True North Heroes Spotlight: Greg Parsons
“I had every reason to be successful: good school, Marine Corps career as an officer…There is no reason, on paper, I should have had a tough time,” says Greg Parsons, founder and CEO of the True North Foundation and a former captain and infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps on his transition from the military to civilian life..
Despite all of these apparent advantages, he continues “I found myself homeless, broke, without a job, and divorced within two years of getting out of the military and there wasn’t a single reason for all that to happen. It was a death by a thousand cuts – you don’t really know what’s going on and then you look up and you’ve bled to death.”
Greg Parsons’ experience is not unique. Every year, approximately 200,000 men and women leave the U.S. military service and return to civilian life. This transition can be difficult and has left many veterans suffering from unemployment, homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, and mental health issues.
Why do so many courageous and intelligent men and women struggle with the transition from military to civilian life? The truth is that transition presents unique challenges and obstacles to each veteran, but there are some common themes, many of which can be found in Greg’s story.
From an early age, Greg knew that service of some sort was going to be an integral part of his life. When talking about his upbringing, he said that there was always an unspoken understanding in the Parsons’ household of the importance of service and the need for those who were blessed with abundance to give back to their communities in some way.
As a teenager, Greg was always drawn to team sports and activities, preferring to work with others to pursue a common goal, rather than working on his own. At the age of 13, Greg’s life changed forever when he attended a football game at West Point military academy. The weather that day was terrible and many of the spectators—including Greg—complained about the cold and rainy conditions. At halftime, however, he witnessed a performance by the Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon. Impressed by the platoon’s remarkable display of teamwork, as well as their ability to execute precision maneuvers in complete silence, all while enduring the same weather conditions as the unhappy audience, Greg decided then and there that he wanted to join the Marine Corps.
While attending college, Greg joined the Marine Corps Officer Program which enabled him to attend Officer Candidate School during the summer while he completed his undergraduate education. This experience confirmed his desire to join the Corps. “You don’t go through one of the summers lukewarm. You either love it or you quit. And I loved it. Forget where you fall politically, there is no question that the Marine Corps is one of the most efficient, well run, team-based organizations in the world. I think everyone owes something and my way to serve was through the military.”
After graduation, Greg received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant and was stationed at Camp Pendleton in California. A few months later, he got married. During his four years of service, Greg was deployed to the Middle East twice and was promoted to the rank of Captain. Towards the end of his second deployment, Greg realized that he would be returning home just as his enlistment was ending. He began thinking about the next chapter of his life and decided that as much as he loved being a Marine, he wanted to pursue other career opportunities.
When Greg came home, his transition to civilian life was very abrupt. “In retrospect , it felt like I got home on a Monday, got in my car on Tuesday, drove to New York City on Wednesday, and was knocking on doors on Wall Street on Friday, looking for a job.” Without any transition experience, guidance, or support, Greg began to struggle. Over the next two years, his life fell apart. Though he was initially successful at his new job, he hated it. He and his wife divorced- and shortly after that, he lost his job on Wall Street. Greg lived on a friend’s couch for seven months to avoid sleeping on the streets.
Looking back on this period of his life, Greg believes that the reason so many have had a hard time after they leave the military is that there are natural obstacles to transitioning that very few think about or articulate. One of the biggest changes for veterans occurs when they go from an environment that is all about teamwork, sacrifice, and purpose to one where they become a complete outsider. Family, friends, co-workers, and companies sometimes find it difficult to effectively communicate with them or show them how to leverage the skills they acquired in the service. Moreover, it is nearly impossible for civilians to relate to the veteran experience and the challenges that face only those who have served. Veterans must often contend with a loss of purpose and community.
Greg’s life began to turn around when he found a new tribe. Having played rugby in high school and college, Greg was asked to become a coach for a women’s team. This experience gave him something positive to focus on, as well as a new community to which he could belong. “I got lucky.” He said. “My new sense of purpose fell into my lap.”
For the next year, his work as a coach gave him the positive foundation he needed to get back in the fight. He eventually found a job with a company that promoted the spirit of camaraderie and service that Greg had come to know and love while in the Marines. “I loved being a Marine. I loved the culture, I loved the people, I loved the job. When I try and think about what it was I loved and what I lost in transition, it was that sense of purpose, that sense of identity, and that sense of tribe.”
Having regained much of what he’d lost during his transition, Greg did not want to lose it again so he actively sought to cultivate similar values in the cultures of the companies he founded or helped to create—Semper Capital Management, LLC and CAVU Securities, LLC. Through firm initiatives, mentorship programs and through financial support, Greg has committed his time to ensuring no veteran is left behind. What began as a personal passion project soon grew into a successful corporate initiative and in 2022, was fully institutionalized as The True North Foundation.
Help the True North Foundation as we continue to serve veterans through the transition process. If you’d like to keep up to date with everything we are doing, subscribe to our newsletter and share this story with your friends and family. As always, your donations are greatly appreciated.