“I woke up in an orange jumpsuit in county jail, facing five years in prison.”
Letter from the CEO
By Nic Gray
In 1979, Victor Kiam famously stated in a commercial, ''I liked it so much, that I bought the company.''
Mr. Kiam was referencing his initial experience with the Remington electric razor which prompted him to purchase the company and went on to write and star in their commercials, putting the company back on the global map.
I had a similar experience with an organization back in 2009. This organization didn’t manufacture consumer products or widgets let alone electric razors, however, they did provide something much greater; dignity for their clients.
In 2016, one of their clients gave a speech at a fundraising event in Albuquerque, NM.
Here is a portion of that speech:
“On October 21, 2009, I woke up in an orange jumpsuit in county jail, facing two felonies, a couple of misdemeanors, and five years in prison.
I had no idea how I got there, or what I was going to do.
That evening, I had a flashback to the Iraq War. Out of sorts and out of my right mind, I began clearing houses in my neighborhood.
I patrolled my neighborhood in search of the enemy, kicking down doors, and operating as I had been trained to do.
I was in dire straits.
Sitting in lockup, not even sure what happened, and facing a very grim future, I was in need of a miracle.
A superhero was all that was going to save me...and that is exactly what came to my rescue.
Not just one superhero, but two: Robert Alvarez and Andrew Pogány of USJAG.”
This veteran was me and USJAG saved my life.
Now, I’m back to take on the biggest challenge of my life - leading and carrying out the mission and vision of USJAG as the new CEO.
Uniformed Services Justice & Advocacy Group (USJAG) mission is to ensure injured active-duty service members are separated with benefits, honors, and dignity intact.
While I wasn’t on active duty at the time USJAG interceded on my behalf, they advocated for my admittance into the Veterans Trauma Court, which provides rehabilitation rather than incarceration for veterans facing legal issues stemming from injuries received during their time in service.
USJAG afforded me the opportunity for a second chance at life.
After graduating from the Veterans Trauma Court, I went on to obtain my undergraduate degree in business management and founded a venture-backed software company.
While this company didn’t allow me to buy an island with a massive eight or nine-figure exit, it did provide the necessary experiences and required skill sets to navigate the turbulent waters of the start-up business scene.
Those aforementioned experiences and skill sets have positioned me for my purpose in life - orchestrating a strategy and vision to end the wrongful discharges of our nation’s injured active-duty service members.
For the longest time, I would ask myself why did the event of 2009 happen to me? What was the reason?
I now have the reason and it’s not about me. It’s about the ones next to me. It’s about the ones who need the help of USJAG.
In some ways, you could say I was groomed for this opportunity.
This will be the biggest challenge of my life, both, personally and professionally and I am truly humbled and honored for the opportunity.
Victor Kiam and I may not share many things in common but one thing we do is, when we see something we like, we go all in and bet the house.
USJAG is my Remington electric razor.
Stay tuned. The best is yet to come.