Ep. 273 | D-Day Leadership Academy: Jake Schroeder on WWII Veterans, Normandy & Redefining Success

He sang the national anthem for the Colorado Avalanche a thousand times, coached 4,000 inner-city kids, lost it all, and rebuilt on the beaches of Normandy — where a WWII veteran watched children playing on Utah Beach and said through tears: "That's why we came."

Jake Schroeder—former frontman of OP Gone Bad, national anthem singer for the Colorado Avalanche, and executive director of the Denver Police Activities League—now runs the D-Day Leadership Academy, bringing inner-city youth to Normandy, France to learn leadership through the stories of World War II.

After concussions, insurance costs, and political shifts dismantled his youth sports programs serving 4,000 kids a year, Jake pivoted. Inspired by the WWII veterans he’d been bringing back to Omaha Beach and Utah Beach since 2011, he transformed his nonprofit into a Normandy-based leadership program built on five pillars drawn from D-Day: leading from the front, total commitment to mission, chaos, preparation, and empathy. In this conversation, he and host Christian Taylor—director of the award-winning documentary The Girl Who Wore Freedom—explore what success really means when the money isn’t there but the mission keeps growing.

What You’ll Learn:

• What does the D-Day Leadership Academy teach kids in Normandy?
• How do you pivot a nonprofit when your core programs collapse?
• What did WWII veterans say about people recreating on Normandy’s beaches?
• How do you define success when your documentary or nonprofit isn’t financially profitable?
• What are John Elway’s three rules for running a successful charity event?
• How does Stoic philosophy help when you’re facing failure in filmmaking or leadership?
• What documentary films should you watch? Elway to Marino, Miracle: The Boys of ’80, Cold War on Ice

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

03:07 How Christian and Jake met in Normandy, France

04:56 The Girl Who Wore Freedom documentary connection

06:19 Following up on failure: Epic Bill and redefining success

09:00 OP Gone Bad band years: when the road is worth it

12:16 Stoicism and choosing your response to hardship

15:06 Virginia Beach at night: perspective and insignificance

17:16 Documentary filmmaking relationships that last a lifetime

18:36 Denver Police Activities League: origin and mission

22:00 Starting inner-city hockey with the Colorado Avalanche

23:56 Youth sports crisis: specialization, concussions, and insurance

27:12 The pivot: shutting down programs and reimagining the mission

28:04 How the Normandy leadership program began (2015)

30:16 What the D-Day Leadership Academy program looks like today

33:31 Five pillars of D-Day leadership: empathy, chaos, preparation

36:04 Expanding to adult leadership retreats in Normandy

42:45 Normandy tours: culinary, yoga, couples, and classical concerts

45:13 The Girl Who Wore Freedom guided tour and charity auction

47:55 What WWII veterans said about children playing on Utah Beach

49:49 Message to documentary filmmakers: your film matters

51:53 John Elway’s elevator advice on charity events

55:58 DocuVue Déjà Vu: Elway to Marino, Miracle: The Boys of ’80, Cold War on Ice

About Jake Schroeder:

Jake Schroeder is a fourth-generation Colorado native, former frontman of the funk-rock band OP Gone Bad, and sang the national anthem for the Colorado Avalanche (NHL) over 1,000 times across 25 years. He began volunteering with the Denver Police Activities League in 1999, became executive director in 2014, and transformed the organization into the D-Day Leadership Academy—a nonprofit that brings inner-city youth, police officers, and combat veterans to Sainte-Mère-Église, Normandy, France to learn leadership through the stories of D-Day, Omaha Beach, Utah Beach, and the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. He lives in Golden, Colorado with his partner Brooke Ferguson, principal flutist of the Colorado Symphony. Website: Home | D-Day Leadership Academy

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