Service Academy Business Mastermind

Jim Collison, an Army veteran, is the CliftonStrengths Community Manager for Gallup.  The Clifton Strengths Assessment is an online talent assessment that helps you discover what you naturally do best and has been taken by more than 25 million people. The Assessment helps individuals learn about their own strengths and provides managers with the tools and framework to have their teams work well to...

Today we welcome Todd Waldemar (USNA '89) back to the podcast (he first joined us on Episode #110 ).  Todd is the founder of ChowCall and recently went through the 757 Accelerate program.  He joins us today along with Evans McMillion, 757 Accelerate's Executive Director, to share how the program helped ChowCall grow.  757 Accelerate is a nonprofit startup accelerator program focused on founders an...

Marques Hardin (USAFA '03) is an art buyer and advisor and the cofounder of Artgence , an agency focused on connecting art collectors with artists.  Artgence offers personal art shopping services, hosts virtual art galleries and offers premium 3D virtual art fair experiences. In this episode, Marques  and I discuss: The career pivot that brought him from the corporate world to the art world How he...

Ed Henkler (USNA '78) is the Founder of The Blind Guide , a company that helps people who have lost their vision shift their goals from surviving to thriving by offering employment initiatives, assistive technologies, and other resources.    In this episode, Ed  and I discuss: A career shift in his 50s that led him to pursue his passion to help the blind community The networking mistakes he made e...

Dave Jesurun (USAFA '96) is the Founder, CEO, and Chief Pilot at High Country Air Service , an aviation services firm.  High Country Air Service offers turnkey flight services to its customers including aircraft acquisition, aircraft/fleet management, aircraft ferrying, maintenance, and pilot contracting.  In this episode, Dave  and I discuss: How  his master's thesis at Naval Postgraduate School...

Barbara Ashe is the Director and Founder of the Veteran Institute for Procurement (VIP) , a nonprofit focused on training veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses on how to compete, comply and perform in the federal marketplace.  VIP offers four different curriculums to connect veteran-owned businesses with the information and resources they need to grow in the federal market at...

Joshua McCarver (USMA '07) is the founder of Academy Politics , a nonprofit focused on recruiting, educating, and connecting Service Academy graduates who want to transition into politics.  Academy Politics focuses on improving the bipartisan problem-solving nature of government while working to put more veterans into public office at the local, state, and national levels.  In this episode, Josh  ...

Michael Cygan (USMA '01) is a Director at Alix Partners where he helps clients manage their supply chain by  focusing on the intersection of consumer products and procurement.  He is also a graduate of the Real Estate Accelerator class 2019-1. In this episode, we discuss: Why Michael decided to join the Real Estate Accelerator after a career transition in 2018 How he climbed his way out of credit...

Alex Pederson  (USAFA '08) is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Polco , an online platform that supports community engagement in local government.  Alex and his partner built Polco because they found that government officials, specifically those at the local level, have difficulty getting real-time and reliable input from their communities.    In this episode, Alex  and I discuss: How...

Tracey Moys (USNA '96) is a Color Consultant with House of Colour in West Cornwall, England.  Tracey has a master's degree in meteorology and oceanography but, after becoming a mother and experiencing loss, she shifted careers to focus on helping others discover their best selves.   In this episode, Tracey  and I discuss: How your image and style can impact your self-confidence and how she pushes...

Dr. Theresa Larson, a USMC veteran, and Jon Macaskill (USNA '01), a retired Navy SEAL, are partners working to bring mindfulness and movement into workplaces with their M2Rx  Seminar for Employees.  Theresa is the president of Movement Rx whose mission is to empower people with the knowledge and tools to achieve a lifetime of physical freedom, and Jon is a mindfulness teacher.  Through their semin...

Justin Nassiri (USNA '02) is the host of Beyond the Uniform , the iTunes #1 rated podcast for military veteran career advice, and is the CEO of Captivate , a platform that helps brands connect with their customers through micro content.  The Captivate team turns webinars and podcasts into 50-100 pieces of micro content that can be published on any social media channel to drive sales and customer e...

Christian Espinosa (USAFA '93) is the founder of Alpine Security, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Cyber Security business that he recently sold to a publicly-traded company.  Christian's latest venture, The Smartest Person in the Room: The Root Cause and New Solution for Cybersecurity , is a new book that helps technical-minded individuals become thriving leaders. In this episode, Christian  and...

In today's podcast, I am excited to welcome Bill Militello (USNA '92) back to the show to talk about 10X Vets.  The 10X Vets program at SABM is for military veteran entrepreneurs who want to grow their business to a 10X level through new learning, collaboration, and connections. Bill has been part of 10X Vets since its inception in June of 2020 and has helped grow it to over 50 members in the past...

Michael Sipe (USNA '92) is an independent business consultant and coach with Sipe Consulting .  Mike's coaching program is based on energy leadership and he considers himself a Business Vitality Catalyst working with leaders to create a strategy and framework for a responsive and productive workforce.  In this episode, Mike  and I discuss: What the Energy Leadership Index Assessment is, how it wor...

Ray Garfield (USNA '66) is the Chairman of Garfield Public Private (GPP), a national real estate development firm that focuses on developing essential buildings for public entities.  Ray founded GPP in 1997 in Dallas, Texas after an extensive career in commercial real estate, real estate development, and investment banking.  Ray's projects include the Durham Performing Arts Center, University of A...

Jerry Pilewski (USNA '97) is a business coach and trainer with FocalPoint Coaching .   FocalPoint Coaches work with entrepreneurs, business owners, and executives to help them grow and realize their potential.  Jerry believes that small to mid-sized businesses are the engine room of a sustainable society and he joined FocalPoint to be of service to business owners and their surrounding communities...

David Garza (USMA '87) is the managing director and CEO of Compass Human Capital Advisors , a consulting practice that assists growing businesses scale and optimize their workforce.  David started Compass Human Capital Advisors after 25 years as an HR executive and honed his practice after he noticed that small business owners often struggle with hiring and developing their employees' talents.   I...

Charlie Felker (USMA '06) is the co-founder of Free-2-Grow which provides back-office support to service-based companies, allowing the owners and operators to focus on their customers and growing their businesses.  Free-2-Grow offers its customers the services of a full-time office manager at half of what it would cost to hire someone full-time and provides team support with its cross-trained staf...

Mike Nemeth (USMA '04) is best known across the Service Academy community for his hilarious pranks that capture the spirit of the Army/Navy rivalry.  In addition to his role as the community prankster, he's also a very successful entrepreneur who has built a 7-figure apparel business from the ground up. In this episode, Mike and I discuss: His apparel company that has grown to over 7-figures in sa...

Christian White (USMA '09) is the managing director and co-founder of risk3sixty , an information security advisory firm that helps companies build, manage, and certify their information security, privacy, and compliance programs. Christian always knew that he wanted to start a business and, although he had no background in information security, he was able to grow risk3sixty through successful te...

Tom Connally (USNA '83) is the founder of Connally Consulting where he helps leaders and organizations improve their performance and success professionally, personally, spiritually, and physically.  He is also a graduate of Real Estate Accelerator class 2019-2.  In this episode, we discuss: Why Tom decided to join the Real Estate Accelerator after 5+ years into retirement Tom's path to purchasing...

Jim Mulford (USAFA '70) is the President and CEO at acQyr eXchange, the first public exchange to track and manage the digital assets you acquire online so you can redeem them for money.  Their initial market will be mobile and online gaming where gamers will be able to monitor, manage, and redeem their gaming rewards on the exchange with a mobile app. In this episode, we discuss: How their product...

On today's podcast, I am excited to launch the Traffic Circle at 10X Vets.  The 10X Vets program at SABM is for military veterans who want to grow their business to a 10X level through new learning, collaboration, and connections. The Traffic Circle is led by Jimmy Weeks, Air Force Veteran and founder of Internet Strategy Labs and Veteran Stats.  The Traffic Circle is for 10X Vets members who want...

Shawn Ikpa (USNA '05) is the Founder of Castletop Logistics, an Amazon Delivery Service Provider who has built his delivery team to 95 drivers in the Buffalo, NY market.  Shawn was also a member of the very first Real Estate Accelerator class when we launched the program in 2018. In this episode, Shawn shares his experience from the Real Estate Accelerator and how he has recently changed careers a...