[00:00:00] Christine: So many milsos have advanced degrees and yet end up working low wage, entry level jobs after PCSing and having to leave their career jobs. Today’s guest dreamed of something different. She saw the talent and potential of military spouses and set out to create a platform. To highlight what military spouses bring to the table and provide a way for them to earn an income while getting the freedom and time flexibility they needed.

[00:00:36] Today I’m sitting down with Monica Fullerton, who is a Navy wife and the founder of Spousely, an online marketplace offering products from military and first responder. Since launching in 2020, Spousely has been featured everywhere from Forbes to CNBC as the go-to hub for Shopping With Purpose. We discuss her journey to purpose, how she manages to juggle building an online business with mom life, and not just any mom life.

[00:01:10] Mom life of twins. We talk about navigating and communicating with your spouse on this journey and what she’s learned along the way and what she wants to encourage every military spouse to consider when it comes to entrepreneurship. What’s possible for you as a military spouse, entrepreneur? Let’s dive into this show and find out.

[00:02:27] Hey, amazing Milspouse. Welcome back to the MilSpouse Mastermind Show. Before we dive into my conversation with Monica Fullerton, I want to stop you right this second and ask you for a quick favor. Would you take a moment to leave a rating and review of the show? On Apple Podcast, this is so important for the algorithm and helping our podcast show up in people’s feeds.

[00:02:56] And even more than that, it lights me up every time I read a review of the show and it lets me know that the show is making a difference in that. These conversations really. In your life and in the lives of military spouses. Let me just quickly read you one recent review by Anna Lukin, who says, truly a transformative podcast.

[00:03:23] I’m so thankful for Christine and her heart for Military spouses. This podcast has been so helpful and reaches the heart of so many struggles for military spouse. She is kind, honest, and vulnerable, which makes the show so relatable. I highly recommend this podcast for Milspouses, and all. Thank you so much, Anna, for leaving that review.

[00:03:48] Thank you for all of you who have left reviews, and thank you for all of you who are gonna stop right now and leave us a review because it really, truly. Matters and it lights me up when I get to read those reviews. If you are not sure how to do that, I will link below in the show notes exactly how you go and leave a review.

[00:04:09] But thank you for doing that. All right, let’s not wait any longer. Here’s my conversation with Monica Fullerton. I am so excited to welcome Monica Fullerton to the MilSpouse Mastermind Show. Monica, thanks for being here. Would you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do? .

[00:04:26] Monica: Yes. Thank you so much for having me.

[00:04:28] Um, I am an Air Force spouse, a twin mom, and the founder and CEO of spousely, and I launched Spousely a little over two and a half years ago. It is a online marketplace where you can shop a wide variety of both products and services, all created by military and first responder.

[00:04:49] Christine: I love that so much, and I’m excited to dig into your story.

[00:04:53] But I would love for you to take us all the way back and tell us your military origin story. Um, where, where did you meet your spouse? Um, what did you, did you know what you were getting into when you started this journey? Yes, I will

[00:05:08] Monica: take you all the way back. I will try to do it as fast as possible, um, just because as you know, we all have these stories where it can go back pretty far.

[00:05:18] So, um, I was born and raised in a smaller town in Ohio. Um, I actually ended up, well, I’ll give you a little teaser. Just married my high school sweetheart, but that is, The plan that I ever thought in a million years. So, um, moved out of this small town to move to South Florida with big dreams of becoming the next Oprah, which I know sounds completely crazy, but I was just always so inspired by the power of communications and broadcasting and how she had a way.

[00:05:51] Bringing people together to share their stories, to help empower and support one another. So, um, went to South Florida to do my bachelor’s degree and my master’s, and life was perfect. It was exactly what I always wanted. I was in the right area to build up a very rewarding communications career. But when I was going through my masters, I ended up still being in contact.

[00:06:18] My high school sweetheart, he had also moved out of our small town with his own big dreams, so he went out to Colorado. I went to Florida. We never stayed together. It was never in our plan. Like we were like, Okay, cool. It was really nice, you know, growing up together. But we’ve got a lot of plans and big dreams that we both.

[00:06:37] No, would not have been possible to stay together. So long story short, uh, we stayed friends and as you can imagine, we both had really great places to visit. There was Colorado, there was Florida, you know, beach, mountains, that whole vibe. But during my master’s, we started to realize, oh my gosh, there’s something still here.

[00:06:57] This is not part of our plan. And he was commissioning into the air. So, as you can imagine in that moment, I was just honestly like torn apart cuz I was like, what is happening? Like, how is this possible? I’ve worked so hard to build up this life and you know, everything that I wanted, uh, to do with my own personal career.

[00:07:19] And I was about to put it all behind me to start living the military life . Um, so it kind of goes back to your question, did I, where did it all start and how did it all stem? I never thought in a million years we’d end up here, but I decided to go with love and I started living the military life. We got stationed at our first duty station in San Antonio, Texas.

[00:07:41] I spent the first, um, year, two years, honestly, not really saying I was a military spouse, just because I never wanted it to. Hinder my own career and my goals and everything. Um, so I was very lucky. Got a corporate career working remote and led me kind of to where I’m at today to just kind of go into the path of entrepreneurship, to help inspire more in our community that we can do what we love while living a life on the.

[00:08:12] Christine: I mean, I think so many people can relate to your story of I have to choose between the dream I’ve always had and this person that I love, and how are we gonna make this work? So can you talk about how you went down that path of entrepreneurship? What led you there? How did you get started?

[00:08:31] Monica: Yes. So I was very lucky, you know, working a amazing corporate career.

[00:08:36] But the problem was it wasn’t in something that I ever thought in a million years I would be doing. And like many military spouses, we find ourself having to pivot. We have to make it work and sometimes it’s not in our own personal interest. It was really great. It checked all the boxes. Great salary. Um, I was very close with the owner.

[00:08:56] He was an amazing guy who built just like an incredible community based company where it felt good to work for. Um, I, after we moved from San Antonio, I was one of the only employees that he allowed to work remote at the time. So, you know, it checked all the boxes from our military life of being able. To make a great salary.

[00:09:15] I was traveling, um, frequently meeting CEOs of Fortune 500 companies running these incredible meetings. It felt great. But then, um, you know, as life was happening, we ended up having twins and so I became a mom. I still was working full-time. I was working around the clock. But things start to shift. Your priorities shift.

[00:09:36] You’re like, Wait a second. I’m working around the clock. I’m working this demanding job, but I’m not happy. The passion just isn’t there. And um, we get to a point I believe in our lives where if we’ve had to settle or we’ve had to pivot, we’re just like, Wait a second. Why, why did I do this? How can I get back on the path that I’m supposed to be on?

[00:09:57] And so, um, I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I knew it needed to be something that I was a hundred percent passionate about as well as a business that would be able to help other people, because I’ve never been a self-serving person. And many of us in our, in our community can all relate to that.

[00:10:16] We’re never really self-serving. We’re always trying to find ways to help and support one. So then I decided, um, after my own frustration and inspiration as a spouse, that something had to be done and I started shifting into entrepreneurship.

[00:10:34] Christine: I mean, I think that’s why we talk about. There’s so much that we can relate to in that story, and we talk about how purpose looks different in each season.

[00:10:43] But in my own life, um, having kids really changed the way that I looked at things because before, like, no, my career didn’t look the way that I thought it was gonna look, but I could make it work. You can kind of, you know, fashion your own. Career path and make it work. And then like once babies come along and they have needs in trying to find childcare and trying to juggle all the things, that really forces you to say, Okay, what are my priorities and what can I do to make it work in this season?

[00:11:17] And I love what you said about finding a way to use what you. To bless other people to be able to do something that doesn’t just benefit yourself but is able to benefit others. So, What, what did you start doing as an entrepreneur? How did you dip your toe in the water and get started?

[00:11:36] Monica: Yes, so, uh, for, for my journey, it was all just first locally.

[00:11:42] I was inspired by all of my fellow military spouse friends. I just remember we were in a car ride going to dinner, and I remember being like, Oh my gosh, there’s so much talent just in this one car ride alone. There’s gotta be a whole window of opportunity here. So, you know, I had a friend that, a photographer makes coffee, a private investigator.

[00:12:01] I love a business, and so it all stemmed from just truly being inspired by the people that I am around on a daily basis. I started thinking bigger than I was like, Okay. If there’s that much talent in just this one car ride, and anytime I go and I, you know, meet a new spouse or someone in our community and I’m just so inspired by them, what does this look like as a whole bigger opportunity to make that impact?

[00:12:27] And so I started doing my research on, you know, what the community looked like, how many people actually were turning to a small business and entrepreneurship and really kind of, you know, going that route to be able to do what they loved. Then I opened that whole, um, research up into like veterans and to first responders and just all of these amazing people in our community that do so much on a daily basis to support others.

[00:12:53] And I had created just a Facebook group and I remember thinking like, Okay, let me just see. What the, you know, what the community thinks of this idea. And within like two weeks we had about a thousand people in the group and everybody was excited. Whether it was people who were small business owners or people who were supporters, they were like, Oh my gosh, A marketplace to shop and support these amazing makers created entrepreneurs in one easy place would be incredible.

[00:13:21] And so I just remember thinking like, This is it. I have anybody who knows me knows I’ve been searching, you know, my whole life. I’ve always had it in the back of my mind, like what is it going to be when I do become an entrepreneur? Like what? What can it be like? What am I actually good at? What do I love?

[00:13:38] What can I bring to the table to help others? And it all goes back to that love for communications and being able to help people share their stories and give them the platform that they deserve to shine. So then it all started to continue to, to unfold from there, which has led us to where we’re at today with a full blown, you know, online marketplace that is powered by the most inspiring and incredible military and first responder makers, creators, and entrepreneurs.

[00:14:08] Christine: I mean, I love that so much to have that kind of platform to help other people step into their story, to do the thing that is on their heart. Um, and that’s something that we are so passionate about here. Um, talk about some of the early challenges, going from the idea to how we make this an actual.

[00:14:32] Monica: Yes. So we went from idea to reality within about eight months.

[00:14:37] Um, I am the type of person where if I have my mindset on it, I am going to do everything I can to make it happen. Um, you know, oftentimes we are our own worst critics and we’ll talk ourself out of things before we can ever. Even get started. So I was like, Okay, Monica, you’ve got something here.

[00:14:55] Everybody’s excited. Like keep your foot on the gas and like turn it into something. So I, um, started brainstorming. I basically mapped out exactly how I wanted the platform to be, how I wanted it to function. Like everything that we would need to. This whole thing come to life. And then I found, um, a local veteran owned, uh, web development company, and I went with my idea to them, and we just started plucking away at it.

[00:15:23] And it sounds a lot easier than it actually was because yes, we, we did go through a number of bumps in the road. There were. Many things. You know, even with me, cuz I’ve been self-funding everything, uh, since launch. So I’m working on, you know, my own personal funds that are not unlimited. Uh, so it’s like, okay, where do I put, what, how am I gonna turn, you know, this amount into something else?

[00:15:49] And. When you’re in that phase of building, you will run into a lot of challenges, a lot of letdowns. There’s still to this day, so many, uh, features and functionalities that I thought the platform would have in the initial build, but quickly learned it wasn’t gonna be possible or we couldn’t figure out a workaround for it.

[00:16:11] It’s constantly just adding to our roadmap of future, you know, growth and improvements. But the one key takeaway that I’ve learned is that perfection is not what allows you to build and go after what you want. Perfection is actually what holds you back and limits you. Um, on this journey, I have learned after we’ve kind of.

[00:16:35] You work so hard to make it look so perfect from the start, right? When you’re launching, you want your graphics to be great. You want your messaging to be perfect. You want it to seem like this new, flashy, exciting business, but in reality, you are still building and growing and piecing the puzzle together.

[00:16:52] People want to see the real. They want to be a part of your.

[00:16:57] Christine: And it’s helpful when we can invite people in and let them know that it doesn’t just happen overnight and that there’s a lot of challenges that happen along the way. There’s a lot of roadblocks. What are some of the things that you have done personally when you’re feeling that frustration that it’s not working the way that you want, when it’s not going as quick as you want?

[00:17:18] How have you handled that and um, really, Helps your mindset through those rough spots in the road.

[00:17:26] Monica: Yes. Um, well, I would be lying if I told you I had like a magical unicorn solution. Um, because, you know, I, I wanna keep it real. That’s one of my biggest things on this journey is that if I can do it, you can do it too.

[00:17:40] And I hope to, You know, show people along this journey that, yes, it’s not gonna be all sunshine and rainbows. So when I do run into those issues, or maybe it’s a failure or maybe it’s a challenge, whatever it might be. I really like to take the time to just step back and look at everything that we have accomplished.

[00:18:00] You know, maybe within the, the past three months or whatever it might be, because we constantly are setting all of these next milestones and next goals on ourselves that sometimes we forget. To look back at how we got there, and even if they’re small wins, or maybe it was a mistake or maybe it was a failure or a challenge.

[00:18:21] Okay, let’s take that and use it as an opportunity to build and push forward. Because trust me, I have had my fair share of, you know, just days thinking, crying, like thinking like, Oh my gosh, how am I gonna get past this? How are we, how are we gonna move forward from this? When you take that challenge and you turn it into a positive, it really is a mindset shift, but you have to surround yourself with mentors and people that can help you stay on that path forward.

[00:18:56] Because as we know, as you know, entrepreneurs and, and moms or whoever it is, like we’re constantly in a million different places at once, and it can be very hard to stay ground.

[00:19:09] Christine: Yeah, there was so much that you just un just said. And um, number one, the importance of reflect, reflecting back and looking at where you come, what you can learn through that.

[00:19:22] Um, the chance to celebrate small wins is so important because if we can’t celebrate that, it’s really hard. We’re not going to find satisfaction. We’re not going to find. To be able to enjoy the journey if we’re just waiting till we get to that end goal. So the chance to be able to reflect and look at what we’ve already accomplished, celebrate those small wins, um, to look at the obstacles as.

[00:19:49] Opportunities and to surround ourself with people that will help keep us moving forward on those days when we’re just defeated and discouraged. Um, talk a little bit about how you balance that with motherhood. You have twins, I don’t know, how old are your twins now, and how are you trying to navigate building this thing while still being present as a.

[00:20:13] Monica: Yeah, so the twins just turned six, so they were pretty much three when I started. Spousely were coming up. We’ll be three years old after the new year, and you know, it, it’s been har hard. Um, I, I feel like it’s just a constant ongoing battle of, you know, time. There’s not enough time in the. . But what I will say is support is everything.

[00:20:38] My family supports me a hundred percent. My husband is my biggest fan. He’s always helping me think through, um, you know, the next steps. Or maybe if it’s something that I’m just so down on, we try to talk and find a way that we can turn that around. So support is everything. I don’t have a perfect solution to the balance.

[00:20:59] We just have always been a routine family, so that has allowed us to know our routine and stick with it, which we know our time blocks on different things. Uh, I’m definitely not proud, uh, that on the weekends I always try to make that just family focused, but. You know, Spousely is a 24 7 thing, so I’m also, you know, working on the weekends and things like that, which I hope as we do continue to build and grow and get more people on our team and all of that, that it won’t consume as much of me in those times that my family needs me most.

[00:21:35] But really just creating a routine has been huge for.

[00:21:41] Christine: Absolutely. And when it comes to your spouse, I mean, I know when you met he was a big go-getter too, and, and there’s this balance of, as you’re both trying to do the thing that’s on your heart, you’re building these goals and chasing your dreams. Like talk about what are.

[00:21:59] Practically some of the challenges that you face trying to do this as a couple and, and what you found that that works for you guys?

[00:22:07] Monica: Yes. We are both type A to the extreme. We’re both, um, extroverts. Our children are totally introverts. We probably scare them because we’re both just like always, you know, going a hundred.

[00:22:19] Per hour. Anything we do has to be 150%. So the pressure is very real over here in our house. Our poor children. Just kidding. They thrive off of it though, you know how it goes. But um, yeah, I think just knowing. Because we’ve known each other for so long, we both understand our own personal goals and dreams and what we want to get out of life.

[00:22:43] But at the same time, we’ve created this amazing team around it. So I feel like the, the caveat there is that I know. What his path is because we worked on his path together and how we could make it work. He knows the path that I want and what I’m building and where I see my own, uh, personal success and growth is at.

[00:23:06] So it’s really just having that open communication as well as sitting down together and figuring out how do we get there and how do we do it when we’re both on this like high speed train kind of thing. .

[00:23:23] Christine: So let’s switch gears for a little bit. That was really helpful. Um, but I would like for you to speak to the military spouse who is thinking about entrepreneurship and, and really saying, Hey, I don’t love the way that life has looked like up until those point, I haven’t felt like I had the flexibility that I needed, or I couldn’t find the job that really spoke to me.

[00:23:45] Um, what would you like to tell her to encourage her to get started on that? Yes.

[00:23:52] Monica: So, um, for entrepreneurship, I always like to say that, you know, success looks different to everyone and it just depends on what you want out of it. Do you wanna turn to entrepreneurship to help fill some time where maybe it’s still a side business that you’re turning in into something more?

[00:24:09] Um, Or do you want to fully. You know, entrepreneurship full time. Do you want to leave a corporate career or do you want to maybe just go all in on entrepreneurship, um, to kind of fill, fill that gap maybe that you had been facing? I feel like just really understanding what is your why and what do you want to get out of it is so, so important because the problem with entrepreneurship sometimes is that we like to compare ourselves to others and other success and what someone else’s journey might look like.

[00:24:42] Can be, you know, not the best way to push forward because entrepreneurship can be hard. It does provide flexibility and stability, but it just depends on what industry you’re in. Is it something that’s gonna require you to work around the clock like I’m doing right now? Or is it going to be something that you can do in those hours of that window of opportunity?

[00:25:04] So I always like to. Sit down first, truly understand why you are pursuing entrepreneurship. Once you have a clear list of your own hopes and dreams out of it, whether it be your skills, your strengths, what you want that business to turn into, it will help you stay. on the right path forward versus when you do hit those, those challenges and you do hit those roadblocks that you don’t feel defeated because you will feel defeated, especially in your first year of business.

[00:25:36] You are going to be pooled in more directions than you could ever could imagine, because it’s marketing, it’s, you know, balancing your budget. There’s all kinds of things that come up with entrepre. So just really understand why you want to go into it, and then that will hope, help open up a whole new window of opportunity.

[00:25:57] Christine: I love that because I think it does so much to normalize the struggle because sometimes we think when we hit these roadblocks, when it’s hard, that means that. We’re not enough or that we’re doing something wrong. Um, but this is part of the journey and I love that you are so honest about that and just normalizing that this is part of the journey.

[00:26:22] We, we talked on the, on an episode a few weeks ago just about how comparison is one of those big dream tellers. So easy to say, Well, this person is moving faster than I am, or they’re doing better than I am, or they have more followers than I am. And, and really going back to that, why, why are you doing this?

[00:26:42] What, what is speaking to you, how does that align with what matters most to you? And really what lights you. I think those are really, really valuable.

[00:26:54] Monica: And there’s one thing I wanted to add that we always tell all of our Spousely vendors too, is that. Don’t get discouraged because at the end of the day, maybe if you’re a product based business or maybe a service based business, there is gonna be a ton of other businesses out there doing the same thing that you’re doing, whether it’s, you know, making a candle or marketing services, whatever it might be.

[00:27:17] But at the end of the day, there is no other you, you are in charge of writing your own stories. So just remember that from an encouragement standpoint, when it does come to entrepreneurship. You are able to do what you want to do. Um, when you are pursuing that path, don’t go, go back and compare to other things.

[00:27:39] Just continue to elevate your why and your story.

[00:27:41] Christine: Absolutely. I would love for you to share what are some of the biggest blessings that you’ve seen that have come out of this experience and building this platform?

[00:27:53] Monica: Oh my gosh. There has been so much magic that has happened just over the past few years that I can’t even.

[00:28:01] Describe into words because it’s, it’s things that I never even thought of when I was launching the company. There’s um, there’s vendors that are supporting other vendors, whether it’s a collaboration and they’re teaming up to create a product. We have vendors that have gone in business together because they’ve met each other through spousely, so they started a business together.

[00:28:22] Um, we also have a ton of corporate partners, so. Spousely is really positioning our community for those bigger opportunities, whether it’s wholesale or corporate gifting, bulk orders. So now, instead of maybe an order from, you know, a, a consumer based standpoint, it’s turning into a orders to business standpoints.

[00:28:42] And it’s opening up just so many opportunities to continue putting our incredible community on a platform that they deserve to shine. But there has. All kinds of magic happening for sure.

[00:28:55] Christine: Uh, that is just so great to hear, and I’m so excited to see where this goes and, and what, how it grows. What’s your big dream for the

[00:29:05] Monica: future?

[00:29:05] The big dream for the future would be that to make spousely a household name, the more that we can continue to, um, get out there to really highlight and showcase our community. The more that we are directly putting funds back into the pockets of our nation’s heroes. So the, the big goal is I want every household to recognize Spousely as the go-to online marketplace.

[00:29:29] To shop and support military and first responder own businesses.

[00:29:33] Christine: Well, I, I love that. I love what you are building. How can our listeners connect with you, find more about you and about Spouse Lee, I know people are gonna want, if you haven’t already heard about Spouse Lee, by this point, I hope that this is helping open the door that you will go out there and check out some of the awesome products.

[00:29:54] Uh, I love browsing on there. So tell us where we can go to find all.

[00:29:59] Monica: Yes. Well, I personally would love to connect with you. I am big on LinkedIn. Um, so you can find me on Monica Fullerton on LinkedIn. Um, you can go to spousely.com. It’s, you can type it in with the dash or without the dash. Either way it’ll get you there.

[00:30:12] So spousely.com, um, Instagram and Facebook. We love sharing more of the behind the scenes of our vendors, so make sure you’re connecting with us on social

[00:30:21] Christine: as well. Awesome. Well, thank you so much Monica. You are truly, truly making a. Um, and you’re creating this platform that I think is going to bless so many military spouses and, and really, I am so excited that you found a way to really use your gifts and the dreams on your heart and really make it a reality.

[00:30:43] So thank you for joining us today. Yes.

[00:30:46] Monica: Thank you so much for having me.

[00:30:48] Christine: Okay, friends, I have one question for you as we wrap up today. What path are you supposed to be on and is entrepreneurship a part of that journey? There may be lots of other people that may already be doing something similar to the dream that is on your heart, but let me go back to what Monica.

[00:31:12] There is no other. You are in charge of writing your own story, so I hope that you’ll sit with that today. What is your story? What path are you supposed to be on, and what is your next? Step and whether you are considering entrepreneurship or not, whether you are already on that journey or whether you have no desire to ever be an entrepreneur, all of us can go over to spousely.com and check out all of the amazing.

[00:31:48] Products and services designed by military spouses and first responder families. This is a way that all of us can impact others and support other military spouses. So if you have not already been on that website, please go check it out as you are beginning to think about shopping for the holiday season.

[00:32:10] Make Spousely the place where you go to get your goods. All right, friends, I hope you have an amazing week. I would love to hear feedback on what you thought of today’s episode. You can jump inside our milspouse masterminding community, our free Facebook community. Where we continue the conversation. So I would love to see you inside of there.

[00:32:33] Just if you are not already apart, just join us@milsspousemastermind.com slash community, and I will see you there. Until next time, may you live filled, fueled and full of joy.