An update on Career Civility
As we enter a new month, one that marks the beginning of the second half of the year, I felt compelled to write about my experience as a small business owner, mom, wife, and someone who is trying to define what success means to me, my career, and my family.
I’ll shoot it to you straight. Building a business is tough - and often it is not linear. People say that often. But I didn’t exactly know what that meant. Until I found myself, and our family, in it. Up until 4 years ago, before my daughter was born, my career was relatively linear, stable, and only about me. And then becoming a mother profoundly changed my career.
I found myself constantly fluctuating between seasons (illnesses, travel, school closures, transitions, etc etc) and quite frankly - questioning everything all the time. When my daughter was born, I told myself that if I’m going to be away from her for 8 hours a day I better be doing work that fires me up. Fast forward to when my son was born, I told myself I better be doing work that fires me up AND I better work with people who respect my time and my value.
Which is what led me to taking the leap to working full time for myself and building Career Civility. I finally found myself doing work that didn’t feel like “work” and I was working with clients whose mutual respect ran deep. In that journey, I also found a new normal in balancing work and motherhood and I worked to redefine what success means to me.
Amidst all the growth and learnings, I still found myself in the depths of incredibly difficult conversations with my husband and facing a lot of my limiting beliefs. Stories I tell myself like, “I’m a financial burden”, “I can’t do this”, “I’m failing at being a mom, a wife, and a business owner”.
Two years into working for myself full time has been filled with incredible growth, questions, challenges. I’ve been figuring out a way to make time in my calendar to volunteer at school picnics, pick up sick kids, and change working hours to accommodate summer camp hours.
I’ve been figuring out a way to balance a P+L balance sheet that not only signified the health of my small business - but the health of our families financial health.
I’ve been figuring out a way to be free of the confines of corporate.
Some days were easier than others but every single day I am always reflecting on where I’m at, where I’ve been, where I want to go, and what we need in this season of life - personally, professionally, financially.
Which led me to apply to and interview for a handful of corporate positions that looked interesting to me. I’ve always been one to interview and apply for positions here and there for three reasons 1) keep a pulse on the job market, 2) interviewing is a skillset I never want to lose and I am always looking to practice it in real time, and 3) interviewing is a great networking activity - you never know who you’re going to meet.
In fact, in 2020, I interviewed with a woman who didn’t hire me but introduced to me another woman who (also) didn’t hire me BUT I ended up keeping in contact with each of them and in 2024… 4 years later.. One of the women I kept in contact with hired Career Civility and was the third client consulting I ever had when I took Career Civility full time.
You never know where interviewing is going to take you and in this case… It led me to an offer.
An offer I accepted with an AI-powered training platform. I have an opportunity to work for a start up (again…), with a female CEO (support woman in biz), for a training and enablement platform, for an AI company.
Not only do I get to work for and learn from an AI powered company, the executive leadership team is also very aware of the work I do at Career Civility.
I get to do BOTH - I get to be at the forefront of AI AND continue to grow Career Civility without worrying about a paycheck.
Not to mention, I’m going to learn how to integrate AI into the communication trainings and consulting to continue to improve communication in the workplace.
And I think to myself… Why wouldn’t I take a chance on this opportunity?
Two things can be true -
I can work in corporate and still be an entrepreneur.
Working for yourself can be hard and working at a startup can be hard.
I write to you telling you this update to showcase the real, raw, and vulnerable side of chasing dreams and building a business. Most of the time we only know people for their success - after they have made it - and it only looks linear from the outside. But there is little shown for the people who are building brick by brick, weathering every storm, and changing their sails with the seasons.
In this season, I’m adjusting my sails.
If you are in a season where you are weathering the storm or you feel behind in your career (or motherhood) or you are questioning your purpose and your path… you’re not alone and we can (and should) adjust together.
You and I are building a beautiful mosaic of experiences that will tell a triumphant and virtuous story one day. Take the good days with the bad days and run with them. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Moment by moment. And seize the opportunities in front of you because you never know where they will take you.
As for me… I’m here to help you communicate more effectively in the workplace. I’m here to help leaders improve culture and productivity. I’m working to make the workplace better for those who come after us. And I’m prioritizing stability and intentionally as a mom.
I cannot wait to see what work in my corporate world informs the work I do in the Career Civility world - and vice versa. Opportunity enriches opportunity. Let’s do this!
