Military Spouse Licensing Roundtable

Below are the stories shared from military spouses who participated in the roundtable discussion
with Second Lady Karen Pence today and benefitted from Arizona’s occupational licensing
legislation.

Name: Brandi Havir

Official Title: Teacher
Benefit: Brandi is a proud military spouse of an Army veteran. Because of her PCS (Permanent
Change of Station) and handling deployments solo while caring for young kids, Brandi is
honored to serve USAA's members and continually strives to embody USAA's coveted brand.
Brandi obtained her Bachelor's in English from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and then
earned a Baccalaureate teaching certificate. She is an SCLA Gold and will soon be pursuing her
Master's in Communication through Grand Canyon University. Prior to joining the USAA
family, Brandi was in the education field for 16 years as a Language Arts and electives teacher at
the junior high and high school levels in both brick-and-mortar and online environments.

Name: Tamarro S. Washington

Official Title: Family Outreach Specialist (Kingswood Elementary, Dysart School District)
Year(s) Experience: 18
Benefit: Prior to PCSing to Luke Air Force Base, her family had gone through 2 PCS
moves. One of those moves included a short tour to Korea that kept her family separated for 15
months. They then relocated to Nellis Air Force Base and again moved, 10 months later, to Luke
Air Force. The licensing legislation allowed Tamarro to transition to the new assignments
without having to delay applying for jobs. It definitely made the impact of having to uproot the
family so frequently a bit more manageable.

Name: Hillary Walsh

Official Title: Attorney
Benefit: Hillary Walsh is an attorney and the owner of New Frontier Immigration Law, a law
firm based in Phoenix, AZ. As a military spouse, Hillary has PCS’d (Permanent Change of
Station) 3 times in the past 6 years, and 8 times in the past 15 years. In 2016, working from a
library cubicle at Osan Air Base, Korea, Hillary won the ABA Pro-Bono Attorney of the Year,
for all of America – all while raising 3 children under the age of 3! Her pro-bono work centered
on helping people resolve immigration issues so they could fulfill their purpose and live the
American Dream. After a PCS to Arizona in Oct 2018, Hillary launched her own business in
order to reach more people in need of her expertise. Thanks to the Spouse Licensure Portability
Legislation, Hillary was able to waive-in to the AZ Bar. In her second year in business, Hillary’s
law firm has grossed $1.2M and attributes approximately $300k of her revenue to her ability to
waive-in to the AZ Bar without the lengthy and arduous process of taking another Bar Exam.
Today, Hillary's firm employs more than 20 people, one of whom is a fellow military spouse.