Jason Gillette
Jason Gillette is CEO of Guild Health Group, a public health firm committed to inspiring safe and healthy communities through emergency response planning and research and evaluation services. Jason’s path to public health formed from various experiences and efforts over the past twenty years. Helping has been a part of what makes Jason, Jason. From providing humanitarian efforts in communities across the globe while serving in the United States Marines, Jason found his place in the service of others. After serving in the Marines, Jason worked for three fortune 500 companies in Nordstrom, JP Morgan Chase, and FedEx where he focused on relationship management and marketing. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in Global Health from Arizona State University.
Episode Transcription
Guiding Growth. Conversations with Community Leaders. In this podcast we'll explore the human journey of leaders, their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks and lessons learned Come join us as we journey together and uncover the questions you've always wanted to know. This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce providing resources, connections and belonging for business professionals and modern moments, an event and meeting venue in the heart of Gilbert. It's a beautiful day, it's gorgeous outside actually and we have an amazing guest with us today to special guest today.
This guest grew up in Los Angeles and became a U. S. Marine in his late teens where he served in entering freedom and Iraqi freedom And found a passion for humanitarian efforts. After his service, he went on to work for three Fortune 217 companies and then found an opportunity to pursue his passion for public health as a master trainer to promote community health models. His work includes updates to the state's physical education standards and healthier eating programs in school. My Children, thank you so much today. He is the Ceo of guild health group.
He is a family man with a wife and adult son who is attending college in Minnesota and two dogs who bring him great joy. Please welcome a Gilbert leadership graduate, Jason Gillette, Welcome to the show. Thank you so much Gilbert Leadership class class 22.5 503. The dirty 250 225 tends to get a little bit of dirt to, but hey, I'll give it the 2000, we'll get that. I'm class 20 on the class of the century. So how you go. I mean, I don't know I got my own comments but they're probably not appropriate for right now.
So instead, you know what we should do, we should just say 30. We should do rapid fire. Here we go. Would you rather find your dream job or win the lottery dream job? What's your guilty pleasure? Video games? Yes. Would you rather host a party for all of your friends or enjoy dinner for two and dinner for two? I'm not sure I want to know this, but it says what's on your nightstand? A book, my charger and some Kleenex. Last tv show you binged. Oh, I think it was, wait, wait, wait, wait.
It was the mandalorian. Yes. Okay. Okay, fill in the blank. Success is growth. What song makes you smile? I love, there's a song by Anita baker and the rapture of love, me and my wife. We love that song. Yeah. Are you more cautious or bold? Bold? I would guess that. Yeah. What your favorite rainy day activity? Watching the rain? For sure. What are you doing in Arizona man? I know right. I took the wrong turn in Albuquerque. What is one thing you're grateful for? I am grateful for my son.
He's taught me quite a bit over the years. Yeah. Do you ever feel like your business is stuck. It's time to get traction and move it forward. Call Chris, spear your business coach and certified us implementer will help you use the entrepreneurial operating system to get traction and achieve your vision call Chris today at (480) 848 3037, that's 4808483037. Well I have loved the opportunity to get to know you through Gilbert leadership and even more as we get to read more about you and, and learn about what it looked like for you growing up and what shaped you.
So let's take us back there. Um, grew up in Los Angeles, What a childhood look like for you. Well, um, well, childhood was, was interesting. I grew up homeless when I was in Los Angeles, we grew up in south Central, my older brother and my younger sister. Um, we, my mother was um struggling with a lot of addiction and things like that. And so we really um, forged quite often until, um, we couldn't, um, we had no other place to do but go, but I think the childcare services took us around around 17 years old and they separated us.
And so my childhood was just constant dependent upon others to take care of me. Um, and it was, it was episodic at best. You, you um, you found that trust was trust was something that you, you believed in, but never really saw often growing up where I grew up. And so my childhood was one that tested just who I wanted to be. I wasn't given much of an opportunity to, uh, to go further than what I was given. And I realized that um, it had to be me.
I had to make some decisions at some point. I didn't know that that was my choice in life at 56 years old, but you're right. You know, it's like, you know, here's the manual and I'm choosing to do something else. And so I, you're surrounded by fear a lot. And where I grew up, there was a lot of fear and it expressed itself in anger. Uh, and um, hopelessness. You saw a lot of that. Um, I think that, um, as I've gotten older, my childhood gave me lessons on remembering that I can choose, but I get to choose no matter how horrible the situation is, I still get to choose and that's um, that's what that frame that gave me when I was a kid, It's just you still get to choose.
I mean, things aren't exactly beautiful. Uh you don't have all the tools to, to make it, but unfortunately you still have to make a choice. Is there an individual who helped you to see that? That's a pretty large reckoning for a child. Did you get there on your own? Or um, yeah, I I saw, you know, sometimes the greatest teacher, if not one individual. Um, it's sometimes situations learning what not to do. You get to see sometimes what fear demonstrates itself as in your community and you can make a decision, do I want to make that my life habit or do I want to do something different?
And I think one of the strangest things I've learned is that um you can't run away from your past, but you can definitely learn from it and you want to run towards it because it gives you some context into who you are and why you see the things you see and why you see them that way. Um I learned that if I did the exact opposite of what I saw, um I would get a different outcome and so I believe that I didn't really have a framework to say I could prove it, but I knew that if the people around me were doing one thing then I felt it was if I wanted to do something different, I had to do something different than what they did.
And so I had to make a concerted effort as a kid to um do the exact opposite of what I what I saw and oftentimes I couldn't give you a complex because then you associate negativity with what you are raised around and that's not entirely true either. Um and so my life as a youngster was really about understanding and building a path that, that I could be happy with and that gave me the piece that I always looked for, what were schools like for you, did you have many opportunities there or was that like, well we moved quite often.
Um, we would move, I think every 18 months because um, we had, we were in, we were section eight and so we didn't, we, every year they had to do an inspection and sometimes they wouldn't go as well. And so we prepared to move quite often. And so school was a challenge because I was a shy kid and I didn't know how to make friends because you know, you move so often you're not really, you know, you don't build that skill very easily. You learn how to become friends with yourself very easily in some regards.
Um, and so I think that, um, I learned that school for me was a challenge. I knew I was smart, but I just didn't have the structure. I didn't have the environment to, to really demonstrate that. And so school was always just a space where I got to eat and um, sometimes I got to see some of my friends that I would see on the bus, but I loved school. I just never knew how to interact with it because it was such a foreign substance. Innocent, some foreign environment for me often times Alright.
So then post school, what was the transition, So that was 18-17 years old. I graduated high school. Um, and you don't know what to do. You're oftentimes. Um, I mean, my brother joined the marines before I, and when he, when I graduated high school, he was already in the marines. And so I didn't know what else to do. I didn't have like, you know, these litany of options and it wasn't a lot of education on, hey, you could do this or you could do that. It was, you know, the military or get a job And I didn't, you know, I didn't know what job to get.
You know, what does a 17 year old kid know about building a career. Um, and so I joined the marines um in 1999, right after high school. And that was, that was, that was an incredible experience I learned really quickly. Um, that there was, it was me, I had to depend on me. Um, and then the marines, they taught you very quickly how to learn how to be self reliant um, and also learned how to work within a group. So there was a lot of lessons learned in that moment and talk about your journey.
You know, some of the greatest lessons through your service and some of the experiences that you had. Oh man, yeah. You know, one of my greatest moments. I remember we were in boot camp and We had been, you know, it's 13 weeks and so We're getting towards the end and I see we're, we're doing this hike. I think it's like a 17 mile hike in, in, in the middle of Camp Pendleton. And um, I see a, I see a street light like you. I mean just imagine, I haven't seen a streetlight in like 2.5 months or a car or a window or anything like that.
And so I sit at this gate, um, looking outside of Camp Pendleton, I just watched the street like go from yellow to green to red and it was the most common space of my life. I couldn't imagine something. So, you know, humbling, right? Just a street light. That's all I needed to see to know that there was a reality outside of what I was going through. And um, that was, that moment gave me context that I could be a marine. Um, but it didn't mean that I, I didn't have to be, um, I didn't have to um, really embraced this ideology that was alone like that.
There was a world out there still inside of uh, California and san Diego. I just didn't see it. I hadn't seen anyone. It was really great to see me. I mean, just to bring you back home, like there is a world out there and that kind of shape the way I saw the rest of my training. So it gave me the strength to say, okay, I can get through this, this is, there's, there's an end to this too, right? Because those folks that were in that street area, they, they had houses and homes and so their lives continued.
So it was one of those spaces where I really appreciated that. That's amazing. I've never been in the military. So I respect and appreciate all that you have gone through. But I've heard many tell me that through their journeys, they have a lot of mentors that pop up in their career, anybody come to mind for you. Oh, absolutely. So um gunnery sergeant Wallace was um, was a great mentor of mine. He um, he helped me to a high standard and I really appreciated that because I didn't know how that looked.
I didn't know what it meant to be hellhole held to some a standard that was greater than what you thought you could do. And um, you know, you always want someone to believe in you and I think that what I learned was that um, it's great for you to draw on people's energy when they believe in you. And, and he always asked me to give more and he would always say what's next? And that was something I took with me for the, for the rest of my career.
I made sergeant in three years and then he said, what's next? And I'm like, I don't know. And he just kept asking me to, to make that commitment to myself to ask what's next, what is next. And so it just gave me, it never, it gave me a sense of, of accomplishment, but then also planning for what's what is next. And so in your time in the service, um you found your passion for some humanitarian efforts and share a little bit about that experience. We had a chance to volunteer at the special olympics in Mississippi one year when I was in training what we're going through class or school and just being able to help other people.
We did some, we did some humanitarian work in East Timor as well during um some of our campaigns um we helped folks across the country across the world do some just in any way. And it was, it was one of the most rewarding feelings to help people. And I've taken that with me ever since I've gotten in the military. I just love to help people and you would never think that the marines or the branch that imbues that level of help. But it was it was everything we did.
You know, we were we helped people and that was um that was something you didn't see often but we did a lot of work helping other people and just making sure that we were there and people felt safe around us. And so I really appreciated that uh that opportunity to show that helping is just as powerful as fighting a matter of fact you can actually help and do a little bit more by helping others. And so I really take that with me. I ask everyone, I come in contact with how can I help?
And it's something that, you know, some people just, they'll look at me crazy and and keep going about their business. But then some people like, oh well actually I could use your help. Um and I've learned that you can, you can learn a lot more about people and you can learn a lot more about yourself by just offering to help someone else. I think it's fantastic how the parallels here, where you grew up, where you are on the opposite side, your fear and now you're on the side where people are finding the confident and trusting in you and your path isn't that crazy?
You know, it is, I think that some of the greatest leaders were, are our best followers, but it's the people who understood what it meant to need help um and what it meant to show up for somebody else or even the lack of knowing what it means for someone to show up for you. And so um I know what it feels like and so now I'm like, I want to be there for as many things and as many people as I can because I know what it feels like when you, when no one's there for you, when you don't have that, that that calvary coming in and what you know, to dignify people as well when they, when you help them, it's, you know, don't do it in a sense that, oh, I'm doing something of my abundance to give to you, but I get a chance to help someone else.
And that's an honor. I think that's a really big point as well. So after the military transitioned into these companies then, right, Because it says in your bio area, three fortune 500 companies, you're part of talked about that journey there a bit. Oh yeah, that's so I when I got out of the marines, I'm like okay great, I'm a veteran, I'm going to get a job, a good job and you know, we're gonna, everything's gonna be okay and it didn't quite work out that way. Um I went to college a.
S you go devils. Um and I got my degree and I'm like okay great. Now I have a degree, I'm a veteran, I'm good and and that wasn't the case either. And so I went through a stretch of trying to find out what I wanted to do and you can't make a job out of helping people I guess if you don't have a doctor degree or an M. D. Degree or nurse, you know, those are the helpers, you know, you can't, you know, and so I thought to myself, how do I help in the healthcare space um without, you know, the clinical background.
And so public health is one of those areas where we looked at systems and we looked at processes and we looked at what made communities strong and what made them, you know, um not so strong. We also found out that there are policies that made some of these things happen, right? We saw that there were redlining that made communities weak and desolate. And so we saw how public health was part policy, part community, part programming, part all these things. And it was also really about connecting and helping people.
So I was like, that's for me. And so um before that though, they are not gonna hire you without any type of experience. So I had to get the only job I could get. And so I started in sales at Nordstrom's and I was selling women's shoes and uh I remember almost getting fired because I couldn't smile. I just got back from Iraq and I was holding shoes for a customer and I had this like serious look on my face like this guy's crazy. Huh? It was like, you know, I remember my boss pulling aside and was like, hey man, if I might need you to smile like this is Nordstrom like I'm gonna need you to smile, I'm gonna have to let you go.
And I was like, oh crap, what am I going to do? And so I had to make a decision like who am I going to be like, am I going to? And so I figured it out, put on a smile and I started, you know selling shoes and doing pretty well. Uh and then I went to Chase, I was at Jpmorgan Chase doing banking there and I learned how to connect with people, so I learned a little bit about connecting and how to connect with people over the years.
And then I um and then I got to Fedex and so that was my opportunity for me to go back to school and I really took the advantage of bettering myself and that opportunity is a great company to work for just. I learned that you know health was my thing and sales was not my thing, you know I'm a nice person, not a good salesperson. I was I was there was two different things and so um and I I resigned from Fedex and went to school, grab my degree and then I started my public health career and in that career you've worked on several initiatives, what are some that you're most proud of or that you feel have really influenced change?
Oh man! So we had a chance to develop a fatality review board and we were able to um put together a process for collecting data that would allow us to find gaps and some of the services and the care that these folks who had overdosed received and we were able to identify the data that there were practices and policies that we could change that would actually save someone's life. And so um that was something I'm still very proud of. Uh I'm also very proud of our work we did with Covid.
We were able to help heal a county with their operations and get over 50% of the population vaccinated before anyone else in the country. And so we were really proud of how we work together with the National Guard and was able to put together a very strong process that allowed for um, some 25,000 people to get vaccinated during covid and save lives in that capacity. So we're really proud of those two um accomplishments so far. That's awesome. So this other, this new organization, the guild health group talked to me about how that bubbled up.
I mean obviously degree and all that, but where'd it come from? You know, it came from. I wanted to do something great. I really wanted to make an impact in public health in a way that um, I could measure and say, okay, well it was this way before and after we made some interventions in, in, in, in some initiatives, we changed and made an impact. And so we, I'm big on measurement. And so, um, I wanted to see public health do all that. It could do, you know, I think it was, it's not as exciting.
People don't really care too much about public health until you really understand how complex it is and how much goes into understanding how you develop cities systems and processes to make communities grow and make them thrive. And so there's a ton of research on public health models like the blue zones and some other really neat approaches to building healthy communities and so guilt health group was, was was built out of the idea that we wanted to do something great. We want to inspire healthy and safe communities all over the world.
And so we want to make sure that organizations are able to respond. Communities are able to respond. They are, they have public health acumen, right? They understand that their community is a part of this public health process. And so, uh, guilt health group was a byproduct of wanting to do something that measurably made our communities better. And so we constantly try to reinvent ourselves as an evaluation firm as a emergency emergency response firm to make sure that we're doing what we can to make sure everyone is informed and inspired to work together.
And that's really where guilt health group came from. What do you from that perspective? What are some or maybe one individual challenge that you think we need to overcome as a greater community or maybe even a society. You know, that's a great question I would say. Um, it's two fold we have to, we have to understand what community is and I think we should have a much more um, active role in defining that. Um, we are a community where we come together and I think that the intersectionality is of our, of our community are so diverse that we should, we should honor that.
Um I think that we are only different in our minds and I think once we understand that public health and has, has is just as much about building healthy resilient communities for everyone as it is about looking at how the longevity of communities last. Like how do we build healthy systems where we can get access to care or access to education, access to safe and affordable housing, things like that. Um and I think that understanding that we like, I think it's the the adage high tide raises all ships we can when we, when we look at it from that perspective, that's when public health works at its best.
There is no way to raise the tide on one side and neglected. It doesn't work that way. And I think that sometimes it looks like we try to do that and it doesn't work. Okay, so I'm gonna ask you the question that your, your mentor in the military asked you, what's next? Well, we are expanding, we just expanded into Illinois and we're going into Colorado now to expand our services and and really meet the needs. Um our goal now is to build processes and systems. We have an assessment that we're finalizing that will help us understand what the needs are at a macro level and also at a micro level from the individual perspective.
So we are defining new ways of assessing our communities. We're looking at ways to um, bring, um, safety to the forefront of all of our minds. And so we started a podcast that will start next year that looks at, how do we bring the stories of emergency managers and safety responders to everyone's, everyone's doorstep and say, hey, this is what's happening and this is how we do what's called, it's going to be called the guild. I know it's kind of edgy, isn't it? I have no idea how you got it, but I like it.
Thank you very much. I appreciate it's completely random, isn't it? And how about you? So you and your wife are now empty nesters? No man, I know it's how does that happen so fast, right? You know what, it's, you know, I, I have no, I idea. Like I think about, I say, I look at pictures of my son when he was just, you know, little and I'm like, what is he doing in college like? And it's, you know, but at the same time I'm so proud of him.
You know, he has continued to um, ask himself the question, what's next? He just made the Carlton baseball team and um, he and I didn't even expect that, but he's continuing to push himself into being the best version of him that he can be and that's as a dad, that's all I really can ask. I just want you to be the best version of you can be, I don't really care what else that looks like, just continue to to be your best and so um I encourage that to him and to myself and everyone that I come in contact with, you know, because we deserve that.
We really do clearly. He has a great mentor in you, so that's awesome. That chapters are going well for him. That's great, thank you very much. I'm honored, thank you. Well I appreciate you and all the good you continue to do for the community, you're you're accomplishing great things and I love to learn more about your journey today and just continue to watch you flourish. So thank you Sarah, always an honor. Such an honor, thank you very much for the time, this has been a fantastic conversation, a great journey, very inspiring story and if you like this, like I know you do sign up so you can get all these great episodes coming to you, Thank you for being part of our conversation today and we hope to hear pretty soon guiding growth conversations with community leaders.
Ben, let me ask you a question. How do you see other community members being involved in this podcast. This is going to be a great opportunity for so many people in the community to have a chance to be heard if they want to tell their story or if they just want to be part of this journey with us and help sponsor in a way that helps bring more people to the table with us. So I think there's many opportunities at hand whether you want to again be on the show, reach out to us, let us know what your story is and how you think you could be part of it.
We'd love to hear from you, reach out, let us know and we'll see if we can make that connection.
