October 19, 2022 • 51 mins
Warriors, Fall In! It's Time for Formation!
In this episode, I'm once again, honored to have a guest that is very authentic in her mission and overall career purpose. She has the military mentor hours and the overall time and energy to prove her value within our military community.
Mrs. Lida Citroën is joining us this week! Just who is Lida? Well, she's an Executive Brand Strategist, TEDx Speaker, Executive Coach, 5x Author, LinkedIn Learning Instructor, Veterati Mentor, and Military Transition Specialist.
She has been featured in many publications and presentations to include:
· Inc.
· Forbes
· Entrepreneur
· Bloomberg
· MSNBC
· Act Now Education
· And was a TedX Speaker
Lida's Website: https://www.lida360.com
LInkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lida360/
Check out our website
Please Support & Donate to the Podcast: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/themorningform
USA Made socks with a Purpose. 20% off with code: TMF
https://www.solediersocks.com/tmf
Episode Powered By Act Now Education
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
KP (00:00):
This episode is powered by ACT NOW Education, go to
(00:03):
www.actnoweducation.com for freecomprehensive educational
resources and opportunities foractive duty, veterans, military
spouses, and children.
Lida Citroen (00:16):
And the team did something at halftime that
changed my life. They broughtsome Fort Carson soldiers out to
talk about military transition,that everything they were
saying, it was like in thiscrowd of 1000s, they were just
talking to me. And it was one ofthose moments, I could actually
say I felt called to dosomething.
KP (00:45):
Warriors fall in, it's time for formation. So today's guest
truly doesn't need anintroduction. But I'm gonna give
you one anyways, because she hasa very extensive career, helping
out the military community. Andso far, in her own personal
career, she's been an executivebranch strategist. She's a very
well renowned consultant,executive coach, keynote
speaker, and she's an author.
She has been featured in manypublications and presentations
(01:08):
to include Forbes, entrepreneur,Bloomberg, MSNBC, Google.
And she's also served as a TEDxspeaker. She's served as a
veteran at mentor has servedmany of hours helping folks
within our military community.
And I'm very fortunate to haveher again today with us on the
morning formation. So I want towelcome Lisa Sutro into the
(01:30):
morning formation podcast today.
Thank you for giving us yourtime. Of course. Thank you for
welcoming me back. Thank you,Lita. It's truly an honor to
have interviewed you early on inmy podcasting career. And also,
it's been a true honor to haveyou in my network as well. And
I've reached out to you severaltimes for some help. And you've
(01:51):
you've always came through withsome of the best advice and some
of the best connections as well.
You've connected me with somefolks out there like Cesar who,
who's an expert himself. And sothank you for that. I really
appreciate it.
Lida Citroen (02:07):
Of course, well, it's always wonderful when you
can connect good people to goodpeople, because something
magical will happen.
KP (02:15):
Indeed, very much so. And when we talked last time, we
were you know, at the time wewere going through a pandemic.
And since then, a lot haschanged, things have opened up,
people have gone back to work.
And so it's a pretty dynamictime. So coming out of the
pandemic. So far, what have youseen as far as the community
coming together and making ithappen on the career transition?
(02:38):
Or even the Online Reputationside of it?
Lida Citroen (02:42):
Well, great question. I mean, I think during
the pandemic, I know a lot of mycoaching and mentoring calls
with either active duty servicemembers or veterans who have
recently left the military. I'vehad a panic tone to them, right?
This has got to be a terribletime to find a job, maybe I
should go back in RAM list reup.
(03:04):
And honestly, the timingcouldn't have been better for
somebody to come out of themilitary. Because if you think
of, you know, one of thegreatest strengths that we have
in someone who has, has servedin the United States Armed
Forces, is the skills ofresiliency and adaptability and
dealing well under pressure, youknow, working in high stress
(03:25):
complex environments. And that'swhat we were facing during the
pandemic.
So my advice was always this isthe perfect time to be a veteran
looking for work, because themarket needs you. You know,
civilians like myself, wererunning around going, what is
this? This isn't what we studiedin business school, this isn't
what we're used to overcomingobstacles and adapting to change
(03:47):
is not our DNA, like it issomebody who has served. So the
timing was really good. But nowthat we're on the other side, I
think the culture has stillmaybe not caught up. If you
think about the militaryculture, in the sense that
there's still a lot of unknowns.
What is remote work?
What does a hybrid workenvironment mean? You know, for
(04:10):
a lot of men and women comingout of uniform today, they're
looking for an environment thatresembles something they may
have had in the military.
And a lot of work environmentshave changed drastically. So not
only do they have to findsomething that interests them,
that supports their lifestylesand their, you know, in their
preferred and non preferredgoals, but it also has to fit
(04:32):
there workstyle in a differentway. And that kind of turned a
lot of things on its end. Sothere's there's still a lot of
flux and a lot of uncertainty, Ithink for those coming out of
uniform today. But I would stillsay that the timing is great.
Our country's not, you know,we're not riding high yet. And
(04:52):
we're back to work but thiscultural shift of uncertainty
and and complexity and and allof that That unstable feeling,
still is a value add forveterans in this market.
KP (05:07):
Yeah, that's actually a really good point. And over the
years, I have seen people resigna career or what they thought
was going to be the career,whether it be in the military or
a civilian position that theyhad. And over the years, the
folks that I have witnessed whohave believed in themselves and
(05:27):
their abilities and what theycan and can't do and what they
can achieve. I seen them overthe years, make it, not just
make it but kill it.
As far as what their goals are,what would you say to someone
out there, who is looking atpossibly a career change, or
whether that be getting out ofthe military, or maybe they're a
(05:48):
veteran themselves, or militaryspouse who's looking at a career
change, but they're sort ofafraid of taking that dip and
believing in themselves?
Lida Citroen (05:56):
Well, we call that a pivot, right. So when somebody
goes from one career, or onefocus, or one area of
concentration to somethingreally different, a doctor who
becomes a public speaker, ateacher who goes with goes to
law school and starts a newcareer, somebody coming out of
the military, you know, goinginto being an investment banker,
(06:17):
those are career pivots, and acouple things that you
mentioned.
First, just because you can dosomething, doesn't mean you
should, just because you knowhow to, you know, work on a on
on a kilo, or you know how tooperate up, you know, a heavy
piece of equipment doesn't meanthat's what you want to do after
(06:38):
you come out of uniform. Andsimilarly, just because you want
to do something doesn'tnecessarily mean you should,
right, you might want to dosomething that to get the skills
and the certifications andqualifications would put you
1015 years out, and you don'thave that kind of runway in
terms of, you know, resources.
So it's really a matter ofbalancing reality, in your
(06:59):
dreams, there's room for both.
But sometimes we have to thinkabout that a little bit
differently.
But to make a pivot, to turnyour ship in a new direction, is
a fabulous experience. I mean, Iwent from 20 years in corporate,
to starting my own company. I'dnever started a company before,
(07:20):
I knew a lot about business. ButI'd never started a company.
I've worked with many clientswho wake up one morning and say,
what I'm doing just doesn't doit for me anymore. You know, I
make good money, and I get onthe cover of magazines.
But it's not it's that my heartisn't in it any longer. That's
typically when somebody says I'mlooking for something different.
(07:44):
And thinking about, you know,what do I need to live on what
is realistic? What is a dreamthat I can do in my part time
versus I'm going to put mycareer towards it? There's some
hard questions to ask. But thepiece most people don't think
about, and what I love to focuson, are the reputation assets.
So let's say you woke uptomorrow and decided you wanted
(08:06):
to open a catering business,right? Well, hopefully, we would
hope you know how to cook,right? If you want to a food
truck, right?
Do you do have a truck. Butthinking about the reputation
piece, you'd want to inventory,who are the people you know, who
might be able to help you get infront of investors, or help you
(08:26):
get introduced to differentculinary experts or people who
could provide help navigatingthe permitting process or
whatever, but you would look atyour network and figure out who
are the people that you know,that are valuable to know, in
this new career. And similarly,there are going to be some
people who fall out of that,right.
So if you went from being apodcaster, to running a catering
(08:48):
business, maybe some of yourpodcast guests that you stayed
in touch with aren't asimportant from a career
standpoint, going forward, you'dmake the choice to sort of move
them off to the side a littlebit and focus on the ones who
do. So reputational Lee, we haveto think about what is our
equity in this new career, you'dbe able to leverage a lot of the
(09:10):
skills you're a people person,you're outgoing, you're, you're
well known, you have arecognizable name. These are
assets that you could use to runa catering business. You see
what I'm saying? And peopledon't think about that.
They just think about, okay, I'mtired of this. I'll just
completely shift over here. AndI'll just leave everything
behind. But there's so much youwant to be able to bring with
(09:32):
you. It's just not everything.
Not every part of what you'vedone before comes across and
thinking about thatstrategically, helps you to make
a really smart decision.
KP (09:43):
Yeah, it's important to do your homework and your research
for that for that importantpivot, no doubt about it. And
some of the folks that have donethat have made those pivots
before have done just thatwhether the research was in a
business plan, or they wereinvolved in networking or
connecting with folks that couldhelp with that pivot is
extremely important. And Iwanted to talk about social
(10:03):
media. Because when you'retalking about networking, and
you're talking about connecting,and you're talking about doing a
potential pivot, how importantis it to be out there on social
media and to embrace it? And howmuch of a violation is it to not
be on professional social mediaaccounts such as LinkedIn?
Lida Citroen (10:21):
You know, I, anytime I speak on the topic of
online digital capital,reputation management and
social, I always ask, is thereanyone in the room who is not on
any social platform? Usually,there's one or two little shy
hands that go up in the back,right? And my next question is,
is that job or career specific,right, because if you're doing
(10:44):
some type of covert work, oryou're in a position where being
found is a risk, I completelyget it right, you have a certain
level of security clearance, oryour employer says, We don't
want people to know what yourface looks like and what you're
involved in, I totally get it.
That is a very small fraction ofthe population that works in
those jobs. So for most people,the reason that they would
(11:07):
sheepishly raise their hand isthey don't understand social
media, they think it's a wasteof time, because they don't
understand social media, or theydon't know how to do it. The
world we live in today, as soonas I get a name, somebody
mentions, I should know, thisguy, KP, or I should look this
person up, the first thing I'mgoing to do is either go to
(11:28):
Google, or go to LinkedIn, andI'm going to type the name in,
because I want to see what comesup.
Now, if I go to Google is sortof a, guess what shows up
because you might have a commonname. There might be somebody
else who's famous that has yoursame name, or there could be a
variety of reasons, it's not asspecific. But if I go to
LinkedIn, when I'm going to seeon LinkedIn, is exactly what you
(11:52):
want me to see. I'm going to seethe kinds of pictures you want
me to see about you, I'm goingto learn about your background,
because I'm learning what you'vetold me. Nothing goes on to
LinkedIn, unless you put itthere.
So if you think about the levelof control that you have, it's
unbelievable. It is a hugesearch engine. So you know,
(12:15):
thinking about it, like a littlemicro website, you're putting
information out there, it givesyou the prompts, right? Describe
your experience, tell us aboutyou? What volunteer activities
are you involved in, who arepeople that can vouch for you,
but you're populating theinformation, nothing goes on
LinkedIn, that you haven'tapproved, even a recommendation
(12:36):
doesn't get posted before youapprove it.
So it's a huge missedopportunity to not be found
there. And again, there can be asmall percentage of people who
do it for strategic careerreasons that I mentioned before,
but for most people,understanding the level of
control that you have, and theopportunity to put information
(12:57):
out there to start aconversation. It's amazing. And
it's valuable, I love whensomebody starts a brand new
conversation with me and says,So I see that you grew up in
this area, or I see that youwent to the school, or I
understand that you write forthis publication, because I know
where they got it. They didn'tget that level of detail on my
(13:18):
website, they got that onLinkedIn, and I put it there. So
they would have a conversationstarter.
Maybe we grew up in the samearea, maybe we know some of the
same people. Maybe we'repassionate about the same
topics. That's why I put theinformation on LinkedIn. So you
know, is it a safe place? Yeah,it's a heck of a lot safer than
(13:38):
Twitter, or Instagram, TikTok,any of the ones that are more
casual and relaxed. Because alot can happen when people get
casual and relaxed. LinkedIn ismore buttoned up, it's more
professional. So there's anelement of professional decorum
that happens on LinkedIn, whichmakes it a safer place, if
somebody's going to venture ontosocial media, for them to become
(14:00):
active.
KP (14:02):
Yeah, it's interesting that you say that there is a huge
difference between Instagram,LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter,
because I have tried my content.
I've done like one content, oneshort video. And I'll post that
on multiple platforms. And Inoticed that LinkedIn doesn't
necessarily embrace the type ofcontent that you put on
(14:24):
Instagram, for example, sototally got to be real careful.
Totally different.
Lida Citroen (14:30):
And you never should. I mean, whenever
somebody tells me, they justrepurpose the same thing on all
platforms. That's not the point.
Because your Instagram followersare looking for a very different
experience. Facebook is acompletely different
environment. LinkedIn shouldhave something professional. So
if you're across purposing,without modification, you're
missing the whole point. It'snot about reach. It's about
(14:51):
engagement.
It's about connection, andhaving specific goals. In fact,
I wrote an article today abouthaving some specific strategies
for online positioning. Right?
What is what is your goal? Ifyou're a job seeker, it's
probably to attract recruitersand hiring managers in the
companies you want to work for.
(15:13):
If you're building yourvisibility and reputation, it's
brand building, but have a goalfor while you're on social
media, understand who youraudience is, Who are you trying
to get the attention of? Andthen where do those people hang
out. Because if you're trying tofind a job, and you're spending
all your time on Instagram, mostrecruiters and hiring managers
(15:33):
are not looking for candidateson Instagram. They are looking
for them on LinkedIn. So thinkabout it logically, it's a lot
of time to spend on social mediaand not to have any type of
strategy or objectives.
KP (15:49):
Yeah, and I did a real on that not too long ago on
Instagram, where I was talkingabout wasting my time just
scrolling on tick tock, andthen, you know, an hour later,
you know, looking back and beinglike, what did i What did I
accomplish in the last hour,nothing. So you want to be you
want to be directional, and youwant to be intentful when it
comes to some of the things thatyou do online, and purposeful,
(16:11):
which I think is the underlineof exactly what you just said,
being purposeful in everythingyou do.
And and for those folks outthere listening who refuse to go
online, refuse to create asocial platform, especially on
like things like LinkedIn. Thinkback to when the internet was
first created. Some people outthere, a lot of people out there
thought that the internet was afad, and it was gonna go away.
(16:32):
All right, the social media,it's not gonna, it's not going
away. It's getting bigger. Allright, and it's gonna change.
So you might as well embrace it,I had a conversation with
someone today, it was a realestate agent. And he was
interested in growing hisInstagram and I looked at his
Instagram account, and it had awhole bunch of generic still
(16:54):
pictures on it. And I was tryingto explain to him the
differences between reels,stories versus posts. And it was
I could tell that I wasn't quitegetting through to him, and it
was going to be a steep learningcurve.
And, you know, there's no bettertime to start than now if you
don't know how to use the socialmedia platforms out there. But
Lida, you know, before I jumpinto talking about the military
(17:15):
specific questions, for those ofyou for those of you out there
who are just now listening toLida for the very first time,
I'd like for you later to talkabout why you sort of positioned
yourself to help out ourmilitary veterans, because I
know you for a number of years,you were helping out large
(17:36):
corporations, large companies,but take us back to that time
where you had that, that thatsituation, I think it was at a
Denver Broncos game, right?
Lida Citroen (17:46):
Yes, it was November 9 2009. You know, to
set it up. When I started mycompany in 2008, right in the
middle of the worst economy wehad seen to date at that point.
I knew that I wanted to carveout a place to get back. I
didn't know what that was goingto look like. I always served on
boards of directors when I hadbeen in corporate. But I didn't
(18:09):
know what what giving back as myown company was going to look
like. So I just kind of createdspace for that and with kept my
eyes open.
And I know that's why onNovember 9 2009, when I got
invited to a Denver Broncosfootball game, it was not a
pretty game, we got completelyobliterated. But it happened to
be the week of Veterans Day. Andthe team did something at
(18:33):
halftime that changed my life.
They brought some Fort Carsonsoldiers out to talk about
military transition. Tipnormally I don't pay attention
at halftime unless it's a SuperBowl, right. But I was fixated
to what they were talking about.
And they talked about how, youknow, how do you sell yourself
to a civilian employer when allyou've known as the military
(18:54):
culture and language andcommunity?
How do you figure out what comesnext, when you've been in this
very prescriptive andstandardized culture, and
everything they were saying? Itwas like in this crowd of 1000s,
they were just talking to me.
And it was one of those moments,I can actually say I felt called
to do something. And I looked atmy husband in the moment and I
(19:16):
said, Oh my gosh, I could do Icould help here. This is what I
do. What they're talking aboutis positioning and reputation
management and personalbranding.
And my husband looked at me andhe's like, Honey, I mean, what
do you know about the military?
I mean, no offense, but I didn'tknow anyone in the military. I
didn't have any friends orfamily members who had served.
So he had a little bit of apoint. But I this was something
(19:39):
I was leaning into. My motherwas raised in communist Hungary
both of my parents wereimmigrants to this country. But
communist Hungary was a verydifferent environment when my
mother was raised. And when shegot to this country, and and saw
what freedom was, she raised mybrother and I with the message
that If you ever get a chance tosay thank you, Freedom doesn't
(20:01):
come for free, someone paid aprice. She says, you say thank
you.
And that was always in the backof my mind. So that combined
with this message I heard, I wasfixed on it. It was not an easy
path. And I'm certainly notcomplaining because yours was
much, much harder than mine. Butthere's a lot of resistance to
(20:23):
civilians who just want to help.
And I knocked on a lot of doors,trying to just offer my programs
offer my coaching my training,the work that I do, and get paid
by corporations could not givethis to veterans.
And a lot of people said, yeah,what's in it for you? And it's
legitimate, right? There arepeople who take advantage of the
(20:45):
military space. But once thatdoor did get opened for me, and
I started teaching theseprograms, and coaching and
mentoring and writing books, andwriting articles, and speaking
all over the country and payingmy own way to go, I realized
this is this isn't justsomething I can do. It's
something I have to do. And 12years later, I'm grateful that I
(21:07):
get to still do it.
KP (21:09):
The military community is not an easy community break into
pretty even if you're even ifyou're a veteran yourself,
because when when you're inservice, most military bases
will have the used car lot. Thetattoo parlors everything you
can imagine just off base,because everybody knows how much
(21:31):
you make based off of what's onyour collar.
So it's like, well, what's in itfor you. So over the years,
Lita, you've definitelyestablished yourself as an
authentic supporter of ourcommunity. And that has been
shown through the countlesshours that you've volunteered
through vet Irati. And I knowyou have connections with VT,
why act now education, so manytremendous nonprofit
(21:54):
organizations out there who arealso interested in helping our
community and you have ourutmost respect. And you have a
solid reputation within ourcommunity. That's why have you
on the podcast today? So as faras what you've seen recently,
with experiences between femaleveterans and male veterans who
are transitioning out, can youtalk about that a little bit?
Lida Citroen (22:18):
Sure. And, you know, honestly, I never knew
that there would be really thatmuch of a difference. Again, I'm
civilian, my only context forunderstanding the military when
when I first started doingtrainings and going to military
installations, is television andmovies, right. That's what I
thought the military was coming.
You don't I guess, all walkaround like Tom Cruise and Top
(22:39):
Gun, I don't know. But I alsothought that men and women
served alongside in everysituation. And I remember years
ago, speaking in, I think it wasprobably a group of around 50 to
100. They were active dutyservice members, getting ready
to exit the military. And I wastalking and doing my program and
(23:00):
somebody said, maam asked aquestion to the audience. And I
was like, What's the question?
He said, ask how many of theindividual that in this room
have worked alongside women? Andin that moment, is he asked that
I realized the room was men. Itnever occurred to me, it was
only men. So I asked thequestion, and not a lot of hands
went up.
(23:22):
And that was really interesting.
Because, again, my perspective,what I knew from television and
movies was it's everybody'sworking alongside everybody. And
I realized that's not, that'snot necessarily the case, which
means that the men coming intothe workforce, who might
suddenly you know, have, maybethey have 20 years of experience
from the military, and nowthey're reporting to a 25 year
old manager, female, that'sdifferent, that's going to be
(23:46):
really different to take orders,right? That dynamic is
different. But female veterans,there's a whole situation that
surrounds them, we see the thenumbers of self identification
much lower for female veteransthan for their male
counterparts.
A lot of female veterans don'tidentify because of some of the
(24:08):
stigma or unconscious bias thatcivilians bring. Many of my, my
female veteran friends have saidvery often they'll walk out to
their car in the parking lot,and it'll say, Air Force veteran
has a bumper sticker. And peoplewill look at her husband and
say, you know, thank you foryour service. And he's like,
Yeah, I didn't serve she did.
Very common, right. So there'snot a lot of self
(24:31):
identification, which is notgood. We need women to self
identify if they feel like theywant to do that.
The biases and the stereotypesand the preconceived ideas
around what a female veteran ishave to change and shift.
Because the contribution thatthese women that have been in
that environment, been in thatculture and learn those skills
(24:52):
and shaped that character is soneeded, whether it's
entrepreneurship education or inthe in the world workforce, it
is so needed and it's not aseasy to get as you might think.
KP (25:07):
Yeah, that's actually fascinating you, you've done a
lot of presentations and thingslike that all across the United
States. And have you had achance to go into any bases
overseas and have these type ofpresentations?
Lida Citroen (25:20):
I would love to. I haven't I haven't I've had, I've
had service members send mepictures of them holding my
book, and Afghanistan or, youknow, or different bases. Not
Afghanistan today. But backthen. And no, I haven't had that
opportunity. But boy, I'd be onboard for that. Because it is it
(25:42):
is really cool. What's alsointeresting about the overseas
piece is a lot of othercountries have reached out to
me, I have done some consulting,very small consulting with
Canadian Air Force, the UK RoyalAir Force out of the UK,
Australia, India, like they'reall kind of looking at what the
(26:02):
Americans are doing and saying,you know, how can we take care
of our returning veterans andfind opportunities to bring them
into the fold? The way the US isdoing? So that's a really good
time.
KP (26:17):
Yeah, no doubt. I mean, you've got literally global
outreach leader. And that's,that's absolutely fascinating.
And just going back and touchingon the the female versus male
veterans, I've over the span ofthe last year and a half spoke
to she vets it out via and anumber of other influencers out
there, who were in thatsituation where they served, but
(26:41):
their husbands or spouses didn'tserve. And so they've talked
about that over the years, wheretheir husbands get thanked
further for their service. Andit's like, well, why did so I
started? Well, that's a very,
Lida Citroen (26:54):
you know, um, I did a program this summer with
Purdue University, they have aconcentrated effort to focus on
women, veterans, femaleveterans, and got to hear just
some amazing sort of behind thescenes reality. And one of the
things I think that that womenstruggle with coming out of the
(27:14):
military is still wanting to befeminine, still wanting to be a
female, rather than having to bea man now going into a, you
know, an environment.
And how do you navigate allthat? And can you wear makeup?
Yes, you can wear makeup? Youknow, can you wear high heels?
Yes, you can wear high heels,but you don't have to, like,
(27:35):
what are the rules? And what haschanged? And and how does that
dynamic work outside of themilitary where everything is
spelled out so clearly, andthere's nothing spelled out,
nothing is uniform, nothing isconsistent across the civilian
sector. So I think that wasreally an interesting revelation
that, you know, we just stillwant to be who we are. And
(27:58):
whatever that looks like, right?
Whatever population you alignwith. Being true to yourself
being authentic. Is, is reallythe name of the game. And that
isn't something the militarytalks about, which that makes
sense. That's not the military'sjob.
KP (28:14):
Yeah, no, most definitely.
And I, you know, the, what didyou mention that was it was a
Purdue
Lida Citroen (28:21):
University does a focus fellowship. And they
brought me out to speak. Andthis was, I mean, Marina was
there who you and I both know,and just an amazing group of
female veterans who werepursuing their next career
through the through the school.
Yeah.
KP (28:39):
Awesome. Well, thank you for stepping up and being part
of that conversation, becauseyou definitely bring a lot of
value to that as well. You know,you you've heard countless
stories, just being a mentorthrough Veterati. And I know
that you've been through anumber of different
presentations, whether it be atthe Air Force Academy, or a lot
(29:01):
of bases that you've been totalking to our veterans, and our
service members as well. And Iknow that you've been heavily
involved with entrepreneurshipcoaching for our veterans. So
would you mind talking a littlebit about that?
Lida Citroen (29:14):
Oh, the brave few that are willing to become an
entrepreneur. You know, I it'san interesting path, right?
Because there's a lot ofdifferent reasons somebody
decides to pursue self own-,self, business ownership, self
employment. And for some, it's,you know, coming out of the
military, I don't want to, Idon't want to report to anyone,
(29:36):
I don't want to be beholden tothe man, whatever it is.
For others. It's an idea they'vehad that they they want to
pursue and find their dream. Andfor others, it might be a
franchise opportunity and theyjust want the the flexibility,
the freedom of a businessownership, but they don't want
to come up with something theirown. There's a lot of different
(29:57):
reasons that people pursueentrepreneurship. what's so cool
is that the statistics show howwell suited veterans are to be
entrepreneurs. It's some of thethings we talked about earlier,
you know, being comfortable withchange, being adaptable, and
flexible and resilient,tenacious and disciplined. All
(30:18):
of those skills, which if youhave those skills, and you're an
entrepreneur, like you'regolden, right, because most
entrepreneurs don't have thatthey just want free income or
want the freedom to do whateverthey want.
So veterans are very well set upfor it. But entrepreneurship is
it's not a linear path. Idescribe it, I had a better
(30:40):
audit coaching call today. And Idescribed it to this, this woman
Army soldier, I said, it's likefree falling, you're constantly
free falling, and you got to beokay with that. And I wasn't a
risk taker. So I never wanted tobe an entrepreneur, it was never
my dream, I wasn't this littlegirl who, you know, wanted to
(31:00):
own her own company. Because Iliked the paycheck every two
weeks, I liked PTO and an officethat had my name on it, you
know. But it became the mostobvious thing when it became the
most obvious thing. So I thinkyou're either kind of cut out
for it, or you learn to be cutout for it.
Because if you're not a risktaker, you got to be okay with
(31:21):
that idea of uncertainty, thefree falling, right, I have
people who are dependent on me,I have, you know, team members,
and if I don't do my job, andbring in work and get the work
done, they don't feed theirfamilies. So there's all these
layers of complexity, you haveto have a viable business idea.
(31:42):
You have to have runway in termsof resources, and have really
good allies in your corner, whoyou can call upon for advice,
and legal counsel, insurance,accounting, all these all these
unpleasant things that we haveto deal with as business owners.
But again, that's where veteransare set up better than civilians
(32:05):
for it. Where the veteran maynot be as as versed is things
like networking, and therelationship building part of
entrepreneurship, because mostof us don't build our business
in a silo, right? We need otherpeople, we need those resources,
we need referrals we need, youknow, online connections, and
get people to talk about ourproduct or service or company.
(32:28):
So having a really good network,having a really good narrative,
the way that you talk aboutyourself, right? I don't lead
with personal branding, when I'mmeeting somebody for the first
time because most people don'tuse that language. So I talk
about, you know, being clearabout who you are and what you
can offer, and how yourreputation advances your career,
(32:48):
as opposed to hold you back.
That stuff people understand,then I introduced the fact that
I have a business. So having areally good elevator pitch and
narrative is important. Andbeing confident and who you are
and what you can offer. Becausethere's a lot of haters out
there, and there's a lot ofpeople who are, you know, gonna
watch and, and take whatever youleave on the table. So you've
(33:09):
got to be pretty confident andbe able to sell yourself. And
some of those are traits thatveterans have to learn, as
opposed to just inherently bringinto entrepreneurship.
KP (33:21):
Yeah, that is very well, sadly to and, you know, two of
the things that I really haveover the last year have kind of
come to realize is that a lot ofveterans tend to be very
stubborn. And I don't know ifyou have experienced this or
not, but when it comes tonetworking, connecting, asking
for help, or asking forassistance, I know, I was that
(33:45):
way, when I transitioned out, Ithought I got this, I'm going to
get my my postgraduate degree.
And then I'm going to get out ofthe military, I know how to
write a resume. I don't need anyI don't need taps, I don't need
none of this stuff. And then Iended up having one position out
of like four that was available,I had one position to choose
(34:06):
from, and I had to choose thator go into unemployment, which I
couldn't even fathom being acaptain and 0-3 going to
unemployment. So I picked it.
And I was part of this statisticthat, you know, ended up leaving
that job after my first year. Sohave you experienced that as
well when it comes to theveteran community and the
overall career transition?
Lida Citroen (34:25):
Well, I mean, you hit on on an easy one to start
off with and that is that askingfor help is not something that
is necessarily encouraged asmuch in the military as it is in
the civilian space. We tellveterans you know, when you when
you work with us, like askingfor help is a sign of strength.
You're not seen as less than orvulnerable or weak. If you don't
(34:48):
know how to do something youhave no experience with because
the civilian wouldn't hesitateto find a resource, find some
training or ask for that.
That is Little bit of a of ahesitancy when you have a
veteran employee. I think theother thing and maybe this ties
back to what you were saying, isthe idea of self promotion.
(35:10):
Right? I mean, I think you canpretty much assume this far into
the conversation, I have notrouble talking about myself. I
have no trouble as a civilianlisting off all my
accomplishments and accoladesand every success I've ever had.
But the veteran has trouble withthat. A veteran has trouble
saying I speaking in firstperson taking credit because
(35:32):
service before self, themilitary value of service before
self is that it's not about you,it's about those who serve
alongside and saying I orimplying that you're taking
credit, feels like betrayal tothose who served alongside and I
completely understand that. Ithink it is one of the most
admirable traits the militaryteaches.
(35:54):
But it's tough when somebodycomes out of that environment,
and then tries to compete foropportunities in a culture where
we have no trouble talking aboutourselves, you know, and we can
even do it so confidently. Itdoesn't even sound like
bragging. How do you move fromwe to I, in a way that's
(36:15):
authentic and valuable. And thatkind of goes back to what we
were talking about earlier thatthis isn't about being somebody
or you're not or, you know,trying to reinvent yourself,
it's about reaching in andfinding those best pieces of
you, and bringing those forward.
And that's something thatsomebody who has worn our
nation's cloth has not beenfocused on, you know, they've
been focused on serving thenation and protecting us and
(36:37):
allowing me to sleep at nightnot worried about my freedom
tomorrow.
But if you can think about, youknow, who you are, and what
matters to you, and what drivesyou and what you're passionate
about, and what your dreams are,what do you hope to do, that's
meaningful when you come out ofuniform, then gradually, you can
(36:59):
get more comfortable talkingabout what you can contribute
and what you can offer and whereyou can add value, because it
still feels like serving amission. And the thing we know
about veterans is that desire toserve, which is why you raised
your hand in the first place.
Nobody, I mean, we don't have adraft in this country. So there,
there's no obligation to jointhe military. Everybody
(37:20):
volunteered. You know, in recentyears, that desire to serve does
not stop when you take theuniform off. So finding ways to
channel that finding ways tomentor and be a partner and a
collaborator with differentcommunities is really where we
see veterans thrive. Andmilitary spouses as well. A lot
of the traits that I'm using forveterans map, dreamily close for
(37:44):
military spouses that just don'twear uniforms and get recognized
the same way.
KP (37:50):
100% 100% the the military spouses go through a lot of the
same obstacles, all the sameobstacles, not a lot, all the
same obstacles that a servicemember goes through when it
comes to having to get stationedsomewhere that they're
unfamiliar with gettingstationed with having to reset
all those relationships all overagain. And they're truly the
(38:11):
pillars that hold up the entireservice member.
So yeah, so when we're talkingabout service members, you know,
we're talking universally aboutmilitary spouses as well. And,
you know, I'm talking aboutcareer transition, and
everything. And Lita focusesspecifically, you know, on the
personal brand and onlinereputation, and really has a lot
(38:34):
of great information,fascinating information about
our community because she spentso much time literally one on
one conversations, helping ourveteran community out, Lita over
the horizon. Yeah, what's instore for you? What's in store
for you? And would you mindtalking about some of the
publications that you've doneand who they would be geared
towards?
Lida Citroen (38:55):
You know, to answer what's coming up back up
just a little bit. So when Ifirst when I wrote my first
book, for the military, I'vewritten three in the military
community. My first book in thatin that sector is your next
mission, write a personalbranding guide for the military
to civilian transition, thatbook came out. And yes, it was
very widely received by activeduty and prior military and
(39:19):
military spouses. Were buying itleaving it on the nightstand for
their partner to read. But alarge percentage of books were
bought up by employers.
And that was fascinating to me,because I didn't understand why
a civilian at a company would bebuying a book written for
veterans. But they, in severalof them told me after I
(39:39):
inquired, they said, you're kindof a unicorn here. You're a
civilian who figured out thisworkforce that we can't figure
out. So they bought the bookthinking it would be a great
insight into what they're doing.
So then I wrote a book for vetsor for employers, which is more
of a guidebook about terminologyand lingo and acronyms and Best
Practices. If you'reinterviewing, hiring and
(40:01):
onboarding veterans, that bookcame out in 20 2017. And it's a,
it's a quick and practicalguide. I mean, that's literally
what it is. Throw it in abriefcase, go to a job fair, you
know what to ask and what not toask.
A few years later, I wrotesuccess after service, which is
really about finding your nextcareer after the military. So
(40:24):
unlike your next mission, it'sless on the personal branding,
and much more on the blockingand tackling. What do you do if
you're 24 months out? You justturned your papers in? You know,
your bet you've signed up fortamp, but you don't know what
you're supposed to do for 24months? What do you do? If
you've got 60 days? What do youdo? If it's tomorrow? And you
haven't done anything? Right?
How do you find a job? How doyou choose a job, it's also the
(40:46):
only book success after service,I think is the only book that
talks about the path to studentveteran ship. Right, so becoming
a student veteran.
And it also includes a sectionon entrepreneurship, because we
know that those are threeemployment, entrepreneurship,
and education are three pathsthat veterans take. And that
(41:07):
book is doing really well as ablocking and tackling. But my
work with employers is reallywhere I'm really excited some
very, very large companies,household names, I've been able
to work with to either stand up,amplify, or really kind of build
out their veteran recruitingprocess their in house training
(41:29):
for managers and employees whowork alongside veterans, you
know, it falls under theDiversity Equity and Inclusion
umbrella, which is reallyimportant right now. So just
having a lot of wonderfulconversations with some amazing
employers around the world,talking about the veteran
workforce, and how to reallycapture and commit to those,
(41:51):
those team members. That's whatI look forward to doing more of.
KP (41:55):
Yeah, it's absolutely fascinating that you bring that
up as far as working with theemployers, because I recently
had an interview with Michaelpet, who is the liaison for
Uber. And he brought up thewhole point of us being just
over 20 years from September 11.
And that's really important,because that was the kickoff of
VA Afghanistan, and then shortlythereafter, the Iraq War. So you
(42:17):
have a lot of veterans thatjoined out of Patriot patriotism
during that time, and are nowgetting ready to retire. So
places, certain companies likeUber are looking to build that
bridge to fill that gap ofmeeting those military members
halfway, when it comes tobringing them on to their
(42:39):
workforce. And I thought thatwas fascinating that you just
mentioned that.
Lida Citroen (42:43):
Yeah, I am also kind of hung up on the thing you
mentioned earlier about speakingat international bases. So I'm
kind of thinking I might put aput it in and tension out to the
universe for that, because thatsounds really fun, too. But you
know, this, this isn't abusiness thing for me. I mean,
I, I do. Employers do pay me forservices in that space. But you
(43:04):
know, I mean, I do this becauseit's a way to genuinely say
thank you for everything that Ihave, because of people like
you. And it is I get rewarded10, tenfold, for every hour, you
know, or books that I write. Andit's just it's it's a truly an
honor to be able to have thecredibility that you talked
(43:24):
about and be able to give backin this way. And I think other
civilians could look for equallyas rewarding opportunities if
they just dug a little bit deep.
KP (43:34):
Yeah, no, it's an absolute honor to be speaking as someone
because even with me in thispodcast, I'm not getting paid to
do the podcast, but I put a lotof hours into it as well. But
it's an honor to be speaking tosomeone, a titan like yourself,
Hart, who is actually making bigwaves in our community. So thank
you for giving, giving us youryour time today. But I also
(43:55):
wanted to give you anopportunity to mention any
pieces of advice or any anythingthat you want to mention that we
didn't talk about in the podcastthat you want to throw in here
towards the end of the podcastor the end of the episode today.
Lida Citroen (44:10):
You know, a couple of things come to mind. I mean,
I think the the first one Ibring up a lot is transition
isn't an event. Transitioningout of the military is not a day
or a week of ceremonies anddinners and cocktail parties.
It's a process. And for somepeople, that process takes
years. For some it is a coupleof months, but one person's
(44:31):
experience is not exactly likethe next person and own and
appreciate and honor yourexperience for what it is.
You've got, you know, experiencein the past that got you to this
point.
What comes next is how it'ssupposed to be for you. You
can't rush it, you can't try toyou know, shape it any way that
it's not supposed to be. So justunderstand when people talk
(44:54):
about transition. They oftenthink that once you've done the
transition, you're somehow doneOkay, well, it can be years
before you're fullytransitioned. And I think the
other thing is, and this is whatI really try and teach when I
want to do the personal brandingworkshops is, you know, I get to
enjoy a life of authenticity,and I know who I am. And I'm
(45:16):
clear about my values and how Iwant to show up in this world.
And the legacy that I'm workingtowards. Somebody in the
military doesn't think aboutthat on a daily basis, right?
You're thinking about muchdifferent things. But then when
you come out of uniform, that'skind of what we expect you to
bring into the conversation.
And, and it might feel selfcentered, it might feel self
focused, and it kind of is,right, we're talking about you.
(45:38):
But who else deserves theopportunity to live a life of
meaning and purpose andfulfillment better than somebody
who served their country.
So take that time, it's not selfindulgent, to look inside before
you look outside and really askyourself, who you are and who
you want to be and find thepeople that are going to help
(45:59):
you. There's so many resourcesout there, maybe too many. But
you're a great resource. I'm agreat resource. I encourage
anybody to reach out. I'm veryfindable on social media, or my
website, you can always find away to reach me and let us help
you. Because this this journey,we're all on this together, and
we're stronger together. And Ihave more fun that way, too. So
KP (46:21):
you can't get more authentic than that, Lida, and
for now that you mentioned itbeing findable on social media,
I'll make sure I put it down inthe show notes. Would you mind
talking to the folks out thereon how they can connect with
you? If you'd like to follow upwith any questions or maybe
follow you on any of yourplatforms?
Lida Citroen (46:42):
Sure. So my website lida360.com is where all
the information about who I am,is I have a YouTube channel with
a ton of videos completely easyto download. I'm pretty active
on LinkedIn. So I am a LinkedInlearning instructor. I have
eight courses that I teachdifferent areas of reputation
(47:05):
management and branding andmilitary transition on LinkedIn.
definitely connect with me onLinkedIn, send me a message.
Instagram, Twitter, I'm on. I'mon all of them. It's kind of my
personality. So I love socialmedia. Yeah.
KP (47:21):
Yeah, I'm on all of them as well, some more predominant than
others. But yeah, I have seenyou a lot on LinkedIn. And
you've been doing great as faras the the courses and, and
everything. And I'll make sure Ialso put your books down there
in the show notes as well. So ifyou're watching this on YouTube,
scroll down to the description.
You'll find all of leadersinformation on how to connect,
(47:43):
if you're listening to this on apodcast, go down to the bottom
of the podcast here and in theshow notes. You'll see how you
can connect with Lita as well.
And Lita, you know, going backto what you mentioned earlier,
as far as allies, you are one ofthe first interviews that I had.
You're a TEDx speaker. Yeah.
Like I mentioned, your, yourTitan in the industry.
(48:04):
And that was, I remember back inthe day, when I interviewed for
the first time, I was like,really nervous. And really like,
Oh, this is this is a big deal.
Like I've got leadership dronecoming on. So I want to thank
you for being part of myjourney. And I want to thank you
for being a great friend and agreat connection for the morning
formation podcast and myself. Icouldn't do it with without
(48:25):
folks like you being in mycorner and being my ally. So
thank you for that. I reallyappreciate it.
Lida Citroen (48:32):
Well, the feeling is mutual. Absolutely. I feel
like I get as much from ourprofessional relationship as
hopefully I give. So that'swonderful to hear.
KP (48:42):
Most definitely. And for everyone else out there
listening, make sure you connectwith Lida, make sure you check
out her books as well. I waslooking at my bookshelf over
here, because I didn't thinkabout it. But I have your books
over here. I should have broughthim in as little visuals. But I
completely forgot about.
Lida Citroen (48:58):
I didn't even worry.
KP (49:00):
There they are. There they are. If you guys want to see
what they look like, if you'rewatching this on YouTube,
they're right behind her.
There's the orange covered. Andthen there's the purple or
bluish color cover as well, aswell as the two with the two top
ones Lida.
Lida Citroen (49:13):
Your next mission is the white cover with the red,
white and blue and thenreputation 360, which we
released again this year. It wasthe first book I ever wrote in
2011. And I rewrote it andpublished it again this year. So
that one skews much more to ayounger audience and then
control the narrative which isright here is my pride and joy
(49:33):
because it's everything I knowabout corporate and executive
branding for individuals. Yeah.
KP (49:39):
I have the two bottom ones off the checkout the the the two
top ones as well. But, Lida,thank you for giving us your
time today. I really appreciateit. And for everyone else out
there listening to the moreinformation I want to thank you
for giving us your time as well.
I hope you enjoyed theconversation that Lida and I had
today. And as always, I want youto stay tuned, stay focused, and
stay motivated. WarriorsFallout.
This episode is powered by ACT NOW Education, go to
(00:03):
www.actnoweducation.com for freecomprehensive educational
resources and opportunities foractive duty, veterans, military
spouses, and children.
Lida Citroen (00:16):
And the team did something at halftime that
changed my life. They broughtsome Fort Carson soldiers out to
talk about military transition,that everything they were
saying, it was like in thiscrowd of 1000s, they were just
talking to me. And it was one ofthose moments, I could actually
say I felt called to dosomething.
KP (00:45):
Warriors fall in, it's time for formation. So today's guest
truly doesn't need anintroduction. But I'm gonna give
you one anyways, because she hasa very extensive career, helping
out the military community. Andso far, in her own personal
career, she's been an executivebranch strategist. She's a very
well renowned consultant,executive coach, keynote
speaker, and she's an author.
She has been featured in manypublications and presentations
(01:08):
to include Forbes, entrepreneur,Bloomberg, MSNBC, Google.
And she's also served as a TEDxspeaker. She's served as a
veteran at mentor has servedmany of hours helping folks
within our military community.
And I'm very fortunate to haveher again today with us on the
morning formation. So I want towelcome Lisa Sutro into the
(01:30):
morning formation podcast today.
Thank you for giving us yourtime. Of course. Thank you for
welcoming me back. Thank you,Lita. It's truly an honor to
have interviewed you early on inmy podcasting career. And also,
it's been a true honor to haveyou in my network as well. And
I've reached out to you severaltimes for some help. And you've
(01:51):
you've always came through withsome of the best advice and some
of the best connections as well.
You've connected me with somefolks out there like Cesar who,
who's an expert himself. And sothank you for that. I really
appreciate it.
Lida Citroen (02:07):
Of course, well, it's always wonderful when you
can connect good people to goodpeople, because something
magical will happen.
KP (02:15):
Indeed, very much so. And when we talked last time, we
were you know, at the time wewere going through a pandemic.
And since then, a lot haschanged, things have opened up,
people have gone back to work.
And so it's a pretty dynamictime. So coming out of the
pandemic. So far, what have youseen as far as the community
coming together and making ithappen on the career transition?
(02:38):
Or even the Online Reputationside of it?
Lida Citroen (02:42):
Well, great question. I mean, I think during
the pandemic, I know a lot of mycoaching and mentoring calls
with either active duty servicemembers or veterans who have
recently left the military. I'vehad a panic tone to them, right?
This has got to be a terribletime to find a job, maybe I
should go back in RAM list reup.
(03:04):
And honestly, the timingcouldn't have been better for
somebody to come out of themilitary. Because if you think
of, you know, one of thegreatest strengths that we have
in someone who has, has servedin the United States Armed
Forces, is the skills ofresiliency and adaptability and
dealing well under pressure, youknow, working in high stress
(03:25):
complex environments. And that'swhat we were facing during the
pandemic.
So my advice was always this isthe perfect time to be a veteran
looking for work, because themarket needs you. You know,
civilians like myself, wererunning around going, what is
this? This isn't what we studiedin business school, this isn't
what we're used to overcomingobstacles and adapting to change
(03:47):
is not our DNA, like it issomebody who has served. So the
timing was really good. But nowthat we're on the other side, I
think the culture has stillmaybe not caught up. If you
think about the militaryculture, in the sense that
there's still a lot of unknowns.
What is remote work?
What does a hybrid workenvironment mean? You know, for
(04:10):
a lot of men and women comingout of uniform today, they're
looking for an environment thatresembles something they may
have had in the military.
And a lot of work environmentshave changed drastically. So not
only do they have to findsomething that interests them,
that supports their lifestylesand their, you know, in their
preferred and non preferredgoals, but it also has to fit
(04:32):
there workstyle in a differentway. And that kind of turned a
lot of things on its end. Sothere's there's still a lot of
flux and a lot of uncertainty, Ithink for those coming out of
uniform today. But I would stillsay that the timing is great.
Our country's not, you know,we're not riding high yet. And
(04:52):
we're back to work but thiscultural shift of uncertainty
and and complexity and and allof that That unstable feeling,
still is a value add forveterans in this market.
KP (05:07):
Yeah, that's actually a really good point. And over the
years, I have seen people resigna career or what they thought
was going to be the career,whether it be in the military or
a civilian position that theyhad. And over the years, the
folks that I have witnessed whohave believed in themselves and
(05:27):
their abilities and what theycan and can't do and what they
can achieve. I seen them overthe years, make it, not just
make it but kill it.
As far as what their goals are,what would you say to someone
out there, who is looking atpossibly a career change, or
whether that be getting out ofthe military, or maybe they're a
(05:48):
veteran themselves, or militaryspouse who's looking at a career
change, but they're sort ofafraid of taking that dip and
believing in themselves?
Lida Citroen (05:56):
Well, we call that a pivot, right. So when somebody
goes from one career, or onefocus, or one area of
concentration to somethingreally different, a doctor who
becomes a public speaker, ateacher who goes with goes to
law school and starts a newcareer, somebody coming out of
the military, you know, goinginto being an investment banker,
(06:17):
those are career pivots, and acouple things that you
mentioned.
First, just because you can dosomething, doesn't mean you
should, just because you knowhow to, you know, work on a on
on a kilo, or you know how tooperate up, you know, a heavy
piece of equipment doesn't meanthat's what you want to do after
(06:38):
you come out of uniform. Andsimilarly, just because you want
to do something doesn'tnecessarily mean you should,
right, you might want to dosomething that to get the skills
and the certifications andqualifications would put you
1015 years out, and you don'thave that kind of runway in
terms of, you know, resources.
So it's really a matter ofbalancing reality, in your
(06:59):
dreams, there's room for both.
But sometimes we have to thinkabout that a little bit
differently.
But to make a pivot, to turnyour ship in a new direction, is
a fabulous experience. I mean, Iwent from 20 years in corporate,
to starting my own company. I'dnever started a company before,
(07:20):
I knew a lot about business. ButI'd never started a company.
I've worked with many clientswho wake up one morning and say,
what I'm doing just doesn't doit for me anymore. You know, I
make good money, and I get onthe cover of magazines.
But it's not it's that my heartisn't in it any longer. That's
typically when somebody says I'mlooking for something different.
(07:44):
And thinking about, you know,what do I need to live on what
is realistic? What is a dreamthat I can do in my part time
versus I'm going to put mycareer towards it? There's some
hard questions to ask. But thepiece most people don't think
about, and what I love to focuson, are the reputation assets.
So let's say you woke uptomorrow and decided you wanted
(08:06):
to open a catering business,right? Well, hopefully, we would
hope you know how to cook,right? If you want to a food
truck, right?
Do you do have a truck. Butthinking about the reputation
piece, you'd want to inventory,who are the people you know, who
might be able to help you get infront of investors, or help you
(08:26):
get introduced to differentculinary experts or people who
could provide help navigatingthe permitting process or
whatever, but you would look atyour network and figure out who
are the people that you know,that are valuable to know, in
this new career. And similarly,there are going to be some
people who fall out of that,right.
So if you went from being apodcaster, to running a catering
(08:48):
business, maybe some of yourpodcast guests that you stayed
in touch with aren't asimportant from a career
standpoint, going forward, you'dmake the choice to sort of move
them off to the side a littlebit and focus on the ones who
do. So reputational Lee, we haveto think about what is our
equity in this new career, you'dbe able to leverage a lot of the
(09:10):
skills you're a people person,you're outgoing, you're, you're
well known, you have arecognizable name. These are
assets that you could use to runa catering business. You see
what I'm saying? And peopledon't think about that.
They just think about, okay, I'mtired of this. I'll just
completely shift over here. AndI'll just leave everything
behind. But there's so much youwant to be able to bring with
(09:32):
you. It's just not everything.
Not every part of what you'vedone before comes across and
thinking about thatstrategically, helps you to make
a really smart decision.
KP (09:43):
Yeah, it's important to do your homework and your research
for that for that importantpivot, no doubt about it. And
some of the folks that have donethat have made those pivots
before have done just thatwhether the research was in a
business plan, or they wereinvolved in networking or
connecting with folks that couldhelp with that pivot is
extremely important. And Iwanted to talk about social
(10:03):
media. Because when you'retalking about networking, and
you're talking about connecting,and you're talking about doing a
potential pivot, how importantis it to be out there on social
media and to embrace it? And howmuch of a violation is it to not
be on professional social mediaaccounts such as LinkedIn?
Lida Citroen (10:21):
You know, I, anytime I speak on the topic of
online digital capital,reputation management and
social, I always ask, is thereanyone in the room who is not on
any social platform? Usually,there's one or two little shy
hands that go up in the back,right? And my next question is,
is that job or career specific,right, because if you're doing
(10:44):
some type of covert work, oryou're in a position where being
found is a risk, I completelyget it right, you have a certain
level of security clearance, oryour employer says, We don't
want people to know what yourface looks like and what you're
involved in, I totally get it.
That is a very small fraction ofthe population that works in
those jobs. So for most people,the reason that they would
(11:07):
sheepishly raise their hand isthey don't understand social
media, they think it's a wasteof time, because they don't
understand social media, or theydon't know how to do it. The
world we live in today, as soonas I get a name, somebody
mentions, I should know, thisguy, KP, or I should look this
person up, the first thing I'mgoing to do is either go to
(11:28):
Google, or go to LinkedIn, andI'm going to type the name in,
because I want to see what comesup.
Now, if I go to Google is sortof a, guess what shows up
because you might have a commonname. There might be somebody
else who's famous that has yoursame name, or there could be a
variety of reasons, it's not asspecific. But if I go to
LinkedIn, when I'm going to seeon LinkedIn, is exactly what you
(11:52):
want me to see. I'm going to seethe kinds of pictures you want
me to see about you, I'm goingto learn about your background,
because I'm learning what you'vetold me. Nothing goes on to
LinkedIn, unless you put itthere.
So if you think about the levelof control that you have, it's
unbelievable. It is a hugesearch engine. So you know,
(12:15):
thinking about it, like a littlemicro website, you're putting
information out there, it givesyou the prompts, right? Describe
your experience, tell us aboutyou? What volunteer activities
are you involved in, who arepeople that can vouch for you,
but you're populating theinformation, nothing goes on
LinkedIn, that you haven'tapproved, even a recommendation
(12:36):
doesn't get posted before youapprove it.
So it's a huge missedopportunity to not be found
there. And again, there can be asmall percentage of people who
do it for strategic careerreasons that I mentioned before,
but for most people,understanding the level of
control that you have, and theopportunity to put information
(12:57):
out there to start aconversation. It's amazing. And
it's valuable, I love whensomebody starts a brand new
conversation with me and says,So I see that you grew up in
this area, or I see that youwent to the school, or I
understand that you write forthis publication, because I know
where they got it. They didn'tget that level of detail on my
(13:18):
website, they got that onLinkedIn, and I put it there. So
they would have a conversationstarter.
Maybe we grew up in the samearea, maybe we know some of the
same people. Maybe we'repassionate about the same
topics. That's why I put theinformation on LinkedIn. So you
know, is it a safe place? Yeah,it's a heck of a lot safer than
(13:38):
Twitter, or Instagram, TikTok,any of the ones that are more
casual and relaxed. Because alot can happen when people get
casual and relaxed. LinkedIn ismore buttoned up, it's more
professional. So there's anelement of professional decorum
that happens on LinkedIn, whichmakes it a safer place, if
somebody's going to venture ontosocial media, for them to become
(14:00):
active.
KP (14:02):
Yeah, it's interesting that you say that there is a huge
difference between Instagram,LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter,
because I have tried my content.
I've done like one content, oneshort video. And I'll post that
on multiple platforms. And Inoticed that LinkedIn doesn't
necessarily embrace the type ofcontent that you put on
(14:24):
Instagram, for example, sototally got to be real careful.
Totally different.
Lida Citroen (14:30):
And you never should. I mean, whenever
somebody tells me, they justrepurpose the same thing on all
platforms. That's not the point.
Because your Instagram followersare looking for a very different
experience. Facebook is acompletely different
environment. LinkedIn shouldhave something professional. So
if you're across purposing,without modification, you're
missing the whole point. It'snot about reach. It's about
(14:51):
engagement.
It's about connection, andhaving specific goals. In fact,
I wrote an article today abouthaving some specific strategies
for online positioning. Right?
What is what is your goal? Ifyou're a job seeker, it's
probably to attract recruitersand hiring managers in the
companies you want to work for.
(15:13):
If you're building yourvisibility and reputation, it's
brand building, but have a goalfor while you're on social
media, understand who youraudience is, Who are you trying
to get the attention of? Andthen where do those people hang
out. Because if you're trying tofind a job, and you're spending
all your time on Instagram, mostrecruiters and hiring managers
(15:33):
are not looking for candidateson Instagram. They are looking
for them on LinkedIn. So thinkabout it logically, it's a lot
of time to spend on social mediaand not to have any type of
strategy or objectives.
KP (15:49):
Yeah, and I did a real on that not too long ago on
Instagram, where I was talkingabout wasting my time just
scrolling on tick tock, andthen, you know, an hour later,
you know, looking back and beinglike, what did i What did I
accomplish in the last hour,nothing. So you want to be you
want to be directional, and youwant to be intentful when it
comes to some of the things thatyou do online, and purposeful,
(16:11):
which I think is the underlineof exactly what you just said,
being purposeful in everythingyou do.
And and for those folks outthere listening who refuse to go
online, refuse to create asocial platform, especially on
like things like LinkedIn. Thinkback to when the internet was
first created. Some people outthere, a lot of people out there
thought that the internet was afad, and it was gonna go away.
(16:32):
All right, the social media,it's not gonna, it's not going
away. It's getting bigger. Allright, and it's gonna change.
So you might as well embrace it,I had a conversation with
someone today, it was a realestate agent. And he was
interested in growing hisInstagram and I looked at his
Instagram account, and it had awhole bunch of generic still
(16:54):
pictures on it. And I was tryingto explain to him the
differences between reels,stories versus posts. And it was
I could tell that I wasn't quitegetting through to him, and it
was going to be a steep learningcurve.
And, you know, there's no bettertime to start than now if you
don't know how to use the socialmedia platforms out there. But
Lida, you know, before I jumpinto talking about the military
(17:15):
specific questions, for those ofyou for those of you out there
who are just now listening toLida for the very first time,
I'd like for you later to talkabout why you sort of positioned
yourself to help out ourmilitary veterans, because I
know you for a number of years,you were helping out large
(17:36):
corporations, large companies,but take us back to that time
where you had that, that thatsituation, I think it was at a
Denver Broncos game, right?
Lida Citroen (17:46):
Yes, it was November 9 2009. You know, to
set it up. When I started mycompany in 2008, right in the
middle of the worst economy wehad seen to date at that point.
I knew that I wanted to carveout a place to get back. I
didn't know what that was goingto look like. I always served on
boards of directors when I hadbeen in corporate. But I didn't
(18:09):
know what what giving back as myown company was going to look
like. So I just kind of createdspace for that and with kept my
eyes open.
And I know that's why onNovember 9 2009, when I got
invited to a Denver Broncosfootball game, it was not a
pretty game, we got completelyobliterated. But it happened to
be the week of Veterans Day. Andthe team did something at
(18:33):
halftime that changed my life.
They brought some Fort Carsonsoldiers out to talk about
military transition. Tipnormally I don't pay attention
at halftime unless it's a SuperBowl, right. But I was fixated
to what they were talking about.
And they talked about how, youknow, how do you sell yourself
to a civilian employer when allyou've known as the military
(18:54):
culture and language andcommunity?
How do you figure out what comesnext, when you've been in this
very prescriptive andstandardized culture, and
everything they were saying? Itwas like in this crowd of 1000s,
they were just talking to me.
And it was one of those moments,I can actually say I felt called
to do something. And I looked atmy husband in the moment and I
(19:16):
said, Oh my gosh, I could do Icould help here. This is what I
do. What they're talking aboutis positioning and reputation
management and personalbranding.
And my husband looked at me andhe's like, Honey, I mean, what
do you know about the military?
I mean, no offense, but I didn'tknow anyone in the military. I
didn't have any friends orfamily members who had served.
So he had a little bit of apoint. But I this was something
(19:39):
I was leaning into. My motherwas raised in communist Hungary
both of my parents wereimmigrants to this country. But
communist Hungary was a verydifferent environment when my
mother was raised. And when shegot to this country, and and saw
what freedom was, she raised mybrother and I with the message
that If you ever get a chance tosay thank you, Freedom doesn't
(20:01):
come for free, someone paid aprice. She says, you say thank
you.
And that was always in the backof my mind. So that combined
with this message I heard, I wasfixed on it. It was not an easy
path. And I'm certainly notcomplaining because yours was
much, much harder than mine. Butthere's a lot of resistance to
(20:23):
civilians who just want to help.
And I knocked on a lot of doors,trying to just offer my programs
offer my coaching my training,the work that I do, and get paid
by corporations could not givethis to veterans.
And a lot of people said, yeah,what's in it for you? And it's
legitimate, right? There arepeople who take advantage of the
(20:45):
military space. But once thatdoor did get opened for me, and
I started teaching theseprograms, and coaching and
mentoring and writing books, andwriting articles, and speaking
all over the country and payingmy own way to go, I realized
this is this isn't justsomething I can do. It's
something I have to do. And 12years later, I'm grateful that I
(21:07):
get to still do it.
KP (21:09):
The military community is not an easy community break into
pretty even if you're even ifyou're a veteran yourself,
because when when you're inservice, most military bases
will have the used car lot. Thetattoo parlors everything you
can imagine just off base,because everybody knows how much
(21:31):
you make based off of what's onyour collar.
So it's like, well, what's in itfor you. So over the years,
Lita, you've definitelyestablished yourself as an
authentic supporter of ourcommunity. And that has been
shown through the countlesshours that you've volunteered
through vet Irati. And I knowyou have connections with VT,
why act now education, so manytremendous nonprofit
(21:54):
organizations out there who arealso interested in helping our
community and you have ourutmost respect. And you have a
solid reputation within ourcommunity. That's why have you
on the podcast today? So as faras what you've seen recently,
with experiences between femaleveterans and male veterans who
are transitioning out, can youtalk about that a little bit?
Lida Citroen (22:18):
Sure. And, you know, honestly, I never knew
that there would be really thatmuch of a difference. Again, I'm
civilian, my only context forunderstanding the military when
when I first started doingtrainings and going to military
installations, is television andmovies, right. That's what I
thought the military was coming.
You don't I guess, all walkaround like Tom Cruise and Top
(22:39):
Gun, I don't know. But I alsothought that men and women
served alongside in everysituation. And I remember years
ago, speaking in, I think it wasprobably a group of around 50 to
100. They were active dutyservice members, getting ready
to exit the military. And I wastalking and doing my program and
(23:00):
somebody said, maam asked aquestion to the audience. And I
was like, What's the question?
He said, ask how many of theindividual that in this room
have worked alongside women? Andin that moment, is he asked that
I realized the room was men. Itnever occurred to me, it was
only men. So I asked thequestion, and not a lot of hands
went up.
(23:22):
And that was really interesting.
Because, again, my perspective,what I knew from television and
movies was it's everybody'sworking alongside everybody. And
I realized that's not, that'snot necessarily the case, which
means that the men coming intothe workforce, who might
suddenly you know, have, maybethey have 20 years of experience
from the military, and nowthey're reporting to a 25 year
old manager, female, that'sdifferent, that's going to be
(23:46):
really different to take orders,right? That dynamic is
different. But female veterans,there's a whole situation that
surrounds them, we see the thenumbers of self identification
much lower for female veteransthan for their male
counterparts.
A lot of female veterans don'tidentify because of some of the
(24:08):
stigma or unconscious bias thatcivilians bring. Many of my, my
female veteran friends have saidvery often they'll walk out to
their car in the parking lot,and it'll say, Air Force veteran
has a bumper sticker. And peoplewill look at her husband and
say, you know, thank you foryour service. And he's like,
Yeah, I didn't serve she did.
Very common, right. So there'snot a lot of self
(24:31):
identification, which is notgood. We need women to self
identify if they feel like theywant to do that.
The biases and the stereotypesand the preconceived ideas
around what a female veteran ishave to change and shift.
Because the contribution thatthese women that have been in
that environment, been in thatculture and learn those skills
(24:52):
and shaped that character is soneeded, whether it's
entrepreneurship education or inthe in the world workforce, it
is so needed and it's not aseasy to get as you might think.
KP (25:07):
Yeah, that's actually fascinating you, you've done a
lot of presentations and thingslike that all across the United
States. And have you had achance to go into any bases
overseas and have these type ofpresentations?
Lida Citroen (25:20):
I would love to. I haven't I haven't I've had, I've
had service members send mepictures of them holding my
book, and Afghanistan or, youknow, or different bases. Not
Afghanistan today. But backthen. And no, I haven't had that
opportunity. But boy, I'd be onboard for that. Because it is it
(25:42):
is really cool. What's alsointeresting about the overseas
piece is a lot of othercountries have reached out to
me, I have done some consulting,very small consulting with
Canadian Air Force, the UK RoyalAir Force out of the UK,
Australia, India, like they'reall kind of looking at what the
(26:02):
Americans are doing and saying,you know, how can we take care
of our returning veterans andfind opportunities to bring them
into the fold? The way the US isdoing? So that's a really good
time.
KP (26:17):
Yeah, no doubt. I mean, you've got literally global
outreach leader. And that's,that's absolutely fascinating.
And just going back and touchingon the the female versus male
veterans, I've over the span ofthe last year and a half spoke
to she vets it out via and anumber of other influencers out
there, who were in thatsituation where they served, but
(26:41):
their husbands or spouses didn'tserve. And so they've talked
about that over the years, wheretheir husbands get thanked
further for their service. Andit's like, well, why did so I
started? Well, that's a very,
Lida Citroen (26:54):
you know, um, I did a program this summer with
Purdue University, they have aconcentrated effort to focus on
women, veterans, femaleveterans, and got to hear just
some amazing sort of behind thescenes reality. And one of the
things I think that that womenstruggle with coming out of the
(27:14):
military is still wanting to befeminine, still wanting to be a
female, rather than having to bea man now going into a, you
know, an environment.
And how do you navigate allthat? And can you wear makeup?
Yes, you can wear makeup? Youknow, can you wear high heels?
Yes, you can wear high heels,but you don't have to, like,
(27:35):
what are the rules? And what haschanged? And and how does that
dynamic work outside of themilitary where everything is
spelled out so clearly, andthere's nothing spelled out,
nothing is uniform, nothing isconsistent across the civilian
sector. So I think that wasreally an interesting revelation
that, you know, we just stillwant to be who we are. And
(27:58):
whatever that looks like, right?
Whatever population you alignwith. Being true to yourself
being authentic. Is, is reallythe name of the game. And that
isn't something the militarytalks about, which that makes
sense. That's not the military'sjob.
KP (28:14):
Yeah, no, most definitely.
And I, you know, the, what didyou mention that was it was a
Purdue
Lida Citroen (28:21):
University does a focus fellowship. And they
brought me out to speak. Andthis was, I mean, Marina was
there who you and I both know,and just an amazing group of
female veterans who werepursuing their next career
through the through the school.
Yeah.
KP (28:39):
Awesome. Well, thank you for stepping up and being part
of that conversation, becauseyou definitely bring a lot of
value to that as well. You know,you you've heard countless
stories, just being a mentorthrough Veterati. And I know
that you've been through anumber of different
presentations, whether it be atthe Air Force Academy, or a lot
(29:01):
of bases that you've been totalking to our veterans, and our
service members as well. And Iknow that you've been heavily
involved with entrepreneurshipcoaching for our veterans. So
would you mind talking a littlebit about that?
Lida Citroen (29:14):
Oh, the brave few that are willing to become an
entrepreneur. You know, I it'san interesting path, right?
Because there's a lot ofdifferent reasons somebody
decides to pursue self own-,self, business ownership, self
employment. And for some, it's,you know, coming out of the
military, I don't want to, Idon't want to report to anyone,
(29:36):
I don't want to be beholden tothe man, whatever it is.
For others. It's an idea they'vehad that they they want to
pursue and find their dream. Andfor others, it might be a
franchise opportunity and theyjust want the the flexibility,
the freedom of a businessownership, but they don't want
to come up with something theirown. There's a lot of different
(29:57):
reasons that people pursueentrepreneurship. what's so cool
is that the statistics show howwell suited veterans are to be
entrepreneurs. It's some of thethings we talked about earlier,
you know, being comfortable withchange, being adaptable, and
flexible and resilient,tenacious and disciplined. All
(30:18):
of those skills, which if youhave those skills, and you're an
entrepreneur, like you'regolden, right, because most
entrepreneurs don't have thatthey just want free income or
want the freedom to do whateverthey want.
So veterans are very well set upfor it. But entrepreneurship is
it's not a linear path. Idescribe it, I had a better
(30:40):
audit coaching call today. And Idescribed it to this, this woman
Army soldier, I said, it's likefree falling, you're constantly
free falling, and you got to beokay with that. And I wasn't a
risk taker. So I never wanted tobe an entrepreneur, it was never
my dream, I wasn't this littlegirl who, you know, wanted to
(31:00):
own her own company. Because Iliked the paycheck every two
weeks, I liked PTO and an officethat had my name on it, you
know. But it became the mostobvious thing when it became the
most obvious thing. So I thinkyou're either kind of cut out
for it, or you learn to be cutout for it.
Because if you're not a risktaker, you got to be okay with
(31:21):
that idea of uncertainty, thefree falling, right, I have
people who are dependent on me,I have, you know, team members,
and if I don't do my job, andbring in work and get the work
done, they don't feed theirfamilies. So there's all these
layers of complexity, you haveto have a viable business idea.
(31:42):
You have to have runway in termsof resources, and have really
good allies in your corner, whoyou can call upon for advice,
and legal counsel, insurance,accounting, all these all these
unpleasant things that we haveto deal with as business owners.
But again, that's where veteransare set up better than civilians
(32:05):
for it. Where the veteran maynot be as as versed is things
like networking, and therelationship building part of
entrepreneurship, because mostof us don't build our business
in a silo, right? We need otherpeople, we need those resources,
we need referrals we need, youknow, online connections, and
get people to talk about ourproduct or service or company.
(32:28):
So having a really good network,having a really good narrative,
the way that you talk aboutyourself, right? I don't lead
with personal branding, when I'mmeeting somebody for the first
time because most people don'tuse that language. So I talk
about, you know, being clearabout who you are and what you
can offer, and how yourreputation advances your career,
(32:48):
as opposed to hold you back.
That stuff people understand,then I introduced the fact that
I have a business. So having areally good elevator pitch and
narrative is important. Andbeing confident and who you are
and what you can offer. Becausethere's a lot of haters out
there, and there's a lot ofpeople who are, you know, gonna
watch and, and take whatever youleave on the table. So you've
(33:09):
got to be pretty confident andbe able to sell yourself. And
some of those are traits thatveterans have to learn, as
opposed to just inherently bringinto entrepreneurship.
KP (33:21):
Yeah, that is very well, sadly to and, you know, two of
the things that I really haveover the last year have kind of
come to realize is that a lot ofveterans tend to be very
stubborn. And I don't know ifyou have experienced this or
not, but when it comes tonetworking, connecting, asking
for help, or asking forassistance, I know, I was that
(33:45):
way, when I transitioned out, Ithought I got this, I'm going to
get my my postgraduate degree.
And then I'm going to get out ofthe military, I know how to
write a resume. I don't need anyI don't need taps, I don't need
none of this stuff. And then Iended up having one position out
of like four that was available,I had one position to choose
(34:06):
from, and I had to choose thator go into unemployment, which I
couldn't even fathom being acaptain and 0-3 going to
unemployment. So I picked it.
And I was part of this statisticthat, you know, ended up leaving
that job after my first year. Sohave you experienced that as
well when it comes to theveteran community and the
overall career transition?
Lida Citroen (34:25):
Well, I mean, you hit on on an easy one to start
off with and that is that askingfor help is not something that
is necessarily encouraged asmuch in the military as it is in
the civilian space. We tellveterans you know, when you when
you work with us, like askingfor help is a sign of strength.
You're not seen as less than orvulnerable or weak. If you don't
(34:48):
know how to do something youhave no experience with because
the civilian wouldn't hesitateto find a resource, find some
training or ask for that.
That is Little bit of a of ahesitancy when you have a
veteran employee. I think theother thing and maybe this ties
back to what you were saying, isthe idea of self promotion.
(35:10):
Right? I mean, I think you canpretty much assume this far into
the conversation, I have notrouble talking about myself. I
have no trouble as a civilianlisting off all my
accomplishments and accoladesand every success I've ever had.
But the veteran has trouble withthat. A veteran has trouble
saying I speaking in firstperson taking credit because
(35:32):
service before self, themilitary value of service before
self is that it's not about you,it's about those who serve
alongside and saying I orimplying that you're taking
credit, feels like betrayal tothose who served alongside and I
completely understand that. Ithink it is one of the most
admirable traits the militaryteaches.
(35:54):
But it's tough when somebodycomes out of that environment,
and then tries to compete foropportunities in a culture where
we have no trouble talking aboutourselves, you know, and we can
even do it so confidently. Itdoesn't even sound like
bragging. How do you move fromwe to I, in a way that's
(36:15):
authentic and valuable. And thatkind of goes back to what we
were talking about earlier thatthis isn't about being somebody
or you're not or, you know,trying to reinvent yourself,
it's about reaching in andfinding those best pieces of
you, and bringing those forward.
And that's something thatsomebody who has worn our
nation's cloth has not beenfocused on, you know, they've
been focused on serving thenation and protecting us and
(36:37):
allowing me to sleep at nightnot worried about my freedom
tomorrow.
But if you can think about, youknow, who you are, and what
matters to you, and what drivesyou and what you're passionate
about, and what your dreams are,what do you hope to do, that's
meaningful when you come out ofuniform, then gradually, you can
(36:59):
get more comfortable talkingabout what you can contribute
and what you can offer and whereyou can add value, because it
still feels like serving amission. And the thing we know
about veterans is that desire toserve, which is why you raised
your hand in the first place.
Nobody, I mean, we don't have adraft in this country. So there,
there's no obligation to jointhe military. Everybody
(37:20):
volunteered. You know, in recentyears, that desire to serve does
not stop when you take theuniform off. So finding ways to
channel that finding ways tomentor and be a partner and a
collaborator with differentcommunities is really where we
see veterans thrive. Andmilitary spouses as well. A lot
of the traits that I'm using forveterans map, dreamily close for
(37:44):
military spouses that just don'twear uniforms and get recognized
the same way.
KP (37:50):
100% 100% the the military spouses go through a lot of the
same obstacles, all the sameobstacles, not a lot, all the
same obstacles that a servicemember goes through when it
comes to having to get stationedsomewhere that they're
unfamiliar with gettingstationed with having to reset
all those relationships all overagain. And they're truly the
(38:11):
pillars that hold up the entireservice member.
So yeah, so when we're talkingabout service members, you know,
we're talking universally aboutmilitary spouses as well. And,
you know, I'm talking aboutcareer transition, and
everything. And Lita focusesspecifically, you know, on the
personal brand and onlinereputation, and really has a lot
(38:34):
of great information,fascinating information about
our community because she spentso much time literally one on
one conversations, helping ourveteran community out, Lita over
the horizon. Yeah, what's instore for you? What's in store
for you? And would you mindtalking about some of the
publications that you've doneand who they would be geared
towards?
Lida Citroen (38:55):
You know, to answer what's coming up back up
just a little bit. So when Ifirst when I wrote my first
book, for the military, I'vewritten three in the military
community. My first book in thatin that sector is your next
mission, write a personalbranding guide for the military
to civilian transition, thatbook came out. And yes, it was
very widely received by activeduty and prior military and
(39:19):
military spouses. Were buying itleaving it on the nightstand for
their partner to read. But alarge percentage of books were
bought up by employers.
And that was fascinating to me,because I didn't understand why
a civilian at a company would bebuying a book written for
veterans. But they, in severalof them told me after I
(39:39):
inquired, they said, you're kindof a unicorn here. You're a
civilian who figured out thisworkforce that we can't figure
out. So they bought the bookthinking it would be a great
insight into what they're doing.
So then I wrote a book for vetsor for employers, which is more
of a guidebook about terminologyand lingo and acronyms and Best
Practices. If you'reinterviewing, hiring and
(40:01):
onboarding veterans, that bookcame out in 20 2017. And it's a,
it's a quick and practicalguide. I mean, that's literally
what it is. Throw it in abriefcase, go to a job fair, you
know what to ask and what not toask.
A few years later, I wrotesuccess after service, which is
really about finding your nextcareer after the military. So
(40:24):
unlike your next mission, it'sless on the personal branding,
and much more on the blockingand tackling. What do you do if
you're 24 months out? You justturned your papers in? You know,
your bet you've signed up fortamp, but you don't know what
you're supposed to do for 24months? What do you do? If
you've got 60 days? What do youdo? If it's tomorrow? And you
haven't done anything? Right?
How do you find a job? How doyou choose a job, it's also the
(40:46):
only book success after service,I think is the only book that
talks about the path to studentveteran ship. Right, so becoming
a student veteran.
And it also includes a sectionon entrepreneurship, because we
know that those are threeemployment, entrepreneurship,
and education are three pathsthat veterans take. And that
(41:07):
book is doing really well as ablocking and tackling. But my
work with employers is reallywhere I'm really excited some
very, very large companies,household names, I've been able
to work with to either stand up,amplify, or really kind of build
out their veteran recruitingprocess their in house training
(41:29):
for managers and employees whowork alongside veterans, you
know, it falls under theDiversity Equity and Inclusion
umbrella, which is reallyimportant right now. So just
having a lot of wonderfulconversations with some amazing
employers around the world,talking about the veteran
workforce, and how to reallycapture and commit to those,
(41:51):
those team members. That's whatI look forward to doing more of.
KP (41:55):
Yeah, it's absolutely fascinating that you bring that
up as far as working with theemployers, because I recently
had an interview with Michaelpet, who is the liaison for
Uber. And he brought up thewhole point of us being just
over 20 years from September 11.
And that's really important,because that was the kickoff of
VA Afghanistan, and then shortlythereafter, the Iraq War. So you
(42:17):
have a lot of veterans thatjoined out of Patriot patriotism
during that time, and are nowgetting ready to retire. So
places, certain companies likeUber are looking to build that
bridge to fill that gap ofmeeting those military members
halfway, when it comes tobringing them on to their
(42:39):
workforce. And I thought thatwas fascinating that you just
mentioned that.
Lida Citroen (42:43):
Yeah, I am also kind of hung up on the thing you
mentioned earlier about speakingat international bases. So I'm
kind of thinking I might put aput it in and tension out to the
universe for that, because thatsounds really fun, too. But you
know, this, this isn't abusiness thing for me. I mean,
I, I do. Employers do pay me forservices in that space. But you
(43:04):
know, I mean, I do this becauseit's a way to genuinely say
thank you for everything that Ihave, because of people like
you. And it is I get rewarded10, tenfold, for every hour, you
know, or books that I write. Andit's just it's it's a truly an
honor to be able to have thecredibility that you talked
(43:24):
about and be able to give backin this way. And I think other
civilians could look for equallyas rewarding opportunities if
they just dug a little bit deep.
KP (43:34):
Yeah, no, it's an absolute honor to be speaking as someone
because even with me in thispodcast, I'm not getting paid to
do the podcast, but I put a lotof hours into it as well. But
it's an honor to be speaking tosomeone, a titan like yourself,
Hart, who is actually making bigwaves in our community. So thank
you for giving, giving us youryour time today. But I also
(43:55):
wanted to give you anopportunity to mention any
pieces of advice or any anythingthat you want to mention that we
didn't talk about in the podcastthat you want to throw in here
towards the end of the podcastor the end of the episode today.
Lida Citroen (44:10):
You know, a couple of things come to mind. I mean,
I think the the first one Ibring up a lot is transition
isn't an event. Transitioningout of the military is not a day
or a week of ceremonies anddinners and cocktail parties.
It's a process. And for somepeople, that process takes
years. For some it is a coupleof months, but one person's
(44:31):
experience is not exactly likethe next person and own and
appreciate and honor yourexperience for what it is.
You've got, you know, experiencein the past that got you to this
point.
What comes next is how it'ssupposed to be for you. You
can't rush it, you can't try toyou know, shape it any way that
it's not supposed to be. So justunderstand when people talk
(44:54):
about transition. They oftenthink that once you've done the
transition, you're somehow doneOkay, well, it can be years
before you're fullytransitioned. And I think the
other thing is, and this is whatI really try and teach when I
want to do the personal brandingworkshops is, you know, I get to
enjoy a life of authenticity,and I know who I am. And I'm
(45:16):
clear about my values and how Iwant to show up in this world.
And the legacy that I'm workingtowards. Somebody in the
military doesn't think aboutthat on a daily basis, right?
You're thinking about muchdifferent things. But then when
you come out of uniform, that'skind of what we expect you to
bring into the conversation.
And, and it might feel selfcentered, it might feel self
focused, and it kind of is,right, we're talking about you.
(45:38):
But who else deserves theopportunity to live a life of
meaning and purpose andfulfillment better than somebody
who served their country.
So take that time, it's not selfindulgent, to look inside before
you look outside and really askyourself, who you are and who
you want to be and find thepeople that are going to help
(45:59):
you. There's so many resourcesout there, maybe too many. But
you're a great resource. I'm agreat resource. I encourage
anybody to reach out. I'm veryfindable on social media, or my
website, you can always find away to reach me and let us help
you. Because this this journey,we're all on this together, and
we're stronger together. And Ihave more fun that way, too. So
KP (46:21):
you can't get more authentic than that, Lida, and
for now that you mentioned itbeing findable on social media,
I'll make sure I put it down inthe show notes. Would you mind
talking to the folks out thereon how they can connect with
you? If you'd like to follow upwith any questions or maybe
follow you on any of yourplatforms?
Lida Citroen (46:42):
Sure. So my website lida360.com is where all
the information about who I am,is I have a YouTube channel with
a ton of videos completely easyto download. I'm pretty active
on LinkedIn. So I am a LinkedInlearning instructor. I have
eight courses that I teachdifferent areas of reputation
(47:05):
management and branding andmilitary transition on LinkedIn.
definitely connect with me onLinkedIn, send me a message.
Instagram, Twitter, I'm on. I'mon all of them. It's kind of my
personality. So I love socialmedia. Yeah.
KP (47:21):
Yeah, I'm on all of them as well, some more predominant than
others. But yeah, I have seenyou a lot on LinkedIn. And
you've been doing great as faras the the courses and, and
everything. And I'll make sure Ialso put your books down there
in the show notes as well. So ifyou're watching this on YouTube,
scroll down to the description.
You'll find all of leadersinformation on how to connect,
(47:43):
if you're listening to this on apodcast, go down to the bottom
of the podcast here and in theshow notes. You'll see how you
can connect with Lita as well.
And Lita, you know, going backto what you mentioned earlier,
as far as allies, you are one ofthe first interviews that I had.
You're a TEDx speaker. Yeah.
Like I mentioned, your, yourTitan in the industry.
(48:04):
And that was, I remember back inthe day, when I interviewed for
the first time, I was like,really nervous. And really like,
Oh, this is this is a big deal.
Like I've got leadership dronecoming on. So I want to thank
you for being part of myjourney. And I want to thank you
for being a great friend and agreat connection for the morning
formation podcast and myself. Icouldn't do it with without
(48:25):
folks like you being in mycorner and being my ally. So
thank you for that. I reallyappreciate it.
Lida Citroen (48:32):
Well, the feeling is mutual. Absolutely. I feel
like I get as much from ourprofessional relationship as
hopefully I give. So that'swonderful to hear.
KP (48:42):
Most definitely. And for everyone else out there
listening, make sure you connectwith Lida, make sure you check
out her books as well. I waslooking at my bookshelf over
here, because I didn't thinkabout it. But I have your books
over here. I should have broughthim in as little visuals. But I
completely forgot about.
Lida Citroen (48:58):
I didn't even worry.
KP (49:00):
There they are. There they are. If you guys want to see
what they look like, if you'rewatching this on YouTube,
they're right behind her.
There's the orange covered. Andthen there's the purple or
bluish color cover as well, aswell as the two with the two top
ones Lida.
Lida Citroen (49:13):
Your next mission is the white cover with the red,
white and blue and thenreputation 360, which we
released again this year. It wasthe first book I ever wrote in
2011. And I rewrote it andpublished it again this year. So
that one skews much more to ayounger audience and then
control the narrative which isright here is my pride and joy
(49:33):
because it's everything I knowabout corporate and executive
branding for individuals. Yeah.
KP (49:39):
I have the two bottom ones off the checkout the the the two
top ones as well. But, Lida,thank you for giving us your
time today. I really appreciateit. And for everyone else out
there listening to the moreinformation I want to thank you
for giving us your time as well.
I hope you enjoyed theconversation that Lida and I had
today. And as always, I want youto stay tuned, stay focused, and
stay motivated. WarriorsFallout.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.