Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mindy King. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Mindy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

My business started accidently. After trying a number of other avenues to work through both PTSD and a loss of purpose after my medical retirement from the military, I started making hand stitched ornaments to represent the places I had been. After sharing a picture, a number of people reached out requesting to order their own set. I found that the repetitiveness of the stitching was a great help to my overarching anxiety.

Over time, I have expanded to machine embroidery which I now have two multi-needle machines. Through my business, I share my challenges, which include ongoing medical treatments, but I’m also able to give back to the community. Since my husband is still active duty, we move around, but each community I try to leave a positive impact before we leave. Since being stationed in Colorado, that has been able to grow exponentially. We’ve been able to provide multiple ‘first-night out’ bags for children entering foster care, providing quilt patches for adoptions, sponsoring a police K9 ballistics vest and making donations to numerous entities in the community. At the end of the day, I hope I can leave two things behind – that there’s always another purpose for us and to be a positive part of your community, whether it’s permanent or temporary.

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

I’m a disabled veteran and military spouse that struggle with finding a purpose after military medical retirement. While I’m a very small business in the terms of finances, my community impact is where I count my business success. Since we are still a military family we move frequently, which means reestablishing your client base in each location. While this is a challenge, it’s also an opportunity.

Since I’m prior service, I am well-versed in military units and their respective crests, which is a benefit for those directly connected with military units looking for gifts and other items to reward. This has also transferred over into the non-military community in the form of attention to detail and providing a quality item that isn’t financially out of reach.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect is being able to create something that turns full circle to be able to give back. While the creative aspect itself has helped me process and deal with my PTSD, the financial aspect has given me a new purpose in finding resources within the communities we are currently in to help support.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I have a brain injury, which causes me to forget a lot of things. This is an ongoing challenge with my business process due to keeping orders straight, making sure I make appointments and timelines, especially when medical procedures are factored in there. There’s some days when it is just overwhelming and I have to take a step back and take a break before I can continue on. Sometimes that break is five minutes, sometimes it’s a day, but then I focus and get caught back up. While this has adjusted my timelines, it’s led me to make more manageable expectations both from myself and for my business.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @mindys_heartfelttravels
• Facebook: @yourheartfelttravels
• Twitter: @felttravels