How an Army Veteran Rebuilt His Life After Rock Bottom
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How did Eric Gillis’s military service shape his early life and identity?
I had PTSD and I had a traumatic brain injury, and I didn't know those things either. And so you take just the difficulty of transitioning out, and then you throw on top of that some mental health struggles and issues you're having. And it was the most difficult time of my life. What I always say, adversity is inevitable. Staying broken is optional. Yeah, you're going to have adversity because life is tough. but staying broken is up to you
eric gillis is a resilient purpose-driven army veteran educator and leadership strategist who helps individuals and organizations rebuild stronger after adversity through his journey from military service and personal hardship to rebuilding his own identity and purpose he founded the rebuilt warrior to equip leaders veterans and organizations
i don't want to be this guy And he said, you'll never be who you were, but you can be better. I don't want to be broken anymore. What do I do now? And that's where I come in and go, let me help you rebuild your life. Here's what I did. And I have this framework called structure because I always say, when I got out of the military, what I realized I was missing the most was structure.
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Hey, welcome back everybody to another episode of Living Your Legacy Podcast. I'm your host again, Jay Slangen, and here we are to the semifinals of the World Cup in the Miami Beach studios, right? And we got a special guest today. Well, what an incredible journey this guy's had. It's a pleasure to have him in the office, but this is Operation CEO. And yeah, introduce yourself. What's your name? Where are you from? And what's your business?
yeah my name is eric gillis and i'm excited to be on operations ceo my business is the rebuilt warrior and then also on a short-term vacation rental company called coastline collections
all right so uh what branch of the army uh did you join let's let's get into it
Yeah, I joined the U.S. Army straight out of high school, actually signed up to join September the 12th, 2002, so a year after 9-11, right in the heat of battle and walked right into that war and got to fight right in it.
It was a
fun experience.
Yeah, so you're kind of... Army seniors were laughing at you because I guess your story was you know, the recruiter said hey You don't have to leave the states. We're gonna keep you in the States almost almost like a promise to you Right, and then you're getting shipped out straight to Germany and then straight to Iraq. Yeah, right. Yes, so So tell us about that a little bit.
Yeah, so it's funny now. In the moment, it wasn't. But my recruiter who I had known and grown up with, he was a little older than me, but we grew up together. And he was the one I joined the Army with. And he goes, hey, man, I can make you two promises. You're not going to deploy, and you're not going to go overseas. And I thought, that's cool. I get to fight. serve my country and all these fun things and so uh i finished up with basic training in my ait training at the end they're calling out assignments and they start calling out fort campbell and fort hood and all these stateside places and i go okay my recruiter lived up to what he said and they got to me they say gillis swineford germany and i raised my hand i said i'm joe sergeant i'm so sorry
You got me confused with somebody else.
I was
told I could stay here. And he was like, nobody can make that promise to you. And so I fast forward, and I make it to Schweinfurt, Germany. I'm getting off the bus that brought us from the airport. My first sergeant meets us, and he goes, hey, don't unpack, guys. We leave for Iraq in a month. And again, I go, hey, first sergeant, I don't think you understand. My recruiter, what I learned is that recruiters lie to get you to join.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Eric Gillis’s military service shape his early life and identity?
0:00–4:17
2
What challenges did he face when transitioning from the Army to civilian life?
4:17–7:42
3
How did PTSD, a traumatic brain injury, and personal setbacks push him to the brink?
7:42–10:45
4
What was the turning point that led him to seek counseling and start rebuilding?
10:45–14:38
5
How does the ‘Rebuilt Warrior’ framework use structure and accountability for daily progress?
14:38–17:57
6
Why does Eric say staying broken is optional, and how can small daily improvements create lasting change?
17:57–21:08
7
What role does purpose, leadership, and helping others play in his new identity as a Rebuilt Warrior?
21:08–23:37
8
How can listeners connect with Eric and access his resources for rebuilding their own lives?
23:37–26:03
Speakers
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