Moving With the Military

Military spouse Maria Reed provides home renovations for heroes

By BLAIR DUPRE | Photos courtesy of CANDACE PAULEY and BLACKALL PHOTOGRAPHY

Combining her ingenuity for film and home improvement with her passion for giving back to the community, a Fort Cavazos spouse is making a difference in the lives of military families, not just in Central Texas, but all over the country.

Maria Reed, mastermind of the home improvement show Moving With the Military, began her career in the film industry as a script supervisor, eventually becoming a director of commercials for clients including Scion. Maria’s love of the film industry grew as her career progressed and then she met her husband, Master Sgt. Patrick Reed.

“Everything changed because I was always traveling — he was always deployed or somewhere out in the field — now we find ourselves pregnant what are we going to do,” she said. “So I gave up my career to stay at home with the kids.”

Reed became a teacher to remain close to her kids, but once they reached high school, she felt she was being called back to the film industry.

“I wanted to get back to the things that I fell in love with, which was storytelling,” she said.

Armed with her experiences as a military spouse, Maria knew a home improvement show made specifically for military families was what she wanted to create.

Like a lot of military spouses in Maria’s situation, Patrick’s absence at times due to his work placed her in situations where she would have to make repairs or build things around their home.

After speaking to other spouses, she found they also felt that they were also figuring things out the best they could.

“The more I did it, I started sharing about it,” she said. “I started giving tips on how to use power tools. ‘If you’re afraid and have never done it before, here are some simple things to get started.’”

This, combined with Maria’s love for giving back to the community, is what inspired Moving With the Military.

“My love language is gift-giving,” she said. “What better way to give, than to give a military family a makeover?”

“Home is the one thing I think we all struggle with,” she continued. “Is it where we live now? Is it where we’re from? Military families are the ones that say, ‘We’re just going to move, we don’t have to do that. That’ll wait until our forever home.’ So I felt that was such a great way to give back to military families.”

 

She created a pitch for the show and shared it with several networks that declined the show, believing America wouldn’t be interested and it’s nothing personal, it’s just business. For Maria however, it was very personal.

“I was like, ‘I’m a military spouse of almost 20 years — it’s very personal,’” she said.

She was then faced with the monetary challenges that come with producing a show, but was reminded of something by students in her television and film production class, that she had been teaching them.

“In today’s day and age you don’t need a big production — you have a cellphone,” she said. “You have ways to broadcast yourself — YouTube, all the social media. You don’t need all the money. They said those words back to me because I was the one saying, ‘I can’t do this. It’s going to be too expensive. Who’s going to listen to me? A network’s not interested.’ And they said it all back, ‘Mrs. Reed, you can do it.’”

“I’m not going to lie, in the beginning it was hard,” she admitted. “We invested our own money — pretty much our life savings — and just said, ‘We’re going to take a leap of faith and do it and give back.’ Because when you do the right thing, it’s the right thing.”

Since the show’s inception, Maria has done more than 80 makeovers for military families all around the country, keeping in mind beauty as well as practicality.

“Watching all those home makeover shows, I felt like they got it wrong,” Maria said. “They didn’t really understand the military family. They would come in and do these beautiful makeovers, but … is that really realistic for a family who’s got to think about weight allowances when they move that 3,000-pound table?”

“I wanted people watching (Moving With the Military) to understand the story of the military family,” she continued, adding her family is still an active-duty military family. “We really understand the challenges that military families face. It’s not just for TV, it’s our real life.”

When Maria renovates a home, she focuses on what the family needs, while also finding affordable ways to make it stylish, as well as functional. However, to her, the renovation is just a bonus — at the end of the day, it’s all about the family.

“We get thousands of makeover requests and I wish I did have an unlimited budget to be able to do them all, because the stories of these families are so powerful,” she said. “I want everyone to be able to know that — to know that these service men and women are mothers and fathers, and husbands and wives, and sisters and kids.”

“When I see their faces, the level of gratitude — but it isn’t the gratitude for the stuff — it’s not about that. It’s ‘you saw me, you saw my family, you really get it,’” she continued. “It’s that moment of connection, to me, that is the most beautiful part. That moment of knowing that you are part of this (military) community (and) we see you. Whether you’re still in or out (of the military) for 20 years, it doesn’t matter. That connection, to me, is the most important part.

The renovations have not only been limited to homes — Maria and the Moving With the Military team has also renovated facilities, including a food pantry in New York that services 900 people.

“There are many times where I think it’s too hard,” she said. “Then right at that perfect moment I’ll get a message from somebody who just saw an episode, or has been following us on social media, that just says, ‘Thank you.’ Or I’ll be in the grocery store here in the Killeen area … people have walked up to us and they’re like, ‘We watch the show and we love what you do.’”

Maria said they are taking nominations for makeovers at https://movingwiththemilitary.tv/ and she encourages everyone to follow along.

“Follow along for the journey,” she said. “We love talking to people, meeting them and sharing their story. We’re truly grateful to be a part of this community.”

Moving With the Military
Website: https://movingwiththemilitary.tv/
Social media: www.facebook.com/movingwiththemilitary and www.instagram.com/movingwiththemilitary