Service to Innovation: My Journey from the Army into Tech

By Yami Rivas

As we close Hispanic Heritage month I wanted to share a bit of my story with our learners, readers, customers, partners, and funders. I am thrilled to be able to do this in a written medium, the podcast will be next! 

What led you to join the Army? And do you have a family legacy of service?

I joined the Army while I was in college. I was motivated by the sense of pride and community after the first Gulf War. A few years earlier, the city of New York had hosted General Colin L. Powell and General H. Norman Schwarzkopf in one of the most epic parades down the famous and historic "Canyon of Heroes.” To a young immigrant like me, seeing 5 million people line up to cheer on our troops gave me such a sense of belonging that I decided right then and there that after high school and “some college”, I would say “thank you” to a country that opened its arms to me and my family by joining the service. The Army seemed like a great fit as the heroes I had encountered leading that parade both belonged to the U.S. Army. While no one in my family had served in the United States military, my grandfather on my mother’s side served in the Dominican Republic’s military, therefore military service was already in my blood. 

What was your boot camp experience like?

My bootcamp (Basic Training for Army people) experience was interesting and, dare I say, fun. I always looked at  Drill Sergeants as people who had a job to do. That job was keeping us safe while yelling a lot! There was of course more to it, but simplifying problems so that I can better deal with them  is one of my core skills. It was interesting to have a lot of people judge me or make fun of me because I am both from the Bronx, and an extremely “girly” “tomboy”. Some people assumed I knew about guns and shooting them because I grew up in the Bronx and others assumed that I would not be great at combatives because I was too “girly”. I am smiling right now thinking about one of my Drill Sergeants dubbing me Private Benjamin. He even made us watch the film! While at basic training, I fell in love with running. To this day, running is something that the military gave me: my favorite hobby!

How and where did you serve–Military Occupational Specialty (MOS), duty stations?

My Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) was 51T - Technical Engineering Specialist. I was super proud to be an Essayon and part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers! Still am. The MOS combined three MOS’s into one and thus the training for my MOS was 6-7 months. At the time, it was a very unique MOS and we were one of the few who trained with every branch so my class had Marines, Navy, and Air Force Engineers. After completing the training, I went to Korea’s Camp Stewart. It was a fun first duty station. Seoul felt like a great Times Square and the countryside, where my passion for running really took off, reminded me of the trails I visited in the NY/NJ area. After that I went to Fort Lee in Virginia, now known as Fort Gregg-Adams. Interesting story, the unit I ended up with had one slot for my very unique job in the military. The unit was a mortuary affairs unit, but this will be a blog for another day. While in Korea and then Virginia, I had the privilege of going to Hawaii and Germany for extended periods of time. I would get loaned out. My last duty station was Fort Hood in Texas, now known as Fort Cavazos. I worked for the 4th Infantry Division (4ID) Division Engineer. My life is always full of coincidences and serendipities; here is a good one. The Division Engineer was my Battalion XO in Korea! Seeing him again while he inspected the troops was a great surprise. 

What were the unique challenges or benefits of? 

There were both! The challenges happen to deal with what a lot of Hispanic women deal with outside of the military as well. Sexual harassment was the biggest challenge. I was able to handle it and gain respect, but it was a constant during my service. Some of the benefits were around the fact that at the time the biggest mortuary affairs unit was in Puerto Rico. I got to go there a few times and speak my native language and help bridge the gap between the people stationed there and those in continental United States. They spoke English, but everything was so much easier when I could train them in our own language.  

Did you use your GI Bill for school?

I did use my GI Bill for school while I was still in the service and after transitioning. I am not sure how the people in the transition office were able to do it, but it worked! 

How easy was it to find your first post-service job?

It was easier than I anticipated and frankly, easier than I wanted it to be. My first job out of the service was working for a Marketing Agency who also did Medical Education. They had two sides and I got to work on projects on both sides. After uploading my resume to Monster.com (I think), I was contacted by the Executive Assistant to the CEO. They were very adamant about hiring a Veteran as they saw us as reliable, smart, and trustworthy. I turned down the job and the CEO called me immediately. I did not say no to him. The second job (which was 2 years later) was with a very lucrative engineering firm contracted to work with the JFK Airport Redevelopment Department. There too they valued the Veteran for similar reasons, but they also needed my specific skills because what they needed me to do was exactly what I did in the Army. My first day on the job was September 11, 2001. What a terrible loss to the entire country, and the Port Authority lost so many officers.  

Do you identify as a female Veteran in professional environments? Personal?

I do so more now than ever since starting at PsychArmor, but while I did not hide it, I also never stated it as an introduction or listed it prominently in any public social media profiles. Everyone I know knew that I had served, but it was not necessarily an identity for me unless I was within my military community. This is a tough question to answer because it is not a yes and it is also not a no. It just was. 

How did your service affect / influence your outlook on life?

I think in several ways the fact that I am an immigrant prepared me for the life of moving and adapting in the military. I think living in other cultures came easy but if I had to choose one thing it is that my service solidified my belief that we are all interconnected and that there is so much beauty and grace within the military community. The military is its own ecosystem and to serve means to have a very large extended family of brothers and sisters and beyond. If I look at my service as an experiment of sorts (and that is how I look at my life), I see that the world can truly be a better place when you have  people from very diverse backgrounds coming together. It influenced how I approach people in general with more empathy and more understanding.

How does your personal mission align with PsychArmor’s mission to transform the lives of military and Veteran communities through education and training?

It aligns in a way that I never expected. I believe that education is the way to understanding, to experimentation, to empathy…and thus transformation; that we follow education with training to reinforce the learning is pure magic. I always volunteered in organizations that served the military community, but having my actual day-to-day job be of service to our Veterans and their families through education and training, and building products that help facilitate that training, is an absolute privilege.  

Tell us about your work goals–gold standard for products, future growth etc. 

My goal is that PsychArmor becomes the go-to partner for military-culture informed training, education, and thought-leadership in the United States and, if I am being honest and audacious, globally. Our organization has amazing products that are ready to scale, incredible thought-leaders, and an innovative mindset. Our service is also very strong. As far as future growth, I see us working closer with our chosen partners and our funders. I see us in the community doing the research that is needed in order to serve those partners and customers. I see us building a world class data platform so that we can understand the needs of our community better and, finally, I see us expanding in Healthcare Innovation and Health Equity as it is a top priority for us. I will not say too much, we will leave that for another blog, but building products and services that our partners and customers need, want and will use is the gold-standard! 

How does being a Hispanic Veteran influence your work life? 

In a lot of spaces I am the only Hispanic/Latina in the room. In a lot of spaces I am the only Hispanic/Latina Veteran or only Veteran in the room. In a lot of spaces I am also the only Woman, Hispanic/Latina Veteran in the room and, finally, in a lot of spaces I am the only Woman, Hispanic/Latina Veteran, Tech/Product/Designer person in the room. It can feel a bit isolated coming in with a colorful interior mind as a creative when we are working with institutions that have very strict protocols, but innovation is in my DNA and all those things I mentioned above–all of my intersectionalities–are what make me unique and allow me to bring about innovation to our space. 

What’s next for Yami? 

From a professional standpoint, now that I better understand our organizational structure, vision and goals here at PsychArmor, led by our CEO Dr. Tina Atherall, and our strategy, as led by our Chief Strategy Officer, Dr. Carie Rodgers, I am focusing on understanding how our customers use our products and services, as well as all of our partnerships! I also want to learn more about the non-profit space and I am currently looking for an external mentor as I have the best internal mentor a person could have in our CEO and serial social impact entrepreneur, Dr. Tina Atherall. Personally, I consider myself a futurist and love thinking about how I can make a greater impact in my communities. Engaging in “futures” thinking and ideating on what our lives will look like in 5, 7, 10, 20 years is something I enjoy! Space exploration, housing, living communities, parks, public transportation etc: what will that look like for us, for our veterans, for our communities? I'm excited to lend my Hispanic, female, Veteran voice to the communities of the future. 

YAMI RIVAS (Jammie Rēvas) is PsychArmor’s Chief Product & Innovation Officer  and an Army Veteran.