3 from the Hundo Club!

A special episode for you my brothers and sisters in uniform, with our very own Veteran Coach Managers Stacey Allen and Caleb MacLagan! We are all part of the Hundo Club and to those of you don’t know what that is, it’s what we call when veterans achieve the 100% VA disability rating!

It’s really amusing that we’ve gone through the same process here at VACI! We all saw the videos of Brian Reese, got really interested, joined the Elite program and got to 100%! Apart from that, we really enjoyed the community of veterans that is continuously being build here!

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Got some questions? I’d love to answer them!

Email me at docontheroad@vaclaimsinsider.com

Are you ready to get the VA rating you deserve? Work with my team at docontheroad.com and start your path to winning your VA disability claim.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] VACI: If you are a veteran and have filed a VA disability claim, have been denied, have received a low rating, or you're unsure of how to get started, reach out to us. Go to docontheroad.com linked in our show notes and take advantage of a free VA claims discovery call. Learn what you've been missing so you can finally get the disability rating and compensation you deserve.

[00:00:31] Dr. John: Hello my brothers and sisters of the uniform. Yes. It's time again for Doc on the Road. We got a special right for you today. We've got V C M, Stacy Allen and V C M, Caleb MacLagan. And the reason we wanted to do this one, 'cause all three of us came through the program and then we all came through and been promoted a few times. it'll give us a different perspective than some.

So I just figured that this would be a great one to go ahead and let you guys in on all this. [00:01:00] So we're gonna go ahead and start the ball off. Hey Caleb, what was it like when you came through the program? 

[00:01:05] VCM Caleb MacLagan: Yeah. Yeah. No and thanks John for having me on as a guest. Love you, love what you do here within our organization and this podcast is just amazing.

So thanks for having me on board. Yeah. Came through the Marine Corps. I was active duty for five years, and then I found this program back in early 2020. Actually was a student at the time. And so I was going to school to get my bachelor's degree. And I found a video with Brian Reese on one of my social media feeds and said, who is this guy?

What's he all about? VA Claims Insider. What's going on here? Ended up jumping on the website signed up with our elite program that we have here. I was assigned a coach and that coach, along with this amazing organization took me from 80% up to a 100% permanent and total in a little less than a year, and absolutely changed my life.

I'm married with a couple kids changed my family's life. We talk about life change around here, but we also talk about generational life change as well. And I'm a walking, [00:02:00] talking product of this process, if you will. Forever grateful for VA Claims Insider. Yeah, 

[00:02:04] Dr. John: That's an awesome story.

Okay, now Stacey, now you came through the program as well and you were actually coached by our president, right? 

[00:02:13] VCM Stacey Allen: Yeah, that's a fact JT and my story's not that much different than Caleb's. I will say, hey, thanks for having me on as well. It's an honor to be here.

Love working with both of you and man wouldn't wanna be doing anything else right now. 

[00:02:27] Dr. John: That's awesome. 

[00:02:28] VCM Stacey Allen: I got a couple more years on me than Caleb does. So I'm a desert storm. I served from 87 to 93 in the Army, and when I got out I just went on with my life, right? It wasn't until 2017 having a conversation with a coworker of mine that I realized that I might be eligible for some benefits due to some presumptive issues that I was dealing with.

And so I started doing some research and like Caleb I ran across Brian Reese on YouTube videos and started really diving in and [00:03:00] finding out what all the issues or what all VA claims are about, because I didn't really know. All I knew when I got out was, might be able to buy a house and use the VA to help me with that.

Didn't really know about disability. So I started doing some research and then ended up joining VA Claims Insider as a client. And yeah Terrell Murrell was my coach. And he is now the president of the company. Just like Caleb took me to a hundred percent permanent and total.

And yeah, life changing for myself and my family. And so much so that I talked to Terrell I affectionately call him T as most of us do. And said, Hey I want to pay this forward. What VACI did for me? I want to continue that and help veterans. And so I've been here coming up on four years now, and I don't even call it a job, but the best thing I do every day, I get up and look forward to changing veterans' lives. Just like VACI changed mine. So honored to be here and looking forward to continue [00:04:00] being here for years to come. 

[00:04:01] Dr. John: That's awesome. And you know, I really like both your stories because we all come from different backgrounds.

We all come from different situations, but the story is still the same. I'll let you guys know about mine. I actually had an old airborne buddy that actually contacted me and said, Hey, look man, I saw this video and we've talked about, some of the conditions that we have and getting him going through the process of this.

But I saw this video and I want you to take a look at this guy. I remember about the third boom in, I was like, go sold, going holy cow, Brian, is he, this is awesome what he is doing. So we all have that in common and it's just funny how that common bond brings us all together and can actually create that situation where we all not only help ourselves by coming through that, by getting a coach and moving through the process.

How we can come together and actually help others do the same thing. So I love that part of it, and [00:05:00] thank god Brian did those videos because it would actually be fun to actually do an audit and find out which video was the one that brought us here. And find out, hey, it's all the same video.

That would be actually funny to see. It's an honor having both of you guys here, and it's an honor to work with you guys each and every day. It's really cool that we've seen how we've all come through the process and how we've all come to this point where we're helping veterans and helping coaches, coach veterans.

It's really a special thing for me, and I know it's special for you guys. And for all that are listening. We also had these times where we finished the day and we finished helping veterans and we hang out and we start talking. I think that's where some of the really big time juices come out, where we realize we're not just doing change for the veteran, we're also doing changes for their whole family.

And it's creating generational change. A couple of times when we talked about that, and it's real easy to get emotional when you do that because [00:06:00] we are in the middle of helping other veterans, but helping each other, but watching how everything grows it's awesome. But Stacey tells us, Hey, we, we just got this camper.

We just did this. Or Caleb's going, Hey man, we're going on a trip with the family down to, and it's like you're part of it and it's almost like we're part of each and every veteran as we go through their claim with them. It's really interesting. And by doing that, we build this huge community up, and Brian's always talking about the community is actually the most important part.

What do you guys think about that? What do you guys think about how the community's coming together and what do we need to go do in the future to keep growing this? 

[00:06:40] VCM Caleb MacLagan: I'm glad you are touching on this doc because. One thing I was gonna mention is just the community that I was able to jump into again, I mentioned I was jumping into this community in 2020.

We all know what happened in early 2020, right? The world shut down. I was in the middle of school. I. We all went remote. The entire world almost [00:07:00] went remote pretty much across the board. And the one thing that I was able to keep as a constant by attending live classes and talking with my coach frequently throughout this process was just that the community, right?

Like we have our veteran community here. And when you know you're not alone, you're shoulder to shoulder with your battle buddy. It means everything. It means the world to you, right? I know that was really influential in my life again, with this idea of community and having my coach to lean on and yes, we're remote.

Yes, we weren't face-to-face, but having that ear listening to me and my story, listen, I had come through the process with the VA, I got myself up to 80%, right? Like I mentioned, but I was hitting roadblock after roadblock and denial after denial. But I knew that there was somebody who heard me, even if the VA didn't hear me, I knew somebody else heard me.

A fellow veteran, right? So I started attending classes and I was sharing my story and other veteran clients were sharing their story. And [00:08:00] then going back to your question I decided to jump on board with this community even before I won my claim. I. I had applied for a position here.

My coach said, hey, we're actually hiring. We're about to start hiring again. We have other coaches coming on board. I believed in this company so much. I hadn't even won my claim yet. I haven't even won my appeals yet. I just knew that I wanted to be a part of this community. 

And part of the life changing organization or movement that Brian restarted a few years back. Just I couldn't be more happy to be here almost three years in here with this amazing community and I'll tell you what, looking at the future kind of projecting out, we've got a lot of big things happening in 2024 and even beyond.

And it's just my pleasure to be a part of this, but I'm just humbled to be a part of it and working with both of you and all the other amazing people that we have here. Both client facing, hanging out with our veterans each and every day, but also behind the scenes who, who work a lot of the magic around here within this amazing organization.

So you're absolutely right. It's all about [00:09:00] community. 

[00:09:00] Dr. John: That's awesome. 

[00:09:01] VCM Stacey Allen: And I'll just say, Hey I echo completely what you say, Caleb. Just to get a little bit more granular and maybe a little more personal. For me that community really carried me through some dark times. Just being having that fellow veteran, that battle buddy, that shoulder to, to pair up with and walk through some of those dark times.

And it really has made All the difference in the world to myself and my family. I've actually made some really close friendships, not just with the coaches that I work with every day and the other staff here, but also clients I. And I say clients just to say, Hey they're fellow veterans.

I go out and have coffee with some of 'em sometimes. We've actually forged some really good friendships through this process. Community movement That's what defines us. It's not a just another company. We truly are a brotherhood and a sisterhood here with all the staff and all of our clients together.

[00:09:57] Dr. John: That's awesome. And I like the part that you [00:10:00] brought up the dark moments because I know if it wasn't for you two and a couple others when I went through my dark moment that one night who knows what would've happened because you guys actually really, truly saved me coming through that.

And the continued support that you guys give me really does help out. And Caleb, when you brought up the whole point that with the Covid and all that, we were actually lucky enough to actually escape a lot of that. Because we had these meetings where we could be forward facing and have cameras on and actually see each other and stuff like that.

I think it did really help out. Yeah. And I think that's really helping out not only us, but it helped out a lot of other people outside of us because that's was an excellent way to stay in contact with each other. Yeah, I know that because of stuff like that, I actually got in contact with a bunch of airborne buddies that I hadn't talked to in 30 years.

[00:10:53] VCM Caleb MacLagan: Wow. Wow. Yeah. 

[00:10:55] Dr. John: It's crazy how that actually works. And it's just crazy how we can [00:11:00] build this. But what's cool about all of that together is we can do it as a team and we can help each other. And I think that's what the veteran community is truly looking for and needing. And we're right here. All you have to do is if you're really interested, go ahead and sign up with VA Claims Insider, and it's a real easy process.

Then get with a coach. And more than likely, chances are with the odds you're gonna end up with a coach that one of us are looking after. So that makes it really cool. And it's really cool too. It brings back not only the feeling about when we were in the military, all the joking around and stuff like that, but the other stuff at competitive edge.

We actually have to make sure that we're actually doing the best we can and keep moving on by getting as many veterans to that finish line as we can. I love that part of it, and I love the part of it too, where if I'm having a great month, you guys are actually praising me or appraising the two.

Yeah.[00:12:00] And I'm doing the same thing with you guys, although it does seem to be that you guys are kicking my butt most of the time. It's a little bit easier on my end. 

[00:12:10] VCM Caleb MacLagan: John I'll let you. Yeah I'll tell you what you're touching on so many great things. We have our core values here as an organization.

We're talking about teamwork we're talking about obviously being competitive. But I wanna highlight, I. Probably the most important core value we have, which is empathy, right? So we have empathy for one another. We have empathy for the rest of our teammates here in our organization.

The most empathy is for our veterans, right? And when they achieve that life change, that's just the most exciting part about what we do here. I get to share my own personal experience with my veterans or with my coaches who I now have the pleasure of being the team leader for.

And I get to share that experience with them. And I'll never forget I had one veteran who's gonna get emotional. Yeah. I had one veteran female veteran came through the process. I think she was [00:13:00] starting at 50%. And she told me her story and my heart was just breaking for her.

And I said, listen, as your coach, you know I'm gonna be with you every step of the way and I'm gonna guide you through everything, whether it's a denial or we're celebrating, life change here for you. She said, I don't even care about the money. I don't care about all of those benefits.

The only thing I want is my teeth to get fixed. She wanted to Rated dental.

[00:13:23] Dr. John: Right.

[00:13:24] VCM Caleb MacLagan: And I said, okay let's, let's get to work. This isn't an easy process. It's a very daunting process. Let's get to work. And after she told me her story, we got her the medical evidence that she needed, she submitted her claim, prepped her up for the C&P exam, told her what she was going to expect going through that C&P exam and She called me about two months later after that C&P exam in tears.

And my first thought when I picked up the phone was, ah, this was another denial in this poor woman's life, this poor veteran's life. And I'll tell you that empathy just came out of me. And she said no, I didn't lose. I [00:14:00] won. I, we won everything. And I just I took a second. I had to pause there and she goes, now I can get my teeth fixed.

She had been focused on the dental piece and we both cried over the phone and Marines don't cry, right? But somebody was cutting onions on my desk or nearby. I don't know what. But anyway, we shared that moment and she was early on in my career hit, but I'll never forget that phone call.

The empathy just comes out through and through with what we do around here in this organization. And that call was just one of my favorites. I'll just never forget that life change for that veteran. And yeah really special. Really special. But we have our empathy, we have our other core values, but we lead with excellence around here in this organization.

We are experts in our craft and we have three pillars to success. We call 'em the SEM method, the S-E-M method, right? We're gonna customize that strategy for you. That's the S we're gonna point you in the direction of the education or the resources that you need.

That's the E. And then we're gonna point you in the direction of the medical evidence that you need to win your claim. [00:15:00] So when you lead with integrity, you lead with empathy, and you're an expert in your field. That's what this organization is all about. And again, just couldn't be more proud to be a part of VA Claims Insider.

[00:15:12] Dr. John: Yeah. I love that story. And thank you for saying that about the SEM method because the last three episodes have been about the SEM method, so you, 

[00:15:19] VCM Caleb MacLagan: oh, perfect. There we go. You're welcome. Perfect. 

[00:15:24] VCM Stacey Allen: If I may, we've talked about it already a couple times about the community here, about the teamwork, which as Caleb alluded to another one of our core values here, teamwork.

When a veteran comes on to work with us, They're not working with just a coach, right? They're working with a team and we all come together to make sure that each veteran is facing in the right direction and has all the evidence that they need to be successful in their claims. It's a huge reason for our success and our veteran success because there is a mastermind group.

Putting all this together and putting all this knowledge base together for [00:16:00] this, for each and every veteran that comes through our program. 

[00:16:04] Dr. John: That's awesome. And that is so very true. Now the thing I can talk about for community is it's so funny 'cause I've told this story before, but me and Stacey were doing a coffee with the coaches.

Stacey asked me to go check out something on va.gov. And when I went and checked out va.gov, that's when I found out that I hit a hundred percent. And it was so funny because I read it and I don't think it really hit me at that point. All I knew is I had to get back so I could tell, Stacey and everybody else, and Caleb, Hey look, I just hit a hundred percent.

I, and it was really cool that I could actually share that with you guys during that. I remember the day Caleb w ent over and he talked about it like with Caleb's story, with Stacey's stories the one thing that I really think is really cool is it sounds like we're just a little bit more excited when we get a veteran to go over a hundred percent.

Because it's more than just passing [00:17:00] it on. It's one of those things like, okay, we know that one's gonna go off and probably help somebody else and then help somebody else. And I believe that the veteran community has been screaming for that and probably has been screaming for that for a number of years, way before us. 

And we just happen to be in the spot that we're in now, that can actually add to that. I know there's a lot of veterans hurting but we're here. I. And we can actually help. And the thing is again, make sure if you need a coach or you want a coach or you wanna check out what we got, go ahead and get on those extra lines and go ahead and check out what we're about.

And come and meet us and tell us, Hey, look man, we listened to that podcast and that's what brought us here. Make sure you tell us that kind of stuff. That way we could know that where we're our starting point is and where our end point is. But I wish we could go on for an hour on this, but we can't.

These guys, they actually gotta get back to their teams and keep rocking and rolling and kicking my butt. 

[00:17:56] VCM Caleb MacLagan: Yeah we got some work to do, but yeah, no, we're we're all in it [00:18:00] together 

[00:18:00] Dr. John: That's true. That's very true. I wanna say thank you guys for coming.

I really do appreciate it and look forward to keep working with you guys in the future here. And guys, just hopefully if you take anything away from this, make sure that you're getting with a coach, signing up with a coach and getting that strategy and getting that education and getting that medical evidence together so you can move forward.

I think that is very important and also, Go ahead and come to the classes and just talk to us and you'll find out that these guys are real. They're genuine, real guys that are actually really out there to help you. So I love you guys. We'll talk to you next time. This is doc out.

[00:18:42] VACI: The VA claims process is a pain. Many veterans struggle for years trying to increase their ratings or even getting rated at all. Most are not getting the compensation. [00:19:00] They deserve. Here at VA Claims Insider, we've supported and educated more than 25,000 veterans to win their claims and increase their rating.

Now it's your turn. Schedule your free VA claim discovery call today by going to docontheroad.com linked in our show notes. You'll learn what gaps you need to fill and how to increase your rating.