ANNOUNCING THE 2016 TOP 40 UNDER 40 MILITARY! CivilianJOBS.com’s
The Essential Military-to-Civilian Transition Resource November - December 2016
militarytransitionnews.com
Introducing the 2016 Top 40 Under 40 Military by Heidi Lynn Russell Contributing Editor
T
enacious grit and a dogged pursuit of dreams define this year’s cadre of Top 40 Under 40 Military winners. Recognized by CivilianJobs.com and Military Transition News, the Top 40 Under 40 Military is a list of military members and veterans who have shown exceptional resolve and achieved significant career and personal milestones. “Eaton is very pleased to sponsor the 2016 Top 40 Under 40 Military. Eaton is grateful to the many veterans who are Eaton employees and offer their outstanding leadership skills, dedication and ethics to further strengthen our core values. We honor the service of all veterans,” said John Spencer, Eaton Vice President and Chief Counsel, and Eaton’s Veteran ERG Executive Sponsor. The 2016 designees come from five branches of the military, and each individual demonstrates the persistence and selflessness
one consistently finds in those populations. You could say Marine LCpl Adam Klich had to reach for his dreams with one hand tied behind his back after his original dream for a lengthy military career was dashed. He had just returned to Camp Pendleton from a noncombat deployment in which he spent about eight months between Australia, Japan, Thailand and other Asian countries. And then his world fell apart. “I simply woke up one day and did not have center vision in my right eye. It took the military doctors a few months to reach a prognosis, but from the start they told me it was not curable, meaning my vision was gone,” he says. The Marine Corps decided he was not fit to deploy. “I was placed against a medical board revision. That was the end of my military career,” Klich says. But Klich didn’t give up. He received an associate degree in 2013 from Norwalk Community College in Connecticut. “In order
to do that within two years, I had to take classes at other local community colleges and transfer the credits to Norwalk,” he says. Klich went on to receive his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering in 2015, and a master’s in technology commercialization and entrepreneurship in 2016, both from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Today, Klich is working full-time as an Innovation Advisor at RTI International in North Carolina. Army National Guard CPT Karthik Venkatraj followed his parents’ personal example to give back to the country while reaching for the American dream. Ten years after emigrating from India, both of his parents earned their graduate degrees and reminded him that “their narrative could not have happened anywhere else because of the values that define our nation,” he says. Venkatraj originally planned to pursue a science career like they did. But he changed his mind and decided to serve in the Army National Guard because of the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
Today, he has two careers – one with the Guard, the other in Colorado state politics. His military and political achievements have garnered accolades from supervisors and colleagues, and he is now a full-time law school student at the University of Colorado (Boulder). He holds leadership positions such as President of the Military Law Society, Managing Editor of the University of Colorado Law Review and, most recently, Student Bar Association President of CU Law School. He has spent months researching Veterans Trauma Courts, which culminated in his paper that won the 2016 National Law Review Law Student Writing Award and the Gamm Justice Award, an award given for a paper that promotes equity in the judicial system. And he and his fiancée became involved in American Military Family, a nonprofit focused on
stopping veteran suicide through combat veteran counselors. These are just two examples of the honorees’ back stories. Turn to page 10 to review profiles of each of the Top 40 Under 40 Military and find out how the members of the class of 2016 are impacting their service branches, companies and communities. Heidi Lynn Russell writes about employment and business issues.
Zac Brown’s Southern Ground: Where Passion and Cause Collide by Janet Farley Contributing Editor
Y
ou’re getting out of the military and want your post-uniform job to be a meaningful one. It’s understandable. After all, you are an extraordinary individual who has worked in a service-oriented career field for quite some time. It only makes sense to seek out a like-minded and equally extraordinary employer in your civilian life, don’t you think? If this describes you then your search may be over.
Let me introduce you to the toetapping, taste-bud pleasing, highly creative and truly caring world of Zac Brown’s Southern Ground. The Big and Even Bigger Picture Zac Brown, as you may already know, is a three-time Grammywinning singer, songwriter and bandleader who also happens to deeply respect military service members and their families, making it his mission to recognize their sacrifices at each of his concerts. In 2010, Zac launched Zac
Brown’s Southern Ground (SG) (www.southernground.com), a unique family of brands brimming with incredibly passionate artists brought under one roof to work together and create. Southern Grind is a metal shop that produces unique knife lines and metal works. ZB Customs designs and builds one-of-a-kind pieces for the home or business. Southern Hide designs and handcrafts quality leather goods. Shelly Brown designs and creates
custom jewelry. SG, with a little help from chef Rusty Hamlin, also cooks up some mean southern food with a south of the border flair at its Southern Ground Music and Food Festival and by way of its gourmet 18 wheeler, kitchen on wheels, Cookie. And last, but far from least, is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that all the Southern Ground businesses ardently support called Camp Southern Ground (CSG).
Talk to anyone from the Southern Ground family and you get the clear impression that it is this particular effort they feel most proud of. Camp Southern Ground supports children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), such as Autism and continues page 4
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Transition Talk: Interview 411 .............. page 3
Feature: Top 40 Under 40 Military profiles
Finance: Holiday Checklist
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......... page 17
Job Fairs: Year end Opportunities ................page 18
Career Coach’s Corner: First five commandments ............................page 19