In this exclusive podcast, ASI speaks with JR Martinez, best-selling author and actor and the keynote speaker for The ASI Show Dallas. As a soldier in Iraq, Martinez was injured by a roadside bomb that caused severe burns to a third of his body. During his three years of recovery, he began speaking to other patients and discovered his talent to help others. Today, he is a highly sought-after motivational speaker who shares his life story and offers advice on facing adversity with optimism and resilience.

In the interview, Martinez discusses the realizations he came to after his traumatic injuries. “We have a tendency at times to look at somebody from a distance without even knowing that individual, and essentially judge them and assume that individual is less than us,” says Martinez, who has also appeared on Dancing with the Stars and All My Children. “But in reality that individual is going through the same exact thing that you’re either going through at that moment or had gone through before. That’s really opened up my eyes since my injury.”

Martinez also discusses how he stayed optimistic during his recovery, the best way to support Army veterans and what he has learned from all his years of speaking.