Ripple Effect

Influence can be direct, and indirect. Both direct and indirect influence can have great effect. This post is about that. Both men listed have had great effect - direct and indirect. 

DIRECT EFFECT

Jeff Mayhew is an instructor with Patriot Training. Jeff brings family. Jeff brings friends. Jeff helps set up and take down. Jeff attends classes with the author at other schools. Jeff asks pertinent questions, and always conducts himself as a professional. He understands that the only "glamor" in being a firearms instructor is a blue-collar type of glamor. 

Having Jeff on board with Patriot Training has significantly improved classes and morale. Morale on the part of the participants, as well as the owner. 

For this reason, Jeff is hereby awarded the title of "Rifleman Emeritus" and will henceforth attend any Patriot Training class he wishes, completely on the house. 

INDIRECT EFFECT

Aaron Shipp owns Victory Martial Arts in Elizabethtown, KY. Make no mistake, Aaron has had plenty of positive direct effect for Patriot Training. However, Aaron has the distinction of having had by far the largest positive indirect effect on Patriot Training. 

Like Jeff, Aaron brings family and friends to Patriot Training classes. He helps set up, and he helps take down. He brings the martial arts fortitude to class every time he attends. But that is the direct effect. 

The indirect effect Aaron has had is significant. And this story was told this past weekend at Urban Rifleman. What Aaron may or may not know is that he single-handedly saved Patriot Training. For this reason, Aaron is awarded the title of "Rifleman Emeritus" and will henceforth attend any Patriot Training class he wishes, completely on the house. 

THE STORY

Setting was August 2018. The private land where Patriot Training classes was being held was no longer going to be able to host. With an event scheduled for August, the author had to scramble to find a place. Thanks to Nick Parker and OK Corral for working with us. That was an excellent stand in. But a more permanent location was needed. Soon enough, Mountain Top Gun & Archery partnered with Patriot Training. That pressure was lifted, but other pressures intensified. 

In September 2018, a pistol class was held wherein two people stole from Patriot Training. At that time, classes were held based on clicking "going" on Facebook.  The author would limit such a pistol class to 20 participants, and the morning of, usually 1/3 or more would message, saying they were not going to make it. It didn't matter to them, they did not pay until class time. They had no skin in the game. 

To make matters worse, a long-range class was taught in October, which Aaron attended, and only 5 people showed up. This was not enough to cover expenses. Money had been lost on the pistol class the month prior, because of the theft. The author was *this close* (squeezes fingers close together) to shutting the whole thing down. 

Aaron Shipp asked the question: "why don't you have more here?"

Through conversation, he asked hard questions and the author decided to change the way things were done. Since then, Patriot Training has grown by leaps and bound every year. Facebook advertising has been fantastic - thanks to Aaron. Only 1 class in 2022 will have lost money - and one of the participants in that one has attended again, meaning the investment was well worth it. 

This past weekend, Urban Rifleman had 10 participants and an assistant who was assisting in that particular class for the 7th time. Each participant and the assistant all found Patriot Training through Facebook - either directly or indirectly. The ripple effect (sometimes also called the butterfly effect) from Aaron's coaching made that happen. Also of note - in that class was the 1000th unique individual to have participated in a Patriot Training class. 

Of note, with all that growth, Jeff has played the role of grunt for the gruntwork very well. Never complaining once. Working hard every time. 

Without these two men, Patriot Training could not have grown to the size that it has, and this author is forever thankful.