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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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[00:00:01.16] - Zack Knight
I wanted to find an organization that was the Now What. I've got all this baseline training, had my MBA, had the things, and I couldn't find that organization. So Entrepreneurial Plight, I started it. Our concept is that business is the greatest vehicle to combat Veteran suicide.
[00:00:16.16] - John S. Berry
Welcome to Veteran Led. Today's guest is Zack Knight, a former police officer in Atlanta, then an Infantry Officer of the United States Army, and now an entrepreneur with his own podcast and plenty of other projects. Welcome to the show, Zack Knight.
[00:00:33.12] - Zack Knight
Brother, I appreciate you having me. It's exciting. We met a while back and reconvened in my hometown, so I'm happy to be here, and thanks for having me, man.
[00:00:40.21] - Speaker 1
We met in Dallas where you were the MC for the Tip of the Spear Gala. You did a phenomenal job mixing humor with professionalism and keeping the trains running on time. It's a tough gig, but you have got a lot of gigs. Just tell us, what are the main projects on your plate right now? Because Veterans listening to this think, oh, I have to pigeonhole myself and do one thing. No, you do everything.
[00:01:01.09] - Zack Knight
Man, you mentioned the podcast, The Tactical Leader. I've had it for five and a half years or so now. We're close to 500 episodes or so. Out of that, I started a media production company, so we do all the editing video. We have expanded that team a little bit to be a photographer, videographer. It led into Advancing Line for Veterans. ATL Vets is my 501(C). The ATL stands for Advancing the Line. So outside of Atlanta, we go by Advancing the Line. Here in Atlanta, it's a good play on Atlanta. So ATL Vets, our first pillar is marketing, and we'd really take a lot of that piece of, how do you tell your story? How do you get out there as a Veteran and talk about that journey, whether it's marketing your sofa business, marketing yourself in a job, but really explain that journey more. We love that platform. The podcasting world is phenomenal. ATL Vets is a big piece. Then more recently, we've got a private equity firm, Patriot Growth Capital. It is really focused, I can explain the ecosystem there, but it's really focused on entrepreneurship through acquisition, where ATL Vets specializes in entrepreneurship and the growth of businesses.
[00:02:03.08] - Zack Knight
Patriot Growth Capital is focused on acquiring companies and then recruiting Veterans out of ATL Vets to be owner operators in those companies. We just closed on our first acquisition last week. It took us eight months to finally get one. It's a good 14 million revenue company, so it'll be something good to be able to place a Veteran in.
[00:02:20.13] - John S. Berry
Congratulations. I know how important it is to find the right leadership in a team. I think of all the hiring mistakes I made, and sometimes you have a great leader that doesn't have the skills, and sometimes you have someone with the great hard skills, but they can't lead. I think to find that perfect combination is where you hit gold, and that's where it pays off.
[00:02:38.13] - Zack Knight
It is. That's part of the ATL Vets process. Our program's very select, where we have great partnerships like Hire Heroes or Work for Warriors, IVMF with Syracuse University. They're great at that initial point, so you get the baseline knowledge, the transition. We see ourselves not as a transition point. It's like, once you've gotten out and realized, I don't like this or I don't like that, the air is not as fresh after the military. That's where we like to find ourselves is you've gotten that experience and then you haven't found your place or your purpose after the uniform, and we pick up there and then try to place and vet guys and gals. We're unique on both sides. I say guys and gals. We serve the Veteran Family Corps. Our belief, America has gotten away from family. Veterans, the community, you've struggled with family. We serve parents, siblings, children, and the Veteran, the Veteran spouse, where we want to support that whole core to really support the Veteran. It's unique as we start vetting through all of that but really looking for the values and the mindset being really important.
[00:03:35.06] - John S. Berry
You're not looking for the Veteran that first gets out and really doesn't know what he or she wants to do. You're looking for that Veteran that gets out, probably as a self-starter, invested in themselves by going through programs through IVMF or some of the better organizations that help Veterans. They're coming out of those programs, and now they're ready to do something, and that's when you want them.
[00:03:51.07] - Zack Knight
Yeah, I see it as the now what piece. That was my story. On the infantry side, I ended up deploying with the Green Beret in 2019. Went over with 10th group, found out a year later, I got injured, and Fort Benning screwed up a surgery. Two years after that, I officially got medically retired. A year of recovery, they figured out the surgery really didn't go well. A year of out-processing. I was told, Here's a resume. Fill this out. We could probably get you an entry-level roll somewhere. This is after working SWAT and Narcotics, then Infantry and Deploying with the Green Braze. I had a couple of side hustles, the Media Company, the podcast while I was active duty. I'm not here for an entry-level role. I'm 34 years old. The military says you're not good for anything anymore because you're retired and can't carry your rifle. I wanted to find an organization that was the, now what? I've got all this baseline training, had my MBA, had the things, and I couldn't find that organization. So entrepreneurial plight started it. That's what ATL Vets really comes into, is once you really understand you don't fit somewhere, we want to be that piece to help you find out where you fit.
[00:04:56.12] - Zack Knight
Our concept is that business is the greatest vehicle to combat Veteran suicide. If we can give a Veteran or family member a reason to wake up tomorrow, a new team, that new community piece, and find that purpose, I think that's where we're going to really see Veteran suicide take a decrease because there's something to get up for tomorrow, if that makes sense.
[00:05:14.13] - John S. Berry
With all this stuff going on, finding focal points can sometimes be tough. Right now, we're at the Military Influencer Conference in Atlanta. You were on the stage today. What did you speak about?
[00:05:23.21] - Zack Knight
I'm actually heading on in the next hour or so. Last year, I spoke here twice We talked about more of the marketing stuff, more of the launch of ATL Vets. This year, we're highlighting Atlanta as a whole for the Veteran community. What I find interesting, and you go all across the place, so you have a good concept of this, most of the cities we want to target are non-Veteran cities. Atlanta, sixth largest Veteran community in the country, nobody thinks of Atlanta as a Veteran city. We're on a big push to make Atlanta a Veteran City USA. Some of the other cities we're in, ATL Vets is 2 years and 3 months old, and we're in 12 cities, 10 states. We look at Phoenix, Austin, Charlotte, Nashville, where a Veteran is moving to outside of those hubs. We're in Tampa. It's a great city for us. But I want to find those places where a Veteran is going, you leave San Antonio and Houston, you're probably going to Austin or Dallas. We try to build those communities up of where you're moving to for a better opportunity.
[00:06:20.06] - John S. Berry
How outstanding. Follow the opportunity. I want to talk about leadership. I want to hear the after-action review. Your examples of great leadership and horrible leadership, whether it's been in business or in the military. You don't have to name names. Let's start with the great leadership.
[00:06:34.16] - Zack Knight
Honestly, my very first business mentor, he was an amazing man, Michael J. Coles. He was the founder of the Great American Cookie Company here in Atlanta. Found it in the '70s, sold it in the '90s for nine figures, and he ran for office on VA reform, actually. Ended up losing. But then he became the CEO of Caraboo Coffee. He then opened a few of his own banks. Just a man that is phenomenal. I read his book while I was in Afghanistan. We lost six out of 50 guys. I was going through a hard time and read his book, and he has a phenomenal time to get tough. It's a phenomenal book. But when I came back, fate brought us together. Divine intervention brought us together. When I got back from Afghanistan, and he told me, such a great mentor, he said, If you ever want advice, ask for money. If you ever want money, ask for advice. Because I was in that early stage, and when you think about entrepreneurship, people are always trying to sell something and not asking for that advice. When I see how he took a five-cent cookie, built a nine-figure empire out of it, excuse me, The way he operates in business is very studious, very mentor, very giving back.
[00:07:50.23] - Zack Knight
He started a scholarship at a local university here for Veterans to go back to school. All the proceeds is his book, go to that scholarship. It's just looking at how are you making an impact. He walked that walk, humble guy, super chill, lives off in a ranch in Wyoming now. He's just like one of those guys that's always giving back to the community and wanting to make an impact with everything he does. I think that's an admiral piece to look at from the business leadership side and where are we going next.
[00:08:19.04] - John S. Berry
And now the bad leadership.
[00:08:20.20] - Zack Knight
The bad leadership. I think for me, man, it's the favoritism piece. I saw it in the military. I won't name names. But it's one of those where we came up together through the ranks. You're not qualified for this role, but we're going to put you in this role. Right before we went to Afghanistan, had a command switcheroo where somebody Nobody's favorite person ended up being my commander. He was a logistician, not an infantryman, and did not understand the infantry world. Nothing against him, but it's a different mindset, especially when you're on the front lines heading into combat. I think that's the piece that I've really learned is don't play favorites just because it's your family or childhood friend. Especially in business, you're putting your name on the line. My name is my dad's name, so I take it very seriously, where if I put Zack Knight on something, that Knight is very important because it's my dad's name, Vietnam Vet, old-school guy. I love him to death. I don't want to ruin his legacy. It's like, don't play those favorites in leadership. Really look at who's going to impact you, who's going to help you, and be very careful what partnerships you're making.
[00:09:29.12] - Zack Knight
Say no to those pain in the butt clients, right? You're an attorney, you know that, right? Oh, yeah. Sometimes you got to say no to those things because you're putting your name on whatever happens with those engagements.
[00:09:40.04] - John S. Berry
Great advice and a great lesson. My favorite are always the high performers. You want to be my favorite? Be number one on our leader boards. Be number one on our depth chart. Be number one because I think in the end, it's about finding the team players that can attract more of that greatness to your team. If you choose favorite It's based on anything else, you're setting a low bar and you're really screwing up the culture of the organization.
[00:10:04.19] - Zack Knight
That's one of our big pieces with Patriot Growth Capital, A players only. That is one of our true core values is our two biggest ones, long-term relationships with deep people. It's our deep relationships with long-term people. Sorry, let me say it properly. Then also A players only, recognizing Veterans go two different directions. You have the Veterans that come out, keep the discipline, keep the hard charging. Then you have other Veterans that come out and look lose their way from what the military taught us. I think that really filters a lot of people of like, if you can be that top performer, that A player, you're going to get the opportunities, and then you're going to know you're going to seize them appropriately.
[00:10:41.15] - John S. Berry
Yeah, we get sorted after service. If you can keep the discipline, keep the habits, you're going to be fine. If you don't, well, then you're going to struggle. And then that's okay to struggle, but at some point, we all have to get back on the path because people depend on this.
[00:10:55.15] - Zack Knight
100 %.
[00:10:56.21] - John S. Berry
So how can listeners learn more about you, Zack Knight, ATL Vets, and some of your other business ventures?
[00:11:03.06] - Zack Knight
Yeah, all across social media, I have a website, Zack A. Knight. So the middle initial is important because if you search for Zack Knight, it is a really good-looking indie singer with beautiful hair. And that is not me whatsoever. Social media, my website links over. One big piece we're working on right now is you went through Fort Benning. I don't know if you're on Maneuver Center of Excellence. You remember Building Four? Did you ever build that?
[00:11:28.00] - John S. Berry
Building Four? Oh, yeah.
[00:11:29.13] - Zack Knight
We're actually launching. We have a contract signed. We're hoping to be in this space by the end of the month. We're launching a Veteran Center of Excellence here in Atlanta, and it's going to have co-working space, office space, auditorium space, a full health and wellness facility focused on human performance, a business accelerator focused on defense technology and skip access. Sign the contract, moving to 30,000 square feet here in the next couple of weeks. That's a big piece of why I'm at Mic, different things that we're doing is try to broaden that awareness of we miss the team room. That whole concept of having a team room, I would encourage folks, come check that out.
[00:12:04.01] - Zack Knight
If you're coming through Atlanta or if you want to learn more about what we're operating on, how we're growing, the Veteran community here in Atlanta, but also abroad, check those pieces out, get integrated there, and let's find that team room again.
[00:12:21.00] - John S. Berry
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, 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.