Celebrating a Military Change Maker never gets old at ParadeDeck.com. Olivia Nunn is an experienced executive director of communications with over 10 years of experience in the government relations industry. She is the CEO of Olivia Nunn Communications LLC and is known for her work in Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion.
Olivia Nunn - Military Influencer Conference 2023
Here is an adopted transcript from a recent interview with Olivia Nunn published by, Canvas Rebel.
Alright, Olivia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?
Olivia Nunn Communications was created just before I retired from the U.S. Army. However, I didn’t do anything with my business in 2021 when I started it. It wasn’t until a series of events 2022, being unhappy at my government contracting job, that led me actually to do something about it. To fully understand why being sad at my job was significant, I must rewind my story. My seemingly perfect, accomplished life crashed when I retired from the Army.
 |
 |
|
I went through an unexpected divorce from my then-husband, whom I shared 20 years with, and two children. Eventually, I learned to rebuild myself, but was unhappy, lost, and without purpose. I was beginning to sink back into depression and felt the pull of suicidal ideation again, and I knew that there had to be something better. A series of meetings, dinner events, new strangers who have become dear friends, and a request by an old Army colleague to join an advocacy nonprofit board found me in front of a potential client.
So, in December 2022, a simple conversation about communication strategy for a substance use treatment facility emerged as a consulting contract for myself. I realized then that I would be happier as a business owner working for clients passionate about the same messages and mission- ending Soldier Suicide. So, in February 2023, after three months of already working with my first client, I resigned from my government contracting job and became a full-time small business owner.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Olivia Nunn Communications is a communications, branding, and social media strategy company that works with start-ups and small businesses. I help organizations tell their unique stories, build relationships, and develop their brand. I’ll empower enterprises to build their brand and craft captivating content for social media and podcasts.
As an Army combat veteran, I truly believe in giving back. To connect with your audience, you must lead with vulnerability and authenticity. I guide my clients by always answering these three questions. 1. Who are you? 2. What are you? 3. Who are you talking to? When you constantly ask and answer those questions, you tend to stay on target. It’s easy to get lost or overwhelmed into thinking that you need every social media platform or that success on social media is built within a few short months. Success in growing your audience requires time, patience, and, more importantly, the willingness to bring your true self to the story every single time.
Often, clients reach out to me and only want to hire me for social media. But I’ll find out in my assessment that they genuinely need a communications strategy more than just social media. I’m sure another organization might give them the easy answer and only give them what they want. But I can’t seem to help myself. I genuinely feel that to be successful, you have to have a complete communication package, including a communication strategy. This all comes from my background as an Army Public Affairs Officer. I spent ten years at the top levels of the Army, writing, crafting, and delivering some of the most significant messages on behalf of the United States Army. I’ve been part of some of the most extensive messaging campaigns, such as “Women in Combat, Transgender in the Military, Religious Accommodations, Military Working Dogs, Updated Parental Leave Policy, and more.”
I am most proud of serving my country and bringing the discipline, attention to detail, drive, and compassion I had in uniform to my clients. But what I am most proud of in my work as a Public Affairs Officer while serving was the creation of the US Army Soldier for Life podcast series. That series helped create the standard and pathway for other podcast series in the Army.
 |
 |
Charlynda Scales & Olivia Nunn on the Parade Deck stage at MIC2023
Clients will quickly realize that success is a team effort. I want my clients to succeed just as much as they want to achieve. So, my hands-on, train-the-trainer method is an effective means of helping small businesses genuinely learn the craft of communication so they can grow and scale their business.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I shared earlier that I attempted suicide as I was retiring from the US Army. When my seemingly perfect world shattered, I felt like the biggest loser. I couldn’t hold my marriage together; I had two kids counting on me, and my dreams of what life would be like after retiring 20 years from the Army just seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye. I felt so lost, so hopeless, so ugly, and defeated. But the other part of this fall isn’t just the fact that I was losing my marriage or the fact that I was transitioning from the Army (which is very difficult); I had to come to grips with the reality of all of the trauma that happened during my 20-year career. I had to face the ugly truth of my assault that took place early on in my career. I had to face the ambush, the mortar attacks, the IED, and the countless images that were on repeat in my memory banks.
When you hit rock bottom and feel unloved, you think the answer is removing yourself from the situation. You believe you are doing your loved ones a favor by removing yourself from the equation. Asking for help was by far the hardest thing I ever did. But it was the step I needed to take to begin the long journey of finding myself. Redefining yourself is a journey of self-love, healing, and discovery. It’s a journey that requires patience, therapy, and much love. You need a support system; for me, that was faith, my family, and a few critical friends. Without them, I would have quit instead of fighting to be here.
There are more days of light than dark, but I would be lying if I said there weren’t days that I don’t think of ending it all again. Those days, I have to remind myself of the hard-earned battle to be here and present and that I am worthy and loved.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I am a first-generation Korean-American, and a Tiger mom raised me. I have learned so much from my mother; she is a tough cookie. She can give any drill sergeant in the military a run for their money. In our culture, weight, looks, and beauty are discussed a lot. It’s meant to come from a place of discipline, practicality, and being matter-of-fact. But when growing up in a world where you don’t quite look like everyone else, it can be challenging to be different.
I am bi-racial, and growing up, I didn’t see other people that looked like me. I was never enough. I was never enough Korean or never enough white, depending on the situation or group I found myself in. My height (or the lack thereof), my ethnicity, my weight (too fat, too skinny), and not being pretty enough was always a source of discussion. For years, knowing how to love myself, how to accept myself, and how to be happy with the skin that I was born with was extremely difficult.
It took years, well into my adulthood, to accept the simple fact that I am different, that my ethnic makeup is different. That being different and not having to look like everyone else… it’s ok and its beautiful! I had to unlearn all the rules of society’s beauty standards because I never fit the mold and learned to love myself. It has been a journey of 40-plus years, but one worth developing and growing through. It’s a journey that I know well, and now that I am a mother to multi-ethnic children, I can better navigate this conversation with them.
Contact Info:
Parade Deck: https://www.paradedeck.com/creator/CalmInTheStorm
Website: www.olivianunn.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_olivianunn/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OliviaNunnCommunications
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-j-nunn/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/OliviaJNunn
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OliviaNunn
Image Credits: Jared Wolfe Reza Venegas Fallon Alley
Original article: https://canvasrebel.com/meet-olivia-nunn/
#changemaker #paradedeckexperience #pdx
