From a young age, I knew I wanted to have children and stay home to raise them. Once I got married, that idea started to disappear since we lived in Fairfield County and had a mortgage and other expenses.
While on maternity leave with my oldest, we ran into some daycare issues before I was heading back to work. At dinner, my husband suggested it would be best if I stayed home with our son to celebrate my birthday. Considering this is all I ever wanted, you would think it was the best birthday gift ever.
I was not prepared to stay home; I was torn between staying home and returning to work. It was a tough decision, but I quit a job I loved.
Since then, I’ve had two sons, who I adore immensely! My husband is a firefighter and is additionally involved in union committees associated with his job. His schedule fluctuates daily, so being home is a great constant for the boys. I have tried to go back to work part-time in traditional settings, and unfortunately, based on our hectic lifestyle with my husband’s job and the cost of daycare, I have not found anything that would work for me until this past birthday.
I went to a Stella & Dot trunk show with a girlfriend as a filler activity before attending the annual birthday dinner with my husband. I had never been to a Stella & Dot party and heard amazing things about the brand. I sold another direct sales product before and thought I would never do something like that again.
I walked into this party with no expectations and came out with a bag, a pair of earrings, two birthday gifts, and a phone call a few days after the trunk show to talk “business” with the stylist. I was enamored by how much fun I had in two hours and realized I could make money doing this.
After three weeks of extensive research on the company and various scenarios that play into becoming a Stylist for Stella & Dot, I signed up. I have not only made some money on the products and treated myself to some new accessories, but I found something that allows me to be the constant person in my sons’ lives while working as little or as much as I want to, have fun, and be social with adults for a few hours a week.
I am now working on my own terms.
Besides the gorgeous items, I have a wealth of support from other women in similar situations to mine who wanted to start a family, left their jobs, and wanted to have an identity aside from “mom.” I also can donate to charities to support friends and families looking to raise awareness for causes near and dear to their hearts. That is something that I have not been able to do for some time, and I want my sons to know that it is important to help others in the community when we can.
The support I received thus far from coaching is incredible. When I am having an “I really don’t know how this can pan out moment,” there is someone I can reach out to (whether via text or social media) who will be there to support me. I don’t know most of these women personally, but they understand and want to see others like them strive for greatness! My husband even gets excited for me when I tell him about the things I’ve achieved in two months.