"You just gotta do it. Do the research, do the best you can, then just go."

A sentiment shared by many entrepreneurs as they manage multiple careers and the uncertainty of starting a new business.

This is the third and final episode in our three-part series in partnership with Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC). This series showcases partnerships between FVC and organizations offering programs in agriculture tailored for military veterans. We interview stakeholders within the organization as well as a military veteran who participated in its programs.

This week our guests are Keith King, Founder and CEO at the National Veteran Business Development Council (NVBDC) and Tyler Evans, US Marine Corps veteran Founder of Brookside Plant Farm. The NVBDC is a national non-profit focused on certifying veteran-owned businesses for the purposes of connecting them with their corporate members to pursue commercial opportunities. Tyler is currently working in cyber security but plans to leverage his certification from the NVBDC to grow his nursery business in the coming years.

You’ll hear a lot about the entrepreneurial spirit in this episode, which is of course important when starting a business, but the humility through which Keith and Tyler communicate their own personal uncertainties around starting businesses is as equally important.

Stay tuned for more on the NVBDC, how much it costs, how to quality, etc and learn from Tyler as he lays out his path into the nursery business in real-time.

For more information about NVBDC, visit www.nvbdc.org.  You can reach Keith on his LinkedIn profile here (https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithkingassociates/) or by email at [email protected]

Tyler’s nursery business, Brookside Plant Farms, can be found at www.brooksideplantfarm.com. Product and details are forthcoming!

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under Agreement No. 2022-70416-37277.