Wondering how I became an Interior Decorator?

Well then let me share with you my AHA moment.  

It happened in late 2010.I was given a blow that no mother would ever want...my youngest, Landon, who at the time was a little over a year old, was severely burned and admitted to the Burn Center for surgery on his teeny hand (what we thought was a mild burn, turned out to be a 3rd degree burn!).

You see in the midst of our crazy morning routine, trying to multitask (as always) while getting ready for another 12 hour crazy work day and getting our other 2 kids dressed and ready for school, I placed the hot iron inside of our linen closet, after ironing my clothes, and closed the door.

Til this day, I can only remember bits and pieces of the day, but something that I'll never forget and will carry with me until the day that I die is hearing my little Landon's howls.

Somehow, he opened the linen closet door and grabbed the still very hot iron and it fell on his teeny hand. FUCK, I was devastated!!!! Although I've forgiven myself, I'll never forget that day---the burn scar left on my baby's hand won't let me forget it even if I tried.

My baby boy is doing just fine now, but it really forced me to look at my life with a magnifying glass. I asked myself, "Why are you giving so much of your time to work?.... yes work? A job that you don't even enjoy".

I just didn't want to face the fact that it was time to move on....

What I've come to learn over the years is that I was never truly present in the moment.  Just going through life kind of floating from event to event, but not really living.  I always knew that something wasn't right, but I could never really pinpoint it.

You see, I worked in the Human Resources field for about 10 years–climbed up the ladder rather quickly so fast that by the age of 30, I became a Director.  But with all of my accomplishments, I just never felt fulfilled.

I was great at my job, but it just didn't ignite me.  It didn't make my heart smile.

I remember things were becoming so difficult that I couldn't even function like myself anymore--I didn't recognize the person that I was becoming.  I began to notice little things like not being able to perform tasks that once came so easy and natural for me to execute, not being able to concentrate on anything, I was losing sleep and just not feeling at all like myself. I was miserable and didn't know what to do.

One afternoon, after work, I had a panic attack while walking to my car on my way to pick up the kids. I started to cry uncontrollably, which is so not like me.

I'm that tough chick, the one who's been through it all and survived it all, but this day I wasn't so tough anymore. I was vulnerable. I knew in the deepest part of my heart and soul that it was time to move on from my job, but I just couldn't take that step. I tried to talk myself out of what my soul was directing me to do, "we need two incomes, you have to work", or at least that's what the voice in my head kept telling me.

I found myself calling my mother, which is something that I never use to do. At the time, we didn't get along much, but something told me that I needed my mother just as much as my baby needed me and so I dialed.  She immediately know something was wrong; for one, I barely called and two, I was crying. I told her how I was feeling, she comforted me and told me that it will be ok. She told me to hang up the phone, call my boss and quit my job and that everything will be ok because it always is and we have each other. So I followed my mother's orders and my heart and made the boldest decision of my life. I quit my job to care for my baby.

The months that followed were tough, as unemployment only stretched but so much, but somehow we made it work. Just as I thought that we were conforming to our new lifestyle and things were getting a bit better, my hubby, Robert had a stroke in the summer of 2011.  I got through these tough life events with the support of family, friends, my therapist and [highlight background_color="" text_color="25a6a6"]my love of Interior Decorating[/highlight]. During these times, I remember feeling most at peace when I was working on my decorating projects. I was experiencing flow and it was beautiful let me tell you!

As time passed, I began to receive compliments on my home from family, friends and visitors.  I recall my friends telling me all the time to create an Interior Decorating biz and I always shrugged it off.  Thinking to myself, "they are nuts!  Who the heck would even need interior decorating services?".  But then I began to wonder, what if I become an Interior Decorator? It's what I LOVE to do. And so I stopped fighting that tiny voice inside and finally I followed my passion and became an Interior Decorator!

Once my family's health improved, I began to place all of my energy on learning all that I could about Interior Decorating...I became fascinated with the craft. So when it came time for me to return to work, I was faced with making a drastic decision; do I return to the human resources field? A career that paid well, but drenched my soul or do I take the road less traveled and launch my Interior Decorating business? Should I take the unknown and uncertain path, but follow my heart and fulfill my soul by helping others feel comfort in their rooms?  So many things to consider; finances, life style change, etc.

Well I chose the unconventional path, I decided to launch my Interior Decorating business and I couldn't be happier!

Without Interior Decorating, I don't think that I would've ever recovered from the tough life events that I experienced.

I have since made a commitment to dedicate the rest of my professional life to helping people transform their rooms so that they can create new memories in their space. We can all have the room of our dreams and not go flat broke trying to make that dream a reality.

So stick around, sit back, grab a cup of coffee, glass of wine or beer (hey I won't judge).