A story for February…

On Feb 16th I got a notification for ‘Happy Hour’ at a bar in Chicago by my old job. I was really confused for a few minutes because I haven’t worked there since the summer of 2021. Then I remembered it was a reminder from 2019 Jessica. A couple years before I got fired, when my husband and I were trying to get pregnant with our son, I decided that I needed a plan to move on from my job. Even though I enjoyed it at the time, I always knew I had entrepreneurship in my soul and I would eventually need to start my own architecture firm. I didn’t have a plan, but I figured if I set a time to quit I could figure something out. At the time I think my reasoning was I could get in a few more years of experience at a big firm, figure out a plan, and then be ready to quit when this hypothetical at the time child was old enough to remember me working too much. I didn’t want anyone to notice that my calendar said ‘quit job’ so instead I wrote ‘Happy Hour.’

Little did 2019 Jessica realize that I’d get pregnant shortly after I set the quit date. A pandemic, other family obligations, and getting fired in 2021 would completely change the trajectory of my business plans. I am grateful I have slowed down my career in the past few years, but I love the serendipity of my ‘Happy Hour’ alarm going off as I am gearing up to grow my business this year.