In over 70 episodes, Veteran Voices has heard a lot of reasons for people joining the military or picking a particular branch of service. In this episode we hear a brand new one… advice from one’s future father-in-law. In Brian Russel’s case, it was a win-win (win).

Brian recently retired after serving 27 years in the United States Marine Corps – an impressive feat to be sure. Brian is also an avid mountain biker, and that’s where his advice to “keep the rubber side down” comes from. Even in adventurous situations, he reminds us that it is important to stay safe and keep yourself on track.

In this interview, Brian speaks with host Mary Kate Soliva about:

• The humbling feeling he gets when he thinks of his fellow Marines, each of which is willing to give it all for the person on the left and the person on the right

• Why it is so important that post-transition jobs do more than just pay the bills for Veterans

• The value of organizations like the North Carolina Interscholastic Cycling League, where Brian currently serves as League Director

Intro/Outro (00:02):

Welcome to Veteran Voices. A podcast is dedicated to giving a voice to those that have served in the United States Armed Forces on this series jointly presented by Supply Chain now and vets to industry. We sit down with a wide variety of veterans and veteran advocates to gain their insights, perspective, and stories from serving. We talk with many individuals about their challenging transition from active duty to the private sector and we discuss some of the most vital issues facing veterans today. Join us for this episode of Veteran Voices.

Mary Kate Soliva (00:49):

Hello everybody. Thank you for joining us again today. This is Mary Kate Soliva here with you Veteran Voices. I am your host and I’m so glad that you’re joining us today cuz we have a really great interview teed up with an incredible veteran who’s given back so much already while on active duty and off active duty. Just a quick programming note before we get started. This program is part of incredible supply chain now Family of Programming and today’s show is in conducted in partnership with the Guam Human Rights Initiative and Military Women’s Collective. Military Women’s Collective is doing incredible things out in California and nationwide for our women veterans everywhere. You can find out more at military women’s collective.org and for the Guam Human Rights Initiative, find out more about them in the great work they’re doing@guamhhri.org and you can learn more about and tune in to Veteran Voices wherever you get your podcasts. So, okay, without further ado, I’m super excited to introduce you to a Marine Corps veteran. Our guest today served 27 years in the United States Marine Corps. I was just saying to him earlier that not too many make that achieve that feat. So I think that’s fantastic and I’m just really excited to introduce you to him cause he just retired recently. But not just that he’s continuing to serve beyond the uniform and that is why I’m so glad he’s joining us here on Veteran Voices. Brian Russell, thank you so much for joining us. Brian,

Brian Russell (02:25):

Mary Kate, thanks for having me on. It is an absolute pleasure to be here and I’m looking forward to our conversation.

Mary Kate Soliva (02:32):

Yes, absolutely. I know that once a Marine, always a Marine. So I said retired, I’m not gonna use past tense, but I’m super excited about having you pump us up with some motivation or what day of the week that our listeners are tuning in. Wanted to hear from you a favorite motivational quote saying song. You can sing us if you want, but I’m ready. I think our listeners are ready too.

Brian Russell (02:56):

Okay. I’ve actually got two great saying, I guess you, you can say two things that have been on my mind that you mentioned about continuing to give back and I’ve been toying around with this idea of starting a couple CK channels in independent writers platform. Uh, I enjoy writing and think I want to get some of my thoughts down. One about just my experiences 27 years in the Marine Corps has been in middle learning as you can imagine over those 27 years. And so the title of this subs, but kind of the saying that motivates me throughout the day, throughout my career, but even to today. Now the three key questions any officer asks himself or herself throughout the day, they are, what do I know? Who should know what I know and have I told them it’s, it gets back to that Marine Corps bias for action, trying to make decisions, trying to out cycle an adversary. Like information’s pretty important and so whenever you receive new information it usually prompts some type of action and that action is typically sharing that with someone else who needs to know that information. So just this idea of I know some things, I don’t mind sharing those things so maybe I ought to write those down and share those. So again, what do I know who should know what I know and have I told them? It’s just things, something I ask myself throughout the day like, and that includes my wife Mary Kate, like,

Mary Kate Soliva (04:07):

Don’t forget your wife.

Brian Russell (04:08):

This thing happened around the house today now. Yeah. And you can imagine I’m around the house a little bit more being retired May, maybe I should tell Kathy what is going on. So that’s one. And then the other relates to a passion of mine and I know we’ll talk more about that in the podcast is mountain biking, been mountain biking for almost all those 27 years, just really as a sport has done a world of good for me. But the phrase I always remind myself before a ride or maybe even the in the midst of a ride is keep the rubber side down. You can imagine if you see the rubber your tires up above you. Yes. Things are getting pretty exciting. Probably not for good exciting. So yeah, just keep the rubber side down is another thing I’m thinking about writing about how we approach a sport of mountain biking and keeping everyone safe out there. But having fun too, keeping the rubber side down keeps things kind of on track. Yes, pun intended.

Mary Kate Soliva (04:52):

Yes. I love the puns. Keep them coming. And one of the things, I’m glad you mentioned both of those scenes because I actually had not heard them and we haven’t had any other guests mention them. So I think that’s like where rubber meets the road and you just keep going. And as you alluded to, you’re doing incredible work with the North Carolina Interscholastic Cycling League and we talk about it, we call it the,

Brian Russell (05:15):

I usually introduce myself as the new director of the North Carolina Mountain Bike League. But yes, North Carolina inter Classic Cycling League is a lot to say. But because I grew up in the Marine Corps and everything turns into an acronym when you write down that acronym A tickle,

Mary Kate Soliva (05:30):

I’m trying to think of like, yes it giving you a mouthful, but it’s just incredible work that you’re doing. I know we’re gonna talk about it later in the episode, but for our listeners, new director here, Ryan’s spearheading the initiative on the North Carolina Interscholastic Cycling League and just excited to listen more. So stay tuned there And just wanted to know, I did mention 27 years of service in the US Marine Corps and I was like, we’re not gonna go way, way back. But we’re gonna kind of go way back to talk about your upbringing and if you could tell listeners a little bit about where you grew up. I just love taking this back of veterans. I feel like we learned so much about where we came from before we decided to serve our country.

Brian Russell (06:12):

Yeah, I grew up in, I’ll call it Northern Virginia. My parents moved around a couple towns up there, Springfield, Burke, Fairfax, but generally stayed in the area and neither of my parents were in the military, but a lot of military personnel, a lot of my friends, their father or mother was in the military just being close to the nation’s capital and the Pentagon as you can understood kind of what the military lifestyle was about from their perspective. Cuz they would leave in two or three years, right? Yes. I wanna say the border. But really what inclined me to military service was my grandfather, Jim Hamilton, a World War II veteran. He flew torpedo bombers for the United States Navy in the South Pacific during World War ii. And he was just an admirable man, just was of that greatest generation that we talk about a lot and just, man, if I could grow up to be like Jim Hamilton, uh, that, that would be awesome.

Brian Russell (06:59):

And I thought his military service was probably a piece of that sacrifice and uh, working with others and giving back to the nation that that was something that was very attractive to me and I wanted to do, one, wanted to serve the nation and just a part of that growing up I, I’ll mention an organization, the Naval Sea Cadet Corps. I put my toe in the water for this military service thing there I am age of 14. I’m the Orlando Mary Kate when the Navy still ran a bootcamp down there. So your first kind of summer tour as a a sea cadet is going to Navy Bootcamp for two weeks. Like, oh my gosh, what am I doing? It was, it was interesting. It was eye-opening for this young man. But what I appreciated was the structure and the leadership and the camaraderie and that just sign signed me up. So going off to college, got a scholarship for the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at North Carolina State University and uh, was initially a Navy option midshipman. But then I started having conversations with, with my future father-in-law. So Kathy and I, my wife we met in high school.

Mary Kate Soliva (07:55):

Oh you did? Oh gosh, I wanna dig deeper on that story. Great.

Brian Russell (07:59):

Yeah, I’m about to a little bit. So yeah, we met her in northern Virginia. Again, father assigned headquarters Marine Corps. And so we met in high school, we decided to go to school in North Carolina together. So I went to, I jokingly say the premier academic institution in North Carolina. North Carolina State University. Kathy went to Chapel Hill, university of North Carolina Chapel Hill. So I married a tar heel and there’s a whole house divided aspect of our relationship but really it’s not a big deal. But anyway, so yeah, Kathy’s dad was serving as a colonel as as I’m in in school and joke about it with Kathy and say, I just wanna make sure I was guaranteed I could marry her. So I decided to join the Marine Corps. But it was really what, one

Mary Kate Soliva (08:37):

Way to put yourself

Brian Russell (08:38):

<laugh>. Yeah, there’s again, there’s some truth to that. Like take no chances Kathy’s dad’s a Marine, maybe I should join the Marine Corps. But really what Bob shared with me about the Marine Marine Corps’s approach to taking care of its people, it is about both the people and the mission, the emphasis on leadership, the emphasis on those type of things more than I was seeing out of the Navy side of things just became really attractive to me. So put in my application to change Marine option and uh, there I was December, 1995 getting commissioned as a second lieutenant. You states Marine Corps,

Mary Kate Soliva (09:08):

I love that with just the legacy there, even though your parents and sir, but you have, you talk about Grandpa Hamilton there and part of the greatest generation. I actually think that this morning almost positive that I ran into a World War II veteran from that I had seen at Ren Re Pennsylvania’s largest World War II air show. And just every time I see someone from the grace generation, I’m just like wow, just wanna talk to them and hear what I can about from them. And then of course being from Guam, I was like, when you mentioned the Pacific, I was like, yes, but even more so the fact that you had to put yourself through Marine Corps training for the sake of your future father-in-law <laugh> it just, I’m just imagining you as a young man doing that. But gosh, Kathy sure scooped up a good one that you’re willing to go in through all of that cuz we know out probably outta all the branches, I don’t know. They say arguably Marine Corps is probably one of the toughest trainings coming in straight with your, and so especially for those enlisted with their feet on the yellow footprints. So if you could tell just real quick, I’m just really curious about what that was like high school with young Brian and young Kathy. Did you all meet in like a English class or

Brian Russell (10:20):

Something? I think it was a math class actually. We were in class together and then we both went out for the track team at school and so started doing some workouts together, long runs, very romantic Mary Kay around the lake long run or whatever. Gosh. Yeah. And we just, we clicked and we kind of knew right then that uh, we were just would work out together. And while we’re on the topic of Kathy and you mentioned training, she’s obviously worth anything I ever went through. She is in fact the love of my life, but I was trained to do what I was brought in to do in the Marine Corps. I was always given training to do it. Kathy, not so much Marine Corps spouse, there’s a lot of on the job training and managing me being away. So Kathy probably had the toughest piece of those 27 years Absolutely. In terms of just keeping household together and she, she deserves a lot of credit for keeping the family together and yeah, I’m just very blessed that she is still with me after all those 27 years. But I wouldn’t have done it any other way without her by my side

Mary Kate Soliva (11:14):

Know. And I love that. Gosh, I even have goosebumps Dunno, well our listeners, but I think it’s just a true testament even though you mentioned Tar heels and the house divided just the strength there of the love from Kathy and holding the ground when they say behind every great man just a, a strong partner and spouse with you, the whole step of the way 27 years. But even more so if you count those romantic runs around the lake in high school. Sure. And so I don’t know why I’ve like all of a sudden envisioning like musical Greece here, but I just think that’s fantastic. And one of the lessons learned, like you mentioned Bob and your, and with regards to your father-in-law, would you say that there were, were some, any kind of lessons learned or words of wisdom that he shared with you before you embarked on this journey in the Marine Corps?

Brian Russell (12:00):

Yeah, there, there certainly were and but I, I think it, let’s get back to the family here. So my mother-in-law Mar Marty list and my father-in-law is Bob List. They were there for us throughout that entire 27 years one cuz I think they knew they walked that same type of journey and it’s pretty tough. And so their role of Bob and Marty visits to uh, the Russell family while I was away to help out with things, dogs in between PC S moves, those type of things is just, I think they knew and uh, they absolutely helped us throughout that entire 27 years. So more than words of wisdom action, <laugh> loving us through helping when we needed a lot of help to get through some of those tough times.

Mary Kate Soliva (12:38):

And, and I think that also with that Bob was able to understand that coming from a place where he was Marine Corp colonel and just understanding where you were coming from at every phase as you went up the ranks. So I think it’s just a true testament of just how you were able to be so successful right throughout your career, just having that strong bond with your family and so much support. So I absolutely love that and and definitely when we, as we go on through the episode later on and touch more on that advice and lesson learned, I would love to hear your thoughts too on keeping the family ties strong. And I know that’s not the a success story for every veteran out there, but I do think it’s important to touch on, especially for those who are transitioning but wanted to get into your military service here with the Marine Corps and wanted to hear about perhaps a favorite place that you were ever stationed at or sort of a favorite memory of yours during time and service.

Brian Russell (13:32):

Yeah, so I’ve already given a clue anywhere the Marine Corps stationed me where there were good mountain bike trails. Super awesome. So

Mary Kate Soliva (13:38):

<laugh>, so you looked into that like right away as soon as you got your orders

Brian Russell (13:42):

<laugh>? No. Yeah, yeah it was a consideration. How’s that? So a Quantico, Virginia crossroads of the Marine Corps. Several assignments, there were school assignments, great mountain bike trails in Quantico, just right inside the middle of the base there. Did a tour in southern California Camp Pendleton. We lived on base and sure enough, right outside our door was a trail to the trail system out in the training area and so just get out on the bike And those that have spent some time in Southern California know the weather’s always pretty nice. Never had to consider rain. Oh yeah. So yeah tho those places where we could get outside and spend time as a family and all my family members have done biking in some form or fashion were really good places for us.

Mary Kate Soliva (14:23):

No, I love that that’s an aspect. Now is this something that’s a whole family affair? Like does Cathy get out there and kids and when you were going out you’re like okay, I’m gonna find the trails or was it a lot really a solo so

Brian Russell (14:37):

Curricular, how much trouble I’ll be sharing this aspect of our relationship. It wasn’t maybe five or six years ago, Kathy thought I was a little bit crazy with my mountain biking. Mm-hmm <affirmative> because I think she had images of Red Bull Rampage if you’d watched some of the, the Red Bull mountain biking events. They’re going off of ramps and flipping upside down. Oh yeah, these like 50 foot or higher cliffs or No this is not the mountain biking Brian Russell does. Brian Russell gets on extreme sport, remember rubber side down um, on a trail and going maybe some fast and there’s a little bit of downhill but it’s really just pretty moderate trails through the woods. That’s my kind of riding. But anyway, now Kathy is a coach on our local mountain bike team here in uh, Jacksonville North and she works at a bike shop here in Jacksonville, <laugh>, North Carolina. And a recent financial decision we had to make about moving into our new house was maybe we get a new couch cuz you know, all the military veteran members will know you. Your stuff moves every couple years and it gets pretty beat up. So the Russell family couch is pretty beat up. So we’re thinking about getting a new couch. You know what Kathy got instead? Mary Kate a new mountain bike. So So Kathy has completely

Mary Kate Soliva (15:43):

<laugh>. Oh you converted her.

Brian Russell (15:46):

I think I did. I think I victory on this one. Can

Mary Kate Soliva (15:48):

I tell you that especially, I don’t know if it’s me, my mindset as a woman I find it’s like so hard even to find a gift for the men in my family. But it seems like it’s just so much so easy for people that love you and your family to just be like, I’m gonna get Brian and Kathy some like stuff <laugh> cause it, it does add up, right? But I’m sure for the holidays you all get some pretty sweet new bike here. Something like that.

Brian Russell (16:15):

How did you know I got Kathy a new mountain bike flannel shirt for uh, what Christmas for the cooler temperature riding that

Mary Kate Soliva (16:21):

Matching. Do y’all have like ma I’m just matching this all matching flannel.

Brian Russell (16:27):

So, so Kathy will tell you that matching attire is very important to her mountain biking, a style of riding and I’m talking jersey and sock and all that mean not so much <laugh>. Yeah, this takes

Mary Kate Soliva (16:37):

It very seriously. Brian takes it very seriously but I mean I, and yeah but and in all seriously I know we’re gonna touch on it but I love that we’re weaving it throughout the episode. The great work that both you and Kathy are doing with the North Carolina inters split fixed cycling league. It’s just in incredible cause we know it’s so much more than just the biking gear but it is a sport that everybody can participate in no matter what your skill level, no matter what your age. And you had mentioned that you’ve done it throughout the Marine Corps. Was this something that you felt like you could connect with your other, with fellow marines on? Did you find that you joined with them or sort of some of that leadership lessons that you took as an officer as leadership lessons for your Marines?

Brian Russell (17:16):

Throughout my career, certainly whether that was a lunchtime group ride with some of my fellow peers around the office or even right before I retired I was a commanding officer of two Marine Expeditionary Force information group. Uh, we were in the Marine Corps as a single marine program. So you know, the Marines are in the barracks and we’re trying to get some activities for them and bring them together and uh, focus on getting outside and doing some physical activity. We would use our single marine program funds to rent mountain bikes and bring them out on the trail before an activity for the single Marines and uh, found that really popular. The Marine Marine something they hadn’t done before. So we would give them a little bit of training then we go out on the trail. And so yeah, certainly I’ve woven that throughout my career as either a bonding opportunity for peers or just a leadership opportunity. We got the sport of mountain biking, we’ll we’ll probably talk about this more too. It’s just if you haven’t done it, it’s a bit of a challenge either mentally to I’ve never done this before or there are some physical challenges out on the trail. You gotta climb, you gotta get over an obstacle, something like that. I

Mary Kate Soliva (18:14):

Just think it’s, and St. Brian, when I see the hill I’m like, oh I try to do that with a, as a bonding e extracurricular activity with my better half. And there was a hill and I was like, I don’t know like am gonna do this hill on this bike or if I’m gonna be walking with this bike and just getting over it is quite a feat. But in the, on the army side of the house, we used, our leadership used to take us out on staff rides, whether that’s it was to like a civil war battlefield like out at Gettysburg or or to go golfing. So I find it so important in the bonding aspect but there’s so many life lessons I think especially since you started as an early age in a biking, just in cycling, just how much that’s influenced your leadership style and connecting with your fellow marines. So I think that’s great. So with regards to trails, I think that’s the first time that I’ve heard of somebody relating their duty stations to this. How could the trails outside

Brian Russell (19:05):

Quality,

Mary Kate Soliva (19:09):

Safe, safe fit. I mean I knew, I know the Marines like to stay fit, physical fit is very important. But yeah, that’s a new one for me. I don’t know, I’m just still envisioning like your entire family, like even grandma being out there on the bike too. But that’s what I love about it. So with regards to your military career, I really want to hear, especially since you’ve done, you just finished off 27 years. Looking back now, do you see sort of a highlight? I’m sure it’s probably hard to pin down a highlight, but is there something that sticks out to you from that time?

Brian Russell (19:39):

That’s hard to pick a highlight but I will just say the blessing of military service and I’m obviously speaking about the Marine Corps is working with the Marines. We recruit some of the best and brightest young men and women from across the nation and they are just, it’s eye watering w the sacrifice they’re willing to go through. And this is many of my generation deployed, direct deployed Afghanistan and true sacrifice Mary Kay. Right, right. Like true everything on the line. And that is just incredibly humbling when you work with that type of spirit, that type of individual, just willing to give it all for the person on the left, the person on the right and just, they’re brilliant. They, you give ’em a problem and maybe the marine bias fragment, but they just, they solved the problem. You just turn ’em loose and you point ’em the right direction and give ’em some guidance and it’s just, that’s the blessing, that’s the highlight. Mary Kate, you’re just working with the Marines, they will never disappoint you from a mission perspective. They’re always trying to find a way to make that mission happen and it’s just, it is, it’s eye watering. So it’s a blessing.

Mary Kate Soliva (20:41):

Sorry. No I I love that you mentioned that I had the opportunity to deploy with Marines and it, it was just uh, I mean they’re tough but like you said, the spirit that they have that they’re, even though they fight and bicker like brothers and sisters do, they’ve got each other’s back and it’s like no one can pick on my brother except me kind of thing of like, don’t you dare try to, if you try to hurt one of our own, we’re gonna hurt you kind of thing. But it was something that, just to shout out, I have so many friends who are women in the Marine Corps or veterans and they just are some of the toughest people that I know and just the things that they have overcome, the things that they have sacrificed and it doesn’t leave them, I still see them doing that and going the extra mile burning, the midnight oil both ends.

Mary Kate Soliva (21:24):

It’s just incredible service and sacrifice. So I can definitely see where that’s a highlight, that it’s about all about the people. And I can see that now as a testament to what you’re doing, even hanging up the uniform, you haven’t stopped that. You’re still surrounding yourself with people who are giving more than themselves and continuing to devote that time. So I wanted to touch now on your transition since you’re in it right now, and just if you were to talk, I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to talk to some marines since you hung up the uniform. I know it was we just coming outta the holidays, but if you were to talk to a room full of Marines now or transitioning service members, what sort of advice would you share with them? Oh

Brian Russell (22:05):

That, that’s a great question. I’ve got three main things on my mind cuz I, I just went through that and I think the first is own your transition. Approach it like any other mission the Marine Corps has given you or other services given you. And what I mean by that is we are doing probably the best job I’ve seen in 27 years of helping service members transition to civilian life. There are some phenomenal resources of phenomenal programs that are available to help with the transition, but it is still a big organization. It is still a big machine and is not going to tailor itself for your individual needs. So you have to own it and follow, make the process work for you I guess is the way I’m saying, right? Everyone has an individual desire, background, whatever it is. System is good, process is good, like I said some of the best that I’ve seen in my 27 years.

Brian Russell (22:52):

But you gotta make sure you are taking care of yourself through transition. Approach it like, like any other mission. The second one would be seek out and listen uh, to people who have gone through transition, read talk. A very good friend of mine, long-term mentor Hank Brown literally wrote a book on his transition process. I read it. It was a lot of good advice on there and what to expect both from the how to get through the process but even the emotional, what’s gonna be different as you transition. Now another uh, long-term mentor of mine, Mike Gr wrote a book on it called Orders to Nowhere. It’s kind of funny your last set of orders in the Marine Corps too. Not any Marine Corps.

Mary Kate Soliva (23:28):

More puns

Brian Russell (23:29):

Coming orders to nowhere. But yeah, rice writes it with a little bit of humor and it’s a very good read. But anyway, I would say like seek out those folks that have gone through transition and listen to them, take everything on board that they have to say. And then I think the third is a lot of service members will be looking for another job per se. I would reframe that and try and look for your next purpose. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, because I think that’s part of the veteran transition challenge is we are so purposeful in the Marine Corps, you have a very noble mission and we talked about working folks that are sacrificing on your behalf and you’re sacrificing and just, it’s so purposeful in what we do. It’s more than just getting a job that pays the bills. And that’s still important. There are still yes needs to be met, but finding a purpose, those veterans that find that purpose on the other side, I think do better than the ones that just find the first available thing. And so I just advise service members, if you’re thinking think early, look for purpose vice just the job so to speak.

Mary Kate Soliva (24:28):

I know that’s great advice. So it’s, I’ve got own your transition and then seek out others perhaps who’ve been there, done that, but who can help take you to that next step and then find your purpose. I think those are three really great highlights for even for me who I’ve been out over a year now off of active duty and I still feel like I’m transitioning <laugh>. So some people say that the transitioning doesn’t stop. So, and I’ll add, I think being kind to yourself, right? I think there’s a lot of pressure in having it all figured out, right when we hang up our uniform, like you said, being able to find that purpose and it doesn’t have to be your paid job, right? But I think even as we’re about to get into with your nonprofit, that there’s ways of volunteering and giving back and finding that purpose again without it being your paid position. So there’s definitely great ways to find your next mission and your next purpose. That’s which brings

Brian Russell (25:22):

That’s great point Mary Kay. That’s what led, that’s the basis of our relationship, right? I was seeking out mentorship, like I have no idea what I’m doing in the nonprofit space that’s foreign to a 27 year marine. So I’m willing to listen to everything you have to tell me about <laugh> nonprofit space.

Mary Kate Soliva (25:36):

We’re gonna touch on that part too is that I think on our first conversation, and I know our listeners are like, what are they talking about? Brian and I met through American Corp partners, incredible nonprofit out there, free to service members and their families with regards to mentorship and looking for you towards you Brian. I’m like, you’re a 27 year marine, you’ve gotta figure it out. What in the world could I possibly mentor you on? But I think it’s just humbling on both ends that you’re, we found that commonality with like where I’m living at now and being just the, our love and our purpose as far as giving back to others and surrounding ourselves with people who can just help us get to that next step. It doesn’t, it’s that continuous act of learning, right? It just love being an active learners. And so I think just that alone about how we met as a

Brian Russell (26:26):

Testament, testament to that. Well that, that’s so true. And so let me inject just over those 27 years of experience, you get some pretty cool opportunities. One, one of which was being certified as a level one CrossFit instructor. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, that opportunity came to me out at Fort Leavenworth at the army’s command and General Staff college. The marine colonel in charge of us out there was a big CrossFit guy convinced the army to pay for a level one certification for 60 majors in the class <laugh>. So he’s like, Hey Russell, you wanna be a level one CrossFit coach? Like you’re paying for it? Yes sir. Sign me up. Sure, let’s do it. This is 2008. I’d heard of CrossFit, didn’t really know it. So I went through level insert and uh, kind of became, came hooked on the CrossFit methodology just in terms of the variance of training working across all domains of fitness that is really the most fit person is one that can demonstrate competence if not mastery across all of those domains.

Brian Russell (27:16):

And boy, that that’s, that was really powerful to me. But here’s the one thing that I think this came from Greg Glassman founder, is you fail at the limits of your experience. So it, and he said he, I think he found a CrossFit on this notion that ultra marathoners were being built as the fittest people on earth. They’re very good at that domain, but can they bench any amount of weight? Maybe not. So, so he always said with CrossFit, we’re gonna make you very broad and capable across broad range of activities. But if you want to really master something in a domain, you have to practice in that domain. You have to get out and run 26 plus miles to be a marathoner. So you, yeah, again, you fail at the limits of your experience. So just stepping into my transition is like I have no experience running a nonprofit so who might have some experience that I can leverage.

Mary Kate Soliva (28:03):

No, and I, I love that. And it’s just super, it’s super humbling I think. And I just even learning that from you, cuz I think even in my transition I lacked that confidence to seek out, to be like who’s going to actually put myself out there as a mentor. Cuz I remember when my dear friend Leslie Coffee, who with is American Court partner, she was like when she signed up to be a mentor and I was like, do I have that experience? And so it’s just been really very rewarding for me to be able to share that knowledge. And you’re continuing to do that now with our listeners And I just really wanna to take this time as well to talk about the North Carolina Inters Cycling League because I know it’s part of a big, a wider nationwide league. But I was wondering if you could share a little bit more about the organization and the work that you were doing.

Brian Russell (28:51):

Yeah, I would love to, let me start with a story about my first involvement with this mountain biking organization. It is the National National Elastic Cycling Association. It’s a national organization, the mission, Mary Kay is building strong minds, strong bodies and strong character through mountain biking. We just used two wheels to do all of those things for middle school and high school students across the nation. So there’s multiple state leagues. I am the director of the North Carolina League and I’ll talk more about that. But just think about that youth development, youth character like yes, sign me up right away to do that. But here’s why. Here’s why I jumped at this opportunity. I first got associated with this organization in Maryland. We were assigned up there 2018 Maryland decided to start their state league and I helped form a team there and I became the head coach in the second season.

Brian Russell (29:41):

And I just saw the impact the sport had on these young student athletes from the confidence building. We got reports, they started doing better in school. We saw it bring families together. This is with this sport of mountain biking. The hashtag for the national league is more kids on bikes, which is absolutely true. That’s our goal. Let’s get more kids on bikes, turn them into lifelong mountain bike enthusiasts. But really outdoor enthusiasts and being part of a community that just appreciates the outdoors. That’s the strategic vision. But really my hashtags is hashtag no bench. Every kid that signs up gets to ride their bike. Every kid if they want to, they can race. There’s no bench like everyone participates. And my second hashtag is hashtag more families on bikes. Cause this is really, think about this Mary Kay, what other sport are you aware of where you as a parent can get on the field with your kid and participate?

Brian Russell (30:35):

So with a little bit of training you can become a coach for the team and you’re out there with your kid on the trail during practice. That’s pretty cool. And so that was we we say anikka, what’s your why again? Remember purpose, what’s your why? Initially my why was just being more involved with my son. Again, military service spending a lot of time away. I want to spend time with my second son, Ian, who was our mountain biker and oh, I get to be right there with him and spend all that time on the bike with Ian. That’s what brought me into to the Maryland League. And so 2020 get a set orders down here to North Carolina and 2020 was the year of Covid. That wasn’t, wasn’t a fun PCs move for us. Mary Kay. That was no. Yeah. Fraught with a challenge for Team Russell in here.

Brian Russell (31:18):

Let me describe this. My son was a senior in high school in Maryland, no graduation, no prom for him, no traditional right of passage. My daughter who was spent, we spent five years in Maryland, no going away parties, no seeing her friends before we left Maryland. So it, it was pretty rough. But the silver lining is when we got here to North Carolina, there was a Nike team, there was a mountain bike team, Mary Kay. Literally the first thing we did, the very next day we moved down here, I was out on a mountain bike trail with my two boys with a family that was on the local mountain bike team here, engaging with the community immediately, immediate familiarity with an activity, immediate familiarity with quote unquote rules for how we do it. And so we fill in on that team and it was just, it was like a virtual hug.

Brian Russell (32:06):

Mary Kay from that team to my family to help us work absolutely through all of the dynamics of what was a crazy year for everybody. This league, this sport helped reduce some of the crazy for my family. So when the opportunity came several months ago, the director position for the North Carolina League, we’ve got 64 teams right now for our 2023 season. 800 student athletes, over 400 coaches again, over 400 parents out there spending time with their kids local community. And I said, oh again, back to the transition point, find some purpose, mission oriented, service oriented. Let’s, okay, I’ve spent 27 years helping develop, if you will, young men and women with a one mission of mine. I’ll spend my next set of however many years developing character and competency and strong mind, strong body in the youth of North Carolina. Sound sounds

Mary Kate Soliva (33:01):

Like I love that. Hashtag Can you hashtag, can you touch on that? What’s that? Hashtag, what’s that?

Brian Russell (33:05):

Hashtag Dream job.

Mary Kate Soliva (33:06):

Dream job, yeah. Hashtag dream job. Found your purpose. Next mission. And I love that it’s a family affair, a whole family event. You mentioned about what your kids went through during the pandemic and I think there’s a lot of similar stories probably from our listeners about how their families coped with covid 19 in that quarantine and isolation and things being shut down and not having, trying to that post new normal <laugh>, I know some people ate that term, but this new normal that we are living in now. I knew with the mountain biking it’s so much more than the physical aspect and you had just touched on it real quickly about the mind and just that family, that virtual hug that you all were able to get even from folks that you may not know that well, but you have that instant connection. Can you talk a little bit more about what your organization doesn’t as far as helping with mental health and confidence and things like that?

Brian Russell (33:55):

I think it gets to the core values of the leagues. Let me share those with you. And fun is up there. So people want to participate. Inclusivity, I already talked about that. It’s like everyone gets the ride, it doesn’t matter your background. Gender ra, like we don’t, that doesn’t matter. Even ability level will train you. Equity, everyone gets a fair shot at the, in their and then the last two, respect and community. And so that’s what you experience, right? When you come to one of our teams, it’s not all about the racing, but here’s where the character development comes in and the strong mind, the strong body is mountain biking like we shared is can be a challenge but you set your own challenge, right? It the student athlete that comes to that first practice, never having rid mountain bike. The challenge might just be to get on the bike and be able to stop and you just continue to build the skills and we’re not even talking about racing.

Brian Russell (34:46):

Another student athlete, been there a year or two, just wants to complete a race for the first time. Great. Awesome. Set that as a goal. We’ll just keep tracking you. And it just, I think this is something about the mountain bike community at large that I’ve noticed throughout my time with it. Everyone just wants you to have a good ride. That’s my description of the mountain bike community. You’re out on a trail, you get a flat like the next mountain biker is typically gonna stop and try and help you get back on your bike. Everyone just wants you to have a good ride. And so that’s the culture we’re creating here in this league where you do you join, whatever that challenge is in your life, you’re gonna find a coach, a parent, someone that’s gonna help you through that challenge. It may not be related to mountain biking, but they’re gonna know that you care about them.

Mary Kate Soliva (35:27):

No, I love that. And again, caring about people like you did, you spent 27 years caring for Marines and now you’re doing it further with all ages people from all walks of life. And I, I love that the bikes can be adapted to braless if they’re an amputee or they have an injury or depending on their skill level or age that there’s those bikes can be adapted to something that suits them in custom made. It’s not this cookie cutter and like you said, nobody gets benched. So I love that aspect. Would you touch on maybe taking this opportunity to highlight a success story where one of your writers perhaps changed their life or impacted them in a significant way?

Brian Russell (36:03):

I think beyond just an individual writer, I’ll talk about maybe a, a demographic that maybe when you say mountain biking isn’t immediately thought of and that’s our female student athletes. We have a specific program called Girls Riding Together and oh hey check this out. What’s cool acronym Grit <laugh> Girls Riding Together just like

Mary Kate Soliva (36:22):

Mine.

Brian Russell (36:23):

Yeah. So it’s a program dedicated to making sure we focus on that core value of inclusivity. You can imagine as maybe a female student athlete, you’re the one girl on that team. And so build programs to help bring them into the sport and into the community, make sure they feel supported and pretty proud of the fact that we’re upwards of 22% female student athletes in this league in North Carolina, which is pretty impressive having started. Love that. Not lower than that. And our goal nationally, I think it’s 30%, but really it’s uh, we invited one of our senior, uh, female student athletes to our league summit a couple months ago. So we brought coaches, team directors from across the state in what are we doing, who we need to do better. And we closed with a student athlete panel and Amelia a one female student athlete, I think she, she had the mic drop moment and this is what we’re doing with our grit program and is that she says not all writers want to race, but all writers want to belong and that’s why she’s still in the league. It’s not the racing, it’s the program that supported her being part of this community. And so that’s I think one of our success stories Mary Kay is just, we’re absolutely focused on a demographic that sometimes isn’t the first thing you think about when you say mountain biking. They feel a little marginalized, small numbers coming onto a team. We’re trying to counter that and just make this an all-inclusive family and community sport for

Mary Kate Soliva (37:38):

Everybody. I love that. And then with you at the helm as director, I’m excited to see what’s to come for your organization with regards to getting, maybe eliminating that, that margin there and just getting more of those girls, young women to, to feel inspired and get on a bike. So again, I love that too and I think there’s just so, so much to say that when they get, when they’re part of that race or that level of achievement and that feeling once they do cross the line. Before I forget the thought, it slipped my mind earlier, but how young were you when you first started riding a bike? What’s your earliest memory I should say of of you on a bike?

Brian Russell (38:14):

Oh, like the one that’s seared into my mind again, rubber side down is always best is probably riding my huffy B M X bike and I can’t remember how old I was but elementary school off the homemade ramp one of my friends had built and oh gosh, planning in the asphalt and just road rash across half of my face. You can imagine why I still remember that

Mary Kate Soliva (38:34):

Be honest, like straight out of a a movie <laugh>, they’re like one of my earliest memories with the bike myself, it was my parents bought me a bike that was an act actual, it was actually an adult bike and I think that they were just like, oh you’re gonna grow into it and instead of buy buying a bike as you get older we’ll just get you a big one. So I literally had to fall off the bike just to like get off a bit off of it. But I remember my pedals actually falling off one time and as I was going downhill. So I can relate to the crash and thing you experienced. But again, I just love the lessons learned and the confidence, the self-esteem, building the teamwork and that everybody can take part and be part of the race. Just great analogy and parallels there with just life in general, right? And just giving everybody that opportunity to grow and be on that pathway, on that path. I know we’re nearing the end of our time together, but I wanted to hear from you if you, how folks can connect with you with your organization. How can we reach out and get involved and volunteer?

Brian Russell (39:35):

Yeah and boy we’d be happy to have anybody’s support to get hashtag more Kids on Bikes, but website is us North Carolina mtb.org. You can find information about all of our programs I mentioned just the one the girls riding together. We have another program we’re reinvigorating this year called Teen Trail Core. None of this mountain biking happens without trail systems. And so since 2023 is the North Carolina year of the trail, we’re encouraging our team student athletes, coaches to get out there and help fix up the trails, be good stewards of the environments. And so that Team Trail Core is a program where we incentivize both the student athletes and the coaches putting in some hours to fixing up the trails out there. But uh, you can see on our website opportunities to volunteer at our race events. We’re a spring league so we will race six times March through May love to have you out and come check us out.

Brian Russell (40:23):

But yeah, but you just can’t kind of find that same type of vibe anywhere else that I’ve found in the Youth Sports Organization team set up and what we call the pit zone, they’re maybe decorating their tents and families coming together, preparing for the race and then just seeing the smiles across the finish line. Mary Kate or like the resiliency, you talk about true grit. Yes, I’ve seen this in both leagues now. Poor kids bike breaks half a mile from the finish line. You know what most of our kids do? They pick up that bike and they run it across the finish line and just with

Mary Kate Soliva (40:53):

Big smiles, right? Big smiles on their faces.

Brian Russell (40:55):

Big smiles are, yeah, just that determination and again, just everyone cheering for all ’em out there. It’s a wonderful venue. So yeah, if you wanna volunteer for that, there’s a volunteer link on our website and come out and help us with parking or the course market unit admits. Yeah, plenty of opportunities to to support the league. So would love to get in touch with folks if they wanna reach out to me.

Mary Kate Soliva (41:14):

Yes, that’s great. And just cuz I know you’re so humble, but as far as financial support, you can also ensure our listeners can also donate through same website. Correct.

Brian Russell (41:25):

Next volunteer link is the donation link. Yes. Mary,

Mary Kate Soliva (41:28):

Yes.

Brian Russell (41:29):

Plenty of opportunity

Mary Kate Soliva (41:31):

Yes, for financial support to help help this great organization, the North Carolina Inters Cycling League. And I love again that it’s the whole family affair. So if you’re looking for opportunities to support

Brian Russell (41:42):

Yeah, and I’ll just, I’ll share a little bit about that too. Like we’re, again, we more kids on bikes, we’re trying to reach everybody and give them an opportunity in North Carolina to get on a bike. So just this season this league has awarded over $4,000 in scholarships and a scholarship. Mm-hmm. Pays for registration fees and the like for families or having some financial difficulty or a certain demographic. We have a loaner bike program, so we purchase bikes and if that kid can’t get access to a bike for that season, we will loan a bike. Uh, just to be able to get them out there. So yeah, the financial support is Oh, that’s great. Very important as well. But I just wanted to share what we’re using it for. Mary Kay is really, it’s getting more kids on bikes.

Mary Kate Soliva (42:19):

I think that’s such an important note. I know this is a, especially coming out of the holiday season, it’s a really hard time for a lot of folks and even coming out of the pandemic. So again, for financial support, the fact that we’re, you’re able to provide that service for these kids is incredible. So, and again, on LinkedIn, you’re also out there on LinkedIn. So Brian Russell, that’s r u e l l, so you connect with Brian there. Any final thoughts, Brian, for, uh, close us out here?

Brian Russell (42:47):

No, I just want to thank you for what you’re doing, Mary Kate with the podcast, with your mentorship, what a wonderful thing you’re doing is helping these, uh, veterans through their transition. This helps me, right? I get to talk about what else. Absolutely. I mean there, there’s an aspect of that Mary Kay. So I really appreciate what you’re doing for the veterans

Mary Kate Soliva (43:02):

And uh, thank you again for your 27 years of service and your continued service beyond the uniform. That’s what Veteran voices and why I love doing what I do to be able to amplify your efforts. I know, know, we’re kind of like side chuckling before our listeners, my nonprofits, the Guam Human Rights Initiative. And so when you add the tea in there for our team, we are also grit. So every time Brian’s saying grit, we’re sort of like private chuckling back over here. But there’s a reason for that and I just love that grit. So on behalf of the entire team here at Veteran Voices, we invite you to find us and subscribe wherever you get your podcast from. A big thanks to our partners at military women’s collective.org and the Guam Human Rights initiative@guamhri.org. Two great incredible organizations. You can find more about them there. Again, don’t forget to check out North Carolina Inters Cycling League. I will get it one of these days. Brian, I’m so sorry, <laugh>, but could you say Brian real quick, the website again,

Brian Russell (44:00):

North Carolina MTB all one word.org,

Mary Kate Soliva (44:05):

North Carolina mtb.org. Check out, learn more there. Thank you again so much for joining us. Brian, this is Mary Kate Saliva wishing all of our listeners nothing but the best. So do good, give forward and be the change that’s needed. On that note, we’ll see you next time. Thank you everybody.