A military spouse is not exempt from entrepreneurship - just ask Chandra Hedgepeth. A mother of three children, whose husband, Jay Hedgepeth, is a first sergeant in civil affairs - opened a shop in the Joint Base Lewis-McChord PX, Feb. 1, at the encouragement of the manager there who noticed Hedgepeth's sales were taking off at vendor events outside the PX.

Hedgepeth started a homebased business in early 2015 from her home in Lacey, handcrafting wristbands for her husband's unit who do CrossFit for physical therapy.

"I homeschool our kids and needed more money for their curriculum," she said.

In October, Hedgepeth expanded her business when she started sewing mermaid blankets from a pattern she designed. The blankets are lined inside with fleece. Soon, men were purchasing them for their spouses and girlfriends. Children loved them, too.

"During the Christmas season I sold over $3,000 worth of blankets," Hedgepeth said.

Also in October, Hedgepeth networked with and met two military spouse entrepreneurs: Ernestine Garcia and Rochelle Stajkowski. And connected with a third on Facebook: Makenzie Woodward.

Garcia, whose husband is Sergeant First Class Daniel Garcia, recently moved to Joint Base Lewis-McChord from Germany, where she ran her Stitchin' Stine custom embroidery shop off post. Prior to Germany she ran a storefront off base in Korea and on base in Virginia. Stajkowski, whose husband is Sergeant Alec Stajkowski in air defense, crochets clothing accessories under Yazski Crocheting. Woodward, whose husband is Specialist Ian Woodward, with the Ranger battalion does handmade accessories as Casual Crowns.

All four women agree that their businesses are stronger as a result of their partnership and collaboration.

"Because we're always in transition, having a place where we can come together to showcase our products is really helpful," Hedgepeth said.

Hedgepeth adds that she couldn't have filled the retail space on her own and that empowering the other three women makes her feel like she's doing more than just helping herself out.

Both Woodward and Stajkowski see the partnership as crucial to their business from a marketing standpoint.

"It helps me out a lot to put my products somewhere physical where people can take a look at them," Woodward said. "That is huge for me."

Hedgepeth is grateful for Garcia's experience as a military spouse entrepreneur. Having had storefronts at multiple bases, Hedgepeth said Garcia is able to contribute her real-world experience.

"I call Ernestine everyday with millions of questions," Hedgepeth quips.

The four women, of course, are fully aware that the storefront at the Lewis PX may not be permanent. Right now the business is in a pilot period. Hedgepeth is running the shop six days a week, Monday-Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It's her hope that if she and her husband are transferred that the storefront can continue.

"You just do the best as you can as a military spouse," Hedgepeth said. "You just go with it."

Woodward said establishing yourself is like mission impossible.

Gifts Galore, Lewis Main PX, facebook.com/stronginstyle, 910.364.7296