Here’s my win, veteran business owners: the Village of Richton Park has signed an MOU with VetMentors LLC and will host our Veterans Housing, Benefits & Legacy Empowerment Series. I’m sharing this because I want to encourage somebody today: keep going. 🛑 Don’t stop. I’ve worked in the homeless veterans community for 25 years. I’ve been bringing housing education and support into VA spaces since 2007. Along the way, I earned my SDVOSB certification and 13 others, even before I fully understood where those certifications might lead. Now, in 2026, a municipality is making room for the work I’ve spent decades building. This support means veterans will have a place to learn about housing, homebuying, and benefits in their own community. For me as a veteran business owner, it also means the work is being seen and given a platform to grow. I joined Skool some time ago but didn’t put it to use until I found the Veterans Business community. I’m learning from David and Hal, and I’ve since built VetMentors Housing University so I can teach others what 25 years in veteran housing has taught me. To the business owner still putting in the work: keep growing, keep learning, and keep showing up. Your story is still being written. I’d love to hear your perspective: What has support from a local government partner meant for your veteran owned business, and what steps helped you turn that support into a sustainable business relationship?

I recently used Codex to turn a flat 2D image of a product I wanted to make into a 3D model. I had a drawing of this little moth that is specific to my business, and I wanted to turn that drawing into a 3D-printed character. I don't know how to design in the 3D space, but I did hear recently Codex added Blender, which is a free 3D software, to its plugins. Being able to hand it a picture and have it help build the actual thing opens up a lot of possibilities for product ideas. I gave it the image, explained what I wanted, and had it go into the 3D software and create the model. It was working directly in the software, which was pretty cool to watch. There’s still judgment involved in deciding how something flat should look from the sides and back, so having a clear idea of the finished product helps. I’ve been using Codex for a lot of business and software work, but this was a fun example of using it for physical product development too. Something that started as a picture became a model I could keep working with.

As some of you know I love entrepreneurship but hate having a job. Still, we find times when we just need to rally on our strengths to get us what we want. Last week I landed a clint on the Upwork platform. He is looking to expand his business and needed an experienced recruiter. That is in my specialty, as I have more than 12 years recruiting experience. So I took the gig. I probably wouldn't have taken the contract it if the sale of my self-storage facility went through, but things happen for a reason. I'm not sure the reason for this set back but I just have to own it. This one should be about $100k for 6 months @ 20hrs / wk. More than I usually commit for my time, but my other businesses are pretty passive at this point (3+ years to get to this point to be mostly passive and I couldn't do it without business partners). Anyway, just sharing the grind like all of you. Sometimes we have to do what we need to in order to advance.

It is available in the LiveStream replay class. Today we interview Yvette Jones-Swanson, who runs America's Premier Learning Community for Veteran Housing Professionals, has 20+ years experience with Veteran Housing. Renowned Autor, Educator, and Advocate for Veterans. One of her clients now turned passion into a business and owns 11 revenue producing units that house veterans. Learn how she made it happen. Building Communities. Restoring Lives. Retired from the Army Homeless, now teaches veterans a path to Homeownership. She is an Army Veteran | REALTOR® | Author | Chancellor, VetMentors Housing University™ | Homeless to Homeowner Or Click on the link below.https://www.youtube.com/live/ytXuWDtUIjo?si=YMOG8hRrdBIalAJo

This Skool platform just started allowing paid members to leave reviews. Big shout out to @Luis Ortiz for being the first to review the Veteran Business Community. Thanks brother, much appreciated. It helps us grow and help more veterans start businesses.