President and CEO Laurie Sayles discovered her worth along the way to becoming a veteran business owner. After having served over 10 years in the Marine Corps (semper fi), Sayles entered into the civilian workforce as a receptionist. While straightforward directives are critical to communicating in the Marine Corps, Sayles went back to school to help improve her written and verbal communication in the business world.
During her time in the corporate world, Sayles promoted from Administrative Assistant to Executive Assistant where her leadership talents began to shine. She eventually moved over to project management, which is where she learned and witnessed firsthand the benefits of government certification for women, veterans, and minority-owned small businesses. Her eyes were opened to the possibilities of owning and operating her own business and simultaneously spent a year working as an executive leadership trainer contracted with NASA while also developing Civility Management Solutions.
Once her final year of contractual employment with NASA was up, Sayles put boots to the ground and established her business officially as a woman veteran-owned small business. Countless conferences, networking events, and dinners led to numerous connections, but revenue was yet to be found. She was getting face time, building relationships and gaining leads, but Civility Management Solutions was not growing.
The needle began to move when Sayles became a certified veteran-owned business, and oh, how it moved – a $2 million, 2 year contract was signed for Civility Management Solutions within 4 months of her certification. Those established relationships and networking efforts paid off once her business became certified, leading to contracts and connections that promoted financial growth. Today, Civility Management Solutions currently offers financial, project management, and logistics consulting services to both government and corporate clients.
Sayles graciously received the 2019 Above and Beyond Award for Veteran Business of the Year at the San Diego Air and Space Museum. When asked what that meant to her, she eloquently stated “Above and Beyond represents, for business owners and veterans, the elements of how we were trained and how we can bring them to life…to get involved, making a difference for people other than yourself.” Her commitment to ‘leave no man behind’ has seen her emerge as a role model in the veteran-owned business community. We here at the VIB Network congratulate Laurie Sayles on this well-deserved win. Oorah!
Connect with VIB: Laurie Sayles | President and CEO | Civility Management Solutions (CivilityMS) * VET-Force Committee Executive Officer; VIP Graduate and Speaker; Goldman Sachs 10K SB Alum; 2018 “1 of 100 Minority Business Enterprise Awardee”; 2019 MD WBC “Women Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year”; and 2019 VIB Network “Above and Beyond Veteran of the Year”
9111 Edmonston Road, Suite 302, Greenbelt, MD 20770 (HUBZone location) * Office: 301.352.7875 | Fax: 240.266.5544 | Website: www.CivilityMS.com | Email: Laurie@CivilityMS.com
8(a), WOSB, EDWOSB, SDVOSB, MDOT MBE providing Program, Project, Finance, and Grants Management; Professional Development Training; Conference Logistics; and Administrative Support
Written By: Sydney Santiago