I worked in the private theatre, basically, or private world, for quite some time. I bounced around quite a few jobs. I just never really seemed to fit in.
The way I typically did things was very forward and generally fairly aggressive. I attribute that to military training, which served me well while I was in the military, but it is very difficult for civilian companies to adapt to someone who comes into the organization as very forward that way and very mission-oriented. Once I signed on with a company, it was all for the company. It's just like the military; you're all for the military, so I was go, go, go. That was off-putting to a lot of companies, and I struggled with that.
I bounced around quite a bit, to the point where I just said, “Enough is enough. I'm going to do my own thing and start up from there.” I basically grew it into a fairly successful business, and I have been enjoying it since then.
I encourage fellow veterans I work with to look at that as an opportunity as well. It's not for everyone, because there is a lot of stress, as the other business owners here will know, and you really have to pivot from the military way of thinking into the business way of thinking. It can be difficult, but for me it was almost a necessity, because I really didn't fit into a lot of companies that I was working for.