Episode 515 Michael Chahinian Overcoming Isolation as a Veteran Transcript
This transcript is from episode 515 with guest Michael Chahinian.
Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] Are you feeling like you’re on your own after the service? It’s tough moving to a new place, starting a new chapter, and realizing that making real friends isn’t as easy as it used to be. The dream is finding a crew of people that you actually click with, those who understand your drive, your struggles, and the simple need to connect without feeling like an outsider.
Today Navy veteran Michael Shahinian shares. How his own experience of isolation after transitioning led to creating Krew Social, a powerful way for veterans and civilians alike to build real world friendships around shared interests. Whether you’re into hiking, biking, book clubs, or just looking for a lunch buddy, this could be the lifeline that you’ve been missing.
But before we dive into this episode, make sure you’re subscribed to the email newsletter at driveonpodcast.com/subscribe. You’ll get my five favorite episodes sent straight to your inbox, no fluff, just the best insights to help you drive on. And I also wanna take a moment to raise awareness for something [00:01:00] deeply important to our.
Community, the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation. This organization is working to build a permanent national memorial in Washington DC to honor the service members, families, and civilians impacted by the global war on terrorism. This memorial serves as both a tribute to those who served and a way to ensure their sacrifices are recognized and remembered for generations to come.
If you want to learn more or find out how you can support the mission, visit GWOTmemorialfoundation.org. Now, let’s get into today’s episode.
Scott DeLuzio: Michael, welcome to the show. Uh, really glad to have you here, uh, to kind of share your journey a little bit and tell us a little bit about what, what you’ve been up to since, uh, getting out of the, the Navy. But, uh, welcome to the show.
Mike Chahinian: Yeah. No, thank, thank you very much, Scott, and, and [00:02:00] thanks for, thanks for all that you do to, to bring awareness to, to mental health in the, in the veteran space. I think that’s, that’s
really, really important.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, abso Yeah, go ahead.
Mike Chahinian: yeah, so I, I got out and, and went to business school, so that, that’s kind of like a cool option that’s available to, to some veterans.
And I was able to use the, the GI bill to pay for it, which was, which was really, really neat. And yeah, after serving in the Navy for four years, I went to, I went to NYU Stern Business School. It was, it was a really, really great experience. I actually came up with this business idea when I moved there because it, I realized it was so. Difficult to make a group of friends in a new environment and technology had not improved really much in the past, you know, several years in that. And, um, even though I, I didn’t actually pursue the idea at the time, that’s where the, that’s where the seed was, was planted, was really when I was getting out and, and transitioning, you know, to, to
civilian [00:03:00] life.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And, and just for context, what time period was this, uh, that you were talking about?
Mike Chahinian: Yes. Uh, so I got
out in 2015.
Scott DeLuzio: Okay,
so around, yeah, around, 2015. You know, that that’s still pre Covid days, so people weren’t, you know, into Zoom and all those other kind of, uh, apps that. Allow people to connect from all over the world. And I mean, obviously there was, there were, there were things like Facebook and, you know, tho those types of things back then.
But, um, you know, they, they were, you know, different than what you were talking about because you maybe your friends on Facebook with, you know, your buddy from high school that lives, you know, on the other side of the country or, or whatever. And, you know, that’s great. You can keep up and keep in connection with that person.
But that’s not really gonna help you while you’re living, you know, 3000 miles away or, or however far. So that’s, that’s, uh, you know, good for that type of connection, but you’re, you’re looking more for that immediate, uh, people around you in that immediate area, I guess is what [00:04:00] I’m trying to say. And, and so some of the, the best inventions that I, I’ve, I think of.
It kind of come from scratching your own itch, and that sounds like what you were trying to do here. And so we’re, we’re gonna get into talking a little bit about Krew, so Krew Social, which is, uh, the, the company that you eventually, uh, developed and the, the, the platform that you’re, you’re talking about here.
Um, but that came from an idea that you had while. Trying to scratch your own itch and having, um, your, your own issues that you are trying to solve. And, um, I’ve, I’ve found like so many great things get invented because someone’s just like, Hey, this is not the way I want it to be and I want something better.
So let’s figure it out and make it better. And, uh, that sounds like what, what you did, uh, with, with Cruise Social. Um, tell me about. How that, first off, how it, how it came about, like a little bit more about like where that idea came from as you’re [00:05:00] transitioning out of the Navy and getting into school and all that, and then
Mike Chahinian: Right.
Scott DeLuzio: eventually down the line, you, you said, Hey, you know, that, that might have some merit.
So how, how did that journey, uh, take place?
Mike Chahinian: Yeah, it was a long journey with, with lots of, of twists and turns and, and in the end I could kind of see how God had orchestrated the whole thing to be just right, to get me kind of where, where I am right now. But in, in the time, in each moment, that wasn’t really obvious really. What like. Things were leading towards, you know, eventually launching this business.
So I, I really, when, when I moved I, I was trying to meet people and I moved. Critically important was I, I moved to New York a couple months before the semester started, which is what made me aware of this problem if
Scott DeLuzio: Mm.
Mike Chahinian: had just jumped into this semester, like most students. Uh, you know, I would’ve been overwhelmed with the usual, like student activities and stuff like that, and I would, I may not have observed this, this problem essentially, which is that if you move to a city, you’re really kind of on your own to figure
out, you know, how to meet people and make a friend group from
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. [00:06:00]
Mike Chahinian: And it, it’s pretty overwhelming. And, and the technology at the time, which. Frankly is, is still kind of the, most people are familiar with. But stuff like meetup.com, facebook groups.com, they’ll put 50 people in a room once a month, but they won’t show
you who to talk to in that room. Right?
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Mike Chahinian: okay.
You’ll walk up to some random person, you’ll talk to them. Probably a great connection isn’t gonna be made and then
you wait 30 days to try it again.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Right.
Mike Chahinian: And like most people aren’t, you know, even gonna do that. It’s just, you know, it’s not optimal. And, and then, you know, there’s face swiping apps like Bumble BFF for making friends, and that doesn’t really. That doesn’t really make sense for, for friendship. And so I, that’s when I had this observation like, wait a minute, there’s, there’s a better way to do this. I mean, you can have, like, I wanna be able to, to see stuff going on all the time all around me, like small groups of stuff and be able to, to jump into different activities at [00:07:00] different times that fit into my schedule and also
find people that I wanna do things with.
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Mike Chahinian: have control over it. You know, like if I wanna go on a bike ride tomorrow with let’s say five people, I wanna be able to create, you know, gather people to, to do that. People I don’t know,
but I wanna be able to vet them.
Scott DeLuzio: Uh, okay,
Mike Chahinian: want just any five people to come. I
wanna, you know, I wanna be able to control it.
Scott DeLuzio: sure.
Mike Chahinian: And, and so that, that, you know, that idea was
basically the, the origin of this.
Scott DeLuzio: You know, I, I’ve been to a few meetup, uh, groups where. You know, it’s for, you know, general things that you might be interested in. And, and that’s fine because you at least have that common interest of whatever that that topic is that you’re coming to, to meet up and, and, uh, hang out about. Sometimes they, they would have a speaker that was, you know, a guest brought in to talk about something that’s relevant to whatever, whatever you’re, uh, interested in.
Um. But you’re [00:08:00] right, there’s, there’s not a lot of, um, direct connection with the individuals and then.
Mike Chahinian: Right,
Scott DeLuzio: Again, you gotta wait till next month when they do it again. And even if you did make a good connection with somebody who knows if they’re gonna show up next month, and then by two or three months later when they show up again, you, you’ve almost forgotten about the person.
And, and then, so there’s not really a good connection there. Uh, and so I, sure, yeah, you can exchange phone numbers and you can do stuff on your own, but that doesn’t tend to happen all that often. Um, and for the listeners who are. Maybe wondering, like, okay, why, why are we talking about this right now? Um, part of the reason why I wanted to have you on is first off, you know, you were in the Navy, you know, what it was like for, for you in your experience, transitioning outta the Navy, getting into school, moving to a different city, not really knowing anybody.
Uh, probably feeling like an outsider. Um, you know, the, the. [00:09:00] Uh, what was it, Billy Madison, uh, effect where you’re, you’re kinda like the older guy in, in college and, uh, you got a bunch of young kids in, in school and you’re, you’re a little bit older than them and, uh, maybe didn’t feel quite like you fit in.
And that’s a common thing with the, uh, the veterans who end up going to school after getting out. Um. Where do you find the group of like-minded people or people who are interested in the same type of activities that you are? And it doesn’t have to be all veterans, right? But it just people that you can now meet up with and connect with and do things with, um, whether you’ve moved to a new city or you just feel like.
You know, the old guy, uh, you know, next to the professor in, in the classroom, you’re, you’re the old guy in the class and you don’t really fit in with a ton of people. So, um, you know, so that’s what we’re trying to do, trying to help help veterans find a tool that might help them with reducing the, um, the issues that they may face with that [00:10:00] transition period.
Um. A lot of times veterans are isolating, they’re feeling like they just don’t fit in. And so, um, you know, I I feel like, uh, this is a great tool. You, you kind of described a little bit, but, um. How, what have you seen as far as, uh, you know, the, the user base and how it’s been, uh, received by, by people who are trying to do what things like you, you described like, meeting that small group of people to go for a bike ride or maybe play basketball or, uh, and it doesn’t just have to be a, a athletic activity either.
It could be, you know, any of those types of things that you, you might be interested in. Right? Like maybe give some ideas of what, what people might be using this for.
Mike Chahinian: Yeah. No, it’s just, I mean, it, it’s just been incredible and, and so encouraging to see the, the platform being used the way it is and, and, and how vibrant it is and, and, and how it, it started to become vibrant really early on without even a ton of users on it, which, which [00:11:00] was very encouraging. You know, we didn’t know at what point. That kind of vibrancy would, would happen. And, and it was, it was fairly early and people do it. I mean, people use it for sports activities, whether it’s pickleball, kickball, uh, they use it for church
activities like, you know, lunch after church
Scott DeLuzio: Mm.
Mike Chahinian: um, different, um, the book clubs and um, uh, let’s see what else?
Networking groups and, uh, movie nights. I mean, it’s just. The sky really, like the sky is the limit with Krew. That’s the thing. And uh, dance night, I mean, it just, it, it, it’s endless. I mean, the, the list of things, you know, every week and, and, um, it’s just is so encouraging. And, and, and, you know, we, we gather photos, um, that, that people send to us every week as well.
And it’s just so. Uh, it’s, it’s so, so encouraging to see all that kind of life change happening. And we post a lot of that on, on our Instagram and, and so you can see like what, [00:12:00] you know, just what a typical week at, at in, in Krew social is, is like, and kind of the, the way that we are, we are helping people and I. very encouraging and, and we have all these testimonials from people who really just, they come up to us and just start thanking us for making the app and for, you know, changing their lives in various ways and stuff. And, and like that, you know, that was not, I didn’t initially expect people to start coming up to me and thanking me, you know, and I created this
thing.
And that started to happen pretty early on also. Right?
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Mike Chahinian: go to our, you know, Instagram, you know, you can see in the early days, like, you know, 18 months ago, uh. There’s, you know, people, um, you know, coming up to me and thanking me. And, um, and we started after that happened like maybe 10 times. I, I started asking people if they wouldn’t mind, like just
basically repeating what they just said on video,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah,
Mike Chahinian: For like a minute or two. And usually they’re like, oh yeah, no, no problem. Right? And that’s, that’s really the origin of those, of those testimonials. They’re generally just [00:13:00] repeating what
what they told us privately.
Scott DeLuzio: yeah.
Sure, sure. And. When, when we have the ability to connect with people, uh, in, in this way. Right. Uh, lemme take a step back. A few, few months ago, like late last year, I, I was in New York City for a conference, and the conference had thousands of people, uh, attending this conference. So, um, and we all were clearly interested in the subject of the conference, otherwise we wouldn’t have.
All ventured to New York City and spent our time and resources and everything like that going there, right?
Mike Chahinian: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: Every day after the, the sessions ended at, at the end of the conference, I, I left the building. I, I had met people, I’d made connections, exchanged phone numbers, and, you know, LinkedIn contacts and all that kind of stuff.
I left there. I, I had zero people. From that conference that I was, uh, you know, able to go out, out to dinner with, or to, you know, just grab a drink [00:14:00] or, or something like that, whatever it was. Um, not that I was necessarily looking for that, but. Those opportunities weren’t really there. It wasn’t that type of conference either, you know?
Um, I wasn’t necessarily looking for friends, but I guess what my point is with that is that it, even with thousands of people all with similar interests, all concentrated in the same building,
Mike Chahinian: yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: those opportunities weren’t jumping out at you, uh, for, uh, for being able to even just have somebody to eat dinner with, you know?
Um, and. And so going to a new city by yourself, you, you move there, whether you’re living in, in an apartment or in a dorm or, uh, wherever it is that you’re, you’re living. Nobody knows you there and you know, unless you happen to. Know some people already before you move there, but nobody knows, knows you there, and they’re not going out of their way to make introductions to you and find out who you are because they have their [00:15:00] busy lives and that’s what they’re gonna go take care of.
And they don’t really care about you specifically as an individual until they do. And so how do they do that? You know, like things through your app where you meet up with people and, and you, you figure out ways to, uh. Find people with interest in common and then, then you get to know these people in real life and then you can make those connections a little bit more, uh, organically.
But, um, sometimes it’s just hard to find those people. You know, where, where do you find those people in, in real life, especially these days where everyone’s bearing their face and their phones and
they’re
Mike Chahinian: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: in person
talking. Interactions are, are fewer and far between, you know? So, um, those types of things are, are just really hard to do these days.
Especially in a, you know, a big city like that. You would, uh, think it would be easy ’cause there’s just so many people, but you know, it’s almost like too many people, Right.
Mike Chahinian: Right.
Scott DeLuzio: [00:16:00] Yeah.
Mike Chahinian: you, you bring up a great point. And, and that’s, and that, that drives me to kind of our next. next realization that we had kind of shortly after starting the company, which was that this could be a great way to
help people within organizations connect.
Scott DeLuzio: Hmm.
Mike Chahinian: and and that, and, and if that thesis is proven true, that could be a great way to monetize the company as opposed to relying on, on advertisements.
And so that was kind of. of the pleasant surprises of this is that we found that the, the community, uh, that we were creating started to get good at just a few hundred users. And so we knew that if, okay, well in that case, we know that if we invited at least a thousand to, let’s say, a private community for. You know, for anything, for a corporation, for a church, for a university, of course you get at least a few hundred signups
and, and you’d have a vibrant community.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Right.
Mike Chahinian: uh, and, and you know, we researched it and we found that there’s actually a lot of studies supporting [00:17:00] peer-to-peer connections among members of communities.
And, you know, whether it’s, uh, corporations, churches. Conferences. I mean, it increases engagement, it increases retention. Uh, you know, for conferences it would be repeat visits. Uh, you
know, for universities it would be fewer dropouts. For corporations, it’s, uh, less absenteeism, higher retention. You know, there, there’s, there’s a list of studies for, for every vertical. That we looked into. And so yeah, so we have started and we we’re currently pursuing corporations and churches ’cause we have early traction there, but eventually we’re gonna get into other verticals too. So including conferences, including universities and, and yeah, if, if. You know, again, I’m not sure exactly, you know, which, which conference you, you, you went to or whatever, but, but if it’s a conference that, especially values year round connections amongst its members, right.
And has, let’s say, multiple events throughout the year and maybe things in different parts of the country, um. [00:18:00] And, um, you know, had, has concentrations of at least a thousand members in, in different places at different times, then yeah, they could benefit tremendously from, from what we’re doing. And their members will form like bonds there that
will reinforce their brand.
Scott DeLuzio: Uh, yeah. Absolutely. Um, and so I, I feel like, um, in, in the, the platform that you, you’ve created cruise social, um, it’s, it’s allowing people to just kind of branch out, make those connections. Um, I. Many different areas of their lives. So, so for example, like you were just talking about, uh, in a company, um, where, you know, a corporation may have their own private thing where, um, let’s say someone wants to go for a walk at lunch and, but they don’t wanna go for a walk alone.
And so, hey, looking for people to go for a walk together, you know, two, maybe two or three people, uh, to go for a walk. Um, they can. They can search for those types of people [00:19:00] on, uh, on the internal company, uh, network. But then those people, you know, they get talking to each other, they get to know each other, and then they can, uh, you know, maybe they’re making, you know, these in, in-person connections and, and it, it becomes something, uh, you know, bigger and better, uh, than just going for a walk at lunchtime.
Um, and so, you know, when I, when I look at, uh, an app like this, I. I think about the service members who very often they get out and they just are so shut off by the civilian society. They, they don’t want to try to figure it out. They don’t want to like get out of their, go out of their way to, uh, do anything with the civilian population.
So. They end up isolating themselves. And, and that’s not a very great place to be from a mental health perspective. You’re, you’re doing all sorts of things that, [00:20:00] uh, you know, you, you need connection. You, you’re doing all these things by yourself, but you need to have some sort of connection, uh, in your life.
And that, that becomes extremely difficult because when you. Get used to being alone and isolated like that, it becomes easier to just say, well, this is just how it is. And it becomes harder and harder to make those, those social connections. So, um, you know, for people who maybe are just starting on this journey, uh, getting out of the military or maybe people have been out for a while and have been isolated from the rest of the world for a while, um, this seems like a great, uh, great path to get back, uh, into.
Joining up with some people, right?
Mike Chahinian: Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah. No, I, I think this would really, this would really help the veteran community. And we, we, we have a number of veterans right now in, in the app. I mean, two of my close friends at, at, you know, at [00:21:00] our church and our church community are are also fellow vets. We’ve all been helped tremendously. Buy this thing. I mean, I, I mean, gosh, I, I, I met, met my wife at a, at a hangout, uh, you know, on, on the app, right? And we both, her and I had been looking for someone for, uh, for, for a long time, uh, you know, basically ever since I, you know, got out of the Navy. So, which was about, you know, 10 years before, uh, before we met.
And we, and we met at a hangout, a casual after church lunch hangout that someone just. Threw up on the app that 15 people showed up to, and we just, we, uh, you know, we, we met there, but, and then we, um. we became friends, um, on the app and then we coordinated going to Hangouts for, you know, over the next month, uh, before we even, you know, ever exchanged numbers or anything.
Right. And then we exchanged numbers and started dating and stuff, and so was, yeah, no, it was, it was absolutely amazing. And, and, um, yeah, I mean, and, and you know, the other, the other veterans I know, um, have, you know, met a lot of, of really great [00:22:00] people, you know, as, as well. And, um, it, it is really, really encouraging. and we’re actually, talking to, um. A, uh, an international guard base, um, about, uh, using this, uh, for an air show initially, and then, uh, potential follow on community, uh, with, uh, for the
base itself, like for MWR, you know, so for
Scott DeLuzio: Oh, sure.
Mike Chahinian: families and stuff to improve, improve, uh, those. we actually, there are actually a couple of state reps who want to use us, um, uh, in the state of Florida.
They want us to build like a, a white labeled app for the state of Florida for
vulnerable populations, including veterans.
Scott DeLuzio: Okay.
Mike Chahinian: so, um, yeah, it would be, the baseline activities would be like existing activities for, for veterans and single mothers and stuff like that, that are all over the state. Um, but this would stitch it through in a, in a magical way and let people meet, find, and meet their people.
Right, and, and, and network and it in a. A very accelerated way and [00:23:00] make these, these
strong, uh, connections, um, that are supported by a lot of studies. I mean, when I, um, you know, when I, when I started researching this, uh, for, you know, the veteran community, I was, I was actually stunned by the, the studies that are out there.
I mean, um, the VA has found that loneliness is actually the highest factor correlated with depression and suicidal ideation, and, and they actually recommend frequent in-person hangouts.
As the, as the
solution, which
Scott DeLuzio: I, I mean, there couldn’t be a better endorsement right there, right?
Mike Chahinian: there couldn’t be, there really couldn’t be. And these are studies that came out, you know, a few years ago we had nothing to
do with, and, and it’s just so, it’s, it’s
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Mike Chahinian: that they, you know, they came out with these things and it’s, it’s, yeah, it’s
supporting really exactly what we do.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. You had talked about something, uh, just a, a second ago about, you know, coordinating with the Air National Guard base, but, uh, I, I was in the, the Army National Guard, so familiar with the National Guard, the Reserves, you know, that, [00:24:00] that type of, uh, service where. You don’t necessarily have a big base with a lot of resources available to you.
I was in the Connecticut Army National Guard. The the closest active duty military base was, uh, naval base, uh, down on the shore and, and in New London. Like, and, and that was like probably an over an hour away from where I lived. And so like there really wasn’t. Much as far as resources available, uh, to, to us, especially in a small state like that where, you know, there’s, there’s sporadic armories, you know, around the state that are kind of just positioned all over the place.
But, um, you know, there, there’s no real like central area where you can go, where there’s, uh, you know, activities for military families or, or anything like that. It just. It doesn’t happen that way. Uh, you know, too, too often. Um, uh, I’m not saying that they’re, they never had anything, but it’s just [00:25:00] in general, it, it’s, it’s not something that that takes place.
But, um, but if there was
a way to get connected with people through, um, you know, an app like this where it was, Hey, you know. Connecticut National Guard members, you know, check out this app, you know, to get together with other military families and you know, you know, for, uh, you know, whatever the event might be.
And, um, you, you can connect with, with people and get to know them and, uh, you know, hang out. And obviously you, you know, the people that you serve with, but there’s people outside of that too. Um, maybe even for the spouses when, uh, their loved one is deployed, uh, or, or, uh, off training someplace like, you know.
Uh, maybe want to get together ’cause kinda lonely for the next, you know, however many weeks or months, uh, that the, the person might be away. Um, and so that might be, that might be a cool way to, uh, get some of those families together and, and get them even, you know, if they have young kids, uh, [00:26:00] they can get those people together and they, they can do things together and you know that those people are.
Mike Chahinian: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: you know, looking for something to do because you’re looking for something to do too, and, and maybe, you know, just get those people together. So, um, that, that kind of just triggered something in my head too, that, that just made a whole lot of sense that, that you would, you would, uh, get together with the, you know, the National Guard bases, not just for,
Mike Chahinian: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: uh, airshow purposes, which I’m sure that that’s great, but, um,
Mike Chahinian: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: for.
Mike Chahinian: Right.
Scott DeLuzio: families and, and everything too. I think that’s, that’s incredible. But then, uh, like you said, the, the veteran populations, like, you know, in d different states that there’s, there’s a lot, a lot of work to be done in this area.
Mike Chahinian: Oh, definitely. Yeah. And, and, and to your point, this base is, is very, is very rural and, and isolated.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Mike Chahinian: so, and that was
one of the points they made is that it’s a, it’s in a
Scott DeLuzio: I.
Mike Chahinian: area with a lot of. You know, wildlife and scenery and stuff like that and, and outdoor things to do, but there’s not, like you have to [00:27:00] kind of create your own activities, right.
And create your own community and things
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Mike Chahinian: right? And so with a tool like this, you know, the airmen can, um, can coordinate, you know, lots and lots of healthy activities and outdoor things and hiking and kayaking and all, all kinds of stuff, right In, in a really safe, healthy way, which would be difficult to
do with without a tool like this.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, exactly. Because
to the point that we were talking about earlier, uh, you know, you’re not gonna just. Pick up the phone and call a random stranger and say, Hey, you want to go for a hike and, you know, check out the, the scenery in this area. You know, after just like, well, you know, you might be a serial killer.
So, no. You know, like that, that, that’s absolutely not, but you know, through, through an app like this, you know, you, you kind of can. Vet some of the people get to know a little bit about their background. I’d imagine too before, you know, go going and doing that. So you’re not gonna just pick up the phone and call someone randomly, but the app, you know, you, you get to kind of know the people a little bit beforehand.
Right. Is [00:28:00] that that kind of how it works?
Mike Chahinian: That’s exactly, that’s exactly right. Yeah. You get to
control who, who you hang out with. So
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Mike Chahinian: a double opt-in system, and so you have to be either invited, uh, to, uh, hang out
or you have to ask to join and be accepted
Scott DeLuzio: Mm.
Mike Chahinian: So
before you get the exact location. And, and access to the chat and all, and all that stuff.
So, yeah. So you get, as you’re, if you’re the organizer, you get to, you get to control
who you, who you’re hanging out with.
Scott DeLuzio: And, and it’d probably be, uh, you know, I would imagine there’s a way that you can kind of say like, invite only, uh, type of thing where, um. You know, only if you know somebody who we actually know so they can vet you and, and say that you’re actually legit and, and you’re, you’re good to go. That, that type of thing, um, I’d imagine is, is a, a way that you can, you could probably do that, right?
And, um, and that. Just gives that one more sense of security, you know, versus just random meetups where you have no [00:29:00] idea who’s showing up. And uh, and I’ve, I’ve been to some meetups and some of the people who showed up were like,
like, oh my gosh, I can’t get outta here fast enough. You know?
Mike Chahinian: Of course, of course. Yeah. And, and, and, yes. And you can invite as many or as
few people, you know, as, as you want,
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Mike Chahinian: And, um, and it will also, it shows you who, um, uh, who you have a lot in common with, gets a special badge in the app as a good potential friend. And you can click on, on their profiles if they, you know, if they ask to join you, for example,
and you can see what you have. common, it
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Mike Chahinian: that and it’ll highlight those attributes in, in Lyme. And so you can see like, okay, this, these are, these are the things we have in common and these are the things, you know, to talk about and stuff like that. And it’s, and it’s a very detailed profile. I mean, it, it’s all optional.
Of course, you can fill out as much or as little as you want, but it, it’s, it’s much more detailed than, Facebook or,
or, or LinkedIn, for example. Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, and I’ve,
I’ve been to, uh, other [00:30:00] conferences, not the one that I was talking about this, this last time, but I’ve been to other conferences where, uh, there’s. You know, a list of attendees on, uh, like the, the conference website, or they may, sometimes they have an app or something like that, and they do similar things to that where, where they, they list shared interests.
Uh, you know, here are the people who, you know, have the, these types of interests or, or maybe from a, a certain geographic area. Uh, they’ll, they’ll connect you that way. Um, and, and then when you get there, you, you. Know already that, okay, these are the people that I’m, I’m kind of looking for that I want, I want to hang out with and I want, I wanna learn more about, or talk with and, and get to get to know these folks.
Um, and so that sounds like exactly what you’re, you’re talking about here. And this is just on a much. Bigger scale because you can, you can scale this out not just to one particular conference, although you could do, do it just for that, uh, you know, event. But you, you can scale this out to a much bigger thing, um, [00:31:00] you know, where it’s cities or states or countries even, you know, where, where you, you can, uh, scale this out to any number of people that you want.
Um, and, and that to me is an, uh, a really good, um. A really good way to get folks connected. Um, and, you know, especially, you know, the, the PTSD, the um, uh, other social, uh, issues that, that veterans are having that, that’s a big challenge and it allows them to kind of tip their toe in the, the waters and, you know, they don’t have to jump right in, but they, they can.
Do as little or as much as they’re comfortable with doing and, you know, get themselves back into the swing of things. Um, you know, maybe start with smaller groups of, you know, maybe five people or so, and,
Mike Chahinian: Right.
Scott DeLuzio: and then you can expand out from there. So that’s, you know, in terms of like the, that mental health, the social connection, those [00:32:00] types of things that we were talking about, I think this can be an incredible tool to support those kind of veterans who are struggling with those types of issues.
Right.
Mike Chahinian: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And, and, and we have been, um, one of our investors is actually, um, connected to the VA as, as, and, uh, a as well as one of the, one of the, the, the, the top nationwide veterans organizations. And so, so we’re planning to, we’re planning to have a conversation with, with both of them about, you know, about. with them, you know, to
do, you know, it can be a white labeled app or, or
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Mike Chahinian: to help help that
community out specifically.
Scott DeLuzio: Well, I can even see, uh, organizations like these big national organizations in American Allegion or VFW or you know, any of those types of organizations where they can get their members, you know, in a, you know, kinda like a white LA labeled app like that where they can get those folks together and they can, you know, organize their own events outside of, you know, normal, uh.[00:33:00]
VFW meetings or, or those types of things, uh, where they might go into their local chapter and, and do their, whatever the meetings are, um, they can organize stuff outside of that as well. Um, because some of these chapters might be so big that you may not know necessarily everybody who’s in in it or even in, in neighboring chapters that you, you aren’t.
Part of necessarily, um, but still, why not be able to connect these people together and, and be able to, um, you know, foster some of that community and, and those other connections. Right.
Mike Chahinian: Exactly. Yeah. And, and we use the organization’s existing activities, whether it be the, the VFW or you know, corporation or church or whatever. We
use their existing activity as the baseline for
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Mike Chahinian: right? So, so it helps with those, it helps you. Find your people at those who, who you have the most in common with and stuff like that.
But we also allow user generated hangouts and, and you know, as long as the organization is fine with it and there’s different ways to control it, and [00:34:00] there’s a lot of guardrails and, and stuff like that with, with that. But, uh, in general, that’s the part that really, Makes it amazing. ’cause there’s so many different things that can be done, right?
So now instead of, you know, one or two things a month, now you’re talking about, you know, dozens of things, right?
You’re talking about at least something every day, right?
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Mike Chahinian: over the place and people interacting with the kinds of activities that they. Specifically wanna do, right? Like, maybe they wanna do a, a, a, a movie night or
a, uh, you know, a, a painting thing or,
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Mike Chahinian: a book club or, or whatever, right.
They can, they can use the app to, to find their people
doing whatever they want.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And, and the nice thing for the, the user is that they can do. As little or as much as they want with, with this, uh, type of, um, the, or sorry, these types of activities they,
Mike Chahinian: Mm-hmm.
Scott DeLuzio: yeah. Maybe, maybe saying, yeah, there’s dozens of activities that you can do a month, uh, you know, through this thing [00:35:00] that might.
That might sound overwhelming to certain people and they’re like, I don’t know. I don’t know what all that Well, you don’t have to do all of them right
Mike Chahinian: right.
Scott DeLuzio: there. There’s, there’s some of those out there that you, you may not be interested in a book club maybe for example, but you might be interested in, you know, going hiking with some folks or, you know, painting or.
Something, you know, whatever. Um, and so, you know, go do the things that you’re interested in and you’ll, you’ll start to make those connections. And, um, you know, may, maybe each of those activities only meets once a month, but some of those people are, there’s gonna be some crossover, uh, between those, those groups.
And you’re gonna start to meet some of those people. And it’ll be maybe on a weekly basis that you’re meeting some of these people. Um, and you get to do, um, you know, different events. So again, I. Just for the listeners who are, are with us right now, I, I want them to just understand what it is that we’re talking about here.
We’re really just trying to just battle this isolation, um, that, that very [00:36:00] often takes place. After the transition out, uh, especially dealing with people with PTSD or other mental health conditions, um, these, these transitions can be exceptionally difficult, difficult for, uh, a veteran. And sometimes the easy thing is to just get into that isolation.
And that’s unfortunately not the best thing to do, but it’s what we, a lot of us find ourselves doing and. We don’t want to continue going down that road. We don’t want our veterans to, to do that. We want them to be able to get out and, and, uh, socialize and, and start to thrive and not just kind of. Shrink and wither away.
Right. Which I’m, I’m sure you, you maybe were starting to feel that, you know, in your college days before, uh, you know, school start classes started and all that, uh, when you moved to a new city and didn’t know anybody, and yeah, sure. Maybe for the first few days it was fine because it’s a big city. It might be [00:37:00] new, exciting.
And, but then once then you’ve kind of explored all the, the hotspots. Okay, now what’s next? Right. And, and that’s, uh, you probably started to feel. Quite alone. And that, that’s, that’s pretty, pretty difficult in when, uh, to go through when you’re in a, especially in a big city like that, right?
Mike Chahinian: Oh yeah. And ab absolutely. No, I mean actually people say New York is the loneliest city in the world. Right. Which is, which is fascinating, right? ’cause I mean, yeah, there’s tons of people, but everybody’s doing their own thing. And, and, and also people are very, they’re very driven career wise, right? And so there’s a very, they’re spending long
hours at work and stuff like that.
and
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Mike Chahinian: People tend to, you know, stay in their lanes and everything, and so it’s. Yeah, I mean, it’s a, it, it’s a very challenging situation. I, I think, to move to any new city without, um, without being part of some kind of like existing like program. Like if you’re, you know, like if you’re going there for a school or something, then you’re kind of, you’re [00:38:00] slotted into a program.
Now, of course,
schools have their own issues with loneliness and stuff like
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah.
Mike Chahinian: have had a lot of interest from universities too, you know, so, so there is, there is stuff going on there, but. But let’s say for the transitioning veteran who’s getting out and, and is moving to, you know, a city with, uh. You know, especially without a family, right? Moving to a city and is, you know, for a new job or something like that. I mean,
it’s, know, it’s just brutal,
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Mike Chahinian: absolutely. Um, absolutely brutal, right? And, and maybe he or she will eventually find some of these tools, you know, like the meetup, like the Facebook groups and, and stuff like that.
But like I said, I mean, those tools are so weak that you could, you could keep up with it
for a year before you make a friend.
Scott DeLuzio: Right. Exactly.
Mike Chahinian: So weak.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Yeah. I.
Even, even if they do have a family, you said, you know, especially if they don’t have a family, but even if they do have a family, um, they’re, they’re family. Like if, if let’s say [00:39:00] the, uh, the service member goes and gets a job and that’s why they move to the new city. Um, and their, their spouse maybe is still.
Staying at home, you know, with their kids or something like that. They don’t maybe have a job or, or maybe they do have a job, um, and maybe they don’t have any kids, whatever the, their living situation happens to be. It might be a new city for that person too. And they might want to, you know, meet up with someone, uh, you know, for a different activity than their spouse.
And so, um. You know, may, maybe the spouse is into outdoor activities and the the other one’s into, you know, a book club or something. And so they’re, they’re gonna be looking for those types of people as well. And so, um, it, it’s helpful for all around, uh, the, the entire. I feel like the entire military community’s currently serving or, or not, uh, it, it’s gonna be beneficial all, all the way around.
So, um, this is definitely [00:40:00] something I, I, I want to, uh, definitely highlight and, and get those, uh, uh, get that resource out to the listeners. Um. I was going to ask you a question, but I think you already kind of answered it because I was gonna ask you what, one of the more impactful story success stories, uh, that you’ve witnessed through this, this, uh, program, but you met your wife through, uh, Krew Social, so I, I don’t know.
I can’t, I I really can’t think of anything more impactful than that, than finding someone that you can spend the rest of your life with. Uh, do you have any kids?
Mike Chahinian: We don’t have any kids yet.
Scott DeLuzio: Okay.
Mike Chahinian: uh, so we got married literally, uh, sorry. We, we met literally just a
few months after the thing launched.
Scott DeLuzio: Oh, okay.
Mike Chahinian: Ago or so, and then we, we
got married, uh, a year later, so, so
Scott DeLuzio: Okay.
Mike Chahinian: about, about six months ago.
Scott DeLuzio: Okay,
Mike Chahinian: uh, and
yeah, no, it’s, it’s, it’s it’s been great.
Um,
Scott DeLuzio: excellent.
Mike Chahinian: um, yeah, we, you know, we, we, we do wanna have a [00:41:00] family and hopefully the Lord will, will bless us with that at, at some point. But, um, you know. Uh, we’re just, we’re enjoying our marriage. And, and it’s, and it’s such a blessing, you know, the, the, way God used,
uh, our own app to bring us together in
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Mike Chahinian: way, which was not expected, was, was just incredible.
Right. And we were both kind of, we’re both wondering for several, we’re both kind of dating and wondering for several years. Like, where’s my person? You know, how come I can’t, why can’t I meet anyone? You know, good. And, you know, stuff like that. And, and then, and then in the end it was like, okay, no, God, you just like. Your own app to like, to do it right, which obviously five years
before what that wouldn’t have happened. So
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Mike Chahinian: oh, okay. Got it. So this is great. And it happened completely serendipitously, right? I mean, like I said, we were just, we were at a, you know, just a after trips lunch hanging out with, with 15 people. And, and you couldn’t even do that on any other platform. You, there’s no other platform. You can just do a ca, I mean, casual. You could, someone can throw up a, you know, casual after church lunch, hang out for 15 people. You, you can’t. You know, you can’t put that,
[00:42:00] you, you just can’t do that anywhere
else.
Scott DeLuzio: Right. So to me that’s, that’s probably one of the more impactful stories. I, I would imagine that that probably came through there. And the reason why I asked about kids, uh, if you, if you had any kids, was, uh, because then literally someone’s lives could be, uh, uh, tied back to this app. And that’s pretty, uh, impressive as well.
Um. And I’m, you know, who knows, maybe there might be some other folks who met and got married and maybe had kids. And so maybe there are some, uh, some, some souls that are walking around this planet right now that, uh, maybe wouldn’t have been had, uh, had this app not existed. And so, you know, it’s, it’s just amazing how, uh, people, people can meet and get connected and, you know, battle that loneliness and the isolation.
Um, and, and so, um, I. You know, this is, this is certainly an incredible, uh, thing that, that you have put together, and I’m, I’m really glad to be able to share it on the show. Um, before we wrap up, [00:43:00] can you, uh, tell the listeners a little bit, uh, uh, about where they can learn more about cruise social and connect with either you or the team or, or you know, where they can, uh, get, get started with it?
Mike Chahinian: Oh yeah. A hundred, a hundred percent. And let me share, actually, I’ll, I’ll share. Um, the, the most
impactful story sticking in my head, um,
Scott DeLuzio: Okay.
Mike Chahinian: else has told me, that a friend has told me on the app
Scott DeLuzio: Okay.
Mike Chahinian: um, he said that, and this is on our, you can see this on our Instagram from, uh, from from March. Um, his name is Luke.
And he came with us to a serve project, um, that my wife and I were, uh, we’re leading once a month. And, uh. And he, was, he was, you know, raving about the app and, and, and stuff like that. I said, oh, great. You don’t mind saying that on video, right? So we started recording the video. Um, and then he said something that he actually, you know, didn’t say to me in the few minutes, uh, before we started recording, which he said that the, the Krew, he said that the Christmas, um, hangouts on Krew, you know, [00:44:00] with with friends in the community were, was the best Christmas he’s ever had. And he is a grown man in his thirties. I mean, he’s not a, he’s not a 3-year-old child saying it’s the best Christmas ever. You
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Mike Chahinian: 30
Christmases already. Right.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Mike Chahinian: so, and you know, but he’s his, his family’s far away. He couldn’t, you know, go home to see them and stuff. You know, his job, obviously his job, you know, his office closed for Christmas, you know, and so he is like, well. Doesn’t really have anything obvious to do. And, and someone again, we, you know, the, the, the company had nothing to do with this. Some, somebody put up some great Christmas hangouts, um, like at their home and doing different activities, um, at, on the app,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Mike Chahinian: And, uh, and, and I, I actually went to, to one of these things too, and it was, it was amazing.
It was wonderful. It was gifts being exchanged and, you know, all, all kinds of stuff. And it was, it was just a, it was a fantastic experience, but to hear that. [00:45:00] To hear that it impacted someone that much, that it was the best Christmas he’s ever had was like, thanks to Krew Social. I mean that’s, that’s a lot.
I mean, that’s, that’s really a lot to take in. I mean, that, that, that, I mean, that
really impacted me.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, for sure. Um.
I, I would imagine that that would, uh, it would impact me too. I, I would think because, um, yeah, for someone who’s, you know, in their thirties, you know, 30 some odd Christmases that they’ve had and, and this was the best, that’s pretty incredible. And, uh, that, that, that would, uh, that I think that would
maybe be chalked up as a Christmas miracle.
We, we, I think we can go with that. Right.
Mike Chahinian: yeah. Yeah. Literally, literally it was, it was fantastic. Um, so, yeah, no, I’m, I’m thrilled we’re able to facilitate experiences like that and, and yeah. So if people wanna get involved, so there’s a couple ways. One, if you live in Tampa. Go ahead, download the app and [00:46:00] start doing hangouts. Right. So we do, we do have a public community that anyone can join.
Um, the public community has a fair amount of stuff going on in Tampa currently. We haven’t done anything to promote the public community because we’re, we’re doing this enterprise first strategy. Where we’re we? We are working on talking to, uh, to churches, corporations, other organizations about
making private communities within the app.
Scott DeLuzio: Gotcha.
Mike Chahinian: if you’re in Tampa. Feel free to reach out to, let’s say, one of our team members. So, um, [email protected] and, and, uh, if you’re interested in joining one of our church communities, for example, and, and we can get you, um, in there as well. And so you’ll see even more stuff, you know, going on in the app. Um, if you’re outside of Tampa. free to use the app, um, you know, to, to, you know, organize, coordinate whatever you want. We have a new, uh, WhatsApp GroupMe replacement feature that’s actually way more powerful because it will show you, it shows each person who they have the most in common within the group. and yeah, and, and, and it has a, a [00:47:00] hangout
coordination feature, uh, for the group.
Scott DeLuzio: Okay.
Mike Chahinian: so, um, yeah, very, very powerful. Creates a
new thread for every hangout and stuff like that.
Scott DeLuzio: Oh, cool.
Mike Chahinian: And if you want, um, if you want this to be used, um, you know, by your corporation or your church, um, please, um, you know, reach out to us.
We have a, a, you know, we have, we have a, a gift card incentive program for, you know, for, for any referrals that we get. Um, we just really, the only requirement is that they have, um, least a thousand members. So ideally between 1,005 thousand members, whether it’s a corporation or a church. either way that’s, that’s kind of like the. Um,
the, the, size that we’re going for right
Scott DeLuzio: Great.
Mike Chahinian: means at least a thousand people invited to a private community. Um, and, um, you know, more than 5,000 it gets, uh, it just
becomes a complicated conversation. Um, but, but, but, but yeah, so that, so that’s a way to get involved and you can, you can email, um. [00:48:00] Uh, Ashley as well, you know about that. Um, and, uh, just let, let her know and, um, and, and we will, we’ll get in touch and, and, uh, you know, we’ll, we’ll get you a, a gift card if it’s, if it’s a customer that, that makes sense for
us. And
Scott DeLuzio: Sound.
Mike Chahinian: it.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Sounds great. Well, we will, uh, put some links in the show notes for, uh, the listeners. Um. And you said download the app. That’s it. Just, uh, you know, any, you know, any of the, like the app store and, you know, Google Play and all that kinda stuff is, is where you can go. So we’ll put those links in the, the show notes, uh, for the listeners.
Um, but, uh, but Mike, it’s, it’s been great, uh, chatting with you. Um, you know, learning a little bit about, uh, Krew social and, uh, you know, how it’s, how it can help those folks who are just kind of out there isolated and not really, uh. Not really able to make those connections on their own. And so, uh, I think this is a great opportunity for folks to, uh, get to get [00:49:00] together, connect and, uh, you know, get that real in life, in, in person, uh, connection, real life and in-person connections.
Uh, I think it’s, it’s just a great opportunity. So thank you again for taking the time to come on and, and for doing what you’re doing.
Mike Chahinian: Yeah. Well thank you and thanks for, thanks for having me, Scott. And thanks for, you know, all the, all
the work that you put into this podcast,
Scott DeLuzio: Absolutely. Thanks so much.