In the past I've interviewed veterans involved in Franchises. Gordon started a company that has become a franchise with over 1,700 locations, and many of their franchise owners are veterans. He gives an incredibly vivid look at what it is like to start and grow a company, how to remain fresh and grow with your business, and how failures are never final.
Why Listen:
Well, you know you're enjoying a conversation when midway through, you're already planning the next interview. Tyler is awesome. I just really appreciated so much about this interview. The thing that stands out to me most is his mastery in sales. He talks about his career, which is a variety of different experiences in the functional role of sales while also having most of that in the industry of energy. What I appreciated about his story is hearing about how throughout his career he's picked up different tools, different tricks, different skills that over time have allowed him to really have a mastery of this field in sales. I also appreciated his ability to communicate extremely effectively why veterans are well suited to sales, why this may be an appealing career path, even if you think it's the least likely career path that you would want to pursue. We talk about executive MBA, why he chose to pursue it, which is pretty unique for most guests that I have on the show, and a whole lot more.
About Tyler:
Tyler Johnston is a Sales Director @ Black & Veatch. He is responsible for managing global relationships in the technology sector and helping his clients build critical infrastructure and distributed energy solutions. He started out at the Naval Academy, served as an Infantry Officer in the US Marine Corps for 5 years, and has held positions at NRG Energy, General Electric, and Shift.org. He earned his MBA at Columbia Business School.
You can reach out to him through www.greentechvet.com.
Why Listen:
My guest today is an entrepreneur, but not the type that you usually think about. We've had a couple of guests on the show who have done what is called a search fund, which is what I thought I was doing most of my time at Business School. Rather than coming up with an idea, which many people struggle to do and starting your own company, a search fund enables you to raise money, to go out and find a company, usually a mom and pop type shops, something that's doing well that could use a new owner, new management, you purchase that company, and then grow it from there, which is what my guest today did. He purchased a company with 20 employees, and he's grown it to many more than that 20 employees. We talk a lot about that, his advice on search funds and advice on entrepreneurship, what it's like managing outside of the military versus inside of the military. Just really a lot of great advice for those of you considering entrepreneurship.
About Daniel:
Daniel Reese is the CEO of IntellaTriage, the number one provider of tailored nurse triage solutions. After graduating from the Naval Academy, he served on nuclear submarines and then attended Harvard Business School. Daniel acquired IntellaTriage through an entrepreneurial vehicle called a search fund.
Why Listen:
For those of you who smoke cigars, and you know the phrase knuckle burner - this is a knuckle burner of an episode. I went in trying to keep this to 30 minutes, but we used 58 minutes for this conversation. It's because Trier has so many great points about so many different topics. You'll learn about her career. She's the co-founder and CEO of a company called Just Work. She has a tremendous amount of experience at Goldman Sachs, Twitter, other great organizations around people management, and she has so much great advice about taking care of your people, which is something our audience knows well. But doing that outside of the military blind spots, you may have to talk about empathy in very tactical ways and share stories that I found compelling. She talked about language-specific language to use to create openers within the civilian workforce of getting to know your team and making it an inclusive environment. We talk about entrepreneurship. Despite starting two different organizations, Trier talks about how she doesn't consider herself an entrepreneur, how she's much more interested in scaling something than building it. We talk about how you may not be unique in the military, but you are a unicorn when you get out of the military - the concept of followership again.
About Trier:
Trier Bryant is the co-Founder and CEO of Just Work, which works with leaders and teams of all sizes across a range of industries creating more effective organizations where respect and collaboration combine to produce just workplaces yielding exceptional results. She started out at the Air Force Academy, served in the Air Force for 7 years, and has held roles at Goldman Sachs, Twitter, SigFig, Astra, and more.
Why Listen:
After serving in the Army for 6.5 years, Christian founded an advisory and technology firm focused on helping High-Growth Technology Companies build, manage, and certify their Security, Privacy, and Compliance programs. He has quickly grown his company - risk3sixty - to over 20 employees and it seems like they are just getting started. In this interview we talk about character, we talk about being a steward of a company, we talk about the differences in leadership in and out of uniform, about long-term thinking, finding a co-founder and much more.
About Christian:
Christian White is the Managing Director and Co-Founder of risk3sixty, an advisory and technology firm focused on helping High-Growth Technology Companies build, manage, and certify their Security, Privacy, and Compliance programs. He is a graduate of West Point, and a 6.5 year Army veteran, most recently serving as Company Commander in Fort Campbell. He holds an MBA from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Why Listen:
I just finished up my conversation with Alan and a couple things stand out to me. First of all, it's it's pretty surprising to me that it's taken 374 other episodes, to get to the point of interviewing someone in the aerospace and defense industry. And, you know, it's it's surprising, first of all, because so many veterans go into this space. But more importantly, I feel like Alan, in our conversation, we really flipped the script on my understanding of this industry. And what I mean by that is, nearly all of the people I've interviewed on beyond the uniform talk about purpose, and mission, after military service. And Alan kind of surprised me when I was asking him to explain what he does for a living, he immediately went to that spot of, he's continuing to support the military communities continuing to support his brothers and sisters who are still in uniform. And throughout our conversation that came through, like, wow, this is actually a really good fit for so many veterans, especially those who want to continue a similar sense of purpose that they felt that they likely felt in the military. A second thing that really stood out to me with this conversation is we went deep down the rabbit hole on Alan's role, which is business development. And I know we've done a couple interviews on sales related topics. But I think that you will really benefit from Alan's story, he has over 20 years of experience in business development. And I love so much of what comes through in this. But let's just say in a nutshell, it's not what you expect from a sales related role. And the way that Alan comes across just as a human being, as well as how he explains why veterans are so well suited to this, it really goes against most of the stereotypes that I have of sales people. And it comes down to listening to others, being curious about them, and figuring out how you can help them and deliver value. And even if you're not interested in the defense industry or business development in particular, it's still worth listening because, you know, in my experience, every every role that you will have has some element of quote unquote, sales, and the relational things that Alan talks about this interview, are I'm sure going to help you in your career. As always, at BeyondTheUniform.org you'll find Show Notes for this episode, you'll find links to everything we discussed, as well as a link and information about SCI. We haven't done a lot of coverage of companies in this space. But I appreciate Alan's perspective and want to give some notes there about the company he works for. So with that, let's dive in to my conversation with Alan
About Alan:
Alan is responsible for the Global Business Development for the IMS business segment within SCI, which includes customer relations, program performance, and the acquisition of new and follow-on business. Alan brings more than 20 years of experience in the Integrated Manufacturing industry. During this period, Mr. Hislop has held positions at PIVC, LLC, STMicroelectronics and Sanmina-SCI. Alan served on active duty with the U.S. Army, with the U.S. Army Reserves in New York and with the Alabama National Guard in Huntsville. Alan graduated from the US Army Officer Infantry School in Fort Benning, GA. Mr. Hislop holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering Degree from University of Alabama Huntsville, and an Associate of Applied Arts and Sciences from Clinton Community College. He and his wife, Olga, have 6 boys.
Why Listen:
There’s so much I loved about my conversation with Andrew. For those of you wanting a mental image of Andrew - picture Dwayne Johnson with hair… that’s Andrew. After five years in the Air Force, Andrew served in the CIA for seven years. Since then, he has taken the lessons he learned in the CIA and used them - for himself and his clients - to get the most out of life. If you’re interested in the CIA or entrepreneurship, there’s something in this episode for you. But no matter what your intended career path, I love two things in particular that we riff on. The first is, the sense of bringing awareness to the assumptions we make in life. For example, in that intro audio clip, Andrew is speaking to how often we assume one needs to work 9-5, Monday through Friday. When you realize that is just a myth, it gives you a considerable competitive advantage that you can exploit in your career. Andrew has all sorts of incredible mental hacks that I LOVED hearing. Second, I find that there are often judgments about people who leave the military, people who leave public service like the CIA and go on to do something different that is right for them and their family. We talk about this head on, and I believe nearly all Veterans will benefit from this part of our conversation.
If you enjoy this episode, be sure to check out BTU #337 - Entrepreneurship and Self Knowledge (Khemit Bailey) (https://beyondtheuniform.org/blog/btu-337-entrepreneurship-and-self-knowledge-khemit-bailey?rq=khemit) and BTU #328 - Struggle is What Gives Us Value (Micah Fink - Heroes & Horses) (https://beyondtheuniform.org/blog/btu-328-struggle-is-what-gives-us-value-micah-fink-heroes-horses?rq=micah%20fink), which have similar elements to this episode. both of those will be linked in the show notes.
Why Listen:
Today’s episode is a must-listen. Here’s my top three reasons. One - entrepreneurship. Joe and his brother started Feltman’s of Coney Island and is a self-proclaimed hotdog slinger. Seriously… do you need another reason? Ok, fine - reason #2: selflessness. The impetus for starting Feltman’s was the loss of Joe’s brother on September 11th. The way in which Joe and his brother honor their deceased brother is touching to say the least. Third - mindset. Joe is the Executive Director of Headstrong, which provides best-in-class therapy for Veterans. Its an incredible organization. We also talk about how often we as Veterans can mask our own internal struggle by looking to help others - there’s some really good insights there. So, those are my top three reason for listening to this episode, but honestly, wouldn’t this have been easier for all of us if you would have just taken my word on this one.
Why Listen:
Today’s interview is both humbling and inspiring. Scotty lost his eyesight while serving on active duty. During and after his recovery, he continued to serve on active duty even though he was blind. Today's interview is just a great shot of inspiration, one about finding one's purpose and surrounding yourself with others who can lift you up and motivate you during the darker times of your life.
About Scotty:
Scotty is a graduate of the United States Military Academy (USMA). He began his career as an active duty officer. While leading his platoon overseas, Scotty came face-to-face with a suicide car bomber. That was the last thing that Scotty has seen. He woke up in the United States at Walter Reed Hospital blind and fighting for his life. Scotty not only had to learn how to live again, he also had to learn to lead. After fully recovering, Scotty became the military’s first active duty member to continue his service as a completely blind active duty officer. Scotty went on to receive a Master’s in Business Administration from Duke University and he has taught at USMA. Scotty commanded a 250-person company. In this role, he used his skills and abilities to lead his team through dire circumstances and adapt to much change. The Army Times named Scotty “Soldier of the Year” in 2007 and in 2008 he won an ESPY as the world’s Best Outdoor Athlete. Scotty retired from active duty and now works in the financial industry at Drexel Hamilton. He's written two books: Hope Unseen and Beatfeat.
Today’s episode originally aired all the way back in February of 2017. I was just getting my feet underneath me with Beyond the Uniform, and this was one of my first big episodes. I still think of this episode today. And, I have to disclose that I don’t follow football… I’m not a football fanatic… my appreciation of today’s guest has nothing to do with what he did in the NFL and EVERYTHING to do with two things that helped him get there:
Failure - Nate has achieved the impossible - repeatedly in his life. He talks about being a grinder, of just working hard to go after his dreams. And he talks about how it's not about not having fear - it's about having the courage to realize that there is no downside, that the only risk is not taking an opportunity. There are far too many incredible words of wisdom to summarize here, but believe me - it's a lesson every single veteran will benefit from hearing.
Passion - Nate talks about how many veterans fall back on what you know. He talks about how tried many things - and failed at many things - in his journey to find his calling and what he enjoys most. Again, these are lessons I found inspiring and hope you do too.
Why Listen:
Often on interviews my guests talk about how - after they leave the military - they struggle to find a purpose, mission, or calling like they had in the military. One of the things i love about my guest today, Daris, is that his time since the military has been spent addressing a new purpose. I haven’t had anyone on the show before to talk about the education space. Daris has spent time as a teacher, leading a classroom of four year olds. He talks about how this is one of the best and most challenging job he ever had, and how it taught him resilience, leadership, and perseverance. He has continued in education, now as a full time doctoral student at Penn’s Graduate School of Education. He talks about meeting two different US Presidents, all in one crazy day, and more.
About Daris:
Daris McInnis is full time doctoral student at Penn GSE (Graduate School of Education) and a summer learning curriculum specialist at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Prior to Penn, Daris served as an early childhood teacher in Washington, D.C., an Education Pioneer in New Orleans, LA, and five years on active duty as an Ordnance Logistics Officer in the United States Army.
Why Listen:
Joe’s story is a great example of a military Veteran who makes a BIG career change after the military. He majored in Computer Science at West Point, but never had any intention of going into Software Engineering. However, he loved to program and so he kept doing it on the side while in the military. That hobby landed him a job at Google and a completely different life and career path. In this interview we talk about Software Engineering - what it’s like, how to succeed in this role, what career progression looks like, and the difference between a large company like Google and a small startup like his current employer, Heap. Regardless of whether or not you’re interested in Software Engineering, Joe’s story shares great advice on how to make a transition to a wildly different career path than the military.
About Joe:
Joe Schafer is a Software Engineer at Heap, a technology that allows organizations of all sizes can remove technical bottlenecks and gain a single comprehensive view of their customers. He started out at West Point, where he studied Computer Science, after which he served in the Army for five years. After his military service, he worked at Google as a Software Engineer for nearly three years.
Why Listen:
There are so many reasons to listen to today’s interview. First of all: Sports. Jake is the first person I’ve interviewed who has had a career in sports leadership. He is currently the Director of Player Development at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and we talk a lot about the NFL, coaching in professional football, and what this industry is like. Second: TV. Jake is a dynamic personality, and has been featured on shows such on both the Discovery Channel and Scout Media Network. This interview offers a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like being on TV, and about extending one’s personal brand. Lastly: motivation. I found Jake and his story very uplifting - his perspective on failure, on pushing oneself, and on pursing a personal goal with relentless, are all informative and inspirational. If you enjoy this episode, be sure to check out: BTU #74 - Nate Boyer: Army Green Beret to the NFL - https://beyondtheuniform.org/blog/btu-84-nate-boyer-army-green-beret-to-the-nfl?rq=nate%20boyer BTU #245 - Marine Corps to MMA & the UFC (Liz Carmouche) - https://beyondtheuniform.org/blog/btu-245-marine-corps-to-mma-the-ufc-liz-carmouche?rq=ufc BTU #329 - Active Duty Army to the NFL (Alejandro Villanueva) - https://beyondtheuniform.org/blog/195-active-duty-army-to-the-nfl-alejandro-villanueva-nxkba?rq=alejandro BTU #196 - Active Duty Army to UFC Contender and Discovery Channel Show Host (Tim Kennedy) - https://beyondtheuniform.org/blog/btu-196-active-duty-army-to-ufc-contender-and-discovery-channel-show-host-tim-kennedy?rq=ufc
About Jake:
Jake Zweig is the Director of Player Development at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, He started out at the Naval Academy, after which he served as a Surface Warfare Offer (qualifying in 6 months rather than the typical 18-24 months) before transferring to and becoming a Navy SEAL team officer for six years. His career has included work as a Football Coach at the University of Maryland, the Catholic University of America, the University of New Hampshire, Bryant University, the University of the Incarnate Word, and the University of Findlay. He has also worked as a TV Host for both the Discovery Channel and the Scout Media Network, with involvement with the Dude, Your Screwed program and this History Channels Hot Shot. He holds an MBA from the University of Michigan.
Alejandro Villanueva is a Left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He started out at West Point, where he played left tackle, defensive lineman, and wide receiver. He was voted to be team captain his final year at West Point, and a feature story in the Army football program read, "Already touted as the tallest football player in the country, Villanueva completed the transformation from being an offensive lineman for the past two years, to running routes on the field with the starting offense last Saturday night.” He served as a Captain in the Army, as an Army Ranger and was decorated with a Bronze Star for valor, having served three tours of duty in Afghanistan. After his military service he was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles, and later after by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Why Listen:
Alejandro went directly from Active Duty to the NFL, a feat that few have accomplished. His story is one of determination, perspective, and family-first values.
Why Listen:
My guest today transitioned from the Air Force into high tech in Silicon Valley, where he has worked in Product Management at Intel, Trulia, Realtor.com and other great companies. He also wrote a book about Product Management, where he takes the principles around procedures and checklists from the military, and applies them to the functional role of Product Management.
However, beyond our discussion of Product Management in this interview, there are two things that I absolutely loved about my conversation with GS.
First: side hustle. GS made the transition to the Real Estate industry. While his day job was building tech products for the Real Estate industry, he leveraged what he was learning to start investing in Real Estate as a side hustle. The result is that, over the course of his career, he developed side income that has allowed him to transition into more meaningful work around coaching and writing. This is a wonderful example of how - outside of the workplace - listeners can cultivate a hobby that creates the financial freedom to pursue a deeper purpose in your next chapter.
Second: relationships. In the 300+ episodes I’ve done so far, we’ve only talked about relationships in one other episode, and that is the recent episode #323 - Conscious Leadership, with Floyd Carlson. It’s something we should talk about more. For those of you who are in relationship, I’m sure you can relate: when my relationship is off with my wife, Rebecca, everything is off in my life. I’m not as productive at work, I’m not as focused in my conversations, I’m not able to operate at my peak potential in my professional life. There is not this clear distinction between work and life… they blend together, and one affects the other. In his work with couples, and in his recent book, “The Masculine in Relationship” GS brings some very poignant advice to how listeners can improve and deepen their relationship. I know, I know, this is a podcast ABOUT career success… trust me on this, you can have success in your career without success in your relationship or family, but it’s not much fun.
I met GS through the men’s work I’m doing with John Wineland, and it was a pleasure to get to know this professional side of him in our conversation - I hope you enjoy it as well.
About GS:
GS is a coach who helps men in relationship develop their Masculine core. He is a former Silicon Valley executive, founder of a tech company that he eventually sold, and the author of two books (including the recently published “The Masculine in Relationship”). His teachings are based on 12 years as a student and creator in the realm of the Masculine-Feminine dynamic, and also pull in principles from a variety of fields: psychology, martial arts, tango, meditation, and BDSM.
After his time as a military officer, GS got his MBA from the University of Virginia and transitioned into the high tech industry. He spent time at Intel, Broadcom, Trulia, Realtor.com, and Matterport. He also founded and sold the company CityStash, which sought to disrupt the $23B self-storage space with technology.
Why Listen
Shortly after leaving the Marine Corps, Mike traveled to Cambodia, where he worked to setup a cross fit gym. He went on to business school… in Malaysia. And then he became a National Outdoor Leadership School instructor, where he teaches civilians and members of the military about wilderness survival and leadership. Which is to say - Mike is a Veteran who is forging his own way, and thinking outside of the box. If you are interested in a non-traditional career path, or just a great story, this is the interview for you.
For those of you who enjoy this episode, be sure to check out:
BTU #240 - Self Reliant Leadership (Jan Rutherford)
BTU #268 - How the Outdoors Saved My Life (Stacy Bare)
BTU #120 - Traveling the world for 4 years after Active Duty Navy (Tim Patterson)
You’ll find links to each of those episodes in the show notes for this episode at BeyondTheUniform.org, where you’ll also find over 300 other completely free episodes, a whole host of online events, webinars and more.
About Mike
Mike Titzer is a Field Instructor at the National Outdoor Leadership School, or NOLS. NOLS is a nonprofit global wilderness school that will help you step forward boldly as a leader. He served in the Marine Corps for six years. Since his military service, he opened a CrossFit gym in Cambodia, and went to business school in Malaysia. He holds an MBA from the Asia School of Business, a Masters in International Relations from American University, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the Naval Academy.
Why Listen:
Sign me up for the Danny Hwang fan club. We cover some fresh terrain for Beyond the Uniform, as we follow Danny’s story of leaving the Army - and just weeks later - traveling to Shanghai, and growing an education startup until - three years later - he and his brother successfully sold their first company. In doing so, they achieved a lifelong goal they committed to at age six, of being able to retire their parents and move them from their home in Atlanta back to Seoul, Korea. Now, Danny is at it again, this time in Vietnam, joined by co-founders who were his classmates at West Point, and friends in the Army. If you are interested in taking a risk in your career, in setting goals and achieving them, in maintaining a great family life in addition to a great work life, in starting companies, or just hearing a story from an inspirational veteran doing great things in the world. This episode is for you.
If you enjoy this episode, two similar episodes that I would recommend are:
BTU #114 - Founding an Inc 500 Company While Traveling Southeast
Asia (Justin Cooke) - where Justin Cooke talks about founding Empire
Flippers all while traveling through Southeast Asia.
2 - BTU #11 -BTU #111: Two sibling Army Vets and Their Two Successful
Startups - the story of Jon and Chris Boggiano, both West Point grads
and Army Veterans who co-founded two different successful startups
together.
About Danny:
Danny Hwang is the Founder & CEO of Point Avenue. Based in Vietnam, Point Avenue is a private education technology company offering K-12 educational services and admissions consulting across Southeast Asia. He started out at West Point, after which he served as an Army Ranger for six years, including two tours in Iraq and over 25 months overseas. After his military service, he co-founded New Pathway Education & Technology Group with his older brother, Sam, in Shanghai, China, which was acquired in 2014 by CVC Capital Partners. He currently serves as the Chairman of Ignite, a professional services company that specializes in human capital development, and CEO of Odyssey, a joint venture company developing AI technology. Danny's hobbies include traveling the world with his wife, Honda, racing in ultra-marathons and Ironman competitions, reading, and spending time with his family.
Our Sponsor:
This episode is sponsored by Point Avenue. Based in Vietnam, Point Avenue is a private education technology company offering K-12 educational services and admissions consulting across Southeast Asia. We are grateful for the financial support of Point Avenue on this episode, which helps us further our mission at Beyond the Uniform and have a bigger impact on the military Veteran community.
Website: http://www.pointavenue.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PointAvenue/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Point.Avenue/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5A3YP-6-Ir4UAIeCLA4SzQ
Why Listen:
Well, you know you're enjoying a conversation when midway through, you're already planning the next interview. Tyler is awesome. I just really appreciated so much about this interview. The thing that stands out to me most is his mastery in sales. He talks about his career, which is a variety of different experiences in the functional role of sales while also having most of that in the industry of energy. What I appreciated about his story is hearing about how throughout his career he's picked up different tools, different tricks, different skills that over time have allowed him to really have a mastery of this field in sales. I also appreciated his ability to communicate extremely effectively why veterans are well suited to sales, why this may be an appealing career path, even if you think it's the least likely career path that you would want to pursue. We talk about executive MBA, why he chose to pursue it, which is pretty unique for most guests that I have on the show, and a whole lot more.
About Tyler:
Tyler Johnston is a Sales Director @ Black & Veatch. He is responsible for managing global relationships in the technology sector and helping his clients build critical infrastructure and distributed energy solutions. He started out at the Naval Academy, served as an Infantry Officer in the US Marine Corps for 5 years, and has held positions at NRG Energy, General Electric, and Shift.org. He earned his MBA at Columbia Business School.
You can reach out to him through www.greentechvet.com.
Why Listen:
SemperK9.org is an incredible organization helping the Veteran community. We talk about how they are helping Veterans with both physical and emotional needs, and how you can support them. We also talk about the path to starting a non-profit.
About Chris:
Chris is the Co-Founder & Executive Director of Semper K9 Assistance Dogs. He served in the USMC as a 5812- Military Working Dog Handler, and Specialized Search Dog Team Leader for over 7 years, including 3 combat tours in Iraq with explosive detection dogs. After his military service, he spent 1 year doing government contract work in Afghanistan and 3 years doing contract work with a detection dog in and around Washington DC. He also complete a 9 month internship with a national nonprofit to create a program training 'rescue' dogs to be service dogs.
Baity was awarded Washingtonian of the Year for 2017 by Washingtonian Magazine and selected as Evan Williams American-Made Hero
Why Listen
This is a skills episode, where we dig into a specific skill set that is likely to be highly relevant to all listeners. Mike is an expert corporate instructor on many topics, and in this episode we delve into Executive Presence - what it is, why it is so important to the Veteran community, and specific actions they can take - today - to start to further build this. Mike also talks about his own career path, starting his own company, and how Executive Presence has played a role in his success.
About Mike
Mike Figliuolo is the Managing Director of thoughtLEADERS, a professional services firm that offers instruction, coaching and consulting on the subjects of leadership, communications, strategy and operations. He started out at West Point, after which he served in the US Army for five years as an armor officer. His work since then has included work at McKinsey & Co., Capital One and Scotts Miracle-Gro. He has published three books, all of which will be linked to in the show notes for this episode, and is an author at LinkedIn Learning where you can - along with hundreds of thousands of people before you - watch his videos on a variety of professional topics.
