In episode 154, I sit down with Carl Churchill, co-founder of Alpha Coffee and an inspiring veteran entrepreneur, to unpack the realities of leadership, small business ownership, and the transition from the military to civilian life. We dive deep into Carl’s dynamic journey from serving as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army to building Alpha Coffee from scratch with his wife, leaning on their firsthand experiences and authentic passions. We don’t sugarcoat the pressures — this is a direct conversation on why it’s so important to build the kind of business that truly fits your vision, lifestyle, and values as a veteran transitioning into entrepreneurship. Carl’s story is proof that rejecting the urge to chase someone else’s definition of success is the ultimate power move for any small business owner or aspiring leader.

We get specific about the craft of coffee as more than just a product. It’s about community, connection, and making a deeper impact. Carl breaks down how Alpha Coffee’s entire philosophy revolves around quality beans, intentional roasting, giving back, and fostering meaningful relationships — within the business, among employees, and out in the local community. We dig into how coffee, at its best, becomes a conduit for bringing people together, sparking conversations, and reminding us what real camaraderie looks like after the military.

If you’re a veteran considering entrepreneurship, or someone determined to make your leadership count in small business, this episode is your unapologetic blueprint for building authentically and serving boldly.

Episode Sponsors:

• VM Merch
• Go Pills -- use "VM15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• BUBS Naturals -- use "veteranmade" at checkout for 20% off your order.
• True Made Foods -- use "VET" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Ruck Sox -- use "VETERANMADE15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Bravo Actual -- use "Veteran Made" at checkout for 15% off your order.

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

https://www.instagram.com/veteranmade.ck/

http://x.com/veteranmade.ck

https://www.instagram.com/alpha.coffee/

https://x.com/thealphacoffee

In episode 153, I sat down (again) with my friend, Dan Horgan, USAF TAC-P veteran and founder of Arrow and Honor Co., to talk about what it really takes to build a community-driven business from scratch with our own resources. We talked about how the only thing that keeps us moving forward is the network we build through genuine honesty and real relationships with other human beings.

Arrow and Honor Co. isn’t just about selling t-shirts or archery gear; it’s about forging a tribe where every handshake, every story, every honest conversation matters more than any marketing funnel or digital ad spend. We dove into the reality that creative services and marketing only work when we’re brutally transparent about our challenges, ourr wins, and our failures because that’s what attracts real partners and lifelong friends, not just customers.

I pushed Dan — and myself — to get specific about how community isn’t some abstract buzzword. It is the product. It’s built by showing up, being vulnerable, and leveraging every authentic connection we’ve made, whether it’s a vendor, a client, or a fellow veteran. We talked about the necessity of owning our story, sharing it honestly, and refusing to hide behind corporate polish.

The truth is, business is personal, and the only way to scale anything meaningful is by being aggressively open, direct, and unafraid to ask for help or admit what we don’t know.

Use code: veteranmade10 for 10% a purchase at Arrow and Honor Co.

Episode Sponsors:

• VM Merch
• Go Pills -- use "VM15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• BUBS Naturals -- use "veteranmade" at checkout for 20% off your order.
• True Made Foods -- use "VET" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Ruck Sox -- use "VETERANMADE15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Bravo Actual -- use "Veteran Made" at checkout for 15% off your order.

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

https://www.instagram.com/veteranmade.ck/

http://x.com/veteranmade.ck

https://www.instagram.com/dan_horgan_/

https://www.instagram.com/arrowandhonor.co/

Creativity is not a gentle muse that visits the idle; it’s a relentless force that demands your full engagement, discipline, and honesty. In episode 152, Gary Stevens strips away the romantic myths surrounding creative work and expose its true nature: ideas are raw materials mined from the grind of lived experience, relentless questioning, and the courage to confront failure head-on.

Stevens, a visual artist and the author of All of Your Friends are Imaginary, reveals that creativity flows from the friction of real-world challenges and that the spark of an idea is only the beginning. The real test is in execution: the willingness to distill complex insights into their core components, to pare down the noise, and to shape raw intuition into something others can learn from and use.

The conversation is a masterclass in creative rigor. Stevens describes his process of ruthlessly editing his work, soliciting brutally honest feedback across industries and generations, and refusing to let past failures die unused — salvaging frameworks and lessons from abandoned projects and transforming them into new successes. We emphasize that the work of creativity is not just about having ideas, but about refining them through iteration, feedback, and the humility to recognize what we don’t know. We argue that true creative value comes from making your insights accessible and actionable for others, using our own hard-won lessons as blueprints and warnings. If we want to create work that matters, we must be willing to thicken both our skill and our skin, distill our experience down to their essence, and share it with clarity and conviction.

No shortcuts, no excuses, just relentless execution.

Episode Sponsors:

• VM Merch
• Go Pills -- use "VM15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• BUBS Naturals -- use "veteranmade" at checkout for 20% off your order.
• True Made Foods -- use "VET" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Ruck Sox -- use "VETERANMADE15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Bravo Actual -- use "Veteran Made" at checkout for 15% off your order.

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

https://www.instagram.com/veteranmade.ck/

http://x.com/veteranmade.ck

https://www.instagram.com/gary_stevens_art/