Does any of this sound familiar?
- What do I want to do next? I’m not sure, but I know it’s not this.
- 5-year plan? Ha! I don’t know what I’m doing next week….
- I want to give back, make a difference, use my talents, gifts, and skills…
- I have an idea….
- I have NO idea…
- I really need help getting ____________ done! (finishing that book, starting that Etsy shop, planning for early retirement…..)
- I can’t let people know what I’m really passionate about because….
- Heck, I don’t know what I’m passionate about!
- When is the right time to take The Leap?
- How do I leap (and still pay the bills)?
- What if it doesn’t work out?
- I can’t leap because….
Or……
I’m entering a new season in life and want to pursue new creative hobbies, take time for myself, and make stuff(!)
Maybe you’re a Stay At Home Mom (or Dad) wanting to start your business.
Maybe you’re retired. Or resigning (possibly unexpectedly) because you cannot do it anymore.
Maybe you lost your job in unprecedented 2020 (and realized that wasn’t a bad thing)…..
I’m betting you want to live life on your own terms…..
COVID-19 changed many people’s perspectives about how, where, and when to work…. and live.
Maybe there’s something you yearn to do, but you stay where you are because you feel trapped, uncertain, scared.
Or something soul-satisfying is what you’re after – a balance to work and All The Commitments… time for you… time to learn, unwind, reflect…
Creative respite from a noisy world. That sounds pretty awesome, doesn’t it??
What if you are exactly where you’re supposed to be — here, on this webpage, reading my story as you contemplate your own? What if what you’re about to read could help you move forward in your own journey?
You see, there was something I wanted in 2011, and now I understand that what happened to me then was leading me to today— here, sharing my own story, to give you hope and encouragement, dear friend.
My journey through my own “stuck” began in 2011.
I was in my 17th year of a career I had loved in public education. I taught in three schools before moving to a teacher leadership position in Alternative Education and then in Career Technical Education. The next move to the district level changed everything for me.
By most standards, I was successful in my career path so far. I’d served honorably in the U.S. Navy, earned multiple college degrees, and served in public education as a classroom teacher, resource teacher/mentor to fellow educators, and a district + state-level professional development creator/facilitator.
But in my 17th year, I no longer wanted to “do education.” Reality? I realized I hated working on someone else’s schedule, focused on their agenda, sitting through long, boring, and unproductive meetings, and being expected to work under leadership who neither got it nor cared as they dismantled it.
And while I hated the corporate structure of the district office, I didn’t want to return to the classroom in a district with overcrowded schools and fast-increasing testing mandates. Public education was changing drastically— no longer a good fit for me. Despite still loving teaching and learning, I was bored and frustrated. By then in my early 40s, I knew something had to change.
My goal? To be a self-employed business owner doing the work and making the decisions. If I succeeded, great! If I failed, it was on me. I discovered blogging in 2009 and in 2010 began reading everything I could about business. I was – and still am – passionate about learning as a process and teaching as a process (different processes but intimately intertwined). I wanted to teach, train, and coach fellow educators and administrators through my own business— a way for me to still serve students, by supporting fellow educators.
Until I felt fulfilled (again), I could not fully serve others. I felt defeated and stuck. I dreaded going to work. I counted the hours ’til Friday afternoon. I cried every Sunday night. Do you ever feel this way?
What are you passionate about and wish you could pursue?
Would you serve others?
Would you serve yourself through much-needed self-care?
Are you bored? Frustrated? Angry? Sad?
Maybe you need to serve YOU… take care of yourself for a change. Love yourself with grace and mercy. No matter who you’d like to serve, the message will become clear. Eventually. You get up one day and there it is, like a GIANT neon sign:
What are you doing here? This is NOT the right fit anymore!
Or, a quiet voice whispers to us each day…. softly but insistently… (lean in, friend, so you can hear it whispering)
What are you doing here? This is not the right fit anymore. You were built for more than this. You have potential. You have wishes. You have dreams. And… you have fear. Blinding, butt-kicking, soul-sabotaging F.E.A.R.
So what makes us listen? What makes us take action?
What is the life-defining, stop-in-your-tracks thing that must happen for you to finally take action?
My own answer was still a few years away…
Up to that point in 2011, I had taught 1,000s of students while creating & providing training for 1,000s of fellow educators and administrators. It seemed I had the skills and experience. On paper, I was doin’ great!
I thought I was ready.
But I wasn’t.
Despite my professional training and skills, something was still missing. Turns out…
I lacked the self-confidence (and skills, for sure!) to make the leap (strategically).
I would’ve told you then that I lacked resources, too.
But truth is – if I had had the confidence and understood the power of resources, I would have figured out how to find them! But I didn’t.
Instead, I gave up.
Cry-and-scream-in-your-pillow kind of ‘gave up.’
And so my journey unfolded with speedbumps and detours. Left turns. Right turns. U-turns. Pauses. Circles. And LOTS of tears along the way… which I shared in this post.
It would be ten more years ’til my “leap” would happen.
But then it did! In June 2021, I retired (early) from public education. I now run a thriving business that serves women 15 – 50+ by providing what I needed in 2011 -> how-to filled with resources, strategies, support, understanding, encouragement, and love — to help women like you and me make the leap…
I’m here to share with confidence and conviction…
Life on your terms is 100% possible.
I’m living proof… ready to help you learn how and make a plan that fits your timeline, your comfort level, and your life. Because…
Friend, you DO get to decide. Even when it doesn’t seem like it.
I can’t wait to see what’s next for you!
xo,
