Veterans Are Not Entry Level Talent

Rich Cardona is a former Marine, turned leadership developer for Amazon, turned business owner and entrepreneur. His open, authentic style has recently caught the eye of VaynerMedia’s Chief Heart Officer Claude Silver, and the two are creating content that features Claude in a setting that makes her nothing less than perfectly relatable.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate of veterans dropped from 4.3 percent to 3.7 percent in 2017. This Entrepreneur.comarticle mentions that 78 percent of veteran-owned businesses register sales of $100,000 or more, while more than 38% have sales of half a million or more. Veterans who would otherwise find it hard to break into the labour market, are recognizing their talents both as leaders and creatives.

Rich has a clear and powerful message: "Veteran's are not entry level talent". Rich wasn't an A student in high-school like so many entrepreneurs before him.

"In high school I was crazy I played a lot of football, I was really into track, but I was always more interested in trying to be cool and popular and having a lot of friends, than I was about my grades or team. I knew moving forward that I was not going to be in a position to go to college and perform. My parent's wouldn't have been able to pay for it anyway. I was a junior and I decided to go into the Marine Corps delayed entry program. The contract stated that upon graduation sometime that year, in 1998, I would go to Marine-Corps bootcamp and be a recruit and eventually become a Marine."

As I continued to interview Rich I naturally wanted to know why he chose the Marines specifically.

"The Marine Corps is a very very special place, it is the least sought after armed service, it is the smallest armed service. We take a lot of pride in being incredibly efficient and doing more with less. I started as a private and I retired early as a Captain and I never regretted that choice."

After working at Amazon for a few years he decided to take a risk and start his own business.

"It was time to make a change, I wasn't seeing my daughter as often, I wasn't happy and I was starting to act out of character. My wife is the one who actually made the call and said 'you're done'. I had always been really interested in photography and videography and so that's what I decided."

 *photo of Ann Cardona taken by Rich, "she is the love of my life I never have and never will feel this way about anyone else...ever."

I was surprised to learn that Rich didn't have previous experience as a videographer and had to teach himself everything he knew, ultimately founding Flybysmedia. Veterans today might leave the armed services feeling stuck but Rich is the perfect example of getting creative in today's fast paced digital world. Nothing is out of reach for individuals who are adaptable to change and willing to learn something new.

On what changed the course of his business:

"I went to VaynerMedia to meet Claude, I made a LinkedInpost about it, that my life might change forever, and I went in there and offered to vlog for her because I believe in her, I love her, and I wanted to create content for her, I wasn't qualified really to create content, but I didn't care. I had a one on one discussion with Gary Vaynerchuk  thanking him for all that he has done for me personally and for recognizing next-level talent in Claude. Claude and I then came to this agreement where I would come to New York and make content for her...and I'll never forget how she said 'I trust you'. We had known each other for about a year and a half through phone calls and LinkedInand emails and that changed everything. Fast forward my business now involves creating content, I am attached to my phone and always on my computer. I love to create content and tell a story and tell other people's stories."

*Rich meeting Gary VaynerChuk at VaynerMedia NY.

I also had the chance to interview Claude, the woman I had heard so much about for her ability to create amazing culture, inspire others, and find talent in places others fail to look. When asked why she chose to work with Rich she responded simply but beautifully:

"Rich is untapped talent. He's a veteran who chose to give his life for our country and there is so much courage in that. I trust him...I can trust to record my videos with him."

*Rich sitting with Claude Silver during one of their candid conversations.

With veterans leaving the military each day and entering the work force I asked Rich what skills he believed were characteristic of veterans and how they related to entrepreneurship.

" The Marine Corps. is notorious for discipline, attention to detail and supporting each other. It's all about realizing the bigger picture that is it's not about you, even as an entrepreneur, it's about who you're providing value too."

When hiring a veteran you can expect:

• Solid leadership and leadership development skills
• Work ethic
• Accountability
• Attention to detail
• Team player
• Take initiative
• Creativity
• Forward thinking
• Research/presentation skills
• Adaptable to change
• Problem solving skills

When I asked Rich what he thought the biggest challenge for veterans entering the work force or becoming entrepreneurs was, I was intrigued by his answer. I thought it would be to overcome serious anxiety or PTSD. Admittedly, I had watched a lot of cinematic movies on veterans returning home.

"That is humongous and I'm working on something for that [solving the challenge] we don't know where we want to go, no-one knows what they want to do. Some veterans will just stick with what they're doing even when they don't want to do that anymore, meaning if I was a logistician I would go into logistics because that is where my skills are, because we don't have the confidence to go anywhere else. We are not entry level talent, we let people think they can get us at a bargain, when in reality in the military you don't do the same job the whole time. We get scared, we start feeling rejection because we know our place in the military but we don't know our place on the outside. It's a process of rewriting your resume a million times, not trying to lose your military identity while taking on a civilian identity. It is very, very challenging."

Rich Cardona's advice for veterans who don't want to feel stuck:

"The best thing you can do in my opinion is to determine how much you're going to need to survive for X amount of months and pursue exactly what you want. Go after it or you will never know."

Where to find Rich: 

www.richcardona.net or flybysmedia.com

LinkedIn or Instagram @flybysmedia

Quotes: 

"Marine's don't like cutting corners, it's all about the long game." 

"Nobody cares about the company anymore, everyone cares about the people at the company."

"Building my business is really just me building my personal brand and showing people what it looks like when a former Marine who left a "good job" says f*ck it, hustling as hard as I can."

"I absolutely attribute all of my leadership abilities to the military." 

"To be deemed a survivor it takes an incredible amount of failure." 

"You are worth being in this world. You are loved and You are cared for." 

"The right people will always see when you have their best interest in mind." 

"I believe you can train your mind. I expect nothing from anybody. I truly mean it when I say that." 

"Remember who you are. Once a Marine, Always a Marine."