Defense

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

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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 industry and pay forward to the next generation. It's always refreshing to speak with someone that has found a calling, not just a career.

As always at beyondtheuniform.org you'll find show notes with links to everything we discussed, as well as 419 other episodes just like this one.

About Shelli:

Shelli Brunswick is the Chief Operating Officer at Space Foundation, the world's premier organization to inspire, educate, connect, and advocate on behalf of the global space community. Her career includes work as a space acquisition and program management leader and congressional liaison for the U.S. Air Force to her current role, including overseeing Center for Innovation and Education, Symposium 365, and Global Alliance.

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BTU #377 - The Ideal Team Player (Peter Cianfaglione & Mike Sedgwick)

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BTU #377 - The Ideal Team Player (Peter Cianfaglione & Mike Sedgwick)

Why Listen

My conversation today is with two different Veterans senior in the tech industry. In addition to talking about their long and successful career including operations, program management, product management and more, we talk about the ideal team player (based on their experience hiring hundreds of people), the difference between a good boss and a bad boss, differences in leadership out of the military, and more. This interview brings over 20 years of hard earned experience that is a wealth of knowledge regardless of your desired career path.

About Mike Sedgwick

Mr. Sedgwick is Vice President of Defense and Aerospace Products for SCI Technology, Inc. (SCI), a Sanmina company, in Huntsville, Alabama. Mike is responsible for oversight of SCI’s Aircraft and Tactical product organizations including the FireComm® and TOCNET® product lines. He has extensive expertise in wide-ranging areas including Strategic Planning, Defense & Aerospace Contract Management, P&L Accountability, Business Development, Project Management, Contracts, Budgeting, Scheduling, and Logistics.

Mike previous held the titles of Senior Program Manager and Director of Aircraft Systems with SCI.

Prior to his latest move to SCI, Mr. Sedgwick served as General Manager of AAR Integrated Technologies and Business Director for the Hypersonic Design and System Integration segment at i3. Mike has managed organizations and teams that include Program Management, Engineering, Contracts, Quality, Manufacturing, HR and Supply Chain to ensure the seamless production of sophisticated defense and aerospace hardware.

Beyond his impressive business credentials, he served honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces. He currently serves in the U.S. Army Reserve as a Military Intelligence Officer. Previously, Mike served as Battalion Intelligence Officer (S-2) with 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) and as a Company Executive Officer with the 82nd Airborne Division.

Mr. Sedgwick holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Brigham Young University and an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

About Peter Cianfaglione

Peter Cianfaglione is Vice President of Operations at SCI Technology, Inc., a Sanmina Company, in Huntsville, Alabama. Peter is responsible for SCI’s manufacturing operations to include production, manufacturing, quality engineering, and supply chain.

Born and raised in Ottawa, Canada, Peter completed an Electrical Engineering degree at the University of Ottawa in the Regular Officer Training Program (the Canadian equivalent to ROTC). During and upon completion of his degree, he served in the Canadian Army as a Combat Engineer and Infantry Officer (including service with the Commando in the Canadian Airborne Regiment).

In 1993, Peter joined Motorola while transitioning to reserve service. He moved to the United States in 1997 with Motorola while continuing his service as a Canadian Army Reservist including exchange postings with 82nd Abn, 36th ID (Texas National Guard) and 4th ID. In addition to these roles, he also supported the sharing of information between the Canadian and United States militaries on lessons learned in IED awareness from both the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns.

Shortly after becoming a U.S. citizen in 2005, he was mobilized in support of recovery operations following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Following a move to Huntsville, Alabama, in 2006, Peter took on various capacities with Benchmark Electronics in electronics manufacturing while both continuing his role with the Canadian Army Reserves as well as completing a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering.

Peter returned to his home town of Ottawa, Canada from 2009-2011 to work for General Dynamics while commanding a reserve Engineer Battalion. While in Ottawa, he completed his third and final deployment. Upon his return to the United States in 2011, he resumed work with Benchmark Electronics in various capacities, including General Manager and Vice President - Global Accounts.

Peter is a graduate of the Canadian Army Command and Staff Course, New Zealand Grade 2 Staff Course and Canadian Joint Command and Staff Programme. He joined SCI in 2020 and is currently working towards completion of a PHD in Engineering. He and his wife of 25 years have seven children, two of which are presently serving in the U.S. military.

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BTU #375 - Business Development in the Defense Industry (Alan Hislop)

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BTU #375 - Business Development in the Defense Industry (Alan Hislop)

Why Listen:

I just finished up my conversation with Alan and a couple things stand out to me. First of all, it's it's pretty surprising to me that it's taken 374 other episodes, to get to the point of interviewing someone in the aerospace and defense industry. And, you know, it's it's surprising, first of all, because so many veterans go into this space. But more importantly, I feel like Alan, in our conversation, we really flipped the script on my understanding of this industry. And what I mean by that is, nearly all of the people I've interviewed on beyond the uniform talk about purpose, and mission, after military service. And Alan kind of surprised me when I was asking him to explain what he does for a living, he immediately went to that spot of, he's continuing to support the military communities continuing to support his brothers and sisters who are still in uniform. And throughout our conversation that came through, like, wow, this is actually a really good fit for so many veterans, especially those who want to continue a similar sense of purpose that they felt that they likely felt in the military. A second thing that really stood out to me with this conversation is we went deep down the rabbit hole on Alan's role, which is business development. And I know we've done a couple interviews on sales related topics. But I think that you will really benefit from Alan's story, he has over 20 years of experience in business development. And I love so much of what comes through in this. But let's just say in a nutshell, it's not what you expect from a sales related role. And the way that Alan comes across just as a human being, as well as how he explains why veterans are so well suited to this, it really goes against most of the stereotypes that I have of sales people. And it comes down to listening to others, being curious about them, and figuring out how you can help them and deliver value. And even if you're not interested in the defense industry or business development in particular, it's still worth listening because, you know, in my experience, every every role that you will have has some element of quote unquote, sales, and the relational things that Alan talks about this interview, are I'm sure going to help you in your career. As always, at BeyondTheUniform.org you'll find Show Notes for this episode, you'll find links to everything we discussed, as well as a link and information about SCI. We haven't done a lot of coverage of companies in this space. But I appreciate Alan's perspective and want to give some notes there about the company he works for. So with that, let's dive in to my conversation with Alan

About Alan:

Alan is responsible for the Global Business Development for the IMS business segment within SCI, which includes customer relations, program performance, and the acquisition of new and follow-on business. Alan brings more than 20 years of experience in the Integrated Manufacturing industry. During this period, Mr. Hislop has held positions at PIVC, LLC, STMicroelectronics and Sanmina-SCI. Alan served on active duty with the U.S. Army, with the U.S. Army Reserves in New York and with the Alabama National Guard in Huntsville. Alan graduated from the US Army Officer Infantry School in Fort Benning, GA. Mr. Hislop holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering Degree from University of Alabama Huntsville, and an Associate of Applied Arts and Sciences from Clinton Community College. He and his wife, Olga, have 6 boys.

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BTU #344 - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Admiral Michael Mullen)

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BTU #344 - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Admiral Michael Mullen)

Why Listen:

When I was in the Navy, I’m not sure how much I respected Admirals. I certainly feared them - I got that instilled in me at the Naval Academy. But I think I was caught up in this mindset of: it’s inevitable that I get promoted from O-1 to O-2, and from O-2 to O-3… so it can’t be that hard to make it to flag rank. In the ten years since I left the Navy, my respect for senior officers and flag rank officers has grown exponentially. I’ve seen how difficult it can be to reach the top of any organization - civilian, government or military. And I admire the determination, talent, and intelligence required to achieve these pinnacle leadership echelons.

Today’s interview only served to reinforce that respect. Admiral Mullen served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under both President Bush and President Obama. I was fascinated to hear what it is like to work at this level and the principles of leadership that helped Admiral Mullen achieve success. We also talked about leadership of the Beyond the Uniform audience - how we, as leaders, can look out for the men and women we served with, and how we can pay forward the benefits we’ve experienced in our careers.

About Admiral Mullen:
Admiral Michael Mullen is a retired United States Navy admiral, who served as the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to both President Bush and President Obama. Previously, he served as the Navy's 28th Chief of Naval Operations, and was only the third officer in the Navy's history to be appointed to four different four-star assignments: Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe, Commander Allied Joint Force Command Naples, and the 32nd Vice Chief of Naval Operations. He retired from the Navy after over 42 years of service.

Fast Company has called Admiral Mullen “not just a new model for military officers-and a new kind of business titan-but also a case study in 21st Century leadership.” Since retiring from the Navy, Mullen has joined the boards of General Motors, Sprint and the Bloomberg Family Foundation. He has taught at the Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs at Princeton University, and now teaches at the United States Naval Academy. He is also known for his efforts on behalf of service members, veterans and their families. He is renowned for his role in dismantling “don’t ask, don’t tell” and allowing gay service members to serve openly.

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BTU #301 - How a Startup Can Access Billion Dollar Government Contracts (Yolanda Clarke)

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BTU #301 - How a Startup Can Access Billion Dollar Government Contracts (Yolanda Clarke)

Why Listen:

Whether or not you’re interested in entrepreneurship, you MUST listen to this episode. Yolanda has such a fascinating way of viewing and explaining the world of entrepreneurship. She also gives some of the best networking advice I’ve ever heard in over 300 episodes to date. As both a Veteran and a military spouse, she approaches the concept of entrepreneurship from a variety of angles, and I found this interview to be a real “knuckle burner” of an episode. I loved our conversation and hope you will too.

About Yolanda:

Yolanda Clarke is the CEO of Powder River Industries, which focuses on the management and technical needs of the U.S. Government. She served in the Army as an Intelligence Officer, worked at Lockheed Martin for over 12 years, serves as City Leader for Bunker Labs San Diego, is the Co-founder of a DEF chapter in Monterey, is a military spouse, and is in the Army Reserves.

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BTU #296 - Career Transition Advice (Lockheed Martin's David Wallace)

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BTU #296 - Career Transition Advice (Lockheed Martin's David Wallace)

Why Listen

David transitioned from the military… twice. He talks about what he got wrong on his first transition, and advice on pitfalls to avoid. He serves as the Project Manager for a 5 person Military Relations Team at Lockheed Martin who organize over 170 career fairs per year, and has helped countless military Veterans in their career search. We cover a lot of ground in terms of resources Veterans should consider, mistakes to avoid and more.

About David

David Wallace is a Military Relations Project Manager at Lockheed Martin, where he has worked since 2009. He served in the US Navy for over 20 years, first as a Navy photographer on USS Fulton (AS 11), USS Forrestal (CV 59) then became a Navy Reserve career recruiter.