Passion Struck with John R. Miles - Hugh Campbell On The Key to Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur EP 1

Episode Date: February 16, 2021

Ever wondered how successful business leaders constantly re-invent themselves? And, how they emerge even stronger after every crisis? Today's episode will discuss just that and the key to becoming a successful entrepreneur.  In today’s show, we have Hugh Campbell, a five-time serial entrepreneur and founder, AC4S Technologies, who shares his wisdom on growth, innovation, and integrity. You will learn how Hugh went from being a West Point graduate to successfully running a half-a-billion-dollar business. After graduating from Military Academy at West Point, Hugh worked at a data-communications company, Intermedia Communications, for a bit. He soon found VC backing and ventured out on his own with Accelacom, Inc. – a high-speed internet company. This business really took off, and ironically, Hugh became a victim of his own success. Eager to cash out, the VCs sold off the business in bits and pieces, and Hugh was forced to reinvent himself yet again.  Wanting great autonomy after this bittersweet experience, Hugh founded the cloud-solution company AC4S technologies. In this segment of the show, you will learn the importance of looking forward, taking calculated risks, and surrounding yourself with trusted advisors. Particularly, Hugh talks about the watershed moment in his career after which AC4S Technologies really took off. We also have a heartfelt discussion on the importance of integrity. Regarding the recent cheating scandal at West Point, both Hugh and John share their thoughts on conducting your personal and professional life with the utmost integrity.  As the CEO of the Council of Tampa Bay, Hugh also shares how he is helping create a safe space for CEOs to share their challenges and struggles with their like-minded counterparts.  Towards the end, we have some excellent advice for young people on the cusp of their professional life. Enjoy! What You Will Learn In This Show The importance of conducting yourself with the utmost integrity How to face challenges head-on and constantly reinvent yourself The importance of taking calculated risks for catapulting ahead of the competition How great communication can help you achieve a good work-life balance And so much more… Questions That I Ask In This Show How did you go from attending West Point to building a half-a-billion-dollar company? How has the honor code affected you professionally? What are your thoughts on the recent cheating scandal at West Point? What are some of the biggest fears that you have had to overcome as you evolved yourself again and again?  What are some words of wisdom that you will give to your 25-year-old self? What is the importance of patience? How do you achieve a good work-life balance? Are there any red flag mechanisms that are helping you face your current reality? What advice would you give veterans who are transitioning out and entering civilian life? Resources AC4S Technologies CEO Council of Tampa Bay Follow John R. Miles Here: Website - https://passionstruck.com/ ​Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passion_struck_life ​ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Johnrmiles.c0m ​ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Milesjohnr ​ Medium: https://medium.com/@JohnRMiles John's Website: https://johnrmiles.com/ - John's New eBook - The Passion Struck Framework https://passionstruck.com/coaching/  

I think the most important part is communicating, right? So, you know, if you've got a period of time where you know what's gonna be tough, you've got a lot on your plate, you know, you gotta communicate that to those around you. So that, you know, they know that, you know, we're sacrificing now so that it will be better later. And then you have to be disciplined in knowing when you got to kind of shift the

focus, right? Welcome to the PassionStruck podcast. My name is John Miles, a former combat veteran and multi-industry CEO, turned entrepreneur and human performance expert. Each week we showcase an inspirational person and message that helps you unlock your hidden potential and unleash your creativity and leadership abilities. Thank you for spending time with me today and let's get igniting. Thank you for joining me today on the Passion Strike Podcast. Secretary of Defense, General Lloyd Austin III said,

when the situation changes so that the facts are no longer valid or the assumptions that you made are no longer appropriate. And I think you have to go back and revisit your plan. And these simple words are a great introduction for guests today. My friend and Tampa Bay entrepreneur and executive you can't well. In our discussion today, you will go through his life as a West Point cadet, his transition into becoming an Army officer, and then joining the civilian world. And how, after spending several years in industry, he decided to reinvent himself and his career,

and became a multiple entrepreneur with several successful exits. I think you have so much to look forward to today and I am thrilled to have you on the show. But let's learn a little bit more about you. You is a veteran, a serial entrepreneur, and is very proud to be a senior member of the Tampa Bay Business Community. He is currently the president of AC4S Technologies of Business Support Technology Organization. the chairman of the board of the CEO Council of Tampa Bay.

Hi, I'm thrilled today to have Hugh Campbell as my guest on the Passion Struck podcast. Thank you much for joining the show, Hugh. Your background is so impressive from graduating from West Point to now becoming a five-time serial entrepreneur. Welcome to the show. John, thanks so much for having me. We really appreciate you extending the invitation. Well, thank you again for being here. You, the purpose of our show is to help others unlock their hidden potential at a night, their passion journeys. I wanted to ask you to tell your story and how you went from attending West Point to becoming a serial entrepreneur and building a company which is close to generating a half a billion dollars in revenue over the past 15 plus years. Wow. it's a lot of stuff in there, obviously.

So the military, obviously graduating from West Point, you go into the army for a few years, which I really enjoyed, learned a lot, traveled many places, did many things, but ultimately led me here to the Tampa Bay area. But I thought that there might be something beyond the military, so I really fell in love with Tampa. So I decided to exit the military and stay in this region. And that was just, you know, a great, great thing for me. Actually went into the corporate environment, worked in a great, great company called InterMedia

Communications. Many folks have been around for many years. I might remember that the organization was about a billion dollar company doing all kinds of great things in the telecommunication field. doing all kinds of great things in the telecommunication field. But ultimately, I was presented with an opportunity to go do a start-up with some folks from that organization. I got introduced some venture capitalists at a New York City who really had the idea for the company. But they were money people and they ultimately needed operators. And so me and a couple of other folks became the leadership team for that idea and that concept. And enough we went. Well, that's great. And since then that was your first one. And since then you've been involved in multiple others.

How did you go from that one who igniting your passion to start doing the next one? That's a great question. So when we started our first company, we had, you know, as I say, other people's money. So the venture capitalists were great in that we got the opportunity to learn a lot. And certainly they were driven by return on investment and all those things that you hear about. But ultimately they decided that we were going to sell that company. We ended up selling it off actually in pieces and parts quite honestly. And when we finished that, I knew that I could not go back into the corporate environment, I had that taste. And you know, we knew

we could do it. We could take an idea from concept to reality and generating revenue and hiring employees and doing this and all those things. So that experience gave us the confidence and really the passion, as you would say, to do it again. So I was looking around trying to figure out what the next thing I was going to start. And I was approached by a couple of different people who knew that I was in the market, so to speak, to try to figure out what I was going to do next. And they had this idea for another company. And this was post 9-11.

And it was going back in and helping our military. Oh, no, I'm kidding. And initially, I was not very enthusiastic about that, quite honestly, because I was having a blast, making good money and getting the exposure to all those new and wonderful things and venture capital and all those things. And I really wasn't too enthusiastic about going back into that military paradigm, the military industrial complex. But they kept after me. And I finally saw the light

and I said, Hey, you know, we should, we should give the world. And so I called everybody and said, Hey, let's get together at least have a meeting and see what might be possible. And that meeting was at the West Shore. I think it was the Wyndham Grand or something it was called at that point. Yeah. We sat in the lobby bar and started churning out how we might make a go in the federal sector.

And as I said, a way we went. Well, that's great. Well, since you brought up, you know, the federal sector, you know, recently we've heard some news about your alma mater and the cheating scandal that's been going on. And like, this is a topic I understand very well, as I was on the brigade honor staff during the largest cheating scandal, the double-E scandal, and Naval Academy history. So from your perspective, what do you think of the situation as a graduate?

And second part, how has the honor code impacted your life since then, and how it served as a backdrop for you? Well, so first off, anything that tarnishes the image and all that, because this is really high expectations for all of the service academies, right? You know, the service academies were built to bring

the nation's best and brightest to help solve the toughest problems that our countries had. Sometimes that's in conflict and war. But many other times it's all of the various issues that face our country that, you know, the leaders that graduate from all of the service academies are expected to go solve and to serve, to continue to serve. So anything that tarnishes that image is just bad, right? These things happen on occasion. You know, people are involved, right? It's not right. Nothing's perfect.

So it's obviously very disappointing, but they'll get past it. They'll get over it, and I'm sure the leadership will take the appropriate actions and hold those people accountable. And how has, having that honor code as something that was ingrained in both of us impacted, how has that impacted you sense then and professionally? So, you know, every organization that I have led, you know, you got to step the tone. And as the person that's out front leading the charge on whatever it is that you're involved in, you set the tone, you set the culture. We, you know, and start up companies,

and the entrepreneurial world, and those types of communities, we talk about culture. And, you know, it wasn't very not too long ago. The company I'm running now, one of my folks suggested that we, we not tell a customer a piece of information that would have been to their benefit. And, you know, I didn't make a big deal out of it, but, you know, and, you know, we had several new people on board. And, and, but I saw

the opportunity to say once again, that's not how we operate. You know, we look after our customers, we're open and honest with our customers. And you know, sometimes that's to their benefit and sometimes that's to our benefit. So that's just not how we roll. And I don't want to be a part of any organization that is ever questioned

about its integrity. You know, my dad was a Methodist minister, right? And, you know, we grew up in a household where you had better be dead to not go to church on Sundays, right? So, and the West Point duty honor country, a cadet will not lie to you to steal, tolerate those who do. It's just really an extension of how we were raised. And whenever organization I'm running and a part of, we're gonna do the right thing. And we're gonna be open, we're gonna be honest the right thing. And we're going to be open, we're going to be honest.

And sometimes that's sticky, sometimes it's hard, but that's the best thing. You know, in fact, you know, you know, we talked about the harder right instead of the easier wrong, doing the right thing when nobody's looking. Right. That's what we talk about, right? So that's just how we roll. Okay, well thank you. Speaking about how you roll, I recently saw a couple pictures of you on what looked to be doing gymnastics on a tramp and see. And I think it had something to do with you being the chairman of the board of the CEO, Council of Tampa

Bay, and then having a fun excursion. But can you tell me about the excursion and then tell me a little bit about that organization? Sure, sure, sure. So those pictures were, the CEO Council of Tampa Bay, we do lots of different things. And I like to call it the sanctuary for CEOs. So, you've heard the term, it's lonely at the top and all those things. Well, it doesn't have to be.

And we look out after leaders. And we look out after them from a professional perspective, and also from a personal perspective too. And so the pictures that you saw was one of our travel clubs. And we took a bunch of folks down to, over to the east coast of Florida and just had a great weekend with family, friends. In that particular instance, a bunch of us got to do some trampoline, excuse me, some trapeze work that turned out to be pretty fun. So for 2021, I'm the current chairman of the board for the CEO council. And really that's been a labor of love. I absolutely love the organization. You know, I'm not, I'm not a guy that, you know, you get to a certain point, you forget where you came from, you forget all your friends.

But I will say that many of my friends over the last 10 years or so have come from the CEO council. Because, you know, it's where you go to ask questions, hey, am I going down the right path? Is my thought processed? The right thing, validation of your concept, your ideas, because no matter what you're going through and whatever organization you're leading, somebody in the CEO council has been through that. If you're trying to raise capital, you have problems with your CFO, lawsuits, selling, increasing sales, revenues,

all of those issues. Somebody's been through it. We had an issue with some folks with franchising. And that's, oh, well, if you're thinking about franchising, you should go talk to this guy because they franchise and they grew from three locations to 50 locations. You know, so there's plenty of those examples. And I'm just a tickled pink that my peers

and contemporaries would afford me the opportunity to lead the organization. Yeah, I think for a, whether you're an entrepreneur or you know, you're someone who wants to you know, get on the track of having a different mindset, you know, having advisors in your life, I've found that to be incredibly important in helping you with the accountability journey as well. So how, if you're an entrepreneur, what are other mechanisms that you used in the past before you had this council to have that type of camaraderie or accountability ecosystem. Yeah, so, you know, if you're an entrepreneur or, you know, starting out, you always want to find those advisors.

And sometimes it's a board of advisors, sometimes it's more formal, it's a board of directors. I've had a couple of different boards over the years serve as both advisory and both as boarder directors. And that is very important because it can, you know, from a personal and professional perspective as the leader of the organization, just like you said, you got to get somebody to hold you accountable, right? Ask you the questions, the tough questions. Have you thought about this? Have you thought about that? How are you executing on plan A, plan B, whatever it is that you're working on?

Why didn't you get that accomplished? What was the impediment to getting that accomplished? What are you gonna change? What are you gonna do differently? So it's very important to assemble that team around you to hold you accountable. And the other thing for advisors and border directors, those folks, if you choose the right people,

we're passionate about whatever it is you're trying to get done, they can help you and open doors for you and get you that meeting that you might not necessarily get. Introduce you to capital and introduce you to potential customers. If you can do in acquisitions, you know, hey, you know, there's a company over here that you might want to look at merging and acquiring whatever, all of those things. So it's very important to get that team around

you. And I've had board of advisors and I've had board of directors and various companies. Okay, well, that's, you know, it's great advice. And it's very important that the entrepreneur, you know, or that person who's wanting to change their life, listens to it, takes it to heart, because I've seen situations where, you know, I've tried to work with people as well. And, you know, they, you think they're hearing you, but they don't really do anything with the guidance.

So that can be, you know, I found it to be frustrating in the past. And, you that can be, you know, I found it to be frustrating in the past. And, you know, often, you know, I have this one CEO, I tried to guide time and time again, because he had this huge concept he was trying to implement. And I kept telling him, how do you know there's a customer for that? And, you know, you need to start and micro bits and test those, because what you think maybe the product might not be the product they're interested in. And in his case, it actually took him going to the Silicon Valley and having five VCs tell him the same thing before he came back and then,

you know, if he came his idea, but sure you've been in that situation before. Yeah, well, if you're providing advice and counsel, and they don't adhere to it, it's kind of frustrating, but ultimately they don't learn. You know, so one of the things I saw by knowing you and looking at your background is over the course of your time since West Point, you've had to reinvent yourself many times. And I think that's happening more and more to people now.

And during that time, what are some of the biggest fears you had to overcome to go from where you were to where you are now. Well, you know, that's a great question. I think, you know, certainly, you know, 2020 and 2021 have been challenging for the entire planet. And it's forced people to, you know, seriously reassess what they're doing.

I think the biggest thing is, you know, overcoming your fear, right? I was on a call not too long ago. One of the things that we were talking about was last year when the pandemic started, lots of folks were figuring out how to hang on to the revenue they had. And the business model, how to hang on to the revenue they had. And the business model, they had. And that's fine, that's probably okay, but really what you should be doing and should have done is looking at the new opportunities that presented themselves.

You know, there's an age-old, in every crisis, there's opportunity. And you know, if you're stuck looking in the rearview mirror on what you once had from a business model perspective, a customer perspective, whatever, revenue, if you're stuck looking at a rearview mirror, you're not looking forward. And if you're the leader of the organization, you need to be thinking about what's next, not what happened before. Spilling out your job. I mean, that's a very good point. Yeah, because I've been with many organizations, I'll take one here locally, handling a marketing where for so many years,

they relied on the revenue that came from their in-store printer devices when the market was shifting underneath them. And you take that scenario and had they started to alter their path years before they could have continued to demand that leadership position they had. But unfortunately for them, Kippon's Inc and then other providers came in and they have undercut their business model. Absolutely. And there's just plenty of examples of folks

that looking in the rearview mirror as opposed to what's coming. I mean, just tons of examples. I mean, from Eastman code act to Blockbuster to the newspaper industry, right? I mean, so there's just tons and tons of examples. And it used to be that, hey, you better watch out because there's some kid and Silicon Valley that's going to change your business model. Well, it wasn't a kid in Silicon Valley, it was a pathogen, right? It was virus that changed so many business models.

I don't know what the answer is, but the cruising district, they should be asking themselves, what are they doing? They're going to do differently. How can they change their business model given everything that's happened? Their whole thing was, we're going to spend a billion dollars on a brand new ship, right? And we're going to stuff as many people on this ship as, you know, 5,000, 6,000 people on this ship and, you know, try to make as much money as we can on one cruise. You know, what does that look like in 2021 and 2022, right? You know, so So again, there's plenty of examples. Don't be afraid of it. Face the music. Step up, do the light and figure out what's next.

Yeah, on those lines, I've been seeing what I call as a growing rise of comfort and the idea of apathy. And I call them, you know, you were talking about a pathogen. I call these the contagions of the human mind and the contagion of the human spirit. And they're both enemies of passion. Yet we have more and more people embracing comfort and apathy rather than the hardships of pursuing a great life, a passionate life, a purpose of driven life.

And I'm especially seeing it, you know, kind of with the next generations. And, you know, I think some of it has to do with the distracted economy. But the other thing I'm seeing, and, you know, I'd like to ask your opinion on it, is I'm just not seeing people show up the way they used to, whether that's showing up for their friends, showing up for work, showing up for their family. Is this something you have seen and what are your thoughts on it? Well, I think that certainly there's some risk,

I guess you could say with those next generations. But I also talk to quite a few folks and, and you know, we were just talking about the service academies a minute ago. You know, there are plenty of kids, youngsters that still sign up, raise their hand, and decide to put their country before themselves and take the oath. So, you know, I hear lots of folks in leadership positions, you know, concerned about what

the next generation is going to be like. I think, you know think it's going to be different, obviously. It's not going to be the same as it has been, but they'll be just fine. They'll be just fine. It's incumbent upon us to find those diamonds and the rough and grow them, mentor them, and show them the path. And you know, that's really our challenge, right? We got to go out and find those kids. They exist. They're out there. They just need to be motivated. They need to be inspired. They need to be passionate. And we can expose them to those things and we can show them the path. And I think we'll be okay.

expose them to those things and we can show them the path. And I think we'll be okay. Well, speaking of those kids, I mean, you and I have youngsters growing up, you know, I now have a 22 year old who has now embarked on his first job, but on that same lines, you know, if you could talk to your 24, 25 year old self, what is the words of wisdom you would give yourself? Oh, wow. My 24, 25 year old self. Don't be afraid of change. Nothing stays the same. Go out and attack and be passionate about that next thing.

You know, when I was in my 20s, I was still in the military, wondering if I was going to make a career out of it through 20 years and all of those things. And I was having a blast, you know, just jumping out of airplanes, I was doing all kinds of crazy things, classifying operations, kinds of crazy things, classifying operations, all those things. It was fun, it was really fun.

But, you know, I can also say now that, you know, staying in Tampa has been the best thing that ever could have happened for me. And, you know, Tampa has been the Tampa Bay region has just been the most wonderful thing for me personally. And there was some dark periods and not knowing what's going to happen. You know, you know, when I first got out of the military, was I going to the right company, you know, could I make that transition?

You know, going from corporate to being an entrepreneur, going from having, you know, venture capital backing to doing it yourself with your own money, that's scary, right? Using your own money to bring a concept to reality. But don't be afraid of it. That's what I would probably tell my 24 or 25-year-old self. Things are going to change. Don't be afraid of it.

And just like I always say, attack the problem. Those are those are words to live by. You know, I, obviously we're doing this podcast and I like to listen to a lot of different podcasts. I try to pick up, you know, Gary Vee at least a couple times a month. And one of the things he religiously has talked about year after year after year is the topic of patience. And so often how there's this rush to, you know, you see the folks from Airbnb or you see the folks, you know, what bird did initially. And there's this urgency to try to get from point eight to point B so quickly when

there's time is on your side. What's your thoughts on patients and how have you kept your focus over the years? I'm probably the last guy on the planet that should be talking about patients. That's not one of my virtues. But I will tell you that there's been lots of folks with the right idea and the question is timing, right? Does the timing work for X, Y, and Z? You know, if you go back in the telecom industry, there was a, I can't remember the CEO's name, he was leading AT&T and he thought that you should put internet, cable TV, and the phone all together in a bundle and serve that to the consumer and spend billions and billions of dollars or something that the companies that could deliver that. But he was like five or ten years too early.

And it turned out to be exactly the right thing, probably ten years down the road. So there are some value in patients and all those things. Timing is very important, but, you know, there's not much more I can say on that because I'm not a very patient guy. Did you know that Forbes Magazine recently cited that over 70% of individuals who did personal development courses, masterminds or one-on-one coaching, benefited from improved work performance, relationships, and more effective communication skills. Here at PassionStruck, we are obsessed with self-development, coaching, and mentorship.

That is why we've created a free resource to help you unlock your hidden potential, because people doing great things in business and life are just like you, they have just gotten some coaching along the way. And we have got you covered so you can too. Let us show you the systems and frameworks that we teach growth-minded individuals to help them to unlock their purpose and live and build a passion-struck life that gets predictable results and gives you the freedom that you actually want. Go to passionstruck.com slash coaching right now to get started. Well, out of curiosity, are there any things that you're reading now or

topics that you've been focusing on as we come to the tail end of 2020 and you know sending our sights on the next year. Where are you firing, finding your inspiration these days? Well, quite honestly, John, I will tell you that I am always a student of leadership. It just comes from how I was raised and certainly the military academy, West Point's really, really big on leadership. We study leadership.

And I think that in the uncertain times that we're in, and all that we've been through, really, not only us, but around the little around the world, it really boils down to leadership. It really boils down to leadership. And I don't care if it's being a leader in the community, being a leader of your company, being a leader at your church, whatever it is, strong, positive leadership is the thing that can make a world of difference. And I'm always a student of it.

I think, you know, certainly the pandemic last year and how it's playing its outfout now requires a leadership. And, you know, because in the final analysis, you know, and uncertain times people look for wrong, positive leaders. No, absolutely. I couldn't agree with you more. Well, one thing, you know, many entrepreneurs or, you know, I would say growth shifted individuals. Sometimes feel like they can't alter the path that they're on.

So, you know, they're in a comfortable position. They have family to support, etc. You know, you and I both have kids and expectations, etc. What's your advice on how do you and balance? How do you put a balance to that? You know, and how do you put enough time into work, but also, you know, spend the time with your son and, you know, friends, etc. Oh yeah. And you know, those ebbs and flows, I will tell you, I think the most important part is communicating, right?

So, if you've got a period of time where you know what's going to be tough, you've got a lot on your plate. You know, you get to communicate that to those around you so that you know, they know that, you know, we're sacrificing now so that it will be better later. And then you have to be disciplined. And then you have to be disciplined. You gotta be disciplined in knowing when you gotta kind of shift the focus, right? You can work yourself to death. Absolutely. You can work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work.

But you know, there comes a point where you gotta spend time with the family, spend time with your friends and invest your time in those relationships and all those things that will ultimately reap its own rewards as well. So, you know, it's a tough question, especially if you're an entrepreneur, you can work all day every day, you know, every day of the year and all those things, but you got to figure out when to balance those things. And I don't pretend to have the right answer. There will be some giving and taking and you got to balance over the long term. It's not always going to be an even thing, but you have to invest

in the people around you as well. Right? Yeah, I totally agree. My girlfriend is a nurse practitioner. We really do completely different things, but it's so interesting at times with her alien eyes looking at my situation and taking myself away from it. The difference of perspective that she gives me, you know, and, you know, I, I, I mean, you've been there, I, you know, I think being an entrepreneur, one of the hardest things is you constantly are facing rejection and you're getting beat up a lot. And, you know, I think I don't

know anyone, you know, even Elon Musk or others who at times don't feel like they need inspiration or they need, you know, words of encouragement or other things. And I think that is something, you know, that it's great to get out of your, you know, little box and spend time with family friends and others who can, you know, help you see perspective. Absolutely. And I will tell you, a great example of tough. So Elon Musk, when Tesla was rolling out the Model 3, that was a very critical stage for that company in trying to go from high-end luxury cars to, you know,

EVs for the masses and they were running out of cash, they had a lot of problems with production, early production, and almost killed the company. And that took a lot of time and effort, leadership to see that company through that very, very difficult period, but liquid is transpired and they popped out the other end and now they're one of the most the most valuable automotive company on the planet, right? So that's a great, great example of on the planet, right? So that's a great example of that balance. Sometimes it's going to get out of whack, right? But ultimately, in that particular case, it paid off handsomely. Yeah, it's interesting you bring them up. I focus in the upcoming book. I wrote, I focus a whole chapter on Elon Musk and it's all about the concept of, I call it the hurdle of the being the turtle effect. You've got to, you know, be hard working in your daily activities like the bee, but like the turtle have a long-term vision and strategy

that you're moving out towards. But, you know, I happen to, you know, see him speaking and got to ask him a question. And he gave this example that he had Tesla going on. And then he had SpaceX. And he had one other endeavor. And he was running out of money. He was down to, you know, he was self-funding all of these. And it came down to him, you know, do I put all the money in Tesla? You know, I make a go forward there and take my focus off the others, or do I spread the money across

all of them where I'm not going to have as much focus and he ended up saying, I'm going to press my hunch and I'm going to spread the money and today you see how each one is turned out, but it didn't come without taking an enormous risk. That's right. That's right. Well, during a previous podcast before this one, I'm sure you're very familiar with Admiral Stockdale. And there's a principle that I was lucky enough when I was between my leave year

going into my sophomore, a youngster year at the Academy. He came in as a guest speaker and I will never forget the humility of how he talked about, you know, his experience of being a prisoner of war and telling us that, you know, he, he, he, didn't regret looking back at happening. In fact, it was one of the most important aspects of, you know, of his life and a guy named Prince of all. and a guy named Principal. But during it, you know, he brought up, you know, that during the course

of your life, you must, you know, recognize and understand the brutal parts of your current reality, you know, and then Jim Collins talked about red flag mechanisms that you can put in place to make sure, you know, you're recognizing and confronting the reality, you're facing, are there any red flag mechanisms that you use that the listeners might want to understand that help you through, you know, facing your current reality? I think, you know, the most important thing is, you know, there's always subtle changes, right?

But usually, then there'll be one that'll pop up and that will be, you know, the red star cluster, the red flag, whatever you want to call it, that really signals a sea change. I'll give you a perfect example. When we were starting the current company, we're running right now, AC for our technologies. We do tech support for businesses and nonprofits in the southeastern United States. We started the company and we were looking at cloud migrations and those kinds of things.

It was about seven or eight years ago. And people really weren't sure about using the cloud, implementing the cloud for their organizations, particularly, you know, good-sized companies. And, you know, there was a bit of work and really there were two things that one was kind of subtle and that was Apple's iCloud and how Apple's iPhone would sink to the iCloud and you could get your pictures, right, up in the iCloud. So that was kind of an evolutionary kind of a thing and I was going along and the consumer was using it, but certainly large enterprises weren't there yet.

And then the CIA, Central Intelligence Agency, put out a contract and said that they were going to use the cloud for their stuff. It was a big deal. And so to me, that was a watershed event. And we decided that we were going to capitalize on that because our pitch was, if the CIA can use the cloud for their stuff, there's no company on the planet that says their data is too valuable to go into the cloud. But the evolutionary part was Apple's eye cloud with the consumer. So I think you got to look at those subtle red flags and then the big one right you got to recognize what's going on. I've got a little bit of an inside story on that story actually. I remember when that happened and I've known Mark Benioff and Parker Harris, the two, you know, two of the co-founders from Salesforce for, you know, many, many years.

And I remember when they were trying to do the shift from, you know, from just private sector to going after the public sector, and they started to get the government contracts. I remember having a conversation with Parker because at that point, he didn't completely fully realize that in order to do this, they kind of co-mingled all their clients on one infrastructure. And in order to make this change, he didn't realize that they were gonna have to complete, you know, make a completely separate instance of it

for the government. And it was, you know, and if you can imagine, I mean, by the time that happened, there were thousands of companies who were on the platform. So it was not a trivial thing. And I remember him going, are you kidding me? I'm not.

But it's interesting now to see where things have gone with that, for sure. Well, thank you so much for your words of wisdom and covering so many items for me. And for me, being an inspiration to so many throughout the Tampa Bay community. If there was one last thing I'd like to ask you, since we're both veterans, I understand even to this day when we got out, it was difficult making that transition, and I still, even though there are more paths, what advice would you give to veterans who are leaving the service on coming out and what words of wisdom you might have for them.

John, thanks for that. I appreciate ending on that note. First off, yes, it's going to be different, but for veterans, and those people that are transitioning out, everybody gets out of the military at some point. It's just a matter of when. Don't be afraid of it. You have been exposed to many, many things that's valuable

in the private sector. And I tell many of them that, here's your opportunity to come into the sunlight and show what you can do, how you can contribute, and all the things that you learned that can have a valuable place in our communities, in our societies, in our companies, and all those things. For some of those folks, depending on the path they know, it's about to be the most affluent time of your life. So it has that potential.

So don't be afraid of it. This is going to be a great and wonderful thing making the transition. You just have to find your path. That's great advice. Thank you so much again for coming on. And thanks again, Hugh. I can't wait to see you again.

Don't thank so much. Appreciate it. What a great interview with you. He talked about so many things that are useful for growth minded individuals and entrepreneurs from finding your purpose, to understanding what the purpose of honor is, to outlining his path to becoming a serenal entrepreneur.

In the next episode, I will discuss the importance of showing up. Showing up every single day of your life is a critical place when it comes to success of your business, your career, and individual success. Yet, I find so many today fail to do it on a regular basis. However, just when you think you've made it or don't have to work as hard, you need to realize that someone somewhere is already gaining an advantage over you and

working to surpass you, and that's what we'll talk about. Make a choice, work every day, steep step into your sharp edges. Please share this podcast with your friends and subscribe at ApplyTunes, Spotify, or whatever podcast provider you use. Until next time, ignite your equipment potential. Thank you so much for joining us. A purpose of our show is to make Passion Go viral. By sharing the knowledge and insights you can use to unlock your hidden

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