Michele McManamon, CEO of Operation New Uniform, is a dedicated leader focused on helping military veterans transition to new careers. She has been actively involved with THE PLAYERS since 2010, serving in various leadership roles to support its community impact.
Tell me about your background.
It’s funny when people ask you to ‘tell me about yourself’ because my first thing wouldn't be about Operation New Uniform, it would be about my family, because that’s really the core of all of us, right? I have an amazing husband, who has also volunteered at THE PLAYERS for many years, and a son and a daughter and a son-in-law, and two amazing grandchildren. Even before that would be my heart for the Lord and serving Him.
Tell me about Operation New Uniform.
It’s an organization that my husband and I started 11 years ago to serve and honor our military and military spouses. We want to empower them to find careers when they leave the military, and the organization itself is based on a training tool called Sandler. We teach them how to sell themselves, not a product or service, and how to be confident and use what they’ve learned in the past to get fulfilling careers when they leave the military.
How long have you been involved with THE PLAYERS?
I started volunteering in 2010, when I got onto the leadership team. I became a Blue Coat in 2010 and 2016 was the year I served as the chairman. It took about 10 years to even get interviewed.
Why do you feel like it's so important for you to be involved both with THE PLAYERS and the community at large?
When I started doing this, I was mentored by a gentleman named Tommy Douglas, and I was on the board of a small nonprofit here in town, very involved in the community, doing a lot of things with my business. I was approached by him after a big meeting where THE PLAYERS were donating to all of these charities, and he came up to me, he said, “Michelle, I know you're on that small nonprofit board. Have you ever thought about volunteering at THE PLAYERS?”
I didn’t know what to do, I used to just go to the golf tournament like everybody else. I never thought about volunteering, but Tommy told me to try it because they were looking for strong women in the leadership team. At that time, they’d only had two women that served as chairman. He put me on a committee, and I fell in love with this organization and all of the volunteers. It’s incredible that they feel the passion to give back to the community.
What are you most looking forward to this year?
My favorite thing is Military Appreciation Day. It kicks off the week, still in the practice round, so everybody’s just having fun out there on the course. The players that are out there are just in a good mood, just practicing, but it’s there to honor our military. We have a big military community here. It’s just amazing. They put on a great concert, so of course I’m excited about that, too. Also excited about the flyover and just the opportunity to honor those that have served. It’s a pretty cool and special day.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The interview took place prior to Military Appreciation Day, which was held on March 11 this year.
