Why a Veteran-owned company joined our NASCAR team to combat veteran suicide

The following is from Green Beret veteran Chris “Smurf” McPhee’s Team Room Talk podcast with Joe Wind, Marine veteran & owner of Nomad Raceways. Joe talks about why he’s sponsoring Colin Garrett’s crowdfunded NASCAR team that races to combat veteran suicide. Transcript is below the video if you prefer to read. You can catch the “Team Room Talk” podcast at http://www.teamroomtalkpodcast.com/

They weren’t asking for anything other than “please help spread our message.”

TRANSCRIPT:

Not only is it a great experience and a great opportunity to work together with another veteran owned company. It’s a great message. The team we were going out to work with and that we’ve partnered with is Hunt-Garrett. The message they’re working to spread using NASCAR is ending veteran suicide.

They’re using the national platform of one of the biggest, most watched, with the most loyal fans in the history of sports, NASCAR. And they’re using that platform to spread the message of ending veteran suicide.

They partnered with The Rosie Network, which is nationwide and works with veterans and milspouses, as well as Racing For Heroes. Racing for Heroes works with veterans with PTSD and other issues to get them treatments that they need. [NOTE: all treatments are free]

What an amazing way to spend some marketing money! I mean, the marketing message is second to everything that we’re doing and the focus has been to spread the message of ending veteran suicide.

It just hit so, like… talking to Lisa, the first time that I talked to her, she was so real.

It just hit so, like… talking to Lisa [Kipps-Brown], the first time that I talked to her, she was so real. Being able to talk to Lisa, I felt so at ease and so comfortable with what they’re doing and how they’re doing it that I instantly said yes, let’s let’s do it! How can I help? It’s been nothing but good conversation after good conversation.

I was really bummed when the Coronavirus hit & made everybody stay home, really bummed that we didn’t get to get out there & spread that message. [NOTE: Nomad was to be on the car at Homestead-Miami, the first race that was cancelled] But the the plus side is it gives us – you [Smurf McPhee], I, Lisa, Hunt-Garrett Racing, Mike Evock, Stephanie Brown – the chance to plan a bit better and longer to spread the message even further.

The Jewelry Republic is who introduced me to the NASCAR team and just hearing how passionate he was about it really intrigued me. As a small business owner, it’s really important that we invest our marketing dollars wisely, especially because we’re not a millionaire company. We’re not even a half-million company yet, so we’ve got to be very careful with where we spend our marketing dollars because it could bite us in the butt. It has in the past.

Being able to talk to Greg and then referred over to Lisa from Glerin, they just made me feel so comfortable. It was the right message, the right way to spend the money.

I was introduced to the Vetrepreneur Tribe on Facebook. It’s a group run by Steve Kuhn & Lane, and Greg is one of the admins there. I was introduced to that group about 1.5 years ago.

I went on there, just browsing, and came across this video with this redheaded bearded jewelry maker, Greg, absolutely just gushing about his investment. It wasn’t a brag like “Hey, I just spent blah blah dollars.” It was “my God, you have to see this NASCAR team that we just sponsored!”

His message was 1) these people are trying to help end veteran suicide through many different techniques and tactics that are far beyond my comprehension and knowledge, and 2) the value that the team was in turn giving to veteran owned businesses.

The NASCAR team, with a sponsorship of as little as $10 through the crowdfunding page, OurAmericanDreamTeam.com, will put you on their website, on their Veteran Business Advocates page and link to your website.

You’re marketing and now you can say you’ve sponsored a NASCAR team for $10, dude!

You’re marketing and now you can say you’ve sponsored a NASCAR team for $10, dude! To be able to get that national platform, use pictures of their car, be on their website. It was such a great value. They weren’t asking for anything other than “please help spread our message.” [NOTE: Nomad Raceways later joined the team as an on-car sponsor]

Colin [Garrett], the driver, has 2 brothers in the Army. It’s a cause that’s very near and dear to his heart and his family was investing their own personal money, with Lisa investing her time and efforts of her company. [NOTE: Lisa’s husband is retired Navy]

Everybody was just so selfless about it. Lisa started working to market me before I even committed to the cause. That’s how forward thinking they are.

So that’s how I met Greg. I just stumbled across this gushing video about how excited he was. That really sucked me in & opened a lot of doors for me. Opened the door for me to to work with Greg, stuff that’s still in the planning that we can’t talk about yet.

It opened the door with Lisa, Glerin, and the Hunt-Garrett Racing team, and also opened my eyes to the value of some of these leaders in the vetrepreneur tribe.

Being able to get by giving is such a huge loud message; there’s a lot of value in it for veteran owned businesses.

Being able to get by giving is such a huge loud message; there’s a lot of value in it for veteran owned businesses. Anybody that’s listening to this, please take 5 minutes, pop over to OurAmericanDreamTeam.com. Look at what they’re doing, what the mission is. If you’re feeling it inside you, reach out & talk to somebody. You don’t even have to give them money, just reach out & talk to somebody.

We really need to spread that message of ending veteran suicide.