Latest / Your Thoughts Your Reality / Empowering Veteran Resilience: Danny O'Neel's Journey from Military Service to Entrepreneurial Success and Community Support

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Empowering Veteran Resilience: Danny O'Neel's Journey from Military Service to Entrepreneurial Success and Community Support · Your Thoughts Your Reality

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Welcome to your Thoughts, your Reality with Michael Cole, the podcast that shines a compassionate light on the journey of veterans battling through life's challenges.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Michael is a dual elite certified neuro encoding specialist in coaching and keynote training presentations dedicated to guiding military veterans as they navigate the intricate pathways of post-deployment life.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Join him as we delve into the profound realm of neuroencoding science, empowering these brave individuals to conquer universal battles procrastination, self-doubt, fear and more.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Together, let's uncover the strength within you to re-engage with families and society, forging a new path forward.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Hello, hello, hello everybody.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: So we have a good friend, danny O'Neill, back on today, super excited, especially after that amazing gala you just put on for Warfighter Overwatch We'll talk a little bit about that, but just really happy to have you back on.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: I want to apologize really quick for Instagram.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: We're having a tech issue.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: It wouldn't go live, so I guess you're not going to hear it regardless, but anyway.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: So Danny O'Neill is a proud Army veteran who listed on 9-11 and quickly rose to the rank of sergeant.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: He's faced significant hardships, including losing nine brothers in combat during his tours in Iraq, and even more with the fight at home.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: If you will, danny has turned his paint into purpose, becoming the owner of Kinetic Ink, tattoo, kinetic Threads and, of course, the chairman of the board for Waterport.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: We're Fighter Overwatch.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: And, lastly, danny's journey from the battlefield to entrepreneurship exemplifies resilience, purpose and the relentless drive veterans can harness to achieve success, and that's really what we're going to talk about a lot today.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: So, danny, welcome my friend.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Good to see you again.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: It was like I just saw you on Saturday.
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you for having me man.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: That sounds way cooler than I am in real life, I think.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: And yet it's not.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: So tell us a little bit more about yourself for people that don't know yet haven't seen me on the podcast before yeah.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: So I mean, one of the big reasons that we've um got warfighter overwatch, uh, in our lives and in our community is because, uh, not only did I have friends who started committing suicide after we got home, but specifically one of my brothers, our sniper, adam Smith.
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: He committed suicide and you know, a bunch of us showed up at his funeral and it was like, you know, we should have been here three weeks ago and and when he was still alive, and just reminded him that he wasn't alone.
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: But this has been something that my family has dealt with.
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: Somebody in my family has fought in every war since the revolutionary war.
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: So my, my dad.
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: When I was a freshman, I walked into my dad getting ready to commit suicide.
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: I'm lucky we stopped him.
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: He's still here.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: My grandfather committed suicide.
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: He's a World War II vet.
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: He committed suicide when my dad got sent to Vietnam.
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: He's buried in the Golden Gate National Cemetery and my grandfather was just everyone in my father's side all the way back has been some sort of war fighter.
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: And you know, if you had told me that I was going to struggle with mental health issues.
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: I'd have laughed in your face and told you to move along.
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: Wrong guy.
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: But it did happen to me and so this was my way of finding those, those war fighters who are struggling and you know, kind of pulling them from the depths and just reminding them that they didn't go to war alone, they didn't get gunfights alone.
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: We don't fight our battles back here alone.
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: We use our support system and just help provide that support system.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: Amen, man, and thank you for what you do truly.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: You know, again, being at the gala and just hearing some stories and of course we've known each other, we've talked, had lunch, all that good stuff and you know the fight at home is real.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: You know, we train our soldiers, we condition our soldiers to do the unthinkable and not everybody goes into, you know, into battle specifically, but we don't take care of them the way we should at home.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: This is why I do what I'm doing, right?
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: We all as a society need to come together and serve them like they served us.
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: That's that's exactly right, yeah.
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: And when we have these group of individuals who put everything on the line for the rest of us, they deserve our support.
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: And you know, I have had so many friends who they still chase that adrenaline rush, right.
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: So every year I still jump out of planes and all that stuff.
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: But I have friends who went into the fire service or became a police officer because they still wanted to help, they still wanted to serve and this gave them an opportunity.
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: So I've had so many stories and individuals who have come back and then had, you know, compounded trauma on top of the combat stuff.
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: And I knew that, you know, compounded trauma on top of the combat stuff, and I knew that, you know, the the support they needed went further than what their agencies provided.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: And that's really why we're here is to help, you know, bridge that gap.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: And speaking of that before I forget, because I do it all the time speaking of camaraderie and support on the top right hand corner of your screen I always point wrong top top right-hand corner of your screen there's a blue QR code.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: Please scan that.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: It takes you to Empower Performance Strategies.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: There are free e-books, there are trainings, there are free connection calls.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: Just get involved.
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: There's Facebook groups, get involved in communities, get that support.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: It's here.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: It's there, available for you.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: So please check that out Again.
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: If you're on the call or the podcast, you know that thing later listening, it's EmpowerPerformanceStrategiescom.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: So let's dive in.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: Huh, danny, yeah, all right, excellent.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: So you know, today is really about you know veterans and betting on themselves.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: And why don't as many and obviously there's, you know not having a plan when you come out of the military, that that reintegration period or transition period, whatever you want to call it and thinking you don't have the resources, not remembering all the amazing things that you learn in the military and using those skill sets.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: So let's kind of dive in with why do you think that not as many veterans are betting on themselves?
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: Fear of failure.
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: I think you're afraid that if you go all in and you know something doesn't work out right, you hear statistics.
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: You know small businesses usually fail within the first what is it?
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: 24 months, I think it is first two years.
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: So that's pretty tough and when you're thinking about those odds, it can be, you know, very daunting and seem overwhelming to you know where do I even start?
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: And the truth is that I mean taking the first step of saying, all right, I want to start my own business.
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: I'm really good at whatever specific area and to me, you don't even have to be great, you don't have to be an expert in an area, you just have to start right.
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: And I do these speaking engagements and I talk to kids and I tell them listen, all right, I'm going to give you the secret to success, like you know, for life, and then we'll get on with my speech.
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: So I tell them, like, there's two things you have to do.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: First, you have to be persistent, right, you have to be willing to try.
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: I guess there's three things.
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: First, you have to be vulnerable enough to try something new, right.
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: And then you have to be persistent.
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: This is key.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: You have to continue going, because that's where you're going to own your skills.
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: And, lastly, you have to get consistently good.
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: Once you're consistently good, people will pay you to do those things so that they don't have to do them because they know that you're just going to do a better job than them.
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: Right, youtube can only teach you so much.
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: So when you have that expertise and someone who's been doing this for a while, you're willing to pay them.
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: Right, and it's the easiest way I can show you is like if we have an accountant a lot of people don't like doing maths you just pay them to do your taxes and handle your business.
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: So you know, quickbooks isn't that hard.
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: You can figure this stuff out.
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: So it's like people are afraid to start and I think, if they look back, what we want to help them or show them is that when you look back and you put your feet on those yellow boots when you join the military and even for civilians you've tried something new.
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: It was scary in the beginning.
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: You didn't know how it was going to turn out.
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: You didn't know if you were going to be successful.
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: You didn't know if you were going to meet the standard right In the military.
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: That's what it was all about.
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: Right, I want to make sure that I'm a soldier that people can count on.
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: I'm solid, and I know that if we help them tap into that warrior spirit, they'll remember that what they taught me in the military was to be successful in any austere environment.
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: Right, I went to Korea.
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: I was in the mountains, it was freezing, it snowed.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: I'm from Northern California, it's usually sunny here, so there's you know, they sent me to Iraq.
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: It was 120 degrees.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: It was not my favorite place on earth and it was a little bit of an austere environment.
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: I was expected to be successful anyways, and so if we can remember that we can, we can do this.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, and I think you made multiple great points there.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: So you know, I always try to also tell people you know, what would you love?
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: Dream for a minute, just for a second, just dream, because when people get very stuck in how and it's a dream stealer I'm telling you right now the how is the dream stealer?
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: Figure out, what would you love, what am I good at?
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: Like you said right, what do I enjoy that.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: I'm telling you right now the how is the dream stealer?
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: Figure out what would you love, what am I good at?
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: Like you said, right, what do I enjoy that I'm good at.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: Figure that out and then start creating that plan, because it's magical, how little.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: Taking that action, like we talked about, right, taking that little action, just that little 2% change of the steering wheel, takes you to Disneyland or Cabo or wherever you want to go, instead of just going straight forward where you just see all the stop signs.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: You know, yeah, really, just focus on what you're good at, like you said, danny, what you would love, and then start chunking it down.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: You know, I would say as well, I'm sure you did this and we can go back and forth.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: We have very similar stories in this case with you know we didn't necessarily have all those skill sets, but what did we do?
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: We researched we.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: For me, my whole career with a construction company that we've had for over 17 years now was talk to the people that are successful.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Take these little tidbits.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: You know I'm not a high school graduate.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: I went and took my GED, but you know how did you put together and start your company?
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: I'd love to hear this more.
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: So the first one I bought and it was the tattoo shop.
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: Now listen, you do not want me drawing on you, right?
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: And this is free marketing.
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: My family doesn't necessarily approve of all this, right?
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: This isn't what my mom wanted on my neck.
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: My tattoos do tell stories and I enjoy that part, but the truth is that I'm great with people and I can relate to anyone man.
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: I've been through enough experience in my life where I know that we're much more alike than we are different.
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: And, to be honest, I had a buddy who he was an army ranger as well and he was.
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: He started the shop and so he's a firefighter now, like we talked about, right?
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: So these guys go into these professions and he's busy.
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: He has three daughters, one of them special needs, and he wanted to focus on other things.
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: And, to be honest with you, in the beginning it wasn't a great business model.
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: It was mostly a bunch of vets going down there drinking and doing things we weren't supposed to in the tattoo shop and our wives kind of made us knock that stuff off.
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: Now I don't really drink a whole lot anymore, but at the time I was right.
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: I had bad coping skills and this was one way of doing that, and so, anyhow, my wife and I, I talked Fawn my beautiful bride into allowing me to purchase this business that I couldn't actually make run by me doing tattoos.
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: It was going to have to be the artists that were there, first off, maintaining those relationships, and two, building new ones and making sure I get folks and clients into the shop, into the chairs, and they do that with trust trust that I built my reputation in the community and the work that I've done here.
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: So the first one was the tattoo shop Kinetic Ink Tattoo Company, and it's been amazing to start there.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, fantastic, and let's dive a little deeper into that.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: So basically I would say and I know you and I'm going to go with just based on what you said, if I didn't know you I'd say so you built that company based on your leadership skills.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: You a lot of learn from the military, I would assume.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: Absolutely so.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: I knew there was going to be hardships and adversity and the truth is that, you know, I've survived a hundred percent of my bad days and I expected that to continue, even as a as a new business owner.
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: And, um, you know I I did those things that you just mentioned a minute ago.
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: I talked to people who've been in this business.
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: I've tried to learn as much as I can.
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: Number one, about how the business would function and what I thought was the best practices that I'd found.
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: And two, I discarded the stuff that I felt wasn't going to work and didn't appeal to.
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: You know the people that are my target audience, right?
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: So we give discounts to veterans and first responders.
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: You know I want their families coming in there and know that this is a family business and you know, even kids are welcome in there to come hang out with the family, because it's not some raunchy drug infested.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: You know, tattoo shop this place is special and you know I have.
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: I had this lady.
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: I'll give you a quick example.
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: Um, this lady messaged me and she said hey, you know, I want to get my daughter's ear pierced.
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: Do you guys have nudity all over your walls?
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: And in the shop.
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: She said I went into a shop and I didn't want to bring my kid in there.
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: I said, um, I do not.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: I do not have any, any nudity on the walls.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: What I do have are my friends who were killed in combat.
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: I have their pictures on the wall.
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: And I have people who serve our community locally first responders and I have their pictures on the wall gave their lives in the line of duty and I tell their stories, I say their names and she goes I'll be down there in 20 minutes.
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: And it was kind of that thing where you realize we're different than other places and you don't have to be a veteran or first responders for everybody, but it is a special place and so I had to focus on that.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: You know that's so beautiful.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: And I want to say something you stand out because you're not the same as everybody else.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: You know you stand out and that's the beautiful thing.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: You're not the same and, danny, my friend, you're not the same.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: You know what I mean.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: I say that in a beautiful way.
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: I love you to death, man.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: And you know just that you have that safe place, that family place, and it's just there to honor, and that's a lot of what tattoos are as well they are so like I love, like we get so much different art in there and again, they tell stories and sometimes they don't.
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: Some people just want different stuff, right, but most of the time, the people that come in there, like.
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: I'll give you another example we had a canine chp officer and, um, you know, one of his dogs had passed away and uh, canine officers, so he got that dog and the badge number on there and, like, those are the ones we love doing memorial tattoos and just reminding us that you know everything that, like, for example, exist.
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: If it wasn't for veterans fighting for our country, for our freedom and I wouldn't, I certainly wouldn't be able to do what I do without, um, our, our first responders.
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: So I'm, I'm, I just want to show gratitude to those folks who uh, allow our country to to do what we do.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: Amen, man, that's, that's why we're all, that's why we're both doing this right.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: So thank you for that.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: So I want to kind of dive back.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: You know you talked about the fear of rejection.
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: You know the fear of success is also a real thing.
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: I've dealt with it.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: I guarantee you have too.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: It's like, oh man, if that blows up, how am I going to deal with that?
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: Right, you know there are multiple fears that come into play that hold people up, and really it's just our thoughts.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: It's not based on anything except for our thoughts, right, and don't let your thoughts become your reality in that way.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: So let's go back to.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: You know what I want to do something?
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: Right, and we're going to go back to why and what made you take that first step before you even talked to Fawn about it.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: You know, you had it in your head, right, it was like you know what I'm going to do something, this is what I want to do.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: So what do you think brought you to that?
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: And how did you create leverage of yourself?
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: Because that's what it's all about pain over pleasure principle how do you create that leverage to actually take that first step?
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: well, I'd want to.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: You know, I wanted to be my own boss, uh, because?
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: Well, a number of reasons.
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: Whenever you would see flaws in leadership, uh, and other aspects.
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: Like any job, you're going to have people that you don't always get along with or that you disagree with, and you know, in the military there's a pecking order, right.
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: When you're the boss, people are going to listen to you, but a good leader will say, hey, if any of you guys have an idea on how we should accomplish this mission or this task, you know, speak now.
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: And and you want that from your people, right?
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: So it's that buy-in that you get from them, that they have ownership in this too, and we try to treat our business like it is a family.
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: We're in there to support each other and help each other, and I want to make sure that we're pushing each other to grow, because that's the same thing we did in the military, right?
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: So those skills and the values that I learned in the military, I try to implement them now, and I want the artists to do the same thing we did in the military, right?
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: So those skills and the values that I learned in the military, I try to implement them now, and I want the artist to do the same thing.
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: You are your own business owner.
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: You're a 1099er, right.
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: So this is on you as well to help grow your business.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that you're making money, because that helps me.
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: But I wanted to be able to golf when I wanted to, or take my family on vacation or, uh, you know, create my own schedule, and so I get to help other people do that too, right.
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: I don't micromanage what they do in their schedule.
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: If you know, my business hours say noon to 9 PM, but you want to come in at, you know, eight in the morning, I'm not going to say no, so, uh.
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: And if you want to go pick up your kids from school, I understand that too, right.
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: So you know the object is to make money.
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: But the truth is like, just like when I talked to these first responders.
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: So now I take these guys on a, on a hike guys and gals on a hike before they graduate from the um academy.
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: That was the chief said.
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: What can we do to help these folks?
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: I said, before they ever go on a call, let me talk to them and my just my quick reminder at the end of my speaking to them is that, listen, your job, it's going to replace you one day, right?
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: You're not going to be on your deathbed saying I wish I did more overtime.
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: Your family never will replace you.
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: So make sure that you have that balance.
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: And that's what being an entrepreneur for me was all about was making sure I had balance, but that could support my know, support my family, and sustain us.
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: And, uh, it has been such a godsend because not only did I bet on myself, but then we started kinetic threads and now Fauna started mother trucker hat bar.
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: So it just it's been growing.
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: And, um, I'm doing another uh venture as well, and it's just because, once you realize that you're capable of doing it, you know that well, I can.
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: I built a model where it doesn't necessarily need me every single day.
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: I'm not tattooing people, right, but I continue to spread the message.
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: Now, what can I do next?
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: What else can I do to you know, continue to grow that you know, cause I want my kids to see this.
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: They're the ones who are watching.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know the amazing thing and I, I know you know again, you, you weren't handed anything.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: Let me just say that first of all and I respect that because I understand it I've been there too.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: I didn't come for money, I didn't come from privilege.
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: You know any of those things and you know, and I know your story, and you're changing the whole trajectory of your family and it's going to ripple down generation after generation after generation.
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: I'm so proud of that for you, because the man you are, the leader you are, it's going to change it all and it's one of the most beautiful things that can happen.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: Instead of just saying, oh, no one else did it, blame everybody else in the world, instead of taking that action, put your shoulders back and stepping forward, and it's just a beautiful thing to see.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: You're just, you're an amazing man.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: You really are and and I hope you really take that in, because I know, like me, sometimes it's hard to take in that stuff, so just take it in for a second, my brother, you really, you truly are.
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: I really appreciate that.
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: You know you don't think about some of those things.
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: But even when you said earlier right, cause we've talked about this stuff, like you said, we're friends outside of this podcast and so, like when you talked about, you know, getting your GED, while I was right there at the end of high school, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to graduate, and I ended up being able to walk with my um, with my class, and I barely graduated.
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: And what I'll tell you is, after I served in the military, I went to school uh, to college and I got my bachelor's degree and I gave the speech in front of 15,000 people at Golden One Center.
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: My kids got to watch that, right, and so the turnaround, the, the, the things that I advanced in my life were, you know.
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: It's just a reminder that if you really do focus and you're intentional with your time and your effort, you will see the fruits of your labor.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: And remember, the fruit is the last thing you get from the tree.
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: You water a seed.
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: You water a seed.
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: You don't get anything.
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: Eventually, the roots grow.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: You don't see it.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: Finally, you start getting a trunk and the tree grows.
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: You get no fruit Branches leaves no fruit, you understand.
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: Finally, the last thing that you're going to get is a fruit.
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: I just want people to remember that this is a process and just when you do focus on like, my life is a, we only get one opportunity at this.
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: And you're right In the beginning my life was full of hardship and we were very poor growing up and I'm not poor anymore.
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: My kids you know they they live a great life and you know that a lot of that is a testament to Fawn and I, both growing up with that hardship and saying I'm going to change, like you said, the trajectory dynamic of my family and we're going to, we're going to make sure that my kids have every opportunity to be successful and you know, my my oldest, is now a freshman in college and the next one is a senior getting ready to.
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: You know, make that transition and it just it's a reminder that now I'm starting to get the fruit.
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: Life really is beautiful.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, fantastic.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: And when you say that you know it brought something you know into me I love.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: We all have different levels of what success is or different models of the world of what success is right.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: So be very careful about your model of the world being money at the end, because I promise you this and I've seen this, this pattern, I study patterns and I've seen this over and over and over again with just about everybody unless they celebrate all the little victories and I mean literally people Again, I'm a neuroencoder, so I gotta say it smile, shake your ass, literally pat yourself on the back.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: I do this daily.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: Celebrate the little things because you're going to.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: If you don't enjoy the journey, you don't enjoy the voyage, whatever you want to call it.
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: When you get to the fruit at the end, you celebrate it.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: But how long do you celebrate it?
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: For how long do you celebrate getting the new car?
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: Oh, for half a second.
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: It's on to the right.
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, because it's oh, I got it Shit now what you know.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: And so just be careful of not seeing all enjoying the leaves coming out before the fruit or whatever the case may be, but really enjoy and know what success means to you.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: Like Danny is, hey, I get to spend time with my family, I get to go golfing, I get to do Warfighter Overwatch and change the world.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: So really I just want people to focus on on those little things and, man, I cannot tell you again celebrate the little victories, the neural pathways that get created from all the the great um hormones and things being released from your brain when you smile and you celebrate.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: It just promotes more and more and more naturally, instead of all the negative thoughts popping your head oh I can't do that, oh I shouldn't do that.
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: Well, what if?
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: What?
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: If it changes the game?
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: So thank you for bringing that up and I, the fruit thing, just put it all in perspective for me, so I had to had to add that in there, man well, people should know.
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: you know, I I wasn't always such a a positive person I was.
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: You know, I had depression and and I've never had depression or anxiety until after the like.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: Well, I suppose in the military I got it started to affect me before I left and so I had all this.
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: I had early childhood trauma and then I had compounded trauma in the military and it was tough.
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: I didn't do paperwork, I wouldn't get in gunfights and my job specifically was to call for bombs, do a math test in the middle of that stuff.
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: And when I came back I struggled and I didn't believe.
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: It seemed like any adversity was overwhelming and I couldn't get through it.
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: All the time this was happening every day of my life.
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: I was falling at what seemed like every day, falling flat on my face, and I just want you guys to understand that I didn't live there, I didn't stay there.
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: I was there for a while and I knew, um that I had to pick myself up, and the truth is that the best gift that I've ever given my family isn't starting businesses and being, you know, financially stable, though that's definitely been great.
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: It's improving myself from who I was yesterday, every single day, in those small increments.
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: So, like you know, like Michael said, it's so important to celebrate those small victories because they really are the big things they add up.
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: If you try to circumvent the small stuff, you're going to miss the really important stuff.
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: I love that.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: You said that and, and you know we're getting close to the end here, so I just want to kind of bounce back a little bit and go to to talk to another veteran, another first responder, another human being, for that matter.
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: You have an idea, you know what you want, you know you need to take an action.
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: How do you get yourself to do that?
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: Even more so, how do you something?
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: You said continuous action or, you know, keeping it moving.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: How did you keep that going and gain that confidence?
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: So I mean, the first thing is like do a Google search.
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: What do I need to do to start an LLC?
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: All right, what's the next step?
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: How do I?
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: How do I get everything incorporated?
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: What do I need for insurance?
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: What do I need to make sure that I don't end up in jail for not paying taxes, like Wesley Snipes?
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: Those are important questions you need to ask yourself.
• 26:46
  Speaker 3: Then you need to make sure that you check those boxes right.
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: Some of this is box checking and some of it is thinking outside of the box.
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: What can I do to stand out from the other companies?
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: That's further down the road, right, but in the beginning it's how do I, how do I establish this stuff?
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: And then what do I need to do to make sure that people are hearing my message and they know who we are as a business?
• 27:04
  Speaker 3: Take that first step.
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: It is the hardest one, but once you do it, I promise it is so fulfilling to be your own boss.
• 27:18
  Speaker 3: I mean, listen, financially I could be better off right.
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: A portion of every tattoo that gets done at Kinetic Inc goes to Fun Warfighter Overwatch.
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: I donate a ton of my own money to this.
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: Forget my time.
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: My time is the most valuable thing I have and I give a lot of that to this because it aligns with my values, because it's who I am right.
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: People aren't always going to remember um, you know what I said but they're going to remember what I did and how I made them feel.
• 27:39
  Speaker 3: And, at the end of the day, there was a time in my life where I thought what I brought to this world was death and destruction.
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: What I can tell you now is I fancy myself a hope dealer.
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: I remind people that what's inside of them is greater than what's in front of them.
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: They can overcome any adversity.
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: I'm here to help, support them.
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: Do that, talk to the people who are doing it now and get that vital information, because it'll help you avoid some of the pitfalls that they've gone through.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: Absolutely Love that and I just want to be very clear.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: You said hope dealer.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: Hope.
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: H-O-p-e hope, not a dope dealer.
• 28:10
  Speaker 3: I look like one, but I'm not.
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: I'm a hope dealer, man, dude, I gotta tell you right now, man, you know, I you know, until we actually met the tattoo, I was like okay, cool, you know, until I saw it, it's absolutely beautiful and stunning.
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: It really is.
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: Um, so let let's uh, let's just kind of close out here, if you will.
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: Great information, you know great great things, of course, always from you, danny.
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: How do people reach out to you?
• 28:36
  Speaker 3: You can find me on social media Danny O'Neill.
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: Danny O on Instagram Warfighter Overwatch.
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: Kinetic Ink Tattoo Company.
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: We're on Instagram.
• 28:43
  Speaker 3: Facebook.
• 28:43
  Speaker 3: I'm even on LinkedIn.
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: I know I don't really belong there.
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: You can find me pretty much anywhere, I'm easy.
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: I'm even on LinkedIn.
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: I know I don't really belong there.
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: You can find me pretty much anywhere.
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: I'm easy to find.
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: You just got to figure out how to spell my last name.
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: Oh, apostrophe N E, E, L.
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: It's definitely rare, but, yeah, I'm pretty easy to find.
• 28:56
  Speaker 3: You have questions?
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: If you know someone who's in need of help, man, I'm available and we have resources for you no-transcript.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: With that said, my friend, three tips to get veterans and their families further faster.
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: Well, first off, I think you got to bet on yourself, man, all in.
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: You have to.
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: You know you're worth it and you're capable, so do it.
• 29:48
  Speaker 3: You know to stick to your values.
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: You, you've learned these things and use them to to keep you balanced and remind you who you are.
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: And three lean on your support system.
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: If you're going to, if you're going to go far.
• 30:03
  Speaker 3: There's this old African proverb If you want to go fast, go alone.
• 30:06
  Speaker 3: If you want to go far, go together.
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: Use your support system, your community.
• 30:09
  Speaker 3: They're there to help you.
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: Absolutely love it.
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: All right, my friend.
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: So on that note, until next time we're out of here.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us on another insightful journey of your Thoughts your Reality podcast with your host, michael Cole.
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: We hope the conversation sparked some thoughts that resonate with you.
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: To dive deeper into empowering your thoughts and enhancing your reality, visit empowerperformancestrategiescom.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: Remember your thoughts shape your reality, so make them count.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: Until next time, stay inspired and keep creating the reality you desire.
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: Catch you on the next episode.