#72 Small Business Flourishes in World's Most Secure Areas - Griff & Lee, Combat Flip Flops

Published: Aug. 27, 2020, 12:27 a.m.

Matthew "Griff" Griffin comes from a long military line, starting with a grandfather who fought in WWI. It was a natural to go to West Point and ended up in Special Operations. He met Donald "Lee" Lee in Afghanistan and between the two of them, spent seven tours in the middle east. Lee went Special Ops because he knew he would be fighting, so he'd rather fight with alpha-male meat eaters than soldiers who enlisted for college money. Lee found getting back in the civilian workspace was difficult. There was much gray area, not the clear-cut accountability and results-expectations of the military. For Griff, being a manager for a construction company was his first job, and his military background proved helpful, but his leadership style needed to be softer than in the service, which was a great learning lesson. Their company, Combat Flip Flops is a mission-driven apparel company, with the manufacturers family companies in less developed countries. Veteran Founder Podcast with your host Josh Carter We record the Felony Inc Podcast inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Carolyn Main Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster Theme music: Artist: Tipsy Track: Kadonka Album: Buzzz Courtesy of Ipecac Records 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Listen to the Veteran Founder Podcast every Friday at 1:00pm pacific time on Startup Radio Network at startupradionetwork.com