Fire And Adjust - Interviewing Today's Top Military and Veteran Entrepreneurs !

In today’s episode, I take a few minutes and explain what has been going on over the last few months, from losing my little brother unexpectedly to graduating college and going full-time on my business and podcast.

We will be kicking off the regular shows next week and I have some big plans for the next few months so stay tuned!

Resources from Today’s ShowThe Digital Military Experience with USAA

This Episode is Sponsored by

91 - Veterans Day Special with Together We Served

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Happy Veterans Day!

Today's episode I get to talk with Diane Short from Together We Served (TWS) an online community connecting and honoring every American who has worn the uniform of the United States military. This is where you reconnect with old friends and share your service story as a lasting legacy for generations to come. If you have any questions Together We Served has a help chat box in the lower left corner of the page.

I also talk some about an amazing resource that Ryan Guina over at The Military Wallet puts together called Veterans Days Meals and Deals. You have to check this out, the links are below. I would recommend you to download the pdf version, Ryan did a great job on this list and he has links to the offers and requirements and everything.

Resources from Today's Show

TogetherWeServed.comSOS.TogetherWeServed.OrgThe Military Wallet

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90 - Ivan Raiklin a Recovering Lawyer, Startup Advisor, Motivational Speaker and Angel Investor

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Today's episode episode I have the pleasure of interviews Ivan Raiklin a Recovering Lawyer, Startup Advisor, Motivational Speaker and Angel Investor. Ivan is all over the place in fact he was on the other side of the pond when we did this interview. He is full of advice on growth hacking, angel investing and much more.

Resources from Today's Show

Ivan's Website - Raiklin.comThe Digital Military Experiance with USAA

This Episode was sponsored by

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Today's episode is a solo episode and I explain about some of what I have been working on over the last few weeks. From working on building my first funnels to upcoming events, conferences, and even a Free course and product giveaway!

Resources from Today's Show

* The Digital Military Experience with USAA

* Conferencetopia

* DotCom Secrets

* FinCon

This Episode is Sponsored by

 

On today’s episode, I am welcoming back Mike Kelly from USAA and Deborah Bradbard with IVMF to talk about the 3rd research paper in this 4 part series. You can find links to the first two episodes of this series below.

 

Did You Know?

One of three service members didn’t feel prepared to successfully transition from military to civilian life, according to a new report released today that draws on self-reported data from veteran employees. Among those who did not feel prepared, 54 percent did not get into their preferred career field, did not find a job that matched their military training, and their military status did not help them obtain a job.

The report titled, “Workforce Readiness Alignment: The Relationship Between Job Preferences, Retention, and Earnings,” is the third installment of the Workforce Readiness Research Series, by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF), in collaboration with USAA. The research emphasizes the relationship between the career aspirations of the veterans, and his or her success securing employment consistent with those aspirations.

Resources from Today's Show

* IVMF - Institute for Veterans and Military Families

* USAA - Leaving the Military

* View Online - Workforce Readiness Paper 3

In today’s episode, we’re featuring Michael O’neal. I interviewed him in the past which you can listen to again at F&A episode 016.

Michael is the host of the popular business podcast “The Solopreneur Hour.” He is coming back to the show to talk about his upcoming book “Either Unemployable or Proudly Unemployable,” a book that helps unemployable people like Michael turn their hobbies and passions into business opportunities.

This is one topic we spent a lot of time in the show. I asked Michael about his advice on how veterans can transform their passions into business ideas and he generously offered a step-by-step formula that he himself applied when he was also unsure about his path. Michael shares his story and said that the formula helped him finally decide to be an entrepreneur. Listen to the podcast to learn this easy-to-follow procedure that Michael advocates.

As we explored Michael’s life as an entrepreneur we started talking about the process of outsourcing and looking for great virtual assistants. Michael shares a great sticky note method to identify the perfect assistant for you and your business as well as another method of doing this which he learned from Chris Ducker.

Aside from his book, Michael is also launching a new product, called “The Art of the Interview” which he shared on the show. He is also attending Fin Con to talk about the journey of the solopreneur. Michael advised new and aspiring entrepreneurs to attend conferences every quarter and he offers a few pointers on connecting with people at conferences. His pointers are amazing and I think they’ll be useful for anyone thinking about going to similar conferences and getting the most out of them.

Resources from Today's Show

* SolopreneurHour.com

* Conferencetopia

* FinCon

* VirtualStaffFinder.com

* RoomAndBoard.com

On today’s show, we have Ryan Michler, a husband, father, Iraqi Combat Veteran, and the Founder of Order of Man. Ryan is a familiar voice in Fire and Adjust as I interviewed him a while back in Episode 33 when he was running a very different business.

Ryan just got out of high school when he entered basic training and left for Iraq just after getting married. While in the military he spent 8 years in the National Guard.

Going back to his wife and kid was difficult. Having had traumatic experiences with different father figures Ryan didn’t know how to be a husband, a father, and a man in his community. His relationship with his wife went plummeting and this forced Ryan to really think about the person he is becoming.

Ryan emerged from this journey within himself as a “man” ready to take on a leadership role in his family as father and husband and in his community as a business leader.

As he learned and developed the tools to master himself, his passion to help other men in the same journey inspired him to launch Order of Man, an online platform that helps men in four key areas: relationships, health, wealth, and self-mastery.

Listen to our conversation as Ryan talks about the work he and his tribe does within their mastermind group called The Iron Council. Learn helpful self-improvement practices that let you plan out your day intentionally and review the things you’ve accomplished to propel you to the next. Ryan also shares his time management principles and strategies that allow him to balance the different roles and projects that he handles.

You can listen to all of these and many more in this episode of Fire and Adjust.

Resources from Today's Show

* Order of Man

* The Iron Council

In this episode of Fire and Adjust, I invited John DiPiero, Military Advocacy Relationship Director at USAA to talk about the second paper in the employment research series called the “Workforce Readiness Research,” a project collaboration between the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) and USAA.

In the first part of our conversation, we talked about John’s own story.

John spent 29 years in the Air Force and said that when he went out he didn’t know what exactly to do. When I asked how his transition was, he said it was a quick decision. He made some mistakes along the way.

John’s first job out of service was at a military school as a teacher. He said that his two years there were seminal in his gradual transition into the civilian world.

His next job was in Military Affairs at USAA, another role that felt comfortable and made his transition even less difficult than some vets undergo. His real challenge though came when he was transferred to the HR team where he had to learn and adapt into a very new environment that challenged his comfort zone.

In the second part of our conversation, John introduced the second paper in the Workforce Readiness Research which was entitled “Revisiting the Business Case for Hiring a Veteran: A Strategy for Cultivating Competitive Advantage.” The paper responds to recent focus and debate on measuring companies’ return on investment for their veteran hiring programs and emphasizes how employers can turn veteran talent into a competitive advantage in talent acquisition, talent deployment, and talent development.

Listen to the podcast episode to learn more about John and how employers can help veterans and benefit from doing so as derived from the findings of the second paper.

Resources from Today's Show

* REVISITING THE BUSINESS CASE AND STRATEGY FOR HIRING A VETERAN

* USAA Resource Page

* IVMF

In today’s episode, we talked with Michael Kelly, Assistant Vice President at USAA, and Debbie Bradbard the Senior Research Associate at Institute for Veterans and Military Families.

I invited them to the show to talk about the first of four papers written through the collaboration of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) and USAA. The employment research series is called the “Workforce Readiness Research” and the first paper was entitled “Work After Service: Developing Workforce Readiness and Veteran Talent for the Future.”

In this episode of Fire and Adjust, Michael and Debbie talk about some of the main findings presented in the first paper. According to their research, there are over 200,000 military to civilian life transitions happening every year in the US. These transitions are usually muddled with confusion between vets looking for jobs and companies who have no strategies in place whatsoever to accommodate what is otherwise a highly capable veteran workforce.

According to the research, most vets have skills needed by these companies but lack things like certifications and a comprehension of business language to even be considered for job vacancies.

To bridge this gap between vets and their potential employers, the research proposes that companies should be educated about the value that veterans bring to their organizations. Companies need to know that there are tools they can use to create a mutually beneficial relationship between them and highly capable veterans.

One of the things that Michael and Debbie suggest is hiring vets who may not have the hard skills required for the job but have soft skills that can have a profound impact on the success of organizations and training them along the way to develop the hard skills they lack. According to the research, 60% of new hires do jobs that they were trained in. Adopting this mindset can definitely help vets looking for jobs and companies that need highly professional, disciplined, and leadership-oriented individuals for the organizations.

Tune in to the podcast to learn more about the findings of the first paper of this research series

Resources from Today's Show

* Work After Service: Developing Workforce Readiness and Veteran Talent for the Future

* USAA Resource Page

* IVMF

* ONet

* My Next Move for Veterans

* Skillbridge

On today’s show, we have Sam Meek, Founder and CEO of Sandboxx, a military social network.

Sam enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2002 after the fall of the towers on 9/11. He followed in the yellow footprints of both his great-grandfather and his grandfather.

Sam was awarded several commendations and merits during his 2 tours to Iraq before being honorably discharged as a Sergeant of the Marines.

Sam believes that transitioning into civilian life is one of the biggest challenges most Veterans will face. When he transitioned he began his civilian career with WR Platform Advisors, a hedge fund investment platform, where he supported the executive team as Vice President of Business Development. Sam developed several successful marketing strategies for the firm while playing a key role in operations and technology.

After his stint in finance, Sam turned his attention to building Sandboxx, a lifestyle social networking platform for the entire military community with his co-founders

Listen to the show to learn more about Sandboxx and Sam’s advice on getting started on your own entrepreneurial journey.

Resources from Today's Show

* Sandboxx.us

* @sandboxx

Connect with Sam

LinkedIn

Twitter

Some more you will hear in the show:

* SandBoxx connecting our Military Community

* Connecting service members, recruits, veterans, and their families

* Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!

* The further and further you get the more and more you miss it

* What's your next milestone, what is the next hill to climb?