My job was to help service members from all military branches find what was next for them after they exited the military. Many were lost and afraid; their plan was changed by an injury, family issue, or something entirely out of their control.

 Helping thousands of men and women figure it out helped me see how to attack career development and job change. The number one key is to have a plan, another plan, and another plan. Being ready to pivot always made the massive leap from the military to civilian world work.  

As a military spouse, I also understand firsthand (moving every few years) how to be successful in moving or changing careers. Having moved 7 times in the last 12 years, I have learned what works in finding a job and what does not. 

Pairing my life experience, professional experience, and Bachelor's degree in communications, I found my life passion in helping others through a problematic, stressful part of life.

 I  have facilitated classes for over 4000 service members, attended national job fairs, spoken to company recruiters, and volunteered as a career counselor. At the end of that career ( we moved), I began to work for Workforce Solutions, assisting military and spouses to find work in the area.  

I was promoted to department manager and began to work with local businesses to assist them with training and employment needs. This gave me a great perspective of both the employer and the employee. 

Working on both sides of employment, I often see the disconnect; employees think the employer is lucky to have them, and companies do not communicate well in the hiring process.  It is easy for both sides to get discouraged.  I love the process and work hard for my clients to make the process not only okay but maybe even a little fun! 

I have always been the person in the crowd, that instead of paying attention to the Keynote Speaker, I would watch how the people were acting in the audience.  Were they sleeping, were they looking at the speaker and responding with body language?  

When I observed the audience I would then observe the speaker, was the topic arranged probably so it was easy to understand?  Did they use verbal pauses like ahh, and hmm?  Were they using the microphone correctly? 

After a short time, I could see whether the speaker was impacting his audience or not.  It always amazed me the speaker did not see or chose not to recognize the audience's response to the topic.  If they were sleeping why did the speaker not ask questions, or walk around the room? 

But, it was not until my husband rejoined the military that I really started to see how much necessary information was being given and how little it was impacting the community it was to serve.   

I began to see that if the information is just "Put Out" with little effort or care from the speaker it was not received by the listeners.  When I stumbled back into college and began to study communication I realized this was my calling.  I saw communication, not just heard it.  Communication and also, public speaking is so in-depth most people do not speak with the knowledge of retention. 

Every day public speakers many times come from a place of delivering information, not how the team, audience, group, or volunteers are going to hear or receive it. 

 I have watched countless messages be delivered with epic failure in retention.  Maybe it was because the room was not set correctly, too hot, too cold or the speaker was speaking at a different level of the topic than the audience was, or, maybe it was because the speaker was enjoying the attention and not worried if the audience heard what the message was about. 

So many things factor into speaking with the intention of retention.  I love helping team leaders, managers, civic group leaders, and anyone who has to lead and speak, understand how to be the most impactful speaker every time they deliver information. 

I grew up with a very practical mom.  You were supposed to go to college and get a career, stay in that career for 3o years,  and retire with a pension.  I don't fault her for that; it was the way of the world when she grew up.  But, I could not sustain a career in one place for 30 years, and times were changing.  

As the decades progressed, workplace stability became less common. In today's employment environment, if an employee stays with a company for over 20 years, that is nothing short of a miracle! 

Employment enjoyment is sought after, and quiet quitting is a huge pandemic. Work-life balance is a premium, and many find it hard to stay with a company for over a few years.  

When I meet with a client, I do a lot of digging to determine the dream job.  Most people will say, I want to do this, but I know that is unrealistic.  This is when my internal Realistic Unicorn comes in.  Maybe you can not have a job as a professional baseball player at 55, but if you love the game, why can you not have a job with an experienced team or in a stadium where a team plays?

I will tell you why, because you don't believe you can.  You think those jobs are for other people. Well, what I say is, aw, you are other people.  Someone had to step into that job, and they are just the same as you.  Human!  It may take time to add to your skill set, network, and build more skills.  But, with a plan, persistence, and a bit of God's grace, you can have that dream job.  Just don't be afraid to try.