I began my journey to being a Military Spouse Entrepreneur literally on the opposite of the world. As an Australian trained attorney I found myself living with my active duty military spouse in a US State where there was no path for me to be admitted to the Bar. After serving a District Attorney’s Office writing motions and case notes, and leading a large regional non profit as its Executive Director, we moved to another military base in the same state. Which, if you are following, means that I still couldn’t apply for admission to practice law.
What to do? The answer is, as they say, Semper Gumby (always flexible).
Adaptation.
Adaptation is a clear symptom that we are working with what we have to execute the mission.
In the landscape of military family life, as in the science world, adaptation is a survival mechanism.
In 2016, I founded Anna Blanch Rabe & Associates, a boutique communications consulting company serving law firms, and social impact companies with high quality communications strategy, advice and content. We are committed to Making Legalese Easy to Understand, to Share Meaningful Stories, and Empowering Communities and those who are building communications.
Anna Blanch Rabe & Associates empowers those who are building thriving communities through legal practice, public interest, and social enterprises by providing high quality communications advice, research, content, and products.
Our small, but growing, team of 5, are all military spouses distributed across 4 states. I am regularly blown away by their commitment, skills, and willingness to adapt. For us, remote work, clear communicating across time zones, and flexibility are assumed.
One of the integral tenets of Anna Blanch Rabe & Associates is our economic model. It is a “give half” model, which means that we strive to do 50% of our portfolio of work on a pro bono basis. Is this ambitious, yes. While growth has been slower because of this concerted decision. We have still been revenue generating since the very first month in operation. Our team members also volunteer for the pro bono work – we do not require it. On average after 6-12 months of working with us they begin to enquire about lending a hand on one of our current pro bono projects.
Military Spouse Entrepreneur + Military Veteran Entrepreneur
= Unique Perspective
My mission as a military spouse is to thrive through meaningful work. I wouldn’t be a military spouse if it wasn’t for my servicemember spouse and so supporting him is integral to how I prioritize my time. So, I bear the identity of military spouse entrepreneur proudly, even as I am also a veteran entrepreneur.
Non Profit Organization and Leadership
Like most of us I carry my experiences, my professional and my personal history, with me as I build a business that is doing work that I am proud to have my name on. Because, yes, I am so committed to our mission, I was willing to attach my name to the business.
Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart, but perhaps an even tougher calling is that of non-profit executive leader. It is a role I relished, one that also left me with some sleepless nights, and an immense sense of satisfaction.
We serve non-profits through our pro bono program, and through non profit organization and leadership resources for those who are seeking to diversify the revenue streams of non-profit or hybrid entities.
Our social impact and communications strategy and inbound marketing execution resources are often also relevant to our non-profit readers and clients.
Military Family and Military Spouse Resources
Military Family and Military Spouse concerns are the motivation for our Military Family Resources. While not the main focus on our work – I consider serving fellow military families to be part of the service that our family commits itself to. I am particularly focused on helping to improve outcomes in military spouse professional licensing, military spouse professional employment, military connected immigration, and military family education.
Personally, I am committed to leaving every community we find ourselves part of, as a consequence of my spouse’s military service, a better place. It is a way to implement all that I write about, speak about, and teach to my clients.
Building and Leading for Social Impact
One of the values both I, and Anna Blanch Rabe & Associates consider to be fundamental is that of the immense power of leveraging a range of revenue models to achieve substantive and significant social impact.
We also equip our clients with communications skills, and guide their strategy and execution.
We believe that you can create a business (no matter the revenue model) with radical generosity – and a commitment to social impact – woven into its very fabric.
We commit time and energy into creating resources for social impact leaders and organizations.
To learn more about Anna Blanch Rabe & Associates and our content creation services for law firms and social impact businesses, and how we serve the non-profit community through communications consulting, please contact us.
