How Liza Rodewald is Revolutionizing Remote Work for Military Spouses
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Devin: What is your superpower?
Liza: I think that passion of building something that helps people has always been my superpower.
In today’s episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Liza Rodewald, the Co-Founder and CEO of Instant Teams, a company making a powerful impact by helping military spouses thrive professionally despite the frequent relocations that come with military life. Liza shared how her own experience as a military spouse drove her to create a solution for others facing the same challenges.
Military spouses often find themselves moving every few years, making it difficult to build a traditional career. Liza understood this struggle firsthand and turned it into a business opportunity that connects military spouses with remote jobs in customer experience roles. “If I was climbing a traditional corporate ladder, I would constantly be starting over,” Liza explained. “I have a high skill set… I have a lot that I can give and contribute.”
Instant Teams allows military spouses to take their jobs with them when they move, offering stability in their careers. Liza’s company builds entire customer experience teams for brands, providing a highly skilled workforce to companies while giving military spouses the continuity they need.
The venture has grown significantly since its inception in 2016, with over 500 employees and 68,000 military spouses on their platform. Liza’s innovative approach has not only solved a major problem for military families but also created a scalable business model.
Her advice for entrepreneurs, especially women, is simple yet powerful: “Sizing the market upfront and telling the story along with it… made a huge difference in my personal success and being able to raise Money.”
Liza’s work is an inspiring example of how identifying a problem close to home can lead to a meaningful, impactful business.
tl;dr:
Guest Introduction: Liza Rodewald, founder of Instant Teams, was featured. The company connects military spouses with customer experience jobs, helping them maintain their careers despite frequent relocations due to military life.
Challenges and Achievements: Liza discussed the challenge of raising venture capital as a woman, noting that less than 2% goes to women-led companies. Despite this, she successfully raised funds and grew her company while being a military spouse.
Instant Teams’ Mission: Instant Teams is dedicated to building remote customer experience teams for companies, using the skills of military spouses who can work remotely and maintain continuity despite relocations.
Business Model: Instant Teams works with middle-market and enterprise companies like Aflac and Expensify, offering both a marketplace and fully outsourced services. They have grown to over 500 employees and serve 68,000 military spouses.
Superpower and Advice: Liza emphasized her superpower of solving problems by seeing the bigger picture. She advises women entrepreneurs to focus on building Relationships, providing transparency to investors, and leveraging networks for long-term success.
How to Develop Problem-Solving with Passion As a Superpower
Liza Rodewald’s superpower is her ability to step back, see the big picture, and solve complex problems. With a background in engineering, she approaches challenges by analyzing issues and finding solutions that not only address the immediate need but create lasting impact. Her deep passion for helping others fuels her drive to solve meaningful problems, particularly those affecting the military spouse community.
Liza shared a moving example of how her superpower played out in real life. She opened a co-working space in Southern Pines, designed to connect military spouses with job opportunities. One day, a military spouse came in, overwhelmed and struggling with a rigid job that wasn’t compatible with her Lifestyle. Liza and her team were able to match her with a more flexible position that aligned with her needs. The connection transformed the woman’s life, providing a sense of balance and fulfillment. This personal interaction exemplified Liza’s ability to identify problems and create meaningful, life-changing solutions.
Tips for Developing This Superpower:
Step Back for Perspective: Take a moment to step back from challenges and view the bigger picture. Analyze how different elements connect and where opportunities for problem-solving lie.
Lead with Passion: Fuel your efforts with genuine passion for helping others. When you care deeply about the outcome, you’ll find creative and effective ways to overcome obstacles.
Build Networks: Establish and nurture relationships with people who can help you solve problems. Keep these connections warm, as they may provide unexpected opportunities for collaboration or support.
Stay Realistic: While passion drives your efforts, temper it with practicality. Make tough decisions when necessary to maintain a sustainable business model while keeping your mission intact.
By following Liza Rodewald’s example and advice, you can make problem-solving with passion a skill. With practice and effort, you could make it a superpower that enables you to do more good in the world.
Remember, however, that research into success suggests that building on your own superpowers is more important than creating new ones or overcoming weaknesses. You do you!
Guest Profile
Liza Rodewald (she/her):
Co-Founder/CEO, Instant Teams
About Instant Teams: Instant Teams leads the way as a CX talent marketplace committed to the financial well-being of military families while providing companies instant access to remarkable talent.
Website: instantteams.com
X/Twitter Handle: @Instant_Teams
Company Facebook Page: fb.com/instantteams
Biographical Information: Liza is a 4x entrepreneur and software engineer. She is currently the CEO and Founder of Instant Teams and Twelve Million Plus. She has scaled the company to over 500 employees, raised more than $16M in venture capital and landed at #13 on the Inc. 5000 list for Human Resources across the nation.
She is in the top 3% of graduates from the Founder Institute, alumni of the Blue Startups Accelerator named one of the Top 25 SheEO, and a published Forbes author. She is also a member of YPO and NationSwell and serves as a mentor for female founders.
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/lizarodewald
Instagram Handle: @ceo_liza
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