In this episode, we interview Jen Richard as part of our "Haircuts with Heart" Series. Jen is a Help A Hero Scholarship recipient and a Boise State graduate who is currently using her scholarship towards earning her Cosmetology License. Jen is now a reservist in the US Army and details her gripping story of survival from a mortar attack in Afghanistan and the long road of recovery she has bravely traveled. Jen also explains what she hopes to do with her license and how she plans to give back to her fellow veterans.
| Episode Air Date |
Guest Name |
Guest Title |
Topic(s) |
| October 11, 2019 |
Jen Richard |
Help A Hero Recipient |
Surviving war and overcoming trauma |
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Transcription:
Chad Jordan: All right. Hey everybody. This is Chad Jordan, Director of Marketing at Sport Clips Haircuts. This is a very exciting episode of the Hall of Fame podcast we have for you today. We are kicking off the 2019 Help a Hero time period. For those of you that are part of Sport Clips, you probably know what this is. Those of you that are not that may be tuning in, Help a Hero is a scholarship foundation that we partnered with, with the VFW, Veterans of Foreign Wars. We raise funds to give scholarships to military members, most of whom are transitioning from military service to the civilian workforce.
Chad Jordan: We have scholarships available for them to go and get cross trained. Last year if I'm remembering right, I think we raised $1.5 million. Don't quote me on that, but I feel that's the right number. Over the course of its history, the Help a Hero history, I believe the number's around $6 million has been raised. SO stylists across the country, stores, team members, team leaders, and even Sport Clips headquarters with some matching dollars have been raising money for this worthy cause.
Chad Jordan: I try to every Help a Hero cycle sit down with a few people that have been impacted by Help a Hero, and so this year is no exception. I have a very special guest today. I think everyone is going to be jazzed to hear from her. Why don't we do this first? Why don't you tell me... I don't need need your serial number. But why don't you tell me your name and your rank and branch of service and all that kind of fun stuff. Who are you?
Jen Richard: Great. Jennifer Richard, but I go by Jen. Right-
Chad Jordan: Not Jenny on the block as I found when I met her, so my apologies there.
Jen Richard: I am in the Army Reserves. I've served in the Army Reserves for about six years now. I'm currently a sergeant, but I am possibly going to go to OCS next year if I get selected on the board. What was your third question? I forgot already.
Chad Jordan: Third question... No, I was just basically trying to get to know... Why don't you tell me a little bit about you, your family, all that kind of stuff. You can even name your cats if you want. [crosstalk 00:02:23]
Jen Richard: I blame my husband for the cats though. I have a daughter, she's 13. Her name is Sonny Garcia. Her middle name is Denica and I probably was really young, and so I thought it was cool to name her Sonny D.
Chad Jordan: Sonny D? I like that.
Jen Richard: Then my husband's Jesse Richard. He's in the Air Force.
Chad Jordan: Oh, how does that work, Army and Air Force? Is there a little tension?
Jen Richard: Well, I am a graduate from BSU, I don't know if I told you that. So there was some rivalry going on when Air Force played BSU about a week ago.
Chad Jordan: Who won?
Jen Richard: BSU did.
Chad Jordan: Oh, of course they did.
Jen Richard: Yeah, it was pretty close though until after about half time they started-
Chad Jordan: By the way, have we said we're in Idaho? I don't know if I've even mentioned it yet.
Jen Richard: I don't think-
Chad Jordan: Okay, so-
Jen Richard: We mentioned we're in Boise. [crosstalk 00:03:08]
Chad Jordan: Yeah, we're in, so when she's saying BSU, she's talking about Boise State. We're recording this in Idaho. It's not technically cold here yet, at least if you're from Idaho, but if you're from California, it is.
Jen Richard: It's freezing.
Chad Jordan: So I'm not being a wimp. But yeah, so that's where we're at. So you and your husband, he's in the Air Force. Is he in the reserves you said, or he's active duty?
Jen Richard: He's actually active duty.
Chad Jordan: Okay.
Jen Richard: Yes.
Chad Jordan: He's active duty.
Jen Richard: So we haven't figured that part out yet. It's not quite that time.
Chad Jordan: Okay, so you'll cross that bridge when you get ... How does it, does the military usually try to work that out?
Jen Richard: So as a reservist, I'm federally funded, so I'm able to kind of bounce around to different units. As long as I don't hold an obligation to that unit, I can kind of go wherever I need to go. So it kind of works out in our favor.
Chad Jordan: So when he gets PCSed to another base, how long has he been here?
Jen Richard: So about two years now.
Chad Jordan: Okay, you're hoping obviously that when he moves somewhere else they'll let you go, and-
Jen Richard: If not, I just will travel back to drill [crosstalk 00:04:12] Yeah, my commitment.
Chad Jordan: Okay, so what we're going to do in the course of this, I don't want to call it interview because we're just hanging out, right?
Jen Richard: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: It's a conversation, how about that? This is a conversation. Because what I want, I want to hear, I want stylists especially out there that are listening to this to have a light bulb moment where they go, "Ah, my gosh, that's what the Help a Hero Scholarship's all about," and it kind of comes full circle with your story. You have a unique story, so I want to unpack that in a conversation and kind of the beginning, middle, and end. Like where you've been, what you're up to now, what's coming down the road.
Jen Richard: Okay.
Chad Jordan: So give me, if you can, you don't have to take me all the way back to you're a little girl and all that kind of stuff, but take me back a little bit on maybe your military career or when you went in, high school, what drew you to the military, all that kind of stuff.
Jen Richard: My best friend will actually get a kick out of this, because ... Latasha Tyler is her name-
Chad Jordan: Okay, shout out. All right.
Jen Richard: Yeah. So my first marriage, I was separated about sophomore year of college, and my best friend Latasha kept trying to convince me that we needed to join the Army together.
Chad Jordan: Oh wow.
Jen Richard: I was a cheerleader-
Chad Jordan: Was this after like a Vegas weekend or something?
Jen Richard: No, I never ... I wasn't that type of girl I guess, but she just-
Chad Jordan: You were a cheerleader.
Jen Richard: I was a cheerleader in high school, and so I was very, I guess at the time, more girly-ish than I am I guess now.
Chad Jordan: So the Army never really appealed to you.
Jen Richard: So I just, I never correlated myself as a fit for the military. So she just kept trying to say like, "Oh, they're going to pay for the rest of our college. We'll be debt free from college." I guess for me I was very intimidated and I kept telling her, "No. No, I'm not going. That's just not for me." So one day I think we were at Boise State and we were leaving, because we both lived in Nampa. We drove there together, and she said, "Oh let's go to the recruiter's office. He keeps telling me to bring you by and let him talk to you so you can learn more about the military."
Chad Jordan: And make an informed, educated decision.
Jen Richard: Yeah. So I just remember like, "Ugh, fine. Let's go."
Chad Jordan: Just to get her off your back, right? Yeah.
Jen Richard: Yeah, and she's like, "We can do the buddy system. We can go to basic training together." I'm like, "What?" [crosstalk 00:06:37] It was all foreign to me. I knew nothing about the military. I knew nothing, and no one in my family had ever served in the military-
Chad Jordan: Asterisk, didn't you have a little girl at this point?
Jen Richard: Yes, so-
Chad Jordan: So you're a mom of a ... She's still in diapers.
Jen Richard: Single mom, yeah.
Chad Jordan: Yeah, okay.
Jen Richard: So I was like, "Okay, so let's go down there and talk to the recruiter." We go down there, James Tharp. I still remember, I'm still friends with him to this day. I remember we get down there and he's like, "Oh you're in college. You have this many credits already. You're really smart. You'd be a perfect fit." At the time I was just like, "Okay, if I join now, I just want to be a 42 Alpha. I just want to do paperwork. I just want to sit at a desk."
Chad Jordan: And what does that mean?
Jen Richard: I'd be human resources.
Chad Jordan: Okay, all right, so you're not shooting machine guns and firing rockets.
Jen Richard: No, I just wanted to be simple. I just wanted to be this basic-
Chad Jordan: Clerical.
Jen Richard: Secretary job in the military. So I just remember he's like, "Yeah, you're going to get this job." I was getting convinced because they were like, "We'll give you $18,000 sign on bonus, and then we're going to give you $30,000 back in a student loan repayment." At that time, he pretty much had me sold. I was like, "Okay, great. Where do I sign?"
Chad Jordan: Debt free all of a sudden, right?
Jen Richard: I just remember calling my mom and talking to my daughter's father like, "Hey, I really want to do this. I really need your guys' help and support," because even though I was separated from my daughter's father, we were still pretty good friends. So I just remember they were like, "What, military? Are you sure?"
Chad Jordan: It's foreign to them because it's not like you've grown up playing GI Jane or anything.
Jen Richard: Yeah, definitely. They just were super confused about my decisions. I just remember finally I kind of convinced them to back me up on this decision. They were like, "Okay." So then I get to MEPS and stuff and I'm getting ready, and I'm super nervous and doing the whole in processing thing. I just remember I get to the office where they pick your job and the guy was like, "Okay. We don't have any 42 Alpha slots in Boise." I was just distraught. I was like, "What? No, there has to be. I'll wait. I don't care at this point, I want that job."
Jen Richard: He said, "No. We have ...," because by then I'd taken the ASVAB, and I don't even remember my score, but he's like, "You're really smart and we're going to give you a 25 Bravo position. You'll love it. You won't regret it." I said, "Well what is that?" "Information technology specialist." I'm super confused. I'm like, "I know nothing about computers. I can type. I can do basic computer skills on a computer, but other than that," I was like, "There's no way. I'm not going to do good in this job."
Jen Richard: He said, "Oh, you'll be fine." So he finally convinced me after, I want to say I fought hard for 30 minutes to convince him I did not want to be a 42, excuse me, a 25 Bravo.
Chad Jordan: Did you resort to crying and trying that tactic?
Jen Richard: I did not, but I was very-
Chad Jordan: That works on me when my daughters or [crosstalk 00:09:56]
Jen Richard: Yeah, like, "Please." Give him the puppy eyes.
Chad Jordan: Right, uh huh.
Jen Richard: Probably gave him the puppy eyes like, "Come on." Try to convince him, but there was no getting out of it. He pretty much said like, "We can just drop this." I was like, "Okay. I'm going to let my recruiter down if I don't just go through with it."
Chad Jordan: Oh, so you had a chance you could've said ... you weren't committed yet really.
Jen Richard: Yeah. So in a sense, I could've backed out, but he's like, "This is what you get." So I just went through with it and it was probably the best decision of my life.
Chad Jordan: How come?
Jen Richard: I think my IT background is what started the foundation of who I am today. It's the beginning of how I was able to excel, not only on the military side, but on the civilian side. But then I kind of found that computers weren't my passion, so I've kind of strayed from that, but I still get a lot of phone calls and emails of, "Hey, come work for our company. You have a secret clearance. You have all this background in IT. You're a perfect fit. You have your degree now. You can fit in this job position." But just the traveling has kind of wore me out I think over the time. So I know my daughter's like, "I don't want to move anywhere. I just want to stay in Idaho and I just want to be here."
Chad Jordan: So when you accepted and you became that IT, I don't want to say professional, but I mean I guess you were a pro at IT stuff, did they keep you in Boise or did they start moving you around?
Jen Richard: So military side, since I was a reservist, they did keep me here in my position. So that's kind of how it started out with. I left for basic training, did my-
Chad Jordan: Where was basic? Fort Benning?
Jen Richard: No, Fort Jackson. Then from Fort Jackson I went to Fort Gordon, where they have the Signal Corps. That's where I got my advanced individual training, AIT, I guess certificate or achievement.
Chad Jordan: How many weeks together was all that?
Jen Richard: Oh, long. So I want to say I left in May and I didn't get home until December, because-
Chad Jordan: So what's going on with Sonny?
Jen Richard: With her dad and my mom.
Chad Jordan: Oh my goodness, were you just a puddle? I mean-
Jen Richard: Oh yes.
Chad Jordan: Because how old was she, probably three years old?
Jen Richard: Yeah. Yeah, so it was very, very difficult.
Chad Jordan: Oh God, yeah, I can imagine.
Jen Richard: Yeah, so it was hard, but I think ultimately it's made her super strong. So after that, after training, I came back to Boise. That's kind of where I started back up again. I'm like, "Okay, so I'm still young." I had, I think I was 21 at that time, I had just turned 21 that year, something like that. So I was ready to find an IT job and I was ready to get rolling. So that's kind of where I came back and I started my I guess career path and I was still in college, but at this point I'm like, "Okay, I'm still a single mom. I got to still go to college," because I wanted to complete my degree and I still want to be able to work a decent job.
Jen Richard: So I did find a job over at HP doing IT work, so it was computer service or help desk support. That's where I branched off to, and then came a deployment in 2013. It was 2012. They were looking for bodies, and-
Chad Jordan: Okay, deploying to?
Jen Richard: Afghanistan.
Chad Jordan: Oh my goodness.
Jen Richard: Yes.
Chad Jordan: And was this not a volunteer thing? Is it one where your name was called and you needed to go?
Jen Richard: It was voluntary. They needed bodies and I kept telling myself like, "Okay, I need to earn my patch. I need to go save more money." Because to me, at the time, I'm like, "This would be perfect. Pay off my debt." [crosstalk 00:13:50]
Chad Jordan: Pay bonus or something?
Jen Richard: Correct. Yes, and so to me at the time, being that young, that was really good money for me. So I was like, "Okay." I went over and talked to the unit and said, "Hey. You guys need extra bodies, this is my background, this is my GT score, this is what I have to offer. What do you guys have available?" They said, "Oh, we have a 88 November position," which is a movement specialist or movement control specialist. So pretty much dealing with air and ground movement, so helicopters, fixed wing, and then convoy movements and stuff. So I was like, "Okay, let's do it."
Jen Richard: So that's when I started my journey, and Afghanistan was my first deployment with the 949th here in Boise.
Chad Jordan: Had you ever traveled internationally before that?
Jen Richard: Never.
Chad Jordan: Okay. So had you ever traveled before basic, had you ever really gone-
Jen Richard: Never.
Chad Jordan: Okay.
Jen Richard: I was just a-
Chad Jordan: So the Army's keeping its commitment to showing you the world.
Jen Richard: Yes.
Chad Jordan: So you go to Afghanistan and it's a whole new world clearly.
Jen Richard: The first day we got there, I don't know how these people, I mean they have informants, but they just knew that there was a new unit coming to town. I remember the first day, the alarms were going off and I'm confused and everyone's like, "Get down." Our unit was at this point super freaked out because we're getting hit by rockets and all you hear along the building is just rumbling from the explosions. I remember our First Sergeant was like, "Get on the ground." So I'm like, "Oh my God. What is going on? What the heck was I thinking?" Maybe not those words, maybe worse.
Chad Jordan: Yeah, yeah, yes, PG.
Jen Richard: But I'm underneath my desk with my hands over my ears like, "Oh my God. I hope I don't die. What was I thinking?" [crosstalk 00:15:39] "I'm so stupid. Why am I here?"
Chad Jordan: Wow.
Jen Richard: So that was the first day, and I just had a lot of-
Chad Jordan: Of how many days? How long was your deployment supposed to be?
Jen Richard: Nine months, and this was the first couple days.
Chad Jordan: This was a couple hours of the first nine months. Oh gosh.
Jen Richard: Yeah. So I'm just like in shock like, "Oh my God, I'm just so stupid. Why am I here? I'm going to end up getting hurt or something crazy," because the [inaudible 00:16:03] was just getting attacked all the time. At the time during that year, the Apaches were allowed to go and fight back, you know, go shoot, wherever the point of origin was. So things changed after awhile as far as rules of engagement.
Chad Jordan: The way that that's allowed to happen.
Jen Richard: Yeah, but I remember that's where my first deployment started. After awhile I got used to it, and so it just happens, like the mentality. They say you become real complacent after awhile because then nothing happens and you're okay and you just kind of-
Chad Jordan: Get into a rhythm.
Jen Richard: You get into a rhythm where you're not running to the bunker when there's an attack because you're like, "Oh, it probably won't hit here." So some people took it real serious where they were against a building, some people were just like, "Okay I'm just going to walk."
Chad Jordan: Here we go again, it's like a tornado warning. You know, the tornado's not going to hit here.
Jen Richard: Yeah, so then you had the Conventional Army, which was myself, and then you had the Special Forces guys, which you want to kind of be like, "Okay. I'm going to be tough like them, I'm not going to run from a mortar or a rocket coming in, indirect fire or anything." You're like, "I'm just going to walk like nothing." So that's how the mentality became, where you just knew in your mind like, "They're not scared, so you shouldn't be scared to face your fear of death." So that's kind of how my journey was in Afghanistan, just working every day.
Jen Richard: I was a contracting officer representative, so I got to talk with the local on base who came onto base and lived off of base, and so I worked with him because he let us use a truck of his. We contracted or I guess leased out that truck. So Afghanistan was really interesting, so I got to meet and network with all kinds of people. That's kind of where going back was easy for me, because I met civilians who worked for the government, and that's when I was like, "Okay. I'm going to take a break from the military and I'm going to come back and find a civilian job."
Jen Richard: I did, with my qualifications and my IT background the military gave me, I was able to find that position. I went back overseas, and that's where I spent the next almost three years traveling back and forth.
Chad Jordan: So okay, let me get this straight. So you finish your nine month deployment.
Jen Richard: Yes.
Chad Jordan: And then you come back to Boise, right? Now, you're still a reservist, or how does that-
Jen Richard: Correct.
Chad Jordan: Okay. So as a reservist, you can take a civilian job, because just like you were with HP earlier.
Jen Richard: Right.
Chad Jordan: So you take a civilian job. Now, when you're over there, do you have to step into your reservist shoes one weekend a month or anything like that?
Jen Richard: So I actually went, so I had two years IRR in my contract, so I had already committed two years and I still owed the military two more years, but I decided to take my two year inactive time in between so I could go back and make even more money to pay off more of my debt. So for me it was a huge door opener. I was like, "Okay, I can buy a house now and pay off a car." It was just, to me it was like a huge opportunity to go back and work for the government side as a civilian.
Chad Jordan: Yeah. A lot of stylists that are listening to this are working moms.
Jen Richard: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: So they are nodding the fact that you're making the sacrifice to better your life, your daughter's life, all this kind of stuff. They're also listening to this going, "I can't imagine being away." So describe to me what's going on as a mom who's that far away.
Jen Richard: Soft spot.
Chad Jordan: I know. From your daughter, and well let's see, was FaceTime a thing back then? I think it was, so you're FaceTiming or Skype calling.
Jen Richard: Skype, yeah.
Chad Jordan: When you can, missing some moments obviously. How do you cope during that while you know, "I got to keep doing this. I got to keep our future in the front of my mind," but how'd you get through that?
Jen Richard: It was extremely hard. There were times when I was like, "Okay, I'm going to give this up, because my daughter needs me." But at the same time, I knew my ex was a really awesome father. He was amazing. He took really good care of my daughter, and I literally cannot thank him enough.
Chad Jordan: Had he told you, "I got this. Go do your thing. Go crush it."
Jen Richard: Oh yeah. He was super helpful. Whenever I would come back traveling, he had no rejections to when I could have her, how long I could have her. We just worked so well together coparenting, and that was amazing. That was super helpful, because I know a lot of families are not like that after separation. I know that it's hard to coparent with somebody you've just separated from. So it was hard being overseas, but I think the ability to Skype and have phone calls constantly was a super huge help.
Jen Richard: When I was a contractor, I came home every three to six months for about two to four weeks, and so that really, really helped with my daughter.
Chad Jordan: As I'm thinking through this, because I travel a lot for work, right? Not in month chunks, usually three to four days, so I'm thinking like for me, I have to go home and obviously hit a reset button. "Okay, now I'm back home again for a couple weeks." Then I get in that routine, and then now I've got to go travel again. So was there ever this struggle like coming home and now I don't want to go back, or did you always have the goal and mind and just were able to compartmentalize?
Jen Richard: So I think the biggest thing for me was I kind of set my mind to like, okay, when I came home, it was always hard to see my daughter and my mom and my dad, and then to part ways. But inside, I guess for myself, I had a goal. So I said, "Okay." Each time I'm like, "Okay, only a couple more months and then I come back home." Then the long end result was like, "Okay," I would max out four to five years of oversea time, and once I paid off everything, I was set on coming home. I'm like, "I'm never going to do that again." But I think inside, I think my family knew I had a goal, so they were super supportive.
Chad Jordan: This wasn't going to be forever. This was something, and it wasn't like you were running away from something, right?
Jen Richard: Right.
Chad Jordan: You were running toward a future.
Jen Richard: It was always nice too, because I was able to help pay stuff off with my parents and stuff. I was super helpful with my daughter's father. I just helped them out whenever I could, and so I was able to use my extra money that I had to help other people. So that was also rewarding. It was also rewarding, not just the sacrifice that I made, and so I think ... I mean I have no regrets doing it and I probably would do it the same way, minus my accident.
Chad Jordan: Did you say accident?
Jen Richard: Yeah. So after-
Chad Jordan: What happened?
Jen Richard: So my last year contracting-
Chad Jordan: What year is that?
Jen Richard: 2016, in May. That's when I got hit with a mortar. Standby.
Chad Jordan: Oh okay. So are you in a vehicle?
Jen Richard: No, I was actually asleep in my building, and the reason why I didn't hear the alarms was the building had two AC units, and so it was super loud.
Chad Jordan: It was [crosstalk 00:23:56] Yeah. I sleep with a fan for that reason, I like the noise myself. I don't want to hear anything else, so I get that something can be loud and you're knocked out and asleep. So okay.
Jen Richard: So I had a mortar land next to me. We won't go into too much detail, but-
Chad Jordan: Is it a building, is it a tent, where do you-
Jen Richard: It's a wood building. it's kind of like a little cabin, a small cabin that you would separate.
Chad Jordan: Is it a single person dwelling or is there bunks or what?
Jen Richard: No, so it's like a cabin building, like a little hut kind of. You walk in and there's a hallway in the middle, and then there's four rooms on each side. So there's four on the left here, and then four on the right. Then mine was the second room towards the middle of the building.
Chad Jordan: Did you have any roommates in there with you?
Jen Richard: No, so I actually was a coordinator for the night shift, so I worked nights. It hit during the day, which is crazy because ... So just a little bit of a background, the way the building's set up, what I was told was when the rocket had hit, it hit the top beam, and as soon as it hit the top beam, that's when it started exploding. I don't know if you know much about rockets, but when they explode, they kind of have a rainbow effect, so when they hit from the impact the point hits, it starts exploding like a rainbow.
Chad Jordan: Shrapnel, those kind of thing.
Jen Richard: Yeah. So I was told that had it not hit that beam, I probably wouldn't be alive.
Chad Jordan: Because it would've been like a direct hit or [crosstalk 00:25:53] the way the shrapnel would've fallen.
Jen Richard: Where it would've hit on the impact, it would've put more shrapnel through the walls.
Chad Jordan: Did anybody in the building get mortally wounded?
Jen Richard: I was the only one in the building.
Chad Jordan: Okay, because you were asleep because you were the night, okay.
Jen Richard: Right. Other people in the building had different jobs, so I was one of I'm going to say two or three females that did what I did. So there weren't very many of us on base, and the rest were either doing logistics or I want to say cooking.
Chad Jordan: Was the whole building knocked just over?
Jen Richard: No, it just, the entire roof was ... The side where it hit was gone.
Chad Jordan: What do you remember?
Jen Richard: Well, I was knocked out. I guess they didn't find me, from talking to people from back then, they didn't find me right away when they cleared the building, because I guess the door had swung open-
Chad Jordan: And it looked like someone had left.
Jen Richard: Yeah, so I guess I was kind of behind the door and there was wood pieces everywhere. Everything was kind of blown everywhere as far as the stuff on my shelves. My TV was right over my head, but that only had shrapnel in it. It was just really crazy thinking about it because, sorry, I'm trying to focus. It's really hard.
Chad Jordan: You're good. We're on your time here.
Jen Richard: It feels like it's still fresh. But my laptop was actually open because I was watching Game of Thrones, because I was on this binge of Game of Thrones. From what I was told from the people who assessed, like the infantry guys and stuff who assessed my room, they think my laptop saved my life too, because there was shrapnel in that and it was open from when I fell asleep.
Chad Jordan: Wow.
Jen Richard: But from the blast, I guess it had, because ... Sorry, I'm all over the place. It's so hard to think about it. From the blast, it had blown me off my bed, so that also saved me in a sense of shrapnel hitting my body, but it also caused me to have a brain injury, which I'm so thankful I came back from. I haven't talked about this story in awhile in detail, so it's kind of ... It's touching all the-
Chad Jordan: Right. Right. You had-
Jen Richard: Sorry.
Chad Jordan: No, there's nothing to apologize for. I'm sorry you went through that.
Jen Richard: It's fine. No, it's fine.
Chad Jordan: You get found and where do you wake up? Do you wake up in the hospital or do you wake up with them rescuing you?
Jen Richard: No. No one actually found me. I woke up on the ground and I just can remember I had just a really foggy cloud over my eyes. Everything looked so blurry. I normally don't get this emotional, but I never go into detail for this-
Chad Jordan: [crosstalk 00:29:32] because I said, "Hey, do you want to have a box of Kleenex ready?" You're like, "No, it's fine. I'm going to be all right."
Jen Richard: I don't talk to strangers about this, and not that you're a stranger, because we've been talking for awhile, but it's just-
Chad Jordan: Right, but usually you don't go into detail about this kind of stuff because everyone that knows you knows the story [inaudible 00:29:53]
Jen Richard: I don't even think I've told anyone close to me details like this. My husband sometimes will talk about it, but he just checks up on me. Because sometimes in aftermath of that, I was waking up and having these crazy ... It was so weird, because I don't want to downplay PTSD, but I always told myself like, "Oh it's war, this is normal. This is what happens in a war zone." I wouldn't necessarily downplay PTSD, but I-
Chad Jordan: You would dismiss it, that it wasn't what you were having.
Jen Richard: I didn't believe it was a real thing. I always thought, "Well it's just for somebody who's maybe going through some other things that are interacting with PTSD," but I would wake up after my accident, before I even met my husband, and I was having these crazy nightmares. It was insane and I never thought they would happen to me. I was such a strong person mentally and physically.
Chad Jordan: To even be there and make all the decisions you had made at that point in your life.
Jen Richard: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: Showed how strong you were.
Jen Richard: After my accident I just never put myself in a position where I thought this would happen. So yeah, they didn't find me right away. I get up and I just remember everything being so foggy. Then when I came out of the building-
Chad Jordan: The attack was over at that point, obviously.
Jen Richard: I had been in there for awhile, and I think they had still been assessing everything and people were bunkered down, but I just remember people running towards me. I was confused, I didn't know what was going on.
Chad Jordan: Are you bleeding because you've been knocked?
Jen Richard: No, luckily I didn't get hit by shrapnel, and I think ... I know it sounds really crazy, but I had a friend kill himself after he got back from Iraq because he saw a lot of bad stuff. Then two people who were close to me also died, and so a part of me felt like ... I'm very religious, and so part of me felt like they're watching over me in a sense.
Chad Jordan: Oh yeah, like angels. I mean you just described all the little things that had to have happened. It hit the beam, your laptop was open, TV above your ... all these things, thrown off the bed, all these things that had to line up just perfectly for you not to be killed. Yeah, definitely someone looking out for you.
Jen Richard: It was very, I don't know, the doctors that I came to here in Boise were very shocked. That's okay, just dab, just dab. They were actually very surprised when they found out what happened.
Chad Jordan: So what did they diagnose you with?
Jen Richard: So I had a brain injury, and then I had my shoulder injury from whatever I hit, maybe I landed on something.
Chad Jordan: Yeah, who knows.
Jen Richard: I had torn my bicep tendon, and then I have some hearing loss in my left ear. Then I had a neck injury. But I just luckily went through, sorry, I have to re-put my thoughts together and just reorganize myself because I didn't picture myself coming into this. I thought I was going to have some tear ducts coming and flowing.
Chad Jordan: Hey, you're not the first person who's cried on Sports Clip Hall of Fame Podcast. You're the first one that didn't have Kleenex ready, but-
Jen Richard: It's okay. I try to prep myself.
Chad Jordan: I know. You're so strong.
Jen Richard: I'm like, "I'm still in the military. I can't cry. [inaudible 00:34:03] these tears."
Chad Jordan: We'll try to edit all the tears out so that all your buddies can-
Jen Richard: It's okay. It's all right. I think-
Chad Jordan: No, hey, this is life. This is real life, and the fact that you had something that impacted you so traumatically, and even as strong as you were. I mean of course heroes get hurt. This is not science fiction, this is reality.
Jen Richard: I think for me though, just having a lot of close friends who've been through similar things, for me I feel like as a female it's easier to cry, because it's a norm for females to cry. I think it's kind of, for men it's a little more not acceptable.
Chad Jordan: Right. They don't want to be vulnerable. They got to be tough on the exterior.
Jen Richard: So I mean I don't know where I'm going with this, but-
Chad Jordan: Well, I cried today when I saw these cute little kids at this store we were at. My kids are not 15, 13, and 11, and the boy on the way out, the boy, he couldn't have been three years old. In fact, on Facebook, go on Facebook, my Facebook feed today, and see the picture of the little boy and the little girl. On the way out, the little boy says to his daddy who's just gotten a haircut, "I love your haircut, daddy. That's a nice haircut." It just made me remember when my kids were that small and the fact that they're now teenagers and they're never going to be, and so I got teary eyed thinking, "Oh my," and here I'm away from my family or whatever.
Jen Richard: That's definitely hard.
Chad Jordan: I'm not a baby, so no, this is what humans do. We process emotions and experiences that have been life altering like what you suffered and went through and survived. So that's obviously the important thing, that you survived it. What's your recovery been like?
Jen Richard: So after my accident, I did two years of counseling.
Chad Jordan: Here all stateside, or was there some there?
Jen Richard: Yeah, so I kind of wanted to come home. They offered to take me to Dubai and get treatment there, but I was really I think broken down at that point. It had only been a couple days in, I think I was still in shock. I was still pretty shell shocked at what was going on. A lot of my coworkers were like, "You don't look good at all." They had me in the clinic and they said, "You need to go home and get treatment at home with your family." I was like, "Okay."
Chad Jordan: I bet mom and dad were, or Sonny definitely wanted you to come home too.
Jen Richard: Yeah, I definitely didn't want to tell my daughter what had happened until I got home, because she was at that time, I want to say 11.
Chad Jordan: 2016, so yeah. 10 or 11 years old.
Jen Richard: Yeah, so I remember I talked to my mom and she didn't want to tell her because we just wanted her to be able to process it while I was home, so she-
Chad Jordan: Did you have any visible wounds by the time you got harm?
Jen Richard: Other than my-
Chad Jordan: Shoulder in a sling or?
Jen Richard: No, not at that point. I just had-
Chad Jordan: Swelling was down?
Jen Richard: No, I had a really poofy face and I kind of looked different. My mom just tells me to this day like, "You have come so far." She just knows. She's seen back then so dazed and confused after I got home. My brother drove me around because the doctor's like, "Don't drive. You're not driving." I hadn't drove, but my parents met me at the airport and picked me up. I came home and they took me straight to St. Luke's so I could get reassessed. They're like, "Yeah, brain injury. We're going to send you to the brain injury program right away." At that time they hadn't quite figured out what was going on in the head and neck. They knew it was something, but I think they were more focused on the brain and getting treatment for that. I went through, I just remember weeks and weeks and multiple appointments, going through speech therapy, hearing and balance. There was a couple others. I can't recall what they called them, but I had memory problems. I couldn't really put my sentences together. It's really weird and it's hard to describe.
Chad Jordan: Did you know something was off, or were people telling you, "You're not right."
Jen Richard: A little bit of both. I was having a hard time remembering things. I would literally grab something and I couldn't remember what I was doing with it. So my mom could tell you stories for days because she reminds me of all the kooky-ness I did, because I just couldn't think right as far as-
Chad Jordan: She's like, "You get that from your father."
Jen Richard: No, no, she knew I was a pretty sharp person. So I just couldn't remember if I had washed my hair. I'd sit there in the shower, "Did I just wash my hair?" I couldn't remember. I'd have to repeat things because I couldn't remember. It's just phenomenal how far I've come from a brain injury, and I never realized the extent of a brain injury until I actually had gone through one myself. Like I said, I always found myself to be a super strong person, and so this was a really hard time in my life. I think my counselor, who is awesome, he's the greatest person ever, pulled me through a lot of dark moments in my life. Because my life had changed completely. At this point I'm like, "Okay, what's next?" I had no idea what I was going to do with my life.
Chad Jordan: You definitely didn't want to go back to Afghanistan, right?
Jen Richard: No.
Chad Jordan: That was off the table.
Jen Richard: So at that point, those two years of recovery through the brain injury program and surgery has, I don't know if I mentioned I had surgery to fix my bicep tendon. Just throughout the process, just everything that's happened. I mean I never knew what I was going to do, and so those two years really were hard for me. They really were. I just felt like everything was taken from me, and I felt like ... I don't know. I just can't really describe it, I just was not the same person that I was before the accident. I used to be maybe a little egotistic with a mixture of-
Chad Jordan: Well, because you're so confident.
Jen Richard: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: And you're strong. You recognize that, it's not that you were arrogant, but-
Jen Richard: No, no.
Chad Jordan: It's just you knew who you were and you were natural about it.
Jen Richard: Yeah. I worked so hard. So I guess at that point there's just a lot that I struggled with. I felt like I lost confidence in myself. I felt ugly. I felt different. I just didn't feel like I blended in with anybody anymore.
Chad Jordan: How were things with Sonny at that time?
Jen Richard: So my daughter was still at school with her dad full time. I left her with him full time because I didn't want her to be exposed to my treatments as far as like I couldn't go outside. I had to be away from the sun. I had to be away from noise. I had to be in a quiet room to help my brain here.
Chad Jordan: Were you getting migraines or anything during this time?
Jen Richard: Oh yeah. I had really bad migraines, like to the point where I was on these medications. I was actually on different medications for a lot of things. My first night home I didn't sleep. I stayed up for almost two days and the doctor had to prescribe me medicine to sleep. It was a really rough time. I can't even believe it happened sometimes. [crosstalk 00:42:20] My husband tells me like, my mom, my dad, and my daughter did see some of it, and they're just so-
Chad Jordan: Did you not know your husband at the time that all this happened?
Jen Richard: I did not.
Chad Jordan: Okay. We can [crosstalk 00:42:34]
Jen Richard: Yeah, so he didn't really know me in my bad days. Luckily he met me when I was at the end of my healing. I can't ever say people fully heal from injuries like this, but I think you learn to cope and you-
Chad Jordan: New normal, kind of.
Jen Richard: Yeah, you learn to kind of-
Chad Jordan: Survive.
Jen Richard: Not necessarily get over, but you learn how to just deal with the bad and move forward. I think that was the biggest struggle with me is that I couldn't accept that I was different now, and I couldn't accept that I had had a new journey. But I knew in my head after awhile once I got better that God had a different journey for me lined up.
Chad Jordan: When did you feel you got better? Is there a date where you can point to and say, "All right," or was there a slow culmination of, now it's October 2019. So where did the healing kind of really culminate?
Jen Richard: Well, I want to say my husband helped me out a lot. I wouldn't say I was fully healed. I still had really bad ... I couldn't sleep. To this day, my sleeping's a little bit better, but everyone thinks I'm crazy because I can go to sleep at 12:00 at night and wake up at 4:00 or 5:00, excuse me, sleep a few hours. I can't talk now. I can still go on about my day, but then sometimes I can feel my body telling me, "You need to rest," but I just could never get on a normal sleeping schedule after that. Sometimes I'll still get a random nightmare here or there like I'm dying, like not supposed to wake up.
Chad Jordan: Right. Then the panic sets in.
Jen Richard: Yeah. It's really hard, and it takes me back to that moment where I'm waking up and I'm fighting for my life and I'm in a war zone. I can't take credit. I know so many infantry friends who've done so much and gone outside the wire, and so for me I'm like, a lot of times my incident is not nearly as bad as some other people.
Chad Jordan: That's not fair to you or to them.
Jen Richard: Yeah. So sometimes I tell myself like, "Okay, I got to be strong. I got to get through this. They've been through so much worse, and mine is nothing compared to theirs." It's hard, and so I really ... My husband and my daughter and my mom, the entire family I think really brought me back to life, including my counselor, who I probably won't mention his name, but he's a great guy here in Boise. Without him I think ultimately-
Chad Jordan: Things would be different.
Jen Richard: Would be a lot harder.
Chad Jordan: Yeah.
Jen Richard: Because I think ultimately it was the PTSD and the fact that I was different. I felt like I talked different. I felt like my brain functioned differently. I just felt really, really different. So for me to come this far in life really, really is, it's a blessing.
Chad Jordan: It's an incredible survival story, and we haven't even got, I mean that was the where you've been. Now let's talk where you at? So you survived all that for what? Where are we right now, what's going on?
Jen Richard: Yeah. So I finished out my last year at Boise State, which was great. It was a great accomplishment. I took the LSAT and I scored very well. I was going to go to law school, but I wasn't mentally ready for that quite yet, that challenge, and so I took a break and I decided to go to cosmetology school.
Chad Jordan: And I mean that's the ... I don't know, you've had an incredible story to this point, but that's the part where I'm shocked if I'm listening to this for the first time.
Jen Richard: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: All of that you survived, and you somehow find, now how do you find cosmetology school? Had it been kind of a secret passion or had you always cut somebody's hair and whatever it was? What happened?
Jen Richard: No, actually I just ... I was kind of intrigued with lashing at first is where it started. My girlfriend was doing lashing, my best friend Latasha.
Chad Jordan: Latasha, okay. Another shout out to her.
Jen Richard: Yeah. She was doing lashing, and I didn't even tell you the rest of the story of the best friend. But long story short, she didn't complete individual training.
Chad Jordan: What?
Jen Richard: So the one friend that convinced me-
Chad Jordan: Are you kidding me?
Jen Richard: No.
Chad Jordan: Oh, she's on my list right now. [crosstalk 00:47:21]
Jen Richard: But I love her. She got injured during basic from running. She didn't know she had a hip injury. So anyhow-
Chad Jordan: Well, but she gets you to this.
Jen Richard: Yeah. So lashing-
Chad Jordan: She's on my good side, by the way.
Jen Richard: Yes, and so I got intrigued and decided to take a lash course with a salon over here in Boise, and I was really intrigued by it. I just found it very therapeutic to do lashing. So I was looking into opening up a small little booth or renting a room to do lashing, and the girl that taught me the lashing course was informing me that there was supposed to be this law in Idaho where you had to have a license to lash. So I was like, "Okay. I'm taking a break from school, I should just go get my aesthetics license." I went down to Paul Mitchell and I was letting them know what I was interested in, and the guy down there, Ryan, was like, "If you're going to get your esthetician license, you might as well go full out and do your cosmetology license."
Jen Richard: I said, "Really, you think so? Me cut hair?" He's like, "Yeah. You'll learn how to cut hair, color, you can do everything you want." I'm like, "Really?" So I went back home to my husband like, "What do you think?" He's just, typical guy, "Do whatever makes you happy, whatever is going to make you feel good."
Chad Jordan: Happy wife, happy life.
Jen Richard: "I support you with whatever you decide." I was like, "Okay." So it took me awhile to try to figure out. I was back and forth with what I wanted to do, like this is not the industry I ever saw myself in, only because it's more of a girly girl industry, and me coming from the military and having my IT background.
Chad Jordan: You'd be surprised. [crosstalk 00:49:16] former military.
Jen Richard: Right, and I never knew that. It was great because I decided to choose Paul Mitchell, and I kind of did some researching around the area and I found that Paul Mitchell was just more, I don't know how to describe it. They were just down to earth. I felt like they were more grounded for me as far as fitting in. So I decided to do Paul Mitchell. I remember getting there and I was super nervous, like oh gosh.
Chad Jordan: When is this, last year? 2018?
Jen Richard: Oh no, Paul Mitchell I just started in April, end of April.
Chad Jordan: Oh, okay.
Jen Richard: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: So it was this year, 2019.
Jen Richard: This year, yeah. So I was super nervous and everybody had to do an introduction and introduce yourselves. I'm like, "How am I going to word this? Okay. How am I going to introduce myself, because I am not the same as these girls." They're just getting out of high school and some of them are salon owners. So it was very intimidating, and then it was actually nice because at the end of it I met a really good person. Her name's Ruby. She owns a salon here in Mountain Home, and I was able to meet other great people and network with so many people. It's just crazy, because I find that cutting hair is actually really therapeutic for me. It's really relaxing and it's-
Chad Jordan: What is it? Is it the cutting or the talking?
Jen Richard: I would say more it's like the service itself. I never envisioned myself doing services for other people, but I find it very therapeutic.
Chad Jordan: Yep.
Jen Richard: It's relaxing for me. So I just thought it was great, and I've been there. They're very supportive, and it's okay to cry there. It's okay to hug, and outside the military I'm not being this tough person. I have this other side where I can lean on these people and still have support. It's been great. It's been a really good journey.
Chad Jordan: So back to the Help a Hero Scholarship, what kicked this whole podcast off. You received a Help a Hero Scholarship.
Jen Richard: I did.
Chad Jordan: You're using those funds for Paul Mitchell cosmetology school, right?
Jen Richard: Yes.
Chad Jordan: So, quickly, how'd you hear about the scholarship? How'd you win it? I mean what'd you do right? What happened?
Jen Richard: Exactly, I'm still rendering what I did right. I'm so confused. I was very blessed when I found out I got the scholarship. But Ryan, who helps over in admissions department at Paul Mitchell sent me a link of scholarships. So I remember telling another former veteran about it. I kept telling her like, "We got to apply to the scholarship together. It's so cool, just see what happens." I didn't know how much to tell, and I didn't have a whole, in the biography part, a part ... I can't talk today. As far as it goes from-
Chad Jordan: Oh yeah, I remember [crosstalk 00:52:12]
Jen Richard: Describing who I am, yeah. It was really hard because I didn't know what to put in there and what not to put in there. So I was telling my friend over at Paul Mitchell, "I just don't know what to put in here because I don't know if it's too much or too little or too vague." I just put out what was true and what I knew to be true of myself and what I was looking for and what I wanted to do. I wanted to help other veterans like myself. I wanted to share my story with other veterans, but mostly I wanted to give back to the veteran community. That's why I know going forward one of the biggest things I'm going to do is give free haircuts to veterans. That's what I want to do.
Chad Jordan: Which, by the way, we do at Sport Clips on Veteran's Day as part of our Help a Hero time period. So that's, when you're licensed you can maybe come pitch in and help us. So you got the ... Oh, how did you find out? By the way, hey, what happened? What was that day like, what happened?
Jen Richard: When I actually found out I got the scholarship?
Chad Jordan: Yeah. You submitted it, you turned it in, and then what? Do you hear the next day, was it-
Jen Richard: No. It took I don't remember exactly how many months, but I found out-
Chad Jordan: [crosstalk 00:53:28]
Jen Richard: I actually did kind of forget. I figured I'd hear about it when I did, because I had got some inquiries back from other scholarships that were like, "No, you didn't get selected." So I'm like, "Oh dang, that sucks."
Chad Jordan: Denied.
Jen Richard: Yeah. So that was a little sad. Then I got an email and it said that I had been selected and I would hear later on. I thought, "Wow, that is so cool. Really, me?" I just thought to myself like, "I wonder if I did get it or how I got it or who I competed against that I beat." Because to myself, what I say to myself internally is, "There's so much competition out there, so many veterans with their own stories and their own background." So I was just really excited, at the same time a little confused, but more excited than confused.
Chad Jordan: So who notified you? Was it somebody from Paul Mitchell or somebody from Sport Clips?
Jen Richard: I don't recall. Sports Clips.
Chad Jordan: Okay, yeah.
Jen Richard: Yeah, so I got a Sports Clips email and a VFW email, and then Sports Clips randomly, well they told me they were coming, the crazy stories. I was hoping they would prep me to let me know what day they were coming because I wanted to look super cute.
Chad Jordan: You looked like you were cut from the military. You had your uniform on, your hair was [crosstalk 00:54:47]
Jen Richard: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: That's why I didn't recognize you today, because I got this Hollywood actress walking through the lobby and I was expecting you to be in your uniform.
Jen Richard: Yeah, it was very surprising, because actually that day that they came to give the check to me-
Chad Jordan: Drawing the check, yeah.
Jen Richard: Yeah. The day before, they said, "Okay, tomorrow we're dressing up as superheroes." So I told my husband like, "What should I dress up as?" He's like, "Dress up as Captain Marvel. Wear my flight suit." So I was a little confused when they came in, and I'm dressed up in a flight suit. I'm like, "Oh my gosh, no."
Chad Jordan: Was he in on it?
Jen Richard: No, he had no idea.
Chad Jordan: So you could've been like Wonder Woman costume and that would've been the picture that went out.
Jen Richard: I could've been something crazy. Yeah.
Chad Jordan: By the way, I just did a convention yesterday and showed that picture to Facebook and Google and Amazon and Microsoft where they have all these people. Had it been the Wonder Woman one that would've been awesome too.
Jen Richard: Yeah, so I was kind of embarrassed but happy at the same time. I was super, super excited though. I was very blessed and I was super thankful.
Chad Jordan: And the reason that we wanted to capture your story, not just to hear about your incredible triumph and survive and advanced instincts, but to kind of tie in the fact that we have this Help a Hero scholarship for heroes like you and all the stylists, all the stores across the country that are raising funds for it, you are the kind of person that we're looking for. The fact that that you've triumphed and the fact that you have this daughter that you've sacrificed for and this life that you continue to fight and live, and that we're able to help in some, I don't know if a small or big way, but in some way and contribute to a better life for you, is pretty incredible. So I definitely want to ... Now first of all, you've got today. Those watching on YouTube, hello. You can see we've got a, it's not a prop, it's actually some wall, what are these, clippers?
Jen Richard: Yes.
Chad Jordan: The hundred year clippers that Duke Sorenson, one of my favorite buddies, one of my BFFs at Sport Clips, AD for Utah and Idaho. He flew in from Salt Lake City to meet you today and present you with some Sport Clips swag, but really for these amazing clippers that I think you said you're going to take to school tomorrow.
Jen Richard: I am, yes.
Chad Jordan: Show off. What is next? What's next on your horizon, and then I've got three ... Because I told you I had three questions. So what's coming up next for you?
Jen Richard: Yeah. So I invested into a salon.
Chad Jordan: What? Awesome.
Jen Richard: Yeah. So as soon as I'm done with school, I'm going to go start working in the salon.
Chad Jordan: Incredible.
Jen Richard: Along my journey I've invested in taking other courses, so I specialize in hair extensions, and I just really am trying to wrap myself around the beauty industry and get involved. After this, I plan on working at the salon and then helping other people like myself. I enjoy just helping people, I think that's the biggest thing is I find that cutting hair is not only therapeutic, but making people look beautiful is amazing to me.
Chad Jordan: Yes, it is. Every stylist listening to this is nodding their head right now. We get it, girl. We feel you, yeah.
Jen Richard: Other girls that are at my school are always confused like, "I don't know what to do." I'm like, "Come work with me." I'm always open arms to anybody.
Chad Jordan: Well I hope at some point we partner with you or we do something for veterans. We got to make sure to stay connected [crosstalk 00:58:32] events. Maybe not even just for veterans, but anything with Saint Baldrick's or any of our other charitable stuff, we want to make sure that you stay plugged in. You're part of the Sport Clips family, so whether you like us or not-
Jen Richard: I love that. No, I love that.
Chad Jordan: You're a ride or die with us. So okay, can I ask my three final questions, because I kept you a half hour longer than I said I would, so I'm sorry.
Jen Richard: It's okay. I had a long story.
Chad Jordan: An amazing story. So three questions.
Jen Richard: All right.
Chad Jordan: Oh, and before I get there, so everybody, the Help a Hero scholarship, October 14 through November 11, do what you can to raise funds for Help a Hero, because it is literally women like this that the scholarship benefits. She has turned her life into this amazing story, this epic adventure, and we've fortunately been able to be a small part of it, but think of the impact she's going to have for the next, I don't know, you're 30. [crosstalk 00:59:32]
Jen Richard: 31. I'm getting up there.
Chad Jordan: The next seven decades of your life you're going to have such an impact, and for us to be a little part of your story is pretty incredible.
Jen Richard: Thank you.
Chad Jordan: So Help a Hero, make sure everybody gets involved. Raise funds. I'm asking every store to do $1,000, to raise $1,000 this year.
Jen Richard: That's awesome.
Chad Jordan: So we'll see. Maybe we can get $1.8 million. Okay, three questions. All right, question number one. When they make, not if, when they make a movie based on the story of your life, what actress do you want to play the lead role, you?
Jen Richard: Oh, an actress. Oh, I'm trying to think of her name.
Chad Jordan: Where's she from?
Jen Richard: She's a Hispanic actress and she just played on that new movie where she goes to Mexico, Miss something. Miss Bala, Miss, oh, I can't remember.
Chad Jordan: But that's who you want?
Jen Richard: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: So okay, if I figure it out and I can supplement it in here, or after we talk, I can always edit it. [crosstalk 01:00:42]
Jen Richard: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: Okay, number two. This is an important question. There's going to be a soundtrack for this movie. What band or musician are you picking to be the soundtrack for your movie?
Jen Richard: Oh, I'm a huge, I love J-Lo, and she's awesome.
Chad Jordan: She could also be the lead character, I mean the older version of you.
Jen Richard: Oh yeah, she's made a movie that was interesting to say the least.
Chad Jordan: Okay, well not a ... You won't take Sonny to see that movie, let's be honest. Then the third question, what are we going to call the movie? What should we title it?
Jen Richard: Well, in Afghanistan they always called me, my buddy always said I was the J-Lo of Afghanistan.
Chad Jordan: Okay, oh. Look at that, see. I said Jenny from the block and you looked at me like I was crazy when I said that. So you are, okay. J-Lo from Afghanistan.
Jen Richard: Yeah. [crosstalk 01:01:43]
Chad Jordan: It's got to be J-Lo. That's got to be who plays you, for sure.
Jen Richard: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: She'll do the soundtrack, it'll be J-Lo from Afghanistan.
Jen Richard: yeah, she'd be perfect. She'd be cheap, cheap movie.
Chad Jordan: So that's how I wanted to end it. Actually, I wanted you to get a chance to smile.
Jen Richard: Okay.
Chad Jordan: After walking through that story, but thank you for everything. Thank you for being available for us.
Jen Richard: Appreciate it.
Chad Jordan: And for your service.
Jen Richard: Thank you too.
Chad Jordan: This is why we do what we do on this side of things at Sport Clips, we love our veterans and love to get a chance to sit down and sit with you.
Jen Richard: Thank you.
Chad Jordan: Thank you so much. Thanks everybody for listening. I can't promise that next week's episode will be as gripping, but we'll do our best to entertain and inform. Until then, we'll see you next time. Thanks.