I got married at a reasonably young age and immediately started a family. At that time, I was going to college and was trying to decide what I wanted to do when I grew up. I was interested in so many things that I couldn’t choose where to focus. When I had my son, my focus became my family. I realized I loved being a mom. However, having a family also meant a lot more financial responsibilities. We also needed health insurance. I decided to take a break from school and found a full-time job at the university I had been attending. My husband had finished his degree and got a job teaching 1st and 2nd grade at a local school.

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Even though we both had full-time jobs, money was always tight. Especially after having two more kids. There was never enough money at the end of the month after paying the bills and making sure the kids had what they needed. We were the typical low to middle-income family, living paycheck to paycheck.

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Growing up, I had always dreamed of owning my own business. My husband, who was raised doing electrical work started doing electrical in the summer and on the weekends to help make ends meet. That eventually turned into a full-time job for him, and he left teaching. As he began building his business, I started retaking classes at the university. As an employee, we were allowed one free class a semester. This was very valuable to me. After 13 years of working office jobs and taking a class each semester, I graduated with a degree in Art with an emphasis in Graphic Design. This degree, combined with my years of experience working in higher education, opened many doors for me.

 

For the next seven years, I quickly grew and moved up the corporate ladder. I felt I was finally making something of myself. I made decent money with titles to match. I had a 401K and good benefits. I even started working on a master’s degree. However, I realized I wasn’t happy. The thing that my degree didn’t change was that other people still had the control to determine what job I could or couldn’t do, how much I made, what my title was, pretty much what my worth and value was. I think some people are okay with this. I was not. So, I decided to take the bull by the horns and be in charge of my own life, and here I am! You can do it too!