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Veterans know how to lead. The lessons we learned in the military form the foundation for bigger successes in business, entrepreneurship and community.
Host John S Berry, CEO of Berry Law, served as an active-duty Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army, finishing his military career with two deployments and retiring as a Battalion Commander in the National Guard. Today, his veteran led team at Berry Law, helps their clients fight some of the most important battles of their lives. Leading successful teams in the courtroom, the boardroom, and beyond, veteran leadership drives the firm’s rapid growth and business excellence.
Whether building teams, synchronizing operations, or refining tactics, we share our experiences, good and bad, to help you survive, thrive and dominate.
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[00:00:01.15] - Stephanie Glover
I always say to people, the hardest thing I had to do was step away from the military. But after that, everything became easy to say no or pass. I can't do it.
[00:00:14.13] - Freddie Kim
Welcome to Veteran Led. Today I'm your host, Freddie Kim with Mil-Spec Talent. I'm here at Veteran Edge in Dallas, Texas, and I'm sitting here with Stephanie Glover.
[00:00:26.10] - Stephanie Glover
Yes.
[00:00:26.18] - Freddie Kim
She is an author of the Four Leaf Clover Financial System book. You have a bachelor's in HR, you have an MBA, you've done real estate, you were, you've done a whole lot.
[00:00:39.21] - Stephanie Glover
A whole lot.
[00:00:40.06] - Freddie Kim
And then you wrote a, authored a book.
[00:00:42.01] - Stephanie Glover
Wrote a book.
[00:00:43.00] - Freddie Kim
Please tell me about your, your, your service though. Start, let's start there. Air Force service.
[00:00:48.05] - Stephanie Glover
Air Force. I was HR, human resource management. Very successful career. I thought I was going to retire, but God chose differently. I got pregnant with my first child, and my husband and I was active duty to active duty, so it was okay. But when I got pregnant with the second one, it became a challenge with both of us being active duty. And so one of us needed to be more flexible with the children, and so I did. So he stayed in and retired, and I decided to step out and just try the world differently.
[00:01:27.03] - Freddie Kim
Cool.
[00:01:27.09] - Stephanie Glover
So I could have flexibility for the children.
[00:01:28.21] - Freddie Kim
How long did you serve?
[00:01:30.07] - Stephanie Glover
Right at 8 years.
[00:01:31.08] - Freddie Kim
Right at 8 years.
[00:01:32.00] - Stephanie Glover
Right at 8 years.
[00:01:33.03] - Freddie Kim
You loved what you were doing?
[00:01:34.23] - Stephanie Glover
I loved it. I thought that was gonna be my life. When I got out of the military, I went straight into trying to find human resource management. I thought, I mean, I did well in the military. I was great at it. I had lots of awards. I just, I thought it was gonna be my life. And so everything just had to pivot. And I'm glad that it did because I had a son that, my second son ended up being born with sickle cell anemia. And my oldest son, he kept getting sick and I kept having to like take leave. And so I ended up burning through all my leave. The boy, he just wouldn't get better. I'm like, what is going on with this, this little guy? And it was almost like a sign. So because he stayed sick and having help and no family close by, it just made sense for one of us to be flexible.
[00:02:27.02] - Freddie Kim
Of course, of course.
[00:02:28.12] - Stephanie Glover
And then when I got outta the military, my second son was born and I took the option where women could get out for pregnancy honorable. So, I took that option and then my son was born with sickle cell anemia.
[00:02:43.02] - Freddie Kim
I didn't even know they had that option.
[00:02:44.13] - Stephanie Glover
It's a thing.
[00:02:45.00] - Freddie Kim
You can actually honorably discharge
[00:02:48.01] - Stephanie Glover
So, if you're a female and you are pregnant, you have to do it while you're pregnant before the child come. I got outta military July 1st. My son was born July 5th. So,
[00:02:58.17] - Freddie Kim
Wow.
[00:02:58.18] - Stephanie Glover
it was very tight.
[00:03:00.12] - Freddie Kim
Yeah, very tight.
[00:03:01.11] - Stephanie Glover
But I had to make the decision quickly and I had to jump right to it. I called my husband and he was like, "You know what? It's best for the family." And I'm just gonna give it to God because at that point, I needed to be flexible. I had no idea. I didn't know I was even a sickle cell carrier. I was never told that my whole life. I don't even know anyone in my family that has the trait.
[00:03:23.13] - Freddie Kim
Crazy.
[00:03:23.20] - Stephanie Glover
So for my son to be born with the disease, it blew us away. It knocked us off our feet. It was like, how? That's impossible. So, I needed to be home. So, it was destined. Everything was destined.
[00:03:35.20] - Freddie Kim
So tell us your journey upon transition then.
[00:03:37.20] - Stephanie Glover
So I got out. I definitely went straight into applying for HR positions. I got offered an HR position right away. It was gonna be a full-time position. I was gonna be working at a factory, their HR director. My boss was gonna be in Memphis, Tennessee, so I was in Montgomery, Alabama. So it was an awesome situation, but I was going back into a full-time, fully committed position, and I left the military to have more flexibility, and now I'm going right back to it. So I had to step away from that and that took me into my journey of entrepreneurship, because at that point, what are you going to do to transition? So, um, my, um, at that time, my husband like, what you gonna do? I was like, well, maybe I'll keep children. I mean, I'm staying at home with ours. So I ended up applying to take on military children in my home. So my house was already childproof, so it was almost perfect, but I'm not a babysitter, so it wasn't perfect for me. But I did— but that started my journey because I went to the base, got their little application packet, and checked off everything.
[00:04:47.02] - Stephanie Glover
And before I knew it, I had a, a business name, EIN number. I had all these things that I was just checking off the list and even realized—
[00:04:54.12] - Freddie Kim
was it the four-leaf clover?
[00:04:55.15] - Stephanie Glover
It wasn't the four-leaf clover. That was me doing in-home daycare.
[00:04:59.12] - Freddie Kim
Okay.
[00:05:00.05] - Stephanie Glover
And that was not it. I, I never took anyone to, you know, child in. I never— I didn't even babysit kids growing up, so I don't even know what I was thinking, but I gave it a shot, right?
[00:05:12.15] - Freddie Kim
You gave it a shot.
[00:05:13.14] - Stephanie Glover
And I was like, okay, this wasn't smart, but it was a thought. And then I had a cousin who was going to real estate school. She said, why don't you? And I was like, I'm not doing anything. And being that I'm a Veteran, you know, I received benefits, I got my GI Bill, why not go back to school? So I went and got my real estate license. And from there I ended up meeting this this, uh, my cousin got her, her license first, and she started working for this real estate investor. And he had, back then, listen to this, it's actually really a good story, he had, um, a package that you can get 5 homes for $200,000. He pre-approved you and he gave you $10,000 at closing.
[00:05:58.05] - Freddie Kim
Where?
[00:05:58.07] - Stephanie Glover
That was a real thing. It was in Memphis, Tennessee.
[00:06:00.12] - Freddie Kim
Memphis.
[00:06:01.04] - Stephanie Glover
Memphis was 5 homes, you get 5 homes for $200,000.
[00:06:05.12] - Freddie Kim
And how many of these did he sell?
[00:06:06.23] - Stephanie Glover
He was, he had, so my husband and I packed up our children and drove to Memphis.
[00:06:11.07] - Freddie Kim
Yeah.
[00:06:11.16] - Stephanie Glover
We get there, he gave us a sheet. He had already pre-qualified us 'cause he also had, he did mortgages, he did everything. He was a powerhouse. And he gave us a sheet of paper with addresses front to back. He said, pick 5, just like that. Pick 5. And we got in the car. My dad was living at the time.
[00:06:28.13] - Freddie Kim
What year was this?
[00:06:29.13] - Stephanie Glover
That was 2007.
[00:06:32.09] - Freddie Kim
2007.
[00:06:32.22] - Stephanie Glover
It was 2007, and we got in the car and started driving around, and it was, it was a lot, but it was scary.
[00:06:41.05] - Freddie Kim
How'd that—
[00:06:42.17] - Stephanie Glover
I didn't do it.
[00:06:43.18] - Freddie Kim
Oh, you didn't do it?
[00:06:44.12] - Stephanie Glover
I didn't do it. It wasn't a scam, it was a whole thing. But, um, back then, to me, $200,000— I mean, you hear that today, you like, what the world?
[00:06:53.13] - Freddie Kim
Hell yeah.
[00:06:54.21] - Stephanie Glover
But yeah, back then I was like, $200,000 in debt? I don't know. And it kind of scared me. And then I've never, you know, been in real estate, and I'm new to I had just gotten my license. It was a lot to take in. And I always say to people, the hardest thing I had to do was step out of the way, step away from the military. But after that, everything became easy to say no or pass. I can't do it. And I walked away from it because I just was not ready. And I look back on it now, right? You're like, oh my gosh, that really was, it really was a thing.
[00:07:28.17] - Freddie Kim
Yeah.
[00:07:29.18] - Stephanie Glover
But I came back to Montgomery, Alabama with, on a smaller scale, and I bought my first property for like under $10,000. We flipped it right away, made profit, and that became my journey with real estate. I started buying and flipping properties and—
[00:07:45.19] - Freddie Kim
beautiful—
[00:07:46.12] - Stephanie Glover
um, owning properties, and became a real estate broker, started doing credit repair, mortgages, whatever was needed, I started doing it.
[00:07:56.20] - Freddie Kim
You know, that's— it's a great story because Sometimes our eyes are too big for our appetite, right? And you feel like you're going to jump on and capitalize on an opportunity, but it may be too much. It may be way too much. So of those 5 homes, if there were repairs that needed or they weren't rented out, you still had that mortgage payment. So that was the right call for you at that time.
[00:08:22.22] - Stephanie Glover
At that time it was. I was not ready for it. I didn't know what I was doing.
[00:08:26.03] - Freddie Kim
Sure.
[00:08:26.18] - Stephanie Glover
But I ended up building it anyway. I just did it in my own way and I don't look back. And real estate is still my passion. It's still my go-to. I still own several properties. I still own land. I still Airbnb market. I can't get away from real estate. It's just a part of who I am. But I did go out and sample. I've opened up two brick-and-mortar stores in two different states. I just shut down my third restaurant franchise. I own three. Different restaurants in two different states.
[00:08:59.17] - Freddie Kim
And you shut them down?
[00:09:00.18] - Stephanie Glover
I shut my last one down last year. Thank you, God. It was a lot.
[00:09:05.14] - Freddie Kim
Yeah.
[00:09:06.12] - Stephanie Glover
It was a whole lot.
[00:09:07.10] - John S. Berry
Yeah.
[00:09:07.22] - Stephanie Glover
I don't even know what took me there, but it was a part of my journey. It got me to where I am. So, with all my background consulting, everything in my business career, teaching, education, Along the way, I found a four-leaf clover.
[00:09:24.08] - Freddie Kim
So tell us about the inspiration behind this and what this teaches.
[00:09:29.08] - Stephanie Glover
Money.
[00:09:29.14] - Freddie Kim
Money, of course.
[00:09:30.06] - Stephanie Glover
You know, a lot of trial and error, a lot of budgeting, trying to figure it out. And I had some financial difficulties early in my military career. And the way the military work is, they don't kick you right out. They try to help you first. And if they can't help you, then they tell you got to go. So, they sent me to some credit repair places. They sent me to some financial management. It was a lot of great tools that they had, but nothing connected to me at my level. I was young. I was new into having a fixed income. I didn't have a background in finance. It just— nothing really stuck. But, um, there's a part in my book that talk about my upbringing with my grandmother. And my grandmother raised me on a fixed income of $800 a month with Social Security. And, um, I remember in high school she got me to a place where she started taking a loan out once a year for $500. Every August 1st, right before school started, it would mature. She'll pay the loan off and she'll renew it and get another $500. And she gave it to me and she always said, "Make it work." So that I had to take that $500 and buy shoes, school supply, coats, you know, pants, whatever I needed for a whole year.
[00:10:57.07] - Stephanie Glover
She taught me how to take that money and stretch it. So, after going back and forth with everything everyone had taught me and everything I was going through, I really went back to that. And I was like, if my grandma could do that on $800, She paid our bills. She kept me going. She— we were fine. And why can't I, right? So, I took that and I started building this concept then. I didn't realize that I had built it then, but I did. And it's so much so, by the time I— my second year in the Air Force, I had friends borrowing money from me. And I remember a time one of my friends was moving into her first apartment and she needed $1,200 deposit, first and last month's rent, and she didn't have it. The military was gonna give it back to her, but she had to get it paid so she can get that apartment. And she borrowed it from me. And I remember when she did it, everybody around us as airmen were like, how do you have $1,200? Not that you have it, but how can you let someone borrow it?
[00:12:04.19] - Freddie Kim
And then borrow it, right?
[00:12:05.23] - Stephanie Glover
And I was like; I'm saving my money. I'm doing, you know, and I was like, I can tell you what I'm doing. And from there, I've always shared my techniques, what I do, how I separate my money.
[00:12:18.03] - Freddie Kim
Good for you.
[00:12:18.20] - Stephanie Glover
And it just became my life.
[00:12:21.08] - Freddie Kim
And she paid you back, right?
[00:12:22.13] - Stephanie Glover
She did pay me back. She paid me back.
[00:12:25.01] - Freddie Kim
Good story.
[00:12:25.10] - Stephanie Glover
As soon as she got her military check, she put my money in my hand. I had no issues with it.
[00:12:30.16] - Freddie Kim
Good, good.
[00:12:31.06] - Stephanie Glover
But I mean, that was back in 2001 or something, 2002. And as an airman in the military, I was letting someone borrow $1,200. And that's been my life ever since.
[00:12:45.12] - Freddie Kim
That's your heart. That's your—
[00:12:46.15] - Stephanie Glover
That's my heart.
[00:12:47.08] - Freddie Kim
That's who you are.
[00:12:48.01] - Stephanie Glover
That's who I am.
[00:12:49.04] - Freddie Kim
Right.
[00:12:49.14] - Stephanie Glover
And that's the system. So I'm teaching others. My husband and I, home is paid off in full. We have done several businesses. Even in my businesses, when I've paid CPAs or bookkeepers, I've found mistakes they couldn't find. I've had CPAs that have to refund me all my money because they couldn't identify things that I could by using my system. And it's just, it works. It works in every part of your life by helping you simply watch your money. I'm not selling anything to go buy. It's just simply using a checking and savings account the right way.
[00:13:33.02] - Freddie Kim
Amazing. How has EDGE, this EDGE conference helped you?
[00:13:38.16] - Stephanie Glover
I came here a few years ago with my first business. Well, not my first business, but my restaurant industry business. And from there until now, it's amazing. The connections, the networking. My fellow Veterans. Everyone is— it's— we have a connection without even speaking it, right? So, you feel at home as soon as you walk in. So, it's very uplifting to be a part of a program like this.
[00:14:08.22] - Freddie Kim
Stephanie, this has been amazing. How can people stay connected with you and learn where to purchase this?
[00:14:16.17] - Stephanie Glover
Amazon. I am on amazon.com, but my website is www.the4leafclover, the number 4. So, you can go out to website and find me, or you can go out to Amazon and purchase the book and, and try it yourself.
[00:14:33.05] - Freddie Kim
And, and to stay connected, LinkedIn is the best?
[00:14:35.21] - Stephanie Glover
LinkedIn is the best, um, or the website. My email is there, my contact information. That, that would probably be the best. Okay, right, cool. Because trying to navigate all those messages, but LinkedIn would probably be the number one option.
[00:14:49.04] - Freddie Kim
Okay,
[00:14:49.18] - Stephanie Glover
that's a good one.
[00:14:51.08] - Freddie Kim
Thank you for sharing.
[00:14:53.17] - Stephanie Glover
Thank you for having me.
[00:14:55.02] - Freddie Kim
Thank you for sharing this information.
[00:14:56.15] - John S. Berry
Yeah, Thank you for joining us today on Veteran Led, where we seek to help Veterans build an even bigger, better future after military service. Unfortunately, for some of our Veterans, the roadblock to a better future is that they are not receiving all of the benefits that they earned. If you need help appealing a VA disability decision, contact Berry Law.