I left my full-time job about a month ago. I had been with the same company (more or less…) for 2 months short of 16 years. During that time, I held 4 roles, supervised dozens of employees, and survived an acquisition. I went from being in one office full time to traveling between 2 offices and then traveling among 5 offices and then mostly working from home except for monthly site visits. This stage in my career saw me recovering from a divorce, raising my kids, surviving the pandemic as an “essential worker,” and recovering from a stroke. Many of the lessons I have learned about leadership, both what to do and what not to do came from this job. I have grown as a person and as a leader as a result.
It’s a strange experience when leaving a work-from-home job. On my last day, I finished tying up the last of the loose ends and then shut down my computer. There was no boxing up my office, saying goodbye to my coworkers, or walking out of the building. I had said goodbye to some folks in person in the week prior to leaving, and some of my team had a virtual meeting full of goodbyes, but at the final moment, it was strange to just get up from my desk and walk to my kitchen. The primary closure came when I didn’t log back in to my computer after the weekend. Just like that, I was done.
Before any of you think that I just went crazy and quit my job, I didn’t. It was intentional and with a plan that was over a year in the making. In May, 2024, I knew that my current job was not where I needed to be for several reasons. I spent some time brushing up my resume and looking for other positions, but that was yielding only frustration. (from my fellow job hunters, can I get an Amen!!) As I was trying to work through the stress and frustration, I had a crazy thought of going back to my degree and what I had been intending to do when I graduated 15 years prior. Maybe, just maybe I could go into professional counseling and marriage & family therapy!
The first hurdle in that plan was figuring out if my degree still met the requirements for licensure, which, thankfully, it did. I then had to find someone who would take a chance on me by being my licensure supervisor even though I was 15 years past graduation. I contacted one of my former instructors who has a therapy practice in town, and she was willing to give me a shot!! Then, I spent the next 3 months studying for the National Counseling Exam, which is required to get a provisional license. In August, I passed on the first try, despite the guy sitting next to me that was driving me crazy by coughing and hacking the whole time (who, come to find out, had Covid, and was kind enough to share!). With the exam (and Covid) behind me, I just needed to jump through the hoops of submitting my paperwork and fees to get my provisional license. My provisional license came in October, and then I was on my way!
From October, 2024 to May, 2025 the therapy practice referred as many clients as possible to me to establish my client base. The tough part about being provisionally licensed is that there are very limited insurance companies that allow billing. This means that I have mostly been referred clients who are willing to private pay. By February, I was starting to fill up my evening hours with clients while spending my days doing my full-time job. I was consistently working 12-14 hours a day between both jobs. At the end of May, I hit a breaking point where I realized that I was struggling to do both jobs well. We crunched some household finance numbers, I talked with my supervisor (who is one of my dearest friends—and not just due to workplace trauma bonding!), and I put in my resignation.
So, here’s to a new chapter! I’m finally what I want to be when I grow up—3 months before I turn 50! It is scary. It is rewarding. It is stretching me in ways I haven’t been stretched before (I’m looking at you, insurance billing!!). It is a much slower pace, which is taking some getting used to. I’m excited for my caseload to grow so I’m working full-time again. In the meantime, I’m trying to soak up learning opportunities and trying not to stress about not having a predictable salary. All in all, life is good.
Thanks for reading! 😊 EW