Ch ch ch changes
A familiar scene lately. Working for a couple hours at one of the local coffee shops. Freelance life!
I've been reluctant to share this here as it still feels very fresh, but I quit my job. Well more specifically, I chose to not return to my full-time corporate job as a Design and Construction Project Manager after my maternity leave. I worked hard to build my career, especially in a male-dominated industry and I'm still surprised that I've left the company I spent so many years growing with. I'm so grateful for the experience I gained working for a large and growing company on multi million dollar projects. After Theo turned one, I returned to work full-time and travelled for work much more than I wanted to. Construction project work is intense and I found balancing motherhood and a demanding job made me feel guilty at all times. I felt that I was failing at both all the time, letting my team down when I put family first, and missing out on my kid when I was focusing on work. I've also dreamed of having more flexible work that allowed me to spend more time with the kids and allowed me to pursue a more creative line of work. So here I am in my mid-thirties taking a risk I would never have taken before.... freelance work. I am generally a very risk averse person so this is a big deal! I went to university right out of highschool and starting climbing the corporate ladder right after graduation. I've always chosen the safe and straight path.
Our choice to live small and sharing it all here in this blog was a huge factor in making this decision. Sharing our lifestyle and philosophy behind it always made me question my career path as it didn't align with our intentional living. I found myself envying others who took risks and followed unconventional paths to find fulfilling careers they loved. So after surviving a year at home with 2 kids with limited to no childcare, we decided as a family that I would not return to full-time employment. I am starting off slowly, working for two interior designers I have admired for a long time, and focusing more on the blog. I am excited and inspired by the collaborative and supportive nature of the women I am working with. And to focus my energy on residential projects, as I love helping people live in beautiful, functional spaces.
I am not naive about the challenges of freelance work or working for myself with limited childcare. And I know that there is always guilt associated with motherhood and work and that a perfect balance doesn't exist. But I hope that if I am doing work that I love, that challenges and excites me; that time away from the kids will be well-spent and fulfilling for me. Furthermore, I know it is a privilege to work flexibly and that it probably wouldn't be possible if we weren't living in our small space with our smaller mortgage. The time is now ,if any, to take this risk to live my best life even if it means saying goodbye to a safe and steady paycheque.
I guess I felt the need to share this here as it's a big life change to go from full-time corporate working mom of 1, to freelance working mom of 2 .... all while in a small space. I have been drafting a post for a while comparing my experiences of working full-time with a kid in a small space, versus maternity leave with 2 kids in a small space. Now I'll be able to compare these experiences with working from home with 2 kids in a small space. I'm often asked about how to have an office space in a small home so I will work on some inspiration for that as well.
Anyway thanks for letting me share this new adventure.