Ashley Horton’s service dog Bailey is more than a companion, she’s the inspiration behind Horton’s fledgling business venture.
Horton, a participant in the University’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, is a retired Marine Corps field radio operator who served across the United States and in Fallujah, Iraq from 2004 to 2011. Now, with the help of the EBV program, Horton is turning her love of animals into a career.
In July 2015, Horton suddenly lost her job. Devastated she couldn’t find employment,
Horton began operating a pet care service to support herself. As requests for her services took off, Horton realized operating a business dedicated to training service animals would be more fulfilling than a corporate career.
“Working with them makes me feel like I can fly,” she said. “It’s the most fulfilling part of my life.”
A staff member from a veterans non-profit group Horton volunteers for referred her to the program in the past, but it wasn’t the right time. With a business plan in mind, Horton realized the EBV program was a viable option to help her reach the next step in her life, she said.
Everything began to fall into place after applying for the program, she said.
“I got the call Dec. 4,” she said. “I was in the middle of Hobby Lobby, and I had to try everything not to scream. I was so excited.”
Being able to complete this journey with Bailey by her side has been important. As a student at a university in North Carolina, Horton felt uncomfortable having a service dog because the focus was on success rather than access, Horton said.
That hasn’t been the case with the EBV program, she said.
“It’s focused on learning and catering to the veteran’s needs, good, bad and different, and not just what they think it should be from an outside view,” Horton said. “They actually want it to work.”
Robin Kistler, the University’s director for EBV, said the program focuses on giving back to veterans in a way that can make a difference in their lives.
The national program, led by Syracuse University, aims to decrease the risks post-9/11
veterans face by educating them about the challenges and opportunities of business ownership, Kistler said.
In addition to the standard curriculum, the University program invites guest entrepreneurs to speak to the veterans and dispense business advice. The weeklong program culminates in a pitch presentation to a board of local entrepreneurs, Kistler said.
Jason Wise, a retired Army counter-intelligence and special forces operative, said he wishes programs like this one were available at every university in the country.
“Although there’s benefits for veterans there’s not a lot of opportunities, and there’s even fewer educational opportunities,” Wise said. “I just think it’s important that if we’re going to expect these young men and women to put their life on the line, we as a community and we as a society owe it to those veterans to take care of them and present them with opportunities.”
Entrepreneurship is a natural fit for many veterans, Kistler said. Veterans possess the training, discipline, problem-solving skills and persistence necessary for success. The program helps them apply the skills they have learned through military experience in a new way, she said.
In turn, many of the veterans plan to use their business plans to help others, she said.
Wise said he wants to open a professional investigation, competitive intelligence and security consulting firm focused on legal and corporate investigations. The business’s five-year plan involves hiring additional investigators, so Wise can offer pro-bono services to the families of missing children and human trafficking victims.
For Wise, helping the oppressed and those unable to help themselves has been a motivating factor throughout his life and inspired him to enter the armed forces and become a Green Beret. Kistler said veterans’ patriotism doesn’t end with their service.
“They’re still leaders,” Kistler said. “They were leaders in the Middle East, and now they’re leaders here.”
Bootcamp supports veterans’ business ventures, skills
By Katie Gagliano
March 3, 2016
More to Discover