S2E11: Creating Prosperity for Women Veteran Entrepreneurs with Melissa Washington

Seth Waters (Co-Host): Hi, everybody. Welcome to Purposeful Prosperity Podcast. I'm Seth Waters, and I'm here with Jack Smith. And you know Jack, Jack is an entrepreneur, founder, investor, and world-changer. Jack, excited to be with you today.

Jack Smith (Host): I'm excited to be here too, Seth.

Seth Waters (Co-Host): Yeah. This week, we had a conversation with Melissa Washington. And wow, what a great conversation it was. Melissa shared during the talk that she talked about building her business and organization around her passion. Jack, how important is it for purposeful leaders to infuse their passion into their business?

Jack Smith (Host): I mean, without passion, it's just a job. I don't care whether it's your business or my business or anybody's business. If you're not emboldened with wanting to get out of bed every day to do whatever it is you do for more than just the money you make to feed your family, not that that isn't on the hierarchy of needs, but that's just a job, right? That is definitely taking care of those lower-level needs. But as an entrepreneur and as a leader, without passion, you just have a job. And I think for us to put that “why” into it and to teach our team and our customers and all of that, I think that's really how we help people make a better difference in the world.

Seth Waters (Co-Host): Yeah, that's really good. Well, with that being said, let's jump right into our conversation. Here's Melissa Washington.

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Jack Smith (Host): Hi, everybody. Welcome to Purposeful Prosperity. I'm your host, Jack Smith, and I'm very excited today. I've got Melissa Washington. She's a military veteran. She's a founder and CEO of the Women Veterans Alliance. She's one of the strongest women veteran advocates I've ever met. I'm really excited to have you on our show today. Thanks, Melissa.

Melissa Washington (Guest): Thank you, Jack. I'm honored to be invited to your podcast. Thank you so much.

Jack Smith (Host): Absolutely. Well, can you tell our audience a little bit about who you are, maybe talk about your military journey a little bit and what that's inspired you to do in your post-military career?

Melissa Washington (Guest): Absolutely. So I served in the United States Navy and I did three years active and the rest reserve time. During those three years, I did a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean and another six-month deployment on a Westpac. So I was stationed on the East Coast as well as the West Coast. And one of them, I mean, there's several great memorable experiences, but one of those being anchored off the coast of Somalia during Christmas in 1993 for that. And the reason I got out early is I had met this guy in a school right after boot camp. And so he said, you know what, I've always wanted to be a Marine as my career, and I didn't want to have that dual service thing happening. So I got out the next month, I literally got out, walked off the ship next month, we got married. And the next month, he did a six-month deployment. And we're almost going on now, it's almost 30 years, believe it or not, since that happened.

Jack Smith (Host): That's wonderful.

Melissa Washington (Guest): Yes, so that's my transition story. I did that and then I became a Marine Corps wife.

Jack Smith (Host): That's its own adventure.

Melissa Washington (Guest): What's that?

Jack Smith (Host): That's its own adventure, right?

Melissa Washington (Guest): Yes, it is. And that's a whole other podcast. And so with that, but one of the things too, is I didn't consider myself a veteran. A lot of it has to do with, of course, the transition really quickly from being in, you know, wearing the uniform and then being a spouse, but also too, you know, my dad is a Vietnam vet. You know, he fought in Vietnam and I always looked at, okay, if you're a veteran, that's what a veteran looks like.

Jack Smith (Host): Right. I get that. But we look like everybody.

Melissa Washington (Guest): Yes, we do.

Jack Smith (Host): That's awesome. So tell me a little bit about that. So you've kind of used that to launch. Now you're helping other women veterans transition and in particular, finding purpose in their own careers. Can you tell me more about that?

Melissa Washington (Guest): Absolutely. So, you know, having worked in corporate America, you know, 10+ years, human resources and recruiting, and started my own business, and one of the things is I was looking for an opportunity to connect with other women veterans. I wasn't interested in the traditional legacy organizations for several different reasons. So in January of 2015, I got about 20 women together at the local El Toritos in Sacramento, California. And what started as a monthly meetup group has now turned to where we're serving women nationwide. And that goes back to, and I share that because we talk about purpose and we talk about passion. A lot of times the passion may come and then the purpose, and then sometimes the purpose may come and then the passion. So mine was, that was not what I thought I was meant to do - was to have a nationwide organization serving women, but that is my purpose. And I'm very passionate about what I get to do to help our women and really understand more of their journeys and how we can help fill that gap when it comes to the camaraderie, the resources. I mean, there's so many things. And then just really understanding that we are veterans. And of course, I really didn't realize that in the beginning is yes, we are veterans, and how can we make sure that our community continues to recognize us and also too, that there's our resources and services out there for our women.

Jack Smith (Host): Excellent. Can you tell us a little bit about the Women's Veterans Conference? I think that's one of the things that culminated out of all this purpose and passion.

Melissa Washington (Guest): Yes, it did. So one of my passions is doing events. So in 2016, we had our first what I call the “Unconference” in Sacramento. And we've had it five times in different parts in California and two times in Las Vegas. And people ask, why is it called the Unconference? Well, I tell people it's not a typical conference. One of the things that we offer is childcare as we find that is a lot of women to attend or do things, so we do provide that. And we've got the traditional breakout sessions. We also, too, partner with Thrive Causemetics who provides items. We also have a clothing boutique where women can get new clothing, new jewelry. We bring in the cosmetology schools for hair and makeup. We brought in horses for equine therapy. One year we were on a golf course, brought in golf pros. And a lot of it's just, too, is just taking care of women because we're so good at filling everyone else's cup, we forget to fill our own. So why not bring three days for women where they can fill their cup?

Jack Smith (Host): Thank you so much, Melissa. And can you tell us a little bit more about how this conference and the women that you're connecting with is helping improve the women veteran well-being?

Melissa Washington (Guest): Absolutely. So when you look at, you know, well-being, as far as that, especially with women, right, we're built differently than men. And we have, of course, you know, different, whether financial needs, mental health, just health in general, you know, there's all these different things that go into being as far as your well-being. And how can we help women with that? And a lot of that is building community. To me, if we can build, continue to build community for women veterans where they have a safe environment, where they can come and feel like they can take their masks off and be themselves, that is so important to someone's well-being. And also, too, a woman veteran comes to one of our meetups or another event, she may have things that she hasn't been able to share because she feels someone else may not understand her. But with women veterans, regardless of what branch you were officer enlisted, it's a lot easier for women veterans to talk to each other. And then that helps, you know, maybe a woman's looking for a job, or maybe she's had this great idea to start a business, or maybe she's been hesitant about utilizing the VA for healthcare or filing a claim. Here, then, you can have a group of women that can share their experiences, and to be able to help her, and help her in her overall well-being, and that is so important.

Jack Smith (Host): I love it. And you use the word well-being the same way we use prosperity here, right? So I love that connection, right? Cause it's all about, you know, people think prosperity means money, but prosperity is quality of life, right? It's, the moments in the day and how do you feel about who you are and your contributions to the world, which, you know, money is one of those, but that's not the only thing. Speaking of prosperity, how do you help shine that prosperity onto other women veteran entrepreneurs?

Melissa Washington (Guest): Absolutely. So, one of the things of me being a small business owner myself, and we know this with many business owners and also too, especially veterans, is access to capital. So, what does that look like for a veteran that wants to start a business? And so, I started a Women Veterans Giving, which is our nonprofit partner, and I started that back in 2018 with a couple intents. One is to help women get experience serving on boards, but also two, to help as much as we can fill that gap when it comes to capital and also for them to help in professional development and understanding the resources and other things that we can help with her in her business. So, to date, we've given over $20,000 to women veterans to help her start or expand a business. And we don't just give her the cash. We also provide other coaching, connect her with other resources to help her be a stronger business owner.

Jack Smith (Host): Awesome. And if our listeners would like to support you, how can they do that?

Melissa Washington (Guest): Absolutely. So, they can go to womanveteransgiving.org. It's a nonprofit. We are very much a grassroots organization. We do not have any large corporate sponsors. So, it just comes from individuals and different activities we do throughout the year. So, we can grow that grant to be able to infuse that cash back into our women veterans, their business.

Jack Smith (Host): That's fantastic, Melissa. I really appreciate that. And through all of those, you've also created a magazine to help tell some of the women veteran stories. You've got this great nonprofit, you're inspiring them, and now you're telling their stories. Can you tell us a little bit about that magazine?

Melissa Washington (Guest): Absolutely. So that's exactly what it is, is how can we bring awareness that women serve? How can we continue to tell our stories? But also, too, in not just having the magazine itself with the stories is we also add resources in there. So it becomes a valuable, I call it, you know, it's something you're not going to throw away. It's a valuable publication that's available in digital and print. And last year we launched California and Texas. So they're all state-specific. Currently, we are working on Pennsylvania with that, and one of the cool things that we do have on the publication is on every cover there's an outline of the state itself and then all the photos are women whether they are in uniform or out of uniform and we have that featured on each of the publications. So, ideally, I'd love to get in each state. Of course, things cost money. So, trying to find the resources and funds to continue to do this publication. So, it's something not just women veterans can use, supporters, anybody could use it. And we do distribute it to the VA, the County Veterans Service Offices, a lot of different locations throughout each state, I receive a copy of the publication.

Jack Smith (Host): Thank you for sharing about the magazine. You also have created Veteran.Events, and I wanted to just get, all of these are centered around women and telling their stories. So these are the women you represent and those storytellers, if I understand correctly.

Melissa Washington (Guest): Well, so what I did with Veteran.Events is on our WomenVeteransAlliance.com website, we've always had a calendar where we have not only our events, we'd feature events throughout the US, whether it was a business event or retreat. stand down, just all these different events that are not only just associated with women, they're women veterans, all these events. So what I want to do is take part of that and actually the whole calendar and put it somewhere else so we can expand our reach, not just in the woman veteran ecosystem, but also out in the community. And we also do a lot of events, whether it's with our Unconference or other events. So we've also expanded with Veteran.Events is providing event services. So we are helping whether it's with sourcing, finding locations, venues, pre-event planning, on-site management, we are providing that service as well as that online calendar. And also, too, we have a whole listing of women veteran conferences. And we also have a speaker directory where it's open to men and women veterans that are speakers because all of this ties in, right? If you have an event, sometimes you might need a speaker or we have those that might be looking for a speaker and they could utilize our speaker directory, which we are continuing to build. So, of course, if there are any veterans listening. When I say the word veterans, I also mean Active Duty Guard and Reserve. If there is anyone listening and they are interested in becoming on our directory, they can come to our website. And, or, you know, if they want to post an event, they can- there are certain things that there is a cost for - it's a small fee - but we are, we're a business, right? We've got to find and continue to have funds to be able to maintain, not only the website, but all the other services that we do provide.

Jack Smith (Host): Absolutely. Thank you for that. And thank you for building community for our veterans and especially our women veterans. It's very, very much needed. Is there anything that you didn't get a chance to share with our audience today that you'd like to tell them about?

Melissa Washington (Guest): One of the things is, well, of course, they can connect with me on social media, as well as our Women Veterans Alliance, and Women Veterans Giving, and Women Veterans Magazine. And one of the things, too is, and it's unfortunate that these things still happen is, you know, if a woman has an army t-shirt on or something, you know, military-related, majority of the time, the assumption is that it's her husband's. So the next time if you see a woman in a, you know, army t-shirt in any other branch of the service, might be a good chance it's her shirt.

Jack Smith (Host): Absolutely. Give her a hooah too, right? Like we all earned it and that's all there is to say about that.

Melissa Washington (Guest): Yes.

Jack Smith (Host): I appreciate that. And I think it's always tough for veterans, right? I know for me on my journey, I was an IT guy in a bunker inside a bunker in Omaha, Nebraska. I didn't serve like the Vietnam veterans before me, and my father and my grandfather served in Korea. You know, I always felt like I wasn't a veteran because I was an IT guy, but at the end of the day, those guys couldn't, you know, those guys and girls couldn't do those things without the work and support of all of the other bits and pieces of the military. That's why only 10% of the military are really were fighters. The rest of it support and we are all veterans and thank you for helping build that veteran community because I know for me and for us, that's one of those really horrible things that happens when you get out of the military, right? There's so many great benefits. But what one of the things that it's so hard to replicate is you've got your support infrastructure of the military, just the engine that it is that protects you. And then you have your brothers and sisters in the community that supports you. And all of a sudden, you're on your own with your own opinions that you've never had. And you're like, hey, overwhelmed by opportunity. And that's just as overwhelming and isolating as having nothing.

Melissa Washington (Guest): Absolutely. And, you know, and men go through it, too. You know, it's and you said all the right keywords, the transition, the isolation. And that's what people have to remember, too, you know, are men and women that transition out of the military, the different emotions and things that they go through. And that not only just, you know, yes, they may be needing medical help, but, you know, they also need a job. They also need the financial. And I think that goes into actually it does. We're talking about the well-being and prosperity being pretty much the same, it is. Right? So if we don't have these, if we're not able to, if they're not able to fill their needs, then other things start to happen. And that's, you know, and that's the unfortunate part, which most people like to think of veterans are that unfortunate thing, the homelessness, the suicide. So let's help prevent that from happening. And I strongly believe what I'm doing is helping prevent that.

Jack Smith (Host): Absolutely. We get them connected to purpose and community long before they ever need those services and the need for those services goes away.

Melissa Washington (Guest): Yes.

Jack Smith (Host): Absolutely, Melissa. Well, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for your efforts. Thank you for all you do for our veterans, men, and women out there. We're grateful for all that you do. And thanks for your time.

Melissa Washington (Guest): Thanks, Jack.

Jack Smith (Host): Thank you for joining the Purposeful Prosperity Podcast. Please tune in next week where I bring you another world-changing entrepreneur. Until then, please like, follow, and share, and keep doing good in the world. Thank you for listening.

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