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A Maryland native and pretty much a fixture before joining the Army, Ian Sparks really got his eyes opened about the big wide world. An ROTC candidate, Ian got his second lieutenant commission and wanted to be part of the demolition gang. Still in the reserves, Ian deployed to Afghanistan in 2013, 2016 to Iraq and 2017 into Syria, the three places in the world he wanted to see. He is first generation American, the rest of his family immigrating from Ireland, so Ian has seen a lot of the spectrum of cultures on the planet. He compliments his military advisors on prepping he and his fellow soldiers on the various cultures they were being dropped into, as best they could. There's only so much one can be prepared for before being tossed into a new environment. Ian was offered a full scholarship from the military so the reserves was a natural path. Coming back from deployment, Ian felt he had enough time to adjust after his first deployments, but after Syria, which was much more intense, the time seemed to fly by a lot faster. Plus, the Battle Bar business started to hit him six months after coming home. While on deployment, Ian survived on ready-to-eat meals and protein bars, which he stuffed in his armor pockets to keep him fueled while on duty. The protein bars didn't taste great, and the ingredients in them were not nutritious either. So when home, he contacted his brother who was working with a doctor to develop nutritious, easy to eat foods. And when they all realized there was no veteran-owned protein bar business around, their mission was written and away they went. Veteran Founder Podcast with your hosts Josh Carter and Cynthia Kao We record the Veteran Founder 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