Instant Teams

Hi, I’m Brianna. I’m originally from a tiny town on the Oregon Coast, called Yachats, population 700. It made a great transition for our first year of marriage moving out to a small town in Mississippi for the Air Force! Before I met my handsome man, I received my degree in Fashion and Interiors with a concentration in Interior Design from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. As a small child, I was fiercely independent and longed to adventure the corners of the earth. The second I graduated high school, I moved 18 hours away much to my parents’ chagrin. I continued to study abroad in Italy for a semester while in college. Now, I realize it was all to prepare me to be a military spouse to my driven husband! We met my senior year and married shortly after on the day he commissioned and headed to the Deep South, a place I had yet to visit. We have now been graced an unusual experience as a military family in being able to live here for four consecutive years, and it’s becoming home for us.

I am the designer behind Based in Design, an interior design company that specializes in spaces for the everyday military family. It’s an affordable solution to all the pesky PCS problems that we deal with on a regular basis; like furniture not fitting into your new home, coming up with temporary decor for walls you are unable to paint, adding color where it’s sorely needed on white walls. In addition to extensive knowledge on base housing/rental home issues, I also work with those who purchase their home and have an opportunity to make the space maybe a bit more personalized. Forever homes are probably my favorite to work with because it encourages me to remember that one day, I’ll have my own too!

What was your first move towards working in a remote capacity and/or becoming a military spouse entrepreneur?

I quickly realized after leaving a fabulous job to follow my husband to Mississippi, that my degree would be difficult to utilize to it’s fullest potential while having to move every two years. A new build in my area of expertise takes 1-2 years for completion, meaning there would be a good chance that I would be severely limited to the amount of clients I took on, not knowing when we would have to move. I began working for a local design shop and adored being in my field. I constantly heard military friends frustrated with their new homes as they moved away, having to toss furniture and pack up precious items that they would rather display. The amount of waste discouraged me. But even more frustrating to me was the difficulty and lack of resources to help families settle into their new space so they could acclimate to their new duty station. As military families, we connect by inviting people into our homes, and when our house is set, we feel settled enough to reach out into our new community.

I wanted to help be a solution to this problem.

It’s my goal to help military families feel prepared for their PCS into a new home with their existing furniture, to take the stress off of an already stressful relocation, and to make ANY new space in ANY location feel just like you’re home.

What is your definition of military spouses as an ‘untapped resource’?

As military spouses, we are just like any other woman (and men!) out there, and we have the capacity to do anything we put our minds to.  I also believe that due to our underemployment, there is an entire reserve of possible employees that are willing to work their hardest to maintain a semblance of schedule and normalcy in the midst of moves, trainings, and deployments.  We have a sincere desire to be as accomplished as our spouses, to have something to bring to the table at the end of the day.  We are a group of individuals overlooked for the very things that make us individuals, our strengths and abilities often trumped by our significant other’s call to duty.  We have a drive to complete tasks, a desire to see things to the finish line, and a fiery passion to be known for something other than what usually defines us, their job.

What would you tell other military spouses looking to start a professional career?

You’re worth it. You are incredible and offer so much more than what the world is currently telling us by rates and statistics. It’s a hard gig being a milspo, but it’s also worth it. Entering the workforce with such an unpredictable lifestyle can be intimidating and daunting, but don’t let it keep you from showing your capacity to shine.

Beyond that, I highly suggest doing a personality assessment, like StrengthsFinder to tap into what your strengths are, and how those would be best utilized in a business setting. Once you know yourself, you have a better understanding of how to market yourself to potential employers.

Work on your LinkedIn account. Potential employers seeing this page before your military support filled Facebook page (I know, I have one too!), it will give you a better potential at a job. The area I live in is notorious for military spouses that live here for a single year for training, and they’re up against some of the most difficult hiring processes from being stationed in a small town. I’ve always encouraged the spouses here to take their resume into individual business, rather than emailing or calling. By putting a face to the name, and by being dressed professionally, employers will see your desire to be dedicated to the job at hand.

If you were put on a panel involved in an initiative to improve military spouse employment opportunities and corporate awareness of the MadSkills that professional spouses bring to the workforce, what suggestions would you make?

I would encourage corporations large and small to really look into their structure and determine which jobs are necessary to be done in office.  With access to so much technology in this day in age, many desk jobs can be dedicated to home offices worldwide.  By being on a panel, I hope I could bring enlightenment to businesses from a small business owner standpoint that mobility while owning a business, or being an employee, does not limit a company, but actually can improve it’s potential in both clientele and area knowledge.

Connect with Brianna at basedindesign.com.

View Brianna’s MadSkills Profile.