Special Edition: MCON Gameday

Defense Gameday went out to MCON to celebrate military culture and veterans supporting our nation's collective and individual resilience

Team,

We’re featuring a different “valley” this week.

Over the last few years, I’ve gotten to know many veterans at the their moment of maximum uncertainty: career transition.

The “four walls” of the uniform, orders, and military hierarchy provide comfort, certainty, and stability.

As they fade away, often a sense of meaning and safety goes with them.

We traveled out to MCON, Waco Hoover’s celebration of military culture, to learn more about the veterans serving this crucial community. Over two days, we had over two dozen conversations with incredible entrepreneurs supporting finance, fitness, national defense, mental health, economic opportunity … and a whole lot more.

This is a different kind of valley, but as I reflected on whether or not to share with the Crossing the Valley community, I believe that sometimes we are all guilty of occasionally allowing the tech rather than the human to take center stage.

Each of these individuals is an incredible human with many more stories to tell than we captured in 15 minutes. I hope you’ll feel free to reach out to any of them (or to me, if I can help connect you).

And if this isn’t for you, don’t worry, we’ll be back with our regular programming soon.

Thanks for taking the time to check this out.

Defense Gameday Presents: MCON Gameday

Tony Teraivanen: Tony is a Navy veteran, CEO, TEDx Speaker, Nonprofit Executive of the Year, Veteran of the Year, SD500 Honoree, Professor, and Community Servant. He founded the “Support the Enlisted Project”, or STEP to improve financial wellness, combat food insecurity, and otherwise support Veterans, and their families. The program has an eye-popping 90% long-term success rate.

Emma Przybyslawski (CTV alum!): An Air Force veteran turned businessperson, Emma went from AFSOC to a Managing Director at Gartner, to VP of Space and Defense at Govini, and today, leads Strike Solutions to deliver exceptional mission outcomes to the force.

Sally Roberts: A State Department sports diplomat, entrepreneur, Army vet, and former elite athlete, Sally is dedicated to advancing women’s wrestling and strengthening opportunities for the next generation. As the CEO of Wrestle Like A Girl (WLAG), she has played a pivotal role in securing NCAA Championship status for women’s wrestling, ensuring that female athletes have the same avenues for success at the highest levels.

Carl Governale: After 15+ years as a Naval Special Warfare Officer, as well as multiple graduate degrees and post-graduate fellowships, Carl is leading the fight to get special operators the mental health tools that build resilience, strength, and show them a path to a better future. As an Account Exec at Chimney Trail Health, Carl provides actionable, evidence-based mental health and cognitive defense for elite performers in high-pressure environments.

Eduardo Ortiz: From software engineer to product strategist to entrepreneur, Eduardo is obsessed with removing friction that prevents people from accessing critical services. Following two tours of duty with the United States Marine Corps and several civilian agency stints, Eduardo became Executive Creative Director of the United States Digital Service. He founded Coforma and built a 150+ person team to build technology that serves all people.

For more on MCON: https://mcon.live/

You can subscribe to Defense Gameday here: https://www.youtube.com/@DefenseGameday