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Veterans know how to lead. The lessons we learned in the military form the foundation for bigger successes in business, entrepreneurship and community.
Host John S Berry, CEO of Berry Law, served as an active-duty Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army, finishing his military career with two deployments and retiring as a Battalion Commander in the National Guard. Today, his veteran led team at Berry Law, helps their clients fight some of the most important battles of their lives. Leading successful teams in the courtroom, the boardroom, and beyond, veteran leadership drives the firm’s rapid growth and business excellence.
Whether building teams, synchronizing operations, or refining tactics, we share our experiences, good and bad, to help you survive, thrive and dominate.
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[00:00:01.09] - Richard Kaufman
I don't have my vision. I got two arms, two legs, My heart's good. What can I do? And from that moment on is when I started living for what I can do and not what I can't do.
[00:00:15.03] - John S. Berry
Welcome to Veteran Led. Today's guest is Richard Kaufman, army veteran, best-selling author and host of the Vertical Momentum Resiliency podcast and known as the Comeback Coach. Through his podcast, books and speaking, Richard empowers others to overcome adversity, build resilience, and turn pain into purpose. Welcome to Veteran Led Richard.
[00:00:37.04] - Richard Kaufman
My brother, thank you so much for having me on your amazing podcast. I love this show. It's in my top three podcasts. I listen to every episode. Thank you so much for having me.
[00:00:49.07] - John S. Berry
Well, thanks for being here. And you wrote the book, the podcasting blueprints, and also wrote a book called A Hero's Journey from Darkness to Light. We're going to jump into both of those. But one of the things that you do is you are a master resilience trainer. What is that?
[00:01:04.23] - Richard Kaufman
I just help people come back from whatever they're struggling with. I've come back from drug addiction, alcoholism, homelessness, blindness. I'm 60% blind. So, I train people to come back from whatever it is because as long as there's. As long as your heart is beating in your chest, there's a chance to come back and I bring that person back to life again.
[00:01:32.09] - John S. Berry
And I think that's so important because we as leaders get scared. You know, bad things happen. If you're not. If bad things aren't happening, you're not leading. And so, as leaders, we're expected to solve problems. And a lot of us have faced things like the potential of losing the company. Bankruptcy. Right. People I've known, people who have been convicted of felonies, they've been on this show, people who have, who have lost their professional licenses, people who have been. Who have received dishonorable discharges. And they all think like this is the end, but there's always something else and sometimes that fear that something bad is going to happen. Now, look, I will say I agree with Andy Grove that only the paranoid survive. And sometimes our paranoia saves us, but sometimes it prevents us from doing what we need to do because we're so scared of failure. And your message, look, you can come back from anything. I mean, you've lived it, you've done it. And we're going to get into that later in the podcast when we talk about A Hero's Journey. But what I want to talk about right now is for a lot of our veteran listeners.
[00:02:30.21] - John S. Berry
They asked me, well, John, should I get into podcasting? I want to do this. And I always. They say, what resources do you have? And, well, I talk about your book, the Podcasting Blueprint. Now there's five pieces to it. Richard, I'd love for you to tell us how you got into podcasting, how you developed multiple successful podcasts, and then what those five steps are.
[00:02:49.18] - Richard Kaufman
Well, actually, if you flip the book on the back, the whole back cover is written by Mr. John Lee Dumas. He's actually my mentor. He actually one that taught me everything that I know. If you don't know John Lee, you need to check out Entrepreneurs on Fire. I got started in podcasts on a mistake. I was with GNC for 35 years and I just started reviewing products, saying, hey, guys, product works great. Tastes like, if you want to get a good product, buy it. And then I got hurt on the military. I lost 60, I lost 80% of my eyesight. So, I had to come back and do something. So back then with spot, it was. It was anchor back then. All you had to do was hit a button and you can restart recording. So, I started recording in my chair while I was blind. I started recording six episodes a day for 18 months, and then it just blossomed from there. And now we've got like 3 million downloads, blah, blah, blah. So, I'm an accidental podcaster. It was never meant to happen.
[00:03:59.20] - John S. Berry
Well, but you've mastered it. And I think one of the first step you talk about is defining your niche and attract your ideal audience. And now I know it says how to do it in the book, but for the Marines out there that don't read, what does that mean?
[00:04:13.14] - Richard Kaufman
Who's going to buy your shit? Who's going to.
[00:04:15.23] - John S. Berry
Who's going to buy your shit?
[00:04:16.21] - Richard Kaufman
Who's going to listen to you talk? You know, because that's what John Lee Dumas. When I first started working with John, the first two weeks, we did nothing but go an inch wide. But go a mile deep on finding out who our perfect listener is. Because if you don't have a perfect listener in mind, then like Jim Rohn says, you're marketing to everybody. You're marketing to nobody. So, you got to find out who's gonna listen to you or who's gonna buy your stuff or listen to your stuff. If you're just trying to get everybody to listen, nobody's gonna listen.
[00:04:48.03] - John S. Berry
Great, great advice. Yeah, it's find that avatar. So, the second one is book powerful guests and you've had some. How did you do that? Book powerful guests and build credibility. How did you do that?
[00:04:58.05] - Richard Kaufman
When I first started out, I didn't have anybody to have I have on the show. So, I just started asking my friends, hey, you want to be on the show? And they're like, yeah. And then eventually I had John Lee Dumas come on, and then Robert Kiyosaki, Sharon Lecter, people like that. And some of the ways that I've got those people like Steve Sims, I literally bought his book, read it, and put out Facebook ads for people to buy his book and didn't ask for anything in return. And he got tired of seeing my name and said, who the hell are you? I keep seeing your name pop up, and then I'm like, steve, I have a show you want to come on. He's like, I would love to have you. I would love to come on. Just because you've added value without asking me for anything.
[00:05:51.12] - John S. Berry
Yeah. I think one of the things is we understand if we want a great guest or someone to do us a favor, we, you know, we. We have to ask them. But it's amazing if we can provide value first and don't give them the extra task of saying, how can I provide you value? You figured out what could provide value for him, and it worked, and it got him on the show. And I think that that's amazing. Now how I think the most important question. And then the five. This is step number three. But grow real engagement without paid ads. How do you do that?
[00:06:20.15] - Richard Kaufman
Honestly, I have 99% of the people that come on my show will share their episodes, because when I have them sign up on my calendly link, I have them promise me they're going to share their episodes on all their podcasts on all their platforms, including email lists. So, when their episode is ready, I say, hey, bro, you remember when you promised me to share this out on all your episodes? Guess what? It's time. And they share it all out. So that's the best way, is if I share it out, I'll get some engagement. But when they share it out, it gets more engagement because it's their people listening to it.
[00:06:59.14] - John S. Berry
Yeah. That's outstanding. That's something that we used to do, and I hope we still do it. Trevor, do we still do that? But we should. Yeah, absolutely. When we post our podcast, we need to send it and ask the guest to post it as well, because that's a huge opportunity. You're introducing yourself to their audience.
[00:07:17.02] - Richard Kaufman
Yep.
[00:07:17.06] - John S. Berry
Now one thing that I have not yet done. This is the fourth step is monetize. I have not monetized, or at least not directly, but how do you monetize a podcast?
[00:07:27.00] - Richard Kaufman
Well, I mean, we have 25 paid sponsors that are paid that pay for be sponsors of our show. We also have. I actually coach people how to become a top ranked podcaster. So, I make multiple figures off of that. But most people don't realize I've been in the game 13 years. I didn't monetize for the first 10 because I had to deal with Mr. Gary Vaynerchuk that we wouldn't monetize until we hit 2 million downloads. So, because I wanted to make sure, if I was asking you to sponsor the show, I wanted to make sure I had tangible proof of what you were going to actually get instead of just trying to get somebody to sponsor a show that nobody's going to listen to.
[00:08:14.04] - John S. Berry
Now, I know that you, you met Gary Vee, but. But also, was this, was this a promise you're hit? Is this more in line with his philosophy of what is like, give, give, ask, right? Like, I think right is jab, dab, hook or whatever.
[00:08:27.20] - Richard Kaufman
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right hook. No, this was a lunch that we had together a couple, a couple of years, about 10 years ago. And. And I told him, I said, you know, I want to monetize. He's like, don't monetize until you have something to monetize.
[00:08:40.01] - John S. Berry
And so how did you end up having lunch with Gary Vee?
[00:08:42.05] - Richard Kaufman
Well, what happened was I was with GNC, like I said, and I called his father. His father's liquor store is 20 minutes from my house. So, I called his father and I'm like, hey, when's Gary going to be there? This is Rich from GNC. I want to come down. I want to talk some business. And I went down there, and we just started talking and I spent about a half hour with him. And if you actually look at some of his old episodes, my wounded warrior had his hanging was hanging in his window. Without Gary, I would not have the book, I would not have the podcast. And he actually named me the Comeback Coach.
[00:09:19.12] - John S. Berry
Awesome. No, that's awesome. So, they say, how'd you get the name the Comeback Coach? Oh, that's what Gary Vaynerchuk calls me. Wow.
[00:09:23.23] - Richard Kaufman
Yeah, because he knew I worked with the undertaker. I worked with Triple H players from the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB. And I help people come back. So, I was like, well, you know, you're the Comeback Coach, right? And I'm like, if you say so, I guess awesome.
[00:09:39.18] - John S. Berry
Awesome. Well, that takes us to the fifth step, which is automate your workflow and avoid burnout.
[00:09:45.01] - Richard Kaufman
Well, now with ChatGPT 4.0, it cut my time in half. I have people that promote my show through Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. So, I have. I pay somebody to do all that stuff. So, the only thing I have to do is come in on Wednesdays and do all my recordings. And the rest of the time, it's just building relationships. So, once you get your automation down, it becomes so much easier. But like, even John Lee Dumas said, record once a week. So, the rest of the week, all you have to do is build relationships for the next six days.
[00:10:21.19] - John S. Berry
So how many recordings do you do on Wednesdays?
[00:10:25.03] - Richard Kaufman
Now it's down about 2 or 3. At one time it was 9 or 10, and I was doing an hour and a half per episode.
[00:10:33.10] - John S. Berry
Wow.
[00:10:34.07] - Richard Kaufman
So, a lot of coffee. A lot of coffee and a lot of energy drinks.
[00:10:38.13] - John S. Berry
Yeah. And I think, you know, that's one thing that I am just starting to realize is that because I don't set all this up, but somebody's got to do the lighting. And it's just once it's set, it's a lot easier to just be set and keep going than it is to, okay, next week we're going to use the cameras to shoot something else. Then next week we're going to reset it up. But if you can knock it out, do that. Batch tasking seems to me to be a lot simpler. And the people that I talk to that seem to be really good at it, like you, they kind of get in the zone, like, yeah, I'm going to be here today. I'm going to be podcasting two, three, four episodes, and they get in the zone and they just. They knock it out, and then you're done for a week.
[00:11:12.20] - Richard Kaufman
And I only work six months out of the year. The rest of the time, I'm going on cruises, I'm on vacations. So this is what. This is the life of a podcaster. You get to enjoy life and get to have fun. But when I am working six months out of the year, I'm working 12, 14 hours a day.
[00:11:30.22] - John S. Berry
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I'm trying to. I'm trying to adjust my life to that a little bit more, too. Where I've noticed, you know, last week I was in Wisconsin for a tech meeting with some great tech partners of ours for a few days. And then next. Next week, I'm in Nashville. And I'm thinking, you know, my dad would always say my Dad's a veteran, but also really well traveled. They would say, you know, every time I'd go somewhere, say, well, did you contact this person? Did you go see this? I'm like, no, I don't have time. And I've kind of realized I need to be much more intentional, put a day on the front and the day on the back end. If I'm traveling two weeks in a row, why should I come home to Nebraska for a few days? Why not go out there and say and see more and build those relationships? And I think that's something that I hope to get to your level. At some point where I am saying, hey, I'm only working six months. But I think that's key. You, when you're working, you are going all in long days.
[00:12:19.09] - John S. Berry
And that makes the days off so much more valuable. Because the one thing I find myself doing, and I got into this habit back when I was really deep into the practice of law, where I had all these cases, all these clients. I just got so used to being at the office 12 hours a day. There were some days where I didn't need to be there 12 hours, but I was just such a part of my rhythm that I could have gone home after six hours, spent more time with my kids. But I just got so used to that grind that when I had the free time, I didn't use it as free time. I found other work to do, which probably wasn't productive or necessary. And so it's just. I think you've really mastered that.
[00:12:54.11] - Richard Kaufman
Or even like David Meltzer, when I had. When I have came out, when he came on the show. He's got a $20 billion company. Even he says, if you don't master your time, your time will master you. So, make sure. Even everything. You make sure you dictate everything on the calendar, whether it's. Even if it's going out with your wife, with your kids, the playing video games, playing golf, you make sure it's on a calendar somewhere. Because if you don't rule your schedule, your schedule is going to rule you.
[00:13:18.23] - John S. Berry
Absolutely. The most powerful force in the universe is writing something down on the calendar. It makes it more likely to happen. Absolutely. Great advice. And getting to that, let's talk a little bit about your book, A Hero's Journey from Darkness to Light. Obviously, you were not always a master of your time. In fact, just the opposite.
[00:13:35.23] - Richard Kaufman
I was a master of doing time.
[00:13:39.17] - John S. Berry
Fair enough. A master of doing time. And in the book, you talk about very early on in life, drinking alcohol, using Drugs and you talk about there's a difference between being a dry alcoholic and being sober. What's the difference?
[00:13:54.01] - Richard Kaufman
I love the question. Thank you so much and thank you for reading my book. I know it sounds like a third grade wrote it. That means I actually wrote it. I didn't have a ghostwriter write it. The difference between being an alcohol, I mean a dry drunk and somebody that's sober is when you're a dry drunk, you're just an asshole that doesn't drink. When you're sober, you're somebody that don't drink, that's trying not to be an asshole. My whole life changed as we read in the book 09:07 on September 11, 2001, is when I got sober. And so, for me, I just don't try to be an asshole anymore. I mean my wife would probably disagree a lot, but I just try not to be that guy anymore. I try to be more empathetic in everything that I do.
[00:14:44.16] - John S. Berry
What was interesting to me is as you went through some of your trouble when you were an active-duty soldier, I think for a couple years before you got. It was a bad conduct discharge. Is that right?
[00:14:53.15] - Richard Kaufman
Yep. I got thrown out for being an addict and an alcoholic.
[00:14:57.14] - John S. Berry
And then. But after 911 you did get back into the reserve component with some exceptions, and you had to fight your way back in. And so, you get in, you get the chance to serve post 9/11, and everything is going well and then you get run over. Yeah, tell us about that.
[00:15:13.18] - Richard Kaufman
That's why I gotta wear these stupid glasses. I'm still like 60% blind. I still have a couple surgeries to go, but yeah, I was backing up a Humvee. We all know what a Humvee looks like. And instead of the driver hitting the brakes, he hit the gas and ran over the whole right side of my body and my head, which caused me to have an ocular stroke and caused me to lose my, lose my vision. Now back then I was jacked. I was on, I was on, say I was on supplements. So, I mean I was pretty jacked back then. So, I just got up and I just shook it off until I, I started slowly going blind like an hour later. And, and that's. And I, I lost total vision in one eye within. Within two hours.
[00:16:06.21] - John S. Berry
And so, you were basically a ground guide. And you told him to stop. And the guy, and the guy ran you over and, and you think, okay, I'm. You dust yourself off, I'm fine. And then you reel and you start to go blind and then you Know, as somebody who really desperately wanted to go back in the military, was successful in the military, you know, you finally got your life back together, you're sober, you've overcome a lot of. And obviously in the book it talks about your childhood and some of the things that you had to overcome. It seems like you've got a pretty good life. All of sudden things are going well. Bam, you get hit, run over by Humvee, lose your vision, now you're discharged from the military. And I think there was even an issue with the treatment. You couldn't even get treatment because why?
[00:16:50.09] - Richard Kaufman
The doctor told me if I didn't have $5,000 cash, he can't help me whatsoever.
[00:16:56.03] - John S. Berry
And this is a military training exercise. So were you at National Guard, like M Day time, or were you federally activated by then?
[00:17:04.15] - Richard Kaufman
It was our two weeks out of the year annual training.
[00:17:08.05] - John S. Berry
And they didn't take you to a medic or anything?
[00:17:10.09] - Richard Kaufman
Well, they took me to the medic then, but they couldn't. They did the MRIs, but they, they really weren't, you know, they weren't expecting for me to have an ocular stroke. They really had no clue. And, and honestly, they, you know, I don't think they even know about having TBIs and CTE. I don't think they're really well versed, even in today's age about TBIs and CTE.
[00:17:38.18] - John S. Berry
And you eventually did get some help from the VA, correct?
[00:17:41.17] - Richard Kaufman
Yes. And I got to say, I love the VA where I'm at. I've been there 12 years. I've been going. What I didn't put in a book was that day that they, they discharged me, Labor Day 2012 was the day that I attempted suicide. And thank God it didn't go through. My 6-month-old daughter saved my life, but if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here. And if it wasn't for the VA, I wouldn't be here. So, I have to give all honor and glory to the Lord above and also to my local VA.
[00:18:22.13] - John S. Berry
And so. You got help and the right people were in your life at the right time, but you still had to make quite a comeback. And so, let's talk about that. I mean, obviously you've got some great mentors you gotta meet with, Gary Vee, and you've talked about some of those mentors in this podcast. But how did you come back from that?
[00:18:39.21] - Richard Kaufman
Well, what happened was, like I said, I was 80% blind. I went from being jacked up, I was a bodybuilder. I was in powerlifting competitions. Not UFC fighter, but a cage fighter. And then I go from that to the next day. I can't even wipe my own ass. I can't. I can't see around the house. My wife has to bring food to me. And I sat in a chair, literally, for 18 months until somebody messaged me through Facebook and said, you're the comeback coach, right? I'm like, yeah, it's time for you to come back, ain't it? And I was like, they called me out on it. So that's when I was like, I don't know how to come back. And they're like, what? Hit record and start podcasting. And that's what I did again. And the funny thing was, the guy that I interviewed, the first. First interview back again was he had no legs, no arms. And as we're talking, his wife is holding up the phone for him because he's sitting in a Jacuzzi in Aspen because his. That he just got finished skiing with his wife and kids. He's got no arms, no legs.
[00:19:53.18] - Richard Kaufman
He's skiing and living a better life than I am. And that's when I thought, okay, I don't have my vision. I got two arms, two legs. My heart's good. What can I do? And from that moment on is when I started living for what I can do and not what I can't do. And that's when I just got up that day and literally got my white cane and walked down my front steps and walked up my front steps. Then I started walking around the block, and I just started coming back one day at a time. And I'm still fighting. I still fight. Ptsd, depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder. I still fight every day, but I'm just not going to give up.
[00:20:40.23] - John S. Berry
Yeah, outstanding. And when we go back to you coming back, it's not like this was the resiliency that was. You know, you came from a family. That resiliency was something that was taught and drilled into your head and kind of just the opposite. You came from a family where you didn't get a lot of people that took an interest in you early on. And so how did. Take us back to that. Take us back to your childhood. I think it's important for listeners to understand that what's so amazing about this is you are the comeback coach, but it's not like you started off in this idyllic family life. It was the opposite.
[00:21:17.16] - Richard Kaufman
Yeah, I grew up. My mother was an addict, an active addict. My father left when I was 3 months old. And I grew up raising, pretty much raised myself, had my first drink at 11, I was full blown alcoholic. By the age of 13, I pretty much raised myself. I'm self taught. I'm a ninth grade dropout. I don't even have a GED. But you know, I've read over 6,000 books now. I'm actually reading 18 books as we go into audiobooks. So I was never supposed to win. I was never supposed to be where I'm at right now. But you know when you realize that God's not through with you yet and he's going to put you in rooms that you're not even supposed to be in, that's when I realized that at one point in my life, you know, my theory was when I grew up, somebody asked me, you know, what do you want to be when you grow up? And I'd be like, well, I'm not going to grow up because I don't plan on living the age of 25. I'm going to, you know, look good and leave a good and live hard and leave a good-looking corpse.
[00:22:33.09] - Richard Kaufman
That was my goal in life. But God had other plans. So I believe that resilience can be taught and so can soft skills like empathy can be taught. I think you just have to listen sometimes to people's stories that have been through it. You can be like, hey, if he got through it, if Rich can do it, he's a ninth grade dropout. If he can do it, I can do it. And that's my goal, is just to let people know, if I can do this, anybody can do this.
[00:23:04.22] - John S. Berry
Outstanding. Yeah. It's that humble leadership that says, you know, no, it's not that I'm great, it's that I can do it and if I can do it, you can do it. And I think that sometimes that's how we get others to believe in themselves, to say, look, I'm not special and I did this, you can do it too. And I think that's amazing leadership. Which brings us to the leadership part of the podcast, the After-Action Review. The three examples of great leadership in your life, and the three examples of horrible leadership. You don't have to name names, but I'd love to hear your three great examples.
[00:23:34.18] - Richard Kaufman
First of all, my, my best friend Kumar, he actually owned a GNC that I worked at for all those years and taught me how to be a man, to be a husband, to be a business owner. So, without him, I wouldn't be a business owner. Second would be my uncle Tino. He was a mechanic. He was just a hardworking lunch pail kind of guy. But he taught me that the better you treat people, the better life is going to be. And even when he died at a young age, they had to have three services for him because he cared about so many people. They all showed up in force for him. And then I would say, my biggest leadership, he's no longer here. His name is Sergeant Shepherd, and he passed away a while ago. But when I got thrown out of the military and got back in, he was the one that took me under his wing. He's the one that said, I got you. I'm going to teach you how to be a soldier, how to be a soon to be NCO. So, without Sar, you know, without him, without Shep, I wouldn't be the man I am today.
[00:24:40.15] - John S. Berry
Outstanding. And now the bad leadership.
[00:24:44.13] - Richard Kaufman
First of all, and I try not to curse when I'm on shows, but this guy deserves it. I was In, I think, fifth grade and Mr. Ferreira would hit me in the back of the head, and he would call me dumb, and he would call me stupid because I didn't realize back then I had ADHD. I had dyslexia. So, I was so far behind everybody, he just called me dumb. So, every time I write out my bestselling book and I sign it, I say, you, F you Mr. Ferreira. I made it. I'm a bestselling author. So, I think that would be probably. That's bad leadership. Also, I think that doctor that looked at me and said, if you don't have $5,000, I can't help you. If he could have just said, wait a minute, you just need help. You need a hand up; you don't need a handout. We'll work out a payment plan.
[00:25:45.04] - John S. Berry
Yeah, I mean, that is pretty F'd up. I mean, you have a military veteran, you know, this is post 9/11, coming to you for help, and you're saying, Well, I need $5,000. I mean, at some point, you know, it just blows my mind. You would think he would find some way to help you, and he didn't. And, you know, I think of the gratitude that we have for our veterans and, you know, especially when your accident happened. And this guy. Yeah. I mean, what a horrible American.
[00:26:12.15] - Richard Kaufman
Yeah. And then I think the last person, I don't even remember their name, but when they finally handed me, took my ID card and said, you're no longer Sergeant Kaufman. You can't see, you can't shoot, we don't need you, and walked me out of the building, to get into my car and knowing that I'm half blind now and I lost my career. I think that was a pretty crappy way to put it. You can't see, you can't shoot, so we don't need you. But, but those three people made me the person that I am. How not to talk to people and how to treat people.
[00:26:50.09] - John S. Berry
Yeah, I mean, I suppose that if we assume that they weren't drinking, then that would be a dry alcoholic as opposed to being sober. Right? These people are a**holes and.
[00:26:59.10] - Richard Kaufman
Yeah, exactly. Yep.
[00:27:01.18] - John S. Berry
So, I want, I want to take you to, you know, take the listeners to where you are today. Tell us about your life as it is today, what is, you know, Richard Kaufman right now, what are you doing? What are all your projects? What's your life like?
[00:27:19.04] - Richard Kaufman
I live, I live a blessed life. I'm married to my bride. We've been married 15 years. She's known me for 40. And I talk about my blue-eyed angel in the book. She's been with me through thick and thin. I got three amazing children. I'm being featured in a magazine coming up for Father's Day, which is coming up, which I'm blessed. I got a movie coming out. Movie will be dropping soon, and I got a lot of speaking gigs, and I have a lot of great guests coming up on the show. So, I'm just staying, staying busy, getting ready to go on some cruises, go on some vacations and enjoy my life. And that's my whole thing, is to let people know, you know, we're here for a very brief moment, you know, why, what's, what good is it to have the big boat, the big house, the big car, and to eat, eat alone at the kitchen table. So, make sure you treasure the ones that you're around because in the end those people are going to be the one that's going to be sitting around you on your deathbed. So, make sure you appreciate the people that are around you.
[00:28:25.22] - Richard Kaufman
I think that's something I really want to get out there. Just appreciate the moments, you know, even like, like Gary talks about. Enjoy the process because the big things are really the small things and the small things are really the big things.
[00:28:39.23] - John S. Berry
Yeah, absolutely. I mean the process, the journey, it all matters. And here you are, you know, bestselling author, highly sought after speaker, multiple podcasts. You get a lot of vacation time, you've got a great family and, and, and, and this is why you're the comeback coach, because you've been through it and, and you've seen the other side, and you can help other people get there. So, who is the ideal client that needs the comeback coach right now?
[00:29:05.00] - Richard Kaufman
Anybody that's struggling in life or business. Because whether you're the CEO or you're the janitor, your store's all still struggling with the same shit, just on different levels. So, if you're struggling with anything, mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, I can help you out. And if I can't help you out, at least I can listen to you, because I would rather hear your problems than your eulogy. And I think that's what makes me different than most people, because even if I can't help you out physically, I can at least be there and hear and talk to you and let you know that you're heard and that your thoughts, you're cared about.
[00:29:52.08] - John S. Berry
So, Richard Kaufman, where can veterans and other listeners learn more about you and your books and your podcasts?
[00:30:02.00] - Richard Kaufman
Well, like Gary said, you can either Google the Comeback Coach or if you look at Vertical Momentum, podcasts were on their first ever eight pages of Google. So, we're on 35 different platforms. So, if you, if you reach out on me on any platform, it's always me. I don't have a VA that answers my, my, my DMs, so you can always DM me anywhere. I'm mostly bigger on Facebook and LinkedIn. Those are my two main channels that I'm on.
[00:30:32.18] - John S. Berry
Outstanding. And I noticed that the podcasting Blueprint and A Hero's Journey from Darkness to Light are both on Amazon. Is that where you prefer listeners to get them from?
[00:30:40.17] - Richard Kaufman
Yep. And if they. If. And I'm going to offer something to your people, if the book is now available on audiobook, free on Amazon. If they pick up A Hero's Journey, the audiobook is free. And if they pick up either book, if you let, they let them know, they let you know. They get a free hour coaching call from me any way they want, whether on the phone, through Skype, through any Streamyard, they get a free hour coaching call. Even if they get the free book, they get a free hour coaching call.
[00:31:17.20] - John S. Berry
Outstanding. Thank you, Richard Kaufman, for all you do for our veterans. It's been an honor to have you here on Veteran Led. And once again, Richard Kaufman, the comeback coach. If you need a comeback, he's the guy. We've all been down and out. Whether it's a personal issue, a business issue, we all need someone to help us get to the next level and sometimes just to get over ourselves. So please check out the comeback coach, Richard Kaufman. Richard, thank you for everything that you do for America's heroes.
[00:31:44.13] - Richard Kaufman
Thank you so much for having me on.
[00:31:52.02] - John S. Berry
Thank you for joining us today on Veteran Led, where we pursue our mission of promoting veteran leadership in business, strengthening the veteran community, and getting veterans all of the benefits that that they earned. If you know a leader who should be on the Veteran Led podcast, report to our online community by searching veteranled on your favorite social channels and posting in the comments. We want to hear how your military challenges prepared you to lead your industry or community and we will let the world know. And of course, hit subscribe and join me next time on Veteran Led.