BTS Behind the Scenes is a chance to showcase the people who are making things happen at BTS and give you a “behind the scenes” look into their worlds. In this month’s feature we’ll talk with Technical Intelligence Recruiter Chris Manning and hear his story of transitioning from active duty, creating a strong team culture, and fueling mind, body, and spirit.   

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We know you really go the extra mile for our transitioning veterans making the move to the private sector. How does your own transition story help you relate to and help others?

We all love to hear about a successful transition story, but a hard transition story can be gut-wrenching. Every day I start work, I think about my own transition. My transition was not an easy one, for the most part was a failure. I was not able to get back stateside prior to my transition and was forced to transition from overseas. I created the job accounts and networked across LinkedIn. I contacted numerous PM’s, recruiters, and other people in good positions across LinkedIn. You could see that they read the messages, but never replied. I applied to 60-90 positions a month with no responses. The best job I was able to get was a part-time Corrections Officer job at the County Prison working 2 days a week with an occasional short-shift and double. I was always working max security or working the detox/ restricted pod.

Following the 5th DAV Job Fair, I made an awareness video to help the other transitioning and retiring Veteran community. I was being asked quite often at that time how the transition was. The video went viral, and I had people asking me if I would schedule phone calls and interviews. I had mixed feelings. I was happy, but also thought that it was a shame that it came to that video creating interviews and opportunities.

I took a chance, changed my mind-set, and took it as an opportunity to help as many people as I can. A few months after on-boarding with my first company, I realized that I would need to relocate my family to progress in my career, and I felt that I owed it to the company. We ended up taking a 65K hit on the house, had to throw in another 10k to drill a new well as we just went into a drought, had zero relocation assistance, and a 9-month double mortgage. There are a few other pieces that I won’t mention. Just shy of a year later, I came on-board with BTS.

This particular piece of my story I think about every day I work, and I try that much harder to make it easier for someone else. I have told a few people in the past that if you know someone’s “why,” it is very powerful. I work for the people and for their families, and I refuse to think of them as if they are an object that falls into a labor category. The day I start to think of people as a “means to get paid” is the day I need to resign. People and families deserve better. If I can welcome them into my family at BTS, I will do it. Money can’t buy everything, and the families deserve the love and culture that this company gives them. Especially after what some of them have been through. I am just honored to be a part of their journey.

What’s it like working at BTS? How are you part of creating that culture along with the rest of the team?

Working at BTS is like working with a Big Family. We have caring and compassionate culture like no other place I have worked at across the globe. The company looks at everyone as a person, and everyone has a family. BTS looks to make an impact on a family multi-generationally, ensuring that they are doing their best to facilitate it. I have been with BTS almost two years now, the culture has been consistent, and even my kids feel the caring and compassion from the top down from the company. Truly multi-generational.

I am just a simple person that likes to give everything I can to others and help them along the way to achieve success and their dreams. I reciprocate that same compassion that I receive from the company, and simply remember how hard I had to fight to get where I am today. I never look at work as truly being work, I just do everything I can to help everyone I can.

Let’s talk careers. Who are you looking for right now?

• Digital Signals Processing Engineers
• All Source Analyst looking for OCONUS work
• Data Scientists
• Software Developers

Lightning round! If BTS was a movie it would be:

The Incredibles or Guardians of the Galaxy.

Your #1 post workout recovery drink/food:

My choice of nutrition as a “go to” has been with a company called Seacret. The reason being all Pre/ Post supplements I take are 100% organic. I use the following supplements during certain segments of my training: Energy (pre), Greens (2x a day), Protein (2x a day), Probiotix (evening), Digestex (evening).

Fav cheat meal when you’re training:

A major part of the discipline in bodybuilding is to stick to your nutrition plan. 99.98% of the time I refuse to even taste a soup or sauce. The things that I have added is a lot of hot peppers ranging from Jalapenos to Thai Chili’s and Habaneros.’ Other things I add is Organic Medjool Dates (digestive properties) and lots of hot sauce (core temperature increase). All food that I intake has a specific purpose on a target area of my body. I generally don’t deviate at all. Discipline, Balance, and Focus.

If you were a superhero who would you be:

I never thought about this question, so I had to ask our girls. They said that I remind them of the Incredible Hulk and Mr. Incredible. I had to ask Why. Their response was that I am very intelligent and very strong, (The Hulk) and I also went from Fit to Fat, then I worked my butt off to get back to “Ultra Fit” becoming a bodybuilder.

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Tags: Chris Manning, fitness, transitions