Aug 21, 2019
Ashlie 1: (00:17) Welcome back to another episode of Tactical Living by LEO Warriors on your host, Ashlie Walton.
Clint 3: And I’m your co-host Clint Walton.
Ashlie 1: In today's episode, Clint and I are not alone because
we are joined by a very special guest by the name of Rick Psonak.
Rick, how are you? So Rick, we asked you on our show because you
told us a little bit about your background. We've known each other
for some time now and I felt like I really wanted to give you a
space to showcase a little bit about who you are. So I'll just dive
in by sharing with the listener a little bit about your background
myself and then we'll dive into some questions that allow really
the world to get to know some of your story and how you've used
your past to continue to benefit what I believe society as a whole.
So a little bit about Rick.
Ashlie 1: (01:11)
Rick and I met in our Human Potential Institute Training. We are
getting certified by uh, The Human Potential Institute and then
potentially the ICF. We are coaches. And for Rick a little bit
about things you've have shared with me about your background. Rick
received his Bachelor of Science degree in orthotics and
prosthetics from the University of Washington and he also went to
Grad School for prosthetic and orthotic research from the
University of Connecticut. Apart from that, in his journey, he has
gone along the path to become the principal owner of a small
Prosthetic business. They're laughing guys because that's probably
the fifth time I've had a hard time pronouncing the word
prosthetic… but he also specializes in microprocessors for
prosthetic limbs in Jackson, Mississippi.
Ashlie 1: (02:07)
This this guy's background, we can go into talking about him
starting a small silicon and manufacturing business that he's used
for product development. He's also a business consultant and expert
witness regarding issues concerning prosthetics. On top of that, he
is a fellow of the American Academy of prosthetics and orthotics
and he served two terms as a commissioner for the national
commission of Orthotics and prosthetics education. If that wasn't
enough. He has authored and coauthored chapters in textbooks and
journals. In addition to that, Rick has also served in the United
States army from 1974 to 1977 he is an ordained pastor. He is the
cofounder coach and player of the sons of thunder basketball team
and he's the founder of the epilogue life, which is a mission to be
a resource and to set an example on how to thrive physically,
spiritually, financially, and relationally as people age. That's
quite a mouthful.
Rick 2: (03:12)
You made me sound better than I think I really am.
Ashlie 1: (03:16)
That's what I love about you, Rick. You had this humble way about
you and I think that'll a lot of your history is very rich in the
things that led you to be able to create this ability to serve
other people. And if someone were to look at your biography, and of
course this is from my, my point of view, I see this pattern of
this continued desire and progression for being able to find ways
to articulate your abilities to give back to other people. Can you
tell me a little bit about that?
Rick 2: (03:52)
You know, I think growing up my mom was married five times and uh,
and so at a very young age and so I grew up really trying to figure
out what did it mean to be a man. And, uh, so I spent more time
without a father than I did with the father. And, uh, I think
that's part of it. Is this a journey? Trying to figure out what
does that mean? What does it mean to be a man? And so I grew up in
the inner city in Philadelphia. And so you had the street rats and
you had athletes and you had all the different groups. And so I, I
think it's just been a journey of figuring out what does it mean to
be a person that, uh, has some sort of significance that has a
sense of purpose and, and really the military was a big deal for
me.
Rick 2: (04:43)
The only thing I knew about my dad is that he was in the army and,
and I have pictures of him and my uncle who was also in the army.
And so I thought maybe as, as I struggled through going to college
and things like that, and I really was a terrible student, the only
thing that I associated with being a man was being in the military.
And so, uh, I guess as, as I think about the things I've done, it
really goes back to that is that what does it mean to be a man, uh,
to be a person that lives a life of significance. And, and
certainly I've, over the years I've drawn a call it a correlation
that being a person that lives a satisfied life somehow contributes
to other people.
Clint 3: (05:25)
Right? So that's, that's amazing, you know, to really hear your
story and to see what you've honed in on for your own past, uh,
surrounding your journey and the military seems like it was huge
for shaping you into what it was. And you went into the military at
a hard time, you know, towards the end of the Vietnam War and just
kind of gearing in towards that whole environment of, and Americana
at that time, our, our country shifted within that point, within
that timeframe from in the early seventies to where we are now.
It's completely shifted. So did you actually serve in the Vietnam
War?
Rick 2: (06:14)
No, I was at the very end of it. And so we were training as if, you
know, something would still continue just like now with the Iraq
war and uh, uh, it just seems like it's a never ending process. And
so the same thing was going on at the time I was in is that there
always seem to be some conflict. And so, and then I was in a combat
unit that was, we were ready to go at any time. That was kind of
our motto.
Clint 3: (06:41)
Hmm. So in that, I'm sure you saw a lot of soldiers coming back
from the war within your youth at that time. You seen soldiers
coming back from Vietnam, seeing what they were exposed to, seeing
what they kind of were invested in and their injuries there, there
PTSD now, now we know what it is. How did that articulate into what
you've become and what you've done in your own life?
Rick 2: (07:11)
Yeah. You know, I think, I think in my life, my family had been
through a lot of emotional trauma. And so I was really attuned to
that. And of course, early like you were saying is that the
post-traumatic stress that I don't even know if that word existed
at that time, but you could see when you would deal with the
soldiers coming back, there was something, there was something
missing in their life. And, uh, and, and there wasn't, there
weren't groups to, uh, help, uh, individuals develop a strategy.
Now how, how do we go from in a jungle in a, in a territory that is
nothing like where I grew up and under conditions that there's no,
no, there's no practice to prepare you for that. I don't care what
you do. And so you're, and these guys are 19, 20, 21 years old.
Rick 2: (08:04)
I mean these, you know, my son's 21 years old, I don't, he doesn't
know where to catch up goes, you know, you don't know how to put
that away. And so now we're telling these guys after they've seen
people killed and they've been maned and psychologically they've
had challenges and now go ahead. You're good luck. Have a good high
five. And uh, and so yeah, you didn't take a psychiatrist to
recognize that that was happening. And um, and so it is cool. And
even now there, there are, uh, you know, certainly challenges, but
it's cool to have an organization like what you guys are doing
because post-traumatic stress exists all over the place. I mean,
patients that I see that are in car accidents that lose limbs, they
have post-traumatic stress. And of course, policemen, I lived, one
of the things I did is I lived with a policeman for three or four.
He was actually Tecta homicide detective. And so, uh, and I would
watch him come home after the stress of, uh, of the day of life of
a homicide detective and see, hey man, this is taxi.
Clint 3: (09:11)
No, and you're absolutely right. And, and to identify that its not
just first responders, it's not just military veterans, it's anyone
who goes through any type of traumatic incident within their lives
has some form of PTSD and, and it's crazy to see that the response
that our society has towards that nowadays one people over utilize
it to the effect of trying to capitalize on it for disability or
whatever else it may be. But there are also, it's do people who
really need or under utilizing it because they don't want to label
put on them.
Rick 2: (09:53)
Yeah.
Clint 3: (09:53)
Have you noticed that with say some of your clients that you've
worked with with prosthetics?
Rick 2: (09:59)
Yeah, absolutely. You know, I worked on military base for a couple
years after I got out and I, yeah, no, I see. That's the cool thing
where as you start to see common pieces of the puzzle in different
facets of life. And so we have what's happening with police
officers. But if you're not careful, you think, oh, we'll work,
we're unique, we're a separate segment of society and you feel
isolated. But then we'll send you feel like, well hey, we have some
the same symptoms of people who went to battle and then you realize
that people who are in substantial trauma situations like in a, in
a car or truck accident, well now they have some common things. And
so I think one of the solutions, and it's not easy, I don't want to
sound like as easy is that we team up, I think we team up. That's a
cool thing that you're, the thing that I see what you guys are
doing is you are creating a team, a network. When I listened to you
about your fishing trip, I thought, man, you guys, you guys got
going, you got something special there. And so, um, yeah. If we can
start bringing in the different facets and say this, hey, let's use
some of the resources that you guys have developed and some of the
tactics that you guys now understand and help people who
experienced trauma in other aspects of life.
Ashlie 1: (11:10)
I think it's great that you pointed that out and I love that you
preface that by saying that we need to use caution. Um, I just read
about another, another police officer. He lives in New York who
committed suicide and his service is going to be tomorrow and it
just really hit me because the media was very graphic and
portraying the fact that his girlfriend was at home and they're
talking about the witnesses that heard her shouting, no, no, no.
Right before it happened. Hearing the gunshot and hearing her
screaming, no, no, no. Again and there, they're just taking us
through such a portrayal of what I believe to be very raw and even
defaming and we can get into the whole, the whole is with media in
general. But the point I'm trying to make here is, is there was one
lieutenant who pointed out that it should be routine and consistent
for not only police officers, but for anybody in a high stress
profession. So it'd be it doctors are like name, name a high stress
profession too, where there's some sort of annual therapy. That way
it becomes not only required, but it starts to become more open and
acceptable. And people don't feel like there's something wrong with
you. People understand the fact that this isn't an aide. This is
literally like a medical supplement that you need in addition to
your profession. What are your thoughts on that?
Rick 2: (12:31)
Oh, yeah. I mean, some of the solutions are not, they're not easy,
but they're common, you know, because one of the things I'm doing
now is in my longevity studies as, as we try to figure out how can
you have a wife of significance that doesn't end when you're in the
military or when you played sports, they can continue on. And you
know, some of the common factors that, uh, because apathy, what
happens is a person, uh, like with both post-traumatic stress, all
of a sudden they ask them questions. Does anybody love me? Do I
have anybody to love? Do I now have a purpose? Is there something
broken? You're my wife and who, who am I part of a team? We'll,
we'll see old folks think that they think something's broken. I'm
not as physically active as before. People were, people stereotype
me and tell me I'm going to lose my memory.
Rick 2: (13:23)
I'm not going to remember things. And so some of that is a, there's
a study that the words set in motion, physical action in your body.
So when you start saying a person has post-traumatic stress, say a
placement, if he starts saying, well, I'm crazy, there's something
wrong with me. People are not know, don't know how to respond to
me. And then what do they do? They back off. And then the isolate
themselves. Another one of the factors that, uh, really set in
motion, this thing of depression. And, uh, and that happens with
the age of people, they all of a sudden feel like, oh man, I don't
want to, uh, like my, my stepfather used to say he wouldn't come to
a family gathering because, oh, I don't, you know, I don't walk
that well and people have to take care of me and bring my food.
Rick 2: (14:13)
And he's the guy that needs this the most. The officer who has
experienced a situation that's not a time to go into isolation. And
that's where the team, you know, again, I love it when the team
shows up, even, you know, you hate it. Uh, there was an officer
killed in the line of duty here, Mississippi and the streets lined
up with soldiers and officers and, and you know, for him, uh, the
mission was over, but for his family, for his children to see, hey,
daddy meant something, somebody for his wife to see. Daddy met some
and he was part of something. I think that that nothing can erase
the healing, but I think that helps.
Ashlie 1: (14:56)
Yeah. And it, it brings emotion up for me because when we hear
about that, especially Clinton, we're just having this discussion
yesterday being not the platform that we have created. We give
every intent to pour out positive and influential training
information, the words we speak, we have a very important intent
when it comes to showcasing things and in recent time we've gained
a significant amount of feedback thanking us for not showcasing a
lot of the negativity that we do see on similar niche social sites,
let's say. To hear that, to hear that from somebody, not let's say
in our immediate circle and to hear the respect and just the
identification that you had during something like that, like it
means a great deal to us to hear that identification and, and
taking a step back and maybe bringing the level up just a little
bit, but in a lot of my neuroscience studies, Rick, what you had
made mention of with the ability to take your thoughts and like
plant the seed so to speak.
Ashlie 1: (16:13)
There are newer studies that have come out that are showcasing the
fact that even having the mental exercises in our mind of like
physical mobility is producing real physical, statistical,
statistical growth in even on like muscle mass. So it's amazing
what could happen when we start to identify the power of our
intuition, of our, our cognitive abilities. But we need, we need a
place for people to be able to showcase how to do it. This isn't
something that were ever taught, and that's something I love about
the company that you've created with the epilogue worthy life, is
that you really want to show people that you don't have to follow
this social standard that doesn't have to apply to you anymore.
Rick 2: (16:58)
Yeah. You know, the thing that I saw in the military in this was a
big thing for me spiritually, is that I didn't come from a
spiritual background. I mean like my one step father was Catholic
and so I hit a little thing of Catholic and I didn't really know
anything about God or church and I was in the military and there
were two guys, there was two soldiers and they really stuck out to
me. And these were guys, these are the guys you wanted to be with.
If you were going into a tough situation, you wanted to be with
them. And they somehow talked about their spiritual life. Like it
was natural. Not that it was weird, they didn't pass out tracks,
but they felt like they, they felt like they believed that God
existed in, played a role in their life and that their job was to,
to be an example.
Rick 2: (17:39)
And I was, I was fastened. I was intrigued by it. I mean, these are
guys that didn't just talk about it but lived it. And I think
that's the same thing with what we're trying to do with this
longevity study is that there's a lot of groups out there. They're
talking about, oh, here's the supplements to take, or here's the
research that supports it. The cool thing is, is I've been
fortunate to team up with guys that are older than I am. I remember
I thought, wow, I'm the baddest ass 65 year old guy in the gym and
I would kind of strut around like a peacock. It soon as one guy,
uh, was, there's one guy was obviously a little bit older. I didn't
think he was older than me, but a little bit older and he was what
I was trying to be.
Rick 2: (18:17)
I mean, you could see every single muscle in his body. He wasn't
the bulked up, he was just ripped. And he's a trainer, athletic
trainer or a fitness trainer. And so one time I said, his name was
Joe. I said, Joe. I said, man, how old are you? I was expecting him
to say 58. Well, he's a year older than me. And I was like, Joe,
you hurt my feelings. I mean, really, I mean, you know, I lost a
couple, uh, Turkey strut and feathers that day. And so, uh, and so
then a couple of weeks go by and I'm on the treadmill and there's
this, uh, a fella that a tall guy looked like a look like a older
doctor. J just a very distinguished, a little bit salt, pepper in
his hair. We get talking. He was a specimen too. He's on the
treadmill. And I go, so you come here to put a shame on a old man
here. And he goes, oh man. I said, well, how old are you? Well,
same thing. He was 67. And I thought, Oh, what the heck? You know,
I'm not even the second, uh, you know, most fake guy. But the point
was, is what I, and then since then I've picked up about three
other guys there, fortunately just a little bit younger than
me.
Rick 2: (19:24)
But what happens is they are examples of people living the way that
they believe. And so it's not statistics, it's not research. I
mean, what I want to do is this investigate why is the, um, um, the
retired Navy guy, why is he so healthy? He's taking care of his
momma too. And so, you know, why is she so healthy? Uh, and um, and
then the same thing with the fitness guide. So we're sort of
looking at what, isn't that what you want? You want to be the best
example of what you proclaim in what you believe. That's, that's,
that's all. And so that's what we're trying to do is say, I don't
know what supplements you need. I don't know. I don't know if they
even help. Here's why I know is that having a positive attitude,
teaming up with people. Um, uh, you know, your, your, your
Kryptonite, minimizing the Kryptonite. That's in your life.
Certainly Diet and exercise has a big role in that relationship.
Listen, my wife, uh, if I live longer, it's because of her support
and her love. And as I listened to you two guys, I mean, I see that
you've got a powerful, you know, um, Dynamo going there and uh,
anyway,
Clint 3: (20:37)
So, so for your longevity study that you're doing, it sounds
absolutely amazing and I love that because it's not science-based,
it's not, it's not based off of experts in the area of what
supplements you can take and all that. It's based off almost your
vibrational pattern that you put out in the day to day along with a
healthy lifestyle. Yeah. So in that, how was that in turning? How,
how have you seen other people enacting that around you, other than
those people that you are doing this study with?
Rick 2: (21:17)
Yeah, well, one of the, there's a young guy that I'm, I'm coaching
in our program. I'm coaching and, uh, he's like 22 years old. And
he was also a fitness coach at this same club that went to, and he
has a video business where he does commercials for people. And so I
said, his name is Derek. And I said, Garrick. Um, I brought him
into our meetings and because I thought, well, maybe he gave the
help, you know, market it or sell it. And I said, do me a favor
though. I'll be honest, is this just some nuance that's speaking to
us older guys or is it, does this have some interest to a guy
that's 22 years old or how rolly he's probably older than that,
but, um, in his twenties. And he said, no, no, no. He was, listen,
he goes right now, he goes, a younger person's role model sometimes
is another young person, a skateboarder, a guy that's invented some
app. And he goes, that only takes you so far. He goes, so my
question to myself is, uh, what does life have in store for me? 10,
20, 30 years from that? And he goes, you guys give us a positive
picture of what that could be. And so that's kind of the question I
asked my kids. I said, let me be honest, is this something that
doesn't have anything to do? Everybody is wondering what's around
the corner. Huh?
Clint 3: (22:43)
And, and it's really funny, like I, as you're, you're talking about
this eye I can picture of you and your buddies talking about in
your meeting, you're all, it comes to my mind. I don't know if
you're aware of the movie, the space cowboys. That's it. That's
literally what is pinging at me right now. And then I could just
see you guys all sitting around saying, no, you've got to do it
this way, not this way. And you guys kinda transforming it and
then, but really developing this plan, your approach on how you
want to do it and bring it out to the world and you're so right.
And I think back on every day on the news, you hear this ladies
lived to be 105 years old and she attributes tributes it to drink
in a Coors light every day. You know, or she had tr day attributed
to not sleeping in the same bed together ever. And it's things like
that, but what they're really not covering is how lifestyle that,
that way of their own vibrational patterns, their own way of
living. And it starts up here and it absolutely starts up here and
you said it perfectly is when you have that one seed planted,
whether it's a good seed or a bad seed,
Rick 2: (23:57)
It's going to grow.
Clint 3: (23:58)
That's right. If you had that good seed planted, it's really
developing from there. And that's what the key is to longevity.
Rick 2: (24:08)
Yeah. Well any type of recovery. And that's, you know, for me it's,
well, here's what happened for me is that I'd had some injuries.
Um, and I guess life was, was I was trying to get some businesses
going and I wasn't at home as much as I needed to. I was missing
some ball games my kids were playing in and it wasn't, wasn't
really in a good place. What wasn't, wasn't a happy place. And, uh,
but I didn't know that. I didn't know any other way. And that's the
problem is real examples of how to do it right. They're not,
they're not out there. And, uh, and so one day I'm coming out of
church and a lady comes up to me, she's looking at me and I'm
thinking, oh Geez, what somebody hitting on me at church? She says,
you, you will make a great person for a photo shoot.
Rick 2: (24:54)
I'm doing. I'm like, what? She goes, we're doing a calendar and we
are going to have cheerleaders in every month and we're going to
feature cheerleader, local high school cheerleaders and we need
somebody for December. We need somebody to play Santa Claus with a
cheerleader on her lap. I'm like, do I, do I get to keep my clothes
on in this year? Or like some kind of Bordeaux? And she goes, no,
no, no, no. You'll just be there with the, you know, sort of
contemporary sack glass. And I'm like, yeah, well, no idea. My
picture of Santa Claus, there's a bowl, you know, stomach, like a
bowl full of jelly. And I thought, I still see myself as, you know,
as rocky. I still see myself as some, some hero and she saying, no,
no, you would really make a good Santa Clause. And it was that day,
you know, it was called the day.
Rick 2: (25:38)
I said, I don't want that. I don't want that scenario. I don't want
that to be my story that I'm going to be a Santa Claus. Uh, I
still, I don't want all my, my, my hero stories to be when I was 20
years old in the military or when I was playing college football or
whatever. I want some in the future. But here's what I realized is
in order to do that, then okay, I'm going to have to monitor what I
eat. I first am going to have to be healthy and then, uh, I need to
tie up, man, you know what? I need to up my game with the people I
know. That's why it's exciting to know you guys. You guys just
elevated my friend level, you know. But there was some, listen,
there was some people I had a kick out of my life and I think
that's on any team.
Rick 2: (26:21)
I don't know if that's with the police force, but there's some
folks that are negative and bring you down and make you weaker. And
it was really during that time I, there was some folks, like I
said, you know what, I'm not going to hang out with them anymore.
So my wife and she said, good cause all we do is complain about
stuff whenever we're around them. And I want to be around people
that are exciting. I want to be around with young people, with the
young mindset. And, and so I think in any recovery or improving
your longevity, you need people to love. You need things to do. You
need people to team up with. Uh, you need things that you want to
learn. You need places that you're going to go to. You know, as I
was listened to Ashley talk about, you're not fishing but wanting
to fish and yeah. And, and I think you had indicated there was some
fears in the process, but you, but the fears, you know why
parachute, not because I'm, I'm brave and heights is cause it's
scary. That makes life fun. [inaudible].
Ashlie 1: (27:23)
Yeah. I would love to just point something out to you and that's
what you would discuss too to some people, the listeners, as you're
listening to this, you, you might have found humor in Rick story as
it pertains to being offered the very prestigious role of Santa
Claus and him shutting it down. But the way that I see that Rick is
you, you really broke the mold by telling her, no, I don't see
myself the same way that you see me, and I think so many people
don't have that type of courage because a lot of us think that
we're being discourteous by disagreeing with somebody in that same
instance, and I want to applaud you for really showcasing your own
truth because I don't believe that a lot of people find it
acceptable to do that. And Clinton, I always try to stress getting
outside of that social norm and that conformity that we've really
had imposed on us from a very, very young age. And I think that's a
perfect example of showcasing that you're owning your own reality
and you're not allowing anybody, be it a sweet little lady at
Church or, or anybody else dictate who you're supposed to be.
Rick 2: (28:28)
Yeah, yeah. No, you know, you articulated perfectly. And I think
that's the problem is that when the media, right now, that's who's
defining a lot of things where I'm at, Mississippi is known to be a
hotbed of racial tension. Yet the people that are on my team, it's
predominantly black individuals. And then I asked them, I said,
listen, maybe we can use this for something else other than
longevity. Maybe we can show. And, and I think that there were, was
a sense of the reality that the false reality, the false narrative
that the media portrays are there other areas of hotbed were racial
tensions. Yeah. But it's not, it's not predominant. It's the police
that listen to police matter look like a bunch of crazy people out.
Just shoot in the first person, walk around. And I know, I know
police officers that that's not their intent.
Rick 2: (29:26)
Nobody's there with the camera when they're, uh, they're helping
somebody or protecting somebody or when they're involved, engage in
social activities in the community. Where's the camera then? And
yet, but that doesn't make news. They want to, you know, they want
a dirty Harry scenarios what they want. And so I think that that's
why I told these guys that I'm working with, I said, I want you
guys to be famous because you are worthy to be an example for the
younger folks. I think Clint guys like you, you are worthy to be
the example of what a policeman is. And it's not.
Rick 2: (30:02)
Well, we, can go to why bad things happen. But you know, in my
mind, when I was, when I was a soldier, we practice every day
shooting. We practice entering a room, how to go in with a team.
And a lot of times what happens is that in some professions is
that, uh, you're not engaged. We always felt like we're going to go
to war. We were ready. A police officer doesn't go to work that
think this day. And I remember the story that I actually talked
about with the, when you entered the house is that, gee, you didn't
know that day that you're going to actually go to the crossroads of
life and death. And so for, I think the unfortunate things for what
I, my experience with police officers, they are not in that tension
mode of I better have my six gun drawn at any moment. And so, and
then now we're going to criticize somebody who went from kissing
their wife goodbye and then entered into a combat zone. The, I
think it's unfair. I think it's the media. I blame the media
because they're just trying to get, they don't care about you. They
don't care about the victim. They care about a good story and
shame. Shame on them.
Clint 3: (31:11)
Yeah, absolutely. I couldn't have said it better myself and, and I
appreciate your kind words. I really do. Um, you know, and, and
being a police officer and being your first responder in general,
it's, it's not easy nowadays. Times have changed. We have to adapt,
we have to overcome. But you know, one thing Ashley and I really
wanna to do is, is, you know, present the humanity behind the
badge, whether you're a firefighter, a police officer, or an
ambulance driver. You know, firefighters always get the positive
news stories, but it's kinda something that we as first responders,
we all have the animosity towards each other than we had and we've
talked about to you the listener before in reference to that. But
for four, as a first responder, you know, when we go to work, we
kiss our spouse, we kiss our kids, our dogs, whoever that may be to
you. And we don't go out upon, you know what, I'm going to shoot
somebody today. Yeah. That's the least of what we've ever thought
about. It's really trying to understand what can I do not to have
to shoot somebody? What can I do to come home safe to my family at
the end of the day while I protect the city, the county, the state
that I worked for.
Ashlie 1: (32:33)
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. You both of you, I appreciate you for
sharing that. And Rick, I just want to dive into a little bit of
the epilogue worthy life a little bit because I know how hard
you're working and you've created this team of very likeminded
individuals who understand that there's so much more that you're
worthy of and creating and receiving and giving in in your world,
especially as you age. So can you talk to the listener through a
little bit about some of the services that you've created and what
your offering is?
Rick 2: (33:03)
Well, well, we're very early. We're very early in the process. And
so right now what we're doing is, um, you know, silver, our motto
is we got stuff to do. That's the model we have stuff to do. It's
not over. We're not, I'm not, we're not retiring. We're not going
fishing. And so what we're doing right now is we're formulating the
stories and identifying the message that, uh, each of these
individuals have. And that's what we really want to do with, uh,
um, w our plan is to do probably on, um, a podcast, uh, to do some
seminars because, you know, uh, one of the guys is, um, you know,
he's, he's, he's an expert on fitness and diet and, and things like
that. And so we want to help people, um, understand how your diet
affects how well you're able to get into that zone, to that best
version of yourself.
Rick 2: (33:55)
And then how exercise, I mean, there's a lot of research that
speaks to that. And then, um, uh, the one fellow, the ex-navy
officers, also a pastor. And so how does spirituality, how does
that attribute, how, how does that change as you get older and how
does that affect your view, your picture of yourself and, um, and
so in matter of fact, one of the guys that is on the team is a, uh,
former professional baseball player. And he's a guy who reached the
pinnacle, kind of the pinnacle of his career in dreams in his
twenties and early thirties. And so what happens from there? The
point is what happens is when, when you retire or when your success
is something in your past. And so we're right now at the point of
developing those stories. And, um, I think that's a big part of it
is if you're familiar with the hero's journey and, um, uh, I took a
course called storyline and the question they ask is, so what kind
of character are you in your story?
Rick 2: (34:55)
Or are you the lead character in your story? There are some people
whose narrative is that their secondary to their spouse or to their
boss or they're still doing what their dad told him. Um, you know,
and so some online you have to become the lead character in your
story and then recognize in any exciting story, um, you know, it's
not exciting story to say, you know, okay, what's your story? Why I
want to buy a BMW? You know, that interest not that compelling, but
hey, I want to go out there on the big water and catch me a big
fish and there's going to be challenges in the process. I'm going
to go out there and uh, you know, uh, who knows what that the
weather. And so that's like, now we've got an exciting story. You
know, the weather is a factor in then fighting the big fish is a
factor and that's an exciting narrative, but you want to be the
hero in your story.
Rick 2: (35:48)
Now the other thing what's cool about being a coach or even a
police is that when you're the person who enters a another person's
story and you're the guy, hey, let me be your guy. Let me, let me
help you. You know, the person who calls nine one one, well,
they're the star of their story, but they need, they need the guide
to come in and protect them. Um, and, and we, we all need a coach.
We all need a mentor. Um, so that's what I'm hoping is, hopefully
we'll have a team of guys that will be good mentors, uh, that will
have, you know, everybody, like the one guy says he eats Red Jello
and that helps the cartilage in his knee. I don't know if that
does, but he thinks it does. And so you know, well, what we're
looking at is for the commonality. We're looking at all the guys
exercise routinely. That's a common thing. All the guys watch what
they eat. That's a common thing. All the guys have a um, positive
family relationships. That's that, that when you start finding
those types of commonalities, well now we have a, uh, we have some
maybe steps that we can enter in. We have to think, are these
contextual? Maybe they just worked in this context or are they
universal? And so those are the types of things that we'll, we'll
ask, do you guys eat Red Jello?
Clint 3: (37:08)
I Love Red Jello. So this is an incredible platform and foundation
that you've created and I know that you're going to do amazing
things. And I think the diversity and the networking aspect of this
and how you're really being cognizant and, and taking your time to
pull all of the things that make sense together before you just
started, you know, word vomit out into the world. I think that just
shows me a little bit more about your character, Rick. And what you
mentioned was that it's so important to be the star of your story.
And what you said was, let me be your guide. And that brings me
back to the beginning when we first started this interview where
you're talking about not having that mill role model in your life
and using military service to help you to form that discipline and
to become, become a man. So to sum it up, can you share with the
listener a little bit about how this journey, how that first
decision to join the military service and everything that happened
thereafter led you to be what I believe such an incredible man that
we're honored to be able to sit in front of right now.
Rick 2: (38:28)
Yeah. At any point in my life, if someone were to come up to me and
say, uh, that, let me, let me train you, let me help you. I would
have been, I would have received it, but there wasn't, there
weren't people. Now, there were a lot of, you know, cocky folks
who, who, um, but they're bad asses and then somehow wanted to
teach you, wanted you, wanted you to be their boy. Uh, well I'm
talking about somebody who was living an epic wife. If somebody
were to come up to me, I, I would have jumped on board and I, I
probably would've followed somebody bad if they, um, they came
along. But fortunately, like I met these soldiers and all of a
sudden I seen people who were succeeding by doing what was right
and doing the hard thing and that they were able, the other thing
was being able to clearly articulate what they believe and, um, and
doing it in a way that, you know, the, that nobody, nobody
snickered at these guys.
Rick 2: (39:31)
And so when I got out of the military and, um, and start thinking
what I was going to do, um, uh, well, I was injured in the
military. What happens? I was injured and, um, where I was, when I
was in the hospital, there was a guy that had lost his leg and he
was in a wheelchair. And I wanted to be able to say, do you know,
cause he sat by himself, his obviously he was depressed. I wanted
to say, come hang out with us. And I thought, well, what's he going
to say if I say, dude, how you doing? I thought I was going to say
Masa. What do you think? Because, so I didn't know how, I couldn't
see how the interaction, so I just avoided in one day, uh, they
brought in a prosthesis in fit him and he stood up and start a walk
and I go that that is a coolest damn thing I've ever seen.
Rick 2: (40:19)
That's what I'm going to do. I just knew I was gonna do that. So
again, these examples and, and the guys that work with them seem to
know they were compassionate and they, um, they had skill and
that's what I wanted. I felt like I was a guy that didn't have a
lot of skill. Uh, didn't have a lot of confidence just because of
my, my upbringing. And even when I went into the military, uh,
there are a lot of, I was doing a lot of cool things, but I was
still the same guy. I, I wanted to, I didn't want to stay the same,
just say, I don't know if you've got time for a quick story, but
you know, I always wanted to change in the, I was at the hospital
one time and a guy was in the hospital and he had a short sleeve
shirt on and he had a big airborne tattoo.
Rick 2: (41:00)
So parachute with wings on it. And I thought, I love the give
military guys a chance to cry. And so I went up to him and I said,
dude man, well tell me about that tattoo he was with. I'm one of
those guys that jumped out of perfectly good airplanes in the
military. I go, really? I said, well what unit were you in? And
then he looks at me a little bit and he goes, I'm never, I've never
made it to a unit. I go, what? It was. Yeah. Yeah. Cause I got
ahead of that thing. I think, God, I didn't know that was an
option. Got Out. W what do you mean? Here's, well, you know, all
those lifers take it so serious and uh, I, I'm not one of them dumb
guys, you know, they have to be told what to do. So I just got
out.
Rick 2: (41:42)
Well now, I mean, I don't know what to say cause I'm going up here
to compliment him and it's, it's kind of taken a turn. I don't even
know what he's talking about. And so fun. I just, in order to kind
of conclude the conversation, I said, well, you know, did it, did
it, did your experience, um, help you any way change you in any way
for the good, you know, and he goes, no, he goes, I came out the
same way I went in and, you know, I was like, okay, I guess we're
done now. You know, and I thought they want to say a thing cause I
didn't come out the same way I went in. I came out with a different
view of what teamwork meant, what friendship meant, what dedication
it would hard work, man. And, uh, and, and that's, that's what his,
his, his, even now I don't, I don't want to come into my thirties
and come, come onto my forties the same way that I entered in, you
know, and, and even with friendships, man, I don't want to meet you
guys and leave without something happening, some connection
happening here, because, you know, as time goes on, I don't have a
lot of time for stuff that doesn't work.
Rick 2: (42:45)
And so, um, so really that's the, the thing is I think is as I go
on, I still want to learn. I still want to grow, even though
there's some things that I can't do it, guess what? There's some
things I can do. I ran a marathon with my daughter, a half marathon
with my daughter, uh, and I was 64. Uh, I entered my first fitness
contest and won it. I was 60. Um, I started two businesses, 63. Um,
and so I think one, it's my nature to do that kind of stuff. Um,
the other, um, it's exciting. It's adventurous. I'm a late bloomer,
I guess.
Ashlie 1: (43:25)
Um, there's never been a more appropriate time to say better late
than never.
Ashlie 1: (43:32)
And Rick, as we wind things down here, I just want to point out
that I do believe you owe me a story as it relates to a cadaver
putting you in a headlock.
Rick 2: (43:43)
You know, I listened to that story about a client he got tackled by
a Zombie. You know, I thought, yeah, I can relate. Um, when I was
a, when I was, one of the courses I needed to take before I go to
the University of Washington is I had to have a could diver anatomy
class and um, at East Cara, so I was at East Carolina University
and they had a brand new medical program and on the seventh floor
of the hospital was the cadaver land. And so what would happen is
as students, we would get a key, and this was an intense course. It
was in the summertime. So it was faster than normal. And what we'd
have to do is during the tests is we have to identify the smallest
bone or the smallest nerves. And we were studying the brachial
plexus. And again, I was not a good student.
Rick 2: (44:31)
I'm panicking. It's like 11 o'clock at night. I can't study, I have
to pass this test. I was accepted universe, Washington contingent
of passing this test. And so I think I got study, we're studying
the brachial plexus, a series of small nerves in the eye,
exhilaration in the armpit. And so I go up to this seventh floor.
And so as you go, the floor of the hospital, you go in, there's a
lot of activity even at night, but as you start going up the
floors, you have administration on the top floor, there's nobody.
And then you go into the cadaver lab and it's freezing cold. It
smells like Formaldehyde and you have 20, um, looks like stainless
steel coffins that the bodies are down inside and you wheel him up,
you know, to, to eye level. And so I have all these podiums around
and the brachial plexus are these nerves bet the size of a string
and they'd go in and out of muscles and they, they come from your
sir, um, from your neck, from the, uh, Vertebra and come down to
different muscles.
Rick 2: (45:28)
And activate these muscles and they purest muscles. And so I gotta
be able to identify them. And so these body, so I will my guy up
and we called him half and half because half his body had the skin
on the other half. He'd been carved out by the pre-med students
where they would separate his pictorial muscle from his major, from
his Pec minor. And so I'm in here. So if you can imagine I got my
guy up like you, like a touched, like the referee would signify a
touchdown. So he's up uh, his armpit, his eye level and I'm trying
to find these nerves in his pictorial. I had to pull his pectoral
muscle back and trying to find this nerve. And when I let go it, it
comes back slaps over top of where I'm trying to find it. And now
I've lost what I was looking for it.
Rick 2: (46:12)
And so I do this three or four times and I got my face right in
there with a magnifying glass cause I got to find it cause I'm like
facing. And finally I get irritated and I grab that pictorial
muscle where the pictorial muscle inserts on your humerus. And so
his arms are like this. I grabbed his pictorial, his arm goes over
top of my head and of course Rigor Mortis has set in and I'm
sitting on a chair, I can't get away [inaudible] closer to his
exhilarate and I listen, I know this guy's dead. You know what his
problem is? I've watched too many Zombie movies and I'm like, I
know he's dead, but somebody might have just jumped. I don't know,
maybe somebody just jumped in here and I try to calm myself. I, you
know, put the, the sheet over top of them, crank them back down,
and then I get out of there and I see a security guard and I go,
Hey sir, how you doing? How you been? You work here long, you've
been in here, you know what time is? I had have somebody talk to
you. I tell everybody I got a headlock by a cadaver. That's a
memory that I'm sure you've carried with [inaudible]. Well, that's
it. Yeah. We have another thing for us to share. Absolutely. We
battled the zombies together.
Ashlie 1: (47:29)
Oh, Rick, it's been such a pleasure to sharing this space with you
and hearing more of your story and just building on our friendship
together and you know, as, as you listen, I, I'm sure there's some
nuggets or some pieces of wisdom or relate-ability that you share
with Rick and his story and Rick and I'm just wondering how as a
listener, if they want to reach out to you, what's the best
way,
Ashlie 1: (47:54)
How could they contact you and I'll give you my information?
Rick 2: Yup. Certainly they should certainly email me at, um, I
don't even know my email address.
Ashlie 1: (48:06)
It's epilogueworthylife@gmail.com
Rick 2: (48:09)
There we go. Yeah. And listen, love to, to talk to them. And to me
the lesson is teaming up and you know, I love, you know, the fact
that I feel like we're teaming up here and I think, uh, no matter
what your, you know, tense situation is, don't, don't face it
alone. You weren't meant to face it alone. And, um, yeah,
Ashlie 1: (48:32)
Perfect way to end it. Rick, we thank you again. We thank you for
your service and as you listen, if any of this resonates with you,
then you know that that's how you're able to enjoy your Tactical
Living.
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