Omar Ritter (he/him)

Omar joined Momma on February 16, 2026 for a live Q&A via Twitch and YouTube to talk about Veterans, PTSD, Burnout & Identity Loss

About Omar

Omar Ritter is a decorated U.S. Army veteran, finance executive, and mental health advocate whose life story bridges the worlds of military service, corporate leadership, and personal resilience. A West Point graduate and Bronze Star recipient, Omar went on to earn his MBA from Columbia Business School and build a successful career as a CFO and operations leader at top financial institutions including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and TIAA.

But behind his achievements lies a powerful story of perseverance—navigating PTSD, brain surgery, and the pressures of high-stakes leadership. Today, Omar uses his experience to inspire others to lead with empathy, break the stigma around mental health, and build resilient teams and workplaces. He’s the author of *West Point to Wall Street: My Journey to Mental Wellness* and an outspoken advocate for redefining what true strength looks like—in business, in the military, and in life.

Socials / Links for Guest Connection

• Website - https://www.omarritter.com/

• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579623584621#

• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/omar.ritter.9/

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/omar-ritter-cpa-sphr/

• YouTube - https://youtube.com/@oritter1

• Book - https://www.amazon.com/West-Point-Wall-Street-Wellness/dp/1544548664 

• Audiobook - JUST released this week!: https://www.omarritter.com 

References / Things Mentioned During the Stream

• PTSD - https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd

• Burnout - https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/burnout

• Stress & Anxiety - https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/so-stressed-out-fact-sheet

• Boys & Girls Clubs of America - https://www.bgca.org/

• North Carolina Veterans Business Association - https://www.ncvetbiz.org/

• Teach for America - https://www.teachforamerica.org/

• Down Syndrome Association of Greater Charlotte - https://dsagreatercharlotte.org/

• Favorite Poem - Invictus by William Ernest Henley 

• Stop Soldier Suicide - https://stopsoldiersuicide.org/

Episode Summary

Veterans, corporate burnout survivors and anyone who has ever confused suffering in silence with being strong will find something worth hearing in this one. This episode is for the people who are fine, totally fine, definitely fine... and haven't slept properly in three months.

Omar Ritter has lived more than most people will ever face in a lifetime. West Point graduate, Bronze Star recipient, combat veteran from Iraq and Kosovo, twenty-year Wall Street executive, brain tumor survivor. He's also someone who spent years hiding the fact that he was falling apart on the inside while everything looked great from the outside. In this episode of Even Tacos Fall Apart, Omar sits down to talk honestly about PTSD, burnout, identity loss and what it actually took to get better.

Omar's breaking point didn't come on a battlefield. It came in boardrooms, in sleepless nights at JP Morgan, in a moment when he left his wife home alone with their week-old baby to go deliver documents to his boss at 3am. He was the guy who always got things done, no matter what it cost him. And that identity, the guy who never cracks, is exactly what nearly killed him.

He opens up about his gunner from Iraq, a man who appeared fine on Facebook, who was chatting and checking in, and who then took his own life and the lives of his children after an untreated mental health crisis hijacked everything he was. Omar doesn't sugarcoat it. He calls PTSD what he believes it is: a hijacker in the cockpit of your brain, making you do things the real you never would.

The conversation covers what burnout actually looks like versus just being tired or stressed, and why veterans in particular are so reluctant to get help. Omar is blunt about the stigma, but he's equally blunt about the excuses. TriCare covers treatment. Corporate benefits packages cover therapy. You can schedule a session on your lunch break and nobody needs to know. The resources exist. The harder part is deciding you're worth using them.

One of the most powerful threads in this episode is the difference between powering through and real resilience. Omar held a gun to his own temple while powering through a job he hated in a city he never wanted to live in. He knows the difference from the inside. Resilience, he says, is bouncing back. Powering through with an untreated mental health condition is just damage accumulating until your body or your brain forces the issue.

He also talks about the identity crisis that hits veterans when they leave service and walk into corporate America leading with their rank and their medals, only to find out nobody in the room knows what a combat action badge is or why it should matter to them. The reframe he had to learn was painful but necessary.

Omar now teaches accounting and finance at UNC Charlotte, sits on veteran entrepreneur boards, and wrote the book West Point to Wall Street: My Journey to Mental Wellness. His audiobook just dropped. His message is simple: raise your hand, make the call, and deal with the rest once you're healthy. Everything else can wait.