Service Academy Business Mastermind

Ben Allen (USNA '07) is the Chief Operations Officer at Beachly, a subscription-based premium apparel company inspired by the coastal lifestyle.  I’m also joined by Kevin Tighe, Co-Founder & CEO at Beachly. In this episode, we discuss: Why they chose a subscription model to sell their coastal themed clothing How they attracted their first customers and how they are getting new customers today Valuable lessons learned on hiring and building a business from the ground up Connect with Ben & Kevin: Ben on LinkedIn Kevin on LinkedIn Beachly website If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a friend or colleague. If you are a Service Academy graduate and want to take your business to the next level, you can join our supportive community and get started today. Subscribe and help out the show: Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Also available on Google Play, Spotify & Stitcher Leave us a 5-star review! Special thanks to Ben and Kevin for joining me this week.  Until next time! -Scott Mackes,

David Chepauskas (USMA '77) is a Senior Wealth Planner at Summit Financial, an independent wealth management firm located in Parsippany, New Jersey.  David has over 28 years of experience specializing in solving problems and maximizing opportunities for senior Wall Street professionals, business owners, executives, and retirees. In this episode, David and I discuss: How to minimize capital gains tax through charitable giving How a charitable giving strategy creates a sense of purpose during retirement How his firm has helped some of the most financially successful Academy graduates in the U.S. Connect with David: David on LinkedIn Summit Financial, LLC If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a friend or colleague. If you are a Service Academy graduate and want to take your business to the next level, you can join our supportive community and get started today. Subscribe and help out the show: Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Also available on Google Play, Spotify & Stitcher Leave us a 5-s

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 sales in the last two years His marketing pivot that helped him target the clients he loves serving His recent prank that included a press release saying the Navy named a new destroyer after Army’s football coach Connect with Mike: Mike on LinkedIn Emblem Athletic Mike’s book: Discipline the Annapolis Way If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a friend or colleague. If you are a Service Academy graduate and want to take your business to the next level, you can join our supportive community and get started today. Subscribe and help out the show: Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Also available on Google

Alex Chehansky (USNA '95) is the CFO and Partner at Notorious Wines, a wine company that has achieved national distribution through its great tasting wine and winning team.  Their flagship wine, Notorious Pink, is an award-winning rosé made from 100% Grenache. In this episode, Alex and I discuss: How they got their first customers and have grown sales to 50,000+ cases per year Best practices and lessons learned from growing their team Advice for Academy grads working in a start-up environment Connect with Alex: Alex on LinkedIn Notorious Wines If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a friend or colleague. If you are a Service Academy graduate and want to take your business to the next level, you can join our supportive community and get started today. Subscribe and help out the show: Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Also available on Google Play, Spotify & Stitcher Leave us a 5-star review! Special thanks to Alex for joining me this week.  Until next time! -Scott Mackes, USNA '01

Bryan Rodriguez is a real estate investor who has built a portfolio of real estate investments while serving on active duty in the U.S. Army. Part of his investment strategy involves renting his properties on Airbnb.  In addition to real estate investing, Brian and his wife, Lana, run a real estate agency where they ranked in the top 10% of agents in the Colorado market.  In this episode, Bryan and I discuss: His best tips for renting investment properties on Airbnb Important metrics to consider when listing a property on Airbnb Utilizing a VA loan to purchase an investment property Connect with Bryan Rodriguez: Bryan on LinkedIn The Lana Rodriguez Group

Jim “Bart” Bartelloni (USNA '90) is a Naval Academy graduate and former Rugby player. He cut his teeth in the military as a Naval Aviator, flying F-14s and graduating from the US Navy Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun). The opportunity to relocate to San Diego brought the chance to learn stand up paddle (SUP) surfing. After attending a SUP ‘n’ Surf retreat he made the decision to bring this opportunity to veterans with the hope they enjoy the same unique experience as he did. In this episode, Jim and I discuss: How SUP boarding can help military veterans with PTSD Lessons learned from starting a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization Pro tips for catching a wave on a SUP board

Caroline Johnson graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2009 and is a former F/A-18 Super Hornet Weapons System Operator. She was one of the first women to fly a combat mission over Iraq since 2011, and she was the first woman to drop bombs on ISIS. Transitioning to the private sector, Caroline co-authored Jet Girl and has become a professional speaker. She has spoken at international banks, Fortune 100 tech companies, hedge funds, industry events, leading higher education institutions, high schools, retirement communities, and her following is growing. In this episode, Caroline and I discuss: Her favorite stories from flying missions on a F/A-18 Super Hornet The challenges she faced to write a book and become a professional speaker Her mission to inspire young women to take risks and achieve their goals Connect with Caroline Johnson: Caroline on LinkedIn Jet Girl Website Buy Jet Girl on Amazon If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a friend or colleague. Subscribe and help out the sh

Dan Lesniak (USNA ‘02) is a billion-dollar real estate agent, best-selling author, investor, developer and coach. He began his career in real estate in 2012 after having successful careers both as a Naval submarine officer and defense contractor.  His HyperLocal strategy led to one of the fastest starts in real estate with over $22 million in sales in his first year. In this episode, we discuss: How he and his wife Keri grew their team to 65 agents and $400M in annual sales A strategic marketing shift that has attracted hundreds of new leads His new coaching and real estate development businesses Connect with Dan Lesniak: Dan on LinkedIn HyperFast Agent Coaching Orange Line Living Real Estate Team Buy Dan’s book If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a friend or colleague. If you are a Service Academy graduate and want to take your business to the next level, you can join our supportive community and get started today. Subscribe and help out the show: Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Also a

Episode link: https://www.sabmgroup.com/intellispex Blake Ratcliff (USNA '84) is the founder of IntelliSpeX, a company that is revolutionizing how the construction industry handles time and workforce management. IntelliSpeX’s patent-pending site-performance technology captures Evidence of Performance and other high-value data to increase productivity on the job site.  We are also joined on the podcast by Scott Kushino (USNA '84), Head of Corporate Development, and Dion Rudnicki, CEO. In this episode, we discuss: How their mobile app is saving construction managers tons of time and money Initial feedback they have received from their customers Their short- and long-term goals for IntelliSpeX Connect with the team: IntelliSpeX website Blake on LinkedIn Scott on LinkedIn If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a friend or colleague. If you are a Service Academy graduate and want to take your business to the next level, you can join our supportive community and get started today. Subscribe an

Barry Gittleman is a 1989 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, retired submarine service Commander, and a 2003 graduate of Harvard Business School. After a few years doing strategic consulting with Boston Consulting Group, Barry got into the home building industry just as the Great Recession was beginning. Ten years later, Barry moved from Atlanta to Salt Lake City for the opportunity to become an owner of Hamlet Homes, a private company with a founder seeking a succession plan. At Hamlet Homes, Barry and his team are committed to providing home buyers with quality homes in attractively designed neighborhoods in Northern Utah. Hamlet Homes will celebrate its 25th year in 2020, and has built over 3,600 homes in 62 neighborhoods. Hamlet Homes recently was named the Salt Lake Chamber’s Veteran Owned Business of the Year for 2019, won Best of State 2019 for Real Estate Development, Best of the West for both Real Estate Services and Architecture and recently was acknowledged on Professional Builder’s Housing Giants

Tom Coyle (USMA ‘97) is the co-founder of Adventures in Leadership and the author of the book, Leadership Lessons from the Battle of Gettysburg. He has written many articles and appeared on many video blogs about leadership. He gets students and clients out of their comfort zone and working together through hands-on experiential leadership exercises. His goal is to pass on lessons from his military service to future generations of leaders. In this episode, Tom and I discuss: How he sold 4,000+ books on Amazon without any promotion His book writing process that enables him to write books quickly How he landed an $18,000 client from a video he posted on LinkedIn Connect with Tom Coyle: Tom on LinkedIn Adventures in Leadership If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a friend or colleague. If you are a Service Academy graduate and want to take your business to the next level, you can join our supportive community and get started today. Subscribe and help out the show: Subscribe on Apple Podc

Episode link: https://www.sabmgroup.com/chandra-adusei/ Chandra Adusei is the Founder of Veteran Wealth Partners, a financial services company whose mission is to serve Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners by providing innovative and alternative solutions to the traditional model of planning, scaling, and protecting a business. Chandra was a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy and served onboard the USS Bunker Hill and USS John L Hall. In this episode, we discuss: How she utilized captive insurance to help a $5M client save on taxes How she found her niche and how that has helped her attract more clients Her key takeaway from the Naval Academy that has helped her succeed as an entrepreneur Connect with Chandra Adusei: Chandra on LinkedIn Veteran Wealth Partners If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a friend or colleague. If you are a Service Academy graduate and want to take your business to the next level, you can join our supportive community and get started today. Subscribe a

Webinar Registration (Oct 12th): https://zoom.us/meeting/register/12e863c3d8d1efb0c5b9141539e44ee6 Set up a call with the team: https://form.jotform.com/91924547858170 The Real Estate Investing Accelerator is a six month course for service academy graduates and their family members who are serious about creating financial freedom for themselves and building a legacy of generational wealth through real estate investing.  Since launching the course in 2018 we’ve had over 75 grads enroll in the course.  The results have been amazing and it’s always fun to share success stories from the course on our podcast. In this episode, we discuss: Exciting wins happening in our current Accelerator class including stories of family members working together to tackle deals What I learned in the course that enabled me to invest in 4 deals this year & save $6000/year in taxes The 45 year age difference between our oldest student and our youngest student (Class of ’72 & ’17)! How you can register for our next Accelerat

Episode link:  https://www.sabmgroup.com/chip-neidigh/ Chip Neidigh (USNA '93) is the Founder of Kairos Consulting, a leadership development company that sparks personal transformation and shifts organizational culture. His career has included consulting, teaching, coaching, and leadership roles in the U.S. Marine Corps and the private sector.  Chip combines logic and intuition to help leaders build a better future. In this episode, Chip and I discuss: The Enneagram assessment and how it determines your personality type so you can thrive as a leader His Box Chart framework and how it sparks personal transformation Other innovative tools his team uses to help organizations shift their culture Connect with Chip Neidigh: Chip on LinkedIn Kairos Consulting Subscribe and help out the show: Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Also available on Google Play, Spotify & Stitcher Leave us a 5-star review! Special thanks to Chip for joining me this week.  Until next time! -Scott Mackes, USNA ’01

Apply here: https://globalgoodfund.org/programs/veterans/ The Global Good Fund supports United States Veterans through its partnership with the Smithfield Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Smithfield Foods, Inc.  Through a $400,000 capital investment from Smithfield, The Global Good Fund can provide its flagship year-long leadership development program to veteran entrepreneurs.  These innovators are focused on giving back to their communities, creating sustainable jobs, and supporting veterans and their families. The Global Good Fund develops the leadership skills of veteran innovators by pairing them with professional leadership coaches and business executive mentors, along with leadership assessment resources, a global peer network, sector expertise and $10,000 in targeted funding. In this episode, we discuss: What the program entails and how to join the next cohort A Naval Academy graduate’s experience who is currently enrolled in the program The great impact the Global Good fund is having on veteran l

Sean Drake (USMA ‘90) is the Founder of Stony Lonesome Group, a boutique merchant bank that focuses on early-stage seed capital investing encompassing Stony Lonesome Advisors and the Stony Lonesome Capital funds. Founded in 2011, Stony Lonesome Group is a pioneer and thought leader in the Vetrepreneurship ecosystem with a commitment to investing in Veteran founded and Service Disabled Veteran led companies. Stony Lonesome Group has invested $8m across 30 portfolio companies and is currently investing in Military Medicine, Healthcare, Veteran Care, Cybersecurity and Big Data.  The Honorable Patrick Murphy is the Former Acting Secretary of the Army and a General Partner at Stony Lonesome Group. In this episode, we discuss: Their investment philosophy and why they invest in Veteran led companies Their favorite market sectors to invest Their best advice for military veteran entrepreneurs who are seeking capital Connect with Sean & Patrick: Stony Lonesome Group Sean on LinkedIn Patrick on LinkedIn If you f

Neal Gouck (USMA '98) is the Founder of Freedom Wind Tunnel, an indoor skydiving facility that will be located at Patriot Place, near Gillette Stadium, the home of the New England Patriots in Foxboro, MA.  The three-floor building will be highlighted by a wind tunnel that will allow customers to feel like they are skydiving.  It will also include a virtual parachuting simulator which will allow guests to simulate a landing in a location of their choice. The facility will open in the Fall of 2020. In this episode, Neal and I discuss: The amazing indoor skydiving experience he will offer his customers Why Foxboro, MA is a prime location for an indoor skydiving facility The help he needs from the community to complete construction and be open for business Connect with Neal Gouck: Neal on LinkedIn Freedom Wind Tunnel on Facebook If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a friend or colleague. If you are a Service Academy graduate and want to take your business to the next level, you can join ou

Layne Kasper (USAFA '92 ) is the Managing Partner of Kasper & Associates, a Mergers & Acquisitions firm specializing in facilitating the sale of medium-sized manufacturing, distribution, and service businesses with annual sales revenue from $1 to 70 million.  They provide current market data and professional advice to assist owners in making decisions regarding their company and personal plans.  With over 300 transactions to date, they have a unique expertise and market knowledge to assist in facilitating successful deals. In this episode, Layne and I discuss: The types of businesses his firm represents and how they find potential buyers An opportunity they are representing that might be a great fit for a Service Academy graduate The most important skills he learned in the Air Force that have helped him as an entrepreneur Connect with Layne Kasper: Layne on LinkedIn Kasper & Associates Subscribe and help out the show: Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Also available on Google Play, Spotify & St

Female craft beer drinkers are growing twice as fast as the industry itself, yet breweries are not effectively targeting this group. As two passionate homebrewers working in the beer industry, LeAnn Darland (USNA ‘08) & co-founder Tara Hankinson are seizing this opportunity. Design-forward packaging, an elevated taproom experience, flavor-first beers, and an engaging, empowering brand will make TALEA Beer Co. the first female-forward beer brand in the US. In this episode, we discuss how they: Have sold over 100 barrels of beer in less than three months Got their beer in all the Whole Foods across NYC Secured over 85 accounts across NYC, including some of the best beer bars in the city Connect with Tara & LeAnn: LeAnn on LinkedIn Tara on LinkedIn Talea Beer Company If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a friend or colleague. If you are a Service Academy graduate and want to take your business to the next level, you can join our supportive community and get started today. Subscrib

The Military Influencer Conference (MIC) is a dynamic three-day event; connecting entrepreneurs, business executives, and brands with the influencers who shape and support the military community.   In 2019, MIC will convene in Washington, DC from 8-10 September, where 750+ service members, veterans, military spouses, and civilians will gather to network, explore ideas, be inspired, find solutions and make a difference.  On this episode, I’m joined by special guest Curtez Riggs, an Army veteran and Founder of MIC. In this episode, Curtez and I discuss: The exciting lineup of guests, breakout sessions, and pitch competitions for this year’s event How he landed Jim Koch, Founder of Sam Adams as a guest speaker at last year’s event How he’s nearly tripled attendance since launching the conference in 2017 Register for the conference: Register on Eventbrite (Get 25% SABM discount through this link) Military Influencer Conference website Connect with Curtez Riggs: Curtez on LinkedIn If you found this episode v