643 – Combat to College: Tom interviews John Davis

Episode 643 – John Davis
[00:00:08] Welcome to Screw the Commute. The entrepreneurial podcast dedicated to getting you out of the car and into the money, with your host, lifelong entrepreneur and multimillionaire, Tom Antion.

[00:00:24] Hey, everybody, is Tom here with Episode 643 of Screw the Commute podcast? I'm here with John Davis and he is kicking off Vetpreneur Month. Every September, we honor our veteran entrepreneurs and we honor all our veterans. Really. That allowed, you know, the sacrifice, so much so that we can be doing the stuff we do here as safely as possible. And he claims to be the most tattooed person with a Harvard degree. And, you know, I thought, you know, that's a pretty braggadocio claim. So I called up Harvard and I asked him and they hung up on me. So but he is bringing to us the most important thing he learned from Harvard. And that is the best whiskey's available in Cambridge, Massachusetts. So he's going to tell us about that. And also, he's a prolific writer that's helping veterans. And so we'll bring him on in a minute. All right. Let me give you an update on our program to help persons with disabilities. We have three people in the program. Two of them are blind. And it's interesting because I was I was thinking when I started that program that people are going to have physical disabilities like, you know, can't walk or no hands or something like that. And and the first two people that showed up were blind. And I'm like, oh, my God, I wasn't expecting this.

[00:01:49] Guess what? They're shooting better videos than I do. There's so inspirational and we're going to get them either hired in good jobs, start their own business, or both. And so if you can help us out on that, check it out. It's screwthecommute.com/disability and then click on the Go Fund Me campaign and a little bit you throw in is great. And hey, if you're really flush with cash, you can sponsor a person yourself. That would really be something you could be proud of. I know I'm proud to be associated with the program. All right. Make sure you pick up a copy of our automation e-book. You will thank me if you even do a portion of the things that are in this book. I want you working with customers and developing products and services and working with prospects, not fighting with your computer. The tips in this book helped me be lightning fast, taking care of people and saving me enormous numbers of keystrokes. Actually, we estimate it now at about 8 million keystrokes. And, you know, I don't have carpal tunnel syndrome because of the tips in this book. So download it at screwthecommute.com/automatefree and while you're at it, pick up a copy of our podcast app at screwthecommute.com/app and put us on your cell phone and tablet and take us with you on the road.

[00:03:06] All right. Let's get to the main event. John Davis is here and he did two combat tours in Afghanistan. And like I say, he's the most tattooed person with a Harvard degree. And John has advocated to Congress as a legislative fellow for the VFW and is the author of Combat to College. We'll talk more about that during our time with him today. He loves fitness and travel and he currently lives in the Dominican Republic. You're going to learn how to I mean, especially with helping veterans, he helps them learn how to navigate the transition to civilian life and to build their team and resumes and and, you know, go to higher education and work with politicized professors and try to get through that without killing somebody and endure, I guess, the graduation ceremony. Anyway, we're going to bring him on and he's hey, he lives in Iowa and he joined the Army. Listen to this. He's a Harvard master's degree grad, but he failed out of community college. They must have one kick, kick ass hard community college where he comes from. He served in the 101st Airborne Division as an infantry squad leader in Afghanistan. We'll get into some more of his creds as we go. But John, are you ready to screw the commute?

[00:04:28] Yes.

[00:04:29] How are you doing, man?

[00:04:31] I'm good. I was waiting for the yellow to commute. I'm doing great. I'm surprised Harvard hung up on you.

[00:04:37] Yeah.

[00:04:38] What are you doing in the Dominican Republic? I'll tell you. Don't they let you hear? You just can't stand the woke environment here.

[00:04:45] I it is great to be outside the United States. Way less stressful. And the military benefits go a lot further here than they do somewhere. I like New York City, so my rent is significantly lower than than the American environment right now.

[00:05:00] Yeah. Yeah, that's that's a big thing because they're going up like crazy here. And of course, in a lot of the cities, the crime is rampant, you know, so so yeah, it seems like a nice, nice lifestyle. So we're going to talk about your book in a minute, but we've got to talk about whiskey first. I mean, you know, we have to have our priorities, seems to me. Do you like whiskey recommendations? Is that what I read about you?

[00:05:25] That's one of the things I always ask people. You know, if you have a book recommendation or a whiskey recommendation, I'll take it. Well, I think everybody. Everybody usually has one or the other.

[00:05:35] Well, that is not true, John, because believe it or not, I owned a nightclub for six years and in West Virginia was the second biggest club in West. Well, you got to say by God, West, by God, Virginia. And I'm allergic to alcohol. And I don't take one drop. I light up like a Christmas tree, my face breaks out in hives. And so I don't have any whiskey recommendations.

[00:06:00] Sorry. I don't know.

[00:06:02] I don't know what you did to God to make him do that to you, but. Well, I'll pray for.

[00:06:07] You. I'm the I'm the designated driver, no matter what happens. And what's your favorite?

[00:06:14] I like Maker's Mark. That's my. That's my go to whiskey.

[00:06:17] Well, is that Wal-Mart brand or. No, that's members. Mark.

[00:06:21] I didn't know.

[00:06:22] More than the whiskey.

[00:06:25] Yes, but.

[00:06:26] I'll tell you what's always good to have somebody you can't drink around to be a designated driver. Yeah. So everybody's best friend sometimes.

[00:06:34] All right. Now, I got to be honest with you. You know, I've had a lot of interaction with veterans like a veteran Preneur Tribe. I was he had been for a while and I was doing lots of trainings for them and spoke at the Military Influencers conference. And I don't see a lot of vets who are writers tell you the truth. How did you get into it?

[00:06:53] I got into it because I was working in a VA program during my undergrad, and my job was to help out student veterans. And it just I saw so many of the obstacles to the veterans were facing and kind of the same pitfalls that they're falling into over and over again. It wasn't it wasn't just one guy. It was the same people or people making the same mistakes over and over again. So it kind of led me into trying to make a book to help out veterans who are in such a pivotal time in their life.

[00:07:23] Well, how did I mean? Getting a master's degree from Harvard is no small thing. How did you end up failing out of a community college and then ended up telling them at Harvard what how it works?

[00:07:37] A lot of people I was like a lot of you know, a lot of 18 and 19 year olds when I was at community college in Iowa, I was, you know, more focused on whiskey and girls than going to class. And that's because, you know, at that age you're so immature. And then after years of military and developing a military mindset, when I got to school, I figured out it was actually pretty easy because all you have to do is do the work. You know, I think a lot of people you go go to class, you go to class all the time. You get there early, you do extra readings. And before you know it, you're at Harvard, which I grew up in small town Iowa. So Harvard was kind of like Hogwarts to me growing up. I don't know anyone else that went there or anything like that. So it's just kind of an educational journey where I was, how being in the military could be an advantage and not always a disadvantage, which is how a lot of veterans look at it.

[00:08:29] Well, I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that when you went to Harvard, you kind of stood out a little bit from the norm of normal people that go there.

[00:08:40] Yeah. Most of the a little bit. I mean, you're a little bit older when you go to college and you're in your thirties and you're covered in tattoos. And. At the time when I got in the military, I don't think I could say a full sentence without cursing. So kind of learning learning that that learning curve took a little bit to get through.

[00:08:58] Well, I don't think it totally got out of your mouth because tell them about the story that where you blurted out something about Afghanistan.

[00:09:08] Well, my first my first week in college, there was a a young guy with a a busted 911 sticker on his computer sitting next to me. And we all went around the room, did the daily introductions, and I said, you know, my name is John. I was in the Army. And he said, I don't I don't look down on you for being a veteran in front of the whole class. And there is kind of an anti military culture on on campuses. Right. Going back to Vietnam and things like that. And then at the time, of course, not having a filter, I'm yelling at him to shut the hell up. I was killing people. When you were learning to read.

[00:09:48] And.

[00:09:49] Somebody you feel like your first week in college, you feel kind of like Billy Madison when he when Adam Sandler goes back to school and he's sitting around all the third graders because, you know, I'm in my thirties. I've been married and divorced. I have a beard covering and tattoos. I own my own home. You're far from your as a college freshman.

[00:10:11] Well, did you? Was the professor just as bad as the other kids?

[00:10:17] The first in college, you run into issues with them because there's naturally sort of a power imbalance in the classroom to where, you know, the professors are knowledgeable and educated and their job is to educate the students and student veterans can kind of throw a wrench into that because we come into the classroom with a whole lot of life experience and real world experience, whereas the educational environment can be far removed from reality at times.

[00:10:45] Oh, you're kidding me.

[00:10:47] Geez. I mean. I mean.

[00:10:49] And you said you do for your listeners.

[00:10:53] You said that the professor is supposed to educate them. I thought he was supposed to indoctrinate them. They both end in in E, but this is totally different.

[00:11:04] Oh, well, that's I have a chapter in my book about political professors because veterans do run into that in the classroom. And there is certainly an anti-military sentiment in a lot of and a lot of classrooms. And I think that's also something that stops veterans from enrolling in the first place because they don't want to be lectured to. I mean, you're lectured to enough in the military and when you get out, you don't want to sit in a chair and listen. That's listening to someone who's been teaching the same economics one on one class past 20 years.

[00:11:35] And sitting in a chair and never faced any serious life consequences in his whole life or her whole.

[00:11:44] Life. No. And there are also a lot of times their ideas aren't challenged because the you know, the freshman students are sitting there kind of getting information. And then if professors say something that's obviously incorrect or something, parents are more likely to speak up or go against the professor or be confrontational as opposed to some 19 year old coming out of their parents house.

[00:12:08] I wouldn't last 5 minutes in the current environment. I would have I would ream them. You know, I've written 25 books, John, and the latest one I'm working on is called Highly Educated Idiots. It's based on and it's true. It says all these people. Oc Defund the police. Oh yeah, that's going to reduce crime. And then, you know, crime goes crazy. I mean, I could literally take a farmer from my hometown, which is 500 people in my small hometown in western Pennsylvania, and put him in any government position. And they would make better decisions because they make. They live on common sense, you know, but common sense is so far out the window nowadays.

[00:12:55] Especially, I think especially in education, because you have the benefit of not not, you know, paper or is different than ideas in in real life. So I think that that's that's one thing that student veterans bring to the classroom is a different perspective based on real life experiences instead of some professor who might not have much at all and normal students who traditionally have around zero. So student veterans are really benefit the college classroom. But a lot of them even who have the free college available to them, choose not to go. And that's something that I wanted to do, is encourage veterans to go to college. But I think you're right and that you have to pick the right college sometimes.

[00:13:40] Yeah, it seems it seems like, you know, to use an Afghanistan reference, I mean, it seems like you go into one of those classrooms with 300 people in it and you're like the only one there. And all you have left is your nine millimeter pistol and there's nobody else to help you just surround it, basically.

[00:14:00] Yeah, it's and that's what that's something that I think is a for veterans not only in education but kind of in everyday life is you have to it's it can be difficult being the only veteran in the room and that isolation, you know, is statistically more dangerous to veterans than combat is with so many veterans taking their lives every day. Right. So kind of building up support systems around yourself is something that's very important in your transition into civilian life or into college. And that's something I talk about a lot, is now there's a plethora of student veteran organizations and things like that. So you can connect with other veterans and not be the only person surrounded in a 300 person lecture hall.

[00:14:44] Yeah.

[00:14:44] All right. Now I want to get into talking about your book, but I want to bring something up ahead of time just to get your thoughts on it, if if you choose to give me your thoughts on it. But the exit from Afghanistan, by all I mean, I just got you know, I'm not a veteran, but I'm so pro-military. My dad was actually in the cavalry in the early 1900s, had a horse so so very pro military. But I want to throw up in my mouth when I saw Afghani or Taliban marching down with our uniforms and our guns and our. Oh, man. So and I'm not even a veteran who had to go through all that stuff. So what are your thoughts on it?

[00:15:28] Well, I think that I mean, when you see things like humans falling from planes, I mean, it looks kind of like an Expendables movie and clearly a disaster. I think that it was never really possible for Afghanistan veterans to come home to victory parades like we did World War Two. I think that it had a lot of similarities to Vietnam and that both of them had chaotic, confusing, tragic endings. And I think that's another thing that makes it harder for Afghanistan veterans like me to kind of close that chapter on our lives, you know, because we don't you kind of give all your blood, your sweat, your tears. I mean, obviously, I have close friends that died over there and came back and killed themselves. And I'm not really sure what ending the war should have had, but I know that American veterans deserved a much better one.

[00:16:16] Yeah, exactly. And I mean I mean, just from a practical standpoint, leaving $80 billion worth of military equipment to a bunch of savages.

[00:16:25] And not the best spending. Not the best financial decision.

[00:16:28] Yeah, financial or any other kind of decision. So. But anyway, so let's tell tell us more about the your book. What kind of things are in it besides the handle on the woke professors.

[00:16:42] Well, the military doesn't put a whole lot of effort into you being successful in your civilian life. I mean, that's just kind of the nature of the beast. If they care about you when you're serving and then when you get out, you're kind of on your own and then you're thrown into the civilian world and you kind of have to remake who you are because the person who went into the military is never the same person that came out. And you can't really be who you were in the military because that person is living was in a different context. So I think college provides a good bridge from the military to the civilian world. So I kind of view my book as a as a guide to get over that bridge and make it to the other side. Because a lot of veterans, their first stop is college. That's where a ton of veterans go because you have you have the option to go to school and kind of your success or failure at that point is. Has a huge impact on your future because if you go there and you drop out, it's easy to spiral into having problems. Whereas if you excel in life, it's if you excel in college, you're much more likely to excel in life. I mean, the. People with college degrees make more money and most people don't know. But it seems kind of obvious. But people with college degrees kill themselves less than people without them.

[00:18:04] Well. A couple of things I want to ask you here. So do you make a distinction between a combat veteran? Because there's like loads of military people that might be stationed in and Toledo and just pushing papers and logistics and never saw any real action. So do you make a distinction between them or do they still have problems?

[00:18:28] Now the well, it's actually noncombat veterans that kill themselves more than combat veterans, which is always kind of a surprise to people and one of the.

[00:18:36] Guilty or what?

[00:18:37] I think it's because there's such a large gap between the military and civilian lives that they felt like they might feel like they were never really in the military if they didn't deploy. But I mean, they still were, obviously. And the military leaves such a mark on you that transitioning back into civilian world is more of a problem than anything you'll face in the military. And most people don't. Most veterans never see combat. I mean, like 1% of the military sees combat even in Iraq and Afghanistan as far as direct combat goes. So the. Yeah. The book has a lot to deal with. All types of veterans who even. Even Coast Guard veterans. Mm hmm.

[00:19:20] Well, around here, that's like doctors and dentists. The doctors don't say dentists are really doctors.

[00:19:28] And they fight each other.

[00:19:31] But how long did it take you to write this book?

[00:19:35] Well, the this book is actually a second edition of a book that I did about a year and a half ago, because the first book I wrote while basically over a summer, it took me like two months and then I publish it on my own just because, you know, not for any. At the time, I had no desire to be a writer or make a career out of any of this or anything like that. And then I just want to help student veterans, because that's what I was. And people closest to problems are usually the ones best suited to solve them, which is why politicians never solve problems because they're so far away from them. So I saw I saw this, and eventually I was handed people a list that was John's College Tips, and it was just list of things. And then I was running an entire student veteran program helping other student veterans while I was student veteran. So I just kind of hammered the book out based on quick, quick and dirty lessons and actually said the F word, I think like 35 times in the first and the first in the first edition. So after I published it, I kind of, you know, I mean, it was then I was going to grad school and then so, you know, occupied on doing different things. And then the book did really well, you know, as far as the self-published book goes. And I was contacted by the Association of the United States Army Book Program, and they wanted to get it to a publisher to do a real second edition of it because it had in impact impacted so many people. So then I rewrote the entire book with the professional help of a publisher, which was nice, but the first book had some grammatical errors, like I said, the F word and was not, you know, it's far from professional piece, so this is a little bit more research backed. I did a lot of interviews and things like that. So this one took me about nine months to write from from start to finish rewriting the first.

[00:21:32] One because you still have all the rights to it the like. Is it major publishing or what?

[00:21:39] It's a university in North Georgia press. So it's a college college publisher. It's a military college in Georgia. So they they have a lot of military connections and things like that that that helped with the book.

[00:21:49] So who owns the rights is what I want to know.

[00:21:52] Oh, I still have them. I missed a lot of my stories.

[00:21:55] It seems to me that you could get some big sponsors to buy enormous numbers of the books to give away.

[00:22:04] Yeah, that's. That's what I'm hoping. I'm hoping because that's what I'm doing is email oncologists and saying, hey, I have these resources for student veterans because I didn't only write the book. I also wrote a companion journal to go along with it. Because, I mean, let's face it, a lot of people are not readers and a lot of people don't want to read while they're already in college or something because they already have to read enough. And that's why I made I made the book short to the point, funny, relatable. But I also made a Student Veterans Semester Journal that has a weekly calendar budgeting and things like that. Because I know, you know, as a business guy, your economic health plays a lot into your entire life to where if student veterans can't pay the bills or can't budget their money right then. It makes school a hell of a lot harder. So I also have that with like weekly, weekly tasks, budgets, calendars, motivation, stuff that's available. It's called Student Veterans Semester, Semester Journal, and it's on my website or Amazon.

[00:23:03] Yeah. And your website is John H. Davis, writer. Is that.

[00:23:08] The one? Yup. And my blog is on there, too. I have some notes on everything from Afghanistan to why why veterans should get divorced more and not less, and why you should go get tattoos and things like that.

[00:23:20] The divorce lawyers get them as a sponsor.

[00:23:23] They'll love you. Love you.

[00:23:25] That's where the money is.

[00:23:26] Yeah. Well, yeah, my one of my favorite jokes is marriage is grand, but divorce is 200 grand.

[00:23:35] That's true. One of the mistakes veterans make early is we get married when they're like 18, 19 years old. Yeah. I mean, that's what I did. And who knows? And usually 18, 19, we don't make the best decisions or partner decisions. So a lot of times we get married way too young. And veterans are such committed people. You know, we live our lives around commitment. And so we stay in kind of bad marriages a lot more than we should.

[00:24:01] Yeah, I think there's been an inordinate. I'm in Virginia Beach, which is basically Norfolk, Virginia, which is probably the largest collection of military in the world. And I think too many of the guys down at Oceana Naval Station marry the girls from the gentleman's club across the street. I don't think that works out that great.

[00:24:23] You're either married the girl from the gentleman's club, or you marry your high school sweetheart. And sometimes both of them are bad decisions, right?

[00:24:31] Let me tell you, I went to college on a football scholarship. All right, major college. And don't judge me because I did have an appointment to the Naval Academy and I turned it down because I saw them jogging to class. And I'm thinking, man, I am not cut out for this. And some little twerp gives me an order. I get court martial in 2 seconds. But anyway, so I'm in this major college and my roommate is six, five, £265, can bench press £460. All he does is drink and carouse and could not. I was barely functional literate literacy could barely read. I got him through his first year, basically, but he had no business whatsoever being in college. It turns out that he could walk by a furniture store, look at a piece of furniture, and go home and duplicate it better than it was. He didn't belong in that college. They just suck them in to use him because he was big and fast and tough. But he, you know, he had no business being in college. So I know you're pushing college, but what about trade schools and things that actually give people a skill of very quickly and so forth?

[00:25:45] The G.I. Bill is has gotten a lot more varied over the last recent years. So now you can use the GI Bill for not only college, you can use it to go to scuba school, you can use it to go to flight school. You can use to go to police academies. You can use it to do a variety of things, including trade, schools and a lot of veterans. If you have a especially if you have a specific path, I would recommend probably going to trade school over a traditional college, especially if you're going into a field that doesn't require a degree if you want. And trade schools have such a direct connection to employment. I mean, trade school employment rates are much higher than any liberal college. So a lot of advice in my book is relatable for anyone going to trade schools. And I talk about trade schools a lot because obviously that is a preferable option for a lot of veterans who are more more likely to benefit from hands on experiential type learning, like the military instead of sitting in college classes.

[00:26:44] Yeah, the chances of them being surrounded by the woke idiot professors are slim and welders are making 150000 to 200000 a year. And if they're underwater, welders is even more.

[00:26:58] Yeah, if I had a kid. And that's what plumbers make a lot more than teachers do. So if you're if you're if you're thinking about money, the plumbing is an excellent field to get into. And like you said, welding, too. So, yeah, the but the point of plumbing or welding, even when you're learning those things, you have to go through some type of program or training or school and you have to be able to stick through it. So my book guides, veterans or basically any type of thing that they're going to, it's not only towards sitting in a classroom to get a liberal arts degree. There's a lot of overlap for even, you know, traditional students or any or any nontraditional students going back to school who faces issues with learning, with scheduling, with setting yourself up for success.

[00:27:44] So it's based around higher education, whether it's college or trade.

[00:27:49] Yeah, any type of learning should be a lifelong thing for everyone, because one of the things I encourage is you shouldn't, you know, finish high school in a book and never read another one again. You should continue on a path. And that's why I think college is a good is a good option for veterans, especially because I mean, one is paid for. So if you're not going to use it, at least give the benefit to to your spouse or children or something. And one of the things that has always been concerning to me is so many veterans who can go to school for free choose not to. And that's and that's okay if you don't want to or if you have something else lined up. But if you have this available benefit to you, I think you should take advantage of it because like you like you talk about a lot of people plunge themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt for a degree. And veterans who can go for free often choose not to.

[00:28:41] Yeah, crazy. It's crazy, crazy world out there. I understand you have an excerpt of your upcoming book available.

[00:28:50] Yeah. I'm going to put one up on my website that people can get.

[00:28:55] Where would they go for it?

[00:28:57] It's John H. Davis writer slash excerpt. And then you can read and you can get an excerpt from the upcoming book.

[00:29:06] Beautiful. That's great. And it's coming out. When and where can they get it?

[00:29:10] September 20th, you can pre-order it now. It's on Amazon, Barnes Noble. All of the all the major. Yeah all the all the distributors and stuff.

[00:29:21] So combat to college is the title, right?

[00:29:24] Yep.

[00:29:25] Beautiful. And if they have questions, they want to get in touch with you. What should they do?

[00:29:31] Best way is go to my website. I have John Davis Realtor.com and then there you have my email, social media, all those things. If they have any questions about college or veteran issues or things like that, I'd be happy to help one.

[00:29:46] Wonderful. And I know you're very, very active. I mean, you're helping out the VFW, the American Legion and the US Military Vets Motorcycle Club. A lot of people listening know that motorcycle guys were trying to kill me for six years. So. So hopefully that's not those kind of motorcycle guys. What are they? Right. And what's what's the average vet ride?

[00:30:09] Most vets rides Harleys bike love you ride Harleys or. So I'm not sure what you did to deserve them trying to kill you, but it's possible you deserved it. Who knows?

[00:30:21] Maybe. I guess you don't have any rice rockets in the group, then, I guess, huh?

[00:30:26] No, no, no.

[00:30:29] Well, thanks so much for coming on, John. And thanks from all of us and all the audience here for your service. And I just can't we can't imagine one day in Afghanistan. I mean, I heard on the radio lately all the promises the Taliban made. No girls can't go to school, kicked out of school, sit down and shut up or get beat up or raped. I mean, it just I can't imagine the kind of savagery that that you folks witnessed and endured. So we just thank you for doing it on our behalf.

[00:31:03] Yeah, I think the coming humanitarian crisis is going to kill more people than the war ever could. So it's definitely a tragedy for the people who are who are still over there. And like you said, you're you're used to being able to go to school or be able to go outside without covering your face. And it's torn away. I mean, it's definitely, definitely terrible. I wrote a little bit about the the Abu Ghaith suicide bombing, which the the anniversary for that right now, not only the 13 service members that died, but all the innocent Afghans and the terrible US response to it. So it's definitely a tragedy. And I appreciate I appreciate you. I appreciate your words.

[00:31:43] Yeah, no problem. And and see, I'm revered when I go out with something covering my face because please, please don't subject this to this.

[00:31:55] People are throwing them at you and there's a bandana.

[00:31:57] Yeah, I got the face for podcasting radio. All right, man. Well, thanks so much for coming on, everybody. Check out JohnHDaviswriter.com. And also, if you have questions or military related questions or any kind of questions, because he's a great writer and the most I mean by his own decree decree the most tattooed person to have a Harvard degree. So so I think Guinness is Guinness Book of World Records is trying to contact them today. So thanks.

[00:32:33] John. Sure. After your show. Thanks a lot.

[00:32:35] All right. All right, everybody. We are just kicking off vet preneur month here, September on the Commute podcast and we're going to be highlighting veteran entrepreneurs the entire month. Make sure you support them in any way you can. And that's what we're doing here. All right. We'll catch you on the next episode. See you later.