CINCINNATI, Ohio — Across the nation, more than a million businesses are owned by military veterans.
The work is diverse and includes many different sectors, however, the road to getting up and running isn’t always easy.
“On the front of the shoe, it says ‘front toward enemy’. It’s about facing whatever is in front of you. It could be a new race distance, getting active again, or whatever challenges you have going on in your life,” said Alan Parvis, the founder of the brand GoFaster, as he showed his new line of running shoes.
Parvis is a Marine Corps veteran from Loveland, Ohio, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I actually didn’t get into running long-distance and get passionate about running until after I got out and started running for a cause for one of our fallen veterans,” he said.
Parvis said the design of the GoFaster shoe gives a nod to military veterans and helps address a common obstacle for runners.
“What we wanted to do with this one was create something that was comfortable enough to run on the road for all of your runs but had the durability to go off-road,” he said. “So if you were running from trail to road, this would be a great shoe for that.”
After completing long-distance triathlons and marathons, then came the big test.
“When we started developing this shoe, I decided to run the Marine Corps 50K to really test out the performance of this particular shoe on-road and show that it had the durability and the comfort to do an all-road 50K,” Parvis said.
GoFaster running shoes will be available for pre-order within a month or so, but Parvis can’t forget where he got some initial guidance.
One year ago he attended a Patriot Boot Camp through the Disabled American Veterans organization (DAV).
“Veterans have so many skills and abilities. They just need the little bit of help they get to get over the hump and meet their challenges and move on with their ventures,” DAV Spokesperson Dan Clare said.
Parvis is now a mentor like more than 30 other business leaders from around Ohio and the country.
All mentors are veteran business owners or spouses.
“They’re getting lessons on marketing, on scaling, on team building, on sales,” Clare said. “We’re trying to give them the resources they need to succeed, and they’re doing great things.”
Sometimes advice is very candid and goes deep into what works and what doesn’t.
Parvis stresses for people to find their own strengths and see what their passions they can bring to the table.
“I think you have to be passionate about what you’re doing because there is a lot of ups and downs, and you have to persevere through all those ups and downs, and if you’re not passionate about it, why are you doing it?” he said.
The DAV hosts three Patriot Boot Camp cohorts each year.
The next is scheduled for May and registration is open.
For more information, check out the DAV’s Patriot Bootcamp website section.