Petra Spillman

Leadership Mentor

Service Member's Branch - Air Force

Service Member's Status - Retiree - 26 years

What has been your military spouse career/entrepreneur journey so far?

I was working for Deutsche Bank but when I met my husband I just knew he was the love of my life and I had to go with him. I never thought of leaving the security of a well-paying job and trading it in for a very agile, creative driven, and work intensive business with no guarantees aka entrepreneurship. But, I got the idea for a children's book and it was my dream to publish it. I ended up creating my own publishing company. This led me to my leadership book and my career as a leadership mentor.

Tell us about yourself.

I was born and raised in Germany. I enjoy doing CrossFit, crossing the Alps by foot, or participating in any fun sporting challenges. I have one daughter and have been a military spouse for 22 years.

Tell us about a "typical" day in your professional life.

My business partner, and I own a Leadership development company called “The Heart Minded Approach” THMA, located in Stuttgart, Germany. We are hired to council and support A-level leadership for international and German companies. I mentor based upon my transformational leadership book. “the Sandworm Principle”. This book takes a closer look at the psychology of human behavior. I published this unique leadership concept in my own publication company called the Spilbulu Verlag. This leadership book is purposely based upon my children's book “1000 kleine Wunder-1000 Little Miracles”! With this children's book, I am hired to speak about identity and against bullying in schools. Furthermore it has been used in my university, leadership and marketing master classes.

If you've been stationed overseas, how did this affect your career and or business?

We have been stationed in Europe for close to 12 years. It pushed me to create new ways of collaboration and endeavors, e.g. founding two new companies. A wonderful experience!

What has been your biggest military spouse career struggle and how did you overcome it?

Trying to balance my obligations as a three times commanders wife, motherhood and my urge to soar professionally.

What role did mentors and sponsors play in your journey?

Keeping me sane and stable.

How does your career path differ from what you imagined for yourself?

Flexible resiliency! When I gave up my career as the “Head of Internal Euro Communication”for the largest German bank (Deutsche Bank) to follow my husband‘s career, I had to learn to seize opportunities rather than traditional stability.

How did military life (PCSing, deployments, trainings, etc) factor into your career decisions?

As mentioned above, it taught me to explore new opportunities, e.g. becoming an entrepreneur of a publication company and a leadership development company.