Secrets Behind Social Media's Most Empowering Platform | Captain Sam Brown DSH #804

Summary

Digital Social Hour: Secrets Behind Social Media's Most Empowering Platform | Captain Sam Brown DSH #804

Release Date: October 14, 2024
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Captain Sam Brown

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Introduction

In episode #804 of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly welcomes Captain Sam Brown, a decorated military veteran, author, entrepreneur, and political candidate. The conversation delves deep into Sam’s personal journey, his new book Alive Day, his military experiences, transition to civilian life, entrepreneurial ventures, and his foray into politics. Sam shares profound insights on overcoming suffering, the importance of vulnerability, media bias, and the critical role of voting in shaping the future.

Sam Brown's Journey and Book Alive Day

Sam Brown opens up about his new book, Alive Day, co-authored with his wife Amy. The book aims to inspire readers by sharing stories of suffering and resilience. Sam emphasizes that suffering is a universal human experience and that sharing personal vulnerabilities can foster strength and provide hope to others facing similar challenges.

Sam Brown [00:03]: “When we hide our weaknesses or our vulnerabilities, we miss an opportunity to be stronger by it and also to encourage others who are maybe going through something similar.”

The book features personal accounts, including Sam’s visible burns from his service in Afghanistan, highlighting how external suffering can become a platform for inspiring others.

Military Service and Overcoming Trauma

Sam recounts his time at West Point, his commissioning as a lieutenant in the Army, and his deployment to Afghanistan. He describes a harrowing experience where he had to make a split-second decision in a life-threatening situation involving a potential bomb maker. This incident resulted in severe burns, leading to a three-year recovery period. Despite facing immense physical and emotional pain, Sam chose to channel his experiences into a force for good rather than succumb to hatred or resentment.

Sam Brown [06:43]: “Life is worth living even when we've lost that sort of outer physical identity.”

Transition to Civilian Life and Entrepreneurship

After recovering from his injuries, Sam transitioned back to civilian life by pursuing an MBA and founding a company dedicated to aiding veterans. His business provided a crucial link between VA clinics and local pharmacies to ensure veterans received necessary medications promptly. An anecdote exemplifies his commitment:

Sam Brown [46:19]: “One day I got a call from a VA clinician... they needed medication that the pharmacy couldn’t provide. I ended up paying out of pocket to save a veteran’s vision.”

Sam’s entrepreneurial spirit not only helped veterans but also demonstrated the profound impact of taking action to do what’s right.

Political Ambitions and Vision

Motivated by his life experiences, Sam entered the political arena to advocate for policies that support veterans, economic relief for working families, and systemic reforms. He highlights the challenges ordinary Americans face, such as rising living costs and inadequate social security, and critiques the immense financial influence in politics that often sidelines grassroots voices.

Sam Brown [19:42]: “It's not fair that our politicians have created a situation where so many people are put in those positions... Parents are skipping meals so their kids can be fed.”

Sam emphasizes the necessity of policies like eliminating taxes on tips to provide economic relief, particularly benefiting working individuals in cities like Las Vegas.

Media Bias and Political Advertising

A significant portion of the discussion addresses the pervasive media bias and the overwhelming financial power of political campaigns. Sam criticizes how large sums of money are used to influence public perception through biased advertising, often spreading misinformation about opponents.

Sam Brown [26:29]: “If that person was given the microphone to tell the whole school everything that they wanted to about you, would you expect them to tell the truth about you?”

He advocates for discerning media consumption and supports alternative platforms where truth can be sought beyond corporate media narratives.

Current Political Climate and Security Concerns

Sam voices concerns over the current political climate, including assassination attempts on President Trump and the implications for national security. He underscores the importance of strong leadership for both domestic stability and international relations.

Sam Brown [36:12]: “This has global ramifications on who our next president is... these attacks are, again, it's not just an attack against President Trump. It's an attack against the United States of America.”

He warns of the potential for escalating conflicts, including economic, cyber, and even classical warfare, emphasizing the urgency of addressing these threats through informed voting and leadership.

The Importance of Voting and Future Impact

Highlighting the critical role of voting, Sam urges listeners to participate actively in elections, stressing that decisions made today will profoundly affect future generations.

Sam Brown [27:16]: “Our votes today are part of the political destiny of our country and its impact it's going to have on your future self, your future family, your future business.”

He shares personal anecdotes to illustrate how political outcomes directly influence everyday lives, urging a sense of responsibility and urgency in civic participation.

Economic Policies and Social Security

Sam discusses the precarious state of Social Security and its impending depletion, criticizing political opponents who spread fear about its elimination. He shares real-life stories of individuals struggling with rising living costs to humanize the issue.

Sam Brown [24:08]: “This policy will be a life-changing policy for people. And it's something that, you know, we've got to pass.”

His advocacy for economic reforms is grounded in practical solutions aimed at alleviating financial burdens on working families.

Final Thoughts and Call to Action

In the concluding segment, Sam reiterates his commitment to public service and encourages listeners to support his political campaign. He highlights the importance of grassroots movements in challenging the status quo dominated by large financial contributions.

Sam Brown [48:20]: “It's a grassroots campaign. If people want to follow me and my journey with this campaign running for Senate, they can go to captainsambrown.com and support me there.”

Sam also promotes his book, Alive Day, as a resource for those seeking inspiration and encouragement.

Notable Quotes

• Sam Brown [00:03]: “When we hide our weaknesses or our vulnerabilities, we miss an opportunity to be stronger by it and also to encourage others who are maybe going through something similar.”
• Sam Brown [06:43]: “Life is worth living even when we've lost that sort of outer physical identity.”
• Sam Brown [46:19]: “I just, you know, at the end of the day, you got to do the right thing. And the right thing that day was to just pay out of my own pocket for this medication.”
• Sam Brown [27:16]: “Our votes today are part of the political destiny of our country and its impact it's going to have on your future self, your future family, your future business.”
• Sam Brown [26:29]: “If that person was given the microphone to tell the whole school everything that they wanted to about you, would you expect them to tell the truth about you?”

Conclusion

Captain Sam Brown’s episode on Digital Social Hour offers a compelling narrative of resilience, leadership, and active citizenship. From his harrowing military experiences to his entrepreneurial success and political ambitions, Sam embodies the spirit of turning adversity into opportunity. His insights on media bias, economic policies, and the critical importance of voting provide valuable guidance for listeners aiming to navigate and impact the complex socio-political landscape. Alive Day emerges not just as a memoir but as a beacon of hope and a call to action for anyone striving to overcome personal and societal challenges.

For more information about Sam Brown and his campaign, visit captainsambrown.com. To purchase his book, Alive Day, head to Amazon.

Transcript

[Sam Brown]

Blessings of my suffering is that I can't hide it.

[Sean]

Right.

[Sam Brown]

You know, my suffering is very external and we live in a society that wants to. That kind of discourages us from showing our weaknesses or our vulnerabilities, our suffering. And, and when we do that, when we hide it, we miss an opportunity to be, to be stronger by it and also to encourage others who are maybe going through something similar.

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[Sean]

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[Sean]

All right, guys, today got Sam Brown here today with his new book Alive Day. Thanks for coming on, man, that, it's.

[Sam Brown]

Good to be here.

[Sean]

Yeah, it was a great read for me.

[Sam Brown]

Good. Glad you enjoyed it.

[Sean]

Yeah, a lot of the times because I filmed so many. I don't have time to read the book, the guest, but I made sure I read this one and dude, it was really inspiring. So thank you for putting that out there.

[Sam Brown]

You bet. It's. I mean, the point of the book is to try and inspire people that we all have suffering in life. My form of suffering, at least a big part of it, is very visible in terms of my burns from Afghanistan. But suffering is a universal, you know, human experience.

[Sean]

Right.

[Sam Brown]

And, and so my, my, the purpose is to try and give people, you know, something to hang on to, to get through those challenging times and, and to know that our suffering doesn't have to negatively define us either. So that's, that's a big part of why I wanted to share the story. And my, my wife Amy also kind of co authored it with me and, and she's got part of her story and in the book as well.

[Sean]

Right. You were able to turn Suffering into a positive thing. Right, Right, absolutely. Into an inspiration. Yeah. Because a lot of people suffer, but some people are too scared to talk about it. But you were very open.

[Sam Brown]

Well, I think in some ways, one of the blessings of my suffering is that I can't hide it.

[Sean]

Right.

[Sam Brown]

You know, my suffering is very external. And we live in a society that wants to. That kind of discourages us from showing our weaknesses or our vulnerabilities, our suffering. And when we do that, when we hide it, we miss an opportunity to be stronger by it and also to encourage others who are maybe going through something similar or something they can relate to and to just give them the hope that we have found. So that's been one of the blessings of it. It's why on the COVID there of the book, I've got kind of a. That. That, you know, just a picture of me from. From before and a picture of me after. And look, at the end of the day, we can't. We can't. We shouldn't hide from. From our experiences because they can be a part of who we are in a really positive way, and they can also help others who are in the midst of. Of what. What is a really tough time. And a lot of times, suffering isolates us, too.

[Sean]

Absolutely.

[Sam Brown]

We need to be connected.

[Sean]

Yeah. And I'm sure when you had the burn, you wanted to hide it first, right?

[Sam Brown]

Yeah, it's. And I was kind of, you know, forced into isolation, you know, in the hospital. But look, losing your identity, whether it's really physical and personal, like it was for me in my face, or losing your professional identity, I mean, there's. There's a lot of forms of our identity, and it's. It's tough, but. But it doesn't have to be the end of us.

[Sean]

Yeah. Identity issues. I feel like that's. That's a common thing, especially these days with social media. People are trying to pretend to be people they're not.

[Sam Brown]

Right, Right.

[Sean]

So they're putting on a mask or whatever.

[Sam Brown]

Yeah, I mean, that's. It's. It's something that we. We praise in this society. But I'll tell you. I'll tell you this, John. Here's kind of a. An interesting story in it. I wrote about it in the book because I think it's important in a day and age where, you know, we really put a lot of emphasis on, you know, presenting the best and all this. There's, you know, literally, you can find, you know, TikTok channels or YouTube channels on putting on a face. Literally, if you think about that. But when I was in high school, there was, you know, kind of a pre spring break, you know, assembly and, you know, the. The principal and, you know, teacher.

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[Sam Brown]

And staff are kind of talking about, you know, hey, don't go do anything crazy. And part of the campaign of, you know, encouraging young high school students not to go out and drink and drive and party in that way is they had kind of this video about this young girl who had, you know, some years before, gone out on spring break, been drinking and driving, got in a car accident, was burned, severely disfigured, and, you know, just kind of unrecognizable and had kind of pictures of her up there. And I remember thinking at that time, boy, if that ever happened to me, I would just. I'd kill myself.

[Sean]

Whoa.

[Sam Brown]

Because, like, who. Who would want to live that way? And. And when it happened to me, totally different set of circumstances. I was in Afghanistan, you know, fighting for our country. What I. What I discovered is our identity isn't really in our flesh. It's. It's in our heart. It's in our soul.

[Sean]

Wow.

[Sam Brown]

And. And life is worth living even when we've lost that sort of outer physical identity.

[Sean]

That's deep, man. I appreciate that message because there's people probably struggling with confidence issues with how they look, you know, whether it's from a burn or acne or whatever it is. Right. And that message is deep. So thank you.

[Sam Brown]

Yeah, absolutely. And, like, I mean, the. The purpose of the book, again, is to just. Is to encourage people. And so if anyone wants to. Wants to get it, it's on Amazon, you know, paperback, hardback, audible. Yeah, it's all there. Kendall. Yeah.

[Sean]

I got a few questions about the book that stood out to me. I really related with the JV Rowing story.

[Sam Brown]

Okay.

[Sean]

Because I played a lot of sports growing up, and I was never the best leading in, like, starting off soccer, basketball, tennis. I was always one of the worst, but by the end of the season, I would be the best. And in Every sport I started realizing that I had, I just had that drive that other people didn't. And it. Now thinking about it as I'm older, it was from trauma, you know what I mean? I wanted to prove people wrong.

[Sam Brown]

Right.

[Sean]

So was that similar with you when you were playing sports?

[Sam Brown]

It, it was. And you know, so the, the story I kind of tell about in the, in the book is I had knee surgery that, that took me out for a half season and rowing right at kind of the beginning of my, my sophomore year, which was a critical year where you're transitioning from kind of the, the novice team to the, to the JV or varsity boat. And, and I didn't know if I was gonna be able to stay on the team. And so, so I worked. I worked really hard. The, the blessing of it was that while I wasn't able to work on my strength while I was recovering from that surgery, I was able to work on my technique. And I don't know about, for you and you know, some of the different sports that you've played, but I think in some ways focusing on technique and this can be, you know, true in other things in life is, is really important and we can sort of offset our lack of strength in an area if we have better technique. And, and so, yeah, just, you know, the first goal was to, to make the team. And then I've always just been kind of an underdog kind of guy. I feel more comfortable with the more pressure and the lower the expectations. And so there was, there was a time where I, I'd kind of come back from the surgery. I was on the JV boat. We were the last race of the season. JV boat never beats varsity, but we beat the varsity boat in the final race of the season. I thought, okay, this is going to be kind of my springboard to move up to the next boat to be on, on the varsity boat and you know, fast forward. I didn't get, I didn't get picked to be on varsity boat. And our coach, you know, took us out. It was in a spring training right before we get into the spring season of my junior year and, you know, has the boat set. You got your JV boat, varsity boat, side by side, take off for a race. Well, we beat him again and we line it up again. We beat him three times in a row. And I was just, I was just, you know, couldn't understand why these guys who technically on an individual basis were not as strong, not as, not as technically good a rower as the guys in the Varsity boat and why we were winning and, and the coach wasn't moving anyone. And we get through that next weekend and he says, sam, you're. You're now in the varsity boat. You're going to be stroking the varsity boat. And that was, you know, that was, that was an important moment for me to be able to, to, to see that you can, you can work hard, you. You'll have setbacks in life. You can work hard, though. You can focus on what you can control.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Sam Brown]

Don't stress the things you can't control. And at the end of the day, work as hard as you can with the, with the team, with the folks that you've got.

[Sean]

Absolutely.

[Sam Brown]

You can, you can excel and beat those who are theoretically better than you.

[Sean]

Yep. Yeah. Technique's so important. I was a distance runner, too, in high school, and I remember going to Princeton track camp and they would take videos of, of our form. I thought it was so stupid at the time, but they were helping your technique.

[Sam Brown]

Right.

[Sean]

With running. And then the next season, I was one of the best in the state.

[Sam Brown]

Oh, that's amazing.

[Sean]

And it was all just technique rather than just training.

[Sam Brown]

Right.

[Sean]

Not, not worried about your running form now. You could fix a few things and run way faster. So probably similar with rowing. Right?

[Sam Brown]

Right. Absolutely.

[Sean]

Absolutely. And then from there, how far after college did you join the military?

[Sam Brown]

So, I mean, I went to West Point. It was the military academy for the Army. And so it was literally the day I graduated was the day I was, you know, commissioned as a. As a lieutenant in the Army. So the whole. The whole four years was about training. It was about preparing to be a leader in the military. There was no sort of other expectation that I would be anything else but in the military. And so I started right after 9, 11. It was the following summer. So our country was in Afghanistan or, you know, we had troops in Iraq by the time I graduated in 06. So I knew that there was going to be what I call kind of a. A rendezvous with destiny was me being overseas, leading troops in combat.

[Sean]

So your mindset was set pretty early on?

[Sam Brown]

Oh, yeah, yeah, it was. I mean, I was. I think a lot of us are kind of shaped by our parents. And my, My parents really emphasized service to country. My father encouraged me and maybe told me that that was, that was what, What I needed to do. And, and I just, you know, I bought into that as a. As a young kid.

[Sean]

Love it. Your father served, too?

[Sam Brown]

Yeah.

[Sean]

Nice. That's cool. And his father, too.

[Sam Brown]

Not his dad, but on my Mother's side, her dad served in World War II. So we've got, we've got kind of a history of family service. In fact, two of my younger brothers served as well, one in Afghanistan, the other in Iraq. My wife, who I married after I got wounded, I didn't even meet her until after I was wounded, but she served in Iraq, so we've got a lot of service in this family.

[Sean]

Wow. And your story about Iraq or Afghanistan in the book had me on the tip of my toes, man. So you find this guy with missing fingers and you had to let him go. And typically, missing fingers are a sign that they're a bomb maker.

[Sam Brown]

Right, right, right.

[Sean]

And your, your officer told you to let the guy go?

[Sam Brown]

Yeah, it was, it was a frustrating situation because we're, we're on this mission and our, our vehicle, one of our vehicles, it wasn't mine, but it was in my platoon, had just hit a roadside bomb. And we kind of thank God no one was hurt or killed in that incident. But we kind of, you know, we spread out, we go looking for, is there anyone in the immediate area, find this guy. And just, I mean, all the signs point to, you know, he's, he's part of this, this bomb. And, and so to be told, because we didn't have, we didn't find him with physical evidence on him, you know, he didn't have bomb making material on his, you know, personal possession that we had to let him go. It was just, it was really frustrating. But, you know, you got to follow orders. And then just a couple hours later, my vehicle literally did hit a roadside bomb, probably put in place by him that same day. And because it was just, you know, a couple of thousand meters up the road. That's crazy. Lost one of my soldiers and obviously it changed my life. And three other guys were wounded in the process. So I spent three years recovering from that and probably had the guy that made that bomb standing right in front of me just a couple hours earlier.

[Sean]

Insanity. So did you feel any hatred or resentment towards the officer that gave you that, that signal?

[Sam Brown]

No, no, not hatred. I would say disappointment and, and a lot of frustration from, from things that day. There was, there was warning signs that I, you know, I tried to flag. For instance, the bigger mission that we were on was to provide security for a convoy that was moving through the area. You know, one of the things that early on, and, you know, we talk about kind of nation building and, you know, trying to help where we've got troops deployed. So this convoy was moving A turbine equipment to a dam to provide electricity for southern Afghanistan. They needed security go out in advance and make sure that, you know, there weren't bombs or ambushes along the road. And so there was the convoy out to the dam site, and then it was going to come back about 10 to 14 days later. Well, you, you're not supposed to go in one way and out the same way. You're inviting an ambush. And so I flagged that and said, you know, to my superior officers and said, like this, this is a problem. You know, we're not supposed to be doing this.

[Sean]

Right.

[Sam Brown]

And was told, you know, hey, that's, that's the way the mission was planned. You just got to go do it.

[Sean]

Oh, so this was on your way back when all this happened?

[Sam Brown]

That's what that was. It was on the way back.

[Sean]

Wow. So they had time to set up the IEDs.

[Sam Brown]

That's right. That's right. And, and you know, and it's just, it's just a predictable part of warfare. We're not, and we're, we're supposed to make adjustments because of that. But.

[Sean]

Right.

[Sam Brown]

Whoever was planning this at kind of the, you know, the, the really high up level didn't either didn't take that into account or didn't listen to feedback.

[Sean]

Right.

[Sam Brown]

And, and the end of the day, you got to go execute the mission.

[Sean]

Yeah. I can see why you're frustrated because you can't defy those orders.

[Sam Brown]

Right.

[Sean]

Like you can't make a decision on your own. Right?

[Sam Brown]

That's right.

[Sean]

So that's, that's a tough situation, man. Cuz you kind of know there's a chance that something could happen.

[Sam Brown]

Right.

[Sean]

So that's probably in the back of your head the whole time.

[Sam Brown]

That's exactly right.

[Sean]

Wow.

[Sam Brown]

And that's. And, and it's the way it played out. You know, the, when we, when my vehicle hit the roadside bomb, it's because the friendly forces just north of us got into an ambush.

[Sean]

Wow.

[Sam Brown]

Again, it was predictable. And so as they needed support and we were driving up to go provide support for him, that's when my vehicle hit the. Hit the roadside bomb. And, and you know, it changed the rest of my life.

[Sean]

Dang. Those bombs are everywhere out there, right?

[Sam Brown]

They were at that time.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Sam Brown]

Yeah.

[Sean]

And the dogs detect those. That's how you were able to.

[Sam Brown]

Yeah, some, yeah, sometimes the dogs do, but, you know, this wasn't a place where we were on foot, you know, able to move with dogs. But there's, there's other, there's other ways to either detect them, disable them, or try and, you know, get them to go off without causing injury to, to U.S. personnel. And so, like, one of the, one of the techniques is you would put what you call like a mine roller on the front of a vehicle. And it, you know, it's big, basically heavy tires that roll in front of a vehicle. It's kind of like a plow. And so if that rolls over one, it sets it off, it might, you know, cause some damage to the plow, but it's not going to hurt anyone inside the vehicle.

[Sean]

Right.

[Sam Brown]

And you know, those, those vehicles were, were available too, but were not sent up in advance on this particular road. And, you know, that's just, that's another frustrating thing. But, but again, I go back to kind of one of the points we were talking about earlier is there's things we can control, there's things we can't control. And if we dwell on the things that we can't control that caused pain or hurt or suffering in our life, I don't think it's constructive. We, we need to find, find the, find the opportunities to take that, that injustice, that pain. And there is a way to make something positive out of it if we'll look for it. And we can either be consumed by hate, anger, fear, frustration, or we can fill ourselves with hope, with light, with grace. And it's. But it's a choice.

[Sean]

Right, and you're living proof of that. So that was a big reason you got into politics then, to, to inspire people.

[Sam Brown]

Yeah, it was. I mean, look, we're. I see a lot of people suffering and, and I, I know suffering well, and, and, you know, not just as a military guy, but, I mean, I'm a husband, I'm a father, small business owner. I've be. Before I started my business, I was working at Amazon Fulfillment center, you know, 10 hour shifts. You know, just mean. It's just, it's hard, honest work.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Sam Brown]

And trying to set up my company on, you know, nights and weekends and eventually got that going. But, like, look, when I talk to people, people are concerned about, you know, do they, do they have enough money to keep a roof over their head, food on the table? I was, was just at a, at a church recently and, you know, answering some questions, and there was a lady, the last question of the day, she said, sam, we've got seven families in our apartment complex that are about to be evicted because they can't pay their rent.

[Sean]

Wow.

[Sam Brown]

You know, I've talked to people who, you know, did all the right things. Worked their entire life, retired. They've got Social Security, maybe some other little form of retirement. They're having to go back to work. Sean. It's not, it's, it's not right. It's not fair that our politicians have created a situation where so many people are, are put in those positions. You've got parents that are skipping meals so their kids can be fed.

[Sean]

Wow.

[Sam Brown]

You've got people who are having to pick up a second job because their, their first job that provided well for them for, for years just isn't cutting it. Now. The average family here in the state is paying twelve hundred dollars a month more now than they were four years ago.

[Sean]

Dang.

[Sam Brown]

A month. That's almost, that's, that's a rent payment. That's, that's a mortgage payment for a lot of folks. And, and so seeing, seeing what's happening through politics and the way it's hurting so many people is, is part of why I'm running is to be. I understand those challenges because I'm not too far removed from them myself. But I also know what, you know, what solutions there are. And if I can, if I can go through my life and the challenges and the suffering I've had, I'm hoping in some ways that I can inspire people to hold on.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Sam Brown]

And the message really comes from one of my soldiers, the soldier who got to me, and he. As I was burning and I got to this place of, in the midst of that burning, thinking, how long is it going to take to burn to death? What's the transition from this life to the next going to be like? And then I gave up the will to live. And, you know, 24 years old, prime of my life. Never thought it was going to end that way. And then I heard his voice and he screamed out, sir, I've got you. But words alone. Words alone don't save lives. It's action. And so he came running to me and, and smothering the flames literally saved my life. And that, that, that lesson has stuck with me for the last 16 years. It's. One of the reasons I wrote the book was because I can't just take those lessons learned. I can't just be a voice for people. I need to, I need, I need to live out what saved my life. It was someone taking action. And so me running for office is me taking action. It's also something that we just see, you know, and, you know, biblical figures as well, like Jesus, you know, and that's, you know, me coming to the End of myself was kind of me finding God. You know, Jesus didn't just give us words, he sacrificed. You know, he was engaged in the process of providing some sort of hope for us.

[Sean]

Wow. So that's when you started going to church.

[Sam Brown]

Yeah.

[Sean]

Nice. Yeah. I lived the majority of my youth pretty. Pretty atheist as well. But now I've found purpose through. Through God or religion. Spirituality. It's helped me a lot, actually, because not having purpose is a lonely road.

[Sam Brown]

It is.

[Sean]

A lot of people are, like, kind of lost right now. I feel like, you know, I think.

[Sam Brown]

There'S something inside us that is. That is purpose seeking and a purpose outside of ourselves, too. I mean, if you. If you've got a purpose that is wholly inwardly focused, it can. You can spend time on it, but I don't think it's as fulfilling.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Sam Brown]

Is when you have a purpose that is to. To, you know, to give hope, inspiration, you know, productivity to others.

[Sean]

Absolutely. Yeah. But going back to what you said, I see a lot of elderly people working in grocery stores, you know, wherever. And it makes me sad. These people can barely walk and they're having to work in their last years.

[Sam Brown]

Yeah. I've got a. I've got a neighbor. She's. She was retired, you know, when I moved into the neighborhood. You know, rescues Chihuahuas. I mean, that's her passion. I mean, literally. And, you know, she's out walking her dogs all the time and got to know her, and she's a sweet, sweet lady. And one day, you know, she. She. I saw her kind of struggling in her driveway with her car, and I went over and said, you know, what's going on? And she said, shame, I can't. Can't get my car started. And, you know, I kind of was like, let me. Let me try and help you out. And she can't. She couldn't afford. Like, it was just. It was a little. It was a little problem, but she couldn't afford a little part. You could just go down to, you know, O'Reilly's and, you know, buy at the auto parts store. So I went down and got it for her. And then a couple months later, I see her again and she says, hey, Sam, just so you know, I. I'm gonna have to go back to work. I can't. I can't afford life right now. And so, you know, I'm traveling. I'm going to the airport a lot early in the morning for early morning flights, as you can imagine.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Sam Brown]

And about any day that I'm up at, like, you know, 4:30, getting ready to head to, into the airport for that first flight of the day. Her garage door is open. She's, she's getting ready to leave and she's got to go work. She, she works in a senior care center serving food, you know, from like 5am till 2pm and that's. It's, it's not right. She shouldn't have to do that.

[Sean]

Right. And Social Security is going to be out in eight years, right? They're going to be out of money.

[Sam Brown]

Yeah. I mean, it's, it's, it's a challenge. That's, that's what they're projecting. And, you know, one of the sad things, Sean, about politics is people aren't always honest. So one of the things that I've, you know, in running for Senate that my opponent says, it's like, oh, Sam, she tells people, I'm going to eliminate Social Security. Now, not only have I just told you the story about this neighbor lady who's like, dependent on it. Yeah. By the way, Social Security for many people is not very much money. And our costs have gone up, like I said, twelve hundred dollars a month. The biggest kind of shame or insult in that is when I got medically retired out of the military. I was on, I was a benefit. I was the beneficiary of Social Security benefits and Medicare. My health care was through Medicare. And so for someone to lie about me, to try and scare people, to vote for them is just, It's a shame. And politics shouldn't be that way. We shouldn't be goading people with, with fear and based on lies. But that's, that's where politics are.

[Sean]

That's a shame. Yeah. It's a dirty game. I get her YouTube ads every day. Like, she's raised $31 million. It's insane.

[Sam Brown]

It is.

[Sean]

I didn't know people were raising that on a city level. Like, that's, that's crazy.

[Sam Brown]

And that's just what she's raised. There's, you know, she's got super PACs that have spent probably close to $50 million.

[Sean]

Wow.

[Sam Brown]

Just here, just here in our small state.

[Sean]

Crazy. And, you know, similar with Kamala and Trump. Like, she's raised three times his amount. Right?

[Sam Brown]

That's right.

[Sean]

So when you have that much money, you could. I get texts from Kamala's campaign every day. I get newspaper ads from her, radio ads, Spotify. She's everywhere right now.

[Sam Brown]

I think one of the things that, going through this process, I've, I've learned is you've Gotta, you've got to consider what is the motivation or the position of the person who is putting out these ads. And I can take it back to, you know, think about, you know, when we're all in high school, there's, there's someone who doesn't like you in high school. Yeah. If, if that person was given the, the microphone to tell the whole school everything that they wanted to about you, would it be, would you expect them to tell the truth about you?

[Sean]

No.

[Sam Brown]

And yet that's what happens in politics. And people, people buy into it. Like why, why should anyone believe my opponent who's fighting for her political future, her definition of who I am? It doesn't, it doesn't make any sense. And if that same bully in high school got to use a microphone to say what a wonderful person they are, of course they're going to, you know, to tell all these flattering things and probably even lie about who they are.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Sam Brown]

And yet that's, that's kind of what happens in politics is people who are in a position to tell lies because they have more money do so. And unfortunately, too often people don't think about the perspective of should you even believe it?

[Sean]

And yeah, that's why I'm excited for your debate with her because it's a one on one setting and you can't really weasel your way around that. Right, right. So, I mean, hopefully it's not like the last debate where the media controlled one side obviously, but. Right. Yeah, I saw some crazy stats that. So 96% of the media's news on Trump was negative.

[Sam Brown]

It's, the media is not, is clearly not objective. It's not, it's not truth seeking first. It's, it's agenda seeking. And that's what, honestly, Sean, I think, I think we're seeing a transition of how media is consumed. And you know, for, for kind of our generation. I don't even have a tv. And, and I think there's a lot of people like that. Like, you know, we, we get to sort of define what our source of news and information is. Your podcast, for example. And so we're going to see this transition where the corporate media loses effectiveness and impact over time. And you know, through, through things like this podcast, through platforms like X, you know, and Tick Tock, people will be able to kind of go find truth. And I, I think that'll be a healthy transition for media consumption.

[Sean]

I agree. I mean, you see Trump going on these podcasts like Dave Ramsey, Theo Vaughn, and they're getting way more views and engagement than him going on a news station that' plus you see the polls on the news and they just seem off. Because when you run the same poll on X, it's way different.

[Sam Brown]

Right.

[Sean]

You know what I mean?

[Sam Brown]

Right.

[Sean]

It's like night and day difference. So I can't even believe any of these polls.

[Sam Brown]

Right.

[Sean]

Because it's saying Kamala's projected to win.

[Sam Brown]

But, well, and, and how many of your friends, you know, if they get a poll, are. Are going to respond to it if it's, you know, by, by a text from a random number? I mean, again, people in our generation are like, I get a, I get a link from a random number on my phone like that. I can spyware, you know, something like that. I'm not going to click on that link.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Sam Brown]

I just. It doesn't, it doesn't make any sense.

[Sean]

I mean, you start looking into all this and it's really all a show. Because I was listening to Rogan yesterday, one of Kamala's rallies, 80% of the people are bused in. Isn't that crazy?

[Sam Brown]

It is crazy, but it's not surprising.

[Sean]

Yeah. They're starting to geo track everyone's phones and they're realizing a lot of the same people at her rallies are the same phones.

[Sam Brown]

I mean, it's, there's a manufactured movement there. Right. I mean, whether it's media coverage, it's, it's the rallies, it's. It's the influencers that they try and get to sort of project.

[Sean]

Right.

[Sam Brown]

Strength or, you know, consolidation of agreement. But look, this is, and I know, I know we hear this often, but this election is important. And one of my concerns is that there's a lot of, a lot of people, especially when you're younger, you just, you have a tendency to not understand how important your voice and your vote is. And it's not even necessarily for today. It's for 20 years from now when, you know, for a lot of folks, you know, if you've just come out of college or, you know, in your. You're in your 20s or early 30s, you might not be married. You might not even have a family. There's a good chance you will one day. And so our votes today, though, are part of the sort of the political destiny of our country and its impact it's going to have on your future self, your future family, your future business. And people need to understand that and vote today like your life depends on it in 20 years.

[Sean]

I love that because I agree. When I was younger, I was like I don't want kids. I never voted before. I thought it was stupid. But I'm voting for the first time this year.

[Sam Brown]

Right. Funny, funny thing about not wanting kids. The first time I went out with my wife, who, who again I met after I was wounded. She worked in the icu and so I kind of got to know her, you know, the hospital a little bit. And finally we, we went on a date and the first, the first time I went, I went to go pick her up at her house and she was kind of finishing getting ready and, and there was a picture in our refrigerator of this young family. So, you know, who's this? I'm just trying to make conversation. She's like, oh, that's my cousin and her husband and their kid and she, and she, like she said, but don't worry, I'm never getting married and I'm never having kids. Well, now we've been married for 15 years and we've got three kids.

[Sean]

I love it. You changed her mind, man. You won her over. I love it. But kids are, you know, I've changed my perspective. I definitely want kids now. That sense of purpose and just handing.

[Sam Brown]

Off the torch, such a game changer. It's, you know, even just, you know, a serious relationship marriage, it changes your perspective. You've got to live a little bit more, you know, cooperatively with someone. It's, you know, you couldn't or shouldn't be as self consumed. But when you have young person who literally depends on you for their life, it's such a game changer and it's such a blessing. That's one of the things that kind of makes me sad is when you see folks who, you know, treat kids like, like it's just a burden. They're missing an opportunity for that to, for being a parent, to, in the same way that you're, you know, you're training for running or me for rowing or whatever. Yeah, it's, it's hard. It is. But if you're willing to lean into that and be sort of refined by it, you're going to come out a better person.

[Sean]

I agree. And you see the number of people having kids right now is down a lot. Elon Musk talks about this a lot. And it's really concerning, actually.

[Sam Brown]

It is, it's, it's, it's terribly concerning. And you know, there's kind of a, a societal discouragement from, from having kids.

[Sean]

Right.

[Sam Brown]

And, and again, we're, we, we, we're hardwired in the same way, you know, to, to want to need purpose. We're hardwired as human beings to reproduce. And, and, like, it's, it's obviously not for everybody, but for those who can, it's. It's an enormous blessing. Absolutely.

[Sean]

What did you think about all this stuff with the New York City mayor going on? I thought that was crazy.

[Sam Brown]

It. Yeah, it is crazy. What's crazy about it is how often do you see someone at that level actually, you know, getting kind of taken down.

[Sean]

It was the first time ever. Right. Federally, I think.

[Sam Brown]

I don't. I don't know, 100 about the new York City mayor, but it, it's just, it's. You got to believe there's. There's something going on in the, in the background. And I don't know all the details of what he's, you know, the charges and, and all that, but it's certainly a flag that something. Something seems to be afoot. And, and maybe, maybe. Maybe he's done the. Maybe he's done wrong things. I. I don't know. Yeah, but when you see a takedown like that, especially where everything nowadays seems to be, you know, just the, the lawfare with politicians is. Is just an enormous and very intentional thing.

[Sean]

Yeah. Well, there's always rumblings of politicians getting paid in backdoor deals, but this was the first time, like, I think there's been a serious charge about it, you know.

[Sam Brown]

Right.

[Sean]

But there's always people saying that. So I guess we'll see where that one goes.

[Sam Brown]

We'll see.

[Sean]

Yeah. All right, so what else we got here? Assassination attempts. Second one, they seem to just brush over it completely. They're saying there's five groups after him now. Where are you at with that whole thing?

[Sam Brown]

Look, there, you know, there's, there's people that, that don't like President Trump. I can tell you this. President Trump does not need this. He's got, you know, he could have a wonderful life outside of politics out of running for president, and, you know, to be struck, literally, by an assassin's bullet in Butler, Pennsylvania, and to get up and to. To. To not. To not cower in that moment was a sign of his strength, of his leadership, but also of, you know, his love for country. The, the easy thing to do would be to, you know, to, to kind of cower, to. To hide from that. It's, It's. It's a tragedy to me that our media does not. Does not seem to care about the threat to President Trump's life. There's very little coverage of it, and it, you know, you just you hope that nothing happens again, but it, it feels like. It feels like it could.

[Sean]

It doesn't seem like they're going to stop trying. No, I mean, they, they wanted to deny both of them.

[Sam Brown]

Well, and, and here's the reality is it's not just an attack against President Trump. It's. It's an attack against our country because we're talking about someone who, you know, tens of millions of people are less than 40 days out from voting for to be president, United States. And whether, you know, whether the world likes it or not, the president of the United States is not only the leader of the United States of America, leader of the free world. Right. And a lot that happens internationally is. Happens because of who is the president. And so this has global ramifications on who our next president is. And so these attacks are, again, it's not just an attack against President Trump. It's an attack against the United States of America. It's attack against what the world could look like depending on who is president. And again, I just go back to kind of the encouragement earlier. People today, people have got to vote today like their life depends on it in 20 years or even five years. Think about how quickly things change now, right? It seems like things change now in a matter of days or weeks. That would have taken years before the fact that Kamala Harris, we have a presidential candidate who never even won a caucus or a primary, and it is now literally the, the Democrat nominee for president. Who could have imagined crazy something like that happening 10 years ago, 5 years ago? But, but here we are.

[Sean]

Here we are. I never realized how many countries followed our lead, actually, until I had some guests on the show. But I've had people from Canada, from the UK and they care a lot about politics here because they know how much it impacts them.

[Sam Brown]

Right?

[Sean]

It's so crazy how much influence the US has on the world.

[Sam Brown]

It's, it's enormous. You know, we're the, we're the largest influence on, on NATO. You know, our, our support of Israel is, is huge. And, you know, the destabilization that China, Russia, Iran, North Korea are causing globally is. It would be even more negatively impactful if the United States wasn't here. And, and strong. And unfortunately, we have not been as strong these last couple of years as we were when President Trump was in office. There were no new wars. Russia did not invade Ukraine when President Trump was in office. We did not have, you know, Hamas and Hezbollah in Iran openly attacking Israel. And in fact, we were seeing peace in the Middle East. Remember, you know, people talk about, oh, you know, curing cancer, you know, peace in the Middle East. I mean, these are sort of like enormous, aspirational, almost impossible things to kind of think about. But we were literally achieving peace in the Middle east when President Trump was in office. And people, you know, would accuse, oh, you know, oh, he's, he's going to create new wars and stuff. No, it was quite the opposite. And as someone who has literally gone through war, I mean, this is, this is the face of the consequence of war. And I'm lucky I'm alive. There's others who are not alive. That the United States can be strong, should be strong, not only for our sake, but for, for the world's sake. And that doesn't mean that we have to be in war.

[Sean]

Right. And I think just yesterday they announced more funding, Right, to war. Another 8 billion. Or was it trillion? Something crazy.

[Sam Brown]

Yeah, I think it was 8 billion. But, you know, that was, if I'm not mistaken, I think that was for Israel, which, you know, they're, they're being hunted by these Iranian proxies.

[Sean]

Yeah. And they're saying Iran wants Trump gone. Right. Trump tweeted that out.

[Sam Brown]

Right. Well, Iran posted on their. The Ayatollah, the leader of Iran, posted on his website a, a video simulating the assassination of President Trump.

[Sean]

What?

[Sam Brown]

At Mar a Lago?

[Sean]

No way.

[Sam Brown]

Yes.

[Sean]

So they're planning that.

[Sam Brown]

Go, go look it up. It was just posted a couple of days ago.

[Sean]

That's scary.

[Sam Brown]

And, and the end of the message said, effectively, there will be vengeance. And, and it was, it was personally. It showed clips of Mar A Lago, President Trump on the golf course and simulated him being taken out.

[Sean]

Wow. That's nuts. I mean, there was just an attempt at golf course. Right. So maybe Iran played a role in that. Who knows? Who knows? And I saw the Florida governor doesn't want to release that guy. Right. To the feds.

[Sam Brown]

Oh, I don't know. I don't know. But it's. I think it'd be good for Florida to have their own independent investigation on that.

[Sean]

Absolutely. Shout out to Florida. So World War iii, are you thinking about that being a possibility?

[Sam Brown]

It. It is. I mean, it's. The, the conditions are there. You've got this alignment again of China, Russia, Iran, North Korea. The, the cooperation there is, is, Is already present, you see, it's kind of sharing of technology, of weapons. But, Sean, here, here's maybe kind of a, another way to think about it. We're already in World War iii. If you think about warfare is not necessarily just where's. Where's, you know, they're gunfire. You can have economic warfare, energy warfare, cyber warfare, space warfare, you know, social warfare. We're already in a global conflict. Just there's a lot of people that don't recognize it yet. And all of those other forms of global warfare could lead very quickly to what we'd consider kind of classical kinetic, you know, military warfare.

[Sean]

Right. Because we're definitely in cyber warfare. Trump's emails got hacked. All his emails got leaked to the other side. Right.

[Sam Brown]

100%.

[Sean]

So.

[Sam Brown]

And economic warfare, too. I mean, what do you, what do you think? What do you think? Kind of, you know, the trade policies of, of China are, you know, they're trying to diminish the economic strength of the United States. You know, they are very openly trying to get the, the US Dollar to, to no longer be the global reserve currency. And, and look, when you've, got, you've got leaders, you know, countries that are leaders in the world and those who have to follow those leaders. If the United States loses our sort of economic leadership, well, the world will start to look like other countries will start to look like and reflect the leadership of whatever replaces the United States. That's probably going to be some coalition of China and Russia, which I think most Americans can and should recognize would not be a, Would not be a good sort of global leadership structure.

[Sean]

That would not be good at all. They would have way more power than us if they joined forces.

[Sam Brown]

Absolutely.

[Sean]

You could argue China is already beating.

[Sam Brown]

Us economically and they, they're causing a lot of damage. Now China's in a weak economic position as well, but they're. They. They are causing a lot of damage. And unfortunately, our own leadership in this administration is, is not responding in a good way. It's allowing for. For our sort of diminished influence.

[Sean]

Not at all. You see the dollar dwindling in value. It's, it's actually scary because it, if it keeps up this trajectory, it's going to put a lot of people on the streets.

[Sam Brown]

Right?

[Sean]

It already is.

[Sam Brown]

It is.

[Sean]

So that's scary. And Bricks is looking pretty formidable now.

[Sam Brown]

Yeah. Again, the, the instability you asked about, you know, is World War III possible? Yes. The instability in the world is, is enormous. This, this election is, is critical not only just for the next 12 months, but what happens now will be felt for decades.

[Sean]

Wow. And that's throughout the world, not just the U.S. that's right. Crazy. So back to business. You have a business that helps veterans, right?

[Sam Brown]

Yeah. So, as I said earlier, you know, I, I was working Amazon Fulfillment center, but had kind of gone back to school after I recovered, got my MBA and wanted to, wanted to start a business that still helped veterans. I mean, like, obviously I'm a veteran. I care a lot about it, the va. I get all my health care through the va, but the VA is not perfect. It doesn't have all of the solutions. And so one of the needs that the va, um, needed, like kind of an outside company to help solve a problem was ensuring that veterans could get medication in urgent care situations when they're at VA clinics. And so my company kind of became that conduit to local pharmacies in, in markets that the VA couldn't get medication to them right away. So, same day. So, yeah, I founded that company. I, I actually sold it at. A little over two years ago. It's, it's still being run, it's still a growing company, though. And, but here, here's an important kind of example of, of why that matters. And, and it's, it's not always, you know, just easier, clean. But, like, one day I got a call from a VA clinician saying, sam, we've. We've got this patient who needs this medication. They went to the pharmacy. The pharmacy said they couldn't fill it, and because the reimbursement to the pharmacy wasn't going to be enough to cover the cost. And so I got on the phone with the pharmacy and said, guys, what's going on here? And they just, they, they were refusing. And and so I, I just, you know, at the end of the day, like, you got to do the right thing. And the right thing that day was to just pay out of my own pocket for this medication.

[Sean]

Wow.

[Sam Brown]

For the veteran. Now, I didn't necessarily know what the ailment was, and I just knew that someone needed this medication. They weren't going to get it unless I did that. So I get a call back from the clinician a couple of days later and just thanking me because they heard what happened and, and gave me a little bit more of the background. They said, sam, this, this veteran came in, had such a severe eye infection that they needed this specialty compounded pharmaceutical solution that if they didn't get it that day, they were about to go blind.

[Sean]

Whoa.

[Sam Brown]

And so, you know, that's an example of, like, something that just kind of the routine part of doing business, doing the right thing in that moment literally changed someone's life. And that's, you know, it's, it's humbling to be able to kind of have that, have that positive impact in people's lives when you don't even necessarily realize it, that sometimes just doing the right thing literally is life changing.

[Sean]

Yeah. That's so inspiring. The American dream right there. Because a lot of veterans come back home and they, they feel lost. Right. But you started a business, you were able to sell it. That's incredible.

[Sam Brown]

Right?

[Sean]

So that's, that's hope for the veterans out there.

[Sam Brown]

That's right.

[Sean]

So cool. Want to end off with the no tax on tips. If that goes through, that's a big deal for Vegas, right?

[Sam Brown]

It's a huge deal for Vegas. It's a, it's a huge deal for, you know, a lot of working people and it gives, it's going to provide so much economic relief where, you know, again, we were talking earlier about how many people have had to go get a second job because they can't make ends meet. Now, you know, that's either maybe taking some people out of being able to study, like go to school or, you know, maybe they're a parent or they want to be a parent and they don't, you know, they don't think they can afford, you know, a home or can't afford to, you know, can't afford to have the cost of kids like this. This, this policy will be a life changing policy for people. And it's, it's something that, you know, we've, we've got to pass.

[Sean]

Absolutely. Sam, it's been an honor where people support you and keep up with you.

[Sam Brown]

Like, if people, you know, want to kind of follow me and my journey with this campaign running for Senate, they can go to captainsambrown.com and support me there. This is a grassroot campaign. You talked about how much is being spent against me. We're talking about over $50 million. When it's all said and done, it's probably gonna be closer to $100 million. But we're, we're in this fight. We're in a position to win with, you know, with small dollar support. So captainsambrown.com for that. If people want to read the book, you know, I, I, the book is not here for me. It's here for others who need that encouragement, who need to know they're not alone. And you can get it on Amazon.com Again, it's a live day by Captain Sam Brown. You know, Tyndall Audible hardback paperback like that. It's there for everyone. So please share it and leave a review. If it was meaningful for you Absolutely.

[Sean]

Check out the book, guys. It was a favorite read of mine. We'll link it below. Thanks for coming on.

[Sam Brown]

Thank you.

[Sean]

Yeah. Thanks for watching, guys, and I'll see you next time.