Like all great war heroes, I thought I’d get out and become either an Operations Manager, a Consultant, or a Project Manager, because those are the only three jobs that exist. I didn’t really have any ideas beyond that point.

In reality, I was lost.

Conviction.

When you leave the military, you’re not just walking away from a job. You’re stepping out of a belief system. What nobody tells you is how long it takes to build a new one.

At first, everything feels up for grabs. Every suggestion feels like a command. Every job offer feels like salvation or a trap. You listen to every podcast, every mentor, every blog post, and every dude who “found success” and wants to reverse-engineer it for you.

I had the privilege of working with Wyatt for several years in the first job that I found outside the military. He and I quickly connected with similar values, intrinsic motivations, and the gallows humor that only comes from service. In the time since he left the military, he has gone from government contractor, to program manager, to director of operations, and now COO of a group of companies.