It has become normal practice to thank military personnel for their service, and rightly so. But one new company wants to extend it to families who can make that sacrifice.
Sheboygan resident Deanne Haber joined the U.S. Air Force after high school and began a journey that took her to 25 different cities in the United States and Latin America. During that time, she married a military man and had four children.
“My children have sacrificed a lot because of my ex-husband's military career,” she says, adding, “Both of my daughters attended four different high schools in four years. 's 11-year-old son has lived abroad more times than he has lived at home.
As she watched her children overcome those challenges, she reflected that without their children's support, her ex-husband would never have been as successful in his career.
“Military service impacts military children,” she says.
After getting divorced and moving back to Sheboygan, Haber said she had another important life experience during the pandemic. As she weathers the COVID-19 lockdown, her two older children have moved back home and shared a two-bedroom apartment with Harbor and her two younger children. lived in an apartment.
“We spent a lot of time talking, and much of it was centered around our moving and travel adventures as military families,” she said, adding, “We had so many experiences together. That's why we created the podcast to share our stories and encourage others to share theirs too. I decided to start. ”
The feedback they received gave them an idea for a new business that recognizes military children for their service to the country. Kids wearing combat boots have been born.
She works closely with her daughters, Vanessa Perez, an Air Force second lieutenant stationed at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, and Paige Perez, an Air Force ROTC cadet and senior at Florida State University in Tallahassee, to develop the business. I started. model. The first podcast she launched in June 2022, and in January 2023 they pitched the idea to her SCALE program (part of Sheboygan County's Seed Her Accelerator Program).
Their proposal qualified them for the Sheboygan County Entrepreneurship Program, where they participated in a 10-week accelerator program and were assigned to a SCORE mentor in southeastern Wisconsin. They then applied to the Governor's Business Plan Competition and received support from a financial advisor as finalists. Although they had no previous business experience, they took advantage of all this support.
Reflecting on his most valuable lessons, Haber said: Probably the best advice I received was from a book called “The Mom Test,” which repeated advice given by one of our accelerator class instructors. “They say startups don't starve, they drown.” You can never have too few options, too few leads, and too few ideas. There are too many. I feel overwhelmed. You do a little bit of everything. ”
She says these two things have helped her stay focused on short-term goals and be content with the knowledge that progress is progress, no matter how slow.
Still, great progress has been made. After spending almost three months planning his business, Haber and his daughters did extensive market research and defined what they wanted the business to be. Originally established as a for-profit company, we are currently working on establishing a not-for-profit sector.
The nonprofit sector offers the opportunity to apply for grants with the specific goal of developing a formal recognition program for children of military personnel. While they strive to earn their place, they continue to define the number of children they can impact.
They discovered that the market was huge. Research shows that there are more than 1.5 million children of active duty soldiers, National Guard and Reserve personnel in the United States, and 58% of them are between the ages of 6 and 18. Data also shows that many children experience regular wars. Displaced people can struggle with identity. Haber wants to help them by building a community.
During her elevator speech outlining her mission, she explained: We recognize that military children contribute to our country in unique ways. In addition to awards, military children receive additional support and networking opportunities. My team is committed to sharing resources and information that support our military child community. ”
The website www.kidsincombatboots.com, which we originally designed ourselves, has been updated and describes this in more detail. Participation is currently based on a subscription model, which generates the funds needed to provide support and produce the podcast. To date, season 1 of the podcast has been completed and season 2 is in production.
The first season featured Harbor and her daughters sharing their experiences with occasional guests. In Season 2, they hope to add more guests to attract listeners, shorten the podcast, and add affiliate partnerships to support their efforts. We have big plans for the future.
Haber plans to have an e-commerce section on his website where he will sell a variety of T-shirts and other merchandise. She also wants to obtain nonprofit status for that part of her business, make the for-profit part clear and profitable, and most importantly, impact the lives of military children. thinking about.
All of this is difficult to achieve. Harbor is a member of Sharon S. Richardson Community. He works full-time at a hospice, Vanessa works full-time, and Paige is a full-time student while working a part-time job. There is also the issue of lack of experience.
“Everything we do is a learning experience for us because we have never started a business before,” Haber said. “I wish someone had gifted me a box of tissues when I started down this path, because I have no idea how many tears I shed. Tears of joy, frustration, and stress. Tears that come from a startup. I was surprised by how much work goes into the customer discovery phase of .
While they continue to rely on SCORE and other mentors, they also rely on their own strengths.
“I’m good at looking at the view at 30,000 feet and making a plan to get there,” Haber says. “I'm not very good at understanding how a plan is executed or bringing the right support people to the table. Paige is very good at understanding how to take the necessary steps. Vanessa has become a great person to turn to for support as I have found her to be very innovative. We make a very good team although we regularly 'fire' each other. I am. ”
Tina Dettman Bielefeld is co-owner of DB Commercial Real Estate in Green Bay and former district director for SCORE of Wisconsin.
