Kelly Rosenblatt
Former Senior Manager, Small Business Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Published
October 15, 2019
Joe Shamess, Co-Founder of Flags of Valor
Veteran-Owned Business Finalist
To better highlight the impressive members of the small business community, we sat down with the 2019 Dream Big Award finalists to learn more about their startup stories, the challenges they have faced, and what the future of business looks like to them. We chatted with Joe Shamess, co-founder of Virginia-based Flags of Valor, a veteran-owned, veteran-operated, and veteran-made company, which crafts beautiful works of American art. Here is what he had to say (what follows has been lightly edited for length and clarity):
Q: What inspired the creation of your business? What problem does it help to solve?
We were inspired by a deep devotion to serve our fellow veterans and the nation we love.
Q: What is the greatest challenge you faced while building your company and how did you overcome it?
After being featured on ABC World News Tonight with David Muir, we received a years worth of orders in 24 hours. This was incredible, but also created a major challenge for our operation and customer service abilities. We handled it one day at a time and worked through it while communicating our deep appreciation to those who passionately support our mission
Q: At what moment did your business become a reality to you? OR When it comes to your business, what has been your proudest moment to date?
Every day we get to see the impact we have on our team of veterans and the thousands of supporters who make this journey a reality.
Q: What impact do you hope your business has on society as it grows?
Put more veterans to work and continue to grow veteran powered American manufacturing.
Q: If selected as the winner of the Dream Big Small Business of the Year Award, how will you invest the $25,000 grand prize?
Invest in additional equipment so our team can continue to grow our high tech manufacturing
solutions.
To learn more about the 2019 Dream Big Award finalists, click here.
About the authors
Kelly Rosenblatt
Kelly Rosenblatt is the former Social Media and Digital Operations Project Manager at the U.S. Chamber.
