I Quit

At BlogHer 13, Sheryl Sandberg challenged us to write down what we would do if we 

weren’t afraid. And it took me about 12 seconds to write “Quit my job.” So here I am — 

fearless (well, not quite, but close).

It is only fitting that LouLou come with me today, on this most momentous of days! 

I am leaving my job — resignation letter is all ready to go! This wasn’t a decision I 

arrived at easily. I had many nights of tossing and turning while I weighed all the options. 

It wasn’t clear cut and obvious. I worried, “What message am I sending if I Lean Way 

Out?” But then I realized that I am actually Leaning Way IN to my life. My real life, my 

family, my kids, and our two businesses. I have decided to work with my husband. Yep, 

I no longer have a den of bitch lions to contend with, I have a singular grumpy (but cute) 

gorilla! 

For years my husband has run his own place, and I have always helped (mostly unpaid) 

from the sidelines, but the controller in me can sit out no longer. All of our eggs will 

definitely be in one (or two) small baskets, which is scary and means we have to pay for 

our own root canals now, but other than that I am excited. 

I am so optimistic about this change, I barely want to write about the final act of ultimate 

bitchy-lion-ness that resulted in my boss cancelling our original meeting because she 

was too busy “preparing for holidays.” I also barely want to go into the mundane details 

of the commute and expensive parking I will no longer have to endure. 

For sure, no matter how I spin this, people will see this as me “staying at home” or 

“being a mom,” and while that is somewhat true, actually nothing is further from the truth. 

I have never worked harder, been more tired, or felt as important as I have this year. 

Surely that must mean I am headed in the right direction — yes? Yes!

 Tightrope Mama

[Image: Sheryl Sandberg talks to BlogHer co-founder Lisa Stone at the BlogHer conference on July 27, 2013. Read more here]