Announcer: 0:00

The following programming is sponsored by Marc J Bernstein. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of this station, its management or Beasley Media Group. Entrepreneur, founder, author and financial advisor, Marc Bernstein helps high-performing business owners turn their visions into reality. Through his innovative work and the Forward Focus Forums, Marc connects entrepreneurs to resources that fuel their success. Founders Forum is a radio show and podcast where entrepreneurs share their journeys, revealing the lessons they've learned and the stories behind their success. Join Marc and his guests for a mix of inspiration, valuable insights and a little fun. Now let's dive in.

Marc Bernstein: 0:41

Good morning America. How are you? We are here again in sunny Southwest Florida, where it is actually always sunny Although we say it's always sunny in Philadelphia, but that's not necessarily the case and happy to be here with Roger Marley, our engineer at WXKB-FM in southwest Florida, and this is all part of Beasley Media group in philadelphia. We're on wwdb and, of course, the founders forum podcast can be found on all your major streaming services and we have we always start with a thought for the day and we have alex pranz in the studio with us, who we recently did a show with and I'm going to ask him to chime in on this as well as our guests Greg and Lisa, or Lisa and Greg, as I'm looking at them and I'll introduce them formally in a minute.

Marc Bernstein: 1:35

So there's a quote I came across today which seems relevant for the times. It may be relevant for the conversation we're going to have today, and it's by someone named Jenny Young. I actually don't know who she is, but she said every situation in life is temporary. So when life is good, make sure you enjoy it and receive it fully, and when life is not so good, remember that it will not last forever and better days are on the way. That's certainly something I'm in tune with, although I hadn't heard it exactly in those words.

Marc Bernstein: 2:06

Alex, what are your thoughts on that quote?

Alex Pron, CFP®, CBDA: 2:08

Well, Marc, I mean, I know this is going to- relate to Bitcoin.

Alex Pron, CFP®, CBDA: 2:13

I'll actually just talk markets in general. I think we're experiencing a very tumultuous time right now. I was actually just looking at some charts earlier right now I was actually just looking at some charts earlier the stock market whether the Dow, the S&P, the NASDAQ, those indices are still up over the last 180 days. So look, this too shall pass. We weren't going to do 20% a year forever in the stock market. I think that's why it's important to be working with folks like yourself that are putting in a good game plan for their clients, so as a financial advisor, as alex uh referred to me, as we certainly espouse that same philosophy, this too shall pass.

Marc Bernstein: 2:55

Those the words I was thinking, those two shall pass, and yeah, and investments, and in life you always have to be looking at the long term of what's coming next. So that's alex's take, which I knew was going to be somewhere along those lines. How about Lisa? And how about Greg on that?

Greg Hungiville: 3:11

Well, first of all, I just want to say thank you for having us on the podcast. That's Greg's voice, by the way.

Marc Bernstein: 3:15

Yeah, this is not Lisa.

Greg Hungiville: 3:18

You know I like the quote For me. I'm more of a leadership mentorship kind of individual. For me, it's very important to surround yourselves with people that are going to make sure that you're successful, and you need to make sure that they're successful. The one thing I've noticed is, as we get older, every day is not a guarantee, and it's important to live every day like it's your last, and so if you have to shorten your circles with friends, make sure you surround yourself with the right people. They're going to make sure that you're successful and you do the same for them. So to me, that quote is more of a leadership value.

Lisa Hungiville: 4:02

For me on that quote. It reminds me of just life in general. It reminds me that to live my life and others around me very positively and impact them in ways too that they want to actually go out and enjoy life and impact others. So for me, everyone has their depressing days, but those were past. It's about getting out there and living and just enjoying it.

Marc Bernstein: 4:30

Well, you just heard from Lisa and Greg Hungiville, not in that order, but, as you will hear, they've dedicated their life to service in many different ways and now they're in a new chapter of service. So we're going to hear all about that today. And, you know, on the show we have the founders of business we're probably 80% of the people we have on here but we also have founders of nonprofits and we enjoy to do that and we like to. We'll donate an ad for them because we want to get. It's a way of us giving to the charity and help promoting it, or the, or the organization, the nonprofit organization. So here's the guest. There's a little bit of information on them.

Marc Bernstein: 5:07

Greg Hungiville grew up in western Wisconsin. He served 25 years in the military, serving the United States Marine Corps and the Minnesota Army National Guard. Greg holds multiple branches, which include infantry and air missile defense, and his last duty assignment was the chief for air and missile defense in the Middle East. Couldn't have been an easy job and in that capacity he advised that the division commander and staff on air defense-related matters on a daily basis supported the fires and protection war fighting functions, and he retired as a lieutenant governor. Lieutenant colonel.

Marc Bernstein: 5:49

I'm sorry, lieutenant governor.

Greg Hungiville: 5:51

That might be my next role. Maybe that's next.

Marc Bernstein: 5:52

Maybe next.

Greg Hungiville: 5:54

I like the sound of that.

Marc Bernstein: 5:55

You like that Gov, I'll call you Gov as we go forward here. Lisa Hungiville was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She entered the United States Army in May 1986 and served in the Minnesota Army National Guard for 34 years. Lisa served as G1 senior enlisted for the 34th Infantry Division, the senior enlisted S1 for the 1st Armor Brigade Combat Team and senior enlisted S1 for the Brigade Training support battalion. Lisa's last duty position was deputy chief of staff G1 sergeant, major joint force headquarters, st Paul, minnesota, and they are founders and co. Their founder and co-founder, that would be Lisa's founder, and Greg is co-founder of Outdoor Warrior Nation, which they're going to tell you about. Before you do that, I sincerely want to say this Thank you for your service, because you guys I mean these were some you both have been very dedicated to the military and obviously have had great contributions to our safety and security in America.

Marc Bernstein: 7:00

So, on behalf of myself and our listeners in America, thank you.

Greg Hungiville: 7:04

Hey, thank you, I appreciate that.

Marc Bernstein: 7:06

And thank you for your continued service and what you're going to talk about today. So let me just tell you a little bit about Outdoor Warrior Nation, which is a nonprofit organization that helps our military and first responders with mental trauma, physical and emotional stress and to get them engaged in mother nature. Their motto is helping military and first responders find their new direction, and their mission is to encourage military and first responders to enjoy mother nature by presenting them and often their families and loved ones, with hunting, fishing, kayaking, skydiving, horse therapy, etc. Um and it and it's also to thank them and being recognized for a job well done. So they'll tell you more about that, um, but first I want to hear your stories, like where you guys. I know, we know where you came from, but tell us, maybe, about your family life, where you came from, what influenced you to get in the military and how you got from there to what you're doing today.

Lisa Hungiville: 8:09

So I will start. Um, I actually, um, the only person that was in the military were my, my father. So it was actually my stepfather and my father were both in the military and they didn't actually at that time, women weren't actually encouraged to go into the military but I felt a need. I wanted to do something outside of myself, so when I was 16, I went on a trip and. I met some cousins who were actually in the South Dakota National Guard.

Lisa Hungiville: 8:43

And that's when I came back. I talked about a whole year and my parents finally signed the paperwork and they said yep, okay, if this is what you want, we'll let you go. And so I signed at 17, and then I went to basic right between my junior and senior year, and after my senior I went to what they call AIT additional individual training and that's when I got into as a 42, or at that time it was a 71 Lima, which was admin, and I never looked back. I kept on going. So at 10 years and I have a funny story 10 years while I've been in, my mom looked at me and she goes do you regret being in? And I said, mom, I'm still in and I'm still going strong. No, I don't regret it.

Marc Bernstein: 9:28

One thing I want to comment on and I remember this from my second conversation with Greg was about leadership and the leadership training you got, Because a lot of people think, oh, you went in the military, you didn't get an education. You guys, I know, got an enormous education and maybe when you're telling your story, Greg, you can comment on that, because you and I talked a bit about that.

Greg Hungiville: 9:48

Yeah, absolutely so for me. At the time, we were living in on the East Coast, alexandria, virginia, um, and I was going to high school there, um and uh, the high school I was going to was bishop o'connell, dennis j o'connell, and uh, one day I was coming home from practice, um, and I saw these gentlemen in a uniform and they and they just looks crisp, um, they look tough, they look respected and they were clean cut, and I always wondered. I was like who are these? Who are these guys?

Marc Bernstein: 10:20

um, and so I found out they were, I comment that you're no longer clean cutter. No you're?

Greg Hungiville: 10:25

no, you're right. Uh, I had this, I had this, uh, this beard now, since I was shaved yeah, no. So since I've been shaving the last 25 years, I've just grew my beard out, but white, uh, lisa keeps me don't blame my, she keeps me in check on that.

Greg Hungiville: 10:38

So yeah, long story short, after high school I went ahead and did some college for a little bit and then joined the Marine Corps. I still remember my first day at Parris Island on those yellow footprints. It was about 2 in the morning. They dropped us off and I don't even know what happened. It was a whirlwind of people just yelling, throwing stuff. And yeah, that's where my career started. And after about two or three days in down at Parris Island, I was like how do I get out of here? And I'm like wait, I'm on an island, I'm surrounded by water. There's no way I'm getting out of here.

Greg Hungiville: 11:08

And it has sharks all around it. So I went ahead and just sucked it up and did the three months, came out of there a different man. I remember my dad and my mom coming into graduation and my dad came up to me at the time, shook my hand, looked at me and he said you are a man. Now he goes. I can see the change in you with just your demeanor, and it brings a little bit of tears to me right now because I just know how my dad. He was tough on me and he always wanted the best, but he would never, ever be lighten it, lighten his, his strength on me. He'd always make me work, work, work, and so I mean I was very proud of that day and so I just did.

Marc Bernstein: 11:45

Uh, another I just want to comment. I always wanted to do basic training. When I came out I felt it was something I needed, but I but I didn't want to serve, because if I served I was the last year of the draft, it it would have been in Vietnam, and at that point we knew what a mess it was. And I didn't do that. So I just it was the thing, though that thought kept me in law school, because when I went to law school I did not like it.

Marc Bernstein: 12:09

The first I was on a quarterly system at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law it's now called but I just didn't think it was for me, and I was on my way with a friend to check out and it came to me. I said you know you never did this basic training, but this is like your mental boot camp. You know, you got to do this Because it got me a lot of discipline that I hadn't previously had, not the same as being in the military, but it was my. It was my escape route, you know, and my, my easy way to do it.

Greg Hungiville: 12:41

Anyway, I cut you off. No, no, it's all good. Um, you know it. I mean I can totally relate to what you were just saying there, Marc. I mean it breaks you down and builds you back the way that you need to be, need to be right.

Lisa Hungiville: 12:52

So it's what they want us to be and how they need us to be right, so did uh.

Greg Hungiville: 12:58

I did five years, six years, right around that that time frame did a couple deployments, uh, a couple combat deployments and some training deployments, um. And then at the time my folks moved to minnesota, st paul, minnesota, and so uh got out and I moved up, uh moved from the east coast up there, um started working for a gentleman on the corporate side for about a year and still part of the reserves, and I joined the Minnesota Army National Guard and I'm thinking, why am I going from the Marine Corps to the Army? Why am I lowering my standard? But realistically, it's not really lowering your standard.

Greg Hungiville: 13:33

I met so many great people in that organization, especially on the reserve side, because, uh, in there you'll meet, you'll meet people that could be vice presidents at organizations or presidents or managers at other civilians, but they dedicated their lives to work on the weekends. So to me it was, it was, it was uh a great learning opportunity. I always look forward to what they call uh the weekends, they call them drill, and we get together and we do a lot of different cool stuff.

Marc Bernstein: 13:59

And that was a lot of your education. That and that leadership training came from. A lot of that I understand.

Greg Hungiville: 14:04

Yeah, absolutely so with the. What's great about the military is is is um, they'll pay for your education as long as you put the work in. And so I w I had the ability to actually finish up my four-year degree, my bachelor's, in the cities there Minneapolis, st Paul and then moved on and received a graduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stout. You just had to put the work in, you had to keep the grades up and that's in between doing work during the week, and so that to me, I learned a lot. I learned how late I can stay up and study.

Marc Bernstein: 14:40

I know Lisa wants to say something and I have a follow-up question for you too, but let's take a quick break and we'll be right back.

Announcer: 14:46

Outdoor Warrior Nation is a 501c3 Outdoor Warrior Nation (OWN) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to helping military and first responders overcome mental trauma, physical and emotional stress through the healing power of nature. Our unique programs hunting, fishing, kayaking, skydiving and horse therapy are designed to help them reconnect with themselves and others while owning their future. At OWN, we believe helping others is a way of life and helping is healing. We provide a safe space for our heroes to heal, grow and find their new direction. Join us in empowering those who've served. Visit outdoorwarriornation. org today and help a hero take the next step.

Marc Bernstein: 15:24

We're back on Founders Forum, and just before our break I had to stop, lisa, but you wanted to say a little bit more about the education in the military. And then I have another follow-up question for you.

Lisa Hungiville: 15:33

Yes, so in the military itself, enlisted have a different type of education level. They don't go to college per se but they do courses for each level. Like PLDC is what I went through to get to an E5. You had BNOC to do a sergeant major school. You have certain levels that you have to achieve those courses before they will actually promote you Officers. As my husband was, he had to have an education in a college per se, so he had to get that four-year degree to go higher to the next level.

Lisa Hungiville: 16:13

For us as enlisted it's a little bit different, but also in the state of Minnesota, along with the National Guard, they actually developed a way for us, even though we had the education that we could go and do. Most people don't always take advantage of that. So what happens is when you're going before the next board, which is called enlisted promotion system when you're going before the next board, which is called enlisted promotion system, they actually now give you more points if you actually go to school and graduate with a college degree. So I went to Concordia, st Paul, and I got more points for doing that compared to the rest of my peers. So you're based off of all points on that level.

Marc Bernstein: 16:54

Does that make sense? Yeah, off of all points on that level, does that make sense? Yeah, well, I brought this up because it's interesting, because I don't think people realize the education you get, particularly if you're a career military. And when I was my conversation with Greg before, I was thinking about the leadership classes which you referred to, but I also now remember that he talked about getting a degree at the University of Wisconsin and you got yours, where you got it, and people don't understand that that. So that's why I wanted to comment on it. I do want to move on, because we're already more than halfway through. Time flies when we're having fun on the show, so I want to.

Lisa Hungiville: 17:26

I want to tell, tell, tell us about how Outdoor Warrior Nation came about so we were with a previous non-profit and we decided to take those lessons that we learned and put it into our own. And that's kind of where Outdoor Warrior Nation came about, because we wanted to get out and start doing our own thing and doing our own bylaws, having our own means of saying who can come in and who can't come in, how to become a member, how to do everything.

Marc Bernstein: 17:59

You just told a story of nonprofit entrepreneurs working for somebody else and then you decided hey, we want to do it the way we want to do it and we think we can do a good job at it, which I know you're doing. So thanks for that comment. So how did that go when you started it out?

Lisa Hungiville: 18:16

So, first of all, our emblem we had for two years before we even came up with a new name for it. It's a great emblem. Two years.

Greg Hungiville: 18:24

Hey, tell them a little bit about the emblem Lisa.

Lisa Hungiville: 18:26

So the emblem is actually it's very creative. Greg and I put it together and we've worked on it. The mountains were already there, but we had the compass, because one of the things that we wanted to do is we want people to find their new direction, which is what this is all about. It's finding where you're gonna go in your life, learning to be able to take control of your life. Take control of everyone else's life.

Marc Bernstein: 18:53

Alex has a question.

Alex Pron, CFP®, CBDA: 18:55

Yeah, lisa, gregg, first off, thank you for your service. My brother was in the Marine Corps so I went to his Parris Island graduation.

Greg Hungiville: 19:03

Oh, so you got a little taste of it. What's your thoughts on that graduation?

Alex Pron, CFP®, CBDA: 19:06

Very memorable, amazing experience. Just how in unison everyone is throughout that entire graduation ceremony blew me away. And it's just, you know, I didn't know what to expect going there, but it was, it was. It was amazing. Whether it's for my business or other not-for-profits I support, first off, I think the mission is outstanding. I always, I always, love to learn about the why behind it, right, and so you know and I don't know if this will apply to the first not-for-profit that you joined and kind of what made you want to do that. Obviously, I can imagine just having a military family, right, I'm sure you've experienced a lot of friends with, whether it's suicide, ptsd, et cetera. I don't know if there's a like a one particular incident that really drove you in your direction or if it was accumulation of things, but I would love to hear more about that story and the why behind what you're doing.

Lisa Hungiville: 20:06

So the why is both Greg and I have experienced losses of people who have killed themselves and that has been very heartbreaking for us. So we wanted to make sure that we could help make a difference. We wanted to get people together and to have them know that they are not by themselves. We wanted them to understand is we understand where they've come from and how we can actually help them to be outside of themselves and to go and don't think about killing themselves first, but think about reaching out to someone else.

Marc Bernstein: 20:48

So I know one of the ways you do that is you have these activities. I imagine there has to be some preface to that. In other words, do you put the people that you help through the veterans that you help through you know classes or talks, or before you do these activities and after what does that look like?

Greg Hungiville: 21:09

Yeah, so our resources are quite unique. Our board is made up of one individual that served in the Marine Corps, purple Heart Decorated, and he's actually a counselor for the VA and does some other counseling on his own. So we have that resource. And then we have other people a firefighter in Minneapolis paramedic, for example, another one that's still in the military. She's doing a great job, and so we try, and another person in the Navy. So we tried to.

Greg Hungiville: 21:38

We do have we definitely do have pep talks. More important for us is to get them, um, engaged in our first event. We do have people that are hesitant, but I'll guarantee you, when you come on an event with us, if it's kayaking, skydiving, horse therapy, um, bow hunting, uh, fishing here in Florida. I mean, we're connected and we're doing a tri-state Florida, minnesota and Wisconsin is our focus, and we're looking to expand maybe in some other states. But for us it's about a family and bringing people together and letting them know that we care and we do these events because I love to see those smiles with their families and their and their kiddos.

Greg Hungiville: 22:20

And one example, real quick story, is I remember we were kayaking, um, and it was like our first or second year and I wasn't sure if we were really doing any kind of uh good with our nonprofit. You know cause you don't hear about the good things, you only hear about the bad. Right In any organization. We don't know that. And so, uh, we were kayaking down, uh, the Kenny river and, uh, all of a sudden, the guy that was next to me put his paddle right down on front and he just starts coasting. He's looking straight ahead and I'm like, oh, what's going on here?

Greg Hungiville: 22:49

And I said, hey, what is everything? Okay, what's going on? And he stopped we, just we. And he stops, looks over at me and says, if it wasn't for you and Lisa, I don't know if I'd be on this planet today. And so that, right there, gave me the inspiration. I passed it on to Lisa at the end of the event and I said, lisa, we are doing good. You know what? There's a reason that that happened, that event, that situation, and so we need to keep going and we need to do more and more and more. And so here we are. That's just one story out of many, but that was very impactful. I was going to reach over and give him a hug in the kayaks, but I knew we would tip over, so I waited until after we hit shore.

Marc Bernstein: 23:29

So that was just a quick little story that enhanced your why is really what happened? It sounds like Absolutely and go like absolutely and um, but go ahead, lisa, you want to say something, okay, okay. So we saw you hinted at something, greg. You said it's difficult to get people involved, to get the veterans involved. You know there might be some hesitation. That's a challenge. That's like so you have this business, this non-profit business, and that's a challenge. What other kinds of challenges have you had in getting it going?

Lisa Hungiville: 23:57

Finding people to sponsor and get donations. Fundraising Very much. Fundraising is probably one of the biggest and hardest thing to do. However, it's also a blessing when we do get that money, because everything that we do, we put it towards, anything that we get, goes right towards our organization and we give. This is how we can do all these activities Right.

Marc Bernstein: 24:23

You're unpaid volunteers for your nonprofit, absolutely, absolutely, and we also do Again, thank you for your service. Hey, thank you, Marc, I appreciate it.

Greg Hungiville: 24:31

We try to do what we can and we also, just to throw this out real quick. We do a quarterly newsletter so that we can show what kind of impactful events that we do to let people know. Hey, if you want to be a part of this, um, jump on board, we're all. We love volunteers and we love members and helping people.

Marc Bernstein: 24:49

By the way, I want to. I want to comment. I saw on your website that you do this in Wisconsin and Minnesota and Florida and I bring up Florida cause this is where we are now and I should comment that we know each other because we're neighbors in Babcock Ranch, the hometown of tomorrow, which I always like to say because I do think it's a hub of innovation and I think it's. I think it probably I don't know if it does, but I would think it you're, you're maybe inspired by your surrounds or people that you meet at all. It helps keep stimulating me.

Marc Bernstein: 25:18

I know, when I come here for the month on the snowbird, but when I come, I, you know I'm. I now have an all a little workspace in the hatchery and there's all kinds of business owners there and if I'm having a tough day or if I'm thinking, you know, should I really keep doing this podcast? I just met like five people there that I'm bringing on the podcast and inspired me to do more. So you know I just wanted to mention that that we're in a pretty interesting place here.

Greg Hungiville: 25:43

Along with that, yeah, I feel like Southwest Florida is for me I just use the word untouched. It's such in a growth mode right here and I think it's great meeting all these awesome people that have we're all here for the same reason right and a lot of there's a lot of entrepreneurship.

Marc Bernstein: 25:58

so, you know, for us to be able to expand down here with our non-profit and help people um military first responders it to me it's a blessing I want to get at least oh, we're running a little short of time if it's important to say it, but I want to talk about your future vision. You want to go right. Well, that's, that's for you. So if this were 10 years from today and we're looking out and it's 2035, march 2035, and we only have a few minutes left, but what does that look like? What? What is the future for you guys and for um? Outdoor warrior nation?

Lisa Hungiville: 26:31

well, in 10 years, um, I'll still be here at babcock, probably with another place, more likely up in the Carolinas, but that's for us personally. But for Outdoor Warrior Nation, I see, is that it's going to be growing in several different states and we're going to have a lot more places to send people to and we're also going to be more focused on down in Florida for us, and then we'll have other people actually run those other places, and that's what I foresee. And eventually I would like to eventually have a place that we can actually call Outdoor Warrior Nation as a place where people can actually go and have those surroundings.

Marc Bernstein: 27:15

It would be an actual locale Like a camp.

Greg Hungiville: 27:17

Yeah, how neat would that be Just driving in there and you have a big sign with that logo.

Marc Bernstein: 27:22

That would be the ultimate, and you think in North Carolina for that? Is that one of the reasons.

Lisa Hungiville: 27:25

We're not sure, we're throwing around a lot of different places.

Marc Bernstein: 27:29

Gotcha and in five years, if you look at halfway there, what does the vision look like? Like where would you be after five years?

Lisa Hungiville: 27:38

I would say in five years. I think that a lot more people down here are going to know who we are and they are going to want to partake and be a partner with us so that we can, because there is never one nonprofit that can do everything for anyone. So it's about helping each other and that's where I foresee it.

Marc Bernstein: 27:56

Gotcha, that's great. We're almost out of time, but I know you're both readers, so I'd like I'll start with Greg. Greg, what, what, what's your favorite book that you've read recently?

Greg Hungiville: 28:06

Well recently I just read General McChrystal head of special operations command retired team on teams and he talked a lot about leadership, which obviously leadership and mentorship is dear to my heart, and so his book definitely thumbs up. It talks about you know the pros and cons and got into some real, real, good, juicy information that you could learn from and had great stories and very impactful for me.

Marc Bernstein: 28:32

Nice and Lisa.

Lisa Hungiville: 28:33

The last book I just read is called the Women and it is about a young lady that goes into Vietnam after her brother is killed and she gets into being a nurse and living that life as a tour and then coming back and dealing with PTSD and everything else that we are pretty much aware of, and so it kind of takes you on her journey and how her parents weren't so supportive and then toward the end how very supportive they are, and it was a very inspiring book that I wish I went to jump to the end, but I did.

Marc Bernstein: 29:13

So I do that too. I understand. So the women and General McChrystal's. What's the name of that book, greg? Team on Teams, team on Teams. I love the title. That alone is great. Well, listen, thank you both for being here today. Best of luck to Outdoor Warrior Nation. We'll do what we can to promote the nonprofit, because I think you're doing wonderful work. Thank you to Alex Prahn for participating in this show, thank you, roger Marley, as always, for engineering, and thank you all for listening and we'll see you next week on Founders Forum.

Announcer: 29:48

We hope you enjoyed your time with Founders Forum and that you found value to take with you throughout your day. Join us again next week for another episode of Founders Forum on WXKB 1039 HD2.