Veteran On the Move

John Krotec is the founder of GreenZone Hero, an innovative company that changes the way that American businesses view veteran-commerce. Additionally, his Task Force Zen project (currently in the planning stage) will help those who suffer from traumatic events find programs that will help them recover without the stigma often associated with trauma. Furthermore, he is the host of the Straight Out Of Combat Podcast.

John Krotec – Foundational Path

John went about things differently than most.  He went to college first and although his dad was in the service for 28 years John had no intent to go into the military.  For that reason, John earned a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management from Florida State University.

At the age of 27, John made the decision to make a change and enlisted in the Army.  He was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson in a nuclear biological chemical company serving as decon for the 3rd brigade.  John served for 3 years.

He did not have a real plan once he got out of the Army.  John was painting houses on the beach and contemplating starting his own business.  He was asked to come back but the Army was not taking anyone with prior service.  John re-enlisted in the Army Reserve.  The transition fell into place with no real plan.

“We say you gotta have a plan.  Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t.  If your heart is in the right place sometimes things just fall into the right place.” – John Krotec

Healing the Pain

At 11 years old while on a neighborhood sleepover, John was assaulted by an older boy. Blaming himself and frightened by physical threats, John hid the traumatic event for over 40 years never talking about it with anyone.

Periodically over that time, he used alcohol to soothe his pain and to numb himself from the sickening memory. An automobile accident in 2012 caused the trauma to resurface. Immediately after the accident, John’s life began to spiral out of control.

Episodes of anger and resentment led to the selling of his small business and to the disintegration of his 20-year marriage. John was out of control. His overspending and anger led his wife Ann to begin divorce proceedings.  Consequently, by Christmas of 2015, John was in a crisis situation.

One particularly bad evening, he sought help from a suicide prevention hotline which led him to individual counseling and 41-weeks of Cognitive Behavior Therapy. He also visited a neurologist who was able to treat his medical condition, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) with CBD’s, hemp-based prescription drugs.

“To hear the human side of what these men and women did and where they came from and how they were able to overcome the things that they witnessed, the things they took part in and the traumas they escaped and make that transition is the most inspirational thing I have ever done in my life.” – John Krotec

Podcasting is Storytelling

John believes that podcasting is an amazing platform to connect people and impart wisdom.  Sharing traumatic stories to help each other.  Using technology through an incredible venue to tell their story and as a result shows our combat veterans that they are not alone.

“Story telling is the human connection.”- John Krotec

To hear the rest of John Krotec’s transition from the Army to starting his own business and becoming an entrepreneur, download and listen to the rest of the episode.

Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star rating and review if you enjoyed the show. We would love to hear from you!

Check out these links for John Kortec

https://www.greenzonehero.com/

LinkedIn

Email: [email protected]

Podcast: Straight Outta Combat

Download Joe Crane’s Top 7 Paths to Freedom or get it on your mobile device.

Gary Pinkerton is a wealth strategist, professional speaker, author, and real estate investor. He first learned about the Perpetual Wealth Strategy and Wealth Maximization Accounts (WMAs), then more commonly known as the Infinite Banking Concept (IBC), while purchasing his first income property in 2011.  He is also the host of the Heroic Investing Show Podcast.

Gary Pinkerton – Seeds of Entrepreneurship

Gary earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1991 and a Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Illinois in 1993. He spent 26 years serving as a Submarine Officer in the U.S. Navy, including commanding the nuclear attack submarine USS TUCSON from 2009-2011 and retiring as a Captain.  He grew up in the Midwest in southern Illinois on a dairy farm in the late 80’s.  His family lost their farm and it taught him that he didn’t know much about finance.

Gary and his father started many businesses where he learned the value of entrepreneurship and getting paid for adding money in the world. In addition, he came from a poor background yet excelled at the Naval Academy.  He was conflicted during his military stint but was always inspired by entrepreneurship.  In the end, serving in the military was an excellent decision.

“The seeds were always there and what lead me to find the financial industry, what lead me to be an entrepreneur and run my own businesses.” – Gary Pinkerton

Self-reflection and Family

Gary’s transition initially focused on family and income replacement.  Therefore it required self-reflection and business that makes him truly happy.  He wanted the ability to make changes and see the results.  His military background instilled a hard work ethic.  Gary wanted to help people prosper. Therefore this lead him to learn more about the technical side of entrepreneurship.

“Each job kind of creates your opportunities for the next one.” – Gary Pinkerton

Freedom of Time and Wealth

Gary wanted passive income to replace his earned income.  He came across Infinite Banking which is simply high cash value life insurance.  Consequently Gary became inspired on this concept of a more fundamental way to protect and grow wealth.  This lead to starting his own company.

“I was looking for a way to fund the down payment and not have so many of my own dollars in this investment.”- Gary Pinkerton

To hear the rest of Gary Pinkerton’s transition from the Navy to starting his own business and becoming an entrepreneur, download and listen to the rest of the episode.

Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star rating and review if you enjoyed the show. We would love to hear from you!

Check out these links for Gary Pinkerton

http://www.garypinkerton.com/

LinkedIn

Podcast: http://garypinkerton.com/podcasts/

Download Joe Crane’s Top 7 Paths to Freedom or get it on your mobile device. Text VETERAN to 38470.

Join the Veteran on the Move on Facebook!

Check out Veteran on the Move on Facebook to connect with our guests! It’s a great place where you can stay in touch with other veterans who are transitioning to entrepreneurship.  Get updates and free gouge on the people, programs and resources to help you in your transition to entrepreneurship.

Veteran On the Move podcast has published over 200 episodes. Our listeners have the opportunity to hear in-depth interviews conducted by host Joe Crane . The podcast features people, programs and resources to assist veterans in their transition to entrepreneurship.  As a result, Veteran On the Move has over 1,000,000 verified downloads through Stitcher Radio, Sound Cloud, itunes and RSS Feed Syndication making it one of the most popular Military Entrepreneur Shows on the Internet Today.

Robert Stasio leads Dreamit’s SecureTech vertical where he sets overall strategic focus, expands the customer network, and works daily with securetech startups from around the world helping them refine their positioning and go-to-market strategy.  In addition, they assist startups to think through how to scale sales and operations and map out their capital needs along with how to raise their next round.

Robert Stasio - Demand in the Private Sector

During Bob's educational path he received a BS in Mathematical Physics and holds a Master’s degree in Intelligence Studies.  He also completed numerous U.S. Department of Defense professional education courses focusing on intelligence operations. Bob holds various technical certifications, including CISSP, a globally recognized standard of achievement in the cybersecurity industry.

Bob joined the Army in 2001 during ROTC in college.  He then branched into Military Intelligence as an officer.  Bob new they would be deployed to Iraq during 2004-2005 so they trained Korean linguists and turned them into Arabic linguists for deep intelligence.  After they returned, General Alexander and his team plucked him out and Bob then helped NSA stand up one of the Army’s first dedicated cyber units.  It was then that he knew there was potential and demand in the private sector.

“I saw the need to take this skill set and go into the private sector.” – Robert Stasio

Before joining Dreamit, Bob held multiple roles at IBM Security, leading efforts in Cyber Operations and Threat Hunting. Prior to IBM, Bob worked in the private sector, leading threat intelligence programs at Bloomberg and global financial firms.  He also has deep government experience having held positions at NSA’s Cyber Center, U.S. Cyber Command, U.S. Army’s Signals Intelligence Corps, the FAA, and NASA. Bob served as a U.S. Army officer and is a recipient of numerous military awards, including the Bronze Star and Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. Bob is also a Truman National Security Fellow, Brookings Institution Council on U.S. and Italy Fellow, and serves on the advisory boards of multiple startups.

Lessons Learned

Many lessons were learned when Robert Stasio started his own venture.  He had the skill set, a great idea, the demand and knew technologically how it would work.  Bob had no experience in running a company and did not have a MBA.  Therefore he reached out to others who had previously started their own business for advice and help when he started his company.  Bob started with a service only business.  He learned quickly that the hockey stick approach and trying to scale your business through a service only mindset is almost impossible to do.

“Services only can take you so far.  In that type of mindset it can only scale so much. It is not a venture backed business model. It is not a scalable business model from a scalability perspective.” – Robert Stasio

Vision of Excellence and Profitability

The goal should be to run a good company and be profitable.  In Bob's business they are looking for market validation and revenue of the product or offering you are trying to scale not the services revenue.  His advice to entrepreneurs is to grow your company by getting customers and by getting revenue.  Bob recommends getting feedback and quickly and cheaply as possible during the startup process.

“Most startups fail because they run out of revenue.”-Robert Stasio

To hear the rest of Robert Stasio’s transition from the Army to civilian entrepreneur, download and listen to the rest of the episode.

Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star rating and review if you enjoyed the show. We would love to hear from you!

Check out these links for Robert Stasio

Dreamit.com

LinkedIn

Robert Stasio: [email protected]

Jeff McChesney is the founder of Patriot Growth Capital, a company dedicated to helping veteran entrepreneurs maximize their business growth potential through access to people, capital and business advice. He’s also the founder of Target Arm LLC which is developing systems to recover UAS and UAV’s.

Jeff McChesney - Educational Path

Jeff started at the Air Force Academy and received an aeronautical engineering degree.  He then received his masters from Columbia University on a Guggenheim Fellowship.  After receiving his masters, he then entered pilot training.

In the Air Force, Jeff was an F-15 fighter pilot, a commander at various levels therefore a great setup for the rest of his life.

“I ended up hiring a firm that worked specifically and directly for me.” Jeff McChesney on making the transition to civilian life

It’s not an ordinary course, about 10-15 2nd Lieutenants get chosen to continue their education at other universities. These schools include Columbia, Yale, Syracuse. There are schools all across the country and around the world as well.

Life After the Air Force

He had a tremendous career in the Air Force where he stayed there just under 21 years. He transitioned out due to family illness and had to make some tough decisions about his career versus family and he chose to go with family.

Jeff had to make a very abrupt change out of the Air Force. At the time of his retirement, he was serving on the J5 joint staff of strategy plans and policy in Washington DC.

Laying the Groundwork

Early in his career he had attended Harvard University to prepare himself for his career post-Air Force and whatever that might be. One of the areas he chose was how to use process improvement, accounting systems. He took a lot of that education and banked it.

At the transition point in his career, he needed to make the jump but did not want to end up being a defense contractor. That just wasn’t what he had in mind for himself. He had lobbying capability having worked on Capitol Hill twice but he wasn’t interested in that path.

He really wanted to get into business. Jeff had always been interested in it and tried to make the jump directly from the Air Force into business and he got really prepared for the transition.

To hear the rest of Jeff McChesney’s transition from the Air Force to civilian entrepreneur, download and listen to the rest of the episode.

Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star rating and review if you enjoyed the show. We would love to hear from you!

Check out these links for Jeff McChesney:

Patriot Growth Capital

LinkedIn

Target Arm LLC

Download Joe Crane’s Top 7 Paths to Freedom or get it on your mobile device. Text VETERAN to 38470.  

Join the Veteran on the Move on Facebook!

Check out Veteran on the Move on Facebook to connect with our guests! It’s a great place where you can stay in touch with other veterans who are transitioning to entrepreneurship.  Get updates and free gouge on the people, programs and resources to help you in your transition to entrepreneurship.

Veteran On the Move podcast has published over 200 episodes. Our listeners have the opportunity to hear in-depth interviews conducted by host Joe Crane . The podcast features people, programs and resources to assist veterans in their transition to entrepreneurship.  As a result, Veteran On the Move has over 1,000,000 verified downloads through Stitcher Radio, Sound Cloud, itunes and RSS Feed Syndication making it one of the most popular Military Entrepreneur Shows on the Internet Today.

Military Intelligence in Business with Katie Crotty 

Katie Crotty is Praescient Analytics’ Co-Founder and CEO. She oversees operations of a big data analytics firm dedicated to supporting intelligence, investigations, and counter-fraud cases for public and private sector clients. Katie is a combat veteran who was triple-hatted as the Brigade Fusion Officer-in-Charge, Tier One Special Mission Unit Liaison, and Brigade Strike Force S2 for what was at the time the most technologically advanced Stryker Brigade Combat Team in the United States Army. 

Katie’s story started at age 17 when her parents had to sign a waiver for her to join the military; she wanted to travel the world.  Later, as a Military Intelligence Officer with the Army her team deployed down range for over a year as part of the surge. This experience helped shape her.  

“Really what the surge meant was a lot of commercial organizations ,what I like to call west coast tech firms that wanted their technology to be war torn.  We were given a lot of capacity and very little time to train. The big key that I learned from that was when you put really smart dedicated people and combine them with amazingly sophisticated technology you can do some pretty amazing things.” – Katie Crotty

This was Katie’s key take away from the military and the inspiration to start her own business.

Katie Crotty – The Risk

Transitioning out of the Army the basic thing Katie knew from a young age was intelligence.  Katie did 35 interviews on the side of the road while driving across the states trying to find her skill set and how it could translate into the civilian sector.  

After dozens of interviews, Katie took a risk with a start-up company that didn’t have a job title and didn’t quite know how she fit in but the founder liked her.  She became the Director of Internal Operations dealing with finances, recruiting, and building the foundation of a company. Katie then transitioned into Business Development dealing with IT, program management and how to build a business then ended as the Vice President of Consulting.

Uniquely Positioned

“I wanted to go back to the core idea I had in the military that if I could choose who I worked with on the left and the right and we could go and combine ourselves with really innovative technology, and I wanted to spin this small group of three people out and if we give a lot of nurture to it then we could really build it out-and that was the impetus of Praescient.” – Katie Crotty

The team had the unique ability to take a collection of diversely talented people that all had entrepreneurial spirit and gained their trust to create Praescient Analytics.  Big Data Analytics.  Solving investigative problems.  They needed to use a tool to get through the mass amount of data coming to them to make that educated guess as correct as possible.  This is how Praescient Analytics assists their clients.

Military Leadership in the Civilian Sector

Over the years I learned that I had to change in order to adapt within a civilian construct.   Patience and a good sense of humor keep her balanced. You can cut through a lot of cultural barriers between the military and civilian life by just bringing it down to what people want out of their job.  People just want to have a worthy and important job. It’s about understanding people and good people know good people and that is how you scale.

“At the end of the day what we try to create is an environment where you can transition out of the military into the civilian sector and still be a part of something that is changing the world on a day-to-day basis.”-Katie Crotty

Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star rating and review if you enjoyed the show. We would love to hear from you!

Check out these links for Katie Crotty

www.

Paul Chapa is the founder of Friends in Service of Heroes (FISH), a non-profit organization that aims to help veterans and their families improve their quality of life and get the freedom that they deserve. Paul serves the nation’s heroes and their families by providing track chairs, service dogs, and a lot more.

“We don’t want to put a band-aid on the problem here. We don’t want to just feed the man fish, we want to teach them to fish.” - Paul Chapa

Paul Chapa - The Food Guy

Paul never served in the military, much less have any experience as a boy scout, but he has friends and family who did. Amidst the horrors of 2001, he spent days thinking about his family and friends serving in the military, of what they must go through with the nation under attack. With news of a distant family member’s demise following the devastation at the Pentagon, he knew something had to be done.

“I decided that there’s gotta be something I can do and here I am, I’m in the food industry. What I know of our troops is, man, they all love to eat.” - Paul Chapa

He figured right then and there that he wanted to show the troops how much they’re appreciated by basically feeding them. It’s a simplistic mission, which eventually morphed into something else.

Feeding the Marines

Everything began changing when he was invited to his first Marine Corps ball. He chatted up the general he was sharing a table with, pitching a “Heroes Dinner” with the Marines and their spouses. While the general was reluctant to indulge in revelry given the current national situation, Paul was adamant about his wishes to give thanks to the troops.

A couple of dinners later, FISH was born.

Teaching Troops to Fish

After one of the many dinners Paul and other food industry executives hosted, he learned of another loss to the Marine Corps in Afghanistan. This came into light while he and a general shared cigar in the aftermath of the affair. It was the night when he first heard the words that lit up the desire to do more to help people remember the unsung heroes, with or without the uniform.

The ideals of FISH were born that evening, well into the first few hours of the morning. Formerly Food Industry Serving Heroes, FISH is now the non-profit organization with a goal to not only better the lives of troops and their families, but help them in so much more.

Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star rating and review if you enjoyed the show. We would love to hear from you!

Check out these links for Paul Chapa:

Friends in Service of Heroes

LinkedIn

Download Joe Crane’s Top 7 Paths to Freedom or get it on your mobile device. Text VETERAN to 38470.  

Join the Veteran on the Move on Facebook!

Check out Veteran on the Move on Facebook to connect with our guests! It’s also a great place where you can stay in touch with other veterans who are transitioning to entrepreneurship, and get updates and free gouge on the people programs and resources to help you in your transition to entrepreneurship.

 

The Veteran On the Move podcast has published over 150 episodes giving listeners the opportunity to hear in-depth interviews conducted by host Joe Crane featuring the people, programs and resources to assist veterans in their transition to entrepreneurship: Marine Corps, Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard veterans, DOD, entrepreneurship, business, success, military spouse, transition, education, programs and resources.  Veteran On the Move has garnered over 500,000 listens verified through Stitcher Radio, Sound Cloud, Itunes and RSS Feed Syndication making it one of the most popular Military Entrepreneur Shows on the Internet Today.

Dan Chapman is a US Naval Academy graduate and Marine Corps Captain. His passion for real estate has helped his customers achieve their dream homes. Today he shares how he was able to do what he wanted right after leaving active duty and become one of the top VA loan officers in the United States.

“I think I always had this vision of going into business.” - Dan Chapman

Dan graduated from the Academy in 2002 and went to the aviation route. Soon enough, he realized what a struggle motion sickness would be for his career. He was puking a lot and had trouble acclimating. He could last hours with Benadryl in his system, but he got too groggy to function and effectively attend to his duties.

While he loved aviation, he realized being a pilot was not in the cards for him so he made an MOS change to aviation logistics. 

A Life-Altering Email

When Dan came back from Iraq with only a year left, he knew he had to get started with his transition. He began researching, reaching out to anyone who would happen to answer what to do in transition. He asked many questions of how they did it, what they did, and how they achieved success.

He wrote to someone involved in home depot and expressed his interest to join the junior officer depot transition program and eventually start his own business. What he got back included not only instructions but a story of a man who shared the same desire of doing business after a few years in home depot. Dan took notes and met with his future employer, and worked with him to obtain the experience he needed to build his own company.

Diving in Before the Crash

Dan got into the real estate business right before the crisis in 2007. His first few clients were the people he served with, remodeling their homes. He was laying down tiles and painting baseboards during his first year.

And while the crash had removed remodeling from the picture, Dan stayed in the field and went after success.

“Real estate is one of those things you can bring up to anyone anytime, especially in a really hot market.” - Dan Chapman

Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star rating and review if you enjoyed the show. We would love to hear from you!

Check out these links for Rob Braiman:

Home Bridge Profile

LinkedIn

Download Joe Crane’s Top 7 Paths to Freedom or get it on your mobile device. Text VETERAN to 38470.  

Join the Veteran on the Move on Facebook!

Check out Veteran on the Move on Facebook to connect with our guests! It’s also a great place where you can stay in touch with other veterans who are transitioning to entrepreneurship, and get updates and free gouge on the people programs and resources to help you in your transition to entrepreneurship.

 

The Veteran On the Move podcast has published over 150 episodes giving listeners the opportunity to hear in-depth interviews conducted by host Joe Crane featuring the people, programs and resources to assist veterans in their transition to entrepreneurship: Marine Corps, Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard veterans, DOD, entrepreneurship, business, success, military spouse, transition, education, programs and resources.  Veteran On the Move has garnered over 500,000 listens verified through Stitcher Radio, Sound Cloud, Itunes and RSS Feed Syndication making it one of the most popular Military Entrepreneur Shows on the Internet Today.

Army veteran Rob Braiman is founder and CEO of Cogent Analytics. He has spent fifteen years working with business owners on improving strategic planning, operations, growth, and business development. With a military career that has left a huge impression on his principles, Rob has built a culture of integrity, honesty, and transparency that puts clients first.

“I cherish my military time. It was the foundation of principles for who I am, how I raise my children, how I try to lead my people, and more importantly, how I try to represent small business owners, which is really the mission of Cogent Analytics.” - Rob Braiman

Rob Braiman - An Invaluable Military Career

Rob enlisted in the Army and served in Special Operations. He was with the first battalion for the Special Forces Group stationed at Fort Bragg and then Fort Campbell. It wasn’t until 1990 that he got out.

A young man when he retired from the service, Rob has a great deal of respect for the soldiers who have been involved in conflicts in and out and in multiple countries for the past couple of years.

Job-Hunting During Transition

Having married while still in the military, Rob’s first objective upon getting out was to find a job. It was quite the challenge. The military walk, talk, and communicate at different speeds and manners than civilians do, and the structured world they navigate is so different from that of the civilians.

He had a couple of jobs that put food on the table and paid the bills the first few years. And if Rob had anything to be thankful for, it would be the values that being part of the armed forces instilled in him and he carried through his transitional career search.

“All of the attributes that made us successful while in service are those same things that employers are looking for today.” - Rob Braiman

Trailblazing Business Systems

Rob began his career in the business world working with a startup company. He helped his boss build his operations from ground up. With his attitude and abilities, he got offered his first equity.

He was working with people who didn’t necessarily have the same values as him. In his early thirties, Rob realized that his skills for putting systems into place were key to opening his own endeavor. And that, he did.

Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star rating and review if you enjoyed the show. We would love to hear from you!

Check out these links for Rob Braiman:

Cogent Analytics

LinkedIn

Twitter

Download Joe Crane’s Top 7 Paths to Freedom or get it on your mobile device. Text VETERAN to 38470.  

Join the Veteran on the Move on Facebook!

Check out Veteran on the Move on Facebook to connect with our guests! It’s also a great place where you can stay in touch with other veterans who are transitioning to entrepreneurship, and get updates and free gouge on the people programs and resources to help you in your transition to entrepreneurship.

 

The Veteran On the Move podcast has published over 150 episodes giving listeners the opportunity to hear in-depth interviews conducted by host Joe Crane featuring the people, programs and resources to assist veterans in their transition to entrepreneurship: Marine Corps, Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard veterans, DOD, entrepreneurship, business, success, military spouse, transition, education, programs and resources.  Veteran On the Move has garnered over 500,000 listens verified through Stitcher Radio, Sound Cloud, Itunes and RSS Feed Syndication making it one of the most popular Military Entrepreneur Shows on the Internet Today.

Don Barden is the CEO and owner of The Perfect Plan, a company specializing in professional training and coaching. Classically trained as an economist, he’s now an author, speaker, advisor, and corporate executive. With his body of work backing him up, he is sought after by the some of the most successful businesses.

“If people are as predictable as we think they are—and they are—, then how can we use our knowledge to make it a better world out there?” - Don Barden

Don Barden - An Army Brat

Previously part of the occupational forces, Don’s father joined the military. This had Don’s growing up around the army mostly stationed in Fort Benning and Fort Knox. His father applied his learnings from being part of the armed forces in raising him, so Don considers the armed forces as a huge part of his life.

Don also came of age in the draft era and barely missed enlistment. He says he owes his success today to the army’s influence. He continues to be a strong supporter of the US Army 1st Ranger Battalion based in Savannah Georgia.

The Challenge in Transition

As Don became older, the awareness of how difficult it truly is to transition after service dawned on him. Even when he became eligible to be part of the forces, his friends’ experiences, along with his father’s words of encouragement to take a different path pushed him to become what he is today.

He continued his education and trained to become an economist. Despite this deviation from what he grew up knowing, Don has always had in mind the commitment to help veterans who are struggling with their transition.

“My being was based around that at an early age. I was groomed to do this.” - Don Barden

Picking Apart the Elites’ Strategies

His many corporate endeavors have enabled Don to explore the world and the many parallels and similarities across different countries and cultures. Perhaps most impactful of his discoveries are the elites’ strategies, thought processes, and what they do that set them apart from everyone else.

With the findings included in a published book that has sold worldwide, he’s been able to plant seeds and help people from all walks of life, including the elites.

“My life’s a little unique, but it’s all nailed back to saying how we can take these incredible resources, the academic capital that we got, and turn it back to helping folks be the best they can be, especially veterans and their families.” - Don Barden

Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star rating and review if you enjoyed the show. We would love to hear from you!

Check out these links for Don Barden:

Website - The Perfect Plan

LinkedIn

Download Joe Crane’s Top 7 Paths to Freedom or get it on your mobile device. Text VETERAN to 38470.  

Join the Veteran on the Move on Facebook!

Check out Veteran on the Move on Facebook to connect with our guests! It’s also a great place where you can stay in touch with other veterans who are transitioning to entrepreneurship, and get updates and free gouge on the people programs and resources to help you in your transition to entrepreneurship.

 

The Veteran On the Move podcast has published over 150 episodes giving listeners the opportunity to hear in-depth interviews conducted by host Joe Crane featuring the people, programs and resources to assist veterans in their transition to entrepreneurship: Marine Corps, Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard veterans, DOD, entrepreneurship, business, success, military spouse, transition, education, programs and resources.  Veteran On the Move has garnered over 500,000 listens verified through Stitcher Radio, Sound Cloud, Itunes and RSS Feed Syndication making it one of the most popular Military Entrepreneur Shows on the Internet Today.

Steele Kelly is a 25-year-old Army veteran deployed twice in Afghanistan. He served as a cavalry scout and forward observer for the field artillery, transitioning to operation resolute support from operation enduring freedom. 

“I was in denial that I had changed and the world changed me at all. And I wanted to go back to the person I was before war. I didn’t want anybody else to see changes in me, like my family, my mom, any of my friends. And It’s kinda where the issue started.” - Steele Kelly

Steele Kelly - Changed by War

During his service in Afghanistan, Steele sustained compression fractures to three of his vertebrae. This forced him into medical retirement. It was the beginning of his struggle with re-integration, and a deeply-set mental health issue.

For a time, the honeymoon phase after going home was enjoyable. But soon enough, his denial of the fact that he’d been changed by war caught up with him and began making it difficult to assimilate back into civilian life.

Fighting the Stigma

Steele has heard of the perpetuated stereotype that needing to talk to a professional means being unfit for combat, that you somehow lack, or that you’re weak. Worse still are the risks of marking your career or being stigmatized, a label that you may never get away from.

This is the very reason that it took him a very long time to come to terms with what he’s going through.

“I was upset because at the same time, I missed that guy that I was before war. But I knew now, everybody sees that I can’t go back to being that guy.” - Steele Kelly

Confronting the Truth

Steel spiraled down into the caustic cycle of anxiety. He went through a falling out with his mother, failed medical appointments, a breakup, and seeing his own cohort struggle and leave the mortal realm before he finally acknowledged that he needed to help himself.

One morning he woke up, backpacked, and climbed up a mountain. Today, he’s an author and a pre-medicine student who wants to take up the role of the doctor who will help the veterans who struggle, just like he did.

Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star rating and review if you enjoyed the show. We would love to hear from you!

Check out these links for Steele Kelly

Website - Steele Kelly

LinkedIn

Download Joe Crane’s Top 7 Paths to Freedom or get it on your mobile device. Text VETERAN to 38470.  

Join the Veteran on the Move on Facebook!

Check out Veteran on the Move on Facebook to connect with our guests! It’s also a great place where you can stay in touch with other veterans who are transitioning to entrepreneurship, and get updates and free gouge on the people programs and resources to help you in your transition to entrepreneurship.

The Veteran On the Move podcast has published over 150 episodes giving listeners the opportunity to hear in-depth interviews conducted by host Joe Crane featuring the people, programs and resources to assist veterans in their transition to entrepreneurship: Marine Corps, Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard veterans, DOD, entrepreneurship, business, success, military spouse, transition, education, programs and resources.  Veteran On the Move has garnered over 500,000 listens verified through Stitcher Radio, Sound Cloud, Itunes and RSS Feed Syndication making it one of the most popular Military Entrepreneur Shows on the Internet Today.