Episodes

A Junior Military Officer (JMO) transitioning to consulting after the military is unlike any other career pivot. After all, the JMO is changing industries, career fields and locations. That is a lot of change. Therefore, preparation, interviewing and on-boarding into a new company are more difficult and important than most people making a career change. The Cameron-Brooks’ Team provides a lot of advice and support for that transition to ensure the JMO launches into a successful career. In this p...

Welcome back! On this episode, I interview Trey McAfee. Trey is a former Army Chemical Corps officer who transitioned from the Army in early 2015 and is currently a Plant Manager at Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope. Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope is a company that primarily makes commercial glass for some very interesting and beautiful buildings across America. Trey was recently promoted and moved cross-country from Arizona to New Jersey. He attended our January 2015 conference, before starting his caree...

Considering a transition from the military? Do you feel a little anxious about your decision? This anxiety is natural. In this podcast, I interview Cameron-Brooks Recruiter and Principal, Rob Davis, about his decision to make the transition 19 years ago. What makes Rob’s decision unique? His dad and father-in-law both retired from the military. Rob attended West Point with the goal to follow in their footsteps. He stayed in the Army beyond his original commitment to command a Tank Company on his...

Welcome back to the Cameron-Brooks podcast! Are you interested in consulting? Prepare for sales! In this episode, I interview Rene Barber. She is a former USMC Logistics officer who transitioned from the military to the Corporate America in 2016. She is a Manager at Protiviti, a leading consulting firm providing solutions in many different industries. Protiviti was recently named as one of Fortune Magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2018. Our conversation centers around her consulting ...

Cameron-Brooks' mission is to help JMOs reach their potential and dreams. The path to get there starts with understanding goals, values, and strengths. The Personal Marketability Assessment with Cameron-Brooks (PMA) is a proven resource to help JMOs ...

Is Sales for Development Candidates? In our latest episode, I interview Cory Nordstrom to find out. Cory is a former Air Force officer who transitioned to Corporate America in 2014. He started his career at Medtronic selling spinal implants in the hospital operating room to orthopedic and neurological surgeons. For this podcast, I asked Cory to describe his experience leaving the Air Force and going directly into a medical device sales role. In doing so, he essentially describes a-day-in-the-li...

With so many veteran recruiting initiatives, social media sites like LinkedIn, and an unemployment rate of 3.9%, it has become a lot easier for transitioning JMOs to land a job. While seemingly positive, this can be a problem. Why? Most JMOs do not want a job, they want a career. The definition of a job is, “work that one routinely does in return for pay,” whereas a career is defined as, “the natural progression of one’s professional life”. Let’s look at why a career search is better than a job ...

When it comes to your career, can your attitude really determine your altitude? We talked to Abby Horvath, a Cameron-Brooks alumna and manufacturing manager at Ethicon, one of the largest operating companies within Johnson & Johnson. A former Army MEDEVAC pilot who transitioned into a team leadership role as a manufacturing supervisor, Abby has occupied many different roles across her organization in just five short years. In this podcast episode, she explains how she did it. In some ways, Abby...

Two weeks before former JMO Jenna Sanders attended her Career Conference, she wasn't considering sales as a possible career opportunity. Based on the companies attending her Conference, I called and asked if she would consider a few sales interviews.

Anthony Applegate is the National Sales Director of PACTIV. He is a former Army Special Forces officer who transitioned to PACTIV in early 2012 and started as a Territory Sales Manager. In his relatively short 6 years, he has had a meteoric rise professional by focusing on both the business and the customer. In this podcast, we focus primarily on topic of starting a career in sales. We agreed that many JMOs tend to have misconceptions about business to business (B2B) sales. Anthony helps to dis...

Tim Crownover, a former JMO, generated $25 million in sales. How is this possible? Tim served as an Army military police officer with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. One would think, if he left the military, he would naturally transition to the FBI or another law enforcement type of role. Instead, in 2015 Tim transitioned to All Risks, an insurance intermediary, and started in a sales role as a broker. Since his transition, he has been promoted to Assistant Vice President/Branch Manag...

In this episode, I interview Cameron-Brooks alumnus John Edwards on the keys to building your professional network. John is a former USMC Logistics officer who transitioned to Corporate America in early 2014. He started his career working for an integrated solutions company focused on supply chain and packaging in the wine industry. In his four years post-military, he has been very successful and has been promoted multiplies times. In this conversation, we walk through his career path and some o...

Last year, Cameron-Brooks Alumnus Dan Meloro walked into a meeting for his production site. This meeting would change the trajectory of his career. He learned that his production site would reorganize, and the Maintenance Manager position he worked hard to earn as a promotion would no longer exist. He was disappointed. His supervisor explained that it had nothing to do with him, but the plant had to make changes to better achieve goals; furthermore, there were two other options within the plant ...

In this episode, we meet Keaton Thomas, a Cameron-Brooks alumnus who transitioned from a USMC supply officer to a career in consulting. Keaton is a Manager at A.T. Kearney, a leading management consulting firm. He calls what he does being the “doctors of business” and in this episode, we examine how he went from being a successful USMC Supply Officer to solving big problems for different companies. He explains his day-to-day life as a consultant and his career progression so far. We dig into the...

Mike Cotter is a former Marine Corps Infantry Officer who now works for Stryker Medical as a Senior Operations Manager. His specific focus is on their Mako Robotic Arm Assisted Surgical Device. The Mako Robotic device assists orthopedic surgeons in total knee and total hip replacement surgeries. In our latest podcast, Mike discusses his transition from Marine Corps Infantry to Robotic Assisted Surgery. Mike is responsible for leading two teams. One team manufactures the Mako robots, and another ...

Welcome back to the podcast! This week, I interview Josh Ewing who shares with us his key to transition success. Josh is a former Army Logistics officer who transitioned to EMCOR in the latter half of 2013. He started in a Transition Team Project Manager role for two years and was then promoted to Account Director in January 2016. Josh offers great perspective on EMCOR and Integrated Facilities Management, focusing on delivering value to the customer and effectively managing his business. Toward...

In this episode, I interview former Navy LT, Lydia Barrett. Lydia graduated from Tulane University with a BS in Biomedical Engineering and served five years in the Navy as a Nuclear Power Surface Warfare Officer. She transitioned from the Navy to Stryker Medical as a Quality Engineer in early 2017. Our conversation focuses on her move from Navy Nuclear Power Officer to Medical Device Quality Engineer. Lydia does an exceptional job of explaining her role as a Quality Engineer and how she interact...

On this episode, I interview Dustin Mackie with Avalution Consulting to learn his 3 Keys to Success as a Managing Consultant. Dustin is a former Army infantry officer who transitioned to Avalution in 2013. He shares what it’s like to work at a consulting firm focused on business continuity and mitigating IT disruptions within an organization. He then shares some ideas about what has made him successful thus far in his career and mentions some courses through Coursera (and another) and EdX that h...

Time flies. Most are familiar with the saying. I have worked for Cameron-Brooks for 18 years now and, as far as I know, there isn’t another professional out there meeting with JMOs considering a career transition with more time in the industry than me. Yet, I still think I just started in this industry and have so much to learn. But even with that in mind, over the years, I have developed a few key JMO transition and career tips to help you on your path. Joel Junker – still has a lot to learn I...

On this episode of the podcast, former Navy submarine officer Paul Galatro sheds light on leading teams and technical projects in manufacturing. With the help of Cameron-Brooks, Paul transitioned to 3M in 2014. Since working at 3M, he’s been promoted twice and is currently working as an Operations Manager so we also dive into his career progression and his thoughts on career management. If you’d like more information about Cameron-Brooks, you can visit our website here or pick up a copy of PCS ...

Cameron-Brooks alumnus Tom Wilson is a Business Consultant for Marketing Analytics with Nationwide Insurance. He supports a $50 million portfolio of financial products and services at Nationwide advising business unit managers on technology, marketing road maps, and industry trends. I asked Tom: What are three things JMOs in Year One of a business career should do and three things they should not do? Here’s what he had to say. Three things JMOs should do in year one. Work hard up front, put i...

In our latest podcast, Kristen Coar, a former Navy Supply Officer who transitioned to ExxonMobil in 2014, shares tips on taking control of your career. She started her career as a Senior Procurement Specialist and, after about a year and a half, was promoted to a Senior Business Analyst. While working at ExxonMobil, she earned her MBA from Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University. Kristen recently made a career change and is now an Operations Associate at McKinsey & Company. In this ep...

Is it possible to earn your MBA while working and still find that elusive work life balance so many of us seek? Cameron-Brooks alumna Aubrey Williams says yes. And, not only that, but she gets to take her dog to work too! Aubrey is an eCommerce Account Manager with Mars Petcare who transitioned from the Army to business in 2012. She earned her MBA and a Master’s in Marketing at Indiana University – Kelley School of Business while working full time for Mars. In our latest podcast, Aubrey explain...

In this episode, I interview Sean Cooke, a Senior Compliance/Audit Engineer for Medtronic. Before transitioning to Corporate America, Sean was a US Army Engineer officer. He has a Mechanical Engineering degree from The Catholic University of America and initially transitioned into a Design Assurance Engineer role with Medtronic. In this episode, we focus on overcoming obstacles in your first year of work outside of the military, taking ownership of your professional development and the keys to c...