Michael J. Penney

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Live with Michael Bluemling Jr. Ep 78: Michael Penney (2020)

In February 2020, Michael Bluemling Jr. released episode 78 of the Live with Michael Bluemling Jr. Podcast, titled “Michael Penney Discusses His Organization, 5 Paragraph, and Being a Conservative Veteran Entrepreneur.” Listings date it February 10, 2020. It runs about 48 minutes.

What the episode covered

The title sets out three topics: his organization, the 5 Paragraph method behind it, and what it meant to be a veteran running a business with conservative values.

The episode description gives the same bio that appeared across his interviews that year:

  • Marine Corps infantry with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, deploying twice to Ramadi, Iraq, in 2005-06 and 2007
  • Reenlisted and moved to Quantico as a weapons instructor
  • A third combat tour in 2011 with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, leading advisors through Kajaki and Sangin, Afghanistan
  • Honorably discharged as a Sergeant after more than eight years
  • TEDxRaleigh speaker in March 2016, with “What’s Your IED: How to Add Value During Life’s Explosive Situations”

The notes describe the 5 Paragraph Business Plan as taking the military operations order format and applying it to business, with Michael advising business leaders on how to put it to work. The episode was distributed on Libsyn, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and Himalaya.

Why it mattered then

Most of Michael’s earlier guest spots stayed on business and transition. This one put his values in the title. The show is listed under news and politics, and the title signals a conversation about values as well as business.

It was also the start of a working relationship. Six months later, in August 2020, Bluemling, credited as Michael “SGT” Bluemling, Jr., co-hosted Michael again on Veteran Nation, an NRN+ series about the challenges veterans face when they come home.

The description lists two websites for listeners who wanted to learn more: 5PARAGRAPH.COM and 5ParagraphBusinessPlan.com. Both pointed to the same idea, a business plan written in the format of a military operations order.

The guest list around this episode shows the show’s focus. The next episode, number 79, featured Rhonda Furin discussing her candidacy for U.S. Congress in California District 45.

Where to find it

The show’s Libsyn directory page now says it is no longer available, but the episode is still listed on Spotify and other podcast apps.

Listen on Spotify

This post is part of the From the Archive series, which collects Michael’s past media appearances in one place. See the full media archive.

Work with Michael

Marine veteran, TEDx speaker and author of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan. Bring him to your stage, wear the gear, or catch him live.

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Honor Across Arms: Business Development Professional (2019)

On December 8, 2019, the Honor Across Arms podcast from Society Bytes Radio released episode 31, “Business Development Professional – Michael Penney.” The show describes itself simply: “Hear the stories of our vets past, present, future.” The episode runs about 27 minutes.

Part 1 of 2, as posted to YouTube on December 8, 2019.

What the episode covered

The episode notes give the fullest version of his bio from that period. They open with his service:

Michael J. Penney is a combat veteran of Iraq & Afghanistan. He served in the United States Marine Corps infantry with 3rd Battalion 7th Marines deploying twice to Ramadi, Iraq, in 2005-2006 and 2007.

Honor Across Arms episode notes

From there the notes follow his path out of uniform:

  • Quantico: he reenlisted during his second Iraq tour and moved to Quantico as a weapons instructor.
  • Afghanistan: in 2011 he deployed a third time, with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, leading a section of advisors through Kajaki and Sangin.
  • TEDxRaleigh: his March 2016 talk, “What’s Your IED: How to Add Value During Life’s Explosive Situations.”
  • The 5 Paragraph Business Plan: released in April 2017, taking the military operations order format and applying it to business.

The notes describe his work at the time this way:

He currently works as an advisor to business leaders around the globe, calling upon his military experience to assess, train, advise, and assist businesses in the implementation of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan.

Honor Across Arms episode notes

They close on a personal note: a proud father of four, married, living near Raleigh, North Carolina.

Why it mattered then

The phrase in those notes, “assess, train, advise, and assist,” is the language of a military advisor team, the same job he had done in Afghanistan. By late 2019 he was using it to describe his work with businesses. The episode title reflects that shift: he was introduced as a business development professional, not only as a veteran.

The talk named in those notes was delivered on March 19, 2016, and posted by the TEDx Talks channel that June. The book followed on April 14, 2017. By the time of this episode, both had been part of his introduction for more than two years.

Where to find it

The original Spreaker page for the episode no longer loads. The episode is still on Apple Podcasts, and part 1 is on YouTube above.

Listen on Apple Podcasts

This post is part of the From the Archive series, which collects Michael’s past media appearances in one place. See the full media archive.

Work with Michael

Marine veteran, TEDx speaker and author of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan. Bring him to your stage, wear the gear, or catch him live.

Book Michael to Speak
Shop the MJP Store
Get the 5 Paragraph Business Plan
Watch Live

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Motivated Mindset Ep 23: Michael Penney on the 5P Plan (2019)

On April 11, 2019, Jeff “JD” Demers released episode 23 of The Motivated Mindset, titled “Interview w/Michael Penney of ‘5 Paragraph Business Plan.'” The conversation runs just over an hour, at 1:02:42.

What the episode covered

The episode came two years after Michael published the 5 Paragraph Business Plan in April 2017. The show notes introduce him as a Marine Corps veteran and the creator of the plan, and the host calls it one of his favorite interviews.

The notes focus on who the plan is for. They point to two groups:

  • Employees inside larger companies who think like owners and want to stand out in their organizations
  • Leaders who want their organizations to run more efficiently and to grow

That framing was a little different from many of his earlier interviews, which tended to focus on veterans starting their own businesses. Here the plan was pitched just as much to people working for someone else. According to the notes, Michael also offered a bonus to the show’s listeners and followers.

Why it mattered then

By 2019 Michael’s message had shifted. From 2015 to 2018 he was best known as a co-host of Cigars and Sea Stories. In 2019 he was a business author and advisor, and the operations order he had learned in the Marine Corps had become a product.

The idea behind the plan is simple. Every Marine mission starts with five paragraphs: situation, mission, execution, administration and logistics, and command and signal. Michael kept that structure and used it to plan businesses instead of patrols.

Long-form motivation and self-development shows like this one gave him a full hour to walk through it, well beyond what a short news interview allows.

The book behind the episode was a 91-page, 8.5 by 11 inch paperback, released in April 2017 under the 5 Paragraph Business Plan imprint. It was written to be worked through with a pen, one paragraph at a time, the way a squad leader fills in an order before a patrol.

This interview was an early stop in a long run of guest appearances. Over the next two years Michael carried the same message onto many more shows, including Honor Across Arms, Veteran Nation, Time To Shine Today and A New Direction.

Where to find it

The episode listing is still online, but the listing site warns that the audio file may no longer play, and we have not found a working copy elsewhere. If you have a copy, or know where the episode lives now, we would like to hear from you. If one turns up, we will add it here.

View the episode listing

This post is part of the From the Archive series, which collects Michael’s past media appearances in one place. See the full media archive.

Work with Michael

Marine veteran, TEDx speaker and author of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan. Bring him to your stage, wear the gear, or catch him live.

Book Michael to Speak
Shop the MJP Store
Get the 5 Paragraph Business Plan
Watch Live

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SOFREP: Five Veteran-Owned Groups Making the World Better (2018)

On Veterans Day, November 11, 2018, SOFREP published “Five veteran-owned groups making the world a better place,” by Joseph LaFave. The first group on the list was the Five Paragraph Business Plan, Michael Penney’s company.

What the article said

LaFave opened with the reason for the piece. Veterans Day, he wrote, is the one day a year the country should come together to celebrate the work service members do to make the world a better place, and for many veterans that commitment to service continues after they take off the uniform.

His entry on Michael’s company read:

This business is the brainchild of Michael Penney, co-host of the now-on-hiatus podcast Cigars and Sea Stories.

Joseph LaFave, SOFREP, November 2018

LaFave described the Five Paragraph Business Plan as an organization that helps veterans, and civilians, start their own small business of any type. He called Penney, a former Marine and Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, a longtime advocate for veteran-owned small businesses, and wrote that the Five Paragraph system brings the theories of military operations planning to the civilian world.

The other four groups on the list:

  • Force Blue, founded by Jim Ritterhoff and Rudy Reyes
  • Team Rubicon, founded in 2010 by two Marines, including Jake Wood
  • Black Rifle Coffee Company
  • Final Salute, founded in 2010 by Army veteran Jasmine Boothe to support homeless women veterans and their children

Why it mattered then

The company Michael was listed with says a lot. Team Rubicon and Black Rifle Coffee were national names, and SOFREP is a special operations news site. Leading that list on Veterans Day put the 5 Paragraph method in front of a large veteran readership.

The entry also marks a shift. In 2016 and 2017 he was introduced mainly as a podcaster. Here, Cigars and Sea Stories is “now-on-hiatus,” and the Five Paragraph Business Plan is the headline. The podcast had built his name in the veteran community. The planning system was now the work he was known for.

Looking back

Two names on this list connect to other parts of Michael’s story. Rudy Reyes had been a guest on Cigars and Sea Stories, as HuffPost noted in 2017. Jasmine “Jas” Boothe created the animated comedy Discharged, in which Michael voiced the lead character, Axel.

Read the article on SOFREP

This post is part of the From the Archive series, which collects Michael’s past media appearances in one place. See the full media archive.

Work with Michael

Marine veteran, TEDx speaker and author of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan. Bring him to your stage, wear the gear, or catch him live.

Book Michael to Speak
Shop the MJP Store
Get the 5 Paragraph Business Plan
Watch Live

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DISCHARGED: Michael Penney Voices Axel in Animated Comedy (2018)

In the spring of 2018, the animated comedy DISCHARGED was set to premiere at the 13th Annual Hoboken Film Festival in Greenwood Lake, New York, on May 20, 2018. According to Heroes Media Group, it was one of the 10 percent of 1,500 submissions selected. The lead character, Axel, was voiced by Michael J. Penney.

The show

The show’s website summed it up in one line:

A mismatched quartet of not-so-honorably discharged veterans unleash the good, the bad and the dark side of patriotism on Hollywood.

DISCHARGED official site

Axel is at the center of it. The site describes him as a hyper-masculine Marine combat veteran who struggles to find work after leaving the military, then lands a lucrative deal as a Hollywood stuntman. He hires a crew of fellow veterans as his management team:

  • Major, his bodyguard and a former officer, voiced by creator Jas Boothe, an Army veteran
  • Jesus (pronounced “Hey Zeus”), his agent and a no-nonsense ex-drill sergeant, voiced by Army combat veteran Jonathan Lopez
  • Brandon, his best friend, personal assistant and the resident “POG,” voiced by Army combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient Earl Granville

The cast is made up of veterans, and the show pokes fun at the rivalries between the branches while showing the bond that holds them together.

Why it was made

Boothe told Heroes Media Group she got the idea in 2016, while up late watching Adult Swim and noticing how much relief she found in humor.

I wanted to help others through humor.

Jas Boothe, Heroes Media Group, April 2018

For Michael, the part fit. Axel’s story, a Marine combat veteran trying to find his place after the service, was one he and many of his podcast guests knew well.

How it did

By 2019, DISCHARGED was on the festival circuit, and coverage of a screening at Webster University reported that it won the Best Pilot category at the 2018 Hoboken International Film Festival. IMDb lists it as a 2019 short and credits Michael J. Penney as an actor.

Looking back

Their paths crossed more than once. Both made Dwayne Paro’s 2017 HuffPost list of veteran entrepreneurs to know. In January 2020 he interviewed her about DISCHARGED on his 5 Paragraph show.

Michael interviews Jas Boothe about DISCHARGED on the 5 Paragraph channel (January 2020).
Visit the DISCHARGED site (archived)

This post is part of the From the Archive series, which collects Michael’s past media appearances in one place. See the full media archive.

Work with Michael

Marine veteran, TEDx speaker and author of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan. Bring him to your stage, wear the gear, or catch him live.

Book Michael to Speak
Shop the MJP Store
Get the 5 Paragraph Business Plan
Watch Live