The Veterans Coach of Life, Business

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Small Business Spotlight: The Veterans Coach

Who: Deanna Wharwood, @Veteranscoach, @DeannaWharwood

What: Business coaching for military veterans and spouses

When: 2010

Where: Maryland

How: Deanna Wharwood, a veteran of the U.S. Navy,  says she is well aware of the challenges veterans face when transitioning to civilian life. After serving as a hospital corpsman, Wharwood worked for the Fisher House program at what is now the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where she would talk to parents of wounded soldiers struggling to make a living.

“I grew up with the military and then I was active-duty. Until the age of 33, I didn’t know anything outside of the military,” Wharwood explained.

Wharwood, the “Veterans Coach,” first helped veterans and their families by explaining how they could do such things as sell handmade crafts. Now the life - and - business coaching is a full-time job for Wharwood.

“I help veterans transition from military to civilian life,” she said, adding that many retired men and women from the military struggle to find jobs. “I help them locate financing, or help them with marketing or operations issues.”

Quote from the owner: “The biggest challenge is narrowing down what they want to do because they have already done so much,” Wharwood said of military veterans, citing her own experience as a medic who was also deployed as an interpreter. “With Internet access the way it is, even when oversees, it’s not really a challenge to find a portable job.”