J.R. Martinez is an actor, speaker, and former U.S. Army soldier who was severely wounded in Iraq in 2003, sustaining burns to over 34% of his body.  He played the role of Brot Monroe on the ABC daytime drama All My Children, but is best known for winning Season 13 of ABC's Dancing with the Stars and his advocacy work for veterans causes and philanthropic work.

In this episode we discuss:

• His military experience and what he learned.
• His recovery process, and how he attacked it.
• Learning that he had a gift of connecting to people, and how he’s using it to help.
• What it’s like to be a public figure, and how he’s managing his life.
• And most importantly - DOGS!

If you pay close attention to some of the world’s top performers, you may notice a common thread.  Many, if not most, of them credit meditation as a key to their success.  Erik Younger is an Army Veteran of Desert Storm, a husband of 27 years, and firm believer in the power of meditation.  In fact, he believes in it so strongly, that he founded Vetitation, a nonprofit committed to helping Veterans find peace through the power of meditation.  In week’s podcast, we dive into Erik’s personal journey and discovery of the practice and discuss ways that anybody can start, and benefit from, meditation.  Over the course of the conversation, we talk about the common misperceptions about meditation, where to start, resources that can help, and how his organization can support.

Erik also has a great TEDx Talk where he lays out the challenges of post-traumatic stress, Veteran suicide, and how he was about to battle both with meditation.

We hope this episode will help to demystify a tool that can be of tremendous help to Veterans, and all of us.

Paul Bell has been helping businesses grow his entire life - as a consultant, a corporate executive, and a growth equity investor.  He’s also been heavily involved in philanthropic work, which gives him unique insight into the characteristics of successful organizations as they develop.

In this episode we discuss:

• Some predictors of success in young businesses
• Common pitfalls that growing organizations face
• Similarities and differences between for/non profit businesses as they grow
• Why he’s so involved in supporting veterans, and specifically Team RWB.

Tyler Merritt makes no small plans. The CEO of Nine Line Apparel is on a mission to put relentlessly patriotic shirts on the backs of millions. Fresh off active duty in the Army, he's opened up an amazing new facility in Savannah, Georgia and is preparing for world domination. In his former life, Tyler flew helicopters in the elite Task Force 160th, Special Operations aviation regiment. With combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan, he's taking the lessons learned to build a business that does more than make a profit.