- What's up, everybody!
We are back with Megan Fox!
Give it up!
(audience cheers)
The month of May means a lot of great things.
Flowers are in bloom.
Summer is around the corner.
School is almost out for your kids,
all you mamas and daddies out there.
And each year we take Memorial Day
to honor those who have given their lives
serving in our military.
This is something very important to Megan
which is why she's partnered
with army combat veteran, Colin Wayne.
So Colin is joining us now.
Thank you for joining us (applause)
and thank you so much for your service.
It seems so silly and such a little thing to say
for you giving so much,
but thank you.
We really do appreciate it.
And I'm curious how you two even met
and how this all happened.
- You reached out to me.
- Yeah.
- Reached out from far away. - Not from over there.
About the products and the business that you have.
And so I had collaborated with him once before.
I have veterans in my family.
My uncles are all vets.
But you should tell more.
I'm assuming it probably has something
to do with the fact that like,
the Transformers movies, especially,
Michael especially is very pro-military,
very supportive of the military.
And those movies reached out
and featured a lot of military
and were very inclusive in that way.
So I imagine,
I might have a small voice in that community
or be able to help them out.
- And also you're a big, huge star
that people pay attention to.
That's maybe one, too. (laughing)
I'll say that for you.
But how did you end up hooking up?
- Well, we wanted to partner with somebody,
you mentioned a small voice,
but your voice is magnified.
It's massive.
And we know that
went overseas to Korea
and visited the troops.
I did three tours:
Egypt, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
And so when we were looking for somebody
to kind of spread the message and the awareness
of what Memorial Day even is to begin with,
because it's been lost in this nation
of the true meaning,
it was a clear understanding
that this could be a great fit
and it has been.
This is our second year doing it
and it's been an honor.
I know last year we donated
over two and a half million dollars in products.
- Wow, that's amazing. - [Megan] Yeah.
- So, I have to ask you,
'cause I always ask anybody that served their country,
what drew you to serving our country?
- So, like a lot of people I grew up in a split home,
just like you Kelly. - Me too. Mmhmm.
And my mom primarily raised me and
I didn't have a difficult childhood
but I had an older brother that I looked up to
as a father figure.
He joined the military at 17
and I ended up getting kicked
out of my mom's house.
I wasn't a bad kid, but I was stubborn by nature.
And I just wouldn't listen to her.
So I dropped out of high school at 16,
joined the military at 17, after getting emancipated
and went as a military police officer
and made staff sergeant in six years.
So, I was one of the youngest staff sergeants
in the army without being Special Forces
and actually volunteered for all three of my tours.
So Egypt, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
- [Kelly] Wow!
Well, something happened on your last tour.
What was it?
- So, I remember it like it was yesterday
which ironically was just a few days ago.
Nine years ago I was in Afghanistan
in the Paktika province
which is right on the Pakistan border.
And a rocket impacted
about three and a half feet from me.
And through the grace of God, I survived.
Shrapnel went all the way through my leg.
I remember I blacked out,
I regained consciousness and...
it was,
I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.
I was yelling for a medic
but nobody was coming and it felt like eternity
but really it was only a few minutes.
I remember it was just like a movie set, but it was true.
Two Blackhawks came in, picked me up.
I was the only casualty.
They flew me to another base and...
I ended up sustaining shrapnel
to both arms,
a piece went all the way through my leg
and almost had to have it amputated.
Treated for traumatic brain injury
and then L1-L3 nerve damage in my back.
So, I had to have a lumbar block fusion surgery.
- Wow. So, how do you
not only recover from that physically,
but like emotionally and mentally?
- So, ironically,
I started working out in 2009,
right before I started to go to Iraq for my second tour.
And I...
the gym was my real focal point.
It helped me,
that mind, body connection.
Ironically, I got blown up in a gym
on my base that I thought was a safe harbor,
but the gym helped me cope with a lot of things mentally.
And I say ironic several times because I pivoted
from the military into becoming a fitness model.
And that setback was a setup for my future.
- Wow. I need to write that down for myself.
(laughing)
So, you've partnered
to do something special for Memorial day.
So what is it?
- So, this year I'm honored
for our second annual soldier memorial give back.
Last year we had an incredible response
and we had the privilege to donate
over two and a half a million dollars worth of product.
- [Kelly] That's so great. - And this year we plan
to do the same
with a minimum of a million dollars.
Anytime I put my name behind something
I want it to be a hundred percent.
For me it's important that Memorial Day
is a day to honor,
not me as a veteran,
but to those that paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Nine years ago that could have been me that got killed.
And fortunately, I'm here to be a voice for the voiceless.
- [Kelly] Yeah. I'm here to be a voice
for the family members that lost their loved ones.
So their sons, their daughters, their husbands,
their moms, their dads. (applause)
It's important to me as an entrepreneur,
as a veteran
to be a hands extended and to be a voice
for those that simply do not have a voice
anymore. - Yeah.
Well, two questions.
Can you tell us about your company?
one, and then two,
how can people help?
What is, if people are really wanting to help,
what can they do?
- So, 2016, I founded a company Redline Steel
and we manufacturer wall art decor.
The piece that we're actually donating for free
is a really beautiful
nine inch steel sign
that we're literally just giving away for free.
The meaning behind it is,
fallen comrades in active line of service
from Iraq to Afghanistan,
this soldier Memorial represents them.
And so this is a remembrance piece.
Nowadays, Memorial Day is known for companies monetizing.
- [Kelly] Oh sales, yeah. - You look at social media
across the board.
You look at car sales
or buy this mattress "Memorial Day sale."
This is the opposite.
We want to put people over profit.
We want to truly spread the message
and hopefully have a third annual
and fourth annual Memorial Day give back.
It's not about just me as a veteran.
It's not about anything other than
the family members that lost their loved ones.
- I agree with you.
I think people have lost sight of that.
Well, thank you so much for your service once again
and thank y'all for teaming up.
This is really cool.