Words from the Wise Podcast

Send us Fan Mail 55% of adults are struggling and not receiving treatment, and the scariest part is how easy it is to miss the moment when someone needed us to lean in. I’m joined by Justin Goodman, an insurance industry leader and mental health advocate, for a grounded conversation about what it really takes to support people without pretending we’re clinicians or having the perfect words ready....

Send us Fan Mail Judas is one of the most recognized names in history, yet most of us never stop to ask a simple question: if the crucifixion is essential to Christianity, was Judas Iscariot destined to betray Jesus, and if so, what does that mean for free will, guilt, and redemption? We wrestle with that tension alongside Ocala author Steve Marks, whose faith-based fiction novel Judas Otherwise r...

Send us Fan Mail Ocala is growing fast, and the veteran community is changing with it. That sounds like opportunity, until you realize how many veterans still fall through the cracks between “here’s a number to call” and actual help that shows up. We sit down with Navy veteran, father, nonprofit builder, and serial entrepreneur Chad Walker to talk about what happens after the uniform comes off and...

Send us Fan Mail Trust is getting harder to hold onto, and it’s not just because people disagree. In 2026, AI-generated content, deepfakes, and polished “thought leadership” have made a lot of listeners wonder: is any of this real, and who is actually behind the message? I sit down with Gabrielle Dolan, a global authority on authentic storytelling and the author of Story Intelligence: The Craft of...

Send us Fan Mail A Hollywood career can look like the dream while quietly draining the life out of you. We sit down with Preston Zeller, an award-winning filmmaker and growth leader, to talk about the moment he realized the “successful” path wasn’t making him whole and what it took to rebuild his faith, his work, and his sense of purpose. Preston walks us through growing up with music and storytel...

Send us Fan Mail He helped test the hardware that made Mars landings possible, then turned around and started helping leaders land the hard stuff in their own minds. We sit down with John Mollura, a former NASA contractor and test operations engineer who spent years in mission-critical environments, including testing the giant airbags used to land Mars exploration rovers. John shares what that wor...

Send us Fan Mail Coaching sounds simple until you try to turn it into a real post-military career. Ronnie Netter comes back on the mic to talk with us about life after service, finding a calling, and what it looks like to take years of Navy mentorship and translate it into civilian coaching, leadership development, and consulting without feeling fake or salesy. We get straight into the hard parts:...

Send us Fan Mail She wanted overseas orders and got Camp Lejeune. She wanted aviation and landed in engineering utilities. And somehow, that’s exactly why this conversation works: it’s an honest look at how a young Marine turns disappointment into direction without losing her edge. We’re joined by Ashley Smith aka "Smitty", one of my former NJROTC cadets, calling in from Marine Corps sch...

Send us Fan Mail A single phone call can be the difference between burning your life down and finally growing up. I’m Gary Wise, and I’m telling one of the most personal stories I’ve ever shared: my relationship with my little sister Kristina, from childhood closeness to years of conflict, and the grief that followed her death. I walk through my background as an adopted kid who moved constantly, t...

Send us Fan Mail One risky moment can break your body, and a single email can build your future. Jason Brown joins me to trace a Navy journey that starts with a teenager from Southern California who knows he needs a way out and a way up, then turns into a decades-long lesson in resilience, mentorship, and leadership under pressure. If you care about Navy career development, military mentorship, or...

Send us Fan Mail The Navy rarely follows the plan you had at 17, and John Lukosus is living proof. We sit down as shipmates and walk through a career that starts in the engineering spaces as an undesignated fireman, then pivots hard into the Master-at-Arms world when family reality hits and the stakes suddenly feel personal. Along the way, we unpack what “watchstanding” really teaches you about le...

Send us Fan Mail Boundaries are not about being harsh, they’re about being clear. I’m back with part two of our conversation on setting effective boundaries that protect your time, your sanity, and your relationships, while still helping the people around you grow. If you’ve ever felt stretched thin by constant requests, constant problems, or constant emotional pressure to say yes, this one gives...

Send us Fan Mail Your calendar is not neutral. If you do not set boundaries, somebody else will gladly spend your time for you. I sit down solo to get honest about where I still struggle: going all in, saying yes too fast, and letting work expand until it fills every gap in the day. Boundary setting is not about being cold or selfish. It is about self-leadership, protecting your energy, and making...

Send us Fan Mail A Navy career can look clean on paper while feeling brutal on the inside, and that gap is where this conversation lives. I sit down with Master Chief Dean Howell to talk about what it really takes to grow from a young sailor trying to keep his head down into a senior enlisted leader who has to carry a command, a family, and his own mental health at the same time. Dean walks us fro...

Send us Fan Mail One bad decision can derail a life. One good mentor can reroute it. Gary sits down with retired Master Chief Tyrone Jiles to trace the real path from Rayville, Louisiana to the highest enlisted levels of Navy leadership, with the messy middle included: family loss, growing up without a clear blueprint, and choosing the military for structure and a shot at something bigger.  We tal...

Send us Fan Mail Some careers are straight lines. Terence Harmon’s is a fight through storms—boot camp setbacks, a fraternization hit that torpedoed his first run at MA, a year in Gitmo during riots—and a steady climb back built on mentorship, discipline, and no-nonsense leadership. We dive into how a country kid from Talladega found his footing on a destroyer, got his pride checked by a tough BM2...

Send us Fan Mail What does it take to fix a system that keeps letting kids down? We sit down with Dr. Nelva Lee—healthcare executive turned education reformer—to map a practical path from broken metrics to better lives. Her story runs from directing patient advocacy at a major health system to founding a medical interpreting trade school, and now to a statewide campaign for Georgia’s superintenden...

Send us Fan Mail A small-town country kid from deep East Texas—near Beaumont and Jasper—joins the Navy in 1986 as an undesignated fireman and steps aboard the legendary USS Midway in Yokosuka, Japan. What follows is a 22+ year career defined not by flash, but by quiet competence, decisive action, and an unshakable commitment to taking care of people. Brian Nelson rides out a brutal typhoon that wa...

Send us Fan Mail What does it really take to grow from an 18-year-old radioman into a Command Master Chief trusted to steady a carrier crew? We sit down with retired Master Chief Shaun Brahmsteadt to map a 35-year journey packed with hard choices, honest mentorship, and the kind of leadership that delivers results when it counts. From a tiny Northern California town to Cold War boot camp, from a s...

Send us Fan Mail History isn’t background noise here; it’s the compass. We open by connecting Cold War alliances to today’s fault lines, then ride along as David Cano—retired Navy Chief Hospital Corpsman—shares how “sailor first” shaped every step: enlisting three months before 9/11, stabilizing patients in Iraq’s trauma bays, and learning that prevention is power when you’re safeguarding a ship’s...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when you hate running, but choose obedience anyway? That’s the spark at the heart of this conversation with faith-first performance coach Chris Avery — a man who ran a marathon with zero training, logged a mile a day until it became years, and is now mapping a 12,000-mile mission to run the perimeter of America. The story isn’t about superhuman talent; it’s about ordi...

Send us Fan Mail Stress doesn’t start at the crisis point; it starts the moment the phone lights up. We open with the real baseline most of us carry—pings, expectations, and a mind that wakes up in the yellow—and then lay down a clear roadmap to navigate the day without losing yourself. Drawing on years of Navy leadership and today’s classroom realities, we use the Operational Stress Control color...

Send us Fan Mail A wound left untended doesn’t just hurt—it starts to steer. That idea threads through a gripping conversation with author, speaker, and publisher Athena Dean Holtz, whose journey spans Scientology, pioneering PTSD advocacy, a booming publishing house, and a long season of spiritual abuse that cost her marriage, company, and community. What emerged on the other side is a hard-won c...

Send us Fan Mail A kid from Staten Island walks three miles to a Navy recruiter after a jobsite blowup and ends up a warrant officer, a chief engineer, and finally a financial advisor. That’s not luck—it’s discipline, mentorship, and a lot of deckplate reps. Gary sits down with his shipmate Jody Schilling to trace the full arc: boot camp in Orlando, Treasure Island A School, meeting a destroyer in...

Send us Fan Mail When emotions run hot, one choice can change everything. Gary Wise lays out a clear, battle-tested way to slow the moment, tell the truth about what you feel, and make a response you won’t regret tomorrow. Drawing on decades of Navy leadership, teaching, fatherhood, and faith, we unpack why emotional intelligence matters more than ever in a world of constant comparison, instant ju...