Veteran, Entrepreneur & Advocate: Jonathan Sessa Shares His Journey | Biz To Biz Podcast

Welcome to the Biz to Biz Podcast, your number one source for all business news. Hey everybody, welcome to today's podcast of B2B Vault, the Biz to Biz Podcast sponsored by Nationwide Payment Systems and our new product NPS One Click Biller, the smart invoicing tool for businesses. So whether you do business with businesses or you do business with consumers, we have a really good smart invoicing tool. And today we have a special guest. All our guests are special. Jonathan Sessa with Warrior Golf Academy. And this is a really, um, interesting business that Jonathan has started. And I learned about it. We connected on LinkedIn where I meet a lot of different people. And he happens to be local to my area too, which is really cool because that doesn't always happen. I talk to people from all over the United States. So, Jonathan, introduce yourself to the audience today.

Sure. I want to say first, Allen, thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to come on to the podcast and explain a little bit about myself and what we do. And for all the followers to take some time to listen along, because that's the one thing that we don't ever get back is, is those moments, right? So a little bit about myself is I'm an Army veteran. I got out in 2019, 100% disabled now. PNT, so permanent and total, meaning it's not going to go away, won't come back. I disabled through my neck, fractured my neck in a few places. I was field artillery, so I got to blow things up like everyone wanted to as a kid, and that was fun. And once I got out, I found there was a lot of missing camaraderie, so I developed a program to help transitioning veterans, first responders, to get into the golf industry. And more so than just build those skills and develop what they needed to for that industry and profession, but also build a community for holistic and therapeutic healing, right? That's something that I'm sure we'll go into in a little bit about kind of my journey and how it led me to discover the therapeutic and wellness benefits of just playing golf.

Yeah, everybody needs something, you know, wellness. And, you know, this month is also October 10th, I think, is Mental Health Awareness Day. So, but also, thank you for your service.

Of course, I appreciate it.

I always knew blowing stuff up was fun.

So it was, it was definitely fun. We had fun times and not so fun times.

Dangerous at the same time, right?

Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

So that's why I say thank you for your service. So tell— so When we were talking about, you know, so let's just, you know, let's let everybody know Warrior Golf Academy is a nonprofit organization. You guys take donations, right?

We do, yes. So we are a registered 501, and furthermore, a 509 means we're a public registered charity. So we have even more stringent guidelines that we need to follow. But we do have an online community that we can put the link out for where we are building with veterans, first responders, and then also professionals, right, to come into the space and create that tight-knit community for across the nation. So I do serve in person the South Florida location since we have an in-person location here in Fort Lauderdale. Uh, past that, that allows me to utilize technology like this and virtual lessons and, uh, alternate means, I guess, of communication to be able to reach out to people that are in different locations and still be able to help them, right? And that's the awesome thing with technology. And even people say now AI is coming up. I mean, it's exponentially growing and the things that we're going to be able to do are just going to be more and more advanced. And I think it's going to be pretty outstanding once we can figure out what all of that is.

So tell us about the— where's the location in Fort Lauderdale that you share with like a golf business? So tell us about that.

So I partnered with an indoor location, Strokes and Drivers in Fort Lauderdale at Cistrunk Marketplace. So that's right by the train tracks on 6th Street. So we are 115 Northeast 6th Street in Fort Lauderdale, and it's fantastic. We have 3 indoor location bays, and that allows us to completely AC'd location, easy for anybody to come in. It's accessible. The parking lot is right there. There's no hills or stairs or anything that you have to do. So it's very easy to come in. And it's also private. A lot of the times if you're trying to learn golf, you don't want to be that first person that's there in front of, you know, 50 people trying to hit the ball and then you look like that per— and you just, it's not a good look for a lot of people. And especially if you're in the military or first responder, you don't want that type of attention. So you feel much more comfortable being able to do that in a closed-off location with somebody who's been through it like me, who's like, you know, I got you. If I can teach blind people and I can teach veterans that have no arms or legs how to play golf, then, you know, I can teach anybody, I'm sure.

Okay. So is there specific times when you have golf lessons there or people just schedule with you? How does that work?

So you could just go to my website, warriorgolfacademy.com, and on there you can fill out any forms for anything from lessons to group clinics to anything else that you are really interested in kind of, kind of doing in the location. And from there, I can just get in contact with you and we can just discuss it. So if it's anything from helping you out virtually and online, or if you're looking to receive like caddie certifications, or you're looking for an employment in a certain area, those those are all things that I can definitely help with. But I do recommend that you go through the community, right? That's why we build it, is the more people that utilize the community, the faster it's going to grow. And if one person's in, say, North Carolina, and they're saying, look, I, I'm looking for a job here, and there's 4 other professionals that work at golf courses in North Carolina in part of the community, then it's very, very easy to just handle that all organically. Right. And that's kind of the point that we're trying to get to is to just develop a community that's going to inherently help each other through just being like-minded people. Right.

And so you're just not just helping people learn how to play golf and maybe have better mental health and things like that. You're also helping people get jobs.

Exactly. So everything from not only getting jobs, but I would like, like nutritionists and mental health specialists to be a part of this community of professionals as as well. That way we are, we're offering quite literally everything. I do have some connections with like Combat Connect and a few other that are out there that help prevent suicide and have the staffing on board to be able to talk to the individuals that, that really need it. And those resources are, you know, you need them because every once in a while you get somebody that reaches out and they only reach out one time. So I want to make sure that I have everything that I can to be able to help them in any type of situation that they might be in.

So recently, like, I know that you're also, you know, cert— you're certified by the PGA, right?

Yeah, so I'm going through the PGA process at the moment. So there's 3 levels to the PGA program, and I'm finished with the first level. So with that, I'm through the phase where I am certified to be able to coach. I'm PGA certified, uh, HOPE for the veterans and first responder side of it. I'm, uh, First Tee certified to help out the children. I'm U.S. Kids certified. I'm adaptive golf certified. So quite literally everything I could get into, I just soaked in as much information as I could, right? So that way I would be able to help as many people as possible. And we did the same thing when it comes to the agronomy side. I'm a registered member for GCSAA, which is the outside maintaining all the grass. And that's fantastic. There's some people that just want to mow grass, right? And you could just wake up 4 o'clock in the morning, be out there before the sun comes up. You put your radios in, and if you've ever done and ridden and mowed just a huge lawn on one of those zero It's been, oh, it's incredible. It's so peaceful and quiet out there. And there's just something quite different about that from a military standpoint. So I really enjoyed it and I know some others do. And then a lot of the benefit is then for the golf course, you're hiring individuals that are a part of the community that are quite literally heroes and want to be a part of the community. And then for the first responders and veterans, they get free access to the golf course, right? And right, a lot of these places are so expensive that at least here in South Florida, it's not, it's not, it's not reasonable to say that I can afford $300 every time I want to go play golf, right?

There's a golf course near my house that's been closed for a number of years. I wish somebody would come buy it. Called Carolina Club. They want to build the townhouses on it now.

It's a big headache.

But I lived there for many years, and I remember, you know, I used to get up in the morning and walk my dog, and we would walk on the golf course while the guys were out there mowing. And they got one mower for the fairways, and then there's a special mower that only does the greens.

That's it.

And, you know, putting green special mower. And then they move the cup in a different place every day, which I thought was real— I learned things about golf I didn't know because the guys would see me out there walking my dog, you know, and I would talk to them. So I learned a lot about golf. But it was, you know, you know, tell, tell us about— you mentioned before like you just had an event. So what was the event all about?

So the event that we held, there was a Golf Creator Open where they have 100+ golf creators anywhere from 10,000 to a million+ followers, and they had golf tournament down here at Palm Air Golf Course. And we hosted at our location the VIP night at Strokes and Drivers, and the fundraising from that charitable night of events went towards Warrior Golf Academy. So that was amazing to have the community come together and be able to support us in that way through bringing items and raffle items and, and bidding on things and, and helping out and being there, not only for the local community to be able to see all of their fans that they have been following, you know, on these social media platforms, but then also to help us gain a little bit of awareness by letting people know what we're doing right inside of this golf space. It's, it's something new, and it's something that's coming out that we're trying to make an impression of. I like to say there's, you know, fishing therapy, equestrian therapy, art therapy, podcast therapy, even, uh, there's a whole bunch. But golf was the one that people think it's just so frustrating, but on the contrary, when I get out there, uh, you know, if I got to go look through the woods for my ball, it's, it's kind of peaceful. And I spend most of my time in the woods, so I really enjoy just the camaraderie of being out there and spending the time with some other guys that have been through it. And most of the time you end up playing golf out of a 3-hour round, 4-hour round, you're playing golf maybe 20 minutes of it. The rest of the time you're just hanging out in the cart or you're walking and getting some exercise. So there's a lot of good to be had. And working at now an indoor location, I find that that technology is a good fit for me because I want to introduce the masses, the people that don't normally play or the people that think that they can't play golf. I want to let you know that you can. And if you come and see us in an accessible area, I can show you how, and then you feel comfortable going to the golf course and actually playing, right? And that's the biggest difference is you need to gain that confidence to be able to get out there. And that's what we're trying to provide. We're trying to provide a reason ultimately for people to come out of the house, because not having a reason to get up and get outside is the reason people just get depressed. And I think after COVID, that left a lot of people able to just stay at home. Now you can just order everything, like Walmart, Amazon, all this stuff just comes right to your door. There's not a big need to have to go anywhere. So we need to get back to building that, uh, in-person human connection I think a lot of people are missing out on.

But so do you guys have signs up, no Happy Gilmore, so nobody tries to do that Happy Gilmore tee-off?

Oh, we have a— we have some Happy Gilmore giveaway items, so I can't quite say that. Okay, we gotta say whatever works for you works, you know. We have, uh, there's only limited space That's all we can say is we are indoors. So besides that, you know, we say go for whatever you could do.

Yeah, my son went to— we went to Topgolf one day and had to sign up. No Happy Gilmore. And then have another sign, no John Daly. I go, what's a John Daly? And he's like, oh, you put a— take a beer bottle and put a golf ball on top of the beer bottle.

Um, and then hit it off that way.

I could see it off that and that signs up. I'm like, oh, that's crazy.

Yeah, got me.

Now after Happy Gilmore 2, more people are trying it. I didn't even realize like Happy Gilmore was— the first one was almost— was like 30 years ago.

It was, it was, so it was— yeah, it was a little while ago. Uh, yeah, it's kind of fun watching back and, and looking at those.

So Yeah, Adam Sandler said— he said, oh, he was going to make this golf movie, and he goes, how can I make a golf movie that would be funnier than Caddyshack, right? And whatever. Now he made another second one, so he's a silly boy.

That's it, that's it. He's, he's got good stuff out there.

Yeah, he's got a lot of movies. So tell us about, like, Veterans Day is coming up next month, so what do you guys have planned for that?

Veterans Day, always a big day in our community. Want to make sure that we're honoring all of those that have served, of course. And with that, I wanted to put out that we are offering from now on, we're also running Military Mondays, right? So we are open on Monday from 11 to 7 PM. And on those Military Mondays, if people reach out, get a hold of me, I can give you a free 30-minute bay time at the location. So that's something that we're able to, to help out with to get people out there. And of course, I'm working there on Monday, so I'm able there to help out with any tips or tricks. And people can come in and see us and talk. But when it comes to Veterans Day, that's going to be November 11th. And we have a number of different giveaways that we're going to be hosting, kind of like we did for our 9/11 event. We hosted a huge amount of different giveaways for everybody that showed up, raffled everything off, and I think every single person left with at least 2 items, right? So I try to make it very special and important that people are, are getting their value worth if they're going to be coming to an event. So I would say definitely stay tuned for more information on that, but we have some big giveaways coming up. We have— I want to give a shout out to Icon and to Sunshine Carts because they have donated an electric bike for us to be auctioning off. Well, we're going to be giving it away, so that giveaway details will be coming up here soon. And that's a pretty cool prize. It's like $2,500 e-bike to be able to like scoot around on. So I've seen one of those out on the streets here lately. Oh, they're fantastic. Yeah, it's an amazing little idea. I love it. Um, I mean, I used to have a motorcycle and it was so dangerous, but this, you could just pedal along and it helps a little battery on there. So, um, but I do want to let everybody know that my, my story from transitioning out from the military was very rough, uh, and for a lot of people that don't think that there's anybody that's been there, like, it's, it's not easy to talk about for a lot of people. So In 2019, when— before I was transitioning and getting out, I had a suicide attempt that God decided that I needed to stay here for. I was drinking way too much. I was taking opioids for all my pain and everything else, and I was definitely self-medicating at the same time. I had a lot of friends that went through a lot of stuff, and I lived through a lot of stuff. So with that, don't ever think that there's not a reason and it's not worth it because that was an immediate regret. And I was blessed. So with that, I took myself and when I got out of the military, I moved to Costa Rica. I lived there for 3 years, lived very, very holistically. And I just focused on playing golf, reading the Bible for myself, good affirmations, starting off the day right, teaching English. To the local school there, language school. And then I got some of my degree. I was— didn't finish my degree there. I finished it here, but I was using my GI Bill. So I was really looking at changing myself, right, in a positive way after that. And that's when we decided to, you know, 2 years ago, move back here to South Florida. And I decided that I needed to help those that went through what I did, because there was no program like what I've created for those coming out of the service. And then I look at first responders and see that their deployments every single day, right? I can only imagine as somebody that, you know, the streets look different where we were compared to here. But as a first responder, your streets look the same. Like you have that PTSD, just driving down a regular street. Maybe you see a house that looks similar to something that happened in, and we need to remember that as a community, I think. So being able to offer them up a little bit of grass and a little bit of time to teach my skill, like, that's the least that I can do. So please reach out. Maybe golf isn't for you, but maybe the golf community is, right? There's much more inside of there than just playing the game. Like I say, I offer caddy lessons, I offer ways to get into the grass side and agronomy. There's volunteering. You want to volunteer at a PGA event, let me know. Like, there's tons of different ways to get involved. The biggest thing is just get involved, get out of the house.

How many people are involved in your community right now?

Uh, so we've had about 85 go through that are involved in the online community at the moment, and Many more that, of course, I mean, my, my social medias and my everyone else that I'm talking to is, is much higher. So we're looking at like my email list is 75,000 or so, but the people that are actively engaged and involved, uh, we're at about 85,000 in our, our online community and, uh, hopefully growing.

No, it really sounds like, you know, you're doing, having a you know, you, you know, went through a rough time in your life. We talked before that you came on the podcast that it really— you hurt me. I was like, wow, because I had told you that I knew somebody else that went to— after they got out of the military, they also went to Costa Rica and had kind of a similar journey, you know, before coming back to the US. It's always interesting how many —people, veterans, like, leave the country and go down to Costa Rica or Mexico and then have to find their way back. And, you know, it's great that you put together a program where veterans, first responders can come in, get, you know, get something positive. You're not just teaching them how to play golf, but there's other opportunities surrounding the, you know, the world of golf where they can, you know, get jobs. And have positive impact on their life. And sure, it's super important. So if people want to donate, if people want to donate to you, they just go to the website.

I said, please, everybody just go to the website, warriorgolfacademy.com for everything. You can find me on social media @warriorgolfacademy, but all of those will lead you. You can find my online community from there. You can find the donations from there. All of that is tremendous. It helps out so much. The biggest thing is join the community, even if you think you don't have anything to say. Just be a part of it. See what's going on in there. Post every once in a while. You could like something. It's meant for social media people to join in and put their golf tips and tricks in there. It's for veterans and first responders to go in there. And there's even a spot to share your stories with other veterans and first responders. You guys talk about things and also have a spot for golf groups. And there's going to be other people that are going to be able to put together games. And we're getting to a point soon where we will— we'll be able to put on larger type events, right? And when we put on those larger type events, uh, it will be more like we have so many slots at this location and it's going to be all covered and we'll just go out there and have a good time. So we're looking forward to some big things as the community continues to grow. But of course, it takes a community, of course. So that's my biggest ask is if people just go to the website, take a look at what we're doing, and if you feel that in some way you could be of added value or it looks good to you and you want to be a part of what we're doing, then please Join.

Okay, great. So any final, any final words on, on the, on what you want to say to everybody?

No, I just want to say from the very beginning I said time was the most valuable. And thank you, everybody, for taking the time, kind of listen to my story. I want everyone to know that you're not alone out there. If you ever need anything, even I'm here. Feel free, look me up, send me a message, and I make sure to get back to you. So you can send me a message through the website, you can send me a message through Instagram, you can send me an email. All my stuff is available online, but if you send it to me, I will reply because being that, that personal to somebody is very important. And I think having that one-on-one time with people is very important. So every single person matters. You matter. And I want to thank you, Allen, for having me on the show. I want to thank everybody for listening. And, uh, thank you everybody for being a part of the journey from here on out.

All right, well, thank you for being on the podcast today, Jonathan, and telling your story. It's really a, a great story, and you're doing great things, and you're getting a great start. And if people want to make a donation, we're going to make a donation, I promise you, today. Thank you so much. Well, because, you know, I like, you know, we, my company, we always throughout the year and at the end of the year, we always make charitable donations to lots of different charities, especially local ones that we come across that are near and dear to us. And this is something I think that you're doing a really great service to the community and veterans and first responders. It's awesome. So if you want to go even hit some golf balls, you can go over to the location. We'll post all the information in the podcast. If you want to help support Jonathan's nonprofit, make a donation there. And we really appreciate you today coming on the podcast. You can follow B2B Ball. We're on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, all the social media, Spotify, Apple, any other apps that you listen to your podcasts on, and on YouTube., and we hope to see everybody soon. Carpe diem. I always say that— seize the day. And Jonathan, you seize the day every day in what you're doing, and I appreciate you. And I hope—

thank you guys so much. Thank you, Jonathan.

Peace.