Hey There....

I'm so happy you've found your way to our website. I founded the National Military Spouse Network as a professional development and networking organization to support military spouses. Those of you who know me know that I've been working military spouse issues for quite awhile. One of the most remarkable things I found through the years is how many military spouses were out there living the dream. Not only were they supporting their service member, single parenting through deployments and maintaining the homefront, they had these amazing careers going on....in the most interesting industries. Now, I had met lots of spouses pursuing "portable careers", but where did these spouses come from who were government consultants, congressional staffers, highly placed DoD officials, corporate execs?!? I was meeting the most fascinating military spouses who had networked themselves into some fabulous jobs. And they really were balancing it all. They had cracked the code on how to balance their careers with the military lifestyle. Needless to say, I was in awe. I consider myself a relatively intelligent person, but I'd always put my own ambitions on the back burner, subconsciously "waiting" for my turn. Looking back, I'm wondering what I was waiting for! Did I really think I was going to be more marketable in my 40's than I would be in my 20's? So, big lesson learned - don't wait! Even if we can't progress in our careers as quickly as we'd like due to multiple moves and demands on our time, there are little steps we can take along the way so that when we're ready to go full steam ahead, we've got the skills and the networks in place to get us where we need to be. So back to these phenomenal spouses I was meeting with these crazy careers....every single one of them was so eager to share their stories. When I sat down and started speaking to them, I was stunned by their candor. They shared it all: the good, the bad and the ugly. They didn't hold back on the lessons they learned, things they wished someone had shared with them and the advice they would give to military spouses making the same journey. So, in addition to sharing some resources and great content with you, the NMSN will continue to look for ways to highlight all the great things military spouses are doing in the career arena - because sometimes it's easier to dream big and achieve great things when you know that someone's already blazed that trail and left behind a map for you.