One in a series honoring the Exchange’s 130 years of family serving family
Who she is: Teonja Tatum, public relations specialist, Exchange HQ
Years with the Exchange: Teonja joined the Exchange in February 2025.
Military connections: Teonja’s father, stepmother, stepfather and aunt all served in the Navy. Her father retired in 2021 as a chief petty officer after 21 years of service. Her stepfather, Nelson, had already been retired after 20 years in the Navy when he became part of the family. Her aunt retired as a chief petty officer from Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC) in 2021 with more than 24 years of service. Her stepmother separated from the Navy after seven years of active duty and two years in the Navy Reserve in 2009. She now works as a case manager supporting Veterans and their families through mental health resources.
The life and family of a military child: Teonja has two older siblings with a nine-year gap separating her from them. She also has a younger sister, Trinity, and another younger sister and brother, who are in their late teens.
Her father enlisted in the Navy while the family was living in Nebraska. They moved to San Diego, where his first duty station was Naval Station North Island. Then her parents separated and her mother and siblings moved to the Hampton Roads area in Virginia, where her aunt lived and was assigned to Mid-Atlantic Transient Personnel Unit Norfolk, where she was in charge of the Discipline Department preparing to transfer to the USS Harry S. Truman.
“I didn’t travel as much as some military children, but I definitely felt the impact of my parents’ service,” Teonja said. “My father missed some birthdays because he was deployed. I had an email address set up so I could talk to my dad. I vividly remember a conversation where he asked, ‘Do you want a Dora birthday party or do you want a SpongeBob birthday party?’ I ended up having a SpongeBob birthday party. But I remember him missing a lot of important things and watching the ship go away when he went on deployment and just being distraught because I was going to miss him.
“I still have access to that email address. I’m 26, so it’s probably 24 years old. As I got older, I understood more of his role. His purpose for joining the military is to just give me a better life, which I’m grateful for.”
Learning to adapt: “I learned lessons in California, even though I was young, that I would never have learned on the East Coast in Virginia and vice versa. They’re different ways of life, and you have to be adaptable and find your place in every environment. As a military child, you feel you belong to so many different places. It really wasn’t until I got to college that I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this feels like home.’
“When I was introduced to my friends and my classmates in Virginia, it was, ‘Oh, she’s from California.’ But then I grew up in Virginia and it was, ‘I’m from Virginia, but I’m also from California. But I was born in Nebraska’ … and it was just a lot. For a long time, when people would ask me, ‘Where are you from?’ I would say, ‘a little bit of everywhere.’ I think it wasn’t until I graduated from college that I started saying ‘I’m from Virginia,’ because that’s where I spent the majority of my childhood.
Military child nostalgia: “Two of my younger siblings still live in San Diego. I went to visit them, and it was the first time that I had been back to California in 19 years. I drove back through the neighborhoods and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this used to be home.’ I remember living in military housing, I drove past where we used to live and started remembering everything—the school, the gas station on the next corner, my older siblings walking me to school, my walk home. It was kind of a bittersweet feeling, but it was great to be able to relive that experience. “
Making—and keeping—friends: “In San Diego, we lived in off-base housing. I met my best friend, Susie, when we were living there, and we still keep in touch. We spent so much time together. Our birthdays are five days apart, and one time we shared a birthday party. Before my parents separated, Susie’s family was PCSing somewhere and I was distraught: ‘Oh my gosh, I’m losing my first best friend.’
“When my parents separated and we moved to Virginia with my mother, we found out that Susie’s father was stationed in Virginia, not too far away from where we lived. So Susie and I still maintain a relationship. We still follow each other on Instagram and our families are still connected.”
What brought her to the Exchange: “I grew up going to NEX, but since we lived closer to Fort Eustis and Langley Air Force Base, we’d go to the commissary to go grocery shopping and then I’d go to the Exchange to shop around, buy some Bath & Body Works products. So the Exchange has always been a part of my life.
“But my starting at the Exchange was pure luck—right place, right time. With a military background, I was able to appreciate what the Exchange does. In the time that I’ve been here, I’ve gained an even greater appreciation for what the Exchange does for the military community. I didn’t know growing up, for example, what the Exchange benefit does for Quality-of-Life programs.”
Why she likes her job: As a public relations specialist, Teonja works with Exchange directorates and Central Region to write press releases and stories for the Exchange Post. (You can read her work here.)
“I call myself a professional yapper,” she said. “I get to talk to so many amazing people. I get to make so many people’s days. I’ve written several Family Serving Family stories and talked with so many people who have cried at the end of their interviews. Because I have a military background, I can relate to a lot of things that people go through.
“It’s fulfilling, it’s fun, it’s challenging at times, but it’s most definitely rewarding and I love it. Even at the end of hard days, I think, ‘This is what I went to school for. This is what I wanted to do. I’ve been in the communications field for 10 years, started off in broadcast journalism then kind of found my way into public relations, and I feel like I was meant to be here. This was my calling, and I want to use my gift to give back to others. And I feel the Exchange is a place where I can do both. I can be fulfilled in the work that I do and still give back to others.”
Family serving family: “It means that you are always there for one another, no matter what the circumstances. Your family doesn’t necessarily have to be someone that you are biologically connected to. That’s what makes the Exchange so special. It’s turning around, lending a hand, but still moving forward.”
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