115: "Transition is a mindset." Providing free comprehensive educational resources and opportunities with Jai Salters

Jen Amos 0:00

All right. Hey everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the award winning podcast show holding down the fort. I am your creative co host, Jenn emos. And as always, I have my co host with me. Genuine strip. Gentlemen, welcome back.

Unknown Speaker 0:11

Hey, glad to be here.

Jen Amos 0:13

Yes. And we are excited as we always are, especially when Jenny Lynn goes out of her way to invite incredible people that she knows onto our show because it makes my life easier. But let me go ahead and bring Jay on. Now I'll tell you a little bit about Jay salters. He is the founder of act now education, which provides free comprehensive educational resources and opportunities for active duty veterans and military spouses and children. He is also currently a naval officer, and a spirit of Bob Hope recipient, which is presented to individuals who epitomize the values of Bob Hope, which are duty, honor, courage, loyalty, commitment, integrity, and selfless dedication. Jay, welcome to the show.

Speaker 1 0:52

Thank you for having me. Glad to be here. And yeah, I'm looking forward to this.

Jen Amos 0:56

Yeah, absolutely. And genuine real quickly, why don't you share a little bit about how you know, Jay, and what compelled you to bring him on the show today.

Speaker 2 1:04

So I met Jay, through another former holding down the fort guests, Misty Flynn. And misty sent me a note and said that Jay is the most wonderful person ever providing resources for active duty transitioning service members and spouses and said, You need to have him come talk, and here he is.

Jen Amos 1:27

And here you are, Jay. Yeah. Jay, first and foremost, prior to this recording, we were talking about the fact that you know, you are currently active duty, and here you are helping transitioning servicemembers and military families, you know, with all these resources with act now education, and you've been doing this for over a decade now. So I have to ask you, what compelled you to start this while on active duty, mainly because and I'm asking this from a perspective of my husband and I working in this space. And it's usually like, at the very end, when a lot of people we work with are like, Oh, I got to look at this stuff now. Oh, I got to take care of this stuff now. And yet here, you are still in active duty, you know, providing these resources for our community.

Speaker 1 2:07

ely. So I want to say back in: 2009

Jen Amos 4:43

You know, Jay, what I like about your story is that you knew early on, you know, at least at that 10 year mark we're like okay, I got to do something for myself. I should at least like prepare for transition. And not only did you just you know get 14 plus certifications from what I'm hearing, but you're like oh my gosh, this This can be helpful for other people as well. And so who you are, you know, a decade into running act now education, serving all these other people. I just love that spirit of serving others, I think, in general, that is the spirit of the military community is, you know, doing something greater than yourself. And so I think it's incredible that you saw that early on, you know, in your career, and like you said, to be helping over 14,000 individuals prepare for transition, I think is incredible.

Speaker 1 5:25

I appreciate Yeah, I didn't think anything of it. But like I said, the people that I surround myself with the mentors, the team, it's all kind of led me to this point, and I'm very grateful of it. The 14,000 was actually like, before we actually started touching social media. So those were in person. Wow, presentations. And then now we have about 15,000 members on the Facebook group who, you know, chime in, because I can't answer every single question, but people is a community to help each other find resources and opportunities. And that's kinda like, abundance to me. I didn't know what I was creating. But that's what kind of

Jen Amos 6:00

Yeah, absolutely,

Speaker 2 6:02

that makes me so happy. Like, I mean, you know, on this show, like, we really are all about community. And I just love to hear, you know, this thing that started from a personal need, you know, is now 15,000 strong, and that all of those people are chipping in to help other people. I just, I just love hearing that.

Speaker 1 6:21

Absolutely. I would say one major facet of what we're doing currently acknowledge occation, because we have a few partnerships with different organizations, Intuit, and Coursera, we have a good majority of military spouses that are very, it's kind of crazy, too, because I would think active duty servicemembers are all on it, when it comes to this transition process. And take advantage of the certifications and opportunities. It depends on who it is. But the military spouses are crushing it right now on acknowledged vacation, a lot of them are knocked out their their own bookkeeping certification, which we provide for free. And there's a lot of other courses that's on our channels that you can get essentially for free that they've been able to take advantage of, and starting to get jobs as well. So I'm very grateful for everything that the community has been able to do and can't wait to see what's going to happen in the future.

Jen Amos 7:09

Yeah, and I think community is the key word, right? It's like, this is all possible, if you will, first of all share that you have this need, and have a community such as yours, to be able to come together collectively to figure this out. I like how you, you know, just candidly said, like, Hey, I didn't know it was gonna be like this. It just kind of turned out this way. It's snowballed, you know, into this direction. And so, Jay, I'm curious to know, because I think sometimes with the pace of military life, it could be really easy to put off your transition. And here you are, you know, 18 years in having accomplished everything you did, is there anything you want to say to you know, whether it's service members, military spouses, anything you want to say to them about, like, how you were able, you know, to prioritize your certifications, and still make this possible for yourself in the busy life of the military?

Speaker 1 7:58

I can say a lot of things that we do, there's a couple of things. And that's a good question. There's a couple of things to that point. One is, in the military, you know, we're talking mostly about the team environment, and being a part of the team. And once you make the you become a senior NCO, or you become a Senior Chief, Petty Officer, Chief Petty Officer, oh, whatever you do, as far as getting among the ranks, once you get to that point, you know, your focus is is working on your individuals and the people that are under you and supporting you. So when it comes to transition, I feel a lot of times those individuals forget how to look after themselves. And we sometimes think of transition as like, you know, is he closed out because, you know, we're stepping out. But transition is a mindset. And a lot of people don't take that in for what it is because one, you're going away from something that you've known for a long time, and going into something where it's Uncharted for you, this is the second part of your life. So a lot of people don't give it the attention that it needs. Some people in it, I do one on one coaching with free coaching with a lot of people that are transitioning out, and a lot of times is individuals that have sick from six months to one month transitioning out. And that's really not enough time to kind of work on your medical identify what opportunities are out there. What do you want to live, there's just a lot of things that you have to do. And so that's why we came up with that checklist that kind of talks about a from the three year mark. This is what you should be kind of looking at, these are the things that you should be doing. Just so you can get yourself ahead of the curve. You won't necessarily get everything, but it's better to have a game plan. And the military we used to fall in water. So I figured is easier to lay that out so people can follow this and help themselves make transition easier because transition is a hard process mentally for your family, everything that's involved with it. And if you're not prepared for it, I mean, I've seen the worst side of transition where an individual SR II seven transition out of The military, and he never filed for his retirement correctly. So he didn't get paid for his disability, anything it paid for retirement. And that debt was for like seven months. And so he thought everything was being taken care of when he didn't know, he had to follow up just to make sure the process was happening. And so I've seen him in a Job Center and his family. And I've seen them like, that was really emotional. For me, I was like, Man, that's kind of tough. But understanding like, you have to make sure that you take care of yourself for this transition. And I would say the transitioning part, when people want to ease up, this is going to be the most difficult part of your life where you don't want to ease up because you have to make sure you do everything you do due diligence. So if anything, those are some of the things that people should focus on three years out, looking at opportunities, understand that there's going to be mental stress with this transitioning. And then one thing that we don't do really well is work out that networking piece to be able to reach out to others, and start to coordinate what it is that they want to do in your career, or your second career.

Jen Amos: 11:05

Yeah, I think that's amazing. And I appreciate you sharing that, Jay. And I'm curious to know, from your experience or observation that is there sort of this denial about transition. That's why it gets put off. And that's my question is that, do you think that's the case or any other things that you've observed, when you run into families who are just, you know, six months out, and they're now just thinking about transition,

: 11:27

I think we just get comfortable, in this sense, and I'm gonna call it for what it is, it's, it's thinking that this transition is going to be like everything else in that career was kind of kind of this is the next step that you need to take right in front of you. It's not everyone transition is different, depending on what you're looking for, the opportunities are different. And I think there's a perceived notion that, you know, outside of the military, you know, your career, your next career, everyone's being put on a pedestal if you're a veteran, but that's not necessarily the truth. If you don't have certain qualities, certifications, degrees, soft skills, it's, it's not going to be that easy to lead from one job to the next. And there's some statistics out there, I don't remember exactly what the number is. But even when a service member does find an opportunity, there's I want to say like, over a 50% chance of them actually leaving that within the first year because that's the first thing they jumped off, rather than planning it out. So like I said, you go from team environment, to focusing on yourself and then transition and a lot of people, some people even work to the last day that they're transitioning out. The military is going to replace you with someone else. So you just have to do your due diligence, make sure you take care of your family and plan ahead. And that's really what it is. You just got to be cognizant of some of those hurdles that you're going to come across. It's not going to be as easy but if you're well prepared, or you're prepared as best as you possibly can, it can make the process easier on you and the family.

Jen Amos: 12:57

Yeah, absolutely. Jalen just thought I'd check in with you see if you had any thoughts?

: 13:01

Oh, man, I mean, I've seen about transition like where this December Matthew will have been active duty for 15 years. And so we're kind of looking at that, like, Alright, well, you know, what's next, stay in, get out, you know, what's the next right step? And so it's fascinating to hear, like, I think we as a family have always been pretty future focused sort of thing to their people to just work up to the last day and like, aren't prepared. When it's really scary for me as a person. I was like, oh, man, but I think, you know, to the point Jay made about, like, he was surprised that it's not just the servicemembers. But the spouses, and that act now education, like helps really kind of everybody in the military family is awesome, because, you know, having been a military spouse now for over 12 years, like everybody does actually transition. And that's something that not all of the programming out there helps cover. Like, there are a lot of resources for the service member there are not as many for the spouses. But I mean, when you've done this for 2030 years of your life, like it's a transition out for you, too. I mean, there's a part of me that goes, oh, maybe we'll just stay for 30 like, because you know what, we don't love the frequent PCs thing and some of the stressors that come with military life, I mean, Jays, right and going, Yeah, but that's what you're comfortable with, because that's what you've always done and what happens after like, because it feels like you're giving up not just a job, but a lifestyle and a community. So you know, to have actual education out there that's helping prepare people with all sorts of skills, I think is phenomenal.

: 14:44

Absolutely. And that's the overall goal is just to collectively come together. And there's a bunch of resources that can be utilized to help this process and make it easier on the family. And like I said, that mental capacity when you're doing this transition, a lot of people Don't just think about that. But if you think, you know, I got eight months left or six months left, I have two daughters. And my wife is, you know, takes care of the daughters, I stay at home mom, and I'm trying to transition out of the military, and six months, but then I still have to do things for my unit, or that I work for. And, you know, it's a lot of things that's going on in that service members head, and then even on the outside, like, how is our paycheck going to change? What does that look like? Like, what type of benefits are going to be available? Am I able to go to medical and still, you know, arrange my dental appointments? Or is that something that's going to be feasible? Then what other opportunities are they going to pursue as far as career opportunities I like? How long is it going to take to get the next job. So a lot of that, you know, puts a lot of stress on the family. But like I said, as long as the person is communicating ahead of time, they're identifying what's out there, and they kind of see what they want to do. It helps the process to help smooth in the process. And even also for like, some people don't necessarily want to go back into a job, but they want to pursue a passion, but they don't know what their passions are. That's why you have to get a good understanding of who you are, what's out there, connect with people, and then work it from there.

Jen Amos: 16:18

I love that. Speaking of spouses, Jay, I know that you provide resources to not just service members, but military families, military spouses, and being our show being about military spouses. Specifically, I'm curious to know what are some of the top resources you would recommend that spouses look at when they visit your website and learn more about act now education?

: 16:37

Awesome, I'm expecting all the spouses to have pen and paper ready. So we're going to talk about a couple of some resources that can definitely help and assist. Obviously, on Facebook, we have the Facebook page, but we also have the group acknowledge occation, that's the group that you want to go into. And I can tell you what happens if you join. If you join our group. And you know, you fill out the application for a Coursera access, you'll be able to look at 6000 courses that are available as a way to do upskilling. And then they have about 26 certifications from IBM to Facebook. So anything from cybersecurity, to marketing are available. Google has a project management certification, and all this is free. But if you go to coursera.com, you're going to end up having to pay so just go through us and you get all that for free. And that resource can help you identify and leverage what other opportunities are out there. Now, if you don't really know where to start, acknowledge location is a good place to start. And like I said, there's a lot of information to scroll through, you just type in military spouses, but mainly for career development, I would say the first place to start is an organization called ACP, American corporate partners, American corporate partners is great because they provide you with a mentor for 12 months, and a career field of your choosing. Now a lot of people just choose someone that they think because they'll they'll provide you with like three different mentors to choose from. So you'll say hey, I wanted this person or this person is best to choose someone I would say and I would recommend from wherever you're trying to be located at. So if your spouse is going to retire. And you're pretty much trying to figure out which direction you want to go with your career, and you're moving to Florida, you want to contact a mentor that can be in Florida, that way you can start doing that networking piece, that network of pieces is crucial, because it helps you get a leg up after you contact and mentor, and you have a good understanding of what the career field is that you're trying to get into. There's a couple of sources that can help you out. So your LinkedIn, you can get their free year, one year premium LinkedIn. So that's an opportunity that will allow you to help continue to build a network. On top of that, onward to opportunity provides certifications. So you can utilize that to knock out some certifications. And all these things are upskilling and help you have the ability to you know, find a potential employer, look at what's available. I would also recommend, if you are just not used to the networking piece, there are three organizations that to industry, LinkedIn, Mill City, in the keys, those events that you go to, on LinkedIn, they have webinars, they connect you with a lot of different organizations, companies, corporations, and other veterans and military spouses that are all for the community all about helping each other so it'd be a great place to kind of get the leg up on what's out there. Yeah, and so if you're utilizing those resources, they'll definitely help you understand and help you get connections because essentially, if you think about and you're applying for a job and you're doing this online, you're clicking the button application submit I mean you got to think about I'm a visual person is like 1000 people in a meeting that same application, right. So at this gray building your you can visualize yourself at this green building system, a job application for whatever Corporation, there's 1000 people in line and there's one teller The only thing that she says is next. So you can doll up your resume however you want, but if you're submitting it To applicant tracking system or whatever the organization is going to look for, they're going to pull that out and see whether or not you're a good candidate. But that's not the easiest way to get the opportunity, the easiest way to get the opportunity to go through the side door, and you need someone to open that side door, so build that network before you need it. So that's why I'm saying, use ACP use these different organizations to kind of help you force the relationships that are going to be able to help you Okay, what does that company like? What are the normal working hours? What are your mission? visions? What are the some of the things that actually do like do informal interviews, that way you can prepare yourself for those opportunities, if that's what you want to do. But if you're interested in certifications, like I said, Come to act now education will have a list of certifications available right now. I would say Intuit it's definitely the bookkeeping certification, we've gotten 67 spouses through that program. And I think the first six just got hired, though, starting now. So yeah, and the next thing that we're going to be doing is helping other organizations kind of identify, you know, opportunities for these veterans and military spouses to bring them on for employment. Sounds a lot, I know, it's a lot.

Jen Amos: 21:08

No, I dig it, I was just taking it all in, I have to give a shout out to vets the industry, I just realized I need to bring them on the show. But I was fortunate to do their keynote, the beginning of August for their male spouse mixer. And this was like, I think my third event having gone to and one of my, what I liked the most about that's the industry, especially those mixers is that almost immediately after the event, they send you an email recap of everyone's LinkedIn profile, so that it's not just this, you know, show up to something and try to exchange contact information. It's like, Oh, you can get everyone's contact information at the end. So that for the actual event itself, you could just focus on relationship building, you could just focus on being there and being in community with people. So I really liked that you brought up that's the industry because it's definitely especially in the time where everything is virtual, it's it's been one of my favorite organizations to be involved with.

: 21:55

Absolutely, like I said, best energy, LinkedIn Mill City, and the keys are fantastic organizations to be a part of one of the sessions I just recently went to with LinkedIn Mill City, they're just raw is just like, you know, someone was trying to identify someone was talking about them transitioning and that the fact that they don't have any job perspectives. And she's like, I feel like, you know, I feel shameful that I'm in this situation. But it's, you know, it's tough. And, you know, let's say her name when she broke down. And you know, there was massive support multiple people from different organizations, I, hey, reach out to me, and we'll take care of you. So that's what you need. And those are the type of relationships you need to develop. So that's why I would say start with your network and build your network up. And then everything else kind of fall into place. And if you need a one on one, or you need to ask more questions, my network is your network. So just hit me up on LinkedIn, Jay salters, asked me whatever question we can set up a call, whatever, I don't mind what I'm here to support as much as I can.

Jen Amos: 22:54

Fantastic.

: 22:55

There's a part of me that wishes we were putting this like live on YouTubes that everybody could see like how both you and I are grinning at all this information. Because, you know, again, community keeps being brought up and that is my happy place. And I am just, I love Jay that you continue to touch on networking, I think that is a word that I have finally come around to as a synonym of community rather than kind of this achy thing that like you have to do to get in the you know, it has often come with like this negative connotation of like, Oh, you have to network and it just sounds like dirty and like but really it's just building a community of people that are there to you know, have your back like you talked about the story of the woman you're just telling you know, and now be like a new tribe. Yeah, like now being in the you know, the mill that service organization space that I'm in like, I am so thrilled to be able to go network, both for my company and individually because it is just building that community and it is amazing to me how this person knows that person and you know, that person knows this and you just get to see kind of all the places of support that are out there for those of us in the military community, which when you are living this lifestyle, and you know, on post off posts, like on base or off base, sometimes everything feels very small and confined. So to be able to like do these things online and build your community so that when when you go wherever you're going next, you know, retirement or next duty station, you know, I think it's really really great for both spouses and transitioning servicemembers. Also, I realized I said on post, I'm not army that it has totally come from like this podcast and talking to all of our army. That is not what we call things in the name.

: 24:59

No, I mean, it's it is definitely like I said, it's is that when you have that collective common, you know, everyone's going through this common struggle, you know, everyone understands what the PCs move is like everyone understands, you know, having to have your spouse deployed, which is build a network around that, build that tribe around that and use that to kind of leverage what opportunities are available to, and it's not for everyone. I've been trying to get my wife to take advantage of spouse programs for a long time. Strangely enough, right? I'm the resource guy, like, I have to kind of like slide it through a friend or somebody. That's so funny. But you know, just understand what's out there. Because like I said, there's over 40,000 different programs and resources that support the military community, not a lot of people know about them. And we try to do our best to kind of put that information out there to bring that awareness because the military spouse on the service, remember that broke serving their town, or supporting a nation? And they're both doing the tough jobs, right? I can say for me, and this is not for me, I would say almost my wife's job was a lot harder, because essentially, if I was at home to deal with my kids, not to say that there wouldn't be a problem. But if I had to wait for you know, my significant other to get back after the deployment, and then go again, and I'm not sure the timeframes Yes. Tough. That is tough. So yeah, I would like said, we're all serving in different capacities. And the military is going to take a chunk out of you. So you might as well get the benefit of a, you know, network and take advantage of what you can to move forward.

Jen Amos: 26:31

Yeah, absolutely. One thing that I hear often through my husband, who I met after his service, and just the veteran community in general is feeling alone, you know, almost feeling the sense of abandonment of like, if anything, he often talks about his most favorite time in his life was in service because he had his unit. And so I just really, I think it's so amazing how you're sharing all of this with us as if you've already transitioned, but you're still, you know, activating

Unknown Speaker: 26:59

years left.

Jen Amos: 27:01

Yeah. So my next question I wanted to ask you, Jay, is, I mean, yeah. What does transition look like for you? Like, I mean, imagine with, with all of the advice and resources you've given and gathered for yourself, like, have you envisioned, what transition will look like for you,

: 27:16

I guess I'm mentally retired for the last few years. My strategy, and this is kind of something when I'm getting closer to my three year mark, I'm actually just going to cover down on my whole transition process. I'm going to go through everything that I have created, and want to talk about the program that I'm going to look into, and break those things down as best as I possibly can. So just plan on highlighting my transition process in hopes of it will provide inspiration or ideas for others to kind of figure out which direction they want to go. Because Yeah, I mean, my wife is almost but hasn't said it just yet. But she's ready to retire. If you go on another deployment, I was like, Okay, yeah, let's, let's figure this out.

Jen Amos: 27:57

finish that sentence, right? Yes.

: 28:01

And I'm pretty sure a lot of people can resonate with that, right. So and I've enjoyed my career, and I've enjoyed everything I've done in my career. But this transition piece, like I said, it's a collective for my family. So I want to be able to take full advantage of what I know, apply that to this transition so people can see it, and it likes it. If it helps people. That's the goal. It's not an easy thing, but it's definitely something that, you know, you just take your time and doing.

Jen Amos: 28:26

Yeah, absolutely. I feel like in a way, it's interesting, because it's like, it seems so like, selfish to have gotten all these resources, but at the same time, it's so selfless, because you've shared it, you know, so it's like, you can see the ins and outs of military life, you know, having helped everyone that you did. So I'm just in admiration of you, Jay. And I appreciate, you know, being a part of our show and sharing act now education with us, before we wrap up. And this is a new thing for genuine and I because I always forget to ask our questions that we usually list for people, is for our shows, we call our show holding on the fourth or the name of our show is hold down the fort. And we describe our show as sustaining a fulfilling and purposeful military life through conversation and community building. That's really what we do here. It's the resources are great. I think the resources make like a good backdrop of what we do. But really, it's about having candid conversations like this to be reminded that we're not alone. But for you, Jay, when you think of the term holding down the fort, what does that mean for you,

: 29:21

that means my wife was assaulted. That's exactly what that means holding down the fort, because she has done that for the better part of our marriage. And she's taken care of all the tough things that I normally would if I was there. So in that regard, that's definitely you know, honor and thankful that I have a partner such as her to do such a thing, and I know I will be paying for it once I retire. I'm thinking of what I need to do now. But essentially, yes, yes. When when I think of that, that directly just applies to my wife.

Jen Amos: 29:56

I love that. That gets me emotional. Well, Jay, thank you so much for being on our show. And Jenny, Lynn, any thoughts, anything else you want to add before we we start to wrap up here,

: 30:06

I just on the note of holding down the fort, I just wanted to give both kudos to Jay and his wife, where he said, You know, I created all this stuff, and my wife doesn't use it. So I slip it through your friend, you are a very smart man, there is nothing more trusted than the military spouse network by other military spouses. And so this, slide it through other military spouse, friends, is for sure the way to get her to use it.

: 30:33

And that goes the same way for your your significant other dads in the military. You know, they get used to tuning things out and not listening, slide it through one of those friends Miss documentation, so he can do this or sign up for this, or be like, Hey, you know, this person sign up for this just sounds like a and then they'll be interested in

: 30:53

it. But yeah, it's one of those things that we often as parents talk about with our kids, you know, the parent says it 15 times their friend goes, Hey, mom, my friend told me, whatever, whatever. And you're like I told you that 15 times last week, apparently we don't grow out of it as adults, because the exact same thing is happening, you know, mid military career.

: 31:12

My wife and this funny thing. So I've been telling my wife about, you know, knocking out my project management certification and doing the, my PMP. And then you have pgmp. So these are big level certifications, and I'm having my, my target. And so I don't think she's ever really paid much attention to it. But she supports what I do as far as educational goals. A friend of mine, a good friend of mine, he just knocked his out. And he took the picture certificate, and she's like, hey, how come you're not getting your I was like, This is craziness. I've been last five years of it. But it makes sense. But when she's like, you need to get it before you get out. You plan for that? That's funny. Yeah,

Jen Amos: 31:52

that's hysterical. Yeah, instead of the whole, I told you so like, whenever my husband has like some epiphany that I've been trying to like, tell him for the last however many years, I just end up saying, I'm just glad we're on the same page now. Glad we made it. Well, Jay, let our listeners know how they can get ahold of you or learn more about act now education.

: 32:16

You can definitely go to WWE. Now education comm you can find us on Facebook, and LinkedIn. And I GP want to get a hold of me. Just meet me on LinkedIn. J that salters that's the handle. Yeah, like I said, we're here to support our we can I appreciate you guys for having me on. I look forward to any military spouses that are reaching out, I will ask you to do things just be in mind. If you do reach out to me and you say, hey, I need some support. I'm like, Okay, these are some tests I'm going to give you just to make sure you're up on it. But yeah, well, that's what we're here for.

Jen Amos: 32:50

I love it. I think it's important to have that push, right? And to have that sense of accountability from someone just because we are very community oriented. That's just the spirit that you need to continue to push when military spouses come to you. But Jay, it's been an absolute pleasure having you on the show. jennylyn Thank you for bringing on Jay and for Yeah, just this amazing conversation today. Thank you both.

Unknown Speaker: 33:10

Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you.