In this episode of Veteran Voices, host Mary Kate Soliva welcomes Navy veteran and founder of Talents ASCEND, Robyn Grable, to the show.

Their conversation covers Robyn’s military journey, challenges faced by veterans transitioning to civilian life, and the importance of networking.

Listen in as Robyn shares her inspiration behind Talents Ascend, a platform connecting veterans, military spouses, and the disabled community with employment opportunities, and emphasizes the need to challenge job market misconceptions.

Join us for an intimate discussion about leveraging unique veteran skills, networks, and self-discovery in finding fulfilling careers beyond the military, and a special invitation to utilize Talents Ascend’s resources for post-military career success.

Intro/Outro (00:00):

Welcome to Veteran Voices, a podcast dedicated to giving a voice to those that have served in the United States Armed Forces. Now on this series jointly presented by Supply Chain now Guam Human Rights Initiative and the Military Women’s Collective, we sit down with a wide variety of veterans and veteran advocates to gain their insights, perspective, and stories from serving. We talk with many individuals about their challenging transition from active duty to the private sector as well as the big things they’re up to now kicking a dent in the universe. And of course, we discussed some of the most critical issues facing veterans and their families today. Join us for this episode of Veteran Voices and now here’s your host, US Army veteran, Mary Kate Saliva.

Mary Kate Soliva (00:49):

Hello everyone. Welcome back and welcome. If this is your first time to Veteran Voices, appreciate you all tuning in as I’m gearing up for an exciting guest today. Just a quick programming note before we get started. Veteran Voices is part of the supply chain now family of podcasts, and you can get those podcasts wherever you get your podcast from. And also we are in proud partnership with the Guam Human Rights Initiative, a nonprofit that’s near and dear to my heart where they’re focused on human rights issues impacting Guam and the region. So like I said, I’m Mary Kate Saliva, your host today, and I’m super excited to welcome a Navy veteran and a fellow sister at Arms, and she’s also the founder of Talents Ascend. And we’re going to talk a little bit more about that later on in the episode, but I’m super excited to welcome to the show, Robin Grable. Robin, thank you so much for joining us.

Robyn Grable (01:46):

Thank you, Mary Kate. Pleasure to be here, honored to have this opportunity to talk with you.

Mary Kate Soliva (01:50):

Yes, and I was like, I always look when I’m looking for guests for the show, I was like, I got to mix it up instead of hitting it hard with the Army as an Army veteran myself. And I was like, I got to mix it up. So we got Navy in the house today. Navy veteran.

Robyn Grable (02:05):

Yes. Go Navy.

Mary Kate Soliva (02:06):

Yeah. So let’s going to put a Go Army there. Well, I’m super excited to have you on and I wanted to kick off the show as I always do with a motivational quote. And as I mentioned offline, you’re welcome to sing it, wrap it, dance to it however you want. But I would really love for you to pump us up with a motivational quote today.

Robyn Grable (02:27):

Well, I won’t sing for your audience’s sake, and they probably don’t want to hear that, but I do have a Dr. Seuss quote, so that should be,

Mary Kate Soliva (02:35):

Oh, I’m excited about that up

Robyn Grable (02:36):

And just motivational in of itself. So my favorite Dr. Seuss quote is, don’t cry that it’s over. Be happy that it happened or something like that. Smile, don’t cry because it’s over smile because it happened. And I try to live my life that way and just be grateful for the things that have happened. As we get into our discussion today, you’ll see I’ve had a lot of experiences in my lifetime. I wouldn’t change a thing because I love who I am today. And that quote really tells me I am grateful for what my life has become, and I’m happy that those things happened. I’m not sad about it being over. So yeah, that’s my point. My other one is Jim Collins. It’s not motivational necessarily or really uppity like Dr. Seuss, but as my work in talents to send right person on the right seat in the bus with the right skills. So that’s really what our mission is all about, is that putting the right person with the right skills in the role. So those are two of my favorites.

Mary Kate Soliva (03:41):

No, I love that. And especially your first one, shout out to Dr. Seuss and Green Eggs and Ham. But what I love about that one in particular, I remember my dad saying that to me about even our teachers. He’s like, yes, you’re good teachers, but you’ll never forget the bad ones. And so it’s even the bad leaders that we’ve had, the bad mentors, the bad teachers, there’s so much to learn and instead of regretting being in their presence or knowing them, right, there’s so much value that we can take from just having known them. So no, I love that. And I think you’re the first to quote Dr. Seuss if I’m not mistaken. So

Robyn Grable (04:23):

There we,

Mary Kate Soliva (04:24):

Our Veteran Voices listeners, and so I’d love to take us back to your childhood and where you grew up. I think it’s such a big important piece of what makes us who we are. And I’m very much on family history and ancestry and just not forgetting our roots. So I’d love to hear more.

Robyn Grable (04:44):

Yeah, no, I agree. And as I said, all of my experiences that have led up to today have made me who I am and I love who I am today and what I get to do and the life that I have. So it wasn’t always easy. I grew up, my mother was 17 when she had me. She turned 18 a month later. My father joined the Air Force shortly after that because he didn’t want to be a father. So my young mother was left on her own with me, which you can imagine that life back in the day.

Mary Kate Soliva (05:16):

We’ll leave it at that back in the day,

Robyn Grable (05:19):

Back in the day. And then both of my parents got remarried and I went through a childhood that I don’t remember a lot of because it was a lot of tragic abuse, negligence, just a lot of things that happened to me. But it made me strong and it made me resilient. And then I joined the Navy as that’s the

Mary Kate Soliva (05:39):

Part that I wanted to know. Yes, you joined the Navy, but for our listeners, especially those who are not tuning in through video, but is it just listening to you and who don’t have the privilege of knowing you? I do just talk about that time of joining as a woman. There wasn’t a lot of women that were joining. I would dare to say that you might’ve been the only woman in the room a lot of times, but I’d love to hear more about first why the Navy? Was it a billboard sign? Was it a recruiter walk by who was on his lunch And then again what that was like for you coming in first as a woman?

Robyn Grable (06:16):

Yeah, absolutely. So to kind of back it up a little bit, I excelled in school, but I couldn’t go to college because my stepfather wouldn’t divulge his finances. So I couldn’t apply to colleges even to get a scholarship, which later found out that I had, I would’ve received one. So the recruiter, the Navy recruiter came to our high school one day and it was just the timing of it all. They said, Hey, join the Navy, see the world. And I had never really been out of Indiana. I had never been on an airplane before I went to boot camp. So that’s kind of tells you where my life was at the time, and I didn’t see a lot of choices in where my life was going. So timing, everything happens for a reason. And they came to the high school that day and told us about the Navy.

(07:03):

And of course the whole hype of see the world, and I’m in Indiana in a landlocked state, so not a lot of water around me, and I’d never been to the ocean before. So I mean, this was a new experience. So that’s really what it was. And it just intrigued me. I wasn’t afraid of it. The military wasn’t something that I was like, oh my gosh, I’m a female. I can’t go into the military. It wasn’t that at all. It was just the adventure of it and getting out of Indiana and my opportunity to do something with my life. But when I went to go to sign up, they didn’t have anything because there weren’t a lot of roles females could be part of. We had a lot of restrictions back in 1979 when I went in. And so I didn’t have an occupation. I could choose right away. So I went in undesignated, which basically meant I went in without a career choice, but I was so ready to get out of Indiana and ready to join the Navy that I took the first opportunity. So I ended up in bootcamp in Orlando in July of July through September, which is the hottest time in Florida. Don’t recommend it. I could think

Mary Kate Soliva (08:16):

Of worst places for you to go with your first time out of Indiana. So guess Florida’s not so bad.

Robyn Grable (08:22):

Absolutely. The plane ride was horrible. As I mentioned, I’d never been on a plane before, but when I got to Orlando, I loved bootcamp. I loved the structure. I loved being able to achieve things. I did very well. To the point there weren’t enough female company commanders is what they called them, the drill instructors for the Navy at the time. So while I was in training, they chose five recruits to become assistant company commanders. And I’ll forget, I went to that interview and him on my Dree pants had come down and I was so afraid they were going to notice that my uniform was not top notch and I wasn’t going to get picked. I did ultimately get chosen to be an assistant company commander. So I did that right out bootcamp. So I went from being a recruit and being trained on how to live the military life to training a new company of recruits, which was a very interesting experience.

(09:26):

But I remember one time a recruit was struggling, and I just said to her, just do what they tell you to do. Just don’t think about it. Don’t think at all, just when they say jump, you jump and that’s it, and you’ll make it through. So that was an experience. But my first duty station after that was Keli Iceland, and I went there again, still not having chosen a career, but that’s where they needed an undesignated person. And ultimately I was cleaning the captain’s office, captain Robert Berg. I’ll never forget him. He was the captain of the base, the name of Air Station there. And I remember being in his office at like 6:00 AM and he was not supposed to be there until eight. He came in early, scared me to death, 18 years old, 19 years old, and here’s the captain of the base coming into his office that I’m supposed to have cleaned.

(10:19):

And so that was interesting. But I’ll never forget what he said to me. He sat me down and said, officers put their uniform on one leg at a time, just like enlisted. Respect is earned and due, but you don’t have to be afraid. And I’ll never forget that. And it’s one of the things that I’ve carried with me from leaders that I’ve worked for or businesses that I’ve worked for, is you don’t have to be afraid. Respect is there and do and earned, but you don’t have to be afraid of people who are in a position above you. But the Navy also taught me that I had to fight for my skills because I would choose, I had to choose a career. And every time I would go to choose one, they would say, Nope, you can’t do that one because you’re a female. Not because I wasn’t smart enough, not because I wasn’t strong enough, not because I couldn’t pass the test or had the skills simply because I was a female.

(11:16):

And it was a time in the Navy when the older generation of sailors wanted to take you under their wing. They wanted to protect you. They didn’t want you to do anything. They were trying, so you didn’t get hurt. And then you had the other side of the equation where the younger sailors thought that females in the Navy were only there for one reason. So it was a very interesting time, but I had grown up as a redheaded stepchild. So I was tough, I was resilient and got through it, and I loved being in uniform. I loved, well, you already got to

Mary Kate Soliva (11:52):

Go cool places. Again, that’s where you made the smart show with the Navy, at least you get to end up by the sea. And these exotic, I think often different places, like you said, Iceland going out of Florida and ending up in Iceland. Some people never leave Fort Liberty in North Carolina. So for the Army, I think I already the try. I know, right? Be sorry for us, but no, it’s great. We love being landlocked. But no, the thing with what you’re mentioning about taking them under the wing of the older generation, I think that’s the thing with the military, regardless of whether you’re early on in your career or later on, that it always blew my mind why people wouldn’t want to take the younger, newer recruits under their wing. I’m like, it’s such a missed opportunity to pass on your knowledge, even if you’re only a few years ahead or one rank ahead of that person. There’s still so much knowledge that you have to share to pass on. And so I’d love to hear about some of the mentors that you had and what it was like as a woman. Did you find that your mentors were both sexes, and did your peers also step into that role and support you in those positions?

Robyn Grable (13:00):

While I was in the Navy, I found that, well, a good majority of the people in the Navy were men, so most of the mentors were male. But I did find a few that really, as a civilian as well, the people that really believed in my creativity and my ability to get things done so they could trust that I could get things done. So those were my favorite mentors along the way. And by the way, after I went to Iceland, I went to Brunswick, Maine, Jacksonville, Florida, and then Pearl Harbor. So I did have some really great,

Mary Kate Soliva (13:32):

Oh my goodness,

Robyn Grable (13:34):

In my nine years, but mentors, it’s almost the opposite. I spent more time mentoring others and creating opportunities for people to find a safe space, particularly female service members. Every duty station I went to, I was creating some sort of club or some sort of, when I got to Pearl Harbor, we called it the first Petty Officer First class. Oh, first class club. So just things like that to really create a safe environment for people to have a place to go to and talk about things that were happening to them. And in that, I found people that supported that. A lot of people, I mean, I remember, and now that I’m kind of back in the military fold with what I do today, I remember a lot more about the people that I was stationed with and friends and whatnot. So it was great. I loved it. I really did. The experiences that I had aside, I did love being in the Navy.

Mary Kate Soliva (14:31):

I love that. And I’d be remiss to not ask you, as I mentioned before, we got on this episode about the time that you did serve as a woman. And I was mentioning that for me with post nine 11 Veteran, anyone who served back in, as you mentioned, the seventies, eighties, even the nineties, just such huge respect and hats off because you women really paved such a huge path for us that came behind you. And I would just love, and thank you for that, I call you like the pioneer women, but I just thinking how tough you all are. And I was wondering if you could share a bit about some of those big differences that you see now. I know you’re still heavily in the veteran space and those who are transitioning from active duty, but just would love to hear some of your thoughts of some of those big changes that you’ve seen for better or for worse.

Robyn Grable (15:26):

Yeah, so I mean, I think the opportunities, obviously to be able to be a pilot, to be on a combat ship, just those opportunities have opened up. Really, there’s no limitations today. There were, and it took a while to get there. Things opened up a little gradually at a time. But there are very few limitations today that women, I mean a woman can be a Navy Seal if they can pass the test and do the job. What I love is that my granddaughter, who is 14, wants to be a Navy pilot. So what I love is that, and I thank you for calling me a pioneer, love that. But what I see is the path of what you’ve done and other ladies like you who are in that middle ground between what I went through, what you’ve built, and what my granddaughter will experience when she joins, if that’s ultimately what she ends up doing. So the opportunities, and I feel good that I’ve been part of that, and it is a blessing to know that you’ve carved a piece of history, but even women still today serving today are still carving that path. There are

Mary Kate Soliva (16:39):

Still, I

Robyn Grable (16:39):

Agree, leadership roles that more women should be into more command positions that women should get the opportunity to lead. So there’s still work to be done on the bad side, there’s still work to be done around harassment and things like that. That’s still happening. And that needs to change. That has to change. Just it should not happen regardless. And so I think I love where we’ve come because the opportunity, I mean, I couldn’t be a Navy pilot even if I had wanted to, and my granddaughter will get the opportunity to do that if that’s what she wants to do. But there’s still work to be done.

Mary Kate Soliva (17:23):

Yes. No, and the phrase that came to mind as you were saying that was hold the line. We want to hold the line sense of we don’t want to go backwards. We have paved this path and come such a long way. We don’t want to fall back. I even think about fertility and women’s health. Even when we opened up women in combat arms, that was even during my time combat arms being opened up to women, we were on the battlefield talk about even in the Civil War, women were there on the field, but we were not recognized as that with the same benefits as our male peers. And so even that sacrifice of motherhood and knowing so many that I’ve served and my sisters who have either had fertility issues or have been away for that half that time of their child’s life, and it’s just those other challenges that are unique for a woman who has served.

(18:15):

And I think it’s important that we talk about those. And I know you touched on harassment, military, sexual trauma, just some of those things that still need to keep getting re-looked at as far as the policies go and making sure that we’re establishing an access to those resources. Even like the lactation rooms, things. That wasn’t something that we thought of before. But I have talked to women of the different eras, and it’s just again, where each year it seems a little bit more progress that we’ve chipped away a little bit more, a little bit more. And we’ve crossed that threshold a little bit further. But holding the line where we’re at so we don’t regress is so important again for opportunities like your granddaughter and her generation to be able to continue aiming high. And of course, we saw in the news like Miss America was first active duty, right?

Robyn Grable (19:07):

Absolutely.

Mary Kate Soliva (19:09):

Pilot in training. And for her to be the first active duty woman, miss America title to earn that. That’s incredible. And so again, just talking about your time in the Navy, how many years was that and when did you realize that point of it’s time to hang up the uniform that you love so much? I

Robyn Grable (19:31):

Did. So I served for nine years, and I guess my turning point, I wanted to be an officer. I went in enlisted and at some point I said, I want to change the Navy. I want to do something about some of these things and I’ll become an officer and I can change the Navy. That was quite the lofty goal I had. The Navy had what they called a limited duty officer program where you could go from enlisted to officer without having your degree, without having gone to the academy, that kind of thing. So I went through all of that for two years, worked on my degree, worked on my social community, volunteer work, and just had the highest recommendations. And the year that I applied, they did not rate any data processing or supply chain officers in the limited duty officer space. So they didn’t even open my package that I had worked so hard to put together.

(20:28):

And it was so good. It was just so good. And so I got really, really discard and thought, that’s a sign. Somebody’s telling me something. Well, a couple of days later, as I was in programming school in Quantico, Virginia, on my way to the Monterey Weather Station in California, my came to me and said, someone forgot to have you sign your re-enlistment papers in Pearl Harbor when you left, so you need to either sign those or you need to leave. And I thought there’s sign number two that I need to get out that I have an opportunity to, okay, this is, I’m done. I had also just passed the test to become an E seven and in the Navy at the time, there was an initiation process that I had just witnessed my now ex-husband go through. And it was horrible for him, and I knew I’d never survive it. I just knew that I couldn’t survive it and I didn’t want to do it. So that was sign number three that it was time for me to go. So all the clouds aligned and everything came together to say, it’s time for you to go. And so at nine years I made that decision because I would’ve had to sign up for another four, which would’ve put me over 13. And at

Mary Kate Soliva (21:46):

That, that’s where they get you, right? Right.

Robyn Grable (21:48):

You got to do 20 at that point

Mary Kate Soliva (21:50):

Down the hill.

Robyn Grable (21:52):

No.

Mary Kate Soliva (21:52):

So that’s interesting. You mentioned your ex-husband. Did you have a family at that point?

Robyn Grable (21:59):

I did. I had a daughter. My daughter was two at the time, which was another thing when I left Pearl Harbor, you were talking about the restrictions on combat and families. I wanted to volunteer to go on a ship. I wanted that experience, but at the time, females could not have any dependents and serve on any sort of ships. So the Navy said, yeah, we’ll put you on a ship, but you have to give up custody of your daughter. And I was like, my husband wouldn’t have to do that. Why should I have to do that? So that was a no-go for me, but it was just a time that I said, okay, I’ve done what I needed to do and it’s time for me to leave and go do something else. For

Mary Kate Soliva (22:44):

You to even say that, now we’re in 2024 now, but you’re just like, right. That was even a thing. And I know for the service academies, that’s something where you can’t have dependent. And they also talk about that with the custody of giving custody. And I know that they have since changed some of the rules on that as well. But it just, wow, right. It’s not that long ago. And look how far we have come that you would’ve had to give up custody of your daughter just to be able to serve on a ship. So gosh, and again, that’s why I say hats off to you, the pioneers who were willing to put up with that with a straight face somehow keeps showing up each day in uniform. So I would love to know, obviously we also talk about being for myself, a post island veteran and having so many things available to us as far as resources goes, and a lot of that is thanks to the veterans who came before us and would love to know what wasn’t available at that time for you in the transition. Did anyone have that conversation with you and sort of what that looked like for you and your family at that time?

Robyn Grable (23:52):

Yeah, so I was a single mom at the time, so I separated from my husband as we left Pearl Harbor and on to my next duty station when I decided to get out. So I had my two and a half year old with me. And no, there was no transition class, there was nothing. March 31st I was in uniform getting my final papers and my final paycheck. The next morning I was out of uniform and on my way home there was nothing. And at the time I honestly didn’t think anything about it. I just served for nine years. I’ve done lots of different things. I was afraid of anything. And so I just said, okay, well, I’m going home for a couple of weeks and then I’m going to figure out where I’m going from there. And so there was no transition assistance programs like we have today, even though that also still needs some work. It’s definitely better than nothing. There was no education support on base, there was no employment support on base, so there was no resources to go to had I even wanted to or thought of, Hey, I need some help, just wasn’t in my mind. I was like, okay, I’m going to get out and get a job. That’s what,

Mary Kate Soliva (25:02):

Same with disability, we talk about now, file for disability, get your rating, yes. And that conversation doesn’t happen. Take money from the government for the rest of your life. What do you mean? So I would love to, again, that piece is so important I think to highlight again, because of how far we have come, but to just know how easy it is for this stuff to get as taken away as quickly as we got it. So it’s so important that we use these resources that are available to us to be able to ask for help, ask those questions. We don’t know what we don’t know, and to reach out to these others who have gone before because we have come such a long way. Yeah. The transition piece for you coming out, what did that look like? Coming for a job before going into the Navy, you were limited. You only have X, Y, Z, these, this is it. This is all you get. So now you’re coming in the civilian sector where you basically have a whole lot of things to do. So how did you navigate what to do and what did that look like for you?

Robyn Grable (26:08):

That was another step backwards, unfortunately, because when I got out, I went to a resume writer, I’d never had a resume before and somebody said, go pay this person. They’ll write a resume for you. And when I went to them, they couldn’t figure out what to put down about what I’d done in the Navy. They didn’t know how to translate my skills or take any transferable skills to a new occupation, a new career, and I had to start over. They basically said, you’re a female, go to a staffing agency. You can get a job as an administrative assistant with your eyes closed. That’s the best thing you do. Which was the worst thing that could have happened to me because I had nine years of training and skills and abilities that I had to set aside to put food on the table for my daughter because I had a daughter to support.

(27:02):

So I did go to an agency and I did get an administrative assistant job and for 12 years, so from the time I got out of the Navy to the time I got a job at a Fortune 500 company doing the same job I was doing when I got out of the Navy 12 year span, I worked for 10 different companies in four different states. That’s what it took me to get back to utilizing the skills that I have being paid what I deserve to be paid for, the skills that I have. So that was tough, but again, at the time I didn’t think anything about it. I was like, okay, I’m used to just doing what I’m told. So I took my pink papered resume and went to a staffing agency, the pink

Mary Kate Soliva (27:50):

Tapered ones. Oh goodness.

Robyn Grable (27:52):

Pink paper

Mary Kate Soliva (27:54):

And the transition right now. I’m wondering too about you were going through multiple transitions for each of that because as you mentioned, being in a landlocked state going and into Florida, I mean each time there’s a period of transition. And that’s something I want to definitely highlight to our listeners about when you post active duty about, we’re all still figuring out there’s really no locked in, but that’s why we end up asking these questions and really trying to take that moment of self-discovery, what you enjoyed, where can you really maximize the skills that you have, leverage what you have and if you want to pivot careers that there’s opportunities out there for you to do that. And so I’d love if you could share about if you were to speak to a room of transitioning service members, what’s your advice to them today?

Robyn Grable (28:40):

Never settle. Don’t take the first thing somebody tells you is the only thing you can do or is the only thing that you can get, don’t settle. You’ve got transferable skills. I knew that then, but I didn’t fight for it. I know it now much better because that’s what our program is all about, taking those transferable skills. But that’s what I would say to someone is go out there and network. Find other veterans in your local community that you want to be at or you’re thinking about being in. Find people on LinkedIn. There’s just so many more resources and connection points now than there was. I mean, the internet, I mean, back in the eighties, we didn’t have the internet back in the nineties, we didn’t have the internet. So there’s so much more opportunities that don’t settle and don’t think you have to go it alone. There’s thousands if not millions of people who’ve gone before you that have been through a transition, been through getting out of the military and taking your transferable skills to a new career. You are not alone. Yes, you may feel like your situation is unique because of certain factors, but there’s somebody out there who can help you step the way and get through it. But yeah, transferable skills, don’t settle and reach out and talk to people because you’re not alone.

Mary Kate Soliva (30:03):

No, I love that. And remiss if I didn’t mention about Talents Ascend and your organization and what you founded, and so it goes right along with the transition piece, but I’d love to hear the origin story of talents and just sort of how it started for you. And like you said, you did 12 years and then going through all these different states, these moves, these different jobs, and finally enough was enough, you answered the calling and what’s the origin there?

Robyn Grable (30:34):

Started my own company. So really the pivotal point was while I was finishing my master’s, I met an Army veteran’s wife. We were in a chat room and she commented that her husband had been out for six months, and this was 25 years after I got out of the Navy. And she commented that her husband had been out for six months, could not get an interview, and he was spiraling downward. And it truly broke my heart. I was like, how it’s 25 years after my experience, why is this still happening? He was a nine 11 veteran. All of these resources, all of these things that are available even to the nine 11 post nine 11 veterans, it’s why was this happening? And I’m blessed with creativity. So I had many years of helping people with their skills. I did a lot of different projects at the companies that I worked for, fortunately with some great bosses who let me be my creative self and create skills-based programs at those companies.

(31:34):

So the idea just hit me. We’ve got to get back to basics and say, here’s the skills a veteran has from their military service. Match those skills to an employer who needs those skills. Leave out the titles, leave out the job titles, leave out job descriptions, just whittle it down to pure simplicity skills. We translate the military occupations into skills and then match those two employers job skills that they need. So it really started there in 2014. I had the idea, it took me a few years to really figure out, I still worked for the Fortune 500 company, started volunteering for a nonprofit here in the upstate of South Carolina and really got back into the military community and just really started loving it with the traditional route of, I’ll do it manually. I’ve got the skills of this better and I’m going to manually match them to an employer, which is very time consuming.

(32:36):

And you can really only do it one job person at a time. But I knew in the back of my mind, even in 2014 that if we could create a computer program to do that matching, to do that translation, that we could do it so much faster and so much better. And finally, in 2018, again, the stars all aligned. Things happen for a reason, little things here and there, and we finally got the money and the opportunity to build the computer program to translate those occupations and match those skills. So it was a bit of a journey. It’s now been nearly, almost 10 years since I first had the idea and were almost six years old as a company. But that’s really the premise. It’s about being able to look at the human being, which if somebody had done that, when I got out of the Navy and said, this human being has these skills, doesn’t matter where I got, doesn’t matter how long I’ve had them, it doesn’t matter what gender I am, just that I have these skills and your company needs these skills, have a conversation, match them up together. So that’s really what talents Ascend is about. We started out in 2018 as Veterans Ascend really just for veterans. We quickly added military spouses who also endure a lot of barriers, getting to great careers gaps in their work history because they’re serving our country not in uniform, but certainly serving our country alongside their service member. And so then we added the disability community and in 2022, we became Talents Ascend and brought it all together and opened it up for everyone while still having priority for our communities that we serve.

Mary Kate Soliva (34:20):

That’s fantastic. What a journey that has been and how much you’ve accomplished and how many that you’ve helped. I know it even for my transition, that’s how I came to know you and getting to know the Thompsons and just shout out to Bruce and Nila. But that’s something that a power couple there in the veteran space, especially in Florida. But I was going through so many of the things that you mentioned as far as the barriers, and I did settle when I was in my transition, I went with the first skill bridge that was interested in me. I went with the first, I was just so grateful to even have a interview, any interview, I was like, whoever will take me. It wasn’t a matter of looking at skills, it’s just like, what do you want me to do?

Robyn Grable (35:08):

I’ll do it

Mary Kate Soliva (35:08):

And I’ll do it. And it’s like doing the Dance the Pony show here, just like whatever you want me to do. And so that’s where it’s so important what you have created and what you’ve developed because even for the, I imagine it was the cheaper end of what the military paid for to align our skills for my job in the Army, it was saying, marketing is your alignment. Well, everybody would ask me, well, can we see your portfolio? And I’m like, what portfolio? So it was not an exact alignment. And then it came to be that just because that’s what you did in service doesn’t mean that that’s what you have to do for the rest of your life. And that’s where we are learning more about entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, getting out there and really finding what drives your passion. I think that that’s a big part of why we serve and put up with what we do in service is because we have that servant heart to do something greater than ourselves and it stays with us beyond the uniform. So thank you for that. And I’d love to hear about how people can find more information and how they can get involved. And is there any way that our listeners, viewers could support you?

Robyn Grable (36:17):

Yeah, absolutely. So we also have a nonprofit side called the Ascend Collective, and that’s where we really help candidates get career ready and connect them to resources of any type. So it doesn’t have to, if you need something that’s not related to employment, we’ve got connections, we’ve got resources. So please reach out. Again, don’t go through things alone. So talents ascend.com is the corporate side where you can create a profile for free. We’ll translate your occupations into skills and then match that. And one of the things about what you were just saying, Mary Kate, is that we don’t look at the titles to present you as a title person to an employer. We present those skills from that occupation. So we use infantry as an example all the time because people assume infantry can only do security work. That is not all an infantry person can do if you look at the actual skills they earned from their time.

(37:13):

So there’s a lot more that goes into us detail. And if we only pigeonhole people into what relates to their titles, their previous titles, you’re going to miss out on so much talent. So talents ascend.com, free to create a profile takes less than 10 minutes, no resume, no application. We’re going to match you directly to an employer. You’re going to get directly to an interview with a hiring manager, a business owner. And then on the Ascend Collective side, it’s the ascend collective.org. So that’s our nonprofit. You’ll see the communities that we really advocate for, but we’ve got a lot of connections, a lot of partners, a lot of resources. So again, please reach out. We are here to help.

Mary Kate Soliva (37:58):

And the rank piece too, you mentioned about even as a young sailor getting to be the assistant to the commander. So I think we sort of put that mental blockage as well. And I’ve actually had potential employers ask me what rank I was or what rank I am, and there’s sort of a thing where I tell them, but then I’m like, well, why? And I know some people match it with your management level, but everybody’s story is so different. And then you do have those rock stars that shine above their peers that get opportunities like you did to be able to do something well above their pay grade and their rank. And so definitely don’t let that piece hold you back from these opportunities. I have peers who, because they don’t have a college degree, they also immediately say, I don’t have a shot. I don’t stand a chance, and I’m not even going to try to apply for that. So I love the work that you’re doing there and sharing how they can get involved with that.

Robyn Grable (38:54):

And that’s a good point, Mary Kate, is that we look at the unemployment number for veterans, and it’s low, 2.9% I think was the latest one. That’s not the real story. Veterans are underemployed or they take themselves out of the workforce or out of the job hunt because of situations like that. They look at a job description on an application and they’re like, well, I didn’t do that exactly. But if they were asked what skills they have that match the skills that business needs, it would be an instant value or what they

Mary Kate Soliva (39:28):

Bring to the table, right? I’m like, your network, you just mentioned all these different countries that you’ve been into, and sometimes even the network is worth its weight in gold for a company, especially if you’re in business development and sales or in events, you’re able to network like crazy because you’ve had to do it your whole life. People from all walks of life that you wouldn’t have given the time of day. In the civilian side, you are matched, you roommates with other people that are so different from you and come from different walks of life, but now they’ve become your brothers and sisters, and you have that massive network that spans the globe. So there’s so much that we bring to the table beyond even our hard skills, those soft skills as well. And so thank you so much. I know with me, I have to cut myself off because I will end up asking you questions and we’ll go all the way down and take all day long. But could you please share with our listeners how they can reach you and personally and help what best way to get ahold of you?

Robyn Grable (40:28):

Yeah. So on LinkedIn, I’m Robin Jay Grable, R-O-B-Y-N, Grable. So you can reach me there. And then again, our website is talent ascend.com. You can email us at find talent@talentascend.com and one of the team members will reach back out to you. So we’re here. Reach out anytime. Don’t worry about what question you have, we’ll find an answer for

Mary Kate Soliva (40:53):

You. Thank you. Well, thank you so much, Robin, for joining us. And again, as anything changes, we welcome you back to Veteran Voices anytime. I know we barely touched the surface on what you do for spouses, for military veteran spouses, but it’s so important. So our listeners out there, as you get involved, don’t forget that your spouses are going through this transition with you. Again, another unique resource. Not all the organizations out there support the military spouse and veteran spouse. So please, Robin’s organizations one of them. So thank you so much, Robin. Thank you. Thank you all for joining us. This is your first or second or a hundredth time that you’ve been with Veteran Voices. Thank you. We hope you come back. Enjoy this episode. Reach out to Robin, and again, you can get the Veteran Voices podcast wherever you get your podcast from. And again, reminder to do good and be the change that’s needed. Thank you. And this is Mary Kate Saliva. I’ll see you all next time.