We really do tell women to have it all
Not that they CAN have it all, so much as they MUST have it all, or else they’re failing. Society expects women to balance the career, the healthy marriage, beauty, fitness, the spotless, tastefully decorated home, the thriving side-hustle, the 2.4 kids with full slates of activities and professionally event-planned birthdays and playdates, PTA meetings, showing up in the community, taking care of their aging parents, and every few months it seems like a new expectation gets added to the list.
The pressure for women to live an Instagram-curated life in their day-to-day is just not sustainable. In fact, it’s overwhelming. And it probably has more than a little to do with the expectations for working women to continue carrying the stay-at-home parent workload.
Mamie Pack was feeling the pressure. Her Navy husband was going to deploy soon, leaving her to manage a household of two boys, with another on the way, and work full time as a teacher, keep up their off-base home, and all the rest, for long stretches entirely on her own. When their third son came and they changed duty stations, something had to give.
Mamie stepped away from her beloved teaching career.
Walking away from a career isn’t uncommon among military spouses. 35% of military spouses aren’t in the labor force, suggesting many have lost careers, and many more are likely under-employed, in sectors outside their expertise. Learn more in the latest Military Family Lifestyle Survey.
Military Spouse Experience
Mamie grew up with a mother in the Army, and swore she’d never live that life again. She was working as a teacher in South Carolina when her future husband swept her off her feet and changed her mind. He was serving as a Fire Controlman (FC) in the US Navy, working on the Aegis Weapon System. Mamie was an active-duty military spouse for 21 years, and is still with her husband, who recently retired after 25 years of honorable service.
Entrepreneurial Spirit
Despite setting aside her teaching career, Mamie was still juggling a lot. There were moments she was overwhelmed and would sit on her bed and cry, wishing for help. Worse, she had lost this identity of “teacher”, and started feeling like despite how overwhelmed she still felt, she was somehow contributing less than her fair share.
It was during this period Mamie rejected this idea that she had to be all things to all people at all times. She realized there were seasons to her life, and if this one was primarily a “mother” era, that was okay. She rejected the guilt she felt about not teaching, and began to look at her life more critically.
She started writing again, just for herself. Mamie had always loved to write and reflect on her life, even as a little girl. Getting back into the habit of journaling for herself to work through challenges was easy. And she was a little surprised when she started dreaming about her future. It wasn’t long before she ran out of pages, and decided to make herself a new journal, something she hadn’t done since she was young.
She brought it everywhere, especially church. The journal was a hit with fellow parishioners and friends, and many asked where they could buy one. One request turned into several. And eventually, Mamie realized she was sitting on something more than a helpful habit, there was a business here.
In 2018, she launched Mamie Pack Media with a sermon notes journal designed to support spiritual growth. Today, her product line includes more than 50 items, including journals, notepads, stickers, and stationery to help women, especially teachers and military spouses, prioritize themselves.
Connecting With IVMF
Five years into her business, Mamie had already overcome several major business challenges. Scaling up from personally making and binding each journal was a big step, and she found women-owned production and manufacturing right here in the United States, which helped her avoid the worst of the supply chain problems of the pandemic. She was growing, but as a teacher, she knew there had to be things she didn’t know. She began searching for ways to improve her business fundamentals.
She found countless programs for veteran entrepreneurs, but never really felt that included military spouses. In 2023, she discovered the Bunker Labs Breaking Barriers in Entrepreneurship (BBiE) program, which is now part of IVMF’s Military Founders Lab. BBiE specifically called out military spouse eligibility, and also promoted an all-women cohort. Mamie felt like she found a place catering to people just like her.
The program more than lived up to her expectations. She met fellow military spouses who understood exactly what she was going through, what she was trying to do, and what felt like it was holding her back. She learned about business fundamentals that helped keep Mamie Pack Media moving forward. After her great experience at BBiE, Mamie wanted more. She signed up for IVMF’s V-WISE Atlanta, and then Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV) soon after. She kept building her community and learning each time.
“Going through IVMF programs helped me with building my network, but it also helped me think about my…capability statement. I didn’t even know what that was, or where to start. But IVMF programs? They don’t mind you asking questions. They’re willing to sit down with you. You’re not just attending a class, you’re getting an experience with people walking the same journey.”
Writing Her Own Story
Today, Mamie Pack Media is thriving, with over five-thousand followers between the company’s Pintrest and Instagram. Her company is drawing on all of Mamie’s diverse set of skills, including a blog where she can share her thoughts on wellness identity, marriage, motherhood, and more.
Mamie also serves as the IVMF Bunker Labs Ambassador for Jacksonville, FL. There, she’s helping others find programs and communities that have shared goals and experiences.
She continues to work with U.S.-based manufacturing partners, including women- and military-affiliated businesses such as She Prints It in Georgia and More Than Ink in Jacksonville. Despite rising tariffs and shifting production costs, Mamie has remained loyal to these partners, choosing to pivot her product strategies rather than compromise her values.
What began as a personal coping mechanism during a rough season of her life has grown into a national platform for her thoughts on wellness, creativity, community, and more. We can’t wait to see what Mamie uses her platform for next!
Support Women-Owned Organizations
There are hundreds of amazing women-led companies participating in our entrepreneurship programming at IVMF. While women are welcome in all of our programs (and military spouses are eligible for most), those looking for more women-only spaces should check out V-WISE.
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. Fill out an interest form for V-WISE today, and get news about the next application period as soon as it opens!