Believe

Before the quarantine confined us within our homes, I had prepared a speech for my Toastmasters club, a speech full of hope. The meeting was canceled due to the threat of COVID-19. No more social gathering, the era of social distancing had begun.

As days passed, and our longing for social connection strengthened, members of the club were toying with the idea of organizing a Toastmasters reunion online. This is when I was asked to deliver that same speech.

At the time, I did not feel comfortable with the idea. Indeed, with so much uncertainty around us, bad news delivered non-stop over the net and the TV, my subject felt out of place. This is when my mentor encouraged me to read it again with a fresh perspective. There it was, a message full of hope which I needed to hear again, and that I needed to believe in.

So here it goes…

“No pain, no gain.”

“Love is pain”

“You need to work hard, to succeed”

“You must suffer to be beautiful”

“People with money make money”

Hopefully, none of these sentences resonates with you, but if any of them do, here is a little story.

Imagine you’re working freelance…

You’ve just started your business…

You get pregnant.

Your hormones are up the wall.

You’re looking at your bank account.

You’re looking at your partner…who is dealing with your hormonal S H * T.

And Time is just passing you by.

You’re now 5 months pregnant.

You’re looking at your bank account.

You’re looking at your partner… who is still dealing with your hormonal S H * T.

What do you do?

You start daydreaming.

What if you were an employee? Yes, you, the entrepreneur, who finally took the plunge, who wanted to be her own boss. Working for someone would be so easy and so sweet now…16 weeks of maternity leave, receiving 75% of your paycheck, having time to focus solely on your baby…

You wake up from your dream…

I felt quite overwhelmed pushed down towards the bottom of the abyss of my fears… However. I had to be strong, I had to be creative… and crazy me I refused the reality that was in front of me. I got mad, angry, and then that feeling kicked in my guts… This could not be. I deserved to be able to enjoy this new soul coming my way.

This is when I got a call from my good friend George …He found a job offer online, a marketing position, Brand Management for a Cosmetic company…He was asking my opinion… He was mainly working and looking for jobs in Sales but was opened to marketing opportunities too… I read the job description… I told him… “my friend that job ad has my name all over it. Can I apply?”

“Ehhh…yes 5-month pregnant lady, you go for it.”

An hour after sending my application, I got a call from the HR department of the company I had applied to. They called me for an interview. I didn’t mention I was pregnant.

For the meeting, I put on a high waste skirt. If you knew I was pregnant, I guess it was showing. If you didn’t, then… maybe it didn’t show.

I wanted to push my luck. I wanted to believe that I stood a chance.

It was crazy. I was crazy!

A second interview later I got the job.

The job offer did have my name on it, indeed. Now I had to “come out”. I was both feeling embarrassed and entitled.

“I am 20 weeks pregnant,” I said. The two women sitting across the table were surprised…” One of them said… “Well, it doesn’t show…It’s fine. One day or another you were going to be.”

75% of the company workforce were women, while its median age was 35-years-old. Most of the staff were mothers and the ones who were not were going to be.

There was no problem with me being pregnant. None.

I got the job; I loved it. I went on maternity leave, I enjoyed fully my firstborn as nobody disturbed me while I was away. My coworkers were women who were telling me to enjoy, to get the best of that special bonding time with my baby. There were mothers who knew. They got my back. And I am eternally thankful for this.

The cherry on the pie: a few days before returning to work, I was asked to run the Cosmetic Business Division, and just like that, I was promoted!

Can a 5-months pregnant woman get a job? My first thought would have been “absolutely not”. However, pushed by the circumstances I was living in, I had to challenge this belief of mine. I did the crazy thing, I sent my CV.

Looking back, I am happy I did what I did, and what did it cost me? Well, an email, but in essence, it “cost” me to challenge my beliefs, my limiting ones.

I am not giving you a magic wand here; I am not promising anything. I am simply inviting you to challenge your beliefs as I did. Try it. Put this concept to the test.

Even in these very, very challenging days, I will do it too. Yes, it’s the “Corona Virus” time. Shall I crawl down and stay still until this passes? Or shall I use these new circumstances to my advantage, should I challenge the beliefs I have about this quarantine time, about this health crisis?

Should we?

Hope dies last.