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VOB Roundtable Recap — September 8, 2026
Category: Newsletter
Wednesday Sep 09, 2026

Aloha VOB family — great turnout this week, with a nice mix of incubator progress, tax season commiseration, and a full open floor on the social media push we're building.

 

Jennifer Barrows (Board Chair, Launchpad Foundation; jbarrows@barrowsdevelopment.com; launchpadtv.com) updated us on Launchpad's veteran entrepreneur training, fresh off the Governor's Summit for Veterans Affairs in Columbia, SC, with Myrtle Beach, Greenville, and Charleston next on the calendar. Frank DiBartolomeo (President, DiBartolomeo Consulting International; retired Air Force Lt. Col.; frank@speakleadandsucceed.com; speakleadandsucceed.com) offered to help her in Charleston, then introduced himself as a public speaking coach with 30+ years of experience — worth a call if that's ever tripped you up.

 

Tax season had everyone's sympathy: Mark Salmon (enrolled agent, Alpharetta GA; mark@marksalmon.tax; marksalmon.tax) is racing a client's return to the finish line, and Dorothy Smith (Founder, DMS Bookkeeping Inc, Memphis; dorothy@dmsbizhelp.com; dmsbizhelp.com) confirmed the crunch is universal right now, mentioning she uses TaxDome for client uploads. Mark Spenelli (natures.edge.glampground@gmail.com) gave us the latest on his veteran-focused RV campground/tiny-home project and on QRF Up (qrfup.org), the veteran-crewed NASCAR sponsorship effort now planning through 2028 with a Homestead-Miami appearance this November. Mark Miracle (Fractional Sales Leader, Sales Xceleration; Owner, Miracle Sales Advisory Inc., Denver; salesxceleration.com) rounded out our trio of Marks.

 

Richard Moyers introduced himself as a business coach and Marine/Army veteran who helps small business owners get their time back, with a couple of ordnance and warthog stories along the way. Ed Jarecki, joining from Saint Croix, reintroduced his work helping veteran entrepreneurs bring military discipline into how they run a business — we're setting up a follow-up call. Jake Droge ("The Flagman"; jdroge@university-bank.com; university-bank.com) is chasing states 23 and 24 in Indiana and Ohio this weekend on his way to all 50.

 

Laura Cross (White Sands Self-Care; whitesandsselfcare@gmail.com; whitesandsselfcare.com) shared her holistic health work and the AO voice scan, and later offered a practical tip: WeTransfer as a free backup for large files. Tracy Lynn Baker (Keller Williams, Cincinnati) is planning "For the Love of Veterans," a February event on veteran benefits and loans, and is looking for speakers and Cincinnati-area connections.

 

On VOB's end, Nakisha is launching the first VOB Veteran Journey Series event on September 17 — a monthly Hawaii pilot following the VA's journey map from transition through end-of-life planning, which we intend to expand to other cities and eventually a culminating event on the USS Missouri. Kelvin Ching (Executive Managing Director, Mod Financial, Kaneohe HI; kchingandassociates@gmail.com) helped me land on the program's name and is also working with me on a feral swine grant.

 

We're standing up a social media effort led by Alicia Nordman and will be implementing a phone-friendly way for members to upload high-res and 4K content without email compressing it. Laura's and Dorothy's tips above are feeding right into that build — a full announcement is coming once the portal's live.
 

Courses page is ready for those of you that want share and/or host a course on our platform, reach out to me if that something you're interested in.

 

TV Shows has also been added to the Resources drop down.⚡

 

Everyone is encouraged to complete their free VOB member profile. If anyone runs into difficulty with a profile, business listing, or Community News post, reach out — happy to help.

Thanks again to everyone who joined, shared, asked, offered, and connected — exactly what we want the VOB Roundtable to be.

 

Mahalo, 

 

Kevin 🍍🇺🇸

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