Never Settle
I wasn’t shy as a kid. In fact, my hand was usually the first to shoot up in class. But out on the black top, I spent most of my time perched up in a tree with my face in a book. I considered hopscotch politics an imposition. I did not belong.
I’ve always had to work hard. In school. In sports. In life. I have no great genius. I am no great talent.
But I’ve done enough things that were supposedly impossible to know that not much is, if you are willing to sweat.
Although I’ve only been with Inspire for half a year, my journey here probably started almost three years ago when found myself pregnant with our first child, Myles.
As my belly swelled, I was surprised at the number of people who asked me, “Are you planning on going back to work?” This question invariably made me tense. Of course I was planning on going back to work! I hadn’t raced my way through college, gathered up my MBA and hustled my way into a leadership position at work to put it all aside the second I became a mother.
Growing up in a middle class town, I was always a little embarrassed to admit that unlike other people’s moms, my mom was a homemaker. Even though managing a house of 6 was clearly full time work, I couldn’t quite reconcile the 90’s girl power rhetoric I was surrounded with and the fact that my J.D.-holding mom had chosen to stay home.
I was incredibly lucky when I returned to work after maternity leave. My son was sleeping through the night. Daycare was down the street. My colleagues were very supportive and some even provided mentorship as I got used to “doing it all”. I knew that I was incredibly blessed.
There are a few secrets about being a working parent that the books don’t let you in on.
A) Work becomes a place of solace. Unlike your home, work is a clean, organized place where you get to speak Adult English, focus on one organization’s priorities, and actively challenge your brain.
B) Your standards for work are elevated. Finances aside, if you are going justify to yourself that you are doing the world a better service in working than focusing on your kid, you had better be working on something worthwhile. Your tolerance for political bullshit, fire drills, and make-work drops significantly.
When some people start having kids they instinctively dig in their heels and hunker down into nice, reliable corporate jobs. They establish homes that their grandchildren will someday visit and start attending the local high school football games. This was not me.
I looked around at this job that was supposed to be my dream job and thought ‘I’m grateful for my life, but is this really it?’ I suddenly had the urge to lean towards things that scared me. I felt very accountable to my son. I wanted his mom’s life story to be a cool one. I wanted to tell him (truthfully!) that I was someone who had always gone after what I wanted.
So I pointed my skis straight down the run. We picked up and moved out of the suburbs into the city. And I decided to find a career where I’d be stretched in new, big, audacious directions.
I’m not ready to settle. I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready to settle.
Inspire is a place for the restless. For people who want to shake things up. It’s the one thing that unifies every single person who works here. And working here is incredibly satisfying because this company is a living thing that is growing, evolving and maturing before our eyes.
I feel a huge amount of ownership over this brand. I think about it when I’m brushing my teeth, when I’m on a run, when I’m packing my son’s lunch. I drive my loved ones crazy talking about it.
This life I’m living is the one I want to live. And the fact that I can care this much about the place I work, and be a wife and a mom and a daughter and a sister and a friend means it is a place I want to stay.
Our goals are heady. They require urgent attention. Complacency over energy puts at risk the modern world as we know it. This clean power thing isn’t going to come easy. So working here feeds my natural competitiveness, and draws from my experience working hard for what I want.
I’m sure we’ve got plenty of naysayers on the outside, but on the inside I work with a team of bright, determined, creative Avengers who authentically believe anything is possible. It’s a place I belong.
If you’re looking for a place to do something big and roll up your sleeves, check out our Careers page. We’re adding Avengers every month, and discovering cool, driven people to join our team is an important part of keeping Inspire a special place to work everyday.
