The Strategic Veteran

What if you’re not stuck because you don’t have a plan, but because you’re terrified to trust yourself again?

Justin Boyum traded a commission as an Army logistics officer for three unfulfilling jobs in four years before finally backing himself instead of a company. Now he helps veterans and leaders launch high-value consulting businesses that actually pay the bills without stealing their soul. His “One Day Payday” and Epic Expert System make starting simple and profitable.

Why his corporate gigs left him empty, no matter the salary

The moment he realized the mission was to multiply what he knew

How he made 42 grand in one day with no product built

Why most veterans are sitting on six figures, they don’t even see

How to stop selling your time and start selling your value

⏱ Chapters:

00:00 Intro

02:10 Growing up in Austin and finding ROTC

06:30 Why logistics made sense

12:45 The command role that forced him to grow fast

19:10 Walking away to build a family first

24:50 The trap of corporate “security”

30:20 Three jobs in four years and still unfulfilled

37:00 The high-performance seminar that flipped the switch

42:30 The power of the One Day Payday

48:00 Why do you sell it before you build it

54:10 How any vets can coach, consult, and multiply

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinboyum/

Website: https://thechargeforward.com

My name is Adam Peters, and I’m here to unf*ck the transition.

What if the fear of losing it all is the very thing keeping you stuck where you are?

Brent Bowers spent eight years in the Army, grinding through deployments and chasing promotion. But the moment he realized he’d missed most of his first kid’s life, he knew something had to break. From maxed-out rentals to buying land for 285 dollars and flipping it for five grand, Brent built The Landsharks to show vets how boring land deals can buy back freedom, one mailbox check at a time.

The first land deal that changed everything with just 285 dollars

How he scaled from broke officer to 12K a month before ETS

Why rental properties nearly bankrupted him but dirt never did

How his SkillBridge internship helps vets build land businesses before they get out

The real lesson: boring cash flow is freedom, not the next big shiny thing

⏱ Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

02:00 From Okeechobee Florida to Afghanistan

05:20 Why the officer track didn’t fit

10:45 Missing his son’s first year and the breaking point

14:00 First 285 dollar land flip

18:30 Why land beats rental headaches every time

23:00 Using SkillBridge to build your own land business

29:50 The due diligence that saves you thousands

35:00 One man’s trash is another man’s freedom

Website: https://www.thelandsharks.com

Postcard Template: https://www.thelandsharks.com/postcard

Due Diligence Guide: https://www.thelandsharks.com/dd

My name is Adam Peters, and I’m here to unf*ck the transition.

What if the hardest part isn’t leaving the uniform behind but figuring out who you were meant to be all along?

Jackie Frederick spent over twenty years as an Air Force air battle manager, rising fast, earning respect, and outpacing almost every man she served with. When the COVID vaccine mandate collided with her convictions, she walked away one step shy of O-6, trading the flight suit for homeschooling four kids, caring for her husband with MS, and rebuilding her identity from the inside out.

The day she realized trying to be one of the guys was costing her everything

How she found power in embracing her role as a mother and nurturer

The loneliness of being unseen as a female veteran

Why walking away from rank and retirement was the only choice she could live with

What it really means to lead at home when nobody’s saluting anymore

⏱ Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:30 Growing up between Ohio and North Carolina

05:00 Becoming faster than the guys at OTS

10:15 When femininity turned into her secret weapon

17:50 The true cost of being a peer in a man’s world

24:10 How the vaccine mandate forced her hand

33:00 Building a new mission rooted in faith and family

42:40 The fight to be seen as a veteran

50:20 Teaching her kids leadership, the Air Force couldn’t

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jaclynfrederick

My name is Adam Peters, and I’m here to unf*ck the transition.

What if retiring from something is exactly why you’ll never feel free?

Chad Hufford built Veritas Wealth Management from his garage in Alaska to a firm trusted with half a billion dollars. He’s not just a numbers guy. He’s a disciple of discipline, resilience, and ruthless simplicity. For Chad, money is just the tool. Your character is the blueprint.

The ash storm that forced him to toughen up at twelve

Why discipline is a muscle you can’t study your way into

The lie of just needing the right app to fix your money

How a failed plan for medicine turned into a mission for freedom

The real cost of debt when your future is begging for oxygen

⏱ Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:40 How an ash cloud forged his work ethic

06:10 Discipline is the foundation of freedom

11:45 Stop swapping tools when the operator is broken

19:20 Why he built Veritas from his garage

24:30 Debt is the rucksack full of bricks

31:00 Crypto isn’t your lottery ticket

37:10 AI won’t save you from yourself

43:50 Retire to something, not from it

48:00 Find your number

Find Your Number: https://www.veritasalaska.com/findyournumber

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-hufford-066208100/

Website: www.veritasalaska.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VeritasWealthManagement/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veritas.alaska/

My name is Adam Peters, and I’m here to unf*ck the transition.

What if the story you’re clinging to is the prison you’re begging to escape?

Devon Kerns never wore a uniform, but he’s the man warriors call when the war inside won’t end. For twenty-five years he’s helped CEOs, combat vets, and changemakers strip away everything false — through businesses, boardrooms, and a hundred journeys into the dark with plant medicine.

The basement where he learned work ethic from a Marine sniper

Seeing the same haunted eyes in his dad and his battle brother

When the first ceremony forced him to believe in something bigger

How surrender is the only plan that works

What happens when you stop chasing healing and just remember who you are

⏱ Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:30 The king of curiosity, chaos, and stillness

04:20 Moving into a sniper’s basement with no plan

10:00 The darkness you’re invited to sit in

15:55 First steps with plant medicine

22:10 Why researching ruins the real work

29:40 Death is a lie

36:00 The danger of loving your story too much

42:50 Receiving is the hardest lesson

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devonkerns/

Website: www.DevonKKerns.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DevonKerns/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/devonkerns/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXWc__VYiYErR_ViEoH2IMg

My name is Adam Peters, and I’m here to unf*ck the transition.

What happens when the Navy closes the door on you overnight—but the storms in your head keep raging?

Can you turn the weight of those memories into muscle strong enough to pull others out of the dark?

Rob Wheeler went from bullied, “undes” deck-swabber to combat-tested Navy cop, then straight into the medical-discharge abyss. He clawed back with a barbell in one hand and a microphone in the other—now running Battle Fitted and the Battle Harder podcast to drag vets and first responders off the couch and back into the fight.

The morning he saw his own “man-boob” race photo and almost puked

The captain who called him a liar—then a flight surgeon who proved him right

Why losing his gym in COVID hit harder than mortar rounds

The moment his wife asked, “Is this really my husband?”—and meant it in the best way

How one free journal page can spot the trigger before the trigger gets you

⏱ Timestamps:

00:00 The sucker-punch discharge

03:12 Bully decks, broom handles, and Dad’s tough-love hang-up

09:40 9/11 calls—“back in or else”

16:05 From E-5 to Navy cop to chasing ships across oceans

23:48 Steroid needles, shredded knees, and the exit nobody explained

29:55 Spiraling to 300 lbs, stuffing the pain with sugar

34:20 Mud-run shame photo that flipped the switch

41:10 Building a gym, losing a gym, finding the mission

50:33 Fitness → mindset → discipline: Rob’s three-step rebuild

56:09 Ask Coach Rob and the Battle Fitted blueprint

Instagram https://instagram.com/battlefitted

Website https://battlefittedbrand.com

Battle Harder Podcast https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/battlefitted

My name is Adam Peters, and I’m here to unf*ck the transition.

What do you do when the Army salutes you one day and erases you the next?

How do you fight back when the enemy is a four-month wait for a DD-214—and your own mind?

A retired Lieutenant Colonel, Bronze Star recipient and former brigade G-3, Adrian Massey spent 45 months in combat, capped his career as Arlington National Cemetery’s chief network-ops officer, and is now grinding through an MSW to keep other vets off the cliff he nearly jumped from.

The moment he woke up sobbing and didn’t know why

Four months of “you don’t exist” without paperwork or meds

Driving himself to the ER, then checking into a psych ward for 28 days

Writing a five-paragraph OPORD—about his own life—on a basement whiteboard

Learning that patience (and a congressional complaint) can beat the VA at its own game

Choosing a new mission: turn pain into social work and save somebody else

⏱ Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

02:05 Detroit grit & crack-era survival

05:50 Accidental ROTC and the Netherlands detour

11:15 Fort Bragg crucible and a racist firing line

18:40 Baghdad, Bronze Star, and 45 months deployed

26:30 Thyroid surgery, psychosis, suicidal spiral

33:45 DD-214 limbo: four months of nothing

40:20 The five-paragraph life OPORD

47:25 MSW studies and a new purpose

54:10 Parting shots: patience, purpose, relentless self-advocacy

Guest Links

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrian-massey-15b87820b/

linkedin.com

My name is Adam Peters, and I’m here to unf*ck the transition.

What’s scarier—getting yanked into a flooded pipeline for twelve bucks an hour or signing away 75 percent of your life’s work to a publisher? Geoff Hopf has survived both and turned the panic into profit.

A Maryland farm kid who became a Marine infantry sergeant, Geoff carried Desert Storm grit into commercial diving, executive protection and—after a near-death wake-up call—forty post-apocalyptic and Western novels that outsold Stephen King on Amazon. Today he runs Beyond Afraid Publishing, mentors vet writers and keeps readers prepping with his “four pillars of survival.”

He finally quit letting anyone else own his stories—and shows you how to do the same.

The moment the Trinity River tried to swallow him whole

Quitting a “safe” job after one royalty check beat last year’s salary

Why a $250 K advance felt like a shackle, not a win

The four pillars that turn panic buyers into prepared people

How fiction became his weapon for healing and building community

⏱ Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:48 Farm kid to Marine Corps grit

10:15 Desert Storm lessons that stuck

19:30 Pipeline nightmare at 36 feet down

28:55 Bodyguarding to breakout bestseller

38:10 The four pillars of real-world survival

46:40 Firing Penguin and going indie

56:22 Living off forty novels

1:05:50 Advice for vets who want to write

https://gmichaelhopf.com/

https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00F33H8S0

My name is Adam Peters, and I’m here to unf*ck the transition.

The war outside ended, but the firefight between your ears rages on.

Nathan Mechikoff served nine years in the Army and National Guard as a Signal Corps IT specialist. Today he runs Forge Forward Coaching, turning chronic stress and transition struggles into unshakable purpose for veterans and high performers.

He woke up mid air certain it was the end

⏱ Timestamps:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanmechikoff/

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://strategicveteran.com/newsletter

Rich looks loud. Real wealth whispers.

If your paycheck died tomorrow, would your life survive?

Monica Kaufman is a straight‑talking wealth strategist and founder of Harmony Wealth Academy. Daughter and granddaughter of soldiers—and mom to a U.S. Army officer—she turns tangled budgets into freedom plans for veterans and their families.

The night her husband's layoff cracked their "perfect" budget

The trapdoor hiding inside every good paycheck

Naming every dollar before it hits your account

A disabled‑vet couple that wiped out $45k of debt in 14 months

Why real wealth feels boring and why that's the point

The mindset shift from chasing paychecks to buying freedom

⏱ Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:30 Money stories we inherit

05:40 Term life vs wealth protection

09:07 Coaching women entrepreneurs drowning in expenses

13:45 Debt traps up to the eyeballs

17:50 One income invest the other plan

25:10 Mapping freedom on a whiteboard

29:05 Must‑have safety net: disability insurance

34:28 Risk tolerance isn't a number, it's a story

42:15 Mindset before spreadsheets

50:40 Investments that pay your lifestyle

58:00 Wealth whispers over flashy spending

1:05:30 Action steps for transitioning service members

1:11:45 Final charge: live a life that doesn't need a paycheck

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-k-39b02b14a/

Website: https://harmonywealthacademy.com/

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://strategicveteran.com/newsletter

My name is Adam Peters, and I’m here to unf*ck the transition.