Photo by Adrianna D. Lupher
For Adrianna Domingos-Lupher, aka Military Money Chica, the Armed Forces have always been a part of her life. She declares herself an Army brat; it’s all she’s ever known. Domingos-Lupher married her high school sweetheart (they even went to prom together!), who is in the Armed Forces. She is mom of two beautiful girls, whom she sweetly refers to as “La Rubia y La Grande.” Today, after years of working at many different types of jobs, Domingos-Lupher uses her skills to provide opportunities for military spouses and their families. Not only is she giving back to her community, she is helping build community.
MILITARY SPOUSE TO MILITARY MONEY CHICA
Being the spouse of an active military member is hard on many levels: just imagine all the things non-military couples deal with, and then think about your spouse being deployed, possibly to dangerous parts of the world, for months at a time, leaving you in charge of everything. Maybe you’ve got kids to take care of; maybe you have to move frequently depending on where your spouse is stationed. Domingos-Lupher was additionally frustrated at having an MA in Education but no job where she could use her skills. Since she had always loved writing, she began blogging as a way to vent. In less than a year, all the stars aligned, and she went from blogging on Tumblr to creating Military Money Chica, a blog about finances, the military spouse experience and relationships.
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Photo by Adrianna D. Lupher
I asked Domingos-Lupher why she decided to write about money. She says she thought about how she could help people, and that made her think about money and how it’s the root of many problems in our society, and how many people need help with personal finances. She knew there was a difference between having and not having an education about financial matters. Speaking about money is incredibly important in all families, but especially in military families, when many spouses (most of them wives) are left dealing with bills when their loved ones go away on deployment, or worse, when they are left taking care of their families if a tragedy occurs.
SOCIAL MEDIA = CONNECTIONS
As a result of her writing, Domingos-Lupher was contacted by Dr. Angelica Perez, who invited her to write for New Latina. But that was only the beginning. Through a Facebook group for military spouses, Domingos-Lupher met her business partner, Carmen Grant. She and Grant worked to create Military Spouse Bloggers. It was created “to train, develop, and connect military spouses across the globe and provide them with the tools and professional network they need to build a successful career in new media,” explains Domingos-Lupher. She adds that MilSpouse “is unique because it caters to the military spouse niche.” What does it feel like to be the first ones to do something like this? “We’re in an exciting place,” she says. “It is cool and exciting and scary and frightening to be a pioneer.” Currently, MilSpouse counts over 180 bloggers in its network and is growing daily.
In addition to being at the helm of Military Spouse Bloggers, writing her blog and running after her daughters, Domingos-Lupher is also the Editor-in-Chief of NextGen MilSpouse, “the online destination for today’s military spouse.” She and Grant created this because they saw a need in their community. Through it, they want to provide military spouses with opportunities for support, to create and open dialogue, grow their personal brands and usher in the next generation of military spouses. Domingos-Lupher believes that opportunities have to exist in order for military spouses to have choices about how they want to lead their lives.
Today, Domingos-Lupher is a pioneer in the social media world; helping connect military spouse bloggers and brands and helping military spouses reach their full potential and be happy, productive individuals. What started out as a hobby became something much more: today, she says she is more professionally fulfilled than ever before and happier than she has ever been. She says that before doing what she does now, she felt like she was missing her professional identity and, like many moms, felt lost without it. “I didn’t have a place and now I do.”
If you are a MilSpouse blogger you may want to join the MilSpouse network.
