Todd Connor is a Navy veteran and the CEO of Bunker Labs, an incredible nonprofit organization that helps veterans to achieve their dreams through entrepreneurship. Over the past couple of years, Bunker Labs has grown from their original location in Chicago, to having chapters in over 10 cities across the country. They provide support through mentorship, training, education, peer support, and even funding.
Through an innovative online platform at www.BunkerInABox.org, veteran entrepreneurs can embark on a 14 mission journey that takes them through the necessarily steps to start their business.
Recently, Team RWB has partnered with Bunker Labs in the development of our very own e-learning platform, EagleLeader.org (coming soon).
Todd and I have a great conversation about transitioning from the military and how starting a business may be a great option. We cover topics like:
Todd is an extremely engaging and inspiring guy, and we hope you enjoy our conversation.
The first six months of the Eagle Nation Podcast have flown by. We are 30 episodes into this journey and it has been a blast so far. We have had some amazing guests and have covered a lot of really interesting topics. This week, we thought it would be cool to pause and take a look back at what we've learned so far.
In this episode, JJ and I talk about:
A bunch of listeners have asked us for a consolidated list of some of our favorite books and podcasts that we've mentioned on the show. Here to go!
Our favorite podcasts:
Our favorite books:
Doug McCormick is a lot of things - an Army Veteran (Infantry), a small business owner, a skilled investment banker, a Veteran advocate, and financial author, just to name a few. In this podcast, we talk about economic empowerment for the military community, and why the traditional model of investing and asset allocation is imperfect.
We cover a ton of great content, including:
In this podcast, we talk to the COO of one of the world’s premier shopping center companies, the Westfield Corporation - Bill Hecht. We discuss what it takes to bring the community together in a physical space, being part of rebuilding their World Trade Center location after 9/11, why supporting veterans is important to Westfield (and him personally), and the Old Glory Relay.
We cover a ton of content in this podcast, to include:
The Eagle Nation Podcast is the official podcast of Team Red, White, and Blue and this week, we have a very special guest. Host, Blayne Smith, is joined by Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Honorable Robert McDonald…or as he prefers, Bob.
Bob was nice enough to invite us into his office during a recent trip to D.C., and we had a great conversation. During this episode, we address a number of topics that are on the front of Veterans’ minds. Of course, we touch on leadership. Bob tells us how he has managed to recruit some amazing people into VA and how building a values-based culture is the only way to ensure excellent service.
We also talk about the role of Veteran in managing his/her transition from military life and the need for Veterans to assume a mantle of leadership in our communities and country.
Finally, we dive into healthcare. Bob provides his thoughts on recent calls for privatization of the VA and discusses the importance of having a healthcare system that addresses the whole person and focuses on preventative care.
Team RWB and VA have a strong and growing relationship in our collective effort to serve Veterans and build strong communities. You won’t want to miss this episode!