Following the path
Six years ago I knew Silver Linings Transitions was the work I was meant to be doing. The whole business “came to me”. I was working part time at a cancer foundation when my good friend, Heidi Loren, told me about a friend of hers running an eBay business helping seniors sell belongings online. We opened an eBay business and started learning all we could. Heidi stumbled on an organization, the National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM) who only a few months later would be holding their national conference in San Diego.
During the conference, I had that “a-ha” moment many hope for and knew I found the work I was meant to be doing. While I knew this was the right work, the timing was hard as both Heidi and I had busy lives and bar/bat mitzvahs to plan. We agreed to put the business on hold.
Once summer and the bar/bat mitzvahs were behind us, we reconvened only Heidi had to step out from the business because her husband had started his own consulting business and it had taken off and he needed her help. Heidi and her husband were both the financial backers and her husband Stefan, was helping with the logistics of starting a business. Starting a business with two people I liked and trusted very much, in an industry that felt “right” was an easy decision but when
Heidi stepped aside, I had to reevaluate my plan.
I’d run my real estate business while living in Florida but that was in an established industry and I always worked under a broker. Now I was starting in an industry, senior move management, that even as a Realtor working with seniors, I had never heard of.
First, I looked for a new partner hoping to find someone who was organized and would balance my skill set. After months of searching, I changed my approach and began looking for a team of women rather than a partner. What better vehicle than Facebook to get the word out?
The picture above was my first post and another step on the path towards creating Silver Linings Transitions. As these things “happen”, the first person who contacted me was a woman who had stepped off the career path when she had her daughter (18 years earlier). She shared how difficult it was to find work when there was a gap on a resume. Additionally most women who raise children can not resume their careers because there are now family responsibilities to consider.
This, along with challenges middle age women face, competing against younger women, sparked my passion to make Silver Linings Transitions both a company who could manage the transition for our clients but also become a place where women could “transition” back into the work force.
Every time I have stressed or tried to force an outcome — whether in my personal life or my business, I have regretted it.
When we pay attention, step through the open doors and “go with the flow” life unfolds exactly as it should. It’s usually not what you expect but as John Lennon says, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”