How I Started Working From Home: Desperation Sparks Creativity

Nearly five years ago I became self-employed and started working from home. It wasn’t something I planned to do, it just kind of happened. Let me explain.

A couple of months before I started working for myself, I had the equivalent of a corporate job. I was working in diabetes research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. Although I was working at a well known and high reputed hospital and had phenomenal bosses and co-workers, I was completely miserable. I was barely getting by with what they were paying me, promotion was unlikely to ever happen, and (most importantly) I knew that this wasn’t my true calling. At the time, I was unsure what I was supposed to be doing with my life and it felt like I was at a standstill.

While I was caught up in this miserable holding pattern I had created for myself, I was given the opportunity to audition for a singing job at a Georgia nightclub. My then boyfriend / now husband was responsible for helping make that happen and I truly appreciate him for helping me work past that life desire. I had always wanted to be a singer, so when I was offered the job, I immediately took it. Sure that this was what I was destined for, I gave Vanderbilt three days notice and moved out of state by the end of the week. It was a very big risk, but it felt great to me at the time!

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Juggling Motherhood and a Career

Recently, my two year old daughter Alex was sick.  I did what I’m sure most mothers want to do when their little one is sick.  I held her close all day, watched movies with her, let her nap on me, and helped wipe her nose whenever she requested (which seemed like every 10 seconds there for quite a while).  When my child is sick, I want her to always feel safe and comforted and know that I am there for her.  That’s what I’m for after all – I am her mother.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So in the middle of all of this, I began to ponder what moms do when they have no choice but to go to work even when their child is sick.  I realize that not all moms have the guilt free, stress free option of staying at home when their child is sick like I do.  Some women instead have end up sending their child to school or day care even when sick or to spend the day with a relative so that they can go to work and keep their job or just make as much money as possible to keep food on the table. Other women stay home with their kids, but worry about how the lost time at work will affect their standing.  Women should be able to do it all and moms should not have to choose.

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Women Should Have Choices

Women are expected to do it all.  We are mothers, wives, career women, and frequently much more.  By our very nature, we put the needs of everyone else before our own.  Quite frequently, women are forced to make decisions that aren’t what they truly desire for one simple reason: lack of money.  Career minded women are often forced to quit a job they love when they have their first child because they want to be there for that child, but can’t see how to fit a career into the equation too.   Similarly yet different are the moms who can’t afford to quit their jobs and end up utilizing the only available option (day care), when they truly want to raise their children on their own.  Sadly, there are many women everywhere that feel they have no choice but to remain in bad relationships because they can’t afford to leave!

All of these decisions are perfectly fine if that is what a woman really wants.  However, our choices are frequently influenced by feeling that we have no other options because we don’t have enough money to do what our heart desires.  When I say “enough money”, I don’t mean the money that wealthy people have that allows them to spend lavishly on every whim.  I am talking about having enough money to empower you as a woman to do what is right for you.  [Read more...]