 Life is about constant evolution always better today than we were yesterday Welcome Ty Smith This is the only easy day was yesterday the official Navy Seal podcast. I'm Scott Williams and today we want to talk with Ty Smith former Navy Seal and he's now out in the world doing good things in the business community. Hello, Ty How's it going brother? Thanks for having me on I really appreciate it. Hey a pleasure is all ours So we were taking a look at How you started out in the Navy? We saw that you you're out of Illinois you're an Illinois native is that mean Chicago or anywhere else in Illinois? No, I actually grew up in East St. Louis right on the border of Illinois and Missouri Most of my family is in East St. Louis, but I do have a significant portion of my family in the south side of Chicago Wow, so all the way down south. All right. Oh, yeah, it's a whole different world. Isn't it then from Chicago? you know it is because The east side of St. Louis is the only side of St. Louis that's actually across the Mississippi in Illinois and On the east side. We don't really have You know big city even on the the Missouri side in St. Louis, you know, they're city There's downtown, but it's not really that big whereas in Chicago I mean, it's Chicago downtown Chicago is it's world-class. You know, it's awesome The the city has an energy sort of a fire to it, but in East St. Louis. We don't really have that. Yeah Well, I know what you mean. I'm from Midwest as well So you you joined the Navy in 1996 but you didn't start out as a seal No, I joined in 96. I was an AW anti-submarine warfare And I went through SAR school to be a search-and-rescue swimmer And then after that I actually tried bugs for the very first time I was 17 or 18 And didn't make it through so I went out to the fleet if that's what you could call it I took orders to 95 45 school to become a military police officer and got extremely lucky Like I always have been I don't know why but I took orders to Lamont Elena Sardinia, Italy And I was there for about four and a half years. It was incredible. I learned Italian I met some of the best human beings I've ever met in my life But I always had the SEAL teams on my heart so I continued training like there was no tomorrow and I submitted a package to return to training just before 9-11 and then 9-11 happened and my package was approved Immediately, so I got back to Bud's in February of 2002 and the rest was history Wow and Was I guess since you had your packaging already it didn't matter but since 9-11 happened Did that kind of provide a an extra motivation as you were going through the the grueling hardships of first phase 100% I mean I was just as pissed off and angry as everyone else went when that happened and for me it was It wasn't that I had a feeling of a payback somebody's got to pay for this. It was more so in my heart I knew I was a patriot of this country and our country had been attacked the people of this country that that People like you and I have sworn to protect You know, it was time for us to get up and do our jobs and protect those people and so when I was going through Bud's that second time around My mindset was night and day, you know, I was very Focused on on the mission at hand Which was to get into the SEAL teams and do the job and make the enemies of this country understand that You don't attack the United States of America There is going to be a very severe price that you're going to pay if you're going to attack this country. I Understand after you graduated from Bud's you went east coast first I did I went out to SEAL team eight and It was awesome to be honest with you. I didn't like living in Virginia, but I love being at SEAL team eight My leadership there was outstanding. I served under retired commander Don Sayer My my platoon chiefs while I was there, you know, Craig Thomas and and Matt May they were incredible senior enlisted Leadership and I learned a lot and I got a chance to deploy Twice while I was that teammate once to Iraq once to Afghanistan and it was Everything that I was dreaming of when I was training to become a SEAL That's awesome. I you know, I've heard of guys going through a school then getting into their field And they're really excited at first and kind of fizzle out when they realize it wasn't all it was cracked up to be Kind of like the guy who hears about the the intelligence specialist rating and thinks he's going to be a spy It's nothing like that but you had a you had a fulfilling first tour and After SEAL team eight you you went to the center to be an instructor I did I came back out west because this is where I wanted to be Anyway, and I went over to to Bud's as an in docking structure And I stayed Over at in dock for about two and a half years prior to taking orders to SEAL team one Wow, so tell me a little bit about in dock These are the guys who have just shown up to the center They haven't entered the training pipeline yet There's a lot of guys who are listening to this right now who are going to be in that very position one day at What we call in SWO But it's the same thing that you're talking about Tell me a little bit about that experience some of the things that you observed For sure, you know, I really enjoyed my time as an in docking structure because In my heart You know, I'm a protector of people. That's who I am inherently, but I'm also You know by virtue of being a protector of people. I'm also a mentor. I'm a teacher. I'm a coach. I love growing other human beings and seeing those people go on to Accomplish their goals and see their dreams come true And so as an in docking structure, that was pretty special because we were the first Group of cadre that the students would see whenever they would show up to budge training And I don't like to consider in doc is not being a part of the pipeline You tell that to the dude. That's an in doc and he's getting his ass handed to him in the surf zone Preparing for first phase, but he's not really in the pipeline yet. I bet he'd argue That you're wrong because in my opinion, you're you are in the pipeline You are already being assessed as a candidate for the SEAL teams when you get to in doc And when I went through Budge training in doc was five weeks. I believe you know and a lot of Guys didn't make it through in doc. So they never even saw first phase Which speaks to how grueling The orientation or indoctrination phase of budge training is I mean when I went through training There really was no difference between in doc and first phase In fact, some guys thought that the in doc instructors were harder on them than the actual first phase instructors were so In my opinion, you know, it is a part of the pipeline It's just something else that you have to go through on your way to getting That tried it eventually, but I really enjoyed it because Especially because you know, I had done a couple of platoons in the teams I I had an idea of what the teams were all about and so that was my opportunity To give some of that back to students that shared the same dream that I had When I was preparing to go to SEAL training and I took that upon myself to to You know, it was more than just being hard on Trainees and beating them down It was you know, this is an opportunity to strip away everything that they thought they knew about Being in the special operations community and then to build them back up so that they understood Hey, this is what it's all about. You know, I remember going through SEAL training and and no one really talking to us about What war was really like and what war does to human beings not just physically but psychologically and That wasn't at the fault of my instructors when I went through because I showed up to buzz in February 2002 Most of my instructors didn't have combat experience. Those guys were seeing combat for the very first time Alongside myself, you know, I showed up to the teams and went into a platoon with some of those guys That were my instructors. So when it was my turn to welcome students into, you know, the Naval Special Warfare community I thought it was really important to share those teams that I had learned with them in order to prepare them for what they were Actually getting ready to do. So so put that in doc instructor hat on for a moment and Imagine that you're you're talking to a room full of potential SEAL candidates that are just showing up What kind of advice do you give them? Sure, so first and foremost if your heart isn't on fire With the idea of being a special operations commando, then this isn't for you Don't waste your time. Don't waste our time. You have to be singularly focused on Making it through budge training or you just you know make no mistake. It's it's not going to work out for you I Remember sitting one day and I was getting tattooed by a really good friend of mine Who's since left us to go on to a much better place? His name was Master Chief Mike Martin And he was a Vietnam Air SEAL and he was a badass and I remember Him tattooing my trident on my back and explaining to me that you know, I never understood why normal People would apply to budge training because if you are normal This isn't going to work out for you. It takes someone that's sort of mentally abnormal someone that's always looking To go against the grain someone that that has a fire in their gut for Patriotism and what is right someone that always has the ability to stand up against any opposition and say That's wrong, and I'm not going to stand for it. And so You know budge trainees have to keep that in mind that you have to be willing to stand out You have to be willing to be Abnormal you have to be willing to be on fire with your beliefs in order to make it through budge training Because if you don't have that level of commitment It's probably not going to work out for you. And then the last thing I would say to them is Again forget everything that you've seen in the movies everything that you saw in a video game or that you heard your friends talking about and completely open your mind to what The staff is trying to teach you because going through buds nowadays is very special Because all of your instructors have a deep level of combat experience And these men understand what it takes to win under fire They have they they have a deep understanding of what it takes to survive when the situation is beyond dire and then also You know they have an understanding of what it's like to live with that kind of experience because Like I said when I went through training You know our instructors didn't know any better They didn't understand how to talk to us about post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury And what it actually means to be a gunfighter so When you get into training Shut your mouth and listen to everything that those instructors have to say because they have some very special things to teach You not just about being an operator, but about being a leader in The military and life in your community in your family and also about how you live with carrying the burden of being a warfighter Yeah, it sounds to me like You don't believe in the gray man philosophy Of hiding in the middle Absolutely not it says right there in the seal eat those anything we're doing is worth overdoing and moderation is for powers If I'm gonna do something I'm gonna overdo it if I'm gonna commit to a cause I become that cause and it gets 150 percent of me. There is no such thing as You know, oh, I'm gonna do this a little bit. I'm gonna be the gray man and and be in the middle hell No, I'm a leader and lions don't retreat. I'm gonna be up front every time You know, I was I was reflecting them on on your bio when I was taking a look at it earlier and I noticed that you Transitioned from a career That is violence focused Into a non-violent career Tell me a little bit about what happened after you left the teams and left the Navy So as I was preparing to retire from the Navy, I was also Completing my graduate studies at at USC Marshall Business School And I was already in the the pipeline to transition over to the FBI And I was really excited about that because I wanted to continue serving but also I Had entrepreneurship on my heart and Being at Marshall Business School it really lit a fire in my heart for entrepreneurship and I wanted to continue to push myself. I wanted to do things that made me uncomfortable I wanted to grow as an individual and so on December 2nd 2015 when I was actually sitting in class up at USC The Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California was attacked by a radicalized Islamic couple killed 14 people injured another 22 ended in a dramatic shootout in downtown San Bernardino and I just couldn't really believe that you know, here I was fresh off my last deployment to Afghanistan Which is probably the most violent deployment of my career And I felt like I was seeing the same level of violence in small-town USA that I was seeing in the mountains of Afghanistan and it just really It really bothered me that people in this country that are not working within law enforcement or the military You know got up to go to work every day and some of those people were worried about their own safety and security In an office building that doesn't make any sense. And so I decided to do something about it And so that's why I launched You know, what was formerly known as vigilance risk solutions were now com safe AI Because I wanted to continue protecting people people in the workplace teachers at school Children at school Men and women that get up every day and they go and they build the infrastructure that makes up this amazing Country, but it's all about protecting human beings and speaking up for those people that don't have the ability to speak up for themselves I just want to continue serving. I want to continue protecting people Well, I think that that brings me my next question, you know, we talked a lot about The experience of the teams Yes, there was a lot of violence on deployments, but Back when you were an INDOC instructor you took a lot of pleasure from being a mentor and Helping people and you spend something like 13 years in the teams. Is that right? Right. Yeah, 13 and a half 14 years. Sure. Okay, and in those years What would you say? You learned In your experience that prepared you for your life as a civilian businessman Great question. I think one of the most important things I learned is that leadership Leadership is a burden That people should aspire to carry It isn't a chore. It isn't a curse leadership is Your chance as an individual to grow beyond belief if you're doing it correctly Because in my opinion, if you're not a servant leader, you're not leading correctly If you don't learn empathy as a leader, you're not doing it correctly leadership in the teams, you know gave me the ability to understand how to truly put the welfare the lives that the The mental health of other human beings before myself And it's more than just being selfless. It's It's learning how to truly devote your entire self to the well-being of other people and here's what's beautiful about that When you do that correctly you as the leader as the individual leader, you don't have any worries Because when you're giving yourself in that capacity to other people Those people are they're reciprocating that they're giving themselves and everything that they have Back to you, which means that I don't have any worries because I'm I'm doing more than just leading I'm building a tribe I'm building a kingdom for the people that make up my tribe and those people are giving everything that they have to give it back to me and That's just a really special feeling When you live that way and when you have people that care about you that much and people that know that you care about them So much that you will give everything in order to never abandon them It's just a really special feeling and I've I've transitioned That level of leadership That that I learned within SEAL teams into my life as an entrepreneur as a technology founder Because I run my company the same way I ran SEAL platoons. I'm last leaders eat last My team my employees my tribe. However, do you want to call it? They are the most important thing and every day if I'm not Always trying to figure out how I can do right by them how I can help them grow So that they continue growing for the rest of their lives even beyond my responsibility Then I'm doing it wrong But I learned that in the SEAL teams and so now I do that within my own company And I think that my company is successful not because of me But because of the individuals that make up the company and as long as I continue working every day to grow those individuals Whether they're within com safe ai or they're outside of the company I mean that's that's what it's all about and I learned that in the SEAL teams You know, it's funny because we talk a lot about Teamwork in the special operations community and we talk a lot about leadership and It leads the casual observer to wonder if the leadership was learned in the teams or really was it a team of leaders Who already had the innate? characteristic of wanting to lead Coming together and and somehow working as a team of leaders Yeah, that's a really interesting question and in my heart I want to say that it's the latter because I don't know A navy seal that isn't a leader inherently I don't I can't think of one And you know sometimes that gets us in trouble with one another Because we are very tight bay No one's going to back down and everyone wants to lead But you know, that's something else I learned In the SEAL teams was In order to to be a good leader, you also have to learn how to follow You have to learn how to swallow your pride. There is no room for ego in leadership you know, so Just because you are a leader inherently it doesn't mean that that you shouldn't have the ability To shut up and listen and listen to other people that are trying to help you grow You know, I spend a significant amount of time Just listening to other people And and learning from those people, you know, I I don't make decisions on my own within my company Just because I'm the founder and the CEO of commsafe ai It doesn't mean that I'm the one that's making all the decisions and I know everything Absolutely not. I know very little. That's why I surround myself with brilliant people And I listen to them and I learn from them and because of them I grow and I'd like to think that because of me they grow a little bit, too But again, those are lessons that I learned in the SEAL teams Because there's always somebody that's going to be bigger better faster stronger And if you're smart, you'll listen to those people and you'll watch them And you'll grow because you're in their presence And I think that that's why I've become the business leader that I am Because throughout my time in the SEAL teams, I was simply traveling around on the shoulders of giants People that were Wise beyond the years and that had experience that they wanted to give me about smart enough to just shut up And accept it and I'm glad that I did Yeah, I think sometimes You know using your two your two ears instead of your one mouth is Is the great wisdom from grandpa that we all should have listened to a little bit more closely You know, there's a lot of things about The community that I think are important in terms of providing an example and Character is probably at the top. It's not just about the physical beast that you are and and how You know courageous you are it's also about Being a good person, you know We don't want the hired gun mentality of of guys coming in and thinking all they have to do is go out and do violence every day And and it's cool The teamwork is built on relationships And relationships are about getting along with people And to get along with people you have to have some sort of outstanding character values or people aren't going to get along with you very well How important is it As a former team guy down at that platoon level every day working with your fellow type a seals How important is character? It's everything It is everything if you can't trust your teammates Then what in the world are you doing there? You know, you're you're training to go Into harm's way with your teammates There has to be an intimate level of trust between teammates And it's even it's not even just in combat all of the training that that we do is high risk You have to have an intimate level of trust within your teammates, which means that You as the individual You have to have faith that your teammates are always going to be honest with you No matter what and it takes A significant amount of emotional intelligence on the part of every individual In order to develop that level of trust There is no room for dishonesty There is no room for giving less than 150 with every single thing that you do. So I think it's it's critical Well, ty I can't think of a better way to uh to wrap this up. I mean that says it all right there We really appreciate your time joining us today. I hope that some of this reaches A young man or woman out there who wants to be a navy seal or a navy swick for that matter And uh, thanks again for joining us. No problem. I'm glad I could help