David L. Gillespie on Leadership, Service & Imagination

0:00You are listening to I Am Refocused Radio with your host, Shemaya Reed. This show is designed to inspire you to live your purpose and regain your focus. And now here's your host, Shemaya Reed. Welcome back to our Refocused Radio. Once again, we are here today and today we have another show lineup for you all today. We want to welcome a award-winning author and also a retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel David Gillespie. He has an amazing story just like all of our guests. But today we're recording on a special day. September 11th everyone knows exactly where they were if you were around at that time in 2001. This is 25 years later. If you've been watching the news or TV lately or social media, I'm sure you've seen a lot of people come together. And it's a little bit more positive vibes today, if you will. We want to have even more positive vibes today as well with our special guest David with over 35 years of leadership across military intelligence,

1:08public policy and executive program development. David has taken on a very different mission. Now he is spying young readers, young minds through imagination, kindness, courage and laughter. His debut children's book, a picture book is blue, flaky, blue to the rescue, grew from a family moment involving his young as daughter and became an award-winning story about friendship, problem solving and caring for others. So first of all, we're almost cutting right to the chase. David, thank you for being on today. May I? How you doing? Oh, man, I'm really pleased to be here and you've already referenced it. You know, today is just a really impactful day. You know, 25 years ago, I mean, what's in the name, you know, your show, I am refocused right. And 25 years ago today, our nation had to refocus. And so I think it's just very poetic, very gratuitous that we're talking today. So thank you for having me on. I appreciate it. Yes, sir. When you think about your career in the military with leadership, what makes you say now is the time to do a different project and do a picture book?

2:18Well, listen, I would be lying if I said that I always, you know, had dreamed of writing the children's picture book, right? And those in your audience out there who are familiar with, you know, these types of books or whatever, and you say, hey, you know, tell me, tell me what you imagine when you think of a children's picture book author. I don't think too many people would say a 61 year old man, husband of nearly 40 years, grandfather of four retired military veteran, you know, but that's me, right? That's me. But all credit has got to go to the inspiration to we have two daughters, two lovely daughters, one wife and I, and they're both now moms of their own. They beach get the dust with two kids of their own. So total of four grandkids for us. And it was our youngest daughter, 26 years ago, her name's Hunter, and she was four years old at the time. And she just came in and she put a plate of food in front of me at dinner time and she said, miss flu flock you do was here to serve you. And at the time with both of our girls being young and in the picture book world, my wife and I thought we knew all the characters.

3:31And I said, who in the world is that words you see or read or hear about her? And she said, I just made her up. And so my wife and I knew in the moment that that character could become life as a lead character in a children's picture book. And so speed ahead 25 years procrastination got a huge vote throughout that process. Because quite honestly, we're still in the middle of a military career. We moved 12 times and 20 years, you know, all over the world and in the business that I did. And it was last summer, 2025, when my lovely bride, Marshall looked at me and she goes, okay, Dave, we have now four grandkids between the ages of one and five at the time. And if you want them to read this picture book, you've been thinking about authoring, then you might as well do it. And I said, and what are a lot of husbands who've been married as long as we have I said, yes, ma'am. So I already had the story in my head because there's so many parts of the story that are actually true that actually happened in our family.

4:34So I just had to finish it up and I did found a great illustrator six months later. We got it done, published it in, we're talking on September, yep, of 26. And so published it earlier this year, about six months ago in March. And it was originally just destined for the family heirloom shelf. You know, that was success and put the small on the faces of our grandkids was success, right. But then a couple people said, you need to get that out there and let other children enjoy this as well. And we did that and lo and behold, in five, six months now, it's picked up nearly 20 international and national literary awards. And so it's been very, very well received. We've really enjoyed it. And by the way, I've already written the manuscript for book number two because someone said, let's do a series and I said, okay, let's do it. So anyway, that's kind of, that's how we got here. And but it was all the motivation of our youngest daughter hunter. In the book, the story you emphasize on kindness and helping others. Why was that message important to you?

5:37Well, not only kindness and compassion, but also confidence. We wanted, you know, our daughters have always radiated confidence and we feel like it's important, you know, raising children to be confident in the world that surrounds them, you know, every day, right. And all the way through adulthood. And so that was, that was really kind of the anchor point for the whole book was the main lead character, this flu flock you do who is very confident. She finds herself in predicaments and she learns to think for herself. And when she's trying to figure out, you know, how do I get out of this predicament? Then she says, of course, who do you who do I know what to do, right. And she and her sidekick in a hummingbird, her favorite sidekick name, he nuts between the two of them. They they solve life problems. Now, albeit life problems for a character that might, you know, be in the age of seven rate. You know, not problems yet that you and I and others, you know, wrestle with every single day, but yeah, so it was it was important to have a character with confidence that showed compassion to those that she is around.

6:45In this case, the first book is she's she and the bird, you know, they they rescue a baby squirrel, an apple, you know, and show kindness and compassion toward that, you know, of course, we throw in a lot of comedic chaos, you know, in there as well. And when the main character decides it's a good idea to smuggle the squirrel to the grocery store. And of course it gets loose and causes all kind of chaos. And believe it or not, that happened in our family as well. So that was a true part. Let's give this another focus ready and watching us online talking to our special guests today, David, the last day when you think about the times that you share memories with not just your daughters, but your your family and also the people that you care about your community. Almost as that player role in how you reflect on life and how you got to where you are today. Yeah, so you know, tried their six words. I'm always tried to live my walk humbly serve others do justly and so really you're talking about the serve others component of that.

7:45We tried to do that throughout our life. I'm proud. I'm a member of a board of directors for the Tallahassee pregnancy help and information centers matter fact where we provide all sorts of assistance and resources to young moms and dads both for children for the children up to the age of five. So a very important cause that we're part of there. So that's just been important part of our lives. I mean, like I said earlier, we moved 12 times like as it was in 20 years. And throughout there, you meet a lot of different people, both professionally and family and friend wise. And so it's just important part. You mentioned confidence earlier, but this was gears a little bit. What about problem solving? Because problem solving is a major thing in the book as well. What did the military leadership teach you about problem solving under pressure? Well, thank you for that. So the very first thing you learn when you go in the military is you don't accomplish a mission.

8:45You don't solve a problem by yourself and then a vacuum. It takes a team of people. And so that's number one. And when you recognize that in the second interrelated component of that is is you want to surround yourself with a team of people who will tell you what you need to hear, which is not necessarily always what you want to hear. Right. When you do that and you implement that successfully, then problem solving becomes a group effort, you know, so to speak. And that's how we approach this book as a matter of fact, I didn't do this in a vacuum. I mean, it's got my name on the cover is the author. It's got our wonderful illustrator, Ronnie Rooney, who did a fantastic job as the illustrator. But for the manuscript component part of this, then, you know, it was me and a village of others, right? It was my wife. It was our daughters. It was some others that gave good strong feedback that made the book what it is today. So when you look at the times that are in now technology seems to change every single month, what we thought was on speed now is going to be completely behind three months from now.

9:51What is your pen on screen time with young people and what do you believe they are losing now on in today's time versus back in the ass all the time you should play basketball until the street lights came on. That's right. Everything is missing now and what we can do better. Well, regarding screen time, you know, less is more and more is less, right? And that is we've got to get our kids more more away from screens. And so that's in specifically in the art of reading very important part here that anybody listening to your show now that is an educator will know this certainly elementary educators. And that is when children reach that magical pivot point of third grade, they're transitioning from learning how to read to reading to learn because 80 to 85% of the content children consume after, you know, third grade is through the act of reading. It's actually concerning that screen time and audio and visual will replace some of that we hope not.

10:56But at least that's what we want to do with this children's book is you cannot in an oh by the way, you know, unfortunately, a sad statistic is nationwide when children hit third grade, there's, you know, we're going through it. There's only about 50 55% that are reading at grade level that means 50% or so are behind in their learning journey. And so we've got to instill a love of reading in our children from a very young age and I'm talking about from basically from birth right on through right. So that's why children's picture books of today and certainly the one that we've authored, it's feeling, it's feeling two distinct components of that problem set. So to speak and that is it's being both a great read aloud book. So it's enjoyable to be read by a parent and older sibling, a grandparent, you know, with that child snuggle next to them and better on the couch, whatever. But then it's also being it's a book it rhymes all the way throughout. But it's a great book for young readers who are learning how to read they want to come back and read this book over and over and over again.

12:04And just by doing that, it's instilling that appetite and that love for reading and preparing them for their journey beyond. Listen, I refocus radio in Washington, this online talking to our guests today, US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, I should say, David Glass-B in his book, his debut of his children's picture book, blue flocking due to the rescue. My next question for you, you see what I did there is a military has also taught about matches, responsibility, but self accountability. You had over 150 drafts that went into this project. What kept you accountable to get the project done? Well, you're right. I did have over 150 drafts and there's a lot of people because this is a 600 word picture book. I was a bit naive going into the process thing and how hard can it be for a 600 word picture book?

13:06And here, like you just said, I have 150 different versions of a manuscript. And that is, people who've been in business a lot longer than I have will tell you, yeah, it's hard. It's hard to tell an effective story in a condensed and short amount of time. And actually, those who know me best, you know, will say, my goodness, you know, Gluspy, it over verbosity is my middle name, right? So it was difficult for me personally, but yeah, so the 150 partly part of the reason of that is because the book rhymes. In fact, every children's picture book agent, the entire industry will tell you do not set out to write a rhyming picture book. And quite honestly, we did not. But once we got deep into the plot and the structure and it's what should I do? Thought flew like you do, who do who do who? I know what to do. I couldn't get away from it, right? I couldn't get away from the structure and the rhyming. So I decided to embrace it and quite honestly became trolling error. And it was very valuable in because if I changed one word today from the manuscript yesterday, it became an avert, it became a new version.

14:12And the importance of that was when we're nearing the finish line of the books or now we're at manuscript number, call it 140. And there were a couple of spots that weren't just quite right. Then I could go back to manuscript 30 or 35 and find some words that were in then but had come up for come out for whatever reason. But now it was, they were the perfect fit to go back in. So that was the other thing that proved to have a, excuse me, a bunch of manuscripts to do that and quite honestly, that's kind of kept us on, kept us on track. Plus I had a calendar calendar that was keeping me on track, meaning that we started down this process in a hurry and again the summer of 2025. And my line in the sand was I wanted to have that book fully done illustrated and produced later than Christmas of the same years of six months later so that we could give them as gifts to our kids and our grandkids and we hit that mark. It's in the illustrator Ronnie earlier and interview where there any inspiration of his style of his artwork that inspired you seeing a story maybe differently or how did that process look like for you?

15:20Well, so Ronnie, I'll hear by the way. I found her through a website, her website that showed her portfolio and she had done some previous illustrations of, like I said, the main character has a sidekick on a hummingbird. She had done some hummingbird illustrations previously. She had done some other children character illustrations and I thought that it would just resonate and bring these characters in this book to life in particular reached out and she readily agreed and then what made what made the whole thing very special was that she welcomed collaboration. We had a wonderful collaborative relationship. I dialed myself back not to be too prescriptive because illustrators obviously want their creative and artistic genius to come out in their own way. But she would listen. I would listen to her in between the two of us. We said, hey, we think that's what would work for that scene and then I just boom, she was off to the races and she just did a wonderful, wonderful job. Could not be more pleased with Ronnie and now she brought the characters to life.

16:23When you reflect on the missions that you were part of in the military, being able to serve in major operations around the world, how did those experiences help shape the way you think about listening and understanding people who are different from you? Well, so first of all, it gets back to the team concept that you've got to learn very early on that your way is not always the way, right? There's always multiple perspectives and to go from that standpoint. I can tell you though, I so yeah, I served through what four or five kind of armed conflicts beginning with desert storm and then Bosnia and then goodness. I wreck the freedom and then Afghanistan as well, especially in the Afghanistan, where I spent seven months on the ground in combo Afghanistan and on a daily basis, I would walk past, you know, women and children who you just see, you see in their eyes and their faces, hope, hope, hope.

17:27And so that really instilled in me, you know, even more so, how much we need to value more freedom here in the United States as a matter of fact. And what we need to do, what we can do to help around the world, you know, and help those families. I mean, I've got a couple of pictures of those young ladies that I took a picture of when I was over there and I've got them here in the house and there's hardly a day that goes by where I don't wonder, I wonder where they are now. I mean, I don't think they're okay, right? They're okay. But anyway, I guess it's the totality of all of that moving 12 times in 20 years going all over the world with my family, by my side. It was just a special, it was just a special special time of our life. And I think the families get a copy of your children, but flu flocking due to the rescue. What do you hope maybe will spark one conversation about not just spending time reading with the kids, but sparking interests and being not just a kind person, but a helpful person as well in society.

18:35Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I think the story just kind of speaks for itself right in that there's the here we have the, you know, the lead character that is showing compassion to, to an animal that needs rescue and does that and then, and then it's help them throughout throughout the rest of the book. You know, part of one thing we hope parents will take away from this, it's a bit of a hidden message and it's in the very ending in the very ending, you know, the squirrel has gotten loose in the store because the lead character smuggles the squirrel without mom knowing it to the grocery store. And at the very end, you know, she's now captured the squirrel back and mom is saying, why did you bring the squirrel to the to the store. And my wife and I, we had a lot of conversation, believe it or not, on the very last scene of in that in the book on that right there. And that was, how do we make this land. And we decided to give it a very soft landing. We could have made the mother give a lecture to the child. That's the exact opposite of what you want in our opinion of what parenting should be. Ideally, you want a child to learn the lesson on their own. Now, perhaps the little nudging of the parent or the guardian, so to speak in that sense, you want them to understand and learn the lesson on their own because that's when the value is instilled in this one, the values produced.

19:48So we gave that we gave that a very soft landing in hopes that parent, we're kind of parents will kind of pick up on that theme. There were the trade reviews that have gone through the book have picked up on that point right there along by design, the book doesn't delve and into any social theme of the moment. There's a lot of great books out there that do that. There's a time and a place and a spot for those. This book is all about confidence, compassion, having fun and throughout not only the storyline, but in the reading reading component as well. Once again, listen, I refocus ready and watching us online talking to our guests today, US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel David Glassby and all about his book that you can get right now is available. It is the children's picture book, flu, flocky due to the rescue. And before we sign up, we started this conversation in the green room about today being 9-11.

20:49A lot of people are taking time to remember 25 years later. A lot of people have said they remember exactly where they were when that event tragedy event happened. If you can take five minutes, could you share the audience? What is your memory on that day? Oh, yeah, boy, very vivid. So anyway, so my family and I, we were stationed at off at Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska at the time of the first plane hit the twin tower at 846 Eastern time far back also it was 746 Nebraska time, central time zone. And believe it or not, more than you care to know, but I had literally just jumped in and just hit step into the shower, you know, get ready and go to work. And my wife came in and said, hey, there's a plane that hit the twin tower, you know, in New York. And she said nothing more than that. She didn't know much more than that. And I immediately thought there's a lot of fog, unfortunately some seasonal 150, you know, light aircraft, you know, got lost and hit the tower.

21:59And then it was about 15 or 20 minutes later when the second plane hit and I'm still in the shower about to get out and she comes in and she goes a second plane just hit the other tower. And I immediately knew our nation was under attack. And I stepped out, read my uniform and into work. I went the unit that I was a part of at the time we were one of the first ones in to the global war on terrorism. Actually, the very first ones in with those 40 souls that were on United flight 93 that voted to stop that plane from eventually hitting what we now know to be, you know, the White House or the Capitol or something DC. So they were the first ones for the global on terrorism and mine at other people's opinion, but are you in it? So the Air Force has a missile system called it used to be called the Calcum Air Launch Cruise Missile that drops out of the belly of a B 52 and flies up towards a 1000 nautical miles, instructs a target. And the B 52s and these Calcums were the first from an Air Force standpoint, or was the first weapon system deployed in our unit in Omaha, Nebraska was the one that provided all of the targeting for those missile systems.

23:12So we were rapidly looking at mountains and caves and everything else or where those things needed to hit. So it became a very impactful moment for us as a family, obviously, everybody. But then us in particular in our unit until we, you know, ultimately 10 years later, you know, finally, you know, found the guy responsible for all that then, loud, you know, and send him where he needs to go. Well, appreciate you sharing that with us and our audience are listening, our viewers, getting back to your book, your daughter's grown. She started this character. Has she given, given you any feedback on all the craziness of this journey of this book and all these awards and attention now? Yeah, they again, since their moms are their own hunter, she's got a daughter in a son, what two and four, you know, I'm going to. Don myself out here if I'm not careful, but and then our oldest daughter Sarah, she's she's got one that's what six and three I think it is.

24:18Anyway, they they've loved the book. Their schools have loved the book. Their peers, their friends have loved the book, love the character. And so that has been an extra special component of done some book readings at various places here where I live in the Tallahassee Florida area. And we're going to increase that as well. But yeah, it's been a very special for our family, not only for our daughters, but certainly for their kids as well to have. I'm called happy to them. And so they like the fact that they can go to someone and say, my pack you just wrote this book. Once again, been listening. I'll be focused ready and watching us online talking to our special guests or winning author and retired United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel David Lasby. Make sure you get a copy of the children's picture book. Like flu flocky due to the rescue. And like always, I want to say thank you for your time. Well, thank you very much. And I'll just put it in the plug and say you can go to flu flockydo.com and learn all about the character and get ready for book number two.

25:20Be nice to have you come back. I like that moment when it drops. So, good to see you time. Thank you. Thank you.