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The Motivated Mindset -Why I Joined — The Call, The Culture, The Purpose · Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk

1:04
But I think that. Hey boss, I'm Gente.
1:18
Welcome to the motivated mindset.
1:21
I'm your host Jose Flores, but I Latino Bron in the Bron Bron in
1:25
the Bronx, raised in Brooklyn, NY, a retired senior and CEO
1:30
veteran with over 30 years of military service and someone
1:33
that believes our greatest chapter are often written after
1:37
we face Como said. He says some of our greatest
1:40
challenges, you know, so my journey has taken me from the
1:43
streets of New York to the battlefields around the world,
1:46
serving our nation in places like Germany, Korea, Central
1:50
America, Afghanistan and Iraq. After retiring from the
1:54
military, my commitment to service continue as I
1:57
transitioned into the federal government where I had the
2:01
privilege of serving in the Department of Defense civilian
2:05
and later in the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
2:10
Now, throughout my military career and my federal career,
2:14
I've had the honor of working alongside incredible leaders,
2:17
mentors, and individuals who reminded me of something
2:21
important. Leadership isn't about a title,
2:25
it's about influence, It's about integrity and most importantly,
2:29
it's about the impact we have on other people's lives.
2:33
You see what I'm saying? So as we continue this month,
2:36
we're, we're also continuing to recognize 2 important themes,
2:40
Hispanic Heritage Month and Disability Awareness month.
2:44
All right. And for me, these two are aren't
2:47
simply dates on a calendar, they're opportunities, Como
2:51
said, he said, to recognize people.
2:53
So the stories, the contributions, resilience and
2:57
the values that each of us brings to the table.
3:00
Hispanic Heritage Month gives us an opportunity to celebrate the
3:03
history like Altuda right sacrifices, accomplishment and
3:07
contributions of Latinos communities.
3:11
And as a proud Latino, I am Comoto.
3:13
Oh, this is personal for me, but here's another important
3:17
conversation we need to continue having, right?
3:21
Disability awareness and inclusion.
3:24
This year's themes is celebrating value and talent.
3:27
A powerful reminder that people with disabilities are not
3:31
defined by what they cannot do. They are defined by what they
3:35
can do, their skills, their talents, their experiences and
3:39
the perspective and of course their potential.
3:43
People with disabilities make a vital contributions every single
3:47
day in our workplaces, in our communities, all the military,
3:51
government, business and across this nation.
3:55
And as we focus on ability to remove barriers to create
3:59
genuine opportunities for for people, we don't just close the
4:02
doors of individual with disability.
4:05
We become stronger organizations, right?
4:08
We become stronger communities and stronger as come and say
4:12
it's a nation. This conversation is also deeply
4:15
personal for me because during my federal career, one of the
4:18
roles that that meant a great deal to me was serving as a
4:22
disability program. Mattie, while working in the
4:25
DoD. And for those who come on, say
4:27
they who may not be aware of what it is, or for me with that
4:30
role, it's about helping ensure that individuals with
4:33
disabilities have equitable access to opportunities,
4:37
resources, and the reasonable accommodations they may that
4:41
they need to perform their jobs to succeed in the workplace.
4:44
It's about removing unnecessary barriers.
4:47
It's about listening. It's about educating.
4:51
And it's also about working with employees, our supervisors,
4:56
managers, and leadership to create an environment where
5:00
people are recognized not simply for the disabilities, but for
5:03
the abilities, talents, and experiences and potential.
5:07
And because because I'm also a veteran with a disability, I
5:10
understand that sometimes the biggest challenge isn't
5:14
necessary the disability itself. You know what I'm saying?
5:17
Sometimes the biggest challenges is access across access to
5:23
information, access to opportunities and access to
5:26
employment, access to resources and access to an environment
5:31
where you're given a fair opportunity to succeed.
5:34
Because disability inclusion isn't about lowering standards
5:38
and it isn't about giving someone an unfair advantage.
5:41
It's about removing barriers so that capable, talented, hard
5:46
working people have the opportunity to continue, grow,
5:50
leave and reach their full potential.
5:52
Right. And, and that's really what the
5:56
motivating mindset is all about. It's about recognizing people
6:00
who pour into us. It's about learning from their
6:03
wisdom, right? It's about having those
6:06
difficult conversations me and they, and it's about sharing
6:11
stories that reminds us that somebody is listening, that they
6:14
are not alone and that their story isn't over because every
6:19
person has a story. Every challenge has a lesson,
6:22
right? And every set back is can become
6:25
a setup for something greater and something.
6:29
And sometimes that chapter you thought that was going to break
6:32
you becomes a chapter that builds you.
6:35
So whether you're a veteran transitioning into a new
6:39
chapter, a leader trying to make a difference and
6:43
entrepreneurship, you're chasing a dream, someone living with a
6:47
disability, or simply someone looking for a little motivation
6:51
to get through the day. I want you to remember this.
6:55
Your circumstances may influence your story, but your mindset
7:00
helps determine how you move Adelante right forward.
7:05
You know, so that's what this this this the podcast that we do
7:09
is all about. So, but before we get into I'll
7:14
guess it's something that I need to share with everybody is if if
7:19
you're vibing right, if you vibe with what we have here for you,
7:23
right, If this conversation inspires you, if you appreciate,
7:29
I would call the interviews, the energy.
7:32
What's up, man? How you doing?
7:34
Ian Mansahe rely got a toilet diversity up in there.
7:37
All I ask that you support our channel, right?
7:40
Just use your phone. Hey, hit the like and subscribe
7:42
on the YouTube channel and share it with someone who can who can
7:46
use a little motivation because your support helps continue to
7:50
bring powerful guests, right meaningful conversations, you
7:55
know, and purpose driven contact, you know, straight to
7:58
you. But don't tell me and they
8:00
right. All right, people, let me let me
8:02
get let me remove this because we're gonna I'm about to
8:04
introduce you to our next guest and our guest is stupendous.
8:09
Look, as as a veteran myself, I know what we're about to talk
8:14
about here it is. It is awesome.
8:16
So today I want to work on someone whose life has been
8:20
defined by service, leadership and commitment to others.
8:24
Sergeant Major Elizabeth Nema Saggy is a decorated military
8:30
police leader who dedicated more than 30 years of service to the
8:34
Puerto Rican National Guard. And let me tell you, during her
8:37
career, she has served in key leadership positions including
8:41
First Sergeant G1, Sergeant Major, and Operation Sergeant
8:45
Major for the 92nd Military Police Brigade.
8:49
She's also deployed to Kuwait in support of Operation Enduring
8:53
Freedom, where she LED customs and convoy operations while
8:58
supporting the readiness and deployment of Soldiers.
9:02
They're beyond the rank, beyond the titles in the years of
9:06
service. Elizabeth is someone who
9:08
understands the importance of leadership, resilience, family
9:13
and service. And as we continue recognizing
9:16
Hispanic Heritage Month and Disability Awareness Month, I'm
9:20
excited to hear her story. It's like you all are and talk
9:24
about the lessons she's gained throughout her incredible
9:28
journey. Right, Elizabeth, let's.
9:31
I want to welcome you to the motivated mindset.
9:33
Let's kick this off me hint and let us kick this off.
9:36
Here we go. The interview of the week is
9:40
brought to you by Jersey Mike's, a sub above.
9:46
Elizabeth, welcome to the motivated mindset.
9:48
How are you? Hi.
9:50
Thank you. Very good.
9:53
Thank you for that introduction and for your words, Gracia.
10:01
Look, I even know a little bit of Spanish girl.
10:07
I want I want to say thank you. But before we get into all that,
10:11
you know your titles, everything.
10:12
Who is Elizabeth where you from? And tell us a little about you.
10:17
Well, Elizabeth is a young lady that was raised, born and raised
10:22
in Puerto Rico in the West side area of Saint Germain, which is
10:25
a small town of Puerto Rico. But her parents were both
10:30
immigrants from Hungary and Chile and they decided to to
10:37
live here in Puerto Rico because my father was a professor in the
10:40
university. So we were, even though we were
10:43
born and raised in Puerto Rico, me and my brother and sister, we
10:46
had our different cultures from my mom and from my dad, and we
10:51
got a mix of the three. Wow, that is amazing.
10:55
I'm just look, I'm just glad I got your last name said right.
11:00
You know, I got challenges, challenges and oh, so we we have
11:05
we have. Let me see, let me see.
11:06
But we have a question. But before we get into that
11:09
question, what was, you know, what was some of the, the people
11:13
as you were growing up that were your, let's say, mentors or, or
11:16
what influenced you throughout your life when you were growing
11:19
up in Puerto Rico? I believe all my mother, my
11:22
mother was a very influential person because she, even though
11:25
she didn't know anybody here in Puerto Rico, she was able to get
11:29
around and communicate. And she was also very friendly
11:34
person. She would talk to anybody when
11:36
she goes to the supermarket or any store and she would like.
11:41
One thing that inspired us my, my sister sent me is that when
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we moved to a new urbanization or urban area, she went house,
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house. She went to every house to meet
11:55
the people and to organize an activity for all the kids.
11:58
Because she saw a lot of kids there playing bike, bike or
12:00
skating or just walking around. And she decided to make a, since
12:05
the, the community was small, she decided to make our
12:08
competitions for all the kids from, from, you know, they were
12:11
divided by years. She only asked for like 2 or $3
12:13
to buy little stuff for, for prices.
12:16
And that way the community got to know each other because even
12:20
though they were neighbors, they didn't talk that much because of
12:22
the working life and work and everything.
12:25
But since they were able to gather one day, everybody, So
12:29
they, they kept asking her to do it every year.
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So they, they, they, they motivated her to do, oh, let's
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do it next year. Let's do this here, let's add
12:38
this. So on that way, I find myself
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that I copy a lot of that. Yeah, being being a good person,
12:45
like being a good neighbor and and keeping people together.
12:50
Wow. Well, I can truly attest to you
12:53
being an outstanding person because for the audience member,
12:57
Elizabeth and I have participated in the Wounded
13:00
Warrior Soldier Ride in New York, so I really got to know
13:03
her. And she is the WOMAN.
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That means woman for everybody, I bet.
13:08
And she's a stupendous, awesome person.
13:11
So, Mike. But.
13:12
But before I ask my question, we have a question from Sarah in
13:16
Puerto Rico. Yeah.
13:17
Yeah. The Hola.
13:20
The topic is here you go. Yeah.
13:23
And and her question says the topic is why I join the call,
13:29
the culture, the purpose. My question is what culture,
13:33
values, family, faith, resilience guiding you through
13:37
your early years in the service? All of them is that yeah, my
13:44
parents were very Catholic and we were a family that would sit
13:47
together to eat. So we would we would talk it at
13:51
dinner time. We nobody was allowed to like to
13:55
be outside or to be on the phone or to they weren't phone, but
13:58
the local, the house phone. And we would like if we were
14:02
with our friends, we would need to invite our friends to the
14:05
table to sit down. But not everybody sits at the
14:08
table to talk. So that way we we kept the
14:11
family together. And I, my father, being from
14:18
from a place where military services was obligatory, was and
14:24
you needed to do it right. It's part of your call.
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You have to go. And I just decided to join the
14:32
Army National Guard because I just learned that on my on my
14:37
senior year when the recruiter went to the to the to the
14:43
school, I didn't know anything about it.
14:45
I knew about it, but because I knew they were they would drill
14:48
that other of some of my friends were there, but I never thought
14:52
I would join until that person came to our to our school to
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give us on the senior year to give us our our regular like
15:00
meeting or briefing about the Puerto Rico National Guard.
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So when I learned all the benefits that they would have
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and I would they would they do, you know, the National Guard
15:13
helps a lot with the education services.
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So that's, that was my first, my first instinct, you know,
15:20
education. I wanted to help my dad not to
15:22
pay for university and all that. So I wanted to by myself, go
15:30
through the university with my own purpose, you know, my oh, I
15:35
was to do it by myself, not to give that to my mom and dad.
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No, that's amazing. And when you first went in, did
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you ever see yourself? You know, what was your mindset?
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Oh, I'm gonna do 1 tour. What was that like that you end
15:49
up doing 30 years? What?
15:50
How? How was that?
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Yeah, I was. Yeah, I was.
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See, I don't have family in Puerto Rico, so I don't know
15:56
anybody. I know I don't have no uncle, no
15:59
cousins that were in the National Guard.
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So I just went there. I took the test because I had, I
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didn't take the test before that.
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So I took the test and then I said, OK, hey, look, I'm going
16:11
to do 8 years. You know, it's six, it was six
16:13
and two, six years National Guard, two years inactive.
16:17
So that will be your, your set. And when I started meeting
16:21
people and doing my drills and growing the community, knowing a
16:26
lot of people in the Puerto Rico National Guard, you find
16:29
yourself helping others too with hurricanes.
16:32
You will get activated in hurricanes.
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And that it gives you a sense of of purpose, like you help other
16:39
families and you help people and you give service and you just do
16:43
it because you want to do it. That is so true.
16:50
We we have a question from Jessica from New York and she
16:54
says, looking back, what do you believe your purpose was during
16:58
your years of service? I believe my purpose in the
17:04
National Guard, it kept growing because I just started as an E1.
17:08
I had no college. I'm just 18 years old.
17:12
And when I went to basic training, it was like a Girl
17:14
Scout camp because everybody was 1819.
17:17
They were the old, they were all less than 20 years old.
17:22
We were all like just graduated from high school.
17:25
And as I kept going to the National Guard on my drills, it
17:31
gave me, I had good mentors. So that like fed me up.
17:37
And as I was growing in my career there, I was mentoring
17:40
other soldiers. So the people that came in and
17:44
just around the community and I was, I was able to mentor a lot
17:48
of people. And at this time, even though
17:50
I'm retired, a lot of people still right and text me and ask
17:54
me questions and, and you know, if they hear it from me, they,
18:00
they feel a sense of, of, of security because they know I, I
18:05
don't, you know, I don't just give you an answer just to give
18:08
you an answer. I'll give you an answer that
18:10
I've already researched, that I've already went through it,
18:12
that I already happened before. So my experience kept growing
18:16
and growing and I was able to to mentor a lot of soldiers.
18:20
Wow, no, that's, that is amazing.
18:22
And I know that you, like you said, you mentioned that you are
18:26
deployed. You know for you what was the
18:28
hardest part of deployment, Not necessarily the mission itself,
18:31
but almost like they say, for the human side of being away
18:35
from home and family. Yes, the hardest part for that
18:39
was leaving my boy. I had AI have a, he had, he only
18:43
had eight months, so yeah, eight months.
18:47
So I had to leave my baby. He's now 2324, but missing him
18:53
was a lot. Missing him for the whole year
18:55
because we were by that time we were one year boots on the
18:59
ground. So we got there in February 2024
19:02
and we came back on February 2025.
19:04
So it was one year complete boots on the ground.
19:08
Yeah. When you come back, he's like,
19:11
he didn't know what happened because he's so young.
19:13
He just mom wasn't there. But once I came back, he
19:16
wouldn't leave me like anywhere. Like he would get in the car and
19:20
he said, mommy, mommy, mommy, you need to come, you need to
19:22
come. So every time he was like my he
19:24
was, he was stuck to me on on those those times that I I was
19:28
until I went back to work, but he didn't want to leave me
19:32
alone. Well, no, I can, I can relate to
19:34
that. We're going to take a quick
19:36
break, but I want you when we come back, I want you to answer
19:39
this question. This is from from Carmen.
19:42
And she says no, I'm sorry. Liz from Austin, TX, she said
19:47
after 30 years in uniform, how did you navigate losing that
19:51
daily military identity after retiring in 2002?
19:55
Liz from Austin, TX. So we're going to take a quick
19:58
break. Something to think about and
20:00
we'll go right back. OK.
22:57
The station where our veterans voices are heard MBR talk.
23:01
Hey, thanks for tuning in. Welcome back are those of the
23:07
speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions
23:12
of any entities they represent the web at MB radio dot welcome
23:18
back ladies and gentlemen. And so Elizabeth tell me about
23:22
that song. Do do you like it?
23:23
You love it. I love it and it makes me like
23:27
get my tears because I'm a daughter and I really, I really
23:32
was a hero for my mom and dad on my on my sister's too.
23:36
Yeah, I guess we did a lot. That is a great song that that
23:39
really is no, and again, thank you.
23:42
I know ever since thank you, thank you for your service.
23:44
I always thank you for yours. That's and that song does
23:47
represent you so, so much. I get it.
23:51
Before we went on break, we had a question from Liz from Austin
23:55
Taxi and she said after 30 years in uniform, how did you navigate
23:59
losing that daily military identity after retiring in 2022?
24:04
Yeah, it is like it's hard even it doesn't matter if you plan to
24:09
retire or if it's unplanned and they say, OK, you serve, you
24:15
serve 20 years, 3025 and you need to leave now.
24:20
It's hard because you are so you feel you're, you're so
24:25
important, but you start losing that connection with your daily
24:31
shores. And I you did so much that when
24:35
you get like one of my friends say you get thrown into space
24:40
and you just there like in the in a limbo or you say like
24:44
you're not here, but you're not there yet.
24:46
And it, it takes one day at a time to start thinking because
24:53
you're still important. It doesn't matter.
24:55
You're not working anymore. You're not that person, you're
24:57
in that position or you don't have because we all love to
25:05
serve. We all love to give service.
25:08
And we stopped doing that. But we can.
25:11
We need to transform it little by little to to keep helping
25:18
others. But in another, in another
25:20
space, in another time, your time there was done.
25:24
You gave all you had, but now you need to do it in another
25:29
way. And now you have more time.
25:31
So it's you connecting with other people, other soldiers
25:37
that also serve. And it sometimes it's, it's
25:42
hard, but we all like connect even though we don't know each
25:46
other. We could go just to a table and
25:49
sit down and talk and and you can talk like give you it.
25:52
It's your friendship, your high school friend, because even
25:56
though we didn't serve in the same place or the same or same
25:59
branch, we still have a lot of things to talk about.
26:03
So that's why veterans connect. You can sit down with any
26:08
veteran Air Force, Army, Coast Guard and you you can connect
26:14
with that person. And I, and that is so true.
26:18
When when we first met everybody, it was like, didn't
26:21
matter. We didn't serve like everybody
26:22
knew we had a common bond. That is so true in that sense.
26:27
And in talking about since we're in Como Cedise, we're
26:30
celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.
26:33
You know, I think it's a point to recognize not just from where
26:36
we come from, but what we contributed.
26:39
What does being Latina mean to you specifically being in Puerto
26:43
Rico? What does that mean to you?
26:46
For me, even though a lot of people didn't think I was a
26:49
Latina because they they seem, I don't know, I'm carrying my
26:52
last, my dad's last name MSA. So people think that I don't
26:57
speak Spanish. So when they sat with me,
26:59
they're. Oh, you speak Spanish?
27:04
Yeah. So I'm from Puerto Rico.
27:05
You're from Puerto Rico. Yeah.
27:06
And then I have to do the the story over over again.
27:09
What, they decided to stay here. Whatever.
27:10
But yeah, I think we, we, you know, a lot of people, Puerto
27:16
Ricans or Latinos, when we go to school and we do our trainings,
27:22
we want to excel, we want to do our best.
27:25
And that's something that it's in us.
27:27
Like we want to be the best one at it.
27:30
It doesn't matter where we are. You can do the, your basic
27:33
school, your basic training or even a higher echelon school or
27:39
training, but you want to do the best.
27:41
And that's what we, we force ourselves to be the best.
27:43
We don't, we don't let it down. We don't let our guard down and
27:47
we want to do our best in every school.
27:49
We want to excel at it. And that's what we the legacy
27:54
that we leave it that that we we put like the top purpose and we
28:00
do excel in our in everything we do.
28:02
We want to you're absolutely correct and, and in your in
28:06
your, in your time in the military, right?
28:08
Did you ever feel that you had to work harder or prove yourself
28:12
because you were a, a Latina woman in the military?
28:15
Did you ever experience that? Not a Latin, a woman, but a
28:21
woman, yes. A woman, yes.
28:22
Because I remember being selected to be the first
28:28
Sergeant, a lot of people like had a doubt that I would do a
28:34
good, I would be a good leader, even though I, I, I worked a
28:38
lot, but they didn't see that mean person in me.
28:44
Like I would take care of everybody.
28:46
But they, you don't need to yell.
28:49
You don't need to, to put people in a position to feel less than
28:54
you. If you respect the soldier, they
28:57
would, they would, they would do, they would follow you
29:03
because how you treat them. So if you treat them with
29:07
respect, they will be there for you 24/7.
29:11
And sometimes I had to prove that I would, that I was able to
29:16
be for Sergeant and I control the the soldiers and control the
29:21
group and that they will follow my instructions.
29:24
And I never relayed my formation because, you know, they would
29:29
say if I leave somebody else and other E7 to do the formation or
29:32
another EA like do the formation for me and I'll be there in a
29:35
minute, I'm doing this. I would never do that because
29:37
they would say I'll be in precision like that last SEC.
29:39
Well, yeah, everybody would do it if somebody else.
29:41
Had there for me. So I always follow my formation,
29:44
even though in PT in the mornings, I would, I would run
29:48
my formation and I would start singing.
29:49
And I don't know if they don't like how I sing, but I would run
29:53
the cadence, the ones that I remember.
29:55
And I would, I would, I would go back to, to refresh my memory of
29:58
my cadence and I would just start my formation and I would
30:01
do the cadence until I was, I don't, you know, I had to switch
30:05
to another person, but I still did the beginning and the end.
30:08
And you know, I would, I would do that because I need to prove
30:12
that I needed to prove to them that, you know, OK, No, no, I'm
30:16
the first time. OK, But you do run the
30:18
formation. No, no, my that information is
30:19
mine. So I, I would delegate in an
30:23
emergency or something, but other than that, I would be the
30:26
first Sergeant. I'm the first Sergeant.
30:27
That's right, the first. You are the first Sergeant too.
30:31
Yeah, I know, I know. Oh, I know.
30:34
Yes, and I would, you know, people would, soldiers would
30:37
say, yeah, OK, let's do that. Let's and they would get
30:40
motivated. I would I wouldn't do my PT with
30:44
them. I would do my PT test, even
30:45
though I didn't have to do it with them, I would do it with
30:48
them. I would run So you know, I lead
30:50
by example like you lead by example and I would work if I
30:54
need to work, you know, if we need to clean this and move this
30:57
here, I would do the, you know, I, I could delegate, but I would
31:01
be there with them. No, that, that is, that is
31:05
awesome. Of course I know the challenges.
31:07
I, I can relate and you know, having spent, you know, 3
31:12
decades as, as a leader, right, especially there, you know what,
31:16
what do you hope young Latinas girls see when they look at your
31:20
career who are thinking about joining the military?
31:24
That it's possible, that it's doable, it doesn't matter what
31:32
is in your mind. Anybody can do it, you know, I
31:35
just have to work at it. I joined as an E1 and, and
31:40
little by little I would doing just hard work, just working and
31:45
learning from others. Make sure you learn from others,
31:48
you know, and I made it. I was selected to be Sergeant
31:54
major and I was very like, yeah, you know, with greater rank
31:59
comes greater responsibility. So every, every, every time I
32:03
had a new rank, I would like, am I ready for do?
32:06
Am I ready for this rank? Am I ready?
32:09
I doubted myself, but I was, I was, I was always learning and
32:14
reading and rereading the regulations and, and putting my
32:18
experiences to help other soldiers.
32:21
And it doesn't matter that everybody could talk to me.
32:24
I because the rank doesn't mean they're they're less than me and
32:28
the rank gives me more possibility to help them out.
32:31
So I was very reachable in any, any rank, you know, and they
32:36
people would surprise, would get surprised, like, oh, you can go
32:39
to the first time in office. Yeah.
32:41
Yeah. Come on in, come on in.
32:42
I'm here to help you. I'm here to help you.
32:43
I'm just here to help you. So that was my vision was that
32:46
I'm very approachable, you know, and I would listen to everybody.
32:50
What idea do you have? What do you think of this?
32:53
You know, it's not because Mika, I said so.
32:55
No, it's let's do this. This will this work?
32:57
This is the better option because other people have all
33:00
their experiences. Right, right.
33:03
It it's maybe my my my method wasn't the best 1 so maybe
33:07
another soldier that had an experience in a school or or in
33:11
his civilian life they had another method to do things so
33:15
we can work it out and go the best way.
33:19
Now you have mentioned something that we talk about, especially
33:23
we talk about burnouts. You know, when you're always
33:26
giving, especially as a leader. So let's say for leaders,
33:29
especially let's say mothers and caregivers who constantly give
33:34
to others. How do you protect your personal
33:37
motivation and avoid burnout when everyone is relying on you?
33:41
And this part of this question came from Edith in New Orleans.
33:46
Yeah, You know, when I look back at I don't know how I did it
33:52
because I would get calls all the time.
33:56
And well, I remember this. My daughter once said, I said,
34:01
Mom, are you a counselor? Because yeah, I always had
34:06
soldiers calling me. I'm fixing this because you need
34:09
to maintain one. One thing that I could tell that
34:13
I have, it's you have to maintain calmness or relax.
34:18
You know, everybody came with a situation or something.
34:20
I'm like, don't worry, we can fix it.
34:23
Everything is fixable. Let's look into this.
34:25
Let's look into that. So if you're calm, you can, you
34:30
can fix anything. Everything has a solution.
34:34
Everything has a solution. So it's doable.
34:38
It will help you with your leadership.
34:41
You're going to meet a lot, a lot of other soldiers, other
34:45
people that they come from different worlds.
34:48
And for me, it was, I think it was the best decision that I
34:55
made when I was only 18 years old.
34:58
And I never thought I would make this a career and retire out of
35:05
it. No, that's, that's stupendous,
35:07
you know. And as we pivot now this month,
35:10
we're also celebrating Disability Awareness month,
35:14
which is really big, especially for our veterans.
35:17
When, when we get, when we once we transit out, right?
35:20
And when, when, when you hear the words disability awareness
35:25
for Elizabeth, what does that mean to you personally?
35:30
This disability, yeah. Because OK, when we go through
35:35
all these things and we are on adrenaline, working, working,
35:39
working, you don't feel anything.
35:41
In fact, when somebody has an accident, doesn't feel the pain
35:44
until afterwards. You are there, there then when
35:47
you retired and yeah, when you retire and you're less occupied
35:54
and then you start feeling some things and there are some
35:59
disabilities that that are not seen and, and, and it's OK to
36:05
not be OK sometimes, even though we think having a disability is,
36:10
is weakness, but it's not, it's not weakness.
36:14
You can have a disability and you need to work it out and look
36:19
for the, as a veteran, we have the, the grace, you know, to
36:24
have a hospital and anything that you, you want to take care
36:28
of, you can take their, of their and they will take care of you
36:32
because they know what you went through, what how you serve and
36:37
what you did. All you have to do is say, I
36:41
don't feel good and, and it's OK.
36:45
It's OK. Even though you were this rough
36:48
top soldier and you went in deployment, it's OK to not be OK
36:53
now and you need to be taken care of because you know the
36:58
mind as your program mindset is everything.
37:02
When you wake up, you need to have positive stops and and just
37:06
picture a good day. Color your color your day.
37:12
Don't don't let it be great. Don't let it be great because
37:15
just color your day and make it make it a great day every day.
37:20
Absolutely no. I, I I.
37:23
Can I don't even answer your question?
37:25
No, you did. You did.
37:26
Because we're taught in the military to embrace the suck,
37:29
right? To suck it up, you know, because
37:31
as a leader, Oh my goodness. And it followed me when I got
37:37
out. When I got out the military,
37:38
it's like, oh, I'm OK tota bien, you know?
37:41
But as we go through life, it's like things happen to us either
37:47
play yo pen, say yo mita cuando. I was like, I remember I said.
37:50
But you know what? I didn't lose no limbs when you
37:52
said it. You can't see it that.
37:55
Ones that I can't, that I'm not seeing.
37:57
Yeah. And so I can truly relate.
37:59
And then you learn at the CNCO how many times we had to go on
38:02
profile, I couldn't show that I was sick or whatever.
38:05
I haven't been in front of formation.
38:07
Yeah, we, we can't. We can't show we're we're
38:09
broken. Right, we can't show.
38:11
Because it was a weakness. It was a weakness time.
38:14
And yeah, that that person is she's sick.
38:18
You're only she only has a cold, probably not a cold, you know,
38:23
So we couldn't show anything. Yeah.
38:26
I'm laughing because Yvette said walk it off bro.
38:29
Just walk it off right you. Yeah, yeah.
38:33
You mean that well, though, it was like Motrin.
38:35
I don't go to sick. Go ahead, take the Motrin and
38:37
call me in the morning. But I had a broken arm.
38:39
Here it was. I can truly relate.
38:42
And we get used to that, you know, Absolutely.
38:47
And even said my dad was. Sitting.
38:49
We were taught. We were taught, yeah, to be
38:52
invincible, you know, and. Absolutely.
38:54
OK, it's OK to not be OK then I yeah, you can just walk it
38:59
through and get the help you need and it's going to be OK.
39:02
Nothing. Nothing to worry about now.
39:06
So I have a question. Somebody said a question, Say I
39:10
am a military spouse, how can I seek help for my spouse even
39:14
when he feels he doesn't need it?
39:18
You know what advice would give? Yeah, OK, that, that sometimes
39:23
you need to ask for the help. But the Veteran Center has a
39:28
contact area where, when, when we retire or where the person
39:33
retires or oh, they have, they have those.
39:35
So the help, the helpline too. Or as a spouse, there's an area
39:41
that maybe they can go and ask for information because as a
39:45
spouse, they have the, the authorization to, to look for,
39:49
for any help or create any appointment for that person for
39:54
that veteran. But they are also crisis line.
39:58
If it's really a crisis, you know, and they can get the help
40:01
through that in the local area. They're also, if they don't want
40:06
to go through veterans, the, the veteran clinic.
40:09
There are also many groups out there that help out the veterans
40:16
free of charge. Just give them the the help that
40:18
they need. Like the Legion American Legions
40:22
in the area? Yeah, the Legion of America and
40:25
the. VFW, Tambien, whatever I said.
40:29
VFW. What Wonder Water project also
40:32
helps with that? Yes.
40:34
So yeah, there is many, many, many help.
40:37
Because I know that the Wounded Warrior Project has the Project
40:40
Odyssey for couples too. You know, they have a whole
40:43
bunch of good stuff. Oh, no, absolutely.
40:46
We have a question for another question.
40:48
It says if you had the opportunity to go back, what
40:53
would you tell your youngest self?
40:55
This is from Yvette. My young self, I would tell
41:01
myself that I could give me more personal time, but but also that
41:12
I did good, that you did good. You did good because that my
41:17
reward, it's not any medal that I receive or my reward is a
41:24
meeting in the commissary or anywhere, a soldier saying we
41:29
miss you. You, you help me a lot and I
41:34
will. I will respect you.
41:36
They still call me my rank. And I'll say your mayor like.
41:39
No, no, no. I'm Elizabeth right now.
41:42
Yeah. And I'm always there to help
41:44
them in anything. So I think that's, that's my
41:49
major reward, just be be the the soldiers being grateful to what
41:56
I did for them and with them. That's beautiful.
42:00
No, Absolutely. And it's up to you what for
42:03
Elizabeth, right? What is the hardest battle
42:06
you've ever fought that no one could see if you wanted to
42:10
share? Well, my after retired I, I felt
42:24
lonely. I felt very lonely.
42:27
I went also through a divorce that a lot of people didn't
42:30
know. So my son was living abroad, my
42:35
daughter was here, but I was, she couldn't be my therapist
42:39
though. I nobody knew what I was.
42:41
Yeah, nobody knew what I was going through.
42:43
And there were two like 2 events in my life.
42:46
But day by day I went. Day by day I went to seek help
42:50
and I was able to. I have other veterans friends.
42:56
And, you know, we don't ask for help, soldiers or veterans.
43:01
We don't, we like to help, but we don't ask for help even
43:05
though, you know, we don't ask for help, even though we like to
43:08
help. So I, they, they were my
43:12
greatest supporters and they, they helped me go go through all
43:19
that my, my friends and they all veterans and they, they really
43:24
got me out of, of my situation and my thinking.
43:28
And now, and now I, I, we made a good group and now we, you know,
43:32
we do things together and we keep checking body check on
43:37
everybody. No, I haven't seen that person
43:40
her in a while. She's not answering.
43:42
So we just stick together after service we created we we work
43:48
together here and there. But we weren't, we weren't like
43:51
really friends. We just coworkers.
43:54
But now, yeah, now we are like sisters.
43:58
Oh man, that is, that is beautiful that I, I, I agree
44:02
with you. When, when I got out, I felt,
44:05
you know, lonely and not being connected.
44:09
And then that's where organizations like Wounded
44:12
Warrior Project came in and other ones and buddy checks
44:16
doing having a buddy check, I've called people and how.
44:19
You doing? Yes.
44:20
Yep. How you doing in, in, in
44:24
September that just passed, It was a suicide awareness month.
44:28
And you know, that's one of the things I posted about, hey,
44:31
check on your buddy, make that phone call somebody you ain't
44:33
talked in a while because a lot of us, we just need somebody to
44:38
say hello. That can change everything.
44:41
Yeah, how are you doing? What do you mean?
44:42
Or does any situation now, after you go through many things, it
44:47
could be something unrelated to, to what you went through, but
44:52
that thing would like, like make you break even though it has
44:58
nothing to do. But it's something that would
45:00
that, that it gets your mind rolling.
45:03
You know, it could be a long line when you're in a hurry in
45:06
the, in the supermarket and then you get all frustrated and all
45:10
that. And that would change your whole
45:12
day. So just saying hello, giving
45:16
them a hug. How you doing?
45:17
How's everybody? How's your family?
45:19
How's So what you've been up to and share the information that
45:24
you have, because that's what I do.
45:25
I I share information. I went to to wonder what your
45:30
soldiers ride and it was amazing.
45:32
It was an amazing. It.
45:34
Was more than I expected and I told everybody, hey, you need to
45:38
sign up. You need to sign up.
45:39
You need to sign up because you're gonna love it now.
45:43
It's it's it's an amazing experience.
45:45
You meet amazing people and they're they become your
45:48
friends. They become your friends even
45:49
though you don't talk to them every day, but they still are
45:52
your friends. No, absolutely.
45:56
And we had Sergeant Thorhiz from PR said buddy check is
45:59
important, keep the tradition going.
46:02
Absolutely. And Liz says great advice about
46:06
the buddy checking, checking in and and so on.
46:09
And before we get into another question, how I want to put up
46:13
how people can get a hold of you in case, you know, they might be
46:16
somebody out there. So I'm a I'm a put this slide up
46:19
and you can tell them what you got there, ma'am.
46:22
Yes, I got my Facebook, personal Facebook space page, Instagram
46:28
and my e-mail. I don't know if it's there.
46:31
My e-mail, My Gmail. Gmail.
46:34
Yeah, well, I can share it. I can share your e-mail, your
46:36
Gmail. Too easy.
46:38
Too easy. So we'll keep that up.
46:40
And now we had a question. This is from Yvette.
46:43
It says, what is the legacy you you want to leave with your
46:48
kids? You know, what legacy would you
46:50
like to leave with your kids? What you living to your kids?
46:54
My kids, they, they know that hard work pays off, that you
47:01
need to be you need to be kind, that you need to help others.
47:08
I remember they, you know, they, I remember long, long time ago,
47:13
I was in McDonald's buying food for them and somebody came up
47:17
asking for something for money and I'm like, would you like,
47:20
I'll come buy you food And I'm like, OK, no problem.
47:23
So I bought him food and then I gave the food to him at the end.
47:25
And my kid was like 8 years old. My mom, I said, mom, that's,
47:29
that's nice, that's nice of you. You know, he wanted to eat it
47:34
doesn't it doesn't just helping out people.
47:37
So they're, they, they their hard work.
47:40
They know their mom was hard worker and they went through all
47:45
my career, all my ranks. And although they, they even
47:49
came with me when we were Maria giving out water.
47:54
And they, they, yeah. And they enjoyed giving out
47:58
water and, and food to, to other, to other people that
48:01
didn't have the, the, the water and, and were able to buy food.
48:06
So and they learned, they learned to help others.
48:10
So yeah, just be kind and be respectful and, and be loyal and
48:16
just be, be true to yourself and to others.
48:21
And is that your correct e-mail, Elizabeth, that's showing
48:25
underneath? Yes, that's my name.
48:28
OK, that's the e-mail. Ladies and gentlemen, if you
48:30
need to reach out to, to Elizabeth or anything And as we
48:34
get ready to draw down Elizabeth any, any last words, anything we
48:38
didn't cover that you would like to let somebody know out there
48:42
or anything you want to say before we, we, we close.
48:47
And what? Yeah, I could say that it's OK
48:50
to not be OK if even though it's hard to seek for help or to ask
48:58
for help to do it, and that one day after another, everything,
49:07
everything gets better and anybody can do whatever they
49:12
propose to do. You know, there is there's no
49:15
goal. If you want to be what, what you
49:20
want to study, if you want to be this, you want to be that.
49:22
All you have to do is put your mindset into it.
49:25
Yes, yes, and you know, you put your mindset into it and work at
49:29
it. Anything is possible in life and
49:32
there are many, many stories out there that you can research and
49:36
see how people you know, they go through a lot of situations and
49:40
and they make it. They make it.
49:42
Yeah, yeah. Because the military taught us a
49:45
lot of skill sets, but some some of the things when we got out,
49:49
it was a little bit challenging for some of us, but we made it
49:52
right. Here we are.
49:53
We made it, yeah. You know, and, and I just want
49:57
to say thank you, Elizabeth, for being on the podcast and sharing
50:01
your 30 years, your wealth of knowledge.
50:03
This is stupendous. But when you write your book,
50:08
you're coming back on, you need to write a book, meet up.
50:11
You have an incredible story. You really do.
50:14
And I need you to think about this because you, you know, when
50:18
you talk about your parents and where they're from and here you
50:21
in Puerto Rico and you served this nation for 30 years, that
50:24
is stupendous. So I just want you to think
50:28
about that because it's amazing. And Yvette says thank you for
50:33
your service. Thank you.
50:35
Yeah. It was a pleasure.
50:36
It was great experience. And I, I, I just wanna, I feel
50:41
proud that I, I help a lot of people in the.
50:45
Sense you. Know.
50:48
No, and you and you continue to you continue to I and I've seen
50:51
you in action when we went a soldier ride, you know,
50:55
Elizabeth was motivating other people and motivating me and you
50:59
know, I really appreciate it. And Liz says thank you for
51:03
sharing. It was special, so that means a
51:06
lot. It was a pleasure.
51:07
It was a pleasure for me to be here.
51:11
Yeah, hey, this won't be the last.
51:12
I'm telling you, because when I see you on the red carpet at the
51:15
Emmys, I could say I knew her. I knew her back again.
51:20
Yeah, yeah, yeah, probably. But I, I want to say thank you
51:26
everybody. You know, as we continue to
51:28
celebrate Hispanic heritage, money, disability to one, make
51:32
sure you check out and for next week, I want to I'm I'm sure who
51:37
we got next week. We have like we have Oliver,
51:41
Oliver Allen, who talks about from sympathy to equity
51:44
transforming how we think about this ability.
51:47
You know, it's going to be a really good conversation we're
51:50
going to have. So that'll be live next, next,
51:53
next Saturday, 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.
51:55
So please join us for that. You don't want to miss that.
51:58
I know, I know Elizabeth's going to be joining.
52:00
She'll be watching. I will.
52:01
I will. So I want to say thank you to
52:05
everybody and definitely to my guests.
52:09
Elizabeth, it's been an honor and a pleasure having you on
52:11
it's. A pleasure for me to share my
52:13
story and I until maybe my story can help somebody out there and,
52:19
and they could, you know, take the next step.
52:21
It will. It will.
52:24
Either in the service or or with the veterans seeking help.
52:30
Absolutely. And I'll put this up one more
52:32
time. Just your contact information,
52:35
ladies and gentlemen. You have her Facebook, you have
52:38
her Instagram if you have an e-mail below.
52:41
So that's my personal. I don't have it.
52:43
I'm not a professional in any of that.
52:45
Oh, Scheme is a professional and in my book you are professional,
52:49
you are professional. So I just want to say thank you
52:53
ladies and gentlemen. Thank you again Elizabeth.
52:55
Everybody have a great weekend and we until we see you again
52:59
Gracia. Thank you.
53:00
Thank you. Bye bye.
53:03
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