When I first started at my past job years ago, I thought for sure I would be working there until retirement. I absolutely loved it. It wasn’t until the pandemic hit that things started to change. I won’t get into it, but I will say that how us “essential employees” were treated by both the customers and the company was not something I could continue to deal with. It took a huge toll on my mental and physical health. Add on that I was unable to take time off (even though I had an abundance of vacation and PTO because I hardly ever called off) and you had a recipe for complete and total burnout. So I decided to give up on the job I once loved so much.
It was beyond scary to take that leap. Despite the negative effects it had on my health, I was paid extremely well, and (not to toot my own horn) I was good at my job. But I just couldn’t do it anymore.
What we decided to do instead was take the plunge and work on our business full time. It was a scary decision that some days I regretted due to not having the stability that my other job provided. And it took several months to “mellow out” (my past job had me stressed out 24/7).
Even though I work way more hours now with our own business (some days it feels non stop with caring for the bees, making product, finding venues to set up at, research, generate social media content, and so much more), I have been able to spend more time with my family and feel just so much better mentally.
It has been full of ups and some downs, trails and errors (plenty of errors), doubts and confidence, excitement and fears.
Featured Image by Simon Berger on Unsplash.