Jose Roman pulls in the 16th episode of #YearOfTheVet, and when I asked Jose how he would like to be introduced—he said, “Veteran Advocate at the Military Resource Center at Regent University and NVG, Networking Veterans Group,” however I want to label him… Jack-of-All-Trades-Master-of-None!

Fresh off the streets of Anaheim, California while presenting at the 2017 Student Veteran of America National Conference, where about1800 Student Veterans talk about issues and solutions revolving around student vets, and vets in general.  There—corporate sponsors such as Google, Raytheon, Disney, and many other companies work together, and engage with these vets to support and touch on topics such as: How to connect with student vets on campus, how to get the most out of networking, how to use your job experience, building your resume, how to get into grad school, law school, and as far as hire students ON THE SPOT to large fortune 500 and smaller companies.  Ultimate, Jose mentions that the goal is to take this information back to YOUR campus.

Having both his parents pass away while in high school, Jose had to make some big boy choices for his future, and even as a student in high school, he knew to keep his options open and find the best option for his future when it came to which service he would enlist in.  In a similar mind, just to get the hell out of dodge—right before Jose signed his life away to the Army to drive tanks and blow shit up, a Navy recruiter who’d seen him earlier during community service asked the right question to get him focused on his future:  What are you going to do when you’re done driving tanks?

Look… I could write a small book on all we talked about… from his background in martial arts—having started kickboxing in high school “… before it was cool—before UFC 1,” and even though at the time it was just his outlet or a hobby, he never knew that it would turn into his first created, and failed company that he opened with his friends, and shares the hard lessons of what it takes to be a business owner… the right way.

Show Notes

Other topics we hit on:

 We talk A LOT about veteran advocacy, and how you can get involved, or open up your own.  
 What it means to be a veteran
 “VOW OF POVERTY”
 Being “The old man on campus,” as a student veteran.
 Work Study
 3 phases of how the public views veterans: Appreciation/Indifference/Resentment
 Being a Good leader, as well as a good follower
 The WIFM (what’s in it for me) for why he advocates
 The reason why you shouldn’t burn your DD-214
 Paying it forward
 Looking at starting a business as a cautionary tale of taking ownership of your “thing” whatever it is, from beginning to end… you have to Ride or Die with it
 “The post-deployment hangover”
 … and the fact you need to start looking for a job on day one of school! 

Seriously that looks like a lot, but this Navy vet and mentor talks about so much more, and its SO freaking interesting.

Jose wanted me to make sure to give props where props are due to:

• Ron Capps & Veterans Writing Project
• Operation Motown Muster via Mission Continues
• Outward bound via Sierra Club
• Vice president of Diversity: Kevin Preston for your work with the SVA
• The SVA itself
• Phillip Wyman
• Mike Stack
• Jared Lions
• … and last but not least, the Military Resource Center, Regent University

Please reach out to Jose if anything in this conversation piques your interest and you have any questions comments or concerns!

Don’t forget to leave a comment on the page, and thanks for tuning back into #YearOfTheVet

Contact Jose via