Flippin' the Switch
Flippin' the Switch
S6 E4: Honoring Military Children Through Adventure with Quincy Martin
In honor of Month of the Military Child, we’re spotlighting the power of storytelling to reflect the lives and resilience of military kids. In this heartwarming episode, we sit down with Quincy Martin—Jones-Onslow employee, US Marine veteran, and proud uncle—whose children’s book "Breezy’s World Adventure" draws deeply from his global travels and military service.
The story follows Breezy, a curious 10-year-old girl, as she explores Japan, London, Australia, and Dubai—mirroring the journeys of many military children who grow up moving from place to place. Inspired by his own adventures and his spirited niece, Martin brings to life the wonder, adjustment, and cultural curiosity that define the military child experience.
Martin, who also illustrated the book, shares how his Marine Corps background helped him authentically shape Breezy’s journey—offering a touching tribute to the adaptability and creativity of military kids. His message to young readers echoes throughout the episode: embrace every new place, capture memories beyond the camera, and stay open to the beauty of the unknown. Listen now!
Run Time: 24 Minutes
Welcome back listeners to another episode of Flippin' the Switch. Today's episode is special to us here at Jones-Onslow, as Crystal Phillips interviews employee Quincy Martin about his new children's book Breezy's World Adventure, available to purchase online. This story highlights the wonders of travel, the power of creativity and the bravery of stepping out and embracing new things. Quincy also speaks about his journey as a military child and parent and how that inspired much of his writing. Just in time for the month of the military child. Keep listening to find out more about Breezy's adventures, and with that, let's start flipping the switch. Breezy's adventures and with that, let's start Flippin' the Switch.
Speaker 2:Well, it is April and we are back with another episode of Flippin' the Switch, and this time we are honored and happy to have Quincy Martin back in the studio. Some of our members slash listeners may remember Quincy from Drive EV Week, where he shared some both helpful and probably hilarious insights about driving electric. But this time he's here for a whole new reason, though in some ways it still ties back for his love for adventure. Quincy is an EV enthusiast who's always up for a journey, is now taking his all new adventure in this way is as an author. He's doing it through the pages of his very first book called Breezy's World Adventure. Welcome, quincy. Thank you for having me. Do you want to give us a little synopsis of what Breezy's Adventure is all about?
Speaker 3:Well, the book was actually designed based off of my experiences, my travel experiences, but it's told through the eyes of Breezy, and Breezy is actually kind of a rendition of my younger niece. She likes to travel and she loves adventure. She hasn't had the opportunity to travel out of the country yet but I think the stories that I write through Breezy kind of told through my experiences, through her eyes.
Speaker 2:I love it. So Breezy's kind of this super creative and adventurous character. What inspired you to create her story and does she share traits? Obviously she shares some traits of your niece and you, so can you tell us a little bit how Breezy came to life?
Speaker 3:Absolutely, so I'm a bit of an artist. Actually, I met my wife 35 years ago in art class. Really, yeah, we had to paint pictures of live magnolia, and so me and her got into a little debate about whose painting came out the best. I think she may still have a Polaroid picture of it, but obviously this was over 30 years ago, so she's still claiming that she won that Exactly. But as you can see, I am still the artist, since I am the illustrator in my book, but I think the design of the book and how it came about.
Speaker 3:I just like creating different types of art and once I got into AI and creating images in AI, my wife actually pushed me to say, hey look, you should start writing stories with this stuff. I just have thousands of images and I found one that looked like my niece and I spoke with my niece about different things that she wanted to do. She always wanted to travel. She thinks her parents are rich but she wants to travel. Of course, I had the opportunity to travel a lot of places by being in the military. So I just thought about it and probably about four months ago or so, I actually designed the book, kind of created the four corners of it, got some pointers from my wife and then, you know, we just we just created it. I think the big thing is that making sure I captured the essence of what I experienced, with being able to tell it through a 10 year old girl's eyes, which is a feat, it's a little different right.
Speaker 3:Very much so, but you know with the kind of coaching, along with my wife, who's obviously a long-term educator, that helped.
Speaker 2:Who has been on our podcast as well. Yeah, the Martin family is very famous here at Flippin' the Switch. Now you mentioned that you are a retired US Marine, yep. Now you've had the opportunity to see the world through various duty stations, like you've seen all sorts of places and you had a child in tow on some of those probably. Now, how did your travels influence like, where Breezy's been? I mean, in your book let's talk about where Breezy's gone. She went to some pretty fancy places. I mean she's gone to Japan. That's on my kids' top list. They're like when are we going to Tokyo?
Speaker 4:And I'm like when are we winning the?
Speaker 2:lottery. London love it. Australia and Dubai.
Speaker 3:So it was not a difficult process for me because I enjoyed all these places, whether it be London, tokyo, dubai, australia. I remember a lot of these places. Now, some of these places I haven't visited since there were Polaroid pictures, but I think what prompted a lot of the insight as you go through the story and some of the things like the Miji Temple and going to Queensland and surfing and all that stuff, I remember those things. I don't have a lot of pictures of them, but I do remember them.
Speaker 3:You have those mental pictures Exactly, which you know, which is. It's good, but also it helps, now that I'm writing about it, it brings back a lot of memories and just making sure that you know the story, that the story that's being told through her is very relatable. So folks that may have visited these places oh yeah, I remember that.
Speaker 2:So I think that's that's the main thing is, you know, just making sure I keep everything fluent but making sure I keep everything accurate, right? Yeah, I think that's kind of comes through on those pages beautifully. Now the book emphasizes how different cultures are beautifully connected. So your experiences serving in the Marine Corps all around the world, can you tell us about some of the lessons you've learned by like embracing the cultural areas that you're in?
Speaker 3:Don't fight it. I mean, you know, be very receptive to the differences. I think the first time I actually deployed out of the country and this is probably being her second book I'll say Lisbon, portugal. So this is probably going to be one of the places she visits it next. But that was my first time actually being out of the country because that's the first place that Marines, when they deploy from Camp Lejeune on a cruise from here, the six-month cruise, the first port we hit is Lisbon, portugal, and when I hit Portugal I still remember the big festivals they had. And that was really my first time being out of the country. But I think, just making sure that the vivid pictures I try to paint just through the words, just ensuring that people can kind of put themselves in those, those places, even though they may not have been there, but Breezy brings those to life for them.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 3:I think her even you know I don't do a lot of in the book, you don't see a lot of her sketches yet because you know obviously that's another added piece to it, that added peace to it, but it talks. She talks vividly about, you know, attention from just those small things that people may not pay attention to, and she draws it in her book. So later in this particular book, towards the end of the chapter, she talks about that.
Speaker 2:So, you know, as a young reader, that's so. This book is, you know, geared towards six to 10 year olds, right?
Speaker 3:Roughly yes.
Speaker 2:So those young readers.
Speaker 3:What do you hope that they take away from Breezy's journey? For those that get an opportunity to travel, I hope they take away from it just the experience of not being afraid and just wanting to explore and asking questions, you know, just taking the time to take everything in, because sometimes, with the advent of the cell phones, the smartphones, we're so busy clicking everything taking pictures of everything that we don't get a chance to fully experience it.
Speaker 3:So I think that's one of the big things I wanted to help her out, and I think that's a needed thing too.
Speaker 2:So, breezy, you mentioned she uses a sketchbook. Now I have a child that is an avid artist and sketchbook is kind of like the way that he sees things, you know, and I think that's incredible because she's bringing those things to life, you know not just through a. Polaroid, but on her own interpretation. So that's really great. Looking back at your own travels. If you could give kids one piece of advice of exploring and documenting their own adventure, what would it be?
Speaker 3:Oh man, the greatest piece of advice I can give figure out a way for you to capture it. We view the world through our own eyes. You know there are outside influences and people may say this and you see this, but you need to be able to capture those things based through your own eyes. Now, granted, some kids may not have the experience of actually getting out and traveling the world, but those that get an opportunity to do that, you know, use a journal, write, it down.
Speaker 3:I mean, there are so many pictures that I have that, even though they may jog my memory, I wished I had written some things down about it, because I always find myself what was I doing here?
Speaker 1:Why were we?
Speaker 3:doing that Even though you know it could have been on the on the beach in Queensland or, you know, in London. Well, based off recent travels, like my first time actually going to London was with my wife a couple of years ago when we went to the New Orleans Saints game so all of these big Saints fans huge Saints fans so we got an opportunity to go see big band.
Speaker 3:You know, we went to the palaces so we did all this stuff and I was able to incorporate that, but it was that was a recent memory, whereas some of the things like Australia, I haven't been to Australia maybe, maybe 15, 20 years, but I do remember a lot of it. Like I said, I do have some Polaroids, so it's kind of dating myself. So I would tell kids to just make sure that they capture the moment. You know, take, take the time to write down. I mean, if they have their smartphones, just write down in your little notes. Hey, this is what I actually saw, because sometimes you see the pictures and you remember kind of the grand scheme of things, but you know, sometimes you really want, man, what was I really doing? I was licking this ice cream cone standing in front of the Eiffel Tower or something like that.
Speaker 2:There's nothing worse than whenever you go on a vacation and you take your whole family, your kids this is life experience lessons here and you're like oh you know. When you first get back from the trip, you're like what was your favorite thing you did on vacation? And they tell you and they're like, oh, sitting at the beach or whatever, and you're like. Then, like you know, give it six months, You're like oh, do you remember that? I don't remember that, right on the back of the picture when it was so.
Speaker 2:you know, take your picture on your smartphone, but put a little note down.
Speaker 3:I think that's solid advice. I think that's probably key and I think you know Breezy captures that.
Speaker 2:She does.
Speaker 3:Because she jots down everything, she draws pictures of everything and then you know in the book when she gets back home she actually goes and gives a presentation to her class, the local newspaper picks up on it and there's an evolution of things that are going to occur, I think, in the next books that are going to come along, setting it up.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so it's going to be an interesting ride. So when I say it's Breezy's World Adventure, it just didn't stop at the four locations, because I've been so many places and I want to take Breezy through the eyes of a you know 10, she'll be allow folks, and especially the younger readers, to envision some of these locations and places.
Speaker 3:Cause a lot of them have heard. You know, you've heard of London, you've heard of big Ben, you've heard of Australia. Most of them kind of at this age they've already heard about a lot of these places and I think breezy kind of brings some of that stuff to life. For sure it gives them ideas, hey. I can go to these places you know, and I want to visit these places because of the interesting things that Breezy had to say about it.
Speaker 2:There's something for you to dream.
Speaker 3:Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2:Now I know that Breezy's not a military kid, but you were in the military and you've had a child that was part of your family and traveled the world with you guys. And April just happens to be Military Child Month. Now this is a time that a lot of you'll see at the schools. They'll have celebrations and you wear purple in honor of them. How do you think Breezy's world connects to a service member's child?
Speaker 3:Well, first I'll let you in on a little secret. Long, long, long time ago now that I think about it, it's probably almost a half a century I was a military kid.
Speaker 3:I didn't realize that my dad was a retired Master Chief out of the Navy. So I experienced a little bit of that. You know, I kind of remember certain things, but I think by the time I was maybe nine or 10, my dad had retired. But as a younger kid, you know, I was a military kid my son, I think. The first time I flew them out of the country. I actually flew them to Tokyo because I was stationed in Okinawa, japan, at the time. The main thing with him it was the long trip. Now he was about maybe five or six years old, so it was a long trip. But once he got into Tokyo he just enjoyed it. They had this huge donut place. I remember that we stood in line for like an hour and a half only because he wanted to get in there and see all the little colorful you know characters and stuff they have.
Speaker 3:So I think for military kids, breezy gives insight to that. Even though she may not be a military kid, she's actually traveling because her dad had all these business meetings and all these different locations and that's how she got a chance to travel. But there's really no different than, you know, a military service member getting orders to go somewhere or, you know, going TAD to somewhere and able to bring their family, because sometimes we're not always able to bring our families.
Speaker 2:But I think the military kids will definitely get a lot out of this because they've probably been in some of the places she's been Absolutely, and I know it's not always easy for the military kid but I think through the help of Breezy it kind of lets them say it's okay, I may have to move every four years or every six years and make a new set of friends, but you're up for a new adventure every time. Yeah, absolutely. And you're teaching her to kind of embrace that culture and these kids too at the same time. Absolutely. So Breezy is kind of growing up in a unique environment because she's getting to travel the world and so do our military kids, often traveling throughout the world with their families, and you kind of discussed, like what kind of message you would want to bring to them by just embracing those cultures. Are there any other things you want the world to know about Breezy?
Speaker 3:Well, I think she's a typical kid for the most part. I mean she has her friends. She's a typical kid for the most part. I mean she has her friends In this particular book. She has her friends Kayla that she is going to have more of a role in the next book and there are going to be some experiences that are going to be told to her eyes. Mom and Dad still kind of play the background in the next book, but her younger brother, junior, is picking up on things. Junior's like about six or seven years old, so now he gets to travel he's going to have kind of more awareness as they take their European and African vacation. Dad's going to be traveling again due to business.
Speaker 3:So I think, from Breezy's perspective and how you kind of correlate that with military kids, my advice to them would be just to embrace it, because not everybody's going to have that experience. That's, first and foremost, being a military kid is something that's very unique, even though we may have, you know, a multitude of military folks around us here in Jacksonville. You know it's a very unique experience and I think taking advantage of that, learning a foreign language, not being afraid to try certain foods, just like when they went to Tokyo. In the book you know, breezy was hesitant about eating sushi. I was very hesitant about eating sushi. I don't eat sushi to this day. Oh, you don't.
Speaker 2:I do not.
Speaker 3:I tried it, you know, and it was okay, but it was just. This wasn't something for me. At least you tried it, I did try it.
Speaker 2:That's what you're supposed to do.
Speaker 3:But, that's what you're supposed to do, but her brother didn't want any parts of it. Julie wanted no parts of sushi. He kind of looked at it and turned his head away Discussing things like that.
Speaker 2:Average six-year-old reaction.
Speaker 4:Exactly.
Speaker 3:Discussing things like that in the book and whether to put the cream and the jelly on the little cracker that you get in London.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:So we talk about that which goes first.
Speaker 3:Does the cream go first? Does jelly go first? So those are little things that Breezy talks about, no-transcript. Oh man, I got to leave my friends, I think for my son, when we actually moved, he never had to live in a foreign country.
Speaker 3:Okay, actually moved, he never had to live in a foreign country you know, but he did have to leave his friends from Florida to, you know, to Virginia and then down to here. So that was always a transition piece for him. But you know, I think with the help of my wife, and we just always talked him through it A lot of times I was away from home. So I think with the advent of, you know, facetime and all these different things like that, you know, families can be a lot closer to their kids, they can see them.
Speaker 3:I remember having to call home off the ship on an Iridium phone. So you're talking on this thing, you got to talk and you got to wait till they relay it and it comes back to you. But now you know, you hop on a cell phone and you're able to see your kids phone and you're able to see your kids. So I think it helps with the uh, with the growth and being able to just be there. You know, if you're not physically there but just being there, you know for for your kids where they can physically see you.
Speaker 2:You have that connection.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, definitely you have that connection. I think Breezy tells you know the story that she's she's telling through her eyes definitely relate to the military kids and experience they're going to go through.
Speaker 2:Oh, I think they go hand in hand for sure.
Speaker 3:Definitely.
Speaker 2:One of the things that, as you were talking, I kind of was thinking about. A lot of times kids feel like they have that fear of missing out problem. You know you don't want to go because you don't what if Susie Sweetwater down the street is having a sleepover and I'm missing out? But I would say Breezy encourages you is that you're not missing out, You're. The fear of the unknown is a good thing and you should go and embrace it. So I think you're teaching kids a vital lesson through Breezy's World Travels of that Sometimes it's be a risk taker and it's OK, she's doing it.
Speaker 3:I think she, she, when she kind of has her, her moment with her classmates, because they ask her all types of questions, typical questions that you think kids would ask. You know, how did you talk to these people? Because some people think that you know, even when you visit a foreign country, hey, they don't speak English or you can't communicate. Well, a smile communicates across the world. It does, and I think she talks about that and you know, as she's explained to her friend Maya, who's very, very she's inquisitive, and I think in her next book, which I mentioned before, we always kind of start writing. So she's very inquisitive, she, you know she's going to be telling her story through her eyes, even though her breezy and junior, her little brother, are all experiencing the same thing.
Speaker 3:So it kind of helps to kind of say, ok, well, it's different perspective, so you know, it's okay if you don't see it the way I see it, if you don't like the things that I like or whatever the case may be, and I think just giving kids that flexibility and that space, and that's the way it should be Exactly, and for adults too, you know giving each other that grace and that space to kind of experience things with their own eyes and you experience it your own way, exactly, and that's a good thing.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Well, quincy, thanks for being here today.
Speaker 4:I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:We did not mention this, and I think it needs to be. All the artistic renderings in Breezy's book are done by you.
Speaker 3:Holy illustrations yes, yes, I tell my wife that too these are my illustrations.
Speaker 2:So you won this magnolia tree.
Speaker 3:Oh, absolutely, Because I mean she has all of her books, but guess what? I have the books with the illustrations in it.
Speaker 2:So that art class paid dividends.
Speaker 3:Exactly, definitely yeah.
Speaker 2:I tell you you did good. You won this one, Sorry. Well, I would say that your experiences as a world traveler, a US Marine, retired, but always a Marine I know that you feel that way. And bringing Breezy to life have all been kind of one of those remarkable adventures that you're on every day. You've brought all those things to life and it's inspiring others to kind of maybe take a journey that they didn't think that they needed to, and I hope that they will, even if it's only through Breezy.
Speaker 2:at least they get to go and travel the world through another set of eyes, so I think that's great and of course I would be remiss if I did not mention Quincy is also not just an author, he's not just an avid EV driver. He is a member of the Jones-Onslow team. So we are honored that Quincy is part of our group here in the information technology crew at Jones Onslow and I would encourage people to go and purchase your book. And where can they do that?
Speaker 3:They can do it at Amazon. You can actually Go to my link at ArthurQuincyMartincom which I'll give to you guys. There you can have it, you can purchase that book there. And what a lot of people don't realize, and they find out when they go to Amazon that this is actually my third book, so you've been holding out on us Not really. But everybody kind of gravitates to breezy, so you got to strike while the iron's hot.
Speaker 4:I hear you.
Speaker 3:But if you go to Amazoncom you'll see the other two books there. They deal more with the nuances of even though they're robots, but they deal with emotional type stuff. So it gives you know. Both of the stories give a pretty good tale about how to deal with anxiety and how to deal with you know judgmental type stuff. So those are the two previous books and I'm going to write a couple of more of those because I think they focus more on the individual and help and they also give towards kids to help them dealing with you know things that they come across, whether it be peer pressure or being bullied and things of that nature. So but yeah, you can go to Amazon and you can type my name in there.
Speaker 2:They should pop up If you Google Quincy when it pops up. I tried that.
Speaker 3:If you Google me. My son may pop up. You were number one. I Googled you today, Awesome.
Speaker 2:I Googled Quincy, and especially if you put Breezy next to you.
Speaker 3:You're always going to come up.
Speaker 2:Now I do need to circle back to one thing, since it is Military Appreciation Kid Month, we are going to be celebrating on April the 15th. That's not just Jones-Onsel, that's a national holiday. So, everybody, we encourage you on the 15th to wear purple for all the military kids in our community. And, quincy, we're just so happy that you were able to share Breezy with us today. I appreciate you guys having me and everybody go to Amazon and check out Quincy Martin Breezy's World Adventure. Thanks.
Speaker 4:Do we have your email address? With hurricane season just around the corner, it's important that JOEMC has your most accurate and complete contact information. Providing your email address allows us to notify you of outages, events, savings programs and more. At Jones-Onslow EMC, we rely on data for nearly every aspect of our operations, which is why we need your help To update your account. Call us at 910-353-1940. Reliability, focused safety driven that's our co-op.
Speaker 1:Hey everyone, natalie here to let you know what's happening at your co-op this month. Every day, in all kinds of weather, lineworkers keep the lights on for our members. This Lineworker Appreciation Month, we recognize their dedication, skill and sacrifices in keeping our power grid reliable. Their dedication, courage and hard work do not go unnoticed. If you see a JOEMC line worker out in the community, be sure to give them a big thank you.
Speaker 1:April 22nd is Earth Day, a time to reflect on how we can better care for our planet. One of the simplest ways to make a difference is by conserving energy. At Jones On Flow, we're committed to helping our members reduce energy waste and lower their bills, all while protecting the environment. Small changes in your daily habits can lead to big savings and a more sustainable future. Read our latest newsletter to see more easy ways to save energy at home in honor of Earth Day.
Speaker 1:Do you sometimes forget when your electric bill is due, or have an elderly parent that needs help staying on track with their bills? Then notifications are just for you. If you have a cell phone associated with your electric account, you are automatically enrolled in our outage text alert program. But did you know that you can also receive other notifications from Jones-Onslow. These notifications ensure that your account is up to date and you do not have surprises on your monthly electric bill. Sign up for daily usage alerts, third-party notifications, due date reminders and more at wwwjoemccom. And that's what's happening at your co op, natalie signing off. Well, folks, that's all for today's episode of Flippin' the Switch. Be sure to follow us on our social media platforms to stay in the loop with Jones Onslow. We'll see y'all next time.