Michael J. Penney

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Dwayne Paro Podcast Episode 029: Michael Penney (2017)

On August 7, 2017, Dwayne Paro posted “Episode 029 Michael Penney” of his podcast. Paro is a veteran empowerment coach and writer. Earlier that year he had put Michael at #10 on his HuffPost list of veteran entrepreneurs to know in 2017. The interview runs about 35 minutes.

What the episode covered

The episode description gives one of the most complete versions of Michael’s service record from this period:

  • 3/7 Weapons Company: two deployments to Ramadi, Iraq, in 2005/2006 and 2007.
  • Quantico: he reenlisted during his second tour and transferred to Quantico as an instructor. He became a certified combat marksmanship coach, trainer and instructor trainer, a formal school instructor, a school-trained designated marksman and a foreign weapons instructor.
  • 1st Battalion, 5th Marines: a third combat tour, leading a section of advisors through Kajaki and Sangin, Afghanistan.

After two wars and eight years as an infantryman and weapons instructor, the notes say, “Michael left the Marine Corps as a Sergeant.” They describe him in 2017 as an entrepreneur and public speaker.

The rest of the notes cover what came next. He co-founded Cigars and Sea Stories in 2015, a podcast about veterans who are adding value to the world. In March 2016 he gave his TEDxRaleigh talk, “What’s Your IED.” And he was working as program director for Bunker Labs RDU:

Michael now supports fellow veterans seeking the entrepreneurial lifestyle.

Episode 029 description

Why it mattered then

Paro’s audience was veterans working on their own next chapter. Michael was a useful guest for them because his path showed up in the record step by step. Infantry, instructor duty, advisor work overseas, a hard transition, then helping other veterans build businesses at Bunker Labs.

The episode also closed a loop. Paro had written about Michael from the outside in February. In August he had him on to tell the story himself. The HuffPost list had introduced Michael as a podcaster and marksman. This conversation filled in the rest: the Marine who trained other Marines, then went home to help veterans build businesses.

Looking back

A month later Bunker Labs RDU held its second annual Muster conference in Cary, North Carolina, during Michael’s time as program director. The notes from this episode remain one of the clearest public summaries of his service record.

Watch the episode on YouTube

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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Change Your POV EP032: A Marine Veteran Adding Value (2016)

Episode 32 of the Change Your POV podcast was titled “Never Underestimate The Influence Of Marine Veteran Adding Value To The World.” It was recorded in late 2016 and posted to the show’s YouTube channel on January 1, 2017. The conversation runs a little over an hour.

What the episode covered

The episode summary introduces Michael as “a man on a mission to add value in everything he does.” The host and Michael talked through his deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, his work as an entrepreneur, and his then-recent turn as a TEDx speaker.

The notes give a short version of his record:

  • Eight years in Marine Corps infantry, with three combat deployments
  • Two tours to Ramadi, Iraq, and one to Kajaki/Sangin, Afghanistan
  • Out of the Corps in 2012 and working as an entrepreneur since
  • One of the hosts of Cigars and Sea Stories and the chief contributor to BloodStripes.com

The summary says Michael, like many veterans, had a hard transition out of the Marine Corps before he found his purpose and mission. It points to one moment from Afghanistan as a turning point: sitting with his ankles intertwined with those of a Command Sergeant Major of an Afghan police force. The show calls that his “Change In Perspective,” echoing the show’s own name.

The notes close on a line he took as his own. They attribute it to Einstein:

Don’t be a man of success instead, be a man of value

As quoted in the Change Your POV EP032 notes

Why it mattered then

Most veteran podcasts in 2016 focused either on war stories or on business. This one did both in a single sitting. It treated his combat experience and his civilian work as one story, where hard lessons overseas shaped how he wanted to live at home.

It also caught him at a busy point. He was co-hosting Cigars and Sea Stories, writing for BloodStripes.com, and coming off his TEDxRaleigh talk from March 2016.

Looking back

Change Your POV brought Michael back in November 2017 for a very different topic: whitetail deer hunting. The “be a man of value” idea from this episode stayed with him. It is the same theme behind his TEDx talk and much of his work with veterans since.

Watch the episode on YouTube

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
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Veteran Resource Podcast #073: Michael Penney, Provide Value

On November 17, 2016, Jeremy Paris released episode 073 of the Veteran Resource Podcast, titled “Michael Penney – Provide Value.” Paris built the show to introduce veterans to the organizations that serve them, interviewing a different group each week about its mission and the veterans it works with. The episode runs about 45 minutes.

What the episode covered

The episode description opens with the project he was best known for at the time:

Michael J. Penney is the co-founder of Cigars and Sea Stories, a podcast devoted to sharing stories with veterans who are adding value to the world.

Veteran Resource Podcast #073 description

From there the notes lay out the rest of his story as it stood in late 2016:

  • Service: a former Sergeant who served eight years as an infantryman and weapons instructor, with three combat tours in two wars: Ramadi, Iraq (2005 and 2007) and Kajaki/Sangin, Afghanistan (2011).
  • Instructor work: he personally trained over 5,000 Marines and sailors in rifle and pistol combat marksmanship, foreign weapons, and precision weapons marksmanship and tactics.
  • The 5 Paragraph Business Plan: described as “an actionable approach to business.”
  • TEDxRaleigh: his March 2016 talk, “What’s Your IED,” presented as an effort to bridge the lives of veterans and civilians.

The notes also describe his new day job:

He currently works as program director for Bunker Labs RDU, calling upon his military experience to assess, train, advise, and assist veterans in business creation.

Veteran Resource Podcast #073 description

Why it mattered then

The Veteran Resource Podcast was a directory in audio form. Veterans listened to find out which groups could actually help them. Having Michael on as a program director at Bunker Labs RDU put a real door in front of listeners: a nonprofit that helped veterans start businesses, run by people who had made the same transition.

The phrase in the episode title, “provide value,” was the same idea behind Cigars and Sea Stories and his TEDx talk. It was the thread that tied his podcasting, his speaking and his Bunker Labs work together.

Looking back

Paris and Michael kept working together. In December 2017, American Grit wrote up a Cigars and Sea Stories episode with Grunt Style founder Daniel Alarik and described the show as “hosted by Marine veteran Michael Penney and Jeremy Paris.” The original audio file for this episode is no longer online, but the YouTube copy above is still up.

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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Veteran On the Move #136: Cigars and Sea Stories (2016)

On October 24, 2016, Veteran On the Move released episode 136, “Cigars and Sea Stories with Marine Veteran Michael Penney.” The host was Joe Crane. His show had passed 100 episodes of interviews about the people, programs and resources that help veterans move into entrepreneurship. The episode runs about 51 minutes.

What the episode covered

The show notes introduce Michael as the founder and host of the Cigars and Sea Stories podcast. They also mark a new role:

Michael recently took over as the director of the Bunker in Raleigh Durham, NC.

Veteran On the Move #136 show notes

The notes describe Bunker Labs as a national 501(c)(3) built by military veteran entrepreneurs. At the time it had chapters in 12 cities and offered educational programs, mentors, events and local networks to help veterans start and grow businesses.

Most of the notes lay out Cigars and Sea Stories. They use the same operations-order format the show had used since early 2016:

  • The show: a place for veterans “to act out and speak their minds,” covering relevant topics, interviews with prominent veterans and war stories. Any Marine or FMF corpsman could be a guest, recorded in by Skype.
  • Intent: empower veterans to act as a whole by creating positive change, voting on issues that matter, raising awareness for worthy causes and speaking out against injustice.
  • Desired end state: “a network of veterans that can accomplish any task and, an America that can actually police itself.”
  • Execution: the team travels to veterans who are making a difference and records on site, so listeners get candid access to their insights and sea stories.

The notes also announce a release schedule: two episodes a week, every Tuesday and Thursday.

Why it mattered then

This episode came at a turning point. Through 2015 and early 2016, Michael was introduced mainly as a podcaster and a BloodStripes.com contributor. By the fall he was leading the Bunker in Raleigh-Durham. That put him on the program side of veteran entrepreneurship, helping other veterans build businesses in addition to telling their stories.

Veteran On the Move had a big audience among transitioning veterans. The show claimed more than 500,000 verified listens. That was a strong place to announce both projects.

Looking back

The Bunker role and the operations-order habit both fed the 5 Paragraph Business Plan, his O-SMEAC-based framework for planning a business. The intent behind Cigars and Sea Stories, veterans speaking up and acting together, still runs through his work today.

Listen to the episode on ListenNotes

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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The Decision Hour: Michael Penney of Bunker Labs RDU (2016)

On August 26, 2016, The Decision Hour released an episode titled “Bunker Labs Raleigh-Durham – Mr. Michael Penney.” The show was part of the Heroes Media Group podcast network, and the conversation runs just over an hour.

The Decision Hour: Bunker Labs Raleigh-Durham – Mr. Michael Penney (August 2016)

What the episode covered

The episode notes introduce Michael with three roles at once:

USMC Veteran, Program Director at Bunker Labs Raleigh-Durham, Podcast Co-Host at Cigars and Sea Stories and my friend Mr. Michael Penney.

The Decision Hour episode notes

According to the notes, the conversation moved through three parts of his life:

  • The Marine Corps: some of his “Sea Stories” from his time as a Marine
  • After the Corps: starting a business and going back to school
  • The work in front of him: the Cigars and Sea Stories podcast, and what Bunker Labs was doing for veterans across the country

The notes close by pointing listeners to his Facebook page, the Cigars and Sea Stories page and bunkerlabs.org.

Why it mattered then

August 2016 was a busy month. Five months earlier he had given his TEDxRaleigh talk, “What’s Your IED?” On August 18 he was the billed guest speaker at a veteran entrepreneur event in Wilmington, North Carolina, for Bunker Labs RDU. By October another podcast would describe him as having recently taken over as director of the Bunker in Raleigh.

Bunker Labs is a national nonprofit built by veteran entrepreneurs to help other veterans start and grow businesses. For Michael, the program director job turned his own path, from the infantry to his first business, into something he could help other veterans with.

The episode also connects two parts of his podcast history. Cigars and Sea Stories was a member of the Heroes Media Group network. Here he was a guest on another show in that same network.

His service record: eight-plus years in Marine Corps infantry and three combat tours: two to Ramadi, Iraq, with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines (2005-06 and 2007), and one to Kajaki and Sangin, Afghanistan, with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines in 2011, where he led a section of advisors. Between those tours he served at Quantico as a weapons instructor. He left the Corps as a Sergeant with an honorable discharge.

Where to find it

The episode page is still online at Podbean, and the episode is also listed on Apple Podcasts. The player above streams the original audio file from the show’s feed.

Listen on Podbean

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