The Veteran (Semi) Professional

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Neil has a story a lot of people will be interested in hearing:

He was on THE path:
- 75th Ranger Regiment
- Columbia Business School
- Working on a family business
- McKinsey
- Private Equity

And then he realized he didn't like what he was doing anymore.  That started him working on mindfulness and eventually using psychedelics to change his life.  Neil is now the CEO and co-founder of Beckley Retreats which runs psychedelic-assisted healing events. 

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While this show mainly interviews veterans, when given the chance to interview someone like Travis, I'm going to take it.

First- he is one of the most interesting people I've met:

• Serial entrepreneur 
• SCUBA dive Master/Instructor
• US Merchant Marine Boat Captain (50 Tons), 
• Commercial Airline Pilot (ATP)
• Was/is a world explorer.

We talk about the various businesses that Travis founded, including Hydro Flask, his extensive travels and business dealings in China, and how we is working with new entrepreneurs in the Tumalo Group.

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Matt was referred to me by someone from the audience.  I looked into the University of Health and Performance and FitOps and immediately was intrigued.

FitOps has the mission of "Empowering veterans to discover renewed purpose through the power of fitness and community.

UHP is a wellness-based educational organization. We provide students with an ideal environment and the training to identify and live their purpose as health and fitness coaches.

Matt and his team put together a deeply powerful experience for veterans.  People who go through the program will sweat and work hard, for sure, but more importantly, they will leave with a renewed sense of purpose and mission.  

This is a powerful episode.  We talk about serving others in deep and meaningful ways.  Tears are shed and deep laughs are had.  I promise you are going to like this one. 

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Bill Militello had every reason to stay on the "normal" path.  He had a great career going in finance when he decided that he wanted to branch out on his own.  After a risk assessment and planning, he took the leap to branch out on his own.

But he didn't stop there.

Seeing that veterans had trouble accessing capital for their business, he started Localvest.

Localvest connects veterans with investors, most notably, other veterans.  He's building a great community and if you are working on a deal- you should look up Localvest.

16 Places To Find Investor Money For Veterans

Related Podcasts:

Ep. 137: Equipping the Next Generation of Veteran Entrepreneurs with John Panaccione and VETtoCEO

Ep. 130: Investing in Business Acquisition and Veterans with Serial Entrepreneur Steve Ressler

Ep. 127: Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Startups with Steve Kiser from Veteran Ventures Capital

Ep. 109: A Lender's Perspective on Investing in Veteran Entrepreneurs For Business Acquisition: Lisa Forrest

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William Toti is a retired Navy CAPT with command at sea and experience as a CEO.  We talk at length about the obstacles ALL veterans likely face in their transition and why we all need to recognize these obstacles.  

You can learn more about his story at: 
https://williamtoti.com/

And find his book here:
From CO to CEO: A Practical Guide for Transitioning from Military to Industry Leadership

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Shelby is an army veteran who started acquiring properties while on active duty.  She then moved into being an agent and leveraged her military skills to quickly stand out above everyone else.  She now has her own company and real estate firm and has a TON of knowledge about getting started and the system you need. 



Resources Mentioned:
Create & Build Wealth With Real Estate Investing | BiggerPockets

51 Units and $900/Month in Pure Cashflow on a “BRRRRnB” (biggerpockets.com)

Similar Episodes:
Ep. 144: Former Israeli Navy SEAL Roy Dekel on the Windy Path to Starting a Real Estate Tech Company

Ep. 135: Starting to Farm From Scratch and Generating Business From Land with Lauren Spencer

Ep. 116: Real Estate, Starting Businesses with Friends, and Working from an RV with Vic "Victorious" Thompson

Ep. 99: Going From a Side Hustle to 250+ Franchises with Jerry "JDOG" Flanagan

Ep. 43: Real estate investing with David Pere from Military to Millionaire

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I first heard of Josh's story in a magazine ad for YouTube.  The ad showed how this former grunt taught himself calculus from watching videos online and worked his way into being an astrophysicist.

Josh's is a story of the grind.  Of the relentless pursuit of going after something you want when everything seems to be in your way.

This audience will love his story of putting in the work to make things happen.  From late nights and lots of trials and errors- Josh just kept going.


An Army Veteran Learned Advanced Math on YouTube to Become a Physicist
from military.com

Joshua Carroll's Story: Reaching for the stars
4:13 YouTube video

Veteran To Janitor To Physicist, Via YouTube
from Forbes

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Barrett is a truly awesome person. 

He started off as an enlisted Infantryman in the Marine Corps and has been deeply involved in supporting the veteran community since:

• Founder, Evocati, LLC: a public relations and consulting firm that partners with leading businesses around the country to grow their investment within the military-connected sector
• Close to a decade working at the VA where he focused on policies concerning the GI Bill, which we talk about heavily in the show. 
• Vice President,  Public Relations and Chapter Engagement for Student Veteran of America 
• George W. Bush Foundation Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program Fellow 
• Co-Author of "Called to Lead" from the Center for a New American Security, which examined the connections between military service and higher education leadership roles
• Bunker Labs Veterans in Residence Program
• Executive Board Member: The Paradigm Switch, a leading nonprofit that helped military spouses work anywhere in the world
• Stanford Ignite Post-9/11 Veterans Program alumni 

Resources mentioned:
Free ATS Resume Scanner | SkillSyncer
Veteran Opportunity Report | Social Impact (linkedin.com)
Ep. 71: Working In The Entertainment Industry after the Marines with Michael Broderick | The Veteran (Semi) Professional

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Topics Discussed:

- Insightful Reddit Rant concerning Army aviators
- Casualties rising for Ukraine
- Gun legislation
- Mortgage and housing market
- Consulting world shakeup
- Wall Street Madness
- New McDonald's who dis??!!


Check out Field Seats and save 10% with code "VETPRO"

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Jacob and Tom spent a lot of time together in the military, serving in the same infantry unit and then together in the Asymmetric Warfare Group.  They both even ended up going to business schools in Boston (Tom at MIT Sloan and Jacob at HBS). 

While at AWG, they met their now business partner, Pete Facchini, a legend from the 75th Ranger Regiment.  Pete was building bulletproof bookshelves for use in schools as a way to limit the threat of active shooters.  Pete wanted to focus on the product and told them, "Hey, you guys are interested in business....you worry about that."  And so they did.  

This episode was originally scheduled to be released later but was bumped up based on the recent events in Uvalde.