Jen Amos 0:00

If you want to do more than follow orders, think outside of the box and manifest your dreams, then you've come to the right show. Welcome to the award winning podcast holding down the fort by us. But well, I'm your host, Jen, a most a Goldstar daughter, veteran, spouse, and entrepreneur. For Season Eight, we continue our wonderful partnership with the Rosie network, the highlight motivational stories of personal growth, financial awareness, and autonomy in our military community. We're also excited to showcase our partnership with blue water advisors. Well, we have a lot in store for you this season. So let's get started.

All right, everyone. Oh, my goodness, can you believe it? We are at the end of season eight, for holding on the Fords by us bet wealth in partnership with the Rosen network and blue water advisors. I gotta tell you, you know, this is the last episode. And this is actually the last recording that I'm doing for this season. And I know you're thinking in your mind, you're like, What are you talking about? Of course, it's the last recording. It's the season finale. And I'll have you know, and I talked about this extensively in our free portal, which you can join today at holding on the fourth podcast.com forward slash portal. We have a private podcast on there that's available for free called inside the fort. Clever, right? I know, I came up with it.

Yeah, I talk extensively about just the process of putting a podcast together. If you've been following the show, and especially watching us on YouTube, you'll find that my background changes quite often. And that is because for the majority of doing the show, I have been moving, I've moved quite frequently. And it's hilarious because I'm a civilian, you know, yes, I'm a Goldstar daughter, and I'm a veteran spouse, I'm also a civilian. And it's funny how sometimes, like when I think about how transient my life is, how reflective it is of my childhood, having been a military kid, nonetheless, this location I'm currently at right now. And I'm still trying to figure out like recording and my background and stuff. The only reason why I'm positioned like this, if you're watching on YouTube is because this is the only angle I could find where there's minimal glare in my glasses. So y'all are welcome. You could see my face. And so yeah, that's why I'm holding my microphone over here while also trying to show you guys my eye contact. But yeah, it's very meaningful to have arrived to this point to get to the season finale, these last two seasons, season seven and season eight have really been a change, it's been a shift in the way that I have approached holding on the forts. In the past, I used to, let's say, for example, I would schedule a guest, interview a guest, do the post production, publish it, market it, you know, send out a newsletter, do it all within like one to three week turnaround. And it was a lot, it was a lot to do everything all at once. And I know that some content creators prefer doing that. I have just found that in time, you know, 200 plus episodes later, that it just was a lot for me to do that. And so I've learned and like I said, I talk about this extensively in our private podcast inside the fort wood you can join for free today at holding down the fort podcast.com Ford slash portal, I talk extensively about what it means to be a content creator. And you know, to kind of break down that fourth wall for all of you and see that being able to produce a podcast comes in phases, you know, and so it's been quite a journey. And I have just been so grateful that this season, season eight was a lot smoother than season seven was because season seven, it was all about establishing a new tone, a new message, a new mission for the show, and this season was kind of like a copy and paste from last year. Speaking of which, I do want to take this opportunity to thank the rose network you know, Stephanie Brown and the whole team there Tricia and Ken and Yvette and everyone that I've been communicating with to rally the services co graduates to be a guest on the show. You know, in the past, we would interview people based off of word of mouth or recommendations, or you know, just my own search or trying to find people for the show. And partnering up with the Rosie network has been such a game changer because the Rosie network does just such an incredible job vetting their guests, making sure that they have a military affiliation to be able to go through the service, the CEO program, and so it's just been great to trust the rose network and trust their vetted members to be on the show. and share their story share their story of what it means for them to be military connected and starting a business. You know, when you think about the military, it's commonly known that it's a culture of following orders, you know, there's systems, there's processes, there's standard operating procedures to being in the military. And entrepreneurship is completely opposite of that, you know, I mean, it depends, obviously, it depends, like, if you get a franchise or, you know, you get hired into a big business or whatever. But, you know, for everyone who decides to start a business from scratch, which is what a lot of these cohort members in the services you owe program have done. It's just completely completely opposite to what it means to be in the military. And so it's so great that a nonprofit, such as the Rosi network really has a tried and true program to, you know, help these military entrepreneurs, like start off on the right foot, you know, and I actually, I've been fortunate to a shout out to Melissa Parnell. She was a previous guest in this season, and she had invited me to speak about digital marketing to a service to call her program a couple of weeks ago, and to be able to, you know, see what these members have to go through and their persistence, their grit, their commitment to completing the program, because I was talking with one of the cohort members who happens to be a friend of mine, and a shout out to Kim Kim Nuun. And she mentioned that, you know, within the first two weeks of being a part of the cohort program, a lot of the members had already dropped off, because I think they didn't understand that it would require a lot of bandwidth on their end to be able to be a part of this program. And so for everyone that sticks around, you know, it's admirable, it's admirable to shift your mindset and pursue something new, such as entrepreneurship. So it's just been such a pleasure to have dedicated, you know, half of the season to just interviewing these budding to seasoned to, you know, advanced entrepreneurs, and I'm just so grateful to be part of it, and hearing their stories, living vicariously through their stories inspires me, you know, as an entrepreneur who has been self employed for 14 years now, it's just nice to know that I'm not alone in the hustle. And also on the flip side, I do want to give a shout out to Mike Wallace with blue water advisors. You know, they are a organization that focuses on our military, senior ranking officers in finding employment and post military, Mike Wallace likes to describe it as career progression. You know, rather than calling it military retirement or military transition, he calls it career progression. And I really liked that phrase, I really liked that reframe so that our military retirees don't look at it as starting over, but more so as progressing in their careers, progressing in life and knowing that there is a way to translate your skills in the military to something in the civilian workplace, and or translating it in a way to pursue something different, you know, and knowing how to do that and having the support. One thing I really appreciate about the Rosen network and Bluewater advisors, what they both have in common is what the military what that military culture is all about, which is doing things together doing things as a unit, you know, the Rosen network, and Bluewater advisors are huge support systems for anyone that's interested in pursuing entrepreneurship or, you know, looking for that career progression in post military life. So it's just been an absolute honor. You know, Mike Wallace has been a great brand partner here at US vet wealth. And I'm just so grateful that he was more than accepting for me to take all the replays all the live show replays that he had done with my husband, Scott, and showcase it here on hold down the fort by you as well. So I hope that, you know, in this whole experience, anyone who watches or has listened to the show got what they were looking for, you know, whether it's, you know, peering into the life of an entrepreneur, or whether it's getting the tips and tricks you need for your career progression, you know, for your new opportunities of employment in post military life, it's been an absolute pleasure showcasing everyone, you know, and that's definitely one thing that I personally have learned in this journey. When I first started holding on the forts. I thought that everyone wanted to be an entrepreneur, I thought everyone wanted to be an entrepreneur, everyone wanted to dictate their schedule, everyone wanted to design their life. And what I had planned to find is that you can do that in entrepreneurship. And you can do that in employment, the common thread between both of them is, you know, pursuing it with intention. And I think that's the key here when it comes to military retirement or post military life or even while you're an active duty is, are you living your life with purpose and intention, you know, enjoy? And if not, if you don't know how, I hope that you got at least one golden nugget, one piece of advice, one piece of inspiration from at least one person in this recent season, I've learned that there's nothing entrepreneurship or employment, neither one is better or worse than the other. It's just a preference. It's just a preference on how you want to generate income and sustainable income, you know, for you and your family. And also, they're not separate you can and do them you can do one and the other, you can work full time and have a business on the side, you can do both. It's very possible. And so I think at the end of the day, it just comes down to, you know, hopefully you listen to enough stories to cherry pick and decide how you want to be able to, you know, live your life with intention, you know, you want to live your life in a way that allows you to, you know, think outside of the box, do more than follow orders, and manifest your dreams, whatever that looks like for you. So once again, thank you to the Rosie network and blue water advisors for this partnership this season. And also I want to give a shout out to my husband, Scott, my business partner and my co host for the episodes that I was taking a break from especially the ones where he was co hosting with Mike Wallace. Just thank you. Thank you, I love you. Love it too corny. And yes, it's like, you know, like I've been stressing throughout the season. And I hope that this has been impressed upon you that when it comes to pursuing anything, it takes a village it takes support, it takes community, you know, it's very rare for anyone to succeed by themselves. And I hope that you got the inspiration here the inspiration and the encouragement and the hope and the excitement, to want to do life with others to want to continue to do life with others in post military life, whether it's you know, getting the support, you need to start a business and or you know, the support, you need to find your next employment, your next career progression. All right. Well, that being said, let me go ahead and to talk about what's going on and what to expect and the offseason here. So first announcement, first big question is, is holding on the Fords coming back for another season? And the answer is yes. Yes, we are coming back. We will be back in the fall season. So I believe that will be mid September of 2024. So be on the lookout Yes, we are continuing our partnership with the Rosi network. By the time this final episode comes out, I may have already reached out to graduates from the Rosi networks service to see oh program, I may have started the interview process at the time that this recording gets published. And we will continue to showcase our partnership us bet well, its partnership with blue water advisors and Mike Wallace. And for the next season, I'm excited to also showcase another live show that my husband does. And if you want to get a hint at what that other live show is this other live show, we'll be featuring one of our colleagues here at US bet wealth. If you want to get a hint at that now, I highly encourage you to check out our YouTube channel. That's the username for our YouTube channel is at U S v w TV, that's U S v w as in US bet wealth TV, you can go ahead and search that username on YouTube. And you will get a hint as to if you look in the live shows section of our YouTube channel. You'll get a you'll get a preview of who we will be showcasing who works with us at us but wealth in the fall season. So yes, we have more people to feature more people to share with all of you. And I'm excited. I'm excited. And I hope you are too especially if you really enjoyed the season and you are hungry for more. In the meantime, while we're in the offseason and you still want to stay in touch or you still want to know what's going on in the offseason or you still want additional content. Well first and foremost, I highly encourage that you join our free portal you can subscribe to our free private podcast inside the Fords by simply joining and becoming a member at holding on the Ford podcast.com Ford slash portal. Really excited for this portal. There's a ton of content in there a ton of commentary from me about you know my journey as entrepreneur and as a podcaster and might even provide a lot of bonus content that may be helpful for you especially if you are following a similar path as me as a content creator as a podcaster as an entrepreneur all for free by simply joining hold down the Ford podcast.com Ford slash portal. If you prefer to do something a little more less committal, which Hey, I'm here to meet you where you're at. One I already thank you for subscribing to the podcast. If you want to continue to stay plugged in. You can also check us out on social media. We're pretty much on every social media you can think of YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tik Tok any of those platforms that you prefer, feel free to subscribe, you can you know find our links in on our website holding on the Ford podcast.com. If you just want to stay in touch and you want to see bonus content, you want to see content in the offseason. Any of those platforms I highly encourage you to subscribe to if you want to know what's going on. Maybe once a month, we do have a newsletter as well. The link is available in the show notes of this episode or by visiting holding on the Ford podcast.com. And yeah, that's pretty much it, y'all. I mean, I highly, highly encourage you if you want to engage with me and talk with me directly. The easiest way to get a hold of me is through our portal which again is holding on the Ford podcast.com Ford slash portal. I am on there almost every day

and our portal is housed under us but while it's online portal military retirement blueprint. So not only will you be getting access to our private podcast show inside the forts, but you will also get access to all the free resources that US vet wealth has to offer, especially for military retirees that are looking for alternative solutions in the private marketplace for military benefits, such as Survivor Benefit Plan and the Thrift Savings Plan. And that's just a few of the things that we like to talk about in our portal. Yeah. And that's kind of it y'all though. Those are the updates, you know, very often, every now and then every now and then people ask me, Jen, you have such a great show. What can I do to show you my gratitude? Well, other than the call to actions I have already listed, such as joining our portal at holding on the four podcast.com forward slash portal, or subscribing to any of our social media accounts. You know, we're on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Tik Tok, or subscribe to our newsletter, or, you know, checkout R Us but well, you did so many call to actions, there's so many telling you. But if you're still like, Okay, I want to do more, though, what can I do? Well, first and foremost, thank you. Secondly, you know, I think the two biggest things that I would ask for is just share the podcast. Like, if you are inspired by any stories that you heard in this season, share it, you know, there could be someone in the military community that you could be helping that you could be empowering, that you can change your life just by one of these interviews. And lastly, if you really, really, really want to express gratitude, again, if you do every all the above and or, I would love for you to leave a review for the show, you can leave a five star rating review on Apple podcasts on pod chaser and or my LinkedIn profile, you can find me on LinkedIn and leave a review there, I do all of this in my private office, I do all of this solo, like I mean, not solo, but I do all this without an audience. And so the greatest compliment I can get, the greatest feedback I can get is a review from you, or even an email, you know, however, however you see fit, but nonetheless, I see the downloads on our podcast. And I just got to say thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for subscribing. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for all the things. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you to the Rosen network to Blue Water advisors to my husband to you the listener. Thank you, thank you. I'm eternally grateful. It's been an absolute pleasure having hosted the show for 200 Plus episodes now. And here's to the next 200 All right, y'all. Thanks for listening. I hope you all have a great summer. It is hot here. It's over 80 degrees right now I have my window open. I have my you know, my AC my little portable AC in my face right now. And it's hot. So I'm excited to take the summer off. But once again, you know if you want to stay in touch, you know how to do that. Just rewind a couple of minutes and you'll find out why so Alright, thanks so much, y'all. That's it. I'm done. I'm done. There's not even any post commentary that this is the final commentary of season eight. So take care. Have a happy summer. Have a good summer and I'll see you in the fall season. Bye for now.

Hey, this is your host, John Amos. Thanks again for listening to today's episode of holding down the fort by us fat wealth visit holding down the fort podcast.com To access the full show notes of this episode, including resources mentioned and bonus content. Once again that's holding down the fort podcast.com Lastly, stay after this outro music for something a little extra thanks again and chat soon. Bye for now.

Oh hey everyone. I guess you listened to this episode all the way through. And you heard my outro that there might be some bonus content after the outro music. Well, here it is. And it's actually quite anticlimactic. Because all I'm going to tell you is if you want to stay in touch in the offseason, I highly encourage you to join our portal. It's free, just go to a holding on the four podcast.com Ford slash portal. And from there, you can subscribe to our free private podcast inside the forts. And hey, you might get some inside scoop as to what else will be happening for the next season in fall of 2024 such as so I haven't said this yet. Such as the potential of bringing back past guests from the original first 200 episodes that may or may not happen but you will only know when you join home number four podcast.com forward slash port One of the things I may or may not be really interested in doing is checking in with past guest and seeing how they've been doing so stay tuned for that once again holding on to for podcast.com forward slash portal. Thanks for listening. Thanks for watching, and have a great summer. Bye for now