DAV Patriot Boot Camp

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Mount it. If I stand up for somethlet I'm not
gonna hide bind the mass talk about it.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
It's all program to create chaos. Fifty five KRS at
six at fifty five KRCV Talkstation EPY Wednesday Quick Reminder
listener lines today at Little Miami Brewery, where you will
meet and see Jack Atherton, who was on the program earlier,
along with his beautiful wife Ainsley, and everybody else that

(00:25):
shows up at lunch, including Curbage Mike. He's invited. Don't
know that he can make it. Welcome to the fifty
five krc Morning Show and thank God for your service
for our country. Dan Claire, he is the chief Communications
and Outreach Officer for the Disabled American Veterans. You can
find them in line at DAV dot org. He's got
an amazing background. Marine Corps veteran of the Persian Golf

(00:45):
and an Air Force veteran of the War in Iraq.
He's been with the he's been the Communications and Outreach
Officer for the DAV since August twenty nineteen, but he's
got a long history with the DVAV. Welcome Dan Claire.
If I went through your resume and your CV, we
wouldn't have any time to talk about this boot camp
that we're going to be. You're giving us a details

(01:06):
on Good to have you on the fifty five Carse
Morning Show.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Sir, hey Brian, thanks for having me, and thank you
for your support for veterans. You have quite a reputation
for supporting our cause, so thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
I it's the least I can do. I tell people
every single time that's brought up. I did not enlist,
and I have such profound respect for those who just
threw the dice by enlisting, not knowing where they were
going to end up or what they were going to
be doing. And real quick on that note, as your
CV notes, you're a Marine Corps veteran of the Persian

(01:37):
Gulf and an Air Force veteran of the war in Iraq.
How does that happened?

Speaker 1 (01:42):
Well, you spent four years in the Marine Corps and
I got out right before nine to eleven. So I
got out and came back in right before nine to
eleven just to keep my military service going in the
Air National Guard. And then nine to eleven happened, so
I deployed on nine to eleven to help FEMA teams
and here we are.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
Wow. Well, okay, let's begin with the Disabled American Veterans
Program again DAV dot org. What's the organization all about?
What is the purpose of its existence?

Speaker 1 (02:10):
You know, we're trying to keep promises to veterans. We're
trying to make sure that if a veteran was changed
in service, that we're doing everything we can to help
them meet their maximum potential. And that's what DAV Patriot
boot Camp, this entrepreneur program that we have this morning
is all about. It's a three day cohort. We're going
to be helping about fifty five we expect entrepreneurs and

(02:31):
the veteran and military connected community. We're going to give
them the building blocks that they need so that they
can be company owners, so that they can be benefits providers,
so they can continue to contribute to our country. It's
an amazing program and it wouldn't be possible, you know,
talking about people who did not serve. This program would
not be possible without the many, many local CEOs here

(02:53):
in Cincinnati who contribute. We have more than twenty mentors
who are coming from the CEO ranks here locally. It's
a great program and they bring tremendous value to these
veterans who just want the chance to have business to
be more accessible to them.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Well, there's nothing like a successful person in business that
has all those you know, has experience, been there, done that,
build those and knows about those foundational building blocks that
inevitably lead to this to success. Now, the folks that
are going to be attending this boot camp, are they
want to be future entrepreneurs or do they already have

(03:29):
businesses of some sort and are leaking and seeking to
expand and learn more about how that happens. Who qualifies
to be a part of this group.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Well, we're making a big investment in these folks. So
we were looking for people who have made some concrete
steps to show that they're serious, that they have a
business idea that they usually have websites, they have NEI
in you know, they're they're they're raising some funds, they're
hiring some people. Because those are the people, you know,
who we're taking a risk on and we think that
they're going to excel and so we want to get

(04:00):
them in the program so that they can grow. It's
taken that next sleep for their companies from.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
What areas of business do the mentors come from, because
I'm certain of my listening audience. So someone out there
has got their ears perked up. One, Hey, that sounds
like something I would like to help out with.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
Oh, it's awesome. They're CEOs, they're folks in marketing, their
attorneys founders. I mean the list locally. We just have
actually an attorney from Dinsmore and he is donating Brett
Renzenbrink is donating five thousand dollars worth of legal services
to support these vetteran entrepreneurs. These are just people who've

(04:37):
been there, done that kind of in terms of their careers,
and they want to give back. They want to help
veterans avoid those early mistakes that they might have made
in their careers and their businesses so that they can
get the trajectory they need to succeed.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
Right, So I guess in terms of the legal services
that are being volunteered there and salute to those who've
done that. What a great thing, because I know how
much it costs to hire a lawyer. It ain't cheap, ever,
but setting up, for example, the appropriate corporate structure for
any given business.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
Oh, it's incredibly important. And that's one of those services
as we were at a cohort in Washington, d C.
And we had two lawyers there that would have cost
a veteran for an hour. You know, we're talking about
thirteen hundred dollars an hour apiece. And these folks are
thrilled to come in and give veterans their services.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
You know what I was when I was in house
with Anthem Blue Cross a blue ship. We're going back
nineteen years now because it is my nineteenth year in radio.
I remember the first time because I was in charge
of managing litigation that we had outsourced in certain times,
and I remember the first time I got a four
figure per hour a bill out of some New York
law firm and had soiled myself just looking at that
going I cannot believe how much money these guys cost.

(05:52):
But you just hit the nail on the head on
that one. So lawyers out there help out the disabled
American veterans with these programs. Now, you mentioned it's that
the boot camp is starting today. So this I presume
that this is not an appeal for folks to sign
up for this particular boot camp. Do you do you
do them throughout the year, Dan.

Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah, absolutely, we're back in May and we you know,
this is a program it sources nationally, but we have
a handful of great local companies who are participating. We
have a Remodel It Right company, James Hannen, Air Force veteran,
is trying to help remodel homes here locally. We have
a branding company, Stephen Easley's Easily Blessed Media and they're

(06:34):
just helping companies get their branding down straight. We even
have a taekwondo company from Wilder representing the cohort. So
it's a fun group. They're they're they're a little bit
spread out in terms of the types of services, the
types of products they offer, but they're veterans who we
think are going to be extremely successful down the road.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
All right, Well, speaking of extremely successful, Dan Claire, chief
Occasions Officer for the da V, can you share maybe
a couple of success stories about the results of the
Patriot boot Camp some of the alumni success stories.

Speaker 1 (07:10):
Sure. I mean, one one that sticks out to me
is Alvin Allan Parvis. He's the CEO of Go Faster
Alan's company that's here and since Cincinnti based company, he's
making running shoes that are kind of a hybrid trail
and walking shoe or a trail and street shoe. He's
an example of a company that's done great. We have

(07:31):
people with just amazing ideas, amazing solutions. One of the
one of the founders we had, had developed a reservoir
that collected water for to refill your windshield. So you know,
you've ever been in the rain and mud and you
run out of windshield wipe or fluid and you're in
big trouble and you're like, oh my god, it's raining outside.

(07:52):
But he had he'd developed the way that you could
take in rain water with a detergent and then clean
your windshields. And of course now cars are kind of
all over. It's just they're amazing ideas. You see with veterans,
they want to change the world, they want to be
involved in something that's meaningful, and that's what we see
with these entrepreneurs' new missions.

Speaker 2 (08:10):
How about that, it's one of those things you're surprised
that nobody ever thought of that before. So I guess
are there and I have. I think I maybe seen
a whole all of fifteen or twenty minutes of shark Tank,
where you know, they show off products and try to
get executives to buy into them or thumbs up and
thumbs down kind of thing. Are is there certain elements
of that involved.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
Absolutely. We have a pitch contest that goes into every
cohort and it's very much dav Shark Tank without the
intellectual property theft. It's a great it's a great thing,
you know, and that follows up on the digital side.
So if you sign up to get information, we'll let
you know when that contest is going to be held.
We've had folks from this program compete in Shark Tank

(08:51):
and even win. So we're we're rolled with the types
of companies that we have.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
Wow. And it's over the course of how many.

Speaker 1 (08:59):
Days, it's three full days we start off. This morning,
we just had a bustload of people come in. This
program also introduces veterans and entrepreneurs to Northern Kentucky. We're
supported by Meet NKY, Blue North. I mean just the
business community in Northern Kentucky, Cincinnati, and Indiana have just

(09:20):
coalesced around this program. We couldn't do it without them.
They offer great advice and they're doing this all ot
just because they know it's the right thing to do.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
It is the right thing to do. It's like my
support of the American veterans the right thing to do
for me, because you know it's worthy sho support them,
because it's just a quality group of people. I mean,
you already sung their praises and you can only double
down on that. I mean, I know there's some outliers
and some bad eggs out in the world, but that's
the case with literally everybody. But I don't think you
can find a better class of people than those folks

(09:50):
who have served their country and served them, served proudly.
And I'm glad this program is out there. When's the
next boot camp?

Speaker 1 (09:58):
The next boot camp is coming up the first week
of May. You can sign on. You can actually visit
Patriot boot Camp dot org to get specifically into this program.
Always visit dav dot org for benefits, help for volunteerism,
for transportation, things like that. But but this our next
cohort is May five through seven. Here locally, we want

(10:19):
people to sign up. We want mentors, we need mentors,
we need speakers. So we encourage everyone to get involved.
Sign up, we'll start to send you information and uh
and we'll make you part of our community.

Speaker 2 (10:30):
At the risk of having you repeat yourself. I just
want to make sure I understand. You're looking for folks
who already have you know, their their their toes in
the water of business, have something to show for their
entrepreneurial direction, not just someone who's got a great idea
but it hasn't come to any measure of fruition. I
got that right.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah, absolutely, We're looking for people who've made a serious
step because it's you know, this is a program. It
brings thousands of dollars worth of value, and we want
to make it make sure that our mentors time is
being dedicated to people who are going to go out
there and use it, you know, really put it to work.
And they're serious companies. They're serious people. They're you know, veterans,
are resilient people. They know how to scale, they know discipline,

(11:12):
they understand how to adjust in changing environments. They're just
great people. And this gives them the opportunity. You know,
just a lot of these guys, when when most people
were going to college or starting their first business, they
were serving their country. Now we're able to just level
the playing field a little bit for them, give them

(11:32):
some of those building blocks so they can go on
and really conquer the world.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
Wow, what a great concept this is and how long
have you been doing this?

Speaker 1 (11:40):
We've been doing this. This became a DAV program. It
was a separate charity founded by civilians to help veterans
get into the tech center. We've had it a DV
it's been a DV program for three years, but overall
it's been going on for about twelve years that the
programs existed. It was started by you know, some very
Governor Jared Poulis was one one of the people who

(12:00):
is one of the original founders of the program. It's
just it's an exceptional community that DAV was able to inherit.
When we brought on DAV Patriot boot.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
Camp, Well, it comes through loud and clear in your voice,
the enthusiasm you have and how proud you are of
this program and the work that you're doing for the
American veterans. So I'm I'm just pleased to sponge to
have you on the program to support it. Patriot Bootcamp
dot org for the information and let's see here. I
know there was one more thing I wanted to ask you. Oh,

(12:28):
sometimes I have a brain bubble on the morning show,
Sir and apologies for that. Oh yeah, I just it. Also,
I mean, in addition to this, it sounds like there
could be a parallel sort of networking function among the
young entrepreneurs of the veteran entrepreneurs as well as the
mentors in the program.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
Oh it's huge. We've had Honey Baked Hams. One of
the family members of Honey Baked Hams has donated legal services,
his attorney, his retainer, he's donated that to help more
in the North are Dton area entrepreneur with a company
called Whiskerman he's donated legal time. I mean, these the

(13:07):
people who get involved, they usually stay involved, stay in contact,
and they're ongoing mentors. And we need about forty to
fifty mentors if we have forty to fifty participants for
every cohort. So there are always opportunities to help. If
you have a skill you think you can bring to
the table, please volunteer, Please get involved. We'll make it
worth your time, all right.

Speaker 2 (13:27):
Now, for that group of people, those interested entrepreneurs that
have been there and done that want to help out,
do they go to Patriot Bootcamp dot org or do
they go to the dav dot org.

Speaker 1 (13:36):
Site Patriot boot camp dot org is the fastest way
to get there.

Speaker 2 (13:40):
Fastest way to get there will be linked online blog
and podcast pages. My friend Jostrecker's edit it already, so
click right there. If you can't remember Patriot Bootcamp dot org,
just remember fifty five KRC dot com. You know, Dan
on behalf of all of my listeners who all support
the American veterans. Danclaire, thank you so much for what
you're doing with the DAV and keep up the great work.

(14:00):
And anytime you want to talk about something going on
with the DAV or remind folks about the boot camp
down the road. You got to welcome opportunity here in
the fifty five Cars Morning Show.

Speaker 1 (14:10):
Oh, Brian, thank you so much. Thank you Joe, and
thanks Todd for helping get this thing together. God bless
you guys.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
And you sir, appreciate your time. Eight twenty right now
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