A Beautiful Commitment to Military Spouses

I was walking through a parking lot yesterday to my car….a pretty average thing to be doing, but I stopped when I noticed something: a sticker on another car window that said, “Army Wife – the hardest job in the Army.”

I held my breath for a moment and said a silent prayer for my sweet friend, Jessica. Her husband was sent overseas earlier this week and I know it has been a brutal experience for her family. While her husband has always been a hero to her and their children – working as active duty military makes him a hero to the rest of us as well.

But, now she will be going it alone for many, many months.

She will work. And tuck in.

She will carpool and sit on the sidelines.

She will make dinners and comfort nightmares.

She will help with math homework and sit at parent-teacher conferences.

She will battle screen time and work through middle-school angst.

She will do Christmas and birthdays, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

She will fill both roles.

She will be the strong one – solo – while he is gone.

She is everything they need and more.

But, this is not an easy road.

I’m a mom. I do everything I can for them. But I’m not also worrying about my love protecting the freedom of the United States a world away.

I’m here – just juggling motherhood and being an entrepreneur.

On the other hand – military spouses, like Jessica, are going it alone.

Jessica, and millions of women (and men) like her, carry the weight of the entire family and day-to-day life while their spouses are gone. Now, since Jessica’s husband was called to duty from the reserves, they aren’t some of the many military families forced to relocate many times – which, as you can imagine, can make finding a job for the spouse at home a bit of a challenge.

In general Military spouses are a highly educated and very talented group, yet they face a 26 percent unemployment rate compared to their civilian counterparts. More than 75 percent of military spouses want or need work, yet face barriers to finding and maintaining employment due to frequent relocation of their active duty spouses.

This is where Walmart steps in.

You may already know of Walmart’s Veterans Welcome Home Commitment. They have made it their goal to prioritize veterans –  they want to hire 250,000 veterans by 2020. But now Walmart is making a new commitment, called Military Spouse Career Connection, which will give preferential hiring status to military spouses who apply for a job with Walmart or Sam’s Club beginning on November 12, 2018. Amazing, yes?

So spouses who have relocated to a new town and are seeking work know that there is a company where they are seen, heard and given work.

Candidates can visit walmartspouseswithamission.com to start the process, choosing a path for either part- or full-time hourly positions. No matter what, Walmart will be working ton understand each and every applicant and getting solid sense for the work they want to do.

I’m incredibly grateful for the commitment of the men and women of the military – and for the sacrifice their families make on a daily basis.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Walmart. The opinions and text are all mine.

I was walking through a parking lot yesterday to my car….a pretty average thing to be doing, but I stopped when I noticed something: a sticker on another car window that said, “Army Wife – the hardest job in the Army.”

I held my breath for a moment and said a silent prayer for my sweet friend, Jessica. Her husband was sent overseas earlier this week and I know it has been a brutal experience for her family. While her husband has always been a hero to her and their children – working as active duty military makes him a hero to the rest of us as well.

But, now she will be going it alone for many, many months.

She will work. And tuck in.

She will carpool and sit on the sidelines.

She will make dinners and comfort nightmares.

She will help with math homework and sit at parent-teacher conferences.

She will battle screen time and work through middle-school angst.

She will do Christmas and birthdays, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

She will fill both roles.

She will be the strong one – solo – while he is gone.

She is everything they need and more.

But, this is not an easy road.

I’m a mom. I do everything I can for them. But I’m not also worrying about my love protecting the freedom of the United States a world away.

I’m here – just juggling motherhood and being an entrepreneur.

On the other hand – military spouses, like Jessica, are going it alone.

Jessica, and millions of women (and men) like her, carry the weight of the entire family and day-to-day life while their spouses are gone. Now, since Jessica’s husband was called to duty from the reserves, they aren’t some of the many military families forced to relocate many times – which, as you can imagine, can make finding a job for the spouse at home a bit of a challenge.

In general Military spouses are a highly educated and very talented group, yet they face a 26 percent unemployment rate compared to their civilian counterparts. More than 75 percent of military spouses want or need work, yet face barriers to finding and maintaining employment due to frequent relocation of their active duty spouses.

This is where Walmart steps in.

You may already know of Walmart’s Veterans Welcome Home Commitment. They have made it their goal to prioritize veterans – they want to hire 250,000 veterans by 2020. But now Walmart is making a new commitment, called Military Spouse Career Connection, which will give preferential hiring status to military spouses who apply for a job with Walmart or Sam’s Club beginning on November 12, 2018. Amazing, yes?

So spouses who have relocated to a new town and are seeking work know that there is a company where they are seen, heard and given work.

Candidates can visit walmartspouseswithamission.com to start the process, choosing a path for either part- or full-time hourly positions. No matter what, Walmart will be working ton understand each and every applicant and getting solid sense for the work they want to do.

I’m incredibly grateful for the commitment of the men and women of the military – and for the sacrifice their families make on a daily basis.

Disclosure: I’m proud to be working with Walmart’s Veterans Welcome Home Commitment to share this program with you. As always, all thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone.