Scott Schimmel (00:00)
Hey, welcome to the Vector Accelerator podcast. I'm one of the hosts, Scott Schimmel, and I'm here with a good pal, Greg Sisa Greg. Good to see you. I put on my suburban camo for you today in honor of you and supporting the troops. So welcome to the show. Tell us a little bit about where you are, who you are, and maybe why you're here.
Greg Sisa (00:19)
Well, Scott, thanks for having me and thank you for supporting our troops with your suburban camo. You are an urban warrior officially, I think. but anyway, yeah, thank you so much for having me on. You know, as you mentioned, my name is Greg Sisa. I'm the director of development for the Warrior Heritage Foundation up in Los Angeles. And we're actually the official military nonprofit of Los Angeles County's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. It's a mouthful.
Scott Schimmel (00:23)
Mm-hmm.
That's a mouthful.
Greg Sisa (00:50)
It's a mouthful
Scott Schimmel (00:50)
What does that mean?
Greg Sisa (00:50)
and listening, Los Angeles County has one the largest populations of veterans in the entire country. We've got over 200,000 veterans up here. So it's a tall task to serve every one of them, but we're grateful to be a part of the operation of Military and Veterans Affairs and celebrate the success of veterans in Los Angeles County.
Scott Schimmel (01:13)
Yeah, you don't, I don't think of LA as a military town. I think of San Diego, think of San Francisco, I think of other places, but certainly not LA. That's kind of surprising.
Greg Sisa (01:24)
It is surprising, but to the urban theme as you're your urban camo there, we have the urban veteran up here. β San Diego, you're very spread out. obviously have the ocean. You have a major base there. A lot of people don't think of LA as you said, like a military town, but we have several bases in Los Angeles by itself. You have LA Air Force Base, have El Segundo.
Scott Schimmel (01:48)
Hm. Hm.
Greg Sisa (01:55)
Space Force, know, have, is it, Edward's Air Force Base up in Lancaster. We've got Coast Guard base, you know, and then of course we have a lot of aerospace engineer and North Brumman's of the world, you know, the defense contractors. So it's a heavy, you know, veteran population and it's just, you know, it's a huge city, right? So everyone gets lost in the mix.
Scott Schimmel (01:59)
Right.
Yeah. Well, I want to hear about what you all are doing, but I also want to talk about you and your experience in transition. And I think you and I met five years ago, plus or minus, I guess way more than that because of COVID. It's been five years since COVID. whatever, do some math. When did I meet you in comparison to your transition? Was it right at it?
Greg Sisa (02:37)
Yeah.
You know, I think it was a little bit after my transition because I had gotten out of the Navy. spent 10 years in the Navy. Most of that time was in the SEAL teams, as you know. And I got a great job right out of the military, right up at a commercial real estate firm, up in Beverly Hills. And β it was an amazing opportunity. β Actually, when I was transitioning out, I was kind of, you I was an instructor.
had buds and I was β weighing the option of, I going to become an officer? Yeah, because I had already had my college degree at that point. I put in my officer package or should I get out? I had two really great deployments or two really great platoons I was a part of. And β I loved my time as an instructor. learned so much there. But at the end of the day, things started slowing down overseas a little bit.
And I got that job opportunity up in Los Angeles. made it very easy to make the jump right up there. So that was in 2016 is when I officially turned full-time civilian. But that, you know, as easy as it was to, you know, from a transition point to move from one job to another, right? That was just one piece of the puzzle. I think the difficult part was, you know, it came after that. You know, the things that you don't really
Scott Schimmel (03:53)
Yeah.
Greg Sisa (04:16)
think about, right? And transition like, hey, just, know, our family together, we didn't like talk about it too much, like what it looked like, right? It's like, hey, we've got a great job out of the military. Here we go. Let's go to Los Angeles. You know, in meantime, you're kind of up there in a big city, you know, alone as a family, you don't have that network that you did when you were in the military. you know, so becomes a little, life becomes a little more difficult.
at that point, even though you have a good job, doesn't solve all life's problems at that point.
Scott Schimmel (04:51)
β
When in that context did you get married? Was that before you left the Navy?
Greg Sisa (04:57)
Yeah. So we got married. It was before my second deployment. So it was 2012. So my wife, you know, at the time she had already, you know, when we were dating and engaged, she had already been through, know, deployment. had already been through the training cycle, you know, been through all the rigors of everything. So, you know, know, you know, all of our military spouses are a lot more tough than we are.
dealing with all that and everything happens at home. β
Scott Schimmel (05:32)
Yeah,
yeah. I don't know the answer to this at all. How did you find that job in Beverly Hills?
Greg Sisa (05:40)
β gosh. It actually happened through a good passion of both of our Scott. was through golf. It was. It was through golf. I know. So β I can attribute my transition to a wonderful round of golf. was at a club up here in Los Angeles. The president at the time had invited a bunch of Navy SEALs up just as like a day out. Like, let's go golfing.
Scott Schimmel (05:47)
What? Yes, come on. This is a bulk podcast all of a sudden. Let's go.
No
the president of... Got you.
Greg Sisa (06:10)
and of the golf club at the time.
And so I happened to be in his group and we had just a phenomenal friendship following that round, stayed in contact. Then he was the general counsel of the real estate company I ended up working for. So he talked to the CEO and they brought the executive team down to Coronado to do a tour of the base and go around town, do some activities and they...
You involve me in every piece of it. So I developed some relationships there and that they ended up giving me an internship prior to working full time to my last year and a half in the military. I would go up basically once a month to the office and figure out what's going on. they, listen, they did the, the company is Kennedy Wilson. They did a phenomenal job of just bringing me in and saying,
You have an opportunity here if you want to take it great. If not, just know that we're here to support you and all your friends in the military because we just are grateful for your service. from our standpoint, we're doing what we love to do in the military. And we're grateful to have that support on the outside and build friends on the outside. β
Scott Schimmel (07:29)
That's, it sounds a little too good to be true,
Greg Sisa (07:34)
It's,
you know, like I said, Scott, know, the that part of it was it was the rosy part of it, right. And then and then the thorny part of it, right. That that kind of comes afterwards. All the things you don't really expect. Yeah.
Scott Schimmel (07:39)
Yeah.
Yeah. β
Yeah, we've
talked a lot, I guess, in the vector world about three key things that military service offers. And again, I'm an idiot. I'm an outsider. Once a civilian, apparently always a civilian. But these three big things, identity, purpose, and a sense of belonging, many people have pointed who are smarter than me, done a lot of research would say those are actually like psychological needs. Like those are prerequisites to doing well. I would have, you know, having
known you and other people in SEAL teams, like there's to a very high degree clarity, all three of those things, you've got an identity, you've got a sense of purpose, and for sure, you've got the team. And then upon transition, there's a sense of well transition, there's a there's a loss there. And then ideally, there's a some version of a replacement. But I'm curious your thoughts on like, as you're talking about the sticky points, what are those three?
was maybe the one that tripped you up the most or tripped you and page up the most.
Greg Sisa (08:54)
Gosh, think, I think, I mean, there's obviously a combination, you know, of it, but I would say more than anything, it's probably the belonging part of it, or, you know, maybe a different word was just having like a sense of community, right? And, you know, because in the military, I'm just gonna say probably in general, right, when you're with your
Scott Schimmel (09:21)
Yeah.
Greg Sisa (09:23)
friends of the military, constantly having fun telling stories. Like there's an awesome rapport there, something that I didn't necessarily have in that first job. I loved all the people I worked with, but it was just a different mentality, a different feeling. And that's the sense of community. It was a great community. had Kennedy Wilson, just a different one from what I'm used to.
You know, in the platoons based in the SEAL teams, like even when work's done, you're sitting there having fun, telling stories for hours afterwards. And you just don't have that type of camaraderie. Right? So it took a long time to really get that and a lot of different parts of the journey to establish that too.
Scott Schimmel (10:05)
What did?
When you would when you would sense that what what would that like cause you to do? Would you feel regret? Like maybe I made the wrong choice. Would you feel isolated? Like how did that how did that come up?
Greg Sisa (10:32)
Um, you know, I never felt regret. You know, it was never me because when I made the decision to get out, like it was mentally my time to get out of the military. There was no question about it. So it was, it was never regret. Um, but, uh, you know, I think some of the people in the company could sense a little bit with me too, right? You know, including, you know, my, the ones that I knew the longest, which was
At that time, the CEO and the general counsel and like my mentor, like my great mentors in life and in business. And to that point, one of the tasks that gave me within the company, probably about halfway through my first year was to start developing a network for transitioning military veterans.
throughout Los Angeles County to try to find jobs to place them in. Right. that was kind of like something I work on on the side. It's when I didn't find the purpose or when I didn't have that sense of belonging or that community to lean on, I would start working on that task to kind of pick up my spirits a little bit, keep me motivated, and we build out portfolios for a bunch of different transitioning service members.
and maybe what jobs might be available so we can congregate a bunch of different opportunities to put in front of them and take a look at their resumes and you review them with people in the company. And that eventually turned into a whole bigger thing, which you were a part of, Scott.
Scott Schimmel (12:13)
Yeah. Yeah.
And that's how we, that's how we met good friend of both of ours, Mike O'Dowd shout out Mike O'Dowd's defense strategy group. He's like such an Instagram star now. We knew him when, you know,
Greg Sisa (12:25)
He's crushing it. He
is crushing it. I'm so happy that he found that, like his passion. I think it's amazing.
Scott Schimmel (12:29)
Cheers.
Yeah, that's how we met was you were in the beginning stages of kind of taking what you were doing by hobby, let's say, and formalizing it. β Talk about like how that came to fruition, how that, how that even I didn't even know this story. I just knew, this guy named Greg, he's starting this transition program.
Greg Sisa (12:55)
Yeah. what was, you know, as I mentioned, like the thorny part of the transition, right. Started coming afterwards and, and you're the house, you have the, there's a tension in the household and you know, we, it's like, where are we going right now? Right. Like we had a definite path in the military. Where are we going right now? And, uh, you know, my wife, Paige, her favorite place in the world is San Diego. Whose isn't right. But you know, now we're in.
the concrete jungle of Los Angeles. So we both lost to one of those three elements. We both lost that sense of purpose and belonging. So that can boil up pretty quick. β And so I started calling a few of my great friends that had also transitioned out to say,
you hey, I'm experiencing this stuff, you know, both personally and with the family. You know, how are you dealing with that? Or did you experience that? Of course, every, every one of them, you know, to a man was like, yeah, we're experiencing the exact same thing.
Scott Schimmel (14:05)
Yeah.
Greg Sisa (14:07)
So when I was developing his portfolio, when I had that tasker at the real estate group, it took a shift and I started writing a different plan more for like β a family plan, like a program that was designed to address everyone in the family in the process of transition to make sure that the family is a cohesive unit, has a cohesive plan moving forward into their transition in order to be.
Scott Schimmel (14:20)
Hmph.
Greg Sisa (14:36)
as successful as they possibly can be as a unit. And the CEO of the company, he and I talked about it and he was a trustee at USC at the time. And he helped develop the plan and eventually he's like, I want to put this at USC in the business school and I want you to run it. So we pitched it to USC and they accepted it. And so I made my shift from the real estate group.
to USC to build a program that we called With Your Shield, which you were a big part of. Yeah, and β the point of that program was to prepare and strengthen the entire family for the process of transitioning out. And β USC is a perfect place to do it, because obviously it's a prestigious university, β but it's got such an unbelievable network, a great support system, which is what helps us out as
the US service members transitioning is to have that type of support system. And they were super military friendly also, which is an added bonus. They got a bunch of programs there for us. But we're grateful to get connected with you, Scott, because you had a big part in helping the individual service members and the spouses tell their stories and talk through.
some of their concerns and what their path should look like moving forward.
Scott Schimmel (16:10)
Yeah, what I think you were able to create there for a few years was a really bizarre kind of upside down world that doesn't normally happen where, like you said, husband and wife were coming together and with other spouses, with other couples and just like talking about all the real stuff and talking about this stuff that doesn't normally get discussed unless you're really lucky and maybe stumble upon a friend and you have a nice moment. But you actually created this like
culture where that's just what you do here. You talk about all the stuff that you're worried about, concerned about, things that you want, struggles in your marriage, struggles with kids. And then you also wrapped that with people that had, you know, not just street cred, but professional creds to help them think that stuff through from finances to all the stuff that we're talking about now, like identity, purpose and community. And then the career stuff was phenomenal. Like the people that would show up.
to get to know sincerely these folks who were transitioning and just be like, I'm here for everything. Let me know. I remember talking to so many, particularly the guys that were going through with your shield and they would say it almost felt unsettling or weird how supportive people were. Cause it's just not what they anticipated in that transition. It feels like you're going to be all on your own. And then there was all these people, like lots of them coming out of the woodwork and like, I'm here for you. I'm here for you.
And then they just would feel kind of bizarre about it. Like, and I'm like, No, no, no, trust me, like that guy over there, Bob, like he's like, he's very serious. He will help you. And it's actually a joy to him. It's not like him doing you a favor. So yeah.
Greg Sisa (17:48)
I mean, to that point, that's, you I think that's a big key when, know, that was obviously a huge like key to the success of the program, you know, as it was running was you have to surround it with people that care, right? Because, you know, let's face it, the program, it was a pilot program. So we initially offered it to Naval Special Warfare service members. And, know, your special warfare, it's a different, you're different.
You know, culture, a highly motivated culture. And, uh, you know, it's, uh, you'll have a lot of people that just want to be involved to some degree, uh, just because it's naval special warfare or any special operations, you know, branch.
So one of the tricks is finding the people that actually care, not the ones that just want to be associated, right? That are going to dive head first and that are going to pick up the phone whenever you call and be there to help out your families and talk through your life decisions or financial decisions or career decisions, right? You're like a true mentor.
Scott Schimmel (18:40)
Yeah. Right.
Greg Sisa (19:03)
which is, you know, that's hard to find. And we just really tried to find that balance of people that were highly successful and then people that were, you know, coupled with the mentality of wanting to dive head first into, you helping out all of our families involved.
Scott Schimmel (19:21)
What, as you look back now, you've been doing this transition work for years. What, what do you feel like are the big needs that you're seeing right now as patterns and you're, you've also broaden your focus to not just work with Naval special warfare or special operations, but all veterans. what are, what are you seeing as like the big needs, the big trends in the transition space?
Greg Sisa (19:26)
Mm.
You know, that's an interesting question. know, With Your Shield was one of the only programs in the country that focused on family. We did a bunch of research β and there weren't a whole lot of them out there. There were programs that helped out spouses, you know, but there weren't a whole lot of programs that brought the entire family into the classroom, into the space together.
Scott Schimmel (20:06)
Yeah.
Greg Sisa (20:16)
to have conversations. β I still think that's And in fact, over the last several years, you've gotten a lot of calls about how to incorporate that into a program or how we did it. But I still think that's a need. β Probably from a service member getting outside of the house, I think there's an expectation management, right, that...
Scott Schimmel (20:43)
Mm-hmm.
Greg Sisa (20:45)
probably needs to take place a little bit, right? And in a positive and a negative, for the better and for the worse, like, you you have every chance to succeed outside the military. Your family has every chance to outside the military. You know, and you will succeed outside the military, right? 90 plus percent of veterans are just crushing it, you know, across the country. But, you know, there's also the expectation of
Scott Schimmel (20:50)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Greg Sisa (21:15)
of life is a journey, of course, and things are going to take a lot of twists and turns. you know, I mean, you might have an awesome experience like right out of the gate at some point that, you know, that roller coaster is going to go down the hill a little bit and then you to pick yourself back up. And right. mean, I'll just throw it out there. Right. I'm on my fifth position since being out of the military. Right. So, so, you know, so it takes
Scott Schimmel (21:39)
Yeah.
Greg Sisa (21:45)
some of us, some time, you know, and, and, and, you gain a lot of experience in the process, right? So like every, every job opportunity, every point in life is it, it's always like a learning moment, right? And you discover a little bit more about yourself, learn more skills, you gain more skill sets, your family's with you through the journey, you're talking all the way through it and, β you know, keep, keep working hard and you get to a place where there's a lot of purpose behind it, which is where we are right now.
Scott Schimmel (21:57)
Yeah.
Greg Sisa (22:15)
serving all the veterans in Los Angeles County.
Scott Schimmel (22:19)
you what I've what I've seen you in the five positions you've had post military is a consistent sense of hope that and this is this is one of the things we've learned to measure within the vector accelerator program this this sense of hope and hope not just as a concept but as an actual like thinking process that okay tomorrow is going to happen I'm going to wake up and the kind of the
the self reflection of, what am I going to do tomorrow to make tomorrow better? And there's, there's a sense of optimism. There's a sense of clarity for the future, for goals, things that you want. And then more than anything, like a sense of agency, like I w so it's up to me, what am I going to do? And I'm curious, given that and how you've rolled since transitioning, like what, what is your top advice for transitioning military folks besides play golf?
Greg Sisa (23:19)
Well, that takes it off number one. So I guess I'm down on number two, Scott. Surround yourself with great people. Try to build your network before you get out outside the military. One thing that's pulled me through all of this is meeting people, being open.
Scott Schimmel (23:21)
Yeah.
Greg Sisa (23:48)
β It's a new opportunity, it's like looking to explore, but really it's been meeting a lot of great people and when you have a support system.
β you know, and, you know, shoulders to lean on or people that, know, to, to get advice from and, and, and talk to some of these situations like that, that's invaluable. And, β yeah.
Scott Schimmel (24:09)
Can I stop you there for a second? Because I think
you've embodied two sides of that. You have not sat around and waited for community to be built for you. You've done two things. You've responded to invitations, like you just said. Even going back to that golf round, there was an invitation and you didn't have, I mean, it's probably very simple to be like, nah, you know, that's uncomfortable for me. That's a long way to drive. don't, or a variety of other reasons to not do that. And then on the second hand,
Greg Sisa (24:31)
Thank
Scott Schimmel (24:38)
to you reach out to people. That's how you and I met. mean, it's like you so both respond to invitations and to reach out and make the invitation. Those are that's different than waiting back and waiting for things to happen unfold. That's you taking the initiative to go do it.
Greg Sisa (24:55)
Yeah, there's what about mentors? You always believes in like the power of just saying yes to something, right? I mean, you can always say no if it just doesn't work out, right? But I mean, when you say yes to something and you start going down that path, β if it's awesome, you keep going down the path. If it's not, don't have to go down that path anymore. And that's okay. β Yeah, and another great piece of advice that your friend.
Scott Schimmel (25:21)
That's good.
Greg Sisa (25:25)
Our mutual friend Bob always likes to say is, the occasion that you have to say no to some things, it's important to never ever burn a bridge. It doesn't matter what the situation. You don't burn the bridge. You never know when you're gonna have to cross that bridge again. And it helps you maintain relationships too.
Scott Schimmel (25:38)
Yeah.
Greg Sisa (25:54)
If something doesn't work out, it can always be positive on the other side. Just because it didn't work out doesn't mean it's not going to be a positive experience. It's a learning experience. Everyone learns something from an experience. β I've tried to live by those couple things, which has helped me maintain good relationships, even through those multiple transitions, different positions and jobs.
Scott Schimmel (26:23)
Well, what's what's remained consistent in addition to what you just shared about you, like pursuing the relationship and β has been your disposition to service serving others. And I just heard you say that earlier, like that pulled you out of whatever the funk or whatever the disorientation the two of you were in in L.A. like, what are we doing here and why are we here? It's like, I don't know, but let's you know, let's look for opportunities to serve and connect like that's been real consistent in your life. And that's a segue.
You started off sharing this about what you're doing now. And for the life of me, I'm trying so hard. it Heritage Warrior Foundation? β
Greg Sisa (27:01)
Warrior Heritage Foundation. You'll get it right one of these days, Scott.
Scott Schimmel (27:04)
All right, W, no, W H F, W T F.
All right, so you've got this opportunity in LA. What's the big vision? What are you all trying to do?
Greg Sisa (27:19)
Okay, well, so I'm working with β my great friend, Justin Garza, who is actually also a former Navy SEAL, but he was patient zero of With Your Shield. Him and his wife, Patricia, they were the very first signups of that program ever. So here we are coming full circle. So β he's the executive director on the Director of Development for Warrior Heritage Foundation. And our mission specifically is to
Scott Schimmel (27:34)
And that's cool.
Greg Sisa (27:48)
empower service members, veterans, and their families to successfully integrate into Los Angeles County and become integral leaders in their respective communities. And we have four main goals that we're working on right now. We're working with the county in particular, and they have allowed us to utilize Bob Hope Patriotic Hall in downtown Los Angeles. It is actually the last standing war memorial.
Scott Schimmel (28:12)
What?
Greg Sisa (28:17)
in the county. Yeah, it turns 100 years old next year and is going to be a national historical landmark starting next month. So, β gorgeous building. β Used to be the tallest building in Los Angeles, it's 10 stories high, but it's been very underutilized both by the military population and by the civilian population. β So we want to get
Scott Schimmel (28:17)
Huh. No way.
Whoa.
Greg Sisa (28:45)
You have good positive vibes back in the building. that's like goal number one is to get people into Bob Hope Patriotic Hall because it is gorgeous. mean, we have, we even have things in there. Like we have a a β hundred plus volume collection of, it's one of three copies of original Civil War battle plans in existence. have General Omar Bradley's desk.
Right. And we have all these artifacts and all these stories that need to be told. So that's what we're going to work on is tell the stories of BioPoe Patriotic Hall and how veterans have shaped the landscape of Los Angeles County. We are going to reboot a transition program, a family transition program, you know, for our conventional forces up here in Los Angeles County. And we'd like to establish a communications platform to help.
Scott Schimmel (29:31)
Thanks.
Greg Sisa (29:39)
you mobilize veteran voices and tell the important stories of success because, know, anecdotes are always very powerful, right? They're powerful tool to help other service members transition. It's like, oh, I hear that person's story now. I know I accomplish that as well. And then, you know, eventually probably a couple of years down the road, we'd like to do, you know, establish a wellness center within Bob Hope Patriotic Hall.
so that our service members and veterans are physically and mentally, you know, the best that they can be, feel the best that they can be, so they can be the best version of themselves, you know, in the home, in the office, and in their communities. So those are our four main things that we're going be working on for the next couple of years.
Scott Schimmel (30:30)
That's awesome. I'm picturing indoor golf simulators potentially in that wellness center. Was it? β
Greg Sisa (30:34)
that was brought up actually, that was brought up pretty recently. It was, it was. β
And then you asked about the vision as a whole, that's really the mission and the specific things, but β the landscape of, or even just being labeled as a veteran, sometimes has a negative stigma for people these days. I mean, everyone's like, thank you for your service, but when the general population thinks about veteran, they'll typically think of like an at-risk.
Scott Schimmel (30:51)
Hmm.
Hmm. Yeah.
Greg Sisa (31:03)
population or maybe an at-risk individual, right? You think about the homeless issue or your veteran suicide, β which is a crisis in itself at the moment. And that's obviously two β incredibly important issues to focus on, right? And eradicate those as much as we possibly can. But the little told stories are
Scott Schimmel (31:22)
Yeah.
Greg Sisa (31:33)
the ones of success, like how veterans are legitimately changing the landscape and integral leaders in their communities across the country. And so that's what we're going to be focusing on. The Warrior Heritage Foundation is changing the landscape of how people view what it means to be a veteran.
Scott Schimmel (31:57)
Yeah. And I love that because that actually brings a sense of expectation to the transitioning veteran. Folks like you who are saying, hey, we expect big things because look at these big things that have been done and are being done currently by folks from your community. And I like that expectation. think the veterans that I've come across like to rise to those, you know, high expectations of them and which is very different than saying like,
You know, we don't expect much from you and we're here to help you poor little people. Like rather flip that script and say, no, no, no, do big things, do great things. Just do it in a different context.
Greg Sisa (32:32)
Yeah,
exactly, exactly. you know, every service member has the capability to do it. You all have the intangibles. Everyone has the intangibles to do it in the military. it'll be, you know, it's a huge, it's a huge project, of course, know, lofty, but you eat the elephant one bite at a time. You know, start little and start scaling it out. So, but it starts just by helping.
small pools of veterans and making a big difference.
Scott Schimmel (33:06)
Well, Greg, thanks for being on the show. Thanks for your friendship. Love what you guys are doing. Can't wait to continue to roll up our sleeves together and serve more folks and at least meet halfway in Orange County to play some golf.
Greg Sisa (33:17)
We should, we'll take the train, meet halfway, do something. Scott, thank you for having β me. I have no doubt that Vector's gonna be just as successful as your previous ventures have been. And β you're always doing great things, not just for us service members and veterans, but for families and your kids across the country. So Scott, you've done amazing things and I just appreciate your friendship as well.
Scott Schimmel (33:20)
Hmm.
Thanks, bye, see you soon.
Greg Sisa (33:48)
Okay, bye.
