Cristina Solis Wilson’s 26 years in the military have imbued her with the values of the U.S. Army and ones that serve as the foundations of coaching business owners to success.

Purpose, motivation and direction are the principles learned in a military life that have seen her rise to the ranks of being a command sergeant major and representing the pinnacle of enlisted ranks in the Army. Only a small fraction of soldiers ever achieves this rank and signifies extensive leadership and expertise. It is a command sergeant major who is the final authority on discipline and standards for enlisted soldiers. 

Wilson has earned several “first female Latina” command designations, she said of her Army years, which continue to the present as a reservist. In her civilian life, Wilson has been a police officer, a state trooper, a criminal investigator for federal public defenders, and today, co-owns the Entrepreneur Power Network with her husband Michael, who is an Army veteran. 

“We’re business coaches,” Wilson said of the work she and her husband do. “We help to develop a strategy on where they want to go and set them up on that path. We provide the tools for them to be successful.”

The majority of the clientele that Entrepreneur Power advises are Rio Grande Valley-based businesses, as are the coaches, who office and live in McAllen. Those clients are sure to receive counseling services that lean heavily on the values and leadership traits learned while serving in the military. 

“In the military you determine early in mission planning what the end goal is,” said Wilson, who is a Harlingen native. “Then you bring it up front. You focus on impact, not just talking.”

One client, Heather Segovia of St. Michael’s Ambulance of McAllen, says Wilson has provided the sort of disciplined strategy and guidance her company needed.

“She has not only held me accountable but also instilled in me a sense of confidence and resilience,” Segovia said in a testimonial on Wilson’s webpage. “Her unwavering commitment to nurturing potential has been a cornerstone of my development.”

Sense Of Duty

The entire span of Wilson’s military service has been spent as an U.S. Army reservist. 

She is currently on her sixth activation, a mission that’s related to border security operations. Three other activations came overseas, beginning with Iraq in 2005 and 2006. Kuwait came next from 2011 through 2012, and then Afghanistan in 2019 and 2020. Her responsibilities in those three deployments were all considerable ones and included being a convoy commander and serving on the staff of a three-star general. 

Now at 55 years of age, Wilson says her current activation “may be my last go-around,” as she contemplates military retirement. It is something Wilson has long thought of, but it’s hard to depart due to a strong sense of duty to those she leads. 

“I hear it from my soldiers, ‘don’t retire, we need you,’ and I get to feeling that I don’t want to let them down,” she said.

For a reservist, the transitions back to civilian life from military duty are constant, be it from one weekend-a-month training or returning from a longer stint of duty. Wilson has learned how to manage those adjustments by accepting “no one will have pity for you” as part of a volunteer Army where you chose the transitory life of civilian-and-military life. 

“I’ve learned to think of my Army values and the lessons they teach,” she said. “You bring everything you’ve learned and translate it to civilian life.” 

Providing Focus

As a business coach, Wilson advises entrepreneurs on how to set employee expectations and being consistent in providing that feedback.

“How do you know your people are doing a good job?” she will ask a client. “You can’t get mad at employees if you don’t evaluate them.”

Wilson’s Entrepreneur Power Network offers a variety of services, including workshops that can be customized to a specific client, with sessions that can last a few hours to several days. There are also online courses that encourage personal and professional growth. A key feature of the Power Network’s offerings is called Mastermind. It pairs a client with experts in a field they are seeking help – such as how to use social media – and how mastering those skills can boost their business.

“We help them focus,” Wilson said of her clients. “Businesses can get inundated with information overload. We do a discovery of their business and help them focus and create roadmaps to being successful.”

Bringing the end goal to the front and setting clear objectives with a focus on impact. The mission mindset brought to civilian life.