About this episode

Melissa Washington shares her journey of building Women Veterans Alliance without a traditional roadmap.

Our first guest is Melissa Washington You can see exactly what’s missing. You know you’re the one to fill it. But you’re waiting for the plan, the money, the perfect moment. What if the gap itself is the signal to move? Melissa Washington didn’t wait. With no business plan and no financial safety net, she built Women Veterans Alliance from a single Sacramento meetup into a global organization reaching thousands — with a giving foundation, a national broadcast event, and a Thrive Causemetics shade named after her. This conversation is for anyone building something that matters without a roadmap telling them how. Melissa brings the kind of candor that mission-driven leaders rarely hear: talking openly about refinancing her house to keep the mission alive, giving a business award the same year she was personally struggling financially, and why saying “money is not a dirty word” is an act of leadership. In This Episode You’ll Discover: ✓ Why building without a plan isn’t recklessness — it’s what happens when your Tactical Center is clear ✓ How one woman turned a 2009 layoff into a global organization serving millions ✓ Why talking openly about money is a leadership skill, not an…

People in this episode

Host: Shelly Rood

Guest: Melissa Washington

Topics covered

• leadership
• entrepreneurship
• veterans
• women empowerment
• financial challenges

Keywords

• Women Veterans Alliance
• leadership
• entrepreneurship
• financial challenges
• veterans

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Women Veterans Alliance, Women Veterans Giving, Women Veterans Magazine

More episodes of Veterans Radio

• Emory University Master in Business for Veterans · May 5, 2026 · 27 min
• Mighty Oaks Foundation's Jeremy Stalnecker assisting Vets with PTSD · April 28, 2026 · 29 min
• April 26, 2026: Justin Billard, Tools for Veterans / Faust Ruggiero, The Fix Your PTSD Handbook · April 27, 2026 · 57 min
• Trek Coffee and a Marine's 500 Mile Trek for Veterans · April 21, 2026 · 26 min
• Women Marines Association with Mary Ann Merritt · April 14, 2026 · 28 min
• April 12, 2026: Landon Longrear / Jeremy Stalnecker · April 13, 2026 · 57 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Veterans Radio podcast page.