Image for Macho Spouse at the 2013 Military.com Spouse Summit –
Macho Spouse and Chris Pape are mentioned in Alice Swan's article, Tuning in to the Military Spouse Network, in which Alice covers lessons she learned at the 2013 Military.com Spouse Summit (April 11-12, 2013). Here is what Alice wrote:
Build a service out of your unique experience and skill: A great example is Chris Pape, male military spouse and founder of Macho Spouse (https://malemilspouse.com/). Chris was kind enough to talk with me about how he started Macho Spouse. Living in Columbia, SC, while his spouse is working on an ROTC assignment, Chris said he began to feel pretty isolated. He thought he was the only guy spouse out there looking for information and help. About two years ago, Chris began researching male military spouses on the web but found only two articles about guys manning the home fronts. One of the stories was written by Amy Bushatz who you may remember from my Spouse Summit blog: https://www.dcmilitaryfamlife.com/profiles/blogs/you-are-not-alone.
Chris emailed Amy, who helped introduce him to Wayne Perry, founder of Manning the Home front (https://www.dcmilitaryfamlife.com/profiles/blogs/the-outlook-for-mil...) – it was the Military Spouse network in action. A video producer for 15 years, Chris had been working in Arkansas for the Department of Education, creating instructional videos before the PCS to Columbia. “I didn't see any information sites out there for guys to help share lessons learned or how to find jobs,” Chris told me, “so I decided to use the skills I'd developed making the educational videos to create learning videos for male military spouses.” Chris's fledgling video series has grown into a full service site for male military spouses to connect, get information on employment, money tips or gain insights through the Male Spouse 101 tutorial.
Facing another PCS soon with his Air Force spouse to San Antonio, Chris is excited about the opportunities the move presents. “I'm building a business I can take with me,” he explained. And while Macho Spouse is his future, Chris feels it can also lead to other opportunities in the present. Chris is confident that the work he's done creating Macho Spouse will lead to video and film production work in Texas.
The entire article is a good read and you should check out the details of what Alice has to say in the following lessons she learned at the 2013 Military.com Spouse Summit:
Lesson 3: No matter which uniform our spouse may wear, we all share the same concerns and unique challenges.
Lesson 4: Employment continues to be a priority concern for military spouses.
Lesson 5: Take advantage of great support programs.
At Macho Spouse, we help male military spouses find their niches by helping them find outlets to pour their passions into and contribute to surrounding communities and re-establish their identities. We encourage male military spouses to look into ways that they can possibly build services from their skills and experiences.
If you are interested in starting your own military spouse owned business, be sure to check out our video on Male Military Spouse Entrepreneurship. In the video, we talked with Rikki Winters, Operations Director of the Military Spouse Business Association (MSBA). At MSBA, they have already tackled the steepest part of the military spouse owned business learning curve, so you don't have to do it alone. They have also pioneered the military spouse peer-to-peer mentoring and community based solutions to overcoming the unique challenges of military spouse owned businesses. The Military Spouse Business Association (MSBA) is a terrific resource for military spouse entrepreneurs.
Alice Swan is a blogger at DCMilitary Family Life. You can read her full article: Tuning in to the Military Spouse Network, she posted on April 18, 2013 at 3:26pm.
The 2013 Military.com Spouse Summit was held April 11-12, 2013 in Vienna, Virginia.
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