A HIRED CALLING!

Derek (00:00.062)
No worries. So...

Phil (00:01.33)
Sorry about that, I don't really use, I don't really use Chrome at all, so I had to download that and I downloaded the Riverside thing and sorry about that.

Derek (00:04.382)
No.

Derek (00:10.334)
No apology necessary at all. Listen, this app is like, I think I'm like my 11th person to use it. It's been okay. It also has an upload issue that you gotta let your browser hang out. So you telling me this is like, education for me to what you guys are experiencing. I'm sorry you experienced this more than anything. It's supposed to be clean and easy and frictionless, but it's the first world problem and you're here now and you made it. So I appreciate that.

Phil (00:37.074)
All good. All good.

Derek (00:39.966)
And so, you know, thanks for your time. And I'm Dr. Derek Wilson. This is a Resign Revelator Hired Calling Podcast and you are Phil Kendro. And I'm looking forward to getting to know more about you from you. I've been looking into your history and looking at what you've done and very impressive background. This project, this effort, this podcast is about helping veterans see people who are able to...

Phil (00:59.666)
Thanks.

Derek (01:08.798)
leave the service and go find what they want to go do in life, find their calling and get out of the employment prescriptions that were prescribed by our families and our military and our veterans organizations and highlight the things that work to get veterans jobs. So I know you've done a lot of work in this space and you're very knowledgeable and I'll stop talking very soon and start letting you answer some questions. But my voice is also coming back. I sound like an old drill instructor still.

Phil (01:27.154)
Amen.

Derek (01:38.974)
doing my best to kid up. I wasn't going to cancel on you. That was that was for sure. I got you on the calendar. I was going to keep you. So.

Phil (01:44.434)
I appreciate that very much. I appreciate your time as well.

Derek (01:48.478)
So I thank you very much. So, so you looks like you were a Marine officer and then you left the military and then you came back and then you did some more stuff that I can do specifically. But what did you leave as and what did you do? And then when you came back as and how were those transitions for you when you left? What services did you use? How was the whole experience?

Phil (02:11.602)
Yeah, so I did 20 years, actually finished out as a major. I was a Harrier guy by trade, flew a citation as an instructor and T -34s as an instructor. But I probably had as much time boots on the ground as I did in the air. I was a company commander for the invasion back in 2003 in Iraq, which was crazy to be a pilot. All of a sudden they hand you 200 Marines and sailors and say, go invade a country and rebuilding airfields and building airfields, which is an amazing opportunity.

And then I was also a forward air controller with Fifth Anglico in Okinawa, Japan, which was just an amazing experience working with other foreign services and teaching them how about how to do forward air controlling stuff. And then operations here a lot in San Diego and Miramar, both on the station side, on the wing side. So what happened was I transitioned out of the Marine Corps and went and did business development for an IT company for about two and a half years. And it was a great company. I really do appreciate the opportunity to work for them.

But my two bosses who were rock stars, one was a top gun Navy F -14 guy, one was a skids colonel, just great, great Americans. They basically say, Phil, you know, we see more potential. You need to go do something else than just this job. So I actually went flew for the airlines for a bit. And then, and fortunately, of course, with COVID that kind of hit everybody. And so I was afraid of getting furloughed. So an opportunity popped up, be the assistant director for the Marine Corps Entertainment Office.

So I actually didn't officially wear the uniform again. I was on a civilian side of that job, but an awesome opportunity, you know, where Hollywood's go -to for TVs, movies, documentaries. So that was an awesome opportunity. Got to help out with Mission Impossible 7 in Abu Dhabi. So I mean, one of my first jobs basically is like, hey, here's a $200 million movie and you get to go and help out, put some Ospreys in the sky and work with Tom Cruise and everybody, which was just a great opportunity. Worked a lot of documentaries. We worked with like,

Sometimes with Black Rifle Coffee Company and some other folks. And then CBS, Paramount, just great opportunities. It's kind of neat to get to work with Drew Carey, who was a Marine, Marine Band San Diego, and they're playing the theme song for the Price is Right and stuff, so it's very funny. But then I went back to the airlines again. I've been doing that on my official duties. But I'm also the president and CEO of the Mount Soledad Memorial Association.

Phil (04:32.146)
It's in La Jolla with the across and the over 6 ,600 plaques up there telling veteran stories. And then one of the co -founders of the Veterans Beer Club helping transition veterans find work. And I'm a perfect example of that because this is like my fifth or sixth occupation after transitioning out of the Marine Corps nine plus years ago. And that's one thing is our BBC talks about we're there for your first or 15th transition because gosh knows I've done a lot of them.

Derek (05:01.054)
You've definitely worn a lot of hats and I hope to cover some of the parts of those today. And I think we might have to have you back on to get down into the details of all the incredible stuff you've done. I also want to talk about your role in the Miramar Air Show too. But before we really dive in, I do want to bring you back to the role with the movie industry because lots of veterans talk about how movies are coming out and we watch closely when these things happen, but people who are still in always...

There's always that one person that wants to go do this as part of the career and be involved in the movie industry and be that person that is involved with the movie sets. And these are real people. These are real veterans. You've done it from, you were still wearing the uniform at the time it sounds like, but you can go do this after. Can you talk a little bit about this industry and how do people get from, hey, I'm an active duty military person to that I'm actually working in the movie industry.

Phil (05:52.754)
Yeah, number one is location, location, location. You know, it's still as Hollywood is still the, you know, the capital of filmmaking in the world and stuff. So that's one thing is you really do have to be located there. There's other locations like George has been very popular for doing film and everything. But there are sites out there that you can use as well. And one of them is skipping me off the top of my head. It's a veteran organization, VME. VME is an organization that people can go to. They've got meetings all the time. They've got workshops.

So first of all, is living in a location where you need to find the work. Find organization like VME, which I think has been great. But again, a lot of their opportunities are always up in the Hollywood LA area. So being down here in San Diego with the family and kids and Ubering the kids around can be a little difficult. But there's a gentleman named Joel Searles, who is exactly, he's a single gentleman, lives up in the LA County area. He's out there searching for those. He's also an author for We Are the Mighty. So he's kind of like their entertainment author. So that's another thing is getting involved.

We are the mighty task and purpose. All of those like military oriented publications are always looking for authors too. So that's a way to touch into that industry and the entertainment and media. But number one, I say is location. Of course, having a background. One of our guys that worked in our Marine Corps Entertainment Office was going through film school, basically, getting his degree in that one. So that can help you out a lot. And it's funny, a good friend of mine who's a Marine Corps veteran, his son right now is going to...

UCSD, which has a big filmmaking program, and they're connected to La Jolla Theater. And La Jolla Theater also is a place where people get their start as well. So there's a number of opportunities. You can either go like the formal way by going to school or by chance, go into a VME meetup and all of a sudden they look for some people. But then just searching online too. There's a number of organizations that are always searching for actors and casting as well.

Derek (07:41.086)
Thank you for the overview. You said that this rule kind of came to you, it sounded like, how'd this rule come about? How'd you find it?

Phil (07:47.826)
Always through networking. All those opportunities are always through networking. So a former, not former, a marine friend of mine who basically worked with me, a third marine aircraft wing, had posted on LinkedIn and said, hey, this opportunity popped up. And so I jumped on it. And originally I was not the first, I was actually the alternate, but then the first person didn't want to move into the area. So luckily it was picked up that job. So always just being diligent and waiting, even though sometimes people may say no at first and then you get a yes later. I've seen that for many people in many occupations. They,

might get that, hey, we didn't pick you, but then later you might get the, hey, you got the job. So just keep working it.

Derek (08:24.318)
Very, very true. So thank you for the overview of that role. And then the work you do or work you did sounds like with the air show at Miramar seems to be pretty impressive at the largest air shows in the world. What was your role in that?

Phil (08:40.21)
So the Miramar Air Show is the second largest air show in the United States, the number one military air show in the United States. We host anywhere between 450 to 550 ,000 people over the three day weekend. A lot of people forget that Friday is the air show. It's the day you should go, because it's the least amount of people. If you really want to know, inside scoop is go Friday. But I was the assistant operations officer at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, and then I was the current operations officer at 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. And so my role was literally

putting it all together with a big team. Our team was at least 20 people that handled everything from security to logistics, food and beverage, getting the people there, the statics, the demonstrations. It's an amazing team. It's a 14 -month planning process, actually. We're already planning the next air show prior to even commencement of the air show that we're working on. So part of it was just putting the whole thing together, but then also working in the Marine Air Ground Task Force kind of was my baby.

where we put 20 to 26 aircraft in the sky. We had tanks, we had pyrotechnics explosions, we had Marines coming through, and infantry basically invading, simulated invasion. And it was funny because some of those young enlisted Marines, they want their time off on the weekend, and I know they deserve their time off on the weekend. And it was funny when they first show up at the Miramar Air Show and they were doing the practice, like, sir, I hate this, blah, blah, man, I could be doing something else. But the first time they do the air show,

and literally people are reaching out to them and trying to hug them and say thank you for what you do. They get done with that first air show and they're like, sir, that was amazing. Thank you so much for having us. So that bond between that young Lance Corporal, that young Corporal that's there and seeing how the public really does believe and support what they're doing, it's really heartwarming to see that. So just, I was a one piece of a really big pie of a lot of people putting on an amazing event and looking forward to the air show this year. Luckily, Kogo.

One of our local talk show radio talk show groups here are AM stations in San Diego has they've always done like a live feed and so I've been fortunate to be a part of that and they asked me to come back. So a live feed from Miramar, San Diego Miramar Air show of what's going on.

Derek (10:45.63)
So we get to hear you announcing the air show this year. You've done that before, how many years now, right?

Phil (10:50.738)
Well, we actually have two professional announcers that do the air show announcing for the public that's there. I would help out sometimes at show center. I've stepped back from that piece and now I help out with basically the live broadcast on radio.

Derek (11:04.83)
Thank you. So the air show is a spectacular event that we look forward to around here. I do look forward to getting down there this year.

Phil (11:09.65)
And honestly, it's something that we want the public. So we know jets are loud. We know that at nighttime you've got jets flying over and everything. And that's kind of like, you know, hey, you want to get to sleep and everything. We do put up public announcements about saying, hey, we're doing this because we need to prepare for these Marines and sailors and everybody go to war. They got to get that carrier practice. They have to get those nighttime practice. So the Miramar Airshow really is an opportunity to get the public out there to say, thank you.

for having us be a good neighbor of yours in San Diego County. So if anything, I just want people to come out there and it's amazing how many people in San Diego have not been out to the air show. I've got friends that have lived here for 20, 30 years and I'm like, you need to get out there just once. Bring your kids, bring your family. It's free. It's free for the public, which is awesome.

Derek (11:55.966)
It's something special. So I guess some side stories about me in the air show. I was a corporal on duty with, Mag CEO was Colonel Whatabrook at the time when girl, yeah, one of the, one of the PMOs hit the wrong button and made an announcement of the intercom that people had to evacuate base or something like that. He was pretty upset over that situation. That was 2004, I think maybe even four.

Phil (12:06.674)
Yeah, yeah, I know Pearl. Know Pearl very well.

Phil (12:24.338)
Now we're just eating ourselves now.

Derek (12:27.518)
I'm sorry, say again?

Phil (12:28.434)
So we're just dating ourselves now, right?

Derek (12:31.23)
Right. Exactly. It's been so long ago. But so the the air show brings a lot of industry, lots of attention to the area. So people get to mind the traffic for a little while. It does bring some revenue to the air. So we appreciate it. But Phil, I think the first time I actually heard your name was from a good friend of mine named Bradley Garner, who was talking about the Veterans Beer Club, which is where I want to bring you next.

He had great things to say. I'm sure you know, Brad is a special individual. He's been influential in the veteran space for people for some time now and does his part in getting veterans hired either where he is or where he knows people. So tell us about the Veteran Beer Club and your founding of that.

Phil (13:15.218)
Well, first of all, I'll say I love Brad Garner, even though he's Air Force, I still love him to death, but no, he's a great American, absolutely great American. I wish I could catch up with him more often, but we have very busy schedules. So I was very fortunate in the last handful of years of the Marine Corps that I had some great leaders. And I would say, honestly, it really wasn't until my last five years in the Marine Corps, out of my 20 years where I really had some mentorship, not leadership, but mentorship, guys like Dark Cloud, James Anderson and Dan, the thing, Lingman.

Basically, they said, first of all, you need to set up your profile on LinkedIn right now. That was five years ago. Set your LinkedIn profile right now. I'm like, wow, okay, I'll do that. Whatever, that's fine. They're also like, hey, get out there and network right now. I'm like, I don't know if I'm going to stay 20 or 20 something years. I'm like, okay, I started to get out in the public. Going to San Diego Military Advisory Council, SDMAC. Going to San Diego Business Journal events. Getting out there and just finding out more about what's happening. Getting some civilian mentors.

So I was really set up pretty well, I thought. But then I transitioned in May of 2015 and I didn't have a job yet. And so it was kind of a dark time. I honestly say a lot of us that go through this transition say that I think the transition was the most difficult time of my entirety of Marine Corps time. I mean, I've been in combat zones, multiple combat zones, boots on the ground, scary situations, but this was worse than that. And so finally, with able to...

Derek (14:41.95)
So you're telling me, sorry, sorry, I failed to interrupt you, I just need to reiterate. So you're telling me that the transition was scarier for you than combat, scarier for you than the invasion, scarier for you than doing test violence.

Phil (14:54.514)
Yeah, well, I wasn't quite test pilot. I can't say I'm that good of a pilot, but I'm at least, you know, I'm no mishap. So yes, I can say that honestly, because at least when we are flying aircraft, when we're dropping bombs, when we're kicking down doors, we're trained. We do that time and time again, you know, and a hair, you're going around the circle, drop off, circle, drop bomb, circle, drop a bomb. Or now, of course, you know, it's low, low collateral damage weapons. So, you know, JDAMs, whatever else we're dropping.

Anglico, we're shooting the target. We're calling in fire support. We're calling in air support all the time. We're doing that. We're practice, practice. There's no practice for transitioning. I mean, it's your first time you ever do that. And so, yes, we've got some programs out there, which I'm sure we'll talk about, but some of those programs only prepare you so much. And so I got done. I didn't have a job and it was a dark period for me. And luckily I had a good friend of mine, Sean Park, who is another one of our VBC folks, close friends of Brad Garner too.

He got me a job through networking. We had met through a former organization called Life Lounge, which was a entrepreneurial networking group. So I had an issue, one of our other co -founders, Kevin Cortez, had troubles getting a job. And then Brian Gron, our third, actually had a pretty successful transition. So the three of us got together in April of 2016 and said, look, we're blessed and we're cursed in the county of San Diego. We've got so many great organizations, but we...

don't normally know which one to go to. Like what transition group should I go to? Which event should I go to? Who should I volunteer with? What should I do in the community? And so that's why we created VBC. And May 2016 was our first meeting with five of us, including Eddie Hansen, who was at GA with Brad Garner as well, and Tim Matthews, who's with the San Diego County. And from that, now it's been our eighth year. We just had our anniversary event at Protector Brewery, a veteran -owned brewery, a Sean Haggerty Navy Seal.

And so we hosted, I'd say about 250, 275 folks there. Second Chance Beer Company formerly hosted us for seven years. Amazing, amazing group. Marty and Virginia, who we can't think of enough. But we're founded on three things. One is we want to translate, or excuse me, first thing is we're trying to find veterans jobs. That's through networking, that's through events, that's getting veterans to the right transition organizations. If it's VetCTAP, if it's Four Block, the Arner Foundation.

Phil (17:16.754)
There's so many out there that it's awesome. There's a E -TAS, which is up in Camp Pendleton. So getting them and finding them jobs. Number two was translating military service, community service. That was, hey, look, you've got so much energy, especially as an operations guy, you've got so much energy. What do you use with that energy once you're out of the military? It's getting you on boards. Maybe you're helping out with a campaign, you're volunteering, you're a sports coach. And then the third one was a sense of camaraderie. We found that people were coming, not just...

from outside the city, but outside the state to come to some of our events because they missed having that camaraderie inside of their business organizations. And so now, eight years later, 14 chapters around the nation that are very active. It's pretty awesome that this grassroots campaign has brought forth what we've done. And we've put people in jobs. We've put people to help out with multiple groups that help out with the community. So it's a pretty awesome thing that we built something out of. Start with five people.

Derek (18:13.726)
It's really incredible. And I'm not sure where to go with my next question about this, because what you've built there is impressive. So my research centered around the veteran transition space and then the government provided services and the nonprofit provided services. And you just listed off several nonprofits that are on my good list. Several that are highly regarded. Whenever I transitioned out in 07, I didn't really use any nonprofits.

I used the DAV for my VA claim, but I didn't really use any help for the career support. One, because I thought I knew what I was going to go do, and two, because it wasn't really pushed or it wasn't really that big of a thing. But everybody in my research talked about some of the organizations you just mentioned, but then there's also the ones that you were kind of talking about the edge of the topic there, getting to the right ones. There's plenty of the wrong ones. So here we are now.

And there's over 50 ,000 nonprofits serving veterans. And that's just the nonprofits. If you include government organizations, the last time I looked was almost 400 ,000 of chapters or sections or parts of governments dedicated to veterans service. And the, it's referenced in my dissertation that the sea of goodwill is what it was called by one of the writers before and all the noise in this space. So.

So really in terms of veterans getting better jobs, it's professional resume support, professional interview coaching. But that is a touch on the networking side, which you say is very important and I wholeheartedly agree with you. And that's probably one of the things that veterans need the most help with because we can go Google how to build a resume. We can go Google how to get better interviewing and practice, but it's hard to network if you're not getting out and doing it. And that takes initiative and things that...

And it's something that we aren't normally quite taught, especially, you know, in the lower levels in the enlisted ranks about net. So I'm happy to hear that it's coming through for your five years out. Somebody did you a big favor then in terms of helping you get prepared. You can't start really too early. There's all kinds of programs now that skill bridge and such that exist. I'm not quite sure how familiar you are with those.

Derek (20:36.862)
during, for, for, when you separated, but so did you separate during that time period? When did you use skill bridge at all?

Phil (20:43.954)
No, I did, but I'll tell you, it's such a valuable one. And I just had a story recently. Johnny with the Padres basically talks about that he was transitioning out of the Navy and popped into a skill bridge job with the Padres. And now he's their military affairs coordinator. So it's a great opportunity. I mean, I'm so glad they have that. They did not have that while I was going through. And of course, I would have taken advantage of that one. But the networking thing, you know, going back to that one, that's the Veterans Beer Club now is the number one veteran and active duty.

networking organization in San Diego County. The San Diego Military Advisory Council now basically, they used to host events. They said, you know what, why would we host an event when we know you're gonna get everything done, we're just gonna show up and partner with you. And we're actually partnering with them coming up in June. Multiple universities have partnered with us. Different organizations, these veteran transition groups have partnered with us. Because they know nobody's gonna get the footprint like we have. And the recipe for success has just been brewing authentic connections with folks. There's no long speeches that are there. You show up.

We have a name tag on it says if it's blue or one color says, hey, I'm I need a job or if it's a different color says I have a job or if it's a different color says, hey, I'm just a supporter. Let me know how to help you out. And we do maybe 10 minutes of speeches where we say who needs a job, who has a job, what industry you're in. Here's some upcoming events to get on your calendar that you should be a part of help out with and everything like that. And that's it. We do about 10 to 15 minutes of the most. But everything else is networking.

And it's funny, there was a networking group and it escapes me here, but they used to have something like, they were like wall flower protectors. And what they would do is, if somebody was at the event and they weren't having a conversation with them, they would take them, grab them and go introduce them to people to make sure that they are engaged in the conversation. And ironically, that was, I kind of started doing that recently too. If somebody just wandered around and doesn't know who to go speak with, hey, what industry are you looking for? well so -and -so is in that industry. Let me go introduce you to them.

because we touch every industry in San Diego. So it's pretty awesome that we have such a wide path of a wide diverse group of folks that we can introduce them to.

Derek (22:45.982)
So you're building some triads there and being the center point of introduction. So thank you for that. But what you're describing is something that many people experience, but I think veterans more so than others, even in groups of veterans, on the introversion and how much it kicks in in group environments. But we're not taught really to network. We have to go learn that skill. So you said wallflower protectors.

more like kind of welfare or preventers in some ways. But so for the people who are listening who don't go to events because they don't want to be feel awkward having those new conversations, making those introductions to do some themselves, they can come to your event without getting fancy and don't have to be in a suit and tie and network with people about work in a casual situation, right?

Phil (23:40.946)
Yeah, and you know, also I tell people a lot that our VVC is really it's like our events are a crawl of the crawl walk run stage. So it's about the easiest place to go networking because again, you're surrounded by veterans and spouses too, because we are a big military spouse supporter and you get there and if literally if you're just wandering around, somebody is going to grab you and just start talking with you. They're going to bring you in a circle and start talking with you and trying to find out. But it's but we do that. So that way when you get there, then you go to the walk and run stage, go into the San Diego Business Journal events, which are great events each month.

and other networking groups in San Diego. So that way it gets you introduced, so that way you don't feel as bashful when you go to some of those other events. But it's very funny, even the military, if you were, let's say you were in a bar and there was a bunch of different folks in different military occupational specialties, all the tank people are gonna be in one place and not anymore in the Marine Corps. All the aviators are gonna be in one location, all the infantry would be in one location. So we were very, you know, we didn't even group amongst, network amongst each other. We just kind of our own individual groups, which is now,

really nice with the VC that everybody's from so many diverse military occupational specialties, and you know what they're doing anymore. And so they're all intermingled. And it's such a diverse group, which I'm so proud of.

Derek (24:51.742)
So how have you managed to build it from just a couple of local chapters to having partnerships with universities and other things you guys have created? That's a full -time role almost, right? So how's that work?

Phil (25:04.882)
So, you know, some of our BBCers go through different universities. USC has a Master of Business for Veterans. And so, yeah, there you go. And so, so many of them went through that. And then USC MBV program also said, hey, why don't we come out? Because if we can get more people interested in this, let's do that. So all these people on some of these, we have a lot of the people that work at the universities and the military programs coming to ours to promote their programs, of course. And then they have such success, they're like, heck, we want to.

We want to partner with you all for these events so that at least we can tell a little bit about what we're doing to help out some of the veterans. So it's just been because it's been so successful. Again, grassroots movement, people go in different organizations. And sometimes we'd like to say we're kind of like a virus. Once we get inside of an organization, we're going to start getting more and more people in that organization to help out either through work or volunteering. And so that's what's happened.

Derek (25:56.158)
Big fan of the MBV program at USC. It's the best program for veterans at the master's level in the country. And I would argue anybody to show me otherwise. They were also one of my first customers. I love supporting the MBV and it's fantastic. I mean, to get 50 resumes from their student class each year and see who they have in that program and the caliber of human beings that are there is just incredible.

to be able to work with them and create opportunities for them to go prove their skills elsewhere and get better jobs. Because even at that level, even having some of these guys already have existing master's degrees, not getting another master's degree, but are still like we both experienced struggling in the workforce because having the veterans experience and having a bachelor's and master's degree still guarantee you're going to get a job. At least a job that's going to support you with the wages that you need to be able to carry on with a real career. Veterans are greatly under employed.

not unemployed, there's an argument there about what those things are. So closing that gap is important. What other universities have you managed to partner with outside of USC?

Phil (27:04.978)
I believe USD's done one, SDSU's done it. UCSD, I know has, the MIT has like a full group that's with them. Some of the Ivy Leagues are all kind of together. MIT's actually been a big supporter. MIT, Harvard, I can't remember the other ones on that one. But it's been, I mean, it's been awesome. The fact that some of our VBCers have gone through those programs and then their alumni are like, wow, this is really kind of a great organization. Let's partner with them. They talk a little bit about what they do. We talk about what we do and everybody learns a little bit more about what people are doing in the community.

And that's one thing is we're big about being collaborative. We're not competition. We're all about trying to help out each other. And that's why, again, we kind of create this organization is to find out what groups are really supporting veterans. So that way we can promote them for all the great efforts that they're doing.

Derek (27:51.518)
You talked a lot about the, the pillar of, service from the military to community service and channeling that energy. So there's a lot to that. And, before I get down that rabbit hole too much, you guys have also kind of created, you know, this, this, so what used to happen with the, the classic nonprofits, the congressionally chartered nonprofits, the VFWs, the ampets.

Back in the 50s, 60s, 70s, they had weekly events. They had social hour, people who were there. They weren't wearing name tags. I need a job. I have a job. I'm offering jobs. But that occur on a weekly, weekly monthly setting across the nation in the little communities, rural environments, urban environments, suburban environments. But that has dwindled the attendance, the existence, the membership of those type of organizations has.

in the past years and now we have other nonprofits stepping in and kind of, you've kind of created a way to fill that space. It's important. So what can other nonprofits do that aren't the veteran beer club to also fill that gap of employment, employment availability without necessarily being the ones to offer.

the traditional career coaches.

Phil (29:20.498)
You know, it's just outreach on that one. I'd say one of the things that it's got to be the veteran that's got to be doing a lot of outreach though. I'll tell you honestly. LinkedIn I enjoy for some reasons, but not for others. But I will tell you honestly, it was a place to at least initiate a conversation with multiple folks. That's one thing is you have to lean forward on that one. And I would say as a veteran, it was very fortunate. I would try to connect with somebody and every time you connect with somebody, don't do it on the phone. You've got to do it on the computer so you can send them a message.

And we'll basically say, hey, look, I'd like to have an opportunity to have a conversation about industry, you know, over a cup of coffee. I don't drink coffee or orange juice or whatever else or a beer or whatever else it might be. But it was to reach out and just start talking with them on an individual basis. What I talked about first. And I think reaching out to multiple folks, that's how I'm usually even if they couldn't meet personally, at least have a phone call. There was a group called Veterati as well that does a phone call conversations where it connects a mentor and a mentee to have a conversation.

And actually one of our VBCers that led our chapter, that's how him and I met, was on veterans. And then he became one of our chapter leaders, Will Lue, great American, awesome guy. Now as the group wise and stuff, what they can do, honestly, I think it really is the outreach of the different groups in, like for us in San Diego, if your group wants to help touch veterans and help them with networking and everything like that, you're going to San Diego Military Advisory Council breakfasts. They're great breakfasts, usually host two to 300 people.

And they touch every industry in San Diego as well. Yes, it's San Diego Military Advisory Council, SDMAC, but it touches the paper, the Union Tribune, it touches the Padres, it touches the Tourist Bureau, the tourist organization here. And then of course all the defense contracting and all those other people. So that's a great group that's out there that you can learn more about the different industries and then you kind of rub elbows with some leaders, both active duty and veterans.

That's a great way. And honestly, again, that was one of the organizations when my boss has had me at least five years before I transitioned out of the Marine Corps. I talked about the standard of business journal as well, but of course those are some profit. Non -profit wise, again, I mentioned some of those groups that are truly being those great transition groups. And here's the thing about transition groups too. If it's a single day career fair, a single day career fair is just not going to do anything for you. I appreciate them trying to go out there and do something, but if it's not a multi -day, multi -week, multi -month group,

Phil (31:39.026)
You're just not gonna get out of it what you need to fully transition. So those groups like that four block and that Bet C -Tap and that ETAS and that Honor Foundation, the ruling course I took as well. All those groups were multiple days that you had to show up and you're gonna get a fire hose still, but at least you'd be able to retain more than a career fair where it's gonna be that one day and you're gonna walk away and you're gonna throw your resume at a whole bunch of people and you're probably not really gonna get a response to it. Where those other groups, they really do have the outreach.

of multiple organizations throughout the county here in San Diego specifically. And some of course of those also have national chapters. Another group I'll tell you that's been a big partner of ours is the North San Diego Business Chamber. So Deborah Rosen was originally there and they had their military summit and their Operation Connect. And so those were focused again on helping our veterans and you get a free business chamber membership for I think six months. That's a pretty good deal to go to these business chamber events. And again, now you're meeting those other companies. You're meeting the Sony's that are here in town.

I mean, some great groups. And now what's really cool now is we had Chris Thorne, who's one of our BBCers, took over as a president. And so again, getting to that organization and helping out now more with their military summit coming up, they're getting Dakota Myers to come speak at their military summit in August 8th. I mean, they're well known now nationally too, because they're one of the few five -star accredited business chambers in the state of California. And so now you've got these various organizations that we've got partnerships in, or we literally have BBC people working in those nonprofits then that are saying,

Hey, here's how we can help you. Here's how we help you transition. Here's how we get you mentorship and everything. So hope I answered that question properly.

Derek (33:12.574)
Yeah, you did great. Don't worry. So back to the idea of one of your guys's pillars of service to service. So why is it important for veterans to incorporate some community service in their transition plan?

Phil (33:26.642)
Number one, because I think I've always wanted giving back. My grandfather was a Navy chief of staff in the Korean War and he was probably one inspired. He's the one that inspired me to go into the military. And he was always dedicated about what can you do to give back. And I think because of the energy level, of course you're coming out if you only did four years or if you came out and you did 24 years or plus, you still, if you're in the military, a veteran, you've got a lot of energy left to give. And so what can you do to help out your community? And that's that military service, community service.

I sit on a number of boards, which I'm great in, and I'm also getting my hands dirty when putting on events. I'm the President and CEO of Mount Soledad Memorial Association. We just hosted our Memorial Day event. So we had 1 ,300 plus people there. An amazing event. Flyover, we had the band from 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. We had rifle detail, the color guard from 5th Marines. Amazing speakers, Joe Morris, who was the MCRD San Diego Commanding General came back. He's now Operation Division, Headquarters Marine Corps.

and one of the platoon commander for the Sangin three, five Marines in 2010, 2011, telling their stories. When you hear those stories, it makes you want to be a better American. Also working now with the VBC, working with the Redcoats that helped put on the holiday ball. We've got the All Blacks coming, the World Rugby team. And you're basically boots on the ground. You're on the grass field at Snapdragon with these players, with the San Diego Legion this upcoming weekend, helping out with the flyover, helping out with these events.

And then your kids, I got a 14 year old son, Brandon, and a 12 year old daughter, Alexandra, they see that you get to do this really fun stuff. You're working with a community, you're helping out. And they're like, that's pretty neat. I kinda wanna do some of that stuff in the future. I want to help out my community by doing some of these events or the Holiday Bowl Parade. The Veterans Day Parade is coming up, they reinstituted last year, which was great. Holiday Bowl Parade is actually the largest balloon parade in the United States. We just don't have the big balloons like Macy's.

but we have the most people. I mean, it's the most balloons. It's awesome. So why wouldn't you want to be on the public and having a great time doing something for the community, making it a better place, working with a campaign that wants to make the place better, or helping out with volunteering with your sports teams? There's so many great opportunities. And so we just try to tell people to take advantage of that.

Derek (35:32.222)
I didn't realize that.

Derek (35:45.758)
I didn't realize that about the balloon situation being the biggest here. So thank you for everything you said.

Phil (35:49.298)
We have the most balloons out of any of the balloons.

Derek (35:54.014)
That's interesting. It's an interesting fact. I didn't know that. So the reason why I wanted to dig into this question a little bit is the idea that meaningful employment is exceptionally huge in terms of preventing veteran suicide and keeping veterans happy, not just veterans, anybody, right? So it's key to life and having meaningful employment and veterans have the job while you're in is different.

while you're on duty, then you're going to get while you're as a civilian. You may never find the meaning that you had before in the civilian world, but there is, there are opportunities to do more meaningful things than maybe your job provides through nonprofit service, community service, organizations like the ones you've mentioned here, to help people transition or whatever else you want to go do. But so.

and I'll get into your role at Mount Soledad here shortly, but can you talk a little bit more about the impact on the community and the human being in terms of participating in those community service roles?

Phil (37:03.09)
Yeah, well, one thing actually I didn't mention about as well, too, is that every time you're doing one of those roles and helping out the community, you have no idea who might be next to you and has some opportunity for you in the future. Number one, all those volunteer opportunities or those groups you work with, that's a resume builder. That's something you should be putting on your resume to say, hey, I'm doing more than my job. I've got that other education from USC and USC MBV. Maybe you've got that or also helping out the community. That's huge when looking at hiring as well.

But then again, you just have no idea who you might be working next to and those different organizations says, hey, what are you doing? Well, I'm looking for a job. What are you looking for? You know, you're going to have those conversations when you're working on all these different events. You have no idea when that opportunity might pop itself and says, hey, wow, I can find a job by doing these events. And that also is some networking in those events as well. So I would say that. Meaningful wise, you know, seeing smiles on people's faces when we do these parades, I love that. When we did Mount Soledad and the tears coming down people's faces from

with 10 Carl Tom Schuman speeches talking about two of his Marines that he lost and sang it. I mean, it was powerful. And my 14 year old son, so a teenage boy can come up to me after that ceremony, he's like, dad, that was impactful. That meant a lot to me. When you get a teenager that can listen to some of these speeches up there and they can say something like that, you know that was powerful that happened. And so if we can get that type of messaging out there, and again, you know, actually today a great example is, hey, thank you for your service.

How do you respond to that? And finally, somebody answered it and it said, you are worth it. When somebody says thank you for your service, say you are worth it. You Americans are worth it. And I really like that. And that's what we try to say is like these 25 Marines perished in Sangen, but they were doing they perished on as trying to save or help their fellow brothers that were there. And we were fortunate to have some of the family members there as well. So all these things, either if it's a smile on the face or it's something that hits the heart and makes you think more about.

how you should be grateful or what's meaningful in life. And everything in between is something that I've been privileged to work with these mini groups.

Derek (39:09.502)
That was a great message there too. And so I'm not sure which direction to bring you with our, their last little bit here. so there's a huge problem with. Teens and young Americans wanting to join our military. It's one of the biggest problems that we have as a nation, but most people don't really realize it. Most branches are failing to hit their recruiting mission year over year except the Marine Corps. we tend to hit ours for the reasons that you and I both know, but,

Other branches are failing and it's partially due to the perception of veterans that's displayed in the media and the perception of veterans that we display ourselves and the trials and tribulations that we have experienced and do experience are experiencing with the support systems that exist. So I'm trying to help bring light to those of us who do find ways to find meaningful employment and do like you're doing and help others find meaningful employment.

so what do you think about, this current recruiting crisis situation and what can, what can, what can we do to help mitigate the problem? without, I mean, as, as veterans, how do we help the people behind us, join the military and find success despite us also knowing that there is a, is a struggle on both sides of the fence.

Phil (40:35.922)
You know, General Berger came to speak to San Diego Military Advisory Council. I want to say what's within the last two, two and a half years. And he talked about this. He specifically talked about how recruiting is hurting because they believe that you're going to you're going to become an alcoholic. You're going to have some type of sexual assault. You're going to have some type of post -traumatic stress that you're not going to be able to recover from. And he was told, SD Max Flip, we need you to sell what is the good thing about the military. And that's all of you all because you are all successful citizens.

You were military, a lot of the were veterans there. You have successfully transitioned and you become great citizens that our nation should be proud of. And that's what really it is, is saying that a lot of us, I feel that are going out and doing good things in the public that we need to promote and say, hey, look, got it. Yeah, I had some troubling times and I didn't have some fun in the military, but I know I'm better for my time in the military, job skills, leadership training. And now I'm giving back to the public. And I think that a lot of us can prove that, hey, we're now the citizens that

the military helped make us. There was a Institute for Veteran and Military Families publication that Syracuse University published, and Onward Opportunity, I forgot to mention Onward Opportunity, another big supporter. It was beyond the cliches, the business case for hiring a veteran, a 2012 publication, PDF, it's like seven to 10 pages, and then they rebranded in 2016, I think USA helped them out on that one. The first one, the 2012 publication, I tell every single veteran they need to read that.

business case for hiring a veteran because it details why we are better than other folks in the job and basically in working in a job. We're used to diverse groups. We're used to basically moving around a lot. We're used to multitasking different projects. There's so many things that are in there. But I tell everyone that they need to read that. And I would say honestly, when it comes to the difficult recruiting, it is a cultural, there's a cultural thing that's out there right now. Unfortunately, I think social media has not helped out at all on it.

I think people would rather have their heads buried in their phone than necessarily going out and volunteering or going to help out at church or doing something else. So I think that's something that goes to then the parents. With our kids, our kids know that there's certain times they're allowed on their phones and there's certain times they're not. When we're in the car and we're going from point A to B, I'm with the phone down because I want to have a conversation. I want to see how your day was. So I think that some of that cultural stuff we can fight at home, but it also leads to the fact that we need to show them...

Phil (42:59.922)
all the stuff that we can help out in the public. And some of the stuff is actually, it's so much fun. Our kids love volunteering with our church. They love going help out and learning why are they doing this? Because we're so grateful for what we have. We need to make sure that we're helping out others and everybody and just making people grateful for what they have is another thing. I think that's one thing that people take for granted. And so I think that's something else. It's a cultural issue that we are facing though.

Derek (43:27.422)
Thank you for that. It's a challenge and I'm interested in seeing how we're able to keep our colleges and our military field both filled. Somewhere in your history, they said that you were involved with the ASTEM program at a previous role, aviation, science, technology, engineering, and math. So did that A -STEM catch on or did you guys create that piece or what was that?

Phil (43:57.714)
So there's a group with Rich Kenny that's here in town that has been doing that. So when I was at the command of the Air Force, which is basically an organization that keeps World War II aircraft flying. Now we've got some Korean and Vietnam aircraft as well. And there's multiple chapters all in the United States. It's pretty awesome to get to fly. I was flying a 1941 L3 observer plane. It's pretty cool to get to fly some history. But what we were doing as well was there's science, technology, engineering, mathematics. Well, we're also trying to get that A in there because we want people to be interested in that.

Some people use it steam, A can stand for arts sometimes as well. But trying to get youth involved in aviation, because again, that's another field that it seems like less and less people are interested in is going flying where with me, I would have cut off a finger to go flying when I was 16 or 17 years old. I mean, I wanted to fly so bad, but we haven't necessarily seen that same desire because again, I would say it's a cultural social media thing has been out there. It's not, they're not.

standing outside the gate of an airport just watching airplanes flying thinking, wow, that'd be kind of cool. And so that's what that ASTEM program with Rich Kenyon, those folks was doing was going out, getting those high schoolers, middle schoolers going to colleges and trying to get them to come out to the airfield. Let's listen about the airplane, listen about history about World War II. And so he's been a great supporter of that and a leader of that in San Diego.

Derek (45:19.294)
So thank you for the enlightenment there. And I've heard the steam for a while and I saw the A and you know, it's definitely the same thing that happened to the nuclear industry when nuclear engineers and nuclear engineering stopped becoming one of the most common majors in the seventies and eighties. Here we are now with a crisis where we also don't have enough nuclear engineers to keep our industries running appropriately.

That's the hole in the rabbit hole. I do want to take you back to one thing that's really, really great. And, you know, it's actually monumental, pardon the pun, for San Diego and your Mount Soledad work. President and CEO, board of trustees, I visited Mount Soledad on the Saturday before Memorial Day because my 14 -year -old daughter had other plans, but I did want to get her down there for that. Mount Soledad has been a staple for...

my wife and I before we had kids and then even after we would get down there at least once a year and enjoy the view and take in some time with the plaques on the wall there. So thank you for keeping that running. Tell us more about your role there and some of the uniqueness about the position.

Phil (46:36.082)
Yeah, so unfortunately I've been on the board since 2016 helping out with the events and been the president, I think, for close to two years now. So we're the only living memorial in the United States. So one thing is a lot of people don't know is you don't have to be passed away to have your plaque up there. Over 6 ,600 plaques up there, I think close to 7 ,000 right now, honestly. And we've got everything from Medal of Honor recipients to presidents to maybe that male or female, that lady, that guy, they basically served a couple of years, but they served honorably.

And so all of them have tales to tell. And so that's what's so awesome about our plaques is each one of those plaque has a tale to tell. You have your picture up there. You have a little story about you, where you served, maybe some of your, some of your different units that you have up there too. There are badges, patches, but they're granite walls, just like we have at the Vietnam Veteran Memorial in DC. And it's storytelling. So we have the best docent program we've ever had. We have almost 40 docents. We've never had something like that. So that's been awesome.

We just had the cross renovated, repainted, redone. And it was pretty cool because I actually got to stand all the way on the top of it with the scaffolding. And can say I'm the only president ever got to do that. So that was actually a pretty awesome honor while they were working on it. Myself and one of the other trustees, Nathaniel Donnelly, great Marine, another three, five Marine. And so I've been really fortunate each year to really put together the largest Memorial Day event in San Diego County each year. And then one of the larger Veterans Day events we have, we used to host about...

7 to 900 for Veterans Day and anywhere between 12 to 1400 for Memorial Day. And it's an honor to tell the stories about those folks. The Navajo Code Talkers that we did for Veterans Day. Project Recovery, Dr. Derek Abbey, one of our BBCers that lives up in Oregon now. You know, the fact that I got to support his organization and they have such great tales about how they, even after 80 years, they're bringing the remains home to these families that never forgot that uncle or that grandfather. And they can finally close the

book on that story for that and they find these people. So the fact that we get to tell the tales of these people is amazing. And I'm so honored to get to work with so many of those folks. It's open 365 days a year, open from 7 a to 10 p It is the best place to see a sunset. It's the highest place basically in the city of San Diego area, over 900 feet. And it's just, it's a great spot. It's a great spot up there if you just want to relax. It's a great spot if you want to get there, go there and get educated about what's up there.

Phil (49:00.53)
And some people want to have a solemn moment up there and some people want to have a celebratory moment up there if it's a retirement ceremony. So we bring up high schools up there too to educate them. The Chiefs Association comes up there a lot when they're doing their Chiefs Week and we educate them about some of the stories up there. I mean, with such a great dose in front of me, we've got it. So I just ask people to come up there and if it's for one of our major events or if you want to get a plaque or if you just want to just chill out up there, I'd just welcome everybody to come up there.

Derek (49:28.574)
Thank you for that overview there, Phil. So with all these great things we just discussed you're doing, it also shows that you're doing basically independent consulting, you're your own boss, your own business. So how are these things related? How are you able to manage all this work? And what kind of portfolio have you built for your own small business?

Phil (49:51.858)
You know, on that one, it's mostly, I would say it's a lot of volunteering and helping out. I've been really fortunate. I've worked with the Midway since I was in the Marine Corps. When we put the Centennial Naval Aviation back together back in 2011, it was the largest flyover of San Diego since World War II. We had almost 200 aircraft in the skies. And my boss, Dan Langman and I came up with the idea. And then finally the Navy said, yeah, we should probably do this. And it's basically just through the work of my Marine Corps and then the networking and all the people seeing what we've done and said, hey,

Can you help us out on something? If it's a golf tournament, they need to fly over or this weekend with San Diego Legion helping them out with their flyover. So the All Blacks coming up or working with the Padres or anything too. So it's just been luckily I've had good people in different industries that have said, hey, we'd love to work together and just been able to do stuff. The Breitling Jet Team, what a blast getting to fly some of their folks a number of years ago. Doing the biplane thing, flying with Sky Tours was a blast.

taking somebody that's never been an airplane and you're flipping them upside down or doing simulated dog fighting, World War I style dog fighting. I mean, there's just been some opportunities where I've been in the right place at the right time. And luckily I've known to work with people in confidence. They know that if they're working with me, I'm working with them in the honorable manner because I want to make sure that they're the best. And collaborative efforts is what I believe in.

And so if I see one of my groups in this other group and I've worked with them, but they should probably work together, I'll put them together because I want them to do even better. So I think it's just the collaborative efforts that I've been a part of and being pretty positive and very team oriented. One thing is I say, when I put my events together, I never want to be the Phil Kendro show. I want it to be a team effort. And so that's one thing is at the end of every meeting, does anybody have anything else that they want to say? That's an important thing. If you have a meeting, is make a person say, I don't have anything else to say.

because otherwise they may not be part of the conversation. And so every single meeting I ever do, I make sure we go around the room and every single person has a chance for something they want to throw out there that maybe they didn't have a chance because they didn't want to speak up. But I make them speak up because I at least want to hear what their opinion is on something.

Derek (51:52.35)
Well, that was a fantastic segue into me being able to ask you here in our last four minutes, what should I have asked you that I didn't ask you?

Phil (52:00.082)
I think the one that you says, how do you manage it all? And luckily with being an airline pilot, that I do have a decent amount of downtime that allows me to take the kids, Uber them around to their sports or my daughter's drama or musical, you know, going to an award ceremony tonight here in a little bit. So it does afford that. So finding that job that you actually enjoy and are passionate about. And again, it's not probably going to be that first one for almost all of us. I think the number is about 70 % of veterans are not going to have that first job.

be that one that they love. But at some point you will find that one you love if you just keep networking and keep at it. And even when you have a job, keep networking. Even if you've got a great job, you'd have no idea what might pop up around the corner if you keep networking. So that's one thing we're talking about is we're there for your first or 15th transition in the VBC because we never know when you might need something else.

Derek (52:53.79)
Another great response, Phil. So in this last three minutes here, I will turn off the recording here so we can remind your time. And appreciate it.