Angela and her family needed something new. The military opened the door to her families future. Angela was a single mom and couldn’t find a way to provide for her family. She and her husband were trying to figure out what was next and the military became an option. Initially, he was going to join but she was able to convince him that she should be the one to join. She served in the Air Force as an operations resource manager. Serving on active duty for seven years and deploying multiple times to support different operations happening both before and after September 11th. She is passionate in helping service members transition better and did her dissertation on women veterans and the transition experience.
How the military opened the door to the future
Angela became a mom in high school. She needed a new life for her family and a way out of Indiana. The military looked like a good option. It ended up being what she needed. She joined the Air Force. Had to say goodbye to her child and start her career. It was hard to get through the separation but she did it. Then, her family was reconnected for tech school. But that was limited. An incident at tech school almost caused her to leave the military behind, but her instructor convinced her to stay.
September 11th
She had just returned home from a deployment before September 11th happened. She was reintegrating with her family and then with the turmoil got tapped to deploy again. It was hard to be apart again so quickly, but it was also fulfilling in the role of the mission of the military. It was also the deployment where the toxic leader made a hard situation even harder.
Leaving the military unexpectedly
She had to leave the military because of a medical board and quickly found herself out of the military and starting her civilian life. Luckily, she had been working on her degree and a past job experience with a toxic leader had led her to focus on psychology. She also had a general idea of what she wanted to do. Because of this, she was able to package her resume and find a job quickly.
She realized her expertise was needed more on the coaching side of support and started her own business in executive coaching which she still does today. Another opportunity that came up was working with the Army as Organizational Developmental Specialist. A career she loved, but as a military spouse, led her to move and leave that career. A few twist and turns along the way. She found herself remarried and having the opportunity to go back to work with the Army, but in Germany. Her husband was on board with the opportunity and that is where they are today.
