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HELPING VETERANS MAKE THE TRANSITION

FROM THE FRONT LINES TO BUSINESS OWNERSHIP

PLUS:  BEST CITIES FOR VETERANS TO START A BUSINESS

Seda Goff

Director of Veteran Entrepreneurs at PenFed Credit Union

Suzie Mills

Air Force Veteran and Owner of Honest Soul Yoga

Making the transition to civilian life is one of the greatest challenges for veterans. For veteran entrepreneurs, it can be an even bigger challenge. Did you know that almost 50% of veterans returning from World War II started businesses compared to 4.5% today? One of the biggest challenges faced by veterans is accessing funds to start their businesses.

That’s why the PenFed Foundation has created the Veteran Entrepreneur Investment Program (VEIP). The program provides veteran-owned start-ups with seed capital to build and grow their businesses.

The second recipient of the investment is Honest Soul Yoga owner and Air Force veteran, Suzie Mills.  Suzie’s motivation to open a yoga studio began with the belief that yoga provided grounding, personal empowerment and physical restoration and wanted to share that gift with others. Initially opening in the basement of her home before moving to a dedicated space, the business is a military-friendly studio with over half of staff members being military or military spouses.

Topics for discussion:

·         the importance of supporting veteran owned businesses

·         study results on the the best cities for veteran entrepreneurs in America

·         Suzie’s journey from Air Force Vet to entrepreneur

For more information please visit: https://penfedfoundation.org/veip/

More About Seda Goff:

Seda is the Director of Veteran Entrepreneurs at PenFed Credit Union and leads the PenFed Foundation Veteran Entrepreneur Investment Program. She is committed to inspiring, educating, and connecting veterans with the right people and the right resources to be successful as entrepreneurs and innovators. Seda helps to bridge the gap of investment capital to military veteran entrepreneurs by providing development, funding and a platform to grow. Her work also focuses on connecting veteran entrepreneurs to support other veteran entrepreneurs through their successes.

Seda serves as City Leader for Bunker Labs and previously worked at Capitol Post in Alexandria, VA and founded Lighthouse Global Business to guide international entrepreneurs and US-based start-ups looking to build or expand their businesses. Seda is an Adjunct Professor at American University’s Kogod School of Business where she teaches Intro to Entrepreneurship and Business 1.0.

More About Suzie Mills

Suzie Mills, an Air Force veteran and owner of Honest Soul Yoga. Shortly after separating from the Air Force, Suzie launched her yoga studio business in February 2013. She felt that yoga provided grounding, personal empowerment and physical restoration and wanted to share that gift with others. Initially, Suzie was unable to receive approval to lease a commercial space. Determined to show a proof of concept for her business plan and to prove to her husband she could make money owning a yoga studio, Suzie made the bold decision to launch the business in her basement.  Suzie treated the basement launch as if it were a brick-and-mortar studio and developed a website, created a Google My Business Page, invested in a booking and payment tool and ordered Honest Soul t-shirts. When times were tough, Suzie relied on the determination and perseverance she developed in boot camp and while deployed in the military to move forward.

Initially, Suzie relied on Facebook to solicit friends and family. Friends she had not seen in years started showing up and supporting her budding business. These friends told their friends and soon Suzie banked her first 100 dollars in profit! Not long after, she was able to find a space for a dedicated studio. Her initial studio was right outside the Army’s Fort Belvoir, and she quickly found that over half of her clients were military or military spouses. Although the business is expanding, Suzie continues to be a military-friendly studio and she is proud that over half of her staff members are military or military spouses. The PenFed Foundation’s Veteran Entrepreneur Investment Program (VEIP) which has been helping Suzie with pitch coaching and connected her with other veteran entrepreneurs. VEIP provides veteran-owned start-ups with seed capital to build and grow their businesses, creates a robust network for veteran-owned businesses to succeed and enables the PenFed Foundation to perpetually re-invest returns in future veteran-owned businesses. Twenty five percent of recently-separated veterans plan to follow in Suzie’s footsteps and start a business, and the skills they learned in the military are well-suited to entrepreneurism.

Produced for PenFed Credit Union