Bryan Rhodes - Founder, Acumen Apparel
Bryan walks through his journey from military service, to a career in the Virginia state government, being a prosecutor, and what led him to becoming a founder in the menswear industry. Jason and Bryan commiserate on what's wrong with the professional men's clothing and how Acumen Apparel is ready to solve it.
Never be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. Even if you fail, you never really fail because you have suffered that you did something different.
Bryan Rhode always knew growing up that he wanted to serve in the military after college. The son of a Navy pilot and the grandson of Army veterans, it seemed only natural. Bryan attended Penn State University on a Navy ROTC scholarship and graduated 1 st in his class at Marine Officer Candidate School. He served for four years in the Marine Corps infantry, deploying overseas twice.
After his military service, Bryan struck out in a new direction, attending law school at the University of Virginia. He then studied public policy at the London School of Economics and enjoyed traveling extensively in Europe. Upon his return to the States, Bryan practiced corporate law with a large firm before finding a love for the courtroom as a prosecutor.
Having served several years as a prosecutor, Bryan then moved on to successive high- level state government positions, including Secretary of Public Safety for the Commonwealth of Virginia, a gubernatorial cabinet post. Bryan has always been involved in civic affairs, serving as a Rotarian, a board member for several local non- profits, and various leadership positions with the Bar and veterans’ organizations. Bryan was featured in a local style magazine’s annual Top 40 Under 40 issue.
Bryan eventually returned to the private sector as a Vice President for a Fortune 300 company, where he served in government affairs, as the company’s internal auditor, and then as VP of Public Safety. Bryan is a graduate of a Harvard Executive Program, the Virginia Executive Institute, the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, and a Middle Eastern delegation of the American Council of Young Political Leaders.
Founding ACUMEN Apparel (www.ShopACUMEN.com), Bryan embarked on his new entrepreneurial career path. With ACUMEN, he wanted to create a men’s clothing brand that empowers professional men by solving their problems, so they can solve the world’s. ACUMEN began with the idea of the patent-pending Set, where Bryan used his unique knowledge of shirt stays in the military and improved on it to help professional men keep their dress shirts tucked and tight all day. Bryan intends to build the ACUMEN brand to outfit the complete man. Bryan wants to equip men to conquer their day, day after day.
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