Career Strategy: Power of Network & Timing | Melissa Slinker | Musing from the CyberTrench | EP 105

Government contracting is facing unprecedented change. How do you grow when everything feels uncertain? Melissa Slinker, President of Corbett Marine & Corbett Shield (Gold Belt subsidiaries), shares her 20+ year journey and the strategies that keep her thriving.

What You'll Learn:

✅ The 5-year gut check strategy for career growth

✅ How to own your destiny in cyclical industries

✅ Mission-first leadership philosophy

✅ Building resilient teams during uncertainty

✅ Networking strategies that actually work

✅ Balancing work-life integration as a leader

✅ Why community-focused companies create better outcomes

Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction to Melissa Slinker

02:23 - Unprecedented Times in Defense Contracting

04:53 - The 5-Year Gut Check Philosophy

08:11 - Defining Personal and Professional Growth

13:05 - Mission-First, People-Second Leadership

18:26 - Personal Mission: Raising Resilient Adults

23:44 - When Your Mission Doesn't Align Anymore

29:00 - Navigating 2025's Government Contracting Landscape

34:22 - AI Adoption: Opportunities and Complications

42:13 - Gold Belt's Community-First Approach

46:13 - Growing Up in San Diego

51:43 - Why East Tennessee? The Relocation Story

56:14 - Beekeeping: Finding Center in Chaos

1:00:09 - Networking Advice for Uncertain Times

About Our Guest:

Melissa Slinker brings over 20 years of government contracting experience across DoS, USDA, DHS, and DOT. As President of Corbett Marine and Corbett Shield (Gold Belt Inc. subsidiaries), she leads with a mission-first philosophy while maintaining work-life integration on her Tennessee homestead.

Leadership Lessons:

🎯 Five-year cycles define government contracting—plan accordingly

💡 Own your destiny: Don't wait for contracts to end

🤝 Mission alignment is non-negotiable for long-term success

📊 Growth isn't just revenue—it's team development and capability expansion

🌱 Regular gut checks prevent comfortable stagnation

⚖️ Work-life balance evolves—reassess every five years

🏔️ Find centering activities (like beekeeping!) to manage leadership stress

Current Market Insights:

📉 Government shutdown impacts and customer engagement challenges

🔄 Rapid policy changes requiring unprecedented agility

⚡ Speed and innovation becoming critical differentiators

🤖 AI adoption requires measured, strategic implementation

🎯 Community-focused companies weather storms better

Gold Belt Connection:

Gold Belt is a tribal urban corporation serving Juneau, Alaska shareholders through government contracting profits that fund cultural heritage preservation and tourism initiatives. Learn more about their community-first mission!

Connect with Melissa Slinker:

Email: melissa.slinker@goldbeltfed.com

CPM Website: cpm-gb.com

LinkedIn: Melissa Slinker

Related Topics: #GovernmentContracting #Leadership #DefenseIndustry #WomenInBusiness #CareerGrowth #BusinessStrategy #GoldBelt #CorbettMarine #FederalContracting #Cybersecurity #GovCon

🔔 SUBSCRIBE for public sector leadership insights!

👍 LIKE if you're navigating change in your career!

💬 COMMENT How do you handle uncertainty in your industry?

📤 SHARE with leaders in government contracting!

About Musings from the Cyber Trench:

Musings from the Cyber Trench goes beyond surface-level talk to uncover real challenges and breakthroughs in public sector cybersecurity. Host Vishal Masih features fearless leaders and visionary experts reshaping security strategies in complex environments.

#CyberTrench #PublicSector #GovCon #Leadership #CareerDevelopment

Responsible for ICAM, Zero Trust, or identity security in a federal agency, prime, or large regulated enterprise?

If you’re trying to move from strategy to execution, start with Zephon’s Zero Trust Readiness Assessment: zephon.tech/zt

Questions or guest ideas? Email defend@zephon.tech

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Hello everybody. Welcome to another episode of Musings from Isabottens. My guest today brings over 20 years of extensive experience in government contracting, including the Department of War, Department of State, the United States Department of Agriculture, Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Transportation. Currently, she serves as the um as the the president of two subsidiaries of Gold Belt Incorporated, CP Marine and Goldbelt. She was born and raised in San Diego, California. She earned her BA in communications from the San Diego State University. She has been happily married for over 26 years and is the proud mother of two daughters. Currently residing in eastern Tennessee, she and her husband enjoy life on their homestead. In her spare time, our guest delights in traveling, hiking, camping, and has recently embarked on an exciting journey of beekeeping. With that, everybody, please meet my guest today, Melissa Slinka. Welcome to Musings from the Cyber Trench, Melissa.

SPEAKER_03 2:01

Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

Absolutely. Well, that is a very impressive vibe. And you are the perfect guest to discuss our topic today. Growing through times of change. How do you see the environment changing today, Melissa?

SPEAKER_03 2:17

I think we are in unprecedented times, especially within the defense sector and the intel sector. There is nothing but change that is occurring. And so it has been an opportunity to go ahead and push ourselves, I think, to the limits. And each day as it unfolds, I think there's a whole new strategy that you have to implore. So you have to be flexible and dynamic in the current situation. But I think it's also been a really good challenge for a lot of us. It's kind of gotten us out of what's what can be comfortable at some times when you've been doing it for a while. So it's definitely incited, I think, a lot of passion for people within industry to kind of be a little bit more um creative in their thought process as they're trying to redefine strategy, as they're trying to kind of figure out what the landscape is going to be and how how they're, you know, positioning, repositioning themselves to fit the new, the new formula, if you will.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

So uh you mentioned uh getting comfortable. How is that tied to making sure that you that we all grow as a person?

SPEAKER_03 3:29

I so I'm a firm believer in having a five-year gut check. And so uh throughout my career, I've always within five years kind of checked to see um, you know, if I'm still positive about where I am, uh, if I'm still um, you know, growing and exploring, if I'm still feeling challenged, if I'm still passionate about um the things that I'm doing. And so that's been that's been a strategy for me that's been really successful in helping me to kind of define that I never really fall into those comfortable spots because I think it is very easy to do. I found myself where, you know, even at this last transition, um where I had been someplace for 10 years. So I had done that initial five-year gut check, very happy, had no aspirations to leave. And then I was coming up on that second one. I kind of went, you know, maybe I'm a little bit comfortable. Maybe there's there's things I need to explore, and maybe I need to push myself a little bit more. Um, so I went ahead and I I took a leap and and um it has been fantastic. I have zero regrets. Um, but it's also, you know, it's been a challenge. It I do find myself on the flip side of that realizing that yeah, I had I had definitely gotten a little bit comfortable. I I knew the process and the people and just the familiarity of all of that. I think because you become so much of work becomes an extension of yourself, you become so familiar with who you're working with day in and day out that a lot of it you don't even really have to question anymore, right? Once you get into that rhythm and that routine, you just kind of fall into place with one another. Um, and so people I think also stop really kind of pushing um those questions and those exploratory notions of what else is there and what how can we think about this differently? Because we all kind of know familiar, you know, there's a familiarity there that you just kind of know what each other are thinking in some in some parameters. So um I have found that surrounding myself in a new environment with new people and kind of relearning, it's this same formula, if you will, but several processes are different, the people are different, definitely different. It ex it's definitely expanded, um, I think, you know, and pushed my me to the limits of being more uncomfortable and realizing I was a little bit too familiar. And and I I love being able to kind of grow that way. Um, I think it it pushes me to think more broadly about things and trying to recall how I did something before, um, you know, trying to tap into those key things, because some of that you also start to lose, right? It just becomes second nature when you do it time and time again, you you almost forget how you you got there. Um, so so relearning some of those key steps, taking those lessons learned, that all of that has been really um it's been a great growth process for me.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

This uh the five-year time window, is that something that you came up with yourself or you had someone guide you?

SPEAKER_03 6:43

So uh I actually had a couple of really good mentors early in my career, and they had kind of told me, you know, Melissa, government contracting kind of works this way. It's five-year cycles, right? It's a it's a it's cyclical. So you just have to wrap your head around the fact that um every five years, right, your your contract could be coming to an end, or one company could be going ahead and and taking over your existing contract. So there's gonna be transition no matter what. And I think on part of that, what I decided early on was I wanted to own my own destiny. And so I thought rather than if I knew that five years was that cycle, I was gonna put that in place for myself. And so I was gonna go ahead and make sure that I was just managing the same way, right? The government looks um for the best value that they can go ahead and get in every single contract. Um, I did the same for myself, right? I was looking for the best value that I could get with the company that I was with. And so it's been a it's been a very solid and um proven methodology for me. And it definitely does push me so that way once I hit that five years, I kind of know, okay, let's do the check-in.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Okay. So do you follow like a formal process, like a checklist, or you you then go by your gut?

SPEAKER_03 7:57

A lot of it is gut. Um, I think that's just life. Um, but but some of it is, it's it's kind of are things, um, you know, when you start a new place, things there are new things that evolve. And so there's there's often times where you get those challenges um that you kind of lean into to figure out how you're going to go ahead and and find the proper solution, right? Or how you're gonna go ahead and approach something. Um, and that's exciting. And it's it at some point I found um it, I think over time it just gradually happens where we all kind of those those things become less exciting and almost start to kick more into um frustrations or you know, challenges that your um that, you know, end up kind of dampening your mood more than they do uplift you, right? And so I look for those kinds of key things where am I finding the hurdles that I'm facing each day more of a frustration, or am I finding it energizing so that I can, you know, I know that I'm still passionate about what I'm doing and where I'm at. So it's just which, which very much so is all gut, but at the same time, um, those have been kind of the major things. Also, just kind of work-life balance and things like that. As we all age, right, um, we find ourselves in different positions and different places. So something that was good for me five years ago may not be great for me five years from now. Um, and so adjusting with some of that has also been, you know, something that I kind of reassess.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

I agree. Like I could work 14 hours a day in my uh in my 20s, but not anymore.

SPEAKER_02 9:45

It's amazing, right? You you didn't even think about it, and you probably didn't really eat a whole meal or high.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

I would eat on my desk. Most often grab a soda or or and a piece of pizza, and I would still be in shape, not anymore.

SPEAKER_03 10:02

Yes. It's that much more challenging. I find that I have to be a lot more rigid in my routine to make sure that I can I can keep up the pace that I want to. Um, but even then, I it's it's hard, right? My husband will tell you I drink probably more vitamins than I should just because I'm I'm hoping, right, that they're gonna go ahead and do their job.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

It's good. It's good. Yeah. Uh uh my wife is the same. She has a big closet of every vitamin and supplement, uh, trace elements, yeah, everything.

SPEAKER_03 10:37

I said I'm a big green juice girl.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

I I love the green juices and yeah, I think it's the right time because I think uh and we are going off topic a bit, but I think this is really uh critical. You know, like there's a lot of push nowadays on Hishood that we uh that the body can heal by itself and stuff depending on like pharmaceuticals and so on.

SPEAKER_03 10:59

Absolutely, absolutely. And you know, I'm I'm a big believer. Part of that is is we'll talk about it a little bit later in in the personal stuff, but you know, I really just I um I really want to know where my food comes from. I love all of that, and I I really try to source a lot of that um just health-wise from from nature and things like that. So I I don't know if every vitamin does me well, but but I hope.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Well, uh, that's all we can do, right?

unknown 11:30

Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

So uh Melissa, like every five years you question yourself and then you will like push yourself to make a plan for personal growth. How do you define growth?

SPEAKER_03 11:43

So I think I define growth in a lot of different parameters. Um, a lot of it professionally, um, I kind of look at, you know, A, PL is always a really good, easy source, right? Are is the company continuing to grow? Is my organization continuing to grow? Um, I also define it a lot of the time now by the organization that I built and and those people that are are continuing to support me. Um, because I am working with them day in and day out so closely, you know, we do become somewhat of a family. And so you want to enjoy the people and thrive with the same those people that you're you're with. Um, and so it, you know, if they're still successful and and I think if their their organizations are reflecting that, I think that's all a part of a reflection of you as a leader. Um and that's that to me is is very um very much a huge metric and kind of determining whether or not we're growing in the right way. I think um I've noticed it before, where uh we've kind of become a little bit flatlined in in the organization um for a couple of years. And and so then I have to go back and kind of reassess why was that? You know, what what really happened there? What were the variables? Um, what did I want to achieve? Sometimes I have found too that um that if if I don't reflect enough at the end of the year, over the course of that year, I just roll right in and then you start repeating those same bad habits, right? So um I have I have learned that even though five years is kind of my larger time span, it really is the annual and those quarterly kind of check-ins just the same to make sure, because I think a lot of times we're running so hard and so fast too, we almost forget to check back in. Um, we forget to recognize what our goals were at the root beginning of the year, how we progressed to those goals. Did we make them? Did we achieve them? Or what happened throughout the year so that your goals then changed? Um I think there's just a a lot of different variables there. Um, but but for me, the growth is always um looking towards expansion and and not so much just dollar value-wise, but just uh, you know, core capabilities, looking at expansion of the team, looking at expansion in a different zip sector within the industry, um, any number of different different ways?

SPEAKER_01 14:14

That's uh actually uh tease up perfectly to the next question I have. In our um uh in our previous conversations, uh you mentioned you you have teams with uh uh very mission-driven focus. So how how has that being so much focused on the mission guided you to grow as a person and your team?

SPEAKER_03 14:41

So I at one point in my career I had a mentor who he kind of told me, Melissa, it's first it's about the mission and then it's about the people. Um and that's really something that's kind of stuck with me throughout my career is that if you serve the mission well, which means you're serving your customer, you're serving your your um your team, you're serving, you know, your board of directors, um, everyone around you, if you're serving the holistic mission well, I think that honestly the alignment just naturally falls into place. Um, you know, any one of those things end up going out of whack, I think it does. I think it complicates it, and it ends up then, you know, finding its way into other places. Um, and so that's where you then have to reassess. But but I always try to maintain that, you know, the mission really is at the end of the day, it's about integrity, it's about in hard work, it's about, you know, leaving uh, you know, whoever the customer is um with with the the end product that is going to help serve their needs best. Um, and we do that, you know, on the premise of um of of character and a belief uh in being able to, you know, really champion their mission and putting that at the forefront of importance. And so um that's really just kind of my philosophy on, you know, how how we are to to go ahead and and execute. Um and I really try to take that um from the smallest thing in the organization all the way through, right? So it's in my my mission and vision, uh my mission and uh value statements. It's it's throughout everything that we do. So that way it breeds almost this own culture of itself. Um, and and the hope is is that you know, everybody at some point is then subscribing, right? We're we're all we're all going towards the same um ultimate goal. Um, and it really is, you know, to go ahead and serve the mission.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

That's a very uh uh profound uh uh insight, you know, because if if you have your mission and your vision and your values laid out, not at uh not just at your um your uh your professional side, but also at a personal level. You know, life becomes a lot more structured. Like you're not just uh chasing the wagons, you know, like like you have a goal and you are proactively moving towards it. Uh the uh at a personal level, do you have an ambition?

SPEAKER_03 17:19

So I I think, you know, I definitely I I'm kind of in this like this nice spot now where my oldest daughter, she's she's a full adult. She is off living her life. Um, she's doing very well. We're so proud of her. Um, but that was kind of my chief of mission for the longest time, right? Was was to kind of um raise my kids, get them off, have them become um uh become these mature adults that were going to contribute um and to the greater good. And so uh she is off doing that. Um my youngest is is 18, so she is just starting college. So in you know, in a couple of years, we we should see. But I I have great aspirations for her and she's doing tremendously. So I think I think that's kind of where my focus has always been. And I have to say, I cannot complain. I it's it has aligned itself very well. Um, they they really have um stepped up to it. So that's kind of been my big chief of mission for the longest time. Um, you know, personally, I worked so hard because I wanted to make sure that um I was gonna be able to set an example for them as and be able to really show them that you can be passionate about what you do, you can you can be happy and find joy and in everything um that you do. And and really it's it's for you to set that course. Um, so it that's not to say that there aren't days with hurdles, but but it I have very little to complain about.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Yeah, I think maybe some of maybe Satya Nadiala mentioned, you know, like what drives him is is a sense of uh uh gratitude. You know, then that goes a long way.

SPEAKER_03 19:09

Absolutely. I I am forever thankful for you know just all the gifts. I I can't I can't even tell you how you know ultimately blessed that I have just been with it, it all almost feels like it came too easy sometimes. So I've had excellent mentors, I've had really good leaders, um, I've had wonderful teammates and and colleagues, and um, and I've had a family that has always supported just me being passionate about this career. And, you know, it didn't come without sacrifice. There was a lot of travel and there were a lot of things that um that I unfortunately missed throughout the years, but um at the same time uh we were all mission aligned in the same goal, and it has worked out really well for us.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

Awesome. Coming back to the mission, you know, like have you dealt with um with scenarios where the mission of the place where which you uh where you're working at does not uh align with the values that you hold.

SPEAKER_03 20:16

I think that's where that five-year gut check comes in so great, right? I I do think um that's part of it is are you still serving the mission well? Um and I think sometimes we all find ourselves where, you know, we're we're committed to the company that we're where we are, we're committing to committed with the people. Um, we're committed towards still doing and you know, um still serving, you know, being excellent in what we do, really. Um there's a lot to be said about just, you know, leaving at the end of the day and trying to your best and knowing that you did that. Um, but at the same time, yes, sometimes the mission deviates, new leadership comes in, um, acquisitions happen, uh, people change over, and and you can just, you can almost feel it sometimes in the culture. Um, and I think that's when you really do, it's it's crucial to do that five-year gut check and really check in and say, am I still serving in the best capacity that I can? Um, you know, am I still aligned with the mission that's at hand? Um, or am I starting to fight against the current? And sometimes that can be good, uh, but other times you can then just become an insider who's disruptive, right? And so I think it's, although sometimes it's hard for people to do that, I think it's a really good challenge. And I also think that's part of your own personal growth. If you can do that honestly with yourself, I think there's a lot to be said about that. Um, you know, you can kind of recognize I'm not, I'm not as, you know, um excited to. To go to work every single day, or I'm constantly dreading it. It's just that, you know, that that cloud that hangs over your head. Everyone kind of knows that it's there. And so I think it's one of those things where it's just, it's really um a value to kind of make sure that you're still, you're, you're, you're still seeing the rainbows and childless guys, and you're still there to to be a fight, uh a part of the the greater good and fight the good fights, right?

SPEAKER_01 22:33

So coming back to the current scenario, you know, like where do you think we are we are going in terms of uh government contracting the country as a whole in terms of change?

SPEAKER_03 22:46

So uh so I don't know if I know any better than anyone else at this point. Um I think we're all a bit of in in a bit of a struggle. Um I think that strategically we're all trying to pivot the best way that we can just based on the signaling that we're getting from um the current administration. Um that being said, uh I I think there's a lot of us that just kind of feel like we're treading water until we can figure out when the next wave is gonna come. Um, you know, definitely with the current government shutdown and you know, a lot of people being furloughed, that has been a whole nother dynamic of um just even engaging with customers before that you could just at least call and say, what are you hearing? You know, how do you feel? What is what is the command saying and just trying to, you know, get some feedback from them. Um so much of that has just been shut off that uh it does feel like a lot of us are flying very blind these days. Um, you know, I think a lot of us in industry end up talking to other industry partners because we end up feeling a little bit better and and everyone kind of reverberates the exact same thing. Like we've I've heard this, I don't know, we're gonna see. Um, but I think we've we're we're adjusting to align um with what what has been kind of published and and put out there um within industry and and we're trying to be ready so that way when some of these things do start to kind of start flowing again, um, we will be in that right place and hopefully the right time to go ahead and accept some of those. So we'll see. I don't have any great insight on that, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

Yeah, it's it's it's like you're all kind of like uh aiming for the best, you know, because it's just been the since the start of the year, it has been so much uh up and down, so much, so much change going on. It's and it's very fast.

SPEAKER_03 25:01

It's very fast. And it's it's very uh and it's a uh it's a very aggressive approach in a lot of times, right? Like there's discussion about it and then it instantly happens, which as you know is not typical of our industry, right? There's usually a lot of talk, a lot of remarking, you know, discussion with industry. A lot it's um they seem to be decisions that are that are being um implemented very quickly. And so I think all of us were just we're trying to to take note and and pivot as just the same, um, and respond to to to what they're uh what the market's doing in in you know within industry. So um I uh I yeah, I I I hope that 2026 will bring a whole lot of good things and we'll see it settle down a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

Yeah, yep, same year. Uh like I I personally feel, you know, from from uh uh b coming from a long uh work life on the commercial consulting side, you know. So the way I see things is that the uh future we belong both on the commercial and govern space will be for companies who can move fast. You know, I think in the future speed will be your uh your biggest strength.

SPEAKER_03 26:27

Yeah, a sense of urgency, a sense of speed, definitely agility, right? Like being able to move quickly. Um and I do think, I mean, um I also think that innovation is gonna be key, right? Um I I I am very encouraged by a lot of that, um, especially being technology focused, right? Is is that's that is our bread and butt butter. That is that's exciting to us. Um it'll be it'll just be interesting to see how it's implemented and and how they they execute. Um there's a lot of tried and true uh you know governance within within our sector that it's hard to move away from that stuff. So I'm excited, but I'm also I'm a little bewildered because I really don't know what it means.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

Uh have you been pushing for more um uh more uh AI uh adoption in your team at Goldberg?

SPEAKER_03 27:26

So uh we had we've had very um entrenched discussions about it. I think we are um we are eager and we are but we are also a little apprehensive. Um I think we're trying to be smart about our approach. And so I I think that, you know, there we've definitely had discussions. We are vetting some things right now. Um there is we are kind of on this methodical implementation plan, if you will. You know, I think there's just there's still some unknown variables that we are we are slightly waiting to mature and and to see what happens.

SPEAKER_01 28:06

Yeah, it's still there's a lot of uh lot of noise, a lot of hype. So from our uh experience, you know, like personally as a team, you know, like we have been using uh AI to speed up product development. In that regard, it has been really uh really helpful. But we have also experienced that uh AI can really complicate things for no reason. You know? Yeah, so it will just do a lot more than we uh would have asked it to do. And it just adds so much uh complexity to things which can be much simpler.

SPEAKER_03 28:47

Right, right. I I I'm eager to see kind of as things mature within I AI exactly where it leaves us. I think there's so much value there, but at the same time, yes, it's I uh I love to bring it back to did you just overcomplicate a table of contents in a Word document, right? Like we've all done it, it's so easy.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

Uh but then yes, how many of us have sat there and fiddled with it for ha way too long because you can't get it the formatting right or something ridiculous, right?

SPEAKER_03 29:20

So you end up still spending your time um doing something that was supposed to be automated for you. So there's a little, I think that's where um the hesitation from our end kind of comes in is is let's make sure we're truly getting the value and we're just not introducing another um another complexity of tool sets that end up leading us down a path where then we're adding more resources to simplify something that was supposed to simplify for us.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

Yep. So uh I think you just uh put it out, like you want to make something uh you bring in AI to make things simpler, but then it will complicate things further and create even more problems.

SPEAKER_02 30:02

100%. Right. Yes. Um, so it'll it'll be it'll be fun. It'll be it'll definitely be a challenge.

SPEAKER_01 30:11

Yes, I agree. Yeah, like for us it it's it's been a pretty mixed path with AI.

SPEAKER_03 30:17

Yeah, absolutely. Well, and I know that um we've had several customers who have leaned in on that front for the last several years. Um, and they it, you know, they're at the exact same place as well, where there's a lot to be said about a marketing slick that can go ahead and say, oh, it can do all these things, right? But once you implement it into an environment, it's not until that moment that you really truly know um what you're getting. And there's a lot of unknowns, I think, that we've discovered um through time. And and some of that is, it's just um it, it's it's testing it, testing the tool, um, testing its parameters, kind of really redefining a lot of things. Um, and some of those challenges have been have unfolded, you know, a more complex nature than I think we were anticipating. Um, and so, you know, just there's a number of things, right? Where you thought it was gonna simplify your life, but did it really do that?

SPEAKER_01 31:20

Yeah, I just hope that uh AI doesn't become a bad manager or a bad uh employee, you know, like demanding things which are not practical or creating work for us when we just ask it to do one simple thing.

SPEAKER_03 31:35

Right, right. I mean, if nothing else, I think everyone was really concerned early on about um the loss of jobs. And yes, I do think that there will definitely be parts of certain industries that will be impacted. Um, but it's also proven to me just some of the few implementations that I've seen that um some of that though arises with that attrition that arises a new requirement somewhere else, right? Because there is a certain level of complexity somewhere that you weren't quite anticipating. Um so it it's you know, who knows what it where the impact is truly felt, but the effect definitely is out there. Um so so to me, it it just goes back to say though that um we are still the key contributors through it all, right? We we are still essential um making be making sure that all those models actually work. Um and so it's it's I guess there's a sense of me that appreciates the value that we still bring.

SPEAKER_01 32:39

Yep, we st we still are a player in the game.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

100%.

SPEAKER_01 32:46

I do tell my team though, you know, that like you have to be really good at what you're doing right now. You know, because if you're not good, if you're if the work that you can that you are doing can be uh automated, it will.

SPEAKER_03 33:01

Absolutely. I think it's key as I mean as part of growth, right, to to recognize that largely what's happening um in several different industries, not just government contracting, but it is is that you need to be able to augment, right? And you need to be open to to learning new things. And so, you know, it's important to be able to stay invested in yourself and and be open towards, you know, learning new tools and learning new ways and thinking about things differently. Um and and I think that a lot of people have done that. Um, but I think sometimes, especially as you get older, I want to say, I think that it also it's a little bit built into some of us too, where it's a little bit harder. Um, so so I think it's also a challenge for the for those of us to to to kind of say, well, how do I reinvest in myself um and and learn some of these new tool sets and things like that, um, so that I can still stay, um, you know, uh be a part of of serving the mission and the good um that is out there.

SPEAKER_01 34:14

I was checking the uh the Gold Belt website, and it it seemed like it was very um very um very community focused. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_03 34:25

We are, yes. Um, so uh we're a tribal urban urban corporation, um, and so we are very community focused. And so um the vast majority of uh of our shareholders are uh live in Juneau or are from Juneau, Alaska. Um and a lot of what we do in Juneau um is actually uh supporting cultural parentage programs as well as um supporting the local um tourism business up in Juneau, Alaska. So um we actually have what we call the Gold Belt tram. It takes you all the way from the downtown Juneau up the mountain. Um, those are gold belt employees, and we have a whole commercial sector that is focused around tourism. Um, and so a lot of what they've done as part of tourism in Juneau is to bring through cultural preservation of our tribes. And so uh it's a very um prominent factor within Gold Belt. Uh, we really try to strive that everything that we do, quite honestly, um, on the government contracting side, it those profits go back to serve that need. And so it's very fulfilling to kind of be able to see and be exposed um to so much passion in that culture um and being a part to to kind of preserve a lot of that heritage. Um so it's fantastic. I absolutely love that part of Gold Belt. It's been really exciting for me.

SPEAKER_01 35:56

So it seems like uh like that was a big factor for you in joining them.

SPEAKER_03 36:02

Absolutely. So I think when um when I first kind of uh was thinking I was coming up on 10 years and maybe it was time for me to to look at other opportunities. Um I had reached out to uh to some to Brian Webker over at Gold Belt um because him and I had worked together previously over um at a different company. And um, you know, he was he was so gracious and kind and said, absolutely, Melissa, you know, let's go ahead and talk. Let me let me get back to you um in a little bit. So so I and I kind of told him, I said, you know, I'm not I am by no means panicked. It is not one of those things where I'm looking to jump ship tomorrow. Um, you know, it is it is one of those things where I just I want to find the right place and I want to find the right organization for me. And and I really respect you and we've worked together so well that, you know, that maybe Gold Belt is a is the organization that you know I could fit at. Um and so it ended when it ended up working out, I kind of knew because um because I had that relationship with Brian that it was gonna be um someplace that I could really uh that I could really um, you know, lean into and and someplace that I was gonna really be able to grow and and and in the way that I wanted to, and I was gonna be mission aligned with with very poor mission and values. Um and I had spoke with uh our CEO and um our CFO and all senior leadership. And um, it was just really, you could tell that people were passionate and there was a fire and an energy um that just kind of permeated throughout the organization. So it was so exciting um kind of coming into that fold and really getting to understand the way that they're they're set up um and and really where you know their mission comes from. Um and so it was a huge factor for me. But I think, you know, part of that is also having that network um that I can reach out to and finding through people that I know and value and respect, um, finding the right place for me has been key too. Um, so so that was key in kind of both of those variables and kind of establishing that.

SPEAKER_01 38:28

Uh I think this is a perfect paper to now where we uh where we get to know you better. So Goldbuild is based out of uh uh uh Genoa. Uh Genoa, right? Uh uh uh Go Goldbuild is based out of and you are in East Tennessee. Do you do you feel like travel a lot?

SPEAKER_03 38:50

I do. So I travel quite a bit, but um I go up to Juneau about once a year. Um we do an an annual meeting. Um so I'm not in I'm not in Juneau um that often. Uh quite honestly, um, you know, we have a corporate office up or several corporate offices up in the Virginia area. So um I spend a lot more time up in DC or um down in the Chesapeake area in the Norfolk area. So um, you know, it's it's one of those things where I do travel a lot, but primarily I'm traveling for customer visits and things like that and to visit the um my team and st and stuff like that rather than necessarily going to the corporate office.

SPEAKER_01 39:35

Uh that's good. Uh in fact, when I actually when I quit my job and start my own company, one of the reasons I did that because I had to be uh onset at a client in January in uh the winter. And I had to travel from Dallas all the way to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

SPEAKER_02 39:58

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 39:59

Every week, Sunday night I would travel, come back on Friday night. It was a getting a bit too much. I said, oh nah, I can't do that anymore.

SPEAKER_03 40:08

Yes. No, well, and for the longest time, I mean for years, we just moved to Tennessee um about four years ago. And so before that, I was still located in San Diego. Um, and San Diego is great, you know, for the Navy and things like that. But the vast majority of my customer base was on the East Coast. So I was constantly gone, kind of the same thing. Um, you know, Monday through Friday, you're gone. You probab there's probably several weekends, you're not even coming back then. So um it was definitely it was draining and it was it was it was a brutal hull. But um, but when I was able to and and we were able to kind of make the move and um and decided that we we wanted to relocate, um, it was it was key for me that I was at least an hour within an hour from an airport. So um so I'm an hour each direction from two different airports, so it works out really well for me. Uh, but still the the travel pace, it it is it's exhausting. It gets a little brutal.

SPEAKER_01 41:14

Uh especially when you have a family, right? This is yeah, if you're single, you can still manage.

SPEAKER_03 41:20

Yes. Yeah, no, especially when you have a family. So um, I mean, now I I find myself I'm on the other end of that, right? Where my girls are so are are adults now, so I don't have to be there for so much for for them for you know all the school functions and everything like that. But there were a fair fair amount of those that I definitely missed over the years.

SPEAKER_01 41:42

It's the price you pay, right?

SPEAKER_03 41:44

Sometimes it is, it's a trade-off, nothing's perfect.

SPEAKER_01 41:48

So uh tell us about your childhood. How was uh how was San Diego growing up?

SPEAKER_03 41:54

So um San Diego was fantastic. I absolutely love San Diego. Um it, you know, I grew up um right in the heart of San Diego in in uh normal heights. And so um my dad was born and raised in San Diego, and my mom was actually, she uh grew up in Cupertino um and came down to San Diego to go to college at San Diego State. Um, so it was, you know, my whole family a good majority of my family was there. Um, and and so it was always this beautiful place. It I still go back to San Diego quite regularly. Um, and I'm I am there often. I miss the food and I miss the weather sometimes, depending on how hot it is in Tennessee. Um but um, but at the same time, you know, it was it's hard when, especially in San Diego because it's literally consistent climate all year long, which I know everybody else in the world goes, oh my gosh, Melissa, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 42:56

But when you only lived that way for your entire life, it like I am so excited about having seasons and leaves that fall and change color and you know, um, a little bit of snow, not anything severe where I have to dig myself out of it, but you know, enough that I can feel like it's winter.

SPEAKER_03 43:19

Um I I that is beyond exciting for me. And so, um, so although I miss San Diego and it's absolutely a phenomenal place to grow up, um, it was getting really crowded and you know, and it's just was so expensive that it didn't seem like it was gonna be the place that we could end up retiring. So as we got closer to retirement, it made sense for us to just figure out where we wanted to settle for the long term. So so that's kind of why we made the push. But yeah, it it's it was fantastic. I am I have nothing but glowing reviews. Over San Diego.

SPEAKER_01 44:02

I have been there only once. It was beautiful. I like the beach over there.

SPEAKER_03 44:05

The beaches are gorgeous, and the water's a whole lot warmer on the Pacific, the Atlantic, right?

SPEAKER_02 44:12

So that was a little surprising to me the first time I I went to a beach on the Atlantic side.

SPEAKER_03 44:17

Um so and the and the food is phenomenal, and the people are so nice, and they're so gracious and kind.

SPEAKER_01 44:24

Yeah, like I am in Dallas, so the only uh beaches we have right now are towards the south, towards like Corpus Kistree. But for us, it's a seven-hour drive, you know. Like we we went to Calveston, it's horrible.

SPEAKER_03 44:40

Yeah. Yeah. Yes. I do like Dustin though. We will travel six hours. Dustin's about six and a half hours from me. So yeah. So we will go down there.

SPEAKER_01 44:53

So uh what made East Tennessee win better for you? Like from all those places that you could move to.

SPEAKER_03 45:01

Yeah, people ask me that all the time. So it's interesting. We looked at, we took probably a decade. Um, we kind of knew we were just searching. So we go on vacation, we have a a motor home, so um, and I loved camp. So we would go ahead and and just hit a different state. Um, at one point we uh we did Yellowstone, and so we ended up, you know, hitting multiple national parks along the way. It was amazing. Um, just to kind of see where we wanted to end up. Um the first time I ever came to Tennessee was actually to um was for work to go to Millington. Um, and so I remember being in Memphis and and being out at the base and the weather was just kind of picking up, and they're like, they're like the the clouds in Tennessee, they just move so fast and the weather moves through so fast, right? And so I remember kind of just being amazed. Um, and so then when we um we came back and we saw the eastern side of Tennessee, and you know, you had the smoky mountains and you had the rivers and you had um it was everything that I just absolutely adored. So um two they get we get two inches of snow a year on average. So that's like perfect for me. I don't have to have a shovel, right?

SPEAKER_02 46:25

So so you know, I it gets cold.

SPEAKER_03 46:29

I definitely know when it's fall and it's winter, but um, but at the same time, um, it was perfect for me being a San Diego girl because I knew I could I like the idea of weather. I I don't know how well I would really fare out. Um, so so Tennessee kind of gave me all of that. Um, and and we're very active and um we've had it, we've been boaters forever and loved to camp and love to hike and and do all that. So there was just a lot of things personally that it made sense for us to to move to this area. So um it has been a mission of ours, my my myself and my husband, um, for the last couple of years to explore as many waterfalls in Tennessee as possible. So we uh, you know, as typically in the spring and the fall, because summer is not an ideal time to go out, but um it will we will try to hit a couple um a month and and just go and see. And there are so many throughout um the mountains out here that you know we were just constantly amazed.

SPEAKER_01 47:37

Yeah, Tennessee is uh uh basically pretty. So we actually went to Catlinburg, I think four or five years ago, and it was beautiful. The only thing we say is there, at least in Catlinburg, the food choices weren't really that great.

SPEAKER_03 47:55

Yes. It's starting to evolve and not like some of the larger cities, Nashville definitely, Knoxville and and uh Chattanooga are starting to you're starting to see some influx of of food um and and pat pe food lovers. Um, you know, we absolutely love food. So we're very excited about that because yes, otherwise I I eat well when I am traveling.

SPEAKER_02 48:31

Like, you know, going to DC, I do not miss a meal.

SPEAKER_01 48:37

I can imagine, yeah. Like we couldn't really find like we ended up eating the same thing each and every day almost. Uh, there's not much uh much variety, at least at that time. I'm not sure if things have changed now.

SPEAKER_03 48:50

It's it's still not where there's not a whole lot of variety. Um it it it has definitely been the one challenging thing. Uh the one thing I will say is my husband is an excellent cook and he's very passionate about cooking. So thankfully, yes, one of us is is willing to do that.

SPEAKER_02 49:08

I just I cook to eat, like it is purely just a mission, and that is all that it is.

SPEAKER_03 49:13

So um, so you know, he's he is the one who gets dubbed with, you know, anything that is complicated or we're really craving, and he he takes that that mission very seriously. So I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01 49:28

Nice. So uh have you seen yourself as a family doing more uh uh more barbecuing, grilling since you moved?

SPEAKER_03 49:38

Um, not really. I actually think we do less, but because in San Diego, right, we could barbecue and grill all the year long. Um, now with seasons, I think um, and I think that is the one thing that has been a uh more of a challenging transition for us is we were so used to um having available fresh produce all the time in San Diego. The produce in San Diego is absolutely amazing, and you get everything all year long. So now coming to Tennessee and realizing, oh, there are seasons for produce, it has been the thing where I'm like, oh, but I really want that right now. Well, that is not in season, Melissa. So you're gonna have to figure out something else. Um, so that's been a little bit of an adjustment. Um, but yeah, I don't we we we definitely still love to barbecue, but it I think we do it a little bit less because um depending on the weather.

SPEAKER_01 50:40

Okay. Uh I'm really curious, how did you get into uh into beekeeping?

SPEAKER_03 50:47

So um, so my husband is he's a wonderful gardener. It's been this huge challenge for him because coming from San Diego, we we've always had a garden and it's always kind of been like his passion project and things like that. Well, when we moved to Tennessee, he wanted to expand the garden and um really kind of you know see how much food we could we could grow ourselves and really homestead for ourselves and things like that. Um, so so the funny thing though is I am not a wonderful gardener. I do not love it, I am not passionate about it. Um, I do a lot of complaining the whole time.

SPEAKER_02 51:28

So so um so it was one of those things where I felt like I needed to do something where I could contribute to the homestead, but I knew it was not gonna be helpful in gardening.

SPEAKER_03 51:41

Um because I will I'll be out there for about 15 minutes before I'm like, okay, I'm are we done yet? Can I go back inside now? Um, and so um so someone had brought up, and I think maybe I had seen them like at a street fair, um, there was um they there was this beekeeping association and society, and they were trying to, you know, invite people to become beekeepers. And I thought, well, that's interesting. Um, and so so they have these meetings once a month. So I went to a couple of meetings and then they had an introductory kind of um course over a weekend. So I attended that. Um, and I it just became one of those things where I was like, beekeeping is um it's very for me, um you have to be completely in the moment and aware, right? As you're managing bees and you're handling bees and things like that. And so there's so many times I think that, especially just um with my my position, that I have so many things coming at me that I feel almost scattered. And so for me, it's a very centering kind of a process that I really enjoy. And so it took me several months before um, quite honestly, I was I was ready actually to to have bees and buy bees because wrapping my head around the whole process um was a little bit daunting. Like my husband was very excited. So he a couple of Christmas uh Christmases ago when I first mentioned it, he went and he bought me some equipment and and he was like and and I I wasn't ready yet.

SPEAKER_02 53:26

So so then he's like, Well, I I bought you the beekeeping stuff, but you don't seem like you really like it.

SPEAKER_03 53:34

I'm like, I really like it. I'm just not there yet. Like I need to I to to take this on. I feel like I just need to be more well informed. I need to take some classes, I need to like I have a whole process. And so he was like, okay, fine. So I like I said, I kept going, attending some of these meetings and going the I went to a course, and after the course, I said, okay, fine. So I I did. I went ahead and I I purchased my first um, it's called a nucleus of bees, but I I purchased a couple of nukes of bees. And so um I have two hives and it's perfect for me because it's a it's a weekend activity. Like the bees do all the work. You really only need to check on them once, maybe once a week, if not, you know, once, you know, every couple of weeks kind of a thing. In the winter, you don't really check on them at all. So with my travel schedule and everything like that, it works out really well. I don't have to worry about them and how they're doing so much when I'm gone. I just tend to them on the weekends. And like I said, I I kind of like the therapeutic part of it where it's it is it's a very centering kind of um thing for me. There's, you know, you have to be respectful and quiet when you're handling bees. Um, and and you know, you have to be very much paying attention to what you're doing as you're handling them. And so I really just enjoyed it. Um, this is my first year though. So what the test is if if my bees survive the winter, which which we will see if that happens. But um, I'm prepping right now them right now to go ahead and make it through the winter. Um, and and then we'll see what happens. But I I really like it. And um the very first year you have bees, typically they tell you you won't get honey with that. Um, and so I didn't harvest any honey this this year um because they need all those honey stores to get them through the wintertime. And I didn't want them to go ahead. And and so I made a decision to go ahead and and let them keep all their honey. Um, but next year, um, you know, I should get my first honey harvest. And so I'm really excited about that. So we'll see how that turns out.

SPEAKER_01 55:55

That's interesting. Uh in Tennessee, you do have, I think, uh, a lot of ice. So is that a problem?

SPEAKER_03 56:03

Um, so it definitely it can be. Um it's it's really the bees have a tough time. Um uh they they can it's the moisture content more than anything. So that's really where you have to kind of um yeah, they talk about winterizing your bees. You just have to be careful on a lot of things because you won't want to in introduce any moisture really, or you want to limit the moisture because they only have a certain capacity to be able to to take care of that moisture, otherwise they will freeze and die, and that's kind of the largest contributor. Yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 56:40

Okay. Uh, do you have the whole suit with the hat and everything?

SPEAKER_02 56:44

I do, I do. Yeah, I've got all the gear.

SPEAKER_01 56:50

Uh so like uh I think that right now that there's a lot of uh push towards like uh natural honey, you know, like uh from the wildflowers and so on. Is that something that you're also pursuing?

SPEAKER_03 57:02

So I think I mean for me, I'm just letting them kind of because I really don't even know what their main polymer and nectar sources are in where we are, um, because we are definitely in farm country, but it's a lot of hay fields and cornfields, right? So there's not a lot of like flowers um around us, and so they definitely pull from somewhere. Um, but I have to assume it's just like a lot of local wildflowers. But yes, like I think the more advanced beekeepers, they they get into that very like um, you know, where there's specialty honey.

SPEAKER_02 57:39

I'm just happy if they produce anything.

SPEAKER_01 57:42

Uh maybe in a year or two.

SPEAKER_02 57:45

Exactly. Maybe we'll see. We'll see. We'll see how how professional I get.

SPEAKER_01 57:51

Well, Marisa, this has been really great. You know, I am sure uh my uh like a uh uh uh my audience will love uh our conversation today. Please share how can people reach you?

SPEAKER_03 58:04

Sure, absolutely. So um people can reach me. Uh the easiest way actually is probably through um just email, um, which is gonna be melissa.slinkerd um at goldbeltfed.com. Um, and so the other way is to go to our website. Um we have a website for CPMG, which is cpmg.com. Um, and there is a way to go ahead and contact us there. Uh Shield, uh, we do not have a website uh up for that uh company yet, but we are working on it, so that will be forthcoming. Um but those are definitely the easiest ways to go ahead and get a whole get in contact with me.

SPEAKER_01 58:47

And Vanessa, before we close, what is one uh advice you would give to people who are finding the current time stuff and how can they grow through it?

SPEAKER_03 58:58

So I do think, um, like I said, I think I I'm a big advocate for the five-year gut check. Um, and I'm also a big advocate for making sure you have a strong network, right? Everybody that you meet, um, whether it's someone you've worked with in previously at a different company um or someone that you happen to meet at a conference or someone that you happen to engage with, um, and someone makes an introduction introduction to you, um, they're all part of your network. And you really want to make sure that you're um you're tapping into your network because I think um that leads to the greatest success is surrounding yourself with um with those people and and bringing them into the fold um rather than just feeling like you're on an island, um, especially times like right now, I think having that network that you can reach out to and saying, hey, what are you hearing? What are you feeling? What are you getting? Um, it's very helpful. It makes you kind of feel like you're not so much um out there just in the unknown abyss. And so um just I think it's it's good for all of us.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:09

So to everyone listening, network, network, network, and have a five-year cut check.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:15

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:16

Well, uh, thank you. Uh uh again, Melissa. And uh I I hope we get to meet in person uh with the government shutdown. I'm not sure when that will happen, but I hope so. And absolutely. Yep, uh fingers crossed. Uh this brings us to an end of another episode. I'll see you on the next one. Thank you.