Kristine Schellhaas
MEET
KRISTINE SCHELLHAAS
PR & Digital Media Manager @ Idaho Humane Society
ABOUT
Kristine Schellhaas’s success as an entrepreneur and nationally renowned advocate for military families is the result of her unwavering passion, fearless commitment, and unique authenticity.
• AUTHOR: 15 Years of War: How the Longest War in U.S. History Affected a Military Family in Love, Loss, and the Cost Of Service (June, 2016) and Stories Around the Table: Laughter, Wisdom, and Strength in Military Life (Oct, 2014)
• ENTREPRENEUR: Kristine founded USMC Life in 2009 to inspire, connect and educate Marine Corps families, eventually reaching over 2.5 million people monthly; the company was acquired in January, 2015.
• SPEAKER: Highly sought out speaker for keynote events and seminars
Two-time recipient of MSM’s installation “Military Spouse of the Year”
With years of success managing programs and projects at Fortune 500 companies, starting and eventually selling her own company, and thousands of volunteer hours later — Kristine’s passion is inspiring individuals to live their fullest life and connecting individuals to each other and resources.
Kristine holds an MA in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University, and two BBAs: Business Management and Human Resource Management from Boise State University.
Articles by Kristine
Learn More
15 Years of War: a groundbreaking new memoir
By Kristine Schellhaas
Mar 23, 2016
Learn More
Exclusive: Dakota Meyer opens up about struggles with transitioning from Corps
By Kristine Schellhaas
Nov 19, 2015
EXPERIENCE
Idaho Humane Society
PR & Digital Media Manager
Dec 2017 – Present 4 years 2 months
Boise, Idaho, United States
• Chief storyteller: dynamic content creation for internal and external communications
• Spokesperson and subject matter expert of $8M nonprofit, manages all social media, writes and distributes press releases, frequently works with TV, radio, and print media
• Identifies how nonprofit engages their customers and supporters. Responsible for formulating business objectives, developing and implementing the framework for all digital strategies, including digital marketing, website, email campaigns, social media, fundraising, print, video, display, events, and cross-collaboration with partner organizations
• Measures and reports performance of all digital activities, identifies trends and insights, develops growth strategies, and more
• Works with every department of the nonprofit to gain buy-in from departments for projects and mission
•Plans and executes framework for public presentations to include tours, online and in-person training Combined Federal Campaigns, informational meetings and more
• Acts as escalation point for reputation and crisis management and evaluates public commentary for education and response
• Liaison to government and emergency response teams for the State of Idaho to include various federal government agencies, IDVOAD, Ada County Sheriff, Treasure Valley City Police Departments, local hospitals and more
• Responsible for shooting photos and video and organizing into storyboards to active campaigns, capitalizing on trends.
• Webmaster for graphic design and content in WordPress platform
• Responsible for managing social media and responding to customers in and out of normal workday
• 215+ press articles about IHS last year, not including television and radio broadcasts
• Supervises one direct employee and manages communications across every internal department
SPEAKER & AUTHOR
KristineSpeaks.com
EDUCATION
Gonzaga University
Gonzaga University
MA Organizational Leadership 4.0
2004 – 2010
Activities and Societies: Certificate in Servant Leadership: The Servant-leader Concentration provides unparalleled learning opportunities for students to affirm, develop, and express their natural inclinations to serve-first. It provides an advanced comprehensive understanding of the philosophy of servant-leadership, and is designed to further develop the most pertinent characteristics within the philosophy.
MA in Organizational Leadership challenges students to develop advanced leadership practices, project management, conflict resolution, team building, and communication abilities. Graduates can better perform in leadership roles, improve interpersonal relationships, and develop successful and thriving organizations. The ORGL project drives students to:
• Develop and refine their leadership style
• Take action in their workplace and their community
• Challenge the status quo
oise State University
Boise State University
Double BBA Human Resource Management, Business Management
1996 – 1999
VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
Board Member
Board Member
Military Family Advisory Network
Aug 2015 – Aug 2017 2 years 1 month
Military Family Advisory Network is a 501(c)(3) dedicated to building a community of military and veteran families at home and abroad who are well-informed about resources designed to serve them; equipped with tools for success; connected to leaders who serve the military family community; and embraced by the general public.
Advisors’ networks are diverse and give us a unique, well-rounded understanding of our community. Advisors come together to discuss the challenges facing our…
Currently Serving Spouse Advisory Council
Currently Serving Spouse Advisory Council
Military Officers Association of America (MOAA)
Aug 2013 – Aug 2014 1 year 1 month
The Currently Serving Spouse Advisory Council is a diverse group of active duty, National Guard and reserve component spouses who represent the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard to provide feedback on MOAA’s programs and policy efforts.
Board Member
OSC | Military Spouse Association of Camp Pendleton
Sep 2015 – Sep 2016 1 year 1 month
The OSC of Camp Pendleton strives to provide for opportunities for our membership to connect with each other and with the local community through monthly social events and philanthropic events. Last year, the OSC awarded $33,000 to eligible graduating high school seniors and undergraduate students. We also awarded $32,000 in Community Enrichment Grants. This money was granted to organizations that support the Camp Pendleton military community, such as: Big Brothers & Big Sisters, Camp Pendleton YMCA, Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, REINS Therapeutic Horsemanship, and United Through Reading.
Team Mom
Team Mom
Little League International
Mar 2017 – Jun 2017 4 months
Team Mom
Team Mom
Little League International
Jan 2016 – Jun 2016 6 months
Coordinate and manage Majors level baseball team in San Clemente, California. Manager rosters, games, ensure compliance with rules and requirements, schedules parents for various activities, and make sure our kiddos and parents have a smooth sailing season.
Team Mom
Team Mom
Little League International
Jan 2011 – May 2011 5 months
Coordinate and manage AA level baseball team in San Clemente, California. Manager rosters, games, ensure compliance with rules and requirements, schedules parents for various activities, and make sure our kiddos and parents have a smooth sailing season.
Team Mom
Team Mom
AYSO
Sep 2010 – Dec 2011 1 year 4 months
Coordinate and manage co-ed soccer team for two fall seasons in San Clemente, California. Manager rosters, games, schedules parents for various activities, and make sure our kiddos and parents have a smooth sailing season.
Company Coordinator for 2nd BTN, 7th MAR
Marine Corps Key Volunteer
Aug 2007 – May 2009 1 year 10 months
Responsible for a Company of Key Volunteers and family members, for both Fox Company (Helmand Province, Afghanistan) and Weapons Company (31st MEU) to achieve and maintain family readiness. Reports to the Key Volunteer Coordinator. Was responsible for 4 Key Volunteers, and approximately 150 family members.
Battalion Coordinator for 2nd BTN, 1st MAR
Marine Corps Key Volunteer
Aug 2003 – Aug 2004 1 year 1 month
Worked directly with the Battalion Commander (LtCol) and KV Adviser to ensure family readiness while the Marines, corpsmen, and attached elements were training, and would later fight a war in Fallujah, Iraq. Was responsible for coordinating over 20 Key Volunteers and approximately 800 military spouses.
The Coordinator’s job was to communicate official command information as directed, serve as a communication link between the command and families, and provide information to Marine families through resource referrals as needed. During deployments, the KVN is especially important because they are further utilized as a communications tool to keep families of Marines better informed about mission(s) and tasks of individual units. The Marine Corps believes that if Marines feel their families are supported and taken care of, they are better able to perform efficiently, effectively and safely.
Member
Marine Corps Key Volunteer
Jan 2001 – Aug 2003 2 years 8 months
Assist the Key Volunteer Coordinator with newsletter creation along with event planning, management and implementation. Works with military families to keep them up to date with questions and support family readiness while the Marines were training, and later after the initial invasion to Iraq in Umm Qsar and Nasiriyah.
PUBLICATIONS
15 Years of War: How the Longest War in U.S. History Affected a Military Family in Love, Loss, and the Cost Of Service
Life Publishing June 1, 2016
Less than 1% of our nation will ever serve in our armed forces, leaving many to wonder what life is really like for military families.
He answers the call of duty in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Pacific; she keeps the home fires burning. Worlds apart, and in the face of indescribable grief, their relationship is pushed to the limits.
15 Years of War: How the Longest War in U.S. History Affected a Military Family in Love, Loss, and the Cost Of Service provides a unique he said/she said perspective on coping with war in modern-day America. It reveals a true account of how a dedicated Marine and his equally committed spouse faced unfathomable challenges and achieved triumph, from the days just before 9/11 through 15 years of training workups, deployments, and other separations.
This story of faith, love, and resilience offers insight into how a decade and a half of war has redefined what it means to be a military family.
Stories Around the Table: Laughter, Wisdom, and Strength in Military Life
Elva Resa October 1, 2014
Conversations are the heart of a gathering among friends. In Stories Around the Table, military spouses, parents, children, and service members gather together to laugh, cry, lend perspective, and share personal stories from their military life experience. From poignant to practical, tragic to humorous, these candid conversations shed heartfelt insight on many aspects of military life: friendship, depression, romance in military marriage, caring for children with special needs in a mobile lifestyle, renewing relationships after deployment, career challenges for spouses, changing schools, post-traumatic stress, faith, grief, and so much more.
PROJECTS
Keep Your Promise
Dec 2013 – Present
Co-founded and led the Keep Your Promise Alliance. #KeepYourPromise was created in December 2013 by a group of military spouses angered over an out-of-touch Congress that voted to reduce the value of military retirements by tens of thousands of dollars. #KeepYourPromise became a viral effort by military families and veterans organizations, leveraging grassroots advocacy and social media (Facebook/Twitter) to ensure military families and veterans were heard. The campaign galvanized tens of thousands of online participants, leading to more than 157 million timeline hits on Twitter, and hundreds of thousands of individual calls and letters to legislators. The effort ultimately overturned the cuts, a mere 61 days after they were made law, in a landslide vote that might represent the least partisan action the 113th Congress had taken to date.
Military Anti-Cyber-Bullying Effort
Mar 2015 – Jun 2015
HONORS & AWARDS
GOLD Medal
Foreward Reviews
Jul 2017
15 Years of War received a Gold Medal for best Grief/Grieving book of the year.
15 Years of War was a Finalist for the best military book of the year.
GOLD Medal
Writer’s Digest
Mar 2017
15 Years of War received a Gold Medal for best non-fiction book from Writers Digest.
SILVER Medal
Military Writers Society of America
Dec 2016
15 Years of War received a Silver Medal for best memoir.
Quantico Military Spouse of the Year
Military Spouse Magazine and Armed Forces Insurance
Jan 2014
The Military Spouse of the Year® (MSOY) award recognizes military spouses’ important contributions and unwavering commitment to the military community and our country. More than a million military spouses support and maintain the home front while our service members defend this great nation.
The Military Spouse of the Year® holds an annual awards luncheon to recognize the recipicients of the award — the event attracts Congressional members, senior military and Department of Defense leadership.
Camp Pendleton Military Spouse of the Year
Military Spouse Magazine and Armed Forces Insurance
Feb 2013
The Military Spouse of the Year® (MSOY) award recognizes military spouses’ important contributions and unwavering commitment to the military community and our country. More than a million military spouses support and maintain the home front while our service members defend this great nation.
The Military Spouse of the Year® holds an annual awards luncheon to recognize the recipicients of the award — the event attracts Congressional members, senior military and Department of Defense leadership.
Outstanding Ombudsman and Key Volunteer
United States Marine Corps
Jun 2003
Nominated by General and Mrs. Helen Toolan for and recognized as an “Outstanding Ombudsman and Key Volunteer” by Governor Schwarzenegger, USO Council of San Diego, Armed Forces YMCA, and the San Diego Navy League.
KristineSpeaks: https://www.KristineSpeaks.com
USMC Life: https://www.usmclife.com
We are not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with any other company, agency or government agency. All product and company names are trademarks™ or registered® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them. Retailers are under no legal obligation to accept offers or coupons.
