Veteran Influencer Podcast

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 careers that include some form of professional credentialing. Ralph also shares how getting into financial advisory became a new litmus test for his leadership abilities, broadening his perspective on how to counsel and serve his clients. He tells the story of meeting his First Command financial advisor in the officer's club on base as a young lieutenant, and how that advice set him on the path to financial security following his retirement from the Army. To learn more about joining the First Command team as a Financial Advisor, or discover other positions within their culture of service, visit https://rmvets.com/3bKIkmt.

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 at the same time his wife was applying to medical school. If you are considering your last set of orders before you plan your transition, this episode is full of advice based on Josh's experience transitioning while serving as an Aide to a three-star Admiral. Josh admits that it was a lot of work at a time when he was also dealing with the challenges of being a new father and trying to study to get into business school. The key to success was transparency about his plans with his chain of command. Through some key conversations with his Navy Detailer, Josh was able to extend his orders in San Diego while awaiting admissions decisions from the medical schools where his wife had applied. Josh also emphasizes the importance of remaining associated with the Navy Reserves during his transition; he was supporting his spouse and her education while also managing his own job search and the kids. The Reserves gave him a place to reconnect with Sailors and remain grounded while everything else was new and different, and also develop a new network of fellow Reservists to help him achieve his career goals. Finally, Josh shares some really genuine feedback about how he got it wrong when selecting employers for culture and fit to his personality, and what questions to ask to understand if the company you're going to work for will be a great match for who you are and who you wish to become.

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 to federal and military maritime communities. Their current portfolio includes the Special Operations and Nuclear communities as well, giving their team room to grow and evolve what they do to impact the government and military. In this conversation, Stan and I discuss how he has used his values and passion for what he does to navigate his career. Unlike many previous guests, he found a role after military service that allowed him to directly solve some of the problems he had experienced during his active duty time. This unique focus not only created a clear path for him to apply knowledge and expertise gained in the service, but brought the government's investment in his military training and education full-circle by giving him a platform and a role to create meaningful improvement for the fleet from the private sector.

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 conversation we talk about how Ryan found a career after initially transitioning to a job he wasn't passionate about, and also how his organization has recently been impacted by the spread of Novel Coronavirus, and the changes to his manufacturing team and facility caused by this pandemic.

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 mission. When a friend approached him about a potential role leading the team at Army Emergency Relief, he threw his hat in the ring. In this conversation we talk about his journey to what he’s doing now, and how his organization is responding to the national emergency surrounding COVID-19 infections. Our soldiers, veterans, and military families are facing financial hardships, so Ray and his team at Army Emergency Relief are focused on keeping the distractions and challenges of this crisis from impacting Army readiness. Find out more about what Army Emergency Relief is doing to help during the COVID-19 crisis at ArmyEmergencyRelief.org/covid19/

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 provide intentional focus on leadership along with all the other disciplines necessary to organizational or team success. We talk a lot about how his perspective as an Army Colonel gave him confidence to work with new clients and audiences as a civilian coach, and how now he gets to earn a living while remaining connected to something that gave him great fulfillment and joy as a young man: athletics.

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 worked in enterprise software at a startup, co-founded a company, and now works in private equity with his portfolio companies. Brit offers a really unique perspective about the chaos and uncertainty people are experiencing right now, as well as some examples of how that might actually create significant opportunities for people who are willing to think creatively in these times. Check out more of Brit's thoughts and leave him a comment on his blog at BritYonge.io/

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 up with Josh now to hear about his experiences and offer listeners some insight into how this program works. At the end of his fellowship, Josh made the decision to transition again and chose entrepreneurship as his path. He is now working hard to launch Stasis, a Human Performance Optimization company focused on delivering high-tech, self-serve ice baths to gym owners and other fitness practitioners. We discuss how Josh and his team are inventing new technology and software which allows users to pay by the minute to jump in an ice bath at their local gym or health club, versus the far more expensive and liquid nitrogen based cryosauna offered elsewhere. Through a combination of technology innovation, facilitated by a mobile app, Josh is trying to offer customers a way to expose themselves to healthy stress without needing to pay for an expensive membership or subscription. We talk about the benefits of cryotherapy, and the advantages of a cold-water bath treatment versus the more expensive liquid nitrogen based cryosauna, as well as how routine exposure to stress can create a buffer to deal with the slings and arrows of everyday life.

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 first hire. David’s experience really highlight the importance of a solid hiring plan when hiring for a critical positions, and specifically the costs to the business and customers within a sales territory when you’re not able to ramp up a new hire in the expected timeline. Bradley-Morris has tackled this topic in the past, specifically when we hosted our Contingency Webinar about the cost of slow time-to-fill. With some big changes in the job-seeker landscape these days, it’s going to be more important than ever for companies to have a plan for how their organizations will continue to drive growth while managing their needs for full-time employees. Getting this wrong can result in lost productivity, a huge management headache, and unhappy customers. At the end, David shares some advice for job seekers who might be about to transition; everyone's story is going to be different. If you find yourself in a rocky situation, take a breath. The adversity faced in the first few years, the things you will learn about yourself and your professional skills will be worth the frustration. Rely on the fundamentals you learned in the military: hard work, perseverance, and mental toughness. Connect with David on LinkedIn

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 and online store to fund their operation. Support Oscar Mike and learn more about their mission to help veterans recover and heal through adaptive sports: https://www.oscarmike.org/

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 the personal or company brand of his customers using first-class video strategy, content, and distribution. This saves his customers time and helps them generate leads for their business without getting bogged down in the technical elements of producing content, or the stage fright of being on-camera. In this conversation, we discuss Rich's transition from the military into his first role at a major technology and shipping fulfillment company. After about a year, Rich realized he wasn't happy and on the advice of his mentor made the transition to digital marketing as an entrepreneur. Now that he's out on his own, Rich has worked with well-known executives like Gary Vaynerchuk, authors like Dorie Clark, podcasters like Pat Flynn, influencers like Heather Monahan, politicians, non-profits like Bunker Labs, and many more. In this conversation you will hear about a veteran who wasn't happy with his status-quo and made the deliberate decision to go through some temporary hardship as a founder in order to come out the other side happier, more fulfilled, and wealthier. Listen to Rich's Podcast: The Leadership Locker Follow him on Instagram: @RichCardona Check out his website: RichCardonaMedia.com

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 ago, Ken’s leadership roles have crossed industries ranging from the Department of Defense logistics and supply chain, to the fashion and apparel industry. He has championed significant organization change, created operational excellence, and implemented leadership development and employee betterment programs, leading to significant overall success. In this conversation, we discuss Ken's transition into a COO role immediately after his active duty service, and how being introduced to his team for the first time as an, "Apache Commander," set an unwanted tone for his leadership style and approach to managing civilian teams in a new environment. We talk about the impact such a perception can have, and the work he did early-on to reset peoples' expectations of what it means to hire a leader fresh from military service. Ken Recommends: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective PeopleLeadership and Self Deception: Getting Out of the Box

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 Freedom before transitioning to the Reserves, retiring as a Commander in 2016. As a Sandler Trainer, Chris works with business owners and executives and their teams to engineer strategic growth; often this takes the form of sales coaching and training. Prior to starting a Sandler Training center, Chris worked in Sales, Business Development and Management for two large high-technology defense firms. Send Chris an email to connect

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 perspective on embracing the struggles of life in a way that has allowed him to be enormously successful despite the humblest of beginnings. Check out more from Bobby here: Website: https://bobby-herrera.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobby-herrera-5781821/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobbyherrerapg/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bobbyherrera.pg/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BobbyHerreraPG

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’ employment award recognizing organizations committed to hiring, retaining, and professionally developing veterans. John served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army where he completed Airborne School and Ranger School, deploying to Bosnia in 1999 as a Platoon Leader, then as a Company Commander in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005. John recently finished his military career after serving for over 20-years in the active U.S. Army and the National Guard. During this time, he held 3 commands and retired as the Commander of Officer School and Warrant Officer Candidate School for the Nebraska National Guard.

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. Navy from a foreign ally. Restarting his career as Ensign Keeley after retiring as a commander, Greg served another 10 years working in jobs in intelligence and legislative affairs on capitol hill. First introduced to CBD in January of 2019 by an acquaintance, Greg discovered a potential alternative to the seven different opioid medications he had been prescribed by doctors at the VA in order to treat chronic pain incurred during a career full of deployments. He quickly realized that the CBD industry was “the wild-west,” with unregulated and questionable companies marketing products of dubious quality and safety. Over the span of 3-4 months, Greg and his team committed to creating a business with an entirely vertically integrated supply chain, a claim that less than 3% of CBD companies operating in the U.S. can make. As result, OnDuty CBD now sells products sources from hemp grown in the United States, mostly by farmers and cooperatives owned and operated by veterans. Check out OnDutyCBD.com where our listeners can get a 20% discount by using the code 'onduty' during checkout. If you're considering trying CBD and want to learn more, email the trained medical professionals with your question at info@ondutycbd.com

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 Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable available February 18th, 2020. In this conversation we dive into his process for planning his transition, and the resources he recommends for service-members who wish to match their personality, strengths, and leadership skills to the right career after serving. Andy shares his insight into what motivates him, and how he set his goals early, and based on an intentional process. He’s pursuing a fellowship during his final time in the Army as a way to make space for a variety of exciting engagements with organizations blending athletics, coaching, performance psychology, and veteran issues. We get a chance to talk about what he has lined up for himself as he begins the next chapter in his working life.

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, and veterans and service members within the local military and National Guard communities. This conversation covers:

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 Technology community. In this episode, we discuss Chuck’s transition from the Marine Corps and how he found his way to a career in technology by way of academia and philosophy. I love his advice for networking, and appreciate the authenticity he brings to this conversation. We also dive into his advice to veterans transitioning to a career in technology, either on their path to learning new skills or finding a career once they've graduated.

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 leadership skills and the ability to work with a close-knit team. We also discuss Todd’s thoughts regarding how veterans become comfortable in the military dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity, translating that capability to leadership roles in the civilian sphere. This is a great perspective on not only the value of hiring veterans from a corporate standpoint, but also to encourage candidates to think outside the borders of their functional discipline or MOS, and to consider how military service has made them a different kind of an employee, in terms of their work ethic, values, and personal discipline.