? Do I want her to see that side of me at all times? No. Does she know I’m capable of that side? Yes. Yeah, I’m aware. But does she need to be the one to see that? No. And from a spouse point of view, do you have anything you wanna add or. I think just something that we’ve done great from the beginning. Sean’s been so honest and transparent about his whole story from the beginning, no surprises. And it allowed me to really be, like I said in the beginning, just dive head first because it felt so open and welcome and like, I want you right here with me and through this entire journey.

So it was, uh. [00:44:00] Everything that he has done from all his whole entire story, it’s it, it allowed me to be that much closer to him and it allowed me in so much more and to be a better partner. You know, so there there’s no secrets. So it’s, it really enables me to be as close as doing things like this, being so involved with the coffee company.

Um, he was saying like, coffee is surrounded by community. If he’s not there, I can share his story just as passionately, just as intentionally, you know, with as much vigor that he does. And it, it becomes a huge conversation. And it’s all, like you said, all about connections.

Scott DeLuzio: he does.

Sean Abrusci: And then if you stick in that, that mindset as the veteran where you wall off your spouse, what’s that gonna do for you?

Man?

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And, and the rest of your family too. You know, I, I know older, older veterans and, and even current generation veterans, but you know, like, just personally in my life. But people like my, my [00:45:00] grandfather, he fought in World War ii. I don’t really know much about what he did in world. He was in the Navy, he was in the Pacific, that that’s.

About the extent of how much I know about it, you know, uh, other people I know served in Vietnam, they don’t talk about it. And it’s like if you don’t talk about it, then that story never gets told. And then, you know, people, people end up having questions and, and like. What, what made dad tick? You know, why, why was dad the way he was?

Like, why, you know, why did he, you know, why didn’t he like to be in, in big crowds? Or why didn’t he like to, uh, you know, be around fireworks or, you know, whatever those things happen to be, whatever those triggers might be for somebody. But if you’re open, you talk to people about it, and I talk to my kids.

I mean, they’re, they’re young still. I keep it age appropriate. You know, I’m, I don’t, I don’t go into. As graphic details as I, as I could maybe, but, you know, I, I talked to him and so it’s not like a, a confusing thing. Like, like, why is dad the way, why are you the way you are dad? You know, like, like, why, why are you [00:46:00] being weird?

Tom Tice: I, I actually have a, I actually have a question for Sean. Um, I think this is a good one. I think, I think veterans should hear, hear this if you can. Um, now how important was it for you to share your story with your spouse?

Sean Abrusci: It’s huge, man, because if you live in the shadow and and you don’t share it, then she’s gonna see you as a shadow. Right? And that’s not what I want to be. I wanna be transparent. I wanna be one as a whole, and then I wanna be a couple with her. Like, I don’t want to be a shadow. I want, I don’t wanna be somebody who’s not present.

I wanna be present, and I want her to see what I’m going through and understand what I’m going through. When I, if. When and if I go through anything for that matter, you know? Mm-hmm. Um, I, I do understand to an extent where there’s times where it’s easier not to tell a story, only because I have to explain X, Y, and Z to get to that point.

Not because I don’t want to that person to know. It’s just, it’s a hard paragraph to explain everything that you [00:47:00] just don’t understand. Like, I’m not gonna go through five, three fives or something like that to, you know what I mean? To, to my significant other, to get to the final. Point of the story, you know, but

Scott DeLuzio: But

Sean Abrusci: I think that it’s crucial to be an open book.

Scott DeLuzio: yep.

Sean Abrusci: I think it’s crucial to tell your spouse everything in order to open up the next chapter of your life. Um, I.

Scott DeLuzio: I think to that point that that’s just about respect for that other person in, in the relationship. Because if you’re not, if you’re not looking at that person as a, a partner that you’re going in, in through life with then you’re not really being respectful of that person. Right? Like they’re looking at it, going in like, Hey, I’m.

I’m here for you. You’re here for me. We’re in this together. And if, if we can’t, if we can’t do this together, then, then really what’s the point? And so, [00:48:00] you know, you, you come together, you, you lay it all out there, and then she’ll know if there’s, there’s something going on with you. She’ll know exactly what’s what it is, and she’ll be there to be able to help you instead of standing there scratching her head like, what the hell is wrong with this guy?

You know?

Sean Abrusci: You know, here, here’s the best, I think the best example for the, for this conversation. If your partner knows every mole on your body and knows when that mole looks cancerous, why can’t your partner know everything that’s in your head

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Right.

Tom Tice: Yeah.

Sean Abrusci: at the end of the day? Like,

Scott DeLuzio: that’s perfect.

Sean Abrusci: they, because your brain is cancerous at the end of the day, right?

Like, and I want my partner to help me with that.

Scott DeLuzio: Absolutely.

Tom Tice: No, and and I, the reason why I wanted to ask you, and I appreciate Sean sharing that is struggle with loneliness, but veterans are married. They have family. So what, so they are lonely with tons of people around them because of not sharing

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.

Tom Tice: their experience. Right. It’s, I’m not saying that’s [00:49:00] the direct but I, I know that I tell my wife everything ’cause it actually makes me feel better, the good, the bad, the ugly.

Right. And I’m sure you, you guys do the same. And I think, I think men in general. They try to, you know, be tough and you know, wear it on their chin all the time, but that’s not reality.

Scott DeLuzio: not, no, and it’s, it’s not the, it’s not the way to do it. You could be to what you’re saying, Tom, like some of these guys could be standing in a crowded room and feel all alone because they, they’re not willing to talk to anybody. And so like, that’s just. Not the right way to go about it, especially in a relationship like, like what we’re talking about here.

But

Sean Abrusci: There’s something I wanna add to that too, as far as like just different chapters of your life too, right? So my friend JT, over a consequence of habit, um, I think Tom, I introduced you to him at one point.

Tom Tice: Yep.

Sean Abrusci: Phenomenal guy had me on a podcast one time and, uh, hit me with a question that I didn’t render right off [00:50:00] the road.

And he goes, Sean, what does purpose mean to you? And I was like, I went this way. I went that way. I stuttered step, I got tongue tied. I’m like, ah, I don’t know what to say right now. But I’ve got that answer and I’ve got that answer, and it’s kind of riled back into me. And I’ve kind of learned through time, like purpose is ever changing, right?

And and purpose is ever changing, changing to each chapter of your life. And I think that this would also help combat depression, loneliness, as well as veteran suicide, is understanding that purpose is unique to each chapter. Now, you might not find that purpose in the beginning of the chapter. You might find that purpose at the end of the chapter of the picture of book. But I guarantee you there’s gonna be a purpose in that chapter. Your life is not all one big purpose. There’s multiple purposes in it, and you don’t know what that purpose is until it hits you. And then another chapter might come into play, right? If you hyper focus on like, my purpose in life is to be married and then we get divorced, that’s a hard thing to overcome.

That was your only purpose. My only [00:51:00] purpose in life was to be a Marine, which is, that’s what I thought. And then I got out, what is my next purpose? You know, and it took me a while to kind of figure that out, and honestly it probably took me up until he asked me that question. Like, this is what I’ve been talking about since I started, is literally purpose is constantly changing.

Tom Tice: Yeah, I like that Sean, like that.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, I do too. I guess, you know, with, with that kind of as, as we’re kind of wrapping up here towards the end kind of as, as we’re kind of wrapping up here, talking a little bit about that where can people go to find out you know, how to get their coffee all about that? Uh, and then we will, we’ll talk a little bit about. Warrior Strong two to wrap it up and then, then, uh, we’ll go from there.

Sean Abrusci: Sounds good, man. Um, so yeah, so you can find everything online. A bruces coffee.com. That’s A-B-R-U-S-C-I-S coffee.com. We do subscriptions, online orders. We do party favors for [00:52:00] events catering you name it, you got an idea, you like coffee, hit us out. We’ll figure something out. Right? We do a lot of keeg for people’s businesses for cold brew, so we get cold brew tap on your business, your establishment as well as restaurants and bars that.

A lot of different places here in Mars County that have our coffee on top. We just opened up at Serbo over in NY where we got by the cup every weekend. Ashley’s farms over in Flanders couple places. Well rock and rolling.

Scott DeLuzio: Excellent. Excellent. Well, exciting to see how you guys are, are growing and getting out there doing, doing lots of great stuff. And, and the connections, again, connections with folks like Tom and Warrior Strong and the other organizations that you guys are, are working with. Um, it’s, it’s, it’s about the people and it, the coffee.

The coffee’s there and the coffee’s good. And that’s, that’s a, a wonderful thing. But at the end of the day, it’s about the connections. It’s about the people. And, and obviously and, and community, right? Obviously just talking to [00:53:00] you guys, uh, today I could tell that that’s a, a big part of everything that you guys do.

You know, not just in personal relationships, but, but extended as well. And so, uh, you know, it’s really refreshing to hear people like you guys out there that actually. Are doing the work to help connect people to various organizations and spread the word about them. So, definitely appreciate everything that you guys are doing through the coffee.

Tom, appreciate you again. Tom, Tom, for the, the listeners who didn’t catch it, I should have said this at the beginning of the episode, but, uh, Tom was on the show earlier, episode 4 69. That was back in March sometime, uh, when that episode came out. But, uh, definitely go check that out to learn more about.

Warrior strong and uh, you know, definitely, we’ll have links to all that stuff in the, the show notes as well for for folks to get some coffee check out Warrior Strong and, and all that. So thank you to, to the three of you. This is, this is a rare occasion that I have three guests on the show.

It’s, it’s actually kind of cool because. The, the three of you kind of, [00:54:00] kind of just took over. I didn’t have to, I didn’t, I was kind of on auto autopilot for part of it, so this is kind of awesome. Um, but no, I, I definitely appreciate every, everything that you guys are doing and I really look forward to, uh, hearing more about what you guys are up to.

Sean Abrusci: Cool. Well, thank you for having us. We really appreciate it. And um, it’s good meeting you too, dude.

Scott DeLuzio: absolutely.

Tom Tice: Yeah. Yeah. No, it was great. Great. Uh, great episode. Sean’s a man, dude. He’s just a guy that just loves helping other people in, in, in

Sean Abrusci: uh, Tom’s, Tom’s hair looks stupid.

Tom Tice: Yeah. Yeah, Sean, keep that hat

Scott DeLuzio: I was just gonna say, says the guy with the hat on,

Tom Tice: He doesn’t wanna tell you, but I got my inspiration from him, so,

Scott DeLuzio: Okay. That’s okay. My, my hair lines are treating like it’s, uh, like it’s losing the battle.

Tom Tice: nah, it looks good man. We, we, we totally lost the battle already.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, I’m, I’m holding, I’m the [00:55:00] one holding the line. That’s scary.

Sean Abrusci: Yeah.

Scott DeLuzio: All right guys. Thanks so much.

Sean Abrusci: All.