Dr. Chad Woolner: What’s going on, everybody? Dr. Chad Woolner here with Dr. Andrew Wells, and on today’s episode of the laser light show, we have with us a really special guest, Floyd McLendon. We’re super excited to be able to chat with him. So let’s get started.
Transcript
Speakers:
Dr. Andrew Wells
Dr. Chad Woolner
Floyd McLendon
Dr. Chad Woolner: Growing up in Portland, Oregon, I used to love going to laser light shows at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. They would put on these amazing light shows with incredible designs synced up to some of my favorite music from the Beatles to Pink Floyd to Jimi Hendrix and Metallica. They were awesome. Little did I know then that lasers would have such a profound effect on my life decades later. As a chiropractic physician, I have seen firsthand just how powerful laser therapy is at helping patients struggling with a wide range of health problems. As the leader in laser therapy, Erchonia has pioneered the field in obtaining 20 of the 23 total FDA clearances for therapeutic application of lasers. On this podcast, we’ll explore the science and technology and physiology behind what makes these tools so powerful. Join me as we explore low-level laser therapy. I’m Dr. Chad Woolner, along with my good friend Dr. Andrew Wells, and welcome to the laser light show. All right, everybody. Welcome to the show. We are here live on set at Parker’s event in Vegas. We’re super excited to have Floyd McLennan with us. Welcome to the show, Floyd.
Floyd McLendon: Oh, thank you for having me, Chad. Andrew. It’s a pleasure.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Floyd, you are a veteran.
Floyd McLendon: Yes, sir.
Dr. Chad Woolner: And, and I don’t know if it’s like Marines where you shouldn’t say former Marine, like once a Marine always Marine. Is it the same with Navy SEALs? Once a Navy SEAL, always a Navy SEAL?
Floyd McLendon: Yes. So the term that we like to, well, it depends on how long you’ve been in, but I’m retired. So I just like to say retired Navy SEAL.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Okay.
Floyd McLendon: Or you will say US Navy SEAL veteran in the
Dr. Chad Woolner: Okay.
Floyd McLendon: Former we understand what
Dr. Chad Woolner: Do we call you a frogman, former frogman or retired frogman? Do we say that to retired frogman?
Floyd McLendon: Yes. We have many names that those are very, most common. Yes, yes. Very
Dr. Chad Woolner: Well, first off, a huge thank you for your service. Really appreciate it. My father is a retired survival instructor for the Air Force. During the late ’60s, early ’70s, he was stationed over in the Philippines was teaching all the pilots, you know, if and when you crash or whatever, here’s how you survive.
Floyd McLendon: He was a SERE instructor is what we call them.
Dr. Chad Woolner: This was yeah, this was pre-SERE is what he told because I asked him because I kept hearing that term, right? And I’m like, is that what you were? He was like, oh, SERE instructors are amazing. And I’m like, That’s my dad. Yeah, amazing. Like, well, this is actually my dad’s such a humble guy, you know, so he’s like, let’s just pre-SERE, you know, so before they actually titled it SERE and so, but yeah, incredible individual. So Navy SEAL. You know, I have such an issue. I think most people do. Like there’s a certain level of like, mystique and excitement and or like all associated with Navy SEALs. And I think for a good reason because they don’t just let anybody into the Navy SEALs. It’s not like you just say I want to be a Navy SEAL. Okay, great stamp on it, and improve it. You know, so maybe tell us I mean, I think, to some small degree, we might have a little bit of an understanding, but I don’t think most have a real depth to that. What did what was that all entailed? You know, in terms of becoming a Navy SEAL? What What, what’s that like?
Floyd McLendon: Wow, that’s a loaded question.
Dr. Chad Woolner: So just applied in there.
Floyd McLendon: Well, just to share my background, so my dad was a former Marine. He served for four years in Vietnam, and a couple of brothers who served in the Army. I thought that I was never going to go into the military. And then I found myself after high school contemplating and I ended up in the Navy. I served for 25 years.
Dr. Andrew Wells: Wow.
Floyd McLendon: I had no intent of becoming a Navy SEAL. I didn’t know what it was, you know what they did? Yeah, I was an electronic technician which means I was a marine or satellite communications expert.
Dr. Chad Woolner: For how long?
Floyd McLendon: For 10 years.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Wow.
Floyd McLendon: Yes. But around my six-seven year mark, I started to look at the Navy as a career. Okay, don’t 20 years but I didn’t see myself as an electronic technician for 20 years. I just didn’t think that that was gonna really resonate with me being happy. So I started to look at other like no other careers within the military. And I had a colleague who was about to train to go to BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL) school to be a Navy SEAL. And I was like, Hey, I don’t know how to swim you mind if I you mind if I you know, train with you? Just the water portion so I can learn how to swim. And as I started to train with him, I started to research what Navy SEALs who they are and what they do, and I was like, oh, man, this may be cool. So I started to go down that path. And it, you know, I was blessed, you know, to it took me six years from the time I said I wanted to be a Navy SEAL to the time that I became one law, right. And then I just served my last 15 years in a team, so serving, you know, 25 years. But to answer your question, so what that’s like, it’s a, it was a very humbling and an eye-opening experience for me because at the time, I thought I was at a certain level mentally and physically, yeah, but as I got into the training, you know, and then back in the back in that day, there was no internet, you know, so you had to go to the library, you had to go to the bookstores, you had to buy all these books on, you know, I’m soaking in, I’m reading on it for whatever you can get. Yeah, but I’m also I’m applying, you know, when I’m learning, you know, the training, and I started to realize that, that my shit does think, right, and but it, it fueled me, you know, and it resonated with me to be better to improve. And I did that on a daily basis. And that was just the beginning before I even got to training. And then when I got to train, it was a whole nother level. Yeah, no, so now I’m with all these other alpha males, who are physical mental specimens, and I’m with them shoulder to shoulder and you start to you start to look at yourself and see, you know, just how worthy you are and what you can contribute, right, you know, to, you know, to the training and to your class. And that breaks individuals, or that motivates individuals to become better. Sure. Right. So for me, it motivated me to be better because of the guys that I was training with. Yeah. And I didn’t make it through my first time. You know, I suffered gastro-intestinal virus I lost 30 pounds is a shin in a three-month span. I went from 195 to 165. Wow. And I just started my second Hell Week. I am, you know, for all intents and purposes, whatever goes into my mouth is coming straight out of the other end. And so I go to the medical doctor, while I’m in Hell Week, and I said, Hey, this is what’s going on. And I was like, alright, well, what are you gonna do? You know, quit or keep going? And I was like, wow, he’s he’s, he’s very compassionate.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Like this, this fits.
Floyd McLendon: Yeah, this fits.
Dr. Andrew Wells: Just wanted some comforting and love. It’s gonna be okay. Yes, no, what are you gonna do? Yeah, that didn’t happen. But I was generally concerned about how it would affect me in the future. Like, if I made it through Hell Week. How much of damage would I have done? And if I would have continued, right, so I took the risk, and I quit on the bell. I went back to the fleet for 15 months, I came back a second time, and I was blessed to make it through the seconds.
Dr. Chad Woolner: That’s amazing. You know, when you say you know how long it took you, I’m reminded, you know, a very, very dear friend of mine and mentor of mine, my former Brazilian jujitsu instructor who actually passed away a year ago, he often referred to getting your black belt in Brazilian jujitsu as like getting your PhD in martial arts, you know, because it was such a time-intensive process. And I think very similarly, you could say the same thing, right, that you should, and I don’t know if this is an unconventional way of looking at a Navy SEAL. But I would say, I would be so bold as to say, becoming a Navy Seal, or any type of special type of operative in that level is like the equivalent of getting your PhD in your respective military. Do you know what I mean? Like, you’re, you’re, you’re a doctor of like, I was gonna say you’re a doctor of death. It’s like, you’re, you’re, you’re a doctor at that level. I mean, you really, like get such high specialized training just at such a level that few Do you know what I mean? I do.
Floyd McLendon: So it’s interesting that you bring that up because I’ve thought about that. Like, how would that compare to the academic world? And I actually have tears. So if you when you graduate buds and you become a Navy Seal, that’s like getting your bachelor’s, okay. Right. And then, once you, you go to a team, you train, you go downrange, and you do a combat deployment, right? Are two, that’s your masters. Okay. Right. And then you you start to advance into leadership roles, and now you’re leading men, you’re leading a platoon attached unit. And once you get to that, then that will be like your, your PhD. Yeah, right. So I’ve actually broken it down in a day, a Sunday like, Well, do you have what’s your highest degree? Well, I have a master’s in you know, Special Warfare operations. Like Well, what did you get that from? I’m like, Well, I got it from the SEAL teams, you know, you look yeah. And what under what most don’t understand is the academic acuity that we have to have,
Dr. Chad Woolner: Oh man. Because it’s probably every bit as important if not more, so you can’t just have mindless, you know, like zombies out there on the on the field, you got to have intelligent people because my, again, my guess is I have this is coming from a place of pure ignorance, but I’m assuming that you have to make every bit as much intellectual decisions, you know, as much as the physical stuff that’s required, right? If not more, so
Floyd McLendon: Yes, because we learned dive physics, you know, meaning, you know, we have to know, you know, on a closed rig, how deep we can go, how long we can be at that depth, we have to be able to do intense math
Dr. Chad Woolner: Some life and death math,
Floyd McLendon: Right, You know, and we do that we do the calculations, before we get into the water to understand, we also know, you know, okay, I went this deep, I can only stand the water this long, but also what’s your swim buddy, you know, it’s the middle of in my, you’re 25 feet, you know, underwater, and you’re about to do a ship attack, and you’re looking in their eyes, and you’re looking to see if they’re, if they’re coherent, or you know, if something is wrong with them. And all you have is, you know, just looking in their eyes and the small nuances in their body. So you have to understand, you know, those kinds of things that you know, dive, you know, medicine, and if they do, if your, your buddy or you start to have symptoms, then you have to know what to do, you know, and how soon you you have it before the before something, really, before you get really injured. So those are the things you know, academically we you know, with, I was explosive expert, right? So what’s what we call lead Breacher. So anything that needed to be destroyed, or compromised, and I can do it manually, mechanically explosively. Like any guys dream, right, your job is you get to blow stuff up. Like, who would not want to do that? You know, but it’s also to okay, what’s the structure? What’s the, you know, is it is it? Is it rock? Yes. And yes. What’s the, you know, how, how thick? Is it? What’s behind it? Do I want to destroy what’s behind it? Right? How close are is my team and I to it, to where,
Dr. Chad Woolner: Basically, the equivalent of shoving a bunch of Ma DS into a mailbox is what you’re saying? I know exactly what you’re talking about there. We’ve had lots of experience.
Floyd McLendon: Right. So you got to do you have to do your mathematical computations, you know, based off of and then with that you find out the amount of explosives to do the job correctly. Yeah. Right.
Dr. Chad Woolner: And not get yourself hurt.
Floyd McLendon: Yes, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
Dr.Andrew Wells: And all underwater, or some of the some underwater, yes.
Floyd McLendon: Because we said yes. Underwater, we’d be on the water explosive as well. So yes, be and that’s a whole nother level. Yeah, you know, being that depth plant in the charges, you know, making sure you’re making sure you are, you know, out of the area when it when it blows, you know, things like that, and making sure you place it correctly so that it will blow in a manner manner that you would have as far as what you want to destroy your compromise. All those things like you’re, you have to be academically sound in order to in order to do those. And this is just a I’m talking about a basic Navy Seal, we all learn explosives. So I went to a school to learn advanced explosives. So when I came back to the team, I was able to teach my platoon things. So if it was a basic problem, they could take care of it.
Dr. Chad Woolner: So we could give you like a pack of gum and a paperclip. And you can go to town right now pretty much right?
Floyd McLendon: I can confirm nor deny.
Dr. Andrew Wells: I’m really curious about the mindset you had when you had to ring the bell, the first in the first class you were in? Because you had a taste of buds at that point. Yes. And and then you had 15 months of crap. I didn’t make it. What was that? What happened in your mentally front in that 15 months before he went back? Did you like you’re like, I know, I could have done that if I hadn’t had this gi bug or, or what we have what was your?
Floyd McLendon: So that’s the great thing about about bugs, is it’s an environment for you to learn about yourself. That’s it, and what you’re like what your limitations are. And that’s it and then to like how you you know how you work with, you know, what a team, how much are you willing to sacrifice? So my first time at Budds I was like, You gotta be kidding me. Like holy smokes. It blew me away of like, what was required? You came into it thinking like, this is what it’s going to be like in terms of the level of intensity and or requirement and then like, it didn’t shock you when you got in like it was way higher. Yes, because I was training. I’m like, I’m training I’m ready. I can prepare prepared, and it was just the bare minimum just to get there. And then you had to step up your game. Like once you were there. But when I decided to ring the bell, I knew I’m like, You know what I can, I can do this. But I may break my body, if I continue. If I break my body, I won’t be able to come back. So I had to take calculated decision, right. And it was a calculated student, however, ringing that bell and still being on the compound for two to three weeks and seeing my class, who did make it through seeing the instructors every day it it was, man, it was very, very humbling and a depressing moment. But I had to focus. And then when I when I left, and I went to the ship for 15 months, that was all I was concerned about was like, I’m going back to Budds I’m going by and I communicated that with my commander, I said, I’ll do whatever you want, please support me going back to Budds. So I started training, you know, I went to a gastrointestinal specialist, and I got right with my body. And then when I came back some of the same instructors were there to welcome you with open arms. They loved on me so much, because they remembered me. And they just embraced me
Dr. Andrew Wells: Floyd’s back.
Floyd McLendon: Embrace me, but I did have instructors come to me and they said, Yeah, I remember you. You’re not gonna make it. You’re like, because it’s statistically higher for those who retread who come back. Like, oh, like it’s a high percentage that they quit a second time? Because, yes, so and I, I can’t imagine there’s a third time for many if ever, and I mean, every now and then you’ll have a car. But now you like now you only have one truck? Oh, yeah. So if you don’t make it through the first time, like they may give you they may give you a waiver based off of you get hurt or something. But now it’s only one because it’s a bottleneck.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Sure
Floyd McLendon: It’s a bottleneck.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Sure.
Floyd McLendon: So they saw made it very clear that they were going to make sure that I was there for the right reasons and that I was ready. Yeah. And I was like, Okay. And, you know, this the second time was physically harder. Well, mentally easier, physically harder, because I was older. Sure, right. You know, I’m in my late 20s, you know, early 30s. And I’m, you know, I’m literally seven to 10 years older than the average.
Dr. Chad Woolner: What years was this?
Floyd McLendon: This was 2002 to 2005 right? So I’m 29 to 32. Yeah, and I’m going to training and physically, you know, I was smoke every week, physically, mentally, I was like, Alright, I got to push through. But physically it was it was so difficult. Yeah. You know, Monday, Tuesday was great Wednesday, I started to go down a slope Thursday and Friday. I was just hanging on. Right. And then the weekend was there for me to recover. And that was just kind of week after week.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Sure.
Floyd McLendon: But the mind is a very powerful, very powerful muscle.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Yeah, let’s talk about that. And kind of coupled that with what you talked about with the team. I read a book called stealing fire. Do you heard of that book before?
Floyd McLendon: No, sir
Dr. Chad Woolner: You’d get a kick out of this. So they talk about in that book, they talked about how the military started to utilize, especially with Navy SEALs, meditation, and specifically with the idea of trying to elevate consciousness to a degree that would help and the term that they used with Navy SEALs was helping teams get into quote, unquote, sync, meaning they were doing research to determine if Navy SEALs could through various types of meditative practices. Get more in tune and or again, synced up from a extrasensory I know that sounds kind of crazy. But I see you’re smiling because you’re like, you probably are tracking with what I’m saying here. But the whole point is, is that there are missions where Navy Seals have to go. And again, I’m speaking like, I know what I’m talking about. I’m just reading the book. Okay, so I’m just I’m reporting. Let me tell you how it is. But they’re saying that there were there are missions and times where you can’t just like be speaking out loud. And you got to be dead silent and quiet in the dark. And so what do you rely on the you know, and so that what they basically were saying is, you’re you’re tapping into these higher levels of consciousness in the brain, such that you can literally be more or less reading each other’s collective minds together synced up. Do you know what I mean?
Floyd McLendon: I do know what you mean. And I agree with that to a small degree. All right, we have what’s called Dirt diving, right? Meaning that you go through your mind mentally on the steps that it requires in order for you to accomplish a task. So in training, they teach us that. So if it’s if it’s, so for instance, on the water not tied, right, we have just five different knots that you have to tie, it’s in a 15 foot section of the pool. And your structure tells you to go down and you tie your knot. And then you wait for an instructor to come down to check it. And then you ask for permission to go up, he gives you permission, you untie it, you come back up, you get 30 seconds, and you got to go back down for the second knot. And then you do that all the way through three foreign fighters Hearing you say that it’s giving me anxiety, right? So so dirt diving is you are, you know, you’re like the night before or like right before you’re about to do it, you’re going through your mind and you you see yourself, you know, you’re doing it in your mind to that degree, that that’s the small degree that I agree. And you do that throughout training with every like, test and they teach that you know, dirt dive there dive dirt die. So that way, it just becomes muscle memories. Because when, when the unexpected happens, your your body is going to naturally finish Chanel. And I’ll give you a great example before I go to my next, my next point is the 50 meter underwater swim. And I jump in, I do a specific maneuver that is required once you jump in. And I want to equalize the pressure in my nose. So I don’t get any water on my nose, right because it’s uncomfortable. While I blow too hard. I blow out all my air. I’m at the start of my 50 meter underwater swim. So I go down to the halfway point turn around. And as I’m coming back, I you know, my body starts to react to lack of oxygen. Yeah, so I had, you know, only had a couple options. I can go to the surface, and you know, you know, break the surface and fail, right, or I can continue and possibly pass out. So I was like, You know what? I’m not I was like, I’m gonna finish. Yeah. So the last thing I remember is like one, one. The last thing I remember was I did a one car pool. And then next thing you know, I’m pinned to the top of the pool by my instructor, my safety instructor and I being slapped to consciousness by another striker that’s on the deck. Right? So gently though, right. So, so I come to and I kind of look back at my safety instructor who asked me pin and I was like, Did I pass? And in choice words, he was like, Yeah, you pass Get the out of the pool, right? So a few years pass. I see him down the road. I’m a team guy now. I’m like, Hey, what happened that day? You know? Yeah. And he’s like, Well, he said, I saw you jump in a pool, and I saw your dumbass. Blow out all your air. He said, I knew he’s like, I just knew you weren’t gonna make it. Yeah. So you know. And so what do they say? Shout out you. You’re right. So he’s at the surface. He says, So I saw when you went out. He said, But I let you go. Because you kept. He’s like, you kept swimming. Yeah. And you reached out. And as soon as you touched the wall, I grabbed you and pulled you up. So you can pass. Wow. So I was out. He was letting the momentum of the water chicken with its head cut off. And he just kept going. Yes. So by his by his explanation, I was out and I kept going. And I tap the wall. And then he pulled me out. Wow. So that comes from the dirt diving. Right? You you go to your where you’re most training? Yeah. Now, the other piece where I think it’s, it’s, it’s a greater percentage, is the training that we do with each other on a day to day basis. And the environment that they put us in is so arduous surance so hard, that it creates bonding. So you begin to like I could I could be on not at night in the middle of the night and I can see a shape of one of my platoon mates and I can No I know exactly who he is. His walk, right? His stance, I know there’s something up there, that’s not right. Or everything is okay. And that’s through our training that we do day to day in day out you and it’s kind of like your spouse and your kids like you know, because like voice inflection or you know, just the slightest shirt, you know, movement or shift in their body. You automatically know what the hell is going on. Yeah, so you don’t have to talk. And that’s where the silence comes from. Yeah, yeah. Right. Because you can just look and be like, Oh, you like you read them like, okay, they do something and then you just you’re trained to where you’re going to support? Yeah. Right. So if they go left, you’re gonna go right. Right? If they go low, you’re gonna go high, you know, that kind of thing, right? If they get into a certain posture, you’re in that certain posture to support Yeah, and it’s vice versa. But that’s just from the high level of training that we do you on a day to day basis. No doubt. That just reminds me of my my, my little gang. I grew up in my neighborhood. Like we spent so much time together as me and four other boys. We knew each other that well, yes, right? Because we just every day we were playing together either after school or summer, like from sunup to sundown. Yes, that was my crew. Yeah, we do. We do all the little ins and outs. Yes, you did. So just imagine like doing that. And, and very adverse situation. Sure. Right. That’s that week, we take the training wheels off, but we we in training, we try to make it as real as possible. Yeah. And, and expose ourselves to that every day, right? And then when we’re done, we debrief, we talk about it, we dirt dive, or we just do walkthroughs. So so that’s where it comes from, where I can just look at you and be like, Okay, well, Chad is he, you know, he’s he’s ready to go right now. Like, oh, he’s he’s holding on something or, you know, he, he’s about the art. So let me get behind him or let me get to let me support him in a certain way. Sure. So we can do business. And that’s just from level of training that we do. Yeah.
Dr. Chad Woolner: So fast forward. You retire from the military. Now you’re working for Parker. Tell us a little bit about that. How’d you come in touch with Parker? What do you do for Parker? Tell us all about that.
Floyd McLendon: I’m the director of advancement for Parker University. And I build relationships to raise funding and resources for veterans who suffer from traumatic brain injury.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Wow.
Floyd McLendon: Right. So I find the veterans and I also find the funding so that they can receive a scholarship, a scholarship where it’s no cost to them to go through the traumatic brain injury treatment. I’m one of those veterans who went through the treatment program is called the Invictus project at Parker Performance Institute. I did it three years ago, how I got connected to Parker. When I retired. I went into the political world. I worked up in DC as a legislative fellow for North Carolina congressman. I, when I retired to Texas, I was the executive aide for the Texas Attorney General. And then I resigned from him to run for US Congress. And up until this point, I run for US Congress twice. That was for Texas. Yes, sir. Okay. Yes, sir. I’m a city councilman, for my you know, for my city, and the President of Park University was watching my political track. I, I didn’t win. But in the political world. I did. I did well, you know, as far as building my foundation, building your relationships, the money that I raised, I raised close to a million dollars, my first my first race, and that translated into being a philanthropist for Parker University to raise funding and resources for our veterans. So that’s how that’s how I got on Parker University’s radar. Yeah, we connected and I’ve been with him for almost two years now. And I love the I love my colleagues, I love the mission, or the culture and the mission is very important, you know, for veterans. Yeah. And it’s very hard to find. But I think that’s, you know, Parker resonates, resonates with the culture and their mission that I’m looking for.
Dr. Chad Woolner: What a rewarding role that you get to play in this process, right, you get to and how, like, almost like incredibly full circle, this is for your career, right? You kind of from one end of this experience, having been in it to now having retired seeing some of the struggles that so many, if not the vast majority of veterans struggle with and it’s no mystery that unfortunately, as sad as it is, veterans are not getting the help and the care that they need. And so it’s they need advocates like you and like this to be able to help them and then that’s, that should be that should be the standard is what it should.
Floyd McLendon: It should be but that’s all about just educating the American people, And it just taken away the the negative stigma that comes with PTS traumatic brain injury. Pretty much all veterans will have you know, a, you know, some type of PTS or TBI myself when I went through the treatment they were trying to before I went into treatment, they were trying to convince me like Yes, something you need to go through. I’m like, it’s nothing wrong with me. But if you if you look, you know, I walk around I talk or whatever, you’d be like, Yeah, whatever. He’s fine. Right? It is an invisible issue. Sure. Right. And I’ve been I’ve been in I’ve been hit by, you know, back blasts of explosives, you know, I’ve you know, concussive waves, you know, multiple times over the years things like that and that and that does affect your brain, that muscle and you just you deteriorate over time. One it’s about incorporating this type of treatment and to active duty military veterans like, wow, they are serving, and then it’s providing that treatment after the fact.
Dr. Chad Woolner: So tell us for those who are listing a little bit about what that treatment consisted of, because I know that Parker has been pretty innovative and or kind of keeping their finger on the cutting edge of technology and tools to help. What did that treatment for you consistent? What did that look like?
Floyd McLendon: So I like to, I like to kind of I like to dumb it down, you know, to so everyone can understand your brain and eyes are a muscle. And if your muscle gets injured, you don’t rehab it, it atrophies. Right, and then you lose, you lose the ability to use it the manner it was it was designed sure also to like what your eyes, we don’t, we don’t use them in all the planes like we should, like we’re dominant in the lower plane, but the left, right and upper play. So your eyes are mostly weekends. So part of the treatment is training your brain and eyes, you know, to strengthen it. And that requires sometimes as TMS, right transcranial magnetic stimulation, we have a Burrtec you where you get into like a balance a balance game, you know, we also have the gyro stem where you get in, you know, you can be like an astronaut for you know, for a day. Yeah. So those are the type of things but also, we just have you do eye movements, right will have you move your body in a certain way, while while your your eyes are tracking something differently to you know, to connect your physical, physical physiology physiology, which are neurologic neurology, sure. We assess you from the neck up neurologically. And we say, Okay, this is what your brain is doing. And this is how it’s affecting your body. And then we assess you from the neck down physiologically and say, well, your, your body is doing this, you have these injuries here, your knee, your shoulder, your ankles, and the doctors come together and they build a comprehensive plan, specifically for you to weigh complements the neuro and the physio. Yeah, right. And they take you through that training plan for two weeks. And it’s literally three to four hours a day. And each day you are smoked, like it is, it baffled me just how fatigued and tired I was just from doing eye movements, and you know, just you know, TMS and Vertec, you’re like, Oh, those are easy, because you see it, if you’re looking at you like, oh, like what the hell are you doing? Or what are they doing, but when you’re in it, you’re like, holy smokes, this is crazy. So you do that for two weeks, you do a post assessment, and they show you this is how you were, and this is where you are now, here’s your homework. So you can maintain that level. We’re gonna bring you back in six months, and we’re gonna have you do a week to see where you measure from your last post assessment show, right? And then we’ll tweak you will, we’ll let you go. We’ll give you homework again. And we’ll tweak you, and then we’ll bring you back another six months for a week. But that whole time you have I can call you, I can call the darkness say, Hey, I’m having these issues. This is what’s going on. Yeah. And they tell them okay, well, let’s change this, or let’s do this, or let’s, you know, let’s bring you back in early, but you always have that lifeline for the rest of your life. So that’s, you know, that’s the you know, that’s the basic gist of what we do. I am a direct recipient of it. Yeah. And I believe in it, which is one of the reasons why I took this job as the director of advancement. And I just want my my fellow veterans to have the opportunity to go go through it as well. We have an issue with being vulnerable military veterans, right. Especially Special Warfare operators, or special operators. Because we feel like if we show our vulnerability, we’re going to be shelled or we’re not going to be able to do our job. Right. So that’s the negative stigma when it comes to these kinds of things that we have to strip away not only in the military, but also in the civilian sector. Sure is, this isn’t a disease, right? It is you know, it is just a condition based off of the profession. Just like anything else, you know it with sports or just like anything else, you know, with doctors in the long hour, you know without lawyers If there’s a negative, you there’s negative consequences to your commitment to your job. Sure, this is no different. And we have solutions in order to help, you know, our military veterans, you know, you know, to improve to get back to that baseline.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Yeah. I’m, I’m curious, you know, because I know that Erchonia has been pretty heavily involved on that side of things. Did you get any exposure to Erchonia’s lasers in this whole process?
Floyd McLendon: So personally, I did not.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Okay.
Floyd McLendon: However, Erchonia and Parker Performance Institute and Park University, we have a great relationship. We use Erchonia lasers, within our modalities of treatment. Yeah. And we have gotten a significant amount of success with it. fantast. So, so we’re very grateful and appreciative of the relationship and being able to be able to use, you know, the lasers for for treatment. Sure. I haven’t been blessed yet. You know, you know, with the with the treatments. Sure.
Dr. Chad Woolner: So you’re here at the booth. You might as well while you’re here. It’s your lucky day.
Floyd McLendon: Don’t get me hooked on something that I can’t use, like every day. Right. But yeah, but yeah, we have a wonderful relationship. with Erchonia And we want to continue to do so. And yeah, you know, so it’s for me, it’s just, it’s just about a continuation of service. Yeah, I’ve served for 25 years in this capacity. Now, I want to do it in another capacity where I can impact I can still impact our country and impact our citizens. Right. Be there for my fellow military veterans. That’s amazing. That’s it. That’s all that you know, that’s the purpose.
Dr. Chad Woolner: So you said all of your brothers and your dad are all former military, correct?
Floyd McLendon: Yes. My dad and two of my brothers were.
Dr. Chad Woolner: And you have kids yourself?
Floyd McLendon: Four boys.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Four boys and what’s their career path looking like so far?
Floyd McLendon: The oldest, he’s a cop. Okay. Yeah, he wants to go. He wants to go US marshals. Okay. 22 and 19 year old, they’re still trying to figure it out. Okay. My 15 year old, he’s the artist of the family. So he’s developed over 50 anime characters and he wants to launch his comic book. And so using none of them have any interest in the military. And I’m okay with that.
Dr. Andrew Wells: Yeah, I gotta imagine that’s a good thing for you, right?
Floyd McLendon: You know what, I don’t push them? Either way. Yeah. But if they do decide to go down a road, I’ll have a very honest conversation with them on how it impacts you how it impacts the individual, and also, more importantly, how it impacts the family. Sure, right. Because they’re the ones that, you know, I think kind of suffered the most. Yeah. And I’m starting to realize that not I’ve been retired. Yeah, you know, now that I’m out of it, I’m like, wow, you know, we really did that. Or, you know, like, I’m a different person, they emotionally. Now, I’m no longer you know, it was a different mindset. But now that I’m out, and I am starting to realize the impact that was made through my service. But that’s just a testament to my brothers and sisters who have mentored me to get me to that point.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Yeah, you can’t, you can’t, I can’t imagine. You can be a Navy Seal with one foot in and one foot out. You know what I mean? You’re you’re all in that’s got to be like an all-consuming, you know what I mean? Like, I would have to imagine that for most, if not all, they view it rather than a job as a calling. You know what I mean? Like, this is what I was called to do. You know, that’s my guess.
Floyd McLendon: That’s very interesting. Because I, when I do my talks, I say that I grew into service. Yeah, right. When I joined the military, I had no ask for it. Like, yeah, I want to serve my country. And that was not the case. Yeah, you know, I went in purely from a selfish perspective, I’m gonna come and go in, do this little bit of time. They’re gonna pay for my my college GI Bill and get my GI Bill and I’m out, right. But when I got the Navy SEAL training, that’s when it started to dawn on me the impact that I had as an individual to be prepared in order for my brothers to do their job. Sure. Right. And to make sure that I don’t do anything that’s detrimental to them. Yeah, it wasn’t necessarily that’s like to me, but to them in the mission. That’s where I started to learn. I grew into service. And then when I got to the team’s training wheels came off. And my big brothers who had real combat started to mentor me, then mass when it really hit on I’m serving and I’m doing you know, something really special. Yeah, but the responsibility is I have to stay in it the whole time. Yeah. And be committed to me Should I position to where I don’t do anything? To hurt the mission? Or from from I want my brothers and sisters to come back. Sure. Right. So you’re absolutely correct.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Do you still find a residual sense of duty in terms of a protector? You know that you I hear the term like sheepdog? You know, do you? Is that still a part of you? Like we’re absolutely you see, you see something going on? You’re like, Absolutely, you’re gonna step in and absolutely do that. Yeah, that’s, you’re a good person to have around.
Floyd McLendon: That that never goes away. Yeah, that never you just, you don’t engage. But you, you do see it, you just let things play out. And then you position yourself to where it’s known that you are paying attention and that you are aware and that you may, you may engage if you need to.
Dr. Chad Woolner: I read Tim Kennedy’s book scars and stripes. Have you read that book? It’s so good. He’s so he’s a former Greenbrae. And he and several others have said like, you know, the whole school shooting stuff. One simple solution is you put to work all these incredible veterans who have all this incredible experience, and are used to being protectors, you get them into the schools, and you can really do a lot of good in terms of the overall protection for the students and stuff. And I’m like, that’s a really think novel solution. I don’t know if that’s practical or not. I see you. You have thoughts on that?
Floyd McLendon: He’s correct. Yeah. However, legislation doesn’t support that. Yeah. Yeah. Right.
Dr. Chad Woolner: So you’ve seen that interview as well?
Floyd McLendon: Yes. So I mean, I have great relationships with law enforcement. Yeah. And their rules, their rules, or, you know, our I couldn’t be, I cannot be a cop. Because there are rules of engagement, although the support that they get from, you know, from from being able to do their job if if things were to occur. And we would have to change legislation to support but not only that, they need to be properly trained, and given the resources in order to be at that level. That’s that’s not how not that’s the case, then we also need to have legislation to support that. And we and we don’t, but yes, military veterans. Yeah, we tend to, you know, we tend to stay protectors of our country.
Dr. Chad Woolner: One of the one of the coolest interviews, clips, it’s floating around on YouTube, somewhere there that I ever saw was Marcus Luttrell, he was on CNN years ago. And they were asking him about he was basically he was pretty outspoken. And he was basically just saying, the problem at that, at that time in Iraq. He said, The problem right now is that there’s a bunch of Marines that are there that are chained down because of bureaucracy, and because of all these different rules, and he says, if they’ll just release the chain, he said, you can let these Marines go to work and they’ll fix stuff real fast. And they said, and I think it was like 300 Marines was in some area. And they said, in the news caster, like very innocently, but very curious. He was like, well, what could 300 Marines do? And Marcus Luttrell goes, Oh, 300. Marines. He said, If you take the chain off, he said, they’ll take care of everything in a day. He said, they’ll get Iraq secured, or Baghdad or wherever they were. He said, Oh, yeah, there’s a lot 300 Marines can do. And it was cool to see that kid respect that he clearly he had. You know what I mean? He didn’t see any sort of this turf war. You know, him obviously, being a Navy SEAL. He’s like, Oh, yeah, Marines are freaking amazing. You know, so it’s cool. I’ve got a lot of good friends of mine. I’ve got a good doc friend of mine. Shout out to Dr. Daniel Shattuck. He’s actually here in Texas, or we’re not in Texas. We’re in Vegas. Park is here in Texas. He’s a he’s a Marine, and he’s a chiropractor in the Austin area. Amazing. Amazing. Dark, but yeah, so
Floyd McLendon: We love each other. Yeah. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines. Even Coast Guard and Space Force.
Dr. Andrew Wells: Your face switched when you said that resolve the truth. And
Dr. Chad Woolner: I saw somebody saying, you know, SpaceForce ain’t looking so dumb now, now that we’re seeing all these UFOs in the sky getting shut down. Right, right. Funny.
Floyd McLendon: No, we love each other. But we internally fight, you know, we internally give each other crap, which is where it needs to be. Yeah. But for the most part, we work with each other downrange all the time, we respect each other. And we save each other’s lives. And you know, quite frankly, you know, I wouldn’t be here today, you know, if it wasn’t for like other services, sure. You know, part of, you know, our missions. Yeah. Yeah, I wouldn’t be today you know, my brothers and my community you know, supporting me so sure, you know, really is just about representing them and making sure if you No, I toe the line, and they’re in their ability to love on me, for me to be where I am today. Yeah. So and it really hits home like now that I’m out of and I’m like, man, like, why am I so sympathetic? You know, why am I do I have so much empathy? You know, for for serving now? Sure. But I think if you put me back in it tomorrow, like that’ll go away, and I’ll focus on the mission and we’ll be we’ll be rocking and rolling. You know, but it’s just kind of understanding that. Yeah, we love each other here.
Dr. Chad Woolner: You’re a softy. But that can change in a heartbeat when you put you in the right situation.
Floyd McLendon: Yeah, there you go read and react.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Yeah, there you go. Yes, that’s amazing.
Dr. Andrew Wells: So I’m kind of curious for Docs listening. I think they understand that when you’re in practice, you know, and helping patients get better, whether it’s for brain health issues, or you know, chiropractors helping people with pain. Most I think most chiropractors and most health care providers will look at their job as a mission. So their job is, is focusing on the health of their community. And, and we kind of I think, for most practitioners, we try to balance this, okay, like you mentioned, you can’t have one foot in and one foot out in your practice when you’re serving your community or you, you know, a lot of doctors are all in on their practice, but they find a really tough time balancing that with home life. So they have you know, they’re married, they have kids, but they want to be high performers in their in their job as a health care provider. Do you have any advice for Doc’s like that on how to be the Navy SEAL in practice, but also have some way in terms of level of focus and discipline and building that community? Yeah. And actually, like, how does that translate to home life? And now, kind of you’re looking back, you know, you’ve been in it for 25 years? Yes. What?
Floyd McLendon: So it’s, it’s very difficult for the, you know, for the spouse, and the kids, like one I would, I would, I would encourage the doctors to have effective communication, you know, like really making sure that their spouse, and their family understands exactly, you know, what their mission is their purpose, and how they are going to dedicate themselves to it. They have buy into it as well. Yes, yeah.
Dr. Chad Woolner: That’s huge.
Floyd McLendon: So that’s very, like, that’s the start. And then it’s the planning, it’s okay, here’s the calendar, right, this month, this is what I got going on. What family events should we plan?
Dr. Chad Woolner: Right? Are you sure you weren’t like a marriage counselor at the same time as a Navy SEAL? Man, this is like such profoundly pragmatic advice. And, you know,
Floyd McLendon: I’m speaking, I’m speaking from doing the wrong thing. Right, and learning how to do the right thing. Yeah. So. And this was something that I had to learn, right, I had to learn how to communicate, you know, with my family, say, “Hey, this is the deal,” because you’re absolutely correct. We get so deep into our profession, that our family suffers, sure why. So it’s, you know, it’s, there is no balance. You know, it’s just where are you dedicated at this moment? And the people you love? Do they understand that? And will they support you? And then are you willing to make adjustments when it just becomes overwhelming, right, that and that’s what it is. But effective communication, sit down with the calendar, just like you plan your appointments, put your family, like on the calendar, and you hold true to that. And I would say I would just give that recommendation, like that’s where that’s where it will start.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Yeah, I can 100% attest to that. I am so fortunate. I have the most amazing supportive wife. And I was just thinking about that this morning, literally. And I was just like, you know, there is no way that I could be where I’m at in my career today. We’re not for that unconditional support. She is like the, you know, we oftentimes have joked that she got an honorary doctorate, you know, going through me struggling, you know, so you’d like your wife is an honorary Navy Seal, is my guess. You know, she struggled right through it. Are you married at the time?
Floyd McLendon: Yeah, so, so yeah, so she gets that to write? Frog woman. Absolutely. Absolutely. So they earned it. Yeah, they have earned it so I wouldn’t take that away from my from my ex. Like it was earned. And it was Yeah, yeah, that’s where I would, I would suggest that you know, dog anyone, you know, who’s very passionate about, about their profession, they’re gonna dive in and things are gonna get missed. Right, but do your does your family really understand? Yeah, right. And sometimes they don’t like my when I’m when I went on this journey. Like my, my family, like my mom, my dad, my siblings, like my friends close to me. This the support wasn’t there. Hmm. Well, you know, but that’s because I have assessed it was because they saw me for who I was, and not for who I was becoming. Mm. All right, but at the time, I didn’t have time for that shit. Yeah. So I had to put them on the shelf and say, You know what, I’m not dealing with you right now. Because I need supportive people in order to attain my goal, right. And then once I attained my goal, I pull them off the shelf. And then they saw a new, they saw a new flow, and it was like, oh, man, okay, now, right now they get it. Right? Well, they maybe a different mindset of like it, you know, what the, so when I went down to US Congress road, it was the same thing, hey, I want to be, I want to run for Congress, you know, the support really wasn’t there. But it’s just kind of understanding like, okay, don’t, don’t be upset with them, you know, just kind of understand, you know, how they, how they view things, and you’re just gonna have to throughout the process, you know, they will learn that, you know, you are, you are capable, and you can accomplish this. Right. And it’s just a process. And so I don’t, I don’t take it. I don’t take offense anymore. I used to, I used to be very pissed off.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Well, I would, I would say that your training as a Navy SEAL probably helped you in that regard, too, because it’s not like you were getting a lot of warm, fluffy encouragement from your instructors. either. You can do this. We know you can’t keep working at it, Floyd, you know, I got that every day. Yeah, I love every positive affirmation every day.
Floyd McLendon: They pick me apart. Yeah, any weakness, they will attack it. Yeah. And they will see All right, where are you? Where are you at with this? You know, are you going to step up? Or are you going to fold?
Dr. Chad Woolner: You know, the connection that I will make here that maybe people listening may not see the connection. But I think there’s a very clear connection. At the end of the day, what we’re talking about is something intrinsic, rather than relying on something external, right. And when we talk about health, yes, a big thing that we preach is, you know, health comes from the inside, not from an outside in approach. And so if you’re looking, whether it’s your mental, emotional, spiritual, or physical health, if you’re relying or dependent on something external, and that’s not, please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying, you know, we all need community, we all need connection with people, that’s a human need. And I totally understand our voice is what’s most important, but exactly what you’re saying exactly. That comes from the inside. When you there, there may be seasons in your life where you feel like you need to tread that road alone, or there may be times where you don’t have the support that you would hope for that you have. And you know, you’re kind of shining example of the fact that in those moments, and in those times, you have to kind of dig deep inside of yourself and figure out you know, how to how to tap into that inner voice. That inner power, you know, that you’re talking about?
Floyd McLendon: I will say though, during that time, I think I didn’t effectively communicate to those around me. Sure. Right. So I do take I do take some some responsibility about that. But also, I think at the time, I felt like I didn’t have I didn’t have the time to, you know, try to explain and pull you in. You know,
Dr. Chad Woolner: it was not only that but you were 20. You know, you’re in your 20s Yeah, what are your 20 year old? Exact? No?
Floyd McLendon: Yeah, I didn’t know any. Yeah, you know, it’s like, Yes, I was in my 20s. Yeah, we know nothing. Yeah, I’m still learning and then I’ll be 50 this year. So yeah.
Dr. Andrew Wells: That’s kind of the way it should be, though. If you’re if you’re in your early 20s. As a young man, I think that’s by design, that you don’t listen sometimes. And that’s either harm you or hurt you, right. And sometimes in your case like that, yes. Kind of putting blinders on and not listening and moving forward with confidence in yourself. You’ll Yeah, either that’s going to produce good outcomes or bad outcomes, or maybe both, but at least you’re moving in a direction.
Floyd McLendon: Yeah, yes, it taught me. It taught me that I can do probably mostly anything like one through God, you know, he that should just go without saying, but also, I knew if I applied myself at a certain level that I could be successful in anything that I do now, like buds taught me that I because there were days I came in, I’m like, I don’t know, if I’m gonna be here. At the end of the day. I don’t even know if I’m gonna be if I’m gonna physically hold up, I may break, right? I don’t know if I’m gonna pass this test, like I studied, and I did my dirt diving, but I don’t know if I’m going to make it. Yeah. But I applied myself and I put forth the effort. But a part of it too, was those around me, my brothers, my instructors. They saw that and they supported me when I fell short, which allowed me to be successful. So I feed off of that knowing if I put any effort and I dedicate myself that I can be successful and that and that process with individuals will, you know, will help them be successful because now you can go back and be like, Well, I did this and this is how I did it. This is what I applied. You know, I garnered this support, I can do this. Yeah. And it just taught me to just believe in the process. Yeah. Right, you know, not just believe in the process, one step at a time do this workout one step at a time, like, study this curriculum, one step at a time, you know, just take this test, and then whatever happens, happens if I don’t, if I fail, then I’m happy with that, because I know I did everything I possibly could to be successful.
Dr. Chad Woolner: It that reminds me of that quote, by Theodore Roosevelt, the Man in the Arena, you know, that quote, everything you just said, there was like, the modern equivalent of that, quote, you know, that at the end of the day, if you fail, at least you did so daring, greatly, you know, that that was his whole. And that he says at the end that that, and his place will not be among those cold and timid souls, that no neither victory nor defeat, you know, and that’s such a such a powerful quote, you know, they’re exactly.
Floyd McLendon: And I’ve learned to apply that, to my personal life. Sure. Right. So I learning like going through that process and buds at the SEAL teams, because once you get to the things that learning doesn’t stop, it’s continuous. Yeah. And it’s harder, and it’s longer, and it’s faster. Yeah, you know, and it’s just more mentally challenging. Because now it’s not just yourself, but it’s also your teammates, now, you’re in leadership roles, where you have to make decisions for these guys to do things that may kill them, you know, so it’s, it’s a continuous process that you have to stay on, on top of to continuously train and continuously be prepared. And I learned to apply that to my personal life to my relationships, right to, you know, to my own, you know, personal education to where I want to grow right, to my friendships to my relationships.
Dr. Chad Woolner: So yes, my favorite movie is The Karate Kid. And I’m ashamed of that. And this is long. This is I don’t get it. I’m gonna tie this in. This is long before Cobra Kai and all that I was a fan of karate kid. But there’s a scene in there where Mr. Miyagi says to Daniel, he says, you know, we talked about balance, the whole balancing, he said, and just all the lessons that he was teaching him, he said, this applies to every aspect of life, not just karate, and learning karate. And so that’s the thing. I think that’s cool that you can make that connection is like what you learned in the Navy SEALs isn’t just about blowing things up and isn’t just about diving and military, you’re learning skills that you can transition and take and allow yourself, you know, it’s character development person, it’s like, it is like the nth degree of like, a masterclass in personal development if you if you allow it to. Absolutely right. Yeah.
Floyd McLendon: Like if you allow it and you apply it.
Dr. Chad Woolner: So that’s my connection from Karate Kid. Does that make sense?
Dr. Andrew Wells: I like that you took Mr. Miyagi to heart as a tender young man, I learned life lessons from him.
Floyd McLendon: Is that what makes it his favorite? Like if with that particular?
Dr. Chad Woolner: So here’s the deal. Speaking of Karate Kid, you’ve seen the movie, right? Yep. Okay, he looks for those who can’t see the facial expression and facial expression was one of this series. Are you serious? It was a head side caulk. You’ve got to be kidding me. So, so the best seat and this is not open for debate. The best. The best scene in the movie is not the crane technique. Crane technique is amazing. It is. But that’s not the best scene. The single best scene in the movie is when Daniel gets asked, it’s like the final straw. He gets asked to paint the house and he’s pissed. And Miyagi is like I went fishing. So just paint the house. You know, remember, instead of doing up and down, you’re gonna do it side to side now. And so then he gets he gets home that evening again, just painted the entire house and his shoulders are sore, and he’s just pissed. And Miyagi. He’s like, Hey, you did a good job with the house. And he’s like, Why didn’t you take me fishing? He’s like, Yeah, I was up too early. You were here, you know? And so then he’s like, I’m going home man. And he’s like, he’s like you, we got a deal. He’s like, I’m keeping up my end of the deal. And he’s like, No, you’re not he’s like, You’re big, basically making me your slave. I’m out of here. And then me out. He’s like, not everything is as it seems. And he’s like, he’s like, Alright, man. He’s like, I’m going to show you right now. I know. Exactly. And then And then, and then he has just the coolest moment. He’s like, show me show me sand the floor show me you know, you know, wax on wax off. Show me that paint the fence and paint the house. And all of a sudden, it’s like, Daniel gets served up this just massive heap heaping scoop of humble pie there because all of a sudden he’s like, holy cow. I will not question again. Because now I see like, this is what I’ve been learning this entire time. I had no idea. And it was just it that is hands down the coolest scene. I would argue of any movie that is like the coolest scene.
Floyd McLendon: You realize this at that young age like you were very enlightened kid.
Dr. Chad Woolner: I don’t know if that’s if it was it’s probably not until I was I don’t know. We’ll we’ll pretend Yeah, we’ll pretend that it was. But that’s the that is seriously like the best. The best scene ever. You just wanted to go practice your skills on the playground. You want to do that’s exactly yeah,
Floyd McLendon: This is the first time I’ve been been connected to the Karate Kid. Like, I don’t know if I should feel proud or everybody. I’m hoping that if I did my job, which is funny,
Dr. Chad Woolner: I just bought Ralph macho wrote a book called waxing on and it’s about his whole story with karate. It’s so good. Yeah, that’s, you’re going to
Dr. Andrew Wells: Mr. Myagi I’m Over here. you will see Chad at the next comic con.
Dr. Chad Woolner: We’re changing the name of the laser light show to the Karate Kid podcast. No, no. No lessons from the crowd. Yeah, no, but it’s really good because I think there’s just some really cool life lessons from that that truly can and, and relate to. And at the end of the day, like it’s, there is something to be said. Something really, will we use another quote? And I’m going to paraphrase this really bad. But Norman Maclean? You know who Norman Maclean is. He’s from that movie, A River Runs Through It the flyfishing movie. Remember that movie? Yeah, it’s based on the real true story, his life story, right? He was this fly fisherman. And he said, and I’m paraphrasing this poorly, I haven’t written in a journal on mine. It was so good. He says one of the most beautiful things in ER, one of the most wonderful things in life, is to step back and watch yourself become something beautiful, like in anything, right? You could call this case in, you know, in the Navy SEALs, I’m sure they have some type of type of philosophy of constant improvement and progression and things like that. But it’s it’s a beautiful thing to see in life, what people are capable of. And so much of speaking of Navy SEALs, right. That’s, that’s one of David Goggins biggest things that he tries to teach people is that people are capable of so much more than they believe that they are capable of, and no doubt, maybe sales has a really powerful way of extracting more out of you than you probably believe or think you can guess.
Floyd McLendon: But we don’t. Like we don’t do that. We don’t step back and be like, Ah, beautiful. Yeah, we, but we teach that. Yeah. You know, we teach that within our within our community. Yeah. Is you’re like, Okay, you just did your job. Are you to others? It may seem like, you know, it’s it was great. But yeah, you’re not the first person to do that. And okay, what are you about to do now or tomorrow? Well, and that’s, and that’s a good thing, right?
Dr. Chad Woolner: Because you can’t have a bunch of ego maniacs out there. That’s not That’s not conducive to a team.
Floyd McLendon: It is. You know, it is a it’s a firm, I believe it’s a great thing. Yeah. But once again, it hits much harder, like once you’re out of it, because then the once you’re out of it, you step back, you start to see like, wow, you know, there’s some stuff I didn’t train and I’m like, Wow, I can’t believe you did that. Yeah, I did that. Yeah. Right. Or like, I mean, I’m still here. I’m still alive. Yeah, though, you know, those kinds of things. Yes. And you just like, what? But while you’re in it, like this is every day, because you’re I mean, you can’t see there was always somebody who’s stronger faster. Right?
Dr. Chad Woolner: Doesn’t the UFC teach us that? You see these like champions that rain for a couple years, you know, and they’re just like, No one can beat them. I remember, like Cain Velasquez when he was up there like who can? Who is there that can be Cain Velasquez and then all of a sudden Junior dos Santos comes in. You’re like, oh, okay, no one can be Junior. And I don’t remember if that’s correct. Did Junior dos Santos beat Cain Velasquez at some point came? Yeah, anyway. But yeah, in that funny, there’s always somebody always somebody, it’s gonna be strong.
Floyd McLendon: So we try to keep each other humble. And then when we do mess up, man, you know, we let we let each other know about it, because that’s part of the humbling process. Right? And then if they do some spectacular, everybody’s like, yeah, yeah. We pay. We pay each other no attention if we were old at large and needs more of that. Yeah, no doubt. Yeah. I agree. Yes, yes. They’ll get me started on on today.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Let’s talk politics.
Floyd McLendon: Let’s not, I want to build bridges not burn them.
Dr. Chad Woolner: So and just like that the listenership was cut in half, you know, in all seriousness, Floyd, you are truly an inspiring individual. It is no mystery that you are in the place where you’re supposed to be and it’s exciting because I know you’re going to be changing a lot of people’s lives for the better. Parker is truly, truly lucky to have you As a part of their team and it’s incredible the work that you’re that you’re doing something
Floyd McLendon: Thank you and quite frankly, Erchonia currently plays a part in in Parker, me being successful. You guys are one of our longtime trusted partners, you know, been there since day one with Dr. Morgan and Parker University.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Yeah, they they Erchonia it’s funny because what gravitated Andrew and I to Erchonia in the first place is a lot of the same things we’ve been talking about this entire time. The leadership Erchonia is never satisfied, yes, even when they could be, they could totally be like, we’re good. You know, we’re gonna coast from here on out, they are constantly in a very similar way exactly what we’ve been talking about this entire time, pushing the envelope, constantly reinvesting time and effort and a lot of money into continuing to further the mission and the vision of trying to help more people and change more lives
Floyd McLendon: At the end of the day. That’s what it’s about. Yeah. Or it should be, you know, it’s just about serving each other, and just making you know, this, you know, our community, you know, our world a better place. And I’m just very appreciative and grateful that, that I have the ability to be here to represent Parker, to be on the podcast with you to found. Yeah. And to give love that we’re currently a camp. Yeah. So um, yeah.
Dr. Chad Woolner: It’s been a really fun interview. And I think those listening, have gotten a front row seat into hearing some really, really cool aspects of military service that, that we don’t always get to hear. And so it’s really, really cool to have you here. We appreciate you taking time. Any final thoughts, Andrew?
Dr. Andrew Wells: For docs, listening to the podcast and interested in helping veterans and plugging into the work that you’re doing at Parker, how would they get more information or plug into the efforts that you’re doing?
Floyd McLendon: Please go to our website, and it’s spelled out completely Parkerperformanceinstitute.com. It’ll you can learn a little bit more about specifically about what we do and how we treat not only military veterans, but everyone, because we do we do treat neurologically, physiologically, you know, the general population. And I’m just very passionate about the veterans piece, but Parker performance institute.com Please go there. You know, please look at our website and make notes.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Yeah, we’ll put the link in the in the show notes. Yes. Great, great, cause great, great efforts that are being made there. Absolutely. So and then just so you know, kind of understand that. You know, we’re human beings. Right. Yeah.
Floyd McLendon: That’s it. That’s the only title we have, you know, so that’s, you know, That’s level one each other. Yeah. And let’s find a way to be there for one another build bridges. Not necessarily birdmen. Yeah, right.
Dr. Chad Woolner: So amazing. Well, thanks again for being here with us, Floyd, we really appreciate it. And thanks to all the listeners, we appreciate you guys being on here with us. We hope that you’ve really enjoyed this episode. This has been a really unique one. And it’s been a lot of fun getting to know Floyd and hope that this is certainly not the last time we get to cross paths with you and chat with you.
Floyd McLendon: Next time we will talk about you know, some stories.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Yeah, yeah, yes. Part two.
Floyd McLendon: And part two is very cool stories. Amazing. Amazing. All right, everybody will have an amazing day. We will talk to you guys on the next episode.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Thanks for listening to the laser light show. Be sure to subscribe and give us a review. If you’re interested in learning more about Erchonia lasers, just head on over to Erchonia.com. There you’ll find a ton of useful resources including research news and links to upcoming live events, as well as Erchonia E community where you can access for free additional resources including advanced training and business tools. Again, thanks for listening and we will catch you on the next episode.
About The Guest(s):
After 25 years of military service in the Navy and a run for Congress, Floyd is now the Director of Institutional Advancement for Parker University. He now works as an advocate for military veterans and helps to ensure they get the care and support they need.
Summary:
Floyd McLendon explains a comprehensive treatment plan for veterans, emphasizing the importance of rehabilitating brain and eye muscles. He highlights the use of treatment involving and assessing both neurological and physiological aspects, creating a personalized plan for each individual. The intensive two-week program includes daily sessions and post-assessments, with ongoing support and adjustments. Floyd emphasizes the need to overcome the stigma around vulnerability in the military community. While he hasn’t personally experienced Erchonia’s lasers, he acknowledges their success in the treatment modalities and expresses gratitude for the partnership with Erchonia and Parker Performance Institute.
Key Takeaways:
Drawing from personal experience, Floyd McLendon highlights the importance of family understanding and support. Floyd shares his own journey of learning from mistakes, acknowledging the need for effective communication and family involvement. He emphasizes the significance of spouses and families earning recognition for their support, acknowledging their struggles, and adapting to changes during the pursuit of professional goals.
Quotes:
“We have a great relationship. We use Erchonia lasers, within our modalities of treatment. Yeah. And we have gotten a significant amount of success with it.” – Floyd McLendon
“And that breaks individuals, or that motivates individuals to become better.” – Floyd McLendon
“ Erchonia currently plays a part in Parker, me being successful.” – Floyd McLendon
