Meet female entrepreneur Amber Turner, Founder of Milspouse Minute, on a mission to help military spouses land new jobs and opportunities. You can follow Milspouse Minute on Website, Facebook, Twitter
I am an Air Force wife and entrepreneur. From the time I was a little girl I wanted to make a change and become an entrepreneur. My husband was a veteran and we had many struggles with him finding employment. We made the decision to go back active duty because of this. Then, the roles were flipped with me having to find employment when we PCS’d. I had a great career making a pretty good living and contribution to my family financially. I had to leave that behind to follow my military husband. This really hurt us financially and me personally. I struggled with depression and low self-esteem.
These struggles led me to create Veterans’ Voice Online and Milspouse Minute. These video blog platforms will be the voice and visibility we need to show employers what we are made of. That was a major frustration for me, as a military spouse, is that I felt like I was not being heard and essentially invisible. I didn’t get a chance to land an interview to tell employers what I was about even though I was qualified.
When it comes to the job seeking process, it can be very frustrating for military spouses because they face many obstacles. Competing with others in the market can be extremely difficult especially because military spouses normally have gaps in their resumes because of the military lifestyle (i.e. recurring deployments, moves, etc.) they live. This sometimes doesn’t allow the military spouses to even land an interview. Their written resume gets lost in hundreds of resumes employers receive.
This blog platform is to build confidence in our veterans and military spouses because after rejection letter after rejection letter….you self-confidence can be shattered. I know it did me. I didn’t let this hold me back, instead the entrepreneur in my led me to Milspouse Minute LLC.
How does Milspouse Minute work?Military spouses are allowed a min and 30 secs to tell employers why they should be hired, what are their skills and abilities, etc. The idea is to promote yourself in a Milspouse Minute. Employers will be able to contact the individual for a “second interview” if they like what they saw and heard. I know that this will be beneficial to veterans as well. I feel this innovative way for employers to recruit and job seekers to get hired will be what this market needs.
My hope for my online business is to indirectly accomplish:
I have been funding it myself. I been cutting costs as much as possible by doing most of the work myself and utilizing the assistance of my sister of Fourteen20 designs. A lot of late nights, but it is worth it to me especially if I can help others.
I plan on monetizing the site from advertising. I want this service to be free to military spouses, veterans, recruiters and employers. The goal is to break down barriers between these populations.
Getting it out there is the hardest obstacle I have been facing. I am just a military spouse and mother that had an idea. Getting other to notice it has been difficult. I have created tutorials and utilized videos to make it user friendly for members. I want others to know how important this platform is. It is more than a match making service, it is to build confidence and empower. There is so much power behind our voice and this blog platform is the vehicle to success and empowerment. I believe that Empower Lounge can help me share this cause with others.
