After 16 years, part of a 25+ year career. Countless meetings, launches, and global events. Multiple roles and leadership positions across teams. Top of my game. Gone overnight.
Oh, and the timing? I was one week away from my second ankle surgery, in the middle of renovating my house to sell it, and nine months after my divorce.
After the initial shock, I can honestly say it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
Here’s what I know now that I didn’t know before:
One company was part of my journey, but it was never my whole story. Twenty-five-plus years of expertise, relationships, and results belong to no one but me. The companies that recognize that value and trust me to help them achieve real KPIs, enter new markets, and build momentum are my motivation every day.
A year ago, I put my name, reputation, and experience on the line to create The Benfield Connection. Failure is not an option. I am working harder than ever. The difference is that I am working for me. For my clients. For something that means something. That changes everything.
I am building a team of senior leaders and executives I am genuinely proud of, people who have been in the same rooms I have been in and are experts in their fields.
The Storyteller in me needed room to breathe. I spent years telling other people’s stories well. Now I get to choose which stories matter, including Herstories, a platform I built to amplify the voices of women who deserve to be heard.
I have met more people over the past two years than I ever imagined. I am more than a connection. I see businesses differently. I see what is possible, what is missing, and how to bring it together. That is not something you can manufacture. It is something you earn over decades. And I am just now unleashing it.
Reinvention isn’t starting over. It’s stepping into what you were meant to build all along. I didn’t lose a career. I gained a company.
Is starting your own business scary? Absolutely. There is uncertainty, and you learn new lessons every day. But honestly? That is what makes it fun. I would not trade it.
Every door that closed led me exactly where I was meant to be. I stopped seeing closed doors as losses. They were directions.
I am just getting started. I reflect, but I don’t look back. I only look forward, to what I am building and to whom I want sitting at the table next to me.
To my community, you have been with me through it all. The surgery, the renovation, the uncertainty, the pivots, and the wins. You know me, so you already know what comes next: I bring people with me. Always have. Always will.
Two years in. More energized, more purposeful, and more myself than ever before.
My name was on a list. I refused to let it define me. Instead, I let it become the opportunity I was always meant to seize. I am forever grateful for that.
#Entrepreneurship #WomenInBusiness #Storytelling #Resilience #TheBenfieldConnection #Grateful