As firms grow, many begin to assess their need for a business intelligence tool to support their BD team. Christopher Pohle, Founder and CEO of Capture 2 Proposal (C2P), offers a defense tech solution for smaller and mid-size businesses that rivals the larger platforms with added flexibility and less costly customization. He discusses why he developed his platform in this manner and how companies can use it to fortify their pipeline.

Accessing and contracting with new federal agencies is a business development goal for many firms. Randy Lange, CEO and Managing Partner of Firebird Analytical Solutions & Technologies (AST), discusses how he leverages relationships and subcontracting partners to identify new opportunities for awards.

In celebration of Military Spouse Appreciation Day this Friday, Elizabeth Jamison, an attorney at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals and military spouse, discusses the barriers that professionally credentialed military spouses face and the advances made by the Military Spouse JD Network and the Department of Defense to improve licensing issues.

n honor of the Month of the Military Child, Besa Pinchotti, Executive Director and CEO of the National Military Family Association, joins the podcast to discuss the new ways we can support military children of all ages, including a groundbreaking new program to connect teens.

Culminating our series focused on women leadership for Women’s History Month, Jenny Stone, CEO of Partner Forces, visits the podcast to discuss how she believes her generation is working to eliminate the sharp elbow/scarcity mentality of women in the government contracting industry and how depending on relationships has helped guide her professional career.

To celebrate Women’s History Month, Lauren chats with Courtney Jackson, CEO of Paragon Cyber Solutions, about founding a woman and veteran-owned small business by leveraging subcontracting partners. Focused on IT, Courtney uses her compliance expertise to grow her customer base.

Leah (Hermiller) Sanders, CEO of D&G Support Services, visits the podcast to discuss her firm’s recent admission into the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program. Lauren provides her with ideas to leverage the 8(a) program for organic business as well as new contract awards.

Greg Celestan, CEO of Celestar Corporation, discusses the strategy behind his company’s growth out of 8(a) status and the decision he made to decrease the firm’s size, transitioning back into a small business.

In honor of National Veterans and Military Families Month this November, Jose Jimenez shares the steps he is undertaking to open his federal contracting firm as veteran and small business owner.

In recognition of Native American Heritage Month, Jon Panamaroff, CEO of Command Holdings, a corporation owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, shares his story as a member of the Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak, the adversity he faced, and his focus on growth within the tribe’s business sectors.

Katie Lopez, Director of Military and Workforce Development for the Tampa Bay Chamber, speaks about the importance of veteran and military spouse hiring. She discusses the importance of advocacy and quality of life issues both in the local and defense communities.

We reconnect with Iron EagleX CEO Michael Grochol as he celebrates his company’s 2021 win as Tampa’s fastest growing company. He provides an update to last year’s podcast interview on how his team has changed, learning from their losses and his advice for other small businesses. Listen to the first podcast here: https://soundcloud.com/user-892965027/small-business-bootcamp-iron-eaglex-inc?si=66c9c00b0eef400dbe73a57507d3f2a9

Carlos Salvat, CEO of security firm Defense Elevated, shares his motivations and strategy as a new small business working to win their first contract. A first generation American and intelligence officer supporting Defense Intelligence Agency at USCENTCOM, Carlos is identifying ways to utilize his passion for public service and his background in counterterrorism to provide the government with contracting solutions.

Mike Jones, U.S. Army Major General (Retired) and a Senior Strategist at WWC Global, details the skills involved in becoming an effective leader. Based on his learned leadership at both the junior and senior levels, he describes the key components necessary to inspire a positive professional culture such as a shared common set of values, an ethical focus, and the importance of doing what is best for the organization.

We recently learned about the untimely passing of Greg Pellegrino, former executive at Deloitte. Prior to his death, we had recorded this episode focused on the importance of incremental thinking in entrepreneurship, manufacturing, and consulting. As someone who dedicated much of his career to mentorship, we publish it in his honor today.

Haley Uthlaut is graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, a former Army officer with deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq, a Gold Star spouse, and the current spouse of an active duty Army officer. Haley worked with Lauren and Donna to found InGear Career, now a part of the US Chamber of Commerce Hiring Our Heroes Military Spouse Professional Network, one of the first non-profit organizations aimed at supporting professional military spouses across the career spectrum. In this episode, the women...

Will Goodman, acquisition policy expert and former Policy Director at NDIA of the NDIA, discusses new legislation aimed at supporting small businesses moving into mid-level size. With expertise in business and government regulations, Will provides details on a new ESOP policy that will help businesses as they bridge the gap out of 8(a) status.

As retired deputy commander of USSOCOM, Sean Pybus ensured the readiness of joint forces and conducted operations worldwide. During this time, he was supported by 5,000+ contractors each year. In this episode, Sean relays his perspective and ideas on how best to support government contracting clients.

In honor of Women’s History Month, Colonel Rachel McCaffrey (Ret, USAF), Vice President of Membership and Chapters for the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) and the Executive Director of Women in Defense (WID), discusses how leaders can confront gender and racial bias to build more diverse, inclusive teams. With applicable advice for both the government and private sector, Rachel encourages managers to “make the room bigger” and hire people who deserve the opportunity -- not just...

From her time as an Executive Vice President at MSNBC through her multiple appointments in the White House, Rosemary Williams, Specialist Executive at Deloitte Consulting, provides insight into gaining a political appointment and approaching these contacts as a federal contracting firm.

As a collegiate basketball coach and military spouse, Elizabeth O’Brien realized she would need to pivot her career to continue on a professional track. Through a connection in her military spouse network, she began work at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and was able to establish and support one of the largest military spouse networking organizations in U.S. history, the Military Spouse Professional Network (currently, over 60,000 members). Now the Chief Executive Officer of Freedom Learning...

Mary Reding, a government affairs executive with diverse private sector, non-profit, and public sector experience, spent time in the Office of Management and Budget prior to transitioning to a business development position at a large contracting firm. Focused on supporting Veterans Affairs, Mary provides insight about working with veteran owned firms, how to write a white paper that will land new business, and how small firms can leverage their capabilities to work with a large firm. Thank...

Alexis Kovalchick, Senior Account Executive at General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), has brought many small firms into GDIT’s partner ecosystem. This interview provides advice and tips on how to define a firm’s value proposition until it is large enough to expand into other specialized areas. She also discusses the best ways to approach a big firm on partnering on a contract together. According to Alexis, “It’s a team effort with both firms bringing important mission requirements to...

Outsourcing human resources functions enables a government contracting firm to have scalability and the support of legal, healthcare, risk, and compliance specialists. It can also be a benefit when bidding on new contracts. Doug Constable and Kevin Kelley of Insperity, an HR solutions company, answer top of mind questions for managing, supporting and creating a positive culture for staff.