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The Gunslinger's Tavern-Boots On Ground Coffee · Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk

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Where's that little monkey? Find us on the web at MB radio
0:24
dot US want to make it clear that the views expressed by our
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hosts are not considered the official stance of MBR views.
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Remember, this is all about having fun and enjoying the
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ride. Welcome to Gunslingers Tavern.
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I'm Audrey McHugh. I'm a bisexual open woman that
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served in the military brown water Navy.
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Shout out to my Airedales one in three.
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Veterans experience military sexual trauma.
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Here we use whiskey for good. And talk about all different
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events that affect veterans and how we can do better to make
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sure that no one has to release their burden of rape at these
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gates anymore and ensure that veterans lives are advocated and
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lived for. Hi everyone.
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Audrey Mcnew here at Gunslinger's Tavern for
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swindering 10 questions, and I have the proud honor of showing
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you guys what it's like to be a mom.
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Here's Katie. She's the owner of Boots on
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Ground Coffee Company, also a veteran.
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And so her son has been a little bit sick.
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And so he's going to probably pop in on the show with us a
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little bit. So just stand by.
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Y'all. So Katie, welcome.
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So it's almost veteran's day. That's this weekend.
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So what branch are you and what made you want to join the
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military? I was in the Navy.
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You know Navy? Oh, yes.
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Did you just hear him bathroom OK.
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Anyways, was in the Navy. I didn't want to go to school.
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I joined when I was a junior and in high school.
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So I was in the debt program for, well, I was one of the
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longest people to be in the program or one of the people in
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the program, the longest, whatever.
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I hope you got an award for that.
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I went in as AE3 so it worked out I.
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Made rank pretty fast. He's getting me sick.
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Sorry. And yeah, when I was a junior, I
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was just like, I don't really want to stay in the area.
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I don't want to go to school like college or anything.
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So I'm like, I'll join the Navy. My grandpa was in the Navy, and
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my brother had always wanted to join the military.
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And surprisingly, he never ended up joining the military.
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But I was like, you know what? I'm getting out of here.
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And I. The guidance counselor called
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the recruiter and he came out the next day and I was just
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like, yeah, sign me up, let's do it.
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I was like, I don't care. They probably like it easier
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that way. So what was your MOS?
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What was your rating? So people don't understand what
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that means. That means her job, right?
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I was a cook. I was a culinary specialist, so
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you can make. Food.
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Why baby? OK, he needs call.
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So how long did you serve in the military?
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And I was in. For 10 years.
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All right, what's up? And what made you decide to get
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out? Was it just, it wasn't an
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alignment of what you want anymore?
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You decided to start a family that kind of shift for you?
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Well, I essentially got involuntary involuntarily
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separated. Still honorable discharge, but I
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didn't have a family care plan after I had my son so kick me
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out. I am very much against that
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policy and I hear that the Army. 'S really good about like,
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families and all of that stuff. And I was like.
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Maybe I should have joined the army.
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They're really bad about the rates of rapes in the military,
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though. Yeah, they have one of the.
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Highest ones for me. I do a lot of legislation work
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and so to still have so many occurrences happening after
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Vanessa died and there's been so many different assaults on that
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base. It's the leadership at this
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point. And they have been told that
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they need to implement these policies.
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And I would say the Navy, the Air Force is maybe doing a
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little bit better in that area, but the Army really does.
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That's not a proud statistic I would want to have with that
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whatsoever. But yeah, I would say a lot of
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policies that they make around women in general are horrible,
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you know, horrible, horrible kind of policies that they don't
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understand. I'm grateful now that the CNO
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that maybe the 33rd is a female. So she finally just got
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confirmed after nine months because of a man, of course, who
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all he did in life was coach football.
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And they did this only after the Marine commandant literally had
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a heart attack. And so there's still hundreds of
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military nominations that are still being held up by Tommy
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Tuberville, who does absolutely nothing for the state of
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Alabama. So that's just a she's happy.
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So, Katie, what was your most favorite memory in the Navy?
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One second he went to. I need to go fix him quick.
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I'm sorry. All right, guys, we are standing
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by, just so you know. Like, this is normalcy, right?
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Like, Mom's got to take care of their kids.
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And so instead of her cancelling and rescheduling the show, she
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did what Eddie Sailor would do. She'd like the show must go on.
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And so we might have some interruptions in here, but we're
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going to make sure that she takes care of her her baby,
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first and foremost. So.
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All right guys. So while we're waiting.
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Oh see, look at that Boom. She hurry up and waited me and
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it was like, boom, already there.
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I. Did not want those problems that
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was about to come from that. He just got done in the
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bathroom. He likes to run around without
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fixing all of that, and I don't need that smeared across the
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apartment, right? Yes, you have an alley.
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OK, so my favorite memory of the Navy.
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Yeah, there is a hole in your leg.
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There's a lot of favorites. I think I did 3 deploy as you
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want. You'll have to have a one you.
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Well, I did. 3 deployments, so I did a lot of travelling and I
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was stationed in Italy working for a four-star Admiral on a
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NATO base, so I made a lot of friends like from other nations
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militaries, which was amazing. I love the Germans.
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They're they're so chill and relaxing.
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Oh, they're great drinkers, yes. And the Brits.
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And they chill. And the Brits?
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They're great. You can.
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But I need to look. I'm doing something.
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Do you see this? OK, go play.
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Funny, huh? Yeah, I just, I did a lot of
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traveling and I think I had a lot of experiences and
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opportunities that were really like shaping for who I am, I
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guess. Did you drink with the British
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Royal Marines? No, I think it was the Royal
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Navy. I actually don't know the
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difference because they all just kind of merged together on the
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naval base. And they were just like 1 little
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clique. I don't really know.
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Yeah. Yeah.
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I would say the Royal Navy and the British Royal Marines are
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some. They get down, Yeah.
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When I was yes, we will now go. When I was in Italy I was part
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of the the field gun crew and so.
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That's like the British games where they like, run the big
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cannon, like down, they take it apart, they put it together,
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they fire off a bunch of stuff and they like run it.
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I was part of that and so we ended up going to the UK for the
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competition and it was so much fun and like I swear every night
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they were out drinking and I'm like, I don't know how we're
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functioning right now. Trailers.
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That's how we. Run over by this cannon and yet
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nothing happened. Surprisingly, that means the
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functioning was better. Yeah, for them, probably.
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What that means? Oh, my God.
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So did you have you ever drank, like lanterns?
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Obviously. That's my my IG name.
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I've known. For for whiskey, do you have a
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favorite whiskey? I don't really like whiskey.
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I actually don't drink anymore. I I quit drinking after my
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wedding last year. But I love mojitos.
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I love margaritas. I I don't really like whiskey.
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It's not my favorite thing in the world.
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But I think, yeah, vodka, rum, tequila shots, you know, back in
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the day, I've done my wild years.
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I need to be sober for a while. My liver, I'm going to drink my
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my water and be a vodka truck today and say no comment.
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And I don't remember from tequila days in the military.
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I yeah, I I kind of want to keep that one on.
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Well, I've already told enough stories about some of those
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days. They're like and I'm like, I
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already put everything out there, right?
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So when I'm working in politics and stuff, it's like, what?
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Yeah, I got a funnier one, right?
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Like if y'all are going to try to black man with that, let me,
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let me make sure you know, I got this story.
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It's even better. It's like even better.
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Yeah, those pictures, bro, I got better ones.
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Just add right? I just don't care at this point
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because all I do is advocate work for veterans who are being
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killed in this country or out of this country.
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And so, you know, I'm relentless than that in my passion to make
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sure that we take care of each other.
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So. So you transitioned out of the
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military. Did you feel like it was an easy
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transition? I know you said your husband is
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still still in. And So what we have found that a
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lot of the transitions for so many of us is even though we
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have this tap class, that's, I'm sorry, I don't think it's
11:53
adequate. A lot of veterans struggle as
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they get out of the military for numerous reasons.
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We don't have our family support system anymore.
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We kind of lost the whole family.
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And even when your civilian, your civilian family doesn't
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understand and the length of time, their whole life has gone
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on without us. And so it's really hard to
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integrate back into that because they just don't understand us
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because they haven't lived with service or sacrifice.
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And so I'm just interested to kind of find out maybe how your
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your transition was and then maybe like what made you say
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coffee? I'm A and I love it because I
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make coffee like slut. Like I drink coffee.
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Like it has to have the darkest blackness at the bottom in order
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for me to drink it. And I feel like we do make the
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strong sailors. We do make the coffee that makes
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people stay up for days. Yeah.
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And a lot of branches are envious of that.
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So yeah, talk about maybe your transition and then what led you
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into the world of coffee. Yeah, So, yeah.
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I'm sorry. I love it.
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Usually he goes away for a little bit.
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Hey, I'm talking to people right now.
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Anyway, transitioning was hard. Yeah.
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So when I initially got out, so I knew that I didn't have a
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family care plan and I knew I was going to get kicked out.
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And so in February of 2021 I started planning and in
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September of 2021 I was out September. 30th, I think was my
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last day and so I was out within that year.
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So I had already been planning in February of 2021 and I was
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like, well, I don't want to work for anybody else, So what am I
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going to do? And I was stationed out in
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Washington already and they have like little coffee shacks
14:06
everywhere. And I loved it.
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And there's not really that type of thing in Wisconsin.
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So I was like, I think that'd be really cool to, you know, bring
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to Wisconsin. Now my area is very small.
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And I was like I don't want to be stuck in like 1 spot because
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I don't think that it will hit it off in like 1 location like a
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lot of older people in some of the communities and like so we
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got a trailer. Yeah.
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So and that's how I that's why I ended up with a coffee trailer
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and go that's how I ended up with a coffee trailer that I was
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running and. So I managed that until June of
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this year. And then I sold it.
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And that's why when you look me up on Facebook, I come up with a
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coffee trailer. So I I do love coffee.
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And it's funny because I had never really liked actual
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coffee. And then I got stationed in
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Italy and I was started drinking the espresso over there and I
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was like, I'm like, God, this is so good, like the world needs
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this. And then I just became a coffee
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addict. So it's not at least fault.
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But yes, transitioning out was hard going from me and my child
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because my husband had already transferred.
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We weren't married yet, but he had already transferred to
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Illinois. And so it was just me and my kid
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for almost a year. And so going from basically
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alone in your house with your child and like you know your
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work family to. Moving in with my mom
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temporarily. And I was like, so overwhelmed.
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And I'm like, this is so hard and I hate it.
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And like, I was like, there's got to be something wrong with
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me. Like, why am I so angry?
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And I was angry because there's just people around all the time
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that were like, more in your business than when they are.
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Like when you're in like your personal things, you know, like,
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Oh well, what are you doing today like?
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None of your business. Get out of here.
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And I'm like, oh wait, that's my mom.
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So that was that was really hard.
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That I think that was the hardest thing for me was getting
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used to having people around like all the time and like, not
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being across the world from my family, right?
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Yeah, it's hard. I especially know with like my
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PTSD, like some of my family didn't understand how triggering
16:45
some things could be, and they were trying to be helpful, but
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how they went about it was just actually worse and it made all
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of it worse. So, you know, like sometimes it
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comes from a place of love, but I think love has understanding.
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And so when you have a kid that's in the military and
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you're so happy to share that with everyone and say, hey, my
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kids serving here and they're doing this, but then you kind of
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don't learn about PTSD or really understand it.
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It's kind of like a a disservice, right?
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Because you're so awesome about bragging about how your kids in
17:23
the military, then your kid has PTSD and then you don't want to
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actually understand anything with it.
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And it's just like, well, how do you think this works?
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How do you think this gets better if you don't start kind
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of trying to have some kind of level of understanding?
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So I know you sell coffee, right, and maybe talk about a
17:44
little bit like that and then maybe so I'm going to show that
17:47
your your brand here first. So it's totally dope.
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I like this. So I hope that everyone can kind
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of see it. It's combat boots with coffee,
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coffee beans in the boots and the leaves itself.
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And so I think that's so creative.
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So what made you design that as your logo and then your
18:11
different brands and then where can we purchase purchase them?
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For consumption OK, so my logo I have like.
18:23
The idea. So one of the businesses in town
18:27
that I actually grew up working at, his daughter, ended up
18:31
joining the army and she got out for medical reasons.
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And I was like, hey, I want to start this brand.
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Oh, so when I was about to like knowing, oh, I'm going to be
18:39
leaving with my husband eventually.
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So I need to sell the trailer and I'm like, well then what am
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I going to do? Because I still don't want to
18:44
work for anybody else. And then I decided to start a
18:46
brand not affiliated with the business that I already had.
18:50
So which is where Boots On Ground came from?
18:53
And the whole situation with Vanessa and Denisha, is that her
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name? Montgomery Montgomery Smith,
19:00
yeah. Yes, and that's part of the
19:04
reason why I take 10% and donate it to organizations.
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I do a lot of military sexual assault organizations that we
19:10
donate to, PTSD organizations. There's so a lot of different
19:17
ones that we've donated to because we've been around for
19:20
almost a year. At the end of this month, it'll
19:22
be a year. Awesome.
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But I forgot where I was going with this.
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Well, we were going to talk about the different brands, but
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I think we're going to like highlight, highlight that a
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little bit. Right.
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Because you know Montgomery Smith was murdered 08/09/2022
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that she's had no justice and she was sexually assaulted,
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raped and for cover up for for drugs on a base by this command
19:55
in Germany and nobody's really brought attention to it.
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Broker has now transitioned out of the party.
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And so I'm hopeful that she will.
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You know what, we're going to start advocating and really
20:10
trying to get justice because politicians last February said
20:13
they were going to have a congressional inquiry and Chuck
20:16
did not do that. He literally just wanted people
20:19
to like his post and then they absolutely did nothing what they
20:23
said they were going to do to actually open a congressional
20:25
inquiry to her. So that is a a big injustice.
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But I just want to say like I think it's incredible that one
20:32
year past the the one year mark for your business, but at the
20:37
same time you chose to give back to veterans, right.
20:41
And so I can definitely relate to that because, you know, I
20:47
have a house that's for my my Airbnb and then veterans to get
20:50
to stay there. Our first responders get to stay
20:52
each month. And then I kind of have them on
20:55
a healing journey for board sport therapy or hiking so they
21:01
can recover from being raped. And so I feel like you're a lot
21:05
like me that, like you said, OK, I'm going to start this, but I'm
21:09
still going to give back to my brothers and sisters.
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We're in your first year. It's very, very hard, you know,
21:16
growing your business and most people wouldn't have been
21:19
thought about donating or doing any of that.
21:22
And bravo to you for supporting your veteran community and
21:27
saying, you know what, even though this is my first year and
21:33
I'm, I'm growing, I'm still giving back.
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I'm still giving back. So I mean that is that's an
21:39
amazing thing that you chose to do that so salute to you for
21:43
that. And so you you have some coffee
21:47
that we can consume. So what are your brands?
21:53
They have some cool names and so you know what are they and where
21:58
can we get? Them also the logo I would have
22:03
to give a shout out because it was actually an Air Force
22:05
military spouse that so I had. The idea of the other Army girl,
22:10
that's what it was. The other Army girl, you know,
22:11
was like, oh, it'd be really cool, you know, boots with like
22:13
coffee grounds or coffee, you know, coming out of it.
22:15
And I was like, oh, that's a really good idea.
22:17
And I couldn't, like, graphically design something up.
22:19
So there is one I cannot remember.
22:23
The name Brushwork Impressions is the name of it.
22:27
And she's an Air Air Force spouse and she does incredible
22:32
work. She painted my logo and that's
22:34
the logo that's on everything now.
22:36
OK, but my my blends that I have, so I we have 3 new blends.
22:43
Two of them are limited time holiday blends and we have a
22:48
brand new decaf that just launched November 1st.
22:54
I know I got a lot of requests because there's a lot of
22:57
veterans like old men, so they want a decaf.
23:05
But OK, you can take it out of your decaf, yeah?
23:11
So we have midwatch, which is our darkest, boldest roast.
23:14
So there's midwatch, and then there's got your six, which is
23:17
our medium roast. There's scuttlebutt, which is
23:20
the light roast. That's my personal favorite.
23:22
It's so smooth. It's delicious.
23:23
I absolutely love it. And then we have artillery
23:26
espresso. That one has like little hints
23:30
with vanilla in it. It's so good and it has like so
23:33
much crema on top, it's you can just drink it by itself.
23:37
And then what is that for? OK And then I have my decaf
23:41
called Mia decaf and on the bag it says honoring missing in
23:46
action. And I was like, oh that that
23:49
would be a nice little touch. So my roaster hooked it up and
23:52
then we have the 2 limited edition holiday ones are home
23:56
for the holidays. Which is a coconutty caramely.
23:59
Kind of like something's baking in the oven type of home Home
24:04
for the holidays. And then we have Christmas care
24:06
package, which is a minty 1. Because I love mint, so I need a
24:11
mint one. It's OK.
24:16
No, not yet. Oh yeah, it is OK.
24:20
Go play. He found his sand.
24:22
We're good for a bit. All right, get the time.
24:25
All right, good. The first Let's go.
24:32
So, so yeah, that's what I have. OK.
24:36
If you want to buy it, I have an Etsy which those go directly to
24:42
my roaster, those orders. And you can only buy coffee on
24:45
my Etsy. If you want to buy, I have.
24:48
These shirts I have brown tan that you can wear under a
24:51
uniform, but don't tell anybody because you're not supposed to
24:53
wear like a logo thing. But I got it to match the color,
24:57
so throwing that out there and then I got I keep trying to get
25:03
my husband to wear one. He works out at boot camp.
25:06
He's one of the Rd. CS, so I don't think it would go
25:08
over well. If he had to be.
25:09
You should do it anyway. I know he's leaving soon, It's
25:14
fine. So on my website I have a
25:21
website it's you have to put the www.infrontof it because I can't
25:25
figure out how to get it to load without it.
25:27
I'm still working on that, but it's boots on groundcoffee.co.
25:30
I don't know I can send that to you and if you don't know it's
25:36
like I don't know how this works.
25:37
So yeah, we can, we can upload it in the when this is over and
25:45
it gets published, all the thing, you can put it in there.
25:47
So after this show airs, just give it to me and we'll put it
25:50
in a chat so people can kind of see it.
25:53
And yeah, so I love coffee. The Navy made it worse because
26:00
obviously would have to stay up for 72 hours at a time
26:02
sometimes. And so, like I like I said, I
26:08
drink like the sludge coffee. Like I would let that bitch sit
26:11
there for like 2 days and gain strength.
26:14
And I'm not joking yet. And I only drink my coffee
26:19
black, just like I drink my whiskey.
26:22
I say I drink my coffee meat so I don't add anything to it, and
26:28
I like it to be like super caffeinated, like I want it to
26:32
punch down walls. It's like, that's the coffee I
26:39
like. Going down your throat Fighting
26:41
Oh yes like so when I was in right this this one senior Chief
26:47
we were on the we had just I was in a squadron and I was in a
26:51
amphibious unit so I was one of two females in an all male
26:55
combat unit for maritime prepositioning forces.
26:58
So a lot of my, my time is, you know, small and like, you know
27:04
small craft pin. And then I was in a a squadron
27:07
and so they were like we have all these drills coming up and
27:12
we have all these, you know, flights and like fucking
27:14
exhausted and nobody's making coffee, right.
27:18
And like what What the fuck are we going to do?
27:20
We can't even fly, you know? And he was like you, you look
27:24
like you can make coffee. And I was like, I was like, I
27:28
can make coffee, but I'm like put a label warning on how I
27:32
make coffee. And he was like and I was like,
27:35
OK, like, listen, Sir, I don't know what to tell you, but that
27:42
last chief, I made coffee for him.
27:44
He said he was up for almost 3 days.
27:46
So if you want my coffee, you're going to operate, but you're
27:50
going to be wired. And he was like, that's what the
27:52
fuck I need. And I was like, OK, so I made my
27:57
coffee. And I'm not like a lie.
27:59
Like we have one of those, you know, sober roots ones.
28:02
And it was just like I made it with maybe I don't want to say
28:07
how many bags of of coffee I put in there, but it was a lot.
28:11
It was significant. And then all of a sudden
28:14
everybody was like the IT got out And then I they were like
28:19
she has to make coffee. And I was like, this is not in
28:21
my job description. Y'all like, what the fuck?
28:25
And they were like, well, ma'am, like you see this, you see this
28:31
little star. And I was like, so.
28:34
And they were like the other one came.
28:36
He said, you see this eagle right here.
28:38
And I was like, yeah, Captain. And he was like, they need you
28:42
to make the coffee. I was like, is this a direct
28:46
order, Sir? And he was like, pretty much,
28:53
pretty much. So which is your strongest
28:56
coffee? Like what's your?
29:01
The espresso, The espresso one, yes, So the espresso, the
29:07
darkest, like boldest, most flavorful like punch in the face
29:12
is going to be the mid watch. But the one with the most
29:16
caffeine is going to be the light roast because all the
29:18
caffeine isn't roasted out. So it kind of is like backwards
29:21
there. So yeah, let's talk about that,
29:23
right. Because people, and I assume
29:25
that early in the beginning, right, I was like, oh, well, if
29:28
it's the darkest roast, it must have the most caffeine.
29:32
And that's actually not true. Like, that's fake news.
29:36
Y'all. And it's actually the lightest
29:38
roast actually is the strongest. So explain to these people who
29:43
don't understand coffee. Give give them an education.
29:47
Because I had, I don't. Roast my own coffee.
29:52
So there's a disclaimer there. I have a roaster like 20 minutes
29:56
away from my house, so. But I do know that the longer
30:00
you roast the coffee, the less caffeine that it has.
30:03
It's kind of like when you boil or steam a vegetable, the longer
30:08
you cook it, the less nutrients it has.
30:10
It's kind of like the same thing.
30:13
So the lightest roast is going to have the most caffeine,
30:16
right? It does, and I don't know how
30:21
many people don't know that, but it's a lot.
30:24
Yeah, it's a lot. But if you want like a really,
30:28
if you're drinking coffee for, like flavor, right?
30:31
Because you want hints of vanilla or citrus, you know,
30:34
kind of like bourbon. Then you go with the, it's true.
30:38
It is. Then it's like a darker roast
30:41
like, so get that, that flavor. What have you found that's the
30:45
most exciting for coffee because you cook, obviously.
30:50
And so you kind of get to like cook with coffee beans now and
30:53
kind of, you know make some of these creations.
30:55
So what do you feel like is the most, you know thing that you
30:59
like the most about creating different roasts with coffee?
31:06
I like sampling it so my my roaster, she is like, OK, I'm
31:14
going to just whip up a bunch of different, like blends.
31:19
Yeah, like variants or blends and which one you prefer.
31:23
So I I was trying like I had nine.
31:27
I think that I had to sample one day and to pick a roast and
31:33
yeah. So I I love tasting what she
31:37
gives me and the espresso that it blew my mind when I tasted
31:41
it. I was like, I'm not one that can
31:43
be like, oh, I taste hints of chocolate and citrus.
31:47
Like, no, if it tastes like coffee, it's coffee.
31:51
I just know if it tastes good or if I don't like it right.
31:55
Oh, there's that. But I I can't like taste like
31:58
the under. Notes of things.
32:01
So I'm like this espresso kind of tastes like.
32:04
Vanilla And she's like, yeah, we had we figured out which bean,
32:07
this kind of vanilla E and she added that I'm like, oh, this
32:10
was amazing. But I love going in and like
32:14
figuring out like for the flavored coffees, what kind of
32:18
flavors that we can come up with.
32:20
Now we're actually working on. I feel like I'm stuttering.
32:25
We're working on full time. I get like my brain gets too far
32:29
ahead and I'm just like all. Good.
32:35
We're working on a flavored coffee that's going to stay like
32:38
with the full line and not be just a limited edition flavor.
32:43
And it's going to be one of my favorite, based off of one of my
32:46
favorite ones from Hawaii. And it's going to be a Vanilla
32:50
Academia, duh. Yeah.
32:54
So I love that. Coming in the new year, awesome.
32:59
That sounds delicious. Yes.
33:03
So what other things that you think that you know you have
33:06
these blends and these other ones that are coming.
33:08
People can go on your Etsy and get them.
33:10
A portion of it goes to different veteran nonprofits.
33:14
What do you think that your future holds?
33:16
So like, what is your ultimate like?
33:20
I'm, I'm badass here. I'm making coffee.
33:23
It's veteran owned. Like you guys are going to move
33:26
to Illinois to finish out your husband's military service after
33:30
you've already done your own military service.
33:32
So when you guys finally get to transition to final place,
33:36
what's the what's the goals Like are you guys going to open a
33:39
coffee shop? What are you doing?
33:42
I like having the coffee and selling and.
33:49
I don't want to have another coffee shop.
33:51
I liked it while I was operating my own.
33:54
But I'm like, OK, that's good. Maybe after my kid has like
33:58
grown up and out of the house maybe I'll do something.
34:00
But I'm like it was, it's a hassle.
34:03
So I'm like, no. So I just, I want it to like
34:08
grow to some big like amazing thing where we can donate like
34:11
thousands of dollars a month. Like that would be just mind
34:15
blowing and so exciting and I want to get it on.
34:19
Like a retail store in like on their shelves or have it be like
34:23
what a coffee shop serves as their normal right.
34:27
So I don't know if you know, but I'm, I'm going to try to get you
34:31
this information. So Macy's is having this like
34:35
select thing for entrepreneurs that are veterans and they are,
34:42
they literally are opening their programs so that veterans can
34:47
have their products be sold at Macy's.
34:50
So I think that's probably a pathway of information that I
34:55
can probably hook you up with and give you that.
34:59
Yeah, I'm actually in this veterans program right now that
35:04
I signed up for and they have like kind of like a boot camp
35:07
for veteran entrepreneurs, specifically for women.
35:12
And so I'm going to give you that information.
35:14
So I think that you should apply there.
35:16
But you know, like for me, you know, I do a lot of advocacy
35:21
work. And so, you know, I don't have
35:23
any things just to sell right. But for you, this is a great
35:27
Ave. especially because you want your product to be as everywhere
35:32
as it can be. And I think that would be a
35:35
great spot for that because Macy's is really, they've
35:40
donated money to make sure that this this entrepreneur program
35:44
can start for veterans and they're really looking to help
35:49
women, women, veterans launch. And so they have like this this
35:55
program that I think you're kind of perfect for.
35:58
That would be very exciting. I would appreciate that that I'm
36:02
going to give you that information because I think it's
36:03
amazing that one they're donating to try to have this
36:07
this program get started to have entrepreneurs launch off, but
36:12
they're supporting veterans as well.
36:14
But they're also saying, hey guys, we have this, this space
36:17
in our store and kind of fill this stuff out and try to help
36:22
get it here. And so, I mean that's that's a
36:25
way better than, you know, we're going to have a veteran's Macy
36:28
Day float for for veterans. Like they are really trying to
36:31
thank veterans for their service.
36:33
And so I think it's a great opportunity.
36:37
Yeah. So there's a lot of things maybe
36:41
maybe you're not familiar with for entrepreneurship, for, for
36:45
veterans that I will be more than happy to kind of send your
36:49
way. Because you never know who knows
36:54
someone that can get your product in a different store and
36:59
have it just beyond Etsy, right? Which I love.
37:03
It's a great place to sell anything, but seeing it in a a
37:08
store is kind of cool, right? Like, I mean, probably cry.
37:14
That would be so, Oh no, right for you to be able to have it
37:19
and you're a veteran. And so I kind of feel like, you
37:22
know, there's there's other coffee makers, but they're not a
37:26
veteran. They're not giving back to other
37:28
veterans like you are. And so, I mean, I definitely
37:32
feel like you have the opportunity to grow.
37:35
And I think that the sky should always be the no limit.
37:39
There should be no limit. Like the sky is not the limit.
37:43
Like we have a NASA. Yeah, that's.
37:46
True, we go into space. Y'all shout out to the Space
37:51
Force. I don't know what you'll do yet.
37:53
But they had cool uniforms when I went and visited in Florida,
37:58
and I found some amazing Scotch there.
38:01
So I mean I'm not gonna be hater.
38:04
I just, you know it's a little different.
38:07
So again, I want you guys to recognize this woman's
38:12
greatness. Fellow Navy veteran here and she
38:15
has different blends. So I'm gonna let her speak on it
38:18
again. I'm gonna let her give her her
38:20
website at the end of the show. You know before this is after
38:24
this is published, we'll make sure that her Etsy thing, her
38:28
link is there. So you know boots on the ground
38:31
coffee. So take it away.
38:35
So I also forgot to mention before, like the whole reasoning
38:39
behind starting the brand was that whenever I deployed I
38:41
needed a coffee that I loved because you know, the cook on
38:46
the mass decks. I didn't like that coffee.
38:49
It was like it. Was like, it wasn't even name
38:52
brand. It was like some random thing in
38:54
a bag. It was gross and a French press
38:57
and then like a deployment proof mug that could really take a
38:59
beating, you know, rolling around on the ship.
39:01
And I was like, how cool would that be to have like a like a
39:05
crate or something like a coffee crate and like have all of that
39:08
to where people can send it like friends or family, can send it
39:12
to their deployed friends or family.
39:14
And it could be like a deployment box.
39:17
And I actually launched it today on my website, yeah.
39:22
I forgot to mention that earlier.
39:24
That's like the whole, yes, the whole thing.
39:31
The only reason I started the brand, the only reason I.
39:34
Started the brand and I finally was able to launch it.
39:37
I didn't want to wait any longer to like start the brand.
39:40
So we just started with just coffee and I was like, OK, cool.
39:43
I ended up with like a Veteran's Small business Grant.
39:47
So I use that and I got all my product in and I just got the
39:52
last of my product like last week.
39:54
And yeah, so that's up on my site.
39:57
You have to like click on the product and then.
39:59
It'll bring like, oh, do you want to add it to a bundle?
40:02
And it's just a whole thing. It's very exciting.
40:05
But yeah, so I have, I have the Etsy that you can only buy
40:09
coffee. There's not going to be any
40:10
merchandise. There's not going to be no
40:12
deployment crates or anything on there.
40:14
And then I have, it's a Shopify website, but it's my own
40:17
personal domain. So it's Boots on groundcoffee.co
40:22
You can follow me on Facebook on Boots on Ground Coffee and
40:27
Instagram at Boots on Ground Coffee.
40:30
Right. That's all I have for social
40:32
media. OK, I'm so stoked about this
40:35
deployment call because I don't think people won't.
40:38
First, I don't think people really get it right.
40:41
And then two, it's it's nice. Like, I I also don't know if
40:46
other branches are as crazy as we are about coffee mugs.
40:52
Like that is really like a Navy thing, right?
40:58
Where you will, you will fight somebody off of your cup.
41:03
Yes. Yeah.
41:04
Like your cup is like it's, it's yours.
41:08
And like we drink coffee a lot. And so, I mean that's amazing
41:12
that you guys are going to be able to send those to people who
41:15
are on deployment and they're actually going to have good ass
41:17
coffee. Like that's that's dope.
41:20
Like super. You are saving the fleet.
41:25
It is. That is an Angel level, that's
41:30
that's saving the fleet right there.
41:33
What would you say if somebody was going to travel to Italy and
41:36
maybe they're going to take a Mac flight, right.
41:39
And this person could maybe be me, but where?
41:45
Where would you recommend the best place in Italy where you
41:49
were stationed at for espresso? Like, what's the spot?
41:54
Oh my gosh. So they serve it fucking
41:57
everywhere. You know this place.
42:00
So it depends on where you're going.
42:02
I guess. If you're taking a Mac flight,
42:04
you might be going to Capel, so near Naples you're going to want
42:11
to go. Like 30 minutes away from where
42:13
that airport is. And I actually don't even know
42:17
the name of this place, but me and my Italian friend, I made
42:21
some really great friends out there that were Italian
42:24
Filipinos and and we would be like, Oh yeah, let's go out for
42:29
a coffee. And they had delicious coffee.
42:32
But then we found out that they served mojitos and so our hey,
42:36
let's go out for coffee was key or code for we're going to go
42:40
get some drinks. So they like this little cafe
42:43
and they just have like this delicious coffee.
42:45
And there's another one which I think is like I keep forgetting
42:50
about it, but I think it's like just down the road and they
42:52
serve croissants but they're called coronetos or something
42:56
like that. I never learned Italian and you
42:59
can get that There's like a whole big ass menu and.
43:02
They like, cut it in half and they stuff it with like candy
43:04
bars, like covered in chocolate and like it's just this whole
43:08
thing and that's all in. It's all in, Lago Patria.
43:11
OK, got it. There or whoever this is that's
43:16
going Lago Patria. It's near the NATO base, so you
43:21
just have to go into the town next to the NATO base.
43:26
I love that. Yeah, I always love like going
43:28
to local places. I'm not a fan of, like drinking
43:31
commercialized, especially coffee.
43:34
I'm not a fan of that. So if I'm in country somewhere,
43:37
I really kind of try to one enjoy what they're having as
43:42
their culture and, you know, accept some of their customs.
43:46
And I fucking love coffee, so. You can get it everywhere.
43:52
They serve it like all over. You would just be like.
43:56
Pulled up getting gas and they're like coffee.
43:59
I'm like, yes, yeah, I used to. I used to be friends with this
44:04
Italian Baker. And so he had his own, his own
44:08
bakery that was well known. Everyone would come like, from
44:12
all over the state to go there. He was just amazing.
44:15
And I would go in there and he would get me an espresso and we
44:19
would just sit down and talk like talk about baseball or you
44:22
know, I'm a die hard for baseball and football and so and
44:25
go Rangers right now are playing hockey.
44:28
So I would just like in sports. Not a sports.
44:36
I literally date guys off of sports teams if that serious for
44:40
me. I screen them out.
44:42
I'm like, I don't care that you have lickable ABS.
44:44
You are on the wrong team. You are my enemy affiliate.
44:48
Like think those ABS were going to work.
44:52
They don't. It's kinetic sand.
44:59
A kinetic sand cake. All right.
45:03
I like that. Thank you.
45:08
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
45:10
Oh, Yep. Can you take it back out there?
45:12
Thank you. I like it.
45:15
I'll eat the rest later. He brought me a Play DoH pizza
45:21
the other day and I like took a bite of it like.
45:24
I know it's play DoH and he goes.
45:26
No, it's play DoH. Don't eat that.
45:30
I'm like, well, I'm glad, you know, that's great.
45:33
When I was a kid in Pre, Ki didn't know it was Play DoH and
45:36
I literally I ate that shit. He does not, like, stick random
45:42
things in his mouth, which I'm super grateful for.
45:45
So it's just funny that I was just like, OK, Yep.
45:48
And he goes, no, it doesn't. I think it should, but you know,
45:58
it'd probably make more issues. I was like that.
46:01
Would be dangerous. You know, for the slow years of
46:05
the world. I mean, I am living proof that
46:08
it didn't kill me. So I survived 3K.
46:16
I ate some play dough. Y'all was okay so.
46:21
But that's awesome. So Katie, thank you so much for
46:25
coming on. And check out boots on ground.co
46:30
www.got to have it in front of it.
46:33
Check out her. She's on Instagram, she's on
46:36
Facebook. And like, really?
46:39
If you know somebody that's deploying right now or deployed,
46:43
I'm literally telling you like for the holidays this deployment
46:47
box, yo, I mean. Needed to be launched for the
46:50
holidays. I wasn't going to launch yet,
46:52
but I'm like, I need to. I need to launch it before
46:54
December so people can send it. Yes, for the holidays.
46:59
Like if you don't do anything good today, Yes, the deployment
47:05
box for your friend, your military family member that is
47:08
deployed. Because especially if they're in
47:12
the Navy, right, like giving them their own mug to have and
47:15
being able to have coffee that. I mean, that's clout right
47:19
there. Like when you're like, when
47:22
they're talking about their family members that actually
47:24
gave a fuck, they're going to be like, hey yo, uncle, He sent me
47:29
this deployment box, this shit. It got me through my deployment
47:33
like I was going to hurt somebody.
47:35
But every day I was able to drink my coffee and be OK and
47:40
like, that's really it. All right, guys.
47:43
Well, that's everything for us today.
47:45
Again. Have you been raped in the
47:48
military or you're going through depression or your PTSD?
47:51
Please reach out to my foundation.
47:54
You are not alone. Every last one of us, especially
47:58
the people that are in my crew, have gone through suicidal
48:01
ideation or have attempted suicide.
48:03
And as you guys know, I tried to kill myself in 2021, put a Glock
48:10
17 in my mouth and pulled the trigger.
48:12
And I'm still here. So that means that I know the
48:15
way. That's forward, right?
48:17
And so the darkness that you're in doesn't mean you have to stay
48:20
there and let us help you get out of that.
48:22
Genuinely. We don't want our brothers and
48:24
sisters to suffer anymore. And you're not alone.
48:27
And maybe you can't talk about what happened to you in the
48:29
military yet, but you don't have to come and speak publicly about
48:33
it like I do. But you can at least hit my DM
48:37
up and say, hey, this is what's going on with me.
48:40
And I I really just need some help and we'll get it for you.
48:43
So thanks for thanks for coming on the show and I appreciate it
48:48
guys. And so we are, we're out.
48:51
Have a great fucking weekend. Marine Corps Birthday's on
48:54
Friday, shout out to my Marines and then veteran's day is on a
48:58
Saturday. So y'all have no excuse.
49:00
You got three days, three days to get this drinking in and get
49:04
back to work on Monday, bitches. We're out.
49:08
That's the show for today everyone.
49:10
Thanks for listening. We'll be back next week with an
49:12
all new show. And remember, you can listen to
49:15
us again and again. The podcast of this radio show
49:18
is available right after we go off the air tonight, anywhere
49:22
that you can get your podcast episodes.
49:26
And thanks for joining us. Today, I'd like to take a moment
49:30
to talk about something close to my heart.
49:32
Military Broadcast Radio isn't doing incredible work to support
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our veterans. And bring their voices to the
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happen. I encourage you to consider
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supporting MBR in any way form that you can use this QR code
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that's past the picture. Or you can go to our website at
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50:06
To learn more about how you can donate or volunteer, even just
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an hour a week from your home, help make a difference in the
50:15
lives of our veterans. Because once again, we're all
50:18
here for you and not for us. We're giving a veterans a voice.