“When I got out of the Marine Corps, it took me about 10 to 15 years to find my footing. That’s how long it took for the fog to start clearing.

In the Corps, when you climb an obstacle, the first thing you do is look forward to see where you’re going. The second thing you do is look back and grab the next Marine to pull him up. That’s instinct. That’s who we are.

When I finally looked forward and saw the path ahead in my own life, I turned around to give that same hand up… and nobody was there. Not because they didn’t exist, but because somewhere in the transition from military to civilian life, we lose each other. Veterans get scattered. The language changes. The brotherhood gets quiet.

And when that hit me, the mission hit me. If no hand was there for me, then I would become the hand for the next one.

I learned the bottom rungs, I learned management, middle management, upper management, and eventually what it feels like to sit with owners and understand how companies actually move.

Once I cracked that code, I knew it wasn’t enough to climb it myself. That translation has to be passed down. Give Veterans the map, the decoder, the clarity… and they rise every single time.”

-Richard Filiault, Owner & Founder | EAS to Success