00:00:00 Sheri: Sometimes the situations in our lives that leave us feeling powerless can actually turn into our superpowers and lead us to our true calling. That's exactly what happened to our guest today, Moni Jefferson. She saw a need that she want a field that nobody was offering for her as a military spouse. So she turned that cause into her pursuit of her calling. And you will hear her passion for what she is doing during our conversation today. But before we get into the podcast, let me tell you a little bit more about Moni. She is an innovator committed to social impact, an active duty Air Force spouse, and accomplished multi venture entrepreneurs specializing in public relations, marketing strategy, business development, growth of operations, and sales. She is known for her role in advocating for military spouse entrepreneurs and international speakers across local and national venues.
00:01:05 Sheri: Since 2014, Moni has helped build and scale multiple military spouse programs. She's been invited to the White House and featured in Inked and Forbes Next 1000 Entrepreneurs of 2021 for her work. Her most recent venture is CEO and founder of the Association of Military Spouse Entrepreneurs, otherwise known as AMSE, since 2019, which has helped over 10,000 military spouses all around the globe to start, scale and sustain their businesses. Moni holds a Bachelor of science from the University of North Carolina. She has been married for 24 years, has three children, and lives on the East Coast. She loves traveling and I love this, she's dangerously addicted to nachos. You're going to love this conversation with Moni. She shares her story, her true calling story, and how she has built this venture that is changing so many lives today. Enjoy this episode.
00:02:11 Sheri: Welcome to the Discovering Your Calling Podcast. I'm your host, Sheri Miter. I'm here to help you unleash your strengths and get clarity on your calling. I believe when you find your purpose in life fulfillment, joy and success will follow. If you're ready, pop in those earbuds, hit that follow button and join me on this journey toward discovering your calling.
00:02:36 Sheri: Welcome back, friends of the Discovering Your Calling Podcast. I'm your host, Sheri Miter, and I am super jazzed about this conversation we're going to have today with Moni Jefferson. I've been following Moni and all her ventures that she does, do, and what she brings to military spouses, and I'll let her fill you in on what that all entails. But I know because this is something dear to my heart and I'll share why in a minute. But welcome to the podcast, Moni. I'm so glad you're here today.
00:03:05 Moni: Thank you for having me. I'm excited to have more conversation and just connect more and hopefully your listeners get something from my experience.
00:03:14 Sheri: Yeah. So if you could share with everybody, and I know you are, I love how you put a multi venture entrepreneur and share a little bit about where you are today and then we'll bring it backwards and where you were when you started, as I call it, your true calling journey.
00:03:32 Moni: Yeah, absolutely. So right now, I'm the CEO and founder of the Association of Military Spouse Entrepreneurs. In true fashion, we have an acronym called AMSE. So I'll refer to AMSE Moving Forward because the word is a mouthful. And the focus is military spouses and military spouses, small businesses, most importantly, helping to impact the ecosystem of military families. And the way that we do that at AMSE is by helping military spouses start, scale and sustain businesses. So we have a community that's global, about 2000 members and 15,000 network, which is great. We have about 13 chapters, and all of our members get a digital portal like a LinkedIn for military spouses, where they have access to printables, events. We have four to seven events a month that are hybrid, so you can come digitally or in person, all kinds of replays. We have discounts and all kinds of information and resources that spouses need that are relevant to them. Building a business in today's economic state. So that's what makes our organization a little more unique. And we also really love the fact that you can build on your time. So we're open all the time. So once you come in, it's a free membership. You can log in and you get access to everything right away.
00:04:51 Sheri: And I love that you're doing this. And before I hit record, I had shared with you that my father was military. So I grew up living that life. And as I shared with you, I watched my mom not ever really have a career. She always worked somewhere, you know, a lot of times on base. So she always had a job, but she never really had that. And, you know, unfortunately, she passed away 20 years ago. So now that I'm totally focused on this calling thing, I would love to have that conversation with her, it's like, "Did you ever miss out? How did that feel to you, not being able to have a career?" And I love that you do that because then for my own personal journey, too, then my husband was in the military and in the guard, so we didn't do the traveling around, but he was deployed a lot. And I always felt like I was the one that had to have that steady pace there, that I was had something, but I sometimes couldn't feel like I could 100% invest in it. So I love that you're shifting that mindset, you're changing that mindset. So let's bring it back a little bit, Moni and I would love to hear what made you decide to pursue this.
00:06:02 Moni: Well, since I've been an entrepreneur, and when you're an entrepreneur, you're always learning, you're always trying to master the art of how can I improve? How can I be a better leader? And one thing that I discovered is when you build something , you build something around an experience that you had that you want to fix. And so that's what I did. I was a stay at home mom for almost twelve years. I have three kids. My husband was enlisted and he got out of the military and went back in and became an officer. And with that is a lot of changes. So the only constant we had was me. And so I stayed home with the kids for about twelve years and my youngest son was going to be going into pre-K and I realized, "Uh-oh, what am I going to do with my time now?" Because I always had something going on. I was always part of the PTA or military Moms group wherever we went, or I started some kind of community where I was in something, but I never used my education and my skills for employment.
00:07:06 Moni: So I did like Mary Kay, I did 31 Bags. I did like all these little things to stay busy and just help my esteem as I went from place to place. And I really loved it because it was the season that I was in, that I was meant to be in. And I embraced it. And there were many times I had those conversations with myself like, "What are you doing? You're selling bags. You are so much more talented." But I kept just saying, it's not my time. I knew it wasn't my time at that moment. So when my son was starting school, I was like, "Well, what am I going to do with my time?" Because at the time I had a blog. So I was just sharing a little bit about my military spouse life. And I was writing for Corvias Military and Lincoln military housing blogs about housing. And I was so excited. I would get so pumped up when I get a $75 check in the mail from them for writing a blog. I made $75 for my opinion.
00:08:02 Moni: So that kind of started this little kind of ignited my interest. I had a degree in public relations and I have a degree in public relations and communications. I haven't had it really professionally, used it. So I was like, "What am I going to do?" So I started looking for work and quickly found that that's when I learned that there was an issue that I did not know before. And that's why I say like you don't know until you're in it that there was an issue. So this was like 2017, 2016, 2017. And I was noticing that it didn't look really great that I didn't have a lot to put on my resume other than mom's clubs and nonprofit volunteering and things like that. And I did land a few interviews, but in that time, that's when I started to have to answer the hard questions like why are you here in Southern Maryland? Like people want to move there. How long will you be here? Things like that, and learn that after an interview where I was told, "Hey, we really think you're qualified for this position. We love your energy, we think you have great skills. We just can't invest in you right now because you're going to be leaving." And that is a catalyst to change everything for me because I felt powerless in that moment.
00:09:19 Moni: And then I thought, "Why am I giving somebody else the power over my future?" And that's when I actually launched my public relations agency and I never looked back. So the journey was the PR company, a couple of apps and ideas that I had here and there, and AMSE, which is all of it led to AMSE every milestone, was leading to this mission that I was my purpose here on Earth. So that's how it all started.
00:09:54 Sheri: I so love everything you just shared because it's so much of that journey. And I think talking to people, they want to know today, what's my calling? What am I supposed to be doing that way?
00:10:11 Moni: It's so hard
00:10:12 Sheri: That way. It's much worse that way.
00:10:14 Moni: It doesn't and you think you might have like, I was like, I'm going to have a multi million dollar PR firm and this, this and that. And they think they do. But the thing is that you're not in charge of your future . Right. So I'm a believer in faith, and I believe that we're all here for a purpose and an intention, and it's our job to serve people with the gift that we are given, whether it's one or 1 billion. And like you said, you're like, "What is my purpose?" Well, the thing is that we shouldn't be focusing what our purpose is. We should just be following the doors that consistently stay open in one direction because it all leads to one place.
00:10:56 Sheri: Yes, absolutely. And even that season of life that you shared, where you were trying all the things, hello, Mary Kay. That's what I did for 25 years. I stayed with that. And the PTA, as PTA co-president did all those things, too. But all of that helps us do this.
00:11:18 Moni: Yes, the hard season. It's like the hard season when you're in the nitty gritty of it and you're looking at something like, “Wait, I have a skill and I use it here.” You just have to tap into it. And you're right. You're absolutely right.
00:11:32 Sheri: Right. So nothing's ever for waste. And even the things, which here, that sometimes you try something and like, “Oh, I hate this.” Well, that's part of the journey, too, that tells you what not to do.”
00:11:44 Moni: Right, more of it.
00:11:46 Sheri: Anymore of that. And sometimes it is seasons that we go through in life that for whatever reason. We're meant to be right here where we're planted right now in this season. But then we can blossom elsewhere. We can grow and blossom elsewhere. The other thing I love that you really spoke to is usually our calling, our thing that we do comes from a problem we see. And let's dive a little more into that. So you started to see this problem now. You were kind of, “Let's continue the story,” I should say.
00:12:21 Moni: Yeah. So I started to notice the problem. Well, let me back up a second. So when I started the actual PR agency, I was like, “I'm going to the base because they got to have a resource for me,” right? They have everything else. They have childcare. They have career information. They have mental health and wellness and couples stuff. I knew. I was like, “I'm going to the base, girl.” I was confident that they had something for me. And I went in there, and I remember asking the lady. And she looked so confused that I said, “I just started a business. I just moved here. I'm really looking to find out what resources you guys have in the local community that I could reach out to and what you guys have here so I can build my business.” And she looked at me and was like, “You can practice how to have an interview. We can look over your resume. You can apply for a government job.”
00:13:16 Moni: I left there feeling, once again, powerless. And it was a really hard pill to swallow, and it left me very angry. It left me very confused. It left me very defeated. And I felt that day, I was like, “No spouse should ever have to go through this, ever.” We sacrificed so much. The least they could do is make sure that we have every single service that could help us. So that was my experience there, and that really was what led me to learn about networking, learn about building a business, get on Google, taking class after class, spending hours fixing a website, not knowing anything. And it was really hard. It was really hard in the beginning. And it was hard on my family because I was trying to do this thing called entrepreneurship. I didn't know any entrepreneurs at the time. And it was chaos for a while.
00:14:17 Sheri: What I love, Moni, is that I'm hearing this a couple of times now that the places you felt powerless actually became your superpower.
00:14:27 Moni: Yeah, you're right. It truly is. I preach now all the time. You have the power to change the things in your life. You have the power to do it now. You have the power not to wait. There are so many things. I just had a call with somebody the other day. And they asked me, “Well, I want more exposure. I want to be more invited to things.” So why are you waiting for people to invite you? You have the power to do it on your own. You just have to start. And they were like, “Oh.” Yeah, you don't need to wait for anybody. You go and do it. And so, yeah, that's something I really want spouses to pool or anybody. You have the power to change the trajectory of your future no matter what has happened, what you see that's there, any kind of defeat, you can change that.
00:15:21 Sheri: I love that so much. So let's continue on this story. I just love your story, has just so many great lessons in there, that I hope anybody listening to this right now is really picking up on those to hear that, “Wait a minute. Okay, I don't need to feel powerless.”
00:15:39 Moni: Yeah.
00:15:40 Sheri: Let's lean into this. Like, “Wait, I see a problem. What talents, what skills, what do I have that I can help fix this problem?” Because that usually is where our calling lies. That's one of the things. I have a four step formula that I use with helping people find their calling. And the last part is your mission and your impact. And the mission is what is that problem that you see? Because we see different problems in the world. And then is it a problem that people want to solve? Because sometimes [we always see] nobody really cares about it but you.
00:16:18 Moni: Right.
00:16:19 Sheri: But you solve this problem, that, “Wait, there's nothing here for me. There's nothing here for other spouses.” I have these unique gifts and talents and skills and experience, even as a PDA president, to come and bring this here. So how did you dive in? Because starting something like that basically almost from scratch, that's hard.
00:16:46 Moni: Yeah.
00:16:47 Sheri: How did you have the guts to do it, Moni?
00:16:49 Moni: So it started really small. So right around that time when I started my LLC for the public relations agency, I went online. And I was like, “There's got to be people out here like me.” And so I did find community in the local area. And then I was looking for more. I was like, “There has to be more. Where is the more?” And so I was looking on Facebook groups. That's when Facebook groups really started to populate and hit it off. And I found groups for entrepreneurs, and I found groups for military spouses, but none of them were military spouse entrepreneurs or businesses. And I said, “I'm just going to start with, let me tell you. When I tell you I looked crazy out here for a while. I looked crazy for a while.” Nobody was in the group. I had to beg people to join the group. I would be like, “[This is] my story.” I was like, “Can you just join my group for the numbers?” Because people will join. And it started to catch on, which was great.
00:17:47 Moni: And that community was called the MilSpouse Creative and Entrepreneurship group. And the goal of that was, for me, selfishly in a way, to have people, other business owners to ask questions to that, where military spouses. Because our journeys are unique. And we're starting with new clients everywhere we move, the moving, the LLC, all these things other people have had to gone through this. And I want to create a space that people can have conversation where they don't feel stupid for asking a question or judge and that people want to help because we want to lift each other up. And so that community is still live and going. During that time, I still built my PR agency, and I was working with a lot of military community nonprofits. I was securing public speaking events and PR and things like that. And then spouses started asking me questions. They were like, “Moni, how are you building this company?” Or “How did you land this speaking event?” And little things like that.
00:18:43 Moni: So I started looking. Obviously, the whole thought of having this AMSE wasn't even in my mind. It was more like, “How can I help them?” And so I did launch two other communities before, but I still saw there was this huge hole. And so in 2019. So I had launched two other communities. They were smaller. I was talking to a military spouse from a military family magazine. And she's like, “Moni, you should have a [hold of] this and that.” And she gave me. She planted a seed. She planted a seed. And she was like, “You have the community you have.” I already had built a portal, build curriculum. I had everything done for the other memberships. And she was like, “You need to.” She's like, “You need to do something bigger. You can.” And that's what gave me the idea.
00:19:32 Moni: And so I launched AMSE in 2019. I basically duplicated an entire model I already had, reframed it, rebranded it, put new stuff in it, and got a little more feisty with the words I was saying about how nobody's serving us and why are people just passing us over? And yeah, so that's really what happened. People do see it now, and they think that it just happened in the last three years. But I've been building for this the last 10 years, is how I feel, right, like building the rapport in the community, supporting spouses without asking for anything. Because at that time, Facebook groups were being built so that people could sell their products or services to them. So it was like, “Join here to learn this.” And then they were pushing products and services. I've never done that in my community. It's always just been a place of community and connection. So that's how it all started.
00:20:27 Sheri: Yeah. And actually, I'm surprised to hear that it was only 2019.
00:20:31] Moni: Yeah.
00:20:33 Sheri: I really thought it had been going on for a decade or more now because it does seem so tight. It appears to be a smooth running, which it always appears, on the outside. I’m sure [it’s supposed to].
00:20:45 Moni: Right, thank you. I appreciate you saying that. We have a really great team. I have a team of 28, all contractors. Everybody's a military spouse, and everybody ads in their own way, which creates what you see every day. So everybody's unique skill and personality and contributions create what I set the foundation for. So thank you. That means a lot to me.
00:21:07 Sheri: And of course, I love that you have the pieces delegated and everybody because that's part of what I love is that everybody knows their own talents and strengths, and they're working within it.
00:21:18 Moni: Yeah. And I don't know everything. Let me just tell you that. I don't want to know everything because that's a lot of pressure on myself. One thing I have learned in building multiple different businesses and having different ventures is that you really should be surrounding yourself with people who know more about certain areas, certain fields of expertise, because together is where you make a powerful punch. And so my skill set is obviously public relations and connecting with people. And then I just surround myself with other talent which is really cool. So, yeah, I give it all to them. I set the foundation, and I have the idea that they come along and they just amplify it.
00:22:00 Sheri: Right. How many people? You said 28.
00:22:02 Moni: 28. So we have chapter leaders, writers, coaches, and then of course, the team and design team and things like that.
00:22:09 Sheri: So how amazing then, that you can give this opportunity to 28 people.
00:22:14 Moni: Yeah.
00:22:15 Sheri: To have their career, be helping support, be a part of this amazing agency that you've created.
00:22:22 Moni: Yeah, I'm learning to take a step back and take that in because that's a heavy burden. It could be a heaviness. We just did our team retreat this year, and it was such a great experience to be around the people that believe in your dream. And it was really humbling, and it is a blessing to be able to do it. It's also like I'm trying to take a step back and say, “You are able to pay people to help you.” This is crazy. It's a lot. Some days, I'm like, “What is happening? This is my life. This is insane.” I'm in that season of really learning, accepting the impact that I'm making at a very high level. Because when you're in the work all the time, I go from one thing to the other, “Okay, check mark, we did that. Next thing, da, da, da.” Right? I'm learning to slow down and say, “Wait, you did this? Wow. Who can do that?” So, yeah, it's been a journey.
00:23:20 Sheri: And I think that's great because we do need to pause and celebrate and appreciate and step back and like, “Oh, yeah, I did build this.” Because as you shared, it doesn't happen overnight. As we've been talking about, everything leads to the next step. The next step. And I like how you had said, “Just be willing to open the next door, the next door, the next door.” And you did that. And then all of a sudden, you're here. And you're like, “How did that happen?”
00:23:44 Moni: I know. It's so crazy.
00:23:47 Sheri: And now AMSE is recognized by the military, right?
00:23:53 Moni: Yeah. So we are part of the Military Spouse Employment Partnerships and part of the Joining Forces initiative with Dr. Jill Biden. So we are part of those programs, that they help share the information about what we're doing in our mission. So that's a great honor. And we are doing a lot of work. The work is hard to get the mission out there. And we are working on some strategies in place this year to work on expansion and getting in the ears of those officials that can help make the dream of having this program at every single phase come true. Because at the end of the day, just had this conversation yesterday with my board of advisors, and they asked me a really hard question. They're like, “Moni, so where do you want to be five years from now? What is the goal?” And I said, “The purpose of this is for nobody to feel like I felt that day leaving the installation.” And so that means that this program needs to be on every installation in the world. I mean, it's free. It's built. It's amazing. And if we can plant a seed, a spouse may not even know they want to be an entrepreneur until they see it. They're like, “Wait, I can have a business. I like to make bows.” Right. Whatever that is. At the end of the day, that's the goal.
00:25:11 Sheri: Yeah, I love that. Like you said, somebody else walking on base doesn't feel powerless like you did that day. And they know they have support because it is a unique situation. It is what their spouses are in.
00:25:27 Moni: Yeah, I mean, we've been underemployed and unemployed for over a decade. There is consistent information out there saying, we need to help spouses’ employment. Retention is at an all time low. Suicide rate is at an all time low. Food insecurity is at an all time high. So many things can be solved when you give a spouse, when you just plan to see, when you just share with them that this is possible and that it can be done. Most families are running on two income families. Most military families are on one income, and they make $2 or $3 above the minimum line to get WIC or to get state assistance. So it needs to change. And so with this, the goal is to teach them that they can do it and give them the actual tools that they can do it right now and start making money right now. Because that's what they want. They need money for _____. They need money for a vacation. They need money to fix their car. This is what they need money for.
00:26:27 Moni: Some of the spouses are building lifelong legacies, which is what we're trying to teach them, that they can build financial wellness, that they can build financial legacy, if they build a business on a solid foundation. But right now, they just need to make ends meet. And it is a systemic issue that we have to solve. And I don't know that the efforts that anybody is doing is really helping them solve it at the level that the spouse understands, right? Because at the end of the day, what happens is with all these policy changes and people, who are making any kind of suggestions, they're talking at the spouses and not having conversation with the spouses. And we have conversation with the spouses, and we ask them what the real problems are. And then we create information and resources to help them. So that's the difference. And that's really what our program can change, is just that idea and just having them have a place to be.
00:27:27 Sheri: And your passion can hear your fiery.
00:27:31 Moni: I get so fired up.
00:27:37 Sheri: Which says, this is your true colleague. When you can get that fired up about something, you know you're on the right path to what you're supposed to be doing. Absolutely, 100%. So can you share with us? You have probably seen so many women whose lives have been, and I even going to use this word loosely that they've been changed. Because like you said, sometimes it's not that they're looking for a life change. They just want that extra cash, like you said, to provide for their kids, to make sure that there is enough for the groceries, to feel fulfilled while they're being a supportive spouse to their husband. Because that is a hard job in Itself, to be a supportive spouse of somebody in the military.
00:28:25 Moni: It's a whole job.
00:28:27 Sheri: It is.
00:28:27 Moni: But the other thing too, I talked about this with Ray the other day. I sent this to my husband. I said, “Why is it my job to make you happy?”
00:28:34 Sheri: Right.
00:28:35 Moni: I don't know where the military got this idea, like military spouse is supposed to support their military member. Well, we need support too. It's a two way street. And why is it my job as a spouse to make you happy? So you can go to work and be happy, right? It's my job to be happy. And the way that I can be happy is by finding a place to direct my energy, my skills, and my talent. And when I'm happy and you're happy, amazing things happen. You said a couple of things a minute ago, which is helping them, basically their self esteem, right, their motivation, their reason for being in a space amongst peers who are doing that, who are encouraging you, who are having conversation with you every day. That is what we also change because we're changing that mindset from, “It's my job to make myself happy” to “Wait a minute. I can do this, and I need to make myself happy.”
00:29:28 Moni: So a lot of that mind work happens during the process, a lot of that encouragement. We see a lot of spouses start posting on social media now because you have other spouses that you're talking to and you feel confident. You have people who are helping you build your business. You've gone through the building a business the antsy way. You have the solid foundation, and you know you're ready to take clients. You're confident that building a small business does give them confidence, gives them a place of being and a place of belonging. And that is really important in the work that we do as well. So I'm glad you brought that up because it's true. I went from being resentful and annoyed because my husband had all these amazing accolades and, “Oh, we got a raise,” basically. And we just talked about this last night.
00:30:15 Moni: My husband just came home. He's like, “I'm thinking, if I don't make Lieutenant Colonel two rounds, I'm going to just punch out and live on my retirement.” I was like, “Oh, that's really nice for you that you can do that.” And I said, “That's nice that you have that.” Like, “What a blessing that is.” And he said, “Well, no, we have it.” I said, “Yes, I'm a part of that formula, but it is not mine. It is your accomplishment and I have supported you.” And that is what I deeply desire, right? My desire is to have financial freedom and have a retirement as well. And he said, “I get it. I get it.” And so sometimes we just need to be seen. But yeah, it's crazy, the whole situation, the way that the mindset is all shifting in this day and age is I love it. I love the young spouses. They're just out there doing their thing, and I love seeing them thrive.
00:31:08 Sheri: Yeah. And from just relationship, my husband was a professional firefighter and besides being in the military. And I feel there was a lot of that parallel too. And I remember I actually was talking to somebody on another podcast. We got into relationships, and I just remember that resentful feeling when I felt like, “Wait, what about me? I want to be seen,” as you said. “Maybe my schedule counts just as much as yours.” We still have that conversation because he's not retired. It's like, “Wait a minute.”
00:31:41 Moni: Yeah, that's true.
00:31:43 Sheri: And the more confident we can feel as the spouse and fulfilled, it totally like just the relationships. It affects so many things. The way we parent, we give our kids confidence to go chase after their thing. So it's not just about making money. It's so much more than that. So as we start to wrap things up, Moni, I do want to go back. Is there any story or two of a spouse you saw that sticks out in your head, that you would love to share their journey?
00:32:21 Moni: Yeah, absolutely. So AMSE launched in 2019 and we have members that have been with us that long. One of the spouses that comes to mind when I'm talking today is [Francet]. She was working in a whole different area, in a whole different field. And then she stayed consistent, come to our events, went through the building her business the [antsy] way. And she changed. She pivoted her model. She now has triple the amount of clients that she did before, but also she's taking a step out. Instead of being behind, she's putting herself forward.
So she's now doing more speaking events. She's coaching. She's doing so much more, and she loves it. I mean, I talked to her the other day. And she's like, “If it wasn't for AMSE, I wouldn't be doing any of this. I wouldn't have the community I have. I wouldn't have the clients I have. I wouldn't have the feeling that and the excitement I have about working every day because I have a place to go.”
00:33:13 Moni: Those type of stories really hit home for me. Another male spouse actually shared a testimony on LinkedIn. I literally cried. I was like, “I don't care if I don't make a dollar the rest of this year.” This meant the world to me. And he was sharing how there's a stigma around military, around _____ or spouses, and how our meeting and my encouragement and the program made him realize that he doesn't have to follow the narrative, that he can create his own narrative. And I'm just getting chills thinking about it. Just that to me solidifies that at least I'm changing one person's life. And at the end of the day, that's what matters. Whether I reach one person or 1 billion people, the purpose of why I was here is I've made that impact that day, and that just meant the world to me.
00:34:08 Sheri: That is wonderful. There's great testimonies there on how many lives that you are changing, no matter, even if it is just in the mindset now. He probably had that powerless feeling that you felt, and now you're empowering him to find his power. So that's fabulous of that. If anybody's listening and they are a military spouse, how can they get connected to learn more about AMSE and what you offer, or find your Facebook communities? Which Facebook community should they start at?
00:34:46 Moni: Yeah, definitely, so two things. You can go on Facebook and join MilSpouse Creative and Entrepreneurship group sponsored by AMSE, or you can just go to amsemembers.com and join the membership right away. It's free to get started right away. Jump into events, jump into this slack channel where you get community, and just start getting connected. Sometimes I think that's all we need is just connection. Because it's lonely to be an entrepreneur, and it's lonely to be a spouse. Put those two together and it could be a formula for not so good things, so great things. But when you have people you can do it with, it really can change your life.
00:35:24 Sheri: And for the spouses, it's for any spouse, right, whether they are military spouse at any level, whether they're new or?
00:35:33 Moni: Retired, reserved, active duty, all the branches, you are welcome to join us.
00:35:41 Sheri: I love that. Any last minute things that you want to share that's on your heart when it comes to either finding your calling, stepping into your power, anything on your heart, Moni, that you'd like to?
00:35:53 Moni: Let’s see. I would say we talked about this a minute ago. Just get started. Start. Bet on yourself, “Do you?” And don't wait. Don't wait for retirement. Don't wait till a kid goes to school. Don't wait till you have enough money. Don't wait until your taxes come in. Don't wait. Just get started. Because in the waiting, I think, is where all that resentment and feeling of an accomplishment happens. So just get started. Doesn't have to be perfect. Just do it. Do it little by little. It doesn't happen overnight.
00:36:22 Sheri: Right. And the waiting is a scary place. That's when our mind takes over.
00:36:27 Moni: Yeah, it really [is so].
00:36:29 Sheri: It’s so much scarier in our head. Just taking that action step.
00:36:33 Moni: Right. You're right. You're right.
00:36:35 Sheri: Yeah. So just open that first door, right? Just open the first door. You don't need to know all the things. [crosstalk]
00:36:43 Moni: You're never going to know all the things. There's so many. I just talked to one of our partners, is Birthing of Giants. He's a multimillionaire. He's told me yesterday. He's like, “I don't know all the things,” but he's built several successful invested. So you never know all the things. So don't ever feel it has to be perfect.
00:37:00 Sheri: Right. Just do it messy. I love it. Love it so much. And last thing, you had mentioned. Sometimes I remember this, sometimes I don't. I'll be honest, a quote or a book. And you had mentioned in there that the book ‘Jump’ by Kim Perrell. Why did you love that book? Why would you recommend it?
00:37:16 Moni: It's about just getting started. It’s about doing it. Just jump. Just jump into it. It's any kind of scary thing in life. I always look at those videos where people are jumping from the airplane. And I'm like, “I would just have to say just jump.” That is what it feels sometimes when you're starting a business. Every single time, every single decision that you make, just jump into it. Everything else will happen. You'll figure it out along the way.
00:37:42 Sheri: I'll have to check that book out. So thank you for that. And I'll put all of the information and the Facebook communities, the link to join AMSE, the book link, everything in the show notes. So, Moni, thank you so much for being on the Discovering Your Calling podcast today and sharing your story. And I do hope that for those of you listening that you did again pick out. I know I always say this, but pick out the little nuggets that impacted you and what you can take away from her story to empower you, to create your own true calling story.
00:38:16 Moni: I love that. Thank you.
00:38:24 Sheri: Thank you, friends, for spending this time with me. My hope is something you heard today inspires you to take action towards discovering your calling. But before you sign off, just two more quick things. One, if you found value and enjoyed this episode, can you do me a huge favor and leave a review or share this with a friend? Help us grow the podcast to make a bigger impact on the world. And second of all, if you haven't yet, don't forget to check the show notes to grab your Five to Thrive guide. It's my gift to you. It's a guide to help you intentionally invest in your natural talents, so you can turn them into strength. Think of it as your personal navigational guide on your journey to a fulfilling life. And until next episode, remember, you've been created to live a life of fulfillment, purpose, success, and joy.