ABOUT: ALEXIS

Alpha Echo Project’s Co-Founder and originally from the Philadelphia suburbs, Alexis is a graduate of the University of Richmond Robins School of Business, where she earned a BS in business administration with a concentration in marketing. A 2020 Hall of Fame inductee for her high school, Alexis was a 4-year full scholarship lacrosse player and served as Captain two consecutive years.

Alexis worked in commercial and residential real estate development and at US Lacrosse before she ventured into the world of advertising when she was accepted into the prestigious Brandcenter at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she earned a Master of Science in Business with a concentration in Strategic Planning. Between her first and second year, Alexis was offered a highly coveted internship working on the Burger King account with the ad agency Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, later named Agency of the Year so many years that it was named Agency of the Decade (2000s).

In her final semester, Alexis earned a position with The Martin Agency after a class project won the agency new client business with The Learning Channel (TLC). Along with her two partners, their TLC work as students received the Jay Chiat "Gold" Award for strategic planning in branding. During a branding project for a large global insurance company, Alexis came to a conclusion. After years of researching the internal and external communications of many different companies in many different industries, there was often a rift between the two, rendering a tension that would impact sales and retention, to begin with. She consistently found business after business looking for advertising to solve problems while their internal culture was not only fatigued by internal policies and “initiatives” pulling them this way and that, while lacking a sense of purpose and leadership within their very walls. In essence, the employees inside don’t always believe the very advertising and sales approaches representing them and that they often had to represent -- and did so at the expense of their very own credibility with their clients.

It was at this time that she became fiercely passionate about clients holding off on big advertising spends until internal champions were made. Alexis would quickly find herself in team building and, in short order, co-founding a leadership development company with the most entrepreneurial training team the institutional Army has ever produced. Alexis has worked across industries and with cultures of all types. From the World Bank Group to CSX railroads, professional sports and television, her desire to bring out the best in people and teams is insatiable.

Alexis kicking off an epic full-day immersion experience with clients.

Alexis still enjoys sports and building businesses while raising her daughter who already outplays her in all sports.

ABOUT: ERIK

Erik is a native New Yorker and a 2005 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was a member of what Time Magazine called "The Class of 9/11."

Erik majored in Law and Legal Studies and commissioned as an Airborne Infantry Officer in the height of two wars. Fifteen years later, he is a Major in the Army Reserves and holds widespread training and combat experiences in asymmetric warfare, psychological and information warfare, counterinsurgency, and Special Operations Force missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa.

In civilian life, Erik earned financial licenses in the Series 7, 66, and 26 while serving as a branch manager and financial advisor in the National Capital Region for 4 years. Now leaving a successful career in finance behind him, Erik is pursuing his passion for working with teams to develop skills around advanced situational awareness and elite communication.

Applying his extensive and unique experiences, he partnered with Alexis Brandolini, a business strategist and brand expert and together founded the Alpha Echo Project. Serving as consulting company, AEP, designs training experiences that empower participants to lead through uncertainty, remain calm under pressure, and perform as a high functioning team when mental thresholds are challenged.

Erik's career is a living example of diversity and inclusion at the highest levels with the highest stakes. They are the foundational pillars that all successful teams whether in combat, athletics, business, or medicine.

Shootout For Soldiers Veteran Spotlight: Erik Mineo