Steven Crane, Spotlight on Experts

This episode provides advice to Veterans and their families, from a Veteran. If you are a Veteran or part of a Veteran family, please consider checking this out – it will help you or someone you know!

Steven Crane, MBA, MPM, leads a Veteran-owned business that supports Veterans who are somewhere in the transition to “civilian” status, after their service. Attend his Q&A webinar on 12/29 @ 5 PM, Eastern. Register here: LINK

Steven began his own transition in 2017. Like many who have served, he faced an unfair share of adversity and wasn’t supported adequately by the government agencies responsible for that support. Facing down some “move it or lose it” moments, Steven’s life took a hard turn towards success when he cleared-up his purpose and vision. That led him to advancing his formal education, big-shot corporate jobs, and recently to founding 360 Veteran. 

He's at the heart of an effort to provide better support to transitioning Veterans. He’s already helped hundreds and is partnering with new individuals every week. He offers tons of free information through topical webinars, question & answer sessions and through other easy-to-access resources. 

My conversation with Steven gets into some of his background, some controversial topics, and lots about things that Veterans in this process should look for. 

If you aren’t part of a Veteran family, please share this information with one you know!


Connect with Steven
Website: https://the360veteran.com/ 

Reviews of Steven: https://the360veteran.com/testimonies  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/steven_b_crane 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNG02fHx5Rq64s1xQ-70Htg 

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-b-crane/ 

Transcript

Trevor: 0:43

Welcome common leaders to another really exciting interview. This interview is a spotlight on the expert. So we have spotlight on leaders who are nominated leaders, and then every, so often I come across somebody that I just really, really want to talk to some more and introduce to the world. And that is the case today with this interview, you have a spotlight on the expert in Stephen Crane. Stephen is a veteran among many things. He is also a currently a successful business owner. He is on his way up in this new business. And Steven is also highly educated in the area of leadership, which is one of the many reasons. I was extremely excited to have an opportunity to meet with him both initially a few weeks ago. And again, today because the dude has a lot of experience and practical and academic leadership. So he's going to be able to one up my game. I'm almost positive through this interview and also has some really, really. Practical approaches to improving people's lives. And specifically that of veterans, that is what his business is centered around. And he'll talk a little bit about that and in the whys and the vision for it. And I think it comes at an opportune time because he's got some events coming up that might be helpful to you. That being said, as I mentioned, he's, he's got a bunch of letters after his name, MBA, MBA, M P M, which I need to understand what that is. He's really just a doctor. I think of leadership between his military training and his academic training, and now what he's doing, running a business. So that means that I want to hear from Steven, Steven, tell us a little bit about what you're up to now, where Steven is today, and maybe a little bit about who you are as a person in terms of your own words, I'm gonna toss it to you.

Steven: 2:32

Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me and thank you so much for taking the time to actually do this. This is phenomenal. I know we spoke a couple of weeks ago and ever since meeting, it just has been great synergy between us and I'm super excited to be able to share everything with your audience today. And hopefully from that my audience will grow a little bit more and I'll be able to help out more people. So my, my story, my, where I am today, I'm the founder of 360 veterans. 360 veteran is my company that I started. It is all about helping veterans transition from the military with dignity, purpose, and ease. That's what we were founded on. That's what I love about the company is our vision is so massive because we know we're never going to achieve it, but we are going to die trying to achieve that. The transition process for veterans has been broken since the Roman Legion. It's been broken since day one. And it's unfortunate because there's been so many attempts and so much money put into it, but no one's been able to successfully make it happen. It's gotten better over the years, but not perfect. So that's really where I am today and just trying to help veterans transition. A little bit differently because all the transition programs out there right now, focus on getting you a resume, getting you a job, getting you interview skills, but no one talks about the finances. Everyone talks about, the disability, no one talks about you emotionally and spiritually having to go through that transition process. So where the name 360 veteran came from. We're providing 360 degrees of care and I thought it was clever, but I'm biased. Of course.

Trevor: 4:20

No, I, I agree that it's it's a good name choice with the 360 and it's, it's interesting too, the way you presented it. And I hadn't heard you say it like that with the whole piece, cause I know, and I'm sure you'll talk more about it, that you focus a lot on the disability portion of it because of the foundations and hierarchy of needs, which you know, we can get into also, but hearing about the rest of the package. And I guess what I would broadly call the minds. You know, the spiritual, the family, the finances, the whole picture, but then paired with getting your foundational needs met when it comes to something like finance through the disability is a really interesting approach. And one that I really appreciate because we are in a world that is inundated with coaches of all types. They have shallow information in one area. And I also know that it's a much harder road to try to be all inclusive and cover the whole package. But it also gives you, I think probably a really good foundation to help people because you are trying to pull from all the different areas. I'm curious, don't get too far from it. Made you get into this a little bit, but also what do you think? I mean, I know your academics because I have your LinkedIn, right. But tell listeners a little bit about what sets you apart from somebody who just wants to help, because you are somebody who just wants to help, but you also have some rigor to go with that in terms of technique and education

Steven: 5:57

Oh, certainly. Certainly. So my transition back in 2017 was I say, It's different, but unfortunately it's not that different. A lot of veterans go through it. So I got out in 17, became a stereotypical homeless vet, lost everything. Didn't have anything really going on to have a path. Didn't have my finances to didn't have my disability didn't have anything. And when I asked for help, the only help I could get was here. Let's work on your resume here. Let's help you get a job. And it's like, when someone's broken and they have nothing, a job is not going to fulfill yourself, right? It's not going to give you purpose. It's not going to give you a drive. It's not going to heal you. It's going to put a bandaid on the problem, but you need healing and you need that 360 degrees of care. So that's really where the inspiration for the company came from. As my own heartache and my own struggle over the last couple of years of going through different jobs, working my way up, corporate America, thankfully leaving corporate America earlier this year making almost 200,000 in corporate America. And I was very happy. I was very proud, but the biggest accomplishment that I have to date is being able to pull myself from 2017 to where I am today without becoming a further statistic. So thank you.

Trevor: 7:31

that.

Steven: 7:33

That's definitely the biggest accomplishment aside from that. And aside from, you know, climbing the corporate ladder, the last couple years, I've been focused on education, like you said, Kind of all these letters after my name I have, was it four or five degrees? I've been to another four or five different sort of certificate programs through Villanova, Cornell, everything like that. I have over 30 professional certifications, the project management professional. I mean, you name it, you name it, I've done it. And I don't mean that in a bragging manner. I mean that, because I was hopeless, I had no direction. All I had in front of me was an opportunity just get off the couch and go do something more in my case, get out, get out of my car and go do something. Right. Because when you don't have that direction, the hunger and the fire inside of you to do something, it's either going to spark or it's not going to spark it's one or the other, you're going to stay in that car or you're going to squeak by with that job. Or you're going to say, you know, As a leader, I deserve better in life. You know what, as a human being, as a veteran, I deserve better in life and I'm going to go make that happen. What is it from Rocky, if you know what you're worth, go out and get what you're worth. That's really where I, I told that from. I'm like, you know what? I know that I don't deserve to be in this car. I did my job. I did well in the military. I got out honorably. I did everything I'm supposed to. I got my bachelor's while I was still in. I did everything I'm supposed to, but yet here I still am in my car. So that was the fuel on the fire to go out there, continuously improve professional development, get my own coaches, go to therapy, myself together. And over the last was it four or five years now spent, and this sounds bad, but I've spent over$300,000 in myself and personal development

Trevor: 9:39

Wow.

Steven: 9:39

books from courses college. Therapy everything. And now that I'm in the place that I am today, be able to give back, I want to help veterans not have to spend 300,000,

Trevor: 9:54

Yeah.

Steven: 9:54

waste five years of their life, I know what that feels like. And I don't want anyone. I don't wish that on my worst enemy to have to go through what I've gone through. So that's really my, my story and why I created what I call.

Trevor: 10:10

Yeah, that is that's awesome. First of all in terms of the why um, there's a lot of reasons you could get into the business that you find yourself in now, and the hope of changing someone or helping them to not have to struggle through. That is a really awesome reason. It's also why I hope to get in to this business and talk to people like you is with a hope of just making. I mean, everybody's going to have their struggle, but if you can reduce the struggle by a day for someone that seems worth it especially with the mental health piece, like you don't know on that, on that day, if you're going to wake up feeling like super good or extremely bad, and where it goes from extremely bad is generally not a good place especially within the veteran community. So. To aspire to, to reduce the struggle by any amount is, is a huge deal and a great service. And I'm here in San Diego, as we've talked about. And there are so many veterans everywhere that I've been so fortunate to meet and learn so much about. And even the ones who are, you know, high ranking, it doesn't matter. The ranking, you just see the struggle, you hear the struggle and the stories. And even trying to talk to someone like me as a civilian, while they're still active, you can see that on the other side of it, it's not going to be the easiest thing because. It's just different. Like you can't tell somebody to do push-ups when they don't don't listen to you is a, is a silly example, but like a big control issue that like, that could take years of counseling just to come to terms with that I would think. You know, I work in this job, I have all this respect, but I can't just, brow beat people until they do what I say, because that's not how it works outside. I would just think that there's such a litany of things that would be critical for someone to, as they transition address and try to work through so that they don't end up in a spot that's less than successful. Anything less than successful for somebody coming out of the military, I think is pretty unacceptable. If there's a different opportunity

Steven: 12:13

Yeah.

Trevor: 12:13

yeah. Yeah. I just think thinks so deeply and so much of, of veterans and their families, because again, as you know, better than I, it doesn't just affect you. It's like a whole, a whole thing

Steven: 12:28

Nope impacts your entire family.

Trevor: 12:31

yeah. That's why I was going to ask is, is when you were in your car after you got out in 17, where you where you were stationed at that time prior, or did you go back to home to where you grew up? Where were you in the world at that time?

Steven: 12:47

So I was still in the relative area of where I transitioned out from. But it, it was not a good situation. My wife and I, we were, we were, there and we were trying to strategize, what are we going to do? I mean, we don't have a single penny to our name. Oh, we have all this. What do we do? Do we just declare bankruptcy and, you know, whatever, and then be done with it and then restart our entire life here in like 10 years, or do we try every possible way to get out of this rut that we're in? And so I was, it's fascinating to find out what the human body can do again, when you are at dire straights, was literally working seven days a week around the clock for 22 hours because I needed jobs. I was clean and I was a janitor. I was cleaning homes. I was. Funny enough and long story, separate separate interview for this one, I did undercover investigations. I was you know, Ubering, doing door dash, you name it. I was trying anything and everything to just get enough money so we can get the necessary means to come back home, to go back to family and to really rebuild our life. And that was, that was the adventure. So it was hard on myself. It was hard on my wife. It was hard on our family. It was hard on everyone involved. And again, I don't, I don't wish that on anyone because it's, it's not fun playing in simple. It's not fun. And no one deserves.

Trevor: 14:36

Yeah. In 22 hours of, of work, seven days a week is that's a lot. And on the bright side of that story. So I understand that you're now back where you're from with families that right.

Steven: 14:50

correct. Yep. over the last couple of years, we were able to move back, get established with family bounce from couch to couch, get our lives back together a little bit still going to college, getting my MBA, getting my master's in project management, doctorate in education, organizational change in leadership, you know, going through all this education and climbing the corporate ladder make something of myself to, to better my life. Because at the end of the day, my vision was always give back. Because If I was able to overcome this, I know that I'm learning things and I'm growing that most people don't even what will never grow unless they're in that position. So that's where I found my value and funny. And sadly enough, I found my value in, in that struggle and being

Trevor: 15:48

Hm.

Steven: 15:49

help other people see the light at the end of the time.

Trevor: 15:53

Hmm. That is interesting. In a word, yeah, I you're right about the separate interview. I could, I have a question for later, I'm going to come back to, but piece of the puzzle in terms that, that value, you know, that, that, whatever it is that you were trying to fill to, to provide some validation and then give back I bet you could the day after you got out just for the record. to all the degrees in education and you're, you know, you're much better qualified to give deep advice. Now let's be real. But and wondering, like, you know, I know a guy who has a similar thing. This is a bit of a tangent from what I had on the agenda, but I know a guy and he has a similar, a similar struggle in terms of the constantly looking for like the next thing that will help, I guess, validate in the civilian world maybe. And I like, I, I shook him by the shoulders at least once. And I'm like, man, you are, have so much, like you could stop your stop, the whole education. You could not learn a single thing for the rest of your life and you would still have so much value to offer people. I just want to share that with you and Anybody who's listening find, find somebody who knows you, who, who is willing to tell you that because I bet it's true that, you could the learning process. Never learned a single other thing, like, you know, so much you've had such great experiences and that gives you so much power to help people if that's what you're after. But just strikes me, you know, for somebody That, that put in put in time in the struggle that, you know, you have value, you are a whole person like that. The discharge papers, the, the degrees, the letters like they help. But there's, there's so much going on I, I kinda want, wanna hard shift into that for a second. What is it that you want to provide people when they give you a call or when they hop on a webinar with 360 Veteran. What is the thing you hear about the most? somebody says Steven, you know, I, I need help with blank.

Steven: 18:16

they need help with life. And I know that's a very big term because life is all encompassing, but they need help with life. They don't know what they don't know. They don't a lot of veterans. I mean, you hit it, you hit the nail on the head. A lot of veterans don't even see their own value of what they already bring to the table. And I think the transition program does a terrible job of this, of showing people their worth, even with. All the ribbons and metals, even without all the degrees and certifications and courses, they bring so much value with what they've experienced and what they have. That is the most valuable thing that you can have is yourself. And what you bring to the table, your mindset, your, your attitudes, your beliefs, your, your diversity of how you process that issues, right? That's huge. That's majorly valuable, but you don't know what you don't know. And if no one shine that light on your face and said, Hey, you are valuable. You are whole, you are worthy of love and purpose and everything. And then you don't take that time to self-reflect. You're never going to see that. And you're always going to be chasing degrees. You're always going to be chasing, certifications and everything like that. into that trap. Look at me, That was the biggest thing was no one was there to help. No one was there to shine that light and inspire me show me that I am worthy of just being me. And so that's the biggest thing that I hear from veterans. Whether or not they say it like that, because again, they don't know what they don't know, but whether or not they say it, that's what I hear. That's what I constantly am feeling, hearing and seeing with all the veterans that we help around the world, they're yearning for purpose. They're yearning to, become something and become part of something greater than they are. And it's, it's, unfortunate. That piece of the transition not there, but that's why we exist where we're a different transition company. focus on the person providing them 360 degrees of care so that they can then take that and apply it to wherever they end up in life. Because the transition program tries to get you into a job. But what if you want to start your own business, if you want to go be a life coach, or if you want to go out and be a volunteer work at a nonprofit, they don't do

Trevor: 21:13

Yeah.

Steven: 21:13

They don't prepare you for that because they expect, you want to transition and go get a six figure job in the corporate America.

Trevor: 21:20

Yeah,

Steven: 21:21

Maybe they don't and then you're, and then you're screwed, right? No,

Trevor: 21:25

right.

Steven: 21:25

help you. So that's why we exist. There was my soap box.

Trevor: 21:30

Nah, there, I'm going to give you more soap boxes. That's a great one to be on. I never even thought about it, with the, the piece you mentioned at the end about the other opportunities that somebody could take from a transitional standpoint that would make sense if you're not interested in that path. And maybe even if you are that doing something like volunteer, work, doing something, I guess, for lack of a better term, a little more low key right out could be really beneficial. You know why you're trying to, and I've seen it up close with other people that transition process. There's some finding of self. Or I guess slowly trying to forget previous self before you can start to find self. it seems almost, doesn't seem almost, it seemed unfair to watch it unfold because you're trying to, as you said, keep up a job and a paycheck you've now put yourself in the position of a failing. And if there's, if there's only a few things that you learn in the military, it's fulfilling your obligations that you committed to is probably near the top of the list. And now you're also going through all the other shifts and changes in learnings and forgetting while you're also trying to keep up with that pressure what you've gotten yourself into, which is potentially a six-figure high pressure job. We talked about that in the welfare program too, when I was a job coach for either hadn't been employed in a long time or in some cases had never been employed. don't the pressure on yourself to go get a job at Mickey D's right out of the gate. Like, go, go volunteer somewhere. You build some connections, you build some network, you ease your way into it. So if something goes wrong, it's not as catastrophic when you're a volunteer. You might end up with a job because of where you volunteered. You might end up with a lifelong support or mentor because of where you volunteered. It's just a different type of relationship. And I saw that work multiple times. saw that work with a third generation welfare client. Like dude never had a job, went and volunteered somewhere, screwed it up multiple times, right? Like did stuff that was wildly inappropriate, but he did it as a volunteer. Then he went and got a job. It was great. That's really, really solid advice explore the other there potential beyond just going straight into the job market. You also, I know, focus a lot on outreach and education around disability, right? That's the webinar thing that I sat through a week or so ago.

Steven: 24:06

Yes. Yes. The disability is really a big piece of the transition. So every veteran out there that's listening, or if you know a veteran out there, every single veteran rates, disability, they deserve it. They've earned it. It's part of their benefits package through the VA. They have it. It's rated off of a scale of 0% to a hundred percent, 0% giving you no money, a hundred percent giving you$3,500. Great. That's the scale and everything in between. Depending on your disabilities, depending on how many you have, depending on the severity, you will fall within that range. The thing that people misunderstand about the disability processes, one it's very, very different than like SSD. I, you're not doing social security disability. It's, it's completely separate. When you think of disability, you think of the inability to do something you think of, oh, you know, I'm, I didn't get blown up, so I don't deserve disability. Oh, I didn't go to war. So I don't deserve disability. That's your own definition. I have to stress that. That's your own definition. That is not even the veteran administration, the veteran affairs, the VA that's not even their definition. Their definition is here's the box. Do you fit the box? Great. There's your discipline. And people don't understand that they think, oh, I have to do these miraculous things to deserve disability. No. Oh, I have to be incapacitated to have a disability rating. Not at all. Every single veteran deserves it. Every single veteran rates, it it's there for you to take the VA has to set aside so much money for every veteran that transitions that's part of their budget. That's part of what they have to account for the money's there. But think of like a bank, a bank account that's sitting out there for you. It's there. If the money's there, you walk into a teller, you show them your ID. Great. Here's the access to your money. It's the same thing with the VA, but people don't take advantage of it because they feel guilty. They feel they don't deserve. They feel that they're too prideful. They don't know the process. And so we try to fill that gap for them and show them yes, here is the disability process. And then at the end of the day, we can help you in obtain those benefits. And then what's, that's gonna do, that's gonna unlock a ton of different benefits for you up to, and including the constant steady paycheck completely tax-free for the rest of your life, the medical, dental, vision, prescriptions, mental health care, completely free for the rest of her life, student loan forgiveness, your children can go to school for free property tax forgiveness. I mean, you name it. There are thousands of benefits and veterans just don't know what they don't know because the transition program does a terrible job with it. And so we have to come in as the veteran that has been homeless because the vet, the transition program has been so terrible. You have to come out in the civilian world, make a program, make a company to rectify the deficiencies inside the transition program as it sits right now. And it boggles my mind every day that I have a job, because the, the, the ineffectiveness of something that the government put into place to try to help, but yet it doesn't help. And so now I have a job because you can't even do your job. It blows my mind, but I, another soap box.

Trevor: 28:07

yeah, also, the amount of overlap in general, when you think about government work, It's not known for its efficiency. So it's in some ways, not surprising. I'm going to let you hit the VA in a second, but I want to ask really quickly to shine a little light on the disability rating portion. So you said it's a scale zero to a hundred. What kind of examples could you give that would help shine some light on where somebody might fall if they're listening to this and have no idea.

Steven: 28:37

it's a really good question. What they're really messy answer because in my experience, helping thousands of veterans. Every single veteran is at least a 70% rating or higher,

Trevor: 28:49

Really?

Steven: 28:50

people are blown away. They're like, there's no way. There's no way. I'm like, well, I've helped thousands of them. I do know what I'm talking about. We've helped a thousand of them get to that point, right? I've, I've coached so many people through this process. Every single person is at least a 70%, whether that's from your knees, your feet, your hips, your wrists, your ankles, your elbows, your shoulders, headaches, mental health, back neck, GERD, IBS, hemorrhoids, everything in between. There's a lot of parts on your body that could be messed up from the military, or maybe the military didn't directly mess them up. But as a result, your body has declined or it's gotten worse. That's a disability, if your knee hurts, but you can still move around. That's still a disability, right. That still fits the box for the VA. So I would say based on my experience, a lot of people are sitting around that 40% marker where they're either 20, 30, 40, 50, or 60%. And then after they work with us, after they come through or even just attend one of our free webinars or go through our that's on our website. The vast majority of people come back at either 70, 80, 90, or a hundred. Now, if they work with us specifically, they go through our program. Almost every person comes out a hundred percent permanent and total.

Trevor: 30:25

Wow. There's that permit toll. I was waiting for that term cause I sat through your webinar and I learned a bunch in through that. I learned a really important piece of what you were just saying is the entry fee is 70. If you were in, you're probably at 70 the right coaching through it. When I hear 100 having worked in the workforce system and the welfare system in the gov traditional government world means you can't work. You can't be a hundred percent disabled, get checks from the government. also they'll then go get a part-time job or a side hustle. But if you're 100% at a 100% rating with what you're talking about, does that mean you can't work? I'm pretty sure the answer is no. Right.

Steven: 31:09

There's three different types of a hundred percent. There's a hundred percent, which is no different than 80%, 70%. It's a percentage. It could go up. It could go down just to. Right, but a hundred percent, a hundred percent good. Then there's a hundred percent P and T permanent and total and total or permanent and totally disabled. you want to phrase it. However you, whatever you look up, it's going to be a little bit different, but permit and total and T, that rating is great because not only unlocks a couple of other benefits for you, on your state and all that kind of stuff, the biggest of which being total, total discharge of all student loans that you have, that's pretty cool.

Trevor: 31:57

Yeah.

Steven: 31:57

but every state's a little bit differently. So Texas property taxes, you gotta be P and T. Or, you know, sometimes you could just be a hundred percent in different states. So every state's a little bit different with that, but P and T just means that the VA has determined at the end of the day. Your disabilities are so severe. are significant they don't feel like you're going to get better at the end of the day. And they feel like you are going to continuously get worse over time because treatment hasn't worked, the severity of your symptoms are so bad and so on and so forth that you're just going to continuously deteriorate over time. That's permanent and total, that just locks you in at a hundred percent. That's all it is. It doesn't mean you can't work. It doesn't mean you can't make income. It doesn't mean you can't start your own business. just means that they feel like you're going to get worse and worse. Then there's one last hundred percent rating. The last one is a hundred percent TUD or T U I D again, there's variations, total unemployable disability, total unemployable disability is the one. To your point, you can't work. That's the big no-no, that's the one where you want to stay away from if you're still trying to work. Now, a couple of things with that though, one, the VA will never automatically give you TUD. It's not something that a veteran needs to worry about. Like, oh, are they going to make me never work again? No. The VA wants you to get your butt out there and work. They want you to be a productive member of society. They want you to get better. They want you to go out there and make money and, you know, add value. They don't want you to be unemployable, but if you are in that situation or you need to draw your retirement, social security, you know, all that kind of stuff. Medicare, if you need to get on all this stuff, and that's where you're at, that's fine. That's why it exists. But it's something you have to specially request the VA to consider you for. So it's, it's a giant stigma that's out there and that if you get a hundred percent, you're not going to be able to work, but those are the three different types.

Trevor: 34:20

Yeah, thanks for explaining that because it is really confusing, especially as an outsider looking in, I imagine it's confusing and high pressure. If you're on the inside, trying to understand it because there are, I'm guessing the majority of your peers from the military that would prefer to not come out and immediately say like, oh, I definitely can't work. That goes against everything. You've been working your butt off for, for the last X number of years that you were in. And I'm also really, I, you know, I'll say at a personal level, really grateful that they have those two separations. I talk about Tony a lot. Because I'm, I'm pretty close with him, but if he had a different road or there wasn't that option, I don't know if I would have had the opportunity to work with him and the amount of value he provides in my life and in people's life is pretty significant. So I'm really grateful that they, you know, the, the VA does do at least one thing. Right. Which is to kick people's butt out there and tell them to get a job if they can. I know from talking to you a couple of different times now that in addition to your really strong feelings towards the VA in it presenting you this opportunity, because they are maybe a bit inefficient. what is your perspective? I guess a little bit more so on the why or where they differ because they are not the only federal health care program. there are multiple healthcare programs that cover the entire nation worth of people. What is it about the VA in your perspective or your experience that is an issue or that stinks so bad.

Steven: 35:52

You know, every VA is different. Every single VA. And this sounds weird, but they're independently run and operated. so it's not all VAs are bad. Some VAs are, I mean, dog water. I would rather go to a ma like a Mexico clinic, you know, I would rather go to a third world country. I would rather go anywhere else, but that place, because you will literally see veterans unattended in wheelchairs falling over, you will literally see people in a gurney to a wall on attendant. I mean, it's, it's terrible. And people are saying, oh, that's not true. That's not true. Go out and ask the nurses that have done some clinicals, go, go ask some people that have actually worked at the VA, volunteered at the VA, go ask these people it's happening. It's happening all around this country right now. There are many VA's like that, but then there's also many VAs. Are fantastic. They have the best healthcare. You go into your doctor, you give them a call and you say, Hey um, great does Monday or Tuesday work. And then it's immediate care. And the facilities are nice. They're well taken care of the staff are friendly. The doctors actually care about you. So it's hard to say that the entire VA is bad or corrupt or anything, but I will say at the top, the, the administration portion of the VA, that's just not good. It's just the, the, the heart and soul of these people. I don't want to say aren't in it for the veterans, but they're certainly focused more on being an insurance company than being a healthcare company. They treat everyone like an actuarial table. And they determine your worth based on how long until you die. much, how much more do we have to feed into this person? How much more money do we have to shell out? They look at everything, very black and white because of their position, because of them being put in charge of finance for the VA or whatever. But I think that's, I think there needs to be a little bit more leeway when it comes to that. Especially when you're talking about healthcare, you're talking about people's lives. It needs to be a little bit more uh, humanized then. the number I right. It needs to focus more on the patient outcomes. And what are you trying to do for these veterans? Are you trying to get them better? Are you trying to really help them or are you trying to simply check the box? Provide them care and then go about your Merry way. Cause veterans, people, we all can see through that. And we know the difference between the two. And so when we find a good VA, when we find a good doctor that will listen to us and not treat us like a malingerer, then it's a miracle, it's a unicorn and we love them. And we'll tell everyone about them because it's so freaking rare. Side note, side story. Tell me, tell me if this is the way a VA doctor should be addressing their patients. Oh, hi. Um, nice to see you. So we're going to do your checkup today. Looks like okay. Mental health. So you had some complaints about mental health? Yeah. Yeah, I did. Okay. Okay. So what combat did you see? Uh, I wasn't in combat you weren't in combat. Well then why are you here claiming mental health? I'm so confused and you're kind of taken back. You're like, well, I'm confused too, or too supposed to just be asking questions. Like how can I help? Like um,

Trevor: 40:02

Yeah,

Steven: 40:03

and then they come back and they say, well, how do you have PTSD? But you were never shot at, you were never blown up with an IED. I'm like, okay, I think we're done here. Side note VA, if you're watching. Yeah, that happened to me. happened to many, many, many other veterans. So keep telling me this. When you want to claim you care about military sexual trauma, MST. Keep telling me this. When you claim you care about. All these people that are abused inside the military. Court, marshal, all the child pedophiles inside the military, the rapists, murders and everyone that's in the Briggs at Leavenworth and stuff. Telling me that you care about military trauma? When your own doctors don't even recognize trauma, unless you are shot at, in Afghanistan, it's made up, a facade. They don't care. And again, people see this, is why civilian advocates are starting to hear these stories. They're like, that's disgusting. No one should be treated like that. Especially a veteran, one should be going through this. And I say, I agree, welcome to my company, which you collect a position like this is what we're trying to combat. We're trying to make it. We're trying to bring justice and trying to help people. By giving them hope. And by giving them a way to actually get the benefits that they have earned without having to go through the VA trauma. Talk about military trauma. Talk about the VA trauma of going into the doctors and being accused that you're making stuff up. You're a Mullingar, you're this you're that. When we've been born and bred into, on our courage and commitment, we've been born into these leadership traits. And we are always taught Marines, never lie, cheat or steal. When we are taught these things from day one and that's who we are. And we are very prideful of the fact that we are that way, but then to turn around and to slap us in the face and say, oh, this can't be right. You were never shot at. It's disheartening. So that's the biggest thing that I have to say about the VA is not every VA is like that. Some are. And it's a disgrace and it's very upsetting and it's sickening to see people having to go through that. Cause like you said, it's not just the VA there's medical, federal medical institutions that exist that do the same thing with civilians. And I know many people on the civilian side that have gone through that too. So it's just not a good place.

Trevor: 43:01

Wow. That is a lot to take in. Steven. I appreciate you sharing. that is just a lot of process, man. and like that. Wasn't my experience having lived it I mean, wrong in a word. It is bizarre, but that would happen and happened. You know, like you'd, you'd expect to hear that story and have it be a minority, but it sounds like it's nowhere close to a minority of the stories you hear. and also we mentioned family earlier on in this discussion and I would think that the impact of that type of discussion with a physician would lead over in all the wrong ways immediately afterwards and have in addition to a significant impact on the person who went through that trauma, you know, as you labeled it would then bring that trauma home, wherever home is whether, that's your car or whether that's your, know, your parent's house, if you're back with them as you transition out. definitely those, in those proceeding moments, And then potentially just start to compound from there. I caught it in your workshop, but I just want to clarify where you come in, where 360 veteran comes in to that conversation. Is that when you were working with someone, you have your own affiliations with medical professionals to help with those ratings, is that correct?

Steven: 44:31

correct. Yep. So we have network full of doctors around the world, truthfully around the world that are there to to give the veteran a fair and honest They're not the insurance company. They're not going to treat you like a million. They're not going to question your integrity. If you have PTSD and it's from a car wreck, let's say, great. Tell me more about your PTSD. I want to hear more about this. Why did the car wreck feel like, and they're going to treat you like a human they're going to treat you like a good psychiatrist. Psychologist, physician would, regardless of your situation, you could be a perfectly healthy looking 22 year old, but if you're trying to claim all these things and get out, you know, a hundred percent great, the doctor's there to listen. The doctors there to look at your medical evidence. They're not there to make their own um, yeah. Sort of views on stuff. They're there to look at the VA rating. They're there to look at your medical record. They're there to listen to your story. And then put them together. And then when you are coming out of that process, the doctor will give you all the paperwork you need to submit to the VA with instructions. You submit it to the VA, and then they make the decision. And thankfully, because of those third party objective doctors that we have in place, our process has been able to help so many veterans get their benefits, increased to what it actually should be. Uh, because the VA, is an insurance company at its heart. And so they will find a way to say, I looks like your back service connected, but we're just going to use 0% or 10% because it doesn't look that bad. And it's like, interesting. Well, come over to us, sit down with our doctors. They're going to pull up the exact verbiage. They're going to rate you. They're going to say, okay, what's your range of motion. Great. What's going on with this? Great. Okay. Okay. Well, I just went through the VA's document that said, here are the questions. I just went through that. And that's really interesting because they said your 10%, this one says you're 40% or where don't we that, you know, riddle me how they can go through the VA evaluation process, come out 10%. And then all of a sudden, they come over to us and they do our evaluation process with a fair objective doctor that simply looks at the facts and the truth. now they're at a higher rating. And then the veteran seems happy with the care that they got with our doctor versus the VA evaluator, where they went in and they said, all right, touch your toes. Okay. Cool. Anything else? All right. Get out of here. And that's how they treat the evaluation. Whereas the doctors that we have, they're not doing that. They're, they're giving you that fair and honest third-party evaluation that you deserve that you should have, and that's why our results speak for themselves.

Trevor: 48:00

Do you think, or from your perspective, is it a, is it an individual, is it the doctor or the person walking in the room or is it the system where you said there's people waiting for care that aren't getting care in? That kind of ties together with what were, what you were saying about the person who just comes in and brushes everything off through that evaluation? Is that more of a result of a system and training error or the system not having enough resources because I could see it being either one.

Steven: 48:34

It's a priority thing.

Trevor: 48:36

Okay,

Steven: 48:37

with everything in life. It comes down to what, what do you prioritize? Where are you putting all of your energy, scoops of energy,

Trevor: 48:48

sure.

Steven: 48:49

of energy.

Trevor: 48:50

Yeah.

Steven: 48:50

are you putting that stuff? are you putting it in maximizing? And maximizing efficiency. Are you trying to actually set out to accomplish your vision, your mission, your, actual statements that you put out to the public that say we put veterans first, try to take care of you. We give you the common decency and the dignity of doing this. And if that's where your mission statement is then great. Put the resources there because we both know the VA gets and billions and trillions of dollars. They have plenty of funding. And then you got little on me with 360 veteran. I don't have funding. I don't have all these outside donors. I would love them. That'd be great, but we don't have like that. It's me, my wife, nothing. It's us, but yet we're able to manage, we're able to prioritize on, oh, why? Because my income statement last week, or last year, well, this past year, how was doing it last week?

Trevor: 49:58

Okay.

Steven: 49:59

statement not looking too good.

Trevor: 50:03

Sure.

Steven: 50:03

well, is business suffering? Not at all, but my priorities are different. My priorities is I would rather spend every penny that I make, helping veterans reinvesting into that, making the process even better for them it more efficient, more fluid of taking money and paying myself for that, I would rather suffer because that's not my vision statement is not to help veterans transition with dignity, purpose, and ease, to maximize my profit. That's not my vision state. It could be my efficient statement. I'm I'm the founder, I'm the

Trevor: 50:41

Sure. Okay.

Steven: 50:42

but That's not my vision statement. That's not the mission. The mission is to help veterans.

Trevor: 50:47

Yeah.

Steven: 50:47

I'm taking that money I'm parking it and getting fat and happy from it, how am I living out my vision? How am I doing? How am I doing what I set out to do initially? not, I think that's, unfortunately what's happened to the VA and their system is, yeah, they have a lot. Yeah. They have a big caseload, but they also have tons of money to make that happen. Don't tell me you don't have the money to not make that happen because you do. There are companies half the size of the VA

Trevor: 51:20

sure.

Steven: 51:21

private companies, half the size of the VA that are ran way more efficient. One. Oh, why? Because they prioritize things a little bit differently. So at the end of the day, it's just priorities and results speak for themselves. If every veteran is upset with VA service, your priorities are not to help veterans your priorities to grow the VA and profitable.

Trevor: 51:47

it's really, I just shot off into like an old workshop. I took, like, that's why I had that little spark as I, as you were talking, my mind went back to when I was at a leadership development firm. And one of the things we talked about was, was profit, of course, because that's a part of the equation when you're talking about business except for, with government. So I'll, I'll save you the lecture on, on that whole conversation, but it was a profound one it would show the stages of organizational health. So organizational health relates to profits pretty directly. organizational health, higher profits, low organizational health, low profits. And as you get down the scale, you would see things like where declaring bankruptcy was, were hemorrhaging money, breaking even is. then there was negative numbers. There was past bankruptcy, and then we would ask people, why do you suppose we have that on there? Like what goes past bankruptcy? And some people would get it. Government. Government doesn't have to declare bankruptcy because there's no incentive to sustainable. Like you're just going to have the money printed. So in, in some ways, and I know it's, I got a little twisted up there, but the, the profit piece is actually interesting because for you as a business, you need to maintain your bills pay for the the things that you have invested. The government doesn't have that. They don't do a good job, which as you said, isn't everybody. But if that were the case, they sucked and didn't do a good job, there is really no bottom for many government agencies. Like Amazon, they say, they're going to have your stuff here in two days. And they show up a day early, look at their profits. If it follows your mission, it follows your vision. If you carry out what you were seeking to carry out, then there's a good chance success on a variety of metrics can follow that. while it is your vision and mission, to provide a great service to people to help you. that also, as you, as you know, otherwise, I'm sure you wouldn't be doing it follows with success for 360 veteran follows with success for you. so having those core values and having some vision established is really, really critical an individual organization. And I, that in everything you're saying and doing, you know, we should outsource the VA. I, I want, I wanna bounce off that a little bit too into coaching and consultants. Cause there's a lot of people who claim to do work that helps people in a variety of settings. And, and you mentioned in your webinar, there are a variety of really popular ones that are in the same space as you. And without anybody else too badly, what qualifying questions or, or advice to help someone qualify a coach or consultant a veteran? So say I'm a month. My guess is you're your target? And the target of somebody who's in this industry would be somebody who's maybe a month out from being done or X number. Maybe you can help define that too. Is who is fresh person? And then how, how would you advise them to make sure they end up with a good person? Whether it's you or not, isn't the point, but how do you qualify that somebody is actually maybe going to be able to help you.

Steven: 55:13

Wonderful question because there's, there's a couple of different points on this first off for what we do. If you're a veteran within like six months of getting out. So you're able to take advantage of the skill bridge, you're able to submit for your disability and do the benefits delivery at discharge BDD claim. If you're that type of veteran in that situation. Great. We have a program for you. if you are a just got out. Yes. We have a program for you. And if you're a veteran that's been out for 10 plus years, where you have a program for you, if you're so active duty and you still have like 24 months, but you're like, I want to get my ducks in a row, hats off to you. I'm more than happy to help out. but the program's not for you. So you may not be able to maximize everything from it. Um, but that's spot is right around that transition period for us. Now, when veterans are looking for a coach, they're looking for a disability company, they're looking for someone on the disability side. It's very easy to say because. Utilize of VSO utilize a veteran service officer. There's thousands of them out there. There's the DAV VFW am vets. There's local county officials or state officials. There's tons of veterans service officers. They're great for doing your initial claim. I highly recommend them. Wonderful. Go to them. They'll help you out. And there'll be able to sit down and go through your records and everything. But what I will say with them is if you feel like a cog in the wheel, or you go in, you take your medical records, you take them to the person, and then they just immediately open it up and say, great. What are we claiming where you're at? War. Great PTSD. Okay. Next. And they're not taking a lot of time to ask you questions. That's a red flag. You need to go find someone else. That's the disability side while you're claiming, if you're not claiming and you're trying to increase, you're trying to appeal. You're trying to do something else. And you see different companies out there that are similar to us. I would challenge that because we are very unique in the sense that we are not charging you to submit a claim. We're not charging you to reevaluate your medical records. not charging you for that. What we're charging you for is to not go to the VA for your evaluation. It's a pretty big deal. That's the difference. That's the differentiating proposition right there.

Trevor: 58:03

Yeah.

Steven: 58:03

you to our doctors, not the VA doctors. there's a lot of companies out there that say that they're going to coach you on what to say, what to wear, to speak, to answer questions. They're successful. have their business model. That's fine. But in all due fairness, there are VSOC that do the same thing for free.

Trevor: 58:29

Hm.

Steven: 58:29

I liked I'm given this platform, I like to make this point known because a lot of people like to poopoo on us and say, well, you're charging veterans too, for, you know, doing the disability stuff. I'm like, yes, is we have our own doctors. That's what you're paying us for. You're not paying for me to coach you through the process. You're not paying for me to give you tidbits of advice. That's on YouTube. That's all the free stuff I have out there. Right? all the, that's all the value that I love to share and give to people. But at the end of the day, I know that the VA is going to screw you over. I know that the evaluators not going to do their job. And so I'm so confident in the VA's a numbness that I am placing my whole business model around that I know you're going to have to come and see me at the end of the day anyway. So here's all the free advice. But at the end of the day, you're going to need one of our doctors to help you. So I'll see you in six months and without fail, will come back and say, oh yes, you were right. Tell your buddy so they can save six months.

Trevor: 59:40

yeah.

Steven: 59:40

That's the biggest difference. So that's the disability side, the coaching side, consulting side, the, the transition side of things. The biggest thing to look for again, is person ability. The biggest thing to look for is what are they going to actually do for you? If they have a. If they have a program, if they have a

Trevor: 1:00:06

Yeah,

Steven: 1:00:08

if they're going to give you a resume, help you out with your LinkedIn, to do those things. That's great. need help with that, but is it tailored to you? I'm a high fan, like our coaching program. we do, we do have LMS, the learning management system. We do have the online content that breaks everything down that will walk you through step by step on a lot of these things and training modules. We also have weekly one hour training calls where we all get together as a group and I'll present, we'll have guest speakers sometimes, but the idea is continuous improvement, continuous process improvement, development, personal improvement, all that good stuff, but we're constantly training as a group, bringing life lessons into it, and then sure. But we also do a one-on-one coaching session every single week for an hour. And that coaching session is designed to help you whatever goals you're trying to go through. Because if I try to fit everyone into the peg of get a corporate job, I could create one hell of a program for that. Absolutely. But it's not tailorable, it's not something that, oh, well, I don't really want to go into corporate America. I want to start my own business. Well, I, I don't really deal with that. So you're going to have to go find someone else. That's not a good answer. Right? I tailor everything to you and to where you're at. So people are like, well, what are the results that I'm going to get? And then my response to that is, I don't know, what are the goals you have? And those are the results you're getting, right? Because it's very different. If I gave everyone up, I can give everyone a baseline. This is the stuff that's included. But in terms of results, I can't promise your results on any specific thing other than achieving your goals. So tell me your goals and over the next six months, we're going to work to achieve them. by the end of that, you will have a process, a proven methodology how to approach any life problem that you encounter from that day forward and go through the same steps that we just went through to achieve whatever goals you're trying to get to in life. So that's the biggest thing that I look for is if you're trying to sell me an online course, if you're trying to sell me your program and it's very linear and it's probably not

Trevor: 1:02:44

yeah.

Steven: 1:02:45

but if you're finding a coach, that's going to sit down with you, you access to their, their phone, text them, call them, you know, make it very personable and make it something that's valuable for that person. That's meaningful. That's very valuable. So that's what I would say to that one.

Trevor: 1:03:05

Nice. Thank you for that. And I also just want to clarify another thing that I recommend, which is ask somebody what qualifies them to be coaching. because there is a lot of variety out there in terms of what puts somebody in a position to coach. And it's not to say that experienced excludes people because I don't believe it does in that case. The question is what is your experience? And in your case, it's the experience and the, I mean, truly the education, like I have it pulled up now just for reference, but like your education is nuts. It's just so deep

Steven: 1:03:41

Yeah.

Trevor: 1:03:41

in terms of. Executive leadership and teaching. of course the MBA helps, it's surface level. It's what you learned through those programs in terms of how to get messages across to people that I think helps qualify you in qualifies. A coach in general, to be effective with someone is it's not all the books you've read. It's all the knowledge you've acquired on how to present and motivate and inspire. then go beyond that with a plan, because there's enough positive thinking coaches in the world right now. It's like, what are we going to do with that positive mindset that we just got you and someone with your background is wildly qualified to do that. So I would strongly advise, in addition to the personability is what, what gives you confidence that you're going to be able to help you. What is your background in? And for someone like Stephen Crane, soon to be EDD, there's a lot to go with it. So I don't want to compliment you on that with pairing that service, because anybody can get an education. Anybody can get an MBA, anybody can be a coach, but then when you throw all those things together, like you potentially have a powerhouse of help, which is sweet. I think that's a really important one so people don't end up with the wrong coaches and the wrong consulting and, and waste time and waste money. Because as you said, it's, it's a six month plus process to go through that rating. So by choosing the wrong, this is from right from your workshop by choosing the wrong VSO the wrong coach or consultant to help you through that rating process, you are really pushing back progress or your potential benefits significantly, because let's say it's a$10 difference.$10 over the course of a month is 60 bucks. That's a tank of gas right now. And that's probably a really, really low estimate on what you're losing out on having a rating that's 10 or 20% too low. Do the qualification part, do the qualification part before you invest in for that type of thing, because the money, the time, the strain, and as you'll see, I want to plug it actually right now. So I don't forget again, and we'll plug it in the show notes to the, you have a workshop coming up, get ahold of Steven and look at his LinkedIn. Look at his website, look at his, workshops to see what he offers, because as he said, most of his insights and tidbits are free. F R E E causes$0. The part of the cost money is having access to the deeper coaching and the deeper doctors to make sure that you are getting, not just coaching on how to manipulate the VA system, but you are getting a doctor who pays attention to you and gives you a fair assessment based on your words, not their preconceived notions. Ah, man, you got me all fired up for it now. you have a webinar on the 29th, right?

Steven: 1:06:42

Yes, absolutely. 29th, 8:00 PM. Eastern time, just accordingly to where you're located. But 8:00 PM Eastern time on the 29th, we'll be doing a live Q and a session where you can bring any questions that you have about your disability or anything like that, and bring them to the session. And even if you're the only one asking questions, I guarantee you all the people listening have similar questions. They're just too scared to ask them. So you're helping a lot of people just by asking those questions. And you never know what someone else may ask, so it will come out. Join, even if you're just a fly on the wall, you may pick up something that may peak your interest to dive in a little bit deeper.

Trevor: 1:07:28

Yeah. Yeah. I completely agree in spouses. And if you know somebody, I think I, again, I sat through a webinar and it was valuable for me just having in my orbit who are veterans. And I immediately sent them a link I was like, you gotta watch this. Um, and I think it would be really valuable. And I know that the questions and the topics you brought up today weigh so heavily on much as anybody on the spouses, especially if there's kids involved. And I know it takes a whole community of support probably to make each individual successful in that transition process. So I'm sure that a spouse could probably bring some really good questions too. Especially the ones I know that I worked with. They'll bring the heat, they want all the information, man. So I'll, I'll make sure, I'll make sure, to link that in the show notes. because I, I want people to go to that with the Q and a, I sat through a part of the Q and a, and you just kept going. Like, if there's one thing to know about Steven, in addition to what we've talked about, there's a lot to know, but you, you don't give up and you don't stop. You just kept going. It was like 45 minutes after the workshop ended and you were still answering questions. The man doesn't stop.

Steven: 1:08:41

That I try to make that very clear to people is, you know, I'm here to answer your questions after the workshop, as much as you have we'll stay on. So our webinars typically have, you know, let's say 200, 300 people on them at the end. You'll see, you know, Some of them drop off and then we'll be 15 minutes in the Q and a, some more people drop off, but then we've gone so far as to an hour and 45 minutes of Q and a after the webinar and people were still on, there were still 30 something, people just hanging on, just asking questions, just, know, suck in

Trevor: 1:09:23

Yeah.

Steven: 1:09:23

piece of knowledge they can and listening from other people. again, if you just show up and you're nothing but a fly on the wall, you could very well learn something.

Trevor: 1:09:33

Yeah, absolutely. I just had a vision, your, your, the Garth Brooks of veteran consultants, do you know the Garth Brooks stories from back in the day where he would stay for hours and sign every autograph?

Steven: 1:09:45

I love it. I love it. You know?

Trevor: 1:09:48

I don't know why that pops in my head, a country, kid problems. I want to shift gears a little bit to talking a little more about the past in a weird way. I love to ask this question. it's one of my favorites. If you were going to go back six months, a year, three years, a few years, you're going to go back in the past and talk to your former self. At any point that you think is most critical and whisper something in that person's ear. Here's some advice. Here's something that is so profound. You're not allowed to ask questions, just go do it. would you tell that former version of yourself?

Steven: 1:10:29

it's such a powerful question because there are so many things that you wish you could tell yourself or tell others. But the biggest thing for me. It would depend on the person, right? It would depend on where they're at. Exactly because in 2017, I needed to hear something different than I needed to hear in 2019. It's gonna sound weird, but it's consistent across the board. The thing that we tell people is consistency, consistency breeds so many good things in life. Whether it's a consistent habit to wake up and brush your teeth. Sometimes you just need to be able to do that. Whether it's a consistency and wake up and make yourself a good breakfast, something healthy, not running to the drugstore or whatever, consistency to work out consistency, to study consistency in your business, picking up the phone one more time, you know um, making that one last message. I have some. I know it's detrimental, but it's something that keeps me going LinkedIn. I cannot tell you how many hundreds of messages I go through every single day of LinkedIn, but something that always keeps me above my competition and keeps me above everyone else on LinkedIn is at the end of the day, every single person that's in my inbox will get response from me, plain and simple. I don't care if it takes me a couple hours. If it takes me all night, every single person will get a response from me. And just by doing that consistency, I've grown from 2000 followers to over 20,000. Now

Trevor: 1:12:09

Wow.

Steven: 1:12:10

consistency because so many people, there's a little book. I love it. It's one of my favorite books. It's a little tiny book. It says the common denominator of success. And long story short for that book. It's a very short book, but long story short for that book is the common denominator for success is doing things no one else will do, or no one wants to do. No one wants to stay up all night answering LinkedIn messages. But if you do it, that's one step that someone's not doing. And little things like that little things as just following through with your word, if you say you're going to do something, do it. I promise you that will put you in the 99 percentile of people, because most people don't do that. It's such a simple thing, but most people don't do that. So it's little things like that, that if you're consistent on and they will pay off, they will, it will, it will. It will. I am living proof that it will. I know many people are living proof that it will, you just have to keep doing it over and over and over again. But then I always have to caveat that and say, but be sure to change it up if it's not working right. I don't want you to go into an insanity, you know, manic mode where you're doing this stuff every single day and it's never working. And then you're going to expect a different result one day. But if you're starting to see a little bit of progress doing it, just keep doing that and then it will pay off the difference between what is a flight from San Diego or LA to, to DC. If you change it one degree the flight trajectory, I think you end up in Maine or something like that. That's just one, one degree trajectory.

Trevor: 1:14:02

that's so simple. It's so profound. Yeah.

Steven: 1:14:05

No.

Trevor: 1:14:08

The 1% change, like just, just a little bit. You're a hundred percent right now, rationally lines up. It makes perfect sense. If you adjust just the hair. you would end up in a totally different place, which, you know, to your point, when you start stacking that up years and years, like you just have no idea each, each of those moments is so profound. Gosh, that's stressful

Steven: 1:14:35

it's actually from the book, the compound effect, the compound effect is favorite books as well, because it talks about that. Uh, so if you pick up a copy of that, I'm not endorsed by them by it's, but it's a great little book uh, because it, it gives that illustration of, you know, a one degree change, a 1% difference, a one extra call at night, you know what that actually does to your life, your business, your, your relationship. It takes it so much further than most people will ever realize

Trevor: 1:15:09

that's really, really, really outstanding advice. I'll link the books to I love to reference things in the show notes, all the resources possible. How about forward? What is the future of 360 veteran? I know that you want to, of course continue to grow. What do you see the next few years looking like?

Steven: 1:15:30

absolutely. So my vision the company moving forward is to continue to help veterans worldwide. Of course. We really want to hit a hundred veterans a month if we're able to help a hundred veterans a month, that is phenomenal. We're probably close to half of that. Uh, so we still go, but hitting that in 2022 would be life-changing for myself on an emotional level. Being able to impact that many veterans going through that transition, getting a hundred people a month, a hundred percent P and T or very freaking close to a hundred percent P and T you do the monetary impact. Every veteran that gets a hundred percent P and T is about$3 million. So$3 million worth of benefits for 100 veterans. Do the math on that 300 million. Multiply that by 12 months. That's a huge impact that's the that's what gets me excited is knowing that much money is being to veterans that need it, that have earned it. They don't deserve it. Veterans don't deserve anything. We've earned everything. I make that very clear. Like you don't deserve$3 million. You don't, don't deserve anything. You don't deserve anything, but you've earned it. So don't feel bad about that. You've earned it, but you've earned$3 million of benefits. That's huge. That's huge. What size, what is that going to do for you? You, your family, your children, your grandchildren, what kind of policies are you able? is the financial part of me coming

Trevor: 1:17:28

Yeah.

Steven: 1:17:29

what you could do with the, you know, with just a couple hundred extra bucks a month for your kids. You put them into, um, into a policy. thing grow. You've just given them a retirement without even realizing it, you know, 2000 bucks a day or 2000 bucks year, 2000 bucks a year uh, for a age of like 20 that's millions of dollars in retirement, little things like this that people don't think about either they don't know what they don't know, or they don't want to think about having to sacrifice in the short term for the long term little things like that, though, the compound effect adds up. And so being able to have that big of an impact on the veteran community and provide those benefits is huge because I know that I'm not just changing their life. I'm changing generations to come if they know what to do with it. And that's where the rest of our services come into play. Right. The financial side, the coaching side, that's where everything comes into play to provide you that 360 degrees of care so that when you pass, you have a legacy that will endure for generations to come. And that's exciting like that. That's that's, that's my passion, right there is being able to change your entire family tree because me going into the military, coming out, getting I'm the first generation college, I'm the first generation college graduate first-generation to get a master's first generation to get a doctorate in my entire family. I'm the first person that's doing these things. That's powerful, but that's one person that did that. That was just me making that decision. What the opportunities I was given to take advantage of. Right. And that's what I try to help other veterans do and show them what is lying in front of them and what they can do with that. So I'll get off my soap box, but I'm super passionate about this stuff.

Trevor: 1:19:36

no, I would never knock you off that soapbox. I think course it's excellent. And as I said, it just in the brief exposure, I've had up close and personal with some veterans here locally, which was new for me, it did not grow up in that environment. it's so powerful to see an empowered veteran. and I don't want to throw shade on anybody who's not at that point yet, who's working towards it cause that's not what it's about, but it's, it's just so profound to be around somebody had that type of experience and had that type of training through, you know, for there's good and there's bad. Of course, I'm sure through the training in the service but there's also good and it's unique and it's something not a lot of people have had, and it's not something most people are willing to sacrifice. The, the level of commitment that most veterans will put into things that they commit to is just so far beyond. So anything to help move them forward is, is amazing. And I think it's, you know, staying on your soapbox all day, man, you built a business on it. Like, let's go. How can people, help support and make that that vision a little bit closer to you? and what are all the ways that we as a community, anybody who might listen to this could have an impact on helping you see that come through?

Steven: 1:20:59

share for share this with veterans. Share this podcast, share this with veterans. I can almost guarantee you it's going to resonate with them. One way or another it's going to resonate with them because my experience, like I said, it, is unique, but it's not unique being a homeless vet. That's why it's a stereotypical homeless vet. That's why I say that because it's true. There are many veterans that end up homeless. I'm no one special for that. You know, my story is not that unique and that's sad. That's the thing that I try to tell people is like, that should be the unique story,

Trevor: 1:21:39

Yeah.

Steven: 1:21:40

not. So share this with veterans, get the word out there that they have earned these benefits. not deserved. They didn't D they don't deserve these things. It's not a handout. They've earned it. They signed the contract up to their life. They were willing to give it they've earned it. They did their time. Whether honorably, had some trouble, right. they got out other than honorably, but they did it. They sign the contract. And again, not to throw shade on any civilian. There was a lot of reasons why people don't go in the military, but if you didn't sign that contract, guess what? You don't earn the benefits. If you're not willing to give your life for the country for

Trevor: 1:22:28

Yeah.

Steven: 1:22:30

then you don't get the

Trevor: 1:22:31

Yeah.

Steven: 1:22:32

That's why you have earned it as a veteran. So take advantage of that. And if at the end of all this, if you're still not, if none of this resonates with you as a veteran, do this for your family. Take take care of yourself, get the coaching, get the disability, you get all this stuff for your family, because I know many, many people I talk to, they don't do it for themselves. We're too prideful, so many other things, but we do it for our wife. We do it for our husband. We do it for our kids. We do it for our game grandkids. We do it for them because we want to see them thrive and have the best life they can. And if that means getting over yourself and getting out there and being a little bit vulnerable, you know, and going through the VA process, getting that taken care of getting these benefits, then so be it because at the end of the day, you're going to change the lives of everyone around you. And I think that's what being a leader is all about.

Trevor: 1:23:42

heck yeah. To me just reflect is so impactful as a regular dude. Not a veteran didn't sign that contract, but I get so lost in, how much that you and others have committed. And by signing that contract, that it can. There's just so much emotion that I feel from you when you talk and so much emotion that then I F feel with, with the people who have been through and are going through transitions or going through boot camp even it's just so appreciated. And it, it totally scrambles my brain. like I have have these great thoughts and great questions that I wanted to, why don't you go for. But it just messes with me a little bit. cause I'm, I'm just so

Trevor insert: 1:24:27

bad word

Trevor: 1:24:28

grateful. Like I just, I can't, I can't compile it all at once. I, want to ask you one last question and it's, it's a little bit of a loaded question. And as when it's, it's twofold, first of all, how many veterans have you helped so far and when will it be enough? And when is it enough in terms of validation?

Steven: 1:24:57

it's not for enough. It really isn't because it's not about the, I mean the a hundred, the a hundred a month, that's a goal just because of the sheer impact that that's going to have, but it's really never enough because there are hundreds of thousands of people that are transitioning every year from the military and all these people are going to integrate into society, whether they like it or not, and they're going to have to, and it could either be a smooth integration where you're taken care of financially, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, physically, or you're going to. And I want to make sure that no one has to struggle from that. So hundreds of thousands of veterans a year that transition every single one of them again, I manner, every single one of them needs my help, whether they realize it or not, they need someone to help them with their disability, to get them to a hundred percent. They need someone to coach them and to show them the value of themselves, how to become the best leader to impact and inspire other people around them. They need someone to financially help them get them secured, protect them and their family create a legacy. Everything like everyone needs what we have. And that's, what's so inspiring about waking up every day is knowing there there's so many people that need my help that need our help with the company. And so it's never going to be enough. We just have to keep, keep moving forward and keep growing and helping more people,

Trevor: 1:26:43

you said it's at about 10 a month now, is that what you said?

Steven: 1:26:46

About 20, 25

Trevor: 1:26:48

25 a month? How many total have you gotten through the process so far?

Steven: 1:26:53

hundreds. But I don't, I truly don't keep a tally. Maybe I should, but it's hundreds that we've helped.

Trevor: 1:27:00

Hundreds, hundreds. That's awesome. I mean, like you, you're hoping to get to a hundred a month and I'm going to shake your shoulders a little bit. I did to my buddy for just a second and say like, that is huge man. Like that is huge. you have, in addition to kick the backside of your own circumstances, you've now been able to support hundreds people I imagine some you've pulled out of those circumstances and others you've helped avoid those circumstances. And that is awesome. There's only so many words in the dictionary that I know at least that could possibly throw the right amount of credibility on that accomplishment. But that is awesome. And as just a regular dude, I think you, and I think veterans who are listening this to this, really to take this to heart: yes, there is always more to get. There is always more to do. It is never going to be enough. So don't kid yourself validate yourself for where you are now. Like don't carry around the burden of, I need to get every certificate in the world and have every credential in the world before the civilian world is going to take me for who I was when I was in the military, because when I was in the military,

Trevor insert: 1:28:26

bad Word

Trevor: 1:28:26

darn, sorry I was somebody. and now that I'm out here, nobody sees it. And, and I don't, I don't know that we have to understand and see it for you to be whole. and I, I just want to give that to you, Steven, but to any veteran who is listening, that that you are whole, you are legit, you are worthwhile, you are valid. so as much as you can find somebody like a Steven can be supportive in a strategic way, because you are worth, you are worth the time. you don't need to chase down the next thing. Like I crown you valid. It is so amazing what you're doing, man.

Steven: 1:29:06

I appreciate it very, very much.

Trevor: 1:29:08

I cannot thank you enough for your time. I cannot thank you enough for your service to the country when you signed the contract and then continued it afterwards, because it seems in every respect that the service that you provide while you were under contract for the government not stop there. And it's, it's pretty incredible. It's pretty awesome. And as somebody who cares about veterans, thank you for what you do, man. I appreciate your time. Appreciate what you're doing.

Steven: 1:29:39

Absolutely. Thank you. I appreciate you. And all that you do as well.