I loved my interview with Jason Santamaria. Special thanks to Vincent Martino for making this connection. They became good friends in business school and co-authored a book. Two things you should pay attention to for this interview:
1 - alignment. There's very few people I can think of in the last 390 interviews that are as aligned as Jason is with his career. The way that he speaks, the way that he thinks, the way that he processes information... he found the right career for him. And it's so refreshing to see that.
2 - Maybe even more important is that as we unwrap his story, I think you'll realize that that was not clear to him when he was in the Marine Corps, or when he left the Marine Corps. It wasn't like he had his sights set on a career in transformational company work. And I think that that should hopefully be refreshing for all of you listening to this to see how his story unfolds to see that he found a career path that really resonates with him. But it wasn't a master plan, it was taking the next best step every step of the way, and thinking about what he wanted.
Why Listen:
This is the third installment in our series where we are taking a deep dive into each branch’s credentialing assistance program.
Today we talk with Mike and Cristy from Coast Guard COOL. This is a relatively new program that was stood up in January 2020, but it already has over 1,500 credentials available for Coast Guardsmen.
Here's the program in a nutshell:
•CG COOL funds enlisted members only (active and selected reservists) and can help pay for exam, application, state licensing, membership and renewal fees.
•The exam has to be related to service member’s rating, out-of-rate assignment, collateral duty, or academic degree.
•There is no dollar amount cap on the cost of credential.
•CG COOL only funds one exam attempt per credential and service members can only have one approved funding request per FY.
•There is no additional duty service requirement for utilizing this resource and there is no recoupment if the service member fails exam.
Mike and Cristy rattle off a plethora of resources, so be sure to check out our show notes where I’ve linked to everything mentioned.
If you’re in the Army, you can find your deep dive in Episode #383 and if you’re in the Navy, you can find yours in episode #387.
About Mike:
Mike Reynolds served in the Navy Reserves for 4 years as a Seabee and then 11 years in the Army in telecommunications. Notably, he served in the Pentagon and the White House during the Clinton and Bush administrations, separating in 2002. Mike has been with the federal government since 2008, working for both the Air Force and Army in educational roles. He has been with the Coast Guard since 2019 and serves as the Coast Guard's COOL Project Manager. He holds a Masters in Education in Teaching and Learning from Liberty University.
About Cristy:
Since January 2020, Cristy Minshew has been a Team Lead for the Coast Guard credentialing program, managing daily operations, metrics, funding and execution. Prior to working for the Coast Guard, Cristy spent 12 years serving in a variety of roles with the Navy's Voluntary Education Program. Additionally, she's a former Army MilSpouse and holds a BS in Education from Old Dominion University.