Veteran Influencer Podcast

Josh Rojas is a Facilities Manager with Jones Lang Lasalle, a leading professional services firm specializing in real estate and investment management. He describes his role as a great fit for the maintenance and operations leadership skills he developed serving as a U.S. Navy Surface Warfare officer for eight years following graduation from the Naval Academy in 2005. In today's conversation we discuss his path to this role as he w...

When Stan Walz hung up the uniform after a career in the U.S. Coast Guard, he knew he had more to contribute to the mission. Since becoming the CEO at VectorCSP in 2006, Stan and his team have been supporting U.S. Coast Guard acquisitions through the development of Integrated Logistics Support solutions.

Selected by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies seven years in a row, Vector CSP supports multiple aviation pla...

Ryan Sweeney transitioned out of the Army in 2016 and after an initial role in management with another brand, made his way to Madisonville, KY where he works as a Production Workflow Planner and the Plant Veteran Network Lead for GE Aviation.

Ryan also hosts a podcast called View From the Skies, where his guests and audience engage in discussions about transition and to share stories of leadership in regards to servant leadership, ...

Lieutenant General retired Raymond Mason managed the Army’s $8B sustainment budget and oversaw the Army's global supply chain during his final role on active duty. In October, 2014 he began his first civilian job after a 35-year military career, facing many of the same transition challenges everyday solders encounter when leaving uniform for the first time.

Serving as COO at a for-profit company for a little over two years, he felt...

John O'Grady transitioned out of the U.S. Army after leading large teams tasked with challenging missions deployed to dangerous places around the world. In this conversation, we talk about how those experiences and his time at West Point as a Division 1 Athlete gave him a template for launching his own coaching and executive development practice after leaving uniformed service. John works with leaders in the athletic and executive ...

Brit Yonge and I are friends through a veteran organization outside of work and we wanted to have a conversation on the podcast today about what’s happening in his career, as well as his ideas about what lies ahead for our country and our economy over the next few years.

Brit helps businesses evaluate technology both for acquisition within the businesses as well as from a product development and strategy standpoint. Since leaving t...

As someone who used to work with explosives for a living and has trained physically throughout his career as a member of Special Operations teams, Josh Duntz is no stranger to physical and mental stress. In today’s episode we catch up about his transition from the Navy's Explosive Ordnance Disposal community via a remote-work sales role facilitated by the DoD Skill Bridge program.

Josh and I recorded our first conversation in Augus...

David Dorfman is the Southwest Sales Leader for Tektronix. He transitioned out of the Navy’s shipbuilding Project Management community into a role that he quickly realized wasn’t the best fit. He found his way to a career in sales where he was able to find his true calling, working in some of America’s top R&D laboratories to service their needs for testing and measurement equipment. We talk a lot about the early mistakes he made a...

Noah Currier is the President and Founder of Oscar Mike. In this episode we talk about his service in a Marine Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion during the first wave of the invasion of Iraq.

Noah was injured in a car crash while home on leave and found adaptive sporting as a way to recover from his injuries both physically and  mentally.

We discuss how he launched Oscar Mike to support equipment and travel needs for veterans ...

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 ...

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 f...

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...

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, lead...

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 La...

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 te...

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: Ho...

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, worki...

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 com...

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-experien...