I’ve spoken about the fact that I couldn’t pinpoint the exact reasoning behind why I started a podcast, but instead I feel as though it was a magnitude of events.
A series of things in my life has pushed me to this current destination. I believe this to be my destiny so much so that it has led me to attempt to disprove coincidence. I’ve awakened a deep passion inside myself to understand how we are woven together through connectedness and our ability to learn and grow together as a community.
I’ve watched the Joe Rogan Experience on YouTube since early 2011. Rogan always seemed to resonate with the person I thought I wanted to become. His open-mindedness, curiosity, and integrity were attributes I admired. Furthermore, I fell in love with his show’s multitude of guests and their intricate complexities. I specifically remember showing the podcast to friends at that time, and the response being cynical at best. I loved listening to two people speaking about a subject and diving in, it felt very therapeutic and educational to me. It was my first taste of a podcast, and I immediately wished I could have traded lives with Joe Rogan.
My departure from the military in 2015 was a very tumultuous time in my life, but without it, I don’t think I’d be where I am at today.
I addressed some of the challenges that accompanied it, in an episode last November, “Brotherhood” w/ MSgt Kenneth Leitch. I believe my entire existence had become SSgt Allison, and my life lacked balance, which led me into a horrendous tailspin. The lessons received from those experiences have allowed me to develop new tools to deal with my life going forward, and I’m extremely grateful for those truths. If I had remained in the military, the idea to pursue a podcast wouldn’t have seemed feasible.
So in 2019, when the opportunity to be a guest on a podcast was presented, I jumped! Almost instantaneously my mind began to build my “perfect” episode. The timeframe we agreed upon was November, and I believed it would have been a perfect opportunity for me to speak about a subject I was extremely passionate about: veteran suicide and the military. At that time, it had only been a year since the loss of my friend, SSgt Shane Appleton, to suicide, and this could have been a chance to share my journey.
Conversely, life happened and circumstances made it impossible for me to be a guest in November. The show went a different route, and it left me feeling completely defeated. I shared the defeat with a close friend and tried my best not to seem egotistical. I truly wanted to use the podcast platform for something positive. His truthful response was exactly what I needed to hear at the precise moment I needed to hear it, “Why don’t you start your own podcast?” Brett Manternach asked. You see, Brett is the type of good friend I need, one who calls me on my own bullshit. He is my perfect mix of level headedness and relaxation. He has earned his high school moniker, “Tree” because he has had roots and been a strength in my life for a long time. In my typical fashion, I told him, “Maybe I will then!”
I appeared as a guest on that now-defunct podcast, in January 2019, and it sealed the deal for me. I needed to start my own podcast! It felt as if the years of grade school remarks for talking out of turn, the world travels that the military afforded me, and the variety of friends I’d gained throughout my life, had all prepared me for that exact moment. I’m so incredibly thankful for the journey I’m now on, but we all need to remember to….
ENJOY THE RIDE!
