Mil Spouse Business Holiday Spotlight with Hartnett Homefront creator and marine wife, Sheri

Continuing our mil spouse holiday business spotlight, today we are talking to Sheri from Hartnett Homefront. Sheri makes the most beautiful wood art!

Sheri talks to us about her military life so far and navigating her nursing career with military life.

I know a lot of mil spouses think about health care jobs because they are everywhere! Sherri shares with us what she has done to keep her career while navigating motherhood and her husbands op tempo with the military, and the challenges that come with it. 

We talk about being a per diem nurse and the challenges and ins and outs of obtaining licensure in other states every time you move.

Then we shift gears to talk about her woodworking business, how she got started, the challenges of a home based business when you have small kids at home. We talk about the products she makes, which are so beautiful! Make sure to check out her Spouse-ly shop for all her new holiday items!! 

Shop small, shop local and support our fellow mil spouses this holiday shopping season!

Find all of Sheri’s newest items on Spouse-ly

Visit her website at Hartnett Homefront

https://view.flodesk.com/pages/63e17c34781752946ff2b424

https://www.organifishop.com/products/peak-power

Transcript

[00:00:00] Alison: Today we're going to talk to Sherry and Sherry has she's a lot of things, but one of the things that she has is a business that is on Spousely and you have a website as well, but she makes the coolest wood art that and you have a lot of really, we'll get into this later in the show, but there's a lot of really cool Like, there's the mountain scenes and then like, you're making a lot of your aviation.

[00:00:27] Alison: Like, you guys are an aviation family. So I believe, right. Your husband's a pilot. I'm assuming. Okay. Yeah. So, yeah. So a lot of your stuff is aviation themed, which if you're in the aviation community is really cool, but we're not, we're in the Navy community. Community and surface ships and stuff, but it's still really cool.

[00:00:43] Alison: Like I love the mountain anyways. Well, we'll get into all that stuff, but so we're continuing with our our mill spouse business spotlight for the holidays. Remember to, you know, we want to shop small shop, local support our fellow military spouses. So we're going to talk to Sherry about what your military life has looked like, what your career has looked like, and then we'll talk about your business.

[00:01:07] Alison: So welcome to the show. Thank 

[00:01:10] Sheri: you. Thanks for 

[00:01:11] Alison: having me. Yeah, of course. Okay, so I always like to start off with what is your military Affiliation and what has your military life looked like so far? 

[00:01:20] Sheri: Yeah, so we're a Marine Corps family and Our life so far. We've spent a lot of time on the west coast Yuma, San Diego We did a short time in Dusseldorf in Florida for six months, which felt more like a vacation, honestly.

[00:01:37] Sheri: And then you know, back to the West coast, we did Edwards for a little bit, Edwards air force base and back to San Diego. And then we just PCS this summer to Beaufort, South Carolina. So kind of our first time on the East coast for a while, but so far so good. 

[00:01:54] Alison: Yeah. And is most of your family on the East coast or are they on the West coast?

[00:01:58] Sheri: They're all on the West Coast. Oh, they are. 

[00:02:00] Alison: Okay. Usually because like for for us, our family's all on the East Coast. We've had very few East Coast assignments. We've mostly been on the West Coast. So it just seems like, you know, Murphy's law is you're going to go wherever, wherever your 

[00:02:14] Sheri: family is not.

[00:02:15] Sheri: I guess we've tried to stay West Coast because we have so much family on the West Coast. So for the most part, we've tried to stay close to family as much as we can. But now we get to branch out a little bit. 

[00:02:27] Alison: Yeah, for sure. Okay. So then talk to us a little bit about what your career has looked like because you're a NICU nurse.

[00:02:35] Alison: And then, and so I'm just curious to hear how that has been for you navigating the military lifestyle. 

[00:02:43] Sheri: So I mean, yes, I'm a registered nurse first and I work in the NICU. And so when my husband and I met I've worked full time the whole time we were together. And but when we started having babies and moving around a lot Things kind of changed a little bit and I went down to per diem.

[00:03:02] Sheri: So per diem for nurses, like once a week, a 12 hour shift. And it's a little more flexible. So when he was leaving a lot on debts or deployments and things, then it was easier for me to just take that time and , it was just easier to go down to per diem and work as needed based on deployments and time that he was away, so I went down per diem, and then during that time, I started woodworking and doing some stuff in the garage, and my husband jokingly said it. I made my sister in law this, like geometric wooden art piece.

[00:03:46] Sheri: And it came out really cool, and he was like, Oh, maybe you should make this a business. And I was like, Ha ha ha. Well, here I am. I just love doing it. So, like, for me, it was just a fun thing to do. And, obviously, I can't keep everything I make. So making it a business seemed like the best way to continue making things.

[00:04:07] Alison: Yeah. Okay. So let's go back just a little bit if we can to the nursing part of it. So I'm just curious, because again, you know, I was telling you before we started recording, I really like to dive into careers and, you know, pivots and things like that, just because I feel like there's so many male spouses that are in a similar boat and that are trying to figure it out.

[00:04:28] Alison: Or like, how am I, you know, maybe you're a new male spouse and I'm going to go into nursing. How does this even work? What does this even look like? So when you When you were saying that you went down to per diem after you had your kids, which is a hundred percent understandable. And I feel like what most mil spouses do, right?

[00:04:45] Alison: Because someone's got to take care of your kids. And if you're, if you're not making a pretty dang good salary, your entire salary is going to go to childcare. And then is that worth it? Right? I think that's kind of the. The predicament that we, a lot of us find ourselves in. And so we ended up staying home with our kids and trying to make it work as best we can.

[00:05:04] Alison: So when, when you went down to per diem, is that something that you can like, so let's say I'm going to PCS to a new location and I I'm only going to work per diem. Is that an easy position to walk into, or had you already established yourself as a full time employee and then you had a family and were able to go down to per diem?

[00:05:24] Alison: Like what, what did that look like? 

[00:05:26] Sheri: Yeah, I mean, I have the experience in a specialty, like in the NICU. And so generally every time we've moved, it's just kind of, I decide, like, am I going to apply for a full time or a part time position, or maybe I just want to do per diem? So it's kind of just, it's based on what jobs are available, for one.

[00:05:48] Sheri: So if there are no per diem jobs available, then I might have to consider doing part time or full time instead. And also, it just depends on the unit, how far away the hospital is. I mean, for me, The locations we've lived in they're not necessarily close to big hospitals and the smaller hospitals don't usually have NICUs.

[00:06:11] Sheri: So, for the most part, I've had to commute over an hour for work. So, per diem is just so much better for that because working full time, 12 hour shifts. Usually night shift, because also moving again, I have to start over always get a night position, try to work my way towards a day position, but usually when I get close to one, then we PCS again.

[00:06:35] Sheri: So, usually I'm nights but I think having a long commute and working night shift, it's just, it's so hard as a nurse to do that full time. So pretty interesting. Works out better for me. It's flexible. So when he's on debt or he's gone then You know, I don't need to work every week. I can like stack my shifts three in one week and then have two weeks off instead of having to work two to three shifts a week.

[00:07:04] Sheri: So, so that's what seems to work best for us. You know, given his career. Yeah. 

[00:07:11] Alison: So if, if I'm not really familiar with how that per diem looks like, so is that, is that like, okay, so if I'm going to be a per diem nurse, then I am required to work 12 hours every seven days or like what, what is the, what are the requirements when you're a per diem?

[00:07:30] Sheri: Every hospital is different. So but generally it's a requirement, like in a six week period, you have to sign up for so many shifts. Okay. And some of those shifts need to be weekends or whatnot. So it's just more flexible because in a six week period, I can sign up for four to six shifts. Some, some require more.

[00:07:51] Sheri: Some in a four week period want you to work like six shifts. But I can put two on one week and none on the next week and then two. On the next week. So it's just more flexible. Whereas if you're part time or full time, generally the requirement is per week. So per week you have to work two shifts, or per week you have to work three shifts.

[00:08:12] Sheri: So if you're gone for two weeks, like, then I'm kind of stuck. Like, you know, I'm asking for time off or I'm trying to find an overnight sitter, which is hard. So it just, it was a lot easier to just go to per diem and then. You can pick up extra, you can work full time hours if you want, as long as they have the need for it and When you're per diem, you don't get medical care or anything like that, which, you know, so most people, that's why they work part time or full time, but being that we're military, we already have that, and I don't need that, so it's just, it's just nice to have that flexibility with things being part time.

[00:08:50] Sheri: All over the place with his career and everything. 

[00:08:53] Alison: So yeah, yeah, for sure. And then what is, what has that look like for you as far as licensure and, and moving? Were you, what did that look like? What does that look like for 

[00:09:05] Sheri: you? So since we've been in California a lot of the time, I've kept California license active.

[00:09:12] Sheri: Unfortunately, California is not a compact state. So in nursing, there's compact states that if you have a license in a particular state, then it's good in these other states that are also part of the compact licensure. So when I moved to now that we're here in South Carolina, so now I I got a license here and it's actually good.

[00:09:33] Sheri: And it's a compact state. So it's good in a lot of other states, which will be nice if we PCS somewhere else that is also compact state. 

[00:09:42] Alison: Yeah. So what does that look like for you? What does that look like for you to get a license in a new state? Is that, is that just like, I have to pay a certain amount of money and I have to fill out this paperwork?

[00:09:54] Alison: Is that like, I have to take a test? Like, what is that? What does that look like when you have to change your license to a new state? 

[00:10:01] Sheri: Usually it's, filling out a bunch of paperwork, paying a fee and then they usually want to do a background check, get fingerprints. So, I mean, it is a process to get it done.

[00:10:14] Sheri: And It's expensive to keep up the license, but that's just like a normal thing you have to do. So sometimes states have different requirements for classes they want you to have, or how many credits of classes they want you to have, so that could be different. But generally, to keep up a nursing license, you have to have so many educational units, like they call them CEUs to keep your license active.

[00:10:38] Sheri: So most of the states are similar in that respect. So it's mostly just paperwork and then paying the fee and getting the background check and those things. 

[00:10:50] Alison: Yeah. So then and again, I don't know any of this, so I'm, I'm just, cause if there's other people that are like, okay, hold on a second. Do I want to be a nurse?

[00:10:59] Alison: Because honestly, I feel like that sounds like a great career for a military spouse, right? There's hospitals everywhere. There's a nursing shortage, right? It seems like. Okay, but there's there's like the downside to it, right? And that is, this is part of part of it. Like, you just have to kind of factor into that.

[00:11:16] Alison: So then so if you have a license in California, and then you move to South Carolina for three years, and now you're following the continuing education requirements in South Carolina and the licensure there, and then you go back to California, can you just pick right back up that California license?

[00:11:33] Alison: Or how does that work with, because, or, or. Do, do they all kind of transfer in between? Like, oh, I did these CEUs here. Are you having to keep track of, I guess I'm asking, like, are you having to keep track of, like, multiple states, what their requirements are, and trying to hold to all of that stuff in case you go back there?

[00:11:51] Alison: Or what is, what is that looking like for you? 

[00:11:53] Sheri: So previously when we've moved, like, in Florida, I worked there for a short period, so I had a license there. When we left, I knew we weren't going back to Florida anytime soon, so I just... Did not keep up that license at all. Okay. I didn't worry about it.

[00:12:09] Sheri: Being that I know we'll probably be back in california at some point. I do want to keep up that license So it's just when I go to do my ceus like making sure that this is like good in california as well as their states, because sometimes I, I usually do them online now. Okay. Back when I worked full time, I got enough working in the hospital, the classes I was doing just with a NICU there.

[00:12:37] Sheri: But now that I work per diem and stuff, I do most of my CEUs online. So now it's just kind of checking that it's going to work for both of them. Also, if I want to keep my California license up, just making sure when it's getting close to expiring that I go ahead and I like turn in the CEUs and everything and pay the fee to keep it active.

[00:12:56] Sheri: So I don't have to react when I moved back. 

[00:12:59] Alison: Yeah. Okay. Okay. All right. So then thank you for sharing that, but I feel, I don't know that I have, I don't think I've talked to any nurses. I don't think, or not that anybody that's like actively working. 

[00:13:13] Sheri: It is really flexible though. I do, I do have to say that. It's really flexible.

[00:13:18] Sheri: There's a lot of different things you can do with nursing. Like you don't have to be in a hospital setting and working night shift. You can work at a doctor's office. There's just so much flexibility and there's places everywhere that need nurses. So I do think as a military spouse, it's a wonderful career to have.

[00:13:34] Sheri: Mm hmm. So especially if you do per diem, like you can go down to per diem and not have to worry about your schedule as much and it's a little more flexible, whereas like people who have like full time careers like can't really do that. Right. 

[00:13:48] Alison: It's great. Yeah, I can see that. And then pay wise, do you get paid similarly per hour that you would if you were full time, it's just you have the flexibility of the schedule or does your pay go down if you're per diem?

[00:14:01] Sheri: Your pay actually goes up a little bit just because they're not giving you benefits so hourly hourly, and it's a little bit higher but you're not guaranteed your shifts. So if the unit doesn't need as many nurses as are scheduled, you are the first one to be put on call or called off. You get paid a little more, but I mean, there's downsides to that because you might think you're going to work six shifts this month and you only get to work three of them because they didn't need you the other three.

[00:14:31] Alison: And then how does that, and then how does that work? Like if they call you off, does that cause you, cause like if you, in the six week period, I have to work so many shifts and if they call you off for some of them, you're not able to complete shifts. Does that count against you? . 

[00:14:46] Sheri: Yeah, no once you put in the schedule, you're just required to put in so many on the schedule. Once the schedule's complete, if they call you off, I mean, they don't care, and it does, it's not against you in any way, but some hospitals will put you on call so you'll get like a, a rate for being on call, and that way if they need you, that you come in at an instant if they call you.

[00:15:07] Sheri: But every hospital's different how they do that, so. Right. 

[00:15:10] Alison: Okay. Very cool. All right. So then, so then now pivoting to the, the businesses that you started. So you actually, you have two kinds, right? Like, so you have one working one and then you have a clothing, like hair bandy kind of, do you want to tell us a little bit about 

[00:15:27] Sheri: those?

[00:15:27] Sheri: Mostly like lovies and bows, like baby, baby lovies and then bows mostly. Yes. 

[00:15:33] Alison: Have you always liked woodworking? Like where, cause some of the, like, it looks very intricate of like the stuff that you're making.

[00:15:40] Alison: Is that like, I've always liked it. Like I just, Hey, let me try something new. We've got all this wood laying around. Like, what did the, what did the start of that look 

[00:15:47] Sheri: like? Okay. Well my dad's a contractor, so he had gifted, my husband likes to do woodworking, so he's built a wine rack before. And then early on in our relationship, if we wanted something for the house, like something small, like a little end table or something, sometimes we like to just build it, you know.

[00:16:04] Sheri: So we had tools and my dad had gifted us a few tools as well. So When we were at Edwards and I just wanted to make a gift for my sister in law for their house warming and I had seen online on Instagram different woodworkers and people doing these type things and I was like, Oh, that looks really cool.

[00:16:25] Sheri: I want to make one for my sister in law. So I we found out that Edwards had a dump like on base that had tons of wood and you can just go and Take wood and they had an amazing amount of really good wood I don't know if like everyone would dump there or how it works. But so we just like reclaimed a lot of wood and Learned how I learned how to make this one art piece for her and it came out well And my husband was like, hey, maybe you should this would be fun.

[00:16:56] Sheri: And I just really loved doing it So it just kind of grew over time with me experimenting and coming up with my own ideas and things so That's how I started the woodworking one. Yeah. And when we had, during COVID, when we, PCS to San Diego, I was pregnant with my daughter. And we had a deployment on the horizon.

[00:17:18] Sheri: So we decided with COVID and pregnancy and the deployment, I wasn't going to go back to work as a nurse. So I actually took two, two years off. But it was incredibly difficult to do woodworking with a baby. So that's when I started to do sewing and stuff, and I was, I had a baby girl. So, you know, I was learning how to make bows and fun stuff.

[00:17:41] Sheri: So then I just kind of poured all my energy into making lovies and bows and made a small business doing that. And now I'm finally able to do woodworking again, now that she's a little bit bigger. My boys are both in school now, so I have a little more time and so I'm trying to get back into woodworking because that's what I really like.

[00:18:03] Sheri: Yeah, 

[00:18:04] Alison: so are you still is it so it's it's really just a for fun kind of hobby that you have or would you like to build it into like a bigger business? What is what are your kind of visions for the? 

[00:18:18] Sheri: I mean, I'd love to build it into a bigger business. It's just, it's kind of hard as a mom and having, you know, a family to take care of and being flexible for your husband's career to, to really make the time to put.

[00:18:36] Sheri: The effort into making a full time business out of it. So I'm trying to, I guess I'm still just trying to figure it out, honestly. 

[00:18:48] Alison: Yeah, I, I feel that I, I appreciate the honesty there, right? Yeah. And that's, and I feel like that's where so many of us are. Where it's like, we're the default parent, right?

[00:18:58] Alison: So we've got to be available to get the kids from school. And, oh, my kids are off of school the entire week next week. Wow. Isn't that fun? How, you know, so like being able to manage that. And then, you know, when your spouse is going on deployments or underways or TD wise or whatever the case might be, you know, you're the one that's got to take care of everybody or your kid gets sick.

[00:19:20] Alison: Like you're the, you're the one right there. And so it's really hard to kind of. You know, marry that and all the responsibilities of the household, which typically fall on us as well. Right. And it's hard to take more on, right. Just mentally. It's like, Oh my gosh, like there's, there's already enough in there.

[00:19:38] Alison: Like I w what, I don't know how far I want to take it. I, so I think it's kind of cool to just keep it as like, this is something that I really like to do. And this is which man, what is manageable for me to do these kinds of things and just keep it in that fun space and just. You know, kind of see what happens, I guess.

[00:19:53] Alison: Right. So okay. So then tell us a little bit about, so you just released, cause I follow you on Instagram. So heartnet home front, right? That's what it is. Heartnet home front on Instagram. So you need to follow for sure, because you show like you do lots of videos and stuff of different things that you're making and different projects that you have, which I think is cool.

[00:20:10] Alison: Cause I love, I like, I don't want to say I'm a DIY person, like an aspect. I'm like, Ooh, that looks really good. But like the nailed it or failed it kind of thing. Like, I don't know, like it looks really in my brain. I, it comes out really beautifully, but then an actual execution, you know, maybe not so much.

[00:20:28] Alison: I feel like that's, that's the space that I'm in. But 

[00:20:31] Sheri: That happens to everyone. Cause that happens to me too. I'll have a drink or something. And then when I'm actually doing it, I'm like, this is not, this is not what my dream was. Nope. Yeah, this is something that works 

[00:20:42] Alison: out. So yeah, yeah, for sure. So tell us a little bit about, because again, we're trying to talk and encourage, you know, listeners to To shop local and shop small and support our fellow military spouses.

[00:20:57] Alison: And, you know, there's a lot of really cool stuff that military spouses have that, that are being made. And and I think that's so, especially if you're in the aviation community, cause a lot of your stuff is aviation themed. So can you tell us a little bit about some of that? Cause you just released a bunch of stuff that's just for the holidays.

[00:21:17] Alison: Do you want to tell us a little bit about that? 

[00:21:19] Sheri: Yeah, so I just released a whole aviation Christmas lineup, sort of. So I just, over the summer after we PCS'd, we just got a CO2 laser. So it kind of opened the door for some more designs that I could do that were maybe repeatable. Cause most of my stuff previously is just, everything's one on a kind, one of a kind and make it, you know, it's as is.

[00:21:44] Sheri: I don't have anything that I can make multiple of. So now that I have that capability I was just I being in the aviation community, like seeing all the fighter jet stuff, like I'm always inspired by trying to do different things with that. So this year I. I have a Christmas tree lineup where it's like a, a fighter jet or maybe another aircraft in the center of the lineup and then trees next to it.

[00:22:12] Sheri: It's hard to explain. You kind of have to go look at it. But I just thought it's, it's The fun aviation themed Christmas thing. So I have a few different products. I have ornaments and then a few different signs that you can customize with your aircraft to look like a Christmas tree basically. But it's really fun to work on.

[00:22:34] Sheri: I had a lot of fun working on that and I just launched it the other day and I'm doing Pre orders. So I'm letting the orders come in and then I'm going to just kind of like hunker down and hopefully bust them all out in a week or two and get them sent out just after Thanksgiving, maybe. 

[00:22:52] Alison: Yeah. So tell me, okay, so a CO2 laser, like, what does that even, what does that mean?

[00:22:57] Alison: And what does that? enable you to do? 

[00:23:00] Sheri: So it's basically, it's actually a really, really big machine. Really expensive machine, but it's uses a laser. I, I build these files and it can cut or engrave basically any design that I make. So having a, Usually you have to use a scroll saw and do these things like one by one, which takes a lot of time.

[00:23:28] Sheri: Yeah. So having the capability to just get the silhouette of the aircraft and then program it into the machine and it cuts the wood for me. Yeah. So that's basically what it does and then I can also engrave patches and such on some of my artwork. I just did one of those mountain pieces with a jet. I haven't posted it yet so you probably haven't seen it.

[00:23:50] Sheri: Okay. And it was a custom piece that I was able to engrave the patch on it, which was really cool because I didn't have that capability before. So now that when people ask for those type things, you can make them more personal, I guess, which is, 

[00:24:04] Alison: yeah, I love that. That's really cool. And, and I can see how that, if you could like, cause there's some of this stuff, like I felt like you had.

[00:24:11] Alison: Something that looked like a snowflake and that had all these little planes on like the like the like the blade. I don't know. It's you're right. It's really hard to describe. I like the blade of the snowflake. That was really cool. It looked really cool. But I can see how like, if you've got a machine like that, where you can just program it in and then it doesn't, then you that also makes it Easily more easily able to write if it can cut out 20 of those little things and then you just pop them into wherever they're going to go in the 

[00:24:41] Sheri: right.

[00:24:42] Sheri: Yeah. So I have I have some ornaments that is just 1 file and it cuts on acrylic. So it's like a nice see through sort of thing. But then, when I've been making some bigger pieces, I've been filling all the empty spaces with jet silhouettes, and then what I use those for, because they're little, is putting together some of my woodworking snowflakes that I add the jets on.

[00:25:08] Sheri: They're like the perfect shape for on a snowflake, but So I have all these little ones that I cut out just because I didn't want to waste space. Yeah. That was in between other bigger projects. And I just threw a bunch of jets in there and I'm making snowflakes with them, so. Yeah. So it's been fun to experiment with, with those different things.

[00:25:25] Sheri: Yeah. And adding in, like, my custom or my reclaimed woodwork, but now it's like aviation themed snowflakes and things. So. 

[00:25:36] Alison: Yeah, it looks, they look, again, we're not in the aviation community, but I still think they're really cool. Even if you're, even if you're not in, but you also have, you have some like trees that you made that look really cool.

[00:25:48] Alison: I saw them on Spousely the other day too. So, I mean, if you're not in the aviation community or you don't want anything that's like, you know, specifically aviation themed. But another thing that I think is really cool to think about is, and I don't know what other military families do, but it's something that I've kind of started thinking about.

[00:26:03] Alison: Actually, we had friends when we were stationed. In DC and like they had all of this beautiful art around their house. And and she was like, yeah, that's kind of what we do. We buy a nice piece of art at every place that we go to. And I was like, oh, that's kind of a cool way to like commemorate your Time at a duty station.

[00:26:24] Alison: And so and I feel like the mountain scenes that you have that have like the plane behind it, like that's a really would be a really cool memento of like this was, and then especially now, if you have the capability of putting a patch like this, that could be a really awesome looking brag wall, you know, if you.

[00:26:43] Alison: To have like, I just, I think it's really cool. So, okay. So then where, if people are want to find your stuff, they want to order stuff. What is the, what's the best place to find what you have to offer? 

[00:26:56] Sheri: Right now, most everything I have is on Spousely. So if you haven't heard about Spousely, you should definitely follow Monica Fullerton.

[00:27:04] Sheri: She's also a military spouse started. This marketplace basically that all the shops are first responders in military family run businesses. So right now everything is on Spousely. Another good place is Instagram because I'll post things on Instagram and I have links for my shops. on Instagram as well.

[00:27:28] Sheri: If you just look at my link tree right there. So that's another good place, but I do have some non aviation themed Christmas items that are out. If I have time, I would love to do more, but it's just finding the time sometimes to do those things. And in the future, I'm going to have a lot of I want, I have a lot of ideas and things that I would like to bring as far as the, the jet mountain pieces and things like that.

[00:27:56] Sheri: So. 

[00:27:57] Alison: Yeah. And you, and, and then you said on your website that that stuff is all like personalized, right? Or you can get it personalized to like the type of aircraft that your significant other might fly or whoever might fly or. Yeah. I will make sure that we link to your spousely shop and also the, your Instagram handle. So then again, you, you know, you post, you share a lot of the projects that you're working on and different things like that.

[00:28:23] Alison: So it's kind of, it's fun to watch. And again, even if you're not in the aviation, it's just cool to see like some of the things that people make, you're like, Oh man, that's. That's really awesome. Like, yeah. 

[00:28:32] Sheri: And you can definitely order a mountain piece without the jet in the sky. Make the mountain pieces and they're all one of a kind different and I'll post like a group of them and then you get to pick which one you want.

[00:28:43] Sheri: Once it's sold, it's gone, but you get to pick the one you want. And then if you want to add a jet, you can, but you don't have to there's also other options to customize. We can add You know, deer things. Now that I have this laser, I have definitely more capabilities to do those sort of things as well.

[00:29:02] Sheri: If people have other ideas for how they would like it customized. 

[00:29:05] Alison: Yeah, for sure. And so if they're interested in doing something like that, just reach out to you, be a spousely or what's the best way to get in touch with you? 

[00:29:14] Sheri: I would say either Messenger on Instagram or even messaging through my spouse's shop.

[00:29:19] Sheri: I get those. They all come to my email. So either one would 

[00:29:23] Alison: be fine. Okay, perfect. Okay, cool. All right, well, Sherry, I really appreciate your time and I appreciate your sharing all of the stuff about nursing. Because again, I feel like that's... Career that a lot of military spouses think of, and then maybe you're a new military spouse, or you're like, I want something for myself.

[00:29:41] Alison: What can I do? And maybe you've thought about nursing. And so I think it's, it's really helpful again, to just hear how that has worked for you just navigating through that process. And as you've moved and as you've had children and all that other stuff that, you know, gets piled on, piled on to all the other things.

[00:29:56] Alison: So All right. Well, I appreciate your time. And I encourage everybody to follow on Instagram and then go, obviously go to spousely. We've talked, I think every, so last week we were talking to Aaron with dainty forces, the dainty forces co, and she's on spousely as well. So I think that's. It's kind of like, there's a common thread of Spousely for a lot of military spouses are selling on Spousely, which I think is really cool.

[00:30:22] Alison: And again, like I said last week that you know, if you've been on Spousely, like, Hey, I checked out Spousely a year ago and I was like, yeah, this is kind of cool. They are literally growing by leaps and bounds. Like every single month, there's new businesses that are being added, new products that are being added.

[00:30:37] Alison: So I encourage you to continue to go back and check their first. And, and again, just, and be creative with your gifts giving as well. Like. So I ordered a shirt from love and lettering by Katie that I'm going to give to my daughter's teacher for, for Christmas. So there's a lot of things like it doesn't, you know, like think of who do I need to buy gifts for and then like, or just go.

[00:31:00] Alison: Like look around, I went on there the other day and they have like on the front page, like they just have highlighted businesses and their different products and just scrolling through that and be like, Oh, that's really pretty. Oh, you know, who would really like that? You know, and just, you can get ideas just by scrolling through some of the, you know, the items that are available for sale, which I think, you know, so anywho highly encouraged.

[00:31:23] Alison: Again, support our fellow military spouses and first responders first before we go to Amazon and all of the big box stores and things like that, right? Yeah, for sure. Okay. All right, Sherry. I appreciate you. Thank you for your time. 

[00:31:37] Sheri: Okay. Thank you. And thank you for supporting all these small businesses. We appreciate it.

[00:31:43] Sheri: For sure.