GovCon Unscripted

Chelsea Roberts
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Administración
  • Cada semana

Welcome to GovCon Unscripted, where we dive into the unfiltered stories and strategies from all around the world of government contracting. Join host Chelsea Roberts as she explores how to navigate, thrive, and win in this complex but rewarding industry.

  1. Your Network Is Your Net Worth: Why Nobody Wins Federal Work Alone | Tim Hagerty

    hace 8 h

    Your Network Is Your Net Worth: Why Nobody Wins Federal Work Alone | Tim Hagerty

    In federal contracting, your network is your net worth, and most small businesses are working with one far too small to win what they are capable of winning. On this Special Episode of GovCon Unscripted, host Chelsea Roberts continues the #RoadtoHUBZone series with Tim Hagerty, founder and CEO of TeamingPro and a board member of the HUBZone Contractors National Council. Tim started TeamingPro after a lesson every small business learns the hard way: capability is rarely what holds you back, your network is. He breaks down what actually makes a strong teaming partner (past performance with the specific buyer, not just a matching capability), why teaming wins a larger slice of a bigger contract rather than a smaller slice of the same one, and how technology can take the friction out of finding and reaching the right partners. The conversation widens into the fragility of the domestic manufacturing supply chain and the reshoring opportunity, then lands on the 2026 National HUBZone Conference, where TeamingPro is powering the matchmaking so attendees arrive already knowing who they should meet. 2026 National HUBZone Conference, July 21 and 22 (golf outing July 20) at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia.   Timestamps 00:00 Welcome and who Tim is 01:00 What TeamingPro is and why he built it 02:00 The convention problem: 4,000 people, no blinking arrows 06:00 What makes a strong teaming partner 10:00 The network is the bottleneck, not capability 14:00 The bigger pie: small businesses winning together 17:00 TeamingPro’s role in the HUBZone Conference matchmaking 25:00 Manufacturing supply chain risk and reshoring 33:00 SBA momentum and opening up competition 36:00 How to reach Tim and TeamingPro Resources: Tim Hagerty's LinkedIn Profile Chelsea's LinkedIn Profile Other resources: TeamingPro Website HUBZone Contractors National Council 2026 National HUBZone Conference (register)   🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/ 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/ 🔹 Join our #govcon community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/

    38 min
  2. The Last All-Human Workforce | Paul Serotkin

    hace 2 días

    The Last All-Human Workforce | Paul Serotkin

    A federal workforce leader recently told a room of executives they would be the last generation to manage an all-human team. Paul Serotkin has spent 40 years watching this industry change, and he thinks that one line explains most of what is coming next. On today's episode of GovCon Unscripted, Paul Serotkin, CEO and founder of the Serotkin Group, joins Chelsea Roberts for a wide-ranging conversation on adapting your federal business while the ground keeps moving. Paul began his career fighting for what became the Small Business Innovation Research Act and was in the Rose Garden when it was signed in 1982. Since then he has run a mergers and acquisitions practice, founded the boutique investment bank Minuteman Ventures, operated small and socio-economic government contractors, and mentored founders through SCORE and Boston Business Mentors. In this episode, Paul and Chelsea get into the difference between change that lasts and change that is just the pendulum swinging back, why a business plan is now a quarterly discipline rather than an annual ritual, when a subcontractor should stop being afraid to prime, how to build business development into every role in the company, and why the leaders managing teams today may be the last to manage an all-human workforce.   Chapters: 00:00 Welcome and Paul's 40-year GovCon arc 02:00 Excitement or dread: what is really changing 03:00 Pendulum swing versus permanent change: commerciality, AI, SBIR 05:00 Contracting-officer discretion, fixed-price default, a roughly $1 trillion DoD request 08:00 Write it down: a business plan that survives the quarter 11:00 Focus versus shiny-object syndrome 13:00 The subcontracting pathway, and when to stop being afraid to prime 18:00 BD as a team sport: aligning the front office and the back office 21:00 Everyone is a salesperson 26:00 Aligning incentives with what the company wants 27:30 The last all-human workforce 30:00 The proposal that bans AI: a double-edged sword 30:30 SCORE and Boston Business Mentors: free expertise most never use 34:30 How to reach Paul Resources: Paul Serotkin's LinkedIn profile  Chelsea Robert's LinkedIn profile Serotkin Group's Website Other resources: Boston Business Mentors' Website SCORE Organization's website   🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/ 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/

    37 min
  3. Show Up or Stay Invisible: Why HUBZone Advocacy Can’t Wait in 2026 | Michelle Burnett

    25 jun

    Show Up or Stay Invisible: Why HUBZone Advocacy Can’t Wait in 2026 | Michelle Burnett

    Most people file HUBZone under “niche set-aside.” It was designed as an economic development engine for the communities America left behind, and it is sitting at an inflection point right now. On this Special Episode of GovCon Unscripted, host Chelsea Roberts opens the #RoadtoHUBZone series with Michelle Burnett, Vice Chair of the HUBZone Contractors National Council, ahead of the 2026 National HUBZone Conference. Michelle has worked with the HUBZone program since she was 20. She walks through its original intent as a place-based economic development tool, the multiplier effect it was built to create, and why its biggest challenges today are problems of execution and acquisition alignment rather than flaws in the program itself. The conversation covers the 2019 regulatory overhaul and the changes the Council fought for, what aligning the program with domestic manufacturing and reshoring could unlock, and why teaming has become a survival strategy for small firms that feel like the rug is being pulled out from under them. It closes with a direct call: show up, advocate, and be at the table. The 2026 National HUBZone Conference runs July 21 and 22 (with a golf outing July 20) at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia. Timestamps 00:00 Welcome and who Michelle is 01:00 The 2026 National HUBZone Conference and what is new this year 03:00 Who should come, and why large business turnout is so high 04:00 Where the program’s execution falls short 06:00 Advocacy, the FAR overhaul, and why your voice matters 09:00 The program is not broken, the execution is 10:00 The multiplier effect, a hand up rather than a handout 13:00 HUBZone On The Rise and the manufacturing consortium 17:00 How to get involved and where to find the conference Resources: Michelle Burnett's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-burnett-21737771/ Chelsea's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelseadroberts/ Other resources: HUBZone Contractors National Council: https://www.hubzonecouncil.org/ 2026 National HUBZone Conference (register): https://www.hubzonecouncil.org/2026-National-HUBZone-Conference HUBZone Council LinkedIn group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/2992361/   🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/ 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/ 🔹 Join our #govcon community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/

    22 min
  4. The CSO Before CSOs Were Everywhere | Adam C. Grant

    23 jun

    The CSO Before CSOs Were Everywhere | Adam C. Grant

    Everyone has a CSO now. Almost nobody runs one the way the people who built the first ones did. Adam C. Grant was in the room when some of the first commercial ones went live, and he has thoughts on why the speed never matched the promise. Adam C. Grant went from enlisted Air Force to commissioned officer to contracting officer managing a large air and space portfolio at Patrick Space Force Base, where his team launched some of the first commercial Commercial Solutions Openings in the country, coast to coast across both launch ranges. Then he crossed the table: early-stage venture investing, and now business development and capture at Core4ce. In this Success After Service episode he and Chelsea Roberts get into why owning a contracting vehicle is not the same as knowing how to run it, what the consolidation of vehicles into places like the GSA Schedules is doing to competition, and the unglamorous discipline behind a successful transition out of service. Practical, direct, and built for practitioners who want to move faster without pretending the failures do not happen. Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome and who is Adam C. Grant 01:00 From enlisted Air Force to commissioned officer to acquisition 03:00 Running the first commercial CSOs at Patrick Space Force Base 05:00 Why six months is not enough to prepare for transition 06:00 LinkedIn Premium as an intelligence tool for service members 08:00 Reframing your skillsets beyond the obvious career path 09:00 Why you need two or three champions who will not blow smoke 10:00 Shoot or shoot: the follow-up discipline that builds a network 12:00 Breaking into early-stage investing from outside the major markets 17:00 Reading founders in the first three minutes 20:00 Why a no is not a no forever 24:00 What is changing in business development and capture today 26:00 Vehicle consolidation, GSA MAS, and the competition it creates 27:00 From pitch days to CSOs everywhere 28:00 Why owning the vehicle is not the same as knowing how to run it 31:00 How to reach Adam (search Adam C. Grant) and the 15-minute rule Resource links: Core4ce Website Adam C. Grant's LinkedIn profile Chelsea Roberts' LinkedIn profile 🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/ 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/ Join our #govcon #community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/

    35 min
  5. The Vehicle Is Not the Sale | Shene Commodore

    16 jun

    The Vehicle Is Not the Sale | Shene Commodore

    Landing a spot on a GSA schedule feels like the win. It is really just permission to start competing, and the clock starts the day you sign. Most small businesses treat a contract vehicle as the goal. Shenê Commodore, CPCM, founder and CEO of Commodore Consulting, has been on both sides of that assumption, as a former government contracts professional and now as the consultant companies call when they need to actually use the vehicle they fought to get. In this conversation, Shenê and host Chelsea Roberts get into the real state of GSA in a year of fast-moving change: the largest FAR revision in more than 40 years, GSA's move toward centralized procurement, and the compliance math that decides whether you keep your schedule or lose it. Shenê explains why a BPA, a schedule, or a spot on OASIS+ is access rather than revenue, what actually counts as past performance, and how to map your project scope to the right NAICS code so you pass GSA's scope review, which is now partly run by AI. She also walks through where AI genuinely helps a small contractor, from market research to oral presentation prep, and the data-verification discipline that keeps you out of trouble. If you are weighing whether you need a GSA schedule, or you have one and it is not producing, this episode is the practitioner's map. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:50 Meet Shenê Commodore and Commodore Consulting 01:20 From a DCAA internship to TRICARE, both sides of the table 03:30 Losing a job, finding NCMA, and going out on her own 06:30 Turbulent times and the pace of change 07:00 The FAR revisions, the biggest in 40-plus years 08:40 The qualification myth, it was always required 09:50 GSA as the centralized procurement agency 11:00 Do you actually need a GSA schedule? 12:30 GSA teaming, credit as a sub and MAS JV schedules 17:00 Compliance, sales thresholds and transactional data reporting 19:00 BPAs, OASIS+, and what counts as a real sale 20:00 The car you cannot drive, a vehicle is not a sale 22:00 Scope review, NAICS mapping, and GSA's use of AI 25:00 Where AI fits, automations, research, oral presentations 28:00 Guardrails, hallucinations, and the C.R.A.P. test 33:00 How to reach Shene and her closing advice Resource links: Shene Commodore on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shenecommodore/ Commodore Consulting: https://www.commodoreconsulting.com Shene's Stan store: https://stan.store/SheneCommodore Chelsea Roberts on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelseadroberts/ 🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/ 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/ Join our #govcon #community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/

    37 min
  6. Same Mission, Different Uniform: Why a 24-Year Sergeant Major Chose GovCon | Josh Brandt

    9 jun

    Same Mission, Different Uniform: Why a 24-Year Sergeant Major Chose GovCon | Josh Brandt

    Twenty-four years in, retired as a sergeant major out of JSOC, and the hardest part of leaving wasn't the job market. It was turning in the badge and trusting the mission would carry forward without him. In this Success After Service episode of GovCon Unscripted, host Chelsea Roberts talks with Josh Brandt, Technology Director for C5 Systems at ManTech, about what military transition actually demands once the uniform comes off. Josh spent 24 years in the Army, served at NATO, instructed, deployed to Iraq, and finished his career as the J6R sergeant major at JSOC before moving into industry. He's candid about the myths that trip people up: that your value automatically translates, that the biggest offer is the best one, and that you can do this alone. The conversation covers building marketability before you separate, running a job search like a target package, choosing a company on culture rather than comp, and using DoD SkillBridge to test-drive an employer. Josh also points listeners to the programs that carried him through: The Honor Foundation, Warriors Ethos, and Home Base. Timestamps:  00:00 Welcome and the Success After Service series  01:00 Meet Josh Brandt  06:30 Be comfortable being uncomfortable  12:00 The myth of automatic recognition  14:00 Same mission, different uniform  24:00 Run your job search like a target package  28:00 It doesn't have to be the forever place  29:00 SkillBridge and time pressure  31:30 Resources and how to reach Josh Resources: Josh Brandt's LinkedIn ProfileChelsea's LinkedIn ProfileManTech's Website Other resources:  The Honor Foundation: Warriors EthosHome Base 🎧 Listen now on:  🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482  🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy  Like and follow us:  🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS  🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/  🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/

    34 min
  7. The Resume Is Dead. So Are Job Boards. Here's What Federal Hiring Looks Like Now. | Richie Lampani

    2 jun

    The Resume Is Dead. So Are Job Boards. Here's What Federal Hiring Looks Like Now. | Richie Lampani

    A cleared-defense billet drew 350 applications in 24 hours. Every resume looked perfect. Most of them weren't real. That's where the federal hiring market actually is right now, and it's the conversation Chelsea Roberts has with Richie Lampani in this episode of GovCon Unscripted. Richie is a Fractional Head of Talent who has built recruiting infrastructure from zero for EarthDaily Federal (geospatial intelligence, cleared defense) and runs his own firm, Rebel Talent Systems. His path is not traditional. He came up in the music industry, booked Wu-Tang Clan and Marilyn Manson, and learned to act as an agent for both sides of every deal. He brought that instinct into 14 years of recruiting and now applies it to one of the toughest cleared-talent markets in recent memory. In this conversation, Richie and Chelsea walk through the structural shifts every federal contractor and every job seeker needs to understand right now. They cover why the resume has stopped working as a screening signal, why job boards now flood roles with 150 to 350 applications inside hours, and why AI-tailored resumes have collapsed the differentiation any candidate can claim on paper. Richie shares his frontline experience with fraudulent applicants, suspected overseas operators using AI and stolen profiles to bid on US technical and even cleared roles, and walks through the specific tells that catch them, including a memorable Chicago subway question that broke one candidate. He explains why TS/SCI full-scope-poly roles are paradoxically the safest hiring ground in the current environment, and why networking has reclaimed its position as the only durable channel for sales and capture hires in a 12-to-18-month federal sales cycle. Practitioners on the job-search side will hear specific tactics: how to construct a LinkedIn profile that actually surfaces in recruiter back-end SEO, why your About section and tagline matter more than your headline, why political content on LinkedIn is shrinking your opportunity set, and why Richie himself took a third-shift stocking job at Walmart during his last search rather than burn cash chasing roles he hadn't networked into. Timestamps: 00:00 — Open · Richie introduces himself and his three current fractional engagements 00:50 — The music-industry-to-recruiting path · why booking bands taught him to agent both sides 03:20 — What Richie is hiring for now · AI/ML and all levels of sales 04:30 — The fraudulent candidate problem · who is doing it and why it is so hard to catch 07:50 — The Chicago subway tell · how a single geography question broke a fraudulent applicant 10:30 — Why cleared roles are the safest place to hire right now 11:30 — 350 applications in 24 hours · why the job board model has broken 13:30 — "The resume is probably dead" · why AI-tailored resumes have collapsed differentiation 14:45 — Why sales hires now come almost entirely from networking, not applications 15:30 — Richie's own job search · 30 interviews from referrals, one callback from an application 16:15 — Walking into Walmart for third-shift stocking work mid-search · the case against shame 17:20 — Drop the resume off in person · why the hybrid candidate has the edge 19:30 — LinkedIn hygiene · why open-networking is hurting your algorithm 22:00 — The Rebel Talent Systems free LinkedIn SEO tool 23:45 — Top two pieces of advice: clean resume, and keep politics off your profile 28:00 — How to actually stand out · build something useful and show your work 29:30 — How to find Richie · Rebel Talent Systems and Rachel Tyrell, his autonomous AI assistant Resource links: Richie's LinkedIn ProfileChelsea's LinkedIn profileRebel Talent Systems (free LinkedIn SEO tool): https://rebeltalentsystems.comRichie's books: Head and Heart: Winning the AI Recruiting War · Unfinished Rooms: Why Great Employees Keep One Foot Out the DoorOther resources: https://rebeltalentsystems.comrichie@rebeltalentsystems.com 🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/ 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/ Join our #govcon #community https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/

    32 min
  8. $30 Million, One-to-One Match, Five Agencies: Inside the Strategic Breakthrough Award | Jerry Hollister

    26 may

    $30 Million, One-to-One Match, Five Agencies: Inside the Strategic Breakthrough Award | Jerry Hollister

    The SBIR reauthorization is done. Public Law 119-83, signed April 13, in force through September 30, 2031. The headlines focused on the $30 million Strategic Breakthrough Award. The real story is everything underneath it. In this episode of GovCon Unscripted, host Chelsea Roberts sits down with Jerry Hollister, Co-Owner of BBC Entrepreneurial Training & Consulting (BBCetc) and a former DoD contracting officer with three decades in the SBIR/STTR space. Jerry walks through the actual mechanics of what changed in the reauthorization, what didn't, and where the program quietly shifted in ways most companies haven't internalized yet. The conversation covers Strategic Breakthrough Awards (up to $30M, five agencies, 1:1 match, must come from existing SBIR budget). The sole source training mandate for contracting officers, an authority that has existed since Reagan but that most KOs are afraid to use. The new foreign influence disclosure regime and the eight-list cross-check that agencies must now run. The shift to monthly topic releases at DoD. And the multiple award winner debate, where the senator from Massachusetts and the SBIR mill problem held up the entire bill for two months. Jerry also discusses BBCetc's pricing model (hourly, no success fees, no equity), the FAST Program network across 42 states, and his recommendation for any company sitting on the edge of the program. Timestamps: 00:00 Cold open 00:30 Welcome and introductions 01:00 What BBCetc does and the SBIR/STTR consulting model 01:40 The reauthorization fight and Public Law 119-83 03:20 SBIR program mechanics. Phase one, phase two, phase three 07:30 The phase two to phase three valley of death 08:50 Why DoD acquisition timelines kill SBIR transitions 12:30 What the reauthorization actually changed 13:00 Sole source training for contracting officers 14:00 The Strategic Breakthrough Award explained 16:00 Where the match dollars can come from 17:30 Why a $30M award is unlikely in practice 19:00 No new money. Just new authority. 20:00 DoD's shift to monthly topic releases 21:30 Why the cycle changed and whether it sticks 24:00 Pre-solicitation, DSIP, and the FAR-based dialogue rules 29:00 Foreign influence disclosures and the eight-list check 33:30 The SBIR mill debate and the multiple award winner question 36:00 The benchmark proposal that didn't pass 38:30 What the new topic limits will look like starting October 1 40:30 BBCetc's pricing model and the FAST Program network 43:30 How to reach Jerry Resources: Jerry's LinkedIn ProfileChelsea's LinkedIn profileBBCetc Website Additional Resources: Public Law 119-83 DSIP (Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal): https://www.congress.gov/119/plaws/publ83/PLAW-119publ83.pdfSBA FAST Program: https://www.sbir.gov/community/fast 🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/ 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/ Join our #govcon #community https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/

    46 min
Ver todo (96)

Calificaciones y reseñas

5
de 5
2 calificaciones

Acerca de

Welcome to GovCon Unscripted, where we dive into the unfiltered stories and strategies from all around the world of government contracting. Join host Chelsea Roberts as she explores how to navigate, thrive, and win in this complex but rewarding industry.

Información

  • Creador
    Chelsea Roberts
  • Años de actividad
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodios
    96
  • Clasificación
    Apto
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved.
  • Mostrar sitio web
    GovCon Unscripted

También te podría interesar