The idea came to Chris Wingate in a dream. It started with his four-year-old son’s birthday request for an RV camping stay, complete with s’mores and exploring. Then came the dream: an RV rental business that supports military RV owners.
While planning his retirement from the Army, Chris and his wife Danielle committed to this budding vision, one that would empower military RV owners to maximize their mobile investment while providing affordable vacation options for military personnel and civilians alike. The Wingates dedicated late nights to research and business planning after putting their four children to bed, similar to how they spent their time before they had a family. “From the early start of our relationship, we have always enjoyed dreaming, brainstorming, strategizing, and creating,” reflected Danielle, an entrepreneur herself. These productive nights resulted in the launch of RVbyMilitary.com, a comprehensive platform that handles everything — RV reservations, payments, insurance coverage, commissions, and 24/7 customer service.
“Our journey started by wanting to make memories and the most of the time with our children,” explained Chris. “We bought our first RV and began renting it out when we were unable to use it due to limited time. We realized we only had to rent it out two weekends a month to exceed the revenue required to cover our expense of ownership. After making $40k in 9 months, we realized we could help the rest of the military and veteran community turn their RV into an asset.”
But RVbyMilitary.com is more than a business; it’s an ongoing commitment to supporting military families through education and financial opportunity. With many RVs idle for most of the year (on average annually, they sit in the driveway for 345 days), earning extra income on an otherwise-unused asset is significant for military families, with some RV owners bringing in as much as $60k.
“We provide education to our community to help them learn how to best-monetize their RV and also invest in their own families. We teach the community how to take care of their RV and make the most of it. Additionally, we give a portion of our profits and time to other veteran charities,” said Chris. “We directly invest in veterans and their families while helping others make memories.”
In November 2023, he traveled from Virginia to Las Vegas to pitch at our Military Entrepreneur Challenge pitch competition at the Military Influencer Conference (MIC). With both the judges and audience impressed with his presentation and recognizing the value of the RV marketplace, Chris was chosen as a Top Five Finalist. He tied for Fourth Place, and took home $15k in pro bono legal services from Holland & Knight LLP and a $1k capital grant, which will go toward website development as they enhance their platform.
“MIC was the first time I’d pitched part of the RVbyMilitary vision in public. It was an exciting, encouraging experience to hear the response to all we are planning to accomplish,” Chris reflected. When asked about what the future holds for him as a Second Service Foundation grant recipient, he responded faithfully, “I would be absolutely honored to come back to Second Service to serve in any capacity. I’m forever grateful for their advice and support.”
