It’s that fabulous time of year when we pause, enjoy a little family vacation and take a minute to breath and evaluate our lives. I think most of my big life changing decisions were germinated during these precious vacation times. I’m spending my tenth year on the Jersey Shore with my family (parents, sisters, and cousins galore). It was this time last year that I decided to start my new company, YourOnRamp.com. When I returned to the Bay Area, I went for a hike in the Headlands with my soon to be business partner Millie, where we sealed the deal and decided to take the leap to start the company.
So much has happened since this time last year. YourOnRamp.com has become my fifth child. We’ve worked harder than we ever did in our corporate lives, but the journey hasn’t felt like work. We’re so passionate about creating this site for professional women, that all the late nights I’m tied to my MacBook, don’t feel like overtime (although my kids now call me “My Space Mom”). So as I reflect on my experience over the last year, I invite you all to do the same. Use your time away to reflect on your current state and remember we may have many careers/paths, but we only have one life to live. Here are a few questions I’ve asked myself over the years:
1) Is this my dream job? If no, can I tweak it or do I need to rethink my career goals?
2) Am I spending too much time at the office? How can I balance my career and family life?
3) Should I take a break and be a full-time mom?
4) Now that I’ve been home a few years, can I go back? I’ve really lost my confidence … how do I get back in?
5) I really want to give back to society, can I make a career change to do that?
6) I really want to start my own business, how do I take that leap?
These are the questions I have asked myself and am now striving to answer at YourOnRamp.com. I’d love to know what you think about these questions and how we are trying to answer them. Whether you’re a full-time working professional or a stay-at-home mom, or someone in between like me, YourOnRamp.com has a social network, a job board, career building tools and resources, a nonprofit section, a lifestyle marketplace, a great list of books and news articles, everything we could think of to help you balance your life with flexibility and creativity. Come visit us. Connect, Learn and Discover at YourOnRamp.com.
By Catherine Clifford
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