Hatch & Bloom Origins: Taking the Risk to Hatch (Part 2 of 3)
For seven years I saved money and paid off my student loans. During that time I learned that I was good at helping people & teams get-shit-done.
So, I shifted into project management.
I moved to a much smaller company in rural, coastal Georgia. Managing 20+ projects at once meant I had a larger piece of the pie to influence, but the pie was clearly broken. We all worked too many hours for years, with no end in sight. The power dynamics of a sexist world only intensified in a smaller workplace.
To say I burned out is an understatement. Still, I was moving in the right direction. But I didn’t know what to do next. Why was I working this hard? What was it all for? What did I really care about?
In 2011, I took a risk and decided to use my savings towards a career break traveling the world. As a solo female traveler, I felt both fear and excitement. Despite the fear, I had an internal knowing that I had to do this. I ended up visiting parts of Central and South America, Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia.
During that time I started to reconnect with myself. Over and over my passion for gender equity and social justice kept arising. If I was going to be working that hard, I knew I needed my time to be supporting good in the world. I had found a new direction, but the transition was still scary.