Jennifer Hawkins has spent her entire adult life caring for people.

From her initial enlistment in the Army as a practical nursing specialist, to the tour she spent in Afghanistan, Hawkins has prioritized the well-being of others. Even her stint as a drill sergeant, shepherding civilians through their transition into soldiers, was a form of care, she said.

“Breaking down a civilian and turning them into a soldier — that was a significant learning experience for me,” said Hawkins, who retired as a captain in 2020. “It’s one of the experiences that shaped me into who I am today.”

Today, Hawkins is co-owner and medical lead of On-Site Medical Care, a direct primary care practice in Colorado Springs. She prides herself on providing affordable, personalized medical care to Colorado Springs residents, employers and families.

People are taking notice.

Latina Style Business Series recently named Hawkins the 2025 Entrepreneur of the Year for Colorado Springs, and she is one of four recipients of the Colorado Springs Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Profiles in Valor Award.

While she is “honored and humbled” by the accolades, Hawkins insists she is simply doing what she has always done.

“I’m just trying to do the right thing,” she said. “That’s what I tried to do throughout my Army career, and that’s what I’m trying to do now.”

Hawkins joined the Army after her 1998 graduation from high school in Lake Havasu, Ariz., and moved swiftly through the ranks. Within two years, she was promoted to sergeant. By the time she was 25, she was a staff sergeant.

“I made the list for E-8 in 10 years, which for my specialty (combat medic specialist) was kind of unheard of,” she said.

At the same time, she had submitted a package for Officer Candidate School, with an aim toward becoming a medical service corps officer.

“When the (officer) board results came out, I was one of five candidates selected out of 500 applicants,” Hawkins said. “It was hard to leave the NCO corps, but I had great mentors throughout my career who kept pushing to do more, and this seemed like the next step forward.”

Years later, as part of the Fort Carson-based 4^th Infantry Division, Hawkins deployed to Afghanistan. It was an experience that would forge the path toward her post-Army career.

While she was there, Hawkins led a team that cared for 4,000 soldiers, Afghani citizens, and foreign nationals. She also coordinated the “walking blood bank,” which provides immediate access to blood for transfusions in emergencies.

After she returned to the U.S., a sergeant major she cared for in Afghanistan contacted her and asked what she was planning to do after she retired from the Army.

“I figured I would probably work in an urgent care or an emergency room, because that’s where most of us end up,” she said. “That’s where our skill sets translate.”

But that conversation led to her introduction to direct primary care, a health care model where patients receive direct access to primary care services, for a monthly membership fee.

“It’s an entirely different kind of medicine from what I was used to,” said Hawkins, who now holds a doctor of medical science degree with a focus on primary care. “I did battlefield medicine. We plug holes. We stabilize trauma patients until they can get to the next echelon of care.”

She was an expert in battlefield medicine, but the more she learned about direct medical care, the more she felt drawn to it.

“It was a leap of faith,” she said.

After retiring as a captain in 2020, Hawkins and her husband, Quinshaun, opened the first On-Site Medical Care.

“Right in the middle of COVID,” she said, laughing.

Hawkins still remembers her first patient. After a career of practicing time-sensitive medicine — often 15 minutes at a time — her first On-Site appointment lasted about two hours, she said.

“I had never sat with a patient that long,” she said. “But I also thought, ‘This is pretty cool. This is how medicine should be.’ We’re not just treating patients. We’re building relationships.”

While many doctors’ offices closed their doors during the worst of the pandemic, Hawkins stayed open, refusing to turn anyone away.

“I dealt with so many diseases in the Army,” she said. “We’ve dealt with AIDS and HIV. We’ve seen patients with Ebola. Regardless of the disease, you have to treat them. You don’t turn them away.”

That professional ethic is what got Hawkins recognized by the Hispanic Chamber, which cited her determination to “courageously serve on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic” as the basis of her Profiles in Valor Award.

The other 2025 awardees were: retired Brig. Gen. Randy Cubero, the Air Force Academy’s first Hispanic dean of faculty; Hispanic veterans’ rights advocate Albert Gonzales (awarded posthumously); and Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez, who served 9 ½ years with the Air Force before working with CSPD for nearly three decades.

“I didn’t even know I was nominated,” she said of the award. “I am honored that the Chamber recognizes what we’re trying to do here.”

Since opening On-Site Medical Care five years ago, Hawkins has expanded her practice to include offices in Texas, Kentucky and Iowa, with plans to open an office in Missouri.

“Normally, ‘affordable’ and ‘medicine’ are two words that don’t go together,” she said. “But we’re determined to make it work. This is our way of giving back to the community.”