Beyond the Uniform

Jonny Coreson is currently on active duty in the military, and has started two different companies while on active duty. His current company - Blue Jacketeer - helps Navy Sailors prepare for their advancement exam. This is a great interview for anyone on Active Duty or recently separated who is interested in entrepreneurship.

• 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

• • Jonny's company: https://bluejacketeer.com/
  • Recommended Resources
    • Bunker in a Box - brick and mortar collaboration spaces as well as online resources with meet-ups for military aspiring entrepreneurs. Geared towards people on active duty, provides a 14-module course
    • The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future
    • Veterati - connects veterans with mentors in a desired civilian industry

In this interview, I take a look at Cal Newport's book, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, which provides information about how to work more productively and efficiently. I've found this book to be immensely helpful in my own work life and hope that it helps you as well.

• 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

• • Audible Trial - receive a free audio book (and support BTU)
  • So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
  • Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
  • Interviews referenced
    • Cal Newport
    • Ryan Guina

• Cal Newport - #86
  • Secret to finding deeply fulfilling work is NOT about following your passion
  • Instead about getting really, really good at whatever it is you do
  • And that developing a craft - honing a specific skill set, will lead to the three ingredients of a fulfilling career, which is:
    • Autonomy
    • Competency
    • Relatedness (connection to others)
• Deep Work
• Special thanks to Ryan Guina - BTU #61 - cash money life & the military wallet
• I’m just going to skim the surface
• Talk about the 3-5 tips that have been most helpful to me these last few weeks
• The book is FULL of other ideas - some that may resonate more for you.
• So check it out.
• Audio Book or Digital Book - do order through BTU helps offset the $120 it costs to keep this showing going every month. Full disclosure if you do a free trial of Audible, BTU makes z$15, if you buy a book through our link we get about $0.15… clearly we are crushing it financially Not really, but if you do either of those things, it means I lose less money on this show.
• LOVED this book
• HUGE impact on my productivity
• Very excited to share this with you and hope it helps you in whatever you’re doing
• Structure
  • Background and Deep Work for context
  • Tips
    • Email
    • Scheduling
    • Daily shutdown procedure
    • Sprints
    • Work-centric meditations
    • Free time
• Focus on Deep work
• What is deep work
  • How long would it take (in months) to train a smart recent college graduate with no specialized training in my field to complete this task?
  • If answer is less than a year… probably not incredibly deep work
  • May keep you busy, may make you feel momentum and feel like you’re making progress
  • Not the deeply skilled work that will set you apart and make you fulfilled
• Balance of Deep and Shallow Work
  • Will always have shallow work
  • Writers, intellectuals may be able to detach for months to focus on their work
  • Most of us can’t do that
  • What is important though is maintaining an awareness of when you’re doing shallow work
  • "It’s difficult to prevent the trivial from creeping into every corner of your schedule if you don’t face, without flinching, your current balance between deep and shallow work, and then adopt the habit of pausing before action and asking, “What makes the most sense right now?”
  • Focusing on highest leverage item
  • "If you give your mind something meaningful to do throughout all your waking hours, you’ll end the day more fulfilled, and begin the next one more relaxed, than if you instead allow your mind to bathe for hours in semiconscious and unstructured Web surfing"
  • Might think this would be exhausting
  • Always pushing your mind to focus on the highest leverage & most strenuous activity
  • "One of the chief things which my typical man has to learn is that the mental faculties are capable of a continuous hard activity; they do not tire like an arm or a leg. All they want is change—not rest, except in sleep.”
  • If you’re like me - some of the things that typically distract
    • Apps
    • facebook
    • Reddit
    • Email
  • I often find myself reaching for these things instincitlvely before i even realize it
  • Effort to keep from getting bored
  • Cal is a HUGE advocate of boredom
  • It’s restorative
  • It allows you mind to recoup
  • and allows your subconscious to solve problems in the background
  • Great idea in the shower or on a drive
  • But these things like Facebook, email, apps - they have a way of creeping into our lives
  • "Addictive websites of the type mentioned previously thrive in a vacuum: If you haven’t given yourself something to do in a given moment, they’ll always beckon as an appealing option."
  • One way to help when it comes to these apps that often pose themselves as productivity boosting or necessary is a message Cal has:
  • "These services aren’t necessarily, as advertised, the lifeblood of our modern connected world. They’re just products, developed by private companies, funded lavishly, marketed carefully, and designed ultimately to capture then sellyour personal information and attention to advertisers”
  • Cal talk about how there is no way to increase your ability to conduct deep work unless you start to ween yourself off of these distractions
  • And so to help with this Cal advises to really be deliberate about which tools you let into your life.
  • Are they really helping you?
  • "The Craftsman Approach to Tool Selection: Identify the core factors that determine success and happiness in your professional and personal life. Adopt a tool only if its positive impacts on these factors substantially outweigh its negative impacts.”
• EMAIL
  • "Schedule in advance when you’ll use the Internet, and then avoid it altogether outside these times. I suggest that you keep a notepad near your computer at work. On this pad, record the next time you’re allowed to use the Internet. Until you arrive at that time, absolutely no network connectivity is allowed—no matter how tempting.”
  • I’ve done this the last couple of weeks and been amazed
  • Cal talks about how even looking at your email distracts you for minutes and tens of minutes afterwards
  • this CONSTANT distraction takes a toll little of us realize in our daily work
• SCHEDULE
• Scheduling day before in 30 minute blocks
  • Schedule work day - each line 30 min, draw line down center. Block out all activities; provide overflow time. Assign task block and to right detail what tasks. Haveoverflow time allotted for email or something else. Ok to reschedule as many times as necessary throughout day
    • If you stumble on insight, pursue as long as necessary regardless of schedule. Point is to build habit of asking what is most important to work on
    • Evaluate depth by # of mos it would take a college grad to learn. Assign % of time for deep work and plan accordingly
• SHUTDOWN
• Fixed schedule productivity: don't work past 5:30. Don't offer excuses when declining opportunities and don't offer consolation prizes
• It's essential to shutdown from work at the end of the day and give subconscious time to rejuvenate and work on problems. NO intrusion of work email or work website ready. Unaccomplished tasks will dominate attention. Daily shutdown ritual:
  • Check email - anything urgent?
  • Review to do list - anything urgent outstanding? (Ensuring plan in place will relax mind)
  • Review next 3 days of calendar - anything I'm missing
  • Set plan for tomorrow
  • Say "shutdown complete" - give mind permission to disengage
• Schedule when I will be online (e.g. Every 15 min for 5 min) If I absolutely cannot work on offline activity without access to internet, impose 5 min wait and then reschedule internet time (don't do it immediately)
  • Schedule online blocks in evening too. Need periods of boredom
• SPRINTS
  • Roosevelt dash - once per week, set aside time and give self less time for deep work than you need. FORCE self to work more productively. Can expand frequency after a few weeks
• MEDITATION
  • Productively meditate - 3x / week, take a walk and think about one specific problem. Keep coming back to it. Avoid distraction and beware of looping back over same points continuously.
• FREE TIME
  • Need to plan free time with structured activities that exercise mind and truly rejuvenate - social networks and web shouldn't be used for decompression and will fill any time left vacant

“I wrote two books before I decided to leave [Proctor & Gamble] and do write full-time. You've got to have a steady source of income, you've got to have savings, and you have to have a clear path to getting to profitable replacement income for where you were. There's no real get-rich-quick path to self-publishing. I definitely think you need to have a list of products that are already out there and a proven track record before you start doing it as a full-time job.”
- Andrew Watts

Andrew Watts is the author of three books, The War Planners, The War Stage (The War Planners) (Volume 2), and Pawns of the Pacific. Andrew started out at the Naval Academy in 2003 and served as a naval officer and helicopter pilot until 2013. He started his civilian career at Proctor & Gamble for nearly four years, first as an Assistant Brand Manager and then as an Initiative Operations Leader. He published his first two books while at P&G before making the transition to full-time author in 2017.

The top reason to listen to this episode is:

1. Operations - Andrew started his civilian career in Operations, since he had experience with Operations in the Navy... but he found out that there's considerable differences between the two. He talks about Operations at Proctor & Gamble (and in the civilian sector in general) and the differences from what one might expect coming from the military.
2. Proctor & Gamble - P&G is a company with a fantastic reputation, and also has a reputation for loving military veterans. Andrew talks about how, after only hist first week at P&G, he started to receive recruiting calls trying to lure him away. He talks about the interview process, how to prepare, and what life at P&G was like.
3. Side projects - Andrew wrote his first two books while working full time at P&G. For any veteran wanting to pursue their own company or idea, he has great advice about how to make progress towards that goal before jumping off into the unknown.
4. Writing - after publishing his first two books, Andrew took the plunge to become a full-time writer. He talks about this in a way that made me realize that it's akin to running a company entirely by yourself - marketing, publishing, getting cover artwork done... and doing it entirely by yourself. For any aspiring veteran writers, it's a great look at this creative lifestyle and the world of self-publishing.

• 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

• • The Service Academy Career Conference (SACC) - Andrew credits this with helping him find his job with Proctor & Gamble
  • Andrew's Books
    • The War Planners
    • The War Stage (The War Planners) (Volume 2)
  • Books recommended on this episode
    • Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World - I recommended this book as a great resource for any veteran about how to do deep work that will be valuable in your career rather than the superficial work that takes up time and doesn't make a difference. Author Cal Newport was on the show before, and hits it out of the park with this book.
    • Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear - I recommended this book (GREAT on audiobook) for anyone interested in fostering their creativity as an entrepreneur, artist, or worker
    • On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft  - Andrew recommended this book (and I wholeheartedly second it) as an incredible look at persistence in any craft, and what it takes to become a great writer
    • Successful Self-Publishing: How to self-publish and market your book in ebook and print - Andrew recommended this book as a great primer on how to self-publish and everything you need to know.
    • Mark Dawson - Andrew recommended this thriller writer, whoe started self-publishing 5 years ago and has since then produced over 20 books. He offers great courses about Facebook ads, email lists, how to sell books. Andrew particularly recommended his starter Course on how to self-publish
  • Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) - this is the resource that Andrew used to self-publish his first two books

• 3:18 - Andrew's background
• 3:54 - How Andrew would explain what he does for a living as a full-time author
• 4:40 - For aspiring veteran authors, how important it is to have sustainable income prior to launching a career as a full-time author
• 6:00 - How Andrew decided to leave the Navy
• 7:45 - How Andrew used the Service Academy Career Conference to find his way to P&G
• 9:12 - What Operations in the civilian sector and at P&G, and how it differs from Operations in the military
• 13:13 - How P&G boosted Andrew's credibility within the business world and lead to head hunters calling him only one week after starting there
• 15:36 - An overview of the hiring & interview process at P&G
• 18:55 - What Andrew would have done differently when negotiating his first contract at P&G
• 20:06 - How Andrew would explain his roles at P&G as an Assistant Brand Manager and then as an Initiative Operations Leader
• 24:26 - What Andrew's life looked like while working at P&G
• 30:24 - How Andrew was able to write two novels while working full-time at P&G, and advice to veterans seeking to start a side project while working full-time
• 36:42 - An overview of Andrew's work as an author and the incredible traction he's received so far
• 37:57 - How long it took Andrew to write his first book while working full-time, and then his second book
• 41:14- Advice to veterans debating between self-publishing vs. using a publisher
• 43:45 - When Andrew first thought of writing, and how writing on a deployment lead to his though of becoming an author
• 46:30 - Resources Andrew would recommend to any veteran aspiring author
• 48:27 - How Andrew structures his day when he has an open landscape for his own work and advice on how to stay on task

“I was 27 years old, 150 pounds, and I hadn’t played football in five years. And I decided that I wanted to go chase this dream [of joining the NFL]. Literally, people laughed at me. They said you have absolutely no chance - the odds are astronomically against you and you can’t do it.”
- Phil McConkey

Phil McConkey is the President of Academy Securities, our nation’s first and only post 9/11 military veteran and disabled veteran owned and operated investment bank and broker dealer. Phil has served in this capacity for the last 6 years. He started out at the Naval Academy, after which he served for five years as a Naval Aviator. After his military service, spent 6 years in the NFL, with the Packers, Cardinals, Chargers and the Giants - where he won the Super Bowl.

The top reason to listen to this episode is:

1. Resilience - Phil's first career was in the NFL, where he caught a pass for the winning team in the Super Bowl; he went on to start his own investment bank of which he is now president. He talks about being cut from the NFL multiple times and fighting his way back, about having the tenacity to pursue one's dream no matter what that is.
2. Finance - Phil's company, Academy Securities, employs many veterans through

• 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

• Resources
  • Veterans on Wall Street - Veterans on Wall Street (VOWS) is an initiative dedicated to honoring former military personnel and employees currently in the National Guard and Reserve
  • 100,000 Jobs Mission - https://www.veteranjobsmission.com/
  • Man in the Arena - A speech that Phil kept with him at the NFL and has encouraged him to remain resilient through all adversities

• 2:35 - Phil’s background
• 3:40 - How Phil approached his decision to leave the military
• 15:10 - How Phil transitioned from the Navy to the NFL
• 19:45 - Phil’s advice to those pursuing professional sports or anything that seems like a farfetched dream
• 23:08 - How Phil started his second civilian career in the world of finance
• 25:52 - Phil’s advice to veterans seeking a career in finance
• 28:50 - Advice for veterans seeking to start their own company
• 37:45 - What life is like as President of Academy Securities
• 40:48 - Recommended resources
• 42:52 - What it’s like for a new veteran hire at Academy Securities
• 44:42 - Final words of wisdom

“My job now is [compared to my time in the Marine Corps] so delightfully meaningless and inconsequential that the only way that I an look at sports and covering sports is that it is the silliest, most fun thing. It allows me, after the ultimate seriousness of combat in the Marine Corps, to laugh at anything, no matter how seemingly serious it is.”
- Matt Ufford

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.

The top reason to listen to this episode is:

1. Sports Writing - Matt set out to be a writer, and has worked his way up to a role where he now produced YouTube videos about sports. His story is inspiring, and is an example how through repetition and hard work, veterans can achieve any role.
2. New Media - when Matt started out, Twitter didn't even exist. Now his role is all about YouTube. He talks about how the Sports and Media environment is rapidly changing, and what it's like to work in this constantly evolving space
3. Perspective - I love the gratitude and perspective that Matt holds. He talks about how, compared to his military service, his job is stress free, and the gratitude he feels each day to be alive.

• 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

• Related Episodes
  • Cal Newport - Matt is a great example of building and using career capital. Cal talks a lot about how one can go about doing this
  • Nate Boyer - Nate served in the NFL and Matt references
• Resources
  • The Things They Carried - Book that made Matt want to write
  • On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft
• A few of Matt's YouTube videos:
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86q9Cvapczg
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfu5J8r2WoE
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPKDUxC7dCQ

• 3:32 - Matt's background
• 4:00 - How Matt approached his decision to leave the Marine Corps
• 7:07 - What Matt does right now at SB Nation
• 8:25 - What Matt's day-to-day life looks like covering sports at SB Nation
• 10:23 - How Matt brings his videos to life on YouTube
• 17:34 - Matt's journey from the Marine Corps to a career in sports media
• 22:42 - How Matt started his own blog, which lead to his current career
• 27:54 - Recommended resources
• 33:42 - Final words of wisdom

“Navigating my way through school as a first generation college student, I made a lot of mistakes. I could have done things a lot differently if I’d had mentorship or guidance on how to make decisions. I believe that I went through that and found myself within the military higher education space over six years ago, really just wanting to be what I needed when I got out.”
- Justine Evirs

Justine is the Senior Director of Programs at Service to School. She is a Navy veteran and Navy spouse, and has helped countless veterans find and be accepted to their ideal college and grad school programs. She started out as a Fireman in the US Navy, and has dedicated the last 6 years to transforming our active duty, military spouse, and veteran community through academic advising & program development. She has worked at ECPI University, the University of Maryland, and College of San Mateo in veteran services coordinator positions.
The top reason to listen to this episode is:

1. Education - Justine has spent over 6 years helping veterans find the right school (undergraduate or graduate) and program to accelerate their career. She's got extremely helpful advice about how to maximize your educational experience
2. Entrepreneurship - Seth talks about starting a business, a brewery, and a foundation all at the same time
3. Mentors - Seth does a great job of talking about how to find and learn from mentors as veterans pursue their civilian career

• 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

• Related Episodes - if you liked this episode, I would recommend you check out the following episodes:
  • Tim Hsia - Founder of Service to School
  • David Lee - used Service to School to go from the Marines to the Stanford Graduate School of Business
  • Alex Chivers - Army Ranger NCO to Dartmouth
• Service 2 School
• Veterati - Veterati is a free mentorship platform. Our mentors are professionals volunteering to serve those who have served our country.
• Student Veterans of America (SVA) - Student Veterans of America presents groundbreaking research about student veterans using the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
• American Corporate Partners - Founded in 2008, ACP aims to ease the transition from the military to the civilian workforce.
• LinkedIn - essential for networking and very underutilized by veterans

• 2:39 - Justine’s background
• 3:47 - How Justine found herself unexpectedly facing a career transition far earlier than she expected
• 8:00 - Justine’s road from the Navy, through higher education, to Service to School
• 10:40 - Why Justine advocates education after military service instead of going directly into industry
• 13:50 - An overview of Service to School
• 21:30 - Some common mistakes that veterans make when applying to attending higher education after military service
• 29:20 - How to start to uncover - while on active duty - what you may want to do afterwards
• 35:10 - How to find the right school for you
• 41:45 - Advice on pursuing education after the military vs. while on active duty
• 46:00 - Recommended resources
• 48:08 - Final words of wisdom

“I wanted to use something that I thought was special that was tied to my Marine Corps time, which is the celebratory nature of using beer as a way to give back. And I'm proud to say that this grew into a movement, and we're excited about the work that we do."
– Seth Jordan

Seth Jordan is the Founder & President of Dog Tag Brewing, a brewery that provides the highest quality crafted beers that deliver a message of gratitude for the selfless sacrifice of our nation’s military. Proceeds from Dog Tag Brewing sales are donated to causes determined by the families of fallen warriors.

He graduated from Clemson University in South Carolina and went to work for ESPN in New York City, but felt compelled to serve after 9/11. He served as an officer in the Marine Corps for nearly 10 years as a Naval Aviator and UH-1 Helicopter pilot with over 250 combat missions. He started Dog Tag Brewing after leaving the Marine Corps.

The top reason to listen to this episode is:

1. Support - Seth established a Brewery where all of the profits go to supporting veteran families and the causes they believe in. It's a great example of using one's career for a purpose greater than oneself
2. Entrepreneurship - Seth talks about starting a business, a brewery, and a foundation all at the same time
3. Mentors - Seth does a great job of talking about how to find and learn from mentors as veterans pursue their civilian career

• 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

• Related Episodes - if you liked this episode, I would recommend you check out the following episodes:
  • BTU 60 - Matt Miller - Vending machine; helping family and building own life
  • BTU 71 - Jeff Tiegs - Guardian Group - giving back
  • BTU 38 - Chris Shaw - Good overview of Bunker Labs
  • Recommended Resources
    • Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business - The difference between innovators and executors. Division of labor, who does what and when. Battle Rhymths and how to get through things.
    • LinkedIn - using LinkedIn requests instead of Facebook friends, connecting with new people and following up on those connections
    • Bunker Labs - used own experiences as entrepreneurs to help veterans. Great place to test business plan and pitch deck, and learn from others.
  • Dogtagbrewing.org - foundation doing work for the families of the fallen who have largely been neglected
  • Video overview about Dog Tag Brewing

• 3:45 - Seth's Background
• 4:30 - Seth's decision to join the Military from the civilian sector
• 5:22 - Seth's decision to leave the Marine Corps
• 6:28 - When Seth first started to think about starting his own brewery
• 8:04 - Seth's decision to donate all profits he makes to help veteran causes
• 12:27 - What it was like to start a brewery and advice to other veterans seeking to start their own company
• 16:52 - Advice for veterans seeking a mentor - how to find them and evaluate when to bring them on in a more formal capacity
• 22:00 - How often Seth meets with this mentors and advisors
• 24:16 - What Seth's day-to-day life looks like
• 27:16 - Advice on finding work-life balance
• 31:24 - The most valuable skill Seth took away from the Marine Corps that has helped him at Dog Tag Brewing
• 32:12 - One skill that Seth had to develop since leaving the Marine Corps
• 33:50 - What advice Seth would have given to himself when he first left the Marine Corps
• 39:37 - Resources Seth recommends to all veterans
• 44:00 - Final words of wisdom
• 47:50 - Where you can find out more about Dog Tag Brewing and how you can support Seth and his mission

“Not every conversation that you have should up with a hiring "yes or no" decision at the end of it. You've got to spend some time going out there and finding what's out there. The right job is out there for everybody. It's a matter of us finding it."
– Dan Piontkowski

Dan is the Manager of Sourcing for all the hourly roles at Marriott in the US. He has worked in a variety of recruiting capacities at Amazon, KPMG, Hewlett-Packard, and Booz Allen Hamilton to include leading and launching many of the veteran recruiting pipelines and initiatives. Dan started out as a Corporal in the Marine Corps, before going to the Naval Academy and then serving as a Surface Warfare Officer. His last tour in the Navy was as an Officer Programs Recruiter stationed at Penn State that got him hooked on recruiting.

The top reason to listen to this episode is:

1. Job Search - Dan has worked with some of the best companies in the world, and has some great advice on common pitfalls veterans can avoid in their job search and interview process
2. LinkedIn Advice - Dan leverages LinkedIn quite a bit in his job, and has some tactical advice for how veterans can best utilize LinkedIn in advancing their civilian career
3. Recruiting - for veterans interested in Recruiting as a possible career, Dan provides an overview of what this job looks like. He also talks about how his involvement in recruiting within the military helped prepare him for and inform his decision to pursue this as a civilian. 

• 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

• Related podcasts
  • Liz McLean - Dan got her her first job, and she provides another great perspective on recruiting
  • Sam Bond - I reference how Sam found his job at Lyft through staying in touch with his network in an authentic way
• Networking is a Contact Sport: How Staying Connected and Serving Others Will Help You Grow Your Business, Expand Your Influence -- or Even Land Your Next Job
• The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts - recognizing how people you work with like to be acknowledged as a means of building allies and strengthening your network
• The LinkedIn Group, The Veteran's Mentor Network, Dan talks about being the most active group on LinkedIn

• 2:07 - Dan's background
• 2:44 - Dan's decision to leave the military and how he approached this decision
• 3:48 - Dan's first job search and what he learned from this
• 8:20 - Based on Dan's experience and having worked with many different veterans, some common mistakes he sees veterans make in their job search
• 20:35 - What Dan does as a recruiter, and what his job looks like on a typical day
• 26:40 - Advice for how veterans can best utilize LinkedIn
• 31:14 - Other resources Dan would recommend for veterans
• 34:27 - One piece of advice Dan would give to someone on Active Duty on how to prepare for their career transition
• 38:43 - Final words of wisdom

“That self-discipline and drive, the foresight and focus on accomplishing a goal larger than yourself and more important than quenching your thirst (literally and figuratively) is what drove me to succeed in boxing and what drives me now to succeed in sales and other positions I may have in the future."
– Mike Benedesso

Mike works in New Business Development at Google as part of Google Cloud. He started out at West Point, where he was the Boxing Team Captain and a National Champion. He served in the Army for five years: first as an Executive Officer (XO) of a Military Intelligence Company and then as a Platoon Leader and Team Captain of the Army Boxing Team in the Army's World Class Athlete Program at Fort Carson, Colorado. There, he trained to earn a spot on the 2012 US Olympic Boxing team. Since leaving the Army in 2012, he has worked at Sony, LinkedIn, Google, and earned his MBA from UCLA.The top reason to listen to this episode is:

1. Determination - Mike didn't get into Google until his third time;  he is a case study in persistence and he talks about how boxing and the military prepared him for this.
2. Sales & Account Management - Mike provides a great depiction of an Account Executive role, what the sales aspects of this actually look like. Mike had no experience in this role, and has a great description of what life is like and why other veterans may like this
3. Google & LinkedIn - Mike has worked at both of these iconic companies and provides a good overview of what life is like here

• 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

• LinkedIn
• Sales
  • The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation
  • SPIN Selling
• Websites
  • TechCrunch
  • VentureBeat

• 2:16 - Mike's Background
• 3:00 - How Boxing helped Mike prepare for his civilian career
• 5:38 - When Mike decided to leave the military
• 7:00 - Mike's first job search
• 9:20 - An overview of Mike's experience at UCLA's Anderson School of Business getting his MBA
• 10:40 - What lead Mike to LinkedIn
• 13:38 - What Mike's role as an Enterprise Account Executive Role looked like
• 15:40 - Signs that veterans may enjoy an Account Executive Role and indications you might not enjoy it
• 18:34 - What led Mike to Google
• 20:22 - What Mike's day-to-day life looks like at Google
• 22:00 - Advice for veterans seeking to work at LinkedIn, Google, or a highly-desired company like them
• 27:00 - A mistake Mike made sense the military and what he learned from it
• 29:29 - What habits Mike has had to break from the military to be successful in his civilian career
• 31:49 - Final words of wisdom

“They have no issue negotiating a Syrian and a Kurd ceasefire in the mountains, unarmed with warlords. But if you tell them - what's next for you? They don't know how to do that. Because they've been very frontside focused on the mission in front of them for the last 5, 10, 15, 20+ years. So from that moment it all began for The Honor Foundation."
– Joe Musselman

Joe Musselman is the Founder & CEO of The Honor Foundation. He started out at DePaul University. Joe enlisted in the Navy with intentions of becoming a Navy SEAL, but as he says, “God had other plans.” He sustained an injury that ultimately lead him to found The Honor Foundation. He is also the Founder of The NEXT Series and The SOF Garage.

The top reason to listen to this episode is:

1. Founding - how he did a simple step to help one veteran, and how that led incrementally to founding an incredible organization. Joe's story is one of obsession - of taking massive action to make a difference in the world.
2. How to find your dream job - Joe talks about a very prescriptive process that has helped countless members of speical forces though the transition process
3. Learning - this is a theme of Joe's story - reading everything he can each year, studying happines (in the workplace and in life), studying unhappiness, artificul intelligence, and writing a white paper at the end of the year about he's learned.

• 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

• Books
  • Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World - the most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who are most risk averse. It emphasizes the importance of planning in startups
  • Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future - inspirational about starting an organization
  • The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers - outlines what you need to do as a startup CEO
  • Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor: The New Way to Fast-Track Your Career - outlines a mentorship role in a very different way
  • Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win - 2 Navy SEALs
  • Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies - learning about AI and how it will affect society
  • Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration - about fostering creativity
  • Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers
  • What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful
  • Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
• Podcasts
  • Grey matter
  • Tim Ferris
  • Philosophize This

• 3:21 - Joe's background
• 3:55 - Joe's unexpected departure from the Navy and how he started The Honor Foundation
• 15:43 - One of Joe's biggest mistakes in starting The Honor Foundation
• 18:20 - What it looks like to be involved with The Honor Foundation as a participant
• 21:30 - Joe's advice for other veterans thinking of starting their own organization
• 24:45 - Common mistakes that Joe has seen veterans make in their career transition
• 29:55 - What Joe's day-to-day life looks like
• 34:30 - How Joe has used interactions with world-class thinkers, leaders and doers to catapult his own learning and The Honor Foundation's growth
• 36:48 - Joe's involvement with the NEXT Series and the SOF Garage
• 41:05 - Books, podcasts, and resources Joe would recommend to listeners
• 46:34 - Things that Joe had to unlearn (and has seen other veterans have to unlearn) from their military experience
• 50:40 - Final words of wisdom