As the daughter, sister, niece, cousin, and friend of many veterans I have always wanted to find a way to give back to our nation’s heroes. As a full-time Graphic Designer and a freelance Designer and Photographer on the side, it was hard to find the time. After years of freelance work turning into working for free, I decided if I’m going to do free work, it might as well be for people who deserve it, Veterans!

A few months ago it came to me all at once. I decided I wanted to build websites for Veterans who were trying to launch their own business. The root of this idea goes back to when I was just a little girl, helping my dad build carpentry projects in his garage. Before he passed away, my father had started the process of starting his own carpentry business. He had amazing dreams and loved building things and the idea of doing it for a living brought a smile to his face. To this day, I believe if his dreams had come true, he might still be with us today. I believe that anyone struggling in life, particularly our Veterans, can benefit greatly from finding what makes them happy and pursuing it. Websites are vital to businesses of any kind and this would be the way I could use my talents to help give back.

Originally, I came up with a slew of cheesy, overly patriotic names that really didn’t encompass the dream I had in mind. My mother told me I needed a name that Vets would identify with. She suggested I ask someone in the military for ideas and who better than my brother who is currently enlisted in the Army! It didn’t take him long to come up with After Action Design, and I couldn’t be more thankful to him for coming up with a name that is perfect!