Her Baby Joined The Marines
Amy’s son joined the Marine Corps in 2011, and she was worried about him. Amy had family that served, her Uncle George that survived Normandy, her cousin Michael who struggled after Vietnam, her father, and even her ex-husband, who served during the first Iraq War with the Air Force. She had some sense of what serving meant, but this was different. This was her baby. Of her six children, it was Tyler, her only biological son.
On some level, she had always known this day was coming. Her son Tyler was only eight during the events of 9/11, but it impacted him viscerally. Tyler spoke of joining the Army to help protect everyone often in the wake of events, and never really stopped. He always had that protective quality, and before joining had been the man of the house for many years, only reinforcing that quality. That scared Amy even more, because she could envision so many nightmare scenarios of her son sacrificing himself for others. And we were at war, in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The nightmare scenario was happening to parents every day.
Amy was riddled with anxiety, depression, and was struggling to find any sort of support or outlet for those feelings. She missed her son, felt so far away from him—unable to hear his voice or see his face. While he was in bootcamp, she got her hands on a pair of Marine Corps standard issue steel-toed combat boots, and just started wearing them everywhere. It helped her feel connected to her son.
She wore them everywhere—formal events, the grocery store, and even a 5k race. Amy didn’t consider herself much of a runner, but the race changed her life.
Every time she’d pass someone, or be passed by someone, she kept getting tapped on the shoulder to take her earbuds out. They’d ask what was up with the combat boots, and she’d breathlessly explain her son was in bootcamp. They’d smile, nod, thank her, or share which of their family members served or was serving. She found it encouraging. She felt connected to something, like being away from her son wasn’t just something only she was going through.
Entrepreneurial Spirit
Amy started running all sorts of races after that, quickly building up to longer distances wearing a weighted military-style pack and sharing her experiences on social media. By 2013 Amy had a modest following of military moms who were feeling the same feelings she was still wrestling with, and she became the person that many of them reached out to about their son or daughter on their way to bootcamp, or shipping off to the Middle East on a deployment.
Amy had become known for attaching the names and photos of fallen servicemembers to her pack while running, often in concert with a fundraising activity. After one such race, a Gold Star Family member reached out to Amy and mentioned her fallen son Anthony, KIA at just 24 years old, always wanted to run an Ironman Triathlon. Amy had never done anything like that before, but promised she would do one on her fallen son’s behalf. She had 21 fallen servicemember photos on her pack for the Chattanooga, TN Ironman Triathlon.
After the race, she wrote Anthony’s mother a note to accompany the race medal she was sending. A gesture to help her feel connected to her son, and his hopes and dreams before his tragic death. But while she was writing it, she remembered her pack, and all the other photos on it, and regretted she only had one medal to give. She put it out to her community on social media, if anyone wanted to donate their medal to one of the families of the 21 fallen servicemembers she raced with on her pack.
Within three hours she was turning away offers to donate a medal. And the families wrote letters back, about how meaningful it was to them. How it made them feel connected to their lost son or daughter, and made them feel less alone, and part of a community who was grieving with them. When she saw what kind of positive impact it was having, she kept running toward it. By late 2014, Amy formed the nonprofit Memories of Honor.
She had 21 fallen servicemember photos on her pack for
the Chattanooga, TN Ironman Triathlon.
Connecting With IVMF
Amy’s nonprofit was largely a gateway to connect gold star families with racers, and to facilitate the same sort of connection she had enjoyed. Memories of Honor had been keeping up with Amy and her races. She wasn’t really sure how to intentionally grow things, though. Thus far everything sort of organically happened, and like every race she had run, there were moments when it got hard, and she wanted to quit.
In 2022 Amy found IVMF’s Bunker Labs, specifically the Breaking Barriers in Entrepreneurship and Veterans in Residence programs in Nashville, TN. Right away, she felt connected and safe, and part of a community that wanted to help her succeed, but also needed her help and viewpoint with their challenges. Just like the races made her feel like she wasn’t the only one going through separation anxiety over her son, the tight-knit program cohorts made her feel like she wasn’t the only one struggling with her nonprofit.
Amy also felt like Breaking Barriers and Veterans in Residence met her where Memories of Honor was at. She didn’t have a marketing department or a grant writing team, Memories of Honor was a one-woman-show at the time. She needed actionable advice she could use right now to reach more gold star families. At IVMF’s Bunker Labs, she got it.
“IVMF’s Bunker Labs reminded me I don’t have to sprint for the entire entrepreneurship ‘race’. I have a tendency to want to do everything right away, and expect myself to be able to do everything perfectly all at once. These programs reminded me that it’s okay to take a break, to pace myself, and that everyone’s pace is different, and not to get caught up comparing myself to someone else just because they’re moving faster.”
The Next Leg of the Race
Amy recently received her first major gift, which empowered her to move from an all-volunteer model to hiring some teammates who can put the Memories of Honor mission first. Volunteers remain a pillar of the Memories of Honor community, but in order to grow and scale, she’s looking for real expertise that can attract more funding and visibility.
Memories of Honor has attracted some high-visibility partners over the years, including GoRuck, VandyBoys Vanderbilt Baseball, and even the Texas Rangers. Over the years Memories of Honor has honored a fallen servicemember through a racing bib or event over thirty-five thousand times, and sent remembrance packages to over eleven thousand Gold Star families.
Amy is always looking to reach more Gold Star families, racers, events, volunteers, and partners across all 50 states, and any opportunity to promote the good work she’s doing. She has a busy schedule with five races and events already scheduled for 2025, from rucks and 5ks to the Bataan Memorial Death March Marathon in White Sands. She’s broadened the scope of Memories of Honor in recent years, too, moving beyond endurance sports to sports, entertainment, and special events of all sorts to share the names and stories of America’s fallen. She hopes to create living memorials to honor those lost, connect their families to a community, and educate the public and give them an opportunity to pay their respects, making every day Memorial Day.
Cheer Amy on and help her make an impact.
Support Women-Owned Organizations
There are hundreds of amazing women-led companies participating in our entrepreneurship programming at IVMF. While women entrepreneurs are welcome in all of our programs, those looking for more women-only spaces should explore our V-WISE and our Breaking Barriers program.
V-WISE is a monthly online entrepreneurship course aimed at women launching their first business. At the end of the 30-day course, there is a capstone conference where all the women graduates can network while learning from nationally-renowned business leaders and experts. Apply for V-WISE today to attend the capstone conference in Phoenix, AZ May 2-4!
Representation matters, especially in the entrepreneurial world. Through the power of community and connection, the BBiE workshop aims to help participants shatter society-erected barriers for entrepreneurs of historically underserved communities, including a community for women. Interested in attending the online workshop? BBiE is currently accepting interest forms for its 25B cohort.