Drop and Give Me 20

In this episode of Drop and Give Me 20, Lindsey interviews Esther Avant, a Nutrition Coach, a Personal Trainer and the owner of Esther Avant Wellness Coaching. Esther talks about how she overcame the struggles of having a virtual business as a military spouse. She also shares her ways of bringing in new clients.

Important topics they discuss:

• [01:14] About Wellness Coaching
• [02:39] Esther’s struggles to overcome in the business
• [06:04] Advice to other military spouse business owners/entrepreneurs
• [09:29] Esther’s role model
• [09:55] One thing Esther’s clients struggle with
• [10:47] Esther’s business five years from now
• [12:02] Bringing in new clients

Quote:

“You didn’t graduate college and end up a CEO. You had to show up everyday and put in to work and overtime you got to where you wanted to be… and it’s the same thing with business.” - Esther Avant

Social: Esther Avant Esther Avant Wellness Coaching Facebook  Esther's Instagram Esther's Twitter Live Diet Free Facebook group

In this episode of Drop and Give Me 20, Lindsey interviews Jean South who spent 9 years as a FBI Special Agent and is now the CEO of Hire Served.  Hire Served helps military-passionate employers in recruiting, hiring and on-boarding top veteran talents.

Jean talks about the challenges of being a CEO. She also shares her life as an entrepreneur and a military spouse.

Important topics they discuss:

• [01:01] Jean’s backstory
• [02:50] Hire Served services
• [03:33] Defining their industry
• [04:08] How they compete in a crowded industry
• [06:13] The challenges of entrepreneurship
• [09:17] Managing as a CEO
• [11:30] A day in a life of an entrepreneur
• [17:10] Fun Fact about Jean South

Quote:

“… I never really recognized that that’s the role of the CEO - to be the expert at the vision.” -Jean South

Social: Hire Served Hire Served's Twitter Hire Served's Facebook Page Hire Served's Instagram Jean South's Youtube Channel

In this episode of Drop and Give Me 20, Lindsey Germono speaks with Meghan Alonso, who is known for her medical device podcast and is the woman behind Imua Services.

Important topics they discuss:

• [01:13] What Imua Services provide and offer
• [02:15] Meghan’s medical background
• [03:50] Military wife experience
• [05:15] Cash Flow management
• [10:48] Finding new clients
• [13:10] Meghan’s podcast
• [17:00] Finding people that serve your audience

Quote:

“But a lot in times in life, the lessons are the best if you actually experience it.” - Meghan Alonso

Social: IMUA IMUA's Facebook Page IMUA’s LinkedIn Profile IMUA's Twitter

In this episode of Drop and Give Me 20, Lindsey interviews the amazing ladies behind The Hive & Co, a company that offers online marketing services for small business owners. Meet Miranda Perales and Shiang-ling Bissonnette. They share how their partnership started and the challenges they face as they grow with their business.

Miranda and Shiang-ling also talk about what it's like to be military spouse business owners and how their differences helped them in handling their business. Don’t miss this episode!

Important topics they discuss:

• [01:10] What Miranda and Shang-Ling do
• [02:16] How Miranda and Shang-Ling started their business together
• [04:26] Challenges they experienced as partners
• [06:10] Tips for virtual business owners
• [08:05] Tips for military spouses on finding their people
• [11:17] Dealing with vulnerability and rejection

Quote:

"The partnership we have is a great thing because we have somebody to fall back on. But we also have to keep in mind that we are constantly balancing each other out and having to make sure that we are always in line because that’s something important for us to be successful." - Miranda Perales

Social: The Hive & Co. The Hive & Co's Facebook Page The Hive & Co's Instagram The Hive & Co's Pinterest The Hive & Co's Twitter The Hive & Co's LinkedInThe Hive & Co's Email Address

In this episode of Drop and Give Me 20, Lindsey interviews the women behind MadSkills, a company that allows you to outsource all your business needs to highly skilled military spouses. Meet Erica McMannes and Liza Rodewald as they share how their passion of providing opportunities for military spouses led them to starting MadSkills. You’ll also learn the ins and outs on how to start a business and form a partnership that works!

They have created an awesome business that not only helps military spouses, but also provides opportunities to empower them to earn income from anywhere in the world! Don’t miss this amazing episode!

Important topics they discuss:

• [1:15] Who are Erica and Liza and what is MadSkills
• [2:09] Why MadSkills?
• [4:35] Common misconceptions about virtual and remote work
• [6:05] Events and Happenings that they are working on
• [8:14] Why business partnerships are like marriages
• [10:22] The future of MadSkills
• [13:00] Issues with candidates who work from posts
• [14:50] Some personal questions
• [17:15] Advice for fellow military spouses who want to start a business

Quote:

"Spouses are a force to be reckoned with, more people should know about you all. And that was like a light bulb in my head, people need to know more about us outside the military community…"  - Erica McMannes

Social: MadSkills MadSkills Facebook Page Erica’s LinkedIn Profile Liza's LinkedIn Profile

In this episode of Drop and Give Me 20, Lindsey speaks with Jason Dempsey and Ken Robbins of GoMillie. They share their backgrounds, how they established an effective partnership, and their vision for the military community.

Important topics they discuss:

• [1:25] Background of Ken in the army
• [3:46] How the business led to finding Amy and Lauren
• [7:10] Why a partnership makes sense
• [8:19] Challenges of working with new partners
• [12:08] Their exit strategy
• [15:00] Tips for those who wants to get into starting a business

Quote:

"In some point, you don’t know what the future is going to be. So you got to decide is what I’m holding to right now, what I want, and do I want to take this leap of faith..."  - Ken Robbins

Social: Agent Hero Gomillie.com

In this episode of Drop and Give Me 20, Lindsey speaks with Amy Shick & Lauren Rothlisberger of Millie to find out what it was like to sell their business, Military Property Project.  This is part 1 of a two part Millie series. 

Important topics they discuss:

• [1:20] Where Amy & Lauren are today in their entrepreneur journey
• [2:00] What are their roles with Millie
• [4:22] How they met and their mutual passion
• [6:30] When Project Hero approached them about selling
• [8:00] The idea of creating Millie and combining companies
• [9:50] The emotion process of “should we sell’
• [11:45] Lauren on removing the emotions when selling
• [15:09] Amy on getting to focus on their strengths at Millie

Quote:

“It really doesn’t matter about us personally, it what matters for Military Property Project & Scout and the resources we’ve created, giving them the best chance to helping as many military families as possible” - Amy Shick

Social: Agent Hero Gomillie.com scout.gomillie.com Facebook Twitter [email protected] [email protected]

This segment is the fifth and last of a 5 part series dedicated to our active duty service members transitioning out of the service and starting their entrepreneurial journey.  Lindsey Germono interviews marine veteran Jim Friddell.

Important topics they discuss:

• [01:22] What Jim does and his time in the service
• [3:34] What motivated him to start a business
• [5:04] Investing and having savings
• [6:44] What it was like working for someone else
• [11:10] The current investment industry setup
• [13:09] From one coffee to a business
• [15:11] Finding great partners
• [18:20] Mistakes he made along the way
• [19:00] Results and revenues

Quote: "When you start making a lot of money and you’re not use to making money. You don’t know what to do with it." -Jim Friddell

Social: Thrift Savings Plan Jim's Linkedin Profile Jim's Company Website Email Jim

This segment is the 4th of a 5 part series dedicated to our active duty service members transitioning out of the service and starting their entrepreneurial journey. Jonny Coreson is active duty Navy and provides Career counseling services to transitioning service members.

Important topics they discuss:

• [1:06] Jonny is active duty Navy and provides Career counseling services to transitioning service members
• [1:39] How he formed Bluejacketeer
• [3:23] Career counseling in 2013
• [4:38] Be realistic when pursuing entrepreneurship
• [5:00] Advice: Go research and use resources available.
• [7:38] Elevator speech to communicate what you want to do.
• [8:28] Using creative financing and bootstrapping
• [9:00] Passion to support the navy
• [10:10] Boots to business
• [12:31] What type of business should an active duty service member form?

Quote: "Answer the basic questions and be confident in your way forward and plug into these resources early and glean. Just be a sponge." -Jonny Coreson

Social: National Military Family Association Facebook Page Inc 5000 Inc 5000 Conferences StreetShares BlueJacketeer BlueJacketeer Facebook Page Email Jonny Facebook Group - Drop and Give Me 20

This segment is the 3 of a 5 part series dedicated to our active duty service members transitioning out of the service and starting their entrepreneurial journey.  Lindsey Germono interviews Anthony Williams, Army veteran and founder of SAW Contracting, Inc.  Listen as Anthony shares how he took what he learned while active duty as preparation for his future commercial construction business.

Important topics they discuss:

• [1:20] His Old Dominion University ROTC days
• [2:13] Anthony’s experiences during his deployments
• [5:10] He became asst. project manager, learned the ropes and moved up 6 years
• [6:00] Didn’t think he’d own a business, joined Army to travel the world and get away from home
• [7:20] What does he use from the military in his business today?
• [9:19] Piece of advice he’d give to his younger self
• [11:18] His dreams of ice cream and opening a dog rescue
• [13:08] What his construction business looks like
• [14:17] Tips to any military who’s starting a business

Quote: "We’re a government contractor…everything has to be organized, prepared properly, communicated properly'" - Anthony Williams

Social: Old Dominion University Saw Contracting Saw Contracting Facebook Page Anthony's LinkedIn Profile Facebook Group - Drop and Give Me 20