In this interview, Veteran Voices host Mary Kate Soliva welcomes Marina Rabinek, President and founder of the Military Women’s Collective and a Veteran of the United States Navy. While still in the Navy, Marina faced the unwanted advances of a fellow service member, and although she reported it up the chain of command, no action was taken until much later, when others had come forward as well. That experience became part of her drive to start the Military Women’s Collective, a 501c3 dedicated to ensuring that women veterans (past, present & future) do not feel INVISIBLE and UNHEARD.

Mary Kate and Marina take this opportunity to discuss:

• The surprising benefits of speaking French in the U.S. Navy
• When servicemembers should start thinking about the process of transitioning out
• Her work to support military diversity inclusion today and in the future

Intro/Outro (00:02):

Welcome to veteran voices, a podcast that dedicated to giving a voice to those that have served in the United States, armed forces on this series jointly presented by supply chain now, and vets to industry. We sit down with a wide variety of veterans and veteran advocates to gain their insight perspective and stories from serving. We talked with many individuals about their challenging transition from active duty to the private sector, and we discuss some of the most vital issues facing veterans today. Join us for this episode of veteran voices

Mary Kate Soliva (00:48):

Today. And hello, this is Mary Kay saliva with veteran voices. Thanks for joining us today as we’ve got a wonderful, amazing, incredible conversation teed up with a veteran and a huge advocate in the veteran community. Stay tuned for a great discussion. Quick programming note before we get started, this program is part of the supply chain. Now family of programming it’s the show is conducted in partnership with my dear friends, vets to industry. Learn more about this powerful nonprofit that is serving so many folks@bestoindustry.org, an initiative near and dear to my heart, the Guam human rights initiative. Find them on LinkedIn at the university of Guam under the regional center for public policy. Okay. I can’t wait any longer without further ado. Let’s introduce our guest today. Our guest today serves as the president and founder of military women’s collective. She’s also a veteran of the United States Navy. Let’s welcome in marina RA my dear veteran sister. How are you today?

Marina Rabinek (01:55):

Hello. Hey. Hello? Okay. How you doing?

Mary Kate Soliva (01:58):

How you doing?

Marina Rabinek (01:59):

I am doing wonderful. Thank you.

Mary Kate Soliva (02:02):

It’s so great to have you back. I know you you’re here on, uh, veteran voices during a veteran’s day event. About a year ago. I’d say we were actually at the very start of our transition from the military. So now you and I are both out of the service, but you know, our hearts still belong to the military, but I think it’s a so great today because you know, I’m, I’m an army, the veteran you’re Navy veteran. So we got our little front maybe beat army thing going on. I know you had to add that in there, right? Go army. I mean, I had

Marina Rabinek (02:31):

To,

Mary Kate Soliva (02:32):

But I really want folks cuz as much as I, I knew you, I would love for our listeners today to really get a chance and opportunity to get to know you better. The woman behind the scenes doing everything and you know, military women’s collective. So I’d like to start off with some motivation and whether no matter what time of day it is, I’m probably, you’re probably on your like fifth cup of coffee, but I’d love to get started with some motivation and hear Reno. Could you share with us a bit of, uh, motivation here today? What’s your favorite quote?

Marina Rabinek (03:04):

Definitely. Do you definitely. Um, yeah, so I actually have one that is on the homepage of military women’s collective.org, the website. Great. It is women belong in a all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception and that is by the rest in peace, late RBG, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Mary Kate Soliva (03:30):

I love that. Gosh. And, and a powerhouse that you mentioned there and a legend in her own. Right? Absolutely love that. Love that quote. And I, I mean, you’ve been doing a, a lot of incredible work for women and especially women veterans, but we’re gonna get to that a little bit later. What I really wanna take everybody back to oh, where you grew up. So where, where could you tell us a little bit about your upbringing? Where’d you grow up at? I know you have a more unique story compared to most, so I let’s dive

Marina Rabinek (04:00):

Into that. True. True. I mean, people don’t normally take me like in the way back machine like this, I don’t, I don’t normally go this we’re going way back, way back. So I was born in well near you actually where you are right now. Um, the district of Columbia, I was born in Columbia, Maryland, cause I know you’re in Maryland now and I was only there until first grade. And then my dad got a position in Illinois. So we moved to this city called Buffalo Grove and I lived there and we were there for about first grade and, and a little bit second grade. And then from second grade and, and half of third for the first time I moved overseas to Belgium and

Mary Kate Soliva (04:51):

So cool.

Marina Rabinek (04:53):

So awesome. And of course, you know, when I came back to the states, so I came back for the other half of third grade, fourth, it in fifth grade to back to Illinois and all of a sudden I was this Belgian kid and I’m like, y’all know, I just like went to another country and I came back. I’m still an American sort of, my mother is French. Um, but believe it or not, even though my mother is French, I didn’t start learning French. So we went to Belgium the first time at, around the age of seven. So, you know, my mom was probably like, yes. Um, but yeah.

Mary Kate Soliva (05:32):

Did you tell that you speak, like how, how was your French then? Like when you did learn, could, could they tell whether you were, did you sound like a native speaker or, I mean,

Marina Rabinek (05:41):

Do

Mary Kate Soliva (05:41):

You have an American accent and when you, when you speak French

Marina Rabinek (05:44):

When back then, no. And when I was living in Europe, no, I mean now I probably do sound like an American trying to speak French because it’s been so long since I’ve actually heard the native way of speaking that. Yeah. I think, I think I sound like an, an a, an Americanized French person or, or vice versa, but yeah, I mean, I basically, I went back and forth between between Europe, the states and I, we lived in Japan for a year when, and I was in sixth grade too, you know, that’s, that’s really,

Mary Kate Soliva (06:20):

You really traveled the world.

Marina Rabinek (06:21):

Yeah. As a kid, I traveled the world, you know, by the time I was 11, I think. And I mean, craziness, you, the amount of different airports that we stopped in, like we stopped in Moscow one time, this was after the cold war and before the now stuff that’s going on, you know, I’m sure we’re all sending our love and thoughts and absolutely Prayers to the Ukraine. But yeah, it, I just, I loved being able to grow up in so many different places like that. I mean, it’s a, it was an honor, you know, be able to be an expat family member to my dad’s career. And I guess that’s where I got my love of, of travel and moving around every few years, you know, the way we do in the military, cuz I’d done it as a kid already every few years. But

Mary Kate Soliva (07:13):

I will say that you had way more exotic locations than I did in the army. So I will say that was the places that you got to go in your upbringing. Absolutely amazing. Definitely on my bucket list to visits at some point. And I did see a suitcase at the airport recently that had a bunch of stickers on it, where the person had traveled. And I was like, I always wanted to do that. You know, have my, my, I vintage little suitcase with stickers from the different places I’ve gone to really going old school. And for those who don’t know, I’m really like a little old lady on the inside.

Marina Rabinek (07:48):

I’ve got mine right here,

Mary Kate Soliva (07:49):

My old soul. Oh my goodness. Came back from a trip outta haven’t

Marina Rabinek (07:53):

Put it away yet.

Mary Kate Soliva (07:55):

Well, something, I think since the pandemic I’ve been just really itching was somewhere. And I I’m, I feel like I’m practically living out of a suitcase right now, but I, I really would love to for our listeners today to hear a little anecdote or two from your upbringing, what are some sort of lessons learned? I mean, you’ve had such a, you had such a worldly experience at such a young age. What are some possibly lessons learned that you, you had from that time?

Marina Rabinek (08:20):

Honestly. Okay. I have two things and they, they’re both kind of related try your hardest to learn about the culture and the language before you get there. And don’t act, the second one is don’t act like an ignorant American they’re are related. Do you see what I’m saying? Like it, it’s a, it’s a cultural thing, like going over there and assuming to going over to any other country other than the us and assuming that everyone is going to speak English is, is not going to be the case. So trying to, you know, speak the language, they actually, people in Europe, especially, they actually see that as, as, as a great thing that you’re actually trying, you know, to, to just assume that everyone speaks, uh, English is, is, is a fallacy. You know what I mean? Yeah. I, I, I, I mean, I that’s like a weird rabbit hole

Mary Kate Soliva (09:19):

Having duo lingo or some kind of Google translator app. Oh

Marina Rabinek (09:24):

Gosh. Duo lingo is so great. Yeah. Rosat stone. I mean, I have both of those because I was trying to learn back some of my Japanese that I was losing because I, I was stationed in Japan for over 10 years.

Mary Kate Soliva (09:37):

Oh my goodness.

Marina Rabinek (09:39):

So I still love everything Japan. And so, you know, I, I, I try, uh, I mean, be luckily being in the Navy, sorry, my chair is very noisy. Luckily being in the Navy, you know, I’m, I’m able to, I was able to, gosh, I I’m able to no, not, not anymore.

Mary Kate Soliva (09:57):

Yeah. Now you have a, the past tense here.

Marina Rabinek (09:59):

Yes. Yeah. I was able to, you know, be stationed in some great places like you were talking, but you know, I was lucky to be, um, in Japan multiple times, so, well,

Mary Kate Soliva (10:10):

You would love it. I mean, you said Japan, I’m literally looking out my window right now and I can see a chair blossom tree. No. And it is a full bloom right now. And I was just thinking like, oh my goodness, marina would absolutely love this. So, you know, the history behind like having the, the cherry blossom trees in DC right now, Washington DC, they’re just absolutely beautiful. And if you don’t know the history, take a look at the cherry blossoms and why there’s a festival, why we celebrate at this time of year in DC, a really cool history. And this is sort of the, kind of the peace and, and relationship friendship that we, we sort of need that reminder right now. Oh. So I absolutely love that. And of course like being from, from Guam too, we, we come across like a lot of folks from Japan, a lot of citizens from Japan and just absolutely love.

Mary Kate Soliva (11:03):

I mean, we could go off on a tangent talking about the food. Yeah. One of my favorite cuisines, but I’m gonna bring us back to talk about your time in the uniform. Like you say, going, growing up, you had that experience being a world traveler. I can’t why you wouldn’t pick the army to where you could get stationed in the middle of nowhere, but the fact that you chose the Navy, uh, you really wanted to, to broaden your horizon, so to speak. And so tell us a little bit about your time in the uniform. We know you served in the Navy. What did you do? Where did you go? Let’s share all of that.

Marina Rabinek (11:39):

Okay. Well, yeah. So, so the reason for joining the Navy was my mother said with a first name like yours, you should join the Navy. And I guess I took that to heart.

Mary Kate Soliva (11:51):

I really love that when you first told me that I was dying, I just, well,

Marina Rabinek (11:56):

The, the, my name. So, so marina, the Latin root of marina is Mao and Marino means of the sea.

Mary Kate Soliva (12:06):

And what

Marina Rabinek (12:06):

Color is right now, now like the ocean and swimming and all that stuff so much,

Mary Kate Soliva (12:10):

You tell people what color your hair is right now for the, those who can’t see

Speaker 4 (12:13):

It. It’s like teal in blue.

Mary Kate Soliva (12:18):

Oh my goodness. So yeah, just like the ocean, very nautical. Very you very marina and yes. Goodness. I, I mean, and you already went to so many places, you mentioned Japan, but what are some locations that really stick out to you from your, your career or, or maybe even where cuz you were on a ship, correct?

Marina Rabinek (12:38):

Yes, I was. Yeah. So by the end of my Navy career, I had been on three, been stationed specifically on three ships, two were man. I’m dating myself, spur class destroyers, which no longer exist in the United States. Navy. Yeah. They’re all decom decom. So, um, and then I did also a tour on a, uh, amphibious, uh, it’s called an LHD, which is a, basically it’s a small version of an aircraft carrier. It’s for mostly helicopters or HEROs as, as we call ’em in the Navy. Do you guys call ’em Hilos in the, in the army too? Or they, you call ’em like choppers.

Mary Kate Soliva (13:23):

Well now you’re making me think of Arnold Schneer it’s a chop

Marina Rabinek (13:27):

Go through the,

Mary Kate Soliva (13:29):

1. Your impersonation is way better than my, My goodness. Well, I, my thoughts just left my brain. There it goes. I’m waving goodbye to it. So, but when you talk about, you got to see all those cool things. I mean you, which means that, did you, did you end up working with a lot of Marines as well?

Marina Rabinek (13:53):

Yes. Yes. So

Mary Kate Soliva (13:55):

Aren’t you like the, the taxi cab to the Marine Corps? Is that, is that what it

Marina Rabinek (13:59):

No, no. We, the Uber, yes.

Mary Kate Soliva (14:02):

Uber. Oh, the

Marina Rabinek (14:03):

Uber birthday, every time it’s the Marine’s birthday. I always put a post-up on, on LinkedIn. And I say, you know, a happy birthday from your favorite Uber drivers, because you know, they be people, we, we are the Uber driver, you know, we just take ’em where they want to go. We drop ’em off, pick ’em back up later and bring ’em to the next spot. That’s really what we do on, on an AMIB. So yeah, it was fun though. I mean, one of the things that I remember about my very last deployment, which was back in 2015, man, I can’t that’s like seven years ago almost we went, oh, I’m sorry. Yeah. I, I, I lost my train of thought for like a half a second. There we were, we were seeming and we noticed another military ship out there would come to find out that it was a French ship and someone, you know, does let all say right.

Marina Rabinek (15:04):

Basically they, they, they came to me because they knew people already knew that I spoke French and they said, Hey, you know, we’ve got a friendship over here and we could do some cross decking, you know, do some, some tours and stuff. And what I ended up doing was getting looking cuz I was the training, one of the training officers and I, and I looked to find out who spoke French, cuz we had a list of, you know, the languages people spoke other than English, but I could bring a list of people up. So I found all the French speakers got them all together. We ended up doing tours for the people from the ship, uh, from this French ship was called the CASAA. Okay. And um, oh my gosh. So much fun. And after, after they came to see us, us, they said, Hey, we would like to bring all of the translators. Plus if you have some other people that wanna come, they did the same thing. They, so we went over to their ship. Now when there’s something that almost every other countries Naval service does that the us does not. They L drinking at meal times, Australia, Australia has a a saying, which I find hilarious. It’s two beers per person per day, perhaps. Right. Isn’t that funny

Mary Kate Soliva (16:30):

Are on point, oh

Marina Rabinek (16:31):

My goodness. I practice my Australian. What I do. I, I, cause I, my, my daughter loves when I do my, uh, my Steve Owen, you know, like she, she pretends to be, this is when she was younger. She, she she’d pretend to be a Jaguar or something. So I’d say, uh, this is Steve and I’m walking through the jungle and, and, and I, I see a, a Ja and she’s stalking her pray and, and my daughter would be like, come out and, and attack, you know, but now it was, it was so fun.

Mary Kate Soliva (17:01):

So cool.

Marina Rabinek (17:02):

It was so fun to be on this friendship because we, we actually got to drink some wine with, with our lunch, which what

Mary Kate Soliva (17:09):

I’m hearing is that you were an Uber driver and now you’re a tour guide,

Marina Rabinek (17:15):

A tour guide

Mary Kate Soliva (17:16):

You’re and a translator, you know, a little bit, a little bit of everything. What was your official job in, in the Navy? What, what’s the,

Marina Rabinek (17:25):

Oh,

Mary Kate Soliva (17:26):

I think of like our military occupational specialty. Did you have different ones during your time in service?

Marina Rabinek (17:31):

So the Navy is completely D friend from all the other branches where you are a, you have a rank, but each of your specialties, like you can have multiple specialties right. With the Navy, right? Like you can have D you can change your MOS and be different things throughout your career. Right. Oh my gosh. I must have knocked my drink over,

Mary Kate Soliva (17:59):

But you all wanted to be completely different from everybody else and decided to not do that. I remember. Well, you, you, you didn’t have the official title of Uber driver or

Marina Rabinek (18:12):

I didn’t. No, no.

Mary Kate Soliva (18:13):

But you did have the job of what say when you first came in.

Marina Rabinek (18:21):

Yeah, that’s what I was saying. Like, I, I was a, a sonar technician when I first came in, you know, as a, as an E. And by the time I made E seven, which is a chief in the, in the Navy, I think it’s a Sergeant first class for you, right? Yes. And then when I was in my last about six or seven years, uh, I, I ended up, I was still on our tech, but cuz that’s my, my rate is cuz we’re different. Like I said in the Navy, we’re different. We have rates instead of just ranks with Moss, we have rates and then we have something called an N E C, which is a Navy and listed classification code. And you can have multiple ones of those. And whichever one you’re using is the one that’s like the top one. So 8 0 9 alpha is the command climate specialist. And what a command climate specialist is, is basically it’s an equal opportunity specialist or equal opportunity director,

Mary Kate Soliva (19:24):

Which is such a

Marina Rabinek (19:24):

Good, I think I used to do the natural role, really the diversity inclusion training and, and things like that at my last two commands.

Mary Kate Soliva (19:35):

Did you have, um, during that, that time, cause you had mentioned when, what you were when you first came in. So the sonar technician to doing the diversity equity inclusion, are there one or two people, two leaders that stick out from your career that that really helped mold you and shape you during that time?

Marina Rabinek (19:53):

Oh wow. That is a very good question.

Mary Kate Soliva (19:57):

Cause we’re talking about the whole span of, of how many, how many years did, did you end up serving?

Marina Rabinek (20:02):

Oh, 24. Yeah. See, I think that’s, I think that’s

Mary Kate Soliva (20:06):

Absolutely amazing. Absolutely incredible. That’s even more than, than some of the folks in my family who did their, their 20 and they were done and you just went a little bit extra. So I mean, and then we talked about this before, about like you served in a time where there there’s still, I mean, there’s still not a whole lot of women now, but way more than there were when you first came in. So definitely, I mean whether, whether they were men, women just, or there are two that stick out to you,

Marina Rabinek (20:33):

I would have to say one of the two people would definitely be April Bedo, April Bedo is, is just a phenomenal, phenomenal woman, absolutely inspiration. She was a, a command master chief and then a, a fleet master chief. And just, I can’t even explain, like I was hoping, hoping that she would be the first, not only, only woman, but woman of color also MCON which is the master chief petty officer in the Navy. I was hoping and hoping, but she retired before that happened. And then, you know, I’m gonna go and this is gonna be, you’re probably gonna wonder why, but I’m gonna go a little more peer with. So I went on a ship as an instructor, not gonna say the ship, I’m not gonna say the people went on the ship as an instructor when I was doing instructor duty a long time ago, put it that way.

Marina Rabinek (21:44):

And you know, I, I, wasn’t a very high rank at that time. And an officer decided that he was going to hit on me and I made it a point to tell his chain of command and nothing came of that, that later on down the road, I ended up testifying, you know, to the, to some of the things, you know, that, that he had said to me and to other people, you know, and he ended up getting kicked out, which that is the good side of it. But the fact that, that, of that happening that made me want to bring military women’s collect to, to the forefront. Like it was something that started in my mind back then. And this is, you know, probably almost 20 years ago, that’s, that’s crazy. And it, it was something that, you know, women shouldn’t be felt. It shouldn’t feel like they’re invisible.

Marina Rabinek (22:50):

They, I shouldn’t feel like they’re not being heard because when I told his chain of command, they did not believe me wasn’t until later on where he did something else where he got caught, then they were like, oh, sorry. But back then not feeling seen and heard, made want to create a space, a place for other women veterans to come and know that there is. I mean, and this is on directly on my website. It talks the, the whole mission is women warriors, warriors, offering mentorship, empowerment, networking, and support, and then our values, our community authenticity, positivity, empathy, and success because we want you as, as women and our, and the allies, cuz I’m not like trying to bash men in any shape, warm here at, at all. I’m married to him though. That sounded bad. I’m married. I’m married to a man. No, I, I I’m, I’m in no way trying to do that. I love our male allies. Like we have you and I just personally have so many and

Mary Kate Soliva (24:07):

Absolutely we do. And I think that during, and I mean, I’m so glad that you brought up military women collective, cuz we are definitely going to definitely highlight that because thank you for sharing your story, by the way, your personal experience with that. And, and unfortunately I, I, I have heard other, uh, stories where women have, have felt that they weren’t heard and you and I have had numerous conversations about this. So if you were addressing a room like during, during the transition you would address and mentor numerous people, even before you even got out of the, the Navy before you even took off your uniform, you were sort of leaning back, reaching back saying, let me help you. I’m here to hear you. I do hear you. Uh, and, and you did that for me numerous times during my transition from active duty. So to, to go back to like what you were saying about the, the values military women’s collective, like if you were to talk to a room full of transitioning service members now, what are, what are some things that you would like to say to them perhaps they’re listening in right now?

Mary Kate Soliva (25:06):

And what would you like to say?

Marina Rabinek (25:09):

I mean, there’s so many resources out there. I mean, do you want me to list any, can I do that or, I mean, there’s you,

Mary Kate Soliva (25:21):

You absolutely can. I, I guess I, I know that you and I have gone through through numerous ones, I was thinking about what, what you were saying to, to not feeling, feeling heard. And I think that during the transition, we, we sort of go through that, the doubts about what we’re capable of doing and, and we have this whole, I identity that we’re still working through and trying to figure out what our next purpose is, our next mission is. And so I, knowing that we’re not alone in that I think is, is huge. And you touched on that, about that, that community. And like we’re, we’re warriors internally. We raised our right hand to serve, but we’re also, we’re like the sheep dogs, we’re the protectors, the defenders we’re selfless patriotic, but it doesn’t mean that we, we don’t need help. And that can’t admit it’s not, it’s okay to ask for

Marina Rabinek (26:10):

Help. And, and honestly that was really what, when you asked me the question yes. About what I would say to them is to ask for help, ask for help and start the transition process from the military at minimum two years out. And I know like, especially the younger, like for, for, for me younger sailors, right? I know they’re not thinking about that. Cause maybe they’re thinking I’m just gonna do four years and then I’m gonna get out. Yeah. But what are you gonna do when you get out it at four years, you don’t get a retirement there’s are you just gonna go home and live with your PA? I mean, live with your parents. Are, do you have, or are you gonna go home and, and find a place of your own cuz you budgeted your money correctly? You know, the, that, I mean that’s a huge thing too, make sure that you pay down all your debt or as much as you can before you get out. And this goes more towards like, I mean, obviously to, it goes to everyone, but I would say more towards people that are like retiring, you know, cuz well, gosh, no, it, it really does go for everyone because when, when you’re retiring, yes, you’re gonna end up getting some money coming in. But when, but if you’re not and you’re, and you’re just getting out after, you know, one list, then the only way you would end up getting any kind of compensation would be if it was a medical retirement or medical sub operation. So,

Mary Kate Soliva (27:46):

And I’d love to add mentorship in there too. Top of everything that you’re saying, uh, you were one of the biggest mentors that I, that I had in my transitioning. You hadn’t even transitioned fully out, but I mean, you and I both con connected with so many people that were already, they already successfully navigated the, they were already out. Some of them had never served before as well. And so I think that again, just that camaraderie piece, that sense of community, that sense that we’re not alone is, is so important, which, which sort of leads me into hearing what you’re doing now. I mean, you, you, you officially launched military women’s collective recently. You’re official. Congratulations. I’m super proud of you. Um, you, could you share with the listeners a little bit about what you’re doing now and a little bit about the, this incredible new organization that you just founded?

Marina Rabinek (28:41):

Um, yes, definitely. So what I am doing being now, well actually I guess I could announce something that I just,

Mary Kate Soliva (28:51):

Oh yeah, I’m ready.

Marina Rabinek (28:53):

Okay. So I just actually accepted an offer to be the original director for the west coast for, for lock. Woo, woo, woo. Very exciting. I’m I’m super happy. And then like you said, of course I did launch, but yeah, that, like you were saying, I, you know, I did launch military women’s collective officially, we got our 5 0 1 [inaudible] [inaudible] um, earlier this week and then yesterday we went to our first event and then, you know, tomorrow, so this is, well, let’s see what, March 20 actually, no, not tomorrow. Today, March 24th, we are doing a, an event with vets to industry for their diversity equity and inclusion series. And then, uh, in June we’re looking to do a women veterans day. So June 12th is women veterans day. It was the day that president Truman signed the integration act saying that women could serve and the military. And so we’re gonna be doing a virtual and an in-person event.

Marina Rabinek (30:02):

Virtual event is going to be a, a panel moderated by, by myself. And I’m just, I’m really excited for, you know, future events to take place. We’re looking at creating, uh, some scholarships and also working with homeless, uh, women veterans. So yeah, I, and all of this came about, you know, from talking with you and from other people that, you know, are, are, we are friends with, and, and I ended up deciding to go school going back to school because of everything that we’re doing, uh, with military women’s collective. Yeah. I ended up going so I’m to the Bush school of, um, of government and public service and I’m doing the executive masters of public service and administration with a nonprofit track. So whew,

Mary Kate Soliva (30:59):

Absolutely. Perfect. Congratulations on, on getting in as well. I know you had, you had gone through that process and applied, um, and, and for all our listeners, mind you, that marina has managed to do all this and she hasn’t even what you you’re just now you just hit a year from retirement, like yeah. About a month ago. Right? So

Marina Rabinek (31:22):

Knows like three weeks ago. Yeah. March 1st was my March. First of 21 was my first quote unquote blue card day. You know, it was my cuz back in the day, uh, retirement, when you retired your card, uh, it was this laminated blue card. Now it doesn’t look like that, but yeah, March 1st of 21 or 22, so March 1st of 23, which was three weeks ago.

Mary Kate Soliva (31:49):

Amazing. Yeah. So now you’re, I mean, you, you started your own nonprofit organization. You’re now running like west coast side of the, with four block. I mean, absolutely amazing. You’re in school now. And so, I mean the folks out there listening, like how in the world I’m gonna manage it. Marina has somehow managed to find 40 hours in a day. She somehow figured it out and still looks well rested. I think it’s absolutely amazing. I, I mean, I’m so proud of you cuz you and I started hand in hand, we’ve actually, by the way, have never met in person in person. I feel like you’ve literally met everybody else in our network except for me

Marina Rabinek (32:33):

And Leslie, I haven’t met Leslie in person.

Mary Kate Soliva (32:35):

Haven’t met our famous Leslie coffee. We were talking about dear friend of ours. Uh, but the fact that you’ve managed to do all this in the last year and, and from where we were in our initial conversations of just trying to think about what are we gonna do, what’s next for us. Um, and, and even as we approach the nearing weeks to our last stay on active duty and we’re like, you know, where’s, where is that interview you at? That I’ve been waiting on. But as you can tell, we’re, we’re still writing that book. You’re still writing that, you know, quote unquote, that, that story, this chapter of yours post transition, and it’s just been an, an incredible journey for you. And so for the you’re located where now is your, is military women’s collective gonna to just be focusing on west coast or where are you hoping to, to take MWC?

Marina Rabinek (33:24):

So yeah, for now, um, we are focused more here on in California. So far events have been in Riverside and San Diego county, but with the, the homeless women initiative that I’m trying, that I want not trying, but that I want to create. It’s possible that it could reach into LA and San Bernardino county, which are the left or west of me and, and north of me. Um, so, and then from there, who knows, I mean, I, I would love to go create chapters and, or, you know, expand globally, you know, what is, what is it, um, you remember pinky in the brain, what did we want to do tonight? Brain? What do we do every night? Pinky, try to take over the world. Oh, that’s yes. You think

Mary Kate Soliva (34:22):

We’re taking it way back. We’re taking it, throw back to the,

Marina Rabinek (34:25):

That was it bad? Yes.

Mary Kate Soliva (34:27):

Well, I was telling you just a little bit ago that my goal is to, when I speak to just imagine the American flag flying behind bugs bunny. Cause that’s the, this is, this is what I’m talking about here, but absolutely amazing that you’re, you’re so selfless mean. We talk about your number one gal strength before, uh, you know, you mentioned connectedness and you and I talked about that was that’s our number one for both of us and, and what that means. And I have no doubt. I mean, you know, people from all over the world that you’re able to take military women’s collective, uh, beyond. So for our listeners today, I definitely encourage, uh, reaching out to marina to, to see how you can help see how you can support and get involved. Cuz I, I have no doubt that you’re gonna be going beyond California, uh, and that we gotta get you out here on the east coast to see the cherry blossoms here in DC. But that was so for the, do you see when engaging some of the, the women veterans, what are some of the needs there? You talked about your, your personal journey and your personal experience in the Navy that really sparked that light, that you wanted to do something more, um, and then understanding that there were other women veterans that may have had similar experiences, uh, what are some other, are there some other issues that you would like to highlight that really speaks to what military women’s collective is all about?

Marina Rabinek (35:48):

Wow. I mean, I, I definitely the, the kind of initiatives that we’re looking at doing is things like scholarships, you know, like, like I was saying a little bit earlier, um, but we can’t do that without donations, of course. And then as a 5 0 1 [inaudible] [inaudible] donations are tax deductible, which is awesome. We definitely are looking in, not sure about this year, but possibly later this year or next were looking at doing a, you know, a golfing fundraiser. I just, I, I, I’m very excited about doing collaborations with other nonprofits as well. I mean talks with a, a young women and girls nonprofit about doing collaboration there and, and, and that collaboration is going to be part of the June 12th women veterans day event. I’m

Mary Kate Soliva (36:46):

Excited for that very much. Yeah.

Marina Rabinek (36:48):

I, I, you know, I, I wanna try to do at least one, at least one, uh, event either in personal or virtually, uh, per month, you know, cause I, I really want that, that connection. I mean, just like, just like the values talks about, you know, the community I want, uh, there to be that, that, that sense of community and, and camaraderie and connection, you know, that, that women have when they, when they come together and as the woman veteran, you know, being able to, to talk with other women veterans about things that you’ve been through or active duty women asking these women that have, you know, blazed a trail for you because the, the history repeats itself. Right. So asking things that happened in the past could help them in the future.

Mary Kate Soliva (37:43):

How can our male listeners support? Cause I think when we hear military women’s collective, it’s got the word women naturally, but I, I understand that there’s also, uh, men out there that are, you know, and others that may want to get involved. And yes. Uh, what, what would you like to say to them about what they can do to support,

Marina Rabinek (38:04):

You know, just be an ally. Um, if you hear, if you’re in a meeting, I mean, this can be, this could be, if you’re in the military, this could be, if you’re in corporate, if a woman brings up an idea and there’s nothing but crickets, and then two minutes later, somebody else brings up the same idea. But as a, but as a man this time and all of a sudden, it’s a great idea. You, as an ally need to say, Hey, John, you know, maybe he’s, that’s the name of the guy that brought up the idea, thank you for echoing Mary Kate’s idea. That is an ally not sitting there and just glossing over of the fact that you just had an idea that you brought forward, that nobody, that nobody recognized that nobody, you know, said anything. They, they didn’t, um, there’s another word for it. I just can’t think of it. Uh,

Mary Kate Soliva (39:08):

Yeah. So nobody else came up with it. It was that person’s

Marina Rabinek (39:11):

Idea, but they, they didn’t acknowledge. That’s what I, that’s what I was trying to say. They didn’t acknowledge it. I, and, and it, it just kind of, you know, nothing happened and then the exact same idea, but brought forth from the male perspective, you know, that is the kind of thing that, that when you’re in a, in a meeting and, and no one stands up for you and you stand up for yourself and then people just laugh you off, that kind of thing wears down on a, on a woman after a while, you know? And so I, I, I want other women to know that, no, you don’t have to sit there and take that. You know what I mean? And, and, and as men, if you see this happening, please stand up for us and be our allies because you do not know how much we appreciate it. Like, so, so much

Mary Kate Soliva (40:05):

That that’s so true. I, I think there’s numerous. I, I love that you actually use the word allies, cause I don’t think that would be common to think of it, of what your ask would be. Um, but I really like that, that concept of those out there, who, who may not identify with what’s going on, may not have a personal experience, like what marina is mentioning, but to know that you can be an ally and that you can speak up and be a voice. And that, that it’s really powerful. It may, it may not mean as much, but to that, to that individual, it could mean a whole lot, make a huge difference. And I, I think even on teams where I’ve served on all male teams, which I have in my military career, uh, just having that acknowledgement, right. Even by, by one. And it’s not to say that you need that solidification, but if they’re trying to take credit for something, that’s your, really your idea.

Mary Kate Soliva (41:00):

I was like, don’t doubt your, your capabilities, or like to find that voice to speak up. And I think there were times it wasn’t until I, I I’ve had, um, strong leaders in, in the military that really helped me see through that and helped me identify that, find my voice to speak up, say some thing. Uh, I definitely think I’d take that opportunity. Uh, we talked recently about, uh, a female, a woman, uh, in the military that she was in ball of tears, cuz another woman leader had actually continued, kept scolding her, scolding her, scolding her and belitling her and making her feel less than. And so it was like another thing about on the flip side of that, of uh, how as women, we can empower other women. And I think with military women’s collective, you’ve really created that space to where women do feel empower power to, to say, you know, I actually do have something to offer and I can stand up and speak up and, and help mentor this other person.

Marina Rabinek (42:00):

Absolutely. I mean, cuz it’s, it’s, it’s so much, it’s so much about just knowing as women that we’re worthy and we are enough and you know, we can do whatever it is. We, we set our mind to, I know I sound like some kind of poster or something, but, but

Mary Kate Soliva (42:20):

It’s, it’s valid. It’s a valid message. And uh, and, and it’s something sometimes we, you might think, okay, that’s obvious, you know, next, but it, we really, sometimes we need that reminder. And, and so actually to not feel that sense of, of jealousy that somebody else is, it seems like they’re doing okay and they’re, they seem to be balancing everything with perfect grace and they’ve got it all together and they’ve managed to put 40 hours and 20 of work in a 24 hours and you’re like, they’ve got it together. Um, but there’s, there’s a lot behind, um, smiles, you know, in, in some cases, but people being able to being able to speak up and knowing that they have people, even if it’s a small tribe, even if you have a small group that you know, that you could pick up the phone right now and know that you could call them right now in the middle of anything, they would drop it to answer that call if you needed it. Uh, it so important to have folks like that in your, in your circle. And I know we we’ve identified those people and it, and it’s so important to get through those down days.

Marina Rabinek (43:24):

Absolutely. I mean, I think we, uh, we ended up calling it transition buddies or battle buddies. What you, myself and buddy Matt, we were like this, we called ourselves the three Musketeers or the three MSS or M cubed.

Mary Kate Soliva (43:42):

I mean the three of us were on the, the supply chain supply chain. Now

Marina Rabinek (43:46):

We were for

Mary Kate Soliva (43:47):

Veterans day, the three of us, the three S but Matt marina, myself, Mary Kate. So yeah, absolutely. And, and again, Matt have been that male ally of our, oh, during our down days, he really stepped up to the plate, uh, to, to really make sure that we knew, you know, y’all got it. You’re doing great.

Marina Rabinek (44:09):

Oh yeah, keep going. He, he’s amazing.

Mary Kate Soliva (44:12):

So I love that again. Battle buddies, allies, camaraderie. I mean, it’s a all circling back here that same. Um, we talked about the, the three CS of collaboration and that community camaraderie. So I really love that marina. And I really, if, if our listeners today want to get in touch with you, I know you have like a whole tree different, different ways, but I, I love that. You’re just out there, you make yourself accessible and approachable and I absolutely love that about you. So how, how are some, what are some ways that, uh, our listeners can get ahold of you?

Marina Rabinek (44:47):

Wow. Okay. So LinkedIn for sure. Um, you can, you can get in contact with military women’s collective on LinkedIn or myself on LinkedIn. I’m thinking I’m pretty much the only marina RA that I’ve seen. Otherwise email is marina dot military women’s collective.org, uh, and military womens collective is all one word. Let’s see. And I’m not on Facebook. I’m not on Instagram, but I’ve been thinking about getting back on Instagram, but I don’t know

Mary Kate Soliva (45:27):

You are a can of pro though, even though

Marina Rabinek (45:29):

I am a can of

Mary Kate Soliva (45:30):

Social media that you so good at creating content

Marina Rabinek (45:34):

So good at, I love Canva. And then of course the website is HTTPS Collin slash www dot military women’s collective.org.

Mary Kate Soliva (45:49):

Fantastic. Is there a way that, um, is how can they go out out volunteering? Is it, is it also on the website as well?

Marina Rabinek (45:56):

Yes, there is. So under the get involved, you can click on, there’s a volunteer your time. There’s a make a donation and there’s a partner with us for the get involved. If you click on the, get in touch, it will take you to an email. Uh, and it’ll, it’ll send an email to info military women’s collective.org. That’s the another website, uh, or not website, but you know, email address, you can send it to.

Mary Kate Soliva (46:25):

Fantastic. Well, thank you so much marina for joining us today on veteran voices, uh, to our partners at betta industry. I mean marina and I, that’s how we met. We mentioned Matt, Matthew brink, uh, earlier, but that’s how we all met, was through vets to industry with the number two. Uh, so vets to industry.org. You definitely wanna check them out, just we on behalf of the entire team here at veteran voices, we just wanna say, thank you. Thank you, marina. Thank you to our, our listeners. We invite you to find us and subscribe wherever you get podcasts from and a big thank you to our nearest end dearest Fest industry, but also so glad that military women’s collective could join us today. And this is Mary Kay saliva wishing all of our listeners, nothing but the best stay motivated, do good, give for and be the change that’s needed in this world at this time on that note, we’ll see you next time. Thank you everybody for joining us.