Speaker 1: Vis is Masters in Business with Barry Ridholts on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1: This week on the podcast, I have an extra special
Speaker 1: guest for our fourth of July holiday special. When I
Speaker 1: interviewed Henry Cornell as the former woman SAX private equity
Speaker 1: person now runs Cornell Capital and really fascinating guy with
Speaker 1: a tremendous history. When we were talking about some of
Speaker 1: his charitable foundations and various board works that he does,
Speaker 1: he mentioned the Navy Seal Foundation, and I have to
Speaker 1: tell you I was quite intrigued, not only because over
Speaker 1: the course of my career, I've been lucky enough to
Speaker 1: work with a number of military vets. I started on
Speaker 1: a trading desk and the guy on my right was
Speaker 1: a Marine Jungle combat instructor and the guy on my
Speaker 1: left was an Army ranger. So I felt when we
Speaker 1: went out after trading for the day, I felt I
Speaker 1: could basically do anything. I was completely invulnerable to any
Speaker 1: sort of trouble. And now today I have a number
Speaker 1: of military veterans working in my firm, both as our
Speaker 1: CFO is one person and our CTO is another person,
Speaker 1: and I call those guys our secret weapon. So the
Speaker 1: opportunity to speak with Robin King, who is the CEO
Speaker 1: of the Navy Seals Foundation, was just too good to
Speaker 1: pass up. She's been a military spouse for many years.
Speaker 1: She has spent time both within the community of military
Speaker 1: families as well as a person who is helping to
Speaker 1: take care of those families post service in a variety
Speaker 1: of ways, both financial and organizational, helping them deal with
Speaker 1: sometimes trying circumstances, on rare occasion, tragic circumstances. And I
Speaker 1: think it's a wonderful organization that does great work. Could
Speaker 1: imagine a better guest for July four. So, with no
Speaker 1: further ado my conversation with Robin King, this is Masters
Speaker 1: in Business with Barry Ridholts on Bloomberg Radio. My special
Speaker 1: guest for the July four holiday weekend is Robin King.
Speaker 1: She is the chief executive Officer for the Navy Seal Foundation,
Speaker 1: which provides critical support and assistance to the Naval Special
Speaker 1: Warfare community and its families. They are based out of Coronado, California,
Speaker 1: where Naval Special Warfare Command is located, as well as
Speaker 1: where the Seal Qualification training takes place. She is the recipient,
Speaker 1: amongst other honorifics, of the US Special Operation Commands Outstanding
Speaker 1: Civilian Service Medal. Robin King, Welcome to Bloomberg. Thank you,
Speaker 1: thanks for having it this morning. So I think the
Speaker 1: role of military families is one of those things where
Speaker 1: there is a lot of sacrifice given and very little
Speaker 1: praise or fanfare recognized. Families have to endure long separations
Speaker 1: from the military spouse. Families often get moved around from
Speaker 1: place to place. Tell us about your experience as a
Speaker 1: military spouse. Yeah, you know, it's a very different life,
Speaker 1: but it's not one that I, uh, I didn't marry
Speaker 1: a feal My wonderful husband determined after we were married
Speaker 1: for a couple of years, if this is something you
Speaker 1: wanted to do, so um. You know, people jokingly in
Speaker 1: this community always say, well, you knew what you were
Speaker 1: marrying into, but I absolutely didn't. It's a unique life
Speaker 1: in that you learn how important community is, whether that's
Speaker 1: your neighbors, the Naval special worker community, your friends, your family.
Speaker 1: You have to learn to become really independent, and that
Speaker 1: is not really independent of your husban them, but it's
Speaker 1: being able to be independent with and without your husband. So,
Speaker 1: you know, the incredible amount of time that they're gone
Speaker 1: can really bring out some amazing things, and you know,
Speaker 1: the spouse and the families, You learn what you can handle,
Speaker 1: you learn where you need to lean on people. You
Speaker 1: developed some incredible strengths, and uh, I don't know any
Speaker 1: spouses who wish they didn't go through this amazingly enough,
Speaker 1: as tough as it can be, I think we're all
Speaker 1: really proud to be part of this community and part
Speaker 1: of this life and to do this for our country.
Speaker 1: You mentioned you didn't marry a seal. Your husband was
Speaker 1: a photographer, right, Like, I couldn't imagine anything more polar
Speaker 1: opposite than when I what I think of when I
Speaker 1: think of a Navy seal. How did he come to
Speaker 1: the decision to change his career path and what was
Speaker 1: your reaction to that? Yeah, you know seals probably have
Speaker 1: one of them, those diverse sets of backgrounds and all
Speaker 1: these guys, you know, we have everything from you know,
Speaker 1: guys who have their pH ds, you know, guys who
Speaker 1: are photography dooming. His degree was in fine art photography.
Speaker 1: My husband's much older half brother was a Vietnam A seal,
Speaker 1: and he had taken a trip down to San Diego
Speaker 1: to visit him one weekend when he was I had
Speaker 1: traveled across the country to visit an old Vietnam era buddy,
Speaker 1: and my husband said, I'm going to go down and
Speaker 1: visit Mikey. I'm like, great, go have a bathulous weekend.
Speaker 1: You know, see when you get back. And at this time,
Speaker 1: we were living in Pasadena, we had a house, we
Speaker 1: had our little life. And he came back and looked
Speaker 1: at me and said, I want to be a seal.
Speaker 1: I've always wanted to be a seal. And I think
Speaker 1: I probably cried for about a week. And I just
Speaker 1: didn't you know, I didn't know anything about military life.
Speaker 1: I didn't know what that would be, but I knew
Speaker 1: it was going to be a dramatic change. But it
Speaker 1: was really apparent that this was something that he just
Speaker 1: had to do. It was a calling and not you know,
Speaker 1: I've never experienced anything like that. You know, I don't
Speaker 1: have anything that just called spoke to me so strongly
Speaker 1: that I just had to do it. And um, you know,
Speaker 1: he actually went in on the older end. He was
Speaker 1: twenty six when he started this journey, and god, you know,
Speaker 1: he he loves his job. Every day. We were sitting
Speaker 1: around the other evening with my daughters and everybody's talking
Speaker 1: about work, and he just chuckled and said, I love
Speaker 1: my job, you know. So you know, a lot of
Speaker 1: people have a lot of complaints, but he does not.
Speaker 1: He loves it with everything he has. So that's fun
Speaker 1: to be around. Huh. I can imagine. So. So one
Speaker 1: of the things about the military brats I know and
Speaker 1: the stories I've heard, is how often their families had
Speaker 1: to move from assignment to assignment, based to base, and
Speaker 1: for the spouse, very often they're working in careers like
Speaker 1: teachers and nurses and other things like that where there's
Speaker 1: a state certification required and then suddenly you pick up
Speaker 1: and moved to a new state and you have to
Speaker 1: start all over. How do you deal with that? Do
Speaker 1: states cross honor other licensing or is this still a
Speaker 1: problem today? Yeah, that's a great question. There has been
Speaker 1: a lot of movement in ensuring that military spouses have
Speaker 1: much more portable careers. So there's a two thousand eighteen
Speaker 1: National Defense Authorization Act which allows the spouses to get
Speaker 1: reimbursed for licensure costs. There is a lot of states
Speaker 1: that are implementing or in the process of implementing portability
Speaker 1: measures for spouses of their organizations like the Navy Seal
Speaker 1: Foundation that provides scholarships to help with funding if you
Speaker 1: you know, it's above the reimbursement that's allowed by the
Speaker 1: military branches. And you know, it's really heartening to see
Speaker 1: that the government is taking this seriously and they understand
Speaker 1: these challenges by the spouses, and the states are really
Speaker 1: working hard at ensuring that these spouses aren't leaving behind
Speaker 1: their their law career, their nursing career, their teaching career,
Speaker 1: and um, you know, I was at a meeting recently
Speaker 1: in a spouse who's an attorney that she just got
Speaker 1: her license renewed from Virginia to California, and she was
Speaker 1: very excited that she was able to make that happen.
Speaker 1: I was going to talk to another attorney in the
Speaker 1: room on how she did that without retaking the bar,
Speaker 1: which I can't even imagine doing. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: good things going on in that space. That's great. So, So,
Speaker 1: you've been with the Navy Seals Foundation since its inception
Speaker 1: in two thousand. How did the foundation come about and
Speaker 1: what was your involvement from from the beginning. Sure, the
Speaker 1: Navy Seals Foundation grew out of a fraternal Order of
Speaker 1: Navy Seals called the dt Seal Association, and that still exists.
Speaker 1: It's been around since the sixties. And the DCCAL Association
Speaker 1: had a small scholarship program where they awarded scholarships to
Speaker 1: the dependent children of seals and that was about fourteen
Speaker 1: thousand dollars a year that was being awarded at that time.
Speaker 1: And this was in two thousand when I started working
Speaker 1: with them. We had a donor come to us and say, hey,
Speaker 1: I want to give to the scholarship program. I want
Speaker 1: to get a hundred thousand dollars, but you have to
Speaker 1: be a five and one C three, which the association
Speaker 1: was not. It was a paternal order, so it fell
Speaker 1: unto a different tax code. And a hundred thousand dollars
Speaker 1: is a significant amount of money. And so we were like, absolutely,
Speaker 1: you know, we can do that. Let's form a five
Speaker 1: and one C three and we you know, the original
Speaker 1: thoughts were, we're going to expand our scholarship program. This
Speaker 1: is fabulous, and so we did that, got the great donation,
Speaker 1: and you know, fast forward just a little bit of
Speaker 1: time and we're at nine eleven and you know, obviously
Speaker 1: the world changed, and you know, my husband actually left
Speaker 1: in November of that same year, and we lost our
Speaker 1: first seal in Afghanistan in March two thousand two, and
Speaker 1: we lost our second seal also in March two thousand
Speaker 1: two in Afghanistan, and we kind of looked at each other.
Speaker 1: It was just a couple of us and we said,
Speaker 1: you know, things have changed. And the first deal we
Speaker 1: lost in Afghana stand with Neil Roberts, and he wrote
Speaker 1: an incredible letter for in his records. It was one
Speaker 1: of those you know, if you're reading this letter about
Speaker 1: how much he loved what he did and you know,
Speaker 1: died doing what he was supposed to be doing. And
Speaker 1: that got picked up by the press and we started
Speaker 1: receiving donations from that. People were just looking for a
Speaker 1: place to give and support his family, and we understood
Speaker 1: that we had a responsibility with these donations to do
Speaker 1: something for those families. And so over time, you know,
Speaker 1: just like what happened with Neil and the families and
Speaker 1: the community and the stresses and the operational tempo, the
Speaker 1: foundation just began to evolve and by creating great programs,
Speaker 1: you know, we've got more donations and we supported more
Speaker 1: families in a in a bigger, better way, which spawned,
Speaker 1: you know, more great programs and more great donations. You know.
Speaker 1: So it was really just this organic development um that
Speaker 1: ended up being this, this great organization that provides incredible
Speaker 1: support today. And uh, you know, the guys I was
Speaker 1: there when it started, I wouldn't say I was much
Speaker 1: more than that. The guys that started this were retired Seals.
Speaker 1: I don't think we have any of them still on
Speaker 1: our board today, but they're still always happy to attend
Speaker 1: things and active and talk very positively in support the
Speaker 1: foundation in big, big ways. It was. It was a
Speaker 1: great group of guys, and I was just lucky to
Speaker 1: be at the right place at the right time. Let's
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about your backgrounds in finance. You
Speaker 1: were both CFO and now you're CEO of the Seal Foundation.
Speaker 1: How did your prior career help you get ready for
Speaker 1: this role. Yeah, that's an interesting question that I don't
Speaker 1: think I've really had to think about before. You know,
Speaker 1: out of school, I went to work from McDonald Douglas,
Speaker 1: which is now part of Boeing, and I worked as
Speaker 1: a financial analyst on military special projects, and from there
Speaker 1: I ended up with the Walt Disney company working as
Speaker 1: an auditor for the Disney Channel back when the Disney
Speaker 1: Channel was a paid channel, before it became part of
Speaker 1: you know, Basic not Basic cable, but you know, more
Speaker 1: of a standard package. And I guess Disney now has
Speaker 1: its paid channel as well. You know. So there's a
Speaker 1: lot of my previous career history that focused on you know, planning, budgeting,
Speaker 1: paying attention to the details. And I remember when you know,
Speaker 1: people first started asking me there's the difference between for
Speaker 1: profit and nonprofit, and I remember thinking, I don't really
Speaker 1: view them all that differently, other than there are a
Speaker 1: few rules you have to follow for nonprofits. So I
Speaker 1: think I kind of came at the Navy Field Foundation
Speaker 1: with more of a for profit mindset, and I understood
Speaker 1: the importance, like you know, anybody would, the importance of
Speaker 1: really ensuring that the donors know how well we take
Speaker 1: care of their dollars and how much we try to
Speaker 1: squeeze out of every dollar, and that that needs to
Speaker 1: be transparent. They always need to be very comfortable that
Speaker 1: they are making the right decision. I mean, they're getting
Speaker 1: us a gift, right and we have to know what
Speaker 1: we're doing with it, why we're doing that, that our
Speaker 1: programs make sense, that they have a philosophy that aligns
Speaker 1: with our customer base, which is you know, naval special
Speaker 1: warfare and feel community. And I think we've we've done
Speaker 1: a really good job at that. You know, we we
Speaker 1: know exactly why we do everything we do, and that's
Speaker 1: really important. And you know, we sit around we have
Speaker 1: some pretty interesting conversations when we're making decisions about new
Speaker 1: programs or program growth or if you we scale something back.
Speaker 1: You know, we don't take any of that lightly. So
Speaker 1: so let's talk about both of those things that you mentioned,
Speaker 1: because it's really very very interesting. I want to get
Speaker 1: into some of the programs that you guys run a
Speaker 1: little later, but let's talk about the donor base. I
Speaker 1: understand you have a broad group of donors. Tell us
Speaker 1: what the range of people who give to the Navy
Speaker 1: Seal Foundation looks like. Who's the typical donor that you
Speaker 1: count on and obviously not by name, but what sort
Speaker 1: of person chooses the Navy Seal Foundation as their favorite charity.
Speaker 1: You know, we have such a broad base of donors,
Speaker 1: everybody from you know, members of the Seal community themselves,
Speaker 1: their friends, their families. We've developed great relationships with people
Speaker 1: and businesses and business leaders across the country, you know,
Speaker 1: and then we just have our you know, great American
Speaker 1: patriots who may not even know that much about the military,
Speaker 1: but are just you know, honored to support our military
Speaker 1: in some way. And you know, we're lucky enough that
Speaker 1: they've chosen the Navy Seal Foundation. You know, we've done
Speaker 1: a lot of work connecting with donors through you know,
Speaker 1: major events, um but we've continue to expand with partnerships
Speaker 1: with companies like you know, reebok is A is a
Speaker 1: great partner of and we try to incorporate you know,
Speaker 1: our donors and our partners into really connecting with this
Speaker 1: community and understanding, you know, what makes feels different and
Speaker 1: what makes feel special and why the needs exists. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is a very proud community who you know, you
Speaker 1: certainly aren't going to hear or say, you know, we
Speaker 1: need your help. And that's where the Foundation comes in,
Speaker 1: looking at you know what it is these families have
Speaker 1: to deal with and and discussing it with the donors
Speaker 1: who have always been just been so incredibly thoughtful and
Speaker 1: respectful of the privacy of this community, and you know
Speaker 1: what it is that they deal with on a daily basis.
Speaker 1: So you know, I don't know if I could say,
Speaker 1: you know, one type of donor because it really is
Speaker 1: incredibly varied. But I can tell you across the country
Speaker 1: where we've had, you know, major events, and we have
Speaker 1: just some really incredible major donors that have been so
Speaker 1: pleased with the Navy Steal Foundation and what we do
Speaker 1: that they leverage their networks. You know, they're connecting us
Speaker 1: with their friends, um, which says a lot, you know,
Speaker 1: to us, it says a lot because that's hard to do, right,
Speaker 1: you know, to go ask your friends to participate in
Speaker 1: something because you think it matters. You know, you're going
Speaker 1: to really believe in it if you're doing that. And
Speaker 1: we've been extremely lucky on the relationships we've built and
Speaker 1: how these people feel about the Navy Steal Foundation, and
Speaker 1: we just we hope we can continue to make them
Speaker 1: feel a part of this team, because we do view
Speaker 1: it as a team. Every donor, every supporter, everybody who
Speaker 1: puts on a small race or you know, sells their
Speaker 1: own T shirts for us, or we've had kids who
Speaker 1: do lemonade stamps. Those are all part of this team.
Speaker 1: And every one of those dollars matters to us being
Speaker 1: able to provide incredible support to this community. So how
Speaker 1: do you balance the needs of the community that you're
Speaker 1: serving when there are obviously some very current short term needs,
Speaker 1: but on the same time, you have to think long
Speaker 1: term about the financial health of the organization and your
Speaker 1: mission is perpetual. How do you balance between what you
Speaker 1: want to do right now and what you want the
Speaker 1: organization to be able to do one, five, ten years out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it is a balance, and we worked hard to support
Speaker 1: that immediate need, was always keeping an eye on that
Speaker 1: long term objective. You know, we have camps for these kids.
Speaker 1: We want the kids to go to camp this year,
Speaker 1: and we want ten years from now kids still go
Speaker 1: to camp. Right We can't look up and say, oh, sorry,
Speaker 1: we didn't plan well enough. So you know, your younger
Speaker 1: children don't get to go to camp. We really understand
Speaker 1: when we roll out new programs. Every time we do that,
Speaker 1: we make sure that it's going to be sustainable long term.
Speaker 1: So you know, every year we are budgeting and forecasting
Speaker 1: processes is really intensive. We work with the staff, we
Speaker 1: work with committees of the board. Uh, we leverage our
Speaker 1: board members and their expertise, and we bring forward what
Speaker 1: we think we want to spend the following year and
Speaker 1: what those programs entail. And you know, with that there's
Speaker 1: always a buffer. We like a buffered budget because we
Speaker 1: want to take that buffered money, assuming the day, you know,
Speaker 1: the year goes right, and put that towards our long
Speaker 1: term needs. You know. So over time, we've built up
Speaker 1: a reserve, you know, an emergency contingency reserve. We're working
Speaker 1: towards building an endowment, and all of those things help
Speaker 1: ensure that we're able to continue on and provide every
Speaker 1: program that we've promised well into the future. And with
Speaker 1: this virus right now, and you know, we're really stepping
Speaker 1: into the first layer of what catastrophe can be like
Speaker 1: and its catastrophes. You know, the wrong word here, but
Speaker 1: you know, how do you deal when your whole funders
Speaker 1: and dynamics had to change and you know what the
Speaker 1: impact is that going to be? Energy's still going to
Speaker 1: stain your programs and the Foundation hasn't misked the beat.
Speaker 1: And on top of that, we've helped support a couple
Speaker 1: of other foundations that have struggled in other ways, and
Speaker 1: they provide programs that we feel are important enough that
Speaker 1: we want to reach across and say, hey, we're gonna
Speaker 1: help you through this this rough period. So I'm really
Speaker 1: proud of how we have planned so that we are
Speaker 1: able to continue to Pride programs. I don't want to
Speaker 1: miss giving a mom of flowers on Memorial Day. I
Speaker 1: don't want to not recognize, you know, the birthday of
Speaker 1: a fallen you know, a warrior to his spouse. And
Speaker 1: you know, those things may seem little, but to be
Speaker 1: able to do everything that we've we've established that we're
Speaker 1: going to do and continue to do that, it's just
Speaker 1: hugely important to us. And I really am so proud
Speaker 1: of how we have planned long term. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think sometimes nonprofits get get dingmed for you know,
Speaker 1: you have money in the bank. We have money in
Speaker 1: the bank for a reason, and that is to sustain
Speaker 1: these programs forever, you know, and nobody is more important
Speaker 1: to us. And gold Star and Surviving Families are veterans,
Speaker 1: you know, these children who serve, you know, and they
Speaker 1: didn't choose to serve, and we need these programs for them.
Speaker 1: And you know, I think we're really really good at it.
Speaker 1: Let's talk a little bit Robin about some of the
Speaker 1: programs that the foundation runs. What do you do for
Speaker 1: the families of Navy seals in general, and what do
Speaker 1: you do, as you mentioned, for the families of fallen warriors.
Speaker 1: So the foundation operates under five main areas of support
Speaker 1: Warrior and family support, educational opportunities, tragedy assistance and survivor support,
Speaker 1: Warrior transition and veteran support. And then you know, we
Speaker 1: also have a legacy preservation area. You know, our goal
Speaker 1: Star families are surviving families are you know, have have
Speaker 1: been through the unimaginable and they are one of our
Speaker 1: first areas of expansion. And we've really learned over time
Speaker 1: by working with these incredible family members. You know, what
Speaker 1: their needs are. We support them with everything from all
Speaker 1: of that immediate tragedy assistance. You know, we really like
Speaker 1: to remove as much stress as we can in those
Speaker 1: early days, and that is you know, could be handling
Speaker 1: memorial reception items, it could be you know, ensuring that
Speaker 1: they are not worried about their mortgage. You know, we've
Speaker 1: seen people in the past make decisions too early on
Speaker 1: and a lot of our programs are designed to say, hey,
Speaker 1: right now, you can just breathe. You know, we've got you.
Speaker 1: You don't have to make a decision about if you're
Speaker 1: staying in that house, if you're moving back somewhere, so
Speaker 1: we're gonna pay your mortgage for a while, and you
Speaker 1: cannot think about that because so many times we hear
Speaker 1: from these families that you know, they were in a
Speaker 1: fog for so long and it's really not the best
Speaker 1: time to make decisions. You know, we have Discovery grants
Speaker 1: for their gold Star and Surviving children, and these grants
Speaker 1: are designed so that the kids can pursue something maybe
Speaker 1: that was unique to them and their dad. You know,
Speaker 1: maybe their dad was into music and he was sharing
Speaker 1: that with his son or daughter and that's not an
Speaker 1: area that mom maybe is proficient in. So if they
Speaker 1: want to go pursue that, we want them to be
Speaker 1: able to do those things. Grief counseling, financial counseling, tax preparation,
Speaker 1: resiliency gatherings. You know, what we've learned over these last
Speaker 1: twenty years is that what these families do for each
Speaker 1: other is more than anybody can do for them. You know,
Speaker 1: when you bring them together and they lean on each
Speaker 1: other and they share what they've been through and you
Speaker 1: can see how the spouses who have been um survivors
Speaker 1: for a good number of years, you know, how they
Speaker 1: help these newer spouses and it's really incredible to watch
Speaker 1: and to to just be a part of it. A
Speaker 1: lot of times we just kind of back up and
Speaker 1: let them do their do their thing. You know, go ahead.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry to interrupt now, just you know, it goes
Speaker 1: on and on. I mean, we really just try to
Speaker 1: listen to them, and we've learned over the years. We
Speaker 1: have about twelve unique programs for just our goal storre
Speaker 1: and sprouting spouses and families. So so you kind of
Speaker 1: put an idea in my head that I was trying
Speaker 1: to reconcile, and you just touched on it. The concept
Speaker 1: that having a spouse that is a warrior forces you
Speaker 1: to be independent, but at the same time becomes part
Speaker 1: of a larger community. And it it's a little bit
Speaker 1: of Yin and yang tell us about how those two
Speaker 1: work together, how you're both part of a larger community
Speaker 1: but at the same time forced to become resilient and independent. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, the Stale Foundation creates programs that bring people
Speaker 1: together as part of a community, and we work with
Speaker 1: Naval Special Warfare and they've got some incredible staff members
Speaker 1: who who focus on the same thing. We always want
Speaker 1: people to know that they are part of a community.
Speaker 1: There are people that you can call. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: back years and years ago, everybody leaned on their neighbors,
Speaker 1: right everybody the neighborhoods were tight, or you were close
Speaker 1: to your family. Well, you know, you've been removed from
Speaker 1: your family. You may have been placed into a neighborhood
Speaker 1: where you don't know anybody, and that takes time. So
Speaker 1: there are a lot of great programs within the Foundation
Speaker 1: and within Naval Special For itself to bring these spouses
Speaker 1: together and bring kids together and help them create this community.
Speaker 1: But you do have to learn as well, um you know,
Speaker 1: how to how to do some of these things on
Speaker 1: your own. I mean it's inevitable, uh, the moment your
Speaker 1: husband walks out the door, the car breaks down, or
Speaker 1: the washing machine you know, floods the whole kitchen, or
Speaker 1: you have a hurricane because they always take them out
Speaker 1: during hurricanes and it's like, hey, honey, I'm I'm leaving
Speaker 1: you and your home with you know, toddlers and a
Speaker 1: hurricane bearing down on you in Virginia Beach and um,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's really fascinating what you have to
Speaker 1: to learn to deal with. And I think through that
Speaker 1: community connection and the sharing of stories and and everybody's
Speaker 1: sitting around laughing about the time that this broke and
Speaker 1: this flooded and how you dealt with it, and you know,
Speaker 1: traumas and tragedies, you really understand what what you're capable of,
Speaker 1: and what you know everybody in this community is capable of,
Speaker 1: and who you can lean on. But you know, you
Speaker 1: really have to get used to, you know, your own
Speaker 1: I don't know triggers. I guess you know, when my
Speaker 1: kids were little and my husband was deployed, there were
Speaker 1: times when I would look around the house and like,
Speaker 1: I'm just not going to do that today. I'm just
Speaker 1: not going to clean that stuff today because I feel
Speaker 1: like I'm kind of at my at my tipping point
Speaker 1: on this day. It'll still be there tomorrow, It'll still
Speaker 1: be fine tomorrow. The car that broke down in the
Speaker 1: driveway will still be there tomorrow. I can handle it
Speaker 1: when I can mentally hand And sometimes you let that
Speaker 1: car set there for two weeks until you felt, you know,
Speaker 1: strong enough again. To handle it because you no longer
Speaker 1: have the sick child and you know the the toilet
Speaker 1: that's backing up in your first floor. I swear we
Speaker 1: should write a book of spouses stories when your when
Speaker 1: your husband leaves, because it is like clockwork that the
Speaker 1: worst things that ever happened happened. They're never home for
Speaker 1: potty training, they're never home for you know, that hurricane.
Speaker 1: It's it's pretty funny, but it's like a badge of honor,
Speaker 1: you know, when you talk to these spouses and what
Speaker 1: they've done, Um, it's pretty incredible. And I think we
Speaker 1: do a really good job of of leaning on each
Speaker 1: other and still standing on our own. So let me
Speaker 1: ask you this, because you're you're alluding to something but
Speaker 1: not coming right out and saying it. And I've been
Speaker 1: thinking about it while I hear you speak. The spouse deploys,
Speaker 1: they're obviously going in harm's way dangerous situations. Hey, if
Speaker 1: they could just send in a regular group of either
Speaker 1: police or military to deal with it, it would have
Speaker 1: been done that way. So these are not only special missions,
Speaker 1: but unusually dangerous missions. How do you manage the stress
Speaker 1: of knowing the risk that your spouses is going through
Speaker 1: and knowing that there's a possibility that there could be
Speaker 1: a bad outcome. Well, for me, it was always you know,
Speaker 1: there with the best of the best. You know, they
Speaker 1: love the guys they work with, They have you know,
Speaker 1: incredible trust for everybody that just pours out of them,
Speaker 1: and that gives me a lot of comfort. Always gave
Speaker 1: me a lot of comfort knowing that everybody that my
Speaker 1: husband was working with is doing everything they can in
Speaker 1: the situation to ensure that they're all are going to
Speaker 1: come home and they're going to accomplish our mission. You
Speaker 1: just can't sit around and focus on it. You know,
Speaker 1: there are no better trained guys in the world, and
Speaker 1: you assume it's all gonna come out just fine. Most
Speaker 1: time it does. We've had we've suffered some some big losses,
Speaker 1: some you know, mass casualties that were incredibly hard on
Speaker 1: this community, and you know, unfortunately those are going to happen.
Speaker 1: Those one off, lucky or unlucky shots, I guess you know,
Speaker 1: are going to happen. You just can't live in that space.
Speaker 1: You have to assume that they've got their back. And
Speaker 1: when my husband talked about it and any of these
Speaker 1: guys that I talked to about it. You know, they
Speaker 1: just look so confident, they feel so confident that they
Speaker 1: just it creeps into everything else and you feel it too.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about that issue. Many public institutions have been
Speaker 1: falling in approval ratings, whether you're talking about Congress or
Speaker 1: the police or all these different institutions have seen their
Speaker 1: reputations dinged, and yet the military is the one exception
Speaker 1: to that still ranked amongst the most trustworthy and highest
Speaker 1: approval ratings from the public. Why do you think that
Speaker 1: might be? You know, that's a tough thing to answer. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, I certainly don't have an unbiased view on this,
Speaker 1: being someone who works for a nonprofit that supports them
Speaker 1: and being a spouse the military. I just think that
Speaker 1: connection between the military and the American people is so
Speaker 1: incredibly strong, and it goes back to the beginning of
Speaker 1: our roots. They feel that the military is, you know,
Speaker 1: doing this for them. I mean they ask we all
Speaker 1: ask these guys to go out and do this hard job,
Speaker 1: and we ask them over and over and over again,
Speaker 1: and they keep going, and they keep going out there,
Speaker 1: and they keep fighting for us every time without hesitation.
Speaker 1: You don't really hear that from many other people, right,
Speaker 1: and they're proud to do it. I mean, I remember
Speaker 1: sitting with my daughters watching the Olympics and the year
Speaker 1: that the first Afghanistan woman was running, and we sat
Speaker 1: there and talked about how she was running in the
Speaker 1: Olympics because of what these guys did. You know, we
Speaker 1: didn't go over there for that purpose. You know, we
Speaker 1: went there after nine eleven, but the results for that country,
Speaker 1: at least for a time being, we're pretty incredible. And
Speaker 1: you know, women getting to go to school and being
Speaker 1: in the Olympics and that kind of thing. I mean,
Speaker 1: those stories and the pride that you know, America has
Speaker 1: in the difference we've made in the world, I think
Speaker 1: is um incredible. And I think just Americans are proud
Speaker 1: of what these guys do, and they do it for
Speaker 1: the right reasons. Now they do it for all of
Speaker 1: us that we're safe here at home. Quite quite interesting. So,
Speaker 1: so it wasn't always the case that there was strong
Speaker 1: support for either military action, and that very much translated
Speaker 1: into allow to support for the military in the sixties
Speaker 1: and Vietnam era. Things have obviously changed and now people
Speaker 1: are much more comfortable saying thank you for your service.
Speaker 1: What else should the public be thinking about as a
Speaker 1: way to support the military, and and what should the
Speaker 1: military as a service be doing to continue earning their support. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I think the American public is doing a
Speaker 1: great job from what I see in terms of thinking
Speaker 1: our our service members. You know, corporations, businesses all over
Speaker 1: the country and just individuals make it a point to recognize,
Speaker 1: you know, the sacrifices of these men and these families,
Speaker 1: and that goes a long way. You know, our team
Speaker 1: guys tend to get embarrassed by it, and I hear
Speaker 1: a lot of them like, oh gosh, don't thank me.
Speaker 1: They love what they do, so you know, it's always
Speaker 1: a little awkward for them. And as far as what
Speaker 1: the military can continue to do, I think that's just
Speaker 1: keep doing your job and doing it well, and doing
Speaker 1: it for the right reasons. You know, honor your ethos,
Speaker 1: you know, respect your command, and do do the right
Speaker 1: thing for the right reasons. I mean, they get put
Speaker 1: in a lot of situations that are tough, and you know,
Speaker 1: respect your training and and follow what you're supposed to do,
Speaker 1: and take good care of everybody with you, and pay
Speaker 1: a lot of attention to you know the countries that
Speaker 1: you're in and be respectful of those, and I think
Speaker 1: they'll continue to do an amazing job for all of
Speaker 1: us and will continue to be very proud to be
Speaker 1: associated with the American military. So one of the things
Speaker 1: I've heard vets complain about is um and this is
Speaker 1: not a recent thing. This goes back decades and decades
Speaker 1: veterans administration and the sort of medical care that's available.
Speaker 1: On the one hand, a lot of it is cutting
Speaker 1: edge and as good as it gets anywhere in the world.
Speaker 1: On the other hand, the bureaucracy can be very problematic
Speaker 1: for run of the mill ordinary medical needs that people
Speaker 1: have as as a result of their their service, especially
Speaker 1: if they've been in overseas engagements and wars and what
Speaker 1: have you. What can we as a country due to
Speaker 1: to make sure we're providing all of the adequate care
Speaker 1: and support for our veterans when they return from from
Speaker 1: military service. Yeah, I mean, you're absolutely right. There's some
Speaker 1: incredible work coming out of the v A and they have,
Speaker 1: you know, some of the best doctors and surgeons and
Speaker 1: mental health professionals that exist anywhere. And you know, we
Speaker 1: are lucky to be associated with some some great people
Speaker 1: at the v A and our community, you know, hopefully
Speaker 1: through groups like the Navy Steal Foundation and others, has
Speaker 1: the ability to get to care they need. I think
Speaker 1: we need to not work around the v A. You know,
Speaker 1: I think they, like you said, they have incredible programs.
Speaker 1: We need to work through them. We've got to demand
Speaker 1: that they get staffed the way they should be. And
Speaker 1: I think every time we let them um, every time
Speaker 1: we just go around them through a different solution set,
Speaker 1: we're not forcing the government and the v A to
Speaker 1: do what it needs to be doing and to fulfill
Speaker 1: its promises. So you know, I'm a I'm a fan
Speaker 1: of putting pressure on and work in the system as
Speaker 1: hard as we absolutely can to help it correct itself
Speaker 1: and to you know, leverage Congressman or whoever. We need
Speaker 1: to shake some of this stuff out of the system.
Speaker 1: I mean, some great things have come about in terms
Speaker 1: of if you're not close enough, you're allowed to go
Speaker 1: outside the system. You know, those things didn't used to exist.
Speaker 1: But it's really disheartening when you hear a VA hospital
Speaker 1: in one particular location in the country is you know,
Speaker 1: so inferior to you know, some of the others. You know,
Speaker 1: that's heartbreaking to think about someone not getting the proper
Speaker 1: care they need and in a timely way. I think
Speaker 1: it's something we should continue to pay attention to and
Speaker 1: really put the pressure on and use three resource we
Speaker 1: can to shake out those problems and push people through
Speaker 1: a faster rate. So so I'm veering close with that
Speaker 1: question too. The world of politics and the political process.
Speaker 1: You're a five oh one three C I believe, so
Speaker 1: you're that's kind of off limits. So I'm trying to
Speaker 1: find a way to ask a broader question, which is
Speaker 1: really so we're in a very divisive age. Politics is
Speaker 1: off limits for you. But obviously everything that's been going
Speaker 1: on both with the military and a number of generals,
Speaker 1: how does your organization deal with that? How do you
Speaker 1: sidestep questions that often are on everybody's lips. Well, you know, honestly,
Speaker 1: we don't get to ask a lot of those questions,
Speaker 1: and because people know who we support and why we
Speaker 1: support them, and you know, we support of Naval Special
Speaker 1: Warfare community, which is our seals are Swick, which your
Speaker 1: special workfare, combating craft crewmen, all of the supporting people
Speaker 1: that go with Naples Special Warfare you know, and our
Speaker 1: stealing switch veterans, So we're not having to make any
Speaker 1: decisions based on anything that's going on in the news
Speaker 1: right now because we know who we support and if
Speaker 1: your part of Naples Special Warfare, you're part of the
Speaker 1: Navy Seal Foundation. If you're stealer swie, you're part of
Speaker 1: the Navy Seal Foundation. So our lines are very clean.
Speaker 1: It makes it very easy, but it's it's tough right now,
Speaker 1: and you know, a lot of groupure are struggling, and
Speaker 1: I just hope that you know, we see the light soon.
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of things that are are
Speaker 1: a lot of goods happening as well, and we just
Speaker 1: need to focus on that and we're gonna keep doing
Speaker 1: what we're doing it as the Navy steal Foundation and
Speaker 1: supporting these families to the best of our ability. So
Speaker 1: so let's stick with that topic then, because it's easier
Speaker 1: to come head on with that given all the programs
Speaker 1: that you folks run. What is the bigger restraint? Is
Speaker 1: it your capital limitations or is it the number of uh,
Speaker 1: let's just call it worthy targets that you can potentially assist.
Speaker 1: What what are the constraints you're dealing with. So by
Speaker 1: worthy targets you mean like, uh, constituents, people we helped. Yes,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't. I don't feel constrained by either.
Speaker 1: If our program growth, it's happening because we're reaching more people,
Speaker 1: that's fabulous. We've built up reserves, contingency reserves to be
Speaker 1: able to handle that growth. If if something were to
Speaker 1: sneak up on us, if we you know, tapped into
Speaker 1: a pocket of veterans that we hadn't reached previously, that's
Speaker 1: a great thing for us, right And we do over
Speaker 1: in a constant effort to expand our veteran outreach. Our
Speaker 1: planning and budgeting and such, our program development is such
Speaker 1: that we just haven't been a position to where we
Speaker 1: we've felt constraint by money. We're not avoiding a program,
Speaker 1: We're not not launching a program because of reach worst issues.
Speaker 1: You know. We really feel like we've developed a robust
Speaker 1: set of programs and identifying a gap is really hard, um,
Speaker 1: which is a great thing, right um. And there are
Speaker 1: also a lot of other organizations that do things and
Speaker 1: and the found Navy Still Foundation has been focused on
Speaker 1: not duplicating effort. If you know, some of our great
Speaker 1: partner organizations, you know, have narrower missions and they're very
Speaker 1: good at what they do. We're gonna let them do
Speaker 1: what they do. We don't need to come take that over.
Speaker 1: We want to support that, we want to respect that.
Speaker 1: And so that's developed, you know, clean lines for us
Speaker 1: to continue our program growth and development in the areas
Speaker 1: that we've chosen. So luckily we don't feel constrained at all.
Speaker 1: And who are some of these other organizations that you
Speaker 1: work with? Is there an organization for Army Rangers or
Speaker 1: marines or anything like that that performs a similar function.
Speaker 1: Who else do you work with? Yeah? Absolutely, you know
Speaker 1: there's there are foundations for you know, all usoff and
Speaker 1: that's fabulous that they get that unique support. I mean,
Speaker 1: Green Berets, Army Rangers, Marine Raiders. You know. One of
Speaker 1: the organizations organizations that we have worked closely with since
Speaker 1: the beginning of our development is the Special Operations Warrior Foundation,
Speaker 1: which supports all SAW, all Special Operations Forces, Goal Star
Speaker 1: and surviving families. And you know, they were kind of
Speaker 1: a big brother to us when we were getting started
Speaker 1: and helped us navigate in the nonprofit world. And you know,
Speaker 1: we work closely with them still today and they're they're
Speaker 1: a great group and they provide scholarships and educational benefits
Speaker 1: to our Goal Star children and spouses. So that's the
Speaker 1: area that we don't do. We are there in case
Speaker 1: there's a gap, you know, if a child has exhausted
Speaker 1: you know, all of their the resources, or if they're
Speaker 1: doing a specialized program that may not fall under a
Speaker 1: different organization's umbrella, then we're there to pick that up
Speaker 1: for Navals Special Warfare families. But you know, a lot
Speaker 1: of these organizations work well together. We've worked with a
Speaker 1: Third Option Foundation which supports our State Department people and
Speaker 1: some of those guys left the seal community, you know,
Speaker 1: retired from the seal community and go work for the
Speaker 1: State Department. So we always work close down the crossover
Speaker 1: if we lose you know, one of those guys in
Speaker 1: a diplomatic mission. A lot of great organizations out there,
Speaker 1: and um, I think Natal Special Warfare is really lucky
Speaker 1: and all of thoft is really lucky to have these
Speaker 1: organizations that work well together and learn from each other.
Speaker 1: And we're always happy to work with any other organization
Speaker 1: to ensure that they have you know, all the great
Speaker 1: knowledge base that we've do all over these twenty years.
Speaker 1: And if people want to reach out to the Navy
Speaker 1: Seal Foundation, either for more information or to make a donation,
Speaker 1: where's the best place to do that. Yeah. Absolutely. Our
Speaker 1: website is Navy Seal Foundation dot org, all spelled out.
Speaker 1: People can always email me. My email is r K
Speaker 1: I n G for Robin King at Navy feel Foundation
Speaker 1: dot org. And you know their phone numbers on the
Speaker 1: website as well, So we welcome at all fantastic Robin.
Speaker 1: What are you streaming these days? Tell us what you're
Speaker 1: watching on Netflix or if you're listening to any podcast.
Speaker 1: What what are you doing to stay entertained during lockdown? Well?
Speaker 1: I just been used watching a great Netflix documentary, How
Speaker 1: to Fix a Drug Scandal? Really interesting. I am kind
Speaker 1: of obsessed right now with the criminal justice system. So
Speaker 1: there's a podcast third season serial on the Ohio criminal
Speaker 1: justice system that I found just unbelievable. Um, learned a
Speaker 1: lot of great stuff there. And then my guilty pleasure
Speaker 1: is Billions. I've been watching Billions and enjoy the heck
Speaker 1: out of that show. Yeah, that is a fun one.
Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit about who your mentors were
Speaker 1: who helped shape your career, both in the world of
Speaker 1: finance and on the foundation side. Yeah. Well, I I
Speaker 1: grew up in a house where my dad ran his
Speaker 1: own business, and my mom and dad worked together together
Speaker 1: for years, so I learned a lot about running an
Speaker 1: organization by talking to him. He was incredible. I've had
Speaker 1: some great board members who really helped me understand how
Speaker 1: to do this job. Well. I wouldn't be where I
Speaker 1: was without their advice. I don't know if you want
Speaker 1: names or not, but yeah, my first vice chairman was d. J. Haley.
Speaker 1: He works in New York, is an incredible guy and
Speaker 1: always easy to talk to. And then M. Jack Daley
Speaker 1: another board member who um is incredibly successful himself and
Speaker 1: always willing to share, you know, his wisdom. And you know,
Speaker 1: both these guys would have the hard talk with you
Speaker 1: and the great talk with you, and I think that's
Speaker 1: really important. Quite interesting. What are you reading these days?
Speaker 1: Tell us some of your favorite books and what is
Speaker 1: keeping you, uh, your mind occupied? Yeah, right now I'm
Speaker 1: reading The Right of a Lifetime by Bob I. Disney.
Speaker 1: You know I worked for for a while, so I
Speaker 1: find that really interesting. He also was an honorary or
Speaker 1: l a Gal a couple of years back, so it's
Speaker 1: kind of fun. An interesting book called A Woman of
Speaker 1: No Importance by Sonya Purnell. It's it's a biography of
Speaker 1: a woman named Virginia Hall, who was an American spy
Speaker 1: and War War two story. I didn't know, and I'm
Speaker 1: really enjoying that. I'd setose that to anybody who's into history.
Speaker 1: I enjoy history. I wouldn't say I'm history buff, but
Speaker 1: I really like historical biographies quite interesting. What what sort
Speaker 1: of advice might you give a recent college graduate who
Speaker 1: was thinking about a career, either on the charity public
Speaker 1: service side or in the military. I think, you know,
Speaker 1: you gotta understand why you want to do it. You know,
Speaker 1: if you think you want to join the military to
Speaker 1: you know, go shoot back guys, that's not the right reason.
Speaker 1: You know, You've got to understand that there's so much
Speaker 1: more to it. You know, it's it's a calling. It
Speaker 1: has to be something that comes from your heart. A
Speaker 1: lot of people can do the physical part and really
Speaker 1: thinking about seals, but it's what's between your ears and
Speaker 1: what's in your heart that are going to make you
Speaker 1: successful in the military when it comes to nonprofits kind
Speaker 1: of the same thing. You know, why do you want
Speaker 1: to do this? There are sacrifices that go with being
Speaker 1: in a nonprofit and they worked for me. You know,
Speaker 1: I have an incredible staff. Every one of them could
Speaker 1: be working somewhere else, probably making a good amount more money,
Speaker 1: but they love what they do and they want to
Speaker 1: be part of this organization. But you've you've got to
Speaker 1: find that right fit. And I think college students today
Speaker 1: are really looking for that, to really exploring cultures so
Speaker 1: much more than I know I did when I was
Speaker 1: twenty So I think that's great for them. And our
Speaker 1: final question, what do you know about the world of foundations, endowments,
Speaker 1: UH and raising money for a specific cause today that
Speaker 1: perhaps you wish your new twenty years ago when the
Speaker 1: Navy Seals Foundation was first launched. I think, you know
Speaker 1: the relationships. I think it's really important to connect, you know,
Speaker 1: these fabulous people with with the foundation in a way
Speaker 1: that they can really get to know and understand this
Speaker 1: community and making them part of the team. That we've
Speaker 1: done so well in the last few years. I don't
Speaker 1: think we did that necessarily. Early on, we didn't understand
Speaker 1: our responsibility to the donors in those in those first
Speaker 1: years and today we we know that they're what allows
Speaker 1: us to live and breathe, and they are hugely important,
Speaker 1: and we want to make sure that they understand what
Speaker 1: they give us the ability to do. And we hope
Speaker 1: they feel the pride of being connected to such an
Speaker 1: incredible community and what I hope they think is an
Speaker 1: incredible organization in the Navy Seal Foundation. Wow, perfect answers.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Robin for being so generous with
Speaker 1: your time. We have been speaking with Robin King. She
Speaker 1: is the CEO of the Navy Seals Foundation. If you
Speaker 1: enjoy this conversation, well check out all of our previous
Speaker 1: three and something podcasts over the past six years. You
Speaker 1: can find that at iTunes, Spotify, Google podcast, Overcast, Stitcher,
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Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at Rid Halts. Sign up for
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Speaker 1: would be remiss if I did not thank the Cracks
Speaker 1: staff that helps with this conversation together each week. Maroof
Speaker 1: All is my audio engineer. Michael Boyle is my producer.
Speaker 1: Mike bat Nick is my head of research. Attica val
Speaker 1: Brunn is our project manager. I'm Barry Riholts. You've been
Speaker 1: listening to Masters in Business on Bloomberg Radio.