‘Have a plan’ p1 - Military Success Stories - Military Times EDGE

Naval Academy graduate Lani Hay wants to bring about change, and she’s starting at the top.

Thanks to a story in Fortune magazine profiling her as one of 10 “Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs” in 2009, she’s consulting for the Obama administration on the economy, jobs, health care and access to capital for small-business owners.

She sets goals, and she makes plans to achieve them.

Here’s how the former naval air intelligence officer turned her one-woman government consulting firm into the multimillion-dollar Lanmark Technology Inc. in just a few years:

Q. What early goals contributed to your success?

A. I’m a product of the Virginia public school system. I worked really hard because I knew education was my pathway to improve my life. So I just really stayed focused on school and athletics.

Q. What piqued your interest in the military?

A. My father would take all the kids to Naval Air Station Patuxent River air shows. We were big fans of the Blue Angels. I wanted to be an F-18 pilot.

Q. How did you end up in intelligence?

A. By your junior year [at the Naval Academy], you have to pick a major. I was a math major and service-selected Marine aviation. But my allergy to bees disqualified me. It opened up the intelligence community to me, so it was kind of like a blessing in disguise.

Q. What was your first assignment after the Naval Academy?

A. My first job was at the Pentagon, and it was an amazing opportunity. I was the foreign liaison officer for the chief of naval operations. I basically flew foreign dignitaries around the U.S. in the chief of naval operations’ P-3 for about six months. It was my first exposure to the P-3 Orion.

Q. How did your time in uniform influence your business career?

A. I came into the P-3 community during a very opportune time. Russian subs weren’t sitting off our coasts anymore. We had to redefine what the P-3’s mission would be or otherwise they would become a decommissioned aircraft. We turned it into a reconnaissance aircraft. I got in there and was able to be really creative and give my input.

Q. How did higher education factor into your plan?

A. While I was still in the Navy, I went to night school at [the College of] William & Mary for my MBA. I thought, ‘Why don’t I be proactive, get a business plan out of it, and ask my teachers for help.’ I always want to make sure I’m maximizing my opportunities with any activity that I do.

Q. How did Lanmark get off the ground?

A. In graduate school, I was already providing consulting work. I started Hay Consulting and made $6,000 in 2000. I was released from active duty and finished my MBA in 2002, and officially launched Lanmark in 2003. A contractor I was consulting for was shut down, and this spec ops client needed someplace to flip the work to. Overnight I had 10 employees.

Q. What is Lanmark working on now?

A. Our biggest growth is in the counter-IED arena and the asymmetric warfare arena.

Q. What gives your company an edge?

A. Special ops missions are so rapidly changing that it’s easier to work with a smaller company rather than a big bureaucratic company.

Q. What is your ultimate goal?

A. I want to bring about change with integrity and grace. I plan to get involved in the political process. I want to run for governor in Virginia and also run for president.

Q. What would you say to service members getting out now?

A. Have a plan. If you’re living your life like a ship adrift, there’s no telling where you’re going to end up.

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About Lanmark

Company name: Lanmark Technology Inc.

Headquarters: Vienna, Va.

Small Business Administration designations: Woman-owned, minority-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, small disadvantaged business (Hay suffered partial hearing loss while she was in the Navy).

Business areas: Information technology, telecommunications solutions, program management oversight and administrative support.

Government clients: Defense Information Systems Agency, Defense Logistics Agency, Veterans Affairs Department, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, State Department, Labor Department, National Institutes of Health, Army Corps of Engineers, Special Operations Command, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Defense Security Service, IRS, Army Training and Doctrine Command, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment “Night Stalkers,” Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Web site: www.lmt-inc.com