For 17 years, Navy spouse Ellen Barletto has worked at the same company. Working her way up from analyst to consultant, then director of contract management, and finally to VP of business operations, before advancing to her current role as Chief Administrative Officer in 2021, Barletto brings longevity to a world of frequent changes.
Along with her Navy JAG spouse, Bryan, they’ve lived in San Diego, Italy, Rhode Island, and Virginia, all while Barletto continued to advance her career with Client Solution Architects.
The company operates five offices in the U.S. and works on multiple fronts to prepare businesses through training simulations, curriculum development and delivery, joint multinational exercises, data metrics, cybersecurity, and more. The brand combines military precision and planning with civilian businesses to remain mission-focused at all times.
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In addition, more than half of their employees, who span 30 states, are veterans or military spouses—a number Barletto hopes to continue to grow.
Barletto joined the company in 2008; the acquisition and integration command with CSA was her first job in San Diego after relocating from Washington, D.C., where she spent nearly four years with the Department of Justice.
“That really started my path,” she said. “I felt very connected to the mission, which is something you get as a military spouse; in my mind, I wanted to carve my own path. I’m happy to move around and do all the things, but I wanted my own professional life.”
Five years later, when it was time to PCS, Barletto did something unprecedented for the time: she asked to work remotely from Naples, Italy.
“That ended up really working in my favor; when else is somebody going to pay to let you live la dolce vita?” (Italian for “the good life”)
The plan was 20 hours per week, where Barletto would continue her role.
“The CBO thought it was nuts, but I told him, ‘Just take a chance on me and I’ll prove I can do it.’ Then it developed into this amazing rhythm because I was writing proposals and responses while everyone was sleeping. That was never our intent, but we had created this 24-hour proposal clock, and it worked really well.”
Meanwhile, Barletto enjoyed the Italian views, the traveling, and of course, the food.
“We lived in Naples for three years—people either think I’m nuts or a genius, but I did a three-year Ellen Barletto study of Neapolitan pizza,” she said. “I went to numerous pizza places and ordered a Margherita pizza; I tried them all and decided to find the best.”
She added that all were eaten with a fork and knife, which is traditional in Italy.
Barletto said early infrastructure put in place by CSA, such as software and communications, made this all possible in 2013. She continued to PCS and remained with the company full-time through cross-country moves, time zone changes, and two pregnancies. The latter were her only breaks in work during maternity leave.
Today, her two sons are six and nine years old. However, she still travels every other week with her C-level career.
“I think one of the most amazing things in the military is you have that sense of community when you move; that’s the nicest thing about moving all over the world, you always know someone,” she said. “We rely on that community as I travel. It’s a lot to maintain the presence of being the Mom and also being the woman with a career.”
Barletto said she was never scared to ask for help—or offer it to others—to balance home-work life, especially when her sons were younger.
Today, she keeps up with them in quality time over quantity.
“I may not always be there, a lot of the time I’m traveling for work, but when I’m there, we’re talking, do activities, whatever they want to do,” she said. “It’s Roblox, basketball, whatever it is, we’re going to do it.”
Though Barletto didn’t always know she’d be a military spouse—her spouse chose to commission after 9/11—she did know she wanted a career from a young age.
“I knew no matter what, from the moment I went to college at 18, I wanted to work; it’s a personal choice to stay home with your kids or to continue to work. But I always knew pre-anything else going on in my life that I wanted to work my way up and do it on my own. It’s always been a personal drive. I was brought up by really strong parents who shaped me.”
Barletto said it was especially her mother who made her want to become successful. After receiving an associate’s degree, her mother started at the bottom and worked her way up.
“She had struggles along the way where she was as qualified or more qualified, where men were promoted ahead of her. But she had a strong voice and brought it up,” she said. Eventually, Barletto’s Mom worked her way into a high-level position, where she retired.
“As a kid, you see that example, that resilience, it’s super inspiring. Now I want to be the example for my kids. Just because you’re a woman doesn’t mean you can’t. Just because you’re moving around the country and you have this additional challenge, you can still find success.”
One of Barletto’s proudest accomplishments is helping grow the culture at CSA, a brand she stayed with due to that very fact.
“Skills can generally be learned, but we’re out looking for people who I love having sit next to me, who I love as people,” she said. “I want to afford them flexibility and to care about them as people.”
She followed that same strategy when hiring Talent Acquisition Partner Heather Kline, another military spouse.
“She was the first person I wanted to call when I needed part-time help,” Barletto said. “She has amazing energy and camaraderie. I knew she would do a phenomenal job.”
As a brand, CSA also serves in three pillars of community outreach: supporting veterans, nurturing future generations, and providing mental health assistance.
On working with them, Barletto said it’s been a great way to take hold of her career while giving back to the military-based community.
“We work with so many organizations and get to know different people and how they work—everybody wins,” she said. “With military spouse outreach, quality of life, to those whose service has concluded, we can talk about various challenges that come with moving,” she said. “It’s gotten better, especially with state licensure, but there’s still more to do.”
