what working from home means

After you look past the comfy clothes and messy bun, what does working from home mean? For me, working from home is a privilege, and for my family, it's a necessity.

When I was living in Boston and working fringe theatre, my 9-5 meant I could pay my bills. But, my life was very compartmentalized. My job was just a paycheck, and I was working my passion like a hobby. I could have shown up to the office and to rehearsal with my best but, in reality, I held myself back from doing either really well. (Psst, pro tip: whatever you do, do it well.) 

When I remarried and we started a family right away, I became a stay-at-home mom. Still the most important and toughest job I will ever have. In between sons two and three, I started my own virtual assistant business. I figured, why not, that's what I was doing before and it went pretty well. Well, it went pretty well until my clients wanted more of my time. I decided that line of work was not what lit a fire within me. And, with son number three on the way, there was no way I was going to stay up late to edit PowerPoint slides...

                    "Be who God meant meant you to be and you will
                     set the world on fire."
                                                               -St. Catherine of Siena

I finally decided I needed to prioritize a creative project I had been pushing aside - a one-woman, faith based show. One day as I sat spoon feeding our youngest and reading the bleak headlines, I thought, there is a lot in this world that is going to get worse before it gets better. I need to make a difference and I need to love what I do. Once I made this commitment, many things I had been struggling with fell into place. But I still had no idea how I would fund my start-up costs.

And, that's when I lost my makeup bag and our oldest couldn't stop scratching. Last place I saw my makeup bag was in the car on our way to church. And, I had narrowed down our son's constant scratching to our laundry detergent. I thought I would DIY-it, but really, was I going to make my own laundry detergent? NO.

A few days later, a fellow mama friend visited and helped me read our children's sunscreen label. Well, that was an eye opener because I thought we were using the good stuff. Then, another few days later, a friend invited me to an event where I learned more about these products and the toxic issue.

I figured someone was trying to tell me something, and, honestly I felt like His timing was pretty bad. We had our house on the market and my father just had surgery to remove part of one lung due to lung cancer. But, let's face it, if we all waited around for the perfect time to start something new, we'd miss out on a lot! Yes, there was a lot going on but I had a need, a few actually, relief for my son, clean makeup, and a chance to earn some money to help fund my creative work. So, I said yes to starting my own business.

I never thought I would be a work-at-home mom. I never thought I would work in direct sales. I never thought I'd grow as much as I have building a business from my home. And, I get to use all my talents and strengths - together. I'm not compartmentalizing my life as before. I can create my own schedule to make room for my creative passions, which I can also use in my job. I can write, create a video, plan a special event, and make a difference helping other families like mine.

I did not choose the easy path, but I feel so fortunate to do what I do. There will always be someone out there giving my industry a bad name, just as there will always be someone out there using this industry to build their best life. I've learned to tune out the doubters and build my best life.
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What would working from home mean to you?