So many New Year’s resolutions revolve around personal achievement, whether it’s a healthier lifestyle or picking up a new hobby.
If you're a military spouse and have just moved in the last month or two (or 10!), a new job or career field change might be next on your To Do Achievement List for 2017.
Germono Advertising Company, R. Riveter, MadSkills, and Military Town Advisor are all owned by exceptional military spouses who have learned to make military life and career work. Part of their success is the recruitment of some of the best talents in the workforce--military spouses.
A common theme throughout these companies is the importance of support, camaraderie, and educational value each places within their communities. They all spend a lot of time lifting each other up. Not surprisingly, in addition to their Founder or CEO titles, the ladies often think of themselves as military spouse advocates.
Discussing military spouse employment isn’t complete without addressing addresses! Much of the work mentioned here is available through remote positions. Although they might not all be hiring at the moment, each company has something to offer simply by reading their websites.
All four have blogs that have information well worth any military spouse’s time. You can expect to find inspirational stories about their employees, helpful job search tips, cool product recommendations, travel, and location descriptions, and so much more.
4 Military Spouse Owned, Military Spouse Friendly Companies
1) Germono Advertising Company
- Marketing coaching sessions
- Advertising
- Public speaking
Lindsey Germono just celebrated her company’s three-year anniversary. That's quite an achievement, considering the fact that keeping a business alive and well for just one year is difficult enough. Lindsey’s task was extra challenging because of her military status and those pesky PCS schedules she’s had to deal with. But Lindsey, like most milspouses, approaches those challenges with a "conquer and repeat as necessary" attitude. And in her case, has proven successful.
Chatting with Lindsey, it was obvious supporting military entrepreneurs as well as hiring milspouses when needed was high on her priority list. More than half of her staff has a military affiliation. Germono Advertising is located in military-heavy Norfolk, Virginia, which allows Lindsey the opportunity to remain up to date with military spouse career issues as does her regular appearances and volunteer time with military entrepreneur events.
Germono Advertising even distributes Drop and Give Me 20, a podcast designed to share stories and insights from other military entrepreneurs. What career-minded milspouse wouldn’t want free advice from experienced business owners?
2) R. Riveter
- Handbags crafted by military spouses
- Post to pillar: a showcase of military spouse-made products
These days, Lisa Bradley, Cameron Cruse, and their highly sought-after R. Riveter handbags are the epitome of a milspouse success story.
Lisa and Cameron experienced the struggle so many spouses have while married to the military: finding and nurturing portable careers. With combined experience in business and design, the ladies became innovators in the world of hiring military spouses. Each Riveter, as they are known, work remotely to produce quality craftsmanship wherever they live, no matter how many times they move.
Not only does the company supply jobs to a long list of Riveters, but it also use its distinctive platform to boost milspouse and veteran entrepreneurs through its Post to Pillar program. There, buyers will find unique gift items such as candles, scarves, and jewelry produced by even more milspouses.
The business has continued to thrive for R. Riveter. Lisa and Cameron have opened a second store in Bethesda, Maryland. Their flagship store is near Fort Bragg in Southern Pines, North Carolina.
3) MadSkills
- Matching military spouses with career opportunities
- Specializing in remote positions
The entrepreneurial spirit runs strong through both of MadSkills’ co-founders, Erica McMannes and Liza Rodewald. Fostered from the same roadblocks that stop most milspouses from achieving career satisfaction, these ladies have created a one-of-a-kind job matching system tailored to help military spouses on the job hunt. Not just any jobs, but careers and skilled positions worthy of the experience countless spouses have earned but haven’t been compensated for.
MadSkills works diligently to find companies dedicated to furthering military spouse careers, with many specializing in remote work opportunities. The range of work varies between long-term employment to freelance options. The process to begin making matches is as simple as registering, posting a resume, and applying for the always-updated positions available through MadSkills.
"Overqualified and undervalued? Not anymore!" It’s the perfect tagline for a company serving deserving military spouses.
Now instant teams
4) Military Town Advisor
- PCS relocation resource
- Military spouse written reviews
PCS horror stories are a dime a dozen in the military world. Half of those stories could be rewritten with a happy ending if Military Town Advisor had been there to intervene. Imagine a place to read legit, no holds barred reviews of schools, neighborhoods, bases, and cities near those bases. Don’t imagine, Military Town Advisor is real and a gold mine of information relevant to military moves.
As a Navy spouse, MTA’s founder Cameron knows precisely the pains of an ill-planned move and set forth to alleviate others from making the same mistakes. She tapped into the best source of information, military spouses of course, and created a wealth of helpful knowledge. In addition to the spouse's written reviews, Military Town Advisor has in-depth PCS guides to popular military towns and a military-friendly list of local real estate agents in the area.
Sometimes as a military spouse, it’s not the best time to jump into the work world, but a little extra cash would be nice. Military Town Advisor has an incentive program that rewards review writers.
Getting paid to simply write about your own experience, from home, and at your own pace? Genius.
Speaking of successful milspouse-founded companies, MilitaryByOwner is also owned and operated by a military spouse and her veteran husband. Many of their current staff are military spouses, have tons of military life experience, and are ready to share stories and offer advice if readers need help with any number of subjects. Blog posts, resource articles, and helpful customer service are all waiting for you!
