Lori Bell
Founder, Ideapop
Service Member's Branch - Air Force
Service Member's Status - Currently Serving - 31 years
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What has been your military spouse career/entrepreneur journey so far?
I was commissioned in 1997 as a transportation officer, and by the time I got out I was a Logistics Readiness Officer. Met my husband while at Andrews AFB when we were both lieutenants. We started dating and married in 2001. In 2007 I separated from the Air Force and my military spouse life began. That was the year I started my coaching practice (the first time). Coaching was fun until it wasn't. I have done so many entrepreneurial ventures! I worked an MLM business where I sold weight loss instant meals. I was a call center operator. I sold life insurance. I worked gig jobs for Intuit. I became a coach again, this time, certified. All the while my husband was getting promoted… which means there was always something more required of me the higher he went. We were moving and I was constantly trying to find something that felt like it was more meaningful than the last thing. I was winning awards and was named AFI Military Spouse of the Year (MSOY) in 2010. I was featured on national TV many times–invited to speak on panels where I shared the roster with Madeline Albright and Bono. But nothing really "stuck" until I started with AI. Fast forward to now...we've moved 17 times. I've enrolled my kids in 15 different schools and when I considered what industry needed the most reform in the most effective way, something that I knew well, it was education. And that's where I've landed. Finally, it sticks.
Tell us about yourself.
I'm Lori Bell from South Carolina. I'm a veteran, having served 10 years in the Air Force as a Logistics Readiness Officer. I've been married to Kenyon for 24 years and we have three teens. I enjoy singing so much I cut my first self-produced CD back in 2000 and since then have been featured on two other projects produced by church organizations. I am an AI nerd and have been learning, building, and designing with it since 2023 when Chat GPT came to market. As a result I founded Ideapop, an AI consulting firm that builds AI-enabled systems for schools and mission driven organizations.
Tell us about a "typical" day in your professional life.
Most mornings start the same way: I see my husband off to his work and my boys off to school (our daughter is in college). Stretching has become a major part of my life now that I'm 50! I make sure to include it, usually after everybody's gone right at about 0730. I start my workday at 0900. My life runs on systems. Everything is an operating system! My calendar is divided into blocks that I call my Rhythm & Flow OS. I open my CRM and take a quick look at my pipelines so I know exactly who I'm deepening with that day—usually Heads of School, enrollment leaders, or ecosystem partners who serve schools.
I lead my business differently than how the gurus say to do it. Instead of building a wide audience on social media, prospecting like a vendor, I prefer to go deep right where I am locally with face to face introductions. So I'm always looking for who I can connect with in a real way in my real life. I focus on building an intentionally curated "Rich Network", a concept I'm learning and loving right now from Selena Soo, author of Rich Relationships. In my second 90 min block of the day (first block is exercise and stretching) I do focused relationship work: sending thoughtful follow‑ups, requesting warm introductions, and capturing notes from recent conversations so no one ever feels like “just a contact” in my world.
My afternoon blocks are focused on actively building AI infrastructure. Designing AI‑powered enrollment systems for independent schools, refining my Delivery Asset Library, and documenting my own operating rhythms for the team that I'll eventually hire. A lot of this work is informed by my lived experience as a military spouse...17 moves, 15 schools for my kids...so I'm always thinking, “How would this have made life easier for the family on the other end? How will this support school staff and admin teams?"
My husband and I frequently have events in the afternoon and evening so some of this varies...which is why I use RHYTHM not balance!
If you've been stationed overseas, how did this affect your career and or business?
When I was overseas I was also active duty so it didn't impact me at all.
What has been your biggest military spouse career struggle and how did you overcome it?
I've been a stay at home mom most of my military spouse journey. My biggest struggle was feeling like I matter and finding meaning. Even after having kids I didn't think being a mom was enough. I was on child #3 when I finally accepted that being a stay at home mom WAS the purpose. Being a happy mom is the greatest gift I can give my children. So I decided the chase wasn't worth it...and I admit, it's a decision I've had to make a million times over these years. I had to keep coming back to what matters most. I stopped trying to build a coaching practice. I stopped selling. For 7 years I stopped building a business and built myself instead. Then I built my family. Greatest decision ever.
What role did mentors and sponsors play in your journey?
OMG I had a mentor for EVERYTHING! Some I paid in a formal program. Some I simply called, messaged, and asked would they mentor me in something specific. I believe in the power of finding someone who's living an integral life, someone I admire who can guide me on my path. That's a mentor. I also believe in having a coach that has tactics and strategies to help me reach a goal. I've always had both.
How does your career path differ from what you imagined for yourself?
Wheeewww very different. I got out of the Air Force to be a singer and speaker. Name in lights. Traveling the world speaking and singing. I have no idea where my husband and children were going to be in the midst of all that, lol. So over the years the dream has evolved and morphed into much more purposeful work. Starting with myself. My personal and spiritual growth drive everything I do and I have no regrets.
How did military life (PCSing, deployments, trainings, etc) factor into your career decisions?
I've never sacrificed a dream. My husband has always supported whatever I wanted to be, do, or have. I've never put myself on hold...that's exactly why I tried so many different things over the years. I was experimenting, exploring. So while I always felt like I was underperforming and that nothing was sticking, those experiments were necessary for my own evolution.
Have you ever had to geo-bach due to your career/entrepreneurship?
No. My husband and I decided long ago if that wasn't absolutely necessary we'd never do it. So far we've never have.
What resources have you found to be useful in your career/entrepreneur journey?
Military Spouse Education & Career Opportunities (MSECO)!! Can't say enough about it...through that program I took advantage of online learning with Udemy. Military OneSource. AFI's MSOY program which set me on a trajectory that I never could've planned for myself. The network I've created from that is everything. I used all base resources and family support services from lactation consultants to family counseling.
Final word: what are your top tips for other military spouses about navigating a career within the military lifestyle?
I would say that they should define for themselves what this milspouse life can be. My husband is a senior officer. People have advised me of so many things over the years. How I should be. What I shouldn't say. What I better not do or I'm risking his career. I've taken what I needed from various "advisors" (another reason to have intentional coaches and mentors) and left the rest. I've been a body builder. An abstinence educator teaching goal setting over sex. I've taken time to be a young mother and not a commander's spouse, even when I was supposed to be a Key Spouse Advisor. I just gave myself permission to NOT. And for the things I loved, I turned up.
I also say get yourself a mentor and or a coach, and the first requirement is that person MUST be enjoying a military life. Not a life separate from the active duty member. Meaning..."he does his thing and I do mine." You're a MILITARY spouse...your spouse's service is why you're here! So find a mentor who genuinely loves this life and not in some weird pollyanna Stepford Wife way. In a way that says "this is mine just as much as his (or hers)." Own this. It's yours to create.
My husband and I do this TOGETHER. We don't leave each other behind. I'm not "supporting him" in his career....we're doing this together. I have a military spouse mission leading alongside him and I embrace that wholeheartedly. Every time the moving truck pulled up he looked and me and asked, "we're still in this together?" And the answer has always been "absolutely." So I'd say don't leave yourself behind either. Don't put things on hold until after the kids...or after this assignment...or when something else happens. You're a whole person NOW. NOW is all you have and you can build and do ANYTHING when you do it TOGETHER.
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