The Decision Hour

On this week’s episode of The Decision Hour I am joined by the CEO of GFI Apparel, StephanieNarita.

 Stephanie Narita is a former military spouse with more than a decade of experience in Human Resources, Office Management and Business Acquisitions. She returned to school in 2018, after deciding she wanted to shift her focus towards Health and Education. Her overall aspiration is to become a doctor for high risk children and she is set to graduate from Arizona State University in the Fall of 2020. From there she will apply for medical school and is setting her eyes towards UCSD or UC Irvine. 

https://gfiapparel.com

Take a listen as she shares her story on how she manages to keep it all together while being a full-time mother, a full-time student and running a business.  

BONUS show this week. Mario has been a friend for more than a dozen years, dating back to our time in the National Guard and then working in the veteran community.  He is a fellow podcast host and has a funny show called Fall In 360. Take a listen as we sit down and catch up on what’s going on and mark your calendars for May 5th2020, as a NEW SEASON of Fall In 360 will be live!   Follow him on Facebook

A little about Mario…

I got to sit down with my friend and #CommunityHero Mr. Wayne Mulder. Wayne works in Law Enforcement and has a podcast called ‘On The Blue Line’ (Listen Here) it’s a podcast about doing life well. Designed and hosted by those who actively serve in law enforcement, this podcast is geared to help you find success in what really matters, your life outside the badge. 

“Well, it’s really in line with exactly what we were just talking about. So there were two things I saw it being that I came into law enforcement a little bit later in life. I feel like I have a little bit different perspective than some, not all, but some in the way that I See the job and in the way that I work through that each and every day, when I came into this job, you have people in law enforcement that have seen things that most people shouldn’t have to see. I mean, anytime somebody passes away in our county, unless they die under hospice care in a hospital, law enforcement has to go out there. So the number of deaths that you’re going to see in your law enforcement career far surpass any other civilian, hopefully, and thankfully, we’ll see within their lifetime unless of course, they’re in the medical field or obviously in the military or something like that. But unless they are in one of the groups that deal with these type things, you’re seeing things that most people don’t see. So when I came into law enforcement, coming from running my own business, I had a different perspective. And in some ways, I want to say that I was pretty positive. I was very optimistic, like a lot officers are and to what I could do in using this as a Mission, I kind of saw law enforcement as a mission in a way that I could help other people.”

We have a special guest for you in this episode. Kate Kimbley is a single mother of four, a High School Art Teacher and a Fitness/Strength Coach. Kate is #CommunityHero and an inspiration to many. She shares her story about how she became a teacher and how she got started in helping women achieve their fitness goals. If you think you need a gym and a bunch of machines, or you think you need to make fitness the Number #1 priority in order to be “fit”… You’re wrong! Follow Kate on Instagram and see what she is doing to stay fit. She also is doing a class on ZOOM Every Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. (AZ time, during this coronavirus) for more information on contact Undisputed South (https://undisputedsouth.com)

 “I mean, that's always been a part of my life lifting weights, fitness, all those things. As I became older, it just became, you know, honestly, mental health wise, the necessity just to have that in my life, especially just there was a lot of stress and things like that with the lifestyle that we had and raising four kids and all these things. So it was a necessity it was definitely a necessity for mental health wise as well. And then, as I, got more into it, I just started talking to more women, it just seems it occurred to me that not everybody understands how beneficial it can be. And a lot of people operate under the misconception that if you're going to be in shape, if you're going to be into fitness, it has to be your life. And I remember I was listening to this one trainer say something to the effect of, um, you know, if you if you don't make it, your number one priority, fitness is not your number one priority and your number one thing, then you're not going to ever reach your goals. And I thought to myself, that's not true. That's Bs!” ~Kate Kimbley

My guest for this week’s show is aEmotional Sobriety Educator, a Doctor of Chiropractic, Life & Relationship Coach and Strength & Rehabilitation Expert and is the CEO of Levelheaded Doc LLC, Dr. Andrea Vitz.

When asked what is “Emotional Sobriety” she said…

 “when we think of sobriety we usually think about somebody who's not addicted to drugs or alcohol. And sobriety actually has a lot of different meanings that have nothing to do with drugs or alcohol like level being level headed and clear and mindful and well respectable and all these things that we really don't even consider as a part of sobriety. So, emotional sobriety is essentially a training that I've developed to help people overcome their emotional addiction which makes them clear which makes them dysfunctional, which makes them not level headed in their life. So I call that emotional in sobriety or emotional belligerence. It's the same as being drunk on alcohol, or drugs. You also can become drunk on your emotions and I'm sure you've experienced this as a human being, and I'm sure everybody listening has experience feeling a lack of self-control, when under the influence of emotion. That is my, my duty, really is to help people individually and as a community rid themselves of the things that have control over them because if something can control how you feel it can control you.”

In this episode, I talk with Ed Fisher, Col, (Ret) and Founder of LEEK Hunting and Mountain Preserve. (https://www.leekpreserve.org/)Their mission: 

Provide a friendly handicap-accessible camp environment and therapeutic outdoor activities like hunting and fishing, LEEK believes in encouraging our wounded heroes to focus on their abilities, without compromising their current physical limitations.

They work with roughly 60-70 veterans a year and looking to expand that. When asked how it all got started Ed said he was reading an article in Field and Stream about an organization that taught Vietnam Veterans how to fly fish…

“I read that article and I just said, you know what, I can do something like this. My wife and I just recently purchased a piece of land up in Potter County. So, I wrote the business plan up and figured out what we'd had to do to make this happened. And my wife and I committed to it and here we are, 12 years later, just strong as ever, providing hunts and outdoor recreation opportunities for wounded injured veterans” ~Ed Fisher

We discuss more about LEEK and the open house it holds each year, companies that get involved and what some of the new things they have coming over the next few years.  If you would like to volunteer or get involved you can contact them from their website (Click Here)

We wrap up the show with Ed sharing his “down that cliff” Decision Hour he had to make in a faraway land many years ago. 

If you like bacon…. You are gonna want to listen to this! In this episode I sit down with Mike Oraschewsky. Mike is the “Chief Executive Boar” from TBJ Gourmet.  (https://tbjgourmet.com) We talk BACON JAM! Yes, your read that right… Bacon Jam, you literally can put it on anything!  Listen in as Mike shares how he got involved with TBJ and helping spread this deliciousness all over the country.

Mikes DH:

"Uh, you know, I had made the decision to be an entrepreneur early in life when I didn't have a lot on the line, right? I was, you know, it was either get a real job or start a business with my friend. So that wasn't really a decision. But there was a point where we had this, product is beacon jam and sold really well online. And it was sort of like, Oh, I got this restaurant, and things are going on. Right. I wasn't really in a great place at the time. I was drinking a lot at a failed relationship that, you know, sort of, you know, as close as you get to having a divorce without being divorced. So I'm in a bad place and the decision was Do I keep getting some passive income selling bacon jam online or like figure out is this a real business so we scraped I scraped up everything that I had my business partner we scraped up, you know, together. And we we've rented this very expensive at the time space at a Christmas market in Philly, the Philadelphia Christmas Village as basically like is this going to work? And is it a real product that people want, is it going to be real a real company, and if we're going to fail, let's fail fast. So it's like pulling the trigger on like, putting out all your eggs in one basket and diving in to see if, if it was gonna, work and it turned out that it did. And here I am. You know, through fairly dark time I like but also having a fairly successful business that I'm very proud of."

How many people like to fish or just be in the great outdoors?  In this week’s episode I sit down and talk with my friends and the founders of Warriors on the Water Limited, Jim and Gina!  I met Jim and Gina last year the Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, PA and we hit it off.  You will hear a little bit about their backgrounds, Jim is a Marine and Gina’s grandfather a WWII veteran.  Their vision for Warriors on the Water Limited, to provide programs that will help in adding peace and stress free for bonding with family, friends & others.  To participate in outdoor therapeutic activities such as, fishing, boating, canoeing & kayaking. To HONOR our Warriors.  Great group of people and programs they have put together!  Check out their website for events coming up this year.   https://warriorsonthewaterltd.com

I had a great time talking with Aubree Nichols in this episode! Aubree is a self love advocate who enjoys sharing her story about spending a lifetime filling her insides with the outsides, only to feel lost and unfulfilled.   

We talk about, ENOUGH, the name of her first memoir.  The book will inspire women to reclaim their power and cultivate a loving relationship with themselves. Aubree is dedicated to sharing the message that you are powerful beyond measure and everything you need is inside you right now. 

She has a knack for Collaboration, working with others and community is her specialty. She’s been called a dot connector, a truth teller, and a champion of creativity.  She shares some of that creativity with you on this episode. 

This won’t be the last time we have Aubree Nichols being on the show! Make sure you follow her no filter Instagram, @aubree.nichols (you’ll be glad you did).   Take a listen and share this episode! 

I met Kevin a few years ago at a veteran’s event in Connecticut, and have been lucky enough to stay in touch with him over the years.  Kevin is now the President/CEO of the United States Veterans Chamber of Commerce (USVCC) https://usvcc.org 

We discuss the Warrior Games and how USVCC is playing a role with our nations heroes. We also talk about the 2020 Invictus games which will be held in The Netherlands this year, and how the USVCC is playing a key role at getting team USA ready. 

We wrap up the show with Kevin’s ‘Decision Hour’ one that is combat related, eye opening and a lesson that everyone can use on a daily basis. “In life, sometimes you need to take a mental moment” ~ Kevin Brown, Col. US Army (Ret)