The End of an Era

I never thought I would be writing this. My expectation was for personal and professional growth, helping Veterans succeed, and making a decent living while doing so. Things change.

Life evolves, we all go through life, as if reading a book, chapter by chapter and from each chapter we take lessons learned and apply them to the next chapter. I hope that by the end of the book we have a fulfilled life and have helped others navigate some of the more treacherous waters of life.

I started VECTOR over four years ago and initially achieved a measure of success. Unfortunately, I made some decisions along the way, which limited that success and significantly challenged my ability to make it successful in the future. I have worked with some great people, Russ Gold, John Sinclair, Kim Crumley, Mike Martin, Rob Thornton and the rest of the BAH team. Pete Valdez with National Sourcing, and the great team at JobWorks, Tim Putt and John Casella. Personal friends and colleagues, Michael Stroud, Angie Greer, Cara Silletto, Mitzi Pendergrass, Demetria Miles, Amanda Adams and Cindy Norfleet. All true professionals in their own rights. I learned valuable lessons from each of you and cannot thank you folks enough.

I counseled many Veterans who wanted to open their own business. I wrote articles and posted them on LinkedIn. Step away from the emotion I advised; keep it business. Make sure you have 100% support from family. I should have listened to my own advice. It is a hard pill to swallow when you get to the point you have to choose, between what you think is your calling and what you need to do keep a semblance of sanity. Forever the optimist I knew the light at the end of the tunnel was just around the next corner. However, as I turned each corner there was another light further away and seemingly more distant. I decided to start looking for a position in which I could exercise my skill sets and still help others. This time I took my own advice. I looked at companies in my area, checked out the mission, values of each, and found a couple whose values aligned well with mine. During this process, a position announcement came up (in my LinkedIn feed) and I applied for the position. It did not take long for me to get a call, schedule an interview (and I did more research on the company), and ultimately was given an offer which was consistent with my KSAs and salary expectations. I accepted this offer and will be starting on 12 June.

I will be keeping VECTOR open for now, mostly for the email, but will not be actively competing for work. I will be available for part-time consulting in the learning and development industry as long as it does not detract from my primary mission.

My passion for Veterans will not fade. I will continue to actively advocate for Veteran issues in the state and do whatever I can to help other Veterans in transition.

Best to you all, thanks for your support and encouragement over the years.

VECTOR 6 out.