Day 24- Sisters in Service with Melissa Washington

I have known Melissa for awhile now - maybe 3 years and since starting this podcast I knew I wanted her to be a guest on Sisters-in-Service. Listen in as we discuss, military service, veteran status for women, how the Women Veterans Alliance (WVA) started and her 3 tips for women leaving service.

Melissa A. Washington, a Navy Veteran is the CEO and Founder of Women Veterans Alliance. She is a disabled veteran small business owner, speaker, entrepreneur, author, and award winner who is connecting women veterans across the nation.

Melissa proudly served in the Navy and rather than shoulder the burden of a dual-service family, she decided to leave the military early to pursue a career while her husband spent 21 years on active duty in the United State Marine Corps.

Melissa was laid off from her job in 2009 due to a failing economy, marking the beginning of a nearly two-year journey and career reinvention that allowed her to use her experience to help others In 2011, she started Melissa Washington, Inc. which offers consulting services to businesses and individuals using LinkedIn for researching, recruiting, job seeking and collaborating.

Her journey, took a little detour for 4 years as she worked at LinkedIn, planning Global Corporate Meeting & Events. 2014 authored Get Back to Work: Smart & Savvy Real-World Strategies to Make Your Next Career Move.

In 2015 she got women veterans together to meet at a local Mexican restaurant where Women Veterans Alliance started! Not long after, partnered with James R. Morrison Photography for the "What Does a Woman Veteran Look Like?" Portrait Project. In 2018 Melissa founded Women Veterans Giving, Inc. In 2019 became an Advisor to AVOW (American Veteran Organization of Women)magazine. In May 2020 she was featured in VAntage Point, the Official Blog of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, in an article titled, "Melissa Washington: Breaking Barriers". She has been featured in Sacramento Business Journal as well as other magazines and newspapers. Sought out speaker as well.

Melissa is a go to person for media when it comes to women veterans. TV interviews on ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox. Including a segment on the Dr. Phil Show and Lifetime Channel, The Balancing Act. Radio includes Sirius XM, KFBK AM1530, iHeart, national podcasts, AM1170 and more. Her husband of 25 years, Jarrod is a retired Marine who served in combat in Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Melissa is the daughter of Bronze Star Army Vietnam War Veteran. Granddaughter of WWII Army Air Corp/Air Force Veteran 509th Bomb Squad AC who had 37 missions over Germany and received the Bronze Star & Air Medal with Oak Leaf Clusters.

https://www.womenveteransalliance.org https://linktr.ee/sistersinservice

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