Author: Selena Conmackie, of Hauoli Socially Inspired, Proud Hawaiian, MilSpouse & Teen Mom, Entrepreneur & go-to guru when it comes to all things social media and web design.
As a military spouse entrepreneur, you get to have different experiences. The most challenging experience in this journey was as I became a MilSpouse later in life after a long career in my civilian life; I struggled with making sure I ‘earned’ my right to say I was a MilSpouse. The most fulfilling experience was when I became the REAL ME. I did not have to pick anymore between my family or reporting to work. I could be present for anything my family needed me for.
As soon as I felt comfortable with who I was as an entrepreneur and MilSpouse, I wanted to help others in my community. I am very active in the milso community – co-leading the Fort Hood Chapter of AMSE. When I can help others, it fills my bucket.
In addition to my busy professional life, I’m also a teen mom. I’ve been asked if I have any advice for other military teen moms, and my response has been that I think I need advice on how to handle the teen years! Haha. When my daughter was younger, I was more involved with managing her social calendar. Signing her up on post so she can play sports, attending activities hosted by MWR, helping create our Friend/Family in our neighborhood, so she had a community far from what we knew was home. Now, I take her lead a little and get her involved in what she’s more interested in. I’ve called my mom and apologized for the brat I knew I must have been when I was a teenager.
My business, Hauoli Socially Inspired, came about accidentally. An old colleague from my former career asked me to manage his restaurant’s social media and website. When I realized I could make this a business and acquire more clients, I knew I wanted to name my business after my father. Hauoli which means happy in Hawaiian. It incorporated my Hawaiian culture and the way I operate whatever project I’m involved in.
I am also the co-founder of AnnaAndSelena.com
Do you know when you find YOUR PERSON? Like seriously seriously…. Anna and I met at a MilSpouse get-together at our current duty station and connected as friends that quickly became besties. With her background in marketing, I convinced her to join me on a project. Before we knew it, we learned we worked really well together and we continued on doing more projects together. We are in the beginning stages of creating our joint brand that will consist of building WordPress websites for our clients and being a resource for marketing strategies. My favorite aspect about this is that entrepreneurship can be ‘lonely’ so having a partner in crime to navigate our mutual business projects together has been great for my mental health.
We have a 15{ish} Minute Coffee Chat that is available on AnnaAndSelena. 15{ish} Minute Coffee Chat is the total passion project that we love. It started on a whim because I had a LIVE, which I needed to do on Facebook, and grew into this combined show with Anna Larson of NomadAbout. We’ve had amazing guests on our show from Camille Schrier Miss America 2020, Fantastic MilSpouses who run Non-Profits, Home Makeover shows, Lawyers, Mental Health Specialists, Artists, Social Media Influencers, Business Consultants, and more. The premise of the show is to bring a water cooler chill conversation about running our businesses and how we can all relate to each other. We’ve covered Mental Health and Business, Effective Leadership, Email Strategies, Succession, Niching Down in Business. We cover a wide range of topics to help deliver value to those who tune in.
As you’re navigating entrepreneurship, there are different tools that will help your expenses stay low when first starting out. Honestly, my favorite tools are using all the Google Drive Tools that include Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Forms. They are FREE to use.
My best advice to a military spouse who is debating taking the plunge into entrepreneurship would be it’s hard. Be ready to work for yourself. I don’t want to sugarcoat and say everything is easy peasy. So having said that… give yourself some grace while you take the plunge.
About the Author
Selena Conmackie, of Hauoli Socially Inspired, Proud Hawaiian, MilSpouse & Mom of a Teen. She is an entrepreneur and your go-to guru when it comes to all things social media and website design.
Selena recently finished her term as the Director of Marketing for a local non-profit Pink Warrior Angels of Texas that supports cancer warriors, Co-leads the Fort Hood Chapter of the Association of Military Spouse Entrepreneurs (AMSE), and is the Co-founder of AnnaAndSelena.com - a new and growing all-encompassing space for entrepreneurs to learn more about business, and the home of the 15{ish} Minute Coffee Chat, a podcast + Livestream on Facebook and YouTube.
Selena has been featured in a variety of podcasts, articles, and loves sharing her talents, knowledge, and love for all things digital, the Hawaiian culture, coffee, and being a #bosslady.
Get access to free resources here.