3 Questions for Rhonda Smith of The Skirted Soldier

Air Force Veteran and CEO of The Skirted Soldier, Rhonda Smith, was recently named by the PA Dept. of Military and Veteran Affairs to their Women Veterans Committee. In her new role she will advocate on women veteran issues and represent all PA veterans in discussion of policy matters at the state level.

In addition to running The Skirted Soldier, which produces primarily locally-sourced, custom-blended, military-themed teas, Rhonda is a human services professional, mom, and wife.

So we were thrilled that she took the time to answer a few quick questions on how she has succeeded in growing her market reach so effectively.

1. What is the best piece of advice you've been given on marketing your products? Keep it simple, honest and go above and beyond to make connections and garner support. I've learned that good old fashioned research and word of mouth have been helpful. Facebook has been a great way to reach a lot of people with minimal cost.

2. What has been the biggest obstacle to growing your business and how have you managed that obstacle? Making the time to invest in new opportunities. I work full time and I work on The Skirted Soldier in the evening and weekends. It's also important to me to make as much time for family as possible, so time management would have to be the biggest obstacle right now to growing the business.

3. If you could travel back in time a year, what advice would you give yourself about growing the Skirted Soldier? Enjoy every success, take your time, pace yourself and learn to market yourself! You're doing great things, but you don't talk about it as much as you should.