As a businesswoman, content creator, and military spouse, Ashlee Sullivan knows the secret to connection: highlighting hardships, displaying brutal honesty, and offering laughter through it all.
Ashlee is the CEO and founder of WOMAN + WARRIOR, an apparel company she launched and built into a “nationwide mission-driven community rooted in comfort, connection, sharp humor, storytelling, and advocacy.”
A year after opening her business, Ashlee’s husband, Capt. Peter Sullivan, a former gunner’s mate in the Coast Guard Reserve, sold his own successful business and joined the Army. With children in tow, their family embarked on a new path: active-duty military life.
“There’s a dramatic difference on so many levels from a civilian lifestyle — even a reservist lifestyle — to active-duty military. It is truly … a whole other culture,” Ashlee said.
Slowing down to progress
“During that first year, we lived in four different states … Florida, Georgia, Virginia and then [we] landed in Kansas,” Ashlee said. Three weeks after moving to the Sunflower State, Peter was unexpectedly on rotation. Left with four children — including an infant — in a new state, Ashlee was isolated, stressed and lonely. She knew something had to give, and made the decision to put WOMAN + WARRIOR to the side temporarily.
“I control the gas pedal here,” she said. “Sometimes you’re gonna be going 0-60, sometimes you’re gonna be [on] cruise control, and this was a season of my business where it needed to go into park for a little bit. I needed to park it and get my family in order.”
Calling the burdens military spouses bear a “dire issue,” Ashlee further discussed the ramifications of the stress on a larger scale.
“To be honest, I think even you could say [it’s] a readiness issue,” she added. “If your family is falling apart, what are you going to do? How can you be fully present yourself?”
Community
As she built her military community, Ashlee realized her new friends “normalized what’s not normal.”
“I’m like, ‘y’all are normalizing some trauma-level stuff here … we need to talk about this, we can’t just sit on this,’” she recalled.
Pairing hard conversations with humor and information, Ashlee used the WOMAN + WARRIOR platform to highlight the fast pace and the loneliness of military life. By addressing difficult realities with a good dose of laughter, Ashlee’s business transformed far beyond apparel: it became a community for military spouses to relax, connect and share their own stories.
“It’s been a beautiful thing to witness. Yes, I share memes, but behind every jest, there’s always a level of truth,” Ashlee said.
“I’m super impressed that she’s able to connect so much,” Peter said, making Ashlee laugh at the unexpected and heartfelt praise.
Conversation and change
The conversations that take place on WOMAN + WARRIOR have helped Peter better understand the struggles of military families, which the logistics officer then takes with him to work.
“I try to keep that perspective as well when I’m starting to make decisions and making plans,” he said.
As far as the impact that she is making in the community, Ashlee remains humble.
“I don’t take that level of trust for granted, so I do feel like there are certain occasions or conversations that I’ve been in a room to be able to be a mouthpiece and [say], ‘here’s what people are struggling with right now. How do we help?’ Or ‘what needs to change to better support?’” Ashlee said. “I feel very privileged to have that trust.”
For 2026, Ashlee explained that while she is planning necessary “boring things” for her business to succeed, she is also stepping into her own advocacy.
“I would like to see my voice being used in a larger capacity … to be able to use my voice to continue to be that mouthpiece,” she said.
“I would like to use everything I’m intercepting from people, and not just [where] it sits in my heart, but I would really like to see that turned outward to action for them,” Ashlee added.
Peter is keen to see what lies ahead for Ashlee, saying he is curious about her next “stepping stone.”
“Everything you do is a stepping stone that you’re stepping on, and looking for the next step to go,” he said. “What more of an impact can she do and make amongst the military community?”
Visit WOMAN + WARRIOR to learn more about this “effortlessly cool” military family brand.
