USMC

BTU #313 - Mastering Sales (Tyler Johnston)

BTU #313 - Mastering Sales (Tyler Johnston)

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.

BTU #311 - SemperK9 (with Chris Baity)

BTU #311 - SemperK9 (with Chris Baity)

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

BTU #303 - Marines to Product Manager at IBM (Richard I. Porter)

BTU #303 - Marines to Product Manager at IBM (Richard I. Porter)

Why Listen

While the bulk of this interview is about Product Manager, Richard and I cover a lot of ground that will interest you regardless of your desired career path. We talk about leadership, we talk about technology, we talk about values and how to find a career path that aligned with your personal value; we talk about how technology may be an a-moral career path, and we talk using hypothesis to confirm or deny a career move… and how either of those, the confirmation or the denial, is equally valuable.

About Richard

Richard I. Porter is a Product Manager at IBM as part of their IBM Cloud: API Connect/Gateways team. He started out in the Marine Corps as a Ground Intelligence Officer, where he served for 8 years. After his time in the Marine Corps, he studied business at UNC Kenan-Flagler.

BTU #283 - Life after being declared Killed in Action (Justin Constantine)

BTU #283 - Life after being declared Killed in Action (Justin Constantine)

Why Listen:

What to say about Justin? Well, he was shot in the head by a sniper and pronounced killed in action… but that didn’t stick. Justin is a Purple Heart recipient, an author, a lawyer, an motivational speaker, an entrepreneur, and he now works with a company that helps over 24k military members and their families EVERY MONTH - that’s right, every month - find their ideal job and make their career transitions easier. It’s a little disappointing to be on a show with two Justin’s, and realize that the other Justin is kicking a— and you need to try your best to keep up. This is a great interview for any career path, and I think you’ll really enjoy Justin’s story.

About Justin

Justin joined the Marine Corps while in law school at the University of Denver School of Law, and served on active duty as a JAG officer for six years.  Then as a Reservist, Justin deployed to Iraq in 2006, serving as a Civil Affairs Team Leader while attached to an infantry battalion. During a combat patrol, Justin was shot in the head by a sniper. 

Although the original prognosis was that he had been killed in action, Justin survived thanks to risks taken by his fellow Marines and a courageous Navy Corpsman.  In fact, when Corpsman Grant first rolled Justin over, he was no longer breathing.  For his service in Iraq, Justin earned the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon and Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal.

Justin retired from the Marine Corps at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  He now runs his own business as an inspirational speaker and veteran employment expert.  His writing on military and leadership issues has been published in The Washington Post, Time, CNN, The Atlantic, Forbes Magazine and other media outlets.  In 2015, he completed his first book, My Battlefield, Your Office, which applies military leadership skills to the private sector. And in partnership with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Justin recently authored From “We Will” to “At Will”, an authoritative and interactive guidebook about veteran and military spouse employment. Justin is also a Partner at JobPath, a robust veteran employment platform that provides a variety of solutions to corporations, government agencies and nonprofit organizations that hire veterans.

BTU #117: Jim Vesterman: Marine Corps to Search Funds and Buying a Company to Run

BTU #117: Jim Vesterman: Marine Corps to Search Funds and Buying a Company to Run

Jim Vesterman is the CEO of Raptor Technologies, which is the nation's leading provider of integrated safety technologies for K-12 schools. He got his undergraduate degree at Amherst College, after which he worked at both the Monitor Group and for a software startup. He deferred his MBA to join the Marine Corps as part of 3rd Force Recon Company. After he got his MBA from Wharton, he started an entrepreneurial vehicle called a search fund - which we’ll get into - called Liberty Place Capital. Liberty Place Capital ultimately purchased Raptor Technologies in 2012 and he has been running that company for 5 years.

BTU #93 - Matt Ufford: Marines to Editor & Host at SB Nation

BTU #93 - Matt Ufford: Marines to Editor & Host at SB Nation

Matt Ufford is an Editor-at-Large and Video Host at SB Nation - a digital sports media brand and network of team sites built by and for the modern sports fan. He started out at Northwestern University, after which he served in the Marine Corps for four years as a Tank Officer. After the Marines he worked as a columnist at AOL Sports, as well as an editor at Uproxx Media, where he founded their sports and TV blogs.

BTU #85 - Nicholas Karnaze: Marines to Founder of Stubble & Stache

BTU #85 - Nicholas Karnaze: Marines to Founder of Stubble & Stache

Nick Karnaze is the Founder & CEO of Stubble & Stache, a new breed of skincare for men, and a company that also donates a large of profits to high impact charities helping veterans travel the road to recovery. Nicholas started out at the Naval Academy, after which he served in the Marine Corps for over 7 years as an Intelligence Officer and the Special Operations community. After the Marine Corps he served as the Co-Founder and CEO of The Stabilization Group, and then as Program Lead at Praescient Analytics.

BTU #75 - Ben Deda: Marines to COO of Galvanize and raising $63M in funding

BTU #75 - Ben Deda: Marines to COO of Galvanize and raising $63M in funding

Ben Deda is the Chief Operations Officer at Galvanize, a network of modern, urban campuses where anyone can access the skills, knowledge, and network you need to make an impact. Since their founding in 2012, Galvanize has raised over $63M in funding. Ben started out at Notre Dame, after which he served in the Marines for seven years. After his transition from the Marines he worked at TruStile Doors in Operations, Marketing, and Sales, and eventually as Vice President of Commercial Sales. He then joined the computer software company, FullContact as their VP of Sales & Business Development. Ben also runs Denver Startup Week, the largest startup event in the US, and holds an MBA from the University of Denver

BTU #66 - Sean Barney: Purple Heart recipient to Congressional Candidate

BTU #66 - Sean Barney: Purple Heart recipient to Congressional Candidate

Sean Barney is a public defender. He started out at Swarthmore College, after which he served for five years as a Machine Gunner in the 25th Marine Regiment, where he was awarded the Purple Heart. Since transitioning from the Marines, Sean has worked at the Think Tank, Third Way. He has also been extremely active in politics - one of the main things we’ll talk about today - his experience here is extensive but a few highlights are serving as both the Campaign Manager and then Policy Director for Governor Jack Markell  and a Candidate for Congress. Sean holds a Master of Arts from Columbia University, a Masters of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of government, and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.

BTU #56 - Steve Reinemund: Marines to CEO of PepsiCo

BTU #56 - Steve Reinemund: Marines to CEO of PepsiCo

Steve started out at the Naval Academy, after which he served for 5 years as an officer in the Marine Corps. After the military, Steven joined IBM as a Sales Rep, and then earning his MBA at the Darden School of Business. After Business School, Steven joined the Marriott, Roy Rogers division, before moving on to PepsiCo’s Pizza Hut division, where after two years he became President & CEO of Pizza Hut. During his time as CEO, he introduced home-delivery as a distribution method, overtaking market share of rival Domino's Pizza within 2 years. Steve then moved to PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division as President & CEO, and then promoted to PepsiCo president and COO before being named to CEO two years later. After his tenure at Pepsi as CEO, Steven served as the Dean of the Calloway School of Business and Accountancy and Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University for six years.