July 25, 2023
From special operations to the tech sector, I learned that civilian leadership demands more than just military know-how – it requires a complete mindset shift.
Now, as head of defense at Modern Intelligence, I’m building AI solutions for future warfare and helping bridge the gap between battlefield and boardroom experience.
I was invited by Got Your Six Podcast, and here are the things we tackled:
- Transitioning from military leader to individual contributor
- Navigating corporate organizational structures
- Adapting military decision-making to business
- Building relationships in civilian workplace
- Managing identity shift after service
- Translating military skills to business value
Full Video
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Full Transcript
Tony Nash: Aloha, and welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Got yout Six podcast. This six question podcast brings together high performers to share their methods, strategies, and ideas delivered in an informative and most importantly, actionable way that’ll help you lead yourself and those around you from the battlefield to the boardroom. Coming to you every episode, I’m your host, Tony Nash, and Into the Breach.
Chris Petkas: Nothing mentioned on this podcast is an endorsement or opinion of the Department of Defense. I got you six. We got your back. Got you six. We got your back. Got your six. We got your back. I got your six.
Tony Nash: Sixers. What an absolute treat today. And I don’t know if I’ve ever said that about a Naval Academy grad this close to where we are in the year, but it absolutely is. I’m so. I had to. I had to. People would have. They would have came for me, but this is one of the elite naval men’s lacrosse players, literally taking it from the battlefield to the boardroom with what he’s doing in modern intelligence. Chris Pekis, thank you so much for coming on the Gotcha Six podcast, brother. Really stoked to have you here.
Chris Petkas: I appreciate it, man. Thanks for having me, Tony. Stoked to be here.
Tony Nash: So I think where do we begin? Because there’s just so many different spots we can start with our conversation today. And I think it really starts with where you are now, right, because you are the head of defense over at Modern Intelligence, which is building AI for future warfare. So you’re trying to look at, take where we know what we know now and look to the future. I mean, that has to be like, in the sense of how do you not overestimate and not underestimate? Like, let’s talk through that a little bit.
Chris Petkas: Yeah, absolutely. It’s a great question. So what we really look at is kind of distilling the great power competition. And what are the areas that have been overlooked over the last, say, 20 years due mostly to the concentration of resources in the Middle east because of the gwat. So now we look at those areas that we’ve kind of let maybe fall by the wayside. And as you see, with any major innovation that happens in defense, it is usually a product of conflict. So we’re seeing an area mostly within the maritime domain, looking west from US to the Pacific, and seeing we have a pretty big blind spot mostly in how we have been able to innovate around our ability to enable the end users, the operators, right, like the war fighters downrange, to be able to automate some of their Processes to kind of identify and track and locate and build some pattern recognition around some objects of interest. So anything that we can do, and I speak from, I think like the whole entire defense innovation industry is taking a little bit of that labor off of the warfighter and operator. And so we’re doing that in the maritime domain with some sensor fusion, deploying AI capabilities that enable us to kind of identify things from, from a lot of different perspectives, to automate a lot of the targeting and collection processes for operators.
Tony Nash: And that in itself is fascinating, right? Because you’re taking, and I’ll brag and brag about you for a second, right? Being a Navy SEAL going through all of that, all that training for so many years and really understanding pattern recognition, being a huge part of what you do day in and day out. And now being on the other side of that, how do you continue to leverage what you took from your time in the SEAL team now to help both the end user as well as the people that you have to continually collaborate with all be on the same page? Because I mean, usually the joke is, right, the contractor, the defense, like people don’t really get what we’re doing because they’re not here. When in all actuality, you lived it, breathed it, slept it, ate it for a very long time.
Chris Petkas: Yeah. So you look at it a few different ways. One is kind of distilling the message, right? Like, there’s one thing that interest industry wants to do, there’s another thing that the military wants to solve, right? Where do we find that sweet spot without over engineering so we can enable like a quick deployment of a capability for the warfighter in the defense industry? But then similarly, how do we innovate at such a pace where we’re not beholden to like the Henry Fordism, right? Where it’s like, hey, if I asked my customers what I wanted, they would have said a bigger, faster horse, not an automobile. So that’s part of the process. And educating is a big, big chasm, like a big gap that we really have to cross for that because AI is such an umbrella term. So distilling the message is a big thing, right? Navigating people, resources, bureaucra, democracies, Right. We all know that it’s not as simple as going to the sixth shop to get, you know, like any major piece of comms equipment, right? Or it’s not as easy going to the four shop to get as like any level of sustainment that you need down range. Like sometimes you have to beg, barter and steal within your own ranks and organizations to get things done. And personality navigation is something very similar that happens on this side. Because while somebody will hold the purse strings, there’s another person that has the programmatics, there’s another. Another person has the execution dollars and some. There’s somebody who’s been sitting in this position, right. For 18, 20, 30 years that has the final magic wand approval. So it’s all about putting those few things in lockstep that enables you to kind of pass the ball down all those circles so it doesn’t fall through the hole until the end. Those two things are up pretty big.
Tony Nash: How do you navigate that human web and that human network? Essentially, like what has been kind of your go to as you look to. Because everybody wants the same thing at the end of the day, but they’re saying it like you said, from a different perspective. So it sounds different. How do you find yourself able to navigate across all of that and continue to push that ball forward?
Chris Petkas: Yeah, I think it’s asking good questions, right? It’s preparation of the environment. It doesn’t matter what I want, it matters what they want. And I think it really matters the way that they want to operate within that.
Chris Petkas: Right.
Chris Petkas: And we learn that from a leadership perspective and like don’t change your leadership style, but maybe change your approach.
Tony Nash: Right.
Chris Petkas: I think that’s something that’s significant. If you have people that are amazing by themselves and the last thing they want to do is to be told what to do. You know that every time you can say, hey, I won’t tell you what to do for the next two years, all I’ll do is I will give you left and right lateral limits, I’ll give you guidance. And as long as you can be proactive, I’ll never ask you for anything as long as you keep delivering. And there are other people that are just so capable, but you have to drag along and you have to sit there and chain them to a desk or a computer. Like, I just need you to make a little bit of magic for 20 minutes. That’s all I need you to do. It’s going to take everybody six hours to do this. It’ll take you 20 minutes. So it’s similar in finding out that process, right? And it’s asking them, it’s understanding what are their motivations, where have other companies maybe failed? Where are other organizations? And then you can slowly match those back to your wants. You really reverse plan, right? Just as like when you go through. And I know I’m going to owe like so many Dollars to the, like the jargon jar. But it’s like, you can mdmp a lot of this, man. There’s a lot of it where you can go through and say, okay, what’s my end state? What do they want? Like, what does the enemy not want? Right? And then they just plan backwards from it and it becomes a more simple, like a much simpler process that people get credit for.
Tony Nash: And the other piece too, that I think you, why you are so effective is because you also bring in so much and you’ve talked about it, just not directly. Like, you come with empathy. You’re willing to meet that other person where they’re at, as opposed to trying to, like, bring them directly where you are. What if you had to think of like a question that you as almost like a go to or something along the lines, where do you kind of open that conversation initially?
Chris Petkas: If I’m trying to break into, like, a new organization or find a new understanding, it’s like, hey, what are the hardest problems that you haven’t been able to solve? And of course, right, you set the tone for understanding the subject matter, like maritime domain awareness, which is, how do we see more things in the water? Right? There’s also, like, a really, really simple way to distill a person’s wants. And it’s to simply ask, like, why did you take the phone call? Or like, what interests you most about this? Because while some like to just say, hey, I like looking at new tech and seeing what pops, again, you just start pulling the chain and understanding, like, okay, well, what are some of the most significant problems you can share that you’re having? Be as vague as you want, right? Sometimes it’s difficult in having a class, you know, unclass conversation or a secret level, you know, conversation or a TS conversation. And a lot of the times you will get people to just pour it because they’re so overloaded. There’s so much going on, they have such a multitude of problems to solve that it’s just like a, hey, here it is. I’m willing to share it. But it’s also the personality, right? Somebody who is a. Is on the contractual side. Like, they might not give up as much. Somebody who’s a program manager, a technical director, or somebody who oftentimes is soliciting industry for solutions for particular capabilities. They’re incentivized to find problems and to field them quickly.
Tony Nash: What problem has been the most unique that you’ve kind of come across that really, really kind of had you check yourself and look at it from like, Being a beginner, as you kind of get into this different domain of being on the other side of the fight.
Chris Petkas: Yeah, man, that’s a really good question. I, like most vets, struggle when I got out originally because it was I didn’t know what I could carry with me in terms of skills learned and you know, like that knowledge gleaned from inside of uniform versus what do I stay away from in my simple mind. I was like, hey, I’m going to be an individual contributor. That’s a big thing that a lot of people don’t understand either is you are going to be an individual contributor before you’re a leader again. Officer enlisted. Doesn’t matter where you come from, regardless of rank. Yeah, absolutely doesn’t matter. That was a big piece to understand. That also doesn’t mean you’re not a leader though, because the amount of time that you have, your counterparts, right, or your contemporaries, five, six others that are doing the same exact job that you are, that freeze, don’t have the ability to make a decision or are afraid of, of looking bad because of it. They don’t understand that most decisions can be reversed. Right? Very simple thing to just raise your hand when somebody says, hey, we have a customer. We’re going to have to be pulling a 24 hour shift because we need a launch in support of a particular event, ongoing, right? And everybody just freezes. And it’s like, oh my gosh, over time to worry about the day. Like, do they need a technical person? It’s like, hey, got it. Here’s a watch, Bill. We’re going to have people every four hours. I’ll take the midnight to four. Somebody on the west coast can take the four to eight. Filter it in from there. Is everybody good with that? And it’s just like, oh, yeah, okay, okay. It’s like, great, we just saved 25 minutes. Like, on to the next piece. Everybody grab a technical battle buddy. Put it on the, like, put it on the watch bill with you. In case something technical happens, you can call them. They don’t have to be awake for you. They just got to answer the phone. Like very simple things that you can do and people appreciate it. And they’ll also understand that, hey, like once you try to execute a plan and execute it, you know, violently now, like a lot of the other things will fall into place and people will want to make it work because the last thing that people want to do is work twice.
Tony Nash: Yeah, great, go ahead.
Chris Petkas: Yeah, so that was a big piece of it right there. Similarly, like, we’re tied to rank and rate a lot of the times in the military too, right? As an 04, I can’t do the job of an O3. I’m not going to be expected to do the job of an 03. Shame on me if I try to do the job of an 03. Same thing with above me, right? If I have a good mentor, they’ll train me in the way of an O5 or that next critical position. But still, I will not have the delegated authority that they will. Right. On this side though, you are expected to be responsible and answer to anything that happens within that entire vertical. Right from the brand new sales rep who’s dialing for dollars, who’s right out of college up until the VP of your business unit. Because that person at the very bottom can say, he told me to do this. And the VP at the very top is, well, I told him to do that. And you’re that squeeze point, right? So it’s like a militaryism in which something that I learned which is like, like ass chewings and blame roll downhill. But it can always stop with you. Like, you can always be that filter to stop it. And like, that doesn’t mean that you can’t convey the severity of something that happened. Nor is it that something you can ignore about like, hey, it’s something like super like, like, it’s a big deal, but it works. And I’ve got put to the test on one deployment because of it. I mean, something that would have gotten me in so much trouble. I mean, so much trouble. And instead of freaking out, one of the dudes is like, can you please give me 16 hours? I promise I’ll figure this out. And I’m like, I mean, they’re going to get kicked out of country or like, worse. Okay. Okay, let’s do it. His name was Worm. Shout out to Worm. Worm shout. Big shout out to Worm.
Tony Nash: Big shout out.
Chris Petkas: I mean, everybody was like losing it. And it was like, calm breeds calm. I’m like, okay. I’m like, I’m just gonna go. I’m just gonna go sit in my tent. And I sat in my tent for 16 hours and I was just like, they don’t need this nervous energy. Like, they just don’t. I mean, to the point where I’m like, I’m all packed up. Something happens. Like, I’m packed up. I’m ready. Like, I’m ready.
Tony Nash: Your bags were just zipped.
Chris Petkas: Not a joke.
Tony Nash: No, no.
Chris Petkas: Probably 10 hours later, Worm comes in worms. Like, I got it. Like, you got It. It’s like, yeah, it’ll be here in three hours. It’s like you are gonna. He’s like, I am gonna go get it. Okay. It’s cool. It’s cool. I’ve been cool all the time. I’m fine. I hope you’re fine. So it’s like, it’s pieces like that where similarly like, hey, you missed an upsell, or, you know, you missed a really important call or like, you didn’t reach back to a three star who like, wanted to get this. Now it’s like, yeah, hey, is anybody dead? Is anybody losing a limb? Like, no, it’s like revenue. Yeah. And I’ll answer for it. And I apologize. But you know, I like to think that the rest of my performance will live up to it. But I mean, but there’s. I mean, you know, there’s a multitude of different things, but I think those big portions of getting out of those self realization, you know, and I think, like, yeah, I think there’s a lot you can bring, but it’s figuring out the science of like, what you can distill or what you can like, really focus in on that you kept. Or that was your big strength of yours. And then, yeah, focusing on that weakness as well, and you got to build up those weaknesses big time. Mine, like the empathy thing, like, if you, if you said like, like this my wife is gonna laugh being like, yeah, real empathetic guy. She’s like, she’s the best, but she wouldn’t give me any empathy awards.
Tony Nash: So speaking of that. Right. Like, so we talk professionally, personally, like as you get out, right. And you’re kind of reforming your identity because there is, there is a lot of it tied to, like you were saying, the uniform you see, you know, professional athletes and stuff like that. How did you do that on the per. The professor, on the personal side, you know, when, you know your wife is extremely successful in what she does. Right. And you’re both high performers. How do you continue to build up each other where you’re not like kind of, you know, more of worthy, worthy rivals instead of direct competition? What does that look like?
Chris Petkas: Yeah, yeah. So there’s a few things.
Tony Nash: And we can shout out your wife if you want to, like.
Chris Petkas: Yeah, yeah. So this is, you know, her behind me, Cody Sanchez of Contrarian Thinking it’s a finance media company where she has several different verticals that’s essentially in like the personal freedom of finance space. Check her out.
Tony Nash: Big shout out to Cody.
Chris Petkas: So fun fact, Cody and I grew up together. We met when we were 12 years old, we reconnected. We went to high, middle school, high school together. Didn’t talk to each other for like 12 years. No specific reason. Reconnected through our dads about eight years ago. Wow. And so like that, you know, we’ve been together about five and a half years now. Something that like we base our entire foundation on is a strengths based relationship. And that is what I am good at, what you’re as good at. Like, then from there, like, that’s how we lay the foundation for our entire relationship. And that is like, I am like more of the domestic person because how many times are you forced to eat like cafeteria food or MREs or whatever? And I’m like, no, I am cooking tonight. And I’m like, never going to waste a meal again in my life. Right? I’m never going to eat just to eat. And so we just have these. I’m much more detail oriented. Like, she’s incredibly creative and imaginative and so it really helps us in so many of these different ways where it’s like we just pick up a little bit for the other person. And that’s been like an incredible way to do it. We have, we set like expectations. We’re really, really good expectation management. Right. Whereas, like, this is what I’m focused on right now. We align goals. We have a really fun thing called like our rich life. And it’s like, what does that mean? Where we want to be in, like at the end of our days? Like, what are those little things that give us that life and that sense of fulfillment in life? Right? Is it kids? Is it being able to vacation whenever we want? Is it being, you know, digital nomads? Is it living in a certain place, certain behaviors that you can adapt? Right. We share everything. We engross each other in what we’re doing. Right. Like, I just love to learn what she’s doing and I’m obsessed with it. I mean, she. The same is so great. I mean, to the point of, hey, I saw this awesome article. Is it like, this reminded me like of what we talked about the other day with like, AI. I’m just like, oh my gosh, like, what?
Tony Nash: That’s so cool.
Chris Petkas: Yeah, we share our strengths with each other too. Like, you know, I’ve just started to dabble into like the Twitter sphere. And she’s like, hey, here we go. I’m going to teach you about how to grow an audience on Twitter, right?
Tony Nash: Cracks knuckles yeah.
Chris Petkas: And then for me it’s like, here’s a new holster. I’m Going to teach you to draw from the hip, right? And it’s just like fun little things like that. The tool that we have that like, is our saving grace is called team. And what it is, is every night we do this probably about like 80% of the time, right? We. We. The T’s touch, right? We hold hands, E education. We tell each other something that we learned interesting that day. And it’s great if it’s like a life lesson where it’s, you know, just like, you know, measure trice twice, cut once. It’s like, ooh, what happened today? Right? And then you get a story behind that. A is for appreciation, right? Like, hey, I appreciate you doing this. Like, even if we’re mad at each other from, like, the whole day. And here’s the thing, you can’t bitch at each other during the day. If something happens, it’s just like, hey, hold in it. Because it also teaches you, like, pick your fights. It’s like, do I really care that, like, do you want to die on this hill?
Tony Nash: Yeah.
Chris Petkas: Yeah. Like, she parked behind me and like, I was a few minutes late. It’s like, no, it’s like she was late getting home last night. Like, idiot. Like, relax. Relax, guy. Like, it’s not Baghdad. You’re like, oh, my gosh, I’m such a child. And then. But it’s appreciation, even that. It’s like, I appreciate you making me breakfast this morning. It’s like, sure, you’re welcome, right? And then M is for metrics. And that’s a good one. Where it is, like, your chance to share stuff. And it’s like, no, I’m not going to share that. And like, a lot of time it’s like, no, I’m good. It’s great. Or it’s like, hey, simple thing, preference only from, you know, one thing here or the other. And it’s like, cool, great. And it’s. It’s built, like, just such a tighter connection with us because we, you know, like, we like, your partner’s interesting. There’s a reason that you’re with them, and this enables you, like, that time for that person to share. Like, sometimes I really look forward to it because I’ll learn something at, like, 9 in the morning from like, a passerby that I have a conversation with who made a comment on, like, a jacket I’m wearing, and I’m just like, oh, like, I can’t wait to share this with her later. Like, this is cool. Because, you know, you realize it’s not zero sum, right? Like, you could. Everybody can win and you can all win and you can have it all, but, like, you know, be ready to give a lot for it. Right? There’s a great line we heard. I heard the other day. Well, I heard. I read a long time ago, and then I saw it again. But, you know, it was, a hungry man doesn’t think about the past. Right. And it’s so true. And it, like, for both of us to have hunger, it’s really helpful to continue to, like, push each other. She pushes me professionally in a huge way. She pushes me mentally. You know, I think we both push each other in all those ways. And, you know, it’s. Yeah, it’s been a really. It’s been the part that I can rely on most in transition in these last two and a half years.
Tony Nash: And that’s so huge to have because, like, not only. It’s not like, you just went from, hey, career, Navy career, moving on. Next thing, here we go into being this corporate executive, right? You had to go back. You went, Got your MBA at Virginia. Like, there was a lot of stuff in between there.
Chris Petkas: Yeah, yeah. And she did hers. Like, you know, and we have very similar routes, right? Like, we both did our. We both got our MBAs, paid for, right, through scholarship, mine through the GI Bill, hers through, you know, a different realm, like, working just so hard for what we had, what we have. And there’s, like, a big appreciation for that. Right. You know, like, you want to always be improving your fighting position. Another dollar in the jargon jar. Thank you. We, you know, it’s the truth, and it’s just those, like, little steps that can help you get there. And it’s true. And it’s like sharing these things with a person, like, unburden yourself from this stuff in transition. Everybody listening, share it with somebody, anybody who’s willing to listen. If you want to go get your hair cut three times a week because your barber is the person to talk to, unburden yourself from it. The more you share, the more perspectives you get. The more perspectives you get, the easier you realize some of the problems are because like anything else in life, we make such a bigger deal of the problems that we have in front of us when people are there to help and all you have to do is just share. That was super hard for me, is to open up about any of that stuff and.
Tony Nash: But to get to that point, right? Like, you had to not share for a very long time.
Chris Petkas: Yeah.
Tony Nash: Where. Where did sharing not. I don’t want to call it a failure. Right. But where did it come to that tipping point of like, hey, I need to be able to do this in order to continue to grow and live the life I want to live and define SEC Success the way I want to define success?
Chris Petkas: Yeah, I, like, I hate to say this, but, like, I hope people temper this, like, with my explanation. Social media. You see a lot of people on social media and they’re just sharing, like, graphic images of each other, right? They’re sharing their golf game, they’re sharing their kids, they’re sharing their pets, they’re sharing funny skits. It’s the opening up, right? Like, you look at these people with massive audiences, and they’re living the life that they absolutely want to live. And so much of it is because they get affirmation from other people being like, I love what you’re doing. It’s funny what you’re doing. I get something from what you’re sharing. And it’s something that I want to be a part of or continue watching or seeing. Right. Just like you’re doing with this podcast right now. That’s huge, Tony. That’s an awesome, awesome thing, and I imagine that you’ve probably seen it as well, is once you start to open yourself up to this, people will not only be interested, but in you about it, but they’ll also be interested in helping. Like, the first, like, tweet thread that I ever posted on there, I got some of the most crazy, like, outreach from people being, like, people I would never thought, like, you know, a billion dollar, you know, PE firm, CEO, and he’s like, I have a few vets, and frankly, I don’t think I have been. I haven’t been managing them right. And, like, this gives me a much better insight into it. Thank you. Former NHL all star hockey player was like, hey, man, I had a big identity thing when I transition as well. Super interesting. I’m helping with a lot of the players right now. Awesome to see what you’re putting on.
Tony Nash: Sam’s been incredible to help him along his journey. I mean, obviously there’s been other people along the way, but I think we’re talking about the same person, but yeah, yeah.
Chris Petkas: It’s insane, man. So, like, there’s just like, so many incredible people out there that, you know, want to share it on the story. Right? I mean, it’s the history of humanity is sharing stories and telling about yourself and your history and your tribe and your conquests and similarly your failures. Right. Like, share some of those. Good thing we do in the military is we debrief a lot. Like, that helps, man. If you want a mentor, a good mentor, if you can be honest with yourself in the debrief process, you are likely to keep that mentor for life. Because they know that you’re honest with yourself, that you take feedback and that you can self correct. Like, those are big, big things that don’t exist on this side of the uniform as much as people think they do.
Tony Nash: Where did you not. Where were you not honest in a debrief to yourself? That really kind of set you in a position where like, all right, I can’t do this going forward.
Chris Petkas: Yeah, it is. Because I hadn’t done this before. I don’t have the right to say I’m qualified to do this other thing. Yeah, right. That was like. It was like, for me, it was like a big pendulum. Yeah, thank you. It was a big pendulum, right? Where at least I was like at first. Like, I can do everything. I’m a big bad frog, man. I’m not gonna have issues with any of this. And then it’s just like, I am just another number in another uniform and I have no idea what I can provide to anybody else. And so like, there is that swing where that you’ll go through and wherever you land, right? Like, that’s, that’s a point. You’ll have people who completely out kick their coverage, who have an amazing opportunity and they go to it. And one, it’s difficult, but they figure out. And they’re still like, I’m not fulfilled because the dollar amount, like, doesn’t fulfill me day in and day out. Like, I work 80 hours a week, but I don’t even have time to spend my million dollars. Right. Or I don’t even know my family anymore. I know them less than when I was in uniform. And that was a big thing for me is like, who, like, what, what capability am I in? And that’s like, right, is what the comparison is the root to all sadness. Or like another great line that goes that way. And dude, that’s huge. Like, you’re comparing yourself to too many people. And guess what? Like, you’re not all those people. And people might try to group you in with other veterans. They might group you in with other people from your service, or they might try to put a number and a tag on you, like, oh, you have a MBA from this school. You were a seal for X amount of years. This was your undergrad. This is what kind of human you are. Pigeonhole. It’s like, I shame on you for pigeonholing me. But like, Shame on myself for being like, yep, cool. Thanks for the stamp. And that’s a big problem. So it took me a while to find, like, what that fit looked like. I was, like, hell bent on finance. And I realized, like, it’s not for me. It’s. There’s certain things that just don’t jive with what I want to achieve in life. And then I looked over to. For these particular finance jobs. Right. And then, sure. Like, yeah. Consulting and looked into tech. And it really is like being able to be somewhere where, like, you can have the room to find yourself a little bit.
Tony Nash: Yeah. And being honest in that debrief. And as. As we get to the end of the episode and you and I could just go on for days. Right. I do have to ask this, Chris. How are you better today than yesterday?
Chris Petkas: How am I better today than yesterday? I’m better today than yesterday because I know, like, I know better today on how I want to contribute to the rest of the world, to the people around me. I get a lot out of that. And that’s a reason I think a lot of us choose to put on the uniform and we don’t think about it. Right. People will, like, say thank you for your service. And, you know, sometimes, personally, I do this so I could do hood rat with my friends.
Tony Nash: Like, that’s RIP Lucy’s in the alley. Yeah, absolutely.
Chris Petkas: It’s like, I do this because people pay me to, like, go to the gun range. But at the end of the day, you look people in the eye of who is a partner force who’s been at war for their entire lives. Everything is destroyed around them. You think that you’re fighting their war for them, but you’re not. They’re bearing the brunt of everything. The emotion, the loss, the loss of lives, the economic loss, loss of time. And whether people want to admit that or not, like, it’s a fulfilling thing to try and ease a little bit from another person and make life maybe just a bit easier to contribute. And I implore more service members to do that on this side. And it’s not just in the ways that you think. Starting a company that makes the burden on somebody just a little bit easier, that’s contributing, enabling somebody to be able to automate a piece of technology that keeps them from working hard, hard labor in factories, that’s a contribution. So that’s the way that I am. Better today than yesterday.
Tony Nash: Never discounting your service to others. I absolutely love that. Chris, where can people go to connect? Follow you? I know you’re about to blow up on Twitter. Where can people connect with you?
Chris Petkas: Yeah, Hrispeckis on Twitter, Hrispecus on Instagram. I’m not on the TikTok that’s Cody’s thing. Follow her all you want there her YouTube as well. But yeah, I’d love to connect however.
Tony Nash: I can be helpful and we’ll make sure we link all of those in the show notes below. Chris, I can’t thank you enough for your time sharing, your methods, your strategies and most importantly, thanks for having our six. Really appreciate it.
Chris Petkas: Thanks Tony. I appreciate it brother.
Chris Petkas: I don’t know what you’ve been told, Sixers, but the lawyers would like us to remind you that the views, opinions and comments expressed on the Got yout six podcast are solely those of the hosts or guests to include current and previous Department of Defense employees and should in no way be considered the opinions of or endorsements on behalf of the Department of Defense or any of its components, divisions, contractors or other current and previous staff members.