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How Sword & Plough Uses Military Surplus — And Hires Vets — To Grow Its Business

Published October 18, 2016 at 1:40 PM EDT
Emily Núñez Cavness, left, and Betsy Núñez pose for a photo during Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Big Game Top 10 Regional Tour at Sword & Plough on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015, in Denver, Colo. (Bart Young/Invision for Intuit/AP)
Emily Núñez Cavness, left, and Betsy Núñez pose for a photo during Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Big Game Top 10 Regional Tour at Sword & Plough on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015, in Denver, Colo. (Bart Young/Invision for Intuit/AP)

Emily Núñez Cavness was a student at Middlebury College — and the only member of the campus ROTC — when she formed the idea for the company she started with her sister, called Sword & Plough.

Now an active military officer and CEO, Cavness works to reuse military surplus to create bags and other accessories. Veterans are a big part of the process, from design to sales to the models on the company’s website.

In our latest View From The Top conversation, Here & Now‘s Robin Young speaks with Cavness about why she started the company, what she hopes to achieve and the lessons she learned from the military that she applies in the office.

Guest

Emily Núñez Cavness, CEO and co-founder of Sword & Plough. The company tweets @SwordnPlough.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

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