 So now it's actually an integrated recruit training and so they're starting to have female battalions At other locations to San Diego. So my time was there and it was definitely a swampy lots of sand please great weather, too Many women have experienced some type of misogyny. Unfortunately, I Think one of the biggest statistics in mental health the biggest statistic in homelessness Having this elitness to your your title and your name. I think that really speaks to a different type of caliber of person Jess, how are you sister? Yeah, I'm wonderful. It's so great to um It's so great to meet a fellow marine, especially one on the other side of the pond as we call it I know I had a great time. Jess. I met I met a load of u.s. Marines in Signela airbase in sicily in in italy. We had a whole weekend together just Oh man, we had such a crazy time such nice people, you know the americans Well, you as well It's always kind of interesting to see the cultural differences But also the massive similarities of people who are in the in the military, you know Yeah, and especially between marines. I think it's one of the strongest probably marines and paratroopers You know the the the family is the family strong. Hey, yeah, absolutely Well, it's nice to connect with you. Thank you for uh taking the time to chat with me No, it's absolutely fine. Are you is that your van that I heard about that you're in now? Yeah, this is my bus that I live in right now. I got my my surfboard always have her I got some skis in the back snowboard in the garage and uh, you know quite a bit of space in here Wow How is it living like that? I love it. I think that the military primes us for this type of lifestyle because we're so used to accommodating to life with minimal things and It's it's just really set me up to appreciate the little things in life But like when I actually get a hotel room. I really really appreciate it um So for me, this is kind of perfect having been in the marine corps for quite some time and working with little to nothing And then coming in here and just traveling and being able to have a little bit more freedom from day to day life Yeah, it's kind of funny. I got a british marine friend who's living in america and he's just bought a school bus Him and his partner. They love it. That's awesome. Yeah, I feel like so many people in the military are Taking upon this kind of lifestyle either rv or school bus a van even their cars Did you train at paris island? Is that we hear about that a lot? You have two training bases in the u.s. Marines, don't you? Yeah, and things have changed quite a bit since my time. I say that having feeling like such a An elder, but I'm really not you know, and so um, I Served I went to originally to boot camp in paris island where majority of women went at the time They all all females went to paris island while men went to The west coast if they were west of the mississippi at San Diego or east coast paris island if they were east of the mississippi So now it's actually an integrated recruit training. And so they're starting to have female battalions At other locations to san diego. So my time was there and it was definitely a swampy lots of sand please Great weather to you know Do the girls do the same training as the boys? They do and the only difference is the MOS or the job So if you are in an infantry or combat field, then you go on to tbi, which is the um The infantry battalion and you do More austere training essentially it's it's pretty gritty and difficult for everybody else with the support roles or jobs They go to combat Training which is not as difficult, but it's three. It's still three months And uh, that is the follow-on after boot camp. So all of us receive the same type of training doesn't matter if you're men or women It's just the actual job is what dictates the secondary training that you get Do you experience any chauvinism or you know sexism stuff like Like that in the role in in the marines I I 100% I feel like many women have experienced some type of misogyny unfortunately, and you know in the Marine Corps, it's only eight percent of women And the rest are men. So there's bound to be Difficulties regarding that but at the same time I have met such high caliber men as well Many of my mentors were men So despite, you know, this some of the difficulties as being a woman I think a majority of the men there are there to do a good job are there to leave a good imprint are there to Be your friend and be a support system in your life. So And you grew up in Dallas, which is quite quite a famous city I did I um southern or by heart, but I actually went to an art school. I really loved the arts I was a sculptor a painter ceramicist and photography was my baby I really wanted to go off to be a photojournalist and I Kind of discovered that it was one of those fields in which It wasn't the degree that necessarily mattered. It was your experience And the military is one big fat juicy experience, you know And so I found out that you could be a photojournalist in the military and that was it I wanted to go do that And so I started looking at the different branches and kind of deciphering which one really fit Me and my character And the marines just really spoke to me in a way that the other branches of service didn't and I'm not sure how it is You know in in the uk and the different types of branches or if there's different types of branches But you know having this elitness to your your title and your name I think that really speaks to a different type of caliber of person And who they are so the Marine Corps is definitely very hard and not for everyone, but it was for me But your life, I think Probably a bit like my life and probably like a lot of Military people and veterans yours was quite tough before you joined Yeah, I came up from a pretty chaotic household unfortunately and You're absolutely right many people in the military experience this and we use the military as an outlet to kind of seek You know something further something greater something more positive in our lives and for me the military definitely did deliver that but I think it would it really gave me the foundation to push and become who I could be later on and my mother unfortunately was an alcoholic and An addict and dealt with a lot of substance abuse issues was very violent And my dad had so much that he was dealing with with taking care of us and the kids and you know the home He kind of just distanced himself a lot And so he wasn't really present and it's not that he I don't want to say he's neglectful. It's just He didn't know how to Be a father with a spouse a partner who is so violent and so disruptive So for us we really had to seek, you know self-sufficiency at an early age and take care of ourselves Unfortunately, and I never learned what it was like to rely on somebody else And I still don't you know to this day. I'm very self-sufficient hence why I live in a bus and I'm very solo dolo, you know, but um, I think there was a lot that I gained from having to Take care of myself at a young age. Unfortunately, but you know, I think there's always lessons in the negative from which we experience PTSD is like a huge thing here now and I and obviously it must be the same in the states after 20 years in the Middle East most of us joined up with trauma It's and it catches up with you when you leave. It's not necessarily It's not necessarily something you experience while you're in the forces although You can also have some pretty unpleasant experiences In the forces. Does that make sense? Yeah, I mean you know you're working against 17 18 possibly 20 more years of conditioning for each individual and They may have not grown up with a violent Difficult household like I did but they still had Conditioning that shaped how they thought acted and perceived life. And if that's not the most positive mentality or Or lifestyle that they have initially beforehand. I mean, it's not going to transcend anything Better just because you slapped a uniform on somebody. It's a band-aid It's it's going to be taken off at some point and they're going to have to deal with it And it surfaces like you said in ways that could be really potentially negative and and deadly to people in the military Like you said, there's so many PTSD experiences that people are dealing with It's going to come up whether we like it or not the the conditioning prior to the military It's just you know, what mechanisms do we have in place to prepare for that and unfortunately? I think that's something that we're seeing the consequences of because we've never really considered it in that way Yeah, I kind of think the government don't really want to Consider it too much. Otherwise that that that would be half their recruiting They're recruiting pool Yeah, because yeah, the military does It runs on damaged people really and not not not not not everyone's damaged obviously but A sign if I mean in the UK veterans make up I think one of the biggest statistics in mental health Uh, the biggest statistic in homelessness The biggest statistics in substance abuse um It's not looking good for us No, absolutely not and I mean because of all those issues That's why I started traveling a lot was because I recognized my own negative patterns And how my limited perspective or experiences kind of held me in place To to kind of relive these traumas without actually breaking through them or you know Using alternative resources through the discovery of other other things in life. And so I I agree 100% Did you get any good sort of trips while you're in service? Did did you have deployments and stuff? I was stationed in Japan for two years. And so that was a that was definitely a blessing I love the Japanese people and culture. It's just a beautiful time out there. I really love that place and Even when I was stationed in the united states, I mean I I worked in orange county, california, which is I don't know if you've ever heard of the houseway housewives of orange county, but it's tends to be kind of a superficial uh I don't know pop star location, but it is beautiful And I was just like, how did I land it in this place? You know, it's pretty cool. So I did get to go to different places I think very um in contrast to the majority of other people Whereabouts were you in in japan? I was in marine court air station iwakuni, which is about 45 minutes from hiroshima Oh, wow. So did you go to the peace museum? I did and I went to the a dome which is the last standing building that existed during the time of the the dropping of the a bomb and It was the only building that remained erect and I I mean there's not a single dry eye in that Experience walking through that memorial and it's interesting to see it from the japanese perspective too Which varies slightly, but it's still just a really honorable thing to see. I mean it Especially as a service member too Yeah I was there a few well several years back now and I I landed in tokyo and I thought, you know, you got to go to hiroshima, right? And and so I got the bullet train down there And booked into I don't know like a hoe, you know I don't know what you call it normally call it a backpackers, but you know a small small Yeah, yeah that kind of thing and but it had all the tatami flooring and the you know the little pillow on the floor and You know how it is. You got to put take your shoes off and put on the not the kimono, but the other one Just the robe. Yeah the robe. Yeah. It's really really special. It's an incredible experience and And I spent sort of 10 minutes in my room just Get myself sorted out and then I I went out in the high street And I just had to walk down the high street to get to the bridge that overlooks the building that you mentioned It's a got around the building's got a dome on top, isn't it? Mm-hmm. I remember exactly where you're talking about right next to it on the right side. Yeah And I stood on that bridge And I looked at that building And I'm not like massively sentimental. I'm I'm a bit I'm sort of down the middle really, you know and And as I as I looked at that building this weird feeling Came over me. I've never experienced anything like it in my life not since not before and I think it was just like the realization that All those people have kind of sat down to breakfast as as you do And then suddenly something so extreme happen They call it the white light don't they the The white light and yeah, yes, I felt I felt strange Yeah, yeah, it's like the overwhelming understanding of the Capacity for mankind the evil capacity for mankind. I think you you really get a taste for that and The same for Auschwitz, you know, I haven't had the chance to visit but I think one of the great Things of travel is to go to places that help you understand mankind a little bit better and it's it's not a place, you know to tout about or to glow As far as like social media and you know, these tourist attractions goes that there's a very Superficial realm that I feel like speaks to the travel industry but then when you look at places like that like the peace memorial or Auschwitz to go there and really kind of collect your thoughts and really understand The extremity of history is pretty Perplexing it's it's hard to grasp and digest Yes, exactly And it's kind of crazy, isn't it that The japanese had this kind of like no surrender mentality in the second world war and they were you know hard fighters and Yet they're now a peaceful nation. They got they they after after the bomb they just completely flipped um, yeah Yeah, I think they've always had traits of peace and and honorability and pride within their nation um And it's it's crazy to think. Yeah having visited and Gotten to meet the people how Collective they are as a nation. They are constantly in consideration of the person next to them, right and so To think of anything else. It's just it's really hard for me to to to try and you know Grasp that but they are really great people and I think it kind of speaks to how The evil in in whether it's an individual or an entire nation can really do in 180 from Something that traumatic that goes on right so even just one individual who goes through a pretty tremendous in a traumatic event they can completely Flip and just find peace and I I heard this great quote it it was You know, no one understands the violence it took for me to become this peaceful Yeah, and I think I think that person, you know perfectly personifies that I don't know how my life would be if I hadn't had Tough times like I don't regret them at all because I wonder How do you learn stuff if you don't have challenges in your life? I don't know unless you're really lucky or something you must be a bit mundane You break bread with people who haven't gone through Hard times I mean it really is hard to have a conversation with somebody and Maybe just life hasn't presented itself to them yet There there's always an impending doom over us at some point in time in our life. So Maybe they're awaiting their own doom. They just haven't Encountered it yet, but I think it is a lot easier to connect with people who have Who have gone through the trials and tribulations a little bit earlier in life Do you want to talk about the drink drinking? You don't have to I don't yeah I mean, it's a big it's kind of a big part of my story and I think as I Retell it I'm able to Heal from the storytelling myself And kind of accept what happened and it's not almost it's not a passiveness that that I have towards it it's an accepted acceptance I guess to You know kind of kind of the Unfortunate decisions that I make Or had made at the time, but Like I mentioned my mother dealt with alcoholism quite a bit and She was victim to the opioid epidemic that kind of spread throughout the united states in the 90s When oxy cotton was an uncontrolled substance that was being prescribed just willy-nilly You know for two fakes and stuff right and so that had really perpetuated her addiction problems, but her drug of choice was always alcohol and I never wanted to touch alcohol. I never drank or did drugs or anything in high school But the u.s. Military, and I'm not sure if it's the same, you know in in the british forces as well The alcohol issue is very prevalent and almost glamorized so For me getting my first taste of alcohol was in the military and it was amongst people who had Drinking problems as well usually binge drinking so It I kind of felt like it gave me more of a Personality or character that I didn't necessarily have growing up. I was a bit awkward and Weird and really quiet. I didn't talk to a lot of people and alcohol really, you know bring something out I'm not going to say it brought out a personality, but it brought something out And I relied on that heavily to make friendships or connections. Obviously, they were all superficial But it led to this Path of addiction that I didn't really understand. I didn't understand how You know five drinks every every night could lead to six or seven and then Eight to ten and then twelve and sooner or later all that seems so easy to drink that Our tolerance increases and that's what the start of Addiction is right for any substance. It could be food. It could be drugs could be whatever but During my time I had a lot of issues with sleeping Because some of the things that happened in my Marine Corps career and I just never really understood sleep hygiene to begin with and so I used alcohol as a coping mechanism to be able to you know Help with my sleep issues But that obviously led to a downward spiral and I Because I lashed on to it for so long. I didn't realize that I had a drinking problem until my friend had really brought it up to me and She was like, you know, I don't know if you're still drunk or you're hungover right now and that was kind of the first Moment that I realized that perhaps I really had a problem and so I went about a month sober and December 9th of 2017 I got in my vehicle and went to go watch a boxing match at a bar around the corner of my apartment And I thought I would have one drink and it turned into like 15 Unfortunately and didn't really realize and or cared to be honest how much I was drinking So I ended up driving home and I crashed my car into a tree Which was a blessing because if that tree was not there, I would have gone straight through the front of a house that was really that was a hard awakening for me that propelled me to do complete 180 and really I turned my life around after that and started focusing on self-development whether it's through physical fitness or my intellect and reading and listening to podcasts and just kind of expanding my horizons and it was really a reason why I started to refocus on traveling more and just getting outside and in nature where you're already having a therapist, you know listening to you I feel like it when you're amongst trees and animals and stuff They may not speak back, but they're there so that was uh That was a rough experience, but I'm always grateful for it in hindsight because now I can speak about it and help people not feel alone when they're kind of Engaging in the same negligent habits that I was or using just alcohol in general as a mechanism to combat whatever we're going through gosh, it's It's it's true what you say. I think the military the military in the uk is changing a bit now because They when I served In the in the evening almost almost like every evening All the guys got together and they went downtown. That was just what you did It was a ritual. You had a shower. It's probably a third shower of the day Right, we have one in the one in the morning one one when one when we go for a run or do sports one when when one when you go downtown and uh I in a shirt I in your jeans that was always like really important for us, you know, I've properly iron clothes and um Then you'd go out and you you just got hammered. That was what you did um now apparently you get kind of corporals and stuff they They just stay in their room play playing xbox and this kind of thing. Yeah, we didn't that's like We didn't have any anything we didn't even have the internet back then um, or well, I mean it was just coming around but But the crazy thing is I used to drink to destruction. I used to try to see how much How drunk I could get and yet I never had a problem. I you know, I never I never had the addiction thing then in in the marines. I mean mine came um When I left the marines and I went to Hong Kong and I tried crystal meth for the first time I was like, oh my god The way it made I got to be careful. We believe on it. You can't talk about this stuff on some of the video platforms were on but let's just say All that childhood trauma that that was just like out the window now, you know, I just fell up here But then the funny thing was just right I I kind of hit it really stupidly hard for two years. I completely lost my mental health um, I ended up working for a criminal gang in Hong Kong Hong Kong triad family as a as their nightclub doorman And um came back to the uk My family had to decide whether to Put me in a mental institution because I I I just lost the plot basically and um And here's the funny thing it like I have my awakening like we all do It took about I don't know. Let's just say 18 months and But the thing is I I did a classic Thing that you're not supposed to do an addiction. I stepped sideways into alcohol and The thing is going from being like chaotic chronically mentally unwell and unable to You know function in any you I couldn't pay You just pay just get my bills pay if they paid if they are important Couldn't feed myself because that money just went that just went on meth, you know I'd leave I'd leave myself like two dollars a week to Feed myself for a fortnight. It was just crazy times But um Here's the thing. I remember walking down the street one day. I was on on my way to my brother's house And now that I was getting my act together and I'd really cut down on this stuff to like To ten bucks worth every two weeks instead of all my money Like whenever I saw an off-license, you know, uh, what you guys call a liquor store I thought ah, do you know what a beer will go down? Nice nose. I remember going in I bought an extra strong can of beer not not just extra strong, but extra extra strong 9% alcohol or something And I remember thinking Chris It's not good behavior But you're gonna do it anyway. So just go and do it And and I walked down the street and we can drink one of the crazy things we can still do here is drink alcohol in the street I know you guys can't you got to put it in the brown paper bag, right? Yeah, a little Comey. Yeah, I've got no self-respect. So yeah, I mean, I've got no Public image. So I I don't really care about such things. So I walked down the street drank this this beer and I do remember thinking This is not a good move and cut a long story short When I look back at my life, I kind of drunk every day for I I was loaded for 30 years if you include my marine's time um That's almost like drinking every day for 30 years and Sometimes it was really excessive It'd be like lunchtime and I look at a bottle of rum and it's it's half empty already and and You know, you get to the end of the day and you think my god I've drunk 12 cans of extra strong lager today Um, and I function, you know, still you still have to work and all this kind of stuff um But yeah, I just want to say you know, you're not alone. You seem to have got a Better grip on it than I had and I still Have to work hard at it now really Because if it's not that it's food believe it or not I'm I'm the same weight that I was when I was 18 That they're they're about so I know it's I'm 53 now, right? Oh, um, I love I love my running Um but Here's the thing If it's not the booze And it's not a substance Then it's food Um It It is there's always something there for you know, this is why they call it a lifelong battle Don't they there's just always some in there for me just, you know, and I have to Focus on the spiritual Draw on that higher, you know, the I've never gone to any like meetings or Doctors or nothing everything I've done is just me doing it, right? And and you know, I've had a couple of really great people support me Now we've got the internet so you can learn an awful lot about this sort of stuff But um, yeah, even now I have to be careful. I can I could quite easily lose months going back down down that road and and I have done um So yeah, sir, it's It's crazy, isn't it it's it's It yeah, you've done so well. I mean my god, you know, I'm I'm I'm kind of in awe really Thank you Well, I mean, I I feel the same way too when it comes to You're always an addict or you're always an alcoholic in my eyes I have to believe in that because if not and I just say well, I'm healed or I'm cured now No longer an alcoholic than like you I can fall right back into the same rut. So I'm actually going to be going This is my three months of sobriety and I'm shooting for 12 months this year. So Spending the entire year sober and I still have a healthy relationship with alcohol nowadays, but It just takes you know one Bad event to really pull you back down into the the same habit Or or rut. So I feel you on that Yeah It never really ends well either No, no, definitely not the crazy thing is when I look back at my life and I look back at all the You know all the stupid things I've done have been drunk Drunk or other things, you know, I mean I've I've lost I've lost three of my best friends doing this You know, I mean, I'm not I this is probably gonna sound ironic to people that I I've no regrets You know, I just refuse to feel sorry for myself. Jess, you know, it is what it is. It is what it is You can't you can't really regret it anymore if you've if you've learned something from it I think people hold on to regret when they haven't learned something from it But if you have then There's no there's no reason to regret it any longer You know, you know what the lesson is and tell us about this unless you're sick of talking about it This columbian tea this this trip you up did it Yeah, so it and this is kind of really the first time that I'm I'm talking about it now after like two years because I think I I really had to go through a healing process and understanding that like my career is over You know and and I've come to accept that I made a bad decision and it wasn't the smartest whether I was ignorant about it or not, but I During my time I I mentioned that I love traveling because that really helps me grow outside of the military and especially after my dui Getting demoted dealing with a a failed reputation and and pretty much hurting my career from alcohol That really put a hinder on how I felt about myself And so I I wanted to go travel more and take time to explore and somebody had suggested that I visit columbia Which is more than cocaine and hookers people like I just want to put that out there Like do a little bit more research stop being so ignorant, you know stop watching narcos or whatever you're watching on tv or tick tock Countries and people are more than you think so take the time to do due diligence and experiencing it And so that's what I did. I went to columbia. It's the second most diverse ecosystem in the world It is absolutely a thriving beautiful culture And I went to go do this jungle trek, which is very similar to machu-pichu. It's actually a site that is older than machu-pichu And when I was there doing this hike, I bought coca tea, which I mean, I don't speak spanish I didn't know it's not my first language and um, I thought it was like cocoa or cacao like chocolate And there's nothing on the box that necessarily says anything That should be concerning. It doesn't say like hey, this is a legal product or you know in america Or maybe the uk as well for cigarettes or cannabis products It says on there like some sort of warning, right? Whether it's cancer or just whatever and so there is nothing in these products because it is a legal product in south america coca tea and There is a whole process you have to go through when you go to another country while you're in the in the us military To ensure that you don't get in trouble that you know your contingency plans that you know If there's an emergency that happens that you can contact the embassy and have Support there there's a lot of information that you have to go through in order to go on a vacation somewhere And this was not a part of that. There was no mentioning of coca tea in the brief whatsoever and So I went on this trip And about a year later. I had brought this tea back from this hike And I hadn't consumed it, you know thoroughly throughout the time. I still had it in my pantry and Unfortunately, I took a year analysis and it was about a year later and it came back positive for coca And it was just a really like oh my god moment like excuse me So I had to work a year later Yeah, so it wasn't like I drank it in the country and then I popped on cocaine a year later It's like I brought the coca tea back with me and still had it as a product and was drinking it Yeah, yeah, so I I kind of hadn't explained that well before but it um, it was something that I had in my possession and I Didn't declare it. I didn't know that you couldn't bring it across, you know across Borders or anything like that. Again, it's just a regular tea box. It's not something that I I considered I thought was illegal, you know and didn't know so Um, I think my ignorance really spoke in that moment And I made a dumb decision in bringing that back and it was something I was drinking at the time and so Unfortunately, I had to go through an administrative separation and because I had my DUI in the same enlistment It held a tremendous amount of weight for for my career And at that point it I just felt like it wasn't worth fighting for and there were things that were kind of happening up into that point that Really suggested to me that my time in the military needed to end um Like for example, I applied to a really prestigious program called the marine security guard program And it is very difficult to get in you have to be um assessed heavily Morally physically ethically and because of my DUI that did impact it But my command was very supportive. They wanted me to go do this and they wrote great recommendations And it was approved Um, and then unfortunately it was suspiciously revoked Without really any reason why And I think that was kind of the first nudge by the universe or whatever you want to call it the god the tooth fairy You know whatever that like hey Your time's taken like it's time. It's time for you to go And so looking back at it now that really was a sign to me that I just I need to I need to go pursue my passions elsewhere so, um The administrative separation turned out favorable It was a general honor honorable which is great as far as like my benefits go for my GI bill to get that and to be able to go to school And I think I just I really took that as a lesson and I try and really share that with people And it's so surprising that the number of service members who don't know about this Are it's a it's many many much more than it should be Um, and it goes to show that like hey look many of us are ignorant We don't know better And not all of us, you know grew up in school with a bunch of coke heads or whatever I like I went to an art school, man It was a very like Chill liberal environment where everybody was just kind of goody two shoes and did their homework I I didn't ever group around that stuff. So I didn't know better. So It was uh, it was an interesting experience, but like I said, everything kind of happens for a reason Yes, it's interesting move all that with that plant down in Well central and south america, isn't it? It's very uh They chew it chew it a lot You just get a load of coca leaves bundle them up chuck them in your side of your mouth and um I think you have to chew it with a A bit of banana paste not not banana like we know it but some banana skin paste and because you got to get the I said to get the out alkaloids out of the leaf or something, but it's huge, you know I've I've traveled um extensively in americas and most tourists end up buying a big bag of leaves and um, and you know other stuff For sure that that we won't go into but yeah columbia is it is kind of did you ever go to that? Uh, is it a salt cathedral underground? No, where is that? Yeah, I can't remember which part it Oh, um, I think it's a medellin or it's close to medellin or cartagena. I know exactly what I think it's cartagena. I I could I could be wrong on that. It's an it's an actual cathedral and it's It's dug out of a salt mud, you know, it's all yeah, and it's it's like blue Yeah, yeah, that's it. I know who's talking about I did it. I wish that there's some I need to go back I love that place Yeah, yes fascinating is Is your your family's ancestry um is from the americas? No, so honestly, I think my mom cheated on my dad. Um I don't look like my siblings or my parents at all. I really don't and so maybe I just skipped a generation I look like my grandmother. I do but my my dad's side comes from the hispanic like spanish side and then my mother's side is White caucasian, maybe european irish um in there So I'm a bit of a mutt and I the older I get the more asian I look a lot of people ask if I'm like Pacific islander asian Will you look you look incredible? So Thank you. Well, we don't get we don't get too many women on our podcast and it's not It's that's not by design, you know, we I'd like 50 50 but Tends to be like bloke bloke. He's um that I chat to Yeah, it's nice It's nice to have a female on Especially one from the usmc For sure. Well, it's it's like I said, there's such a small array of us Especially in the united states marine corps. I don't know what the demographic looks like for the british fortress forces But I can't imagine it's too different. Is it? well It's funny. We say that they've only just opened it up This last I think two years for women to To join And I think I'm right in saying this. I don't think any have got through the course Because their course is pretty it's pretty Tough. Um, yeah, it's one of the toughest. Well They say it's the toughest infantry level like basic training level course. Obviously, it's not special forces or anything They had one girl. She was I think she was an olympic rower So she was quite Strong and and the problem there is our press are animals, you know our media They they will go and camp outside just to get a picture of this and it must be You know, you're under enough stress in training as you know, you know, rush here rush All this stuff and to have the the british media, you know, just trying to catch you out and and it can't have been very I think that they've Negotiated some kind of media block now because you just don't hear about any females joining the marines I I've not heard that one has passed out of training yet Um, but you know good good luck for the whoever wants to try and I don't see that as a bad thing as long as they're Holding standards. I think that's more important than trying to get more women into the forces. It's like hey There's standards for a reason if you can't do it. You can't do it. This war doesn't care what gender you are You know when when I was young we were outside all the time. That's just what we did. We were out on our bikes We were out on our BMXs. We were making jumps. We were building camps in the forest. We were climbing trees We're playing football. You know, you went out. You just went out with your mates. That's what you did you just went out with your friends, you know and um Now with this kind of you know, everyone being in the home cocoon playing on the You know playing on electronics or on a tablet or whatever Young men joining the marines now. They don't have They don't have the physical strength They don't have the development. I should say so they've added four weeks, which is a long time. I mean the training is The training's eight eight months. They've added a whole nother month on Allegedly To kind of like build people up Yeah, maybe throw them out of a few trees or something So, yeah, it it interesting libo then libo risk is is is that like a An organization or a company? Yeah, so it's it's actually pronounced libo risk and it's short for liberty risk so In the marine corps or the u.s. Marine Corps in the military It's a colloquialism that is derived from liberty risk Which is your liberty or your free time and your leave And so if somebody was coined as a liberty risk or a libo risk They had to be watched more carefully. They had a knack for getting themselves into precarious situations And usually we're quite reckless, right? And so Has a negative connotation, but it doesn't have to be negative like for example, my friend She's an amazing marine and quite adventurous She went camping on an island called katalina and she had a head face like encounter face encounter with a bison Which was about five to ten feet away from her. Um, and she narrowly escaped being Trampled by this bison and thank god because she's just a tiniest little thing And so after she got back from that trip. She was coined a libo risk So It doesn't necessarily have to be because you did something stupid But it's just maybe, you know, you put yourself in these adventurous ridiculous situations And so I thought it would be a perfect name for building a military travel community Because it's associated to our leave or liberty time But the fact that we make risk look like such a bad thing Like I want to reshape our perspective around risk because it is something that is An evolutionary requirement, right if we look at it down to the neanderthal bare bones human We as human beings as a species required risk to evolve And so I think it's really important that we speckle our lives with Consistent hardships and risk So that way we can remember what we're capable of and what our potential is as an individual So it's it was a funny name and like it's it's cool because some people hear it and they're like, oh, yeah Like I get it that is so cool. And if not, then it's the story time for them. So I started this during Actually right after my dui and dealing with that whole situation I wanted to just create and foster an environment where people started looking at travel as more of a medicinal outlet vice This luxurious cocktail bucket list attractions type thing. That's not necessarily what travel has to be all of the time I think it's more for self exploration and exploration of humankind on a humankind on a consistent basis So it was it was my baby then and I'm still continuing to work on it right now And what do you um What do you kind of do with other veterans? Do you do share stories or do you go on trips together? Yeah, so right now we are a for-profit and we sell high quality merchandise and travel agency services And then we allocate a percentage of those funds to our low budget retreats And when I say low budget, I mean nobody's spending more than 200 dollars on attending it's it's very low cost and um We share travel stories on our social media platforms to help inspire people about the different resources the different places and opportunities that exist but There's just there's a lot of connection that goes on through our social media platforms and then we um give them a space in real life to actually connect and so We have rock climbing retreats. We have yoga retreats. We have camping retreats Just all different types of stuff in southern california right now and we're expanding through our ambassador program Which will be launched soon. So that way people Know what the liberous commission is they understand our ethos and principles and they can replicate that in their own environment And I really care about the quality of how we do this because Unfortunately when you see ambassador programs or chapters, they're very mediocre. They're they're watered down and it's not It's because people haven't been vetted correctly They haven't been taught how to replicate what their principles are when it comes to a company or community And that's like the most imperative thing that you can do When it comes to building something like this. So it's uh, there's a lot of Things that we have yet to do but i'm i'm really excited to kind of see where we grow because there Is 16 million veterans and you got 2.1 million service members and veterans until the u.s. Military ceases to exist This is a very necessary and very um sought out sought out their environment and community Do you have to have any kind of? like failsafe's I'm thinking You know for example, do you get people rock up and they just want to get like absolutely drunk or do is is there A risk somebody could be mentally unwell from from their combat experience or something like this Um, I I have a pretty thorough liberty brief that I give And even beforehand we do a video call with all of the attendees and and i'm in constant contact with each applicant So I really have an idea of their commitment level and who they are What they want to get from the experience and by doing that everybody can kind of lower their anxiety, right? By coming to something like this with complete strangers and maybe engaging in something they've never done before So we address that head on by helping them feel like This is something that they should really be a part of but in the liberty brief and through my own trial and errors Right and figuring out the blueprint for this I address that directly and let them know like hey no no drugs No fucking drugs like it's not even a discussion if you want to go do that go somewhere else This is in the environment for you I want everybody to be on the same wavelength not that I have anything against it personally But this is not the place for that alcohol if anybody has a negative experience with alcohol they're currently going they're sober or Whatever it may be they don't want to be around it. Let me know privately and I will apply a drive policy Other than that we drink to be elevated not inebriated and if you do cause any sort of problem You're never going to be welcome back So I I address that straight on because I'm not a non-profit. I don't have to be nice and sweet I'm not asking for your donations, right? So I I say that up front and I'm very forward Because I understand that people have to have a sense of safety in order to even feel vulnerable enough to have Conversations that can impact them for the rest of their life And I say it as well that we have a finite amount of time together during you know, three or four days at best But we have infinite potential to really negatively impact somebody by what we say or what we do Like think about that hold that close and remember it throughout this entire weekend And so I I employ responsibility into these people I'm like you you know what's expected of you and if you act anything against our morals values principles as a community Then you're not welcome And I now that I'm saying this I really feel like this is something that we don't even include in regular society anymore We don't have any sort of standards or initiations or anything It's just like whatever somebody wants to be or feel or think or whatever whatever they want to do is acceptable And it's like well, you know what I call bullshit I think we all have to hold each other Accountable and create our own societal standards that help us raise the bar and how we conduct ourselves on a regular basis And that's just not something I see in regular society or even something that I really see in the Community space as far as building community. So Yeah, it's like Whatever the complete opposite of a tribe is that's what we've become You know, there was a time where to to survive you had to do what was best for the group And you had to conform to certain values and ethos and and goals and Now it's just like oh anyone could just do what Do what the hell they want when they want and be you know, just just um You've got to respect my rights, man Yeah I think veterans are probably a bit better at that than I mean I'm not not saying for definite, but Because we've kind of had an ethos to conform to haven't we and there is a sort of a certain set of rules both written and then unwritten I think it's true. And With the advent of technology, we have everything at our fingertips. We don't have to Think twice about where we're getting something anymore. And I say this only for you know Majority of America majority of developing countries. There are many countries that have no clue what I'm talking about right now, right? And and that Is hard because they still understand what it means to struggle to truly survive And I mean as americans, especially we are so Disassociated from that. We have no idea what it means to struggle You know, even when we think that we're struggling in the poverty line that exists in america It's in no comparison To the 4% of the world that don't even have fresh drinking water, right? And so We have to we have to remember that I mean That's why we're seeing all these issues that we do today because we totally forget it It's really cool that you point that out because I wouldn't think I We get kind of insolent, don't we we just think about ourselves and and there's people actually have to just get on and work and try and survive and and scratch out a living and and look after their family and and Fight disease Well, that's the beauty of travel is you really get to It elevates your perspective of humanity and when you see some of these places where They have a nook and cranny to sleep in and maybe five Items of clothing. It's just it's hard. It makes me really value what I have in this bus right here, right? Which compared to a household is is not a whole lot, but it's enough. It's it's more than enough I mean, I could get rid of two-thirds of this and still Have live a happy life And so we've just we have so much stuff in our lives that we've we don't we don't really try to see What we could live without Mind you there's kind of a bonus of living in in the developing world is you are busy getting on with life and Ironically people tend to be happier and I guess compared to 40 years sat behind a computer screen Doing we don't do that anymore, but you know typing in data or um with your two weeks holiday a year it that that's It it makes you wonder like who's the victims doesn't it? Yeah, I agree. Yeah, Jess. What's um So what's your plan now? Obviously, you're you're gonna continue to to run libo risk Did I say that right then libo libo risk? Sorry libo. Yep. What do you what do you how do you kind of see the next 10 years? Um, so right now within the immediate year I'm slated to attend a two month program to become a certified guide in mountaineering rock climbing rafting a few different activities So i'm really excited for that because now I can be Somebody of value that hosts these events. I'm a yoga teacher and I you know I'm really good at curating these experiences But I think that I should take upon myself to develop a little bit more So there's a bit more credibility to what i'm bringing to the table for these retreats and not only that but I would like to Volunteer and support other military outdoor and recreational organizations Like if they need a guide, especially a woman who is in shape and can speak on You know various types of topics confidently like I can be your go-to person and volunteer and support your efforts and That that requires a lot of responsibility and self development And so I'm doing that but at the same time working on what I hope to be the largest military travel community in the united states and that Focus is going to be towards an app a global app where people can connect They can maybe house swap or couch surf like I think it would be so cool for me Who's a veteran here to find a veteran who's living in germany and just like hang out on their couch and stay there Right and there's a level of trust that is already innately developed through being in the military and so we can We can rely on that a little bit more when it comes to traveling and Being able to create a travel agency where we employ service members of veterans that are educated On these travel requirements like I'd mentioned that I had missed out on when it came to the coca tea So they can brief them so they can help them so they can Help them book and plan and be educated on the experience so they can ensure that they're engaging in ethical activities I would just love to create something like that and be able to Foster an application where people can sign up get connected get educated and get inspired Through this platform and you know just create something that Really can maybe possibly change the way service members and veterans live their lives Not just now but like for for generations and we can potentially tackle The issues of alcoholism substance abuse Domestic violence. I mean you name it those things are wrapped around our inability to grow And you can only grow through becoming a riskier person riskier in the right ways and also Loneliness is a big driver, isn't it behind substance use and an addiction it's been shown that community is has a really powerful powerful effect on people Yeah, absolutely. We just we all need somebody we all need somebody and You know, we often say that food and shelter are our necessary Items that we need but really human connection is the most paramount Of them all of mausoleum's hierarchy and needs we need human connection You can go without a bit of food and shelter But in order to have other people around you who love and support you That will help you survive longer. It's been absolutely wonderful to chat to you We're gonna put um, we'll put all your links below so friends out there if you want to get hold of Jess If you got some idea you want to employ her services just look below this this video Thanks ever so much for coming on the show. Thank you Chris. It was nice chatting with you and It's it's so cool again that you're not just You know a fellow service member but a a veteran or you were in the same service essentially right the marines and yeah It's it's interesting that we share very similar stories and I appreciate you sharing, you know your story with me Yeah, I've I've had the best life ever Jess and I just like to break all the Preconceived ideas around addiction is like I I live in paradise. I mean I really do Doesn't mean I don't have challenges, but I've done everything I want on this planet. I Traveled all seven continents I just find it easier living that way than I do kind of having like a regular career or something Which that that's what I find hard, you know friends out there if you can give us a like and a subscribe that would be great because I hope our stories have inspired you Just stay on the line so I can thank you properly when I hit the button off But you're always welcome back on the show. In fact, please come back on the show and give us some updates That would be incredible Love to thank you so much. You're welcome