Words from the Wise Podcast
Join Words From The Wise with Gary Wise, retired U.S. Navy Command Master Chief and founder of Wise Leadership Solutions, for relentlessly authentic deckplate leadership insights forged in real-world experience.From advising Commanding Officers and leading Sailors worldwide in high-pressure environments to his current daily mentorship of 180+ high school NJROTC cadets at Vanguard High School, Gary delivers no-fluff conversations and actionable strategies that help you:Cultivate persevering teamsCreate inspirational intensityTake full ownership of your growthGenerate unstoppable momentum in your leadership and daily lifeWhether you’re a young person determined to build real leadership skills, a parent who wants your te...
Breathwork For Better Sleep
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Your body can be exhausted while your mind keeps sprinting. That gap is where stress turns into insomnia, jaw clenching, doom thinking, and feeling disconnected from the people right in front of you. I’m Gary Wise, and I sit down with Tim Thomas, a veteran of the Australian Armed Forces who worked alongside special forces teams and spent time in the early underground era of mixed martial arts before stepping into a high tempo military career.
Tim shares what selection, deployment cycles, and military culture taught him about identity, belonging, an...
How A Carrier Fire Led To A Career-Defining Tour In Japan
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A single phone call can reroute your entire life, especially in the Navy. We share the true story behind how I got handpicked orders to the USS George Washington, the forward-deployed nuclear aircraft carrier in Yokosuka, Japan, and why the road there started with a major shipboard fire and a deep-dive investigation. From my years at Afloat Training Group San Diego, I learned how carrier readiness really gets built: damage control training, firefighting standards, drill packages that actually work, and the uncomfortable truth that complacency can hide inside “normal” until it doesn’t.Â
Project 55 And A Practical Way To Support Mental Health
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55% of adults are struggling and not receiving treatment, and the scariest part is how easy it is to miss the moment when someone needed us to lean in. I’m joined by Justin Goodman, an insurance industry leader and mental health advocate, for a grounded conversation about what it really takes to support people without pretending we’re clinicians or having the perfect words ready. He shares the personal turning point that pushed him into this work, including chronic pain, addiction risk, and the intervention that changed his life.Â
We also get s...
What If The Most Hated Man Was Necessary
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Judas is one of the most recognized names in history, yet most of us never stop to ask a simple question: if the crucifixion is essential to Christianity, was Judas Iscariot destined to betray Jesus, and if so, what does that mean for free will, guilt, and redemption? We wrestle with that tension alongside Ocala author Steve Marks, whose faith-based fiction novel Judas Otherwise reimagines Judas with a backstory, real motives, and a human struggle rather than a cardboard villain.Â
We also talk about the courage it takes to stop hiding c...
How A Navy Veteran Turned Setbacks Into Community Solutions In Ocala
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Ocala is growing fast, and the veteran community is changing with it. That sounds like opportunity, until you realize how many veterans still fall through the cracks between “here’s a number to call” and actual help that shows up. We sit down with Navy veteran, father, nonprofit builder, and serial entrepreneur Chad Walker to talk about what happens after the uniform comes off and why follow-through matters more than good intentions.
Chad walks us through his path from a rough high school track to walking into a Navy recruiter’s office...
How Leaders Build Trust With Authentic Stories In The Age Of AI
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Trust is getting harder to hold onto, and it’s not just because people disagree. In 2026, AI-generated content, deepfakes, and polished “thought leadership” have made a lot of listeners wonder: is any of this real, and who is actually behind the message? I sit down with Gabrielle Dolan, a global authority on authentic storytelling and the author of Story Intelligence: The Craft of Authentic Storytelling Made Smarter With AI, to unpack what leaders can do when credibility feels fragile.
We dig into why storytelling is not a soft skill or a perfor...
What If Your Grief Could Build Something Good
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A Hollywood career can look like the dream while quietly draining the life out of you. We sit down with Preston Zeller, an award-winning filmmaker and growth leader, to talk about the moment he realized the “successful” path wasn’t making him whole and what it took to rebuild his faith, his work, and his sense of purpose.
Preston walks us through growing up with music and storytelling, getting indoctrinated into film culture, and then colliding with the realities of the entertainment industry: politics, image, and the pressure to chase power instea...
From NASA Testing To Mental Clarity
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He helped test the hardware that made Mars landings possible, then turned around and started helping leaders land the hard stuff in their own minds.
We sit down with John Mollura, a former NASA contractor and test operations engineer who spent years in mission-critical environments, including testing the giant airbags used to land Mars exploration rovers. John shares what that work really looked like, how an unexpected resume detail led him into test operations, and why high performance can still come with anxiety, imposter syndrome, and a constant need to “prove” your...
What If Discipline Beats Motivation Every Time
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Coaching sounds simple until you try to turn it into a real post-military career. Ronnie Netter comes back on the mic to talk with us about life after service, finding a calling, and what it looks like to take years of Navy mentorship and translate it into civilian coaching, leadership development, and consulting without feeling fake or salesy.
We get straight into the hard parts: coaching is sales, time has a price, and veterans often struggle with charging for something we used to give away for free. We break down why...
Getting Fired As Squad Leader Was The Lesson
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She wanted overseas orders and got Camp Lejeune. She wanted aviation and landed in engineering utilities. And somehow, that’s exactly why this conversation works: it’s an honest look at how a young Marine turns disappointment into direction without losing her edge.
We’re joined by Ashley Smith aka "Smitty", one of my former NJROTC cadets, calling in from Marine Corps schoolhouse as a water purification specialist. We talk about switching schools, finding the right NJROTC program, getting reset in rank, and learning to earn trust the slow way through standa...
When Family Breaks Bad
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A single phone call can be the difference between burning your life down and finally growing up. I’m Gary Wise, and I’m telling one of the most personal stories I’ve ever shared: my relationship with my little sister Kristina, from childhood closeness to years of conflict, and the grief that followed her death.
I walk through my background as an adopted kid who moved constantly, the money stress that shaped our home, and the choices I made as a teenager that pushed me out of school and out of my...
The Swim Call Stunt That Ended Up Building A Master Chief
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One risky moment can break your body, and a single email can build your future. Jason Brown joins me to trace a Navy journey that starts with a teenager from Southern California who knows he needs a way out and a way up, then turns into a decades-long lesson in resilience, mentorship, and leadership under pressure. If you care about Navy career development, military mentorship, or what it really takes to grow into a senior enlisted leader, this conversation hits home fast.
We talk about the unglamorous but decisive stuff: learning...
From Fireman To Master-At-Arms
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The Navy rarely follows the plan you had at 17, and John Lukosus is living proof. We sit down as shipmates and walk through a career that starts in the engineering spaces as an undesignated fireman, then pivots hard into the Master-at-Arms world when family reality hits and the stakes suddenly feel personal. Along the way, we unpack what “watchstanding” really teaches you about leadership, why mentorship matters more than motivation speeches, and how one good chain of command can change the entire direction of a sailor’s life.
From the post-9/11 force...
Strong Leaders Say No So Others Can Grow
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Boundaries are not about being harsh, they’re about being clear. I’m back with part two of our conversation on setting effective boundaries that protect your time, your sanity, and your relationships, while still helping the people around you grow. If you’ve ever felt stretched thin by constant requests, constant problems, or constant emotional pressure to say yes, this one gives you language and structure to say no with purpose.
We dig into “strategic non-intervention” and why safe failure is a gift, not neglect. I share how grit is built thro...
Protect Your Time
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Your calendar is not neutral. If you do not set boundaries, somebody else will gladly spend your time for you. I sit down solo to get honest about where I still struggle: going all in, saying yes too fast, and letting work expand until it fills every gap in the day. Boundary setting is not about being cold or selfish. It is about self-leadership, protecting your energy, and making sure your time lines up with your vision and long-term goals.
We dig into decision-making fatigue and why leaders and parents become...
Leadership And Mental Health Across A Navy Career From Japan To Texas
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A Navy career can look clean on paper while feeling brutal on the inside, and that gap is where this conversation lives. I sit down with Master Chief Dean Howell to talk about what it really takes to grow from a young sailor trying to keep his head down into a senior enlisted leader who has to carry a command, a family, and his own mental health at the same time.
Dean walks us from Louisiana to Texas, through a college detour, and into the Navy just as the world changes...
From Louisiana To Master Chief Through Loss Service And Purpose
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One bad decision can derail a life. One good mentor can reroute it. Gary sits down with retired Master Chief Tyrone Jiles to trace the real path from Rayville, Louisiana to the highest enlisted levels of Navy leadership, with the messy middle included: family loss, growing up without a clear blueprint, and choosing the military for structure and a shot at something bigger.Â
We talk through the early Sailor years that most people romanticize, then tell the truth about what actually matters: discipline, relationships, and learning lessons like money management before y...
What Does It Take To Lead When No One Picks You
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Some careers are straight lines. Terence Harmon’s is a fight through storms—boot camp setbacks, a fraternization hit that torpedoed his first run at MA, a year in Gitmo during riots—and a steady climb back built on mentorship, discipline, and no-nonsense leadership. We dive into how a country kid from Talladega found his footing on a destroyer, got his pride checked by a tough BM2, and turned into the kind of deck plate leader who lifts standards and people at the same time.
From Japan port ops and the immedi...
How A Healthcare Leader Plans To Fix Georgia Schools
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What does it take to fix a system that keeps letting kids down? We sit down with Dr. Nelva Lee—healthcare executive turned education reformer—to map a practical path from broken metrics to better lives. Her story runs from directing patient advocacy at a major health system to founding a medical interpreting trade school, and now to a statewide campaign for Georgia’s superintendent of schools. Along the way, she learned how to coach under pressure, where bureaucracy hides waste, and why fundamentals beat fads every time.
We start with the ba...
From Country Roads to Carrier Decks: A Damage Controlman's Journey of Leadership, Loyalty, and Legacy
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A small-town country kid from deep East Texas—near Beaumont and Jasper—joins the Navy in 1986 as an undesignated fireman and steps aboard the legendary USS Midway in Yokosuka, Japan. What follows is a 22+ year career defined not by flash, but by quiet competence, decisive action, and an unshakable commitment to taking care of people.
Brian Nelson rides out a brutal typhoon that warps hangar bay doors on Midway, transitions to amphibious ops on the young USS Germantown (where Marines bring discipline and heavy gear), stands post as a gate guard at N...
How An 18-Year-Old Radioman Grew Into A Command Master Chief
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What does it really take to grow from an 18-year-old radioman into a Command Master Chief trusted to steady a carrier crew? We sit down with retired Master Chief Shaun Brahmsteadt to map a 35-year journey packed with hard choices, honest mentorship, and the kind of leadership that delivers results when it counts. From a tiny Northern California town to Cold War boot camp, from a sub-chasing shore billet to first deployments, Sean shares how curiosity, discipline, and humility turned confusion into competence—and competence into command trust.
The story shifts co...
How Service, Faith, And History Shape A Life Of Purpose
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History isn’t background noise here; it’s the compass. We open by connecting Cold War alliances to today’s fault lines, then ride along as David Cano—retired Navy Chief Hospital Corpsman—shares how “sailor first” shaped every step: enlisting three months before 9/11, stabilizing patients in Iraq’s trauma bays, and learning that prevention is power when you’re safeguarding a ship’s water, food, and heat stress programs.
From Okinawa to Al Asad, then outside the wire in Helmand as an IA, David pulls back the curtain on what high‑tempo service r...
Strength, Faith, And A 12,000-Mile Vision
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What happens when you hate running, but choose obedience anyway? That’s the spark at the heart of this conversation with faith-first performance coach Chris Avery — a man who ran a marathon with zero training, logged a mile a day until it became years, and is now mapping a 12,000-mile mission to run the perimeter of America. The story isn’t about superhuman talent; it’s about ordinary action empowered by faith, forgiveness, and a stubborn loyalty to purpose.
We trace Chris’s path from addiction to sobriety, through marriage and fatherhood...
Recognizing Stress Through Navy Color Codes And Real-Life Leadership Lessons
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Stress doesn’t start at the crisis point; it starts the moment the phone lights up. We open with the real baseline most of us carry—pings, expectations, and a mind that wakes up in the yellow—and then lay down a clear roadmap to navigate the day without losing yourself. Drawing on years of Navy leadership and today’s classroom realities, we use the Operational Stress Control colors to name what you’re feeling and the simple stress equation—pressure minus perceived capability—to show where to intervene.
From there, we unpack four...
From Cults To Calling: Athena Dean Holtz On Healing, Publishing, And Spiritual Warfare
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A wound left untended doesn’t just hurt—it starts to steer. That idea threads through a gripping conversation with author, speaker, and publisher Athena Dean Holtz, whose journey spans Scientology, pioneering PTSD advocacy, a booming publishing house, and a long season of spiritual abuse that cost her marriage, company, and community. What emerged on the other side is a hard-won clarity about discernment, forgiveness, and the everyday mechanics of spiritual warfare.
We start with the early days of Point Man Ministries, where Athena helped bring PTSD into the light for vete...
From SCBAs To Series 7: Yes, That Escalated Quickly
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A kid from Staten Island walks three miles to a Navy recruiter after a jobsite blowup and ends up a warrant officer, a chief engineer, and finally a financial advisor. That’s not luck—it’s discipline, mentorship, and a lot of deckplate reps. Gary sits down with his shipmate Jody Schilling to trace the full arc: boot camp in Orlando, Treasure Island A School, meeting a destroyer in Bahrain, and learning damage control fast under real pressure. Along the way, Jody owns his missteps, turns NJPs into fuel, teaches DC indoc, and earns...
Choose Your Reaction Or It Chooses You
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When emotions run hot, one choice can change everything. Gary Wise lays out a clear, battle-tested way to slow the moment, tell the truth about what you feel, and make a response you won’t regret tomorrow. Drawing on decades of Navy leadership, teaching, fatherhood, and faith, we unpack why emotional intelligence matters more than ever in a world of constant comparison, instant judgment, and phones that never sleep.
We break down a simple playbook you can use under pressure: name the emotion with honesty, create a pause through prayer or re...
Do It For You: Leadership, Boundaries, And Finding Your Why
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The best leaders don’t start with perfect test scores or spotless plans—they start with a clear why. Gary sits down with Chelsea James, a first-generation student at Florida State, to unpack how a COVID-era freshman became a campus leader anchored by discipline, mentoring, and relentless self-advocacy. She shares the real tools that moved the needle: a paper planner, firm boundaries, and the willingness to ask for help early and often.
Chelsea takes us inside JROTC’s impact on her leadership voice, from learning to command a field to navigating high s...
Grit Starts At Home
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The difference between a fragile follower and a future leader often comes down to one habit: perseverance built on safe, real-world reps. We dig into how parents, mentors, and teens can trade helicopter control for a clear framework that creates strength, not dependence. From setting boundaries around effort and rest to knowing when to step in and when to let natural consequences teach, this conversation is a practical guide to raising resilient people who plan ahead, communicate early, and own the outcome.
We start with the pressures today’s teens and ad...
Building Chiefs, Fixing Messes, Leading With Grit
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The story starts in Norwalk and lands on a steam frigate in Pearl Harbor—then it never really slows down. Brian Ortega charts how an Operations Specialist grows into a Command Master Chief by choosing hard jobs, chasing qualifications, and holding the line on standards even when the culture tries to slide. We talk early WestPacs, plane guard and shotgun tasking around carriers, and why the best eval bullets are written underway when your judgment is live and the air picture won’t wait.
From there, the conversation gets into the craf...
Year-End Wins, Lessons, Next Steps
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What if the most honest growth you had all year came from the mistake you’d rather hide? Gary pulls back the curtain on a year that mixed big wins with hard lessons: publishing Own Your Journey for students and families, launching Ocala Inspired to spotlight local leaders, and building a cross-platform community that crossed 1.7 million views—all while teaching full-time, parenting two boys, and serving teens at church.
We walk through the backbone of sustainable leadership at home and at work: model healthy stress management so your people don’t just h...
How Visualization, Grit, And Faith Changed My Life
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A small moment can reroute an entire life. Gary shares how a background of constant moves, a Boy Scout love for structure, and a rough detour into street life set the stage for a Navy career he once resisted—and later learned to master. The turning point arrives during a quiet lunch with Oprah playing in the background, where the language of visualization meets an old foundation of faith and a renewed respect for hard work. What follows is a candid blueprint for advancement: study with purpose, lead like an owner, and visualize th...
Year-End Pivot: Building A Purpose-Driven Podcast For Students And Veterans
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A pivot only matters if it serves people. That’s the throughline as we look back on a year of testing formats, learning from missteps, and finding the work that actually changes lives—especially for the students we see every weekday. What started as leadership certification coaching and casual leadership talk became a more honest creative journey: quitting alcohol, committing to consistent content, and building a podcast that trades easy inspiration for real tools.
We open the hood on the production realities—why “book more guests” isn’t a strategy, how calendar fri...
From Tampa To The Chief’s Mess
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The heart of this conversation is simple and fierce: people matter more than the machine. We sit down with Dave Robinson, a Navy cook turned Command Master Chief who led on carriers, a cruiser, a minesweeper, and at Great Lakes before launching a church and home care agency in Tampa. He tells the candid story of a life built on presence—showing up in the galley at 0400, standing on a pier with a seabag and a new name for courage, and guiding crews through their hardest moments.
You’ll hear how the...
Mentorship, Loyalty, And The Making Of A Command Master Chief
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A career isn’t a straight line—it’s a wake, and sometimes the seas are rougher than the chart suggests. Gary sits down with Master Chief Mike “Kaz” Kaszubowski to trace three decades of Navy life from Chicago sidewalks to Seventh Fleet, from learning damage control on Treasure Island to stabilizing a crew after the FITZ collision. What emerges is a rare, unvarnished look at mentorship, advancement, and the real cost of leadership when the headlines fade and the deck plates still need answers.
Kaz shares how a young DC2 became the...
Memphis Roots, Navy Grit, Hollywood Drive
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A creative kid from Memphis taught himself to record raps in a closet, signed an indie deal in high school, and then made a decision everyone told him was unlikely: he joined the Navy to buy time, structure, and a ticket to the wider world. We sit down with Marteverick “Shears” to trace how standing watch in a windowless CIC in Japan sharpened his grit, why leadership choices like barracks access change morale, and how a rough start in San Diego—complete with an early DUI—forced a reset that ultimately saved his creative...
Island Strong: A Military Spouse’s Journey
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Orders said “Guam,” and Ashley’s world changed overnight. What followed was a whirlwind of a temporary hotel room, a toddler, a pregnancy, and a husband who left again within a week for a year-and-a-half stretch tied to submarine maintenance in San Diego. Instead of folding, she found a way forward—thanks to an ombudsman with a welcome bag, a community that shows up at the airport, and a choice to step into leadership when it mattered most.
We trace Ashley’s path from Michigan to Groton and Washington, then across the ocean...
When The Goalposts Move: Choosing Family Over The Uniform
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Navy Senior Chief (Ret.) Mike Savant spent 23 years turning weather into warfare — from forecasting off Iraqi oil platforms to keeping a three-star calm while the flagship’s comms melted down on the flight deck. He made Chief at 11 years, Senior Chief at 14, consistently ranked #1 EP, and helped stand up new commands… only to watch the advancement goalposts move — twice.
In this episode Mike pulls no punches:
How tactical meteorology decides what aircraft fly and how far sonar can actually “see”The surreal months living on a barge tied to Iraq’s burning oil...What Happens When “If The Gear’s Up, The Brow’s Down” Becomes A Life Philosophy
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What does it take to go from a San Diego kid sleeping on potential to a Master Chief ET shaping ship readiness across Seventh Fleet? Dom Taylor joins us to unpack a career built on grit, clear standards, and the kind of leadership that keeps gear up and teams together. From a Subway job behind bulletproof glass to freezing mornings in Great Lakes, Dom learned to troubleshoot deeper than the checklist and to carry that discipline onto a small frigate through 9/11 and into the carrier world where he became an LPO who lifted...
How A Bay Area Kid Became The Master Chief Everyone Called For
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A Bay Area kid keeps a promise to his mother and steps into a Navy that will test everything—grit, heart, and the courage to say “no” when “make it happen” would be easier. From recommissioning the battleship Wisconsin and learning the hard truths of old powder in big turrets, to swapping coasts, choosing Boatswain’s Mate, and owning the deck with shiny boots and higher standards, Pete Santos charts a career built on character rather than convenience.
We walk through shore security in Italy during the Gulf War surge—12-on/12-off watches...
