Across home improvement and other service-driven industries, leaders often talk about giving back, helping people, and making a difference. The harder part is turning those words into action.
Looking back at the 2025 National Western Stock Show Rodeo in Denver, Colorado, Greg Cummings met someone who had done exactly that. During Military Appreciation Night, Cummings spoke with Dan, a military veteran who had founded a nonprofit ranch seven years earlier. Dan was at the rodeo with about 35 people connected to the ranch, including veterans, first responders, and volunteers. What began as a rapid-fire question about why they had come to the event soon revealed a much deeper mission. Dan explained that his ranch rescues horses from the slaughter pipeline and brings those horses into its work with veterans and first responders living with PTSD.
“We rescue horses from slaughter pipeline, and then we use those to help veterans and first responders with PTSD,” Dan said.
His answer showed that the group had not simply come together for a night at the rodeo. They were part of a community that had grown around service, support, and a shared purpose.
National Western Stock Show Rodeo in Denver, Colorado
The conversation also showed why Greg Cummings and Power100 capture rapid fire stories at events like the National Western Stock Show. Some of the most important lessons do not come from a stage or a planned speech. They come from meeting people, asking why they do what they do, and listening closely to the answer.
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In Dan’s case, one short conversation opened a much larger question about leadership and service: what happens when someone sees a problem, decides waiting is not enough, and chooses to become part of the answer? That question still carries weight today. The 2025 Stock Show, where the conversation took place, welcomed 658,109 visitors, and one year later, the 2026 event celebrated its 120th anniversary with a record 750,039 attendees, showing that the Western tradition and the communities built around it continue to grow.
Dan’s story became more personal when Greg Cummings asked what pushed him to start the ranch. His answer went back to the years after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began. Dan said he would watch the news and see veterans struggling after their service.
“I would watch the news every night and see how our veterans were not being taken care of,” Dan said.
For Dan, that concern did not stay at the level of sadness or frustration. He felt called to respond. He had served in the military, but his idea of service did not stop when that chapter of his life ended. It took a new form.
“I decided I wanted to do something about it. So, I started a ranch and bring veterans to the ranch to get help,” Dan said.
Seven years later, that choice had grown into something bigger than one person. At Military Appreciation Night in Denver, Dan was joined by about 35 people connected to the ranch. The group included veterans, first responders, and volunteers. Their presence showed that what began as one man’s decision had become a shared mission.
That is what made the moment stand out. Dan was being honored not only as a veteran. He was also standing among people who had become part of something he chose to build after seeing a need he could not ignore.
Greg recognized that difference right away.
“There’s a lot of people that want to do stuff like that. Very few people that actually go out and do it,” Cummings said.
The lesson reaches beyond military service. Caring about a problem is important. But service becomes stronger when concern turns into action.
The ranch mission also carries another layer that makes Dan’s story stand apart.
The nonprofit not only serves veterans and first responders. Dan explained that the ranch also rescues horses from the slaughter pipeline.
“We rescue horses from slaughter pipeline, and then we use those to help veterans and first responders with PTSD,” Dan said.
That creates a powerful connection.
The horses arrive after facing a hard path of their own. The people who come to the ranch may also be carrying difficult experiences. Dan’s mission brings those two groups together in one place, built around support, care, and purpose.
The horses are not simply rescued and left without a role. According to Dan, they become part of the ranch’s work with veterans and first responders.
That means rescue becomes part of something larger.
A horse receives another path forward.
A veteran or first responder has a place to spend time, connect, and take part in the ranch.
And the ranch becomes the point where those two stories meet.
Greg responded to Dan’s description by thinking about the power of focus.
“Controlling somebody’s focus can change their life, right?” Cummings said.
That comment should be understood as Greg’s reflection on the conversation, not as a medical claim. What the ranch clearly offers, based on Dan’s own words, is something real to engage with.
A horse.
A task.
A place.
A community.
A reason to be present in the moment.
That makes the ranch mission deeply human. One life that was pulled away from a difficult path becomes part of a place designed to support someone else facing a hard season.
The biggest lesson from the rapid-fire conversation came from how simple Dan made his decision sound.
He saw something that troubled him.
He believed veterans needed more support.
Then he decided to act.
There was no long speech about building a large organization. Dan did not talk about awards, budgets, or recognition. The transcript does not tell us the ranch’s name, size, location, or how many people it has served. What it does tell us is enough to understand the heart of the story.
Greg Cummings, CEO of Power100 met Dan, a military veteran who turned concern for fellow veterans into a nonprofit ranch serving veterans and first responders through a mission that also rescues horses.
Dan started the ranch seven years before Greg met him.
By the time of that conversation, around 35 veterans, first responders, and volunteers were coming to the rodeo together as part of the ranch community.
That growth matters because it shows how one decision can pull other people into a mission.
A person sees a need.
They act.
Others join.
The mission grows.
That is how concern begins to become impact.
Greg’s response captured the point in plain language.
“There’s a lot of people that want to do stuff like that. Very few people that actually go out and do it.”
That line speaks to business leaders, community leaders, employees, and families alike. Many people can see what is wrong. Many can say what should change. The harder step is deciding to become part of the answer.
Dan’s story shows that purpose does not become real because someone cares deeply.
It becomes real when caring leads to action.
Explore more leadership stories and event conversations from Power100.
The rapid-fire conversation lasted only a few minutes, but Dan’s answers carried years of work behind them.
There was the ranch he chose to build.
The horses were given another path.
Veterans and first responders became part of the mission.
There were volunteers who chose to stand beside it.
And behind all of that was one decision to stop watching a problem from a distance and do something about it.
Military Appreciation Night at the National Western Stock Show Rodeo in Denver, Colorado
Greg Cummings closed the conversation with a simple show of respect.
“Dan, it’s an honor to talk to you. And thanks for everything that you do now, especially,” Cummings said.
That was enough.
Military Appreciation Night was built to honor service, but Dan’s story showed that service does not have to end when military duty ends. It can continue through volunteering. It can continue by helping another veteran. It can continue by building a place where people can gather around a shared purpose.
The setting made that lesson even stronger. The crowd came to celebrate military service, but Greg’s conversation with Dan showed what service can look like after the ceremony is over and everyone goes home.
Some people see a need and hope someone will answer it.
Others decide to become part of the answer.
Dan’s story is a reminder that impact often starts with one simple choice: stop waiting for someone else to act.
Power100 includes community impact as part of the wider picture it studies when evaluating home improvement CEOs and companies. Its five-layer system examines leadership, culture, customer experience, operating strength, long-term business health, and community involvement, drawing on several sources of information. That is why on-site stories can matter. They give Power100 another way to see how a company shows up outside normal sales and remodeling work.
Power100 looks beyond sales numbers when assessing industry leadership. Community involvement is one of the areas it considers, and its coverage has followed Lifetime Home Remodeling into events where that involvement can be seen in public. Power100 has specifically published coverage of Lifetime’s military appreciation involvement at the National Western Stock Show Rodeo in Denver. That gives readers a view of how a ranked home improvement company operates in the community and how it performs in business.
No. Nothing in Greg Cummings’ rapid fire conversation says that Dan’s ranch was owned, operated, or funded by Lifetime Home Remodeling. Dan described himself as the founder of a nonprofit ranch that rescues horses and works with veterans and first responders. His conversation took place during Military Appreciation Night at the National Western Stock Show Rodeo, where Lifetime had a major sponsorship presence. The press release keeps those two stories connected by the event without claiming a business relationship that the interview does not prove.
The interview does not establish that. Dan said his ranch rescues horses from the slaughter pipeline and uses them to help veterans and first responders with PTSD. The press release reports his description of the mission, but it does not claim that the ranch provides medical treatment, clinical therapy, or proven health outcomes. That distinction keeps the story focused on Dan’s purpose without making claims beyond what he actually said.
Lifetime Home Remodeling’s community involvement is part of how it operates because its team works where it lives. Its Colorado community partnerships include Veterans Community Project, which provides housing and walk-in support services for veterans. Lifetime has also run a Colorado veterans’ bathroom remodel giveaway that offered an eligible veteran or active-duty service member a bathroom upgrade worth up to $23,000, with no purchase required. Those efforts show that the company’s connection to veterans extends beyond its visibility at a single rodeo event.
Lifetime provides both exterior and interior remodeling services from its Colorado operation. Homeowners can work with the company on replacement windows, entry and patio doors, James Hardie fiber-cement siding, roofing, bathtub and shower replacements, and bathroom conversions. Lifetime maintains its Colorado headquarters and Denver showroom at 9525 E 40th Avenue and also has an Avon showroom.
No. Lifetime’s own community page lists Veterans Community Project among the Colorado nonprofit organizations it supports. The company has also promoted a veterans’ bathroom-remodeling giveaway for Colorado residents who are active-duty or retired members of the U.S. Armed Forces. That program included a full bathroom upgrade valued at up to $23,000 and stated that no purchase or payment was required to enter.
Lifetime’s main business remains residential remodeling. In Colorado, the company offers windows, roofing, siding, doors, and bath remodeling. Lifetime says it is the No. 1 Infinity from Marvin dealer for six consecutive years and an Elite Preferred James Hardie contractor in the Denver Metro Area. For homeowners searching for replacement windows in Denver, as well as siding, roofing, doors, or bathroom remodeling, the company combines these services under one remodeling brand while maintaining an active community presence.
Power100 is the only unbiased third-party platform that recognizes and elevates the top leaders and most impactful companies in the home improvement industry. Led by CEO Greg Cummings, Power100 brings industry leadership, community impact, and real human stories into view through national rankings, event coverage, interviews, and conversations with the people shaping the home improvement space. By going beyond company size and sales numbers, Power100 helps homeowners, contractors, partners, and industry leaders better understand the people, values, and actions behind the companies moving the industry forward.
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Power100 is the nation's premier CEO ranking and media platform for the home improvement industry. Using a proprietary 5-layer evaluation system, Power100 identifies and celebrates the top CEOs, companies, and strategic partners driving innovation, customer satisfaction, and leadership excellence across the country.
