Back in 2009, I worked from home for a well-known satellite provider. I was a technical support representative and I had a home office setup in the corner of my living room. Working from home was awesome. I put my son on the bus in the morning, then started laundry, ate breakfast, and put my headset on. It was great for a few months, until they started wanting me to work evenings. Then they wanted me to start reading a sales script before I ended every call. Then I would get reprimanded if I forgot to read the entirety of said script. Then I got warned that my calls were taking too long. I quickly became disenchanted. The job that had once been perfect was now an inconvenience, both because of the hours and the work itself. Needless to say, I was upset. Here I thought I had found the perfect job, and now it wasn’t.
My solution to this problem was to quit that job and start my own photography business, which I ran strong for 7 years. This allowed me to work from home, which I loved and it was finally ideal. I set my own hours, my own pricing, and I had the freedom to spend time with family and friends without having to ask someone else for time off. But the income was too unpredictable and my weekend availability was disappearing more and more every year. I was missing out on family functions and important milestones of the ones I loved. Now I was unhappy again, and that caused me to get burnout. As much as I loved photography, it wasn’t fun to have to tell my cousin that I couldn’t make his graduation party because I was already busy. Being the only employee, I couldn’t get anyone to “work for me” either. I was it. And that just added to my negativity. So here I was, wanting to quit my business but still needing to make money. I was stressed and unhappy. I made the decision in February of 2017 to close my business. For a while I lived off the income I was receiving from clients paying off their balances, but I knew I would have to find work eventually. I decided I would get a job that August, once my youngest started Kindergarten. I began looking around the beginning of June, just to see what was out there. I came across a job opening at Rose-Hulman, and the description just fit. It was a tech support position and it came with a laundry list of benefits, including no evenings or weekends – ever. It sounded too good to be true, and even though I didn’t actually want a job yet, I applied. I figured it was a long shot. Four weeks and three interviews later, I was offered the job. Over the past nine months I have learned way more than I expected, and achieved more than I thought possible. So far I have earned one IT certification and at the time of this article I am two weeks away from my second. On June 1st I am starting the path to my Bachelor’s of Science in Information Security, and I am excited beyond words. IT was something I wanted to do growing up, so I took computer classes for fun in high school. I planned to go to ISU for Computer Science, but life happened and a college degree is something I never obtained. Getting this job has set off a series of events that have set me on a path I didn’t even believe was possible a year ago. I love where I work, who I work with, and what I do. Although I haven’t given up the dream of finding a work-at-home career that fits my life, I know it’s a possibility in the future. Actually, a lot is possible in my future. And I can’t wait to live it. Author: Ashlee Sappingfield Tech geek, bookworm, chocolate lover, and mother of two.
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June 2018
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