Editor’s Note: Give us your lawyers, your accountants, your massage therapists. Give use your teachers, your engineers, your real estate agents.
NextGen MilSpouse is going beyond traditional career tips and tricks for military spouses! We share the real stories of working military spouses (just like you!) and their professional success stories on every Wednesday.
Name: Kayla Roof
Years as a military spouse: 9
Tell us your job title/profession:
Business Advisor for ambitious military spouses. I help military spouses create purpose driven businesses that allow them to work from any duty station.
Is this full-time, part-time, hourly, contract or freelance work?
Full Time
How long have you been working in this career field?
I have been a marketing and business consultant for 12 years but recently, I’ve switched my focus from serving established business owners to helping aspiring military spouse entrepreneurs.
Do you work in an office, telecommute from home (or Starbucks), or a little bit of both?
Technically I work from home, but sometimes from the local coffee shop and lately, from the library where I can get total peace and quiet.
How did you get this position? Was it a resume, referral, job fair? Spill your magic.
I created it! I had been working in television for the last 8 years as a marketing consultant for local and national brands. I worked for most of the major networks, CBS, FOX, NBC, CW and MyTV, moving from station to station with each PCS and starting over every time with new bosses, new pay and new clients.
In 2012, I was pregnant with my first son and we had another deployment and PCS looming. Trying to balance a stressful job, a newborn and deployment was not something I was looking forward to.
So, I quit.
I started my first business, a marketing firm, helping local businesses with their strategic planning and advertising placement. I grew this business over the last 3 years and it’s been amazing.
Then, this year, I decided to switch my focus from working with established businesses to helping aspiring military spouse entrepreneurs create PCS Proof businesses and launched KaylaRoof.com.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced while trying to maintain a career while living the military lifestyle?
Before starting my own business, I worked at television stations and had to start over at a new station every time we moved.
Even though there was always a TV station at each duty station, I had to interview for the job, negotiate pay and start at the bottom every time.
After doing this 3 times in 7 years, I knew something had to change, which is why I started my own business. Now, the biggest challenge I face is how to make sure I pre-plan all of my blog content and digital product launches around my PCS dates.
Tell us one thing you love about your job:
I love helping other military spouses take ideas and turn them into profitable companies that allow them to be work-at-home moms, dads, spouses and flourishing entrepreneurs.
Share your best life-hack for saving time or sanity during the work week: Batching.
I do all “like-related” tasks at once. I do laundry all on the same day, I do all of my social media posting on another day and I do whatever I dislike the most, the first thing in the morning!
Do you and your spouse or partner split household tasks? How do you do it?
Absolutely. It’s a lot easier now that we’re on shore duty. I still do most of the cooking but we take turns cleaning up after dinner and getting all the toys and house tidied up before bed.
If you have children, how do you and your spouse or partner split parenting responsibilities?
My husband always does bath time for our two little ones. We then split up the bedtime routine – he takes one and I take the other.
Being a work-at-home mom, it’s always a challenge to try and get everything that needs to be done during nap time so that I can spend more time with the boys. I work A LOT at night after the kiddos are in bed. Trying to balance it all isn’t easy but it’s worth it.
Join Kayla on November 7 for her FREE class, “Create a 2nd Income For Your Military Family.” You can register for the class today. FYI: NextGen MilSpouse is an affiliate of the Work From Anywhere Business Academy.
Tell us one piece of tech you couldn’t live without: ScreenFlow
It’s how I do all of my online tutorials for my video training programs.
Favorite app for making the most of your day? Asana – my project management system
Must-have song on your productivity playlist? Anything T. Swift
What is your No. 1 tip for a military spouse on the hunt for a job?
Make your own job! You have gifts, talents and experiences that no one else on the planet shares. You can create your own business out of your skills and expertise. There are people out there that need what you have to offer.
