This episode of Mission Transition has Corey talking to retired Army Colonel Trina Rice regarding her military career, her transition to civilian life, and her experiences as an entrepreneur.

Key Topics and Themes:

• Career and Leadership: After a 30-year military career with roles in human resources, recruiting, and talent management, the speaker transitioned to becoming a franchise owner of Express Employment Professionals in Virginia. She credits mentorship as the most significant contributor to her development as a leader.
• Challenges of Transition: The speaker identified the loss of structured routine—specifically the lack of a "must-do" daily schedule—as a primary challenge when transitioning out of the military.
• The PACE Plan: The speaker emphasized the importance of a PACE (Primary, Alternate, Contingency, Emergency) plan for all service members. She applied this framework to her own transition, allowing her to pivot between business ventures and geographic moves when initial plans were disrupted.
• Entrepreneurship and Service: The speaker balances two professional endeavors:
  • Express Employment Professionals: A franchise focused on workforce development that allows her to serve veterans and military families by connecting them with meaningful employment.
  • Tohi Retreat: A business focused on providing a space for women to find their "center" and replenish themselves socially and professionally.
• Advice for Transitioning Service Members:
  • Patience: Do not rush the transition process; recognize that it is a "one-and-done" experience that requires careful, metered execution.
  • Networking: The speaker stressed that on the civilian side, "who you know" is often more critical than "what you know," and advised building a network while still serving.
  • Perspective and Humility: Veterans bring valuable traits like hard work and mission accomplishment to the workforce, but she advised against overestimating how easy the civilian world will be or how much one's military skills are automatically understood by civilians.