By Debbie Gregory.

Brandi Leifo was living in a domestic violence shelter without any clear direction in life, or real training, job or even a home to live in. Brandi did not have any support structure but she had an idea and absolutely nothing to lose.

Brandi had a vision for a future and developed a mission to break stigmas and make a real social impact.  With only $15, some creative portfolio items, and an honest desire to do good, Brandi created Evio Beauty Group to bring together products that are good for your skin, your community, and the planet.

With two brands, Evio Beauty is an eco-conscious skincare and makeup company that focuses on sustainable, natural cosmetic products.  The Evio community is an online platform that provides education on a wide variety of topics such as feminism, fashion, beauty, and cannabis.

Brandi’s critics told her she was crazy to try to break into the over-saturated cosmetics market with zero experience, but she didn’t listen to them. Her first real ‘yes’ in the industry came from Unity Clothing that placed an order for Brandi’s conceptual line of lip-gloss, mascara, bronzers, eye shadow, and blush. They placed their order before there was an actual product and Brandi began work to deliver their order within three

Fast forward, today Evio is projecting over $5 million in annual sales and has attracted interest and investment from many other large corporations and manufacturers of personal care products. Social impact is truly the core of the business and Evio partners with many others to do good in the world and works with organizations such as the Canadian Women’s Foundation. Evio Beauty uses makeup as a way to confront stigmas and to promote the idea of kindness.

Evio also owns a subsidiary company called Iona Cannabis Corp. that houses all of Evio’s cannabis developments and activities. Evio and their partner Aurora Cannabis will soon be launching an exclusive set of 6 beauty products featuring hemp-oil. They are working hard to develop cannabis-infused products that will help reduce their carbon footprint while offering new and exciting “affordable luxury” products to the world with real health benefits.

Interested in learning more? You can check out their website here : https://www.evio.ca/

Regardless of whatever negativity life tosses your way, there is always a way to turn your path around and start a new journey. As the saying goes “when one door closes, another opens.”  VAMBOA hopes that Brandi Leifo and Evio’s story inspires and motivates you.

By Debbie Gregory.

Female veterans now-a-days are increasingly starting and growing businesses in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineer, Mathematics) fields. Women who served in the military are more likely to pursue a STEM-related occupation than their civilian counterparts.

Their military service background and exposure to dangerous environments better prepares them for the often-chaotic world of being an entrepreneur. Successful entrepreneurs are people who demonstrate high levels of confidence, independence, self-efficacy, and have solid decision-making skills; all of which a veterans usually possess.

There are still some challenges that female veterans face more than their male or their civilian counterparts.

Resources Needed by Female Veteran Business Owners in STEM Businesses:

1.) A Supportive Network

Having access to a supportive network of mentors and peers can be very challenging for a woman and that important for military-connected woman in STEM fields. Networks for women generally lack essential ties to other critical resources such as funding.

Growing a network is time consuming and requires a solid strategy to be successful. To cultivate a good network, with a wide variety of contacts, women veterans should commit themselves to attending an array of events including conferences, business-focused programs, trade shows, and more. Be genuine and be mindful that you aren’t only focusing on selling your business, learn from others and cultivate a meaningful network.

2.) Help with Resources

The key to obtaining the resources you need as a woman veteran is to be honest and direct about where your business is and what challenges you face. Some find local small business development centers helpful.  Often as a veteran, there are many programs tailored to your specific demographic. Do a quick Google search and you will find a wealth of online resources that will help guide you in the right direction.

3.) Funding from Alternative Sources

Women in STEM fields experience challenges when seeking business capital. Women owned businesses typically raise smaller amounts of capital and usually rely on personal funds as their primary source of financing. Looking towards alternatives such as crowdsourcing or group funding platforms (such as GoFundMe) can be instrumental at early stages for women seeking capital. Utilizing alternative sources can help move you into the next growth phase as large banks are more likely to fund companies that already posses their initial capital.

Your military life has prepared you for many challenges that are unique to your service and will greatly benefit your life as a civilian. Seeking assistance from other female veterans as well as addressing issues specific to your unique role will help you gain the insight and help that you need to be successful as a civilian entrepreneur.

By Debbie Gregory.

Social capital refers to the connections and shared values between people that enable more cooperation and growth than one person can do alone. When you have taken the time to develop a wealth of social capital you will easily obtain any other resource that you need.

1.)  It Should be Natural Networking

Networking can be unpleasant for most people, but it is truly important to be successful. The best is to start small and be patient. Let the relationship grow naturally by being honest and authentic and show the people that you value them. Start with your own friends, family, and coworkers. Find others in your field that you look up to and connect with them. Just remember to be authentic – don’t put on a fake persona, eventually they will see through it and be less than pleased.

2.) It Establishes You As A Leader

Offering advice or resources to other people without expecting something in return builds trust and establishes your reputation as an upstanding person in your field. If the assistance is helpful, you place yourself as an honorable and knowledgeable person in your field.

3.) It Creates Strong Teams

Social capital is not limited to those who you know personally, who work with you, or those in your company. You can, and should, extend your network as far as you can. Nurturing a wide ranging network will provide you more resources to look to for solving a greater variety of issues.

4.) It Makes People Want to Help You

Once you have provided helpful support and advice to others in your network, they will want to give it back when you need the assistance. Most people genuinely like helping others – especially if they have been helped at some point by that person. Never be afraid to ask for assistance when needed from the network you are carefully creating. It you don’t ask, you don’t get.

Other tips to build social capital:

• Be honest and do not shy away from hard truths. People value honesty.
• Help connect others together.
• Contribute to debates.
• Actively contribute in your chosen field.
• Support other people when they need it.
• Help others in your network with their work.

As the saying goes – every entrepreneur needs three kinds of capital: financial, human, and social. The financial is easy – the other two take a lot of work. Take the time to build your social capital and both you and your Veteran or Military owned business will reap the rewards.

By Debbie Gregory.

A lot of people feel that they lack the training or expertise necessary to become a consultant. They feel that in order to be a consultant that they need to be an “expert” in one given field. Consulting is one of the best ways to be your own boss. You can work one-on-one with clients, provide online training, give talks or seminars, or combine them all. A consulting business can be started with very little capital, very little overhead, and a handful of clients. Thinking about a career in consulting? Do these four traits describe you?

1.) Are You Already Successfully Consulting?

If you have some experience and are continuing to learn in your chosen field, even one or two small successes can help build your credibility and lay the foundations for your solo consulting career. Each individual case that you work on provides you additional tools that to help a client solve his or her challenges.

2.) Do You Enjoy Helping Others Succeed?

The best consultants are compassionate and sensitive to the needs of their clients. They seek to understand the individual issues facing their clients and then use this knowledge to help them find the tools for success.  A consultant is teacher. You cannot show up for a client and solve their problems for them. Your job is to give them the tools that they need to succeed without you holding their hand. A true and honest desire to share your knowledge, expertise, and experience is a clear indicator that a career in consulting could be the right path for you.

3.)  Are You Someone Who Genuinely Loves to Learn?

To be successful as a consultant you must always be learning. You will start with a good grasp of knowledge about your particular field but you must be able to quickly gain knowledge of your client’s business, and their industry as a whole, in order to help them maintain their credibility (as well as yours). Learning can take place in many ways – you can sit and learn from the client themselves, or read about their industry, learn about their competition, speak with their team members, speak with their customers – basically find as many ways as possible to gain insight into each client’s specific field.

4.) Do You Thrive on Variety Each Day?

For the 9-5 crowd their day very rarely differs much from day-to-day. The routine is roughly similar day in and day out.  Even when projects change, they are dealing with the same team, the same target audience, the same products, and so forth. People who make the best consultants crave new experiences and unique challenges that working with clients in all types of fields bring to their day.  They strive to be the problem solver who finds new solutions to various new issues each and every day.

Being a consultant and running your own business is not for everyone. It is drastically different than the traditional 9-5 where you are working for someone else; thus it comes with its own challenges but it also comes with a lot more rewards. There is a good chance that if you have the traits listed above you already have everything that you need to make a successful career out of consulting.

Consulting is an excellent fit for both Veterans and Military Spouses and can be done remotely.

By Debbie Gregory.

If you are launching or have recently launched your business startup, you are more than likely familiar with business incubators and business accelerators. Although the two seem to be used interchangeably, there are some very important differences.

While both provide developing companies access to mentorship, investors and other support that helps them become stable, self-sufficient businesses.  Many large startup incubators are run as nonprofits. They generally won’t ask for equity in a company in return for access to funding or resources in the way that accelerators do.

As a result, startups generally receive far less access to capital by joining an incubator than they could expect to receive from an accelerator. As a result, most investors prefer the accelerator model.

Additionally, incubators focus on fostering slow growth that can last years, where accelerators sponsor intensive, boot camp style programs that typically are much faster growth.

Companies that use business accelerators are typically start-ups that have moved beyond the earliest stages of becoming established, meaning they can stand on their own two feet but still need guidance and peer support to gain strength.

We have listed (alphabetically) a number of excellent accelerator programs:

• Blue Startups – based in Honolulu, Hawaii, focus on technology companies, especially those that address markets in both Asia and the United States.
• The Brandery – based in Cincinnati, offers support in branding, marketing and design.
• Capria – based in Seattle, Washington, works with startups that develop innovative solutions to global problems, specifically those operating in emerging markets.
• Cofound Harlem – based in New York City has the goal to build 100 companies in Harlem that want to make a real impact on the community by the year 2020.
• Disney Accelerator – focuses on aiding technology innovators that want to create entertainment and new media experiences.
• Gener8tor – based in Wisconsin, invests in high-growth startups that have a strong team.
• Illumina Accelerator – based in San Francisco, focuses on clinical research and applied sciences, especially in the area of genomics.
• LightSpeed Innovations – focuses on helping startups in the aerospace industry in southern California.
• Luma Launch – based in Santa Monica, California, focuses on evolving technology and content startups.
• Make in LA – based in Los Angeles, focuses on hardware, from building prototypes to preparing pitches for investors.
• Matter – based in both San Francisco and New York City, focuses on design thinking.
• MergeLane – based in Boulder, Colorado, is focuses on women-led startups, Some of the programs can be completed virtually.
• SaltMines Group, based in Vero Beach, Florida, focuses on mobile technology and social media products.
• Sixers Innovation Lab – cultivates and supports the startup communities in Southern New Jersey and Philadelphia.
• StartFast – based in Syracuse, New York, is a mentorship-driven accelerator for startups working in software, mobile or Internet.
• Startup52 – based in New York City, is an early-stage accelerator program that focuses on promoting diversity.
• Startup Next – a pre-accelerator designed to help startups get into top accelerator programs, raise seed rounds of funding and achieve other early goals.
• The Yield Lab – based in St. Louis, Missouri, focuses on agricultural technology companies that want to create more sustainable agricultural products.
• VentureOut – based in New York City, is a one-week hyper-accelerator that brings in startups from around the world and connects them to members of the startup and technology communities in New York City.
• XRC Labs – based in New York City, focuses on retail and consumer goods.

Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, VAMBOA.