Silicon Valley Business Journal Names Ravenox Top 25 Veteran-Owned Business in Greater Bay Area
After Sean Brownlee, founder and CEO of Ravenox, transitioned from active duty in the Marine Corps seven year ago, he wasn’t ready to give up serving his country.
In addition to joining the Marine Corps Reserves, he started a company that manufactures and sells products made in the USA.
“This is the best way for me to continue to serve — by creating jobs and making sure that manufacturing stays here in the United States,” he said.
The Monterey-based company handles government contracting, manufacturing, consulting, and direct-to-consumer e-commerce sales.
Brownlee is one of the 2.52 million veterans who own businesses in the United States, and Ravenox has landed on Silicon Valley Business Journal’s first veteran-owned firms list.
Before assuming his current position as founder and president of Ravenox, Brownlee served as an active-duty Marine, spending a majority of his enlistment in reconnaissance and special operations units. His achievements earned him several awards, including a Bronze Star for Combat Valor for heroic achievement while serving in Afghanistan.
“Ever since I was a kid, it was something innate within me,” Brownlee said of his desire to join the military and serve his country. But after over twelve years in the Marine Corps and multiple combat deployments, Brownlee decided it was time to transition from active duty.
Within a few weeks of joining the Marine Corps Reserves he enrolled in the MBA program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey to round out his education.
“I learned that there are a number of ways to serve your country outside of military service,” he said, adding “creating jobs and keeping manufacturing in America is just as patriotic.” Determining that the future was in direct to consumer sales through e-commerce, Brownlee equipped himself through an exchange student program in Cairo at the height of the revolution, evaluating and facilitating startup businesses and investments in Egypt. Ravenox was formed a month after his return to the States.
There are many similarities between Brownlee’s military career and the way Ravenox is run. The Marine Corps values of honor, courage and commitment translate directly into how he runs his company. Through his leadership and ability to understand the rapidly changing terrain his company has thrived and continues to set the standard in employing veterans.
Brownlee continues to serve in the Marine Corps Reserves both as a Foreign Area Regional Affairs SNCO and as an Operations Chief for the West Coast Reserve Support Program.
