The Resilience Repurposed Podcast
Episode: Veteran Resilience, Innovation, and Leadership – An Interview with Brent Parker
Host: Jeff McDaniel
Guest: Brent Parker, Owner of Resilience Repurposed LLC
🎙️ Introduction
In this episode, Jeff McDaniel interviews Brent Parker, a combat veteran, engineer, and founder of Resilience Repurposed LLC. Brent shares the journey from military service to engineering leadership and small business ownership. They explore how military training, adversity, and a mindset of constant adaptation shape resilience, innovation, and entrepreneurial success.
🌱 Icebreakers & Personal Passions
Brent discusses his love for plants, art, reading, and spending time with family. He talks about how a bonsai tree helps him gauge his mental health and how creativity, nature, and service ground him outside of work. If he could travel anywhere, he’d visit Sri Lanka to reconnect with a friend and gain fresh perspective.
🪖 From Infantry to Engineering
Brent explains how infantry life instilled a mindset of “adapt and overcome,” essential to problem-solving in engineering and business. He draws parallels between military patrols and real-world manufacturing: planning, improvising, and stretching resources when needed.
🧠 Intelligence & Operational Planning in Business
His background in HUMINT and SIGINT taught him how to gather information before acting. Brent applies this to project planning through tools like mind mapping—especially helpful in managing ADHD and organizing engineering tasks in civilian roles and entrepreneurship.
🏗️ The Launch of Resilience Repurposed LLC
Initially starting in software consulting, Brent shifted toward physical product creation to feel more connected to his work. Today, his business spans 3D printing, laser etching, and CNC prototyping using plastics, polymers, metals, and more.
🎓 Educational & Technical Foundation
Brent holds an AAS in Welding and Building Construction and a BS in Welding Engineering Technology from Ferris State University. Inspired by material science and exposure to innovators like Mike Rowe, he pursued welding as a medium for applied science, not just skilled labor.
🤖 Robotics, CNC, and AI Integration
The conversation shifts into future tech: Brent’s building multi-axis robots, automating manufacturing, and helping family businesses evolve. He discusses cobots, collaborative design, and the potential of AI to close the skill gap in the trades.
💡 Translating Complexity for Clients
Brent explains how he breaks down technical solutions for customers by adapting to their communication style. Using analogies and sketches, he transforms client ideas into tangible CAD models and iterative prototypes they understand and trust.
🌍 Veteran Perspective & Leadership
He reflects on how military hierarchy shaped his approach to leadership, collaboration, and emotional intelligence—emphasizing learning from both good and bad leaders. Brent believes strongly in treating everyone with respect and humility, regardless of rank or title.
👨👩👧👦 Business, Family, and Personal Growth
Brent discusses the balance between running a business and honoring family. After experiencing divorce, loss, and caretaking, he’s learned the importance of putting on his own “oxygen mask” first—taking care of himself to better serve others. He now helps his father and sister expand their own businesses through automation and engineering support.
⚖️ Reflections on Service, Struggle, and Self-Worth
Brent emphasizes that real strength comes from knowing when to step back, be kind to yourself, and cut ties with people or systems that no longer serve your growth. His story is one of learning through hardship, leveraging trauma into innovation, and creating meaning through service and resilience.
📌 Final Takeaway
This conversation captures what it means to be a veteran, an innovator, and a lifelong learner. Brent's journey reminds us that healing, building, and leading are not separate paths—they’re part of the same mission.
Recorded and transcribed with permission. Podcast produced by Resilience Repurposed LLC.
