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Casey Maxted on Veteran Entrepreneurship, Warrior Rising, and Building a Mission Beyond the Military | Security Halt! Podcast Ep. 455

• Deny Caballero • Season 8 • Episode 455

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Transition isn't the end of your mission—it's the beginning of a new one.

In Episode 455 of the Security Halt! Podcast, host Deny Caballero sits down with retired Green Beret, former FBI Special Agent, entrepreneur, and Cold Zero founder Casey Maxted for an honest conversation about leadership, military transition, entrepreneurship, and building a life of purpose after service.

Casey shares how his experiences in Special Forces and federal law enforcement shaped his entrepreneurial mindset and why success in business starts long before you launch your first company.

From creating a business plan and building a trusted network to prioritizing mental health and surrounding yourself with the right people, Casey explains why entrepreneurship is a team sport—and why organizations like Warrior Rising are changing the lives of veteran founders across the country.

Whether you're preparing to leave the military, launching your first business, or looking to grow as a leader, this episode is packed with practical lessons from someone who's successfully navigated every stage of the journey.

Chapters:
00:00 Meet Casey Maxted: Green Beret, FBI Agent, and Entrepreneur

01:22 Why Casey Chose Special Forces

04:36 From the Military to the FBI and Business Ownership

09:00 Why Community Is Every Veteran's Greatest Asset

12:22 Building the Right Team for Long-Term Success

13:19 Navigating the Challenges of Military Transition

18:16 Mental Health, Self-Awareness, and Leadership

24:13 Building Businesses Through Veteran Networks

30:00 How Warrior Rising Helps Veteran Entrepreneurs Succeed

42:20 Balancing Entrepreneurship, Family, and Self-Care

47:52 The Importance of Brotherhood and Mental Wellness

55:36 Stay in the Fight: Casey's Advice for Every Veteran Entrepreneur

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Honoring The Full Journey

SPEAKER_02

It's one thing to say, yeah, I was a Green Beret. Then I became, you know, part of the FBI. Then I went and became an entrepreneur. But it's like we have to be able to honor the entire journey, dude.

SPEAKER_01

I always compare the veteran entrepreneur to a baby fawn. And they kind of they get out of the military and they're kind of trying to get their footing and they're wobbly and they're just like falling into their mom and all that stuff, right? Well, they come in and they go through the Warrior Rising program and they learn the skills they need to develop, you know, business plan, performer, they get a mentor, they do all these things that build business, right? Almost to a person, they will come back to subsequent events at Warrior Rising. And every time I see them, I see them getting a stronger footing, uh, more confidence. And they're still the people like the guys that have been, uh, men and women that have been a part of our program for like 10 years. They come here and they're pros now, right? They're the buck staying in the field. Like, what are you doing here? Everybody get out.

SPEAKER_00

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SPEAKER_02

Casey Max did welcome to Security Hall Podcast. How's it going, man?

SPEAKER_01

Good, buddy. How are you doing? Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02

Well, dude, absolutely, man. Uh, it's um it's one thing to be on the outside expectating the game and uh seeing great dudes crushing it for our veteran community, but it's a whole other thing to get thrown a jersey and saying, all right, kid, get in there. And I I say that to be to be working alongside you now is uh it's incredible, dude. It is, it's uh, it's definitely tapped into the uh old imposter syndrome we had as Green Berets and uh on a team when you're young, but uh dude, uh it's like an elite gallery of individuals when you look at everybody that's over at Warrior Rising. You got yourself, Jason Van Camp, Ben Bunn, like dudes that are crushing it, and they're all doing it on behalf of our great veteran entrepreneurs. So today, man, I want to have you on the show to talk about not just, you know, the things you're doing now, but where it all started, man, because it's one thing to say, yeah, I was a green beret, then I became, you know, part of the FBI, then I went and became an entrepreneur. But it's like we have to be able to honor the entire journey, dude. So I want to dive into that whole thing. And what better way to kick it off than how did you find yourself as a Green Beret?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, well, first of all, Denny, thanks for having me on here. And it's such an honor to be your teammate now. It's uh you came on here this year with Warrior Rising, and it's been so great to get to know you. We just did a trip to Normandy together, really uh got to know you really well there, and I'm just excited that we're on the same team now. Honestly, it makes me wish that we would have been teammates back in the day. I would have loved to been on a team with you. So um but to answer your question, like how how did I become a Green Beret?

9/11 And The Decision To Serve

SPEAKER_01

Um I was in college on 9-11. Um back in, I grew up in Iowa, went to college here, and uh I didn't really have a direction, didn't know exactly what I wanted to do when I was in college. I was just kind of like going through all the gen ed stuff, and I honestly was looking for the for the quickest way out the door. I didn't really care what my degree was in. And um, I was working at UPS and playing college football at the same time. I would go in in the mornings and load trucks at like four or five in the morning. I can't remember what, but um, on 9-11, um I went into my job. I got home at like I think 7:30 or something in the morning, can't remember, but it was really the first day that I ever went home and flipped on a television after work. I usually would just go back and sleep for a minute. Um, flipped on the TV and saw what was happening uh in New York. And I was, you know, a young college kid. I was, you know, shocked and like, you know, what's going on, all the things. Um my grandma had a huge part in raising me. So that day I remember I went outside, jumped in my car, and I was gonna drive home to just sit with her and make sure she was okay and all those things. And I was gassing my car up. I was in the Quad Cities, eastern Iowa. And uh while I was gassing my car up, if you remember that day they grounded all the flights, so there was no screens in the sky. Um, filling my car up with gas, and I looked up in the sky, and right over my head was Air Force One with a fighter jet escort, flew right over me. And like I instantly made the decision. I'm like, I'm signing up for the military. And so I it no, no lie, man. It just hit me all at once, and I was like, this is what I want to do. And so shortly thereafter, I went and signed up. They put me on a delayed entry program. Uh, so I finished my degree, and the day after graduation I left for basic and I went in with an Army Ranger contract. Um, so rip, all those things. And when I was in airborne school, they had this SF guy come by and he's like, hey, like a bunch of dudes bailed um on like uh can't remember the 18 x-ray contract. I need a couple guys. Gave us the spiel, and I was like, Yeah, well, that sounds really cool. Um, so I jumped on it and one thing led to another and ended up in selection and that and then um ended up that first group.

SPEAKER_02

Dude, that's a lot to glance over. I think the audience knows everything that it takes to go through that process, and it's not easy, man. It's not easy, especially when you're you're an athlete, you're from a part of America that has a strong community, a strong sense of service, a strong sense of being part of something bigger. I I was blown away by the caliber of people that were coming out of Iowa. The amount of people that truly love veterans, that want to help our nation get better, and that's a lot to walk away from. That's a lot of people in the community that love and support you, and to be willing to say, like, all right, I'm going to go serve. I'm gonna put, I'm gonna put it in, I'm gonna put it on the line. Like, that's a lot of Americans in that time period that chose to do the same thing. But I gotta imagine it was very difficult to bring that up to mom and pop.

Family Pushback And Real Support

SPEAKER_01

My mom was not happy. Um, I have a few funny stories from this. So, number one, you're talking about the patriotism that comes out of the state of Iowa, and it really is, man. Like I grew up uh idolizing the guys in my community, small town of 6,000, World War II veterans, Vietnam veterans. I mean, I look up to those guys and could reach out and be like, hey, tell me your stories, those type of things. And they would. And there were some incredible ones, but one thing that sticks out to me too when I think back on it now that I think is pretty incredible, um, my class was like a class of a hundred-ish, right? And my one of my good buddies uh became a Green Beret with me, and he also joined the FBI with me. And then a third, a third schoolmate ended up uh it was a Navy SEAL, and he's still in uh on a team. He's an officer now. Um, so from my tiny little stool, not only did we have a number of veterans, but we had three guys that are kind of like, you know, in that special operations family, network brotherhood, whatever you want to call it. Um, I think when you when you really think about it, that's pretty incredible. I mean, there's pictures of us in Little League together, like, you know, in our little chmucking hats, you know, um, skinny little kids, and then, you know, that's where we end up. I think that's a pretty cool thing. Um, my mom was none too pleased when I signed up. Um, and honestly, it made it tough for me because I knew how hard it was. And uh I'm gonna give my mom credit though, because when I left, um I literally left the day after I graduated college, and I would I remember flying to at Lingana and getting on this bus to go to Fort Benny, and I pulled a payphone or picked up a payphone and I called my mom and I was like, mom, I think I made a mistake. How do I get out of this? And she basically told me, stop being a bitch, and like hung up the phone on me. Now the great thing, the great thing that happened was it really was the conversation was you made a commitment, honor it. And it snapped me back like into focus. I hung it up, got on the bus, and like best decision I ever made. Uh, and it took a lot of guts, I'm a shirt for my mom, because I have kids now, I know it's gotta be incredibly hard to send your, especially like the era that we were kind of in. You know what's up, and um you know, she was tough. And she told me yesterday, she's uh we were just talking about this stuff, and she's like, I struggled. She's like, I had anxiety and all these things, and so it's hard on them, right? But always had support from them, support from teachers, support from friends. Um I grew up with a guy who he had an 18 X-ray contract, he went with me, he ended up in the 82nd, but we uh we were in basic at the same time. Like he was my high school quarterback, I was a receiver, we played basketball, baseball, all of it. He's one of my best friends. He's my college roommate. And uh I would always see him at basic down in Benning, and we would just start laughing. I mean, so I always had like this great support system, and I've always had like things I can fall back on and feel like, you know, like home's not that far away, I'm good, whatever. You know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Dude, so true. We a lot of people think that if you're not part of the veteran community and you're, you know, a champion and and from the outside looking in, people tend tend to think it's a it's a journey that's solitary with with pockets of friends. And it's like, no, you the entire thing is earmarked, pockmarked with individuals that pour into your cup to fill you with strength when you're not doing well, or give you that gut check to stay in the fight and keep going. And and you know, looking back to to selection, I guarantee you had it there. That one or two guys that you could look at and be like, all right, he's not quitting, I'm not quitting.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

Selection Bonds That Never Leave

SPEAKER_01

There's a point, so it's interesting, and when you talk about selection and stuff, like it's physically difficult. And I felt like at the beginning, it was like, okay, I can do this, like I I can tough it out, I can recover quickly, all the things. But there you get to a certain point in the training where you're you've developed like such strong relationships with people that you're like, I'm not leaving this person, like I know they're not gonna quit on me. And it and it you're and that I think that's the whole point, you know, that's a big part of the course is the team aspect of it. And you know, you're fighting or uh battling with the guy in your left and your right, and there's something to that. And I I just got to a certain point where I was like, I'm not gonna quit on this person. And it's funny because you talk about those one or two people. Those one or two people to me are Ben and Jason, who were at Warrior Rising with now, those guys were in selection and the Q course with me, and it's just it's it is nuts to think that 25 years later or whatever it is right now, that we're still together. Uh Jason and I's friendship started out on me being bored and wanting somebody to talk to you. Um, he walked by, I'm like, hey, do I know you? Fully knowing that I didn't know him. I just wanted a conversation. We started that conversation and never stopped. We've been friends ever since. Ben, uh Ben was in the Echo course with me, selection, all the things. Ben has a very distinct personality, and I I did not like him off the get-go because Ben's personality contributed to a lot of our pain and suffering. But after a while in the course and getting to know him, we became friends and now we're kind of like uh I'll say inseparable. Like he's he's my he's my best bud. Like we, you know, you see you've seen us at work together. We have a very unique relationship. If people walked into our meetings never knowing or never having met us, they'd be like, what is going on here? These guys are insane. But if you if you've been a part of it and you know the relationship, it just it's like one of those things where you just laugh and kind of it's it's what works for us, right?

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, it's a great dynamic. It's a great dynamic and it speaks. Um, I I can't stress it enough. Building the right team. Like I am, I am blessed to have met Triple Nickel at MIC all those years back, 20, 2021, 2022, 2021. Meeting Ruben Ayala, seeing the team that he created and built with Christopher McPhee, like that helped me understand that the the teammates you have in service, the people that you serve with, they can be the greatest asset you have for the rest of your life in every endeavor that you're going into. If you're building something, these are the individuals you can lean on or go to with an idea to create it. And then seeing that same mentality, seeing the same approach at Warrior Rising, it solidified that. It's important to understand that you're not in this fight alone while you're in, and certainly not in it alone when you're on the outside. Like, and it and it now like I it brings to mind that that one hurtful thing that every green beret and every service member is going to go through. When you get to the point where you're gonna walk away from the career, it is the hardest thing to take off that beret or that tab and uniform and go off into no matter what you go into, it's still difficult. When you made that decision, like take us through that. Like, why did you say, all right, I've had enough being a green beret?

Leaving SF For The FBI

SPEAKER_01

So that's a tough thing to answer for me because I didn't have the career that a lot of my colleagues had, so to speak, in the NSF. Like I was in first group. When I got there, the battalion I got assigned to had just returned, and we didn't have the op temple that other folks had. I did a lot of J sets and things like that, going in and out of Southeast Asia. So I got like the traditional, maybe pre-9-11 experience of being in Green Beret. And that's something that's bothered me over the years, but um I had an opportunity. Um, I met some guys when I was overseas, and uh, you know, I think it was I can't remember, I think I was in the Philippines, and they said, hey, like you should consider applying at the FBI, here's why. And I did, and uh, I didn't think anything of it, and sure enough, they picked me up, signed it up at the FBI, and I actually deployed more as an FBI agent with special forces and the SEAL teams than I did when I was actually in. So that was a tough ish to scratch, and and still today I don't know that I got the whole experience. I will tell you this um there is no uh job team brotherhood like there is in the NSF, or maybe the Rangers and SEAL teams, or just the military in general. I never found it anywhere else. I thought maybe the Bureau would be a place like that. And I think when you're in law enforcement, maybe SWAT teams, HRT, things like that, you can find that brotherhood, but in general, in the Bureau, no, it's not there. Um, so it's something that I always missed. Um so that that transition was difficult, but it was I also um, you know, when uh looking at things holistically now and the experiences my friends have had, I had a plan. And so I executed that plan when I left the military. And so I didn't go through the struggles that a lot of people go through. And I think it's important, I think it's important to have a plan. And a matter of fact, my commander, when I was in SF, I had deployed with them as an FBI guy, and he came up and he told me one day, he goes, I never worried about you like I worry about some of the other guys because I know you had a plan. I'm so glad to see you here today. And that meant a lot to me. Um, his name was Mike Lackman. I don't know if you know him or not, but um he was a great leader, and I I really uh looked up to him. But uh um had a plan, executed it, and got all the things that I wanted to get out of my law enforcement career in that transition period, too. And quite frankly, like the the experience I had with SF and SEAL teams and stuff like that as a B-Rail guy, um, I wouldn't trade them for anything. They were great. Um, I got to work a case. Uh uh two of my buddies, well, two of my uh buddies from First Group were killed in a bombing in the Philippines. One of them was actually a friend of mine, the other one I didn't know, but I can obviously consider him a brother, Chris Shaw and Jack Martin. I got to work that case and have an impact on bringing some of the people responsible for that to justice. And that that I you can't replace that feeling. You know, walking into a prison cell in the southern Philippines and interrogating a guy that's responsible for killing one of your buddies, I'll never forget the look on their face. And that just meant so much to me. So to the veterans out there that are going through this transition period and stuff like that, as long as you have a plan and and make the steps to execute it, that's a huge thing in making your transition successful.

Loss Of Purpose And A New Why

SPEAKER_01

Um, and then just to go a little bit deeper, uh, Danny, one of the things uh I was on an eight-man ODA, uh, and two of my buddies died uh are passed on both to suicide. And when I went to the services for them, uh the the common thread was loss of purpose, loss of community. And so I when I was talking to parents and one of their brothers, I was like, what could we have done? And um just coincidentally, Jason had started Warrior Rising at that time, and I was like, this is the answer. I'm like, community, the Warrior Rising community and network, purpose, purpose through business ownership. I'm like, I can get behind this. And what was started off as just kind of a passion project that turned into something that I just became obsessed with and now do full time, and and that's really when you boil down the why, that's why I do it. I do it in honor of my two teammates, and I try to prevent what happened to them from happening to anybody else by giving them an opportunity, and and that's why I do it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Now I want to pause and I want to dive into that a little bit deeper because I've been in this fight for a while now, and I always address mind, body, and spirit, and I talk about the mental health resilience that we need to build within ourselves and the importance of being vulnerable and asking for help. And people always forget that that's directly tied to the financial burdens that veterans are going to experience when they're transitioning out. We can't just continue with the idea that if I take a guy fishing, it's gonna save him for the rest of his life. Like it's a great thing. It's it there's a place for it, but the reality is he needs and or he or she needs to figure out what they're gonna be doing with their lives. Your mission isn't over, it's another chapter. And by and large, every transition program that I was presented with never presented something that I was actually passionate about or give me the ability to say, I'm gonna bet on myself. Everything was curated towards this demographic or going into this type of sales environment or going into HR or, hey, how about this? You can come work for this guy. And yeah, maybe I could have done that. Maybe I could have been successful in those places. And some of my brothers or sisters could have done well. But there's a vast majority of veterans that have an idea. They have a concept, they want to get into business, but most importantly, they want to bet on themselves. They're tired of somebody dictating their future for them. And this is the one thing that made me fall in love with Warrior Rising is like there's it's the only person, it's the only entity out there, it's the only nonprofit that's saying, I believe in you. You may need some skills, you may need somebody to proofread the business plan. But if you're willing to sit in, if you're willing to dial in, if you're willing to sign up, I believe in you. And we need more of that, man. Like, and and looking at your story, like, I don't know what it takes to build a spirit company or go into a premium vodka space or go into the alcohol business, but like, how did you find yourself building Cold Zero, man?

SPEAKER_01

So

Building Cold Zero And Learning Failure

SPEAKER_01

it's interesting. Um, I've got my hands in kind of multiple companies, um, startups, stuff like that. The spirit one is by by far the most difficult. Um, and it's just not a good market today. It's there's a lot of things that are stacked against you, but we were able to learn a lot of lessons in building that company. Um and honestly, that thing started just kind of off. It was a fluke. It was somebody asking me to do a beer company. I wasn't that interested. One thing led to another, long story short, and I partnered with a company. Out here in Iowa, a distillery that produces that product for us. And my team is all old teammates of mine or friends of mine from the military. A couple Medal of Honor recipients, Earl Plum Lee, Leroy Petrie, my buddy Ned from First Group, yeah, Bennin. And then my buddy Josh, who's an Air Force veteran. But yeah, we just all kind of came together and we're like, let's start this brand. And cold zero is something that just kind of came to me one day. It was actually a term coined by a hostage rescue team guy from the FBI. Your first shot on a cold barrel at the range, wherever that round hits, that's your cold zero. So I thought, cold zero is your first shot, first shot at the bar, that type of thing. That's where that whole thing kind of came about. It's a great brand, a great product. I learned a ton because that's really the first time I ever tried building a business, and I learned a lot from failure on that one. But, you know, the the you you kind of hit on a couple things you were just talking. When you're a veteran coming out of the service, you've got all these great skills that you've built up through your time in the military, put them to use, be a business owner. You're kind of predisposed to being a business owner. And my thing is like, do you want to go work for somebody else and and support their dream, or do you want to build your own dream? I personally would want to build my own dream. Um, that's not to say that going out and working for like a you know a great company is a is a bad move. Do that if that's what you want to do. But if you have like the itch to be an entrepreneur, give yourself that shot. And the greatest thing about Warrior Rising, we're in our 11th year now, is that uh believe it or not, uh I'm I love wildlife and and white-tailed deer, especially.

The Baby Fawn Founder Metaphor

SPEAKER_01

And I always compare the veteran, yeah, I always compare the veteran entrepreneur to a baby fawn. And they kind of they get out of the military and they're kind of trying to get their footing and they're wobbly and they're just like falling into their mom and all that stuff, right? Well, they come in and they go through the Warrior Rising program and they learn the skills they need to develop, you know, a business plan, pro forma, they get a mentor, they do all these things that build business, right? Almost to a person, they will come back to subsequent events at Warrior Rising. And every time I see them, I see them getting a stronger footing, um, more confidence. And there's some of the people, like the guys that have been, uh, men and women that have been a part of our program for like 10 years, they come here and they're pros now, right? They're the bucks standing in the field, like, what are you doing here? Everybody get out. You know, it's like that's how I look at them, and it's like you see them get their footing under them, you see them build confidence. And at that point, I'm like, they're good, they're gonna be good. You know what I mean? And that's really that that's the reward for me. Like Justin Clapsaddle comes to mind. Like he's a nice company, he was out Carolina. Um, he was in the first cohort uh at at Warrior Rising. He has a thriving business now, and you see the confidence, and and like he's actually passing on the lessons learned now to the new group of veterans that are coming through our program, and that's that's really what I love about it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you know. It's the thing that blows my mind is a lot of us when we start dipping in our toes into that idea of becoming a business owner, we don't necessarily understand what the environment's gonna be like, what what how to build a business plan or or need to see something, a PDSS. I always say it's a it the greatest thing about this show, it's a pre-deployment site survey. That's what it stands if you guys aren't in the know, uh, to what you can do after military. And when you go to Warrior Rising's website and you look at the previous, you know, community members, the guys that came before you, the guys and gals that came before, and you look at the businesses, it allows you to not just see what the possibilities are, but see a ground, a proven track record of how you can get there. Like nobody wants to tell you to bet on yourself and to dream big, but like if you look at the people that have gone through Warrior Rising, it's a mix of different industries, different ideas. You got grind ops, toothpaste. If you're thinking that you could be the next entrepreneur, that's a first step. Go there for inspiration, go there for ideation, go there and look at what other people are doing. Like it doesn't have to be one thing. You can develop an app.

Mentors Business Plans And Earning It

SPEAKER_01

You're 100% right. We've got toothpaste companies, we've got cookie companies, we've got medical device companies, we've got tech, we've got outdoor industry, it's everything, right? And yeah, you know, the this whole thing started uh because a veteran said, you know, uh, I just went on this hunting trip and yada yada, and and we were like, that's awesome. And they were like, yeah, but and we're like, well, what's going on? You know, what's what's bothering you? Well, I want to start a business. And we started asking questions. Do you have a business plan? Do you have a performer? What's that? And and that's when Jason was like, hey, I can I can help here. And that's really what spurred the whole concept of Warrior Rising. And, you know, you're good. The great thing about for veterans out there that are looking at Warrior Rising, the great thing is like our staff are predominantly veterans, right? There's a few that aren't, but they're a law enforcement or they're married to a veteran or one of those things. They understand where you're coming from at a minimum, right? But by and large, we're all veterans, so we know exactly what you're going through. So you're gonna come in and you're gonna get that that feeling of like, hey, you're where you belong because you're with your brothers and sisters, right? So you got that number one. We've built out a great network of people who come in as mentors. So not only are you going to have your veteran uh uh you know, brotherhood there, you're we've brought in people who have been there, done that, and they're gonna mentor you through the process, right? And you're gonna get assigned a mentor, you know, and then uh I guess the the one of the things that really means a lot to me, too, is like your the previous, we're at a point now where the cohorts that have come before are now acting as mentors to the veterans. So they've actually gone through our whole entire process. They've gone through our Warrior Academy or Warrior University, led by Reggie and Sammy. Reggie's a veteran, Sammy's a former law enforcement, um, and they do such a good job with our programs, right? So you know you're in the right place with those people. They're not gonna steer you wrong. And they have the experience at this point, and we have the professionals in there at this point. Um, and so when you get in there and you go through that and you buy in, that's one thing. The one thing that I always tell the veterans that I talk to, though, is every now and then you'll run into a vet that maybe feels like something's owed to them. And I'm like, hey man, uh nobody owes you anything but an opportunity, and this is your opportunity. You still have to come in here and work. You have to put in the sweat, you have to put in the hours, because if you don't, it's just gonna, you're, it's gonna tank. So there's, you know, you know that, you see that sometimes, and I hate to say it, but it's just it's honest, and I just want to be honest with people. Like, you still have to work, you know, and and put in the effort. And if you do, though, all the pieces of the program are there for you to take uh advantage of and and ultimately have a success with business.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, no one's gonna build it for you. That's that's up to you. You have to do the work. And it we have, we've done it to ourselves. We have the the broken vet um image that's being sold and pushed to a lot of people that then gives ideas, gives a wrong impression idea to other veterans to say, okay, this is what I'm supposed to be like, this is what I'm this is what's going to get me attention and take care of me. It's like, no, no, no, no, no. No. You never want somebody to make you feel like being weak is a power move. It's not. Ask for help, be vulnerable, admit what you don't know. But once they give you the information, be willing to work, put in the work, start building. It's gonna look like dog crap. I built my first business plan and it was horrible. And uh I need, and I was blessed to have a friend that was, you know, I didn't have the programs I went to weren't business minded. They're trying to get you employed by somebody. And those are great to have a place in there. When I made the decision to bet on me, I had to do a lot of stuff over and over again, a couple times over again. But I fell in love with the process. Even now, I always tell people I'm a dog shit entrepreneur, and I'm proud of it. I've built this thing janky as can be, but boy, it's working. But you don't have to do it by yourself. You can enlist and what you can right now, you can sign up for Warrior Rising. And uh, spoiler alert, to click the link will be in the episode description for you to sign up. Because what I've learned is I don't want you to do it by yourself. I want you to find a community. That's the whole thing. The community, the individuals that are there, that maybe the business plan and the ideas aren't the same, but there's a lot of common aspects of building a business that are similar. And you can have guys like Casey at your fingertips that are willing to say, yeah, man, let's talk. That's the one the most impressive thing out of my my time with Warrior Rising so far is I have yet to see an email that doesn't get answered when I introduce somebody that wants to come on Warrior Rising that already has a business. Like the amount of people that reached out, it's like, oh man, you're connected with Warrior Rising. Can you introduce me? Absolutely. Every single team member, even if they're not CC'd initially, replies back to that entrepreneur congratulating them, letting them know that they checked out their website, letting them know they believe. They believe in their mission. And let me tell you, that's one of the most important things out there. Just having somebody that's willing to look at your website and say, hell yeah, dude, let's do this. Come on board. Like that's not out there. That is unique to this company.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. And you kind of hit on it a little bit.

Why The Network Beats The Grant

SPEAKER_01

Um, what's really the strength of Warrior Rising is the community and the network. So we do these gallas, you know, uh quarterly throughout uh throughout the year, and we bring in veterans and they compete for a grant, and some of them that are pretty sizable. And we always I always tell them, we always tell them, like, look, you're you're competing and you may win 25,000, 50,000, whatever it is, you may win that tonight. This is a drop in the bucket. This does it, this is insignificant compared to the network that's in the room here. Um, these people are what's gonna sustain your company. They're gonna be customers, they're gonna be mentors, all that they're gonna pick you up because inevitably you're gonna swing and miss on something. I've done it, everybody's done it. When you're building a business, there will be failure. Um, these are the people that will get you through. And to that extent, I remember uh there there was a perfect example in Iowa a few years back. We had a company that they won $25,000. And great, that's really cool. But they had such an impression on the people in the crowd, on the people that they were networking with, that they were able to get a million-dollar investment for their company. And I'm not gonna tell you what their company's evaluated at now, it's not in the business, but it's significant. And those are the things like if you take the time and invest in the relationships uh at our gallas, at our the special events that we do, um, just picking up a phone and calling somebody you met at one of our events, that's where the that's where the value is in this whole thing. It's in the network, it's in the community, uh, quite frankly.

SPEAKER_02

So Yeah, that's 100% that that is the absolute truth. Money and winning and winning a pitch competition, it's incredible. Um, but the reality is I have had more success and more wins from individuals I've connected with. Because the money's great. Like it, yes, being able to immediately go after a new hire or new marketing spend, that's all great. But let me tell you, when you have heavy hitters in your in mail or your email box, your phone number that reach out just to talk and see how you're doing, that's the win. That's the absolute win right there because they're championing you in rooms that you're not even in, in discussions that you're not privy to. And that's what you want. That's what every veteran entrepreneur desperately needs. Individuals that are fighting on your behalf and you don't even know it. You're you're at home busy working on your business, and you got dudes walking in the meeting saying, Hey, have you heard of this guy? Have you heard of this business? They need to be on your radar. Check them out. In fact, I'm gonna do an intro. Let's get you guys a meet. And it sounds wonderful and it seems like fairy tales, but that's the honest truth. Because if it's happened for me, it's going to happen for you if you're willing to bet on yourself. If you're willing to be the best version of yourself and dedicate the time it takes to build something and do the hard work of sitting down and studying and learning from individuals like Reggie, um, it's going to happen. It's a it's a matter of being focused on the craft. The stretch Stephen Pressfield talks about it. Like in influential individuals have already put the legwork into what it takes. And it just takes commitment, man. That's the one thing that a lot of people aren't willing to do. And if you're serious about your business, if you're serious about being an entrepreneur, like and you're a veteran uh or a military spouse, like you can't pass this up, man. That's the side, the sad part is like once you figure out and hear about Warrior Rising, get on board.

SPEAKER_01

Great point too, Denny, and I don't want to gloss over this. This isn't just for the veteran, this is also for their family members. So if you're a spouse, a kid, what have you, you can come to us too. I mean, doors open to you, and the opportunities are there for you with us as well. Um, it just isn't for the service members. So, um, and some of our uh best entrepreneurs that we've had come through have been spouses of the veterans. So uh fundraiser blanket ladies are one that come to mind. One of them is a spouse and uh incredible company, and there's a few other ones too, but uh, you know, uh our doors are open to you guys as well. So uh, and one of the things that you've kind of uh talked about today, too, is like when you're a veteran, one of the key pieces in building a business too is identifying what your weaknesses are. This is stuff that we did when we're in the military. What are our vulnerabilities? Because you're always thinking about security, right? You have to do the same thing when you're building a business. What are my weaknesses? Uh, where am I vulnerable? And bring in people who fill those gaps. You know what I mean? Yep. And I feel like at Warrior Rising, it's even happened with our team. We've we've grown over a decade, right? And we've we're constantly moving pieces and we've gotten this team to a point where it's it's high performing. People look at the number of people that we have on our staff and wonder how we pull off the things that we do. It's because we've found the right people and we've shored up our company in the spots that we needed to to make it a high-performing uh organization. And I'm I'm telling you, man, like when you talk about job satisfaction for me, like you couldn't pay me enough. I've had opportunities to go do other things and get paid, you know, X number of dollars more and things like that. But I can't think of a place I'd rather be than coming and spending time with people that I genuinely uh love and care about and enjoy being around. And we've built that. And so, like, I hope that some of the companies that come through our program are building their companies uh in a you know, a ref with a reflection of warrior rising in what we've built. You know what I mean? So um I'm really happy with where we're at. It's taken time to get here, and we're we're still growing. I mean, there's you know, it's a constant uh balance of uh the the number of veterans we're helping is growing every year, so we need to keep up and be able to support them with grants and mentors and every single piece of what we offer. Um, and I know we've talked about Reggie a couple times tonight, but that guy is absolutely crushing. Our programs is is unbelievable. We've got some great partners out there with some major universities and and businesses that that are part of our uh educational program. It's second enough. So I'm super proud of where we're at.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I the one thing I do love about our programs, it's it's um it's not a cookie cutter thing. And I'm not trying to put shade out there to anybody. You're not getting the same type of programming when it comes to like entrepreneurship, building something that you're gonna get from a lot of folks online. Uh it's a hard sell to get people to take time to work on something. But it really we've catered and built programming that makes sense for the modern age. Like

Tech Tracks Activator And The AI Edge

SPEAKER_02

if you want to be part, if you're part of something in tech, if you're building the next great service as a software system out there, like we where Rising Now has Activator, like the the second cohorts going on right now, and the first one, I've actually actually got two guys on deck to go come talk about the program because it it it literally, when they boasted and posted their certificate on LinkedIn, you could see that these individuals were waiting for somebody to bring this out to them. Like it wasn't like, oh, I did something, this is great. It's like, dude, I had the opportunity of a lifetime that gave me something that I desperately needed for my business. Like apps and building tech companies right now is like one of the biggest things. I've got, and shout out to any 18 Echo out there because the most successful teammates I have right now are the 18 Echoes. Like they're they're crushing it in drone warfare, in the tech space. And uh here we are for years making fun of them, and now it's their turn to make fun of us for being 18 Bravos or 18 Deltas. And I'm telling you, if you're out there in the tech space and you're looking for something, keep your eyes on Warrior Rising and the next cohort of Activator. But even if tech's not your thing, jump on board in Warrior University, jump on board in any other programming. It's like SD Vet. Like, we don't, I know you don't have time to sit down behind a computer for 17 hours a day. Like, that's not what this is. What you need to understand is like this is a community effort. This is something where you can get plugged in with people like you. Because what I've learned about what I'm doing is it can get incredibly lonely to find individuals that are doing the same thing and trying to grow and develop. Um, not to say they're not out there, but it took me a while to build my cohort of individuals that are in the same space. Roy Risley's taking care of that for you. Um, and that's that's the thing that's like, holy cow, like you can talk to others that are just like you, building the same type of things like you, that understand the pain points. Like that's that's worth its weight in gold right now. Like we're more divided and more separated, even though we're now more connected, more connected than ever with these things. But being connected to the right people, that's the key element.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, absolutely. I couldn't agree more. And we've worked really hard at Warrior Rising to kind of bring in the right people. And it's always an evolution. We're always forward thinking too. Like you just thought up the activate uh activator program, um, something new that we just rolled out. And we're always looking for what's on the horizon so that we can continue to provide like relevant and current services to the veteran. Um, so Reggie and Sam work really hard to make sure that we are on the cusp of like, hey, what's next? Obviously, AI is changing a ton of things right now, and uh, so that's gonna be a focal point going forward. Um, we've partnered with some really great universities and tried to bring in like the most forward thinkers and the most current and relevant um experts in these fields. And so when you come to Warrior Rising, you're getting access to that as well. So um I think that's another piece of the puzzle that maybe not everybody does, but we I think we do really well here. Um so we're we're always staying current and on the on the forward edge of this thing. So I'm really pleased with where we're at. I'm looking forward to seeing seeing how this uh new activator program uh turns out. Um it seems to be doing really well, and to your point, when you see people go through the program and then you know they're posting their certific certifications online and and showing pride in it, tells you that the thing they're doing we're doing something right with that. So we're always gonna make the small tweaks to make it better, seem to be on the right track there right now. So I'm really proud of that program.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

Health Therapy And Sustainable Ambition

SPEAKER_02

And I don't wanna I don't want to miss an opportunity to talk about the other aspects of being an entrepreneur, and that's taking care of yourself. And uh, you know, it it's it can often be an addictive thing. Building something can take a lot of you and and can put you in the situation where you feel like you have to vote every single hour. But the reality is like you got to be committed to building, you gotta be committed to your business, but you also have to pour back into yourself and your family. And Casey, somebody like yourself that's been in this space for a minute, like, how do you pour back in yourself? How do you make sure that you're focused on the people and the things that truly matter?

SPEAKER_01

It's a great question, Daddy. And honestly, I was a poor example of that for the longest time, right? Especially in my FBI career. I was always there for my kids and everything, right? But I wasn't taking care of myself either. So I wasn't the best version of myself. Just in the last year and a half, I've really started focusing on myself. And quite frankly, it's because of my relationship with Ben and Ben telling me, hey, you need to look at this or that. Things that I'd never considered before. And, you know, I'll just be kind of open about where I'm at. Now I was in having horrible issues with the back injury, horrible issues with controlling some of the things that lead to other more serious things down the road. And I couldn't get a grasp on it. And the stuff that doctors were telling me or trying to help me with weren't working. And so I looked at um better sleep, exercise, and taking uh, you know, getting on to the um the Retta thing that Ben had always suggested, um, to help with inflammation and the little things, right? Well, I started doing it, lost 42 pounds, um normalized uh all like vital type stuff that goes on in your body, better sleep patterns. I wake up in the morning feeling energized, and it leads to better work, right? So I think one of the things that people I'll just tell you from my perspective, the the thing that I did wrong is I thought the more I grind, the harder I work, the longer I work, the better the product will be. I've kind of re-looked at that and I'm like, if I take care of myself, I'm more productive in the in the shorter uh duration of time that I'm putting into work, uh, putting out a better product, spending less time because I'm I'm I'm sharp here, I'm awake, I'm alert, um, energized, all the things, and I'm absorbing what people are telling me, you know. And so I have found that as I started taking better care of myself uh personally, I've become a better, I've I'm putting out a better effort at work. Um, it's not uh always a situation where you just gotta grind through it and put in more hours and more sweat and that type of thing, right? Um, so that's been like a huge change for me over the last two years. Before that, I was just like burning the candle from both ends and um not taking care of myself up here either. I started reluctantly going and talking to somebody and off okay, so I didn't again going back, I didn't have like a lot of the same experiences that uh my uh counterparts did in the military. But when I went to law enforcement, I certainly did. Uh violent crime and and stuff overseas and stuff, I got ex I got a heavy dose of it, and I never discussed any of it. I just bottled it up and did the same thing every other guy does, right? That we know that we know. I was the same. I did the same thing, and it just got to a point where like I it I just wasn't the best version of myself. Reluctantly went to a person, started offloading it little bits at a time. Like she literally was pulling teeth, I think, is probably what this this Lily thought. But once she kind of cracked me a little bit and got me to just communicate a little bit more, man, I could like almost I don't know how to explain it, but I could almost like feel a um a lightness to myself. I felt maybe like I did when I was 20 years old again. Um kind of like uh emotionally wise, right? Um, and that was like a huge thing for me, just being honest, you know what I mean? Um, because I know I know that's what you that the whole point of this thing, right? So um the first step is very difficult, especially if you're a a person like me that doesn't like to talk much. I'm I'm more reserved and shy um and just tend to keep to myself. But um with the push from some people that care about me, I did those things and it helped me tremendously.

SPEAKER_02

100%, man. That is the greatest thing we could do for ourselves. If you look, I know you're it to you listening, you might not believe it, but I will tell you if you're gonna dive into this space, this, this, and this have to be a hundred percent working towards healing. Uh, first, I'm telling you, you can't take on the burden of building something and have this and this disconnected or or at the, you know, it in a negative space. Mind, body, and spirit, you've got to build all three back. And I will tell you, there's been a lot of nights and a lot of days where it's been a grind, but you know what? Because I'm on the positive side of my journey, because I'm on the uphill side or the downhill side, I should say, having gone through a lot of therapy, having gone through all the things that have made me a better version of myself. I can look at the board, even if everything's on fire, and I can say, you know what? All right, I did my best today. All this can wait till tomorrow. That wouldn't have been the case if I didn't pour, pour back to my cup and do everything I could to take care of myself, to make sure I had the best mindset, to make sure I had everything figured out as far in regards to my healing journey. If I wouldn't have done that, I wouldn't have been here. I certainly wouldn't have stuck it out and then and pushed through the hurdles and obstacles in building a business. That's just the honest truth, man. Because you can't pour into something like a business when you're in the negative, when your heart's not taken care of, when your mind's not there. You gotta put yourself first. And that's it's it's hard for people to understand that concept. If you want to be the best version of yourself for your for your wife, for your kids, for the community that depends on you, then you gotta pour into yourself. You've got to be willing to do the scariest thing, and that's being vulnerable and being willing to sit down in front of somebody else and be like, you know what? I've seen some things and they may have affected me.

SPEAKER_01

It's it's uh the the biggest thing that I could suggest is you just find a person that you trust and just open up to them a little bit. If I would have had a conversation with my uh two of my buddies, um I I never would have had the answers because they had them. They went through the same stuff that I did, and they're like, Well, have you tried this? No, I haven't. Well, tell me what it did for you. And they told me, and I was like, Well, maybe I'll try. So at the peak of my uh when I was in the FBI, at the peak of my struggles, I'll say, I was having like insomnia and just could not, could not sleep for the life of me, you know what I mean? But I didn't do anything to fix it. I just would do the same thing every night, lay down and just hope that I fell asleep, right? And my body's like, hey, here's what you need to do. So I tried it and it worked, right? And the same thing with like uh if I with with uh health struggles, if I hadn't have talked to those guys and found answers to the test because they already had them, I never would have tried it and I'd be overweight and still sleepless, right? Um, and so find somebody that you trust and just ask the questions. Nobody's gonna shoot you down, right? So that's one of the things, too, that my buddy asked me, he goes, Casey, how many times has a guy come to you and you just said, No, no, no, no, no, I don't want to talk to you about this. I'm like, never. He goes, Yeah. He's like, the same thing is available to you. No guy or no man or woman is gonna turn you down if you go to them and say, I need to talk about this thing. And I'm like, that's a great point. I've had so many people over the years come to me, some people that I would never expect in a million years, like I didn't feel like I had that like close relationship where they would open up to me, but they did. And I was and I sat there for as long as it took and would give them the shirt off my back, just like I would do for anybody. Um, so I'm just saying that to say that people will listen. If you pick your person that you trust most to confide in, do it, and you might be surprised at what answers they have because maybe they've got already gone through it or know somebody else. The answers to the test are already out there. It's just finding out what they are and being will uh willing to listen.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, a hundred percent. And to your point for community.

SPEAKER_01

Yep, and to your point, once you are clear mind, uh body, soul, you you can focus on these things like building a good business, which leads to building confidence and other healthy habits, and it's the way I love it. It's what's worked for me at least.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, it it's it's it's the truth, man. And um, I think the more of us to share and give insights, like it's not about like building something isn't gonna fix everything else that you're dealing with. We we you can't confuse that. You can't say that by ignoring all the things that you're dealing with and just focusing and pouring yourself into this other objective, it's gonna magically cure it. It won't. It'll still be there at the end of the day. Um I think being willing to put yourself first so that you can take care of your friends, your family, and everybody else and be the best version of yourself is the best way to go. And it, you know, it's just about sharing these stories, being willing to put these things out there because they are connected. You want to be the best version of yourself so you can have time and have the right mentality to build something great. Your mental health, your well-being, it's all connected when it comes into building something like a business. It is, it's 100%. And more often than not, when I sit down and I break bread with somebody that's created something great, they will always tell you at some point, everything was going against me, but I'm really glad I post I put my mental health first as I was getting out of the military. I got that equation figured out, then I moved forward into building my business. Um, at least that's been my experience. And uh take it for what it's worth.

Plan The Dream Find Gaps Stay

SPEAKER_02

But Casey, before I let you go, man, I I want to dive into your core principles or your ideas or or some things that can help a young entrepreneur out there first. If they're struggling, what are some things you recommend?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so that's a good question. I think the the biggest thing is if you have something that you're passionate about turning into a business idea, really sit down and plan it out, like A to Z, what does this look like? Um, what skills do I have to make this a success, a successful business? And what do I need to get to the point where I look at this company and say, I've reached a pinnacle? This is this is where I wanted to take this thing. And then the the other critical piece would be um do kind of a self-examination. Where are my weaknesses for me to get to my goal? Uh, what shortcomings do I have that will prevent me from getting there? And how do I fix those? Who do I bring in to shore up those uh uh those shortcomings? And and then bring those people in to be a part of your team. Surround yourself with a network. Uh, because again, we've already talked about it. Network and community is gonna get you further than uh money or you know, spending your way out of a problem. How about instead of that we fall back on, hey, this person's been through this before, they have the experience, I can learn from that rather than falling down uh you know on my own in this certain situation. So build up your network and and if you're passionate about something, never quit. Fight for it. That's really all it comes down to. Um, we Ben and I were talking yesterday about a company, and people, a lot of people automatically assume that when they see a successful company that it happened overnight. And most cases that is not what happened. Uh, we were talking about a very successful company, and and we're like, hey, do you know how long it took this company to become what they are today? 13 years. 13 years they were in a knife fight, right? And that's just the reality of the situation. But they were passionate about their product and they believed in it, so they stayed in a fight. They didn't quit. And now they have like this hundred, several hundred million dollar company and brand, right? So um my biggest piece of advice to any entrepreneur would be surround yourself with a good community, a good network. And if you really believe in your product and you really believe in your business, get in the fight to stay in the fight, and it will be a success.

SPEAKER_02

I love that. Damn, that's good. That's motivating. Yeah. But be careful. Be careful when you're building that business plan, run it by a friend. I'm telling you, from someone who had to build it a couple times.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, there's there's no reason to be shy. If you've got the network, you know, and you're building your business plan, there that's what they're for. Like, let them look at it, let them pick it apart. Take the constructive criticism, fix it. It's not personal. They're help, they're trying to help you out. They want you to succeed. We want you to succeed. So if you pass that thing to us, we're gonna be like, we'll shoot it full of holes, right? But it's not to nitpick you or it's it's not to pick you apart. It's to say, hey, for you to get where you want to go, we need to fix the boom, boom, boom. And then you're your goal. Well, you know, that's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_02

Hell yeah. Casey, I can't thank you enough for being here today, brother. Guys, do me a favor. You know the spiel, the episode's almost over. Head on over to the episode description, click the links, sign up for Warrior Rising. I'm not gonna put Casey's email in there, but hit us up. Hit us up on the website. In fact, just go to the website, join uh join the Six Club. By the time this airs, it's probably gonna be launched. Six bucks. You throw six bucks away every day. Go to Starbucks, you get a drink, you don't even finish it, you throw it away. Throw some of that money our way. Help us create the next generation of great veteran entrepreneurs that are willing to bet on themselves. So let me tell you something. Um, one of the greatest things in life is when you wake up and you're 100% committed to your dream. And nobody else is gonna do that for you. You've got to come up with a dream and you've got to believe in it. Warrior Rising will take care of the rest. We'll get you the schooling and the techniques that you need to pitch. And uh we may get some rough words from Reggie every once in a while, but it's all coming from a good place. And he's gonna make sure your business plan is ready to go. Uh, bet on yourself, folks. Bet on yourself today. Head on over to the link, sign up for Warrior Rising, or just support the programs. Rep the set, get some merch. There's some great merch. I've got a couple of shirts on their way to the house because I don't have any, I don't have a Warrior Rising merch, man. I can't promote it if I can't wear it. Uh, we might have to get some new designs, man. We need some new colors. I don't know how I felt about that beach sunset one. It was uh Casey, thank you for being here, brother. And everybody tuning in. Thank you guys for stopping by, and we'll see y'all next time. Until then, take care.

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Deny Caballero

Host