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When Ricardo Lopez, a 22-year veteran, re-entered the workforce, he found jobs lacking the structure and camaraderie he was used to in the Army.
So when the 43-year-old decided he had spent enough time answering to someone else and wanted to own his own business, he found a Texas A&M University program to help him do just that -- The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities. He completed the program last year.
The boot camp will host its second program this year with another set of 20 veterans looking to start their own businesses. The boot camp will be from Aug. 15 to 23. Applications for the 2009 programs aren't being accepted anymore.
It's a program that highlights why one Texas A&M University professor got into academics.
Dr. Richard H. Lester, executive director for the Mays Business School Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship, said the program ties back to one of the school's roots: selfless service to others.
"It's been an amazing experience for me and one that I feel blessed to be a part of," Lester said.
The program is funded by donations. Most of the veterans who participate in it live in Texas, but others are just receiving treatment for their wounds at places such as Fort Sam Houston.
Five university campuses across the nation host the boot camps, making it easier for veterans across the nation to find a program nearby. The program at A&M draws attendees mostly from Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana, Lester said.
The program's called a boot camp because it's intense and rigorous, he said. The veterans work from early in the morning until late into the evenings.
"So it, in our own way, reflects the boot camp from their initial military training," Lester said.
Classes are taught by A&M faculty with some help from individuals from Baylor University and a consultant who discusses disability issues.
'On your own'
Lopez, who lives in Edinburg, said it was a hard transition from military life to civilian life.
"There's no structure when you're out here. You work as much as you want because there's really nobody to push you. The more you go out the better deal you might get."
He said the program offered a free service that helped him get on his feet and point him in the right direction.
"One of the things that was hard to see was that out here you're on your own. When you got the uniform and you see somebody stranded you stop and help each other out. That's something that doesn't happen very often here in the civilian life," he said.
Lopez retired from the Army in November 2006 with severe arthritis that at times has left him bed-ridden. The arthritis affects all his joints, causing pain in his toes, ankles, feet, knees and wrists.
While in the Army, Lopez drove, operated and maintained tanks. He also offered logistical support for an aviation unit, but Lopez said he ended his career in Honduras when the arthritis became too much to bear. He said being a business owner is ideal because he can work from home when his arthritis becomes too severe.
Lopez said he had been doubting his abilities to be able to start a company before the program, but the boot camp gave him the confidence boost he needed.
"I saw how a lot of the other folks there had severe injuries and they are doing it," Lopez said. "It gave me the awareness that if they can do it I can do that. They're doing it, so I have no excuse.
"I came back and I went 100 miles per hour. A lot of the fear of failing vanished, and I went ahead and did it," Lopez said. "Things just keep getting better ever since."
Lopez, who's working toward a business degree, said he's already purchased several properties, sold them for profits and hopes to manage his own property management company one day.
He said he just finished taking classes at Kaplan University and will begin on July 13 at the American College of Technology, where he needs eight classes to graduate.
Lopez said one of the main things he learned was the need for commitment to start a business. It's an everyday struggle that he said he's determined to overcome.
"I'm committed to finishing my school work ... and continuing educating myself," he said.
Retired U.S. Marine Toni Williams, 35, spent eight years bouncing from Japan and Germany to the states before she was injured in 2002 when her eardrum exploded. She had to undergo reconstructive surgery.
When she came across an e-mail about the program more than a year ago, Williams said, she felt it would be a perfect fit. Having wanted to open a school for special-needs children in low-income areas for years, Williams said, she hoped the program would teach her how to do just that.
So she entered a boot camp for teaching, which she says might be the second-hardest job after being in the Marines.
"I knew this was going to be beneficial for me, and I promise you it has been," Williams said about the program.
Williams, who lives in Dallas, said the program gave her the tools she needed to do things such as gather background information, work on financial planning and put together a business plan.
Williams said she's working at a for-profit day care center until she builds the clientele to operate her nonprofit school for children with special needs.
But she wouldn't have known how to make that transition without the boot camp.
Williams wholeheartedly recommends the program wherever she goes and says she's still benefiting from the networking boot camp made possible.
"It really is a challenging program, and I think if people go in with clear expectations they should have no problem," she said.
Putting the
program together
The Mays Business School provides the program at A&M in consortium with Syracuse University, UCLA, Florida State and Purdue University, Lester said.
The curriculum is standardized, which ensures all participants receive comparable experiences.
Lester said he heard about the program at Syracuse University before starting it at A&M.
"As soon as I saw it I said, 'This has got to be a program at Texas A&M,'" he said. "Every time I talk to somebody it's, 'Just tell me what I can do to help.'"
Syracuse University created the program and enrolled its first class of 20 in the summer of 2007. In 2008, 16 participants completed the program at Mays Business School.
The classes help participants come up with a workable business concept and formulate a plan. Topics cover how to determine a customer base and market, and recognizing the financial needs.
The recruiting process takes an entire year, and Lester said officials just completed selecting the 20 veterans to participate this year and will quickly begin looking for next year's candidates.
Lester said he travels and speaks to various organizations to help spread the word. The program is funded completely through private donations. So while Lester is out promoting, he's also holding out a hat for those interested in helping the boot camp succeed.
Each school that participates in the program promotes the other universities as well, he said.
Now the program has graduates who can champion the boot camp to other veterans who've been wounded, he said.
The program received 35 applications this year but can only accommodate 20 participants.
"The shame is that we couldn't take all 35," Lester said.
Those chosen went through a two-part screening process.
"The perfect candidate, the one I'm looking for, is really passionate about owning their own business," Lester said. "Starting a business is a difficult process, so you have to have some stick-to-it-ness to get through it."
The program costs close to $5,000 per person. The boot camp covers transportation, a hotel room and food for eight days. The cost also includes all course materials. But many hours of teaching and administrative support are donated.
Graduate students from the Mays Business School volunteer time to promote the program and raise funds, he said.
The real focus of the training is on starting a business but, Lester said, officials try and incorporate a lot of other training as well, including different disability issues.
Instead of having a variety of speakers as was the case in last year's pilot program, the boot camp has recruited a consultant from Florida State University who works specifically on entrepreneurship.
The goal is to have the veterans leave with practical, applicable advice that they'll remember.
The all-day training sessions will allow veterans time to work on their own business plans for the company they're proposing. Toward the end of the week, they'll make a sales pitch to a panel of judges who will offer critiques.
"They should have the fundamental foundation blocks by the time they leave," Lester said.
The veterans who've gone through the program and the 20 already selected for this year's boot camp are not only deserving and thankful but humble, Lester said.
"I hope it's an experience they will be able to take with them for the rest of their lives," he said.
