Exposing the Dark Side of Military Service: From Homeless to Hero with Janae Sergio

Summary

Podcast Summary: Exposing the Dark Side of Military Service: From Homeless to Hero with Janae Sergio

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Determined Society with Shawn French
• Host: Shawn French
• Guest: Janae Sergio
• Episode Title: Exposing the Dark Side of Military Service: From Homeless to Hero with Janae Sergio
• Release Date: February 10, 2025

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of The Determined Society, host Shawn French welcomes Janae Sergio, a bestselling author, former servicewoman, and dedicated philanthropist. Janae brings to light the often-overlooked injustices within the military, particularly focusing on sexual assault, systemic abuse, and the challenges veterans face post-service.

Janae Sergio's Background

Janae Sergio shares her harrowing journey from homelessness to serving eight years in the Navy. She began her military career at the tender age of 16, having been dropped off at a homeless shelter in Hollywood by her mother. Her early experiences shaped her mission to advocate for those who suffer in silence within the military system.

Janae Sergio [36:49]: "I joined the Navy from a homeless shelter when I was 16 years old. When I came in, I was so excited that I finally had a family, I could let my guard down."

Exposing Military Injustices

Janae delves deep into the prevalent issues within the military, emphasizing the high rates of sexual assault and the systemic failures that allow perpetrators to evade justice. She recounts the tragic story of Denisha Montgomery, a soldier who was attacked by her unit members and subsequently found dead under suspicious circumstances.

Janae Sergio [01:22]: "Her roommate was one of the people who had attacked her in the car, and so there were some concerns that maybe she allowed access to the room while she was gone."

Specific Cases and Systemic Failures

The discussion highlights the case of Major Stocken, an Army doctor accused of sexually assaulting 41 men. Janae points out the flaws in the military justice system, where such cases often result in minimal convictions, leaving victims without adequate support or closure.

Janae Sergio [28:31]: "He'll still have a life after, and all these people, he robbed their life. 41 people. Who's to say there's not more victims that have already taken their life because they couldn't live with it?"

Statistical Insights

Janae provides alarming statistics to underscore the severity of sexual misconduct in the military. In 2021, approximately 36,000 military members experienced sexual assault, with only about 5,000 reported cases and less than 2% resulting in convictions. Furthermore, 33% of those who reported assaults were pushed out of the military.

Janae Sergio [15:10]: "In 2021, the military reported about 36,000 members who experienced sexual assault, but only about 5,000 were reported, and less than 2% were convicted."

Advocacy and Legislative Changes

Janae discusses her role in advocacy, working alongside the Vanessa Guillen family to support President Biden's Executive Order in December 2023. This order mandates that major crimes, including sexual assault and homicide, be handled by an external entity rather than falling under commanders' jurisdiction, aiming to reduce bias and ensure impartial investigations.

Janae Sergio [16:46]: "President Biden signed that. We had been pushing for that, though. Vanessa Guillen was in 2020, and since then, advocates have been relentlessly pushing for reform."

Personal Story: From Homeless to Hero

Janae opens up about her personal transformation from a homeless teenager to a high-ranking official overseeing 88 Air Force hotels. Her resilience in the face of sexual assault and systemic abuse fuels her mission to empower others and advocate for meaningful change.

Janae Sergio [34:06]: "I joined the Navy from a homeless shelter when I was 16 years old... After I got out of the Navy, I promoted very quickly within the Department of Defense, now overseeing 88 Air Force hotels."

The Hero Mindset

Towards the episode's conclusion, Janae introduces her concept of the "hero mindset," distinguishing it from victim and survivor mindsets. She emphasizes the proactive role individuals must take to advocate for themselves and others, fostering a community of strength and resilience.

Janae Sergio [36:19]: "The hero mindset is about stepping up to be your own hero and then becoming a hero for others as well."

Closing Remarks

Shawn expresses profound admiration for Janae's courage and dedication, urging listeners to support her mission by purchasing her book, Perfectly Flawed: A Veteran's Journey from Homeless to Hero, and following her work on social media.

Shawn French [37:42]: "Please go check her out. If this episode made your hair stand on end or if you know something, please reach out to her so she can help you and share this show with someone you know."

Notable Quotes

• Janae Sergio [16:46]: "We are now pushing major crimes to an external entity, so commanders can't hide or suppress these cases anymore."
• Shawn French [14:35]: "It's not about the party, but it's about the mission of our country. Are we doing things for our people?"
• Janae Sergio [24:19]: "It's systemic. The military's focus is on being lethal, not on creating an equal culture. This leads to minorizing serious issues like sexual assault."

Conclusion

This episode sheds light on the dark underbelly of military service, highlighting systemic issues that allow abuse and injustice to persist. Janae Sergio's unwavering commitment to advocacy and reform serves as an inspiration, reminding listeners of the importance of speaking out and fighting for justice within and beyond the military framework.

For more information and to support Janae's efforts, visit janaesurgio.com or follow her on social media @ena_perfectlyflawed. Her book, Perfectly Flawed: A Veteran's Journey from Homeless to Hero, is available on Amazon.

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[End of Summary]

Transcript

[Janae Sergio]

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[Janae Sergio]

We had a case a couple years ago. Her name is Denisha Montgomery. She was in security forces and she had been attacked by a few members of her unit. She got home and she was bruised up. She had some marks in her as if she had been kind of stabbed. And she told her parents, I'm afraid. I'm afraid for my life. I'm afraid for my safety. Next thing you know she was found dead in her barracks room and the army told her parents that it was suicide. Coincidentally, the cameras had been turned off right before it happened. Her roommate was one of the people who had attacked her in the car and so there were some concerns that maybe she allowed access to the room while she was gone. There were some bruises inside her legs so spent several months raising awareness for her, trying to really elevate the story so that they can't shove it under the rug.

[Unknown Artist]

Shot French what up? This one luck. I let the pain inspire me. I put my all in. Everything I'm doing up until it's done done I'm me for the entirety I put it in overtime I'll be working just know I'mma go for mine cuz I earned it. They watch And I know it's time I confirmed it the whole society Determined determin.

[Shawn French]

What's up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Determined Society. I'm your host, Shawn French, and if this is the first time you are listening to the show, please hit subscribe on YouTube, Spotify and Apple podcast. Follow the journey along. Start at episode number one and just listen to the growth because we've made some crazy, crazy leaps and bounce quantum leaps in the show over the last four years. So super happy today I have an amazing guest to share with you. Her name is Janae Sergio. She's a best selling author, former service woman, doing amazing things in the community to bring a lot of light to certain subjects. She's a bestselling author and a philanthropist. And welcome to the show, Janae.

[Janae Sergio]

Thank you. I'm excited to be here.

[Shawn French]

I'm excited you're here. Like, I feel like I know you already, right? Because it's like, that's the power of social media, right? You get connected through people that you already know, love and trust. And it's like when you meet somebody else and you're brought into the circle, say, okay, I already know that person.

[Janae Sergio]

Yes.

[Shawn French]

Right. So, I mean, it's pretty cool. But you just flew in, you had a nice flight. I did, yeah. Yeah. You look happy. You don't look like it was too bad.

[Janae Sergio]

I got a good little cat nap in.

[Shawn French]

Did you? You can sleep on a plane.

[Janae Sergio]

I, I don't normally sleep on planes, but whenever I travel, especially for, like, speaking engagements and events like this, I struggle to sleep at night because I stay up all night kind of preparing myself. And so once I get on the plane, I'm like, all right, I'm gonna have to take a cat nap.

[Shawn French]

Oh, yeah.

[Janae Sergio]

I'm pretty sure I had my mouth open on the flight, and I'm pretty sure the guy next to me might have filmed it. So if you see me go on viral later, I'm. I'm here for it.

[Shawn French]

Just as long as he tags you exactly. Like, send a collab, dude, you'd be here. Send a collab. So that way she gets all the analytics.

[Janae Sergio]

I'd love that.

[Shawn French]

And all the, all the people that want to learn her sleeping journey. And she's a mouth breather.

[Janae Sergio]

I didn't know it until I woke.

[Shawn French]

Up and I was like, oh, God almighty. This is funny because, like I said, like, oh, you sleep. You can sleep on a plane. Like, I know I can't. I have to have, like, my, my nerves ride me when I'm When I'm, you know, traveling now. Recently, over the last couple years, they've gotten much, much better. I had this job that I had to travel for. I had to go to. I had to go to Portugal. I was white knuckling it the whole way. I was like, dude, this plane goes down. Like, we're in the water here. I'm just going to be like, they're. There's need to be a serious rescue mission going on, right? But I just think of all the bad shit. And over the last couple years, like, now, like, it used to affect me going through tsa. Like, I swear my wife probably hated traveling with me because every time they say something like, oh, why don't you just be nice about it? Like, I'm just like, I'm not. I'm not happy about getting on this plane. But now it's, like, it's cool.

[Janae Sergio]

It's getting a little better. I've had anxiety on flights as well. I think I remember one time I was. We were flying over the Great Lakes. It's the bodies of water that get me as well, because I'm like, there's no emergency landings. Um, except for. What was that. That aircraft that landed in the Hudson a while ago.

[Shawn French]

It's like, oh, yeah.

[Janae Sergio]

I always have, like, hopes that my. My pilot can do that on every flight that I'm flying over the water. But I remember I was flying over the Great Lakes once, and I kept looking down, and, you know, the thing is, from the sky, everything looks like a lake. So I thought we had, like, passed Chicago and we were still going. And I'm like. I was, like, looking for the. The stewardess. I wanted to tell her, like, excuse me. I think we. I think we went too far.

[Shawn French]

Hey, hey, turn this shit around. You guys are going the wrong way. And you're like, oh, my God, is this thing hijacked? Like, what the. Up. So you're sitting there and you're looking for the Air Marshall.

[Janae Sergio]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. So I'm probably a little bit like you. I probably sit on there and just start thinking all the things that are about to go wrong. Like if. You know that one bump, and I'm like, we hit a bird. I just know.

[Shawn French]

Yeah, the engine's blown out. We're so screwed. Why is this bird flying this high?

[Janae Sergio]

Yeah.

[Shawn French]

Crazy. You want to know something that's happened to me recently? I'm not going to say his name because I don't want to get in trouble. But. But, like, I. Where was I? Oh, I was coming Back from where? When I met Michael and Tim in Traverse, Michigan, when we were hanging out with Eric Thomas. So I'm way back. I hop on a flight. All right? It was my connecting flight. No, it was my first flight. I'll get this right? I promise you I will. Sorry, guys. Hang with me. You know, I'm not very smart. So I. I get in traffic, I get on the plane, and traverse in my connecting flight with Charlotte. And, like, I'm sorry. Like, every time you connect at night in Charlotte, you are. Yeah, like, so. But I. I roll up to my seat, and it's, like, right against, like, the front part, and it's like the. Where the bathroom is. And, like, so I couldn't do this, but there was this gentleman sitting there on the end. And, you know, he gets up, you know, and he's got a. You know, like a sweatshirt on, got some slick back hair, a cool little goatee. I'm like, this is a badass. I like this guy. But he got out super kind. And, you know, we didn't have anybody in the middle of us, and we were able to have this amazing conversation just getting to know each other. I'm thinking, this motherfucker's in Air Marshall. Like, straight out. And I said to him, I looked him. I go, you take the first shift. I'll take the second shift. And he goes, you're gonna. Why are you. Why are you quoting Bridesmaids? I'm like, you know, I'm quoting Bridesmaids. He goes. He goes, dude, I'm. I go, I'm. He goes, I'm not. I go. He goes, no. I go, okay, sure. Sure, buddy. I know how this goes. So we just start having great conversation, you know, he asked me what I do, and I told him about all this, and he's like, whoa, this is fascinating. Can you show me your page? So show my Instagram. He goes, can I follow it? I'm like, absolutely. And. And he goes, hey, do you mind? I go, dude, I'm not following you back. Don't worry. As I followed him back, and we started, like, having this friendly conversation, talk about our families. Like, so, man, what do you do? And I just. I just. He's like, well, you know, I'm in. I'm in Department of Defense. I'm like, no, you are. I'm like, of course you are. And he starts laughing. He's like, no, that's not what I do. But I do gun trainings for organizations and things like that. Just. I'm like, so you're The Department of Defense. And you do gun trainings, like, for, like, corporations, but you're not an air marshal.

[Janae Sergio]

Yeah.

[Shawn French]

He goes, correct. I'm like, cool, man. And we just had this great conversation. And before we get off the plane, he gives me his car. He's like, hey, just give me a call sometime, man. You got my cell number in your phone already. But here are my other numbers. If you ever have any questions, give me a call. He's like, it's a little bit more involved than what I told you. And I didn't even think to look at it yet. I'm like, all right, man. I'll be in touch. Because I was late for my next flight because we sat on the tarmac for an hour and a half. So long story short, I get back to the hotel room that was comped because Americans screwed it up to have enough people working so we could get off the plane. I looked at the car. Senior air marshal. I texted him, like, you. I knew it. He's like, oh, yeah, you're a regular FBI agent to this day. Me and this gentleman speak every day via text. Absolutely adore him and his family. And.

[Janae Sergio]

Yeah, so that's so cool. Really cool story. You're like, but, you know, you could have played along with me then. Yeah, we could have run with it.

[Shawn French]

And so I said, like, hey, dude, did you know that I knew? He's like, yeah, I knew that you knew. He's like, but I can't tell you. Like, I can't tell you.

[Janae Sergio]

Especially while he's there, like, doing the work, right?

[Shawn French]

And I said, how many. Like, how many times have I been on a flight with an air marshal and it's not known? He goes, probably won't. Probably never. Because it's very rare that you're actually on a flight.

[Janae Sergio]

Wow.

[Shawn French]

Right? The percentages, right? All the flights in the world and all the people taking them. You know, we text me picture everywhere he goes. Everywhere he goes like, oh, I'm in Germany, and the next day he's in Maui. I'm like, what the heck's going on? But that's not what the show's about, right?

[Janae Sergio]

Still sounds like shout out to my guy.

[Shawn French]

It's pretty cool.

[Janae Sergio]

But, I mean, if I earn you an air marshal, I got a guy. You gotta.

[Shawn French]

I got a guy.

[Janae Sergio]

No, I know who to call.

[Shawn French]

Well, listen, when I make it big, he's gonna be my security.

[Janae Sergio]

There you go.

[Shawn French]

I already told him that. He's like, I'm hiring you. I'm hiring you. Let me say the thing. Oh, well, you know, I don't need bodyguard yet. You might. I know you do.

[Janae Sergio]

Everyone's.

[Shawn French]

Every once in a while we'll get to that.

[Janae Sergio]

Might hear in our folk. We don't know.

[Shawn French]

Oh, I don't know. Oh, yeah.

[Janae Sergio]

I was thinking I've done some pretty salacious stories here and I was like, you know, come to think of it.

[Shawn French]

You might be on the hit list here.

[Janae Sergio]

Some of my worst stories are actually here. So I was. Wow, I should have probably better prepared for that.

[Shawn French]

Yeah. Maybe like a disguise or something.

[Janae Sergio]

Yeah, well, no, because I'm. The thing is, is that when I do the travel, like so. So that's kind of where you get into the issue with the work I do. Is that also with speaking engagements or events? I have to market them.

[Shawn French]

Yeah, I know.

[Janae Sergio]

And so people know where I'm going to be. I can't even, you know, sneak in and sneak out because they know and they could just buy a ticket to the event and show up.

[Shawn French]

Yeah, exactly. Remind me not to stand next to you at all tomorrow. So listen.

[Janae Sergio]

Okay, well, so I was actually going to ask you to stay right there.

[Shawn French]

Well, hey, I need protection, so we're already on it. Right, let's. Let's hit it. So you talk about the work you do. Watch to the audience the type of work that you're talking about that is leading to this conversation.

[Janae Sergio]

Okay, so I am a social justice warrior. Is. Is what I define it as an. And really a DD214 social justice warrior. And so I served in the Navy for eight years, active duty. After I got out, I, I, you know, I have my career and I have my book. But then I, I got moved very quickly into advocacy, but also a little bit of activism. I elevate stories of injustices that are happening in the military. And, and I'll, I'll do it for other organizations as well, like colleges, something like that. But more so with the military, typically sex crimes, violence in the military, any type of like suicides, like suspicious suicides. So we had a case a couple years ago, it was actually about two years ago, a soldier in Germany. And she was in security forces. Her name was Denisha Montgomery and she had been attacked. They were security forces, so like military police. And she had been attacked by a few members of her unit coming back from a water park. They were on liberty and they were at a water park. And she got attacked in the car. And it's actually recorded of her being attacked. And she got home and she was bruised up. She had Some marks in her, as if she had been kind of stabbed by something. And she told her parents, I'm afraid. I'm afraid for my life. I'm afraid for my safety. And then a few weeks later, she was packing. She had posted a video of her bag in the corner. She was going to be able to go home. And next thing you know, she was found dead in her barracks room. And the army told her parents that it was suicide. As her parents started digging a little bit deeper, some of the details surrounding her death didn't really add up to suicide. First off, the first thing they said was that it was suicide by suffocation. How do you suffocate yourself?

[Shawn French]

I mean, a toddler, I mean, she's not a toddler exactly.

[Janae Sergio]

And so. So her parents were like, that doesn't, you know, really make sense. That doesn't add up. And then they said that she hung herself from her locker. And so her sister, who's also in the service, showed an example of what it would look like and was like, there's no way you can hang yourself from your locker. It's not high enough. Coincidentally, the cameras had been turned off right before it happened. Her roommate was, was one of the people who had attacked her in the car. And so there was some suspicious she had been. She had been gone. But there was, you know, some concerns that maybe she allowed access to the room while she was gone. There was some bruises inside her legs. So spent several months raising awareness for her, trying to. To really elevate the story so that they can't shove it under the rug. Because what happens a lot in the military and, and this was more common, especially before December 23rd or December of 2023, where commanders had the authority to make a case go away, to say that we don't see any validity to this. We're not going to send them to court martial.

[Shawn French]

Oh, wow.

[Janae Sergio]

So that's why I elevate the stories so that you can't shove it under the rug, you can't hide it. Everybody knows about it, and you have to take action on it because there's just a lot of injustice that happens in our. You join the military so that you can serve and you know the risk, but the last thing you expect is that the risk is going to be the people that are serving to the right and left of you. Those are going to be the people who are sexually assaulting you, or those are the people who are going to be, you know, raping children. Right. You don't want to serve next to somebody who's doing that, or those are going to be the people who are committing violence against you. You shouldn't have to worry about that within your own unit. And so that's what I work to push out as a military.

[Shawn French]

Wow.

[Janae Sergio]

Yeah.

[Shawn French]

I mean, like, honestly, like, that's just sad. It's really, it's really sad. And like, you know, as a civilian, I've never been, you know, a service member. But you know, when as a civilian you look at the United States military and you look at the overall mission is to serve and protect.

[Janae Sergio]

Yes.

[Shawn French]

Right. And it's just unfortunate. I'm like thinking like this whole time like, you know, I've got two beautiful daughters, I got a son also. Right. 11 year old son, 8 year old daughter, 6 year old daughter. And it's like, wow. So you mean to tell me that the service may not even be a safe place for them?

[Janae Sergio]

Yeah. Yep. So I'll tell you the statistics for just for sex, sexual assault or sex crimes in the military. It, it was in the, I think the 2021. The military has to release because they are a public entity. Right. They have to release the statistics. And so the report in 2021 showed that they had about 36,000 members who were estimated to have experienced sexual assault. Of those 36,000, 16,000 of them were men. So then when you get down and you start to like dig into the amount of people who were reported, only about 5,000 were reported. Less than 2% of those 5,000 actually were convicted of sex crimes. So if you take the amount that were reported and then you weigh that against the estimated amount, less than 1% of the people who committed sex crimes in the military were convicted. What kind of message do you send?

[Shawn French]

That's wild, man. That's wild. It's scary.

[Janae Sergio]

It's really scary. And then 33% of the people who actually reported it got pushed out of the military. So if you commit a sex crime in the military, the odds of you getting convicted are less than 1%. But if you have a sex crime committed against you and you report it, you have a 33% chance of getting pushed out of the military. So why do you think people stay silent? And then you have these people who are committing them, promoting within the ranks and then they're the ones who are suppressing the stories. So myself and a group of advocates, and you know, we really are activists if you really think about it.

[Shawn French]

Sure.

[Janae Sergio]

Myself and a group of advocates work together as well as the Vanessa Guillen family to help with the Executive order that President Biden signed in December of 2023, which sends major crimes, not just sex crimes, but homicides. Manslaughter, sends major crimes to an external entity. So it doesn't even give the commander the authority anymore to make a decision. So they're not. Because they may not necessarily protect them because it's like their friend, but it could just be a really outstanding soldier that they're like, I don't want to ruin his career. It wasn't that bad. Or I don't have enough details. Like, a commander who doesn't. Who's not an expert in law will say, oh, well, there's not enough evidence in the case to. To prosecute. Well, how would you know that? You're not the prosecutor. Right. You know, you're not the expert in law. So now they've pushed it over to what's called the Office of Special Trial Counsel, and those are legal experts. And so they investigate it, and then they go through the process. So we're. We're watching to see how that trend is changing now. And so we. Yeah, so not. Not only do I do the work that you see online, where I've advocated for about over 200 cases, I have about 11 million reach, a reach of about 11 million per month on some of these stories. But not only do you see the work that I do online, but we also go and we meet with our legislators. I testify in front of this, and I bring other people's stories. Right. I bring those. That human factor.

[Shawn French]

I love that shit. Yeah, that's fantastic. And you're saying to go back real quick, though, President Biden's the one that signed that, like, well, there's something good.

[Janae Sergio]

There's a win.

[Shawn French]

There's one.

[Janae Sergio]

Literally the one.

[Shawn French]

Right. The one.

[Janae Sergio]

We had been pushing for that, though. So Vanessa Guillen, I believe that was in 2020. And so since then, the advocates have really been pushing for that. So that's how long it took for that to finally get pushed through. And I think it had been introduced probably even prior to that, but it was just relentless advocacy and bringing these stories to the forefront and saying, look at the, you know, the. The military justice system needs reform. And on some of our teams, we even have retired judges from the military who have seen on their end. And so they're like, I have, you know, children in the service, or I have daughters. And I don't want my daughter to go through this. So I'm now an advocate as well. So, yeah, he did. He signed that.

[Shawn French]

We'll still Give it to him. Right?

[Janae Sergio]

Well, it's one thing. Give him one thing. He didn't. He do his. His exit speech and he said, you know, all these things we accomplished. I'm like, I mean, we've got the one.

[Shawn French]

You've got the one, dude. Like, it's so. I, like, it's so funny. I never leave a bad comment on any type of social media, except when I see Biden's name on Twitter or X, whatever the hell it's called now. And Obama said something today or yesterday, tweeted that that Joe's presidency was amazing. And everything I said, my response was, huh, what? Like, I, like, what are we talking about here? You know, and I'm not a. And, and everybody will admit I'm not a big political guy, you know, like, this is the most, like, you know, that realm I've talked about on my show. But I'm excited about it, right? Because it's not like, are you a Trumper or are you a leftist? Right. Like, it's not that. And I just truly feel that what we really need to do is come together as America. Right. It's not about the party, but it's about the mission of, of our country. And are we doing things for our people?

[Janae Sergio]

Yes.

[Shawn French]

Right. Our people. Now, I'm not saying that we don't need to help out, right? But I'm saying, like, hey, we're hurting right now. America's hurting a little bit. And, And I know it probably started way before that. And, you know, the matches, you know, the pilot light was already lit, but Covid exploded it, you know, to where, you know, there's. There's family members that don't consider themselves family members anymore. There's friends, they don't speak to each other anymore because one's a Republican and one's Democrat. How fucking dumb is that?

[Janae Sergio]

Yeah. And then you see Trump and Obama chopping it up.

[Shawn French]

Yeah, it's all an act.

[Janae Sergio]

Yeah, it's all an act. Commented that on social media, they said they don't hate each other.

[Shawn French]

They don't. They don't. They don't hate each other.

[Janae Sergio]

Yep.

[Shawn French]

They're. They're getting. So if you look at, like, the WWE complete in the wwf, completely unrelated, but it's a soap opera.

[Janae Sergio]

Yeah.

[Shawn French]

Well, what do you think this is exactly? What do you think this is? You know, a lot of it could be staged. Like, we don't know what's going on. But my favorite is. Is always when, When. When Trump was debating with. With Biden, he's like, Yeah, I. I just don't know what he said, and I really don't think he. Does he.

[Janae Sergio]

Oh, yeah. Oh, that was a good one.

[Shawn French]

Yeah, that was a really good one. Funny story. Have you. Have you seen the new Jamie Fox special?

[Janae Sergio]

I have it.

[Shawn French]

Okay. On Netflix. Do it. He does the best Trump impersonation. He does a better Trump than Trump.

[Janae Sergio]

Oh, it's.

[Shawn French]

It's incredible. It's. It's hysterical. But your. Your work, your activism. Right. Your. What you're doing, your mission is very brave. Right. And, you know, we can go. We're gonna. I want to go into, you know, you being one of the first people deployed after 9, 11. Right. But. But first, it's like you're not just a single one. You have. You have kids. Right.

[Janae Sergio]

You married, daughters, recently divorced.

[Shawn French]

Okay.

[Janae Sergio]

So.

[Shawn French]

But you have a family.

[Janae Sergio]

I do.

[Shawn French]

And, like, you are putting yourself at risk for the betterment of the country. So you're out of the military. You're no longer putting your life, you know, on the line there, but you still are. Yeah, that's. That's a real soldier.

[Janae Sergio]

Thank you. I appreciate that. And, you know, I feel like we have a moral duty to speak up. And, you know, the first thing is I'd have two daughters. And so the last thing I want is for my two daughters to go through what I went through. And. And I'd like, you know, one of my daughters was to fall in my footsteps and join the Navy, but I. I can't allow her with what I know.

[Shawn French]

Yeah.

[Janae Sergio]

And. But it's not just my daughter. I think about other people's daughters. And I think if I had known these things before I joined the military, it may not have swayed me away from joining the military because it is a great opportunity to change your story, and you'll hear all about that this weekend. It is a great opportunity. But the problem is that you have people who come into the military, and we let our guard down because we think we're all brothers and sisters. Yeah. We can all trust each other. And next thing you know, that's the person that's hurting you. And then I compare this to combat, the way that you get treated after. And I'll continue to talk about sexual assault, but again, there's other types of happens. And. But you just say, for example, you get sexually assaulted by somebody in your unit. I compare it to trauma or to combat. When you're in combat, what do they do? They immediately remove you from the threat. Right. And then they. They deal with the threat, and then they um, they validate that what you went through was a real experience. And then they re. Rehabilitate you and they try to help you get back into society and be rehabilitated. Well, when you get assaulted by somebody in your unit or harmed by somebody in your unit, they don't do any of that.

[Shawn French]

It's like the opposite, right?

[Janae Sergio]

It's the opposite. They leave you right there with that person. They leave you right there with that person. They ostracize you. They, you know, dismiss what you experience. They re victimize you. Uh, you don't see justice happen. You have to fight in order to get your benefits, in order to get some sort of benefits or rehabilitation. And so it's like you. You basically leave that person right there smack in the middle of combat, and you're just compounding their trauma. And all these. All these people want to. Want to experience is validation that, you know what? My leadership knows this happened to me. And yes, things like this might happen, but the people who are here to protect us from this, from even each other, are going to step in and make sure it gets taken care of, and even that doesn't happen.

[Shawn French]

What do you think fuels all this?

[Janae Sergio]

It's systemic. It's systemic. We talk about it. You know, I hate to say it this way, for. Especially with sexual trauma. First off, the mission, you heard Pete Hegseth, right? Is to be lethal. That's the focus. That's what the focus of the military is. It's not to create an equal culture and all of that in their mindset. Right. Um, and so we'll start with. That is like the focus is over there. The next thing is, is when you don't value the. What someone brings to the mission, when they have issues, you may not take those issues as seriously because they're dispensable in your mind. Right. And so if they view. First, if they view sexual assault as a woman issue, which it's not, as I explained earlier, but if they view it as that and it's a polarized conversation, then they say, well, it's a woman's issue. Women are a little bit dispensable in the military. This man over here, though, he's part of the lethal force. We need him to stay. So, you know, maybe we'll kind of just let this go so that we can keep him and he can continue to go do the mission. So I feel like that's it. I think that also it's just the reform that needs to happen, and it's happening, but it takes time to get that reform going.

[Shawn French]

That's crazy, Janae.

[Janae Sergio]

Yeah. And one of the biggest goals that I have is to really depolarize the conversation and to get people to understand that this also happens to men, but when it happens to men, oftentimes it's downgraded as hazing, not just by the military, but even by the man. Right.

[Shawn French]

Because no man wants to say. Doesn't want to say that Jimmy sexually assaulted me.

[Janae Sergio]

And unfortunately, when you have that, then you're not getting treated for the right type of thing. Right. So then the man is going on, and he's living his life not understanding, why am I angry? Why are certain things triggering me? Why do I want to do certain things that I didn't want to do before? It's because he's not addressing the fact that he experienced sexual trauma.

[Shawn French]

Yeah, it's a different trauma. Like, we. I mean, that's just like, you know, people can be traumatized from losing a grandparent or a parent, but the sexual trauma, you know, sexual assault trauma is different. It is same with hazing. It's like it's all a different type of it. All three of them suck.

[Janae Sergio]

Yes.

[Shawn French]

You know, very much so. Right. But the fact of the matter is, you know, and again, I don't want to. I don't. Probably shouldn't say this, but I would say, like, getting over a grandparent passing or a parent passing and Eve or even, you know, being hazed, depending on the level of the hazing, I don't want to be insensitive to that, but, like, those two things there, I think, in my mind, are more conceivably, like, easier to work through, through therapy. But when you're sexually assaulted and you're not even that, that root problem, that root thing is not being, you know, helped through you know, medical attention like that. That's how people kill themselves.

[Janae Sergio]

Exactly.

[Shawn French]

So let's. Let's go there. Like that. I mean.

[Janae Sergio]

Or even others.

[Shawn French]

Thank you. Yeah. I mean, now I'm not saying, like, hazing in school and bullying doesn't get kids to kill people. I don't. You guys know what I'm saying? Right? Like, I'm not here to make any definitive statement, but it's just, like, I'm looking at him like it's sexual trauma. Sexual assault trauma. You can't treat it, like, hazy.

[Janae Sergio]

No, you can't.

[Shawn French]

It's different.

[Janae Sergio]

Exactly. Because, you know, it's a. It's a power thing. Right. So that person took a piece of your power.

[Shawn French]

Yeah.

[Janae Sergio]

You know, and so if you don't acknowledge that and you don't work through that. You go through life trying to figure out why can't, you know, they took maybe a piece of your identity. I mean, the reality is men, they, you know, because of the work I do, I hear this all the time. Men don't want to acknowledge it because it feels emasculating. Right? It feels. And, and you know, they're treated differently too when they, when they admit that it happened to them or they come forward. I, I'm kept, I'm covering a case right now. I don't know if you saw it, but Major Stocken up at JBLM, he was an army doctor who sexually assaulted 41 men. 41. 41 different.

[Shawn French]

I saw you speaking on something maybe if. Right after the election.

[Janae Sergio]

Yes.

[Shawn French]

What was that?

[Janae Sergio]

That was Major Stockin.

[Shawn French]

Okay.

[Janae Sergio]

Yes, yes.

[Shawn French]

And. And there was, and you were catching heat about something and I think you were rebuttaling it. I watched it. I don't remember the details, but. Because, I mean it was like three, four weeks ago, right?

[Janae Sergio]

It was. Yeah.

[Shawn French]

Short term memory loss.

[Janae Sergio]

Yeah. Cuz he's, he was a physician and people would come in and they'd have like neck or back pain and he tell them to take off their clothes and he would fondle them with bare hands. And the thing about it is in the military. And, and so when I shared the story, the first time I shared the story, this was a year ago when it came out, there was only 23 victims. And that's still a lot. That's still a lot. And at that point, and at that time I said, this is what's getting this. This may be one of the biggest sexual assault cases in the military. And when I shared it, I shared all the commands he worked at. Next thing you know, 41 people in total have come forward and he's looking at only getting 13 years for it. He was facing 300. Yeah.

[Shawn French]

So how old is he?

[Janae Sergio]

I would say probably in 40s.

[Shawn French]

So he would still have, he would still have a, he would have a life.

[Janae Sergio]

Yeah, he'll still have a life after. And, and all these people, he robbed their life. Right. Because they're gonna have to live with this forever. 41 people. And who. And like you said, right. Who, who's to say there's not more victims that have already taken their life because they couldn't live with it?

[Shawn French]

And these were all men.

[Janae Sergio]

All men. All men. And so when the story. And I believe that's why the, that this wasn't taken as serious because when the story came out, people are like, well, why didn't they just say no? Yeah. Or why didn't they report it? And so I'll kind of explain why. Because in the military, it is a hierarchy no matter which entity you go to. So if you're. If you're in the military and you're an E4 and you go to a military hospital, even though it's a hospital, a major outranks you, there's still a power in ballot. And so if you go in there and this major who outranks you tells you you have to take off your pants, and he. You have to listen.

[Shawn French]

Yeah.

[Janae Sergio]

And if you try to push back against it, he can actually go to your command and have you disciplined and say that you're, you know, denying the treatment that you need. You can actually. I've. I've advocated for people who have actually been counseled for. For advocating for themselves medically. And so because the doctors called their command and had a power issue, right. Where they were like, oh, he's not listening to me, and got him in trouble. So the thing is, because it was all men, people were just kind of saying, well, why. Why'd you let him do that to you, bro? Why'd you let him do that to you, bro? And it just, It. It invalidates it, and it makes that person feel even worse.

[Shawn French]

I think most people. I mean, I think probably everybody that's asking that question doesn't know shit about the military.

[Janae Sergio]

Exactly.

[Shawn French]

Or the ranking system. Right. It's just wild to me, man. So if you were to go in, right. And like, one of those men, if they fought back and said no, can they be sent to the brig for.

[Janae Sergio]

That or so not. Not immediate. Well, I mean, if it's something where they think that you're. You're. You're not necessarily the brig, but if it's. If it's like a mental health type of thing and you fight back, they can abuse their power and they can get you, you know, committed. Right. And then they can go down that road and actually stuck there. Yep. And. And, you know, it's interesting because, remember I told you earlier about the statistics And I said 33% of people get kicked out. I've actually had reports of people who. Their command and the, The. The doctors they believe worked in. In unison to say that they had mental health issues before they came in the military. So they pushed them out. Yeah. So they.

[Shawn French]

None of it came up when they were getting screened.

[Janae Sergio]

Exactly. But it suddenly comes out after they report A sexual assault, but it was before they came in so that they can't get the benefits and so they just get pushed out. So, but there, there's definitely opportunities for them to abuse the power and for that person to be admitted. And, and I've, like I said, I've advocated for people who have experienced stuff like that. And in one case in San Diego, the, The sailor, he got committed, committed into the hospital. And his, his family said that he didn't have these issues before he came in the military. They said that it was before he came in pre existing and they just threw him out on the street. And he was actually homeless. They didn't give him his documents or anything. And so she was doing gofundmes to try to get him back home and to get him the support he needed. So there's just so many stories of abuse and, and that's what I take. I take the names, I take the stories and I take the names and we get them in front of our legislators and sometimes it's by way of social media.

[Shawn French]

Yeah. And you're giving them the voice. Right. You're fighting for them. Like, you're putting a name to the trauma. You're putting a name to the story. You are fascinating. I'm so grateful you're here right now. You know, when you, when you do these, you're like always looking forward to the conversation, but this is, I mean, I don't know if you realize, but like almost 45 minutes has just flown by. Yeah, it's amazing. Like, this is great conversation and I think, I know my audience is really going to love this. So what can we expect from you? This weekend?

[Janae Sergio]

I am going to be sharing the message of the hero mindset. And so I, I'm going to share my story about how I was actually. And the reason that I give a voice to people is because I. I was silenced.

[Shawn French]

Okay. Okay. See, I thought that I had. So it's funny not to interrupt, but like, I, I thought I read that or learned that on your page, but then I got it mixed up because the same day I listened to my buddy's podcast and, and he had a woman on there that was also silent. So I'm like. So I told my team, I'm like, wait, no, no, maybe I got this all up. Hopefully it comes out naturally. And it did. So perfect.

[Janae Sergio]

It was. So I, I joined the Navy from a homeless shelter when I was 16 years old. My mom dropped me off at a homeless shelter. I was homeless in Hollywood for about two and a Half years, joined the Navy from a homeless shelter. And when I came in, I was so excited that like I said, I finally had a family, I could let my guard down. Six months after coming in the Navy, I went on a Navy sponsored trip. And I was sexually assaulted on that trip. And it immediately, in the moment, I created a scene because they had put us all in a room, like five of us in a hotel room together. There wasn't even enough beds for us yet. It was gross negligence on, on behalf of the leadership, right? And like I said, because we were subordinates, we had to listen. And so I ended up getting sexually assaulted in that room. Woke the leader up right there in that moment. When it happened, I was reporting it. And he threatened me because he would get in trouble for all of the things he allowed us to do while we were on this trip. So he threatened me and he said, if you call the cops because we were all drinking underage, if you call the cops, you're going to get in trouble for drinking underage and you're going to be back on the streets where you came from. And he silenced me in the moment and I get back to the base and somebody else reported on my behalf. So it did end up going to court martial. During the time that it was we were waiting for this case to go to court martial, which by the way, it took about a year and a half, two years to finally go to court martial. I had to actually stay in the classroom in class with the person who assaulted me. And I was leaving class every day trying to go to medical because I couldn't stand to sit in this classroom with this person. I was ostracized, like I said, re victimized. It affected me and it affected me throughout my career because now all these people that I want to trust, I want to let my guard down, but I can't. I'm living in fear with people who could be helping me. And then it's affecting my career. And so after that, I knew that eventually I was going to be able to come back and help people. I didn't know how grand it was going to be. After I got out of the Navy. I promoted very quickly within the Navy or within the Department of Defense, actually. I'm now the chief of Air Force Lodging. So I oversee 88 Air Force hotels.

[Shawn French]

Look at you.

[Janae Sergio]

Promoted very quickly. And I just still felt like there was a sense of purpose missing. And that's what I'm going to talk about this weekend is, you know, the hero mindset you often see that Victim mindset. And then you see survivor and survivor's still passive. Sure. Hero is. No, I'm going to step up and be my hero and then I'm going to come back and I'm going to be a hero for others, too.

[Shawn French]

Amazing.

[Janae Sergio]

And so that's what I'm going to be talking about is just. I felt that sense of purpose was missing, got on social media and I was just thrust right into it. And here we are.

[Shawn French]

I had goosebumps right there. Unbelievable. I'm excited to. To watch your keynote and to cheer you on and I. You have a new fan. Like, like, for real? Like, like. No, like, for real. Like, I am like, I cannot wait to dig into your socials more and your stories more and whatever I can do to support you along the way. Hey, I'm in.

[Janae Sergio]

Thank you.

[Shawn French]

Because this is important. So where can the audience find you? How can they support you? Buy your books, all that kind of stuff.

[Janae Sergio]

So you can find [e-mail] I am on all socials. Ena underscore. Perfectly flawed. My book is also available on Amazon. It was a number one bestseller on the day I released it. It's called Perfectly A Veteran's Journey from Homeless Hero.

[Shawn French]

I want one. Do you have some with you?

[Janae Sergio]

Absolutely. For you.

[Shawn French]

Oh, come on. This is.

[Janae Sergio]

I would have brought it in, but I was running out a little bit late, so. It's still in the car.

[Shawn French]

No, it's okay. No, like, amazing.

[Janae Sergio]

And.

[Shawn French]

And thank you so much for coming on and sharing what you're doing for the world. Right? It's. It's a. Guys, it's a brave thing. She has two children, right? 11 and 14 or 17.

[Janae Sergio]

17 and 12. 17.

[Shawn French]

12. I was close. I was close. But to do something like that really shows where her heart is and, you know, what she's focused on is bringing light to really, really bad situations so people can live their lives in peace and. And be healed. So please go check her out. And if this episode made your hair stand on end or you know, or if you know something or you've been a part of something, please reach out to her so she can help you and share this show with someone you know love and trust. And as always, please, hey, leave a review. Let us know what you like and what you'd like to hear from from then on. But until next time, stay determined.

[Unknown Artist]

Sharp French. What up? This one. Luck. I let the pain is inspire me. I put my all in Everything I'm doing up until it's done, I mean, for the entirety. I put it in Nova Tunnel I'll be working Just know I'm a go for mine because I earned it. They watch and I know it's time I confirmed it the whole society determined, determined.