More and more veterans like Tiffany Jones-Lewis and Earnest Thomson are using TikTok to elevate vetrepreneurship and to share advice for other aspiring veteran small business owners, while marketing their own businesses and growing their following on the social media platform.
Through a new partnership between TikTok, the Skilled Careers Coalition and SkillsUSA, Jones-Lewis and Thompson are telling the behind-the-scenes stories of their work, sharing tips, and helping educate others about their professions.
Jones-Lewis had a good reason to learn to sew as a teenager. Standing 6'1" since the age of 12, she learned how to sew in high school and began making her own clothes.
Jones-Lewis was in her junior year of college and unsure about her future career path when a visit to a Navy recruiter solidified her plans.
“I served 14 years, met my husband, had my first child,” she said.
Jones-Lewis said her military service did not dampen her lifelong passion for creativity and fashion. She began sewing again after she was gifted a sewing machine by her husband prior to his being deployed.
“I opened this machine while he was gone, and it was like I never forgot it, it’s like second nature and I just started making clothes,” she said.
After leaving the Navy, Jones-Lewis worked in the corporate world, but would post the outfits she made before heading out the door for work.
“I would talk about it a little bit,” she said. “That’s when I started to think this could be something.”
That hobby turned into a business, TJL Collection, when she started getting requests from other tall women to make them clothing. She took a leap of faith and used her 401K and stocks to fund the start of her business.
Jones-Lewis said TikTok allows her to be thoroughly authentic.
“When you look good, you feel good,” she said. “I love what clothes do to women. They give confidence.”
Thompson, a 23-year Navy veteran, discovered his post-service career as an HVAC contractor soon after leaving the service.
“For me it’s a calling,” he explained.
Thompson said he began posting on TikTok for fun and as a way to share his life and work. He uses his platform of over 15,000 followers to demonstrate how the trades can be a lucrative career choice.
“The trades, there are so many avenues, not just HVAC,” he said. “There’s plumbing, there’s electrical.”
Many veterans already have families when they leave the service and Thompson said the trades provide a stable and lucrative career. He also urged his fellow veterans to use the skills they learned while in the military – a strong work ethic and can-do attitude - in their civilian careers.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.