The Veterans Growing America Podcast

Evie Waite | ELW Initiative | Veterans Growing America

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In this powerful and heartfelt episode of the Veterans Growing America Podcast, hosts Coach RL Simmons and Donnell Johns sit down with Evie Waite, Air Force veteran, law enforcement professional, and founder of ELW Initiative (Empower. Love. Win.).

Evie shares her raw journey from military service and civilian law enforcement into entrepreneurship — revealing how stress, mindset, and lived experience led her to create a mission-driven brand rooted in self-empowerment, love of self and community, and winning from the inside out.

This episode dives deep into:

  • Transitioning from military & law enforcement into entrepreneurship
  • Mental health, mindset shifts, and identity after service
  • Betting on yourself when entrepreneurship “wasn’t the plan”
  • Why how you treat people is the real business strategy
  • Scarcity vs. growth mindset in work, life, and leadership
  • Building community-centered businesses that feel like family

Evie also shares her experience as a member of Veterans Growing America, explaining why culture, energy, and community matter just as much as capital.

Whether you’re a veteran, entrepreneur, creative, or someone searching for purpose beyond the paycheck — this conversation will resonate.

 Connect with Evie & ELW Initiative

  • Instagram: @elwinitiative
  • Facebook: ELW Initiative
  • Founder: Evie Wait
  • Programs: 30-Day Reset + Empowerment Initiatives

 Connect with the Hosts & VGA

 Quote Worth Remembering

“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”

 Subscribe, listen, and share this episode with someone who needs permission to bet on themselves.

Veterans Growing America Podcast — where service meets ownership, and community fuels growth.




SPEAKER_00

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of the Veterans Girl America Podcast. I am your co-host, Coach RL Simmons. I'm here with my illustrious co-host, Donnell Johns, and we have another special guest for you today. We have Ms. Evelyn Wade. She is the founder of and she is an Air Force veteran. Welcome to the show, young lady.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much for having me.

SPEAKER_02

Happy New Year. Happy New Year. I'm not going to call you Evelyn. I'm going to call you Evie.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, I go by Eevee, everybody. So if you know me, you know I go by Eevee.

SPEAKER_02

Well, that's it. That's the person that I know. I know Evie. However, if you could tell us a little bit about your milit your military background and your experience, please.

SPEAKER_01

So Air Force, the best branch. Air Force Reserves. I know I was going to say unfortunately, but not unfortunately. I was a cop in the Air Force. Funny enough, you know, mirroring my real life. It was a very interesting uh experience. I did most of my time reserve up in Dover. And um it was quite an experience for eight years. But I appreciated it a lot. Uh, you know, being my DD214 veteran. I was actually introduced to some real interesting people and had some amazing opportunities um being deployed over in uh UAE, even though most of y'all would think it was a vacation, but it was not. Um I don't know why y'all give us such a hard time. You know, we just like to work smarter than harder. But uh it was it was opportunity and I appreciated it.

SPEAKER_00

So I got I always got, I think I got the best question. So the best question we're we're was hoping we was gonna lead to is what part of your military experience led you into a journey of entrepreneurship?

SPEAKER_01

Funny enough, it was not really my military experience. Or actually, no, let me not say it wasn't slowly my military experience. It was the career choice, so to speak, that led to the entrepreneurship. For me, it was a combination of my military and my civilian law enforcement that paved the pathway to me starting ELW initiative. We all know law enforcement, that's a daunting career in itself. Even being in the military at times, you know, going through the different trainings, being away from your family, all those things. And it comes with a lot, right? The stress, the monotony, the morale, and things in that nature. And one of the things I noticed, I've been in uh law enforcement for 16 years, right? That's inclusive of my military career. And the environments that we are subjected to on a daily basis can take so much from you. And, you know, whether it's your battle buddies or your patrol partner or whomever, you're with them most more than you're with your family. You're with your unit, your, you know, your department, whatever it is, more than you are with your family. And because of that, there's so many stressors of the job that we have to deal with, right? And for me, going through the entire process, basic training, tech school, deployment, all those things, and seeing the effect it had on myself and the people around me from a mental standpoint. I, for me, it was how can I create a more positive, uplifting environment to survive the day-to-day? And that's really how ELW started. It's empower, love, win. The goal is to empower those around me and myself through love, love of self, love of family, love of community, and just helping, right? We're here to help each other grow, get through, and just creating a positive growth environment to survive everything else that's going on in the world. So that's essentially how it led me into um entrepreneurship.

SPEAKER_02

So let's look back in the crystal ball, right? Do you did you ever think that you were gonna be an entrepreneur? Is this something that was in your that you wanted to do growing up, or did entrepreneurship find you?

SPEAKER_01

I would say it found me. I didn't, I didn't think I was let alone gonna start a business doing this. Essentially, my well, I wouldn't say entrepreneurship, but I I'm a foodie. So if anything outside of my career, it would have been with food, right? It it still is, because I do have a catering business, but that's a whole nother thing. That's a that's a whole, you know, that's a whole nother side. But I didn't, I didn't even think that this would be where I would be today, you know, starting a business like this. So this this wasn't for me, I thought I was gonna work until I retired and then just, you know, be living on an island somewhere. Because to me, that's what success, that's what success meant growing up. Going to school, getting a good education, having a stable career, and working until you retire, right? And then just living after that. So it wasn't in the cards. At least I didn't see it back then, but you know, life happens and now we're here.

SPEAKER_02

So, Rob, I want you to know that you actually ate some food made by Evie when you came to the fashion show. So when we were at the fashion show, the food that was there was actually from her catering business.

SPEAKER_00

And I ain't gonna tell her I snuck back and got seconds and thirds, too.

SPEAKER_01

Well, that's good. That that makes me happy. One thing I'll say, entrepreneurship may not have been on the forefront of my mind, but service and just being of service was always something that I was always passionate about. So I didn't know which, you know, obviously it wasn't a vision back then of how I would be serving, but it always would entail food and now ELW.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I like it. Tell us a little bit more about ELW. Uh I kind of want to hear the um um the business, what what sets it apart in this unique uh proposition?

SPEAKER_01

What's unique about ELW, it's first of all, not only is it based on my life, but it's more how it's it's really about serving those that need that extra push. One thing I like to say is when we empower each other, we inspire others. And with ELW, it's about transforming the mindset, right, to more of a growth mindset on a self-development standpoint, working more on you than you do everything else, right? Yes, we talk about health and wellness, right? We also talk about education and just giving you the tools that you will need on a daily basis. And it's rooted in love, and that's where the real passion is. And I believe that's what sets me apart because in this day and age, we need that. And that has to be the focus because you gotta love on you first before you can love anybody else, right? And if you're not doing the things that you need to do for you every day, you can't be up here. What good are you gonna be to anybody else? And it it's just it's more of a motivating, empowering, just guiding, guiding you on whatever journey, whatever part of your journey you're on. And that's what makes it so special, right? Because it's it's from me to you. How can I help you? It's my it's my purpose, my passion. How can I help you be better, right? How can I help you get to where you need to be? And yes, you know, there's tons of, I'm not a coach or, you know, some life coach or anything like that. It's using your situation, seeing what you're dealing with, okay. How can we reframe that, right? How can we take that and flip it so that this way you can be able to cope and deal and become stronger in the process?

SPEAKER_02

I love that. I love that. So focusing back on your military career, talk to me about did you face any challenges getting out of the military or while you were in? And did you learn, did you learn anything while you were in to help you with business?

SPEAKER_01

I definitely faced a lot of challenges. I will say this being a black woman in the military, he has his own set of challenges. And like most, I got into the military when I was in my early 20s. Not, you know, people out of high school, not right out of high school or anything like that. So the challenge in itself, I was going in at a time where I already had a lot of life experience, right? And I was already in my career. So when you are in a position where you're like, okay, you know, I'm an adult, I'm grown. And now you're in this environment where the thought process is gonna break you down to build you back up. That was a challenge. Where my drill instructor or my MTI, we're the same age. And I'm like, you talking to me like you crazy. Like in the regular world, we wouldn't be having this conversation this way, right? And one of the things, or yeah, one of the things I took from that was dealing with people, which that's how I approach my business today is the valuing people at the core of who they are. We all bring something different to the table. But it's really important how we interact with our people around us. It's really important how we treat people around us. And, you know, not to take anything away from the military, but I mean, I'm not gonna lie. I didn't like a lot of the way I was treated. I didn't feel I needed to be talked at a certain way to be built back up, right? And seeing that, for me, I I believe I'm in the people business, right? You're you have a business, you have to deal with people. You have to interact, you have to communicate, and I find that so important. And if the military and just life in itself taught me anything, how you treat people is extremely important. People may not remember what you say, but they're gonna remember how you treat them. And that's an experience you're gonna take for the rest of your life.

SPEAKER_00

No, that's facts. Let me ask you this though. In your journey of entrepreneurship, has anybody ever told you no, that was a change to how you did business?

SPEAKER_01

No. I mean, I heard no's all the time, but no.

SPEAKER_04

You know?

SPEAKER_01

I mean, and then here's the thing too, right? The way I approach what I'm doing, it's everybody is gonna have their opinion. I mean, we all we all have we all have our opinions. And at the end of the day, because I'm so passionate about what I'm doing, it's what works best for the direction that I'm trying to go and take my business. Now, there's a difference between just your opinion and say, you know, this isn't gonna work for as opposed to yes, critique and you know, coaching and things like that. When this is something so, so interpersonal, it has to be dealt with a lot of care and attention. And it's really just in life, what I'm learning, this is my vision. So you're not going to, you know, you're not gonna see it the way I see it. You know what I'm saying? And so it's just people are gonna have their opinions, and that's fine. But one, you can't share your vision with everybody. So that's fine. That alone, when it comes to entrepreneur, you can't share your vision with everybody, and not everybody is going to understand, right? Because again, it goes back to mindset. Just like you're trying to build your business and you're trying to, you can't take everybody with you in anything you're doing. So I apply the same thought process when it comes to my business. And I can't take advice from everybody, and I and you shouldn't. That's facts, right? You have to protect your ear gates just like you got to protect your eye gates. Again, mindset. Everybody has an opinion, but when it comes to business or when it comes to entrepreneurship, for me, it's who has the not the accolades. I'm not talking about, but the not only the experience, but who has the uh results, right? I'm I'm more focused. Who has the results that I desire to achieve, right? Those are the people that I'm gonna, you know, listen to. Because obviously they have the results, right? And that's where I'm trying to go. So it's how did you get there? How did you how okay, or how did you take the steps? What did you do along the way to make you say, okay, I'm gonna start this organization called VGA to highlight veteran business owners? Like, you know, what was that process like? How did you, you know what I'm saying? Like things like that. Like if you, if you don't have the results, where am I where am I gonna listen to you for?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's real. Let me ask you this in business, what's your what's your superpower?

SPEAKER_01

My superpower is, of course, my lovely smile. My heart for people, it's just it's just innate. My my passion for service and just wanting to see the people that's connected to me win. And the smaller version, it's my it's my voice essentially. How I approach people, how I talk to people, how I speak to myself. Another thing I say is our voices are our superpowers. We all have an innate story to tell. And there is someone out there waiting for you, you know, waiting for me, waiting for us to tell our story, to inspire and empower them to take that next step in whatever journey or whatever part of their journey they're on to become that better version of themselves. So my voice and my passion, yes, is my superpower. And I, you know, I want to bring that out of the people I interact with.

SPEAKER_00

What's what's one question that, oh it's not one question. What is one story behind your business that nobody would ever believe?

SPEAKER_01

Man, nobody ever asked me that. One story behind my business that nobody would ever believe? That's an interesting question. I mean, outside of it being my initials. That was the whole thing. It was a very um unique, so it's birthed out of my life. It's really for you to take and make your own, if that makes sense. Yeah. The empower love win part of it. Because you're like, how, like, really, how how does that but when you look at it at the core? I mean, yes, EN ELW is all me, but in each of us, right, we should all strive to win in life, win in business, lead with love. And so it's not even about belief. How can you just take it and make it your own? I and it it's an interesting question to ponder on. And I I probably I'm gonna think a little bit more about that.

SPEAKER_00

She's on that one. You know, I like it.

SPEAKER_01

I'm gonna let it marinate, you know? I'm gonna let it marinate. I mean, outside of the fact, well, I probably could say, well, you started this business because you wanted to create a positive work environment. Like, how does that even make sense? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. If you live, if if you see if you live half your life at work and those individuals around you, uh, if you gotta go there and it and it's a people got funky attitudes and they don't care about you or what you do, I would think a a great work environment is something that everybody strives to have, but they don't know how to get there.

SPEAKER_01

And so if you could help them achieve that, um you know what I'll say, not to cut you off when you said that, but that just sparks something within me. Even though I have this and I share it with those around me, you would be amazed that people say they want change, but do they really want change is the question.

SPEAKER_02

I I think that they do, but they're stuck in a rut, right?

SPEAKER_01

It's the mindset, and that's it's the mindset. Because, you know, when you are, and I say not only a poor mindset, but a scarcity mindset, and you've been programmed that way, it's difficult to re to reprogram yourself. And so when, at least for the environments that I'm I've been in, right? When you introduce something that's gonna make the person take a step back and look at them and say, okay, if I'm moving this way, maybe it's not just everything around me, maybe it's me too, causing them to question themselves. It's who are you? And no, so you're gonna have that pushback. And so it's I have to take it with a grain of salt. I mean, it is what it is. And when you're talking about empowering and uplifting, if you're just miserable, you're gonna be looking at me like, go over, go over there. I mean, I've had situations where I've been told I'm too positive. So, you know, it comes, it's par for the course.

SPEAKER_00

I've heard it, I've seen it, but it's that is definitely mindset within people. Let me ask you about this about your the um business. So I know you've dabbled in other things. Is this business the first time that you bet on yourself? And if not, when was the first time you bet on yourself?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, and I'm myself the first time in this capacity, yeah. But the first time I bet on myself was when I decided to join the military. I was like, so I'm Jamaican and a running joke, anybody that knows talk about Jamaicans, we like to have 50, 11,000 jobs, right? Um, so number one, I was not born in this country. I was an immigrant to this country. So me immigrating here, talking about, yeah, I'm coming, you know, I'm gonna take an oath and defend this country from all enemies, foreign and domestic. They were like, okay, but you, okay, all right, okay. And then I do it again by getting into the military, like twice. So, you know, it's one, it's interesting, and there's not a lot of people, because I mean, you know, y'all know most Jamaicans they'll come, they'll be like nurses or teachers or or something like that, like, you know, in my family. So this, I feel like my whole life I've just been betting on me.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And, you know, the decisions I've made, the career paths, um, and just the whole journey in itself, because it's not the norm, right? It's not something that you would that most people from my culture would do. So yeah, just been betting on me my whole life, not just military, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I love that. So the way that we got here tonight is I saw that you redid your Instagram page. And so it leads me to this question. If you had the opportunity to do one thing over in your business, right? Um, what what I asked it like this what's something that what's a mistake that you made that you wish you would have known now?

SPEAKER_01

Mistake that I've made that I wish I would have known now. I don't know. I don't look at it as a mistake. I know it's a lesson, the lesson that I'm more aware of now that I probably I wouldn't have put my business on the back burner for as long as I did. I was, I mean, I had this whole internal battle of career, business, career, business, career, business. Um, it wasn't a mistake, it was a lesson. Just stepping out and doing what I say I'm gonna do and not allow current circumstances or just my my career to, you know, overshadow, um, overshadow what I'm passionate about. Because at the end of the day, this is where my heart is, and I allowed for so long to kind of let it sit, like, oh, I'm gonna wait till this, I'm gonna wait till that, I'm gonna wait till this, and I'm like, what are you waiting for? You keep waiting, you know, that's you're passing on things. So that's the lesson. It's not a regret, it's just okay, note it.

SPEAKER_02

I always tell people if you put as much time into your own business as that you do into somebody else's business, you could be a lot more successful if you put just half of what you put in somebody else's business. Just half of that. And so that leads me to uh my final question. It's about VGA. Tell people about your experience at VGA and and why you became a member.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, let me see. Oh, slight bright people. So, VGA, funny enough, when I started ELW, I did my first event in DC. It was a sherocks event in DC. And I don't know how to do anything simple. I do the most. And so a company that I was partnered with at the time, we're doing health and wellness. And I I was like, how do I let, how do I fit ELW in with health and wellness and try to, you know, figure out how to merge the two. And then I had some products as well. And I'm like, okay, what do I do with these products? I have t shirts, I have all this stuff. And I did a couple vending situations, I will say, in some locations. And I had a coworker that was like, hey, you know, you got your business, you should check out this spot, Veterans Grown American at Woodbridge. And I was like, all right, cool. And I sat on it, I didn't move. Right. I sat and I was like, all right. I have pulled up the website and I was like, oh, this is probably where they help people with, you know, like your VA benefits. And I was like, well, I'm not disabled or nothing. So whatever. Sat on it, right? And then I'm doing these vending situations. Initially started out by doing my catering, but as a single parent, I was like, wait a minute, you doing this by yourself. You got you have a toddler at the time. Well, she's still little, she's six now. But I was like, How are you gonna be doing events with a little one and going back and forth? And to be honest, I was tired of going all the way to Maryland, driving an hour at the Wii hours in the morning to go set up at some random location. And so I finally said, you know what? One weekend, we're gonna do this road trip and go to different locations. I visited two locations in Maryland, but I didn't reserve a vending spot. But for some reason, I reserved Sunday at VGA. So I'm like, all right, go to Maryland, check out these locations. I was like, nope, nope, not with my child. And then so Sunday, I show up. It was like June of, I don't forget, but like two years ago, was it? Um, I show up, I got the little text, all the back doors open. I'm like, okay, I'll walk in. I had no expectations, nothing whatsoever. Because I'm like, I've been to vending, you know, venues and the vibe wasn't right. I'm not going back again. For me, it's energy. So I walk in, I'm setting up. First of all, they greeted you like, hey girl, hey, like I knew them forever and whatever. And I'm like, okay, you know, my daughter, she's a little miss personality, so everybody loves her. And then they do this thing called a huddle, right? So I'm like, they're like gather around for the huddle. You gotta introduce yourself. I was like, damn, I gotta talk about my business and introduce myself. Like, okay. And then they hit me with the prayer. I was like, oh, so y'all, that's how y'all do. And the little, you know, joke of the day. I was like, okay, this is a vibe. And then they had the music plan, and I was like, all right, I kind of like this. I was like, I think I found where I'm gonna, you know, vend at because one, it's convenient. I don't have to drive like hours away, and everybody in here is cool, you know. You get to talk about your business for, you know, your five minutes of fame on the mic. Um, there was an hourly raffle going on, the music was always lit, the vibe was popping. I was like, I think I found my home. And one of the things for me too, after talking and meeting you, Donnell, was the idea of I always wanted my own event space because I just like doing stuff. And I was like, oh, all right, this kind of works because he has the space and he's providing opportunities for other businesses. All right, check, check, I see you, I see you. And so that was my experience. It was warm, welcoming. Um, it was a family environment and it just fit for what I was doing. Vending and bringing my family in, because you're always attached to me. I go everywhere with them. And so that's that's one of the things that I loved about it. And so I was like, Yeah, uh become y'all can't get rid of me now. So, you know.

SPEAKER_02

Now the one thing I I think like uh we believe in family, you know. And I I I've watched your daughter grow up and she's still grown. Yeah. And uh and your mom and all of that. And so, you know, it's it's been an honor, you know, for you to bring your family in and and trust your family with us.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, because I sure be leaving them and doing my thing.

SPEAKER_02

So Right, yeah. I will later you leave more the mom be there, the daughter be there, everybody.

SPEAKER_01

She does yeah, Ari So she's family. Yeah, she she torments she torments Don Jr. like nobody's business. I was like, bless his heart, bless his heart.

SPEAKER_00

He loves it.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah, that's my experience.

SPEAKER_00

Before before we get out of here, we're about to get ready to close the show, but before we get out of here, um, I wanted to give you the opportunity to give the the viewers just some last words and the listeners as well. You know, may have some folks who may want to get into entrepreneurship, some people who want to follow your journey, just give them uh, you know.

SPEAKER_01

You don't know what you don't know. Don't be afraid to bet on yourself. Work harder on you than you do anything else. You know, it's and this is not for the faint of heart. If you kind of just be like, I wanna, don't even. But also make sure it's something that you are truly passionate about and something that's going to impact, have an impact on your audience or just the people around you, because you don't want to go through life wishing, you know, I shoulda did, I shoulda, shoulda, shoulda, shoulda. You don't want to should all over yourself. I said should, you know, just and make sure that you're just being you. But the one thing I will say, probably more than one, is be cognizant of how you treat people because you never know who you'll need one day, right? Or who you'll circle back to one day or somehow, you know, one day or another. And like I said, we don't know what we don't know. Ask for help, reach out, make the connections, even if you're just connecting with folks, and just be authentically you, right? Just be authentically you. Yeah, that's that's all I got more, but you know, you gotta talk to ELW.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, he said we we got the tree the free trial version right there. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

This is the snippet, the snippet.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

ELW has a lot going on. We have a lot going on.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so the folks are gonna want to know um how do you get a hold of ELW? What's the socials? What's your socials? How do we get a hold of you?

SPEAKER_01

So, yes, like Dot said, I did create a new page, um, a new Instagram, ELW Initiative. So you can find me at ELW Initiative on Instagram, ELW initiative on Facebook. I mean, I am Eevee Wait. You can find me there too on Instagram. I'm on TikTok, the Book of Faces, of course, LinkedIn. Or you can reach out to VGA and you know, find out what ELW is up to. But um, y'all be seeing more of me. There's a lot more to come. And uh, you know, it's the beginning of the year. So if you go to ELW initiative, you'll find my 30-day reset. Just shameless plug right there. If you want to find out more, definitely hit me up on, or you know, reach out to Don and be like, hey, I need ELW in my life. And uh, he know, you know, he'll get you connected. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I love it. And he truly, truly appreciate your time um and your kind words and your experience. Truly, truly appreciate it. Hey Don, how do the folks get a hold of VGA?

SPEAKER_02

Well, before we get into that, we gotta know how uh to get a hold of Coach R.

SPEAKER_00

Oh man, y'all need to get a hold of me. Y'all need to get a hold of me. I feel like I'm the GOAT for the reason, right? Your moneygoat.com. You know, I am your financial professional, but I am your money goat. What I want to do is give you the right mindset and the right information. Being the right information is what we do with simplified finances, just so everybody can understand. A lot of people get lost in the language of finances, then it becomes complicated. So what we do is break it down, give you a whole new mindset, give you a simple path forward, and we teach you how to grow. I just had a workshop coming into the new year, and the amount of people that were set on fire from that workshop made me know that I am in the right business. So if you are ready for your change, go to your moneygoat.com, change your mind, change your money, change your life. Back to you, Donnell. YourMoneyGoat.com, baby.

SPEAKER_01

Y'all better change your mind, change your life. He's right, though. Information changes situations. I'm gonna just throw that in.

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely. Absolutely. And speaking of information, you can find both of their information on the Veterans Growing America Directory. I don't care where you are in the United States. You go to Veterans Growing America Directory. Go to veteransgrowing America.com, click the directory button, it'll take you there to all of the members of Veterans Growing America. I like that. I like it where it's at. Yeah, yeah. Leave it where it's at. But I do want to say that we have a store. So we have America's first veteran marketplace and only veteran marketplace in the nation. It's in Woodbridge, Virginia. If you if you find yourself in the DC, Maryland, or Virginia area, or if you're not in the area, come in the area and uh stop by our veteran marketplace. And it is open seven days a week from 12 to 6 p.m. And you can find amazing entrepreneurs there and on our directory. And then when you go to either one of them, baby.

SPEAKER_00

Show up. Thank you so much, Don. Thank you for allowing me to share this platform with you. Truly, truly appreciate it. We are over and out.