We’re still figuring this out

Liberty Speaks wasn't built from a perfect plan.

It started on a walk.

Corrie and I were walking when she told me about an idea she'd been thinking about and had been talking with God about.

She wanted to start a company called Liberty Speaks.

Mind you, we had already begun launching another company in stealth mode for a very different business solution.

The bigger miracle might be that by the end of the walk, I said, “Let's do it.”

There wasn't a detailed business plan. We didn't have every step mapped out. We certainly didn't know what Liberty Speaks would eventually become.

And, if I'm being completely transparent, we still don't.

We're still figuring this out.

Liberty Speaks has changed a lot since that walk.

We've learned what we're good at. We've learned what we're not good at. We've chased some opportunities that worked and others that didn't. We've changed direction. We've said yes when we probably should have said no, and no when we probably should have said yes.

We've also learned that what we say no to defines us more than what we say yes to.

That's been a hard lesson.

When you're building something, especially early on, it's tempting to chase every opportunity. Every new client. Every partnership. Every idea that might lead somewhere.

But not everything that can make you money is right for your business.

Not every opportunity is worth the time it takes away from something else.

And not every person or company is someone you want to build with.

We're getting better at understanding that.

But we've kept building.

And somewhere along the way, Liberty Speaks became bigger than the idea we talked about on that walk.

It became speakers and content creators. Brand partnerships. Live events. And eventually, two people sitting across from a camera asking other people why they're special.

Not Special wasn't part of the plan.

Neither was traveling across the country to tell stories.

Neither were a lot of the opportunities that are in front of us today.

But the more we've built, the more we've realized that these things aren't as disconnected as they might look.

Liberty Speaks is about people.

Corrie, Herb, Viva laVargas, MandatoryFunDay & Nick Palmisciano at the Military Influencer Conference 2027

Corrie, Viva la Vargas, Me, MandatoryFunDay, & Nick Palmisciano

Finding good people. Helping them tell their stories. Connecting them with opportunities. Helping brands work with people they believe in. And building relationships that hopefully last longer than a transaction.

Not Special fits into that.

So do our speakers.

So do our content creators.

So do the companies that have trusted us enough to partner with us.

We're starting to see how all of those pieces fit together.

That doesn't mean we suddenly have the next five years mapped out.

We don't.

There are still plenty of mornings when Corrie and I are trying to figure out what deserves our attention that day.

There are still ideas we disagree on.

There are still things we try that don't work.

There are still opportunities that look great on paper that we decide aren't right for us.

And every once in a while, one of us has an idea that sounds a little crazy.

Thankfully, every once in a while, the other one says, “Let's do it.”

That's how Liberty Speaks started.

And looking back, I think there's a lesson in that.

We spend a lot of time waiting until we're ready.

Waiting until the business plan is finished.

Waiting until we have enough money.

Waiting until the timing is right.

Waiting until we know exactly where something is going to lead.

Sometimes you don't need to see the whole path.

You just need to be willing to start walking.

Corrie and I had no idea where that walk would take us.

We still don't know exactly where this one ends.

We're still figuring this out.

I hope we always are.

Liberty Speaks Update:

A big congrats to Allison Black who spoke to leaders at Dover AFB, Viva Lavargas and Ramón “CZ” Colón-López who spoke at the Military Influencer Conference, and Pasha Palanker who made a triumphant return to speak with students and staff at Virginia Tech. Love seeing our people out there making an impact.

We’re proud to welcome Alex Dekker to the Liberty Speaks roster. A retired Green Beret and Special Mission Unit operator, Alex has taken his experiences from some of the most demanding environments in the world and turned them into powerful storytelling. His debut novel, Desert Heist, was published by Simon & Schuster, and we’re excited to help Alex build what comes next.

If you’d like to explore a speaking engagement, content collaboration, brand partnership, or advisory relationship, reach out to Corrie Thompson at info@libertyspeaks.com.

We’d love to learn more about your organization and discuss how we can help.

Not Special Update:

Being a Navy SEAL Is What He Did. Not Who He Is.

Andy Stumpf spent more than 17 years as a Navy SEAL, served with SEAL Team Six, became a record-setting wingsuit pilot, author, entrepreneur and host of the Cleared Hot podcast. But those are things he's done. They aren't who he is.

We traveled to Montana to sit down with Andy for a conversation about what happens when the identity you've spent your life building starts to disappear. Andy talks about nearly losing his Trident early in his career, what the military taught him about good and bad leadership, leaving the SEAL Teams after being injured, and why attaching your identity to your occupation can make moving on so difficult. (19,000+ views & downloads in 5 days)

Hidden nugget: Andy weighs in on the John Chapman/Roberts Ridge battle, including what he believes has been lost in the debate over what happened on that mountain.

Really grateful for the partners who helped us bring this Montana series to life. GOVX, loanDepot, Alliance Nationwide Exposition, and Bellator Recruiting Academy believed in what we were doing and helped us go make it happen.

The Angel of Death: Who Is Allison Black?

Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Allison Black spent more than 32 years serving her country, but her path to becoming a special operations aviator was anything but planned. Allison began her career as an enlisted SERE specialist before becoming an officer and eventually flying AC-130 gunships with Air Force Special Operations Command.

After September 11, 2001, Allison deployed to Central Asia and flew one of her first combat missions over Afghanistan. Working alongside U.S. Special Forces and Afghan forces, her voice over the radio and the firepower of the AC-130 helped create a story that would follow her for decades: the “Angel of Death.” (29,000+ views & downloads in 12 days)

Hidden nugget: The weight of command isn’t just bringing people home, it’s knowing who’s waiting for them.

Thank you to GOVX for helping make this episode possible.

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