About six years ago I left corporate America to be a stay-at-home mom. I knew the choice was going to be challenging financially and emotionally and professionally. But I knew it was the right choice for me. And it was a choice I am so glad I made.
In an attempt to avoid any implication, suggestion or temptation to wrongly interpret my words as being a controversial shot fired in the Mommy Wars, let me just say that my life has been MY life. It hasn't been comparable to any other moms.
But what I can say is that I am now facing a challenge that only stay-at-home moms face -- returning to the workforce after YEARS of being gone. I didn't take maternity leave. I dropped off the face of the earth -- from any potential employer's perspective. This isn't to say my challenge is better or worse than a mom who took months or weeks off after having a kiddo. It's just simply a challenge that you can't conceive the shock of until you are facing it head-on.
This new challenge consists of the things most job searchers feel: anxiety, self-doubt, obsessive thinking, constant practicing how to answer interview questions, an "applied to" list that keeps growing and an addiction to job search apps -- checking even at 1:30 in the morning.
But the challenge I face now also includes the fact that my resume has a hole the size of a Texas pothole. I know many people have been looking for a job for a miserable amount of time. And, in some ways, we have a certain dread in common. But I made this choice. I chose to leave and take the chance years later of not being seen as viable again.
So, my challenge, and I choose to accept it, is how to reframe my last six years and create messaging that shows I can step from playing Angry Birds with a five-and-3/4-year-old into managing a multi-million dollar project.
In some ways, having my small business helps me present the currency of my skills. I spent the last year writing copy for products and email campaigns. I built my own website (that I since put to rest to transition to this stage in my life). I market my products at craft fairs and wholesale. I balance budgets, source packaging and production costs. I evaluate shipping costs -- even learned the ins and outs of shipping internationally when I started getting sales from Canada, Australia and England.
I've worked with brides, new parents and customers needing custom designs for gifts. I have analyzed product mix and SEO stats.
And all the while, I have been a mom. I have raised a kiddo who talks more than me (shocking, I tell ya), can walk into a room like he knows he belongs, cuddles, runs like Flash and can teach me the strategy behind complex games on the iPad.
So, this is honestly a time in my life that scares the hell out of me. But, it's also a time where I must decide how to message the last six years. Do I passively apologize for not being a career-woman? Or do I say, look what *I* have done. Look what *I* have made happen. Look at what a mom can do!
