John B. Allen, aka MrBallen is a former Navy SEAL turned content creator. Ballen went viral on Tik Tok and YouTube in 2020 with his unique "true crime" videos that brought a fresh sense of storytelling and narrative to social media. His podcasts Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories and MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries topped the charts with millions of views and subscribers. Allen co-founded Elite Meet, a network focused organization that provides support to transitioning elite Veterans and an "unmatched talent pool to corporate partners." Today, Allen continues to produce content while helping other creators grow via Ballen Studios, a new venture that offers management and development services for budding content creators. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkoujZQZatbqy4KGcgjpVxQ/join Shawn Ryan Show Links SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/@ShawnRyanShow Sign up: https://shawnryanshow.com/pages/newsletter Support the Show: https://www.patreon.com/VigilanceElite Download Free Content: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lF-8_5jwRc5eAhzDkqqCOp-6yvd05vAw?usp=sharing Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shawn-ryan-show/id1492492083 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5eodRZd3qR9VT1ip1wI7xQ?si=59f9d106e56a4509 Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shawnryanshow Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shawnryanshow/ Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shawnryanshow/ Follow on X: https://twitter.com/ShawnRyanShow SRS Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4pqo9Uoh0WuUKxw0BmaK1yrg9Kd7E4lk #vigilanceelite #shawnryanshow #navyseals MrBallen Links: Website - https://ballenstudios.com NEW Book - https://book.ballenstudios.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@MrBallen Spotify Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/4NZWQf0wUsaT0tO9unlmra?si=2d19183c688345d0 Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mrballen-podcast-strange-dark-mysterious-stories/id1608813794 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mrballen Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mrballen Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mrballen Elite Meet - https://elitemeetus.org Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: https://lairdsuperfood.com - USE CODE "SRS" https://shopify.com/shawn https://betterhelp.com/shawn https://ziprecruiter.com/srs https://ShawnLikesGold.com | 855-936-GOLD @goldcopartner 00:00 - Introduction 08:15 - Childhood 25:00 - School essay story 30:40 - Marriage & Military Interest 1:07:00 - BUDs 1:23:45 - Hell Week 1:46:00 - Pool comp 2:05:30 - Checking into the Teams 2:19:35 - First mission 2:33:00 - First engagement 2:37:15 - Last night in Afghanistan 3:15:00 - Returning home 3:25:40 - Revisiting the medic 3:28:07 - Retiring from the SEAL Teams 3:42:30 - Elite Meet 3:50:30 - “MrBallen” 4:12:55 - Ballen Studios