About Brandon
Written for Shoot the Breeze Magazine: Volume 00 - July 2024
Brandon Tellez is an Air Force Veteran originally from Denver, Colorado. After serving proudly for just over nine years, he is transitioning to civilian life and strives to take the skills he learned and apply them to building the community. Born in 1994 and turning 30 this year, he feels he is a connecting voice between the older and younger generations.
Brandon, you’ve had a journey filled with challenges and victories. How do you define survival, and how has that definition evolved throughout your life?
I’ve always found the meaning of words to hold profound importance. Whenever I’m digging into a word’s essence, I’ll often look up its dictionary definition. When I first looked up the word survival, I found two definitions that stood out. The first was to endure, but I don’t particularly care for that one. There’s nothing inherently wrong with endurance, but the second definition resonated with me much more: to prevail—to come out victorious over a challenge or obstacle. That definition signifies growth, moving forward, and learning from challenges. When you merely endure, you’re just holding up defenses, letting things happen. But when you prevail, there’s a drive to make something better from the experience. I find that beautiful, and it’s become a core part of how I view life. Looking back on the challenges I’ve faced, I now see them as victories—every hardship is a testament to overcoming, growing, and thriving.
How did your experiences growing up shape your outlook on survival and life?
My experiences growing up had everything to do with shaping my outlook. My parents divorced when I was around four, and they had very different perspectives on the world. My dad, even today, holds more old-school, tough-love values, while my mom was the opposite—content with the simple things and happy with very little. I grew up with two types of love: my dad’s tough love, which constantly pushed me to challenge myself and grow, and my mom’s more nurturing, everything-you-do-is-great attitude. While it’s nice to have that kind of encouragement, too much can be limiting. This contrast between their extremes became everything to me. I had to find a balance between the two, ultimately shaping how I see the world. Looking back, I recognize that my parents gave me qualities I’m grateful for. The idea of prevailing and growth? That’s 100% from my dad. He came from nothing—growing up with a single mom and three siblings in Detroit during the ‘70s. They moved to Texas eventually, and at 17, he made his way to Colorado, settling down and raising me. Recently, he became a successful software developer in Dallas, earning a 6-figure salary without a degree. His story of starting from nothing and thriving has always inspired me. I inherited a different set of strengths from my mom. She was always able to talk to anyone, a real social butterfly who found happiness in the smallest things. While I don’t necessarily believe in being content, I admire her ability to keep moving forward and find joy, no matter how little she had. Both perspectives have helped shape how I approach life today.
How did the differing influences from your parents prepare you for the challenges you faced during your time in the Air Force?
Those differing influences prepared me for the challenges I faced in the Air Force. My dad’s tough love and my mom’s more laid-back approach gave me a solid foundation. The ability to think for myself and approach problems creatively became especially useful after basic training. But even during basic, the tough love I’d received growing up made it easier to get through. Once you get past the idea of being yelled at, the rest is simple—you follow orders and push through. What really set me apart, though, was the balance between discipline and creative thinking. I learned to find my own voice within the military. That helped me adapt to the structure and carve out a space where I could grow and make my own path. That combination of resilience and independent thought really helped me thrive.
How did you navigate the process of self-discovery and growth while serving, especially during your deployments?
When navigating any process—especially self-discovery and growth—I’ve always found it important not to set expectations on the outcome. When I joined the Air Force, my initial goal was to complete my contract and attend school afterward. That was my plan, but I also knew I had at least six years ahead of me before that could happen. So, the journey naturally became one of self-discovery and growth because I wasn’t focused on a specific result. Going in, I knew little about the military beyond what you see in movies. I could only research my job to a certain extent before basic training, and even after technical training, you don’t fully grasp what the job entails until you’re actually doing it. By not having rigid expectations, I kept all my options open and allowed myself to explore new possibilities. This mindset became especially crucial during deployments. There’s actually more downtime than you might expect between 16-hour missions, which include showing up at least two hours early and debriefing for an hour afterward—assuming everything goes smoothly, which, with large aircraft, doesn’t always happen. During those moments of downtime, I let myself reflect and figure out how to make the most impact within my immediate environment. I often looked for ways to improve processes and make things more efficient. I experienced the most growth in those deployments, both personally and professionally.
How has the mindset of discipline and improving processes carried over into your civilian roles after the military?
As I transitioned into civilian life, I kept this mindset of efficiency and improvement at the forefront. In my first retail job, I quickly moved up in the organizational structure because of this focus on process improvement and discipline. It comes down to sitting down, doing the work, and doing it consistently. That discipline allows you to assess what’s working and what’s not. I think that’s where many people fall short—they don’t take the time to evaluate processes. For example, my first promotion to management came at a vape store. There were two shelves that employees interacted with every day, pulling items from them multiple times per shift. But no one thought to organize them, even though we had plenty of downtime. Instead, people often got too comfortable, pulling out their phones or taking short breaks during that time. I saw this and thought, “Well, I’m getting paid to be here, so I might as well improve things.” I reorganized one wall shelf and separated the items on it. That small action led to my promotion to manager. It showed me that when something works, you keep doing it. The same principles I applied in the military—discipline, efficiency, and improving processes—translated directly into my civilian roles and continue to drive my success.
