OUR STORY

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When my husband told me that he was thinking of applying to join the Foreign Service, I imagined a life of diplomatic parties that almost entirely involved posh European cities, and a life of ladies who lunch. Yes, I could get on board with that, who wouldn’t? Side bar, at the time I was an Event Manager at Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C. planning said posh events and managing the diplomatic delegations that stayed in the hotel. So my vision was not that much of a stretch…or was it?

Twelve years and Six PCSes (or Permanent Change of Stations) later (not counting the five temporary stays between our new homes), I can attest that I was nothing short of naïve. I learned very quickly that my appreciation for research, all things spreadsheet, and obsession with details would be rather useful. What I lacked in enthusiasm for moving was made up for by my grit.

It was during our posting in La Paz, Bolivia while we were mapping out our eight stop vacation (aka R&R) in the U.S. that we were planning for a consumables shipment (CNS). We were both frustrated that we would be giving up at least five days of our 10 in Falls Church to shopping, organizing and managing the pack out for the shipment. Consumables Shipments (consumable items that you can ship to certain overseas posts) can be a life line for overseas living! It dawned on us that this would be a useful service to our community because the time it takes to get everything done, plus you have to rent a large vehicle, it all adds up to more stress. Over the next few years, I continued to talk about the idea to gauge the interest and slowly improve on the concept.

Today, I am off the ground with DiploDash® and thrilled by the response. We continue to have new ideas to grow the business but take it one PCS at a time.