I had built my whole identity around work...

I had built my whole identity around work... and I didn’t want to do that work anymore. 😬

I spent the first ten years of my professional life as a stage manager working in theaters around the US.

At the time, I was lucky enough to have women in my life who were successful stage managers, working in New York, who also had partners and children. Because I knew I wanted to have a partner and a kid someday and also continue working. So I could look at their lives, and their success, and see what was possible.

But then one day, I looked a little closer. I realized - as happy as they were, that was not the life I wanted for myself. I could see that the combo of working stage manager + partner + mom was not a winning equation for me. And I had already decided the partner + mom part was non-negotiable.

So I had to figure out what to do instead for work.

My whole professional life to that point had been built around not just the work of stage management, but the identity. I was a member of the union (Actors Equity Association), I stage managed shows in different theaters across the country, most of my friends and network were in the industry.

How the heck was I going to become something different?!

It wasn’t easy, but I found my way from that world into the world of tech startups… And the rest is history.

(Buy me a coffee and I’ll tell you the whole story sometime 😉)

I’d love to hear - what’s the biggest shift you’ve made in your career?

And if you’re looking at your work and wondering if the path you're on is the path you want, hit me up. I don’t have all the answers, but I do know how to ask great questions to help you get where you want to go. 😜