Why Listen:
Patriot’s Path is an exceptional, and free, resource to help military Veterans in their transition to a fulfilling civilian career. In addition to discussing more info about Patriot’s Path, we delve into a whole host of helpful topics: How to craft your personal pitch, both a 10 second version as well as a 2-minute version; how the typical person needs to hear your message seven times to remember you, and the importance of crafting an aligned message; how to market yourself and get comfortable marketing yourself; things that Veterans are good at that they often forget to bring up in an interview, and more.

About Nick:
Noël McCall is the Executive Director of Patriots Path, a non-profit that works with transitioning Service Members including those serving in the Guard and Reserves to help define their career goals, map out a job search strategy, identify opportunities, create their personal marketing approach and connect them within the community to peers, mentors and coaches for continued networking and support. Noël successfully started a graphic arts and printing company, which she sold after running for 15 years. She has worked in higher education as the Director of Placement in higher education before contributing as a Partner and Consultant with an international executive search and leadership development firm headquartered in Charlotte. She supported Northeastern University-Charlotte’s expansion as Vice President, Corporate & Clinical Partnerships as well as their regional military liaison.

Why Listen:
The DAV (Disabled American Veterans) is a fantastic organization that supports the military community. If you would benefit, or if you know of someone you served with who would - please share this episode with them. Jeff and I discuss the purpose and resources of the DAV. We also talk about volunteering, and about meeting a Veterans need for both purpose and connection after one’s military service. We talk about understanding your pension and military benefits, as well as the DAV’s new program around employment, which helps vets and their family secure meaningful employment.

About Jeff:
Jeff Hall is the National Employment Director at DAV (Disabled American Veterans), a nonprofit that provides a lifetime of support for veterans of all generations and their families. Every year, the DAV helps more than 1 million veterans by helping them access benefits they earned, like healthcare, education and disability, and connecting them to meaningful employment opportunities. Jeff started out in the Army, where he served in the Infantry and is a Combat Wounded Veteran. He has worked at the DAV since 1993.

On May 27, 2018, Service to School hosted a free weekend conference for the military community. I joined on two different panels, the second of which is presented here. The audio quality is not great, but the content is exceptional. This panel covers a variety of support services available to Veterans. 

Veterati is an incredible resource for Veterans. In this episode we dive into what Veterati does for Veterans, what Veterans can learn from Daniel's experience running Veterati, and also about Daniel's experience starting and growing a for-profit company.

The Commit Foundation is a fantastic and free resource to help veterans get where they want to go… just a whole lot faster. They take a very individual approach with each veteran with whom the work, and tailor their approach to help instill veterans with information, confidence, and imagination. Having worked with so many veterans over the years, Anne Meree has some fantastic advice for listeners about interviews - it’s some of the best advice this subject I’ve had on the show.

Long time listeners know that typically on the show, I interview military veterans that have transitioned into civilian careers. Today I’m doing a resource episode and my guest is Charlotte Creech, a military spouse and current CEO of Patriot Boot Camp. Many active duty military members, veterans, and spouses can take advantage of this great resource. We cover many things in this interview including starting a business, the Patriot Boot Camp program, many misconceptions veterans have about starting a business, and advice Charlotte would offer to those wanting to start and grow their own business.  We also talk about how ruling out what you don’t want to do in your civilian career can be just as important as what you do want to do. Finally, we talk about challenges unique to being a military spouse and how you can support your spouse through your transition out of the military.

Veterans on the show often talk about meditation as a way to stay grounded and be more productive at work. This is a great episode for exploring that and other helpful practices to keep you at your best inside and outside of work.