Beyond the Uniform

BTU #422 - Creating a Culture (Barry Saltzman)

Normally on the show, I interview military veterans about what they're doing post-service. My guest today is not a military veteran, but I believe his message and perspective are a great contribution to our community.  Today's guest, Barry, is helping companies and individuals reach their full potential. Our conversation gave me a deeper understanding of myself, my drives, strengths, and weaknesses. As he puts it, I can be a hero or a villain, and some triggers can drive me in either of th...

BTU #421 - The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership (book review)

In this episode I give a quick recap of one of my favorite books of 2021: The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership. I plan to have every person I hire read this book. It is an exceptional framework for leading with integrity, and a book that has had a big impact on my and my business.

BTU #421 - The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership (Book Review)

In this episode I give a quick recap of one of my favorite books of 2021: The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership. I plan to have every person I hire read this book. It is an exceptional framework for leading with integrity, and a book that has had a big impact on my and my business.

BTU #420 - An Overview of the Space Ecosystem (Shelli Brunswick @ Space Foundation)

Why Listen: Shelli is doing incredible work at Space Foundation, a nonprofit helping expand the space ecosystem and helping job seekers just like you find a job in the space industry. There are a lot of opportunities here. Shelli is one of the rare ones I've interviewed in 420 episodes where it is so clear that she found a good fit for herself in this organization. After 29 years in the Air Force, she is motivated by helping others and giving back. She desires to be inclusive with this ind...

BTU #419 - Mindset: Feelings

In this episode we talk about feelings at work, and how - if leveraged properly - they can provide enormous insight into a leader and team about where they need to focus their time and energy.

BTU #418 - Becoming a Bakery Director (Ranjeet Singh @ Aspire Bakeries)

Why Listen: Today's story is so different. Ranjeet has an incredible background of going from the Marine Corps as an Avionics Division Non-Commissioned Officer and then choosing to go down a path centered around food and operations, including roles like being a  Plant Supervisor at Safeway, a Shipping Department Supervisor at Albertsons, an Operations Manager at Ralphs Grocery Company, and a Plant Manager at BakeMark. You probably recognize all of those names. You've definitely had one of ...

BTU #417 - Mindset: Gratitude

This is a new episode format where I focus on a mindset that I'm working on and that I believe will help our BTU audience in their career and life. Today, I'm talking about gratitude and three "pro tips" about building up a muscle of gratitude and apprecation.

BTU #416 - How to Sell Shovels in a Gold Rush (Trevor Shirk)

Why Listen: One thing that will come through in this interview is how much Trevor is constantly learning from others and books as a professional and an entrepreneur. I am ordering three different books based on the ones he recommended in this episode. We talked a lot about how the riches are in the niches and Trevor's own story of entrepreneurship of how he started to do things and had a realization and pursued that. And it led to what he's doing right now, which is selling software specif...

BTU #415 - Athlete Foundary (KC Chhipwadia)

Why Listen: KC overlapped his time in the military with his time at NASA having over 20 years at each of those organizations. Although his childhood aspiration was to become an astronaut, and he got to the final stages of that process, he ended up starting a company called Athlete Foundary. I love their mission because it's aimed at helping children of any zip code and background fulfill their dream of becoming collegiate athletes. By leveling the playing field and making it clear what pro...

Announcement: Live episode next Friday

Next Friday (December 17th, 2021) at 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern, we'll be trying a live, interactive episode. We'll be using an app called Wisdom to record the show. If you download the app and follow @jnassiri, you'll be able to join us live. Here's the direct link to follow me on Wisdom: https://joinwisdom.audio/jnassiri If you'd like to participate, go to beyondtheuniform.org/live and complete the sort form there - you can ask a question or share your own knowledge with our audience...

BTU #413 - 3x Growth in Two Years as CEO (Justin Wells)

Why Listen: Today's interview is a different story than I've heard before. Because Justin didn't found a company, he was working at a company called Intuit, getting a lot of experience in product innovation. He was contacted by a company right when he was starting his entrepreneurial journey about having the possibility of him taking over as CEO. It's a path that I haven't heard of a lot. He's done well at tripling the size of this company in those two years. Even though at that time the p...

BTU #412 - Hemp & Psychedelics (Devin Alvarez @ StraightHemp)

Why Listen: I had intended to spend the bulk of my conversation with Devin talking about growth and marketing because he has some great ideas. But we ended up going down a different path. Devin runs a company called StraightHemp, where they sell different hemp-related products. In this interview, we talked about CBD and other things. And he also is an advocate for psychedelics. Devin is a rare breed of person. He's building a company and making money, but that's not what's driving him. Dev...

BTU #411 - Air Force to Health Tech Startup President (Kit Kieling @ Orderly Health)

Why Listen: Today's conversation is dense in terms of the amount of wisdom per square second. I've known Ken for a while now, and it was great hearing more about his story. I respect his vulnerability and authenticity in sharing how he navigated multiple times in his career in life. Things didn't work out the way that he thought they would. One example is his work in the ICU in Afghanistan and Iraq that changed his view about medicine and realizing that that path wasn't what he wanted to d...

BTU #410 - Army to CEO (Erik Malmstrom)

Why Listen: Erik is a man I tremendously respect. His background is unbelievably impressive. A few things that we talked about that stood out to me is, first of all, where we started the conversation, which is an alternate view on the veteran transition that I've never heard before; it puts veterans in a different light. And I think it's very thought-provoking. Second of all is Erik's work around Afghanistan, which he has done for the last ten years of helping people get out of Afghanistan...

BTU #409 - Investing in Cybersecurity (Ken Gonzalez)

Why Listen: Ken is an absolute Rockstar. His career includes working at some of the most iconic brands in Silicon Valley; Siebel Systems, McAfee, AVAST Software, FireEye, and now founding and running his own investment firm, NightDragon. Here are six different things to keep an ear out for in this episode. First of all, why veterans should consider a career in cybersecurity and what the characteristics of this industry are. Second, what life is like as a mid to late-stage investor. Third, ...

BTU #408 - 0 to 2,100 Employees (Alex O'Brien @ Cardinal Group)

Why Listen: I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have this conversation with Alex. I reached out to him via LinkedIn because I saw he was in Denver, and he was a Marine who has done incredible things as an entrepreneur and basically treated this interview as part two of a conversation with him. Here's a couple of things that stood out to me that I hope you benefit from this interview. At one point, Alex says, I don't know anything, pay me and teach me. I think that's such a great thought...

BTU #407 - True Made Foods (Abe Kamarck)

Why Listen: I enjoyed this conversation; Abe's honesty, his directness in revealing the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, as well as the many pivots that he's experienced in his own life. He started True Made Foods seven years ago when he was 38. He had four kids. It was not necessarily in line with what he did in his background. They are growing rapidly. They were named one of the top 10 most innovative food companies of 2021. In this interview, I appreciated how he talked about how most...

BTU #406 - A Well Designed Financial Plan (Imperium Capital)

Why Listen: Normally on the show, I have a military veteran as my guest. We talk about what they do, how they got there, and advice to others seeking to do the same. Today I am doing that, but with three guests, two Army and West Point grads, one Naval Academy and fellow Submariner, who joined forces to found Imperium Capital. There's a lot that I love about this interview. It is a blend of talking about financial planning and tips that anyone listening can apply to their career to get the...

Reflections on September 11th

Janell Hanf sent me an email yesterday morning asking about my experience at the Naval Academy on September 11th. Here is a quick episode sharing more about that experience and my hope this day to honor those who lost their lives that day, those who served that day, and those drawn to service thereafter.

BTU #405 - Taking a Company Public During a Pandemic (Bruce Cleveland)

Why Listen: As an entrepreneur focused on marketing, it was an extreme honor to interview today's guest, Bruce Cleveland. Bruce is an absolute Silicon Valley legend, having worked in operational roles at companies including Oracle, Apple, and Siebel Systems. In addition to that, he has worked in venture capital for 15 years, where he has personally generated over a billion dollars in returns. This includes his work at InterWest Partners, one of the most respected VCs in the world, but also...

BTU #404 - Leading at the Highest Level (LTG Robert Caslen)

Why Listen: It is always intimidating speaking with a flag officer. And that all said General Caslen made that so easy. He's such a gracious man. He served for over 43 years in the military, including being Superintendent at West Point. He was at the Pentagon on 911. He snuck back in to assist with fighting fires and ensuring that his colleagues were safe. He has no shortage of unbelievable experiences in the military. After the military, he went on to become the president at the Universit...

BTU #403 - Buying and Growing a Healthcare Company (Daniel Reese)

Why Listen: My guest today is an entrepreneur, but not the type that you usually think about. We've had a couple of guests on the show who have done what is called a search fund, which is what I thought I was doing most of my time at Business School. Rather than coming up with an idea, which many people struggle to do and starting your own company, a search fund enables you to raise money, to go out and find a company, usually a mom and pop type shops, something that's doing well that coul...

Inadvertent Viral Post (Paul David)

Why Listen: This is a quick short episode in between our normal format of Beyond the Uniform, which is me interviewing military veterans about their civilian career, what they did, how they got there, and advice for how you can do the same. So today’s guest is someone who is not a military veteran, but I love this story. It's something that I did for my company Captivate.ai., and I wanted to share it here as well. I put together a three-minute video that's worth checking out if you like Pa...

BTU #402 - Find Your Mission (Nic McKinley)

Why Listen: This is one of the more energizing conversations I've had on the show. In addition to serving in the Air Force, working in the State Department, serving in the CIA, and now running two different companies - one of them designed to fight human trafficking - Nic is needless to say, an amazing human being. As a founder of two companies, his biggest advice to entrepreneurs is to not start a company. We talk about how success is opportunity meeting preparation, and how oftentimes we...

BTU #401 - Taking Care of Your People (Trier Bryant)

Why Listen: For those of you who smoke cigars, and you know the phrase knuckle burner - this is a knuckle burner of an episode. I went in trying to keep this to 30 minutes, but we used 58 minutes for this conversation. It's because Trier has so many great points about so many different topics. You'll learn about her career. She's the co-founder and CEO of a company called Just Work. She has a tremendous amount of experience at Goldman Sachs, Twitter, other great organizations around people...

BTU #400 - Up Your Influence (Josh Elledge)

Why Listen: I think it's amazing this conversation I had with Josh because most of it is about adding value and - what he calls - leveraging generosity for marketing and sales. And what's crazy for me is that the way that I met Josh a couple of months ago was through a connection, and I even forget how I met him. I run a company Captivate.ai that works all in marketing, and Josh is such an expert in sales systems and marketing. I think that this is a little bit different from a typical epi...

BTU #399 - Consumer Packaged Goods (Kurt Schmidt)

Why Listen: Well, my guest today is an absolute Rockstar. There's a couple of reasons to listen. First of all, he started his career in marketing. He has been at the helm of very senior companies, including Kraft Foods, Wrigley, Novartis, Nestle, The Blue Buffalo Company. He's on the board of Campbell Soup. He took Blue Buffalo public. He was the head of Gerber when it was acquired by Nestle. He has an incredible history, and part of his advice is just focusing on the job in front of you, ...

BTU #398 - A Future Built on Trust (Leemon Baird)

BTU #397 - Depression to Expression (Scott Ste Marie)

BTU #396 - Approaching Networking From a Generous Standpoint (Shawn Olds)

Why Listen: I just wrapped up my conversation with Shawn, and it was so enjoyable. There were a couple of things that stood out to me. One was his great quote about always being ready for opportunities and embracing the right thing. His story is so incredible, from this perspective, starting with his unexpected medical discharge from the military, to a winding road through consulting and startups, and ultimately back to startups and starting his own company. It just really shows you the po...

BTU #395 - Purpose Driven Entrepreneurship (Joe Ross @ HigherEchelon)

Why Listen: I just wrapped up recording this episode, and it will cost me about $60 in books, or maybe $5 in late fees from the library because there were so many great books that Joe recommended. Here are a couple things that stood out to me from this interview. And first of all, make sure you check out the show notes for this episode at BeyondTheUniform.org. In addition to a link to Joe's company, HigherEchelon, there are also links to all of the books he describes, as well as an inter...

How to Create a Clear Brand Message (Ryan Rhoten)

You Deserve It (Brian Reese)

Brian Reese is a leading expert on and advocate for U.S. veterans’ benefits. A former active-duty Air Force officer, he deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and received the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. He is a Distinguished Graduate of Management from the United States Air Force Academy and earned his MBA as a National Honor Scholar from the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University. Brian is the Founder & CEO of VA Claims Insider, a Coaching a...

391 - Deliberate Discomfort - Jason Van Camp

Jason Van Camp is the author of the book, Deliberate Discomfort, which is both a Wall Street Journal and 2x #1 Amazon Best Selling book. For the last 10+ years, he has run the consulting firm, Mission Six Zero, which dramatically improve sales performance, reduces costs, and wins by providing their client's teams with a new way of solving organizational problems. He is also the Executive Director of the 501-3c organization, Warrior Rising. He is a graduate of West Point, as well as Brigham Y...

April 2021 fan mail

Thanks for your support, BTU community! I got two emails this week I wanted to share with all of you.

BTU #390 - Special - Justin, Steve, Jeff B. and Jeff M. riff (The Agile Wire)

Today's episode is entirely different than our other 390 episodes.   A while back, Jeff Maleski and Jeff Bubulz reached out to us and asked to have me and Steve Bane on their podcast - The Agile Wire - where they discuss adventures and misadventures on their continuing journey towards Agility.   Steve and I both had a blast being on the other side of the microphone, as we both shared our perspectives on what we've learned from Beyond the Uniform, why Veterans are more flexible in the...

BTU #392 - 20 years of transformational, company turnaround and growth work

I loved my interview with Jason Santamaria. Special thanks to Vincent Martino for making this connection. They became good friends in business school and co-authored a book. Two things you should pay attention to for this interview: 1 - alignment. There's very few people I can think of in the last 390 interviews that are as aligned as Jason is with his career. The way that he speaks, the way that he thinks, the way that he processes information... he found the right career for him. And i...

BTU #389 - Founding a high-tech security company (Christian White)

About this Episode: After serving in the Army for 6.5 years, Christian founded an advisory and technology firm focused on helping High-Growth Technology Companies build, manage, and certify their Security, Privacy, and Compliance programs. He has quickly grown his company - risk3sixty - to over 20 employees and it seems like they are just getting started. In this interview we talk about character, we talk about being a steward of a company, we talk about the differences in leadership in an...

BTU #388 - Coast Guard COOL (Mike Reynolds & Cristy Minshew)

Why Listen: This is the third installment in our series where we are taking a deep dive into each branch’s credentialing assistance program. Today we talk with Mike and Cristy from Coast Guard COOL. This is a relatively new program that was stood up in January 2020, but it already has over 1,500 credentials available for Coast Guardsmen. Here's the program in a nutshell: •CG COOL funds enlisted members only (active and selected reservists) and can help pay for exam, application, stat...

BTU #387 -Navy and DoD Civilian COOL (Michael Talley)

Why Listen: Today’s interview is the 2nd installment in a series where we take a deep dive into each branch’s respective credentialing service. Credentialing Assistance is a great way to leverage the transition tools and resources available to service members to accelerate their post-military careers. Certifications add professional capability and credibility and help you stand out to a hiring manager. In this conversation, we talk with Mike Talley – the Director of Navy COOL, and he ...

BTU #386 - Starting a business on your own terms (John Schmitt)

Why Listen: I loved hearing John's unique approach to entrepreneurship and life. After 20 years of military service, John was drawn into starting his own business. While starting any company requires sales, John's approach to sales is to simply be curious about whoever he is speaking with, and learn about their pain points. This is such great advice for so many different career paths. I also appreciate how John has constructed his life to have a fulfilling family life, outside of work lif...

BTU #385 - The strongest person I've interviewed (Jessica Swanson)

Why Listen: In 380 episodes, my guest today - Jess Swanson - is the strongest person I've met. I say that amidst a backdrop of Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, NFL players, UFC Champions and more. At 6 months old, Jess oldest daughter experienced epileptic seizures - usually 8 a day - and shortly after was diagnosed with autism. Rather than letting this derail her life, Jess used it to pave a new path that has helped not only her family, but countless others as well.   She pursued a graduate ...

BTU #384 - SWAT team, mental health, and more (Jeff McDonald)

Why Listen: I was riding a high after my conversation with Jeff for days - I appreciate his strength, vulnerability, and authenticity in this conversation. You can view this interview in two parts - the first part we discuss his transition from the Marine Corps into law enforcement, including work in prisons, on patrol, and with the SWAT teams. In the second half, we both talk about our experience with therapy and mental health. Jeff talks candidly about PTSD and depression, and we both ope...

Thank you Kathleen Dillon!

After three years of tireless volunteering support for Beyond the Uniform, our Editor, Kathleen Dillon, is moving on to other things. THANK YOU, KATHLEEN for your unbelievable support of Beyond the Uniform.   Kathleen is wrapping up school in six months and hopes to enter the sports industry in a strategy or business analytics role . If you have any connections in these areas, drop her a note on LinkedIn - she is a rockstar worthy of support!    

BTU #383 - Army Credentialing Assistance (Sophia Sweeney)

Why Listen: Well, normally this show is hosted by Justin. But I came to him with an idea. I talk to a lot of transitioning service members, and its eye opening how many of them – regardless of branch – have never heard of the various credentialing programs that are offered. Today is part 1 in a series where I’ll be interviewing each branch’s credentialing program manager to get the facts on credentialing assistance in an effort to spread awareness to the servicemembers who can use them. ...

BTU #382 - CIO Pre and Post-IPO (Michael Hansen)

Why Listen: Special thanks to Jim Sinai for making the intro to Michael. While Michael had a full career in the Marine Corps, with over 21 years of service, he didn't let either what he did in the Marines, or how successful he was at doing it get in the way of his going on to have a truly exemplary tech career as a Chief Information Officer at some truly incredible companies. Here are a few things to look for in this interview: How Michael is always dreaming of what is next, and then work...

BTU #381 - Broadcasting your values, not your accomplishments (Justin LeHew)

Why Listen: Special thanks to Steve Bane for making this interview happen. My guest today, Justin LeHew, is many things. He earned the Navy Cross for his heroic actions in Iraq in 2003, he has an obstacle at Parris Island named after him: LeHew's Challenge, he achieved the rank of Sergeant Major in the Marine Corps. Yet its not merely these accomplishments that set him apart - it is the way that he focuses on others rather than broadcasting his significant achievements. We talk a lot about...

BTU #380 - Becoming Best-selling Authors & publishers (Andrew Watts and Jason Kasper)

Why Listen: I'm so excited to start off 2021 with an interview that was so much fun to do. Back in 2017, and Episode 95, I interviewed Andrew watts, who was military veteran who became a full time author. And we reconnected for today's interview, I'm adding in Jason Casper, and a couple things that I loved about this interview. So just for context, Andrew, is a writer who is still a writer, but now also started a publishing company, the Severn river river publishing company, and he publish...

BTU #379 - Rapid Iteration vs. Building For Scale (Vincent Martino - Co-Founder @ VisitPay)

Why Listen Vincent's story is pretty much the opposite of the standard entrepreneurial success story you hear. Yes - he has experienced incredible success - his company, VisitPay, now has over 100 employees, 3 of his 7 C-Suite executives are Service Academy graduates, and he has received over $26M in funding from some of the best investors in the world, like Norwest. However, where his story differs is that this didn't happen overnight.  Vincent has been at this for nearly 12 years. His su...

BTU #378 - Know Your Boundaries (Chris Hsu - CEO @ Zibo)

Why Listen: For today’s guest, Chris Hsu, I could have spent a full episode on six incredible positions he held since his time in the Army - his work as an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company, as Managing Director at KKR, as Senior Vice President at HP, as CEO at Micro Focus, and as an Advisory Partner at Andreessen Horowitz - each of those blow my mind. While we touch on this briefly, we spend the bulk of our time on his current role as CEO and Co-Founder of Zibo, which blends real ...