Security Halt!
Welcome to Security Halt! Podcast, the show dedicated to Veterans, Active Duty Service Members, and First Responders. Hosted by retired Green Beret Deny Caballero, this podcast dives deep into the stories of resilience, triumph, and the unique challenges faced by those who serve.
Through powerful interviews and candid discussions, Security Halt! Podcast highlights vital resources, celebrates success stories, and offers actionable tools to navigate mental health, career transitions, and personal growth.
Join us as we stand shoulder-to-shoulder, proving that even after the mission changes, the call to serve and thrive never ends.
Security Halt!
From Military Spouse to CEO: How Michelle Penczak Built a Business Empowering Families
Military spouses are often the unsung heroes of service—balancing life, family, and identity while navigating constant change. But what happens when one turns that challenge into a thriving business?
In this empowering episode of Security Halt!, host Deny Caballero sits down with Michelle Penczak, military spouse, entrepreneur, and founder of Squared Away, a virtual assistant company that’s revolutionizing how military spouses find purpose and employment.
Michelle shares her inspiring journey—from facing the challenges of frequent moves and identity loss to launching a company that now supports hundreds of military spouses across the globe. The conversation dives into the power of community, leadership, business scaling, and redefining success for military families.
Whether you're a military spouse, veteran, or aspiring entrepreneur, this episode will leave you inspired to embrace change and lead with impact.
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Chapters
00:00 Understanding Family Transitions in the Military Community
05:57 Michelle's Journey: From Military Spouse to Entrepreneur
11:55 Scaling a Business: The Challenges of Leadership
18:09 Empowering Military Spouses: A Unique Talent Pool
23:01 The Birth of Squared Away
24:31 Challenges in Recruitment and Talent Management
27:34 The Importance of Team Dynamics
29:01 Building a Supportive Client Base
30:15 Collaboration Over Competition
32:18 Empowering Military Spouses
34:34 Finding Personal Fulfillment
36:28 Navigating Identity as a Military Spouse
39:05 The Journey of Entrepreneurship
43:32 Connecting with the Community
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LinkedIn: Deny Caballero
Follow Michelle on LinkedIn and check out Squared Away today!
LinkedIn: Michelle Penczak
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellepenczak/
Instagram: cmpencz
https://www.instagram.com/cmpencz/
Website: gosquaredaway.com
https://www.gosquaredaway.com/
Produced by Security Halt Media
Security Hot Podcast. Let's go the only podcast that's purpose-built from the ground up to support you Not just you, but the wider audience, everybody. Authentic, impactful and insightful conversations that serve a purpose to help you. And the quality has gone up. It's decent. It's hosted by me, danny Caballero, michelle Pensack welcome to Security Hot Podcast. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2:I'm pretty good. How are you?
Speaker 1:Doing well. I found you on LinkedIn and did a deep dive and realized that I had to have you on Talk about what you're doing for our spouses, specifically in our soft community, we see everybody addresses the transition for, like the service member, we never sit down and look at the family, the entire family transitions and, spoiler alert the person that's actually in charge of the family, for the finances and the everyday things that you know have to stay on track, it's the spouse, and that goes for every service member. In every capacity. Our spouses play a huge, vital role, but when it comes to transition, when it comes to us going into our next chapter, we only focus on the individual that served and not the family unit. So we neglect to address things like finances, where the family's actually going to. What's the next chapter? And what you're doing with your company is pretty frigging cool. So today, michelle, I want to not only dive into your story, but also figure out like how this world of squared away became a thing. So please tell us about yourself.
Speaker 2:Oh goodness, that's such a loaded question. No, it's. I started my military spouse journey 13 years ago, which seems wild now. I feel like it was just yesterday that I said I would never marry a Marine and I did. But I think I went into it very whimsically, with the oh, I'm literally Rosie the Riveter herself like very positive, very, you know, this is my community and embracing this new lifestyle because I did not come from a military family and I didn't have any exposure whatsoever. So I met my husband in uh at a wedding in Richmond, virginia, and I was like, sorry, I don't like Marines. Um, no judgment, that's just you know.
Speaker 2:I know I grew up down the road from Jacksonville, north Carolina, so I had a little bit of experience. But we got married. He was in flight school and we moved to Jacksonville, north Carolina, so right in my backyard. So I also went into the community with I can literally get a job anywhere. I've worked in DC as a personal assistant to a lobbyist, which means I can do all the things, and I started applying for jobs immediately. I literally did it all day, every day, and went on a few interviews. They would go great. And then they would ask me well, what brings you to Jacksonville, north Carolina? If you've ever been here, I assure you it's not the scenery. So then they would ask, okay, well, what does your husband do? And get really interested in the fact that he was an Osprey pilot yes, that sounds cool, let's focus on, let's bring it back. And then they would say, oh well, we're really looking for somebody, not temporary Three years is not temporary in my opinion and then it would inevitably be. We'll let you know. It was never me and I was like I kind of got ticked off. You'll see, there's a theme here and I was like I can't answer phones in a law firm. Why? So explain that to me. So I started looking for jobs online and this was remote before. Remote was cool. And so I started working for Zirtual, a virtual assistant company. It was a absolutely phenomenal experience and I worked with clients that I never would have imagined venture capitalists, people growing their own businesses, helping them scale and saying, hey, you might need to think about X, y and Z, so really just fostering that thought partnership with them and not just being a task steward. And I made it into a managerial level and I had a team of my own that I was supporting and kind of trying to teach the ropes. And then my life became a sad country song. If anybody ever wants to write a song about it, they're more than welcome to.
Speaker 2:But I was on my second deployment with my husband and I was pregnant with our first little boy. Three months and two weeks after he left I got an email saying the company had gone bankrupt. So I had a team of assistants. I had clients who were asking which way is up? What do I do with this? And um sorry, my dog wants to sit on my lap. Um sorry, my dog wants to sit on my lap. And I was a hot hormonal mess and I was just like, okay, what do I do? So I called one of my clients who's now a very, very dear friend and he was like just starting LLC, you can do it, like just keep doing your thing, but do it on your own. And I was terrified. I had no idea what I was doing. I was like please don't let the IRS out-capone me, I don't know what's going on. So I did it Step by step. I did it and my husband still deployed and I grew my client base from the six I had to 13 before I had my little boy in January.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:I had to 13 before I had my little boy in January. Wow, my husband likes a joke that I was literally getting an epidural putting up my out of office email. He's not far off on that one. But then I took two weeks off to become a new mom. Spoiler alert worst idea ever. Never do that. But when you're running your own business you really don't have a whole lot of options.
Speaker 1:Well, I know, we just had our first.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, I have all the insight, my friend.
Speaker 1:I haven't gotten a wink of sleep.
Speaker 2:You know what the best thing I ever heard was? You will sleep again.
Speaker 2:It might not be for a little bit, but you will sleep again, there's a light. So I took two weeks off. Sawyer, my oldest, was home with me and it was working. My clients were happy. I was in the middle of being a new mom and I was also not getting a whole lot of sleep at that point in time, but it was working. And then the bottom fell out because Sean came home and told me we were still in Jacksonville. Oh, by the way, the Marine Corps decided to send me to Hawaii in six months. Okay, I'm going to go.
Speaker 2:I literally went and cried in our closet for like an hour. I was like I have 13 clients, things are going well. Like holy crap, I have to pick up my entire life and go do this there. And I was like you know what, after I'd had my emotional breakdown, time zones are going to be the last freaking thing to beat me. So I got ticked off and I was like nope, absolutely not, I'm not going down because of hours. So I told my clients I was taking time off to move I didn't tell them where because I didn't want to spook them and moved to Hawaii.
Speaker 2:I took a week off to move to Hawaii. And it was me, my husband and my baby in the ends of the core at Kaneohe Bay. So I took the week off we still didn't have base housing yet and I was taking client calls in the bathroom while my kid was sleeping at 3 am. So it worked. I was like, oh my gosh, at this point I'm fully sponsored by every caffeine product on the market right now. But again, it worked. I worked from 3 o'clock in the morning, east Coast time or Hawaii time. I was off at noon and then I had the whole afternoon with my baby and we both went to bed with the chickens at that point and it worked. And I was like, holy crap, I just took my own business from North Carolina to Hawaii. I haven't had a mental breakdown, this works.
Speaker 2:So one of my clients, who is also my co-founder in Squared Away, called me one day and he was like I need you to clone yourself Sounds good in theory. Most people would be terrified. So what's your angle? And he was like my company's growing, I need you to grow too. And I was like, dude, I have, I have a one year old. I am, you know, existing on the most minimal amount of sleep possible right now. I don't know, I don't know how to be a CEO Like. That is not my jam. I'm the doer. Yes, yes.
Speaker 1:Yes, I want to. I want to pause on that, because that is something that so many of my close friends who are in the same space are saying, like how do I scale when I'm I'm the systems guy, I I know how to do the things.
Speaker 2:It's that next big, bold step, like holy shit it's like it goes against every grain in your being to do that, and that's something, honestly, I mean, I still struggle with it to this day. My team's like no, we can do this. And I'm like, oh, you know what, I got it, it's fine. And then they will like power, struggle me over something.
Speaker 1:They're like you don't need to do that. Yeah, so, but again, like being the doer, you think I have to make sure it's right. Well, if you get the right support and doing a greater good by saturating yourself and taking on everything that you realize on the backside no dummy, you have all these people to do the work, and that collaborative effort will be far better than you getting an hour of sleep thinking that you'll be able to do everything.
Speaker 2:Far better than you getting an hour of sleep, thinking that you'll be able to do everything? And plus, I think, something that I've seen just over the years every single one of our directors at Squared Away started as an assistant, so they've been empowered over the years to take tasks and make it their own, but still have the same outcome, which I always tell people we're in the business of building leaders, we're not in the business of building followers. So what do you think? Like they all know, don't come to Michelle and ask for permission. Ask her to talk you off a cliff, and that's basically everybody's role as CEO Keep your team on the road, don't let them fall off the cliff, but let them drive the car, and that is what makes our team feel more fulfilled and more empowered in their roles.
Speaker 2:That is awesome it took me a little while to kind of release the reins and I definitely still have my moments when I struggle with it. But I always come back to I'm doing me and them a disservice if I hold on to it Because I'm just going to get overwhelmed and frustrated and give it to them eventually and not the best attitude sometimes but if I give it to them now we can work out the kinks together and it's still theirs. Yeah, so it's been.
Speaker 1:It's been a learning experience when you got to the point where you started scaling and you looked at the demographics of who to go to, did you? And right now, like one of the biggest things that everybody that I reached out to for guidance and just know know how everybody says the same thing fiverr, get, go, get offshore support, get somebody in the philippines, get somebody in bangladesh.
Speaker 2:look at upwork and I'm like yeah, that $3 an hour is going to be no offense.
Speaker 1:No, but it's. It's. In this day and age, everybody like that's. You know money's an issue and you want to scale, you desperately want to continue growing what you're doing. I have to imagine it was was. Was that ever an option? Was that ever something that people suggested to you that find outside of the United States workers rather than our own community?
Speaker 2:I will say it hasn't been so much people suggesting to me in the beginning. It's been well, your competitors Squared Away's competitors are hiring thousands of people and their business valuation is millions and millions of dollars. Okay, that's great. They're a different type of support. But I actually had a conversation with somebody yesterday that nailed it on the head and he said you know the bigger companies with the higher valuations. He said you know the bigger companies with the higher valuations. They sound great in theory. They absolutely do.
Speaker 2:But there's nothing like the support of someone who is US based or a US person who not only feels empowered by you but also values the mission of what you're trying to do. Like I want to grow my company and I want to do X, y and Z. Absolutely, I can get behind that. Let's go. I have all the ideas. Most of my assistants are like that with clients. But if you're just saying schedule these things for me, what are you getting behind A calendar? Are you getting behind research, because chat, gpt got you all day long? But who is the person who is partnering with you to make you and your team successful? And I just haven't seen that and the people that I've spoken with haven't had that experience with offshore talent.
Speaker 1:Now the thing that I absolutely cannot tell you how many times you call AT&T for support or any other organization. It's a call center in India and it absolutely blows my mind Like, hey, I end up hanging up, this conversation is going nowhere.
Speaker 2:It goes nowhere. It's super frustrating, it's a waste of time and we've all been there. And if you have such a multitude of people, how often are they turning over? Because you have to go back and you have to retrain them to think like you, retrain them to anticipate your needs? How often are you doing that?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I mean it's to each their own. My end all be all on that is you get what you pay for.
Speaker 1:Yes, and did you know? Were you immediately looking at the service member spouse, the family? Was that your first like? Okay, I'm going to tap into my source within my community of talent, like I'm going to find these spouses. They're talented, they need something to do, they're looking for opportunities Like it's a no brainer. Did you have to like, go through and analyze different courses of action?
Speaker 2:Absolutely not. It was so ingrained to go directly with military spouses and I think a lot of that comes with just being very engaged with our military spouse community. One of my best friends was in Hawaii. She was literally having the exact same struggle I was. It was their first duty station. They'd just gotten married. Nobody wanted to hire her and she ended up working with Squared Away for three years and she was actually one of our very first assistants. But now she's like I never would have found a job. She put in so many applications. She was so frustrated I had multiple conversations over a bottle or two of wine.
Speaker 2:But military spouses are the underdogs that never get talked about. So you talk about veterans and active duty members and you know there's such a great skill, set of talent that is so overlooked. I don't care if somebody has a gap in their resume. If they have three kids. They've been to six duty stations and their spouse has been in the military for 20 years, all day long, all day long. Nobody's going to keep you organized like that person would ever, and that a lot of people don't think of it like that. They want to see the consistency and the resume and growth with companies. You can translate that to a military family. Every single day. Show me who's hiring right now. I put in an application at Starbucks. I did this, that and the other. It's all the time, all day, every day, and the only people, only companies, that are reaching out to military spouses are MLMs, and nobody's trying to sell shampoo and leggings anymore.
Speaker 1:No, and that's the thing To speak on. That. It's predatory. It's so predatory to the military community and it feels rewarding. Initially, you're, you're getting sales, you're bringing people in, but at the end of the day, like praying upon your own community and it's uh, yeah, it's. It's one of the worst things I've seen on posts. It's just, and you see them? That's all stickers on every vehicle.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, everybody's got a sticker. If you're sending me a message to my inbox, we cannot talk. Sorry, I know what you're trying to offer me.
Speaker 1:You don't understand, Michelle. These are premium leggings here.
Speaker 2:Security Hall brought you on to actually sell you on some new Lulu I can't tell you how many of those leggings that I owned and I won't ever admit it publicly, but I never sold them. I did buy quite a few, but it is, it's predatory, because you're preying on a very just I don't know what's the right word Desperate, desperate community, absolutely yeah, if you look at the pay scale, our military families are not wealthy by any means.
Speaker 1:And when you add kids to the mix and all the different things that you have to provide for your family, yeah, a spouse is looking for work. The days of single family income in the military are long past us, long gone, long gone, like no. And yes, it's not always a wife, sometimes it's a husband, sometimes it's the husband. That's the military spouse and he's trying to make ends meet as well and trying to bring in additional income. These families need people to champion them and be in their corner. And the one thing I've realized the stay at home spouse is your perfect virtual worker. There they are juggling the kids, yeah, sure, but let me tell you, they're keeping an entire, they're helping keep their service member on task on time and out the door, and they managed the entire household and the schedule for the family. When you go to the promotion board, that should be a factor to consider, but we don't highlight what that, what it takes to get that service member ready for the appointment.
Speaker 2:When it comes to the family because that's a domain that's unknown, that nobody factors in- and I think that you hit on such a good point the things that people think they know about a military family versus the things that actually happen in a military family. Most people probably don't know this because they're not on the spouse Facebook page or any post page. I see military families and it breaks my heart all the time. You have these younger enlisted families with a few kids sometimes not, but they have one salary and they're asking when the food bank opens. These are people serving our country and they're asking when the food bank is open. Like these are the things that absolutely gut me, because nobody talks about it, Nobody shares it. And again back to your point. You can't make it on a single income right now, Like families cannot, especially with child care the way it is right now as well. That is a whole different beast.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, In some places seventh group still don't have a child care center. And then there's wait lists, and then there's a whole bunch of red tape that other service members have to jump through to get their kids in the wait list in San Diego.
Speaker 2:When we were there. It was actually kind of comical. We got there in July of 2020. I had both of my boys on the wait list for four months before we ever got there. We got the phone calls for care being offered six months before we left San Diego. I was like, okay, that's great, but we have room for an infant. Okay, well, he's four now and also my oldest is now in second grade, so I think we're all settled in cdc. But that's the kind of thing like what are you doing for these families? Yeah, it's.
Speaker 2:It's just ridiculous in so many ways yeah, I could go all day long on, oh yeah yeah, when you first started.
Speaker 1:And how did that go? Who did you recruit? Was it locally in Hawaii or did you just start going through and looking at the Facebook groups all around?
Speaker 2:I honestly, the idea for Squared Away came about in March of 2017. I brought on my first person in July of 2017. And I literally just like threw everything I knew at her. But I was like, hey, I'm just looking for a part-time assistant. I posted in the Facebook group. I think I got so many replies. I think I got like over 150 people saying, hey, can I work with you? But I chose this one girl. She actually ended up becoming my first director of operations and I was like I'm probably going to terrify you by saying this, but our mission is we're going to employ as many military spouses as possible, and there's 300,000 unemployed ones right now. Let's go. And she just kind of looked at me like I would. I had two heads, but I was. I had that. Just that fire of this is not fair. How can we make it better? And we did. It was really. It was really hard in a lot of ways, but I would. I would not change one step.
Speaker 1:Let's dive into that. What were some of the sticking points where you first started this?
Speaker 2:Oh gosh, I feel like I could have a mile-long list. There were so many things that I was just like holy crap, this is a thing. A lot of it was figuring out the right talent, because, as much as I love military spouses, not everybody is suited for the right skill set. So we had to like narrow down the skill set and they became our four pillars of Squared Away.
Speaker 2:Proactivity I'm sorry, yes, it's all based around proactivity, so that's our base. Extreme attention to detail, which I mean. You're an assistant, you got to have detail, the ability to think outside the box. So Google cannot be your answer every single time. Chat GPT cannot be your answer every single time. Being a team player, so you have to look out for people around you, whether it's your clients, whether it's your team, whether it's you know another assistant.
Speaker 2:Just take care of people. That is always the goal. And then over communicate. If your kid is swinging around the ceiling fan and is snotty and your dog is running loose and you're just having a day, just tell somebody I'm having the most chaotic day of my life right now. We'll send pictures later, that kind of thing. And then tell your clients, like got a lot going on right now. I might be a little bit slow, but this will come.
Speaker 2:Keep people updated with what's going on, but always taking care of people, take care of everybody that you come in contact with, and I always thought all of that was ingrained in people. So we just anybody who was interested. In the beginning I was like, yes, you have a job. I felt like Oprah, you have a job, you have a job, you have a job. And then I was like holy crap, I just got some of like the most not okay talent. And then we had, you know, we had to watch our client retention, like how are we taking care of our clients, how are we keeping that feedback open and how do they feel like they're getting good support? So it was kind of a balancing act, like how do we fix our talent? And we eventually got to a really great place with our application. And, you know, everybody who comes in is just amazing. But that took some work because I'd never hired people before, I just wanted to be open.
Speaker 1:Your heart takes over. At that point it really leads away.
Speaker 2:not my brain, but that was such a learning curve because people problems innately like that's one of the hardest things to master, because people, people the most.
Speaker 1:Did you ever feel like you were more of a creative force and wanted to do the more of the abstract thinking or more of like? Did you find yourself needing, like that right hand man or woman to come in and be like, look like, I'm out of the box throwing ideas everywhere? I'm a creative, I want to paint. I need somebody who can bring structure, like? Did you find yourself in that that situation?
Speaker 2:I definitely had my moment, my moments. I definitely I feel like I'm more of an implementer than a creative. So, like my co-founder Shane, he's very much. I call him the good idea fairy Good ideas and I'm like, okay, but not right now. We're focused on this and and so I think implementing things slowly has been my biggest, I guess, flex when it comes to that. But I definitely have creative moments, but I wouldn't say it's my true talent. Yeah, the implementation has made more it's the other way around.
Speaker 2:I can't get away from that doer. I can't get away from being a doer.
Speaker 1:So Squarely comes into the picture. It's out and about. Do you feel that you were embraced and people loved the idea and instantly wanted to like partner and help promote the brand, or did you feel like it was more of a selling point?
Speaker 2:gosh. It was the first couple of clients that I brought on. They were very, very supportive, like I love this. This is great. We still have them as our clients, which is fantastic. They've been with us through the whole wild journey, but they loved our mission. They got on board with our mission first. Everything else just became icing, like I'm getting great support, I'm empowering a great company, I can't wait to tell people about you, which was fantastic. So we really grew in the beginning just because people were on board with our mission, because, trust me, they all helped us work out the kinks along the way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the type of support that I think is like you're willing to like do everything you can for your clients when they're just like we will, we will understand through the growing pains. Um, that's like the, the great, the greatest thing you could hope for. Um, but I have to imagine, like within, within the community, the military and veteran community, like, there's such big names like Spousely, did you find yourself being able to ally with any of these bigger brands to help promote you and like help champion your cause?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, one of one of my favorite stories is Liza Rodewald of Instant Teams. Instant teams she um, everybody always said, oh well, we, we can't go, uh, do that because instant teams does that. And I'm like we're doing very different things, we can help each other. So I guess people always thought we were like enemies for whatever reason, and I was like, okay, but we're like we can collaborate and it's been really awesome because Instant Teams and Squared Away has also partnered. So if we can't do something, I'm like you should probably go talk to Instant Teams, because this is something that they can handle. And then, the same way, they'll say oh no, this is like more personal support or more business growth. You need to go talk to Squ squared away. So it's been really great to kind of have that support when people think we're competing. I'm like in the military spouse world ain't nobody got time to be competing with other military spouses, we've just got to support each other.
Speaker 1:The greater mission needs to be supported, which is helping our, our, our military spouses find employment, and not only that, but be value added. Like that's the thing that people are. Nobody wants a handout, that's. That's a common misconception. Like our, our, our military community is strong. They're resilient, they want an opportunity to show their talent, to demonstrate that they can do something and not get out of the park. And I feel like there's a lot of programs out there that kind of.
Speaker 1:I don't think that that maybe they pamper too much or maybe they're soft, soft, gloved and they don't do like, oh, we'll bring you on, we'll do a seminar. I was like, motherfucker, I don't need a seminar, I already have these tools. Like a lot of these spouses, like they have accolades, they have degrees, they have jobs, like they were somebody before they married to somebody in the uniform, they have skill sets. They just need the opportunity and it's so. I mean I've met some incredible people that sacrificed their profession, whether it be a doctor, a lawyer, so they could be by the service member, so they can be there for their family.
Speaker 1:Cause guess what? Being at home and taking care of the children sometime is the most financially sound decision for these families, like it makes more sense. And then you have the understanding that, like someone's sacrificing a lot and if they can be of service and make money while they're at home, like that's a huge bonus. You give that person not just financial support the ability to earn a paycheck but you give them the ability to fulfill a dream. You give them the ability to be employed in something that they're excited about, and that's something we need more of. So we don't need less organizations or company like yours, we need more. There's just plenty of room.
Speaker 2:And it's been so interesting to watch too because, to your point, we have. I always tell people we are a team of teachers, nurses and bookkeepers.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a lot of our team is. I mean, they come from those professions. I'm like, holy crap, we have nurses working with us right now and they are the most attention to detail people that I've ever seen in my life. And I'm like if they were like, we have this one assistant. She was a nurse. She had to start every time they moved.
Speaker 2:She was like I'm tired of starting in a new ER every single time we move and having to get recertified just because I'm in a different state. And she was like it's really nice to grow and just literally open my laptop with a new Wi-Fi connection and be able to do the exact same thing and I haven't lost my place anywhere. And I was like that's it. I had a girl tell me probably a couple of years ago. She said you gave me back a piece of me that I didn't know was missing Because, as a military spouse, you get into the routine. I'm mom, I'm wife, I have to do all the things all the time, but what piece of my day is truly mine? Is it the 30 minutes I get in the evening after the kids go to bed and I'm listening to a true crime podcast?
Speaker 2:No, no, we need more than that Just saying, not speaking from personal experience that's a stereotype, michelle I mean hey, hey our female audience feels, feels very triggered right now hey, it's fine, because did you know, if you uh the phrase oh, you also listen to true crime is girl code for did we just become best friends, so what?
Speaker 1:is up with this.
Speaker 2:Ladies, like seriously, that's my husband is also terrified, so it's a completely normal reaction.
Speaker 1:It's just it's I'm just gonna relax. I'm gonna listen to the uh, the Dahmer files. Have you listened to that one?
Speaker 2:It's hey, that's a good one. I mean, like I'm going to relax and, just you know, solve a crime, no big deal, oh Lord. But that's it. Like you have to have more than that to feel fulfilled Absolutely. We're fulfilled as a spouse and a mom and friend, sister, whatever, but you need something that's just for you.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Everyone does. Absolutely. Community that understands that is so huge because a lot of people come in and we have to teach them that it's okay to be a military spouse, like no, you don't have to hide your kid in a meeting, like just make sure they're clothed, that kind of thing. If you have to leave because you have a homecoming, you have a deployment like take that time. And they're always like leave because you have a homecoming, you have a deployment, like take that time. And they're always like, is it okay? Like am I going to get fired? Like what's happening? It's so hard to get them to relax and truly be themselves because I mean, I'm sure you know military spouses hide that they're a military spouse. A lot of interviews, all the time I certainly do.
Speaker 1:I don't tell anybody I am. I am a proud Air Force military spouse. We joke about that all the time. I am a trophy husband now. These days I went from Green Beret to plus one. Okay.
Speaker 2:But do you have that Air Force spouse shirt? I do, I do.
Speaker 1:Half my heart is at Montgomery Air Force Base.
Speaker 2:My husband bought me a shirt that said USMCY for a time and I was like, what are you thinking? No, no.
Speaker 1:We talk about identity issues with the veteran so much because, let me tell you that is. That is a hard thing to overcome and it is vitally important. If you're listening to this, you have to address the identity issue. You have to. You are more than your uniform, the headgear you wear or the specialty tab that you have on your shoulder. You are a human being first. You owe it to yourself to explore that, and our spouses deserve the same thing.
Speaker 1:They are not part of the wing, they're not part of the squadron, they're not part of the frigging company or platoon. They are the individual person, and when you guys transition together as a team, as a family unit, they are also going to deal with that as well. But they've been dealing with identity issues for a while too. They're raising the little ones. They're taking care of everything for you. They're not just your plus one, they're not just your spouse. They're also a human being. They have a name and if you're listening to this and you haven't thanked your wife or husband, who is at home taking care of your family, do that today and understand that they also have to have an identity.
Speaker 1:What's that?
Speaker 2:Get them flowers or chocolate or you know, get them 30 minutes with a true crime podcast, her.
Speaker 1:My recommendation yeah, and I have to. I have to imagine that now, on this side of the journey. What's your identity now and does it feel like you finally have that anchored into, like I am Michelle fucking Penzac. I am the CEO of an amazing company.
Speaker 2:I really only use that phrase with my husband of an amazing company. I really only use that phrase with my husband. Shout out to Sean, who takes all the brunt of my spiciness. No, it's a different struggle, I think, because I'm a soft-tear spouse now because I've been around the block with the Marine Corps. I think it's a rule. You have to become that way. But I don't fit in with the moms who are home with their kids exactly. I also don't truly fit in all the time with the moms who are working because I'm building. So when they're done with their nine to five or whatever, they get to go home and I pick on one of my best friends. She's an audiologist and I'm like you stop looking at ears and you don't go home and look at ears Like it doesn't work that way. I get emails all the time, I get pinged all the time. There's not exactly an off switch unless you force it, and so it's.
Speaker 2:I'd say it's a different kind of identity crisis now, because I'm also way too mouthy to fit in with other bigger business owners. It's just my DNA, um. So it's. It's been different difficult finding like that fit. Where, where do I fit in in the world right now? So it's, it's been a challenge, but shout out to my true chrome homies out there who we can always deep dive on a case but yeah, it's. It's something I think just changes with every season of your life.
Speaker 1:so I think you guys are crushing it and you especially I, I see you're one of the first people that I found. That I feel relates and it's just right above where a lot of people that dove into this entrepreneurial spirit and it's such a not only identifiable journey, it's, it's, it's human. We can see your journey, we can hear your journey and be like holy shit, like I started the same thing, I started something similar by myself and it just been fucking nugget away at it. Like you're somebody that we can look at and say, okay, michelle did it, we, I have no excuse. She did it as she was pcs and she did it raising kids. Like I have no excuse because right now there are so many veterans diving into the entrepreneurial space because they don't fit the mold of going into corporate work or going into contracting or going into federal work, which, we come to find out, is not a place to go, to Shout out, to Doge.
Speaker 2:I think I've always been of the mindset that if you're thinking it, somebody else is also thinking it in some capacity, and whether that's somebody who is building a company or deep diving into do I want to run a business and work for myself, what does that look like? Holy crap, I'm terrified number one. So you're having that crisis and then you're like what do I do here? What are my resources? Who can I go to and trust that is a mentor or can help me in some capacity? And you know, finding your group of people that you trust is really hard because you don't have it ingrained in a company or something like that. So, yes, I feel like sharing my journey will hopefully empower people to say you know what? It's okay, it's just a shit show right now. It'll be better next week, it's fine, We'll get there.
Speaker 2:Because it hasn't been perfect. I haven't always made the right decision in every capacity and a lot of it has been trial and error and, holy crap, am I doing the right thing? There's been so many questions and you know you just got to find your why, Like, why am I doing this? Why am I putting myself through this chaos? And once you find your why, I mean, the rest is just steps you got to take.
Speaker 1:Yeah, simon Sinek, get the book. I actually owe that book to a couple of people. It's in the mail. I promise I'll get to a couple of people. It's in the mail. I promise I'll get to it and did a giveaway a little bit ago. Michelle, I can't thank you enough for being here.
Speaker 2:Like I said, your journey is absolutely remarkable.
Speaker 1:I'm so glad I was able to find you. If people want to get your services and connect with you and bring you on board of their team, where do they go?
Speaker 2:They can go to GoSquaredAwaycom we have a contact form on there or you can reach out to me, Michelle, at GoSquaredAwaycom.
Speaker 1:What about your social media? Where can we find the latest information on the Instagram or X or Facebook? Or x or facebook, so we're on uh x and we are go squared away on x and we are away squared on instagram.
Speaker 2:Nice, there are definitely some spicy posts, it's fun nice.
Speaker 1:Well, if you pause right now, go to the episode description. You'll see all those links right there. Go ahead, I'll wait. All right, you peruse them, you clicked them, you added her and I'm going to ask you to do me a favor Give her a follow and then head on back to our page and give us a follow and then go to Spotify and Apple podcast. Leave us a review and a five star rating. Greatly appreciate. It Helps our mission, helps our cause and our reach show. Again, thank you for being here and to all y'all listening. Thank you so much for being here with us. We'll see y'all next time. Till then, take care.
Speaker 1:Thanks for tuning in and don't forget to like, follow, share, subscribe and review us on your favorite podcast platform. If you want to support us, head on over to buymeacoffeecom. Forward slash SecHawk podcast and buy us a coffee. Connect with us on Instagram X or TikTok and share your thoughts or questions about today's episode. You can also visit securityhallcom for exclusive content, resources and updates. And remember we get through this together. If you're still listening, the episode's over. Yeah, there's no more. Tune in tomorrow or next week.
