Jason Redman:
The Overcome and Conquer Show is presented by The Project. The Project is a full emersion 75-hour experience designed for men who know in their core they’re not living up to their fullest potential rather than waking up every morning ready to dominate life, the mediocre man rolls out of bed and slides into the same unfulfilling routine they’ve unhappily been in for way too long.

Jason Redman:
The Project is for men that have lost their internal flame and motivation to conquer. It’s for men living an unfulfilling life that lacks excitement and purpose. Sound familiar? Then, listen up. The Project is specifically designed to challenge you mentally and physically. We push you to the ledge of self-limiting beliefs and prove you’ve got much more in the tank. We kill the bitch and unleash the beast. We uncover the demons that hold you back and turn extreme pain into superpowers to dominate life.

Jason Redman:
In the end, we turn mediocre men into modern-day knights. We forge a brotherhood and bond that levels you up, as a better husband, father, and friend. But The Project is not for every man. In fact, it’s not for most. For men who are okay with being in a rut and achieving less than their fullest potential, The Project isn’t for you. If you’re not willing to put in the work to fix what is it working, The Project isn’t for you, however, if you’re done white-knuckling it through life, living one day at a time with no sense of purpose and are willing to do what it takes to improve, The Project holds the key to unlocking the next chapter.

Jason Redman:
Graduates of The Project join a brotherhood of modern-day knights and become the authors of their destiny. They have their fire reignited and reclaim dominance over their family, fitness, finances, and faith. If this resonates with you and you want to learn more, we encourage you to apply today at www.mdkproject.com/ocshow.

Speaker 2:
Everybody wants to be on top of the mountain, the problem nowadays is people want to get drop off the top of the hill.

Speaker 3:
My therapist said I overcome mindset that makes all the difference.

Speaker 4:
See, the way you work hard is you’re going to claw, you’re going to scratch, you’re going to bite, you’re going to dig, you’re going to do whatever it takes to get to the top of that mountain.

Speaker 5:
That unequivocally is how I have managed to keep myself moving forward in finding success.

Announcer:
Two Seals one mission. The Overcome and Conquer Show.

Jason Redman:
Welcome back to The Overcome of Conquer Show. It is another incredible episode where we discuss topics to crush adversity, lead yourself to success, build the best human version of yourself that is possible. Wow. I got a little aroused there.

Ray Care:
No.

Jason Redman:
I got a little aroused. Don’t tell your wife, and Producer Ryan, don’t let that-

Ryan:
No.

Jason Redman:
As a matter of fact to erase that out, please. Just stop that right now.

Ryan:
Understand.

Jason Redman:
I feel both excited and uncomfortable right now.

Ray Care:
I’m going to do something different than I’ve ever done before here. I know that’s coming a lot coming from me but since Producer Ryan has made us do this new setup, which I like-

Jason Redman:
Where we get to gaze longingly [crosstalk 00:03:14]

Ray Care:
I’m not even going to look at the guest today, even when I ask this person questions. I’m just going to look at you until it gets uncomfortable-

Jason Redman:
But I will say that I’ve already noticed that the guest cannot stop looking at us.

Ray Care:
Well-

Jason Redman:
Because I mean look at us. I don’t want to talk too much about our guest.

Ray Care:
Yeah. Well, because we told him to be quiet right now.

Jason Redman:
But I will say that he is a Green brother. Meaning, he hails from that other branch of service, the long, long rivalry between the United States Navy and-

Ray Care:
The Coast Guard?

Jason Redman:
… that other branch.

Ray Care:
Sorry. I didn’t know. Who-

Jason Redman:
The United States Army.

Ray Care:
Oh, Army. Okay.

Jason Redman:
He wears a Green Beret but one of the first things I noticed about him and his lack of hair.

Ray Care:
Oh, my god.

Jason Redman:
There’s no doubt he couldn’t have been a Seal because Seals, it’s a known fact they must have good hair.

Ray Care:
I actually thought when I first saw him it was [Johnny Primavera 00:04:16] that was popping on. A very good friend of mine. He’s laughing because obviously he knows Johnny. But he’s not. He’s better-looking than Johnny. So, I’ll at least give you that. You still weren’t working with much but you’re better-looking than Johnny who’s a very good friend of mine.

Ray Care:
So, anyway, on another topic. What have you been up to LT? What is going on with you? You’ve been crushing it with book sales, with speaking, with coaching. I think I just pretty much said everything you’ve been doing. Talk to me.

Jason Redman:
I got nothing, dude. You summed it all up. No. It’s been good, man. We have hit the ground running in 2020, man. It’s been exciting. The company is growing. We’re speaking. One of my goals was to speak international this year so I just got to do a speaking event in February in Aruba, and took the long-haired Admiral with me. We got to spend a couple of days down there enjoying the Aruba… I don’t even know how I say it. The Aruban culture.

Ray Care:
Yeah. I remember leaving you a nice DM when it was 30 degrees and you were laying by the pool.

Jason Redman:
With a pina colada.

Ray Care:
What else is going on? You have a book out now. What’s the book called?

Jason Redman:
Yeah. I don’t-

Ray Care:
What’s the book called? Tell everybody.

Jason Redman:
[crosstalk 00:05:25] Overcome. Overcome. Yeah. Absolutely. It’s doing great. The people that are responding back, the people that are reading, it has been phenomenal. The reviews, we’re at a hundred reviews right now on Amazon. Almost everyone a five-star review so we’re five stars across. People are just talking about the life lessons that are in it. They love the concept to getting off the X and obviously, that’s what I’m speaking about. Those two things are coming together and the new JR overcome app just went live so both online courses and the Overcome Army Group Coaching Program is on there.

Jason Redman:
It’s been exciting or you can go right through the website for that also, jasonredman.com.

Ray Care:
From a person who likes to pick on you more than anybody else in the planet, ladies and gentlemen, the book is amazing. If you have not read it, get the book. If you don’t like the book, I’ll give you… I will pay the person their money back. Because this is what I’m I tell you, I never make a bet that I know I can’t lose on. I won’t. The book is that good. It’s probably one of the first books in a long time that I’ve actually read. I could not put the book down. There’s been a few-

Jason Redman:
We did keep it under three-syllable words.

Ray Care:
See, he’s laughing. See, this is what I hate is when I give this guy a compliment, he has to be an asshole and ruin it. So, no more compliments. Go ahead.

Jason Redman:
All right. But it’s all good, man. It’s all good. What have you been up to since we’ve [crosstalk 00:06:47]?

Ray Care:
Oh, let’s see, guys. Real quick. I know, because there are guests. I cannot wait to have him talk. LTD, Leadership Train Development, Team Training Development, excuse me, has been taking off. We are speaking nationwide.

Jason Redman:
What is it?

Ray Care:
It’s where we go around and we focus on businesses and companies, working on the four pillars of success, teamwork, problem-solving, leadership, and communication. Something that you and I and the guests knows very well. Focusing on the four f-bombs. Literally, we go around the companies and we expose their weaknesses, and then we teach them instead of hiding from them or discarding them to embrace them and magnify them so they can learn from it because that’s how people at our level in the spec ops community are so successful because we don’t run from our weaknesses, we expose them, and then we learn from them. The Project is still taking off. We’re crushing that.

Jason Redman:
Wait. Wait. Did you mention The Project?

Ray Care:
The Project.

Jason Redman:
The presenting sponsor [crosstalk 00:07:39]

Ray Care:
The presenting sponsor of this show [crosstalk 00:07:40]… Yes.

Jason Redman:
Wow.

Ray Care:
Myself, Bedros Keuilian and Erin Alejandrino, Mathis Doug Snyder, and Steve Eckert are literally packing them in every other month, 16 individuals. Men between the ages of, we’ve had as young as 20 all the way up to 55, who are lost, who are missing something in their lives, who want to conquer and dominate their life, overcome adversity, right? This all sounds familiar.

Jason Redman:
Love it. Love it.

Ray Care:
To be the best individuals they can so they can be dominators of life. So, guys, check it out. You can go to www.mdkproject.com and that’s what I’m doing.

Jason Redman:
And LTD.

Ray Care:
And LT.

Jason Redman:
And LT. Where do they go for LTD? Because I got to tell you, right now, I mean I’m speaking to all these companies, which has been fantastic. But I know, I know so many of these companies are looking for that teamwork aspect also.

Ray Care:
Yeah. We actually have a website. It’s www… or you can just put in theltdproject.com. Just put that in. It’s the easiest way to do it and you’ll see my sexy face and Steve Eckert, who’s a marine, seven-figure entrepreneur doing what we do best, sir.

Jason Redman:
All right. I love it, man. Well, that’s awesome. That’s what we got going on. Producer Ryan?

Ryan:
I just got my real estate license so that’s good.

Jason Redman:
Holy smokes. You are a man of many talents. Getting yourself in shape, just got your real estate license and you are an audio genius, super genius.

Ryan:
Yeah. On the best podcast out there.

Ray Care:
You go, baby girl. You go, baby girl. [crosstalk 00:09:04]

Jason Redman:
All right, guys. So, we have denying the amazing and awesomeness of our guests. I mean there is always that professional rivalry between the Army and the Navy, but I will be honest, man. I worked with Green Berets, obviously, I went to Ranger School and worked with Rangers, much, much, much respect for our Green brothers. We will always poke fun at them and they poke fun at us.

Jason Redman:
I mean, I don’t talk to a single Army guy now who often asked me, “So, how many missions were you on and is it mandatory in every mission brief that you guys have to submit a book proposal and a movie deal now?”

Ray Care:
Oh, look. He’s laughing.

Jason Redman:
Yeah. I hear it from my Army brethren but it’s all good. There’s much respect. Let me tell you who this guy is. We were really honored to have him on. Like me, he is a member of the Got All Shot Up Club and-

Ryan:
We’re laughing.

Ray Care:
I know.

Jason Redman:
Yeah. He is a Green Beret and he endured, he got shot up in the abdomen. It almost took his life, and we’re going to talk more about that. It did massive damage internally, removed part of his colon, fractured hip, damaged from all nerve, and six surgeries, and left him with all kinds of incredible scars.

Jason Redman:
I was looking at him online as a man who can appreciate scars, but like so many of our wounded warriors, so many of our guys and gals that are out there that have been injured and have been to war, he had a hell of a struggle back and coming back, overcoming those things with both the support of his community, the support of his mindset, the support of his faith, the support of his wife. He came back and just overcame and conquered, what this show is all about, and went on to earn, get this, guys. I’m a little afraid to have this guy on. I won’t lie. He’s so smart.

Ray Care:
How do you think I feel?

Ryan:
Yeah.

Jason Redman:
But he earned dual master’s degrees from… Hang on. I got to hold my pinky up when I say this, Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Ray Care:
I couldn’t even spell Harvard.

Jason Redman:
You can’t even spell MI-

Ray Care:
I guess I can-

Jason Redman:
You can’t even spell MIT.

Ray Care:
He’s wearing a Harvard shirt so I know how to spell it.

Jason Redman:
So, but, hey, his name is Kevin, and I’m going to butcher it. Kevin Flike.

Kevin Flike:
Yes. Nobody ever gets it on the first try [crosstalk 00:11:36]

Jason Redman:
Yes. Well, that’s what every woman has ever said to me. All right. Anyway, but Kevin is doing amazing things. His mission is to get out there and inspire others and help them with their own journey, physical, mental, and emotional well-being. He has got a website, woundedbywar.com. He is getting out there. He’s got a Facebook page and Instagram. We’re going to talk about all of that later but he is an amazing guy.

Jason Redman:
He is a board member of the Green Beret Foundations, supporting fellow Green Berets and programs that are supporting our Green Berets and wounded warriors and their families. So, Kevin, even though you are not a Seal, we are honored as a member of the Special Operations Community to have you on The Overcome and Conquer Show. Welcome to the show, brother.

Kevin Flike:
Hey, thank you, guys, so much. It’s an absolute honor. I’ll share a little secret with you. The reason why I got interested in Special Operations Community is because I went to an all-boys Catholic Military School for six years in upstate New York. So, my freshman year during military science class, they let us watch that Navy Seal Hell Week video that was on Discovery Channel.

Ray Care:
I knew it.

Kevin Flike:
So, half the class is like looking out the window and not paying attention because you’re 14 and the other half is like, “Why the hell would anybody want to do that?” I sat in my chair and I’m like, “That looks awesome.” It’s like, “That is what I want to do with my life.” I’ll throw that out there and give you guys that one.

Ray Care:
You know it’s funny, as we were talking and we were actually going to make jokes about how your motivation in life was to actually be a Navy Seal-

Jason Redman:
You actually solidify it. Absolutely true.

Ray Care:
We had all these jokes, these comebacks, really, half of our show’s over with now. So, I don’t know what to do.

Jason Redman:
All right. Well, hey, thanks for coming. The Overcome and Conquer Show but we’re done.

Ray Care:
No but-

Kevin Flike:
When I started losing my hair at 18, I knew it. Just the Seal [crosstalk 00:13:28]

Jason Redman:
Yeah. It’s true. There’s no doubt about it, man. You got to have great hair. I will say, we allow guys to stay if they lose their hair later but if you come in without it, you’re just out of luck.

Ray Care:
Yeah. You’re fuck. You’re fuck.

Jason Redman:
Yeah. Sorry.

Ray Care:
So, true story. Kevin and I linked up months ago. We started talking on Instagram, was it Instagram?

Kevin Flike:
Yeah. Slid in there DMs.

Ray Care:
Yeah. Slid into my DMs.

Jason Redman:
Wow.

Ray Care:
That’s what she said.

Jason Redman:
Did she?

Ray Care:
No.

Jason Redman:
[inaudible 00:13:53]

Ray Care:
As soon as we started chatting, as someone reaches out to me, I look him up. The story was amazing. I told Jason, we got to get this guy on. His schedule has been so busy. We finally got you on. Sir, I want to thank you for your time, taking time out of your busy schedule and hopefully, hopefully, hopefully, we can help spread the message and the good word for everything that you’re doing for the community.

Jason Redman:
Absolutely. I just want to say that show, the Hell Week Show, that your class 234, I actually watch it now and I think to myself, “Why would anybody want to do that?” I feel the same way.

Ray Care:
Our class was so much harder-

Jason Redman:
It was the last hard class.

Ray Care:
It was the hard class.

Jason Redman:
Last hard class that ever went through training. So, all right. Well, listen, let’s jump into the word of the day because I think it summarizes who Kevin is and it’s really going to build the baseline of everything this show is about today. So, Captain Care.

Ray Care:
Yes, sir.

Jason Redman:
Would you do the honors?

Ray Care:
I will. Excuse me, as I clear my throat. The word of the day is resilient. Now, again, Kevin just so you understand, I take this right off the Google search. I’m going to say what it is. I’ll give a little bit of my interpretation, but what everybody wants to know is what your definition is and why you chose it. Obviously, we know why you chose it but if you can elaborate on it.

Ray Care:
So, resilient. Able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult situations, which I think obviously applies to you as far as maybe the physical ailment of getting better. Going through the healing, the physical healing, but what a lot of people don’t realize is when, and, again, this is from having long talks with Jason and other people that have been injured in combat. The mental healing takes much, much longer.

Ray Care:
So, can you go ahead and elaborate on that? When I’m talking about this, you’ll never hear me joke because obviously you’ve been through and Jason has been through something very traumatic, but can you elaborate on why you chose that word and what it means to you, sir?

Kevin Flike:
Yeah. I think for me, resilient or just the ability to be resilient possess the skill is absolutely instrumental in success as an organization, as a company on the individual level. Life is hard, right? The older I get, the harder it gets with all the things that come out there. I fought for a long time after I got hurt. I was like, “Well, once I recover from this, once I get out of the teams, man, my life will be easy.”

Kevin Flike:
Now, it’s still hard. It’s just a different type of hard. I really came to understand that a good team, a good company organization, individual, you have to have possessed this ability to be resilient. The best teams I’ve been a part of organizations, people that I look up to, it’s not that they have had a life that doesn’t have hardship, it’s that they’ve had a life with hardship but they’ve developed resilience over time.

Kevin Flike:
They have this ability to bounce back. To use your two words. They have this ability to overcome and conquer, and so every time that they face difficulties in life, they have an opportunity for themselves to get better, and opportunity for themselves to go out and learn from that experience, come out on the other end, and then take on life’s challenges even more so.

Kevin Flike:
For me, resilience is my definition of I think what my experience has been and what I try to install in people.

Jason Redman:
Love it.

Ray Care:
Amen. I don’t know what else to say besides, amen, because you definitely are the definition of it, sir.

Jason Redman:
But where did all that start? I mean, obviously, it’s a big question that I get asked a lot and I think… I mean as a Green Beret, as Seals, people look to us because obviously just the training alone is very difficult. It’s designed to build resilience in people. For you, and does that come naturally? Because I have a lot of people that say, “Can it be built or do you naturally have it?” I personally think it’s a combination of both but where did you come from and what led you to join the Army and go down that path?

Kevin Flike:
Yes. I’ll start off and say I think it’s a combination of both. I think that there’s some people that just have certain things in their DNA. Leadership, the ability to overcome, but I also think, at the same token, that a lot of… But one of the biggest thing that I learned when I joined the Army was like how much you can teach these things, how much you can teach leadership.

Kevin Flike:
If people are willing to get out of the comfort zone, then you have an incredible ability to learn these types of things like this resilience. I look back at my childhood and I think it started there. I came from a family of entrepreneurs. My father was second to last in his high school class, didn’t graduate college, was dirt poor, but kind of looked around and said, “I want to make some money.”

Kevin Flike:
He had a dream, had a vision, wasn’t deterred by that. Started like 10 companies on his 11th iteration. He really struck it and figured out what he needed to be doing with his life, and at one point, his company was doing like $20 million in revenue a year, so becoming a multi-millionaire, changes the fortunes of our family. That’s the environment that I grew up in. We worked, we went to school, we played sports.

Kevin Flike:
I saw this on a day-in and day-out basis of what you can do if you have a vision and you are willing to just work like an absolute maniac for it. My mother supported him, and she supported my brothers and I, and every day before we went to school, she would always say, “You’re a Flike, you’re an achiever.” But she didn’t say, “You’re owed anything. You don’t deserve things. No, you need to get your ass out there, you need to work and you need to get things done.”

Kevin Flike:
I saw this example of my father. I had a mother who just believed in us, an undying faith. I think that’s what really sparked the fire for me. Just seeing what I was… I was capable of anything because another human being had done it. Then, I saw that Navy Seal Hell Week video and I was 14 and going to this all-boys Catholic Military School, I learned three main things.

Jason Redman:
[crosstalk 00:19:52]

Kevin Flike:
Oh, yeah. Let me tell you. Much different high school experience than most people. I learned to love God, love country, and to put others above yourself. I thought that for me, joining the military and serving in that capacity was the way for me to put other people above myself. I had this [crosstalk 00:20:12]-

Jason Redman:
Kevin, can I interrupt for just a minute. So, just because, obviously, it sounds like your background with what your father did, very successful businessman. Did you have anyone in your family that was military or even any influence in the school that was military? I’m just kind of wondering if you had any role models or anyone that led you that way or really was it the Navy Seal video that… Should I say it one more time?

Ray Care:
Yes.

Jason Redman:
The Navy Seal video. No. On a serious note though, it’s always interesting to me what brings people towards the military and if it didn’t come from your family, where did that come from and what did your parents think about that?

Kevin Flike:
Yes. It definitely did come from my family. My grandfather was a World War II vet and my family World War II and the study of World War II is just… Yeah. That was it. I was like six years old watching war movies with my dad and because he was just fascinated with the path that his father took, and I think the fascination for him developed because that generation never talked about anything.

Kevin Flike:
My grandfather never talked to my father about taking down concentration camps in Germany until his deathbed. I think my father always just had this longing to learn more and more about it so that kind of, was projected onto us. We love learning about World War II in history like that. Then, had a bunch of uncles that served also, and just kind of saw that capacity, it was always very interesting to me.

Kevin Flike:
Then, kind of fast forward like 9/11 happens in my senior high school. It’s the fascination that develops, 9 /11 happens, and now it’s like this absolute duty to do it. I go to college with the full intention of saying like, “Hey, when I graduate, I am going to join the military and I am going to tailor my studies here towards doing this.” I want to be in Special Operations.

Kevin Flike:
When I did the research on everything, you see the Green Berets, I see the mission, “De Oppresso Liber,” through the oppressed. I’m like, “That’s what I want to do.” I minored in Mandarin Chinese, minored in East Asian Studies, majored in Political Science, and then told my family, told my friends, this is what I want to do, and all of a sudden, everybody had an opinion on what I should be doing with my life. A lot of people were like, “What are you doing? You’re walking away from multi-million dollar family business.”

Kevin Flike:
But at the end of the day, no matter what people said to me, it couldn’t deter me, right? I mean, it was unpopular. I had 508 people in my graduating class at college, four of them joining the military. I was the only person to enlist but-

Jason Redman:
What did your parents think about that? I mean, I’m always kind of intrigued when we break the norm…

Ray Care:
I’m going to leave a multi-million dollar family business for let’s say starting off $26,000 to $30,000 a year but I’m going to chase my lifelong dream. What did mom and dad say?

Kevin Flike:
My mom was actually the most supportive person out there. She was like, “Look, like this is your dream. You’ve been talking about this since you’re 14 years old. I think you’ll be amazing at it. You have to do this, otherwise you’re going to regret it the rest of your life.”

Jason Redman:
Nice. I like that.

Kevin Flike:
My father, on the other hand, I think he was just, not disappointed but he had spent pretty much adult life building his business with the intention on handing it off to me. I think that was a little disappointing to him on that regard, and then he, I think understood the gravity of like the roles I was going after and how dangerous they would be more so than most people, the parent.

Kevin Flike:
Now, as a parent of a six and a three-year-old, I’m understanding a little bit more about what I put my parents to when I made these decisions here. But ultimately, a lot of people came around and were incredibly supportive of the decision.

Ray Care:
You said you played football, what college and what position? Because I’m not going to lie to you, you don’t look like a lot to me right now. [crosstalk 00:24:14]

Kevin Flike:
Yeah.

Ray Care:
Division four, where did you play?

Kevin Flike:
Yeah. I played at a place called Union College, small division three school, when I was there, division three powerhouse and turning back into that too. I am about 180-185 pounds right now because I’m training for the Boston Marathon in April, which eight-and-a-half years ago people told me I’d be lucky to walk again.

Kevin Flike:
I’m down right now a weight but I played about 225. I played inside linebacker. I alternated between some long hair and a mohawk back when I had a little bit more on top of the head.

Ray Care:
Then, the comb over gradually came [crosstalk 00:24:55] I’m kidding. I’m kidding.

Kevin Flike:
Well, hey, luckily, just like being on a team in Afghanistan, you can wear your helmet so your hair hangs out the bottom and it looks pretty damn awesome but underneath, they’re sitting pretty bad.

Ray Care:
Remind me to get to a story about Mosul back in the day with some other things I did. But let’s fast-forward from school and joining the military or let’s rewind to 2011, if you don’t mind?

Kevin Flike:
Yeah. No problem.

Ray Care:
Second deployment, Special Forces Group. Let’s talk about the 11-hour fire fight with the Taliban, and to keep it light, and have some fun, I want to know why Jason’s firefight was only fucking 40-minutes long and you are still here 11-hour so I’m just saying, maybe you should write a book that says, “I was in a firefight for 10 hours and 20 minutes long than Jason Redman.” But no, go ahead.

Jason Redman:
Wait. Wait. It’s kind of like my sex life. It’s just really fast and furious.

Ray Care:
Now, yeah, 11 hours is, I mean if anybody’s been in a firefight, 2 minutes feels like an eternity…

Jason Redman:
Yeah. That’s a long firefight.

Ray Care:
… versus 40 minutes versus 11 fucking hours. So, can you elaborate on it?

Kevin Flike:
Yeah. It was probably more like 10. I don’t want to give too much credit to my team and myself.

Ray Care:
Okay. Okay. I thought you’re going to say like two but okay.

Kevin Flike:
Yeah. But-

Jason Redman:
You know what? I’m done with this podcast because I mean it was 11 and now it’s only 10. This is such BS.

Ray Care:
You’re a fucking fraud, man.

Jason Redman:
Oh, my god.

Ray Care:
You weren’t even shot.

Kevin Flike:
Yeah. Well, actually, I wasn’t on the final task order that went out for that mission. So, I didn’t get my Purple Heart for like two months because guys on the team had to signed sworn statements that I was actually on the mission-

Jason Redman:
Oh no kidding. That’s fine.

Kevin Flike:
Yeah. That’s because I had to beg, borrow, and steal to get on this mission. I wasn’t originally on the task force but I tell people like 10-hour firefight, it’s not going to be like watching Black Hawk Down where it was just like bullets flying all over the place. I mean, you’d be out of bullets in a matter of 15 minutes right there, and so 10 hours elapses from first shot fired until the last shot fired and throughout that whole time there’s going to be a lot of shooting, a lot of movement, a lot of communication.

Kevin Flike:
It’s the end of September so it’s almost 100 degrees. I mean, there’s going to be times where you got to call a halt and you take 30, 40-minute break there and things start to pick back up again and you keep rolling there. So, it’s not like the whole time just running a gunning but-

Jason Redman:
Kevin, where was this? Southern and eastern, western Afghanistan?

Kevin Flike:
This is in the northwestern part of Afghanistan, in Faryab Province [crosstalk 00:27:45]

Jason Redman:
Okay. So, pretty rugged terrain out there.

Kevin Flike:
Pretty brutal. Yeah. They’re pretty rough stuff. I did both my deployments in the north. We had all of our [inaudible 00:27:56] north with the Afghan Commando Mission. Spent the majority of our second deployments in that northwestern part in Faryab Province. I mean just to give people an idea how bad that place was. The second time we went out there, we got attacked by 60 people one night. Then, the next night 20 people. It was kind of an untouched area so there was a lot of fighting to do out there.

Jason Redman:
Yeah.

Ray Care:
It’s Wild Wild West out there, yeah, under that area. Hey, guys, this is Ray from The Overcome and Conquer Show and we are proud to announce that Icon Meals is our mid-roll sponsor. Icon is an industry leader in cryovac meal technology. What does that mean, guys? You are going to get the freshest meals delivered to you, next day service. Another key factor of why I love Icon Meals is they have two menus, guys. They have the signature menu and the custom meal. If you’re like me, and you need more protein or less carbs and you’re on the go and fitness is your life, you can make a customizable meal and/or if you’re just looking for the standard healthy meal choice, you can.

Ray Care:
So, everything is organized for you. So, ladies and gentlemen, Icon Meals has taken all the work out of it, all you have to do is put in what you want and they will provide what you need. It doesn’t end there, they also offer popcorn, seasonings, coffee, cookies, crisp, bread, and gift cards. So, guys, check them out at www.iconmeals.com.

Jason Redman:
So, okay. Go ahead. No. No. No. After you, my friend. After you.

Ray Care:
[crosstalk 00:29:19] Again, I’m kind of taking this off of what Jason went through so apologize and being serious here. You’re in this horrific firefight, and again, ladies and gentlemen, firefights don’t last that long. There’s lulls and you go on but the minute that you initially took contact, that you personally got hit, boom. Right?

Ray Care:
How long did it take you, and I’m going to use Jason’s thing, to get off the X. Is that okay? To get to a safe place. Right? To get a hard point or whatever it is, and that terrain is pretty tough.

Jason Redman:
I get a royalty?

Ray Care:
Then, what I always find interesting and what I want to talk about here is the length of time it took you to get from where you were, which is hell, to the hospital, and then what I always think and that the readers or the viewers or whoever it is that are listening or reading this is, what the fuck was going through your mind?

Ray Care:
This is the question that I always ask warriors that got hit is, what the fuck was going through your mind when you’re shot to hell and you know that you’ve, you are still in the middle of nowhere and you’ve got to get the safety to get operated on? What is going through your mind and how long did it take you to get from point A to where to pretty much to the recovery room or operating room?

Kevin Flike:
Yeah. To kind of use, steel Jason’s term about getting off the X, my last words before I got shot were-

Jason Redman:
Royalty.

Kevin Flike:
Yeah. If we don’t get off this fucking roof, we’re going to get shot right now. I said that to the Afghans and I mean those dudes didn’t speak English but they knew what I said, man, because they practically jumped off that roof. Then, I went around the corner of a building to try to reorganize my squad and was getting ready attack downhill into a dry riverbed, they were taking fire from at that point and all of a sudden I go around this corner of the building, and then it feels like I get hit in the stomach with a sledgehammer and just the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.

Kevin Flike:
Jason, I mean, you probably know, man, I was just fighting it. Like keep myself conscious and [crosstalk 00:31:23]

Jason Redman:
Did it hit you… I’m assuming that it hit you, and was it only one round that you got hit with? Did you get hit in the body armor at all or did it go-

Kevin Flike:
No, man. One around-

Jason Redman:
Right under the body armor?

Kevin Flike:
Like it hit you without the body armor.

Jason Redman:
Oh, yeah. Those are the worse. Did you wear, just because I’m curious, did you wear a groin protector?

Kevin Flike:
No.

Jason Redman:
I didn’t either. Those things just got in the way.

Ray Care:
The fuck. Yeah.

Jason Redman:
But anyways, I was just wondering, guys, because we had some guys who were always worried about getting shot in the junk. So, I would wear them and I’m like, “Dude, that thing just gets in the way. I don’t want that.” [crosstalk 00:31:58]. You got hit and, dude, like holy shit, what just happened?

Kevin Flike:
Yeah. I mean, lifted into the air. My body slams off the ground, man. I threw up, and I’m just fighting to stay conscious. The pain, when the bullet fractured my hip, hit my femoral nerve. I had this pain shooting down my left leg and I’m thinking to myself like, “Dude, you got shot in the leg.” Immediately-

Jason Redman:
Like a lightning bolt is how I describe it?

Kevin Flike:
Electricity, man. Just the absolute shock, electricity going down the leg, especially because it hit the nerve, hit my femoral nerve so it severed it, not severed it but damaged, at that point, that it’s paralyzed. I crawl back on, I crawl on my hands and knees, get my headphones, call my teammates, let them know the situation, and then I’m just sitting out in the open, man, and all of a sudden it’s like, the training that I’d practiced a thousand times just flashed in my mind.

Kevin Flike:
All right, you got hit in the leg, you have two minutes to live because your femoral artery probably got hit, let’s go. Grab your tourniquet, start patting up and down the leg, just trying to see where the blood was coming from so you know where to put the tourniquet, but I couldn’t find anything, about that third pass up, saw I was hit in the stomach. Just a little blood, all the bleeding was internal.

Kevin Flike:
At that point, man, there’s absolutely nothing I could do except to sit out in the middle of the open. It was just like years. I felt like years, the minutes that went by there.

Jason Redman:
How long before you notified the guys and said, “Hey, man, I’m hit?”

Kevin Flike:
Almost instantaneously after got shot, composed myself, called them, and then started the self-treatment of everything and called my teammates again. I let them know how dire the situation was. The fight had picked up at that point. They’re pinned down trying to get to me, and then I look up and an Afghan that I’ve trained for almost two years at that point now, runs out into the open, takes me by my body armor.

Kevin Flike:
Well, we got bullets flying around us and dragged me behind cover. Finally, gets me behind some safety. The team starts flooding in, start to frantically work on me. Guys coming up to medic saying, “Hey, is Kevin going to make it or not?” “Man, I don’t know. It looks pretty bad.” Little did they know I could hear them the whole time.

Ray Care:
Just wondering like they say this fucking in front of you?

Jason Redman:
Yeah.

Kevin Flike:
Yes.

Ray Care:
You’re not helping, guys.

Kevin Flike:
Eight guys like who hadn’t paid me a compliment in like years come up to me with tears in their eyes telling me how much they love me and I’m like, “Dude, this is it, man. You’ve had a lot of close calls over the past two deployments and this is it for you.” So, in every minute that went by, I really started to think that was it for me.

Kevin Flike:
We had about 45 minutes, because this is back out Northwest Afghanistan, Faryab Province, it’s cowboy and Indian country out there. You’re far away from a lot of stuff out there. It took 45 minutes for me to get medevac, right? So, from the time of injury to the time I got loaded off to the bird, and my teammates and the commandos, they had to go through some open field. They’re getting shot at. They’re returning fire.

Kevin Flike:
They’re going through the maze. There’s an Afghan village. They finally get me on the bird, 15 minutes later, they get me to the surgery tent. Once I’m there, they start cutting the uniform off and asking me a series of questions. Then, the surgeon’s like, “Do you have any questions?” I said, “Well, yes, sir. Am I going to live?”

Kevin Flike:
He’s like, “I don’t know, man. It looks pretty bad. Hang in there. Do you have any last requests?” I asked him to save the bullet, which I do have now at home. But I was pretty sure I was going to die so, I said, “I need a Catholic priest to give me my last rites.”

Jason Redman:
Was it a nine millimeter round?

Kevin Flike:
It was a 22 actually.

Ray Care:
I was just thinking… I’m not going to-

Jason Redman:
[inaudible 00:35:45] like, “What? What is he talking about?”

Ray Care:
Hey, Kevin, I’m not going to lie. If he was said, “Do you have a last request?” I’d be like, “Yeah. Save my fucking life so I don’t die.”

Jason Redman:
Yeah.

Ray Care:
You know what I mean? Holy shit. Wow.

Jason Redman:
Mess up.

Kevin Flike:
But, yeah, man. I’ll never forget that mask coming down my face and me just saying goodbye to this world and asking God for forgiveness for my sins and-

Jason Redman:
Wow.

Kevin Flike:
… my first recollection occurred four days later when I asked someone if I was in heaven or hell. They’re like, “No, man. You’re in Landstuhl Regional Medical Center here in Germany.”

Jason Redman:
So, then you were like, “So, which is that? Heaven or hell, where am I?”

Kevin Flike:
Purgatory, what’s going on?

Jason Redman:
Yeah. Need a little more clarity here.

Kevin Flike:
Yeah. Then, kind of like in true like team guys fashion, and I was in intensive care there. My stomach cut open. I’m crying all the time. I was very emotional, and a buddy of mine who got hit with two grenades and shot about a year earlier, he was LNO there and he walks in, does a little chitchat with me, and then he’s like, “Hey, man, listen, plenty of people has been shot. Don’t be a fucking pussy about this.”

Ray Care:
The brothers always never supports you and say just the right thing.

Jason Redman:
One of my guys wrote, that they were all sign… I got one of those quilts of valor I think they were, the quilt with-

Kevin Flike:
Yeah.

Jason Redman:
Then, everybody started signing it. So, one of my good teammates wrote on it, “Stop…” What did he say? “Stop being a pussy. Get back to the war. Stop being lazy and get back to the war.”

Kevin Flike:
Yes.

Ray Care:
[inaudible 00:37:13] on the job. Yeah.

Kevin Flike:
Yeah. When my team got back home four months later, man, I went to the Green [inaudible 00:37:20] just to see them, and the first thing I get off like, “Dude, we taught you to take cover during a firefight. What’s going on, man?”

Jason Redman:
Yeah.

Kevin Flike:
I think a lot of that humor, right? That we possess and the ability to poke fun at situations like that is honestly what got me through things.

Jason Redman:
That’s so true.

Kevin Flike:
But then, yeah. Understanding right off the bat that I couldn’t feel sorry for myself was absolutely instrumental. When I got to Brooke Army Medical Center, and I’m seeing guys missing arms, legs, burned from head to toe. I’m, “Damn, man, you’re pretty lucky to be in the condition you’re in.”

Jason Redman:
Let’s fast forward though because I mean I think for so many of us, I went through, everybody goes through dark times. A lot of times, guys, they don’t even have the physical injuries go through dark times, and you went through some dark times, and unfortunately, like so many of our guys and gals that are out there, they’ve been wounded, the military just gives us copious amounts of opiates and oftentimes many of us end up getting addicted.

Jason Redman:
You went down that road. Talk to me about that path, and not only that how you overcame that, how you overcame the darkness? I know your wife was an amazing part of that. I mean, how did you navigate that path and kind of get to the other side, which I know you’re trying to help so many people now with your new mission with that. Yeah, how did you conquer that?

Kevin Flike:
Yes. So, when I had my last surgery, it was an experimental surgery at the Mayo Clinic. They took a nerve from my left leg, they cut my stomach open again, they grafted that in, when I woke up in that surgery, it was actually worse than when I got shot, the amount of pain that I was in. So, I was prescribed 12 Dilaudid, 12 Percocet, and 2 Valium, total of 26 pills a day.

Kevin Flike:
At the time, it was absolutely needed. I mean, it was serving its purpose. But over time that became like this crutch for me to deal with the reality and the gravity of the situation. I think see the survivor’s guilt that I felt. We had three guys get killed on the deployment, fourth guy killed himself as soon as we got back. So, me kind of… One of the guy was my teammates, like one of my best friends, and Ben [Weise 00:39:32] second boy in his family to actually die in Afghanistan. His brother was on Seal Team four. He got killed, [Bob Chapman 00:39:38].

Kevin Flike:
You’re thinking of that and saying, “Hey, these guys died, why are you still alive? What purpose is this?” Then, also being in just intense physical, mental, and emotional pain and questioning God, like, “Why did you let me survive my injuries only to suffer so much here?” Just kind of also dealing with the trauma of the deployments in that, the horrors that you see on some violent missions.

Kevin Flike:
So, that became my crutch, man, that and alcohol. I would be able to wean myself down to two or three, four pills a day but I couldn’t kick those last few. That was my last weight to hang on to things until about six months after that surgery, my wife sits me down and she’s like, “Hey, man, is this it? Is this what you’re going to do with the rest of your life? I thought you had goals. I thought you had things you wanted to achieve. You think this is any way to honor Ben Weise?”

Kevin Flike:
That, man. That was like putting a knife in and just like, then turning it. My wife and I have been together since we were 18. We met the first couple of weeks our freshmen in college. We got married in the courthouse at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina and we were 23.

Jason Redman:
You’re romantic. Oh.

Kevin Flike:
Hey, we went to Texas Roadhouse afterwards to celebrate [crosstalk 00:40:53]

Ray Care:
Attaboy.

Jason Redman:
Look at you, high roller. Wining and dining.

Ryan:
Those rolls [crosstalk 00:40:57]

Jason Redman:
Did you let her get the filet or did you… Sorry. I realize-

Kevin Flike:
I told her she could have as many of rolls and the cinnamon butter as she wanted.

Jason Redman:
Yeah, fucking… You’re a high roller.

Kevin Flike:
On that E-4 pay. That was the angriest I’ve ever been with her in my life, but I realized that she was right, and if I wanted to do anything in my life that was something I had to kick. I drew a line in the sand. I stopped taking pain meds one day and I started for grad school exams the next day. I think the three things that I think about that helped me get through that period, and that anybody can apply to a very dark and difficult period of their life [inaudible 00:41:43], you need to ask for help, you got to receive help and you got to help.

Kevin Flike:
I understood that something was going on. I wasn’t sleeping. I was in pain all the time. I was nervous all the time. I sought out help from the psychologists at the First Special Forces Group, and over time, built up a relationship with him to the point that I could share things with him. He was able to walk me through holistically ways that I could deal with the pain and suffering that I was enduring, which lowered my stress levels, and lowered my pain levels, which lowered my reliance on pain meds.

Kevin Flike:
Receive help. Hey, my wife, she was doing this because she love me, not because she was against me, not because other people did. Because I had some other wounded guys too. They were like my best friends, they’re like, “Hey, dude. I’m disappointed in you. I can’t believe you’re still taking your pain meds.” So, when people want to give you help, man, they’re there because they love you and you got to receive that help.

Kevin Flike:
Another thing is to get help. When you’re in these situations, you might think to yourself, how can somebody in this situation actually help somebody else out? I’m suffering. I’m addicted to pain meds, and drinking too much, on a terrible mindset. But I can guarantee you there’s other people out there that are doing worse than you and you got value to bring to them.

Kevin Flike:
When I had a buddy of mine reach out to me with similar injuries, it was an incredible opportunity to just be able to actually share with somebody who knew exactly what I was going through. But also to have kept my moral compass north. Got off those pain meds, I thought about them every single day. But I knew that he looked up to me, I knew other people looked up to me, I knew I was inspiring people so I couldn’t let those down.

Kevin Flike:
I think the three main thing that I would say to get through these dark times is the ask for help, receive help, and get help.

Ray Care:
Powerful. I love it.

Jason Redman:
Yeah. I mean it’s cathartic to give back and I’ll tell you what. I mean I like you, I mean I’ve lost a lot of friends in this war since 9/11, and for me, there were a lot of dudes who were much better team guys than I ever was so I feel like it’s my duty to try and give back and be positive and deliver a positive message because those dudes would do anything.

Jason Redman:
I mean their families would do anything for them to be back. So, I feel like it’s the greatest disservice, an insult to them if I was to lay there and feel sorry for myself and not be paying it forward so for those that were out there.

Ray Care:
Yeah, and listening to your story, very moving, very compelling, but the true warrior I hear in this story, and I mean this with all due respect is your wife. Your wife sounds like, his wife and my wife who were best friends, just with all due respect, a fucking savage. I will tell you this. If Ben was anything, and I’m sure he was a spitting image of Jeremy, who I worked with for many years in the Seal teams and other things, we’ll leave it at that.

Ray Care:
I had just left shark base when that happened with Jeremy then, yes, I’m glad that name was brought into that topic to get you where you are because if Ben was anything like Jeremy, Jeremy would have came there and kick your ass. I can only speak for Jeremy and I’m sure, I’m getting goose bumps right now because I miss Jeremy so much. Fuck. So, I just want to take this time to thank you for getting out of that dark time, but I want to thank your wife even more.

Ray Care:
I wish she was there because I give her a big hug and kiss so, because I think she saved a life. That’s what I see from what I know and what we’ve experienced with good fucking motherfuckers who have gone through hell, they’ve come back and they can’t shake those demons. So, again, when you see your wife, please thank her from Jason and myself.

Kevin Flike:
Certainly. Yeah. Just to give you an idea how tough she is. I mean, right when I got out of the hospital, she’d give me a sponge bath and we had been deployed for like three, four years at that point so you don’t really, kind of grew apart, right? You come home, you do honeymoon activities and you pack the bags and leave again.

Kevin Flike:
When we realize like, “Hey, this is it. I’m going to be home. Bags aren’t coming back out there [inaudible 00:45:41].” The problems that it manifested three years came out, and so just giving me the sponge bath and I’m like, “Hey, you’d want to get a divorce here?” She’s like, “No, asshole. I’m giving you a sponge bath.”

Ray Care:
I love it.

Kevin Flike:
She’s amazing. I’m trying to live up to her. I mean, she has two master’s degrees. That’s why I had to go back and get two master’s to try to keep an even playing field [crosstalk 00:46:04]

Jason Redman:
Oh, you got to get-

Ray Care:
I’ll show you, bitch. [crosstalk 00:46:05]

Jason Redman:
You got to one her up, right? Come on.

Kevin Flike:
Well, she’s doing her PhD right now.

Jason Redman:
Oh, dammit.

Ray Care:
Yeah.

Jason Redman:
You’re behind the power curve.

Kevin Flike:
True fashion of our family, right? Putting others above yourself. Her PhD is going to be in nursing with a focus on women’s homelessness and healthcare issues.

Jason Redman:
Well, huge shout out to all the spouses that are out there. I know mine is rock raised. I mean, all of you out there who listen The Overcome and Conquer Show, I know we got a big veteran community, big law enforcement, big first responder community, I tell you what, our spouses are huge. They play such a pivotal role, never downplay. If you are a spouse of a veteran, active duty law enforcement, first responders, never downplay your role.

Jason Redman:
Just that solid voice saying, “Hey, you got this,” or that solid voice like Kevin’s wife to call you out-

Ray Care:
Oh, yeah.

Jason Redman:
… and my wife will call me out too, man. The long-haired Admiral will call me out. It’s so critical.

Kevin Flike:
Dude, a lot of similarities when I read your book. I was, “Is this… Is this my wife also too?”

Jason Redman:
I’ve interviewed your wife for my book and I told her-

Ray Care:
No. But on a serious note, a true queen always keeps her king in check. I believe that. I mean, believe me, if you knew the story with me and my wife, I mean, I’m put… If I wasn’t with my wife, I don’t know where I’d because she keeps me in check literally, probably 23-and-a-half hours of the day because if not, you know we’re all emotional roller coasters.

Ray Care:
I’m all over the fucking place. I barely can hold a conversation with you but my wife puts me in check, keeps me grounded, and that’s why I love her so much. I mean, and what’s so great about spec op wives, military wives, first responder, Jason’s wife will do the same damn thing. If we’re working out, I do something stupid, she’ll call me out like I’m Jason and I’m just like, “Yes, ma’am.”

Ray Care:
That’s what I love about true warriors because you don’t have to be a man to be a warrior. You could be a woman. We have that code. I respect that. A true warrior will take criticism and also give it. Even though Navy Seals don’t like to get it, we will definitely fucking give it. I respect my wife on such a higher level and just like I do yours and Jason’s because they do that. We get cocky. We get arrogant. We get lazy. We are human.

Ray Care:
I do everything that a normal person does, but I do it a hundred times better because I’m an overachiever. So, when I’m being a bitch, I’m being a bitch a hundred times greater than an average person, you know it.

Jason Redman:
That’s so true.

Ray Care:
My wife will put me in check immediately. I need that. I think people like you and I and other people who are alphas, we need that as well.

Jason Redman:
Producer Ryan has never seen that. We’re like a family.

Ray Care:
I have a mirror on my mic so I can see myself.

Jason Redman:
All right. Well, listen.

Ray Care:
Go.

Jason Redman:
Let’s fast-forward, man. You have done some amazing things since then. You have come out of the darkness and just been a shining light to so many that are out there. Obviously, crushing your degrees, Harvard and MIT, but bigger than that, bigger than that. I mean, those are obviously such incredible accomplishments but what I love even better is you are now trying to give back to the veteran community and the wounded warrior community.

Jason Redman:
I also am fighting hard against veteran suicide. It’s become one of my big passions is mental health, brain research, and you were trying to do that through your program, Wounded by War. So, tell me a little bit about that and tell me also about how you ended up being on the, being a member of the board of the Green Beret Foundation. So, the things that you are now focused on trying to make a difference.

Kevin Flike:
Yeah. I think when I started working with my buddy, that whole concept of giving help. I really enjoyed it and realized how impactful everything could be. So, I wanted to reach a broader audience. I figured I’d start writing and just be really candid about my experience and the emotions that I was feeling.

Kevin Flike:
At the time, I think the veterans or the Special Operations suicides were skyrocketing. I was like starting to know more guys that are killing themselves and dying in combat at the time, and so I’m like, “I got to raise my hand. I got to do something here and I’m going to be really transparent about what I’m going through and the struggles that I have.”

Kevin Flike:
Cathartic for me to do that, and if I can do that, then maybe I’ll inspire other people to do that. I’ll talk about going to see the first group psychologist. That was one of the last thing I did when I left first group. The more I did it, I thought it was originally just going to be for like wounded vets but I started getting outpouring of support from people who are just civilians. Like, “Hey, this is really powerful stuff here.”

Kevin Flike:
So, kind of really focused on honing my message at grad school, taking public speaking classes, the ability to really tell my story, continued writing and really try to leverage social media to get the message out there, and not shy away from anything. Talk about being addicted to pain meds, talk about… I just did a post on Instagram the other day about how like the dreams, and how bad they were when I came back from my first Afghanistan deployment.

Kevin Flike:
So, try to get those things out there and working on a book, but it’s been in the works for, I don’t know, six years, at this point, probably a thousand pages at some point.

Jason Redman:
See, if you’re a Navy Seal, you’d be done with it by now.

Ray Care:
That’s not true. I’m still waiting on mine.

Jason Redman:
That would have been done at the end of your mission brief.

Kevin Flike:
It was another part of the screening process. They’re like-

Jason Redman:
That’s right.

Kevin Flike:
… No. No. You’re not going to do this. Now, really have the opportunity through social media, through my website, have the opportunity to take the lessons that I learned along the way and give them to other people. I think that getting shot and going through everything that I went through was the best thing that ever happened in my life-

Jason Redman:
Amen.

Kevin Flike:
… because it’s given me a clarity and a sense of purpose on life, but it’s also forced me to patch through a valley of humility in which I had to walk a mile in so many other people’s shoes that I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t had the experience, and so because of this, I can empathize with people greater. I have the ability to understand what they’re going through, to speak to it, and then really just inspire people.

Kevin Flike:
I think God’s purpose for me on this earth is to have gone through this journey, to take these lessons and give them to other people. Now, I have the ability to, kind of like you, Jason, nowhere near at the level that you do, have the ability to travel the country, speak to people, companies, teams, incarcerated veterans, and talk to them about my story.

Kevin Flike:
Then, also kind of get to the Green Beret Foundation is that the Green Beret Foundation was there for me and my wife from the moment I was hurt. They stepped up big time. What I wanted to do was when I got to a place physically, mentally, and emotionally to be able to give back, I wanted to be able to do what I could. I started speaking around the country about what they did for me and my experience is, what Green Berets are.

Kevin Flike:
I mean, honestly, man, most people have no clue what a Green Beret does. Then, also talk about the foundation and why it was so important and over time became an ambassador, and then had the opportunity to join the board about 18 months ago, and it’s been an incredible experience. I think for me it’s just kind of that continued mission of putting others above yourself.

Ray Care:
I love it. Kevin, you’re doing all these great things. Okay? The world needs to know who you are and where you can be found. So, give us everything right now. Where can you be found? Where can I find Mr. Kevin? Go.

Kevin Flike:
You can go to my website, woundedbywar.com. I’m also on Instagram and Twitter. My handle is @woundedbywar. I have a Facebook page, Wounded by War. Then, I do a lot of posting on LinkedIn under my real name of Kevin Flike.

Ray Care:
All right. Kevin, I want to take this time before we close up with our last two minute thing we do here, which we’ll tell you about. To thank you for taking time out of your busy day. Jason, do you have anything before I wrap this up with? You know what’s going to happen?

Jason Redman:
No, brother. I just want to say… I mean as a guy who’s been through that darkness, amen. Kudos to you. For you, guys, out there that are listening, you don’t have to be a wounded warrior to be physically or mentally injured in this life or emotionally injured, a lot of people out there that have gone through sexual trauma or they’ve had some sort of massive thing happen to them and you are living proof like I am and there’s so many others that are out there that are driving forward and they’re setting that example.

Jason Redman:
We need more of that. So, kudos to you, man. You’re setting example for your kids, you’re setting the example for Ben Weise, maintaining that legacy and we got to keep doing that.

Ray Care:
Amen. You know what? I change my mind. Yeah.

Kevin Flike:
Appreciate it.

Ray Care:
Yeah. I want you to close. I like it. I won’t do it. I can do whatever I want because it’s our podcast. But go ahead. You got more energy than me today.

Ryan:
I’m just glad you guys don’t ask me to close because I have no idea [crosstalk 00:55:00]

Ray Care:
Yeah. Come on give it to me. Give it to me.

Jason Redman:
Come on. You’re closer, Ryan.

Ryan:
No. No.

Jason Redman:
You’re a closer. All right. We close-

Kevin Flike:
Before we close. I just want to let know, Jason. Throughout that whole process, man, you were a huge inspiration of mine and those guys like you, I looked up to that really helped me get through that. So, thank you.

Jason Redman:
Thank you. My honor, man. I will continue to do it and like you, we’ll stay in contact afterwards and look for ways that we can continue that mission. So, all right. We’re going to wrap up the show, two minutes motivation. So, basically, we each take about 30, 45 seconds and basically talk about the word of the day to wrap up the show. I’ll kick it off-

Ray Care:
Go ahead.

Jason Redman:
… and resilient. It is the ability to endure hardship and continue to get off that X and drive forward. Kevin, you’re a shining example of that and we need more people out there to understand that. I believe Ray’s going to give me shit, but I believe… I write about this in the book Overcome. I hate you.

Ray Care:
When my book comes out, I’m going to do the same fucking thing.

Jason Redman:
But I talk about the fact that we are losing-

Ryan:
That’s true.

Jason Redman:
… grit and resiliency in this country.

Ryan:
I agree.

Jason Redman:
That younger generations just, they don’t… We’re pushing that away. We need more people that have that grit and that resiliency. The ability to get up and drive forward when things are hard and figure out how to get themselves back on course. So, anyone can do it, it is never too late when you are stuck, when you are hurting, when you’re in pain and you think there’s no way you can drive forward, there’s way too many people out there that have done it before you, stop feeling sorry for yourself, stop being a victim, get up, be a victor, move forward, and start setting the example for others out there.

Jason Redman:
The only thing stopping you is you. You are the only one that can control whether you get off that X and drive forward or not.

Ray Care:
Amen. I’m going to take the next and here’s the deal, guys. To be resilient, you don’t have to be a spec ops operator that’s gotten shot. Between the two of them probably 20 times, you just need to be an individual who’s going for hard times. This is what I’ll tell you, to be resilient, today people use shit that happens that’s hard on them as a crutch.

Ray Care:
This is what I’m going to tell you. Being resilient is a super fucking power. I think the world society needs to have more people like Kevin that go through hard times, and it doesn’t have to be physical hard times, if you’re married, and you’re family, fitness, finance, and your faith, I am resilient because I refuse to fucking quit. I refuse to give up. I don’t refuse to fail. I learned from failing, just like I think all of us do, but I refuse to let bad things in my life dictate who I am or what I’m going to be.

Ray Care:
I think, sir, you are a shining example of that. I salute you. I don’t salute many SF guys, but I do. I have nothing but respect for you. So, on that note, you finished up.

Jason Redman:
You have the final, Kevin.

Ray Care:
You have the final word.

Jason Redman:
Close us out.

Kevin Flike:
Yeah. I think hitting on the topic of resilience. I’ll say that life is going to present you with a lot of crucibles, some of them are going to last a day, some of them a month, a year, some of them are going to last your entire life, and it’s up to you, right? You don’t get to necessarily decide everything that happens to you in life, but you definitely get to decide how you’re going to react to that. So, instead of acting negatively towards it, doing the why was it me, the pity card, you have to see these crucibles and you got to welcome them in your life.

Kevin Flike:
Because these are opportunities for you to refine your character, to grow, become the best version of yourself, and when you make it through on the other end, you’re going to be so thankful.

Ryan:
I got nothing.

Jason Redman:
Powerful.

Ray Care:
That’s awesome.

Jason Redman:
Powerful. I keep saying it. All right, Kevin. Well, man, it is an honor to have you on. You are the best Green Beret we’ve ever had on this show.

Ray Care:
You’re the only fucking Green Beret [crosstalk 00:58:50] been on the show.

Kevin Flike:
After this, I’ll probably be the only one [crosstalk 00:58:57]

Jason Redman:
Yeah. Hey, setting the example, bro.

Kevin Flike:
… [crosstalk 00:58:58]

Jason Redman:
All right. Well, hey, as always, man. Awesome. Thank you for being on. Thank you to all our listeners that are out there. Please, please, spread the word about this show. But this has been another amazing episode of The Overcome and Conquer Show. I am Jason Overcome Redman.

Ray Care:
I am Ray [Cash 00:59:20] Care and we are out. Boom.

Announcer:
Thanks for listening to The Overcome and Conquer Show. Tune in next time and please remember to subscribe on iTunes. Please, visit overcomeandconquer.com.

Ray Care:
The Overcome and Conquer Show is presented by The Project. The Project is a full immersion 75-hour experience designed for men who know in their core, they are not living up to their fullest potential. Rather than waking up every morning ready to dominate life, the mediocre man rolls out of bed and slides into the same unfulfilled routine they’ve unhappily been in for way too long. The Project is for men that have lost their eternal flame and motivation to conquer. It is for men living an unfulfilling life that lacks the excitement and purpose. If this resonates with you and you want to learn more, we encourage you to apply today at www.mdkproject.com/ocshow. Boom.