Coming soon, we sit down with Jared Zabaldo, former Army journalist and current President, Business Operations, for USAMM. We’ve asked him to talk about running his own business, his life as an entrepreneur, and entering that world after military service. There will definitely be some good information, so subscribe (RSS link is to your right), or follow on Facebook or Twitter to be notified when the interview is posted. And now, I’ll let Jared introduce himself…
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I’m 42 years old. Graduated from Southern Oregon State University in 1994 with a BS in Business Administration / General Management. After graduating, I spent a few years in Customer Service positions and then three years in Southern California writing screenplays – very unsuccessfully. In 2001 I enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve as an Army Journalist / Public Affairs Specialist immediately after 9/11 – actually fulfilling a lifelong dream to serve in the military. After completing my Initial Entry Training phase, I went back into a Reserve capacity in Oregon while simultaneously attending law school at Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Oregon – enrolling in 2003. In March 2004, I was cross-leveled and deployed to Iraq and assigned to the The Coalition Military Training Assistance Team (CMATT) as a part of their Public Affairs Office. CMATT became the Multinational Transition Command – Iraq (MNSTC-I) commanded by Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus. I served in that unit until my redeployment in December 2004 back to Oregon where I resumed my studies at Willamette University. In the summer break between my first and second year in law school, in August 2005, I started a company out of a shed behind a house where I was renting a room from a friend. It was born out of the real problem that I was having getting items for my dress uniform that I couldn’t easily purchase. The nearest base from my home in Portland was near Seattle, Washington, some three hours away. After a bad experience online with another company, I decided to start a business that would make it easier for military people to get the missing pieces of their uniforms online. From that basic idea, USAMM was born. I never finished law school, dropping out one semester short of graduation in December 2006 to run my business full time. The company has now grown to an 18,000-square foot facility in Milwaukie, Oregon with nearly 70 full-time employees and 15,000 in-stock uniform items. We also manufacture uniform items, tailor uniforms, and custom fabricate a multitude of uniform products. I also got married in 2009. My wife, Jessica, and I have two children and a third on the way (due in August).
Jared Zabaldo, President, Business Operations for USAMM, and family man.
Stay tuned for more!
