Committed: Leaving Corporate Leadership for Blog Life

Working with Coworkers Who Became Family

When I started working at my most recent employer in 2001, I was 28 years old.  I was living the single life and doing my best to enjoy every minute.  I had some incredibly fun experiences, exercised much questionable judgment, and had some entertaining, albeit fuzzy, memories to carry forward as I tried to figure out adulthood.

A couple of months into my tenure, we had a week-long, company-wide team building activity called Caribbean Days.  It kicked off with Mimosa Monday.  This led right into more drinking as we toured each department’s themed decorations, complete with signature drinks.  I sat at my desk with my 3rd drink of the day, working on an Excel spreadsheet at 10:00 AM.  I thought to myself (or maybe thought out loud in light of the circumstances), “Right on!  Work hard, play hard.  I think I’m going to like it here.”

The following morning, we were more focused at work but looking forward to a scavenger hunt/obstacle course through the building that would occur later that day.  As I was sitting at my desk (most likely re-checking the spreadsheet from the prior day), I heard my friend in a nearby cubicle say, “A plane just flew into the World Trade Center.”

At that point, my reaction was one of surprise and disbelief.  We chalked it up to some terrible mistake that was made between a pilot and air traffic control.  An hour later, I was standing downstairs with my coworkers in our conference center, watching the news on the large display screen.  We all gasped in disbelief and cried together as we watched one tower, then the other, collapse.

September 10 and 11, 2001 defined the culture of the company where I stayed for 17 years.  We worked hard, and yes, we played hard for years.  But beyond that, we shared our lives together.

I cried with coworkers on September 11, 2001.

I cried again when I heard about the heartbreaking loss of a dear friend’s sister, and again when another close friend and her husband lost their baby due to pregnancy complications.

When I was in Minneapolis on a business trip when my dad passed away, my coworkers cried with me and supported me with getting back home.

When we had coworkers who fought cancer, we did all we could to fight with them.  When some lost their battle, part of us was lost, too.

I met my husband and my bridesmaids there.  Our wedding guest list was primarily our newly blended families and our “adopted family” from work.

When I was pregnant with Princess Milkface and in the hospital on bedrest, my coworkers visited me.

When we were trying to adopt from foster care, they cheered us on and celebrated with us when we finalized with Lady M.

We celebrated weddings and babies and exceptional careers in that same conference center where I stood in tears with my new work family as the twin towers came down.

I stayed with that company for over 17 years.  My career progressed because I was blessed to have a leadership team who invested in developing their employees and gave me many opportunities to learn and grow as a leader.  Because of the culture that surrounded me, I learned the value of leading with my heart.  I learned that results are important, but appreciating people for who they are more than what they deliver is critical.

To have even a couple of years to work in a culture like that would be rare.  To have 17 years is a blessing for which I am forever grateful.

Blog Life Calling

Over the last few years, something inside me changed.  I continued to work with amazing teams and deliver strong results for the company, but I was struggling.  I started to recognize that it was time for me to move on, but I was at a loss about what I would do or even could do, after such long tenure at the same company.

Not long after I finally got on board with God’s call to adoption, He called me again.  One night when I was struggling to sleep, I felt the Holy Spirit’s nudge to use my God-given ability to communicate in a new way.  He wanted me to start a blog and share our adoption journey.  My first reaction to being pushed outside my comfort zone in this way was resistance and sarcasm.  I responded, “That’s great.  I know NOTHING about blogging or websites.  And besides, all the decent website names are taken by now.  Where would I even start with coming up with a URL?”

Immediately….and I mean IMMEDIATELY, the Holy Spirit responded.

BlessedAndBlended.com”

With a sigh of skepticism, I grabbed my phone and typed “BlessedAndBlended.com” in my browser.  I chuckled when I saw that it was available.  Well played, God.  Well played.

After some quick Google education, I purchased that URL in November 2016.  I would make notes for future posts from time to time as I felt nudged by the Holy Spirit.  I didn’t really know what else to do at that point, so I kept my focus on the adoption process and my job.

Time for Transition

One year later, the leadership team that had invested in me so graciously over the years announced that they would be leaving the company over the upcoming months due to a variety of personal circumstances.  I felt even more lost in my career path.  I knew that I was being called to something new, but I didn’t know what it could be.  On the heels of that news, I learned that our department would be undergoing a major restructuring that would impact some of our team members with job loss.

Immediately, my next step became clear.  I knew that I needed to stay through the transition to help the employees who had invested so much into the company and our customers over the years.  I also knew that it was time for me to move on.  I took a leap of faith, met with my new department head, and shared my heart with him.  While he may have thought I was a bit crazy, he appreciated my commitment and transparency.  We ultimately agreed on a transition plan that would enable me to contribute my knowledge and experience to a successful restructure while supporting the impacted employees.

I started to create blog content since it was the one clear call I felt for my next step.  I started sharing God’s calling for to start this blog with some of my friends.  Through those conversations, I learned that some of them had also explored this direction and found some great resources about blog creation and monetization.  This FREE 5-day email course was a huge part of helping me get “unstuck” and start taking serious action to move forward.  It unlocked my fear of the unknown, and I started building my website in earnest.

As I’ve started to share my plans with others, I’ve been surprised at how many people have considered this path but are also stuck and don’t know how to move forward.  I’m sharing the resources that were so helpful for me to discover the potential in blogging as a business, and more importantly, in myself as a start-up business owner.

Following God’s Plan

In my final days with my “day job,” people have asked about my plans.  I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with my family while I figure that out.  I’m energized by the opportunity to invest my energy and focus in further optimizing and promoting my blog to share my stories of God’s faithfulness in my life.  I believe God has called me to this purpose for a reason.  As long as my control freak nature doesn’t try to take over, He will direct my path.

I give You glory
For all You’ve brought me through
And now I’m ready
For whatever You wanna do
I’m moving forward
To follow after You
And now I’m ready
For whatever You wanna do

In every season
Your grace has been enough
And I’m believing
The best is yet to come
The cross before me
My hope on things above
And in You, Jesus
The best is yet to come

Your presence is an open door
We want You, Lord
Like never before
Your presence is an open door
So come now, Lord
Like never before

I know breakthrough is coming
By faith, I see a miracle
My God made me a promise
And it won’t stop now”

“Won’t Stop Now” by Elevation Worship