Let the world speak to me? Unemployed and uncertain for four-and-a-half months, I have been looking for signs pointing me in the direction of a new passion, a new career, a new endeavor. Working out at the gym yesterday, I tuned into CNN and watched a special about a woman who'd been laid off and decided to strike out on her own by opening a 300 square foot boutique -- selling gloves. She loves gloves. Since she didn't qualify for a bank loan quite yet, she borrowed money from her ex-husband. As business picked up, she was finally able to take a line of credit out at the bank. The commentator said, there's no better time to strike out on your own than in a down economy. You think? Al & I just relaunched what has been our part-time consulting gig, Ascend SQ, LLC. We've been at it for three years, and since I'm unemployed right now, the business is serving its role. I'm able to focus my time on it considerably, and just maybe we can really get it off the ground, and this can be my new found purpose. ASQ certainly marries my professional experiences in higher ed, nonprofit management and the new strategy skills I've picked up . . . thanks to Al, of course. I want to be involved in work that connects my heart and mind. ASQ allows me to support others to be the best they can be. As for Al, he has been the big brain behind ASQ. While his ambition has sometimes scared me, it has also inspired me tremendously.
So just maybe . . . as I was on the treadmill and witnessing one woman's reinvention of herself due to unemployment, maybe it was the world speaking to me -- to go ahead and reinvent myself already. Just then, I almost tripped and fell off because my mind was racing with ASQ to-dos! Maybe a metaphor? Get off life's treadmill, and get out there. Maybe?
