In Hampton Roads, military service often ends long before certainty begins. For thousands of veterans transitioning back into civilian life, years of structure give way to an open question: what comes next?
For Malena Applewhite, that question lingered for years before taking shape as Haus of Vibes, a mobile luxury fragrance blending experience launched in early 2025 that is now gaining momentum across the region.
Applewhite served 13 years in the U.S. Air Force as a military police officer, working in nuclear security and law enforcement. Her service included multiple overseas assignments and three deployments, including during the invasion of Iraq. “We got bombed every day,” she said. “I was 19 years old.”
During deployment, daily life unfolded inside temporary living quarters known as bunkers containerized or tent-based spaces used in active or high-risk zones. “I spent almost like two months in bunkers every day,” Applewhite said.
At the time, the long-term impact of those experiences had not fully surfaced. “When you’re young, you don’t think about a lot of that stuff,” she said. Over time, the accumulation of risk and loss began to weigh heavily. “By the time I got to my second deployment, the team that replaced us, the tent we all stayed in, got blown up the day after we left.”
Following a Humvee rollover and repeated deployments, Applewhite was medically retired with post-traumatic stress disorder. “I just could not get back to myself anymore,” she said. “I was afraid if I go back out there again, I might not come back home.”
What followed was not an immediate reinvention, but a prolonged period of searching. “I was in this weird journey just trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life,” Applewhite said.
That journey moved through education, creativity, and experimentation. Applewhite taught engineering concepts to children, wrote a children’s book that resonated with young audiences, and built hands-on experiences centered on imagination, self-expression, and self-care. Across those efforts, a recurring insight emerged.
“So many mothers just kept saying over and over again, ‘Where was this at when I was a kid?’” she said. “This was your mother’s room. You don’t realize it, but this was something like you would go in her room and play in her beauty products.”
The pattern was clear: people weren’t just responding to the activity itself, but to the rare opportunity to create something personal, tactile, and shared. That realization would later become the foundation for Haus of Vibes.
“I realized like, I’m a vibe in myself,” Applewhite said. “Every woman I met, every child I met, everybody I meet has their own vibe.”
That realization became Haus of Vibes.
Operating as a mobile luxury fragrance blending bar, the experience brings curated scent palettes to weddings, corporate events, celebrations, and memorials. Guests explore fragrances, select combinations that resonate, and blend their own custom scent. “It gives them ownership,” Applewhite said. “I’m not telling you what luxury is. You get to make what luxury is for you.”
The experience has been described as “Sephora meets Build-A-Bear,” a hands-on, guided process that blends luxury, creativity, and personal expression.
For Applewhite, scent is inseparable from memory. “What I’m doing with the perfume, I’m getting the ability to tie that scent to memory,” she said.
The business also reflects Applewhite’s personal definition of peace. “This is how I keep my peace,” she said. Asked how she defines it, her answer was simple. “Quiet. Being able to allow my brain to process in a way that is therapeutic for me.”
Transitioning from military structure to entrepreneurial uncertainty brought its own challenges. “The chaos of business, the ups and downs, that was probably the hardest thing,” Applewhite said. Still, autonomy remained central to her motivation. “I still have my own freedom to make the decisions and the choices that I want.”
A turning point came through Start Peninsula, a Hampton Roads pitch competition widely regarded as a business-validating platform for early-stage founders. Designed not simply to award prize money but to test ideas under pressure, refine business models, and measure market readiness, the competition has become a proving ground for entrepreneurs across the region.
Applewhite discovered the opportunity through an online search. “I was on ChatGPT looking for pitch competitions in Hampton Roads,” she said. “She said to me, ‘Start Peninsula is opening up,’ and it was literally like days.”
Applewhite advanced to the finals and ultimately won. The prize money was invested directly back into the business, but the impact extended beyond funding. “Start Peninsula validated my concept,” she said. “After eight years of going up and down with business ventures to get here, the win was validation.”
Since then, momentum has accelerated. Wedding planners have emerged as a key customer segment, bookings continue to increase, and interest in the experience is growing. Applewhite is now working toward a flagship location in Virginia Beach while refining licensing and trademarking. Longer term, she envisions the concept expanding beyond traditional venues. “In five years, my goal is to be on a cruise somewhere with Haus of Vibes as an experience,” she said.
Years ago, after leaving the military, Applewhite did not know what direction her life would take. Today, the business she built stands as both livelihood and affirmation. “I had to build a place of peace,” she said. For her, the answer to what comes after service was not a single decision, but something created over time, shaped by persistence, ownership, and the freedom to build something entirely her own.
Transitioning out of the military can feel disorienting. This Week in 757 highlights stories, opportunities, and resources across Hampton Roads to help veterans navigate what comes next. Subscribe here to stay connected.
