Why Listen:
After multiple jobs, Laura found a career that is aligned with her personal values and, as a result, feels more energy in what she does. And what she does as Founder & CEO of Freedom Makers is help military spouses gain freedom in their own life. Laura talks about how small businesses can benefit from working with military spouses, about how listeners can benefit by having their own virtual assistant, and a whole host of topics related to any military Veteran.
About Laura:
Laura Renner is the President and Founder of Freedom Makers, which creates freedom for small business owners by providing virtual assistance. Freedom Makers’ assistants are military spouses who also gain freedom because they can keep working no matter when or where the military moves their family. She served in the Air Force for six years as a Public Affairs Officer, earned an International MBA at the Chicago Booth School of Business, has worked in recruiting in the airline industry, and has started a few businesses.
Why Listen
David transitioned from the military… twice. He talks about what he got wrong on his first transition, and advice on pitfalls to avoid. He serves as the Project Manager for a 5 person Military Relations Team at Lockheed Martin who organize over 170 career fairs per year, and has helped countless military Veterans in their career search. We cover a lot of ground in terms of resources Veterans should consider, mistakes to avoid and more.
About David
David Wallace is a Military Relations Project Manager at Lockheed Martin, where he has worked since 2009. He served in the US Navy for over 20 years, first as a Navy photographer on USS Fulton (AS 11), USS Forrestal (CV 59) then became a Navy Reserve career recruiter.
Why Listen:
In this episode, I share two professional thoughts and three personal thoughts.
Why Listen:
I LOVED my conversation with Charlie, and found myself partly taking notes for Beyond the Uniform, and partly taking notes just for myself. As a Prisoner of War, the lessons that Charlie shares in this episode are hard earned. We talk about mindset, finding your purpose, resilience, and more. I left our conversation inspired and uplifted and hope that you do as well.
About Charlie:
Charlie Plumb is an author and motivational speaker. He started out at the Naval Academy, and served in the Navy for over 31 years. A pilot of the F-4 Phantom Jet, Charlie flew 74 successful combat missions over North Vietnam and made over 100 carrier landings. On his 75th mission, just five days before the end of his tour, Charlie was shot down over Hanoi, taken prisoner, tortured, and spent the next 2,103 days in an 8-by-8 foot cell as a Prisoner Of War. During his nearly six years of captivity, Plumb distinguished himself as a pro in underground communications. He was a great inspiration to all the other POWs and served as chaplain for two years. Since his return home, Plumb has captivated more than 5,000 audiences in almost every industry around the world with stories that parallel his POW experience with the challenges of everyday life.
Why Listen:
Seriously? This is Coach K. I know nothing about sports, and even I know about Coach K. Hailing back to my days trying to escape from the Naval Academy, my friend Scott and I would go down to Duke to hang out with a friend of mine from High School. Hearing her and her friends talk about Coach K with reverence, started my esteem for this man. Despite his insanely busy schedule, Coach K took time to speak with me and the Beyond the Uniform audience about how his military experience shaped his coaching philosophy, how he crosses the generational gap to motivate his players, how to overcome failure, how to achieve work-life balance and more.
About Coach K:
A graduate of West Point, Mike Krzyzewski is a living legend. In 39 seasons at Duke, Coach K is a Naismith Hall of Fame coach, a five-time national champion and 12-time Final Four participant; a 6 time Gold Medalist as head coach of US Men's National Team, and is the winningest Basketball Coach in Division 1 Men's Basketball history.
Why Listen:
In this episode, I share three professional thoughts and three personal thoughts.
Why Listen
Although Chris is an entrepreneur in the digital health software space, there is something in this episode for every Veteran. We talk about making sure that you are running towards something in your career, not running away from something. We talk about how to find a co-founder. We talk about Chris’ own Founding story… and it’s a good one, which draws deeply from his military experience. We talk about how failure is not really failure if you learn something new and become better - advice that sounds pretty, but is actually pretty messy, painful, and often embarrassing, while still being true. We talk about being flexible in your career and not just sticking to an idea or aspiration that no longer servers you. And we talk about the power of understanding your own mission and intent, and how to apply this to your career.
About Christopher:
Christopher Molaro is the CEO & Co-Founder of the digital health software company, NeuroFlow, which uses advanced data analytics from wearables to objectively measure mental states and emotions for behavioral health, wellness and performance applications. He started out at West Point, after which he served for 5 years as a Field Artillery Army officer. After transitioning off active duty, Chris co-founded the Veteran literacy non-profit Things We Read, and has received his MBA as a graduate of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
A look at our August 2019 lineup of interviews.
Why Listen
It was such an honor to connect with Preston, who runs the #1 Investing Podcast, We Study Billionairs, which has over 1 million downloads per month. In addition to that, he is ranked on Amazon in the top 35 Business Authors. Both of these are impressive enough on their own, but what really kicks this to the next level is the fact that Preston does all of this while serving on Active Duty in the military, as well as being a present parent of four kids. First of all - my apologies to both Preston and listeners, because I had some technical difficulties with this interview. Fortunately, Preston is always prepared, and had a backup recording of our interview, as my recording software crashed for the first time in 280 episodes during Preston’s interview. However, that recording did not have my audio, so I had to re-record this. So, bear with me if the audio quality of this episode is not as good as other episodes, but I assure you the content is absolutely top notch. Preston is humble and authentic in his advice, and I believe - regardless of your intended career path - you will benefit from listening to this episode.
About Preston
Preston is the founder of The Pylon Holding company, which conservatively grows equity through the acquisition of private or public companies. He runs the #1 Investing Podcast, The Investor’s Podcast, with over 1 Million downloads per month. He a best selling author and ranked by Amazon in the top 35 Business Authors. He started out at West Point, served in the Army for over seven years. He holds an MBA from the Johns Hopkins University and has been accepted to pursue a Master of Computer and Information Technology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Why Listen
Context: in 275+ interviews with military Veterans about their civilian career, one of the biggest challenges I hear about from guests is around interviewing, salary negotiation, and sales in general. Two reasons often cited for this are (1) little to no practice with this while in the military, (2) a culture of advocating for one’s subordinates but not ones self (eg. I will use “we” not “I”, I will speak of what my team accomplished, but not what I accomplished), and (3) a culture of service and putting others before self (ie. everyone’s needs matter except my own). Maggie, while not a Veteran herself, is a world renowned authority on negotiations. She has taught negotiations for over 24 years at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, has authored over 70 articles in top publications about negotiation, and is the author of multiple books. This interview is a must-listen-to episode for Veterans in any career path.
About Maggie
Margaret Neale is the Adams Distinguished Professor of Management, Emerita. She has been a Professor at Stanford University for nearly 24 years, where her research includes bargaining and negotiation, distributed work groups, and team composition, learning, and performance. She is the author of over 70 articles on these topics and is the author of multiple books, including Getting (More of) What you Want. Previous to Stanford, Maggie was a Professor at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management for 8 years. She holds a PhD, 2 Master of Science degrees, and a Bachelor of Science.
Why Listen:
In this episode, I share a few professional thoughts from an upcoming interview with Laura Renner about building a career that is uniquely aligned with who you are. I also share personal thoughts about advice giving, relationships, and more.
Why Listen
Steve served as President & CEO of Mercedes Benz USA, and now oversees the parent company for the Atlanta Falcons and other iconic brands. We talk about the rejection that Steve faced on his way to these incredible accomplishments, and how persistence, taking advice from wherever you can get it, and creating purpose in the workplace made all the difference. Having served in such high-level leadership positions, Steve and I talk about the differences between leadership in and out of the military, as well as a common misconception about work-life balance. And we talk about the importance of getting out of one’s comfort zone because this is precisely the area where all growth comes from.
About Steve
Steve Cannon is the CEO of AMB Group, which is comprised of Arthur Blank's for-profit businesses, including the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, Mercedes-Benz Stadium and PGA TOUR Superstore. He started out at West Point, after which he served as an Army Airborne Ranger and served as 1st Lieutenant in West Germany during the fall of the Iron Curtain. He worked as a Principal at The Richards Group, which is the largest independent branding agency in the nation, with a staff of over 700 and annual billings above $1 billion. He worked at Mercedes Benz USA, first as Vice President of Marketing, and then as President and CEO.
Why Listen
This is my second interview with Jan, and if you haven’t had a chance to listen to Episode #240, be sure to check that out. In this interview, we talk about crucible experiences - what they are, why they are so valuable, and steps you can take to introduce them into your everyday life. We talk about why you may want to write a book even if you don’t think you would like to write a book. We talk about self-publishing vs. publishing, costs associated with writing a book, and tactical advice on how to make it a success. We talk about entrepreneurship, life, and a whole lot more.
About Jan
Jan Rutherford is the Founder of Self Reliant Leadership, an executive and military veteran program for leaders who are Selfless, Adventurous, and possess Heroic Aspirations. He entered the US Army at age 17 (weighing 114 pounds), and spent six years in Special Forces as a medic and “A” team executive officer, and three years as a military intelligence officer. In addition to having over 25 years of business and healthcare experience, he is the co-host of The Leadership Podcast, and the author of “The Littlest Green Beret: On Self-Reliant Leadership” where half the proceeds go to the Special Operations Warrior and Green Beret Foundations.
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Why Listen:
In this episode, I share a few thoughts from a recent POW interview I conducted (will be aired in August).
Why Listen:
Valerie left active duty after 15 years of service, and has gone on to found a company designed to help people thrive at work. In addition to discussing her own journey, we talk about how to find out if a culture is right for you, how to shift your mindset to be happier at work, how to make sure you are living a life of alignment, and more.
About Valerie:
Valerie Rivera is the Founder & CEO of Take Back WOrk, who’s mission is to partner with organizations of all stripes to create workplace cultures where people thrive. She served for over six years in the AIr Force, most recently as Team Leader for Tradecraft Deelopment and Capability Integration. She earned her MBA at Stanford Business School.
Our Sponsor:
StoryBox- People trust each other more than advertising. StoryBox provides the tools and supports businesses need to take the best things customers say about them, and use them to drive more sales and referrals. StoryBox offers a 10% discount to companies employing veterans of the US Armed Forces.
Audible is offering one FREE audio book to Beyond the Uniform listeners. You can claim this offer here, and see a list of books recommended by my guests at BeyondTheUniform.io/books
Why listen
Kirk retired from the Army after 22 years of service, but still found that the transition to his civilian career snuck up on him. In this interview, Kirk is candid about a lot of the mistakes that he made in his own transition. More importantly, as an act of service he put together some of the most compressive transition documents we’ve come across. In this interview we talk about Kirk’s advice on how to approach a transition out of the military, as well as Kirk’s experience at Lockheed Martin. We talk about personal branding, advanced planning on LinkedIn, the burden of responsibility that you may not realize you have, why Veterans should consider PMP programs, and more.
About Kirk
Kirk Windmueller is a Senior Operations Analyst at Lockheed Martin. He has written a few very popular articles on LinkedIn about transitioning, timeline and more, which is actually how we came to connect. Beyond the Uniform listener Chris Pisani sent me an incredible document that Kirk put together, and I realized we had to meet. Kirk is a graduate of the Citadel and the Naval Post Graduate School, and served in the Army for over 22 years, including work as a Green Beret, and retiring as an O-5.
A few musings around professional and personal life.
Why Listen:
American Corporate Partners is one of the most cited resources on Beyond the Uniform. Colleen is ACP’s Executive Director, and in this interview we talk about what she and her team have learned from helping over 14,500 Veterans in their civilian career. We talk about mentorship, networking, and more.
About Colleen:
Colleen Deere is the Executive Director of American Corporate Partners, where she has served for over nine years. She graduated from the University of Mary Washington, Cum Laude, and holds a Master’s in English Composition and Rhetoric from Kansas State University. She is married to an Army Veteran who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2008-2009, and is the mother of two toddlers, and is an avid long-distance runner.
Our Sponsor:
StoryBox- People trust each other more than advertising. StoryBox provides the tools and supports businesses need to take the best things customers say about them, and use them to drive more sales and referrals. StoryBox offers a 10% discount to companies employing veterans of the US Armed Forces.
Audible is offering one FREE audio book to Beyond the Uniform listeners. You can claim this offer here, and see a list of books recommended by my guests at BeyondTheUniform.io/books
Why Listen:
A few announcement and a look at our INCREDIBLE line-up for July 2019.
Musing on career and life (and a few admin items)