The Daily Signal - #347: The Military Spouses Behind R. Riveter

Episode Date: November 23, 2018

November is Military Families Month and today we're recognizing the achievements of R. Riveter, a handbag company founded and run by military spouses. On today’s show, we feature an interview with Lisa Bradley, a finalist for this year’s Small Business Award for Veteran and Military Spouse Employment from Hiring Our Heroes. Bradley, along with fellow military spouse Cameron Cruse, founded the canvas and leather handbag business R. Riveter as a way to help military spouses and families who are struggling. Second Lady Karen Pence recently toured the company's warehouse in North Carolina.Also on today’s show:• Your letters to the editor. Don’t forget, your letter could be featured on our show; write us at [e-mail] or call 202-608-6205.• We remember the late Jack Kemp, a conservative icon who received The Heritage Foundation’s highest honor posthumously this month.The Daily Signal podcast is available on the Ricochet Audio Network. You also can listen on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. All of our podcasts can be found at DailySignal.com/podcasts.If you like what you hear, please leave a review or give us feedback. Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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And real-time insights so you know what's working, what's not, and what's next. Because when you're doing big things, your tools should to. Visit square.ca to get started. This is the Daily Signal podcast for Monday, November 26th. I'm Rob Blewey, editor-in-chief. And I'm Jenny Maltabano. We hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving. On today's show, we'll feature an interview with a finalist for this year's Small Business Award for veteran and military spouse employment.

We'll also share your letters and we remember conservative icon Jack Kemp, who received the Heritage Foundation's highest honor. But first, we have a commentary from the Daily Signal's Genevieve Wood, on the difference between being a progressive and a conservative. What's the difference between a conservative and a progressive? Here are three examples. Number one, conservatives and progressives have different views about individuals and communities. Conservatives ask, what can I do for myself, my family, my community, and my fellow citizens? Progressives ask, what is unfair? What am I owed? What has offended?

me today and what must my country do for me? The traditional American ethic of achievement gives way to the progressive ethic of aggrievement. As opposed to a variety of individuals making up one American community, progressives seek to place individuals in a variety of competing communities. The first creates unity. The second, identity politics. Number two, conservatives and progressives have different views about diversity and choice. For progressives, different ethnicities and gender identities are welcomed, but a variety of opinions and ideas are not. Just look at two areas of public life dominated by the left. On college campuses, free speech is under attack. If you're a conservative working at a social media company or using one of their platforms to share your views,

you may find your job eliminated or your account deleted. And when it comes to choice, progressives love the word, but they don't want it to apply to our decisions on education, health care, and even how and where we live out our religious faith. Conservatives take a different approach. Parents, not the zip code they live in, should choose a school that is best for their child. We all need health care, but we don't. don't all need the same kind or same amount.

And while people should be free to live as they choose, no one should be forced to endorse or celebrate those choices if it violates their religious beliefs. Conservatives say people should have choices. Progressives say one political solution fits all. Number three, conservatives and progressives have a different view of we the people. Whether it's the Second Amendment,

immigration or putting limits on abortion, if we the people don't pass laws, progressives approve, they turn to judges, executive orders, and government bureaucrats behind closed doors to overturn the will of voters. Whatever one may think about the wisdom of hiking the minimum wage, banning plastic straws, or removing controversial historical monuments, conservatives believe voters closest to the issues should be the ones making such decisions for this. their communities, not lawmakers in Washington or a panel of judges five states away. To sum it up, conservatives believe in individual rights, not special rights. Conservatives believe in allowing Texas to be Texas and Vermont to be Vermont.

And conservatives believe we the people can vote with our feet about where we want to live and under what laws we want to live under. Liberals have pretty much cornered the market on 101-style podcasts that break down tough policy issues in the news. Until now, did you know that every week Heritage Explains intermingles personal stories, news clips, and facts from heritage experts to help explain some of today's hardest issues from a conservative perspective? Look for Heritage Explains on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. Lisa Bradley is a finalist for this year's Small Business Award for veteran and military spouse employment at the Hiring Our Heroes Award Gala. Thanks for speaking to the Daily Signal, Lisa. Thanks so much.

I'm so happy to be here. Well, I want to start. It's Military Family Appreciation Month. Tell us about your experience being a military wife and what that experience was like for your whole family. Right. You know, when you grow up in all corners of the United States, sometimes you're not near a military base and you don't really. understand what military families go through on a day-to-day basis in order to have that military member supporting and fighting for our freedoms. And that was my case. I grew up in Montana. And then when

I met a military man, I moved and really started my career. I would say, you know, being part of the military, it's not just a job. It really is a lifestyle. And it was shocking to me, some of the things that military families go through that I had no idea about. One of the first things that I heard after I married him was that military families are actually referred to as dependents. And I was like, that's kind of a strange word to define a member of the family. And then I really started to see that I was dependent on him. Every move we made, I was not able to secure my own employment because of the multiple moves and having a fragmented resume. No employers would hire me. And that is a big concern for military spouses is employment, is employment activity spouses actually have a 28% unemployment rate right now.

And how did your family overcome some of those challenges that you and others like you face? Right. So it was just a conversation that kept happening between me and so many other military spouses is, I don't know, this employer wouldn't hire me this time or, you know, I have a huge commute in order to actually be able to find a job in a big city. And so Cameron Cruz, my co-founder, and I seven years ago said, you know, let's stop being part of the problem and create a solution. And so we really decided to start a business who's the entire operations of it would exist because military spouses need employment. So launched in her attic back in 2011, making canvas and mother handbags with a vision of eventually having a decentralized manufacturing network of

military spouses that could create our sub assemblies of our product line wherever we're located across the country. Well, Lisa, we'd love to hear more about our Riveter. What has the feedback been like that you and Cameron have received? It's been phenomenal. I mean, from the military aspect, our customers really realize that when they pick up an R. Riveter handbag, they're picking up 12 women that went into making that bag all across the country. And also believing in American-made products.

You know, I had so many different consultants and individuals that had been in business for a long time saying, my business, Cameron and I's business model would never work. There's no way that you can afford shipping parts and pieces back from individuals across the country and be able to survive making products here in America. And, you know, we just kind of threw that to the side and said, you know, we're going to do this because it helps support a really amazing group of individuals in America who are our families that are supporting service members and having something for themselves. And so the feedback has been phenomenal.

We went Shark Tank in 2016 and really went through a huge learning curve about growing that fast. And our customers have always been so supportive and realized that we're making products here in America. And Lisa, I want to ask you about that. What was the experience like to both found the business and then to operate it day-to-day? What lessons have you learned and surprises have you encountered? Well, I think one of the biggest lessons we've learned is how to grow a company remote, not only from an administrative standpoint, but also growing a manufacturing network that is actually not in one location. I think we definitely broke the mold on that one and have, even to today, learn something every day.

And so we wouldn't be able to have this business model if we didn't have the technology of today. and, you know, we also have a completely different mindset or reaction to what society thinks that we as modern day woman should be doing. We named the company after Rosie the Riveter. It was an amazing group of women that stepped out of their homes and went into factories to be able to keep the manufacturing going during World War II. And we've kind of modeled our business model off of that where instead of going into a manufacturing, manufacturing facility, we're actually turning it around and bringing it back into the homes of individuals that want to be able to have a family and a career as well. So a lot of learning that went along that, but it's a phenomenal experience to be able to see that we're bringing

opportunities to individuals that wanted to work just didn't have the opportunity to do so. Well, Lisa, you're doing some really incredible work, and we understand that second lady, Karen Pence recently toured your warehouse in North Carolina. What did that visit mean to you? What did she have to say? It was a phenomenal experience to be able to have such a key individual from our administration come and tour our facility and really bring light to what we're trying to do. Even though President Trump's economy is doing so great right now, military spouses are still during any administration kind of overlooked. And I were so appreciative of second lady Karen Pence using her platform to help military spouses and really encourage and elevate them. And she wanted

to bring light to our company because that's exactly what we're doing. We're being innovative and being able to create new ways of doing business in America today and bring more jobs to Americans, but also to, like I said, a very amazing group that although they're not wearing the uniform, they're serving our country as well. As Ginny mentioned, you're a finalist for the Small Business Award for Veteran and Military Spouse Employment. So what is your message to people who are looking for ways? to help military spouses, perhaps some of our listeners today.

Right. I think there's so many great initiatives going on with large companies right now to bring employment to not only veterans but military spouses. And I really takes the standpoint that if small businesses, all small businesses start to think about how they can open up jobs to military spouses, whether they have remote opportunities or have many different locations across the country, they're such a great group of individuals that actually have a higher percentage of college degrees in the average American. And so they're great candidates for jobs.

And we really look to small businesses opening up these positions because that's how we can really move the needle on military spouse unemployment. Well, Lisa, thank you so much. We wish you and Cameron continued success. Thank you so much. I appreciate you guys bringing us on to be able to sell our mission. and share that we actually provide one third of every dollar that we spend at our Riveter to a military family. So thank you so much for letting us share that and bringing it to your listeners. Well, we appreciate the work that you do, and thanks for being with us on The Daily Signal.

Great. Did you know you can now listen to all of our events through SoundCloud or just by visiting our events page on heritage.org? You now have access to hundreds of events and compelling discussions on policy issues from your call. on the train or the comfort of your own home. Visit heritage.org slash events for more information or search for the Heritage Foundation on SoundCloud. Thank you for sending us your letters to the editor. Each Monday we feature some of our favorites,

both on this show and in our Morning Bell email newsletter. Ginny, what's in the mailbag? Well, first up, Tonya Merrill writes, Can the left be any more intolerant and bigoted? They nauseate me with their stupidity and hypocrisy. What kind of feminist thinks she can tell me how to vote. Feminism is about women making their own choices. I made mine and it wasn't for the white delegate from the patriarchy, Mr. Robert Francis O'Rourke. Oh, and another fun story. My husband

and I don't always vote the same way. It's almost as though I make my own choices. And Timothy Dayton writes, Dear Daily Signal, CNN, MSNBC, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and others in the media have an agenda. And that is to push the Democrat Party line and to spin everything about Trump or Republicans as bad. 90% of their swill is negative toward the president. They truly are the propaganda wing of the Democratic National Committee. They have no interest in being reporters and reporting facts, but only want to spin and editorialize.

Well, Timothy, we hope you find a different type of news coverage at the Daily Signal. Your letter can be featured on next week's show. Send an email to Letters at DailySignal.com or leave a voicemail message at had 202 608-6205. Want to get up to speed about the Supreme Court? Then subscribe to SCOTUS 101, a podcast about everything that's happening at the Supreme Court and what the justices are up to. It's not just a more prosperous America, but a better America. An America that recognizes the infinite worthwhile of every individual.

And like the Good Shepherd leaves the 99 to find the one stray lamb. an America that honors all its institutions, the values that moms and dads want to pass on to their children, an America that makes the ideal of equality a daily reality, equality of opportunity, equality and human dignity, equality before the laws of mankind as well as in the eyes of God. An America that transcends the boundaries between the races with the revolutionary power of a simple yet very profound idea to love our neighbors as ourselves. Those were the words of the lake Jack Kemp, a former member of Congress, cabinet secretary, and candidate for vice president. Kemp received the Heritage Foundation's highest honor this month, the Claire Booth-Luce Award. The award was presented at the 2018 Kemp Leadership Award Dinner in Washington, D.C.

Kemp's wife, Joanne, received the award in his honor. Kemp died in 2009 just days before he was set to receive the award. He was a lifetime supporter of the Heritage Foundation and a champion of conservative values, and personally, someone who inspired me. Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James said, throughout his life, Jack K. Kemp served as a mentor and inspiring leader to so many people, including me. He was committed to advancing conservative principles and devoted to helping every American succeed in life. It is with great pride that Heritage is presenting the Claire Booth Luce Award to him posthumously. Jenny, I remember the first time I really got interested in politics was in high school in 1996 when Bob Dole and Jack Kemp were running for president and vice president. And it was during that campaign that the words of Jack Kemp really inspired me.

And I think I had a real effect on my political views as a conservative. He was somebody who was from upstate New York, like myself, from the Buffalo area. And he had a way of inspiring people. And it's so great to see the Heritage Foundation honor him and his legacy. It is. You know, growing up, I didn't know much about Jack Kemp, but the 2012 presidential election was the first one that I was old enough to be involved in. And I'll never forget, Paul Ryan was constantly talking about him.

And so finally, my friends and I said, we have to figure out who this Jack Kemp man is. And the more I read about him, the more I realized just how much he contributed and just what an intellect he was. He certainly was. Well, we're going to leave it there for today. The Daily Signal podcast is broadcast from the Robert H. Bruce Radio Studio at the Heritage Foundation. You can find it on the Rurcache Audio Network along with problematic women and the right side of history. All of our shows can be found at daily signal.com slash podcasts.

You can also subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. And if you like what you hear, please leave us a review or give us feedback. Be sure to follow us on Twitter at DeLays Signal and Facebook.com slash the Daily Signal News. The Daily Signal podcast will be back tomorrow with Kate and Daniel. Have a great week. You've been listening to The Daily Signal podcast, executive produced by Kate Trinko and Daniel Davis. Sound design by Michael Gooden, Lauren Evans, and Thalia Rampersad. For more information, visitdailySignal.com.