For many service members preparing to leave the military, success is measured by one milestone: landing the right civilian job.

For former U.S. Coast Guard officer Tyler Clemmer, that seemed like the obvious next step.

A graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with a civil engineering degree, military leadership experience and a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, Tyler had every credential needed to pursue a successful career in project management. On paper, the path made perfect sense.

“I was just going to go be a project manager because that’s what I was qualified to do,” Tyler said. “It seemed like the most logical thing to do.”

But the career that made the most sense wasn’t the one he couldn’t stop thinking about.

Long before beginning his Department of Defense SkillBridge internship with BufferSprings, coaching had already become part of Tyler’s identity. While serving in the Coast Guard, he managed the fitness program at Coast Guard Yard, helping fellow Coast Guardsmen prepare for new fitness testing requirements. He also earned his CrossFit Level 1 Trainer certification and National Academy of Sports Medicine personal trainer certification simply because he enjoyed helping others improve.

Still, Tyler convinced himself coaching was something he loved, not something he could realistically build a career around.

Instead, he explored more traditional options. He considered emergency medical services, volunteered with a local fire company, and began preparing for EMT training. Like project management, those careers offered stability and a clear direction after military service.

During his SkillBridge internship, however, Tyler found himself questioning whether he was pursuing those careers because they aligned with his purpose, or simply because they fit his résumé.

Rather than handing him a career path, BufferSprings challenged him to slow down and evaluate what success actually meant. Through the company’s transition curriculum, coaching and personal development exercises, including the Japanese concept of Ikigai, which explores the intersection of purpose, passion, profession and mission, Tyler began examining the difference between what he was qualified to do and what he genuinely wanted to do.

“I started to realize I would rather not spend most of my time doing administrative work,” Tyler said. “I started to think, ‘Could I actually do this full time?'”

The answer didn’t come overnight.

“It was and still is scary to go down this path,” Tyler said. “I don’t have everything figured out yet. For me, this has very much been saying, ‘Forget it,’ and taking a leap.”

That leap, however, took months of internal debate.

“That leap took a long time and a lot of soul searching to finally commit to,” he said. “I went back and forth literally hundreds of times before finally deciding to go forward with it.”

As Tyler continued exploring his options, he noticed an opportunity at a local gym.

Instead of waiting for the perfect coaching position to become available, he proposed creating a coaching program that didn’t yet exist. Rather than applying for a job, he helped create one.

That decision became the turning point.

Instead of accepting a traditional civilian position, Tyler launched his own fitness coaching business.

“For the first time in my life, I’m going in a direction that I chose rather than someone kind of sent me down the road,” Tyler said. “It’s been great to step off the train tracks and see how many other paths there are, and actually choose one that I find meaningful.”

Choosing that path didn’t eliminate uncertainty.

If anything, it introduced a different set of challenges.

Launching a business meant finding his first clients, working through scheduling conflicts and no-shows, determining pricing, navigating insurance requirements, building a brand, and learning how to market himself, even when the thought of promoting his own business made him uncomfortable. To bridge the financial gap while growing his business, Tyler also took a part-time bar tending job.

“I’m still getting big-time imposter syndrome every day,” he said. “But even if I fail this, I’m going to regroup and try again because I don’t want to do anything else. That’s how you know it’s real.”

To prepare for that uncertainty, Tyler focused on building financial stability before leaving active duty by paying off debt, reducing expenses, and creating enough flexibility to pursue entrepreneurship without immediate financial pressure.

“It makes it less scary to set yourself up correctly,” he said. “Do the planning beforehand to make sure that you can actually step into it.”

Although entrepreneurship falls outside the traditional success metrics often associated with SkillBridge, BufferSprings Founder and CEO Rob Arndt believes Tyler’s experience represents exactly what successful transition should look like.

“According to the system, we’ve failed you,” Arndt joked during Tyler’s final SkillBridge huddle. “But we haven’t. You’re on your mountain.”

Arndt said many transition programs define success by whether participants immediately secure full-time employment. BufferSprings instead encourages veterans to discover careers aligned with their individual purpose, even if that means pursuing higher education, starting a business or taking a less conventional path.

“It’s not SkillBridge’s definition of success,” Arndt said. “It’s not your mom’s. It’s not your friend’s. It’s where you’re going.”

As he concluded his SkillBridge internship, Tyler encouraged fellow transitioning service members to use their transition period to honestly evaluate what they want, not simply what they believe they’re supposed to do.

“BufferSprings provided the opportunity to get my priorities in order,” Tyler said. “I couldn’t be more grateful for this.”

Although Tyler officially completed the SkillBridge program, Arndt emphasized that the relationship doesn’t end when the internship does.

“We’re still here,” Arndt said. “When we push you out of the nest, we know you can fly.”

Today, Tyler doesn’t pretend to have every answer.

His business is still growing. He still wrestles with self-doubt. He is still building the life he chose one client, one class, and one opportunity at a time.

What changed wasn’t the uncertainty.

It was deciding that uncertainty was worth facing for a future he chose himself.

“I believe, for the first time in my life,” Tyler said, “I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”