John W. Phillips has had a distinguished career in both military and civilian service. John is a “mustang” having served in the US Army as an enlisted man and ultimately retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel where he served in the Field Artillery as well as an Army Financial Comptroller.  With more than 20 years of service, he served in Corps and Division Artillery from the Battery level to Division Headquarters, Army Headquarters and Forces Command. He has lived and served in Europe, throughout the Middle East and the United States. John is also a 2017 Georgia Military Hall of Fame nominee and the 2017 Marvin Myers Leadership Award recipient from the Georgia Veterans Day Association.

John is also an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author of Boots to Loafers, Finding Your New True North which outlines a proven process of transitioning out of the military and into the private sector. He is also a contributing author to Paddling Guide to the Sunshine State and An American Crisis, Veteran Unemployment; Stand by Them/How You can Help/Solution. He has been featured on The Mike Huckabee Show, the Dennis Miller Show as well as a numerous radio shows across the country.

John retired from The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, Georgia in 2016 as a finance executive. He is the founder and former Program Manager of the annual Veterans Day Program at The Coca-Cola Company which is celebrating its 20th year in 2019. John also co-founded and is the Vice President of VETLANTA, a Veterans Club that consists of companies across Atlanta, non-profits, academia, and government agencies. He also stood up and managed the US Chamber of Commerce Hiring Our Heroes Atlanta Corporate Fellowship Program where his employment hire rate was 95%.

In his spare time, John spends his time traveling with his wife or heading into the remote wilderness in the western United States. His passion is simple, helping our nation’s military and Veterans make the transition into society and the private sector. It is his way of paying it forward and doing what he was trained to do…take care of your troops.

John holds a BS in Finance from University of Central Florida and an MBA from Syracuse University and is an alumnus of the Army Comptrollership Program at Syracuse University. He lives in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Georgia with his wife, the former Melissa K. Smith and their Australian Shepherds, Colonel Bear and Ms. Fancy Pants.