Advice About Decisions, Dilemmas, and Mistakes. Delve into riveting stories of individuals who faced high-stress decisions. Discover actionable advice and inspiration to navigate leadership challenges and make better decisions. Uncover the transformative power of failure and turn setbacks into stepping stones for success.
Alex Gorsuch shares hard-won lessons on successfully navigating the defense contracting space as a veteran entrepreneur and innovator. With over a decade of experience taking emerging technologies from the lab to the field, Alex provides invaluable insights on human-centered design, accelerating DOD innovation, commercialization, and deployment.
He explains the importance of deeply understanding user needs, mission outcomes, and the barriers to adoption. Alex also outlines strategies for creating compelling SBIR/STTR proposals, transitioning science projects to fielded systems, and securing that all-important memorandum of understanding.
Throughout the conversation, Alex emphasizes the criticality of maintaining alignment to mission over business interests and collaborating to drive collective impact. Listen in for an honest, thoughtful perspective on both the strengths and dysfunctions of the defense innovation ecosystem.
19 Oct 2023
6 — Travis Rosbach | From Empty Shelves to Overflowing Success
Travis Rosbach shares his remarkable journey from dive instructor and airline pilot to founding the wildly successful Hydro Flask brand. Learn how Travis manifested his vision, pivoted across industries, and built a billion-dollar company from only $11,000. He explains the importance of authentic branding, contrarian thinking, and maintaining core values through exponential growth. Travis also provides invaluable advice on finding motivation, avoiding common entrepreneurial pitfalls, and achieving work-life balance.
19 Sept 2023
5 – Daniel Gomez | Adapt or Fail
Go behind enemy lines and into the unconventional mind of Lt. Col. Daniel Gomez, an innovator who brewed creativity while deployed in uniform.
Discover how he spearheaded civil affairs projects in Iraq only to return home and get reprimanded for daring to color outside the lines. Learn his renegade rules for fostering innovation in rigid bureaucracies.
Hear how he channeled his battlefield improvisation into immersive training techniques to equip special operators with adaptability. From throwing artillery at a milk factory in Iraq to directing off-broadway shows, his winding career path reveals lessons on overcoming obstacles and leading with agility.
This subversive soldier turned CEO dares you to break ranks and unleash your inner maverick. His playbook of battlefield-tested principles will inspire you to deploy creativity despite the bureaucratic barricades. When faced with challenges, will you adapt or fail?
6 Sept 2023
4 – Megan Militello | Entrepreneurship: An Active Lifestyle
Megan Militello shares her inspiring journey from Army air traffic controller to entrepreneur in Alaska. Learn how Megan translated the camaraderie and community of military service into building a loyal customer base for her lifestyle brand Elevated Oats. Hear Megan's insights on mindset, finding your strengths, and believing in your own power to accomplish big goals as a veteran entrepreneur. Megan talks candidly about the challenges of starting and winding down a business, emphasizing that failure is just an opportunity to overcome new challenges. Tune in for an empowering conversation about values, mental health, and creating community around shared passions like fitness and the outdoors. Whether you're a veteran entrepreneur or just starting your journey, Megan's wisdom will motivate you to stay resilient and manifest your dreams.
1 Sept 2023
3 – Richard Rogers | Fighting the Freeze
Join host Graham DeNoyer as he speaks with inventor Richard Rogers about his mission to save warfighters from losing critical electronics in freezing climates. They discuss the life-threatening challenges of vital gear like radios, phones, and transmitters failing in extreme cold.
Richard explains how his passion for protecting service members drove him to found Tundra Electronics and invent rugged heated cases. He walks through Tundra's process of researching, testing, and engineering solutions purpose-built for subzero military uses. They cover applications from heating headsets in helicopters to solving problems with parachute drops in Arctic conditions.
This episode offers a fascinating insight into one inventor’s drive to conquer the cold and keep warfighters connected and equipped in the harshest weather. Learn about the viability issues electronics can face in freezing climates and how Tundra aims to save lives by keeping tech heated and functioning.
If you serve in extreme environments or rely on gear in the cold, you won’t want to miss Richard’s story of creating innovative solutions motivated by helping servicemembers. Tune in for a compelling look at military-inspired invention and entrepreneurship.
3 Aug 2023
2 – Michael Parsons | Start Today
Join us for an illuminating conversation with Retired Army Colonel Michael Parsons, whose last assignment within the army was as the Capability Manager for Live Training Modernization. Mike shares insights into the Army's vision for modernizing live training and human performance optimization in this episode.
Drawing on decades of experience leading innovation, he discusses lessons in driving transformational change by empowering teams oriented toward the mission. Mike reflects on key mentors who shaped his approach to putting people first.
He also provides an inside look at new training technologies aimed at a seamless transition from the training environment to the battlefield.
As Mike shares what he misses most after retirement, he offers advice to senior leaders approaching their next chapter after service. He emphasizes that retirement is a new game altogether.
Tune in for a wide-ranging chat covering leadership, innovation, training, and transitioning out of the Army after years of service at the highest levels.
11 Jul 2023
1 — Mike Milsap | Follow the Opportunities
In this episode of Failed and Forged, we are joined by Mike Milsap. Milsap redefines the narratives of success through his stories, emphasizing that it’s often from high-pressure situations where the most significant accomplishments are born. He shares his experiences, showcasing how stepping outside your comfort zone and doing tasks beyond your job description can unfold unlimited potential only if one is brave enough to seize those opportunities.
He also dives into the importance of finding a mentor or sponsor, someone who truly believes in your potential and is ready to invest their efforts and resources into your growth. Join us, as we explore the unconventional paths to success with Mike Milsap, whose extraordinary experiences demonstrate that sometimes failure is merely a stepping stone towards forging an unanticipated, victorious path. Buckle up as we embark upon this incredible journey of self-discovery.
10 Jun 2023
Season 1 Trailer
What’s up! I’m Graham DeNoyer
I have a long history of hacking situations and resources and getting more done with less effort. As an Army Chief Warrant Officer, I spent 20 years across seven countries, and eight states, advising and observing leaders make decisions –when there was a lot on the line. Some outcomes were favorable, and some were not.
The ones that were– I found patterns in their decision-making processes, which always included an opportunity to learn more, sometimes through failing.
This is Failed & Forged. We will talk with leaders, experts, and up-and-comers, about how they make decisions when the chips are down. And how they fail but persevere to succeed. Life, work, education, relationships, finance… the decisions we make, the insights we develop, and the assumptions we discover… they're just complex.
So, Join me as we talk with guests and lay out actionable skills to slow teams down, see different perspectives, and acknowledge impact vs. risk. This way, you can go, get more done, and have greater confidence navigating the sea of information life gives us.
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