In this episode, Brock speaks with Bernard Toney. Bernard is a former Army physician's assistant, and now a professor at the University of Lynchburg while pursuing his Master's of Public Health. In this conversation, Bernard recounts some of his humble beginnings growing up in Atlanta, Georgia. Although a bright individual, he talks about his own self sabotage, both in school and even in the army as an enlisted man. He shares that one of the more radical changes that occurred for him during his time in the army as he found people who believed in him. After his time in the army, he went on to be a medical officer at the White House. He talks through his observations from caring for some of the most powerful people in the world amidst the COVID 19 pandemic. We go deep on some of the larger issues about why access to opportunity isn't always the answer. He talks about being presented with the opportunity at a young age to attend to a better funded school with more resources, but at the time, he wasn't ready to receive and take advantage of that. The question of access to opportunity comes up again, in his observations of how the world accesses medicine, and share some of his thoughts on ways our healthcare system can be improved.

Resources:

Bernard on LinkedIn

Show Notes:

(01:50) - What are you most proud of that you never get to talk about?

The Scuttlebutt Podcast - The podcast for service members and veterans building a life outside the military.

The Scuttlebutt Podcast features discussions on lifestyle, careers, business, and resources for service members. Show host, Brock Briggs, talks with a special guest from the community committed to helping military members build a successful life, inside and outside the service.

Get a weekly episode breakdown, a sneak peek of the next episode and other resources in your inbox for free at https://scuttlebutt.substack.com/.

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In this episode, Brock speaks with Beau Higgins. Beau is a retired Marine Corps Intelligence Officer of 25 years and now works as a senior manager overseeing military talent acquisition at Amazon. We talk through how to inspire leadership from every single person in the unit, even down to the most junior personnel. Beau talks through his framework for managing risk and balancing the necessity for field training with the requirement of comprehensive instructions. We close the conversation talking about how the culture at Amazon has mirrored that of the Marine Corps, getting comfortable with failing quickly, and tactics for successful job hunting, coming from someone who looks at a lot of resumes. 

Resources:

Amazon Military Hiring

Amazon Skillbridge Program

(01:30) - What are you most proud of that you never get to talk about?

The Scuttlebutt Podcast - The podcast for service members and veterans building a life outside the military.

The Scuttlebutt Podcast features discussions on lifestyle, careers, business, and resources for service members. Show host, Brock Briggs, talks with a special guest from the community committed to helping military members build a successful life, inside and outside the service.

Get a weekly episode breakdown, a sneak peek of the next episode and other resources in your inbox for free at https://scuttlebutt.substack.com/.

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In this episode, Brock speaks with Carlos Lopez, a connection facilitated by Veterati. Veterati is a platform for connecting service members with common goals, career searching , and networking. Carlos is former SF with specialty in intelligence and after 20 years of service, is seeking a job in data science and analytics. Veterati allows mentees to reach out to and connect with people in specific fields visible through LinkedIn which is why Carlos reached out. We discuss the skills needed to enter the data science field, landscape of jobs available, how to decide what sector to go into, and how to tailor your resume to experiences to the job with experiences in the military.

Show Notes:  

The Scuttlebutt Podcast - The podcast for service members and veterans building a life outside the military.

The Scuttlebutt Podcast features discussions on lifestyle, careers, business, and resources for service members. Show host, Brock Briggs, talks with a special guest from the community committed to helping military members build a successful life, inside and outside the service.

Get a weekly episode breakdown, a sneak peek of the next episode and other resources in your inbox for free at https://scuttlebutt.substack.com/.

Follow along:    

Amanda Huffman is the host of the Women of the Military podcast , a two time author, and the creator behind Airman to Mom. In this episode you’ll hear the story of Amanda’s engineering unit coming under attack while in Afghanistan, how she cultivated an audience around her unique niche, and why it’s important to continue to pivot into new things until you find your thing. Amanda’s story of how she landed where she is will be inspiring to anyone and underlines the fact that no matter your position, there’s people in the world that want to know what you do, and there’s only one person who can give them that. She’s embraced her experiences and is using that to help other’s in a way I think everyone ought to.

Resources:

Airman to Mom

Girls Guide to Military Service - Book

Women of the Military - Book

Amanda Huffman - LinkedIn

Amanda Huffman - Twitter

Show Notes:

(01:10) - Engineering 101

The Scuttlebutt Podcast - The podcast for service members and veterans building a life outside the military.

The Scuttlebutt Podcast features discussions on lifestyle, careers, business, and resources for service members. Show host, Brock Briggs, talks with a special guest from the community committed to helping military members build a successful life, inside and outside the service.

Get a weekly episode breakdown, a sneak peek of the next episode and other resources in your inbox for free at https://scuttlebutt.substack.com/.

Follow along:    

In this episode, Brock walks through three different business ideas for the military community: a military base drive through coffee truck, a Thiel Fellowship for service members, and a cohort based TAPS class. 

Show Notes:  

The Scuttlebutt Podcast - The podcast for service members and veterans building a life outside the military.

The Scuttlebutt Podcast features discussions on lifestyle, careers, business, and resources for service members. Show host, Brock Briggs, talks with a special guest from the community committed to helping military members build a successful life, inside and outside the service.

Get a weekly episode breakdown, a sneak peek of the next episode and other resources in your inbox for free at https://scuttlebutt.substack.com/.

Follow along:    

Tim Kirkpatrick is the cofounder of Condition One Media as well as the writer and director of the TV  show 'Figure It Out' which follows a recently discharged Marine's re-entry into civilian life. Tim is a former navy corpsman who, on deployment with Marines to Afghanistan, filmed his first video of dancing Marines which he used on his application to New York Film school (he got in). We talk about how the military influenced Tim's approach to film and why it's important to let your past military experience shine through your creative work even today. Tim shares on the fundamentals of filmmaking, the economics of the business, and what the future holds for the tv series.

Resources:

Condition One Media - 'Figure It Out'

Show Notes:

The Scuttlebutt Podcast - The podcast for service members and veterans building a life outside the military.

The Scuttlebutt Podcast features discussions on lifestyle, careers, business, and resources for service members. Show host, Brock Briggs, talks with a special guest from the community committed to helping military members build a successful life, inside and outside the service.

Get a weekly episode breakdown, a sneak peek of the next episode and other resources in your inbox for free at https://scuttlebutt.substack.com/.

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Mark Harper is the former Optimus Prime Myspace page manager and the current CEO of We are the Mighty. Mark's early interest in film led him to pursuing a dual degree which landed him in the Combat Camera division of the US Air Force. Mark and his unit were in Iraq to film the 'purple fingers' which played a role in how he pitched himself to Hollywood. We discuss how media and content have evolved in the last two years and how that has influenced the type of content current and former service members are interested in. Lastly, we hear the founding story around We are the Mighty with cofounder David Gale of MTV. Mark cover's the business models the business has gone through, how he thinks about reaching millions of readers and watchers today, and how acquiring the Military Influencer Conference has set the stage for future growth. 

You can reach out to and follow Mark on LinkedIn.

Resources:

We are the Mighty

Military Influencer Conference

Show Notes:

(02:15) - What are you most proud of, but don't get to tell people about?

The Scuttlebutt Podcast - The podcast for service members and veterans building a life outside the military.

The Scuttlebutt Podcast features discussions on lifestyle, careers, business, and resources for service members. Show host, Brock Briggs, talks with a special guest from the community committed to helping military members build a successful life, inside and outside the service.

Get a weekly episode breakdown, a sneak peek of the next episode and other resources in your inbox for free at https://scuttlebutt.substack.com/.

Follow along:    

Chris' background is in trade and foreign policy, but joined the Army infantry for a profession. We talk about how he has seen foreign policy develop in the last 20 years across a civilian job on Capitol Hill and then throughout his time deployed in the Middle East. Chris talks about his stint as a speechwriter for a senior officer and the things he'd learned about how to communicate more effectively. And last, we dive into the Military Writers Guild, of whom Chris is the President, and why writing is one of the best things you can do for yourself. 

You can reach out to Chris on Twitter.

Resources:

Military Writers Guild Twitter

Show Notes:

• (01:05) - Capitol Hill and then the Army

The Scuttlebutt Podcast - The podcast for service members and veterans building a life outside the military.

The Scuttlebutt Podcast features discussions on lifestyle, careers, business, and resources for service members. Show host, Brock Briggs, talks with a special guest from the community committed to helping military members build a successful life, inside and outside the service.

Get a weekly episode breakdown, a sneak peek of the next episode and other resources in your inbox for free at https://scuttlebutt.substack.com/.

Follow along:    

The Scuttlebutt Podcast - The podcast for service members and veterans building a life outside the military.

In this episode, Brock talks with Michael Pecota.

Mike is former aviation at the squadron level and now works for NAVAIR doing additive manufacturing. We talk about how proximity to the mission impacts the lives of people in a unit. We compare and contrast sea duty and shore duty and how being more involved with the mission day to day tends to strip away a lot of the unnecessary actions have units with more time than duties. Mike gives a unique take on why the Navy has such a hard time promoting junior people that speak up. He has a drastic proposed solution that involves getting rid of the chiefs mess entirely. And lastly, we talk about Michael's area of expertise additive manufacturing. He talks through how 3d printing is playing out in today's military and what needs to happen to see wide scale adoption.

You can reach out to Michael on LinkedIn.

Resources:

AMUG

America Makes

Topics:

The Scuttlebutt Podcast features discussions on lifestyle, careers, business, and resources for service members. Show host, Brock Briggs, talks with a special guest from the community committed to helping military members build a successful life, inside and outside the service.

Get a weekly episode breakdown, a sneak peek of the next episode and other resources in your inbox for free at https://scuttlebutt.substack.com/.

Follow along:    

The Scuttlebutt Podcast - The podcast for service members and veterans building a life outside the military.

In this episode, Brock talks with Max.

Max is a Veterans Readiness and Employment counselor with the VA. While in the Marine Corps, Max participated in two combat deployments which were formative in his desire to give back to the veteran community. We discuss his learnings about what veterans truly need after service, how to find and pursue what you're most passionate about in life, and a in depth discussion of how to use Chapter 31 Veterans Readiness and Employment benefits.

Resources:

Veterans Readiness and Employment

Topics:

(2:10) - Joining the Marine Corps and why it wasn't a career

(06:20) - Takeaways from the corps and how to carry yourself now as a veteran

(13:25) - Words of caution on veteran service organizations

(25:35) - Finding a passion for veterans

(29:19) - Transitioning out of service, working at the Dept. of Veteran Affairs, and creating yourself a job

(37:34) - Deductive reasoning to work yourself back into finding purpose

(42:15) - Introduction to Chapter 31, Veterans Readiness and Employment

(54:05) - Benefits offered on Chapter 31

(01:20:05) - How to apply and expectations of enrolling in benefits

(01:33:15) - The right way to approach chapter 31 benefits from service member's perspective

(01:40:45) - Veterans need accountability

The Scuttlebutt Podcast features discussions on lifestyle, careers, business, and resources for service members. Show host, Brock Briggs, talks with a special guest from the community committed to helping military members build a successful life, inside and outside the service.

Get a weekly episode breakdown, a sneak peek of the next episode and other resources in your inbox for free at https://scuttlebutt.substack.com/.

Follow along: