I totally took a leap of faith today. A gigantic leap of faith . . . and it feels amazing. Before I tell you about it, I want to call your attention to the addition of a play list to this blog. As you read, realize that I picked these three songs specifically to accompany this entry. Yes, I am proud of myself.
Maybe the best place to start is back in Dec of 2007. I have suffered from migraines and paralyzing fatigue for as long as I can remember. I sorta thought it was normal . . . well, maybe not normal, but not life altering (boy is ignorance bliss). Long story short, I went through years of tests and was finally diagnosed with narcolepsy. Crazy, right? That diagnosis and the subsequent treatment has changed my life. I had NO IDEA that it was possible to feel this good. I lived in this hazy fog that I thought was normal. Now I sleep 6-8 hours/night and feel fine the next day. I used to sleep 10-12 hours at night, and if at all possible take a 4 hour nap everyday. Worst of all, I slept my life away and never felt rested. Ask Todd about it sometime. In retrospect I have suffered HUGE for waaaay too long. For the first time in my life I stepped out of a perpetual winter storm.
Fast forward a bit. My dad dies in February and his death throws me for a loop in a way that I never could have anticipated. The combination of my dad's death and my new-found energy/clarity forced me to look at my life from a new vantage point (and without the fog). I realized that I wanted to create a professional life that reflects my passions and my interests. I already have a career that I absolutely love - I get to spend time with very cool people teaching them ways to improve their emotional and physical health through nutrition counseling. Perfect. The question was how can I make perfect even better? How could I take my passion for food, health and physiology and integrate my other passions - my family and my friends?
And so Yo's Kitchen Counter, as a concept, was born. I would offer nutrition education and counseling focusing on helping busy families eat healthfully, and connect in a meaningful way. My business would not just be about nourishing our bodies physically, but emotionally as well. YKC would also be about nourishing relationships with family and friends. Over the past 5 months Yo's Kitchen Counter has evolved into a full-fledged business. Officially I am now the Managing Owner of (drum roll please) . . .
Yo's Kitchen Counter, LLC
Where Family, Friends, and Food Meet.
I found business counselors, I talked to other dietitians in private practice, I spoke to some incredible women who have started businesses of their own. I ran ideas by friends I knew I could trust with my dream. "I have an idea for a business." Peggy said, "Sister, I have been telling you to do this for years!". Gina actually came up with the name "kitchen counter". "Everyone always hangs out in the kitchen. It is where all the meaningful conversations happen.", she said. Todd got this smirk on his face when I ran the idea by him. Believe me I have run many of 'Yo's big ideas' by Todd in our 14 years together - this is the first one that evoked a wonderful little smile. I knew he was on board.
Somewhere in between my 3 days/week job at the hospital and 8 hours/week at Head Start, and tennis lessons (some for Ky, some for me) and swimming lessons (boys only, thank goodness), and late nights scrap booking at Atelier, I managed to form an LLC, get my business license (and jump through the 5,230 hoops necessary to obtain said business license). I found someone wonderful to design my logo and build the company website. Quite amazing what you can do when you only need 8 hours of sleep/night.
So what exactly was the big leap of faith? I verbally turned in my 'resignation' at the hospital today. I decided to leave what has been an unbelievably great job so I could focus far more attention on getting Yo's Kitchen Counter up and running. I had no intention of leaving my job at Renown anytime soon. Throughout all of my planning and creating of "the business", I always factored in my position at Renown. Over the past 10 days or so I started to really focus on what I want my life to look like and there just wasn't room for Renown anymore. Even with all of my new-found energy, I can only do so much if I want to do any of it WELL.
This was a HUGE, GIGANTIC, OVERWHELMING decision and I have felt a huge, gigantic, overwhelming weight lifted off of me since I made it. It feels quite empowering to leave behind something great because you truly believe in your entire being that there is something out there better than "great".
Wow, this journey has already been amazing. Thanks so much for reading and for sending me positive messages and vibes. I feel like I have this fabulous group of people cheering me on . . . Today's LEAP was only the beginning.
