Welcome to Episode 14 of the In the Name of Service Podcast. Here, we broadcast stories of everyday men and women who’ve answered a call to serve in hopes of inspiring and catalyzing the rest of us to follow suit in our own way. Today’s interview is with Kelvin Gumbs. Kelvin is a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was raised in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where I had the pleasure of meeting him. After graduating from high school, Kelvin entered Enlisted Naval Service in 2000 and was commissioned as a Chief Warrant Officer 16 years later. During his time in the U.S. Navy Kelvin has supported and led at various levels and served onboard: Nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, an amphibious command ship, strike fighter and reconnaissance squadrons, the Pentagon, headquarters units across the Pacific theater, National Capital Region, and a Geographic Combatant Command in Europe. Kelvin retired from the Navy in the fall of 2022 from Naval Education and Training Command as the Staff Executive Officer and Director of Administration and now manages the online education military strategy for Purdue University. He is also a Leadership, Performance, and Safety Coach with CAVU International. Kelvin is married, he is a proud father of two teenagers and an avid runner.Kelvin starts our conversation by warning the rest of you that he's just a normal guy; no major heroics or death-defying feats to highlight here. You'll quickly understand, however, why I think his story is worth telling and his wisdom worth sharing. I hope you'll listen as Kelvin takes us through his experiences in the Navy and beyond, how he learned from failure, worked hard, earned his teammates' trust, and maximized his contributions. His lessons are simple but critical; one of my favorites is that relationships matter. His call to action is simple- BE OF ACTION! There is ALWAYS a path to take.I highly recommend connecting with Kelvin on Facebook where you’ll see his daily running adventures and inspiration and on linkedIn where you can keep up with the leadership teams he’s helping or what Purdue has to offer. Please see below for some important links to more information on Purdue, CAVU, and to watch a video on Kelvin put together by Purdue. Thank you for listening!INFO on Purdue OIP is here: https://www.purdue.edu/research/industry-partners/INFO on CAVU mission is here: https://www.cavu-intl.com/about Video piece done by Purdue on Kelvin: https://stories.purdue.edu/naval-officer-complements-leadership-skills-with-purdue-global-degree/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6666K1OA1tY
