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Serving Those Who Have Served
287 Plays3 years ago
Service to our country creates a debt that can never truly be repaid. And the toll on those who serve can often be debilitating, making it difficult for veterans to re-acclimate to a life beyond service and the traumas that come as byproducts to protecting freedom. In recognition of PTSD Month, Phillip and Arron talk to Matt Oberembt with True Impact Outdoors, an Iowa organization focusing on helping disabled military veterans and first responders become active outdoors again.
In this episode, Matt shares how True Impact Outdoors got its start as well as what it takes to get a non-profit up and running, including getting beyond the initial hurdle of fundraising. Also, they discuss the challenges that come with making the outdoors feel inclusive to those who have lost limbs or eyesight and the innovative ways they have been able to overcome those challenges. Finally, the fellas consider the real and tangible blessings that come from serving others and the added gift of perspective that comes along with it.
For additional information or to donate, visit: trueimpactoutdoors.com
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Transcript
Pursuit of an Uncommon Life
00:00:02
Speaker
Everyone dreams about living an uncommon life, but how we define that dream is very different for each of us. And for most, it's a lifelong pursuit.
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:11
Speaker
Welcome to the Uncommon Life Project podcast. We're going to introduce you to people who are living that life or enjoying the journey to get there. We're going to also give you some tools, tricks, and tips for starting or accelerating your own efforts to live an uncommon life, a life worth celebrating and savoring.
Meet the Hosts: Phillip and Aaron
00:00:30
Speaker
Please welcome your hosts, Brian Dewhurst and Philip Ramsey.
00:00:36
Speaker
Hello and welcome everybody to another episode of the uncommon life project where I'm your host Phillip Ramsey and Aaron Kramer. Here we are rocking and rolling. Good one today. We do have a good one today. Thanks for saying that. And why do we have the guest on that we have?
PTSD Awareness and Importance
00:00:51
Speaker
Why? What's important? So this month is PTSD month. Yeah. And I feel like it's important that we pull the sinks. It's one of those things that really just doesn't get enough attention that needs more.
00:01:04
Speaker
And if you know anything about Aaron Kramer, he's all about psychology, like the reason behind things. That's all about him. So this is all about, like Aaron figured out this guest. I've heard a little bit of the guest's story. I cannot wait to unpack this one.
00:01:21
Speaker
Because it's so good about PTSD, but it's also good about just therapy in general and just helping people, impacting others. And he had a passion for it. So like, let's get him on the show. Give him our bio for
Guest Introduction: Matt Obern
00:01:34
Speaker
Matt. So this is Matt Obern. He like has an amazing mission he's done. Like, and we went to high school together. We were like acquainted, but like not like hangout groups kind of thing. But through that we know people.
00:01:47
Speaker
And I asked, I was trying to find somebody for PTSD, so I got friends in the military and stuff, got names. But his name legitimately came up multiple times from different parties, so I was like, hey, fellow Mustang, DCG, gotta do this.
00:02:03
Speaker
So here's Matt and he's going to tell you all about his nonprofit and hear all these amazing things he's
Matt's Passion for Hunting
00:02:10
Speaker
doing. True impact outdoors. Matt, that's you buddy. Welcome to the show. That's me and a whole lot of other people. Thank you guys very much for having me on. Absolutely. So I, we have to just go back to the basics. One first thing that you said when we met was like, well, I'm kind of a hunter or maybe Aaron said you were the hunter group and Aaron was the wrestler group.
00:02:29
Speaker
But you have always had a passion for hunting. Oh, yes. Anything to get outdoors, anything to get gone from the house and gone from work and get out. Right. Okay. So did your father, your father was a huge hunter, a grandparent, like all that? Yep. Absolutely. Grew up in a family of outdoorsmen and hunters and fishermen and constantly, uh, constantly out. Any excuse to go, we'd be gone.
00:02:50
Speaker
What do you hunt? Anything? Anything they'll let us hunt. Absolutely. Deer, turkey, roe fishing, anything we can do. What do you use to hunt? There's a lot of things I don't know, so I'm just asking this for my sake, really. Oh, my favorite's always the bow. You gotta get the bow out. Oh, shotguns and now rifles and anything we can do. All depends on what we're after and what makes it more fun. I gotta say, your coolness factor just went up a little bit. Because if I was gonna hunt, which I don't,
00:03:18
Speaker
Oh man, it'd be bad. But I would do it with a bow, because I feel like there is something primal about it. Oh yeah. We got to give them a little bit more chance that way, right? Thank you, Matt. Yeah. Aaron, I love the guests already. Okay. So you have a past of hunting.
From Construction to Passion Path
00:03:32
Speaker
And then so let's walk our listeners through what is like your career path
00:03:38
Speaker
And obviously we all know that you are doing something with hunting. I'll just, spoiler alert, but we'll get to that. But I want to know like what was your career path before you started saying like, you know what? I'm going to go after my passion and I'm going to figure out how to get paid by hunting. I am definitely not getting paid by this career path. And I don't, I don't, it's not even career path. It's a, it's a,
00:03:59
Speaker
It's just a passion path, maybe. But the career path's always been construction in one fashion or another, and I bounced around to about every facet of it, but currently in the construction still as well. So that fuels your passion? It definitely fuels the passion and keeps the lights on. Yep, absolutely. OK. Because so much more goes into what we're going to get into because of your full-time job. Because your heart is so big.
00:04:27
Speaker
That's kind of one of those things where it's like, well, no, I got to have a full-time job to like fully pour into this thing that we're going to get into. Oh, yeah. That balance is tricky between work and family and the nonprofit. It's something that I need to still figure out that perfect balance. We're going
Birth of True Impact Outdoors
00:04:43
Speaker
to get into it. Yeah. All right. So let's talk about true impact outdoors. So what is it? What's the genesis from it? And like, how did you start kind of tailoring into this is what I want to do and I want to pour into this.
00:04:56
Speaker
It's been, I think it's been in me and a lot of the main folks that are involved with True Impact Outdoors since the beginning, since early on. Even clear back in school and just out of school, obviously in the world we live in with 9-11 and things, a lot of my friends were gone. They went straight into the military out of school. And when they'd come home on leave, they had a little bit of time and I loved
00:05:25
Speaker
going hunting with them, helping them make sure that they were successful for the week or whatever they had. If I could do anything to help them get a deer shot or whatever they were doing, I got more reward and enjoyment out of that than being in the stand myself shooting one. I felt like it was more of a, personally, it was more of a success. If I could help somebody else get one, then get one myself. I'd say that was where it started. Sure. And then I totally can relate to this because when,
00:05:52
Speaker
I don't know. Do you have children? Yeah. Okay. So it's almost like looking through your children's eyes and going to the park for the first time. Like the amount of joy they get is there's this another level of like, Oh, you're kind of almost reliving what you've loved to do. Oh yeah. Park is maybe not a good example, but you love to, to hunt. And so when you get somebody else getting excited about it too, it almost fuels more of a passion of why you loved it in the beginning. So I love that. Couldn't agree more. Yeah. Now that my son, he's, he's just turning seven here this month. Okay.
00:06:22
Speaker
He's obsessed with the outdoors as well. Yeah, everything about it's more rewarding taking him and seeing it through his eyes and how exciting it is for him as well. Right. So you're seeking after people who have gone into the military, veterans at this point, right? And trying to help them have an experience out in the wild hunting that you always love to do at this point, right? Yes. Okay.
Personal Story: Matt's Brother's Return
00:06:45
Speaker
And then when does it evolve to like, all right, I think we can do this as a business.
00:06:48
Speaker
Well, we're missing something there. Yeah, let's go. It's like, what was the event that showed you the true impact that hunting is having on people that have PTSD? Good question. It's a little personal for you.
00:07:04
Speaker
Yeah, there's definitely a personal side of that and there was a lot of little things that I saw and that I felt that all grew into one big mission and passion, I guess, for me, but one that really sticks hard is
00:07:22
Speaker
My brother, when he came back from Marine Corps, I think he was six years in, I finally hounded him enough. He had never been a big hunter growing up. He was a basketball guy. You were the wrestling guy. He was a basketball guy, right? And so he wasn't out in the winter and in the fall with dad and I hunting.
00:07:39
Speaker
Shooting baskets practicing non-stop games and things like that and never really was his thing and when he came back from Marine Corps I thought well alright brother can teach me how to shoot this is gonna be sweet You know and if nothing else we're gonna get some time to hang out and I can corner him He's got daughters now and he's married and he's got work
00:07:57
Speaker
And I kept hounding him. I said, let's go hunting, let's go hunting, let's go hunting. And he was reluctant at first. Oh yeah, it took a while. I mean, if nothing else, just I'll blame his schedule, you know. But finally we got him out. He definitely wasn't jumping on the idea right away. And it never was his thing. So finally he went out with Dad and I one weekend and
00:08:15
Speaker
Put him in the tree stand and told him I knew a deer well that would be walking through there was a nice eight point deer and I said I said he'll be coming through he's yours, you know, and okay and He shot it. He harvested his first deer. He was on cloud nine. I was on cloud nine It was a great day for all of us and had a blast and I didn't realize at that point until later Actually, I'd heard him talking about it It it had it had
00:08:44
Speaker
Done a lot more for him than I ever realized He came home and I'm sure he won't mind me telling the story a little bit but he came home and he felt like a little bit more of a guest at home than we ever would have imagined or he should have and I know kind of a guest in his own home at mom and dad's at Christmas and everything like that and Going out with us
00:09:08
Speaker
made him realize that I was still his brother. Um, his dad was still his dad and time had kind of waited for him a little bit. It hadn't moved on when he, when he was in the Marine Corps. And, um, it, I think it kind of helped him get back to, get back to Iowa, get back to family.
00:09:24
Speaker
Right. More than I'd ever realized it would be. Yeah. I mean, I don't know this, but thinking of somebody going overseas in six years, you can really feel like almost a stranger in your own home that like, they all have different lives now. Well, not like the amount of what they experience over there. I can't imagine like at all.
00:09:41
Speaker
Like you're like, it's six years when I think like what's past has happened to me in the past six years, right? It's a long time, but then put it in what they have to go through. It probably feels like, I mean, decades of things have changed. Right. Yep. It goes on this hunt. Yeah. Yeah. Almost like shakes him like, no, like we're still your brother. We're still your family and we love you.
00:10:05
Speaker
We're here and and you know as strong as all of our military men and women are and everything You know, I didn't I didn't know I didn't have a clue What it had done and the same thing has happened with with true impact outdoors as well you know, there's so many things that have that have come about and I'm so lucky to have
00:10:25
Speaker
Some of my best friends I've ever made are these veterans that we're lucky to get to hang out with now and hearing from them that a silly deer hunt that we're going on or a turkey hunt or something, how it can change a life and get things straightened out, I still don't...
00:10:44
Speaker
Fully understand it. I don't think and but i've heard it enough times that I know it's real right and it's been pretty neat So cool. So how did you like so we got that story is amazing. I think it's like I mean, this is the corvik so It lit the fire for you here. Like you say to your brother and like your friends growing up. So the now we're like How do you start taking this and like bringing it to shoot, you know impact outdoors?
00:11:09
Speaker
It took a lot of talking, a lot of thinking, a lot of planning. We want to do it right. And something that we talked about as the board, as the originators when we were first putting this together, something we said was, if we can't do this better than it's ever been done,
00:11:25
Speaker
We need to step back and go help those people are doing better and partner with those who are already doing it. Exactly. Exactly. And we had tried and me being a civilian, not being a veteran. It was, there's a barrier there. Yeah. They, they weren't really interested in having me, you know, volunteer with a lot of these organizations. Which I want to take a moment there. Cause like, I mean, we're like, you know, we, we talked about this and I totally respect that and understand that. Oh yeah. But here, this is like an uncommon path. Like you, you sat there and said like, no,
00:11:53
Speaker
Okay, I respect that. I really do and I understand it. But like, I have a passion for this. I'm still going to do it. Yeah. Yeah. It was definitely because you just saw how impactful it was for your brother. Right. And so you had to call your friends and be like, listen, I just had this experience with my brother. There's got to be other people out there that are feeling the same way. Yeah. And I think that.
00:12:15
Speaker
A lot of us that didn't serve, I mean, we owe everything we've got, you know, the fact that we can sit here today is because of them. And I don't think there's any way we can give back enough to those that did, you know, that did serve and did what they did for us. And so the least we can do for them is everything we can do. And I'm not willing to kind of just sit down and say, okay, when I'm told no a couple of times, that's kind of my stubbornness anyway.
00:12:41
Speaker
We had to keep going and trying it. Anthony, he is a Marine, my old roommate from college. We were talking about it a lot, trying to get into organizations, get me involved in organizations around Iowa that were taking veterans outdoors.
00:12:59
Speaker
I finally, I think got to a point where we said, you know what? Let's just do it ourselves. Let's do it. Yeah. And let's find our, let's find a niche that needs to be, you know, taken care of. Let's find a hole that needs filled. And that's what true impact is going to do. Right. And we're going to do it better. And it's ever been done or we're going to get out of the way. And we've worked tirelessly and endless hours to make sure that we do the best we can with it.
Challenges and Niche for Veterans
00:13:23
Speaker
And hopefully we're doing that.
00:13:24
Speaker
Are there other nonprofits out there that do similar things? Not necessarily what you do, because you're kind of talking about the niche that you started serving. But when you were doing the research beginning, was there other services out there that would take veterans out and hunt with them? Absolutely. And I was actually...
00:13:42
Speaker
incredible for that. Really? Yeah, yeah. There's more veteran support in Iowa than I've seen in the Midwest, I should say, more than Iowa, but than the rest of the country by far. Wow. It's impressive. It's beautiful. It's wonderful. And there's other organizations that are doing similar things to what we do. And
00:14:01
Speaker
neat thing about this is the competition with the daily work. It's competition. If somebody's got a like-minded situation going on or their business is like-minded yours, it's competition. Okay. This is the exact opposite. How many more can we serve? Right, right. How can I help you? We're loaning our adaptive equipment out to other organizations and helping them out with volunteers and anything we can all the time. It's really, really refreshing. Absolutely. Coming from the construction world where it's competition every day to
00:14:28
Speaker
cut throat. Yeah. Now it's help everybody we can and keep doing the same thing. Right. So your niche that you landed on that you're going to help was what? It started out as we needed, we saw a, um, we saw a shortcoming in the veterans that, um,
00:14:44
Speaker
You know, there was a lot of those, I guess the best way to explain, there's a lot of those organizations that, you know, they'll be on a Facebook page and say, you know, anybody that wants to go hunting next weekend, I've got an open spot in my blind or, or anything like that. And there was a lot of folks who didn't.
00:15:00
Speaker
they're not going to jump on there and say that, whether it be their personality, their PTSD, won't allow them to be doing that, or their physical requirements for climbing up into that blind, they're not going to be able to. If they're paralyzed or missing a limb, or even seeing impaired, if they're blind, they're not going to be hiking out into the timber with somebody. And we wanted to make sure that there was nobody
00:15:30
Speaker
nobody left behind on that end of things. Those are the ones that we felt needed, probably needed to go hunting as much as anybody and make it happen. And that work, it takes a little bit more work to do it, but that's what we're here for and that's what we need to do. So almost the fringe of the French, the fringe of this
00:15:49
Speaker
veteran kind of idea is one thing to like niche down, but you even niche down even further. The people who almost feel excluded from whatever reason they have, maybe it's ability or something that's holding them back. You were like, let's go get those people. Yeah. Yeah. Or try to anyway. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And you know, the veteran community is a very proud, strong community and
00:16:13
Speaker
they don't hold a sign saying, I'm struggling or I'm staying at home because I don't want to go out and deal with people and things like that. So it's been a trick. It's definitely been one of our main hurdles, but we're getting there. Nice. We're gonna get the word out. You gotta get the word out. That's right. This podcast will help. Yeah, amen.
00:16:37
Speaker
Seven people listen to it. No, we actually have more than okay, so So you're getting this and now you're like let's talk about the first time that you take out and their first time of veterans that maybe be Disabled for whatever reason you're going out. Tell us about that hunt. Oh boy. The first one it was amazing It was scary. It was nerve-wracking. It was fun. We There was kind of two two things that set it up to make it happen
00:17:05
Speaker
I was at a wonderful veterans fishing event held down at Lake Rathbun. It's called Castaways and I was volunteering down there. We just ripped the seats out of our pontoon boat and we go down and we get a whole bunch of awesome guys in wheelchairs and we can roll right on that pontoon boat and it's a blast. We go fishing for a week straight. Awesome deal. Wow. And I sat down at dinner one night.
00:17:30
Speaker
And I knew one gentleman that was at the table, Randy, and I didn't really know anyone else at the table, but come to find out it was some pretty important and pretty special folks there. And they were talking, and I'm eating my dinner, kind of listening out the corner of my ear, and they were talking about wanting to put together a hunt at Honey Creek State Park.
00:17:53
Speaker
And they said, you know, this is not our forte. We're a fishing event and not really our deal. And Randy piped up and he says, Matt'll do it. Just matter of fact, as it could have ever been. Oh crap. Okay, here we go. And I, so I looked up and said, yeah, yeah, we'll do it.
00:18:12
Speaker
And that night I went back and called everybody on the board. We had put together a board obviously for TI by that time and we were starting to figure it all out. And I said, guys, I committed to something. I hope it's okay. And everybody was, heck yeah, let's do it. I said, we got about $10,000 to raise to do it. I put together the numbers, what it'll be for everything we'll need. And I said, we gotta try to raise this money. And if we can't, I looked at my wife and I said, if we can't, we're gonna have to
00:18:40
Speaker
because it's gonna happen. Pony up, yeah. She didn't choke me, she didn't kick me out of the house. She was on board. She was supportive, I'm blessed to have her, still to this day. I don't know how she deals with me, but we went for it, and the community back home, business owners and folks that I don't know, I don't understand why, but they believed in my dream and my air castle I was building, I guess, there.
00:19:07
Speaker
And I told them what our goal was and they said we're in and they made it happen for us. And we took 10 veterans to Honey Creek State Park for the first time that state park had ever been hunted in its history. We were allowed to take those 10 veterans in and they harvested some deer there. And it was a really special deal. Wow.
00:19:29
Speaker
That's kind of cool. Let us say you're the first person to ever be able to hunt there. Oh yeah. How cool is that for those guys? So cool.
Adaptive Equipment and Inclusivity
00:19:35
Speaker
Yep. Yeah. Yep. We, uh, the other part of that, that was fun was our first big hurdle on adaptive equipment, um, came from that first time there's a gentleman named Eldon that hunted with us and he's blind, completely blind. And, um,
00:19:51
Speaker
We sat down at a campfire one night at that fishing event, actually, that same week in Eldon. I told him, you know, what we were trying to do, we were just BSing at the campfire. And Joe Manning, one of our main volunteers, still to this day, he said, we can do this.
00:20:06
Speaker
And he explained it through military terminology that I couldn't tell you if I remember anyway. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, he's, you know, we, we set out how to get Eldon able to shoot his own deer being completely blind. And, and, uh, between Joe and Eldon and I and everybody else that was involved, we, we got it figured out and Eldon shot his own deer completely blind. He handled the gun, he pulled the trigger, he did it all himself.
00:20:32
Speaker
That first year and shot his own deer. All right So you know beforehand because we were talking a little bit and he was telling about this story so you got to tell us how that Elden shot his own deal deer because I think a lot of people are like now or Tell me how it's it's pretty neat. We've basically it's an it's a it's a arm that Holds the gun and it's mounted to Elden's chair inside the blind Yeah, and he can move that gun around wherever he wants and it helps to stabilize it hold it in place where he's at and we've got a
00:21:02
Speaker
a phone that'll mount to the back of his scope on the shotgun. And the volunteer, Joe, with Eldon, he'll sit behind Eldon and put his hands on Eldon's shoulders. And he'll squeeze the left shoulder or the right shoulder to tell him he needs to aim left or right. And he'll run his thumb up or down on his shoulder blade to tell him to go up or down. And then when Joe taps on Eldon's shoulder, it's go time. Eldon knows he can squeeze off that shot.
00:21:28
Speaker
He loads the gun. It is really cool. And Eldon, it's funny. He is a better shot than anybody that can see out there. There is no target panic. There is no concern whatsoever. He is so relaxed. Dialed in. Oh yeah. It is awesome. It is awesome. Yep.
00:21:48
Speaker
So he got his first deer. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yep. It was cool. Really fun. Really neat day. Oh, wow. So, okay. So now, I mean, I'm sorry. Aaron, what questions do you have? I love this. I love this story. Cause we were to also tell us about this like machine thing that you guys are working on. Like for someone that's paralyzed, like from neck down, right? Yeah. Yeah. We've, we've got lots of folks that, you know, are in wheelchairs and things that go hunting. That's, that's, um,
00:22:15
Speaker
That's pretty much just the mobility stuff and that's easy. We've got carts so that the guys and gals can go out hunting, pheasant hunting behind the dog, get right up behind the dog and really enjoy what a pheasant hunts about, which is watching those dogs work.
00:22:31
Speaker
They can obviously harvest that bird too, being right there, hands on. But we were actually just able to purchase, due to a donation from Hunters Management Group, another business that's been a big supporter of ours, we purchased a
00:22:47
Speaker
a piece of equipment that allows folks that are neck down paralyzed to aim and shoot their own gun with this gun vise that's got rams and actuators that aim the gun for them using a joystick that they can move with their chin.
00:23:04
Speaker
And then there's, um, there's another, uh, uh, up to bite button. I think is I'm going to have the terminology on, but basically there's a little switch they can bite on and it'll pull the trigger for them. So like, okay. So we got to ask cause you're, you're nonprofit and everything here. How much will those things cost?
00:23:21
Speaker
Yeah, that was right around, I think that was right around the 5,000 mark. And we'll have a little bit more to add to it, to adapt it and tweak it for our needs, but. It's actually a lot cheaper than I thought. Way cheaper than I expected to. Okay. Yep. All right. So I want to make sure it's on the same page. We got some help from the business that builds them. They were very good to us. Tell us how trying to get a non-profit was. Getting the paperwork, I'm only asking that because Brian's not here and he'd be asking that question. Yeah.
00:23:49
Speaker
It wasn't, the state level is easy. The 501c3 level at the federal level is a little trickier. And to be completely honest with you, we, we made sure we had all the rules that we needed, you know, getting the board set up and all the things that we need to do.
Setting Up a Non-Profit
00:24:03
Speaker
I paid the attorney, we did it the right way to make sure we didn't screw it up. I could do it five times myself and mess it up every time. We'll just let them do it once and we'll get ahead of things. I think one thing the listeners need to know about nonprofits, cause like every time I'm like, I know for me, I hear about a nonprofit.
00:24:19
Speaker
hear about these big ones and like people are always knocking on doors and things like that and Fundraising but like what comes to the different here too is like when you have someone that has a full-time job Like you own your own business on the side you run this on the side with a bunch of other people even on the board and stuff But on top of that like you mentioned like you're a construction worker So it's not like you're the salesperson, right? So then on top of that like you got to go start asking for money
00:24:43
Speaker
And like that first one, I know we were talking about this, like you had to raise $10,000. And like, it was just fascinating. And I totally can relate to this. Like here, you're going to ask for money.
00:24:54
Speaker
It's not for you, but you feel like you are. That was definitely a hurdle for me. I struggled out the gate with that because I never asked anyone other than maybe my mom and dad. I never asked anybody for money, and I still don't even like doing that. And so it was very odd and very uncomfortable at first, and especially that first hunt. I'm not even able to sell them a product or sell them on what we are doing.
00:25:23
Speaker
I'm selling them on what we hope we'll be able to do. An idea. And I can't tell you how much appreciation I have for those folks who basically they said, Matt, you're going to do it. We know you'll do it, but you darn well better do it. And they would cut checks. And it was beyond humbling and motivating. It's going to happen. When I've got these folks who are willing to get behind me and
00:25:52
Speaker
You know, when the bus is rolling, people will jump on and they're on board to get that. I would say, because really what they were doing is they were believing in you. Does that make sense? Like in your character and like, they probably knew that the best thing they could do for this organization is them pay you. Cause yeah, you probably could have done it yourself, but they knew if they put a dollar in, you weren't going to mistrust that dollar. That makes it that thing is going to get done.
00:26:15
Speaker
Which is cool, that's why I'm saying there's sometimes when people ask for money and they're like, meh, I'm out because of the person, not because the idea isn't great. But Matt, that says a huge testimony to you, and I think it's interesting that you were like, it's kind of hard for me to ask for money. Well, you know your friends knew that, and so when you did, they're like, we're totally doing this, this is happening. That could be, I don't wanna question their judgment skills by saying they would support me on my dream, but yeah. No, they were in, and it worked, and now it's so,
00:26:44
Speaker
It's so much easier now that we, we can show people what we do and, and, and the people that are, that are on board, they're all in and now it's, it's second and third person. It's, Hey, you've heard about TIO. You want to get in on this. It's fun. It's cool. And it's, it's become, it's become a lot more genuine and smooth.
00:27:02
Speaker
right and um you got a runway i would say like this is our analogy in uncommon life is like you're kind of like an airplane and coming down the runway like you're gonna get this hanger off this thing or and now you're up and out you know like you're really flying and you're gliding and so that's really cool yeah i mean that's the whole thing like i'm gonna go back to the donations because like
00:27:21
Speaker
You know, like for our listeners, every nonprofit is always looking for more donations, right? But like, it's the fact that like, and I know when we're talking about this and we were by ourselves and you're telling me like how genuine you felt about like, how weird it was to ask for money. And like, I know like this isn't your game and I know like, I like the why behind things and especially when it comes to money, but it's like, it's because you truly like, I mean, you're a construction worker, so you like work hard, right? So you know the value of money.
00:27:50
Speaker
So for someone to give you money is like, you know, all the responsibility behind it. And that's why it's so hard. But again, that's why you built something so beautiful. That's doing amazing things for our veterans. That's like, I don't know, I took my hat off to you. It's amazing. That's the quality you have. I know like.
00:28:09
Speaker
You probably don't know that, but that's why you've done what you've done. It's such an amazing thing, because you have such amount of respect from people. They'll be like, no, Matt's going to bust his butt. And when I give him $1,000, $500, to him, it's like you're giving me a gold bar. Let's talk about this, because I don't know if a lot of times people recognize this, and I know you have. So tell us the sacrifice your wife made when you were going after this dream.
00:28:36
Speaker
My wife, her sacrifice has been nonstop ongoing. My wife and kids are, they get the short stick every time this, you know, every time we do something and they've been so supportive and it's been a blessing really on the kids side of things because I love taking them along and introducing them to these guys and gals that we hunt with and things like that. But Nicole has been,
00:28:59
Speaker
an absolute godsend. It couldn't happen without her, obviously. Thanks Nicole. Yes, thanks Nicole. She believed in this pipe dream originally and I think she knew I was stubborn enough to probably make it happen one way or another.
Family Sacrifices for True Impact
00:29:17
Speaker
She supports it.
00:29:18
Speaker
you know, whether it be financially or the biggest thing that it's been a juggle that I've still tried to figure out and always probably will is time, you know? She sacrificed all of it, you know? And I guess, like I said, it wouldn't happen without her, but yeah, she just sacrificed about everything on it, you know? It's been pretty cool. How many veterans do you, on a yearly basis, like go out and help hunt?
00:29:45
Speaker
I should count that. I really should. I should get a number on that. I would say... Maybe ballpark it. Oh boy. Total hunts. We average about 10 to 15 veterans per hunt.
00:30:00
Speaker
and i want to say we've got roughly eight hunts right now we'll probably be at 10 or 12 by the end of this year for sure we're growing so you're probably 150 veterans that are you're taking out to hunt some of them come to multiple hunts yeah okay yep it's not it's not a one-time one hunt you're out sounds like it's pretty addictive they want to come back eldon is going to shoot another thing i'll tell you that right darn right he is yep yep that's so good wow okay so what would you uh
00:30:28
Speaker
What was like the biggest thing that you've taken away out of all this, out of the beginning of just, this was a baby infant idea to now where it's at now and true impact outdoors. What is like one of the bigger takeaways that you've taken away? There's been countless takeaways. Um, we got all night. The big ones for me, I guess, um,
00:30:50
Speaker
I feel sorry for myself every once in a while. If I'm, you know, my back, I got a bad back and I feel sorry for myself when I get up in the morning and I'm creaking and cracking and oh man, you know, and then I, I, I stop and I realize some of these awesome folks that I get to spend the weekends with, how can I complain about my backache or, you know, any sort of struggles I'm having in life?
00:31:13
Speaker
when these guys are in way worse shape than I am, physically, emotionally, whatever it is, and I'm blessed. And if they can come up with a smile and pound through that day,
00:31:28
Speaker
why on earth can't I, you know, and it's been really personally on a level for me, it's been healthy for me to, you know, to, it makes me appreciate things and makes me get a good view on life personally. Right. Yeah. I mean, I think that's amazing. I mean, I think that's one thing, like this why I love this, cause this is like on my top two things, I'm like super passionate about, like I was telling you before,
00:31:55
Speaker
us supporting our veterans is like, it's up there. It's right there in the top two. But like, yeah, you see these guys that do it and how strong they are. Like, I mean, I know like I wrestled in college and stuff, but like sometimes I'm like, Oh man, this hurts. Should I do this? You know, we'll see. Oh, we'll see. Like, okay. Like, well, some of these guys like have way more pain than I can probably even like imagine having on top of that, like,
00:32:22
Speaker
not just the physical they got probably some mental pain along with it and they're still trucking along killing their day you know as best as they can if not even better than me and i'm like oh man you know but you get to see that firsthand like oh yeah that's a good it's a good takeaway just how blessed we are of like things that are really natural for us
00:32:44
Speaker
might not be so easy for somebody else. They provided that life for us. You know, we went hunting in Wyoming this year with two veterans. We went out and harvested two elk. And one of the guys that went hunting with us, Homer, he is such an awesome dude. Homer? You bet. Homer is an amputee. He's got one leg.
00:33:08
Speaker
And I am thinking as we're planning this hunt, I'm thinking, man, I am out of shape. This is going to be rough. Oh man. I'm not looking forward to hiking these mountains, you know? And, um, and then we get out there and who's the guy that is right ahead of me on the trails and is, oh yeah, homers dominating. That's awesome. I'm out there sucking wind and climbing up these mountains. And I'm like,
00:33:31
Speaker
Dude, I don't, I don't, I've got two legs and I'm hiking up these things. I was like, I can't even imagine, but Homer's loving it. He is going for it. And he was right there the whole time. It was, man, it was, it was, it was cool. It was fun. What's the future of, uh, true impact outdoors? Oh man. I, I don't know. I, I, I, I look forward to, we've got,
00:33:53
Speaker
The hunts are growing like crazy.
Growth and Future Plans
00:33:56
Speaker
It's a beautiful growth. We're really just trying to hold on and make sure that the growth is proper. We've got quite a few hunts that are in the planning to grow this year, as well as repeat on all of our current events. The sky's the limit on this thing. It really just comes down to how much time we have to... What is your biggest need? That's what I... Yeah, that's...
00:34:17
Speaker
You know, being in Iowa, that we are, like I said earlier, the support has been mind-blowing and humbling. Financially, as we grow, obviously, the need will grow as well. Volunteers are coming out of the woodwork.
00:34:35
Speaker
It's more of a struggle of making sure that everybody who wants to help can. And the biggest need and struggle that True Impact Outdoors has is getting noise out there so people know about us. And like I said earlier, those veterans, they're a proud, strong community. And for them to say, you know, and we've been focusing a lot on the
00:34:57
Speaker
the veterans that are physically or mentally in a struggle or in a bad spot, but a veteran that served is welcome to come hunting with us. They don't need to be missing a limb. They don't need to be in a wheelchair. They don't need to be struggling.
00:35:13
Speaker
to come hunt with us, that's something that, you know, it's kind of a fun part of it, is making sure that those folks are getting out. But getting to the folks that could enjoy it, that could utilize it, has honestly been our biggest struggle, because they're so strong and so proud.
00:35:31
Speaker
I don't, you know, there's somebody who needs it. I've heard it more times than I can count. There's somebody who needs it more than I do. Well, you're probably right, but I haven't been able to reach out to him yet, so you want to come have fun? Let's go hunting. Yeah, that's good. Okay, so how do our listeners hear more about what you're doing and how do they get in touch? Oh, the easiest way for us is Facebook and our website, trueimpactoutdoors.com. Awesome.
00:35:58
Speaker
Okay. Closing thoughts. I'd love to hear your closing thoughts. I'm like just blown away here. This is fun. I, my thing is for listeners, like step up, like to help out our veterans. Like, I know like everyone says like, I want to do that. Like let's be people that do step up because these,
00:36:14
Speaker
You know our fellow brothers and sisters are out there doing things that's doing I think the one best thing we can do sometimes is just showing like Show your passion like donate or donate your time if you're a good hunter and you know the rules and stuff like donate your time Time is just as good as money. Mm-hmm, you know, so like
00:36:32
Speaker
But what you're doing though is amazing. I like blown away that you're doing. I think it's awesome That's why I'm like, oh man fellow DCG Mustang guys doing amazing. Thanks. This is great. So I'll keep it up If I can help I'm a bad shot so I can
00:36:47
Speaker
You don't want me out there. I'm not a big target. No, but this is awesome. I think you're doing great things. I think, I mean, God's doing awesome things with you and how you're doing things and touching my eyes and just keep it up, man. That's awesome.
00:37:04
Speaker
Well, I appreciate it. It is truly a family. Um, and it is a ton of people, you know, at the events we talk about the TIO family a lot. And like I've said, there are, there are folks involved on a volunteer and on a hunting level that they're, they're family to me, you know? And it's taken, it's not me, it's hundreds of people who have made this what it is. Um, I'm just lucky enough to,
00:37:29
Speaker
be the guy that they call the president for some silly reason until they vote me out and get smart. It's beautiful, it's fun, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. So this is how I'll recap this. At the end of the day, to serve somebody is the most joyous thing you can do.
00:37:47
Speaker
and I've been I've had the pleasure of hanging out with some adaptive athletes and helping them snow ski and I wouldn't rather be on the biggest mountain in the world with the best snow rather than being with those people and those athletes and some of them are veterans and it is like the greatest thing to help them experience something they never thought they could and so I kind of feel like I have a glimpse of what it feels like to have
00:38:11
Speaker
Elden shoot a buck or Homer dominate the mountain, you know, but it's so great to be able to serve somebody
Joy of Serving Others
00:38:18
Speaker
and it does put something in your heart of a perspective, right? That maybe I have it way better than I, I mean, I'm such a wuss, you know, like, why would I ever complain when I see somebody who's enjoying their life as much as they are? And so I'm grateful for that. And then my last thing I would say that my key takeaway from this podcast was
00:38:37
Speaker
Sometimes you just got to say yes, like going back to that dinner table, like, well, Matt'll do it. What did you say? Oh yeah. Hell yeah, I will. Yes, I will. You know, and then look at what happened because you just said yes. And look at all the athletes and just the hunters that you could impact and the veterans that you get to impact just because you said, you know what? Yeah. And how many other times I've been scared to say yes.
00:39:02
Speaker
Or, you know, like, I don't know what I'm going to do, or what is the board going to say? Like, I got to talk to somebody before I say yes. Like, no, just say yes, Phillip, and go serve somebody, you know? So a great job, Matt. And I'm so grateful that Aaron is the one who set this up. And I think that you are the uncommon to the uncommon. And so the Uncommon Life Project is a perfect place for you to announce your story and
00:39:24
Speaker
and try to get more listeners and more people and ears to help this amazing cause that you're going after. So, I've been your host, Phillip Ramsey. You've been listening to the Uncommon Life Project and. Aaron Kramer. Everyone, gotta love it. Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, go be uncommon. Thanks for listening. Bye.
00:39:43
Speaker
That's all for this episode of The Uncommon Life Project, brought to you by Uncommon Wealth Partners. Be sure to visit uncommonwealth.com to learn more about our services. Don't miss an episode as we introduce you to inspiring people who are actively pursuing an uncommon life.