[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Underdog to Unstoppable. I'm Nicole Anderson and today we're proving that no matter the odds, resilience rewrites the story. You're watching now media Television.
Welcome to Underdog to Unstoppable, the show that tells the real stories behind resilience, growth, and stepping into strength when the odds do not feel fair. I'm your host, Nicole Anderson, and each week we sit down with leaders who didn't wait to feel ready. They chose to rise anyway.
Today's guest is Dan Simmons, co founder and CEO of Black Flag International, a high threat security and protective services firm built on precision, accountability and real world experience.
Dan is a US Army Green Beret and an 18D Special Forces Medical sergeant who served multiple combat deployments where leadership, trauma care and mission planning were optional.
Weren't optional, they were survival.
At Black Flag International, Dan translates elite military leadership into disciplined, mission focused civilian operations.
But long before confidence fully formed, responsibility showed up first.
Dan, welcome to Underdog to Unstoppable. We're grateful to have you here.
[00:01:16] Speaker B: Thanks for having me.
[00:01:17] Speaker A: We're starting with a moment. Many underdogs recognize when responsibility arrives before confidence does. When expectations are high, the stakes feel heavy and there's no time to be ready.
Many people are handed responsibility before they.
Let's skip that because they're like literally repeating.
Yeah.
Many people are handed responsibility before they feel prepared. That pressure can trigger fear, self doubt, and the belief that one mistake will expose them.
For underdogs, growth often begins not with confidence, but with choosing responsibility. Anyway, Dan, thank you for coming. Happy to have you here.
So we read a lot in your biography, knowing that you've done a lot, especially in the military and now you're running an elite protection firm. But let's talk about the beginning.
What happened? What led you to the military? What brought you to this place?
[00:02:19] Speaker B: That's a rough start, actually.
I was actually in a really bad place personally.
Before I joined the military, I had recently gotten my girlfriend pregnant who we found out was pregnant with twin girls actually. And I was in probably the lowest point in my life at that point, so less than an ideal situation for sure.
And so I had always explored pursuing the military. And my family had a lot of military members that had served. And so I reached out to my grandfather who served 35 years, and I went and talked to him and he agreed with me that maybe some structure and discipline was going to be what I probably needed right then.
[00:03:08] Speaker A: To twin girls.
[00:03:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:10] Speaker A: How old were you when you found out you were going to be a dad to twin girls.
[00:03:14] Speaker B: I was 21 when I found out there was going to be a dad.
[00:03:19] Speaker A: And what thoughts went through your head immediately?
[00:03:25] Speaker B: A lot of profanity. Most of it in just shock and disbelief, honestly.
I certainly was not in a position to provide and protect, which is every man's responsibility. Responsibility.
And I wasn't really even capable of doing that for myself at the time. So I was certainly.
I had a lot of things running through my head about how I was going to do that for two little girls.
[00:03:51] Speaker A: Well, girls are hard in general, but then add two to the mix.
I don't.
I'm sorry. That's all I gotta say.
So tell us, tell us what made the final decision of going in the military and what thought process, besides becoming a father and needing structure, what thought process were you going through to make that decision?
[00:04:16] Speaker B: Well, you know, having children, there's not really like a go back button, right? Especially at least not in my family, there isn't. And so, you know, not having them was not an option.
And we're already way too far along for that to be a remote possibility anyway, when we found out she was five months pregnant already. And so I think ultimately it was.
I kind of had that Cortez mindset, right? I just. I had to burn the ships. Like, I have to move forward. Like, there's no. There is no going backwards.
I have to figure it out.
And I certainly did not have the answers at the time, but I think I immediately just accepted that responsibility of, like, this is happening, whether it's ideal or not. And I'm gonna have to make it work, period, because there's two little girls that depend on me to figure it
[00:05:15] Speaker A: out and choosing to go in the military. So a lot of people shy away from that decision, right? Because one, it's hard. The discipline part of it, you know, being away from their families, you about to be away from your new daughters and things of that nature.
When you were first in the military, what did that look like for you? Like, what?
[00:05:40] Speaker B: So, you know, I initially thought I was just gonna do one enlistment and then get out. And so the conversation I had with my grandfather was, if that's the case, then let's pick something that. That is going to teach you a skill that is going to be immediately marketable when you get out. And so I went into the IT field within military intelligence. And so essentially, if you could put power to it or network it, I could fix it.
And my intention was, is do that enlistment, get out, use my GI Bill to further my education within that field while I'm working in that field as well. And I would have made a very good living that way.
So that was the initial thought process, joining the military.
God had different plans, but that was the.
It was, you know, I came up with the best plan that I could to, you know, for me to be able to be the father that I wanted to be for my daughters.
[00:06:47] Speaker A: And so moving through the military, you obviously given by your biography, you did not just stay four years or three years, you decided to make a career out of it. And so talk to us a little bit about the career you had in the military.
[00:07:01] Speaker B: Yeah, so I spent a few years at the National Security Agency and I was very good at my job. I was a top performer. I was getting promoted ahead of my peers, but my work was filling my time. It wasn't fulfilling though.
And not to take anything away from national strategic level intelligence, but I wanted to make a difference more on a personal level. And I certainly wasn't doing that at the nsa. And so I looked into going the Special Forces route and I was part of a men's group at church and I really did not feel fit in at all with them. They all worked with me in one capacity or another at nsa, but we were very different men. Well, they were mostly the same. I was very different. That was definitely the black sheep of that men's group.
But I struggled because I used to pray about why did you make me like this?
I think maybe even my marriage would be better if I was a more docile male.
I don't really fit in at work or even socially where I'm at in my life right now. And I struggled with that for a long time. And so, you know, I had a lot of the guys praying for me and I really felt led to go the Special Forces route. And I remember praying one night like, I just need you to. I needed a clear black and white. Can you just please make this clear as day? Like I don't need all the answers right now. I just need to know the direction I need to start walking because I very much felt like I was at that crossroads in my lifetime, especially professionally, because I was coming up on the time where it's like, I need to start considering what I'm going to do getting out or I'm going to pursue this.
And so I was pulling on base the next morning super early, like 4:30 and I had an overwhelming urge to go purchase an Army Times, which is a military newspaper. Right. It's My opinion, it was mostly propaganda and I never read it ever. And so it was really unusual and out of character for me to go buy one, especially at 4:30 in the morning. And, you know, if you've never had one, it's got a plastic cover, so you can't even really see the COVID of it. So I went in, I purchased one, I get back in my truck and I tear the plastic cover off of it. And the COVID of the Army Times said, go Special Forces now in big black letters.
I'm looking for a better sign. Okay. Sometimes God gives you exactly what you asked for.
And so I was like, there was no doubt in my mind after that. Right. It was the first time in my life, especially coming from a very difficult background and childhood, that was the first time in my life where I knew without a doubt I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: Okay. So, yeah, signs, we don't always get them that clear. Usually it takes a lot of. So what we're going to do is we're going to talk a lot more about your military background and then leading into discipline and things as we go through the show.
So coming up, we'll talk about the long, quiet grind and when you're doing the right work. But the results haven't shown up yet. Stay tuned. We'll be right back with more unstoppable stories and strategies for turning obstacles into opportunities.
And we're back. I'm Nicole Anderson and you're watching Underdog to Unstoppable on NOW Media Television. Let's keep pushing past limits together.
Welcome back to Underdog to Unstoppable. I'm Nicole Anderson and we're continuing our conversation with Dan Simmons.
In this segment, we're talking about seasons where effort is high but results are nowhere in sight.
Many underdogs experience long stretches where progress is invisible. Consistent effort, discipline and sacrifice don't immediately pay off, leading to doubt and emotional fatigue. These seasons often shape character long before success becomes visible.
Dan, we had some great conversation about building up and you receiving your sign to go into Special Forces.
When you were like, okay, I got the sign, I'm gonna go into Special Forces.
Did you have any doubt at that point that you were gonna be successful or did, you know, like, this is, this is where I'm going?
[00:11:31] Speaker B: Yeah, I definitely had some doubts. Right. I'm, you know, trying to transition from a very, not like the epitome of non tactical unit to wholeheartedly tactical environment. So there was a lot of unknowns. There was a lot of skills that I didn't have and a lot of training that I didn't have that I was going to be expected to be able to perform at the highest level. So, yeah, that was definitely a lot of doubt.
[00:11:58] Speaker A: And what helped you overcome the doubt?
[00:12:06] Speaker B: I think what helped me the most was just trying to start break things down instead of trying to swallow the whole picture of assessment and selection and the qualification course. That for my route was going to be a three year process.
You know, when you look at it from that, it seems impossible, but so you just have to do one step at a time. You know, the whole course and everything is broken up into phases and different stages for a reason. And, you know, you just have to focus on one task at a time.
[00:12:41] Speaker A: And obviously this pulled you away from family, right? Like deciding to go in this route, which added additional pressure right.
From your family and multiple other things that you had to do. And the reason I bring that up is because it blends in with entrepreneurship, where we're going to get to with Black Flag.
And so some of the things that I'm sure you had to go through in learning in the military and making these decisions to increase your career and be successful in your career are going to translate into entrepreneurship. And so our viewers are able to take some of those lessons and apply them to their lives.
So the pressure, the family pressures, financial pressures, the decision making, the things like that, that you had to sit and analyze all the time, like, what brought you through that, like what built your stamina to be able to do that long term and then eventually into entrepreneurship,
[00:13:44] Speaker B: honestly, great communication was the foundation of it, right? And you know, oftentimes especially in an environment like that, right. I think especially men, feel like they have to be the strong, tough guy that's unbreakable.
And I think what got me through a lot of that, honestly, was just being honest with my family, including to the point of being vulnerable, like it was under. Now. All my children were really young, right? But they needed to understand, like, you know, some days I was just having rough days and you know, like, hey, you know, we just need to leave dad alone for a little bit. You know, just got home from work, you know, situations like that. And other times I had to make a conscious effort to attend family outings when I had a ton of work that I probably needed to be doing. Right? And so, you know, constantly battling that, like, work life balance.
There's no balance about it. Right. Honestly, like, and that's especially like moving into entrepreneurship.
There isn't a balance. It's More of a give and take. Like, sometimes the business is going to have to have a higher priority, other times the family's going to have to have higher priority. You know, for me in that job, like, my physical fitness is something that could never not be a priority.
And so, you know, navigating a relationship and children and a career that were all part of it. Right. I was essentially having to make sacrifices for. I was choosing sacrifices for my family members whether they understood it then or not. I'm actually glad that a lot of my kids were really young and didn't really understand the, how much I was gone during that time. Especially like in the training years, in the very beginning. And so just being honest with them, I can remember. So, for instance, I had to make sure that I never ever promised my kids that I was going to be there if I didn't know 100% I could be there. Like, I didn't want to start a long career going down a road where, well, dad said he's going to be there, but we don't really know if he's going to be there. No, if I say I'm going to be there, I'm going to be there. And if I. And there were a lot of times where I had to say maybe or no because I just wasn't sure whether or not I was going to be able to follow through with it. And so, you know, 20 years later, right. My kids were never, and they've never been in a position where, where I said I was going to be there and I wasn't there for them.
And that certainly I had a lot of times where I couldn't be where I really wanted to. But you know, they, I think they respected that. At the end of the day, you know, they may not have liked it in certain situations and neither did I. Neither did I. Right. But I think ultimately, like, I maintained their respect for it for when I said I was going to be there, I was there.
[00:16:55] Speaker A: I think that there's Shonda Rhimes, who wrote Grey's Anatomy.
She talks a lot about when people say there's so much to be done, how do you do it all? And it's like, I don't do it all. Like something is sacrificed anytime I make a decision. Either my home life is sacrificed, my personal life or my business life is sacrificed. If I have a deadline, then my kids lives are sacrificed.
There's some give and take, like you said, that sacrifice. And being in Special Forces, it's obviously sacrifice a lot more. Right, because you're called up on moments notice. You're at your son's football game. Hey, gotta go. You know, like, no questions asked, and you just have to leave.
So, you know, fighting through those sacrifices and building your career in the military, what was it like towards the end of it that you knew, like, okay, this is done. I'm ready to go. There's more that I can do in my life. At what point did that decision happen?
[00:18:02] Speaker B: Well, part of it got made for me because I got medically retired, but I had just reenlisted, like, eight months prior. And I had planned on staying till 24 years at that point. And I knew medical retirement was a possibility, but honestly, I really thought my recovery from a neck injury was going better than I thought it was.
Than it could go, right? So I was very pleased with my recovery. And then I got the carpet yanked out from underneath me.
I went in to do what's called a fit for duty evaluation. And the guy was like, oh, you're pursuing to medical retirement? I was like, well, I guess what? Find out after our evaluation today. And he's like, you are? I'm like, I am.
And he's like, you have four service disqualifying injuries, and I haven't been looking at your medical records for longer than 60 seconds. He's like, I appreciate your service, but there's not a conversation we're going to have that that's going to keep you in the military at this point. And I was like, okay. And, you know, and even then, I think deep down, I was like, yeah, well, but this is. I've still got six to nine more months right before.
This is not a short process by any means, but when you were as beat up as I was, and it was as well documented, it happened very rapidly. It happened very rapidly. It happened much faster than I thought it was going to.
And so I was in a position where I kind of had to make some decisions about, like, what do I really want to commit to in retirement. Like, ultimately, with retirement and disability from the military, we could have lived in that house till I died, and I could have never worked another day in the rest of my life.
But we also wouldn't have moved forward from that day that I got out. If I chose, I'm just going to not do anything, then I would have essentially been stuck there until.
Until we pass. Right. And I just. There's more in life out there for me than that. And so I had to start changing some of the people that I hung around with and the people that I was listening to when it came to big advice. And so I started talking to big entrepreneurs and I got a mentor who was a big entrepreneur and he's started and sold several multimillion dollar companies. And so I started talking to him a lot on a personal level, the direction that I wanted to go. And of course I have little to no experience in what I'm talking about or really the direction I could or what was possible.
I didn't really understand how marketable the things I had learned in the military were.
And honestly, it still didn't even really come to fruition until a few years later.
You know, I went on a. I took a contract when I first got out of the military and it was out in West Texas. I'm in the middle of nowhere and one of my buddies I served with who was already out, who lives in, lives in West Palm beach, he called me and he was like, so I hear you're traveling for work already.
And I was like, yeah. And he goes, well, when you get done traveling for work, you want to go back to Fort Bragg, North Carolina or you want to come to West Palm Beach? And I was like, yeah, you're right. And it was that, like, it was realizing that I'm not stuck anywhere. Like, I can move wherever I want now. I can live wherever I want. Like, I don't have to, I don't have to stay here in a military town for the rest of my life. Like there's more options out there. And so I started really doing my research and started exploring what the possibilities were out there, especially in the business world. And you know, had a conversation with my wife and she was like, yeah, I don't think we have the money to move to South Florida. And I was like, yeah, you're right. I was like, but if the dollar signs get big enough, I was like, I'm not going to ask, we're just going to move. And before the contract I was on at the time was only 30 days. Long before that, 30 days was up. Like my resume went much further than I thought it would.
And I had a well into six figure job waiting for me in the C suite of a company. And I was like, those are big enough for me and we're out, right? And it was as simple as that.
But had that, I think I just, I had to have the courage to take hold of that opportunity. I certainly could have been like, no, I don't really know if that's us. And maybe not explored the unknown. It was just like, nope, we gotta Go for it.
I don't know how many opportunities like that are going to continue to come my way, and I certainly am not expecting them to. So and so I took advantage of it and we took off.
[00:23:05] Speaker A: Well, we're going to explore that more in the next segment. We're going to talk a little bit more about that. So up next we'll talk about identity and what happens when playing it safe starts costing you growth.
Stay tuned. We'll be right back with more unstoppable stories and strategies for turning obstacles into opportunities.
And we're back. I'm Nicole Anderson, and you're watching Underdog to Unstoppable on NOW Media Television. Let's keep pushing past limits together.
Welcome back to Underdog to unstoppable Growth often requires more than new skills. It requires releasing an old identity. In this segment, we're exploring what it means to outgrow the version of yourself that chose safety over strength.
Many people stay stuck in a safe version of themselves out of fear, fear of failure, exposure or loss. But safety can quietly limit potential.
Growth begins when identity expands to match capability.
So, Dan, we're talking about, or we were talking last segment about moving out of the military and what that transitioned to for you.
And then you picked up your life and your wife and you moved to West Palm Beach. And so let's talk a little about what happened once you moved to West Palm.
[00:24:25] Speaker B: So I originally moved down here for to get back in the cybersecurity field again. I had picked a job that was filling my time to about to the tune of 85 to 100 hours a week, but not fulfilling my time. And so I only stayed with that company about seven months before I left. And I had to, honestly, I had to go back to what I believe my calling was. And that's helping people, right? Just a protector by nature.
[00:24:58] Speaker A: And so what thought process were you going through when you were like, okay, this job's not working, I don't know what I'm going to do now?
[00:25:09] Speaker B: Yeah, I was, I was like, well, you know, I've landed a few security jobs here in there based on my resume. And just some guys I know that are in the industry that I served with. And so I was like, well, I mean, I'm sure I can do that until I figure out what I want to do. And, you know, I reached out to a lot of different executive protection, close protection, Facebook pages. And it just kind of put myself out there like, hey, everybody, this is me. Here's a little bit about me.
If you have need for somebody like me, please let me know I'm available.
And a lot of people hit me up, but only one person followed through with it, and that's J.J. johnson, who's my current business partner. And when we first met, it wasn't even like, it wasn't like I was meeting someone I'd never met. It was like I was running into an old military buddy I just hadn't seen in a long time. Like, we immediately clicked. And aside from one other job that I hopped on away from him, I've been with him ever since.
[00:26:22] Speaker A: And so is that when you guys decided, okay, we're going to start this business, we're going to jump into entrepreneurship?
[00:26:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
I think I worked one or two small jobs with them, like, very short term stuff. And then, you know, he had already had a very big reputation and name within the industry.
And, you know, I think he saw my value in that and what I brought to the table. And so I got brought on as the COO originally and. And we actually ran with the company like that for a little while until it actually wasn't even my idea. It was his idea to switch our positions. He felt more comfortable running operations, and he felt with my background and experience that I fit the position a little bit better. And so we were kind of off to the races at that point.
[00:27:24] Speaker A: Do you feel now? So I know, like we talked about, you didn't know you wanted skills that transferred. Right. Like, that's what you wanted to learn when you first went in the military.
And I know from interviewing veterans in the past, like, that was one of their worries, that they weren't going to have the skills to transition into civilian life. And it was going to be hard to find a job. It was going to be hard to be able to prosper and train those skills because they're like, well, what does an infantryman, you know, do once they get out of the military? Like, you're pretty set in law enforcement or some government job. Right. And it was like, no. Like, what else did you do? Were you a leader? Were you time management? You know, you had to get up at a certain time. Discipline. Like, there's so many skills. What skills can you identify? Like, almost immediately when you decided to jump into business, that transferred. That could help our viewers if they're struggling.
[00:28:21] Speaker B: So I transferred a lot of my mission planning skills into the business world. And so that didn't happen for me immediately. I definitely, I was like, okay, cool. So not operations, but like, running the company.
Yeah. And I think I just Kind of got, like, caught up with the hype of the title and the position for a minute, but I had to kind of realize, like, all right, well, what does that actually mean for me? Like, I mean, I've watched JJ do it for, you know, the better part of a year, but, like, how do I transition into that? And I used. Honestly, I use a lot of my mission planning from the military in that role. Right. I bring the same intensity and commitment and thoroughness into my business as if I were planning my next mission in Afghanistan or Iraq or, you know, a million other places that I serve throughout the world. And so when you bring that level of really, like, level of almost tenacity to something, like, in that environment, there was no situation where we were not planning to win and at all costs,
[00:29:37] Speaker A: because you don't have a choice.
[00:29:38] Speaker B: Right? Right. There's. There's. There's. Yeah, there's two options. You have to win. Right. And losing. And that's a Situation is very bad. And so I bring that same level of intensity. Right. And really, you know, one of the skills I had to learn getting out of the military is how does that transfer.
How do I transfer those skills into the civilian world? Like, and, you know, when I thought about it, I was like, you know, one of my secondary jobs as a medic on the team is I handled all the team's admin stuff.
And I was like, you know, those are HR skills. Right? That's what that is. Like, I track everybody's data. Right. I make sure that people's licenses don't expire. And, you know, if you're the other. My junior medic on the team, I'm tracking his medical certifications and, you know, when people need shots and, you know, their jump logs. And I was responsible for tracking all that data, but I also built all the databases that track that stuff. And so when I started looking at.
Again, stepping away from looking at the entirety of my job, and how does somebody who's been pulling a trigger for two decades translate into a civilian job? When I started breaking down the nuances of all the different areas of my job, I was like, I actually have a lot of skills that are very applicable to running a business.
And so I guess if I really had to narrow them down again, communication, I think that's always going to be at the top.
And even my communication getting out had to change.
Right. I worked around rough men for two decades. There weren't a lot of women.
Not that I never worked with women. There just weren't very many of them, especially in that field. And so.
But I also worked with a certain type of male. Right. And those males are not the norm. And how to deal with different personalities, like, very different personalities. And so the communication piece was something that did not come easily for me when I got out, because I was just used to communicating with people a certain way because everyone was like me. And now that everyone was not like me, it was, you know, that was one of the fears I had, like, stepping into that role is, am I going. Am I communicating in an effective manner to have the greatest impact?
And so, yeah, communication, for sure.
But also, like, I think one of the things that was biggest for me is I had to maintain that relentless pursuit of excellence. Like, in every aspect of our company, we pursue that. It doesn't matter whether we're running a training course or we're making, you know, we're designing merchandise for our next merchandise drop or we're doing a.
An initial meeting with a new client. Right.
I'm certainly going to.
We certainly approach those things with a level of intensity and commitment and that you're going to notice the black flag difference almost immediately. Like, you're going to immediately know that we are not the same as everybody else.
[00:33:15] Speaker A: Well, and I think that when you were talking about, like, you only have two options in a mission, and most people, when they go into entrepreneurship, like, it's all they got, right? Like, you either win or you fail, right? Like, it's the same concept.
And obviously a mission failure is different because people could lose their lives. And I don't want to, like, not point that out where entrepreneurship is. Not necessarily that's what's gonna happen. But you do fail, right? Like, you can fail or you succeed. And I think being able to make that determination, like, hey, I'm moving into this role. Like, I'm. I'm now jumping into entrepreneurship. There's no one foot in, one foot out.
[00:34:01] Speaker B: Like, no, there definitely is not.
[00:34:02] Speaker A: Like, you have to do it. Like, if you're going to do it, you have to do it. If not, you're gonna be part of the 99%.
Right?
The 99% that just. That just fail. Because it takes a grit, it takes a tenacity. It takes great communication. It takes teamwork. It takes all of those skills. But in appreciation of the military, those are skills that are inherently taught from the beginning because, again, your life depends on the communication. It depends on teamwork. It depends on, you know, accountability and things like that. And I. And I think it's sad that some veterans like shortchange the skills that they've learned because if you look at general society, they don't have those skills are not all there.
Right. But you have to have them in the military to have a long career because if not, you're going to get hurt.
So as we move more into Black Flag and we talk about Black Flag in the next segment, can you tell our viewers where they can get in contact with you, where they can follow you, how they can get a hold of Black Flag?
[00:35:12] Speaker B: Yeah, you can reach us at our
[email protected]. we're also on Instagram. Our handle is blackflagintl. We're also on Facebook under black flag and LinkedIn, you name it. We're pretty much on all social medias. You can also reach us at 910494.
[00:35:34] Speaker A: Coming up, we'll close with the moment many underdogs wait for, when you stop proving yourself and start owning your place.
Stay tuned. We'll be right back with more unstoppable stories and strategies for turning obstacles into opportunities.
And we're back. I'm Nicole Anderson and you're watching Underdog to Unstoppable on NOW Media Television Vision. Let's keep pushing past limits together. Welcome back to Underdog to Unstoppable. As we close today's conversation, we're talking about a powerful shift the moment you stop chasing validation and start trusting the experience you've earned.
Many underdogs live in constant prove mode, measuring themselves against others and seeking approval. True confidence arrives when validation is replaced by self trust earned through experience, failure and responsibility.
So, Dan, you're going through a big shift, right? So you shifted from the military into entrepreneurship and now you're growing a business, you're growing an elite protection security firm.
And obviously that presents different challenges and different mindset than what was in the military, but carrying those skills with you as you move into it.
What is your mindset now that you're in entrepreneurship? Where have you shifted to move this forward and to be successful?
[00:37:05] Speaker B: Well, you know, I think I really shifted from a lot of like imposter syndrome for sure.
I think anybody trying to perform at the highest level is going to deal with that at some point.
And I think that's healthy to a point. Right.
When you're using it as a way to check yourself and to maintain the highest level of performance possible, it can be used as a really positive thing. But if you start dwelling on it and you get stuck on that, then it can be extremely counterproductive. And so moving forward now, my mindset is, who's gonna stop me, right? Like, because, you know, my business coach told me that winners make adjustments, losers make excuses, right? And so am I gonna fail on the way up? Yeah, I've failed plenty of times. Failures are acceptable. Right. As long as we learn from those mistakes, we don't repeat them, and we make the necessary adjustments, then we're not going to repeat those failures. We'll continue to move forward. And I think that burned the ship's mentality of the only way forward, the only way to go is forward. There is no going back.
I think that's been instilled enough in myself and in my business partner now that that's just. That's part of our culture. And Black Flag is that. That Cortez mentality of just sometimes you just have to burn the ships, because there's that.
That you think about how many.
How much effort you put into those contingency plans, of having a backup plan and a backup plan. You know, in the military environment, it was necessary, right? Because when bullets start flying and things start blowing up, like, it's fair to say most things don't go to plan. And so you have to have an alternate. A contingency and an emergency, but plan.
But that doesn't directly translate into everything. Right. When you're trying to be successful and get to a level that you've never been, sometimes you have to burn the ships. You have to quit wasting the time and energy that you're spending on planning that way out in case it doesn't go perfect, when you should be using that focus and that energy on continuing to move forward and how to move forward forward in the best way possible.
[00:39:39] Speaker A: As we continue the conversation about the shift into entrepreneurship and what's building in Black Flag, what version of yourself did you have to let go?
[00:39:54] Speaker B: I had to let go of a lot of it. You know, I learned a couple years back.
I think I was in the process of learning it as we were starting this business, but I learned that to be the person that I needed to be to be successful running this company, the price of that was the old me, right? I had to let go of pretty much all of it. Like, I had to let go of the doubts and the fears, and I had to start pursuing things with intention.
And my confidence needed to rest on my intentions, not just my capabilities.
One thing I've been privileged to be able to do is work with a lot of very, very successful businessmen. Some of the most successful businessmen in the world.
And I've been able to see firsthand some of the things that they put into practice. And one of those things was,
[00:41:07] Speaker A: I
[00:41:07] Speaker B: should say is one of those things is their relentless pursuit of excellence in everything that they do. Right.
I think maybe there's a lot of CEOs out there that kind of aren't as involved in every aspect of their company as maybe they should be.
And the most successful ones that I see, of course they have their, you know, their directors of HR and they have their directors of technology, and, and they have their C suites. And of course they, they, they still delegate authority to those people to, to run the different aspects of their companies.
But, you know, and this goes into kind of something that I saw that I learned in the military that I noticed at the highest level in the civilian world is happening as well. I learned a long time in the military that you cannot delegate responsibility, you can delegate authority, but when you sit at the top of the food chain, you're responsible for everything your company does or fails to do.
And like, the buck literally stops there. And so the most successful CEOs that I've had an opportunity to work with, like in the security business, are very involved in every aspect of their companies.
You know, they're approving new merchandise ideas, or they're looking into new ways of recruiting, or they're deeply involved in the new app that's being built or, or just literally everything.
Right. They still have, they're not control freaks. Right.
But they are involved and they maintain a strong position and leadership figure and even in those different departments without overstepping and still allowing somebody to do their job.
[00:43:08] Speaker A: What routine or discipline helps make you successful?
[00:43:13] Speaker B: I put a lot of weight into my morning routine.
Honestly, it's something I wish I would have adopted 20 years ago. It would have been life changing for me back then. And just the big picture, I take care of myself mentally, spiritually, physically before I do the things of the day. Right.
There's a certain amount of time that I have dedicated to me to do those things. And the reason for that is so that I can be the best version of me when I walk through that door. Because if I still have things that I haven't taken care of, then how can I expect myself to give the focus and attention that I need to in the different areas of my company on a day to day basis?
If I've got my own personal stuff and my own baggage going on in the back of my head, that's not a reasonable request. And so I have to make sure that I set myself up for success by doing those things. Now I've got some early mornings, right. Because of it.
And at first it seemed daunting and impossible and, you know, I had to kind of ease into the 4am lifestyle, which is when I'm typically getting up. And it honestly, a lot of times it doesn't matter whether it's Saturday or Sunday, like owning a business, there are no days off, really. Like, there's something that's happening that needs to be tended to. And so.
And I, you know, through good example, I try and stay as much involved in every aspect of my company and. But kind of just to give you kind of an idea of how that looks for me, like, you know, the mental aspect of it for me is I try and wake up with gratitude every day. I start my day with gratitude, so I journal. And that begins with three things that I'm grateful for and why I'm grateful for them. And then one thing that I'm going to do that day with intention.
Because things that are done with intention are done with purpose.
[00:45:23] Speaker A: Yeah. And that bleeds over into the people who work for you. Right. Because they get to see and they get to hear that gratitude. At some point.
I know we were talking with another guest at some point and we were talking about how your team feels you. Right. Like, they feel the energy, they feel the change in your attitude and things when things aren't going well. When things, things are going well.
And if you just have that intention and that gratitude on a daily basis, your team will feel that. And in order for them to feel that or for them to feel that means that they're grateful for you as well and the things that you're doing. So what's next for Black Flag? Like, where are you headed and what are your goals for Black Flag?
[00:46:11] Speaker B: So we really want to start moving into the government space, and we're in the process of doing that now.
We were there at one point and we rebranded last year in July. And so we're currently having to go through that process again.
Having been through it once already, I think we're probably going to go back to it with a little bit more specificity and a better direction. Right. That's going to fit the Black Flag vision of what the company looks like. Long term.
We're going to continue building out our training programs that we, I mean, over the next few months, like, we pretty much have a course running in one fashion or another almost every weekend, with a few exceptions. And that's only because we're you know, we're running courses out of state or we're helping out another organization with, you know, a large event that they're running this year. And so we've, we're certainly expanding rapidly in that area. And then, you know, I think I can speak for my business partner on this one, too.
We really want to get back into the counter trafficking space in a big way. And so we've spent a lot of time over the past year developing relationships with people to be able to do that and actually have an impact. You know, we don't want to just tell people we're involved and we're trying to make a difference. We want to actually make a difference. And, you know, regardless of what that looks like, we're stepping forward with a willing heart and attitude.
So we're making every effort possible to make that happen. We have to, we have to make sure the company is where it needs to be to be able to financially support that.
[00:48:04] Speaker A: Okay. And so tell our viewers how they can contact you, follow along or watch your journey.
[00:48:11] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. So you can reach out to us by phone at 561-875-3773, or you can visit us at our website at www.blackflaginternational.com and. And from there you can click on links to all of our social medias, even our training courses.
[00:48:30] Speaker A: Dan, this has been incredibly powerful. Where can.
Well, we've already established where people can find you, but this has been incredibly powerful.
And we think, Dan, this is incredible.
[00:48:43] Speaker B: And look at them in turn.
[00:48:45] Speaker A: Go ahead. I'll say that, but go ahead and move up to the closing remarks because I already asked him about where they can learn.
So right there is.
[00:48:54] Speaker B: Yeah, just look at him and then turn and say, start your line. There'll be an added point there.
[00:48:59] Speaker A: Dan, thank you. It's been an incredible, incredibly powerful story. And to learn about your journey and it's such honesty and strength. Today's conversation reminds us that being unstoppable isn't about proving anything. It's about owning who you've become. If you're watching and still trying to earn your place, remember this responsibility, discipline and integrity will build confidence long before approval ever does. I'm Nicole Anderson, and this has been underdog to unstoppable. We'll see you next time.
