The Transition by Bunker Labs

What's up Everybody, welcome to another edition of the transition, a show aimed at demystifying the entrepreneur experience for those of you looking to make the transition from the military into entrepreneurship. I'm your host Mike Steadman a Marine Corps Veteran, Social Entrepreneur, and member of the Bunker Labs Team. 

In the following episode, I interview Francisco Cortes, an Army Veteran, Media Executive, and Founder of the Setroc Group, an award-winning Multicultural Marketing and Public Relations agency that specializes in providing integrated marketing and communications tools that keep messaging on-brand and consistent across all channels. In addition to overseeing the Setroc Group with his wife and Co-Founder Claribel, Francisco wears multiple hats as a leader in the veteran and Hispanic community, serving as the President of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, and an Advisory Board Member to the Hispanic chamber of commerce. Francisco epitomes the philosophy of "Lifting As We Climb." Full transparency, this episode is straight Fire. Francisco tells it like is and opens about the challenges he faced when he first launched his business, such as lackluster sales funnel, unnecessary overhead expenses, and the stress you deal with as a business owner. This another episode you don't want to miss, as Francisco shares his story to prevent you from making the same mistakes he did.  I hope you enjoy this episode and that it empowers you on your own entrepreneurial journey.

What's up Everybody, welcome to another edition of the transition, a show aimed at demystifying the entrepreneur experience for those of you looking to make the transition from the military into entrepreneurship. I'm your host Mike Steadman a Marine Corps Veteran, Social Entrepreneur, and member of the Bunker Labs Team. 

In the following episode, I interview Andrea Stover, a Marine Corps Veteran, Sommelier, and founder of Wine with Friends, a wine education and events company that provides extraordinary wine tasting experiences. Serving both consumers and corporate clients, Wine With Friends helps those seeking to create meaningful engagement with friends or customers through unique wine events. As a certified Sommelier, Andrea is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. After hosting wine events for friends and family over the years, she launched a venture that allowed her to share her passion with others. As a first-time entrepreneur, Andrea taught herself business, researching how to register her company, how to develop a business model, and figured how to obtain & maintain clients through trial and error. She finally discovered her niche, working with luxury apartments and clubs in the DC area, before making a hard pivot to virtual events, in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Like other small business owners, she's adapting and overcoming, constantly updating her business model to accommodate a rapidly changing environment. If you have a passion and want to start a niche business to monetize, you'll enjoy Andrea's story. I hope you enjoy this episode and that you're able to apply some lessons in your own entrepreneurial journey.

What's up Everybody, welcome to another edition of the transition, a show aimed at demystifying the entrepreneur experience for those of you looking to make the transition from the military into entrepreneurship. I'm your host Mike Steadman a Marine Corps Veteran, Social Entrepreneur, and member of the Bunker Labs Team.

In this episode, I sat down with Anthony Gantt, an Active Duty Marine Officer and Founder of At Ease Rentals, a one-stop-shop for short-term rentals that are pre-approved for reimbursement when used by military and federal employees. Anthony and his team are committed to making the process of moving as painless as possible for the approximately 450,000 military and federal employees assigned station transfers each year. Anthony shares insights into the challenges of launching a business, while balancing his active duty responsibilities and family life. What I find particularly insightful about Anthony's story, is his ability to launch a technology platform, despite having the traditional background common in Today's start-up space. Anthony comes from humble beginnings, serving time in the enlisted ranks, before going to college and earning a commission. Despite having a non-tech background, Anthony refuses to take no for an answer and learned everything he could about launching a start-up. He immersed himself in Austin's emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem, read countless books, including Brad Fields "Venture Deals," and launched his own crowdfunding campaign, where his team has already raised over 150k. Anthony is an inspiration and in this episode, he doesn't hold anything back. I hope you enjoy this fun and light-hearted Episode, and that you find some nuggets to accelerate you on your own entrepreneurial journey.

What's up Everybody, welcome to another edition of the transition, a show aimed at demystifying the entrepreneur experience for those of you looking to make the transition from the military into entrepreneurship. I'm your host Mike Steadman a Marine Corps Veteran, Social Entrepreneur, and member of the Bunker Labs Team.

In this episode, I interview Curtez Riggs, An Army Veteran and Founder of the Military Influencer Conference, the largest gathering of Entrepreneurs, Leaders, and Creatives in the military space. The event connects entrepreneurs, business executives, and brands with the influencers who shape and support the military community. Curtez takes us back to his days in Flint, Michigan, where he was born and raised. Curtez shares an enlightening story from his days as a teenager launching a recycling business, to his path into the army, and his moonlighting days as a "Third Shift Entrepreneur," launching multiple side hustles, while balancing his full-time army, navigating a divorce, and overcoming financial hardships. Despite all the challenges, Curtez managed to preserve through it all, eventually launching the Military Influencer Conference, into the premier networking event for the military community. You don't want to miss this episode. Curtez is a dynamic speaker, and provides tons of knowledge and insight for those of you in the entrepreneurial hustle. I really hope you enjoy the show, and that it accelerates you on your own journey.

What's up Everybody, welcome to the inaugural episode of the transition, a show aimed at demystifying the entrepreneur experience for those of you looking to make the transition from the military into entrepreneurship. I'm your host Mike Steadman a Marine Corps Veteran, Social Entrepreneur, and member of the Bunker Labs Team.

In this inaugural episode, we interview Michelle Loyd, a Badass female founder & military spouse, who's the Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer of Dope Coffee Company, an Atlanta based E-commerce coffee brand, looking to challenge the status quo of coffee culture, by blending hip-hop with coffee, dope branding, meant to amplify and elevate people of color. I've known Michelle and her husband Mike, for almost 10 years now, dating back to our time serving together in the Marines. Michelle was a contributor for my first blog, Fighting Mojo, and Mike and I actually produce another podcast, called Confessions of a Native Son. Michelle opens up about the challenges she and Mike fasted launching their first business, Solar Cafe, a Coffee Kiosk in Hempstead, N.C. Despite generating upwards of 100k+ in revenue per year, they racked up tons of debt and took a devasting loss after their kiosk was destroyed by a Hurricane. Michelle and her family picked up the pieces, rebuilding the brand, and making a hard pivot into what become Dope Coffee. Michelle gets intimate in this episode, discussing what felt like a loss of self while serving a military spouse, finding her new identity as an entrepreneur, and future plans for her family and company. I hope you enjoy the show and that it helps accelerate you on your entrepreneurial journey.

The Transition is a bi-weekly podcast that attempts to demystify entrepreneurship for veterans and military spouses. We share lessons learned from those who’ve successfully made the transition from the military to entrepreneurship.

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From there be sure to get connected at Bunker Online.org, where you can learn about our many different programs to support your entrepreneurial journey. We have programs that will take you from idea to invoice, incubate you, and position to grow alongside other founders and CEOs. Register today at www.BunkerOnline.org