Shana Milan knows what it’s like to wake up feeling uncertain. Some mornings, she’s ready to tackle her to-do list. Other days, chronic pain from several disabilities including migraines, multiple sclerosis, neuropathy, and spinal stenosis keeps her in bed.
The unpredictability ended her ability to work a traditional job and sent her into a deep depression. But it didn’t end her ambition.
Milan, who spent seven years in the Air Force, including three as a basic training instructor at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, refused to let her disabilities define her limits. If a 9-to-5 schedule wouldn’t work for her body, she’d create something that would: her own business, on her own terms.
The question was how. She had management skills honed in the military, working across everything from personnel to security police. She had determination. What she didn’t have was a roadmap for turning those assets into entrepreneurship while also navigating the daily realities of chronic illnesses.
That’s where Paralyzed Veterans of America’s Self-Employment Program came in.
Finding Hope in Community
Milan became a PVA member in August 2025. Two weeks later, she learned PVA was launching a 10-week Self-Employment Program for disabled veterans interested in starting a business. Milan had already been preparing. She’d paid for online courses about salon suites—her dream business concept—and was finishing them up just as PVA’s program announcement landed in her inbox.
“It just naturally flowed perfectly,” she said.
Nine veterans gathered for the sessions, each carrying different dreams at different stages. Some had rough ideas on paper, and others spent years developing their concepts. Milan was the only one planning a brick-and-mortar business.
“Just seeing so many people in the same situation and seeing how encouraged they were to do more—that just made me feel good,” Milan said. “I think that was number one.”
The diversity became an unexpected strength. Watching others navigate online businesses and product sales pushed Milan to think bigger about her own venture.
“I started out thinking only brick and mortar,” she said. “But as I went through the class, I realized I need to be online, I need to raise capital.” The program didn’t just teach business principles; it also expanded what she believed was possible.
Eight Weeks of Foundation, Two Weeks of Execution
Genia Hachenberg, director of PVA’s Veterans Career Program, along with expert mentors, guided the group through eight structured sessions covering business fundamentals, financial planning, and marketing. The final two weeks focused on developing business plans and presentations.
What set the program apart was its depth.
“It wasn’t just a surface project,” Milan said. “They really took their time to understand what we wanted to do and give us guidance, make sure we were going down the right path, helping us determine the right changes we needed to make.”
The program culminated in Pitch Night, where participants presented their business plans to reviewers. The stakes: Self-Employment Program startup grants of $2,500 for the winners. The grants, made possible with support from Wells Fargo, help recipients test their business ideas and offset some of the costs of starting a business.
When Milan heard her name called, emotion overwhelmed her.
“I was shocked. Blessed,” she said. “It felt like a great accomplishment.”
The Vision: Your Salon Suites by Milan
Milan’s business concept targets a specific need in the beauty industry. Independent stylists, nail technicians, and estheticians often face a difficult choice: work for someone else or invest heavily in opening their own salon.
Your Salon Suites by Milan offer a middle path. Beauty professionals rent individual suites within a larger facility, gaining independence without the crushing overhead of a standalone location.
“You’re giving them the opportunity to have their own business,” Milan explains. “It’s their suite, they set up their clientele, they can establish the products they want to sell—everything is theirs to do.”
For Milan, the model aligned perfectly with her military roles as a personnel specialist and training instructor. Each role built management skills she could deploy without needing to be a cosmetologist herself.
The business also accommodates her health constraints. Unlike running a traditional salon requiring daily onsite presence, salon suites can be managed remotely when chronic pain makes leaving home impossible.
From Plan to Reality
Milan approaches her business with the same methodical planning she learned in the military. Before writing her business plan, she researched locations in the Atlanta area and investigated construction costs for different scenarios, including comparing new builds to conversions of existing spaces.
The biggest obstacle remains capital. Opening a brick-and-mortar location requires significant upfront investments that include construction costs, permits, furniture, and equipment for multiple suites.
Milan’s solution combines patience with parallel progress. She launched Milan Essentials, an online store selling beauty and lifestyle products. The e-commerce venture serves dual purposes: establishing the Milan brand online while also generating revenue to support a future business loan application.
“I think the biggest challenge is not getting too overwhelmed by that, and breaking it down into chunks,” she said. “Even though I put myself on a timeline, it’s okay to adjust that.”
She’s working through her to-do list systematically: community questionnaires to assess local needs, beauty industry expos to attend, grant applications to submit. Some days the work moves quickly. Other days, her body demands rest. She’s learning to accept both.
To learn more, follow Milan Essentials on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Shopify. For more information about Your Salon Suites By Milan, visit the website and follow them on Instagram.
What She’d Tell Other Veterans
Milan has clear advice for disabled veterans considering entrepreneurship, starting with self-compassion.
“You’re going into this with a bit of a disadvantage with your disabilities, so you got to do it at your own pace,” she said. “You can’t beat yourself up if you have bad days or if one day you’re productive and the next day you’re not.”
Second, Milan recommends seeking out resources and community. The self-employment journey doesn’t have to be solitary.
“You’re definitely not alone in it,” she said. “Spend some time learning about those resources, asking questions, being a part of organizations [like PVA], and get as much information as you can.”
Milan’s response to a question about if she would recommend PVA’s Self-Employment Program to others was immediate and emphatic.
“Oh, yes. Especially no matter where you’re at in the process,” she said. “Knowledge is definitely the power here. There’s going to be information for everyone who attends, regardless of where they’re at—whether they’re in the very beginning or at the endpoint. There’s things you’re going to be able to take from that, learn from that, and utilize in your business.”
Redefining What’s Possible
Milan understands how paralyzed people, veterans included, are viewed by some members of society.
“I think when people hear that word that you’re paralyzed, they don’t think you have anything else to give back to society. You’re going to be on disability and social security, and you’re no longer functioning,” she said.
Milan’s story challenges that assumption directly.
“You still have those skills that you learned in the military that you can utilize,” she said. “There’s ways that you can still try to find to be productive and give back to society.”
For Milan, entrepreneurship represents more than income or independence. It’s legacy—specifically, something she can pass on to her daughter. The business bears her family name, the skills she’s developing are transferable, and the resilience she’s demonstrating daily teaches lessons no classroom could.
The diagnosis that forced her from traditional employment didn’t end her career. It redirected it. Now she’s building something sustainable, something meaningful, something entirely her own.
It started with a 10-week program that saw her potential when she was still discovering it herself. The rest is up to her—one day at a time, at her own pace, on her own terms.
About PVA’s Self-Employment Program
Part of the Veterans Career Program, PVA’s Self-Employment Program offers 10 weeks of structured training in business planning, marketing, and financial management. Expert mentors guide participants from initial concepts through comprehensive business plans, with opportunities to compete for $2,500 Self-Employment Program startup grants made possible by support from the Wells Fargo Foundation.