Navy spouse Debra Nelson didn’t set out to become a social media marketer, but the former teacher has done just that by turning the challenges of the military lifestyle into a job opportunity.
Like many military spouses, Nelson found that frequent moves and a growing family made it difficult to continue her original career path. A move to Guam ushered in a different kind of challenge when Nelson discovered there was no easy way to keep tabs on family-friendly events on base or in the broader community they now were calling home.
“When you’re a military family, especially when you are overseas you are isolated from everything you know,” Nelson explains. “When going through the newspaper on base, I was seeing articles about things that had happened the [previous] weekend–something I would have liked to have gone to with my family, but it had just passed. I thought, ‘Where can I get this information before it happens?’”
Nelson turned to Facebook. She created the “Naval Base Guam Meeting Place” page to serve as a community bulletin board highlighting local activities and introducing military families to island restaurants. She drummed up excitement for the page by cold calling restaurant owners and asking them to provide gift certificates that could be raffled off to her Facebook group members.
When the Nelsons arrived at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton in Washington state, it wasn’t long before Debra had two military community-based Facebook pages– “Restaurants of Kitsap County” and “Events of Kitsap County”–up and running. The pages enable local eateries to connect with military families and others new to the Pacific Northwest and give new arrivals access to local restaurant information, giveaways and reviews.
“I absolutely love this Facebook page,” Brandi Millette, a Navy spouse in Silverdale, Washington, says of “Restaurants of Kitsap County.” “We moved here last November from Texas and the page has helped me in so many ways. I found a place to eat in Seattle when my family arrives and now for a girls’ night out next weekend. We have settled in just great.”
Nelson runs both Facebook pages as “closed” groups, which means only members can see posted comments and all members must have ties to the community. Nelson’s hands-on approach ensures “drama” is kept to a minimum, which can be a tough order on many restaurant-review websites since opinions about food vary widely. For example, Nelson, a native Texan, knows her idea of a great Mexican restaurant may be different than that of someone from elsewhere in the country. She insists her Facebook groups create a supportive environment for business owners and members.
“We have a great community that really helps each other,” Nelson says. “I’m not one for drama. I’m in my upper 40s so I just want it to be a fun place where people can share and not fear someone else is going to say, ‘That place stinks.’”
Donna Sanders, owner of Bella Bella Cupcakes in Silverdale, Wash., has been a business member of “Restaurants of Kitsap County” since Nelson launched the page in 2012. A former Navy spouse, Sanders recalls being an E-3 family, new to the area, knowing no one and having no extra money for a day out while her husband was at sea. Sanders knew Nelson’s Facebook pages would be a boon to the region’s military families.
“As spouses, you carry so much weight,” Sanders said. “I thought what a great opportunity for them, whether they are on a budget or don’t know where to go to get something or to give them a reason to get out of the house for the day. Load up the kids and get a cupcake or meet a girlfriend and go grab dinner and eat somewhere for free.”
Participating in the groups also has created goodwill in the community and generated loyal customers for Sanders’ business.
“I went to a barbecue a couple of weeks ago and someone came up to me and said, ‘We won three free cupcakes from your shop. We go back all the time now,’” Nelson said. “I thought, ‘That was [because of] Debra.’”
In the past six years, Nelson’s two Kitsap-based Facebook pages have grown to a combined membership of more than 22,500. After supplying business owners with free marketing services on her Facebook groups and on Instagram, Nelson this year began requiring businesses to pay a small fee for their memberships. Membership allows a business to sponsor promotional giveaways, all of which are administered by Nelson. “I didn’t go into it as a profit making business,” Nelson explains. “That wasn’t my purpose but it got to the point I was spending so much time looking up things and communicating with members and doing the giveaways, because a lot is going on behind the scenes, I decided at the end of last year to have business members pay a small fee for my time.”
Many rewards
The additional income stream is a plus, but Nelson notes the endeavor was rewarding long before any money began rolling in.
“It’s such a high [when someone wins a giveaway] — even though I am on a computer and not there in person,” Nelson says. “You can sense the excitement. In my own small way, I made a difference in that person life. They might not have ever visited that restaurant or maybe they didn’t have the funds to ever try that restaurant. I made a difference, sitting here in Texas, even a small one, in someone else’s life.”
After a short one-year stay in Kitsap County, the Nelsons were stationed in San Diego and Hawaii before returning to Debra’s home state of Texas after husband, Scott, separated from the Navy in 2016. Despite the nearly 2,500-mile distance between San Antonio and Silverdale, Wash., Nelson continues to call Kitsap County her home away from home.
“I just love the community,” Nelson says. “I wish we could have stayed there longer, and I love how they’ve accepted this Texan who comes out every couple of years just to say hello.”
In addition to working part-time at the University of Texas, San Antonio, Nelson’s social media marketing company, DNelson Media, offers local businesses in Kitsap County and San Antonio an enhanced social media presence.
Nelson suggests military spouses with an entrepreneurial spirit should search for business opportunities within their passions in life. A self-proclaimed “foodie,” Nelson’s passion for discovering gems among local dining options made starting restaurant-based Facebook groups a natural fit.
“What do you like to do?” she asks. “For me, I love going out to eat. My husband, on the other hand, hates to go out to eat, so it is funny I am now in charge of a foodie group. I’m Hispanic. Growing up, being around the table and being in the kitchen with your family, that’s family bonding. It’s a major thing for me. I wanted to learn from other people where were the good places to eat so then I could tell my husband ‘I heard this place is really good.’ If he loved it, he might want to go again.”
Nelson also credits her success on her willingness to first create a valuable service for others before looking to make money from her venture.
“If you are trying to give of yourself, be a service, fill a niche in whatever place you live, it can turn out very beautiful and take you where you least expect,” she said
