After serving collectively roughly about 30 years in the military, April and her husband Aaron, decided to throw their lives in the arena of Entrepreneurship. April became a full-time student and earning a Bachelor’s Degree and recently received her Master of Arts Degree in Entrepreneurship from American Military University.

“Military spouses have a hard time keeping jobs when they’re asked to move by the military,” April admits. This is very common with military spouses, leading April to begin her first business venture operating a small popcorn business, Princess and the Popper where she would target farmer’s markets and local events to offer her products. She quickly realized that there was a big gap in the industry. “Why isn’t there a place where you can just go online and look for all the available options to do pop-up shops?” she recounts.

Like so many Entrepreneurs today, she decided to shift her focus on serving a bigger need in the market. She and her husband then founded fayVen. FayVen a veteran-owned marketplace bringing vendors such as artisans, crafters, people who work with their hands and want to sell their products in person. They began building relationships with venues or anyone who has available space to rent, partnering the two together harmonically to increase both businesses revenue. The name, FayVen is a play on several words, a lightning strike, venue/vendor and her mother’s name.

“I think what can be frustrating, (is) not knowing where all the resources are.” She elaborates. Vendors need to make sure they’re inviting a legitimate business with things such as business insurance and other vital business information to their market day events. Ensuring that the right selection of vendors and market is vitally important to the success of the market day. fayVen provides that comfort and security for all parties involved.

“You don’t have to know the people in the community there,” she says. “You can go to fayVen to do your research, apply for an event, go and set up just as if you were in your same farmer’s market every week, you have all the instructions you need.”

April and Aaron exemplify the true meaning behind the Air Force’s motto in their business and daily life; integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do. “It’s imperative to run a business with integrity. There’s a lot behind that word, but ultimately it means transparency, and reliability. Just being there and being as real as you can be for your community, whoever that is.”