Latest / Mrs. PIE / Mission Success: Empowering Veterans in Civilian Careers

Transcript

Mission Success: Empowering Veterans in Civilian Careers · Mrs. PIE

• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Thank you all right.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Good evening everybody, and welcome back to another Y'all.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: It's Tuesday.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: I haven't been here in a while.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: I missed y'all so much.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Crystal, I'm so glad to have you.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us today.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for having me.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: Shelly, this is going to be good.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: So I apologize on behalf of no, I'm not going to apologize.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Streamyard, get it together with Facebook.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: But for those of y'all be good, so I apologize.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: O I'm not gonna apologize together with facebook.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: B of y'all who are thinking can come watch us either.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: You can also watch us on linkedin and just remembe always see what's going.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: O that's what it is.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: But we, for everybody who's going to watch and hear and meet my friend Crystal, she's amazing.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: I just want to take a couple of minutes to just point out a couple of things for those of y'all who are watching.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Again, don't forget to like and share this video so we don't get kicked off the social media streets.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Make sure that you are following our channels, because we put out great content.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: And then I just want to take a minute to really introduce Crystal.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: First of all.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: She is amazing.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: She's a retired army veteran, so I wanna first, thank you for your service.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: She's a coach, she's a motivator, she's a mentor.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: She's in the AKA sorority, so shout out to y'all.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: But really I wanna talk about her testimony and the power of resilience.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: She's a proud mom, she's a professional.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: I wanna talk about her journey and just get some advice and insight about overcoming challenges, and we talk a lot about how do you overcome challenges and reach greatness and all those things, but we're actually going to talk to someone who's experienced some of this.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: So good evening to the Dumping Ground podcast.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Shout out.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much, makisha, for coming on.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: This is a podcast watching a podcast, which is awesome.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: Good evening, tracy.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: And also, I always forget, so there are people we have a lot of people who watch our replays, so shout out to y'all.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: We also have a lot of folks who listen to us on the.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: You know, on the podcast, the audio podcast reads later in the week.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: So hello everybody.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: On Audible, itunes, spotify, whatever, wherever you get your podcast, you can find us, so shout out to y'all too.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: So, crystal, um, you know I tried to like lay out some of some of your impressive resume, but tell us a little bit more about Crystal.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: She speaks and what you do.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: So thank you so much for the great introduction.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: Hello everywhere, everyone everywhere listening all over and watching.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much again for the opportunity to be here.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: So, as you mentioned, just the challenge of transition.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: So when I transitioned from the army, I faced the challenges when it came to finding employment and getting connected for my service connected disabilities and so, essentially, I became the person that I needed.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: I needed a meet during that timeframe, and I know that there are many others of me out there that also need someone to guide them through the process and so they don't have to go through the hiccups and take the long road that I took to get things going.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: I decided that I wanted to work with women and veterans to empower them to their next level careers and their next level of life, and so what that looks like is me working with you know just just different people and where they are, seeing where they are and helping them to be more confident and understanding how to translate their skills that they have so that they can get access to the federal positions that they want.
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: Because, as we know, that can be a beast of a process, and so it can be intimidating, and I've heard others say not only is the federal process intimidating, but also getting connected to your veterans resources is also intimidating.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: And so people will say, no, I don't qualify and I didn't deploy, and these catastrophic things didn't happen to me.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: And yes, those things do happen and we can clearly say, yes, those individuals are eligible for it.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: But there are a lot of us that have experienced a lot of things in our service that also make us qualified to receive benefits, and so I want to stop.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: I want all of us to stop leaving that tax free money on the table, and so I'm here to help have that conversation and coach through the process, so that you can show up in the workplace and get what you want, but also get connected to those resources.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, that's my.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: That's a brief intro.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: I love that.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: I love that and also, tracy, you know, yeah, definitely thanking you for your service as well.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: I'm in an Air Force family myself and I love the point that you make, though, about kind of simplifying the process, because it is, it is.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: It is crazy, it is very confusing, especially if you're, if you're transitioning and if you've been in the fort, one of the forces serving in some capacity.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: Maybe you're thinking about you know, leaving that, that employer, the government employer, and you're coming into the private sector.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: But even folks you are, maybe you're in the public sector and you want to move into one of these types of roles.
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: This is kind of where crystal can help you.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: So for those, um, maybe you've been a military spouse and you you you weren't working during deployment, but now you want to go in, this is still a great way for you to get the information.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: So, um, so can you tell us like a little bit more about, maybe, some of the services that you offer and what?
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: What does that look like for someone who is like, listen, I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know what I'm about to?
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: do so.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: That's the importance of having conversations.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: So I do offer master classes, and so they happen monthly at various times, and so, um, we focus on different parts of that process, and so if I'm not doing one of those masterclasses, or even after I complete the masterclass, then I do a one-on-one call, and that's the time for me to get to know you better, what it is that you're looking for and what you need, and so I help you tease out that what you think is next.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: So I'm listening to you to hear what it is that you need and what you want, and then I'm sharing with you how we can get you there.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: And so then that's your opportunity to possibly join me on the journey to your next level career or getting connected to those resources.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: And, you know, sometimes it's even just your next level of life, because, of course, we know that if the money is in order when it comes to employment and when it's in order when it comes to those veterans resources, then we can do a whole lot of things.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: We get a lot of freedom to do a lot of things that we want to.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: So, um, yeah, it's, it's, it's a great process, but just having that conversation and getting connected.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: And then you know, once I have, um, whoever it is, the size, they're going to join me on the journey.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: Then I take them through a process where there's some training but there's also some coaching, but I still keep it and, like you said, that very palatable size.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: You're able to digest what it is that I'm talking about.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: I'm not trying to make it like it's rocket science, but I want to make sure that you understand exactly what I say.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: And so what I've been told is that I have the gift to be able to break things down that are pretty complex into very simple, easy to understand.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: So I've been told it's a crystal effect, I've been told it's crystal clear, and so I make sure that they say I don't know how you do it, but what you just told me makes so much sense.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: So just really walking through that process and hearing that, I feel so much more confident.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: And you know, although I would typically avoid USA jobs, or I would typically avoid Veterans Affairs, I'm more confident and more enthusiastic about going forward and getting connected to what's out there for me.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: So so the questions are coming up.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: I've been super focused on my future.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: I need to schedule time with you.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: What's the best way for people to reach us at crystal?
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: She speakscom.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I will.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: I'm on social media platforms that crystal she speaks across all social media platforms and so you can definitely book a call with me on Calendly.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: It's definitely in my bio my link on Instagram, and you can also DM me on any of the other platforms and I will definitely connect with you and set up a call.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: So, and y'all, y'all need to reach her.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: Her information's in the notes you can always find Crystal.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: So I was, I was, as you were, talking about the, the simplicity of the information, and also, again, I want to call out, especially for those of y'all who are within the Prairie Deck family and you're trying to figure out your next step, and you really need just someone who has been through the process.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: I'm not, I'm talking about, like, not the people on LinkedIn who say they're experts in transitioning military folks, but they, they have no, they have no, they haven't been there.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: I mean, like someone who's actually been through the process, that this is something, that this is someone and something that you should do.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: What, what do you?
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: What would you say is maybe one of the challenges or obstacles that you, you know you're hearing from your clients, and what makes it so complicated?
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Or, or, and what's an example of something that has worked?
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: really well.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: Okay, so one of the things is first getting that resume together, and so I know, I know that could be something.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: But guess what, once it's done, that tedious thing that you spent time getting together, you can just keep using over and over again.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: So I have a different process than what I hear often.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: A lot of times I hear, oh, you need to tweak it and tailor it to every single announcement.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: I can tell you, while you're doing that, you might've submitted five to my 100 resumes, and so there's a reason why you're only submitting five and I've already submitted a hundred.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: And so that's a part of that coaching.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: Like, let me show you the way to make it look like it's always been tailored to each one of those announcements, but it hasn't actually been tailored to each one of those announcements.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: So that's one of the things.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: Another thing is apply more, because I've heard, oh yeah, I've applied and I'm not getting anything.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: And then I say, okay, well, how many applications have you submitted?
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: And so I can hear the resounding five and I'm like, okay, do you know how many people are out there applying for positions and not really understanding how to use your veterans hiring preferences and that there are also hiring preferences available to those that are not veterans, but a lot of people don't know they're out there, and so you're competing with the general public population for these positions.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: And so how do we do things to leverage what we have, to set us apart and give us a better opportunity to get in the door?
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: And so those are some of the things that I hear repetitively when it comes to the benefits, always saying nothing's wrong with me.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: Oh, nothing's wrong with me, and I'm like, oh okay.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: Well, as a person who has served in various capacities of leadership in the military transition units, I can definitely tell you that there's something wrong with you.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: There are things that we typically would not believe to claim, because one of the things is depending on when you came up in the service.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: We had a habit of I don't want to go to sick call, I don't want to go to the doctor because I don't want to be separated, or I don't want to go to the doctor because I don't want to be separated, or I don't want to come up on the list as being a dirtbag or something like that.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: I don't want anybody to look down on me.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: But the point is, you served and things happen to you.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: You're not a machine, you are a person, and it's OK for you to be vulnerable in that space and really take care of yourself, and so, even though you may not have the medical appointments or documentation to back you up, let's have a conversation on how we get.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: We need to get to give you the best outcome.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: So those are the few things that I've heard that are repetitive between both of those arenas.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: The other thing is not knowing what you wanted, like thinking that because I was a cook in the army or cook in the air force, that's what I have to do, no matter what.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: No, you have so many other skills that you are not, you're not tapping into and that you can bring to any organization and they would be happy to have you.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: So let's talk about what are these other skills that you may overlook because you just feel like I just had to do it.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: We've done a whole lot of things that most populations don't have to do, so no matter what job the military puts us in, we have to figure it out and get it done, whether they've given us the direct training for it or not, and so that makes you a perfect candidate to go into a position Because, guess what?
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: They're going to train you anyway to the way their department or agency works.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: So as long as we have some skill sets that we can bring you in with, let's talk about how we get you plugged in.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: I was just going to ask you about transferable skills.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit more about some of the transferable skills that you're using in the military that you can use?
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: outside.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: So some of the things okay, we definitely know that we're communicators because you have to be able to get information across, and so either you're receiving that information because you're in a leadership role or you're passing it down to a peer or coworker.
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: You're passing it down to a support because we have to be able to move things about through various parts of our military career.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: So communication is a big factor that people downplay, or we see it as a soft skill.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: Well, just a soft skill does not mean that it's not going to get you paid because trust and believe.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: Um, I started out in recruiting early on in my career.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: So you know, yes, I was in the army, I started out as a medic and then I recruited myself because of the skill sets that I have and I commissioned and became a medical service corps officer and took those same skills over into various roles in the private sector as well as in the government.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: And so some of the other things are like how we're managing different things, how we are handling processes and putting information in systems, how we're strategizing.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: But we don't recognize that we're strategizing things.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: We just feel like it's just what we do, it's just simple and it's common knowledge to everyone.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: I got a secret.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: It's not so common knowledge.
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: Everyone does not know how to do what you're doing.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: So, and of course we're dependable.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: You know that we're going to show up.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: And the thing is, when that freedom that we have now on the outside of that we did not have in the service.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: We're still showing up.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: When other people are like, oh no, I'm calling in or I'm not going today, and we feel like we feel guilty, we're like, oh no, but we're still showing up and we're making sure that we're where we need to be, and then some.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: So we are great, dependable, reliable workers, um, but at the same time we don't want anybody to work over workers just because they know that we were military and so understanding that you're in a different capacity and you have a voice and you can speak up for yourself.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: And so those are some of the things that we talk about and that's how we work through, like, um, like again, even just working on the computer, people think it's such a simple task or simple habit.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: Oh, everyone does it.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: No, everyone does not.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: That's how do we get the connection between you.
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: You were done with the computer in this supply setting, but we can also use this in an administrative function.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: So how do we do that?
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: Let's talk about what you did.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: That's apples to apples, because maybe it has a different title, but you can just as easily transfer that same skill over to another agency and perform that work.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: So, making sure that they understand what they're bringing to the table, I love that I think again for any employer who might be watching or any managers that other employers that might be watching, there's a lot of companies that you know on certain holidays, especially in the US, you see the posts go up about how they love veterans.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: That's all you see, but they don't actually have a veterans program.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: I know what I'm saying because I know a lot of y'all.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: So that point about you know, really considering hiring the veteran task force or you know, veterans and military spouses, again you know, into your workforce and that is really important that there is a, there is a, I would say, a cause to be made and is justifiable that these are incredibly talented people who have a lot of skills.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: That you know, folks who didn't serve, don't have, they didn't have, they didn't have to learn strategy, they know they don't.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: They know how to complete a task but they never understood how to build a strategy or, you know, really collaborate across different groups and in sometimes very, very extreme conditions.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: So the conditioning that comes with hiring a veteran or a military spouse is just very, very different.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: So for those of y'all who are in the corporate spaces especially, and you're thinking about, you know, should I or shouldn't I, you know, please consider hiring.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: You know the veteran task force.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: I just want to throw that out because I see these posts all the time.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: You know that soon as the holidays come around, you know they're the first one to have something up, but they're not actually hiring the talent.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: So you know that case that you made is a really, really strong one.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: So I want to talk to you about resilience and and how you know.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: So Crystal is like me.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: She's doing, she manages many things and it looks very easy.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: But I don't know if it's because we're not a condition to do it or we just make it work.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: But I wanted to get your take and see if you could give some advice on on resilience.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: And how do you, how do you keep yourself sane with all the different things you know, just trying to empower other people?
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: How do you keep sane with?
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: all the things that you're doing well.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: One of the things is I know that you will always get on you'll, that time will pass, so at some point you'll get on the other side of it.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: So I remember when the army so the military always tells us that as long as we're doing the right thing and we're staying out of trouble and we're progressing along, when that was a thing of the 20 year retirement, we could stay for 20 years.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: Now my original goal was only to do four years and be out, and I really only wanted to do two years.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: But most of those jobs that were two years weren't interesting to me, so I took a four-year job.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: But then I realized I was doing well and I was fast tracking and there were so many different things that I can bring along with me that I decided to stay around.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: So when the services had to downsize, I was one of those individuals that was caught up in it.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: With that same exact application, I was also selected to go to school fully funded, so something about it.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: I'm just like okay.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: And then I was getting my first look at promotion, fortunately for me that I do have an early retirement, so I was able to retire.
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: That was not the case with everyone, but it was four and a half years earlier than I planned.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: So initially, when I separated, you know, I knew that I would have another year or two, another one or two promotions before I retired, and so I depended on that.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: But that didn't work out that way.
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: So I worked some private sector positions, you know.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: I used some credit cards and the.
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: You know the government went into a hiring freeze and so I transitioned.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: So right before my birthday I received my first job offer with the federal government.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: So again, it's that resiliency, like you said, knowing that you will get on the other side of it.
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: So you have to keep moving.
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: Now, had I just sat there and salt and, oh, this didn't work out then, okay, there's no telling where I would be at this point, but I can tell you that it wouldn't be reaching a senior level civil servant position, um, and so, no, I'm not an air force, um, I'm not air forcing uniform, but I've served as an air force civilian civil servant.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: So, but I wouldn't have made that, I also would not be the CEO of my own company.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: So it definitely means it is definitely required of you to keep moving for the things to start connecting to you.
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: If you're sitting, still, nothing's going to connect to you.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: If it falls in your lap, it's likely not going to last very long because you're not going to take care of it, and so we already know people.
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: We see the stories all the time about people that win the lottery and then they're in a better condition than they ever were before they ever won the lottery.
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: So it's definitely take a break.
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: You can definitely take a breather, take some, take a moment.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: I'm a big proponent of working out.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: That's one of the things that's really been a foundation in my life, and so I really attribute, like going to college and joining the military to my fitness background.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: So I ran track.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: I went on a full scholarship, so that's how I got my get my downloads.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: When I go out for a run, that's my time to myself.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: I also get to get different things, and things are popping in my head constantly.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: So I'm running and I'm typing on my phone, writing notes to myself, like, oh, and this is what else I wanted to say and this is what else is going on, or I might stop and do a video or a post or something like that, but the thing is when you start to move, that's when the information will start to come down.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: That's when you will start to get connected to those you need to get connected to, because people are seeing you and they know, and so you don't feel like it sometimes, but you have to keep going.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: The only way it does not work is if you quit.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: That's powerful.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna bring up this comment from tracy.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: She said I did military intelligence that that does not transfer.
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: I struggled, starting uh entry level and she worked her way up so that that is also um to a point, to the point of resiliency.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: Sometimes you have to.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: You have to, you know, take a different path, but it's still information, it's still skill sets, there's still some things that you pick up while you're in that particular role, that you're building on and and then you're taking that into the next um.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: I wonder if you could have, um, just give some words of advice to maybe some of the folks that are transitioning but they're having a really tough time finding or landing their next.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: You know positions and just see if we can kind of give any kind of advice to those people who are really struggling right now.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm going to say, mrs Pye, because you know I like that I just want to say, just like you mentioned, the corporations, really a space for us and taking advantage of what they have in front of them.
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: Because I will tell you this is really funny to me.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: First of all, when I was, when I was a junior in college, I actually had someone offer me a position because the voicemail that I left on my father's answer machine for his business, he was a plumber, he had a plumbing company, and so they offered me a position and I hadn't even graduated school for sixty five thousand dollars a year, and so they offered me a position and I hadn't even graduated school, for $65,000 a year.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: Now I, yeah, I graduate college.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: I had a one of those fortune 500 companies also want to make me a junior consultant and my aunt's like Nope, she's going back to school.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: But they were all offering that $65,000, $70,000 range.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: I hadn't finished school.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: So, fast forward.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: I finished school, have a master's, have a bachelor's, been commissioned officer being a senior um, been an enlisted uh, non-commissioned officer in the military, and I get out and you want to know what they offer me?
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: No, we do it for you, it's for veterans and blah, blah blah.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: Shift work as a security guard what?
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: Yes?
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: So please do not do us like that, like there is so much more that we bring to the table and I'm not downplaying anybody that goes into that for work.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: Yes, there's something for everyone.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: But please look at the table and I'm not downplaying anybody that goes into that type of work.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: There's something for everyone.
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: But please look at the resumes and see what people are bringing to the table and have conversations and really make sure that something aligns with you.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: I was.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: There's nothing that aligned with you, know, aligned with that for me.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: So there definitely is an opportunity for us once to get connected to those resources with the corporations.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: Um, please do the right thing by your veterans and say, if you are offering something for us, offer us something legitimate and don't just bring us in the door to say let me have you run a cash register so that I can say I hired a veteran.
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: Like, we don't want to be your token to your organization.
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: We really want to add value to your organization and there's a lot of things you're missing out on when you're not tapping into that talent.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: So you definitely want to make sure that, um, that is one of the things.
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: And then, on the other side of it, I've met with so many women veterans for sure that are underpaid, and so I'm talking to them and I'm learning that they're making these um low hourly wages and I'm like, whoa, how do we get here?
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: And they're like, well, I didn't think I qualified for anything else, and so I really encourage you to get connected to the community.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: Of course, you all know that I'm here, so I am absolutely 100% in increasing our presence in the marketplace, and I definitely want us to get better employment and show up better and really get connected to where we're having a better quality of life.
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: We're feeling better about ourselves when we're showing up, but, yeah, get connected to where we're having some a better quality of life.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: We're feeling better about ourselves when we're showing up, but, yeah, no, we bring way more to the table than we think we do, and it doesn't have to be.
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: I was a medic in the army or air force and I'm going to transfer to the same thing on the outside.
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: So what are we going to do?
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: So there are some career fields that really do align nicely with us.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: I'm very I love, like, um, the miscellaneous career field, because I like that control to be creative, and so I found that it gives me that creativity and I get to make it what I want to make it.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, there's some basics to the position, but a lot of times no one else is doing it.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: So you're the subject matter expert and so you make it what you need to make it, and make sure that they're the person that comes to you for they're coming to you for the answers to things and you're the person that's interpreting policy and you're also the one that is creating policy.
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: So there's a lot of different opportunities there for you to use your skill set.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: So Tracy is saying she got her bachelor's and master's while working, got promoted but had to launch out to really advance.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: So that's another thing.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: Can you touch on that really quickly about taking that leap?
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: So listen, listen, there's some folks who are like I'm just, I'm just comfortable where I am and I'm gonna expect it to come to me, but you really have to, you know, step out to launch or advance your career.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit about uh that.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: So my hat's off to tracy, because you're doing the right thing.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: And I do have people that I've spoken with.
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: Like one of my clients was telling me that we were I, you know, we had a strategy for her to get into her position.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: She wanted to change career fields, so what we use is what she has.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: So like, let's capitalize on what you had and make as much as we possibly can with what you have, and then let's strategize and navigate our way through other agencies and other positions to get where you want to go.
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: And so we were able to do that.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: But she was telling me that people would actually see her going to take interviews.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: They're like she's always taking interviews but she's not getting offers.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, she was actually getting a whole lot of offers.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: That was part of our strategy.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: Um, some of them she was taking and some of them she was not, but that was a part of the strategy for she, for her to get where she's going.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: And, at the end of the day, within that less than six month time frame well, I'll say three months, I'm just gonna call it what it is they saw her leaving and she was promoted over top of them, going to a different agency where they get their 10, 15, 20 years, and some of them were afraid to go upstairs.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: They were given offers to go to different departments within the same building and they're like well, I just don't know how that's going to be.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: If you're going to be afraid, then yeah, sit there and be complacent where you are, but you have to get out there and have the courage to say this is what I want, and so there's something better.
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: And if this doesn't work out for me, guess what?
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: You can always leave.
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: It's not like your own orders, you're not under someone else's control, like I can't just leave when I want to.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: You start strategizing to your next position and find a new job.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: Like.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: It's not really that like, and I've done it.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: I've shown up to places where they didn't want to rewrite the position description and they took the lazy route out.
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: And when I got there, I was like, yep, this is not what I signed up for and I've been out of there within less than 30 days, and I made sure to be prepared so that I knew the question was coming.
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: I was already ahead of it when they before they even put it like asked the question during the interview, and so I was told you know, thank you, that was great, because that was one of the things that I, that was one of our questions that we had, and so you killed it Like you answered that and got that off for our uh, you know, got that off the table and we were like, yes, this is definitely who we want.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: So you just have to know how to have those strategies and those conversations.
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, get out of your own way, cause people do pick themselves, like you know, hold themselves up.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they do.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: I appreciate, thank you, spencer, for that.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: So yeah, they do, I appreciate.
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: Thank you, spencer for that.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: So so I've got a few more minutes with you and I wanted to ask you for the folks who are not veterans or military spouses.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: You still work with folks who are just general public, right?
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: Absolutely yes.
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: So I know that people still that whole federal thing is like yeah, yes, so we were always, so that's a good government job you want to get so and the question is, how do you get that?
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: Good girl, yes, yeah, so no, definitely I will work with non-veterans and non-spouses as well.
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: Yes, all right, so y'all don't forget.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: You can find her crystal.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: She speaks all over social media.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: That is her handle.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: You can also find her on the linkedin streets crystal crystals on there as well.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: Um, but before we go I wanted to see if there's anything else that you wanted to share that we might have missed.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: Oh, spencer says keyword preparation.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: The process takes time.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: Bingo, absolutely.
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: You have to be patient, for sure.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: Well, the only other thing I do have you asked about school.
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: So I have my second book that I published, and so it is a six figure federal career, the blueprint to landing your dream job.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: So this is coming out and I'm taking pre-orders, for sure.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: So that's all over my social media as well, and so for those of you that haven't got connected with me yet or you're just not ready, you can get connected to the book first and then come on back and let's talk about your strategy.
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: And you know just, I understand we have to build this relationship.
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: I understand we gotta take it slow before we commit.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: Yes, oh, my gosh, this was so good.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: I'm so grateful for your time.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for doing this.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: I know there's a lot of people who needed this advice and encouragement and, again, like I, I try not to forget that there are people who listen.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: Um, for those of y'all who listen to the audio version, come watch the video so you can see my beautiful friend.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: Get some more notes so you can see the book.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: But again, just reach out, crystal.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: She Speaks, whether you're a veteran or a military spouse or you're in the general public that she's available to help you into your next career.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: I am so grateful.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: Thank you, crystal, so much for doing this, and we'll tell these people deuces.
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: We'll hang out in the back room while they go have supper Dinner.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: Bye.