Torie Fisher – Founder of Backward Flag Brewing

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Our guest today is Torie Fisher, a veteran of both the US Army and National Guard.

Torie is now the founder of Backward Flag Brewing, a craft brewery and taproom located in Forked River New Jersey. She started her business nearly 2 year ago with two other partners, and after they both quickly dropped out she carried on and moved forward on her own. Now she has a staff of about 8, made up almost entirely of veteran volunteers who she gives most of the credit to regarding the brewery’s continued success. On top of running the brewery, Torie is currently building a non-profit to run in parallel to her company, with the mission of teaching veterans brewing and business skills while building their professional network.

Discussed in this episode:

The Federal Technician Program, Helping other find purpose, Joining the National Guard after active duty service, the beers on tap, and much more.

http://backwardflagbrewing.com/

Outro Link:

http://www.veteranconference.com/

Veteranology 023 – Justine Evirs

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Our guest today is Justine Evirs. She is currently the Senior Director of Programs at Service to School. Since leaving the Navy, she’s become an intrapreneur and a subject matter expert on finding and closing the gaps of service found in campus programs and policies related to veteran education.

Before joining Service to School she was hired at the college of San Mateo to be their first veteran services program coordinator. Altogether, Justine has dedicated the last 6 and a half years to transforming academic advising and program development for the active duty, military spouse, and veteran communities.

On today’s episode Justine and I discuss the personal challenges that got her started on her current career path, the trends she sees in how veterans interact with and navigate their college experience, the statistics behind how many veterans are first generation college students, and much more.

You can reach out to Justine Evirs on LinkedIn.

Check out Service to School, non-profit that provides free application counseling to military veterans. Our goal is to help veterans win admission to the best universities possible and to help them maximize their education benefits.

Are you a vetrepreneur?  Looking for more information on VETCON? Find out more and register here!

Veteranology 022 – Ian Faison

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Getting hired is tough, no matter who you are.  Veterans face their own hurdles to finding employment, but there are people and organizations on our side, one of them is Ian Faison.  Ian has spent his post-service career helping leaders build amazing companies.  He’s been hired by companies to build better veteran hiring practices, and gives them the tools to connect smarter and faster with the 1% of the US population that serves in the military.

Beyond his work in the military hiring arena, he’s also an avid mentor when it comes to veteran entrepreneurs, often giving them valuable insights into sales and business development practices that can take their company to the next level.  Ian has taken this drive one step further, and joined a team of vets to create VETCON, the “veteran entrepreneur [vetrepreneur] conference, an annual gathering of visionaries, hustlers, and game-changers from around the world. We promote the international community of veterans who run their own businesses.”

VETCON takes place this year in Redwood City, CA on March 23rd-25th.  You can register to attend and find more information at http://www.veteranconference.com/

Ian and I dive into a lot in this interview, from the value of your experiences in garrison and training to some of the specific challenges we as veterans have in communicating out work experience to hiring managers and recruiters.  If you’re a veterans currently looking for work or vetreprenuer building a business, this is the Veteranology episode for you.

You can contact Ian Faison on LinkedIn, or find him on twitter at @ianfaison

Paul Warmbier – Marine Corps Infantry to Winemaker & Teacher

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Paul Warmbier is a Marine Corps combat veteran who served two tours with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines.  After leaving the service he pursued a career in teaching, becoming an English teacher and serving both middle school and high school aged students.  He’s now completing his Master Degree is Nonfiction Creative Writing.

After visiting with two of his best friends at a wine tasting event, and a lot of wine, the trio of veterans decided to start their own winemaking business.  Now, Dauntless Wine Company is making their third vintage, and are well on their way to having a complete winemaking operation from land to vine to bottle.  You’ll hear the passion for wine throughout the interview.

Currently, the Dauntless Wine Company is raising $10,000 and is less than $1,500 away from their goal.  If you’d like to lend them a few bucks, check out their Kiva loan page here.  Unlike GoFundMe, or Kickstarter, you don’t pledge money for a prize, but get your money back on a monthly repayment schedule.

 

Other links from the show:

Team Rubicon

Farmer Veteran Coalition