Milspo Project chapter launches in Goldsboro
By John Joyce
Published in News on February 23, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Marcia Hutson, right, president of the Milspo Project's Goldsboro chapter, talks about starting the local chapter and what the group hopes to accomplish during a recent meeting at Texas Roadhouse. Also pictured is Kristen Smith, a Milspo Project member and owner of Barks and Bows.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Lindsey Germono gives examples of how the members of the group's chapters have benefited from their membership.
A group of women at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base are making it their business to help entrepreneurs like themselves achieve success.
But theirs is only a chapter in a larger network that is spreading to military installations across the world.
It is called the Milspo (Military Spouses) Project, and Goldsboro is home to its newest chapter.
"It is just like any other networking organization, except it is focused on military spouses," Milspo Project advisory board member and entrepreneur Lindsey Germono said.
Mrs. Germono started an advertising agency while her husband, Lt. Col.-select Brian Goldt, 4th MDG, was stationed in Norfolk, Va. When the couple moved to Goldsboro, she continued to run her business, commuting twice a month between SJAFB and Norfolk.
Germono and Goldsboro chapter president Marcia Hutson are building a brand at the base that other business-minded spouses can use to grow their own enterprises. And that is exactly what the Milspo Project founders intended it to do.
Nicole Hope and Elizabeth Boardman founded the Milspo Project in 2014. Both women are military spouses and entrepreneurs who saw the value in sharing lessons learned and where to find resources with each other. They then decided to spread their newfound knowledge to other military spouses and things ballooned from there.
Business owners with connections to the Milspo Project -- a registered non-profit organization -- have since been featured on ABC's "Shark Tank" and in Forbes magazine.
"What happens is, since you are only in a certain area for two or three years, and then you have to get restationed, it is really hard for an entrepreneur to establish a brick and mortar because they're just going to get relocated in three years," Mrs. Germono said.
Because most military spouses who start their own businesses do so from home, she said, those businesses can be picked up and moved when it comes time to transitioning to another duty station.
The Milspo Project links military spouses who are also entrepreneurs with other entrepreneurs wherever they are stationed and through digital platforms and annual conferences with those spread all over the military community.
Mrs. Hutson, who came to Goldsboro just eight months ago from San Diego, Calif. -- her husband is enlisted and is a maintainer assigned to SJAFB's 4th EMS squadron -- had heard of the Milspo Project, but was not a part of it there.
"I did some research, and I found out about the Milspo Project that way. Goldsboro did not have a chapter then. But I raised my hand. I was like, 'I'm going to start a business at some point. I want to know how they do this. What is this about?'" she said.
Mrs. Hutson did not know Mrs. Germono at the time. She found her on the Milspo Project website, and the two women began to discuss bringing the project to Goldsboro.
"So I didn't know Lindsey or any of these women here. It was all organic, getting on the Milspo Project Chapter main page. That is how I met Lindsey, and through Lindsey, I met Kristen," she said.
Kristen Smith, another Milspo Project member and military spouse, owns Barks and Bows, a company she started that makes collars and accessories for dogs. Her items are featured at the Arts Council of Wayne County, online at Etsy.com, at the base exchange (BX) on SJAFB and soon will be featured in kiosks at the Pope AFB BX and the Fort Bragg PX in Fayetteville.
Other area members include Kaylee Mitchell, a graphic and web designer/photographer at Wayne Community College and Pilar Taylor, a financial consultant and independent contractor with First Command.
"We offer financial services to the military market," Mrs. Taylor said. "Anywhere from life insurance all the way to investments. We are guiding the hand of military members understanding their retirements, understanding their benefits and how that comes together for their financial future."
The Milspo Project is open to anyone who served, active duty and retired, those who may have done four years and got out and their spouses.
"A lot of spouses will end up being 'solopreneurs,' meaning they kind of run the show, they are the only employee, but they sub (contract) out tasks or work," Mrs. Germono said.
"So you have financial planners, I own an advertising agency, you have graphic designers. It is really all across the board.
"But we, as military spouse entrepreneurs, need access to the same education and certifications. But this project, this organizations is set up to supply that information to us. It's professional development," Mrs. Germono said.
And Milspo benefits anyone -- a longtime business owner, a new start-up or someone interested in the concept of entrepreneurship, but who has no idea where to start -- as well as the communities in which they live.
Mrs. Hutson's role is to bridge connections with local non-military owned businesses too, because what benefits them is knowing what the capacities are and vice versa, Mrs. Germono said.
"So if they want to support military by hiring military veterans or employees, hiring spouses -- it is important for the local community to connect with the Milspo Project because there can be gaps that they can fill," she said.
The support from the command structure at SJAFB has been nothing but supportive, too, Mrs. Hutson said.
"It is amazing, our wing commander's wife, Mrs. (Xavi) Slocum, has been an advocate for us from the first day, Mrs. Hutson said.
"She was like, 'This is awesome. I want you to talk to every command spouse on base about this so they can talk to their squadron spouses and spread the word,'" she said.
In the coming weeks, the Goldsboro chapter of the Milspo Project will connect with the SJAFB Make it Better campaign's Entrepreneurs club to network. The project is also looking for community partners -- the Texas Roadhouse and Papa Murphy's are already on board, Mrs. Hutson said -- to see how they and local business can mutually benefit one another.
"When it comes to the wider community, we step out and make those connections," Mrs. Hutson said.
To get involved:
For more information about The Milspo Project, visit www.themilspoproject.com. The website includes chapter locations and information, resources and a list of events and conference information. Goldsboro chapter president Marcia Hutson can be reached at [email protected]. Lindsey Germono is available at [email protected]