When Matt sits down with a veteran at Emory University, he sees more than a student. He sees someone who has already carried real weight.
He knows the look in their eyes when they talk about “transition.” On paper, they are accomplished. In reality, they are standing between two worlds. One world is the military: missions, teams, clear stakes. The other is a civilian landscape full of job postings and career paths that rarely match the level of responsibility they are used to.
Matt is a veteran himself. Now he works at Emory, helping other veterans navigate the next chapter of their lives. And more and more, that next chapter includes a path many of them have never heard of before they meet him: Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition.
Why ETA Matters To The Veterans Matt Serves
When veterans show up in Matt’s office or in a session on campus, they are usually thinking about jobs — a job that pays the bills, a job that fits their skills, a job that feels at least somewhat meaningful. What they often have not considered is owning a business instead of just working in one.
Matt has watched veterans light up as they realize that ETA lets them step into an existing business that already serves a community; use their leadership and decision-making skills in a familiar, high-responsibility environment; build something that can support their family and create jobs for others.
What Owners in Honor™ Brings Into The Room At Emory
Matt can teach frameworks and open doors. Owners in Honor™ brings in something only they can provide: real operators, real owners, real stories from veterans who have actually bought and run main street businesses.
When Owners in Honor™ shows up at Emory, they do not give abstract lectures. They talk about what it really feels like to approach an owner about buying their business; take responsibility for employees and payroll; balance risk, debt, and the weight of leading again in a new context.
For the veterans sitting in that room, this is more than theory. They can see themselves in the people at the front of the room. Matt watches the shift happen. A veteran who thought they had to choose between a corporate title they did not want and a vague entrepreneurial dream suddenly sees a third path: buy a business, honor its people, lead with the same sense of duty they carried in uniform.
Standing In The Gap For Owners, Too
Matt’s work at Emory is focused on veterans, but he is always aware of the other side of the table. For every veteran who is ready to step into ownership, there is often an owner who is ready to step out. That owner has built a business over decades. They worry about what will happen to their people. They care about their town and their legacy.
Owners in Honor™ helps connect those stories. They help owners understand that there are veterans like the ones Matt works with at Emory — leaders who can take what has been built and carry it forward with honor. They help veterans understand how to approach those owners with respect, clarity, and a long-term mindset.
Matt sees how powerful it is when both sides realize they are not alone in what they want. Owners do not just want a sale. Veterans do not just want a job. They want stewardship. They want continuity. They want someone they can trust on the other side of the handoff.
Why This Work Needs Support Now
The conversations happening at Emory are not one-off moments. They are part of a much larger effort to build a pipeline of veteran owners and honorable exits across the country.
Your support helps bring ETA education and real operator stories into places like Emory University; underwrite seats and access for veterans who might not otherwise be able to attend events and experiences; sustain the behind-the-scenes work of connecting veterans, owners, advisers, and partners long after a single session ends.
When you give to Owners in Honor™, you are investing directly in the kind of work Matt is doing every day. You are helping veterans see ownership as a real, structured path forward. You are helping owners find successors they can trust. You are helping communities keep the businesses that hold them together.
