Our mission is made possible because of the tremendous generosity and support of patriotic people and businesses across North America. On this episode of the WWIA Podcast, WWIA Founder and CEO, John McDaniel welcomes one of these American Patriots, and an outstanding supporter and friend of the Foundation, Mr. Kyle Bennett to the show.

Kyle is the General Manager at Kabco Builders, Inc., which designs and constructs high-quality manufactured homes and employs 225 people in beautiful Boaz, Alabama.

In 2018, Kyle became the youngest General Manager of a production plant in the manufactured housing industry at just 35 years of age. He and his wife of 18 years, Lacy, share three incredible children together, ages 17, 14, and 12.

Kyle is a proud alumnus of the University of Alabama, where he played football for the Crimson Tide from 2002 to 2005 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science. This is a great episode that we’re excited to share with you.

Takeaways:

• The WWIA Podcast aims to honor and support America's combat wounded veterans through various initiatives.
• Kyle Bennett, a notable supporter and friend of the Foundation, is the General Manager of Kabco Builders and has significantly contributed to our mission by building and donating a beautiful home to WWIA's Camp Hackett in Phillips, WI.
• The podcast discusses the importance of leadership and the impact of personal stories shared by veterans and their families.
• Kyle highlights the value of maintaining high standards in business and how it reflects on the overall quality of work produced.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• WWIA
• Kabco Builders Inc.
• University of Alabama

Mentioned in this episode:

Kabco Builders Proudly Sponsors this Episode of the WWIA Podcast

This episode of the WWIA Podcast is proudly sponsored by Kabco Builders—a company built on integrity, craftsmanship, and a deep commitment to those who’ve served. Kabco is honored to support the mission of Wounded Warriors in Action, bringing healing and connection to our combat-wounded Heroes. We salute our veterans and believe in building more than homes—we’re building stronger communities, together. Thank you, Kabco Builders, for standing with our Heroes.

Foreign.

Hello and welcome to the WWIA Podcast. We're honored to have you join us in our mission to bring honor, connection and healing to America's combat wounded Purple Heart heroes.

If this is your first time listening to this podcast, we welcome you if you're a returning listener. Thanks for coming back. Please be sure to tell others about our podcast and leave us a review if you're enjoying what you're hearing.

Our mission is made possible because of the tremendous generosity and support of patriotic people and businesses across North America.

On this episode of the WWIA podcast, WWIA founder and CEO John McDaniel welcomes one of these American patriots and an outstanding supporter and friend of the foundation, Mr. Kyle Bennett, to the show. Kyle is the General Manager at Kabco Builders Inc.

He and his wife of 18 years, Lacey, share three incredible children together, ages 17, 14 and 12.

Hi, I'm John McDaniel, founder and CEO of the Wounded warriors in Action Foundation. This is our podcast, Honor, Connect, Heal. So I have with me today another very special guest and this gentleman is an amazing philanthropist.

He was a, a former, he formerly a, a linebacker on the believe it or not Alabama, the University of Alabama Roll Tide.

He's a very uh, uh, interesting man, one of the youngest uh, general managers in the production plant for manufactured housing at the ripe old age of 35 back in 18. Just a great American and it's a pleasure to welcome to the program Kyle Bennett. Welcome.

Yeah man, appreciate it. Glad to be here. Yeah, yeah.

And you're now, now why do I have you on this program? I have you on this program.

I'm just going to say it because you and your family and your company, cab company which builds, you know, manufactured homes, built a home, a beautiful custom made ADA compliant American Disabilities act compliant home in Boaz, Alabama at your factory and then it was shipped up to northern Wisconsin and it's sitting there on camp packet fully installed and is being utilized as we speak by our combat Wounded Purple Heart Veterans. And it changed our life up there, buddy. And you did that. You and your family did that. Thank you.

Hey, man. Well, when. Basically when they come to us, we're gonna, you know about doing it and Camp Hackett and, you know, it was a no brainer. You know, we can.

Hey, we can house them.

You know, I was telling Matt, he was just talking about different stuff, and I know you're gonna get into Matt Brannon in a minute, but yeah, that was a, you know, it was a no brainer. He didn't quite tell me I was going to Wisconsin until kind of the very end. But anyway, we figured out the logistics and, man, we was.

We was honored to be able to do that.

I'll tell you how. I'll tell you how it went from my side of the fence, you know, how this whole thing unfolded. I'd been..I'd been.

There was no more room in the bunkhouse. The bunkhouse was completely full of Heroes and there was no place for me to even sleep.

And I had this old 40 foot fifth wheeler that the animals had taken over. I brought it up there. No, seriously, man. I had squirrels living in my mattress.

And I didn't want to even tell you what else was going on up there, but that's where I was staying. And then it became uninhabitable.

So I ended up getting a small used Airstream trailer and I was taking that up there, so at least I wasn't sharing my space with. With animals. And it's true. And so Matt was up there at our Guide School program.

And he looks at me, he looks at the bunk house, he looks at the Airstream, he says, you bringing that up here every time from Florida? And I go, he goes, he goes, what do you think about me? Because I'd already met you at a fundraiser at Matt's.

Holds a fundraiser for his event in Boaz, his turkey hunting event. And he says, what do you think about. And I'd met you at that fundraiser.

I didn't understand, like, full force Kyle Bennett, and I didn't understand Kabco at that point. We just shared a table. And I knew you're his friend, right? So we were just, you know, having a good old time.

But he says to me, what do you think about me calling Kyle and seeing if he'll build you a home? I kind of thought he was kidding. And I said, fill your boots, man. Like, right, like.

So he drifts off into the wood line so he can get reception up there with his cell phone. He comes back five minutes later and he goes. He said yes. That's how it happened, man. And I was like. I didn't say I doubted it, okay?

But I thought, well, you know, we'll see. You know, I mean, that's. I mean, I didn't doubt that it would happen. I just was, like, surprised.

I knew if you said it was going to happen, it would happen. But I was like, I was floored. Like, Matt's not going to come up to me and say, yeah, Kyle said yes if it wasn't true. So I was like, flabbergasted.

But literally then that. That rest of that summer, I had to get. I had. I rented. I don't.

I never in my life did I ever drive a digger, you know, front, you know, one of those diggers, you know, excavators, I guess you call them. I had to go get an excavator. I did, man. And I lied. I saw I'm probably get myself in trouble, but I lied to him. They said, are you.

You have any experience with any of these things? Oh, yeah, absolutely. I say absolutely. I drop all the time, man. I grew up on it. That's right. Fixing to have experience. And.

And then I showed up with a truck that was a quarter ton. And the dude goes, nope. He goes, you. You're not pulling it with that. I said, come on, man, this thing can do it. Is. That's.

You got to have a 250 or better. You got full. Full. Such as a real digger, man. Anyway, amazing that you. That you guys did that.

And I want to thank you from, you know, the bottom of my heart is kind of planning on saving that towards the, you know, the end there middle part. But let's backtrack and talk about Mr. Matt Brannon, if you don't mind. You guys are friends? Ben and he went to high school together.

Oh, yes, we. You know, he was a freshman when I was a senior, so, you know, football. That's where we got to his football. Baseball player. I was too.

And, you know, he was a young buck kind of coming up in there. Then he got thrown into the fire a little bit and had to. I played running back in high school, but he had.

The fullback got hurt, so he had to come block for me.

So we had us a lot of come to Jesus meetings on the football field with him being 14, 15 years old, me being 18, and him not blocking the right guy or getting his block. So he was tough. I mean, Matt, that's probably what drew me to him when we got Such a good friendship.

He was, he was, he was very tough and like I had like a little brother, you know, had to kind of teach him a row and then, you know, Matt's always been a, you know, a great dude. Anybody's ever met. Matt Brannon.

Yeah.

They can't say nothing, nothing negative about it. That's, that's what, you know, he's just a great, great individual, great person. And better than that, he's a great friend.

I could call him up, you know, he's, he's that kind. You call up and say, look, hey, we're about to go do some stuff, I need you. He just, he's going to ask you whose car we drive.

You know, he's, he's that kind of guy. So when he needs something, I'm there. When I need something, he's there. So. And that's just kind of blossomed from there.

Well, and for those of you that don't know Matt, you know, Matt's a combat-wounded Veteran and that's how I met him. He's a Purple Heart recipient.

And I got word through the grapevine several years ago and I would, I would, Matt would know that I'm sure that the year. But I, I don't because they all kind of bleed together. I would have to say it was five or six years ago that I first met him.

I reckon maybe even longer. And I'm sorry, Matt, that I don't recall the actual date, but I was told, you gotta meet this guy.

And, and, and it was, I think Jake Whipkey told me that. And so we did get to meet and Matt started to, you know, do his own event.

Now here's a combat wounded veteran that's, you know, running his own event in Boaz, a couple of events actually in Boaz, Alabama that are highly successful.

So he's serving wounded veterans in his camp, your camp, and also running around as a trained and certified guide through our program, leading events and activities all across the country and then gets us connected to you and then gets the cab company house built and then shipped up to Wisconsin. I mean, it's all been a game changer for us.

And I, I really wanted to have a, have you on the program because you guys and you know, you're just amazing people for starters.

But you know, you also invited me to a Wisconsin because I'm a Wisconsin guy, you know, a Badger and went to University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin played Alabama in, in Tuscaloosa and I'd never been to Tuscaloosa and I'D always been a closet Bama fan. I'm going to say it, okay, because I go back to the days of Bear Bryant. I go back to the days of Nick Saban, which was not that long ago.

And I just always admired, you know, Alabama for what it. What the football team that it was, the coaches that it had, the winning tradition that it had.

And I'd never even been there, never thought I'd get the chance to go, you know, actually to Tuscaloosa, and much less, you know, look at the stadium, but be inside of it. Like, if you don't have tickets, I don't know how you'd get into that. You can't get in without a ticket. But I don't know how you'd even get a ticket.

Right. You're. You're snickering about it, but I had no idea. And then the next thing you know, you're inviting me. Wisconsin's playing. This was.

This was this year. This was last month. You invited me to the Wisconsin football game. Matt was there, and I showed up. And I remember, you know, you got a little.

You got a beautiful, you know, condo not. Not far from, you know, from the stadium. You can see it from your. Your place.

And there I am looking at that thing, and I thought, geez, this looks like the Coliseum, man. You know, I got inside and I'm like, holy cow. I thought, you know, Wisconsin has a beautiful football stadium.

But I'm telling you, I mean, you guys have taken that thing to an absolute extreme. You eat, sleep, and drink football.

Yeah, it helps when you win. It helps having Paul Bear Bryant, coach Nick Saban there. It does help. It does help get that money to build the cathedral.

That's what we call Danny save.

You do it.

You call it a cathedral?

I asked jokingly, I said, when I was sitting up there in the, you know, in your space, sharing it with you and your family and friends, and I always just felt really, you know, obviously very honored because it's a family affair and a friendship affair and all of this, and to. To be invited into that, to that group was a. A very special day for me.

But I jokingly said, I just, you know, is it at halftime when they start feeding the Christians to the lions here? I mean, where they. They're gonna have a gladiator event? What's going on here, man? I mean, it's serious and you want. Else. I didn't say. I'm.

I'm doing all the talking. I'm sorry, I. I can't. I get. I Get excited, man. But the other thing I noted was, you know, your band is amazing.

Like, your band, it takes a whole section. Like you've got a whole, A whole section for the band. When that band gets on the field, there's like, standing room only.

It's the biggest band I've ever seen.

Well, the band's gotta be good too, now.

No, they are.

Yeah, so they are.

They are. They're great.

When you perform in Bright, Danny, it's gotta be. You're gonna be good. And they are. They're up. Well, renowned band. So it is a. It is a. People understand it.

I guess it's a. I won't call it entertainment, but it is a. You know, it's something you go to. It's not just a football game. It's a, it's a. It's a lifestyle. It's an experience. You know what I mean?

So it is.

And that's what's so great about bringing people to the game. Like, I love to bring people's first time to it. Like, I love just sitting there watching your face, like, oh, you know what it is? You know.

And then there's going to be a football game play down here too. Yeah, we got some big old jokers. Of course, Wisconsin did, too.

Of course, after the Florida State game to start the year, I thought about uninviting you because if you had to come down there and beat us now.

Yeah, well, turned it around.

So we're good now.

Well, and, and two days ago on Saturday, you guys had. And I would never forget this. I was asking you when we were, you know, before the, the game. I say so, like. Or maybe it was after, I can't remember.

But, you know, who are your biggest rivalries? I mean, you're Alabama. Well, and you just said, you know, you said, well, Tennessee. And you said a few things that probably shouldn't say on air.

And I'm like, I sense there's a real, like a, you know, like a real rivalry there. That's. That's deeply seated.

And there might be some, some anger and some angst and some other really competitive, wonderful things happening underneath the surface there. And you got to go, well, why is that?

Well, you, you and I were in the pre show, you were talking about that, but you said Tennessee, you know, Tennessee. Holy smokes. Well, you guys just, you just handed them their hat, you know, Saturday. That's, that's that. I didn't, I didn't.

I want to say it wasn't a competition, but you, you, I thought I thought the team performed superbly well.

Yeah, it's always good. You know, that's the cigar game. So you got your cigars. Matter of fact, they.

Matt, who we're talking about Matt Brandon, he was there with me probably eight years ago. My little son Bo, he was six years old and he sent me a picture after the game and go, smoke me if you got him.

There's my 6 year old with a cigar in his mouth after the Tennessee game six years ago. And we beat him with it lit, you know, grinning, you know, and I was like, man, don't show that to nobody, man.

That's how, that's how deep we hate him now. We put it in there for the picture and took it out. But that's just, you know, it's a traditional. I mean, we didn't like them when I was down there.

We still don't like them. You know, Auburn fans, we gotta tolerate them. We live with them. Tennessee fans, we don't.

So we, when we cross over that border state is when it gets real. You know, we don't like orange and they don't like red. So it's a lot of fun, though.

Yeah. That's good stuff, man. I appreciate you inviting me to that game.

It was, I'll just, you know, I was left with an impression that I'll, you know, I think I, I wanted to mention for my Wisconsin fans, I was wearing a, a Wisconsin Badger T shirt at the game. Okay. But I did buy a Bama hat, which I, I, I wear all the time. Okay.

Now I'm, I'm a Bama fan too, now, but I put my Bama hat, I had my Bama hat on and my Wisconsin T shirt on. And guys came up to me, a lot of Wisconsin dudes, and they're like looking at me strange, like they couldn't figure it out.

And they said, well, you just must be really conflicted. I said, I am. I am really very conflicted.

Yeah, but that, And I'm outnumbered by about a hundred thousand. Oh, yeah, a little bit.

Yeah, that's right. That's right. But it was, it was a lot of fun. And you played football for Alabama. You were.

Now you, you were say you were a running back in high school, as I, as I was, but I was, I was more of a fullback. I was the, I was the Matt Brandon. I was, I was blocking for a guy by the name of Curtis, who was a tremendous tailback.

Be your fullback and blocker. But you were a running back, and then. And then you ended up going to be. When you played for Alabama, that you turned into a linebacker.

How'd that happen?

Well, now. Well, I mean, I was a linebacker in high school, too. That was back in the good old days when you went both ways. These.

You know, these kids can't do it no more. Like we could, you know, I did it. Yeah. I didn't have a choice.

That's right. I didn't have a choice. I was also the. I was also the kicker. I think I was the only one. I w. The only team I wasn't on, I think was punt return.

Yeah.

Other than that, I was on the field, I think.

I know it was, hey, if you get tired, pat your helmet. Well, I'll be over, pat my helmet. The coaches look the other way. So I was. That's. That's a lot, you know, so.

Yeah.

But no, I was. I was. I actually went down there. And the funny thing is I went down there as a linebacker.

And then my sophomore year, we was right in the middle of training camp, right in the middle of a practice. This is a funny story. We're sitting in the indoor. You got to take a break in the indoor. And it was time for break.

And I'm sitting there and we drink Gatorade. You know, we're chilling, waiting on the next period to start.

And all of a sudden, here comes the head coach and running bass coach, my defense coordinator, who was our linebackers coach, Joe Tynes. And they come walking up and equipment man, here they come. He's got a jersey in his hand was a different kind of jersey. And I had on. And they.

They told me right then and there that mid practice, I was moving to fullback, and of course, I was trying to bucket a little bit because I was like, hey, I'm doing pretty good linebacker. Hey, our fullback just got hurt the day before, and we needed depth, and I was actually behind a guy named Amico. Ryan's playing linebacker.

If y' all don't die. Ryan's. He's now the head coach of the Houston Texans.

Okay.

Well, I went through some beat out to Miko Ryan. So now the whole. The whole moving to fullback thing was actually pretty.

You know, I was thinking about it in that short little time span, and I told him, I said, well, I thought I was doing pretty good at line Bearing about that time, Joe Kynes, he's hilarious. Love that man of dead. And he got that little scruffy voice. You won't play down here. Yes, sir. That's the whole point.

He goes, well, you're moving on, Fish. You're too slow. Playing linebacker in the sec. And he just turns around and walks off. The head coach says, hey, this is coach Woods.

This is running back coach. You know, y' all know each other a little bit, but hey, you're spending a lot of time with him. He walks off the foot.

Mayor, those in my jersey says, give me the other one. And me and coach Sparky woods, they become best friends because I had to get there early and stay late to learn offense really quick and.

But it was good. And even though Joe Kind said, Coach Kynes said he was right, I was too slow to play linebacker in the sec, so going to. Moving to fullback was good.

I got to earn two varsity letters my last two years, start on all the special teams. And I backed up a guy named Ron McClain who ended up going get drafted by the Baltimore Ravens and made the Pro bowl two years.

So it was a good experience. You know, it's. It was. It was great. You know, met a ton of. Ton of memories, ton of friends, ton of ton of connections. You know, you go.

You live in this state, you go play football for Alabama. It's. It carries a little bit of weight. So. But now we were. Now, we were pre saving. Now, I mean, we're the reason why Coach Saban's here. You know, we.

We. We had a few struggling years my senior year. We really good. Went 10 and 2, won the Cotton Bowl. But after that, it kind of went downhill.

And two years later, you know, Saban came and. It's been real good to be a Bama fan in the last 15, 20 years, so.

Well, I appreciate you sharing that with me. That's. That's cool. I, I didn't know that.

And you and I chatted a little bit when we were together in Alabama about playing football, and, And I, I remember you saying you were a running back and a linebacker in high school, but I never did get the chance to talk too much to you about, you know, your time in Alabama, you know, with the Crimson Tide and what, you know, position you played. I assumed that you were a linebacker, and of course you started there, but then, you know, transitioned to becoming a running back again. That's.

That's pretty cool. Yeah, that's, that's, that's. That's. That's. That's that's awesome.

So let's, let's switch gears here and talk a little bit about cab company because I'd love for you to share, you know, a little bit or as much as you want about cab company the company. Cab company. Tell us about cab company.

My, my granddad he's was in the business in the 60s, it's called river Oaks. And then my dad worked for him and my granddad sold out. My dad went and started a company called Homes of Legend right here in Boaz, Alabama.

And they built that up, they sold it out. And he was too young to really retire.

He signed a non compete for three years and actually when I was at Alabama he would come, he bought a motorhome and away games, home games didn't matter. Thursdays he was rolling in. That was kind of his thing for about three years there. And anyway he got, you know, he was bored.

Now we're, like I said, we're on our 22nd year and we got 225 employees. Now we build six floors a day which means we build three complete double wise a day. You know, 27 station.

It is a production line and it's a lot of fun, let me tell you that. It's, we have a lot of fun doing it, but it's, it's very challenging. You know, the economy, you know, economy's up, it's good. Time is down.

You gotta, you struggle a little bit just like everybody else. You know, you got 225 people depending on you to run this thing every day. And you know we feed a lot of families.

I tell people all the time when I make a decision here, it ain't about me, it ain't about you. It's about 225 people out there in their families. So we make a decision to Capital builders is for 225 families. Times that by four.

You know, that's, that's what, that's how we make decisions, how I make decisions, how I've always done it. And you know, it's been good, it's been good. My family, we're an independent. We're one of the few Independent manufacturers left in the industry.

We are actually the number one independent manufacturer in the state of Alabama. We build more.

Okay?

So it's, it's been good. It's been good in my family business has been good. It's been good.

A lot of families around here, even when we go out, you know, go eat lunch, you know, we see these old timers and they'll stop and say, hey, I work in a mobile home plan back and so, and so for your granddaddy, hey, I work for your daddy, you know, this and that. Of course, they, they've went on to own their own construction businesses or electrical businesses or plumbing businesses.

And it's a, it's a good, it's a good place to come work, make it, make some money, learn a trade. And hey, if you want to go out on your own, start your own stuff, I'll be the first one to pat you on the back. Hey, I'm here if you need me.

And you know, that's kind of what we're, that's kind of how we do it. And that's, you know, we're looking for good young labor. That's what we try to do. Now.

It's harder, obviously, this technology and everybody wants to get into this technology stuff, but, you know, we're in these high schools, I'm trying to get in the high schools, I'm trying to get to these tech schools again and be like, hey, you can make a great living coming to work with your hands and building somebody a house. You know, that's what it is. We're building people's houses, you know.

You know, we're building houses for people that work their butt off just like we do, you know, just, you know, have their own land, have their own home. And we put, take a lot of pride in doing that.

You know, a lot of our, a lot of our business, a lot of our customers or first time home buyers, you know, got young families, they're working their butts off. They've got, you know, a wife, two young kids, whatever it is, you know, they want to own their own place.

You know, they, they tired of renting and you know, site bill housing is a little bit too hot, you know, too high for them. And they're blue collar people and that's, that's our customer base.

So take a lot of pride, take a lot of pride in building their, building their house, you know, so, and.

How many, how many, how many your homes that you guys build are, are going, you say that's your, that's Your number one customer base about. I'm assuming that the majority of the homes that you guys are building are staying in Alabama. Is that, is that true?

No, sir. We got, we. Now Alabama is a great state for us, but we've, we Service, we got 76 dealerships that we sell to. So we're a wholesale manufacturer.

So we got, okay, you know, dealerships all the way out to Oklahoma City, East Texas, you know, Waco, Texas. That's about as far as west as we go.

And then all the way up, you know, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, of course, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, both Carolinas and Panahila, Florida. So we, we service about seven states and we got 74 locations that we sell. And so it's a, it's a, it's a pretty big, it's a pretty big ordeal.

Let me ask you this.

Now, bear with me in my, my ignorance here, but you know, your brand, okay, Your cab company brand, you know, when you, when you send a house off or houses off to just, let's just say Oklahoma for, for argument's sake or any place doesn't matter. And that house is somebody, a dealer bought that house from you to sell it to somebody else, right? I'm assuming that's what's going to happen.

Yeah, it already be sold, but it shows up and you know, maybe they tour it and they look at it and they go, yeah, this is great. And they say yes, and they buy the house.

But your brand, you know, because when you go buy a car, right, I mean, hey, that car was manufactured and say, I don't know, let's just say it was Detroit, you know, they make a lot of cars in Detroit, you know, and that you say that it's a, I don't know, it's a Ford or something like this and, and you know, it gets shipped down to Florida and you know, I buy it. Well, it's still got Ford's brand on it. I know I'm a bra. I'm buying a Ford or in this case a gmc.

That's what I'm driving now is I would buy a gmc and maybe it was. Mine was made in Canada. It doesn't matter where it's made. It's got the brand on it. It's gmc. But how about you and your house?

I mean, when they, where they know this is a cab company house or is just to them it's just a house that's. I would be looking if it were me, I would be, hey, I fancy myself a business person, you know, I come from a family of business people.

And so I would be thinking to myself, how do I reinforce my brand? People go, I want a cab company house. I mean, is it even evident? Do they know it's a cab company house? How do they know?

Oh, yeah, you know, Yeah, I think now, you know, online and we do a pretty good job marketing, you know, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram.

But all, you know, people can get on the Internet now and they, they, they, they are going to research, you know, and that's funny, you keep saying the brand, you know, Pat McAfee. You ever listen to Pat McAfee? You ever, you know Pat McAfee on college game day? You ever heard of him?

No.

Okay. He's his big thing back in the day was for the brand.

You know, he's always right for the brand, you know, and I've kind of took that and run with it, like, you know, right guys here in the production line, you know, all my employees know that, hey, it's for the brand that Capco is stamped on that plastic, which is, you know, we wrap our house in plastic down the road. It's got the Capco builders, the Capco logo, perfect. You know, this for the brand and.

Right.

You know, so when they, when they get this Capco house, it's going to be built with quality, it's going to be built with care, and we're going to care about it, you know, and, and then after the sale, you know, we're a little different, you know, manufacturer home has got to roll down the road.

So then they got to come, they got to get set, they got to have the tires and axles taken off, they got to get put together, it's got to be anchored, tie down, systems racked here and there, trimmed out. Well, there's going to be some service involved in that.

You know, there's going to be some doors that needs adjust and there's going to be some cabinets that, you know, crown mode might have popped loose or, you know, just some stuff. So we do have 10 service techs, we got 10 service trucks that stay on the road full time, go around and service our houses.

So they got the Capco, you know, the Capco wrap on their trucks. You know, they're going to show up with their Capco T shirt on or Capco hat and gonna get in there and fix what needs to be fixed.

So it's a, that is very important, the brand, you know, you know, always protect the brand. And then whether you're the service tech that's that's sometimes that's the only people that they're gonna see from capco.

Right.

You know, so, you know, you gotta have your talks with them about, hey, being professional, getting their house, you know, taken care of, anything they need.

But so being an independent, as Will, you know, we're not, you know, we're not a big city, you know, owned by Warren Buffett, you know, Clayton, Clayton Homes, probably the biggest manufacturer in the United States. It is the biggest man United States. They're on by Warren.

But so I'm, so I'm competing against Warren Buffett, you know, you know, one of the greatest, you know, investors, whatever is out there. So, you know, to be an independent in this industry, you got to, you got to protect the brand. And that's what we're going to do.

You know, we're going to build your house for quality. We're going to build it with care. We're going to take care of you after, after the sale.

And you know, it's a, it's a family owned, family run business and we do business with family run business. In other words, our dealerships that we sell to our independence, you know, they're, they're family run.

So you get a lot more stuff done when you make one phone call here to Capital Builders and talk to Cal Bennett and make something happen than it is just keep shooting it up the ladder because I am at the top of the lap. You know, corporate, corporate's a little different. You know, they got to have permission to do stuff. I, I really don't.

You know, so that's the great thing about being an independent manufacturer in this industry that we're in today is, you know, we can, we can do things and that we want it.

Right. You know, it's, he said something that it's going to stick with me for, for, for a long time.

As a matter of fact, I've never heard anybody say it, you know, like this.

And it might be because I was thinking, you know, why, how, how come I've never heard that or never heard anybody say that or never thought of that myself. And I think it might be because of, you know, my former line of work in the army for 20 years.

And you know, when we made decisions as leaders in the army, you know, we weren't making decisions necessarily for the entire platoon, right. And their family.

It was because we have a job that has to happen and we know that it's dangero and we know that, you know, this is just, this has got to happen and we're Going to do our best to make sure that nobody gets hurt and nobody gets killed. And in all of this.

But you know, you said that, you know, when you make a decision, you're making that decision for 225, you know, people and 225, you know, families. Right. And that really, that gives you a sense of how, how weighty some of the decisions, you know, are.

But is it in the best interest of the entire organization and the people that work for it? And I gotta tell you, I'm gonna, I'm gonna use that and I think it's brilliant and I think it's great.

And that is a really unique way of looking at making decisions as a leader and you know, especially, you know, in the commercial sector. So I appreciate you sharing that with us. I'm sure that's going to resonate with a lot of people as it certainly did with me.

And I was going to talk about leadership with you, but you stole the show on that one. I mean, I think that right there is something that, that's got legs and that, and there's a lot of weight to that.

And I appreciate you sharing that philosophy with us because I think that's something that's going to resonate with a lot of people. I know it, it certainly, you know, has with me. So thanks for, thanks for sharing that wisdom with us. Pretty, pretty neat.

I switch gears on you here a little bit and, and I'd like to, you know, talk a little bit about, you know, family you mentioned. We, you know, in the pre show, we were talking about family.

I met Beau, who's 14, that, that's your, that's your son who I can tell you right now, starting out with, with that cat. You know, they say that, they say that they, that the tree doesn't, you know, grow too far, the apple doesn't grow too far from the tree there.

You know, I mean that he's 14. So I'm, I've got, I've got an 11 year old. I imagine he's a, is that right? Yes, he's freshman, he's a freshman high school.

And I'll tell you, I can go back to my time. I remember being a freshman wide open, man, just wide open. That, that's, that's a year, that's a big year for growth.

I, you know, you got a 14 year old son, Bo. You got a 17 year old girl, Lexi, and then a 12 year old young girl by the name of Hadley. And you have your, your wife Lacy.

And so I just, I know everybody I hope everybody likes to talk about their family. I'm interested, you know, in it. I'd like to hear, you know, maybe if you don't talk about Bo first and I'll let you take it from there.

But I could just see Beau and his buddies there and I just had a grin on my face looking at him when we were, when we were tailgate, you know, he showed up and then of course after the game and, and I just thought to myself, man, I could see there's a monster connection between you two.

Yeah, Bo is, he's. Well, I could really tell you some stories here, here recently because he's, you know, we got a phone call over the summer.

Me and Bo is actually on the golf course together. We don't ever get to spend time in him unless he's going to a ball field or practice or something. I've got Legacy who is very into travel, softball.

You know, you listeners that do any kind of club or travel stuff, they know what I'm talking about. So it was her huge commitment. Yeah, yeah. And then Hallie Jane, she, she, she does stuff too.

So me and Bo don't get to spend a whole lot of time together. We was actually on the golf course July 4th week we were shut down. We're on vacation.

We were just me and him, we went play golf before we went to a travel ball tournament. I think it was in. Somewhere in Florida with him. And we're sitting there in a high school football coach calls me when I'm, when I'm there and he's.

I said well I'm whooping you whooping one of your players. But moving both golf right now. He goes good, I'm glad you're with Bo because he's going to be our starting quarterback on varsity this year.

I said, oh boy, you know, 14 year old freshman. He said, but you know, he's got to realize now he's going to come to leader.

Well, okay, so leadership's not a mile, you know, here we go, you know, so. But I'm talking to him. We play a little golf course. Bo's over looking at me and y' all phone and you know, he wants to be more vocal.

You know, this and that's, that's really hard for a 14 year old. Fixing me with 18 year olds. You know, it's the starting center is 18 year old to, you know, 6 to 280 pounds.

Starting center, you know, start running back 6, 1 2, 15. And here he is about 616 to 150 pounds. So we had just now got three armpit hairs under his left armpit and he's still baby face, right?

And so we had, we had to talk about leadership, you know, but, you know, this is what you're going to have to do. You know, you want to be more vocal. You know, you are the quarterback. You know, hey, you know, leadership's not a, it's not anointing.

You know, I tell people that all the time you can get put in leadership positions, but now are you going to be the leader or not? Because they're going to follow you or they, or they ain't. You know, just because you get put in a position to be a leader don't mean you're elite.

That's right.

You know, so how am I going to explain to him, say, okay, now, you know, here we go.

So the rest of the time we're playing golf, we're talking about leadership, what to do, you know, hey, Bo, you know, first of all, you got to earn their respect. You know, you got to earn your offensive lineman respect. You got to earn. You, you wide out, you're running back.

You know, they're all going to be looking to you, you know, getting that huddle. They're looking at you, buddy. You know, so I don't know if you're ready for that. Of course, cocky as he is, he's like, oh, I got, I got.

No, no, you don't. You know, it's going to be hard, but, you know, it's going to be. You might hit some adversity. And, you know, and I, and I'm proud of him.

He's, you know, we're 6 and 2 right now in the high school football and 5A. We play 5A high school football here, which is a pretty big classification. He's done a great job. You can see the growth every game.

You know, you see him over there, you know, with his offensive lineman, pat him on the butt. You know, he's actually starting to get on to him a little bit now.

That false start, you know, he's right there, you know, see him, talking to him, slapping him on the butt, you know, saying, you know, let's go. And, and he's kind of taking control and he's learning how to be elite. And that's. That, that's more important to me than, you know, the touchdowns.

This, you know, hey, your, your, your son's 14. You know, people come up to me, you know, hey, he's 14. I can't believe he's 14.

I can't Believe he's fresh doing what he's doing and that watching him become a leader and be a leader of me. And even though they're not men yet now, but, but watching him take them steps is probably more. I'm more proud of that than I am anything else.

Of course it funny thing about Bo, it comes with it. So now he's, now he's QB1 of this high school.

Now you got these 16 year old girls wanting to come by the house and pick him up and his mama's back there about to have a connection fit. So now I'm dealing with that on the side like, all right, Bo, come here, come here. Now can we go? We gotta talk about this too. Now.

We're, we're speeding up the process a lot right here just because of all this and. Right. It's been real entertaining in my house with Bo right now.

It's, you know, mama's about to have, you know, she about to pull her hair out because of these. Because these girls and stuff and he just brands and there he goes out.

The door and it's better than taking a bus.

Yeah, man, it's something that. So. Yeah, so it's, it's good, man. It's. He's good, he's learning a lot. He's got a chance one day if he works hard, if he wants it, it's up to him.

You know, I tell all my kids.

That my freshman though, I mean that's, Let me put an explanation mark behind that, man. There was, there was in my high school, okay, and we had a guy that, we had a guy.

It was a, I was, when I was a senior, he was a sophomore, they moved him up to varsity and he went on to play at the University of Wisconsin. Now the rest of them, to my knowledge, now some of them, and it's been a long time ago, as a long time ago, but my point is this. There was zero.

Until my senior year, there was zero sophomores on any of the varsity teams. We had a freshman JV and a varsity team for juniors and seniors. And I know of zero, okay.

In my, my four years, I can tell you there were zero freshmen moved up to play varsity.

The difference between, as you know, you know, a freshman and a junior or a senior and just in terms of their size, their maturity, you know, that, that just unheard of. And yet, yet your, your son boasts the starting quarterback that's got you that feeling that you have just must be.

I, it's got to be great, you know, I mean, I, I Imagine every day you, you wake up and your buttons are popping on your shirt. You guys gotta be right. I mean, it's pretty incredible. That's a lot. That's a, that's, that's, that's, that's.

How do you learn to throw the football like that?

Well, I don't know. We put it, I put it in his hands at a very young age because I realized what it took. Hey, if you will go play football one day, all right, buddy.

You're going to be 6, 6, 6, 8. You know, big old joker. And I just married your mama here. She's about 5, 6, 5, 5 and about buckle 5.

So it's not going to be in your genetics to be 6, 6, 6, 8. So. But you're going to be tall.

I mean, you know, you're going to be, you're gonna be up there and hey, if you, you know, and the thing about quarterback is, and you know, like I said, sports, sports in general is, is. I mean, we get, we get guys coming in here on their resume.

I don't know if you play, if you play a sport in high school, you know, it's, you know, it teaches them a lot, you know, adversity at a young age. How do you respond to it? You know, that's the thing with both right now. It ain't about his ability to throw the football. He can throw it.

He's just, he, he can do it. All right, how are you handling this?

You know, when you throw that interception, I want to see your body claim, you know, how are you on the sideline, how are you. It's easy to do it when stuff are going good now. How are you reacting to it when it's going bad?

And that's what we talk about, you know, and it kills me being up in the stands on Friday nights. I'm watching it. I want to be down there with him, you know, but, you know, yeah, baby boy, go and.

Yeah, that's right.

Good job. He's, he's done a real good job at that. That's what, like I said, I'm more proud of that than, than anything.

So he's learning about life a whole lot early. And so it's been, it's been fun. And then Lexi, my 17 year old, she's, you know, she's been through a lot. She was a big time softball player.

She's had two hip surgeries already. You know, she's got her dreams on hold a little bit. She is committed to go play college softball.

But right now she's just trying to get healthy and her body's kind of shut down on her a little bit. So we got to talk. We had to talk about life a lot. So. Hey, you know, softball don't define Lexi Bennett. You know, that's not, that's not who you are.

You know, you're Lexi Bennett. You play softball. You know, so the growth in her and doing all that has been like.

If I, if there was a kid that was going to come run Capcom bills one day, it'd be Lexi. You know, I love Bo to death, but, but Bo. But, but Lexi is a she. She's. She's something else now. She's. She's gonna be a special.

You know, she might be valid. I think she's gonna be valedictorian. She just got homecoming queen two weeks ago.

There you go.

She does, she does it. She does really good. I really brag on her. And then of course, Hallie Jane's the boss now. She's. She's 12 years old. She tells me what to do.

The other two, Gotley Jane, the other two got. They got their butts whooped for looking wrong. And Hadley Jane, I don't know if I ever, ever. I don't think I've ever went through with a belt.

I might have got her with my hand, but somebody had to take care of daddy when I get old, you know, and that's gonna be her. She's the baby. The other two, no, no, they'll. They'll put me out of passion. But Haley Jane, now she's going to. That's. That's daddy's little girl.

So she, she does no wrong. Other two can't do right. Haley Jane don't do no wrong. So she knows it. So it's a lot of fun in our house, I promise.

Oh, that's great, Kyle. I appreciate you sharing that with us. I, you know, I think it just. When I.

And I was looking at your family there when we were together, I just thought, wow, that's, you know, that, that is a tight knit group and that's the way it should be, you know, and, and I could also tell that you're. And you had some of your employees there too, as we were tailgating before and after the game.

And it was very clear to me that the people that are working for you and your fan one, it's one big tight group. But often, you know, you don't see. Get to see, you know, how employees, you know, interact with their boss in a social setting.

But it was very clear to me that everybody there has a great deal of respect for you. And like you said, you know, I don't care what position you're in. Somebody puts you in a position, same thing in the military.

You might have the rank, right? You might be a captain, you might be a colonel, you might be a general etc, or a sergeant major.

But, you know, if people don't respect you, they, you know, they respect the rank in the military because they have to, you know, but they don't have to respect the person. And that's the difference, right?

It's like you don't have to respect, you know, they might respect you as the general manager, but they don't have to respect you, you know, as the individual, you know, Kyle Bennett. But they do, you know, and it was evident to me that, that there was a lot of respect and a lot of love in that, you know, under that tent there.

And it was genuine. And it just struck me and that that's. That's like, that's leadership, right? You can't. Money can't buy that. That's earned. All that stuff is earned.

And I appreciate you sharing the stories about bo, but, you know, you know, and, you know, hey, everything's great. When everything's great, we can talk about it being great. It's. There's time for celebration there a little bit.

Don't, you know, you can pat yourself on the back a little bit. That's good, right? But how you act and how you behave and, you know, when things aren't going good, you know, what do you, you know, it, right? It's.

It's all about what you do in adversity that really counts. When things are. When the chips are down, that's when you find out what kind of metal people have, right? It's that, that and that's.

And it's hard to prepare people for that until they've been in it. But doing that as a dad, that coaching, teaching, mentoring, you know, that's. That's some pretty, you know, that's some pretty powerful stuff.

And like you say, we only get, like, snapshots. Everybody's so busy today.

You got business, you got family, you got all this community stuff going on, and that one or two times, those teachable, coachable moments, you know, and you want to. And you're choosing to spend some time talking about what do we.

How, you know, leadership and what do we do when the chips are down and how do you interact with people. And, you know, hey, leadership is the art of providing purpose, direction and motivation. Right. That's it. And there ain't no science about it.

You know, I suppose you could split some atoms in there, but you know, at the end of the day, you know, there's an art to that, you know, and, and I want to talk to you. I want to shift gears. I wasn't prepared to talk about this. We got a few minutes here.

But I wanted to mention this because I'm doing this program with our heroes and Matt's going to be one of the, he's actually the first guy going through this, this program. He's going to be with one of his running buds to Jake Whipke. But we're doing this leadership development training, right?

And I thought to myself, here's the setup.

You know, I got, I've been doing this job serving combat wounded guys for, for, for 19, coming up on 20 years with the, the foundation, and I love it. I still got a ton of gas in my, in my tank.

But I'm thinking, hey, in 10 more years, you know, I'm going to think in long term, you know, what I'm done in 10 years.

Like I want to start building my exit strategy now and start finding, you know, leaders within the organization like Matt and like Jake and many others, you know, that, that I want to, you know, groom, for lack of a better term and spend some more time with so that they can, you know, learn more about the organization, learn more about me. Built. We can build more trust and bond together and these kinds of things, right?

And I got a whole program of instruction that we're going to do and things like this, right? But the most important thing, and I wanted to ask you about this because I asked a lot of leaders. I didn't ask you about this, but I. Before I bu.

Built this program which we're going to execute in December, start executing in December. But, you know, it's leadership development program.

But I thought back on the leaders in my life and I want you just a moment to just begin to kind of think about the leaders, impactful leaders in your life. And it may be a dad, it may be an uncle, maybe a coach, maybe a friend. It just. Leaders take many, many forms, you know, as we know.

But I got to thinking about it from the military perspective because I had a lot of leaders, 20 years of wearing a uniform and, and most of them were really, really good. Some were great, some weren't so good, you know.

So I always thought maybe I'd take a little of this and a little of that, you know, from each person that I Met and, and when.

Especially when you found one you didn't like and they did things, you know, that, that, that, you know, you didn't respect or, or you just said to yourself, you know what? I'm not going to be like that. Like, that's important, too. That's a great lesson. Like, I'm never going to do that. I know how that felt.

I saw what he did. I, you know, we felt the impact of that decision or that action. And I'm never going to do that.

And that's a super important lesson, like, when you're talking about leadership. But what I want to get your opinion on here, and I don't mean to put you on the spot, man, I really don't, because this is. There's no right answer.

I'm just curious because I was looking at the guys that. The men that I looked at and wanted to emulate, meaning I wanted to be like that guy. Like, I thought, look at that guy, man.

I want to be more like that guy. And I would say, well, how often did I really get to see that guy and what did I really know about him?

And the answer was, you know, I might not even got to see that guy or interact with him a whole lot because of his position.

He was maybe two or three levels above me, and I was a lieutenant, and I couldn't just go up to the colonel and go, hey, sir, tell me about leadership. You know, that just doesn't happen. Right. So I spent a lot of time observing these men and watching their behavior in groups.

And I just thought, you know, what is it? It's like the French would say the je ne sais quoi that.

I don't know what that is, but I just know that I want to be like that guy or more like that guy, or less like that guy. And I wanted to throw that out at you.

You know, when you look at some of your mentors, you know, the leaders, people that you emulate and admire and wanted to be like, you know, what was it?

Yeah. And it's. And like you said, it's different. You take. You take snapshots of. You take snapshots from over here, like your high school football coach.

You know, how.

Right.

You know how he was. You know how he. You felt the love. You know, you get to college and, you know, big, big layer of mine was our strength coach.

He spent a lot of time with love that guy, you know, you know, with just.

He genuinely loved, you know, the position coach was scared to death he was going to get him and his family fired and he's going to have to move, you know, so. But you saw. But. And you saw how they live, you know, you know, position coach, left fear.

And there's, you know, leading from fear can be a great thing, but it's also. Can be very detrimental. Yeah, you know, the fear of failure, you know, I talk about it all the time.

You can't be scared to fail if you're, if you're going. If you're. If you're leading out of fear, you're never going to make, you know, and so I kind of saw that.

You know, I get there then and, you know, I get in this business. And of course, I started off working in the plant. You know, here I am. I was academic all sec. I played football for University of Alabama.

You know, I come home, I was supposed to go to law school. I told. Told my dad. I was like, look, you know, you got cabco up going this law school. I was accepted in law school.

I said, you know, this ain't for me. You know, I'm hanging out with these laws, doing this intern. They're drinking martinis and wearing suits.

There I am wanting to get a dip of Copenhagen and have a, you know, have a cold beer. And we're not going to work, you know, you know, so I wanted to come back, get in there. Well, I started working in the plane.

You know, I worked my way up. I started in the back. I started in the frame shop, welding, building frames.

And, you know, when I got to learn that, of course my dad would give me a little test like, hey, this, this and this. But verbally got a hundred. Answered all of his questions. I got to move to the next station.

And a lot of these supervisors I got in there, now I work with, you know, two belt on. Hey, let's go. You know, I'm lagging floors. I'm. I'm rolling glue on floor joists, I'm toting deck. And it's. You know, I'm doing the plumbing.

You know, it's. But I also had it in my mind, hey, okay, this is what I want to do. I want to run this thing one day. I want to get in here, I want to work with.

And that's why I can walk out in the plant right now. And they know it, you know, they know I was in there with them. I was in the trenches with them, know what they're going through. But, you know, he.

My dad was. Was. Was my guy. You know, why is he jumping on my butt right now when we hit roll times, we're producing great houses.

But the roll up door in the metal shops got a couple pieces of trash outside, though. It's not trash. Why is he, you know what I'm doing this, this and this. Why is he on Harper on this? You know? Well, and it took me a minute to find out.

Okay, that's fine and dandy. Okay, everything's going good. You better be hunting something wrong.

And, and so, you know, if your area's clean, they're going to build you a great house. If your area is dirty. Hey, you're, you're making it acceptable for them to work in a dirty area because they won't sweep after their road time.

Guess what? They're going to take a shortcut on that, on that VTR that they're plumbing up through the roof and ain't going to foam it like they're supposed to.

And you know, that kind of stuff is just like. I never would have thought, you know, until he was on me, you know, he, he stayed on me pretty hard.

You know, when I got, when I started general manager, it was just like, dude, you can have this. I'll go back to, I'll go back to selling and working in a plant here, you know what I'm saying? But then that was my mentality at that age.

Like, all right, so, but me, that didn't leave me for long because I was going to be better than him, you know, so that was, that was kind of my driving force. Okay, Everybody talks about this. Keith Bennett's in the mobile home industry. I'm gonna be better than my granddad.

I'm be better than my dad, you know, so I was always chasing the ghost, you know, chasing the legend. You know, people always come up, you know, your dad's a legend, you know. Well, you're gonna say that crap out, you know, that's. That was.

I always wanted to be better than him. That's what kind of drove me. But, but he's always taught me, he goes, he, you know, the biggest thing is, Kyle, you're only as good as your people.

I don't give a crap how good you think you are. You're only as good as your people. And there's management for a reason. People are going to. The human nature is just do enough to get by, right?

That's why you have management. That's why you've got supervisors. That's why you've got to lead them. You know, you got to be out there, you know, you gotta lead them.

Same thing like you talk about the military, there's a reason why you've got lieutenants. You know, the reason why you got colonels and you got people under them. Well, okay, same thing here. Because human nature is.

Now they're going to do it just enough to get by. Upper management's got to management and supervisors and everybody. You put your. Your lieutenants, which.

I got 12 of them out there, they're my supervisors. You know, they, they. There's a standard, you know, and like I said, he told me that, and, And I still believe it. You know.

You know, I see something wrong, I don't go to the guy that did it. I go to that super supervisor, right? He gets up there with the guy. But the supervisor is the one that me and him is having a little talk about.

You know, sometimes them talks can be good or bad compared to what the supervisor's attitude is when I get them up there, talk about it. But so, so. And, and getting them to where they can lead.

And I've seen many, John, I've seen many guys that wanted the money, wanted the leadership, wanted to be the supervisor. But when they got it, it wasn't two weeks. They was in my office, like, here, take this radio back. I can't do it. Okay? Why, why can't you?

All right, listen, you know, because I'm going to put you out there. I'm not going to hire nobody under you to help babysit you. You know, this is what you want, you're going to get it. But now you got to perform.

All right? Now let's work the problem. And this. Don't tell how many survivors. I've had that once we sat down and said, okay, you're drowning, buddy.

It's okay to ask for help. That was worth the problem. And all of a sudden, they've worked it out.

Now they're one of the best superpowers I got, you know, five years down the road.

It's development, right? That's leadership development.

And that's what it is. You can't give up on, you know, you're going to up.

That's right. Don't give up on them. Don't give up.

And, you know, and I say we get. We get.

We get kids in here that don't know how to read a tape measure because your daddy's never taught, you know, you know, guys, we can't throw them out of the wolves. Don't give up on.

Right?

Are we taking our time to train them? Don't give up on them. Then, you know, they'll come a time to work, okay?

They're just not gonna get it because their attitude or their work ethic ain't there. If you get a work ethic and your attitude right, there's two things. There's two things in life that you don't have to have.

A skill, attitude, work it.

That's right. You either have that or you don't. That's right. It's hard to train that. It's hard to train. You can't because you. They show up with that.

That's something inside of you. You either got a good attitude or you don't have a good attitude. You either have a good work ethic or you do not.

You might have learned that by watching or, you know, your parents or, you know, it may have rubbed off on you. But that's the one thing you can't train. You can't. You know, if somebody has a bad attitude, it's a bad attitude, man. I can't. I was hard.

It's hard to turn that ship. Usually. That's what I found anyway. Yeah. Well. Wow, That's. That's good stuff, man. I appreciate you sharing that with me.

You know, I always like to give my. My guest the last. You know, I say the whack at the pinata, I'll say one more thing, and then I'll turn it over to you.

But I wanted to mention it because we were. When we were at the football game in Tuscaloosa, I was, admittedly, I was a little nervous because I was way outgunned. You know, here's a Wisconsin.

Here's a Wisconsin boy in midst of all this, you know, greatness and nostalgia and winning. Not that Wisconsin doesn't have a, you know, some history with winning. It's just I was vastly outnumbered.

And, you know, of course, you know, the support you'd given the foundation, you and your family given the foundation. And I was like. I was. I was a little. Slightly intimidated. And that doesn't happen every day.

So I was like, you know, kind of being quiet and just kind of scoping everything out and enjoying the. The whole thing. And. And Matt says to me, you see. You see what he's got on his wrist there talking about you and I. And I.

And I looked, and I'm like, I saw the. I saw the. The purple bracelet, you know, and I know that bracelet that.

That rubber bracelets, you know, cost about 15 cents for us to manage wounded warriors in action, you know, on it. And. And. And I was like, wow. He goes. Ever since he he gave, he. I gave him that. He goes, he ain't took it off. And I'm like, wow, I'm. I just like that.

That's just so cool. I wanted a, I wanted a. I saw, I see you're wearing it now. And I can see on, on. On the TV here, you know, we're on the computer.

But I, I appreciate it, man. I just wanted to say thank you again for all that you and, and your team and your family's done for, for, for our combat wounded veterans.

You know, it's been a, it's been a real game changer for us. You're a heck of a leader and a wonderful person, and I'll give you the last whack at the pinata here, buddy.

Well, the, you know, it was, it was very easy me to build that house because of the hunt we did before Mad Ass. You know, I was very skeptical. I was like, yeah, man, I'll. Yeah, yeah, we'll take them hunting, you know. Yeah, we'll do it.

But seeing them, you know, them heroes get there and then listen their stories and I got to spend a lot of time. Because you get to spend a lot of time with one on one. That's right, man.

Anything, you know, And I tell my kids this and no, anything we're going through in life or whatever, you know, listen to their stories and what they've been through, you know, it's. It's real easy for me if I'm, If I'm in a position to help, you know, to get back. And that's something that's very important to me.

Now, I ain't saying it wasn't important then, but once I got involved and he. We had that hunt, it was a, It's a no brainer to see, to see how they get there and what their attitude is when they leave.

And that's what I tell Matt. I said, Matt, I said, you know, I'm kind of like you, you know, I'm gonna sit back and watch for, you know, I want.

And that first time we had it, you know, I observed, you know, I saw the four heroes we had in there to hunt. They first got there. They, you know, you know, hey man, you know, they don't know nobody, you know, in your water, you know about them.

And then all of a sudden you start, here comes the smile, here comes the laughter, here comes the story times. Here comes the smile, you know, the beam. And then the proudness. They had to go, sir.

And you know, they're all, you know, Purple Hearts you know, they've all. They've all been, you know, injured in combat, and. And the pride. They still got to have served is what it's all about, you know?

And I'm like, man, this is. This is great. This is. What y' all doing is awesome. I'm in. You know, you want to have a hunt every year. Whatever I can do.

You know, of course, the house thing kind of snuck up on, but I was like, you know what? We'll make that happen. You know, we're good. Yeah. You know, and this was good then, you know, but anyways, you know, that.

That ain't about what business was, but. All right, so it's a great thing y' all are doing, man. And I value your friendship.

I value Matt's friendship, and anything we can ever do to help, man, we're here, you know, I'm a phone call away always.

God bless you, my friend. It's an honor to. To spend some time with you, and I know you're a busy man and appreciate you taking a little time out of your busy schedule to.

To share some of your leadership tips and. And. And, you know, about your life and your lifestyle and your family. It means a lot to us, and I. I appreciate it, and I wish you guys all the best.

I'm going to say it, because, I'll tell you, we did have an Alabama event long before, you know, we ever met. And. And. And we were. We were turkey.

We were turkey hunting, and the gentleman that ran whose land it was is now passed, and so the event went with him. And.

But I learned a long time ago when I was in Alabama, watching people and being quiet about it, I realized that sometimes when you don't know what to say, all you have to say in Alabama was roll Tide. And if you say it like that, kind of draw it out like you guys say it.

Even though I'm from Wisconsin, I'm a Yankee, and I could slap some Northwoods on you so quick, make your head spin, but if you say it like that, things just get a lot better.

And then anytime you're in a situation in Alabama, you just. Just blurt out them two words, and you're gonna be all right.

That's right. That's right. You're gonna be. You're gonna instantly make friends, and they're gonna like it. And. And so that's. That's. That's kind of what.

That kind of. Every time I say. Every time I say it, I just have this little grin inside of me. But, you know, and. And you know, you.

You also talked, you know, when you were talking on leadership, on standards, you knew you said the word. But, you know, that's. That's really, you know, what it's about.

It is about standards, Standards of conduct, standards of behavior, standards of, you know, how are you building this thing? You know, how do you behave? You know, standards are a big part of our lives.

And, you know, people that have high standards and uphold high standards, generally very successful people. And I know that you come from a long line of that, and I'm sure you and your daddy was out there looking at the things sitting next to the dumpster.

That's what he had in his mind was standards and. Right. And so that's all. That's all good stuff. I wish you the best throughout the remainder of the year and all the years to come.

I look forward to someday being and seeing you up at Camp Hackett. We'd love to engineer some success there and. And get you up firsthand, you know, with the heroes up there.

Now, it's going to be cold, so I'm going to tell you right now, it'll be the fall up there, but I think. I reckon you can. You'll be just fine. But.

Y' all won't know if I'm cold.

Yeah, I know. I'm sure. I'm sure of that. But anyway, God bless you and thank you, Kyle. I appreciate you spending the time with us, and I hope to see you real soon.

You too, bro. Anytime.

All right. Thank you.

Thanks, bud.

Thank you for listening to the WWIA podcast.

To learn more about the Wounded warriors in Action foundation and how you can get involved, please visit our website@wwiaf.org or follow us on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you'd like to comment or offer feedback about our podcast, or if you have a suggestion for a future episode, please email us at.

Podcast thank you for your support and for helping us honor, connect and heal our combat wounded Purple Heart heroes through the power of the great outdoors. There.