Hey there, listener! Thank you for checking out our older seasons! We're adding this note on the top of the show notes to keep you up-to-date with the show. Connect with Jen Amos and get bonus content when you subscribe to our private podcast show, Inside the Fort by US VetWealth, at http://insidethefort.com/

Last Updated: September 2, 2024

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132: "Sometimes securing that next income source isn't the most important thing in post-military life." Becoming an entrepreneur with Jason Madden

Jason Madden went from serving for 15 years to transitioning to a military spouse, Franchise Entrepreneur, Career Ownership Coach, and Co-Host of the Doin’ The Thing Podcast. He shares how becoming medically discharged and his desire to be with his wife were the catalysts for him to reinvent himself as a veteran. Today, Jason educates veterans on the various ways to be an entrepreneur, describes intrapreneurship for people working within a company, how to use your own funds (i.e. the Thrift Savings Plan) to invest in your own business, and much more.

Connect with Jason:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-madden/
• jmadden@esourcecoach.com 
• https://jmadden.esourcecoach.com/ 

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RETURNING FALL 2023

The award-winning podcast, Holding Down the Fort by US VetWealth, is returning for Season 7 in Fall 2023 to share inspiring stories of service and self-sufficiency from the military community! This show is a must-listen for military servicemembers and families interested in pursuing financial autonomy while serving our nation.

The show is very excited to announce its new partnership with The Rosie Network, which will include featuring the stories of Service2CEO Cohort Members. Read more about this exciting partnership at https://issuu.com/therosienetwork/docs/me_mag_2023/16

Our main sponsor US VetWealth is proud to announce their newest FREE resource hub: Military Retirement Blueprint — the perfect knowledge library for career retiring military officers who want to make the most of their retirement. This specialized program provides training, guides, consulting, investment-grade insurance strategies, financial & retirement planning, and more. Join for FREE today by visiting: https://usvetwealth.com/war-chest-learning-center-access-the-military-retirement-blueprint/

Stay connected and get the latest updates from our Holding Down the Fort by US VetWealth community by subscribing to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/gTTOdT Questions? Email jen@holdingdownthefortpodcast.com

In August 2022, Jen Amos' work on the podcast was recognized by Disney Institute and she was hand-selected as the only non-Disney employee to moderate the first Military Spouse Employment panel for the Veterans Institute Summit. March 2022, Jenny Lynne has voted the 2022 Naval Station Norfolk Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year. November 2020, Jen Amos was awarded “Media Professional of the Year” at The Rosie Network Entrepreneur Awards! The show continued to collect award nominations in the following years. In September 2021, the show made the Final Slate in the 16th Annual People's Choice Podcast Awards for the Government & Organizations category. In November 2021, the show was an Award Finalist for the 5th Annual National Veteran & Military Spouse Entrepreneur Awards. December 2021, the show was a Golden Crane Podcast Awards Nominee. September 2022, the show was a Finalist for the 13th Annual Plutus Awards presented by Capital Group for “Best Military Personal Finance Content.”

Holding Down the Fort has also been featured in multiple media outlets including Military Entrepreneur (M.E.) Magazine, MOAA’s Never Stop Learning Podcast, The Leadership Void Podcast, Lessons Learned for Vets Podcast, Sisters in Service Podcast, Get 2 Vet, Blue Star Families of Dayton & Southwestern Ohio, Legacy Magazine, U.S. Veterans Magazine, The American MilSpouse, VeteranCrowd Network, It's a Military Life, VirtForce, Military Veteran Dad Podcast, and much more.

Enjoy our show? Kindly leave us a written 5-Star review on Apple Podcasts https://apple.co/30SJ7NW, Podchaser https://bit.ly/3dnCacY, or write a LinkedIn Recommendation for Jen Amos https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenamos/edit/forms/recommendation/write/

Jen Amos 0:00

Speaker 1 0:23

Hey, so glad to be here. Also, sorry for chuckling as you said, Happy New Year since it's March. Welcome back, guys.

Jen Amos 0:32

Yes, thank you for pointing that out. I'm obviously a little slow here. When it comes to embracing the New Year. I don't know about you, Jennylyn. But I like stopped the whole like New Year's resolution things like forever ago when I realized that like, I forgot the stats, but like, typically people like fail within the first month of doing the New Year's resolutions. And I bet if you're listening to this episode, and you set a new year's resolution, you're probably like, yeah, she was probably right about that stat, because I'm definitely not doing that. So I'm curious if you ever had any new year's resolutions,

Speaker 1 1:01

I definitely used to as a type A personality. That was definitely a goal I always had. And then I realized I'm not so great at goals. That is not a strong suit, I have a much better at task list and checking them off and having little things that be to bigger ideas. But yeah, New Year's resolutions, it just feels like one more thing on the to do list that I don't have time for.

Jen Amos 1:26

I agree. I don't like that pressure. So I've learned to set intentions. I've learned to be like, you know, I'm going to focus on having actually, I can't think of my intentions right now. So I'm just gonna skip over that and

Speaker 1 1:36

have a season six and the end. Here we are. Yeah, so yeah, we intended

Jen Amos 1:39

to have a season six, which we are starting officially right now, if you're listening to this episode, this is the official one of the first interviews we're doing this year. That's why I said Happy New Year for in case people are finally chiming in. They're like, Oh, New Year Gen, it's like April, which is probably when this episode is gonna come out. Alright, with that said before I get caught up talking to Jennylyn here, because obviously we can talk to each other forever. I am really excited to first and foremost, remind you all what holding down the fort is about so hold down the forum focuses on sustaining a fulfilling and purposeful military life. And thereafter, that's actually a new description we have here, meaning post military, through conversation and community building. And this year Jennylyn, we have a theme. So normally, I just talked about the mission. But we have a theme this year. And we've never done themes. But I think this is gonna be really fun, especially with all the people we've been talking to so far about this theme. And I know it's especially great for you, because you're actually asking yourself this question you in Matthew. So just so you all know, the theme for this season is answering the question, what are we going to get out? And everything that's involved with that? Gentleman? Any initial thoughts about that question?

Speaker 1 2:45

How am I Gosh, I wish the answer to that question was sooner rather than later. That's where we're at at the strip house looking forward to really digging into that. So I am excited to hear all of the things that I need to be considering now, before we actually make that transition in a couple of years.

Jen Amos 3:05

Yes. And luckily, you have a show in which you get to live vicariously through people who are already in post military life sharing their war stories of transition. So without further ado, we are really, really excited we have a guest that I have been fortunate to connect with on LinkedIn. Honestly, I don't remember how we got connected. But I'm glad that we did. Because Jason Madden has a very interesting story. So he was a veteran of 15 years and get this today. He's actually a military spouse, his wife is still in active duty. When he decided to transition, he went directly into entrepreneurship. He didn't just become a franchise entrepreneur, he actually became a career ownership coach, which I think is actually interesting, because most of the time when, you know, people want to become a coach, for example, they want to have some experience first before they kind of give advice. But I actually just love Jason's take on why he decided to do both at the same time. He also is the co host of the podcast show doing the thing podcast, and he was the 30 heroes for 30 years award winner. So without further ado, Jason, welcome to hold down the fort.

Speaker 2 4:14

Hey, thank you so much for having me. Yeah, that was the vet franchise 30 Heroes for 30 years, we're going to be tripping up on that thing for the rest of the show. But that was for the International Franchise Association which you know, kind of pipes into that that franchise Entrepreneurship which are very proud of I thought that was really great that they had recognized me for that I did not expect that so but anyway, thank you so much for having me on.

Jen Amos 4:43

Yeah, I think that's how you know you're doing a good thing is that you get awarded you don't even realize it like I love how offline we were like what's the name of your award again? It's nice because you know, some people want to chase the award they want to chase For the title, but the fact that you were just doing the thing, a shameless plug for your podcast, you know, here you are, you know, 30 Heroes for 30 years award winner. So Jason, like I said, I'm really excited to chat with you today, considering the work that you're doing. And I thought I'd ask you because you are a military spouse, I think that's really interesting that you are a military spouse. And I had to ask you, when you and your wife were in the process of making that decision for you to transition, how did that conversation go? How did you guys decide, okay, I'm going to transition out Wi Fi, you can stay active duty?

Speaker 2 5:33

Yeah, well, first of all, she outranks me by a bunch. So that was kind of an obvious thing, right? I was a Warrant Officer, she's a field grade officer, she's a major, you know, Sir, there's some big differences there. So the big part of that conversation was actually kind of, you know, being able to stay together, because we're both different branches of service, I was in the army, she was in the Air Force, I had an unfortunate opportunity, nonetheless, to do a med board, do the army. And so that, you know, in a way, medically retired, so I kind of took advantage of that a little bit. It was, it wasn't something that I really want to do. But it wasn't something I really had a lot of control over in the first place, you know, so I took that opportunity in, we really ran with it. And instead of sticking around in the career field that goes in with the military, I chose to really use this opportunity to reinvent myself. And I was finishing up my MBA through Penn State at that time, and I was thinking like, I don't I try entrepreneurship, you know, and that was kind of like the seed that was planted through my education. Through my master's program, I learned that I really hated project management. And that was my MBA focus. I was like, this is cool and everything, but I don't see myself doing this for anybody. And so I started, I started investigating franchising, because I liked the idea of being an entrepreneur, but I didn't really know where to start. And I didn't really, I didn't necessarily trust myself to build something from scratch. Because I've done that before. I, you know, when I was active duty, and kind of overlapping into going out, I had a personal training brand called the Outler fitness project. And while I had some really great ideas, I wasn't that great at, you know, promoting myself and getting all the tools in place for that business. And it was just very haphazard. So that's where I kind of felt like I needed to do something like a franchise where all those systems and processes were already in place. And then I could just, you know, execute them, I could leverage them based off of my goals. So the first thing I started looking at, because I'm the meathead, right is I wanted to do Anytime Fitness. And I started investigating Anytime Fitness and it was great brand, I really enjoyed learning about it. And I was very close to pulling the trigger, I was gonna open up three gyms in Helena, Montana, but my wife kind of put the brakes on like, do you really want your first business to be brick and mortar. And, you know, at that time, were moving from Colorado to Boston, and be on the East Coast could be the complete opposite side of the contrast, like point taken, I might just go back and kind of do a little bit more research. And as I was doing that research, I found a coach, as you know, kind of doing what I'm doing now. So we're going to kind of tie into that story. But she helped helped me kind of evaluate some other possibilities, you know, that my might not have thought about or even really looked at on my own. And she opened up this whole new realm that had no idea what was out there a franchise and I had no idea you could be a franchisee in a home based business that was virtual, mobile and doTERRA. And I thought that was amazing, you know, I can move with my wife anywhere in the country to include overseas and I guess still run the same business that this coach was running as a you're a franchise, right? And she's like, Yeah, so with the possibilities that we're looking at, right now, let's put the entrepreneur source on the table because I really liked the idea of what you're doing. And not to mention that I went through Boots to Business with, you know, my transition program with the military. And there was no chat, no talk about franchising whatsoever. It was all about building a business plan. And listening to the guy that ran the roach coach on the ranges for Carson. Like, that's not the sexiest business in the world. I get it, you got a lot to share. But that's not exactly why I'm hoping to learn. And so in meeting with this coach, I found an opportunity to be able to educate other veterans on what else is out there because there's so many ways to be an entrepreneur. I mean, you could be that startup entrepreneur, like I tried with outlier fitness project, you can buy an existing business from somebody, you know, that has all sorts of other issues tagged on to that too. You could be a franchisee or you could be a passive investor, you know, so I chose, you know, to be that active investor with a franchise and I love being able to educate others on that.

Jen Amos 9:47

Yeah, no, absolutely. I want to ask Jenny Lynn a quick second or quick question here because I love that, you know, you and your wife kind of backtracking a little bit, you know, shared your reason as to why you wanted to transition out and it was really that goal to stay together? You know, and I love that was a, you know, a couple's decision. So Jenny Lynn, I'm sure you probably have some thoughts about that when I hear from

you. Oh, man. I mean, one, I think it's great that you guys had that conversation and were able to come to something that worked for both of you. I mean, yesterday was my 30th wedding anniversary, spent it alone. It's my husband's out to see as many military families do. And so, you know, as we come up looking on by the book, he has about five years left by real life, who knows how long that will be?

Motions and all that stuff that might happen along the way that could extend the time? Yeah,

correct. Yeah, you know, but being able to have those talks and do something that works for you, as a couple is so important in military life, especially in like, this age, you know, that the model that works for many years, where the military spouse just up and moves every two years and up roots, and then has to replant and uproot and replant is becoming, you know, it's a model that as everybody continues to, like, go out in the workforce and do things that work for them. It's a model that becomes harder and harder for families, because everybody has goals. And also, we still have such a tie to being military families. I mean, I know that I found that in my job, I am extraordinarily grateful that I have the relationship I have with my boss at a brick and mortar space that is across the country, because, you know, I am able to work remotely. And that is something that, you know, a couple years ago, prior really prior to the pandemic, yeah, people really didn't see as an option. And so, in that way, you know, I'm really grateful both to my boss I worked for and like, having done everything I did over the computer anyway, thanks to COVID. But, you know, everybody's looking for that model that works for the whole family. Because if you're gonna be career military, it has to work for your whole family. Otherwise, the family really suffers. I mean, I'm in mental health. There's a reason I'm in mental health.

Yeah, that's right. That's right. For you. You mentioned them. So that's my wife's career field, too. She's an Air Force psychologist. So we get to, you know, talk about all that kind of stuff all the time, I get to be, you know, have that firsthand experience on some of those conversations, which are pretty fascinating. And I want to speak to that, that remote work and gig economy kind of perspective, too. Because that's, I think that's a super great thing that's happened for spouses is, like you said, people being able to work virtually more and more frequently these days. So when you want to put silver linings to a pandemic, and that's definitely a shiny one, right? Yeah. And that's also a good case for entrepreneurship, too, because I work with a lot of spouses, and they are coming from the same perspective as me, I want to be able to run a business. But you know, brick and mortar is not necessarily an option for me right now until maybe on our last assignment, if we know what that's going to be, you know, so like, we're doing something that's virtual mobile makes a lot of sense. And there's a lot of brands out there that do that. There's a lot of franchises surprisingly, more than just the entrepreneur source. There's, there's recruiting franchises, there's health care. I mean, franchising, traverses about 7585 different industries, and there's about 4000 brands out there, and they're not all fast food and french fries and things like that. There's just so much you can do. Even in some cases, I've had folks start a franchise and, you know, maybe they thought they were at their last assignment. And it was, you know, a territory based kind of business is still home base was territory base. So when they got the orders to pick up and go, that franchisor actually worked with them, and reallocated their territory. So sometimes there's some advocacy that's needed there. And I do some of that as well. So advocating between franchisees and franchisors, that's something that I kind of put into my process, at least on the front end of everything.

You know, I actually really love that we're talking about franchising, because I am almost done with the book, the E Myth, and I would assume that you have read that book, and it's all about, yeah, it's all about creating franchises. And, you know, Jason, you're really the first person I'm talking to, who is educating on building franchises online. So I'm very intrigued with this conversation. Just because in my mind, I have been self employed for 12 years, only because I felt like I couldn't like do a brick and motar like having been a military child moving every two, three years, even though once we ended up settling in SoCal. My mind didn't settle like I never felt like I could stay in one career. I couldn't even understand how my friends were so proud to get the nine to five job. I mean, I was like, How can you even do that? Like, that scares me to think that I could stay somewhere for so long? Considering that wasn't part of my upbringing. And so part of why I became self employed was because of just the fact that I could do everything online. and even till this day, like on my third business venture still doing it, you know, strictly online, I mean, this is an exception because Jenny Lynn and I are actually in person we happen to live like nearby, which is really amazing. But for the most part, you know, everything I do is online. So I think it's great to, you know, Jason, for you to provide this kind of education, and more importantly, make veterans aware, because, you know, it's kind of that if you're looking for something after the military, you're looking for a system to follow, rather than jumping from, you know, the military to a corporate job, you can get into a franchise, and that's a system that you can follow. So I really love you know, one that you found that for yourself, you know, and to, you're able to do it remotely, like no matter where your wife ends up moving to next, you can still follow her and not skip a beat

is beautiful. Yeah, and I love that. And just to kind of speak to, you know, finding systems and you know, corporate America is sometimes a good path for a lot of folks, you know, and I don't think entrepreneurship is for everybody. I know, veterans are very good in the franchise side because of the systems and processes, but sometimes, you know, they want to take their foot off the gas a little bit. Even though a franchise helps your business be a little bit easier, it is still hard entrepreneurial work, right. So some people just want enjoy their retirement have an easy job. And sometimes you could get that out of a franchise, like there are some semi absentee franchises, I own a couple of my own, a couple of salons, a shark east coast for kids. So those are semi absentee franchises, where you're kind of managing a manager and making sure your systems are in place to make sure the marketing is happening and things like that. But in some cases, you know, where it goes back to that career ownership coaching, I'm not just focusing on franchising, I want people to really look at all the possibilities in front of them, so that they can make a clear, educated choice at the end of the day, what's going to be the best situation for them and their families. And I actually have a, an acronym that I go off of, and I want everybody that I work with to focus on that when we're doing our education together. And it's I call it the elite, your income, you want to focus on your lifestyle, and what kind of wealth and equity you can get out of your next path. So that elwy is like super important. And, you know, they probably teach it in a different way in like the TAP programs and stuff like that. But I imagine mostly is like, Let's go secure that next income source. Maybe sometimes that's not the most important thing, you know? Yeah, absolutely.

You know, speaking of which, if people don't know what entrepreneurship is, like, there's another term that people often say nowadays, which is intrapreneur, which is someone working in a business, I consider Jennylyn an intrapreneur, because she works in a business. So for people that are hearing that for the first time, can you describe, you know, for people who may not be ready to do a franchise or you know, be self employed like me? What does it mean to be an entrepreneur and how that's just as valid?

Absolutely, yes. And we actually talked about this a couple of weeks ago. So thank you for reminding me on this. And that's, that's just another way. To me, that's another way of entrepreneurship, you don't necessarily own something, but you can own your time, you can own your freedom within an organization. So I think a really good example of Intrapreneurs on the military side is worn officer. And I say that because I was a warrant officer but but as a warrant officer, and you can apply this to corporate America and other situations, but as a Warrant Officer, I was considered that subject matter expert and was in control of scheduling, managing my people managing my programs and managing my projects. Well, that in turn says there's a lot of flexibility there. Because no one's actually looking over your shoulder watching you and making sure all this stuff gets done because they trust you at that point, you you've earned that trust within that organization so that you can have that freedom and flexibility of kind of intrapreneurship. Because also at that same time, you can actually identify the projects and programs that best benefit your organization, and they give you leeway and freedom to do that. Now, you have to build a lot of trust within your organization to do that. But that's a really great way to you know, get some of that elite back in your life. You know what I mean?

Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, Jennylyn without getting into too much detail of what we talked about before we were talking with Jason, also being a type six Enneagram, which this type of personality is perfect for being an entrepreneur. Any thoughts?

Well, one, thanks for the second thing I'm adding to my resume, we talked about being a professional show or upper earlier. And now we're talking about intrapreneur both things that I'm putting at the top, but what people couldn't see, as Jason was describing this was the look on my face of like, what exactly is this because this is all new for me. But I really think it comes down to something Jen and I talk about quite often, which is the good idea fairy. My family is full of them. Both my husband and I have big ideas and look for ways to put them into existing structures, and, you know, really build and promote the things we're already a part of. for him. It's the Navy and for me, it's code veterans network. And, you know, I really appreciate there being something that kind of validates those experiences I love that I work for a business. Well, a nonprofit. But I mean, I love that I work for a nonprofit, because I'm someone who really likes the structure that a, you know, comes with a more corporate America feel. Also, though, because I do outreach, it's very entrepreneurial. And I mean, I make up what I do. I am, you know, the person who writes the strategic communications plan and works on the events and all those things. And so it does come with a very entrepreneurial spirit. So to put a new label on it, I really like that and appreciate the validity, it kind of brings to a job where I, especially in this world, and coming out of COVID, where entrepreneurship really seems to have like, exploded, I mean, especially in the military and veteran community, my LinkedIn is full of it. Some of I know, for me, as someone who works for a company, it feels like, Oh, am I missing the boat? Like, ooh, you know, like, is this really where, you know? Am I supposed to be doing the entrepreneur thing? Because that looks like what everybody else is doing. So to kind of provide some validity to those of us who have that spirit, but do it well, within an existing Corporation is great. Yeah, yeah. You're,

you're an intrapreneur and didn't even know it yet. And you know what, there's a lot to say about your employer about that, to be able to give you the freedom and flexibility to do that. Because, yeah, and I'm going to speak from the millennial perspective. And it mostly is because I had Dr. Jennifer wisdom on my podcast the other day, she and I have like some really fascinating conversations about millennial leadership, millennial work, and things like that. But we are, I say, weeks. I'm kind of like that elder millennial, you know, I'm almost 40, but still kind of hit that criteria. But we're generational.

I prefer the term Zinio, though, because we definitely grew up with a lot of Gen X. Technology. And I follow strictly in that, like, I love BAE Systems.

Yeah, we still played outside, but had a little bit of Nintendo, you know, the weekend? Yeah. Game Gameboy. That's right. But we're generation of levers, right. So if an organization does not really reflect our values, and our goals, we're gonna say, See you later. You know, and the fact that an organization is able to keep you for that long and give you that flexibility in that trust, and everything says a lot. And that's why a lot of millennials are actually gearing towards entrepreneurship, because they have more control over those goals and those values than they've they're seeing in corporate America right now. Your corporate America is kind of messed up on the leadership side, right now, there are some organizations that are doing it very, very well. But the large majority are doing it very poorly. And so that's what's actually leading this gig workers slash entrepreneurship type of, you know, system with the millennial culture. And I've seen that more and more, especially during this career ownership coaching, I have people approached me specifically wanting to be in business and leave that corporate America for those reasons.

Yeah, I mean, none of that information is surprising to me, you know, especially watching, gosh, Twitter and LinkedIn. And also, it makes me wonder, like, how much education is out there for making that shift? Like, it's one thing to start watching the trend, but are we capitalizing on the trend? As a like, what's corporate America gonna do? Right, everybody can't leave, like, we're still gonna need cereal and cars, like that's the thing. You know, so how are we

gonna love that's how you relate to corporate America.

I mean, I was trying not to be brand specific to things most people use without, you know, specifically targeting an organization or a brand. But, you know, how can they lean into that entrepreneurial spirit with that new word intrapreneur and capitalize on those of us who are that elder millennial generation? You know, and tap into that, because I do think we bring a lot to the table as far as, you know, the good idea, fairies, and also the fact that we're pretty strong in our values. I mean, Jen, and I just had this conversation. And the reason she brought up my Enneagram number is because I am by nature, a loyalist, and so I am going to be loyal to something, almost to a fault. But you're gonna have it and so how are we going to capitalize on folks like me and like you that can be very loyal to something and bring lots of great things to the table and not lose us to, you know, doing our own thing?

Or even the competitor to competition? Yeah, right. Yeah. So other cereal and cars. Right, right. So I think there's probably a little bit of leadership disparity out there in corporate America. But most corporate organizations are led by, you know, Gen X or baby boomer generation. And their expectations are much, much more different and diverse than what we want to accomplish. Right. And it's a weird thing. So

even that's a nice way to put it, by the way, thanks

as being very nice. Politically Correct. And you know, what the, was it the Gen Z, that's after millennials, right? Gen Z, it's even more different, right? So it speaks to the need of having to adjust to communication patterns and styles in corporate America when So a good example of that is like you talk to somebody that's been in corporate America, you know, in the 90s, or something like that, and they tell an employee to do something. And that employee asks why that would be out of the question, like 20 years ago, but now you almost have to, you know, really describe why you're doing things and provide that kind of detail. And you should do it anyway. But that was not normally the case back then. And we drive off of who thrive, I should say, we thrive off of information that and we do a better job, when we have better information, we understand why we're doing what we're doing. And I have the ability to be able to ask questions, and also question, you know, what we're doing and maybe inflict some of our own, you know, maybe expertise or insights on that. And that's something that's not always there in corporate America. And I think that's why there's a lot of people leaving and doing their own thing.

Oh, yeah. Well, this shift really to like, if you're gonna go corporate, you want to be with a corporation that not only produces cereal will continue with the analogy. But also, you know, give back in some form or fashion to something that makes sense to them. Like I came across a company yesterday, I think it was an Instagram targeted ad, which will tell you a lot about my Instagram, as soon as I say what they do. But they sell cookie dough. But a percentage of their proceeds goes to helping women in recovery. And it is that up front, you see it, like as soon as you log on their page, hey, here's the product we've got. And it's delicious, it's freaking cookie dough, you eat with a spoon. Also, by buying this product, you know, 30% of our sales is going to help women in recovery through this organization. And then they give you both information about how the company came to be and why they are supporting this. And I you know, I know, again, as a loyalist and as someone who, you know, really puts a lot of value in values, and then and supporting good causes, like, but this is the shift, I think everybody's starting to kind of trend toward, and being able to do that, you know, especially like as an entrepreneur and be able to set those goals, right, like, I read about that company yesterday on Instagram. And I was like, Dude, that is a fabulous idea. Like, man, I want to get to know her and I want to do you know, how can I go and do this and what I do,

right, like, a cause outside of making money.

Yes. Which I think is really important to people of our generation. And that's really where it shifting from the corporate America climb the ladder to make money for you, yourself. And you. And you know, what are you doing for the greater community, which is something Jen and I are very passionate about on this show?

Yeah, I agree with both of you, you know, I as a millennial, I'm 34. So I'm kind of like, you know, I'm like the middle child, millennial, you know, I'm not like too young but not seasoned. I'm gonna use my words. You're welcome. You're welcome. Welcome. And you're right. It's like, like, I think our generation, it's, like, we want to do something that's greater than us. You know, it's not just about us and our, you know, professional, yeah, professional ladder. It's not about just climbing the ladder. It's about, you know, bringing people with us as we climb that ladder. So all that being said, I love how, you know, we were able to really describe what it means to be an entrepreneur, I love your perspective, Jason talking about, you know, being a franchise entrepreneur, you don't just have to be self employed like me, who had to start from scratch three times over, which is I don't recommend, by the way.

And also, you know, showing validity and intrapreneurs people like Jenny Lynn, who works within a system. And so I love having shared just kind of, you know, just the variety of being an entrepreneur and I hope that this conversation really inspires people to now look into it and not see it as such a big scary thing that you have to start from scratch. So with all that in mind, Jason, what I want to talk with you next, which is really our final topic today is okay, I've decided to be an entrepreneur. I've decided I'm gonna start a franchise I decided, you know, ABC, I decided to get into this space, and here at us, but Well, we're all about educating our veterans and career military families on how they can use their military benefits use what they already have to live life intentionally and smartly and post military life. Part of why I bring this up is because Jason You actually brought this up in our offline conversation of how you actually this is actually kind of controversial. So get ready, everyone, how you recommend Veterans use their thrift savings plan? So I want to get your perspective on that. And you know, how you educate veterans on how they could potentially use that to reinvest that into let's say, their own business? Yeah.

So, so resources, it's an option, there are a lot of business financing options out there. And, you know, sometimes the best one is using their own funds. Right, you know, you know, you have the Dave Ramsey folks out there, like that are very much against debt, and they're debt free, and things like that. But and, you know, I hope there's a good understanding between good debt and bad debt out there, right, a nice solid business loan, maybe through the SBA, I would consider that good debt, you know, that's secured through the government that helps you with your business helps you grow. But another way to kind of skirt that is if you have a solid, you know, tsp traditional IRA, or even a 401k, there's ways that you can actually roll that over into a C Corp, it's a lot like rolling over your your TSP into a traditional IRA or adding it to your 401k or something like that. It's tax deferred. So when you do that, you're actually saving yourself the heartache and pain of actually pulling it out and getting that 20% tax rate, right. And so, when you do that rollover, you roll it into a business entity called a C Corp, and a C Corp has a lot of benefits, you know, the difference between a C Corp and an LLC, is that C Corp offers an extra layer of separation between you personally in the business. So in doing that, you also must become a W two employee of your business of that C Corp. So you're also you kind of create a new job for yourself through your business at the same time. So in doing that, you can actually use those funds to pay yourself a salary, and also invest into your business, because they're your own shares, you can allocate them however you desire to grow your company, right. And so that's playing employees, you know, growing your brand, buying equipment, maybe a retail space, if that's what you're looking at there. So the other benefits to doing that is you actually create your own internal 401k plan. And with that 401k plan, you can reinvest back into that corporation, on your terms under your control. So in doing that, you can contribute as much as you want as an employee. But you can actually match contributions at 100% as your own employer in doing that. So it's a pretty large wealth building system that you can create out yourself by yourself. And you can also pass that on to your employees as well. It's not just you as an internal employee. Now, take a quick look before doing those 100% Max contributions, you know, maybe put a little bit of a throttle on that talk to a good tax attorney, or a tax accountant on that, and, you know, kind of get some advice on it. But that's really the tools that I really like to use to not only build some great wealth, but also help you start your business without debt.

Yeah, Jennylyn. Did you know that?

No, I did not. That was all very interesting.

Yeah. Well, Jason, thank you so much for sharing that. And I thought it'd be better for you to explain it then for me, just because you're actually legitimately training like teaching people how to do this. And I share this with my husband. And you know, we're together, we run us well, which is a sponsor of the show. And he was just like, oh my gosh, like, we need more people talking like that. So I just appreciate you like taking a minute to, you know, to kind of like just willing to have that conversation, say, hey, TSP is not just for retirement, you could actually, like you said, roll it into like a C Corp and C Corp. I always say like core like, like Office Depot, I always say at Robert C Corp. And you could actually pay yourself, you can kind of, in a sense, have your own private bank, and you know, fund your own business and pay yourself your own paycheck. So I appreciate you, you know, kind of getting into that detail. And, you know, that's definitely something that we hope to continue to educate our career military families and veterans about is that, you know, your benefits are a lot more than what you're getting educated on. And it's great to have someone such as yourself in post military, in a sense to be able to educate about this. So thanks, Jason. Appreciate it. Yeah, yeah,

happy to educate on that. And, you know, as a party, you know, thought when it comes to business financing. I'm gonna go bust a big myth on here. And this is not something that we talked about before, but there is no such thing as a veteran's business loan. There are a lot of banks that say that they help veterans get SBA preferred business loans, but they're not actually, you know, vet vote loans built for veterans. The SBA actually discontinued the Patriot Express program, which was the business loan for veterans back in 2014. And there has not been a business loan since that has been for veterans, the VA doesn't offer it. The VA actually redirects people back to the SBA, which they did. They're barely even veteran preferred. And I've actually explored this process in great depth with the SBA. And there's really not a whole lot of differences between you know, civilian getting those SBA loans and a veteran. So just FYI out there. And that's just for the folks out are looking for business loans and business funding. Unless a private bank offers it. There's no such thing, at least on the government side.

Well, you heard it right here from Jason Madden. Jason, I bet our veterans and anyone listening to the show is now especially intrigued to learn more about this and may want to talk to you. So let us know how people can find you.

Yeah, you could find me, you know, LinkedIn is pretty much where I'm at social media wise, you know, you can email me at Jay mad net esource. Coach calm, and you can check out my website at Jay Madden esource. Coach, calm.

Awesome. Gentlemen, any closing thoughts?

Well, one, thank you. That was all very informative. I'm trying not to sweat profusely on like, oh, my gosh, what happens in five years? That's a lot of options. And so, you know, for those of us who are still on the active duty side of the house, and kind of looking down the road at what it looks like to transition out and transition? Well, I'm just incredibly let me say thank you. And that I'm incredibly grateful that folks, that you and folks like you're out there, you know, encouraging folks to do the best with what they have, versus, you know, not transitioning Well, so, you know, thanks to you, and do us both well, for like being not just supportive with your words, but also supportive in your actions of those that are transitioning out of the service.

Thank you. Thank you. And I find that right. And just to speak on that, that fear. What is the fear? What is fear is the absence of knowledge, right? We were scared of things because we don't know the outcome. So if you are nervous about your transition, what do you need to do? You need to educate yourself, you need to learn and you need to grow. And that's what my whole thing is all about education and discovery. And that's going to help, you know, kind of mitigate some of those fears, because you're going to arm yourself with knowledge.

Wonderful. Well, Jason, I know you got to get going. So I just can't thank you enough for our offline conversations. And now our recorded conversation to our listeners. We hope you got a lot of value. Check out the show notes to get in touch with Jason Madden. And that's it. Thank you all so much for joining. We'll chat with you in the next episode. Tune in next

time. Thanks for having me.