When Sue Hoppin was in college, she met the man she was going to marry. “I was attending the University of Denver, and he was at the Air Force Academy,” She says. “My dad had also attended the University of Denver and warned me not to date those flyboys from the Springs.”
“He didn’t say anything about marrying one of them,” She says. So began her military spouse life.
Life brings some real advantages, like opportunities to live abroad — her family got to live all around the US, Japan, and Germany — but it also comes with some downsides, like having to put your spouse’s career over your own goals.
“Though we choose to marry someone in the military, we had career goals before we got married, and those didn’t just disappear.”
The pursuit of career aspirations becomes more difficult and progress is not always easy. Sue became aware of these unique challenges and founded an organization to support military spouses living in similar circumstances.
Sue had gotten a degree in international relations because she wanted to pursue a career in diplomacy, but for fourteen years she wasn’t able to make any headway — not until they moved back to the DC area. “Eighteen months later, many rejections later, it became apparent that this was going to be more challenging than I could ever imagine,” She says.
An average assignment lasts 18 months. Most spouses then look for their next assignment. “If I couldn’t find a job in my own ‘hometown’ with multiple degrees and a great network, this didn’t bode well for other military spouses,” She says.
She’s right. The majority of military spouses live with their partners, so they are often far away from their families and support networks. When they do find a job, they often make less than their civilian counterparts — and they’re more likely to experience underemployment or unemployment. On some deployments, spouses may not be allowed to work.
Prior to the pandemic, military spouses were only 22% of the workforce. The pandemic has seen it rise to 35%.
Sue was able to find work as a volunteer at a military-focused charity, which helped her gain the experience needed to establish her own military spouse program. She wrote a book and started saving up enough money to start the National Military Spouse Network (NMSN), which she founded in 2010 as the first organization of its kind.
“I founded the NMSN to help professional military spouses develop flexible careers they could perform from any location.”
“Over the years, the program has expanded to include a free digital magazine, professional development events, drafting annual White Papers and organizing national and local advocacy to address the issues of most concern to the professional military spouse community,” She says.
Sue was not only a big believer in NMSN’s mission, but also saw it as a part of something greater than her own.
“Gone are the days when families can thrive on one salary. Like everyone else, most military families rely on two salaries to make ends meet. If a military spouse wants or needs to work, they should be able to,” She says.
“When less than one percent of our population serves in the military,” she continues, “we need to be able to not only recruit the best and the brightest but also retain them.”
“We lose out as a nation when service members leave the force because their spouse is unable to find employment. We see it as a national security issue.”
“The NMSN team has worked tirelessly to jumpstart the discussion and keep the challenges affecting military spouses top of mind. We have elevated the conversation to Congress and the White House,” she continues. “I’m so proud of the fact that corporations, the government, and the general public are increasingly interested in the issues affecting military spouses and recognizing the employment roadblocks they unfairly have faced.”
“We have collectively made other people care, and in doing so, we elevated the issues of military spouse unemployment to a national and global level,” She continues. “In the process, we’ve also empowered military spouses to advocate for themselves and our community so that military spouse employment issues can continue to remain at the forefront.”
NMSN has become a leader in the field of military spouse employment. Sue has also seen the dream career she had hoped for come to fruition. With First Lady Jill Biden, Sue was invited to the public relaunched of Joining forces, a White House initiative that supports veterans and military families.
Two of her practical solutions have been included in legislation. She was the first Air Force leader to use social media to reach their Airmen and their families.
That is why Sue is one of Tory Burch’s “Empowered Women” this year. The $5,000 donation will be going to The Madeira School, a school that Sue herself attended when she was in high school because, she says, “the lessons I learned there as a student pretty much set the tone for my personal and professional life. It’s so meaningful to know that the donation will go towards making a Madeira education more accessible to those who may not otherwise be able to afford it and providing them with a life-changing opportunity.”
Most military children will move one to three times during high school so having a continuous four-year experience at one high school can be an important gift. After traveling for much of her formative years, Sue attended Madeira and found herself “in an environment that fostered confidence and empowerment. As young women, we were expected to have a voice and advocate not just for ourselves, but for those around us.”