Charlie Mike Podcast

Dwayne Paro welcomes Jim Raschella to today's podcast.  Jim is a Marine Corps veteran from Syracuse, New York.  Jim was a born entrepreneur. From selling tickets to his backyard carnival as a child, to dreaming up multi-million dollar companies—Jim's ambitions have always been as limitless as his creativity. After graduating high school in 2004, Jim joined the Marine Corps Reserve. After separating from the Marine Corps, Mark pursued a career in law enforcement and Jim began working on a degree in business.  In 2013 Jim's idea for his entrepreneurial endeavor became obvious, he partnered with a fellow officer familiar with the challenge his business would address, Jim and Mark created Off Duty Blue.  Jim serves as Off Duty Blue's Chief Executive Officer. Over the past 3 years, Jim has proudly overseen the company's transformation from scribbles in a notebook, to the most comprehensive special event and detail management software platform available on the market.

Dwayne Paro welcomes Courtney Wilson to today's podcast.  Courtney is a former Army Engineer Captain, combat veteran and Bronze Star Medal recipient.  She has been profiled in the New York Times and interviewed by CNN and NPR for her experience in Afghanistan, as well as named a 'Military Entrepreneur Making a Difference'.  A Creative Writing major turned Engineer turned MBA Candidate, Courtney is a creative analytic who believes equally in authenticity and efficiency.  She lives in Boston, MA with her boyfriend, also a veteran and their adorable King Cavalier Spaniel, Molly.

Dwayne Paro welcomes Ken Robbins to today's podcast.  He is the Co-Founder and CEO of MILLIE. He is a former Army officer with twenty years of experience serving in tactical, operational and strategic level assignments. While in the Army, he deployed to numerous theaters, including service in Iraq in 2008-2009.  His final assignments included battalion command in Europe and as a special assistant to the Chief of Staff of the Army. In 2009, Ken was appointed as one of fifteen White House Fellows by President Obama. He served as a special assistant to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and worked closely with career civil servants and political appointees at OPM in the drafting of Executive Order 13518, Employment of Veterans in the Federal Government, which established the Veterans Employment Initiative. After his White House Fellowship, Ken served as an Army Fellow at the Department of State. His educational background includes a B.S. in American Politics from the United States

Dwayne Paro welcomes Brandon Buttrey to today's podcast.  Brandon is a 10 year Combat Veteran from Houston, Texas and is now producing a brand new line of outstanding coffee that reflects some of the experiences individuals have while serving this great country of ours. Veterans, active duty military, L.E.O.'s, Public Safety and Military supporters alike will be able to enjoy the animated depictions of each roast while consuming the best damn coffee they have ever had. The idea came to him while teaching his field to urban medical integration class. "I provide coffee for my classes and have a donation bucket. There were always a lot of contributors there, so I figured that there is a huge market there." Brandon reflected on his time in the service when coffee was held in high regard just to be able to function. He knew that if he designed a military/veteran friendly coffee brand that he could have some serious customers, but that's not all. "All of the proceeds go back into the company with a portio

Dwayne Paro welcomes Robert Paton to today's podcast.  Robert started his career in corporate jobs while he went to college earning his Associates degree.  In 2005 he felt like he was at a crossroad in his life due to the economy and the state of the Nation fighting a war in Iraq so he needed to make a big decision to avoid being stuck in a life of ambition that he didn't care to pursue.  He felt the universe was sending him a sign to join the Army who were giving bonuses and paying off college loans. Robert entered into the army in January 2006 and was in Iraq by July 2006 on his first tour with a team of seven where they were responsible for safely returning with honor and dignity our fallen heroes.  It was their responsibility to receive the remains from the service members unit and ensure it was handled with the utmost honor, dignity and respect they could possibly provide so that they could return them home to their loved ones to be remembered as heroes and provide closure with t

Dwayne Paro welcomes Duane France to today's podcast.  Duane is currently serving as the Director of Veteran Services at The Family Care Center, a private mental health counseling agency specializing in the unique needs of military service members, veterans, and their families. He is also the Executive Director of the Colorado Veterans Health and Wellness Agency, a 501(c)3 Nonprofit affiliated with the Family Care Center.  Mr. France is a retired Army Noncommissioned Officer and combat veteran, having served in deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, North Africa, and Bosnia-Herzegovnia. After retirement, he served as Program Director for the Colorado Veterans Resource. In 2015, Mr. France was selected as one of five Military Scholars in the nation by the National Board of Certified Counselors Foundation, and in 2016 was selected as the awardee of the 2016 NBCC Foundation Capacity Building Grant, providing no-cost clinical mental health counseling to veterans in and around El Paso County, Colorado. H

Dwayne Paro welcomes Kelly Crigger to today's podcast.  He is a retired Army Officer, entrepreneur, and author with over 200 articles and 8 books to his credit. Dark World, a collaboration with The Travel Channel's Zak Bagans, reached the NY Times Bestseller list in 2011. His first novel was released in November 2016. He owns and operates Graybeard Publishing, a book publishing company for veterans.

Dwayne Paro welcomes Michael Barbera to today's podcast.  He is a Fortune 50 consumer psychologist and strategy consultant, angel investor and award-winning business strategist. He is a business psychologist who is involved in both practical and academic endeavors. His areas of practice are consumer behavior, consumer emotions, social psychology, decision-making, brand management, and marketing and long-term business strategies. Michael is currently employed as the CEO of Barbera Solutions. His clients can be found on the Fortune 50 list, ABC's Shark Tank and Bravo's Million Dollar Listing. In 2015, the White House recognized Michael for his contributions to entrepreneurship. This work includes development and validation of consumer emotions, consumer behavior, product placement, consumer interaction and business growth strategies. Michael is a member of the APA, SIOP, SJDM and the National Speakers Association, and is currently completing a Ph.D. in Business Psychology. He has a BS in Business Admi

Dwayne Paro welcomes Christopher Davidson to today's podcast.  He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1993.  His initial training was in aviation ordnance which put him on a path to support various high level units such as the famous Thunderbolts which led to various deployments in both Boznia-Herzegovina and in the Persian Gulf. His next assignments saw him climb through the enlisted ranks to fill senior NCO in charge positions for ordnance and quality assurance with various units. Chris pursued and acquired his private pilot license, private helicopter training, multiple personal decorations, and a BS degree in Professional Aeronautics and Aviation Safety from Embry-Riddle University. The culmination of all these achievements led to Chris becoming an officer.  He received training to become a Cobra pilot and served various deployments in Operation Iraqi Freedom, amassing nearly 1000 hours of combat flight time. In Chris's final assignments he served in various Headquarters positions with Man

Dwayne Paro welcomes Timothy Lawson to today's podcast.  Timothy has been a member of VA's Digital Media Engagement team since April 2016. His scope includes blog writing, video production, and launching VA's first ever podcast<https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-at-va/id1171416564?mt=2>. Before joining VA, he was best known for podcasts such as 1, 2, Many: Veteran Suicide, Fuel For Warriors, and Veteran Empire, which was nominated for a 2013 podcast award. He graduated from American University's School of Communications in 2016 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. Tim is a Marine Corps Veteran having served as a Marine Security Guard and was posted at embassies in Algiers, Algeria; Moscow, Russia; and Lima, Peru.

Dwayne Paro welcomes William Tate to today's podcast. William has recently joined the new BLAZnTECH leadership team as their innovative CFO. He has extensive experience in working with both small startup company teams as well as employment with several leading Wall Street financial services firms. He has enjoyed a wide-ranging background is the financial planning and financial services industry. He first became a Financial Advisor in 1994. Since then, he has been a financial trainer, advisor, and manager in Silicon Valley with some well-known financial services firms such as Morgan Stanley. William is also the founder and creator of Money Landscape (ML). ML is the first ever totally visual personal finance system and financial literacy platform for mastering personal finance. ML takes ordinary personal money management spreadsheet data and converts it into a totally visual financial accounts representation arrangement. ML might become the next generation financial info and data display standard for

Dwayne Paro welcomes Tom Morkes to today's podcast.  Tom Morkes is a West Point grad, Iraq War veteran, and the founder and CEO of Insurgent Publishing, a creative advisory and consulting firm that helps entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs grow their businesses through strategic, large-scale book and digital product launches. Tom's clients and projects have been featured in major mainstream media outlets, leading television networks, and top ranked blogs and podcasts; he has consulted on books that have hit The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Amazon bestseller lists; he led the marketing and promotional effort that generated over $450,000.00, setting a Kickstarter record for most funded Nonfiction Publishing project, and has done multiple 6-figure course and digital product launches.

Dwayne Paro welcomes John Preston to today's podcast.  John is currently a Pacific Records recording artist and full time firefighter. As well, John is a former Marine Corps field wireman, running over a 100 combat missions while in theatre, 2000 to 2004 achieving the rank of Sergeant in his 4 years of service.  John began his music career while in Iraq writing his song "Good Good America" which became an overnight success and gave John his first shot at the music industry signing a record deal upon his return from Iraq.  John returned to the music industry in 2014 signing with Pacific Records and quickly releasing his first single "this IS war" in October of 2014.  Since he has released many songs which he has received many accolades for and have had a profound impact focused on calls to action for issues such as stand against ISIS, PTS, and Suicide.  John's life took a turn of tragic irony when in January of 2016 John's own brother fell victim to post traumatic stress and took

Dwayne Paro welcomes Carl Churchill to today's podcast.  Carl Churchill, a combat veteran with 21 years of service as both an enlisted soldier and officer, and his wife Lori Churchill, a military spouse and coffee lover founded Alpha Coffee.  The company started out as Lock-n-Load Java, selling exclusively over the web.  In 2016 the company rebranded to Alpha Coffee, selling both online and via other retailers.  In 2017, Alpha will open their first coffee shop, staying close to home with their first location at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. From the start, Carl and Lori wanted to create a different kind of company guided by the principles they lived by.

Dwayne Paro welcomes Corey Christman to today's podcast.  Mr Corey M. Christman serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Vethos, LLC - a Human Capital Leadership and executive strategy firm. He's served in executive level capacities for 15+ years and led teams comprised of three members to over 500 in size.  He's the recipient of numerous awards for leadership, human resource management and innovation.  He holds an MBA in entrepreneurship and BA in Criminal Justice and will complete the Executive Leadership Program at Cornell University in the Spring of 2017. He's a retired Supervisory Special Agent, United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations and a served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He's a professionally trained winemaker, he works within the Finger Lakes wine region of New York State and he will be launching his own veteran/first responder focused wine label in 2017. Since retiring in 2012, he's worked within the veteran advocacy space and is currently partnered with several

Dwayne Paro welcomes Joe Crane to today's podcast.  Joe Crane retired from the Marine Corps in 2013 after 24 years of service.  He was an AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter pilot and completed two combat flying tours in Iraq.  Joe is now an airline pilot and host of the Veteran On the Move podcast, your Pathfinder to Freedom.   Empowering veterans through entrepreneurship. Veteran On the Move podcast provides knowledge and inspiration to veterans aspiring to transition to the exciting world of entrepreneurship.

Dwayne Paro welcomes Kevin Bemel to today's podcast.  Kevin is the President of The Bemel Company, Inc., where he helps veterans become financially secure by training them to find high paying jobs and start businesses. He writes and speaks on The 8 Deadly Sins of Job Hunting: Avoid Employment Hell Using the Five Steps to a High-Paying Job (Veterans Edition), as well as leadership, veteran reintegration, and ethics. This is an outgrowth of his work as a chaplain in the United States Navy where he worked with service members in the Marine Corps, naval aviation units, and a submarine squadron helping sailors and Marines get promoted and work through issues such as infidelity, criminality, and abuse. Currently Kevin is the Deputy Command Chaplain for a special warfare unit. 

Dwayne Paro welcomes Jon Taylor to today's podcast.  Jon Taylor is a US Navy veteran and the founder of MrQuickPick USA, a national brand for roadside assistance entrepreneurs. Jon joined the Navy in 1988 and would spend the majority of his enlistment assigned to the aircraft carrier USS FORRESTAL (CV-59) during Persian Gulf War operations Desert Storm and Provide Comfort. Honorably discharged in 1993, he would return to Kentucky and study Communications at the University of Louisville. In 2006 he started Quick Pick Lockout Service and soon expanded operations to Virginia Beach, VA where Quick Pick would win the AAA Member's Choice award for three consecutive years (2010, 2011, 2012). After successfully testing his business model in multiple locations Jon began licensing the MrQuickPick® Lock and Road Services brand, now being used by dozens of roadside assistance entrepreneurs all across the country. He published his first book, "Breaking Into Cars for a Living", in 2013. 

Dwayne Paro welcomes Michael Zacchea to today's podcast.  Mike was a commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Corps in 1990.  He deployed to Somalia for Operation Restore Hope and to Haiti for Operation Support Democracy. In March 2004, as a Major, he deployed to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom II. His team's mission was to build, train and lead in combat the first Iraqi army battalion trained by the US military.  The battalion participated in Operation Phantom Fury, the 2nd battle of Fallujah.  Mike's military awards include the Bronze Star Medal (with Valor device) (with gold star in lieu of 2nd awrd), the Purple Heart Medal, a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, a Combat Action Ribbon and numerous unit and campaign awards.

Dwayne Paro welcomes Scott Warren to today's podcast.  Scott is the owner and chief ad strategist at The Exfil Project Traffic and Conversion Agency. As a digital nomad, he is successfully combining business building and paid social media advertising with exploring and plenty of time in the great outdoors. He and his family are traveling the USA in a 1985 Winnebago. Scott is a former elite Special Operations Operator, with numerous overseas and war zone deployments. He holds a Master of Business Administration in International Business from Thunderbird School of Global Management.