Video: Jocko’s letter to his daughter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urjOihLW8k4

Video: Jocko Podcast 70 with Iris Gardner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL4JsK_JQiM

Video: Jocko Podcast 199 with Kirstie Ennis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rql0fwFkYY

Video: Jocko Podcast 219 with Rose Schindler : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th1t1UvnYP4

Video: Ground Podcast 8 with Leah Taylor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Oo8B0Z_o6c

I was initially apprehensive about my creative submission, but with the support of a good friend, my husband, and few long walks in the woods, I re-framed what I thought was a weakness into what is my newfound greatest strength; motherhood. Sleepless nights, copious amounts of coffee, brain fog, diaper changer, tear wiper, milk maker, clothing washer, I asked myself “what do I have to contribute to a leadership program in homeland defense?”. The answer came in the pre-dawn hours when a phrase I first heard from Jocko Willink “Up Before the Enemy” took on a whole new meaning. As I cradled my 14-month-old son in one arm and laptop in the other I realized the answer to that question is “Everything”. I am excited to share my life outside work with you, and the intentional and purposeful metamorphosis I have undergone the last five years. The value system I have cultivated across multiple aspects of my personal and family life I hope will illustrate why I am an ideal candidate for an emerging leadership program. What started with Jocko Willink’s book, Extreme Ownership, ended with an intellectual evolution, marriage, motherhood, and passion for environmental stewardship. How does a Navy Seal inspire a non-military, female, civilian, wife, and new mother, who is slightly obsessed with composting and spends her now very precious and very limited leisure time reading books and watching documentaries about maternal health and regenerative agriculture? The answer became blisteringly simple when I distilled it down; ownership. Principals from Extreme Ownership inspired many significant choices I have made the past few years and opened the door for me to cultivate my own cadre of thought pioneers to include Thomas Sowell, Jordan Peterson, David Goggins, Dan Crenshaw, Mark Hyman, Ina May Gaskin, Lily Nichols, and Diana Rodgers. This patchwork group that I slowly stitched together includes an economist, professor, ultra-endurance athlete, politician, doctor, midwife, and two nutritionists, respectively. They are all leaders, whether they broke through barriers and stereotypes, posited alternative approaches to commonly encountered problems, or they bucked the system entirely. Each in their own way, they inspired me to be brave and approach marriage, pregnancy, postpartum and motherhood like a leader, sometimes like a rebel, but always with ownership. When Jocko put’s your life on a course correction and you marry a man whose regimental motto was “Rangers Lead the Way”, it results in two people committed to living their lives together with integrity and loyalty. It results in conscious parenting with an awareness of developmental milestones, emotional resiliency and physical autonomy. It results in accountability to our mind, health, wealth, and environment. Maybe this creative essay should be titled “Dear Jocko, Thank you”. -AK