Welcome. What the actual f*@% are we doing here?

One month in to my "funemployment", I stumbled upon my mission.

One month ago I posted on LinkedIn that I left my corporate job. Leaving to do… something. My intention was to take a break. My first break in two decades. After school and internships, I launched into my consulting career, then post-maternity leave I began my tech industry chapter. Now I can take a break to read. To write! To connect with friends, colleagues, neighbors. Then figure out the next step, post-summer vacation. I’ll give myself until October, then find my next role.

The LinkedIn post generated some of the response I was expecting (congrats! wow!), some incredibly touching comments from friends, colleagues and mentors, and interestingly, some messages that I didn’t see coming (you too? best thing I ever did. I left last week, let’s talk.). It’s been one month since I posted that I was moving on and received the surprising outpour of camaraderie, support and sisterhood.

I started talking. And listening. Every day I met with another friend - some close, some far, some old, some new - and I started to hear stories. From women. About how it just isn’t working. They’re leaving. They’re “quiet quitting”. They’re opting for a different path. I heard their stories about their risks, their struggles, their reasons for leaving. At least once a day, we say in disbelief, “What the actual f*@% are we doing (t)here?” And I was curious - WHY are so many women feeling this way? That they’re unsure why they do what they do. That they know their time, energy and attention are better served elsewhere. That the 40, 60, 80 hour weeks and years of loyalty were met with no’s, cant’s and not now’s.

I wondered how we got here. How this generation of women - late Gen-X, elder Millennials - Who were taught we could be anything and have it all. Who went to school and earned professions. Who strove to achieve and climb the ladders - how did we, those who had the support, confidence means and courage, decide to take another path.

So instead of wondering “what the actual f*@% are we doing here?” I’ve decided to do something about it. Women need to know that there are others who feel this way! Those who choose to stay can use our influence to change the system from the inside. Because as much as this is a problem for women, this is also a problem for business - a workforce sustainability issue. Brain drain. Talent up and walking out the door. It’s an inclusion and equity problem. It’s complicated, but it is changeable.

Or, does the system not want to change? If we leave, where do we go? How does the emergent non-corporate ecosystem become sustainable? This is new ground for me, and many are choosing the path outside the corporate system.

I am taking my 20 years of experience in corporate America. My skills in problem solving, goal setting, results achievement, and facilitation. My strengths in collaboration, creative solutions, positivity and capability. My curiosity and passion for advocacy. I’m going to stop admiring the problem and take action.

My first step is writing and thinking and collecting my thoughts, hence this newsletter. Then the work begins.

I hope you’ll join me, share your ideas and observations with me and take action with me. Because seriously, what the actual f*@% are we doing here?

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