From C-130s to Code: He Treated Getting Out as a Blank Slate

Andrew Maza, a former Air Force aircraft maintenance officer who worked on C-130s, KC-10s, C-5s, C-17s and the new KC-46, talks with PJ about choosing the Air Force over the Coast Guard, leading enlisted troops in Germany and at Travis AFB, deploying during the pandemic, and then reinventing himself after 2021 through inside sales, IT support, a merit scholarship to a coding bootcamp, founding GriffinTek Solutions, and building the VetsinTech Greater Philadelphia community. In this episode: → Choosing the Air Force over the Coast Guard → Thrown into leadership on day one → Germany as a formative, non-military education → Deploying during COVID and the relationship reset → Treating transition as a blank slate → Building VetsinTech in Philly If you know a veteran who is trying to rebuild structure, find community, or figure out what comes after the uniform, this conversation is worth sending their way. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the conversation 07:09 Thrown into leadership on day one 09:15 The paperwork moment 12:31 Germany as a formative, non-military education 24:18 Listening as a leadership skill 27:22 Not a people person 30:33 Deploying during COVID and the relationship reset 35:29 Treat it as a blank slate 40:55 Am I actually dumb? 50:44 Sales is life 53:57 Building VetsinTech in Philly 56:48 From aircraft to software to community 1:01:46 Network when you don't need anything 1:04:38 Don't mistake motion for progress 📚 Resources Mentioned VetsinTech (veterans-in-tech nonprofit; Andrew leads the Greater Philadelphia chapter): https://vetsintech.co GriffinTek Solutions (Andrew's web studio): https://griffinteksolutions.com Hack Reactor coding bootcamp: https://www.hackreactor.com VR&E, the VA's Veteran Readiness and Employment program: https://www.va.gov/careers-employment... TAP, the DoD Transition Assistance Program: https://www.dodtap.mil The Success Principles by Jack Canfield: https://a.co/d/0bcoUH6w ChatGPT, provides a free year for transitioning veterans with example prompts: https://openai.com/index/chatgpt-for-... 💬 Quotes Attempted to be Quoted "Garbage in, garbage out." -- The classic computing aphorism, quoted on the cost of what you feed your mind. "Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress." -- Alfred A. Montapert 🤝 Connect with Andrew: Andrew Maza on LinkedIn:   / andrewmaza   GriffinTek Solutions: https://griffinteksolutions.com 💬 Drop a comment with your biggest takeaway. We read every single one. 🔔 Subscribe so you don't miss the next conversation. 📲 Visit https://prize.vet to learn how we're helping veterans find their next mission. 🔗 Connect with us: LinkedIn (PJ):   / pj-prize   Prize: https://prize.vet YouTube:    / @prizevet   Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show... Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... LinkedIn (Prize):   / prizevet   IG:   / prize.vet   TikTok:   / prizevet   #veterans #militarytransition #prizepodcast