All posts filed under: Behind the Scenes

The Makery, Making Signs and Memories

Published by Sonia Garza

We first met with Jolie McNulty last in 2015, when the JBLM military spouse started her own business, American Honey Furniture, and focused on refinishing furniture. A lot has changed since then and her refurnishing business has evolved into so much more with the addition of “The Makery.” “I felt that although I absolutely loved and still love refinishing furniture,” Jolie said, “the business naturally pulled into the direction of teaching Make & Take Workshops.” Jolie brings a new and fresh perspective to the “make and take” concept. It was during her stint teaching furniture refinishing workshops at the craft store that the idea came to her. “The classes were extremely popular and people loved coming, but it seemed like there was a real need for people to have a place where they could get together with their friends and spend an afternoon or evening painting or building something and there wasn’t anything quite like this around.” Since she was renting space on an as needed basis at the craft store, which wasn’t open during …

The Six Box, care packages for Military Spouses

Published by Sonia Garza

Military spouses are the ones who take care of others, but who is there to take care of them? This was the question that prompted Alana Le and Megan Casper to create The Six Box, a unique monthly subscription care package sent to the military spouses holding up the fort back at home. They come from unlikely backgrounds, one from Florida, one from Seattle, but united in the military community and their passion to bring comfort to military spouses. Both stationed at JBLM, they met at a farewell party back in 2014 and it was a meeting over coffee in February 2016 that sparked their business idea. As military spouses they knew the never ending responsibility of running the house, but wondered if there was a way to give back to those women who gave their all. The Six Box name was inspired by the common military phrase “Got your six”, which means “Got your back”. If you’re a military spouse, then you know how difficult life can be. Some may be 3,000+ miles from …

MILLIE…Helping Military Families with their Moves

Published by Sonia Garza

Military families know all to well the stress associated with a PCS (permanent change of station) move. Logistics include far more than packing up a house, which is stressful in itself. Many times, it is the military spouse that burdens the responsibility of not only organizing the move, but researching the new location with the hopes of finding a community and neighborhood to plant temporary roots. Until now, the popular and necessary method of finding such a neighborhood to live has been word of mouth and relying on friends or friends of friends to vouch for an area. Add searching for schools and buying/renting homes site unseen within reasonable driving distance from the base and you have a very stressed out move…that is until recently. Step in MILLIE, the brainchild of Amy Shick and Lauren Rothlisberger. “MILLIE is an attempt to change the way military families PCS,” said Amy. “Traditionally, military moves us and you’re left to figure out the rest.” MILLIE encompasses Scouts, the link between finding a house online and one in person …

On a Mission of Connexion

Published by Sonia Garza

Spouse Connexion was born out of a desire to inspire and connect military spouses everywhere! We provide an online magazine style platform, designed specifically for modern military spouses to come learn, grow and inspire deeper connections with each other and those in their communities. It was back in 2014 that I set out on a mission to connect military spouses. We were at Fort Bragg for the second time and I was inspired by all the women of Milspo Project. After talking with numerous military spouses, I realized that there was no centralized place for military spouses to learn more about each other and to get connected to their communities. I had so many ideas and put my pen to paper to make the ideas a reality. In September of 2016 I won a trip to Milspo Project’s annual Embark event for military spouse entrepreneurs and it was there that I felt the calling to do what my heart desired. I talked to some amazing spouses doing amazing things to forward the military spouse life. …

Party Time: Spouse Connexion Launches

Published by Sonia Garza

Saturday, November 5, 2016, was a BIG day for Spouse Connexion as we introduced ourselves to the world and more specifically, the military spouse community. Along with 20 old friends and new, we gathered at a local restaurant to cheer and celebrate. It sure did feel like a birthday party…and in all actually, it really was. It was the birth of “my 3rd baby”. Haha. It’s been a labor of love for the past 2+ years as I have collected feedback from military spouses everywhere, trying to identify our greatest needs. While Spouse Connexion will most certainly not fix every problem we military spouses face, it will be a place to feel understood and provide uplifting stories in our crazy unstable lifestyle. If you’re interested in learning about WHY I started Spouse Connexion, click here. Now, back to the party! The party colors were black, white and pink and since we ladies/moms rarely get a chance to dress up, guests were encouraged to dust off their little black cocktail dresses, get “all dolled up,” and …