Somebody bothered to listen
Dr Elizabeth Newman Earl- CEO e50K
This time last year, as I think many of us can relate to, I had no real idea where I was going with life. I had just finished my PhD and was actively trying to find a job. Not only had I been out of the work market whilst I had been reading for my PhD, I had also been overseas and out of what had been my career since 2015 as I had packed up my bags and followed by army husband overseas. Moving overseas was the start of a journey that I am only now beginning to realise has the potential to become a disruptor and change agent for others like me who had no real idea of what it is like when you do become a military spouse.
This blog is not to discuss the impact of change, lets just leave it as significant as even though I did not quite know what I was getting into, I did know that life was going to be very different when I decided to move overseas as a dependent wife. I also knew, it was up to me to make it change for the better. The first thing I did was to try and find a positive outcome for me despite being overseas and underworked. Went back to my first passion and completed a PhD, something I have always wanted to do. However, whilst working through my PhD - Patch Lives: Army Wives Behind the Wire –there was a nagging element underlying it all. I had to make my research count – it was not to be an indulgent PhD to pass the time. The women who participated in my research deserved more and I committed on the very first page to make their voices heard, (for more see here ). The stories I heard, the laughs we shared and the tears we shed drove me to find a route to realising the opportunity to make change and to do it in a way that continued to bring these incredible spouses together. For us, collectively, to become effective makers of change in a collaborative and inspired way. Creating a sense of control within a life that becomes filled with decision making so far out of your control that despair and apathy often set in.
This could not have been done if I had not had the privilege of being listened to by an inspired former officer, a leader of men, who is now a supporter and advocate of incredible women and the wider spousal community. Richard heard something in what I said to him, that he could relate to, that within the military spousal community there is so much opportunity and potential to revolutionise the current status quo, to move it beyond the concept of a ‘coffee morning’ into an community of people who have the platform to identify change and to be powerfully supported to facilitate change in their own environment which fundamentally changes the current perception of the military community as to those who just wait for change to happen for them. Through Richard I was introduced to Amey and during my work with them, the seeds of e50K were born, the opportunity to build a charitable organisation that seeks to dramatically the lived experienced of the military community. That to work with the community to understand their needs in often rural and remote locations where there might be someone who has a good idea and can get it off the ground for a couple of years, before they are posted to another part of the country and then a great community initiative just ends up dying on its feet.
The team I have found, who like me are all looking at ways of navigating their way through this nominally ‘dependent’ life, believe that collectively we can develop a new way of thinking about the community, about establishing pockets of enterprise and support providing education, employment and engagement opportunities that can be adaptive to the unique complexities of the military community and pace of life. Whilst we might have only just started, we are making significant strides with our charity build and various community engagement programmes we have underway. We understand that we have a long road ahead of us, but we also know that we have an opportunity to make significant change and be positive disruptors for this often overlooked community. Our fervent belief is that the possibilities within the military spousal community are as diverse and unique as the spouses themselves and that through providing a relevant platform to support community change and development we can collectively be empowered and viewed as more than just the trailing spouse.
