In this episode I interview Ralph Kauzlarich from First Command Financial Services. Ralph graduated from West Point and served in the Army through the rank of Colonel, working in the education and energy sectors for several years after leaving active duty. He joined First Command as an advisor in the spring of 2019 to help veterans and military families accomplish their financial goals. We discussed why Ralph made the transition to financial advisory, and his advice for service members to seek c...
Sep 17, 2020•52 min•Season 1Ep. 73
Josh Rojas is a Facilities Manager with Jones Lang Lasalle , a leading professional services firm specializing in real estate and investment management. He describes his role as a great fit for the maintenance and operations leadership skills he developed serving as a U.S. Navy Surface Warfare officer for eight years following graduation from the Naval Academy in 2005. In today's conversation we discuss his path to this role as he went through his military-to-civilian transition seven years ago ...
Jun 10, 2020•51 min•Season 1Ep. 72
When Stan Walz hung up the uniform after a career in the U.S. Coast Guard, he knew he had more to contribute to the mission. Since becoming the CEO at VectorCSP in 2006, Stan and his team have been supporting U.S. Coast Guard acquisitions through the development of Integrated Logistics Support solutions. Selected by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies seven years in a row, Vector CSP supports multiple aviation platforms and has expanded their logistics and engineering offerings...
Jun 04, 2020•59 min•Season 1Ep. 71
Ryan Sweeney transitioned out of the Army in 2016 and after an initial role in management with another brand, made his way to Madisonville, KY where he works as a Production Workflow Planner and the Plant Veteran Network Lead for GE Aviation. Ryan also hosts a podcast called View From the Skies , where his guests and audience engage in discussions about transition and to share stories of leadership in regards to servant leadership, building trust, empowerment and accountability. In this conversa...
May 28, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 70
Lieutenant General retired Raymond Mason managed the Army’s $8B sustainment budget and oversaw the Army's global supply chain during his final role on active duty. In October, 2014 he began his first civilian job after a 35-year military career, facing many of the same transition challenges everyday solders encounter when leaving uniform for the first time. Serving as COO at a for-profit company for a little over two years, he felt the pull back to the Army and a desire to contribute to the miss...
May 15, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 69
John O'Grady transitioned out of the U.S. Army after leading large teams tasked with challenging missions deployed to dangerous places around the world. In this conversation, we talk about how those experiences and his time at West Point as a Division 1 Athlete gave him a template for launching his own coaching and executive development practice after leaving uniformed service. John works with leaders in the athletic and executive spaces to refine their talent identification and mentoring, and p...
May 06, 2020•41 min•Season 1Ep. 68
Brit Yonge and I are friends through a veteran organization outside of work and we wanted to have a conversation on the podcast today about what’s happening in his career, as well as his ideas about what lies ahead for our country and our economy over the next few years. Brit helps businesses evaluate technology both for acquisition within the businesses as well as from a product development and strategy standpoint. Since leaving the Navy Special Forces Intelligence Community in 2012 he has work...
Apr 22, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 67
As someone who used to work with explosives for a living and has trained physically throughout his career as a member of Special Operations teams, Josh Duntz is no stranger to physical and mental stress. In today’s episode we catch up about his transition from the Navy's Explosive Ordnance Disposal community via a remote-work sales role facilitated by the DoD Skill Bridge program. Josh and I recorded our first conversation in August of 2019 while he was still on Active Duty. I wanted to follow u...
Apr 13, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 66
David Dorfman is the Southwest Sales Leader for Tektronix. He transitioned out of the Navy’s shipbuilding Project Management community into a role that he quickly realized wasn’t the best fit. He found his way to a career in sales where he was able to find his true calling, working in some of America’s top R&D laboratories to service their needs for testing and measurement equipment. We talk a lot about the early mistakes he made as a civilian, including a costly mistake he made with his fir...
Apr 01, 2020•56 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Noah Currier is the President and Founder of Oscar Mike . In this episode we talk about his service in a Marine Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion during the first wave of the invasion of Iraq. Noah was injured in a car crash while home on leave and found adaptive sporting as a way to recover from his injuries both physically and mentally. We discuss how he launched Oscar Mike to support equipment and travel needs for veterans participating in adaptive sporting, and as an apparel business an...
Mar 27, 2020•49 min•Season 1Ep. 64
Rich Cardona was a Marine Corps Helicopter Pilot when he transitioned to civilian life, now he helps business owners manage their brand with Executive Video Content. Rich's customers fall into one of three buckets: 1. People who realize video is incredibly important but don't have the time to execute. 2. People who understand video is critical to business growth but don't want to be on camera. 3. People who do not know how to tell their story effectively. Rich helps create, repair, or amplify th...
Mar 19, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 63
Ken Thompson is a Principal with AlignOrg Solutions based out of Salt Lake City, a team of organizational design and change management partners. His team helps clients clarify existing and new strategies, optimize organizational set up, and implement systems that drive growth. Ken is also a former Apache helicopter pilot with the United States Army and remains a member of the Army Reserves, serving as the Deputy Brigade Commander for his unit in Scottsdale, AZ. Since his transition several years...
Mar 09, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 62
Chris Bugg is the owner of Sandler Training Coastal Virginia Professional Development, the only Veteran-owned Sandler Training center in Hampton Roads. Chris is a 1996 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and holds a Masters in Public Policy from Duke University, as well as an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke which he earned through their executive-track program. Chris served for 12-years in the U.S. Navy flying F/A-18Cs in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Fre...
Feb 28, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 61
Bobby Herrera is the President of Populus Group and also an Army veteran. We discuss his approach to leadership and his new book The Gift of Struggle: Life Changing Lessons About Leading. Bobby shares his background as the son of a Mexican immigrant and how that influenced his mindset regarding work, the challenges of entrepreneurship, and his approach to leading his current team. As a veteran, successful entrepreneur, author, leader, and father Bobby's experiences have given him a unique perspe...
Feb 20, 2020•49 min•Season 1Ep. 60
John Berry is the owner and CEO of the Berry Law Firm a practice focused on state and federal criminal defense, white collar crimes, civil litigation, Title IX defense, and veteran and service-member related issues. Berry Law firm has been recognized on the INC 5000 and Law Firm 500 lists three years in a row, and is one of the top 5 fastest growing law firms in the Midwest. His firm has also been recognized by the Department of Labor with the Hire Vets Medallion, the only federal-level veterans...
Feb 12, 2020•46 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Greg Keeley is the founder and CEO at OnDuty CBD , a company dedicated to producing a vertically integrated, veteran farmed and American made CBD product for first responders, law enforcement, active duty military, and any other professionals who have been called to service. Greg’s career began with service as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy, and following a chance meeting with a 3-star Admiral who “asked” him to join his team, he became the first officer to be commissioned into the U.S....
Feb 05, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 58
Andy Riise is a West Point graduate transitioning to civilian life after 20 years of service. For the last 7 years he has been a part of Mission 6 Zero as the Chief Learning Officer, blending evidence-based practices from military special forces and behavioral science disciplines to help clients improve the performance of their teams under stress. He is also the co-author and senior editor of the new book, Deliberate Discomfort: How U.S. Special Operations Forces Overcome Fear and Dare to Win by...
Jan 29, 2020•56 min•Season 1Ep. 57
Michael McCoy is the Community Engagement Manager for Operation Stand Down Tennessee and a staff logistics officer for an armored squadron with the Tennessee Army National Guard. His team manages communications, volunteers, strategic relationships, and events including monthly and quarterly meet-ups and job seeker networking. Operation Stand Down Tennessee helps over 300 service members find employment in Tennessee each year, working directly with local employers, base and installation managers,...
Jan 22, 2020•42 min•Season 1Ep. 56
Chuck Dishmon is the Director of Software Development for Greenlight Guru where he leads agile software development teams to create and optimize technology offerings for clients in the medical device space. He learned how to program at an immersive, full stack software engineering program called Coder Camps where he re-tooled his skill set after leaving the Marine Corps. He is also the Founder of Indy Tech Talks, an 800+ Member community hosting monthly conversations related to the Indianapolis ...
Jan 16, 2020•56 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Todd Skiles has had a 34 year career with Ryder , creating logistics and transportation solutions for his customers. His career has been unique in that he has had one foot on either side of the civilian/military divide by affiliating with the Army Reserves, and hiring others who are doing so as well to help create a culture of service within Ryder. In today’s conversation, we discuss Todd’s thoughts on the value of military-experienced talent within corporate America, specifically intangible lea...
Jan 02, 2020•54 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Matt Hesse is the Chairman and Founder of the FitOps Foundation , helping veterans find purpose and community through fitness. Matt transitioned from the Army in July of 2000 and began a career in the fitness and nutrition industry, ultimately launching his own brand in 2008 manufacturing and marketing health and wellness products. He launched FitOps almost four years ago to give veterans a physical mission and career skills to enable entrepreneurial success, as well as to offer themselves in se...
Dec 26, 2019•55 min•Ep. 53
Zach Thomas is an entrepreneur, author, coach, and speaker. In this episode, we discuss his journey from TRADOC to Seminary to Chick-Fil-A, leading and motivating people with a sense of purpose at every step of the way. Veterans make great franchise owners, leading small to medium sized teams in fast-paced operations where seamless execution is critical to success. They also serve well in roles oriented around process improvement and LEAN methodology, looking for efficiencies and cost-savings wi...
Dec 20, 2019•51 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Marco Nelson transitioned from the military to a career in technology through a blend of active duty academic pursuits, a hobbyist interest in mobile app development, part-time real estate investing, and eventually additional academics immediately after his transition. He knew early on in his Navy career that he had a strong pull to develop and build mobile device applications, and pursued a path that led him to a place where he’s using software to solve real-world problems he encountered as a r...
Dec 11, 2019•48 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Tom Wolfe joins me for the 50th episode of the podcast to discuss his book Out of Uniform: Your Guide to a Successful Military-to-Civilian Career Transition. Tom and I share a lot in common, we’re both Naval Academy graduates who served as Surface Warfare Officers aboard ships and subsequently transitioned to careers in military placement and talent strategy. Tom and his firm Career Development, where he was a Principal for 29 years, became a part of Bradley-Morris in 2007. During that time, Tom...
Dec 05, 2019•52 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Steve Hawley is a Loan Officer with Southern Trust Mortgage, and the brother of one of my recent guests John Hawley . John recommended we connect to try to get to the bottom of why he and I keep getting so much junk mail about our VA loans. Steve is an expert in residential mortgage lending and was gracious to lend about an hour of his time to answer my questions about the VA Loan program, and how veterans are marketed to and why. We discuss: The role of a mortgage broker in the process of purch...
Nov 27, 2019•45 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Today I had a great conversation with Mark Munger about the Marine for Life Network . Mark is the Regional Network Coordinator for the Southeast Region, one of the busiest and most engaged regions due to the high number of veterans that transition back to the southeast following transition. We talked about how Mark got involved with Marine for Life, and what their mission is across the country. Mark and I also dive into how marines and their families can get access to the network both during the...
Nov 06, 2019•39 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Jamie Desautels was a supply officer in the Navy who transitioned into a logistics role with a Fortune 100 company via their military officer hiring program. He is now the Sales Director for Glen-Gery Corporation , a manufacturing leader in masonry, brick, and stone construction materials. In this episode, we talk about how his first job showed him that your military branch or MOS does not and should not predetermine what career you pursue when you get out. Jamie shares how flexible different se...
Nov 01, 2019•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Dan Manning is the Founder of Firepower Concepts , a strategy practice that works with executives from business, non-profits, and government to use applied creativity to unlock ideas and solve tough problems. Dan creates what he calls a Designed Strategy, a roadmap for a strategic decision maker based on the principles of Design Thinking. He is also the author of Stuck on Stuck Street : Unstick Your Creativity for a Better Business and a Better Life . Dan retired from the U.S. Air Force where he...
Oct 23, 2019•43 min•Season 1Ep. 46
John Wayne Mullins is an officer in the Coast Guard Reserve and the founder of JWM-Coaching LLC. His leadership coaching practice offers entrepreneurs and small business owners a formal process for actualizing structured goals. He writes frequently for LinkedIn about Employee Engagement , Succession Planning, and expanding your Comfort Zone. We discuss his decision to start this business, gaining confidence from the support of his wife and his own personal business coach. We also dive into how t...
Oct 17, 2019•39 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Bronchae Brown is a former Marine Corps aviator and the CEO of Zoomiee , a company tackling the challenge of providing photography on-demand for attendees at school events, sporting games, and live performances who want to get out from behind their smartphone and be present in the moment. Bronchae left a lucrative career in computer science after graduating college to pursue his passion and goal of becoming an aviator in the military, accepting a commission in the U.S. Marine Corps where he serv...
Oct 09, 2019•52 min•Season 1Ep. 44
