Meet Mike J Waldron

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mike J Waldron a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mike J, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

While laying on the stiff linen of a hospital bed during my fifth trip to the ER in a single month, I came to a hard realization. My time in the Marine Corps was not the most difficult experience of my life. In many ways, I was still there. What I thought were heart attacks driving me to the hospital were not. The daily panic attacks that gripped me were a different kind of battle, one I could not escape with training or grit.

My early thirties became the darkest years of my life. I had no confidence. I felt nothing but emptiness, and I wanted to die. The idea of being around strangers, let alone speaking in front of people terrified me. I felt broken in every way.

Through trial and error, I began pushing myself into places I did not want to go. I forced myself outdoors, set physical challenges, and practiced creating community with the people around me. Slowly, moments of relief appeared. For the first time in years, I felt alive again.

When the fog of panic and depression lifted, I became deeply curious about why I was affected by my memories of Iraq with such vividness while other parts of my life felt distant and gray. That curiosity led me into research on memory, trauma, and the science of happiness. It led to complete recovery from those struggles, and the panic attacks disappeared.

What I discovered reshaped everything. The brain can be retrained. Connection, challenge, and joy are not luxuries. They are tools that rebuild a meaningful life. That discovery gave me purpose, and it became the foundation of 23rd Veteran, where I now have the privilege of helping others rebuild their lives and futures.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

At my core, I’m a builder. What began as my own journey to overcome trauma has grown into a national effort to help others do the same. Through 23rd Veteran, we guide military veterans and first responders from struggle to strength using a neuroscience-based approach we call Functional Mental Health.

Functional Mental Health is not theory or guesswork. It is grounded in real neuroscience and behavioral research. Our methods are built around proven, actionable behaviors that stimulate and optimize the key neurotransmitters responsible for emotional regulation, motivation, and connection. By training the brain through community, physical challenge, and structured purpose, we create lasting changes in how people think, feel, and live. It is a science-based form of therapy that empowers people to take ownership of their mental health in a way that feels active and achievable.

What makes this work special is that it removes the barriers of traditional therapy. Participants are not treated like patients, but as teammates learning to strengthen themselves and each other. Watching people rediscover confidence, purpose, and joy is what drives me every day.

Right now, we are expanding our reach to serve more communities and first responders nationwide. I am also continuing to speak across the country to leaders and mental health professionals, helping shift the conversation from mental illness to mental training, because just like physical fitness, mental fitness is not taught; it is earned.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Facing my fears changed everything. Public speaking was once my greatest fear, but I knew that if I wanted to change the world, I had to share my story. I went from trembling as I said my name in a small group to stepping confidently onto national stages. From sitting safely in my living room to walking into meetings with top corporations and institutions. I did not do it because I enjoyed it. I did it because the only way to make a change was to change myself. I have since made it a habit to identify what I”m afraid of and run towards it rather than avoid it.

Curiosity became my turning point. When I stopped asking “what is wrong with me” and started asking “how does this work,” everything shifted. That curiosity led me into neuroscience and the study of human behavior, which became the foundation of Functional Mental Health. Curiosity opened my mind and helped me understand the science of being human. It taught me that awareness, not avoidance, is what moves us forward.

Intentional compassion changed my conversations. It shifted my focus from talking to understanding. I began asking meaningful questions during business meetings instead of transactional ones, and it completely transformed how I connected with people. By taking the time to understand others, their challenges, goals, and fears, I found genuine relationships forming where business used to be the only focus. Compassion helped me see that real impact happens through connection, not convenience. The more I lead with empathy, the more I find opportunities to serve others each day.

My advice is to practice all three daily. Face your fears, stay curious, and lead with compassion. Those qualities will help maximize your growth, purpose, and most importantly, your relationships.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

we are always looking to collaborate with people and organizations who share our mission of strengthening mental health through action. Right now, we are specifically looking for individuals to join our board of directors who have experience growing businesses and serving on national-level nonprofit boards. We want leaders who can help us expand our reach, strengthen our structure, and guide our continued growth across the country.

We are also seeking institutions interested in conducting a multi-year research study on what we call Functional Mental Health. Our goal is to partner with a university or research organization that wants to measure how neuroscience-based behavioral training can improve long-term wellbeing within people who have experienced trauma.

Anyone interested in learning more or collaborating can reach out through our website at 23rdveteran.org or connect directly with me on LinkedIn at Mike J. Waldron. Together we can expand this work and help more people build stronger, healthier lives.

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