Hiring Veterans and Why They Make Excellent Team Members & Business Owners

Are you thinking about how to grow your business with near and offshore staffing? But you're also wanting to make sure that it's reliable, cost effective and really well done. I think docsa talent is the way to go. Here's why. They don't just fill your jobs. They bring integrity, top talent and a people first approach that's hard to find. I've known the people at Doxa talent for over 20 years now and I say that you can count on them. I have talent to Doxa talent and you won't be disappointed. Go to doxatant.com Bill G. Again, that's doxatant.com Bill g. One more time. Docsatalent.com Bill G. Check it out today. Hello again. We got a special show today for Veterans Day celebrating veterans for sure here in the United States. But really the idea of people who've been of service and the value for them in business and entrepreneurship anywhere in the world. My name is Bill Gallagher. I'm a scaling coach and I'm host of this show, the Scaling Up Business Podcast. Our show comes to you every week. You know, we're just right on the cusp now. We need to figure out next couple shows. 500 episodes now that we've been bringing to you for a few years and I'm super excited about it. Love all of that. We hear from our listeners, viewers every week. So every week it's something about growing your business, how to get it growing, how to deal with the people, the strategy, the execution, cash, everything that you need to get and fulfill your vision for a better world with your company, with your business, with your product, your service, whatever it is. And we got coaching programs and more to help you out with that@scaling coach.com so we've got a program for pretty much every level that you might want to serve. But if you're trying to get your company from a million to 20 million and beyond, if you're trying to take your company, if you've got at least 10 people and you're trying to go to 100 or more like whatever it is, companies, over 10 people and over a million dollars, we've got coaching programs with touch points every week. So you got peers, mentors, accountability, coaches, lessons, guest speakers, like all kinds of stuff and more in our Growth Navigator program. And that program meets every week online and then twice a year in person and we take you there. We get your company growing and make the whole process easier, faster and hopefully more fun along the way. It's, it's A surprisingly affordable program. So check it out. Scalingcoach.com navigator or you can just go to scalingcoach.com find the big old button right there. All right, I'm joined now by Betsy, Dustin, Jason. They're all veteran entrepreneurs who are running business. And we're talking today about the value of entrepreneurship, why you should work with them, fund them, partner source from them, work for them, hire them, the whole world of that. So we thought we'd bring on a few in honor of Veterans Day. That is this week, weekend, tomorrow, actually, I think is, is it Friday or Saturday is the day I should know since we're doing the show.

I think observance is tomorrow. Friday, but it's actually Saturday.

It's actually Saturday. That's what I thought. So anyway, enough close. So they all have different stories to tell. I and I, you know, myself and my ancestors served in almost every conflict this country since the revolution. And I served in the 80s in the air Force. So I think it gave me really interesting things. I think it more now than I did at the time. At the time, I didn't respect all of the lessons and things that it gave me in every way. But let's just start in like on my screen. Betsy, tell us about. Well, first tell us the business you're in today and then talk about your service and like that.

Yeah, sure. So I'm the chief executive officer for Dog Training Elite. We're a dog training franchise where we do obedience training through service, dog training, specialized training, do a lot of support to veterans. We have about 85 franchisees and we're continuing to grow. So it's a really, really exciting time. I served in the Air Force and I was, you know, I worked for an organization called the Office of Special Investigations. So for folks that know what that is, I'm sure, you know, you guys from the Air Force are probably rolling your eyes. But for those who don't know what it is, it's the NCIS of the Air Force.

After you. You don't want, you don't want to be on the other end of the osi.

True. Yeah. So it was a lot of fun. You know, after I did my command, I left, worked for ExxonMobil, the even more evil empire. If you know people, I tend to have, my tendency seems to be work for places where people don't like them. So OSI, then ExxonMobil, you know, and I was a senior executive there. And then I dedicated my life to doing dog training just to help to give back. So my Husband and I are franchise owners and I'm the CEO and we're on the board.

Did you always love dogs? How did you pick dog training to go from Exxon exact Air Force investigation side to dog training? Like, what's the connection there?

Well, it's, you know, we took my friends joke. This is like Betsy 3.0. First of all, they tease me because they're like, why did you leave ExxonMobil? You said you left because you didn't want to be a CEO. And I'm like, well, just not for you guys. But the way that it worked was when I was very, very young, my parents, I was very lucky for fortunate to grow up in the, in the equestrian community. We had a lot of dogs. So I was training dogs throughout, you know, since I was about 13 years old. But my husband and I, we just, you know, ExxonMobil in the military, tough lives, not to say entrepreneurship isn't. But we really wanted something that, you know, we, that was our own. And I'm sure the other, all you guys as veterans can appreciate it. It's one of those deals where, you know, you want to work for yourself and you want to give back to the community. So we just started looking for franchises to buy and we came across Dog Training Elite and just fell in love with the model and the community service and the fact that they were promoting veterans. So it was just kismet and we couldn't be happier.

What do you value about your military experience? What do you think you got from that, that eventually that you, you rely on today?

Well, the good side, I won't cover the bad side, but the good side, you know, it. And I would, I would put it down to a couple of really key points. Number one is problem solving, right. So, you know, you're, you're in a situation in the military, you don't always have the right, especially when you're deployed. And you, you have to figure out how to get through the issue. So problem solving, the kind of work ethic and loyalty required to your team and making things happen, happen together, those two really stand out for me. And then just understanding, you know, what's, what's required to get the mission accomplished. So it made me a much different person and I'm very thankful that I served.

Yeah, interesting. I think that like, we work together for a mission. We're not just individuals doing whatever we feel like doing. I think no matter what the level of service, what role you play, you go through some kind of initial training. And in that training, one of the key fundamental things is marching, right, like, and, and, and then like shifting your identity. And I can remember viscerally, like a feeling I still. There's a moment where you're all kind of doing different things and then there's a moment where you feel and hear the heel strike and it all comes together like, and you, like, you can set. So we're more powerful together. Like, it's cool.

Yeah, it's a super, super good point. And you know, the, the dog training thing for me too is a really good fit because my tours in Iraq and Afghanistan weren't, weren't the, weren't the easiest. You know, osi, we did a lot of counterterrorism and counter espionage stuff. So, you know, it fit in nicely with the, that core piece for us. And, and I have a dog. He's a service dog. His name is Maynard. And you know, he's kind of entertaining to say it lightly, but he, he's really changed my life. So if I can give that, you know, because that, that's back to your, your marching analogy, right? Because when he and I are in lockstep too, it's, it's pretty phenomenal what we can achieve. So, yeah, it's a cool, it's a cool business.

Like when you see and sense what we can do together is more powerful. When you can see how to work with other people. It's a, it's a pretty cool thing. Jason, also Air Force. Stay with the Air Force. We got three Air Force vets here. Dustin, sorry.

You'Re overwhelmed.

You know, it's funny though, I, in the, like, past shows, I've had retired Admiral Sandy Winnefeld on. I've had lead solo pilot for the Blue Angels. I've had Navy Seals commander. I've had a lot of like Navy and a little bit of army guys on, but not a lot of, of Air Force. So we're, we're making up for it today. Jason, tell us about your business and then, and then the military background that led you to this place.

Well, I'm a franchise owner of Shuck and Shack Oyster Bar. We currently have 19 locations nationwide. My wife and I were on the first ones to open our location back in 2015. We specialize in fresh local oysters, seafood, kind of that beach vibe compared to what else is on the market. It's a, it's. You don't see many fast, casual type seafood. And that's the niche that we fall into. We opened our location in 15. I retired from the Air Force after 21 years. Wow. In 2012, after doing a couple civilian sector type things, worked with the SBA for a little bit, worked at the College of William and Mary. And one day my wife came home and said, let's move to the beach. And this is where we're at now.

I like your wife.

My. Even if we're broke, we're by the beach and we kind of live that like, hey, if we're broke by the beach is better than, you know, where we're from up north in the snow. So. So it's. It's been good for us. In my 21 years, you know, I started in logistics. I did three years for the Air Force Honor Guard in D.C. so we talk about that lockstep. So I did three years of super intense marching together, funeral details, White House ceremonies that kind of perfection. Moved on from there until seven years in recruiting service, where I recruited both high schoolers, doctors, nurses, pilots, everything under the sun, and then was a program manager. And then I got picked up by Air Force General to be an enlisted aide by no reason of my culinary experience or background, because I had none of that at all. It's just we kind of clicked. As far as an enlisted person in a general, he said, I want to be. I want you to be my listed aid. And ended up going to culinary school and working right with him in his house and his daily duties. Did that for. Till he retired about three years and then went into acquisitions where we did million to billion dollar contracts and negotiations for the Air Force. And once I left that position, there was no way I wanted to deal with the federal acquisition regulation or anything detail oriented at all. So I'm like, oyster bar is right up our alley. Let's go.

So it sounds like the oyster bar, it drew a little bit on the background. You felt comfortable enough from the cooking school, but you like, it was a whole different tempo for a different stage of life.

Right. We really. My last duty station was in Langley, Virginia, right up right near Virginia Beach, a little bit north of there. And we were foodies already. We really got into the culture of oysters, what they did for the environment, everything from, you know, us eating them, of course, until that, you know, it's a really great resource that's good for your body, it's great for the environment. So we really attached onto that. So that was back when we weren't even thinking restaurant. And then fast forward to looking on Craigslist that said, own your own oyster bar. And I said, you know, no one looks on Craigslist for jobs anymore. And it was even fishier back then. I'm like, this can't be real. But, you know, we jumped in a car and did a little secret shopper type vacation down to the first location of Carolina beach and said, wow, I could really see us, you know, jumping into this. And at that time, as a military veteran, I was kind of looking at the next step. Franchises were, you know, on our radar. Whether it be an oil change or a subway or a food or dog training. There's just. There were so many out there was overwhelming. And this one was an unknown, probably a risk taker. You know, at that time, we were the first location. So we were kind of crazy to say, let's follow these guys that just opened this oyster bar that has just started franchising. But, you know, at that point we had nothing to lose. Like I said, we were. The goal was to be broke by the beach. I knew I could have done that for sure. But in the end, eight years later, we're successful by the beach. Maybe we'll be broke by the beach five more years down the road, but right now it's been great.

What do you, what do you say is the value of the military background, that experience? What's that done for you?

I mean, the background for me, I mean, the initial experience, you know, to follow. Follow, you know, instructions, whether it's someone, you know, verbalizing it to you or later in life following an operating. Operating instruction or a technical order or a directive. Yeah, that was really easy for. For me to say, hey, franchise. They already, they had these directives and training manuals. And it was real easy for me to say, this is the way it has to be done. There is another way. Now that we've been in eight years, I can vocalize that to the. Our leadership of, hey, I think there's another way to do that. And in the military, we've all got to that point where we can talk to leadership and say, I don't know, it's. We've been doing it this way, but maybe this is a better route to go. So we've. I've seen both sides on the franchise of shut up in color versus a. You know, I'm an experienced owner now. I think there's a different approach that we can do to all be more successful.

Yeah, it's an interesting thing that, like just the simple discipline of follow some instructions, don't try to reinvent everything, don't try to do your own thing, is valuable. Of course, there's also a time when that doesn't make sense, especially in a dynamic environment, in conflict, when there's an emergency. Right. Sometimes when you've done your checklist and that ain't working, then you need to look outside the box.

Yeah, for sure. My back. You know, I want a bar. So pretty much that kind of not in the battle mentality, but, you know, gas leaks happen, you know, bar fights break out. Like, you have to be able to. You know, there's medical situations that have happened in our business that we've had to step in and be like, hey, this is not a problem. Don't stress out, look around, assess the situation and move forward. And when that happens, the customers look at us like, wow, you really knew how to handle that. And not that it happens all the time, but I feel confident that, you know, we do handle it well. And I've also instructed our staff on how to go with that approach. And they're not even military background at all. Most of them aren't. But I've kind of shown them like, hey, we can. We can approach every situation, good or bad, and have a great outcome and learn from it or not learn from it, but in the end, let's just get through it first and then reassess it later and take some corrective action.

Now, you say you don't have a lot of military background staff. When you get someone with that background, what do you look for or not for? Like, what are the pros and cons of that? What are you inspecting for?

We get a lot of transitional. So they're kind of like, you know, I'm in a Marine community. They're. They're separating. They want to do anything, but, you know, be told what to do. But they're very easy to instruct on, hey, this is our menu. It's real simple. Or, here's bartending. We also hire a lot of military spouses. We're one of the only employers that recognize that, hey, I know that you may get transferred two or three years down the road. I know your spouse is going to go somewhere else. I know things come up and they happen. But we're willing to give you the shot, you know, work here, give us the two years that you can, and we're okay with that. And then they'll tell their military friends when they leave, someone is always replacing them. So both military and spouses both have different characters. They're really easy to adapt to a new environment for sure. So if a new customer comes in there right away to say, hey, how are you? I'm Jason Instead of being intimidated about meeting new people or moving to a new, new situ. New city of surroundings.

Yeah. So they, they blend in, they mix in with other people because they're used to the moving around kind of thing.

Right.

Dustin?

Hello.

Yeah, thanks for having me, Bill. I am owner and CEO of True Blue Home Service. Ally. And we are also a franchise. I have two locations up here in Minnesota, but there are 80 plus locations around the US and we're, we keep growing. So we are a handyman service that focuses on busy families and seniors who want to age in place. Preventative and reparative maintenance. So kind of like the oil change in your car. We'll make sure that the home is maintained for busy families and seniors and fix things when unfortunately they break down. So my little background, my wife really.

Wants to find that service here where we are. Because I travel so much like you're not here. I don't know how to fix the faucet.

Definitely.

Yeah, we're always expanding and I'll keep an eye out for you to see if we get a location down there.

San Francisco.

Yep, definitely. So my, I'm actually still in the Navy. So Navy Reserves. I've done four and a half, four and a half years active Navy. I tried a two year stint in the Army National Guard and then came back to the Navy reserves back in 2015 as a civilian. My business partner and I met at through a fitness fitness chain, Lifetime Fitness and you know, I was a personal trainer and nutrition coach trying to help people live their best quality of life. I ended up getting deployed for 22 months, July of 2019. I got kind of stuck over in the Persian Gulf due to Covid and all the, all the stuff going on in the world and came back 22 months afterwards. And as if coming back post pandemic wasn't crazy enough, I decided to buy two handyman franchises. So we've been up and running since then and yeah, just been taking one day at a time and keeping the grind alive.

What has been the value of that military background? Now as you are a franchise operator, what do you use? What do you rely on? What do you value from that experience?

Yeah, I think resiliency is a huge thing. You know, being an entrepreneur and starting an old business, new business, whether it be franchise or not, especially in the home care, a lot of my technicians which I hire, I think that the 95% of the technicians that I've hired have some sort of military background. So that's definitely something that I look for. But being able to critically think their way through a, through a problem. And I might not have done this before, I might not know the solution, but I'm going to figure it out. Whether it be one of my technicians figuring out or critically thinking their way through an issue in the home or myself figuring out how do we pivot and move forward with an issue that I'm having with whatever is coming up that day.

And do you hire many folks with, with background? Do you hire veterans?

Yes, I think the majority of my, my technicians are some sort of a veteran and I'm not, not sure if I, I objectively look for that, but it just seems like I'm, I'm hiring, hiring veterans. So Marines, Army, I haven't had any Air Force people yet, but I think military attracts military people and we have that mission based sense of, all right, we know how to, we know the mission, we know what to do and let us carry on about our, about our day.

Let me ask you two things. I'll prompt you real quick and then, I don't know, show something, give you a minute to think about it. But what are your assumptions when hiring or working with veterans? What do you assume or take for granted and what are you curious about or want to check for, like a concern or an interest? Right. What do you assume and what are you curious about? When I think about my military experience, I remember like a real contrast between capable people, but also this not insignificant amount of mediocrity. Like people who would just like do whatever and dial it in and be like, yeah, nobody's looking and you know, don't let anybody catch you. And, and, and the vast majority that I meet in leadership positions in entrepreneurship are of a whole different caliber. Like these are like really high level, high performing, caring, passionate, intelligent people. But it wasn't everyone I met. So when I meet someone in the military, I assume that they know how, whether they will or not to. And I assume that they know something about following a procedure, having some respect for some order, design to thing. But I question which camp they're in. Are they quality, do they have personal rigor or are they going to try to get away with things? And I guess that's kind of universal human. So we'll go back around and anybody could just chime in if you've got something to share on this.

I'll just make a quick comment because you know, you hit on just, just as an OSI agent, right? Like so an OSI agent and then the commander. I did figure out when I joined the military, it was all about, you know, all the things we just talked about, dedication, loyalty, integrity, all of those things. But I learned very quickly that the military is, it's a segment of the population, right. You're, you know, a third are going to be questionable. Then there's going to be a mediocre third and there's going to be a top third. So I find myself, when we're selling franchises to potential military people, I definitely question, try to interrogate which one in the camp like you said they are. But if you get the top of the military, you get the best in the world. The folks that really went out and they've got that integrity platform that we're looking for and that problem solving capability. So for me, I find myself, you know, my husband and my staff are always making fun of me, not, you know, hey, listen, we don't need to interrogate this person. Right. You don't need to advise them of their rights. But, you know, when I went to ExxonMobil, it was a little bit different type of person that worked there. So I find myself just recognizing that it's just another portion of society. But some of the best ones are the best in the world. So we find the right ones and they've done really well in our business. So we're excited about that.

Yeah, it's interesting how, and I think also conflict changes things. Like if you serve in peacetime or relative peacetime or are away from a conflict, the, the work ethic and stuff can be a little different than if you're right in something. Right where. Where the pressure is different. People kind of step up and good.

Yeah. In my background, so I did, I was color. I'm colorblind with no depth perception. So working on planes is what I wanted to do. And I ended up doing everything kind of what we special duty. But each one of those career fields, whether it was the Air Force Honor Guard, required a very high level of staying out of trouble, following directions, rolling to recruiting duty for seven years. It's, you must work on your own. You're independent, you're dealing with the vehicle, that kind of thing, acquisition dollar values, and then working with a general. So I was always in a career field where it was kind of always on the people that stepped out or stepped above and had that. But, you know, when I look at ourselves as employers, you know, we're always given, you know, 30 people in a command or in a squadron, and you have to deal with everybody. You can't just fire people. And I've learned that in in our. In our restaurant that, you know, I can. I can work with anybody. I can probably take someone and figure out how to make them fit in my restaurant. But now that I'm not in the military, I don't have to. So firing somebody that for the first time was kind of like, you know, like, wow, that was pretty easy to let somebody go. But I've always been, hey, you got to work with these folks. They're in the military, they're in the Air Force. That's what you're given. Make the best of it. And then there's that bottom third that you just. It's just maybe not for them.

You know, what stands out as you share that is I. I can remember very distinctly in particular the leadership that I worked with. There were people who were kind of stuffed shirts and relied entirely on their rank and chain of command and that kind of thing, and that were very uncaring, bossy, like. And then there were people that. That regardless of your position, rank, they. They treated you like a human being, an intelligent, capable person. They didn't talk down to you and act like there was a class difference. And there's a profound difference in those two classes of people, like, people who had regard for each other as human beings, especially. Especially in the leadership position, not assuming that you're better, smarter. And probably in that case, like, there's one tenant colonel that I'm thinking of in particular who's an academy guy, and I just think he probably was deeply insecure, and the way he swaggered around and was demeaning to people, and I think he thought he was acting like a tough guy, but he probably wasn't the top of his class.

Yeah, it's funny, like, because we didn't wear. You know, in my organization, we didn't wear uniforms, right? So we would have civilians, we would have officers, and we have enlisted agents. And so that kind of change. I mean, you know, my last role was as the commander, but we all. You know, we wouldn't really acknowledge. We did not ever acknowledge anybody's rank just because of that exact issue. Because, you know, we might be investigating a colonel or a general or whatever, and it might be an enlisted agent. So I was. You know, it's funny that you say that, because my husband, he was in the army, and he was an Apache pilot, and he's like. He constantly talking about bad commanders. Yeah. And he's like, this guy was terrible. And I was lucky because we were like, you know, it didn't matter. We had to pretty much get along with everybody to get the information that we needed. And we actually, we needed everybody to respect us. So I'm a little bit immune to that. But I've heard a lot about it from my husband. He's like, oh, it's terrible. But I didn't actually have.

Well, you know, also if you, if you travel, you know, if you serve in different places, if you're on the road, if you spending time doing duty alongside other branches, service other units, that kind of thing, you're going to see a bigger cross section than if you're just in like one unit, one place for a lot of time. It's funny, I, some of my siblings spent time in the army and one of them did a lot of travel and moving around and the other was kind of just at one base, at one hospital the whole time. And the perspective is different.

Different between.

Yeah. And it's interesting because kind of commenting on Jason made a really, really good noteworthy comment about, hey, look, I know you're only gonna be here for three years. And back to your earlier question, I was just reflecting on it about one of some of the things that we get concerned about. You know, I don't know about Jason and Dustin, but the military folks I know, they're like, all right, I've been here for three years, it's time to go. And you know, if you end up owning a franchise, it's not a three year plan, right? It's, I mean, it can be, but where, you know, we're signing franchise agreements for, for 10 years and hopefully continuing to grow. So I, I do sometimes question a little bit about, hey, this is, are you, are you dedicated to this? Right? It's, it's not a three and go. It's. It, you know, it's going to be something you're going to need to be committed to for the entire length of your business.

Right?

We're gonna, I, I'd like to talk about hindsight and what advice you would give your younger self or you would give other veteran entrepreneurs or people considering that. Before we do that, let me remind our folks that we've got coaching for every level of business and, but in particular, if you're between 1 and 20 million, if you have at least 10 people on your team now and you're trying to grow and you have some ambition for your business, we've got a coaching program that's great for you. Meets every week online and twice a year in person. There's a, you're in a cohort, you've got other Entrepreneurs just like you from different businesses and different places working a lot alongside. You've got accountability coach. You've got teachers who have experience, who've grown businesses to hundreds of millions of dollars and more. And that program, super, super affordable. And we start new groups every month that. So scalingcoach.com navigator is the program. You'll find out about our growth navigator there. I suggest you go look at that if that sounds like that's a fit for you. If you are in that size and you have some ambition, scalingcoach.com/navigator and you'd like to get going, it's not for the startup, right? But once you've gotten off the floor and you're trying to scale up, that's. That's our jam. So advice for your younger self or for other entrepreneurs, what could you look back and share as wisdom, as experience, as things you would do over or things that you did well but are worth noting, where you got lucky or relied on something that, that was smart?

You know, I think I've done a lot of different things in my life, few different deployments, always restarting my life, trying something new, always feel like I might be behind the ball because I'm the older veteran in college or older person starting a business. But, you know, I think it takes a while to learn what your passion passions are and to, to always think that you can always make that change to a better life or better quality and take the risk. Because I would rather have risked everything and succeeded than to live my life wondering what would happen if I didn't make that risk. And there's always time to take that step and make that change if, if need be.

So it's a significant thing, right? When you're in the military or a large organization, there's a whole infrastructure, there's departments, there's funding, there's a brand name behind you, but then you go off on your own. And even if you're a franchise like you, you're looking in the mirror at the person you got to rely on. Jason, what do you, you know, just.

On that note, like to kind of capture what Dustin was saying that the other, the other piece to it is that I've found is sometimes because when we're in the military, there's a, there tends to be an endless budget, right? You're like, it's a different mentality. It's sort of spend what you've been given. So the advice I would give folks is it's not that mentality.

Right.

It's a much different way you have to look and understand your return on your investment. Are you making money off your marketing ads versus, you know, okay, probably Dustin and Jason had, you know, million dollars or something to go spend on whatever they were doing, logistics or you name it. Well, you know that it doesn't necessarily apply when you're running your business. So learn, learn some business stuff, you know, learn how to do ROI, learn how to kind of market and advertise and etc.

Etc.

You know, it's funny, I've coached a few former Navy SEALs as entrepreneurs and, and they have a lot of rigor and innovation and creativity and extraordinary teamwork and. But they, to one, talking about the events after September 11th, they were like, they were told, just go get what want. Just go, you know, kid up.

Yeah, so are we.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

And I think that, like, you never have that in business, right? Never ever. I, I had a business some years ago and I raised 500 grand and I, from different sources and I, I was getting, making some progress on it in a panel one day, somebody said, well, what would you have done if you had raised 5 million and started, you know, differently? And I said, well, I would have made the same mistakes, but with much. In a much bigger way and with better furniture.

Perfect.

You have to make, you have to make some mistakes. You have to learn some things along the way, and there's no predicting what that's going to be.

Right?

Jason, any advice or thoughts, Any hindsight for you?

Well, we all spent that, you know, you make two decisions, you join, and then when you get out, those are the two big decisions. When you join and then you reenlist throughout your career. And if you leave before retiring, you're told not to. If you stay in, it's a mistake. And you just go through all that. So that leap of faith, you know, I joined at 17, so I just kind of like was a kid for eight years of just going through, seeing the world and doing it. So I really wasn't paying attention to where Jason at 50 would be. But, you know, there was a point after I retired and my wife and I both had great civil service jobs and we left and someone said, you know, nine out of ten restaurants fail, right? And I was like, yeah, I don't care. Because for all my time in the military, they're like, you can't do that. You're gonna fail. You gotta stick with us. You gotta, you gotta do it together. And then for once, that when that I looked at my boss, that a very high, you know, Not a military, but a civil civilian. And I was just like, I'm going to do it anyway. And it felt really good. It felt empowering to say, yeah, you know, it may not work, but this is what I want to do at this point in my life. And, you know, for those 20 years in the air, in the Air Force, you know, I just kind of did. Did what we're supposed to do. And I think that's why I changed around so many times across training. I would get bored in certain field and go somewhere else. And my son's in the Air Force and he's in, you know, a nuclear type job where he's going to be there doing that 20 years. And I think I would have gotten impatient after about eight. So I'm fortunate I was able to bounce around, but not everybody can do that. But I think having that willingness to, like, hey, it's not for me, it's okay to get out, or I'm going to stay until retire and then just adapt that all towards your whole entire life of, I'm going to open this business, you know, And I would just say, make sure you love what you do. That's it. I always loved the Air Force. There was no doubt in my mind, especially during recruiting. I'm in touch with a lot of people that I recruited. You know, I talk great about all the branches to this day, and I would encourage. It's a different, It's a different world. It's a different, you know, I joined in during Desert Storm. It's. It's been different things after 9, 11, it's different right now, but I still have a passion for those that serve and I'll always support them and always encourage someone to do the duty of service. You know, it's the highest thing you do for our country.

Right now I'm a little older. I served in the 80s and I spent time in Central America and other places in the world. And it is an interesting thing to look back on, but I remember very clearly thinking about the Marines, the Air Force, the Army and the Navy. And, and I've always. And for, for whatever reason, I didn't consider the Coast Guard. And it's probably for the best because if I had joined the Coast Guard, I probably would still be there. I love being on the water, right? And I'm a sailor and that kind of thing. The idea of when I thought about the Navy, I'm like, oh, those are big, ugly boats. Like, I don't want to be on that kind of a boat. Like, I Love to go sailing, but that's a very different thing than being on a carrier and sleeping in a bunk even, you know, if you got a nicer cabin, it's. It's not a. And then I looked at that way that guys in the army were, and I'm like, that's, like, not great. And. And I remember visiting some army bases in my tour in the Air Force. I'm like, oh, my God, this is how you live.

Like.

Sorry, I have an apartment with a swimming pool.

It's funny that you said, because my husband, all the time, he's like, he's making fun of the Air Force. And I'm like, look, it's just because you're jealous, right? And he said, anyway, he'll admit it. Yeah, I'm jealous because he would go to the. Some of the bases, he'd be like, oh, yeah, you guys have the. You guys have it, right?

So, yeah, a big difference in some of the. Some of the way. The quality of life there for some. But I've met great people and respect all of them. Let's give a shout out to some of your businesses. Wanda, I think, has some titles for us to throw up as we run out of time here and just shout out dog training elite.com. dog training. Dog training Services. Dog Training. Like that? Yeah. Dog Truck.

Yep, that's it. We do all from basic obedience to protection to advanced service work. And that's who we are. So getting big and loving every minute of it.

Awesome. And then shuck and shack. Shuck and shack. Location Surf.

Yes, sir. We're right here in Surf City. We're the Napa Valley of oysters. On the east coast, we've specialized in 8 to 10 varieties. Come in 8, 10 to get some raw oysters, steamed char, grilled, fried. Come and see us.

Fun, fun, fun, fun. All right. And then True Blue Ally, Adina Prior Lake.

Yeah, we're, we're up in Minnesota, but like I said, our franchise has 80 plus locations all around the US and we're growing. And think of us as our house manager. Preventative and reparative maintenance. Honey, do lists and, uh, give you guys, uh, time back in your busy schedules and making sure seniors age in place safely and comfortably.

Well, thank you all for joining us today and talking about your business. Let me shout out some of the folks who help us on the regular. To my friend and mentor, Vern Harnish, the author and creator of Scaling up and the Rockefeller Habits that Came before it. To Wanda Mitchell and to Christelle and Seth and the people at Podfly and Storyon Productions who help our show get ready, get out the door every week. Thanks again everyone for watching, for listening. We'll talk to you again next time. Keep Scaling Up. Are you ready to turn your goals into daily wins? You should check out our Scoreboard software. Powered by Align, it's the official software for scaling up. With Scoreboard, you'll get an AI driven coach for priorities and KPIs and it'll help keep your team focused on what matters most. With Align, you can track your goals in real time and you'll even see results on the go. With their mobile app. You can rest easy knowing that Align has world class onboarding and support to set your team up for success. This is really more than just software, it's what I actually use to manage growth in our scaling up client teams. Unlock clarity and results with Scoreboard by Align. To try it now, go to aligntoday.com Bill Gates one more time. Aligntoday.com Bill G that's aligntoday.com Bill G Check it out and try it now.