Veteran Founder Podcast

A Veteran of the Marine Corps, Josh Emison is another Vet from a military family. With siblings in the armed forces and a Navy Veteran for a father, Josh grew up all over the world. Virginia in the US, England, Puerto Rico…well, you get the idea. Josh new early on he wanted to have a military career, and his father's advice was, not surprisingly, go to the Naval Academy. Not really knowing what to expect, Josh applied and was accepted and met a bunch of terrific Marine officers. That directed him to the Marine Corps where he spent five years as an infantry officer. He had two non-combat deployments. First to Spain where he got to work with the Spanish military, then to Okinawa, where he trained with the Korean Marines. In Okinawa, he also got to do a lot of scuba diving, so not all work! He then went to Jordan for 13 months working at the embassy in charge of administration and logistics. Josh worked with the Jordanian military, but also got to interact with a lot of the civilians. The Jordanian culture and the people really appealed to Josh and remains one of his fond memories. The biggest takeaway from all that travel? At the basic level, all people are the same. Yes, we may dress differently and eat different foods, but we are all going through the human experience together. And if you can embody that philosophy, you can be comfortable almost anywhere. As rich as his Marine experience was, Josh was wanting to do other things besides a military career. One downside to the Marines in Josh's experience was learning. He was around a lot of smart Marines, but found the schools and the true learning was lacking and felt he would eventually be held back from his true potential. Teach For America caught Josh's attention. Interestingly enough, Josh also had a fascination with Jackie Chan Kung Fu movies, so he tied the two together: Get an assignment in China teaching so he in turn could learn Mandarin and Kung Fu, and it worked. Always an independent thinker, he decided while in China he wanted to start a business. Back in the States, he was set to go back to China when the COVID lockdown began. Scrambling for money, Josh sold his car and somehow made it back to his parent's house and asked to crash for a time. Not knowing what kind of business to start, he eventually landed as a franchise consultant, which meant if nobody bought a franchise, he did get paid. That lasted for the first nine months since few people wanted to start a franchise during lockdown, but it gave Josh a chance to read volumes of business books and study what franchises were available and what made them interesting. Qualifying franchisees made Josh realize that the prime audience was accredited investors, those with sufficient net worth. He also was learning about block chain at the time and wondering how this world-changing technology could work. So how could he help the non-accredited investor world participate in building wealth? Josh came up with the idea to used blockchain to offer fractional real estate ownership and own real estate debt. This gave high, stable returns to “regular” people, and that was the beginning of Sans Bank. For as little as $100, many people can participate in real estate investments. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Navy Veteran Sean Bonner started his military career a little later than most. At 28 years of age, he was the “old man” as he began. Growing up in the Philadelphia area, he was an athlete through high school and college. He had a friend who had joined the Marines and Sean had an interest in the military, but it was the 90s, nothing much going on and he had an opportunity to join a stock exchange, so he went to work with them. With the financial markets taking off, Sean did well and started his own business in the financial markets in 1997. During those times, trading was done person to person and Sean saw the day coming when electronic trading would replace him. As with many of our military, 911 was a big turning point for Sean. When the planes hit, Sean was married, and their first child had been born. Wanting to serve and with a background in complex industries because of his financial experience, Sean found out that the Navy offered a commission path in the Intelligence Department. A program left over from World War II; the Navy was the only branch offering this opportunity. It was a very competitive program, tailor made for our competitive man. Sean was even turned down the first time, which made him even more determined to qualify, which he did on his second try. Commissioned in August of 2003, he was then sent to Direct Commissioning Officers School. Iraq had just been invaded by the US and instead of the more “country club” training, his group was thrown right into the OCS school along with the other candidates, so the D.I. hard core routine was the program of the day. After training, Sean went to a couple of other specialist intelligence schools. Although never placed in combat, Sean did experience operations in the Reserves and was part of the group always ready to be called up. Sean served 13 years in his Reserve status before leaving. A legacy neck injury had to be nursed along and in 2016 it was time for Sean to transition out. The entrepreneurial streak plus the financial experience made Sean look at the funds-to-broker-to-client relationship and he decided he could come up with a better model. Then, as with many entrepreneurs, it dawned on him he could help Veterans just getting out of their service to begin building their financial future right away by investing and not spending that money they had coming out of the military. The huge, unmet need for solid financial advice for these new private sector citizens made Sean realize there was a big business for doing good things for our Veterans. He founded Guild in 2018 to not only help individual Veterans but also to help find investment for Veteran-founded startups as well. Venture capital was a new area for Sean, and he interviewed many VCs who cautioned him that the consumer market was very expensive to crack, but Sean knew his market of Veterans was right in front of him and incredibly accessible because of his own service. Sean has found, to his surprise, how uneducated the young Veterans are as consumers. So, the basics of saving as well of investing are very important to Guild. Sean feels that the ease of moving money around and the method of digital management has diluted the appreciation of money to the younger generation and caused them to spend it unwisely. Therefore, besides allowing users to invest and bank on their platform, Guild also offers many videos that train their clients on handling their money responsibly.

Zachary Green is living the American dream. As a boy, he had three “sparks” as he calls them. First, to be a Marine. He had to wait until he was 18 to do that because his parents didn't want him to join. Second, he wanted to be a firefighter. He did that. Third, to be an entrepreneur. He has done that one to the max, building a company that saves firefighters' lives, and now inspiring others with speaking and his book. The military dream started early. Zachary was G.I. Joe every Halloween. While his friends were out riding their bikes, he was in the woods practicing his own maneuvers. When he was finally old enough to join, Zachary directed fire control first for artillery, then mortars in the European theatre. He then applied for Officer Candidate School but when it came time for graduation, he decided he did not want to serve any longer and resigned. It was the Clinton years, lots of attrition and no deployments, so he was frustrated his combat skills were unused. Two years after leaving, 911 happened and Zachary has regretted that his talents couldn't be used to help his brother and sister warriors. He felt he absolutely had to give back and around 2002 he joined a volunteer firefighting group while still in sales and marketing for Eli Lilly. So that covers spark numbers one and two, but how did he get that far? Zachary credits the Marine Corps. As he says, you don't join the Marines, you become a Marine. It's a brotherhood, a family that one is a member of forever and it happens because everyone has to go through the crucible. The crucible, as defined by Zachary, is where you have faced challenge after challenge but come to a challenge for which you are not prepared and you must fight your way through. That is what you must face and defeat, but after that you are undefeatable. This is the crux of his book, but we are skipping ahead. Spark number three: Zachary has become a firefighter and gets lost during a fire. He eventually found his group, but the experience made him determined to invent a material that would make firefighters visible to each other and help firefighters keep their orientation under the worst conditions. He invented it and started selling to the fighters in his station. The word got out and he began selling to other locations out the back of his car (Phil Knight of Nike fame did the same thing). The first six months, Zachary had $5,000 in sales, not enough to quit his day job. After time, his fire chief sat down with Zachary and told him he was sitting on a gold mine and should make his business full time. After a heart-to-heart with his wife, Zachary went to the biggest firefighting trade show of the year. In three days, he sold over $100,000 worth of product. But how do you fill the orders? That's where the can-do Marine came out; adapt, improvise. So the family mortgaged the house, maxed out the credit cards and began shipping. However, bravado doesn't guarantee success, and the company was three days from running out of money and closing the doors at one point. This was Zachary's crucible. And his transformation was to recognize he was a founder and an idea person, not the day-to-day operations person. They hired a CEO from the outside and sales last year were $30Million. And continuing with spark number three, Zachary has shared his experience and provided inspiration to many more with his speaking engagements and now his book, “Warrior Entrepreneur”.

Charles E. Gaudett II started his entrepreneurship journey early – at age four to be exact. Never one to take on a traditional “job”, Charles was always fascinated by building and growing companies. After college he founded a company voted one of the most successful seed companies by Ernst and Young CPAs and he was just getting rolling. He continued his start-build routine until 2010 when someone offered to pay him to help them build their company and the consulting career began organically. He named the company Predictable Profits because in his mind, the basic building blocks for every business were so established that earning a profit was very predictable. The International Business Times even did a featured story on him call him the “Go to guy for 7 and 8-figure companies”. Charles sees a difference between Veteran CEOs and non-Veteran. Charles was selected to attend the US Army War College during a training session for Colonels. They wanted to have a dialog with business leaders and Charles' humble awakening was he had no doubt that any of the officers in that meeting could run his company better than he could! He decided that because of a couple of things: Military personnel were not afraid of hard work. On top of that, they were not afraid to do the hard things either, and that's a trait that separates the entrepreneur from the rest of the pack that tends to look for the “easy button” and do things by the traditional formula. The key to success, in Charles' view, is doing the stuff that most people don't want to do; it's the hard stuff that often produces the best results. The other big AHA was the analysis the Colonels would do thinking through a situation. Charles was stunned by how emotion was completely missing from the analysis so as not to cloud their judgement. He has since morphed this discipline into one of his pieces of advice: A good entrepreneur lets the data do the talking. They look at the problem and not ask how they feel, but ask “what is the data telling us?”; that is the trait of a leader. And leadership is the other trait that military Veterans bring to the business world, mainly the ability to remain calm. As an example, Charles points to the initial pandemic lockdown. When it hit, employees look to their leaders to see how they are reacting and react accordingly. When the leaders are calm, resolute and stay focused on solving the problem, the rest of the organization falls in line. Again, the discipline, the work ethic, the attitude of completing the mission is the military background that makes Veteran business founders the most successful group business people. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Retired Army Colonel Rob Campbell really preferred basketball over the military, but getting cut from the college team his freshman year – he says not having a “left hand” finally caught up with him – plus the fact he ran out of money nudged him toward the Massachusetts National Guard, which had some education financial packages. Rob's father having been a Reservist was some familiarity, so Rob decided to give it a try. In 1987 he went off to boot camp and decided he really liked what he experienced. It was the challenge and the opportunity to lead that really got Rob's interest and his excitement going. He had found a part of his life that he hadn't really explored but had always yearned for: Leadership. He jumped right in, went to ROTC, got his commission and by 1990 he was off and running. Infantry was his area of choice and the challenges he knocked down one by one made him stronger for it. Rob never intended to make the Army a career, but the process of facing and winning challenge after challenge was so interesting and stimulating he wound up with a 27-year career. And that career gave Rob his definition of being a professional. It's meeting one challenge after another, climbing up the ladder of your chosen field and understanding the greater picture. And Rob got that picture of the “greater Army”, sacrificing for the team and the mission. Obviously, Rob interacted with tons of people, but the military is working with people knowing that lives were at stake. Transferring that leadership skill to the civilian world is different. One huge difference is the large amount of responsibility that is put on the shoulders of a 20-year old military personnel versus a 20-year old civilian. Another huge difference is resources. The Army can afford to pull someone out of their job for a year and send them to leadership school or to a foreign country for an intensive education that increases their worth exponentially, while a private sector company cannot. Rob's big awakening was 9/11. Before fighting in the middle east, the battlefield in the Cold-War linear; Rob is not a linear thinker, he's an artist. But Afghanistan changed all that because the battlefield became very murky and fluid. Rob's command as a Lieutenant Colonel leading the counter-insurgency effort gave him a chance to flourish as a creative problem solver and make him an even stronger leader. And an entrepreneur, even in while in the military. So when he retired, he had the entrepreneur and artist skills and the time to enhance them. It started with book writing. He decided to take a year off after getting out of the Army. His wife was working and it was just Rob, the cat and his computer. He was surrounded by a great team and got out Book One about, of course, leadership. The books led to blogging, which he still does, more books, then speaking, then consulting. Companies need that leadership element desperately, and Rob's demand has grown considerably. His company is himself, his background and his inspiration, all in high demand right now. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Olaseni Bello moved to the US from Nigeria at age 10. Calling his transition “challenging” to say the least, his assimilation into a radically different environment happened successfully over time. Enrolled in martial arts – Taekwondo specifically – by his mother, learning self-defense is evidence to the challenges Olaseni faced, but that which does no kill us… He went on to be a gold medal-winning Junior Olympian and found his second family with his martial arts community but it happened because he just missed a gold the year before. He was most unhappy, but his sensei (teacher) told him to just work harder. The time Olaseni spent training in the gym, visualizing winning the gold in his meditations, then having his vision come true taught him that anything is possible if you are willing to work hard enough. He then received an invitation to try out for the US Olympic team, but he was not a US citizen at the time and had to pass on what could have been a life-changing path. Undeterred, Olaseni started looking for his next move. He loved the outdoors and adventure, and he loved discipline, in particular how the military marketed that pillar of their foundation; the refinements of their process and continuing march for perfection. Only 18 years old, he went back and forth with his mother about joining. Olaseni appreciated so much about America and was so appreciative of the opportunity to live in it that he wanted to give back. So, college satisfied his mother, and his sense of adventure dictated he study abroad also for one year, putting off military service. Then it was on to law school, where he graduated and passed the New York State Bar exam and suddenly the concept of being a JAG officer (Judge Advocate General's Corp) became intensely intriguing. He got the military training and the opportunity to advise and direct in the field and stay on top of the law. The path was tough, as for all in the military, and “you don't know what you don't know” became his mantra. But Olaseni always remembered the people who had served before him and honored them by being the most polished version of himself possible. Transitioning out into civilian life, he decided a finance career would be exciting, even with no background. Again, his military training and background made him confident he could figure out anything he wanted badly enough, and wound up on Morgan Stanley's foreign exchange department. Then the entrepreneurial affliction hit. Curiously when he was still in the Army, he wanted to have a positive impact on the world and decided he and his fiancé (now wife) gathered up clothes donations and headed to a small village in Tanzania for some do-good. They were bitten by mosquitoes and the short story is they saw doctor after doctor who misdiagnosed his fiancé's condition (turned out to be Meningitis, a common virus for the area which all the doctors should have known) and rather than a week of therapy, she wound up taking two years to heal. So Olaseni set out to fix that with CarpeMed, an app that sets you up to deal with health issues in countries around the world, with connections to doctors, hospitals, even a “911” connection for an ambulance in the country in which you are located. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Navy Veteran Chelsea Mandello actually came from an Air Force family, of course making her the black sheep of the family. There were two main reasons for her “defection”. First, Navy bases were on the coast and Air Force bases tended to be in the middle of nowhere. Second, she was a photo journalist and got sent to the pretty places to shoot pictures that made the Navy look good. Solid reasons for her choice. Her first station was Navy Public Affairs where she would be deployed on a ship but only for a couple of months, then jump to a new ship. So she got to take photos of all the cool stuff, then leave. She didn't have to spend three years on the same ship. She made the phrase “see the world” come true, seeing 13 different countries and visiting nine different ships. She also got to work with Army, Marine and Air Force personnel and got to photograph their installations. The education was stimulating and fun, even though she had to take the occasional ribbing from the old guard as the newbie on the block. Chelsea's Ball State degree in advertising was as great background for getting into Mass Communications, or MassCom or even shorter, MC in the first place and her pension for doing creative projects certainly helped her produce the engaging films and photoshoots. But all things must end, including Chelsea's military service. Even though she was putting together her package for a second enlistment as a Public Affairs Officer and had tons of endorsements, she was playing around with an idea of a business. She has launched Toopster, her nonprofit company at the same time as putting in her packet, and Troopster was taking off. Troopster delivers unique care packages and messages of encouragement to deployed military, spouses and their families all over the world. The organization just hit their 30,000 mark, a phenomenal feat. Every morning they have a list of letters from military personnel having a tough time with their first deployment and parents concerned about their youngster in service. Spouses who have had a child and their military member is suddenly deployed also write their letters. So there is plenty of demand. However, there is a supply side to a nonprofit as well. Getting sponsors to fill the care packages was a tough task in the beginning. Chelsea had just started her command when she started Troopster, so she knew she had about a three year runway to get it off the ground if she wanted to have a career after transitioning to civilian life. It was rough. Even though she was able to find sponsors, she had no staff. So after a 24- and sometimes 48-hour watch, she would go home exhausted, sleep-deprived and still have to pack care packages. Dedication. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Growing up a self-proclaimed “old school knucklehead” who loved the spectrum from cowboy John Wayne to the see-the-world “Stripes” movie, Keith Pape went into the military not really knowing what to expect. But he know all along he was not ready for more school after high school and wanted the military badly. He convinced his parents it would save them college tuition and whether they believed him or not, they signed the papers. He joined the Army delayed entry and served through the end of the cold war and one tour in Iraq during Desert Storm. Keith was a 19 Delta Cavalry Scout, a combination of armor and reconnaissance. Keith's takeaway from the Army? “Everybody should do a little of it”. The maturity and learning to operate on your own with a fair amount of autonomy were lessons Keith feels would do every young person a world of good. He is absolutely convinced he never would have gone to college and finished, never stayed straight and would not own a business today if not for the discipline and confidence instilled in him by the military. The rough patches and the deployment were events that convinced him he could handle anything. Upon completing his duty, Keith had no idea what to study in college but he got great advice from relatives: Go to junior college first. It gave him a chance to survey a lot of subjects and it was cheap compared to a four-year degree so it did not use up all his GI Bill benefits. He got great guidance from a couple of his professors who wound up being his mentors. One in particular turned on the light for Keith. She told him the future was the fusion of business and computers. She urged him to take the business route with as much technology as he could grab along the way. Tech came easy for Keith and he loved the business side, especially the human interaction. At a consulting job where his boss got fired during the dotcom meltdown, the entrepreneurial jet kicked in. He saw the problems that people created and how short sighted they were and he knew he could do a better job. So he kept the people he had worked with together and started his own shop. Luckily, he had a supportive spouse who asked all the tough questions and that helped get his first business off on the right foot. Another dotcom stock crash put Keith out on the hunt for his next business and along the way being an employee and an owner, the lessons of success and failure have really rounded out his skills. Now with Yellow Pike Media, Keith and team deliver multiple angles of public relations, influencer introductions and production. It's a dynamic team that reflects Keith's love for people and an energy to build. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Armed with a master's degree in engineering and a desire to be an astronaut, Elana Duffy's first job was sitting in front of a ton of blueprints figuring out the cost of renovating a large building. A far cry from the space program, Elana went into her boss' office and said she was going to call a military recruiter and possibly join the Reserves. After a huge laugh from her boss, that sealed it for Elana and she was ready to enlist. Since the Army was the only branch that allows you to choose your field if you enlist, it was Army all the way. Her boot camp experience was actually pretty fun compared to being frenetic and harassing. However, she did find that the women got rather cutthroat with other women, showing a “I'm tougher than you” attitude; it surprised her. And in fact, found working with other women in the military to be difficult especially if those women went into the military directly from high school. That seemed paradoxical to Elana, as it seemed obvious that as a minority in the military, women should naturally be supportive of each other. But she had to get on with her 10-year career in counterterrorism and counter-espionage. The combination of a vehicle accident and a roadside bomb that injured Elana sent her back to civilian life. She found she was not prepared at all to be tossed into that new theater and started networking all the veteran resources she could find. Realizing how byzantine the re-entry process was for all Vets, Elana made her new mission founding a company use AI to essentially make word-of-mouth referrals into a digital service to help guide Vets into a successful civilian career; Pathfinder.vet was born. Interestingly enough, the company is a “C” corp, not a non-profit organization. And that is to keep the mission pure, keep it accountable to itself and to keep from competing with other nonprofits. But the best explanation of the mission is from their website: The US Army began training military Pathfinders during WWII, building an elite force of airborne operators able to go behind enemy lines before missions in order to designate drop and landing zones Their motto -- "first in, last out" -- represents the dedication towards leading the way for the mission, and ensuring everyone who comes after them is taken care of. They are trailblazers and leaders, and above all they are helpers. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Mike Madrid and Donny Brazeal were shipmates on a Navy destroyer. Both of them were coffee aficionados and so were many of their friends on board. So they pooled their money, bought really good coffee from the top roasters of the world, and then shared each batch so everyone got to sample the best coffees and decide which ones they wanted to brew on a daily basis. Mike went to the Academy then served on destroyers and was statopned in Spain when he and Donny met. Following his move to the states he took a job at the Pentagon which allowed him to do some nonprofit work including Operation Code, a military project near and dear to our show hosts' hearts. The combination of his friendship with Donny, the experience of opening up the world of coffee and helping veterans build a life in the private sector led to founding Project Buna in 2019. Danny enlisted in the Navy to be an electronics technician and served on aircraft carriers before earning a commission in the Limited Duty Officers' program. He went to Japan and then to Spain where he met Mike. Danny is currently a surface electronics LDO. He is serving in the DC area. “Buna” is an English translation for the word “coffee” in the Semitic language Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia. They chose this word and its characters as their name and logo in order to reflect the ancient roots of this drink, while simultaneously looking ahead to coffee's future throughout the world. The two started their business very wisely. They knew there was always the possibility of one or both being deployed to some corner of the world and so put in their plan to give themselves two years. At that point, if the business was not doing well, they would close it and consider they had a great two-year education. If it was going well, they'd figure out how to keep it going. Luckily, it is going well and they have figured out all the selling, packaging and ordering to stand out in the very crowded field of coffee roasting. They sell online and have created unique marketing approaches, including “crowd crafted coffee”, where they bring together a group of people and over time, walk them through crafting their own custom coffee. It's thinking like that that will propel them to succeeding in a growing industry. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

One more of Josh Carter's many friends, Fred Wellman of the Lincoln Project joins him today. Fred joined the Army partly because of a REALLY long family history. Going back to the 1640s to be exact with the French and Indian Wars - pre-revolutionary times! His father was a Marine in World War II and Fred wound up at West Point after looking closely at the Air Force Academy. He really liked the wide choice of majors offered and he was also a “sports guy” so West Point was a perfect fit. He always wanted to fly growing up and wound up flying Scout helicopters for the 22 years of service. There were surprises of course. At first, all the yelling offended him to the point of wanting to quit. Luckily, he wrote home first and the tough letter he got from his ex-Marine father telling him to stop whining and get his (!) together got him back on track. Flying Scout helicopters was most challenging but also the most fun and exciting. They're single pilot craft and the pilots sneak up on the enemy and see things most others do not. Fred flew in Korea for a while where he really honed his skills. Because of the mountains and the fast-changing weather, pilots learn quickly how to handle their craft. He then wound up fighting the last battle of Desert Storm and afterward moved around other parts of the world, which he cherishes because of his sense of wonder. He settled his family in Georgia and joined the reserves. While running for mayor of his town, 911 hit and he knew he would be called up, which he was. But after three combat tours and wrestling with the PTSD that accompanies most military after that, Fred opted for the private sector. It was 2010-ish and although the economy was coming back, he was impatient looking for a job. However, at one interview with another ex-military pilot, the interviewer was candid. He said they already had a candidate in mind and urged Fred to start his own company. When Fred told him he had no experience, didn't know how to start one and so forth, the interviewer looked him in the eye and said, “None of us knows what the (!!) we're doing”, which stuck with Fred. On his way home, he thought of the name Scout Coms, told his wife, she made an office out of the basement and away he went. Almost broke when he started, he just got on the phone and started dialing for dollars. Luckily, veteran training was in great demand and the big PR firms were ready. That was a 10-year experience, then Fred reached out to a friend who recruited him for the Lincoln Project and now Fred works the political side of advocating for those who have served our military. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

How do you feed the incredible growing population of the planet? Is big, corporate agriculture the only answer? Not if you're Richard Brion. Brion, Navy Vet started Revolution Agriculture to grow vegetables at the neighborhood level to feed the planet with fresh, local produce in an incredibly clever way. This Tacoma, Washington resident joined the Navy when his high school had an ROTC program. With family members in different branches of the military, Richard wanted off the peninsula he had always lived and see other parts of the world. He figured the Navy offered the most opportunity to see the “coolest stuff” and joined (our host, ex-Navy Vet Josh Carter wholeheartedly agrees). He began as in the cryptology program collecting intelligence and open-source material. He was stationed initially at Fort Gordon fresh out of high school and wound up putting in his four years before leaving. Richard actually was considering a longer career, but a big change in the Navy program post 911 put him in a difficult spot. He had to choose between becoming a linguist or leave. Since he discovered Navy linguists usually wind up in the windowless part of the ship wearing headphones and listening to radios, he opted for civilian life. After the Navy “curve ball”, Richard really had not prepared himself for the private sector. At first, he had a government contractor job that put him in Hawaii making more money, and three days before he was set to go, the program was cancelled. Kicking around with friends and family for awhile, he got a call from Blackwater for a counter-narcotics contract in Afghanistan and was doing the same Navy job but making much more money. He became the go-to guy who could source intelligence for most everything and moved up the ladder smoothly. He then became a consultant helping companies win government contracts is adept at contract trouble shooting. Tired of being a “hired gun”, Richard began exploring the premise of Revolution Agriculture. He saw from his past experience that farming, practices and food chain in Afghanistan was the prime root cause of problems there and decided that solving that problem was his life's mission. Making more products available year round would give farmers better options than growing opium, the crux of the country's violence. His ingenious methods only need minimal space and can utilize anyone's back yard or even a parking space. People offering the space for growing can participate or be passive and can even participate in the revenue share. The concept is soil-focused containerize farming systems that can be dropped in almost anywhere and the software that holds the system together is most sophisticated. But it's the determination and drive of Richard that holds everything together. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Veteran Apache pilot Jason Anderson chose the Army partly because of family heritage and partly for an early exposure to flying. His grandfather was a World War II veteran and his uncles were all in either the Marines or Army. And his father was a pilot, so he and his brother were riding in airplanes at an early age. His interest in military planes continued and when his brother found an ROTC track at the U of North Dakota that offered not only flying and helicopter training but a slot in the helicopter program of the Army, Jason jumped on it. He got his opportunity to fly the Apache and was thrilled with his career. He also was thrilled to find the opportunities in the military in general, where he found he had so many options to see where he fit best in America's defense forces. Also, he enjoyed the diverse culture backgrounds and experiences of his fellow soldiers and found it the most stimulating time of his life. With seven years of service, he was moved nine times and deployed in Korea and Afghanistan. He loved the leadership side of the military and obviously that love was easily transitioned to the business world. After being discharged, Jason took an internship that put him in IT sales, a terrific way to learn and that all happened in Colorado Springs, where he preferred to live. An entrepreneurial streak that started as a youngster, Jason had a strong interest in real estate and put the two together. Getting his real estate license during the pandemic lockdown, his desire to build something of his own led him to the natural business of helping military personnel deal with the trials and tribulations of constantly moving by building a real estate agent firm that specifically addressed their needs. Veteran PCS was born. With a tremendous amount of agents in Colorado Springs and many of them being veterans, standing out from the crowd was a definite challenge. So Jason remembered what it was like when he was discharged and thought about what he would have loved to have for a resource. The AH-HA moment was realizing that a website to go to with referrals to agents who were themselves veterans was the obvious solution. He set out building a network to cover the 50 states as thoroughly as possible. After getting validation from his broker/dealer, Jason jumped on learning how to build the robust site he needed and found a fellow vet to help build it. Still in its infancy, Veteran PCS is growing rapidly with agent/users who have caught the fire of Jason's mission and want their service to those who have served to keep growing. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Charles Read is a high profile guy, with TV segments in the financial news and more. And he's a big, big proponent of hiring military Vets, so he's a big favorite with us. A Marine veteran and also a Vietnam combat veteran, Charles is the founder president and CEO of GetPayroll, and online, fully-compliant payroll and payroll tax reporting service for businesses of any size. Military service was in the cards for Charles all along. His entire family has been “citizen soldiers” since the Revolutionary War. There's even a great-great-great grandfather who signed the Declaration of Independence; talk about heritage! With a father in the Navy and Charles being self-proclaimed “young and dumb”, he wanted a tough outfit and the Marines fit that bill. Interestingly enough, his sister was a Marine officer at the same time he was an enlisted man. Trained as a computer programmer and a systems engineer, he was sent to Okinawa where he subsequently requested a transfer to Vietnam and asked to be put in a combat unit. Since he was considered a smart guy with his computer background, he was made the radio carrier, which is like having “a target on your back” according to Charles. After six months of combat, Charles survived pretty much in tact but his experience of being part of a team doing whatever it took to accomplish the mission stayed with him forever. Mission, men and self was the Marine Corps way and is still Charles' way. After the Marines, getting into business also was a natural for Charles, with his family accomplished business leaders as well. Upon his discharge, Charles' computer skills were in high demand but didn't seem to count with employers because it was military training, not civilian. So he went back to school, passed the CPA exam and originally wanted to work for a big corporation and climb to the top. However, realizing he didn't have the “political skills” (read: he didn't stab people in the back), Charles decided to start his own company, just as his father had. Now, 30 years established, he has been quite successful and uses his success to promote the hiring of other military veterans who have also put their life on the line for freedom and liberty. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Dan Regester is a third generation Air Force Vet. His deployment time was the Kosovo war where he flew on C-135s doing air refuelings. Originally “looking for adventure”, Dan had a childhood of the Air Force, visiting the air bases with his Dad, a Vietnam Vet, many times. And because many of his Dad's friends were military, Dan was immersed in the mindset of the military person and that was the main attraction for Dan. Dan's Grandfather was in the Army Air Corps during World War II before the branch was renamed Air Force. So Dan joined right out of high school, and in fact spent his 18th birthday in basic. He went to 22 different countries during his four years of deployments, starting in Turkey. The international exposure taught him that when you are in uniform, you are an ambassador for your country and everything you do reflects on the US. So he has taken that awareness into working with Vets and dogs, because the Vet and his/her dog are representatives as well. Dan's transition to civilian life was unfortunately similar to many Vets. He hated the VA, hated society, hated the military and wanted to just be in isolation. He realized that Vets needed some time after separation to reset and acclimatize and to replace the sense of camaraderie they had in the military and caused much of the depression and loss after leaving. But camaraderie comes with discipline and work to build it, and that's where the idea of matching Vet and dog – or occasionally cat – and going through a two-week training period together to build that camaraderie that was missing. Each dog is checked out to meet each individual Vet's needs. The program is very military like in its structure, and that also helps the Vet feel more comfortable with the familiarity. And as our host, Cyntia Kao says, it's too bad you can't see these gorgeous dogs on this podcast. They are spectacular. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Ali Ahmadi, Navy Vet, is a good friend of our host, Josh Carter. A Queens, New York native was celebrating his Mom's 50th birthday on September 9th, 2001 in the Top of the World restaurant on top of Tower Two. Of course, two days later was the attack and two days after that, Ali and his father joined the volunteer rescue teams to hunt for survivors. Two months later, Ali walked into the Navy recruiter's office and signed up. His first memories from boot camp were the youth of all the other recruits, the diverse geographical backgrounds and above all else – the smell! He served with some great people and scored highest in his class, giving him 42 choices of assignments. He ended up in Maryland flying autonomous drones. It put him close to home, where he could visit his mother who had been recently diagnosed with a serious condition. He received his aerospace engineering degree while in the Navy and was offered an internship with NavAir in Orlando where he could stay close to his girlfriend. That move must have worked, because the former girlfriend is now the current spouse! Feeling he had hit a ceiling in his corporate growth, he was intrigued with entrepreneurship but had to get past the security of the corporate paycheck. Once past that, Ali flourished, becoming the president of the Entrepreneur's Club at Washington University. He mentored and did some angel investing, including investing in a company that created a fitbit for dogs. After the acquisition of that company, he and a partner started another company and subsequently entered Patriot Bootcamp where our own Josh Carter became a mentor. Ali and his wife were caring or her mother in stage four cancer at their home. The stress was great and fellow boot camp attendee told Ali of research that was going on to develop IP to help caregivers cope with the stress of their job. That IP became the platform for TCare, a system to help family members care for their loved ones. TCare's software helps the family member avoid burnout and helps keep the infirmed out of nursing homes. So they help prevent or delay the elderly going into nursing homes and help keep the family together. Ali Ahmadi's current mission has certainly become his biggest. And for those trying to break the corporate leash, Ali asks you to consider that the cost of NOT seeking to do something greater with your life is much greater than that paycheck. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

A post-911 military joiner, Danique Masingill wanted law enforcement as a career, and only the Navy would promise that in a contract, so in 2002 she joined and went to boot camp. Her first command was Charlston, South Carolina. It was a tough assignment. Rampant sexual assault, high suicide rates and a terrible place to be for anyone, especially a woman. Danique was caught in a terrible trap; she was law enforcement and the high ranking officials in the LE were the perpetrators. So who do you call? There was no one. She was first assaulted in the barracks by a Marine and tried to report the assault and that's where she first learned the phrase, “mission over people”. “We need to make this go away” she was told, as the assaulter was necessary for the war that was going on and Danique slipped into self-medication to deal with the angst. She did manage to get reassigned to another command and then the same thing happened, only this time she was assaulted at the firing range and couldn't complete her weapons course. Then her mental health issues caught up with her physically and she had to leave the first good command sadly and eventually was discharged medically in 2007. Not even having any disability benefits, Danique went to cosmetology school but didn't really have the personality it took to be a hair dresser. However, in 2010 she found that she had GI benefits to go to Syracuse University while her spouse was deployed. She started coming unraveled from PTSD and was urged to go to the Veterans lounge and meet other college students from the military. She was introduced to a woman who told her about service dogs for retired military and threw herself into service dog policy in the Veteran space and got her degree. After working at a couple of organizations, she, her husband and friend decided to be hands on and start their own organization and founded Leashes of Valor. Their Virginia farm is where they train the rescued dogs, and the post-911 Vets who apply spend a two-week course on the farm learning to work with their new companion. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

US Marine vet Kate Monroe, founder of VetCom joined the military in an unusual path. On a full ride scholarship to a Christian Bible College. A gifted student all through school, Kate was always told she would be someone great- the usual doctor, lawyer path – and she just plain burned out on it. After her freshman year, she looked into the Air Force originally. A chance meeting with a Marine recruiter on her way to take her qualifying tests resulted in being swept into the Marines at 19. Becoming an Intel analyst, she was not deployed but wound up being disable. During a softball game, she took a ball to the face and suffered a break that required 72 hours of surgery. That was it for the military. But she had an entrepreneurial father and so her transition to civilian life was easier than for most vets. She started with a sales job which is always a great base for any entrepreneur. And she has overcome some discrimination she has faced as a woman not only in the private sector but when she was in the Marines as well. Her personal mission has become her gift to others, being empowered, finding the courage to follow your dream. Kate credits the Marine Corps with her attitude that if something was hard, adapt and overcome and that “mantra” keeps her going every day. Having sold her car dealership (yes, she does what she sets her mind to), a veteran came to her asking her help get rated. She did, and that led to helping more people get rated. The idea for a platform to help vets get back into civilian life in almost every aspect of their life; buying a home, getting a job, getting deserved VA benefits was super exciting to Kate and VetCom was born. It will launch soon and Kate is ready, “It will be a hurricane ready to make landing”. So be ready all you vets. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Air Force Veteran Brian Reese served in Afghanistan and received the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. He then earned his MBA as a National Honor Scholar from the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University, so he is no slacker. Nor does he wish any other Vet to be, so he started VA Claims Insider, a Coaching and Consulting company whose mission is to educate and empower veterans to get the VA disability benefits they've earned for their honorable service. But let's start at the beginning of his military service. Not from a military family, Brian loved ice hockey and dreamed of the NHL. But D-1 athletics was more doable, and when touring the Air Force Academy, fell in love with the Academy and Colorado Springs. He's always been an entrepreneur, even the “store” he had in his locker in grade school. Flying was not a passion at the Academy, so taking the business path was a natural. Brian has always sought to solve problems and add value to people and the business school was a fantastic experience. And coming from a small town, he thrived on the stimulation of different people, backgrounds and attitudes. But structure also was a new experience, he had never been bounded by guidelines so strongly before and though it pressured him at first, he grew to embrace the attributes of having rules. But the 2011 deployment to Afghanistan left him with traumatic stress that led to the predictable alcoholism and drug abuse and Brian knew it was time to move to civilian life. Coming to grips with his condition was the difficult part and breaking down in front of a friend who literally walked him to mental heath resources was the start. The next big step was to simply start writing down in a notebook who he was, to regain his sense of self. Then the desire to take this help to others was the “ah-ha” for the business. He realized with his knowledge of benefits and entrepreneurship, he could help other Veterans navigate the problems with VA bureaucracy, get the help and benefits they need, and lower the suicide and ruined lives rate that dominates the Veteran community. Be sure to check out his book - YOU DESERVE IT: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Veterans Benefits You've Earned Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Julie Davila likes tacos (and Manhattan cocktails too, evidently). And although she also likes fish, she hates those who phish. That's part of the impetus behind ZibaSec, software security. Here's her background: An Army vet, Julie applied to an ROTC scholarship which she received, but decided she did not want to be an officer, so she enlisted. Julie went into the infantry and learned very quickly that she could deal with the stress on her body because the military helped strengthen her mind. And that played very well in becoming an entrepreneur. Learning to push through on the training field translated very will into “having another Red Bull” and pushing through in the business security world. Seeing that her financial future would be better in civilian life, Julie exited and used her GI Bill in Mexico and went to school. Her money stretched a long way in Mexico and allowed her tacos every night (are you seeing the trend here?). For about two years, Julie was in a figure-it-out stage, coupled with a bartending career (see the Manhattan cocktail connection here?) and liked the idea of learning AWS, and it snowballed from there into a tech career. Working at the same software security company, Julie and her now co-founder found out their employer was going to lose a phishing platform contract due to some financial conflict. The client was the DOJ and since Julie had connections with the client, she and her partner approached them with the opportunist question, “If we build it, will you buy it?”, and the answer was “Yes”! Ah, the birth of new company. They even had the seed capital given to them as part of the package. Now, Julie and her partner are business veterans, too. And what is the name of one of their flagship product? Why, PhishTACO, of course! Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Drew Bartkiewicz grew up close to West Point, had an older brother who went there and so it was a natural to attend there also. It wasn’t easy. He came up short in his initial application and spent what he calls, “the best year of my life”, attending a prep school to get over the bar. He studied aerospace engineering and learned that real creativity isn’t open-ended and willy-nilly, it’s a structured, disciplined path that leads to a revolutionary development. Graduating and sent to Northern Italy in the 82nd Airborne, Drew overcame his fear of heights, admittedly because he wanted to live in Italy! And it was a real life lesson in learning to live in the present, as the Italian people were expert at doing so. Drew served in the Gulf War and stayed after to set up a protective zone for the Kurds, another incredible life experience for him. He left in 1992 when he was accepted into the MBA program at Yale, graduating in 1994. This put him closer to family and home, and put him square in the middle of business. He joined United Technologies, which put him in business development in four locations around the world. He caught the software bug in 1999 and that has turned out to be his world. Calling himself in “perpetual adjustment”, Drew has stayed agile, moving and always looking to solve problems. His first company was Lettrs, seeking to authenticate mobile messages and by being both different and mobile, they attracted customers. Lettrs morphed into Patriapps really an incubator to start, grow and spin off software companies. One of the big takeaways from Drew’s experience? When taking investment money, the sense of honor to be successful and create a return for investors is higher in the Veterans community than all others. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Navy Man Bryce Reich of Harness wanted to join the military for the structure but also because of the family background. Originally wanting to be a rescue swimmer for the Coast Guard, he went through the process but was put on a year wait list. His brother in-law had just left the Navy and Bryce looked up to him, so the Navy seemed like the place to be. He began as a submariner but decided he didn’t care for that while in boot camp. He switched to sonar technician where he finished his career. It was the team building and camaraderie that inspired Bryce the most and got him past the high school years where he didn’t really try to be a good student or performer. But there came a point. Bryce was ready to get out when the bureaucracy finally got to him. Understaffed in the sonar division, he did not feel recognized for his accomplishments and turned to getting back to his education. His timing was disturbingly good; on the USS John McCain, he left only a few months before the collision which killed ten sailors. Bryce new some of the dead. The first person to go to college in his family, Bryce graduated in Business Management. He had a job when a friend with a tech company reached out and asked if Bryce could do some business development for a month. It went so well Bryce became a co-founder by being in on the ground floor. Harness is a white label solution for entrepreneur and innovation ecosystems to centralize collaboration, communication, knowledge sharing, resource sharing and hiring. It’s an Angelist and a LinkedIn for exclusive communities such as universities, governments or accelerators. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

As an 18-year old self-described “spoiled brat”, Michael Shenker wanted to leave home and his way out was to join the Army. He decided if he could join the military service, get the experience of learning about the world and get out without losing any serious body parts, he would be a stronger person. And it worked. In the Army, he went to basic in Fort Lewis and then tried his hand in electronics school, which was a mistake. Subsequently, he went to the tank organization in Fort Knox, Kentucky where he had THE experience of his young life. While looking through the sites of a 90mm cannon, the realization of killing a person hit him – hard. He got out of the tank, ran into the woods cried his eyes out. With this realization deep in his psyche, Michael went to his CO and laid out the situation. Michael was sent to specialists, including a psychiatrist who became Michael’s friend. And that was really important because here’s the timeframe: It was Vietnam and wartime; Michael would be sent to prison for his “confession”. The psychiatrist wanted to help Michael stay out of there and managed to get Michael shipped to Korea. He instructed Michael to find the highest ranking officer there, get in front of him, make eye contact and tell him the story. That incident would determine Michael’s fate. Michael convinced the officer he had a lot to offer with his intelligence but he just could not kill another person. It worked. Michael went on to work in supply, became a staff sergeant and was eventually discharged honorably. Now on to civilian life, taking the resilience he learned working in the Army structure and applying it to the outside world. Although he did not have an idea where he would go on discharge, Michael became a star in real estate information in the San Fernando Valley, California and got him a big job offer. He asked if, instead of a job, he could be hired as a consultant, even though he had no idea what a consultant did! But he dug in, became a marketing guru and his career blossomed. He really liked putting on workshops and helping people grow their sales and marketing skills. Now, through his books and practice, he helps people, especially veterans, achieve their personal goals and happiness. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Zach Jones was four years old when he decided on a military life. His father was in the Air Force and when he met his uncle who was a Marine his future was decided. He was “converted” to the Marines by his uncle and joined in 2011 and drove trucks. Starting with a couple of years in Okinawa and wound up training other drivers. If he had to do it over, Zach might have joined the Air Force as his father preferred, but the Marines did prepare Zach for pushing through the tough times and building his determination for life after the military. And his life has been full as an entrepreneur being a self-described back-to-back losing-the-business chap, his mistakes have led to his success. His first business was Gunhound Games, where his thought he could get a bunch of Vets, teach them how to make video games and sell them. Turned out his assumption was wrong, but he learned a lot. One: Don’t base the requirements for being your business partner on that person being a high school friend; classic error. Two: Get your first gig in a freelance economy for experience and gain your reputation in the industry. Three: Zach likes workhorses and those who can work well with a group – and they are a rare breed. Armed with those lessons, Zach went through a coding bootcamp in Seattle which was a cross country trip for him. He planned on living in the car but that was not an inconvenience because Zach was a trucker by then and really, really enjoyed being around people instead of being alone in a truck. The COVID lockdown cut the bootcamp short but Zach had already learned a ton. And speaking of the COVID timing, there is always timing involved with every business. In 2018 when Zach started his trucking business, the industry was going great. And the next year, it tanked. So next? Zach is building that team with his new knowledge. Now his team is made of people he met as professionals first and became friends next. And even though his coding team is virtual, they connect at a professional and friend level. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

The first time the show hasn't had a Veteran founder has a good reason: Patrick Nettesheim is helping Veterans overcome PTSD and related stress symptoms by teaching them to play the guitar. In fact, a research study of Guitars 4 Vets students showed a 21% improvement in PTSD symptoms and a 27% decrease in related depression symptoms. The study attributed learning and playing guitar as the primary catalysts for these improvements. And Patrick is doing his level best to get guitars into the hands of as many Vets as possible. On 2006, a Marine Veteran from the Vietnam era came in to see Patrick and Patrick made the connection to serving the military people with teaching them guitar. His family on his father's side were all veterans and musicians as well. His music career started with the magic of the Beatles' album his brother gave him and started in a band at 13. Back to the Marine. He wanted to know Patrick's teaching method. When Patrick replied his material is a blank page and that most people want to first learn a song. And that's what makes them happy and makes them want to continue. That was the beginning of Guitars 4 Vets. When Dan, the Marine, noticed his PTSD symptoms were retreating, Patrick then began to realize this was a program that could become incredibly valuable to a huge number of military Veterans. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

Army Vet Ken Robbins has stayed dedicated to his fellow soldiers. Growing up in rural Maine, Ken wanted to see more of the world and went to West Point and graduated an officer to start his 20-year Army career. He loved what he did, his opportunities and the people he worked with. His father served in the Army in Korea and that had an impact on Ken's choice of services. The president of a high school club, George Mitchell was a Senator at the time. Mitchell came to the high school and Ken got to introduce him to the club. Mitchell asked what Ken wanted to do and when Ken gave his story, Mitchell wrote the endorsement letter. One of the best lessons Ken learned at West Point was that if you are going to be a great leader, you must learn to be a great follower. That everyone involved in the chain of command deserves respect. When retiring, Ken learned another big lesson, that the military moves on with or without you, and that became the kernel of the idea for MILLIE, to assist military personnel, families, pets and possession in moving from base to base as easily and stress free as possible. MILLIE assists in helping military families scout the best place to live in a new base and to sell their current home or rent out their current apartment. Using a network of agents, MILLIE started growing their customer base immediately by having their products lined up and offering great experiences from day one. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

An Army Vet who worked on the "Big Rigs", diesel powered machines as a mechanic, Portland, Oregon native Chris Benson was part of a unit that moved equipment around for the New England National Guard. He was admittedly aimless after high school and when his parents became obviously concerned about his lack of direction, the military seemed like a good place to put some discipline and purpose to Chris' life. And since he loved cars growing up and enjoyed tinkering with them, it was a natural to become a mechanic in the Army. But after his first duty cycle and deployment, he decided that re-enlisting would simply be more cycles of the same thing and since he had secured his GI Bill for college, he was ready for the private sector. He enrolled in a local community college and when a high school friend finished his term with the Navy, the two of them kept their promise of getting an apartment together and starting fresh. The road to a startup business is rarely a straight line and Chris' was no exception. A guitar player, Chris started as a music major and switched to an electrical engineer major. That didn't fill the bill either and at the suggestion of his father, got involved in computer science. He started with Symantec doing research in computer security and that lit his fire. But the Dot.Com collapse cut his job and changed his direction completely and Chris found his calling working for himself in a great niche fixing individuals' computers. Another business born from necessity. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

A greater Portland, Oregon native, who lives across the river from co-host Josh, Jon Sanford grew up a Hippie Kid in a commune. His rebellion was going into the military, but since his parents would not sign off on infantry for him, he went National Guard. He loved working on cars as a high schooler and so becoming a diesel mechanic was a natural choice. He came home and went immediately to college. But the path to entrepreneurship was Jon's ability to lead. His personality is to sink his teeth into something and stay with it, which in personal relationships can be destructive, but in business and politics, can be amazingly successful. It means putting it all on the line and having the confidence to make it work. Coming out of the military, Jon did all the things he was told NOT to do when coming home: He bought a house, a new car and got married. He had a small screen printing business that failed and within a year, had lost all those things he got after coming home. But he had a mission, go back to Iraq and make amends for having been there in a place he thought he had never should have been in the first place. Then he found another "knucklehead" who had a carpenter background as Jon had and also a similar work ethic and the business was born. Jon's partner performed the activity of throwing a pole, called Caber. Jon's family came from a group that picked up things in a cart, called carters, so the name was born. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes

An Air Force veteran and a former graduate of the same Chicago Techstars program as our co-host Josh, Greg Coleman had a family background of military service. His father was a Naval Academy grad and Navy helicopter pilot barely missing deployment in Vietnam. And his grandfather on his mother's side was a Tuskegee Airman. With that background, Greg always wanted to fly. He went to the Air Force Academy and flight school, then an aviation career. He flew KC10s, even though he originally thought we wanted to be a fighter pilot. When his military career was done, Greg had given thought about being a commercial pilot, but he preferred an environment that was merit-based and business was the key. So his first move was to join the Air National Guard and get his MBA. The idea was to transition into a finance career, but 2008 changed all that. He had a class project with a fellow class member, and after graduation, they picked up the idea and decided to run with it. And that company was based on the problem both of them had: How do busy people workout and stay physically active? The solution was using an accelerometer on the phone to play a "game" of reaching certain goals and being rewarded. Their idea of changing behavior and getting more physically fit remains Greg's incentive and they keep pursuing it. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

Thubten Comerford joined the Navy, as did our co-host Josh, to get away from home. Coming out as a gay man did not go over well with his family at the time and life just started getting too limited. There was a Navy recruiting station by the Santa Monica College campus and made it quite convenient. The nuclear power program was most interesting to Thubten and he signed up. A prestigious program to gain entry, Thubten finally had a subject that demanded his full attention and he liked both the mechanical challenges and the physics challenges. However, the college party "hangover" stayed with him through the nuclear school program and eventually brought him down, landing him in the regular party of the Navy. He was in the amphibious transport dock out of Shreveport. And through it all, he NEVER went to sea during the Navy. Thubten was a little too spit 'n polish for some people and looking for other gay sailors, so a lot of the time he was constantly concerned about being carted off to the brig. The pressure got to him and he went to his Ex-O to ask what to do about the quasi-harassment he was receiving. With no support from the Ex-O, he asked for a discharge. Receiving none, he was arrested and interrogated but kept his mouth shut, then went to the Commodore and finally received his discharge. Becoming a serial entrepreneur, Thubten realized his real calling was in marketing, and his Navy background also gave him the discipline of following through on everything he started. It also gave him the confidence he could always provide for himself and his family. But currently, his obsession with cooking, entertaining and preserving food has taken him to his kitchen show and his current line of pickled products. The preserved foods was particularly thrilling, as he sold a case of pickles to a friend who gave them to friends who went mad for them. A realtor wanted them to give as gifts, but wanted them in a gift basket, creating a new product line for his company. So it has all rolled out naturally, just like Thubten's food. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

Speaking from Barcelona, Spain, Adam Weiss is definitely living the life that his business promises to others. Adam had always wanted to be a spy as a kid and dreamed that a military career could lead to that, but 911 is what motivated him to serve. His father worked in the Wall Street area and the attack was obviously close to home. Not being able to contact his father all day, Adam joined the Marines to make sure that situation never happened again. Deployed a year after joining, he was approached to do counter-intelligence work, which sort of made his childhood dream come true, but Adam passed on the opportunity to serve as a regular soldier. After his service, Adam got his college degree in marketing, but his timing was not good, he hit the housing recession when jobs were drying up and he had no work experience. But that's where his Marine background gave him the philosophy, "Semper Gumby", "Be Flexible". He got internships to get experience and also went back to school at NYU to get internships at Madison Square Garden and NBC. He started working at an ad agency when he saw people working remotely and the trend growing. His marketing research hat on, he figured out how to make that his lifestyle as well by working his Fridays from home and using the extra day to travel. But it didn't work out that way, because of all the details it took to make the lifestyle a reality. So he worked with a partner to come up with a solution to the pain of planning and making it all work, and Revolver Lifestyle was born. So all the booking, timing and planning became the artificial intelligence that is the backbone of the business. There was trial and error involved in getting to the finished product, but Adam know he was on the right track. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

Still feeling the "food coma" afterglow of Thanksgiving, our hosts Cynthia and Josh welcome Larry Stokes, founder of LSA Veteran's Benefit Counseling. The company helps Veterans be aware of the benefits to which they are entitled, apply for them, and appeal if they are unhappy with the decision. They are not a law firm, but a fee-based consultant, and they have the background to get the job done. Larry is an accredited agent certified with the Department of Veteran Affairs and a veteran service officer. He is a retired United States Navy Hospital Corpsman Chief, former VA Rating Specialist, and Physician Assistant with 20 years of service. The inspiration to join the Navy when he had an accident at his uncle's house. His uncle stitched him up and Larry wondered if he was a doctor. The uncle replied no, that he had been a Hospital Corpsman and that was it - Larry knew where he wanted to be. And it became a positive focus for him. He wasn't much interested in studying in high school and truly believed he didn't have the right stuff. But finding his calling, Larry got excited with the program and the subject matter and became the model student. It paid off; he was an honor graduate of his Corpsman school. His first duty was with the Marines in North Carolina and it was a great experience. He also spent time on a ship out of San Diego, where he wondered if he had joined the wrong service - he was seasick as you can get but survived it. In his first interface with the VA, he was blinded by his paperwork. Not only was it voluminous, it was full of jargon, meandering and left him totally clueless as to the conclusion and frustrated. He knew right then Veterans deserved better; clear concise, understandable answers to their applications and to the rules of the system. Starting his consulting firm 14 years ago, Larry has done battle with bureaucracy over and over, but the most memorable was representing a World War II Veteran, 93 years old, who did his service in the 40s. The only African American on his ship, he was treated terribly and suffered ulcers, loss of hearing and more. The fact that he had to go through a hearing to get his benefits. The outrage in Larry for the very situation is what drives him for the older and younger Veterans. He's fixing a broken system, one Vet at a time.

A Maryland native and pretty much a fixture before joining the Army, Ian Sparks really got his eyes opened about the big wide world. An ROTC candidate, Ian got his second lieutenant commission and wanted to be part of the demolition gang. Still in the reserves, Ian deployed to Afghanistan in 2013, 2016 to Iraq and 2017 into Syria, the three places in the world he wanted to see. He is first generation American, the rest of his family immigrating from Ireland, so Ian has seen a lot of the spectrum of cultures on the planet. He compliments his military advisors on prepping he and his fellow soldiers on the various cultures they were being dropped into, as best they could. There's only so much one can be prepared for before being tossed into a new environment. Ian was offered a full scholarship from the military so the reserves was a natural path. Coming back from deployment, Ian felt he had enough time to adjust after his first deployments, but after Syria, which was much more intense, the time seemed to fly by a lot faster. Plus, the Battle Bar business started to hit him six months after coming home. While on deployment, Ian survived on ready-to-eat meals and protein bars, which he stuffed in his armor pockets to keep him fueled while on duty. The protein bars didn't taste great, and the ingredients in them were not nutritious either. So when home, he contacted his brother who was working with a doctor to develop nutritious, easy to eat foods. And when they all realized there was no veteran-owned protein bar business around, their mission was written and away they went. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

Coming back from Afghanistan in 2016, Lito Villanueva just couldn't assimilate. He was snapping at people, short tempered and exhibiting the "fight or flight" attitude that kept him alive in war, but was creating a lonely life for him stateside. Lito was special forces in the military, so his service was ultra intensive. He always wanted to start his own business and putting two and two together, decided that there were others having the difficulty he was, and if he could use technology, he could save lives, literally. The suicide rate among veterans is astoundingly high, and the problems Lito experienced are the root of the problem. Lito's background was as a network engineer, so the technical side came easily for him. Lito did plenty of testing, and figured out how to build a community of people. And community is the first line to preventing suicide. Not necessarily a community of family, either, but a community of those who have walked in your shoes and has had your experience. Seeing what most people never see. Through people's day to day activity, plugging into a community helps keep those veterans from feeling alone, depressed and all the other feelings that lead down the path of suicide. The story has been a typical entrepreneurial one, of many failures, hiring the wrong people and so forth. And there are system issues making sure only veterans allowed into the circle. But Lito and his cofounder are determined to succeed for the lives of their brothers and sisters. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

After high school, Nate Boyer was really "lost", and pretty much drifted, literally. He worked a fishing boat in San Diego but then finagled his way to a refugee camp in Chad and volunteering gave him a sense of purpose. While in the camp, he heard a BBC report of the war in Fallujah and decided right there he wanted to fight for the oppressed. Coming back to the US, he decided on special operations in the Army, Green Beret. He went all in on the program and made it happen and in a few months, his life changed completely and he had absolute purpose in life. The intricacies, challenges and understanding of a complete life and death experience in a combat zone was a huge impact on Nate, but the good part of the experience was the solid bond that Nate and his brothers built for each other and the desire to keep each other safe. There's a downside too. That shield of armor that keeps you alive in combat doesn't work so well in civilian life. A common situation with most military personnel, Nate had to work on allowing himself to be vulnerable to a degree, letting people "in" and still feeling safe. Nate has had an amazing life after military. He was a walk-on at the University of Texas football team, never having played football before. Making the team as a long snapper, Nate even played in a preseason NFL game with the Seattle Seahawks as a 34-year old rookie. So his athletic/fitness drive, his military background and struggles made MVP a natural mission for him. The locker room and team mentality translated so easily to Vets and he and partner Jay Glazer have turned this dream into five locations currently to serve Vets who are making that transition into civilian life and doing it successfully. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

Original co-host Carmen Nazario talks with us today about founding and running her business, Elyon International. Introduced to Veteran Founder Podcast host Josh Carter by Startup Radio Network co-founder Mark Grimes, Carmen worked to get the show off the ground and flying for over a year while keeping her own high-flying business moving forward. An incredibly quick learner, Camen learned to be a podcast host by studying Josh and jumping in and doing it, like entrepreneurs do. Learning her computer background in the '70s in the military, Carmen wanted to pursue her love, but there wasn't even a college degree available in the field at that time. So she started doing computer programming which led to analysis, then consulting and management. It was then she began the dream of owning her own consulting company, an extremely thoughtful process that took about 20 years. Starting in the basement of her home for the first two years, there was a need for Y2K prep and she contacted a company she has worked for as a consultant, gaining her first client and contract. Her timing was great, as the Internet was just becoming a real information highway and Carmen used it as her marketing resource. She began to understand government contracting and as a Veteran, a woman and a minority, saw several avenues to win more business opportunity. Of course, it's only opportunity if you can deliver, and Carmen has put her full faith and energy into keeping the standards of Elyon high and taking care to provide a healthy, open and professional atmosphere for the people who work with her. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

A big contributor to Operation Code, of which both our hosts are involved, Tim Marcinowski served in the Navy for four years as an ITman. Two deployments and one surge were the big events in his career. Tim's experience was terrible and awesome both, and his introduction to the military was just that. His first day on ship, he found out one of the sailors had committed suicide, and that they were going to be deployed in a month, and that they were going to Mardi Gras that same day. Talk about a mixed bag of emotion. Overall, his experience was positive as he still has relationships from his military experience and he still gives back to the community. On ship, he was lucky. Joining right out of high school, the experiences were out of his understanding, and a couple of shipmates took him aside for the "man-to-man" talk on how to focus on the important things and shut out the noise. And that skill has transferred to the business world and served him well. Another skill Tim learned was focusing on the end game. In the service, it was getting to home port or completing the mission. In business, it has gotten Tim through the troughs that come with starting a business. One ah-ha Tim wants to pass along to others leaving the military is not to worry that things have passed you by while you were serving your country. And don't think that going home is the best idea, it's the comfortable idea. Go where the jobs and opportunities are. Tim's parents were entrepreneurs, running a video store where he loved serving people, selling candy and talking movies. That attitude is the foundation of Yeticloud, where simply solving the customer's IT problems in real time without having to deal with vendors is the company's hallmark. And Yeticloud is one of the companies benefitting from COVID, which has exposed fragile IT systems of many companies with the increase in digital traffic. They are one of few companies offering a fully-automated remediation solution, which the DOD has recently picked up on. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

Every guest has a unique story about how their military background unfolded and our new co-host, Cynthia Kao, is no exception. As her mother tells it, Cynthia never does anything "in order", and the Toronto, Canada native's military story reflects that. She had a music career, performing since age 10 and after high school went to school in New York City, and although loved music, performing was not her calling. Media, becoming a journalist, however, was a calling. Abandoning music, she went into social work, helping others and figuring out how she could serve. Then 911 hit, her husband, an American, wanted to be on active duty and so suddenly Cynthia was a military spouse and continued to serve people, working with families and others affected by the fighting. so in 2008, she enlisted in the Air Force in public affairs, thrusting her into the perfect blend of serving and being in media. She imbedded twice, in Sudan and in Afghanistan, which is pretty darned amazing considering she and her husband had three children. Covering humanitarian missions in dangerous situations, not only military but health outbreaks, Cynthia's life was no safer than if she had been in active duty herself. But she got stories on film and documented to help communicate to others the horror of the situation. She also experienced the "decompression" of coming back home with little or no transition program, a common theme amongst our veterans. Injured and unable to keep doing the job, Cynthia ended her career after six years. Now part of Operation Code, a school for military veterans and spouses who want a technical career, Cynthia had to first deal with her own post traumatic stress. Even after seeing it in others, it was hard to understand it also affected her. And now she can take her struggle and continue to help others. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

An Air Force officer veteran via the ROTC program, Rob Viglione he was in the space command which was the perfect spot for a mathematician. He worked with satellite orbitology. He went from being in the Air Force to contracting with the Air Force after ending his career. He then contracted with the Army and spent time in Afghanistan and was embedded with the Marines and then to Army Cavalry. He was dabbling in BitCoin at the time, and his success enabled him to work on his PhD. in finance and teach. He then launched Horizen Labs, not really on purpose, but more as an opportunity. The military prepared Rob well for entrepreneurship, mainly teaching him to hire vets first! They definitely go to the front of his CV lists, because of two qualities: Leadership and grit. Being able to get your butt kicked but getting right back in the fight is part of the Horizen culture and is their huge competitive edge. And taking care of the people and putting yourself on the front line also is key; caring about the people and letting them know it is fundamental to the company's success. Veteran Founder Podcast with your host Josh Carter We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

Listen to an in depth interview with Veteran Founders' new co-host, Cynthia Kao, who worked with Josh in Operation Code on a separate episode. For today, welcome her as she and Josh interview Ian Faison, A West Point grad, Ian didn't care for boats or planes, so the Army was natural. His father did serve in the military and as a sophomore in high school, Ian was encouraged to check out West Point. He was nominated by Barbara Lee from Oakland, California. It was unusual for Oakland people to go to West Point, but Ian was in sports and an Eagle Scout, so his resume worked. In sales, Ian understood he was good at connecting people and helping get the word out for a client. That got him started on the path to offering a way for B2B companies to reach out to their audience through podcasts. So the more dots he made, the more connections too. Veteran Founder Podcast with your host Josh Carter We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

Dr. Erik Won is the founder of Wave Neuroscience, a science based on his incredible background. A Navy veteran, Erik's parents were first generation Korean Americans and always had a deep appreciation of the US stood for in terms of opportunity. His patriotism was rewarded with serving in the Navy and have his education paid for as part of it. He interned at a Navy hospital, then went on tour on ships. He chose the aerospace unit and was then attached to a Marine squadron. He took care of an entire team of pilots, mechanics and admin people and enjoyed his time. Not a big risk taker by nature, Erik jumped into Wave Neuroscience while working with the test pilots. He had heard of the technology while in southern California and then spent a couple of years in due diligence. When he realized the technology could save potentially hundreds of thousands of lives, he felt compelled to bring the technology to market responsibly. The turning point was a friend who had been struggling with traumatic stress and got a complete turnaround using the technology. Nothing like a real life episode to drill in desire to succeed. Veteran Founder Podcast with your host Josh Carter We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

Michael Donnelly was an active kid. So active that he didn't care for school, didn't care to work for his dad, and didn't care to go to college. So what's next? He had scored high on a military aptitude test in high school and was told by the Army recruiter he'd make a great Green Beret. Cool huh?! But he was advised to talk to all the services before committing and indeed was entranced by the Navy and becoming a Seal. In fact, mother, father and grandfather had served in the Navy, so it was a natural. He joined at 17, went through basic and then came BUDs. Of the 127 who started, 18 graduated. After 10 years active duty, he took his high-risk attitude to civilian life and his organized and disciplined background gave him business skills. He started literally at the bottom, stringing wire under houses, until he could start his own business in the same industry. He has owned many companies since and has been a big money raiser in the causes for which he believes in. And CBD caught his eye as a natural healing agent, especially for vets. A new company, Michael is now active in getting CBD to more vets and others.

A return guest, Ron Steptoe knows that the military and the war can have both pride and pain. His great (how many greats?) grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War as one of the African Americans to fight for colonial rights. As a reward, he was given land, as were many of the Continental Army soldiers, and settled down. But during the American Civil War, many blacks were suspicioned as being spies for the North, and Ron's relative's land was right on Confederate territory. He was labeled a spy and beheaded in front of his family. And at the end of the war, the North destroyed all records of any spies so no one would be targeted again, so Ron had no written record of his ancestor's fate for years. That legacy is part of Ron's rise through West Point and the Army, to Warrior Centric Health. In the healthcare industry, Ron turned his attention to the military healthcare situation, showing them as a population of veterans with specific needs. Veteran Founder Podcast with your host Josh Carter We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

911 Was a big call for many Americans and so for Steve Jimenez. However, his parents wanted him to go to college and figured after he graduated he would not be interested in a military career. They were half right: Steve graduated from Texas A&M, but went right on into the military. He wanted the Marines, deployed in 2010 to 17 countries. His expectations were to be life-long in the Marines, but the reality was family responsibilities and he transitioned. His first job was as a leader in a Texas company manufacturing with about 400 people. Lean and six-sigma was his calling card in building single-phase transformers, then recruited by Haliburton to build a huge manufacturing facility at age 29. He did it by working with amazing people and listening. Now, Hives for Heroes teaches people the "bee addiction", each bee has a specific job, there is an age hierarchy and every job needs to be done or the hive collapses - much like the military. The addiction builds the family, gives purpose in someone's life and helps reduce the suicide rate. Veteran Founder Podcast with your host Josh Carter We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

Bad grades, a music connection and a talk with a military recruiter - the best sales force in the world - got Travis Sorensen started on his military career. Originally wanting to join the Navy reserves, he stuck his head in the wrong door and wound up in the Army. In the delayed entry program, Travis did a semester in college and then off to boot camp. He was deployed to Fort Stewart and spent time in the reserves. Out in 2009, he transitioned to the Federal Reserve as a financial analyst. It was exciting, right in the middle of the financial crisis. His military culture of working hard and powering through served him well, as we have heard on this show many times. After the Fed job, he got into management consulting and combined with his data analysis background, Oddball became a natural evolution, transforming government digital services. Veteran Founder Podcast with your host Josh Carter We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

A third generation of a cult, The Children of God, one of the "crazier" cults, Daniella Young has an unusual background to say the least. No regular education, raised in a commune, mother fifteen when Daniella was born, she is now quite at ease looking back and discussing her upbringing. And there was good from it, such as her Mother teaching her to read and telling her the only thing important in society is learning to read, because after that you can teach yourself anything. She broke at fifteen years old, spent time dealing with the outside world and then in 2009, with a bad economy, the military and the officer program looked enticing. Even though she hated the first three years, she did love being a "bad ass" and being able to beat the boys in many physical tests. Now author, entrepreneur and Ted Talk speaker, she has taken the incredible experience she has and taken it to a company to make them better. Veteran Founder Podcast with your host Josh Carter We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

Matthew "Griff" Griffin comes from a long military line, starting with a grandfather who fought in WWI. It was a natural to go to West Point and ended up in Special Operations. He met Donald "Lee" Lee in Afghanistan and between the two of them, spent seven tours in the middle east. Lee went Special Ops because he knew he would be fighting, so he'd rather fight with alpha-male meat eaters than soldiers who enlisted for college money. Lee found getting back in the civilian workspace was difficult. There was much gray area, not the clear-cut accountability and results-expectations of the military. For Griff, being a manager for a construction company was his first job, and his military background proved helpful, but his leadership style needed to be softer than in the service, which was a great learning lesson. Their company, Combat Flip Flops is a mission-driven apparel company, with the manufacturers family companies in less developed countries. Veteran Founder Podcast with your host Josh Carter We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

Vietnam combat veteran James Mingey has returned to the show. Growing up with a WWII veteran father, James was dazzled with the TV shows and movies of brave soldiers saving people in war. Not such a great student, he dropped out of school and signed up in the Army, landing in the infantry. Sixteen weeks of training, a week to visit family, and then a plane ride to Vietnam. Dropped into the field, he learned about discipline and how to enjoy life, but it was nothing like the movies. The transition was not so bad for James. He had two years of college and found out about the GI Bill, so he streamed into the school system and "stuffed his combat experience away for later in life". His first job was a commercial mortgage banker. There he evaluated businesses as to their eligibility to be financed. He learned the financial metrics to assess the strength of a business and that training gave him the foundation to help other veterans plan, start and run a business. Many of the programs offered by Veterans Business Services are through Universities and many are for free to vets. Veteran Founder Podcast with your host Josh Carter We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

Shannon Scott grew up in rural Montana doing all the ranch work you would expect. Then in high school, Shannon had an uncle in the Air National Guard that started the interest in the military. With the idea of combining serving the country with achieving an education, Shannon took the military aptitude test and scored high in math and electronics, so took that road with the Montana Air Force recruiters. The basic training was "incredible" according to Shannon, because it was a true melting plot of cultures and viewpoints; a great growth experience. A sobering experience was ahead, however. On a flight, the plane was filled with containers. When asked what they contained, the answer was "HR", or human remains. It got Shannon filled with survivor's remorse, the "Why did I live?" question, and it was then Shannon vowed to live a genuine life from that point forward. Masculine at work and feminine off work, Shannon was seen on a weekend and was forced to sign a dishonorable discharge for secretly being transgender. So Shannon stayed in the closet for the remainder of the military service until a job with the FAA eased the pressure. Now Founder and President of United Equality Consulting, Portland, Oregon, helping companies make all employees feel safe, valued and respected for their character. Veteran Founder Podcast with your host Josh Carter We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

An Army Special Forces veteran, Erik Casarez was exposed to survival exercises in college. That's where he met his future wife Rebecca, and the teacher was a Green Beret. He was drawn to supporting the fight against terrorism physically and not just with words. Always trying to be better, Erik preferred Special Forces to being an infantryman. Deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq, Erik needed to transition into private life. Since the family had followed Erik's moves for 10 years in the military, Erik told his wife after discharge that it was her turn to follow her dreams. The mentality not to quit was drilled into him in the military and that philosophy has been fundamental in the success of their CPA firm. Their first move was to work with a marketing firm to make sure their brand reflected the character of their company and they've done that. Veteran Founder Podcast with your host Josh Carter We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast live on-air every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com

Gerald Pygott was in the military in the '70s, not by choice. His father thought it would "make a man" out of him and landed Gerald doing POW recon in Vietnam. Those stories he'll save for another time... He then was sent by the Navy to Hawaii and was very excited about his upcoming vacation. The vacation turned out to be 10 months at sea! He became a SeaBee (Construction Brigade) and was fixing up sea going ships around the Pacific Rim. Discharged in '79, Gerald started a career with HFC and wound up in Alaska. The company went under so Gerald turned that into seven years of putting in power plants for the local villages. Next was starting his own PSC marketing group. Adapting to the times, PSC shows their clients who to give to COVID-19 causes and PSC gives 5% of its money to help homeless veterans. Veteran Founder Podcast with your host Josh Carter We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast live on-air every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com