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 overshare ✓ What the Wilderness terrain looks like for leaders who built something from nothing

Featured Guest: Melissa Washington — Navy veteran, CEO, founder of Women Veterans Alliance and Women Veterans Giving, author, publisher of Women Veterans Magazine, 2025 Military Friendly National Navy Veteran of the Year. Connect: womenveteransalliance.com

Women Veterans Giving Small Business Award — Applications open May 1, 2026. Up to $5,000 cash plus coaching. Founders who served only. womenveteransgiving.org

Women Veterans Engage Conference — May 30, 2026: womenveteransengage.com

Learn More: othersoverself.com | info@missionambition.org

April 19, 2026: Host Shelly Rood and Melissa Washington