In honor of Veterans Day, we’re celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit of our nation’s heroes. Veterans and military families bring incredible strengths to business ownership such as resilience, adaptability, and the confidence to navigate uncertainty. In a recent conversation, Traci Cole from the Southern California Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC) shared how her team supports service members and spouses as they explore entrepreneurship through programs like Boots to Business, offered directly on military bases.
VBOC’s mission is to make the path to business ownership more accessible. All advising, workshops, and resource guidance are free, helping families connect to legal support, marketing help, and startup funding through SBA and nonprofit lenders. Veterans have a high success rate in entrepreneurship because they stay focused on the mission and take action. This Veterans Day, we honor their service and the new ventures they are building for their futures and communities.
About the Author
Traci Cole is the Director of the Southern California Veterans Business Outreach Center (SoCal VBOC), where she empowers veteran and military-connected entrepreneurs as they pursue their business goals. She brings more than 20 years of experience in marketing, product development, entrepreneurship, consulting, and finance, with a career that spans large corporations, startups, government agencies, and boutique firms. In addition to her leadership role at SoCal VBOC, Traci is the CEO of Dignity Bath and has founded multiple small businesses in the caregiving and eco-friendly industries. Traci is passionate about supporting veteran small business owners and helping them turn their talents and ideas into thriving ventures.
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/tracijcole
Websites: www.dignity-bath.com and socalvboc.org
