This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Emily Miller, cofounder and chief marketing officer (CMO), Rumi Spice


Military background: Three


veteran Army captains, all engineers (CEO Kimberly Jung, President Keith Alaniz, and CMO Emily Miller) launched Rumi Spice about two years ago. Miller worked as a cultural sup- port team member, assisting special operations forces by building rapport with the Afghan female population. She and Jung left the Army in 2013; Alaniz got out in 2015. The spark: “We came at this from serving in Afghanistan, falling in love with the people, and wanting to serve them. One thing we realized is that the country has had a tumultuous 30-plus years. It’s a war- and conflict- ravaged country, but the people are hopeful and resilient,” Miller says.


Business mission: Rumi Spice imports saffron directly from farmers in Afghanistan and sells it online at www.rumispice.com. Without investment in agriculture, Afghan farmers have little prospects with shrinking land allotments, mak- ing them susceptible to the Taliban. The team launched Rumi Spice to empower the farming community. Achieving success: “An article came out on us on NPR, and it blew up sales,” Miller says. In the past year, Rumi Spice has captured 5 percent of Afghanistan’s saffron pro- duction. In 2015, the team created a $33,000 Kickstarter project to estab- lish a processing facility and employ Afghan women.


JUNE 2016 MILITARY OFFICER 71


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92