MILCOM Founders Podcast

Join host Rod Loges and guest Robert E. Strong Jr., a former Air Force signals intelligence analyst, founder of Pretty Thai Specialty Sauces & Spices, and co-founder of Wingman Kitchens. Pretty Thai products are sold in 900+ retail locations across eight states. Robert also runs the Palmer Nicklaus Foundation in honor of his son Palmer.

Join host Rod Loges and guest Theresa Irving as she shares her path from Air Force chaplain assistant serving overseas in England and Japan to founding Epic Military Brands, a strategic consulting firm connecting veteran entrepreneurs with mission-aligned partners and high-impact nonprofits. Theresa’s story covers opening a restaurant during COVID, building Duneberry Farms around disc golf technology developed for defense applications, and the hard lessons about exit planning that shaped how she helps other veteran business owners today.

Join host Rod Loges and guest Hannah Scribner as they explore what it means to grow up in a military family with deep roots spanning generations, from the Revolutionary War to today. Hannah is a first-generation college student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln pursuing graphic design, and the 2026 Dick Loges Veteran Entrepreneur Scholarship recipient. Her father, a disabled Navy veteran, runs Scrib’s Moving & Heavy Hauling, a house-moving business that relocates buildings, trains, bridges, and other structures across the country. Hannah reflects on how her family’s military heritage shaped her work ethic, how she discovered her passion for graphic design, and what it means to be the child of a veteran business owner navigating PTSD and entrepreneurial challenges.

Join host Rod Loges and guest Christian Meyers as they explore the journey of a 13-year Air Force veteran who transitioned from combat search and rescue operations to founding Terra Arma, a company revolutionizing military-grade base layers and apparel. Christian shares his evolution from first rescue operations off the coast of San Francisco to building a company now stocked in over 200 military retail locations globally.

Join host Rod Loges and guest Yasmin George as she shares how she went from military spouse and Fortune 500 marketer to founder of Trend Lab, where she helps six- and seven-figure businesses replace chaos with systems so they can scale without burning out.

Join host Rod Loges as he sits down with Nick Bradfield, a Marine Corps infantry veteran turned fintech founder who now helps growth-stage business owners find clarity and focus as an EOS Implementer. Nick shares the real story behind building and exiting a fintech company, scaling a veteran-focused nonprofit across the country, and coaching hundreds of entrepreneurs through the same patterns he lived himself.

Join host Rod Loges and guest George Hyek as he traces the path from his early days as a police officer to founding TRINSEC 7. George explains why he walked away from responding to crime to spend a career preventing it, first as an Army intelligence officer and now as a Fractional CISO+ giving small businesses in regulated industries the kind of integrated security that used to be reserved for Fortune 500s and the government.

Join host Rod Loges and guest Pete Canalichio as he shares his journey from Naval Academy graduate and P3 Orion aircraft commander to co-founder of ThriveAlive.AI, a platform using artificial intelligence to help people find clarity on their purpose, vision, mission, and values.

Join host Rod Loges as he sits down with John Collins, a retired Army Sergeant Major who spent 28 years in special operations and turned his passion for financial education into a book for service members. John shares how a 15-minute hallway conversation changed his approach to money and why he went from teaching financial classes during deployments to writing Your Pay: Navigate Your Military Benefits and Take What’s Yours.

Join host Rod Loges and guest Michael Parks as he shares his journey from Air Force K-9 handler and retired Supervisory Federal Air Marshal to founder of Daystar Photography, a veteran-owned photography, videography, and drone services company serving clients nationwide.