It only seems appropriate that my first blog post occurs on Veteran’s Day 2014. It has taken me a while to be able to translate why I chose to start my business and why I chose to focus helping veterans transition out of the military.
It would be helpful to start with some background about me and why I looked up one day and asked myself, “Am I doing anything that really matters and am I really helping people?” My baby sister gave birth to my nephew back in 2009 and he passed away unexpectedly seven weeks later. Grief was like a punch to my gut and I had to deal with emotions that I’ve never felt in my life.
I dated a gentleman that had over 20 years in the military when he was laid off from his civilian job. He would call me with questions and I helped him with resume. I just assumed that they would have someone on staff at the military to help them with those things. He told me not really and that he felt more comfortable coming to me. All of the sudden I felt the need to use my Human Resources experience towards our veterans.
One of the first questions I am asked is if I served in the military. No. I had aspirations of doing that out of high school but my doctor strongly suggested that I not do that so I went down another path. I could say many things but at the end of the day but it why boils down to the fact that “we” can do better for “them”. As a country we do the bare minimum for our veterans. It breaks my heart when I talk to a veteran that was a medic, helicopter pilot, or worked in intelligence that cannot find jobs because employers are looking for something specific they don’t have. Is it wrong for some to start at entry level jobs? No, but why are we not more integrated to make the transition more seamless. To be honest, it pisses me off that employers can be so aloof about it and are disregarding our veterans out the gate. This is not just my opinion because I encountered it several times in my career.
Our veterans are talented, intelligent, gifted, disciplined, and are our most untapped resource in this country. I am nervous that our veterans are the flavor of the month and it’s the thing to do now. I’ve seen them be treated like a charity case and it’s insulting. They can also be charming, sexy, brilliant, flirtatious, witty, smart asses, funny, hilarious, passionate, shy, bold, geeky…you get the picture.
It seems like it is fate that I am ready to start my business. Doing volunteer work with veterans ignited a passion in me that has changed me forever. Maybe I am finally following my heart for the first time in my life and this is what I was meant to do.
That is a really long answer to my question of why. It is because I need to do better, we need to do better, they deserve better, and our country will be better for it.
