Veteran Chat with Rob Heber

Our guest today, as we honor Veterans Day and Veterans Week, our next guest has spent many, many years at the highest level of leadership, determination, and purpose. And now I would like to welcome Rob Heber. Rob, how are you? Wonderful, Sydney. Thanks so much for having me. Great to be here with you. Thank you so much for taking the time, you know, to come in and kind of shine the light on all that you guys do, but then also how you have transitioned, you know, from that military role into civilian and business life. So before we kind of get into it, tell us a little bit, you know, about you and your time because you had 17 deployments, you know, in support of the global war on terrorism. You know, how has that shaped your process when it comes to leadership? Wow. So, you know, entering in service in 1997, you know, we know the world's, you know, crazy world, right? And so, yeah, volunteering to go join service in the Ranger Regiment, the Special Operations Community, is volunteering in to go and, you know, participate in warfare at every level. Um, What brought me into the Ranger Regiment was the idea of participating and serving in the Army as a leader. And the Ranger Regiment is commonly referred to as a leadership engine for the Army. That's to say that many Rangers will go on and serve outside the Ranger Regiment and to other special operations organizations and lead there. And so those leadership principles, you know, tactics, techniques, procedures, arts, and science of leadership is all practiced there daily. And that's really what, you know, we have true bleeding procedures, right? And so those true bleeding procedures have brought me success everywhere I've gone. You know, from the basic thing of, you know, receive a mission, issue orders, you know, conduct reconnaissance, supervise and refine. And that's all very human centric. And so understanding your people, understanding the mission, and then, you know, taking all of the troop leading procedures and putting them into practice is really what's helped me. You know, my discipline and ultimately, you know, enabled me to be a great leader, primarily because I had great subordinates and other leaders as well. Now, being in the military, even if you're only in for two, four years, I feel like trying to go when you go through all of that, the extensive training and the things that you guys go through and see and then trying to transition into civilian life, it can be very difficult. What was the hardest thing that you had to face going from, you know, being top ops when it comes to the military and then transitioning into civilian and business life? Yeah, that's a fantastic question. You know, the highlight, you know, my time while I was over in Ukraine from most of 16 to 19, you know, you're the guy in charge, you know, you and, you know, eight subordinates and, you know, fellow, you know, ranger buddies. And, you know, you know, how do you, how do you, you know, find a par with that? Right. When you leave service and you come back into the civilian world. What I find fascinating, though, is about leadership specifically is it's the truly the most dynamic element of American power, both in and when I say power as in to influence, to inform and to coach, teach and mentor. Others, you know, they're looking for expertise in various arenas, especially as, you know, we go through, you know, this time of our lives. Think about, you know, the transition was very much, hey, continue to be a leader, although you'll just take off the uniform, continue to be a leader. And that's and that's really what has, you know, the same the same principles of leadership, but utilizing the army and just utilize them a little bit differently in the civilian world. And you and a good buddy of yours and someone I had talked to and have utmost respect for, I even got like a little coin, Sean Haggerty. And in 2016, you guys created the Ranger Sacred Honor Publishing and you guys are focusing specifically on kids. What brought this idea to both of you guys? Yeah. So, you know, growing up in Texas, you know, cursive was taught to us. I still remember my teacher, Sheila McAfee, you know, in Houston, Texas, telling me, you know, we're teaching you cursive so you can read the Texas Constitution and the United States Constitution in their original form. And this is 1980. Gosh, 1986, maybe 85, something like that. And, you know, to fast forward to, you know, modern times where computers have just taken away. And writing at all. And there is massive amounts of data that shows the difference between brain activity from typing and actually writing. But in 2020, COVID changed all of our lives. Our neighbors sent their kids over because we were homeschooling our boys. And one of the young men pointed to the board and said, what's that? I was like, well, that's the month, the day, and the year. And he's like, oh, I can't read that. And he was, you know, he happened to be the son, the grandson of a veteran, you know, from the area. And I was like, well, that's amazing that you can. Let me, you know, help you. You know, this says March, this says 28th, this says 2020. And, you know, it made me, you know, stop and think about how, you know, it's not being taught anymore. And, you know, of course, I heard my, you know, third grade teacher in my brain, you know, to say, hey, you know, we got it. you know, be able to read our founding documents in original form. So I originally put it together in 2020, you know, put together, you know, the book in front of a couple of publishers and just really no demand signal. And, you know, when 2026 arrived, Sean reached out to me early in the year and was like, hey, I'm looking for something else. And I was like, well, what do you want to keep doing? I just want to keep writing. So let me send you my book. And so I sent him my book and he's like, hey, he's like, I'm all in. Let's do this. He's like, well, we got to change some things, you know, because, you know, we got to really make this great. And so, yeah, Sean and I put our heads together, did some great brainstorming together and, you know, and put together Founders Font. And, you know, it's and now it's, you know, we've had tremendous feedback from everyone that we've. We've got it from Ranger Sacred Honor Publishing, hopefully is going to be the vehicle for which other rangers from our community can get their books published on as well. Yeah. And so with the company name, including Sacred Honor, which is a direct reference to the Declaration of Independence, what does that phrase mean to you personally as a veteran and then as a founder yourself with being an entrepreneur and author in that world? Yeah, so I was actually having this conversation earlier today. Thank you for that question. As a veteran, you know, when you think about when you sign your name to go serve in the military, you have to sign, right? That's one of the most you can swear on us, but you've got to sign that contract. And, you know, that starts something that starts a life of service and it stops the life of being a civilian at the time. And back to the, you know, You know, our founding documents, we, you know, pledge our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor, and all the founders signed underneath that. And, you know, you know, your history, you know what happened to a lot of the founders, right? They didn't all live because they were pursued by the British. And so to me, it's one of those things that, you know, that's that statement. Our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor started in our nation and stopped a life of tyranny. And so when I think about that too, every child, every time they pick up a pen to start writing, Writing their, you know. they're illustrating each letter. It's the first form of artwork. And they are starting a path to education, starting a path to understanding, which as you know, the more educated you get, the more things you unlock, the more opportunities are available for you. And you are living life, liberty, pursuit of your own happiness. And so where you guys have come from, you know, from starting the publishing company to writing Founders Font, looking ahead, what is your broader vision for Rangers Sacred Honor Publishing? Yeah. So, you know, when we think about, you know, we did Founders Font because we wanted to, you know, something to celebrate our nation, right, for America 250, right? And then as we look at other intricate… Subjects, you know, that are important to our nation, that's really where we want to take it. You know, the reality is, you know, for example, you know, information in some cases has been weaponized, right? Truth is sometimes difficult to get to. Words have been changed with nuances, and so, you know, we're really looking, that's, you know, one of the major reasons why I put Founders Fond together. When we look at the different things that we've experienced that we can inform future generations on, specific to military lessons learned, to, you know, highlighting, you know, you know special operations and things we did um to you know communicate to the next generation a you know this is a great story uh b you know this this is something that will inspire you know our next generation and you know and and really carry them forward to where you know some of those kids who read our stories our writing stories in you know 5, 10, 20 years. And so, Rob, before I let you go, is there anything else that you would like to say, you know, as we wrap up Veterans Week, which I feel like veterans should be celebrated year round. It should just be designated to one day or one week. You have any final words? Yeah, absolutely. Well, hey, you know, it was it was the most wonderful honor to serve our nation. My father actually posed a great question to me as I was getting ready to sign up. So ask yourself, what else is really worth doing? And, you know, for me, service was pretty obvious. So, yeah, I really think that, you know, our veterans, you know, they put themselves out there on the front lines to defend our nation and to preserve our way of life. And that's very, you know, it's a very amazing thing to be a part of. It can't be replaced by anything else. And so really thanks to all the other veterans that are out there. And then specific to Founders Fund, you know, we'd love to have, you know, Wow. All the feedback in the world, you know, on Amazon and all the other great, you know, online venues to hear the feedback from the nation. We hope that it inspires every kid that reads it and brings joy to the family as they read it together. Well, Rob, thank you for your sacrifice. You know, the times that you served in the military. Thank you to your family. And thank you for taking the time to come and chat with me and fellow book lovers out there. We greatly appreciate it. Oh, wonderful, Sydney. Thank you so much.