The Pink Slip

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Last month I was called into my Senior Director's office and quietly told that I was be 1 out of 30 employees (this round) to be laid off due to the economy. It was Monday, April 23, 2009.

I had a tip off from a coworker that Friday about a potential layoff. When I received a meeting invite from my Senior Director Sunday evening I knew. When I finally heard the words, my emotions ranged from the feeling of being kicked in the gut to later, relief that this job would be over. The Universe was forcing my hand. I'm legally trained (aka lawyer) and negotiate contracts for large companies. But face it, who loves to read and negotiate the minute boring details of contracts? I didn't hate my job, but I didn't love it either. After 10 years in the industry, I was good at it and made a very decent living. But like most people, I looked forward to Fridays and detested Mondays.

After the birth of my daughter, it got worse. I wanted to work at home. I wanted to be with my daughter. I didn't want to drop her off at daycare for 10 hours and spend 2 hours picking her up, feeding, bathing and then putting her to sleep. Where was the joy in parenthood when all you have are 2 hours a workday? All the things I wanted to do with her, now that she's older: (i) going to the parks; (ii) taking her to the zoo, museums, and exploratoriums.... is only possible during the weekends. But the weekends are about catching up on sleep, when you can, and running all the errands you couldn't do on the weekdays.

My mind started to wander. How could I make enough money to stay at home and be with my daughter? I had to start a business at home, online. I make a 6 figure salary. Starting an online business would require a lot of time and education. Something I had very little of. So when I received my notice, it was a calling from the Universe telling me that this was my opportunity to get out of the corporate world and create a career to balance the time I needed to be with my daughter. This blog documents that journey ....