For many veterans living a fuller life may seem like a dream.  A Fuller Life Foundation, co founded by Navy Veteran Lee Dyer, provides mental health support to veterans who need faster support or more urgently than the VA can support.  Providing Peoria Illinois area based Veterans with the resources and support to help them start living a fuller life.  The Foundation was named after Lee's brother in law SFC John Matthew Fuller who lost his battle with his demons in 2019.  Lee, his wife Sarah, their friend and John's Battle Buddy Severin Gilbert co founded the organization to honor John and work towards providing the resources that were not available when John needed them the most.  Lee shares their story and mission and what kinds of things may be on the horizon for their foundation!

Battle Buddy Podcast Guest Links:

https://afuller.life/

https://www.facebook.com/thefullerlifepeo/

Battle Buddy Podcast Links:

https://linktr.ee/battlebuddypodcast

Actions speak loader than words and Navy veteran Rick Otey is a prime example of that.  As a man who has overcome a lot from his experiences during the Vietnam war, losing a child and beating cancer Rick has maintained his positive and easy going demeanor.  He spends his time these days finding ways to give back, either as a passionate advocate for proton beam cancer treatments or as a patriotic American looking to serve fellow veterans and connecting children with stories of our nations past.   Through his actions, Rick shows everyone that they can find a little, or large way of serving their community!

Battle Buddy Podcast Guest Links:

https://www.facebook.com/rick.otey.9

Battle Buddy Podcast Links:

https://linktr.ee/battlebuddypodcast

Army veteran, Jason Anderson, realized when getting into real estate during the pandemic that the way veterans connect with VA loan experts on other platforms just doesn't work well or benefit the agent and buyer.  Veteran PCS is a website built to connect the military community with veteran and military spouse real estate agents and lenders around the country.   On top of matching veterans with qualified agents, they also have a rebate program that gives back to the buyer with a bonus after closing.  This bonus can be used for whatever moving expenses a service member or veteran could need.

Battle Buddy Podcast Guest Links:

www.VeteranPCS.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-k-anderson/

Battle Buddy Podcast Links:

https://linktr.ee/battlebuddypodcast

When you think of the term horsepower your mind probably goes to cars.  Horses have been useful to humans for a long time but their power to help others heal might just be a more recently noticed benefit.  Marine Corps veteran Jessica Shively had her own connection with a horse at a young age which helped her through some personally difficult things.  Now as the founder of Trail of Faith Farms, Jessica and her husband are working with once wild Mustangs captured by the Bureau of Land Management to help veterans and others with PTSD heal from their traumas.  Jessica discusses some of the ways in which they help veterans and mustangs build trust in each other and bonds.  Throughout this process they learn skills which will help them better adapt back to civilian life.

Battle Buddy Podcast Guest Links:

www.trailoffaithfarms.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-shively-367aa7ba/

Battle Buddy Podcast Links:

https://linktr.ee/battlebuddypodcast

Richard Kaufman, aka The Comeback Coach, has heard hundreds of stories as a podcast host on resiliency.   As a man who has had to dig deep to overcome a lot personally Richard shares with us some of the best lessons he has learned from others on his podcast.   Resiliency is a skill that takes constant refinement and learning to hone and one could argue there is always more you can learn.

Battle Buddy Podcast Guest Links:

https://verticalmomentumpodcast.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-kaufman-989757139/

Battle Buddy Podcast Links:

https://linktr.ee/battlebuddypodcast

Army veteran Niurka Castenada becomes the first repeat guest for the Battle Buddy Podcast.  We discuss some of her amazing projects and accomplishments over the past year.  Niurka hosts a television shows on Legrity Media called Umbrellas of Hope which highlights non profits working to assist veterans in various ways.  She also hosted the Business and Art Infusion summit earlier in 2022 to highlight the fact that business and art are intertwined and is full of great information for everyone.  With 31 guests and numerous topics everyone is sure to learn something from the speakers at her summit.  Niurka also drops some tips on how to succeed with building and hosting large events like her summit.

Battle Buddy Podcast Guest Links:

https://amorumbrella.com/

https://amorumbrella.com/business-books/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/niurkacastaneda/

https://legritymedia.com/

Battle Buddy Podcast Links:

https://linktr.ee/battlebuddypodcast

Building wealth and having a financial plan is much more than just creating a budget.  While that is a critical component other things to consider are life insurance, investments such as college, retirement, rainy day funds.  Navy veteran Matthias Pope, a Northwestern Mutual Financial Advisor, is the guest this week and we discuss how an advisor can assist you in setting and planning your goals, difference in term vs whole life insurance, retirement planning and more.

Battle Buddy Podcast Guest Links:

http://matthiaspope.nm.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthiaspope/

Battle Buddy Podcast Links:

https://linktr.ee/battlebuddypodcast

Will Highland has created a company designed to give back to non profits working to support veterans.  Although not a veteran himself, Will has a deep appreciation for those who served and is giving 30% of his proceeds to Mission22 and Veterans Community Project.  Will shares his thoughts on giving back, supporting veterans and some advice for entrepreneurs looking to structure their business to give back in some way too.

Battle Buddy Podcast Guest Links:

Caritasapparel.com

[email protected]

Battle Buddy Podcast Links:

https://linktr.ee/battlebuddypodcast

For some veterans like Marshall Terrin who served in the Marine Corps entrepreneurship is just a way of life.  Having recently taken over the 16,000+ member Facebook group called the Vetpreneur Tribe and its related mastermind group the Warrior Council, Marshall has big plans for how he and others can help assist and guide other veterans on their entrepreneur journey.

Battle Buddy Podcast Guest Links:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/vetpreneur

https://www.vetpreneurtribe.com/

https://www.vetpreneurtribe.com/warrior-council

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marshallterrin/

Marshall's Numa Numa Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60HISY-Sn9M

Battle Buddy Podcast Links:

https://linktr.ee/battlebuddypodcast

J.R. Smith co founded the Veterans Ranch in 2017 with his wife as a way to provide equine therapy to the large population of veterans in his region of Florida.  Growing up with a father and grandfather who served J.R. was well aware of the sacrifices and struggles veterans face and has played  a huge part in the Veterans Ranch mission to make an impact on the veteran suicide numbers.  In this episode we discuss what equine therapy looks like and how veterans are seeing breakthroughs with just being around horses!

Battle Buddy Podcast Guest Links:

https://www.theveteransranch.org/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/j-r-smith-58578b30/

Battle Buddy Podcast Links:

https://linktr.ee/battlebuddypodcast