Instant Teams Success Stories: Meet Liz
Military spouses bring a unique set of traits to a company. One is an eagerness to work and learn in a job that challenges them and allows them to continue to build their career.
Liz has that skill mastered. Her journey to finding remote work wasn’t easy. It featured rough patches and learning lessons along the way. But as a career-driven military spouse with plenty of persistence, patience and creativity, she found success. Today, she serves as the Director of Sales for Instant Teams.
A Snapshot of Liz
“How did you get here? What did you do to land this job?” Sixteen years ago, asking similar questions marked a turning point in Liz’s career as a new military spouse. She did the research and landed a federal job. Then, the move orders came. And she had to start all over again at another duty station location.
She wasted no time in finding new employment. Fast forward a year and a half later, and it was time to uproot yet again. This time, Liz got creative and developed a proposal for her employer. In it, she pitched how her role could continue to add value to the company and could be performed remotely.
The response? A big no. Thus, Liz was unemployed with three small children and embarking on a move across the country. When thinking about how she could fill the gap in employment, going back to school to earn a master’s degree seemed like the best choice, albeit a demanding one.
Then, something happened that she couldn’t have anticipated. Remember the employer she wrote a remote work proposal for? Six months later, they had a change of heart. She rejoined the team, remotely, and the role supported Liz and her family at three different duty station locations. As she started to outgrow her position, she sought out another remote role in which she served for four years. And that’s what led her to Instant Teams.
“I think spouses look at other spouses and say, ‘I want that. What am I doing wrong?’ What we don’t see is all the behind the scenes, and struggle, and the process they went through to get there and all the steps involved. […] I would not be where I am today without persistence, patience, networking and building relationships.”
Tapping into the Unique Value of Military Spouses
It’s no secret that military spouses like Liz are innovative community builders with a keen ability to harness their grit and resourcefulness to find success — no matter where the military takes them.
We know because we hear their stories every day:
I was working in a position I loved, but I was about to move. So I pitched my unique value proposition and how I could continue to deliver while working remotely. I created my own remote role.
I was having a difficult time finding something that worked for me. So I dug deep, continued building connections and networking, and it led me to a remote position I never even knew existed.
I wasn’t sure if it was possible for me to land remote work given my unique experience. So I made the decision to level up by going back to school and/or completing skills-based training.
These stories are our “why” for creating a successful model that allows companies to tap into the military-connected talent pool of individuals who can bring with them an immense amount of value. And they’ve also led us to create and deliver additional solutions for companies, like the telehealth solution for the U.S. Air Force.
But the work doesn’t stop there. Liz shared her recommendations for how individual states, in particular, can encourage more companies to leverage and support military spouses and the broader military-connected community.
“If states can commit to the mission to help military spouses be a protected class – as part of diversity and inclusion efforts – that would help. […] Also, I would love to see states, like North Carolina, push through legislation that extends a tax benefit to companies for bringing military spouses into their organization. It will help them see the value, and they will have an incentive to do so besides the ‘feel good’ part of it.”
In the end, finding remote work success doesn’t solely fall into the hands of military spouses. Yes, a good amount of work is required for their part, as Liz’s story proves. But it’s also up to decision makers to familiarize themselves with the challenges military spouses face, identify solutions and push for positive change, alongside companies like Instant Teams. Here’s to doing that with persistence, patience and creativity — together.
Are you ready to begin your Instant Teams journey and join our 100% remote workforce?
