Dean Stott: From British Special Forces to World Record Cyclist and Mental Health Advocate | Ep. 186

In this inspiring episode of 'Spartan Leadership,' host Josh Kosnick talks with Dean Stott, MBE, a former member of the British Special Forces and record-setting cyclist. Dean shares his incredible journey from single-handedly evacuating the Canadian embassy in Libya to overcoming life-changing injuries and setting a world record on the Pan-American Highway. 

The discussion covers Dean's military experiences, his transition into the private security sector, his mental health advocacy, and his recent ventures into plant medicine. Listeners will gain insights into leadership, resilience, and the importance of mental well-being.

00:00 Heroic Evacuations and Personal Reflections
01:14 Introduction to Spartan Leadership Podcast
01:54 Meet Dean Stott: A Life of Resilience and Courage
03:24 Dean's Military Upbringing and Career
05:37 Special Forces Insights and Leadership Lessons
12:15 Overcoming a Career-Ending Injury
14:48 Transitioning to Civilian Life and Private Security
20:42 The Pan American Highway Challenge
31:50 Navigating Team Dynamics and Contracts
34:22 The Role of Alana in Dean's Journey
38:01 Fundraising Success and Alana's Contributions
39:35 Insights into the Security Industry
44:17 Building Trust in High-Stakes Environments
47:59 Mental Health Advocacy and Plant Medicine
58:59 Future Aspirations and Legacy

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Transcript

Dean Stott: 0:00

back in 2014, I single handedly evacuated the Canadian embassy out of Libya, 18 military and four diplomats. if I continued. With that momentum, and taking those risks, I would either be dead or I wouldn't have a family to come back to. I don't need a scientist to tell me that I feel good when I'm, when I'm physically active. I had to send the medic home on day 13 because he was bullying the documentary team and you're doing a mental health campaign and you got bullying going on behind the scenes. my wife rang me and then told me, That we've been kindly invited to Prince Harry and Meghan's wedding. I said, well, that's good. She goes, no, you don't realize for you to now be finished, you need to be finished by day 102. So going into that phone call, I was 14 days ahead. 10 minutes later, I'm now a day behind. Alana got the job. awarded the MBE from King Charles for services to human trafficking and mental health. we got to help assisted 1200 in Afghanistan last year, I got to over 200 Americans out of Israel. Hollywood doesn't help matters. You know, I call it the biceps, the bullets and the bombs.

Josh Kosnick: 1:14

Welcome back to Spartan Leadership. I'm your host, Josh Cosk, and welcome to an inspirational and impactful show. We are a leader to leader focused podcast. And if this is your first time here, welcome. If you're watching from YouTube land listening on Spotify, apple. We are welcoming all of you here to have as much impact as possible. And today we got a special guest, Dean Stott. Let me give a brief introduction of this incredible man, because you guys are in for a treat today. We got a lot of leaders that listen in on this podcast, and I know you're going to get a lot of inspiration and practical takeaways along the way with our conversation today. So Dean Stott MBE, a man whose life is marked by resilience, courage and relentless pursuit of purpose. Dean, a former member of the elite British special forces, special boat service. That's a mouthful by the way, Dean, they could have shortened that up. Uh, he's taken on missions that most. People couldn't imagine from evacuating diplomats and war zones to setting world records on a 14, 000 mile bike journey, which we'll get into today. Dean's story is one of overcoming and excelling his journey from the military to philanthropy, philanthropy. If I could speak words today and mental health advocacy shows the power of a strong mindset and a clear mission. We will dive into up his upbringing career and lessons he's learned along the way. Dean, welcome to the show, brother. Thank you for having me out. We're excited to dive right in, uh, because you've got so much wisdom and, and just throughout your life have done so much at a, at a young age. We're around the same age. I looked that up and it's been incredible to, uh, to just see, and I've heard you on other podcasts and I can't wait for the Spartan audience to, to hear your wisdom today. So thank you. My first question and thought was, so I've had the privilege of learning a lot about the special forces community here in America. And I just, you know, I know very little about the UK's structure and the military over there and how that is, but tell us a little bit about your upbringing and then go into what, what was the impetus or motivation to go down that path? Yeah. So I was, uh, I was born into a military family. My father was, was a military man. He did 22 years in the Royal Engineers. But, um, my father, um, was almost like, he's like the Ted Lasso of the military. He was a soccer manager, player and coach. So I wouldn't really see him in a uniform. His uniform was a track suit, a pair of soccer boots, uh, and that was it. So I didn't really have. Um, much knowledge about the military, especially the special forces side. And, um, my father did his 22 years and I always wanted to be a fireman. And that was my, my ambition. Um, but finished school, went to college and, uh, went down surfing. I I've surfed since a young boy and it's, it's no, it's, it's, it's no reason why I'm not here in California. No, just for the, cause of the surf. Um, but he, I am. I finished college, uh, sorry, I went to college and I was about 17 years old and I ended up going surfing for two weeks, ended up being six months. And my father, long before the mobile phone, we're talking 1994 now, my father then came looking for me in a, and found me working in a surf shop and told me that I'd ruined my life. Ruin my education. And then what was I going to do in my life? And so for me, I again, wanted to be a fireman. I knew that I was never going to get in at the age of 18, because back in 1993, it was a huge recession, like 2000 applications for one, for one role. So I thought, well, if I joined the military, get some discipline, it will help my resume. So I told my father I'll join the military. And he told me I'd last two minutes. It wasn't the warm, comforting words I expected from him, but that was my drive and motivation to sort of prove him wrong. Uh, I joined the military at the age of 17 and a half. Uh, by the age of 21, I was airborne commando diver PTI. I I'd, I'd, I'd learned, uh, and grown mentally and physically, you know, I, When I did join, I was about 130 pounds and about five foot seven. And about 18 months later, I was nearly 200 pounds and a five foot 11. So not only was I growing physically, I was growing mentally, uh, as well. And I just. That's when things like special forces start coming into my periphery. So tell us about the SBS because again, admittedly, I know a lot about the SEAL community here. I've gotten the privilege to become friends with those guys. Some of the Rangers, the Green Berets, and even Air Force tactical. I got a good friend in that. Uh, just what is the SBS and how does that parlay to some of the things we know here in America? So the equivalent for the SBS here in America is SEAL Team 6 and Delta Force. So you have tiered special forces. So those that you've just spoke of, the SEALs, the Rangers, the Green Berets are known as tier two special forces. And for us in the UK, that's the Commandos, the Royal Marines, the Parachute Regiment. And I spent eight years in the, in free commander brigade, but where I was slightly different, I came from an army background. So for me, the SAS, which is Delta force equivalent, uh, is normally my, my path, but I decided that I was going to go SBS, which primarily was always Royal Marines. Uh, 100%. But, um, sort of broke the mold on that. But unlike here in the U. S. where SEAL Team 6 and Delta Force have their own Special Forces selection process. Ours is joint. The SAS is joint together. So, um, so yeah, that's the equivalent. I mean, you call them Special Mission Units? Uh, we're in Tier 1 Special Forces. Amazing. So you, so you grew up with a kind of a knack or an inkling to serve, whether it be a firefighter or them joining the military. Uh, what were some of the greatest lessons? I love to ask all veterans this question, but what were some of the greatest military or, or values or principles that you gained from your military experience that you carry with you today? I think for me, you know, I was very fortunate, um, in my military career to, um, Be a student, but also being instructor as well. And when you talk about leadership, what I loved about the military is you, you came across so many different types of peers and leaders, those that were good and those that were bad. And so really, I was almost like a sponge. I was taking the good things from those leaders and obviously not using the bad stuff. But one of the things I always take away, and I did it with my students, and even now today, I never asked of my students that I couldn't do myself. I always led by example. You know, I saw other instructors screaming and shouting at the students, and they just stood there. And so they weren't getting the respect that they needed. And so I actually got more out of my students if I I was down in the mud and doing it with them. Um, because they felt like they, if they did let me down, they would let me down personally rather than just, uh, an instructor. So, so that was one of my big takeaways. What was that is always do as they, uh, and then also another one I use was anticipation was worse than participation. And that can be in the military. It could be in sport can be in anything. A lot of people. will overthink a challenge or a mission, uh, and just not do it when actually, if you decide to take the leap and then look, complete it, then look back and realize it actually wasn't that bad. So they're, they're my two main takeaways I still carry on today in life. Well, that's really good because you're talking about anticipation. That's where anxiety sets in. Exactly. Yeah. And the neuroscience tells us that we cannot tell the difference in our brains between excitement and anxiety. It's the story that we tell ourselves as to whether we're going to latch on to anxiety or excitement. So that anticipation versus participation, that's such a great point. Go ahead. Yeah, no, no, it is a great point. And also I think in today's society as well is People also comparing themselves to others and they're like, well, I can't do it because I'm, I'm not him or her. And I'm just like, yeah, but you know, don't worry about what they're doing, you know, just worry about yourself. So a lot of people already beaten or, yeah, or yeah. Beaten before they even take off purely because they're trying to compare themselves to other people out there. And I, I've done, you know, people have said that to me before and I said, well, I'm not that person, you know what I mean? So, you know, and so that, that's, that's, that's a contributing factor as well, I think, to that anticipation. Yeah. And your first point, I totally agree with. I was giving you a thumbs up as you were saying it, because I'm a leadership coach. And that's something I, as I grew my large business and was part of that, one thing that's always resonated with me is I couldn't follow someone that hadn't done that themselves before, or wasn't at least willing to get down in the dirt, like you said, and do it with me. I just couldn't follow that type of leadership. I know others can, like there are coaches out there that are great coaches that, uh, have never done. Some, some stuff before that they're coaching on that I just couldn't follow that. So my leadership style was always, I'm going to do it with you, or I've already done it for in that instance, like what you're trying to do to be able to lead you down that path. Hey, don't step on that board right there. You know, that's a, that's a false trap, stuff of that nature to be able to educate from someone that's been down that road before. Yeah. Yeah. And I think the reason for that as well is also a, you get that mutual respect from your client and that you've done it before, but also they trust the process, you know, that you've done it, you know, and you know, when you've done it before, you know, you've, you've learned lessons from that. You know, one of the things we have in this special forces, we call it as a hot debrief, you know, what works, what didn't work. And if we're going to do it again, what would you differently? And that's the great thing about having. done it before and teaching it is because you can explain where your failings were. And, and where things were right. And so, yeah, I think it's more about having that mutual respect and trust from them. Well, that's, you guys called it a hot debrief debrief. I know here in the States they call it AAR after action review, but very similar take, yeah, or a wash up I've heard as well. Yeah. We call it a hot debrief. Yeah. And we used to do it. Literally, as soon as we landed or whatever we'd done, we wouldn't wait till the next day because the hot, the good thing about the hot debrief is it's still fresh in your mind. Um, you know, and so that's when it, we were getting all the, the natural feedback from the team. So before we'd even cleaned the weapons, have a shower, what, you know, have, have food or whatever. It was literally the hot debrief was first, you know, what worked, what didn't work and what would we do differently next time? And then the following day we'd then have more of a full debrief, but yeah. It reminds me of my football days because we'd have a hot debrief right in the locker room. And then the next day we're going into film study to really assess what we did wrong. Yeah, yeah. Very similar. Very similar. Very similar. So then you didn't retire by choice. You had a, you had a major injury that happened. Go walk, walk us through that. Yeah. So I was on pre deployment train to go back out to Afghanistan. And I was doing a hey ho jump, which is a high altitude, high opening. So unlike skydiving, which is halo, you know, you're still attached to the aircraft and you jump out of the aircraft at the tailgate at 15, 000 feet. The parachute is still attached on a static line to the aircraft. And so opens it for you. And then you can travel up to 30 minutes or 50 kilometers in the air to the target area. So it's just a method of insertion. And we've done. So many jumps of these, and it was like, I think it was like the third or fourth jump of the day. And as I exited the aircraft, I did my compulsory count. Um, and then I was looking in the wrong direction. I was actually looking up towards my feet, which was my foot, which was caught in the line above my head. So I was trying to clear my leg in time. Could I know that the parachute soon, uh, to be deployed and I couldn't clear it in time and it pulled my leg over my head and to my right, but thankfully my heel did clear from the line, otherwise it could have taken my leg completely off. Um, but yeah, I've never felt pain like it before. I straight away, I knew. There was something wrong, but I also had to try and land this as well. I also had to still get to the, to the drop zone, but I landed it perfect, landed it one legged. Um, but yeah, the damage sustained ended my career. I tore my ACL, my MCL, my lateral meniscus in my knee. But also my hamstring, my calf and my quadriceps. So normally you can tear an ACL or an MCL and your, your muscles would be able to support that. Um, but all those muscles had gone as well. So after 16 years in the military, you know, I was told, you know, thank you for your service, it's time to leave. Before that, that's such a hard transition too. I know I will get into that in a second. I just want everyone to really grasp what they just heard there. So going back to my football days again as well, and we watched the NFL on Sundays. Uh, players are carted off the field with a torn ACL torn MCL. Oftentimes, yeah, Dean just stated he landed a high altitude jump on one leg. I just want everyone to appreciate, uh, the, the amazing story you just told before I ask you about that. But when your career ends that abruptly, there's a, there's a lot of mental anguish that goes with that. Uh, for those that have been in, whether it's military service, a professional sport or, or anything that, uh, business or opportunities just ripped away from you like that, there's a lot of grief and, and stuff that goes along with that. Uh, how, how was that for you in that transition? At the time, I didn't really notice it, but now on reflection, and you speak to my wife, I was going through what was known as an identity crisis. And it's very common for those in the military when you, or even in the sporting world, you know, there's so many synergies there that you've spent your career, you know, wanting to be the best. And then you're finally there. I mean, all of a sudden an injury sort of changes course of direction of you and your, your life, you know, so. I got to where I had in the military because of my physical robustness. I now couldn't even run 50 meters without my knee giving way. Um, my wife was also eight months pregnant with our first child. And so for me, you know, I was then worried about how am I going to be able to support my family? Is there any work out there? And so there were really, that was really compiling, um, the identity crisis. You know, in the military, I knew what I was doing for the next two years, literally for the next two years too. You know, what is now my role within society, thankfully for me. My wife is very entrepreneurial. Um, you know, when I met her, she was running four banks in, in Scotland. Uh, she set up our first private security company on a BlackBerry in about 30 minutes, you know, so the stuff that I was worried about and I hadn't been taught in the military, she knew. Um, and so that transition was made slightly smoother for that. Um, but yeah, I'd, I'd say I was going through an identity crisis within 48 hours. I was on my first Uh, private security job out in the, in the Middle East. Uh, and so that sort of did ease some of the pressure, but yeah, it took a lot of time to really come to terms with the fact that I'd left the special forces probably about five years later, really. Oh, that's interesting. So one of my great mentors, Ed Milet, says life happens for us, not to us. Hmm. And, and in that instance. Did you, what, what did you find happened for you there with that severe energy injury and the career ending what happened for you? Um, I never, like I said, I'd never, I always wanted to be in the military. I was what was known as a lifer. I didn't at the time see what was for me. It's only now on reflection, looking back that it's opened up these, these great opportunities and there's this stuff that we're doing now. And I've learned, you know, I, I learned looking back on reflection, I learned a lot in the military. But I was very limited to what I could learn there because of the roles that we're doing now being, you know, a civilian contractor and some of the stuff I've done. It has really opened my eyes to how big and really actually how small the special forces are. You know, when you're in there, you are, you're treated like a rock star. You are like the top within, you know, doesn't worry about money or budget aircraft, you know, you get everything for you and you feel like you are at the top of your game. And then when you come out, you realize actually the special forces is a very small cog in a very big machine. Um, and that's actually not as important as you thought you were when you were in. So that's one of the things I've learned as well. Um, but when I was in, it's like, no, no, we are, you know, at the top of our game. So, but looking back, I've learned so much more. about a corporate, about cultures, you know, uh, understanding demographics, politics, tribal influences, why we're there, why the military get involved, why, why the military can't get involved for certain reasons. So, um, yeah, it's, but that wasn't instantaneous. That was literally over the last 13 years. Did you get more time with your family? I. I didn't initially, and when I, when I mentioned you earlier, it took me five years to realize that I'd left the forces I was trying to. So, back in 2014 I single handedly evacuated the Canadian Embassy out of Libya, 18 military and four diplomats. I found a niche within the security industry to do crisis management and evacuation plans. But because I, because of the panic when I left if there's any work out there to help support the family. You know, I was out the door all the time and really building up a great network and reputation. But I, I came back from that, uh, that trip and Alana, like I said, Alana and I worked together. She's very entrepreneurial. She had a property development business. She sat down that evening and she'd highlighted, I'd only been home 21 days in a 365 day calendar. So actually I was home. Yeah, I was actually home less than I was when I was in the special forces, but I thought, that she wanted me to be out to be earning money. And she's like, and she thought I wanted to be out, uh, deployed when actually it was really just a bit of miscommunication. But what it was as well, I was trying to match that adrenaline rush when I was in the special forces without coming to terms with the fact that, you know, you're no longer in there. You know, I was doing these high You know, these high profile missions, dangerous missions on my own, but then, you know, they were very successful, which is great, but should something have gone wrong, I don't have my squadron of guys coming to get me. I don't have the UK government, you know, supporting me. So, you know, something had to change. Now, chapter 16 in my book is called dead or divorce. This was a conversation Alana and I were having that evening. And if I continued. With that momentum, uh, and taking those risks, I would either be dead or I wouldn't have a family to come back to. And so that was a big change in my life as well. I can imagine. And I, and I understand a little bit about all that change while you are one track minded for so long. And then that ends. And you're trying to build a career that next chapter of your book, that next life, uh, what that takes to build that up and at the same time, come to grips with what was, uh, that is definitely a hard. What I didn't find was how long was it after the military career that you set off on the Pan American Trail? So the conversation we just talked about was, was five, uh, was, was 2014. So yeah, it was about three years after, uh, the military, but, um, but in 2016, it was, you know, Alana and I, you know, I, I decided to. Take a sabbatical from the security industry, spend a bit more time with Alana and my daughter at the time. And so Alana was a property developer, but that whole period of time from leaving the military to then was, I was so fixated on, on work that I neglected my own physical and mental wellbeing. Um, I'd, I'd take a TRX with me around and, you know, maybe like do a few exercises there, but I wasn't doing any cardio. My, my injured leg now was two kilos or five pounds lighter than my good leg because of the muscle wastage. And so I, I just bought a push bike, a road bike off Amazon and I would cycle to and from the office where me and Alana were working in Scotland and it was about eight miles there, eight miles back. But. Just being physically active again, as in cardiovascular, I felt like there was a bit of a weight off my shoulders, um, because I hadn't done any cardiovascular since being in the military. But you can imagine when my backstory sat in these architects and planners meetings with Alana, we now had our second child, Tommy, he was born. And so I'm sat in the corner, like bottle feeding him. And I just, I wasn't interested. And Alana could see that glaze over my eyes and said, you need to do something to keep yourself physically, mentally engaged. And we also, since leaving the military, we did a lot, uh, in the philanthropy space, especially around, um, veteran mental health. And Alana also does a lot in the human trafficking space. And so I, I, it was about a month before my 40th birthday as well, while I'm sat in these planners meetings. And I said, look, I fancy doing a world record. Um, I don't know what in, and Alana's like, well, you know, What do you think you can do with a record in? And I said, well, I, well, cycling seems to be good, you know, because it's not hurting my knee. Um, and so Alana, I was thinking maybe east to west coast of Scotland, something a bit small, but Alana then found the world's longest road, which runs from Southern Argentina to Northern Alaska, the Pan American highway, 14, 000 miles. 14 countries and two continents. And so I said, yeah, that sounds good. So having, sounds quite arrogant. So having only cycled 20 miles, I applied for the world's longest road. And for me, I knew that mentally, uh, I, I had the, the, uh, I had the capacity. I know endurance wise I've been tested before, and if it was, and the sport wasn't going to hurt my knee, then, you know, it's the perfect challenge for me. So yeah, I applied for the world record. And then Guinness came back six weeks later and said, you've been successful on your, on your application. So sticking with the philanthropy side, we now have the challenge. Um, I do a lot of work with a good friend of mine was Prince Harry at the time, you know, him and I were on a JTAC course back in 2007 and him and I had worked together behind the scenes on a few other charity work. You know, he would be guest on my table at a couple of the gala dinners. I had an intelligence fusion cell based in Mozambique and Tanzania, um, which will identify the smuggling routes for the ivory from Africa to Asia. So I would every three months go to the palace and sort of share that information to him. So. I rang him up and I said, look, I'm going to cycle the world's longest road. What should we do it for? And him and his brother and Kate were just about to launch a mental health campaign called heads together. And so I'd seen firsthand in the military about mental health, but heads together was a collaboration of 11 mental health, uh, charities, every from postnatal depression, young children, teenagers, adults, uh, and veterans. And so I said, perfect. That's the perfect challenge. for this. And so I got introduced to the Royal Foundation, um, who were sort of, um, running with heads together. Uh, and I, I sat down with him and I said, well, how much are you looking to raise? And so I came up, I said a million pounds. I just gave him a big number because I wanted to keep him at the table. Um, and then the second question was, you know, what is the message you're trying to promote? And I hadn't really thought about a message at this point. You know, I, Literally had a conversation with Harry. He's told me to come and speak to you guys. And I just sat there and I said, well, you know, physical activity helps your mental state. And this is back in now, 2016, 2017, actually. And they said, Oh no, you can't use that. I said, well, why not? And I said, because it's, it's not being scientifically proven. I said, yeah, but that's fine. But I don't need a scientist to tell me that I feel good when I'm, when I'm physically active. So I ignored them anyway and carried on, you know, promoting that message. And now 2024 is very much recognized as a coping mechanism for mental health. So that's how, that's how we came up with a challenge and the campaign, um, behind the bike ride. So what was the amount of miles you actually trained or what was the longest you did prior to doing that? 14, 000, uh, prior to doing that 14, 000. So I trained for a good year. Um, to that, you know, again, one of the great things about is Alana was the campaign director. I generally believe that anyone can break will record if someone's looking after the business, the mortgage, the family, and all you've got to do, uh, was trained. So my, probably my, my biggest rides. They weren't that long, really about 120 miles. Um, you know, I was learning, I, in the earlier stages, I wasn't getting much. So I'd probably do one century ride. It's called a hundred mile ride a week. You know, I was, I was getting a lot of strength and conditioning, bulking up my, my, my legs, but I was also looking at the, the countries that I was cycling through. I had everything from plus 47 degrees centigrade to minus 18 degrees. Uh, and everything in between. So how could I replicate those cycling scenarios without actually taking a risk on the challenge? So I would go out to Dubai and do heat training. I'd train in altitude centers. Um, and so, but yeah, probably my biggest rides. We're about 120 miles. It weren't that much. Uh, I did that. I did one week where I did consecutive seven days. Uh, I did Land's End John O'Groats, which is twice, which is the Southern end of UK to the top of top of UK, but nothing was going to replicate what I was going to do. You know, that Land's End John O'Groats, which is a huge bucket list in UK was a training ride for me. And I had to, And I never mean to sound arrogant, but it had to be a training ride because the Pan American highway was 15 of them back to back, a six and a half day pace. Yeah. Which is incredible. So everyone, he did this in under a hundred days from the tip of Argentina to the tip of Northern Alaska, which was just incredible to think about the span that that is. What was the hardest part? Was it the actual cycling? Was it the climate? Was it the passing through the countries and customs? Was it the team members? What was the toughest part? Yeah, there was a few things. So the world record was actually 117 days when I set off. Um, you know, I, I, I, in, in South America, we had everything from strong winds, you know, I had food poisoning, I crashed the bike and M and L, but, um, I was, I think the hardest part for me was the first week. We started in Argentina. And the reason we started in Argentina, actually, when I was planning this project, um, I reached out to the other previous, um, record holders. And I asked them, I did the hot debrief for them. I said, what works, what didn't work? And if you were going to do this again, what would you do differently? And all their answers were, their issues were all in South and Central America, be it languages, spares for the bikes, bureaucracy. And they all started in Alaska and finished in Argentina. So I thought, why take a gamble with a second half of the challenge? Why not address those issues early? So I started from Argentina. So that's one of the things I was proud of is just because Everyone went that way. Didn't mean it was the right route, but coming to starting from Southern Argentina, you, you've got the strong winds. Um, and by the end of the first week, I was 30 miles behind target, but I was still aiming for 110 days. So I was always ahead. And so from that point onwards, I was always ahead of the world record. So it wasn't really the challenge itself. One of the things that really jumped out was the support team, you know, now on reflection, I see other people doing challenges and they. They rotate their support team every 28 days for, especially for endurance challenges, because they, their fatigue, they're tired as well. But we were thinking how much money we can donate to the charity. So if we were going to do that, it meant there was flights and everything else. But yeah, the support team was an issue for me, you know, when the challenge started, I took 10 days off the South America world record, uh, and then this was starting to then really sort of explode, uh, in the public eye, you know, they then wanted more, um, Yeah, more, more credibility, more noticed and things like, you know, well, why is it Dean that's getting all the exposure, you know, and so it's not managing egos. I didn't really expect when I'm on a challenge, you know, I had to send the medic home on day 13 because he was bullying the documentary team and you're doing a mental health campaign and you got bullying going on behind the scenes. And so. Things you wouldn't even think of, you know, I'm, I'm thinking about the bike ride, other scenarios that we can encounter. And this just came in from the side. And so, yeah, it was just managing egos, which was quite difficult. But again, the other, the second hardest thing for me was I got into North America on day 70 and I was 14 days ahead of the world record. So I'm like, Perfect. I can take my foot off the gas. Um, you know, we're, we're in a friendly, a friendly country. Everyone speaks my language. The culinary options are better. And then my wife rang me and then told me that we've been kindly invited to Prince Harry and Megan's wedding. I said, well, that's good. She goes, no, you don't realize for you to now be finished. You need to be finished by day 102. So going into that phone call, I was 14 days ahead. 10 minutes later, I'm now a day behind. And so, yeah, so those sort of things, you know, even though you're ahead of the world record so much every time I was trying to hit my objective, my objective kept moving. And so I had to change the way that I cycled in North America. Down in South America, because of the security issues, we had to be off the road at night, but in North America, the luxury wise, we, it was a bit more safer. And so I got to Lubbock the next day. We had 300, uh, we had, uh, 60 mile an hour winds and tornadoes. So I was grounded now for another 24 hours. And so I sort of had to make a plan in North America. So there's, there's an app called windy TV and it gives you the strength and directions of the winds for the next two weeks, every hour. And so. I had to cycle 340 miles in the next 36 hours to get out of Texas. And I was just playing chess with mother nature. Um, so we had 17 days planned for North America, cycling 11 and a half days. So there's things that were out of my, out of my control. Well, when you're on such a long journey, there's going to be lots out of your control. I want to touch back on the people for a minute for a moment, because it doesn't matter if it's family. It doesn't matter if it's your business and the employees that you have or the support team that you, that volunteered. There's time to be with you and all of a sudden their egos get involved and all the, it's kind of crazy to me. You're the one doing all the biking and the documentaries about you and you're, uh, doing all the fundraising because of your efforts on the bike. And there's people wanting more credit for being a supporter of that. It's just kind of funny, but it just goes to show that in almost all the businesses that I work with, it's usually not the marketing, the finance, it's typically the people. Yeah, I was the most issues. Yeah. And, and actually when I came back from that and, you know, it sort of really got exposed how bad it was on the, on the challenge. There was other people I knew who, who were explorers, expeditioners, and they said, Oh yeah, this is commonplace in the industry. I was like, well, no one told me prior to get, cause I, we had, they were all volunteers and because it was a mental health campaign, we thought it was, you know, the better good, but lessons learned going forward is have a contract in place, have NDAs in place. Um, and I would, you know, if I was to do it again, I would make sure that they were paid. There's no pro bono. So there's no, it's a, it's a, it's a business. Uh, at the end of the day, you know, you liked, I was chatting to a young gentleman who's looking at doing this challenge and his support teams, his best friends, and I told him about my support team because he had, but my best friends, I said, yeah, your best friends now, but on day 48, when they're absolutely fatigued and you know, that's when you need to, uh, need to have, uh, NDAs and contracts in place, but apparently it's commonplace in this industry, which is shocking, really. Well, that goes, that crosses over to business as well, Dean, because if you go into business with your best friend, if you go into business with a family member, have the contracts, have the NDAs, have the attorneys do all the stuff before him, because I like to operate on faith based and trust as well. That being said, as soon as money gets involved. All feelings change, or if they have a financial stressor in their lives, or their wives put pressure on them, or they have a new baby coming to play, everything changes. And you don't want to think that they're going to change, but they have their own pressures and their own ego and their own stuff. And it's just better to have those formalities in place before anything becomes an issue. Yeah, no, very true. Yeah. Yeah, very true. So it's a great lesson. So the other thing I wanted to touch on is Alana is a saint. I mean, you think about, uh, just that, uh, that's why I asked you about the timing of it, because, you know, already to be married to a special forces, uh, operator is, is a tough proposition. Yes. They may know what they signed up for, but then for you to retire, go into, uh, not being home. Except for 340 some odd days the next year, and then for you to go on and take this challenge, that's going to be 110 days or less, but you got it done in less, but, uh, man, talk about a lot on the support and what's that, what that is meant to you. Yeah, I think when people see. Me, I always, you know, none of us, we wouldn't even have this conversation if it wasn't for Alana. Alana picked me up from a dark place when I left the military. Um, you know, she's, she's, as you touched on, she's very entrepreneurial. She's, you know, she's given up a lot for me to do the buy rides and to do everything else. But everything we do, we actually work together. We're business partners. We've been business partners from the start. So she understands the, The bigger picture. Um, things have changed slightly now. We know I'm not going away doing big challenges. We do everything, uh, together. But, you know, when I met Alana, you know, she's very, um, philanthropical, always wants to give back, uh, works a lot in the mental health space. You know, she got, uh, sorry, mental health space, uh, and also the, um, human trafficking space. You know, when I met her, she wanted to get into security because, um, There was a Haiti earthquake and a friend of hers was at an orphanage and there was a five dollar bounty on her head and said that she needed security but security comes at a cost so she wanted to build up or be in a position that we could provide that pro bono. Um, and that's where we are now. Alana got pregnant. awarded the MBE from King Charles for services to human trafficking and mental health. Um, she has her own book called how to ask for money, uh, for business owners, whether it's in the philanthropical space or whether it's, uh, in the business space, because it really interesting. So the relationship Alan and I have, I'm the extrovert. I'm the one who will open doors and chat to people, people fall in love with, but as you said earlier, I picked you up on when you start talking about money. Things start, uh, you know, communication starts to break down. And so for me, I don't do anything about the contracts. Alana does all that. Alana comes in. And so that's where we understand our strengths and weaknesses. And the reason for that is, you know, I come from an environment in the special forces where when you're planning an operation in Afghanistan or Iraq, and you need a UAV, you need aircraft, you need helicopters, you need a squadron of guys, you need this amount of ammunition. No one. Tells you what that costs. There's not a bottom line. There's no NDAs. There's no proposals. There's no RFIs. It's like, it's automatically done for you. So we're not used to being in the world of negotiation or business or contracts. And so when I left the military, I generally was like, Oh, everyone's like the military, they look after each other. And I was like, no, no, this is a cutthroat, this is a cutthroat environment. And so she's picked up, she does all of that for me. So for us. It's understanding our strengths and our weaknesses. But, um, her getting the MBE from King Charles was great because it was always me that was forward facing. Everyone was always Dean on the bike. It was always Dean, you know, in doing the evacuations when actually Alana was coordinating, planning everything behind the scenes. Yeah. So it's a great affirmation for her to receive that. That's amazing. And well, and well deserved. Yeah. So that's, that's awesome. Lastly on that, what was the amount that you guys raised? So we raised at a time, it was at 930, 000 pounds. Uh, you know, at the, I think with the exchange rate at the time, the US was about 1. 4 million. It's probably now about 930, 000 in a day. Yeah. So yeah, about 1. 4 million back in the, in a day, which again, you know, the world record was, was amazing, but the amount of money that was, was raised, um, was huge. And like I said, Alana was, was, um, was the credit for that. You know, she also, and every penny that raised went to the campaign because Alana then managed to get me half a million pound sponsorship as a non cyclist, uh, for me in, in the, in the team. So, you know, that book, how to ask for money, she has her own formula in there. I think it's called maps. Yeah. It's called maps. She has her own formula. That's awesome. Well, everyone go pick up that book because it's needed. I think that's where people struggle the most in business is closing that sale because they're afraid to ask for what they want and which is oftentimes money. Yeah, I think that's why she came up with, she did chat to, but we'll chat to a good friend who worked in finance and we started talking about Asking for money because she's, Oh, well, Dean doesn't like talk about money in front of clients. And she's like, yeah, I hate asking for money. And she's like, you work in finance and one of the biggest companies said, no, I still feel uncomfortable. And so Alana's like, well, maybe I'll put a book together, you know? And yeah, that's where the birth of the book came from. No, that's awesome. So now you're in the entrepreneurial space and you're providing security. All over the world. And, uh, what, what I've, what I've noticed recently, so I've held a couple political events here at my property over the past couple of weeks. And it's interesting that private security, like you guys really operate in the dark, but we're really running sophisticated Businesses for high profile people. Yeah. And, uh, I'm wondering if you would touch on that a little bit about what it takes, because most of us, and even myself up until recently and having conversations. So we just had a Tulsi Gabbard in town and her, I got to talk to her head of security for a long time because it's my property and I'm giving him a tour around and making, so that he can button up everything to make sure that everything is, you know, And we got into a lot of good conversations and, and he was asking me about business and I'm asking him about his world, which I know nothing about. So I got to imagine if I know nothing about, and I'm just learning a little glimpse through my, uh, interactions, enlighten us a little bit about what it takes to operate in that world that most of us know nothing about. Yeah, so the security industry, when I tell people I'm in the security industry, you know, especially my bald head tattoos and muscles, they think you're a doorman from the local nightclub. The security is so diverse, you know, it's everything from, um, you know, Tulsi's head of protection, close protection, there's surveillance, there's cyber security, there's crisis management, there's maritime security. It's a huge, huge beast. Um, so for me, where we've done really well was the crisis management and evacuation plans. You know, we got help assisted 1200 in Afghanistan last year. I got to over 200 Americans out of Israel and one of the reasons we were actually successful there is the fact that We're not a multi billion pound organization. We're a husband wife business. Um, and I've built up a great network over the years of subject matter experts from certain regions around the world. Um, and so when I get a task come in, I don't use the same team. I use The experts from those regions, because there's no point in me taking six Americans to go into Mexico City, you know, use the Mexicans because they know their, their country. And so that's where we've been slightly different in the fact that we use locals as much as possible, about 75 percent of the work is down to the locals. But where I was going with that one is in fact, we're nimble, we don't need to get approval for the board, we don't need to consolidate or get together teams. Um, and we, so we can make that happen. Uh, decision straight away, but where I've been, we've been successful in the security industry is, you know, everyone sees special forces and they, you know, Hollywood doesn't help matters. You know, I call it the biceps, the bullets and the bombs. They see all the offensive action, the guns and everything else. That's 25 percent of what we do in the special forces. 50 percent of what we do in the tier one special forces. This is, is support and influence its hearts and minds. It's been embedded with locals. You know, working undercover understanding the demographics, the politics and the tribal influences. And so that's where we've been successfully in the industries. We haven't tried to come into on these projects and bring our own teams and try to bully our way through. We've really understood what's going on on the ground, who are the best people for that job and sort of go, go from there. But security here in the US, like Tulsi's head of security, he, what he needs to be worried about is very different from if he was in Angola or Angola, or if he was in Brazil. So they're very much country specific country threats as well. And so that's where we really, um, excelled. And I'm now in a position where we're more on the educational side. We work with Uh, family office security, uh, we're now looking at putting security courses out, you know, bodyguard mindset, you know, we're not teaching people to be close protection officers, but this is what we think about when we're deployed or when we're driving as well. So, so it really depends where you are in the world to what the threat is. Um, yeah, and, and, and so that's, that's where we've, majority of our work is, is, is overseas, you know, here in the U. S. I tend to use ex law enforcement guys because they know the U. S., they know that state law. I always say it's working in 50 countries here. Because you have 50 different states, but you know, deployment wise, it's all the soft guys because they understand the cultural awareness of these countries as well. And things like that. So each case or each security project is very unique in itself, but that that's probably where we've, we've sort of specialized. We will make a bespoke team for that project. And so I got to imagine just based on how you're describing this, this does, this requires a huge amount of trust. Yeah. And building trust. Yeah. And so I think this is an applicable question to, to really every facet. Most people aren't going to be in security. Most people aren't going to deal with threats that you've dealt with, but how do you go about, but what everyone does deal with is trust and trust issues. So how do you go about building trust and knowing who to trust? in your world? Yeah. So yeah, it's hard because you have, you can get let down. Um, but for me, I always go in my gut, you know, I, so Alana says my USP is I, I work on my own. If I go to Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Syria, I go on my own. Uh, the reason I go on my own isn't, isn't because I want to be more sneaky. I, I, I can get a send straight away. Of the atmospherics or when I'm dealing with people. And then also I'm not taking a team that could potentially compromise or, or let, let me down as well. So for me, I tend to go in and I build up those relationships from the ground. I don't email people. You know, a perfect example of that, I was in Mogadishu and this guy, we sat down and had food with him and his family sat on the floor, you know, and we shared bread and, and, and had a coffee. And he said, I get emails. A dozen a day from private security companies are all offering the same services, you know, from New York, from London, you know, Dubai. And he said, but you've come here and you've actually seen, you know, the, you know, you've, you've, you've come to our country, you've sensed the atmospherics. Um, and so for me, it's all about reputation. Um, and that's where I start is I built up this reputation with these people from all these countries over the last 13 years. And so some have let me down and some haven't. And so. But there are occasions, for example, I'll give you a good example, Israel, October the 7th I was in Disneyland with my wife, October the 8th in the evening I'm landing in Tel Aviv, I've never been to Israel before. And so literally I had to make a couple of phone calls and trust. That those people on the other end were going to help, help me deliver and, and they did. Um, so, you know, there's an element of just going with, with your gut. So it seems like you've become an expert in reading people because it's not just a gut thing. Yes, you have to go with your gut. But there's probably a degree of question asking and being able to read someone's body language, words, stuff of that nature. Is there any light you can shed on that on what you've learned over the past 20, 25 years of dealing with people of all different countries? I think Alanis is my USP is I can make friends with anyone, whether you're a homeless boy on the street or a member of the royal family, I'll talk to you exactly the same. I don't speak to anyone in any different manner. You know, when I say I go in and I openly trust them, you know, I'm not naive to think there isn't a threat and I probably made I will have made plans in place anyway, should something go wrong, but, um, no, I, I can't tell you what it specifically is. I just think it's, um, Alana said, people tend to get a, feel a safe aura from me. And then I can also get that, get that from them as well. You know, it is, it's just a gut feeling. If I'm not happy with something, I'll just pull back. Um, but like I said, if I'm on my own, I'm not, then my, the rest of my team aren't at fret as well. I've taken risks myself. Oh, that's good to note. I was just wondering there because we all deal with trust issues in business, in life, and you've had to trust people at a very high degree at a very, very high risk situation. So, um, just something I thought I'd key in on. I want to go back to the mental health advocacy for a moment. Is there anything that you've learned? Because I told you a little bit about my mental health advocacy and my audience knows about my father in law's passing and, and more. Very open about that because we want to continue to breed more awareness and destigmatize this, this issue. What's been some of the key things that you've learned and been able to help in this cause over the years of being such an advocate for brain health, mental health? Yeah. So for me coming into the mental health world was, was the bike ride. I openly put my hands out. I didn't really know much about it going in before I started that bike ride. You know, I'd seen it firsthand with some of the guys in the military. But one thing I really, I have taken away from, from my time and knowledge and experience and working in this space is, is it's, it doesn't discriminate. You know, it doesn't matter what your background is or where you've come from. It affects everyone. You know, you hear about successful, um, actors or very rich people committing suicide and people are, well, they had everything, but you just don't know what's going on in the background. You know, one of the things. Recently, uh, sorry, recently I found out when I was in the UK was, you know, and one of the things that upsets me is, is they, there's a lot of these, um, mental health, um, campaigns are specifically for the veterans. And it's like, you know, everyone suffers with mental health, but 75, people don't wear this actually, but 75 percent of veterans with PTSD, there's nothing to do with their time in the military, it's to do with their childhood. You know, everything starts from, from childhood, but it's because they're in the military. It's PTSD. Um, so for me, my, my big takeaway was it doesn't discriminate, you know, everyone, everyone is affected in some form or manner, but it's those coping mechanisms is what you, what you do with it. You know, when I did this bike ride, for example, I said physical activity, you know, the other options were communication, which was key. And then the others was and I'd always try and avoid that as the latter. Communication and physical activity were my key ones. You know, one thing I've a new space I've now entered is plant medicine since coming to the U S and that's really opened my eyes to, um, how we can sort of tackle and help those with, with, um, with mental health. Um, and, and what my big takeaway from that was I was very much an advocate that. Physical activity helps your mental state now having done the plant medicine. I realize that you're almost like a boiling water on the stove in a pan. The physical activity is taking the lid off of that and releasing the steam, which is great, but you're putting the lid back on. And so it's going to come back again. Since doing the plant medicine, I realized actually you've taken the whole pan off the flame and put it to the side. It doesn't mean that mental health stuff's gone. It just means There's more coping mechanisms, um, for it or understanding, you know, the issues are very fortunate. I'd never had PTSD. I never had any addictions. I, I, because of my, my, um, my work in the mental health space, I got approached by a couple of the veteran, um, heroic hearts here in the U S uh, which is a veteran medicine said, would I be interested in doing it? And then my reason, my original reason for doing it was because I was talking about mental health and I was hearing about plant medicine. I thought, well, at least if I've experienced it, I can have a seat at the table and then not be realizing how much help I needed until I, uh, uh, partake in it. So, um, so I'm still learning a lot. Uh, about men, about mental health, you know, maybe in the early days I was like, you know, I was a bit more discriminatory as that. Well, why they got mental health, you know, they haven't done this, this, and this. I now realize that everyone suffers in mental health and varied varying levels. Yeah. And I can, uh, and affirm what you're saying there. It's, uh, if my father in law who anyone that met him would have never guessed. Because he was the most generous, the most kind, the most compassionate person possible. And then you think about some of the comedians we lost from Robin Williams to Chris Farley, who were so about making others joyful and laugh, like you just never know what's going on underneath. some of these amazing people. So it is non discriminatory. Uh, which plant medicine did you partake in? So originally I did, my first one was ibogaine, um, down in Mexico. Uh, I've then done iboga, uh, and ayahuasca. Uh, so I've, I've gone through, through them all now, but actually, Each one from each one. I got something different from it. Um, and I'm still on that, that, that journey at the moment. But, um, if you speak to my wife, Alana, um, you know, compared to where I was, my first, um, uh, plant medicine was November 17 last year. Um, and it's almost like night and day. I, we had Alana and I have a podcast called behind the scene podcast where we get. Famous people or celebrities or successful business people and get their partners on as well. And we had, uh, Marcus and Amber Capone who run the Vets, uh, non profit on plant medicine. And she told me a story about how Marcus had tried, uh, done the Ibogaine and came back. And it was almost like he'd gone back 15 years. And so Alana sort of kicking my foot. And the reason for me, as I said, I didn't have PTSD or any. Any addictions and life was good. I just finished the Netflix show. We were in America, you know, I thought life, life was good, but there was always these. moments where I go from zero to a hundred, like red mist. And, you know, we've talked about some of the places I've operated. I'm actually at ease or more comfortable when I'm in those crisis environments is when I come back to the Western world and people are arguing about first world problems. And that's, that's what upsets me, you know, someone beeping their horn on their car. You know, there was an incident back in Scotland when I dropped my door off at nursing. The guy's beeping his horn, just kept beeping it. And so I just pulled him out of the car and just dropped him, but then it cleared, it disappeared. And this would only happen maybe like two or three times a year. And so there was obviously an underlying problem there or issue. And so, yeah, it's not that you don't get angry anymore, whereas before it was like a light switch, it was like zero to a hundred. Now it's almost like a. a dimmer. And so, um, but I've been more present with the kids, you know, a lot of people have said, you know, what was deemed done differently. And so, yeah, I, I just, I put that down to, to the plant medicine. That's awesome. Because a lot of people are, I think because of lack of awareness, just scared of that topic. Yeah. And, uh, what, what weird advice would you have of someone that's like either, you know, They don't believe in it because of their religion, or they're just scared of that topic in general, because they've heard that you can change as a person. Well, in my response is like, well, that's kind of the point, but they're scared. What would you say? I think, I think for me, you know, when I did mine, I didn't do any research. It's typical me. I just went straight in, you know, I'll, I'll go in, but there are, So many people talking about, you know, Elon Musk talks about Tony Robbins talks about, you know, it can help with trauma, but it can also help people in business as well. So for me, what one of the takeaways I got from the plant medicine is, is, is not, is don't promote it. Um, it's, it's not through promotion. It's through attraction. So people Speak to people you know, who've done the plant medicine, if you know anyone who's done plant medicine, and you'll see the differences in them. And that's where we are at the moment is people, Alana and I have friends and they're like, what's happened to Dean? And we haven't told him about it. And so he's done this. So, but there is a lot of podcasts out there. There is a lot of research out there. Um, you know, um, you know, I know for a fact that the special forces community it's working with them. It's working with, um, people with, with addiction. Um, and it's natural. It's natural. synthetic. Um, the only ones who are fighting against this are the pharmaceuticals because they know it's having, having impact. Yeah. So it's, so for me, it's just, yeah, there's enough information out there, you know, and, you know, and, and go for it yourself. You know, interesting. You said about religion Iboga, which was the The, the truth medicine is the Godfather of the plant medicine originated from Gabon. Um, and my, my Sharma, you know, she said to me that a lot of people who are religious don't like it because what their perception of the afterlife and what they actually see is two different things. And so, yeah, it's, it's interesting. It's interesting. It takes you on a, it takes you on a journey. Um, like I said, for me, Um, going into that last year, I'd never done recreational drugs before, never even smoked before in my life to then doing the, you know, the three, four most powerful psychedelics as well now. Um, but yeah. Thanks. Thanks for going there and being vulnerable with it because I got, I have, I have not done that. I've done some other things like psilocybin. But, uh, I have friends that have gone down that path of ayahuasca and probably a couple of the others that, uh, I didn't know about that you mentioned. And, uh, they've said it's just enlightening. It's changed their life and they're so much more present with their, their loved ones, their kids in particular. Uh, and just appreciating, uh, the beauty of life more than the high stress, high paced type a alpha male type world that we typically live in. Yeah, I think for me, not only has it benefited me, it's benefited my relationship, my wife, you know, I thought that was strong anyways, even stronger now, you know, it's benefited the children. But yeah, as you said, you just appreciate life more, you know, one of my big takeaways from the Iboga was, You know, make every day your best day, you know, just make every day your best day. Don't get caught up. You know, for me now, when I see things that would normally anger me or I just ignore it, just ignore it, you know, and social media being one of them as well, actually, you know, so it's not so much the plant medicine, plant medicine's important part is the integration. Afterwards. And so your, your, your mind, your brain is neuroplastic is, is basically getting rid of the old habits. And for the next three, three months taken in the new habits. So if you go straight onto social media and watch the news and, you know, it's very toxic, you know, that's now coming back into your life. So it almost gives you that, that, uh, that baseline again. Yeah. Breaks you free from that so that you can integrate. more positive things, more positive neural pathways, because our brains are neuroplastic, as you said. So neuroscience is like one of those, like the one area if I could say I nerd out in, I nerd out in that. So, uh, glad you went there. Uh, last topic I want to touch on because I was thinking about this as I was doing my research on you, and I'm like, man, so if anything, God forbid, happened to Dean today, what a legacy you would have already left. Yeah, I was thinking about this is hopefully, God willing, you have a long life ahead of you. What's ahead of you? What's the legacy in the next chapter that you want to write? It's really interesting, actually, you say that, because I feel like I'm, you know, I talk about evolutions in life, you know, I, I have friend, I see guys in the special forces who have been out now for like 15, 20 years talking about special, still resting on their laurels. And I'm like, That was an evolution in your life. You know, what have you done since, you know, so I always feel like in your life, you had these evolutions or chapters as you've touched on, but special forces was great for me. I learned so much from that. That was an evolution. I took what I learned from that. environment and then did that in the private security, uh, which helped me on the bike ride and everything else. I feel like now I'm about to step into my next evolution. You know, one of the interesting things I was looking at doing more will record challenges, but the plant medicine they'd said, you know, as you know, the plant medicine deals with ego, which is one of the big. And it said to me, you know, it said to me, well, well, why are you doing it? Who are you trying to prove to? And I was like, actually, that's a valid point, you know, so, um, for me now, I've had a great life. And I've learned so much. And I now want to sort of be able to, as you said, it's just something happened tomorrow, be able to pass on that information. So others are learning. from it. So more getting into the coaching area, uh, whether it's lifestyle coaching, whether it's mindset coaching with, with, with teams, uh, we, we still do the security, you know, the security is very easy now, but for me, it's almost like now being able to sort of share that information, you know, what I've learned and pass it on to, you know, other people. You know, uh, young entrepreneurs, successful business people or, or teams as well. Um, yeah, that's, that's where I am at the moment and, and more of a, a full time job rather than the ad hoc fiddle. I, you know, that's been good. We've now got our green card. So we now know that we're going to stay in America. So it's now. Uh, forming a bit more stability for me and the family because we've now launched the Blue Rose Foundation, which is good to end human trafficking and Alana is the CEO on that. So she's really going to be driving that forward. So for me is that I can now hopefully support her as she goes on her mission and, and, and everything else. And that's probably a different topic. We can have it a different day because that's a passion of mine as well. I got a good friend, TJ Morris, who was on my podcast and he, uh, he started Caleb's House. Uh, Caleb House, who builds houses for, uh, sex trafficking victims. And they actually do a lot more than that where they're doing some extractions as well. But, um, Right. Man. Uh, yeah. We'll have to talk about that a different time. Yeah. That being said, on the coaching side of things, let, let's connect further because that's something I've built over the last three years and I have this beautiful property. If you ever want to use it for some of your programming, anything of that nature, we would love to have you. No, I'd love to. Like I said, there's so many great coaches out there and I think it's just each coach, as you said, has different experiences, and I say you can't be experienced without experiences, so I just want to really take. My experience is what I've learned, whether it's in sports, special forces, private security, you know, being a father and getting things wrong as a father, uh, and getting things wrong as a husband and just being able to share that because people shouldn't be making the same mistakes. You know, it's that hot debrief. Yeah. That's what's so great about coaches, mentors, uh, people in your life that have been down that road or been across that bridge and be able to come back to see. To you and say, Hey, don't step on that board. That one's going to fall through. Hey, take a bigger step here. Smaller step here. Don't do that. Do this. It's, it's getting that wisdom before you make the mistake is such a crucial life hack. And so few people have coaches. It seems like when you're in the coaching space, I'll tell you this, it seems like there's so many of us, but yet there's so many people to help the market is, is endless. So it's incredible. Amazing. No, but Josh, thank you so much. I appreciate that offer. No, this is, this has been an incredible episode. I know everyone's going to get a lot out of it. The last question I always ask people, and it could be on anything we touched on, uh, or anything that's just on your heart, but what's an unpopular belief that you hold to be true that you believe most others disagree with? Oh, um, you make your own luck. You know, I mean, you make, you make your own luck. That got said to me and some people are like, no, some people are lucky. And I said, no, you make, you make your own luck. That's my, I like it. Yeah. Yeah. I don't, I don't believe in being lucky. Friends, when like hard work and preparation come together, it's like that's when the luck tends to arrive. Yeah. And a friend of mine once said to me, you make your own luck. Just as I was literally not long before I was trans, you know, a few months later, I then got injured. Um, but yeah, no, I, I see people and they're, they're always expecting the quick fix or something will happen. And I'll buy a lottery ticket. I said, no, you make your own luck. We all, we all came into this world at the same start point. Um, you know, Alan and I come from humble beginnings and so yeah, we, you know, we, we've made our own luck. Yeah. Well you have, and you're an incredible inspiration to me and I know so many, so many others. So this next chapter that you evolve into, I know you're going to inspire millions more. So. It's been incredible Spartans. You know what to do share this episode far and wide, like Dean said, make today your best day, remember the good and great are the enemies of possible lead like a Spartan today!