“Life is about balance. The good and the bad. The highs and the lows. The piña and the colada.” -Ellen DeGeneres
The best thing that happened to me was being laid off 18 months ago. I found my happy place here at greenlight. Not only is the work that we get to do amazing. But it’s the culture that makes it worth it. It was on our annual retreat last year when I finally learned how to let go of my working mom guilt.
We had a group session led by Rocky Garza of Staff Retreat Co. where I was able to tell myself how lucky I am to be mom to two amazing young men and that all this guilt is coming from me.
This isn’t a new problem, though; it’s a common feeling in working moms everywhere. Literally. Of course, I am not resentful of stay-at-home moms. I actually did that when my second son was born and stopped working for 5 years.
In 2010, my time to go back to work and single mom it came without a choice. My oldest son took it in his stride, but my youngest, just about to start kindergarten? That’s a lot for one kid to experience all at once. I could not help but feel guilty about the changes going on in their world.
As a newly single mom, the struggles were real and made me feel that I wasn’t doing well at work or home. But after years of perfecting the balance (and thanks to Rocky and greenlight retreats) one of my favorite things my youngest ever said to me couldn’t have happened if I wasn’t making it work. I asked him what he thinks about when he thinks about me and he said, “your personality.” To which I asked, what about my personality? He said you're sweet, kind, loving, funny and hard working. Hard working. He knew this at 10.
-Alex Liesner, Account Director