My Destined Path

Looking back, I think my career path was pre-destined early in life.  I always liked English classes and writing in grade school and was encouraged to write for my school newspaper in eighth grade.  I signed up for a journalism class in high school, and by my senior year became editor of the school newspaper and wrote a column for a local newspaper.  After high school graduation, I worked at the local community newspaper for a couple of summers in between college studies.  I also served as co-editor of The Communicator at IPFW and worked on the staff of the Indiana Daily Student at IU Bloomington while majoring in journalism.  I found journalistic writing to be exciting, rewarding and stimulating.  Each day was different and you were always in on the latest news – plus, you had the opportunity to meet a lot of interesting people.

I got married and dropped out of college, worked at a printing company briefly and became a mother.  I volunteered my services to edit a newsletter for a local nonprofit organization while staying at home to be a full-time mom.  When my baby was 2 years old, I started back to school at IPFW and changed my major to English, since journalism was not available at that time.  After a few years of part-time study, I finally finished my undergraduate degree in 1989 with a B.A. in English and felt so proud of my accomplishment!  I always intended to go back to school someday for a master’s degree, but in the meantime I needed to make a living.  By then, I was a single mom and had bills to pay.

Immediately upon graduating from IPFW in 1989, I accepted a marketing position with a local home builder.  The company was the largest home-building company in northeastern Indiana, and it was a fast-paced position that allowed me to use my creativity in a different way, designing advertisements and handouts to promote the builder’s new homes and developing a newsletter called The Homefront.  I met a lot of people through this position and it was a great start to my professional career.

My Chamber Photo in 2000

After seven years with the home builder, I was offered a position as communications manager with the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce.  The pay was better and the position offered more challenges and variety than the previous job.  My main responsibility was creating a monthly publication called Emphasis, which became recognized as one of the top Chamber publications in the country.  I met a lot of the “movers and shakers” in the community (i.e., elected officials, CEOs, etc.) and I could attend all sorts of seminars and events free of charge, which provided opportunities for growth and meeting new people.  It was a “dream job” for me, and over time I was promoted to vice president of communications.  But when I entered my tenth year with the Chamber, things began to change as the economy soured and many of my trusted colleagues either moved on or were downsized.  More and more responsibilities were added to my job description, which required me to work a lot of evenings and weekends, and others’ expectations of what I should be doing seemed to change weekly.  I came to feel burned out, stressed out and tired, as well as drained of all creative energy.

Imagine speeding down a highway, trying to get where you’re going as quickly and safely as possible, and you suddenly come to a roadblock.  Your only options are to turn around and go back the way you came, or to take a side road that leads to places unknown.  When I turned in notice of my intention to leave the Chamber, I had no idea where I was going; I only knew that I needed to move on.  I took the side road, destination unknown.

The departure affected me more than I anticipated, and to be honest, I lost my identity for awhile.  Every time I ran into old acquaintances, they’d ask how things were “down at the Chamber” and I had to explain to them that I was no longer there.  It was hard for them – and me – to understand what had happened.

As it turned out, I went directly from working at the Chamber to a part-time position with the Northeast Indiana Small Business Development Center, a nonprofit organization hosted by IPFW.  I thought the part-time hours would give me a chance to rest up and I would still have the opportunity to use my creative talents to effect positive change, which is one of my missions in life.  After three years, I am still with the SBDC, as it is called, where I specialize in marketing – public relations, business writing and a variety of other creative tasks – all related to promoting the center and helping its clients.  My responsibilities have grown at the SBDC to include business advising, and I have also formed my own sole proprietorship company to offer freelance public relations.  I find it rewarding to help entrepreneurs realize their dreams through my work at the SBDC, as well as assisting nonprofit organizations through my home-based PR business.

When my sons grew up and left home, I started thinking more and more about going back to school.  At first, I considered pursuing a MBA degree, which I thought would be good for my career and help me better understand the “other side” of business.  I took a couple of business classes last fall – accounting and economics -- and realized that the MBA program was not the right one for me.  After exploring the various options, I applied to be a part of the Master of Liberal Studies degree program, and am currently enrolled in my first two graduate-level courses while working full time.

I am excited by this new chapter in my life, but also a little nervous about juggling all the different roles and doing them well.  But with a lot of hard work and determination, I’m hoping to pull it all off, learn a lot, and once again feel that rush of achievement when I finish my master’s degree in a couple of years.  I also am hoping this path will continue to be a scenic route full of opportunities to grow and dream, as I never again want to experience that feeling of being on a dead-end highway to nowhere from just a few years ago.