We recently connected with Lisa Sharik and have shared our conversation below.

Lisa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

In my work at the Texas Military Forces Museum over the past 14 years I have had a number of opportunities to make connections with people or between people. I have helped return items from WWII found in France back to the original soldier or to family members. Objects like a duffle bag left behind after a soldier was injured, a mess kit, a letter to a soldier found in a barn and most recently an ID tag found on the ground in France which I was able to return to the son of the veteran. I also have been contacted by people here in the United States who find military things in thrift shops or garage sales who want to try and find the veteran. This past December a thrift shop in Corpus Christi sent us a Purple Heart medal which someone had donated to them . I was able, with a couple weeks of research, to find the Purple Heart recipient’s nephew who had been named for the soldier. Sadly, the soldier had been killed in action during the war. I returned the Purple Heart to the family and they said it was the best Christmas present they had ever received.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

I studied Archaeology in college and worked for several years in that field before receiving my Master’s in Museum Studies. I ended up being an “stay at home mom” for 10 years while my three children were young. When I rejoined the workforce I happened upon my current job, which was with a military museum, I had no military background or knowledge, but it looked like a good opportunity to get back into the field so I took it. In addition to researching artifacts my favorite part of the job is all about connections: Getting to meet with the veterans, giving tours and being able to share the stories of the men and women of the military forces of Texas. I often do talks to help people figure out how to search for information about their relatives who served in the military. In the end it is about those connections and helping people find answers.

How did you build your audience on social media?

We have built our social media in a traditional, old school way. As a military museum on an active National Guard post we are restricted on what we can do, what forms of social media we can use. We play to the most obvious common denominators: patriotism, love of history, love of the state of Texas, the military. We do well on old school media like Facebook and less well on the more trendy media.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Our museum receives no funding from the State of Texas other than the salary of the three staff. The building, its utilities, some upkeep is provided by the Texas National Guard. Other funding has to come from a non profit foundation which supports the museum. They take in donations, run a small gift shop, and raise money to support us. In addition, the museum director is a whiz at finding ways to work the system to find money for equipment, exhibit material and other needed items for the museum. We are one of the better funded National Guard museums due to his acumen.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org
• Instagram: @TMFMuseum
• Facebook: Texas Military Forces Museum
• Twitter: @TMFMuseum
• Youtube: Texas Military Forces Museum