This Veteran's Day, Connecting Vets is taking some time to talk about veterans who currently work at Audacy, including Market Manager Michael Valenzuela. You may not know it, but Valenzuela is an Army veteran who served in the Gulf War.
Valenzuela served from 1987-1991, assigned to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he started his military career as a TOW (tube launched, optically tracked, and wire guided) anti-tank missile gunner. He also spent some time as an instructor at West Point before being deployed for Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield.
His unit convoyed from Saudi Arabia into the Iraqi desert and executed a one-hundred-mile or more flanking maneuver that ended when they established contact with the 82nd Airborne Division deep behind what had just previously been enemy lines. At that point, the war paused while General Norman Schwarzkopf negotiated the end of the conflict with the Iraqis.
Getting back home in April, Valenzuela's four-year tour in the Army was over, and he was discharged in August. It was an "easy transition to be honest, the military does such a great job of teaching you discipline and accountability," Valenzuela said. He went to college and was recruited into sales and has worked through several iterations of the company, today called Audacy.
"You have to be able to adapt and evolve," Valenzuela told Connecting Vets about his current position as a market manager, citing the ever-changing landscape of today's multi-media environment. When he first started the job, there was really only radio and broadcast television. Today, he points out that even the Girl Scouts have a streaming service.
"You have to be a chameleon and know how to adapt," Valenzuela reiterated, but also pointed out that in this job, "you have to have principles running a market, have a clear vision, and communicate effectively. The military gives you clear objectives, and I try to do that as well."
When Connecting Vets asked what Veterans Day meant to him, Valenzuela pointed out that Memorial Day is the holiday for those who made the ultimate sacrifice, but all veterans sign on the dotted line knowing they could be called upon to die for their country, and that's what Veterans Day signifies.
"I'm grateful for those who came before, and to be a part of it," he said. "I'm grateful for the freedoms we have here, and that was provided by veterans."