Military Creator Con: Creator Conversations

PART 3 - SHOWNOTES

Military Creator Con: "The Stories We Carry" series

Episode Title:

Why Intervention May Beat Prevention for Veterans

Brief summary of show:

Veteran suicide prevention means catching the moments before a crisis, not just responding after one, and this conversation makes the case that prevention has to start while someone is still serving, not after they leave. If you have ever wondered what actually works beyond a hotline number, this panel names real, specific answers. Hosted by Sean Douglas, a 20 year Air Force veteran and suicide awareness prevention speaker who helped build the Army and Air Force Master Resilience Training program, this roundtable closes out with concrete prevention strategies from five people building them.

Tony Ellsworth Williams of Veterans Counseling Veterans argues awareness has to begin before a service member exits the military, since the military culture itself, including promotion weigh-ins, often plants the seeds of later struggles. Leah Stiles of SEA WAVES proposes a DD 214 sponsorship model, pairing every transitioning veteran with someone who has already crossed over. Joshua Parish of VetLife explains why Vet Fest and the VA's Solid Start program represent an upstream approach to prevention. Sean Wyman shares the one question every transitioning veteran should be asked before a crisis hits. Dr. Keith Castille closes by reframing intervention as sometimes more honest than prevention, and by calling for real collaboration on how veteran nonprofit funding gets distributed.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why prevention needs to start before a service member ever leaves the military, not after, according to Tony Ellsworth Williams.
• How military culture, including repeated weigh-ins for promotion, can quietly create the conditions for eating disorders, from Tony Ellsworth Williams.
• What a DD 214 sponsorship program could look like, pairing every transitioning veteran with someone further down the road, from Leah Stiles.
• Why suicide prevention needs an upstream model instead of a downstream hotline, and what Vet Fest and Solid Start are doing to build one, from Joshua Parish.
• What question every transitioning veteran should be asked before a crisis happens, "who are your first three calls," from crisis intervention specialist Sean Wyman.
• Why intervention, not prevention, may be the more honest starting point for veterans hitting an unexpected life transition, according to Dr. Keith Castille.
• Why veteran nonprofit funding needs real collaboration instead of competition to actually reach the ground level, from Dr. Keith Castille.

We talk about:

00:00:00 Why awareness has to start before leaving the military

00:00:52 How military culture quietly creates eating disorders

00:01:16 Why the elderly, families, and reservists get overlooked

00:02:49 What it means to be accessible in a suicide crisis

00:03:29 What a DD 214 sponsorship program could look like

00:04:51 Why suicide prevention needs an upstream model

00:05:59 What Solid Start does that most veterans never hear about

00:06:53 What question to ask before a veteran hits crisis

00:09:24 Is the perception of veterans as at risk overblown

00:11:11 Should intervention come before prevention

00:12:44 Why veteran nonprofit funding needs real collaboration

If you or someone you know is struggling, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline anytime, press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line, for free and confidential support. Learn more about each panelist and their organization below.

United States: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 (press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line)

Canada: 988 Suicide Crisis Helpline: call or text 988

United Kingdom & Ireland: Samaritans: call 116 123 (free, 24/7)

Australia: Lifeline: call 13 11 14

New Zealand: 1737, call or text

findahelpline.com: verified helplines in 175+ countries, searchable by country

Befrienders Worldwide (www.befrienders.org)

Connect with the panel:

• Sean Douglas, The Success Corps: www.thesuccesscorps.com
• Joshua Parish, VetLife: https://www.vetlifetoday.org/
• Tony Ellsworth Williams, Veterans Counseling Veterans: https://vetscounselingvets.org/
• Leah Stiles, SEA WAVES: https://sea-waves.org/
• Dr. Keith Castille, C2H LLC / Recurrent Military and Defense: https://recurrent.io
• Sean Wyman, Going Beyond The Call: http://www.seanwyman.com/

PART 2 - SHOWNOTES

Military Creator Con: "The Stories We Carry" series

Episode Title:

Breaking the Stigma Around Veteran Suicide

Brief summary of show:

Stigma around veteran suicide means the shame, silence, and cultural pressure that keep people in crisis from asking for help. If you have ever wondered why so many veterans and first responders suffer quietly instead of reaching out, this conversation names exactly why. Hosted by Sean Douglas, a 20 year Air Force veteran and suicide awareness prevention speaker who helped build the Army and Air Force Master Resilience Training program, this part of our larger roundtable discussion brings together five voices working on the front lines of veteran mental health.

Joshua Parish of VetLife, who served in the initial invasion of Iraq, names the backwards resource model that expects veterans to find help instead of meeting them where they are. Dr. Keith Castille, a retired senior military officer now with Recurrent Military, breaks down why nonprofit funding flows to large organizations while grassroots groups doing the real work go underfunded. Tony Ellsworth Williams of Veterans Counseling Veterans explains why suicide prevention needs local, community level solutions, using his cigarette butt in a parade field analogy. Leah Stiles of SEA WAVES connects stigma to under-recognized issues like eating disorders. Crisis intervention specialist Sean Wyman closes with the disconnect he sees between veterans in crisis and a VA system that will not come to them. Every guest points to the same conclusion: stigma breaks through education, local action, and systems built to meet people where they are.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why lack of education, not lack of care, is the root of stigma around veteran suicide, according to Leah Stiles.
• How the current VA resource model works backwards, expecting veterans to seek help instead of meeting them where they are, from VetLife's Joshua Parish.
• Why veteran nonprofit funding flows to large organizations while grassroots groups doing the ground level work struggle, according to Dr. Keith Castille.
• What the "cigarette butt in a parade field" analogy teaches about local versus national suicide prevention strategy, from Tony Ellsworth Williams.
• Why official suicide statistics may be undercounting the problem, and why data needs to be localized by age and circumstance, from Tony Ellsworth Williams.
• Why a VA case manager model built on outreach, not waiting, could close a major gap for veterans in crisis, from crisis intervention specialist Sean Wyman.

We talk about:

00:00:00 What contributes most to stigma around veteran suicide

00:01:18 Why the military trains people not to ask for help

00:02:43 What is a backwards veteran resource provision model

00:05:30 Why veteran nonprofit funding favors big organizations

00:06:30 The cigarette butt in a parade field analogy explained

00:08:49 Are veteran suicide statistics actually accurate

00:09:26 Why women veterans face a different kind of suicide risk

00:09:55 How military and law enforcement culture shapes stigma

00:11:16 Why VA case managers should reach out instead of waiting

00:12:49 What happens when an agency fails to check on its own

If you or someone you know is struggling, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline anytime, press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line, for free and confidential support. Learn more about each panelist and their organization below.

United States: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 (press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line)

Canada: 988 Suicide Crisis Helpline: call or text 988

United Kingdom & Ireland: Samaritans: call 116 123 (free, 24/7)

Australia: Lifeline: call 13 11 14

New Zealand: 1737, call or text

findahelpline.com: verified helplines in 175+ countries, searchable by country

Befrienders Worldwide (www.befrienders.org)

Connect with the panel:

• Sean Douglas, The Success Corps: www.thesuccesscorps.com
• Joshua Parish, VetLife: https://www.vetlifetoday.org/
• Tony Ellsworth Williams, Veterans Counseling Veterans: https://vetscounselingvets.org/
• Leah Stiles, SEA WAVES: https://sea-waves.org/
• Dr. Keith Castille, C2H LLC / Recurrent Military and Defense: https://recurrent.io
• Sean Wyman, Going Beyond The Call: http://www.seanwyman.com/

Suicide awareness and prevention means catching the moments before a crisis, not just responding after one, and this roundtable makes the case that stigma, isolation, and a backwards VA resource model are still getting in the way. If you're part of the military community, or you love someone who is, the statistics can feel abstract until it's someone you know. This conversation names what is actually driving suicide risk in that community: shame around asking for help, a system built for people to come to it instead of the other way around, and a culture that trains people to hide what they're carrying.

Hosted by Sean Douglas, a 20-year Air Force veteran and suicide awareness prevention speaker who helped build the Army and Air Force Master Resilience Training program, this roundtable brings together Joshua Parish of VetLife, Tony Ellsworth Williams of Veterans Counseling Veterans, Leah Stiles of SEA WAVES, Dr. Keith Castille of C2H LLC and Recurrent Military, and crisis intervention specialist Sean Wyman of Going Beyond The Call. You'll hear why a Special Operations Foundation study found only one accredited veteran service officer for every 7,000 veterans, why Leah Stiles built the Need A Light campaign, and why Joshua Parish created Solid Start to check in with transitioning veterans three times in their first year. This one airs on World Suicide Prevention Day, and it closes with a simple ask: if someone came to mind while you listened, reach out to them today.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why lack of education, not lack of care, is the biggest driver of stigma around suicide in the military community, according to Leah Stiles and Joshua Parish.
• How the current VA outreach model works backwards, expecting veterans to seek help instead of meeting them where they are, according to VetLife co-founder Joshua Parish.
• Why eating disorders are the second deadliest mental health condition among veterans, and why they rarely look the way people expect, based on Leah Stiles' firsthand experience.
• What the "one cigarette butt in a parade field" analogy teaches about why local, community-based intervention beats national suicide prevention campaigns, from Tony Ellsworth Williams.
• Why people trained for high-stress service become "masters of disguise," and the one question, who are your first three calls, that can interrupt a crisis, from Sean Wyman.
• Why intervention, not prevention, may be the more honest starting point for people navigating a hard transition, according to Dr. Keith Castille.
• What programs like Solid Start and Vet Fest are doing differently to close the gap between veterans and the resources meant to support them.

We talk about:

00:00 Introducing the roundtable panelists

03:37 What fuels stigma around suicide in the military community

05:58 What is broken in the VA's backwards resource model

09:59 The one cigarette butt analogy for local suicide prevention

13:40 Military and law enforcement culture around asking for help

25:07 Why women veterans face a different kind of risk

31:42 Why 30 percent of veterans struggle with eating disorders

33:47 What the Need A Light campaign asks instead of are you okay

49:10 What Solid Start and Vet Fest are doing differently

53:43 Should intervention come before prevention

59:11 What to do if someone came to mind while you listened

If you or someone you know is struggling, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline anytime; press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line, for free and confidential support. Learn more about each panelist and their organization below.

United States: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 (press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line)

Canada: 988 Suicide Crisis Helpline: call or text 988

United Kingdom & Ireland: Samaritans: call 116 123 (free, 24/7)

Australia: Lifeline: call 13 11 14

New Zealand: 1737, call or text

findahelpline.com: verified helplines in 175+ countries, searchable by country

Befrienders Worldwide (www.befrienders.org)

Connect with the panel:

• Sean Douglas, The Success Corps: www.thesuccesscorps.com
• Joshua Parish, VetLife: https://www.vetlifetoday.org/
• Tony Ellsworth Williams, Veterans Counseling Veterans: https://vetscounselingvets.org/
• Leah Stiles, SEA WAVES: https://sea-waves.org/
• Dr. Keith Castille, C2H LLC / Recurrent Military and Defense: https://recurrent.io
• Sean Wyman, Going Beyond The Call: http://www.seanwyman.com/

#SuicideAwarenessAndPrevention #MilitaryMentalHealth #SuicidePreventionAwarenessMonth #WorldSuicidePreventionDay #VeteranMentalHealth #MilitaryStigma #PTSDAwareness #VeteranSupport #MilitaryTransition #MilitaryCommunity #CrisisIntervention #VeteranWellness #988Lifeline #MoralInjury #VeteranAdvocacy #MilitaryCulture #EatingDisorderAwareness #VeteranPeerSupport #MilitaryCreatorCon #TheStoriesWeCarry

Dr. JR McIntyre grew up navigating gang life in Long Beach and Compton, lost his mother to AIDS, and found himself cycling in and out of county jail, until the towers fell and everything changed. Three tours in Iraq and 55 months of combat later, he became the motivator he needed as a kid.

This conversation goes deep on resilience, accountability, and why the military community has something powerful to say. Dr. JayR McIntyre is a motivational speaker, life coach, author of three books, and U.S. Army combat veteran with 14 years of service and three combat tours in Iraq, earning a Bronze Star.

Known globally as Tha Hood Motiv8tor, he empowers youth, veterans, and entrepreneurs through raw storytelling, resilience, and practical mindset strategies. He is ranked among the Top 50 motivational speakers in the world, turning pain into purpose and adversity into impact.

Social Links

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thahoodmotiv8tor/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@THAHOODMOTIV8TOR

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thahoodmotiv8tor/

Website: https://www.thahoodmotiv8tor.com/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thahoodmotiv8tor

militarycreatorcon.com | April 16-18 | Arlington, TX

Jasmine Rush went from aviation crash and salvage on the USS Iwo Jima to building businesses, advocating for her son with special needs, and coaching others to turn their raw life experiences into content that converts.

In this conversation, she breaks down why your story has a unique fingerprint and how to stop sitting on it. Jasmine Rush is a Navy Veteran, published author, media strategist, and Founder of Speaking From the Lens, a veteran-owned creative studio dedicated to capturing emotion and crafting legacy.

She hosts the Rooted & Resilient Voices podcast and equips creators to transform lived experience into powerful, purpose-driven storytelling.

Find Jasmine on Socials:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jazzy.speaksnow/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jazzy.speaks/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jazzy.SpeaksVA

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasminerushva/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jazzy.speaks

Website: Www.sftlens.com

Military CreatorCon 2026 | April 16-18 | Arlington, TX militarycreatorcon.com

Seung Paik didn't grow up dreaming of the military. He was a gymnast from Illinois who got recruited by the Air Force Academy. What made him stay? A philosophy class that asked a question he couldn't answer. In this Creator Conversation, Seung shares his 25-year Air Force journey, with Military Creator Con co-founder, Marah Lago on the economics-based leadership framework he developed called Leadernomics.

As a military comptroller, he was the "CFO with body armor," overseas in Germany, Japan, and Korea, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Seung is an award winning educator and speaker, and is the author of Leadernomics. He has taught economics at the United States Air Force Academy and at the University of Colorado

Social Links

Facebook: https://facebook.com/leadernomics

Instagram: https://instagram.com/leadernomics

YouTube: https://youtube.com/leadernomics

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/seung-paik-leadernomics

Website: leadernomics.org

Catch Seung at Military Creator Con, April 16-18 in Arlington, TX.

🎟️ https://www.militarycreatorcon.com/mcc-landing

Simona Costantini launched her podcast production agency in March 2021 and sold out in 72 hours. Now her award-winning team at Volt Productions helps creators turn their podcasts into marketing machines, even while they sleep.

As the host of Happiness Happens and As It Relates to Podcasting, Simona blends mindset shifts with actionable strategies.

Socials

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simona__costantini

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simona-costantini-25653a30/

Website: https://simonacostantini.com/

She's bringing the strategy playbook to MCC 2026.

🎟️ militarycreatorcon.com | April 16-18 | Arlington, TX

Army veteran Cory Brown lost a close battle buddy to suicide. His co-host lost his mom. So they built a cooking show. Eat Your Feelings uses food, humor, and honest conversation to go places most creators won't. Cory's bringing that story to MCC 2026.

Cory Brown is a U.S. Army veteran and the creator and host of Eat Your Feelings, a cooking and storytelling show that brings people together around food and honest conversation. After more than 16 years in the military, including a deployment to Iraq with a cavalry unit, Cory discovered that some of the most meaningful conversations happen around a kitchen table. Through his work, he uses cooking, humor, and storytelling to explore resilience, purpose, and connection.

Socials

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EatYourFeelingsShow

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatyourfeelingsshow/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EatYourFeelingsShow

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pcorybrown/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@eatyourfeelingsshow

Website: https://www.eatyourfeelingsshow.com/

Catch Cory live at Military CreatorCon, April 16–18 in Arlington, TX.

👉 https://militarycreatorcon.com

Wendy Poling published her first podcast episode in 2007. Nearly 20 years later she's helping military spouses build platforms that are built for brand partnerships from day one. She's bringing that blueprint to MCC 2026.

Having published her first podcast in 2007, Wendy is a pioneer in the podcast and digital content space. Her work has reached millions and spans more than 14 years in a Fortune 100 corporate career, where she supported storytelling, community management, influencer and brand advocacy initiatives. She helps creators build brands that attract audiences and partners. Earlier in her career, she held key roles supporting Army and Air Force organizations and launched the Navy’s first digital communications hub. Wendy translates military experience into civilian impact. She is married to a career U.S. Navy Submariner.

Social Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMilitarySpouseCoach/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mymilitarylife

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypoling/

Website: https://x.com/mymilitarylife

Catch Wendy live at Military CreatorCon, April 16–18 in Arlington, TX.

👉 https://militarycreatorcon.com

Barry Gibson spent 23 years in the Navy. Then he retired, found his niche, and spent the next decade building one of the most engaged Cowboys communities on Facebook. He's bringing his blueprint to MCC 2025 and yes, the conference is in Arlington.

When you think of the Dallas Cowboys and Facebook, think of the Cowboys Unifier. Retired Navy veteran with a sleight of hand social media skill set aimed at fellow veteran content creators to share his blueprint on monetizing your passion for your favorite NFL team.

Social Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cowboysunifier/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cowboysunifier/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CowboysUnifier

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-gipson-cowboys-unifier/

Website: www.officialamericasteam.com

🎟️ militarycreatorcon.com | April 16-18 | Arlington, TX