For Valerie Lavin, empowering veterans and first responders to pursue their business goals is personal.
A retired Army first sergeant who served 21 years, Lavin founded Action Zone, a nonprofit that helps veterans become successful entrepreneurs. But launching an organization wasn’t her plan after leaving the military.
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“I wanted to be a physical therapist,” Lavin said. “When I was preparing to retire from the Army, entrepreneurship was not in my vocabulary. I wasn’t planning on becoming a business owner.”
That experience — realizing how unprepared many veterans felt for civilian life — would later shape everything she built.
“Regardless of four or 24 years in service, I was awakened by the challenges that our service members have,” she said.
After leaving the Army, Lavin wanted to make a lasting impact on those who served. According to the D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families, 48 percent of veterans say access to capital is their biggest hurdle. Nearly as many cite difficulty finding local business resources.
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“There was so much unknown that we were all embarking on,” Lavin said. “There’s this problem, and I had no idea. I wanted to figure out why this is a problem and how I can fix it.”
From service to startup
Her first attempt at a solution was to establish a staffing company to help veterans, but the experience proved more challenging than expected.
While running that business, Lavin received a call from Hillsborough Community College, where she had taken entrepreneurship classes. Faculty members asked her to serve as project manager for a veteran entrepreneurship program the college had recently received a grant for.
She accepted the part-time role while continuing to build her company.
“It was during that time that I absolutely fell in love with the entrepreneurship ecosystem here in Tampa Bay,” she said. “Even back then, in 2014, it was so rich with resources and support.”
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That experience inspired her to co-found Action Zone in 2018 with Rosie Lee, a fellow HCC colleague and entrepreneur.
Lavin is also the founder of Luminary Global, which provides first-aid kits, emergency medical gear and preparedness products to “those who are the lifeline between preventable death and hospital care.”
Programs that turn ideas into impact
“The foundation of Action Zone starts with helping veterans and first responders shift from a service mindset to an entrepreneurial mindset — detaching those skills from accomplishing missions to generating revenue and building their own businesses,” Lavin said.
To achieve this, Action Zone provides educational programs and networking opportunities that connect local veteran entrepreneurs with a dedicated support system.
“Our niche is ideation,” she said. “These are people who have butterflies in their stomachs or don’t want to tell anyone they want to be entrepreneurs. Because we are all entrepreneurs and business owners ourselves, we can meet the founder wherever they are.”
The nonprofit offers several structured programs designed to meet entrepreneurs where they are.
Why it matters
Action Zone plays a vital role in Tampa Bay’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, helping veterans and first responders turn their discipline and leadership into small-business success. The organization strengthens the region’s talent pipeline and advances the mission of making Tampa Bay one of the most veteran-friendly business communities in Florida.
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