Valerie Lavin - Retired Army First Sergeant & CEO of Luminary Global An epiphany while watching Private Benjamin originally led Valerie to enlist in the Army.  Little did she know it would turn into a 21 year career. Retiring as a first sergeant, the Army taught her many life lessons and helped her become the entrepreneur she is today. Upon leaving the Army the transition was hard, it was through the struggle that Valerie started working with many organizations that help veteran entrepreneurs.  Valerie’s passion led to to co-founding Action Zone, an organization that provides education and advocacy for Veteran entrepreneurs. It doesn’t end there, Valerie also works with Bunker Labs, another organization that helps military businesses grow and thrive. Though all of that she started her own entrepreneurial journey with Luminary Global. Luminary Global Luminary Global was founded in 2016 because Valerie saw a need and wanted to continue to serve those that serve. Its mission is “to provide Emergency Medical Service (EMS), Fire Law Enforcement, Military personnel and Citizens with the equipment and supplies they need to save lives at home and abroad”. They provide emergency tactical gear, prepper gear and more to law enforcement, first responders, military and everyday people. Their specialty is in customized kits. Learn More LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerieellis7/ https://luminaryglobal.com/ VeteranCrowd Network Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch, or consider if Individual or Corporate Membership in the Network is a fit for you.   About Your Host Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.      

Don Bentley - From Apache Helicopter Pilot to NY Times Best Selling Author Don Bentley has loved writing since he was a little kid. He started working on his first book in 3rd grade. In high school, his English teacher told him he had talent, but he wasn’t quite ready to pursue writing full-time. Instead he landed himself at Ohio State working on an Electrical Engineering degree. Winning an Army ROTC scholarship, Don commissioned and became an Army Apache helicopter pilot, following his family’s legacy of serving.  This was just the first of many careers. Following his time in the military Don worked as an FBI Special Agent and eventually was a member of the Dallas Office Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team. After law enforcement Don continued to work with several companies that develop technology for the U.S. Special Operations Community.  Author Don’s entire career helped shape and mold him into the writer he is today. His characters are born out of his own experiences and those he served with. He is the author of the Matt Drake thriller series, including Without Sanction and The Outside Man. Two more Matt Drake books are in the works. Don was also asked to write a Tom Clancy Jr. book, Target Acquired landing himself on the New York Times best selling list. Writing full-time now, you can expect many more books coming from Don. Learn More Twitter: https://twitter.com/bentleydonb FB:https://www.facebook.com/bentleydonb https://donbentleybooks.com/ VeteranCrowd Network Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch, or consider if Individual or Corporate Membership in the Network is a fit for you.   About Your Host Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.      

John Payne - Retired Army, Vietnam Veteran & Mystery Author John Payne was originally set to go to medical school, but decided to commission into the Army Medical Corps. His 20 year career took him all over the world, including serving in Vietnam. He has done many things, including teaching as an adjunct professor in business at several universities, working in the field of health care administration, running three small businesses and before deciding to write. It was during his recovery in a Veterans Affairs hospital from agent orange that he started writing with the encouragement of his wife. Books John has written eight books, two series. He has primarily written mystery books and has used his medical background as a backdrop for many of them. He has also written a historical romance novel, “In Defense of Patch Schubert”. This particular book took many hours of research to accurately depict the Civil War time period set in Texas.  He is currently working on re-editing some previous books to give them new life. Learn More Website: https://www.johncpayne.com VeteranCrowd Network Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch, or consider if Individual or Corporate Membership in the Network is a fit for you.   About Your Host Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.        

George Wallace - Retired Navy Commander & National Best-Selling Author George Wallace served 22 years in the Navy as an officer on nuclear submarines. It was his time in the service that led him to become a National best-selling author, taking his knowledge and experience to craft submarine stories. During his time in the Navy he commanded the Los Angeles class attack submarine, the USS Houston, working exclusively with the SEAL community. A few years after retirement in 1999, George teamed up with Don Keith to begin writing the Hunter Killer Series. He has written seven books in this series, with more in the works, and independently authored Operation Golden Dawn. Hunter Killer Series The first of the series, Final Bearing became a best-selling novel. It was their next book, Firing Point, that was used to produce the major motion picture, Hunter Killer, staring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman. There are now six books published in this series, with the seventh, Silent Running coming in 2022, which is currently available for pre-order. Learn More Website:  https://wallace-keith.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WallaceandKeith/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgeawallace/ VeteranCrowd Network Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch, or consider if Individual or Corporate Membership in the Network is a fit for you.   About Your Host Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.      

Chris Anthony - Army Veteran, Founder & CEO TeamWorx Security Chris Anthony grew up in Texas. He started out as a successful business executive but knew he wanted something different. At the age of 23 he decided to enlist in the Army and attend Ranger School. After 12 years as a communicator and later an analyst in the Army he was medically retired. He started working for the Department of Defense and was later recruited by John Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab. In this job Chris “developed solutions to improve our nation’s ability to defend itself from advanced cyber threats”. It was this experience that laid the groundwork for launching, TeamWorx Security. TeamWorx Security It was founded in 2016 by a team that met at the Applied Physics Lab. "TeamWorx Security is a commercial software and technology business helping to integrate people, processes, and technology. We currently work with defense cyber, intelligence, healthcare, and critical infrastructure industries. Simply put, we help organizations streamline their processes, data, tasks, and projects while reducing the cost of your enterprise. We bridge the gap between decision makers at all levels of the organization all at the speed of need.” Check out who else has stepped into the Veteran Crowd Spotlight.  Learn More Website: https://www.teamworxsecurity.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/teamworx-security/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teamworxsec VeteranCrowd Network Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch, or consider if Individual or Corporate Membership in the Network is a fit for you.   About Your Host Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.  

Jeff Schloesser -Retired Army Major General, Author of "Marathon War" Jeff Schloesser is a retired Army Major General. Born into an Army family he didn’t know if enlisting in the Army would become a career, but it did after serving thirty-four years.  His career has taken him across the globe with his wife and two children. He commanded the 101st Airborne Division for thirty-three months. It was this command, specifically the fourteen months in combat,  that had an instrumental impact on his leadership and understanding of the Afghanistan War. He started journaling his daily tasks and takeaways and knew they needed to be shared.  He wrote Marathon War: Leadership in Combat in Afghanistan, that was published earlier this year. Marathon War: Leadership in Combat in Afghanistan Jeff might not call himself an author, but his book will tell you otherwise. He offers rare insight and reflection on his time as the 101st Airborne Division commander. A candid account of command in combat sharing his thoughts of critical national decision-makers and the leadership lessons he learned. This book will help its reader understand leadership in the toughest of environments and a unique perspective on the complexities of the Afghan War. Learn More Website:  www.jeffschloesser.com VeteranCrowd Network Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch, or consider if Individual or Corporate Membership in the Network is a fit for you. www.veterancrowdnetwork.com   About Your Host Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.    

Sherman Williams & Emily McMahan - Academy Investor Network, Helping Service Academy Graduates Invest in Venture-backed Startups Sherman Williams is a Naval Academy graduate. After serving as a Naval Intelligence Officer, he headed to Chicago’s Booth School to study finance and landed himself in investment banking. While in banking he started investing and advising startups. This was a perfect segue to co-founding Academy Investor Network. Emily McMahan is a WestPoint Academy graduate. After her time in the Army as a Military Police Officer, she has always been focused around community and working with entrepreneurs. She has a passion to work with startup companies and founded Capitol Post, which taught military veterans how to start and grow businesses, a great foundation for beginning the Academy Investor Network. She is also the Deputy Director at the Common Mission Project, an international platform supporting mission-driven entrepreneurs. Academy Investor Network Academy Investor Network was founded in 2020. From Sherman’s and Emily’s own academy experience they personally saw the unique population that made up the graduates. They wanted to offer an investment syndicate for U.S. Service Academy graduates to invest in venture-backed startups. “We enable every Service Academy graduate to connect, learn and invest in the venture asset class.” Learn More Sherman Williams Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherman-williams/ Emily McMahan Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilymcmahan/ Academy Investor Network  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/academy-investor-network/ Website: https://academyinvestor.com/ Twitter:  https://twitter.com/AIN_members VeteranCrowd Network Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch, or consider if Individual or Corporate Membership in the Network is a fit for you. About Your Host Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions a

Jose Suarez - Navy Veteran, CEO of JS Consulting, Provides Insight on Electric Cars Jose Suarez graduated from Virginia Military Institute with a civil engineering degree. Upon graduation he commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy. He served seven years before starting his civilian career that varied from engineering and construction to the mining industry.  JS Consulting It was his experience that led him to found JS Consulting in 2019. He consults on a wide range of topics to companies around the world but has a passion about green energy. His knowledge of mining, particularly lithium has made him an expert on electric cars and wind turbines.  Learn More LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josejsuarez/ Articles: The Inconvenient Truth About Electric Cars:  https://twitter.com/Jose38802347/status/1380202814668955657 Lessons in Leadership: What I learned from the US Military from Chief Petty Officers and the Troops:  https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A735a574b-c528-4266-b2f9-e20523268404#pageNum=1 VeteranCrowd Network Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch, or consider if Individual or Corporate Membership in the Network is a fit for you. About Your Host Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.      

Travis Wilson - Retired Green Beret, Founder & CEO of Alpha Elite Performance Travis Wilson served in the Army for 21 years. He spent time as a Green Beret and in the Special Forces. He has always had an interest in health and fitness, but a parachuting accident pushed him to take that a step further.  As he healed from his injury Travis created a muscle performance product that started his entrepreneurial journey in the supplement industry. He eventually founded Alpha Elite Performance, creating his own supplement line. Alpha Elite Perfomance Alpha Elite Performance is a “sports nutrition company focused on supporting the superior performance and recovery of every customer as they pursue their athletic goals”. It was founded in 2015 and has continued to grow. They are continually adding new products and hold all products to strict standards, setting the gold standard for superior quality. Their newest product, Alpha Immune, is coming out soon. It was created with board certified physician, Dr. Lindley to combine eight immunity boosting ingredients to keep you healthy. Learn More Website:  https://alphaeliteperformance.com/ Use code ELITE15 for 15% off your purchase Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/alphaeliteperformance/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/alphaeliteperformance/ Travis LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/traviswilsongreenberet/ VeteranCrowd Network Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch, or consider if Individual or Corporate Membership in the Network is a fit for you. About Your Host Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.  

Sharee Ashford - Army Reserve Veteran, Mosquito Squad Franchisee in East Atlanta Sharee Ashford was born with an entrepreneurial spirit. Even in her youth, she was always looking for ways to earn extra money, from selling on E-bay to being the candy girl at school. So it’s not surprising that after serving in the Army Reserves she is now an owner of a Mosquito Squad franchise in East Atlanta. Her time in the Army helped build resilience and leadership skills that have been essential to her success in launching her Mosquito Squad business. Sharee enjoys building relationships with her customers in East Atlanta and looks forward to continuing to grow her client base. Mosquito Squad Started in 2005, Mosquito Squad is the leading franchise in the mosquito control industry. All are locally owned and operated. Their mission to “provide the locals of the immediate and surrounding areas with the mosquito and tick control services needed”. From regular treatments to be able to enjoy your backyard or just for a big event they have you covered. Learn More Website:  www.mosquitosquad.com/eastatlanta Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MoSquadofEastATL The VeteranCrowd Network Our "forever promise" is to build the veteran and military spouse community, a place to connect and engage. VeteranCrowd is simply a national network of veterans, veteran led businesses and the resources they need to prosper. Subscribe to stay in touch, or consider if Individual or Corporate Membership in the Network is a fit for you. About Your Host Bob Louthan is a VMI Graduate, Army veteran, and executive with over 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions and private capital formation. He founded the VeteranCrowd Network to bring veterans and veteran-led businesses together with each other and the resources they need to prosper.