In this episode, Mary Elaine speaks to how to better market yourself as a military spouse, how the shift to remote work is beneficial for spouses, as well as how her company VAUSA aims to provide opportunities for spouses.
Call to Marriage
TRANSCRIPTION
Callie:
In this episode of Call to Marriage, I speak with Mary Elaine from VAUSA about military spouse employment, marketing ourselves as military spouses, and so much more. So let’s just get into the conversation.
Callie:
Hi, there. Welcome to Call to Marriage. A show about navigating life as a military spouse. I’m your host Callie, a newcomer on the scene of what is the military spouse life. The military community is a tight knit, but sometimes tight-lipped one. I hope to pull back the curtain on life as a military spouse to answer the questions that I wish someone would have answered for me, talk about my experiences I’ve gone through or talk about the ones that I’m going through right now. I’m always learning new things about this crazy new life and invite you on this journey with me. So sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
Callie:
Hello and welcome back to Call to Marriage. Today I am so excited. I have Mary Elaine from VAUSA on the show. So Mary Elaine, if you want to just introduce yourself, give a little bit about your background, your military affiliation, all that. That would be great.
Mary Elaine:
Yes. Thank you for having me on. I am the co-founder and president of VAUSA. I like to call myself the chief vision officer, so I’m always looking for the next adventure that the company goes on. So I married an army ranger and I grew up also in a military family. My father retired a couple of years ago as a colonel in the air national guard. So I’m very, very indoctrinated into the military. And also I’m a mom. I have a 10 year old daughter and a six year old son.
Callie:
So you’re checking all the military spouse, like you got it. You got the time in military, everything.
Mary Elaine:
Yes. And the joke was on me because I swore up and down, I would never marry anyone in the military and met my husband and he just kind of flipped everything upside down for me.
Callie:
It’s funny how they can do that. So you work for a company that is about getting military spouses hired. And so I wanted to bring you on, because I think as military spouses, one, it’s hard to find employment because not only are you moving around a lot, but it’s sort of hard to keep your skills up or if you have certifications, keep your certifications up. But then at the same time, I think there’s a lot of stigma about hiring military spouses because they do have to leave or they have to move around and some companies aren’t necessarily flexible with that. And so I think you’ve created something really unique and really cool for military spouses and the military spouse community. And so I wanted to sort of talk through those different things. So to kick it off, I would love for you to talk about when you are a military spouse and you were looking for employment, what were some of the biggest that you faced?
Mary Elaine:
In full transparency, my daughter was a complete surprise for my husband and I, and at the time I was getting my undergrad in theater and I quickly realized I have to do a career change to have more stability for our daughter and for our crazy military lifestyle. So when my husband met me, that was the career path I was going on and I wanted to travel all over the country and I had all these big dreams and aspirations to basically just kind of go on adventures. And it’s just funny, because when I married my husband, I realized we would go on lots of adventures together, just not the ones I had imagined in my mind. So I was thinking, okay, I have to find a career path that’s going to give me more stability, and also give me a schedule that can help me be more available for my daughter, because I knew that my husband as an army ranger would be deploying very frequently, right?
Mary Elaine:
So I had an interest in education and have lots of people in my life that were amazing teachers and that was something that always interested me. So I decided to explore that after I found out I was pregnant with my daughter. So I had my daughter and got my master’s in education, which a lot of military spouses do. A lot of military spouses explore education. The frustration with that is obviously moving. You have to still find a new school, a new job, and a lot of times get re-certified in those states and that’s super frustrating. But for the first five years of my marriage, I was a teacher, but it was not what I had imagined in my mind. And at one point, my husband was in Afghanistan, I had two children by then and working full-time as an educator, also had a side hustle because I don’t know if you know this, but teachers don’t make very much money.
Mary Elaine:
And also involved in my community, and I was just extremely burned out. And I remember one year I had both children in daycare full-time and my entire paycheck was going to pay for daycare. And I was just thinking, where’s my return on my investment? What am I getting out of this? Because I felt like I was on a hamster wheel. I was going to bed exhausted already dreading the next day, and that’s no way to live. And after a while that really wears on you. And I just started thinking, what else can I do for myself, for me, that’s going to be fulfilling, but also help contribute financially to our family? Because that was very important to both of us, for both my husband and I.
Callie:
Yeah, definitely. And I think too, a lot of spouses, like you said, they’re stretched thin because not only are you, especially as a mom, you have the children and then a lot of times with spouses deploying as frequently as they do, you have the household, you have yourself, it’s hard to find an employment that is fulfilling and also allows for balance, I think is a big struggle. So when military spouses are going and they’re looking for employment outside of the typical employment fields for spouses, which a lot of times it is educators or nurses, just because those can usually travel pretty well if you can find an opportunity or you can get the certification in that state. But I think a lot of questions that spouses have are, I don’t have a lot of experience, but I still want to go out and I still want to try and get something. So what are some ways that military spouses can better market themselves? I think there are a lot of assets to hiring a military spouse. It’s just all about phrasing.
Mary Elaine:
Yes, absolutely. So I have quite a few thoughts on this. So one thing is that this past year was a huge, I think… Yes, we saw a lot of women leave the workforce because children had to come home and things like that. However, on the upside is that everyone in the world pretty much got a crash course on how to run their business remotely. That I think we’re starting to see a huge shift in thinking outside the box and businesses, employers are realizing one and they can save a lot of money, a lot of overhead by having remote workers and you see people shutting down large offices because they realize we don’t really need this huge office space anymore. Save a lot of money. So that’s amazing because that has allowed people to have more flexibility in where they live.
Mary Elaine:
So for military families, that’s huge. So I would… One, to market yourself better, instead of thinking super specialized, think more broad in the soft skills that you possess as a military spouse. Those are the things that employers are craving like crazy and I can tell you because I’m one of those businesses that we’re… I focus so much more on those soft skills than I do the specialized technical skills. And as military spouses, we have those in spades. I mean, we’re adaptable, we’re flexible, we’re resourceful. And a lot of times, we may not be able to have one job for a very, very, very long time. We may have many jobs, but really that gives us more experience in a wide range of industries. And if you’re thinking working remotely, like most of the country is having to do right now, that just opens your doors to so many other opportunities. So I would think you want to just think outside the box, think about what you do every day as a military spouse. Even if you haven’t been in the workforce for a long time, you run your entire household pretty much by yourself. And that takes financial skills, that tastes problem-solving skills that takes, thinking outside the box, that takes being creative and being adaptable and flexible and all of those are just so desirable.
Callie:
I think it’s important to remember, and I had a recruiter telling me this because I do have a lot of soft skills because you have to be flexible, you have to be adaptable. Technical skills can be taught, soft skills cannot. And so employers want people who already innately have those soft skills they desire because that’s something they can’t train somebody to have. So if you can jump in already and you’re already flexible, you already problem solve, you’re already critically thinking, you’re already all of these things that just way puts you on top of the pile.
Mary Elaine:
Absolutely. And I think it all starts from your mindset. I did think that being a military spouse was something that would hold me back. And then I… First of all, I did a lot of work on myself. A lot of self-growth, a lot of self-development and I realized no, having these life experiences are invaluable and I’m amazing. I bring so much value to the table and I know I do. And that starts in your mind. And if you are thinking those thoughts and you know, without a doubt, you bring value to the table, no matter what table it is that you’re walking up to, your actions will follow and people will believe that and they’ll feel that confidence coming into that conversation. So if you approach conversations like, “Yes, I’m a military spouse, but…” Or you position it like it’s a negative, like a spot on who you are then other people will think that way too. So work on your mindset and belief, not a doubt. Like you are valuable. You possess valuable skills and that’s going to position yourself so much better when you come into those conversations and the interview, and you’re creating your resume.
Callie:
Oh, a hundred percent. Mind over matter all the time, a thousand percent. Because I feel like I talk to spouses and they almost sound so defeated. And I think it’s because they see themselves as not being able to bring as much value as someone who’s maybe more quote, unquote stable. And I think stability is one a mindset. Like you’re not maybe not physically stable, but you have skills that make you stable. And so I think, like you said, just having the mindset of, I do have value. I do bring value is so, so important. I’d love to kind of maybe change, not change gears, but go down a slightly different path. And so I think there are resources that spouses can utilize that maybe they’re not aware of to help them market themselves or find opportunities. And so I know that you as well created VAUSA because you saw a hole. And so I would love to know when you were trying to solve the problem of, I want to find something, I want to find employment. I want to find this second income, what resources you as a military spouse used, or what resource did you feel were lacking that you kind of used to fill the void that you did?
Mary Elaine:
Okay. We are in the age of information. Anything you want to know is available on the world wide web. Any thing. There’s even a TikTok for business. You can find whatever bit of information about whatever tool or resource you want online. I encourage people to… I mean, yes, there’s value in, in college education. I have mixed feelings about college and getting yourself in debt, unless you have a very specialized thing you want to go after, but I encourage you to look at what’s free and available online. Such as, I always pronounce this wrong, but it’s Udemy. Okay. I pronounced it correct.
Callie:
I think that’s right.
Mary Elaine:
I think I’ve said it wrong for so long and now I’m self-conscious anytime I say it out loud, but anyway, it’s an incredible resource and some of them, yes, you have to pay a little bit, but it’s nothing like paying for a college course, but they’re incredible.
Mary Elaine:
I went on there and I learned skills that could be transferable to many different businesses and industries. YouTube was wonderful. There are also, if you research, there’s non-profits out there that love to serve military spouses and have resources for that. So one of that is Syracuse has a program called V-Wise for military spouses, but they also have other programs for more certifications and things like that, that are easily accessible if you go and apply. But I would also look into mentorships and finding people in industries that you’re interested in. So I mentor people all the time and that’s one of the top things that I love about what I do. When I left education I was really sad because I thought I would not be able to teach anymore. And the reality is I teach every single day and it’s because I had people pour into me, I had amazing mentors. Now the rules have kind of reversed and now I’m mentoring other people. That is an incredible resource that I bet you, you have at least five people in either your inner circle or your next ring out that would love to pour into you and mentor you as a military spouse. But, I wouldn’t say that there’s a lack of resources. I really think there’s a plethora of resources out there. It’s just a matter of tapping into them and looking for them. Does that answer the question?
Callie:
Yeah, definitely. I think it’s important. I think a lot of times spouses feel like they only know one or two things or they hear about a resource and they’re not sure about it, but I think like you said, there are so many non-profits and online videos and Udemy, Coursera, all these things that teach you those skills or provide you with the access to those certifications. If you want to learn like really specialized skills for certain roles, you just have to literally Google it. And I think that sometimes as spouses, we think that there aren’t maybe resources for us, but there are, it’s just you have to be kind of creative with what you look for. So I would love, I asked so many interviewers this question, and then after this, I’ll let you tell everyone what exactly it is that you do and what you provide. But I would love to get your take on this. So I always ask, if you could go back to the day that you became a military spouse, what is a piece of advice that you would give younger you knowing everything that you do now?
Mary Elaine:
Don’t stress or worry so much about the things you can control. I think that would be the number one thing. I was super fixated on what lies ahead, because there’s so much that is unknown instead of just sitting back and enjoying the journey. I look back at my daughter when she was itty-bitty and I was just so stressed about what’s the next step? Where are we going? How’s this going to work? And I blinked and then she was five. I blinked again, and then she was 10 and I realized, I was so fixated on the future and what I couldn’t control that I missed out on enjoying more of the journey. The day to day. I would say just enjoy the ride. It is a rollercoaster. My husband and I say that all the time. We were on a rollercoaster ride and we just didn’t know when it was going to end. So yeah, I would definitely say just enjoy the journey.
Callie:
Yeah. I think a good piece of advice that my husband gave me is if you can’t control it, why do you stress about it? And I said, “That’s easier said than done.” And he goes, “You’re right.” But it’s true. If you can’t control it, then there’s no reason to be fixated and stressing over it because you can’t do anything to change it essentially. So I think that’s awesome. So I’ve really appreciated our conversation. I think it is been so fruitful to hear about marketing yourself as a spouse and recognizing there are opportunities, there are resources. And so with that, I would love for you to tell everyone exactly what it is that you do and the program that you run.
Mary Elaine:
Of course. Okay. My company is called VAUSA and we are a virtual assistant company that serves entrepreneurs, small business owners all over the country. And we have virtual assistants that are spread out throughout the country as well. And we try to maintain at least a percentage of 70% on our team of military spouses. So it’s been wonderful because we’ve been able to maintain that since we officially opened our doors virtually. I created the business based around my own experience leaving education, entering the virtual assistant world. I loved it and it brought back that balance that I was craving so much in our personal lives. And it started with me just hiring one of my best friends who was also a military spouse and it grew organically from there. And I realized one that there was a gap in kind of teaching those skills and also helping the clients understand how to work with someone remotely and also get them accustomed to working with a military spouse.
Mary Elaine:
So I help educate both parties. This is why I said, I’m still a teacher. I love it. And we’ve developed curriculum to help both parties really learn how to work together successfully because you could… I always say, we’re not a cattle call for people who want to work from home, one. We’re not the Craigslist of, Hey, here are all the people who can work from home. Pick one. It is a very in depth matching process that we do to make sure that both parties compliment one another, they balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses and they have a great personality match. So yes, we love, love, love serving our military community in that way. And I just encourage, if you’re a military spouse and you have been thinking about, could I work remotely to definitely consider applying. And don’t be discouraged either. We do have a very thorough process for hiring people. However, even if it’s not with my company, there are so many remote opportunities and there are so many, like I said earlier, resources out there to help equip you to be able to work remotely.
Callie:
Right. And so if they want to find VAUSA, where can they find you? How can they reach out?
Mary Elaine:
So we are all over social media. Our website is hirevausa.com. And that’s our Instagram handle as well, @hirevausa. You can also find us on Facebook, LinkedIn. I think we just launched a Pinterest account.
Callie:
All the socials. That is awesome. So again, if you want to reach out and learn more, it’s hire, hirevausa.com, or you can find them on the social media platforms that she has described. If you have any unique questions or comments from today’s episode, you can always email the podcast at ask.ctmpodcast@gmail.com or you can find us on the socials. We’re on Facebook and Instagram @calltomarriage. Mary Elaine, thank you again so much. I think this conversation’s been really fruitful and I am excited for everyone to get hands on, hands in. And again, I just want to thank everyone for listening and supporting the show. It has been so fantastic to see us grow in the last two weeks alone. And so that has just been fantastic. So I will talk to everyone later. Bye.
