Finding Your Niche

[00:08:40] What is your niche? Why, why, what problem are you solving and how can you make it better so people don’t have to, you know, you know, figure it out on the by themselves. And so if you’re, you know, doing that, figuring out what the problem is, then typically you can make a business out of that, especially if it’s, you know, comes from a place of your educational background, your experience.

[00:09:01] I used to tell a lot of spouses. Just because you haven’t worked at a, for, you know, a formidable job or a job that was paying you, didn’t mean that you didn’t work, you know, you know, um, I’m trying to think of, I can’t remember her name right now, but she volunteered at the, um, the thrift shop for the, you know, officer Spouse’s club, like for years.

[00:09:21] And so the idea that you were managing finances and people and that made you. That made your, even though you didn’t get paid for it, it still is your expertise. You did work and I think that we oftentimes kind of belittle what we’ve done and think that it’s not anything when it absolutely is something just because you, just because you didn’t get paid doesn’t mean it didn’t exist.

[00:09:40] Christine: For sure. Because I think so many of us, when we, especially after you’ve been a military s spouse for a few years, you can feel like, Hey, I have all of this, these random jobs on my resume, I’ve done. Lots of volunteer work because there is no end of volunteer opportunities. Sure. For military spouses and or you might be just home with kids and it can feel like, I don’t know what it is that I have to offer.

[00:10:07] So what kind of tips do you give to spouses who are like, okay, where do I go? Where do I start? What? What are my skills?

Where to Get Started if You Want to Make Money From Home

[00:10:16] Karamel: Yeah. Yeah. I think what I would, I usually tell, um, a couple of spouses is to write down the things that they’ve done over time. Not things, I mean, just anything. And I say everything like, you know, I volunteered as a para at my child’s, at my kids’, um, um, classroom or.

[00:10:34] You know, whatever that looked like, I, you know, put together the event for the squadron picnic, or I did, you know, whatever that looked like. To, to write all of those things down and kind of find some, some, some parallel things that, encircle of things that kind of resonate and that are like, Oh, I this, I’ve done this a couple of different times.

[00:10:53] Okay. You know, expand on that. The other part is, um, try to recognize that whatever business that you’re thinking that you may wanna go in for the, on the entrepreneur side, um, give yourself some grace in disfiguring it out. You don’t have to spend, you don’t have to charge anybody. You know more than it, than, than, than your fair share.

[00:11:13] But don’t feel bad about asking for you to be paid for your time. A lot of times that holds back a spouse. My tip is to always, when you’re doing something for someone, um, that costs you a little bit money. Get your money back. At least, even if you’re not gonna get paid for your time, at least get your money back.

[00:11:30] If you’re making cupcakes, a hundred of them that costs money, let ’em know. I’ll definitely make your cupcakes, but I’m gonna need you to give me this much cuz it’s how much it costs for me. Right. Um, and then the other part is give yourself some grace that if you thought that you wanted to do a thing and now you don’t wanna do a thing, don’t do a thing.

[00:11:47] I think we get caught up a lot of times in, um, thinking that we are not able to kind of pivot. Um, and you know, I would hate for a military spouse to be, you know, get stationed at base and now they’re like, this was, this worked great at base A but it doesn’t work so great at Base B. Right. Um, if you were dog walking, you know, in Japan, cuz that was amazing.

[00:12:08] I. Um, it might not work so well if you’re in Iceland now, like dog walking is probably not a thing there. So that means there’s a pivot and give yourself permission to, you know, understand, okay, this was a thing, now it’s not. What’s the new thing that I need to explore?

[00:12:23] Christine: Yeah. I think especially with every move there comes this sense of, okay, this is a new experience, new circumstances, you’re trying to build a new support system.

[00:12:33] Mm-hmm. And I know it can sometimes feel frustrating if you’re like, Hey, all of these things were working for me at our last location. Sure. And it’s not working for me now. So I think that’s really good to have that permission to say. It’s okay if it’s not working now and, and we can pivot. We can try something new.

[00:12:54] I know many military spouses struggle with, I have this business, it’s working and now we’re moving and it can really increase that anxiety. Like, am my aunt sure going to be able to take my bus business with me? Am I going to be able to do this thing? After this PCs and as we’re PCSing and all of these other things are being added onto my plate, so Sure.

Moving Your Business to a New Duty Station

[00:13:21] What kind of advice do you have for taking your business from one location to another?

[00:13:26] Karamel: Great question. So I will say that the business that I’m in right now, I’ve had many, like, I, I did a tax business. Um, I, that tax business started out of, you know, doing taxes for family and friends. Then I, you know, oh, you do taxes.

[00:13:39] I worked, you know, at Vida, you know, the volunteer tax preparation on bases and Oh, you do taxes. That sounds amazing. Um, and then I just got all these clients and then all of a sudden I had like, you know, 30 clients. I’m like, what the heck? How did that happen? And then I had 65. What I did in that business though, is I made it virtual.

[00:13:57] I made a way for people to send me their documents, um, in a way that was safe. Um, over the internet, but also, or they would send it to me in the mail and I’m, I didn’t apologize for having to move or having to do it that way. Um, again, I think that we look for, we make apologies for things that we should make apologies for.

[00:14:14] Uh, I know, uh, during that, that season of me doing taxes, um, I kept doing them over time and I had gotten up to like, you know, 65 clients at its height, and I f I got tired of it. I ended up finding a really nice position at, you know, another base and. I had this business that was great. And my husband was like, you’ve built this business from nothing.

[00:14:32] You need to keep it. And I was like, yeah, you’re not doing the work, right? Like, thanks for saying that and acknowledging that, but this is the work for me to do and I don’t wanna do it anymore. And I think, you know, that’s the other part that I had to explain to him as the military member that, Hey, while I know you think you’re being supportive by trying to push me to a theme, recognize all the other things that are on my plate.

[00:14:54] Like you go to the next base and you go to the next, you know, next. Uh, Uh, your next duty station. It’s like everybody’s got their hands. Like, great, nice to see you. I go to the next base and I’m like, who am I? Who are you? Where do I go? What do I do? How does this work? And I said, and I had to tell ’em that, you know, it’s a little bit different for me.

[00:15:11] And so, I would say look for a virtual business. Look for something that is, that you can pick up and take with you without having a, I never recommend any spouse to find a brick and mortar unless they’re a brick and mortar, meaning finding like a place where you’re actually going to the business. Um, before you’re done PCSing, I recommend that you find a way to keep it virtual.

[00:15:32] Um, I, I am the owner and founder of Women Travel Abroad, a new business that I’m working on now. Um, and. I started that business off of a PCS. We were in Germany for four years. He’s gonna deploy for a year. What am I gonna do in California for a year while you’re gone and then have to move another the next year?

[00:15:52] It didn’t make sense to look for another job. And so I started W T A and it was virtual from the word say go. Um, all of my people who travel with me in my group are from different parts of the country. Um, they join a virtual call to get vetted and make sure they wanna go and. Because I made that leap then five years ago.

[00:16:14] I now have a business that will thrive no matter where I’m in the world. And I think that that matters. And so as a military spouse, we really had to be intentional. It’s a global marketplace now, and it’s a and and everything is pretty much on virtual. So try to look at for something like that,

[00:16:31] Christine: I love that it is such a virtual marketplace now. I mean, that has shifted so much in the last few years. I know exactly what you’re talking about when you talk about brick and mortar, because I did have a brick and mortar business for a couple years and it was an amazing experience, but also, You’re tied to one location.

[00:17:12] So I know you’ve, you’ve talked about. Finances. We’ve talked about travel. Um, let’s go back to your story and talk just how you went from communications and random jobs on base. How, what was the first entrepreneurial venture you did and kind of how did that evolve for you?

[00:17:34] Karamel: Sure. So I’ve been an entrepreneur.

[00:17:36] I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was. In high school, all right, I was the girl who had the candy bag that I would go to the dollar tree and buy a bag of blow pops and sell them for a dollar a piece. So one bag of blow pops for a dollar turned into $12 cuz it had 12 blow pops. So this has been my life, right?

[00:17:52] Um, and so the first real business, I would say would be dry be gone. It was an all natural lial. It was all natural and organic before organic was a thing. My best friend says it all the time. You are, you’re always on the cusp of what’s happening in innovation because fast forward, um, shucks that business, I was already on target to be an a feess.

[00:18:15] I was, uh, working with the buyer for there. I was in five different stores across the country in different states, um, based on sending them to friends and family that I knew in other places to get in. Um, I was, um, talking to a guy, um, the buyer for Fred’s, which is a, like a, uh, department store in the Midwest.

[00:18:33] Kinda like a family dollar or something. And, uh, then what we have orders to Japan. So, so here I got this great business. I am a certified minority woman owned business. I’ve got this great thing. People are like, I’m talking to this, this, um, wear, uh, this, uh, warehouse. I got an f d A approved because, you know, it’s a consumable.

[00:18:55] So it goes on your, or your lips or something, and you have to make sure that it’s, I did all of the things that’s barcoded and now we’re moving to Japan. Like what? And so I had to make a hard decision on whether or not it was something that I needed to continue with. And I. I just decided that it wasn’t, I needed to, I had to let it go cuz we were going to Japan.

[00:19:15] Now thinking back, I think I could have pushed it a little bit more, but it was kind of like year, to your point about brick and mortar. I couldn’t see past not being in America to do the American thing. I probably could have took it to Japan and found a someone there to even make it right. But I, I couldn’t see that, um, at that point.

Think Outside the Box

[00:19:33] But I don’t regret it because I learned so much from it. And I think that for me, going from that business, um, then of course I was telling you about the tax business, which was great when I got to. Base number four or five. I remember starting a business called Gold Ribbon Baskets. And what I did was, um, for anyone who was closing on a house, I would go to these real estate hou, um, uh, agencies and um, uh, different places.

[00:19:58] And I’d put my flyer and say, Hey, I can make your closing gifts for your, you know, your, your home buyers. And I got people to buy it and I’m like, a hundred, $150, um, baskets that I was putting together. And you know, it would cost me like 50 bucks to put it together. And I, it had my little signature gold ribbon.

It’s Okay to Pivot

[00:20:16] I made business cards. It was a whole situation. And boom, what do we got? We got orders to Ger Germany. Oh, imagine that. And so finally, with women travel abroad, What I decided was, which is the, the business that has been the most successful, and it was because of all of the learning from the previous businesses, brick and mortar, what that looks like, understanding what virtual means, the virtual marketplace, being able to care for my client no matter where I am in the world.

[00:20:44] Um, this business has probably been my most successful. I couldn’t say probably it is, um, on scale. You know, we are now on target this year to be gross in $750,000, almost a million dollars. I’ve taken 50 trips for over 450 women to various places around the world. And this business is actually what is helping my family become, um, a little more, more equipped on the wealth side of things, right?

[00:21:11] And. It’s all because I decided, I made a conscious decision when, um, he deployed that I’m gonna make this go and I’m not gonna, I’m going to, I’m, I’m going to push forward even when it looks like it’s daunting and it may not work at the next place. And I did that. Um, and because of that, and I gave myself permission to say whatever it takes.

[00:21:33] And I think that a lot of times a spouse will. Belittle what they’re doing or not, uh, think that they should not share and, and to give of themselves to their own wants and desires for family, spouse, the thing. And so that’s what I did differently and my family loves me for it.

[00:22:01] Christine: That’s awesome because it’s setting such a good example for our kids about what’s possible for them. And I love what you said just about these, these things that we try and then it feels like they’re not as successful as we’d like them to be. Yeah. And. But it’s not a failure if we are learning from it. And it’s all of those lessons, the things that you learned how to do from those different iterations.

[00:22:32] Sure. That really have led to the success with what you’re doing right now. So I would love for you to talk just about. That mindset component and how you say, okay, I’m gonna try something new. Mm-hmm. I’m gonna start over again. I’m gonna try this new business. Um, and what is it that motivates you to try again to get started to go through those tough seasons and keep going.

How to Stay Motivated

[00:23:00] Karamel: Great question. So, I told a girl earlier today as a matter of fact, that I, I talked to on a regular basis and I said to her, I’m a task oriented person. And I think that a lot of times we get caught up in our head. And so for me, the way that I typically am able to kind of push through those tough times is to, okay, what needs to happen?

[00:23:22] Order my steps and say, do one task after the other. And when you don’t know the answer, Find the answer, get the answer, move forward to the next task. Um, it sh it never should be, you know, this is not a, um, a a, a sprint, it’s a marathon. Right. Um, and we should think of it that way. Like, I would love to say that w t a is, you know, almost a million dollars in, you know, two days, but it took five years to get to the space where I’m actually starting to like, oh my goodness, this thing is working.

Using the Resources Available to You

[00:23:53] Um, That happens over time and where I’m wanting it to go is gonna happen over time as well. And so you just have to manage the steps incrementally as you’re going through this, the issue to get to the solution. Um, I would also say that use your resources. I think a lot of times people don’t use resources that are out there free to them.

[00:24:12] Let me tell you, Christine, I am a big, like if someone is an expert on something and they have like a free course or they have a free 30 minute call, I literally will call them and get on their 30 minute discovery call and say, here’s my question. Go. A lot of times in that free call, you’re getting exactly what you needed, the answer and confirmation to move the next.

[00:24:36] Ball to move the next space, the next step. And I don’t wanna apologize for that because that’s what the clarity call is for, right? Um, and I think that we don’t use enough of those resources that are out there. And maybe you’ll find that that person is your person and you’ll wanna even invest in more of what they have.

[00:24:54] But use clarity calls for people who are out there sharing that information. Are you familiar with what I’m talking about?

[00:24:59] Christine: Yeah. Yeah. That’s, that’s, that’s a really good tip. Because that’s available. And I think sometimes we get to this place where it’s like, oh, they’re just gonna try to sell me, or, I don’t deserve this, or whatever the limiting belief we have in our head.

[00:25:16] Right. So just take advantage of the resources that are available

[00:25:20] Karamel: to you. Oh my goodness. I, there have been, so my, my best friend, she says it all the time, she’s like, you go to a call and next thing you know, you get off the call and tell me all about. She’s like, I learned so much from what I said, because those calls are valuable.

[00:25:34] Cause those people are resident experts. Like if it’s a Facebook ad, you don’t know what to do. There’s plenty people who know how to do Facebook ads and they’ll get on a call with you to tell you about how great they are. I would l tell me how great you are, but answer this question. Right. Um, cuz I’m, you’re stuck, somewhere.

[00:25:50] Stuck is just really stuck is like, you’re stuck for a moment, but you’re not stuck forever. So whatever your stuckness is, in order to get out of that, find the solution. And that’s by asking the question. Um, it doesn’t always mean that you have to spend a bunch of money. Um, that’s the other thing. Um, I think that too often you were just talking about being sold to.

[00:26:12] One of the business models when our business model for WTA is that we’re not super sellsy. Our trips sell out. We don’t have an issue with people selling out, and as a matter of fact, I don’t want you to even come on a trip until you talk to us first. Don’t send me any money cuz I don’t know if you’re a good fit and you may not be a good fit for us either.

[00:26:30] Does that make sense? And so I think that we should go into any of these, um, any, any type of business thought process or any type of thing that you’re thinking about going in to do. Then give it from this perspective of, okay, I don’t know what this is gonna turn out to be, but let me turn over the rock and verify and keep turning over the rock and telling.

[00:26:48] I’m like, yeah, I thought this was it, but it’s not it anymore. You know what I mean?

What’s Possible for You as a Military Spouse

[00:26:51] Christine: Ah, that’s so good. Um, so I am curious your opinion. You, you’ve talked about how you have this idea of being an entrepreneur and it’s been a part of who you are since high school, and I feel like there’s some of us that are Yes, that’s who I am.

[00:27:08] I have a new idea every day. Yes. And I’m gonna go after this idea. And then there are those of us who have like, The only thing I have ever known is a traditional career model. Mm-hmm. And when that’s taken away from me, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know. How to get started doing something else. Mm-hmm.

[00:27:24] I don’t know how to go about rethinking where I’m at and what options are available to me. And so what would you say to the person who’s like, okay, I really want something that I can take with me? I want that freedom, that flexibility in my schedule. I want to not have to feel like I start over, uh, every time we move, but I’m not the quote unquote entrepreneurial type.

[00:27:51] Karamel: Yeah, so I’ll say this. There is nothing wrong with finding a position, a job, a career is, I call it lifestyle of the career challenged, right? That’s what a military spouse lives. We live a lifestyle of the career challenge, cuz career typically doesn’t mean the same thing, right? The trajectory of one thing and keep doing the same thing for 30 years.

[00:28:12] But career also means, you know, a skirt, you hit a a roadblock and you kind of career off the side of the road off a cliff. Um, so when you think about it from those different perspectives, how can that be such the same word to mean two different things? Right. I think that we have, I have had, not just entrepreneurship, but I’ve also had a, what we call a nine to five job, and it, a lot of times it came out of.

[00:28:38] Either we were trying to get ourselves, um, out of debt. We had a, a situation where we need, we had a lot of debt that we wanted to, to take care of. It also was a time where I was like, this job seems like it’d be amazing. I wanna figure it out. Um, and try it out. Um, so I would say don’t limit yourself, um, to not looking for the nine to five.

[00:28:57] I think military spouses feel like it has to be one or the other, and it doesn’t. It could be a mixture of both. Um. And if you’re, but if you’re really thinking about what entrepreneurship can do for you and your family, I would start with figuring out what would you do for free? What do you love to do that you do for free?

[00:29:16] And you’re like, this is amazing. I love it. Whatever it is that you love to do for free typically means you have some type of expertise there that’ll allow you to kind of exploit that and maybe be able to make that into a career. Um, That is not a traditional nine to five, but something that could be more from a business model and perspective.

[00:29:35] I knew there was this one girl, she had a little girl, you know, she had three little girls. She used to make these fantastic little bows for their hair and everybody like, oh, your bows are so amazing. Girl. We were stationed in Germany. I did her taxes one year. She was making $19,000 making bows for people on base because they all love her bows.

[00:29:55] And literally she was, you know, fi getting material cute little stuff and. That was because she loved to do it anyway. So now she’s just doing it and people are paying her for it. Like to the point where she was even gonna do something in ay. So I just say start in that place, a place that it doesn’t feel like work.

[00:30:12] And then say, okay, well if I can do this, and most people will even tell your friends will pretty much know, like, you know, I’ve been thinking about going to business. I don’t know what to do, girl, you make the most amazing bowls. Why aren’t you making bows? You know what I mean? Um, which is again, goes back to using your resources.

[00:30:28] Christine: Absolutely. So if you have an idea in your head, what would be your advice for like the first one to three steps that you need to take to pursue an idea?

3 Steps to Start Your New Business Idea

[00:30:42] Karamel: Step number one, find out who else is doing it. Imitation is the best form of flattery. I don’t believe in recreating the will. Just so, and, and to be clear.

[00:30:52] There are other people who make bows. Okay? You can buy bows out of a fees, let’s be honest, right? You can go to any BX or PX and buy a bow. What makes your bow special, right? Find out what they’re doing, what they got going on, and tell everyone how great yours are and what the difference is. And not to mention the fact that it’s coming from you and it’s a place of love and it’s homemade.

[00:31:12] Step number two would be, so now you, you, you see your idea, you, you tried it out. Step number two would be to offer it up for free. And see what people say. Give it away. You don’t have to charge immediately, right. Or charge what it is that it costs for you to, to make it or to, um, provide the service, right?

[00:31:29] Um, and then step number three is do it more than three times to verify that it’s something that you want to do. Listen, girl, I, I thought I wanted to be a caterer at one of our spaces, so I took a baby shower. And I was like, I did, so I did a, I did, I did a church event and I did, it was a suaree, it was a Valentine’s Suaree, right?

[00:31:53] Steak and the whole situation. It’s decorated. It’s amazing. Then I did a baby shower, then I did another baby shower, that third baby shower. I was like, this is the pits. I do not wanna make another uh, um, uh, strawberry sorbet. I don’t want to do anymore wings. I don’t care that you want cute little finger sandwiches.