In celebration of International Men’s Day, Millennium Health & Fitness CEO, Frank Sturek, and Director of Business Development, Eric Schnabel, share how positive male role models have profoundly shaped their own growth and development, helping mold them into the leaders they are today.
Frank Sturek, CEO
When I was a Cadet a West Point, I met an Army Infantry Officer who was a Political Science instructor. His integrity, intellect, and professionalism inspired me to strive to become an officer like him. He took me under his wing and sponsored/mentored me while I attended West Point. He is why I chose infantry as my military specialty, and why I continued to strive to be Soldier-Scholar and inspired me to pursue a Master’s Degree and apply to teach at West Point during my military career. He was a leader by example and mentorship. When I retired from the United States Army, he once again stepped up to mentor me. He was a successful Vice President for Northrop Grumman and later L3 Harris. His guidance provided concrete steps for my successful transition out of the Army. He never boasted about his accomplishments (graduating 2nd in his class at West Point, a Master’s Degree from MIT, White House Fellow, successful business leader). He quietly inspired me with his professionalism. I will forever be grateful for his example and advocacy.
Eric Schnabel, Director of Business Development
I was lucky enough to grow up in a family that had both a mother and a father (as I grew up, I realized that having a mother and father in the same household wasn’t always the norm). My mother and father raised me as an ‘Army Brat’ with both nurture and nature (mostly nature) and showed me what ‘right’ looks like. So, when I started my professional journey into adulthood (the army and college), they gave me an excellent foundation to filter through people in order to find good mentors.
Frank Sturek has helped me along my transition journey out of the military. This journey is a lot more difficult than most military members anticipate because it is such a culture shock, especially when you dedicate the majority of your professional adult life (25 years) to a job that requires you to be present 24 / 7 / 365; with the majority of that time in combat or training to go to combat. The longer you are in, the more of a transition there is back to the society that you fought to defend. There is a different culture in the military than the rest of society. The way people talk to each other, the ethics, the values…. it is just different.
Having a man help you transition into society and corporate America, who is accomplished and understands where you are coming from because he has been there himself, is a tremendous blessing. He has seen the same good, bad and ugly that I have seen and has successfully transformed those experiences into valuable lessons learned for corporate America. He has coached, taught and mentored me in this chapter of my life for which I am very grateful. He has been a shining light for me and my family.