On March 3, 2016, Dan Evans released “Michael Penney | Infantry Marine Turned Podcaster & Military Entrepreneur” on the Military Entrepreneur Show. The interview runs 49 minutes. Two days later Evans posted a short promo clip from it to YouTube.
About the show
Evans pitched the Military Entrepreneur Show to a specific listener:
a go-to inspiration resource for military veterans who are entrepreneurial, but don’t know where to begin.
Military Entrepreneur Show description
The format was stories from veterans who had made the transition and built something, along with practical tips on personal branding, education and networking.
What the episode covered
The show notes give the military background Michael brought into the conversation:
- He started his service at Twentynine Palms, California, with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, Weapons Company.
- He deployed twice to Ramadi, Iraq.
- He re-enlisted in 2007 and was stationed at Marine Corps Base Quantico.
- At Quantico he qualified as a Combat Marksmanship Instructor, a Foreign Weapons Instructor, and a security-forces-trained Designated Marksman.
The episode title points to the second half of the story: going from infantry Marine and weapons instructor to podcaster and entrepreneur. The written notes stop at the military background. The full conversation is where he talks about the move into podcasting and business.
The promo clip above runs about a minute. Its YouTube description points viewers to more on the episode on Dan Evans’s site, danevansonline.com.
Why it mattered then
Early 2016 was a busy stretch for Michael. In about four weeks he appeared on SuccessVets, recorded two video conversations with fellow TEDxRaleigh presenter Doug Stewart, and gave his TEDxRaleigh talk on March 19. This episode belongs to that run.
It is also one of the more detailed public records of his instructor qualifications. Those years of teaching Marines to shoot, and to know foreign and threat weapons, are part of what he brought to the stage and the microphone.
Looking back
The Marine planning discipline from those years sits under his later work. The 5 Paragraph Business Plan builds on the same O-SMEAC order format every Marine learns.
The full-episode audio file at its original address no longer loads. The episode listing and the promo clip are still available.
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.