Episode 036: From Military Spouse to Mission-Driven Entrepreneur with Jessica Malachi
I am so excited to share this conversation with you because Jessica Malachi is one of my most fabulous graduates of the Six Month Entrepreneurial Glow Up program. Her journey from a demanding traditional career to creating a sustainable, values-aligned business is exactly the kind of transformation that lights me up as a coach.
Jessica is the founder of JMM Consulting, where she helps mission-driven nonprofits and businesses optimize their operations and achieve sustainable success. As a military spouse who travels between Alabama and Texas, she's built a business that gives her the flexibility to be present for life's important moments while doing work that truly matters.
Episode 36: From Military Spouse to Mission-Driven Entrepreneur with Jessica Malachi
I am so excited to share this conversation with you because Jessica Malachi is one of my most fabulous graduates of the Six Month Entrepreneurial Glow Up program. Her journey from a demanding traditional career to creating a sustainable, values-aligned business is exactly the kind of transformation that lights me up as a coach.
Jessica is the founder of JMM Consulting, where she helps mission-driven nonprofits and businesses optimize their operations and achieve sustainable success. As a military spouse who travels between Alabama and Texas, she's built a business that gives her the flexibility to be present for life's important moments while doing work that truly matters.
The Wake-Up Call That Changed Everything
Jessica's transformation didn't happen overnight. She was working in public health, traveling 60% of the time, and trapped in what she describes as a "pretty toxic work culture." The pandemic forced her to take a hard look at her life when everything shifted to remote work and telehealth programs.
"I felt myself really struggling with just the lack of really feeling like I was making a difference," Jessica shared. "Everything felt like triage and my mental health and wellness were going down the drain."
The turning point came when her partner confronted her pattern of burning out: "You're a boss. Like, what is going on? I can't keep watching you circle the drain. I keep seeing you speak your dreams and you don't do anything about it."
Within three weeks of leaving her job, Jessica had made four months of her previous salary. That's when she knew she was onto something.
Finding Your Leadership Sweet Spot
Here's what I love about Jessica's story - she's always been a natural leader. She told her mom at five years old, "I don't need any parenting, I'm good." But like so many powerful women, she found herself in structures where she couldn't fully lead.
Jessica discovered her zone of genius lies in what she calls "work that is both tactical and people-based." She noticed that everywhere she went, she naturally started "fixing the business" - whether that was writing best practices, convening people for culture building, or literally organizing someone's junk drawer.
"I feel like in some ways I've taken my business to this place of show me your junk drawers because they're actually weighing you down," she explains. "Let's put it out on the table. Let's talk about what's going on."
The Military Spouse Entrepreneur Advantage
Being a military spouse brings unique challenges, but Jessica has turned those into superpowers for her business. The constant moving and uncertainty taught her to be incredibly adaptable and flexible.
"My partner will be called on to go somewhere in the world at some point, and I knew that," Jessica said. "Being able to choose a life that wherever he may go, I hopefully can go... I get to pick up my hub and take it where I need to do that work."
This flexibility allows her to be present for the moments that matter most - like celebrating her partner's Air Force promotion with family and friends, something that wouldn't have been possible in her previous career.
Breaking the Nonprofit Savior Complex
One of the biggest issues Jessica tackles in her consulting work is what I call the "savior syndrome" that plagues many well-intentioned organizations. She sees nonprofits making decisions for communities rather than with them.
"Often the communities that have been underserved in so many ways have stuff that works. We just don't respect it," Jessica explained. "Rather than making prescriptions for people without actually doing an assessment, how about we sit down and build trust, ask questions and get curious?"
Her approach starts with a simple but powerful question: "What would success look like? Tell me how folks inside your organization will feel in six months."
This philosophy extends to her internal work with organizations too. Instead of focusing on surface-level fixes, she goes straight to the people doing the actual work: "I need to talk to people from every level... And then to create a way that listening can happen after I leave."
The Time Tracking Breakthrough
I'll be honest - Jessica was resistant to one of my core coaching tools at first. The time tracking assignment felt "tedious and confronting" to her. But like many of my clients, she discovered something profound through this practice.
"One of the biggest takeaways for me was you gave me the gift of a morning ritual," Jessica shared. "I now have three hours to luxuriate and do the things that are refilling to me."
She went from starting work at 6:30am in her pajamas and not having time to shower all day, to rolling into work between 8-9am feeling intentional and prepared. The tracking also helped her realize she didn't want to work on Fridays - a boundary that seemed impossible before but now feels natural.
The real magic happened when she started writing things down: "I now remember how smart I am because I'm writing things down now and I don't just lose my thoughts to the ether."
Accommodations, Not Fixes
This is something I'm passionate about teaching all my clients. Jessica had been programmed to think her memory needed to "work better," but we focused on accommodating her brain instead of trying to fix it.
We use notebooks and phone apps because humans have been writing things down since the beginning of time. There's nothing wrong with your brain if you forget things - you just need systems that work with how your brain actually functions.
Jessica embraced this mindset shift and started designing her days around her natural energy rhythms rather than fighting against them. She discovered her peak productivity times and protected them, while using lower-energy periods for different types of tasks.
The Money Mindset Shift
Here's one of the most important conversations we had: "Making money doesn't change you. It just makes you more of who you are."
Jessica was afraid that charging appropriately for her work would make her a jerk. But I helped her see that undercharging breeds resentment and actually prevents you from doing your best work.
When she started shedding clients who were energy drains and charging appropriately for the ones she wanted to keep, everything shifted. "I could breathe. I could start dreaming about what I want my dream team to look like."
This isn't about becoming greedy - it's about having the energy and resources to make the impact you're called to make. Jessica realized that exhausting herself with undervalued work was actually preventing her from helping more people.
Building Your Future Vision
One of my favorite coaching tools is having clients visualize their desired future in detail. Jessica embraced this practice and started mapping out everything from her dream team to potential retreats.
"Even if it's not that person, I'm ready to go and to start getting rid of those tasks that you encouraged me to batch, automate, or delegate," she told me about her virtual assistant hiring process.
The visualization work isn't just dreaming - it's preparing your nervous system for success. Your brain will choose a familiar hell over an unfamiliar heaven, so we make the heaven familiar through detailed, positive visualization.
The "Do Good Work Well" Philosophy
Jessica's friend helped her crystallize her business philosophy into four simple words: "Do Good Work Well." It perfectly captures her two-pronged approach - you're going out into the world to make change, but that change can be both efficient and effective.
More importantly, the work should fill you up too. As Jessica put it: "When people do come home at the end of the day, they can continue to give back to themselves, their family, their friends, and their community in ways that are creative."
The Ongoing Journey
What I love most about Jessica's story is that she's still growing and evolving. She's working on becoming more visible in her business, considering a podcast, and continuing to refine her systems and boundaries.
"It's been a learning journey," she reflected. "I have learned so much about myself along the way. I feel like it is this watching how I show up."
The entrepreneurial journey isn't about reaching some finish line where everything becomes easy. It's about continuously aligning your business with your values and designing a life that energizes rather than depletes you.
Key Takeaways for Mission-Driven Entrepreneurs
Start with listening, not prescribing. Whether you're working with clients or communities, lead with curiosity rather than assumptions.
Design your business around your natural rhythms. Jessica's early morning routine and Friday boundaries aren't luxuries - they're strategic business decisions that improve her effectiveness.
Accommodate your brain, don't try to fix it. Use tools and systems that work with how you naturally function instead of fighting against your wiring.
Charge appropriately for your expertise. Undervaluing your work doesn't serve anyone - it prevents you from showing up as your best self.
Vision work is business strategy. Detailed visualization of your desired future helps your nervous system embrace growth instead of resisting it.
Flexibility is a superpower. Jessica turned the challenges of military spouse life into business advantages through intentional design.
Jessica's transformation from overwhelmed employee to empowered entrepreneur shows what's possible when you align your business with your values and design systems that support rather than drain you. Her work helping nonprofits "do good work well" is exactly the kind of mission-driven entrepreneurship the world needs more of.
If you're feeling called to create more alignment between your work and your values, I'd love to support you on that journey. You can learn more about my coaching programs and sign up for my newsletter at mindsetmelanie.com/newsletter, where I share strategies for building sustainable, profitable businesses that energize rather than exhaust you.
Connect with Jessica Malachi:
