Carl E. Reid is retired from the Marine Corps, a runner with 9 marathons and 27 half marathons on his resume, and a fundraiser for local causes. Carl’s a public speaker who is available on a variety of topics such as Power Networking in a Social Media World, the Art of Networking, and strategies to Pay for College and Graduate Debt Free. He’s written several books on networking, social media and implementing an intrapreneur program.
Did the word intrapreneur pique your interest? Carl’s business philosophy is to encourage employees to think like entrepreneurs. To have individuals on staff who can think outside the box and bring new ideas to the table.
Both Carl and his wife, Phyllis Shelton, strongly believe in giving back to the community. They devote 20% of their time to community service.
In addition to what he does at TRA, Carl works with military veterans to translate their resumes to civilian terms and conducts mock interviews. Carl’s personal experience as a caregiver prompted him to become a licensed and certified Medicare planner. When Carl’s driving older adults to medical appointments, Medicare frequently comes up and he is happy to answer questions during the ride.
Carl is a man who thinks confidence is contagious. He quit smoking cold turkey in December 2012. The next day he confidently told his wife “I’m going to run a marathon.” He started with walking around the block. It took three months to graduate to jogging. By month 7 he could run two miles. It was a long way from the 26.2 miles he needed to complete a marathon. Ten months after quitting smoking Carl was lined up on the starting line of the Marine Corps Marathon. About 1000 feet from the finish line Carl collapsed in pain. After being helped to his feet he continued slowly to the finish line. Today he says it was the hardest challenge he overcame up to that minute in his life. The confidence he gained he now passes on to others.
Carl mentioned TRA’s website and the online Resource Hub as a great option for adults 60+ and adults with a disability 21+ to access and search for needed services and information.
Although currently on hiatus from his volunteer driver status Carl deeply appreciates the need to assist the members of our community and hopes to be able to resume driving in the future. As a volunteer Carl is deeply impressed with TRA’s appreciation and recognition of the volunteers. He stated “Of all the companies I’ve volunteered with TRA has been really, really, awesome at recognizing, edifying, and supporting the volunteers, more than any of the others. The organization takes care of its volunteers.”
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