[00:00:00] Scott DeLuzio: Thanks for tuning in to the Drive On Podcast where we are focused on giving hope and strength to the entire military community, whether you’re a veteran active duty guard reserve, or a family member, this podcast will share inspirational stories and resources that are useful to you. I’m your host Scott DeLuzio and now let’s get on with the show.

[00:00:21] Scott DeLuzio: Hey everyone welcome back to the Drive On Podcast. Today, my guest is Brian Muka. Brian served in the Navy as a bomb tech and after transitioning out has become a wealth and tax mitigation specialist. He’s also the author of Your Secret Superpower, Tame Fear to Thrive, and we’re going to discuss how he helps other veterans and veteran own businesses in their transition.

[00:00:49] Scott DeLuzio: Getting out of the military into the civilian world and doing that successfully. So without further ado, welcome to the show. Brian, I’m glad to have you on.

[00:00:58] Brian Muka: I’m happy to be here, Scott. [00:01:00]

[00:01:00] Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. So, for the listeners who don’t know who you are maybe they haven’t heard of you before. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself and your back?

[00:01:08] Brian Muka: Sure. So, where do I start? I guess, man, when I was a kid, I wanted to be a steely eyed missile man, so bad. I wanted to fly in spaceships and I like read everything I possibly could on that. I watched top gun a whole bunch and they got me good. And the new movie’s great too, by the way.

[00:01:24] Brian Muka: And you know, I thought I was gonna be Tom cruise and flying fighter jets. And I had all of that. I wanted to go to the United States Naval academy and I had that dream until about my freshman year of high school. And then I was like, I don’t know if I wanna do the military forever, you know? Right. So, junior year of high school, I went to boy state and they put on a mock government for us at the college of New Jersey.

[00:01:48] Brian Muka: And we didn’t pay for anything. You know, we were hand selected or out of my class and yeah, we got to learn how government worked. And one day there was this this veteran, old guy, like maybe in his eighties. [00:02:00] And I watched him with this Walker hobble over, he bent down, what’s he doing? He was picking up a gum wrap or somebody just carelessly threw away.

[00:02:08] Brian Muka: Right. Gets back up. Like, this is all real time. Since the time I started the story to now, that’s about how long it took for him to bend over and pick up the piece of paper and he threw it in the trash and I saw it and I have chills man from head to toe. I’m like, I owe it to that guy to stay on the watch when he can’t, you know, Barry’s buddies in combat that wasn’t enough.

[00:02:31] Brian Muka: Let me come back and be a good citizen. That wasn’t enough. Let me train the next generation. How to be good citizens. Okay. What am I gonna do? Well, I thought I was gonna do run hot rocks. The nuclear power plants on submarines on water. And I was one of a handful of mid shipment to get selected, to do that.

[00:02:49] Brian Muka: It flew out to Guam and then cyan, I think I spent seven, 12 days on the beach, which was awesome. It was like the best vacation until I got onto the submarine. And [00:03:00] then I was quickly cured of living inside of a watch, avoid of sunlight. And I came back and our class advisor, Sean, he Naval academy guy.