Scott Lehrer president of military affairs comm is a US Navy veteran taking his passion of traveling and serving fellow veterans He was recently appointed president of military affairs comm an online travel website giving deep discounts to veterans coming up next on veteran on the move Welcome to veteran on the move if you're a veteran in transition an entrepreneur wannabe or someone still stuck in that Trying to escape this podcast is dedicated to your success and now your host Joe Crane As a member of not -for -profit Navy Federal puts members at the heart of every single thing they do Find out more at Navy federal org Alright today we're talking with Navy veteran Scott Laura who is a president of military affairs comm Scott You and I've been in you know in loose touch for several years now You've been following the podcast like almost way back since the beginning if I remember correct Absolutely, just a huge fan of the podcast and appreciate everything you do Joe for our veterans and family members of veterans Yeah, so let's start off like we usually do take us back and tell us what you did the Navy Oh my gosh back in 1979 I was working at the Kmart camera department in Aurora, Illinois Just outside of Chicago and I was about to graduate from high school and my assistant manager there said Scott What do you want to do after high school? I said I have no clue, but I don't want to go to school You know don't want to go to college and he goes well join the Navy see the world Well, the problem is he didn't tell me that the world was 75 % water. So I joined the Navy When I went into Chicago to get all registered They said, you know, what do you want to be? I said, I really don't know and they said well What about a fire controlman? I said, well, I don't want to fight fires and the guy laughed He goes well about like being a radarman and it's like that sounds cool and they said, okay Well, you'll go to boot camp here in Chicago in a couple weeks. I said I'm going to San Diego They said you're going to San Diego cuz I mean I joined in set in September and it was starting to get cold So I went to yeah, I went to boot camp in San Diego at 79 then I went to a school at Damnet, Virginia Went up to Maine to get my ship the Morrison FFG 13. It was in three pieces in Bath, Maine They put it together. We sailed down to Boston and Was commissioned there went to Mayport Went to church there in Jackson, but here in Jacksonville met my wife I'm married 39 years to grown kids and two grandkids And so I love the Navy and all over the world Italy Spain France Panama Canal off the coast of Iran and Iraq and I love the Navy but I stayed in nine years It was just really hard on my wife with two small children So I got out and then I went on my entrepreneurial journey. We'll talk a little bit about that What was your transition like when you got out of the Navy you get a job right away? Was the entrepreneurship thing already there? Well, fortunately and the one thing I want to share with the audience. It's who you know, and You've got to be out there you and it's not even the internet It's just like who do you know? Because I knew some people and I was able to get a job with a division of driver's license in, Florida So I got out I immediately had a job I wasn't making a ton of money but I was an employee and I worked there and then I of course I got a couple other jobs to as Other things opened up. But yeah again for those folks that are listening to the podcast you got to get out there There's no one who's gonna promote you but you and you got to be professional. You got to look good You got to speak good and it's who you know, and I will just say for anybody listening reach out to Joe or myself We would both love to help anybody to to move into that transition the only thing I would caution you about is that a lot of people will try to come after veterans and say hey Join this franchise and you know 50 $100 ,000 and a lot of us don't have that kind of money A lot of us don't have time to go back to school Now a lot of guys do have the GI Bill or other Opportunities like that, but I always love helping fellow veterans get on the path to a good job and success Yeah, it's so true it's who you know and unfortunately if you've been in the military like you were for nine years You may not have a big civilian network But you might have a network of veterans that got out before you and keep in touch with them but I hear I've heard stories were like I applied for a thousand jobs and didn't get one response from anybody and it's like Well, that's pretty typical these online job boards most of the time you don't get hired from them unless you know somebody on the inside and Then you still got to apply through the job board and then because you know somebody your Application gets pulled and then you find your way in it's it's it's all about who you know Definitely one super secret tip. I'll share Joe is that veterans get one free year of LinkedIn premium so just go on LinkedIn you know let them know you're a veteran and There's lots of free courses on LinkedIn and that that's my secret. I mean, that's how I know people Being in the travel industry getting to know the CEOs of these travel of these cruise lines And once you're on LinkedIn and you reach out to them and be humble be nice. I am so -and -so and But again, the problem with the military is they really don't prepare us for civilian work We veterans think well just because we're a veteran or we work hard and we're dedicated. We should automatically get the job Well, the job market is so tight now that they're being very selective on who they hire Yeah, they want they want somebody to have all the qualifications that they already need They don't want to train somebody like the military always does train people from scratch In the civilian sector, they don't they don't have time to train you They they need you making them money from day one And but there are there are some good skills military guys have as far as you know The soft skills the leadership the motivation You know, they show up to work on time They're not late, you know, those kind of things can be huge Some some people like to view those things as maybe the givens of a typical good employee But if you don't have some of those basic skills that the job requires, it's it's really tough for civilian companies You know to hire you and bring you in because they can't afford To train people for months or years on end like the military does well Joe You make a very good point in addition to that guys. You can't go in. I want 80. I want 90 I want a hundred you may need to go in for 25 or 30 thousand get your fee You know be trainable be open listen learn and once they see that then you can go up But I think so many people Joe think, you know I deserve 70 80 90 100 and maybe your wife or your spouse wants you to make that money To bring it in but you got to be realistic absolutely As a member owned not -for -profit Navy Federal puts members at the heart of every single thing that they do Low fees and great rates resources to help you crush your financial goals 24 -7 access to stateside member service representatives with award -winning customer service earnings and savings of four hundred seventy three dollars per year by banking with us an average credit card APR that's six percent lower than the industry average a Market leading regular savings rate nearly two times the industry average I'm still with Navy Federal after 33 years and not going anywhere Navy Federal is insured by NCUA NFC you reserves the right to change or just continue promotions and rates at any time without notice Dollar value shown represents the results of the 2022 Navy Federal member give back study credit card value claim based on 2022 internal average APR assigned to members Compared to the advertising industry APA average published on credit cards comm value claim based on 2022 internal regular savings rate average compared to 2022 industry regular service average rate published by FDIC gov learn more at Navy federal org In a startling description the UN food chief warned the world with words knocking on famines door He called what we're facing a perfect storm of a perfect storm He's not alone parents published that a food shortage could be coming even in the u .s.