2021 Veterans Innovation and Entrepreneurship program

Rebecca Aguilera-Gardiner serves as the CEO of the Veterans In Business (VIB) Network. Co-owner of a successful Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business/Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (SDVOSB/DVBE) second-generation printing business, she has over 25 years of experience in sales and marketing and has been essential in the continued growth of the 45-year-old company. Aguilera-Gardiner has nearly 20 years of experience in organizing and successfully executing national veteran conferences. She is also former chair of the San Diego Workforce Investment Board.

Aguilera-Gardiner is active in Business Leaders United and was invited to the White House for a bill signing by President Obama. She is also a member of Business Forward and has advised on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and environmental issues. She was instrumental in getting California Governor Jerry Brown onsite to her business for a bipartisan bill signing concerning workers compensation. Her business has won several awards, including MBE Supplier of the year and Family-Owned business of the year. In 2016, Aguilera-Gardiner won the John Rak Award for her dedication to helping SDVOSBs. She was honored at the Multi-Cultural Conventions Services Network (MCCSN) “Women Leading the Way” luncheon in March 2017. In May 2019, Aguilera-Gardiner received the Leadership Award at the third annual Women of Excellence Awards Brunch. Her enthusiasm to truly help veteran businesses grow is infectious, and she believes collaboration is key to the success of the VIB Network.

Eric Atkisson joined the USPTO's Office of the Chief Communications Officer in 2011. Since then, he has served in a variety of roles, including public affairs specialist, communications and marketing supervisor, and communications manager, a position in which he leads a growing team of 16+ personnel responsible for audiovisual productions, graphic design, media relations, social media, speechwriting, the website, a weekly newsletter, and more.

Eric enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1989, at age 17. He served in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War and was commissioned a National Guard officer in 1994 through Army ROTC. He subsequently served two tours in the Iraq War, in 2003 and again in 2010-11, at the end of the U.S. military mission in Iraq. He retired from the National Guard in 2014 at the rank of lieutenant colonel.

An avid writer, photographer, and history enthusiast, Eric has a bachelor’s degree in history from Ripon College, a master’s degree in political science from Texas State University-San Marcos, an advanced professional certificate in public relations and corporate communications from Georgetown University, and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from George Mason University. He is also a graduate of the Defense Information School’s Public Affairs Officer Course and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. His 2008 article for Army Magazine, “Recollections of Italy, 65 Years Later,” won a journalism award for best feature article. His most recent nonfiction has appeared in Entropy Magazine and The Hopper Magazine.

Darcella Craven has over 25 years of experience in corporate, government, nonprofit, and military organizations. She is currently the President and Chief Fear Conqueror of Vetbiz, a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting honorably discharged veterans, National Guard members, and reservists, transitioning those serving in the military and their families by helping them start and expand businesses. The organization was awarded the 2015 Veterans Business Outreach Center of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration, and she was proud to travel to the White House to accept the award with her co-worker; they are also 2017 What’s Right With the Region award winners. Craven testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship in 2019.

Featured in numerous articles for her transition from the welfare system to an accomplished businesswoman, she specializes in program implementation, change management, and creating group training programs. She is a requested speaker on business development, entrepreneurship, life management, human capital, and nonprofit management, and she is actively involved in many civic organizations. She served as the Chairwoman of the Small Business Week of Eastern Missouri from 2015–2017. She has been recognized as one of the Top 100 St. Louisans You Should Know by the Small Business Monthly, a Young Leader by the St. Louis American Foundations, and she is a YWCA Leader of Distinction in nonprofits. Additionally, she is the 2015 SBA Volunteer of the Year, 2009 Small Business Administration Veterans Business Champion for Eastern Missouri and Region 7 (MO, IA, NE, KS), and is recognized by the St. Louis Business Journal as one of the Most Influential Minority Business Leaders and Women Business Leaders.

An Army veteran, she holds a Master of Arts degree in management from Webster University and is currently pursuing her doctorate in management. She is the very proud mother of two daughters who have graduated from college and are now off of her payroll. She can be reached at craven@vetbiz.com.

Joseph Hirl serves as a supervisory patent examiner at the USPTO. He is highly skilled in the preparation, examination, and prosecution of inventive concepts, and his work has resulted in the granting of over 2,200 patents. He is a results-driven developer and leader with the agency, with a passion for new technology and a strong interest in helping others. As a supervisory patent examiner, Hirl is responsible for the training and management of 14 highly technical patent examiners.

Prior to joining the USPTO, Hirl served as Vice President, Owner, Developer, of Westinghouse, Zodiac, AEL, JCRI. In this role, he created and managed a $50 million acquisition budget, managed a $200 million U.S. Naval contract to build and develop an airship to support integrated surveillance, and provided international support to develop a radar protection system for a variety of countries. He designed, built, and installed communications and surveillance platforms and provided hardware demonstrations for numerous projects, including a torpedo and a survivor system.

As an entrepreneur, Hirl has designed and built over 750 homes in the Washington, D.C. area.

Hirl earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana and his Master of Science in electrical engineering from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

John Kirkpatrick is a patent pro bono team member and staff attorney at the USPTO. He is dedicated to making sure that all inventors have access to the patent system, including those who are financially under-resourced. He works with patent pro bono programs across the nation to guarantee pro bono coverage in all 50 states pursuant to the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA). Previously, Kirkpatrick served as a patent examiner and was employed by a private intellectual property firm. Kirkpatrick received his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Villanova University and graduated, cum laude, from The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. He is a member of the Virginia Bar.

Julianne Metzger is a public affairs specialist whose work focuses on strategic communication planning, employee engagement, and change management, all of which support the agency's goal of educating the public about intellectual property. Prior to her civilian and government work, Metzger served as a mass communications specialist in the U.S. Navy from 2002–2015. She has a master’s degree in management and public relations and a bachelor’s degree in communication and media studies.

Kimberly Osborne comes to the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization from the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA/Board), where she has served for 26 years as an attorney, Senior Counsel, Veteran Law Judge, Chief Veterans Law Judge, and Deputy Vice Chairman.

As Deputy Vice Chairman, Osborne was an active member of the Board’s top management team. In this role, she directly supervised Veterans Law Judges, attorneys, and professional administrative staff in issuing quality and timely Board decisions.

Osborne previously served as a Chief Veterans Law Judge from 2008–2016, where she managed a team of approximately 50 attorneys and judges in deciding appeals. In 2006, she was appointed by Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson as a Veterans Law Judge with the approval of President George W. Bush. Osborne’s responsibilities included presiding over hearings and independently reviewing and issuing appellate decisions for the Secretary pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 7101A. While at the Board, she also served as an Associate Counsel, Counsel, and Senior Counsel.

During Osborne’s tenure at the Board, she has received numerous awards, including the Gears of Government Award from Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert L. Wilkie in March, 2019.

Jarod Perkioniemi is the Associate Director of the Entrepreneurship and Small Business portfolio at the Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF). In this role, he oversees a broad portfolio of nearly a dozen programs and projects that advances and promotes veteran entrepreneurship nationwide through research, resources, supply chain opportunities, and tools, as well as training and program development within the Entrepreneurship and Small Business Team.

Prior to his role as the Associate Director of the Entrepreneurship and Small Business, he served as the Advising Services Manager for three years for the Onward to Opportunity (O2O) program at the IVMF. Perkioniemi is a 13-year veteran of the U.S. Army and left the military as a sergeant first class. He served as an infantryman, recruiter, and training development manager, and he led two Public Affairs Detachments on deployments to Kuwait and Afghanistan.

Perkioniemi holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Thomas Edison State University and a master’s degree in management from St. John Fisher College.

Charlynda Scales is the founder and CEO of Mutt’s Sauce, LLC, a company that makes “the sauce for every meal.” She is an Air Force veteran and currently serves as a Reservist at Wright Patterson AFB. Charlynda’s mission is to bring American families together and unlock people's purpose by harnessing her gift of empathy and servant leadership.

Mutt's Sauce was the inaugural winner of the 2017 Heroes to CEOs award by Bob Evans Farms. Mutt’s Sauce recently debuted and sold out on QVC.

Scales is a Clemson University graduate, with a degree in aerospace science and business management. She also holds an MBA in strategic leadership. She started the company Mutt’s Sauce, LLC while she was still serving on active duty in the military to honor her late grandfather, Charlie “Mutt” Ferrell, a Korean and Vietnam War veteran who invented the sauce in 1956.

She is a graduate of the following distinguished courses: Tuck School of Executive Leadership at Dartmouth; The Empower Program, Dayton Chamber of Commerce; The Course for Presidents, Aileron; and the Veterans Program for Politics and Civic Engagement, Syracuse University.

Scales goes above and beyond the call of duty to give back to her community. Currently, she occupies the following leadership positions: Board of Directors, Bunker Labs; Board of Directors, Dayton Convention and Visitors Bureau; Board of Directors, Veterans for Political Innovation; Board of Advisors, Gala of Hope Foundation; and Board of Advisors, Diversity and Inclusion, Ohio Restaurant Association.

In 2021, she was awarded a Lifetime Membership by the Girl Scouts of the USA for her contributions as a Gold Award winner. She currently serves as a Food and Beverage small business consultant for the Miami Valley Small Business Development Center. She has also partnered with SCORE and Bunker Labs, two organizations that have made invaluable impacts on her success as a veteran entrepreneur.

Scales and the story of Mutt's Sauce have been featured in Yahoo! Finance, Forbes.com, CBS News, NBCUniversal, Black Enterprise Magazine, Military.com, Army.mil, and Air Force Association Magazine. In 2016, she was crowned second runner-up, Ms. Veteran America. In 2020, Scales was humbled to learn that her journey with Mutt's Sauce was also featured in FUBU Founder and Shark Tank investor Daymond John's latest bestselling book, “Powershift.”

Scales also owns a nonprofit, OH Taste. Her current focus in the community is to use the organization to help revitalize the local economy by building a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen, 6888 Kitchen Incubator, in Dayton, Ohio. This kitchen will employ at least 50 small businesses and will feature workforce development programs and a financial literacy curriculum. This project is currently being prioritized in two Ohio Congressional earmarks by Senator Sherrod Brown and Congressman Mike Turner.

Fred Steckler is the Chief Administrative Officer for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). He is responsible for the delivery of all administrative service support functions for USPTO including human capital strategy, human resource management, telework policy and programs, facilities management, safety and security, transportation, asset and records management.

Steckler joined USPTO from the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, where he served as an Executive Advisor in the Organization and Strategy Team's Human Capital and Learning Practice. Prior to Booz Allen, he was the Director of Account Development and Management for the Government Consulting Services Unit of Watson Wyatt Worldwide. Before Watson Wyatt, Steckler served as the General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration and Deputy Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In addition to HUD, he has held consulting and business operations positions with IBM and Coopers & Lybrand. Mr. Steckler also served as the Executive Director of Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry, a non-profit community service organization in Northern Virginia.

Steckler began his career as a shipboard officer in the U.S. Navy and was a member of the commissioning crew of the USS Vandegrift (FFG-48). He later served as Second Company Officer and then Executive Assistant to The Commandant of Midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy.

Steckler received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Duke University and a Master of Business Administration from The George Washington University.

Laura Wages is the Programs Director for the Office of Veterans Business Development (OVBD) at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). In this role, Wages oversees OVBD Entrepreneurship Training Programs (ETPs) in formulating, implementing, administering, and promoting policies and programs which provide training to veterans, service members (active duty, National Guard, Reserve), and military spouse-owned small businesses provided through grants. These programs include Boots to Business (B2B), Revenue Readiness, Women Veteran ETPs, Service Disabled ETPs, and Veterans in Procurement programs.

Wages joined the SBA in 2016, serving in a number of positions, most recently as the Programs Director for OVBD. Prior to the SBA, she held numerous leadership positions with the U.S. Army, including Deputy Assistant for Awards and Promotions for the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) and the Deputy G1, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

Wages has first-hand military experience, having served 28 years as an enlisted soldier and active duty officer in the U.S. Army. In 2012, she retired from the military and purchased a franchise in the senior home health care industry. She holds a B.A. in literature from the University of Texas at El Paso and an M.A. from Air University.

Krissa Watry is the Co-Founder and CEO of Dynepic, Inc. a venture-backed tech company where they are powering the future of knowledge with their DX Platform. Watry is also the Co-Founder and CEO of Dynepic Sports, LLC, a family-run business that provides innovative sports equipment featuring her patented Spiral Strength grip technology.

Watry is an experienced principal investigator, program manager, product designer, inventor, engineer, entrepreneur, military veteran, rocket scientist, and corporate executive. She holds a B.S. in engineering mechanics from the U.S. Air Force Academy, where she was the top graduate in her major and was a Draper Laboratory Fellow, achieving an M.S. in mechanical engineering focused on product design from MIT. As a Captain in the USAF, Krissa was the Chief Engineer for Milstar at 4th Space Operations Squadron, managing the operations of the ultra-secure communication satellite constellation in GEO.

Watry spent over 10 years designing, building, launching, and operating cutting-edge space systems for organizations like NASA, the Department of Defense, and others, including spaceflight hardware that docked with the International Space Station. A seasoned leader and program manager, she has over 15 years of experience delivering complex programs on time and under budget. In addition, Watry is a multi-preneur with over 10 years as a technology executive who has founded multiple companies and commercialized a multitude of hardware and software products across the sports, education, and defense industries. Watry holds 10 patents and was recognized as a Global Innovator and Entrepreneur by President Obama and a Forbes Next 1000.

Father, husband, veteran, and entrepreneur are a few words to describe Colin Wayne. A visionary at heart, he has built a multi-million dollar empire within the home décor space since founding Redline Steel in 2016. A proud Christian, Wayne takes great gratification in impacting the community through his relentless commitment to giving back. After dropping out of high school at 17, he joined the Army, where he served in the Alabama Army National Guard as a Military Police Officer with multiple combat deployments.

In just five short years since he founded Redline Steel, his company has scaled into the largest customized steel manufacturer in the country. Using high-quality American steel for rigidity and a procurement process that involves powder coating every steel product, the company offers a wide range of decor that lasts for an entire lifetime.

Due to Wayne’s pledge to put “People over Profit,” he has received numerous awards and recognitions over the years, including the Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year Award in 2017, and the State of Alabama nominee at the White House during Made in America Week in 2019; he was most recently listed as #110 in the 2020 Inc. 5000 list (#1 in the State of Alabama; #4 Manufacturer in the country).

Sherman Williams, Jr. is the President and CEO of Body Water LLC and a 100% disabled veteran. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1993 as a private (E-l) and retired as a Disabled Captain (CPT of Logistics) on December 18, 2017, after more than 24 years of continuous military service. His civilian education includes a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Chapman University, California, an associate’s degree in business, maintenance technology from Barstow Community College, Fort Irwin, California, and completion of Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), Florida State University.

In his current position, Williams manages the overall operations and resources of Body Water LLC and acts as the main point of communication between the body aqua team and corporate operations. He is also responsible for leading the development and execution of the company's long-term strategy with a view to creating shareholder value. In addition, he is also the Manager of Operations, which involves overseeing the production of goods and provision of services to make sure the organization is running as well as it possibly can, with smooth, efficient service that meets the expectations and needs of customers and clients.

Sean Wilkerson works in the Office of Innovation Outreach at the USPTO creating IP awareness programs and managing outreach services to independent inventors, small businesses, entrepreneurs, makers, and universities. Wilkerson previously worked as an outreach coordinator for the programs leading up to the opening of the USPTO’s Silicon Valley and Texas Regional Offices. He also spent a year as part of the New York engagement team that developed the 2015 Future of Urban Innovation Startups Summit in coordination with Columbia University and the USPTO.

From 2011–2013, he served as the program manager of the inaugural Select USA Summit, developing the program, structure, and outreach efforts of a U.S. government-wide program housed in the International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. As an education program analyst in the Global Intellectual Property Academy from 2008–2011, he managed international programs focused on providing IP training related to enforcement of patents, trademarks, and copyrights and the U.S. patent and trademark system. Prior to working for the federal government, he served as the Director of Events for the National Association of Homebuilders in Washington, D.C. and as the Ideas Exchange Manager for Accenture in Reston, Virginia. Wilkerson was awarded the USPTO’s Bronze Medal award for superior performance in 2021.