I am a U.S. Army Veteran and spouse of a retired 24-year Army combat Veteran. I began my coaching journey in 2003 as a volunteer in the employment assistance office on an OCONUS military base. At the time, I was in graduate school focusing on career transitions, and my husband was deployed to Iraq. Having undergone my own military-to-civilian transition and anticipating my husband's, I was determined to plan a more effective transition experience the second time around. 
 

During my transition, I felt that the process would have benefitted from a more holistic approach that included both career and post-military life design. My gut told me that having our identities shaped by our service and military affiliations needed to be explored to better understand how to proactively address the transition stress that impacts those of us who experience it. 

 

In 2009 I completed a 4-month doctoral study with nearly a thousand participating military service members across 3 larger military installations who were transitioning to civilian life. This study found a relationship between increased state-anxiety (temporary event-based), the degree of one’s military identity, and the transition process. These results demonstrated that the stronger one’s military identity the greater one experiences anxiety as they transition to civilian life.

 

While it was shown that the longer one serves, the greater their military identity and thus the greater one experienced transition anxiety; the results also demonstrated that transition anxiety was elevated across career and non-career service members. These results, combined with my husband’s and my own transition experience, and that of my clients, confirmed that I needed to address the whole person when I assist military career transitioners. Because we did not experience a holistic transition ourselves, I made sure that it became the basis of my services.

During our final military assignment, I was a Volunteer Coordinator training and recruiting volunteers for the Army Family Team Building Program (AFTB). I became a Certified Master Trainer and then AFTB Program Manager. I thought it was so helpful to have a program that provides support for military family members and teaches leadership and military life integration; more like whole-life integration. This experience made me realize that similar transitioning service member support is needed that picks up where foundational programs like the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) leave off. Since that assignment, I have coached hundreds of transitioning Veterans and managed a local Veteran Reemployment Program for seven years. I learned from my experience, research, and Veteran clients that a transition requires more than just targeting a job and writing a resume.  

 

It requires a whole-person approach because it is a whole-person experience.

Therefore, it is my mission to empower my military and Veteran clients to develop a clear career transition strategy that: 

•    uses empirically validated assessments

•    applies work-life design strategies and coaching to explore your pain points
•    focuses on individual values and strengths to develop your goal

•    coaches you through reemployment activities
•    integrates your military self with the civilian professional you want to be
•    co-creates your new mission and purpose
•    defines work-life balance from your viewpoint

Let's embark on this journey together, turn challenges into opportunities, and confidently craft a fulfilling next chapter in your career!