#32 Ben Minden (US Army) - Bear Hug Cattle Company

I’ll support you in whatever decision you make; just know that you will get fired for it. This was one of the coolest 10 seconds…

Our guest this week is Ben Minden, former US Army Ranger and Founder of Bear Hug Cattle Company – a non-profit providing veterans with the resources, technical knowledge and network support for those interested in a career in the ranching industry. Through their 10-week immersive course, transitioning service members gain confidence in horsemanship, ranch tasks, basic ranch economics, and field training at historical operational ranches across the western US.

Despite growing up in the suburbs of New Jersey, Ben became an avid fisherman and hunter, although he admits he never ate the fish out of the New Jersey river. It’s not often a guest on this show has no connection to the military prior to joining, but in the few instances this has been the case, there is usually a common event that many cite as their catalyst for their joining the uniformed service – 9/11. At West Point, Ben fell in love with this idea of an being a part of a high-functioning team and deployed with those teams to both Iraq and Afghanistan. He shares a story from those experiences he cites as one of the coolest 10 seconds of his military career.

Have a listen to find what happened and also learn how Ben is transitioning these skills into other high-performing teams at Harvard Business School and with Bear Hug Cattle Company across much of the western US.