//a very special announcement

I have a huge announcement to make...

I have officially entered into a new season of life.  I have officially closed a chapter on my life...as of yesterday, I no longer work for USAA.

That's right...I have left my job at USAA, and decided to pursue freelancing full time!

This was a huge.huge.huge decision to make for me and Gabriel.  We owe so much to USAA, and I am so thankful for the time I spent there.  Not only did the company give me the flexibility I needed to maintain a career as Gabriel's military career took us all over the place, but if it hadn't been for USAA, I would never even have met Gabriel.  Since Gabriel and I met during New Employee Orienation, if it wasn't for USAA hiring me, I wouldn't have this wonderful little family that I have!

A little about the why....

About a year ago, I was working at USAA's Financial Center in San Diego, which was their physical location, and I was interacting with members on a day to day basis.  If you know me, I am definitely a people person, so getting to help our members and actually see them was something I truly enjoyed.  Unfortunately, the company decided to close the physical locations and we were given a few options, one of which was to work at home.  I chose to work at home in a different department than I had worked in before, and right at the time I was receiving training, Dresden started getting sick.

If you've followed me on social media at all, you'll know that Dresden has suffered with Reactive Airway Disease chronically for a year now, with an very low immune system.  With the stress of the sick baby and Gabriel's second deployment, I honestly was ready to begin staying at home with Dresden.  Unfortunately, living in San Diego and maintaining our lifestyle required that we have a second income, so quitting was not an option. 

However, over the last year, it's become more and more difficult to juggle.  Even though I work at home, one of our only options for daycare is about 30 minutes away, so I was commuting an hour in the morning and an hour at night, and then working ten hours a day on the phones.  If I am being completely transparent, juggling that schedule while being a temporary single parent was completely draining and depression had begun to settle in.  I knew I needed something that would make my life easier. 

Gabriel and I agreed that if I could find a way to bring in a certain amount each month, it didn't have to necessarily replace my entire income, that we would discuss me leaving the company.  Our initial goal was stay with USAA until 2019, but this deployment has been extremely difficult, and when I started making what I needed to make with my #sidehustle, Gabriel and I decided it would be best for our entire family if we moved forward.

So what happens now?

With that, I am so excited!  I am excited to continue on my journey as a freelancer.  I love being able to my be my own boss, to be able to make my own schedule, all while knowing I will be spending more time with my son!!  I work with busy female entrepreneurs to create space to optimize their workflow so that they can focus on what matters - growing their business.  It has been an amazing job...challenging and exciting all at the same time.  If you are interested in learning a little more about what I do, please visit my virtual administrative consulting website!

So, there you have it!  This has been a HUGE leap of faith for me, and especially for Gabriel, who is extremely conservative when it comes to money.  But I am SO thankful that I have the option to freelance, and it's given me the freedom for a new start!!

CHEERS FRIENDS!!!!!!

If you are interested in my writing a blog post about my journey to become a freelancer, please let me know!