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The Mentor Sessions | What I Learned About Trust From 10 Years in the Military · The Mentor Sessions

• Atlas Aultman: if you're not planning ahead with gratitude, then you're going to stay in the soil. You're going to be buried. And it's not going to be a good thing for you BigMike Coyle: Welcome everybody back to the Mentor Sessions. I'm your host, Big Mike, the host of the Mentor Sessions. Today we are with our good friend Autumn Altman, who is a former military did I say or I said Autumn, didn't I? Atlas Aultman: That's a girl's name, Big Mike. I love it. Dude, you have to. Yes, there we go. BigMike Coyle: Yeah. You know what? I'm leaving that in. I'm leaving that in. I am here with Atlas Altman. I'm here with Atlas Altman. There we go. Yeah. You know what? You said Atlas is one of your mini made up names, so now I just gave you another one there, Autumn. So so Atlas Aultman: Autumn. I l it's my favorite it's my favorite part before the fall. BigMike Coyle: That's right. That's right. That's what it is. That's when football kicks off. So I'm here with A Autumn Al Altman and he's got a great story coming from his military background, Atlas Aultman: thanks, Big Mike. autumn. I love it. I'll take it. I'll take it. Yeah, Joshua Atlas Altman. those are all of my names given to me at different parts parts of my life. I'm a former military guy. I worked in the White House for a sp a spin as a personal aid to a former president. worked in special operations multiple times, working with all the special operations folks, and then I wrote a book. Of how I was on the sidelines of histories in the shadows, trying to stay out of the spotlight, and that did really well. became number one in a lot of categories and put me as author of the year last year in personal development. But then I got stuck, man. I got just like you, Big Mike, I got stuck in podcasting. I love this. I love talking to people, like real people, and just dedicating time to learning from people, and that is extremely addictive. because it grows you as a person and it's just something we don't do anymore unless you're on a podcast. so undivided attention. Give me whatever you want to know. I will answer anything as as as it flows out, you know, because we're live, live to tape. BigMike Coyle: Yeah, you know, that's such a a great perspective because I think that human connection is kind of lost. especially when we're connecting with people that our our stories probably would have never crossed. I had a friend send me a a meme the other day, a reel, where this person was talking about the power of sitting around a campfire and sharing stories. And I know y you've in combat have had similar s situations like that. I I really look back to the Band of Brothers series on that, how and someone described it once that that decompression that they had in those moments is something that going forward, Vietnam and and the Gulf War and then what you went through, because the action is twenty four seven, you didn't really get that time to just decompress from the day's events. And but that there is power, I think, in just sitting around the campfire. And I would love to just have one giant campfire and let everybody come in and share their story. So this is like my version of that because I didn't Atlas Aultman: That's cool. BigMike Coyle: realize how addictive it is to sit and talk to people and how re the rejuvenation it gives your spirit to like learn and see what people have gone through. And how they've come out the other side. I've talked to I've been fortunate, different meetings and and episodes I've recorded today, talking to different people from all sorts of walks of life and hearing about them. And yeah, you like come out and I'm like w wanting to run to my wife and like, dude, you wouldn't believe who I just talked to, you know? And and it's so fun and so cool. So I appreciate that. So tell us about like how you got to where you were growing up, I know you you were adopted at a young age and what led you into going getting into the special operations in the military? Atlas Aultman: Well, family ties, bloodline, you know, I didn't realize until well, last year, maybe two years ago, that my bloodline is actually tied to people who stopped the slave trade in Ireland. one of the the the people I was working with was out in Ireland doing a vacation and they asked me, you know, hey, you have a red beard, what was your family surname? And I was like, Driscoll. And they're like, Did you realize that you have ties to a new whiskey line. And I was like, no. And there's an O'Driscoll's whiskey. It's pirate themed for a reason. And it roots back to our history of fighting off the slave traders. We we used to to kill their the the people that came in to try to to enslave our people and take them out. we stole their boats and we got called pirates wrongfully. so we embraced that and then that fighting spirit has been in the bloodline probably longer than that story. you know If I go back farther and farther, I could probably find more and more where we're fighters and it's in my blood. So Being young and impressionable, my first memory of a man was this mountain of a man who was my my my my maternal gr grandfather. And I remember looking up to him and he was in Special Forces and he was a just a massive guy, man's man, and he had a growling voice and everyone respected him and that was what I wanted to be. Like In a uniform, whatever. So he used to put me in his boots, march me around. My my first words were probably up, two, three, four, you know, as the diapers went in and out of the the clothes that didn't fit, there were hand-me-downs or whatever. But you know, when when I got adopted at a young age, my my dad came out of the same base that supported special forces and he was an Intel guy. And I looked at him the same way and I always wanted to be like that was my man. That was that was the model that I that I felt like I needed to. Make so at a very young age I started doing what every kid does, man, watching Rambo and Commando and all the good movies that everyone still references. And the the common theme was military service. And I wanted to be that. I wanted to be bigger than what I could be, but I also wanted to pay homage to my family, my and my bloodline. So I did that, 17, signed up. my dad was like, Go in the Air Force, you're gonna be able to do a lot more. And I became a paper pusher, dude. I was not Rambo. I was I was like filing stuff and computers were new, so and I was not scared, so they were like, I can't figure this out, and I would just try, and eventually I became the computer guy that everyone knew, and that put me next to the four-star general's office, and we used to print out his emails because he didn't like computers' email either, and one day. Printed out email that said I could go to college, potentially, and I asked the boss if I could do it. And yeah, he gave me a commission. I went in. That was my first kind of stride towards special operations. When I became an officer, I picked a track that would put me in special special operations specifically, and then I did it as a captain, I did as a major, and I did it as a lieutenant colonel. but the lieutenant years don't count, so BigMike Coyle: Those those don't count 'cause that's when you're learning how to be a leader. Atlas Aultman: I got plenty of stories where I messed it up too. BigMike Coyle: that's what leadership is. I think a lot of leadership is just kind of like someone once said to me, I was introducing myself and I said this is my first time doing it, doing this position and and my and the the guy running the meeting said, Well, this is my first time running this meeting too, so we're gonna do this like a rodeo. We're just gonna hop on, you know, you're gonna hop on the bull and we're gonna see if we can ride this out for eight seconds. And and that's Atlas Aultman: Okay. BigMike Coyle: that stuck with me like, you know, that's just kind of what you gotta do. You just have to and yeah, you're gonna mess up, you're gonna make mistakes. The the important thing is you learn from those mistakes. And you don't try to pass it off as like, well, I didn't know. You just take accountability for it and and take it as a learning example. And that's where having, you know, as as the theme of the show is having good mentors to say, okay, Atlas Aultman: Yeah. BigMike Coyle: what did you learn? And then I'm sure, you know, as you moved up the ranks, you got to look back and say to say to the younger lieutenants and and and ask what did you learn? You know, what what are we Atlas Aultman: Yeah, big mate. BigMike Coyle: gonna do when this happens again? Atlas Aultman: Yeah, it's funny you brought up bull riding. I I interviewed Jackson Mortensen, he's a pro bull rider, and I asked him, he's like in his twenties, man, so he's young, but he's got this champion desire, this burning in his and he can just tell he's on fire for just that excitement. And he became a pro very early. And I was asking him like the same question, like, how did you start this journey? And it was his dad. His dad mentored him. his dad was the person that was the shining example of let's just get on the bull and ride. BigMike Coyle: Yeah, and he became a pro shake. Now asking him like the same question, like how did you start the journey? It was his dad his dad managers. his dad was checked. she came on the bullet Atlas Aultman: And and he he talked about a couple stories where he had to mentally put himself in that space. And until you're there for the first time, introducing yourself with that role, with that BigMike Coyle: and ride and he talked towards working putting up in that space. They didn't tell you you were there for the first time, introducing yourself with that Atlas Aultman: title, with the responsibility, you think you can do it, but when you're BigMike Coyle: With with responsibility. you think you can guilty? Atlas Aultman: there, it's so much different, isn't it? Like it is riding a bull. It doesn't matter where you're at, too. It's riding a bull. That first eight seconds counts. That's I love that in it. BigMike Coyle: Yeah, that's one hundred percent what it is. you know, so when I transitioned into the courts as a bailiff, a lot of funny stories there into that transition 'cause I'd worked in for the department for so long. kind of a funny story before I get to the one I'm getting to. I was working the the mag magnetometer where people are coming to the courts and it was one day where it was all the people I've dealt with for the last at that time 17, 18 years. And they all hey coil, hey coil, you're over here now, Coyle. And then once they all got through, and I can't remember if it was that evening or maybe the next morning, there was a row of clerks that heard all this and they like, hey Mike, come here. Because to them I was still a new guy. Atlas Aultman: Yeah. BigMike Coyle: and they're like, how come everybody knows you? And I'm like, I've been doing this for a long time. Atlas Aultman: Yeah. BigMike Coyle: You know? And so then when I got assigned to a judge and At first it's just like, Hey, you're gonna go cover this court, and then you get assigned to it. So then they're like, Okay, you need to go introduce yourself to the judge and get to know him. And my judge is a very personal, quiet guy, great, great human being. And so I went back, I'm like, Hey, J Edge, I'm Mike. And it's like, Okay. And I was like, just so you know, I may be new here. I'm not new. This is my background. And once you build that up and kind of establish with them, I know the ropes and let's talk about this and you're gonna know my style. and then it was it was completely different from then on, you know, once he realized that like, okay, this is Mike's call. And whenever there's a security issue, he knowing that I knew what I was doing and stuff, he deferred it to me. So, so Atlas Aultman: Yeah. To best. BigMike Coyle: growing up, your maternal grandfather was special forces, your dad, Atlas Aultman: Yeah. Yeah. BigMike Coyle: I if you don't mind getting getting into a little bit of that growing up stage, besides w like like I watching Rambo, how many Rambo knives did you accumulate over the years? Five. Atlas Aultman: Five. yeah, five. Yeah, definitely. one for every day of the week, but the weekends don't count. So there we go. No. BigMike Coyle: Yeah. The weekends it's all five of them together. Atlas Aultman: Yeah, that's right. Double fist my knives. No, I remember getting them as a warts. when I was when I was growing up, you know, we were very knife friendly. Like that's just something that you always have. You know, you always have a knife. Look. Still have a knife. Always have a knife. and the whole thing about knives is it's it's an extension of you that no one else carries. So learning how to how to use a knife, what to use a knife for, and how many practical purposes that a knife has, I I eventually started carrying two when I was in the military, one for general purposes and one for just in case. And then that became my AD my EDC. I could carry it anywhere. and so the that kind of mentality started when I was young and I became very comfortable with knives. when I would get good grades, I would go be able to pick out a knife. And they weren't expensive knives. They were all trainer knives, you know, how how to sharpen a knife in case BigMike Coyle: Right. Right. Atlas Aultman: you mess it up. Throwing knives, you know, 'cause you know, when you're a kid you want to see if it throws right. Like like you know. But like all of that was was was it was it was part of my childhood and it's still it it shapes me, just like it shapes everyone with their childhood memories, little things like that, they stick with you. so yeah. when my dad BigMike Coyle: No, I Atlas Aultman: My my dad was in the army, he he would give me a knife whenever he would go out to the field and he would ask me to do things that were in the army field manual and I would learn things 'cause he was preparing me to do what I want what I told him I wanted to do. So why not give a warrior a knife as early as possible, right? It's very Spartan esque. BigMike Coyle: No, it's it dude, I'm I'm a big knife guy myself. My my daily knife carry is a Finch made Osbourne folder that I've I've had it for years and I've tried other knives, but that's the one I go to and you know, knives are a great gift to give. I've given all my sons knives for my son and my son in law's knives for holiday and I get a crinkle in my nose when someone says, Hey, do you have a knife? And I'm like, You Atlas Aultman: Okay. BigMike Coyle: don't have one? You know, I mean, I I'm old enough now that in high school, you know, that's how you sharpened your pencils. You know, you just whooped out your pocket knife and sharpened it and and stuff like that. So yeah. my first Rambo esque Bowie knife, however you want to word it, back in the day, I had to conceal from my parents with our with our We lived by foothills and you know, when we would go up there, of course we had to have our our Rambo esque knives and our our B B guns to go up there and do whatever the hell it is kids did, you know. But I think mine was picked up at the local Army Navy store back when a twelve year old kid can walk in an army navy store and buy a an eight inch blade for sure. Atlas Aultman: Yeah. Did yours have the little screw on the end where you could hold stuff in inside? Yes. Fish lines, yep. And sometimes BigMike Coyle: You you know it did. It had the the the the fish hooks and fish lines and sh you know. Atlas Aultman: matches, if you could if you could scour those from the parents without them finding out. BigMike Coyle: That's right, the strike anywhere matches, I lived in the s the Santa Cru Clarita Valley in California, which is desert, so there was never really an opportunity to to test the fish hooks for anything, you know. They there was not not real fishing with them, but I I remember watching Rambo and watching him take out that fish line. And using the I think he uses the fish hook, maybe there was a needle in there. And sewing up his arm Atlas Aultman: I wanna do that. I d yes. Yeah, we all said that didn't we? BigMike Coyle: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I could do that. I could do that, knowing we did, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So what was it like when you went into the army or went into the military? 'Cause you went Air Force, right? Atlas Aultman: Yeah, I went Air Force to State Air Force. like you said, I was kinda shocked 'cause you know, that's not what I expected. When I grew up, I grew up around going to like family days and we would shoot we would shoot guns as kids. They would they would have blanks, you know, you'd go out and shoot the the biggest things that you possibly could get your hands on. BigMike Coyle: Yeah. Atlas Aultman: and they would they would, you know, let you get inside tanks and the airforce is not like that at all. It was not like that at all. so it was a big shock and I I thought, what am I doing here? And my mom my mom was not happy. She wanted me to be in the army, like something she told me that stuck with me. She's not with us anymore, unfortunately. But she was BigMike Coyle: I'm sorry to hear that. Atlas Aultman: yeah, yeah, it's it's what it is. See, she said like, you know, I really wish you would have been in in green instead of blue, you know, you would have you would have looked better in green. And that kinda hit me. And like, especially when I was not experiencing what I thought I would experience. But after about three, four years, when I started to like really get into it and just embrace where I was. because of mentors that I had early in my career they're like, hey, you know, if you do well here, you get to to go where you want to go and that's how it works. So grow where you're planted. And I'm like, okay, well I better start growing. I I got to do some things that were were really cool for my age. I got to deploy. So my first deployment I was with a bunch of tace. so as an airman, first class I believe I was, I had two stripes and I was over there with other people that were If you do special operations, they have special Air Force Special Warfare where they have people that just do that in the Air Force. And I was not part of that organization. But those people sometimes bleed together for deployments, the specially needs that the army has. So I answered an army need, ended up working with the TAC P guys BigMike Coyle: With Atlas Aultman: doing security for a base really early. And I was like, This is what I joined for. But I had to work really hard to get into that position. So and then That was unique because that was before Saddam was dead. So he was trying to attack us with scud missiles. one of my early memories and why why I'm I have an affinity for Coke is we were downtown. Coke of the drink. yeah. Yeah. This BigMike Coyle: drink. Coke the drink. Coke the drink. Atlas Aultman: this thing, if you're watching. yeah, I have an affinity for Coca-Cola. There we go. That's better. Because we had we had just gone downtown and I had grabbed a Coca-Cola and when I was walking back to my tent, I heard the sirens And immediately I was like, we're gonna get attacked. And there were missiles that usually landed, but not anywhere close. So it was just like boom, boom, boom, and you hear them in the distance. And we had Patriot missile batteries up there. So everyone thought they were secure. But I remember walking back, and it's this one landed way too close for comfort. So I was looking at my coke, jumped into the bunker, and there was a Marine that was walking by and I had grabbed him, pulled him in, and I was I was drinking this Coke like it was the last thing I was ever. going to have. and sometimes when when you're really thirsty and your body gets something that you really want, like a coke on a hot day, yeah, it brings me back, man. It brings me back to that moment where I thought, well, maybe this is it. Maybe I'm gonna die at nineteen twenty. And this is what I'm gonna be known for for from my parents because you know I didn't have a family at the time. But Yeah, that was my first brush with death when I was thinking, man, maybe I could die. Because yeah, the the explosions were really close. But the Air Force the Air Force works totally different. So if I was in the army, I would have got like a combat action badge for that. I didn't get anything like that from the Air Force. They were just like, Are you okay? And I'm like, Yeah, and they're like, Okay, I'll see you in an hour for work. BigMike Coyle: You know, I I had kind of a similar experience in in law enforcement. and that grow grow where you're planted mentality is something that was shared with me but it's something that I've tried to teach my son, who's in the military now, and also those just in my direct sphere and stuff like that. when I was in law enforcement, I was I was working in the jail. And I helped develop the jail gang intelligence unit. And so that got me working with our special crimes task force. And then when they needed some extra bodies, they because I had built trust with them, they knew they could trust and re rely on me. They're like, Hey, we're gonna grab Mike and take him out to do this, which eventually, you know, there were a couple of times where to use your your military parlance, I I was almost TD wide to them, you know, as a jailer. And I knew that was an honor and a privilege to be there. But I always kept wanting to do all the other things, you know, an FTO, the jail tack team, and I wanted to do all these other cool things. And then my jail commander at the time, he said, Hey, you have found what you're good at. Run with it. And that was A life lesson that I carried on through the entirety of my career, which is when you find what you're good at, what your skills are, use that to your advantage. You know, grow where you're planted, like you said. I think that's just a phenomenal way to look at it because sometimes what we want isn't what the bigger picture needs for from us. You know, we have our our motivations and our drives. But then it's just like, hey, look, man, you're good at this, you're good at Intel. And it took off. It you know, I that part of my career took off and the nice thing is, is when I was ready to move on, I knew it was in good hands. So I like how you put that, you know, grow here, even though that's not where you wanted to be. Atlas Aultman: Yeah. Well, we all find ourselves in that position too. Like not every day's a perfect day. But Warren Buffett puts it like this and and I share this on stage. you know, we all have the tendency to go negative. If you're seeing a viral piece of content The first thing you're gonna do is look in the comments and you're gonna be like, where's the negative comments? Because those are the most entertaining. and a lot of people use that to get famous. They use the negative comments, and we as humans, we do this negative thing. But whenever you have a negative thought, it roots itself and and you shouldn't let it stay there. You gotta pick it up, man. and get rid of it. So Warren Buffett says to use a rule three, which is that's the name of my book by the way, but there's no correlation. And the rule three is whenever you have a negative thought, you have to replace it with three things that you're grateful for. So for instance, it's a hundred and thirteen degrees outside. I I went to the gym BigMike Coyle: Where is it? It I'll look for different reasons. but Atlas Aultman: and I was like, man, it's hot. And then I went inside the gym and I was like, but it's awesome in here. And I have all these, you know, weights that I can move around. And the people are friendly. Boom. I hit three things. I had a great workout today. And then when I came back out into the heat, I was like, and I started my truck. man, this is great air conditioning. It works. short drive to the gym, which is a blessing that most people don't like to even think about. I'm five minutes away from the gym. That's an adult blessing, man. You know, and then I have clean water to drink. You know, it just Consistently you have to keep pulling those weeds so that whenever you're looking at your life, it's a garden and not a disaster. BigMike Coyle: Yeah, that's such an important thing because we can look at a five minutes drive to the gym. You could take that to be like, man, it's only five minutes. By the time I get there, the AC's not even kicked on yet. Or you could look at it like, it's only five minutes. You know, five minutes is just a blip in time. The AC probably won't get cold, but it'll help get my body moving and get my body warmed up so that when I get in there, I don't have to spend as much time warming up because I'm already warm. You know, I'm gonna walk Atlas Aultman: Yeah. BigMike Coyle: in sweating and people are gonna think I've been working for thirty minutes instead of just walked in the door, you know? So I Atlas Aultman: For sure. BigMike Coyle: and and my wife and I, as we look back on our situation and stuff like that, we we try to remember a lot where we came from. the trials we had early on raising raising our kids. And now we're helping out with our grandkids and stuff like that. And being grateful for those opportunities that we've had and people people will tell me all the time, like, man, you're so you've got it so good. the thing I hate is when people say, I'm so jealous of you and it's like, buddy, you're jealous of where I'm at now? You're not you wouldn't be you yeah, Atlas Aultman: You could've do this. Yeah. Should have seen where it was. BigMike Coyle: when we were living in a single wide in one of the sketchiest parts of of the valley, but we we had to go through that to get to where we are Atlas Aultman: Mm-hmm. BigMike Coyle: I try to remind people like I got to where I am at now because of what I our values and what we work for and what we wanted versus just sitting back and letting life happen to us. You know? And it Atlas Aultman: Yeah. BigMike Coyle: it's really changed our perspective on that. Atlas Aultman: Yeah, I had David Chokichi. he was Pam Anderson's boyfriend on Baywatch. He's actually bringing Baywatch back. I had him on the show a couple weeks ago and he was talking BigMike Coyle: Is is that like Baywatch the senior pool? The pool at this at the senior center? What if what's it now? Atlas Aultman: yeah, no. Yeah. No, they they're calling it Baywatch. It's just a revisit. BigMike Coyle: I know. Atlas Aultman: They're bringing in. Yeah, you smart. You're smart, man. Me and I'm gonna take my my autumn comments and put them somewhere else. No, Yeah, he he's actually like he has his own bar and he's mentoring the new lifeguards, you know, the new red seats or whatever. But but he was talking about all the things that he's done in his life and people say that to him, they're like, You're you're s you're so lucky. I'm like, Yeah, dude, but like the most watched TV show in the world for a long period of time took a lot of work to make it that way. You know, all these people got brought into the set and then they became that. They didn't just start off with that. No one sees the work that goes in there. But on the flip side, no one sees the gratitude that it takes to continue it. Like you gotta have that gratitude seed planted early so that whenever it does happen and you know it's going to, BigMike Coyle: Well Atlas Aultman: that you know exactly where you want to go next. You know. So if you're not planning ahead with gratitude, then you're going to stay in the soil. You're going to be buried. And it's not going to be a good thing for you if you have the wrong mindset. So absolutely 100%. I'm a big gratitude fan. You know, a big gratitude fan. BigMike Coyle: So tell me more about that, 'cause I like where you're going and I I just want to hear you riff on that some more about having the gratitude as it's going, is that what you're talking about? Like and and also when it's over? Atlas Aultman: Yeah, all right. So here's where most people sit. Most people sit in imposter syndrome. They get to a s a certain point in their life. They're like, I have this success. I've achieved this position. I make this much money. Whatever their goal is in life, they reach it. And then they're like, This is it. And then what? You know, you have to plan things like it's a mission. Your life is a mission. You have certain obstacles that you have to overcome, but it never stops. And if you're planning for it to stop, it will. It will absolutely stop right where you planned it to stop. You have to continuously hit another target and another target and another target. And if you're not planning those targets, even if it's not sequentially, if you put them in there, you're good. So how does that work? Well, I'm glad you asked, Big Mike. BigMike Coyle: Yes. Atlas Aultman: Well, how it works is this. everybody has a subconscious that they can control, but they don't understand how that works. So the old school way to do it, like the Jim Rohns of the world, those are the guys that that influence Tony Robbins, you know, your current motivational speaker track, whatever. they do it like this they write down their goals. BigMike Coyle: They do it. They write up. Atlas Aultman: And they put them in a daily sequence. David Goggins redid this to call it the accountability mirror. Like check in the mirror, check in at night, and check in in the morning. And if you're doing that, you're thinking about it. Whatever you put inside here is either gonna come out here or you're gonna you're gonna catch more of whatever BigMike Coyle: That's four. Atlas Aultman: you put in because your brain's using the reticular activating system, which is the part of the brain that says, hey, this is important. The way you engage BigMike Coyle: Thank you. Atlas Aultman: the RAS is by writing it down because if you take the time to write anything down, it's important. So we've lost that art. In this world of cell phones that we live in, everyone's typing things in their phones, they're doing this number. If you actually write it down and then you visit it, seeing your handwriting, it goes back into your cycle and you pick up things that are on a frequency that you didn't really realize you could control. So all of that happens in a daily sequential thing. If you're writing it down, if you can do it on a calendar, then you can put a time limit on it and something that might Might have been a year away, two years away. Well, all of a sudden happen in three to four months, six months. Like this play button behind me. I have a YouTube play button. I said, I will be a top one percent YouTube channel owner. BigMike Coyle: Like this is fucking I mean, I mean I said I won't be a topic YouTube channel. Atlas Aultman: I wrote that and ten months later, bam. But my goal was to do it in a year. So I I did it two months ahead of schedule, BigMike Coyle: Do it right here. Atlas Aultman: if you want to call it that. But now with the size of channel that I have, I have more influence in Google. Didn't realize I'd do that. I have more influence to spotlight. champions didn't realize I'd do that. I get people that w that reach out to me and they want to be on my show and then this is the imposter syndrome that comes back. Why would why would some celebrities want to be on my show? I'm just a dude, right? And I'm like, BigMike Coyle: Yeah, I I get hit with imposter syndrome a lot and I did it when when I got moved to the courts and one of my sergeants, one of my dear friends, is like, Hey dude, we're putting you in these leadership roles and I'm like, No, not me. You know, and and and that's a lot of that has to go with like a lot of backstory about myself. And having to be told, you are the right kind of like the whole thing with that jail commander, You are the right man for this, You know, you you have Atlas Aultman: Yeah. BigMike Coyle: to get out of your own way now because it's happening. And then once you're able to get out of your own way, and you talk about writing it down, I one of my personal beliefs is the most intimate form of communication is not talking. It is actually pen to paper. When you write something down, when you handwrite a journal, when you handwrite a letter. I feel like so much more real of you comes out than than just you know, typing a journal or text or email. There's there's so much more Atlas Aultman: Yeah, let me let me pull the thread on this. BigMike Coyle: real on that. Atlas Aultman: When we were growing up and we met somebody famous or somebody that we idolized, what would we ask them for? Their BigMike Coyle: Their autograph, handwriting. Atlas Aultman: handwriting. You know? So if you can put that into your life, I mean it's the whether you believe in the Bible or not, there's a whole there's a whole sequence of things that that I that I talk about there. But like whether you believe it's true or not, you were cycled through getting someone's autograph and then having that personal time, the second or two that it took. In your personal space, it there's some kind of belief that, you know, that it's good. Alright, so like back here I got Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson's glove that that he signed. It's a picture of me and my BigMike Coyle: Well done, hey. All right. Atlas Aultman: son. And like that was just happenstance. I was visiting us a friend who was doing like WrestleCon. and he's like BigMike Coyle: Did you take his tiger? Atlas Aultman: No, I did not get mold. So I have to revisit that because apparently that's the expectation, Big Mike. Yeah. No. BigMike Coyle: Right, right. You you felt you you came short of your goal there, but no. Atlas Aultman: Yeah, yeah, you know, I was working on it. But no, I you I I I wanted to be in his presence and I gave him I gave him one of my patches, one of my pirate patches and invited him on the podcast. He didn't take me up on that, but maybe he will one day. But like it's just I wanted to be in his presence. So now we've traded autographs for pictures. And it's different. It's different. BigMike Coyle: Right. Right. Atlas Aultman: You know, I can carry all these pictures on my phone, that's cool, but now it's for someone else. Like I'm like, I Mike Tyson, here's the picture. You know, before it was like, I met Mike Tyson, here's the autograph, and it's hanging on my wall. You know what I mean? This there's a difference there, man. So why not treat yourself like a celebrity, like a winner, like a champion, and then write yourself notes that you will cue in on as important because you're not doing it as much as you used to. And when you do it now, your brain's really paying attention. So handwritten Writing is is definitely a life hack that people just don't take advantage of. BigMike Coyle: No, I I agree with you one hundred percent. 'cause that's where you're able to really just feel free. And and you you talk about how we have all these pictures and stuff like that. And, you know, to me, I get lost in a moment that I play golf with people all the time, not celebrities, not yet, but I play golf with people, just my friends and stuff like that. And there's no pictures of it because I'm just in that moment. Or when I go to a concert or a show, you know, you see the people that are living it through their the concert through their phone screen. And I'm like, I'm Atlas Aultman: Their phone. They're never gonna watch it. BigMike Coyle: like, you are missing where you are right now because you're worried about getting the perfect shot. Like where you are right now, this moment with the people you're surrounded by. And this is I'm a big concert fan, and this is why. Because it doesn't matter who you are or what your background is. Everybody is there at that moment to celebrate the music and celebrate it together. And you can I tell this story and it's one of my favorite stories to tell. My wife and I are big parrot heads. One day we're at Vegas in for Jimmy Buffett, and my wife, you know, this is when I was still on the job, so I was really good about keeping my personal bubble and stuff like that. Atlas Aultman: Yeah. BigMike Coyle: Well, my wife looks over and I'm arm in arm with this guy, you know, singing cheeseburger and parrot, and my wife is like, What the hell are you doing? And I'm like Hey man, we just got in the moment. And she's like, I would never expect that from you. And it's like, why? That's what it is. It's just being in that moment. So I get that. And like you said, about Tyson, like you've got his autograph, you know, and you have Atlas Aultman: Yeah. Every day I walk past it. Yeah. BigMike Coyle: you have that moment with him. I heard a funny story. I read actually read in the paper, and I'd have to go find a paper where a Boy Scout got la lost up in the Tetons. Well, guess who was flying the search and rescue helicopter that rescued him? It was Harrison Ford. This is when he was a and Yeah. Atlas Aultman: yeah. He's a pilot, yeah. Yeah. BigMike Coyle: And in the paper, and it was so funny because the all the other Boy Scouts are like, did you take a picture? did you get an autograph? He goes, No, I got a personal flight. I got a flight. I flew with Han Solo. That's the moment. That's what I Atlas Aultman: It's like I got rescued. Yeah. Right. That is. BigMike Coyle: got. And I just I've always remembered that because it helped remind me to be in that moment. You worked, you were a paper pusher, you go to school, now you're getting into special warfare. What who did you have to rely on to help you learn that part of your career now? Atlas Aultman: Yeah, yeah, I didn't I didn't work in the special warfare like career fields, but I got picked up to do a special operations mission advising Iraq executives on the rebuilding of their country, where I I was is me, I would bring somebody with me if if if possible, I would bring two. and we would go downtown and we would advise them on rebuilding their country specific to their airspace, which was was given to me. so I did I did I got picked up based off of LinkedIn, I'll I'll tell you that right now. I I've been a LinkedIn advocate. It's the only social media that I've had in the military and I kept it really close to me. But whenever they were looking for people to do this job, I put my hand in air and then I sent them my LinkedIn profile, which had my tactical experience, my my, you know, combative's certification at the time, my my deployments, 'cause I had multiple deployments at the time. so I was the right guy to go to Iraq. and then sit down and and advise these people on how to do something. so when I got picked up for that, BigMike Coyle: So I can't. Atlas Aultman: I remember my commander pulled me in. He's like, hey they're making you bring suits. He's like, this is really crazy. He's like, I want to know exactly what's going on because we're never we're we're never asked to do anything like this. So come back and write write a report. And I think I wrote a a 40 page report on things. You want you want some juice, dude? I'll give you some some crazy juice that that no one's talking about. I can't believe I'm gonna I'm gonna I can't believe I'm gonna share this. so when I was in Iraq BigMike Coyle: So what I Atlas Aultman: One of the missions was to, you know, make sure all the communications and the infrastructure and everything was good for the airplanes flying over. It's billions of dollars. So it's a big deal. It was a five-year plan BigMike Coyle: Yeah. Atlas Aultman: and we ended up doing it in months because I had the right team, I had the right, the right support, and I was working directly for a general. So when I got pulled out there, one of the things was checking the infrastructure. And under Baghdad International Airport, there's a tunnel system. There's a tunnel system that no one talks about, that no one really probably knows about. But the tunnel system includes communications, networks, that kind of stuff. Your power, all that stuff goes through the tunnels. So I remember getting A private tour from these people that were experts. And they're like, and here's where how how we connect the buildings. And I'm like, where do these tunnels go? Could do you have a tunnel map? And they're like, no. And I'm like, why what? Why not? And they're like, no. Criminals use these tunnels. when it when there was a bank robbery, they come down into the tunnel system and they hide down here. I was like, so there's criminals in these tunnels? And they're like, Yeah. And I'm like, all right, immediately. I was like, just I'm gonna I'm gonna go through these tunnels. Like I'm doing this. You know what I mean? I'm like, this is exciting. I want to do tunnel ops like it's Vietnam. Right? BigMike Coyle: Right, right. Atlas Aultman: So I told my my boss is a commanding, or he was a general. He was the top general at the time, was General Clary. I said, Hey, sir, I need your authorization for the base defense operations center to pull down Grunt to go and to do this tunnel op with me. And he's like Do you realize there there might be weapons of mass destruction down in these tunnels? And I go, No, I didn't Yeah, there might be. He goes, Yeah, he's like there there could be like gold. I'm like, man y yeah, there's a bunch of crime. BigMike Coyle: Yeah, it's like the the pretty like you get on that. Atlas Aultman: This th Apparently in this tunnel. He's like, I'm going with you. I'm like, no, no, you're not. You are you're definitely not coming with me, sir. And so I planned it to where he was traveling and he couldn't come with me. Cause he was he was the kind of guy he would have. He had just geared up and we would have been on it. So we we approached down the tunnel. We got to this this gate, and the gate itself, I don't know who put it in, but it was well done. It was really hardened. It didn't look like anything that I expected to see. And so I told the guys, I'm like, cut it. So they brought in these diamond plate blades, started really they crushed like nineteen diamond plated blades. And they were like, Sir, we can't we can't we can't go any farther. We don't have any more blades. So I got a dog sitting there, you know, I got guys geared up. And I'm like, I'm waiting to see something cool. And we had to abort the mission and then I I was like, okay, let's plan another one. And we lost the status of forces agreement was going on at the time. We lost our ability to to have tactical control over that area. So I never got to go through the tunnels. So here's what's not talked about. Here's the here's the conspiracy theory, I guess, that that I'm I'm starting. Like we always say we never found weapons of BigMike Coyle: Like we always think we have a problem. Atlas Aultman: mass destruction in Iraq. We didn't even check everything in Iraq. BigMike Coyle: Yeah. Well, I I've seen the movie Three Kings, so I think I know what's in those tunnels. Atlas Aultman: Maybe. Hollywood always gets it right. BigMike Coyle: Always always gets it right. Every every police foot chase is exactly how it works, you know. So Atlas Aultman: Yeah, I'm I'm I'm helping I'm helping with a a project now, a movie that's coming out, which is kind of fortuitous. it was is some people I had on my show and they asked me for advice because they needed military experience. And I was like, Okay, yeah, I'll help you out. So I I helped them with a shoot house, brought them in a shoot house, got to move tactically. I invited people, big names. I won't say their names. But I won't out them. some of them are just like, Yeah, how much you paying me? I'm like, dude, like D this is the this is the opportunity to fix Hollywood, like for real. So I brought in some people from Blackwater, you know, I I brought in some some local operators that I know to teach some tactics to make it look more realistic. And it's cool. It's kind of opened the door for for these guys to do this this almost vendetta movie. It's a vigilante a film that's coming out probably next year. They're starting a filming next month. And it's really cool to be a part of like I get the script, I I make comments on the script, I do the tactical, so I I tell the the the lead actor, comes back into the the justice system after being wrongfully imprisoned and then becomes a lawyer and then I don't want to ruin the whole plot but it's really cool. It's really cool to be a part of that and then be able to tell them don't put your finger on the trigger. Like get your finger off the trigger. All right. We need to work on getting your fingers off the trigger. because you know I'm sure I'm gonna see that on set when people have guns they're gonna just you know put their fingers on the trigger and BigMike Coyle: Well also if we can get them to stop racking around every time they grab a gun. I've I I've sat there and I said, He just went through half a mag just drawing his weapon. Atlas Aultman: Yeah. BigMike Coyle: the mini and then also every time someone moves a Glock doing the sound, you know, of cocking and or putting the safety on or off, those are the things that drive me up the wall. I Just a little fix. You don't need to do the ch every time someone grabs a Glock. Atlas Aultman: Every time. Yeah, one of the other things, I don't know, there's so many little things that I cue in on movies, and and this one I've helped with a lot, hopefully. But sometimes a director gets involved and they're like, No, it's gotta be like that. And I'm like, all right, it's the cinema part, where I'm like, like, do we have to have a silencer on this gun? Like, and guns don't come with silencers, okay? They just don't. So, do we have to have a silencer? And usually the answer is all right, well, it's gonna have a silencer. I'm like, okay. BigMike Coyle: Yeah. Okay, but Atlas Aultman: Yeah. BigMike Coyle: in that silencer in this building there's still gonna be Atlas Aultman: Yeah. BigMike Coyle: some some noise to it, so you know. Atlas Aultman: Yeah. Yeah. No, it's no, it's really cool to be a a part of that and and actually be involved in something like the making of a movie. so yeah, I think they're gonna I don't know, they're gonna bring me into as a t tactical advisor, I think that's what they're calling me. But when I'm on set, hopefully I can work my way into the background like like Stephen King does on his movies. He just Yeah knock on I'll be the guy that knocks on the door. BigMike Coyle: Right, right, yeah. But see that yeah. Atlas Aultman: Put me in the credits. Guy Who Knocks on Door, Atlas BigMike Coyle: But see, that's the thing is like you look at how you got there and everything that helped lead you to that point and all Atlas Aultman: Yeah. BigMike Coyle: the people in your life that helped get you there. And I'm sure there was a point, going back to imposter syndrome when they ask you to do that, you're like, I could call someone that would probably be a better guy. But because you what's that? Atlas Aultman: Yeah. I did that. And I did that. I just told you. Like, I called all these people that I know that are in my network. one of them is like, there I'm still in, dude. I'm still a Green Beret. And I'm like, he's like, I can't do anything called training with Hollywood. That would be against the army's rules. I'm like, Yeah, that's that's fair. BigMike Coyle: Yeah, but you know that that's what's important to note is like Having those connections and building those connections and seeing that sphere of influence that we have that people have on us as well, how important that is. So you said you w worked with General Mc McQuery McCleary? Atlas Aultman: Yeah, so General Clary, not McClary. So that was during BigMike Coyle: That was Atlas Aultman: McChrystal's time. So yeah. I used to go over and and see him walking through Alfal Palace, Sonamas Palace. There's a bunch of stuff there. If you want stories on that, I mean, there's lots of like pools and water and then You know, th they had tigers too, but they weren't used for what Mike Tyson was using for. They were using BigMike Coyle: Yeah. Atlas Aultman: for torture. and they had just a BigMike Coyle: Yeah. Atlas Aultman: bunch of stuff that was going on over there. I lived basically in Saddam's daughter's house, which we called the Air Force house. And that's where all the Air Force guys were. And that was down the street from the the palace. And now would always get yelled at 'cause you know I'm the Air Force guy around a bunch of army guys, so Air Force has rules like when it's cold out, you can wear a beanie hat in your uniform. And the army does not have those rules. They don't they don't like you wearing a beanie. So I would get stopped all the time. They'd be like, Soldier, soldier. And I'm like, Ain't talking to me. I'm not a soldier. I'm an airman. So some sergeant major would like grab me and and then he would turn me around, see my rank and be like, I'm sorry, sir. you're wearing a beanie. Can we not do that? 'Cause it confuses the soldiers. They think they can do that. I'm like, Well, I'm not in the army. So no, I'm cold. I'm gonna be wearing the beanie, but thank you for your time, Sergeant Major. BigMike Coyle: So I was gonna ask, you said that like when you guys were having to go into the tunnels, he he was like, Yeah, let's go and he was ready to gear up and and stuff like that. How did that Atlas Aultman: Yeah. Yeah Yeah. Yeah, he's he's a good guy. BigMike Coyle: When you have a leader like that. How does that affect you and your troops morale to like, hey, we have to call the general off of this, you know? Atlas Aultman: Yeah, not really. it it depends on your leader, right? Some of can do the work. some of will say, I I I want you to do this and you know they can too, or they've done it before. Those people who give you those marching orders, they get mad respect from the community. if General Clary wanted to come with me and he was able to, I would have had no problems with it. But then I'm stepping in I'm stepping into this role. I gotta protect my boss, man. Like BigMike Coyle: Right. No, I understand I understand that, but Atlas Aultman: you know, if if there anything dangerous happens and he's down in the tunnels, like that's our leader. That's our top Air Force guy. and as cool it w as it would be to have him there for morale purposes, I don't I don't think that that I want another General Patton. General Patton used to do that. Like BigMike Coyle: Right. Atlas Aultman: The whole thing with if you've heard the term ground truth, that's a patentism. He used to get updates from the battlefield and then he would go to the people that were fighting on the battlegrounds and get the truth. And that's where ground truth came from. He would actually go down and see them and then get it out of their lips. I think that's That's great for a senior executive, you know, a senior director, anybody who's doing BigMike Coyle: Here, right here, we can Atlas Aultman: massive things, but you don't need to do the work. You can you should never do the work. And knowing General Clary, he's very proficient, very tactically aware. he's the guy that if anybody tried to attack him as a general, he would shoot him. Like he's that guy. but still I have to be like, Okay, BigMike Coyle: Like he's that guy. but still have to be Atlas Aultman: I gotta treat you like Patton and not like LeBron, you know? It's like BigMike Coyle: Right. Atlas Aultman: But BigMike Coyle: so going to my career that in law enforcement, that you knew they had no problem stepping into, you know, a shit sandwich. but at the Atlas Aultman: absolutely. BigMike Coyle: same time, like be having to say like, hey, this isn't your job anymore. Atlas Aultman: Yeah, yeah. It's there's some there's some people that stick out. you know, my my book's a leadership book and I asked him to like review it. So he's on the back of of my book as the reviewer for a reason. He's one of those leaders that taught me so much. I mean, I used to go into his his office every day and I'm like, this is what we're doing. He's like, just stop. Altman, stop. Is it done? BigMike Coyle: Autumn, stop. Atlas Aultman: Yeah. He'd he'd be like, Is it done? And I'm like, No. And he's like, Well then Don't come in here until it's done. And I'm like, that's That's respect, man. He expects me to get it done. He doesn't expect me to give excuses. And that changed my whole trajectory. It's one of the reasons why his leadership is one of the reasons why we expedited the whole plan by years. Is because he delegated with authority. If you need something, BigMike Coyle: Easy. Atlas Aultman: tell me. If there's a roadblock you run into and you can't get past, tell me. But until then, I expect you to work on it. That's why I hired you to be here. You're the expert. BigMike Coyle: But still fix you five five. You're the end. Atlas Aultman: Do your job. And I was like, shh. Say less. But he also okay, so so I'll tell you something that he did that a lot of people probably will will make comments on. He shared every email he got with everybody on the team. So my mailbox would get full every day. Because you can imagine how many emails a general gets in war. BigMike Coyle: You can imagine. Yeah, that comes. Yeah. Atlas Aultman: Yeah, that that was I would so we got really close to what he was trying to do, what he was being told directly from the people he was being told. so we had lots of emails to read and he expected us to BigMike Coyle: And lots of people that expect. Atlas Aultman: know because we were all one unit. so that level of trust doesn't exist. It I know I read the four stars when I was a l a little baby BigMike Coyle: I don't know what's going on. I don't remember. Atlas Aultman: airman. I read the four stars emails because I printed them out. And I read his emails when we were in war, but I didn't read the commanding general's emails when I was in special operations in Afghanistan, but he would make us go to all of the operations briefs. So everything that was happening across the battlefield, I knew it. As a one of his directors, I knew what was going on. That level of communication is vital, but it takes a lot to be at that level. So it's not for everyone. but yeah, back to your BigMike Coyle: yeah. Atlas Aultman: question. Absolutely changes the game when someone gives you that much and and you feel that. BigMike Coyle: gives you that much and you revealed that they Atlas Aultman: They trust you. BigMike Coyle: well that's how it was I I'll tell you the story. I was at a gang conference down in southern Utah when I got a call from the same jail commander and he said, Hey, you know what's going on with task force and and stuff and I Yes sir I do He goes, Okay, well you're gonna be assigned to them for like the next however long it takes to get this done. you'll you'll still be reporting in and checking in, but that's your direct chain of command now, more or less. And you know, congratulations and good luck. And for that leadership at that time and for all those people at that time to look to me and say, Yep, you can trust Mike to get this done. You Atlas Aultman: Yeah. BigMike Coyle: know, that that says a lot And also because I knew their backgrounds. These are, you know, the jail commander, he spent time with the task force. And knowing that these are people that have been there and done that and that I have built that bridge. And it's hard for me to talk about myself that way because I'm still like, I was no one special. But I worked myself and I built that trust, kind of like you did with with the generals, to where they're sharing their emails with you and their their communications with you, where you've built that trust so that way now. You're not getting blindsided. You're probably helping the the general make the write the reply that says, F you you don't know what you're talking about over here, Atlas Aultman: yeah. We we used to call those gems. you know, those g gener generalized emails or generated emails or I don't forget. We used to call gems. where we would we'd send him what he probably should say and then he would modify it and send it on the way. kinda like AI does for a lot of people nowadays, but yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's like, you know. BigMike Coyle: What AI does for people nowadays. How do I tell him to F off in a very polite manner? Atlas Aultman: Yes. But I want to be funny. So add that to. Not BigMike Coyle: Yes, yes. Yeah. Yeah. Atlas Aultman: funny enough, redo it. Yeah. So you know, what AI's getting is what we used to get back in the day when whenever I was doing that the first time. But that set me up. and I I ended up doing combat communications and and doing a whole lot of things for a world mission. and then that led me into the White House and I you know I got to see the president's email. I'll say it again, the president's email. He got one a day, sometimes two. BigMike Coyle: Well he got he got briefings is what he got. He got briefings. And Atlas Aultman: That's exactly right. Yeah. A lot of people I always ask that question, I'm like, how many how many emails do you think the president of the United States gets? And you're like, I don't know, like a hundred? I'm like, one. Maybe two. and it's like his personal trainer giving him, you know, his workout for the day. BigMike Coyle: Yeah. Atlas Aultman: And sometimes the chief of staff would be like, This is what you got going on, but the chief of staff's gonna brief him anyway, so like that one's not doesn't even get read half the time. BigMike Coyle: Right. Right. Yeah. No, I I could see that. So what was that transition like into the White House? Atlas Aultman: It was weird. It I often say it like whenever I'm on stage, I'm like, you know, I was looking around at all these very famous people, the people I see on TV, like I'm looking at them and then I'm looking at the TV in the same, you know, like breath. And it was it was like, why am I here? 'Cause I'm just an adopted kid from nowhere USA these people are known and like they're really making history right BigMike Coyle: Yeah. Atlas Aultman: in front of me. So it was it was an odd an odd thing and I I I felt I felt a lot of imposter syndrome, dude. Even though I wearing the suit 'cause we didn't wear a uniform when we were working for the president it'd be weird to have military people around that weren't like the military aid. so I was I was doing the communications bit, I would get asked to put him on the phone with people and he'd like, I wanna talk to the King of Jordan and then I'd be like, Okay, and I'll set it all up and then BigMike Coyle: So Atlas Aultman: you know, we we would talk. That's what I did. and then sometimes the The political side would take the calls and do that too. I didn't handle any of the politics sides, but if it was his official job, they would involve me and then I would hand him the phone, I would listen to the conversations. It was it was interesting, but I it was surreal. And so even though I'm wearing the suit and I'm in the place and I'm doing the job, it was out of body quite frequently. And I would I would I would think to myself, don't mess this up, don't mess this up, don't mess this up. You know, if you mess this up, it's gonna be so bad for your family. your for your you know reputation. You you don't want to be known as the guy that got kicked out. And one of the biggest growing moments that I ever had was in Indonesia. we we were in Indonesia, it was a peace conference. We're doing some ASEAN conference, whatever. And my job was to put the phone in in case he had to make a phone call. It was like one of my first jobs overseas. BigMike Coyle: It put the function like that like merchant. Atlas Aultman: And so everything's going swimmingly, and then the day that the president's supposed to come to my site arrives and I'm carrying my little phone BigMike Coyle: Yeah. Atlas Aultman: in and get stopped by security. These people are people I've never seen before. They're wearing like black pajamas. And I'm like, okay. And they're like, you can't bring in the phone. I'm BigMike Coyle: Not like we can't bring it. Atlas Aultman: like, no, I'm bringing in this phone. And they're like, you you no, nothing's coming in. I'm like, it's coming in. It's definitely coming in. How is this gonna happen? Because I'm not gonna sit here and listen to you tell me it's not this my job, I'm doing it. And they're like, Well, you need a dip note. So a BigMike Coyle: You no, nothing's coming in. Like How is this gonna happen? Atlas Aultman: diplomatic note takes weeks. So they thought they had me. I made a phone call. I've got a dip note. Here you go. And that pissed them off. Like something fierce. So they're like, follow me. And so next thing you know, I'm being led into this room with a bunch of pajama party people. And I'm like, this room is not the room I should be in. So, you know, what do you do? You always, you know, you you're trained. Whenever you know that the that this is a threatening environment, you put your hands in the air, right? I don't want any problems. I just I just wanna leave. And I got hit. You know, dude dude straight up clocked me in the face and he was a little guy and I was looking at him like wrong dude to mess with, dude. You know, 'cause I was a bouncer in college, I was a combat's instructor at the BigMike Coyle: Yeah, little guy. Atlas Aultman: time, I was teaching martial arts. you know I will crush this kid. But in the BigMike Coyle: I Atlas Aultman: back of my head in the academy, they they said you can't you can't touch anybody. And I was wearing this little pass that called me a diplomat. So Couldn't touch him. And that was a growth moment for me because even though I'm there, BigMike Coyle: Good question. And that was it for us. There. Atlas Aultman: I'm wearing a suit and I'm a different person. You know, I'm not the guy who was in Iraq, BigMike Coyle: The kind of always Atlas Aultman: you know, last the year before. I'm not the guy that was in fights teaching people how how to do things. I'm not the guy that was like talking to Secret Service about their hand to hand stuff. I'm not I'm not that guy right now. I'm a diplomat. So out of the body, like totally took myself out. grabbed my little phone, got out of there, and that turned into a good day for us because I didn't get in a fight and I didn't lose my job. And the whole time I'm thinking, I might lose my my spot at the agency. I mean, this took me years to get here and this dude just hit me. Like, this is what am I gonna do? So, those kind of things they grow you and like Like honestly, my my f my eyeballs sweat a little bit because I couldn't hurt this guy. And that was my go-to. Like, violence. I know BigMike Coyle: Like, I don't know. Atlas Aultman: violence. I speak this language really well, but I can't speak it right now. And that moment there started my whole thing. And then BigMike Coyle: And that up there started holding. Atlas Aultman: that's why I eventually became an aide to the president of the United States, is because I can control myself and limit my my my speech. Like I didn't talk to the president, he was a president of the United States. When I was around him, he told me what what he needed, I would BigMike Coyle: But where you need it. Atlas Aultman: do that. And if he did small talk, I kept it very, very minimal because he's got president of the United States stuff going on, not anything that I need to be involved in, unless I need to be involved in it. So it was weird, dude. It was BigMike Coyle: It was just great. Atlas Aultman: Just straight up weird. but it's a different type of stress. So combat stress, White House stress, commander stress, book stress, podcast stress, family stress, it's all stresses, right? and that was just one that I got to experience that not a lot of people get to experience. So experiencing that grows you a little bit differently. BigMike Coyle: Jersey Macros you look at it. Atlas Aultman: but what do you do in that moment? You go to someone who knows a lot about that environment and that's what I did. I got advice from my commander who had been in a similar situation at the time and he told me everything's gonna be fine and that really put me at ease. BigMike Coyle: There's there's nothing like going to a commander and saying, So this just happened. Atlas Aultman: Yeah. Well he was there too. So like the the commanders usually go out and they check on people and then they go out with the president because they're, you know, basically on staff. so they he was there and he and having breakfast him breakfast with him in the morning was like, So I heard you got hit. I was like, I did. He's like, Yeah, it'll be okay. He's like, I'm glad you didn't do anything. And then, you know, the guys were like, if I would have got hit, I would have punched him. And I'm like, would ya have? Would ya? Would ya? That's cute. Yeah. BigMike Coyle: Would ya? Would ya? Yeah. Yeah. Would ya? it's funny. That goes along with that, going back to Mike Tyson. Everybody's got a plan until they're punched in the face, you know? It's like, Atlas Aultman: Right. It's so true. BigMike Coyle: yeah, I'm sure when you walked in there, you're like, all right, I'm gonna find my way out of this, and you're like, that's Atlas Aultman: I can't. BigMike Coyle: not today. Not today. And then as you're Atlas Aultman: Yep, I can't. I just can't. So BigMike Coyle: walking out, you're like, You guys are so lucky. You guys are so lucky I'm in a suit right now, you have no idea how lucky you are. Atlas Aultman: Right? No, I mean I didn't have any of those feelings. I was just like, what is happening? My body was just confused. Cause my you know, you don't revert to to the level you think you're gonna do anything at, you know, you revert to your training. And like BigMike Coyle: Yeah. Atlas Aultman: I my body wanted to revert to training, and I had to mentally block everything that I wanted to do. And it was it took everything, I'm I'm telling you, it took everything I had not to let my training engage and and start an international national incident because that's what it would have been. And then we wouldn't be having this conversation. I wouldn't have got command. I wouldn't have got invited to you know a special operations job in my future career. none of that stuff would happen. I wouldn't have a best selling book. I wouldn't be on a TED stage. You know what I mean? None of that stuff would have happened if I would BigMike Coyle: None of it. Yeah. Atlas Aultman: have let let the training engage. So that was a big step. But it was scary too. BigMike Coyle: I I was dealing with this guy who just beat the hell out of someone and and I was like, dude, what happened? 'Cause like that wasn't his normal personality, you know. Like Atlas Aultman: Yeah. BigMike Coyle: I knew he could get that way and he's like, you know, man, it's just like he set me off and and you know, it's just like you guys, all of a sudden you all the rage comes out and I I just pause and I thought about what he said and I was like, No, because we're trained control aggression. That when it's done, it's done. the goal is to when it's done, it's done. And, you know, Atlas Aultman: Yeah. BigMike Coyle: I'm glad you recognized it that day for you and for your family and stuff. Atlas, not autumn, Atlas. It's been so fun talking to you today. And I'm sure we can pick this up later and keep going with just everything that you've learned in your career and stuff. But I appreciate your time and I'm so grateful for you and what you've done for the country, for the podcast industry, and for your community there in the military. You know, it takes great leaders to build the next generation of leaders. And, you know, that's what the mentor sessions is all about. So appreciate it. Everybody, please check out Atlas Altman. He's got a lot of great information. I'll share the links in the down in the description. please leave a comment, like, comment, subscribe. And we'll see you next time on the mentor sessions.