Ep. 132: Vet Tix CSO - The Seats We Leave Empty | Steven Weintraub on Vet Tix, Belonging & Veteran Purpose

Why Vet Tix exists

Martin Foster 0:00

A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself, Joseph Campbell. My guest on this episode of Passing the Torch is the Chief Strategy Officer at Veteran Tickets Foundation, aka VetTicks. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome Marine Veteran and a man who was inducted into the Arizona Hall of Fame. Passing the Torch with Stephen Weintraub starts now. First and foremost, welcome to the show and thank you so much for joining me.

Steven Weintraub 0:28

Well, thanks for the uh the kind introduction and uh thank you for having me. So I'm very, very honored and appreciative that you reached out to me and and asked me if I would be on your podcast. So I'm I'm really excited to uh to be a part of it because you've I'm in some great company. Some of your previous, well, a lot of your previous guests are quite uh you're very quite uh accomplished. So to be in that company, I'm honored. So thank you very much.

Martin Foster 1:00

Yeah, of course. Well, I'm grateful that you gave me and everyone else like field passes for the Falcons Buccaneers game, Thursday night football, a couple years ago uh in Atlanta. That was and it ended up being like a like a highlight real game where both Kirk Cousins and Baker Mayfield threw for four or five hundred yards and it was just a total shootout.

Steven Weintraub 1:20

But yeah, well, that I mean, we we requested that. We were like, hey, we got some vet tixers with field tickets, so we want to make sure that it's a good game. So, hey, you know, Baker, you know, if you can do this and do that. So um, you know, and he the both of those guys, Baker and Kurt, are solid cousins, are solid guys, so they uh they went with the script, so we were appreciative of that.

Martin Foster 1:43

Yeah, so yeah. Like, hey, can you throw four touchdowns tonight? Like, uh, not only are you my fantasy team, but I just uh I'm I'm trying to impress all these other veterans here.

Steven Weintraub 1:52

Yeah.

Martin Foster 1:52

Hey, one question I'd like to start off each podcast with is why is life great right now?

Steven Weintraub 1:57

Why is life great? You know, it's because everybody has their struggles. And if you can sift through the positive and find the positives, and I have a lot to be grateful for. And that's it hasn't always been that way. And we've all gone through adversity. And so for me, I I really focus on you know where I am and and where I've come from. So for me, life is great because of that.

Martin Foster 2:31

Uh, congratulations, by the way. I saw that you recently celebrated 10 years with VetTix, is that right?

Steven Weintraub 2:36

Yeah, yeah. Thanks. Yeah, it was uh it's 10 weeks, uh 10 years like this this month, like this week. So um, yeah, it's been a decade. And it's just like everything else, it goes fast. But um I I remember first starting and and we were still kind of a startup back then, even though it had been around for eight years and uh it was a grind, and it's been it's been great ever since. It's so much fun.

Martin Foster 3:02

Do you remember your first day?

Steven Weintraub 3:04

I do, yeah. And it was funny because um before I it was like my first day or before the first day, I got this like slew of vet ticks t-shirts that you know that my boss, our founder, yeah, you know, gave me. And um he's like, hey, here's your gear and everything. I was like, okay, cool. And like I, you know, I think like the first day I showed up in slacks and a collared shirt or something like that, and he looked at me like I had something grown out of my forehead. You know, he was like, no. He's like, and he's it him, and we had a small staff back then, everybody else, because it was this, it was you know in May, so it was warm weather here in Arizona, and so everybody else in the office is in shorts and t-shirts. Yeah, so he looks at me and goes, Don't like, in essence, don't ever wear that again into the office. And I so I I mean I wear that kind of stuff when I'm you know out and about, maybe at the military influencer conference or something like you know, things like that, but daily daily uniform is shorts and t-shirts or whatever. So I do remember my first day, and like I was like, wow, this is so cool. Um, so yeah, 10 years ago.

Martin Foster 4:25

What were some of your favorite memories about those like we'll say that first year working at Vet Ticks because everything is so new and so fresh to you at that time?

Losing identity after military service

Steven Weintraub 4:33

Yeah, well, what was so cool was that, and I had worked for a uh nonprofit. I came from a different nonprofit, and nonprofits the way they operate and things can be very different because they're not, you know, they're not like structured corporate thing. But I was like, I was so it was like so cool how things were just so chill and so flow. And you know, my got my boss again, he was like, when we when he interviewed me, I asked him, I'm like, what's all right, chief strategy officers are a job wreck? And he's like, no, it's like you figure it out. So I had I had a lot of freedom and latitude to create the position and build it. And so that was uh 10 years ago. Okay, so we didn't have AI, right? Uh yeah, so exactly it wasn't doing a search on, you know, what is a chief strategy officer does? Uh you know, I mean we had Google, right? So you can do that, but it it wasn't tailored towards what we do in our mission. So for me, it was figuring out what, you know, I I was obviously familiar with the organization, but it's like where do we want to go, what direction and growth and how do we get there, and things like that. So for me, it was absorbing the the the culture and really figuring out what and how we where we wanted to get and how we were gonna get there. And what's really cool that so going back to your question is shortly after I came on board in uh uh May of uh 16, uh maybe about four or five months later, we had a big milestone and it was very big to us because we had Eclipse distributing our three millionth ticket, which was huge for us. And so it was like, wow, three million tickets, that's that's tremendous. So we were really excited about that, and it was a big deal, and fast forward, now we're at, you know, I checked the numbers this morning, we're at over 37.5 million we've distributed. So we've come a long way since then. But it was we were still again eight years as an organization, but we in some ways we were still a startup because we were so small and such so unknown in the military and veteran space. And that was that was my job was to go knock down those doors and and introduce us.

Martin Foster 7:07

You've done a fantastic job, and I've been someone that has benefited from vet ticks, and I and I brag. And I do remember like 2016, 2017, first hearing that's when I first actually heard about it. Who was kind of who was like the first athlete that you met uh with your role?

Steven Weintraub 7:23

You know, it's fun it's we we really got into the sports piece of that later on. I mean, because a lot of the events, believe it or not, were were more concerts. I mean, we had like the Arizona Diamondbacks, which are it is in our backyard because we're based in Phoenix, was our first donor. Uh, and they're they've been tremendous donors since. And so um they what they would do is uh during the season, like once a season or something, invite you know, our leadership onto the field during the the pregame and and um they recognize us and things like that. And so it was like teams, but some of the athletes were you know that that came after a while, and you know, one of them was really Kurt Warner. Um, he's been a tremendous supporter of our organization. Obviously, he's been on you know your your show uh and just such a giver and so humble. Him and his wife, uh our Brenda, are just such you know great people. And they live in our community here in Arizona, and sometimes I see him out and about, and I'll I'll say hi to him. And he's just such a such a solid down-to-earth guy, and and I'm like, thank you so much for what you do for us and everything. And he's just like, yeah, he doesn't poo-poo it, but he's like, it's the least I could do.

Martin Foster 8:52

Yeah. You know, when he's I like to remind everybody of this, and since you brought him up, and I did tell him this during when he was on my show last year that he's my second favorite and what I consider the second best quarterback of all time. And of course, he's like, well, who he's competitive? He was like, Well, who's first? And he's thinking it's gonna be Brady or or you know, Montana, LA or whoever. I'm like, it's Uncle Rico, man. It's not even close. Like Kurt Warner, like you know, like Kurt Warner doesn't have the arm strength of uh Uncle Rico, but anyway. Yeah, right.

Steven Weintraub 9:23

Yep, yep, good company.

Martin Foster 9:25

Yeah, yeah. Uh I want to take a detour, uh, just more personal, fun uh story about you. Then we'll come back to vet ticks. But before we go deeper, please discuss the story about Rob Riggle attending your retirement party.

Steven Weintraub 9:39

Oh, he that was a complete tongue-in-cheek. But but there's there's a backstory there. Okay. Rob Riggle and I were classmates in the Marine Corps. We were going through this what it's called uh command and staff course, and we were both reserve officers at the time. And we were going through the like reserve command and staff, so it was one weekend a month, and it was at Miramar, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, and it was you're not in uniform. It's because it they want it to be like, you know, very casual, and because there was, you know, officers from different ranks, so they don't want the rank to be you know, kind of a, you know, you can't speak freely, you know, to this higher ranking officer, whatever. So day one of the class, the instructor's like, hey, go everybody go around, we're gonna go around the class and state your name, your rank, uh, your military occupational specialty, and what you do in the civilian world. So we're going around, and this was before he was popular, before he was like really famous. And he's like, Yeah, my name's Rob Brigle. I'm, you know, Major Rob Riggle. You know, I'm a public affairs officer in the Marine Corps and a civilian side. Uh I'm I'm a comedian. Just like that. And there's a pregnant pause, and everybody just starts busting up, laughing. And and you know, you know Rob's direct delivery, right? And it wasn't trying to be funny. It was just, and everybody just laughed for the most part. And he was like, no, no, seriously, I'm I do stand up and I I write. I'm a I'm a comedy writer. I write for the daily show and this, that, and the other thing. And so he was writing for the daily show at the time. And uh, so he was he we were classmates for like I think a year or two in this command and staff course. And I've seen like we see each other from time to time passing. So he wasn't at my retirement uh party, but um, and I was a parody on that you know, on that commercial. Um, but he's uh yeah, I mean he's he's a solid guy.

Martin Foster 11:49

That's awesome. No, he's so yeah, I uh love his work and what he does. He's he's hilarious and uh and extra bonus since he's a uh a veteran. One other celebrity encounter I did want to ask you about what was your experience like being on Master Chef and meeting uh chef Gordon Ramsay?

The hidden power of shared experiences

Steven Weintraub 12:09

That was Gordon Ramsay's such a cool guy. Um, and he in some ways different from the on-screen persona, and again, genuinely nice guy. And what happened there was I was on active duty in the Marine Corps, and this was like 20 maybe 12, 12-ish, and I was I was stationed at Camp Pendleton, and uh I was colonel at the time, and this email went out to the distro list for just for like Marine Colonels throughout the the base, and it said, Hey, um Master Chef is gonna film an episode on Camp Pendleton. If you're interested in being a judge on the show, put your name in. And so I'm like, Yeah, okay, right, you know, and so I put in, and a couple days later, nobody must have put in for it because they picked me. I don't know how they picked me or why, and probably because I was the only one. So they fill, you know, so given the backstory and everything, you know, I show up in the area at Camp Henalton, it's an open field, it's like you like a helicopter landing zone. And um, I show up there and there's the Marine Public Affairs officer there. It wasn't Rob, um, but somebody else and introduces me to the producer, and she's like, Okay, I'm gonna introduce you to Gordon, you know, in his trailer and the other two chefs, whatever. And I was like, you know, and I'm in a uniform, and my camis, and I said to the producer, she's this nice little British lady. I said, I said, okay, I'm gonna meet Gordon, but I've got one condition throughout this whole day. I said, I can't have him yell at me. I just can't handle people yelling at me. And she just like laughed, you know, was like, Oh, you're so funny. Um, so we went and met him. Super nice guy, so supportive of the troops. And but before then, and since fast forward, his he was telling he was telling me then that his son was gonna join the Royal Marines, which he did. And since then, his son joined the Marines, and I think he's out now, but and so super supportive and patriotic of you know the US troops and things like that, and he was just such a super nice guy.

Martin Foster 14:20

No, that's really cool. I'm a big fan of his, and I love all the cooking shows, and uh yeah, it's he would go from calling someone a uh a hippo and then or something crazy, like he has the and then he'll be like so kind to them two minutes later, like, hey, you're doing great.

Steven Weintraub 14:37

Yeah, he can he he can uh you know click it off safe pretty quickly and uh and and uh you know no, just super, super nice guy, really personable. So that was uh that was a fun experience. And the thing is, is that when I told my wife about it, she lost her mind because um I'm a I'm the world's worst cook. I'm I am terrible. I don't even try, but I have a lot of admiration for people that are good cooks because it takes a lot. And um, so she was like, I can't believe you're gonna be on Master Chef, you don't even know how to cook, da-da-da. And I was like, Yeah, so yeah, no, that's great.

Martin Foster 15:19

Um, I want to just uh take it back to you. How did someone who wanted to be a fighter pilot end up with vet takes?

Steven Weintraub 15:27

Yeah, look, ever since I was a little kid, that's what I wanted to do, to be a fighter pilot. And my dad served in the Marines, he wasn't a career guy, but he did he and he was a grunt. He was he did three years enlisted, uh got out, stayed in the reserves for a couple of years, went back to college and had a professional career. And you know, but he would tell me stories about the military, and I was so fascinated by it. And and he never said, like, you're gonna join the Marines. He never, like he said, if you want to be a you know, sanitation worker, do that, just be the best at it. Uh so he never said you need to do this or do that. And um, so I want to be a fighter pilot. And you know, in high school, I, you know, career night, whatever. I was talking to the Air Force guys because that's what you do, right? If you want to, you know, you want to you know fly pointy-nosed planes, that's where you go. And um they're like, oh, well, how how how good are your grades? You know, are you taking calculus, this, that, and the other thing? And I'm like, no, like what's calculus? Uh, you know, I yeah, but I'm I'm not the great greatest student or whatever. So I was like, okay, my dreams are crushed. Um, but then there's like the Navy and the Marine Corps guys, and they're like, Oh, you want to fly with us? All you need is a degree, you know, just college degree, you know, get through flight school and boom. And I was like, wait a minute. So if the Navy and Marine Corps pipelines are the same, uh, you know, yeah, I'll I'll go Marines. I I went down to flight school and um and but before I went to flight school, there was a backlog uh to go to flight school after you got commissioned. And I was able to go to a F-18 Hornet squadron and do some on-the-job training, and by design, they do that um so you can learn the ins and outs of a squadron and things like that. And so it was got to see behind the scenes and this and that, and then I got down to flight school and I was like, I don't think this is really what I want to do. Like peeking behind the curtains, I was like, I think I want to lead Marines on the ground more than I want to, you know, fly flight planes, and nothing wrong with that. And a lot of my buddies are are aviators and you know, good on them. But for me to drop out of flight school, that was like a super like tough decision for me, probably the toughest decision in my life. And um, people when I my peers, when I was down there, they're like, wait, you're gonna drop out. Like they were freaking out. Like some of them were like, I can't believe you don't want to do this. And uh, but other people were like, Wow, I can't believe you have the guts to do that. Because if I did that, my dad would kill me. Um, and I was like, wow. Um, so that was a watershed moment for me, and and I I never had any regrets uh going going forward. And again, like for those those aviators, those pilots, whatever, you know, hey, great, and and it's uh it's a necessary job, but you gotta follow your dreams.

Martin Foster 18:25

Absolutely. I gotta sneeze. What oh man, my allergy's been going crazy, so I just uh Oh, I thought it was my cologne. Uh I love that you said chasing your dreams because that's basically what I'm doing with this. It's not basic. I I'm more intentional with it is what I'm doing with my podcast. So I've been I've had I've started podcasting uh in 2014, and then this podcast specifically started in January of 2018. Uh I retired from active duty on November 1st, so a little over six months ago, after 23 years.

Steven Weintraub 18:57

And when you reached out to me, like and and not to jump in, but you were like, you know, and I kind of forgot we met at Mick, and you're like, oh, I retired after 23 years. I thought you were gonna be some old crusty dude, you know, and it's like I was like, oh man, like, yeah.

Martin Foster 19:13

I'm 44. I'm 43.

Steven Weintraub 19:15

Yeah, you you wear it well.

Martin Foster 19:18

Stop. I mean, keep going, Steve. I mean, like, you know, like that could be another event that vet ticks could sponsor where it's a ticketed event where everyone's just giving me compliments about how I look. You know, except Gordon Ramsey will come in and start yelling at me to bring me back down to uh reality. Um, I appreciate that, but it's just just reading about vet ticks, you know, reading stuff about you, it just just revalidates, re it just cements the passion and on what I want to do because I feel like this is where I'm where I'm best. This is where my heart lies and um yeah, where I thrive.

Steven Weintraub 19:54

Yeah, look, and and uh what you do, the you know, the ideology uh behind your podcasts is so like great and important because you know there's some podcasters, and and again, not not judging anybody, but you know, they want to tell like war stories and you know things like that. And again, there's nothing wrong with that. But uh, you know, if that's not your your cup of tea, then um, you know, and again, who who your guests are and and you have that military veteran piece of it and how some of that ties in. So, I mean, again, you followed your I don't know, passion, or it's like, hey, this is something I'm interested in. And to your credit, again, your your list of of attendees, I mean, you know, aside from those that we mentioned, I mean, you know, senior leaders in the military is like, you know, that's that's big leagues.

Martin Foster 20:51

I appreciate that. My very first guest was General John Jumper. He was the 17th Air Force uh chief of staff, and he was actually the he was the four-star when I joined in in 2002. Um, but then I also had Lee Ellis on, he's a retired Air Force Colonel, uh, 06. He was a Vietnam Vietnam POW for five years, and he wrote the book Leading with Honor. And I got, you know, and I got to do an in-person interview, he's one of the big reasons why I started this podcast, and I got to do an in-person interview with him five years after I started my podcast, and it was on 9-11 in Washington, D.C. And I think about just how all that comes together, that wouldn't have happened without my podcast.

Steven Weintraub 21:34

Well, and there's the saying, you know, you know, never meet your heroes. Uh but in this case, it was the positive.

Martin Foster 21:41

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Uh, did you almost join the Coast Guard? Did I read that somewhere? Is that right?

Steven Weintraub 21:46

I I jokingly say I should have joined the Coast Guard. And and and be because, all right, so uh again, military anecdote. Uh I'm an 06 um station. I was mobilized reservist. This is like probably 2012, 2013. I'm stationed at Camp Hendleton. I'm doing you know, my my job was kind of you know on the senior level, whatever, and we were doing some stuff with the Navy, like with the Third Fleet. So I'm down Coronado at the sub base in in Coronado, and where it was a you know a planning conference with Third Fleet and the Marines are down there and this and that. And so we're on the Coronado side of the bay, and it's gorgeous over there. And there's this big, like so we're in this meeting room, and there's a big bay window that looks out across San Diego Bay to downtown, and it's a you know, just beautiful, you know, Chamber of Commerce Day. And uh I'm looking out there and there's a Coast Guard uh little uh you know patrol boat. It's like got four huge outboard engines on the back, it's like 32-footer or whatever, and there's like uh there's a you know mounted, you know, machine gun on the bow, one on the stern, and there's two coasties, you know, just cruising the bay. And I was that's when I had the epiphany. I'm like, man, I joined the wrong service.

Martin Foster 23:13

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing that. I and that like just kind of like as a mental note question mark in my head. I was like, did I read that right about Coast Guard?

Steven Weintraub 23:21

But look, in all seriousness, the Coast Guard is the most overlooked of the like branches, right? And there's the whole are they military or department of transportation or whatever. Like, you know, you we can debate that, whatever, but their role is so vital, um, and again, so often unknown and and overlooked. And again, like as a senior officer through my you know professional military education, I learned more about the Coast Guard's role in national military security and strategy. So they they are it is such a vital role that that does get overlooked.

How Vet Tix scaled to millions of veterans

Martin Foster 23:58

No, agreed. Yeah, and I I feel like to your point, yes, uh over it has been overlooked. I think probably in the past year they're starting to get more people realize the significance and the importance of the Coast Guard. And um, yeah, so shout out to all the coasies out there.

Steven Weintraub 24:13

And and and look, I mean, you know, this isn't a recruitment you know commercial here, but like look at the places they get stationed, right? It's everywhere on the coast, right? You know, it's um not there's not too many bad Coast Guard you know stations.

Martin Foster 24:28

Yeah, no, yeah, yeah, uh exactly. I want to transition uh to uh vet ticks. So yeah, please discuss vet ticks.

Steven Weintraub 24:37

Yeah, and look, vet ticks, for those of you that aren't familiar, our mission is one mission and one mission only. Give something to those who gave. And how we do that is we distribute free event tickets to veteran service members and first responders and their families as a way to thank them for their service and sacrifice. Because when you're in uniform, you're serving, and you know, you miss family events, you miss weddings, anniversaries, recitals, whatever, and because you're on duty. And same thing for first responders when you're you know, when you're on duty, you're on watch. So if we can send you to these events when you're off duty or as a veteran with your family and friends to make up for that lost time, to rebuild those relationships with your kids, with your wife, with your friends for an afternoon and evening at a football game or a concert or a festival or whatever, and just deep de-stress, unplug, and check out that's our mission, that's what we do, and that's how we give back. And you know, you and I being on having been on the other side of that, being deployed, whatever, we we know what that's like. So when we go to these events and we experience that, and so a lot of people are like, well, I don't need vet ticks because you know they're free tickets and I can afford tickets and I don't want to take these tickets away from somebody more deserving. Well, our our donors, our teams, leagues, performers, promoters, venues, private donors, seasoned ticket holders that aren't going to use their tickets. So those are our donors. And we talk about in our society, thank you for your service, right? So, what does that mean? It's a very broad and vague term, and you can't really put your you know, your finger on what that is. But in our society, we talk about thank you for your service. Well, our donors, they want to thank our veteran service members and first responders for their service. And how do they do that? They host them at their events through vet ticks. It's like, look, yeah, you can you can afford these tickets, but we want to, this is how we can thank you and your family is by us, you you being our guest through vet ticks at these events. So that's our mission. That's all we do. And you know, it was a brain, the brainchild of my boss, our founder and Navy veteran, uh Mike Focoretto. Uh, it was it was his brainchild here in Arizona. He had this concept and started thinking more about it. It's because it was like, hey, I'm at this, he was at the Super Bowl in Glendale in 2003, and he's him and his buddy, who's a vet, they're sitting there, color guard marches on, they march off, and there's empty seats. They couldn't, the color guard was in this the mezzanine standing room only, and there's empty seats, and he was like, he was working on this project already, and he was like, wait a minute, if there's empty seats at the Super Bowl, I've got to scale up my my project bigger. And that was his his brainchild. And fast forward 10 years, over 2.6 million members and growing and yeah, over 30 uh 7.5 million tickets distributed. We distribute on average about tw over over 23,000 tickets a day, and that's where for us it every day is Veterans Day. It's not a it's like it sounds corny, but it's not just November, right? It's not just the month of November. Every day we're distributing over 23,000 tickets, sending people to events throughout throughout the year. So it's it's simple, but we're also the largest veteran service organization that nobody's heard of because people are like, wait, vet ticks, what's that? You know, uh and our sister organization, because I talked about first responders, is first ticks, one S T T-I-X, and that's the same exact thing for police, fire, and EMS. So the both organizations, uh, you know, it it's identical. You you sign up, you create an account, it's free, we verify your status, and then you start receiving notifications about events in your local area.

Martin Foster 28:41

It's great. Like I said, I live in Dayton, Ohio, so Columbus is an hour away, Cincinnati's an hour away, Cleveland's roughly three hours. Indianapolis is actually only two hours from me. So uh for me specifically, there's tons of opportunities. Yeah, the blue jackets. The blue jackets, I mean, yeah, like yeah, there's so much going on here, and it's it's fantastic. Um, you know, vet ticks is more than it's clearly more than about tickets. It's about belonging, uh reconnections to your earlier point, um, and even sometimes uh saving lives. When you hear stories like the veteran, I saw something about a veteran sharing who said the NASCAR event changed the uh trajectory of his life. How has that changed the way you personally define impact?

Steven Weintraub 29:24

Yeah, thanks for bringing that up. And that's where, okay, our mission, I explained it, but and and aft at the event, you can you know take a photo of yourself, upload it into our app, and thank our donor. Hey, thanks, Ohio State Buck Guys, for these football tickets. You know, my buddies and I, we had a great time at the game. So we share these thank yous with the donors, and that way our donors can see the impact of their gen of their generosity, but they can see the gratitude that you, Martin, have for attending these events. And it there it's not required. You don't have to do that, but you get incentivized for doing it. And so we have over 2.5 million of these thank yous that we, you know, I don't read them all, um, but we, you know, we they get approved. Um, we have a staff that that approves them. And some of these that we see are you know, are hey, thanks, my you know, my wife and I had a great time, or my bros and I had a blast, thanks, whatever. But a lot of them are what you mentioned. Hey, I brought my buddy to this event. He wasn't firing off all cylinders. I thought he could use you know some time off, whatever. And the and the uh example you used, you you brought up was, yeah, this guy, he's a veteran, he was like you, young, you know, retired. And he brought his buddy, who was a fellow vet, to a NASCAR race in um in uh Martinsville, Virginia. And uh he you know, his buddy wasn't firing off all cylinders. They go to the race, you're sitting with other veterans because they're sitting in a vet tick section. And the guy on the on the ride home says, you know, hey, thanks for thanks for inviting me to to the race today, because my plan for today was I was gonna kill myself. And because the guy was going through a divorce, child custody, and things like that, but he was like, Hey, you know, be sitting with other vets, this whole thing, it's kind of changed my whole perspective on life, and you know, I want to live, you know, you know, things like so. We get a lot of these, those types of testimonials. Thank you. So not only is it giving back, but it's the wellness piece of what we do. And a lot of times, because these tickets they get donated, they're in the same sections, rows, blocks. So whether you realize it or not, quite often you're sitting among your tribe. Um, it's like, hey, you know, that dude looks like me, kind of sound talks like me, whatever. Well, yeah, you're sitting in the vet tech section. So you're it gives you that sense of camaraderie. Now you're sitting with other, you know, you may not be rooting for the same team, but you know, you wore the same, you know, uniform or patch or you know, the flag patch, whatever. So it gives you that camaraderie that a lot of our brothers and sisters are missing. Uh, they they they lose their sense of purpose when they get out and they're looking for something. So by attending these events, and we again we see it. It's like, hey, I sat next to a bunch of people that you know now we're we're hanging out, we're going to other vet ticks events, or we're doing these things. And again, it's an unintended consequence of our mission, but it's a it's something that that happens.

Martin Foster 32:49

Now I love that. Thanks for sharing that story because that really caught my eye. And I also I read the separately, I read the study that you had sent me, that vet ticks, uh, the vet ticks study. And something else I took a note of of was with 90% reporting positive impact, but a clear gap in deeper relationships. What's the next evolution of Vet Ticks moving from access to events to actually engaging conversations?

Why community prevents isolation

Steven Weintraub 33:16

Yeah, look, and and again, we're the fun charity. Like, you know, we're the we're that, you know, there's a lot of veteran service organizations out there that are doing great things in the space, right? Because they're addressing the the challenges of homelessness and suicide and uh employment and things like that. And and that's great. And we don't we don't get in the rice bowl on that, and we'll never, you know, miss, you know, screep, you know, scope creep into those things because there's great organizations that are doing that. And for us, this is all we do, we focus on tickets, and that's all we'll ever focus on. But what you're talking about is the you know, the thought leadership piece of our mission. And even though, yeah, we're the fun charity, the things, the wellness of attending live events, being out in that space, and you know, in in our in our world, right, especially in the military and veteran first responder space, uh, sometimes it's being comfortable with uncomfortable. And we live that in the military. We were conditioned because there was times where we didn't know what was gonna happen. We're on an exercise or a mission, you know, or you know, during the kinetic eras of our service, you know, you just never knew what was gonna happen, but you were comfortable with the uncomfortable, right? We never we never gotten curled up in the fetal position and started sucking our thumb and saying, you know, you know, well, give me a hug, right? We didn't do that, we persevered. And so when we're out of uniform, it shouldn't be any different. So being comfortable with uncomfortable, so if again, if you're struggling with the isolation or the depression or you know, making new friends or whatever, that this is old hat to us. This is muscle memory. So from a thought leadership perspective, it's like you know, attend these events, talk to the person next to you. Then they're if you're they're at a Vettex event, more than likely they served. Um, or they're the spouse of somebody that served, or they're first responder, and you're in that, you know, you're in that that club, and it's just so for us, I I mean, you know, again, we're not gonna we're not gonna change what we do, but uh you know, for me personally as the as the chief strategy officer of the organization, you know, I want to be at the table for these thought leadership discussions because what we do is so vital, and there's so many organizations that are chasing what you know, what is it, what's that thing that is going to flip the switch uh to make you know these people in a better head state, right? And headspace. And that's you know, we're not we're not the panacea, but we're an arrow in the quiver.

Martin Foster 36:09

And these are some great, like clippable moments. I love that. This is gonna be uh, you have some great thoughts. Like these this is this is good stuff.

Steven Weintraub 36:17

Yeah, and and you know, the other side of it is creating memories, okay? Yeah, you know, we're in a society, especially the younger generation, they're not so much materialistic, right? Um, it's about experiences, and you know, whether you're you know blasting out on tic-tac, tick tock or IG, or but it's the experience, it's being at that event. And that again, that's what we do. And that's where you know those memories, creating those memories, they're up in here and maybe they're in your mobile device, whatever, but it's it's the experience of you know, and and again, we we get these testimonies. I never would have been able to afford to go see, you know, pick up pick a show or a you know, a football game, a Colts game or whatever. So we're creating these memories that last a lifetime that uh enrich the soul.

Martin Foster 37:14

Obviously, for me, I'm still very young into my retirement, but just I've been around a ton of people who have retired or separated. And you know, one of the things, one of the top three reasons I say that people what they commonly say they miss the most is just the connection, like just uh right, just being around there's just the random BS sessions or just joking around or going out to grab food with a group of co-workers and stuff and your friends that it's not, you know, the holidays, like yeah, I miss Christmas and Thanksgiving two or three me personally two or three uh years in a row. And it's sad, but then I think about man, I but I I was able to eat that dinner with some pretty fun people too.

Steven Weintraub 37:56

Yeah, and and you're spot on because when we were deployed over the holidays, we weren't with our blood family or whatever, but we were with a different family, and I I remember those also, and I remember those, you know, those guys and and ladies I was with, and you'll never you're never gonna forget those. So you created memories, and yeah, to your point, now that you're out find find your tribe, right? And and and do that.

Martin Foster 38:27

With regard to tickets, not just for uh a sporting event, could be for a concert or anything, has there been one kind of say a giant well that you've been trying to get uh for vet takes, like a certain uh show or uh venue, you're like, man, this is my my the one thing I've been trying to get for the past five years or so?

Steven Weintraub 38:47

Yeah, it's that's a great question. And when we were a lot smaller, for us the brass ring was the Super Bowl, Super Bowl tickets. Um and I remember when we got our first pair, and they were donated by a private donor who couldn't go, and he found out about our organization. He wasn't a veteran, but he's like, hmm, this this organization looks pretty cool. Uh donated them. It was uh it was in Atlanta, it was the Super Bowl forever ago, but back in um in Atlanta, and you know, the the person that won was like, you know, actually I think we had two pairs that were donated. We wound up getting two pairs. So the Super Bowl was like, and now we we have such a great relationship with the NFL and a lot of the teams to include the Colts, um, that we're able to get NFL Super Bowl tickets. I mean, and back again when we were smaller, like Hamilton was the hot ticket. We were able to get Hamilton tickets. And look, we will never procure tickets on the secondary market. Um, our tickets are through donors. Our fourth largest donor is Vet Ticks. Um, and that's where the money we bring in, over 99% of the money we bring in goes to buying more tickets to create more supply to meet demand. So we were able to actually buy tickets, Hamilton tickets, through somebody at in the production of Hamilton. So, and now I mean, you know, that you know, Hamilton is Hamilton. Um, so that was big. Um, but the only thing really that we haven't been able to get tickets for um is the masters, um, and understandably. Um, and so yeah, whatever, like it would be nice, but again, that's not you know, we're not that's not the hill we're gonna die on. Um and but but you would be surprised because some people were like, um, they would write in and they'd be like, hey, um you know, I'm trying to get, you know, do you have tickets? Like any, do you think you're gonna get tickets for like the SpaceX uh flights, you know, things like that? So some of the some of the requests we get are are pretty pretty out there. Um so yeah.

Martin Foster 41:16

I might start writing like just I might create fake email accounts and just email you random requests, like can you give me a ticket to the shake out of it?

Steven Weintraub 41:23

Yeah, it's you know, but when we get those, we you know we share it with the staff and uh we're jokingly, it's like, hey, so-and-so, get on that. You know, see what you get.

Martin Foster 41:33

Yeah. This one, this person wants to go to the Wonka chocolate factory. Like, yeah.

Steven Weintraub 41:37

Yeah, hey, sign me up for that one, man. Yeah. I'm gonna I'm gonna pull an Augustus gloop. I'm I'm going right to the river. Yeah.

Martin Foster 41:46

That's good. I love that. Uh just wrapping up with some final uh questions. If there was a giant billboard with your picture on it for the role to see, what would you want your leadership message to say? And where would you want that billboard to be located?

Steven Weintraub 42:01

Oh wow, that's a great question. I mean, look, I'm a humble guy. I mean, I'm pretty, you know, I'm the kind of the face of the organization uh by the way.

Martin Foster 42:09

And you look very young. How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?

Steven Weintraub 42:12

Uh 60.

Martin Foster 42:14

You don't look 60. You look great.

Steven Weintraub 42:16

Thanks. Appreciate it. Yeah, I'm I'm old. I'm old AF.

Martin Foster 42:20

I was doing the math. No, you're not like you look young. So when I was I saw like when you joined, so I was kind of doing the math and I had a guess, but I was like, man, you don't look you don't look anything close to it, so good for you.

Service after uniform

Steven Weintraub 42:32

Oh thanks. Appreciate it. Yeah, and I I test that to good genes. Thanks, mom and dad, and you know, all that stuff. Um, so okay, billboard with my uh AI generated face. Um but um I you know I think the message would be like you know, it would be something about resiliency, right? Like you know, it's in you. You know, that that there's great things that are in you that you have to find. And you can't you can't chat GPT that. It's it's going back in there and like what what what did you do? Like what when you were a kid, like what got you excited, or you know, and and again, the military beats us down uh mentally, physically, emotionally, psychologically, right? But you gotta like we gotta be like you know, like like snakes and shed that skin and and again find what it is that and and sometimes it it might be something that you never did, right? So it's finding something new. So, you know, my message would be find find what makes you happy. You know, that find your happiness. And and so that would be my message because again, I I've you know, there was times where I wasn't firing on all cylinders and and I was in dark places and I didn't like being in there. And and I got help and nobody threw me the ring bird, buoy. I had to go find it. And I did. And it wasn't hard to find. Help is not hard to find. So you have to have the will. And again, us that served in uniform, again, we're like we're studs, right? Like, you know, when and and I tell people, it's like, hey, when you're in uniform and somebody knocked you down, what did you do? You put yourself up, you dust yourself off, and you continue to march. So when you're now that you're not in uniform, you know, you get knocked down emotionally or or whatever, reach back in there, pick yourself up and and and you know, carry on and and find what it is that you know gets you at, you know, increases your airspeed and altitude. So that that's you know, that's kind of my message.

Martin Foster 44:53

No, that's uh that's great. I that's a that's a good message. I I needed to hear that, so that's really good.

Steven Weintraub 44:58

Well, I mean, uh, you know, I'm Moonlight as a life coach, so no, I'm kidding.

Martin Foster 45:03

Um, you know, for the billboard picture, we'll just put Ryan Gosling's picture up there. We'll say Steve Weintraub. Yeah.

Steven Weintraub 45:11

Uh and then uh you you had me, you had me at Ryan Gosling. Okay.

Martin Foster 45:17

So uh a couple episodes ago, I had Andy Reese on. He's an Army veteran, um, but he's also uh mental performance coach for the Chicago Bears. Uh you should check out that episode because I think some of the stuff that you we talked about mental fitness, right? Like he got hired specifically this uh this past season by the head the new head coach Ben Johnson and to work with Caleb Williams, and Caleb Williams had a great turnaround, you know, uh a great second year. But aside from that, there's a lot of Uncle Rico jokes in that, and he photoshopped my face on Uncle Rico's Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Steven Weintraub 45:49

So look, and Uncle Rico, clearly one of the most overlooked athletes in in sports history, and I I think someone equally as overlooked is Rod Tidwell.

Martin Foster 46:05

I mean show me the money, right?

Steven Weintraub 46:07

Yeah, show me the money. Yeah, yeah. Jerry, you show me the money. You're my quan. Yeah, I'm I'm a son devil. Jerry, I'm a son. I need I need money. Yeah. So yeah, Rod Tidwell, same thing.

Martin Foster 46:23

Nice Rod Tidwell. No one ever talks about him.

Steven Weintraub 46:25

So No, because he's again, because he's he was so disrespected until Jerry McGuire, Troy Ickman wanted that kind of relationship with his agent. Just never happened.

Martin Foster 46:35

Man, that's great. That's great. So since episode 100, I started a podcast tradition where I want to pass the torture between episode and guest. So what's a question I can ask, or what's a question or a quote I can use in a future episode with a future uh guest?

Steven Weintraub 46:52

I mean, a question would be at the lowest point of your life, what was it that got you out of that? What was your you know, what was your torch that that led you out of that, you know, the the the the turbulence? And and again, I think when people can share those anecdotes, because again, like your your your guests are freaking a team, you know, a like Mr. T level. I appreciate that, you know, people, right?

Martin Foster 47:25

But that includes you, that includes you.

Steven Weintraub 47:27

Thank you, thank you. Um, but and but we've all been, you know, we've all been there in some way, shape, or form, and finding out what what their challenges were and how they got out of it is what led them out of it. And again, sometimes it's friendship, sometimes, you know, whatever. But I think that, you know, that kind of question is uh, you know, is thought provoking and and uh would would you know I think your your audience would appreciate.

Martin Foster 48:02

I appreciate that. Uh yeah, thank you for those uh for those kind words. Before we close out, is is there anything you want to share about vet ticks or if people how do you want them, where's the best place for people to find uh vet ticks and how can people best support vet ticks?

Steven Weintraub 48:16

Yeah, look, I mean if if you're not a member already, go you know, vet ticks v e-t-i-x.org. If you're a first responder, you know one, first ticks one s t-i-x.org, and check it out. And because again, it's like some people, people I know are like, you know, my colleagues in in the veteran space, they're like, yeah, you know, I uh no, I I don't need it, like I haven't signed up. And then they sign up and they're like, oh, I went to uh, you know, uh XYZ event or my my wife took her girlfriends to so whether you can afford it or not, it's because you never know what kind of events there's some really cool stuff that we get other than the obvious stuff. But like for me personally, I mean, I went and and I went as a vet tixer because I put in for the lottery just like a like a normal person, and I saw like you know, the red hot chili peppers and some like really cool shows. And and it's funny because like when I go to these events, my wife and I, you know, we're in the vet tick section and we're sitting there going, okay, which one's the like the veteran, you know, like we're we're hiding in plain sight, you know, and I don't tell anybody's energy drinks, yeah. And we're like, okay, which one served, you know, whatever. So check it out. Like just just just do it.

Martin Foster 49:40

I check out their website often, and there's there's so many oper, there's so many different things, uh, great, cool things going on. Not just it sports is a big focus, but there's so many different there's plays, and I I've yeah, I mean it's countless things. Steve, last question. What can I do for you? How can I best serve you?

Steven Weintraub 49:59

Look, I mean, this in itself was tremendous. So I mean, just you know, and and that is, you know, tell your friends, you know, of like, you know, hey, do you know about vet ticks? And not like you gotta do that to everybody, but I mean, kind of the de fac de facto evangelism piece of that. And that's where, you know, that's how people sign up. Like when when we when people sign up, it it it says, How did you hear about us? And a lot of times it's through a friend, you know, through a referral. Um, you know, things like that. So what you can do is just kind of you know help us, you know, send a message. And and again, it's the wellness piece of it. It's how we give back. It's it's you know, it's paying it forward. And and that's why I'm so passionate about our organization, because I was we both of us were on the other side of it. So thank you. Thank you for for having me on it for reaching out. I'm glad we connected at Mick. I'll be at Mick this year. Um, hopefully you'll okay. Are if are you gonna be there? That's the question. Yeah. Oh, sweet, yeah, awesome. Yeah, all right, yeah. So we will be able to face to face there. Um looking forward to it. Yeah, so thank you so much for for having me on and for reaching out. This was awesome. I I I love it.

Martin Foster 51:22

Steve, yeah, thank you so much for those kind words. And I look forward to just talking again in person later this year in Tampa. And honored that you were gracious enough to be a guest on my podcast. I'm trying to grow this thing and uh certainly honored to have you and uh vet ticks uh on the show. So I appreciate you. Keep up the great work.