A Day in the Life of a Small Business Jedi Master

“In a dark place we find ourselves, and a little more knowledge lights our way.” – Yoda (also, nearly all small businesses seeking to work with DoD).

Whenever anyone asks my family about what I do for a living, their response is always something like “…she works for the Navy and helps small businesses. I can’t really explain it very well because it all sounds complicated. But she is a basically a celebrity in that world.”  This always makes me chuckle but it’s true. I DO work for the Navy, I DO help small businesses, it CAN be complicated, and I have literally had people stop me at large conventions and say “You’re the small business Jedi Master! Can I get a picture with you?”. That part is truly bizarre. But I have passion for what I do – and it is tangible to folks.

This mystery about what I do in my role, officially titled “Deputy Director of Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP)”, extends far beyond my family members.  I am often mistaken for being part of the Small Business Administration (SBA) which is an entirely different part of the federal government. Alas, I am employed by the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, or NAWCTSD for simplicity’s sake.  In this role, my job is ultimately to serve NAWTCSD’s mission by leveraging the capabilities of small businesses. My official title is odd indeed.  “Deputy” implies there is another entity in the NAWCTSD OSBP when it’s just me. Full disclosure: sometimes I am lucky enough to have short-term rotational support from mostly entry-level acquisition employees (13 rotations since April 2020). “Director” is a misnomer because I have no authority to direct anyone except myself.  To be more precise, it is important for folks to realize that I do not:

-          Hand out Government contracts;

-          Make acquisition program decisions; or

-          Decide which companies receive contract awards.

Given the above, I found it quite fitting that my predecessor, who departed before I stepped into the role in late 2015, left behind a copy of Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends & Influence People” on the office bookshelf. Godspeed.

So, what DO I do? Why should anyone care? Read on for a peek into a typical day in the life of a Small Business Jedi Master.

6:20 am:

I’m not a morning person. So first, coffee. Then walks for my two senior rescue mutts before I head into my home office and fire up the laptop around 7:30 to I assess the calendar for the day ahead and answer a few simple emails.

8:00 am:

I quickly review and make notes about the capability statements, websites, and SBA profiles of two small businesses I am scheduled to meet for introductory one-on-one sessions at 9:00 & 9:30. One of my duties is to maintain & make new connections with industry. Doing business with the Government can be fraught with what seem to be insurmountable hurdles; barriers to entry abound. I think of myself as a sherpa who can guide a business to the right information and connections to overcome these obstacles. These introductory meetings are a great way to get started on that journey.  With anywhere from 100-140 forecasted opportunities ranging from half a million to hundreds of millions of dollars in NAWCTSD’s portfolio at any given time, to say small businesses flock to me with interest is an understatement. That fact paired with the dire need to improve the health of the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) means that both sides are eager to learn how we can be of support to one another.  Given the sheer volume of requests, not every small business gets an intro meeting – if that were the case, I would accomplish little else in my workday. Instead, I employ a “triage” process to assess if a company is a good candidate for an intro call. I hear from companies who provide everything from cleaning supplies to niche services to support complex training systems. For those who do not provide services or supplies that align with NAWCTSD’s acquisition portfolio, I do my best to connect them with another Government entity that is a better fit. Some businesses are brand new to the federal market and need basic support to get registered in databases such as SAM.gov and figure out which federal buyers to target. I encourage those businesses to connect with their local APEX Accelerators before further engagement.

9:00 am:

I hop on MS Teams, turn my camera on, and am off and running in the 1st intro session with a new company seeking business with NAWCTSD. These introductory sessions are typically 30 minutes long with content tailored to the level of “acquisition readiness” of the firm. Assuming the small business has readied itself by reviewing the pre-meeting “homework” (check out the pinned post in my LinkedIn profile titled “Doing Business with NAWCTSD Info Sheet”), these sessions can provide significant insight into procurements of interest within the command’s acquisition forecast, methods to identify potential teaming partners, and understanding of the military training, modeling & simulation ecosystem we collectively refer to as “Team Orlando”.  I watch the clock carefully as time FLIES during these sessions; there is simply so much to share. I quickly wrap up the 1st session and hustle to connect with the next small business and share curated insights to assist in their quest for a slice of the NAWCTSD contract pie, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project, or even an innovation prize challenge hosted via the Central Florida Tech Grove – a product of our amazing partnership with the University of Central Florida's Research Foundation.

So far in FY24, I have conducted over 100 of these 30-min intro sessions to pre-screened small businesses. As alluded to in the 8:00am hour, this only scratches the surface of the total volume and variety of small business cold calls, emails, conference meeting follow-ups, and LinkedIn requests that I receive every single day.

10:00 am:

Time to switch gears to focus on an internal program request. This morning, I am collaborating with a few folks from one of the command’s integrated product teams (IPTs). This particular team is seeking my assistance in identifying potential 8(a) small business sources and acquisition strategy considerations related to an upcoming courseware effort for a Navy “rating” (a sailor’s occupation or specialty). It is a robust conversation. We discuss the salient characteristics of the requirement; what level of interactive multimedia instruction (IMI) is needed, if the content of the curriculum already exists or if the contractor needs to develop or modify the curriculum, how soon the end user needs it delivered; the procurement’s history, complexity, value, and risk are also key topics. Collectively, we discuss what we know about the industry – which small businesses may have capabilities to perform, who their partners may be, their experience and past performance (if any); the list goes on.  These discussions guide further market research activity and inform potential acquisition strategies. It quickly begins to feel like one of those “choose your own adventure” stories I enjoyed in my youth. The IPT also has several in-depth questions about regulations surrounding the 8(a) small business development program and requests clarity on how compliance with workshare regulations come into play.  I confidently provide them with answers as well as strategy options to consider.  Off they go. But they will be back.

11:00 am:

Now it’s time to join the twice-weekly call with the NAVAIR Office of Small Business Programs Team. NAWCTSD is a command nested within NAVAIR. The NAVAIR OSBP is a family of dedicated and passionate small business professionals.  The camaraderie, trust, and knowledge is deep and meaningful within this team. Each of us serves our own specific buying command’s niche needs while supporting each other through shared lessons learned and facilitated connections. Among the team is a keen awareness of the simultaneous fragility and strength of the small business industry that supports the defense sector. We work towards a common vision of supporting the collective work across NAVAIR using the talents of small business partners.

12:00 pm:

Working lunch. This is a great opportunity for the senior dogs to take a quick excursion to the back yard while I prep my lunch. With dogs back inside, back to the laptop I go, my usual salad in hand, ready to tackle the “small business help desk” type requests that I receive from my internal NAWCTSD team such as reviewing small business coordination records, unlocking employee accounts for said record system, adding content to the NAWCTSD Small Business Teams library, short mandatory training requirements, scheduling future meetings…all the minutiae.

1:00 pm:

Before I know it, it’s time to grab my business cards and head over to the Central Florida Tech Grove for the monthly “Juice Bar” event. While Juice Bar topics vary widely, they often are of significant relevance to the small business industry. The focus of today’s event is a discussion about technology readiness levels (TRLs) with our command’s Director of Research and Engineering. It’s an intimate affair – no more than 10 people in person and an approximate equal number join virtually to listen to the insights and engage with questions. I particularly enjoy smaller exchanges like these that allow for a deep dive into a niche area that reveals key insights to existing and aspiring small industry partners. Events such as the Juice Bar offer unique and meaningful connections within the ecosystem, just one of the many ways that small businesses can mine the networking gold in the hills of NAWCTSD and the greater network of Team Orlando.  Familiarity with the community and establishment of relationships is what forms a foundation of trust from which to build more substantive partnerships – usually with the goal of parlaying into much sought-after contract opportunities.

Some outreach events bring a much larger audience of industry participants (such as I/ITSEC, TSIS, Tech Grove Market Place, Innovation Harvest Days and Armed Forces Game Jam to name a few). At each of these events, I meet a barrage of small businesses with a variety of capabilities.  But today’s itinerary doesn’t include one of these mega-events that would typically encompass an entire day (or even multiple days).

4:00 pm:

Now back at my home office, it is a great time of day to catch up on the upcoming and newly implemented changes to federal laws and regulations that impact small businesses in federal procurements. Considering the alphabet soup of governance such as Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) along with their DoD and Navy regulatory supplements – it can feel like a navigating the ingredients of a multi-vitamin combo pack.  It would be unwise of me to dismiss precedents set by case law out of the U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO), SBA's Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA), and U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC) which often have strategic impacts to small businesses and the federal acquisition community at large, so I study those as well.  

After reviewing this mass of information, I attempt to rack and stack the most important & impactful regulatory and court case updates into a roadmap for discussion at the next NAWCTSD Contracting Officer’s Forum. This forum is a regularly occurring event where I am often invited as the guest speaker to help spread not only the “what” about this new knowledge but the “why” and “how” to apply it.

My effectiveness is only as good as my ability to keep pace with the frequently changing, complex landscape of federal small business procurement.  I must be prepared to communicate and train NAWCTSD’s acquisition personnel on these key updates. Failure to tend to this tedious part of my role could lead to misapplication or violation of regs that could hamper - or even halt -procurements.  Protests and congressional inquiries can wreak serious havoc on a program schedule! It’s my job to be a lighthouse for procurement officials and small businesses alike – to help identify risks and impacts so folks can make better informed decisions.

Thankfully there are some wonderfully insightful federal small business procurement law blogs and personalities in the GOVCON community to help me keep some semblance of sanity in this area of responsibility (look for shoutouts to appear in the comments of this newsletter post).

5:30 pm: 

I’m calling it a day. There is always more to do. In a role where I am involved in many levels – from recommending strategic initiatives & acquisition strategies to data mining & scheduling meetings; working with nearly every IPT in my command supporting numerous contracts throughout all stages of their lifecycle; helping to bridge the gap between known solutions and innovations needed to make Navy training more effective, efficient, and affordable - this Jedi Master’s work is never finished. Plus, these dogs need walking again!