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There comes a point in every military career when you have to start thinking about who you’re going to be when the uniform eventually comes off. For a lot of us, that question comes much later than it probably should. I know it did for me.
That’s one of the reasons I wanted to sit down with Akeem Daley again.
Akeem is still serving in the Army, and what has always stood out to me about him is how intentionally he is already thinking about the person he wants to become beyond his military career. He’s an Army recruiter, entrepreneur, content creator, and the founder and host of Shake the Room Show, but more than anything, he’s someone asking some of the questions I wish more of us asked while we still had years left in uniform.
Akeem and I first connected through the Military Influencer Conference, and when we sat down again a year later, I realized just how much ground there was to cover. What started as a conversation about transition and MIC became something much more personal about confidence, failure, ego, leadership, family, mentorship, and the strange relationship many of us develop with rank and recognition.
There were parts of Akeem’s story that reminded me a lot of my own. We both experienced success early enough that it became easy to believe we knew where our careers were headed, and we both eventually had moments when the military reminded us that things don’t always go according to plan. For Akeem, some of those lessons are still shaping the way he serves and prepares for whatever comes next. For me, I can look back from the other side of retirement and see how much those failures changed the direction of my life.
We talk openly about those failures in this episode, including what it feels like when you’ve built part of your identity around being a high performer and suddenly hear that you weren’t good enough this time. We also talk about what happens when chasing the next rank, award, or opportunity starts becoming more about proving something to yourself than taking care of the people around you.
A lot of this conversation comes back to purpose, and not the version that fits nicely into a motivational quote. Sometimes finding it means trying things you never thought you would try, getting around people who see the world differently, walking into rooms where you aren’t completely comfortable, and admitting that you still don’t know exactly what you want your life to look like.
That’s also where MIC became an important part of both of our stories. For me, I can look back and see how relationships, conversations, and opportunities from this community helped shape the direction my life eventually took after the Air Force. Akeem is experiencing that exposure from a completely different position because he is still serving, which is exactly why I think his perspective matters. He has time left in uniform, but he isn’t waiting until the final year to start discovering what else might be possible.
That may be the biggest thing I hope someone takes away from this episode. Preparing for what comes next doesn’t mean you’ve stopped caring about the military, your people, or the mission. It means understanding that your military career has an expiration date and giving yourself permission to start investing in the person who will still be there when it ends.
Because eventually the rank, awards, and uniform become part of your story instead of your everyday life, and then you have to figure out what you want the rest of that story to look like.
If you’re active duty, Guard, Reserve, transitioning, retired, or already a veteran and still trying to figure out what comes next, I think you’ll find something in this conversation that hits home.
Follow Akeem:
Instagram: @simplykeem_
Shake the Room Show: @shaketheroomshow
Follow Shake the Room co-host Lee:
Instagram: @itsmeiglee
Akeem and Shake the Room Show will also be joining us at MIC 2026 in Tampa, September 23 through 26.
