Hello, world. Welcome to discover your talent, do what you love. I'm your host, Don Hutchison.

Every Tuesday, I interview someone from around the world who's discovered their talents to do work they love to create a life of success, satisfaction, and freedom.

On Fridays, I interview an individual with many years of experience from one of the most popular or interesting occupations or professions who shares an insider's look at what it's really like to do what they do.

Today I'm delighted to bring you our featured guest, Jason A. Zimmerman. And our topic,

A Day in the Life, what's it really like to be a VA supervisory peer specialist? Welcome, Jay.

Thanks. Nice to be here. Great. Jay, are you using your talents doing work

that you love? Absolutely. All righty. We're going to dive into that whole story. Jay is a native of

Appalachia, a U.S. Army combat veteran serving as a combat medic with the first 505th parachute infantry

brigade. He's a married father of two daughters, an avid golfer, and a history and philosophy enthusiast.

He has served for the last 17 years plus as a peer in the VA healthcare system.

He's working currently as a supervisory peer specialist with the peer support outreach center,

Veterans Crisis Line.

Jay is a nationally respected speaker regarding improving the understanding of veterans' experiences

and care needs.

Over the years, he's had the opportunity to serve in various roles assisting in the evolution of peer services,

serving on numerous VA national workgroups, committees. He's a nationally published subject matter

expert in the delivery of peer services. He served on several details to the VA central office,

suicide prevention office, filling the role of the lethal means reduction veterans,

SME. Most recently, he served as a member of the Presidential Prevent Work Group as a SME on both

lethal means as well as community engagement and partnerships. An amazing career, Jay. We're going to

cover the entire story. Let's start your life journey

with family of origin where it all began. So start with where you were born and what was like in the

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