SPEAKER_00 0:00

In the Marine Corps, we had a uh saying uh Semper, which is Latin for always, and Gumby, which is, you know, a flexible dude made out of clay.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

What's up everybody? Welcome to another episode of Connections That Matter, where we talk to Northern Colorado's best business owners and the connections that they make that make them be successful. And when we talk about collaborators and community builders, uh, if you haven't met Marshall Spring yet, you got to meet Marshall. So, Marshall, welcome to the show. Tell us a little bit about what you do.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Well, thank you so much for having me. It's it's really an honor to be here and uh what an opportunity. Uh, so I get to spend my day um having really, really interesting conversations and solving problems all day, every day. Um, so I am the uh founder and CEO of Combat Recovery Foundation, and we are focused on effective evidence-based suicide prevention for veterans and survivors.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Very cool. And you've grown quite a bit since I've been following you, and you've built quite a team and a lot of collaborations. But share a little bit about your journey, the vision of why you started, and uh what are some of the projects you're tackling?

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Yeah, yeah. Well, I guess Combat Recovery Foundation um was was was born out of a response to uh my business partner's very, very unexpected death. And uh his name was Al Burke and uh miss him to this day. And um and and he killed himself, and um nobody uh really understands why. Um and so I I started a combat recovery foundation as a response to that to uh shine a light on um the incredible uh rate of uh suicide amongst veterans. Veterans are are four to six times more likely to kill themselves than the average civilian. Um and to uncover um to understand more about why that happens. And um, it's not about unchecked mental illness or depression, it's about isolation. And in the military, you you have you have a mission and and you have a crew to go about and and accomplish mission with, and and when you leave, all of that goes away. And that transition is very, very difficult. And for a lot of veterans, they struggle to recreate that that community in their lives. And so that's what Combat Recovery Foundation is trying to do is give veterans a new mission and a new community to accomplish that mission with.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Yeah, and there's a lot of different ways I've seen that you've you have like a gaming club and uh fishing club. So, what are some ways that people can get involved and build that community that they might be missing out on?

SPEAKER_00 3:00

So we're always looking for community leaders, um, people who have a passion and and want to pass that passion along. And so that's how the fishing group got started, and that's how the gaming group got started, is that's what people wanted to do. And then uh we've also got um groups that that serve the community and and and respond to um to needs in the community. And so we get involved in erosion control efforts to try and protect the watershed, and we um do wildfire mitigation and recovery work to protect our community, which is it's what all of us signed up to do, you know, into the military to do in the first place. And so why not why not take advantage of that person's desire to serve and protect?

SPEAKER_01 3:54

And it makes, I mean, I've seen on the website some of your videos that you've done. I mean, just really, really cool cont and there's something that nature does when you're when you're up there restoring the ground, uh, make you feel connected and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

So that's what I love so much about our mission is we're we're serving the land, we're restoring the land and leaving it better than we found it so that the land can leave us better than it found us.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Yeah. And and as a nonprofit, uh you started it, but you you're not always from the nonprofit world or you come from a business background. So what made you uh want to go into more of the nonprofit sector?

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Yes, you're right. Yeah, I was I was self-employed for uh 20 years, and um, and so it was it was out of um uh a desire to see some type of a solution to to uncover uh what what the the mystery of of of why veterans are struggling so much to exist in this environment.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

Well, Marshall, the way that you've built it, a lot of nonprofits uh do fundraisers, they're constantly asking for money, or they uh they're they're throwing different nonprofit events. You have taken a different route um and also created collaborations and partnerships. So um tell us about some of those. Yeah, so I think you're asking me how we keep the lights on. How do you keep the lights on?

SPEAKER_00 5:28

So so uh great question. Great question. I love to talk about this. Um so as a business owner, you know, I've had the experience of being overwhelmed with opportunities to give. Sure. You know, way more opportunities than I have resources. And so um that that creates a responsibility to do a lot, take a lot of time and do a lot of vetting and you know, suss these uh these organizations out and make sure that my my resources are going in the right direction. I understand uh how valuable time is to a business owner. So um I try not to ask for donations and we don't really uh spend a lot of time writing grants and um we don't uh we don't take your tax dollars. What I want to do is I don't want to take from your bottom line. I want to add to your top line and just take my fair share. So we've created a marketing apparatus that is very, very effective. And we create brand collaborations. And so as as a for instance, um we just uh locked a brand collaboration with uh pine right soap. And it's uh it's it's really, really cool because we are we're thinning trees and limbing up trees to mitigate fire risk, right? Well, now what we can do is we can take all of that that that tree material and instead of burning it or or chipping it and returning that fuel to the forest, what we're do is we're we're we're we're partnering with Pine Right and we're powdering it, they're powdering it, and they're turning it into soap. They're turning it into a facial scrub and into a hand soap, and it's it's like the best soap you could possibly use. And now when you purchase it, a portion of those proceeds benefit our nonprofit and our effort to go and mitigate the wildfires and keep people showing up day in and day out.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

That's so cool. So, how I I'm super curious how you got that sign. Like one, how did are people finding you? Are you seeking out these kind of partnerships? How did you uh start exploring the idea?

SPEAKER_00 7:44

So it it uh started with coffee. Coffee was the first. Uh we partnered with Wander Coffee out of northern Fort Collins, run by a couple of brothers. They're great guys, they're really fanatical about making really, really good coffee. So we sat down with them. We tried about six, you know, variants and we tweaked the flavor, and now we have rising Phoenix Roast Coffee, and you can find it at wandercoffee.com. And then from there, uh, we created uh Patriot Press, which is a line of ciders. And uh we partnered with uh Sweetheart Winery to create that. And so you can find that at Sweetheart Winery, but you could also find it um in uh on tap all over Colorado, and pretty soon it's gonna be on the shelf in grocery stores and liquor stores. And so um the next collaboration um was forgive my memory. I have I do have you know half a dozen TBIs, so sometimes sometimes uh things fly out of here. Um, but the next collaboration was it'll come to me. But that's that's what we do is we we create these brand collaborations where a portion of the sales benefit the nonprofit, and then hopefully the sales of that product increases, and that's what incentivize the business owner to partner with us. So it doesn't cost them anything, and hopefully, in fact, it makes them money to profit to to partner with us.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

Sure, uh definitely create some win-to-wins. Um, sometimes people come up with the partnership agreements, but it seems very one-sided. What do you look for to really ensure that it's a win-win? Is it a culture fit? Is it a financial fit? Um, is it just cool products that you want to get behind? Uh what is that? What are you looking for?

SPEAKER_00 9:31

We try to brand uh we try to partner with ethical brands who are um putting a product out that is holistically beneficial, you know, in as in as many ways possible. Um Pine Rite is an exact is a perfect example of that because here's a material that would otherwise um be burnt, thrown away, or is is a hazard. And and we we spend money to to manage our forests and to remove those hazardous materials. And then, like I said, we don't really do anything productive with that material. But if we could now make that material profitable, yeah, well, now there's a reason to go and mitigate these materials out of our forests.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

And it's so cool that both of you guys are northern Colorado and like with Sweetheart Winery right there at the foothills of uh of Loveland up there. Um, it's cool to see that you're doing it making an impact locally. Um is this a local thing or is this a big thing? I mean, talk to me about the scope of where you uh you work.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

So we will serve anyone anywhere. Um typically I I have I have flown out and I've gone to veterans uh where there was a need. Um I popped out to Oregon, I went out to Virginia. Um, but uh our preference is to bring veterans to us and to show them what we're doing with the hope that they will go and create this in their communities. So, you know, I would love it if Florida came to us and said, How did you leverage your veteran population to mitigate wildfires? Because we would love to mitigate beach erosion with our veteran population. Or whatever that local issue is, let's let's find the people in your community that we already know that they're willing to sign their name on a dotted line and put their life on the line for a stranger. There's really no more compassionate thing that a person can do. Well, let's give them an opportunity to serve us again.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Awesome. Well, and then one thing I noticed, I I recently came to one of your board meetings, um, and you've just assembled quite the um just the most amazing volunteers, the people who are committing some of their time to help the cause, but uh, you know, our powerhouses locally. So what kind of uh things are you doing to attract um people that are leading committees, leading different projects?

SPEAKER_00 11:54

We are. We're snowballing quickly. Um I think I think honestly, I think one of our our secrets in the sauce is um just authenticity, genuine authenticity. It's it's it's one of our core values. And um we're we're willing, we're willing to have the really uncomfortable conversations. Um, we're willing to talk about what needs to be talked about. Um I I had a business meeting um in my office just recently and and and the guy wasn't in a really good headspace. And uh we ended up talking about that, and um, and then that's all we ended up talking about. You know, we we re we rescheduled the business meeting. And um there's a there's a book, um, I might be getting the title wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's called Um Radical Hospitality. And um I think the point that I'm trying to make is that uh we we focus on the needs and goals of the individual who's in front of us and figure out what they want to do, and then figure out how that fits into the big piece, the the whole pie. We don't we don't go to the person and say, this is what we need you to do. You know? Yep. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Well, you got this race coming up in this September, it's turning out to be a big thing. Um Rise rising uh Rising Phoenix 5K. So uh I know this podcast will come out right before the event. Um share us about the vision of that because you're planning big things like flyovers and a whole bunch of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

So well, this is an opportunity for us to talk about things. Okay. So that that event, um, yeah, flyover, uh bagpipes, um, fire trucks, 5K, community, food trucks, all of it was gonna be awesome. Okay. All right. It is exceedingly difficult to get licensure for a thing like that. So actually, what it came down to was the county shut it down.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Oh no. Okay. Yes, sir. All right. Well, I guess it's uh it's this is a story of resilience then.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

This is a story of resilience. Okay. And and that is that is the theme of Combat Recovery Foundation. Our our uh logo is a Phoenix, right? So interesting story. We our our strategy around creating community was to take veterans on backcountry adventures. Sure. And then that all got interrupted when the backcountry we were gonna use got burnt down. Now we work in wildfire recovery and mitigation, and that's our adventure in the backcountry, and that's how we kind of stumbled upon this whole concept of serving the community. What we learned is that veterans are terrible at showing up to get help, but they are amazing at showing up to help. So you're right, this is a story of resilience. So what we have turned this into is uh an event that's gonna be going on um this November 15th, and um, it's going to be about um celebrating um winter and the entire season, and um we're gonna have some really, really fun things going on. Um, we're kind of centering it around the theme of fire and um kind of like uh bring light to the night kind of a thing. Cool. So yeah, it's gonna be great. Stay tuned for more details. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Well, take me back to the moment though, where you got the letter that says, hey, this is not happening, and you guys have obviously put a lot of effort in planning and the vision and uh dreamt about it. Like I remember even walking on a hike with you guys, and we like we're visualizing what this was gonna do. And then now it was it's not gonna be the original plan. Yeah. Um, a lot of entrepreneurs are there's a point where they got to pivot, they got to adapt, they got to overcome. Um, but it doesn't make that initial news any easier. So what do you do when you first get the bad news? Any advice you'd give uh to another business owner um about how to how to make um you know how to make the best out of whatever situation you get going on.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Yeah. Um great question. Um I think the answer is to um have already found the value in the bad news before it comes. So that you know why that bad news isn't actually bad.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Yeah. So now you're you're here, you're refocused on the mission and you're able to pivot, gives it more, more, more freedom to do that. Uh, but you're you're not a you're not a one-man show, right? Like you you got a lot of teams. So how is it easy to mobilize your team to adjust uh for the for the new stuff?

SPEAKER_00 17:16

So we always we we always plan for every contingency. And and and that that's when I say, you know, the the the bad news isn't bad. Yeah. Um every there's value in every trauma. There is a silver lining to every cloud. Sometimes it's really, really hard to find. Um if you can possibly uh anticipate that cloud and look for the silver lining before it comes, then if it comes, you already know why that's actually an opportunity in disguise. Um easier to do in business than it is in other parts of life. But uh when it comes down to planning an event and I know that we're applying for a license, it's not a stretch for me to say we might not get this license. How can I spin that into an opportunity on the backside if that happens? So here's the tough part. Here's here's here's where my my big responsibility piece comes in is I've got a team who has uh burnt a lot of hours working toward that goal. And I have got uh sponsors who have uh who want their name associated with a well-attended 5k event. Sure. Right? Yeah. So it's about doing that planning on the front end so that you have a pivot, and then when it comes, being ready to pivot. And um luckily I have built a very uh flexible and dynamic team. Um in the Marine Corps, we had a uh saying uh Semper, which is Latin for always, and Gumby, which is, you know, a flexible dude made out of clay. Semper gumby, yeah. Semper gumby.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

All right. Well, as you've been growing and and scaling, um have you had any growing pains or has it been pretty seamless? I mean, uh, you just seem to be doing it at such a high level. Thanks.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Um we've been growing really, really fast. And so we're still in a place where um a lot of people are wearing uh too many hats. Sure. And so we are um always, always, always recruiting. Um we're always looking for good people. We really need a volunteer coordinator who can ramp up that recruiting effort and uh also keep a hard eye on making sure that the people who are are working with us and volunteering with us and sacrificing their time and and and giving us their discretionary time and energy that they're receiving the appreciation and the thanks that they deserve and that they're seeing the uh the fruits of their efforts and labors.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Yeah. And as a visionary, um, how has networking helped you accomplish your mission?

SPEAKER_00 20:22

This networking, networking has been huge. Um, I've I've always been a big fan of it, and um, it's never been more important to me than it is now in this nonprofit space. Um my businesses in the past have been um security and waste management. And so I I benefited from a degree of necessity. Um now that I run a nonprofit, all of my you know, business interactions are very, very discretionary on the part of the person sitting across from me. And so the onus on me to be in front of the right person and drive the point home and to identify as quickly as possible what I do is of value to them is crucial. And having partners in that who can help me to vet the right people and who who bring me the right people, like Pine Right. Sure you brought me. Yeah, cool. Yep, cool. That's that's uh that's crucial. And and actually, even more importantly, it's literally saving lives. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

Well, really cool. Well, Marshall, as as a connector, as a community builder, uh uh a provider of spaces where people can belong. Um, I'm sure there's people gonna watch this episode and wonder how they can get involved, either whether it's a a brand partnership uh where you guys are collaborating, or maybe it's a veteran that is just you know feeling alone and feeling like they need to reach out. What is the best way to? Reach out to either you or your organization.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

Yeah, great. Thanks for asking. So the short answer is you can find us at combatrecovery found foundation.org. Combatrecoveryfoundation.org. Really, the bottom line is whoever you are, uh, you have something that connects with what we do. Either you're threatened by wildfire because you live near wildfire threats, and who doesn't at this point? Um you maybe you're a veteran or you know somebody who could benefit from our uh our services. Um maybe you want to sponsor or donate or or see us, you know, increase our impact. Maybe you want to volunteer with us, come hang out, come chop down some trees, or teach a veteran how to knit, you know? Sure. Whatever your passion is. The bottom line is um if if if you want to give us a call, if you want to check out our website, I promise there's something that that you can do with us, and you don't have to be a veteran. All right, right on.

SPEAKER_01 23:05

Well, Marshall, thanks so much for coming on the show. I know we got uh Veterans Day, November 11th, coming up. So uh really appreciate that and appreciate what all for what you do for the veteran community in Northern Colorado and the way that you're bringing Northern Colorado together. Thanks for having me. Hey all, thanks for watching. I love networking and building relationships with other Northern Colorado business leaders. So if you want to come meet some of these podcast guests, meet me or meet some other amazing entrepreneurs in Northern Colorado, I would love to have you attend one of our next events. Uh go in the podcast description. There's a way so you can see our upcoming schedule, and maybe you could be a future podcast guest as well. Thanks.