Veteran Influencer Podcast

Rich Cardona was a Marine Corps Helicopter Pilot when he transitioned to civilian life, now he helps business owners manage their brand with Executive Video Content. Rich's customers fall into one of three buckets:

1. People who realize video is incredibly important but don't have the time to execute.

2. People who understand video is critical to business growth but don't want to be on camera.

3. People who do not know how to tell their story effectively.

Rich helps create, repair, or amplify the personal or company brand of his customers using first-class video strategy, content, and distribution. This saves his customers time and helps them generate leads for their business without getting bogged down in the technical elements of producing content, or the stage fright of being on-camera.

In this conversation, we discuss Rich's transition from the military into his first role at a major technology and shipping fulfillment company. After about a year, Rich realized he wasn't happy and on the advice of his mentor made the transition to digital marketing as an entrepreneur. Now that he's out on his own, Rich has worked with well-known executives like Gary Vaynerchuk, authors like Dorie Clark, podcasters like Pat Flynn, influencers like Heather Monahan, politicians, non-profits like Bunker Labs, and many more.

In this conversation you will hear about a veteran who wasn't happy with his status-quo and made the deliberate decision to go through some temporary hardship as a founder in order to come out the other side happier, more fulfilled, and wealthier.

Listen to Rich's Podcast: The Leadership Locker

Follow him on Instagram: @RichCardona

Check out his website: RichCardonaMedia.com

Ken Thompson is a Principal with AlignOrg Solutions based out of Salt Lake City, a team of organizational design and change management partners. His team helps clients clarify existing and new strategies, optimize organizational set up, and implement systems that drive growth. Ken is also a former Apache helicopter pilot with the United States Army and remains a member of the Army Reserves, serving as the Deputy Brigade Commander for his unit in Scottsdale, AZ.

Since his transition several years ago, Ken's leadership roles have crossed industries ranging from the Department of Defense logistics and supply chain, to the fashion and apparel industry. He has championed significant organization change, created operational excellence, and implemented leadership development and employee betterment programs, leading to significant overall success.

In this conversation, we discuss Ken's transition into a COO role immediately after his active duty service, and how being introduced to his team for the first time as an, "Apache Commander," set an unwanted tone for his leadership style and approach to managing civilian teams in a new environment. We talk about the impact such a perception can have, and the work he did early-on to reset peoples' expectations of what it means to hire a leader fresh from military service.

Ken Recommends:

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
• Leadership and Self Deception: Getting Out of the Box by The Arbinger Institute

Chris Bugg is the owner of Sandler Training Coastal Virginia Professional Development, the only Veteran-owned Sandler Training center in Hampton Roads. Chris is a 1996 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and holds a Masters in Public Policy from Duke University, as well as an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke which he earned through their executive-track program. Chris served for 12-years in the U.S. Navy flying F/A-18Cs in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom before transitioning to the Reserves, retiring as a Commander in 2016.

As a Sandler Trainer, Chris works with business owners and executives and their teams to engineer strategic growth; often this takes the form of sales coaching and training. Prior to starting a Sandler Training center, Chris worked in Sales, Business Development and Management for two large high-technology defense firms.

Send Chris an email to connect

Bobby Herrera is the President of Populus Group and also an Army veteran. We discuss his approach to leadership and his new book The Gift of Struggle: Life Changing Lessons About Leading.

Bobby shares his background as the son of a Mexican immigrant and how that influenced his mindset regarding work, the challenges of entrepreneurship, and his approach to leading his current team. As a veteran, successful entrepreneur, author, leader, and father Bobby's experiences have given him a unique perspective on embracing the struggles of life in a way that has allowed him to be enormously successful despite the humblest of beginnings.

Check out more from Bobby here:

Website: https://bobby-herrera.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobby-herrera-5781821/

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bobbyherrera.pg/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BobbyHerreraPG

John Berry is the owner and CEO of the Berry Law Firm a practice focused on state and federal criminal defense, white collar crimes, civil litigation, Title IX defense, and veteran and service-member related issues.

Berry Law firm has been recognized on the INC 5000 and Law Firm 500 lists three years in a row, and is one of the top 5 fastest growing law firms in the Midwest. His firm has also been recognized by the Department of Labor with the Hire Vets Medallion, the only federal-level veterans' employment award recognizing organizations committed to hiring, retaining, and professionally developing veterans.

John served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army where he completed Airborne School and Ranger School, deploying to Bosnia in 1999 as a Platoon Leader, then as a Company Commander in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005. John recently finished his military career after serving for over 20-years in the active U.S. Army and the National Guard. During this time, he held 3 commands and retired as the Commander of Officer School and Warrant Officer Candidate School for the Nebraska National Guard.

Greg Keeley is the founder and CEO at OnDuty CBD, a company dedicated to producing a vertically integrated, veteran farmed and American made CBD product for first responders, law enforcement, active duty military, and any other professionals who have been called to service. Greg's career began with service as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy, and following a chance meeting with a 3-star Admiral who "asked" him to join his team, he became the first officer to be commissioned into the U.S. Navy from a foreign ally. Restarting his career as Ensign Keeley after retiring as a commander, Greg served another 10 years working in jobs in intelligence and legislative affairs on capitol hill.

First introduced to CBD in January of 2019 by an acquaintance, Greg discovered a potential alternative to the seven different opioid medications he had been prescribed by doctors at the VA in order to treat chronic pain incurred during a career full of deployments. He quickly realized that the CBD industry was "the wild-west," with unregulated and questionable companies marketing products of dubious quality and safety. Over the span of 3-4 months, Greg and his team committed to creating a business with an entirely vertically integrated supply chain, a claim that less than 3% of CBD companies operating in the U.S. can make. As result, OnDuty CBD now sells products sources from hemp grown in the United States, mostly by farmers and cooperatives owned and operated by veterans.

Check out OnDutyCBD.com where our listeners can get a 20% discount by using the code 'onduty' during checkout. If you're considering trying CBD and want to learn more, email the trained medical professionals with your question at [email protected]

Andy Riise is a West Point graduate transitioning to civilian life after 20 years of service. For the last 7 years he has been a part of Mission 6 Zero as the Chief Learning Officer, blending evidence-based practices from military special forces and behavioral science disciplines to help clients improve the performance of their teams under stress. He is also the co-author and senior editor of the new book, Deliberate Discomfort: How U.S. Special Operations Forces Overcome Fear and Dare to Win by Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable available February 18th, 2020.

In this conversation we dive into his process for planning his transition, and the resources he recommends for service-members who wish to match their personality, strengths, and leadership skills to the right career after serving. Andy shares his insight into what motivates him, and how he set his goals early, and based on an intentional process. He's pursuing a fellowship during his final time in the Army as a way to make space for a variety of exciting engagements with organizations blending athletics, coaching, performance psychology, and veteran issues. We get a chance to talk about what he has lined up for himself as he begins the next chapter in his working life.

Michael McCoy is the Community Engagement Manager for Operation Stand Down Tennessee and a staff logistics officer for an armored squadron with the Tennessee Army National Guard. His team manages communications, volunteers, strategic relationships, and events including monthly and quarterly meet-ups and job seeker networking. Operation Stand Down Tennessee helps over 300 service members find employment in Tennessee each year, working directly with local employers, base and installation managers, and veterans and service members within the local military and National Guard communities.

This conversation covers:

• How veterans should embrace the adventure of the next chapter of their career.
• Feeling comfortable at a new company where you might have less seniority than you did in the military.
• Balancing life, work, and service in the Army National Guard, while also helping soldiers to do the same.
• Giving yourself permission to start with, "No," and the natural process of elimination during a job-search.

Chuck Dishmon is the Director of Software Development for Greenlight Guru where he leads agile software development teams to create and optimize technology offerings for clients in the medical device space. He learned how to program at an immersive, full stack software engineering program called Coder Camps where he re-tooled his skill set after leaving the Marine Corps.

He is also the Founder of Indy Tech Talks, an 800+ Member community hosting monthly conversations related to the Indianapolis Technology community.

In this episode, we discuss Chuck's transition from the Marine Corps and how he found his way to a career in technology by way of academia and philosophy. I love his advice for networking, and appreciate the authenticity he brings to this conversation.

We also dive into his advice to veterans transitioning to a career in technology, either on their path to learning new skills or finding a career once they've graduated.

Todd Skiles has had a 34 year career with Ryder, creating logistics and transportation solutions for his customers. His career has been unique in that he has had one foot on either side of the civilian/military divide by affiliating with the Army Reserves, and hiring others who are doing so as well to help create a culture of service within Ryder.

In today's conversation, we discuss Todd's thoughts on the value of military-experienced talent within corporate America, specifically intangible leadership skills and the ability to work with a close-knit team.

We also discuss Todd's thoughts regarding how veterans become comfortable in the military dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity, translating that capability to leadership roles in the civilian sphere.

This is a great perspective on not only the value of hiring veterans from a corporate standpoint, but also to encourage candidates to think outside the borders of their functional discipline or MOS, and to consider how military service has made them a different kind of an employee, in terms of their work ethic, values, and personal discipline.