Instant Teams

Hi, I’m Kimberly.  I’m originally from the great state of Texas.  I’d like to tell you where, but I claim Houston, Duncanville and Christine, TX as home.  I am the proudest member of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Class of 2006, where I obtained a Bachelors in Business Administration with a double major in Marketing and Management.  After my time at A&M, I went to law school at the University of Houston where I received my Juris Doctorate with a focus in Health Law in 2009.  My husband, Zach, just hit the ten-year mark in his Army career.  We met at a wedding in 2012 – he was stationed at Ft. Riley and I was in Houston serving as the Compliance Officer for the 35 Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) owned by my employer, Collaborative Health Systems.  Honestly, I tried not to fall in love with Zach.  He was smart and funny, and loyal … and in the Army.  How could there be a future? How could I maintain a career – everything that I had worked for – and be married to an Army officer?

But, I couldn’t help myself.  He’s just so darn handsome.  When we started talking about marriage, I started planning.  That’s when I decided to go out on my own.  Luckily, Zach was supportive of the idea and convinced me that the potential benefit outweighed the risks.  He proposed in 2014 and I moved to Kansas.  I started my consulting firm, Wilems Resource Group, LLC (WRG) in February 2015.  I also hosted my first FRG meeting during this time.  Did I mention that Zach took a Battery command in October 2014?  Starting a company, planning a wedding, and serving as a FRG leader all at the same time was a challenge.  Let me assure you – if I can do it, then anyone can.  Since then we have survived two battery commands, a deployment, two NTC rotations, and a PCS to Moody AFB.  In December of last year, we welcomed our first child – Anderson James (AJ).  Starting WRG has given me the ability to maintain my career through moves and deployments, and gives me flexibility in meeting our child care needs as we move forward.

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

I started reaching out to colleagues in the industry to determine whether they felt there was a market for me if I were to go out on my own.  Then I set up my company as an LLC, got a website and an email address (I am so NOT technologically savvy) and ordered some business cards.  The whole thing cost less than $200 to set up for the first two years.  I was already speaking at the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations conferences twice a year, so that was an easy (and inexpensive) way to let people know that I was looking for clients. That conference has continued to be my number one source for new business – whether they heard my presentations first hand or were referred to me by someone I met through that organization.  Cementing myself in that organization, and nurturing relationships with people at that conference, was the best thing I did when I was first starting out.

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

Loyalty.  Adaptability.  Resiliency.

Loyalty is something that many companies can’t seem to garner from employees these days.  Military spouses have a sense of loyalty ingrained.  Given the opportunity to thrive and have a career, a military spouse will respond not only with hard work but with a sense of loyalty that is unmatched in most of the population.

No one likes change.  When a plan falls apart, many people get frustrated and don’t know how to respond.  Military spouses are used to constant change and view it as an opportunity to roll up their sleeves and attack a challenge.

Lastly, military spouses are resilient.  Whether it is a result of the formal programs available to dependents or just a fact of surviving this life, military spouses develop skills that allow them to thrive in situations where most people would give up.  They are self-motivated, self-sufficient and less likely to burn out.

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

Honestly, I would start by asking them a simple question.  If you’re being honest with yourself, what is holding you back?  Obviously, the struggles are different for everyone, but in my experience, there are two primary impediments for military spouses trying to start a professional career. One, fear or frustration with finding a “career” position when faced with the constant moves. Two, feelings of obligation to the family and the military.

These days, the first one is significantly easier to work through than the second but is the one people jump to first.  The harder thing for most spouses is asking anything of their families.  Military families sacrifice so much in the name of their service member.  Spouses tend to put it on themselves to cover the family and military obligations and minimize those sacrifices as much as possible.

Having a deployed spouse means being the only parent available to cover basketball games, school plays, and dance recitals.  TDYs mean turning down the work trip because you can’t leave your kids overnight.  That’s understandable, but what we forget to consider is the huge benefit of giving our family a fulfilled parent.  Giving our spouse the opportunity to be as supportive of our dreams and our career as we have been of theirs.  Showing our children that being a supportive spouse doesn’t mean giving up on your goals – even if it means you have to change how you get there.  In taking the time to invest in ourselves, our families prosper.  Not to mention, the benefits of the added paycheck.

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?

So many careers that lend themselves to remote work require a professional license.  Continuing to work to remove barriers to licensing across state lines would help in promoting military spouses in the workforce.  Beyond that, creating networking events that bring spouses together in a fun environment (read: where people actually want to show up to) so they can get to know one another and what type of employment people may have/need.  I would also try to host job fairs aimed at military spouses.  Working with consulting firms would provide a door through which spouses could gain experience in an industry while also making contacts in companies across the country.  It would provide more opportunities down the road, both for that spouse and for others.

Connect with Kimberly at kwilems@wilemsrg.com. View her MadSkills here.