Day Zero Podcast

We always talk about becoming who we were meant to be, what if we were just being who we were meant to be? Seems a bit deep, but we often don't allow ourselves to simply be ourselves. We touch on that issue in this episode.   On this episode we interview the Founder of Daemon, Steven Escobar.   We talk about how Steven overcame the MEB process, ventured into IB directly from the Army, and how he tied all of these experiences to create his brand.    A key theme of this episode is how closely that the process of self-awareness ties into and influences your entrepreneurial journey.  

On this episode we interview Digital Marketing Expert, Founder of Civilized Cavemen, and New York Times Best Selling Author George Bryant. George's personal journey is a story of triumph through adversity. Specifically, during his career as a marine he overcame a one-year period of rehabilitation after almost losing his legs in Somalia, due to exercise induced compartmental syndrome. After multiple deployments to Afghanistan, he was medically discharged from the United States Marines due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. However, it's George's journey to overcome this adversity that led to his current success as an entrepreneur. During his transition out of the Marines, George began a journey to achieve his health outcomes and documented it all online. Throughout the process, George attracted a following which would eventually become the civilized caveman community. On his way out of the marines, he sold an e-book to his community which earned more money in that one product than he had made in one year as an

On this episode we interview Justine Evirs, Founder & CEO of The Paradigm Switch. Justine has commitment issues, as in, she continually finds problems that she feels compelled to solve, a mindset which serves as the foundation of her entrepreneurial journey. Justine joined the Navy after High School, an experience which she says was based out of a desire to explore and travel. While in the Navy, she attended college, becoming the first in her family to graduate from college. As a Sailor, she would go on to work in non-classified jobs which allowed her to realize things that she did not want to do. While serving, she unfortunately ran into medical issues which would eventually lead to her discharge. On her way out of the military, she made the important decision of going to school which led her to two things her eventual post military career in education as well as to meeting her significant other. Justine continued her service after her stint in the military by becoming a military spouse. While being a mi

The Art of a Comeback: *Note: We had to utilize our PACE plan for this episode, so please excuse the lesser quality audio. Due to some connection and firewall issues, we had to record this episode using our phones. A lesson in perseverance and ingenuity! Sonny Tosco is West Point graduate (Class of 2006), former Air Defense officer, and tech entrepreneur. Inspired by his father, a Filipino immigrant, who was liberated by General MacArthur, Sonny made the decision at a young age to go to West Point and eventually serve his county. Sonny’s best memories from West Point is grinding through the Academy alongside his classmates and friends. He was inspired by his TAC (Tactical Officer) at West Point to commission into Air Defense. Initially Sonny transitioned into the corporate world in order to appease what he describes as the societal pressure that comes along with family expectations of what success and stability look like. However, while attending USC Marshall School of Business and managing accounts for an ed

On episode 3, "Day Zero" interviews former Drill Sergeant turned fitness executive Vincent Antonuccio. Vince served in the military for 16 years throughout the 80s and early 90s. Post leaving the military, Vince took a series of jobs which eventually led him to join a venture with a group of friends that grew to over 30 locations in the Northeast. Vince's life has taken him from train thief from Boston MA, to co-owner of 30 gyms in the New England area. As any Army person knows, more than a couple of cadences have the lyrics "go to war or go to jail", for Vince, that was almost a reality. After making the decision to join the Army however, Vince never looked back and even built a new life transitioning from a lifestyle of bad habits to one of being a model soldier. Vince served a total of 16 years as a Combat Medic, and ended his career as a Drill Sergeant. From there he took a series of jobs from car salesman, to programmer, to eventually collaborating with a set of business partners to begin what became the

On episode 2 "Day Zero" goes international (and a bit Dangerous) when we interview Canadian clothing entrepreneur Jeff Alpaugh, Founder and CEO of Jeff Alpaugh Custom. Please note that this episode is 1 of 2. We leave a lot to be discussed at the end of part 1, which we will cover in part 2 (to be released at a later date). In Part 2, we will go into detail about Jeff's appearance on "Dragon's Den", the Canadian version of "Shark Tank", and how he leveraged some Army skills during the hype phase! Jeff's life has taken him from a kid who didn't know a thing about dressing well, to the creator of "The World's Most Dangerous Shirt." Jeff is no stranger to challenge. After college he served as a Canadian Army Officer where he served in the Infantry and trained with other foreign Armies in South America. Uzi and Jeff met at Ranger School- where they both did a little "extra credit" at Fort Benning. While in college, Jeff became interested in clothing while he worked for high end clothiers in Canada. These experien

On this episode we interview Dan Kanivas, Managing Partner and Co-founder of Triple Summit Advisors. Dan's personal journey took him from high student at Westchester to Wealth Manager in San Francisco. He discusses his background and how that got him to Harvard, and eventually into the Army. Dan was an Army Artillery officer, a process which takes a long time due to the need to understand a wide array of platforms involved. Dan talks about his transition process from taking the GMAT in Baghdad, to failing to make traction during his 10 month gap from out-process to MBA. We discuss the decision to get an MBA, and factors to consider when making that decision. Dan eventually attended Haas School of Business at Berkeley. If he has one big piece of advice as well as one thing that he would redo during the out-process, he would focus his time on networking and improving on networking skills. On the business side, we discuss the need to understand capitalization and addressable market. Dan recounts his journey from