Today we’d like to introduce you to Donna Hoffmeyer.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was raised in northern NH, where there were more moose than people. I came from a family of dairy farmers, turned Christmas tree farmers, and factory workers. As much as I respected the hard work, I wanted to go to college and see the world. I was fortunate my parents worked hard and helped me through my BSN. As luck would have it, the job market in 1994 was pretty grim for my career field. So, I pivoted and joined the military the summer after I graduated from college.
I retired 1 Oct 2020 after 21 years of service as a nurse in the Air Force. During my last 8 years, I saw firsthand the struggle the service members were having with consistent medical care, administrative chaos, and transition. It was during this time I co-authored Warrior to Patriot Citizen (2017); focused on military transition.
When I retired in 2020, in the midst of COVID, I was completely burned out and was struggling in my own transition. I had left a toxic work environment and was disillusioned by military leadership prioritizing ulterior motives over our mission – caring for our Guard and Reserve service members.
My transition out of the military was stark. One day I was LtCol Hoffmeyer, the next Mrs. Hoffmeyer. No retirement, no party, no fanfare. In a way, I found it more suiting. I didn’t have the energy for all pseudo thank-yous and empty compliments. I took 6 months off from life to regroup. I kept myself busy working with our daughter, putting together another book, Pandemic Parodies. It is a humorous take on our family navigating the beginning of the Pandemic.
Over the next year, I found focus. In April 2021, Taking Off The Armor started – a weekly blog that was veteran-focused, but not veteran-exclusive – something I have put on the backburner for the time being and hope to get back to soon. In October of the same year, I launched R.E.B.el LLC (in honor of a friend, co-worker, and mentor…Richard Ellis Bennett) focusing on Veteran advocacy, coaching and consulting and shortly after I added a DBA, Publishing Pathfinders, with the goal to guide and educate new authors through the self-publishing process.
In 2022, I did an interview with the podcast Coming Home Well about my first book. Four months later the Exec Director reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in starting my own podcast. Three weeks later, Beyond the Frontline was launched and it is going into the 5th year of production.
Over the next 2 years, I started the Transitioning Warrior Veteran Breakfast in two locations. It did not align well under my for-profit LLC. At this point, I had been working daily with Coming Home Well on multiple projects and we agreed what I was doing would align much better in a nonprofit status. In 2025, Coming Home Well expanded to add Transitioning Warrior Outreach (TWO), the boots on the ground component of Coming Home Well. We also opened up our services to First Responders as well. TWO continues to run 2 monthly breakfasts and has added a monthly art program and multiple educational events. Our focus to to create a safe, low threat environment where Veterans, First Responders can connect with resources to help them build their community and thrive.
None of this was done in a bubble. My rock of a husband, Brian, and our two awesome kids, Brady and Bianca, have been my biggest supporters and cheerleaders.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, it definitely has not been a smooth road. The year before I retired, my co-worker Rick, fell asleep at the wheel and was killed in a head on collision and I was tasked to manage everything between the family and military. It was just another layer of chaos and grief in an already toxic work environment. Just before retiring I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and had already been dealing with other health issues. When I retired, I was completely mentally and physically exhausted. There was literally nothing left in the tank.
I was fortunate I could take time for myself. However, it was the most uncomfortable time for me, as there was no more mission, I had never not had a plate spilling over with projects/to-dos/follow-ups, I was not in a daily battle advocating for service member, and I now had to figure out who the person in the mirror was again.
I lost my mission, purpose, value, uniform, and network. I was feeling pretty naked, vulnerable, and lost.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I wear multiple hats as a small business owner and Outreach Director for a nonprofit. Currently, I have been heavily focused on the nonprofit.
Our nonprofit is Coming Home Well and I function as the Director of Transitioning Warrior Outreach…our boots on the ground component of Coming Home Well.
I specialize in two things…translation and connection. My last job in the military I was a clinical case manager at a HQ level and later worked on our office policy. I learned and became very adept at translating policy language into useful information to Commanders, supervisors, and service members, as well as move issues up the chain in a way leadership could understand.
My husband jokes that I have a rolodex in my head. When I am working with a Veteran, First Responder, or spouse, it common for me to listen and figure out resources to help them solve an issue or garner services they need. Connection is a core component in everything we do in the nonprofit.
People often label me a connector…I’ll take it. Some people may know me from my nonprofit work, some from the podcast, and others might know me from my work with new authors. (The latter being my business side.)
What I am most proud of? Well, in regards to the nonprofit, watching people win with the resources I connected then with. In my personal life, watching my children bloom, become curious, start to spread their wings and explore. It truly is amazing to watch unfold.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Lol…that is a loaded question. If we don’t take strategic risks, what fun is life! I’ve take a few risks over the years.
Military was a huge risk. The marketed was stagnant for graduate nurses with 4 yr degrees. They were going to team nursing in an effort to save on medical costs (It didn’t work) and graduate nursing programs were being cut left and right. Resumes were sent back to us with notes to tell our friends to save postage (30+ yrs ago…snail mail) and not send theirs. My choices were down to a nursing home, Habitat for Humanity, or military. With goals for eating more than ramen and wanting to travel…military won! 21 yrs later I’ve been to over 30 counties, many adventures (so many risks, so few pictures….lol)) and countless stories.
I’ve worked outside or pivoted many times in my career. This is not in a perfect chronological order. I’ve been a nurse, flight nurse, nurse manager, childbirth educator, readiness officer (prepare people for deployment), clinical case manager, got my masters in sport science, was a personal trainer, college instructor, became an author (another entire story), started a business helping new authors self-publish, became a podcaster, and now the Director of Outreach for a nonprofit.
Every one of those pivots was a risk (and has it’s own crazy story)….but every one of those pivots was an a risk. What I’ve learned to do is to both lean on and add to my skillset. Every new skilled learned opened opportunities to learn more skills. It’s been pretty exciting.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cominghomewell.com/tw-outreach/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetransitioningwarrior/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetransitioiningwarrior
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donna-hoffmeyer-7a45a120/
- Twitter: https://x.com/TW_REBelLLC
- Other: https://pod.co/beyond-the-frontline-1
