I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, the world’s insurance hub, with a mother who worked in insurance, so it’s no surprise that my career began in that sector.
Eager to get a job as an insurance agent, I dropped out of college to boost my salary in retail sales and enjoy the benefits offered by the company. This was 1990, a time of paternalistic companies that gave employees plenty of private pension coverage, pension investments, profit sharing, and just about every other perk you could imagine. I welcomed the opportunity and was excited to see how far I could go in my first position.
I immediately set goals: double my salary in five years, triple it in ten, and quadruple it in fifteen. As I moved through the ranks, I exceeded those goals. Having only changed companies twice, I was a loyal employee who evolved through acquisitions, mergers, and purchases. Many of my promotions were into newly created positions tailored to my specific skills, which grew around communications, marketing, business analysis, and customer service.
But everything changed when my position was suddenly eliminated.
I enjoyed most of my career, and I was pretty good at it.
As glorious as it was to have an employer with the best benefits on the market, I sometimes felt suffocated and caged. Bureaucracy, paperwork and internal politicking were a constant challenge for me.
I remember a conversation with my best friend Sue, who worked with me at all three companies, where she suggested I take the plunge and become an entrepreneur. I was flabbergasted. I couldn’t give up the benefits, the prestige, and the steady paycheck. I couldn’t even consider such a step, especially as a single mother, so I decided to make the most of my days at the office.
In 2012, my 16-year-old son and I traveled to Los Angeles. My son said he wanted to live in California within days of our arrival. “There’s no way I would live here,” I replied. I was comfortable at my job and had a house I loved. I couldn’t imagine leaving my “nest.” Plus, California seemed exhausting.
But honestly, apart from work, I was very depressed at the time, and mourning the death of my parents, with no energy to explore anything new.
I have had to challenge myself to find happiness
A couple of years after our trip to California, my son left for school out of state. Two concurrent chronic illnesses amplified the void of my empty nest. I had no choice but to start taking better care of myself and creating a life outside of work and motherhood. I joined Facebook and expanded my circle of trust. I started dancing with a group of empty nest moms, and I started living and doing things that made me happy.
Just when I was getting back into the swing of things, taking care of my health, and recovering from the most severe and prolonged depressive episode that had kept me in bed for no less than seven years, I was fired from my position in the company as a director under the orders of the CEO.
Although the news shocked me, I wasn’t worried. I had no idea what I was going to do, but I knew my time in the insurance industry had expired.
Losing my job felt like permission to pursue my destiny
As someone who has struggled with mental health for the most part, I wanted to write to bring awareness and normalize conversations around depression, anxiety, and tougher life transitions like chronic illness, divorce, single parenting, the death of loved ones, and traumatic events, all of which I have had direct experience with. Job loss was a new transition I could add to my tool belt.
My destiny wasn’t just a new career, but a whole new way of life. Without the comfort of a stable job, a secure home, and benefits galore, California became the place where I suddenly felt more alive, more connected, and more driven to continue pursuing my dreams.
Without the unexpected job loss and the big nudge from the universe, I don’t think I would have ever left the corporate world I grew up in. Fortunately, the skills and degree I earned were transferable, and entrepreneurship gave me the freedom and flexibility my friend Sue advised me to employ. Plus, the move ended up being the best thing for my family.
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Tags: Work, Company