Zachary Bell Veteran with a Sign: The Call That Changed Everything & Breaking the Cycle of Poverty

What happens when a kid from Memphis who grew up in the cycle of poverty gets deplowed by the Marines two days after his first daughter is born, deploys to Afghanistan without calling home for 90 days, loses his first friend to suicide in 2011, and turns a piece of cardboard into one of the most powerful veteran advocacy platforms in the world? This week on The AJ Buckley Show, AJ sits down with Zachary Bell, the creator of Veteran with a Sign, whose journey from combat Marine to viral content creator is packed with raw emotion, brutal honesty, and the kind of wisdom that only comes from breaking generational curses and refusing to let another veteran die alone.

Then comes the story that will break you. Zach opens up about getting out in 2011, working night shift at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital while going to school during the day, sleeping in his car, and getting the call that his first friend had taken his life. He talks about going back through old text messages, realizing they were both struggling but too scared to have a real conversation, and the moment he decided this shit stops with me. Zach reflects on the three years he spent stacking little wins, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, magnets on his head, men's groups, whatever he could find to help himself and his friends, and why he open sourced everything so no one would have to figure it out alone.

Zach also shares the origin story of Veteran with a Sign, the moment during COVID when he thought what if I was a veteran holding up a piece of cardboard, the first 90 days of brutal comments about his tattoos and why he wears the same thing every day, and the Captain Crozier post that changed everything. He talks about walking off his ship to a standing ovation after getting relieved of command for trying to help his sick sailors, the moment Zach's post went viral with 10,000 followers in a week, and why he realized the creative had finally found him again. Zach opens up about meeting the Unsub guys, Fat Electrician, Brandon Herrera, and finding his creative community, the podcast journey from After Action to Underwhelming, and why doing it alone is impossible.

00:00 Intro

00:55 Meeting Veteran with a Sign: From Trailer Parks to Movie Premieres

04:28 The Fat Electrician, Unsub & Finding Your Creative Community

05:54 The Podcast Journey: After Action to Underwhelming

09:39 Jimmy Grimes: The Coolest Thing I've Done & The Power of Community

14:28 Veteran with a Sign Origin: Captain Crozier & The Post That Cha