“On 9/11 my life changed. Suddenly, there was a larger world than the one I’d known. I had always wanted to serve and like many others in uniform, I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself. I deployed three times in support of the Global War on Terror. I returned from my last tour in December 2020.

My journey in the Army never felt easy. I joined later in life, lost friends and fellow soldiers, broke my back in a training accident, and finally ended my career nearly a decade later in Special Operations. Without all of my hardship, without this tough journey, however, I wouldn’t be nearly as ready to help others heal for the rest of my life.

While transitioning I’ve been able to work on and find comfort in American Yogi, an apparel company I started with my brother when we saw that there was a population who could benefit from yoga as much as it has helped me. Our goal is to spread a message of healing as widely as possible, especially in the veteran community. We created a fully veteran-run yoga festival here in Southern Pines, North Carolina and use it to break the stigma of yoga in the military community and raise funds to send at least one teacher through teacher training.”