Episodes

  • Dean Wegner with Authentically American
    May 11 2023

    I am honored to introduce you to our keynote speaker, Dean Wegner. Dean is a Veteran, an Entrepreneur, and his priorities in life align with God, Family, and Country. Dean and his bride Kelly have been married for 28 years and they have 4 children, with the youngest being adopted from Ethiopia. What drives Dean most is his insatiable desire to make a difference. I’m so glad he could join us, you are in for quite a treat. Please welcome my new friend, Dean Wegner. Long Version I am honored to introduce you to our keynote speaker, Dean Wegner. Dean is a Veteran, an Entrepreneur, and his priorities in life align with God, Family, and Country. Dean and his bride Kelly have been married for 28 years and they have 4 children, with the youngest being adopted from Ethiopia. Dean graduated from West Point in 1993 and served 7 years in the Army as a helicopter pilot and Army Ranger. After the Army, the majority of Dean’s business career was spent in business development, marketing, and strategy with Mars and Procter & Gamble. In 2017, Dean founded Authentically American, a Veteran owned, American made premium apparel brand. Authentically American is a brand that celebrates patriotism, believes in the American worker, and honors our American heroes by intentionally donating 10% of profits to Veteran and First Responder charities. As a former Division I ice hockey player, Dean is highly competitive, possesses a tireless work ethic, and he still plays in a Men’s “Beer League” every week. Dean is active in his church and serves on the board of several for-profit and non-profit companies and organizations. Dean and Authentically American are riding a wave of national media exposure having been featured in Forbes magazine, Fox News, Nasdaq, Newsmax TV, and SiriusXM Radio. What drives Dean most is his insatiable desire to make a difference. I’m so glad he could join us, you are in for quite a treat. I’m so glad he could join us, you are in for quite a treat. Please welcome my new friend, Dean Wegner.

    Show More Show Less
    26 mins
  • Derek Layne with Mighty Hero Homes
    May 5 2023

    Mighty Hero Homes exist to provide affordable, permanent housing for homeless veterans and vital wrap around services required to renew hope, find purpose and restore faith in community.

    Because They Deserve Better®

    Meaningful change will require we flip the script and change our attitude about what can and should be done. Change comes by following a process, but it must be a good process to effect beneficial transformation. While temporary or transitional housing may still play a role in initial rehabilitation, at Mighty Hero Homes we believe lasting change will come by creating a new paradigm of veteran dedicated affordable homes, in community focused environments, from which they never have to move.

    The Purpose


    Our primary purpose and mission is to provide affordable, permanent homes for ALL United States veterans. In the initial stages of concept development, success was defined as providing all homeless veterans a safe place to live independently where they can age in-place. Through years of research, interviews, consultation, and identification of our true passion, we have concluded that putting a veteran in a home is just the start. The ultimate benefit of relentlessly pursuing development of over 37,000 Mighty Hero Homes will be to unleash the incredible talent, the experiential knowledge, and the value our veterans possess into the communities where Bases are built. We are convinced that countless lives will be touched, and generational change will occur through the interactions of Base residents and the local citizens where Bases are built.


    Show More Show Less
    25 mins
  • Drew Walston and Mighty Hero Homes
    Mar 29 2023

    For over 21 years Drew served in a variety of executive roles with Progressive Insurance, helping the company grow from ~$500M in written premium in 1986 to over $13B in 2007. Drew led the creation and implementation of legacy processes for Progressive such as “Immediate Response Claims Service®,” National Total Loss and Salvage Process Centers, Direct Sales Service Centers, Concierge Claims Service® Centers, National Catastrophe Claims Centers, etc. Drew’s organization also led negotiations for and managed national contracts for the Claims organization. Following, Drew founded EXO2 The Heat Inside in 2007. The company has enjoyed fifteen straight years of profitable growth and has emerged as a world leader in the application of heat technologies. Utilizing the company’s unique and proprietary FabRoc™ Heat Technology, EXO2 has earned the favor of Fortune 500 companies, military installations, and international businesses alike. These relationships have provided EXO2 the opportunity to develop over 210 products and to be a part of three world records. Drew’s greatest strength is the ability to forge lasting relationships based on core personal and business disciplines. A trusted and proven leader, Drew has served on various Boards, has led strategic project teams, and works with new business owners to help them define their vision and set actionable steps into motion. As a scholarship athlete (Football and Baseball) and four-year letterman at Duke University (BA 1986), Drew’s leadership skills have defined his contributions throughout his professional and personal ventures. Out of the office, Drew is an avid golfer and is enthusiastic about helping young men develop into the fathers, husbands, and leaders they are called to be in their families, churches, and communities. Married to his teenage sweetheart, Lisa, the couple raises a variety of livestock on their farm outside of McDonough, Georgia. A Personal Message from Drew: I have learned that the principles I live by dictates the world I live in. I have been blessed to have three and half decades of extensive strategic and executive management experience in my rearview mirror and it is time to give back. I have come to learn that I make a living based on what I get but I make a life based on what I give. As I look forward to “Act III” and devoting my full time and resources to Mighty Hero Homes, my experience in Product Development, Business Development, Process Development and People Development will be employed to change the paradigm for those who need a hand up. I have had the honor of leading dynamic teams and organizations to achieve unprecedented results and we are ready to do it again! This, my greatest challenge, will only achieve success through total surrender, unprecedented faith, and absolute obedience.

    Website www.MightyHeroHomes.org

    Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MightyHeroHomes

    Instagram https://www.instagram.com/

    LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/mighty-hero-homes-inc/?viewAsMember=true

    Any other social media https://twitter.com/MightyHeroHome


    Show More Show Less
    25 mins
  • Brandon Watts and Operation Rallypoint
    Mar 22 2023
    Founder and CEO/President of Operation RallypointCommitted toHelping Veterans in Crisis


    There are thousands of Veterans in our country that are in mental and physical distress due to service-related trauma. At Operation Rally Point, we repay their sacrifices by providing them with the support they need when they are in crisis.

    About Our Organization

    We are a Veteran-led, 501c3 nonprofit that is based in Monroe, Georgia. Due to the historic rise in Veteran homelessness and distress as well as a massive decrease in government funding, we made it our mission to step up and help our nation’s heroes.


    About Brandon:

    I am Brandon Watts; Founder, CEO and President of Operation Rally Point. I'm a Combat Infantryman and Noncommissioned Officer with two combat tours in Iraq. I served in the Invasion with 2-7 Infantry 3ID in 2003 and as a Combat Advisor on the MNSTC-I staff in 2008.

    I have an Associate's Degree in Political Science/History from Georgia State University and a Bachelor's degree in History of Western Civilization from Georgia Gwinnett College. I am a husband of 13 years to the Love of my life, Gunn Watts, and a proud Father of Laya Watts. We travel to Thailand on a semi-regular basis to spend time with my in-laws.

    Show More Show Less
    30 mins
  • From Air Force to Strategic Marketing
    Feb 8 2023

    In this episode we highlight Diana Perez and her journey from the military into her transition in Strategic marketing. Here's a bit about Diana:

    I'm a UCLA Anderson MBA graduate. Prior to business school, I served in the Air Force for 7 years as an intelligence officer and acquisitions project manager.

    Show More Show Less
    25 mins
  • Operation Rally Point with Blake Baldwin
    Jan 11 2023

    Committed to Helping Veterans in Crisis. There are thousands of Veterans in our country that are in mental and physical distress due to service-related trauma. At Operation Rally Point, we repay their sacrifices by providing them with the support they need when they are in crisis.

    Blake is a follower of Christ, Husband to Elizabeth, Father to Ayden, Barron and Elizabeth. He is a Marine Corps Veteran with multiple combat deployments to Iraq and across the world. He is the Owner of StrongPoint Contracting Atlanta and the Chief Operations Officer at Operation RallyPoint.

    Show More Show Less
    32 mins
  • Tribe + Purpose with Otis McGregor
    Jan 6 2023

    A bit about Otis:

    Leadership Expert, Author, Speaker, Podcast Host, Project Management Trainer, Rugby Coach, LTC, Special Forces, US Army, Retired

    My passion lies in helping people succeed. I’ve used this passion through years in the Army Special Operations, coaching rugby and business. It now drives me to create better leaders. I believe that better leaders create better organizations, better organizations create better communities, and better communities will create a better world.

    I worked as a Business Development Manager, Director, and Chief Strategy Officer for several companies. In 2009, I founded LTO Enterprises, LLC to help businesses win government contracts. In 2021, I rebranded LTO to become Tribe + Purpose, aligning with how we operate and our business purpose. We focus on creating better leaders to lead high-performing teams. I am a certified business performance coach and certified project director and trainer through The Institute of Project Management.

    I retired from the US Army in 2009 as a Green Beret Lieutenant Colonel following 25 years of service. While in the Army, I had a broad range of experience from being a private driving tanks five years older than me; to an engineer in the Arctic, running heavy equipment in the most extreme arctic conditions, to leading Green Berets on complex and dangerous missions around the world. I also had the unique experience of being part of new organizations and creating these new units into cohesive, effective organizations. This experience ranged from Arctic conditions in Alaska to counter-terrorism units in Iraq and Afghanistan to NATO Special Operations Headquarters. Being part of these organizations from the ground up has given me immense experience in creating successful organizations

    I’ve used those skills and experiences to build successful teams, business units, and companies in the business world. I’ve led capture efforts and proposal development for large and small firms. These efforts have ranged from small task orders to multiple large entity Joint Ventures. In addition to my business development efforts, I ran multi-million-dollar programs for the government spread across the US and overseas.

    Show More Show Less
    24 mins
  • From Grunt to Doctor with Dr. Rob Fisher
    Nov 2 2022

    Dr. Fisher completed his undergraduate studies by graduating summa cum laude at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. As a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, Dr. Fisher graduated with a medical doctorate degree at Saint Louis University. He completed an internship in general surgery and a residency in urology at the University of California San Diego. He is a member of the American Urological Association.

    Prior to pursuing his medical career, Dr. Fisher enlisted in the United States Army and served four years on active duty as a combat infantryman. He trained at Fort Benning in Georgia and was stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington. As part of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2009, he deployed for one year to Kandahar, Afghanistan. Dr. Fisher is passionate about his military service and takes pride in caring for veterans and their families.

    In addition to general urology, Dr. Fisher’s areas of expertise include urologic oncology, complex kidney stone disease, enlarged prostate (BPH), erectile dysfunction, and urinary incontinence in men and women. He has specialized training in the newest technologies in urologic surgery, including Da Vinci Robotics, GreenLight photo vaporization of the prostate, Rezūm, UroLift, Axonics and InterStim Sacral Nerve Stimulation, vasectomy, and various implants.

    Dr. Fisher is originally from Jupiter, Florida, and he now lives in Atlanta with his wife, Jenny, and his dog, Brave. He is an avid runner and enjoys professional sports.

    Show More Show Less
    27 mins