I’ve probably told you this before

Over the last few weeks, and the weeks to come we have been re-introducing you to the Bird & Bear. The what, why, where, how and for who.

Earlier this week I shared a glimpse into my why by sharing 5 things about me. Today I want to dive deeper into work ~ and why it’s such an important part of the collective ~ personally and for all of the Birds & Bears who are sharing their work here ~ many who are sitting next to me as I write this from our co-working space that the Bird & Bear.

This funny card in the photo represents the countless conversations I’ve had about work and the hope I talk about every day on this journey to build this thing you are a part of. If you’ve heard me talk about this in-person, thank you again and again. And for those who are new here, an introduction on why work matters so much here.

I’ve probably told you that I’m a corporate refugee entrepreneur. I left a 15+ year career in corporate global marketing, diversity and inclusion. I’ve shared that my career began in an untraditional way, when I made the decision to pause my plans to go to law school due to the timing and impact of 9/11.

During my years in corporate I always seem to land in roles that are in the foundation of what I do now. I was responsible for leading new initiatives. bringing people together, creating employee and client experiences, producing the leadership conferences that happened internally, with our clients, and even those that happened annually at the World Economic Forum.

I became a mom pretty early in my career (26 years old) and during those years and navigated maternity leaves that weren’t really leaves, roles that required me to travel a lot, and where work happened in the office and at home, during my timezone and during timezones on the other side of the planet.

I was a mom who worked full-time while building a life in the new town we moved to when our oldest was 1 ~ finding friends, coaching soccer, leading Girl Scouts and becoming a self-proclaimed backyard farmer, photographer, blogger and a constantly curious creative in my backyard barn.

As the young mom + rising professional in 2008, I was tapped by leaders in my organization to launch the internal Women @ Work chapters at my organization, and become a Founding Member of our external initiative, When Women Thrive. I began to attend and produce women’s empowerment conferences in cities across US, Canada and Europe ~ and virtually everywhere else. This work was volunteer, but I advocated to make it my full-time job —- a dream come true, and what I thought would be my legacy.

I became the Director or “When Women Thrive”, but I was NOT thriving. I was living 2 separate lives, but it was supposed to be okay because it was called women’s leadership, diversity and inclusion. It was not leadership. It was not diverse. It was not inclusive. And pretending it was any of those things is what eventually broke me. My life had become what my work was supposed to be promoting, but my work was not at all intersecting with my actual life.

The lack of intersection is what lead me to make the decision to step away from a career I loved in 2018. I walked away without a plan, but with a hypothesis that I could reimagine this work, by creating a space for inclusion, intersection and impact at the local level. The journey has been wild a wild one … but when I look at my life and work today, I feel like we are DOING IT.

I am incredibly proud that work is a core foundation to the Bird & Bear, alongside life, love, creativity, wellness, leadership and the work we do together to break down barriers to progress.

This is why work matters so much here ~ and in many ways it feels like we are just getting started! Thank you for being a part of it.