A friend recently said to me, “I don’t know how you do it….he’s always in and out, you are trying to raise three teenagers, and run a business…it seems impossible.” And sometimes it feels impossible…but as I reflected on what my friend said later, I began to think about all the things creative military spouses have done over the years to make their businesses successful. How have they not only survived, but thrived?

We are a unique demographic because we face many obstacles that most small business owners don’t have to think about… yet our dedication, resiliency, and drive aid in our successes despite these challenges.

Some of the challenges for military spouse creatives include:

• moving every 2-3 years (it’s hard to build & maintain a viable market)
• start-up funds are often limited
• the household and childcare often fall solely on our shoulders when our husbands (or wives) are gone for long periods of time
• we often don’t have family close by to offer support or an extra pair of hands

I thought I’d share with you some tips on being a military spouse entrepreneur over the next few weeks. They are tried and true ways that have helped build successful businesses, all while relocating  halfway around the world, plugging in to new locations, and eventually rebuilding again.

If you find yourself in the middle of growing a new venture, facing relocation, or just now settling in to a new duty station and trying to figure out where to start….check back in on the blog weekly for great tips to get you going.

Task One: Network
Networking is the #1 way to plug in to your new community and to make great connections.  Networking to me is about relationship building, not necessarily about client building.  Relationships with people are my priority.

Get involved in some organization or group that you are passionate about. It may be at church, your child’s school, a local photography group (The Rising Tide Society is amazing!!), a running club, volunteer at your spouse’s unit functions, LINKS (for my Marine friends 🙂  )….just find something to invest time in that you enjoy doing.

I always live by the saying that “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Don’t go in to this opportunity as a walking billboard for your business. Yes, you do represent your brand and your name…..but we all know that we tend to run from those people who are only interested in talking to us because they want to “share their opportunity or business” with us.  And here’s the thing…I very rarely mention what I do early on unless I’m asked or it comes up in conversation. I want people to get to know me first….to like me….to develop a relationship with me…for them to know that I’m not chatting with them to get something.

I have made lasting connections in the most unlikely places. It’s kind of like something out of the movie Forest Gump….I just happen into relationships with amazing people by accident because I was in the right place at the right time…and met the right person. It wasn’t calculated and there was no planning that occurred…I was simply there doing a volunteer job that needed to be done. Once you put yourself in those situations, you’ll find that incredible things will happen.

Here are a few ways my volunteer work has impacted my business:

I often volunteered at my girls’ local elementary school (they would kill me now if I showed up at their high school or middle school…actually, I take that back…I’m heading to the high school to shoot cast pics for the upcoming musical 🙂 )  I digress…anyway, I spent a lot of time there and even though these two ladies were never my clients, they offered up their friendship, their expertise about the local area in terms of great shooting locations on our side of the island…and always had great things to say about my work…but more importantly…about ME as a person.  We all know that there are lots of great photographers out there….often times what distinguishes us from someone else is our reputation and our personality.  Marni and I are still friends on facebook and often comment on how crazy it is that our babies are in middle school.  Even though she’s in Hawaii and I’m in NC, we maintain the connection that was made while helping kindergartners paint a sea life mural.  🙂

I have LOVED volunteering with my husband’s unit over the years.  I can tell you that some of my best friends and best memories have come from being involved in this capacity.  I started out as a young spouse with the Key Volunteer Network (yes, we would now be considered the dinosaurs)…but transitioned into the Family Readiness Program and was a LINKS mentor.  We’ve celebrated homecomings, cried on each other’s shoulders when our spouses left, shared birthday parties, and helped in great times of need.   I made lots of connections and found amazing clients through this network of spouses and families.

Here we are carrying out the water balloon toss
and then planning a covert operation to attack the Marines that were playing softball.  Such fun!  
And last but not least….I HAD to share this story.  Humberto was a fantastic volleyball coach to my daughter while we were stationed in Hawaii.  He truly was one of her favorites! He was a young, single Marine that loved the game and devoted much of his off time to mentoring these kids.  Fast forward 8 years….who did I run into at a recent Rising Tide: Tuesday Together meet up?!?!?!!?!?  Humberto!!!!  I actually had to get out my phone and find a pic on facebook to make sure this was the guy and that he didn’t think I was a stalker in case he didn’t remember me or my daughter!!  HAHAHAHA!!!  He did remember…and couldn’t believe that our Grace was all grown up.  We are now planning a shoot together!!  Crazy right?!?!?!  

I leave you with this:  Get involved, do good work, share your story, share your passion for your creative business, BE AMAZING!  The rest will follow….

Next week:  I’ll be discussing Social Media: how to make it work for you and not harm you  🙂