If I heard it once, I heard it a thousand times. “What are you going to do now?” After a successful career in the media industry, people were befuddled by my answer. “I’m leaving the business and starting something new”. After people picked themselves off the floor from disbelief, the next series of unsolicited questions and comments began: “But WHY? This is what you know!” and “Are you sure? You’re no spring chicken you know”…
I wasn’t worrying about the seasons or about poultry as I began the process of peeling back the layers of my previous career. Through coaching, I got clear on what I loved and what I hated about my job. Every bone in my body told me that my next step was to drop what caused me pain and pile on more of what brought me joy…..”Piece of cake!” I thought…but I was mistaken.
I had discovered the field of Coaching. With freedom as my goal and human restoration as my mission, I set out to find my niche. I jumped from ship to shore and flew from tree to bush in search of my “People” or “Clients”. The choices were many: Life Coach, Career Coach, Special Needs Parenting Coach, Business Coach, Mind Body Coach, Law of Attraction Coach, Weight Coach, Relationship Coach, Executive Coach and Cross Cultural Coach. It was exhausting. I had interest and expertise in ALL of these areas but my scope was too broad and my message was confusing. It was kind of like saying I was a Salesperson. Of what? For whom? To what end? Lot’s of questions to answer. I had planted the seed and it was beginning to sprout as I journeyed on.
Six months after having left my corporate job in media, I was approached by an old radio contact to do some consulting. “Sure “ I thought, “As long as I can continue with my coaching” . I pragmatically thought about the money and the benefits as I jumped in with both feet, and like bees to honey, two more sizable job offers in media came to tempt me. I had a decision to make….
After weeks of indecision and soul searching, I made the unpopular decision to tend to the seeds that I had sown. It would have been much easier and financially satisfying to jump back on the merry go round that was my corporate career. But who would I be pleasing? My family? My friends? My ego? All of the above and for once, for the very first time, I chose wisely, I chose ME.
For the months that followed there was fallout. I was trailing a whole new map and I wasn’t alone. My entire family was in transition. My husband had to find himself professionally, the twins had to finish their studies and begin heading toward independence. We were on a tight budget and all luxuries were gone. A financial drought had set in…. but somehow I felt that the alternative was not the way to go. It was time to fertilize the tree I had planted.
The result of our familial upheaval was positive. My husband went back to school and found a new career as a Realtor. My son is a licensed working Barber. My daughter graduated Suma Cum Laude and works at the elementary school she attended as a child. And me, I found my niche! I now have a growing coaching practice grounded in helping small and medium businesses to thrive by developing their teams. I decided that although I no longer wished to be IN business, I wanted to be AROUND it to help others THROUGH it. With our recent entrepreneurial freedom, my husband and I turned our jewelry-making hobby into a business, which is growing year to year.
My personal reinvention led to a family reincarnation. All of us reaching goals and heights we never knew possible. The road was rough, the map unchartered but we are now well on our way to reaching our ultimate objective, fully flourishing with personal and professional growth for all.
How about you? What have you wanted to do that you can start today? Are you ready to plant that seed? Better now than 20 years from now.