By Wait, WHAT?
Yep you heard me; getting fired was the best thing ever.
This one solitary event was a catalyst that changed my life forever. Changed it for the better!
I know you are thinking getting fired can't possibly be a good thing. You are out of your mind lady!
Don't get me wrong, it didn't feel like it was the best thing at the time. In fact I cried for a full day when it happened. Then I picked myself up and realized that this had been some kind of a sign for me that I HAD to make some changes in my life. Call it divine intervention, call it fate or whatever you wish but I knew deep down that the universe was trying to tell me something. As a single mom of three kids I had spent over 7 years struggling, both emotionally and financially. I was on government assistance programs to help me pay for my food and child care even though I was also working a full time job. I was stuck in what I like to call the “child care gap trap”, working but still not making enough to afford child care. Even with the “help” I was receiving I was still barely making it. I spent those 7 years feeling like I would be struggling for ever and things would never get any better for me. I thought that there was no way I was ever going to be successful doing it on my own. Even worse than that, I felt like I wasn't doing enough for my family and as a parent that is the worst feeling ever.
I had been working as a waitress at the time because it gave me hours where I wouldn't have to pay for child care because friends and family could watch the kids. But after being let go I decided that I needed to get back to a better paying job, one that was in the administrative field which I had excelled at for years. So I started looking at the papers to see what was out there and calling around to child care facilities to find out what their rates would be. Imagine my shock when I found out it would cost me almost $1300 a month to put them in child care – that's more than my rent!!!
Well I spent some more time freaking out about everything and then suddenly it hit me…. I needed to work from home. That was the only way I was going to be able to make this work. I couldn't afford to put my kids in child care, and I wasn't going to be able to qualify for child care assistance so really it was the only option that I had. Never mind that I had no CLUE how I was going to do it, I just knew that deep down I HAD to do it and figure out how to make it work. And it was the BEST decision I ever made!
This podcast is all about how I decided to work from home, my decision to become a VA and how I got started down the path of self-employment. If you have been thinking of working from home and aren't sure if it would be a good fit for you I encourage you to download the free report I created “Is Working At Home For Me? 7 Things to Consider Before Starting A Home Based Business”. Click here to get the free report.
What do you think?