[00:00:00] Mary Elaine: I was starting to feel very burnout. And this is what led me to change my career. Both of my children were in daycare. My teacher’s paycheck was pretty much going to pay for daycare. Brett was in Afghanistan and I also had a side hustle to supplement my income and I was just exhausted beyond exhausted.

[00:00:21] I really felt like I was failing in a lot of areas of my life. You need something to call your own. You need something that is going to challenge you and that’s going to bring you joy. And if you can find something that you can take with you, wherever you go, that’s powerful.

[00:00:44] Christine: Okay, guys, you are going to love this episode today. I’m sharing my conversation with Mary Elaine Baker. Mary Elaine is a former military spouse who traded in her teaching career for life as a virtual assistant. And now she runs VA USA, a company that backs military spouses with virtual work from anywhere opportunities. If you’re at home, I highly recommend you grab a pen and a paper and take some notes because Mary Elaine drops some nuggets of wisdom.

[00:02:05] We talk about work life balance as a military spouse, how to start something new, and what it takes to leave the comfort of a nine to five job and step out into working for yourself. And the flexibility and the freedom that brings along with it. If you have been searching for a way to work from home or find a job that you can take with you when you move, you’ll definitely want to listen into this conversation. So without further ado, let’s dive into my conversation with Mary Elaine.

[00:02:34] Well, I am so excited to welcome Mary Elaine Baker to the show today, Mary Elaine. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started and how you got to where you are today?

[00:02:53] Mary Elaine: Yes. Thank you so much for having me on, I am the president and co-founder of VA USA. And I grew up in a military family and I married an army ranger. And right now we live in Savannah, Georgia. My husband actually got out of the military just over two years ago and we have two small children. And for the first five years of our marriage, I was an educator and I left education to become a virtual assistant.

[00:03:28] And eventually my husband and I created a business around the success of my experience of being a virtual assistant. And that is how VA USA came to be.

[00:03:39] Christine: Awesome. Well, I am so excited for you to share more about your story with our audience, just because I know that there are so many spouses out there that have gone through these career transitions and trying to figure out how do I build a career? How do I find a way to contribute while we’re living this crazy military lifestyle?

[00:03:55] So you said you grew up as part of a military family. So were you aware when you got married that this was going to be a crazy ride and that it might be difficult to really pursue your own thing?

[00:04:16] Mary Elaine: Yes. I would say I was aware that it would greatly alter any future plans that I had. However, when I met my husband, we had a very up and down relationship, especially while we dated and we had our child a couple of years before we actually got married or even lived together. So that was a huge curve ball for both of us. And we really had to grow up and learn how to be parents before we could learn how to be husband and wife and make that big commitment to each other.

[00:04:53] So. Yes. I, I mean, no matter what, I knew that my future would be changed forever because I had now a small child. So a lot of my plans had to change no matter what, because, at that point I was getting my undergrad in theater, had plans to travel around the country and just explore what this great world has to offer.

[00:05:16] And then that’s when I decided I would explore education because I knew my child would need some more stability in her life because her father would be gone quite often. So that’s why I chose the career path of education.

[00:05:34] Christine: Do you think there was elements of your desire to pursue theater that you were able to bring into your teaching?

[00:05:44] Mary Elaine: It’s a very good question. Theater taught me a lot about how to speak publicly, how to really get out of my comfort zone and be in front of a group of people, whether it be a group of children or a group of adults. And it also helped me tap into some creativity. And absolutely, I would like to think I was a very fun teacher because of that background.

[00:06:13] Christine: I’m sure that you were definitely a fun teacher. Can you talk a little bit about how you navigated going to school with a spouse and a young child and how life balance was navigating that season of school.

[00:06:31] Mary Elaine: So for the first two years of my daughter’s life, I was pursuing my master’s in education full-time. I also had part-time jobs periodically throughout those two years. And my now husband, then on again, off again, boyfriend, was deploying frequently throughout that time. So I was very, very fortunate that my parents actually helped me a lot to navigate those very tumultuous waters and also adjust to parenthood and be able to get my masters as quick as I could.

[00:07:10] So how was I able to navigate work-life balance during those first couple of years? It really was by the grace of God, by my amazing parents, and really just my determination and grit to get that degree under my belt and obtain a career that would offer stability for, for us. And then when we got married, that was, you know. I had just become a teacher at that point. And during the first year of our marriage, I got pregnant with my son.

[00:07:38] Again, my husband’s deploying frequently throughout this timeframe. And just for reference, they deploy for about four months and then they’re home for about six months. And when they’re home, they’re either often gone training somewhere.

[00:07:58] So that’s the kind of cycle we, we lived for many years. So I knew the importance because I grew up in that military lifestyle of having a very strong support system. So I had a very close family, friends and other military spouses that I would lean on to help me when times were really tough. And at one point I was starting to feel very burnout, and this is what led me to change my career.

[00:08:24] Both my children were in daycare. My teacher’s paycheck was pretty much going to pay for daycare. Brett was in Afghanistan and I also had a side hustle to supplement my income and I was just exhausted beyond exhausted. I really felt like I was failing in a lot of areas of my life.

[00:08:50] We like to throw around that phrase work-life balance, I think, a lot. And. I mean, I even have it on our website because that’s one of the things that we try to help our clients and our virtual assistants have by offering a remote work opportunity. But the reality is every season of your life is going to require different give and takes in different areas of your life.

[00:09:08] And for that season of my life, I was ready for a career change. I just knew that that was where my heart was pulling me towards because I felt it, you know, mentally and physically I felt it. So that is why I made that change. I knew that to balance things out a little better for myself at that time.

[00:09:29] Christine: I feel like so many of our listeners can relate to your story just about feeling overwhelmed by trying to manage it all, especially with a spouse or a significant other who’s gone a lot.

[00:09:42] And when we bring kids into the picture wanting to make sure that they are taken care of and that we’re able to manage everything at home and sometimes it feels a little overwhelming. So talk about your path to a virtual assistant. How did you hear about it? What path led you there?

[00:10:01] Mary Elaine: Yeah, so my last year of teaching was really kind of t the year that I knew that it was going to be my last year. And I was just thinking of, okay, what else out there could allow me to still contribute financially to my family? And not have me working nights and weekends, you know.

[00:10:19] That was the biggest thing for me. The side hustle that I was involved in the wedding industry. And so that took up a lot of my weekends and evenings. So I really knew I wanted to have something that I could still work when my kids were in school or they weren’t school age yet that I could still be home with them or have maybe part-time care, but not full-time.

[00:10:48] And at that point, my kids were in daycare from sun-up to pretty much sun down. For many periods of my career. So I became really good friends with my room mom, my last year of teaching. And she was working from home as a virtual assistant with another company. And the more I learned about it, the more I thought, oh, I think I can do that.

[00:11:10] And what really appealed to me was the flexibility. Was the ability to make your own hours. And the fact that I could take my job with me wherever I went, as long as I had wifi and my phone. I could still take my job anywhere and be able to really cherish those random four-day weekends that were thrown out.

[00:11:32] As a military family or for my husband, he couldn’t really pick when he had leave. And it was never during convenient holiday time. Really? It was either. It never is, you know?

[00:11:46] And so it was always near right before and after deployment. And, and I would very, I can’t even really remember a time maybe if it happened to fall around Christmas time or something where we could, where I could enjoy the full leave with him.

[00:12:02] And as time went on, you know, that hurt worse and worse for me. And as our children were getting a little bit older, I became more and more painfully aware of how precious our time was together. So I started asking more questions and then I made the decision that summer to try it out. So originally I was with another company and I quickly left that company after a few months.

[00:12:27] I was offered another position with another company where I would take on a full-time marketing role. And I actually didn’t even take end up taking that role. And I just started working independently. So I soon found myself having a steady paycheck. no matter how measly it was, it was steady.

[00:12:48] I was getting the benefits. I was checking all the boxes that my parents wanted me to check after getting that piece of paper and that degree. I left all that security and stability to be completely independent on my own, having to create everything from the ground up. And that kind of all happened within a few short months. It really did. And by six to nine months later, I created a new norm for myself.

[00:13:10] And once I got adjusted, there is no turning back for me. I loved it with every fiber of my being. I loved it. If my daughter ran a fever in the middle of the night, there was no calling my boss at 6:00 AM telling them, Hey, I need a substitute to take care of my class, or me frantically trying to find someone to come stay with my child.

[00:13:40] I had the freedom to take care of my family every minute that they needed me and I had complete time freedom. I did not realize how precious that time freedom was. I knew I was yearning for that. But I didn’t even realize how much I needed it and how incredibly liberating it was to have complete control of my time.

[00:14:09] There’s so much irony. When you, when you become part of a military family or you marry someone in the military that my spouse was sacrificing his own freedoms to be able to have freedom for other people. And, you know, when I’m married, my husband, I, I pretty much married the army. I gave up a lot of my own personal freedom for the man that I love and for the country that I love too.

[00:14:33] And I have no regrets, absolutely no regrets for that. But when I didn’t realize that I needed so desperately was just a little bit more control. And I finally had control of my time. And that was, that meant everything for me. And that means everything to me.

[00:14:54] Christine: I think that time freedom is so important and it’s something that so many of us are seeking and we’re just not sure how to go about getting that.

[00:15:07] I know that the jobs that I’ve had, where they gave me more freedom and flexibility and how I structured my schedule, that meant the world to me. And the more that I looked into this, the more that I saw that this idea of starting your own thing of building your own business of working for yourself could give you that flexibility, that so many jobs don’t.

[00:15:32] And yet there’s that element of being scared to make the leap into doing something that doesn’t feel safe. What was the scariest part of making that leap into working for yourself? What were some of those things that you were hesitant about and how did you make yourself say, Hey, I’m going to try this, even though I don’t know what the outcome is going to be?

[00:16:02] Mary Elaine: So the scariest part, there are a lot of scary moments for me. And I mean, I just think of that phrase, do it scared do it anyway, because I that’s exactly what I did. I just executed. And I would say the scariest thing was just the unknown and not knowing if I was going to succeed or fail. I’m very much a high achiever.

[00:16:28] And I like being exceptionally well at anything that I do. And the scariest thing for me was that I pretty much had to self teach my, you know, all these skills, all of these tools, all of these processes. I learned a lot of it from scratch and doing my own personal research and it was navigating entrepreneur.

[00:16:53] It was sometimes very lonely, a lot of times, very lonely because there was no one for me to kind of look up to and say, well, what now? It was just me, just me looking in the mirror. And I had never had always had a strong community, a strong support system in all my other jobs that I’ve ever had. Working since I was a teenager.

[00:17:16] So not having that was, I would say that was very scary for me, but my husband and I were doing it together. And it’s not like he knew a lot about the world of virtual assisting. He really, he didn’t, but we learned how to be entrepreneurs together. So he was learning with me. I just couldn’t, you know, look to him and he didn’t have all the answers.

[00:17:41] It was just, Hey, we don’t know. So we’re going to go figure it out together, but we did have some great mentors that helped, and those are actually some of my first clients that I’ve ever had. And they’ve become very good friends of mine over the years.

[00:17:53] Christine: I think so often we feel like we have to figure this all out on our own. And there’s so many resources out there to help us take that next step and mentors who are willing to help us. And sometimes the hardest part is trying to figure out how we connect with those mentors and those people that can help take us to the next level. So, how did you go about building that support system for yourself and finding those mentors that would help you grow?

[00:18:25] Mary Elaine: So I first had to ask myself, what kind of business owner do I want to be? What kind of leader do I want to show up as? When people think of me, when people work for me, how do I want to make them feel when they’re working for me? And so I started thinking about all the great leaders that I’ve had in my past jobs and who were the people that I looked up to. Who were the people that said jump, and I would jump, you know? I would ask how high and the, you know, the people I would be willing to sacrifice for.

[00:19:02] And so I, I just reflected on what made them that way. What did they do and how do they add value for me to be so loyal to them? And I started to think of, okay, who are the people in my world right now that are business owners that I can look to? And that I want to show up as who are respected. And then I can learn from. And very fortunately I had even my own clients that emulated those leadership skills that I so desire to have and mold into.

[00:19:38] And they helped me tremendously. 

[00:19:41] Christine: That right there is gold. I think when we talk about launching something new or building a business, starting out on our own, it’s so easy to focus on what we do and how do we do it, rather than starting from the point of who do we want to be and how do we want to show up.

[00:20:03] So thank you for sharing that. So I guess my next question is at what point were you like, I want to take entrepreneurship to the next level and really build a team and a business out of this?

[00:20:18] Mary Elaine: Well, I started to get a lot of questions as time went on about what are you doing? How is that working? Is this real?

[00:20:27] And the more I talked to my friends and other military spouses, I realized they were experiencing a lot of what my husband and I went through. They were going through a lot of the stress and exhaustion. And what do I do? We’re going to move in six months. I’m going to have to start my career over. And I realize the need in the military community for military spouse employment, in particular, was so huge. And it wasn’t until I had that, you know, that time freedom I’m talking about that, but it just kind of clicked for my husband. I have, oh my goodness. We found something that works so beautifully for our lifestyle. We found a career path that actually works with our lifestyleand we don’t have to, you know, try to squeeze our lifestyle into this career. It just came so beautifully together.

[00:21:23] So my husband and I just said, Hey, why don’t we create a business model around educating and teaching and sourcing this incredible talent from this incredible talent pool and matching them with clients who so desperately need help in their business as well. So, we got to work.

[00:21:48] I got to work documenting and really thinking about how is it that this works so beautifully for me and my clients. And once I started that outline of how this works, I called my best friend who also married an army ranger. I actually graduated high school with her and I said, Hey, I need help. I wanted to share my vision with her.

[00:22:11] I said, this is, I want to take this across the country. I want to share this with other people like us. I want to share this with other moms who are incredibly talented and have so much to give and who also have small children at home and they don’t want to put their career on hold for three or four years of their life.

[00:22:32] So she said, yes, let’s do it. And it all started from there. So that was in late 2017, early 2018. We opened the doors virtually of what was then called Patriot Advantage. And then we went through a rebrand. We’re now VA USA. And since then, we’ve just been growing very organically. I love

[00:22:54] Christine: I love hearing you share your story and your passion for this, because it aligns so much with this podcast and really the desire to help military spouses understand that you don’t have to wait for tomorrow to chase your dreams.

[00:23:12] There’s a way to do it that doesn’t require you to sacrifice what matters most. So often we just get stuck in this rut of these are my only options. And a lot of it’s just helping people become aware that there are so many more options available, especially as we move into a society that is more digitally based, that allows us to find jobs and opportunities that aren’t based on where we’re living.

[00:23:39] So I love hearing your story. I would love to know, at what point…I know you were building this with your husband’s help and with your best friend…at what point did you and your husband decide, okay, this is time for us to move past military life and start growing this together.

[00:23:59] Mary Elaine: So my husband was kind of, he was getting burned out in his military career and he just knew it was time for him.

[00:24:07] And it really had nothing to do with what I was doing with the business. It was just time for him. And when, you know, you know, and it was, he just knew, and I supported that decision. I said, Hey, you know, I’m, we’ve made it this far. I’m willing to keep sacrificing and keep showing up as this military spouse.

[00:24:28] But if you say you’re finished. You’re finished. And so he started that transition out of the military. And at the same time I was scaling and growing, VA USA, but he didn’t go directly from the military to working for the business. He went from the military to getting a job in the corporate world and was there for a little over a year, I think.

[00:24:52] And then we grew our company big enough to where he was actually able to quit his corporate job. And now. Yeah, working for the company full-time from home. So we’re both home all the time together running this business, but I’m, I’m definitely the one who is virtually more boots on the ground, working on the business.

[00:25:15] He’s essentially our CFO, you know, all the numbers, he’s just in the details every day and he loves it. And that is the first thing I wanted to give up. I love people. Give me all the people. I love interacting with people and helping navigate those working relationships and leading my team and developing more leaders.

[00:25:34] That’s definitely my happy place. And he’s on the more analytical numbers side. So it’s a great ying and yang for us.

[00:25:42] Christine: Was it a little bit challenging or was it an easy transition? I know he traveled a lot when he was in the military and to go from being apart for much of the time to working and being in the same location. Can you talk to us about some of the adjustments to that change in lifestyle?

[00:26:05] Mary Elaine: It was crazy. I could talk a long time about that. It was a roller coaster ride, I think for both of us, because his job is just so high stress and fast paced to go from that, to where he is now, it was definitely a journey for our marriage..

[00:26:26] It is really bizarre to say this out loud, but I really think our business actually helped our marriage and helped this transition a lot. We work extremely well together. And if you had asked me, you know, over 10 years ago, would we be working together from home. I would’ve said absolutely not. That would never work.

[00:26:46] So it’s been a kind of a long road for us to get to this point. The biggest thing that has helped us navigate his transition and ours together, because I mean, it was an adjustment for me, for him to be present all the time. He went from being gone all the time to now he’s here every single day.

[00:27:09] From the time I wake up till the time I go to bed was sharpening our communication skills and we are also huge advocates for therapy, for counseling. So he has his own, I have my own, we are big advocates for couples counseling as well. And we have just allowed ourselves to become very, very vulnerable in opening up and working on our communication skills and recognizing our own weaknesses and heightening or self-awareness.

[00:27:42] And there are a lot of things I didn’t even realize about myself. And he didn’t realize about himself until we’re home together all the time. I think a lot of people and marriages all over the country all over the world realize that last year when everyone was forced to be together all the time for extended amounts of time.

[00:28:00] Definitely. So, yeah, I hope that answers your question. It was easy the first few months. And for a lot of people getting out of the military, it’s a huge struggle. And that’s something that we are so passionate about is helping, you know, our friends and even strangers on how to navigate those waters because they can be terrifying.

[00:28:21] Christine: Well, it’s such a transition. I remember when I was a young spouse, listening to someone that was about to retire and he and his spouse had spent the majority of their career living in different locations, they were both active duty. And they were like, yeah, we just, we just can’t live in the same place. We see each other on the weekends.

And I was like, oh my goodness. That’s not what I want my marriage to become, but it is good to hear a couples be able to navigate that transition and learn how to have a healthier relationship working together.

[00:28:58] Mary Elaine: Yeah, I just want to add to that. Identity, you hear it a lot, especially in regards to getting out of the military.

[00:29:05] But I really think a lot of military spouses struggle with identity as well while they, you know, their husband is active duty because you know, they’re having to leave. They’re being uprooted and they can’t find a stable career. And it’s really hard to get grounded in, in that kind of lifestyle. And I also know and recognize that’s why it’s super important to find something for you, for yourself as a military spouse.

[00:29:27] And you hear all the time when a spouse is deployed. Oh, you should just, just keep yourself busy. Keep yourself busy. Well, the why behind that is a lot, a lot deeper. It’s not just so you can pass the time. It’s because you need something for yourself.

[00:29:47] You need something to call your own. You need something that’s going to challenge you and that’s going to bring you joy. And if you can find something that you can take with you, wherever you go, that’s powerful. That’s super powerful.

[00:30:04] Christine: Absolutely. It’s so easy to get lost in this role of military spouse and primary parent and making sure that everyone else’s needs are taken care of. And it’s so easy sometimes to lose sight of something for yourself, something that brings you joy, having something to call your own is so, so powerful. What would you say are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned about yourself and how you found yourself and your identity along the way?

[00:30:48] Mary Elaine: I think I learned, or maybe I was more surprised at myself, at what I was able to do while being scared. Wow. Not having things neatly laid out for me. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in this journey of entrepreneurship is really how all of my decision making, because that’s really what an entrepreneur does is they’re making oftentimes very life altering decisions on a daily, weekly, monthly basis of where their company is going to go.

[00:31:23] And I realized that the best thing that I could do as a business owner was feel very confident in my decision-making abilities and to be a strong leader. I have to be able to confidently make decisions and execute on those decisions. One of the biggest tips we got from a mentor of ours when we were kind of formulating our business plan was, Hey, all of this sounds great, but it means nothing if you don’t execute.

[00:31:56] And that always stuck with me. It’s great to have all these ideas. You can plan all day long, but it means nothing without action behind it. There are people who have these great goals or go to school for a long time, but they don’t have a plan or an action, you know, backing after spending all that time in school.

[00:32:23] Oh, Hey, I have this goal of mine. What have you done to get closer to that goal? Have you actually pressed play on that beautiful plan you’ve created? So, yeah, I mean, that was one of the first lessons I had and looking back at, you know, the things that I’ve created back then compared to what it looks like now, I made it all started with a Google outline, a Google doc.

[00:32:46] I mean, it was ugly. There was no, there was no beautiful aesthetics attached to it. I probably had typos. It was just, it’s so hilarious to look at what I had to launch a business then and where we are now, but the biggest difference between me and someone else who had this plan to start a business is that actually did it.

[00:33:08] And I think that concept can be applied to almost anything in your life, not even starting a business. So whatever it is that you want to do, stop talking about it and do something.

[00:33:18] Christine: Just start taking those messy steps of action.

[00:33:22] Mary Elaine: Yes, it doesn’t have to be pretty.

[00:33:28] Christine: That’s such a good reminder too, because it’s easy to get overwhelmed and just stay stuck or stay comfortable or stay where we are. And sometimes it’s just about taking those messy steps of action. So, how did you navigate that with managing the home and trying to find work-life balance in building something for yourself and still taking care of the family?

[00:33:58] Mary Elaine: So that was also kind of another rollercoasters, especially at first. I would say the first year and a half of business. Because I was trying to balance working from home and also having young children and their busy schedules. So it was not easy. I mean, I’m not going to try to say, oh, it was great. I mean, it was, it was not easy and it took a while to find, to find a groove. There were many late nights that I had an early mornings and I was just so passionate though.

[00:34:36] And I still am about our mission, about our why. About creating these jobs. I mean, I could just see it, you know. I knew where we were going and so no one was there telling me I had to put in those hours that I had to put in that time to dedicate, to creating something from the ground up. It was just this burning desire in my heart.

[00:35:02] And I delegated a lot. I thank goodness for delivery service. Thank goodness for babysitters. Thank goodness for friends and family who pitch in and help because I had to lean on, on my people. I had to lean on, uh, conveniences and delegate that out. But I also had that mentality because I had to lean on that network of support and kind of those life hacks being a military spouse.

[00:35:27] So it was just, it was just really intense, I would say, for about the first year and a half of putting in those long days and those long hours. But I also knew that it wouldn’t be that way forever. So I invested, you know, my own time for a while.

[00:35:50] And then once I grew my team, I delegated. I hired people to do very specific roles and started shedding those hats. And that’s what we do as a business. The irony is that is what we do for our clients. We find them a great person to help them run their business. And so I had to lead by example and start building my own virtual team.

[00:36:11] So as soon as I defined what those roles and responsibilities were, I started letting go of them. And there are plenty of business owners who hold onto that whole, hold on to all those hats for years. And I knew from the beginning, that was not going to be me because I didn’t want to sacrifice all of that time with my family.

[00:36:31] You know, I went into this four times. But I knew if I was going to scale and grow this, I was going to have to sacrifice a little bit on the front end to be able to get that again one day. And I’m happy to report we’re in, we’re into our fourth year. I again have that complete control of my time.

[00:36:54] Christine: I think it’s so good to hear stories like yours, because if we haven’t started that journey yet, or we’re in the middle of building something and we haven’t reached that place of finding the time freedom and the flexibility that we’re longing for yet, it can be a little bit discouraging. But to hear that when you are keeping your goal in mind and your why in mind, and you are taking steps towards where you want to be. Then it is possible to build that life, to create that life of impact without sacrificing what matters most. So now you’ve reached this other side, where you do have the time freedom and the flexibility. Would you say that this same mission and the why that got you started is still there today? Or would you say that it evolved in some ways?

[00:37:55] Mary Elaine: Absolutely. It’s the same, and it’s why I wake up every day and I’m excited, you know, to get to work. I’m excited to talk to the people I get to talk to and in my team is completely, completely bought into that as well. I mean, we are creating jobs that really didn’t exist before.

[00:38:17] A lot of the clients that we get, this is the first hire that they’ve ever had. And. It’s a pretty incredible feeling. Anytime we make a match and we get a new person hired with a new client, it’s so rewarding. It’s just, it’s, I’m so lucky. I have the best job in the world because I get to work with incredible people.

[00:38:42] I get to make just a little bit of difference in this world for the people that have my heart. And that is my military spouses.

[00:38:53] Christine: We have military spouses who are listening to this and they’re like, this is what I’ve been craving. I want this time freedom. I want this flexibility. What advice would you give to those spouses?

[00:39:10] Mary Elaine: Who want the time freedom and flexibility?

[00:39:10] I would say one, work on your mindset as a military spouse, because it doesn’t matter where you look, where you apply, or if you decide to go the entrepreneurial route, if you don’t start recognizing the value that you bring to the table, in your own self, no one else is going to believe you.

[00:39:40] So harness that value and the skills that you have. Don’t be discouraged if you have gaps in your employment, don’t be discouraged. If your resume looks empty, you have to recognize your soft skills and the own value that you bring to the table. No matter where that table is or what, what it looks like.

[00:40:00] And then, I mean, 2020 was the year of virtual everything. So that has opened the doors, I believe for a whole lot more opportunity for military spouses, and they are out there. So many companies have now realized they can save a lot more money by going virtual. They have shut down plenty of brick and mortars to go a hundred percent virtual.

[00:40:31] And now they’re, they’re creating more jobs or they’re just more open to the idea of it of, well, actually that could work. So. I wouldn’t say one, don’t try to pigeonhole yourself into a specialized skill. I would explore lots of different industries. I would start putting applications in and anything you may be interested in and ask questions.

[00:40:59] You may be surprised at what’s out there that you can do virtually to get that time freedom.

[00:41:07] Christine: Absolutely. It really does start when we realize that we have something valuable to offer and really take that time to figure out what is unique to us and how we can use it to serve others. Is there anything else that you would like to share with our audience?

[00:41:29] Mary Elaine: I would say just understand that no matter what you want to do, even if you’re not sure what you want to do, there are things, little things that you can be doing every day to inch you closer to finding your purpose. And if you’re feeling lost right now about what your purpose is, start doing some self-work.

[00:41:54] And start finding communities, virtual communities that you can connect with and start exploring. I, I don’t, honestly, I don’t even know how many jobs I’ve had. I know we’ve talked about my career and education, but before that, I mean, I’ve worked since I was 13 years old. I do not have a background in business.

[00:42:15] I do not have a background in marketing. Everything that I’m doing today has been self-taught. But I do know that I am here today because I had a high level of self-awareness. I was paying attention to where I was kind of being pushed and led, but I also was extremely curious and I was willing to explore other options.

[00:42:40] And that has opened the door to a possibility that I had no idea existed before. And now I lead a team of over 60 people, spread out all over the country with no formal education in anything that I do.

[00:43:03] Christine: I think two keys that you mentioned there were just that awareness and that curiosity. When we choose that path of curiosity, when we choose to really take the time to stop and reflect on how we want to grow and how we want to use our skills and our story to serve others, we can positively impact the world for good and ultimately become who we were created to be.

[00:43:34] I think your story is so inspiring for so many of our listeners. Can you tell us how our listeners can connect with you online and learn more about VA USA?

[00:43:48] Mary Elaine: Yeah, so, so our website is hire H I R E V A U S A.com. And we are all over social media, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and, um, as hire VA USA. And I am more than happy and willing.

[00:44:04] I love connecting with people and, and discussing more in depth about my journey. So, where are you wanting to go with your life? And you can find me personally on LinkedIn, Mary Elaine Baker. And my email is Mary Elaine, E L A I N E at higher VA U S A dot.com

[00:44:26] Christine: Well, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us today. I really enjoyed hearing your story, and I know that so many of our community members are really going to get some valuable nuggets from this conversation. So thank you again.

[00:44:42] Mary Elaine: Thank you for having me.

[00:44:43] Christine: Guys! I hope you got so much value out of this interview. There were so many great nuggets of wisdom.

[00:44:53] So I highly recommend that you go back and listen to this one again and again. Stories like Mary Elaine’s are so powerful because they remind us that no matter what our circumstances, if we really understand what we want and the why behind it and the impact we want, then we can make and build a life of purpose of joy and of impact, no matter what our current circumstances are.

[00:45:23] Even as a military spouse, you can create something for yourself, something that matters, and that impacts the world. If you are interested in connecting with Mary Elaine, or you want more information about VA USA and how they provide work from anywhere job opportunities for military spouses, so that you can find flexibility and time freedom.

[00:45:49] I will have all of those links on the show. Or available on our website. So until next time, may you live filled, fueled and full of joy.