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 fina ..read more

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 o ..read more

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 Operatio ..read more

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 pass ..read more

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 ..read more

Steve Hawley is a Loan Officer with Southern Trust Mortgage, and the brother of one of my recent guests John Hawley. John recommended we connect to try to get to the bottom of why he and I keep getting so much junk mail about our VA loans. Steve is an expert in residential mortgage lending and was gracious to lend about an hour of his time to answer my questions about the VA Loan program, and how veterans are marketed to and why. We discuss: The role of a mortgage broker in the process of purchasing a home. Misconceptions regarding mortgages When to check your credit and understand your finan ..read more

Today I had a great conversation with Mark Munger about the Marine for Life Network. Mark is the Regional Network Coordinator for the Southeast Region, one of the busiest and most engaged regions due to the high number of veterans that transition back to the southeast following transition. We talked about how Mark got involved with Marine for Life, and what their mission is across the country. Mark and I also dive into how marines and their families can get access to the network both during their initial separation from active duty, as well as throughout their post-service careers. I’m excited ..read more

John Wayne Mullins is an officer in the Coast Guard Reserve and the founder of JWM-Coaching LLC. His leadership coaching practice offers entrepreneurs and small business owners a formal process for actualizing structured goals. He writes frequently for LinkedIn about Employee Engagement, Succession Planning, and expanding your Comfort Zone.   We discuss his decision to start this business, gaining confidence from the support of his wife and his own personal business coach. We also dive into how to avoid distractions and learn how to say "No" when you need to prioritize your time as a ..read more

Bronchae Brown is a former Marine Corps aviator and the CEO of Zoomiee, a company tackling the challenge of providing photography on-demand for attendees at school events, sporting games, and live performances who want to get out from behind their smartphone and be present in the moment. Bronchae left a lucrative career in computer science after graduating college to pursue his passion and goal of becoming an aviator in the military, accepting a commission in the U.S. Marine Corps where he served for 20 years before making the transition to civilian life and entrepreneurship in 2014. He opens ..read more

Anthony DeToto's career is in private wealth management and in today’s conversation we hear about his transition as an Army officer, but the reason why we were introduced and the focus of this podcast is on 1836Veterans, an organization he founded to help veterans in the Houston area create small businesses in the lower-middle market. His group at 1836 believes that veterans have a competitive advantage in business due to their leadership, work-ethic, and character and that they have a natural inclination to feel comfortable with risk while creating performative teams that operate success ..read more