Wake for Warriors: Healing Veterans Through Water and Brotherhood

In this special episode of The RTO Show, Pete Shau welcomes Ray Muncy of Buddies Home Furnishings and Dave Deep, founder of Wake for Warriors. Together, they explore how a shared love of water and community turned into a nationwide movement supporting veterans through adaptive water sports. Hear inspiring stories, learn about Wake for Warriors' life-changing events, and find out how business leaders and volunteers can get involved.

Chapters

• 0:00 Opening And Guest Introductions
• 2:50 Ray’s RTO Journey And Community Roots
• 5:10 Dave’s Service Background And Wake For Warriors Origin
• 9:40 The Healing Power Of Water And First Adaptive Attempts
• 14:00 How A Lake Community Mobilized Around Veterans
• 18:35 Volunteers, Hospitality, And Building Belonging
• 22:10 Media Spotlight And Why Go Public
• 25:40 Inside A Wake For Warriors Weekend
• 30:00 Adapting For Amputations, Paralysis, And PTSD
• 34:20 Transformation Stories And Measured Impact
• 39:10 Partnerships With Semper Fi, Nautique, Hyperlite
• 43:10 A Business Owner’s Playbook For Giving Back
• 47:10 Balancing Airline Schedules With 50+ Events
• 50:20 Local Pride: Lake Harding And Auburn Ties
• 53:00 Lightning Round: CTAs For Veterans And Volunteers
• 57:30 Legacy, How To Get Involved, And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_04: 0:07

Hello and welcome to the RTO show. I'm your host, Pete Chow. Listen, you guys know that we do everything rent-to-owned here. And today I have a couple of special guests. Listen, I was scrolling through social media the other day, and when I saw Ray Muncie's face of Buddy's Home Furnishings, I'm like, I know that guy. Well, you know what? Fox News also picked up this story because he does Wake for Warriors in regards to what he does with his community. And you know what? I got another guest for you today who actually runs the Wake for Warriors, amazing veteran that we have on, Mr. Dave Deep. Listen, wait till you guys find out what he does for a living. He, he, he, he's like a real G.I. Joe that we have on here. I'm just kind of kidding him. I need to get his uh I need to get his autograph before he runs for president. But guys, I really appreciate you being on here. Ray, it's good to see you again. Dave, it's awesome to have you on the show. Uh, I want to tell you guys, I really, really, really appreciate everything that you guys do, especially being able to do this story today because it means a lot. We care about the veterans on this show. We care about all the things that they've done for us, and we always want to give back. And when I saw Ray on there and I heard the story of Wake for Warriors, I had to reach out. I couldn't hold out. Um, but it was great to see that, you know, locally and nationally, there's some recognition on this. You know, Fox News is not a small station, so we're glad that uh they can follow us up on this. But I can tell you right now, amazing, amazing story. Uh, I want to tell you first off, Ray. Dave, thanks for being here. Ray, you are the man. I love the buddies hat. I love the Wakeful Warrior shirt.

SPEAKER_00: 1:32

How are you doing today? Man, I'm doing great, Pete. Thank you so much for for inviting me to come on and and and be able to bring one of my one of my best friends, uh Dave, with me and uh and kind of talking to you guys about what we're what we got going on or what he's got going on that I'm trying to help with. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04: 1:49

Dave, nice to have you on the show. How do you know this guy over here? How do you know him? How do you know Ray? Listen, Ray does a great job in the RTO industry, but I have never seen him wakeboarding. How does he do?

SPEAKER_01: 2:01

Well, Ray, I met Ray at an event about 10 years ago, and we've been friends ever since. Mainly because, as you know, he's a great person on and off the water. And uh we're gonna we're gonna get him out there and get him surfing this year.

SPEAKER_04: 2:16

That's uh that's my commitment. Well, listen, I want to tell you guys, you have to see some of these veterans in action because if you think you can't do it and you see some of these guys doing it, you'll have no excuse. But right now, let's go to a little bit of background. First off, Ray, you've been doing this, you've been reaching out to community, you've been doing rent to own for a long time. Now you've got four stores, you're doing a great job. Uh, you're still doing Buddy's home furnishings through Tri Bud Co LLC. Is that right?

SPEAKER_00: 2:41

Right, right. We've got four stores in uh central Georgia.

SPEAKER_04: 2:45

So right now, and that's exactly where I saw the Fox News thing come from out of out of Georgia. And so 87, man, you've been doing this for a long time. How did you not end up on the Legends series that we're running right now?

SPEAKER_00: 2:58

Um, you know, some of us can keep a lower profile than others. And and and I try my best to do that, as is, I mean, this is not my comfort zone to be in the in the front uh for Wake for Warriors and stuff. I'm I'm the guy that that's behind the scenes. I'm the one that's picking up the trash while everybody else is uh doing their their their thing. So um I don't know. I mean, I I've been blessed. I've only been with a couple of different companies. Um I started out with a with a small rent-owned company, um uh Rentis Center that was a franchise there in Georgia. They sold back to corporate, went to work for network rental for a couple years, looked at opening up an uh uh uh Aaron's franchise. They were starting their franchising back then. Someone had already had the territory down in Columbus. So worked with that guy for about five years, went to work for corporate for another 20 years with Aaron's, um, thought I was getting out. I thought I was out, I was out for about two years and uh and doing some things. And then I get a call from Todd Evans, and uh he says, I got I got some guys I want you to talk to. So I've got two partners that are just super guys. We've been now four years uh doing these stores with four stores open and uh got about six or eight more that we'll we'll end up doing.

SPEAKER_04: 4:09

Well, Ray, when it's in your blood, it doesn't ever go anywhere. I'm just telling you right now to pull you back in. And then I have Dave Deep, uh a retired military uh Marine Corps, right? So as we're going through this and we're agree rooming it, guys, I find out this guy's done 250 missions flown over Iraq in an AH1W Super Cobra with two turbines. We figured that one out, and this is his car of choice. This is a helicopter, actually. And uh, you know, amaz some of the amazing things that you've been able to do. Dave, how are you doing? What brings you here today? I mean, you you you're just killing it over there. Wakeful Warriors, what's going on?

SPEAKER_01: 4:48

Thanks, Pete. Uh, first of all, thanks for having us. We always love to tell our story about Wakeful Warriors, and um, anytime we can get a chance to let people know about what we're doing, we're happy to do it. But yeah. Um been doing it for this is year 14. Started, I was uh come back from Afghanistan, and one of my ways of relaxing and kind of uh just being uh away from it all was getting on the water. And that's you know, eventually I was like, man, I gotta share this with some other people, and that's that's how Wakeful Warriors got started.

SPEAKER_04: 5:23

Well, from a gut feeling to where you are now, I think you had some really good intuition because uh I checked out some of the some of the online contact that I've been on YouTube. Listen, I even looked up uh you know Mac and Rachel, who does great volunteer work for you guys for doing it for years. I wanted to make sure that I gave them a shout-out. Thank you guys for what you do. Also, you know, uh we're gonna be showing uh Tyler Densford on a picture of here. But I, you know, he probably is one of the people, and I'm not saying the only one, but he's one of the people I've seen what he does, and absolutely amazing. Guys, if you've never seen a vet really enjoying himself, and he's he's got some abilities that you would never know he doesn't have, and he is riding awake like nobody's business. It was absolutely beautiful. Um, so tell us a little bit during your 2003-2005 deployment, one of your missions was uh escorting better back helicopters, and you know, you have this ability to to visit the warriors that are wounded in the hospital. Uh, how did that, you know, how what did that leave on you that you felt like you said, you know, 14 years ago, I need to give back? How is how how did you see them and say, you know what, you're you're not maybe as complete as you were physically, but but you're damn sure 100% a warrior uh and a veteran for what we do. How can you explain that a little bit?

SPEAKER_01: 6:37

Yeah, like said uh, we did some Medec escort and the the hospital was you know on the same base. So after we we escorted him, occasionally we'd go and and say hey to him, just kind of cheer him up. Consistently, it was the attitude, the positive attitude that these young warriors were displaying that kind of motivated motivated me. It was like, yeah, these guys aren't gonna quit, they're not gonna stop and feel sorry for themselves, they're gonna want to challenge themselves. And you know, I'd been in and doing water sports for a long time, and I was like, you know, this is a perfect fit. I knew how healing it was for me personally, sharing that with other folks. And I I honestly I didn't know how I was gonna do it. And the first person that I had met to challenge that it was a challenge because he was a double amputee, and he uh I met him at a Marine Corps birthday celebration, and I was like, hey, I got this idea, and he was game to to do it. And neither one of us really knew what we were doing, but we he came to my house, we figured it out over the course of a weekend, and and he's still with us on the board, and he's uh a guiding principal, you know, he's he's a person that guides us on making sure that we do things right, how how we treat veterans. He's also a pretty pretty darn good wake porter.

SPEAKER_00: 7:57

He he definitely has become, I mean, when you talk about a double amputee, Pete, that now can do the tricks and come and compete, it's amazing again what our veterans come back in and with that that fire to live and do something, it's it's amazing what they can do. And and Tony does a Tony does it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 8:17

So, you know, my question is there was a comment that you said that it changed you forever. You know that they have that fight, but you change, you know that there's a need out there. What what led you to the water? I mean, the healing factor of water is something that we would always say, you know, mystically, but this is a real life. Wakeful Warriors is on the water and it and it rejuvenates, regenerates, and gets them, you know, out of out of where they've been to where they are now. Where did that come from?

SPEAKER_01: 8:45

Well, I had done it before previously. Uh, when I was a flight instructor uh back in the mid-90s uh in near Penskola, there's plenty of water out there. And wakeboarding was new, and I I went out and rented a boat from the local MWR, and um I was like, oh, I'm gonna check this thing out. And it was it was a it was a wakeboard with like these little toaster apps, and I didn't know what I was doing, but went out there and figured out I fell in love with it. And I just I just remember having just so many good days on the water, uh just hanging out with your friends and family. And then um as I actually as I exited, I left active duty and you know, I was uh pursuing an airline career and the first thing they had to go was was the boat because uh it took a pretty significant take uh leaving uh active duty. So the boat left, and then pretty much as soon as I got back from Afghanistan, priority one was to was to get a boat because I knew that was gonna like center me a little bit and help me kind of roll back into uh civilian life.

SPEAKER_04: 9:51

Yeah, well, I mean, I you know with 2012, you're on Lake Harding, is what I what I remember. And then Tony Mullins, and you know, you couldn't have said it any better way. I mean, just somebody who's really pushing. But as you're going through this, you know Tony now, you know what his resilience is, you know what he can do. But what was it like the very first time that you're doing this? Is the first time that we're going through it? This is the first time that you have somebody in his condition the way he is. How was it like going through those first steps and saying, you know what, we're gonna make this work one way or another, and we're gonna figure out as we go along? What what led to that? What did Tony have that made you say, you know what, I'm gonna put this guy on this board and we're gonna have some darn fun.

SPEAKER_01: 10:31

Yeah. Well, the the well, this his story is, you know, so we we're in like our dress uniforms, and this random dude, me, walks up to him, he's like, Hey, do you want to come to my house and wakeboard and learn how to wake board? You know, he's like, huh, I don't know what this guy's doing. But to his trend, he said yes. And you know, I've never been around like a bunch of people in wheelchairs or amputees and all that. And so I was a little you know anxious about that. He shows up and you know, I just know this guy, I barely know this guy as a as an amputee. We've talked on the phone a few times, but through the course of the weekend, those disabilities he disappeared. And then he became my friend, my friend Tony. And that was the biggest learning experience that he could have taught me. Learning how to ride the whiteboard is uh inconsequential because it was the relationship that we established that was the important thing, and that's carried through every event. That the most important part is building relationships with the veterans that can. I mean, they're gonna they're gonna ride, they're gonna have a good time. It's just you know, it's uh it's a platform to get to get people out to relax. And water's a great, you know, uh provider of that. There's actually scientific evidence. There's a book called Blue Mind. If you really want to nerd out and read that, it they uh they hook you know your brain waves and they actually can calculate how much better you feel when you're in, on, or around the water. So uh I didn't need that. I knew it.

SPEAKER_04: 12:12

Oh well, noah, you made a great choice. You made a great choice. Uh so honestly, right, how did you how did Wake for Warriors come across your radar? And and what was your initial reaction to what was going on there?

SPEAKER_00: 12:26

Well, um, I uh I live on Lake Harding uh and have and live in a condo there on the lake. And uh as Dave said, he he met someone that lives on our lake, said, Hey, you need to bring this this this deal to our lake. I mean, we just we need to do it. So uh he's talking with Jay, and then Jay knows Bill, and Bill knows me, and and so all of a sudden they they're like, if we're gonna do this, we need a place to do it. And our condo has this very nice point out on the lake. And so they called me, and I was the president of the uh homeowners association at the time, and said, Hey, we'd like to meet this, like you to meet this guy and see maybe we can bring this to our our lake. Again, a lake community is a is a family. No matter, I mean, when you pull up on a boat, any any boat you got, whether it's a really expensive one or not, it doesn't matter. You're everybody's in a bathing suit, it doesn't matter. You're just family. You can't sometimes tell if this is a millionaire doctor driving an old pontoon or somebody that can't make the next boat payment. But anyway, so um so we got a phone call, we kind of got together with Dave, and we had a a core group of some folks that that live there on the lake, a couple three of us, and we met with him, and um I got involved not just because I'm an American and it's my duty to give back to those that gave for me. Um I lived and been born and raised in Columbus, Georgia, we're the home of Fort Benning. We've always been a military town and always will be. But when you meet Dave and understand his passion, he has a saying, and we have the saying that's on our website too, that we we can't fix what's broken, but we can help them heal. We can power them by doing things for them. And that and all it is is setting up this this thing that we do and allowing them to come in and as as Dave was saying there, the connection that they get to make with someone else that's it's somewhat in their same boat. They might not have the exact same uh amputee or or the mental or the physical or the blindness or whatever it is, but they know combat, they know what they went through, and they know what they're going through now. So when we put four, five, or six of those guys and gals together in a boat and let them start connecting along with what Dave's talking about, this healing of the water, it is really amazing what you start seeing.

unknown: 14:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 14:41

So meeting with Dave the first time, and we were I can remember too, it was like, well, what do you what do you want us to do? How do you run one of these things? What do we do? He said, Well, normally what I do is I get everybody there and I call and I I find out what they're gonna want for subway, and then I call, make the order so that when we get back, I can go run and get the subway, and then I say, okay, what kind of pizza y'all want? And then I I order the pizza to be picked up and I go pick it up when we get back the next time. And he said, So that's normally what I do. So if we can do that, uh be great, but I just like to do it instead of two or three people, I want to do it for like 20, 25, 30 people. And we're like, okay, fine. What what you know, just what else you want? He's like, Well, that's it. And um, and from that we kind of started building um what's kind of now been the model of what happens in some 50 odd events. Some events is one boat and four or five guys and gals. Uh, some of them are five or six boats. We have 25 plus. And we were, we were just, again, we fell in love with Dave. We fell in love with the mission, and just we're like, okay, what do we do? And uh here it is 10 years later, and we hope that it's uh it's way more than 10 more.

SPEAKER_04: 15:49

Well, that's why we're here. We want to give notice to you guys, anybody who's watching this, we support it and we hope you do too. But I I can't I can't help but think about this, Ray. It sounds like a uh Zach Brown band uh song, you know, pull up where everybody's up in the, you know, everybody's got a boat and they're all just out there having a good old time in Georgia.

SPEAKER_00: 16:05

It's it is, it's so cool because when we put them in the boat, although there's a difference between the Navy and the Army and the Marines and the this and the that, you get in the boat, you get on the water, you got on your bathing suit. It doesn't matter. I mean, it is one big I want to I want to find out.

SPEAKER_04: 16:22

Dave, are the Navy guys better at it than some of the other guys? Just tell me the truth. And the Navy guys a little bit better at it, or are they you know, are they just fish out of water? What's going on? Actually, no, they're not. They are definitely slower. He's saying that because he's a marine. Anthony, he's saying that because he's a marine.

SPEAKER_00: 16:40

That's what it is.

SPEAKER_04: 16:41

He's biased.

SPEAKER_00: 16:42

He's biased. David, you say we have to tell him two or three more times.

SPEAKER_01: 16:48

But see, if I can say something though, is what has happened over those the course of those 10 years was um uh a few of us that were coaching and driving were also doing what we call now as the land piece of it, like the the feeding and and and all that. And it was exhausting. And to have folks like Ray, and you mentioned Mac and Rachel, especially people that they're not just there to throw some food out there and serve it to you or whatever, they are invested in like loving on these people. And when you have people like you know, Mac, Rachel, Ray come in there and engage with you, it is something that it's it's magical. Because these people are coming from all over the country. And the first thing they do is that they're walking in there to this completely, you know, place that they've never been to, and these people surround them with just you just know that you're welcome, you're lucky. And you can't you can't buy that. You just have to find people that are awesome like that. And I've been blessed to find these folks and feel so fortunate about that.

SPEAKER_04: 17:53

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SPEAKER_00: 19:44

So the probably the number one reason, Pete, is the three of us would not be sitting here doing what we're doing right now if it wasn't for Dave Deep and the hundreds of thousands of men and women that have done whatever. Whatever it was, if whether they were flying helicopters or whether they were fixing the tires on the trucks, it didn't matter. They did something so that we could us three could sit here right now and do what we're doing and talk about it. So it is it is a cumbit of every single American to do what they can do. Whether it's donate, and yes, we're a 501c organization and we'll take donations. Uh get that plug in real quick. Um matter of fact, we'll need we need donations, but but more so, it's again, um, I want to do whatever that little bit is. And again, my part is so little. Uh it takes a it takes a lot of folks to put on the things that we do. Um, you talk about Mac and Rachel. Uh Rachel's got 25 to 30 uh uh groups of ladies and men and and families that help just do the breakfastes. And I'm talking scrambled eggs and grits and sausage and biscuits, and we're not talking about Pop Tarts here. Um and then the the I mean, but but to go back to your question, um, when I met Dave and found that this part, I got to put the water in with it, I got to put the boating in with it, and it just it just felt so right. And after that first event that we did, we just I knew that we would have to continue to do whatever it would take. And if it takes me getting on TV and me getting on podcasts and me getting on these other things to help maybe our industry more so understand what what what's available out there to help, and that we are obligated to help. Somebody somehow. Absolutely. Um, and what what better organization than our veterans?

SPEAKER_04: 21:38

Well, I can tell you guys right now, take a page out of Ray's book. If you have an RTO store in your community and you're not doing something like this, you should be. Now, I'm not saying that they're not, but a lot of times there are some people that are wondering, what can I do? And this is this is something that you can be doing. It's very important for the people that we do it for. And it it gives that recognition, hey, you didn't do this for nothing. We care about you, we care about your home, your well-being. We want the community to understand what we're doing. Do you reach out to, do you know, being a business owner yourself in the rent-to-one industry, I know that we're pretty close knit. Do you reach out to any of the other owners in the industry or out beyond the industry, you know, owners in the area and say, hey, guys, you should probably be doing this as well?

SPEAKER_00: 22:18

You know, so I have some, and what I've realized is that I haven't probably done it as much as I really should. And that's kind of the reason for a little bit more of the push towards the end of last year going into 2026. Um, I I do need to make sure and I need to speak volumes of what Wake for Warriors does um and what I see happens. I mean, we have had testimony after testimony of of how people do get that healing effect from the water and and what what Dave and our whole group is trying to do. So I will be doing it more. You will be hearing more about it. You will be seeing um I am so, so honored and blessed, and Dave just found this out too. Buddies Home Furnitions has started a new initiative for next year, and where, and everybody knows you got your you got your shirt, you always you want to find out what kind of patch you got on the side and and all that stuff. Well, what Buddies is doing with uh Vox and uh and the red initiative, remember everyone deployed, Buddies Home Furnitions 65th anniversary will have Wake for Warriors on their shirt and have a red shirt where$5 of each shirt purchased will go to Wake for Warriors. Um so we are really looking. I really appreciate uh the Buddies management team and and everyone for coming up and doing that. Um and that shows them them one to step up to. Um and it goes back to I've been there four years, it just goes back to I kind of started talking about it, and I think we all need to talk about it. Um I have we have had some conversations, but they'll they'll be seeing a lot more of it. And uh this organization's got to continue to go. Um we need to continue to get good sponsorships, good volunteers, but more so we need to figure out how we can touch as many veterans. If they want to come, we got to figure out how to how to get them there.

SPEAKER_04: 24:06

Well, we need we need the people like you, Ray, to talk about it. We do appreciate that. Dave, I'm gonna tell you right now, I'm gonna I'm gonna send you a pledge. Ray, we'll we'll get on after this, and I'm gonna I will I pledge that the RTO show is gonna help out this cause because I believe in it and I believe in everything that you're doing. So I just want you to know we're gonna be a part of that too. Dave, can you can you walk me through a Wake for Warriors weekend? If I'm a if I'm a veteran and I'm coming to see you, okay? I've heard this show, he's on Fox News, he's on the best podcast ever, the RTO show podcast, right? And I hear about this and I want to go. Like, what can I expect when I get there? You know, how to walk me through a weekend with these guys.

SPEAKER_01: 24:43

Yeah, well, uh first of all, we we talked to them because we wanna we want them to be comfortable as soon as they show up. Because you could again, like when I you know walked up to Tommy, it's like, hey, do you want to come to my house for for three or four days? Just think in their back of their mind, I'm like, what if I show up on day one and I don't like it? I've I have to deal with this for another three days. And so we want to make them as relaxed and comfortable as possible. So we we uh we either do like a Zoom call or something and talk to them so they kind of know they'll be typically they'll show up on a Thursday, Thursday evening, they'll travel from across the country, um and they'll be picked up at the airport or some of them drive, and we meet for dinner at uh one spot. Uh in this case on Lake Harding, it's it's my house. And uh everybody's served dinner, and then we kind of go over what we're gonna do for the rest of the weekend, which is in a nutshell sleep, wake up, eat, get on the water, till lunch, eat, go back out of the water until dinner time, and then eat again. They will not be hungry when they leave.

SPEAKER_04: 25:56

You know, you have a very humble personality, Dave. I I couldn't imagine somebody going, I don't want to spend my weekend with this guy. You know, I I couldn't see that. Do you guys seem very you know what? I I so I'm curious because there's there is a lot going on, right? There not one, you know, not one person has the same needs as another. So you serve veterans with amputations, paralysis, PTSD, TBI, and other service-related injuries. How do you create an environment where everyone can participate the way they do?

SPEAKER_01: 26:25

Again, we find awesome people that find out what we've done, and then they uh, for instance, we have a person who um his his real job like an aircraft, uh, he works for an aircraft company doing like engines and stuff, but on the side he makes drills for boats. Like he's oh wow, uh you know, grills that you can cut. Well, I met him and I was like, we have this uh problem with the uh the seats that boats that are in wheelchairs ride on the on the boards. It's it's very specific and very custom. And he's like, Oh yeah, I can I can do that. And he has created something that is absolutely the best in the world. Uh and he's done it mostly on his own dime.

SPEAKER_02: 27:11

Wow.

SPEAKER_01: 27:11

And um, so we we have some special equipment that we that we have uh been able to acquire for those kind of things. Most for uh amputees, yeah, we there's really not a whole lot of adaptation. We just uh have a few tricks that we've learned over the course of the years to make it a little bit easier. Some straps here and some bungee core there, and uh some core to make sure that if it does fall off, it doesn't go to the bottom. Not that that's ever happened before. Okay, listen, if you fall in, it's okay. We got you covered. Yeah. So yeah, we we you know, in average, like every person is different. And um we just we just let them they know their bodies better than anyone, so we let them figure it out. We just kind of provide them the opportunity.

SPEAKER_00: 28:03

One of our biggest and best tools that we've we Dave and the coaches have developed is we have returning veterans that have come to the events that are now coaching. What better person to tell you how to do something on the board that is already missing a limb or or has that type of of um, you know, they had to overcome it somehow. So Tony Mullins coaches for us, um, Tyler coaches for us, Stefan coaches for us. There's so many of these folks that that came and got to come back. Well, they may not have learned it all from us. What happened is even with Tyler, after his first visit, he bought a boat the next week. Oh, that's what I'm talking about. Started doing it, started doing it. And now Tyler's wanna, Tyler drives the boat better than anybody I know almost. So, so it's it's that's probably again, we have some great organizations that have helped us out with the adaptive gear. But I believe our best tool is what Dave's created in being able to get the the veterans that came and didn't know if they could do it to now coach and teach those that don't think they can do it.

SPEAKER_04: 29:14

Dave, we're making warrior ambassadors, man. We're making warrior ambassadors. Look, that's look, they love to serve. You can't take it away from them, they're gonna serve one way or another. Now, I've heard I've heard you say before uh on a few things, you love to see veterans smile and watch a tough exterior come off. Can you describe what somebody looks like when they're first walking up and then 48 to 72 hours later, after they've literally been able to fall off and not lose their stuff on the all the way to the bottom? But you know, like what is that transformation when you see somebody going through that? And then this is something that you really look out for because you want to know, hey, are we doing a good job? Is it working? What is that like to just see the the change in one of our veterans?

SPEAKER_01: 29:53

Yeah, it it uh again, it varies, you know, based on the person. There's some people that are going through it. We have no idea, and they're not gonna just sit there and just spit it all out of what's going on in the in their world. So, but you can see it in their face. They're they've got that anxiety, you know, and they're like, Oh, I'm not sure I can do this. And we just tell them, yeah, you can do it. And we don't sit there and coddle them and and all that. We it's actually a a lot of uh what I call aggressive motivation. It's not not peer pressure, but we won't push you off the dock, I promise. No, but it's it's uh it just creating that environment. It's like, hey, you know, you're gonna fall, we don't care. And we're all here. And the the other part of it is notice that there's three or four people that are in the boat are cheering for you. They're not like, oh, I can't wait till it's my turn. They are in there, they're engaged with the person that's in the water, and they're fired up when they see them um succeed. So we're just there to help them from whatever setback they've uh experienced to help them facilitate their comeback story. And whatever that means, that isn't necessarily me just teaching them how to pick the whiteboard or surf. Right. It's all the other resources that we could tap into from the from other organizations that we came up with that have you know a lot uh capabilities that we don't, and we can just plug them in. Whatever, you know, if they're looking for a job, if they you know need some kind of special counseling, if they need whatever, we probably know somebody that we can at least connect them with to get them, you know, tell them their comeback story.

SPEAKER_04: 31:31

Uh I mean it's it's unbelievable, you know, some of the things that I've seen. Guys, I've literally went onto the Wake for Warriors YouTube page and I'm watching a video, and there is this veteran with literally no bottom half. Okay, he's got no legs and he hops in the water like it's just another, it's just another day. It's just another thing to conquer. And that's the drive and the commitment that they have to each other and to the situation. And we love seeing, I love seeing that. I mean, I don't know. Sometimes I I don't mind lake water, uh, you know, not that much, but man, he had like it was second nature.

SPEAKER_00: 32:05

Although we challenge these folks to do those things, if they want to chill out and sit on the side, they can chill out and sit on the side. It never happens. They want to be in those boats, they want to be with those those uh Marines and those soldiers and those Navy guys. They want to be with them, they want to be doing it, and uh, although they may walk in timid, I've never, David, we ever had one leave timid. It is such a remarkable change. When you said what's the difference in 48 to 72 hours is they walk in not knowing who, you know, who I gotta hug all these people, what what's going on here? To wait a minute, come here, give me another hug. You know, I don't want to leave yet. Um, you know, asking, you know, what's the actual address here so I can just sneak back over. That's awesome. Transformation in in two to three days is amazing. Um, but it goes back to how each one of those veterans, deep down inside, they have something that that wants to get out. They want to live, they want to be, they don't want to be noticed for not having a leg or an arm. Right. They just want to be noticed. And that's what we do. We let them come in and be who they want to be. And um, and as as Dave said, they're gonna they're gonna know Rachel, they're gonna get a hug from Rachel, whether they want it or not. That's true. And we have volunteers all across the country that do that, and we need more. We need more volunteers to continue to grow this thing um that don't mind hugging, don't mind saying hey, don't mind smiling, or don't mind just sitting and listening. Because sometimes that's all we do.

SPEAKER_04: 33:39

Is it safe to say they come in as lambs and leave as lions?

SPEAKER_01: 33:43

Yeah. One of my friends says uh they they come in on Thursday handshaking and they leave on Sunday hugging.

SPEAKER_04: 33:50

That's it. That's it. You know, I that's gotta be a beautiful thing to see. I mean, at some point in time, Ray, you might see me pop up at some point. You're like, what's Pete doing here? I just want to ride the boat.

SPEAKER_00: 33:59

I just want to ride the boat. Hey, come on. Come on. One of my jobs is to move people around on the pontoon. We can go out, we can sit and watch. And I tell you what, and I I guarantee you, you come to one of our events, Dave will get you on a surfboard. Period.

SPEAKER_04: 34:12

Here we talk. Hey, uh, listen, I'm probably not as good as they are, but we can have fun trying it, right? I'm all good with that. So you host now 50 plus events annually with 600 plus veterans across 20 plus states. I get these stats are like amazing, right? So I, you know, how do you measure success beyond the numbers? Because those are successful numbers. What to you, what is success with those numbers?

SPEAKER_01: 34:39

My measure of success is has nothing to do with numbers. It has everything to do with one person deciding that I'm gonna stay on this earth for another day. And if we have done that, we have accomplished our mission. If we have you know, if we have one person that whose life is better today because they came to an event, that's that's our measure of success. One. I don't really care about the numbers.

SPEAKER_04: 35:07

That's powerful, Dave. But it's meaningful, and that's amazing. So, like, what happens? So they come in, you see them come in timid, right? You see them going out, they're handshaking, they're backslapping, they're like, I'm gonna sneak my way back in here. What's the follow-up? Ray, do you do a follow-up? Did Dave, do you do a follow-up and give them a call back like later on and just like, hey, tell me the experience. What did you like? What did you not like? Do we, you know, should we make not grids? Should we make more grids? Like, how do you know how does that work?

SPEAKER_00: 35:33

It's a little bit all of that. Um, again, so what happens um from the perspective of us volunteers too is we get attached really quick to some of these folks that come in. So the follow-up shows in a lot of different ways. Um, one is we may be teamed with another organization to do the event, uh be a simplify or someone like that. I'm telling you, Miss Rachel, and half the crew is going to be on whatever social media you're on. So they're gonna be staying in touch with you on social media. We know about births, we know about someone that gets a new dog. I've got a few of the guys that I did and have done. One of the guys from California, I did some coaching on interviewing. He's like, I need to get a job, but I just I don't know how to do the interview. And so, whatever tools that we have as volunteers, we kind of can help them beyond that. So I did some phone interviews with him and in different things. And so that's that's one of the ways that that the volunteers we kind of keep up with them um on a on a day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month basis.

SPEAKER_04: 36:32

You know, I I I love that. I mean, I'm loving this more and more as we go on and on. Dave, Ray, I'm telling you, this is an amazing situation.

SPEAKER_00: 36:40

So, Pete, now you know what happened to me 10 years ago when I met him. We we set it, we set at a table on.

SPEAKER_02: 36:47

Come here.

SPEAKER_00: 36:48

Yeah, it's I mean, it's so it's not as much, again, it's good to know, hey, what we're doing for veterans that that we we should be called to do. But then you get to meet Dave and the in the whole organization. And I'm telling you, there's not a volunteer that wouldn't give the shirt off their back, especially once they've been involved. It's like there's a lot of folks there gung-ho and gung-ho, but you come to a vent or you get to meet one of these warriors, and you you want to you want to go to wake for warriors.org and you want to donate. You do want to do that. You want to go to Wakefor Warrior. You got me, Dave.

SPEAKER_03: 37:27

You got me. You're laughing over there, but you got me. I was gonna do it anyway.

SPEAKER_00: 37:33

You know, if you own an Autique wake boat and you and you live on a lake and we're not there, you want to contact Dave. Hey, we want to, what do we need to do? How can we do something? Start small, one boat, four or five folks. We kind of got a package for you that'll that'll get you to where you need to get started. Um, again, we got some rules, we got some guidelines. There's things that we're gonna make sure are done the way they should be done because of the respect and honor that we should should show these veterans. But it again, you're caught, the bug's caught. I just I got to continue. I need you to continue to get the word out for again the donations that we need, the volunteers that we need, but more so as Dave said, if if one more veteran that could come to us that that helps their healing, that's again, that's what it's all about, is how to how do we do our little bit?

SPEAKER_04: 38:25

So you guys got to tell me, and each of you can have one or one of your own stories here, but what is a long-term story? I know that you mentioned that I believe it was Tyler. Uh what is one of the long-term guys that you or gals that came in and you said, you know what, I don't know how this is gonna work, but we're gonna we're gonna work this out together, and they've end up turning to the Warrior Ambassador 14 years later or however long they stayed. What was one of those people for you, uh Ray, for you, Dave, and you know, to say, I didn't know it was gonna go this route, but they have really, really come through, and this is a little bit of their story.

SPEAKER_01: 38:58

Well, actually, I have a few, but um, while we were talking about this, I was just kind of like thinking about some of those stories. And one, really quickly, it he isn't necessarily a long-term ambassador, but he was a repeat that he he'd gone to an event and then he had a great time. Very grateful, so grateful that he asked um to come back the following year to this platform. He gave me some little token, you know, just like a little gift, and he said, My wife wants to thank you because I'm a different person. I'm a better husband, I'm a better father, and I'm a better person overall because I came here last year. And I was like, okay. Because I'm just hanging out, you know, taking people on the boat, dragging them around, and creating, you know, the the environment was creative and he just bought into it, you know. Um but another one that was probably a surprise to me. Is a guy named Matt Hannon. He lived in Washington State. I haven't met him. I've only talked to him on the phone for a while. And he was just he has been through a lot. He's an amputee. He also had brain cancer, so he had a lot of his brain scooped out through a couple of surgeries. But his attitude is infectious. And he fell in love with Ryan behind the weight. And so he had been helping locally there in Washington State for the not really helping, but just kind of participating. And I was like, Matt, you have led people in combat. More so than he was he was a Marine recon, which is like not just Marines, but like really, really hardcore Marinecore. And I was like, you led people in combat. You can lead these events. And I need you to do that. And he has. And he goes all over the country with me. Because one, he's he's a great, just a great person, to create an awesome vibe, and people have a great time. Um and he's not afraid to just let people know where he's been and what he's accomplished. You know, he he is the definition of a setback to a combat. He's had everything you can think of thrown at him. And he's still up there, kicking and frightened. And it's just the attitude you just can't be sad around it, you know. And that's what I love about him. And he likes to talk a lot. We actually have a code word. If he keeps talking, I have to say the word Oklahoma. And he'll like, okay, I got it. But he loves to tell stories, loves to talk, but people love to talk to him and listen, you know? That's a good thing.

SPEAKER_04: 41:56

Ray, who do you got? I th I know you I know you got something thumbing around in there because I can see that face.

SPEAKER_00: 42:00

Man, I've got, I just can't over the 10 years, there's so many. If you the the first would probably go back to any of any of our participants that now uh help us with the coaching. So kind of like he's saying we're with with Matt there. But the the ones that not only came and got something out of for themselves, but saw so much that they want to come and give more, um, that's that's the crazy part. I mean, uh, you know, whether it's a Tyler or a Tony or like I said, uh Stefan or Carlos out in Texas, or I mean, there's just so many names I could I can come off with that that's probably the the the overall of it. Um but if I had to pick one of my one of the ones would would probably be Carlos. And um he lives out in Texas. Uh Carlos uh has a daughter that uh had a uh rare disease and ended up becoming a double amputee herself. He's a single amputee. And um Carlos came to one of our very first events, had a great time. Uh he kept his he kept laying legs everywhere. It was like the first time I had not been around, as Dave said earlier, I hadn't been around a lot of amputees. But these guys just leave their legs and feet laying everywhere, and it's like, where's my leg? Where's my leg? But so so Carlos was that that kind of guy. And although he had this big, big exterior, um, he, you know, he had some things going on. And so I got to meet him, and and he came back a couple years later. Well, then we did a family event there on Harding and got to physically meet his his family. And Lily came back, and I cannot tell you how rewarding it was for him, me, and I know Dave. Um, he and his daughter double surfed together. Wow, and so not only did he did he bring his daughter back and and get her involved in this, and they saw how well that um same thing he's told me many times that Wake Forest has just really changed him. Um his his wife and and and daughter are just they just knew it. So they came and again, I'll never ever be able to to have a feeling like that again for someone else. It was just really amazing. And so Carlos is probably one that I would I would say would be that that that top.

SPEAKER_04: 44:23

Man, you guys, you guys are picking from the top, man. That is awesome. We could we got plenty. We could go all night, Pete. I'm telling you. Anthony, you got that feeling they got some stories to tell, right? Oh my god, it's amazing to hear you guys say these things. Listen, Dave, uh Ray, just wanted to tell you guys, I'll probably give you a hug the next time I see you. Like, where'd that come from?

SPEAKER_03: 44:41

Will you remember that time? You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_04: 44:43

Hey everyone, it's Pete Chow here from the Arts Go Show Podcast, and I want to tell you about a company that's making a real difference in the rent-to-owned space. WoW Brands. I've seen firsthand how they approach marketing. Let me tell you, it's not just about ads. WoW brands build complete digital ecosystems designed specifically for the rent-to-owned industry. Their e-commerce and lead generation strategies are built to bring qualified leads. And that I mentioned that they are actively working with the rent-town industry while also being members of APRO and Trib. These folks are passionate problem solvers. They don't just slap something together, they design, build, and scale the kind of digital retail tools your business needs. Your customers actually want. So if you're serious about growing, reach out to Wild Brands at WoWBrands.com. I trust them, and I think you will too. So Wakeful Warriors has partnered with SemperFi and America's Fund, uh, and some major water sports brands like uh Natique and Hyperlight, if I'm saying that right. And uh, how essential have these partnerships been into scaling Wakeful Warriors to get out there the way it has?

SPEAKER_01: 45:50

Yeah, well, uh folks like the organizations that you talked about, uh Simplify is uh they have a very large network of veterans that have been screened and they they know um that they are cared about and we we just love having them. If we are having an event and we need a few spots somewhere like Colorado or whatever, we can reach out to them and they're like, oh, here's some some candidates that would be really good for that area. And it does one of two things. First of all, they're local, and so they're gonna they're gonna go to this event and then they're gonna stay connected because they're local and they can they can do other things. We kind of talk about ripples that happen that we don't even know about. Um, you know, they'll they'll meet and then before you know it, a couple weeks later they're going fishing or doing something else together, which is you know pretty awesome. That's what you want. You want them to connect it. Yes. So that's that's you know what the Sim5 Fund is for. Uh the Nautique Boat Company has been instrumental in our expansion because we have an entire dealer network at our disposal. So anywhere that we go, most likely a uh Nautique dealer close by, and they're like, Oh yeah, we want to do this. Here's some boats. We have great that have great uh boat drivers and all that, and we just kind of show up, put a few people like Matt on there, pump up the vibe, and have some good tunes, and we're in business. So it makes our life a lot easier, along with, you know, we can't do it without boards. And uh Hyperlight has actually helped us develop some of these specific boards to make uh it more adaptive to our writers. And they're all doing it not for you know pat on the back or to sell whatever product they're selling, they're doing it like for the reason that Ray does it, because they care about what we're doing. And these are my friends, they're not you know, corporate people that are just you know, oh, let's let's uh write a check here so we can you know get our name on the side of a boat or whatever. No, these are people again that we know about their birthdays and that we we celebrate their their life with them. And uh it's it's a great family that we've uh been blessed to be part of.

SPEAKER_04: 48:08

I agree. Ray, so you're Ray, as a business owner, what would your message be to other business owners that you know funding is important, reaching out and making sure that they, you know, they have the ability to make the breakfast and to have the boats out there and to do what they do. You know, what do you say as a business owner is is is what you found to be the reason why you do this and getting them involved? What would you say to the guys out there who's actually watching this, you know, this podcast and say, this is why I do it and this is why I think you should do it? And these are some of the benefits that I as a person and a business owner get out of that. And not that we're trying to do it for any specific reason, like, hey, I'm, you know, again, like you said, I'm not trying to put my name on the side of a boat, but you know, being in my community and a pillar of the community, this is what I get to say we do for our people. What would that message be to some other owners and business leaders in your area?

SPEAKER_00: 48:56

You know, I would I would think and hope most of us business owners understand that someone got us here, um, whether it's just a mentor or whether it's our customer group, whether it's our community. And in some form or fashion, we're gonna give back. And it's it usually it's something that's that's connected personal to you. I I think in in my story before I told you my dad was in Vietnam or was a medic vet, my son uh was in the army as a cyber specialist. So those are those are some really close, close connections. Again, from Fort Benning, uh just been around it. But I go back to I could not be a business owner if I lived in another country that didn't have the Warriors go fight and do the things that's happened over the past 250 years for me to be a buddies franchisee. So whether you're a Taco Bell guy or a gas station guy or a or a lady that has a boutique down on Broadway, it it's the veterans that are allowing us to do what we do. And again, you said it other it doesn't matter what side of the line that you're gonna stand on, you know, or you're gonna vote on, but what it does mean is that we have people that are struggling in our country, all right, and that there are other groups of people struggling. I choose the veterans. I'm asking you to choose the veterans. And with that, we need again, we need the volunteers. So we need your time. We do need your money. Um one weekend that we do on Lake Harding, uh, we go through about 800 gallons of fuel. Oh wow.

unknown: 50:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 50:35

That's a lot of fun. That's a lot of fun, Dave. These are these are some big these are some big boats that use a lot of fuel. They're high performance boats, so it's not the the the little unleaded, it's the premium. And that takes a lot of money. Do that 50 times a year. Now, again, some some events are a little bit less. We have two boats, not five or so. But it it so as a business owner, I know that. I know the expenses, I know what goes on. So hopefully other business owners see that and it's like, you know, well, wow, maybe I could sponsor a boat, or or maybe I could uh maybe I own a restaurant and I could do a lunch for 2550 people. You know, maybe I own a uh a marketing company and my name is Vox, and I'm gonna make towels for everyone to have a towel with the Wake Fourier logo on it. So there are there are people that are doing that. There are people that are helping. And as Dave said, it's not about how many events we get to put on or how many people we run through there. We got to do those, but we just, you know, we need the help, and I'm not I'm not gonna be quiet about it anymore. Um, this this organization has done more for me and my community at our at Lake Harding in Columbus than than anything in the in my sixty years of being in Columbus that I can really think of. It Dave is known on that lake, Dana's Dave is known in that city, is uh is a stand-up guy that's running a stand-up organization, and they're they're willing to help. And um, and I think every business owner, no matter again, like I said, no matter what it is, find something. Find us, please. But if it's something else, um I just I think that we we owe it to to give back to our communities that are that are given to us.

SPEAKER_04: 52:17

Vox, box, I'm looking at you. Andrew, hi Duke. Listen, we appreciate what you do too. We didn't forget about you. I'm glad you called it out, Ray. I appreciate that. So, you know, going into the end, you know, Dave, you balance being a Delta Airlines pilot with running this organization. How do you do that? I mean, you know, it's it's not like you know, I do woodworking in the garage a little bit. No, you're a literal pilot and you still find time to do this with all these amazing people. How do you do that?

SPEAKER_01: 52:49

Well, it can be a challenge, especially in the summer when there's multiple events going on at the same time. But, you know, the yeah, I keep going back to this. The best thing I have is people that are one competent and they want to do it, and they want to do it, you know, how we've laid it out. And so I don't really have to worry about you know if it's gonna be done right. Um, but yeah, it can be challenging sometimes. And honestly, there's a few times in the summer that I've uh you know had to drop a trip so I can just be where I need to be. But it's only money. And we don't really think about it like that because again, if you're changing somebody's life, you know, how are you gonna put a price tag on that?

SPEAKER_00: 53:32

And Pete does go back to, although he's a great multitasker, um, it does go back to the volunteers that we get that we get. You know, we talk about the a group that we have up in Washington State that just do a phenomenal job. The guys out in Texas that do a phenomenal job, up in North Carolina. So we've got to have these different groups that have a core um, you know, that core core part of the uh the volunteers. You know, so we got, you know, you take you got Miss Rachel, you got Miss Hannah, you got uh Tim. This guy handles all the housing force for for the whole lake. Everybody has a bed, everybody has a pillow, everybody has a place to stay on the lake. We don't, we're not taking people down to the Holiday and Express or anything. So we we gotta have those type people that are willing to do that time and time again. Um, and and believe me, it's a lot of work, but it's easy work when you know the reward you're getting. As Dave just said, if we're able to help one more person, um just just feel a little bit better for the weekend, uh, have a better outlook, um, go after that job that they've been wanting, um, it it's it's more than more than worth it.

SPEAKER_04: 54:45

Well, I get you know, Ray, you started uh your career in in in 1987, same year Dave graduated from Auburn. Uh, you know, Lake Harding is literally in your backyard. So how does it feel to support something rooted in your own community?

SPEAKER_00: 55:01

It's again, it's huge. I mean, you can do a donation for some national organization that doesn't go to all these little lakes around the country. Like you said, we're in 20 plus states now. Uh and and you're talking about Auburn, I'll bring that up. We we've expanded out and we do some other things. So we have one of our volunteers that makes scrambled eggs every morning. Her and her husband make the scrambled eggs for 60 people. So we're not talking about cracking a few eggs, we're talking about lots, uh, some of the best scrambled eggs you ever have. Well, she works at Auburn and she said to Dave, hey, you know, we've got this uh um this wheelchair basketball team. You think we could maybe, you know, do some? We brought them out. Oh, yeah. We were finishing up an event, everything's already set up and everything. So it's like, yeah, y'all come on out. We got all the equipment's laid out for you, it's all done. And so we've done two events with them now. Ray's a local celebrity, Dave. You guys, I'm talking to some celebrities here, man.

SPEAKER_04: 56:00

This is what I'm talking about. This guy right here, I'm telling you. I have I haven't been on the Auburn podcast. Well, I tell you what. Listen, guys, we're coming to the end, but I wanted to do a little bit of a lightning round. I want to ask you guys some quick questions and you tell me. Um, Dave, this first one is literally mostly for you. The rest of them are gonna be to both, but what would you say to a veteran who's listening right now, maybe struggling, maybe a little bit isolated, who's thinking, I'm not sure if this is for me. I'm not sure if I'm qualified, I'm not sure if I can do this. What would you say to that person right now?

SPEAKER_01: 56:33

Go to the website and sign up. If you want to ask questions, you can email. I will call you back. Um if you're a little bit scared, do it scared. You know? You know, you it's gonna be you're you're not gonna have everything figured out, but trust me, you're gonna enjoy it. Don't be you may have had some experiences in the past with you know an organization that you felt like you're being, you know, not uh honored or or whatever. This isn't one of them. So just come, you'll enjoy it. I don't care if you've been on the water ever before, we're gonna give you as much grief as possible, but you're gonna still enjoy it.

SPEAKER_04: 57:13

Hey, come on down. This is for the both of you guys. Uh well, when we're gonna go one one in each. Ray, the challenge of Columbus community and the business communities listening, what's your specific call to action to them right here on this podcast?

SPEAKER_00: 57:27

Um, right here, right now is go to WakeforWarriors.org, click the donate button and donate. Second is to then click the volunteer button and find out how you can fit in. If you're in Columbus, Muscogee County, the surrounding area specifically, you can contact me through that website and I will find a way for you to get plugged in. And I'm talking about in any form of fashion, if you just want to help, somebody's got to bring the bananas.

SPEAKER_04: 57:56

I'm gonna tell you right now. Dave and Ray, look, Ray's like, listen, I will not only call you out, I'll give you the instructions on how to get that done. Um Dave, what makes uh someone a great Wake for Warriors volunteer? What's what are you looking for when somebody comes out and says, Hey, I did hit that volunteer button. Ray told me so. I was watching the show, he told me to do it. What are you looking for in a volunteer that they, you know, that they might go onto the website and say, I think this is for me, I need to do this.

SPEAKER_01: 58:26

If you have a heart of giving and you're you know, you don't have to necessarily need wall for a boat or anything, there's plenty of things to do. And if you just want to express your gratitude in a way that uh is kind of unique, then that's all you have to do. Just show up. You can figure it out. Um, it's it's not complicated.

SPEAKER_04: 58:47

I heard that. All right. So last question. Ray, what is your hope that comes out of today's conversation and today's podcast?

SPEAKER_00: 58:55

Um Dave already kind of said it that we're able to to help one veteran um decide to live for tomorrow.

SPEAKER_04: 59:04

So if we can get them that message, reach out and let's let's let's take care of you.

SPEAKER_00: 59:09

Yeah, it's uh and again, Dave said it again too. If you're scared, come on. We'll do it scared. We'll do it together scared. Uh it may not be me, it may be Tim, it may be a volunteer in Washington, but I I tell you, if you sign up, we will be there to help you heal. You know, we can't do it all for you, but we will we will help you. I promise. I promise you that. So I love it. If you're if you love it, if you're the veteran that that needs this right now, then you go to the website and you sign up, and I promise you we'll help. All right.

SPEAKER_04: 59:42

Dave, this last one's on you. In one sentence, what is the legacy that you want to leave for Wakes of Warriors?

SPEAKER_01: 59:50

You know, my of course, I've been thinking about this. I get a little bit older. I've been, you know, wanting to cut I'm working on a I get run over by a bus plan. And I just wanted to continue because if if there is a need, my my hope was like, you know, maybe sometime we don't need a Wakeful Warriors or any other organization that takes care of veterans. But right now we do. As long as there is a person that needs uh to get a hug from Rachel, then I would like it to keep going, even when I'm not around.

SPEAKER_04: 1:00:22

That's a great call to action. Guys, you guys can make that happen. Uh to the both of you, who do they reach out to? How do they reach Wake for Warriors? What website do they need to go to? How can they make this happen?

SPEAKER_01: 1:00:34

Go to uh WakeforWarriors.org. We're also on social media, you know, uh Facebook and uh Instagram. We can message us um that all comes to me so we we can get you in touch with whatever you are. So just do that. Um we and the other thing is like if you know somebody, if you know a veteran that maybe they work in your store and you see them struggling, but you know, they're like, oh my god, I I don't need that, just encourage them to do it because maybe that little push is like, well, you know, maybe if he gives me time off of work, I'll I'm good. And that might benefit not only that person, that that veteran, it'll benefit you because he'll be a better person when we come back.

SPEAKER_00: 1:01:17

That's a great deal. I I ch I want to challenge Pete, anyone and everyone that's in the rent-owned industry, whether you're a vendor, whether you're a customer, whether you're a store personnel, whether you're an owner, go and do nothing else but go to wake warriors.org and watch some of the videos.

SPEAKER_04: 1:01:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 1:01:36

Yes, just watch the the the what how much fun these guys and gals are having. And as Dave said, if you or you know someone else, just show them the videos. Those are not AI. That is us doing. And when you see us celebrating, we are celebrating because I mean we do, we're gonna challenge you, but it we celebrate, we celebrate really big, and that is so, so rewarding uh for our volunteers.

SPEAKER_01: 1:02:02

Yeah, it's not just physical injury, it's also that that person that's struggling internally and mentally. And I think sometimes that's harder because you know, you see somebody that's an amputee, like, oh well, that's that person's been through something. But there's a lot of folks out there that have been injured and they're just carrying it with them, and they they don't necessarily get the visual recognition, but they're they need to be out as well.

SPEAKER_04: 1:02:30

Beautiful insights, Dave. That's why we have you here because you know firsthand what you're dealing with. Ray Muncie of Buddies Home Furnishings doing an amazing job helping out Dave Deep from Wakeful Warriors. Listen, guys, I really appreciate you having on the show. Love the conversation, love what you stand for. Listen, listen to Ray. He gave you the directions. Make sure you go and do what he says. Reach out to these guys. If you guys have any questions, you can also reach out to the show at Pete at the RTO ShowPodcast.com. You can send me a message. Listen, just so you guys are aware, I'm actually gonna put a link to Wake for Warriors on the website. So if you go there to see us, you can also see them. You have the ability to click on that, and you're gonna be able to see where you can volunteer, how you can donate some money, because listen, this is a worthy cause. I'm gonna tell all my guys from the rent-owned industry this is something that you get into. Whether you're into something else or not, this is something that you want to get into because you're helping your community and you're helping the people in your country, the guys and gals who have fought and strived to make this place what it is today, an amazing place to be. Thank you guys for being on here. Listen, if you guys have any questions, you can also hit me up on social media, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube where you're gonna see this. Guys, I really appreciate everything. I appreciate you being on the show. If I follow up Fox Five, yeah, but listen, they're gonna love you. They're gonna follow us from uh the RTO show podcast, and I will tell you guys as always, get your collections low to get your sales high. Have a great one.