Kendric Robbins is transitioning to a new life as the co-founder of a small start-up company in Northern Virginia, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. He spent the past two decades serving in the Army, a career that included deployments in Iraq and Bosnia and a rise to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was also appointed as a White House fellow in 2009. Robbins, 44, left the military during this past year –and he’s now the CEO of AgentHero, a network of real estate agents staffed entirely by veterans and military spouses. He recently spoke to producer Michael Martinez over the phone.

“I didn’t make the decision to leave the military until last spring. I officially left on Dec. 31, 2014, but I’ve essentially been transitioning since last August. I considered a few different tracks to pursue. I interviewed with a consulting firm, and I talked to a few defense contractors. But I’ve always had this desire to run a start-up company, and I’d been chatting about this with my future partners for a while. Now I’m going for it.

One of the most difficult things about making that transition from the military, for me, is having the autonomy that I have now. I literally have complete discretion to do what I want in terms of my career. When you’re in the military, you know what’s going to happen if you put in time. If you work hard, you can advance. That all goes all out the window when you leave. It’s very exciting. And it may not be intimidating, but it’s certainly a little bit scary. You don’t have that safety net that you’re used to, and it can be hard moving away from routines that you’ve had for years. You have to let a lot of things that have been a part of you go, and that can take time.

I think the D.C. area is a phenomenal place for veterans who are going through that process. You still have the entire military community here. In some sense, you’re not leaving. My family can still get medical care at the same places. We still shop at the commissary. It’s kind of like having the best of both worlds. I have two girls. One’s 18 and the other’s 13. My wife is a real estate agent here. We never had any conversations about leaving the area. Stability was very important to us.

In the end, I got a lot more out of being in the Army than it ever got from me. I earned my masters from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, which the Army paid for in return for more years of service. I taught at West Point. That’s why my attitude might be a little different from others when people say, ‘Thank you for your service.’ I appreciate people saying that, but I really don’t think they owe me anything. If you want to thank me, make sure you go vote in the next election. Go and do something in your community to make where you live a better place. That’s the thanks you should be giving to veterans.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Photos are courtesy of Ken Robbins. For more on military issues in the D.C. area, reserve your free tickets to a live taping of The Kojo Nnamdi Show with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) on Tuesday, July 21, 2015, at 7 p.m. at the Synetic Theater. 

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