Today we’d like to introduce you to Martina Schmidt.
Hi Martina, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
The She Served Initiative started as a passion project while running my photography business “Martina’s Images”. That passion grew, and I found myself spending more and more time photographing and telling the story of women veterans. I then decided to devote all my efforts to photographing women veterans and telling their story and founded the non-profit organization the “She Served Initiative”. We are now a 501 c 3 non-profit organization registered in Georgia. As a professional photographer and female veteran, I felt I could contribute in a small way to bring much-deserved attention to women veterans.
Women have always served their country and played an important role in the military; they have had to overcome many obstacles to get where they are today. All too often, we overlook these women who served alongside men. For example, many people still equate veterans with men and assume that the women are the veterans’ daughters or wives. Being a retired veteran myself, I have experienced many instances in which I was believed to be the wife of a veteran.
Little did I know how much healing the project would bring to me. Reconnecting with fellow veterans helps me deal with my own anxieties about past military experiences and has made me realize that I am not alone in navigating the many emotions of being a woman veteran. During our photo sessions, we chat, exchange experiences, discuss challenges, and reminisce about our time in the military. Sometimes we shed tears, but mostly we rejoice in all that we can do.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Creating a non-profit has definitely been a learning experience and continues to be a learning experience. Fundraising is probably to most challenging aspect now that all the required paperwork is done.
The project itself has gone pretty smoothly thanks to many very dedicated women veteran volunteers from different parts of the US.
We just published our debut issue of the She Served Magazine of which we are very proud, but it was definitely a challenge pulling it all together. https://issuu.com/
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I served for 20 years (1990-2010) in the United States Air Force and am now retired from the military. I served in various overseas locations to include Germany, Italy, Romania, and Iraq. After my time in the military, I worked as a contractor for Battelle Memorial Institute for a while, but finally answered my real calling and joined the Circus! I attended the Creative Circus portfolio school and became a commercial photographer. I worked as a photographer for about five years and then decided to devote all my efforts to my non-profit organization the “She Served Initiative”.
The She Served Initiative is now my full-time mission; we are a 100% volunteer organization and are learning as we go along. Our goal is to tell the story of the brave women who served from WWII to now. We are dedicated to passing on to the general public the experiences and accomplishments of women Veterans, and through photography, allowing the veterans to express their own personality. By telling their unique story, we hope to create greater respect for women Veterans.
We would love to collaborate with civilian companies who employ women veterans, veteran organizations, women veteran volunteers organizations, etc., anybody who would like to honor and highlight their women veterans. We recently published our very first digital magazine called She Served, Celebrating Women Veterans.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
As a non-profit organization that features women veterans, we always look for volunteers with a passion for our cause of educating the public that women served in the United States Military and are veterans, too. We also rely heavily on financial support from generous donors.
Pricing:
- Donation
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sheservedinitiative.org
- Instagram: she.served
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SheServedCelebratingwomenveterans/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sheservedinitiative/
- Other: https://issuu.com/sheserved/docs/she_served_draft_2023?fr=xKAE9_zU1NQ
Image Credits
Martina Schmidt
