EP129: Freedom, Entrepreneurship and Difficult Conversations with Steve Miska

Freedom, Entrepreneurship and Difficult Conversations with Steve Miska “Wherever you are on the spectrum of belief or thoughts, this is a conversation for everyone.” — Ursula Mentjes (17:11-17:15) Over the last few weeks, we've been having a lot of conversations about what's going on in the world from the murder of George Floyd, how that's impacted the world as a whole, and how we're supporting our communities of color all over the world as well. In addition, we are still in the middle of the pandemic, which means so many things for so many people. In this week's episode, Ursula Mentjes speaks about freedom, entrepreneurship, and difficult conversations with Steve Miska. Part One of ‘Freedom, Entrepreneurship and Difficult Conversations with Steve Miska’ Steve Miska is the Executive Director of First Amendment Voice, a nonpartisan effort to reinvigorate civic awareness around free expression, religious liberty, press freedom, and other first amendment issues. He founded Servant, Leader, Citizen (SLC) Consulting, Inc. after retiring as a Colonel with 25 years in the Army. His last assignment was teaching graduate students as the Army Chair at Marine Corps University. Previously, he served in the Obama White House as Director for Iraq on the National Security Council.  In 2007, on his second of three combat tours, Steve led a team that established an underground railroad for dozens of interpreters from Baghdad to Amman to the United States. He earned top academic honors as a Counterterrorism Fellow at the College of International Security Affairs and has taught economics at the United States Military Academy, West Point. “There is so much more that we share than what divides us.” — Steve Miska (27:59-28:04) Steve routinely speaks on first amendment issues and soft networks and has addressed DIA, RAND, the Pacific Council on International Policy, the Young Presidents Organization of LA, and numerous media outlets and think tanks. He holds degrees from Cornell University, National Defense University, and West Point. He and his wife of 28 years have two children and reside in Southern California. He's an author of multiple publications based on thesis work to protect soft networks. Conducts pro bono work to support nonprofits that help former interpreters and actively educates Congress on national security implications of legislation. Routinely engages with the media. Motivational speaker and discussion facilitator. Actively mentors young professionals.   Part Two of ‘Freedom, Entrepreneurship and Difficult Conversations with Steve Miska’ In terms of limiting beliefs, Steve had enough self-awareness to know that the military cultivates a character trait of humility, and everything is focused on the team. It's about whether the mission can be accomplished. So, a lot of veterans are not suited in a good way to enter the civilian sector because they're coming from this environment where they don't believe they need to sell themselves. They don't believe that they're the product many times that people want. It's a very different cultural shift that he struggled with. He  Steve had gone to interviews for senior positions in different places in the country. He ended up realizing that if he got stuck in a bureaucracy somewhere, whether it's in the corporate sector or elsewhere, it was always a bad fit for him in the Army. Later on, he discovered the sales camp, recommended it to other people, and attended it himself because it's a great way...