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The idea to build the Awakened Achiever community came to me in the Fall of 2024, a representation of my own deep desire for both connection with other women who just “got me,” and intentional time for moments of self care. The idea came into actualization in 2024, but the groundwork for the idea started in 2008.
In 2008 I was fresh out of college, and already defining myself as someone extremely driven and ambitious. And in the years that followed, I did find success. I started my career as a marketing coordinator and was quickly promoted to lead a marketing team. I moved into sales and to a couple of different startups, and found myself as the “right hand woman” for driving sales with the founders/c-suite at these companies. In 2015, I made my way to a large software company, at which I would end up spending 8.5 years advancing from a sales rep, to a front line sales manager, to a senior director leading a large sales organization. With the continued success, a large part of my identity was solidified as someone who deeply cared about her career, and achievements.
In 2017, a shift for me began as I welcomed my first daughter. Then came my son in 2019, and finally my daughter in 2022, continuing to evolve my priorities, focus and the multi-faceted nature of my identity. I was very fortunate that my desire to grow my family did not hinder my ability to grow my career, and I began to learn how to navigate the world of being a working, high achieving, mother. I experienced the normal struggles of working parenthood (illnesses, school vacations, priorities for work that conflict with family time, etc.) but I was generally able to stay above water, due in large part to the women surrounding me at the time. I had women, with similar career aspirations and also with young children, who were working side by side with me, supporting, validating and uplifting me. In 2022, shortly after my third was born, I started to struggle with severe anxiety and intrusive thoughts. This affected every single part of my life and the way I viewed and approached my day to day. If it wasn’t for the women in my life who again showed up with both care and validation based on their own experiences, I don’t think I would have come out of that the way I eventually was able to. This was the first of a few big a-ha moments for me regarding the importance of surrounding myself with a community of women.
In late 2023 I decided to make a big career change and moved to a company for what I thought would be a lot of upside in my career - expanded scope, exposure to different parts of the business, high impact opportunity, etc. In reality, the first year was the hardest of my career. There was quite a mess organizationally I unknowingly walked into, an exorbitant amount of pressure, and an undertone of toxicity. The combination of this unhealthy work environment, with my strong desire to “prove myself" as the high achiever I had always been, led to the pressure cooker that ultimately put me over the edge. I was constantly in a state of anxiety, could not disconnect from work, was irritable with my family, and was losing sight of even remembering to spend time with my kids when I did have the opportunity. I saw myself responding to emails while I was trying to bathe my kids. Rushing through books at bedtime to get back to my computer. I had a constant feeling of dread in my chest. I felt myself being snippy with my kids and husband and frankly everyone around me. I knew I was, quite literally, turning into the worst version of myself. I wasn’t sleeping well, or feeling well physically, and I knew I was on the edge of a breakdown at any given moment.
There had to be a better way, I decided I was going to refuse to live like this. So, I started to calm my nervous system with breathing techniques, read and learned a lot about mindset shifts, listened to podcasts on how to shift perspective, and overall spent a lot of time really focusing on my mental, emotional and physical health. I got better through intentional self-care, felt myself more present in my body, and ultimately more present in the moment with my loved ones. Still, though, something felt like it was missing. And then I realized what it was. I needed my community. The ladies who I could come together with, talk through how I was feeling and what my experiences were - who saw me and understood me. All of the self care, all of the focus on mental/emotional/physical health, and add in the girls who just get it. I couldn’t find anything like it, so I created it.
My mission is to create a space for intentional self-care. To have dedicated time to take care of spirit and soul, while also spending time in community. To be able to lean into ambition, without compromising overall wellness, so we can show up better for everyone: ourselves, our family, our work. With the right structure and support, I truly believe these can be in harmony instead of in conflict. I’m so excited to watch this community of incredible women grow.
