The Addiction to the Process of Achieving with Lena Miculek

Lena Miculek, 8-time World Championship Shooter, shares her process for learning and becoming the best at everything you do.  If you are interested in what it takes to become a world champion shooter while learning a process for self-improvement that you can apply to any endeavor, this episode is for you. 

Transcript

Aaron Silvestain  00:01

So Ron, would you say you're the best at anything in the whole world? 

Ron Dan  00:03 

My mom says I'm pretty good at saying, but I've heard myself in the shower, and I really don't think it's great. 

Aaron Silvestain  00:06 

I would agree probably with your critique there. Well, our recent guests, Lena, is an eight time World Championship shooter, and she's going to tell us all about how she got to that point in life and what she's working on now. And I think most importantly, the process that it takes to become a champion. Should we head into the Briefing Room?

Aaron Silvestain  00:15

Let's go in.

Music  00:16

Ron Dan  00:42

Welcome to the Vertx Briefing Room. Joining us today is eight time world shooting champion Lena Miculek.  Lena, thank you for joining us today. 

Lena Miculek  00:45

Thank you guys for having me on. This is like, perfect timing. 

Ron Dan  00:47 

So Lena, for those who don't really know who you are, or what your background is, would you mind giving a brief little bio? 

Lena Miculek  00:53 
Yeah, bio of me, literally born and raised on a shooting range in Louisiana. I, at eight years old shot my first competition. I do not remember the age when I shot my first gun. And then at 15, I decided to go pro, and won my first world title in Hungary at the shotgun IPSC World Championship. And then from there, did really well and hit it super hard. Like at 15. I also got my GED so that I could work exclusively, because that was having me on the road for like, just events was 120 to 50 days a year, and that's not training.  That’s performing. That's all I did for a solid nine years was train, compete, competing two to three times a month for 10 years, won a whole lot of stuff, got to go to a whole lot of places. It takes a lot to establish who you are, before you can make this anything. I'm very blessed and lucky to be one of probably 10 people in the United States that get to do this as a career, and not as a side hustle. But it took everything for 10 years, until I had the foundation that I could stand upon. I call it the title snatching years. You're going like a maniac, because you are nobody to anyone. And you got to be able to tell them who you are. I like my achievements to speak for myself. Like I never want to have to tell somebody who I am because like, I'm not good at that. That's not really my jam, like rolling in and be like, let me tell you why you need me. So I was like, I'm just gonna win the thing.  That's, that's what I can do. Over that time, I won eight world titles in five different shooting disciplines. So what I'm most proud of within those titles is my diversity. A lot of people are specialists in you know, like, I'm long range, or I'm bullseye, or I'm skeet, I’m trap, if we're talking like Olympic competitors, but my little ADH brain is like it goes bang.  Got it. I'm gonna shoot it. And then I'm going to shoot it good. So rifle, pistol, shotgun, PCC three gun rifle, pistol and shotgun all together and a competition called the NRA World's Greatest shooter, where you compete with all loaner and supply gear. So there's no gear advantage to anyone. And it's 12 different shooting disciplines. I love that match so much.

Ron Dan  03:35

So you said you were literally born at home on the range. Tell us a little bit about that story.

Lena Miculek  03:42

I was a planned birth at home but the midwife did not make it. So my father delivered me and the home that I was born in is the same home that I was raised in and it's on a shooting range next to a gun shop. And then right past that is a range going out to 400 yards. I don't know how many bays we have now probably 12 to 14 bays. And it's on 150 acres of woods around that and stuff. So I had a very unique childhood to say the least growing up not only with parents that were world and national champions that traveled around and I went with them. I was homeschooled, raised on a range, and grew up in my mom's gun shop.

Ron Dan  04:28

One thing we normally ask folks is, what do you wish you had known before you started but you, with your unique upbringing and background, you knew or you were exposed to almost everything at a very high level from the absolute beginning of your life. I mean, you were exposed to some of the best coaches and shooters and teachers like that were out there period. What do you think is the number one piece of mental equipment that shooters need before they go into the competition world?

Lena Miculek  04:58

I was equipped with a lot of things from my parents.  vI would say the mental game is by far what has made me who I am. And what I had to pick up along the way more so on my own because your own mental game, and how you process, and how you compete, and how you can be the best that you are at something, it’s very personal. And everybody does it different. My father's way of competing, like his mental mindset is like, he's someone that wants someone to challenge him. That's his fuel. I'm a different type of competitor, I am self contained. Other people don't motivate me, beating other people is cool. But like in the end, if I don't do what I want to do, and I don't get to do it to the level that I feel like I should and can, then it's all worthless. That was something that I had to learn on my own. My mom is also a different competitor, I'm more so like her. And in the words of my mom, in an article that she wrote for a gun magazine, she talked about her mental mindset. She's such a cute little old lady, let me paint you a picture. A little five foot lady, like grandma short hair, just cute as can be. And then this is what she writes in this article. That she is a wolf and she is chasing down her prey to rip out their throats. She also competes a little bit differently than me. But I can get a little bit more on that mindset. Like I'm in the shadows, I'm lurking, I'm doing my thing. 

Aaron Silvestain  05:15 

For those that don't follow Lena on Instagram, first of all, you should. But second of all, you can see some of the amount of practice that goes into not just competitions. But I think just what you do in terms of EDC and things of that nature, can you give people that haven't seen that your practice mantra and your perspective? What goes into getting ready for competition?  What gets, like even for you, I've seen shooting arrows and new hobbies.  What is your mindset when you're going out and doing those things?

Lena Miculek  05:38

I have developed an addiction to the process of achieving things.  I pretty much sat down and I was like, well, if you put enough time and enough effort, and then did that enough, without knowing how to efficiently do that, like in reaching things, and just pretty much my whole career, you know, learning how to be great at something, learning how to be the best in the world at something, and then doing it enough times that I actually understood the process and applying that to everything that I can.  Because it makes sense. It's just about efficiency and mentally being there. We talk a whole lot about muscle memory and how important muscle memory is. And the thing is, there's a long, long, long, long way to go until you get muscle memory. And if you screw it up in that long amount of time, then you end up with just being stuck with something that's bad. So my entire premise for everything that I approach, whether it be archery, or overlanding, or shooting, is understanding cause and effect. And I know it sounds super simple, but like in shooting, this is my mantra for everything that I do. And it sounds simple, but it's a couple questions. And the first one is what did I see? So after every shot, after every drill, after every stage, after any course that I'm doing, I got to go, what did I see? My eyeballs were open I had to see something. I need to know with as much detail as possible what it was. And then I go, well, what did I feel. I'm not dead. Everything from my toes to my nose is doing something. And the more that I know what it is, the more I can make everything that I do focus in on the goal that I have at hand. So I need an in depth understanding of my physical awareness, like what's happening. And then I get to see my results. If it was a just a one shot on target I go and look at it and I go, okay, well, that was a mess, because I was going way too fast. Or I look at it and I go, okay, it's right in the center. So I need to go faster. I just kind of diagnose it, see what's going on. And then I make a decision. What am I going to do next? And this is the most important thing. We can only, if we're lucky do one thing good at a time. So when we're introducing new things, or we're trying to perfect something, we pick out one very specific thing and it's not be better, go faster, it's like, I'm going to shift the weight into the balls of my feet and really focus on my connection to the earth and make sure I pivot on my knees so that when I transition over, I can go in a straight line. I'm going to take a deep breath in and make sure my mind is clear. Because if my mind isn't clear, everything is lost. It's that level of intensity through everything that you do. And when you do that you do a whole lot less. But you get a lot more from it. 

Aaron Silvestain  10:00 

I've seen this process from afar. I've seen even parts where you get frustrated, I think on certain days where you just don't have it. You know, and everybody has those days, I think you know everyone wakes up and sometimes like it's just not my day. What do you do in those scenarios where it's just not your day. How do you cope with that mentally?

Lena Miculek  10:04

It depends on what your goal is for the training day. If you're having a rough day, and I've had many, but if you're having a rough day, and it's like, mentally, you're not there, you know, like you have stuff going on in your life to deal with, don't go. Go deal with the thing in your life that's distracting you. Otherwise, you're gonna be wasting time and effort, and you're gonna leave more angry than you were before. It’s not worth it. Now, if you show up, and you're just not getting the results that you want it, like it's just not connecting, like you're trying, then you make a very specific decision on what it is that you're actually trying to achieve right now. Usually when we're in those moments of extreme frustration it's because we have uncertain goals. They're kind of floating. It's like me, like, I'll show up, I'll do something. And I'll be like, alright, I did it good, I'm gonna do it again. And I don't do it. And then I'm like, well, what the heck? I do it again, and I do it again, I'll do like three times in a row. And I'm like, okay, five times in a row. That's what, you know, it's like some made up thing that I just show up. And I just seem forever unhappy, because I just keep like being like, well, when you do it right, that's what you're supposed to do. Why would you do anything else? It's setting really specific goals. Like if you're trying to do a drill, and you're just not hitting it, then standing there and picking a specific part of the drill that you're going to nail, like, if it's a one shot, and you're messing up your grip, or everything is exactly how you want but it's just slow, then you're just going to say, “You know what I'm going to do 10 perfect, but slow draws”. And when I do that, I have achieved my goal, I can leave proud. In the end, you're always learning. You're learning how to adjust your goals to who you are right then, because we're not always the best we are. So if we always show up with our personal records, and we expect to do that every time you would be real rough on yourself. And having a positive outlook and talking to yourself in a way that leads you somewhere is the best thing. Too often, one of the biggest things I see people do is that they talk to themselves in a way that just puts them down. Now, I'm not someone that's gonna blindly reward anything, never, like brutally honest, you don't get anything that you don't earn. But that means you earn all the little tiny good things. So when you just focus on the bad and you overlook all the tiny good things that you did earn, then you get burned out, you quit. You’ve got to look at the good guys.

Ron Dan  12:28

Well, Lina, so you started with two of the greatest coaches and teachers that you could think of.  Two of the most accomplished shooters that are out there. What's another shooter or coach that you've had over the years that was as influential or the next closest, influential, because I think it's impossible to keep up with with Kay and Jerry?

Lena Miculek  12:48

I got it. Daniel Horner is like, reigning champion of three gun. Dan, because he was not only accomplished himself, but because he was also captain of the army marksmanship unit, a very select, and like tippity top of the top group of guys in the military that go and compete and represent them. So Dan wasn't only in that, he then became captain of that. Where he's so special is that he didn't only do it himself, but he made a system in which he could teach and apply to others so that they could achieve things with the backing to of the military, and all the research and all of the resources. And now he's my teammate on SIG.  I’ve gone through his mental class, because it's made for people like me that have a short attention span, but can get things done.  I’m going to go train with him next month.

Aaron Silvestain  13:50

Alright, so you mentioned your SIG relationship. And I know now you've been taught and you've been instructed through a number of years, but now you're actually doing it yourself. You're instructing. Your teaching at the academy as well as other various different places. I taught myself in grad school, and I always tell everybody, I actually learned more from teaching than I ever did as a student. Do you kind of find yourself in that same predicament where you're constantly learning almost more now teaching than you ever did as a student yourself?

Lena Miculek  14:15

Absolutely. And I think anyone that I've ever met that has taught anything feels the same way. It's a gift to be able to share, like the shortcuts to all the things that you had to overcome with other people. Like it's something always special. I've actually been teaching for a long time, probably since I was 14. I got to become an instructor at Babes with Bullets, it's camps, so they were three day long. Women's only handgun camps, and it would be anywhere from like 10 to 35 women anywhere from I've never touched a gun, seen a gun, or I'm even traumatized by a firearm, to I'm a masterclass competitive shooter. We let in all of them, and every instructor was also a woman who was a national or a world title competitor, and just like the salt of the earth. So these were actually the women that I grew up with. And my mom started these camps. At those times, I was the lunch lady. 10 year old me would be in there like helping lay out the lunches for the camp, and like run targets and like paced and things. I got to be exposed to people coming together and sharing information for almost my whole life. And the experiences that I got through instructing those Babes with Bullets academies was priceless, because every single instructor was allowed to teach in their own way. I love it when I get to go and just be around great shooters. And they probably think I'm annoying, because I'm like, so why do you stand like that? Because I really am like, I want to know what's the secret sauce? And like, I see you stand like this. It's very specific to you. So like, why do you do it?  It’s surprising how many people don't know why they do what they do.

Ron Dan  16:01

So working with SIG, I know, one thing that they've been able to do is work with their talent that they have, whether it's the instructors at the SIG Academy, sponsored shooters like Kyle Lamb, or their competitive shooting team, like yourself, Daniel Horner, Max Michel, and they work with those talented individuals to help with their product development. Have you had a chance to participate in that process? And if so, are there any secrets that you can share with us? Or is there anything cool that that you've experienced during that process,

Lena Miculek  16:30

I'm just gonna share a big grin and say, TBD. check back in later. But yes, they are excellent with that. And just like how I talked about with instructing earlier, and being able to grow up in a place where everybody could teach in their own way, like everyone could highlight their own strengths. SIG is very much like that. You get to have your own unique voice and opinion. And it doesn't matter where you come from in the company, if you have a good idea, you have a good idea. And that's what's important.

Ron Dan  17:02

I think some of that leadership style comes from their CEO, Ron Cohen, who was a former IDF guy. And that organizational structure, or that style of organization, where anybody from the bottom up, can voice their opinion and have it heard, I think that's very much like an Israeli cultural norm that he's brought in into the SIG organization.

Lena Miculek  17:23

And I was meeting with Ron Cohen, and I'm so nervous, and I go in. And pretty much he tells me, my first job is to always be a good person, that it doesn't matter how many titles I win, it doesn't matter the guns that I sell, and the money that I make, and the records that I do. That in the end, and above all, I have to be a good person. As someone that can very easily be only valued for titles to be in an atmosphere where your only worth is from your records or your titles and have someone be like you as a person. That's what matters.

Aaron Silvestain  18:02

That is exactly the type of atmosphere you want to be in. And I will all brag on Fechheimer, Vertx’s parent company.  Our CEO, Bob Getto, is very similar. He's a very people first mindset.  I can give a personal story of my third day on the job, we have an emergency C section a month before my wife is due. And there was no questions asked, it's just take as much time as you need go and take care of your family.  Those types of organizations you want to be around and it’s why I think SIG and Vertx have such a great relationship with one another because their cultures and their mindsets are very, very similar. So it's great to kind of hear that and I think it honestly provides the best product and I know one of the biggest things that you're working on right now is product for women who want to protect themselves or conceal carry and things like that. Can you give us kind of some perspective of the things you're working on just personally to help women understand the industry and best practices and things of that nature?

Lena Miculek  18:58

First, I'm starting with me. In the industry we all got a lot of learning to do.  As someone that has approached concealed carry with no question of gun, no question of how to shoot a gun, how to get them, like I got all the gun shooting knowledge. Check. Then I thought me approaching concealed carry would be like, okay, cool. Well, no big deal like, I'm gonna carry a gun like I do all the other times, but it’s just different. It is so hard, like, oh my god, I have tubs of concealed carry gear because at this point, I'm like, if I can't do this, who can? If you're truly someone starting with the question of like, how do I purchase a gun for the first time and you're trying to end up with being a proficient confident and comfortable person concealed carrying after doing that I just decided I have to take on the whole industry because it can't be this hard. It's unacceptable. So I’m gonna figure something out.

Aaron Silvestain  19:58

That's what we hear from one women all the time of the industry is just like there's no apparel. There's nothing built specifically for us for concealed carry. And that's something Vertx is trying to accomplish with people like Lena to get their perspective on what works, what doesn't work. And women and men are the same way. I think a lot of times we forget, there's a lot of different body types out there. There's Ron and I who are short and bald, and then there's the, you know, the David Rhoden’s who are six-four of the world, and there's everything in between. And we kind of forget that apparel and gear fits different. 

Lena Miculek  20:20 

And then there's five foot 100 pound women, or people like me that are above the average in America five-six, thank you very much. I'm toweringly tall, but still not a lot of room to work with. So efficiency, I look at so much gear and I'm like, yeah, if I was 200 pounds, I could be this lax with extra kydex room and like these bulky clips in this other thing. I'm like, no, you got like this much room you got to fit in. And you need to be a pancake in order for me to actually be able to conceal carry you. 

Ron Dan  20:40

And I can totally relate to what you're saying with you just have bins and bins of concealed carry gear that you know, you'll read all the articles and you'll watch all the videos and you're like, Okay, well, this is gonna work for me. And you try it on, you're like, well, this does not even kind of work with my body type at all. 

Lena Miculek  20:55

And that's not even, once again, how to shoot, local laws, getting your actual concealed carry permit, firearms maintenance, storage, ammunition choices, gear choices, concealed carry placement on your body. What about if you're going to put one in your house or in your vehicle? A lot of questions. And I'm trying to figure out all the answers so that I can put it together in a way that makes sense for anyone and everyone because I know that concealed carrying in the Second Amendment is our right, but it's so confusing, that it's too intimidating. It's such an intimidating field to get into and so much information that's conflicting. 

Aaron Silvestain  21:18

You know, obviously, that's a very complex subject that a lot of women are trying to figure out right now. And another complex subject is overlanding. And I know that's something else that you're putting your toe into the water a little bit. Can you take us through that journey of how you started to get into overlanding, some of the progression you've taken in that space, and where you want to eventually end up?

Lena Miculek  21:30

One day, unsuspectingly, I drove to the middle of nowhere, Tennessee, and I saw this tan Tacoma on the corner. I didn't want a car, I wasn't looking for a car, nothing to do with it. I whipped in there and I ended up buying it. I went to Utah and I went in the mountains like hiking my first time like solo randomly, had a couple hours before a flight out and I ran out. And it was pretty much the most magical mountain experience I ever had. And I just drove towards mountains. And then I get went to the end of the road and I just walked into the mountains. You should never do what I do. But I did that and I sat on a rock and I cried because it was so beautiful. And I was like, what is life? This is amazing. I need to take a breath, look at the small things. And then that led to four months later me discovering overlanding because I was in Utah and I saw all these people with cool trucks. And I was like, what is this? I identified overlanding, cried on a mountain, dropped my truck off and built a truck good enough that I could be stupid. And I set one rule which is I can't drive further off road than I can walk back. 

Ron Dan  21:50

It's pretty smart. I love that. Well, talking about your accomplishments and where you've been, you’ve traveled the world. You have more than 135 major wins, eight world titles in five different disciplines. You received the shot business 40 under 40 award and recently the Gundy's awarded you as the most influential female. What's next for you? Are you going to take over the overlanding world? There's not a whole lot more you can accomplish in the shooting industry, right? So is that your next goal or what's next for you? 

Lena Miculek  22:00

My next goal is to attack concealed carry with the same intensity that I have competing and not only for my self, but just in how I have instructed people on how to shoot better. I want to be able to solve the most important problem I think that I could possibly take on with my skill set which is helping people be confident and comfortable and protecting themselves. I cannot think of anything that would bring me more joy because I, on a personal note, have a real thing about facing fears in my family. My mom started this tradition where I would face a fear every year. We jumped off the stratosphere together and have gone rock climbing we've gone skydiving because I don't like heights. Facing fear is just what life is about. Through overlanding I face a fear of being alone because I travel so much but I had always traveled in groups and then all the sudden I'm deciding to drive by myself across the country. So not only do I need to be protected myself, I need to be prepared. Facing fear is the way to freedom. So concealed carry and helping people find something that works for them. And I tell people, I don't care what it is, I don't care if it's a rock and a sock, or a gun, or a knife, or a flashlight, or pepper spray, or just a plan. I don't care let's find something for you. Because I can't stand seeing people live a life of fear. I was blessed enough to grow up without that.

Aaron Silvestain  25:33

I love it. I think that preparedness mindset is so important. Just sounds like you grew up in such an open household that honestly would have supported you, no matter what you chose to do. Obviously, you went into the shooting world, but have you ever thought if I wasn't a professional shooter, and I didn't start at 14 years old, what would I be?

Lena Miculek  25:53

Shooting has always been work. I have a different perspective on firearms and shooting and competing than I would say probably anyone because whereas for everyone else in the world, it's a hobby, it's a pastime, it's a fun escape. I only ever saw it through the lens of work. And through the lens of the dedication of 2 multiple world champions. I was uninterested in shooting because I always knew the amount of dedication it took to get there. Like if I said yes, I wanted to shoot, I knew what all the things are that I was committing to. So I was uninterested.  Then that changed and then I went professional. When I was 15, I'd always worked odd jobs. And then I got my first real like nine to five at a clothing boutique. And it was terrible. And I thought no one can pay me enough to achieve their goals for them.

Ron Dan  26:54

You've learned so much and you've spent your entire life learning. Where do you now go to learn more?

Lena Miculek  27:01

I am an in person learner. It is the hardest thing in the world for me to be pinned down to any one location long enough to make it through. But I spend a lot of time just like reflecting. Because just like at the end of my drills where I say, you know, what did I see? What did I feel? What were my results? And what am I going to do next? If I expand that to my life and I look at that in weeks of times, in days, in how I am eating, how I'm training, what I'm trying to achieve business wise? And I just kind of see that. That's kind of what guides me. It's cool that when you track what you do, you can implement something and then just see what the result is.

Ron Dan  27:46

Personally, one of my favorite things about this podcast has been learning your approach on things. That's an approach that I haven't really heard from too many people and I just absolutely love it. And I think part of that comes from your mom even saying, “Hey, every year we're gonna tackle one of these fears”. And I think that's also just cool approach.

Lena Miculek  28:03

And my dad's a giant kid. We both have a fondness for like, being giant, stupid kids. He's also the most curious human I've ever met in my life, like never shuts up with the questions. You think a four year old is bad? Meet Jerry Miculek. But what it does is that it is constantly spawning curiosity and intrigue. And then that coupled with the mindset in my family, especially through my father, that every day, he looks at how he shoots as everything that I'm doing is wrong. And there's a better way to do it. I call it like avoiding Big Head, you avoid being stagnant because as soon as you think you know something you stop learning. I 100% love the fact that the only way to be truly great at something is that you have to do what I call live where you just suck. It's such an important learning moment in achieving something because it's just like the time to put in the work. It's the time for the dedication to come through. And it's time for you to really learn how to deal with struggles, you know, and how to positively talk to yourself and how to really become who you need to be to achieve the goal that you have in hand. But when you boil down what I love about competing, it's this process of like, constant self discovery, because there is no right. It's just about the best thing that you found for you right now.

Aaron Silvestain  29:30

I love that. I think if you talk to any professional athlete, a lot of them are the same exact way. It's all about the process. It's all about getting better. Yes, the results are great, but the process and the amount of work it took to get to the results are honestly more rewarding for them than the actual end results.

Lena Miculek  29:46

And that doesn't mean that you like that process. That doesn't mean I wake up in the morning I'm gonna go train. No, oh my gosh, there have been so many self wallow days where you're crawling out onto the range and your like I don't even need to be here. I don't deserve this job.

Aaron Silvestain  30:03

Well, speaking of fear, this is the most fearful part of this podcast. Ron has what he calls the lightning round. Ron has a few questions it's going to ask you in rapid fire, you have to just shoot from the hip, no pun intended, an answer as quick as possible.

Ron Dan  30:19

And Lena, we generally have four questions. I have a bonus question for you, specifically, just for you and your personality. So I'm going to throw out these five questions to you. And I just want whatever comes to mind first, that's what I want to hear from you. What three pieces of gear do you always want to have on you?

Lena Miculek  30:36

Chapstick, a pocket knife and my cell phone.

Ron Dan  30:39

If you were on a desert island, you get one piece of media, whether it's a book, a song, a movie, what would you want with you?

Lena Miculek  30:47

A desert survival guide book because I would have no idea what I'm doing out there. 

Ron Dan  30:50

That's smart.

Aaron Silvestain  30:54

That's a Greg Thompsonesque answer right there.

Ron Dan  30:58

Alright, what’s  the best concert you've ever been to?

Lena Miculek  31:00

It was actually a Billy Ellish concert with Ashley Rheuark my best friend from Glock. We both rolled in there and there was nobody in that pit and we jumped so much I could barely walk the next day. My calves were so wrecked.

Ron Dan  31:14

That's a pretty strong concert. Alright, what's the craziest thing that's ever happened to you?

Lena Miculek  31:18

I was going to the SIG Hunter games and I knew that Royce Gracie was gonna be there. Then I got in the same car with him and I went to subway with the Gracie and I got a Subway sandwich and we were riding in the same car and I was waiting for my opportunity. I brought my white belt with me so he could sign it.  Like I'm nerding out and I don't fangirl, except for MMA fighters, apparently. Anyways, I finally get an opportunity to talk to him. In this short moments that we had, I decided to talk to him about Louisiana and frogging. I decided that for my one opportunity to talk to this guy that I'm just like, oh my gosh, it's the Gracie. He mentioned Louisiana and I was like, I'm from Louisiana. We have so much heritage, so much history, family shooting, all that. You know what I'm gonna do frogs. And I was like, have you ever been frogging Mr. Gracey? And then anyways, I start to tell him about catching frogs and how the swamp is beautiful at night with your headlamp and you grab them and you put them in the bag. At the end of it he was like, so what do you do with the frogs? And I was like, oh, he doesn't know we eat them. And then I met him two months later, and he remembered who I was. And it was amazing.

Ron Dan  32:36

That's a pretty crazy story because most people will never get a chance to meet Royce Gracie in their lives. And, you know, I think fortunately, all of us have, but he's the coolest guy that you'll ever meet. He's so friendly. Alright, Lena, the last question for you. This one's just for you. We've never asked this one before. Looking at everything you put out, you’re pretty goofy on the range. But I think you hype yourself up maybe before you go shoot or before you go do something. What song is your hype song?

Lena Miculek  33:03

So there's a song by Jesse Reyez called Saint Nobody. And it's like if I want to be in my feels pumped up, not like workout pumped up where you're just like blaring and you're just like, no, I get there too. But this is like, I'm gonna compete on behalf of my family and my soul and my heart for America, glory, tears, greatness. That one gets me.

Ron Dan  33:28

Well, Lina, where can our fans go to find you on Instagram or Facebook or on social media? How do they find you?

Lena Miculek  33:34

If you put in Lena Miculek and then this is the hard part M-I-C-U-L-E-K, and I spell it out because it doesn't make any sense. But if you put that name in anywhere, I'm the only one that it'll bring up. So if you don't see me there, I'm not there. I don't have YouTube channel. I'm sorry, but I do have Instagram, and Facebook. And I do randomly come out with videos on other people's channel that you'll only know about if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook.

Ron Dan  34:02

Well, Lina, we can't thank you enough for joining us here at the Vertx briefing room. I probably learned more on this podcast than all the other ones that we've done. I really enjoyed it. And I really appreciate you taking the time spent with us.

Lena Miculek  34:12

Thank you guys

Music  34:13

Ron Dan  34:23

Aaron, that was so cool. I never thought I would learn from somebody that was actually born on a shooting range and surrounded by the shooting sports their entire lives. What was your favorite thing you learned on that episode?

Aaron Silvestain  34:35

Other than how to be born on a range, that was pretty impressive, and how to actually become a functioning adult with that happening. It's pretty amazing. But I think the favorite thing I learned was that the process is almost more important than the result.  That it takes hard work, dedication. I think she called it “living in the suck”. Like it takes a lot of work to get there, but you have to maybe not enjoy it in terms of the day to day, but you have to enjoy the process to get to there and I think everyone kind of coming to that realization, no matter what your profession is or what your hobbies are, if you can live that process, you're going to be successful.

Ron Dan  35:08

I agree. One of the coolest things is that she's at the top of her game and she's one of the best to do what she's done ever in history, but she's always learning and she always wants to be better. That's the champions mentality, and she definitely has it. Well, thank you all for joining the Vertx Briefing Room. Make sure you check out the show notes at Vertx.com/podcasts. Be sure to like, subscribe and give us a review and experts you would like to hear about on future episodes.

Music  35:15