On today's episode of attention ALVA would be speaking with a Navy veteran successful entrepreneur and published author stay tuned
You won't want to miss this episode
Hello everyone, thanks for tuning into attention ALVA the podcast for the American Latino Veterans Association
We're so excited to have you join us today
I'm your host Danny Vargas chairman and CEO of ALVA in addition to these podcasts where you get to hear from inspiring guests
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I'm pleased to introduce our special guest for today. Jean Ibañez-Payneand I'll read her bio briefly. Thank you, Jean for joining us
Born in the United States. Jean Ibañez-Payne was raised in Colombia
Gene returned to the United States to finish high school and enlisting United States Navy in
1992 serving as a yeoman from
until 1996 in 96 she began her 20 plus year career of experience and workforce training
communications marketing diversity program management and risk management
Jean's passion has always been helping people work better together and increasing awareness and efforts around diversity and inclusion
This passion motivated her to start TI verbatim consultant TI VC in
2014
Jean took a huge leap of faith with the support of her husband and started TI VC
TI VCS mission is to help people work better together
Which has quickly become a successful business in the corporate and government
Environments and has earned the trust of customers across the country
Jean is an international coaching Federation certified coach certified diversity executive with certification in lean six sigma
change management and emotional intelligence
She's a member of multiple nonprofit boards and holds a bachelor of science in criminal justice and a master of business administration
One of Jean's biggest accomplishment was authoring the top seller called reclaim your worth
Which details her life story of abuse empowerment and building a life on her terms
Jean's also the recipient of the 2022 Alva Veterans Entrepreneur Award
Jean, thanks so very much for joining us today
Thank you, Danny for having me. Oh, it's my pleasure and you know
we're so proud of everything that you've done and
Everything that you've accomplished and the role model that you've become to so many across the country
Only take a few minutes to first start by talking about your upbringing your your journey prior to joining the Navy
So I was born here in the u.s. To immigrant parents and I returned to Colombia when I was two years old
And left when I when I was 15 due to the political
And economic instability in Colombia, I like to tell people that I I grew up
riding donkeys to school
and being attacked by roosters
and
I had a I loved growing up in the farm
And I have my parents and three brothers
What part of Colombia? Just say they uh
They will estado case cordoba
Uh cerca, uh monteria in
A
Campo
And I know you had it was a challenging upbringing as a child, uh, but uh, colombia is one of my favorite countries
I love Colombia
And the food, uh, it's spectacular. What was your favorite dish growing up?
Oh my gosh
Fried plantains
Uh
Homemade cheese
And sweat which is
Patacon
See, oh my um, so my father
He is 80 years old and he still manages
our farm and we grew up
literally
waking up at five o'clock in the morning
to
milking the cows
selling the milk
making cheese
At home to eat and then me walking to school
From the farm to the nearest town
Wow
And and when you came back to the united states what part of the united states did you come back to?
What brought me to the united states what what part of the us what part
So I went to um
I lived in la
And then I literally
Went to three different high schools. I lived with
Three different relatives
And then I joined the navy
Awesome
So let's talk about your time in the navy. Uh, so
Did you have any experience in the navy?
The navy, uh, so did you join the navy in in california is where you enlisted?
No, I I enlisted in harrisburg, pennsylvania
Okay, I graduated from high school and um, I needed money for college
And then I just decided to join the navy which was quite interesting because
English was my second language
And my asvab scores were too low. I took the test the first time
Then I took it again and it was they were too low and I was held back actually in uh
in boot camp
To receive more development classes for english
I went into boot camp in june
And I left in november and it's typically supposed to be six weeks
Where was boot camp let's talk about your boot camp it was in orlando florida, okay. Yes
And that must have been a culture shock. I know my boot my basic training was a culture shock for me coming from new york city
Going to san antonio texas for basic training was a culture shock
It was really a culture shock danie
Coming from
what my family
because the culture
My father my mother didn't believe that a woman belonging the military. So I definitely did not have their approval
And it was it was a culture shock because I didn't speak english, so it was very difficult
and also
Growing up in my household my mom was a very strong woman
and um
I picked up some of her
Some of her things and um, I guess I was a little bit outspoken
And so that was one of the culture shocks that I had was getting in trouble for speaking my mind
in boot camp
I hear you. I know what you mean
And and thank goodness you you remain an outspoken person. So we're grateful for that
So let's talk about your navy career. You're in for four years. I think it
Yes, I was so I joined in
92
In ice I was a yeoman in the military
Which was similar to being an administrative assistant
And I did um, I served in uh, naval station puget sound
In seattle just has been decommissioned
And from there I moved to uh naval station everett, which is near the seattle base
And I went on to spend some time in whidbey island
In washington and then I deployed to dio garcia for six months. Wow
Yes, and how was that?
I couldn't believe that it was an appointment. I mean dio garcia is a little island in the middle of the indian ocean
Just beautiful beautiful beautiful
But I was ready to come home after six months. It gets a little bit small after you're there for six months
But it was it was a great experience
That's awesome. And I assume you learned a lot
So we can talk about that, but I know it wasn't easy. I know you experienced some some personal
hardships as well. Yes. Yes, it was um
You know, i'm very conflicted actually when people asked me about my military experience
especially
Especially moms who have their daughters joining the military or who want to join the military?
I um
I was the recipient of
Numerous experiences of military sex or trauma literally for four and a half years. Um, so definitely kind of uh,
Stamped me for life
And it's something that I
Navigate through every day
I'm on behalf of all of us who served and all all of us. Uh, i'm really happy to be here
Uh to go through but I know as a human being uh having known you for a while. I know that
The strength and perseverance that you have as an individual is something very very admirable. So
You know, I applaud you for that strength and that resilience
And I applaud you for having shared that not only with this audience
But also in the book that you shared with me
And I'm very happy to be here with you and I'm very happy to be here with you and I'm very happy to be here with you
uh, while in the military
итnatantly
Keeping you guys Huh?
Softly
But anything family
ifies
This book I would like to I'm�wite
To it
And give an important thing, which is the value of theная
Rr
to navigate life after that service.
Certainly, certainly Danny, uh, often we think that military sex with
trauma is isolated just to women.
It is not for men and five women.
Daily are sexually assaulted in the military.
Very few choose to come forward and raise their hands and say, this happened to me.
So you're right.
It's something that there needs to be a, um, this little light ship into that epidemic.
That's right.
And we need to make sure that, um, military personnel in the chain of command is prepared
to be able to deal with that because for too long, there have been too many incidents
that were swept under the rug and not addressed fully.
So I think this is, this is important that we continue to shed light, but also
continue to call for action and changes, uh, and how we address that and how we deal
with that in the military.
And that's what I am hoping my book will do is to create awareness for change.
Absolutely.
Hear hear.
Well, we're going to get to the book in a, in a, in a minute, but I did want to
talk about your career after the military.
Uh, I know we met for the first time, uh, when you're in one of your corporate roles,
uh, years ago. So take us on that path after you got out of the Navy and, and went into
your, your corporate life and then starting your own business, which is huge.
So let's talk about that for a few minutes.
Yes, I had quite an interesting career after the military.
I spent 15 years in the corporate environment and I always tell the story that, uh, the
first job that I had coming out of the military, I was let go because I did not know how to
use Excel.
And, uh, and then after that, I, uh, I went to spend a lot of time in the energy industry.
Working for electric utilities as an energy marketer.
And, um, that was another male dominated environment.
Uh, and, um, but I had a passion to, for diversity, inclusion and helping people work
better together.
So back in 2014, I decided just to take a leap of faith overnight.
And I literally came home, I was making six failures and I came home and I told my husband
after having spent so many, so much time resources and wanting a child, I was commuting 75
miles each way.
And I just, I just decided overnight that I, that is not something that I wanted to do.
And, um, I literally just said, I am going to start my own business.
And, uh, I married to a military guy who was a mission commander.
His very, he plans everything and, uh, he almost had a heart attack.
I said, well, don't worry about it.
I'm not going, I'm not going to quit ESC.
I'm going to go part time.
And, uh, within two or three days of going part time, decided to go part time or a week,
I quit and, uh, and I started my own business.
I'm going to start my own business, cashed 401ks, sold our dream home, moved to another state.
And, uh, I had never looked back.
It has been the best experience and the best thing I did.
So TI Verbatim Consulting, TI VC, tell us about that company that you started.
My passion has always been, um, human capital optimization, which for me, it was all about
helping people work better together based on what I lived in the military and also in
the corporate environment, because sexual harassment also happens very much in the corporate
environment.
I decided to focus on creating a company where we help people work better together by focusing
in the culture.
So our company, we go into organizations to, to assess the state of the culture, qualitative,
quantitative analysis, and we have created a tool actually software for us to do the
cultural assessments.
So that's kind of what we're doing today.
And like I said, Danny, I had never looked back.
I'm a firm believer that, uh, we always walk around and talk about plan B.
And for me, I said, when you are fully committed to plan A, there's no such a thing as plan B.
What's the, what's the, uh, what types of customers do you have at TI VC?
We have different, we have government and we have corporate environments.
We actually not long ago did a cultural assessment for the U S mint, which I'm many people familiar
with.
And so those are just one of our customers.
And then we also serve the corporate, um, environment.
And for those who care about these things, particularly on the government contracting
side, do you had your eight, a certification, your woman owned certification, veteran owned
small business.
So, so those are all things that folks can look to.
And if they're looking to do business with the IVC, what's the, what's the website for
TIBC or website is www.TI verbatim.com TI verbatim.com.
Uh, so if you want to be able to reach gene and do business with a TI VC, that's the website.
Um, so, you know, you've been so successful in business.
You've been so successful in your, your corporate, uh, life, but you always had sort of that,
that struggle that you had to deal with in terms of some of the trauma that you experience.
And I know in speaking with you that you wanted to make sure that you had it, not really an
outlet to be able to, uh, have that catharsis of being able to let that out, but also to
help others, which led you to be able to do business with the, the, the, the, the, the
RAM for the first, the, the, the first year, but then everybody keeps coming back on the
electronics or some of your subscribe, share your columns, you know, just to pan the video.
You justowanie contigo book, go ahead and put it up to the public responses and you just
let people hear it.
harder to understand.
Let's get to the book.
my military sexual trauma for four and a half years. I left the Navy and I know this happens
to a lot of veterans with trauma. And it's not just military sexual trauma because they're
all other kinds of trauma. We're suffering silence. We have too much, we're afraid or
do we have too much pride to raise our hands and say, I need help. That happened to me
for 20 years, Danny. I literally suffered for 20 years and many people would say, oh,
you're so successful. You have everything. Look how you carry yourself. But I was suffering
in silence, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation. And I was too afraid of people not believing
me, like nobody believed me in the military. So that was 20 years of that. And I decided
to get help. And again, I'm talking to the veterans is we raise our hands sometimes to
get help, but we outsource our treatment to people, letting them tell us what to do. Or
we go to the psychiatrist, we go to the psychologist, but then we don't do the part and we don't
use the tools that they're telling us to use. I was doing that until 2000, until December
of 2022, where I decided enough is enough. I have to do something. I got to put a stake
in the ground and I need to get better. And that was kind of when I decided to stop outsourcing
my my worth in my recovery and took ownership of it.
So tell us about the book. What's what's included in the book?
So my entire journey is included in the book. From the time I was five years old, because
I also had trauma when I was growing up to the military, to what I did. And in January
of this year, I felt that after two years of recovering my of reclaiming my worth, I
was ready to write my book. I wrote 50,000 words in four weeks, 35,000 in one week, writing
12 to 14 hours a day. So you can tell that I was ready to reclaim my worth and get better.
And I decided to write the book because I want to tell my story. But I want those people
who have gone through trauma, who may be going through it, is that they're loved, they're
appreciated, and they are not alone. And that it's time to raise your hands and say, I need
help. Or stop, you can't do this anymore.
What's been the reaction so far to the book? That's that's been out for how long now?
It has been out for four weeks. It was a top seller in Amazon. The first week that it was
released, close to 300 books have left my hands. And it has been humbling. It has been
it has been overwhelming in a great way. I have women and men sending me messages or
telling me, Jean, I resonate with this. Yes, I get it. It has been it has been just an
amazing, amazing experience. And I feel that we are own where I'm on to something. I think
this is going to be it's going to be big for those people who need to reclaim their worth.
Well, Jean, you have done a remarkable job of being able to share your story, to be able
to be compassionate to others who are going through it, to give them a sense of ownership
and empowerment. And I applaud you for everything that you've done. I applaud you for being
the leader that you are and the strong individual that you are. And it's been on Amazon for
four weeks, right? Amazon, yes. And it's a top seller. And did you ever think that you
could be a published author with a top selling book? No, I was I was I was too focused on
being afraid. I was too focused on being embarrassed. I couldn't imagine being so vulnerable to
tell my story because people will read my book. I'm very transparent, very transparent
with details. And it definitely take a it took a lot of courage for me to do. But also
the support that I have received from my son, my husband, my family in Colombia. It has
been phenomenal. I could not do it without them. So I didn't think I never imagined
that I would write it. But let me tell you, I am so proud of myself for taking the step
and telling my stories so I can help others. We're all very proud of you, Jean. And we're
all supporting you and we're all behind you. And I really thank you for for your courage
and your transparency and your focus on helping others at the same time. Last question for
you, Jean. Yes. Working people buy the book. So you can go to Amazon.com, reclaim your
worth, or you can go to my website, which is reclaim your worth now.com. You can order
a a signed copy. That's fantastic. Jean, I'm so proud of you. Thank you so very much for
joining us. Thank you, Danny. You know what, and I appreciate you being one of my cheerleaders
throughout this journey. So thank you. Always my friend. Thank you so much. And to all of
you on behalf of the American Latino Veterans Association. Thank you all for joining us
today. We hope you enjoy the content. Please join us for future webinars and podcasts.
Please keep an eye out for information on our upcoming events by visiting our website
alvavets.org. I will tell you we have our annual DC event coming up on November 6th.
Afternoon sessions would include information on transitioning from the military to civilian
careers, financial literacy, accessing veteran benefits and a job matchmaking session as
well. You can go to alvavets.org to get more information on that. Thank you once again
to Jean for being our special guest today. And thank you once again to our sponsors for
these podcasts and webinars, JP Morgan, Chase, PMI Wells Fargo, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Accenture.
Thank you all again for joining us. And as always, be safe, aim high and thrive. Thanks
very much. We'll see you next time.