But it was environmentally responsible
"I would put my uniform on, and walk across campus, and receive a lot of confused or surprised looks," said Núñez Cavness, 24, now the executive officer for a military intelligence company with 10th Special Forces Group, at Fort Carson, Colo. "A lot of my classmates were curious about my service and why I wanted to serve ... I definitely felt like a minority."
But after attending a series of talks on social entrepreneurship at the college, inspiration struck, she banked on her good idea, and now she and her sister Betsy, 27, have launched a wildly successful startup. The business, Sword & Plough, upcycles military surplus items into luxury handbags and backpacks — and hopes to bridge the military-civilian divide.
"Having grown up in a military family, I knew that there was a lot of surplus that was wasted, or burned, or thrown away," said Núñez Cavness. "I knew immediately I could create something powerful with that. And I was on a college campus, where everyone has a bag, so I thought, 'Why not turn these into fashionable bags?' These would be appealing to people like my classmates."
The sisters, daughters of a retired Army colonel, started the business in fields where neither had any experience: retail, manufacturing and fashion. Betsy Núñez had a sales and marketing job in Boston at the time, and she worked with her sister on the side at first to develop their logo, designs and a business plan.
The idea caught fire. Not only did they have a stylish product, but it was environmentally responsible and aimed at employing veterans.