Lieutenant General (Retired) Mike Linnington is a pretty incredible person.  After a tremendous 35 year long career in the Army, he transitioned to the nonprofit sector and took the helm at the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), which was the subject of some  public controversy at the time (early 2016).  His leadership has been critical, and WWP is really serving Veterans and military families in a big way.

In this episode we discuss:

• His career in the military, and service in his family.
• Transition from a 35 year military career to the nonprofit world.
• What he found when he showed up to WWP, post controversy.
• The changes they’ve made, and what WWP is up to now.

Spencer Kympton is the president of The Mission Continues, a national nonprofit that urges Veterans to continue serving in their communities.  He is also an Army Veterans and former Blackhawk pilot.

Spencer brings a very unique and important perspective to our field, as his professional career has spanned the military, private sector, and multiple areas of the nonprofit sector.  He is as smart and informed on Veteran and community issues as anybody in the country.

We have a in-depth conversation to focuses mainly on the value of service in all of its forms.  We talk about:

• The decline in civic engagement and what we can do about it
• The potential for a national service commitment for young Americans
• How societies benefit from having and engaged population
• And so much more…

Spencer is a long-time friend and member of Team RWB and has done an amazing job in leading The Mission Continues.  His thoughts are both timely and relevant, and we know that you’ll enjoy hearing from him!

Tyler Grey is a Army Veteran and former Tier 1 operator.  He was severely injured in Iraq during a mission, which changed the course of his career.  He now spends his time working in Hollywood (in front and behind the camera), advocating for veterans, and doing security consulting.  He’s an incredible guy, and really engaging.  

In this episode we discuss:

• The viral Memorial Day tribute video he was in
• His awesome documentary, That Which I Love Destroys Me
• His history channel show, The Selection
• His recovery and struggles with losing his dream job
• His theory of LTSD, and how he misses war
• How veterans can more effectively transition out of the military.

Mike Bledsoe is a Navy veteran and the CEO of Barbell Shrugged.  Over the last 5 years, he and his team have revolutionized the way that the gyms, trainers, and fitness enthusiasts do business.  Mike started one of the early CrossFit boxes while he was still in college back in 2007.  A few years later, they started a little podcast (the first one I ever listened to) called Barbell Shrugged and have gone on to interview many of the most influential people in the worlds of CrossFit and strength training, to include Rich Froning and Tim Ferriss.

This episode is as wide-ranging as it is intriguing.  Mike and I go into every from the role of identity to the value of content marketing.  He is an extremely thoughtful guy and provides some tremendous insight into how Veterans (and everybody) can become the best versions of themselves.  If you’re not familiar with Mike, you are in for a treat.  He’s unlike anybody we’ve interviewed so far and this one was a ton of fun.  You won’t want to miss it!

You can catch Mike on Twitter @michaelbledsoe or check out their stuff at:

www.barbellshrugged.com and www.barbellbusiness.com

If you’re interested, you can check my interview on the Barbell Business podcast from last April.

Tyler Steinhardt is the founder of Shootout for Soldiers - a one-of-a-kind event that uses lacrosse to support veterans and build community across America.  In addition to that, he’s one of the most articulate and thoughtful 23 year olds that you’ll ever come across.  

In this episode we discuss:

• Social Entrepreneurship.
• Bootstrapping and scaling a rapidly growing event and what he’s learned.
• Shootout for Soldiers, and how it started.
• Why Lacrosse has gained so much popularity in America.
• The importance of community.