Freelance Corporal launched on November 10, 2020. On that day 245 years ago, we celebrated another birthday in Philadelphia, at a little bar called the Tun Tavern.Since then, the United States Marine Corps has earned a reputation even fewer and prouder than its very own lifeblood, The Marines. These warriors have upheld their core values — Honor, Courage, and Commitment— in every clime and place; From the halls of Montezuma, to Silicon Valley?
Despite a long (and distinguished) list of victories we reference with pride, the ego of the
almighty Marine Corps does not protect it(us) from the problems that grow from within.
Ever since separating from active service in 2015, these issues have been the focal point of my GI Bill funded education — From Cerritos Community College, to Graduate School at the University of Southern California. I’ve studied these problems from every perspective I could cram into the last five years. Freelance Corporal is the culmination of these hard earned insights. The “application” if you will.
Looking back on the list of buzzwords I’ve searched thousands of times makes me feel ridiculous for taking five years to stumble into what now seems so obvious.
Depression, Homelessness, Suicide → Resource Management Equality, Wealth Gap, Social Upward Mobility → Exponential Growth Bias Behaviorism, Consumer Psych, Org Development → Gamified Learning
Outside of the social inequality that drives the problems — these epidemics seem to revolve around misguided resource management. How could we ever expect to resolve national debt before personal financial management is understood? This cannot be achieved without transparent, understandable education that speaks the language of the user.
Right now, we “Jarheads” may be more reputable for our ASVAB waivers, crayon eating, and high APR used car loans than our literacy, but we get one thing right: Apes together, strong. Now somebody hold my beer, I’ve got a website to build! My name is LCPL Brandon Childers, M.S. and I am creating a gamified budgeting app to improve financial literacy. Check it out on freelcpl.com, and let us know what you think!