Figuring It Out

When we’re young, one of the first questions we’re asked is, What do you want to be when you grow up?

It’s a simple question, but it carries so much weight. As if, at some point, we’re supposed to have the answer. As if choosing a career is really choosing the rest of our lives.

For years, I searched for that answer. For years, I wasted money at several colleges and universities. For years, I was chasing different career paths that I was not sure were right for me.

Like so many people, I explored different interests and imagined countless possibilities. Some dreams came and went as quickly as they arrived. Others stayed with me a little longer. I wondered what I was really good at, what would really make me happy, and what kind of life I really wanted to build. Oftentimes, it felt like everyone else had their futures mapped out while I was still standing at the trailhead, trying to decide which direction to take.

Eventually, I found a path that felt right.

Human Resources wasn’t just a career choice – it felt like a calling. I loved helping people, solving problems, creating structure, and making workplaces better for employees and leaders alike. It combined my strengths with my desire to make a meaningful impact, and for the first time, I felt confident that I knew where I was headed.

I poured myself into that path. I worked hard, gained experience, continued learning, and set ambitious goals for myself. I envisioned climbing the corporate ladder until one day I’d become the Director of Human Resources for a company I believed in.

For a long time, that vision gave me purpose. It became part of my identity. I wasn’t just building a career – I was building the life I believed I was meant to have. Until it wasn’t anymore… What I didn’t know then was that choosing a path doesn’t mean life will always stay on it.

Once I had my daughter, once I held that tiny baby in my arms, I knew everything inside of me was changing. Everything I thought I was, that I wanted, that I worked so hard for changed that day. It also helped that my boss called me the day after I had pushed a baby out of my body and was sitting in a hospital bed, half-naked, nursing my baby, with a work question that she very easily could have placed a call to customer service to resolve. It showed me that my life was on lease to the company I worked for and the people who ran it. Everything continued to change during my maternity leave and paid family leave. I no longer cared about the corporate ladder. I cared about what was best for my family.

So I went back to the drawing board. What was I good at, what would make me happy, and what kind of life did I want to build not only for myself, but for my husband and daughter?

That’s when I decided to take a leap of faith and start my own business as an Online Business Manager & Pinterest Strategist. I get to be my own boss, take on the clients I want to work with, work with businesses I believe in, and genuinely want to help.

Looking back, I don’t regret choosing the human resources path. In fact, I’m grateful for it. Every opportunity, every challenge, every lesson shaped me into the person I am today. They gave me the skillset that I am able to offer to my clients now. It taught me resilience, empathy, leadership, and the importance of serving others.

The truth is, we can spend years carefully planning our future only to discover that life has plans of its own. Sometimes those changes are exciting. Sometimes they’re heartbreaking. Often, they’re a little of both.

If I’ve learned anything, it’s that we’re never really done figuring things out.

The path I chose wasn’t a mistake – it was simply one chapter of my story. It gave me the experience I needed for the chapters that followed, even if those chapters looked nothing like I expected.

That’s one of the reasons I created Figuring It Out.

This blog isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about embracing the question. It’s about sharing the moments when life surprises us, challenges us, and invites us to grow in ways we never imagined.

Because maybe life isn’t about finding one perfect path.

Maybe it’s about having the courage to keep walking, even when the road changes.

And maybe that’s where the best stories begin.