Laura’s Talk “The Service Behind the Service: America’s Military Spouse Employment Crisis” explores the flip side of a career military families: spouses.
Military spouses face significant challenges to starting and growing a career. Moving every one to three years, spouses must uproot their life and start all over. Many of them face high unemployment and underemployment rates, are not taken seriously by employers, and feel that their careers take a backseat to their partners. Discover how these challenges play out over time and how remote work, entrepreneurship, and company initiatives are bridging the gap.
About Laura
Laura Briggs is a freelance writer, business coach, and the founder of Operation Freelance, a nonprofit that provides free entrepreneurship training to military spouses. She’s the author of five books How to Start Your Own Freelance Writing Business (2019), The Six Figure Freelancer (2020), How to Become a Virtual Assistant (2021), Remote Work for Military Spouses (2022), and Content is King: The Complete Guide to Website Writing That Sells (2023.)
Laura received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Randolph Macon Woman’s College, a master’s degree in political science from Virginia Tech, and is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Business Administration. She began her journey as an entrepreneur in 2012 with a Google search for “how to become a freelance writer” due to her husband’s career in the U.S. Navy. Laura’s business advice in her weekly Advanced Freelancing podcast, books, Entrepreneur.com column, courses, and coaching have reached over 30,000 independent contractors. Laura is a frequently-requested speaker on the future of work and impact of the freelance economy.
Laura has volunteered extensively as a domestic violence advocate in addition to supporting entrepreneurship opportunities for underrepresented communities. She’s received the Virginia Tech Woman in Leadership Award, the Frank Beamer Community Service Award, the Graduate School Service Excellence Award, the Author Elite Awards “Best Business Book of 2019” prize, and she was named a 2022 Top “40 Under 40” by the Springfield Business Journal.
