It’s a beautiful thing when youâre surrounded by active duty, veterans, and spouses who are working towards the same goal as you…even if it’s in a virtual environment. And sharing veteran success stories is something extremely important to us at ClearanceJobs.
MILITARY INFLUENCER CONFERENCE
Established in 2016, Military Influencer Conference is a community of entrepreneurs, influencers, and leaders who are here to empower the military community. Founded as an annual conference, MIC has quickly grown into a powerful community of people who believe in the importance of mentorship and collaboration.
While the conference is usually held in person in San Antonio each year, the pandemic didnât stop MIC from brining the military community valuable content. MIC 2020 was held in the comfort of peopleâs homes, bringing inspirational keynotes and interactive experiences, including the StreetShares start-up pitch competition for a chance to win grant funding toward their veteran owned business.
The conference focuses on delivering actionable insights from the stories of others and fostering an environment where people of diverse backgrounds are motivated to build relationships through conversation that lead to powerful collaborations.
MIC HONOR2LEAD VIRTuAL SYMPOSIUM
The theme was certainly operating in a new COVID-19 business environment and utilizing a period of information overload to your advantage. As a veteran, you are called to serve your community that needs the leadership that you created in your military experience. The MIC speakers served up tactical lessons in how to build and defend your personal empire.
In session I, we heard from Mike Erwin of Team Red, White, and Blue. His advice was that, âYou have to lead yourself before you can lead others.â In the current state, we are working from home where the information age is accelerated. And while stress can bring out the best in leaders, even the strongest can become overwhelmed. Erwin notes, âThe burden of command is greater for a lot of us. It is critical to lead yourself first so you can lead others effectively.â Relating to the âput on your own mask before othersâ leadership mentality, anyone in the workforce now should practice self-care so they can effectively lead others.
Next we heard from Hal Roesch of VFW and John Boerstler at Combined Arms. These nonprofits support the veteran community, but in very different ways. Combined Arms accelerates the transition from military to civilian life, integrating veterans into the community, harnessing their passions and skills to make an impact. Through connecting veterans to resources like employment and healthcare, they support this population making âcivilianâ their next branch of service.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars is an organization of U.S. war veterans, who as military service members, fought in wars, campaigns, and expeditions on foreign land, waters, or airspace. VFW is comprised of eligible veterans and military service members from the active, guard and reserve forces, tracing their roots back to 1899 when veterans of the Spanish-American War (1898) and the Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902) founded local organizations to secure rights and benefits for their service. Hal Roesch encouraged listeners to contact their legislative officials when it comes to veteran policy. They need our support in ensuring they received the benefits they deserve.
Vincent âRoccoâ Vargas was next on the line-up, and he asks the audience what does it mean to be âBeteranâ? Vargas himself struggled with PTSD and sleeping, and had issues with substance abuse following his service. After leaving active duty, Vargas worked in special operations as a medic and decided to pursue his career as an entertainer. With his mental health struggles, Vargas found the light doing YouTube videos and blogging. He realized he could truly be a champion for other veterans. His cause was using information overload to be a leader in the veteran community. âVeterans are human and struggle with things like anyone else,â Vargas notes. But he challenges veterans to be better and to tackle life after military with a positive mindset instead of a negative one. His company, Beteran, offers mentorship opportunities to empower this community.
The audience heard from other veteran serving organizations like the Veteran Golfers Association, a non-profit that provides competitive golf leagues for veterans and their family members. General Nicholson and Seda Goff of the PenFed Foundation offered guidance on financial stability for military families in need. Paulette Fryar of MSOY and Lori Simmons of AFI talked military spouses â how social media can connect us to promote empowerment.
WISDOM FROM INFLUENCERS
Some of the heavy hitters in this program included Harris Faulkner discussing her best time seller, âRules of engagementâ where she shares her advice, wisdom, and tools that she learned through her military upbringing and how everyone can integrate them into their own lives. Using her fatherâs career as the setting, she delves into the lessons in courage, duty, patriotism, and responsibility. Christina “Thumper” Hopper joined us from Athena’s Voice, a women veteran owned speaking agency featuring female veterans. Today, Thumper continues to inspire the next generation of fighter pilots as a Reserve T-38 Instructor Pilot. Lacey Evans (current WWE wrestler and former Marine Corp military police officer) used her stories of mindset, success, and breaking the cycle to inspire the audience to reach new successes.  Jim Murphy (Afterburner, Inc.) is a former F-15 Instructor Pilot with the U.S. Air Force. He calls his story, âfrom farmboy to fighter pilotâ and his consulting company is all about planning for your future, something veterans can certainly take home. Lastly, Daymond John of Shark Tank & FUBU joined us as a veteran advocate, and anyone could grab golden nuggets from his success story and apply to their own empire.
The conference culminated to the third session which was all about helping veteran entrepreneurs and mil-spouses find the best route to a successful business model. Street Shares hosted their Start-up Pitch Competition, and we heard from PCSGrades, Wound Warrior Project, Alexander Ludwig of RECON (2019), Team Rubicon, Burnout to Balance, and Bunker Labs.
In honor of Veterans Day, thank you for your service. There are organizations here to show you that thanks by making your post military career the smoothest transition that takes place.
Saying that Honor2Lead was inspiring is an understatement.
