The Academy Insider Podcast - Your Guide to The Naval Academy Experience
The mission of Academy Insider is to guide, serve, and support Midshipmen, future Midshipmen, and their families. Through the perspective of a community of former graduates and Naval Academy insiders, this podcast will help you learn about life at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. Through our shared experiences, Academy Insider guides families through the anxiety and frustration caused by lack of understanding, misinformation, and confusion. This platform is designed to better relationships between midshipmen and their loved ones. This podcast is not affiliated with the United States Naval Academy, the United States Navy or Department of Defense. The thoughts and opinions are exclusively those of your host and his guests.
The Academy Insider Podcast - Your Guide to The Naval Academy Experience
#085 Supporting Service Academy Grads on the Outside: Why Veterans Make Exceptional Teammates in Any Workplace
Are you a midshipman wondering how to prepare for life after the Naval Academy? Or perhaps you're a junior officer contemplating your next steps? In this episode of the Academy Insider podcast, I sit down with Brendan Aronson, Naval Academy graduate, Marine Corps veteran, and now CEO of The Military Veteran.
We explore the unique value that veterans bring to the civilian workforce and discuss strategies for a successful transition from military to civilian life. Brendan shares insights from his journey, from his time at the Academy to his current role in executive search and venture capital.
Key Takeaways:
- The importance of focusing on being an excellent officer while in service
- How to navigate the non-linear nature of civilian careers
- The power of networking and building authentic relationships
- Why an MBA might be a valuable step for some veterans
- The lasting impact of the Naval Academy experience
Advice for Current Midshipmen:
- Build genuine connections with classmates and alumni
- Embrace the unique opportunities the Academy offers
- Develop adaptability and resilience
- Start thinking about long-term career goals early
Whether you're a current midshipman, a transitioning veteran, or simply curious about the Naval Academy experience, this episode offers valuable insights into the journey from military service to civilian success.
"Your reputation in the military and at the academy follows you. Be a good person to your classmates at all times."
Join us for an honest conversation about the challenges and opportunities that await Naval Academy graduates in the civilian world. Learn how to leverage your military experience and academy network to thrive in your post-service career.
The mission of Academy Insider is to guide, serve, and support Midshipmen, future Midshipmen, and their families.
Grant Vermeer your host is the person who started it all. He is the founder of Academy Insider and the host of The Academy Insider podcast and the USNA Property Network Podcast. He was a recruited athlete which brought him to Annapolis where he was a four year member of the varsity basketball team. He was a cyber operations major and commissioned into the Cryptologic Warfare Community. He was stationed at Fort Meade and supported the Subsurface Direct Support mission.
He separated from the Navy in 2023 and now owns The Vermeer Group, a boutique residential real estate company that specializes in serving the United States Naval Academy community PCSing to California & Texas.
We are here to be your guide through the USNA experience.
Connect with Grant on Linkedin
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If you are interested in sponsoring the podcast, have an idea, question or topic you would like to see covered, reach out: podcast@academyinsider.com.
Welcome to Season 2 of the Academy Insider Podcast. Academy Insider is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that serves midshipmen, future midshipmen and their families. At its core, this podcast is designed to bring together a community of Naval Academy graduates and those affiliated with the United States Naval Academy in order to tell stories and provide a little bit of insight into what life at the Naval Academy is really like. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you so much for listening and reach out if you ever have any questions. Hey everyone, and welcome back to the Academy Insider Podcast. In today's episode, I'm joined by a Naval Academy graduate, a United States Marine veteran and now the CEO of a company called the Military Veteran Brendan Aronson. He's a good friend of mine, he's an incredible guy and today's episode is going to be super fun because we'll be talking directly to midshipmen and future midshipmen, but also to the parents, and just talking in general about what makes Naval Academy graduates, what makes their transition at some point, knowing that at some point in the future they will be getting out of the military. So this is an interesting conversation and topic. We share a ton of stories about our time in the service, what we've learned in the business world and how that relates to currently actively what's going on in their time in the military. So I hope you enjoy this. If you have any questions, let me know. Otherwise, have a great day and have a great listen. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:The Academy Insider Podcast is sponsored by the Vermeer Group, a residential real estate company that serves the United States Naval Academy community and other select clientele in both California and Texas. If I can ever answer a real estate related question for you or connect you with a trusted Academy affiliated agent in the market which you're in, please reach out to me directly at grant at the premier groupcom. You can also reach out to me on my LinkedIn page, grant for me, or, and I'd be happy to respond to you there. Thank you so much, and now let's get back to the episode. Everyone and welcome back to the Academy insider Podcast, brandon. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us today to provide a little context to the listeners out there. If you don't mind, you mind describing one a little bit of your background, of where you came from, how you ended up at the Naval Academy, what you did in the Marine Corps and currently what you're doing now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, happy to do it. Thanks for doing this. Thanks for hosting this podcast. I listened to a few of the episodes for doing this. Thanks for hosting this podcast. I listened to a few of the episodes. I listened to the episode with my classmate and company mate, phil Jones. Just wanted to hear you guys talking. That was a great episode, so appreciate what you do, grant. Yeah, so I'm Brendan. I'm originally from Baltimore.
Speaker 2:I was a member of the great class of 2012, feisty Goat and 15th Company. I had an awesome experience at the Naval Academy. I mean, I guess enjoying it. Maybe that's like a strong word, but the friendships that you make there are like for life, and people have your back through thick and thin. You cannot pay for that outside of just having to build those relationships, and so it was the best decision I've ever made.
Speaker 2:After that, to your point, I served in our beloved Corps. I was an infantry officer in the Marine Corps for six years, mostly stationed on the West Coast. I did a couple deployments overseas, spent some time in Asia, spent some time in Iraq, got out and then, since then, I've done a variety of different things in my civilian career. I went to business school. I'm a pretty big proponent of it. It's not for everybody, neither necessary nor sufficient to get to where you're going in life, but it was a good experience for me. So I graduated from the Wharton MBA program, spent some time at Goldman through a series of internships in their investment bank, so I got a little bit of flavor for finance. And then for the last few years I've been an entrepreneur, launched a couple of companies some strikes, some gutters, as they'd say, as the dude would say, and yeah, that's right. The most recent company that I've launched is called the Military Veteran, which has very catchy branding. It's like such an obnoxious name for a company.
Speaker 1:We love it. It's clear and concise to the point. You know what it's all about.
Speaker 2:I've never been accused of being creative, so that's okay. But yeah, our company helps companies hire veterans. We work mostly with high-growth companies. A lot of our clients are private equity-backed businesses looking to hire general managers, CEOs, so we focus on folks that are a little bit deeper into their business careers as opposed to like transitioning junior officers. We do some work with transitioning JOs, so we work with private equity backed, venture backed, privately held companies, primarily on a variety of different roles from sales operations like business type roles. So that's given me sort of a unique viewpoint into civilian careers after the military. And then for the last three years I've worked as an investor at a fund called Context Ventures, which does seed and pre-seed investments into companies that are founded by military veterans. So those are high growth technology companies. We also host a slew of events across the country. We've got happy hours. We've done them in probably like 15 cities this year all across the West Coast, East Coast.
Speaker 1:We did a Texas tour. I ran into you in Austin there for a little bit. That was super fun. That was a great event.
Speaker 2:Dude, yeah, 100%, and I'm missing that Austin heat right now because I'm back on the East Coast.
Speaker 1:I hate to tell you, but yesterday and today it's been like 65. And so I was playing pickleball with my mom yesterday morning, Nice and sunny.
Speaker 2:It's like dude. It's like literally 30 degrees and like hurricane force winds outside my house right now. I can't relate. I will survive. My only goal getting out of the Marine Corps was to not be cold and wet ever again, so that really led itself to Southern California.
Speaker 2:But yeah, anyway, yeah. So, apart from so, we host these happy hours across the country, and then we do the Military Veterans Startup Conference in San Francisco, which draws like 450 or 500 folks every year. It's a really terrific event. It's my favorite event of the year. Get a bunch of venture capitalists, startup founders, operators, folks that are working in early stage companies, folks that are interested in early stage companies.
Speaker 2:And then I'm in the process of launching a new fund, not under the context banner, but it's a national security focused fund of funds, so I can talk a little bit about that. We'll be investing in private equity and venture funds that are focused on one of the Department of Defense's 14 critical technology areas. These are areas like AI, cybersecurity, advanced materials, advanced manufacturing, space, biotech. So there's a bunch of these different industries. Our goal is to invest in these fund managers that are investing in these industries and then help them think through how their companies can sell to the government, how they can support the national security mission as both like a value creation strategy and then also because it's just the right thing to do.
Speaker 1:So yeah, that's a 30,000-foot overview. Yeah, is the thesis in that one as well kind of like with your other one military founders? I assume, just kind of as a result of the industry that you're in, there will be a lot of veterans in the space. But is there anything specific to that in this new fund?
Speaker 2:No less. So I mean the fund we are going to donate a portion of our carried interest now less so.
Speaker 1:I mean the fund we are going to donate a portion of our carried interest like thank you so much for listening to veterans and reach out if you have any questions.
Speaker 2:Partner for the fund is is a veteran himself, terrific american and also just super, super smart, so there will be well. You know, obviously, with everything that I do is my life's mission to support veterans and but you know, in terms of like context, as a venture fund does really have a focus on veteran founders, I think like% of the portfolio is veteran founders. It's not exclusively, but it really has shaped up to be primarily veteran focused. But for the new fund, no, it's not specifically focused on veteran fund managers or veteran founded companies, but rather like the best investors across these asset classes who are industry experts in their particular industry. And then our goal is to create a bigger tent, like to pull more folks into thinking about the national security mission.
Speaker 1:Yep, no, a hundred percent. That was something that was really interesting for me, because when I did my Skillbridge internship I was with Scout Scout Ventures in Austin, which has a very similar kind of dual use focus A lot of, again, a lot of investment in technologies that support national defense through innovation.
Speaker 1:Right, it was a fun transition and shift between like hey, yeah, I support national defense via, quite literally, my military service, and then kind of transitioning and seeing, even in your civilian world, there's still a ton of ways to contribute and get back and be a part of our national defense. This time through either innovation or, like in your case, especially investing in innovation as well, to like, develop these technologies and give people the opportunity and then well, access, to work with the military and the Department of Defense to equip and give our people, who are actively serving, all the tools that they need to be extremely successful and safe. Right, and so Absolutely.
Speaker 2:I mean to build on that for a second. I mean, there's some really interesting things I see when I see veterans get out of the uniform. The number one thing that I think I see a lot of people do is they're like I want to get away from defense, like I want to try something different, I want to broaden my aperture, broaden my horizon. I think that's great. Yeah, what? Interestingly, I think I see a lot more people move back to defense later in their career and I think that that is for the same reasons that they went to in the first place, which is like the mission and the people.
Speaker 2:You know, when I think about careers and when I give people advice on, like how to think about their careers, I encourage folks to think about like, what are they uniquely talented at? What do they like to do? What are they good at? What can they get paid for? Right, that's the nature of the work you should be doing. But then, in terms of like, where you're going to focus, what makes you different?
Speaker 2:You know? I mean you can try and compete with folks in a domain that is not necessarily like your domain, like, for instance, if you transition out and go into, like, an ai focused company, or like you try and become like an ai engineer, like there are folks that have gone and studied that for like a decade or two decades Right, but you have built like brand equity and equity and an understanding of defense, and so it does kind of make sense. It's like you have this experience. As long as you can find a role or a position that is aligned with what you want to do and what your priorities are in life, and then what you're good at, what you'd like to do and it's got to have the right people then you can be super successful in that specific niche 100%.
Speaker 1:And again, you quite literally invest around the value of vets in the workplace. A lot of your businesses are built around that, but you also do a lot of advocating as well on LinkedIn and other places quite literally around that topic and, like you mentioned, there are a lot of things to do and you kind of mentioned some separators there. But do you have also again, lessons that you learned either at the Naval Academy or in the Marine Corps that you think really embody and show again what makes veterans great civilian workers right, whether that be in the defense industry or outside?
Speaker 2:Dude, 100%. Like I mean first of all, I believe in veterans wholeheartedly. I mean first of all, I believe in veterans wholeheartedly. I mean it makes sense, like it's like, you know, it's how I spend my time. But I talk to a lot of veterans and like, yeah, man, I'm convinced. I think it's really difficult to see when you're in it, right, because it's like, especially if you're like midshipman or like a junior officer, it's like everybody that you know, so you may think this.
Speaker 2:You might think that some of these traits are like really common, but they're not like um dude tenacity, um like keeping a cool and level head, just like a basic understanding of stoicism and how to like compartmentalize some of your emotional reactions to things. Those are things that it takes people a really long time to learn and they're sort of just table stakes in the military. You know, at the academy we studied some of this stuff in like loose hall. I think it was right, like the leadership, I think some law department I'm right on the name of the bill.
Speaker 2:I'm proud of you, you still okay, I'm drilling it here, let's go. Okay, um, but like, you learn about some of this stuff and then you have an opportunity to put it in practice and like, dude, it takes people years and years to develop that skill set and we just think of it as table stakes. The number one thing I think that people learn in the military is how to be a great teammate. That is not like a common feature of being a human being.
Speaker 2:Like most people, especially in the United States, especially today, like we live in a pretty like individualistic society, people tend to be a little bit self-centered or self-focused, and all the veterans I come in contact with, their first thought is like how can I be useful to you, how can I be of service to you, how can I help you? And it is really amazing what people can accomplish when no one cares who gets the credit for their actions. And that's what being great teammates about, that's what the military teaches you. So those are just some of the high level ones. But, dude, I could literally talk about this for this entire podcast.
Speaker 1:Like, no, I think it's super interesting, right, because, again, one I love that you're talking about like the teammate aspect of it, because it's something I like talk about a ton. And it feels weird because, again, like you're saying, when you're in it you sometimes you don't fully comprehend or everything that you're, that you're going through in the experience and everything that you are building. But it gives a lot of times we we associate, you know, like our sense of service with, quite literally, our military service, like our service to national defense, versus just like this virtue of service, right, this like being a teammate and especially as a role as a junior officer, is like yeah, like no, my marines or my sailors like those are my guys and gals, like I'm gonna do whatever I can to help them win in life. Right, like whatever that means in your specific role or billet or whatever the case is, like your whole life is built around being a great teammate and being of service as a virtue, right, and so like that's something that carries over regardless of profession, right, it's just become part of who you are, which is so cool, of profession, right, it's just become part of who you are, which is so cool, and then, like you're saying, especially the stoicism.
Speaker 1:I think probably the coolest thing, especially about my military experience that I talk a ton about, is I got so good at not caring about things that are outside of my control, right, you just get so good in the military Again, for lack of a better term. Part of the military is there can be a lot of frustrating stuff or like things that are going on that you just have no control over, but you just get such a great ability and experience and repetition at just being like all right, well, what is in my control, what can I focus on and what can we do as a team? Just like again, just focus on the mission and just keep going and do like doing the next thing right, and so I mean all I mean all those things are.
Speaker 1:you know, whether you're a Marine, whether you're Navy, whether you're armed, whatever it is like. Those are military experiences, Right, and they just carry across all veterans. I think it's so cool.
Speaker 2:A hundred percent. I mean, you embody a ton of these, like I've seen it from us working together and just being buddies Like you embody a ton of these. You've obviously taken a lot of lessons learned from the military into your business career, and I think most folks do. I would say. There's a couple other traits that I would call out. One is the most frustrating phrase in the military, which is message to Garcia. I mean, if I had a dollar for every time someone told me message to Garcia, or just figure it the F out, you know, I wouldn't even have to work. What's?
Speaker 1:so funny is like for me, that one's hilarious Cause like when I was in it I was like this is just lazy leaders, like they don't want to give me any direction, they're just like, just just figure it out. But like when it comes to entrepreneurship, when it comes to a successful civilian career, the people who can just take a problem and find solutions and go create them provide a ton of value to the world. Right, and like that is something that you just build and it's. It's interesting because I literally saw linkedin post today from jamie cummings.
Speaker 1:He was a naval academy guy, seal, a big-time executive search professional in the dallas area, and his whole thing was about message to garcia and like in his civilian career, how that that was the number one lesson that he was just so grateful for in his world. Because there there is like again when it comes to handling ambiguity and handling adversity and this idea of just like again, just figuring it out, like that that's a skill, like that's a muscle that you have to like, build and develop right, yeah, it's uncomfortable for sure but it's like it is the, it's the, it's the bedrock of being able to be an initiative-driven person, right?
Speaker 2:Like can't be initiative-driven if you've got to ask every single thing about how to do anything. So, yeah, that one's a huge one. I will say, like you know, I encourage veterans to like feel a great deal of confidence about the intangible traits that they'll bring to the civilian business world. Yeah, the intangible traits that they'll bring to the civilian business world. Yeah. But I will also say, like you know, when I transitioned out, I think I had, like a pretty unrealistic expectation of like where I would land or like how my skill set could be, like immediately super valuable and like there is, of course, an element of reinvention here and like there's a lot to learn about business. So, like, you would never join the military and expect to go straight into, like, company command or battalion command or something like that. Like you got to learn squad tactics before you can learn company tactics. You got to learn company tactics before battalion tactics, right?
Speaker 2:So it's, like you know, in the business world, like you have all of these intangible skills that are super valuable, but of course, you got to learn the trade and the craft too. So, you know I always encourage folks to think about. Like you, it's a bit of a tight line to walk as you're transitioning, because you want to have the confidence and your ability to rapidly learn these things and the confidence in these intangible skill sets, but the humility and understanding that you probably don't know that much about business. Like dude, when I got out of the Marine Corps I couldn't even spell revenue. You know, you know and so, like you do have quite a bit to learn. So it is like a bit of like a you know you got to walk this fine line, sure.
Speaker 1:Definitely a fine line to walk there. And again, just kind of talking about the civilian workforce in general here, as we're talking about this stuff, you talk a lot about civilian allies and this is big in your business as well kind of working with some of these portfolio companies and these private equity-backed companies. We do have a lot of executive, civilian listeners and parents of midshipmen who are in the civilian world and in some of these leadership and executive roles. How can they be great allies to veterans in the workplace? As we talk about this and explain, like, why veterans can be great value adders to a workplace, how can they be great allies to veterans in the workplace and what does that even mean? It's a good question.
Speaker 2:I mean there's all kinds of ways, like you know. I mean it can be as simple as just being grateful on Veterans Day and celebrating the veterans in your life that you know, or you can go the extra mile. I mean, dude, like the number one thing that you can do is hire veterans, right, Like I don't think that you should hire them because it's the right thing to do or it feels good or it's charity. I think you should hire them because it's a good business decision, like they will make you money. So it happens to be one of those things where it's like you just do the right thing and it also happens to be the right choice. But yeah, I mean hiring folks or just generally being supportive. I mean I don't know, try and get involved in some veterans organizations. There's a ton of veteran service organizations, lots of really, really great nonprofits that are doing amazing work for our community. Just get involved in one and meet some veterans and try and be of service to them. Take some time to mentor them. American Corporate Partners does like this mentorship program where they pair a transitioning veteran with. It could be a civilian, it could be someone that's already transitioned. I think most of their volunteers probably are civilians. That's a really great way to get involved.
Speaker 2:Over 50% of Americans actually have no close relationships with a veteran, and so a lot of times, the perspective that people come at our community with is one of just ignorance, like they just don't know and they only see what the media tells them, which is that we need a lot of help.
Speaker 2:And there's like this homeless veteran problem and there's, like you know, challenges with PTSD, and so I can't even tell you, like you know, how many Christmas parties or holiday parties I've been to where I tell people what I do and they're like oh wow, like veterans like PTSD, like is that what you're working on, are you okay? Yeah, there's like so many people who are just tremendously talented folks and they might have like challenges just like any other human being, but like they are super, super capable in their business careers, and so any way that you, as a civilian, can interact with other civilians who might not have close relationships with veterans and just help them understand what we're capable of and what we can do for them, you know that'll be making an impact. That's that's being a good ally.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 100%. And to bring this back to now specifically, kind of the midshipman or the junior officer experience and talking about again that transition out and becoming a veteran. And one thing that I harp on a ton is that, like when you choose the Naval Academy, when you choose the service academy, in general it's not a four year decision but it's a 40 plus year decision of all the different advantages and shared backgrounds that we have, the network that we become a part of as a result of our shared experiences and background. And so, again, when it comes to midshipmen and military officers, you know, I think one of these things that's really interesting when we talk about these perspectives.
Speaker 1:Obviously you and I kind of jumped into more of an entrepreneurial route, but there are a lot of people who kind of go into, again, more of a normal corporate environment or life outside of the military. But those structures between the military and civilian work can be very different. And I feel like, again, a lot of times we get used to a really linear career and this is something that you talk about a lot. Again, you go from 01 to 02 to 03 at the two year mark on the dot, kind of no matter what you did like you're going to promote. It's not like you do your job, promote right, like you kind of figure it out, and there's a career like a direct path, right Of things to do. That's a little bit different and so you know as you're talking to midshipmen or junior officer.
Speaker 2:What do these individuals need to start to adjust in their mindset when it comes to careers outside the service and careers becoming less linear in the outside world? Okay, well, there's two different questions, or two different points. I want to hit on to your question. One is like what can midshipmen or junior officers do to set themselves up for success? And the other one is like how to wrap your head around the fact that your careers outside of the uniform are not as linear. Sure, I want to address the first one, which is like if you are a midshipman or junior officer, the single best thing that you can do is focus on becoming a terrific officer, because that is one of the most important things that you're going to do in your life, like straight up, like you are going to be entrusted with 40 young men and women who are excited to serve, who are, like there for the right reasons, and so I do encourage people like be all in when you are in that position, because it's just super important and those people need you and our country needs you. So focus on becoming an excellent officer. That's like, first and foremost, when it does come time to transition out of the uniform. We can talk about maybe some tactics or how to think about the next steps in a little bit. But I want to address this question of like, linear versus nonlinear careers, and this is a really important thing, I think, to understand about the business world. So I'm really glad that you flagged it. You are correct, in the uniform it is very linear. You know, I had a major uh in my first unit, tell me he just got promoted to major and I was like, oh, congratulations, sir, it's like amazing, you know lots of hard work. And he was like he kind of like rolled his eyes and was like you know, he's like, he's like Brendan, if you show up right time, right place, right uniform, like 80% of the time you too can become a major in the Marine Corps. But like what he meant by that is like you know what it takes to get there. Like you got to run the PFT, you got to have good fitness reports, you got to do your career level schools, you got to like you know. So there's a checklist of like and you can see okay, well, if I stay in at the 20 year mark, I'll be a battalion commander at the 25 year mark. If I make it that far, then I'll do x. You can kind of like see what it looks like.
Speaker 2:Civilian careers, to your point, are non-linear. It's nobody wears their rank on their collar, nobody wears their awards and decorations on their. You know, dress uniform like. So you don't necessarily know, like, where someone sits in an organization. You know organizations have different structures and different ways of like addressing people in leadership positions. So like a director level role at a 20 person company might be a lot different than a director level role at a 200,000 person company or a managing director role, like what is the difference between those? An executive director, where do these guys fall in the hierarchy, even among similar companies? It's like, well, an executive director at JP Morgan is different than a vice president or a managing director. There is no executive director at Goldman. So it can be really difficult to even know where someone sits in an organization. And then there are experiences that you'll have in your civilian career that can have a sort of stepwise effect on your career, right.
Speaker 2:So I saw, I know, a guy got out of the military. His very first job he took at a high growth company. It was a payments company called Affirm. He was there for four years. He started out in like a really entry level role and made an impression on someone and they grabbed him to come work with one of the C-suite members as like a chief of staff and that gave him more visibility. And then, during the same period of time, like the company itself just went bananas, like it was like going hockey stick. It was like a tremendous period of growth for this company, and so he was like right time, right place, right uniform, with the right set of circumstances, and that just propelled his career. And so, like the resume bullets he was able to capture were, like you know, I was in charge of this organization, which grew from like you know, two people to 300 people in like a two-year period, and our revenue grew from like nothing to you know 20 or $30 million in like a super short period of time. And so that just propelled him in a way that other people wouldn't have been able to do.
Speaker 2:No matter how well you do, if you go to an organization that's not growing like that organization was growing, you're just not going to have a comparable experience. So these civilian careers can be very nonlinear, and what that means is that? Well, it means a few things. First, you know I always encourage people to evaluate themselves and how they feel about the work that they're doing, not from the perspective of the outcomes, but rather from the perspective of the inputs. Like, were you making the right decisions? Were you giving your best effort? Are you learning things? Are you growing as a human being? Because those are the things that you can control.
Speaker 2:To our conversation about stoicism earlier and if you can do that consistently over a long period of time, the effects of that will compound. You'll be a better business person, you'll be a better teammate, you will know more and be more valuable to your team. You can't necessarily evaluate something just on the outcome, because there's a lot of luck, timing, serendipity, outside, exogenous factors that play into outcomes. That's one kind of quick takeaway. And then the other is, like you know, you should consider putting yourself into a position where you can have those kind of asymmetric returns if it's aligned with your own risk tolerance and profile. So, like I hear a lot of veterans that are interested in entrepreneurship, I actually think it's a pretty bad choice for, like most people, it's a difficult path as I'm sure you can attest to quite a bit of suffering involved. But, like, if you can make it work and you like it and you're good at it, then that obviously is going to have the opportunity for asymmetric upside. Your downside is sort of capped. You can only be so broke as long as you're not taking out huge loans or something, but then your upside could be potentially unlimited If you have less risk tolerance.
Speaker 2:There are other roles that have, you know, similar, bigger upsides and smaller downside risks. Sales roles I think are super. They're great first stops for veterans, like, if you can learn sales, you could do almost anything in business. All of business is sales, whether it's hiring, fundraising. Obviously selling marketing is just sales with a microphone, right. So, like all of these different things are, you know, it is another career path veterans tend to be very good at because it requires tenacity, discipline, interpersonal skills, ability to connect with people, it's problem solving and so I am a fan of that. But again, it's like it does depend on your own risk profile. So anyway, it's a bit of a complicated topic and we've taken this. I have taken this on a couple of different vignettes here. But yeah, civilian careers are nonlinear and that I think can be really difficult to acclimate to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 100%. And to spin off on one of the tangents that you did go down, which was an interesting thing, which is, again, sometimes it comes to being right place, right time, but sometimes you're not in the right place at the right time, especially in an entrepreneurship path, but in some other paths in general in the work world, is this idea that you're probably going to handle some rejection at some point or a failure in the business world, et cetera, and obviously this is something we talk about. In the military, a lot is, you know, handling adversity. But how did your time at the academy or in the Marine Corps really set you up for, for that exam Exactly? Which is the ambiguity in the world which could be. There are a lot of factors that are outside of your control and handling some of the adversity that comes with entrepreneurship and just life in the business world outside as well, and what were some of the main things from your experience that really set you up for, for those factors?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a good question. I mean a few things like first, when I was coming out of, when I was at the academy, right, I was there from 08 to 2012. The first half of my time at the academy, the war in Iraq was like center of everyone's mind. I do, I wanted to be a Marine, one of my buddies, the two, so it's like Iraq, iraq, iraq. And then the second half of our time at the academy it was Afghanistan, afghanistan, afghanistan. And then by the time we got to the fleet, a very small portion of my class from the academy ended up actually going to Afghanistan.
Speaker 2:The rest of us started doing like the first peacetime deployments in decades, sure, and so that was that, you know, caught me flat footed. It caught me a bit like surprised. I did end up doing a deployment to Iraq, but it was mostly through just like luck, timing and serendipity, sure, and so dealing with that kind of setback, I think was really difficult. Or, like you know, I had this mental model or mental image of like what my military career would look like and I was doing all the things to prepare myself for that physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and then it didn't play out like that, and so that was, like, I guess, one experience that just you know went to sit in the back of my mind and then when I got out, I expected my civilian career to look like they're just very different than it has looked. You know I was.
Speaker 2:I figured if I started something that you know, it just I guess I didn't necessarily fully understand how difficult it would be and how much time it would take to build something that was, like you know, working really well and and doing well, was, like you know, working really well and and doing well, and so being able to rely on those experiences of like well, I've gone through situations where things haven't played out exactly how I thought that they would in the past, and that's okay, as long as I am controlling the things that I can control and investing in myself and trying to do the right things to keep myself in the fight, that's going to be super valuable. Um, yeah, I mean, there's some other things, just like the day-to-day tenacity that you have to have to thrive in the military is, like you know, it's significant.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I, what one question. Like just in this, in this vein, in this topic, I actually recently had a you know, a friend from the academy and a friend through academy insider submarine officer, had some sweet shore tour orders set up and then last minute detailer hits him up and is like hey, actually just kidding, you're going to the state of Montana. And he was like what, what? And so again like it's one of these really interesting things, but kind of to harp and turn this even again back to the discussion, to your point, is like there's going to be, even even in the military world, there's going to be, a lot of ambiguity and sometimes you just unlucky, right, I think sometimes you're just unlucky, but again, like you're saying and it and it's a weird feeling Cause it's it still sucks, like there's no taking away the fact that it just it sucks, right, but there is a certain level of again response in our industry where it's like all right, well, what is in my control now and what do I need to do to again set myself up or open a new door that likely would have never happened as a result of being here?
Speaker 1:And those things happen all the time in the military. Like you said again, your mindset was like hey, iraq, iraq, iraq, afghanistan, whatever. And then, like by the time you got to the fleet, by the time you got in a position to really be at that point of your operational career, like national priorities had kind of shifted a little bit right and so, like that directly affected your life and your way right. Like when you're in the military. There's so many factors that are going to adjust potentially what you thought your plans were.
Speaker 1:And so again like, yeah, it's tough, right, it's tough to try and navigate, but it's one of those things that will just get you ready for, like we're saying again I love the term that again you use on LinkedIn a lot is this like ambiguity. Ambiguity in the professional world like not set linear career stuff, like there's a lot of pieces that are out of your control and not set nor defined right and so I see it a lot when people are switching from one occupation or one like role to another.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like, if you know, when you talk to folks, talk to some of your buddies that are like transitioning into their new roles or whatever, and you can ask them, like what was it your plan or was it your goal to like get into this company or this type of role?
Speaker 2:And I think it's like pretty seldom that that is the case. Rather, it happens that like hey, like no, either someone reached out to me, maybe a recruiter or a buddy of mine told me I should talk to this other person who is having a similar, you know, thought process, and that may introduce me to a friend who got me a job here. And it's like I think I feel like this is one of the biggest parts of growing up is, like when I was young, I had like a plan and a vision for what my life would look like. Yeah, and like that is not how the world works. Yeah, you cannot predict. You just can't like how could you possibly predict these things? Like, when I was born, my parents wouldn't have ever predicted that I would go to a service academy or that I'd be in the Marine.
Speaker 1:Corps no one in our family had ever done that.
Speaker 2:And then 9-11 happened and I expressed this interest in doing this and they were like, oh, that's different, we don't know anything about this. And in business it's the same way. It's like you're never going to be able to plot and plan for a 30 or 40 year career. But I do think what's helpful is to maybe have a vision of like I know I want to get to some sort of seat or some sort of thing is really important to me that I want to get to in the future, but how you get there. You're going to go back and forth and kind of weave your way in that direction and so, but you'd never be able to predict. You know, I'm going to go work at X or Y or Z company. Rather, it is like luck, timing, serendipity, the right conversation at the right time. So yeah, I think that makes it really challenging and pretty stressful for folks as they're coming out of the military and thinking about what's next.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and not even to mention like personal situation. Right Like along these lines, when I was transitioning out of the service, I was building my plans around the fact that I was going to be by myself, right Like I was going to be a single person, like going through this and then, over the past two and a half to three years, meet the love of my life, end up marrying her, and now it's like all those plans I had that were just me, that's not how, like you're saying, that's not how life works, it's not just me anymore. And so what I thought my path was going to be has shifted. A lot of this stuff is the same kind of in similar fields or whatever the case is, but I've had to adjust business models. I've had to account for the fact that, like I'm married back into the military, right, like we could change locations. Now I need to build things around the fact that I may have to be remote and not around the places that I've been trying to establish business. Right, like there are so many different factors that go into this world and there are so many things that are outside of your control. And again, I love that you're talking about just like luck, timing, serendipity, whatever it may be, you know, having the message Garcia, having to figure it out, the Semper Gumby like this idea to to move on the fly and adjust to your life situations or circumstances, but still directing towards the path. Like you said, there's like there still is an end vision, there's an end goal that you want to get to, and knowing that you may have to adjust path to continue moving in that direction Again, it's one of those things that I think makes veterans back to kind of what makes veterans great in the workplace.
Speaker 1:It's like you build that muscle right, you build that skill, a ton. And so I want to kind of shift a little bit now is like almost directly, if you're talking directly to, you know, the midshipman or a young officer in this idea of networking, and one of my big things that I talk about is like the power of the service academy network and the and the power of networking. And you know, I really want to double down, though. What I loved about what you talked earlier, you know, about preparing for transition, was actually focusing on your job and being great at your job.
Speaker 1:I think like that piece is so important because I think what people may not see, especially as a midshipman, is that in the military and in the world, right you're, we'll call it brand, but like your reputation is everything right, and like the military is a lot smaller than you think it is, and the veteran world and network is a lot smaller than you think it is. So if you're aloof, distant, so focused on the outside world that you're not taking care of your people, like you're already setting yourself up for failure right At that point. And there is a massive need. Again, it's your duty, your obligation and hopefully your desire to be of direct service to the people who are in your unit, on your team right To take care of them and help them advance and win in life, but they're all.
Speaker 1:Also with that is, there are supplemental things that you can be doing, especially around the world of networking, right, and so people hear this term and I think sometimes people can kind of get off put by networking where it's like so businessy, right, like it feels like oh, I'm just trying to get something. What would you first of all, how would you like define this idea of networking and where would you encourage young midshipmen and young junior officers to start? Like what? What are the tips you have for young service members when it comes to building a network.
Speaker 2:It's a great question You're really just teeing me up for, like the ones, I know how to rip. You know, rip out. It's just like perfect, thank you.
Speaker 1:That's my thing, yeah, making me feel at home.
Speaker 2:I mean you're 100% correct. Everything that you said is right. Like I remember when I went to my transition classes coming out of the Marine Corps, they were like okay, network, network, network. And I was like I just was like, okay, I literally don't know what you're talking about. Like what, what did? What do you mean? Like, and they're like we'll just like add a bunch of people on linkedin, right. I was like, oh, dude, like super, like I got that, like I'll just click, click, click, right, like easy.
Speaker 2:And then I wanted to get this like internship at goldman and someone was like, hey, you should talk to a bunch of people that work there. And I was like I don't want to like piss these guys off. Like I'm just gonna apply, like I've got like a transcripts and whatnot, like like that, dude, that is not how the world works. So you know, I hit a bunch of them up. I started talking to one of them and I just like, had you know, I came prepared with a list of questions and I asked him one of the dumbest questions. I was like dude, what? What do people mean when they say networking? I was like what's the point of this? Like, why, why do people do this? And he was like, oh yeah, like I forgot. Like you know that you're transitioning on the military, you don't know any of this stuff. Like can you just explain this to you? He was like, look, he's like what you want. He's like at some point in the next two months, three months, me and five or six other veterans at the firm are gonna sit in a room with a stack of resumes and we're gonna go through and we're gonna say who is gonna get invited to interview for this job. He's like what you want is that when your resume comes up and we're looking at it, you want me to say, hey, I actually talked to Brendan and he's like a pretty good guy. I think he'd actually like fit in here. And then what you want ideally is like three or four other well, and he's like if you can get that, then that's like now you're really cooking with grease because we're going to bring you in for an interview.
Speaker 2:And that was maybe the first time that it kind of clicked in my head that like, hey, the civilian world is very different than the military. Like in the military, networking is like this dirty word. It feels like to your point, it feels transactional, it feels like gross and we want to be recognized on the merits of our achievements and our accomplishments. And the reason that that is possible in the military is because everybody goes up on a promotion board, right, like you're sort of like guaranteed to go on a promotion board, like your package will be briefed. You probably, if you stay in this uniform long enough, you will know people that are in the room and you know that's not supposed to benefit you, but it will, of course. Sure, okay, the civilian world is different because, like you're not guaranteed to be briefed on any promotion boards. No, it's not a thing Like people cannot get you a job, people cannot hire you, people cannot promote you if they do not know that you exist.
Speaker 2:Yep, it's like this seems really obvious, but that's why people tell folks to network as to like how or what networking is. It's like it shouldn't feel transactional. It should be like, try to build real relationships with people. Yeah, and like, yes, of course they know when you're reaching out to them that you can't do anything for them and that you are probably reaching out because you're like looking for a job, but that doesn't mean that, like the person on the other end of the table is doing it for any reason other than to try and be helpful to you, or to try and be useful to you because they know what it's like to transition out. So it's about building these real relationships with people over time and then making people aware of what you're interested in, what you think that you might be good at, so that they can help you.
Speaker 2:So networking is about building authentic connections, helping other people to the maximum extent possible and being open to receiving their help in return. Most transitioning veterans are terrible at asking for help because it just feels like we should be able to message Garcia, we should be able to figure it out ourselves, and that is not the case. You will need people to help you. I guarantee it. No one ever gets to where they want to be in life without other people's help or belief or buy-in. It just doesn't happen. So 100.
Speaker 1:I. I love your definition again around relationship building, building authentic, genuine connections. Like this term, networking to me just means building relationships outside of a place you otherwise normally would have without a little proactive effort. Right, and this is to me.
Speaker 1:This is the power of the service Academy network that we're talking about. Cause, again, it can feel weird and like you're saying, yes, the person on the other side knows, right, like you're not going to reach out to them otherwise, but there's a certain level of like. We have a shared background, we have common experiences and, yes, I'm going to give you 15 minutes of my day to talk to you, right and again, yeah, as the young transitioning jail or as human, human, yeah, they know you have nothing to like, add value to like their professional life or whatever it is. Just picking their brain about certain things. Like, hey, I'm thinking about transitioning in two or three years or whatever the case is, and like what factors should I be considering? You're in an industry that looks interesting to me. Can I pick your brain about how your experience has been Right, like all these different things, so you can build experiences? So that way, again, you've had a relationship with this person and you touch base with them every once in a while. So, three years from now, they know like back to you're saying like, oh, no, yeah, like, brendan's just a, he's just a good guy, right, he's just a good guy and I'm I'm going to help him where I can, to like try and do these things right.
Speaker 1:It just comes down to these relationships and if you come out of the bat, like you're saying, if you come off the bat, like first thing you mess with someone, you and like it's a little off-putting, whereas, like, the earlier you start and again this is my, really my call to action to midshipmen especially and this is something I talk about all the time you will never have more power in a rank than being a midshipman until you're literally like a four-star admiral, like there's no in-between. Like people love midshipmen, dude. Like you, being a midshipman mean Like people love midshipmen dude, like you being a midshipman reaching out to people, open up a ton, like a ton of doors, right. And so again, your ability to just pick people's brains, ask questions, start to develop relationships, be curious, like literally be inquisitive and be curious. Again, we're all human beings, even though we've arrived at this point.
Speaker 1:Like people love talking about themselves, but we can pretend like we don't, but we do, right, and so you know, if you ask questions about their path in the military, their path in the civilian world, any like thoughts or advice or things I need to be considering, you're curious about that person and their life's journey and their experience.
Speaker 1:Like you're going to start to develop relationships with people and people who are going to have an ability to genuinely help you as you go on later in life. Right, and it's. It's just like it's one of these things and it's the, again, the beauty of our network, which I believe is that, like, if you ask for 15 minutes with someone who has a degree, like has that shared background from the Naval Academy or from West Point or from Air Force, like they're going to say, yes, you're going to get 15 minutes, right. Like you're going to get 15 minutes at some point and you just need to take advantage of it. You just need to take advantage of it and build those relationships, cause, like that's what's going to separate you in the long run my husband's going to separate you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a couple of quick things to add. Yeah, I don't want to like belabor, you know, beat a dead horse here, but like people will give you 15 minutes for sure. Just just recognize that folks are incredibly busy in the private sector when they're more, you know, senior ranks in the military. So you might have to like follow up with them a bunch of times, which might feel uncomfortable, but just go in with the assumption that like people probably do want to be helpful to you and it's like not that annoying if you follow up with people a lot, okay. Second, to your point about like trying to build these authentic relationships when I was transitioning out of the Marine Corps, I asked a lot of people for help in my MBA applications and people just gave me their time and edits to my essays and whatnot for free, because it was just they felt like it was the right thing to do. They wanted to be useful to me In the interim time. Like it's been 10 years since that time I have turned around and tried to help as many of those people as I can and like a bunch of those folks we put into awesome new jobs, you know, and they didn't do it because they wanted, because they thought, well, maybe seven or eight or nine years from now, brendan will end up in this executive search position and he'll help me get a new job. Like that's not why they did it, right, yeah, so if you don't have something to offer someone at the time, just recognize that you're going to be swimming in parallel swim lanes for the next 30 years hopefully, so you can be of service to them 100%. And the last thing I would add is like you are right, like your reputation in the military and at the academy, like they do follow you.
Speaker 2:I had a guy talk to one of our recruiters about a job yesterday who was one of my classmates, and she hit me up. She was like, what do you think about this guy? I was like he is the nicest guy around. I've never heard him say a bad thing about anyone. I love him, he's smart, he's hardworking, he's all the things. It was just so easy for me to be like full-throated endorsement of this human being. And so the other great piece of advice that I think I would have to offer is like, be good person to your classmates, like at all times, like they're going through stuff Some of them are better at some things and they're worse at other things, but they're all there for the right reasons. They're all there because and they have this desire to serve, so try and be helpful to them and be a buddy yeah, 100%.
Speaker 1:And again, at the end of the day, we're not perfect. It's not going to be perfect all the time, but, like you're saying, if you make a conscious effort to just be a good person as much as you possibly can be, again, that's what it's coming down to. That's what it comes down to and so I appreciate all that thought factor there. And one of the things because you mentioned specifically some of the essays and things for your entry into Wharton. I just want to talk a little bit as well about MBA program, because I think this is something that potentially a lot of midshipmen may be interested in as they're projecting into their future, or specifically, junior officers you mentioned earlier. It's neither requisite nor sufficient, necessarily, but it can be a great thing. Can you just talk about why you think again, an MBA could be a good path for a certain type of individual or personality type and what you think the real value and benefit is?
Speaker 2:I mean the real value and benefit is the network, and there's three things that people, three reasons people go to MBA programs. Okay, the academics like you got to learn, like this new language of business. And you know I would say that that when I went into the MBA program, my thought process was that that would be the most important thing that I would learn. That was the least important thing. It's a lot of academic frameworks for business decisions which can be really helpful. I thought it was actually really helpful from the perspective of just like learning from your peers. You know, I had people that I was partnered up with on projects and they're like yeah, I'm a management consultant. I was like what does that mean? Like? They're like, oh, it means this, it's like well, but like what does that mean? Like I don't understand. So then they would explain it as of them. The second thing that you're paying for, the reason to go, is the network, and everybody says that, but it's basically like an another layer to you know, to your point, like the Academy network is terrific. People answer your calls like they'll hit your career and so you can reach out to them and you have this point of shared connection that you can. You know it can be very helpful to you in your business career. And then the last piece is the credibility or like brand association. So, like Wharton's, a great business school, people might assume that I know anything about business because I went there. You know little, do they know? I can't even spell, I still can't spell revenue. But, jokes aside, like you know, the association I think can be really helpful. It's also good for folks that are looking to transition into a specific set of types of careers. Sure, those programs reliably put people into jobs in finance, in consulting, in general management, and so you know that if you're interested in pursuing that path, that can be really helpful. I don't think it's necessary nor sufficient. I think you know you're going to learn more by doing things, and so if the goal is really just the educational piece, like you're going to like you don't like learn how to like lead Marines in loose hall you get some frameworks that might be helpful for thinking through difficult situations. But you're going to learn how to lead Marines from going out leading some Marines doing a good job sometimes and bad job sometimes, and then you get better at it over time. And so business same way. Right, it might teach you some frameworks, but you're going to learn more through doing.
Speaker 2:For me, I went mostly because I didn't know what I wanted to do. When I got out, I had no idea at all and I just figured it was like a way to kind of punt that decision and feel like I was kind of marching forward towards some kind of goal. And I just like looked at a lot of people that I respected, admired and they had done this thing as well, and so I was like, okay, well, if these people are all saying that this might be valuable to me, then maybe I'll just trust them and kind of swing for it and go. And I have found it to be useful. But man, there's so many, so many talented people doing amazing things that have their MBAs, that don't have their MBAs.
Speaker 2:It's certainly not necessary. It's not sufficient, it's not going to be an automatic. Gets you to where you want to go. I see people struggle after their MBA programs. For sure, you got to show up, do the work, add value and be a good teammate to people in order to be successful. So an MBA program is not going to teach you how to do that. It might just give you some of the things that could be helpful to you along the way.
Speaker 1:Sure, 100%. And if you're listening to this episode as well, again, by the time that this actually publishes and goes live, we'll have already published an episode with Rex Willis, and so this is an interesting piece here as well. Is that like, in order to get an MBA, you don't have to leave the military, like even an in-person, like full-time program? Now, the slots are are lower, they're a little bit limited, but there are programs like FSEP where you can go to business school while still on active duty, right, and so, like Rex, was he active duty right and so, like Rex was, he's a SWO right before he went to department head school. You know he got the ability to go to HBS right as a Harvard business school graduate now and going back to the fleet right. So there are opportunities where you don't have to get out of the service in order to go to business school. Again, they're competitive. They're highly like sought after billets and slots, but again, those opportunities exist. So that's something that you're interested in as well.
Speaker 1:I highly encourage you to go listen to that episode with Rex Willis. Talk about his experience through FSEP as well. But, brendan, I appreciate that kind of again, that breakdown of like where the real value is and again, that it truly is just a small piece. But the onus is still on you to take advantage of everything that comes with it and the opportunities, the doors that open, like you need to go and do those things. But to start winding this down a little bit in retrospect now again, obviously you've arrived at a place of you run a very successful business. Now I know you have a lot of goals and things that you want to continue doing, but you've arrived at a pretty good spot. Is there anything you would have done differently, either at the Naval Academy or in the Marine Corps? Knowing what you know now and knowing that you were going to transition at some point in time in the military, like, do you wish you would have changed anything that you had done during your military career?
Speaker 2:That's a very good question, I guess I well. Okay, there's a really obvious one, which Grant and I were kind of, you know, chatting before we hit record here, and we're both suffering from injuries. So, stretch, do some yoga. God bless If I could go back and tell myself hey, do yoga three times a week. I promise you, this will make a huge difference.
Speaker 1:I wish I had done that for the last decade Seriously like.
Speaker 2:You're not serious. I'm so serious about this Like and it just sounds so stupid because everybody told me it and I was like, yeah, whatever like, and I just never did it. But yeah, I wish I had done it.
Speaker 1:You know, in terms of like other things, I don't know.
Speaker 2:when I first got to the academy, I think I had like kind of a chip on my shoulder because I was I think I was the last dude admitted to my class at the academy, off the wait list, and so I just assumed that everybody was like better than me. In like a lot of ways, turns out, I was right they were, but I think that that put me in like a bit of a weird spot from like a mental perspective of like feeling more competitive than I probably should have. And so, you know, if I could change one thing, I think I would just maybe be like a little bit of a kinder version of myself, both kinder to myself and just like kinder in general earlier in my career. I think I like learned it over time, but yeah, that's maybe something that I would have done. Different is like stretch, stretch, stretch, stretch and then be kind be just a nice person.
Speaker 1:Like be a nice person nothing and it pays you.
Speaker 2:It's just so. It's just. It's good for you, it's good for other people, just do it oh, 100 percent.
Speaker 1:I like to me. It hurts my soul to know too, like you're saying are probably a couple of relationships like over my time, that I could have behaved extreme like in a much better way, right, in a much better way. And like it hurts now because I'm like damn, like you know, but as a kid there's a lot of factor. I mean, really, when you're at the academy, you're 18, 19, 20 years old, right, like, yeah, you're still not probably making the best decisions, right, and you know, if so, here's a bunch of old guys just like telling you as well, right, like, again, genuinely, just like being a good person and being kind as much as you can. Like, there, there's nothing that's going to be, that's going to be better than that. Right, there's nothing gonna be better than that. And, yeah, I uh, yeah, maybe once you turn 27,.
Speaker 1:Stop crossfitting might be my, my advice as well, cause was, like, again, up to this day, like I still think I'm athletic, like part of my brain still can't comprehend the fact that I'm not like athletic and I need to warm up and I need to stretch and I need to take my mobility and joint health seriously. I was just trying to do some of those silly crossfit pull-ups and and dislocated my shoulder pretty good and I was like I was officially. At that point I knew I was like all all right, yeah, no, it's time to shift my fitness routine to general mobility and life health there. So that's a good piece. Last question for you. Here Again, there are a lot of people as well. A small subsection of our audience are people who are just interested in the Naval Academy and considering potentially applying at some point. For those people and anyone out there, what would be your recruiting pitch for why young men and women should?
Speaker 2:consider a service Academy education. I mean, this is so easy. It's the best decision I've ever made. Like you cannot pay for the experience that we had, the learning and development as a human being that we were able to, like you can only do it through by going through it. And then the best part is you don't even have to pay for it, Like it's a fully funded college education. So I mean, yeah, and then the number one reason is that you're going to put yourself in a position where you'll be surrounded by like-minded people who want you to win, who are hardworking, they're competitive, they're loyal as could possibly be, and they will have your back for life.
Speaker 2:For life, Like, no matter what kind I've been through the ringer since I got out. Like my first business was super tough. Like I have had relationships fall apart, I've lost family members. Like you know, this is like life, that's showbiz, you know. And without question, the first person I always go to was my you know my roommate from the academy, my best friend from the academy, my buddies from my company, my friends who I went through TBS and IOC with in the Marine Corps, who were academy guys. Like it is the best crew of people. So, yeah, don't think, Just do, If you can get in. It's a life changing experience. It will be difficult. You will have times that you maybe are not having as much fun. You will not have as much type one fun as your friends that go to civilian colleges. You will have way more life experiences, way more type two fun. You will learn way more and you'll be have an opportunity to be part of the greatest team on the planet, which is the Navy Marine Corps team. So go wear the Jersey man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it, I love every bit of it. And if people have really resonated with this, especially for any kind of again midshipman parents or you know, called in the civilian allies that want to learn more about the military veteran or where they could potentially work with you or learn about that, where would you direct them to and what would be your call to action here at the end of this episode?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. I'm very active. I will say my inbox. I'm not as good about getting back to folks, but if you reach out to me I will get back to you. It might just take a little bit of time. So you can reach out to me on LinkedIn. We also have our own podcast. It's the Milvet Podcast. If you like this kind of content, we you can. Yeah, so I mean, finding me on LinkedIn is probably your best channel to reach me yeah.
Speaker 2:And just reach out. Yeah, I'm happy to be of service, like in any way that I can. If there's a way that we can work together in a business context, I would love to do so. Or if I could just, or one of your kids or whatever, or if you're in the shipment, jo, just reach out and say, hi, I love hearing from folks, without a doubt.
Speaker 1:Well, brendan, thank you so much for your time today. I really appreciate it. Any last words you want to leave with the Academy Insider audience?
Speaker 2:No, thanks for what you're doing, grant. I think it's super cool man. It's awesome to watch you grind and build something really special of yours, and I'm grateful for what you do for our community. To like hold us together. Other than that, army Navy games coming up go.
Speaker 1:Navy beat army.
Speaker 2:Let's go.
Speaker 1:I appreciate it. Well, everyone listening. Thank you so much. If you want to get in touch with Brendan, you can also reach out to me and I'll put you in touch with them. Thank you so much. Y'all are the best and I hope you have a good day. Thanks. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Academy Insider Podcast. I really hope you liked it, enjoyed it and learned something during this time. If you did, please feel free to like and subscribe or leave a comment about the episode. We really appreciate to hear your feedback about everything and continue to make Academy Insider an amazing service that guides, serves and supports midshipmen, future midshipmen and their families. Thank you.
