The Toby Gribben Show

Michael E. Nolan was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, but grew up in Columbus, Ohio. He is the son of an Irish-American sailor who married a beautiful Puerto Rican from a good family. His dad would spend a few decades, after leaving the Navy and having a stint at the University of Michigan, engaged in various creative entrepreneurial endeavours until he eventually became a farrier, invented the Nolan Hoof Plate, and enjoyed some modest success towards the end of his days. The entrepreneurial roller coaster of his father’s life, however, was offset by Michael’s mother who provided the family with some stability through her own employment at the Ohio State University and the support of her family back in Puerto Rico.

Once he turned eighteen, Michael joined the military as an infantryman and eventually served in the Marine Corps, Marine Corps Reserves, and the Army National Guard between the years 1990 to 2016. During his military service, he participated in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Operation Provide Promise/Deny Flight, and United Nations Operation Somalia with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines. With the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines he participated in Joint Task Force Six along the U.S.-Mexican border. He also did two tours in Iraq, first with the 1452nd Transportation Company in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 04-05, and then with the 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 07-08. His military decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Achievement Medal (3 awards), Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal (7 awards), and the Combat Infantryman’s Badge among others.

During this time, Michael graduated magna cum laude in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Franklin University. He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree (2006) from the University of Phoenix as well as a Master of Science degree in National Resource Strategy (2013) from The Eisenhower School at National Defense University where Michael was an Afghanistan/Pakistan Fellow and a member of the Land Combat Systems industry study. He also has almost twenty years of civilian service in both the defence and intelligence arenas that included roles as the Chief Financial Officer for the standup of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency as well as a Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Defense of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Having been raised by an entrepreneur and seeing first-hand how to start, build, and eventually sell a business, Michael was always tinkering with businesses of his own. This ranged from ventures as diverse as farrier services to a business brokerage. Michael’s passion, however, always seemed to lie with financial related endeavours. He found success helping clients in both real estate and as a foreign exchange proprietary trader before settling into the management of his own portfolio and shifting his attention to writing. Now, Michael focuses his time and efforts on producing high-quality content focused on the warrior tradition.

When he’s not working, Michael enjoys spending time practising the martial arts. He is a lifelong martial artist having studied various arts from all over the world but focusing his efforts primarily on the Chinese martial arts. He studied Wing Chun and Tai Chi from Dr Fred Ming-An Wu starting in 1983 until Dr Wu’s death in 2000, excepting periods of military service. Currently, Michael studies Shuai Chiao in Northern Virginia under Master Nick Masi, a student of Dr Daniel Chi-hsiu Weng, himself a top disciple of the world-renowned Grandmaster Chang Tung-Sheng.