Author: Louis Fernandez

My day with Nick and Jack

I keep glancing down at my GPS as I pull into the neighborhood where RangerUP headquarters is located; the area is shady as fuck. I send Nick a message that I am here and when I look up from my phone a guy was coming out of the building to have a cigarette.  I step boldly out of my Prius and introduce myself. He shook my hand, “I’m Jack, nice to meet you.”  As he said that it clicked.  I look more closely and in his eyes I had the faint resemblance of a certain character from Range15.  “Wait, Jack Mandaville?  Like from the movie?”  My voice goes up at least an octave, but in my defense, the guy looks nothing like his film persona:

I tell him about the shady neighborhood, and Jack laughs it off.  “Yeah man, like the first week we were here some dude was straight up murdered at the gas station…like muuuuuuuuurrrrdered.”  He points his hand like a gun and pops off caps into the ground as he hangs on the word murdered, the smoke from his Marlboro red adds a nice touch.

A bright red suburban with “Rgr Up 6” plates pulls into the parking lot and I can recognize the face I’ve seen on many a youtube video in the driver seat.  Nick pulls in and starts to do a Chinese fire drill switching out car seats with another car in the parking lot.  As a father, I know this drill well and can appreciate the urgency when he walks up and introduces himself. “Hey I’m Nick.  Let’s get inside before he sees me,” referencing his little boy that is already missing daddy.

Inside it looks exactly what you would expect the warehouse to look like when you’ve outsourced a large percentage of your work.  Mostly bare shelves and a metric fuckload of shipping materials and differently sized priority mail boxes sit on every horizontal surface.  Adorning the walls are beautiful liquid metal decorations of flags, punisher skulls, and different army units.  These really are gorgeous, and I found my eyes lingering on the 82nd Airborne patch as we make our way to a corner in the warehouse where the offices are.

Nick is already on his phone answering emails and checking twitter while he talks to me about the day ahead. I can’t stop thinking about how nice it would be to come to work in gym shorts and a t-shirt noticing his outfit.  On my right is a large white board that covers the wall.  Written on it are all kinds of video ideas, some have checkmarks, most have names next to them assigning some sort of responsibility.  “I’m sorry we’re really short-handed today,” Nick starts as he drifts off back into his phone then continues without looking up, “I had to send everyone to Georgia to unfuck that mess…gimme a sec.”  Something he read caught his attention and he retreats into his office.

I’m left behind with Jack and Thom, their resident editor who I would later learn is a genius when it comes to film.  Sitting on the table, shoved under some boxes, is a poster-board with stick figures drawn on it.  I pick it up and laugh, “Yeah, I’m not an artist, but it’s funny.  That’s a shirt I designed.  Want one?”  Just like that, Jack Mandaville was offering me for free an original design.  I muttered through some words as I’m still awestruck, but really, as a guy that knows the cost of inventory, I’m very sensitive about accepting gifts from small businesses.

 

“I wanted to be creative.  Pursue my passion, do something I loved, and make a difference.”

 

The conversation moves a bit as Jack tells me he used to be in the oil industry and write for the duffelblog on the side. I ask why he left, “I wanted to be creative.  Pursue my passion, do something I loved, and make a difference.”  His words were so damn passionate, they hit me like a bat to the teeth.  Not only can I identify with that statement, but the way he delivered it makes me want to stand on my desk and call him O Captain My Captain.

I ask a couple follow ups and before I know it, I move chairs and am looking over his shoulder at the computer. He jumps from one shirt to the next, showing me the designs, artwork, and most importantly, the stories behind each and every shirt.  “We’re more than a T-Shirt company.  Our product descriptions aren’t shit like 50% cotton 50% polyester extra larg-nah, read this shit!”  He points to the screen and starts to read a couple sentences from an American Sparta shirt.  He is booming with pride and testosterone, then he clicks and we’re staring at war rabbit.  I laugh, he chuckles and says, “then there’s this.  People eat this shit up man.”  By the way readers, I love war rabbit.

Nick comes back out, as he would throughout the day, told us the plan, told us he was ready to film, glanced at his phone, and went back into his office.  “Just give me a minute,” his voice carried across the offices as Jack’s phone rang.

It’s amazing to see what happens to a man when he’s in love.  Jack is a hard and hilarious motherfucker with a USMC tattoo prominently on his forearm. I watch his face transform in real time just by glancing at the caller ID.  “Hey baby!” His voice comes out soft and sweet.  He is excited and tempered at the same time as he rises from behind his desk and steps outside.

“That’s his girlfriend if you can’t tell,” Nick said as he came back out. I talk to him about the interview that I want to do. As I tell him what questions I want to ask he looks intently at the ground thinking about what he would say.  When I was done, he nods, “I’m ready to do this now.  Want to do it now?”  I tell him I’m ready and we step into a back room where we interrupt Thom working in the dark by flipping the light on.  Nick explains what we were doing as he sends another email on his phone and Thom immediately got to work setting everything up.  Nick promises he will be right back and shoots out towards his office.  I could tell things weren’t going well, but he wanted me to feel welcomed and he was going to find a way to be in more than one place at once.

Nick comes back in, asks if we’re ready and takes a seat in front of the camera.  He puts down his phone, shakes his head furiously, smacks his face, and his eyes meet mine and in an instant I see the key to his success.  In this moment, at this time, there is nothing else going on in Nick’s life but this interview.  There is no doubt he is wholly focused 100% on me, and let’s face it, I’m a fucking nobody.  Knowing that he is giving this much attention to something that in the grand scheme of his business isn’t going to make a great bit of difference is evidence of the focus, character, and effort he puts into a market that he revolutionized.

 

 “I had to get better.  I didn’t have a choice.  I had to be a better businessman, better entrepreneur, a better dad.”

 

I look down at my phone where I had my notes, ask my first question and immediately I’m sucked into his story.  “I learned I was getting another promotion in my corporate role…” He starts to recount the story of when he decided to quit his cushy job and work on RangerUP full time.  It cost him his marriage, he had to downgrade his house, ended up with tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt, and had less than $1500 to his name.  “I had to get better.  I didn’t have a choice.  I had to be a better businessman, better entrepreneur, a better dad.”

There is no question that Nick got better.  He filled a market niche that no one else had up until that point and defined the market.  He created a business that not only grew in the new market, but has managed to stay on top while the competition increased in number and quality.  He even invented a marketing strategy that few have been able to replicate, and although it hasn’t made it into your MBA books yet, believe that it will one day.

Note: The interview is getting its own post with video in a few days, so make sure to like/follow/subscribe whatever, so you don’t miss it

Our interview ends and we bullshit for a few more minutes as Nick goes back to his phone.  Thom and I are left behind to discuss video file transfers as Jack comes back in the room.  He’s pacing a bit and throwing out ideas for the next movie.  “Should I wear a Hitler mustache?  Is that too much,” he asks us. We join in tossing out ideas on how to make his character over the top.  He stops pacing for a moment, “Actually no, because then i’d have to wear the mustache to dinner and shit.”

He’s hops over to a rack of costumes and starts pulling out items for a video that they are making today.  I look up to a large flatscreen in front of me that has Thom’s screen displayed.  On it I can read the script and immediately start laughing.  I look over at Jack, “Did you write this?”  “Yeah,” he answers pulling out a fake beard from the box at his feet.  He gets all the costumes ready and disappears.

About 30 minutes later Nick shows back up chomping on a burrito as Jack rounds the corner and tosses a burrito in my direction.  We eat quickly then Nick starts getting into his hipster outfit for the video.  He stands in front of a green screen facing the camera, Jack is sitting on the ground holding the script and reads the first line to Nick.  One take, nailed it, and we all laugh hard.  A quick costume change and Nick is ready to go again.  “If either of them are elected, you can stay in your own darn country,” Jack reads out and Nick repeats.  His Canadian accent is terrible and quickly morphs into Scottish at every turn.  I’m laughing so hard tears are rolling down my cheeks, Thom is laughing hard too, but Jack is just sitting there repeating the same line again and again in a perfect Canadian accent for Nick to emulate. Eventually they get a good take (see the video here), I ask for a photo with the two of them and say goodbye.

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On my way out we chat briefly about collaborating on a future video, I thank them again, and leave.  I get in my car, text my wife to let her know i’m heading home and take one last look at the RangerUP marquee above the door to the building.   This will go down as one of the coolest things I’ve ever done, even if it was just Thursday for Nick and Jack.

-LJF

 

 

 

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Why I drive a Prius and Other Begrudgingly Smart Financial Choices

I haven’t had a car payment for almost five years and it has been awesome…except for the fact that my 2006 Honda CRV was getting a bit boorish to drive and I really wasn’t a fan of the armrest.  Those are pretty silly reasons to buy a new car, and every time I went car shopping, I came back to the same realization that I loved money more than I loved a new car.  Then in mid-August a teenager not paying attention slammed into the back of my CRV as I was waiting on someone making a left turn.  The car didn’t really have much damage, but the bill for repair was approaching the value of the car and it was declared totaled and I got an $8,000 check.

 

I like to take my time making big financial choices, so I was a bit disappointed that I had less than a week to decide on a car.  I had three options as I saw it:

  1. Buy a similar vehicle to the one I had and stay on the savings plan to purchase a newer car in the next few years
  2. Spring a few extra thousand dollars and get a slightly nicer used car
  3. Put the $8,000 towards a new car and take on a car payment

After spending a weekend with every used car salesman in a 20 mile radius, I ended up settling on option #1 and purchased a Prius with similar mileage and a similar year to the car I was already driving, except now I have more than doubled my gas mileage and will probably only fill up the tank once a month (I’ve spent $14 on gas since mid September).

So now my household has a Prius and a Minivan.  I’ve thought about putting a Ranger bumper sticker on my Prius, then supplementing that with a “my other car is a minivan” sticker, because that’s just the kind of guy I am.

Look, it’s not sexy, and not a “fun” car to drive, but it’s comfortable and it gets me to work every day.  It’s a reliable vehicle and it protects me financially, and as I have told you in the past, strong finances also protect your marriage.  So by making this choice, some of you “manly-men” might make fun of me, but the most important relationship in my life is protected, so insult away bitches.

Other Frustratingly Smart Choices

I recently took a promotion within my company, moved my family back to North Carolina, and drove 45 minutes one way for nearly a year because I had a rental property that I couldn’t sell.  I know many of you have gone through this same pain in the ass problem.  We moved my big ass five person family into a small 3 bedroom 1600 square foot house for months because it was the smart financial choice.  When we finally sold it, we upgraded some, but stayed well below 20% of my salary in the new home and cut my drive to 20 minutes.  We could have afforded much more house, but we both know this isn’t our final living place, and our ability to save money is more important.  It also gives us greater financial flexibility.

I only learned these lessons because I made the mistakes before.  Less than a decade ago I was living in a house far more expensive than I needed to be and I had a $500 a month car payment.  We lived almost paycheck to paycheck, and whenever I got an overtime check, we would spend that too.  It wasn’t until I had to take a pay cut that all our bad habits cost us.  We argued, she cried, the stress was terrible, and I had to get rid of my beautiful truck and buy the minivan then drive the CRV.

We made, and still make, sacrifices financially, but we don’t have any debt.  We stay on a strict budget that fits our needs that includes entertainment, and going out, and new clothes for everyone regularly.  We take vacations, and now we never feel like we don’t have money, and folks let me tell you that feeling is so much greater than the new car smell or a great big house you don’t know how you’re going to pay for.  Those things aren’t going to bring you joy like being able to buy your kids the present they’ve been wanting without batting an eye. We’ve also become much more generous givers able to donate significantly to charity.

Being debt free means to have complete ownership of all the money you earn, and sadly very few people have EVER felt that.

Imagine not owing anyone.  Imagine not having to pay credit cards, student loans, car loans, etc.  Imagine getting a check and not being a slave to anyone else.  I strongly recommend Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, you can scroll down and find a class near you.  In Proverbs it says “the borrower is slave to the lender”, becoming debt free is releasing your own shackles.

Having debt is like a constant weight that you have to carry around hanging off every single paycheck.  No matter how hard you work, or what promotion you take, it never feels like enough.  We live in a culture that thrives on materialism where status is given by your belongings…but it’s all fake.  Some things are worth more than a fancy car or a really big house, and being financially secure is one of them.

Set yourself free!

-LJF

 

 

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Why We Can’t Cure PTSD

What I am about to say is going to piss some people off.  I want you to know that nothing that follows is meant to diminish the very real struggle that some veterans are facing.  Unless we stop to talk about why we have a PTSD epidemic, we will never arrive at a solution.  The truth, however, doesn’t care about your feelings, so today we ruffle some feathers…

I am going to examine 3 main reasons why, despite the best efforts of seasoned psychological professionals, we are continuing to see a rise in PTSD cases and very few people are getting “cured”.

 

Reason #1 Life Stressors

Difficulties in the workplace or in your personal relationships can exacerbate the problems with PTSD.  Similar to the straw that broke the camel’s back analogy, there simply is only so much that the human mind can handle, and then it gives on everything.  Here at CONUS Battle Drills (CBD), we have talked at length about the challenges that veterans will face with their transition.  It is not an easy time, and you receive painfully little training on how to have a successful transition.  A week long course on transition when you’re two months out from ETS is NOT sufficient.

We believe the DOD’s transition process needs a massive overhaul.  Soldiers are getting guidance about the civilian world from a chain of command of people that have never been in it, and dangerously little of it is accurate.  This is the easiest problem to fix and the stop-gap that we are trying to fill here at CBD by training you how to transition. We seek to give you the tools necessary for personal success in corporate life, marriage, and parenthood and thus remove added stress in your life.  If we can help you get the majority of your shit together, then you can focus on wrestling your demons.

Reason #2 Feeling of Community

This one may come as a bit of a surprise, but for many veterans it is their trauma that connects them to their lost brothers.  Although it can be torturous to re-live an experience in a traumatic way, the thought of losing that connection acts as a barrier to healing.  Whether they feel like they would be losing their friends for a second time, or maybe they feel guilty for being alive, their PTSD represents their service and brings them closer to their brothers.

Our providers need to be aware that some patients may not want to lose their PTSD because of this and deal with that accordingly.  Sometimes this doesn’t manifest itself in any obvious way, but as a provider you need to pay attention to see if this is an inhibition to healing for your patient.

Reason #3 Financial Incentive

This is the hardest problem to fix, and really what I think has spawned the rise in PTSD claims since the GWOT began.

Some guys are out there getting 100% disability for their PTSD, if they get cured, that means taking a hit of thousands of dollars in their disability rating.  Basically, our government is paying these guys to stay sick, and if they’re not sick, to at least claim that they still are or lose thousands of dollars a month!  When you have such a powerful motivation to not get well, it should come as no surprise that they don’t, or even that other guys get sick too.

This leaves us with a choice:  Continue to pay guys even after they are healed or don’t pay disability for PTSD.  Neither is a great option, but unless something is done about this financial incentive, we will never cure PTSD and the rates will continue to go up.

-Spartan

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Important Marriage Conversations during Transition

I have told you before that you have to treat your marriage like a team event, not a contract.  If you win an argument against your wife, your marriage loses, and ipso facto, you lose too.  The only way to win is to work as a team and win together.  Today I want to focus a bit on the important conversations you need to have and how to have them.

Answering the 4 big questions together

How anyone of you does this without your partner is absolutely beyond me, but it happens all the time because answering these questions means you might have to have some tough conversations.  You need to start having these conversations at least one year before you get out, so you have time to prepare and adjust as needed.

Big Question #1- Are you financially ready to get out?

If one of you is a big spender, or maybe you have student loans, credit card debt, car payments, etc. you need to get together and figure out a budget that allows you to clear out as much of that debt as possible. Right now you have no idea how much money you will be making next year, or to put it more bluntly: you have no idea what someone will be willing to pay you next year.  If you decide to get out of the military and carry with you a ton of debt, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

I know what I am suggesting here is a tough pill to swallow because it implies you might need to stay in longer.  Then again, if you have a very compelling answer to Big Question #2 and can’t wait any longer, then you and your partner need to be perfectly aligned with every dollar you decide to spend (down to whether you’re buying lunch).

Big Question #2- Do you know Why you’re getting out?

Although couples often talk about the reasons for leaving the military, sometimes they aren’t aligned.  I’ve seen where one person was ready to get out and the other wasn’t, but capitulated to satisfy their partner.  If you’re getting out, you need to have a better reason than “my wife hates the military.”   Sorry to drop that one on you, but if you’re not all in also, when life gets hard on the outside, you’re going to blame her for it.  That blame will lead to resentment and eventually the relationship is going to suffer anyway.  You both need to be ok with the decision!  See if there’s a compromise: is there a PCS location that would help, or maybe you decide on a number of years.  Regardless, it needs to work for both of you, and if you’re not OK with it, you need to speak up.

Big Question #3- Do you know where you want to live?

I had a buddy that followed his wife to her hometown because she wanted to be near family.  Because he was so geographically limited, it was hard to find a job.  This put them in financial strain which resulted in constant arguments in the house.  In the end they ended up with an ugly divorce and their kids are stuck in the middle.  It’s a terrible situation for everyone.  A recommendation from a corporate recruiter is to have “gates” set up:  At 12 months you want a job in San Antonio (for example), 9 months out you open it up to Texas, 6 months out you open it up to the southwest, 3 months out something stateside.  If you both agree to this strategy ahead of time, then she will know you’re doing your best to meet her needs, but also keeping a pragmatic approach and protecting your finances.

Big Question #4- Do you know what you want to do?

You and your wife should be very clear about the parameters of your work so there is no confusion when you get a job offer.  If you want to be a cop, or work an off-shift, she needs to be clear on the requirements of that job. If you want to work as a contractor and deploy some more, she should be on the same page as you.  If she expects you to take a 9 to 5 and help her with the kids in the morning, you better be willing to do it.  Regardless, it’s a conversation you need to have.

Financial Decisions

I will always harp on financial decisions because finances are the number one reason for arguments within a marriage.  Regular arguments over finances can eventually lead to resentment and other arguments over minor stuff.  This can then result in a marriage beyond repair and a family gets broken.  Losing a family then puts a veteran into extremely high risk category for suicide, particularly when coupled with substance abuse and depression (very common after divorce).  So you see, answering question #1 and being on the same page with your wife financially could very well be a life or death decision.  Just don’t take this shit lightly ok?

Respect your partner and their ideas of what you should be doing with your money.  Don’t make any decisions without consulting her first.  When you talk to your wife about a financial decision, don’t say, “this is what we’re doing,” because that doesn’t count as a conversation.  You guys are a team and you don’t need to be giving orders.  Instead try, “I’m thinking of doing X, does that align with your financial goals too?”  If you decide to work at your marriage and treat it like a covenant and not a contract, you will find it to be so rewarding!

Remember that this is your partner and teammate that you are talking to.  If you hurt your wife in order to win an argument, your marriage loses.  Keep your words soft and sweet because you never know when you’re going to have to eat them.

Good luck and God Bless!

-LJF

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