Rachel Kozy’s story sheds commendable light on the many obstacles she’s faced, while transforming her life into the one she had always wanted and envisioned for herself. Her strength and perserverance are highlighted in the words she uses to describe her inspiring transition.
By: Sinclair Johnson-Knight
The day begins to fade into evening as my conversation with Rachel Kozy, founder of the Empowered Women Brunch, comes to an end. We have spent more than an hour discussing the fascinating details of her life, from her eclectic and non-traditional career path, to her multifarious educational pursuits, and her lifetime commitment to learning.
We also discussed her challenges as a woman who joined the military in her 30’s, and her experiences living and working abroad for more than three years.
Rachel shares that she had always felt committed to a life of service. She originally believed that she was called to serve as a medical researcher, but while working on her Bioenergetics PhD in 2011 she felt isolated and like she was not living her purpose. When she took some time to reflect, she was haunted by the memory of when her brother, who was a trader in NYC on 9-11, lost contact with her family for three days after the attacks. He turned out to be safe, but the horror of the event, and the magnitude of the national tragedy, compelled her to join the military. In 2001, she felt like her skillset could not add any value to our armed forces, but by 2011, she had a strong background in physiology and knew that she could serve flight students as an aerospace physiologist.
In 2012, while attending Naval flight training, her dreams of flying were crushed when she was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition that disqualified her from flying. Two heart surgeries and one year later, she realized she had two choices: wallow in self-pity or find another way to serve. She chose the latter. She decided to study vigorously and earned her Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University in 2017.
Concurrently to her studies, she served as a Navy Healthcare Administrator in Naples, Italy. She was responsible for four departments and thirty individuals that consisted of active duty, US government contractors, and local Italian nationals. She described the challenges she faced with her disjointed staff, the failing departments she was now responsible for, and the lack of support and connection with her colleagues.
With compassion and patience, she taught the Americans how to effectively collaborate and communicate with their Italian counterparts and slowly worked to build a cohesive team. She empowered her staff to function as a unified team by connecting with them on an individual level and developing strategic team building exercises that instilled the mindset of “one team, one mission”. Within six months her team went from the worst ranked to the number one department for customer service in the entire hospital.
The most important lesson that she learned from this experience was resilience. Whether she was dealing with the crushing news of her heart condition, or being thrown into a job in a foreign country, she learned to keep moving forward. She’s always known that she would live her life in service to others, and understands that the life we envision for ourselves can change at any moment, and resilience is just a big part of service as serving itself.
“I’ve actually died twice,” Rachel said light-heartedly, going on to explain a heart defect that caused these health scares. Her casual re-telling of this event is one of the many nods to her resilience.
She went on to recommend that everyone spend at least 3 years in the military, expressing that she wouldn’t take back her experience for anything.
When asked about the techniques Rachel used when met with adversity, she gave credit to her perseverance and a hard work ethic. “As a child, I loved to strategize and to plan. These seemingly small activities helped me grow into a woman who could easily manage her time and stay organized throughout the day,” Rachel said. “But mental health has always been important to me as well, and sometimes you need to take a day to relax and gather yourself.”
After leaving the military, Rachel was hired as a Strategy and Operations Consultant for Deloitte Consulting in the D.C. area. She was starting from scratch, and feeling the need to build a new community in D.C. “I felt very out of place,” Rachel stated. “I felt my skills and experience were undervalued when I first joined the civilian world. This was in part due to my lack of network, I didn’t have mentors, and I didn’t take the time to properly set myself up for success.” She turned her focus to playing to her strengths, expanding her veteran network, and selling herself as a woman trying to build up herself and others.
“The military teaches you how to look outside of the box and be creative in order to solve challenging problems . They also taught me resilience and empathy and for that I am forever grateful” she stated.
Rachel recalls that a large part of what inspired her to create Empowered Women Brunch was how lost she felt after transitioning from military to civilian life. She explained, “I often felt isolated and disconnected from those around me, like I was always somehow in the background and lacking comradery. It was time I established my own community.” It all started with something as simple as brunch among friends. She wanted to build a safe space for women, whether they be civilian or a veteran, to build long-lasting relationships in an environment where they could learn from each other’s experiences and connect on a deeper level.
“It is possible that, like me, many female veterans are blindly unaware of the resources available to them. So, I started to reach out to my veteran network in order to compile a comprehensive list of resources for transitioning veterans. I also worked to connect with women and veterans that I meet at various networking functions throughout DC, in my Veterans in Global Leadership fellowship, and during my own brunch events. I made a concerted effort to build rapport, listen to their stories, and make meaningful connections,” she explained. “One of the things I learned was that the ability to listen and be empathetic to others’ needs is one of the most important ways to form meaningful connections with the people around you.”
“As human beings, we are all interconnected, and we must all support each other on this journey through life,” Rachel stated. “If I’ve learned anything from the adversity I’ve faced, I’d say it was to never get cocky – always seek out and find the resources you need in order to ensure a successful transition.”
Today, EWB has expanded its business to Los Angeles, California, and now offers its networking services to include men. Rachel, along with a variety of other guest speakers, works endlessly to help spread words of encouragement from coast to coast. Along with her roles as Founder and veteran advocate for EWB and Design Your Best Life, Rachel is also currently pursuing an Executive MBA at UCLA Anderson School of Management and is President of the Class of 2021.
“If you stay true to your very core, there is nothing that you cannot accomplish.” Kozy finishes the interview with a genuine smile.