The Journal
Stories, lessons and field notes.
Real founders, hard-won lessons, and the unsexy truths behind running a business after service.
leadership · 2 Aug 2026
Run the After-Action Review on Your Worst Week
You already know how to run a debrief. Point that same discipline at an ordinary bad week and it becomes one of the best habits you can build.
By Jerry Lienert
business growth · 27 July 2026
Stop Giving Mates' Rates: Pricing Without Underselling Yourself
Underselling is the quiet killer of good businesses run by good people. Here's why we do it, what it costs, and how to price like you intend to be around next year.
By Jerry Lienert
transition · 19 July 2026
The First 90 Days: A Battle Rhythm for Life After Service
The void after leaving is where a lot of people come unstuck. Build a battle rhythm fast — structure, money, one main effort — and the transition gets a whole lot safer.
By Jerry Lienert
business growth · 12 July 2026
Marketing for People Who Hate Marketing
If self-promotion makes your skin crawl, good — the sleazy version doesn't work on people like us anyway. Here's how to be found without becoming a salesperson.
By Jerry Lienert
health and wellness · 8 July 2026
The Shift Worker's Guide to Actually Sleeping
Rotating shifts and night work wreck your sleep, and it costs you more than a foggy morning. Here's how to protect it — practically, not perfectly.
By Jerry Lienert
veteran business · 28 June 2026
Veteran-Friendly Mortgage Brokers in Australia: a 2026 Directory
DHOAS, DFRDB, MSBS, ADF Super, shift-work income — most mortgage brokers don't speak the language. These ones do.
By M1R Alliance
health and wellness · 21 June 2026
The Veteran's Guide to Private Mental Health Support in Australia (2026)
Open Arms is free but waitlisted. DVA NLHC covers private psychology for any veteran. Medicare Mental Health Care Plans give you ten sessions. Here's how the pieces actually fit together — and where to get help fast.
By M1R Alliance
first responder business · 16 June 2026
Code One Support — peer-led mental health for first responders, built from inside the job
Rick has spent ten years inside Fire Rescue Victoria — ten years quietly helping coppers, fireys and ambos with their heads. Code One Support is what happens when the side-of-the-mouth advice gets a website.
By M1R Alliance
transition · 1 June 2026
The Golden Handcuffs Are Real. So Is the Way Out.
Lead Flux is the business I'm building outside the uniform. It's also proof that the door out of the job exists for any of us who decide to walk through it.
By Jerry Lienert
community · 29 May 2026
Beyond the Directory — The Vision for M1R Alliance
A directory was just the start. The real vision for M1R Alliance is a physical home for Australia's veterans and first responders — somewhere to train, recover, work, and just sit down for a coffee with mates who get it.
By M1R Alliance
health and wellness · 29 May 2026
Inside Frontline Mental Health: the Adelaide Organisation Changing Veteran Care
South Australia's veteran and first responder–led private mental health organisation isn't a soft offering. It's the Platinum Preferred Provider on M1R Alliance for a reason — and it's running national telehealth from Adelaide.
By M1R Alliance
veteran business · 25 May 2026
Adelaide's Veteran and First Responder–Owned Businesses: Where to Spend Your Dollar in 2026
From the trades to law firms, finance and mental health, Adelaide has a serious veteran and first responder–owned business scene. Here's the M1R Alliance directory of names worth backing in 2026.
By M1R Alliance
community · 14 May 2026
Backing Our Own: How M1R Alliance Strengthens Australia's Veteran and First Responder Community
A national directory, a weekly newsletter and a community that backs the people who served. Here's how M1R Alliance works — and why every listing and subscriber makes the next person in the line a little better off.
By Jerry Lienert
health and wellness · 13 May 2026
How to Spot PTSD in a Mate (or Yourself) Before It Breaks You
There's a particular pause in a conversation when someone you served with is in trouble and you both know it and neither of you wants to bring it up. Here's what to actually look for — in them, and in yourself.
By Jerry Lienert
health and wellness · 13 May 2026
From PTSD to Purpose: Why I Founded M1R Alliance
Twenty-eight years of service. A hospital bed in late 2016. The moment I decided I wasn't going to be a victim anymore — and the network I built so nobody else has to make that journey on their own.
By Jerry Lienert
business growth · 12 May 2026
The Veteran Market Doesn't Shop the Way You Think
Most advice on 'how to reach veterans' is wrong because it treats them like a normal market. They're not. Here's how they actually buy — and where most businesses get it backwards.
By Jerry Lienert
veteran business · 12 May 2026
From Service to Self-Employed: 7 Lessons From Veteran Founders
The seven unsexy lessons every veteran-owned business in Australia wishes they'd known on day one. From the founder of M1R Alliance.
By Jerry Lienert
community · 12 May 2026
Backing Our Own: Why M1R Alliance Exists
Australia talks a big game about backing veterans and first responders. M1R Alliance is the verified directory and the 10% pledge that does it.
By Jerry Lienert
health and wellness · 9 May 2026
The 7-Day Tactical Reset
A simple, no-BS reset for body, mind and routine.
By M1R Alliance