Around this time last year, I was a brand new business owner - and I was a little terrified.

There are so many parts to owning and managing your own business. Even with step-by-step instructions and to-do lists galore, I felt overwhelmed. I also felt like there were so many questions I had as a military spouse specifically. Our lives are different than a traditional entrepreneur, and I wanted someone to answer my questions and assist me.

I networked through some Facebook and LinkedIn groups, and my business partner and I were steered to a group called the Association of Military Spouse Entrepreneurs. We each signed up for Free membership and took a dive in.

Wow. This was the place!

It had everything - resources, templates for every aspect of business management, Masterclasses, networking opportunities, and even more that we had yet to uncover. How had we missed this amazing agency?

Easy. Because it was brand new!

Today is AMSE’s 1st birthday! In one short year, founders Flossie Hall and Moni Jefferson have created a space exclusively for milspouse entrepreneurs to launch, scale, and grow their own businesses. It is an agency and a community that has 1300 members to date and is rapidly growing every day.

How did AMSE come into existence?

Both Flossie and Moni noticed that there was no space dedicated to military spouse entrepreneurs. Additionally, they were fielding questions from these same people during coaching and mentoring of others. They got together and created an idea of a group specifically for milspouse entrepreneurs building businesses. Flossie stated, “we knew they [milspouses] needed to be served with community. education, resources and tools to build a business in the technology era that was remote and portable to sustain a military lifestyle.”

The original idea of AMSE was not as big as it has grown to be. Moni said, “We put our heads together and started with just an idea of a networking group with a few downloads and masterclasses.” They knew that this community would fill a need in the milspouse community and had the experience from working with and scaling companies themselves. But the version of AMSE we know and love a year later was not the goal on launch day; they simply wanted to support the milspouse community in the best way possible/

They were a very small startup organization with a small budget and little outside help. Both Flossie and Moni had plenty of experience to build and lead AMSE, and launch day looked seamless.

Haha, right?

As Moni said, “There is a ton of iceberg under the water that no one sees. Lots of hours fixing tech issues, customer support, networking, and proof of concept. It looks easy but it's a lot of HEART WORK!”

Both women admit that there were tech issues and backend work; the hours were (and still are) long. Yet it was a success because it did exactly what it set out to do: it supported, guided, and mentored milspouse entrepreneurs in all stages of business and life. They wanted this agency to be the resource they needed as new entrepreneurs: a one-stop shop for everything you would need to launch, grow, and scale your business. And that is exactly what AMSE is!

Both agree that loving their work and mission has been an amazing benefit. They also really enjoy helping other milspouses succeed. “When THEY WIN, WE ALL WIN! We are always cheering them on,” Moni said. It has also been fulfilling to watch other agencies and organizations take note and make efforts to reach milspouse entrepreneurs.

While it started out small, it was never going to stay that way. If you know anything about these Flossie Hall and Moni Jefferson, AMSE was never going to be just another networking group.

There was so much support from the community at the launch, and their hard work continues to grow AMSE more and more. “We continue to give it 110% every day and as long as we do that, we won't let our community down,” Flossie stated. “We promise to never just be a logo.” The agency has 16 impact and corporate partners; with more partnerships added every month, AMSE continues to grow to be THE PLACE for milspouse entrepreneurs.

So to AMSE, Flossie + Moni, the corporate team, and all their partners - Happy Birthday!

Here’s to an amazing first year and a bright future ahead. I know that I have learned so much from AMSE and am beyond grateful for this space and support. A world without AMSE would be a much more difficult place, and it has been a bright spot in 2020 for my business and for me.

Sign up for AMSE’s Free membership and learn more about Premium membership here. We cannot wait to meet you!

Rachel is originally from Davenport, Iowa. She met her husband there as a teenager, but his military career has taken them to five states and two countries in the last 17 years. They currently call Hawaii home and are onto the PNW soon. She is a mother of three girls and one boy. Rachel holds a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Management, and she has worked in many different career fields with each move. She is the co-owner of The Military Mom Collective, the premier online community for military families, and is the Copy Editor for AMSE. Her hobbies include drinking way too much coffee, reading as many books as possible, timidly hiking on Oahu, singing in the car with her kids, and binge-watching documentaries.

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