Tales of Leadership
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Tales of Leadership
Ep 85 Tales of Leadership with Nate Boyer
After joining the US Army in 2005, Nate Boyer earned the Green Beret in 2006. He served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, completed missions in Israel, Bulgaria, and Greece, and played football for the Texas Longhorns as a standout long snapper. Nate's received awards like the Disney Spirit Award and the Legacy Award, showcasing his inspiring presence in college football. He's also been deeply involved in charity work, served on a fishing boat, volunteered in refugee camps, and continues to engage with various Veterans' Service Organizations. Nate’s powerful belief in "Anything is Possible" fuels his talks on finding purpose, resonating with audiences of all backgrounds—students, veterans, professionals, and more.
Connect with Nate Boyer:
Mission Six Zero: https://lnkd.in/gPD-34Rr
MVP: https://vetsandplayers.org/founders
Personal LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/gpwB9Mzv
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Joshua K. McMillion | Founder MLC
You're listening to the Tales of Leadership podcast. This podcast is for leaders at any phase on their leadership journey to become a more purposeful and accountable leader what I like to call a pal. Join me on our journey together towards transformational leadership.
Speaker 2:All right team, welcome back to the Tales of Leadership podcast. I am your host, Josh McMillian. I am an active duty Army officer, an Army leadership coach and the founder of McMillian Leadership Coaching, and I am on a mission to end toxic leadership by promoting transformational stories and skills. On today's episode, we're going to be bringing you a transformational leader in Nate Boyer. Bringing you a transformational leader in Nate Boyer.
Speaker 2:Nate joined the Army in 2005, and then he quickly earned his Green Beret status in 2006. He has done several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and completed missions in Israel, Bulgaria, Greece, then transitioned to play football for the Texas Longhorns. As a standout long snapper, Nate has received awards like the Disney Spirit Award Legacy Award, showcasing his inspirational presence as a college football player. He's also been deeply involved in charity work, serving on fishing boats, volunteering for refugee camps, and continues to engage in various veteran service organizations. Nate believes anything is possible and that mindset has allowed him to continue to chase hard things, being able to play for the NFL, for the Seahawks, and now getting into the film career. Nate, bottom line, is a purposeful, accountable leader. I wish I had longer opportunity to talk with him, but this is a great episode of getting into the mindset of Nate, so let's bring him on to the show.
Speaker 2:Nate, welcome to the Tales of the Podcast, Brother. How are you doing? I'm good. How are you, Dude? I can't complain Another day of getting to serve my country and do something I absolutely love, which is talk about leadership with someone who is pretty incredible. So it's a great day.
Speaker 3:That's great. Well, hey, I know I'm not on camera, but please explain the cool stuff in the background real quick, if you can.
Speaker 2:So the the, the propaganda in the back, it's not propaganda yeah.
Speaker 2:So I've had a a pretty historic career, I guess, in terms of like just being an infantryman. So, starting off, really, uh, down at the back, I got a 120 mortar round that when I was a mortar platoon leader at Fort Lewis Washington that my crew gave me that, uh, the general Douglas MacArthur leadership award. I was humbled enough to win that. That was absolutely incredible in 2018. And right above that, I got my tomahawk from my second company command. I'm currently serving in the Spartan Helmet organization, so PM Special Projects it's a rapid acquisition force within SOCOM. And then my last unit gave me that badass panda that you see, with all the stuff that I absolutely love when I worked in small UAS. So I've kind of matched everything together with the current books that I'm reading all the way through to my infantry blue cord and a little Batman boomerang that you see that takes the background up.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I thought for a second it was a viking lego. Your panda back there. Yeah, that's pretty sweet, though. And also my other question was the mortar round setting sitting atop the uh, steelers flag.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah, because you're blowing up the steelers or you're a steelers fan oh, I'm I'm a steelers fan, so I grew up in rural West Virginia and we don't really have a team per se, so I went with geographic location what is the closest team to where I live and I've always been a Steelers fan, cool man, I love it.
Speaker 3:If I had something cool like that, we'd figure it out. I don't even have the lights on in here. You know it's a dreary day in Austin Texas.
Speaker 2:Dude. You're a busy man, dude, so I fully understand, but I would love to start with, just take the time real quick to introduce yourself to the listeners. Who is Nate Boyer? Even though you really don't need an introduction.
Speaker 3:Well, I joined the military, actually signed up in 04, didn't chip off to basic to early 05, had an 18 x-ray contract which meant, for those that don't know, I was basically I hadn't served before and I had a special forces contract that, if I, you know, got through basic and finished airborne school and went through and completed a prep course like a selection prep course. I could go to special forces selection after that and I was 23 when I signed up, 24, when I, when I shipped and it, you know, the first five years after high school in some ways I'd felt like I wasted cause I didn't really do anything particularly interesting or I didn't really accomplish much of anything. Growing up I loved sports. Football is my favorite sport. I grew up in the Bay Area so I was a big Niner fan, fortunate to have the Super Bowl dynasty really in the 80s and 90s, so kind of the next dynasty after the Steelers dynasty really, and uh, and so you know it was always my favorite sport but I never played it. I played a bunch of other sports and really focused on that and also kind of dreaming and procrastinating and not a lot of doing and uh, working towards these dreams.
Speaker 3:So not until I eventually did join the military did I learn how to apply that passion and actually take the steps necessary to at least try to make those dreams come true. It doesn't always work out, but I think the hardest part, just in life generally, is like showing up and then taking the first step at whatever that thing is, because you know we're afraid of what other people are going to think or it's, you know, the failure thing or the embarrassment and the pride We've got, all that stuff that's clouding our decisions, and I certainly I mean I still have that stuff that I recognize today and still there. But not until the time in the military did that really change for me. So that was, I mean that was a big shift in my life.
Speaker 3:Earlier that year I did some relief work over in the Darfur, which is a region in Africa, and I went on that trip because for those five years after high school I just down on myself and kind of heading down a not so great path and you know I did some interesting things and some cool and some valuable things at that during that time, but it wasn't really amounting to much of anything. So I, after that trip, I sort of made the decision to join and once I joined I mean, as you know it just it's a complete life changer. I've never had a child. I am somewhat similar to that in a way, where it just pivots. You know, your, your entire universe.
Speaker 2:I've only known a handful of 18 x rays that have actually made it through, and so, first of all, just kudos to you, because I know the pipeline for a brand new soldier that's coming in that gets assigned to, you know, a special forces unit. That's such a high level of competency. So some of the dudes that I have the honor and privilege to work with now, like the average ranks, like E6, e7, mostly, and the institutional knowledge that they've been able to gain up to that point is incredible. Like multiple deployments, all that stuff and you being able to come in like right away and just go straight into that 18 x-ray, given that prep course, is just incredible. And what I really want to, I would love to know, like what, what drove you to going to that 18 x-ray path when you could have chose, you know, being 11 out Bravo or any other MOS.
Speaker 3:You're saying what gave me the, the, the, the drive to another drive to kind of choose that specific MOS.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so it really was that trip. I mean, when I was over, when I was over there, it was only for a couple of months, I only had a 60-day visa and this was in the middle of a genocide that was going on in Western Sudan. I'd never been to Africa or a developing country or anything like that before. I mean, I'd been to Mexico and Central America, backpacking a bit, and Europe Western Europe, but that was really it which are interesting places and not without their challenges.
Speaker 3:But this was very different the degree of oppression and poverty and just the lack of everything clean water, food, shelter, education, medical care, all that stuff. And it just really motivated me because so many of those people were just grateful to get some of that every day, if they got looked at by a doctor, if they got to eat. The kids I mean just you know a hundred kids playing soccer together with one ball and they're all having a good time and it's like their dads have been killed and their, you know, moms are. You know, it's just like crazy. And this the perspective you gain, and it doesn't mean that you don't come back to the States and immediately, you know, rejoin the spoiled nation that we live in.
Speaker 3:Like I do that I complain about stuff that doesn't matter. I think that's a whole other conversation, maybe, but I think that's what leads to a lot of our depression and frustrations back home here, because it is pretty good. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good and there's a lot of opportunity and the fact that you can do anything is also is is cool but also terrifying. You know, it's just an open book. So the simplicity of things over there, but also the like, the way they were, uh, some of those people were just, they wanted to just hear about America and they were very, they were very grateful that someone would leave that place to go over there and help.
Speaker 3:And the reality was I wasn't doing anything spectacular, I wasn't doing I'm not a doctor, I wasn't, I had no skills. You know what I mean. I just was there and just a product of me being born here, um, which I had no say and I was just lucky. You know, it was like they held that in such high regard that I would, that I would come and try and assist and you know, I helped build some campsites and passed out food rations and I mean I played soccer every day. I did very these very simple things, but just being a part of that and getting to know some of those people on a very like know, not shallow, but just like a very uh level yeah, like we didn't.
Speaker 3:I mean the language barrier and the cultural barrier. It's very, it's very different and anybody that's been to you know not just iraq and afghanistan, but anywhere that has a very different culture. There's often, unless you, unless you are deep into a, a conversation or a situation where you're living with these people for a very, very long time, it's hard to really get to know somebody. But what little communication I did have. I was just very inspired by their curiosity and I think I was fed this rhetoric that you know, everybody over there just was jealous of us and hated us and all that. And yeah, maybe some people, but not everybody.
Speaker 3:There was a lot of people that would give anything Obviously that's why we have a problem with our borders Like it would give anything to come here you know what I mean and just have this opportunity. And there was some of these young men were a couple of them at least had asked me you know how, how do you join the military? I'm like I don't know how to help you there. Man, like that's a tough one. You know, I'm not sure how that works coming from a place like that with the. You know the lack of resources and language and all and education and all that stuff. I don't know the answer to that, but I just thought like, wow, these people, would you know, just for the chance at citizenship, or maybe they really want to just be a part of, you know, this place that is willing, you know, a part of a group of people that are willing to sacrifice and defend you know what we have here and hopefully, at least my goal was and I think a lot of people's was to go, you know, fight for those that can't fight for themselves in these other places and help give them a glimmer of hope, maybe a chance at one day obtaining similar freedoms and opportunities. And, you know, and maybe not, sometimes we fail. That's tough, but it was just like all of the idea of that really inspired me to go join. So it wasn't anything that happened here.
Speaker 3:9-11 definitely got me thinking about it and kind of opened my eyes to some things, but that wasn't like, okay, we got attacked and now I'm joining and you know I want to fight back and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. A lot of people did that and they're and gave up a lot and and, and you know, god bless all of them, especially those that didn't come home, but my journey was just a little bit different. It was it was not until I spent time in a somewhat similar place, a place where there was a war affecting the people there, and spent time with those people and saw firsthand what that does. You know what that does to people, but also how, how much they they persevere. And they you know none of them, at least in this place, man they didn't want us to just fix things and hold their hand and you know, like feed them and just give them stuff, like they wanted. That. They had that pride too and it was inspiring, and so that's, that's why I wanted to come home and serve in the military.
Speaker 3:I love that answer and I always go back to this Sorry sorry Cause, to answer your question, the special forces specifically, because because of that foreign internal defense piece, you know, uh, everything we do is by, with and through indigenous forces. Uh, there is a hint of humanitarian work in in what we do and I mean there's a lot of it, not a hint, and and also like that, you know, it started really in vietnam but those guys, uh, the original green berets that were over there, were fully embedded with these people and living with them and fighting alongside them and training them, and the idea of that doing that specifically in the Army was very appealing to me and fortunately the 18 X-ray program was around at that time, so I was able to do that.
Speaker 2:All right team, let's take a quick break from this podcast. All right team, let's take a quick break from this podcast, and I want to personally invite you to our private Facebook community that I call Purposeful Accountable Leaders, or PALS, and PALS is a community dedicated to inspiring and developing servant leaders by sharing transformational stories and skills Exactly what tells the leadership is all about. My goal is to build a community of like-minded leaders that can share lessons learned, ask questions and celebrate wins when it happens, and my mission in life is clear I will end toxic leadership by sharing transformational stories and skills, and you will find countless transformational leaders in this group. Many of them I have had the honor to serve with in the military. If you want to find a community that can help you grow both personally and professionally, we would love to have you. You can simply search Purposeful Accountable Leaders on Facebook or click the Leadership Resources tab in the show notes to join. I am looking forward to seeing you guys and continuing to grow together on our leadership journey.
Speaker 2:Back to the podcast. Yeah, that's awesome, brother, and you said a couple of things that was interesting to me. One is that our country all the possibilities that we have, and I'm a testament to what you can do if you put your mind to it. I come from rural West Virginia. No one in my family had a college education. I kind of just stumbled my way through all of that, getting my master's and doing all that and then being able to talk to amazing people like you. If you set your mind to something, you can do it, but there's so many different excuses that we can find to not do something and it always comes back. I think. Down to me is like like imposter syndrome. It's like almost having to fight our ego in a way of like well, someone is going to think less of me or maybe I'm going to fail or maybe I'm not enough, and getting through those kinds of negative thoughts to just actually go out and make progress.
Speaker 2:And you said another thing that that I learned when I was in Afghanistan is just being authentic, is just being authentic. I was able to develop such a deep level of relationships with the platoons and the companies that I was embedded with when we were over there in 2012. And it was me just taking the time to really get to know them better. And then there was that language barrier, like Pashto and Dari multiple languages, but just being intentional with them and trying to sit down every day, have a meal with them and do things with them and be curious. Exactly what you just said. Those are two nuggets that I really wanted to make sure that the listeners understood. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Right, yeah, I mean, I think that's yeah, you hit it on the head in a lot of ways there. But I saw something today that a friend of mine had posted, and you know, people say things and there's all these great quotes out there, that sort of encapsulate a feeling, right, and it was something along the lines of you know, when people tear you down, it's because they don't see that that thing in them and they wish they did. You know what I mean. And so and it's not just people tearing you down, I think we tear ourselves down too.
Speaker 3:It's like we just think we just, we just assume because we'll know it in my family did it, or I don't even know where to start, or that's for smart people, that's for strong people, that's you know, whatever. And we just like tell ourselves that story because it's easier to just do that and be like well, yeah, I mean like I wasn't built for that, I wasn't made for that. I mean how many people in your life have told you and you know I'm not like ripping them, but you know they'll say, oh, I just wasn't cut out for the military. People wanted to do it but I wasn't cut out for it. I was like, no, that's BS, man.
Speaker 3:Like yeah, trust me, there's plenty of people that joined, myself included. They were not cut out for it, like we weren't. You know, we were not created to just do this. We ended up choosing to do it, you know, and, and there's a lot of people that were far more capable than me, that would have wanted to and didn't, because they just thought they shouldn't or they couldn't.
Speaker 3:I mean, we put so many limitations on ourselves that just aren't real. You know, they don't actually exist, because of societal pressures or peer pressures or whatever it is. Uh, this, you know this, uh, these assumptions, and I don't know what that's called, but we all have that voice in our head, you know, that just tells us those things and, um, maybe it is part of the ego, like you alerted to either earlier, and just like you know, a very negative part of it that is built to humiliate you in some way. Yeah, I don't know, but it's, it's. It's wild to think about because, like, if I hadn't have, for whatever reason, taken that trip, um, and and done that, you know, done those those two months over there, and uh, and, which led me to the military, which led me to all these other things like who knows what I?
Speaker 3:How long I would have just continued to spiral and spin my wheels and just hate on myself, not, not, and I'm once again I'm not saying like I don't still struggle with, you know, negative self-talk and all these things, but I recognize it and I think I ought to navigate it better. But but, yeah, so for like, like kind of circling back to earlier. For a long time I felt like I wasted five years, but in reality I just needed those five years to like kind of kick me down a little bit or to bring me to this place of like enough is enough, I don't know, but I have to be grateful for those, even though it does feel like, man, I could be right where I am right now and five years younger. How great would that be. Yeah, I think about that all the time, but it's just not possible. I mean, I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be and it's because of all of it.
Speaker 2:So I think that there's a thread Everything that we do in life, like where you're at right now, all the awesome things that you're doing and the purposeful action that you're taking, is all connected to that time in defer, like where you were there and where you are now. There's a thread that you've continued because I think you found your purpose or your spark in life. And I think, at the end of the day, a lot of people are really afraid to take action because they just don't care that much to do it. And I had a pastor tell me once and it makes sense is that if your why is big enough, it demands a response. If you have that you know, hernan Cortez burning desire to actually go do something and you have head, heart, hand alignment in your life, you're going to want to do it.
Speaker 2:But at the initial stages it's always tough and I had to learn that the hard way of like taking purposeful action means that I'm going to fail, because that's just part of it. And being an engineer, kind of by trade now which is crazy to think about, because if you would have told me that like 10 years ago, I'd be like oh, absolutely not, it's. It's all incremental builds and everything that we try to build is built on failures. So when you build a system, it's going to fail. We figure out those systems and then we optimize those solutions to build a more robust system, and it's just continuing that process until we fully achieve the requirements that that was set out. And that's that's life in a nutshell. If it wouldn't be fun if we always go out and just win every single time, I just don't think life would be that entertaining, right no, I agree, I would.
Speaker 3:It's, it's yeah go ahead.
Speaker 2:Well, I was just because I know your time is precious, man, and I would love to be able to transition, you know, through your military career and there's so much there. And I'll tell you n like I wish we could sit down for two hours, cause I have so many different questions to ask you. But the real burning question I have in that military space, when you're going through all that training, cause that's a, that's a pipeline, what was it? Almost two years.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly it's about. It's about a year and a half, yeah, and some change for the medics. It is two years and so it's. You know it's a long commitment, I mean, yeah, but you have like this carrot dangling the entire time of, yeah, knowing you're going to be, you know you're working on this, these small teams, 12-man teams, and there's like a little little more freedom in what you're able to do.
Speaker 3:The mission isn't as dictated to you all the time. I mean it is overall, but like there's a lot more, I guess, self-sufficient work and responsibility, which you know maybe is daunting too. But you know, and the adventure of it, I mean you're overseas nine months out of the year on average, and in different places, or at least not home nine months out of the year, cause even when you're back here you're, you know you're constantly going to do training here and there and all that. And that was all that was all appealing to me. But but yeah, I think the other part of that was like if you, if you don't make it, which is fine if it's, if it's not on you, if it wasn't you go into 82nd airborne.
Speaker 3:Yeah, don't make it yeah, I mean you're going to the needs of the army, which is probably that, um, because it's the most convenient, you're right there on the same place and it's right down the street, but yeah. But I think also it was just yeah, like if that were to happen or if you genuinely were to get injured and not able to continue or come back, or you just didn't have what it took, like as long as you gave everything you had, I think you could live with that. I'm sure you can. I know people that have. But you know there was also people that voluntarily withdrew and maybe they didn't have the same feelings about it as me and it wasn't as personal and it wasn't as important, and so it wouldn't bother them or that regret wouldn't haunt them.
Speaker 3:But for me I was very focused and very determined to do this specific thing in the military. I really wanted this and so when I had the opportunity to go to selection and go to do all these things, like I prepared as best as I could and I over-trained and all of those things, so that you know it felt, I felt as ready as I possibly could be, also knowing there's going to be things I don't foresee and expect and all that. But from on the mental side of it, just toughening myself up in that way and you know, going the extra mile every day and doing crazy things like like a mile of lunges I did a mile of lunges with my body armor on once and it was like it was terrible, you know, and it was like one of the hardest things I ever did and it's but anybody could do that. You just have to keep going. It sucks, you know, and it's not and it might take a very, very long time.
Speaker 3:But like you can do that. You could do it.
Speaker 3:You just have to keep going, keep taking steps and understand that, uh, as painful as it is, like your body's gonna be okay, like you can just keep going and and then, once you finish that, you start to feel this overwhelming sense of um, like I can do anything maybe you know or maybe anyway, and I just have to go for it and and then, uh, yeah, it just sort of becomes contagious and multiplies and and that's how I got through, that's how I think all of us got through that training was just, uh, you know, pushing ourself in preparation and then also, once we were out there and pushing one another, and, yeah, just not giving any reason.
Speaker 3:That's the same same way I made the football team later in life and in college was just give them zero reason to cut me aside from my performance, uh, which you know or I guess performance is the right word Um, ability, you know, which may be limited in some way. Uh, for all the anything I can control, you know I can't control. Uh, how high I can jump, uh, even when I train for it, like there's going to be a limit to that or whatever, but how fast I can run a 40? Or you know how fast I can run, uh, 10 miles with a rucksack on or whatever. There's going to be limits to that, but anything I can control, just go all out in that regard and hopefully they'll, they won't find a reason to let me go I do.
Speaker 2:I love that. Focus on on what you can control and what your strengths are and be the best at that, and that mindset of anything is possible is contagious. I love that. And another thing you said is the rule of compounding, like stacking small wins upon each other creates a compounding effect over time of where we just continue to go forward and chase hard things. I would love to know that mental piece, brother, like when you switched out of the military and you went to go the University of Texas. What was that transition like out of the military? And then again, you know just that transition to playing college football.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that was definitely different. That was definitely. I had this lingering regret from my childhood of not doing it and it just, you know, it just hung with me through my time in the military and I was 28 years old, I was on deployment in Iraq and getting towards the end of that deployment and I was up for reenlistment and all these things were sort of happening and I had to make a decision about what I was going to do next and I decided to get out and I decided to go to college. I figured, if I don't go now, I'm never going to go. And then I just was like, wherever I'm going to go, I'm going to try out for the football team. I was encouraged by a good friend of mine who was deployed with me at the time, brad Keys, who unfortunately passed away in 2012.
Speaker 3:But Brad was, you know, my best friend in the military and definitely an inspiration to a lot of people and a great you know leader and just a solid battle buddy, like up and down, like the kind of guy that you always could rely on. He's always stepping out of his lane to help other people and kind of pick them up, and we all know those people in our lives, military or not, like we all have those people that we just, you know. You know you're going to call when something's going down and it's like that was Brad, and you know I I he was the first person I had told that I was going to go try and do this and you know he of course gave me crap about it at first, but that's only because that's just who he is, you know, it wasn't discouraging me in any way. Um, and then I was thinking of going to a small school and Brad was like nah, you got to go to a big school. You do this, you know, because I know who you are and it's going to bother you, you can't hold back here.
Speaker 3:And so I ended up going to Texas because I liked Austin and you know there's a legendary football program and you know I didn't know what I was going to play anyway, or where or if. So I figured I'd go somewhere that I enjoyed the area and you know a good school and you know it's a good opportunity for me in Texas just made a lot of sense, even though I didn't have any family or background there, really, or history. I had an aunt and uncle and some cousins that lived in Dallas. But you know, I think I visited him one time and I didn't know anybody in austin and yeah, it was a totally new experience. But I was excited for that.
Speaker 3:I mean, so was the military, so it was going into our tour and so this was just a new chapter and just fresh page, um, and something that I was excited about and passionate about. So I just, uh, I just went, I just went for it and you know, I started training in iraq. I started trying to learn how to run routes and backpedal and all that fun stuff, uh, to see if I could figure out, you know, at least some of that before prepare myself as much as possible. And then, yeah, I got to Austin and ended up making the team and was on the scout team for that first year, and so you know it wasn't playing but identified a thankless job in long snapping and simultaneously had re-enlisted into the Texas National Guard into 19th 19th.
Speaker 3:Special Forces. Exactly so I was. I did that for the last, you know, for four years out here in Texas and then, um, yeah, my sophomore year I earned the starting job and, you know, went back overseas a couple of times, uh, to afghanistan, and practiced long, snapping over there any free time I had, and then, you know, do what we got to do. I would get attached to an oda over there and then come back for training camp and go to class and play football and be a college student. You know, it was a very, it was a very interesting uh experience, but it helped me a lot because I was older too. So it was already weird, it was already like a little odd. Most of my friends were 10 years younger than me and on the football team, and it was what it was, but I made the best of it for sure.
Speaker 2:What were some of the common leadership lessons that you discovered from the military that transferred to being like a top athlete, especially like the university of Texas?
Speaker 3:Um, I think I mean train like you, fight, you know and also make whatever. Whatever training you're doing, try to make it more difficult than what you'll experience on the field, whatever field that is. You know those little things you learn when we're taught to shoot a pistol from aim small, miss small to slow and smooth as fast and be impatient with yourself through, through, through the process, which is hard, you know. I mean we want to, like once we learn how to pull the, the pistol, out of our holster, um, and we think we got the hang of it. Then, all of a sudden, we're trying to do it too fast and it affects everything else. Uh, all those things applied to learning the long snap of football and and and all and all of that. So I just you know, giving yourself that that grace is is important as far from a leadership standpoint, like the ones. The people that I always wanted to follow are the ones that would not only decide and delegate, but they wouldn't. They wouldn't disappear afterwards.
Speaker 3:They would be, you know, on the ground, mopping up whatever you gotta mop up and uh, you know, doing it with the smallest toothbrush, and so those are the kind of people that I wanted to follow and, yeah, and ones that always had perspective. I mean, mac Mac Brown, our coach at Texas, was really good about that and he's one of the reasons I decided to go to Texas, because he had gone on a USO tour the year before I was in Iraq and you know I'd heard stories of him making the helicopter you know, wait as he's shaking every hand Cause he's not going to miss anybody, and you know it's it's, it's like that kind of stuff. And he remembers everybody's name, and he remembers everybody's mom's name and everybody's brother's name, and and he just, you know he had a famous saying I wasn't on the team when they won the national championship, but he has this famous speech he gave in the locker room and everybody's celebrating, of course, and he just said, look, don't let this be the most important thing that ever happens to you, don't let this be the highlight of your life. You know, this is, this is amazing, enjoy it. I'm not saying don't enjoy it, but like don't rest on this, laurel, basically. And it was just like I loved hearing that. It was so cool Cause it's like you're on top of the world in that moment. But also having that perspective of like this is great, you should.
Speaker 3:But if you're going to be that guy for the rest of your life that just says you know, expects people to, uh, or expects the world to just, you know, be your oyster now because you've got this, you've got this trophy, you know, then you're wrong and you're not going to. It's not going to help you be a good anything other than what you just accomplished, like unless you, you know, apply what you applied to get there and not just, well, I got this. So cause I, a lot of veterans struggle with that, you know. I mean, I do too sometimes, but like veteran entitlement's a real thing A hundred percent. You know, people think we often think we just, we're just owed something and we deserve it. And you know, maybe maybe we should get a second look or an interview. That that's or maybe not should is not the right word but maybe we will get a second look or an interview that someone else might not get because of that.
Speaker 3:And that's great, but at the end of the day, like you still have to execute, you know and you still should be the right person. I don't. I think, no matter what, you should always hire the person that is more equipped to do the job period.
Speaker 2:All right team. Let's take a quick break from this episode and I want to share a leadership resource with you, and that is the resiliency based leadership program. Rblp's vision is to create a worldwide community of practice committed to building and leading resilient teams. So why do you need to build and lead a resilient team? Resilient teams are the key to individual and organizational growth, regardless of being in the military or in the civilian workforce. Building collective teams allows for exponential growth and the team's ability to overcome adversity, adapt and, most importantly, grow. And then bottom line up front. Resilient teams are just stronger together. And here's a fact 99% of the people who take that course recommend it to others, and I'm one of them. I just completed my certification and I highly recommend this, and the great news is it's most likely free to you, and if you're in the military, it is 100% free to you. And if you want to learn more, you can look in the show notes for this episode and find the link and use the discount code JMCMILLION, and that is also in the show notes. Back to the episode. I think that's spot on. You pick the person based on their competency and if they're qualified for the position, and that's it.
Speaker 2:So, transitioning from college and I know we're almost up one time you went to the NFL, right, and you played for the Seahawks. You played for them the same time that I was stationed at Fort Lewis or Joint Base, lewis-mcchord from 2011 to 2014,. I was there. So that's awesome. And when I was going through and looking through your history I was like, oh wow, he played for the Seahawks when I was there. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to go to any games, but that was like my team. When we were out there, I just kind of embraced them for the short period of time because everyone on my team loved them, they were doing awesome. So don't tell the Steelers right, but I watched them during that time. That's awesome. That's awesome. What were some of the the challenges that you faced?
Speaker 3:you know, transitioning from college into the NFL uh well, I I mean, when I got out of college I also left the military for good, um, so that was a little bit different, because even in school I was in the guard and you know there wasn't a lot required of me, there wasn't an expectation for me to make every training and all that, because they knew I was in school and playing football and they supported that 19th group and I appreciated that, uh.
Speaker 3:But at the same time, it was like, well, as the summer rolls around, this is what I'm going to go do. I'm going to be overseas for a bit. And then, yeah, when I got out of the military in the spring, completely finished the football season in the fall or sorry, I got out of. I finished football season in the fall of 14. I got out the next spring, spring of 15 and then I signed as a free agent in on may 2nd 2015. So it was just a couple of months after I left the military for good and and uh, yeah, it was like I think every day just expecting to get cut was a little bit different.
Speaker 3:Just waiting for that moment and, you know, eventually it did happen, but luckily I spent. I spent several months there and, you know, got to play in a game and all that stuff, which was really cool. But yeah, the uh, I think the experience of sort of being unsure about what was next was different. I just didn't really think about it while I was in school and doing the military thing. I never really had much anxiety about it. And now I was kind of thinking about that and I had some other passions and interests.
Speaker 3:But I think the idea of starting all over again and now being in my mid thirties was sort of scary, you know, sort of like and not even scary, just like exhausting the thought of it, cause I know who I, I know how I am and who I am and whatever I do, I'm going to go like all in on it and you know it's like it's tiring and it doesn't really it's not super conducive to relationships and I don't just mean romantic, like friendships, like I've. I know that's that. That that's always kind of been a weird thing to me. I've had a series of you know friends over the years from very different subgroups and there's a few that I keep in touch with over the years, but not really closely with, and that's kind of odd, uh, and it could be, it could be very lonely, um, you know.
Speaker 3:And then also thinking about you know, do I want to have a family? Am I gonna, am I gonna do that one day? And how's that gonna work? And you know, and uh, so like all those things, and it's just, it's so much more a business too in the NFL, so that's part of it probably, is it didn't feel like. It didn't feel like a club anymore. You know what I mean. And there was still the camaraderie. The Seahawks were very different. I think the most NFL teams because of Pete Carroll, yeah.
Speaker 2:Pete Carroll.
Speaker 3:Another great leader. But also that culture he cultivated. There was more like that college experience because he came from USC and was very successful. So he tried to keep that competitive mindset and really build camaraderie and the idea of even though in the NFL, like these people in position groups often don't even know each other you know offensive guys, defensive guys often don't know each other and they play together for years it's very weird he tried to break through all of that. Even with that, it still felt. It still felt different. You know, yeah, very much like a, like a job, like that, like my first nine to five kind of feeling.
Speaker 3:You know, anything which is fun, playing football, but like sort of like that, like it's. You know, there's certain things you do every day and the routine is very, very similar and nate, so I know our time is almost up.
Speaker 2:And last question I usually end with the killer bees, but I'm not going to do that with you because I know the time's running up. I just want to hear what are some of the projects that you're currently going on and that you're getting ready to do that with you, because I know the time's running up. I just want to hear what are some of the projects that you're currently going on and that you're getting ready to do.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So you know when, when football ended, I thought about going back into the military. I'd become good friends with Jay Glazer, who was a Fox analyst, a Fox NFL analyst, and you know he he does the the the morning, sunday morning show with Michael Strahan and Howie Long and all those folks, and you know he sort of convinced me to start this organization with him, a charity that would bring together vets and athletes and help them, you know, with the purpose Sorry, help them find purpose again with the transition. And so we started MVP uh, it's actually our eight-year anniversary, um coming up here and and, uh, we, we started in LA and then have branched out into many other cities and you know we meet up in the gym on a weekly basis and we work out together, vets and athletes as a group, and then we huddle up and it's like, you know, this peer to peer open forum where anything's on the table and we really create that camaraderie and that network and really just that locker room again, yeah, when the uniform comes off.
Speaker 3:So on a personal level, you know I had this interest in storytelling and filmmaking, specifically, that I had been interested in it.
Speaker 3:You know, as early as 19 years old, I was living in Southern California. I lived in San Diego and then moved up to LA and you know I took some acting classes but never really pursued it, probably because of the fear thing like we were talking about. And when I say never pursued it like never, never took it seriously and put the time in like, and you know one of those things where you don't really want to call yourself a people are like what do you do? And you're like, oh, I'm a wannabe filmmaker. You know, we don't even say that it's just like, oh, I'm a wannabe filmmaker. We don't even say that. It's just like, oh, I freaking wait tables or whatever. But now it was like, now that I knew how to make a plan and work towards it and kind of put yourself, wasn't afraid to put myself out there, I started that again. I still had a little bit of GI Bill left because I was put on scholarship at Texas, so I saved about a year of my GI Bill.
Speaker 2:That's awesome.
Speaker 3:I took some more classes and started getting some acting gigs and then co-created a few projects and was doing some hosting and then in 2020, during during covid, I directed my first movie, which is called mvp, and it's about our organization and you can watch that on showtime and amazon prime and apple tv in a lot of places. But it really focuses on that journey of you know, in our story it's a marine who was living in a homeless shelter and a former and a player first year out of the league and they meet each other and they're going through the same struggles and they kind of help each other through it. So it's like it's very much a story of MVP and about how we started. You know, it's based on a true story with real people and you know Michael Strahan and Howie Long have a cameo in it, and so does Jay, and so does Randy Couture, and you know Tom Arnold's in it, and then all the vets portrayed on screen are played by vets, and it was mostly vets behind the camera as well. So it was a really cool project. So did that.
Speaker 3:And then I hosted a Discovery Channel series this last year called Survive the Raft and, yeah, I'm gearing up to do more and make more and tell more stories. And yeah, I'm down for whatever. I'll just say that, like, I'm always open to hearing ideas and you know it's helpful when people come to you and they've already written something you know or they know somebody that has. But but yeah, I mean this is what I love to do and it feels like I'm on a team again when I'm out there shooting something. I just got done shooting a movie up in Ohio and you know I didn't know 90% of the people when I got there and by the end of the shoot.
Speaker 2:It's like they're your best friends, you know? Yeah, exactly, nate dude. This has been awesome, man. I really wish we would have the opportunity to go deeper because I have so many questions for you, but thank you for your time and thank you for everything you continue to do. With that mindset, anything is possible. Brother, you're an inspiring leader and I love to watch what you're doing.
Speaker 3:Thank you, my man. I appreciate you having me and keep going. That's all I can say. Whatever it is, whatever, whatever it is you want to do, out there, people that are listening just uh, we're all dying and uh, at the end of the day it's going to. It's going to. I guarantee it's going to drive you nuts. If you're laying on that deathbed one day and you just didn't try, you know, and you wish you would have, that's going to, that's going to probably probably haunt you more than anything else.
Speaker 2:I love it, brother. Hey, have a great night, nate. Thank you again, you too, thanks.
Speaker 3:Have a great night, Nate. Thank you again.
Speaker 2:You too. Thanks, all right, team. That was a great episode with Nate, so now it's time for our after action review. So what are the top three takeaways that I took from this episode? The first one was really all about procrastination and imposter syndrome Nate even mentioned it at the beginning that he had when he graduated from high school. He had some time of where he didn't necessarily just join the army, and I think that's one of the most critical things in life that everyone goes through that Everyone has a procrastination in them, it doesn't matter who they are and it could be down and it boils down to really just imposter syndrome.
Speaker 2:For me, I believe it's us fighting against ourselves or the ego, because we don't necessarily know what we want in life. We just find ourselves kind of swimming right, we're not gaining any traction. It looks like we're actually doing a lot of stuff, but internally, on the inside, we're not, because we're not taking purposeful action on the things that we absolutely love and want to be doing and I mentioned this is that when we find our why and I learned this from Chris Hodges from the Church of Highlands in Huntsville, alabama is that if your why is big enough, it demands a response and that his time when he volunteered before joining the Army. That's where he really found the spark for wanting to serve others and inspire others. And then he transitioned into the military and chose such a hard path and I'm telling you, the 18 x-ray path is so hard. Now think about this you join the military, which is a challenge in itself, but you join a military straight into a pipeline for special forces. That is absolutely one of the most difficult paths that any young soldier can take, and then he did it. And that really leads us into the second key takeaway is making training purposeful. Well, it's all about the mindset of anything is possible, but he was able to consistently and that was a theme that I got from this episode be able to continue to chase hard things. And he did it because he prepared and leaders prepare. One of the easiest ways to do that is to run through scenarios in your mind of what do you think you're going to encounter when you're actually doing that thing, and then make your training purposeful, meaning make it tougher than what you think you're going to be doing when you're actually doing that thing. And when you can make training tougher, you're anticipating some of the challenges that you're going to face and you can see that throughout his entire career going through the 18 X-ray program, transitioning through first and 10th special forces and then going and playing college football, while simultaneously still being in the 19th special forces, and then going to the NFL and what he's doing right now special forces and then going to the NFL and what he's doing right now he has consistently trained.
Speaker 2:Nate said that he put body armor on and he lunged for one mile. That takes two things a level of discipline that most people don't fully understand and sheer willpower, the ability to shut your mind off the ego, that little voice inside your head that's saying you need to stop. What you're doing right now is painful. You could be sitting on the couch right now. You could be watching your favorite TV show right now. Why are you doing this? You need to stop. That voice in your head that's telling you to stop is the voice that you need to tell to shut up so you can continue to take purposeful action. And I'm going to say this anything in life that is worth doing is hard. It's just a fact.
Speaker 2:But the key is to exactly what Nate said aim small, miss small, fail often and fail early and then, or if you're a soldier that is transitioning out of the military, the farther I go down my leadership journey, the one constant that I always go back to is losing a sense of connection and a sense of purpose, and it's universal. I always thought that that was an epidemic that plagued service members when they were transitioning out of the military. Because you'd done something for so long that you just absolutely break contact with your friends, with the organization, with the culture that you've been ingrained in for so long. Then you have to reinvent yourself and do something new, and I never thought that that same problem lined with other people exactly within the realm of sports. And I remember, thinking back on this, my high school football year, the very last snap that I had, thinking that this may be the last time that I ever get an opportunity to play high school football, and I had that fear inside of me, but I couldn't really understand what it was. It was losing that sense of purpose and connection with everyone that I was able to train with for the last six years of my life through junior high and ultimately through high school.
Speaker 2:Transitions are dangerous, but what gets us through transitions is finding our purpose, and that's hard because it takes time for us to actually sit down and think hey, team, do me a favor, if you like this podcast, if you like the content that I'm pushing out, it would mean the world to me if you share it. Share this podcast with everyone and anyone, because everyone is a leader. Give it a five-star review, on whatever platform you listen, and then support the channel. And you can support the show by going to macmillanleadershipcoachingcom and then going to Leadership Resources and supporting the channel from there. Team, as always, I am your host, josh McMillian, saying every day is a gift. Don't waste yours. I'll see you next time.
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