The PenFed Foundation announced the launch of the Veteran Entrepreneur Investment Program (VEIP) Military Women Startup Accelerator earlier this year
In February 2020, when former Army Capt. Joe Quinn began to hear about a new virus dubbed COVID-19, that could lead to a global pandemic, he went shopping. Never mind stocking up on toilet paper or hand sanitizer; Quinn was after a bigger purchase — a bulk order of beef from a meat processor.
While “no pain, no gain” is a well-worn adage among athletes, Born Primitive co-founder and CEO Bear Handlon launched his patriot-inspired fitness apparel company with the opposite goal in mind. Handlon created Born Primitive’s signature Snatch shorts while training for the 2013 Crossfit Games. The purposefully padded compression shorts solved a long-standing problem for weightlifters mastering the snatch that can be described in delicate terms as pain when the barbell meets the hips.
Evans, 30, has been on WWE’s main roster for two years. It has been a rapid rise in the decade since she enlisted at 19 years old, a young woman desperately seeking the structure that the military provided. As Evans moved around the South as a child, she could not escape the torment caused by her family’s addiction and mental-health issues.
The similarities between being a paratrooper and being a chief technology officer for a large company might seem slim on the surface. But both environments thrive on chaos, and in both settings, a person needs to be able to pivot, adapt, and react.
A social media bio that lists “passionate about toilets” as a descriptor is the first hint Air National Guard Capt. Samantha Snabes’ journey from aspiring astronaut to cofounder of industrial 3D-printer-manufacturer re:3D has been a road less traveled.
Daymond John recalls sweeping floors in a corner store of his neighborhood as a kid to earn candy from the owner — a longtime businessman who had seen it all.
Jun Shin realized he needed to secure his financial future shortly after his battle with testicular cancer began.
Growing up poor in North Carolina, Mike Loyd was always looking for a way out.
He found one by enlisting in the Marines in 2010. After seven years in the military, Loyd rose to become a captain and was stationed at Camp Pendleton, California. As a combat engineer, he built bridges. Loyd, 36, is still building them.
Purpose-driven companies making an impact on society fare better in the public eye than their more fiscally concerned counterparts.
